Chapter 350: The End of All (3)

"Kim Woo-Jin," Ria called his name.

At that moment, unable to meet his eyes, Ria's eyes fell upon the blue forget-me-not in a vase on the wooden desk, where she stared at its tilted head.

Deculein offered no words.

As the silence stretched on, small hopes like droplets and what-if thoughts bubbled up in Ria's heart...

“

... Ah.

”

But the moment she looked up at him and glanced at his face from the corner of her eye, she knew it was not to be.

"Kimurin? What is that, Ria?" Leo asked.

Because it was a name that people of this continent would not even know, the reaction of Leo was entirely natural and the same could be said of Deculein.

At that moment, Deculein was utterly emotionless, certainly not like a person whose own name—unknown to anyone in this world—had been called, and his expression, like Leo's, betrayed no knowledge of whether the word was a name or a thing.

Despite it all, Ria tried to read Deculein’s reaction, attempting to read even the wrinkles on his face, the beating of his heart, the dilation of his iris, the movement of his pupils, and the subtle changes in the atmosphere with the skills she had learned and cultivated as an adventurer living on this continent...

"There is no time for idleness," Deculein said.

Ria finally became aware of reality and realized it had been her delusion.

[36 : 03 : 23]

With the quest’s timetable reflected on her retina, Ria clenched her fist tightly and once again looked at Deculein and the sky beyond his shoulder.

There, a celestial object was present that had once looked like a tiny dot but was now, in an instant, as clear as a crescent moon.

"Yuara," Deculein called her name.

"

... Hmm?

" Ria replied, her mind in a daze.

Deculein shook his head from side to side, as if to show that Ria was pathetic.

"You would have a duty that needs doing."

Ria belatedly came to her senses as the timetable ticked away in real time, and she knew she should not be confused by such a personal matter.

"This lighthouse, and the meteor, will bring about the destruction of the continent," Ria said.

Both Leo and Carlos nodded their heads.

"... That would be so," Deculein replied in agreement, a faint smile on his lips as he took a notebook from his desk. "I am more aware than you."

"But why?" Ria asked, seeking an answer. "I still don't understand. Even if you didn't pull the meteor to you, you could still achieve what you want. After all, the meteor is a force of complete destruction... that can shatter the earth, leaving behind a massive crater."

Ria seemed to vaguely understand Deculein himself—his purpose, what he wanted, and his reasons for portraying himself as a villain.

But he had no need to cooperate in the lighthouse's completion,

Ria thought.

"Do you believe you know my purpose?" Deculein said, scoffing as his eyes swept the space.

Ria, too, was taking in the sights as she observed the bookshelves, made of antique and elegant wood, perhaps too plain for Deculein’s taste, while noting that there was nothing else in the room—creating a scene much like a library.

"Even now, I could be deceiving you and making you mistake my purpose in order to buy time to bring about the destruction of the continent."

Ria looked at Deculein without a word.

"... But you don't lie," Ria said.

"I do," Deculein replied with composure. "And it is already done."

With that, Deculein turned and looked at Ria.

“Like you did.”

Ria's brow furrowed.

What lie is he suddenly talking about?

Ria thought.

"You said that half-human, half-demon could become a human, did you not? Yet he remains unchanged," Deculein continued with a scoff, gesturing toward Carlos.

“

... Ah.

”

Carlos, the half-human, half-demon, remained a half-human, half-demon.

Though Ria had tried to cleanse the demonic energy from Carlos’s blood on innumerable occasions...

"It cannot be done," Deculein said, shaking his head. "You cannot make one who is already a half-human, half-demon into a human. Even if you could, the act of losing oneself is no different from death."

At those words, Carlos glared at Deculein, but because he was unable to overcome his instinctive fear, he immediately lowered his eyes when Deculein glanced his way.

