Chapter 199. We, Remember
The spirits peered into the future again.
And on the very first attempt, they secured proof that Baharmut’s future sight was uncertain.
- ……Bang!
- Demian!
A boy was blasted into the wall by Infernal’s brutal fist, smashed into it. The composition itself was similar to before.
But there was a difference.
This time, the boy could not get up.
- Bang! Bangbang!
Infernal’s merciless kicks rained down.
Does Infernal have emotions? As if filled with rage, it delivered needless attacks for quite a while, and the result was horrific.
It was a cruel scene, but the spirits realized something then.
[……It was uncertain.]
[Yes. Uncertain.]
In the previous future, the boy endured until the savior shattered the fourth Barrier Stone, but this time, he finally met death.
There had been no variables at all, yet the future had changed.
In a way, it was only natural.
Baharmut.
This future sight, born from fragments of a cursed grimoire, was never a complete view of the future to begin with. It merely showed an overwhelmingly probable future, through the “insight” of countless spirits gathered together and the incomprehensible power of the fragment.
And yet, the reason the rulers of the past could place the world beneath Baharmut, the reason the future sight seemed perfect at the time, was precisely this.
War.
The collision of group and group.
Because they saw the massive flow created by the system called an “army,” built from individuals gathered together—only then did they see an infinitely accurate future.
Meaning, an individual’s future cannot be perfectly foreseen.
It only illuminates one strand among countless branching futures.
Anyway, the spirits thought.
[Which is the correct future?]
[Don’t know. Cannot know.]
[Boy, danger?]
[Cannot.]
After seeing two different futures, confusion only deepened.
They had to move based on the future, but now there were two futures to use as a standard, and the “standard” itself lost meaning.
Then, the oldest spirit proposed something.
[Keep watching. Again and again.]
[……Keep?]
Instead of speaking, the oldest spirit answered with will.
The spirits fell into confusion for a moment, but their decision did not take long.
[……We will watch.]
[Now, we will save.]
With liberation all but assured—if the saviors saved them, now it was their turn to save the saviors.
In that process…
There was no hesitation.
Repeated future sight was a burdensome act even for spirits, and no one knew what aftereffects might come if they repeated it.
[We, brave.]
[Agree.]
The spirits were not afraid.
They still could not step fully to the front, held back by an instinctive fear of Infernal, but within what they could do, they did their utmost.
And so, the future unfolded again before their eyes.
- I’m sorry. Please, endure just a little longer.
The old spiritist died.
It was a death met while saving a boy in danger.
Even before Infernal’s flames, he showed not a single expression of pain, worrying for those left behind as he turned to ash and vanished.
…Still, Aster’s death did not change.
[……Again.]
The spirits peered into another future.
- Demian, it was fun. I’m really glad I met you all.
A brown-haired boy died.
Again, it was a death met while saving a boy in danger.
After saving the boy with a shield shaped from earth, he coughed up a mouthful of blood from forcing his mana too hard.
Infernal’s fist fell down upon him.
- Bang!
After that, Aster joined and lured the Infernals away.
…Still, Aster’s death did not change.
[……Again.]
The spirits continued peering into the future.
The futures that unfolded spoke only of dreadful endings.
Sometimes Demian, sometimes Myserln, sometimes Chenbi—one, or two, sometimes all of them.
They died.
They kept dying.
The processes differed, but the ending was the same.
Sometimes the four faced Infernal together and met death. Other times, they followed Aster, who went alone to lure Infernal away, only to be caught up in battle and die.
But…
Not a single death took the same form.
If there was one common point, only one—
…No one feared death.
The spirits continued to examine the future.
How many times did the future continue like that?
Ten times? Twenty? They couldn’t know.
With repeated future sight, the spirits’ minds gradually wore away, and one by one, those whose mental strength weakened first began to drop out of the unification.
No matter how near the future was.
No matter how much they received the energy of nature.
It was not possible without sacrifice.
[I, remember. I, brave.]
One spirit left words asking to be remembered, then lost its reason.
[I, sacrifice.]
One spirit poured out all its remaining spirit power, then, like a dying meteor, let its presence fade into a blank.
And so, one by one.
With repeated future sight, the spirits gradually fell.
A sacrifice for what?
No one questioned it.
Even with the freedom they longed for right before them, even with the moment they had thirsted for in burning longing just a step away—
No one regretted it.
This was what spirits were.
Beings purer than the purest child—beings who would laugh with joy at even the smallest kindness and follow you their whole lives.
For those who tried to save them, they gave up the freedom that came after thousands of years of waiting.
They only wished for one thing.
[All, happy.]
That those who had readily extended a hand to them would all be happy.
And when, in reality, only a blink passed, but within the Mental Image, an uncountable span of time flowed—
The spirits, bound even tighter into one by a single wish, stepped into a horizon of insight they had failed to reach before.
…and realized something.
[Ah.]
A single truth uncovered through innumerable sacrifices, patience, and hope—through uncountable observations of the future.
