The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations

The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations

I'm Not Saving the World (6)

Sssssk...

It wasn't just the darkness that was breaking apart.

Julien’s body was also crumbling little by little, like dust scattering into the air.

The dragons were flustered, unable to do anything. Julien was too close to Arterion, making it difficult to attack.

In the moment Deneb was lost, Julien willingly accepted the Lingering Thought of the Demon God.

He could barely hold on any longer, but it was the only way to achieve what he desired.

Now, all that filled him was hatred and rage toward the world.

Julien began to unleash all the power he had gained as the price for accepting the Lingering Thought of the Demon God, driving it into Arterion’s core.

“Graaaaagh!”

Arterion screamed, reaching out with trembling hands to grab Julien.

But even that wasn’t easy. The darkness burrowing into his body was trying to devour him whole.

Arterion had to use all his mana just to expel that energy.

“You... will be extinguished before you can consume me.”

Julien gave a cold, bloody smile.

Even as the Lingering Thought of the Demon God consumed his mind, he didn’t forget Deneb.

Though everything else faded, she alone remained vividly imprinted in his memory.

The one memory that remained twisted into an obsession, a madness that transformed him into something entirely different.

— Destroy the world.

Then, he could save Deneb’s soul.

That was now the sole reason for his existence.

Julien could feel his sense of self and humanity collapsing. Clinging to the last thread of reason, he forced out his words.

“Arterion, you said you were going to save the world, didn’t you?”

“Yes! I saved the world! We dragons fulfilled the wish of our kind!”

“It’s not over yet. I’m still here.”

“You’ll be extinguished here as well!”

Having barely suppressed the darkness rampaging within him, Arterion released his mana.

Rumble...

Dozens of lightning bolts rained down from the black sky, striking Julien.

But Julien didn’t budge. He had already burned away everything within himself.

Continuing to drive the remaining darkness into Arterion, Julien spoke.

“I’ll return. I’ll come back, destroy the world, and save Deneb.”

Julien’s body began to disintegrate faster. Amidst the scattering darkness, he continued.

“Before I return, you’ll end up burning the world down yourself.

The very world you so desperately wanted to protect.”

Arterion shouted, trying to shake off the darkness invading his mind.

“Do you think everything will go as you planned?!”

He understood the enemy’s true intent.

Julien was now allowing himself to be consumed by the darkness, turning himself into an enemy of the world—a dragon of destruction.

But such a trick could never work on someone like him, the Dragon Lord. He was the supreme being who possessed the Heart of Creation.

As long as he had the Heart of Creation, he believed he could never be tainted by darkness.

With that confidence, Arterion gathered his energy. Only then did he realize something was wrong.

“You bastard... my heart...”

The force surrounding his Dragon Heart had been shattered.

That formless energy, passed down solely to the Lord, was the Heart of Creation itself. Yet Julien’s sword had pierced it precisely and destroyed it.

This had never happened before. Because of that, Arterion couldn't be sure if the Heart of Creation would recover.

Left with no other choice, Arterion had to expel the darkness using only his own power.

As he struggled in this contest of strength with the darkness, Julien spoke again.

“Don’t forget. I will return, no matter what. Until that day comes, I’ll entrust part of my power to you. And when you feel that I’ve returned...”

Julien’s chilling whisper echoed in Arterion’s ear.

“...come and find me.”

With those final words, Julien’s body completely disintegrated.

As his form vanished into dust, he quietly murmured,

“Ghislain...”

And all the others... his friends...

“...I’m sorry.”

These were the final words he could leave behind as a human.

What followed was an unbelievable sight.

The scattered darkness began to reverse, as though flowing backward.

Like a black tide being drawn upward, the darkness formed a vortex with irresistible force.

Kuuoooooo...

The vortex grew larger and larger, then suddenly erupted skyward as if tearing through the heavens.

Moments later, the swirling darkness vanished beyond the sky without leaving a trace.

As if it had never existed there to begin with.

“Graaagh!”

Arterion let out a piercing scream, his eyes bleeding.

