Chapter 181

"H-how long have you been th-there?"

"I just arrived."

"H-how on earth?"

"I climbed over the wall. My lady... Excuse me. I forgot you've never been here before. I had visited once before."

"Wh-what brought you all the way to th-this remote monastery?"

"His Grace..."

Leandros, having said that much, suddenly closed his mouth.

Amelia couldn't understand what was going on at all, but just the fact that Leandros was here with them somehow allowed her to regain her composure.

Leandros observed Amelia, who had been furiously angry until just moments ago, and the befuddled Russel, who had both calmed down, and very, very slightly raised and lowered the corner of his mouth.

The thing beyond the corridor whispered.

[I smell winter. The scent of frozen earth covered with cold ice and snow.]

"Is that so?"

[The time when we crawl underground. Hateful frost, such a smell comes from you.]

"How convenient."

[Are you... blessed? By the cold flames that never extinguish? By the eternal glacier banished alone to the ends of the earth?]

"I don't understand what you're saying. But you seem to know about the one who gave me this power as well."

Leandros's toneless voice sounded particularly cold.

He stepped into the corridor where Amelia and Russel couldn't go without hesitation and drew his sword.

The silver-white blade sang strangely in the lightless shadows.

"He called me his apostle. I don't believe in him, but my master serves him."

[Do you intend to oppose me?]

"Speak properly, snake head."

The black knight melted into the darkness.

Nothing was visible except the sword he held, but he was definitely present here.

In the middle of the corridor, Leandros stopped walking.

"It's because you're here that snakes swarm everywhere."

[I will withdraw.]

"There's a smell."

[I will send the children back to the deep forest.]

"My master is weak-hearted and faints at the sight of snakes."

[I don't know who the human you serve is, but I will not regard him as an enemy.]

"So you're saying you'll bite his tender heel."

[What do you want, cold and cruel apostle! What do you want from me!]

The voice wailed.

[My believers have long had their land stolen by you monkeys and hidden their bodies underground. You, lives that were wrong from birth, your era is over. This star rejects your dominion. Truth will arrive. You, little monkeys, know that eternal death approaches!]

"Your tongue is long. Is it a species trait? 'Father of vipers.'"

[You bastard!]

"Serpent god. Stop with the avatar and appear in your true form. If you're the great serpent that has been hostile to humans since the beginning, shouldn't you properly reveal yourself before humanity's end?"

A terrible roar shook the corridor.

A pair of yellow eyes larger than a horse-drawn carriage appeared in the darkness.

The eyes near the ceiling continuously made hissing sounds with their slender pupils.

Amelia and Russel came to their senses and picked up their weapons again, but the bright yellow eyes glared at them and then quietly disappeared into the darkness.

Several seconds of silence followed.

"Did it... leave?"

Just left like that?

Had it disappeared silently like this?

Amelia and Russel, their minds confused, were bewildered.

Then suddenly, without anyone saying anything, both of them looked down at the floor simultaneously.

Snakes were gathering.

Large and small, thick and thin, white and black and patterned snakes gathered and tightened around people's ankles.

As if to prevent them from moving from this place.

The moment they realized this, with a thunderous roar that seemed to split the sky, the stone floors laid over the prayer house grounds and the buildings all collapsed at once, and earth shot up as an unimaginably huge being finally revealed its true form under the black sky.

Thick snake scales, small wings, a body supported by two legs. Was this what a legendary evil dragon would look like?

Seeing multiple pairs of wickedly glinting eyes, Amelia screamed madly from within the prayer house ruins.

It scolded humans in an incomprehensible language, monkeys who had merely been lucky enough to reproduce.

Among them, only Leandros could speak.

"The source of my power remains in the frozen land, but his star is above my head. Have you forgotten this?"

The moon emerged from behind the clouds.

As a particularly bright star among those watching him shone, the sword began to glow white.

* * *

He had the illusion that he hadn't been able to wake up for a very long time.

His head hurt as if he were suffering from a terrible migraine.

Pain. The first sensation he felt upon regaining consciousness.

When he forced his body up in a strange state where some part of his body felt disconnected, his scalp was pulled.

Hair soaked in dried blood fell with sticky sounds.

Why on earth? What had happened?

Yurik had definitely tried to kill him, and he had fled to avoid regression.

The snowman seemed to have watched his back. Then he had entered the garden, found a wall he could climb and tried to get over it when something pierced his back...

"Ah."

Had he regressed?

Was he going to start over from the beginning again? But the place where he had been lying wasn't the ruined ducal residence.

Everything was covered in blood. Moreover, the paintings decorating the walls were so luxurious that they could only be imagined in a royal palace.

Was he still in the royal palace? Had Yurik not killed him?

While looking around, he discovered a familiar person and sat up with a groan.

He gently shook the person who was crouched in a shadowy corner of the hall, with knees drawn up and face buried, not moving at all.

"Verde. Are you alive? Are you hurt anywhere? ...Verde? Verde?"

He raised his face.

His completely haggard face was gaunt and his unshaven beard was dirty. His bloodshot eyes had lost their vitality, and his dried, chapped lips moved.

A hoarse, raspy voice flowed out.

"...Duke Arenheit."

"How long was I unconscious?"

"......"

"Why are your hands like this? They're covered in blood. Were you tortured? Did Yurik torture you?"

Clear red numbers floated above his head.

[43/75]

The description flowing behind him was distorted like writing with sticky ink and heavily stained. Verde's hands, still stained with blood, were trembling weakly.

Arenheit immediately suspected Yurik. What on earth had he done?

Verde looked down and answered as he examined his hands.

"Duke Arenheit."

"Does it hurt? Where are you injured? You won't be unable to use your hands, will you?"

"Arenheit."

"Try moving them. Bend your fingers too. You're a physician, you can't be ruined like this."

