Someone was bound to die.
Countless people had already perished, and the Royal Class students were no exception.
A swarm of flying monsters attacked the rear area, where the injured were being treated after the base defense battle.
Asher was torn to pieces by the monsters and died on the spot.
It wasn't that long ago.
Since Asher's death, the gloom and sensitivity that pervaded the Royal Class garrison had only intensified.
A classmate had died.
Everyone knew that death was inevitable in the Gate incident and war, but the death of a close friend was undoubtedly shocking to all.
Everyone was consumed by grief, and some still were.
But what Ellen felt from Ludwig's gaze was not sadness.
Amidst emotions sublimated by anger and hatred, Ellen could only intuit that Ludwig sought revenge.
Although she hadn't witnessed Asher's death, Ellen was equally shocked.
Instead of resentment and hatred, guilt returned to Ellen from that death.
When this final advance ends, who will be dead, and who will be alive?
Prak
Ludwig put down the sausage he'd bitten into on the plate.
"You."
"…Yes?"
"Last time, when Reinhardt came to the Imperial Capital."
At those words, Ellen felt her heart tighten.
The Demon King's attack on the Imperial Capital, and the abduction of the princess.
No one was unaware of that story. The damage was severe, but the morale of the empire skyrocketed because the story ended with Ellen repelling the Demon King.
Ludwig talked about that incident.
The one that had inevitably left a deep scar in Ellen's heart.
"It's not like you...deliberately didn't fight properly...right?"
At that, Ellen's hand trembled slightly.
"…"
In Ludwig's gaze, Ellen felt as if she was being interrogated. After staring at Ellen for a moment, Ludwig lowered his head.
"…No, that can't be. You wouldn't do that."
"…"
Ludwig stared at Ellen with deep, dark eyes.
"It couldn't be. Right?"
"…"
"You are the Hero. Chosen by two sacred relics, and chosen by the gods to defeat the Demon King."
Ludwig looked at Ellen and said,
"Hero."
To Ellen, Ludwig's words sounded like a threat.
"Sorry, I overstepped. It's not my place. How dare I, someone like me, question you."
As he muttered to himself, Ellen felt chills run down her spine.
"I've never defeated Reinhardt even once."
As if to say, defeating the Demon King isn't something I can do.
With that, Ludwig gazed at Ellen.
"But you've always been stronger than Reinhardt. So, it's kind of...strange…"
What I can't do and haven't done.
What you can do but haven't.
It was a piercing gaze, seemingly questioning if that was the case.
"Ludwig."
"…Ah, Scarlett."
The red-haired girl, who had been calmly eating next to him, called Ludwig.
"Don't burden Ellen."
"…"
"She should at least be comfortable here. Ellen is the one struggling the most."
Ellen was already under tremendous pressure from many places.
With Scarlett's words, cautioning Ludwig not to add to that burden even here, he slowly nodded his head.
"Yes. You're right."
Ludwig looked at Ellen.
"Sorry, Ellen. I made you uncomfortable."
Ellen bowed her head and shook it from side to side.
"No... it's alright."
Ellen stared blankly at the bread in her hand, not saying anything more.
In the end, she couldn't bring herself to eat properly.
Ellen's quarters at the Royal Class garrison were not particularly the largest.
The largest quarters belonged to Adelia and Christina, who possessed talents in alchemy. Due to the need for equipment for magical research, setting up and dismantling their quarters required considerable manpower. Just their personal research materials alone required several carriages.
Adelia did not participate in combat herself, but the artifacts she developed and improved were most important in large-scale battles.
Christina and Adelia.
If the Gate incident were to be completely resolved and humanity could rebuild its history, their names would have been mentioned alongside Ellen's.
They had many research materials they needed, while Ellen, apart from two relics, didn't have any personal items she particularly needed.
Ellen never had an interest in decorating her room anyway.
Therefore, Ellen's tent was quite spacious, divided into sections, and provided maximum convenience, but it was not extravagant.
Night fell over the garrison.
Ellen quickly removed her plate armor upon arriving at her quarters.
