Chapter 430

‘No. 13 is a kind of pseudo-divinity. An ordinary living being cannot endure such diverse blessings, souls, and natures. Therefore, it was made to endure.’

Aslan suddenly recalled the words Tiyalmisof had once spoken.

Upon reflection, clues had been given from that moment on.

Tiyalmisof had mentioned how No. 13 was special, starting with her soul.

Aslan unconsciously glanced at No. 13.

The woman who clutched her dress, filled with emotions like confusion, fear, despair, and more as she looked at Aslan.

No. 13 was confused. She realized that not only would her plan fail before it even started, but also that it would fail right from the beginning.

Moreover, she was afraid. Now aware of what fate might await her if she proceeded with the plan without knowing any better.

Even if it wasn’t dying by the hands of someone she loved, it was a shock no less severe.

Just imagining it was enough to make her shudder.

Furthermore, she felt despair.

Because she well knew how unstable a soul without a body could be.

Her mentor was Anna Helmenius, a woman who refused to accept the loss of her daughter and attempted to resurrect her by sealing her soul.

Even if time were to move forward for her, there would be no bright days ahead.

She would either remain as a soul, her self collapsing into objects for eternity, or perhaps end up in a place akin to the afterlife where she might even forget herself.

Or else, left behind in this void of a future, waiting endlessly for Aslan without any hope.

Whichever path, it was a despondent future.

And so, she finally resigned herself.

Acknowledging that there would be no happy days for her, and that thousands of years of desperate waiting would bring no salvation.

Though tears did not flow fortunately, she would have let them flow freely if she could.

She released the fabric she had been clutching and lowered her head.

Aslan closed his eyes tightly, as if in pain.

“…Where’s the guarantee that you’re telling the truth?”

His curt question to Valerie came from such a reason.

He hoped this was all a joke, just like when she had jokingly threatened to conquer Earth.

“Come to think of it, it’s strange too. What do you gain by telling me this?”

Aslan spoke with his eyes still closed, receiving no response in return.

“Is it because No. 13 will incur losses if she moves to my timeline, so you’re not lying?”

He desperately wished for some kind of answer, but silence flowed instead.

It was an unbearable silence.

“When has there ever been a guarantee that this isn’t the Dark Ram’s trap…?”

Finally, the silence compelled Aslan to open his eyes.

Beyond it lay a sight he wished he had kept his eyes closed for.

Valerie was looking at Aslan.

The expression on her face was one of compassion.

An expression of looking at a human who knows their actions are foolish yet can’t help but act.

Aslan lost his words and closed his mouth. Valerie blinked her red eyes and then spoke.

“Are you asking this despite already knowing the truth? Is it because you want me to give you false hope and ruin everything?”

Valerie asked teasingly, though she knew the answer.

Aslan grimaced painfully, and Valerie sighed.

The sigh tickling No. 13’s ears caused her pointed ears to twitch.

“The reason I’m telling you this is… a secret.”

Valerie understood that Aslan wanted to escape reality and therefore refrained from forcing an explanation.

“Make your own judgment. You’re not a child anymore.”

Instead, Aslan quietly lowered his eyes at her added words.

“My advice is to leave this cutie here. Don’t worry, even if you leave her, I’ll occasionally keep her company like I’ve done until now.”

“Until now.”

Which meant it had already been happening.

Still, considering how lonely No. 13 seemed, it was likely that she had been almost abandoned, conversing with Valerie only occasionally.

Since Aslan hesitated, Valerie continued.

“Otherwise, you could take the risk and bring her along entirely. If you do that… the difficulty will skyrocket, though.”

“Do I have a choice?”

“Yeah, whichever way you choose, it’s your decision. It’s not something I’m doing, right?”

In her indirect expression of respect, Aslan considered both options carefully.

He had no choice but to do so.

For Aslan, it was a habit to thoroughly examine the cards in his hand.

After thinking for a while, Aslan firmly decided that neither option appealed to him.

First, leaving No. 13 in this world.

That was unacceptable.

Not only would it violate Aslan’s principle of never abandoning comrades, but there was no guarantee that he could return later to retrieve No. 13.

Even if he defeated the Dark Ram, it seemed unlikely that he could find this world again, this Ruined Geladridion.

Even if he could find it again, there was no way to predict how No. 13 might have changed inside.

Perhaps she would have gone mad and attack.

Above all, there was another reason beyond practicality.

Aslan had always lived without idly standing by in the face of misfortune and wrongdoing before his very eyes.

Regardless of authority or grand cause, if Aslan believed it was wrong, he opposed it.

Such an Aslan couldn’t stand idly by while violating his ironclad principles and watching No. 13’s unhappiness.

However, it wasn’t something he could simply take with him either.

There were too many factors to consider recklessly.

Valerie, who had casually mentioned during their conversation about defeating the Abyss that things would “get harder from now on,” explicitly stated this time that the difficulty would explode.

With no way to gauge how much harder it would get or how powerful the enemies would become.