The darkness Julien had left behind rampaged violently within him.

To suppress it, Arterion had to wring out every last bit of his strength.

But the darkness that Julien had poured into him—burned with all his remaining power—refused to fade easily.

“Lord!”

The dragons rushed over and poured their mana into Arterion.

Though they had also suffered from Julien’s darkness, it wasn’t to the point of being uncontrollable.

In contrast, the darkness corrupting Arterion was a contamination of another magnitude entirely.

The energy surging through his veins radiated such malevolence it was horrifying.

Sensing the severity of the situation, the dragons hurried to assist Arterion.

“Grrrhh...”

Only after a long and arduous struggle did the darkness gnawing at Arterion finally begin to subside.

But to eliminate it completely would clearly take a very long time.

Arterion ground his teeth, eyes filled with killing intent.

“Julien... you truly...”

He could feel it. Julien had not truly been extinguished.

He had not only absorbed the darkness into himself, but scattered it across the world as well.

That darkness had escaped before the seal was complete. Which meant it would certainly reappear.

With difficulty, Arterion spread his wings and spoke.

“The seal was successful. But the remnants of the Adversary remain in the world. This cannot be called a complete victory.”

Another dragon responded.

“The Adversary has been annihilated. That was surely his final attack before death.”

“No. Before he died, he scattered the energy of the Demon God throughout the world.”

“Are you saying he might come back to life?”

“Yes. But perhaps not in a form we expect.”

“What do you mean?”

“Even if the Demonic Abyss is sealed, the Demon God’s energy he scattered across the world still remains. That energy could give birth to a new Adversary.”

Looking up at the dark energy gathering in the sky, Arterion continued.

“They say the souls of those who serve the Demon God are forever trapped in this world, suffering eternally. Perhaps he could use that to be reborn. We must not overlook any possibility.”

The dragons found it hard to believe. Even with the wisdom they had accumulated over ages, it was a difficult truth to accept.

But it was Arterion who had fought the Adversary to the very end. If he sensed something, it could not be ignored.

As Arterion rose into the sky, he spoke.

“There is no need to worry. With the seal in place, we only need to eliminate him when he returns. For now, we must recover our strength before the Adversary is reborn.”

“When will that be?”

“I don’t know. But in some way, he will surely break the seal and return. So cast out the darkness within you and enter hibernation. Leave the task of watching the world to the dragons who took part in the pursuit.”

“Understood.”

“I will recover the Heart of Creation nearby and return to my lair.”

Arterion was barely suppressing the darkness. Even making the journey back to the snowstorm-ridden lands would be too much.

So for now, he intended to go to the lair of a dragon who had perished in this war and expel the darkness first.

Once Arterion departed, the other dragons also ascended into the sky.

Though not as badly off as Arterion, none of them were in good condition.

They, too, needed to return to their lairs and focus on recovery.

Now that the seal was complete, there was no more reason to remain here.

Whooooooo...

In the city now left behind, only a dreadful darkness continued to gather and swirl.

Only the statue of Deneb, standing in the center of the city, radiated a bright light.

A short while later, Ghislain returned to the site and looked toward the altar with weary eyes.

“Deneb...”

Thanks to the divine power Deneb had released at the end, Ghislain’s body had recovered—if only slightly.

He had rushed back before even tending to his injuries, but he was already too late.

His heart was filled with deep emptiness.

‘I couldn’t stop it.’

In the end, he couldn’t prevent Deneb’s sacrifice. In the end, Julien became the Adversary.

‘Why... Why did I even come to the past?’

Was it just to witness this truth?

Was that the only reason he had been called to the past?

Ghislain silently stared at Deneb’s statue.

Tiny fragments of light slowly circled around it.

One of them quietly trembled and drifted toward Ghislain.

‘This is...’

Without thinking, Ghislain reached out his hand.

The moment his fingertips touched the light—

Ziiing—!

Resonance began again with something.

The situation was too urgent for him to even question it.

And after that resonance, part of the memories he held had changed.