-Clank-
The seams of the armor released automatically, floating in midair before reassembling on the stand. Ellen watched the process silently.
Armor like this typically required assistance to put on and take off, but the specially crafted silver plate didn't need that.
"Phew..."
Although the armor was designed to ensure maximum mobility, it was inevitably uncomfortable.
The actual discomfort was less of an issue than the suffocating feeling of wearing such ornate armor.
Ellen sat motionless in the bathtub in the tent used as a bathroom.
Several times.
Ellen submerged her face in the hot water, repeatedly.
Pressing her temples with her thumb and forefinger, Ellen took deep breaths.
"Sigh..."
Again and again.
"Sigh..."
Again and again.
The pressure made her feel like she was suffocating to death several times a day.
It was true that she managed to accomplish whatever tasks she could.
Being more skilled and capable than others, she was actually handling more burdensome tasks than most. That was a fact.
However, people's expectations were too high and vast.
And the ultimate goal of those people was something she didn't want to do with her own hands.
Would it be better to just die?
Disappear from the world?
Wouldn't she be free from these emotions if she died during a mission?
Ellen had those thoughts dozens of times a day.
But she knew clearly that she couldn't allow herself that luxury.
She had to live.
Her existence alone prevented people from losing hope. She couldn't die.
Even if there was some end she had to face while alive, she had to be alive until that moment.
Even if she didn't know what to do.
She had to stay alive, no matter what.
Ellen resolved herself.
The future might be desperate, but it was a desperate future only for her.
First, she had to finish the march.
Destroying the Warp Gates on the continent would only be a good thing for the entire world and was something she had to do.
At least until then.
She would think about the next thing when it came.
"Phew..."
Ellen took a deep breath, trying to calm her chaotic and dark thoughts.
After sufficiently calming her mind, Ellen finished her bath and changed into fresh clothes.
Once her hair was reasonably dry, she wrapped a towel around herself and stepped into the central area of the tent, only to gasp in surprise.
"!"
Although she was fully dressed, Ellen reflexively tightened the collar of her shirt as she stared at the uninvited guest who had entered without warning.
Ellen's tent was protected by magic, preventing unauthorized entry when the lock was activated. There had undoubtedly been some rude individuals who had tried to barge into the tent anyway.
But now, someone had entered her locked tent.
A robed figure with a slightly small stature sat as if waiting for Ellen.
"…Who are you?"
Sensing danger, Ellen immediately summoned Lapelt and Lament and aimed them at the mysterious figure.
But soon, Ellen found herself involuntarily gaping.
The robed person removed their hood.
"It's been a while… or maybe not."
"Harriet…?"
Harriet de Saint Owan gazed at Ellen with a sorrowful expression.
Months ago, Harriet and Ellen had crossed paths.
During the Demon King's assault on the capital, Ellen and Harriet had briefly locked eyes.
Of course, they hadn't spoken.
Inside Ellen's tent.
Harriet looked at Ellen with a sad expression.
Harriet had come looking for her. Ellen had unsummoned Lament, but they stood at a slight distance from each other.
They were friends.
After Reinhardt's disappearance and various other events, Ellen and Harriet had become close enough to call each other friends.
Harriet had disliked Reinhardt, but when he disappeared, she had cried in the rain.
Ellen had thought that her harsh words had driven Reinhardt away.
Together, they had searched for the missing Reinhardt.
That had brought them together as friends.
And now.
Because of Reinhardt, they had become friends, but they also couldn't call each other friends, stuck in a strange relationship.
Ellen still didn't know why Harriet had come like this.
But she couldn't help but wonder.
Are we still friends?
Ellen cast her eyes downward.
Harriet seemed to have similar thoughts, unable to meet Ellen's gaze.
"It's not the right time, but…"
Harriet cautiously spoke up.
"Do you want to go for a walk?"
"…"
The surroundings had already been cleared.
"Yes."
"I'll be waiting for you at the outskirts of the southern garrison."
Ellen nodded silently, and Harriet disappeared through spatial teleportation.
Following Harriet's suggestion, Ellen ventured out to the southern outskirts of the garrison. No one stopped her.
