Under Chain no longer bothered to hide now. They had openly set up camp around the Cradle.
Everyone who lived nearby had either locked their doors or evacuated.
The Imperial Knights, who were supposed to deal with them, were nowhere to be seen.
Well, considering how many people they had already thrown into attacking the Cradle,
they must have pulled forces from somewhere just as important to carry out a diversionary tactic.
Abraham must have decided to abandon the Cradle. He likely thought that, with Olga Hermod there, they could hold out with minimal support.
As a result, Olga Hermod was left to deploy an illusion spell that enveloped the entire Cradle, preparing alone for an attack by dark mages.
But even that precarious standoff seemed to be approaching its end.
“Haah, this is frustrating.”
The fact that all the students had been gathered in the auditorium was proof enough.
Were they planning to hold out here?
Or maybe they thought that, even if other areas fell, this place at least could be defended properly.
I couldn’t remember the last time there was such an act of terrorism. Honestly, this was the first time I’d experienced anything like it…
“Want a snack?”
“Ooh, sure. Gimme one.”
The students were in a peaceful mood as if they were out on a picnic.
Guys, seriously…these lunatics are trying to launch a terrorist attack here, you know?
“You need to eat to keep your strength up.”
“I’m going to kill someone.”
Ah, so I was the one who was wrong?
I didn’t realize this was just part of filling up before heading to battle…
Why would they start prepping for a fight after being told to gather here for protection?
Do they not trust Olga Hermod? Or are they just used to this sort of thing?
Whichever it is, it was a sad state of affairs.
“Hello. This is Headmistress Olga Hermod. I’ve asked you all to gather here today because I have an announcement to make.”
Amid the noisy atmosphere, Olga Hermod made her entrance.
She didn’t even try to quiet the crowd, yet surprisingly, her voice came through clearly, no matter how loud the surroundings were.
This too must have been magic befitting a master of illusion and space magic.
“I’m sure many of you have already guessed why I called you here. Yes, that’s right. The Cradle is currently under threat from a terrorist group known as Under Chain.”
Tap. Tap.
Olga Hermod lightly struck her staff on the ground. In response, the surroundings began to ripple.
It must have been the activation of her magic or perhaps her awakened ability.
“I’d like to say, ‘Stay calm and let us protect you’, but in the past half year, I’ve come to understand something. Your anger and sense of justice aren’t things that can be subdued with a few words.”
A portion of the magic began to dissolve.
The area around the entrance lit up brightly. It was clear even without explanation.
“If you wish to fight, then do so. Just remember that you alone are responsible for your actions.”
Olga Hermod did not try to stop the students blindly.
She knew that the students of the Cradle were warriors.
And surely, as a war hero, she understood such people better than anyone.
“That is all. This place will remain safe, so feel free to act as you see fit.”
With those final words, Olga Hermod vanished like a mirage.
It seemed the Under Chain’s attack had begun.
Well, of course it has.
And naturally, Yuna was nowhere to be seen.
I knew it.
The ones who say they don’t care are always the ones who care the most.
***
The dark mages sneered as they looked at the Cradle’s wall.
“Ha! A wall like this…”
The wall was still half-destroyed. A clear sign that the aftermath of the past year hadn’t been fully repaired.
Some of the dark mages charged toward a particularly low section of the collapsed wall. It looked like something they could just leap over.
Thud!
“Gah?!”
But just as they tried to cross it, they slammed into the wall.
The wall had suddenly risen in height.
Seeing their comrades crash into the barrier and fall, the other dark mages around them burst into laughter.
“You idiots! Olga Hermod is the one defending the Cradle right now! Of course there’s illusion magic in place. You should’ve known!”
One of the mages who had mocked the others now charged the wall wielding a large halberd.
“If it’s just an illusion, we can smash right through it!”
Crunch!
His powerful strike certainly smashed something—
The skull of an ally.
“Huh?”
And scenes like that were happening all over the battlefield.
They had only heard that she was a master of illusions and had grown far too complacent. But Olga Hermod was a mage who had made her name in war.
