374. Leah Ep – The Restraint

Mysterious things. The emergence and hunting of monsters. Rumors of seeing fairies, rumors of encounters. Blessings. Miracles.

All of these are real to some extent, and so familiar that they feel ordinary.

Yet the situation unfolding right before my eyes was something I couldn’t believe, even as I witnessed it.

Something enormous appeared in the royal palace.

It appeared without any means to describe it other than “appeared.” If that massive thing had come crashing through the walls, I might have been able to use a different expression, but that was not the case.

When I closed my eyes and opened them again, a shoulder-like structure protruded from the wall.

The floor heaved up, connecting with that shoulder, making it look like an arm. No, it looked like the floor was undulating as if the arm was moving.

It became even more apparent when I entered the banquet hall.

The chandeliers hanging from the ceiling were pushed aside, and something that clearly resembled a human face jutted out, confronting Prince Lean.

The prince looked pale.

“You knew I was coming, Astroth.”

– Yes.

The gray face, where the features were barely distinguishable, spoke as if in patience.

– I know you didn’t come to keep your promise.

“How did you know?”

– Because you did the same before. Enough already. I don’t want to talk to a mere replica. I’m tired. Worn out and angry. Die. You’ll come back anyway.

“What?”

Hands rose from the floor like waves.

Though rather than hands, they looked like the talons of an eagle, attempting to squash the prince.

In that moment, Ray dashed out. I… could only watch Ray run out.

I couldn’t move. To be honest, I was so scared that I couldn’t budge a finger.

Not just me, but all the nobles, knights, and soldiers in the vicinity were frozen in fear, staring at the ceiling.

Just like a mouse making eye contact with a snake.

The only ones moving were Prince Lean, Ray, Mr. Reb, Lady Leah, and… Marquis Tatian and the Swordmaster.

The marquis tilted his head.

“What is that?”

The Count didn’t answer. He dashed out as if under a spell, and the Oblivion Blade cleaved through the ceiling. The giant face was split in half, but it was empty inside.

The situation didn’t improve.

The face moved even while split, and terror flowed from the cracks. Black moss spread out, covering the ceiling, walls, and floor.

People started to collapse in order of their weakness. Some clutched their chests, possibly having heart attacks, while others were convulsing from hyperventilation.

I was no different from them.

Having prided myself on being courageous, in the face of such fear, I couldn’t do anything. What we felt was fear born not from courage but from the immense weight of life and death.

Not out of fear of death,

but from the fear of being alive.

This fear began to gnaw away at us. It was in the moments when we naturally began to kneel, shedding our obedience and reverence.

“Lean! Why are you dazed? Are you okay?”

Ray carried the prince, moving him away from the talons that were trying to stab him, shouting as they reached a safe spot.

It seemed Prince Lean finally came to his senses.

“Thanks. But this is serious. It’s the worst.”

“Why?”

“Yesterday you said I married Reriana in the last round. I figured it out. The one who married my sister wasn’t me; it was that guy.”

“Nonsense. How is that possible? In the last round, we didn’t even get close to Astroth!”

“I don’t know either. For now… let’s fight. Reb, now.”

Mr. Reb nodded. He took a deep breath and shouted.

[ Achievement: King 6/6 – The Leos gain [Inspiration] ability. time(1y) ]

Wahh-!!

Wow! Ha!!

That shout sounded like a warrior at the height of battle, or a general leading a million-strong army, or even a king squeezed out a cry in a time of national crisis.

Whatever it was, the fear began to dissipate.

As people struggled to regain their composure, turning the banquet hall into a market, Lady Leah shouted.

“I bring you the holy maiden’s words!”

She, who usually looked a bit goofy and had a kind-hearted demeanor, was different now.

{Holy} light emanated from her.

Her voice was firm and powerful, pulling the ears of all who heard it.

“Drive away the evil overshadowing Oriax! There will be light! Shake off your fears and rise! Glory awaits! The Cross Church is prepared and stands with you!”

“C-cardiinal!”

“It’s the Holy Knights!”

Priestess Ophelia, who had disappeared somewhere after entering the palace with the Knight Commander, emerged with the cardinal, the priests of Oriax, and the holy knights.

It was such impeccable timing that it was almost impressive.

Light fell into the dark banquet hall, and the symbols of the Cross Church quietly rose from the black moss covering the floor.

Religion is great.

It gave the nobles, who had been fighting in two factions, a reason to unite, enlightening them on who the real enemy was.

The nobles called for their guards, urging their servants to bring support. The knights, freed from fear, were already ready to fight. They drew their swords and awaited orders. The soldiers held their positions.

