Chapter 59
Chapter 59
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: Tezcatlipoca
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"I suppose it can't be helped. In that case—"
Julius shook his head.
"—die."
"I've figured out that attack now."
Linbelle's eyes closed.
A black domain began to spread from beneath her feet.
'No, it's more than just black.'
The night sky.
It was as clear as the night sky hanging above.
She recalled the moment she first fell into this place.
Back then, she couldn't understand why she had come here.
But not anymore.
The trial of the divine beast shows a challenge related to what the person desires.
At first, she thought it was because of prana.
'But now.'
She took a step amidst the downpour of lightning.
In one step, she poured her earnestness.
In the second, longing. In the third, expectation.
In the fourth, a wish. In the fifth, hope.
In the sixth, a desire. In the seventh, aspiration.
In the eighth, a vow.
"Struggling, are you!"
She paused, one final step remaining.
Before her, a dragon made of lightning energy opened its mouth.
"How absurd. You can't even control your own emotions. What power could you possibly have."
She forgot everything she had just been murmuring.
"In the end, the only one who sets my limits is myself."
Linbelle's feelings had been directed at a single person from the very beginning.
Not a single impurity could be mixed in.
The Milky Way unfurled across the night sky as she took her final step.
And in the last, a pledge.
These nine steps contained everything she had realized.
Her efforts and the power of pure blackness.
The conclusion to end this trial.
Dozens of emotions were directed squarely at one thing.
With each step, a night sky formed, and stars twinkled upon it.
"No, how did you dodge...!"
"Farewell, Young Master."
The starlight flickered.
The night sky rose and engulfed the possessor.
'She really did it.'
Dozens of holes pierced through Julius's body, which had been emitting flashes of lightning.
The thunderclouds that covered the sky scattered, and the noble body tumbled to the ground.
"Young Master, did you see? I can do it."
She saw him, staring blankly with his mouth agape.
Allen Reinhardt.
He wasn't perfect or composed like the one she used to serve.
He couldn't sleep without medicine.
He couldn't give up alcohol and cigarettes, even as his body broke down.
He'd tell her to give up, rebuking her, yet inside he was full of worry.
"What's wrong? Can't believe it?"
She limped, looking down at Allen.
"How... how could you... Julius..."
He saw her body, covered in reddish fluid.
"Well, because I thought I could?"
"Heh, right."
There was no longer any confusion in Allen's eyes.
He burst out laughing until he was out of breath.
"It's a shame I couldn't save the real Sir Julius, though."
"That's... enough now."
"Why?"
"Didn't you reach him? If you could reach him, then I can too."
"You said the past can't be changed."
Allen replied to Linbelle's grumbling as if it were amusing.
"I thought you'd say that. Ah, does that last technique have a name?"
"No. Not yet."
"Then would it be alright if I named it?"
She nodded.
"Tezcatlipoca."
"What does that mean?"
Allen answered with a smile.
"It means 'smoking mirror'."
"Eh? What's that?"
"Well, it's more commonly known as the name of a fallen god from ancient times."
"What kind of god?"
"The god of war, the god of the night, and the god of death."
It was a name that suited her, reaping necks beneath a black sky.
"...Well, it's not bad."
"So indecisive."
As Allen burst into laughter, she laughed along with him.
"So..."
Linbelle whispered in a calm tone.
"You won't give up anymore, will you?"
"Right."
To the point where the words 'give up' felt like a luxury.
Allen realized just how foolish he had been.
"And you won't cry alone anymore, either."
"Right."
"You have to eat properly, too."
"Right."
The world began to fragment and scatter.
The end of the trial was approaching.
"You won't drink or smoke either, will you?"
"That..."
This time, his answer was a little late.
"Hurry."
"I'll try."
He remembered the first time he saw her.
When she was being noisy at first, he'd thought about kicking her out.
"And..."
The world began to fade away from the edges.
"My service,"
Her voice trembled.
"Were you satisfied with it?"
Allen prayed that his expression was smiling.
"Yes, it was the best treatment I've ever received."
"How much?"
"More than someone like me deserved."
She was relieved.
"I'm glad. That I was helpful. That I could be of help."
Allen replied with sincerity.
"I was truly grateful."
"It was nice meeting you."
"Please give my regards to the real 'Allen'."
"I'll be sure to tell him."
"...Because it was you."
Her form seemed distant.
A faint halo of light filled his vision.
"I'm glad."
Truly.
A cold sensation touched Allen's face.
Sleet fell from the sky, seeing her off.
Linbelle's trial came to an end.
* * *
I had a dream.
A very long dream.
"—————."
But the moment I woke up, I couldn't remember what I had dreamed.
I was sure I had seen something important.
There was something I shouldn't forget.
"Defin———!"
"I—!!"
All I could remember were the distant emotions felt between the fragments of a broken dream.
Dozens of emotions mixed together and scattered faintly by my side.
The first emotion that brushed past was joy.
A fulfilling happiness, like reuniting with family after a long separation.
"———s!"
That pleasure quickly dispersed, and sadness began to creep in.
Depression, pain, despair, agony...
Just as I was about to be consumed by a feeling like a rock crushing my chest, my heart began to pound violently, as if it had discovered a glimmer of hope.
"——ain —! ————!!"
And so, along with elation, I held a certain resolve, and at the same time, I heard the sound of something breaking as my eyes opened.
"Ah."
When Allen opened his eyes and looked around, the other soldiers were also looking around frantically, as if they had all just had a long dream.
