Chapter 124

Sid dodged the club swinging toward him and ruthlessly lopped off the Orc’s now-defenseless right arm. Blood sprayed as the creature let out a groan of agony, but the sound didn't last long.

Aileen had snuck up behind the wide-open beast and slit its throat.

“Aileen! Another one, from the right!”

“I’m on it!”

The two continued to cut down the approaching monsters with perfect synchronization, never letting their guard down as they braced for the next wave.

“Hmph!”

Nearby, Keith was handling his side of the fray with ease, even cleaving larger monsters in two with a single stroke. Of course, such a feat was only possible because Sid and the others possessed genuine skill.

However, all three of them knew exactly why they were able to fight with such composure. They didn't even have to think about it.

“He’s as monstrous as ever.”

Despite being in the heat of battle, Sid couldn't help but let out a voice filled with awe.

In his line of sight was Harold. The young man moved with a fluid, terrifying precision that made the phrase “moving freely in all directions” seem like an understatement, single-handedly holding back the surging tsunami of monsters.

If Sid and the other two had tried to take Harold’s place, they would have been swallowed by the horde in heartbeats. Because they understood their own limits, they truly realized how far beyond the norm Harold’s strength reached.

Sid’s honest feeling was that his current self couldn't even match the Harold of five years ago. And now, the man had become powerful beyond any comparison to his past self.

It couldn't just be talent. Sid knew Harold must have poured in more effort and survived more life-and-death combat than he could imagine.

And he was exerting all that hard-won power not for himself, but to protect the weak.

Thinking back, it was the same during the Battle of Bertis Forest. Sid now understood that Harold had risked his life by donning a Sarian Imperial uniform just to draw the Knight Order’s attention and minimize casualties.

(That’s why I can believe in him... No, this time, I want to believe in him!)

Sid had spent five years regretting his inability to fully trust Harold that day. He had expected to carry that weight for the rest of his life.

Yet, by some twist of fate, they had reunited, and he had once again found Harold standing on the edge of a reckless gamble.

“I’m done with regrets.”

Sid had no idea what Harold thought of him. But as a comrade—and as a friend—he simply didn't want to leave Harold Stokes alone.

“...Yeah. I’m with you.”

Aileen seemed to sense exactly what he meant, even without him putting it into words.

“Then first, we all have to make it out of here alive!”

“You bet!”

◇

(I’m hearing some very ominous dialogue back there...)

Harold continued to slaughter the monsters, thinning the herd just enough for Sid and the others to manage the leftovers. Not having to carry the entire burden himself gave him a bit of mental breathing room, allowing him to keep an ear on the situation behind him while he fought. Perhaps that was why Sid and Aileen’s conversation reached his ears.

He couldn't catch the details, but he was pretty sure he heard a line that sounded like a massive death flag, something like, “We all have to survive together!” He really wished they’d stop raising flags when things were already this precarious.

Still, the evacuation should be finishing up soon. Once the signal came, he could stop playing around with these monsters.

As the night deepened, the long-awaited moment finally arrived.

“Boss!!”

A high-pitched whistle cut through the air, followed by Keith’s booming shout.

Harold looked up to see three white signal flares arching into the sky in succession. That was the sign: the evacuation was complete.

“Everyone, prepare to retreat! If you dawdle, I’m leaving you behind!”

Harold stopped holding back. He unleashed a barrage of high-level magic, burning through his mana reserves to grind the monsters' advance to a halt.

In an instant, he wiped out the entire front line. Seeing the sudden devastation, Aileen spoke up in an exasperated tone.

“...Hey, wouldn't it have been a lot easier if you’d just done that from the start?”

If he could have, he would have. But even with Harold’s stats, spamming high-level magic against a seemingly infinite swarm was a one-way ticket to running on empty. Sprinting at full speed from the start of a marathon when you don't know the finish line is the height of stupidity.

“Hmph. Are you a moron? Wait, I already knew the answer to that.”

“...You’d better remember that later.”

Aileen looked like she had a lot more to say, but she wasn't so distracted that she lost sight of the situation. She followed his lead.

No doubt she’d start screaming complaints once they were safe. All the more reason to get out of here.

“Let’s go!”

