The Clue
Zien knocked on the door.
A languid voice drifted from inside the office.
"Come in."
Bluma, the 6th rank Saber and guild master of the Extermination Broom guild.
She must have just finished a meeting; her blue hair was neatly tied back in an office look Zien was seeing for the first time.
"Since you asked me to prepare it, I did... but this is something high-ranking Sabers use."
Bluma strode up behind Zien and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Why would a rookie like you order something like this?"
"There's a memory I want to see."
"Hmm... I see. You're full of mysteries, as always."
With that, Bluma pulled something from her drawer. It was a glass cube, perfectly square—a memory crystal.
Replica Artifact
Mana-swirling glass cube for viewing stored memories
"Here you go. It came out to about 220 million. You've paid the balance, so just confirm later."
"Thank you, Bluma."
"It's nothing for our future guild master."
She'd long given up on recruiting him to the guild, but Bluma handed over the item with a playful joke anyway. At a glance, it looked like a simple glass cube.
But Zien knew its true purpose.
This is a memory crystal. First time seeing one in person.
Of course, the original memory crystal was an artifact. This was a replica processed by the Mage Tower.
Still, the mana swirling inside the glass rivaled the real thing.
"You know how to use it?"
Instead of answering Bluma's question, Zien infused it with mana. His mana mingled with the crystal's, churning wildly.
The mana thrashed about, trying to escape outward. Its speed built and built until—
Bang!
The memory crystal shattered.
At the same moment, the world turned gray, and Zien's vision shifted.
A bird's-eye view from above, as if experiencing an out-of-body sensation. Zien was watching himself from someone else's perspective.
The Mage Tower's pride...
In this gray world, both Bluma and Zien stood frozen. But time hadn't stopped.
30 days per second. Checking all the memories would take about 3 seconds.
Time flowed excruciatingly slowly. Only an artifact could pull off a miracle like this. But the Mage Tower's technology and magitech were on another level entirely.
Static. Crackle!
A reception noise buzzed, followed by a flashy hologram menu.
[Year. Month. Day.]
Enter it here?
It was over 100 years in the past, but Zien hadn't forgotten that date.
I couldn't forget it.
The past Zien was revisiting was the memory of the Gate. The one and only two 8th rank Gates that had ever existed in the world.
Every Saber learned the date it was conquered through textbooks. Even without that, Zien would never forget.
That was the day his past self had died.
With mixed emotions, Zien slowly inputted the date.
A voice echoed from somewhere.
I am A1. EF—22, the Memory Crystal guide.
Like the voice of his Stigma, it rang directly in his head. But the memory crystal's voice had a robotic, staccato awkwardness.
The EF-22 model stores 92 days' worth of memories. Call the model name if you need guidance.
Whoosh.
With that final guidance, the office vanished, and the scenery shifted.
89 days had passed since Zien, like a specter, began drifting through the memories to witness Evan's conquest.
Who would've thought I'd be spectating my own strategy? What a bizarre experience.
Nearly three months in, the Gate conquest finally reached its finale.
[Location - Demon King's Castle Demoniac]
A hologram popped up suddenly.
Zien waved it away with his translucent hand.
Demon King's Castle... it's been a while.
Among the zones emerging from Gates, Zone 4 held the most mysteries.
And among those, the one hailed as the pinnacle by all Sabers was this very [Demon King's Castle Demoniac].
Of course, demons weren't the strongest race in Zone 4 on average. That title went to dragons.
But the strongest being was Demon King Belial.
The king who ruled over all demons.
The greatest evil in Jenia history.
Zien gazed at Belial with complex emotions.
My greatest foe.
In a gruesome landscape littered with skulls, Demon King Belial sat upon a towering throne of pitch black.
An immortal being who had lived for eternity.
An undefeated existence who knew no defeat.
With an arrogant sneer, he addressed Evan and his comrades.
"I've heard of your fame, hero."
Belial's clear voice called Evan "hero."
In the Demon King's eyes, my comrades must have looked like the hero's party.
That was the essence of Gates.
Zien's eyes grew cold.
Gates dragged Sabers into stories of unknown origin, demanding an ending under the name of "quests." There was no right or wrong in those tales.
To save the real world, you have to clear the quests somehow.
Thus, Sabers wandered illusory worlds called Gates.