They should’ve thought more about what that actually meant.
No, they couldn’t think.
Even that was a result of Olga Hermod’s illusion magic.
Only a handful could resist magic that impaired even their ability to judge and think clearly.
“Hmph…”
And among that handful stood one.
Charybdis, the wave mage who had returned from death, raised his head.
A glow flickered between the sockets of his skull.
“You’ve grown stronger than I remember. Looks like your skills have improved.”
Charybdis knew this magic well.
It was the pride of his comrade. He knew all too well just how horrifying it was when this spell descended upon the battlefield.
An illusion that robs its victims of the ability to think.
Within it, enemies would slaughter one another, laughing all the while.
And it had once been Charybdis’s role to bring waves of fire crashing down upon that hellscape to silence the battlefield.
But now, they stood on opposite sides.
Resisting illusions that gnawed at the mind itself, Charybdis had to break through Olga Hermod’s magic.
And for the Charybdis of today, that was all too easy.
“Only death shall make us eternal.”
With those words, Charybdis declared the creed of Under Chain:
“So die. All of you. Here and now.”
Fwaaaaaah!
With that declaration, death began to gather like a swirling vortex.
The dark mages of Under Chain who were caught in it perished instantly, and the power of their souls was added to the force of death.
Charybdis had once felt a deep aversion to killing.
But now, he believed that death was a path to mutual understanding.
Charybdis had once feared being murdered by another.
But now, after tasting death himself, he realized it wasn’t so frightening.
Charybdis had once doubted those who approached him.
But now, he knew that death could be a means to connect with others.
Here, in this moment—
All the shackles that once bound him had fallen away.
“The death we bring shall lead you to true salvation.”
The wave crashed.
A vortex overflowing with the aura of death surged forward all at once in a single direction.
The wave of death swallowed everything in its path, illusions and all.
Fwooooosh!
Soon, the wave that had devoured everything in the form of a huge tidal surge finally shattered the illusion of Olga Hermod.
A half-destroyed wall.
Magic tainted by the aura of death.
Corpses scattered all around.
Under Chain had paid a tremendous price just to cross a single wall of the Cradle.
However, their sacrifice had long since lost its original meaning.
Crack!
The corpses of the dark mages rose again as undead, and their souls became bound to the Great Sage’s ring.
Yes, to them, death did not signify an end.
It was merely a new beginning.
Even in death, their bodies moved again for the sake of their comrades, and their souls, having left those bodies behind, became part of the chain and remained in this world forever.
“The gate has opened.”
“Hmm…”
Charybdis turned to look behind him.
Only one had survived being caught in his wave.
No, was “survived” even the right word?
Before his eyes stood someone who could not be defined as either living or dead.
Clothing barely more than rags.
And countless bundles of chains linking that clothing to the skin beneath.
Clink.
The chains scraped and struck the ground, ringing out in strange, eerie tones.
Clink.
With every step he took, he shifted from the appearance of the living to that of the dead.
Clink.
Another step, and he became a child, then an old man.
Clink.
He was a being who had transcended death. Who had transcended even time itself.
“How fascinating. I hope the answer to my question lies here.”
The Great Sage, Faust.
He took a step toward the Cradle.
***
The shelter in the Great Hall.
Of course, despite Yuna’s disappearance, I stayed in the Great Hall calmly and with dignity, receiving protection.
To be honest, I’d like to stay here forever.
Pretend I don’t know anything, keep my eyes closed like usual.
But what could I do? Maybe if it were someone else, I could ignore it. But it was my friend who was in danger.
I guess I’m just not the type to be cold-hearted. When something’s bothering me, I can’t sleep at night.
– Ah, ah, can you hear me?
“…Yeah, I hear you just fine.”
It came right after a massive roar echoed outside.
I had asked him to contact me if he spotted Charybdis, but I didn’t expect him to find him this quickly.
He could’ve taken his time… I’m not mentally prepared for this yet.
I took a small hand mirror out of my coat and pretended to have a conversation with it.
