CHAPTER 48

The Reason for Caution

The Great Goddess before me wears a dignified expression. But even then, I decisively say:

“I’m ready!!”

Ishtar nods before placing both hands over the large crystal ball on the table.

“Then please have a look. The truth you seek lies here.”

The crystal ball illuminates as if it is responding to her words. Then a moving image appears as if a movie is playing on a television.

…Three people sit around a table: a girl with dark-brown hair dressed as a priestess, a gentle-looking man in a mage’s robe, and…a familiar-looking beautiful woman wearing a pure-white dress. Her hair is longer than it is now, but there is no doubting it. I instinctively look away from the crystal ball and turn around.

“I-is this…Aria…?”

Aria, who has been quietly watching this entire time, slowly walks over to my side.

“This was me one hundred years ago…in the B-ranked world of Ixphoria…”

“‘Ixphoria’?”

I feel like I’ve heard that name before. Right as I try to rack my brain…

“Ready to go?”

I hear a familiar voice coming from the crystal ball, catching my attention. The three people within the crystal ball appear to be gazing in the direction of the voice as well. Only footsteps can be heard as the fourth person approaches them, but before long, he steps clearly into view. The fourth warrior is a tall man wearing steel armor that accents his shiny black hair and very refined features. Just like with Aria, there is no doubting who this is.

“Seiya…!”

It is none other than the Hero I summoned—Seiya Ryuuguuin.

Aria mutters:

“I summoned Seiya Ryuuguuin to help save Ixphoria.”

Wh-what?! But she has never once mentioned this to me!

The questions spiral in my head. Nevertheless, Seiya continues talking within the crystal ball.

“Let’s go. It’s time to defeat that Chimera.”

Seiya gallantly turns around and starts heading toward the door until the priestess stops him.

“Seiya, wait! We’re still not ready! According to the information I got, the Chimera’s level is still higher than ours! We should train more before we—”

“We don’t have time for that. It would be quicker to just fight it and see for ourselves. Besides, I have a plan.”

“Then tell us what that plan of yours is!”

“The plan is…to do our best. Now, come on.”

“…! Act like an adult! That’s not a plan, you moron! I’m not joking—we should really prepare for this battle before we go!”

The priestess shakes her head, swinging her shoulder-length dark-brown hair as she scolds Seiya. After the tense air in the Chamber of Eternal Stasis slightly relaxes, Aria points at the crystal ball.

“That’s Tiana, the princess of a large country known as Termine and the healer in our group. She joined our party along the way in order to help defeat the Demon Lord.”

The Hero eloquently runs his fingers through his hair. Then, without paying heed to Princess Tiana’s advice, he says:

“Everything’s gonna be okay.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?! …S-Seiya, wait!”

The Hero leaves the room, refusing to listen and leaving Princess Tiana behind with no idea what to do with her anger. However, the mage in the robe smiles.

“Ha-ha. He never changes.”

“Colt?! This isn’t a laughing matter!”

Aria lets out a bitter laugh along with the mage called Colt.

“Everything will be okay, though…just like things have always worked out until now.”

“Aria?! You, too?! You shouldn’t pamper that reckless Hero!”

…The scene changes, and the crystal ball reveals what happened after that. Seiya and his party are facing a giant lion. Hold up. That isn’t a lion. It has wings on its back and a massive snake for a tail. It’s a chimera!

Standing before the beast…

“Colt! Use your wind magic! Now!”

“I-I’ve been bitten! Tiana, heal me! Help!”

“Colt, relax! I’m going to heal you, so stop moving!”

“Tiana, wait! You need to heal Seiya first! He only has two HP left!”

“What?! …Seiya! You have a huge hole in your chest!”

“I’m fine. Strangely enough, it doesn’t hurt. In fact, it feels good…like I’m in a dream.”

“That’s because you’re dying!!”

…This is a mess. It’s the furthest you can get from an easy win. After a narrow victory winning by the skin of their teeth, the Hero fist pumps with his trembling arms.

“See? What did I tell you? We won.”

“Are you blind?! Look how beaten up we are!”

“We still won, though, so what’s the problem?”

“Everything! I mean, look at Colt! He’s missing a leg!”

“Ngh… Tiana… Heal me…!”

“All right. Now let’s go get that golem.”

“…?! Did you not hear what I just said?! Colt! Is missing! A leg!”

