Chapter 380

Chapter 380

It’s been said that if a person is too surprised, they harden.
In our experience, this makes sense.
Adeshan with the surprise kiss under the spotlight, Varen with the handed over club plans from way back when.
To this day, when I call his name out of the blue, he’s paralyzed like he’s been struck by lightning.
But I had a hard time empathizing with that statement.
My hands were always as reflexive as my head, even when I was hit with a hair-raising impact.
“Sarante.”
This was the case again.
Instead of stiffening at the sudden appearance of Sarante or giving him a welcoming hug, I swung my sword.
The blade stopped in front of Sarante’s neck, a leaf’s width apart.
“——.”
The sword was stained with Brigia’s blood.
A spontaneous spray of blood splashed down his neck.
It must have been quite an eerie experience, but the old elf’s eyes never wavered.
Facing him, I slowly lowered my sword.
“It’s real, I thought it was an illusion like last time.”
“What do you mean, last time?”
“That’s what happened. I’m glad to see you, Sarante.”
“I’m happy for you, too. You must be Ronan, judging by your reaction.”
Sarante laughed.
The wistful smile is nostalgic.
Everything was just as I remembered it, except for the weird outfit.
It was the same elf who had served me tea straight from the temple in the Baidian Mountains.
“There are so many things I want to ask you.”
It was just confusing.
The Sarante I knew was still in stone.
He had appeared before me briefly after the war with Nebula Clazier, but it was not Sarante, but Seniel, who had changed his appearance.
Besides, Brigitte was the woman who had apparently struck me in the throat.
It can’t be alive.
The memory of burying it in the Baidian Mountains in the drizzling rain was still fresh in my mind.
Sarante stammered.
“I understand. But if you don’t mind, can I summarize it for you? I’m running out of time.”
“You don’t have time?”
“Yeah. I’m only a few minutes away from being sent back to my original time slot, and Brigia’s interruption has shortened my stay even further. It’s a shame, because I’d love to have a real conversation with Ronan at this time of year.”
“What kind of bullshit is this?”
It was hard to understand what he was saying.
Sarante calmly wiped the blood from his neck with a handkerchief.
I frowned as I considered the implications.
“So–you’re saying you’re from the future?”
“Yes, you’re quick to understand.”
“You’re a pain in the ass. Can you prove it?”
“Of course. I’m in the position of having to convince Mr. Ronan no matter what, so would you like to see this first?”
Sarante pulled a sphere from his arm.
The surface of the fist-sized lump was covered in tiny writing.
Pow!
The words glowed white, and a three-dimensional image floated above the sphere.
“What the—!”
“It’s a new product from Didikan Industries, and we’re glad to be able to convey the full story of what happened in the future.”
A familiar name was mentioned, but I didn’t respond.
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing in the video.
I barely managed to open my mouth as I watched the carnage.
“—So, this is the future?”
“That’s right. Mr. Ronan.”
“If you’re kidding, stop right now, because I’m about to break your nose.”
“I’m not barky enough to use this as a source of humor.”
Sarante smiled bitterly.
I asked, knowing full well.
There was no one to chuckle at this.
My eyes were fixed on the video even while I was having a conversation.
– Gahhhhhhhhh! Run!
– Machine guns open fire! Hold your ground while the Dinhar Brigade comes!
The city was under attack.
The skyscrapers and neon signs along the boulevard hinted at the passage of time.
Terrified people were screaming and running away.
Over their heads, winged giants prowled.
– Elkines carries out the sentence.
– All things are according to His will.
A massive explosion erupted each time the spear of light struck.
The hemispherical force field was blocking the attack, but it didn’t look like it would hold for long.
Armies armed with the weapons of the future were fighting a desperate battle.
On the ground, white-robed fanatics besieged the city.
“That’s ridiculous.”
I almost tugged on the hilt of my sword before I realized it.
The bald men, as gray as octopuses, were unmistakably the invaders.
The ones the people of this star shit themselves to death to wipe out.