That truth was…
…The savior’s death cannot be changed.
That alone.
At last, the spirits released the unification and withdrew the future sight.
And so, reality returned again. While the spirits were gathering themselves, somewhere in Baharmut, reflected by the authority of the crystal sphere—
The savior finally reached the fourth Barrier Stone.
- Now, with this… it’s over.
- Paaang—!
The Barrier Stone shattered brutally.
Freedom arrived.
But no one rejoiced.
Not a single one.
And then, at that moment—
[Method, exists.]
[……Method?]
[We change.]
The spirits had not given up yet.
Reality proceeded not much differently from the future sight.
After destroying the fourth Barrier Stone, Aster soon stood at a crossroads, and as he had in countless futures, he decided to face five Infernals alone.
[C-ch, friend. Me curious.]
To stop Aster, the spirit asked the same question, and once again, before Aster could answer, he encountered Demian.
And then—
“Wait.”
The first branching point.
As Aster led five Infernals away, Demian moved.
“Something’s weird. I have to go with him.”
Demian felt something different about Aster and, dragging his exhausted body, followed behind him.
…This is a future where Demian dies.
Or a future where everyone could die.
At that moment, the spirits stepped in.
[Danger. Must not go.]
“……?”
[We will help.]
The spirits that escaped the crystal sphere were like countless stars.
The spirits, forming a Milky Way, blocked Demian’s path and drew his attention so he could not move.
Meanwhile,
another swarm of spirits followed behind Aster.
And then came the second branching point once again.
“Demian, this old man will go.”
“Master?”
“Yes. I’ll go and take a look.”
Myserln, who had held Demian back, fixed his eyes on the spirits, as if refusing to yield on the matter of moving himself.
And the spirits…
[Old spiritist, must wait.]
They stopped Myserln.
…If Myserln went to Aster right now, it was a future where both Myserln and Aster died.
Myserln sacrificed his life for Aster, yet still could not prevent Aster’s death.
By the standards of Baharmut’s spirits, Myserln’s spirits were far too young, and those young spirits could not withstand the presence of five Infernals.
In that situation, Myserln could only become a burden.
But in other words…
A fully recovered Myserln could become help.
“Wait? For what—”
As Myserln questioned the spirits that had suddenly appeared and blocked his path, another swarm of spirits revealed themselves from the center of the great battle.
If the waves of the Milky Way overflowed, would it look like this?
It was a sight so beautiful that even Demian, Chenbi, and Myserln lost themselves staring—but the truly astonishing thing was not the scenery.
[We help.]
The newly appeared spirits gently stroked Myserln’s body.
Myserln let out a low exclamation immediately after.
“……Huh.”
Warm energy seeped into his body, worn down by fatigue.
The spirits’ energy sweetly soaked Myserln’s body like rain falling on a drought-cracked, devastated land.
Vitality began filling his ravaged flesh, and as Myserln marveled in that rapture, the spirits’ voices rang by his ear.
[A little more.]
It meant: wait a little more.
Recovering his senses at that voice, Myserln could finally look at the spirits.
[We brave.]
[Agree.]
[I remember.]
[We remember.]
Spirits that shared their strength with him, leaving a word each, then vanished.
“……Ah.”
Myserln understood.
What the source of this life force was.
This was… the force of existence the spirits had held onto for thousands of years.
Not something that could be simply converted into “spirit power”—but their very life force, what allowed a spirit to exist as a spirit.
“How….”
Myserln could only sigh at their sacrifice, and at that moment, an especially large cluster of light approached him.
It was the oldest spirit.
[We, friends.]
We are friends… so do not mind it.
That was what it meant.
And yet those words hurt Myserln’s heart even more.
After thousands of years, they had finally gained the freedom they had desired so desperately, yet what they chose was not joy.
It was sacrifice.
At the sight of these spirits—so stupidly pure—emotion surged up in Myserln.
Perhaps it sensed his heart.
[Sadness, not needed.]
The oldest spirit comforted Myserln.
[We are nature. Not dying.]
They were nature, so it was not “extinction.”
They would only… lose their reason and cease to be spirits, returning to the nature that birthed them—so he should not be sad.
It was a concept different from the annihilation brought by Infernal.
But that was only from a spirit’s perspective.
From a human perspective, this was…
‘…How is that any different from death?’
But there was no time to grieve.
[Brown hair, coming here. Ice boy, coming here.]
The oldest spirit called Demian and Chenbi and, as it had done for Myserln, shared strength with them.
Demian and Chenbi were still only feeble before five Infernals, but… the spirits did their utmost.
To create a future where no one died.
But—
[With this, insufficient.]
The oldest spirit knew.
By restoring the strength of these three, most futures where they died meaninglessly would be avoided.
But it still wasn’t enough.
So—
[Boy, name.]
For the first time in thousands of years, the oldest spirit decided to choose a master.
And that boy was…
“……Me?”
[Yes. You.]
“I’m… Chenbi.”
It was Chenbi.