We watch the crystal ball in the Chamber of Eternal Stasis with bated breath.

“Is this really Master Seiya?!”

“H-he’s acting like…Rosalie!”

I can’t help but strongly agree with Mash and Elulu. Seiya’s behavior is no different than Rosalie’s. In fact, he’s being even more reckless than her. While we cringe away from the sight, Aria’s lips faintly curl upward as if she is fondly reliving the moment.

“This is how Seiya used to be. He hated leveling up, and he always wanted to keep moving forward. Even then, he was a gifted fighter. Despite being at a lower level than his opponent, he would somehow win without even preparing for the battle. We had a few crises like the Chimera battle, but we continued to pull through until, one day, we suddenly found ourselves not worrying anymore. And before long, we came to relish how carefree our lives had become.”

The crystal ball then begins to show us a brief montage of their battles. A golem, a dragon, a cyclops—they fight numerous powerful enemies, getting hurt along the way, yet every time, they continue moving forward. They are invariably hairbreadth victories, but for some reason, they always look like they are having fun. This Seiya is far different from the overpowered Hero I know. He relies on his allies, struggles, and barely wins, but they always share the joy of victory together. I’m sure everyone believed in Seiya, and he believed in them.

“We continued in this fashion up until the fight against the Demon Lord.”

As Aria utters those words, the scenery within the crystal ball changes.

It appears to be night. Only Seiya and Tiana sit around the bonfire as they talk.

“Seiya, we’re finally here. All that’s left is the Demon Lord.”

“We head out at dawn, so get some rest.”

“I’m a little anxious. I can’t sleep. Hey…are you sure you don’t want to go to Sage Village?”

“I’m positive. I already have a weapon to defeat the Demon Lord. There’s no reason for us to head all the way over to such a remote village.”

“But Aria said we could find information on the Demon Lord there…”

“Tiana, I want to defeat the Demon Lord as soon as possible.”

The stubborn Hero causes Princess Tiana to let out a deep sigh. She then smiles as if she has given up.

“Seiya, you haven’t changed since the day we met. You never train or prepare for anything.”

Her expression grows slightly serious.

“Can you at least tell me why you’re always in such a hurry? That’s all I want to know.”

“I’ve already told you. I don’t have a reason.”

“Ugh! Don’t give me that! Tomorrow’s the last day of our journey, you know. So please…! Pretty please?”

A brief moment of silence passes before Seiya mutters in a subdued voice:

“The longer it takes us to get there—the longer the Demon Lord lives, and the longer the people of this world suffer. That’s why I have to keep moving forward.”

Seiya scratches his head as if he’s somewhat embarrassed.

“Oh… So that’s why…”

Princess Tiana places her hand over Seiya’s. Then Seiya intertwines his fingers with hers, and they clasp hands tightly.

“Tiana, we were only able to come this far because of your healing magic. I’m sorry for always pushing you so hard.”

“I-it’s fine. We’ll get through it just like we always do. So…say it. Say what you always say. It helps me relax.”

Gazing up at the sea of stars, Seiya says:

“Everything’s gonna be okay.”

Princess Tiana smiles.

…The scene changes once more. Great Goddess Ishtar stares at the crystal ball. Then, in a serious tone, she mentions:

“This is their battle against the Demon Lord of Ixphoria.”

The new image within the crystal ball shows the Hero’s party riddled with wounds. Battered and exhausted, Seiya’s party surrounds a towering, hideous monster with green skin, a long, torn mouth with fangs peeking out, and a total of eight arms and legs. It’s as if the beast threw away its dignity as the Demon Lord to become a monster whose sole reason for existing was slaughtering the Hero in the most violent way imaginable. This must be its final form. Just like Seiya and his party, the Demon Lord is in bad shape. Purple liquid streams from various parts of its body. With his very last ounce of strength, Seiya holds his sword aloft. A brilliant light radiates from the holy blade as if it is responding to his emotions. Seiya swings the sword with all his might, immediately severing the Demon Lord’s colossal upper body from the waist down. A final roar of agony echoes throughout the Demon Lord’s castle, followed by the cheers of the party. Aria rushes over to Seiya.

“Seiya! You did it!”

“A-are you sure? Is it really dead?”

Princess Tiana is worried, but…

“I checked with Scan! The Demon Lord has zero HP left! You defeated him!”

