Chapter 394
Chapter 394
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 394
Chapter Title: The First Madman Forces a Choice
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The first madman forces a choice.
A fork in the road where picking one means discarding the other. Even if the one choosing bears no guilt...
The fact remains that they must select the one to abandon with their own hands.
Strategic value. The weight of lives.
Relationships and emotions tied to the targets.
Countless factors weigh into any choice.
The moment one begins calculating them one by one, they turn inward. They realize just how petty they truly are.
'...A choice.'
She had proclaimed that all lives held equal weight, that every life was precious... Yet here she was, weighing them at the most crucial moment. Chloe felt disgust toward herself.
"I... I..."
If it were her.
That person wouldn't have hesitated like this.
"......"
In the end, Chloe bowed her head and fell silent. It wasn't her role to make the choice. She was powerless in this moment, and it wasn't her carrying out the operation.
Lania van Trias.
She would be the one forced to choose.
Humanity's greatest asset and the only one who could devise a solution here. Chloe waited wordlessly for her answer.
"Chloe."
Lania spoke.
Her voice was a touch colder than usual. Chloe looked up at her. The moment she met those bluish eyes, Chloe realized something instinctively.
The person before her wasn't a hero just for her sake. Not the kind Professor Lania who had always looked at her with gentle eyes...
"I..."
She was the overall commander of the western front.
The wielder of the greatest authority.
A being who must judge and choose based on reason, not emotion. Public duty, not private feelings. More objectively than anyone on the battlefield.
The villain presents the choices.
The virtuous agonize over them.
The idealist ultimately chooses neither—or sacrifices themselves.
And the commander.
The one who bears responsibility.
"I'm going to Artia."
Chooses whom to abandon.
2.
A blood-red moon and a black sky rippling like waves.
The sky viewed from the heart of the Demonic Realm was bizarre. Belnoa let out a long sigh as she pushed herself up. Her breath caught in the thick demonic energy, but it was only momentary. Her sturdy mana array held firm against it.
"Hoo..."
Belnoa leaned her head against a boulder as she exhaled deeply. The goddess who had been perched atop it was now sitting beside her.
[This seems to be the depths of the Demonic Realm.]
"It looks that way."
[You've been caught in a vicious spell.]
Belnoa gave a wry smile.
Vicious spell—aptly put. She recalled the final moments. Just as victory seemed certain, the tide turned. The madman manifesting through the necromancer's corpse unleashed a pre-prepared circuit...
And it was a spatial spell.
She couldn't identify it precisely due to the ancient language, but the characteristic spatial distortion emanated from the circuit. The instant she saw it, Belnoa abandoned resistance and sent Chloe to safety.
No knowledge meant no counter.
No way to dispel it.
Thus, it was the best choice.
All she could do was twist the spell's target coordinates as the circuit swallowed her. Looking around now, her attempt had succeeded halfway and failed halfway...
"Either way, I'm alive."
Half a success was enough, Belnoa thought. Honestly, it had been madness. One slip, and her body would've been torn apart.
Why had spatial spells fallen out of use?
Instability. Even the short-range teleporters in the capital required hundreds of safety measures and were limited to within the city walls.
Connect point to point.
Tear space and ride mana currents to travel.
Theoretically possible, but too many variables and risks made it impractical. The slightest miscalculation could shred the caster.
'If spatial spells were viable in battle, battle mages would've dominated over any top swordsman.'
...Though they seemed to do fine without them anyway. Regardless, surviving interference with such a dangerous spell was a miracle.
[Heh.]
The goddess shot Belnoa a disbelieving glance.
[You know that was insane, right?]
"Falling at their chosen spot meant death anyway. I figured I'd take a gamble."
[Fair point.]
"Guess I should be grateful for the caster's skill. Somehow stabilized it perfectly."
[So that's why you survived?]
"Something like that."
Belnoa tossed out the half-joking remark and stood.
"......"
She silently reached into her robe. Most of her magic tools hadn't survived the transfer intact.
Two potions left.
A bit of shriveled combat rations.
Pathetic supplies for surviving the Demonic Realm's heart. Belnoa sighed, chewing the dried meat as she stretched lightly.
[What now?]
"What else?"
Belnoa turned to the goddess with a wry smile.
"Survive."
In those final moments.
Facing the encroaching circuit, Belnoa had turned to Chloe and said: Wait for me. I'll come back.
"Didn't you say it yourself, Goddess?"
Survive.
If you truly care for that child, stay by her side, the goddess had warned. Belnoa exhaled long and deep, mulling it over.
"So I'll survive... and go back."
"Hey, Belnoa."
"Don't leave me behind."
"That's the promise I made."
That dawn as day broke.
Belnoa hadn't forgotten Chloe's gaze or her fragile voice. Nor the goddess's warning, Raniel and Destel's advice.
[Fine resolve.]
The goddess rose too.
Perched on Belnoa's shoulder, she stretched out an arm toward the forest beyond.
[It won't be easy.]
"Doesn't look like it."
Presences stirred beyond the forest.
Their voices drifted faintly to Belnoa's ears. Too distant for full context, but enough.
