Recreating Ruin

Chapter 59

Recreating Ruin.

Oblivion’s ultimate plan to create a true star.

A scaled-down recreation of the ruin activated when the seven stars are inserted into the Tablet of Creation. The immense energy generated would then be focused onto a single point to forge a new star.

Naturally, using seven imitation stars mirroring the real ones.

Replica Wrath.

Replica Lust.

Replica Greed.

Replica Envy.

Replica Sloth.

Replica Gluttony.

Replica Pride.

Though the completion of each individual piece varied wildly, even so, the power contained within was formidable.

The seven imitation stars were inserted into the magic device created by Oblivion.

“At last, the moment has arrived.”

The comrades, survivors of Kaios’ solemn oath, knelt in unison.

For them, it had been a time of endurance, so long it bordered on the mythical.

They had forsaken the era itself to survive annihilation.

Even after awakening, they had drained the lives of the young to withstand the ravages of age.

These elders, clinging to life by consuming the blood of the young, now stirred to achieve their long-held ambition.

“At this very moment, we transcend the divine. We, the creations of these gods, finally surpass our creator!”

The replicas mounted on the magical device glow with light.

Vast energies, once scattered individually, coalesced into a single point, transforming into an even greater power.

The faces of those who watched were illuminated with rapture.

The moment the star was completed, the city would be extinguished.

But for the Oblivion, it was a sublime sacrifice.

No, their sacrifice was an obligation.

For those who embraced the greater good, imposing unilateral sacrifice was only natural.

They had no doubt that history would record them as righteous.

Their actions, they believed, would surely be defended by the descendants forced to bear the burden of their sacrifice.

“Now…!”

There was so little time remaining.

Once the energy gathered at a single point was fully unified and stabilized, it would be over.

At that moment, the city would be consumed, and the star would be complete.

They believed it without question, yet in that instant…

“Huh…?”

“Doesn’t something seem…wrong?”

“The energy that had gathered in one place…”

“…it’s…vanishing?”

Detecting the anomaly, Kaios immediately checked the magical device.

The device, linked to the city’s ‘Dislocation’, was ceasing to function.

“What… what in the world is happening?!”

Magic surged from the enraged Kaios.

Comrades were swept aside by the force, but Kaios paid them no mind, glaring at the magical device.

The connection to the ‘Dislocation’ was weakening, on the verge of being severed completely.

“But… why?!”

Kairos, needing to see the aberration with his own eyes to understand its cause, turned.

[Tap. Tap. Tap.]

A knocking resonated.

While Oblivion’s comrades were still reeling, the door splintered.

Pouring inside were Imperial soldiers, the Knight Order, and the Archduke’s personal guard.

Erwin strode through the space they created, his face betraying a stunned disbelief.

—

I concede it.

I had gravely overestimated these beings called Oblivion.

“I hardly imagined it, but you actually dared to act within the Imperial City.”

As for the *why*, I did have a reasonably plausible theory.

During the World Summit, Karl had warned about discrepancies between the true history and the documented accounts, likely disrupting their fabrication of the false star.

“More than that, I knew you were running short on time.”

Those vile old men sustained themselves by draining the life essence from the young.

Conversely, this meant that if they didn’t, their aging would accelerate to a fatal degree.

I’d even formulated a few hypotheses as to the *reason* for that.

Asero Kerke had to forfeit a significant portion of his self and memories to survive the ancient cataclysm.

He survived by transferring his soul into a homunculus created in his image.

Yet, from my previous observations, I detected no such loss of self or memory in *them*.

Therefore, it’s safer to assume they survived through a method different from Asero Kerke’s.

A method *other* than soul transference to a homunculus.

Rapid aging, a suspected side effect of that method.

Aging is, after all, a consequence of the passage of time.

And so I considered:

How did they survive the world’s end? If not through homunculi like Asero Kerke, then their bodies must be the very same they possessed in ancient times.

A way to survive the cataclysm.

The side effect of aging.

Time.

Taking these elements into consideration, the most probable hypothesis from the synthesis of these three factors, I decided to voice it aloud.

