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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuzio
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She knew it all along.
It wasn’t the Titans that held Luthers back, but them.
He always wanted to bring everyone back alive, and after living forty new lives, he had finally achieved it.
But in other words…
Perhaps it was a goal he could have achieved much sooner if he had simply given up on them.
The first button had been fastened wrong from the start.
However, changing Luthers Edan’s perception was impossible.
Could anyone truly alter the core being of a man who had endured death forty times?
Of course, with Akasha and Oracle, it wasn’t entirely impossible.
They were instruments that could guide even the yet-to-be-written future towards a predetermined outcome—tools that could truly grant one godlike power.
A modern-day Tower of Babel.
A stepping stone to truth, allowing them to peek into the forbidden realm of God.
But everyone knew the fate of those who built the Tower of Babel.
The humans who dared to defy God were punished and scattered.
There was a price to pay for daring to reach into God’s domain.
Perhaps all of this was divine retribution.
The wrath of God, directed at the arrogant creation who dared to step into the forbidden realm and the way to appease God’s wrath had always been through “sacrifice.”
A sacrificial lamb to atone for their sins, like the Messiah who descended to earth in human form.
Luthers Edan was that lamb.
Wearing away his mind, body, and soul.
Enduring the fear and agony of death.
A saint who had abandoned his own self and desires for the salvation of mankind.
But now, that chalice of suffering was in the hands of Arwen Orka, passed down from Charlotte.
“You don’t have to drink it.”
In the midst of a battlefield filled with gunfire and explosions, Arwen looked at another version of herself.
Her Major rank insignia gleamed.
“You know it too, don’t you? It’s always been like this, not just in this cycle. You said you wanted what was best for Luthers, but you always hid behind him.”
“How hypocritical is it to suddenly regret your choices and make a grand decision now?”
“You’re not ready to accept that chalice. Not yet. You’ll never be able to hold it.”
A sinister smile stretched across her lips.
But Arwen stared back at herself, her voice firm.
“Luthers wasn’t ready either. Who could be? Who could be truly prepared to endure such a cruel fate?”
“I have no regrets. What I did to him was unforgivable, and I’m doing this without even considering his wishes, but… I can confidently say I won’t regret it.”
“Like you said, I’m a selfish person who doesn’t know gratitude. I’ll be selfish until the very end.”
Arwen smiled.
A genuine smile, devoid of any lingering attachment or regret, just like she had claimed.
Arwen envisioned a peaceful world where the war hero, Luthers Edan, would be welcomed wherever he went.
A world where he could laugh and spend time with those he loved.
A world where he could live a peaceful life with his wife and children, free from the burdens and responsibilities he carried.
Wasn’t that worth sacrificing her soul and existence for?
“I’ve always wanted to be a hero. The inferiority I felt towards him stemmed from my own nature and insecurities.”
“So I’ll become a hero.”
Even if she was forgotten by everyone.
“A hero for everyone, and for Luthers.”
Arwen passed through her other self and walked towards the battlefield.
The figure of Major Arwen, the staff adjutant, vanished like a mirage.
She had just passed the first branch point.
The path ahead was still long.
She traversed countless memories.
She had no concept of how much time had passed.
Her arms and legs, once clearly visible, had faded away.
She looked into the calm surface of a lake, but she couldn’t see anything reflected back at her.
The phenomenon Akasha had described was occurring.
But she couldn’t stop.
Her duty had to be fulfilled.
“Luthers, remember when I said I wanted to live in a big house with a view of a lake? How about this lake? The sunlight is lovely too.”
“It is. After the war is over… I’ll build it for you.”
Arwen watched herself walking hand in hand with Luthers, strolling along the lakeshore.
His silver hair shimmered in the warm sunlight.
She smiled brightly at her beloved, a sight that never failed to make her heart flutter.
Then, she suddenly turned her head, her eyes meeting Arwen’s.
Arwen shook her head.
The other Arwen’s face crumpled, her expression on the verge of tears.
She slowly released Luthers’s hand.
And like the others, she transformed into a ray of light and dissipated into the air.
It seemed like she was nearing the end.
Arwen thought to herself.
The soul of Akasha she had encountered that day was a collective entity.
Akasha had regressed alongside Luthers.
In that process, the massive machine had become imbued with a soul instead of artificial intelligence, assimilating the memories of the people uploaded to it.
-Commander, thank you for everything. The best choice I made in my life was following you, not the President. It was an honor to be your strongest spear.
The final message from Brigadier General Heinz Bismarck, the Armored Brigade Commander, who had launched his last sortie in the sixteenth cycle.
-Don’t come looking for me. There are no helicopters left anyway. Please, live for me, Commander.
The message from Major General Lydia Glenova, the Air Division Commander, who had been shot down in the twenty-fifth cycle, unable to escape the enemy’s anti-aircraft network.
-Commander… I’ve reached my limit… As always, I leave it to you…
The final words of Colonel Durand Stirling, the Reconnaissance Regiment Commander, who had rescued Luthers Edan from the endless labyrinth in the thirty-fourth cycle before succumbing to his wounds.
