Chapter 208
Chapter 208
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Fate Guardians
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No;;
I'm saying they seem like the type who try to save the world.
Yeah, they said they protect fate.
They never said they'd protect laws, ethics, or Remier lol
Just protect fate half-assed and call it a day.
I fully agree with you.
Oh, and I think the Fate Guardians are the greatest race in the world.
The crazy thing about these Fate Guardians is
it's not protecting fate (for the world's sake)
it's protecting fate (for their own sake).
It's hilarious they're trapped in that hourglass.
They acted like transcendent space-time beings who were gonna be the world's true rulers and ended up like that.
That was only at first.
After Remier failed to fulfill her debt and became their full minion,
they started showing her faked observations
to use her as their tool.
Basically, if someone gets in their plans,
they frame them with a "observation" and tell Remier "This guy's a total bastard anyway ㅠㅠ" to get her to kill them lol.
Even Remier's suicide was her realizing that midway and crashing hard lol.
The Wandering Star Remier.
That great mage was never an existence the Fate Guardians could presume to control at will.
But.
Now, she was bound to the hourglass, moved by the hourglass.
To pay the price for recklessly using the hourglass's power in her still-immature days.
However—
In truth, Remier could escape the hourglass's restraints at any time if she so wished.
She could break free from the life of devoting her entire existence to paying the price to the hourglass.
After all, that great mage possessed the power to make it possible.
But Remier did not.
"Get it together, Remier... You're doing the right thing."
Because she believed it was for the greater good.
The Fate Guardians had thoroughly hidden their true nature from Remier.
They made her believe they existed solely for the greater good.
All to turn the great mage into their minion—
"...Show me."
Even while paying the price, Remier would observe events at the Fate Guardians' urging and avert tragedies.
Her efforts to pay the price had become like pouring water into a leaky dam.
And so, it had come to this—
The Fate Guardians' will was about to bear fruit.
...At least until just a few days ago, that had been the case.
They hadn't anticipated the hourglass reversing so violently.
They'd estimated it would take years for Remier to reach that target, but it happened in just two days.
Moreover!
The reverse flow, which had seemed to finally stop, was gaining momentum again with Master Meltas's visit.
The Fate Guardians were no different.
Like Remier, they couldn't precisely identify the cause of the reversal.
Even so.
One thing they were certain of.
'We can't leave Remier in this magic tower any longer!'
The Fate Guardians intended to summon Remier to the barrier connected to the hourglass and show her a manipulated "observation."
An observation compelling enough to make her leave the magic tower right away.
"An urgent matter..."
Remier had lived crushed under the weight of the price imposed on her for long ages.
Perhaps because of that, she had begun to feel a certain intimidation from the Fate Guardians who imposed that price.
In the past, she would have yielded to that pressure and immediately followed their orders.
She would have answered the call as they wished, performed the observation, and left the magic tower.
However—
"..."
Remier's gaze turned to the hourglass.
To its upper half, steadily filling even now.
The reason Remier had been crushed by the price's weight was that she knew how grueling it was to reverse the sand.
Therefore.
With the reversal happening so absurdly simply, the price lost its weight.
And so, Remier's heart tilted not toward the Fate Guardians, but toward Rishir.
She picked up the hourglass and left the room.
Her steps were even light and buoyant.
The Fate Guardians were outraged.
The extreme change happening to Remier in real time!
It was dragging her farther from their purpose.
In their impatience, the Fate Guardians rebuked Remier in unison, then immediately realized their mistake.
"..."
Remier looked at the hourglass with a meaningful gaze.
She felt a sense of incongruity from their attitude, which deviated from their usual demeanor and revealed too much of themselves.
A seed of doubt was planted in the great mage. It would undoubtedly become a variable in their long-term plan.
The Fate Guardians had no choice but to step back.
"..."
After mulling their words briefly, Remier nodded slowly.
It still felt off, but it meant she understood for now.
The Fate Guardians began to forcibly calm themselves.
'It's not the worst yet...'
The hourglass's ominous state.
It was certain.
Something tremendous was about to happen in the magic tower.
If Remier observed that event?
For the Fate Guardians, nothing could be more disastrous.
In that sense, Remier's current actions had a positive side.
Her interest was in "Rishir's magic demonstration," not the "source of the reversal."
'Just make her leave the tower right after the magic demo...'
Then, suddenly.
The Fate Guardians felt a small unease.
The possibility that.
'Rishir's magic demonstration' might be the 'source of the reversal.'
Of course, it was merely a fleeting delusion.
A 7th-circle mage's demonstration couldn't possibly cause such violent reversal.
Kwachik!
A crack appeared on the hourglass's body.
Shaaaaaaah!!!!!
Due to an unprecedented ferocious reverse flow.
"W-What in the world did I just witness!?"
"Using overload for rapid realm ascent is shocking enough, but in that state, driving magic and swordsmanship to their limits!? Simultaneously!?"
"W-Wait!!! That's not all!!! That flame obscuring Master Meltas's view...! Isn't that the spirit power Rishir showed before!?"
