ERTHMB Chapter 181

The Last Turning Point

The sleek prow of the ship swiftly cut through the water.

Helena occasionally wrapped her arms around herself beneath the cries of seagulls drifting through the sky. A subtle fear swelled within her as she drew closer to Rihalt.

It wasn’t that she feared the battlefield she would soon plunge into. Rather, it was something more fundamental.

‘Soon it will be that day again, when everything returns. If I regress this time too……’

This life had flowed both similarly to and differently from before. Helena couldn’t be certain whether her death would fall into those similarities or be added as a newly created turning point.

‘But I know this much. Somehow I’ll find you again, and again, and again I’ll love you. I can do it. As long as you’ll wait for me, I can do it however many times.’

“—Helena.”

Ian’s voice shattered her thoughts as the communications device she’d been waiting for connected. Helena quickly responded to his voice.

Instead of asking what she’d been thinking about, he let out a low laugh.

“I think we were thinking the same thing.”

“How would you know without seeing me?”

“Are we the kind of relationship that needs to see to know? I can find the mole on the inside of your thigh with my eyes closed.”

“Ian!”

Helena hastily looked around, worried someone might overhear. Ian gradually withdrew his giggling laughter and spoke plainly.

“Coincidentally, it’s almost that day—the day you and I died.”

“……”

“Don’t worry. Whether you go back five years or ten years, even if you skip forward twenty years. We’ll be together. That’s what we are. Do you believe it?”

“Yes… I believe it.”

Though Helena hesitated at first, she soon nodded shyly. Not that he could see it anyway.

However, a voice flew from another communications device as if it could see them both clearly.

“War and love—good combination. The classics have their reasons.”

At Elai’s light whistling, Ian let out a displeased groan. Helena imagined him running his hand through his hair and somewhat urgently changed the subject.

“What’s the current situation, Elai?”

Elai made a sound through his nose as if he wanted to tease more, but quickly returned to the main task.

“As expected, Beelzebuth’s army is steadily moving toward the Kiera Plains. Meanwhile, numbers are decreasing on the plateau side. If this continues, there shouldn’t be a significant gap. It’s sufficient for buying time too.”

“Still, we need to allocate enough of our troops to Heidi’s side so she won’t be burdened.”

“I already cut them clean in half. So I’d appreciate it if you’d worry about me a bit too.”

“Me too, Miss!”

Sakin, who must have been nearby, pushed aside the cheeky Elai and interjected.

Helena lightly brushed past their requests and mentally counted the main forces deployed at key positions.

Heidi at the Thebe Plateau, Elai and Sakin at the Kiera Plains, Ian at the Srail Bay. Then she suddenly realized something important was missing.

“Wait a moment. Even if we’re going with the empty house strategy… shouldn’t someone be guarding the imperial palace? Didn’t you say that Raptor fellow, who’s exceptional at guerrilla tactics, would attempt to infiltrate the palace?”

“Don’t worry. Dion won’t step one foot outside the palace.”

Ian answered concisely. However, the explanation was too simple, and even Sakin seemed puzzled, as Helena could tell from beyond the invisible communications device that he was tilting his head, making his blue ponytail sway.

“Will Lord Dion be able to hold out?”

At Sakin’s innocent question, Elai snorted.

“Hold out? Who against whom?”

Elai’s voice, slightly quieter as if he’d turned to lecture Sakin, continued.

“Did you think that position beside that reckless lord could be maintained with just a strategist’s brain? The first person to guard the lord’s side was Sir Cedrick.”

“But whenever I see them fight, they always—”

“That’s right. Sir Cedrick has never beaten me once.”

“……How is that helpful in this situation?”

“He only lost to me. I’ve teased our aide a lot usually, but he’s funny and easygoing, never ridiculous.”

“What exactly is the difference?”

Sakin’s voice grew louder, even more confused. Suddenly, Helena recalled that even setting aside the demon in Elai’s subconscious, he was one of the most outstanding swordsmen.

Sakin must have had the same thought, as he finally murmured in realization.

“But come to think of it, I’ve never seen anyone beat you……”

In Helena’s mind, she could picture Elai curling up the corner of his mouth with a smirk.

“Everyone beat him except me. Dion.”

****

Crash!

Dion’s longsword and the short blade of the assassination sword scraped together lengthily.

Two assassination swords pinned Dion’s sword between them and pushed forward, and Dion, whose strength gave out first, tumbled backward.

Simultaneously, wildly cut flowers scattered in all directions. A floral scent unsuited for a battlefield masked the bloody smell.

Currently in the imperial palace, Rihalt’s guards led by Dion and Beelzebuth’s guerrilla force led by Raptor were clashing. The two had exchanged blows back and forth until they reached the garden in full bloom.

Raptor removed a flower that had flown to and landed on the nape of his neck and took a deep breath of its scent. Even with an enemy before him, Raptor could afford such leisure, as Dion sitting collapsed looked utterly pathetic.

