Chapter 458
Chapter 458
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 458
Chapter Title: The Coward's Final Plea
-350.
"It's all over."
"……."
"What do you plan to do now?"
"I don't know."
"You can't just not know."
"You……."
"I won't tell you to take responsibility. I won't even say to just try something—after all, you're someone who can do anything."
"……What are you getting at?"
"I just have a favor to ask."
He gave a bitter smile.
"Whether you become a god, the Demon King, a star, or anything else……."
He lifted the broken star spear.
A rusted, fractured star spear, its once-brilliant shine dulled by crusted black-red blood. He pressed it to his temple. Though it had lost its light, its sharpness remained; blood trickled from where the blade met skin.
"Please, become something."
Those were the words of the last surviving coward.
"Become something and prove it. Prove that the lives of those who died, my life saved by them, the dozen years we struggled together, the long, hellish path we endured—all of it had meaning."
What flashed through his mind were countless deaths.
Reaching this place had demanded endless sacrifices. A destination piled high with innumerable corpses. Staring at it, he let out a long breath.
"How can I show this sight to them?"
A ruined world lay before his eyes.
Black snow fell from the sky.
Demonic energy vibrated from the earth.
The Demon King had cursed and hated this land to the very end. That curse was now leading the world to destruction.
"……I asked you before."
About parallel worlds, or perhaps regression.
"And you answered like this: parallel worlds absolutely can't exist. Regression might have a slim chance, you said."
In that conversation, they had both intuited it.
This world was already broken beyond repair, beyond salvation. No paradise awaited at their journey's end. Knowing that, they had come this far. For what?
"Regress. That way, at least all this might have some worth."
"……That's so irresponsible. You think it's that easy?"
"Impossible for a human, maybe."
The coward smiled.
Smiling, he looked at the witch.
"But you? I think you could."
There stood a being no longer quite human.
A half-god.
If she willed it, becoming a full god wouldn't be hard. What he needed now was to drive the wedge home. How to steel that demigod's resolve?
Cruel, but one method came to mind.
The coward uttered the name of her reverse scale, the one being she could never ignore.
"Kyle said it."
"……."
"He saw you as a godlike existence. He said he worshipped you as someone who could do anything, become anything. So this time……."
The coward smiled.
"Why not try becoming a god?"
The witch fell silent.
The coward let out a long breath.
"If there's only one world, as you say, and you become a god and can regress."
If that happened.
"Then all this becomes 'as if it never was.' It turns into a past no one remembers."
Yeah, the coward said.
"That would be enough."
"……Enough for what?"
"Even if it vanishes, even if it's forgotten, the time we lived piles up beneath that earth. It becomes the foundation for a new world. That would be enough."
At least it would have meaning.
"That's the only salvation."
"……."
"To come all this way just to say that—it's a joke I can't even laugh at."
Destel's hand tightened on the spear.
The broken blade dug into his temple. The star spear, so heavy when he thrashed to survive, felt lighter than ever now that he'd set life aside.
"Destel."
"Going to stop me?"
"No."
"Then what?"
"If."
Raniel said.
"If I become a god, and truly regress to the past as you say……."
She gave a bitter smile.
"Could you help me one more time?"
⚙ BALANCE CONTRACT ⚙ A scale of ash, neither starlight nor shadow, materialized before Destel. The contract's terms engraved themselves in his mind. The moment Destel read the contract's contents, he burst out laughing. He almost asked if she was sane, but shut his mouth. After coming this far, sanity was out of the question.
……No rest even after death, huh.
Of course. An easy death like that wouldn't suit him. He'd tried to flee into death, and now this witch was telling him not to run at the very end. With a hollow chuckle, Destel shot back.
"You're not right in the head."
"When was I ever?"
"True. We're both mad, clearly. But even so, add a few lines here."
"What should I add?"
"Before the contract, I get to ask a question."
"What question?"
Additional clause to the contract. Destel swore to the contract with its added demands.
"Just curious."
The coward, who had lived a life of endless regret, muttered.
"In the changed future, can I live without regrets?"
The coward groaned.
"Can I become a hero too?"
1.
"……Ashes scattered?"
Cardi blinked.
"You pulled up starlight, and ashes came out? Not yours, but the Ash Goddess's?"
"That's what happened."
"That can't be. Didn't the Ash Goddess completely vanish that day? She couldn't even intervene in this world to begin with."
I let out a long sigh.
"Of course, the ashes only scattered for an instant, and when I consciously tried to pull them up, nothing came. Destel looked clueless about it too."
Destel had summoned the ashes just once, in a fleeting moment.
Afterward, no more ash mixed into his starlight. But I had clearly seen that brief burst of ashes. They were unmistakably the Ash Goddess's.
"Nothing else?"
"I didn't talk to her that long. I didn't hear anything about this, but……."
Cardi stroked his chin.
