Ch.182Total War. (6)

The dense flames met the cold air, scattering steam in all directions. Aria stood at the center of those flames.

Fire magic was familiar. After becoming Emperor, fire magic was the first type she had mastered.

Far from being hot, she couldn’t even feel warmth. The flames scattered around Aria were merely concentrations of magical power to their master.

‘…You must be the same.’

The fierce cold rising around Olivia would have no effect on her either.

‘Finally.’

Aria realized inwardly that it had taken an incredibly long time for this moment to arrive.

Despite countless meetings, it still felt pleasant, surely because of that. Of course, not having memories of the previous cycle also played a part.

Whoosh…!

That thought became even more certain now. The suppressed ‘Princess’ became more unstable, more violent.

She could feel the forcibly suppressed explicit hatred. She had somehow kept it under control until now, but the moment it escaped her control, she would be swept away by the hatred that rushed in like a wave.

‘…Still, I want to talk now.’

Tsss-tsss-tsss…!

Aria slowly approached Olivia. As they drew closer, the amount of steam rising increased exponentially.

Fire and ice.

Perhaps because they had mastered completely opposing magics, the steam now exceeded simple vapor, becoming like fog. The fog instantly turned the great plain white, obscuring the vision of tens of thousands of people.

But the two mages never took their eyes off each other.

Flames flickered behind her fluttering hair. Her expression was unreadable. But that didn’t mean the atmosphere was unreadable. Olivia slowly calmed her magical power.

“Aria Lactea.”

“…Yes. That is my name.”

The Grandmaster who had regressed hundreds, thousands of times, and finally caught up to ‘Olivia’s’ time.

A transcendent being who had realized the truth of flames and space-time.

The woman before her was such an existence.

Olivia asked.

“Since when?”

“You mean when I devoured the original owner of this body?”

“Yes.”

Aria smiled.

“It hasn’t been many days. And actually, there’s something wrong with saying ‘devoured.’ I’m merely suppressing her.”

“…Suppressing?”

“Hehe. I can’t tell you that much yet.”

Aria gave a bitter smile.

She had thought it was merely a matter of time. Just a bit longer, that’s all.

But it didn’t take long for that arrogant thought to break.

Forgetting… that simple act that ordinary people perform dozens of times a day, Aria couldn’t accomplish.

Try as she might to forget, she couldn’t.

Events from hundreds of cycles ago replayed as vividly as if they had just happened. Memories that should have been forgotten, but her transcendent memory wouldn’t allow even that.

Olivia’s final mercy. At that moment, Aria sensed it.

That this would be the last time.

That her mind could no longer handle the vast amount of information accumulating with each cycle.

She was barely maintaining her sanity thanks to her understanding of time magic’s truth, but it was like pouring water into a bottomless jar.

[…Damn it. Don’t you ever get tired of playing Emperor?]

That’s when she met her.

Actually, it wasn’t the first time she had met the Great Witch. Though not through regression, but through a unique form of ‘succession,’ she remembered the past, making some kind of contact inevitable.

The witch, more devastated than when first seen, who had now lost even the will to live.

[Hehe. Yet you still visit brothels, don’t you?]

[…I just go there.]

[I just sit there too.]

Though they reached the same conclusion, the process wasn’t completely identical.

All lives are similar, yet clearly different. The fact that reality wasn’t just meaningless repetition reassured Aria.

…But she was certainly getting tired. The only reason they struggled to continue living was because they had a friend who had walked an even harder path beside them.

How could showing signs of struggle help?

So when meeting Olivia, she managed her expression and maintained proper composure. Aria played the composed and relaxed Emperor, while Aurelia acted as the playful and decadent witch.

It’s okay. You’re the one suffering. We’re fine…

‘…I’m getting tired.’

Whenever such thoughts arose, Aria became afraid. Afraid that the ‘Princess’ Melina spoke of might be her own broken future self.

Afraid that instead of helping Olivia, she might rush to kill her…

Terrifying.

More terrifying than her deteriorating mind was the potentially miserable future.

If only her memory wasn’t so good. If only her enlightenment had been ordinary.

She could have caught up to Olivia’s time.

Years passed.

Again, they killed the Demon God. As always, the continent became peaceful. As always, no one died unjustly, and the great cities flourished with civilization.

Yes, as always.

There couldn’t be a more perfect ending. No one died. No one was hurt. It was an ending that satisfied everyone.

Except for one person.

[…That damn Olivia. She disappeared alone again.]

Aurelia struck the wall. She was surrounded by empty bottles. The courtiers who had dared question the Emperor’s drinking were sprawled on the floor, half-beaten.

Aria quietly observed the scene.

[That bastard. That fucking bitch. She’s probably going to offer her neck to that damn psycho kid in some quiet place again. After all that suffering, the idiot doesn’t even know how to enjoy life.]

[….]

Aria couldn’t smile as usual. It wasn’t the first time Aurelia had come to the palace to make a scene, but the main reason was…

[I’ve reached my limit.]

[…What?]

[Hehe. I never thought I’d be the first to declare surrender.]

Aria smiled self-deprecatingly.

[Even if I want to follow further, I cannot. I’d like to force another regression, but if I did, I would become a monster with a broken mind.]

Aria emptied her wine glass. In that brief moment, thousands of overlapping afterimages appeared. Aria put down her glass with a deep frown.

This was her limit.

Thousands of memories overlapped, preventing her from focusing on the ‘present.’

But it hadn’t been a completely futile time.

The Demon God. She now thought she knew how to eliminate that cursed existence.

[So, deliver this to Olivia in my place.]

Aria handed over a document with a slight smile. Aurelia stood there with her brow deeply furrowed.

[My first and last request-]

[No need for that.]

Aria turned her head at that quiet voice. It was Olivia.

She usually didn’t smile much after defeating the Demon God. But this moment was different.

[I’ve… figured it out too. How to destroy the Demon God.]

Crack!

With that moment, like an illusion of scenery shattering, Aria opened her eyes.

“…!!”

Aria, who had struggled to lift her heavy eyelids, smiled self-deprecatingly.

The sound of explosions echoing from all directions reminded her once again which timeline she was in.

Aria took a slow, deep breath with a bitter smile.

“Hoo…”

Now she couldn’t even control her consciousness at will.

‘Just a little longer would have been enough.’

Heaven seems unwilling to grant even that little time.

“How many minutes do you have left?”

Olivia stared at Aria as she spoke.

“I mean, how much time can you suppress the Princess’s consciousness?”

“Not much time left.”

“…Is that so?”

Olivia said with a smile.

“It’s not like you’re dying anyway, right?”

“…That’s not wrong.”

It’s just falling asleep for a while. Until the ‘Princess’s’ consciousness yields control again. Of course, there was a possibility that day might never come.

Aria felt she knew what Olivia would say next.

She would say everything would be over by the time she woke up. Maybe she would even tell her to get lost quickly.

Thinking about it, she couldn’t help but smile.

“Don’t push yourself. Go get some sleep.”

Olivia said, with a dismissive gesture to boot.

Aria looked at Olivia with a weak smile.

“You think you’ll win for sure.”

“You think I’d lose to a kid who hasn’t even lived 100 years?”

“Hehe. Don’t be too careless just because she’s young. She is still ‘me’ after all.”

“As if.”

Aria laughed at that response.

“I believe you.”

Aria stared at Olivia until the very last moment, then closed her eyes.

The next moment.

‘Aria’s’ eyebrows furrowed.

“…”

Flames shot forth. They were faster than any magic Olivia had ever experienced.

Boom!

The ice barrier Olivia created collided with the flames, causing an explosion.