“——And where do you think you’re going?”

Just as he was about to sprint away, a voice stopped him. It was a young girl’s voice, entirely out of place in this charnel house.

An indescribable chill raced down Harold’s spine. He spun around as if physically repelled.

Beyond the mountain of monster corpses, the surviving beasts had stopped their frenzied assault. They were now parting like the Red Sea, walking slowly and deliberately to clear a path.

Harold hesitated, caught between the urge to fight or flee at the eerie sight.

Eventually, the monsters stopped. Moving with unsettling synchronization, they split to the left and right, and a small girl emerged from the center of the pack.

She had flaxen hair that reached her waist and wore a simple white one-piece dress that exposed her slender limbs.

It was Sarah, Finnegan’s daughter. Her sky-blue eyes were fixed on Harold, staring as if trying to bore a hole through him.

(Sky-blue...? Wait, Sarah’s eyes were supposed to be the same color as her hair... No, that's not the problem! What I should be focusing on is—)

The sheer absurdity of the situation sent his thoughts into a tailspin.

Even so, Harold forced the words out.

“...Why are you here? No... who the hell are you?”

“So you are surprised. By me... or rather, by ‘me’ (boku).”

The voice was Sarah’s, but the cadence and the choice of words—using the masculine boku—screamed of him.

Harold uttered the name with bitter certainty.

“What is this...? What are you doing, Justus Freund?”

“You were surprised by this vessel, yet you instantly realized I was Justus. How very interesting you are, Harold.”

With no intention of hiding his identity, the girl who looked like Sarah confirmed his suspicions.

Without a care for the confusion of Harold’s group, the entity continued its monologue.

“The reaction was larger than predicted, meaning this child’s presence was an unknown variable for you. And yet, you identified me instantly despite that lack of knowledge... Normally, one would assume I was physically here. To leap straight to the truth requires a specific kind of logic. Which means... hmmm.”

“Hey, what are you muttering about—”

“Harold, you didn't predict that I or this child would appear here. But you already ‘knew’ that I could exist inside someone else, didn't you?”

“Wh-what are you talking about...”

“A mixture of the known and unknown... I see. It seems your ‘Future Foresight’ is much more incomplete than I had initially assumed.”

Future Foresight. The words finally tumbled out of Justus’s mouth.

Harold had known this day might come, but the impact was no less staggering. His body went rigid.

His greatest advantage—his knowledge of the original story, his ability to ‘know the future’—had been sniffed out by the final boss. From this moment on, Justus would operate on the assumption that Harold knew what was coming.

“A fascinating power. I’d love to stay and run a few experiments, but alas.”

Justus raised his right hand.

Harold’s instincts screamed. It was a sensation of danger unlike anything he had ever felt.

“Run!!”

Harold’s desperate shout snapped him out of his shock. Seeing the usually arrogant Harold so genuinely panicked, Sid and the others didn't hesitate; they bolted for the Main Gate. Despite their confusion, their training allowed them to react instantly.

But Harold did the opposite. He lunged toward Justus.

This was a scene that didn't exist in the original game—a situation where he was at a clear disadvantage. But his mind raced: if he could neutralize Justus now, before his true awakening, he could snap almost every remaining death flag in one go.

That was the thought that gripped him.

In hindsight, he would realize he wasn't being calm. He had been blinded by the prize.

But with his body exhausted and his mind frayed, the chance to finally grab the future he had been desperate for was right in front of him. It was too much to resist.

If Justus’s consciousness was simply overwriting the girl's personality, then there was a chance—just like with Ventus, Lilium, and Finnegan—that he could use his sword’s power to call Sarah’s original soul back to the surface.

But his blade never reached the girl.

Just as the hilt of his sword was about to strike her, his right arm was caught. Two voices spoke simultaneously.

“Regrettable, Harold.”

“That was a bad move.”

One was Sarah’s voice. The other was a voice he knew much better.

Yet both sounded like they belonged to Justus.

“What... how?!”

Was he angry? Stunned? Or simply heartbroken?

Giving voice to the chaotic mess of emotions within him, Harold screamed the name of the man holding his arm.

“Cody!!”

Standing there with the same sky-blue eyes as Sarah was Cody Luzial.