“Don’t tremble too much. It’s a life that will die eventually anyway—you’re just losing it a bit earlier.”

Raptor tossed the flower he’d been spinning between his fingers into the space between Dion’s legs. Ptui. The white chrysanthemum soon turned red with the saliva Dion spat out.

“Your sense is quite lacking. I prefer red roses, not chrysanthemums.”

Dion grabbed a handful of dirt, threw it at Raptor’s face, and sprang up to run away.

Raptor quickly raised his arms as if he’d expected this, but still had to spit out the dirt he couldn’t fully block.

“Classic.”

Raptor muttered irritably and immediately chased after Dion. The gap closed easily before long.

Dion seemed exhausted from just running away, unable to calm his irregularly gasping breaths.

Moreover, this was now a dead end. Behind him was only a pond with the remains of a boat split in two floating on it.

With the blocked escape route at his back, Dion spoke between his rough, panting breaths.

“I’ll give you a chance even now. Leave while you can.”

“This guy is really killing me.”

Raptor approached Dion, passing a small pavilion with ivory-colored marble pillars and a pink roof.

Instead of retreating further, Dion met Raptor where he stood.

“Since you don’t know because it’s your first time, I’ll tell you. Anyone who has seriously fought me even once never wants to fight me again. Do you know why?”

“Buying time? What, will you give me a prize if I guess right?”

Despite Raptor’s sarcasm, Dion resolutely continued.

“As you can see, my technique is mediocre, I’m flailing around ungracefully, and I fight desperately so it’s quite unsightly. But.”

Suddenly, a chilling gleam appeared in Dion’s crimson pupils.

He took a step forward, his constricted pupils still fixed on Raptor.

“If I’ve marked someone, whether they’re stronger than me or insanely strong. I’ll kill them somehow.”

Dion swung his head violently.

A cracking sound of foreheads colliding burst loudly, and both men staggered simultaneously.

A stream of blood flowed down Raptor’s temple. He clutched his head and swung his assassination sword.

“A rat in a trap, you bastard……!”

“—Me?”

It was an instant.

Dion glanced at what was behind Raptor and grinned with his chapped lips.

“That would be you.”

Dion’s kick landed heavily in Raptor’s abdomen. Pushed back, Raptor rolled onto the pavilion.

Without any particular weapon, Dion simply picked up a suitable rock and threw it at the pavilion’s roof.

Their gazes crossed in slow motion for a moment. Raptor instinctively begged for survival, but the small bomb had already landed on the roof.

Thud, a light shockwave slid down the pillars, and simultaneously the pavilion collapsed with a crash.

“Prize.”

Dion tossed a white chrysanthemum caught on his clothes onto it and left the garden.

****

There was a chilly sand wind and acrid smell of gunpowder. The swirling plateau wind spread the dust cloud even faster in all directions.

Beelzebuth inhaled deeply as if he wouldn’t let even a handful escape.

“Ahhh… Good.”

He decided to willingly call this smell the scent of victory.

That day, when he cut down everything that stood in his way and seized the crown.

That day had smelled just like this too. All the deaths scattered around meant victory. The pile of lives stacked high was the wave of victory that would push him to the position he should have had all along.

The location tracker attached to Ian still remained in the Kiera Plains via the capital.

Though movements of gradually shifting troops this way were occasionally detected, the place Ian ultimately chose was Kiera. That leech-like Heidi wouldn’t leave the imperial palace.

What he had to do was give Natasha as flesh and push straight from the plateau to the capital to take the bones. From today, his name would be recorded again as perfect history.

‘Those idiots, it’s a shame I can’t capture the sight of them coming up empty with my own eyes.’

Beelzebuth swung his sword, pouring out the satisfaction rising from his toes without filter. Violent sword energy emanated as several jet-black tendrils, tearing apart and devouring everything that grazed the blade.

He laughed in excitement. His steps were as light as dancing, and the blood scent bursting before his eyes was sweet as honey.

He thought today was the day he’d cut out the best dream from a year’s worth and pasted it into reality.

However, the maddeningly thrilling feeling didn’t last long.

Half a day had passed since the battle began. Yet there was no sign of victory or defeat. An exquisite defensive battle of pushing and pulling continued without either side being pushed back.

‘Why on earth……?’

He retrieved his sword from the body of a soldier harassing him from behind and surveyed the surroundings to find the Emperor’s forces surging in, replenishing their losses. Little by little, little by little, steadily and endlessly.

As if draining strength was the real purpose, as if the person caught in a trap wasn’t Ian but himself.

Beelzebuth roughly exhaled his blocked breath and stabbed his sword into the ground. Black aura burst out haphazardly, piercing through both allies and enemies nearby indiscriminately.

In the clean and quiet circle, Beelzebuth breathed more comfortably.

Then he saw silver hair waving in his direct line of sight. That tiresome and disgusting silver hair, matted with blood, that bore no resemblance whatsoever to his own.

Beelzebuth spat out his words as if vomiting.

“Why are you here.”