In the southern outskirts, Harriet was waiting for Ellen on a moonlit plain.
Harriet and Ellen walked across the moonlit plain.
Monsters' corpses were scattered here and there.
After a brief rest, the troops would clear the surrounding monsters and move on. They would carry out a gate destruction operation at the next destination and then head to the following gate.
Humanity's last army would continue to move until the final gate was destroyed.
"It's not the right time to ask…how you've been."
Harriet seemed about to speak of her well-being but chuckled bitterly, thinking it was too strange.
Like Reinhardt, Harriet had been watching over the human world, including the capital, from somewhere.
Ellen had many questions she wanted to ask. Where had they been and what had they been doing all this time? Were they all doing well, somehow, in this wretched world?
But Ellen thought she had no right to ask such questions, so she couldn't bring herself to voice her doubts.
The two walked for a while without much conversation.
The very act of choosing what to say when facing each other already meant that they had grown too far apart.
No one else should witness them exchanging words like this.
Harriet was not the Demon King, but she was met with a hatred that was nearly equivalent.
This alliance army was humanity's last and strongest force.
Therefore, there were both high-ranking officials and magicians at the base.
Ellen knew the situation of a high-ranking official who was despised because of his daughter’s betrayal of humanity.
He was an outstanding magician, already doing incredible work, but he was treated as a potential spy, prepared to betray them at any moment, by soldiers and even commanders.
Harriet must have known that her father and his army were stationed at that base.
"How are our classmates... doing well?"
Harriet asked about their classmates rather than her father.
Ellen felt like she couldn't breathe at the question.
Until now, everyone had managed to survive, somehow.
But there was one person.
"Asher... has died."
"Ah..."
Asher was not particularly close to either Ellen or Harriet.
Class B, number 4.
Asher, who had the talent for divine power.
Harriet knew only that he had a gentle face and a timid personality.
Ellen knew that, after the Gate incident, Asher had saved many people with his talent, even though he wasn't directly involved in combat.
Though they weren't close, the death of a classmate.
Harriet walked silently, her expression lost upon hearing the news.
Their classmates' deaths were just the beginning, whether by accidents or the overwhelming number of monsters.
One by one.
They would die.
Both Ellen and Harriet knew that it was their fate.
Harriet didn't pray for his soul nor did she cry for his death.
She just walked blankly for a while.
Usually, when meeting after a long time, they would start with casual conversation before getting to the main point.
But there was no such thing as a casual topic in this world.
If they brought up their classmates, they had to talk about the dead ones.
In the vicinity of the army base, deployed for war, it was difficult to find light-hearted conversation, and even if they tried, it would only make them feel disconnected from reality.
Starting with casual conversation before getting to the main point was impossible.
In the end, Harriet stopped, as if she had made up her mind.
In her eyes, there was depression and sadness.
An overwhelming sense of guilt for having to ask someone else to sacrifice themselves for something she couldn't take responsibility for or handle.
"Ellen."
"Yeah."
When Harriet stopped, Ellen stopped too.
"Reinhardt... he might die too."
"...What?"
For the first time, Ellen felt as if her heart had stopped due to someone's words.
With her face drained of color, Harriet began to tell her story.
Harriet couldn't tell the whole truth, since she couldn't discuss the most important story, about the Demon King's country built in the Edina Archipelago.
Feeling guilty about it.
There were far too many deaths in the world, and the grudges of the dead were gathering, growing larger and larger.
Olivia Lanze was once possessed by them, but the story goes that Reinhardt expelled those resentful spirits and absorbed them instead.
As a result, the Demon King was said to be slowly dying under the pressure of the spirits filled with hatred and resentment towards him.
Ellen was astonished by this fact.
She could only gape in disbelief at the incredible story of Reinhardt taking in these spirits, knowing the potential harm and damage it could cause.
After finishing her story, Harriet wiped the corner of her eyes.
Her eyes were bloodshot and red.
She wanted to do it herself if she could.
She wanted to find another way if there was one.
However, the sight of Reinhardt dying in real-time was a stark reminder that there wasn't much time left.
"I can't save him, so please save him for me."
