pole(4)

“Why is Helios in a place like this…?”

The question Roshua uttered was probably a question felt by everyone here.

“Is it an illusion?”

“It’s real.”

Skadi thought it might be an illusion, but even after checking it with mind control, there was no sign of any of us being illusory.

“But this is…”

Laflis’ empty voice dissipated.

It resembled Helios, but was radically different from the schools outside.

That is, this place is a ruin where everything has already been destroyed and only traces remain.

Collapsed walls and broken floors.

The soot and bloodstains that stained the surroundings kept intact the scars of the war.

At the moment everyone was standing at a loss for words, the mental control sharply informed them of the approach of something.

“Enemy Approach”

Everyone quickly raised their magic at the alarming message.

But before we could finish our response, they emerged from the shadows of the ruins and began to surround us.

In an instant, dozens and hundreds of them splattered purple eyes and bared their teeth in all directions.

“···this.”

again

I didn’t notice until I got closer.

Their magic block could not be noticed unless they came in close range, as if it disturbed the sensory network of mind control.

“…Don’t you think we fell into a trap?”

“I guess so.”

did you get caught? no that’s not it

All traces related to tracking have already been removed.

It used only enough magic power to go undetected, and deliberately moved through the rain so as not to leave any traces of its movement.

Reports through witches were also blocked in advance, and the last encounters similar to witches were not connected to the sympathetic nervous system at all.

And yet, knowing we were here…

‘I was already expecting it.’

They knew we would be here from the beginning.

…It was a little strange.

No matter how much the emperor is, it is impossible to predict all of this unless he is a god.

The plan to dispatch an investigation team was improvised and sudden, and he went through all kinds of hardships to keep it confidential.

This could only be explained by someone who was knowledgeable about the internal circumstances leaking information.

And, it dawned on me that there was only one such being.

‘Singularity. It’s you.’

Well, it would be strange if he didn’t come out when he saw these monsters.

Is the way you fight so naive?

Where did the holy look of the past go and is this only visible?

It’s to the point where I can feel my perception of him getting worse as I go on.

“I have to fight first… well?”

Even if there are a lot of numbers, killing them all is enough, so I prepared for battle, but the reaction they showed was something strange.

The monsters of the singularity opened the way forward.

“·······.”

“·······.”

Monsters left and right.

A long road runs between them.

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Judging from that direction, this was the direction that led to the depths of Pandaemonium, the ‘Heukcheon Corridor’.

“Isn’t this… a trap?”

“It’s definitely a trap.”

Skadi’s question was answered immediately.

If this wasn’t a trap, there wouldn’t be anything called a trap in the world.

My head was spinning rapidly.

whether to enter or not

In the alternative of running away or infiltrating, I came to a conclusion.

“Let’s go in.”

“Huh? You said it was a trap just now?”

“Yes. It’s a trap.”

It’s a trap.

If you go in, it will probably be very dangerous.

But it was also true that there was no other way.

It is said that there are only these monsters at the moment, but since their location has already been discovered, even if you defeat them, more monsters will chase you.

If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to escape all pursuit, but you can’t gamble with their lives.

「I will prepare the warp」

And, it’s not like there’s no way at all.

When you reach the Black Sky Corridor, you can use the method you originally intended to use.

If you use space-time magic, you can use warp magic without being affected by magic, so it was enough as a means of escape.

The only problem is that it takes some time to cast secretly while enduring the thick demon, but this was a risk worth taking.

“You have to make the most of your time.”

Everyone nodded, and we proceeded to the road where the monsters got out of the way.

As we passed the thick monster walls and came out onto the wide boulevard, they caught up with us from a distance behind us.

As if they were trying to make sure they were going the right way.

“Funny. Who’s watching who now?”

Roshua and Laflis’ expressions were not good enough for Skadi to burst into anger.

To be honest, I was feeling the same way, so I thought I’d let her get mad at me for now.

“…But, don’t you think the surrounding scenery is changing a bit?”

Roshua, who looked around, said anxiously.

As he said, the further he walked, the more the scenery changed.

Not only the scenery, but also the sounds that hadn’t been there were heard.

In a world where there was only silence, the light of flames shimmered, and explosions and screams were heard from afar.

As if time had turned back, the fires of war were coming from afar.

