Ch.289Side Story: Time Gate – 2

“…So this is where Aria is.”

Leona looked around with a slightly troubled expression. The explanation she had received from the Celestial and Demon Gods wasn’t particularly pleasant, which seemed to dampen her mood further.

Since the gate was formed by the last remaining foreign substances that had attached themselves during Aria’s time of suffering, it meant that the stronger the monsters appearing here, the greater Aria’s pain had been.

Before we even entered, we were suddenly attacked by Maker, who was once a commander of the Demon King’s army. That said it all. For Leona, whose mind was still in turmoil, it was impossible not to feel conflicted.

Though Maker was crushed in seconds by our group—composed of the absolute core of the Empire’s military might—it was clearly not a good sign, so we decided to retrieve Aria as quickly as possible.

“Let’s hurry. Getting her out of here as fast as possible is all we can do.”

“Yes. That’s what we need to do. That’s what we’ll do.”

Leona firmly gripped the handle of Eternity with a face full of determination. She hadn’t brought the Holy Sword or Holy Spear. This was due to the possibility that foreign substances drifting through time might attach to them.

The Celestial God said it would be fine, but the mere possibility was problematic, so I refused as a precaution. By now, those weapons would be in the Celestial God’s hands, helping to fend off monsters trying to escape.

“…Yes. This is my story. I need to end it with my own hands. That’s right, Leona. You can do this.”

It was a small voice, but not completely inaudible. Leona muttered this to herself, steeling her resolve.

That was why Leona and I had entered the gate interior alone, leaving everyone else behind. To conclude the story by the hands of the original protagonist and by my hands—the one who stood by the original protagonist in Aria’s place.

Laura had refused, saying she had no right to end this world’s story.

“Here it comes.”

“I see it.”

After a short while, particles of light gathered to form the shape of a massive demon. A centaur covered entirely in golden light with half its face caved in approached us, wielding a double-bladed axe.

Dozens of faces were stuck to its severed shoulder blade, covering about half of its upper body. Moreover, the condition of its lower body was far from good.

Leona aimed Eternity at it. Her stance seemed slightly awkward, probably because she wasn’t using the Holy Sword she had wielded for years, but her body quickly adapted and began to emit blue mana.

Her blue hair was enveloped in blue mana, rippling around her. Her golden eyes flashed. As the centaur charged, Leona also kicked off the ground and rushed toward it.

—CLANG!

Eternity collided with the double-bladed axe. Despite the considerable difference in size, Leona didn’t budge at all. The blue mana surrounding Eternity gradually intensified, causing the centaur to be thrown back instead.

The blade cut through the golden light. The bisected body rolled on the ground, then as if rewinding time, it reattached itself and charged again.

“Leona! To your side!”

Another cluster of golden light appeared in the empty space. I quickly warned her and rushed toward it. The writhing mass of light formed into a shape.

It was Circe, the former commander of the Demon King’s army who had been killed by Astaroth after he ascended to become the Demon King.

Her pointed hat rose higher than her head, her gait was unsteady, and her glamorous body—visible even through the golden light—was wrapped in a tattered dress that contrasted starkly with it.

Above all, tentacles shaped like tongues were protruding and wriggling from every orifice of her body. From her left eye, nostrils, ears, and mouth.

Her right eye, the only normal part, was half-rolled back with no focus, and each time the tentacle in her mouth went in and out, her throat grotesquely expanded and contracted.

Five tentacles were also writhing between her legs, barely covered by the dress. I didn’t particularly want to imagine where they were rooted or where they were coming from.

I blasted her away before the tentacles could reach Leona from behind. The dismembered body crashed into the opposite wall. Leona, who reacted a moment too late, grimaced in disgust.

“Thanks, Mira! Ugh!”

In that brief moment, the creature stood up unsteadily, completely restored. The tentacle protruding from its mouth wriggled and glowed.

‘They said it’s invincible until we extract the core.’

We were told that these creatures, parasitizing Aria and causing time to repeat, don’t truly die even when killed. That means prolonging the battle would just be a waste of time.

I swung my dragon-fang sword to dismember Circe’s body, sliced her upper body into dozens of pieces, then cast a spell on each fragment to scatter them in all directions. This should buy us a few seconds.

Then, from the remaining lower body, a tentacle made of light shot out, aiming not at me who was right in front, but at Leona who was a step to the side. She had just cut off two of the centaur’s legs.

I sliced through the middle of the tentacle, and Leona, sensing something strange, hurriedly dodged, but the severed tentacle continued to extend, wrapping around the centaur and pulling it in.

The centaur, now fused with the lower body, simultaneously dissolved into particles of light and disappeared. Leona, who had been battling the endless flow of time, stared blankly at the sight.

If she hadn’t dodged, she would have been the one ensnared.

“…What was that? It was clearly cut…”

“Who knows. We were told not to judge what happens here by human common sense, so it’s probably related to time somehow.”

When a goddess advises against using common sense to judge things, it’s easier to just not think about it. That’s probably why the Celestial and Demon Gods told us that in the first place.

