Chapter 217: A Frog in a Well Part 6

The joy of our reunion was short-lived.

I had to endure the side effects of the Babel Gear and Spur Gear with my whole body.

I couldn’t even move.

“You were lucky.”

It really was dangerous.

There’s no way I could’ve survived against more than three barbarians.

Even if I had somehow managed to escape, the aftereffects would’ve been severe.

In that kind of situation, Ariel appeared as if by fate.

There’s no other way to describe it except pure luck.

“Ah, that was…”

“I told her.”

Mephistopheles popped out from behind Ariel as if it were the most natural thing.

Right, I’d forgotten about this guy.

I wondered what he’d been doing all this time, and it turns out, quite helpfully, he’d informed Ariel of my location.

“See? There are advantages to taking on a human form, aren’t there?”

Mephistopheles smirked proudly.

Every time I saw that face, I wanted to punch it, but I held back.

Whatever the case, the fact remains that he helped save me.

“Couldn’t you have done that even in your dog form?”

So I gave a timid rebuttal.

For now, I’ll let it go at that.

“No. Listen. Right after you were captured and locked up, I tried to tell your companions where you were.”

“Good job.”

At the very least, it’s clear that he proactively tried to help me.

Before I knew it, Mephistopheles had gone from being a dangerous demon to a petty but still helpful partner.

I was deeply moved.

“But then, the world began to oppress me. It took quite a while to shake off that oppression.”

“…What kind of oppression?”

“Street punks who don’t know their place kept waving at me to come play with them, and food vendors on the street would hand me leftovers, saying it was all they had left.”

“How is that oppression?”

“Because it kept making me stop in my tracks. That’s oppression.”

What a long-winded way to say he was just goofing off.

“But in the end, thanks to taking human form, I was able to ask around and make my way to the Cradle!”

“…Right, good job.”

Not even worth arguing with.

More than that, how does this guy always manage to show up wherever I am, yet struggles to find anyone else? Is that some sort of demon-specific quirk?

“I saw her looking lost and troubled on the street. She looked so pitiful I struck up a conversation… and it turned out she was looking for you.”

“I wasn’t lost. I was just… a little flustered.”

“R-Really?”

He didn’t even find her himself. Didn’t even make it to the Cradle? Seriously?

No…. whatever. Now’s not the time to waste energy on something so trivial.

Let’s ignore all of it, just like we agreed to.

Why did I go through the pain of bleeding and launching a full-blown escape, anyway?

It certainly wasn’t to argue about nonsense like this.

“Ariel, do you remember the promise you made with the Great Warrior?”

“Huh? Ah, yes…. I remember.”

“You don’t need to keep that promise anymore. So there’s no need to risk unnecessary danger.”

That’s what I wanted to say.

It’s the reason I pushed myself to the point of being covered in blood.

Because I didn’t want to see Ariel sacrifice herself because of me.

“Do you not want me to go, Johan?”

“Yes.”

I answered bluntly.

I laid bare my ugly, selfish feelings without trying to sugarcoat them.

So what?

Rather than seeing countless strangers die, I hate it more when someone close to me dies.

I’m the kind of person who would rather keep the people around me safe than save the world.

No matter how strong I become, I can’t change that core part of myself.

“But I want to respect Ariel’s will. That’s why I told you everything and shared my opinion.”

“I see…”

Honestly, I already knew what Ariel’s answer would be.

She’s going to go.

Even setting aside her promise with the Great Warrior, she’s a retainer of Lobelia.

And Lobelia isn’t the type to run away in a situation like this.

So it’s obvious that she won’t run either.

“I recommend not going too.”

“Mephisto, how many times have I told you to stay out of these things?”

This is a serious moment.

Can’t you tell just by looking?

This is the heartbreaking scene where I get rejected.

“Did I say anything wrong? What’s the point of fighting a battle you can’t win? It’s a pointless death.”

“I mean…”

What a cold and merciless response.

He really was a demon, through and through.

“That thing you’re dealing with now was never something you could defeat in the first place. Not even my true form, or the Emperor you fear so much, could beat it.”

“…What?”

He still spoke as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

But there was something different this time.

A subtle wrongness I couldn’t put into words.

I felt like something was stuck in my throat.

Then, suddenly, I realized what was strange about what Mephistopheles had said.

“That strong, huh?”

Had he ever declared his own defeat so plainly before?

This was someone who always claimed he could solve anything as long as you made a deal with him.

