Chapter 264 |
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[Translator – Night]
[Proofreader – Gun]
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“Leciel.”
It was never easy to escape from Yol’s avatar.
Leciel was running through the academy, squeezing out every ounce of her mana.
This place, where she had spent a year as her home, now felt unfamiliar.
Heat, toxic gas, and undead creatures popping up here and there.
Crack-
Leciel kept running without a moment’s rest.
Her head throbbed, and she tasted blood in her throat, but she couldn’t stop.
She couldn’t let Rosalyn fall into Yol’s avatar’s hands.
That sense of duty kept her moving.
“Leciel.”
Leciel had a habit of wandering around the grounds whenever her mind was troubled.
At the beginning of the term, when she wasn’t getting along with her grandmother, she would spend all her breaks outside.
Thanks to that, she knew shortcuts and hidden paths that even the servants didn’t.
It was one reason she barely managed to evade Yol’s pursuit.
“Leciel.”
Leciel finally responded to the third call.
“Yes.”
“…This is far enough. Thank you.”
Pat, pat—
A hand tapped her shoulder.
“Can you put me down?”
They were in front of a building overlooking the hill where Yol’s main body was fighting the members.
Leciel had tried to avoid the academy’s center, but circumstances forced her here.
Distant explosions, desperate shouts, and screams could be heard.
“Thank you.”
Rosalyn’s voice, however, was calm, almost detached from the chaos.
It allowed Leciel to snap out of her panic and regain some composure.
She realized then that she had indeed evaded the avatar.
Fortunately, there were no undead wandering nearby.
“Thanks to you, I had time and energy to complete the spell.”
“…Spell?”
Leciel looked at Rosalyn, who was leaning against the wall.
‘What kind of spell in her state?’
Yol’s power was slowly consuming Rosalyn.
Her body from the abdomen to the chest was already shriveled and ashen.
If she had the strength to complete a spell, shouldn’t she use it to save herself?
Was it because she was a homunculus and had no attachment to life?
Leciel looked at her in confusion.
But Rosalyn simply prepared her ‘spell’ with a calm expression.
She placed her hand over the artificial heart, which beat like a human’s.
With her remaining hand, she gently pushed Leciel’s back.
“…Rosalyn?”
“Now move away. I’ve used my power, so they’ll come swarming.”
“Then even more, I should stay by your side…”
“It’s over now. It’s okay.”
Before Leciel could ask what she meant, it happened.
Uuuuuuuung—
From the nearly dead homunculus surged a power so immense it was hard to believe it was inside her.
It was the primordial force.
‘…The power of memory.’
The core power that Zero had implanted to complete her as a living being, linked to her very life force.
Leciel watched in astonishment as Rosalyn slowly rose.
Her hands were lifted toward the sky.
‘It has to be done.’
Using all this power would mean she could no longer exist in this world.
But Rosalyn knew it was the only way.
Until the Hero arrived, holding Yol’s main body at bay with just the members was not enough.
A faint smile crossed Rosalyn’s lips as she thought this far.
In truth, even if the Hero arrived, she wasn’t sure he could defeat Yol and resolve this crisis.
The Hero had grown rapidly, but Yol was still Yol.
However, at some point, Rosalyn had come to believe and expect that the Hero, her brother, would solve all these tragedies.
It was likely because she had seen him continuously and fully resolve the threats that had befallen him and those around him, building her trust.
‘How curious.’
A person like her who held countless others’ memories.
A person like him who had lived countless lives of others.
What had their master and creator Zero intended for them to feel?
She had thought of herself as a tool, but perhaps there was something more.
For the first time in her life, Rosalyn hoped for such a thing.
She hoped that the mission driving her now was not something implanted but a fruit she had gained from reading humans over the centuries.
‘You can find the answer. Please see it through to the end.’
The wind stirred and the ground trembled.
Charr—
The sound of countless pages turning reached everyone’s ears.
It was light and continuous like leaves rustling in the wind.
At the same time, it was heavy and majestic.
A deep, dull thudding and subtle friction sound repeated.
Uuuuuuuung—
At last, Rosalyn’s ‘memory’ began to manifest on the ground with the power of magic.
Those who had passed through Rosenstark.
Those who had willingly borne the sacrifice to protect this world took form, wrapped in brilliant light.
They were the soldiers of memory.
An immortal legacy, preserved forever, shining even against Yol’s blade, and never to be desecrated.
Rosalyn gazed at them, recalling the precious memories they had entrusted to her when they visited the library.
‘…Memory is a powerful force.’
A force that led everyone to the present and would guide them into the future.
They would probably hold out for another hour or two.
Wrapped in faint mist and rings of light, they formed orderly ranks and marched towards the hill where Yol was.
It was a silent advance, but at that moment, everything in Rosenstark held its breath.
Thunk-
The only loud sound was Rosalyn collapsing to the ground.
The power that composed her body was rapidly leaving.
Eternal death would soon come.
Yet, her face remained calm, like a librarian surrounded by books.
Through her fading vision, Rosalyn looked at the girl standing still.
“Hurry and leave. Why are you just standing there? Stubbornness runs in both the teacher and the student.”
“Thank you. Really… thank you.”
Leciel bowed her head.
Rosalyn smiled silently, reaching out to pat the girl on the shoulder.
“Leciel, may only happy memories fill your future.”
And may your future be as well.
Crackle—
As all the memories she held were destroyed, Rosalyn’s eyes closed.
She had just transferred Zero’s last memory, the one she lied about not having, to Iris of Laplace.
* * *
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[Translator – Night]
[Proofreader – Gun]
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Back to the present.
The Hero was heading straight for the hill where Yol was.
