Chapter 216: What Does a World on the Verge of Destruction Look Like? (2)
“What do you mean?”
“It means Risel becomes Artshever, and Artshever becomes Risel. Everything they possess becomes equal. But they exist as two separate entities. For example, it’s like having identical twins with the exact same personality and thought process, having lived the exact same life. However, neither of them is Risel, nor Artshever. Yet, this world will recognize both of them as ‘Arisein Herduke.’ Do you understand?”
“It’s confusing. Anyway, I understand that it hasn’t happened yet. Are you saying Artshever is suppressing it?”
“Probably. The reason why there are so many limitations to the techniques he possesses is probably because he’s expending a lot of energy suppressing this Resonance Phenomenon. Superpowers are actually quite taxing on the body, you know. You saw Joey back then, right? Me with a nosebleed, facing off against Referndi. Ah, I wasn’t very graceful then.”
“No, I was inside the building……… Nuna, you were like that?”
“It was unsightly.”
“Ah! Namia made a joke! Wow! Amazing!”
“She……… can make jokes?!”
“Oh! This is a momentous occasion!”
“I need to try harder too.”
“Aila, is that strange feeling Risel has towards Artshever due to the Resonance Phenomenon?”
“Huh? Ah, that contradictory feeling? It’s not the Resonance Phenomenon. It’s an instinctive reaction for self-preservation.”
“Explain it simply.”
“You could call it tribal aversion or self-loathing. When people see someone too similar to themselves, they tend to avoid them. Because they lose their sense of self. In Risel’s case, their appearance is different, but he feels it instinctively.”
“I see. But why did Artshever deliberately change his appearance? His eyes are green too.”
“How would I know? That bastard is a clown, right? Does a clown ever go on stage barefaced? He probably changed his face a little on purpose to tease Risel. But if you look closely, he resembles Risel enough to be his brother. It’s because his eyes are deep green.”
“Hmm, ah, that’s certainly true. Thinking about it that way, they do resemble each other. But did he intentionally change his eye color too?”
“He must have changed it with his superpower. Among the techniques I know, there’s one where your eye color changes if you increase your danger perception, like this.”
“Whoa! Silver! Creepy! It’s like someone who’s fainted with their eyes rolled back!”
“I know, so please don’t describe it so vividly. Anyway, there are individual differences in this color. Some people don’t change at all, and some people change to blue, brown, red, and so on. Why wouldn’t there be green?”
“Isn’t that body your father’s?”
“Yes. Of course, it’s my father’s body. But he says he’s never used that ability in front of me. Would anything dangerous happen while I’m with my family? And I learned superpowers from my uncle. I tend to act spoiled around my dad.”
“Aha! That’s why. So that’s why he’s hitting on Risel? Oh, how pitiful. To have to fulfill his paternal love this way. Do you ever happen to hate Ibi-ssi……… Yikes!”
“I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t make me out to be someone with a strange complex. What do you think?”
“Ah, alright. Alright, put that away.”
As always with idle chatter, the topic naturally shifted to something completely different. When several people gather, it’s difficult to maintain a single topic unless it’s a debate. Especially, it seems like my friends are a bit worse.
Anyway, I recalled my conversation with Brandiego and managed to remember what he said.
“The most useful and useless instinct that remains in a living being until the very end…”……
“Huh? Risel, are you done sleeping?”
“I was thinking.”
“That’s the same thing. But what was that you just said?”
“What Brandiego said about Artshever. He said it was the driving force behind Artshever.”
My words stopped the chatter.
“Hmm, the last instinct remaining in a living being. That’s quite a profound statement. We might need a philosopher.”
Unfortunately, none of us were proficient in philosophy. We had experts in magic, theology, tactics, and combat, but unfortunately, we had no one related to the philosophical study of metaphysics.
Therefore, we had no choice but to become philosophers ourselves. For a while, a contemplative atmosphere settled as we discussed the nature of humanity and the definition of instinct in hushed tones.
Then, Lucy’s eyes lit up.
“I got it!”
“You figured something out?”
The mage, who had been surprisingly insightful today, nodded confidently. Oh!
“It’s libido! Surely, the last thing left for a living being is the urge to reproduce! Besides, that guy is a premature ejaculator! It’s libido! That’s all there is! Mwahahaha! As expected, I’m amazing!”