As if that was a bit dreary, Skadi snuggled up next to me.

“It must be an illusion, right?”

“It’s a fantasy.”

This is definitely an illusion.

Mind control has already caught a glimpse of fantasy.

It is a high-level illusion that deceives the flow of magical power and even the five senses, but it cannot escape the eyes that control my mind.

“Why are you showing me this?”

“Well, maybe it’s an unspoken protest to surrender.”

Even if you fight, you will lose, so don’t resist.

The emperor himself would have known better that the people here were not newbies, and that there was no way this would work.

‘He’s doing something useless.’

No matter how you look at it, this is not the emperor’s idea.

Rather, it was more reasonable to see that the Singularity borrowed the Emperor’s power to do this dog-like trick.

Annoyance pushed me and I was fixing my revolver, but a strange feeling suddenly crossed my mind.

“···Well?”

A voice is heard from afar.

familiar voice.

And I felt a familiar magic power.

many, not one.

As I heard several familiar voices, I had a feeling of foreboding.

“Wait, this…”

“Isn’t that our voice?”

Concern breeds suspicion.

That’s how we walked through the thick smoke of the battlefield, and finally saw it.

Helios Square, now in ruins.

The four men and women who were seated there.

“·······.”

“·······.”

There was ‘us’.

To be precise, there were ‘dead’ ones.

Roshua, he is dead with a hole in his chest, leaning against the wall.

Laflis, she is lying on the floor covered in blood from knife cuts.

and Skadi.

She is···.

“·······.”

A man grabbed her by the neck, and she was moaning with a face distorted in pain.

In front of her, there was a man who grabbed Skadi’s thin neck and lifted him up.

A man with dull, glowing red eyes fiercely raised up.

Yujin Kang.

He was staring at Skadi, who was stained with tears and complaining of pain, with cold eyes like an insect.

“This is… what the heck…?”

Someone answered the question thrown in the confusion.

“It’s a piece of the past that once happened here.”

The air distorted along with the voice.

As if splitting the rippling water, a man walked out through the swaying scenery.

A jet-black suit that completely covered the entire body.

And a mask with two pairs of shining eyes covering the face.

Everyone gasped at the appearance of the ‘Emperor’.

“…Did you make it up?”

“It is. It is not.”

“·······.”

He gave an ambiguous answer.

There were a lot of suspicious parts for this to come out of his head, but it was true that this was a bummer.

“The past that happened once… what kind of nonsense is that? Helios has never collapsed.”

Roshua stepped forward and refuted the Emperor’s words.

He smiled lowly as his mask turned toward Roshua.

“Yes. In ‘this world’, it would be like that.”

“what···.”

he raised his hand

A gloved hand grabbed the mask and pulled it down.

The black mask slides down his hand, revealing his bare face underneath.

Everyone’s eyes widened, and the smile on his lips widened.

“Not in my world.”

Everyone was silent.

It must be a shock.

His face is the same as mine, and his voice and accent are similar.

Their gazes, all looking at us alternately with shocked faces, were proof of that.

“Kang Yujin…Professor?”

“hahahaha, yes. It used to be called that.”

he looked at me and said

“I am he, and he is me. We are two and one beings with an inseparable history.”

“·······.”

he says.

Like a whisper from the devil, he spoke in the midst of a war unfolding on all sides.

“This is my past. The destruction of Helios and the annihilation of mankind.”

his eyes see us

“And, the one who killed all of you. It was me.”

he laughed.

Only then did I realize that this was no mere alienation.

The guy knew.

Through the sympathetic nervous system, Adeline on the other side would also be seeing this.

If Adeline finds out, there’s a high probability that the constellations in the central dimension will be able to see this scene, so they spray the poison called ‘suspicion’ on all of them.

Even if Adeline was quick-witted and blocked it before they saw it, the four of us who had heard the report here would come within range.

‘Do something like a dog…’

Also, that’s not something he would do.

I never plan in this way.

If the Emperor and I had a similar mindset, I would never have thought of this.

“Someday he will become like me. History will repeat itself.”

the scenery flows

Time rewinds, and scenes from the past begin to shine one by one.

Our friendly faces are reflected.

Following the Pentagram, ‘Kang Yoo-jin’ also became a colleague with them.

