Chapter 343

Chapter 343. Momentary Corridor (1)

Where ‍​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​​​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌‌​‌‍had everything gone wrong?

Wiiiiing—

The ‍​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍alarm blaring as if it would swallow the entire Mage Tower made his head spin.

Arteo ‍​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍Kudente Cretian, the Empire’s 2nd Prince, stared at the tragedy unfolding before his eyes.

Blood ‍​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍pooled across the cold floor.

The ‍​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍great mage who had once ruled the Mage Tower.

Beside Helio’s lifeless body lay his youngest disciple, collapsed and unmoving.

“I told you to listen to me. Did I not?”

Standing before them was Aaron Daryu, wearing a cruel smile.

At his fingertips, the power of the Great Demon of Avarice, Mammon, flared like dark, bluish flames.

The air of the Mage Tower, blackened by demonic energy, constricted Arteo’s lungs.

Just minutes ago, he had been certain everything was going well.

Arteo retraced how it had all come to this.

It had begun with a single laborer he encountered after leaving the imperial envoy’s lodging.

***

“…Who are you?”

Arteo’s sharp voice echoed through the corridor.

A laborer clad in shabby work clothes.

Slung limply over his back was an unconscious person.

The laborer slowly raised his head.

In the darkness, the outline of a neat, familiar face emerged.

“Why are you here…?”

Arteo’s pupils widened as he recognized him.

Radel Silvert Cretian.

The 8th Prince who had recently defeated a dragon and collapsed.

Why was he here, dressed as a Mage Tower laborer, when he should have been lying unconscious in the Marcellent Temple?

And that was not all.

When Arteo realized who was on Radel’s back, he could not hide his shock.

Jet-black hair, pale skin.

Though different from the last time he had seen him, there was no mistaking it.

Harpel Elian Cretian, the Empire’s 6th Prince, whose death from an Ability rampage had been officially recorded.

To encounter the 6th Prince himself before even finding traces of him in the Mage Tower.

“It has been a while, Lord Arteo. Did you also come as part of the imperial envoy?”

Radel greeted him with a composed expression.

Even in this situation, his usual nonchalance remained intact, leaving Arteo momentarily speechless.

“You…!”

The absurdity did not end there.

Behind Radel, a young mage appeared, carrying an elderly man on his back.

Arteo recognized the old man at a glance.

He had seen his portrait in reports containing information about the Mage Tower.

It was Helio Valerian, the Mage Tower Master said to be bedridden with severe illness.

The red warning lights, the missing research materials, the critically ill Mage Tower Master, and the living 6th Prince.

Arteo quickly pieced together the information he had.

All of this had to be hidden.

It was a matter that could very well become a stain upon the Imperial Family.

Neither the Mage Tower nor the other members of the envoy could be allowed to see it.

He decided to take them out of the tower first.

“…Follow me. I have a plan.”

Arteo led them forward.

His destination was the ship the imperial envoy had arrived on.

As he guided them out of the Mage Tower in secret, he explained his plan.

“I have heard it is difficult to enter the Mage Tower, but not to leave. I will make some excuse and have the ship depart, so you all—”

Before he could finish, a wave of mana surged from behind.

KWA-GWA-GWANG!

A massive surge of molten lava rose and rushed toward them.

It was the magic of the Acting Mage Tower Master, Aaron Daryu.

“Did you think you could escape the Mage Tower?!”

Aaron’s crimson eyes burned fiercely.

Armandy swiftly set Helio down, stepped forward to block Aaron, and shouted.

“I will hold him back! Your Highness, please take the Master and the 6th Prince!”

After confirming that Radel had taken hold of Helio, Armandy began chanting.

“O earth!”

The Mage Tower’s floor surged upward, forming a solid shield around them.

The mana of the two disciples collided, causing the entire corridor to quake.

KWA-GWA-GWANG!

The impact roused Helio, who had been unconscious.

Seeing his disciples once again pointing their staves at each other, he moved his dry lips.

“All of this… is my fault….”

And then everything happened.

