Ch.111Chapter 111 – Wish

Kei had been completely overwhelmed.

Beatrice clicked her tongue at that fact and rushed toward Yuto.

Her abdomen, which had taken a hit earlier, was slightly throbbing, and she needed to start conserving her magical power since a significant portion had been depleted by the trap spell she’d activated. But she couldn’t back down now.

“Kyaa!”

She saw Aria, who had been blocking Yuto’s path, take hit after hit one-sidedly before falling down.

Thanks to the holy relic, Aria didn’t have a single wound, but she couldn’t keep up with Yuto’s movements.

Among the three people holding the front line, Aria was the sturdiest but also the slowest, so it couldn’t be helped.

Beatrice quickly rushed in to continue the fight, and just when her arms and legs were starting to feel numb, Rudger intervened.

As she blocked Rudger’s sword with her armor, the two began exchanging blows.

Unlike Kei, Rudger could at least hold his own against the creature, which gave Beatrice some small comfort.

However, even he had one critical weakness.

“Huff…”

After forcibly shaking off the dragon, Rudger paused to catch his breath.

Watching him, the dragon murmured with what seemed like pity.

[If you were just a bit younger, you might have had the upper hand.]

“Damn you. Then you should have come a bit earlier.”

Rudger said as he quickly recovered from his fatigue.

She could tell that his body was instantly recovering to normal just by catching his breath, but the intervals between these recoveries were getting shorter and shorter.

‘At this rate, we’ll be picked off one by one.’

With Kei down, there was no one to keep the enemy occupied while Rudger rested.

Aria could only land effective hits when the enemy wasn’t paying attention to her.

Beatrice herself needed to conserve her magical power, making it difficult to deliver proper blows, and it was clear the enemy wouldn’t give her time to cast powerful spells.

Even Rudger’s current recovery was only possible because the enemy deliberately allowed him to do so.

‘I don’t like this.’

Just as she was trying to devise a way to turn the situation around in her head, the enemy was about to charge again.

Space distorted.

“Who is it?!”

A warp gate suddenly opened.

People who were about to move stopped at her words.

‘Who?’

The only mage in this castle was Beatrice herself.

To open a warp gate, a mage near the destination needed to designate coordinates.

And of course, Beatrice had never designated such coordinates.

She hadn’t even had time to do so, being occupied with holding back the dragon.

As she realized someone had done something beyond common sense, and as she thought of who might be capable of such a feat, Beatrice felt her blood run cold.

[Who are you?]

The dragon calmly spoke.

And people began pouring out of the warp gate.

Men in red armor whom she had once seen from a distance.

A black-haired man who somehow looked carefree.

And a platinum-blond man with melancholic gray eyes.

People began to cheer when they saw the flag one of them was carrying.

“It’s the Order of Emiris!”

“It’s the Dragon Slayer! He’s here!!”

The soldiers began shouting, thinking hope had arrived in their desperate situation.

But Beatrice instead directed her killing intent toward the Order of Emiris.

‘Why are these bastards showing up now?’

The timing seemed almost deliberate.

Setting aside the dragon, it was just when their side was exhausted…

‘These bastards, could they be…?’

A timing when their side would be exhausted.

In other words, a moment when no one could easily interfere with whatever they were planning.

That moment was now.

‘We’ve been played.’

Her mind, cooled by anger, began working rapidly.

Why had they arrived at a time when their side was exhausted?

‘They waited for when the castle’s forces would be too occupied to interfere with them, regardless of the pretext.’

Kei had been defeated, and Aria, herself, and Rudger were all exhausted.

It was essentially a moment when there was no one who could effectively stop them.

And the reason they made such a flashy entrance now?

‘To draw everyone’s attention.’

And why would they need to draw attention?

“That, damn bastard!!”

Beatrice quickly jumped backward.

She was heading rapidly toward the top of the castle wall.

It must be up there on the wall.

It’s him.

He was surely trying to achieve his objective while everyone’s attention was focused elsewhere.

Ignoring her as she rushed toward her target after realizing his aim, the platinum-blond man passed by her and stood before the dragon.

