Chapter 37 – Awakening

 

Had it happened a few seconds later, I would have probably knelt. I’d have miserably begged for a miracle without realizing the true intentions of the other party, who was dripping honey-coated poisonous words on my ear.

However, thanks to ‘her’, I was stopped when I was on the verge of giving in.

(What about taking Feria to the Empire?) ‘She’ asked. The voice was definitely my own, but it was not mine, (You also promised Phillka that you’d hold a Karaage party with the Louivas family, didn’t you?

(If I was the one to do it, the effect would by no means be the same. At least teach me how to handle things properly first, please.)

I felt like there was another person inside me… But intuitively, I understood what ‘she’ actually was… She was Altirea Wisp. The original one. The one that should have melted inside me.

My dim consciousness slowly became clearer. I finally noticed it, how she has always been by my side. Watching over me and supporting me.

With just this one realization, my wobbling heart became stable once more.

And she’s right. I have to reap the seeds I have sown.

High Priest Rofen wouldn’t have gone after ‘my’ life if it wasn’t for my interference. The Earl might have not been interested in ‘me’ if it wasn’t for my dedication to doll magic and my knowledge of his princess.

Phillka’s feelings and the problems inside his family are also unsolved as of yet… What will happen if I abandon them all and try going to another world?

I’ll just be imposing all those burdens onto ‘her’… too irresponsible. That would be an unforgivable action.

Moreover, I also want to stay here, with everyone, with Kajero, Cactus, Walf, Weiss, Dad, Feria, Phillka, the Earl, Els, Duke Rozerem… I still want to be with them all.

Therefore… I won’t rely on him. I refuse. I won’t let things go as he wants. I do not need his offering.

***

A crack appeared in the classroom we were at… Then, it crumbled upon itself, as if it was a glass window, broken into a myriad pieces.

The space around us was now a vast empty dark blue nothingness. The one thing in it, was a man, floating right in the middle of it… Priest Asksu, wearing blue and white robes.

It was our first meeting, but I felt like there were thousands of years worth of grudge coming to me right now.

This man, who claims to be god’s messenger, was showing me a creepy and ominous smile, “Brilliant. Brilliant.” He said as he clapped his hands.

He then laughed. An arrogant, fearless, audacious laugher… “I never expected the original Altirea to come out.” He said, “I guess the interventions from the priest, assassin and puppeteer ended up having an unexpected effect.

“As a result of redefining oneself during those struggles, ‘you’ and ‘she’ who had been fused could now manifest together. Interesting. Very interesting.”

Contrary to his words, his tone of voice was very uninterested. His pale eyes did not seem to even be staring at us, but at something else.

“But is it really okay to reject me?” He asked, “All those nightmares actually happened in worlds similar to this one. By making this decision, you are abandoning hundreds of thousands pathetic Altireas.

“Such an utter lack of pity for them… Even I can’t be so devilish.”

“You say that, but you are the one that incited them to move in the way that they did in the first place.” I replied.

“I just gave them a way to break through the status quo. If used correctly, they should have been able to grasp happiness, but their heart’s weakness instead led them to ruin.

“The blame is nobody’s but their own… However, I do feel a bit guilty for them, so I was going to show you a way to travel to their worlds and save them.

“Ah, and I know what you’re thinking. You’re wondering why I just don’t do it myself, but the art of transcending time and space reflects one’s heart. As we are constantly growing, we cannot go back to a world we have already been to.

“So, what will you do now? You can pretend to not have seen their future, but can you forgive yourself for doing so?” He told me.

With a careful choice of words, he pushes the blame of their misery towards me… However, my answer has already been decided.

“If that’s their reality, then I certainly would like to do something about it.” I said.

“Then there is only one answer. Come, take my hand.” He replied.

“Don’t try narrowing down my options on your own. If you go and guide someone through life, then you must take responsibility for your own decisions. That is what an actual wise person would do.

“You can’t go back to a world you already left? What a silly restriction to such a secret time-transcending art… But I suppose it fits a weirdo like you just right.” As I told him that, I purposefully heaved a long sigh. It was a cheap provocation, but I wonder if he’ll fall for it.