Whether or not it was true, his confidence had always been absolute.

“So how can you be so sure?”

“Hmm? Isn’t it obvious?”

Mephistopheles tilted his head, as if I were the strange one, and replied.

“Could you really place bets against a real god?”

***

Tronios Ether was born with a talent for magic. From the very beginning, his starting point was different, and for that Archmage, rising to the ranks of the strongest was easy.

Lanius and Emperor Abraham reached the peak not only through talent, but through effort, environment, and time.

Then what about Vidar?

Vidar was originally just an ordinary scholar.

One day, without warning, he became a barbarian and rose to become the great warrior who symbolized the blade’s edge of legend.

With knowledge of obscure histories and forbidden rites unknown to others, Vidar climbed to the top with nothing but his bare hands.

And he did it without any divine weapons or supernatural powers.

One day, all of a sudden—

The hero of the barbarians appeared in the world.

But is it really possible for such a monster to just fall into the world out of nowhere?

“Of course, it’s not an actual god. It’s just some transcendent being that became the object of worship. If I had to compare it to something, it’d be like the World Tree of the elves. Not a true god, but something treated as one. You understand what that implies, right?”

“…You mean it’s a monster so powerful that calling it a god just makes sense?”

“Exactly. And that guy is the vessel that contains such a god.”

Mephistopheles unwrapped a candy and popped it into his mouth, chewing lazily as he spoke.

This guy really does stay in his own rhythm no matter the situation.

“He probably doesn’t even know it himself. That he’s the vessel for a god. But it won’t matter in the end. He’s still mortal, and eventually, he’ll crumble under the weight of that divine power.”

The Great Warrior was the kind of enemy who appeared as the strongest in the early stages of the game, but gradually weakened over time.

In fact, meeting him early on was practically a guaranteed defeat. It was an event designed to make you lose.

You meet him, you lose. He was the only enemy with that kind of established rule.

But he was also on a timer.

As long as you didn’t cross paths with him, he’d eventually self-destruct in the later stages of the game.

A final boss who would exit on his own unless you chose to confront him at the right moment.

That was the Great Warrior, Vidar.

“Johan, thinking you know everything is a mistake. Whatever you think you know, it’s just scratching the surface. You were nothing more than a frog in a well.”

He wasn’t wrong.

A monster like that showed up without warning, and I brushed it off as just a random mutation.

If the Emperor and the Black Knight were monsters who had lived for hundreds of years, then Vidar hadn’t even lived a hundred yet.

And he likely spent half of that time as a scholar. His starting point was different from the rest.

So then….when did he become strong? Was he powerful from the very beginning?

Was he born as a vessel for a god? And if not…

“And there were a lot of suspicious things about him. You’re the one who failed to notice. I’m sure there were things you sensed and things that slipped past you entirely.”

The truth is I don’t know much about the Great Warrior.

At best, all I knew was the background lore from the game. Anything beyond that…

“…Varg’s Curse.”

“Yes.”

Just the fact that Vidar’s younger brother had died from Varg’s Curse.

When we first met at the Imperial Academy in the past, he thanked me for curing Varg’s Curse.

Didn’t he even give me an out-of-place Artifact called the Sun God’s Necklace?

Varg’s Curse.

That curse was the same illness my younger brother Chris suffered from. A condition that made it impossible to walk under sunlight.

Long ago, people believed it wasn’t a disease but a curse, and even as time passed, that name stuck. It was still called “Varg’s Curse”.

Then what exactly is “Varg”?

“Vargs are beasts that devoured the sun and moon. Monsters worshipped by the barbarians in their native folk religion.”

A remnant the Empire failed to erase.

I had never questioned what Varg was. Never even gave it any thought.

I just assumed such a thing existed, and never considered where the story might have originated.

Naturally so.

Back then, all I cared about was saving Chris.

“And their curse…was sometimes seen as a blessing.”

“……”

“You could even say it was part of the process of crafting a vessel that could hold a god.”

Chris overcame the illness.

He beat the curse and regained his health with the imperfect medicine I had created.

He grew bigger.

Just like Vidar.

It probably wasn’t just Vidar’s brother who suffered from Varg’s Curse. Vidar himself must have had it too.

That’s why he had expressed his gratitude to me more sincerely than anyone else ever had.

“So don’t try to oppose it. What you’re about to go up against is the origin of the entire beastkin race.”

Mephistopheles gave a solemn warning which was unusual for him.

