Ch.158Too Late. (3)

Tsutsutsuts!

Space distorted, and Melina appeared through the gap.

“……So you knew.”

“I wasn’t completely certain. I just had a sense of déjà vu.”

“Déjà vu?”

“Until the Master of Golden Tower went missing, I thought someone was hunting us. That suspicion reached its peak when I heard reports of lightning striking at the port city of Icail and the Atilla Mountains.”

Aria took a sip of tea and continued.

“But half a year later, I obtained information that they were alive. They were in seclusion deep in the Atilla Mountains.”

“So you deduced that I was alive as well?”

Aria nodded.

“……That’s reasonable.”

It was thinking worthy of a mage.

“You look quite composed. Do you think I won’t kill you?”

“Of course not. I’m well aware that you’re not one to be bound by personal sentiments, Melina.”

Aria gave a bitter smile.

“The reason I’m composed is because I’m confident that you cannot kill me.”

Was this provocation?

There’s a clear difference between ‘will not’ kill and ‘cannot’ kill.

Melina’s aura suddenly sharpened. But she didn’t press down with her magic. With the Dragon Lords absent, she could take Aria’s life at any time.

Therefore, there was no reason to kill her immediately.

‘If I wanted to kill her, I could do so right now.’

Though Aria seemed to have achieved quite a bit in spatial magic, she was still far behind Melina.

“What makes you think that?”

“If you kill me now, those who share my cause will be very angry.”

Aria’s face suddenly became solemn. All that could be seen on her face was certainty born from a profound insight that could foresee the future. That was all.

“The two Dragon Lords and the Master of Dark, the Devilhunter and the Rebel, the druid who serves the World Tree. They’re all either rulers representing a species or leaders representing a group.”

Now that friction with the Holy Kingdom had surfaced, the moment the moderate princess died, war would spiral out of control.

No one present was unaware of this fact.

“Meanwhile, the Master of Golden Tower’s forces consist only of the Saintess and Sword Master Kiel. Even if I die, our side has six, while your side has only three.”

The King of Martial Arts and Esthie Aquar would maintain neutrality until the end unless Olivia showed herself.

After all, they were the type who didn’t care whether the world ended or not.

The asymmetric forces alone were this imbalanced, but the symmetric forces were also overwhelmingly in the princess’s favor. It was only because of Olivia’s disciples that they were even this balanced; without them, they would have been swept away after just a few battles.

“I fear death……”

“Yes, the Master of Golden Tower is not someone who would fear death.”

“……”

“But you’re also not someone who would once again stain this world with blood—the world ‘she’ protected by sacrificing her life……”

At that moment, Melina, who had been sitting, shot a blade of wind toward Aria’s neck like lightning.

Swish!

“……are you? That’s why you cannot kill me, Master of Golden Tower.”

The magical power in the blade was considerable, but not enough to penetrate Aria’s shield. That was because Melina had shown mercy in her attack.

Aria calmly picked up her teacup again.

“Just like now.”

“……How do you know about that?”

Melina’s magical power fluctuated with anger.

Melina had glimpsed many of Olivia’s past lives. She knew better than anyone how much Olivia had dedicated herself to protecting this world, and she also knew that the massacre Olivia had committed in her previous life was not of her own will.

But how did Aria know this fact?

And knowing this, why would she still…

Ignoring this, Aria used her magic to pull a book from the bookshelf.

“Have you heard of ‘The Chronicles of Leodrant’? It’s a novel that’s been gaining popularity among young people lately.”

“……What exactly are you trying to say?”

“The villains in this novel all have their own stories. Unfair treatment, unfortunate birth, deep grudges, greater causes… things like that.”

After a long silence, Aria continued.

“The moment villains sell their stories, they gain the sympathy of others and cease to be true villains. I dislike such villains.”

Aria added:

“Ah, I’m not comparing this to ‘her,’ so please don’t misunderstand.”

Melina’s eyes glared fiercely at Aria.

A brilliant golden light overflowed from her eyes.

Melina’s profound computational ability immediately deduced who the “villain” Aria was referring to.

“The villain you speak of, is it yourself?”

“I believe my actions are right.”

She doesn’t deny it.

But the conviction in Aria’s heterochromatic eyes remained unwavering, standing firm in its place.

“You think it’s right to kill my disciple who has saved the world hundreds of times?”

“I didn’t know it was hundreds of times, but yes. I believe it’s right.”

Melina’s eyes grew cold. Aria sensed that she had cast aside her last lingering attachment.

Melina spoke, revealing her anger without restraint:

“……I’ve misjudged someone terribly. I feel sorry for my disciple who thought of someone like you as a friend her entire life.”

“I suppose friends kill each other these days.”

“Letting you live in your past life was a mistake. I should have just left you to freeze to death right there.”

“You’ll come to realize someday that it wasn’t a mistake.”

“……You are incredibly insolent.”

Melina slowly stood up and looked down at Aria.

“I’d like to pluck out those impudent eyes of yours right now… but that would make my disciple sad when she eventually returns.”

As she finished speaking, a savage golden light flowed from Melina’s eyes, but Aria calmly received that gaze.

If she hadn’t sensed the Dragon Lords’ presence nearby, Melina would have truly destroyed Aria’s eyes.

“I’m grateful for your generosity.”

“……Don’t expect mercy from Duke Kiel. The moment he breaks his seclusion, war will be inevitable.”

Battles between those who have reached enlightenment no longer fall within the category of mere combat. Just as fights between Tower Masters often escalate into power struggles between two magic towers before one realizes it.

Melina had no intention of starting a war, but she also had no intention of stopping a war that had already begun.

When that time comes, she would judge this impudent princess before anyone else.

“Then you will know. That you were wrong.”

With those words, Melina distorted space. By the time Aria raised and lowered her teacup, that intense presence had vanished without a trace.

“……No.”

Aria looked in the direction where Melina had disappeared and said:

“I was not wrong.”

*****

Riiip!

As space tore open, a man and a woman appeared. A dimensional transfer technique that far surpassed the level of spatial magic.

They had escaped from the Moon’s Magical Realm.

“Ugh, urgh… dizzy…”

Ignoring the Serial Murderer whose mind was reeling from the effects of dimensional transfer, Olivia quickly surveyed her surroundings.

While the entrance to the Moon’s Magical Realm is fixed, the exit is random.

In the worst case, the dimensional gate could have opened in the middle of the imperial palace.

‘……Fortunately, it doesn’t seem to be a city.’

It was closer to a remote area than a city. The rugged mountain ridge that even herb gatherers would avoid was evidence of that.

“Olivia, my head feels like it’s going to split……”

“Stop pretending and shut up.”

“……Okay.”

The Serial Murderer licked his lips and crouched next to Olivia. She looked at him for a moment, then pushed him into the dense foliage.

“……What’s wrong? Can’t we just go straight to the Holy Kingdom? A mage of your caliber should easily be able to determine the coordinates.”

Coordinates weren’t the issue.

Instead of explaining further, Olivia quickly spread a barrier to conceal her magical power. Sensing something was amiss, the Serial Murderer also suppressed his aura.

Thud…!

Between the twisted mountain ridges, there were strange marks. The mountain peaks were also too sharp to have been merely weathered by wind.

Thud…!

They looked as if they had been cut by a sharp sword.

And the sound of something colliding continued. If that was all, Olivia wouldn’t have needed to spread a barrier.

“T-this doesn’t look good……”

The fact that even the Serial Murderer showed signs of fear indicated how savage the aura was.

‘This is…’

Olivia knew the owner of this aura well.

The Sword Master, Kiel Rothschild.

‘What happened during these five years……’

Olivia swallowed hard.