Of course, it was just an ordinary mirror with no magic cast on it.
Silver mirrors were pretty expensive, and it wasn’t exactly easy to trade something like that with a guy like Stan.
Still, since those kinds of magical tools were well-known, people would probably just assume it was legit if they saw me talking to a mirror like this.
“You already found him?”
– We did find him, but tracking where he went will be difficult.
“Why? Did someone like the Great Sage show up or something?”
– …Did you already know this would happen?
Ah, this guy still thinks I’m some kind of Oracle?
That misunderstanding has long since expired, buddy. After all the chaos I’ve been dragged into, how can you still believe that?
“’Knew’ is a stretch. I just considered what the worst-case scenario might look like. So, the Great Sage showed up, huh?”
It wasn’t exactly a plotline from the original game, but it was an easy enough guess.
The dark mages had been building up to their attack on the Cradle loud and clear.
And now, added to the mix was the formidable foe of Charybdis.
Still, even with all of that combined, it wasn’t enough to surpass Olga Hermod.
That’s what it means to be an archmage.
“They must’ve known they’d have to deal with the Headmistress if they wanted to break into the Cradle. I figured they’d have something ready for that. But to bring out the Great Sage…?”
Were they planning to reduce the Cradle to ashes?
Honestly, I don’t get what’s so special about this tiny little academy that’s got everyone in such a frenzy.
Well, I guess it’s not that tiny, and maybe it’s just a rational strategy to crush future talents in advance. Still, couldn’t they have thought a little more about cost-efficiency?
People whose life’s achievement was “destroyed an academy” were the absolute worst.
– In any case, I’ve kept my promise. Things are about to get busy on my end, so I probably won’t be able to help you anymore.
“Got it. Thanks. What you’ve done is already more than enough.”
Olga Hermod and Lobelia’s party were going to have to give it everything they’ve got to stop the Great Sage.
He was the only fully complete final boss at this point in the timeline. A monster with the power of Tillis and the cunning of Kult. A master of both might and mind.
Of course, if you go by the true final chapter, Kult might be the strongest, but still, at this moment, Faust was the biggest monster of them all.
“Huh? Johan, where are you going?”
Now that I’ve heard Charybdis has crossed the Cradle’s threshold, I had no choice but to get moving too.
Though I didn’t expect the front gate to fall this quickly…
“To where I need to be.”
For the first time in a while, I made a serious face and grabbed the sword at my waist.
“Looks like he’s going to the bathroom.”
It seemed my image had already reached a point beyond repair, but I decided not to worry about it for now.
Anyway, not all the students in the Cradle had gone out to fight.
Among the second and third-years, many students sat out of battle due to poor health or for various other reasons.
As for the first-years, they were all huddled together in the main auditorium without exception.
I picked one of them out and lifted him by the scruff of his neck.
“I need your help, Dietrich.”
“Huh? Senior? Are you heading out to fight?”
“Yeah, let’s go together. Like you know, I’m weak, right? Help me out.”
“If it’s your request, Senior, how could I possibly refuse!”
I appreciated it, but still…why did this guy think so highly of me?
I just couldn’t figure him out.
Anyway, I managed to pull Dietrich out as well. He must have been barely holding himself back, itching to move while caught in the crowd mentality of his fellow first-years.
“So, which way are we headed, Senior?”
“Hmm, do you know what’s going on?”
“Not really.”
“Then listen carefully. This information only came to me, but the Great Sage has invaded the Cradle. Because of that, the defenses we had originally prepared for Charybdis and Salos are completely vacant right now.”
“Ah! I get it. Noblesse oblige, right? You may not have a shred of strength, but as a noble, you’re setting an example! That’s just like you, Senior.”
“You little… No, forget it. You’re right. You’ll help, won’t you?”
“Of course. Someone’s got to do it anyway. And this might be the perfect chance to become a hero alongside you, Senior.”
Dietrich let out a hearty laugh and grabbed the sword at his waist.
With that, I had secured myself a bodyguard too.
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