Chapter 688
Chapter 688
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 688
Chapter Title: An Unwavering Resolve
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“So, let me get this straight. You didn't come to the past; we came to the future?”
“Yes.”
“And this place is now a boundary between the present and the past?”
“You've understood perfectly.”
Chelsea nodded at Enniha’s words.
“Wow. So that's possible. A divine artifact, indeed.”
Enniha exclaimed in admiration.
Chelsea, who had been watching Enniha with bated breath, glanced at Karl.
Karl, too, was watching Enniha with a tense expression.
The moment a character within the World of Heroes realized they were fake, their ego would collapse, and they would go berserk.
As far as Karl could remember, there were only two instances where a character from the World of Heroes had remained sane after becoming aware of a challenger's existence.
‘Dweno and Rodia.’
Of the two, Rodia had maintained her sanity by destroying her own ego just before it collapsed.
It was a feat only possible for someone like Rodia, known as the Dragon of Dawn.
‘Didn't Rian say that Dweno could keep his sanity because he was the master of the Hero Record and recognized the existence of challengers on his own?’
Recalling the story the fake Rian he had met in the world of Lumerne had told him, Karl looked at Enniha.
‘Then what about Enniha? Is it because this is the World of the Legion?’
“I knew something was strange. To suddenly have the night sky back… The gods truly are amazing. To perform a miracle that transcends time and space.”
For Enniha, who had lived in the Age of Gods, their miracles were astonishing but still within the realm of familiarity.
Watching Enniha, Karl formed a hypothesis.
‘The Hero Record doesn't exist in this era. So, is she okay because she thinks of us simply as people from the future, not as challengers?’
For anyone living in the post-Genesis era, encountering someone from the future would naturally lead them to think of challengers.
But what if they simply thought of them as people from the future?
‘Is she not having a mental breakdown because she doesn't think of herself as fake?’
While Karl was pondering various hypotheses, Enniha spoke.
“You know what? This is getting me fired up. It means that in the future, Erebos is eventually defeated, right? And Dweno becomes one of the five heroes who defeat him.”
At those words, Chelsea wore a bitter expression.
“We haven't completely defeated him.”
“Even so, that’s incredible! How far in the future are you from?”
“Five thousand years.”
“Oh! That’s amazing! What’s the future like? Is it full of beautiful things? How are the arts?”
Enniha poured out a stream of innocent questions.
Chelsea and Karl answered each one.
“It's a world I can't even imagine.”
Enniha looked up at the sky.
“Let’s put the talk of the future aside for now. So, my initial understanding was correct, right? That ‘entrance’ is a passage connecting the past and the future, and as long as it’s connected, the Tartaros of the Age of Calamity is planning to invade the future?”
“Yes.”
“And if we destroy it, they’ll return to their original timeline?”
They had explained the Hero Record's ability as time travel, and Enniha had understood it all.
Chelsea cautiously nodded.
“Simple enough.”
“Enniha. If that happens, not only you but also the people of Ivaldi will…”
“I know. We’ll return to the past too.”
“…”
“In history, Ivaldi was destroyed, wasn't it?”
“Probably.”
“‘Probably’… means our name wasn't even left behind for future generations.”
“Th-That's because the demons eradicated all past records! If not for that, there would surely be a record left…”
“It's alright. Everyone in Ivaldi knew what kind of end we would meet.”
Enniha dusted herself off and stood up.
“It was something we were all prepared for. There was just this lingering anxiety. What if our sacrifice was in vain?”
Placing her hands on her hips, Enniha grinned.
“But it turned out to be meaningful in the end, right? That’s enough.”
“Don’t you feel it’s unfair?”
Enniha fell silent at Chelsea's tearful question, then carefully opened her mouth.
“If I said I didn't… that would be a lie.”
“Then let’s find another way! I’m sure Leo and Dweno will find a way…”
“You’re a kind child, Chelsea.”
Enniha smiled as she gently stroked Chelsea’s hair.
But her tone soon became firm.
“But we can't do that.”
Seeing Enniha’s stern expression, Chelsea gasped.
“The warriors of Ivaldi, including myself… the reason the people of Ivaldi could think of resisting until the very end without breaking, knowing our fate, wasn't for the honor of leaving our names in history, nor was it because we believed there was hope.”
“Then… why?”
“It was because Dweno's unwavering back led us forward.”
“B-But… Dweno surely fought for hope…”
“That dwarf was the one who always used to say there was no such thing as hope.”
Enniha smiled bitterly.
“I thought it was strange he hadn't said that since coming here… I guess he saw hope in the future. That must be why he talked about taking us to the future and all that.”
“Then… why did Dweno fight?”
“Even in the most desperate of times, he must have just wanted his people to live, even if for just a little longer.”
“For a reason like that?”
“That reason would have been enough for him. That dwarf, he was an outcast from the moment he was born.”
“From birth?”
“Yes. He was famous as the cursed dwarf. The golden flames Dweno wielded turned everything around him to ash.”
But after meeting Enniha, Dweno’s life changed.
“He felt it was enough if he could fight for his people.”
Not breaking and not giving up are two different things.
If the Hero of the Beginning, Kyle, fought without giving up in search of an unseen hope…
Then the Divine Blacksmith, Dweno, fought with the wish that the time of the people he cherished and loved would last even a moment longer.
From the very beginning of the Age of Calamity.
Until the very moment he met his end.
“Dreaming of a world where his precious people could share beautiful moments in a beautiful world… he must have fought. With an idiot like that around, how could we possibly break?”