"I've seen ashes scatter before."
"……You've seen it?"
"The day she vanished, and you boarded the carriage to stop Kyle. In the alley by my shop, ashes—not snow—were drifting down."
After much thought, Cardi spoke up.
"Maybe some remnant."
"……Remnant?"
"Yeah. The remains of gods felled by ancient dragons tens of thousands of years ago still linger intact in Alkeia, don't they? The Ash Goddess vanished, but it's possible some remnant of her persists in this world."
Cardi's words made sense.
But dismissing it as a mere remnant felt wrong—the Ash Goddess's remnants had intervened in Destel's power far too actively. Frowning, I let out a long breath.
"……Well, whatever it is, it's probably good news."
"You sound awfully sure."
"No matter how she intervenes, it won't hold me back, at least."
I didn't know what else she had prepared, but it wouldn't harm me. No need to worry, I concluded.
"……We'll think about that later. First, we need to figure out that."
I slightly parted the tent flap and looked around.
A prepared platform, and knights packed tightly before it. All waiting for my speech. The news of victory had spread, but they wanted to hear it straight from me.
"Hoo……."
I took a deep breath.
Steadying my breathing, I adjusted my robe, brushed back my hair. I'd tied it into a single braid while fixing my appearance before the mirror.
"Looks troublesome. Do you really need to fuss that much?"
"I do."
I said.
"Everything shows. Every word I say, every breath, every little gesture—it's all recorded. So it has to be perfect."
I turned to Cardi.
"I need to show I'm unscathed after felling the calamity. That I'm not arrogant despite the feat. That it wasn't some grand thing—just what had to be done. That's how it has to be."
"Does it really?"
"It does. I have to be perfect."
I smiled lightly.
"That's my role."
Answering their expectations.
Being the perfect hero.
"It's the me I want to be."
It's the dream Kyle entrusted to me.
Managing my expression, clearing my throat, exhaling one last time, I stepped out of the tent. Knights' gazes poured in. Under focused attention, I ascended the platform.
One step, then another.
Thud, my footfall echoed atop it.
Standing there, I swept my eyes over the gathered crowd. Countless knights. Those who'd fought beside me, those who'd guarded my back. I breathed lightly as I regarded them.
No amplification artifact on the platform. No need.
I wrapped my voice in mana.
Even with a megaphone spell, volume varies by distance, as does reach. But a mana-enveloped voice arrives uniform in size and speed. A hassle, but worth it.
"Ah."
I opened my mouth.
As I did, I thought: announcing a calamity's subjugation for the second time. Humanity rejoiced at the Black Dragon's fall. What reaction would the Apostate's bring?
With faint anticipation, I began.
"Since the dawn of human history, the Apostate has been a symbol of terror. Humanity trembled not just at the Apostate, but at the mere appearance of its familiars."
For hundreds of years.
"But from this day forward."
I smiled.
"The Apostate will no longer be a symbol of terror in human history."
Smiling, I shouted.
"The Apostate has been subjugated. Not a single familiar it commanded remains. Rejoice today. Lay down your arms."
My voice and smile drowned in the knights' roaring cheers. Those who'd lost comrades to the Apostate, those who'd felt powerless, shouted loudest. Amid the echoing voices, I cried out.
"The black storm, Black Dragon Belial, fell to Hero Kyle's sword."
Subjugation of the black storm, the Black Dragon.
"The Apostate, Gletus, was subjugated by the Hero and superhumans. The calamity met its end denied everything."
Subjugation of the Apostate, Gletus.
"What calamities remain? Ancient Lich Skeval?"
I sneered.
"No one here is unaware that forty-seven skulls of that fearsome calamity adorn my tent. Is Skeval still a calamity? Well, I'd rather not think so."
Amid the knights' laughter, I said.
"Only one remains."
The most terrifying calamity.
"Death's Scythe, Ganikalt."
The mightiest calamity.
"One step from fulfilling humanity's desperate wish. One step from a dream they mocked as fantasy or delusion."
I raised my arm. Extended my fingers.
Pointing far ahead, where we must go next. Toward Gehete, where death grows quiet, I declared.
"With you all, I advance."
Next.
"Again, onward."
2.
『With you all, I advance.』
『Again, onward.』
The speech of Lania van Trias, the Hero's ally, spread everywhere. Tidings of victory flowed to the lowest depths and highest peaks alike.
"Well."
Reading Lania's speech script, she smiled.
"The professor hasn't changed."
She rose slowly from her seat.
"Havel."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Prepare."
"Prepare what, Your Highness?"
"What else?"
Humanity's final bastion, or greatest nation.
A nation that insisted on being called a kingdom despite deserving empire. Successor to ancient Kingdom Arcadia: Cartedia.
"It's time to begin."
Cartedia's king.
Aila Clen Cartedia smiled.
"The madman hunt."