I sighed deeply and said quietly,
“Al, kill him.”
“Hmm!”
Lucy’s pathetic scream echoed across the table.
Just die there, you damn bastard.
July 14th, 378th Year of the Imperial Calendar.
From today, the Herduke Kingdom’s Imperial Conquest Force will take its first step towards the Imperial Capital.
It’s literally a historic moment. The path to the Imperial Capital has mostly been cleared, and all that remains is to occupy it.
Occupying the central part of the Empire was as easy as picking up a coin found while walking down the road. When three rulers declared their surrender, a flood of surrender declarations followed, requiring us to establish a separate task force to handle them.
Some rulers even sent carts full of weapons before receiving any orders, forcing us to accept their surrender. We had a briefly absurd time with the atmosphere that they would even resort to war if we didn’t accept their surrender.
That’s all in the past now. I’m starting to miss the desk work.
Before departing for the Imperial Capital, the Kingdom Army held a military review. There, I gave a speech.
“Listen, children of Herduke!”
They listened.
“You stand at the very spot where history is being changed! You stand at the very spot where we can build a nation where we, our families, and our loved ones can live with smiles on their faces!”
The eyes of the entire army flashed with firm resolve. They know what they are fighting for.
“From now on, we march towards the Imperial Capital! Where the Emperor resides! Why have we fought so far! Why have we shed blood! Why have we had to swallow our tears at the death of our comrades! Remember! It’s because the Emperor is there!”
I drew my sword and raised it high.
“Let’s go! Let’s go, fight, and win! Let’s raise our flag at the highest point of the Imperial Palace!”
An earth-shattering roar erupted. Although we have a tedious journey ahead with little fighting until we reach the Imperial Capital, the morale that fills our hearts now will not waver.
“Herduke Kingdom Army, advance! Towards the Imperial Capital!”
We are heading to the Imperial Capital.
The entire army, 300,000 strong.
That’s 100,000 less than when we first set out. If we only count the actual fighting force, it’s about 240,000. I expect another 100,000 of them to be sacrificed in the battle for the Imperial Capital.
Through a swift retreat, the Imperial Army managed to preserve a significant portion of its forces. I estimate about 150,000 remain. The actual fighting force is estimated to be around 120,000.
If we clash with those who have no more room to retreat, we must be prepared for a life-or-death struggle.
A fierce battle, unlike anything we’ve experienced so far, will unfold.
To think I’m going to fight the guy who’s trying to destroy the world……… I’m no hero of light who saved the continent.
My current situation is just ridiculous.
At first, I just started this to prevent the war between the Empire and Azot, but after making peace between the Empire and Azot, I ended up leading the Empire’s civil war.
In the end, even though I did it to change history, does it mean the main plot doesn’t change?
It’s not the Empire and Azot, but a war did happen anyway, and the conclusion is set for one of the two groups to completely collapse, and I’m going to have a hell of a time with the post-war process. What’s different from the future in the parallel dimension where I died?
Someone once said that humans are perfect puppets, acting out a script written by history without knowing it. They said it represents how powerless humans are against the grand flow of time.
That’s why my situation is so funny. Hahaha.
Idiot.
That doesn’t make sense.
If you’re moving without knowing the script, how are you a puppet?
If there’s anyone who really thinks they have strings attached to their back of hand, elbow, knee, and head, come out right now. I’ll give you a quick beating in the sense of cutting those strings.
Whether it’s something you did due to external pressure from someone else, or something you do because you love it to death, in the end, it’s all ‘your decision.’
Whatever history is, whatever the trend is, whatever anyone else says, just forget it. If you have time to complain about your decision or laugh at it, whether it was due to external pressure or your own will, just move.
If you really hate something, you have to fight for it and win it by risking your life. Saying it’s beneficial, or that you’ll face disadvantages if you don’t do it, is just an excuse.
Whatever it is, you have to take responsibility for your decisions, right? The stress or meaningless time you experience by moving due to external pressure is your responsibility, and the disadvantages you face by refusing it are also your responsibility.
Now, here’s a question.
Which of the aforementioned two can you accept more pleasantly?
The answer? Do I really need to say it?
I already knew the script. From the moment I died and went back to the past 10 years ago, or to be precise, when I crossed over to the parallel dimension, I already knew how things would unfold.