"...What is this."
My head was spinning.
There was something I had to do.
There was a memory I shouldn't forget.
And.
"...Brother."
I heard Julius's voice.
Just as Allen stood there blankly with a confused expression, a calm voice rang in his ear.
"Young Master."
He turned his head to see Linbelle looking up at him with a composed expression, though he hadn't noticed her approach.
Her eyes had grown deeper.
A strangely calm atmosphere.
"...Linbelle?"
Allen looked at her, puzzled by her somewhat changed appearance, but before long, she spoke as if asking what he was doing.
"What are you doing, Young Master?"
"...What?"
Linbelle smiled brightly and pointed at the soldiers.
"Shouldn't you be reassuring the soldiers, Young Master?"
Looking in the direction she pointed, he saw the soldiers scattered about defenselessly.
A soldier muttering to himself in confusion.
A soldier trembling in fear, as if he'd seen something.
A soldier with vacant eyes, as if still trapped in the illusion.
Seeing this, focus gradually returned to Allen's eyes.
"...Right, I should."
A glance—
He looked at Linbelle.
Unlike her previous naive self, she now stood behind him with a proficient posture.
'...Something must have happened.'
Allen realized it was related to the trial.
Then, could it be related to Julius...
'No.'
He shook his head.
Now was not the time to ask such things.
He took a deep breath.
"Everyone, pull yourselves together—!"
Allen awoke from the dream.
* * *
The incident began to wrap up quickly.
"There will be no repeat of the same mistake this time."
Perhaps because they had been so helpless against the divine beast's power, the Knight Commander moved forward with a grim expression.
Behind him, the knights and soldiers scattered into the forest to deal with any remaining remnants.
"What is the divine beast's condition?"
"Traces of dark magic remain, and its condition is not good!"
The elves, as soon as they regained their senses, rushed toward the divine beast.
Whether it was the aftereffect of forcibly rampaging its power or a side effect of its forced corruption, the divine beast's body was being eaten away by the profane energy of dark magic.
Its consciousness had also sunk deep, unable to awaken.
Observing the divine beast, Natasha seemed to recall something and hurriedly approached Julius.
"Young Master Julius, I apologize for before. I need your help."
"...Uh, yes?"
Julius, who had been wearing a dazed expression, began to purify the divine beast at her request.
His lightning-attribute magic was the antithesis of dark magic, making him perfect for such a task.
While the soldiers, knights, and elves were all distracted, Allen headed beyond the clearing where the battle with the giant had taken place.
The dead giant's corpse and the ruined clearing.
Even though he had been here just a few hours ago, it felt slightly unfamiliar.
"...It hasn't been that long, but it feels like years have passed."
「Do you have any idea how surprised I was? Everyone suddenly collapsed!」
Was she dissatisfied with Allen's dull sentiment? Despite several soldiers following behind him, she spoke up.
「It's a good thing you all came to your senses in an instant. What would you have done if you'd stayed like that for years! So careless!」
"...I'm sorry about that, but did you really not undergo the divine beast's trial?"
「I told you I didn't! I was standing guard in case someone attacked, and you can't even say thank you!」
"...I'm truly grateful."
「Ahem. As expected, I'm the only one for you, right?」
Allen smiled bitterly, looking at Vestla who was shouting as usual.
'To think she didn't even enter the divine beast's trial.'
Are inanimate objects—no, ego swords—not included in the target range?
And yet, if it was an ability strengthened by a rampage that could pull in the minds of living beings, she shouldn't have been able to avoid it...
'Perhaps because she has no desires?'
Since the divine beast's power is about trials and rewards, it might be possible to evade it if one has no desires from the start.
However, no sooner had the thought occurred than Allen refuted his own hypothesis.
'That can't be right.'
「Hurry up! I've been so curious about this place!」
Just seeing her reaction to the giant earlier, it made no sense to say she had no desires.
It was more plausible that her mental strength was superior to the divine beast's, so its power didn't affect her.
"Alright, let's move slowly. We don't know what might be there."
After falling into the dark mage's trap and being swept into the divine beast's trial, Allen had become much more vigilant.
However, belying his tension, there was nothing in the building.
"...Nothing worth taking, I see."
Passing through the crumbling wall, a cluttered interior came into view.
Piles of monster corpses and scattered materials. The interior reeked of rot, and the walls on all sides had collapsed.
Seeing the broken wall and the traces of a straight path punched through, he could guess that the dead giant had escaped from here.
'As I thought, it was a chimera.'
No wonder its regeneration and strength were both somewhat clumsy.
It was only natural that it couldn't match the abilities of a proper giant, having only the appearance.
Allen immediately scanned the interior with his perception and then called in the soldiers waiting outside the building to order a search.
However, he didn't expect to find anything useful.
With the soot covering the floor and walls and the traces of something having been burned, it would be strange to think any important information had survived.
"Did you find anything?"
Vestla replied to Allen's question in a disappointed voice.
「...No. I thought I'd feel something once we came inside, but I can't find anything.」
"That's a shame."
「It's fine. I achieved my goal anyway.」
She muttered in a relieved tone, then shouted cheerfully again.
「We're done here, so let's go over there! It looks like the divine beast has woken up!」
Allen ordered the search party to collect any remaining materials just in case, and headed toward the sound of murmuring voices.
"So that's the real divine beast..."
"It's not going to attack again, is it?"
"No way, they're talking just fine."
Passing by the soldiers, he arrived just in time to see the divine beast handing Julius an egg the size of a human torso.