The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations

The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations

I'm Not Saving the World. (2)

Deneb's consciousness was soaring through the sky.

She looked down at the cities and towns below her.

The architecture felt unfamiliar, and their locations were different from what she knew in her time. Yet, amidst all the changes, there were still traces that felt familiar.

The same places, but now far more developed and immense.

And so, she could tell—this was the future world Ghislain had spoken of.

She could clearly feel herself connected to someone. And she instinctively knew—that someone was Ghislain.

"Why did I connect with Ghislain, who already left?"

Deneb did her best to guess.

Perhaps Ghislain had remained within Astion’s consciousness.

No, she was certain. Ghislain must have sensed his friends were in danger and returned.

But unfortunately, it was already too late. Julien had already fallen into darkness.

That’s why Deneb couldn’t understand why she was here.

She could only assume that Ghislain’s consciousness had acted as a medium, allowing her to come to this place.

Then suddenly, a powerful wave surged from one direction. Something was calling her.

So Deneb headed toward it.

"A battlefield…"

Corpses were piled like mountains, and blood flowed like rivers.

Even the sky had turned crimson—a gruesome battlefield.

And at the center of that sea of blood…

A man in a red cloak was kneeling, covered in blood.

Deneb held her breath.

"Ghislain!"

It was unmistakably the same figure she had seen on the stage moments earlier.

Right now, Ghislain was kneeling in defeat on the battlefield.

Deneb couldn’t believe it. Someone as strong and exceptional as Ghislain—defeated?

In front of Ghislain stood a man clad in beautiful armor.

He raised his sword and spoke.

"You fool, it’s over. You should’ve just lived your life as a mercenary, knowing your place."

Swoosh!

The sword flashed as it flew in.

Just as Ghislain’s neck was about to be severed, Deneb let out a scream.

"No—!"

Fwaaaaaaaaaash!

A brilliant light erupted from her body.

Deneb couldn’t understand it. She was merely a spirit form. She couldn’t even use Divine Power.

So why had this light burst forth?

No—it might not have come from her at all. The entire world had momentarily been drenched in light.

And then, all the light vanished, and the world was instantly swallowed in absolute darkness.

She couldn’t see anything.

She couldn’t hear anything.

A void where nothing existed.

Was this what it felt like to be sealed within the Demonic Abyss?

In that darkness, Deneb trembled in fear.

Endless terror swallowed her whole, and even the sense of time faded away.

It felt as though an eternity had passed, and yet, also like the blink of an eye.

Fwaaash!

Light burst forth, and the world reopened.

She saw a man lying on a bed.

"Ghislain!"

Deneb rushed toward him in delight.

But she passed through him like a ghost, unable to interact with him in any way.

Ghislain sat up, looked around, and muttered something to himself. Soon after, the door opened and a handsome soldier walked in, and Ghislain grabbed him.

The two wrestled briefly, then Ghislain glanced at a water basin and shouted in surprise.

"Uaaagh! I’m young again?"

Deneb was just as shocked by those words. Ghislain truly had become younger.

Another bout of scuffling followed with the soldier.

Ghislain seriously insisted that he had died and come back to life, but the soldier—named Ricardo—only scoffed in disbelief.

After that, Ghislain stepped out of the barracks and burst into loud laughter, utterly overjoyed. To a stranger, he would have seemed completely insane.

But it was the laughter of someone who had just regained the world.

Deneb was stunned as she watched him.

"Ghislain… died and came back to life? And returned to the past?"

It was hard to believe, but strangely, it made sense.

Ghislain had always been someone who scoffed at common sense.

Deneb took a deep breath and looked at him.

She could feel it—this was no mere illusion.

"This couldn’t be happening for no reason."

Maybe… maybe this was the key to saving Julien. If this was their final hope, she couldn’t afford to let it slip away.

After that, Ghislain achieved great feats.

He eradicated the orcs that had attacked and defeated the assassins who were targeting his younger sister.

Deneb was impressed, though not as surprised as before. After all, Ghislain knew the future—it was only natural.

He used his knowledge and skill from the future as weapons to push through every obstacle without hesitation.

He anticipated, prepared, and executed.

