Lewayne had lived in the same time period over and over again. Each time he saw countless cracks in between.
He remembered all the countless regressions he had seen.
Thanks to that terrible accumulation of time, he gained a sense similar to foresight.
Such foresight would often appear when he was lost in weary dreams.
At the moment when Cedric was conveying his love to Dalia, Lewayne jumped out of bed drenched in sweat.The green substance that was absorbed by Cedric, and Dalia’s ability, Aceras, who committed an unforgivable sin.
All of that showed him a future possibility.
A happy ending for everyone may be impossible. However, he wanted it to be the best ending that no one would regret.
He hurriedly got up, changed his clothes, and put on his coat. And he hurriedly mounted his horse, shaking off the butler who was dissuading him.
He looked down at the butler and said.
“I will go and meet Lady Dalia Pesteros.”
He kicked the horse in the stomach and began to run through the darkness.* * *
After seeing Cedric off, Dalia lay down on the bed.
But of course she can’t fall asleep. Her heart was beating so fast because of Cedric that it felt like she was going to die.
However, it seems that she was not the only one who couldn’t sleep.
A half-asleep maid opened the door and entered. And as soon as she saw Dalia, who was not sleeping yet, her face brightened.
“Miss, you haven’t slept yet. If you go to bed late, you will be tired tomorrow.”
“You seem to like it too much for that?”
Dalia deliberately replied playfully.
“Actually, a guest for Miss has come at this time. My goodness, he has no manners. I’d love to kick his butt, but he’s someone I can’t refuse…….”
“Who is it?”
“His Excellency Duke Lewayne Blueport.”
Dalia, in astonishment, put on a shawl and coat and went down to the drawing room.
It was really Lewayne.
He was drenched in sweat that didn’t fit for the chilly weather.
His golden hair, which had always been neatly combed, was disheveled over his forehead. His broad soldier-like shoulders and back were trembling.
Sensing that the situation was serious, Dalia took off the ring and took his hand in panic.
He had said that it was useless before, but she still wanted to do this for him.
Fortunately, it seems like there was a slight effect? He calmed down after a while.
He looked up at Dalia with a pale face.
“Oh my, Mr. Lewayne, what’s the matter?”
“I had a dream.”
“What dream?”
“I……”
He closed his eyes for a moment and opened them again. There was a certain determination in his eyes.
“I need your help.”
“…….”
“I realized. That it is impossible to change the future unless everything is revealed, even the last hope. The things that I didn’t tell you because I don’t want to hurt you, could hurt you even more in the future.”
Dalia was speechless.
Lewayne hesitated for a while before continuing.
“Miss Dalia, you still don’t know what will really happen at this ball. I thought you, the person involved, shouldn’t know.”
“…….”
“First, I will explain in more detail why His Highness Prince Cedric had to die in the Aceras route.”
Lewayne spoke in a calm tone.
Since Aceras was still alive and not eliminated by another transcendent, there were only two of his routes left here.
The route that Lewayne didn’t show in <The Labyrinth of Ouroboros> after he just concluded saying that there was a war.
If he succeeds, he kills all the other transcendents and forcibly obtains Yustia, and if he fails, he cannot bear the tattered soul in the aftermath and run rampant.
The mana rush of holy power produces far more dire consequences than the mana rush of magical power.
Once the holy power bursts, those in the vicinity of the area of influence will never die.
It’s not a curse, so there’s no way to lift it.
The conventional countermeasure method of responding to transcendent mana explosions, which is to let them run wild until they die, did not work for Aceras.
This is because his holy power constantly restored his body.
Not only that, but even after his death, the blessing of immortality never ended.
Even though Lewayne was outside of the Imperial Palace at the time, he had to try thousands of times to die.
That was the most terrible memory of the endless regressions.
However, only once. There was a time when everyone didn’t go to ruin even though he was on the rampage. Because a transcendent destroyed himself with the rampaging Aceras.
“…….”
Dalia immediately knew who he was.
Cedric.
It was something no one else could do except him.
Even Lewayne who has regressed hundreds of times with a high level magic, and the legendary Emperor of Magic, cannot stop it, it can only be done by the transcendent who has multiple attribute mana.
He separated Aceras and the space he was in into a subspace that did not exist in this world.
The door connecting the subspace to this world could only be closed by the person inside the subspace.
So Cedric went into it with Aceras, closed the door to the subspace, and died there together.
