Chapter 163
Chapter 163
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 163
Chapter Title: The Saint's Inner Thoughts
I wanted to protect everyone.
On the journey to defeat the Demon King, I wanted to send everyone home without anyone dying.
Even the most common fairy tales end with, "And they all lived happily ever after," don't they?
I only wanted that simple, trivial happiness.
But,
Was even that thought too much to ask?
'What was I even fighting for...?'
A field of vision, half-blind, seeing only half of what was before me.
"What did we even come all this way for...."
Through that darkness, the corpses of my comrades lay scattered.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Looking at the current situation, I wanted to deny reality.
Kyle, the Hero chosen by the gods, was sliced vertically by a single gesture from the Demon King, dying without even a scream or a last word.
Next, Taryon, called the Divine Archer who could freely shoot arrows, was pierced through by countless arrows and died.
Anima, chosen by the four Spirit Kings, was crushed to death without even receiving their help.
"Pity. If you could have killed me, we might have had a slightly more sincere conversation than this fight."
"...Shut up."
And then,
Victoria, the Saint whose body parts turned into flowers each time she performed a miracle, squeezed out every last drop of her life to save me, transforming into an immense pile of countless flowers.
The battlefield, where the coppery smell of blood mingled with the scent of flowers, and petals scattered as if spring had arrived.
"Isn't it funny? That the death of just one person could create such a beautiful scene."
It was a scene so beautiful that even the Demon King, without thinking, called it lovely, and it was closing in on me.
"Shut up, shut up...!!"
Even with one eye blinded and my left arm severed, bleeding profusely, I screamed at the Demon King.
A crushing defeat so unbelievable it was hard to accept as reality.
In the face of such an overwhelming disparity in power, all I could do was flail like this.
The sensation in my fingertips was fading, and every breath was as painful as being stabbed in the heart with a knife.
Even as my body was dismembered by the Demon King's gestures and pierced by countless flying swords, I did not die.
Only I alone.
"You would have died too, Astal, if not for Victoria's miracle. In such a situation, negotiation is impossible."
As the Demon King said, the only reason my life still clung on was thanks to Victoria's miracle.
Victoria's sacrifice, her last lingering attachment, was keeping me from departing this life.
"......"
I'd rather die.
I want to kill this bastard before me right now and follow you.
But I couldn't.
Just as Victoria always told me in life not to die.
'Even after bombarding him with a chain of high-level spells, he had not a single wound. Even pouring out elemental magic, we couldn't find a weakness.'
Even the last resort I thought we had, the Ideae, didn't work.
The Demon King acted as if he knew all our strategies, leisurely slaughtering my comrades.
'Is he truly unkillable? Can I not even avenge my comrades...?'
The innate eyes that could see the flow of mana and magical power in the air.
The reality shown by the talent that had called me a genius since childhood was ruthless.
As if telling me to give up and accept everything, the difference before my eyes was stark, but...
'...No, there's still hope.'
I couldn't give up.
For the vengeance of the comrades who came this far with me, and for the people sacrificed across the continent.
I couldn't give up here.
'If it's a perfectly completed Ideae... there's a possibility...!'
Before the battle, I had hidden another Ideae between my fingers, just in case, and it was still spinning, not yet stopped.
"Still, cutting off one of my arms... is a better result than the average route. Astal, have you ever thought about living as an undead?"
At that moment, the Demon King Ergosum gazed at his severed arm and then offered me a proposal.
"...What?"
"You could become my special subordinate. Transcend the boundary between life and death and endlessly research the magic you desire."
It was a devilish proposal: to be resurrected as an undead, immortal being, and continue researching magic under him.
Judging by his talk of parallel world routes, it seemed he was indeed aiming for something from them.
"Do you think I'd make that choice?"
The Demon King's proposal sounded utterly ridiculous to me.
No matter how many times you rewind time to change the future, all you create is a new world line.
Even if the routes influence each other, in the end, the dead cannot be brought back.
But,
"Who knows? Even the Saint Victoria, who turned into flowers, might be restored to her original form."
The Demon King Ergosum chuckled and said something deeply meaningful.
Bring Victoria back?
How?
Among mages, reversing the flow of time or resurrecting the dead is called heresy and is taboo.
How could he possibly do that?
"Isn't she your most precious lover, Astal? Is a world without such a person worth protecting?"