It was impossible.
I’m pretty sure I wiped them out.
By destroying the source of the race’s power with his own hands, he freed the souls that possessed them.
But how?
What am I doing at that time of day?
The video is over.
The sphere’s light faded and darkness descended.
I opened my mouth, gazing into thin air.
“Sarante.”
“Yes. Ronan.”
“What am I doing in the future, and I can’t even see my nose, Adeshan or Asel or Schlieffen?”
“That’s——.”
Sarante trailed off.
He looked into my eyes for a long moment before finally dropping his gaze, unable to answer.
Like a spy trying to keep a secret even in the face of intense interrogation.
A huge addition fell on top of my heart.
“No way.”
“—For now, everyone’s fine, and it was Asel and Erzebet who sent me back in time, but I don’t know how long I’ll be able to hold on if this goes on much longer.”
“Yet?”
“Yes. We’re in a situation of overwhelming odds. Their numbers are much greater than before, and even without the Savior this time—.”
Sarante grimaced.
I didn’t poke around and ask what happened to the people of the future.
I felt like I wouldn’t be able to keep my composure if I heard the truth.
“Holy shit.”
My head felt dizzy.
It also made me feel nauseous.
The happy days were replaying in my head.
The most vivid memory I have is from just a few days ago.
I was lying on the floor with Adeshan’s knees bent.
His right ear was stuck to his stomach.
She gently stroked my hair and asked if I could feel her kicking.
It’s not quite time for the fetus to arrive.
– Oh, I can’t hear you.
– But keep your ears open. Do you know?
– If you kick it now, it’s not a baby, it’s a monster.
After that, the conversation turned to the usual suspects: prospective parents.
Things like what they’re going to name their child and who they hope they’ll look more like.
I kissed her not-yet-bloated belly in between chats.
Adeshan giggled at the tickle.
“Whoa—whoa—whoa!”
It was hard to breathe.
A chuckle rang in my ears.
One thing is for sure, neither of us doubted that a happy future awaited us.
“Is there any way to stop —?”
“Yes, it is, and that’s why I’m here.”
“That’s great, tell me about it.”
My vision was narrowing.
The sound of my heartbeat was heavier than usual.
I slowly swiped my hand across my face and mumbled something very small.
“I feel like my body is going to explode.”
“——!”
Sarante flinched.
For a moment, the forest shook, and then thousands of birds took flight in a frenzy.
Descending silence.
A bead of cold sweat trickled down Sarante’s temple.
“——Of course, and if you don’t mind, could you calm down a bit?”
“What? Ugh.”
I realized that I had lost control of my emotions.
I took a few deep breaths, and the pain subsided.
I scratched the back of my head, embarrassed.
“I’m sorry, I was being an asshole.”
“No, rather, I think I know why you sent me to Ronan at this time of day.”
Sarante laughed.
His gentle face was now pickled in sweat.
It was a sign of his struggle to stay alive and conscious.
He continued.
“Mr. Ronan. Are you familiar with the concept of parallel worlds?”
My eyes lit up when I heard the word parallel worlds.
It was a topic I’d been talking about with Asel just a few hours earlier.
“—I heard that.”
“Aha, that would be a quick explanation: the giants you just saw all came from a parallel world.”
“Yes?”
“There are a total of three parallel worlds that resemble ours. They are all worlds that have been destroyed or are destined to be destroyed by Nebula Clazier, and a gate has been opened to connect them.”
I just blinked.
I wanted to ask more in-depth questions, but it seemed like it would never end.
Assuming everything Sarante said was true, I asked her a question.
“—Okay, parallel worlds are one thing, but why three?”
“It’s simple. Your wife, I mean Adeshan, has done three regressions.”
“What the fuck?”
I couldn’t help but swear.
It was rude, but I had no choice.
Who wouldn’t say something harsh when they’ve been hit in the head with a brick?
