Translator: Alpha0210
He may have failed to persuade Anastasia, but not all of Residue's logic was bullshit. Nothing was known about 'The Outside' anyway, so paradoxically, there was nothing to prepare.
"They say God only gives trials that can be overcome. What do you all make of that? Is everyone here an atheist? Not that I'd blame you, having fought beings called demigods."
"What nonsense are you spouting this time?"
"It concerns why Lukas went to The Outside."
"......"
Even with the specific reason laid out, none of them seemed to follow.
Even Iris, who seemed the sharpest of the bunch, wore a puzzled expression, so Residue, though it was a hassle, proceeded to explain.
"Originally, Destruction was a trial no one could withstand. Let me put it in terms of simple natural disasters. Think of it as a tornado the size of a city, a tidal wave vast enough to drown a continent, an earthquake that could snap a planet in two. It was overwhelming enough to sweep away everything it touched, a catastrophe without any means of response... until someone's intervention split it into a thousand parts, ten thousand, and far smaller pieces still."
"......"
"Even shrunken down, it remained a calamity, but now we could at least attempt a defense. Take the first Destruction. If that thing called 'Hide' had invaded the Unified World as a single entity from the start, then Half King, the Rulers, every last one of them would have been swept away like dead leaves before that one being."
But, we stopped it. Even if the losses we suffered were immense.
Residue added this offhandedly, lowering his tone a notch.
"From here on it's the realm of speculation, but yours truly suspects this law applies to 'The Outside' as well."
"Law?"
"That however we assemble the five who go to 'The Outside', that bastard Lukas may give us only as much trial as we can bear. Of course, that doesn't mean the 'Second Destruction's' total value as a calamity will shrink. If, say, the team were made up of the Unified World's best members, it might all end after only a few dozen assaults from the fragmented Destruction."
"...Hm."
The Demon King let out a low groan, and Lucid frowned as well. Neither face showed ready understanding, and Residue couldn't help but smirk. Well, well. So these two were the relatively dim ones, then? The remaining two, Iris and Anastasia, wore looks that said they were teetering on the edge of catching on.
"Shall we assume Destruction's power sits at around 1,000? And suppose the Unified World's strongest force crossed over: Half King, El, Agolet, the Lightning God, the Black Thorn Demon King. In that case, Destruction would split into only about ten parts to attack. Meaning they'd only have to hold out ten times in total."
Residue looked around at them.
"On the other hand, for the Former Heroes gathered here, Destruction would have to divide into hundreds of parts at the very least. Because unless it's split that finely, you wouldn't even withstand it properly before dying. Understood?"
"...I understand."
"More or less."
The two men nodded.
Their faces hardly showed full comprehension, but Residue had no intention of explaining further. With types like these, rather than explaining until it sank in, it was better to get them to a rough understanding and then let them learn the rest with their own bodies.
Meanwhile, Anastasia's conviction that this man was simply a fraud who had stolen Lukas's face, a madman, was beginning to waver. In the way he coolly analyzed the situation, in the way he reasoned... loath as she was to admit it, she was glimpsing her old friend.
As if to deny that thought, Anastasia spoke in a somewhat rough tone.
"Then it doesn't have to be the five of us, does it? You could build the team from people with a bit more growth potential."
She wasn't wrong.
The world was passing through a crisis like no other, and even at this very moment countless lives were being lost; yet through that same process, strong warriors were being born without number. And fighting the Second Destruction head-on was a crisis and a tremendous opportunity at once.
"Or there's always the option of playing throwaway cards."
Before Residue could reply, a heavy voice cut in.
It was Kasajin, and Anastasia frowned, not because he had suddenly interjected, but because of the words he'd let out of his mouth.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. Rather than those who can overcome the Second Destruction, why not compose the team of those who can adequately stall it? In the meantime, we finish off the other Destruction that has descended upon the Unified World."
"......"
"Your expression has soured. Was my phrasing a touch extreme? Then let me rephrase. If Lukas is going to split Destruction to match the level of the five members anyway, then what does it matter if we send people far weaker than ourselves?"
"Hand-pick scapegoats and ship them off to buy time against Destruction? What the hell are you? Are you seriously saying that crap?"
"I am Kasajin."
Anastasia and Iris frowned at the same time.
Lucid kept his silence, and Residue's face turned intrigued.
"You're not Kasajin."
Abruptly, Anastasia spat the words out, her voice laced with hostility. It was a remark that struck squarely at Kasajin's one untouchable nerve, and the atmosphere turned a shade dangerous.
"I have no reason to hear that from you. After all, you are not Schweizer either."
"That's right. And it doesn't faze me anymore. It's a damn miserable thing, but I've accepted the fact that I'm Anastasia. Unlike you."
"Is admitting that you've become a different being such a grand achievement? I fail to see why you speak as though you've overcome some hardship. To me, those are the words of a loser. Since the moment is fitting, I will say this now."
Kasajin looked around at them.
"Among those present here, there is no one capable of holding meaning for me. Which is to say, no matter what any of you prattle on about, my immovable heart will not be shaken."
This remark piqued even Residue's curiosity, and he asked,
"And why is that?"
"Because every one of you has become something entirely different from the friends in my memory."
"...Ha."
Iris let out something like a hollow laugh, and Residue outright laughed. They hadn't even set out for The Outside yet, and already he could see the relationships creaking.
Were these really heroes who had once shared a single cause and fought side by side? What made their bonds so precarious now? Because Kasajin had become the Demon King? Or had they been like this all along, even back then?
It wasn't as if Residue knew everything about Lukas.
