NOVEL NEXT Chapter 237
―Vwoom!
Lishe swung the Holy Sword with gusto, but once again split the air.
The Demon King didn’t even seem to acknowledge that we were in combat. He was simply engrossed in his own tasks.
Having moved to the center of the room, he took out a large blackboard and began to scribble complex equations in Magic.
“Two Clairvoyants acted to observe the future and alter its course. How amusing, what an interesting phenomenon. This timeline has been a long magical duel between Jim and you since the very beginning.”
Tap—before long, the blackboard was filled with writing in the Demon Race’s language, and with it being magic-related, I couldn’t discern much of it.
But it seemed Acella had grasped at least part of the content. Her expression was more severe than ever.
“The world you couldn’t see was seen by Jim, and the timeline Jim couldn’t observe was seen by you. As if on countless tracks laid out, Jim and you were unwittingly switching the direction of the train.”
“…What on earth are you saying? Professor Faust, do you understand?”
Ambrosia’s head was steaming as her pupils shook.
I wasn’t entirely clear on the situation either, but there was something I had discovered through repeated strategies.
The Demon King was a high-level sorcerer.
A being at the seventh level, known as a Transcender, a step above Sage Seymour or Ritch.
One might say he had reached the ultimate state.
And Acella had assumed the Demon King would use regular attack magic like a magic missile, like Ritch, but it turned out he could only wield the ‘Time’ element.
The man before me, the Demon King Mephist, was a being who had achieved peak power only through Time Magic.
“Royal Princess, do you also have knowledge of Time Magic?”
Acella swallowed hard at my question.
“The Demon King, Mephist, takes quite an interest. I had understood the Royal Princess specialized in Ice and Space magic.”
“…More accurately, it’s Spacetime. My magic manipulates the world itself.”
Acella’s answer was rather unexpected, so I had to ask for clarification.
“Time Magic. Royal Princess, is it possible for you to revert to the past?”
“It’s not that simple… but…”
“Clairvoyance.”
The Demon King tapped his forehead.
“What good is hiding? Jim can observe all possible futures that are to come. I can avoid failure and move towards the optimal future.”
This was new information to me.
It was the first time I had a lengthy discussion with the Demon King. Given his formidable magical nature, he often lost if battles dragged on, and when he won, it was usually from an ambush.
‘Is it because Acella is here?’
Did sorcerers have some innate connection?
“So that’s why humanity has lost so many times.”
Acella conceded with an answer.
“What do you mean?”
“…Keep it a secret from Lars, Faust. I know of several possible futures.”
“Possibilities, you say.”
“Yes. In many scenarios, the allied forces were powerless against the Demon King and suffered defeat. If you look at the history of the past, it has been an unprecedented one-sided battle. Now, I understand the reason.”
Acella pointed her wand at Mephist.
“The future was situated on the timeline chosen by the Demon King. That’s why we fell so helplessly. He must have only selected the optimal choices for victory.”
It was a rather shocking revelation.
Not only did the Demon King possess such a skill, but Acella also knew about it?
But hearing that made it click.
The cause of most of the bad endings where we lost to the Demon Army.
The reason humanity was invaded so overwhelmingly from the beginning.
‘No, that’s a cheat skill.’
While I died a lot before I could even see probabilities, Mephist had been looking at all the choices from the very start.
Was it thanks to that magic that a mere Demon Race magician could reach the position of Demon King?
Commanding the Demon Realm while soaring through success since his youth, and only years ago successfully making a contract with the Demon God to earn the title of Demon King.
And then he raised an army to crush us.
It’s just too unfair. I’m so mad.
Wait a minute, looking at the flow of conversation…
‘Does that mean Acella can also use Clairvoyance?’
The emperor I knew couldn’t use magic related to time at all.
Could it have changed because I altered the past?
…Did I have such a big influence on Acella? To change her major in magic that much.
Then, could it be true?
‘Did Acella also witness a bad ending?’
If that’s why her actions have changed so much…
“Golden Witch.”
The Demon King called to Acella, who was filling the blackboard with equations.
“You too must have reached a level of experience, yet Jim has also gleaned several clues through Clairvoyance. The futures observed are merely possibilities and never become reality. But knowledge is helpful. Clairvoyance is inherently magic of such purpose. A great deal of effort goes into its application.”
Acella seemed to empathize and shot him a fierce glare.
“The more complicated the branches of the timeline, the harder it becomes to predict the future. Recently, possibilities that Jim has yet to observe have manifested into reality.”
Mephist flipped the blackboard over and continued scribbling formulas.
“Important figures who should have joined us to protect Jim continue to be absent. The Dragon Lord is dead, the Great Demon has not descended, and Jinzou and Ritch have not completed their missions.”
Tap tap—his equations continued.
“Even the members of the Hero Party that came are different from what was observed, so now it’s a magic that has lost its usefulness. But,”
he said, turning to Acella with elation.
“If you too have been altering the future, then all assumptions are reversed. I understand now why the branches became so complicated. Clairvoyance is the greatest and most powerful magic without a doubt. There’s just one question.”
Mephist frowned and looked at us.
“What is the probability that we are standing on this timeline now?”
Acella’s gaze grew intense. She seemed to be deep in thought.
Was she searching for an answer to Mephist’s question?
With a thud, I stepped forward and spoke.
“Regardless of anything else, I’d bet there’s a pretty high probability you’ll be shortly dead.”
Lishe also stood beside me, gripping her Holy Sword.
“That’s right. Right now, it’s important to defeat him. We can think about the process later.”
Mephist stroked his chin.
“Would anyone who is not a magician please step back? Normally, Jim does not converse with those who have not reached this level. It would be great if, since I am meeting the Golden Witch, you do not interrupt my enjoyment.”
