Let’s Block the Ruined Route in Advance Chapter 102

“A demon, or a human mixed with a demon?”

 

Despite being grabbed by the throat, Lucian showed no sign of choking. Instead, he smiled wickedly, his face full of amusement, and spoke in a slow voice.

 

“It’s too late. Everything is ready.”

 

“What?”

 

“You don’t look like her at all, Sissy.”

 

Lucian’s face, which had gone from smiling to bored in an instant, raised a hand toward the arm that held Aire by the throat. His fingernails turned black and lengthened like saw blades, scratching at Aire’s arm.

 

“Ugh!”

 

A gash appeared on the hero’s arm that would have been difficult to cut with any sword. Lucian, who had been struck by the gush of blood, raised his eyebrows again.

 

“This is truly the final battle. This is the end for me and this world!”

 

His abysmal black eyes burned wildly from his blood-spattered face. It was an ominous gaze that would have frightened even Aire, who had faced countless demons.

 

“Lucian Elric Gaudium. No, who are you?”

 

It was a familiar, high-ranking demon whose presence was barely perceptible until he got closer. The hairs on the back of Aire’s neck stood up. The thing at Cordelia’s side sent a chill down his spine just by being there.

 

“Does it matter who I am? Oh, I’ll tell you if you want, because I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.”

 

It bared its teeth and laughed ferociously.

 

“I am the one who resembles the deepest darkness, the silence before dawn.”

 

At the same time, the window shook violently with a huge explosion. It, in its Lucian mask, gazed with glee at the great plume of smoke rising from the city.

 

“Eternal rest to the brightest of lights, my name is Urzar. Servant of the Foolish God.”

 

“Urzar?”

 

The brightest light in the Empire was usually a reference to Regia. Why would a dead being that harbored Magi desire light? Before Urzar could ask the question, it slit its own throat.

 

As he stared down at Lucian’s body, white and bleeding, Aire relaxed his grip. The body dropped, weathered and gone in an instant, as if time had stopped long ago.

 

“Cordelia…”

 

The grotesque end reminded him of someone.

 

Aire sprang to his feet and ran.

 

 

*** 

 

 

“No…”

 

The vendor who had been smiling and selling bread just a few days ago fell to the ground and sobbed like a man possessed. The world had gone to hell in a handbasket. An unidentified catastrophe had swept through the city, wiping it out, and the horror and screams it generated had spilled over into the world.

 

The might of the imperial court, temples, and towers rushed to battle, but to no avail. As helpless as humans are in the face of a great tidal wave, the people were devoured by the sudden cataclysm.

 

“What is that monster!”

 

Someone screamed, and a man writhing in pain, clutching his severed arm, answered hoarsely.

 

“Athrox…”

 

A being that was neither human nor elemental, created by assimilating runaway spirits and shamans.

 

“Hmph, judging from its monstrous abilities, it must be at least a superlative elemental.”

 

As he said that, the man felt a terrible feeling.

 

“Athrox’s rampage is fueled by the life force of the brewer, so it shouldn’t last long. How come this monster doesn’t fall?”

 

The being, resembling a black tidal wave, was tossed and turned by the raging waters. Every time it turned, a wave of immense power engulfed people and buildings alike.

 

A catastrophe. Everyone was helpless in the face of this natural disaster. It was then that Aire entered the street.

 

“Cordelia…?”

 

A familiar aura wracked her body. She was writhing in agony, screaming and crying.

 

“No…”

 

He wanted to deny it, but the energy in the air was all too familiar. He felt a vibration in the ground and turned his head. Lorea’s sword, the one he’d secretly given to Cordelia in self-defense one day, lay discarded on the ground, sobbing pitifully.

 

All signs pointed to Cordelia as the calamity before them.

 

Aire slowly removed his eye patch. Droplets of water pooled and soon ran down her reddened eyes. Cordelia’s unrefined emotions seeped into him.

 

She was wishing for death, for rest.

 

“Cordelia.”

 

There was no way to bring back a soul that had already been turned into an athrox. Aire squeezed his eyes shut and raised his sword.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

Sorry it was too late. His sword was loaded with unspoken thoughts and a dark sunset.

 

Unfulfilled promises. A world darkened by the setting sun. A ruin where the monster is gone, but the ruins are gone.