“Perhaps… they severed a span of time, or a dimension, and burrowed within to survive?”

And because of that, a rapid aging process began after their return to the original timeline.

My words made Kaios’s eyes widen as he glared at me.

“What does it matter now? You didn’t come here to tell me that, did you? Was it *you* who stopped the Reincarnation of Ruin? Just how much… where did you even start knowing?”

Frankly, until recently, I only knew, thanks to Karl, that a place where history and records diverged was needed to create a false star.

The reason why Oblivion survived the past era, as Kaios himself said, wasn’t even important right now.

If those fools hadn’t been acting so recklessly within the system, I would still be dedicating my efforts to tracking them down.

“You are fools who didn’t recognize the tiger’s den and rolled right in.”

Everything within the system is within my sight.

No matter how diligently you hide, no matter how secretly you try to do things without anyone knowing, it’s all in vain.

For example, even if you hide in this abandoned shelter beneath the Imperial Palace, unknown even to the Imperial family, trying to perform some kind of ritual, it’s impossible to escape my sight.

I can find it, and I can know it.

Always.

It is only natural, but the Eye of the Sky’s accuracy increases greatly the closer it is to its center.

And the reason I haven’t immediately beheaded those fools, but instead am engaging in conversation…

“Kaios!”

…is to have the Owls and Asero Kerke seize the false star and the magical device it’s mounted on from them.

One of Oblivion’s members, perhaps possessing a special sensory ability, noticed the truth even before Kaios, and called out to him, but it was already too late.

The Owls and Asero Kerke were faster than Kaios’s reaction.

“No!”

Kaios and the members of Oblivion screamed and unleashed magic, but it was blocked by the magic of Asero Kerke, who had been preparing.

In the meantime, the Owls brought the magical device to me.

The more cards we have to play, the better, in preparation for fighting the Oracle later.

I shouldn’t scold the General for saying we couldn’t make a fake star.

“We have what we wanted. Kill them all.”

Following the order, the Imperial Army, the Knights, and the Imperial Guard rushed at Oblivion, swinging their swords.

However, it was as expected, they were not easy opponents.

Each one was an exceptional mage, so despite our overwhelming numbers, an even fight continued.

Hmm. The Imperial Palace is right above us, so the battle shouldn’t drag on.

Knowing the battle’s fallout could reach even here, I’d asked Angela and the Mage Tower to cast a barrier over the entire Imperial Palace, but minimizing any potential risk was still for the best.

“I am fine. Go and fight.”

“Yes.”

The moment the owls that had been guarding me joined the battle, the tide shifted decisively in our favor. Oblivion’s members fell, one by one, their lives snuffed out.

Witnessing this, Caios, covered in blood, roared in my direction.

“Why can’t you see?! With just a little sacrifice, humanity could reach a higher plane!”

What a joke.

Could a plane only reachable through sacrifice even be called a true plane?

“You contributed to the world’s ruin, so fulfill your responsibility and die quietly. That is the last role for old men who failed to shape the era.”

But despite my well-intentioned advice, the greedy old men couldn’t relinquish their desires, not even in their final moments.

“If we must die, then you come with us!”

Extending both arms left and right, Caios drew in the life essence of the remaining Oblivion members.

Soon, he was the only one left. He devoured the life essence ravenously, and then, unleashing an aura so profound even I, who couldn’t sense magic, could feel it, he spoke.

“You must have severed the connection between Asero Kerke and the Magic Engine! But even if you cut it off, the power accumulated until then wouldn’t just evaporate!”

Ah.

He mentioned taking me with him… was he planning on that?

“Using my life as a fuse, I will detonate all the power within! Come, let us go together, you young ones of this era!”

Of course. Suicide was all that was left.

Light erupted from his body.

Francesca’s blade, piercing through the aura emanating from Caios, severed his head, but the exploding light coalesced and shot directly towards the Magic Engine I was holding.

Clutching the Magic Engine tightly, I curled up as much as possible.

The intensely accumulated power detonated in my arms.