The princess seems so relieved to hear those words that she listlessly sinks to the floor. Standing by her side, Seiya boasts:

“See? I told you everything was gonna be okay.”

“Does this look okay to you?! To say we won by the skin of our teeth would be the understatement of the century!”

Everyone is in high spirits, despite being utterly exhausted. Even the mage Colt is laughing in amusement. However…something red suddenly shoots out of Colt’s mouth.

“Huh…?”

Copious amounts of blood trail from his mouth. Not even Colt can make sense of what happened.

…Although only half a body, the Demon Lord’s sharp tongue is sticking out of its mouth, piercing Colt’s chest like a sword. Princess Tiana screams at the sight of the sudden tragedy.

“Colt?!”

Like a reptilian tongue wrapping around its prey, the Demon Lord reels Colt in in the blink of an eye, and he disappears into its massive maw. The Demon Lord’s lower body instantly regenerates as if it used the body as nourishment. Aria’s face drains of all color as she trembles.

“Th-this can’t be happening! I checked! The Demon Lord’s HP was at zero! He was dead!”

After regaining its strength, the Demon Lord swiftly springs out before Aria, then snatches her up in its four hands before laughing in triumph.

“I have two lives. I lost one, but the other is still going strong!”

“Wh-what…?! S-Seiya… Tiana… Run! We can’t wi—”

But Aria’s warning is cut short. The Demon Lord swallows her as well.

“Heh-heh-heh-heh! Now I can completely regenerate thanks to their nourishment!”

Propping himself up with his sword, Seiya somehow manages to stagger to his feet, but his fatigued legs won’t stop quivering.

“Tiana…can you still use your healing magic…?”

“S-sorry, Seiya… I’m out of MP…”

As tears begin welling up in the apologetic eyes of the once-headstrong princess, Seiya places a hand on her head.

“You have nothing to apologize about. It’s my fault for not coming prepared.”

And just like that, Seiya shoves Princess Tiana far away.

“Tiana, run.”

He takes a step forward as if to protect the princess, but the Demon Lord passes right by Seiya and goes after her.

“I won’t let you escape! I’m going to kill this woman first!”

“Stop…”

Seiya tries to rush over to Princess Tiana, but he no longer has any control over his body. He pitifully collapses, able to do nothing but watch the Demon Lord. The monster slowly approaches the trembling princess, then fixes its eyes on her stomach.

“Oh-ho…? Though faint, I can sense a tiny spark of life growing within this woman’s belly…”

Even Seiya, who almost always remains calm, begins trembling. The Demon Lord slowly rotates its hideous head in Seiya’s direction.

“I see! So she’s carrying your child!”

Sensing Seiya’s fear, the Demon Lord sneers.

“I’m going to rip that child from her stomach and devour it right in front of you! This mother and her child will become the first two sacrifices of my new world!”

“Stop… I beg of you…”

The vision in the crystal ball suddenly cuts off.

“…I believe that’s enough.”

It all happens so suddenly that I find myself baffled at first, but I almost immediately understand why Ishtar doesn’t show us what happened next…because to my side is Aria, sobbing inconsolably.

“It wasn’t Seiya’s fault! It was all my fault! If I had sent Seiya to Sage Village to learn the secrets of the Demon Lord, then none of this…! This was my responsibility as his goddess!”

The moment she bursts into a fit of crying, I suddenly remember. Out of the three hundred worlds Aria saved, there was one that she couldn’t— It was Ixphoria! Oh…! It all makes sense! Seiya’s friends were killed along with the woman he loved and his unborn child…! This traumatic event must be the reason Seiya became so overly cautious!

I calmly try to analyze the situation in my head, but…

“R-Rista.”

“Ristie…?”

“…Huh?”

I don’t notice until Mash and Elulu call my name. Hot tears are streaming down my cheeks without end.

“Sniffle… Mn…! Ngh…!”

The tears won’t stop. I can’t breathe. My chest feels like it’s being torn apart.

Why? Why am I feeling this way?!

“…Did the memories of your soul awaken?” Ishtar asks with a solemn tone.

“Ristarte… You are the Princess Tiana that Seiya Ryuuguuin couldn’t save. That was you before you were reincarnated as a goddess.”

Th-that princess…was me…? I used to be…a human…? Th-that can’t be…!

The Great Goddess continues as if she knows that I won’t be able to believe it.