In an instant.

Aaron’s attack, empowered beyond human limits through his contract with a great demon, pierced through Armandy’s magic.

At the same time, a protective spell fueled by the entirety of Helio’s remaining life erupted outward.

FLASH!

“Master!!”

Witnessing his master’s end, Armandy screamed and charged at Aaron.

As if he had been waiting for it, Aaron raised his hand and impaled Armandy.

Thud.

Armandy’s body collapsed helplessly.

It was the inevitable result of a mage without divine power confronting a great demon’s strength head-on.

“I will stop him.”

Radel handed the 6th Prince over to Arteo and stepped forward.

“No.”

Arteo shook his head.

His mind was calmly analyzing the situation.

This was different from the battle with the dragon.

Back then, there had been the dragon’s sole weakness, the Reverse Scale, and the 9th Prince with the Dragon’s Blessing.

There had been Shartea with the Power of the Colossus, his maternal grandfather—the strongest swordsman of the Empire—and the Academy’s monstrous professors.

Above all, there had been priests of the Supreme Deity Order who could confront demons.

But here, in the Mage Tower, there was nothing.

Only a single apprentice holy knight who had come along with the envoy.

Even his whereabouts were now uncertain.

Given that Aaron had already reached this point, the rest of the group may well have been dealt with by the Mage Tower’s mages.

“It is too late.”

This was a battle that could not be won from the start.

The situation was utterly, utterly hopeless.

Where had everything gone wrong?

Should he have joined forces with the Imperial Mage Corps first?

As Arteo’s face darkened upon realizing there was no hope—

“It is not too late yet.”

Radel looked at him with unwavering eyes.

“Please trust me.”

Arteo let out a hollow chuckle.

Trust him.

In this situation, with what possible method?

The opponent was a seasoned mage who had contracted with a great demon and seized control of the Mage Tower.

In such isolation, struggling further would only lead to the same end.

Everything was stacked against them.

As far as Arteo knew, there was only one way to change this situation.

Arteo slowly raised his hand.

“What are you doing—do not tell me…!”

Sensing the ominous flow emanating from him, Radel shouted.

But it was already too late.

Golden light burst forth from Arteo’s hand.

He felt his lifespan spilling away like sand through an hourglass.

‘Momentary Corridor.’

Without hesitation, he activated his Ability.

***

Arteo opened his eyes.

An endlessly stretching corridor.

Countless doors lined up before him.

His Ability, Momentary Corridor.

This was a divine realm permitted only to him, where countless possibilities of the past existed in the form of doors.

But this authority carried a cruel price.

“Ghk!”

Arteo clutched his chest.

Agonizing pain, as though his heart were being torn apart, surged through him as the corridor’s doors crumbled into dust one by one.

The number of doors decreased in proportion to his remaining lifespan.

Only three doors remained.

“…That will have to be enough.”

Arteo smiled faintly.

He did not hesitate.

He needed to go to a time before the Mage Tower alarm rang, before he encountered Radel.

Among the pasts manifested as doors, he chose the earliest moment possible.

‘This time, I will not fail.’

With a resolute expression, Arteo flung the door open.

“…!”

He opened his eyes to the Mage Tower’s cold corridor.

The alarm had not yet sounded.

He judged that he had to stop Aaron before the attack began.

Just then, with a wiiiing—, the corridor’s magic lamps began to spew their eerie red light.

The same time, the same alarm as the first life.

Arteo searched his memory.

‘Aaron will be in the central hall.’

In the past, Aaron had gathered the Mage Tower’s mages in the central hall.

He needed to go there first and subdue him.

Leading the Imperial Mage Corps, Arteo headed straight for the central hall on the top floor without hesitation.

But Aaron was not there.

The vast hall stood empty, save for confused mages milling about.

‘Why…?’

His prediction had failed.

Where had Aaron gone?

A sense of dread gripped Arteo’s heart.

He mobilized the Imperial Mage Corps to scour the upper levels of the Mage Tower.

But when he finally found Aaron, it was not on the top floor.

