Ch.174Emperor, Aria. (2)

What kind of world line is this?

Melina barely managed to hold onto her consciousness as she stood leaning against the bookshelf.

At first, she thought she might be hallucinating due to a failed spell.

‘Why… is Aria the Emperor?’

But no matter how much she tried to deny it.

“Show proper respect to His Majesty, specter of the past.”

The pressure emanating from Kiel directly contradicted her denial.

“…I am not a specter.”

“Hehe. So it seems.”

A table and chairs had somehow materialized before Aria. An intricate structure created with magical power. It showed extraordinary crafting skill.

“Whoever you are with Melina’s form, I permit you to sit across from me.”

The texture and color were perfectly rendered… could such a thing even be called a magical construct?

Melina thought that perhaps the Aria before her might be superior to herself, at least in the field of magical construction.

“Now state your identity.”

Aria spoke with a hint of amusement in her tone. But her eyes still held a cold gleam.

“I am Melina, Master of the Golden Tower.”

Melina stared steadily at Aria as she spoke. The golden magical power rippling outward from her like waves proved the truth of her claim.

“…”

Aria’s gaze changed. Simultaneously, her thoughts accelerated wildly.

It was certainly true that Melina had died. Thirty years ago, killed by the Demon God’s minions.

But the Melina before her eyes was also Melina. Then…

“You’ve come from another world line, haven’t you?”

In an instant, her form of address changed from “you” to a more respectful term.

Melina couldn’t hide her surprise.

Another world line. Even if one could deduce that fact, speaking it aloud was an entirely different matter.

As if reading her thoughts, Aria smiled slightly.

“I suppose in your world, I wasn’t on good terms with you. I could deduce that from your reaction. Yes… then your reason for crossing world lines wasn’t to meet me, but to meet Olivia.”

Aria shook her head with a regretful expression.

“Unfortunately, that wish cannot be fulfilled. My dear friend… passed away more than 15 years ago.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Exactly what I said. Olivia… is dead.”

“Livga… is dead?”

Hearing the nickname after so long, Aria smiled unconsciously. At the same time, she barely managed to suppress the grief rising from deep within her chest.

Dong…!

Just then, a drum broke through the silence.

Aria turned her gaze. In the quiet night sky beyond the window, lanterns emitting blue light drifted about. With each beat of the drum, the number of lanterns gradually increased.

The sight of lanterns floating on the wind looked almost like the hair of her departed friend.

“…As it happens, today is her memorial service.”

Was it mere coincidence that Melina from another world line appeared today of all days?

Aria smiled bitterly.

*****

“May I ask… how my disciple met her end?”

“It would be better if you didn’t know.”

Olivia was dead. To be precise, she was killed by a Serial Murderer, but it was essentially the same as suicide.

At first, Aria couldn’t understand. Why she had chosen such a form of death.

After killing the Demon God and showing her face just once after ten years…

She left this world.

She must have known what grief her death would cause.

Who could understand such a selfish end, leaving the world behind without a word?

“…Please tell me.”

“Hehe, the person before you is not a princess but an Emperor who unified the continent. Show at least minimal respect in your speech.”

“…I humbly request that you tell me. Please…”

Faced with such unhesitating behavior, even Aria, who had been pressuring her, was taken aback.

“…Well now. I can’t even joke with you.”

It had been a jest to test whether the Melina before her was truly close to Olivia. She hadn’t expected such a serious response.

“I didn’t witness it directly either. I only heard it from ‘The Great Witch.'”

“…”

“She said Olivia died without pain. It was a death of her own choosing, and she probably had no regrets. No, perhaps she had a few.”

“May I ask why my disciple… chose to die?”

“Now you’re being respectful. It doesn’t feel right to torment someone so much older than me. I command you to return to your original manner of speech.”

Aria sighed and began to speak.

“Olivia’s death was connected to the Demon God.”

“…Demon God?”

“Hmm… you don’t know about the Demon God? Hehe, you seem to come from a more interesting world line than I thought. Yes, what year is it in Imperial Calendar where you’re from?”

“Imperial Calendar 993… sir.”

Aria smiled slightly.

“It’s currently Imperial Calendar 1028. So you’re from 35 years in the past. Then it makes sense that you wouldn’t know about the Demon God.”