In particular, Lukas's entanglement with these people dated back far, far too long ago... and of course, that didn't mean Lukas had forgotten them, but for Residue, who had only come aboard somewhere around the midpoint of the man's struggles in the World of Emptiness, combing through memories of such a distant past was asking too much.
Truthfully, it was less impossible than it was a pain.
"How lovely, watching you squabble already. But for now, kindly shut your mouths. You'll be clashing until you're sick of it once we're out in 'The Outside', so why burn the energy now?"
"......"
"In any case, Kasajin. To answer your proposal first: 'impossible'."
"Why? Don't tell me you, too, balk at sacrificing the useless?"
Kasajin's voice carried a hint of disappointment, and Residue smirked.
"An amusing guess, but the problem comes before that. First, there's no reason to assume time flows identically between 'Outside' and 'Inside'. By the Unified World's clock, the whole affair might appear to end the instant we step Outside."
"...Hm."
"Second, no one knows what would happen if we fail to stop the Second Destruction. The venue may be 'The Outside', but that defeat could lead straight to the world's annihilation. An extreme example, granted, but the odds aren't zero."
Kasajin thought for a moment, then nodded.
"Fair point."
"And last. Just because Lukas divides Destruction finely into 'trials we can bear' doesn't mean they'll actually be easy, or even the surmountable kind."
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
Residue looked at Anastasia as he spoke.
"We're talking about a man who's been dragged through the dirt like few others in the entire cosmos. Trials poured down on him like a torrential rain, the kind that would've driven even the most iron-willed to take their own lives long ago. For someone who lived that life, would a 'bearable trial' really be easy? What counts as 'surmountable' from his standpoint might not be surmountable from ours at all."
Now that they heard it, he wasn't wrong.
And in that moment, the four of them looked at Residue, each harboring a different impression.
Iris PeaceFinder felt displeased by the way he spoke, as if he somehow knew Lukas better than she did.
Anastasia marveled at the fact that, contrary to her first impression, the man actually had a decent head on his shoulders.
Kasajin thought that, although he was an entirely different being from Lukas, this man seemed the easiest of the lot to talk to.
And Lucid...
"It will be a tremendously long war."
He spoke in a quiet voice.
Residue looked into Lucid's red eyes as he replied,
"Which is why resolve is required. Though only about eighteen hours remain now."
"......"
"Come to think of it, I haven't asked this yet. What is your will in the matter? Do you wish to go to 'The Outside' with yours truly?"
Iris said with a wry smile,
"Your order of operations is a complete mess. Isn't that usually the very first thing you're supposed to ask?"
"Be grateful I asked at all. I very nearly forgot."
Knowing this man's disposition, that was likely no joke; he probably had. Iris's face turned sour, and she let out a sigh, the latest of more than she could count.
"I'm going. To be honest, I'm almost grateful you called on me."
"...I'm going too. Though to be honest, I doubt I'll be much help."
Anastasia continued with a heavy expression.
"I owe Lukas a debt. I never properly repaid it; if anything, I went on living having forgotten everything about him. So......"
Anastasia swallowed her voice, then suddenly gave her own cheek a sharp slap and said,
"...Damn it. Scratch what I just said. This isn't the kind of thing to decide on something like that. It's just, I feel like I have to go. Like me going to The Outside is more right than anyone else going. No grounds, no proof or anything, but that's just how I feel."
The thought occurred to him that of everyone here, she might just be the purest one. Residue found Anastasia a little endearing. Somehow, he had the feeling she'd fit right in standing in a row between Half King and Luka.
"I will go as well."
A beat late, Lucid too signaled his intent to join.
Then he continued in a low voice.
"...I believe there must be a reason I was brought back to life. The Four Knights were never my role, so surely I can find that reason in 'The Outside'."
"So you've got no logical basis either?"
"That is correct."
"Good. You pass."
Residue nodded, then looked at the last man.
"What will you do, Demon King? Strictly speaking, you're the only one here with a substitute available."
Kasajin's brow twitched.
"If I refuse, you intend to bring along those dregs in Demensio?"
"That's right. Yours truly happens to be fond of dregs, you see."
Residue continued, his grin curling wider.
"As you all said, this expedition to The Outside is also a chance for growth. Even if I take the Kasajin you dismiss as dregs, he'd grow tremendously."
"I see."
Kasajin fell silent, mulling something over, then spoke again.
"Give me a little time."
"How much?"
"I cannot say for certain, but I will give you my answer as quickly as I can."
"I'll give you ten hours. Come back before then."
Having issued the one-sided notice, Residue clapped his hands.
"Now then. We'll adjourn here for the time being. Get out quickly. Yours truly has work to do."
"What work would that be?"
"I have to hear out the complaints of those who can't accept the selection. Don't worry too much, though. As I said earlier, barring anything unusual, I intend to go with you five."
"...Meaning if something 'unusual' does come up, one of us might be dropped?"
"That possibility certainly exists. Kasajin did say he needs to think it over. In any case, I plan to shortlist a Sixth Man or so, in case things go sideways."
Satisfied? Now hurry up and get lost. As Residue all but shoved them out, the Former Heroes had no choice but to leave the room.
Alone in the room, Residue stood still for a while. He felt something surging up from deep within. Spitting it out would mean a tiresome cleanup, so he forced it back down. The coppery taste of blood spread through his throat.
"......"
A sigh laced with the scent of blood leaked out and scattered like smoke. He stood that way for several minutes.
Then Residue suddenly sensed a presence beyond the door.
That was fast.
"...Your Majesty, are you there?"
"I am."
Agolet, was it? Not an easy one to start with.
Waving a hand to erase the stench of blood, he spoke.
"Come in."
*****
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