Chapter 15: Past, Maybe Future Memories (3)

The moment of chaos began when he struck Ian’s neck.

Streams of blood gushed out relentlessly from Ian’s body. 

The blood writhed as though it were alive.

“Damn it, some divine blood nonsense,” muttered Theonar, frowning at the sight.

But before his muttering ended-

Splish! Splatter!

The wildly bouncing droplets of blood slowly turned black.

They began to rise around Ian’s corpse like a mirage.

Eventually, the haze began to take shape, transforming into various forms.

It turned into strange symbols, forming bizarre patterns one after another.

Some patterns repeated, while others combined to create new ones.

It looked almost like-

“Are those… letters?”

The chaotic symbols resembled hastily scribbled writing.

The dancing forms suddenly-

Thunk.

Stopped in their tracks.

And then, they began to be absorbed into his body at incredible speed.

“Ugh…”

During the process, his body swelled like a balloon and then hardened like stone, twisting beyond recognition, no longer resembling a human.

“Gah…. Argh…”

His screams of excruciating pain and the blood tears streaming from his eyes were enough to turn my stomach.

Having been rendered useless against Ian, I wanted to share his pain, even his sorrow.

But cruelly, no such chance was given to me.

“Haah… Hic… So this… is what it feels like.”

After what felt like an unbearably long time, he stood up.

The ferocity that had once raged like an explosion was gone, but it was clear at a glance-

“This… this is not a power any human should possess.”

The depth and sheer volume of his power were beyond anything allowed to mere humans.

The presence of a demon god was absolute.

Its oppressive aura crushed everything, causing my heart to pound violently, even from afar.

The sky was torn to shreds and collapsed.

The earth split with each step of the demon god.

Even the air grew so heavy that breathing was a struggle. Yet, he fought.

“Theo, please…”

His body, standing before the demon god, looked as fragile as a small boat in the vast ocean, threatened by stormy waves and gales, ready to capsize at any moment.

“Damn, this guy’s tough.”

But even in the face of endless darkness, he did not yield.

“Let’s see who dies first, you or me.”

No, perhaps it should be said that he pushed back instead.

He continued to fight without anyone to aid him, showing no signs of exhaustion even as days passed-two, three four.

When his body could no longer endure, collapsing and recovering repeatedly,

Finally-

“If I fight any longer, I’m going to starve to death. Damn, this is harder than the army.”

The towering, mountain-like demon god crumbled.

The darkness that had blanketed the horizon dissipated.

The land, tainted by demonic energy, regained its original color.

Having achieved the impossible and ascended to the rank of a hero surpassing humanity, he fell-

Thud.

crashing powerlessly to the ground.

“EIQ…!”

I called out to him desperately with a cracked voice, but my cries never reached him.

As the darkness lifted from the world, Venice, restored to divine communication, regained much of its holy power.

With it, we received enough healing to move again, and we immediately ran to him.

“Don’t die, Theo. There are still so many things I want to tell you.”

Clutching my pounding chest, I resolved to finally voice the words I had kept buried.

With a swelling heart, I faced him.

But—

“Wh-who are you? What do you want?”

He didn’t remember us.

It wasn’t just a matter of lost memories.

He spoke to us as if we were complete strangers.

Those words, like daggers, pierced deeply into my heart.

“Stay back… don’t come closer!”

Bloodied and frantic, he scrambled away from us.

Thinking his treatment should come first, Venice approached him.

“What is this…? Why am I… Ah, ah, it hurts—it hurts—it hurts—it hurts—it hurts!”

His mind seemed to have completely collapsed.

“What are you doing, Venice? Hurry and calm him down, treat him first!”

Seeing him rolling his eyes and screaming, I grabbed Venice’s shoulders and urged her.

“I can’t…”

“What do you mean you can’t?”

“I said it’s impossible! The treatment won’t work!”

Venice, trembling uncontrollably, shouted in frustration.