"Yuara, the meteor can no longer be stopped," Deculein continued, turning his back as he looked through the window, his eyes locked on the meteor breaking through the atmosphere in the middle of the sky. "Even if I were to die, even if this lighthouse were to shatter, that destruction is now inevitable."

Ria remained silent.

"Foul and lowborn humans—those who, ignorant of their station, challenge the noble, insult the mage, and disparage the knight..."

Deculein muttered criticism and insults, but his voice was surprisingly gentle, smooth, and peaceful like a lullaby.

"Those vermin who infest this continent..."

Looking at the distant sky, Deculein gave a sneer.

"Will finally meet their destruction."

Ria unknowingly fiddled with her necklace, to which the crystal orb was attached, storing all the sights of this place—including the lighthouse, the meteor, and the muttering Deculein.

"And so... it will begin again," Deculein continued, looking back at Ria. "A new world, where those lowborn have all vanished."

With a voice that seemed to seethe like a villain's, Deculein appeared composed and strangely relieved, and if this was a performance, it was an absolutely magnificent one.

"However, before that."

Thud—!

With a sudden strike of Deculein’s staff on the floor, mana burst into being, spreading like a veil of mist that wrapped around the three people—Ria, Leo, and Carlos.

“

Oh, oh?!

”

“

Ugh!

”

Leo and Carlos disappeared, screaming a single cry.

The crystal orb on Ria’s neck also stopped working, and in Deculein’s space, all that remained was Ria, all by herself.

"It has come to this, with only the two of us," Deculein said.

Without a word, Ria glared at Deculein.

“Yuara.”

The tone in which Deculein called her name was filled with a sudden warmth, as if he were calling a friend from some distant past.

"Now I have something to tell you."

“... Something to tell me?” Ria said.

“Indeed.”

With his words saying that he had something to say, Deculein’s face was surprisingly gentle and serene, resembling him from long ago, which shocked her visibly, causing her shoulders to tremble as the words that then came from him delivered an overwhelming shock.

"I have loved you.”

The moment Ria heard them, a sudden pain—as if her heart was being squeezed—left her bewildered and feeling as though she would lose consciousness from a pain she had never known.

"That is no lie."

Whether he knew it or not, Deculein’s earnest confession continued in a simple tone, and at his sincere words, Ria’s lips would not part as if frozen, leaving her completely at a loss for what to say or how to act.

"You were the only one I ever loved..."

In the meantime, a smile spread across Deculein’s lips as if he were recalling the distant past or a lovable memory, his composure relaxed and serene, unlike Ria’s flustered expression.

"And it was a blessing that you were there for me."

Ria was briefly stunned as she looked at his boyish laugh and his two eyes like lakes, but she soon felt a profound emptiness.

“And I was able to hold on because you existed.”

... Even so, he is not Kim Woo-Jin. He is Deculein,

Ria thought.

"I often thought that I hoped to see you again..."

Because those words are not from Kim Woo-Jin to Yoo Ah-Ra...

"Even for a single moment," Deculein concluded.

But from Deculein to Yuara.

Ria bit down on her lip as her heart trembled, her face twitched, and her eyes blurred with tears while her body convulsed uncontrollably. Even though she knew he was not Kim Woo-Jin but Deculein, just hearing his voice felt good, sad, and envious...

"... Yes," Ria replied, and nothing more.

That she could not betray Deculein’s emotions—no, because it truly felt as if Kim Woo-Jin was speaking—Ria pretended to be Yuara.

"But knowing that, you are doing this?" Ria asked with a lightly teasing tone.

I was trying to confront Deculein...

Ria thought.

“Because I did not know you would be here,” Deculein replied.

The answer from Deculein came back without a moment’s pause, carving an even deeper mark into Ria’s heart and twisting her face into a tearful expression.

“Had I known, I would have taken better care of this body.”

With those words, Deculein offered the notebook from his desk, and Ria wiped her teary eyes with her sleeve before taking it.

"What... is this?" Ria asked, swallowing hard.

"Read it at a later time," Deculein replied.

