Chapter Season 2 734

Translator: Alpha0210

Even at a rough glance, the plan was riddled with holes. This world had already diverged in many ways from the past that had actually existed. The ones responsible for those changes were five outsiders who had never originally existed in this era…….

Of course, Agolet had said those changes probably would not matter much. In this world, the ‘result’ mattered more than the ‘process’.

Was that really true?

For some reason, Residue could not bring himself to jump to that conclusion.

If this were truly a world where only the result mattered, why had there been any need to make it so realistic?

Fakes, forgeries, crude imitations……. Those were things Residue could see through at a glance.

According to Agolet’s conjecture, Lukas and the five outsiders should have been the only ones in this world who could be called ‘real’, but from what Residue had experienced firsthand while interacting with everyone here, that was not the case.

Even if these people were nothing more than puppets carrying out predetermined roles, if those puppets possessed the intelligence to think and make judgments for themselves, what made them any different from actual human beings?

On this point, even Residue had no choice but to admit that Lukas had influenced him.

That led to another question. Was Lukas’s survival really the only thing here capable of affecting the Unified World? If not, what other consequences might spread far into the future?

First, Schweizer was not supposed to die here. At his current level, he could not create Anastasia……. Leaving traces of himself and his research materials somewhere in a mountain range would be even further beyond him.

Second, there was Iris. Could the woman she was now endure 4,000 years for Lukas?

And they were not the only ones. Kasajin and Lucid would surely be affected in some way by Lukas’s temporary absence as well. There was no telling how those internal changes might alter the future.

But more than any of that, there was something else Residue was most wary of.

The possibility that he might fail to become the ‘Fifth Destruction’. After all, he had absolutely no idea what laws governed the beings in ‘The Outside’.

From what he had heard, the beings called ‘Destruction’ might not have been chosen by some law or vast will to fulfill that role. They might simply have been Destruction from the very beginning, only unable to realize it until a certain moment arrived.

Of course, even with all those complications, Residue’s choice would not change. If he were going to concern himself solely with the odds of success, nearly everything he had attempted from the very beginning had carried only the faintest chance of working.

The method he had chosen now had at least some chance of success.

For the moment, that was enough.

“Hmm.”

There was almost nothing left for him to do now. Only the final step remained.

Neither particularly heavy nor light of step, Residue headed toward Lukas.

By now, the bastard was probably getting beaten to a pulp by the other Demigod there─ Hella. And of course, the Blue Knight would allow that violence to continue until the very last possible moment…….

…Lost in one thought after another as he walked, Residue finally began to see Sarman around the time the sun completely disappeared beneath the horizon.

“…….”

But Residue stopped dead instead of entering the city.

Someone was standing at the entrance to the desolate city.

He was a man who looked utterly out of place beneath the dark night sky.

Residue grinned, about half of the pleasure in his expression genuine.

“What became of your official duties, that you have come all the way here, Oesst?”

“…….”

Agolet did not answer. He merely stared at Residue in silence, a stark contrast to how faithfully he usually responded even to Residue’s most pointless remarks.

Strangely, that attitude alone was enough to tell Residue that something about him was different from usual, and that he had hardened his resolve about something.

After a moment, Agolet spoke.

“Utterly foolish.”

The opening words were unexpected enough to make Residue blink.

“You mean me?”

“Who else could I mean?”

“…Hmm. It seems the only respect left in your attitude now is your manner of speech.”

“Then show me conduct that is not foolish.”

“And what would that be?”

Agolet gestured with his chin.

“Go back.”

It was what Residue had expected him to say, but actually hearing it from his mouth was another matter.

Residue let out a dry chuckle, though Agolet’s expression barely changed.

“Where are you telling me to go?”

“I am not speaking of a place. Turn around and retrace the path you came by. Go anywhere, so long as it is not Sarman.”

“Why?”

“A subject has a duty to stop his king from committing an act of stupidity.”

“You say that as though you know what I am about to do.”

“Are you not planning to steal Lukas Trowman’s identity?”

Steal his identity?

Residue found the expression rather novel.

And upon considering it again, it was not exactly wrong.

“Correct.”

For some reason, Residue found himself in high spirits and nodded several times.

“I understand how Your Majesty feels. But does this sacrifice not go beyond the bounds of friendship? What do you think will happen after you steal Lukas’s identity? There are things in this world more terrible than death.”

He knew.

He knew far too well.

“I will not deny that the plan Your Majesty conceived has a chance of succeeding. If one examines it closely, it has more than a few holes, but even so, its chances are higher than those of any other plan. But can you truly continue living that way?”

“…….”

“I know how firmly defined Your Majesty’s sense of self is. Of everyone I know, Your Majesty possesses the strongest individuality, but in this case, that will work against you. You would have to endure living a life that is not yours for aeons. Do you truly think that will be as easy as it sounds? Could that even be called living? I do not know.”

“…….”

“…Your Majesty possesses tremendous mental fortitude, but how long do you think you could endure such a life? A state in which your outer self and inner self fail to fit together cannot last forever. Eventually, it will end in one of two ways. Either you will lose your mind along the way, or at some point, the personality known as ‘Residue’ will disappear.”

Agolet let out a heated breath.