-I’ll be waiting. Live your life to the fullest. Oh, and bring that Valentine 30-year we never got to drink. You didn’t get to try it either, did you?
The farewell from Brigadier General Drake Brown, the Assault Brigade Commander, who had bought them time in the seventeenth cycle after the capital fell.
-I have no regrets. We might die living like this someday, but it’s romantic, isn’t it? Adam and Eve, alone in a ruined world. But… that’s not you, is it? You regret it, don’t you? Those you left behind. Then let’s make it happen next cycle. We’ve run away enough. I’ll be with you.
The concern of Lea Gilliard, who had chosen to flee with him even as the world crumbled around them.
-Why did you come back, you fool… You knew you were going to die. You’re thanking me for saving you? No… It’s what I should have done. Honestly, I’ve always wanted to do this. To save you, to finally be the one helping you instead of the other way around. Ah… it’s warm. Hold me tighter… I’m sleepy…
The request of Charlotte Evergreen, who had sacrificed herself to save Luthers with a prototype weapon.
And…
-I love you more than anything in this world, more than anyone. Luthers.
The confession of her own self, Arwen Orka, who had never wavered in her feelings throughout the regressions.
It was an artificial intelligence created by the combined will and emotions of all of them.
[This is… the last one.]
Akasha looked at Arwen.
The Graveyard Fortress, five years ago.
The historical location where she had first met Luthers Edan, where the countless regressions had begun.
Once this last, oldest memory was erased, there would be no trace of “Arwen Orka” left in Luthers’ mind.
Arwen looked around her quarters with a bittersweet feeling.
The bare, gray space was sparsely furnished with only the most basic necessities. Monotonous and dull.
That was the kind of person she was.
Ordinary, unremarkable.
It was Luthers who had filled her life with color.
“He was my life.”
She had learned so much, experienced so much.
The guide who had defied fate, transforming her from an insignificant speck of dust destined to be forgotten on the battlefield.
Even without her, Luthers would continue to change the lives of those around him.
Unlike her, he was someone who shone brightly, no matter where he was.
“Thank you.”
And I love you.
A heartfelt confession she had whispered countless times.
Leaving those words behind, Arwen Orka stepped out of her quarters.
The nameplate on her door, bearing her name, dissipated into the air.
[All traces of you have been erased. Your soul is fading fast. The thirty-nine other Akashas have already ceased operation. Now, only I remain.]
“You’ve worked hard, Akasha.”
It was a revelation of the entire past.
Luthers Edan of the forty-first cycle had regressed once again.
There was no other way.
He couldn’t change what had already happened.
However, the new world, born from the regression, could be guided according to Arwen’s design, empowered by Oracle.
A mass hypnosis on a national scale.
But the energy consumed in the process had long surpassed Akasha’s processing capacity.
There were countless changes, both large and small.
Major events like the President’s downfall orchestrated by Arthur Philias, and the integration of the Forbidden Lake personnel into the Graveyard.
It was all to minimize the inevitable dissonance with old memories.
Having single-handedly handled such a massive operation…
She had barely managed to sustain it by consuming not only her remaining energy, but also Arwen Orka’s soul and the accumulated thoughts and emotions of those who had been uploaded throughout the forty regressions.
“Fortunately… my insignificant soul seems to have been enough fuel for you. Now, it’s time to finish this tiresome task.”
[Yes, it’s time to finish. The paradise you so desperately yearned for is complete.]
Akasha’s soul, manifested in Luthers’s form, smiled at Arwen, standing tall in the pure white space.
[What do you think? Are you satisfied?]
Arwen pondered the unexpected question for a moment before answering.
“…Of course I am.”
[You’re lying again, Arwen.]
At that moment, Akasha’s voice, which had been a gentle, mechanical tone, changed drastically.
As Arwen looked at her in surprise, the young girl’s form had transformed into the image of a man, a sight that made her heart ache.
“H-How…”
[Akasha is also imbued with my will.]
It was true.
Although it contained the memories of the Graveyard members, its origin was Luthers Edan.
He was the father, the creator, who had given the mere machine, Akasha, the ability to think for itself.
[Look at you, still acting on your own. What paradise? You erased your memories from my mind and planned to vanish entirely?]
“…Please, don’t… Don’t make me waver after I’ve finally made up my mind.”
Arwen’s voice trembled.
No matter how determined she was to make this sacrifice, it wasn’t easy.
She couldn’t enter the paradise she had created.
She would be forgotten by everyone, her soul eroding until it ceased to exist.
She would embark on a lonely journey into the unknown abyss beyond death.
A truly miserable end.
But he couldn’t let her do it.
After all, Arwen’s stubbornness came from him.
[We promised. I said I would find you, no matter where you are.]
[So, come find me too. We haven’t hugged and apologized to each other yet.]
[I’ll be waiting.]
Akasha, in Luthers’ form, vanished after leaving those words behind.
A blinding light filled her vision.
Embraced by the warm, comforting radiance, Arwen’s consciousness faded to white.
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