Chapter 318: Moon (2)

The Land of Destruction’s lighthouse marked the final main quest branch, leading to the worst ending, in which alien ore would be drawn in, obliterating the continent. As she watched Deculein, Ria’s eyes were filled with doubt and hostility.

“... Who is repairing the lighthouse?” Carlos asked.

“

Shh

,” Ria murmured, pressing a finger to her lips.

Then, Ria concentrated on her observation once more, just in case she had been mistaken in her sight.

Hummmmmm—

Deculein’s

Telekinesis

moved the massive lighthouse like the body of a giant, repeatedly dismantling, disintegrating, and reassembling it—progressing it into a more proper structure.

“Why...”

Ria was unable to understand, as in her estimation, Deculein was unequivocally no saint, and not a hero capable of sacrificing himself to rescue the continent, as Yulie or Ganesha might be.

However, Deculein, who had changed considerably from the original game, was likely a character like a noble himself—one who adhered strictly to principles, aspired to his house’s glory, and proclaimed himself a loyal servant to the Empress.

Watching Deculein construct the lighthouse in the Land of Destruction, Ria bit her fingernails hard.

Thud—

At that moment, the chilling sound of footsteps behind sent a shiver down the necks of Ria and her group.

"... Is it the priests?"

For the moment, Ria gathered the mana within her body and watched someone ascending the stairs...

Yulie?

Ria thought.

“

Hmm?

Knight Yurie?”

It was Yulie.

"Miss Ria, are you alright?" Yulie asked, looking up at Ria as well.

"... What, you just followed us?"

"Yes, I decided to leave the matter to Lord Zeit. Thinking about it, he wasn’t someone who could be helped even if I tried," Yulie replied, joining Ria’s group. "But what caused you to leave in a hurry?"

Ria once more looked upon the Land of Destruction’s ground as Deculein continued to build the lighthouse with his mana, imbuing it with the blue, frigid properties of Snowflower Stone.

If constructed thus, the lighthouse would remain undamaged, capable of withstanding the occasional demonic energy storms and downpours that raged across the Land of Destruction, including lightning and other disasters, for Snowflower Stone was precisely such a metal.

Ria silently glanced back at Yulie, catching her own reflection in Yulie’s transparent pupils—a face that had forgotten all memories, even those of Deculein.

At that moment, a hypothesis surfaced in Ria's mind.

“... There is no way.”

The significance that Yulie and Ria hold for Deculein might be a programmed setting or relationship, or it could be part of the programming itself.

𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

However, of the two, whichever one it proved to be...

"... He couldn't possibly not have suffered," Ria muttered, lowering her head.

Deculein had lost both of his fiancées—one, Yuara, a character inserted by Ria’s greed, and the other, Yulie, the knight who, at this very moment, looked at Ria from this place.

“... Pardon?”

Watching Yulie question, Ria experienced a certain pain in her heart.

Deculein couldn’t possibly not have suffered, nor could he possibly have been unaffected. Seeing me, who resembles his former fiancée, and Yulie, who has forgotten all her memories, Deculein’s inner self—his heart that no one could see—was slowly rotting away,

Ria thought.

“... First.”

Was it my oversight to think of Deculein as nothing but cold steel or an unyielding tree all this time? Was it my immaturity to merely consider him an unyielding tree or cold steel, without ever trying to understand his heart?

Ria pressed hard on her temples, her hand closing into a tight fist.

“First...”

Ria’s head ached, but the words she meant to speak refused to come forth.

If Deculein had turned into an enemy, if he had joined the side of the final boss...

"Are you, then, strangers to this place?"

At that moment, a chilling voice resonated, causing Ria and her companions to quickly raise their eyes and turn as someone approached from the bottom of the stairs, deliberately making their footsteps heard.

“

Hmm.

”

The man in the robe, letting out a relaxed hum, looked up in Ria's direction.

"You, indeed, are outsiders, then?"

The voice was somewhat familiar to Ria, and so was the subtly revealed lower face.

“... Your Highness?!”

At the mention of the honorific title Ria involuntarily blurted out, Yulie’s eyes snapped open.

“High knees? Why high knees?” Leo muttered.

Smack—!

"Hey, be quiet," Carlos said, smacking Leo on the head.

“

Argh!

”

"

Haha

," Creáto murmured—the man Ria called Your Highness—then chuckled and pulled back the hood of his robe.