“If that happens, it will be no different from another Lukas being born. If ‘Residue’ disappears and the shell called ‘Lukas’ becomes the real thing, and then you die as the ‘Fifth Destruction’, who will remember Your Majesty? What ending could possibly be more inhumane than that?”

“I will not disappear.”

“Do not speak so carelessly when you have no grounds for saying that.”

Agolet warned him in a low, threatening voice.

Residue felt as though this was the first time he had ever heard this man speak with so much emotion.

What could possibly be stirring him up so badly?

“…Your Majesty does not know how difficult it is to live while hiding one’s true nature.”

…Ah.

So that was it.

This bastard had lived that kind of life before.

He had once walked a path similar to the one Residue was about to walk.

“Even if you kill Lukas, his existence will not disappear. But what of Your Majesty? Who will remember you? Who will mourn you? Even after saving the world, no one will ever know you did it. So… damn it, I am telling you to forget this goddamned idea.”

Residue could not help bursting into laughter at his attitude.

“What is so funny─.”

“It is impressive. Watching someone who armed himself with logic from beginning to end resort to pleading at the very last moment.”

But those words shook Residue more than anything else.

He swallowed that thought and smiled.

“You truly are something.”

Looking at the knight clad in dazzling white armor, Residue could not help but offer his praise.

“I had to rack my brains quite a bit to reach this answer, yet you realized this possibility long ago. Did you not? This was why you drove Lukas into a corner and eventually tried to make him kill himself.”

“…….”

If any other threat in this world tried to kill Lukas─ Residue and Pale together could stop it. That remained true even if Agolet, the Black Thorn Demon King, the Lightning God, and even all of them together joined forces to attack him. The events on ‘The Island’ had already proven that.

And so Agolet had changed the direction of his thinking.

If Lukas himself, the one they were supposed to protect, decided to die, then no matter how impregnable his guardians were, they would be unable to stop him.

In other words, the reason Agolet had driven Lukas’s mind to ruin was,

─not because he wanted to kill the Fifth Destruction, but because he feared Residue would take Lukas’s role upon himself instead.

“This whole scheme could not have been something you devised for your own sake. Was this the lie you told?”

“…….”

“You have my sincere gratitude for your loyal counsel, Agolet. You were far too good a subject for a dreg like me. But even so, I cannot accept it. I have my own will.”

“…Your Majesty.”

“Are you not the same?”

Agolet pressed his lips shut.

For a brief moment, he looked strangely deflated, then slowly let out a sigh.

“Are you telling me to see my own will through?”

“Indeed. It is simple, really. In fact, it is the way of the world. Only the victor has the right to decide how things will play out. If that is what you want, could you not simply cut off all four of my limbs and lock me away for half a year?”

“That was one of the methods I considered.”

Shing-.

Agolet slowly drew his sword.

Residue was just about to silently assume a fighting stance as well.

“Sorry, but we don’t have time for the two of you to fight, you know?”

A voice cut between them.

Before either of them knew it, Pale was standing roughly midway between them. With her chained sword resting over her shoulder, she spoke to Residue.

“Hurry up and go, Residue. This isn’t the time for this, is it?”

Residue showed no particular reaction. He simply took one last look at the two of them before heading toward Sarman. Agolet was not the sort to stand by and watch him leave, so he immediately swung his sword, only for Pale to block it.

Clang!

As the metallic crash rang far across the desert, Pale smiled brightly, as though greeting an old friend.

“Hi, Agolet. How long has it been?”

“…….”

In the meantime, Residue disappeared from sight.

Agolet stared coldly at Pale and spoke.

“Why did you let His Majesty go?”

“What a pointless question. Residue needs to break Lukas.”

“Break him?”

“He needs to break him thoroughly, so Lukas won’t get any other ideas.”

When Agolet fell silent, Pale tilted her head and continued.

“Don’t you understand? You know what Lukas is like too, Agolet. Even if he looks beaten down for now, he’ll get back on his feet. Half a year is more than long enough…….”

“…….”

“That can’t happen. Lukas needs to take a nice long rest with me now. And shouldn’t we respect Residue’s wishes too?”

Agolet gave a dry laugh at those words.

“I see. Now your true intentions are finally laid bare. You intend to completely destroy Lukas Trowman, approach him once he has been reduced to half a wreck, and whisper sweet words into his ear? You are deliberately creating circumstances in which he might fall in love with you.”

“…….”

“This is surprising, Pale. I never imagined you possessed enough intelligence to devise a scheme this elaborate.”

Agolet burst out laughing as he continued.

“I am hardly one to talk, but frankly, it is rather disgusting. Pitiful, too.”

“You think I’m pitiful?”

“Pitiful enough to bring tears to my eyes. Apparently, you have no confidence that anyone could love you. Do you truly think you could never form a good relationship with Lukas unless you engineered circumstances like these? Well, I suppose even that saint of a man would be appalled if he knew this side of your nature.”

“…….”

The deeper Agolet’s smile became, the more expressionless Pale grew.

“Now I understand. You were not starving for food at all. You were starving for affection. The way you will resort to absolutely anything to be loved is downright animalistic.”

“Could you just… shut up already?”

“Unfortunately, there is only one person who can give me orders. If even that is beyond your understanding, then allow me to make myself clearer.”

“…….”

Agolet leveled his sword at her.

“It means there is no longer any need for conversation between us. Do you understand?”

*****

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