"That covers the gist of it. I'm not sure if it's the best possible move, but it's likely the better one given the circumstances."
"I agree. We didn't have many cards to play to begin with. Our options are limited."
"Our forces are spread thin, and the odds are certainly stacked against us... but even so, we have no choice but to do it."
The strategy meeting drew to a close. Yugo and his companions reviewed the details of their respective roles one last time, reflecting on everything they had discussed. Excluding Yui, they only had four combat-ready members. With no time for proper preparation, what they could achieve was severely restricted.
Still, having settled on the most viable plan they could devise, the group prepared to rest their bodies in anticipation of tomorrow's battle.
"Zenon, are you sure about this?" Yugo asked, his voice filled with concern for Zenon’s mental body before it faded away. "Like I said earlier, you’re the one in the most danger. When the time comes, I don't even know if we'll be able to reach you..."
"Don't worry," Zenon replied with a wry smile. "I've made sure to have an insurance policy."
He then began to explain the nature of that safeguard.
"I anticipated that things might come to this, so I prepared a warp magic item beforehand."
"Warping?! Wait, such a magic item actually exists?"
"It's a paired set I obtained after Claire requested it from her family. If you place one half in advance, the person holding the other half can teleport to its location. The range isn't particularly long, though."
"I see. So you can use it to escape in an emergency?"
"Exactly. So please, don't worry about me."
Seeing the conviction in Zenon's eyes, Yugo finally relaxed. Then, Zenon’s expression turned solemn as he spoke again.
"I'm sorry, Yugo. Or perhaps... should I call you by your real name? I should have apologized much sooner. I feel terrible about everything, including the fact that this is so late."
"Where is this coming from all of a sudden? Most of the reason I’m in this position is the original Yugo’s fault, not yours. Besides, you already apologized during our duel with Isaac. You don’t need to dwell on it."
"I do, though. This isn't an apology from Zenon Ash, but from Seto Haino. We've forced you to carry a staggering burden. Because we reincarnators acted on our own selfish desires, we created countless distortions in this world. And you're the one who has been cleaning up the mess. No... I forced that task onto you."
"Zenon..."
Yugo thought back on the many incidents they had faced. If one traced them back to their source, the majority had been caused by reincarnators pursuing their own whims. There was Isaac, who stole the demonic swords and lost control; Egos, who tried to ravage the warrior shrine maidens and kill Yugo out of lust; and Cyan, who joined the masterminds just to ensure he stayed on the winning side. If they hadn't existed, the damage would have been minimal—or the incidents might never have happened at all.
"The same goes for me," Zenon continued. "Because I carelessly provoked Rush, he turned into a magic armor beast. Rush's death, and the deaths of the students he sacrificed for his own sake... that's all on me."
He was the only one who could have stopped Rush. If he had spoken sincerely to him that night when Rush was acting strangely, many fates would have changed. If he hadn't convinced himself this world was just a game—if he had looked at Rush as a person instead of a game character from his memories—Rush might never have transformed or killed anyone.
Knowing that the incident Rush caused was the reason the reincarnators were now called hero candidates, Zenon felt like the root of all the evil currently plaguing them.
"There's no difference between what we reincarnators did and what the masterminds are doing. We rampaged through this world as we pleased and tore everything apart. If you hadn't been here, this world would have surely perished long ago."
It was Yugo who had resolved every crisis and repelled the masterminds and hero candidates. It was thanks to him that the world had maintained any semblance of peace until today. Zenon imagined a future where his precious Claire was trampled under the masterminds' heels, knowing his own actions had paved the way for that reality. Consumed by regret, Zenon looked down, only for Yugo to speak.
"I can't simply say I understand how you feel. But even while carrying that regret, you've chosen to move forward, haven't you? I think that’s incredible."
"What...?" Zenon looked up, startled by the praise.
Yugo met his gaze, his own expression clouded by a similar inner conflict.
"I’ve lived this whole time without being able to tell a soul that I'm not the real Yugo. Even though it's been eating at me that I've been lying to my friends and my brother, I've just kept running away from the truth. I’m just a weak man like that."