I changed it.
By a single decision.
Thanks to that Artshever bastard, it was a time that wouldn’t have gone according to plan anyway, but I have no regrets about walking this path so far.
There are things I did wrong and things I thought wrong, but I don’t want to fix them anymore. Because of my mistakes, I was able to learn and become who I am today.
I was able to live my life.
Why didn’t I realize this before I died? It’s truly regrettable. Perhaps it’s because I lived back then without any particular purpose, just going with the flow.
After I died, I always moved proactively.
I did what I wanted to do, and I got what I wanted to get. I shouldered all the burdens that arose from it. Because it was my responsibility, I took responsibility.
This journey to prevent the destruction of the current world (it’s funny to say it like this) is also a path to fulfill my responsibility.
Why is it my responsibility?
Because I learned what Artshever’s objective is.
What is the most useful and useless instinct that remains in a living being until the very end?
It’s the ‘instinct to seek death.’
When an old elephant is about to die, it quietly leaves the herd and wanders around looking for a place to die, leaning its body against a plain wider than its body.
Every living creature possesses this instinct. Simply put, if there’s an instinct to survive, to live, wouldn’t there be an instinct to die, to die?
That guy, who has lived countless lives and is tired of it all, is simply driven by the desire to die.
No, he’s me anyway. He’s me, split from this body where my current soul resides.
In the end, his origin is me.
He is me, who has lived 1,611 lives, and who cannot be anything but me.
It’s something I started, isn’t it? So I have to take responsibility.
Therefore, I know his true feelings, which even he himself may not be aware of.
If he simply wanted to die, he wouldn’t have done this.
I now understand what Brandiego meant. He’s a truly pitiful guy. I understand everything because he’s a reflection of myself.
It’s a perfect understanding.
Only I, who can understand him, am qualified to kill him.
It’s my ‘role,’ something only I can do.
So, let’s go. To the Imperial Capital.
To kill myself.
The Imperial Capital is in sight.
I have returned to the place where everything began and where everything will end. It’s been almost three years since I last saw the Imperial Capital.
It’s bigger than any city I’ve ever seen.
The long and majestic walls were enough to support the history of the Empire up to this point.
It’s taller than any city I’ve ever seen.
Because of the Imperial Palace standing tall in the center of the Imperial Capital, it is taller than anywhere else.
It’s the place where I woke up in my second life, and it became the base of my activities after that.
It’s like my hometown.
“We finally made it this far…”……
The time has come to put an end to this long war.
The time has come to end my fight with myself.
“He’s prepared thoroughly.”
The sight of the Imperial Army proudly arrayed before the Imperial Capital. The tens of thousands of troops covering the plains in black exude an aura that promises no one will escape with their lives intact if they approach.
No, they even seem to be waiting for us to attack.
A smile naturally spreads across my face. If they knew that this war is a fight between me and ‘me,’ how would the expressions of the hundreds of thousands gathered here change?
Ignorance is bliss, and good medicine always tastes bitter.
Now! There’s no time for idle thoughts!
“Entire army! Prepare for charge!”
My command was relayed to the entire army by Kun. At the order of the Grand General standing at the forefront, tension spreads throughout the army. Hearts pound. Breathing becomes ragged.
Hoo— Haa—.
The sound of my own breathing, which I haven’t heard in so long, echoes in my ears.
Come to think of it, didn’t everything start with this breath?
Hoo—.
“Kun, shout it out in the Common Tongue.”
Haa—.
“The beginning of the end has arrived! We have come this far! We have come too far to turn back! We have come down a path that cannot be reversed! Why! Why have we come this far! Why! Have we endured the arduous journey, the battles, the screams, and the cruel times of blood flowing?!”
Silence. I can see everyone’s eyes on me. They were speaking with their eyes.
We know. So please tell us.
I spoke.
“To achieve victory! The right of the victor! To write our own history with our own hands! Listen!”
Besides the victory speech, this is the last thing I have to say to the soldiers in person. At least, this is the last thing I have to say to all of them.
As with all endings in this world, the end signifies a beginning.
Therefore, I declare the end that will be the beginning.
“We will be victorious! Now is the moment when history changes!”
August 1st, 378th Year of the Imperial Calendar.
The Herduke Kingdom and the Anopuri Empire began to create a history that would be both a beginning and an end.
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