A Villain's Will to Survive

Chapter 357: The End of All (10) Part 1

Blue skies and a bright sun, a trickling stream and the sound of crickets, flocks of birds from the continent, and deer, squirrels, and rabbits frolicking in the green hills made up the outer edge of the world, a place where numerous lives still thrived in peace and warmth.

“There’s no time,” Sylvia said to Yulie, just before the massive hibernation began.

“… Yes, I am aware,” Yulie replied, but her expression remained one of hesitation, lost in thought as she looked at the old diary she held in her hand.

“… Yulie,” Sylvia said, looking at her. “How did it seem to you.”

Yulie raised her head at Sylvia’s words and thought of her future self that she had just seen—no, of her who was her absolute ideal.

“… It seemed well,” Yulie muttered, her eyes closed.

Yulie was a person of truth, a knight who had become a hero, and she had achieved her deepest wish, her desire, her dream, completely by herself and without anyone’s help.

“She saved the continent.”

Transcending Deculein, she was the one who had taken up the mantle of guarding all life on this continent.

“… To a degree that it didn’t feel like myself,” Yulie continued, holding her diary tightly to her chest. “But—”

However, for some reason, Yulie felt a sense of gloom, finding her current self increasingly insignificant the more she compared it to the woman who was her ideal, while the woman who had already achieved all of her wishes seemed to make her feel empty.

“No, she is not you,” Sylvia interrupted.

Yulie blinked, for though Sylvia’s words had suddenly pierced her ears, their meaning did not become clear for a moment.

“Pardon?”

“That person is not you,” Sylvia replied, pointing at Yulie’s diary. “That Yulie.”

The diary held against Yulie’s chest was an object filled with the memory and scent of the hero who had eternally frozen the continent.

“She is not you.”

However, Sylvia was saying that the woman who became the hero was not Yulie herself.

Yulie looked at Sylvia without a word.

“So… you should live freely,” Sylvia continued, twisting the corner of her lips slightly, as if finding Yulie charming.

The word ‘free’, that insignificant word, somehow jabbed at Yulie’s heart, not as a painful stab or a shocking blow but with a sensation like a pencil’s lead touching her skin and with a word that was only unfamiliar.

“Yulie gave her life for you.”

However, that pencil was now writing a new sentence on Yulie’s heart.

“All so that you could find who you really are.”

And it caused a particular thought to surface in Yulie’s mind.

“You still have yourself within you,” Sylvia concluded.

“… I, you say?” Yulie replied.

Born by killing her mother, Yulie spent her life blaming herself for it, convinced her life was nothing more than refuse tainted with original sin.

With the sole purpose of becoming a knight who guards someone for Freyden and the continent, she polished her sword and ran without end until she finally arrived, reached her final moment, and accomplished everything she was.

It was atonement, a grand ambition, and the life of the person named Yulie.

“Yulie is there and her dream has already come true.”

The dream of Yulie was to be the knight of the continent who saved every living thing, and who froze herself in the process.

“Yulie is no longer the person she was, but a season called winter, and yet she was satisfied with it, believing it to be herself,” Sylvia continued.

In silence, Yulie looked upon the diary.

“But there’s no need for you to chase that dream once more.”

This was the dream of the old Yulie, a dream that was already realized, and an atonement that was carried out on her behalf.

“Take to the sky, and do it for you.”

Yulie raised her eyes, and Sylvia looked into her pupils, which were clear, deep, and like solid ice.

“The life as Yulie that the Professor wanted for you most of all…” Sylvia continued, a smile on her face as she looked at Yulie’s determined expression.

This was the dream that Deculein, who loved Yulie, wished for—for her to break free from the fate of Deculein and live a life that was completely her own.

“Live it as if to show them all.”

Whoooooosh—

Just at that moment, the frigid cold carried in the wind from the distant horizon felt as though it resembled Yulie.

It was Yulie who spoke, her words signaling that the time had come to an end.

***

From the top of the lighthouse, Knight Keiron looked down at the crumbling continent, at the restoration spell that was soothing its destruction—a spectacle of harmony and reversal that Deculein’s miracle was manifesting.

Keiron’s silence was long, for the continent would soon be restored to its original, magnificent form from before its destruction, and until that time, Keiron would remain silent.

— Your Majesty.

