Let’s Block the Ruined Route in Advance Chapter 103

In her return, Cordelia was no longer tormented.

 

She manifested as a spirit again, this time to save Lucian, but she had Eileen by her side, and Eileen saved Lucian as well, preventing the duke from falling into darkness.

 

It was a good thing, surely. It was too good, but Aire found it hard to breathe; they were too perfect without him.

 

“If I intervene, I might just ruin their happiness.”

 

So he decided to step back and protect them, both as penance for his failure to protect Cordelia and his own fears.

 

“I want to be in there, laughing with them.”

 

It was an urge he resisted at times, but he fought it. He kept Urzar out of the duke’s reach and kept his distance, always keeping an eye on them, intervening only to help when needed.

 

But there was nothing he could do to stop the hope that the light of Eileen that had saved them all from misery would reach him.

 

“No, no. I don’t have time for that. I have to stop the end of the world.”

 

Chastising himself, Aire obsessively slaughtered and researched, even contemplating sharing some of the information with someone he trusted to confide in for the future, but never acting on it.

 

“Why?”

 

Eileen asks him curiously.

 

“There were taboos involved. It was against the rules of the world to mention the missing timeline, though it seems to be okay to tell you, Eileen, since you were involved in its retrogression.”

 

So he had to go through it all completely alone. He’d prevented what would have been a catastrophe on little sleep and saved countless lives, but it wasn’t enough.

 

The responsibility was too great for a man, and he was not omnipotent enough to be God’s messenger.

 

 

***

 

 

“Lucian’s crisis and the Duchess’s death were both the work of a being known as “Urzar”, who used the Duke’s mind, weakened by the sudden loss of his wife, to gradually erode into darkness through the use of the Mongma. It was his strategy to weaken the Duke, one of the Empire’s greatest powers, while simultaneously using Cordelia to his advantage.”

 

Eileen ran a hand through her hair.

 

“Wait, why would he use Cordelia, why would he use Cordelia at all?”

 

“Because she was a powerful Elemental, just the right one to create Athrox, the final scourge to charge the Magi, and because Felix was in love with her.”

 

“Felix…?”

 

Eileen couldn’t get her mind around it. It was hard to believe that all of Cordelia’s suffering had been someone’s plan, and it gave her the creeps to think that the misfortunes were so closely woven together that they were preparing for something.

 

“I don’t know what’s in Urzar’s heart, but I do know that his purpose is the resurrection of Regia. Felix was the body for it, for I don’t know why, but Urzar chose him to be Regia’s new body.”

 

Eileen’s mouth fell open. Suddenly she remembered the man in the rabbit suit she’d met not far from where Felix had been taken. The mysterious man who had given her the necklace that summoned the Duke in times of danger and then disappeared.

 

“So you’re the one who gave me the necklace in that alleyway!”

 

Aire nodded wordlessly.

 

“In order to use Felix as Regia’s body, he needed to empty his soul first. Eileen, do you know that the easiest way to kill a soul is to break it into pieces?”

 

There was a deep silence, so deep he thought he could hear beads of sweat falling from Eileen’s face.

 

“Misfortune and the death of a loved one. Felix, it’s something he’s had to deal with like breathing since he was very young, and when he lost his nanny, then Rosalia, and finally Cordelia, his soul was completely shattered, leaving him a shell.”

 

What happened next was unspeakable. The monster that had brought the world to the brink of destruction used Felix’s body as a flowerpot to blossom.

 

“So that’s the secret of the lost world, Eileen, and I am so grateful to you. You saved everyone and prevented countless tragedies, and I couldn’t have done it without you.”

 

He dropped to one knee in gratitude, and Eileen threw up her hands.

 

“You’ve been running nonstop to stop tragedies from happening, too! Don’t do this to me.”

 

He bowed his head deeply. Slowly, the corners of his eyes warmed.

 

“Yes, I’ve been running nonstop, but I’m ashamed to say that not much has changed.”

 

The first thing he had hoped to do was find Urzar, but Lucian’s survival had changed his plans, and as if to mock him, Urzar had begun to gather his cultists and spread his magic in other ways.

 

After surviving for more than two hundred years, the demon was not favored.

 

He let out a deep sigh as if to gather his thoughts, then lifted his head and smiled weakly.

 

“Don’t worry too much, though. I will stop Urzar no matter what, and even if I have to sacrifice this one body, I will be the one to end his life.”

