Chapter 73
Chapter 73
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: Mage Heroine (Complete)
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"...Ah."
"Are you back to your senses?! Is!"
The moment I opened my eyes, the sight before me was Ariana, tears streaming down her face.
And... whose hand is that gripping me?
I turned my head and saw Ruin collapsed on top of me.
It looked like Ariana had placed Rosaria in his hand and pressed it against me.
"...I'm sorry, Saintess. As your direct Holy Knight, this is an unsightly display..."
"No! It's a miracle he came back to us at all!"
Ariana shoved Ruin's body aside and climbed on top of me, wrapping me in a tight embrace.
"W-Wait, Saintess..."
I understood she was happy I was back, but this positioning was a bit...
"Yes! This is how Is should be—soft and gentle! I-I was so scared..."
"...Ahem."
She seemed utterly exhausted, so I let her hold on for a moment.
About three minutes passed like that.
"...Ah! Prelia! Prelia's in danger!"
I remembered who Prelia was fighting right now.
I urgently got up, pulling Ariana to her feet as well.
"R-Right! What do we do?! This Rosaria might help, but... it only responds to the Hero's Holy Power..."
Because it was a bound item.
I'd anticipated it binding to Ruin, but with things turning out like this, the situation was tricky.
'Should I carry Ruin on my back and go?'
It was certainly possible, but if I did, the Reverser might find it suspicious and immediately unleash attacks on Ruin.
That woman was always holding back, but she wasn't stupid or incompetent.
Rosaria like this would be threat enough—she'd definitely notice.
It only activated with the Hero's Holy Power... so damn tricky. Wait.
I had an idea.
"Is?"
As I pulled Rosaria from Ruin's hand, Ariana tilted her head curiously.
Actions speak louder than words.
-Whoooong...
I channeled my Holy Power into Rosaria.
Then...
-Shwaaa!
Rosaria reacted to my Holy Power, radiating brilliant light.
"Huh? H-How...?"
"I thought it might work since the Hero's Holy Power I received is now settled in my body. So I gave it a try... and it worked perfectly."
"Wow!"
Who knew absorbing Ruin's Holy Power would pay off like this.
I bolted straight for the stairs.
"Ah! W-Wait—"
"Saintess, please look after the Hero!"
Even though I'd been inverted, I retained all the memories from that state.
Ruin had reached into forbidden territory for a human just to bring me back.
'If you call that growth, sure...'
But it felt more like pulling power from his future potential.
Still, having experienced it once, it would surely grant him great insights.
With that, I left Ruin in Ariana's care and headed up to the rooftop where Prelia was battling the Reverser.
As I raced up the stairs, the open-air rooftop came into view, completely exposed.
The ceiling and walls had been obliterated, and any original furniture was nowhere to be seen.
Only the Reverser and Prelia remained.
But.
"!!"
Prelia had her face gripped by the Reverser, of all things.
I kicked off the floor hard and launched toward them.
-KABOOM!
"?!?!"
"What...?"
The two jumped in shock at the deafening crash.
Soon, my eyes met the Reverser's.
"How are you... Is! How did you break free of my black magic...!"
My release from her black magic must have terrified her.
Ignoring her words, I whispered right behind Prelia.
"This isn't my role, but given the circumstances, please forgive my intrusion."
"Uh...?"
"I'll save you, even if it means using a loophole."
Normally, the player would defeat the Reverser, removing the culprit and freeing Prelia in the process...
But that wasn't possible now.
"Eh? Loophole? What do you—"
The moment the Reverser's hand released her, exposing Prelia's face...
-Shiiiine!
An eye-searing burst of intense light enveloped Prelia's entire body.
"Ah, kyaaah?!"
Prelia clutched her head, crying out in agony.
Having spent most of her life under the inversion, returning must come with immense pain.
"Eh... ah...?"
As she reeled in confusion, the light gradually faded.
The Reverser had already retreated far back.
While Prelia's head was still tilted upward, she entered her field of vision.
Her eyes hadn't focused yet, so she'd need a moment.
Slowly, her gaze sharpened.
"...Ah."
Finally, her pupils locked precisely on me.
"Is..."
She seemed to grasp what had happened, yet called out to me as if needing confirmation.
"...Is, w-well, um."
Perhaps from tension, her mouth wouldn't form words properly.
Understanding her feelings well, I answered kindly.
"Yes. I've undone the inversion on you."
"...Ah."
The chains that had bound her life were now gone.
The Reverser was doomed.
Prelia's talents didn't end here.
"I have no idea..."
Overwhelmed with joy, Prelia's face flushed crimson as tears flowed, her hand clutching her chest.
"Prelia. It's time to come back now."
"...Ah, right."
At my words, Prelia's expression hardened instantly.
Not the bright, cheerful smile I'd seen before, but deadly serious.
"Thank you, Is. Thanks to you, I can fight seriously now."
"I'm glad I could help."
"...Urk."
Once more, her face reddened as she gripped her chest.
"...Just you wait."
"...Pardon?"
What was that supposed to mean... Ah, was she mad that I'd undone the inversion without permission?
Maybe she wanted to break it with her own power, and I interfered?
'If that's the case, no helping it.'
Even if she resented me, saving her came first.
If this was the punishment, I'd take it a hundred times over.
"...For now, Is, step back. I'm about to show you the magic I've researched my entire life."
Prelia hadn't devised a counter to the Reverser's black magic not because it was too complex or powerful for even her.
'A Prelia freed from inversion is a near-Archmage.'
From childhood, she'd learned only basic magic from her mother but could use others too—a genius, a budding Archmage—controlled solely by the Reverser.
'If she was such a threat, you should've just killed her.'
The Reverser both feared Prelia's talent and sought to exploit it.
That's why she chose to invert and cap her potential.
But just now, I'd removed that limit.
And Prelia seemed to have realized her true talents too.
"This... a chain of impossible events..."
The Reverser muttered, uncharacteristically tense.
With the inversions on me and Prelia undone, and Prelia's talents reawakening, it was a nightmare scenario for her.
And there was one more problem...
"...No way."
Her inversion didn't work on those she'd already used it on.
It might be possible in that "inverted world" she always rambled about, but not in this one. She had no way to invert me or Prelia again.
"...Sister Prelia? Let me make you a proposal."
In that bind, the Reverser opted for negotiation.
As if she had no need to hear it, Prelia gripped her staff tightly, prompting the Reverser to shout anxiously.
"Your parents! I can bring them back to life!"
-Freeze.
Prelia stiffened instantly.
Seizing the moment, the Reverser unleashed a torrent of words.
"I can revive your deceased parents, Sister! The world I create is an inverted one! Swapping the living and the dead is child's play!"
It was tempting enough to shake anyone.
But.
"Will of rejection against the world's inversion..."
Prelia ignored it and began her chant.
"Why?! Don't you want to see your parents?!"
Even as Prelia's staff turned toward her, the Reverser ranted desperately.
-Whoooong...
Prelia's staff tip began to glow faintly.
"Why!!!"
To the Reverser thrashing until the very end, Prelia replied calmly.
"As you say, reviving my parents would mean, in turn, creating more victims like me among others."
"Th-That's...!"
"I don't want that. 'A Perfect World'."
-BOOM!!!
The magic containing Prelia's lifetime surged toward the Reverser.