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After the First World War, the operations devised in the demon realm over 300 years were undoubtedly successful, but the sheer number of successes turned out to be a problem.

The ultimate plan prepared over 300 years was to completely polymorph into a human at the end point of the Second World War, isolate oneself in space to avoid expulsion due to gate closure, and then create an incomplete gate leading from the middle realm to the demon realm to trigger a Third World War that humans couldn’t prepare for.

This plan had indeed succeeded several times, but it never led to the completion of our invasion.

This was because time kept reversing at the moment the hero decided to give up on the gate.

I hadn’t realized until now that I had an affinity for time magic, but I became aware of it the first time time rewound itself.

I’d heard that demons couldn’t use time magic even if they had an affinity for it, and it turned out that was true.

The reason was that demons lack a sense of valuing memories.

Once I realized I was an aptitude holder of spacetime, various timelines and world lines began to become visible to me, completely changing my perspective on the world.

It was a disorienting feeling, but I had more than enough time to gather information about time magic and see what I could do in this situation.

Someone, I don’t know who, was endlessly rewinding time to allow me to adapt to it.

It didn’t take long for me to realize that a member of the hero party, who also dealt with space, was the one responsible for rewinding time.

Assassinating him wasn’t particularly difficult, but if he died, the memorized regression might trigger automatically.

In this looping time, he doesn’t know that I am watching myself.

Anyway, with time and opportunities being almost infinite, it would be foolish to risk losing this overwhelming advantage of information.

Thus, my choice was to observe him while I remained in the middle realm as a human.

Furthermore, as I became accustomed to observing time, I could understand what had happened in this world just by viewing the timelines without needing to see him directly.

This was probably a trait that a demon like me would have, being unable to traverse time directly.

And no matter what method he was trying to use to target us, I always opened the gate as planned, thoroughly concealing the fact that I knew the future.

After all, this world is one where we win.

It was best to stop him when he eventually found a decisive method after endless regressions.

As expected, no matter what attempts he made in the repeating time, the hero’s body never healed, nor did we suffer defeat.

His regression probably isn’t infinite either.

At some point, he would hit a limit and either give up or take a gamble.

And eventually, he opened the path leading to an endless future.

His choice was the ultimate time magic known as Great Regression.

Through observation, I understood what it was and what he was thinking, leaving me at a crossroads of decision.

One option was to stay in this world and wait for him to return.

This was the most certain method.

Regardless of what he did in another world, I could instantly kill a him who had no memories in the newly starting world.

However, this method had a significant problem.

That is, while he experiences every world and returns, I would have to remain in this land, living an infinite amount of time and experiencing the end and beginning of this world.

No matter how long-lived a demon I was, such a feat would be impossible.

Even elves or dragons, or even gods living longer than demons, would have their minds and existence break under such circumstances.

When I finally circled through this world and reached the starting point, I would literally be reborn from scratch.

Living unaware of his intentions and the fate he had meddled with.

Thus, this wasn’t even a choice.

The only method I could choose was to follow the path he opened while erasing my memories.

As a demon, I couldn’t open the path, but it was possible for me to follow an already opened path.

Of course, since all my memories were worthless, if I were to act in a way akin to time magic, I would lose every single memory.

Fortunately, due to the uniqueness of the Great Regression, I could retain memories equivalent to one human life.

Admittedly, that’s just the memory of one human life, and since he cut the time to bring back as much knowledge as possible about rehabilitation medicine, it would only be about ten years’ worth of memories.

The memories I would retain would naturally be…

“All the memories of the magic I know. I cannot lose even a fraction of my strength.”

This choice is only natural for a demon whose existence relies on their strength.

Though the memories of the spells I learned wouldn’t fit into just ten years, luckily the memories had a connected nature, so if I took just one memory about ‘magic,’ I could bring all magical memories with me.

And to leave the possibility of regaining memories, I learned the spell he left behind, Recover.

Lastly, a suggestion. He placed a bet on the possibility of meeting the hero and treating him.

Thus, as a demon, I needed to plant a suggestion that I too might regain my memories.

So the content of the suggestion I etched into my soul was, “While living as a human, I fully support Hop Harvey.”

This suggestion could hinder his use of Recover, the method to regain memories, and it implies that I might not actually be human.

Finally, I completely transformed my appearance and characteristics into those of a human at the starting point where he began, and learned Recover to finish my preparations.

I would have loved to hide this spellbook or destroy it completely to prevent Hop from learning it, but if I did that, Recover wouldn’t exist in this world anymore, and there was a high chance that this moment would split the world and erase the path Hop opened to the future.

I wonder what form the efforts I am making now will bear fruit in?

Will I open the gate at the set point even after regressing as a human with no memories?

Considering the demon’s essence, and since I wouldn’t age in human form, I might come to the realization that I’m not human and awaken as a demon, eventually opening the gate at some point—even if it wasn’t the predetermined time.

And, well… maybe not~☆

Since I’ll end up living as a human without memories, what do invasions of the middle realm or reasons for existence matter to me?

After all, everything is a gamble full of uncertainties.

Just as I believe that whatever is meant to happen will happen for Hop, I am merely relying on that same belief to carry out my regression.

To grow stronger and to struggle is the reason for a demon’s existence.

As a mage, competing with tactics and luck also falls within the scope of that struggle.

I engage in this because it’s enjoyable and something I want to do.

Now, it’s game on, Hop Harvey.

Let’s see who can recover their memories first and grab the future they desire.

This will be my first and last use of time magic.

Without caring whether worthless memories are erased or not, I, Aurora, throw myself into the endless passage of time for the sake of struggle and joy.

***

Beyond infinite time, the one who regained the memories of a past life first was me.

While working as Hop’s nursing maid and being busy with various matters, I was able to use Recover more than him, and I leveraged the advantage of my partially revived memories to create an even greater gap and find all my memories first.

Having regained my memories, I observed the past and confirmed that Hop had deceived the hero and was trembling with anxiety.

I tried to stir suspicion in the hero and drive a wedge between the two of them to take them down one by one, but…

It seems both attempts failed.

Even worse, due to the Great Regression that Hop Harvey gambled everything on, the hero is entirely healed and has become so strong that he is eagerly trying to find and kill me.

It’s not a great situation, but the moment that will decide this world’s fate has not yet arrived.

Since I regained my memories first, let’s say I’ve won one round, and since I couldn’t kill you, I’ve lost one round too.

At a glance, it seems like Hop Harvey’s gamble has succeeded, but there is still the final victor-deciding match remaining.

Since we’ve done the Great Regression, there probably aren’t any memories left to regress further.

This is the last round.

Now, it’s time to open the gate and see if that number was the right answer for you.

It may be a bit early, but I didn’t want to miss the opportunity of the hero acting alone in despair.