Chapter 178
Chapter 178
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 178
Chapter Title: Unexpected Reunion (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Melissa shuddered violently, her unfocused gaze scattering in all directions.
"N-No, no, no... This, this wasn't me... I, I never wanted anything like this... This wasn't my doing..."
"......"
Kadim stood frozen, his face twisted in horror. He stared at the crushed flesh and blood smeared openly across the grassy field—the remains of what had once resembled him.
"W-Wait, just wait. We can fix this, we can fix it, we can fix it because..."
She was right. With a wave of her hand, the chunks of flesh absorbed the blood and reformed into the giant's shape.
Kurrrr, kurrrr—
...Whether that was the right way to handle it was another question entirely.
"Huff, huff... What is this, Melissa? Why, why did you attack me? And who the hell was that guy who looked just like me...?"
"N-No, Kadim... I, I didn't do that to you, no... How could I ever attack you?"
"...Huff, did that bastard trick you? Don't fall for it, Melissa... It has to be a demon or monster that stole my appearance..."
"Wh-What? N-No, this, this isn't, uh, a demon... Th-This is Ka, Kadim... This is the real Kadim... I waited so, so long, and finally, finally we meet again..."
"Hoo... What are you even talking about...? I haven't left your side for a single moment..."
"......"
Kadim finally pieced it together.
The "Dream of the World Tree" was a paradise where one could achieve anything they desired. A reunion with a longed-for loved one was no exception. While he had been gone, Melissa must have created that "fake Kadim" for comfort. And when the real one appeared, her subconscious had killed it off...
Melissa's state was extremely unstable. Fake or not, she had treated it as no different from himself all this time. Killing and reviving it with her own hands was bound to leave her in shock.
But now, the revived fake was insistently claiming to be the real one. If left alone like this, he might be the one turned into chunks next.
Kadim approached Melissa and spoke firmly.
"...Melissa, we need to get out of here right now. This place is too dangerous."
"Huff, what nonsense are you spouting, you bastard...? Did you have something to do with dragging Melissa away from here every time?"
The fake Kadim raised his axe ferociously. Kadim eyed him steadily. This was his first-playthrough self, still unripe, so subduing him wouldn't be hard. The problem was the impact on Melissa.
Fortunately, before a battle with his own image could erupt, Melissa stepped in to sort things out.
Kugugugu—
With a sweep of her hand, the fake Kadim turned to stone.
"Huff, huff, s-sorry... I'm so sorry for killing you, Kadim... Just stay like that for a bit... Uuugh, heuk, kweeeh..."
Melissa wept as she vomited. She pleaded toward the frozen fake, then collapsed flat, trembling. It seemed she would need considerable time to regain her composure. Rather than risk stimulating her further, Kadim silently stood by her side, waiting patiently for her to calm.
The unyielding sun climbed the midday sky like a clock hand.
Only after the tears and blood that had soaked the dirt fully dried did her trembling finally stop.
Melissa roughly wiped her dry face and stood. She no longer flinched at the sight of the now-petrified fake.
"Hoo, my mistake... I should have predicted something like this would happen if you ever really came back..."
"...Feeling a bit better now?"
"Yeah, I'm okay now... Sorry, you had to see that mess."
"Then let's get out of here. We can hear the full story once we're outside."
"We can't do that, Kadim."
Kadim jerked his gaze up sharply.
Melissa's expression had changed completely.
No longer the joyful girl reuniting with an old comrade, nor the woman shocked by an unintended atrocity—just an emotionless void, overlaid with a warped distortion.
Melissa sent him a gaze hollow as an ashen pit, twisting strands of her hair around her finger.
"Because if we go out there, the madness will come back, right...? Let's rest here a little longer. Who knows when we'll get another chance to relax like this..."
"...Hard to say. Doesn't seem like the best spot for peaceful rest."
"Ah, aah, sorry. Is it 'this' bothering you? Got it, I'll put it away again..."
Guuuung, kwarrurruk—!
The center of space warped, and the fake Kadim's body was sucked into a vortex and vanished. Melissa pointed at the now-empty air and gave a sullen smile.
Whether it was completely erased or just sent elsewhere was unclear. But one thing was certain.
Melissa was not in her right mind.
"...Snap out of it, Melissa. If you keep acting like this, I'll subdue you by force and drag you out."
"What are you talking about? Drag me out? To where? This is the 'Dream of the World Tree'—our perfect paradise to live in together from now on..."
"Didn't I tell you I still have things to do outside?"
"No, no, no, Kadim... You can let go of duty, sacrifice, struggle... Forget all attachment to the outside. You've done enough for that world. Now it's time to reap the rewards of your feats and rest easy."
"......"
"And I didn't lie. See? As long as you stay here, you'll never go mad. It's the 'perfect solution' to the madness, isn't it?"
The great warrior's response to her claim was to grip his axe haft tightly. The mage sighed deeply and shook her head.
"Hoo, this won't do... Sorry, really sorry, Kadim. Looks like I ruined the first impression of this place pretty badly..."
"......"
"Let's start over from the beginning."
Swa—splatter! Patteratterattera—
The moment Kadim, sensing ill portent, hurled his axe and Melissa clapped her hands.
Whoooooung—
The world began to rewind.
The axe flew back upside down. The wind blew backward. The grass swayed in reverse. The sun traversed the sky in reverse. Even the fake Kadim, who had distorted and vanished, reappeared, retracing actions backward—becoming chunks of flesh, then reassembling, retreating step by step to the distant field edge and disappearing.
After returning all things to their original state, Melissa clapped her hands once more.
Whoooooung...
