Chapter 159
Chapter 159
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 159
Chapter Title: The Past Self and the Present Self
Blinding, pure white radiance filled his vision.
The light, which turned the undying, blasphemous beings into piles of ash, swept away Dullahan's forces in an instant.
"......"
The military might that had been vast enough to surround the entire village now no longer existed, save for Dullahan himself.
Gazing upon that maddening silence and emptiness, only one emotion arose in Dullahan.
Dissonance.
Even though most of his troops had been sacrificed to the enemy's scheme, no feelings of hostility or anger surfaced.
Because Dullahan simply could not comprehend the current situation at all.
"...How did you know and prepare a divine magic of this scale in advance?"
The essence of that dissonance was precisely this.
The fact that the opponent had prepared not magic, swordsmanship, spirit arts, or mysticism, but solely divine magic.
While Dullahan's forces were comprised of undead, most monsters and demons were not typically like that.
Even the slimes, orcs, and goblins roaming the forest wouldn't instantly turn to ash or vanish from divine magic, at the very least.
"Even if you learned through some method that we are the Demon King's army, how on earth did you know that I, commanding an undead legion, would come...."
How could they have known and devised a plan to effectively exterminate only his forces?
"Did you know from the very beginning...? That among the Four Heavenly Kings, I would be the one to come?"
It was such an absurd deduction that he almost laughed involuntarily, but it was the correct answer.
This raid was personally ordered for Dullahan by the Demon King Ergothum, who had received the revelation.
So, if there was a traitor among the Four Heavenly Kings, or if other powerful beings had stepped forward for the future hero, it wouldn't be an impossible scenario.
"...Who are you?"
By this point, he was starting to get curious.
About the identity of the person who could orchestrate such a plan and cast large-scale divine magic.
With that, Dullahan raised his head and looked at the woman atop the dragon created by illusion magic.
"......?"
Wait, something's off.
Dullahan felt something strange as he looked at Victoria's appearance before his eyes.
The pure, clear energy he felt emanating from her was undoubtedly divine power, but...
She was wearing an outfit so revealing it wouldn't be out of place on a Succubus Queen or a prostitute working in a red-light district.
Had he just run into some crazy woman by mistake? Dullahan's thoughts froze amidst the fragments of information unfolding before him.
"A Saint? No. The Saint of this generation hasn't been announced yet...."
Normally, Saints, referred to as the Heavenly God's adopted daughters, were often chosen from young girls.
Ever since the brutal killings by the First Hero, Dullahan, the Heavenly God Lumina had been trying to minimize contact between all Saints and men.
"...Then, could she be a madwoman driven insane by seeing the future?"
This was the most plausible explanation.
The reason she could know in advance that the army he led would invade this small, rural village.
And the reason she could possess divine power so pure and clean it could be called saintly.
It was reasonable to think she was a person with future foresight abilities who had grown stronger by any means necessary.
"Ha, hahaha, hahahaha...!!!"
Despite the searing, burning sensation across his entire body, Dullahan let out a loud, mad-sounding laugh.
The sensation of death, felt for the first time in a long while.
In the domain Dullahan ruled, dying was not permitted, and there was no being who could push him to this extent.
Paradoxically, Dullahan was feeling his own aliveness with his entire being right now.
"Right, this is the village rumored to have the hero from the revelation, so it's only fitting...!"
Dullahan immediately drew the corrupted holy sword from his waist.
This was an existence possessing divine magic, which was fundamentally opposed to him. To overcome that difference, he had to use every means at his disposal.
"...A madwoman driven insane? That's too harsh a thing to say, even for someone with a loose mouth like you."
Seeing Dullahan like that, Victoria gave a hollow laugh out of sheer disbelief.
Seriously, if you deduced she was the future Saint, the obvious answer should lean that way.
But a madwoman driven insane by seeing the future? What on earth are you looking at to make that judgment?
"A petty man who, upon seeing the Demon King, not only had no thought of fighting but even killed all his comrades and surrendered."
"......!!"
Of course, this situation arose because of the holy garments modified to seduce Astal, but...
"Siegfried, the First Hero. If you have even a shred of conscience left, why don't you bite your tongue and die?"
"Y-you... how do you know my old name...?"