"I greet Grand Prince Creáto," Yulie said, immediately dropping to one knee.

“Those formalities serve no purpose now, as I have devoted myself to the Altar.”

Ria’s and Yulie’s mouths fell open simultaneously.

Creáto snapped his fingers, and then a vaguely defined soul rippled around him as the Courier.

“God has permitted me. What God has created, I too can use,” Creáto said, his eyes holding Ria's.

Ria swallowed hard.

“Adventurer Ria, I would like to offer you a commission.”

“... Sorry?”

“Just as you believe, Deculein is likewise collaborating with the Altar.”

"Pardon?!" Yulie said, her eyes widening.

Leo and Carlos wore similar expressions.

While Ria was lost in thought about what answer would be appropriate, Creáto took out a map from within his robe.

“Therefore, take this. It is the map for the Sanctuary of the Altar. See that Empress Sophien receives it. Her Majesty will understand its purpose without delay.”

“Sorry?”

To a bewildered Ria, Creáto personally placed the map into her hands.

“Only Her Majesty can halt the Altar,” Creáto continued, his voice softened by a smile.

“... Yes.”

Upon hearing those words, Ria realized that Creáto had intentionally infiltrated for Sophien.

“And now... Knight Yulie,” Creáto said, addressing Yulie, who remained on one knee.

Startled by Creáto addressing her as Yulie, she nonetheless knew that hiding oneself—even from the imperial family—was not proper conduct for a knight.

"Yes, I am Knight Yulie, Grand Prince Creáto," Yulie replied, bowing her upper body.

“Indeed, Zeit is here.”

“... Yes, Your Highness.”

“He is confined to the flower garden.”

Yulie’s face bore a look of innocent questioning.

First, it was a matter of time because Zeit, whom Yulie believed in, was not a man who would be so rapidly subdued.

“Do not be concerned, his life is not threatened. Ria, spread the map open.”

"Yes, Your Highness," Ria replied, showing the map.

"The flower garden, Zeit is here," Creáto said, his finger indicating a spot on the map.

“Does that mean—”

"For now, you too will merely be confined," Creáto said, his hand gently holding Yulie back as he offered her a gleaming blade.

“... This is?”

"It is a sword. A sword crafted from Snowflower Stone."

Snowflower Stone was a metal more valuable than diamonds of equivalent weight, and, for Yulie, especially coming from Freyden, it was a metal of dreams, as she looked at the sword with a shocked face.

“Until now, I have used it for self-defense... but it seems it would suit your person more fittingly.”

The blue blade was perfectly tempered, its surface etched with patterns resembling circuits that facilitated mana transmission. As a warrior and knight, it was a weapon so exquisitely crafted that it resembled a piece of art, making it impossible not to feel greed.

However, Yulie looked down at her worn and foreboding sword, which she had used for ten years, hanging at her waist.

"If you have become a new person, then it is fitting you carry a new sword."

Yulie's body trembled at Creáto's words.

“

Haha

, and furthermore, refusing the favor of the imperial family would be impolite for a knight.”

“... Yes, Your Highness.”

Creáto chuckled as he presented the sword on Yulie’s shoulder, and Yulie received it with all the etiquette due a knight.

"Then, you may now return—and return with Her Majesty once more," Creáto concluded, moving his hand as if conducting, prompting the Courier to move accordingly.

At that moment, Ria finally understood the identity of the person who had manipulated the Imperial Palace's Couriers and had delivered them here.

"... Was it you, Grand Prince Creáto, who brought us here?" Ria asked cautiously.

Creáto merely offered a smile.

***

Whoooooosh—

Accompanied by the reverberation of mana, the space transformed as Ria, Yulie, Leo, and Carlos opened their eyes to the room where they had been playing cards, having returned from the Sanctuary of the Land of Destruction to the Imperial Palace.

"... It felt somewhat like a dream," Ria muttered, her voice tinged with confusion and surprise at its suddenness.

"Yes, it did," Yulie replied, looking up at the ceiling.

Creáto's voice had just replayed in Yulie's ear.

“

Zeit has been confined to the flower garden.

”

"... Honestly, it still feels like a lie to me—to imagine that Lord Zeit could be defeated in such an instant."

Zeit, as Yulie knew him, was the strongest—just as he had always been and remained so.

“Since he is not in danger of losing his life, he will be alright. I believe I understand, in general, how it happened,” Ria replied, reassuring Yulie.