Enniha let out a deep sigh and ground her teeth.
“That's why I'm pissed off right now. In the end, we just became a burden, didn't we?”
Enniha slammed her fist into her palm.
“Don't make me laugh. The die has already been cast. Our fate is set. To weigh the peace he risked his life to reclaim against our future, which ended long ago? That goddamn idiot dwarf! I feel like marching over there right now and giving him a piece of my mind!”
Fuming, Enniha spoke resolutely to Chelsea and Karl.
“Anyone in Ivaldi would think the same way. Even the children at the orphanage!”
Faced with that unshakeable, iron will, Chelsea and Karl could only stand there, dumbfounded.
“We refuse to be a burden! And the same goes for you two.”
“Pardon?”
“You don't want to be a burden to Leo—the hero who survives—either, right?”
“Of course not!”
“Then if he wavers, you slap some sense back into him! You have to stop him from making the wrong choice. Isn't that what you were worried about too?”
No one is perfect.
Even the Great Hero who saved the world has moments of weakness.
That is why one has comrades.
At Enniha’s words, the look in Chelsea and Karl’s eyes changed.
Seeing this, Enniha grinned.
“Now that’s more like it. Alright then, find the entrance.”
“The entrance has a distortion. If it were somewhere obvious, you would have noticed it, Enniha. Isn't there a place out of sight?”
Enniha answered Karl’s question.
“This fortress has an underground level. In that case, there are two suspicious locations.”
“Where are they?”
“First, the underground labyrinth in the center of the fortress. Second, the secret space beneath the fortress wall's moat.”
“What’s the reason?”
“Both are places Dweno explored alone when we first arrived here. And no one has been there since.”
A place no one but Dweno had been to was certainly suspicious.
“Considering the complex structure of a labyrinth, it would be best for someone fast to go.”
Karl said to Chelsea.
“Chelsea, you and Enniha search the labyrinth. It may be called a labyrinth, but it’s likely just a simple maze without any magic. I'll check out the underground space beneath the moat.”
“Leave it to me.”
Chelsea said, thumping her chest.
“The moat area will be heavily guarded. Are you confident you won't get caught?”
If Dweno had hidden the entrance's existence, he might try to stop Karl and Chelsea from making suspicious movements while searching for something within the fortress.
“Don't worry. I’m confident I won’t get caught.”
***
After parting with the two, Karl immediately approached the bushes near the fortress wall.
Then, he took off his shirt.
‘It's hard to move when your clothes are wet.’
He knew some water-breathing magic, but the sentries guarding the wall were veterans hardened on the battlefield.
‘Using magic carelessly will just get me caught.’
Having taken off his shirt, Karl wore a smug expression.
“Hmph. As expected, I'm always prepared.”
He took a swimsuit from a corner of his subspace.
It wasn't just any swimsuit.
It was a product Karl had created through alchemy, a special swimsuit that was not hindered by the flow of water.
Just as Karl had changed into the swimsuit…
“Who's there?”
A sharp voice rang out.
Startled, Karl held his breath.
“No use hiding. I can smell you! I smell you!”
Emerging from beyond the bushes was the cat beastkin, Kanea.
It seemed she was on patrol.
Kanea, who had been glancing around with a sharp expression, suddenly straightened her tail.
Then, she lunged toward the bush where Karl was hiding!
“Got you! You suspicious… huh? Karl? What are you doing, all stripped down?”
Kanea, having pinned Karl to the ground, tilted her head in confusion.
“‘Stripped down’? Anyone would think I'm a pervert.”
“Well, you’re just in your underwear at night. You do look like a suspicious pervert.”
“This is a swimsuit.”
“What’s a swimsuit?”
‘Is that something that doesn't exist in the Age of Calamity? No, even in our time, a man walking around in a swimsuit at night would look like a pervert.’
Just as Karl was wondering how to explain the situation…
“Pipi. Are you sure Karl went this way?”
Kyuu.
Eliza was walking over, having shrunk her summon, a Wind Wyvern, to the size of her palm.
She had gotten worried when Chelsea and Karl didn't return late into the night and had come looking for them.
Arriving at the deserted fortress wall, Eliza found Karl lying in the bushes in nothing but a swimsuit with Kanea on top of him, and her usual bored expression returned.
“Eliza. What are you doing here?”
“I was taking a walk, Karl Thomas. It seems I've interrupted your pleasant time.”
“Why are you suddenly talking like that? Anyway, this is great. The three of us can do it together.”
At those words, Eliza’s face turned icy.
“I’m nice to you, and you just keep pushing it. Are you making such a vulgar demand of me right now…?”
“We're about to start searching for the entrance… what are you talking about?”
As Karl looked at her with an expression of disbelief, Eliza fell silent.
“Looks like you had a strange misunderstanding.”
Kanea shrugged and stood up.
“I was just on patrol. I only subdued Karl because he was acting suspiciously in perverted attire.”
“I told you, it’s a swimsuit. Anyway, Eliza, as if I’d ever go crazy enough to… to you…”
“Shut up. Say one more word and I’ll kill you.”
Eliza said in a murderous voice.
Watching them, Kanea marveled.
“They said humans were the most numerous race before the Age of Calamity. Hmm. I see. So this is why.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Now, now. Let's put the embarrassing talk aside. It seems certain that the entrance is within this fortress.”
At those words, Eliza and Kanea’s eyes widened.
“So, I need your cooperation, ladies.”
Grinning, Karl reached into his subspace and pulled out two women’s swimsuits.
“Let's get moving.”