Beloa watched the Lord of Shadow Dragons disappear with a swish, his expression a mix of confusion and disbelief. Despite the dazzling spectacle, the goddess hadn’t truly gone far; she had merely released her physical manifestation.
[Oh, what a pity.]
The goddess shrugged, perched on Beloa’s shoulder.
[The sun has risen. The sky truly is merciless. How could the materialization fade at such a perfect moment?]
A smile was plastered across the goddess’s face, clearly intentional. Beloa had caught on to her slowing speech just before she vanished, which made his brow furrow.
“Uh, Goddess, really…”
[Isn’t this the wrong time for you to worry about me?]
As the goddess pointed out, that was true.
The moment Beloa focused on the goddess resting on his shoulder, Chloe’s eyes glinted sharper under the sunlight.
“Beloa.”
Tap, tap.
With an eerie sound, Chloe approached Beloa, grabbing his wrist tightly and leaning in close.
“Follow me.”
Beloa, who had faced countless crises since childhood, felt his intuition scream a warning. Every word from now on needed extra caution.
‘This is maddening…’
He barely stifled a sigh.
2.
“So they said, your goddess is her?”
“Uh, the Lord of Shadow Dragons.”
“So that’s the one you mentioned before.”
Fortunately, clarification wasn’t too difficult.
Beloa had often been treated as insane for talking to thin air. Thanks to Rania claiming that Raniel was real, he had somewhat alleviated such suspicions, but still…
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Chloe nodded without reservations, trusting Beloa, likely due to his past actions.
“So then…”
“Then, Beloa.”
But of course.
“365 days, 24 hours, living with that goddess? Even now?”
One explanation wouldn’t wrap things up so neatly. Faced with Chloe across the table, Beloa felt cold sweat trickle down his spine.
[Oh, that dessert looks delicious.]
Meanwhile, the goddess perched on his shoulder eyed the dessert in Chloe’s quarters, and Beloa decided to ignore her longing voice for the moment.
“It’s not like I’m with her all the time; she pops up unexpectedly. Maybe half a day…”
“Mm, I see.”
Chloe still maintained her smile.
Just a smile.
That smile felt particularly chilling to Beloa.
“Uhm… Chloe?”
“Yeah, Beloa?”
“Are you… mad?”
Chloe’s shoulder twitched.
“Ah… No? I’m not mad!”
Definitely mad. It was a blatant lie.
Staring at Chloe, who couldn’t hide her feelings, Beloa let out a short sigh.
“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but at least it’s not like that. Really.”
“You, you know what I’m thinking…”
“Would I dare harbor personal feelings for a goddess who’s lived for thousands of years? Not even a speck of it.”
The goddess on his shoulder clicked her tongue.
[Am I really so unattractive? How sad.]
Please keep that to yourself.
Beloa thought as he continued, “In any case, don’t worry. She’s just the deity I serve, nothing more, nothing less. I’m grateful for her lending me her powers.”
“R-really?”
Chloe’s expression visibly softened.
Then, as if she realized something, her eyes darted around quickly.
“W-well, whatever relationship you have with the goddess doesn’t concern me, but! I was just curious, that’s all that matters!”
“Sure, sure.”
Beloa forced a smile, brushing off Chloe’s words. The crisis seemed to lighten, but that chilling gaze from Chloe lingered in his mind.
‘… Come to think of it.’
The goddess mentioned.
If she weren’t around, Chloe would fall apart. Beloa squinted, eyeing the Chloe sitting across who was avoiding his gaze. Where was that confidence from earlier?
In her gaze, Beloa sensed something.
Obsession, or perhaps dependency.
Whether to rejoice or recoil from such feelings, Beloa wasn’t sure yet. He only mulled over the goddess’s warning.
‘If I disappear, she’ll break…’
The future the goddess saw.
「That girl has been heavily influenced by Galahal.」
「She’s in a precarious state.」
「So stay close to her.」
And just recently, Hero Destel had hinted to Beloa. As these thoughts resurfaced, a dryness filled his throat, prompting Beloa to take a sip from his cup.
“Chloe.”
“Mm-hm.”
“How have you been lately?”
“Lately? What do you mean?”
“About the knights dying. You were tossing and turning all night. Is it any better now?”
“… Yeah, it’s okay.”
Chloe glanced down as she answered. Beloa knew those words were a lie. She was still deeply affected by the death around her, repeatedly pushing herself to respond to those sacrifices.
‘Like Professor Rania…’
Just before setting off, three years ago, Rania had told Beloa that Chloe resembled her. That his role was crucial.
「Even if she seems fine on the outside, she can fall apart in an instant. Keep asking, keep checking. Chloe’s going to struggle even more than I did.」
The death of Galahal.
That still haunted Chloe. As Beloa wore a serious expression, Chloe, who had lowered her head, muttered in a small voice.
“Hey, Beloa.”
“Uh, what is it?”
“Don’t leave me behind.”
Beloa paused.
After a brief silence, he finally responded.
“Where would I go without you?”
“… You will, won’t you?”
“No, I won’t. Even if you tell me to go, I won’t. Got it?”
Seeing Chloe smile at last made Beloa swallow hard. The goddess of shadow dragons whispered in his ear.
[Be careful.]
She didn’t elaborate. Beloa nodded in response.
3.
The hastily assembled barracks.
As Rania shuffled through the documents salvaged from the messy quarters, she anxiously tapped the table with her fingers.
“Damn it.”
A curse escaped her lips.