"Do you mean you know?" Yulie asked, abruptly turning her head.

"Yes, he said he was confined in the flower garden, didn't he?"

The implication from Zeit’s confinement in the flower garden suggested that the final boss’s authority lay at the outer edge of the world—an authority that separated existence from the rest of the world. Thus, even Zeit, as a human, could not oppose such authority and must have been isolated there.

“I will go to Her Majesty, as I must deliver the item to her,” Ria continued, pulling a map from her pocket and casting a glance at Yulie with a subtle, complex expression.

"... Please speak," Yulie replied, her expression resolute.

At the sight of Yulie’s expression, Ria offered a smile.

Reliable—for Yulie, uninjured and unrestrained, possesses talent equal to Sophien’s, even transcending Zeit,

Ria thought.

Before she devolved into Eternal Winter—before Yulie's heart completely froze over—Yulie possessed the

Four Seasons

, a power encompassing all four seasons and one of the most brilliant talent settings.

"... Be careful of Deculein," Ria said to Yulie. "For Deculein, from this moment, stands as our enemy."

Deculein, who was now cooperating with the Altar to design the lighthouse, had become their enemy.

"... Is Grand Prince Creáto's statement that Deculein is cooperating with the Altar true?" Yulie asked with a serious expression.

"Yes, he is building the lighthouse," Ria replied.

***

The next day, in the early morning, Yulie wandered through the Imperial Palace corridor, awaiting Sylvia.

“Why...”

No matter how long Yulie waited, Sylvia did not appear, and Ria's words from last night were gnawing, constantly swirling in Yulie's mind.

“

Be careful of Deculein. For Deculein, from this moment, stands as our enemy.

”

Ria furthermore explained the full reason, even revealing the existence of the lighthouse—a tool destined to ruin the continent—and from her sorrowful expression, her heart was clearly visible.

"Hoping he is not an enemy... I can only say he is an enemy," Yulie muttered.

Ria’s feelings were precisely so, but Yulie remained entirely unaware and could neither comprehend anything nor bridge the gap of ten years that had passed.

“

Hmm.

Knight Yurie, was it?”

Hearing the voice calling her name, the wandering Yulie turned, bowed her head, and replied, “Yes, Knight Raphel.”

Raphel was Yulie’s former comrade and senior, but now their connection was completely broken, as he was merely an old man more than twelve years her senior, and indeed, exceedingly aged.

"Are you waiting for the selected mages?" Raphel asked.

"Yes, I heard that you are Ihelm's escort, Knight Raphel."

“That is correct. Ihelm has but few friends; therefore, there’s no one else to do it but me. Haha,” Raphel said with a chuckle, gesturing. “That said, if you’re not too busy, would you care to step to the training grounds for a brief moment? I must admit, I am curious about your skill.”

“

Oh

, is that so?”

“Yes, you have a remarkable resemblance to an old friend of mine.”

His old friend is Yulie—that is to say, myself,

Yulie thought.

"... Yes," Yulie muttered, her face wearing a somewhat complex expression as she followed Raphel.

Thud, thud. Thud, thud.

“Your name is similar, and you are from Freyden, which is why, for some reason, I feel a certain warmth toward you,” Raphel said, walking toward the Imperial Palace training grounds.

“Is that so?”

“And...

Hmm?

”

At that moment, Raphel’s words trailed off, and he looked out the window.

"... Pardon?" Yulie asked with a confused expression.

However, Raphel offered no answer, merely staring somewhere without a word. Raphel’s eyes, staring somewhere, and busily tracking something, widened in increasing surprise, while Yulie, too, belatedly followed his line of sight.

“

... Oh.

”

Yulie soon understood the reason as she saw Deculein swinging his sword during his exercise, performing a swordsmanship routine that seemed like morning practice.

Deculein’s swordsmanship was the same type Yulie had once seen on the Knights’ Order’s training ground, a style that had inspired her admiration...

At that moment, Deculein, as if aware of their eyes upon him, stopped his movements, looked in their direction, and his eyes locked with Raphel’s and Yulie’s.

Rustle—

Watching Deculein sheath his sword, Yulie’s body moved of its own accord, and she cried out without thinking, driven by an almost instinctual desire to see more of his swordsmanship.

"Would you not spar with me?!"

Deculein's brow furrowed in confusion.