“Then I must behead you even more immediately.”
Tanya’s icy demeanor caused the Demon King to sigh.
“Golden Witch, you understood the formula, didn’t you? If you calculate the probabilities, there must certainly be some error somewhere. Even if we have both observed Clairvoyance and altered the future, the chance that we stand on this timeline must vastly exceed the error range. There exists an element we could not observe.”
“Geez, could you be any louder? Stop babbling about things we can’t understand!”
Unable to hold back, Valen exploded and fired an arrow. Thwack! The Demon King caught the ultra-fast arrow without even looking.
So the blackboard must be precious to him.
“Hey you! If you like books so much, why don’t you just hunker down in a corner and read them instead of causing a war?”
The Demon King turned to us, his massive body casting a threatening shadow.
“All knowledge of the surface has already been devoured. I desire more than that.”
He raised his arms to the sky and pointed a finger.
“Do you think it’s natural that the moon rises when the night falls?”
Mephist spoke more seriously than ever.
“I shall go seek knowledge from the heavens.”
This was the first time I heard the reason he started a war.
Just as Acella showed interest in his equations, it was likely the Demon King was excited to meet a sorcerer who had reached his level.
“Faust, what does that mean?”
“It seems he plans to amass Magic from the slaughter of the humanoids to cast a grand spell.”
He wants to go to the moon, huh. What a weirdo.
“…What does he intend to cast?”
Acella asked him. He smiled satisfactorily.
“They say the seventh tier is magic recorded in history, the eighth tier is magic that transforms the lives of races. Do you know what the tier above that, called divine magic, is known as?”
Mephist answered proudly.
“Magic that will change the continent.”
He declared that in style, spreading his arms wide.
Hmm.
Well, he spoke grandly, but isn’t it just saying he wants to make a rocket?
It’s nothing special.
I interjected.
“Don’t expect anything on the moon. It’s not gourmet cheese.”
Mephist glared at me with an unpleasant expression.
“I will give you one piece of advice. Do not neglect your pursuit of knowledge. The ability to understand magic is a blessing in itself, and…”
“I get your intention. You’re stalling for time. Everyone, do not be swayed.”
At my advice, Acella snapped back to focus and nodded.
The opponent we had struggled so much against was Mephist. He must have had some intent behind our discussion so far.
The party members took up combat positions.
“I’m so sorry not to be able to explore further.”
―Swoosh!!
Tanya released the Aura of the West Wind through her sword, widening the area of protection for her party members.
It signaled the start of a full-on battle.
“Archer.”
“I got this!”
Valen shot arrows high above. The arrows soaring toward the sky split into dozens, surrounding the room’s outskirts.
From the tails of those arrows, visibly thick smoke ascended, mixing with Tanya’s aura and darkening the battlefield.
“Hmm.”
Mephist watched us with interest. Without giving him a chance to react, Lishe circled around and lunged forward with swift steps.
Again, Mephist vanished magically.
However, this time was a bit different.
As he disappeared, a trail remained.
The smoke filling the room twisted unnaturally, pointing in one direction.
To the left.
“There!”
―BOOM!
Even faster than the eyes could follow, Valen’s explosive arrow and Acella’s ice spear detonated in unison, aimed at the left where the smoke was guiding us.
As expected, Mephist was standing exactly where the attack hit.
Although it didn’t deal visible damage, it at least successfully had him raise his arm in defense.
“Oh dear.”
He remarked, dropping a book torn by the ice spear.
“I hadn’t finished reading this yet.”
The next moment, Mephist vanished, and only scattered smoke remained. The trajectory pointed toward Ambrosia’s back.
“Sister!”
I immediately cast a protective spell. Kwang! The shield created by Divine Power intercepted Mephist’s strike but soon shattered like glass.
―Clang!
Lishe, having anticipated his movements, successfully coordinated her attack.
Blocking with the Holy Sword, Mephist’s suit was torn, and the red skin that touched the Holy Sword sizzled, appearing burned.
But for only a moment, Mephist vanished once more, returning to the center of the room.
“You’re quite the dazed one! I’ve never seen a creature move like that in my lifetime!”
“Time Magic. It’s hard to get a grasp when just hearing about it, but it’s tricky.”
Lishe said, wiping the sweat from her forehead. I responded as I infused her with Divine Power from behind.
“Yes. ‘Time Stop.’ It’s a unique magic only the Demon King can use.”
That explains the secret behind Mephist’s teleportation so far.
He can freeze time and move freely within it.
“If you can’t even see a magic circle, it must be instant casting. How annoying.”
Acella spoke.
“The principle is different from the Time Barrier Stone?”
“If it’s magic cast by the Demon King, then he is the only one affected. However, judging by the fact that our lives are still hanging in there, there are likely some restrictions.”
“Restrictions, you say?”
“It’s clear he cannot touch us while time is frozen. The duration won’t be long either. So far, it hasn’t exceeded five seconds.”
Acella quickly identified Mephist’s weakness.
Well, the problem was that knowing it doesn’t mean we could immediately bring him down.
“Can we really defeat him as per the strategy?”
“Of course. Trust me.”
I confidently responded to Ambrosia, then opened the item box to prepare several potions.
“Hero, what about the Holy Sword?”
“I’m still saving my resonance.”
“Alright. You know very well what happens when it resonates.”
“When it does, just like my sister did… I become free from the flow of time.”
Lishe nodded her head.
“Now that Mephist hasn’t noticed, we only have one chance.”
“Yes.”
[No. 100: 9th Level 50%]
Does that mean the right to choose the path to victory lies on their side as well?
Hence, it must be fifty-fifty.
“I’m going.”
I patted Lishe’s back and dashed forward.