As the Hero, Rania van Trias, she had trained herself to reduce her swearing in front of others. Yet, in this moment, she couldn’t contain it.
‘Just what is that guy planning?’
Not long ago, the Mage of Ancient Dragons had come to visit her.
Rania ruminated over the threats he had issued, showcasing all his powers and warning her not to cross the line.
… Did he notice something?
No, it couldn’t be.
If he had noticed, he wouldn’t have stopped at just a warning. Rania drummed her fingers on the crystal ball on the table. The signal was quickly established, and a voice emerged.
[What’s going on, senpai?]
The owner of the Ashen Tower, Resti Elenoa.
Rania responded briefly to Resti’s inquiry.
“I contacted you to check on the project with the Deloheim Church to see how far it’s progressed.”
[We’ve reached the ‘opening’ stage, though it’s tiny. The next step lies with the output and stabilization, so it might take time.]
“How about any leaks?”
[Since it’s a project involving a very small number of people, security is tight. As you advised, we haven’t formed a confidentiality contract via ‘transaction with the star’.]
Resti was quick-witted.
From the moment she received the outline of this project, she understood what Rania was up to. Despite understanding, Resti had agreed to participate in her plans.
[Though it might take time, it’s going smoothly.]
“That’s… fortunate.”
Rania tapped her fingers on the table.
The project hadn’t leaked.
But why did the Mage of Ancient Dragons come and issue a warning? It couldn’t merely be because he saw the path of the ‘Goddess of Ashes.’
“Resti, about that theory I mentioned before, the distortion of flow and self-recovery…”
[The theory regarding the time axis?]
“Yeah, that one.”
What do you think of it?
Rania posed the question, and after a brief silence, Resti spoke.
[I think there’s a possibility. If you didn’t sever the flow completely but twisted and changed the future…]
Resti added.
[The shape that’s trying to return to its original state… I believe the possibility of recovery you mentioned is high. I can’t read the flow just yet, but mana tends to take those forms too.]
It was as she said.
What composed the world was mana, and the flow had a similar shape to it. Furthermore, mana had a strong tendency to progress in the direction it was originally meant to head.
It would tangle, twist, and become mixed, but…
The principle to return to its original direction remained persistent.
If so, wouldn’t the flow of time behave similarly?
Wouldn’t it try to revert to the future that was supposed to happen? Rania held onto that idea, and Resti affirmed its possibility.
“………”
Most futures were changed due to Rania’s interference and were still twisting. She had controlled everything that needed to happen.
‘But…’
The unease still lingered.
The flow in cases like Kyle, which experienced severe distortion, wouldn’t recover, but… there were many other things that were still uncertain.
“Resti.”
Rania spoke calmly.
“You said we succeeded in opening it, right?”
[Yes.]
“I shared earlier about the incident in the North, and I feel like we need to implement it as soon as possible.”
[The risks are too high! The knights on the battlefield won’t be able to withstand it. Even trained superhumans can’t guarantee their survival. The chances of death are high…!]
“Only I’ll be using it.”
[………]
“Create a prototype. There’s no need to open it broadly at this stage. It just needs to be big enough for one person to fit through. That’s doable instantly, right?”
[It’s possible but…!]
“It’s a necessary task. Please.”
Resti finally yielded, acknowledging the request. Staring at the dim crystal ball, Rania let out a long sigh and leaned back in her chair.
So many things to think about.
Should she move forward, or could she keep progressing with her usual aim? It was no longer just a matter of looking ahead. More had to be observed. Despite doing her utmost to not overlook anything…
‘Ultimately, I won’t be able to protect everything.’
Someone would be sacrificed.
Someone would blame her.
Yet, Rania chose this path. To choose a different route from the one that came from the future. Rania pressed at her aching temples.
“Phew…”
She really needed to clear her head.
Rania pressed a finger on the red magical artifact on the table. How much time had passed when Knight Tephran entered Rania’s quarters?
“Did you call for me, Hero?”
Tephran, who arrived at the barracks, carried a newspaper in one hand and coffee with a tray of desserts in the other. Skillfully, he laid everything on the table before bowing and taking his leave.
『The Great Hero, Rania van Trias.』
The headline of the newspaper caught her eye.
Rania repeated the line in her mind as she took a sip of her coffee. Her eyes widened in surprise as she chewed on the dessert. She put down what she’d been chewing and checked the logo on the packaging, clicking her tongue.
“That Tephran…”
He sure knew how to get things done.
How did he manage to bring this limited edition dessert from the shop she had been watching all the way to the battlefield?
Sip.
Savoring the flavor of coffee made her feel a little luxurious thanks to her capable subordinate. It was one of her few indulgences.
*
“Master of the Tower.”
“Speak.”
“Is this really operable? It could fall apart with just one use. Besides, there’s no one who can operate it, right?”
That opinion held merit.
Even Resti thought so. No human could withstand the backlash when this artifact activated. They would be torn apart by the distortion.
“That’s true.”
Resti assembled the artifact.
A cube-shaped artifact the size of a hand rolled across her palm as she mumbled.
“There’s the notion we discussed. If a hero’s body, which has rapid recovery, and a capability that matches the Master of the Tower exists, it might be possible to control the backlash to some extent.”
“That’s… just a theory, right?”
“That depends on the individual.”
Resti sighed deeply.
“If the person desires it, it’s better to just proceed as such. She wouldn’t listen to anyone trying to talk her out of it.”
Everyone in this place knew who she was referring to. In the end, the mages sighed long but executed the commands they were given.
