Again, Return (4) [Illustration]

The ruins covered with the silence of the post-war period.

Laniakea was nailed to the spot like a stone statue, holding the unconscious Yujin Kang.

Trial of Ascension.

contract and awakening.

What the three propositions say is clear.

He is one step closer to the ‘truth’.

Toward a truth she never wanted to reveal.

‘why···?’

The questions thrown in the middle of the day were resolved in the countless times he had passed through.

Yujin Kang has overcome the cracks of space and time.

He saw the past in the cracks, and in the process, he must have come in contact with the fragments of truth that were sown in the past.

That is why he asked such a question.

In order to solve the small doubts encountered there.

Right now, it’s just a small curiosity, but if time passes, maybe…

“Kang Yujin!”

The sudden voice startled her.

Hearing people running in the distance, Laniakea hurriedly put on her hood and spread her wings to cover herself.

“Kangyu… Ugh!”

They hurriedly ran in and gasped when they saw Laniakea.

Skadi, Roshua, and Laflis.

The professors of the core subjects gathered in one place and opened their eyes wide.

“···Nice to meet you.”

I tried to say hello first, but they didn’t seem to have time to answer.

Hey, it’s Laniakea who reigns at the pinnacle of all constellations.

It would have been even weirder if he hadn’t panicked in front of the highest star.

“Everyone did a great job. You did a great job.”

In the end, Laniakea spoke first on behalf of those who had closed their mouths.

In a voice that was deliberately hardened so that his trembling voice wouldn’t be heard.

“I’m sorry, but can I ask for a favor of my apostle?”

When she pointed to Yujin Kang, who was holding her, Skadi suddenly stood up and stepped forward.

“Ah…muh, of course!”

She quickly came forward and took over the fainting Eugene Kang from Raniakea.

“Ugh!”

But this man is heavier than I thought.

His whole body was muscular, and he was much bigger than Skadi, so he had to be described as being crushed rather than hugged.

Roshua stepped out to see that precarious figure.

“May I help you?”

“No…! I can do it alone…!”

As I struggled and tried to support it, it took on the shape of a tight embrace.

Then, I felt a cold gaze from somewhere, and when I turned my head, Laniakea was staring at me intently.

“uh···.”

I couldn’t see her face because it was covered by the shadow of the hood, but for some reason I felt like she was glaring at me fiercely.

“Hey… even if I’m doing something wrong…?”

“…no. It’s nothing.”

Laniakea creaked and turned her head, then turned and averted her gaze.

“Whew…”

he is my apostle

If possible, I would like to take you.

I didn’t have the courage to step out because of my troubled mind.

Was I so timid…?

The moment he let out a deep sigh and tried to turn his attention to the post-war arrangement.

Beep-!

A sudden beep sounded from the wristwatches the professors were wearing.

As they tilted their heads at the notification announcing the disaster situation, a dark shadow fell over their heads.

“Huh? Why is it blurry all of a sudden-“

Roshua’s voice stopped as she raised her head.

His calm face was contorted with astonishment, and his shaking gaze spoke of his shock.

What did you see?

Those who looked up at the sky in turn had no choice but to be in the same state as Roshua before long.

It was a huge abyss.

An existence that dyed the sky black and cast a shadow over the entire Avantrat.

The existence of ‘Hana’, who swallowed the distant far side of the sky, was looking down at them.

Beep-

Beep-

In the silence and stillness, only the wristwatch rang loudly.

It was a warning proving that this was not just the case of Abanrat, but a phenomenon that occurred throughout the central dimension.

[An unconfirmed high concentration of demonic energy has been observed!]

[It’s too big. The vastness of existence covers the entire central dimension!]

[If anyone can hear it—]

Communications poured in from all directions via wristwatches.

The origins were different, but they were all struggling in shock and bewilderment.

In a place where everyone looked up at the sky and lost their minds, the shadow that covered the other world looked at the world with ‘red eyes’ as huge as the sky.

Seeing those eyes, everyone recalled one existence.

“Emperor···.”

The master of the abyss who controls the beasts.

That was destruction itself with willpower.

All of them trembled as they saw the supreme embodiment of death, which no one dared to dare to stand against.

ugh…

Read at noblemtl.com

Just the appearance of the emperor made the entire dimension vibrate.

The earth shakes, the sky splits, and the world that cannot handle his existence screams.

Someone rolled their eyes.

Some lost their fighting spirit and collapsed, while others burst into tears in fear of death.

Everyone’s reaction was different, but the fact that everything came out of fear was the same.

The emperor was the one who spoke for the fear of them all.

-I watched you from the top of my Dark Heaven Corridor.

Abyss says.

It was a reverberation that echoed through the sky, and a whisper that pierced deep images.

The darkness he extended descended upon Avantrath and swallowed Ouroboros, who passed out from a mortal wound.