Time flowed forward again.
Melissa smiled calmly and repeated her very first words upon his arrival here.
"Wait just a moment, Kadim! I'll make the madness disappear right now!"
"......"
But one thing in this world had not rewound.
Kadim grimaced and charged like thunder, seizing Melissa's arm.
"...Huh?"
Whung, fwoooosh—!
In the instant he lifted and slammed her, her body turned to illusory flames and vanished. Kadim scanned the surroundings without pause. Melissa's true form had teleported not far away, her face full of bewilderment.
"Wh-What, why, why are you doing this, Kadim? Don't tell me... your memory didn't rewind?"
"......"
It wasn't just his memory that had escaped the effect. The anxiety squeezing his heart, the thirst for blood. Shaking off the foreign intrusion in his flesh had even restored the madness to its original state.
If anything, it came as a relief. At least his body could resist this world's manipulative power to some degree. Though it offered no protection against being turned to mincemeat...
He had to subdue Melissa as quickly as possible and escape. Kadim hurled lightning and charged with his ironblood ghost.
"Hraaaaaah!!"
Patteratterattera, oo—ung!
Regrettably, the blow didn't connect.
The axe's trajectory warped arbitrarily, its blade blocked by an invisible barrier. Even when he closed in on her afterimage for a surprise attack, his roars only cleaved empty flames. The warrior's mighty prowess meant nothing before the mage who controlled the world itself.
Fwoooosh—!
While evading and defending repeatedly, Melissa thoroughly scanned Kadim's body down to its core. Then, at some point, her eyes widened in shock.
"Ka, Kadim? What do you have inside you...? What the hell is that bright red thing...?"
Horror filled her previously vacant eyes. Losing her composure, Melissa muttered in shock.
"This can't be—why does something with that kind of 'rank' exist inside Kadim...? To rewind memories... No, to maintain this dream... I need to deal with that first, that thing quickly... A solution, a solution, a solution... To manipulate the 'Dream of the World Tree' more powerfully... A solution..."
"......"
"...Lilia."
Muttering a name with a grave expression, Melissa vanished abruptly.
Thud—!
"...Melissa."
Left alone, the warrior slammed his blade into the ground and ground his teeth to the breaking point.
The field lay in ruins, ravaged by slashes and axe blows.
Kadim stared blankly at the sun hanging in the midday sky.
Before reaching this point, the repeated warnings echoed chaotically in his mind.
'If she's been hiding in a place like that for over 200 years, that mage's mind has gotta be a bit loopy, right?'
'...Her sanity might already be twisted, rotted, and festering like that of someone possessed by a demon or a madman.'
'The current great mage is highly unlikely to be the person you remember, Sir Kadim...'
"......"
He knew. He wasn't clueless. Those words were probably right. Enduring the agony and despair needed to craft a high demon alone while keeping a normal mind was impossible. Even in their conversation before entering, he'd caught several ominous signs, hadn't he?
Still, had listening to her side first been a mistake?
Or believing her claim of finding a solution to the madness without question?
Or perhaps, from the start... blaming himself for ruining her life?
Either way, it was too late for regrets. Her mind was far more twisted, rotted, and festering than he'd imagined. If they'd been outside, he could have at least physically stopped her rampage... But now, with things as they were, there was no way to intervene.
'Melissa... Is playing house with me as your puppet in this fake heaven that bends to your every whim... truly what you desire?'
Liberation from the madness had been a wondrous experience. But settling here was out of the question. This world's absolute ruler toyed with life and death unwittingly, manipulating time and memory without hesitation—a raving lunatic.
At least this time, he'd benefited from the "unknown entity" inside him. Without it, his memory would have been tampered with, and he'd have forgotten everything by now.
But there was no guarantee of continued safety. Melissa had clearly gone off to find some "solution."
He had to escape before then... Even after devastating the surroundings, the space remained intact... No clear exit in sight... Methods to shatter the mystery hadn't worked... Then he'd have no choice but to wait idly for Melissa...
Snap—
Kadim tore out a pinky nail. It wasn't enough to calm him, so he yanked out two more.
Tszig, tszigszig—
Blood beaded at his fingertips. Reuniting with an old comrade, enduring excessive calm, witnessing her broken side... The emotional turmoil had worn thin his defenses. He suppressed the madness with surging pain and steeled his resolve.
Even so.
He couldn't abandon Melissa or kill her.
'Hic, kkhuk, why did you leave, you idiot... We promised to stay together... Hweeeeng... Why, why... We promised to stay by each other's side forever... And you just left without a word... Hweeeeng...'
Because he'd seen that the girl mage from long ago still lingered in her heart.
Thus, any judgment would come only after uncovering every truth and exhausting every method.
Only if she persisted in her misguided tyranny despite all means—persuasion, appeasement, threats, subjugation, restraint, violence... As a final, last resort, he would grant her peace with his own hands.
That was the greatest mercy Atala's great warrior could offer his old comrade, who had waited 300 years alone and gone mad.
"...Ha."
...Of course, it was laughable in the current situation.
Trapped immobile in this beautiful dream meadow, who was showing mercy to whom? Especially when his own mind was just as unstable... He might skip centuries more, forget who he was, and become the great mage's plaything.
Yet salvation arrived sooner than expected.
Dooung...
Ripples spread gently through the air.
The same phenomenon had occurred when Melissa left the dream. Perhaps a chance to exit. Tensing his muscles, he approached slowly—then a familiar voice echoed from the sky.
"......"
Kadim thought with a grin splitting his lips.
From now on, he'd introduce that friend not as "quite" capable, but as "extremely" capable.