A silence fell over the previously noisy academy as if by magic.
Tststststst—
Midway up the hill, the undead that had been rampaging through the academy stopped moving.
Black mist-like energy drained from their decayed bodies, gathered in the air, and then was completely absorbed into the hill.
The Hero realized that Yol was reclaiming the power he had distributed to his legion.
‘…Preparing to face me.’
Even for Yol, a ‘Hero’ was a daunting opponent.
The Hero took a deep breath.
Boom—
With a burst of explosive mana, the Hero soared to the top of the hill.
The aftermath of the fierce battle was immediately apparent.
Broken weapons embedded in the ground, comrades covered in blood… and some corpses.
The ‘soldiers of memory’ that Rosalyn had summoned with her last strength had already vanished.
And in front of him stood the source of all this chaos.
‘…Yol.’
Yol didn’t appear completely unscathed either.
His armor was tattered, and his body was cracked in several places.
The reason for reclaiming the power from the undead was clear.
Despite his still overwhelming presence, it was the most formidable of any foe the Hero had faced….
‘There is… a chance.’
Thud—
The Hero landed between the members and Yol.
The oppressive fear that had weighed on them lifted.
“Leader!”
Felson, with a prosthetic arm, laughed heartily.
“Hero!”
Yussi, clutching a half-destroyed alchemy glove.
“Oh my, you’ve finally arrived.”
Zion, with disheveled hair.
“You’re dead, Yol.”
“You’re finished, you bastard.”
Even Iira and Taylor, who had regained their vigor.
The Hero looked at the members who welcomed him.
After this moment, they would no longer look at him with such affectionate eyes.
He had once feared that.
He didn’t want to lose it.
He wanted to avoid being abandoned and sinking back into darkness.
But surprisingly, that fear and anguish had left him long ago like burnt-out ashes.
He realized that what he gained was far greater than what he lost.
So, he had long made up his mind.
The task was clear.
He just had to do it.
No matter the situation, no matter what suffering awaited, he would fulfill his duty and mission.
That was what he had learned from humans.
[…]
Yol was staring at him too.
Surprisingly, he had taken a step back since the beginning.
[…What is this?]
He was visibly flustered.
The flames inside his helmet flickered violently.
The Hero spoke calmly.
“Yes, do you recognize me?”
[No, it can’t be. It can’t be.]
Yol’s voice echoed across the hill.
The members behind the Hero murmured, puzzled by the incomprehensible conversation.
“What’s going on with him?”
“What’s he talking about?”
Yol.
He could sense the artificial lifeforce of non-human beings so acutely that he described the stench coming from Rosalyn as foul.
This was because only the naturally radiant lifeforce served as his sustenance.
When faced with unnatural beings, an instinctive aversion welled up within him.
Thus, Ted Redymer was the most valuable human to Yol.
His lifeforce burned brighter than anyone Yol had ever encountered, igniting an insatiable desire and yearning within him.
This was why he had risked so much to come to the academy today.
But what about the ‘Hero’ before him now?
Was his lifeforce a bright flame?
No, such words couldn’t describe it.
Yol had felt such a vast flame only once in his long life.
[Ha ha…]
Yol naturally recalled memories from centuries ago, back when they first set foot in this world.
He remembered the monstrous being who fought against the Demon King with formidable power.
[Kahahahahaha!]
The words Theo had spoken began to click in his mind.
Yol could finally grasp the rough circumstances.
This was a farce.
What a farce this was.
[So, that’s how it is. Now I understand.]
The Hero stared at him blankly.
It seemed Yol mistook him for the original doppelganger who had fought the Demon King.
There was no need to correct this misunderstanding.
[Wearing the mask of the dead and deceiving humans so well. Forgotten monster.]
From the members’ perspective, Yol’s words were incomprehensible nonsense.
Even more puzzling was that the Hero did not respond.
Instead, he simply raised his Black Hope.
To the members, the sight of the familiar sword energy igniting from the base of the sword was reassuring.
Yol, too, lifted his bone sword in response.
[Why? What do you have left?]
Why do you continue on this path without reward or recognition?
The Hero had been answering that question to those who asked it for a long time.
“Because I saw the light.”
[You saw the light in humans?]
Rumble—
A black aura erupted explosively from Yol’s bone sword.
[Then we will cast a veil to extinguish that light.]
Boom—
Yol kicked off the ground, charging forward.
The flickering darkness followed him like a wave.
The Hero inhaled deeply. Indeed, it was a dark age.
As Yol said, the veil of evil cast over this world had obscured the light of humanity.
In the continuous brutal circumstances, humans sometimes easily succumbed to the darkness.
But…
Crash—
“Leader!”
“Hero!”
Desperate screams erupted from those anxiously watching the battle.
The Hero’s sword, which seemed poised to parry Yol’s, suddenly veered off course.
The bone sword slammed into the Hero’s body with immense force.
Even a Hero couldn’t continue fighting with such injuries.
“!!”
However, the eyes filled with worry soon turned to astonishment.
The Hero, as if uninjured, continued with unbroken momentum, severing Yol’s left arm.
Clang—
With a metallic sound, Yol’s arm, enveloped in black mist, flew through the air.
The onlookers could see a faint smile on the Hero’s lips.
“If you cast a veil…”
I will wield my sword to tear through that veil, so that humanity’s inherent light may shine upon this world once more.
“The glory and brilliance need not be mine in the end.”
As he finished speaking, all eyes were on the Hero.
Tststststst—
The Hero’s torn and split flesh began to mend itself.
[PR/N: Next chap scared me.]
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[Translator – Night]
[Proofreader – Gun]
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