At the unexpected words from the Demon King's mouth, I momentarily stopped the incantation I was chanting.
The being who had massacred countless people and turned the whole world into a battlefield was saying he would bring her back.
"What do you think? Doesn't that sound tempting?"
"......"
The Demon King Ergosum, showing a gentle smile. For that moment, it felt like I was facing a benevolent god.
"...Fine. I'll do as you say."
After a brief silence, having pondered over and over, I opened my mouth.
"So you'll really spare my life."
Clutching my left arm where bone was visible, stumbling as I struggled to keep my balance, I began walking slowly toward the Demon King.
"Of course. It's a pity your comrades died... but I couldn't gauge your true potential without resorting to such means."
One step, then another.
"If you become my subordinate, I'll tell you all the secrets this world holds."
When the distance to the Demon King was close enough, and he reached out a hand to support me as I struggled to move...
Crackle—.
With my remaining hand, I clutched my chest and twisted, forcibly overloading my mana core.
'...I wanted to live.'
In that fleeting moment, the conviction in my mind was singular.
Blood flowed from my eyes, nose, and mouth as a side effect, and pain began to surge as if my heart were being crushed.
The sensation of the fading flame of life within me being completely extinguished.
'Even if my body becomes crippled, I wanted to kill the Demon King and survive.'
Yes, if I hadn't used this method, if I had accepted the Demon King's offer, at least I alone would have survived.
But,
'...Victoria. What meaning would a life without you hold for me?'
Until the very end, the reason I wanted to live was all because of Victoria.
My simple dream was to marry Victoria after vanquishing the Demon King, have children, and live happily.
I thought there was no reason to live on in a world without you.
'I will kill him.'
Looking at the flower petals scattering across the battlefield, I steeled my resolve.
The death of the Saint, Victoria, who had gifted me, who wished for death, a reason to live, solidified my determination.
Even if it cost me my life, I would kill that Demon King before me.
I swore it.
"...I won't stoop to something as despicable as shaking hands with you."
I immediately hurled the Ideae hidden between my fingers at the Demon King.
Chara-rak—, the compression of the Ideae unraveled, and countless magic circles began to manifest around the Demon King.
Different magic circles overlapped one by one, like a prison confining him.
"I see, you still refuse this offer. Even after twisting fate to become a mage of the Blue Magic Tower, it's a failure.... You truly are an upright person."
As if he had known this refusal was coming, the Demon King Ergosum spoke without any change in expression.
"Damn bastard, what the hell are you talking about."
"Haha, no matter what, you and I are very similar people. It's like looking in a mirror."
I spat out a mouthful of dark red blood and retorted. I had lost too much to easily fall for the Demon King's words.
"You think I'd believe that shit from the bastard who burned my hometown and killed my comrades...!"
I had no mana left in my body. I had already tried every magic and means at my disposal.
Even Victoria's miracle had reached its limit, unable to heal my damaged organs and blinded left eye.
Even the Ideae was the last one remaining. If this one was thwarted by the Demon King, there would be no hope left to even try.
"...It seems negotiations have broken down."
I had to kill the Demon King.
"Even if you don't understand now, someday you will come to understand me."
Ergosum raised his hand, aiming for the focal point just as at the start of the fight, the moment he tried to neutralize the Ideae.
"Fuck you, I don't want to understand a piece of shit like you even once."
I created another Ideae on top of the existing one, overlapped them, and rapidly spun them.
It was an impossible act under normal circumstances.
The moment you use a spell as large-scale and mana-intensive as the Ideae twice, your heart is guaranteed to burst and kill you.
And if the already unstable Ideae were to overlap, who knew what would happen.
It was a reckless act possible only because all my comrades were annihilated and I had resolved to die myself.
"This is a magic I haven't seen before."
Kaaang—!!
As the Demon King stretched out his arm to escape the magic circle, a metallic sound rang out and fire erupted on the part that made contact.
"Yes, it's not the Hero chosen by the gods who produces such unexpected results, but an ordinary life. A weak existence with nothing left to lose, burning with vengeance..."
The Demon King showed a bloody smile looking at me, then brought his severed arm and remaining hand together in a praying gesture.
"Astal, but to reach the secret the gods are hiding, you must kill me. You must become stronger than every version of you in every route for a chance to arise."
