Chapter 197
Chapter 197
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 197
Chapter Title: An Eternal, Unquenchable Flame (3)
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Dawn-hued mist rode the updrafts. Like smoke surging from a chimney, it billowed out in thick plumes. The two women faced each other in silence, and in the sanctuary ringed by tree roots, only the resounding pulse of the World Tree's power echoed on and on.
Wooong, wooong, wooong, wooong—!
A light clap overlaid the thrum.
Clap!
Melissa calmly pulled her palms apart.
After that, she waved her hand as if conducting or twitched her fingers. Naturally, time didn't rewind, no flames erupted, and no pressure crushed Lilia flat.
"Quit the pointless antics, Melissa. You can't manipulate the World Tree's dream like you used to anymore."
"Yeah... You're right. It does seem that way."
As the true Keeper of the World Tree, Lilia had fully entered the dream, stripping Melissa of all control. She was now little more than a faded tyrant who could be crushed here at Lilia's whim.
Yet Melissa remained utterly composed.
A stark contrast to her earlier fury. She crossed her legs casually atop a stump like a visitor out for a stroll and slowly took in the surroundings. Her gaze met that of the blond elven boy standing guard by Lilia's side.
"Who might you be? Oh, right—you're that black cat who got Lilia out of confinement back then."
"......"
"You escorted your master here earlier, and now you're protecting her? Hmm, pretty clever, aren't you? But do you even grasp your own situation?"
The 'Black Panther' Parneo scowled and looked away. He'd once yearned to meet the false Keeper as a first-tier guardian... but now that he knew she'd imprisoned Lilia, he didn't even want to exchange words.
Melissa let out a soft chuckle. She gazed languidly at Lilia and cut straight to the point.
"Lilia, I'll be direct. Restore the World Tree's dream to how it was. Do that, and even after the world ends, I'll take care of you and that cat you're raising."
"......How it was? Melissa, this is the World Tree's 'original' state."
"......"
"Remember what I told you before? The World Tree's dream isn't a refuge for the living—it's a resting place for the dead. All the power contained here will return to its roots. For the time being, no rifts will open, the world won't end, and no one will use this place as an escape."
"......"
"It's time to wake from your delusion, Melissa. Your plan has failed, and you can't touch us anymore."
Milky-white eyes, bleached hair, cheeks pale and gaunt... She looked every bit the sickly girl, but Lilia possessed an unassailable resolve no one could touch. And right here, right now, she was effectively omnipotent.
Melissa indifferently probed the loophole in that truth.
"Is that so? But to keep it that way, you'll have to stay here forever, won't you? Planning to live out the rest of your days in this dream? The moment you step out—even one foot—you'll get a grand welcome from me."
"......"
"Think it over, Lilia. If you pour all the World Tree's power back into the roots, you can't do a thing here. You'll never see the people you miss, never smell the flowers you love—you'll just stare blankly at that mass of roots your whole life. Still refuse to heed me?"
Her omnipotence was limited strictly to 'right here, right now.' The instant she emerged into reality, the scales of power would tip decisively toward the archmage.
Yet Lilia answered without hesitation.
"Yes."
"......"
"Melissa, I endured 150 years in confinement. Bound so tight I couldn't twitch a finger, alone in darkness choked with thorny vines. Compared to that, this place is paradise."
For a fleeting moment, Melissa bit her lip in frustration. But she swiftly erased the slip and struck at a deeper vulnerability.
"......Hmm, confinement 'alone'? Weren't you alone?"
"......"
Parneo thought it was aimed at him.
The truth targeted an even darker abyss.
"Letio, Akiel, Tevio, Serpio, Felsidor, Raviel, Hesider, Lugmundur, Caberio, and... Mael, was it? Ah, I can't even remember the rest..."
"......!"
A massive ripple spread across Lilia's face. Her clouded eyes shook as if they might shatter, and the flow of mist toward the World Tree's roots halted.
"Of them all, only the 'White Turtle' Tevio survived... We knew each other, and he was cowering in his shell, trembling—it was pitiful, so I spared him."
"W-What are you talking about...? Why suddenly bring up my master's name...?"
"Oh, you're that turtle's disciple? But Lilia, you haven't told this cat anything, have you?"
"......"
The boy's stunned gaze pierced her, but Lilia stood rigid as a log, speechless. In that gap, the archmage's dagger—hidden behind a lazy smile—struck mercilessly.
"Sadly, you're not the first pet Lilia's raised, kitty. Plenty of guardians have played pet to her before, trying to spring her from confinement. You're the first to succeed without dying, though."
"......!!"