[Dragon Slayer?]

As if trying to understand the meaning of the voices he had just heard, Yuto quietly murmured the title.

And then, an angry voice began to resound.

[You, the one who killed Pia…!]

The man who had killed the white dragon that appeared in the New Kingdom.

Realizing that was the man standing before him, Yuto took a step forward and assumed a combat stance.

And the man quietly drew his sword.

A sword of awkward length—too long to wield with one hand, yet too short for two hands.

“Idea.”

With his sword pointed, the man quietly stated his name.

“Remember it.”

After his brief self-introduction, both Idea and the dragon stomped the ground.

The surrounding earth slightly collapsed, and as they both charged simultaneously, they seemed to hover in the air for a moment.

And then.

Idea’s sword sliced through the dragon’s arm at a speed invisible to the eye.

[This…!]

“Not deep enough.”

The armor that even Rudger couldn’t easily cut through was sliced by that single strike.

Holding his injured arm, the dragon began to engage in combat with Idea.

As the battle between the Dragon Slayer and the dragon commenced, cheers of assured victory began to rise from the surroundings.

And Beatrice, bypassing all of them, quickly climbed to the top of the castle wall, attaching iron chains to the air as she went.

With everyone’s attention focused on the Dragon Slayer, probably only two people noticed her hurriedly climbing up. No, including the dragon and the Dragon Slayer, maybe about five.

It was just as Beatrice attached the final iron chain to the top of the castle wall.

“You, how?!”

Sera’s surprised voice could be heard.

And a voice responded to her.

“I used magic, of course.”

A gentle voice.

But if one knew who the voice belonged to, it would send chills down their spine.

Beatrice launched herself into the air the moment she heard that voice.

What came into view was the situation unfolding on top of the castle wall.

A girl in luxurious ceremonial robes with her face covered, and two knights in red armor standing protectively beside her.

She could see Sera backing away with Kei, who was covered in blood, along with Christina.

And between them. In the center of them all.

There he was.

He was here.

That madman moving in the background.

“SOMNUS!!!!!!”

Beatrice’s rage-filled scream echoed amidst the cheers of the people.

+

“You came again, even though I told you not to.”

I opened my eyes at the sudden voice.

Looking in the direction of the voice, that woman was looking down at me.

Certainly, her name was…

“Pia.”

“Yes.”

After calling her name, I sat up.

There was no pain.

Despite taking such a beating, there wasn’t a single trace of injury.

“This is a place only your spirit can reach.”

I looked at Pia as she spoke.

“It’s natural that even if you’re dying out there, it’s not reflected here.”

“I see.”

Even if I’m dying, there are no wounds here…

Wait, hold on.

“Did you say I’m dying?”

“Yes.”

My thoughts froze for a moment.

“Really?”

“Isn’t it strange to be unharmed after continuously taking dragon attacks in mid-air with almost no protection?”

Come to think of it, I was dragged up by that dragon Yuto and subjected to an aerial combo.

Armor meant little against a dragon’s strength, and I literally fell like a rag doll.

“For someone dying, I’m not seeing my life flash before my eyes.”

“You’re dying, but not dead yet.”

Pia tapped herself as she spoke.

“My heart is struggling to save you somehow.”

“Struggling?”

“You’ve healed faster than expected from quite deep wounds before, haven’t you?”

That was certainly true.

Even with severe injuries, my body somehow recovered, and I had been curious about what those Order bastards had done to me.

So the cause was her heart.

“Once properly activated, our hearts draw in surrounding magical power to heal the body.”

“I see.”

“But as you know, my heart inside you is a replicated fragment.”

She approached as she spoke.

The atmosphere made it impossible for me to claim ignorance.

“In its current state, it’s at its limit.”

“Limit?”

“With my heart as it is now, it’s not enough to save your body.”

I couldn’t keep up with the thought for a moment.

It was like being suddenly told I had a terminal illness, or rather, that I was on the verge of death.

I don’t know how much time passed, but I stood there unable to say anything for quite a while.