On the cover, only the words

Diary

were written.

“A diary...?”

The moment Ria muttered like that and unknowingly let her guard down, a blue mana pulsed from Deculein and immediately wrapped around her.

"

... Huh?

" Ria murmured, staring blankly at Deculein.

"Let us bring this conversation to a close."

Declaring the conversation over, Deculein’s face seemed somewhat strange—no, it was downright strange.

Why are you smiling? With the happiest face, a look you've never shown anyone...

"I wish I had known a little sooner," Deculein concluded.

Why are you saying those words?

***

Empress Sophien was ascending the lighthouse, the sword hanging loosely in one hand already glistening with blood, her eyes thick with murderous intent as she cut down all the Altar, the demonic beasts, and the chimeras who tried to stop her advance.

Sophien walked up each section of the lighthouse and every step of the staircase without pause, walking solely on her own two feet toward the high and noble height that seemed to touch the Floating Island.

“

Grahhhhhhhhhh—!

”

When a chimera from the Altar screamed and charged forward, Sophien's swordsmanship poured down like rain.

Splaaaaaaash—!

Like a downpour that could neither be avoided nor contained, every blade of the sword sliced through the chimera.

“

... Wow.

”

The knights who watched that sight could only admire the Empress’s swordsmanship, which required no assistance from any knight and transcended them all.

"We have no time for admiration! Let us go up!" Maho shouted, holding a lighthouse map she had obtained from somewhere and using it to guide the Empress.

"Yes, Princess!" Gawain replied.

Delic, too, moved his legs resolutely and ascended the lighthouse's stairs.

Booooom—!

At that moment, the immense vibrations that reverberated, the great waves of mana that shook the very ground, and the strange disasters caused by the descent of the meteor did not merely remain a phenomenon but instead agitated the mana circulating within the knights' bodies and their blood vessels.

“

Ughhhh—!

”

“

Argh—!

”

At the simultaneous groans and coughing up of blood, the bodies of many knights, mages, and Scarletborn briefly tumbled down the stairs, and the advance was brought to a standstill due to the chaotic mess in which only Ganesha and Empress Sophien remained somewhat unharmed.

"... Weaklings, indeed," Sophien said, taking a cloth from her pocket to wipe the blood from her sword. "

Hmph

, pull yourselves together. There is little time remaining."

They remained silent.

"... You choose not to reply to my words?"

However, the loyal servants watching Sophien were silent partly due to the pain of the mana agitation and partly because they had too many words weighing on their tongues to bear to speak them out loud.

"

Hmm

," the Empress murmured, her crimson eyes glaring at them. "Do you think this is naught but a pointless effort?"

“... Pardon?” replied one of the knights, for the Empress’s words mirrored their own thoughts.

"Is it not that you believe there is nothing to be done about the meteor, which is already upon us?" the Empress asked in a voice of ice.

There was only silence, and just as Sophien had said, the meteorite was already right at their doorstep.

Would destroying this lighthouse cause the meteor to disappear? Would killing Deculein stop this catastrophe? Can the continent escape destruction? Has the Altar not already won this war?

the knight thought.

"... It matters not," Sophien continued, speaking with absolute conviction. "You have only to believe in me."

Sophien looked up at the ceiling and then at him, the one waiting at the very top of the lighthouse.

"You need only accomplish your designated duties.”

Your duties, Deculein's duty, and my duty,

Sophien thought.

"... I shall take care of all that remains."

Sophien was aware of what Deculein would do and what the fate of the continent would be.

"I shall see to everything myself."

Because she knew that, Sophien was certain that, as the Empress born the noblest on this continent, she bore the greatest responsibility.

"Commit all to my hands, and you need only to follow me."

The words were meant for the pathetic knights who had been defeated there, and for the one watching from up there—the one she loved.

"... I shall dedicate myself to your cause," Sophien concluded.

Sophien made her resolution at that moment.