 

[aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!]

 

A new monster reared its head over the tattered peace that had returned after tearing two hearts apart. Shaped like a wailing woman, it resembled death.

 

Everything it touched crumbled to dust and disappeared, and with each scream, the sky rained down a rain that melted human flesh.

 

“Is this your will?”

 

Aire raised his sword. Even though he had lost the woman he loved. Even if his soul was torn to shreds, he was a hero, and he had to be.

 

He charged at the monster with thunderous momentum. Every moment of his life as a hero made him move again.

 

‘If only I could follow her.’

 

But the longing to be human tore him apart.

 

‘There is no reason to live anymore, so let me die,’ he thought as he swung his sword. 

 

But even as he was reduced to rags, he did not die. His consciousness drifted and returned to his body again and again, as if he could not die until he had dealt with the monster in front of him.

 

“Why is it so hard to ask you to kill me?! Damn it, I blame you, I curse you more than anything!”

 

Finally, having spilled his anger at the goddess in blood, he collapsed to the floor. He didn’t want to do anything anymore. He didn’t want to protect the people who believed in heroes, and he didn’t want to live in a world without Cordelia.

 

He knew in his gut that this monster was something powerful enough to destroy the world, but he didn’t know if it had to be a “hero” to stop it.

 

“I want to rest.”

 

The creature’s hand crashed into the hero’s head. It was the end of everything.

 

Or so he thought.

 

 

*** 

 

 

“I didn’t die. No, I wasn’t allowed to die.”

 

“You weren’t allowed to die?”

 

Eileen asked, narrowing her eyes as she listened with her mouth agape to what Aire and Cordelia had gone through. Aire smiled palely at her, a mixture of anger, sadness, and compassion playing across her face.

 

“Yes, because at that moment, time stopped.”

 

“…time?”

 

“It was a time spirit.”

 

A moment of silence fell between them. Aire swiped a slow hand across his face.

 

“Do you know why the Elementals of Time keep so few records?”

 

“No.”

 

“It’s because only the Clan of Heroes can handle the Elementals of Time, who are touched by the power of the gods. I learned that the hard way.”

 

“That means.”

 

“Yes. If the heroes failed to stop the apocalypse, the Elemental of Time would be unleashed.”

 

He tugged at his robe as if his chest was tight. His empty gaze fell to the floor. His heart sank, cold as the cracked stone floor.

 

“The chance I begged for when I lost her, when the world was about to end, I was given.”

 

Aire’s eyes were dry, but Eileen could almost see the tears in his eyes, and she let out a sigh. The cries she had seen in the vision of the Endgame not long ago echoed in her ears.

 

The world had used him in horrible ways to survive.

 

“I didn’t need anyone to explain it to me, I knew it when I faced the Elemental. Just once. Once, I could rewind time in this world. It was the will of the world and the goddess.”

 

Aire lifted his gaze again to meet Eileen’s.

 

“I was exhausted. I wanted to end it all, and when the opportunity came, the corners of my mouth turned up, thinking maybe this time I could stop it.”

 

The boy who had spent his entire life on a mission to be a hero chose to be one again. Defend again. Only this time, defend it properly. With only that goal in mind, he took up his sword again.

 

As he made his decision, the world’s time reversed.

 

Back to the time before Cordelia died, back to the time before the Empire fell, back to the time before Lucian went mad, back to the time when Cordelia did not yet know the Elementals.

 

In that turbulent time and space, Aire drifted. As he drifted through the warped time as a spirit, he saw the pain Cordelia had suffered, and it pained him.

 

‘I will protect her this time,’ he vowed, ‘I will spare her this pain.’

 

As he made this determination, his vision grew darker and darker. It wasn’t until one day at age 11 that he opened his eyes again.

 

As he stared at his shrunken hand, he suddenly realized he was back in the past. It had taken months for his soul to synchronize with his young body, but the sensations in his fingertips and the sights around him were unmistakably real.

 

‘That’s it! I can see Cordelia now!’

 

Jubilant, he jumped to his feet and sneaked away from the temple’s prying eyes, heading for Cordelia, eager to make her happy this time, even if it meant moving with his shrunken limbs.

 

When he arrived, he was greeted by Cordelia, smiling brighter than ever at Eileen’s side.