***

Of course, whether Mephistopheles warned us solemnly or threw a tantrum on the floor, we still had to go.

In fact, his explanation only served to further ignite Ariel’s resolve.

Honestly, I already knew Ariel was going to go, but I didn’t expect her to remain so unwavering even after hearing all that.

If she had shown even a little hesitation or doubt, I might have tried to stop her. But Ariel didn’t waver at all.

“How’s the ride, Johan?”

“…It’s comfortable.”

I had passed out halfway through, suffering from the aftereffects of the gear mechanism.

Even now, I’m barely managing to keep the screams from slipping through my teeth.

That’s why Ariel was carrying me with her telekinesis.

“That’s a relief.”

As miserable as it sounds, it was this ride that made me realize Ariel had truly become an Archmage.

Telekinesis was an invisible force.

Ariel used it in various ways. Like crushing opponents, creating barriers, and so on.

I’d been caught in it a few times myself, so I knew how effective it was.

But this was different.

“I tried to mimic a cotton blanket.”

“You did. It’s warm, too.”

The nature of Ariel’s telekinesis had changed.

It wasn’t just force anymore. In essence, it was the ability to create something invisible.

Right now, I feel both the softness and warmth of lying on a cotton blanket.

Which means, conversely, it should be possible to create invisible fire or cold as well.

“I just don’t understand. Why do humans insist on throwing themselves into the fire? If you’re going to die anyway, just hand over your souls to me.”

“Be quiet.”

Mephistopheles looked dejected, as if we were already dead.

The bastard really does have a knack for pouring cold water on things.

“Johan.”

“Yes, Ariel?”

“If things go wrong… would you die with me?”

“…If things go wrong, I’ll beg, crawl, or do whatever it takes to keep you alive.”

“That’s… very Johan of you.”

Even if I have to crawl on the ground.

Of course, I don’t know what I’ll be capable of when the time comes.

I’m only coming along to put my faith in a hopeless fight.

“Actually, it’s not hopeless.”

“That guy over there said flat-out that it is.”

“Say it with me, Johan: ‘Stop O moment’. It’s not too late.”

“Fine, I won’t talk to you, so you shut up too.”

I shoved Mephistopheles off as he clung to me.

“So, what’s your basis for saying we have a chance?”

“No matter how powerful he may be, the fact that he’s held out this long means he didn’t have the strength to take on the entire Empire. That’s why it’s possible.”

She’s not exactly wrong.

If Vidar were that overwhelmingly powerful, he could’ve crushed the Empire on his own.

But the fact that he didn’t meant, in the end, there was a limit to his power.

“Thanks to Johan, we’ve put together some countermeasures of our own. By now, not just Father but even the Black Knight should be confronting him.”

“So the whole thing about your father-in-law heading north was just a cover?”

The newspaper had reported that Tronius Ether was heading to the north… but it must’ve been a diversion.

I’m a little uneasy thinking about what might become of the North, but there’s no helping it.

In the end, if we can’t stop Vidar, then the tip of the Speartip of Snow Blossoms won’t be stopped either.

There will be sacrifices, but we made the most rational choice.

Anyway, that means the Empire now has not just the Black Knight, but also Duke Ether.

And with other powerful figures likely there as well, maybe…just maybe, Ariel’s right and it’s not a lost cause.

“Yeah, if that’s the case, there’s still a chance. But you can’t be certain. Johan, if you really want to tip the odds in our favor…then shout it out.”

“Just shut the hell up already. You’ve been yapping non-stop; it’s driving me nuts.”

“…Hmph.”

Just give it a rest already, will you?

***

A ruined city center.

The imperial palace visible in the distance.

The great warrior Vidar stood, staring up at the high fortress walls.

As he took in the “walls” standing in his way, Vidar smiled.

It was a trap.

“I figured as much.”

From the moment he’d crossed paths with Johan, he knew the plan had started to fall apart.

To be precise, Johan had been more persistent than expected—

And his companion had been quicker and more capable than he anticipated.

From the moment he lost her, the great warrior had already been put at a disadvantage.

The powerful figures like Tronius Ether who was said to have gone north, among others were all standing guard at the entrance to the imperial palace.

“Hahahahaha!”

And yet, Vidar was still laughing.

He let out a savage, beast-like roar of laughter.

“Very well! You worms! Let’s see if that fence of yours is strong enough to hold back a beast like me!”

The moment the plan began,

He had already left reason behind.