Deneb knew it wasn’t just because he knew the future. It was the result of his drive and willpower.

But those around him could never keep up with his pace. Every time they hesitated, Ghislain had already taken the next step.

As Deneb watched, a look of longing crossed her face.

"…We used to be like that too."

Yes, they had been. And those days…

Perhaps those were the most joyful and happiest times for them all.

Time passed incredibly fast.

Scenery flashed by, seasons changed like the wind, but Ghislain’s actions were etched slowly and clearly into Deneb’s consciousness.

And when Ghislain began preparing to subjugate the Forest of Beasts—

Deneb finally realized where Ferdium was.

"The Demonic Abyss…?"

Ferdium was a territory bordering the Demonic Abyss.

It had once been a wasteland, until villages and cities emerged and the domain was established.

Ghislain's path grew fiercer by the day.

Countless times his life was endangered, yet he overcame every crisis with his knowledge of the future and his own strength.

The Ferdium territory gradually flourished, and with it, Ghislain grew stronger as well.

Deneb watched over his journey, always cheering him on.

She continued to watch as Ghislain’s world grew.

"Ghislain, you’re truly incredible…"

Indeed, Ghislain was currently weaker than the Hero’s party who would later triumph over the Demonic Abyss. But it was thanks to him that they had grown.

Watching Ghislain break through every hardship alone, he appeared stronger than any hero—and… lonelier.

Ghislain would never know. That Deneb had always been by his side.

When he collapsed fighting the Blood Python in the Forest of Beasts, when he was defeated by the 7th-Circle Mage Delmud, when he fell to the Kingdom’s Strongest Swordsman, Kaiyen Balzac.

And every other time he suffered injuries that should have taken his life, Deneb was beside him, praying.

"Oh Goddess…"

She couldn’t heal Ghislain or protect him, but she never stopped praying with all her heart.

Each time, a faint light—so subtle even she didn’t realize—would seep into Ghislain.

And as if by miracle, Ghislain always stood back up. That was why Deneb couldn’t stop praying for him.

If her heart could call forth even a small miracle, that alone was enough.

One day, when Ghislain met Ereneth—

Deneb’s heart ached at the sight of her.

"Ereneth…"

Her elf friend, once always bright and proud, had grown colder than anyone.

She could guess why. Ilaniel had betrayed them and they had lost friends. Ereneth must have suffered a great wound in her heart.

On top of that, the elves of this era were all enslaved. There was no way Ereneth’s heart could be at ease.

"But why…"

Something was strange about Ereneth.

It wasn’t odd that she had endured a thousand years with the World Tree—she had said she would do so herself.

But the fact that she didn’t recognize Ghislain was strange.

Ereneth acted as though she had never even heard the name Ghislain.

Even though she had missed him enough to seal herself away for a thousand years waiting for him.

"No way…"

Several hypotheses flickered through Deneb’s mind.

But she couldn’t be certain yet. So, for now, she set aside her doubts.

Even when Ghislain fought Ereneth, looking like the Adversary himself, Deneb wasn’t surprised.

"Dark…"

Because she knew it was due to Dark’s power—and now, she understood what Dark truly was.

Deneb simply looked at Dark with a sorrowful smile.

Time flowed once again.

Before she realized it, Ghislain had become the absolute power in the North.

He was now waging war against a powerful kingdom and the resurrected Salvation Church.

In the midst of this war—where both sides sought each other’s destruction—Ghislain, disguised as a soldier of the kingdom, stole their treasure.

When Deneb saw it, she was shocked.

"My… necklace? The Holy Grail?"

It was the very necklace she still wore to this day. The Holy Grail—an imperial treasure and divine medium—was with it as well.

When the necklace was placed into the Holy Grail, divine power erupted forth.

It was her own divine power. She didn’t know how, but her divine energy had remained within the necklace and was now resonating with the Grail.

At that moment, Deneb realized something.

"Ah…"

She was beginning to understand what was happening.

She needed to observe a bit more to be sure, but everything that had happened in the future was not unrelated to her.

Deneb now understood that she could influence this world—at least to some degree. She had realized her divine power still remained.

She wanted to reveal herself right away.