“Let’s just keep moving. Those things can only stall for time anyway.”

“Alright. Let’s go.”

Unless we separate the core, broken time will repeat forever, and thanks to that, they’ll resurrect eternally no matter how many times we kill them, so reaching the core must be our top priority. That was also advice from the Celestial and Demon Gods.

Following their words, we faithfully advanced toward the center of the gate. And we encountered countless fragments of time.

Former commanders of the Demon King’s army, monsters from the first world, creatures that appeared inside gates, monsters from this world.

Even the Pope of the Starlight Order.

He walked laboriously, one step at a time, like a zombie from a 1900s horror film. Despite his condition, he somehow tried to attack us, waving his skeletal arms.

Leona looked with disgust at the golden figure—skin charred and body half-burned to bones—just as he had been when he died, consumed by flames in the sunlight.

“You don’t look happy, Leona.”

“I didn’t expect to see that face again here. Maybe before, but now I know exactly what kind of person he was. How he treated Rosaria, what he thought of the Saint, how he looked at me. Knowing all that, it would be stranger to view him positively.”

Rosaria was only able to maintain her purity because she was the Saint, and who knows what would have happened to Leona if she hadn’t been the Hero. The demon he conspired with was the Succubus Queen, which says it all.

From Leona’s perspective, who didn’t have particularly good feelings toward Astaroth either, he must be the embodiment of disgust. Eternity sliced through the Pope who was approaching like a zombie in one stroke.

The body cut by the blue blade turned into golden light. Perhaps because he was just an ordinary human, he didn’t show the monstrous regenerative abilities of the creatures we had encountered so far, who would regenerate even as they were being cut.

“I wish there were more like him.”

Leona said with a hint of regret. She must have had a lot pent up.

“We should be almost there.”

The closer we got to the core, the more unstable time became, as evidenced by the increasingly precarious surroundings.

Flying monsters attacking us in spaces where shattered fragments shot upward instead of falling down, stepping on floating fragments only to slide sideways because each fragment had different gravity.

Space twisting so that reaching out an arm right beside us would make it appear far away, or specific sections of time endlessly rewinding, eternally repeating the final five seconds.

Breaking through all of these obstacles, the core we reached was in a state far beyond our expectations. Leona’s hands trembled as she saw Aria’s condition, her face tense with anxiety. I wrapped my hands around hers to calm her.

“…”

Startled, Leona gripped my hand even more tightly, interlocking our fingers.

“Aria.”

Her lips called out her childhood friend’s name. The Aria before our eyes was wrapped in countless golden thread-like substances, struggling pitifully.

Golden light flashed in real-time, flowing through thousands upon thousands of threads, and with each flow of light, Aria’s fingertips became slightly fainter.

She looked exactly like prey caught by a spider, having its fluids sucked out. In place of Leona, who was at a loss for words, I approached and grabbed Aria’s arm, pulling her. The golden threads surrounding her body broke surprisingly easily.

I caught her body as it was about to fall lifelessly to the floor. Aria gasped for breath in my arms. Her body had stopped fading, but her weakened expression remained.

The fragments of time that had been converging from all directions until just moments ago melted away and disappeared. The gate seemed like it would hold a bit longer. It seemed we didn’t need to escape immediately.

Blink, her eyelids opened.

“…Mr. Mira.”

Blue eyes, exactly like Leona’s hair color, looked up at me.

“Yes, Aria.”

“I… tried my best. I drew in all the remnants in time… it should be safe now… everything…”

Her hand gripped my arm with force. But it didn’t last long before crumbling away. It wasn’t just fading—it was truly disappearing.

“That’s enough. Let’s talk outside.”

“…But, I might not be able to leave.”

“Who says so?”

I turned around. Leona, who had been listening to our conversation, approached Aria with a deathly pale face. Her eyes frantically scanned Aria’s fading arms and legs.

“…What do you mean you might not be able to leave?”

“What do I mean? Nonsense. I won’t let you disappear here, so keep that in mind.”

“I’m sorry, Leona… everything I ever said to you…”

“…Enough! Just focus on getting out! We can argue or whatever once we’re outside!”

Leona looked around urgently as if trying to find a way out. But Aria’s body was fading more and more, so she could only feel desperate.

“Leona…”

“Enough! Don’t say anything! I’ll save you somehow…!”

“She’s fine, you know.”

“She’s perfectly fine.”

“…What?”

Leona, who had come out of the gate holding back tears, froze and just blinked at the Celestial and Demon Gods’ words that Aria was fine. The others were the same, and even Aria herself was no exception.

“But, we told you… that there would be no problem once the core was extracted…”

“We definitely said that, so why are you asking us to save her?”

“Then, what about her body fading?!”

When Leona protested indignantly, the Celestial God pointed at Aria. Her body had already returned to its original color.

“She was trapped in time and just needed a moment to adjust after coming out.”

“…”

“…”

Leona and Aria, who had even hugged and cried together in the middle of it all, simultaneously blushed.