Having returned his subordinate to his bosom, he gazed at the world with eyes shining like the sun.

– Compared to bugs, his courage and strength are imaginary. It was a pretty good sight.

His voice was full of arrogance, but they didn’t have the strength to point it out.

To a mortal living on the ground, even the moment of leisure he showed was nothing but generosity.

-Isn’t it? Laniakea.

When he called the Empress of the Constellation, she spread her wings and drove away the darkness of the emperor.

As the warm holy power spread, their hardened bodies began to loosen little by little.

“Please take care of him.”

Leaving Yujin Kang in her care, she and light escaped from the gravity of the inner dimension and soared into the vast outer dimension.

The figure on the ground faded away in an instant, and she, who liberated her existence, burned the shadow of the emperor with the power of the empress full of light.

A brilliance that illuminates the wide and vast universe.

The first star stood in front of the emperor, clad in holiness that no one could reach.

-This is not the place for you to come, witch.

The words full of enemies did not tolerate the tyranny of the emperor.

Ahead of the hostile woman, the emperor opened his mouth happily.

-Even though I’m not trustworthy, I’m just taking care of my subjects.

ha ha ha.

The laughter of the abyss echoes ominously.

– I give sincere congratulations to my subordinates without lies. Unlike you, who couldn’t even reveal the fact that he had destroyed his hometown, and was only using him.

-·······.

The starlight flickers, and soon begins to boil.

The emperor laughed before Laniakea, who convulsed with a spectrum of bewilderment and anger.

-Are you afraid? A future where he antagonizes you.

-Shut up.

The emperor’s voice echoed with ridicule.

Full of hostility, mockery forged in hatred spoke for the emperor as a voice.

-If you were afraid, you shouldn’t have saved him. You shouldn’t have done anything to be afraid of.

– What are you talking about knowing what you know?

– I know everything. the first star

said the emperor.

-I knew that he would return from the rift of time and space, I knew that he would stand on the battlefield for you, and I knew that he would eventually defeat Ouroboros.

Predictions of predictions followed by insights that surpassed them.

-I didn’t even think of defeating him as a stratagem in the first place. After all, he knows me as much as I know him.

The emperor’s demonic force is called out to its size. Against him, Laniakea also lit up, causing the entire universe to agonize over the confrontation between black and white.

-yes. I know. What choice would he make after seeing the truth?

-···no way.

In an instant, the question Yujin Kang asked flashed through Laniakea’s mind.

He suddenly returned and asked about the Ascension Trial.

– I told you. It was my only purpose.

-·······.

– Avantrat? human talent? These are all useless things. Compared to the human value of Yujin Kang, they are insignificant junk.

Only then did I realize

The emperor, in the first place, had no interest in all of that.

His purpose is only a little doubt.

It was all about showing a piece of truth to Kang Yoo-jin himself.

-···Emperor!!

Laniakea burst into a roar and fired holy power at him.

The waves of the clash between the two gigantic beings were truly destructive, and the balance of the stars was distorted and even the axis supporting the world shook.

Laniakea’s animosity was real, but the Emperor refused to accept her fight.

She escaped from the raging holy force and continued to speak.

– Wait in fear. Until the day he puts a bullet of hate in your heart.

That would be the ruin that suits you—

After leaving those last words, the emperor disappeared.

It was a new and unusual exit like an appearance.

“·······.”

He left a laugh and disappeared.

That smile became an echo that echoed like a remnant and filled the son-in-law.

To her it felt like a mockery, as if the whole world was laughing at her.

for such a long time

In the dark and vast world, she was nailed and motionless.

*

It seems like I had a long dream.

Losing family, losing loved ones.

Losing and only losing, it was a nightmare I had in a long time.

I, who watched everything clearly in the blurry borders of my dream, lifted my eyelids without regret when it was time to wake up.

When I opened my eyes like that, I was greeted with a sudden feeling of weight weighing down my chest.

“···What.”

Adeline was on me.

It lay on top of me as if I was crushing it, and it is sleeping soundly.

I was about to wake him up, but when I saw the traces of tears on my cheeks, I let him go.

“Are you awake?”

When I turned my head, Skadi was there.

As if she had been by her side all the time, there were a lot of books and papers she had read.

“How long have I been lying down?”

“Not that long. Three days?”

“I’m glad.”

Still, it was fortunate that I wasn’t late for the next lecture.

I’m doing it with a sense of humor, but it’s because I don’t stand a chance when I take a break.

I floated Adeline with a simple telekinesis magic and laid her down on an empty bed.

The bed was large, so even with one additional person, the space was spacious.

“But… you weren’t alone.”

I didn’t know that the hospital bed was so big, but even Cynthia and Ensia were leaning against the bed and fell into a sound sleep.

It seemed that the haggard face had endured here.

“They made a fuss about not being able to go until the professor wakes up.”

“·······.”