 

The man’s eyes looked so sad as he spoke that Eileen couldn’t say anything. There was no leisure in his life upon his return, no desire for happiness. Only a young soul, weighed down by duty, responsibility, and guilt, screaming in the winds of the world.

 

Eileen’s dry mouth twitched a few times as she chose her words.

 

<You’re playing.>

 

A familiar voice rang out.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“What?”

 

Eileen searched her bosom quickly, and a single bead popped out.

 

“Hey, I thought we were supposed to be quiet!”

 

Eileen snorted and shouted at the orb, causing Aire to glance back and forth between the orb and Eileen in confusion.

 

<Shut up, both of you, stay put.>

 

Cordelia informed them both.

 

 

***

 

 

The whole thing had gone like this.

 

The night Eileen told Cordelia everything. They debated, coming to the conclusion that if they were to know the truth, it would have to be together.

 

Together, they decided that if they were going to find out the truth, they had to do it together… because there was a chance that he would run away, and if they didn’t get his permission, they would lose what little chance they had.

 

“I’ll have to use this.”

 

So Cordelia pulled out a small communicator. It was a tiny artifact she’d developed with Felix, resentful that she hadn’t been able to keep up with Eileen during her interrogation-like questioning.

 

“Did you really make that?”

 

“Look. It’s got a use.”

 

It was small and enchanted with a concealment spell, so it didn’t have a wide range of communication. Cordelia could hear their conversation clearly, though she suspected that the teleportation to where Aire was might have caused it to lose communication, but they hadn’t gotten very far from where they’d been transported.

 

“So the bottom line is that I got screwed over and died, and the world came close to ending once in the aftermath, and a demon named Urzar was behind it?”

 

“He…”

 

“And when you went back in time, you created a hole in the dimension, and that’s where Eileen came in.”

 

“Yeah…”

 

Aire shrank a little as Cordelia, who had arrived safely after threatening Gavil, crossed her arms and sorted things out.

 

“Hmmm.”

 

Her trailing off made him pale. “Hmph,” she added hastily, as if making an excuse.

 

“Cordelia, no harm will come to you, I’ll make sure of that, somehow.”

 

“Somehow?”

 

Cordelia cut him off. She put a hand to her forehead and sighed heavily.

 

“Why do you have to decide that for yourself?”

 

“Because I’m the one who got you killed.”

 

“So what’s your fault in that?”

 

Aire’s mouth fell open. Cordelia’s eyes were calm as she realized the truth. She faced him calmly, not despairing, not disappointed.

 

“Eileen and you. You’re so much alike. You’re both good people underneath, but you worry so much that you put off confrontation as long as you can.”

 

Taking a couple steps closer to him, Cordelia held out her hand to him. He looked down at it with trembling eyes.

 

“You’re not to blame for my death, and you’re to blame for my new life.”

 

Cordelia looked up at him with sparkling blue eyes.

 

“Thank you.”

 

At that moment, he felt tears well up in his eyes.

 

Those were words he never thought he would hear. A tear of unrecognized joy rolled down his cheek. His rough, trembling hand found Cordelia’s, barely meeting hers.

 

“No, no, no, I’m actually grateful.”

 

The feeling of confessing everything to Cordelia was far more exhilarating than he’d expected. The mere acknowledgment of his efforts seemed to open up a crack in the rock that had been holding him down, creating a breathing hole.

 

Eileen, who had been watching him through the bridge of her nose, turned to him.

 

“It’s a world we’re all going to live in, so let’s fight together.”

 

Eileen wrinkled her nose and smiled mischievously.

 

“And you have to go see Cordelia and the sea.”

 

Once again, the corners of Aire’s eyes twitched. The tears that had seemed to have finally stopped welled up again and spilled over the corners of his eyes.

 

“Yes, thank you.”

 

His head felt light and his breathing was easy. He let out a languid sigh, feeling more at peace than he had in a long time. It was as if the light that had saved them all had finally reached him, the light he had been so eager to reach.

 

Cordelia, who had been staring at the man smiling harmlessly through his damp face, spoke up.

 

“How did you do that?”

 

“What?”

 

“You didn’t even know me that long in my previous life, how did you do that?”

 

The words stunned Aire for a moment, and soon, after crudely rubbing the water from his face, his golden eyes narrowed and he smiled.

 

“I just wanted to show you the ocean. No, I wanted to see it with you. With you.”

 

Cordelia’s cheeks flushed, the color of his eyes mimicking the noon sun.

 

“Interesting.”

 

And with that, the three of them clumsily but surely tied up a long-standing loose end.