Astroth, however, looked down on all of this with disinterest.

He realized that the humans’ struggles were trivial, and this was just one page in the filthy history created by the Deity.

A history that could be torn and discarded at any moment.

+ + +

Astroth sensed something odd in the summer of the year before last.

He had been pondering how to screw over Marquis Tatian as he awaited the arrival of the Aisel Kingdom’s prince.

At that moment,

“Huh? Oriax? Malhas?”

Two divine beings who couldn’t be compared to him but wielded considerable power suddenly vanished.

Of course, divine beings often disappear.

It’s not surprising when they lose faith or their powers dwindle to the point of extinction. Such occurrences happen from time to time, making it no shock.

But this time felt different. They had ‘vanished’ as if carved out of memory.

I couldn’t recall exactly when they had disappeared nor what they had been doing.

“Malhas? Well… that’s understandable. He might have just shriveled up and disappeared while holed up somewhere on an iceberg. But Oriax? He’s not the type to quietly disappear!”

Oriax had existed for thousands of years even after losing all his worshipers.

He probably had descended into the world and learned some tricks, so for him to vanish quietly now seemed as improbable as the sea drying up tonight.

Astroth felt a strange sense of déjà vu. It felt like this had happened before.

When was it? Having lived for such a long time, it took me months to trace back my memories.

In that time, Prince Vivian had come and gone, and because of forcing my daughter to kiss the son of the Swordmaster in front of him, the war I had been longing for finally broke out.

When was that? I had a feeling I knew.

Even while rummaging through my memories, I continued to act.

I had my daughter sleep with the noble’s son to trouble Marquis Tatian. Perhaps I could use him to eliminate the marquis, so I placed an enchantment on Toton Tatian.

I never expected that I would end up killing my own son… what a wretched fellow.

Astroth’s memories traversed from the moment he was born into darkness, to being chained to a rock for thousands of years, his first meeting with Leonel, the moment Leonel promised to free him, and the moment that promise was broken, until he reached the time he was pursued by Saint Azra.

Had I known this would be the case, I should have retraced my memories backwards. I found myself reminiscing about Leonel first, and this is what happened.

Thankfully, something clicked.

When had this happened again?

However, this realization was like a chilling alarm. It was a situation reminiscent of when Saint Azra chased after me.

Two thousand five hundred years ago, Astroth had been suddenly beaten by the newly appeared Saint Azra and had fled to Mount Astro. Yet, he was soon followed and beaten to a pulp by him.

That guy was so strong that it made it impossible to face him. Damn, it was so filthy that I had to give up the Emperor’s physical body and flee.

Hiding in the castle of Badobona, waiting for Azra to give up, it was at that moment that today’s incident occurred.

One of the divine beings had been erased from memory.

The fellow was so ancient that I couldn’t even remember his name.

But even though the memory of what he was doing was erased, I could recall it immediately.

There remained evidence of the mountains. That giant was piling up mountains, claiming to circle the continent out of fear of the ocean.

He started from the southern seaside and stacked up a massive range of mountains stretching southwest.

That very mountain range now located in the Orun Kingdom, meeting its end at the Anatolea Plain.

Back then, I hadn’t realized why the giant disappeared while stacking mountains. I was too preoccupied with being chased by Azra. But now I understand.

The giant who was piling up mountains was struck and killed by Azra. Yet, there remained questions.

“Why did he vanish from memory? If he died, he died, right?”

If they had fought, I would at least have sensed the aftermath, and yet, I had no recollection. He just disappeared at some point.

From then onwards, Astroth began to investigate Azra. I had my daughter dig through the royal library, matching it with his memory. I knew Azra was the reincarnation of Leonel… but I captured some phrases that just didn’t add up.

“Was Azra a criminal in his youth? Even a drunkard?”

The tale of which I had no knowledge remained as a secret story.

Once a deserter and con artist, Azra had lived a life of debauchery before returning to his hometown. As an old man, he lived off farming until one day, he suddenly left on a journey to Oriax. He came to find me and beat me up.

…It can’t be.

The strength I first faced when meeting Azra had been beyond imagination.

It rivaled the peak of Leonel’s prowess, even causing me to feel fear. That’s why I fled.

Astroth doubted the authenticity of this secret history.

I cross-checked it with other texts, confirming the original of the secret history lay in a church in the Toddler region.

Toddler.

The name that Leonel self-assigned after taking the throne. The Toddler region was both Leonel’s and Azra’s homeland.

Astroth gathered as much of the legends about Saint Azra remaining in the Toddler region as possible. The result indicated that the tale of him being a con artist and drunkard was largely credible.

