Translator: Alpha0210
Tap, tap…….
Residue glanced outside.
Beyond the window, sheets of water were pouring down. Out of nowhere. Rain, of all things, as if it had all been arranged in advance. That thought crossed his mind for a moment, but he soon realized the downpour was artificial.
Lukas's doing? What was he up to. That bastard.
Whooooshhh–.
For a while he stared blankly at the raging downpour.
He had no fond memories tied to rain. Of all the moments for it– once again, the gray city rose in Residue's mind. Those memories, he had thought they'd dulled enough by now that he could smirk at them whenever they surfaced, but today that wasn't the case either.
Agolet did not speak for a while.
Was he being considerate? There was no chance the man was capable of anything so commendable. Underneath it would lie a calculation that the deeper Residue's thoughts ran, the more he would settle on a conclusion favorable to Agolet.
In that case, he had no wish to move as the man intended, so Residue opened his mouth, however slowly.
"Kill Lukas, and the Fifth Destruction disappears."
"Yes."
"There's no way something like that is possible."
"It is possible. That is why we are here."
"On what grounds."
"Grounds?"
He asked it back, though it didn't feel like he wanted an answer. It seemed to be a formality, and as expected, Agolet quickly went on.
"Your Majesty. Since the 'Destructions' appeared, the first thing to collapse was common sense itself. And it was none other than Your Majesty who first taught me that. This is no different. It is not the sort of matter for which grounds can be presented."
"……."
"But if I must put something forward, then yes. It would be because Lukas wished it. As I said at the outset, he desires his own death. That is precisely why he sent us to this time, to this past."
Agolet laced his fingers together and rested his chin lightly upon them.
"This place is not the Outside, of course. But it is a place intimately bound to it. One of the decisive facts we learned on the 'Island' is that the 'Outside' was unmistakably a universe above our own. So there is nothing difficult about it."
Agolet rose from his seat.
He drew a book from the shelf, came back, and spread it open to the last page in front of Residue.
"…A single book can, depending on one's perspective, be regarded as a single world. And with nothing more than a pen and a little creativity, one can change what is written in it. Merely adding a few paragraphs is enough to change the ending of the story. In the same way, interfering with our world is no difficult thing at all for them."
"From their perspective, our world is nothing more than a single book?"
"If we interpret it in our own terms, that would be so. But such preconceptions are not good either."
"……."
"Shall I give an example?"
Saying that, Agolet rummaged through a drawer and drew something out.
Two hourglasses.
Made to precisely the same size and precisely the same design, the sand fell through them at exactly the same rate as well.
Agolet gazed steadily at the falling sand as he spoke.
"At this very moment, the time of this world we exist in and the time of the Unified World are in perfect alignment."
"Strange thing to say. This is the past, and yet the times align."
"How about the metaphor of a play in the middle of its performance? Its own time, its own place, its own setting. Where we stand now is a Stage Play. And a play has a story, it has roles, and it has an ending. Your Majesty, in that case, what do you believe the ending of this story to be?"
Agolet's transparent eyes turned toward him.
That gaze, which had never held much of anything in the way of feeling, looked different today. There was something faintly coercive about it. Sensing a will to wring out an answer by force if it came to that, Residue tossed one out.
"Lukas's death, is it."
"…That, too, could be one of the endings."
It felt as though the conversation was going to drag on.
But a sudden wave of fatigue washed over Residue, and he sank back into the sofa. His eyes felt gritty, so he laid an arm across them.
That damned fog inside his head, still refusing to lift.
"Metaphorically speaking, yes, but even that is not a wholly correct expression. When a Stage Play ends, no dramatic change comes over reality. We are different. We can alter reality itself."
"……."
"It will not be easy. All of this only holds together if those in the Unified World stop the Third, and then the Fourth Destruction. If the ones on the Outside fail to hold back that calamity in the first place, then whatever we do here will amount to wasted effort."
Since when had this alignment of the timelines been in effect?
The moment the Second Destruction passed? Or from the time they advanced into the 'Outside'?
"So in truth, everything we're up to here may turn out to be a pointless bit of nonsense."
Agolet spoke with a coarseness that wasn't like him.
"Even so, I intend to try everything I can. I do."
Hearing that, Residue mulled it over for a moment, but nothing more fitting came to mind, so he said it bluntly.
"Agolet. You've changed a great deal."
Agolet did not answer.
In the meantime, the water pouring down outside had stopped. The droplets pooled on the window were beginning to vanish under a strong wind.
"I can barely even remember the man who holed himself up in a hideout and wallowed in his own misery. What this one wants to ask is, what brought on this change of heart?"
"In what sense."
"You never cared how the world turned, did you."
"……."
"Even if the Destructions swept everything away and the Unified World vanished without leaving so much as a cornerstone behind. You were not a man to feel any grief over it. You might have felt a twinge of regret, but that would have been all. It seems that isn't so anymore, though. Did what happened on the 'Island' stir some change in your heart?"
"That may well be. But Your Majesty, of course, even now, what becomes of the world is no concern of mine."
"Then why are you trying to kill Lukas?"
Agolet fell silent for a moment.
It was not often that one got to see this man at a loss for words. Residue waited patiently for the response, and– before long, Agolet slowly opened his mouth.
"On the 'Island', Your Majesty carried Lukas all the way to the center. Together with Pale."
"That's right. Come to think of it, I never asked about that either. What exactly was that Lukas?"
"He is the Lukas Trowman as a human being, the one I spoke of earlier."
"Are you telling me he split apart?"