“Please, please, please… Please…”

Even after pouring her divine power into him for nearly an hour,

“Mom… it hurts… I…”

His body showed no signs of recovery.

“Ei…?”

“No, this can’t be happening… it can’t…”

Before long, his body went limp like a severed puppet and stopped convulsing.

“He… he’s really dead? For real?”

He stopped breathing.

“Agh… ah…”

Words failed me.

I cradled his body, howling like a beast.

I berated myself for reminiscing about the past that had slipped away, for dreaming of a future that would never come, and for realizing it all too late.

I prayed desperately for just one more chance.

.

.

.

.

.

Perhaps some god heard my plea.

After the complete annihilation of the demon god, while we were recovering his body and preparing to return to the empire, we witnessed the unthinkable.

“The… the sky.”

The sky, which had been perfectly fine until a moment ago,

Cracked.

Shattered.

It wasn’t a metaphor.

The world was breaking apart like glass struck by a hammer.

Everything in sight warped.

Our vision twisted.

Our senses dulled, and our bodies fragmented.

Yet, there was no pain.

It felt as if we were being sucked somewhere, as if our very souls were being extracted.

When I finally lost consciousness and opened my eyes again—

“Arcane Academy is a historic educational institution of the empire… principal… everyone… support… today…”

I had returned to the past, to the moment where the chance I so desperately wished for lay before me.

***

The moment I realized this was neither a dream nor an illusion,

I bolted out of the auditorium, where the entrance ceremony was in full swing, running until my body threatened to break.

‘He’s here, isn’t he? He has to be.’

Panting heavily, I arrived at the second-year classroom.

—“Did you know? You were in the same class as me.”

…Was that so.

To others.

Oh… sorry.

“Pay more attention. I’ve often helped you with problems you didn’t understand.”

If what he said was true,

If I really had returned to the past,

He should be beyond this door.

Creak, bang!

The door swung open violently.

Was the loud noise drawing attention?

Everyone seated turned to look at me.

And there he was.

‘He’s here… he’s really here…?’

Among them, there was Theonar, stretching his neck like a meerkat and staring blankly at me.

“Do it this way… and if you plug it into the equation, it works.” That’s…

“Theo.”

“Hm?”

“…Nothing. Thanks for explaining.”

I had worried endlessly about how to talk to him.

But after hearing his story, it seemed he’d already been helping me with problems occasionally for a year now.

‘I don’t think things were like this back then…?’

Countless questions filled my head, but that wasn’t important.

What mattered more was spending time with him, laughing and chatting in the present.

‘I’ll protect him this time.’

This time, I won’t let it end in vain.

I won’t forgive anything that threatens him, and I’ll show no mercy to those who aim for his life.

Even if those things haven’t happened yet.

‘I have to eliminate every possibility.’

The first person I went to find was, of course, Ian.

A slim chance.

The possibility that he, too, had returned to the past like me.

But contrary to my concerns—

“Your swordsmanship is too straightforward.”

He didn’t seem to possess memories of the future.

“Don’t slack on your training. That level won’t be enough to protect him.”

Dealing with Ian at this point in time wasn’t difficult.

Even if he’s called a hero, he’s still just a rookie.

Different from me, who remembers everything.

‘I thought about killing him… but I’ll let him be for now.’

Until I found out the exact reason why he betrayed us, I couldn’t kill him recklessly.

***

While enjoying peaceful days and preparing for the future, a problem arose.

“Sigh, this is annoying. Venice, that girl, and Isabel, too…”

“…..” 

I had joined the Mystical Studies Club to spend more time with him.

That club was led by Rozennia, who had been a companion in the past.

However, judging by her tone and demeanor,

“…I wasn’t the only one who came back, was I?”

“Took you long enough to figure that out, you brain-muscle swordsman.”

Rozennia seemed to be in the same situation as me.

And so were the other two women.

‘Wasn’t Ian the one I was supposed to be wary of?’

It seemed I’d have to shift my focus in a different direction.

And it would undoubtedly be a headache.