Yet unreasonably, while the insides of Gates were illusions, death there was all too real.
In his past life, Evan had died on the cold ground of what might have been just such an illusionary world.
And that's how I reclaimed these memories.
Zien looked at his past self, Evan Crowe. Then he etched the familiar faces standing beside him into his mind, one by one.
...It's really been too long.
Cheerful Peil.
Stoic Sina.
Gentle Jeira.
Boisterous Yepman.
Seeing his comrades' faces again like this lifted Zien's spirits.
They had been his everything in his past life. Without Lijia, he would've died in school exams long ago—and the same went for the others.
Missing even one comrade, and Hero Evan Crowe could never have existed.
As Zien lost himself in reminiscence, Evan raised his sword with a grave gaze.
"Demon King Belial. Your demons have turned human blood into seas and flooded the continent."
It was a perfect hero-of-Zone-4 line. Belial smiled in satisfaction.
"As it should be."
"Today, we subjugate you and save Jenia."
"My eternal pastime had grown dull. I wish you success."
With those words, the battle began.
Five against one. Evan's party had the numbers, but the Demon King was a transcendent being.
Each swing of his magic sword Vice scattered crimson-black demonic energy.
Every technique warped space itself.
But Evan's party was no ordinary group. Heroes whose legends endured to the modern day, they surpassed 7th rank with ease. True legends among Sabers.
The teammates moved as one, creating openings, and Evan pierced the Demon King's heart through one such gap.
"Here I go!"
The skill Spirit's Blessing granted by the World Tree imbued Black Fragrance with light attribute—fatal to the Demon King.
Light surged from the sword, enveloping the foe. But if that ended it, it wouldn't have been an 8th rank Gate.
Who'd have thought a non-Hunter could awaken...
As Zien thought, the Demon King awakened on the brink of death. Or rather, that was Belial's true power.
Outwardly, little changed—just longer horns and hair.
But the power gap was vast.
Clang!
One slash from the Demon King cost Jeira—whose magic tool was the "Left Hand of Healing"—her left hand.
The second reversed Yepman's shield magic tool.
Sina was repelled by the demonic energy and slammed into a wall.
"Cough!"
Only two remained.
Peil bound the Demon King with his chain magic tool. Evan had no choice. Or rather, no options left.
One chance.
Ordinary techniques couldn't fell Demon King Belial.
Evan slowly closed his eyes.
Zien watched him.
Zien and Evan were one now.
He already knew what choice Evan would make.
The Evan of that time might have thought Lijia saved him for this very moment.
Moon Sword
A technique that burned not mana, but his very life. Evan's ultimate trump card, prepared long ago.
Golden winds layered over the glowing Black Fragrance. Jeira sensed something amiss and screamed Evan's name in despair, to no avail. Yepman just grunted, and Peil wept.
Crash!
Evan and the Demon King clashed.
Golden light and crimson-black darkness merged, repelled, and devoured each other.
In the end, darkness fell.
"...Light and shadow coexist. Remember this: as long as humanity endures, demons are eternal."
With grand final words, the Demon King collapsed.
But the price Evan paid was no light thing.
Fading life.
Comrades bidding him farewell with tears.
Zien watched it all coldly, as a third party.
This was the end of my past life.
Just as complex emotions swirled within him—
His hand throbbed like it was burning.
This sensation... no way?
Black Fragrance's voice, about to name the skill, drowned in noise.
At the same instant, the Demon King's Castle scenery shifted. What Zien now saw was Bluma's office.
Information overload.
Three months of data flooded into Zien's mind in an instant.
He staggered, and Bluma swiftly supported him.
"Gotcha."
The three months Zien spent adrift in memories were mere three seconds to Bluma.
From her view, the moment he used the memory crystal, his eyes lost focus and he seemed to collapse.
But Bluma knew the side effects of memory crystals well.
"For a Saber, it's just mild dizziness. A normal person would've died."
Bluma said it stone-faced, her expression unchanging.
Catching his breath, Zien smiled.
"...Probably."
"Seeing you dizzy like that, must've been quite the trip?"
"About three months."
"Too long for a vacation?"
Bluma continued lightly, like a joke.
"So, what exactly did you see?"
To Bluma's question, Zien murmured with lonely eyes.
"A clue."