"Who can say. As I have said any number of times, one must not try to understand the Destructions in our terms. Rather than split apart, he became two, he came to exist simultaneously, or he was dispersed yet remains the same being… interpreting it along those lines would be better. Though that, too, would not be an exact expression."
"……."
"What happened on the Island was merely the prelude to the reality we now face, Your Majesty. If I must put it plainly, it was a matter of escorting the human Lukas safely as far as this world."
"What does that mean?"
Agolet's gaze flicked toward the window.
"The 9-Star Grand Sorcerer Lukas Trowman who sits here now is indeed the Lukas Your Majesty knew. Not merely in the sense of being the same person, but in the sense that he is that Lukas, the one who shared a friendship with Your Majesty in the past, the one who accompanied you on the second Island."
"…Hold on. Then right now he's–."
"Yes. He would be in a state of sealed memory."
Then, after a moment's thought, he continued.
"Though the situation appears to differ from Your Majesty's. In Lukas's case, he sealed his own memories deliberately."
"Who knows. This one may have done it of his own accord as well."
"…It is as you say, but, well. I don't believe Your Majesty would have done such a thing, no matter the circumstances."
Residue eyed Agolet askance, thinking.
Agreed.
"So the present situation is likely far more favorable than Your Majesty imagines."
"What exactly does it mean for the Fifth Destruction to be extinguished? Will everyone come to forget about him, the way a record is deleted from the Void Record?"
"It is different. His existence will not be forgotten. Even after the Fifth Destruction is gone, we will still remember Lukas Trowman. Only one thing disappears. The threat of the Destruction, and nothing else."
"That's far too convenient a story. Convenient enough that suspicion is unavoidable."
"I have already explained the reason for that."
Residue was silent.
The one who had arranged a situation this advantageous for them was Lukas Trowman as well.
So had Lukas himself prepared a stage whose curtain came down on his own death? And if so, what had been in his head as he set that stage?
"Please, reconsider."
"Reconsider what."
"I am aware that Your Majesty owes Lukas a great debt. But all of this is his intent, and his wish. There are times when death carries more dignity than life. Does Your Majesty intend to take even Lukas's death from him?"
"……."
"Respect his choice. Grant him what he desires."
He hadn't said it in so many words, but what the man was demanding was obvious.
Residue let out a dry laugh.
"You're telling this one to kill Lukas with his own hands?"
"That is the most correct ending. If Lukas is to die, it is most desirable that it be done by Your Majesty's hand."
"……."
"You said you have already met Pale. Having lost your memories, I imagine the goodwill she shows must have left you at a loss."
"It was an attitude I'm not used to, certainly. Why. Is that an act as well?"
"Hardly. Whatever else she may conceal, Pale cannot conceal her goodwill. Her likes and dislikes are absolute. The goodwill she directs at Your Majesty is genuine. Only."
Agolet lowered his voice.
"I do not think well of that goodwill of hers."
"Why not."
"…I told you about the Destructions, did I not? Right now, the Third and the Fourth Destructions have appeared in the Unified World at the same time."
Residue was silent.
Could this be the lie the man had spoken of? It was an absurd enough statement to make him wonder.
"With two Destructions appearing at once, the damage done out there is beyond anything one would dare to guess. In truth, the odds of it all ending there and then should be reckoned at well over ninety percent. And if, at the very moment such a Unified World dramatically overcomes that crisis, the Fifth Destruction appears……."
Agolet said.
"It ends. At a full hundred percent. Where this is concerned, no hopeful forecast carries any meaning whatsoever. Frankly, the only reason matters have unfolded this well until now is that Lukas planned them so. The First Destruction inflicted devastating damage, but in the end more than half survived. The Second Destruction ended with no damage at all. And if things go according to Lukas's plan, the Third and Fourth Destructions will likely be weathered somehow as well."
"……."
"And this is the countermeasure against the Fifth Destruction. Summoning us into this past. Erasing his own existence by that means. But Your Majesty. None of these circumstances matter in the slightest to Pale."
"What does that mean?"
"Meaning it is no great matter to her whether the Destructions wipe out the Unified World or not. Simply by coming here, Pale has already achieved her original purpose."
Somehow or other, Residue found himself vaguely understanding what Agolet was driving at.
"She has learned that Lukas is here. Her wish would be for Lukas to cast aside every last one of the crushing duties he bears and live out a quiet life, just the two of them. She would want to bring her short life to a close that way."
"……."
"But that must not be allowed."
"Why not. Even if he ends up dying of old age, if death is the trigger, then the future changes– and the Fifth Destruction disappears, doesn't it?"
Agolet lowered his gaze to the table and let it rest there.
The hourglasses were still sitting on it.
"There is a Time Limit."
"……."
"About half a year from now, Lukas Trowman will come face to face, alone, with the head of the demigods, the Lord. That meeting will take place in secret, unknown to anyone. And as for what happens immediately afterward, Your Majesty knows without my having to say it."
Residue closed both eyes.
For the Lukas of this point in the past, it was the final moment.
And yet, in certain tellings, a moment that could be seen as a majestic beginning.
"The Bottomless Pit."
"Yes."
Agolet nodded.
"The Time Limit runs until just before Lukas enters the Bottomless Pit– if we fail to kill Lukas by then, the Fifth Destruction will not disappear."
"……."
Residue was silent.
As the light beyond the window slowly faded, the sand in the hourglasses had now run out entirely.
*****
For more chapters visit - https://www.patreon.com/tgmalpha
For any errors and issues contact me through discord:- .gg/woopread-708613326262894654
And make sure to read on woopread <- click here ^-^.
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter