Ch.45Unjust Fate (1)

This time, I really prepared to sleep as soon as I got back to the lodging by getting into my sleeping bag. This time I’m really going to sleep.

Just as I was about to finally get some proper rest, Agath returned with a camera, beaming brightly.

“…You didn’t take pictures of the Goddess statue’s underwear, did you?”

“No matter how much I love the Goddess, I wouldn’t do something like that.”

“Then what were you doing?”

“I was taking pictures of a female passionately proving that she’s female.”

That’s definitely not about me. Haeun had assured me there was nobody around, so how could I have been photographed?

Even if I was photographed, I’d rather believe I wasn’t. That would make me much happier.

Anyway, now I really need to get some sleep…

“By the way, what’s your relationship with that junior? Don’t tell me you’re already taking a concubine?”

“We’re just in a healthy senior-junior relationship. Besides, she’s not interested in me.”

“So are you planning to take more concubines? I’m always standing by!”

“…I’m going to sleep now. Good night.”

I don’t want to waste time on pointless conversations. It’s more beneficial to get more sleep instead.

So I covered myself with the sleeping bag up to my head and tried to sleep, but Agath interrupted me again.

“It’s only 11 AM and you’re already going to sleep?”

“I woke up too early this morning, so I’m sleep-deprived. Please just let me sleep…”

“Can I play naughty pranks while you’re sleeping?”

“Sack and kidnapping.”

“That’s mean. But after all I’ve done for you, don’t you think you could give in just once?”

“I’ve rejected you this many times. Don’t you think it’s about time you stopped?”

I’ve firmly rejected her every time. I’ve even completely blocked any possibility. Shouldn’t she give up by now with this much persistence?

I don’t know, but I really can’t hold on anymore. I’m at the point where I’ll fall asleep within 10 seconds of closing my eyes.

“I’m really going to sleep now… See you later…”

With that, I fell asleep in less than 5 seconds after closing my eyes.

***

Right now, I’m dreaming. A dream so vivid I can barely tell if it’s a dream or reality.

But this is definitely a dream. That’s because I can’t control any of my actions. Yet my body moves on its own.

I feel like a puppet in a puppet show. What a strange dream. Still, since this is all just a dream, it won’t affect reality at all.

With such thoughts, I began to gradually observe the content of the dream.

In the dream, Leo and I were having a serious conversation at the temporary base.

“I understand we need to stop the demon invasion, but isn’t that a bit too many?”

Words I never intended suddenly came out. I really am no different from a puppet in a puppet show.

Anyway, I pointed to an area away from the temporary base. And there, I saw a horrifyingly swarming horde of demons.

Roughly estimating with my eyes, there were over 100,000 of them—an enormous number.

“Was the reason demons haven’t invaded since we arrived because they were preparing for this?”

“Can we really defeat all of them?”

“Even though it’s still incomplete, if we deploy all the magic we’ve designed so far, we can stop them. But then we won’t be able to defeat the high-ranking demon.”

“Shouldn’t we put out the most urgent fire first? At this rate, it looks like we’ll all die.”

“But if we don’t defeat that damn thing by this evening, we might reach a point of no return.”

The situation in the dream seems extremely desperate. We have to choose between two options, neither of which is ideal.

“What happens if we don’t defeat it by this evening?”

“That damn thing will completely cross over to this world.”

“What exactly does that mean?”

“That damn thing is still in an incomplete form. Right now, it has no intelligence and can’t move beyond that point. But if it completely crosses over…”

Leo paused for a moment before speaking with difficulty.

“At least one country might disappear from the map.”

“Then can’t we use magic on the demon horde and defeat the high-ranking demon ourselves?”

“Impossible. Even though that bastard lacks intelligence and its power is incomplete, the title of high-ranking demon isn’t just for show.”

“But we have a Holy Maiden and a Holy Knight, don’t we? Couldn’t we somehow manage?”

“If it were one against two, we’d have a chance, but right now it’s not one against two.”

I looked at Leo with trembling eyes. And Leo continued speaking in a much more serious voice than before.

“That bastard doesn’t have the intelligence to gather a demon horde of that size. And it certainly doesn’t have the intelligence to make such a plan.”

“Are you saying there’s someone else controlling the demons?”

“That’s for sure, and I have a pretty good idea who it might be.”

Though he said it was just a guess, Leo’s voice was closer to certainty.

“Remember the incident when someone tried to kill the new Hero by summoning a demon?”

“…Is it the same person this time?”

“Probably. Seems like they were frustrated about failing last time, so they’ve put on quite a show this time.”

“Then… the reason that demon appeared…”

“It’s probably to eliminate the two reincarnators who are interfering with their plans.”