But she couldn’t.

The current Ghislain didn’t know her. No matter how much she tried to explain, he wouldn’t understand.

So she didn’t know how to make use of her divine power.

As she continued to wrestle with this—

Ghislain met someone.

And when Deneb saw who it was, tears welled up and poured from her eyes.

"…Julien."

Julien was standing before Ghislain.

Deneb recognized immediately that Julien had reincarnated.

It wasn’t just the face.

Deneb, now partially a transcendent being thanks to the power of the Sacred Stone, could recognize his soul.

But she felt it at the same time—he was no longer the same Julien.

With black hair, black eyes, and an icy expression that seemed devoid of love for the world—just like when he had become the Adversary.

The gentle smile he once always wore was nowhere to be seen.

"So this is how it ends…"

No one had realized it, but Julien had yet to free himself from the lingering thought of the Demon God.

He simply didn’t remember the past. His soul was already tainted by darkness.

Deneb’s tears fell endlessly.

Her heart ached to the point of breaking—for Julien, who had once given up even his soul for her.

In response to her feelings, divine power erupted from the necklace. But neither Ghislain nor Julien could possibly understand the cause.

"I have to save Julien no matter what."

She believed Ghislain held the answer. That’s why she had come here.

Resolved, she made a decision.

She would make Ghislain even stronger.

Ghislain, as he was now, was weaker than when he had trained them. He wasn't even using the techniques he had once taught.

Maybe… that could be the key. So Deneb began to slowly intervene in Ghislain’s consciousness.

However, she couldn’t teach him anything directly. She had neither the ability nor the means to do so.

‘Then… I’ll show him the memories.’

Ghislain had genius-level combat instincts. That’s why she decided to show him the war against the Demonic Abyss.

If he could witness those scenes, he might come to understand them on his own.

And if… a stronger Ghislain were to return to the past—

‘Then maybe he could make us stronger and help us escape the crisis.’

Whether that was possible, even Deneb didn’t know. She was simply clinging to hope—grasping at straws.

But the more she thought about it, the more it felt like the right path. She felt certain this would help.

‘Why…’

Suddenly, a chilling sense of déjà vu gripped her.

Why did it feel like she had already experienced all of this before?

Why did it feel like she was repeating choices she had already made?

As if she were watching a scene that had already played out countless times…

That strange, unfamiliar-yet-familiar sense of wrongness.

‘What if we… have already done this… many times…’

Deneb shook her head, trying to cast the thought aside. In the end, there was only one thing she could do right now.

"Ghislain… I hope this will help you…"

First, she showed Ghislain the Great War.

A time when flames engulfed the sky, and countless heroes and monsters clashed.

She recalled how people had fought, what sacrifices were made, and showed it all to Ghislain.

And she showed herself—so that if he ever came to the past, he could recognize her at once.

But it wasn’t as easy as she had hoped.

The divine power within the necklace was serving as a conduit to connect her with Ghislain, but his immense concentration was causing him to merge with the dream.

Startled, Deneb pushed him away.

"Not yet. You can’t come here yet."

She realized she had used her power too hastily.

Slowly—she needed to let Ghislain become accustomed to the dream, little by little.

Deneb tried to take her time, observing the war Ghislain was fighting, and pondering which memories would be most helpful to him.

Whenever there was an opportunity, she showed him glimpses of herself and Julien. She was careful to help Ghislain gradually adapt.

Then, as she watched Ghislain’s war unfold from high above, she saw something astonishing.

A mage named Jerome was fighting against Gartros, and he unleashed a spell by burning away everything he had.

Ruuuuuuummmmmble!

The sky split open as radiant golden light rained down like stars.

It was like a golden meteor falling from the farthest reaches of the universe.

But it wasn’t a meteor with physical mass.

Within that light was the order of the world and the laws of the cosmos. No, it felt more like a desperate wish—one that defied all logic and even the laws of the gods.

An absolute spell that gathered all corruption and distortion into one and purified it.

The moment that power fell, all sound in the world ceased.

Even the air seemed to stop breathing—time existed only for that single moment.

Deneb instantly understood.

That was…

A spell created to save Julien’s soul.

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