After all, priest Asksu cannot be left alone. If I let him do as he pleases, then someone else will surely be hurt, therefore… I want to get rid of him.

This is my inner world. I have the terrain advantage.

Also, we outnumber him on 3 to 1.

There is ‘she’, the original Altirea, who is lurking on Asksu’s blind spot, waiting for an opportunity to strike. She looks graceful while still being sneaky like that… I wonder if I had a negative impact on her personality, this sneakiness doesn’t suit her, even if the grace does.

Next, there is Weiss. Since I slept with him by my side in the real world, our link was kept, so I can summon him with a simple command.

And then there is me. In the real world I can’t fight by myself, but that’s not the case in my own inner world. I had numerous practice sessions with Kajero, where he tried to perform mental attacks on me and I had to do my best to fight back… And the result was that he gave me his seal of approval. He said that if it was me, not even the King of Evil Spirits would be able to bend my will… It was just excessive praise, of course, but I’m sure he meant it when he said my abilities were top-notch.

Also, even if it was just flattery, I think it’s fine if I take it seriously. The strength of one’s beliefs is what determines their power when colliding with someone else’s heart, after all.

I can win. It’ll be alright. I definitely can win this.

And also, I can retreat in an emergency, then try crushing Asksu with our bodies instead… But I will win this.

As such, I continued talking, trying to get on his nerves, “If you really do feel sorry for all those Altireas, then you should improve your secret art, in order to let you go back to them on your own.” He opened his mouth to talk, but I cut him off, “I don’t want some counterargument. It’s irrelevant.
“At the end of the day, you only know how to run your mouth after all. You’re not the kind of person that can do actual magical research. That burden is far too heavy for you.”

I kept on talking, not only to make sure he didn’t notice ‘her’ surprise attack and Weiss, but also to motivate myself to fight.

Asksu’s expression was still unwavering, but… That’s not important. I just need to tell myself the truth, “You can’t beat me.” I said, “To show mercy? To ask me to kneel down? Only to them show me your miserable appearance while saying that the problems you caused are my fault?

“You’re way too much of a crappy scammer. I’d much rather rely on the Earl or on other people that I actually trust on.”

I held my fist tightly. My power was on the verge of exploding… I don’t care if he notices it or not anymore. We should attack him and overwhelm him in one go… We can do this.

But then, “Are you going to try destroying me without even giving me a chance of escaping?” Asksu looked down, as if he had given up, “I was so excited about this chance, but I guess I went overboard.

“It’s no good to keep going if I can’t get anything out of this, so… It’s alright. I admit it. I lost.”

He then, without hesitation, kneeled on the ground, as if mocking my determination, “Be proud, for you have overcome my test. I’ll serve you from now on.” He said.

“I don’t want you as a servant.” I told him.

I refuse to let him get away with this pretend surrender. Nobody will be safe for as long as this guy is around.

And as such, I rushed towards Asksu, and stomped on his head, putting magical power on my heel to block his movement. He is way too dirty to be touched on by own hands.

Then, I kicked his jaw, jumped back and… Released. Released all my power at once!

A light beam flew. As this huge silver spear flew at the speed of a meteorite, it exploded like a supernova.

Without holding back, I crushed Asksu with my absolute overwhelming enraged energy, that not even I could control anymore.

It kicked us out. The large energy kicked us all out of the inner world, and back to the real world… But just before we finished leaving, that ridiculing ominous laughter echoed in my head, “There’s no mercy on you at all is it? Just like the ‘Demon Queen’ that I showed you, right?

“Well, congratulations. From the bottom of my heart, I truly believe you have the rights to claim yourself as the ruler of the netherworld.

“Regrettably, I took some heavy wounds now, so I’ll have to sleep for a long time.

“But at the very least, let me leave you with something, so that you won’t forget me. It may be a bit cliched, but I’ll truly be happy if you can succeed without your skills.” And with this, his curse plagued me.