Of course, this would happen only after the one person who remained had departed.

… Thud, thud.

Despite Keiron’s call, footsteps approached without an answer, and soon, it was Sophien, the Empress, who stood next in the same place as Keiron.

— It is time for you to go to sleep, Your Majesty.

— … Would it not be a shame to sleep, when the scenery is so beautiful?

Sophien was holding out, withstanding Yulie’s frigid cold by sheer force of will.

— … I will take my time with the view.

However, Keiron could not hear Sophien’s voice and could only interpret the language conveyed from her heart, for the moment she were to open her mouth to speak, her entire body, even that of the Empress, would freeze from Yulie’s frigid cold.

— Is that so, Your Majesty?

Keiron replied.

— … This is a sight that few will ever behold, much less twice.

Sophien nodded her head, and as she did, the fantastic spectacle of the continent coming back to life from destruction—shattered fragments of the crust piecing themselves together, evaporated rivers originating anew, the broken magnetosphere reviving, and the torn sky reconnecting—was all captured in the Empress’s eyes like a single painting.

— Once this planet is restored, Yulie’s frigid cold will take the form of an eternal winter, and all will be frozen, Your Majesty.

Although the Eternal Winter remained confined to the lighthouse, the moment the continent was completely restored, Yulie would venture outside and put the entire continent into hibernation, holding the time of the continent with its people until the outer edge of the world disappeared.

— According to the giant, this planet has been beautiful since its beginning, Your Majesty.

— … Is that so?

— Yes, Your Majesty.

— … It is a shame that I could not behold that beginning.

While reading Sophien’s thoughts, Keiron gave a faint smile.

— No, Your Majesty, we are rather fortunate ones for not having seen that beginning.

The giant spoke, saying that the blessing granted to humans was their foolishness, their tiny eyes, their short legs, and the life they lived that was destined to crumble and die.

— We are blessed, for we do not know the end of this world, nor can we walk to it, nor can we see it with our own eyes.

— … Is that so? That sounds like a load of absolute moronic nonsense.

Of course, humans cannot understand giants, and giants cannot understand humans, Sophien thought.

Sophien turned her eyes to Keiron.

— … But tell me, Keiron. Is it not true that you are attempting to abandon that blessing?

Keiron shook his head, for he had caught a glimpse of Sophien’s look, which held a worried glare.

— I have always been blessed. The same is true at this very moment.

What Keiron’s blessing was, everyone would understand without a single word being said.

— Your Majesty, I am reminded of the first time I had the honor of meeting you.

The small and spirited child with round eyes who was overflowing with talent in everything was Sophien, who resembled a wildcat, with her long crimson hair fluttering and her crimson eyes glaring like a sovereign, and this very image remained vivid in Keiron’s memory and served as his fuel.

— It seems that Your Majesty does not remember it well, but as Your Majesty’s memories are disordered, I understand that level of confusion.

Keiron’s blessing was Sophien, and because there was no reason for him to serve her, the origin of the man named Keiron could not be explained to anyone, for he was merely a man born to protect Sophien…

At that moment, a voice of crimson welled up.

“Keiron,” Sophien called.

A slightly surprised look appeared on Keiron’s face, but his eyes soon softened as he looked back at her.

— Yes, Your Majesty.

“You have ever and always followed my will.”

It was impossible to read Sophien’s emotions because her face was stiff and was freezing even in the very moment she was speaking.

— Yes, Your Majesty, I have always done so.

However, it was then that Keiron felt a sense of satisfaction regarding Sophien.

“Because of your convictions, meeting a loyal subject like you…”

The sight Sophien showed to Keiron, the heart she had for his loyalty…

“… Has also been a tremendous blessing for me as well,” Sophien concluded.

Was an infinitely and immeasurably graceful thing.

Despite being a statue, Keiron was momentarily speechless, but he soon chastised himself and smiled the brightest he had ever smiled, a smile he had not worn in a long time as a knight, with his heart holding not a single shred of regret.

— I am grateful, Your Majesty. Therefore, now…

However, there was no need for Keiron to continue with the next words.

Sophien had already accepted Yulie’s frigid cold and entered into hibernation with a sense of ease, waiting for the day she would wake with the perfectly emotionless face that was the most expressive Sophien could show of all.

— … My eternal duty is to protect you, so please, rest without concern.