Now it was Parneo's turn to reel in shock. A pained lament soon escaped Lilia.
"I... always tried to stop them. Always kept everyone away... I'd seen it in dreams, dozens of times— their futures of failure and death... And yet they all came charging in recklessly... believing their strength could change fate..."
The momentum had fully shifted. Melissa recrossed her legs the other way and rested her chin in her hand with a sly smile.
"Well... I've always found that strange myself. They knew full well they'd die by my hand if caught—so why do these would-be rescuers keep popping up for you, Lilia, like clockwork? You're not exactly stunningly beautiful or a social butterfly."
"......"
"But recently, it hit me. I may have borrowed the Keeper's name, but the real Keeper is you. So maybe... there's some kind of revelation from the World Tree, like a 'brainwashing' that only affects guardians. A compulsion to risk everything and save the Keeper."
Lilia froze, cracked and splintered like a broken doll.
Melissa watched her former sister's stricken face, then smirked sourly and glanced aside.
"That's why I wanted to ask you this—the cat who got her out."
"......"
"Tsk tsk tsk, kitty. Entering confinement, befriending Lilia, freeing her from there... Was all that truly just your will?"
"......"
"Not that it matters—you're already thoroughly brainwashed anyway. No point asking."
Even Parneo wavered.
Clearly, undeniably. More than when he'd learned Lilia's true identity. No apostle who'd lived centuries could stay calm hearing such words, let alone a boy not yet twenty.
Yet despite the shake, the boy's heart did not stray from the righteous path.
"Don't twist the truth and beguile with your serpent's tongue, Archmage."
"......Hm?"
"If it's the World Tree Mother's revelation, then as a guardian, I must heed it. Regardless of reason, liberating an innocent life from violation is the 'right' thing—better than standing by, even at risk of death."
"......"
"And even if it's not her revelation, it changes nothing. It just means my heart to save my friend Lilia—whom I came to know—was pure and true. My heart bears witness that this path is right."
"......Par... Parneo."
Lilia, who'd frozen, slowly regained her spark. Parneo pressed a firm hand to his chest and glared at Melissa.
Eyes burning straight and true. They somehow resembled the girl outside... or the warrior who'd left her side. Melissa let out a silent sneer.
"Such a loyal cat... But kitty, if you want to stay by your master's side, you'll have to give up everything and live imprisoned here forever too."
"That I resolved the moment I freed Lilia from confinement. The Great Warrior of Atala told me: Don't act on impulse. Weigh the sacrifices, steel yourself for struggle with your own power, then move."
"......!"
"Yes, I've made all those resolves. I've long forsaken my guardian duties, the honors I've earned, the bonds I've built. A few words of division from you won't break the 'struggle' I've steeled myself for."
Now a massive ripple crossed Melissa's face.
The languor vanished, baring her raw expression. A blank, ashen mask. Twitches spasmed across her features like convulsions.
Only after a moment did the ripples subside. Melissa, barely composed, looked oddly deflated, as if her venom had drained out through holes in her soul. A limp murmur fell flat.
"Yeah... I guess... reclaiming the World Tree's dream is impossible now."
"......"
"No helping it... If that's how it is..."
Wooong, wooong, wooong, wooong—!
Lilia regained her calm, suppressed the shock, and resumed channeling the World Tree's power. Melissa sighed deeply, stood, and brushed the dust from her robes.
"Lilia, one last question before I go."
"......"
"Do you regret it? Giving your blood to me back then... saving me when I was dying."
Their gazes crossed, like that distant first meeting in a forest clearing.
Lilia fell silent. It was hard to say outright, but her honest feeling had always leaned toward yes. How many innocents had suffered and perished because that one human woman had her life prolonged?
But just now, in a brief flash, Lilia had seen it.
Beyond the tyrannical archmage, the face of her old sister.
'Hm? Is this... a magic circle you devised? Impressive. I never knew mystic runes could be used like this...'
'......No, it's nothing special. Anyone who can read 'Clesian' runes can adapt it... Shall I teach you?'
'Really? I'd be grateful! Oh, I'm Lilia. And you...?'
'No, it's really nothing... I'm Melissa.'
The face of a kind, great, foolish woman who'd loved magic more than anyone, who'd gazed purely at one person, who'd willingly descended to hell to atone for her mistakes.
Lilia gave her sighing answer.
"No, I don't regret it. You're still my sister, even so... Even if we went back to that time... I'd gladly share my blood with you again, Melissa."
"......"
Melissa closed her eyes gently at the reply, nodded... then suddenly tore her mouth into a grin ear to ear.
"Then I'll make you regret it."
"......!"