We went through many battles together and exchanged many emotions.

Overcoming trials and defeating enemies.

they spent a lot of time together

Like that, the emotion buried in their laughter and trust was definitely ‘bond’.

And under their support, ‘Kang Yoo-jin’ became the leader of the three professors.

Everyone was the same scenery as now.

However, he betrayed humanity in the end, destroyed Helios, and finally killed those who considered him his allies with his own hands.

He had completely betrayed the sincere trust they had given him.

So, time returns and reaches the present.

─I believed you… but…!

where everyone died.

Skadiman, the only survivor, cursed at him with a tear-stained face.

-I didn’t see people well.

─Yu… Jin…!

Dduk-

The voice stops.

Skadi, whose neck was broken in his grasp, drooped with eyes that had lost light.

Lastly, she collapsed like a doll with a thread cut out, and there was no one breathing there.

“·······.”

Silence finds

In a place where everything disappeared and silence arrived, no one raised a voice.

“History repeats itself.”

Now the Emperor was watching us.

With the smile of a person who falls into a trap and forces a choice.

“This···.”

not me

I tried to say that, but I kept my mouth shut.

It just wasn’t just a fantasy.

Because it was a direct projection of the emperor’s memories, the magical power he possessed, the magical power possessed by the three people including Skadi, and everything else were the same as in real life.

That it was real, no one but me knew.

And those connected to the sympathetic nervous system would have known that too.

“Tsk…”

sympathetic.

Sharing all thoughts together, the emperor originally intended to take advantage of it.

He frowned and grabbed the revolver.

For now, getting out of here is the first thing.

It won’t be too late to fix it after that.

To remind myself of that, I opened my mouth.

“For now, I’ll explain this later-“

“What is it? It’s a lie.”

“·······?”

My head turned at Skadi’s words.

Then, she looked at me with more strange eyes.

“What is it? Do you believe that?”

“That’s-“

“Our Professor Yujin Kang is so naive~”

I didn’t even have time to answer.

Skadi stepped forward, followed by Roshua and Laflis.

“I’m not swayed by that.”

“I watched a good movie. If I had been a director instead of an emperor, it would have been great.”

“·······.”

All of them denied the fantasy they had just had.

No, they will know.

that it is real.

The emperor and I are the same person, so there’s no way we don’t know that the history just now actually happened.

However, they denied even that.

“Even if it’s real, it doesn’t matter.”

Skadi looked at me and said.

“Didn’t I tell you? I’ll always be your colleague by your side.”

She smiled like a breeze on a spring day, and said that with a firm will.

“I never say light words.”

“·······.”

“And, if that happens, I don’t care.”

Her hand stabbed my chest.

“I’m an Arch Wizard who has mastered the 9th Circle. I’m stronger than you, right?”

“·······.”

“So, if you become like that, I’ll beat you up to stop you.”

I couldn’t speak

Because it was an expression of strong trust that exceeded even my expectations.

“Do you say all the cool things by yourself? You’re not merciful.”

“Anyway… we always take a back seat.”

Grinning, they also stood next to me.

They stood firmly by my side until the very end.

“Think of what you gave us. And yet, it’s absurd to doubt you after seeing that one.”

“That’s right, employer.”

Then, Roshua said shyly.

“I didn’t receive anything in particular, did I?”

“Professor Roshua, shut up.”

“Get a hold of the atmosphere. That’s why I don’t have a girlfriend.”

“no···.”

Roshua sinks, and the atmosphere changes in an instant.

Suddenly, I felt a soft feeling wrapped around my hand.

When I lowered my head, a white tail wrapped around my hand.

“let’s go together.”

Seeing her smiling and talking, I couldn’t help but nod my head.

“···Yes.”

The eyes of the four do not waver.

Returning to the ruins there, we saw the emperor in front of us.

“You have good friends, Yujin Kang.”

he was not agitated

I wasn’t even angry.

As if to disprove that this was not his opinion, he just looked this way with a slight smile.

“You mean, you’re the one who freed Kaya?”

“·······.”

Instead of answering, he answered with a platinum circle wrapped around his revolver.

After driving out the demonic energy with the rising holy power, I spoke to him.

“Check for yourself.”

The trigger was pulled, and a pure white flash covered my eyes.