-...Find her!
-The prophet...
-Around here...
They were searching for someone.
And it was her. Belnoa steadied her breath, suppressing her presence to the limit. Clearing her mind, she focused on one thing.
First, survive.
With everything she had.
3.
"I'm going to Artia."
Chloe knew what that meant.
Going to Artia meant choosing Kelrhalm—choosing Kelrhalm meant abandoning Belnoa.
...She understood logically.
It was rational to prioritize the definitively rescuable Kelrhalm over the completely missing Belnoa. Objectively correct.
She understood with her head.
But...
"K-Kelrhalm..."
One couldn't always be rational.
Her eyes trembling, Chloe glared at Lania. Meeting the cold gaze, she continued in a quivering voice.
"Then... Belnoa..."
Did she really want to hear "We won't save her" from those lips? It wasn't a proper question—more a mutter.
"......"
Lania felt bitterness watching Chloe waver. The tale from her future self fit this moment all too well.
The Ash Goddess had said:
One of the disciples she taught in the future became a calamity, and she had to kill the child herself. When Lania pressed for the name, the Ash Goddess replied:
"It was Chloe."
"Belnoa died, and Chloe became the calamity."
Belnoa's death.
Chloe's fall as a result.
She hadn't shared details, but the Ash Goddess admitted using Belnoa as bait and discarding her. Despite a chance to save her, she didn't.
"It was necessary."
What made it necessary remained unknown. But her future self believed it averted the worst.
'Avoid the worst, pursue the lesser evil.'
That was the Ash Goddess's way.
'But...'
Not mine.
Lania exhaled deeply.
"Chloe."
"Bel...noa..."
"Chloe, look at me."
She reached out and gripped Chloe's shoulders firmly.
Staring straight into Chloe's wavering eyes, Lania spoke.
"Chloe, you are the Hero."
Her blue eyes reflected in Chloe's green ones.
"You're in a position to make choices and judgments on your own. That's what a Hero must be."
The commander. The responsible one. The one who drinks blood and iron.
"Don't leave it to someone else. Don't just accept it. See what you want to choose."
Meeting her gaze, Lania asked.
"What do you want to do?"
"...I..."
Chloe said in a trembling voice.
"I want to save Belnoa."
"Good."
"But..."
"No need for the rest."
Lania released Chloe's shoulders.
She pulled artifacts from her robe and placed two in Chloe's palm. Pointing to one, she explained.
"Belnoa has a primal god with her. That means foreign divine power, and this artifact tracks that divinity."
Chloe examined it.
It showed only direction.
A faint dot flickered in and out.
"Belnoa's still alive. Seems dropped in the Demonic Realm's heart, but I don't know the exact spot. Just the direction... and demonic energy makes sensing tricky."
But the general direction is clear.
Lania muttered, looking at Chloe.
"I'll assign skilled knights and a few magic knights from the special forces. Form a search party. Head into the Demonic Realm, follow the signal."
It won't be easy.
Immensely dangerous.
"If you want to save her, do your utmost best."
Doing one's best doesn't guarantee success. Many things defy effort alone.
"If you do your best and reach Belnoa's vicinity."
The shortcomings despite best efforts.
The insurmountable parts.
"No matter where it is. Heart of the Demonic Realm, calamity zone, monster swarm—doesn't matter."
Those gaps are filled by miracles.
Fortune-born miracles. Gods are said to grant them, yet they watch impassively, eyes averted.
"Activate the second artifact."
Thus, someone must stand in their stead.
Wield the miracle, fill the gaps.
That is the Hero's role, God's proxy.
"I'll handle the rest."
Chloe's eyes shook.
She glanced between the second artifact—stripped of all safety—and Lania. Then spoke.
"But this..."
"That's not for you to worry or bear. It's mine."
Lania smiled wryly.
She lightly tapped Chloe's head.
"Just focus on finding Belnoa for now. Don't give up prematurely—do everything you can."
Right?
Chloe bowed her head before her. Relief, self-loathing, myriad emotions swirled as she exhaled suppressed breath. Seeing trembling lips peeking through disheveled hair and tears falling onto her robe, Lania sighed softly.
"...You know, Chloe."
She said.
"Before commander or responsible party, I'm the Hero."
The commander chooses whom to abandon.
But before commander, Lania was the Hero. Lania—no, Raniel—had made a promise long ago. To her oldest friend. One she must keep.
Not a contract.
No binding force from providence, no penalty for breaking it. Yet all the more unbreakable for it.
"The Hero you wanted."
"The perfect Hero you dreamed of."
"That's what I'll be."
Lightly said, but the resolve weighed heavier than anything. Before Kyle Toven, Raniel had vowed: to become the perfect Hero.
"A Hero must also be a true Hero."
The virtuous agonize.
The idealist sacrifices themselves.
The commander selects the abandoned.
The Hero works miracles.
In situations demanding sacrifice, the one who saves all through miracle is called Hero. Raniel van Trias had to become one.
"That's the promise."
So, Raniel said.
"Do your utmost best."
And for what remains.
"I'll take care of it."
This was her choice.