"Then... My god, it's not just swordsmanship and magic, but spirit arts too!?"
"Heh! Unbelievable! I braced myself since Rishir boasted about his signature technique, but this is—..."
"Wait! Something's off!"
"Master Lardros!? Did you notice something!?"
"Rishir definitely called it magic sword arts!"
"Ooh, and yet!?"
"But he used magic, swordsmanship, and spirit arts! So shouldn't it be magic sword spirit arts!?"
"Sounds kinda lame."
"Tch."
Rishir's technique demonstration in his spar with Master Meltas.
The dignified masters were clamoring like excited students.
"Maintain your dignity."
From the magic tower lord's perspective, such words naturally came to mind—
In truth.
Their reactions were remarkably composed.
At least in that they maintained their sanity.
"Magic sword arts... Ma... gic... sword..."
Remier murmured the words in a daze.
Soon.
Rishir approached Remier.
His eyes looking at her brimmed with expectation.
"Lady Remier?"
Remier, possessor of profound energy beyond what he could fully gauge at his current level.
Surely she could offer meaningful advice after seeing his magic sword arts!?
At last, Remier spoke.
"You showed me your magic sword arts... Got nothing to say...?"
"Yes!"
Her ensuing "advice."
"...How did you do that?"
"Pardon?"
Remier's gaze had already turned to the hourglass she pulled from her bosom.
The moment she saw his magic sword arts, she was certain.
That the source of the reversal was none other than those magic sword arts!
The hourglass's upper half.
Its void was filling at tremendous speed.
"This... What is..."
Confusion from the magic sword arts.
Joy from the nearly fully reversed hourglass.
Remier flitted her gaze frantically between Rishir and the hourglass, at a loss.
At that moment.
A trembling voice echoed in Remier's mind.
The Fate Guardians.
They urged her to appear.
***
"What? That 'every moment counts' urgent matter was—"
Right after witnessing Rishir's magic sword arts.
Remier visited the Fate Guardians' abode at their request, without time to compose herself.
The barrier linked to the hourglass.
The space they called the crevice of time, where the Fate Guardians resided.
"A new point of intervention has arisen."
A masked figure gazed at Remier.
It was the Fate Guardians.
Or rather, eyes within the mask gazed at her.
The eyes visible through the mask slits were filled with countless pupils bubbling up like foam.
"It's related to Rishir."
"...What?"
Remier's eyes widened.
If the Fate Guardian's words were true—
The event she was about to observe was the full story of a future catastrophe caused by Rishir.
Are you sure?
Remier almost voiced it.
Doubting the Fate Guardians would be tantamount to doubting everything she'd done so far.
"..."
At Remier's reaction, the Fate Guardians smirked sinisterly behind their masks.
The Fate Guardians.
Having realized like Remier that Rishir was the cause of all reversals, they were convinced.
Separating Rishir from Remier would solve the problem.
Thus, they pondered.
How to distance Rishir from Remier.
Their answer: observation.
Expose Rishir's flaws through observation and show them to Remier.
Of course.
It was impossible with ordinary observation.
The miraculous power traversing past and future couldn't be fully controlled even by them.
Their observations all took the form of "coincidences."
Precisely observing events tied to Rishir's flaws to show Remier was practically impossible.
So how?
The answer was simple.
Fabrication.
Remier had experienced the power of observation through the Fate Guardians until now.
Could she.
Distinguish true observation from fabricated one?
"...Show me."
Watching the agonized Remier, the Fate Guardians inwardly cheered.
They immediately showed her the fabricated observation.
***
At the same time.
Rishir felt a bizarre sense of incongruity enveloping him.
'What is this...? Magic? No. Not that. This is—...'
Rishir closed his eyes and focused his mind.
Arriving at the world of stars.
In the spiritual world, he began observing himself from a spiritual viewpoint.
"Hm?"
Soon, he raised his head.
A massive eye floated there, as if the void had torn open, gazing down at him.
"..."
Rishir narrowed his eyes.
To confirm what was reflected within that eye.
***
"This place..."
Remier looked around.
Rishir's room.
The layout of the place she'd visited several times had changed.
Everywhere were traces of ominous rituals.
The Fate Guardians said.
"Surely you've questioned his inexplicable power."
"..."
How could she not harbor doubts about that inexplicable power?
The Fate Guardians' words easily ensnared Remier's thoughts.
Remier's expression clouded with anguish in an instant.
To deepen her confusion, the Fate Guardians pressed on.
"And you've questioned his intentions. With that level of power, why be content coexisting humbly below others instead of ruling?"
"That's..."
"It's to lull them into security and complacency."
The Fate Guardians approached Rishir and stared him down.
Their eyes met.
However, unlike the Fate Guardians, Rishir wouldn't perceive them.
This was a one-sided observation.
He was merely an illusion crafted by the Fate Guardians—
"Lull into complacency? What do you mean by that?"
At that moment.
Rishir looked straight at the Fate Guardians with both eyes and spoke.
"H-Huh?!?"
The Fate Guardians gasped in shock and tumbled backward.