Yet, how could this be?

So, I got knocked around by a drunken cowardly deserter who never lived his life working hard!

Thinking he must have received power from the Deity makes it easier to swallow, but I knew better than anyone that the Deity would never do such a thing.

Even Leonel, who had received abundant love from the Deity, took quite a while to become a Swordmaster.

Even though ‘mana’ was created specifically for Leonel.

In any case, what could possibly have happened?

How could Azra have gained strength so quickly? It seems impossible to suddenly become that powerful.

Wait. Let’s analyze this proposition.

“It’s impossible for an old drunkard like Azra to become that strong suddenly.” – This is the problematic proposition.

First, it’s not impossible for Azra to “become that strong.” After all, he is the reincarnation of Leonel. Therefore, the problematic element in the above proposition is only “suddenly.”

Let’s think again. If it’s not sudden, what is it? Slowly? Nah, that doesn’t make sense either!

Astroth couldn’t fully unravel this question. However, he theorized.

The issue lies with “time.” For now, I’ll keep that in mind and be cautious.

The scent of hunters seeking to catch me vibrated intensely all around.

+ + +

Though unable to uncover the mystery, up until that point, Astroth didn’t feel particularly bad.

This time, I waited eagerly to see how Leonel would appear, grooming myself in anticipation.

Of course, it was an absolute shock that Leonel had appeared in the body of a commoner (Azra).

The first king of humanity! I never imagined Leonel would stoop so low. It’s an old tale, so let’s just consider it a playful little jab.

But could this really happen again?

Nah, no way. I mean, there was a promise made.

Astroth believed firmly in the promise made by Leonel.

I believed that’s why I lent him my strength and waited over a thousand years even after experiencing Azra’s affairs.

Leonel promised that he would give me everything he was born with.

Everything he was born with.

That included the love he received from the Deity. In fact, that was Leonel’s entirety and all.

What’s more, Leonel was not bound by restraints. He was the only existence that not only wasn’t bound but lacked any restraint entirely.

Thus, if I could fully obtain him, I, Duke Astroth, would achieve complete freedom. With such expectations, I had been waiting…

“I’ve been played.”

Today, Leonel appeared as three entities. No matter how you look at it, a being like Leonel, no matter how much he may be a reincarnation, could never exist as two. Let alone three—impossible.

Here, Astroth realized.

Time had overlapped.

Those three were Leonels rooted in different timelines. There was no way Leonel himself could have pulled off such a trick, meaning it was a scheme of the Deity. Moreover, it indicated something significant.

Time is both history and the world.

If the Deity manipulates time at will, it means history and the world do too.

Assuming there are now at least three different histories and worlds.

The giant’s disappearance is a matter of ancient history, so it likely pertains to a common history. However, among the three, one might not have Malhas, and another might only lack Oriax.

Currently, this world is one where both Oriax and Malhas are absent, and I’ve become the prey.

Astroth was lost in regret.

If the Deity controlled the world in this manner, the promise of freedom held no significance. Only a world that suited his tastes would remain; it wouldn’t matter if one was bound or unbound by restraints. In the end, the results would be determined on his whim!

It’s empty and meaningless.

Astroth raised his hand. He wanted to kill Leonel, whom he had waited for so long, to rid himself of any lingering attachments.

In truth, even if that changed nothing, for the time being, I wanted to get those copies out of my sight.

Binard Tatian. Someday I also wanted to kill that guy, Count Forte. Tsk, I had no motivation.

While dawdling like this, the filthy minions of the Deity (the priests and holy knights) began to swarm in. It was then.

– Hmm?

“He’s moving! Do not let your guard down, and finish receiving your blessings. After that, we charge.”

A smile formed on Astroth’s lips. I really am not bound by restraints. There’s hope!

Not being bound by restraints means that neither the process nor the end is predetermined.

It means that there is no fixed destiny, the Deity cannot determine the future, and one’s life is entirely subject to their free will.

That means for Astroth, the future he desires

Must always,

In every circumstance,

Exist without fail.

Astroth felt the presence of Leisia squirming in the depths of the royal palace. He reached out, grabbed her, and lightly lifted her up.

Reriana screamed.

1) Astroth thinks this way because he doesn’t know that Minseo, who links the timelines of the Leos, exists.

2) However, the thought is not entirely incorrect. Astroth simply failed to consider the separation of space but did deduce that the Leos are rooted in different timelines. Reb was born in the southwestern part of the continent, Lean in the southeastern part, and Ray in the northern temporal space.

3) The Deity imbued the characteristics (mana) of the human named Leonel into the moon. The Blue Moon has carried that ever since.