“Do you like it? It’s popular with female students.”

Covering the book she was reading with a thud, she got up from her seat and strode closer.

The purple eyes that looked at me were sharp with anger.

From the way she looked, I realized she was obviously angry.

“What is it?”

“Why do you want to do anything by yourself?”

“Yes?”

“Yeah~? Now, yeah~? You asked?”

Exaggeratedly sarcastic, she grabbed me by the collar and shook me.

Even so, it was Skadi who swayed along with her arm because she was lighter.

“You were the one who taught us the sympathetic nervous system, right? Even after connecting the knowledge from the future, do you really fight alone?”

“that’s-“

“Be quiet. I’m angry right now.”

It was clear why she was angry.

It was that he left so many people and went to fight alone.

“Now that the first lecture is over, isn’t it any more strange to expect that you will use it in real life?”

There were already a lot of monsters, so it was a power disadvantage.

It is said that they filled the gap by connecting future knowledge, but it was difficult to predict that they would be able to help me in my battle with common sense.

Even more so, the sympathetic nervous system, which we have just begun to learn.

“I should have asked.”

“What do you mean?”

“Can you help me?”

Skadi said that with an upset face.

“Honestly, you alone were too much.

“…Yes. It was.”

“In that situation, isn’t it normal to ask if you can help?”

“·······.”

please help

How long has it been since you said that?

Ever since I was born, I was used to doing everything alone.

Before meeting my co-workers, I had no one to help me, and after meeting my co-workers, I couldn’t afford to take care of each other because it was difficult.

For me, the battlefield was just a place where I had to do my own work.

“We’re pretty trustworthy.”

However, Skadi says that’s not the case.

“Me too, Laflis and Roshua, albeit a bit unreliable. There are plenty of people who can help.”

Holding me by the collar, she slammed her head into my chest.

“If you’re having a hard time, just talk. We’re colleagues, aren’t we?”

“·····.”

colleague.

Those words resonated very loudly in my heart.

To me, all of the Pentagram members were called colleagues.

But now that I put everything down and was born again, can I still maintain the relationship then?

Probably not.

Maybe that’s why the word colleague really touched me.

It was because someone was standing next to the seat that I thought would be empty now.

“We always said we’d be there.”

I think it was just a one-sided request.

I tried to respond, but she suddenly reached out to me first.

A hand that extends the little finger.

It was a gesture to promise.

“I promise. We’ll help each other when things get tough.”

“·······.”

I stared blankly at the hand that was out to me.

I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t burdensome, but I didn’t feel like throwing it away like usual.

Perhaps it was because it was the first word I had ever heard of, ‘comrade’.

“Yes.”

So, I took off the glove and put my finger on hers.

His thin, white fingers interlocked with his rough, scar-covered hand.

“Hook your little finger and say~in~”

She waved her hand and even stamped her stamp on it, smiling bashfully.

It was a pretty smile with dimples.

“·······.”

Seeing that bright smile, I suddenly thought of it.

Maybe I was misunderstanding.

I thought I had completely let go of my life.

But when I stopped and looked back, my eyes were still on the past.

─colleague

The country is a support that supports people.

I may have been bound by the delusion of the past as a colleague, and have never seen the other side of me.

Read at noblemtl.com

Just as I finally got to see Skadi, who smiled brightly and whispered the echo of being a colleague…

“That’s right. Is the atmosphere nice?”

Then, I turned around to hear a voice that broke the atmosphere.

For some reason, Roshua and Lafless were looking at me with a sinister gaze.

“ah···?”

Skadi’s eyes widen.

After looking at them and me alternately, I let go of the hands that were holding each other with a red face.

“Iyol~ Dong-Ryo-! What a beautiful resonance this is. Professor Skadi is also a high-ranking player more than I thought.”

“Ah, no! This is so… that, I just tried it…”

“···just?”

I thought quite seriously, but it’s just…

He looked at her flustered eyes with narrow eyes.

“Comrade, was it a joke?”

When he said that with full of regret, Skadi’s eyes shook like an earthquake.

Startled, she turned around and grabbed my hand that I threw away in a hurry.

“Ah, no, that’s not what I meant…”

My voice trembled and my eyes trembled from how embarrassed I was.

The face is red enough to drip red water when pressed.

She stumbled between us, before long closing her eyes and stomping her feet.

“Evil! Mola!”

In the end, she chose to run away.

Seeing her quickly disappear, Roshua burst out laughing.

“It’s cute anyway, isn’t it?”

“···Yes.”

I was trying to play half of it.

The reaction was stronger than expected.

I’ll be pissed off for a while.

“·······.”

After I stopped talking, I lowered my head and looked at the hand that had intertwined my fingers.

Skadi has already gone, but the warmth of her hands seems to still remain.

“A colleague…a.”

While repeating the name I hadn’t heard in a long time.

For a while, I stared at that hand endlessly.