Chapter 151 – Trial (9)

Beneath a night sky echoing with the remnants of fireworks, inside the Ferris wheel car that had dutifully played its part, only shimmering droplets of water and a single, gleaming ring remained.

I sighed, sinking into the still-warm seat, and waited for the car to ascend again.

Clatter.

As I wished, we rose, the sprawling nightscape unfolding below.

The amusement park I couldn’t afford to visit as a student. The lonely hours of self-study in empty classrooms. The cold sunlight and silent streets. Coming home to find my family packing, their faces etched with a mix of excitement and apprehension. My parents, smiling brightly, suggesting a trip to this very amusement park.

The bittersweet memories ached with a newfound poignancy. I stood.

Now, I had to face the trial alone.

Even if it was a path of thorns. Even a hellish inferno. I had to overcome it and move forward.

Honestly, I was terrified.

But I’d made my grand pronouncements. Giving up now would be pathetic.

I had to do this.

I clutched the ring, remembering Rubia’s bright smile.

A wry chuckle escaped me.

I remembered Mom saying that when you get married, you put your parents aside and focus on your own happiness. She’d said it with a smile. Dad, too, had chuckled. Their voices, lighthearted, lacking any real weight, telling me not to do the same.

Did they know? Were they preparing themselves, just in case I did the same? Or had they done the same thing themselves?

I didn’t know.

I didn’t know anything.

So I would ask. I would open my heart. I would accept everything. And I would move forward.

For those who’d brought me this far. For the one who loved me. For the one I loved.

For Rubia.

Steeling my resolve, I opened my eyes. Holding onto the fleeting memory of happiness, I stepped into the unforgettable past. Into the all-consuming nightmare. Towards the hellish days.

Smiling brightly, I took my first step.

“I’m home.”

***

I witnessed Noah’s ordinary life within the trial. His laughter in a loving home. Listening to family stories. Visiting places unseen in this world, playing joyfully.

Then,

I saw him screaming amidst a raging fire, despair consuming him as his family burned before his eyes. I saw him contemplate suicide in a stranger’s home. I saw him drag his broken body up to the rooftop, again and again, only to fall.

Trapped in a cycle of despair, his soul crumbling, fading.

Just before it shattered completely, he collapsed into the arms of ‘not me, but me,‘ pouring out his sorrow.

And then,

I saw him laugh, looking at ‘me’ with unveiled eyes, blushing as he complimented ‘me.’ I saw him whispering happily as they strolled through peaceful streets. I saw him reveal his undergarments to ‘me.’

I saw him serve ‘me’ miso soup, make coffee, dress in unfamiliar clothes. I saw them laughing together in a new place, their lips meeting.

After that, ‘my’ view of ‘me’ ended.

In the emptiness, ‘my’ voice echoed.

[Thank you for lending me your body.]

[It’s up to you now.]

[Oh my, you think I orchestrated this? I did nothing. It was pure coincidence—the Cartia Bracelet connecting our spirits, the necklace linking you and Noah, the Bracelet of Verdure.]

[Coincidence… Perhaps. Or perhaps, fate.]

[Regardless. You traded your future, becoming Lilith, to help Noah. No regrets?]

[None. It’s too late now anyway. But I had to ask.]

[Please, no cursing. The Lilith erosion begins now.]

[You’ll feel Noah’s pain as your own.]

[This void will consume your mind. It was created to devour you, Lilith’s vessel.]

[You’ll endure eons here, until Noah’s trial ends.]

[You’re fortunate Noah’s necklace connects you to him. And your rage towards me is… potent. Heehee…]

[Will you be alright?]

[Wow… Crude, but resolute.]

[Do you think I can’t curse? I’m the same as you. And I’ve lived much longer, so my curses are far more colorful—]

[—Hmm.]

[Alright, alright, calm down.]

[…Time’s up. I’m at my limit.]

[I can’t stay in your body. I can’t even stay in this world. I’ll merge with Lilith and be disposed of.]

[I hope you succeed… in what you wanted to do for Noah.]

[Please… endure.]

[And… don’t leave behind regrets like I did.]

[Heehee… If we meet again someday, I’ll let you slap me. Twice.]

[Goodbye.]

[I’m sorry.]

[And… thank you.]

***

Hermilla stood before a sealed tent, the night air still.

“You’re diligent.”

“Ah, Serr.”

“Is Rubia still the same?”

“…Yes.”

When Noah entered the trial, Rubia, connected to him through the artifact, collapsed unconscious.

A year had passed.

Noah hadn’t returned. Rubia hadn’t awakened.

Bound to this place, they’d established a stronghold around the Temple of Memories. Erden’s forces had attacked relentlessly, but their own scattered troops had rallied, barely holding them back.

“They certainly have a talent for causing trouble.”

“Heehee… Indeed.”

Serr’s weary chuckle and Hermilla’s sigh mingled in the cool air.

“Why aren’t you eating? On a diet?”

Serr gestured to the cold soup at Hermilla’s feet.

“Yes. Figured I’d lose some weight.”

“You’ll lose your chest first. It’s small enough as it is.”

“Serr. Are you any good at fighting?”

“I don’t lose fights.”

“Then let’s go a round. No spirits. Just us.”

“That’s not cowardly, it’s smart.”

Serr picked up the soup bowl and glanced at Hermilla’s prosthetic arm.

“How is that thing, anyway?”

Clank. The metal joints moved smoothly as Hermilla flexed her fingers.

“Mistilteinn. It’s… incredible. Stronger than my old body, even with its attunement to Destruction. It even has Divine Slaying properties. I’d replace my whole body with this stuff if I could. Heinzel’s ecstatic about his new arm, too. First time I’ve seen him smile since Noah disappeared. Heehee.”

Serr observed the prosthetic, nodding in satisfaction.

“It’s truly strange.”

Someone in the past just happened to have information on Mistilteinn. There just happened to be enough elixir and a skilled alchemist. A capable smith. A sturdy test subject. Someone to imbue it with essence.

And, of course,

A spirit summoner with a World Tree branch to perfect it.

“Coincidence? Fate? Even I, a genius, can’t tell anymore.”

“It’s not coincidence. It’s fate.”

“Fate… The world’s will is eliminating anything disruptive. Which implies an opposing will… another god, perhaps. Or…”

Perhaps a god with two wills.

Serr gazed into the soup, then chuckled.

“Are we not monkeys, but ingredients in a cosmic stew?”

She looked up at the smoke-filled sky.

“Are we reheated leftovers? Or a fresh dish?”

As Hermilla pondered Serr’s cryptic words—

“Hermilla!”

Juur rushed in, panting, holding out a paper.

“Tch, those bastards.”

Serr sighed, storing the soup. Hermilla tied back her hair, facing Juur.

“How many this time?”

The peaceful moment shattered. The bells of war tolled, announcing Erden’s advance.

“Three hundred thousand… and—”

A blood-red magic circle, woven from despair, engulfed Cartia, consuming the lingering death on the battlefield.

“—all nine Masters, including the supposedly dead, are marching on Cartia.”