"Arenheit. I have, I have a favor to ask of you."

A favor.

In a situation like this, could the word 'favor' come out first instead of an explanation?

"What is it?"

"...I heard that what happened in Gallo will happen again in this country. No, it might already be happening. That's definitely a disaster. Yurik said so. He's trying to end this world."

Already?

How much had happened while he was unconscious?

He felt perplexed that he had lost consciousness and when he woke up, they were already approaching the ending and the end of destruction.

But this was his case, and it could be different from Verde's perspective.

He was a regressor who had entered the worldview, but Verde was just an ordinary supporting character among supporting characters.

So the anxiety he felt must be beyond imagination.

"It's okay, Verde."

"...Okay?"

"I already knew about Yurik's plan. Leandros was waiting for this time. We'll meet again. Is that what you wanted to ask? You don't have to. I'll handle it myself now. I don't know what happened in the meantime, but you've been through a lot."

"Sir Leandros, your knight was preparing and waiting for this moment...? This moment?"

He muttered blankly.

While he was wondering how much to tell him, he suddenly had a good idea.

The ending was coming soon anyway, right? And Verde was the only person who knew that he wouldn't die even if he died.

He took his limp hand.

"I actually know the future."

"What do you mean?"

"I know most of what happens in this world. I don't know the small details well, but Yurik's defeat by Leandros is a predetermined course. As long as he meets Yurik in the capital, everything will be fine."

"It'll be fine? Are you serious? Do you really think so?"

"Of course. Amelia, Arndt, you, Russel will all return safely. Then we'll all be fine, and everyone will live the future they want as they want-"

"Duke. The people you just mentioned, what about the other people besides the people of the Hartmann ducal residence? Will they all be fine too?"

"Other people?"

"Other people."

He didn't know what would happen when the story ended either. Why was he asking such a thing?

He couldn't readily answer because he couldn't understand Verde's intention.

Seeing his ambiguous expression, something like irreversible despair crossed Verde's face.

Verde's hand, which had been lightly held, instead gripped his hand tightly.

The strength was excessive compared to his wretched appearance.

"Your Grace. I said I had a favor to ask. Please make a promise with me. Will you listen? I saved your life once. Autopsy and such things are no longer necessary. In exchange for saving your life, please make one promise with me."

"S-suddenly? Even without saying that much, I can promise you anytime."

"No, a promise... It's a vow. Your Grace. Stake your name, your honor, your wealth, whatever is most precious to you. This isn't something that changes according to your mood or circumstances. It's a vow you must keep regardless of your surroundings. Will you promise? For my sake, for the sake of me who saved Your Grace's life."

His held hand hurt as if it would be crushed.

Unable to pull his hand away, he nodded, overwhelmed by his intensity.

Verde brought his face close to him with bloodshot red eyes.

"Please pity other people."

"Pity?"

"Please have compassion for them. People other than Your Grace are just ordinary people. Please understand the pain of the people Your Grace meets. Even if Your Grace cannot understand, I beg you to at least try. Their lives are finite and time that has passed never returns. Never. So please, Your Grace, think of others with compassion."

"I will."

"Trust those who trust Your Grace, and believe in those who move for you. Even if you meet people who don't trust you or don't move for you, please promise not to harm them."

"I'll promise."

"Don't hate others carelessly. People's hearts change too quickly."

"Yes. I understand."

"Please be kind to everyone as Sir Leandros, Arndt, and Miss Amelia have been kind to Your Grace."

"Yes."

"And, and, please treat yourself preciously."

"Yes."

"Don't throw your life away carelessly."

"I promise."

"You've suffered too much for your age."

"Yes."

"When all this is over, later, someday, happily."

"Happily, someday. Yes."

"Even when everything ends, as a human being, even if there comes a moment when you doubt yourself, please as a human..."

Verde's words trailed off like ripples.

The strength slowly left his hands. Only then could he wipe Verde's face, which was streaming with tears.

Since Verde seemed completely out of his mind, he spoke in the softest voice he could manage.

"I don't know why you're making such a request, but it's not a bad request. I'll promise."

"...I'm sorry..."

"You don't need to apologize too."

He didn't understand why Verde was making such desperate requests.

But he couldn't just ignore someone who kept crying and apologizing.

When his sleeves were soaked with blood and tears, there was commotion outside.

"Outside..."

Had it become dangerous even to the royal palace?

He needed to check how far this destruction had reached and where the main force of destruction was and what they were doing.

Verde, who had been quietly watching him, pushed him first.

"You must go."

"Now?"

"Crown Prince Yurik was thinking that if Your Grace stays here, Sir Leandros will also come to the capital. I don't know where Arndt is, but he's probably somewhere in the royal palace. Look for places like underground dungeons. Leave with Arndt. If Sir Leandros is needed for this conclusion, shouldn't you send him news to come here?"

"Will you be okay staying here alone?"

"It's been quite a while since Crown Prince Yurik came. It's safe here. I'm... too tired now. I want to rest. I'm getting old too."

Verde, speaking like that, really looked exhausted.

If he was insisting this much, there was no choice.

"If it's okay outside, I'll come get you right away. Wait a little."

"Your Grace."

"What?"

"Aren't you scared?"

"Of what?"

"You don't know anything about what's outside. What's happening."

Scared?

Right now he was maintaining perfect composure.

His heart was beating normally, and his palms, which used to get damp whenever he was nervous, were dry now.

Perhaps since the end of the story was right in front of him, even demonic beasts and monsters weren't scary anymore.

Or maybe he had become bolder.

"Not really."

Verde smiled with difficulty with his distorted face.

"Go."

Even until the moment he left the hall, Verde was watching him.

He couldn't know what expression Verde had been watching him with behind the closing door.