"Ah, my mistake. Undead don't have tongues. I forgot I'm not talking to a person, but to a beast's whelp."
Unaware of that fact in her current state, Victoria was provoking Dullahan by reciting his past history.
A sword emanating a chillingly murky, black energy.
In the original history, Astal would have used Idea to seal Dullahan himself within that corrupted holy sword, but...
'...This time, I have to defeat that guy alone, without anyone's help.'
Now, she had to eliminate the opponent before her eyes alone, without involving Astal or the people around her.
Because she wanted to erase from this world the painful past her most beloved person had to endure.
'Even if this means I never get to meet Astal-sama... or even if I die and vanish from the present...'
...It didn't matter.
To that extent, Astal was a precious existence to Victoria.
The man who saved the lonely Saint who thought she had to die for others.
The man who gifted the innocent, love-ignorant her with affection that made her entire body feel like it was melting.
'...This time, I will save you.'
Crack.
Strength flowed into Victoria's grip as she tightly grasped the hammer.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ How many tens of minutes had passed?
The battlefield was so drenched in blood that puddles of blood had formed, and the surrounding terrain and features were utterly devastated from the vicious fight.
"Seems you haven't had much proper combat experience. My guess about you being a madwoman who saw the future was off the mark."
"Khelok, kheugh...!"
Surprisingly, of the two, the one who could still stand properly was Dullahan.
Victoria had only recently returned to a normal physical state, so she was still awkward at using the dragon hybrid's unique brute strength or her divine power.
In contrast, there was an insurmountable wall of talent between her and Dullahan, who possessed abilities honed since his days as the First Hero and had repeated countless battles and deaths in the arena.
"While annihilating all my soldiers is praiseworthy, that's about as far as it goes."
"You... bastard... whelp..."
Flail, flail.
Dullahan grabbed Victoria by the neck and lifted her into the air, and she thrashed about, trying to break free.
Victoria's actions—cursing and even spitting—seemed like meaningless resistance, but...
"I'm curious what kind of amazing hero is hiding in this village for a human like you to face me."
Rather, that aspect piqued Dullahan's interest.
Even while suffering from the pain of being cut and stabbed by the corrupted holy sword, she had tried to protect the young Astal.
"Suck... my dick, you moron hero.... Your opponent is me..."
Victoria forced a smile through gritted teeth as she spoke.
This should be enough time for them to escape.
Although she couldn't tell the young Astal, she had already whispered to his mother, Celine, to evacuate to a safe place beforehand.
It was Victoria's arrangement, hoping that even if she died here, Astal wouldn't have to suffer through that painful past.
But,
"Let Victoria noona go...!!"
Thunk, thud─.
Several pebbles flew and struck the helmet Dullahan was wearing, and the voice of a boy who sounded young reached them from a distance.
"The person you came to kill is me, right? If only I die, it's all solved, right? Put noona down right now and fight me...!!"
The owner of that voice was the young Astal.
A bold boy who, despite trembling with fear and shedding tears at Victoria's pitiful state, kept throwing magic-propelled pebbles without stopping.
He should have escaped by now.
How on earth was he still here?
"N-no.... You have to run away..."
"No...!! How could I run away when the noona I like is making such a sad face...!!"
The young Astal loudly retorted, directly opposing Victoria's words.
Having slipped away during the escape without his parents' knowledge, Astal had sensed this aspect from the expression Victoria had shown earlier.
"......"
I knew he was a rather clueless man.
But he's like this to the very end.
Looking at Astal, who was crying and using magic to save her, Victoria thought to herself.
"A farce this childish is truly something else.... Kid, don't you know magic like that can't kill me?"
Just as Dullahan also noticed Astal's presence and snorted, moving to kill him...
"...Right, with just this level of magic, I probably can't kill you."
Along with a gigantic shadow that blotted out the sun, another voice appeared.
The owner of a voice similar to the young Astal's, but deeper and more resonant, was...
"Sorry, Victoria. I got a bit delayed trying to save your younger self, too."
A mage so genius and powerful he was mentioned as the next Blue Tower Master.
Now more famous under the epithet 'Harmless Mage' due to his obsession with saving people─.
"Ah, should I call you noona now?"
Astal Caelus.
The present-day Astal, who had traveled ten years back in time and now faced his own past self.