— I wonder if it helped you. I heard it definitely would.

— I hope it helped you.

— I don’t know you well. But I’ve heard a lot about you from my mage friend.

— Don’t be surprised. I’m your friend from a far-distant past.

— This will be confusing, but don’t doubt it. You have to trust us. There’s not much time left.

Deneb’s words he had heard in the dream had subtly changed.

And not only that—the scenes he had seen in those dreams had changed too.

They were no longer from the first dream, but scenes of war seen through Astion’s eyes.

In the altered dream, Ilaniel was still alive.

Because she lived, Ereneth was fighting alongside Julien’s mercenary corps.

‘What is this...’

Ghislain was shaken.

Why were his memories tangled like this?

To be precise, they hadn’t replaced each other. Two different memories were coexisting at the same time.

Just as the Ereneth of the future recalled new memories from the past, so too had new memories of the future settled into Ghislain’s past.

The light resonated with his consciousness, as if to reassure him not to be confused, and showed him a new vision.

Paaaaah...

It was the future that Deneb had seen.

From the time they had spent together, all the way to an unfathomably distant instant in the future, too far to reach.

Wandering through countless possibilities, she had found the one and only hope.

A being capable of breaking the darkness that sought to destroy the Source of the world.

The sole variable, who would bridge past and future, ripple through time, and carve out a new path.

Only then did Ghislain finally understand.

What Deneb had wished for.

What method Deneb had found.

And who she had been waiting for at the end of every step of her journey.

“Deneb.”

At Ghislain’s call, the light trembled.

The altar’s light scattered into tiny motes that circled around Ghislain.

The small beads of light whispered into his ear one by one.

― Ghislain, now everything must flow as it should.

“Flow as it should...”

― I finally understood. What the Adversary meant by fate.

― This is the path that leads to the future you are in.

― This is the past that completes the future you are in.

― Therefore this is an unavoidable destiny.

― But do not worry.

― Your future was not fixed.

― Your future could be changed.

― Because I believed in you, I could accept this fate with a smile.

― Maybe this is not the first time.

― The only hope found after countless attempts.

― That might be you.

In the heart of a world stained by darkness, a cluster of light enveloped Ghislain.

With a face touched by sorrow, Ghislain stroked those lights. His voice was choked and no words came out.

What could he possibly say to her, who had been trapped alone in darkness for a thousand years?

The light gradually dimmed. The voices that had whispered past his ears drifted away with it.

― So please, do not forget.

― Only you...

The particles of light blurred and began to disperse.

From that faint radiance, Deneb’s final voice whispered.

― ...you can save us.

Like flower petals carried on the wind, the fragments of light floated lightly and scattered into the night sky.

Ghislain kept his eyes fixed on that scene as if to carve it into his memory.

Then, quietly but more resolutely than ever, he spoke.

“...I will not forget.”

The particles of light trembled faintly, then seeped into the darkness and vanished.

Ghislain stared at his hands for a long moment.

The warmth of light that had passed through his fingertips no longer remained, but as if unwilling to lose the warmth that had definitely been conveyed, he seemed to press the memory of the vanished light tightly into his palm.

He slowly curled his fingers.

Rumble...

The darkness gathering toward the sky grew ever denser with time. The darkness piling on the ground grew ever heavier.

Lionel wiped his tears and looked at Deneb’s statue, then said, “...let’s get out of here. We cannot stay here.”

All the darkness of the Demonic Abyss was gathering toward the city. If they lingered, they might be swallowed by the darkness and unable to escape.

Ghislain nodded.

Then he gripped Gramdyr tightly and asked, “Lionel, can you still fight a little longer?”

“Yes. Even if we cannot, we must try.”

“Then... in accordance with destiny, let’s kill the ones that must be killed first, and think afterwards.”

Ghislain slowly turned his head.

Far off, he could see the Holy Empire’s people with vacant expressions. He twisted his mouth as he looked at them.

“In my future, the Holy Empire does not exist as fate intends.”

A fierce killing intent began to flow from his eyes.