Aaron was on the lowest floor.

The Abandoned Collection Area.

The moment Arteo arrived at the place overrun with beastified plants—

“Brother, please save me!”

A pitiful voice rang out from somewhere.

Arteo’s heart sank as he rushed into the collection area.

“Thea?”

A sister who should not have been there.

It was the voice of the Empire’s 3rd Princess, Shartea.

‘That cannot be. And yet….’

Knowing it was impossible, he still had no choice but to go.

“You all scatter and search for traces of the Acting Mage Tower Master!”

Leaving the Imperial Mage Corps behind, he ran.

Charging headlong toward the voice, what spread before his eyes was a grotesquely twisted field of blooming flowers.

Sssshk.

Each crimson blossom swayed like a mouth, mimicking Shartea’s voice with chilling accuracy.

“Brother, brother….”

Arteo was thrown into confusion.

What were these plants, and how did they know Shartea’s voice?

This had never occurred in the first life.

It was not Aaron’s doing.

Then who…?

“Ghk….”

A fading voice came from within the bushes.

It was Helio, collapsed and bleeding.

“Mage Tower Master?”

“There is… another personality inside the 6th Prince….”

“Another personality?”

Through his pain, Helio revealed the truth.

Forbidden research that fused plant tissue with the 6th Prince.

As a horrific side effect, a new personality had been born within him.

Now that the 6th Prince had escaped the glass tube, that personality had even absorbed his Ability, Dream Weaving, allowing it to read an opponent’s subconscious and manifest their weakest point as an illusion.

“I should have destroyed it before it came to this… but I could not bring myself to extinguish the life of the innocent 6th Prince as well… it is my fault….”

With those words, Helio closed his eyes.

His final words echoed in Arteo’s ears.

‘This may all be a dream. We may be trapped in an inescapable nightmare.’

Taut with tension, Arteo scanned his surroundings.

According to the Mage Tower Master, this place was already the domain of another personality wearing the 6th Prince’s form.

At that moment, someone emerged from the undergrowth.

“So here you are?”

It was the 6th Prince.

No—something wearing the 6th Prince’s appearance.

The being smiled wetly and whispered.

“Now you are the only one left.”

“The only one left?”

“Yes. You are the only one who knows that I am not the real 6th Prince.”

Thrust!

A sudden attack flew toward him.

Arteo barely dodged, but his arm was deeply slashed.

Sssss—

A burning pain spread from the wound.

Arteo’s expression twisted.

“Demonic energy?”

It was no ordinary attack.

Dense demonic energy flowed from the 6th Prince’s body.

Arteo glared at him and spoke.

“You… are you Aaron Daryu?”

“Keh-heh-heh…! Does that really matter now?”

So he had seized the 6th Prince’s body through a curse formula, just as one would expect from someone contracted with a great demon.

The situation was spiraling further into disaster.

He had turned back time to set everything right, and yet—

Where had everything gone wrong?

Then—

Clang!

A sharp dagger flew from somewhere toward the 6th Prince.

“Not yet! It is not over!”

It was Radel.

Cutting down the illusion-inducing flowers and blocking the attacks of the beastified plants, he rushed toward Arteo in desperation.

“It is not over yet! Do not give up!”

Give up?

Arteo stared blankly at Radel.

What was he not supposed to give up?

What could you possibly know?

“It is too early to turn back. There is still a chance!”

Radel’s words startled him.

Too early to turn back.

It sounded as though he knew that Arteo had turned back time.

Though his body was covered in wounds, Radel’s eyes did not waver in the slightest.

The moment Arteo met that gaze, it was his own heart that faltered.

No, that was wrong.

What could that boy possibly do on his own?

Arteo bit his lip.

‘Get a grip, Arteo!’

He could go back. Even if it cost his life.

If he turned back time one more time—

Yet Radel never took his eyes off Arteo until the very end.

“Please trust me.”

The same unwavering gaze as before time had been reversed.

That gaze was knocking on Arteo’s heart once more.

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