“When you jumped to conclusions and thought that Valkyrie and Seiya were sleeping together, you were furious, weren’t you? That’s because a faint memory of your love for him is still lingering in your soul.”

“Ah…!”

Those words leave me speechless. The sadness, anger, and frustration I felt deep within my heart that day supports the claim that Seiya and I were in love in a past life.

“Thanks to a combination of Aria’s fervent desire and Princess Tiana’s virtuous conduct, you were able to be reborn as a goddess after death.”

Ishtar continues as I stand there in shock.

“A hundred years have passed for you in the unified spirit world where the flow of time is slow. However, only a year has passed for Seiya Ryuuguuin… It wasn’t a coincidence that you chose him to save Gaeabrande with you. The two of you were reunited by fate. Of course, Seiya Ryuuguuin doesn’t remember his past, either. Not remembering Aria is proof of that. But even then, the regret of not being able to save his loved ones has been carved into his very soul. And he expressed that with a certain word after you summoned him.”

“‘A certain word’…?”

“Do you remember when he said ‘properties’ soon after you met’?”

I remember. I was trying to get him interested, so I tried to get him to check his “status”…but he said “properties” instead.

“This is what he saw then.”

I choke up when I see the image within the crystal ball.

“Th-this is…! But…?!”

“He’s smart. He was able to accurately grasp the situation he was in simply by seeing what was written here. He understood he was summoned once before and failed.”

Unable to contain myself any longer, I start creating a gate to Gaeabrande when Aria yells:

“Rista?! What are you doing?!”

“What do you think?! I’m going to find Seiya!”

“Rista, wait! Don’t go! I don’t want to lose you again!”

Aria grabs my arm and tries to stop me. I hold her hand.

“Aria, thank you so much for everything you’ve done. But I have to go. Seiya means too much to me. I can’t let him go alone.”

“Rista…”

Ishtar faces me with a solemn look on her face.

“Nobody would blame you for backing out now that the Demon Lord has the Chain Destruction. If anything, I recommend that you turn back. I am sure that is what Seiya Ryuuguuin would want as well. Even then, you still wish to go?”

“I’m going! Of course I’m going!”

“…Then it appears there is no use in trying to stop you.”

I quietly nod, then start to cast a spell to specify a destination in Gaeabrande. Seiya—that overly cautious Hero—must have known we would eventually figure out his plan, and he likely took that into consideration before heading off to the Demon Lord’s castle! So there’s no way we’d make it in time if we created a gate around the castle itself!

Ishtar quietly speaks up as if she knows what I am thinking.

“You are planning on creating a gate in the deepest lair of the Demon Lord’s castle where the final battle will take place? I believe that extends beyond the realm of support as a goddess.”

“I don’t care! I’m ready to take whatever punishment awaits me!”

I start walking through the gate when somebody suddenly grabs me by the arm. When I glance back, I see Mash and Elulu looking grim.

“Mash, Elulu, there’s no reason for you two to die as well. If you want to return to Gaeabrande, then have Great Goddess Ishtar send you somewhere safe, okay?”

Mash vigorously shakes his head.

“I want you to think back to what you just said to Ishtar, because that’s how we feel, too! Of course we’re going with you!”

Elulu nods deeply as the tears well up in her eyes.

“Seiya saved both our lives, so if his life is in danger…then we have to go save him!”

There are no words I can say to them as I gaze into their innocent eyes. After all, they feel the same way I do right now…

I quietly nod, agreeing to take them along. But the moment I place a hand on the gate, Ishtar speaks to me from behind.

“The Demon Lord is using Area Chain Destruction. The magic force it creates makes it impossible for me to see into the future. Therefore, I have no idea what is going to happen after you go through that gate.”

Her voice sounds scratchy at the end, so I turn around to find her staring at me with a deeply troubled expression.

“Ristarte, be careful.”

“Thank you.”

After deeply bowing my head, I walk through the gate.

I’m coming, Seiya. I know I won’t be much help even if I’m there, but regardless, I’ll be there for you. I won’t let you die alone.

For just a brief moment, as I pass through the gate’s dimensional vortex, I think back to the message Seiya saw after saying “properties.”

“Be careful. Be cautious. Be overly cautious. You may find yourself alienated or hated, but you have to endure it all. This time, for sure, you’ll prove that you can save your friends, your loved ones, and the entire world.”