“I know you’re confused, and of course this is not information that everyone knows. Adeshan-sama only revealed that he was a regressor after the Nebula Clasier invasion in order to help determine the cause. It took the best minds of the time to come to that conclusion.”
“So what Asel said was true, that the world doesn’t disappear when you go back in time, it just moves on to a new parallel world?”
“You’re half right and half wrong. Technically, every time Mr. Adeshan regressed, a parallel world was created. He lost his life, created a new world, traveled there, and lived a new life. A life of overthrowing Nebula Clasier.”
“I can’t believe my eyes—was that real?”
I was genuinely shocked.
This was the moment when a delusion that had been plaguing me lately was revealed to be true.
There was no salvation for the world without Adeshan.
The forsaken world gasped for air like a beached whale, waiting for the end that would soon come.
Or maybe it’s already a cold corpse.
Sarante said.
“So there’s no Adeshan in the parallel world, because it’s a world after his death, and what Ronan needs you to do is travel to the three parallel worlds, destroy the rift to the future, find Akasha, and destroy her.”
“Akasha?”
“Oh, come to think of it, I didn’t tell you—the root of the whole mess.”
Sarante’s brow quirked slightly.
Embers of hatred flared in his expressive eyes.
“A scourge from the future. The first wizard in history to be able to manipulate parallel worlds, and more.”
“You sound like a crazy asshole. You can’t even acel that, can you?”
“That’s right. Mages Asel and Erzebet managed to send me back in time after squeezing out most of my magic, but they couldn’t touch the parallel world. Unless you’re Akasha, it’s impossible to even enter the rift.”
Sarante gritted his teeth.
He was obviously upset that he had been ravaged by Akasha or something.
I tapped the hilt of my sword and listened to him.
“He’s traveling back and forth between parallel worlds even as we speak, tearing rifts between dimensions. It’s a literal disaster, and with entire stars under attack, there’s no one left in the future to go after him.”
“But if we could send one person back in time, couldn’t we just indoctrinate or kill Akasha before she did something stupid?”
“If we knew who he was, we would have done so, but no matter how hard we tried, it was impossible. All we know about Akasha is that he is an unimaginably powerful sorcerer.”
Sarante pursed her lips.
It was impossible to nip in the bud a disaster that we didn’t know when or where it was born.
They didn’t even know what Akasha looked like, let alone her purpose.
Always dressed in full-length robes and masks, Akasha was literally the stuff of nightmares.
“But doesn’t that mean we’re in the wrong time zone? Akasha’s from the future, and I don’t think I can meet her even if I wanted to.”
“You’ll meet them, because it’s a parallel world, and they’re locked in a different time zone from ours.”
No matter where you enter the parallel world, now or in the future, the time zones will be the same, Sarante said.
A complicated explanation followed, and I nodded at just the right time.
The only thing that mattered to me was whether or not I could blow that Akasha’s head off.
“We’ll drive Akasha as far into the parallel world as we can, it’ll be hard work, but Ronan, I’d appreciate it if you could help us capture the one trapped in Tongbal.”
“That’s a dirty big foot.
Now I get it. You said you couldn’t enter unless you were Akasha, but you came to me because the rift between the worlds is also a form of magic, right?”
“Exactly. It’s a two-bucket operation that only Ronan can pull off. While the future Ronan destroys the rift in the future world and stops the giants, the present Ronan destroys the rift in the parallel world.”
“I get it, so why don’t you go ahead and–hmm?”
I trailed off and narrowed my eyes.
For some reason, Sarante’s body seemed to become a bit transparent.
So was Brigia’s charred corpse.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“Alas—we’re really running out of time, let’s hurry.”
With that, Sarante pulled out a small vial of some sort.
Inside was a blood-red liquid.
“This is Akasha’s blood, which we dramatically obtained.”
“What the hell. Was that real blood?”
“Yes. Akasha uses his blood as a catalyst to open rifts between parallel worlds. It’s a nasty magic, because the moment the blood touches something, the rift opens. He’s traveling the world, spraying his own blood.”