***

“… Rest without concern.”

Awakened from her sleep by a voice in her ear, Sophien felt a vitality sprouting from her entire body.

Chirp, chirp— Chirp, chirp—

The sound of birdsong filled the air, the sky was bright and clear, and warm sunlight and air soaked the skin.

Whoosh—

A mild breeze enveloped her, and the fluttering leaves brushed against both of Sophien’s cheeks.

Sophien opened her eyes without a word, and from the top of the lighthouse she could see the distant ground, a land now covered in boundless greenery and no longer a Land of Destruction.

“… I am not sure,” Sophien muttered.

However, since she had no way of knowing if everything had gone as planned or how much time had passed, Sophien merely looked around the world, taking in every detail of the continent’s scenery.

Eventually, Sophien came to a realization.

It was a brief moment, utterly just an instant, for after she had closed her eyes, in the single moment she opened them, the continent had been restored and all life was safe within the span of what felt to Sophien like one second.

“… Keiron.”

Keiron had become a statue, and the ten thousand years of time—a duration worthy of being called ages—that everyone on the continent did not feel, was being borne witness to by only one person—Keiron.

“You’ve become a statue, have you not?” Sophien said, looking up at Keiron.

No matter how she asked, there was no answer, for his old eyes were sunken and lightless and his body was hardened like a statue… merely standing atop the lighthouse as if to guard her while staring at the west where the sun blazed.

“… Indeed,” Sophien muttered, giving a nod.

Indeed, ten thousand years are not ages that a human could withstand. Even Keiron’s sense of self would have been worn away, his body would repeatedly freeze, until he became this complete statue, Sophien thought.

“Even you…” Sophien muttered as she reached out and touched Keiron’s shoulder, his body as rigid as stone, but holding a strange warmth. “… are forsaking me.”

The words were Sophien’s rambling, containing her regret and sorrow.

What if a single tear, a tear I did not know I had, were to fall on Keiron’s feet? Would he, as in a fairy tale, be brought back to life? Would the statue’s surface break and his voice return to me, whole again? Sophien thought.

It was a matter beyond understanding, but Sophien now shed no tears, merely acknowledging Keiron’s devotion.

“Your hardships have been immense.”

Shring—

Sophien drew her sword from its sheath and placed it upon his shoulder.

“Know that I am aware of your infinite efforts, all of them.”

Sophien turned her back, leaving the Empress’s treasured sword resting on Keiron’s shoulder.

“This continent, and the world, acknowledge them as well.”

Within the magic that was a miracle, Sophien left her subject, the knight who was now like a miracle, to serve as a testimony to this world…

“You now have my leave to rest at ease.”

Tat, tat, tat, tat, tat—

There were many footsteps ascending from the base of the lighthouse, and soon, they reached the top and found her.

“Your Majesty!” Epherene shouted, her eyes wide as she looked at Sophien. “My timeline has been anchored!”

The timeline of Epherene had been stabilized, and she no longer needed to return to the future or the past, nor was there any longer a method for her to do so.

“Naturally. Even if the continent was frozen, the time of the universe continued to flow. Already ten thousand ages have passed by,” Sophien replied with a twist of her lips.

The overwhelming authority over time that Epherene seemed to possess was utterly crushed under the weight of the heavier and greater ages, for she did not have the ability to travel ten thousand years.

Epherene wore an ambiguous expression, as if she were a person who was unsure whether to be happy or sad.

“More importantly, I believe we still have a task that needs to be done,” Sophien continued.

A large number of people were rushing up, including Louina, of course, as well as Yeriel, Gawain, Ganesha, the Great Elder of the Scarletborn, and Ellie, Maho, and Delic… but among them, Deculein was nowhere to be seen.

“Listen to me now,” Sophien announced. “From this moment on, we shall eliminate the great villain.”

The great villain Deculein was the purpose for which they had come to this place.

“… Umm… Hmm.”

In response to the Empress’s order, they mumbled with their mouths, but in the end they swallowed their words because they, too, understood what Deculein desired, why he chose to die, and why he had sacrificed his own prestige into the mud and taken on the role of a villain.

“Then… the continent shall be sealed.”

On the continent that had been restored, the subject of Empress Sophien’s speech was about the sealing of the continent.

… And that was, perhaps, a story that would begin soon.