‘…So I won’t be able to go home after all.’

Oddly enough, that was the first thought that came to mind.

The realization that everything I’d done until now had been in vain.

Going back to the home that existed only in fragments of my memory.

The people around me.

“Don’t you feel resentful?”

“…I just feel sorry.”

If I could, I would have wanted to say proper goodbyes before leaving.

Who would have thought my end would come from being beaten by a dragon?

“I should have treated them better.”

With a small regret, I spoke quietly.

Then, I sat down.

Pia was looking down at me.

It was over now.

My story ended here.

I felt something flowing down my cheek.

“Oh.”

Lifting my helmet slightly, I wiped my cheek with my finger.

Clear water was on my fingertip.

“Were you resentful?”

“…I can’t say I wasn’t.”

I should be honest now.

“I wanted to go home.”

I expressed the wish I had held from the beginning until now.

“I wanted to say proper goodbyes to the people I met here before leaving.”

I spoke of the small desire that had grown during my stay here.

“Until then, I wanted to spend more time with those people.”

I thought of Eve and Sera.

Christina and Beatrice came to mind too.

It wasn’t just them.

The Haven party, that guild receptionist girl.

Aria and Rudger.

Various people flashed through my mind.

“So that’s how it was.”

The contradictory feeling of wanting to be with them more, even for the sake of the inevitable farewell.

That’s what it was.

I didn’t want to let go of my connections with them.

“This is crazy. When did I get so attached?”

Only after expressing my wishes did I realize.

I didn’t want to let go or give up on any of them.

That I was greedy.

I only realized it on the brink of death.

Though it’s meaningless now that I’m dying.

“I want to live.”

I murmured softly, expressing yet another wish that had just formed.

“Regretful, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

Pia, who had approached without me noticing, was extending her hand to me.

Taking her hand, I said:

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Thanks to you, I’ve sorted out what I wanted.”

Even if I can’t achieve it now.

I thought I would have to embrace this regret one last time.

“So this is how my story ends.”

I spoke calmly, filled with regret.

“Do you want to live?”

“…Didn’t you say it was impossible now?”

“It is difficult.”

Pia said that and then looked at me.

“But I didn’t say it was impossible.”

It felt like I’d been hit on the back of the head.

My expression probably reflected exactly that feeling.

Embarrassment suddenly began to overwhelm me.

“…Um.”

“If you have the desire to live, there’s one way.”

She’s ignoring what I said.

Looking closely, she’s turning her head away.

Maybe I should pretend I didn’t notice.

“What is it?”

“It’s simple.”

She tapped her chest once.

It was where the heart would be in a human.

“Accept my heart completely and give up being human.”

“…”

Sounds like she’s selling me something dubious.

“But you shouldn’t misunderstand; you won’t return completely alive.”

“Completely?”

“It’s closer to forcibly extending the moment of dying.”

So she was selling me something dubious after all.

“Even if you survive this moment, without other measures, you’ll gradually die.”

“So I’d essentially be no different from an undead?”

“The fundamental aspect is different, but yes.”

After saying that, Pia turned her head.

Well, undead are completely dead beings that have risen, while I would be forcibly extending the moment of dying, so fundamentally, it is different.

“Even if successful, my lifespan would be drastically shortened, right?”

“…That’s right.”

Pia admitted straightforwardly.

“Your story as a human might be ending.”

Pia spoke calmly.

My mind immediately became complicated.

Should I grab this lifeline?

Or should I quietly accept the end with dignity?

“But in exchange, you’ll have the possibility of returning, even briefly, to the side of your precious people who might be in mortal danger right now.”

“Mortal danger?”

My thoughts froze.

‘They’re in danger.’

Would that dragon show mercy?

Would it spare Sera, Christina, Beatrice, and the others?

One more thing came to mind.

‘What was that?’

The distortion in space I saw before losing consciousness.

Was it an ally?

Could it be an enemy?

“Damn it.”

I see now.

This wasn’t the time to worry about side effects or dignity.

Everyone was still in danger.

Pia extended her hand with a sad face.

There was no hesitation.