This is similar to when Ju-an almost died before. But this time, the scale has become excessively large.

Although I don’t know who’s interfering, I can easily understand why they’re doing it.

If they first tried to eliminate the reincarnator sent to stop the Demon King, especially the Hero, then there’s only one answer.

Eliminating all threatening elements to the Demon King. That must be their goal.

Once I realized the purpose, I could roughly infer who was interfering. Probably someone on the Demon King’s side.

“Come to think of it, there were many strange points. The time to design the magic was tight, and I should have noticed something was off when I called you all in addition to myself…”

Leo spoke as if lamenting. Then I had a question. And it seems the me in the dream had the same question, as I immediately asked about it.

“…Are all the people here on the same side as that demon?”

“No. Everyone here is innocent.”

“But isn’t it strange that there isn’t even one spy?”

“If there were a spy, I would have noticed long ago. The other side probably knows that too.”

“Then why are there so many people gathered here?”

“Probably for misdirection.”

It seems that high-ranking demon can only be dealt with using magic. Then we somehow need to stop that demon horde.

“How much longer until the magic is complete?”

“If that dragon designs it alone, 1 hour. And that bastard has about 10 hours left before it completely crosses over to this world.”

“Then if we hold out for just 1 hour, it’s resolved, right?”

“Then we can kill that bastard, but there will be a hell of a lot of casualties in the process.”

“But that’s still much better than a whole country disappearing.”

Leo sighed deeply and said:

“Over 100,000 demons are targeting us… no, the two of you. And we have fewer than 1,000 people.”

“But isn’t there a possibility we can survive?”

“Right now, the possibility of total annihilation is far higher than our chance of survival.”

There really is no hope. Not only can we not catch that high-ranking demon, but we can’t even see a way for us to survive.

“Then do you have any good methods?”

“I have two last resorts. But one or two people will have to be sacrificed.”

“At least that’s better than total annihilation.”

They say there’s always a way out even if the sky falls, and it seems that saying is true.

But Leo was still speaking with a dark expression, as if there was no hope.

“That demon came targeting the two reincarnators. So you two should go as far away from here as possible and buy as much time as you can. That’s the second-best option.”

“…Tell me the best option first.”

“I can drain all my remaining lifespan. Then I can buy enough time for about an hour.”

I know Leo’s physical condition well from seeing it directly before. It was like a corpse being forcibly moved.

With such a body, doing anything is virtually impossible. So the only option is for Haeun and me to buy time.

At least Ju-an isn’t here, which is fortunate. If he had been brought along, he might have died too.

Just as I was about to relay this plan to Haeun, suddenly flames gathered in Leo’s hand and transformed into the shape of a sword.

“…Leo?”

“Even if I’m a disgusting murderer, I still remember the value of life.”

“But then Leo, you’ll…”

“Tell the kids I left for the magic tower.”

Then Leo took a shallow breath and calmly said:

“‘Fire God'”

With those words, wings made of flames appeared behind Leo’s back. And I instinctively realized: the moment those wings disappear, Leo will die.

Are those wings maintained by sacrificing lifespan? But what can Leo do in his current physical condition?

“Oh, and don’t use your lifespan recklessly. You don’t want to end up like me.”

Even with his death approaching, Leo was still smiling kindly as he spoke.

But as soon as he finished speaking, Leo disappeared. Instead, a massive flame was rising at the location of the demon horde.

It was a firepower that seemed impossible to come from a completely broken body.

And the dream abruptly ended.

***

I woke up from the dream, but I still don’t feel like I’ve actually woken up. It feels more like I’m still in the dream.

Still, I’m glad that was just a dream. In reality, no one will die.

Thinking that, I turned my head to find Rebecca sitting right next to me. And anxiety began to sprout little by little.

“What kind of future… no, what kind of dream did you have, Lite?”

“…”

“Ah, I’m sorry. I forgot to explain for a moment.”

I don’t want to hear this at all. I want to cover my ears right now.

“My supernatural power allows me to make others have prophetic dreams besides myself. However, I can’t see the content of those dreams.”

But cruelly, Rebecca’s words continued. And I asked with a trembling voice:

“…So I just had a prophetic dream?”

“Yes, I’m sorry I couldn’t explain beforehand.”

I asked Rebecca, grasping at straws:

“What kind of dream did you have, Rebecca…?”

“To summarize the dream I had today… First, countless demons appeared. Then Leo took up the Holy Sword and defeated all of them. And finally…”

Everything matches the dream I had. But the ending could be different. Maybe Leo used less of his lifespan and survived.

“Leo suddenly disappeared.”

But my small hope was shattered mercilessly, as it always has been.