Snap!

As Aria snapped her fingers, a book flew from the bookshelf, guided by magical force. She flipped through the pages with familiarity before stopping at a certain page.

[Imperial Calendar 1000, The Demon God’s Descent Incident.]

“Twenty-eight years ago, the Demon God descended upon the northern continent. There were no omens whatsoever. The Demon God’s appearance was as sudden as it was terrible.”

Whoosh…!

Powerful magical energy rose around Aria. The force was so strong that the surrounding scenery began to distort slightly. As Melina tried to raise a shield, Aria shook her head to stop her.

“Don’t worry. This is merely the process of materializing my mental imagery into reality.”

Crack!

As soon as Aria finished speaking, the surrounding space transformed into something completely different from before.

A battlefield.

In a space where human corpses and monster remains were chaotically mixed, Aria’s voice echoed.

“This was the scene that day. We had defeated the Demon Lord and the four great demons, and were immersed in joy.”

Soldiers blew victory trumpets, and knights and mages breathed sighs of relief.

“We were complacent.”

At that moment.

Saaaa…

Complete darkness. A profound emptiness that made it impossible to see even an inch ahead, or even sense the presence of others, enveloped everything.

But even in that moment, one emotion could be felt.

Fear.

Something was approaching this place.

What they had thought were meteors were actually eyes.

Countless eyes, as numerous as stars in the sky, blinked madly as they approached the ground.

The eyes had already come closer than the moon, and were also larger than the moon.

“…That is the true form of the Demon God. A terrible, disgusting embodiment of malice.”

Even though this was merely a glimpse into a mental image, Melina’s hands grew damp.

– Run, run, run…

– Keukeukeukeuk…!

– Wak wak wak wak…!

“Those with weak mental fortitude cannot resist that malice. Their consciousness is invaded, and they ultimately transform into different beings.”

The bodies of fallen soldiers swelled up before finally exploding. But their remains did not lose vitality, instead wriggling like living creatures and attacking humans who had not yet been invaded.

Snap!

As Aria snapped her fingers again, the mental world shattered, instantly returning them to the imperial library.

“It’s truly horrific no matter how many times I see it. How the five of us managed to annihilate that thing…”

“You… annihilated that?”

“We must have, or we wouldn’t be having this conversation now, would we?”

Aria returned to the original topic.

“As you’ve experienced indirectly, because the Demon God is such a transcendent being, it doesn’t disappear easily even at the moment of annihilation. It leaves behind a part of itself in the form of ‘remnants.'”

“Then…”

“Yes, that’s right. Those ‘remnants’ became imprinted on Olivia’s soul.”

She let out a low laugh.

A self-deprecating laugh that was more like crying behind a mask of laughter. Aria once again couldn’t suppress a sigh.

“No matter how strong Olivia was, could she be stronger than the Demon God you just saw? Of course not. Eventually, Olivia found herself at a crossroads. Would she allow herself to be consumed by the Demon God’s remnants and destroy the world… or would she choose death before that happened?”

“…”

“That’s why Olivia always chose death.”

Melina’s face gradually went blank. Her breathing became rapid. Her vision blurred.

Though she herself didn’t seem to notice.

“Well, let’s put aside these heavy topics. I’ve answered your question, so it’s only fair that you answer mine.”

Sensing the somber mood, Aria clapped her hands to change the atmosphere. A refreshing magical energy discreetly swept away the tears that had been flowing down Melina’s cheeks.

After waiting for Melina to calm herself, Aria asked:

“By any chance, is my nickname in your world ‘the stupid and dull princess’?”

“It is not.”

“Hmm, then I can’t think of any reason why you and I would be on bad terms.”

After pondering for a moment, Melina answered:

“We’re enemies.”

“…Pardon?”

“In our world, ‘Aria’ is the person who hates Olivia more than anyone else.”

“…Why?”

A question arose in Aria’s eyes. Could it be that the sum of talents differs across world lines? That seemed unlikely. The Melina before her was a master of space-time magic, just like the Melina she remembered.

Melina briefly explained the situation.

Olivia had brought about the continent’s destruction, and they had regressed with memories of that time.

“…Huh.”

Aria let out a hollow laugh.

“Your world sounds quite messed up as well.”