In accordance with the Demon King's hand seal, gigantic arms erupted from the ground, rushing to grab my body as I continued casting the spell.
The sight was like giant, living white snakes, their maws gaping wide as if to bite and tear me apart.
At that moment, an arrow was shot toward the sky.
"...?!!"
Pababak—, seeing the blind arrows fired toward the Demon King in the distance, I first thought a subordinate of his had misfired.
It couldn't be an attack from Taryon, who was blinded in both eyes and had his arms rendered useless by the arrows that pierced his body.
"So this is the difference in a route where you trusted your comrades... I'm a bit jealous. To make arrows fly even after death."
The Demon King looked in the direction the arrows came from and explained the reason to me.
Taryon had pre-tensioned his bowstring so that after his death, arrows would fly into the sky.
—Faaaat.
The arrows Taryon shot emitted light, connecting in a single line to form a circular barrier around the Demon King.
"Yes, this is how you cover the weakness of the Ideae needing cast time."
Pababababak—!
Before the Demon King's words even finished, an endless rain of arrows began pouring down into the area created by the archer.
As the Demon King's body was pierced countless times by arrows, the giant arms connected to it screamed and slammed into the ground.
It was a move to protect me, who was still chanting incantations aimed at the Demon King.
As if knowing I was about to burn the last remaining ember of life.
"...Astal, you truly had good comrades in this life."
Seeing that spectacle, the Demon King wore an oddly relieved expression.
Clearly caught off guard, instead of panicking or showing anger at my refusal, he looked far too composed.
But I had no leisure to ponder this mystery now.
"Odin, great god of magic, teacher of all mages."
My vision was fading. Amidst the sensation of life extinguishing, I chanted the incantation at a rapid pace like a madman.
"It's a pity I have to kill you, Astal, or escape here and stop the casting of the Ideae."
The Demon King aimed his hand at me again, trying to continue his attack. Another crushing fist was swung.
But,
"......!!!"
Something flew in from somewhere, blocking the invisible attack. A single sword pierced the Demon King's heart and lodged itself there.
It was the ordinary, non-magical sword that the Hero Kyle had originally possessed.
"You know, Kyle, that a weapon other than a holy sword can't inflict a fatal wound on me..."
The Demon King coughed up blood and questioned Kyle, but there was no answer. From the start, he had used his last remaining strength to help me.
Just before being sliced vertically to death, he must have enchanted the ordinary sword he'd used since childhood.
"I burn the last ember of life,
> and beat the heart, the source of mana.
>
I beseech you, grant me the power
>
to repel and annihilate the wicked foe."
I thanked Kyle in my heart and continued chanting the Ideae.
My vision was steadily staining a dark red. Strength was leaving my entire body, and even the sensation of exhaling grew dull.
A feeling as if time was flowing slowly.
Death was closing in right up to my chin, but I kept my eyes wide open, trying not to lose consciousness.
"The weaknesses of the Ideae are its long cast time, and that it can be nullified if you cut the focal point.... And."
The Demon King tried to tear at the magic circle with his remaining hand, attempting to escape the spell that seemed about to explode.
"...If the caster dies, it fails. If you don't overcome these weaknesses, you can't kill me."
Just as the Demon King spoke and an arm twisted toward my neck, flames, water, gales, and rocks flew into the Ideae.
The Spirit Kings, maintaining their existence in very small forms. They were using their last strength to help me, following their master's command.
"...The being you must overcome in the future is not a fake god like me, but the true gods."
As if swatting flies, the Spirit Kings' existences were extinguished in an instant by the Demon King's waved gesture.
"......!!"
Then, the last power of the spirits melted into my Ideae, blocking the Demon King's escape.
As if this had been the plan all along.
"I admit it. You are a person who cherishes your comrades more than any Astal I've seen in any route."
Because of this, the Demon King, unable to properly form his hand seal, uttered a sigh of pure admiration.
"Right. They were people who were truly too good for me."
At the Demon King's words, I began overlapping the magic circles trapping him even more.
Anyone could see it was madness. An act unthinkable under normal circumstances.
The burns starting on my hands from the magic's backlash, the pain of my mana core burning as if consuming my last life.
'Focus. Just a little more...!'
But my concentration was sharper than ever.
I instinctively sensed this was the last magic I would use.
His wish to save everyone now overlapped countless times, emitting a radiant, brilliant light.