Akasha’s blood is said to transform into a dimensional rift upon contact with air.
Once the wizards figured out how it worked, they enlisted the help of Sita and the vampires to get the blood.
Blood on the verge of turning into cracks.
“I got it the hard way. Sita did a great job. It’s barely enough to make a crack.”
“Wait a minute. Can I just open that—”
Before I could say anything, Sarante popped the lid off the bottle.
The blood in the bottle evaporated in an instant.
An indescribable odor wafted through the air, and then a white patch of incontinence began to spread across the space in front of me.
It was at this point that incontinence exploded.
Boom!
With the effect of shattering glass, a crack appeared, barely big enough for a person to pass through.
The inside of the slowly flickering crack was bathed in a stark white.
“Hey, Ronan. I’m sure you’re wondering what’s going on.”
Sarante said.
He was even more transparent than before.
Behind him, he could see the forest landscape as it was.
“That’s good to know.”
“Forgive us for making this choice. The people of the future decided that only you, Ronan, were the key to saving the world at this time. We are truly sorry for burdening you with such a heavy burden before we could even share the joy of our reunion.”
“Well, that’s just me. Well, I know you don’t have a lot of time, but I just wanted to ask you something.”
“Hmm? What is it?”
“Can the future really change?”
It was a serious question.
Sarante paused, unable to answer right away.
It was the car he was going to say something to.
I flicked my bangs out of my face and shook my head.
“No. Just don’t answer that. I’d rather not hear it.”
“But—.”
“That’s a pointless question anyway. The important thing is that you asked me a favor.”
It was a credo that hadn’t changed in my two lives.
Do what you need to do.
I don’t ask useless questions about it.
If I was the only one who could save the world, I would do it.
Sarante’s mouth curved into a slightly sad smile.
He took off his coat and held it out to me.
“You can take my clothes, they’ve been specially treated so they won’t disappear like mine.”
“What, a parting gift?”
Upon acceptance, the coat stopped being transparent and regained its original density.
I’ve heard so much about it that I thought I needed to organize my thoughts.
“Then let me recap: the goal is the destruction of the rift and the killing of Akasha.”
“Yes.”
“How do I get back to the original world?”
“There’s another vial of Akasha’s blood in the inside pocket of the coat I gave you. You can keep it and open it when you’re done.”
I rummaged through my coat and sure enough, there was another bottle.
It seemed like it would require a lot of careful management.
Because if it breaks, you’re literally screwed.
“If I’m alive in a parallel world, you should visit me. Maybe I can help you.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
I turned around and saw a dark forest.
I didn’t hear any voices calling out for me, so I figured Asel was still asleep.
It was a sight I would probably never see again.
It would be sad if that happened.
Losing a happy present to change an uncertain future.
“That’s a lot of crappy stuff going on.”
That didn’t change my mind.
I wasn’t convinced that I could change the future.
However, Asel and Erzebet decided that no one else could do the job but me, so they sent Sarante here.
There was only one thing I could do in this situation.
Trusting your friends.
And believing in myself that my friends believe in me.
I put on the coat Sarante had given me.
The hem fluttered in the night breeze, reminding me of Sita’s wings.
I used a good fabric and it didn’t feel bad to the touch.
“It’s light, which is good.”
“That’s great. Because it’s made with the technology of the future.”
“I’m carrying a heavy load, but my clothes should be light. I’ll wear them well.”
Sarante was now barely visible.
The last voice echoed through the forest.
“We’ll wait for you in the future.”
I turned and faced the crack.
The intervals between flashes were getting faster and faster, as if it was trying to rush me.
“Whoa—.”
It was time to go.
I glanced back one last time before I started walking.
The gaze stopped in the direction of the Pileon, where Adeshan was staying.
I sent a greeting to the woman who would become my wife and the life that would dream in her womb.
“I’ll be right back.”
And then I took a step.
Hopefully, the world beyond isn’t so shitty.
A pure white crack swallowed me whole.