Chills raced up her spine. Lilia's neck veins bulged as she shouted.
"Parneo! Grab Melissa!!"
—Grrooowl—!!
In an instant, Parneo shapeshifted and lunged. Just before the black panther's claws reached her, the woman's apparition scattered like flames.
Whoosh—!
The apparition reappeared before the shattered hole serving as the entrance. Lilia yanked the World Tree's power back inside and slammed the ground with all her might.
――――Krraaack—!!
The roots forming the walls erupted at once. Thrashing root tendrils sealed the hole and savagely encircled the target.
Kuduk, kududuk, kududuk—!
The roots' encirclement left no blind spots. Melissa's limbs were instantly bound in strands. Lilia immediately used her dream-manipulating authority to block all magic and miracles, sealing any chance of escape from the start.
But the moment she did, Melissa's apparition scattered like flames again.
Whoosh—!!
"......!!"
Only then did Lilia realize the truth.
Her heart plummeted. With trembling hands, she withdrew the roots plugging the hole.
――――Kuuhhh......
Flames gnawed at the corner of her vision like peeling retinas, blackening it.
Beyond the World Tree's dream, she saw the 'real Melissa'—aiming the abyss's hellfire that annihilated existence at this world.
*
"As if, Lilia."
A voice laced with mockery rumbled out.
"Why would I send my 'real body' into a dream you fully control?"
――――Kuuhhh—!!
The sphere of 'Grimose's Flames' swelled terrifyingly fast. The fist-sized orb soon dwarfed the World Tree's dream itself.
Melissa infused mana into the sphere with one hand while shaking a thick tome with the other and glancing back.
"Thanks, fake. This idea you sparked for me. As a reward, I'll let you watch the elves' utopia crumble from the front row."
"......"
The girl's body—more than half melted, reduced to a lump of ash—twisted in blank horror.
The woman hadn't stolen and burned her tome. The moment she'd snatched it, she'd scattered flames, swapped places with her bare-handed 'divided self,' and pretended to burn it. While that 'self' entered the dream to negotiate with Lilia, the real woman had leisurely returned to the hall with the tome, toying with the despairing girl.
But now wasn't the time for the tome. With negotiations broken, her future self seemed intent on destroying the 'World Tree's dream' outright.
If it shattered, she couldn't stop the world's end—her own sacrifice would be for naught. The girl strained to reach out and absorb the sphere's mana, but...
"Hic!"
"No, no—audience doesn't interfere with the stage. Just sit pretty and watch."
...The woman noticed and crushed her hand against the floor. Failure. After that, all she could do was helplessly watch the blaze of doom expand.
――――Kuuhhh—!!
The bloated black inferno devoured even the air around it. An ominous whirlwind whipped up in the area.
"Lilia, did you think slipping inside would make everything okay? Ahaha, haha—did you really think I'd leave my stolen dream sitting there untouched?"
The ultimatum rang into the blackened dream.
"Choose, Lilia. Restore the World Tree's dream and crawl out meekly... or make it your grave and watch it all burn."
Silence followed.
No matter how long, no reply came from the World Tree's dream. The only change was a fleeting afterimage of the black panther, pushed back by the roots. Even that faded as the target refused to slash through and leave.
Melissa idly sealed the farce's end in tragedy.
"Fine... At least you won't be lonely dying with that cat."
With a snap of her fingers, the massive black sphere launched.
――――Kwaaagoooh—!!
The signal of destruction fired. The sole audience member gasped. The pitch-black hellfire pulverized everything in its path. Light vanished, air vanished, wind vanished, floor vanished, ashes vanished.
Until at last, scorching all hope, it reached the World Tree's dream.
――――Shiiing—!!
And was bisected by a blood-red flash.
Kuquaagoooh, kuquaagooohboom—!!!
The clustered flames split left and right, exploding. The jet-black blaze desperately spread its fiery maw, but its power was overwhelmingly weakened. The shot of doom fizzled, merely disrupting the stage a bit.
Kuuhhh......
The curtain of ash and smoke slowly parted. The World Tree's dream stood intact, and before it loomed a massive silhouette.
The girl and woman's eyes widened in unison. They knew the intruder who'd abruptly twisted the ending just from the shadow.
The worst possible wildcard... or the protagonist gripping every plot's key.
"......Sorry to keep you waiting."
The man with blazing golden eyes sheathed his jet-black axe. Red breath trailed his blood-scented voice.
"As promised, I'm back at your side, Melissa."
"......"
The girl, melting in the flames, gazed joyfully at the man returned safe from hell.
And the woman, reduced to ashes, stared in turmoil at the man who'd crawled from the dirt to keep his vow.