'This is the pinnacle of magic I've always imagined, the unification of all magic in the world, the end magic can reach...'
To the point where the slightest mistake would cause the magic circle to overload, blowing away not only my remaining arm and heart but the entire surrounding area.
A magic impossible without eyes that see magical power and the genius-level mana control honed since childhood.
In a way, it was tragic.
Only after losing everyone did I attain the totality of magic.
"...I'm sorry I couldn't save you. All of you."
If you can't breathe, straighten your shoulders first.
Remembering Victoria's touch, who would pat my perpetually hunched back, I exhaled my last breath.
- Astal, sir....
- Astal.
- Astal!
- Astal, sir.
Comrades who, if called by name, would immediately get up, ask what's wrong, and smile at me.
Such comrades were lending me their strength now.
I absolutely cannot give up.
I continued chanting, unfolding the magic circle wider and more densely.
"This is absurd. To overlap and activate so much magic at once... you've already surpassed the human realm."
As the Demon King said, objectively, my physical condition had already passed its limit.
My life was fading to the point where it was strange I was still breathing.
"But you won't even recover your comrades' bodies, let alone save your own life. Are you planning to commit suicide?"
"No..."
I was already in a dying state, on the verge of losing consciousness.
"I will cast the magic to kill you. Even if it costs me everything."
Just as one who has wielded a sword all their life might still swing it even when unconscious.
"—O source of infinite wisdom,
> essence of countless failures, O Magic.
>
I, the humble Astal Caesarius, beseech thee,
>
descend the primal light into these hands."
With lifeless eyes, I finished the incantation of the Ideae.
"Ideae."
Pang—! At the gesture of my clenched fist, the magic circle emitted light.
As if purifying something unclean, it poured all its energy toward the trapped Demon King.
Within that light, I was flung far away, and the explosion and noise, growing in size, swallowed that entire area.
A sensation where seconds felt like hours, and hours felt like years.
Within that vortex, I faced my own past.
The moment I first saw the Saint, half her body covered in flowers—the platinum-haired woman called the Flower Saint.
The sight of fighting back-to-back with my comrades against the demon race on battlefields that divided life and death.
The time we first distributed rewards, squabbling to take more for ourselves, of course.
And later, when my relationship with the Saint progressed, we secretly went on a date, got caught by the Hero, and made clumsy, mismatched lies.
Within that rapid succession of memories, I smiled faintly.
'...I avenged you before I died.'
It wasn't that I had no desire to live. It wasn't that I had no regrets about the heights of magic I couldn't achieve.
But such regrets and attachments were now irrelevant compared to the precious people I had met.
The red-haired Hero who would get angry if ignored even a little and often said, "Let's fight!"
The platinum-haired Saint who, the moment she touched alcohol, would calmly say her life was already nearly spent.
The green-haired Divine Archer who showed off archery tricks several times a day, teasing, "Why can't humans do this simple thing?"
Even the orange-haired Spirit Mage who spoke of such comrades with disdain.
'Why did you believe in me so much?'
The five-year journey, more precious than anything.
United before the goal of vanquishing the Demon King, they became irreplaceable friends and comrades.
'If life is granted to me again, will I be able to meet you?'
I closed my eyes comfortably within the floating sensation of my body rising.
The fading flow of magical power didn't matter. The crushing pain in my heart, as if it would burst, was no longer a major issue.
This precious bond was a great fortune for me, something that couldn't be bought with money or connections.
'If I knew it would end like this, I should have said a proper goodbye.'
It was a pity that I couldn't see them again, that I couldn't even say a word of farewell.
If I were given just one more chance, perhaps this time I could save my comrades' lives.
Burying such a small hope in my heart, my heartbeat completely stopped.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Hello. This is the first time we've met face-to-face like this, right? It feels pretty strange."
Immediately after, I opened my eyes in a place I had never seen before in my life.
"...Who the hell are you?"
A strange place where another man who looked very much like me, but with red hair and a robe, stood before me.
"Well, I have many names. Some call me Thanatos, the god of the underworld..."
The man, whose appearance was similar to the descriptions my comrades gave of another route's version of me, said:
"Astal Caesarius, who failed to unite with Victoria Aberhart and lost all his other comrades early on—a tragic figure."
"......"
"I like that name the best out of all of them. So, how does it feel to be killed by the Demon King?"
He was welcoming me to the afterlife.