Even though it was roughly what she had expected, it felt like her heart was about to collapse when she heard it again.
“Lewayne, he said that I’d die. Is that true?”
She remembered the earnestness that permeated in Cedric’s voice as he said that a few hours ago.
An earnest desire to live.
Maybe he wanted to live in the last regression where he died endlessly.
However, it must have been a lonely death that has always awaited him in all those countless times.
This time……this time it will be different. It has to be. Dalia clasped her skirt tightly.
‘I must save Aceras.’
Otherwise…….
Then, as if reading Dalia’s thoughts, Lewayne spoke quietly.
“I will not ask you to forgive Aceras. It is not only an offense to you, but it is also not something to be done by your and my will.”
Those words comforted Dalia a little.
But……the essential facts have not changed.
“I don’t want to let His Highness die like that again.”
“…….”
“I’ll give it a try one more time. To forgive Aceras.”
Lewayne was right. This does not work out as Dalia will. But if he is not purified, Cedric will die.
Moreover……even though she knew there was no reason to feel guilty, she felt uncomfortable whenever she saw Aceras.
Is it because everyone else has deviated from the route and only he is still wandering in there?
So, if possible, she wanted to end it in a direction where everyone is not unhappy. She didn’t want him to sleep forever.
‘I even thought about killing him……how shameless.’
Dalia knew she was being two-faced. But that is who she is.
“If I have a chance to talk to Aceras alone, I will. My ability is influenced by my emotions. If he cancels everything now and asks for forgiveness, I will forgive him.”
Maybe this is the best way. Although she didn’t know if the current Aceras would listen to her.
Lewayne looked at her for a moment and then nodded.
“If you wish, so be it. I’ll be waiting too. But when Aceras arrives at the meeting at 7PM, we can’t wait any longer.”
“……What do you mean you can’t delay?”
“I told you. If you can’t forgive him, I will put him to sleep forever. I haven’t told you the method yet.”
“…….”
Right. That’s what Lewayne said. Even if Dalia can’t save Aceras, there will be a way.
He continued calmly.
“I’ve been through so many regressions, but at this point, I’ve only found one way to not kill Aceras and not let him run wild. It is to break down his soul and take advantage of it to put him to sleep forever.”
She had heard that before. But even then, it was still difficult to understand.
She asked cautiously.
“I don’t know what you mean by breaking down the soul.”
“As I wandered through the endless hours of the past, I learned to keep a lot of memories in the back of my mind so as not to go crazy. And I can use that memory whenever I need it.
If necessary, it is possible to forcibly inject that memory into another person through contact.
He will be forced to remember every regression he’s actually wandered about, and awaken him. If that happens, the human’s fragile mind will not be able to endure it and collapse.”
In the present, with Lewayne intervention, the others have gradually regained their memories.
But even that was very few memories that they could bear. Anything more than that will be rejected by their body and mind.
What if Lewayne forcefully injects memories? They will never be able to bear it.
For a moment Dalia immediately remembered something strange.
‘If the soul collapses, won’t the transcendent run out of control? How is that different from inducing a mana explosion?’
Lewayne spoke before Dalia could ask.
“You are right. So we’re going to use mind magic to plant an idea in his mind while his soul has collapsed. Just as Kelsion did to Her Majesty the Empress.”
[I will give you the gift of rest to end this pain.]
“Then, with his consent, I will lead him to eternal sleep.”
“…….”
“This task is very risky. The moment we fail, he’ll run wild. But from the future I’ve seen, whether we try this or not, he will run wild anyway.
And this method has never failed in the future I’ve seen. So……we will succeed this time too.”
Contrary to what he said, however, Lewayne’s expression showed no confidence.
Dalia glanced at him slightly.
“Thank you for telling me. By the way……are you okay? You always seem to be carrying too much burden by yourself. Isn’t it too hard then?”
“…….”
“D……, Dad?”
Lewayne’s eyes slowly turned red at her words as he endured the twitching of his limbs.
He lowered his head and placed his hand over his forehead to cover his face.
“Miss Dalia, I’m so glad Miss Dalia is here. Without you, I would have already died.”
“……That, that much?”
……Was the word dad wonderful enough to overcome death?
Dalia was momentarily confused.
Translator Note: I’m down with cold…again…hahaha…I noticed the symptoms yesterday, then today my mom asked me if I got cold…haaaa it’s not even a month since the last time…I blame the weather…it’s sooooo hot lately