She felt wretched, miserable, and shameless for having to say such words.
Someone else could have been sent.
Antirianus, who had proposed the idea, could have come himself.
But Harriet chose to come herself.
She couldn't relay such a request through someone else's lips.
At least not from a friend like her.
No matter how miserable and agonizing it was to say such words, she believed that she had to be the one to ask Ellen.
"Please... save Reinhardt. Save his life."
"..."
Ellen stared at the tearful Harriet.
How could she possibly save Reinhardt?
Ellen seemed to understand what Harriet was saying.
"If I can handle it... Will that work? I don't know the method, but... I can do it that way?"
"..."
Harriet silently stared at Ellen.
-Nod
Unable to say it out loud, Harriet nodded her head while crying.
"I'll do it."
Without a moment's hesitation, Ellen nodded her head. Seeing Ellen agree without any doubts, Harriet was taken aback.
"Ellen... I know it's absurd for me to ask this, but... it's not a decision you should make so quickly."
"I'll do it."
"Ellen..."
Harriet had asked for it, but Ellen didn't know the specifics of what she would have to endure. That's why Harriet had to explain to Ellen how dangerous it was and what consequences it could bring.
"You could die. Your soul might disappear. You might be devoured by those spirits and your existence erased. Or you might become an entirely different being."
Death, or the annihilation of existence, or a permanent alteration of the self.
"In that case, I have one question."
"...Yes."
"If I take them into my body, and my body is controlled by those spirits... Will I... hate Reinhardt?"
Ellen Artorius would disappear, and a new Ellen Artorius, corroded by the spirits who despise the Demon King, would be born.
"Perhaps... that's what will happen."
"To the point where I want to kill him? So much so that I would actually try to kill him... is that what you're saying?"
"Maybe..."
The hero who loved the Demon King would disappear.
Only a puppet carrying hatred and resentment, wishing for the Demon King's death, would remain.
"Is that an absolute outcome?"
At Ellen's question, Harriet parted her lips.
A slim possibility.
She asked about the possibility that her self might not be annihilated but survive.
"I don't know... I don't know the details either... But just as Reinhardt is... holding on somehow right now... you might not disappear. But... I can't be certain. No one really knows what will happen..."
It could not be said with certainty that Ellen Artorius' ego would not remain intact as she merged with the vengeful spirits.
After all, Reinhardt had already accomplished the impossible, so it was possible that Ellen Artorius could achieve even greater feats.
There is no absolute.
Only an endless approach towards it.
Ellen ponders.
If she were to lose herself, she would one day have to battle Reinhardt.
Her body, consumed by the will to hate the Demon King, would attempt such a thing.
She certainly doesn't want that.
However, if she doesn't act now, Reinhardt will die.
There might be another way, but there isn't enough time to find it now, even if it exists.
To save Reinhardt, she must bear the hatred of humans. It is not a conceptual matter, but a tangible one.
To truly take in the hatred and resentment, and later become the Demon King's adversary.
If that can save Reinhardt.
To save him now, pushing the matters of the future aside.
Would it be alright if she disappeared?
Would it be alright if she died?
Is this how she pays the price of her disbelief?
It cannot be a complete atonement.
But with her life, she buys a small measure of absolution.
There is no guarantee that her existence will completely vanish.
Even if the chances are slim, there's no reason not to take them.
There is no guarantee that she will certainly die.
And the words she once said:
That she could die for him.
The time to keep that promise, beyond time itself, has come.
The moment to repay, even if only a little, the sin of distrust she committed against Reinhardt has arrived.
"I thought I could die for Reinhardt. All this time."
"But."
"Despite that."
"At a critical moment, I couldn't trust Reinhardt and caused him greater pain than death."
"For someone like me, someone like..."
Ellen smiles sadly.
"I'm grateful that I can at least do something like this."
"..."
"It's a relief, isn't it? That even someone like me, in a situation like this... can do something for Reinhardt."
Ellen looks at Harriet, who is on the verge of tears.
"I'm thankful that there's something I can do for Reinhardt."
In the end, Harriet, seeing Ellen like this, broke into tears.