Having dealt with several divine ranks already, each fight had either depended on sheer luck or required paying a heavy price, so Aslan had to be cautious.

The next price to pay might involve losing allies or himself.

Especially seeing this Ruined Geladridion made him even more cautious.

While Aslan was deep in thought,

he suddenly felt warmth spreading through his hand, recognizing it as the constant temperature of an elf’s body, and looked up.

There stood No. 13.

She had approached close enough to embrace and held his hand.

Their eyes met as she composed herself.

It was an expression that evoked a protective instinct upon seeing it.

She said softly,

“It’s alright.”

The consoling words became a command, the command transformed into magic.

The mana contained within the magic gently enveloped Aslan, comforting him.

His heart, which had been racing wildly, gradually calmed down, and his slightly erratic breathing settled.

This happened even before Aslan could use magic interference.

As his anxiety subsided, Aslan calmly noticed No. 13 pointing to his mouth.

He immediately used magic interference.

No. 13, feeling Aslan’s mana coursing through her body, softly closed her eyes and reopened them before speaking.

“It’s fine to leave me here.”

At this, Aslan’s expression crumbled.

A look of anguish bordering on sorrow.

Aslan fully understood No. 13’s actions.

Only after ensuring that the magic interference was indeed working did No. 13 speak.

If the command took effect, if saying “leave me here” turned into magic,

she really would be left behind.

Fearing that greatly, she only spoke after confirming that it wouldn’t turn into a command.

Amidst the turmoil of reason and emotion.

She opened her mouth out of reason to send Aslan away and hesitated out of emotion not wanting to be left alone.

Aslan couldn’t say anything.

Because the gloomy words No. 13 had spoken—”Aslan, please don’t go”—came back to him.

It hurt. He could empathize with No. 13’s feelings, and it pained him.

No. 13 looked at Aslan, whose eyes were tightly shut, forced a smile, and fidgeted with his hand.

To deeply engrave this last touch, to somewhat neutralize the eternal pain and loneliness that awaited.

Aslan realized.

Feeling the warm body heat of No. 13 flowing through his hand and recalling her vivid expressions, he understood.

That Aslan could not leave No. 13 behind.

Somehow, somehow, he had to find a way.

Another method.

A revolutionary strategy.

Tricks or deceptions from myths, legends, tales—those clever tactics or deceits that even trick gods and lead to happy endings.

He had to come up with something extraordinary.

The more he tried, the more Aslan realized his ordinariness.

As Valerie silently watched Aslan, and No. 13 lowered her gaze while touching Aslan’s hand,

Aslan thought that he didn’t want to lose or leave her behind.

It appeared greedy.

Like a coward who pushes people away out of fear of losing them.

A different image from the heroes who sometimes lose, sometimes fail, and create legends.

But that was what made Aslan, Aslan.

The greed for miracles.

The dullness of reaching for light despite any despair.

That was why Valerie had come secretly to whisper, avoiding the Dark Ram’s eyes.

The fascinating sight shown by an ordinary yet noble human, a common human.

As Valerie fixed her red eyes on Aslan, Aslan rewound his memories.

Recalling all the knowledge he knew and all the information about No. 13.

He delved deeply.

Slowly, Aslan’s memory retraced the past.

And in doing so, he remembered something.

The words Tiyalmisof had spoken to persuade Aslan lingered in his mind.

The information following Valerie’s bombshell declaration.

Tiyalmisof had said twelve test subjects died for No. 13 to be born.

She described No. 13 as a kind of pseudo-divinity and an evolved human.

Made to endure diverse blessings, souls, and natures.

Finally, Tiyalmisof had declared that No. 13 proved to be an evolved human.

Aslan intuitively grasped it.

That Tiyalmisof, after creating No. 13, could not measure her abilities or results.

From there, Aslan formed a hypothesis.

Perhaps, even if a being possessed greater power than expected, its body could withstand it.

Realizing this, Aslan gripped No. 13’s hand tightly.

No. 13 blinked and looked up, meeting Aslan’s eyes.

There was no longer any trace of pain or self-reproach in Aslan’s eyes.

Certainly, Aslan was an ordinary human. A mere human who had grown accustomed to wielding powers beyond his station through repeated battles.

He possessed none of the cunning or strategies of mythic heroes.

But if there was an answer in everything he had seen and heard thus far, he had always seized the opportunity.

‘The only thing capable of enduring No. 13’s soul is No. 13’s own body.’

Aslan looked at No. 13, who blinked.

Blessings, soul, nature.

Of these three, nothing was missing from No. 13 in Aslan’s timeline.

Then, what would happen if these overlapped?

While there was no certainty, overlapping forces would not grow explosively.

Thus, although there was no guarantee of perfect success,

Aslan finally drew out a third answer.

And Aslan intuitively trusted this was the only method.

Aslan used his omniscience to glimpse fate and the future, predicting success rather than failure.

When Aslan turned his eyes to Valerie, Valerie wore an expression of surprise, as if unexpected.