Repeat Vice - The Villainous Noble Doesn't Want to Die, So He Swore to Not Die As One of The Four Heavenly Kings - Chapter 110.1: Epilogue: Legion

Chapter 110.1: Epilogue: Legion

Rofus took Meilin to the balcony to catch the night breeze.

The humid air characteristic of the southern kingdom blew through.

The rain had stopped, and the moonlight illuminated the balcony.

“Thank you for the rescue, Lord Rofus. I am inexperienced with soirées like these, so I didn’t know how to handle it…”

During the day, Meilin wore armor under an oversized robe, but now she was dressed in a white-themed dress prepared by Count Gimlet for the soirée.

She had initially refused to attend the soirée, but the maids of the Gimlet household had persuaded her with the term “dress code,” and before she knew it, she found herself in a dress.

Despite being an adult for quite some time, she looked significantly younger.

She could easily be mistaken for a ten-year-old or even younger.

Her youthful appearance and small frame were due to Meilin’s unique magical reasons.

It seemed Meilin, unlike Riruka or Abel, did not retain memories of the future…

However, Meilin was once part of the group that defeated the “God of Darkness” and one of those who repeatedly killed Rofus.

She was not someone to be let one’s guard down around.

“Have you had any dreams lately? Strange dreams as if seeing the future.”

“Dreams of the future…?”

Taking advantage of being alone, Rofus casually asked.

Meilin blinked and tilted her head.

“Princess Asteria asked me something similar recently. Something odd about dreams. Unfortunately, I sleep soundly and haven’t had dreams in a long time.”

“…I see.”

Rofus frowned, wondering if Princess Asteria had also asked, but concluded that Meilin did not have any memories.

From the start, only the apostles of the Six Gods or the “God of Darkness” retained memories.

The confirmed apostles of the Six Gods were Rilka, Abel, and Principal Ainbell.

Each of them had attributes matching their respective Six Gods.

From the knowledge in his “dream,” Rofus knew Meilin’s attributes.

Meilin had dual attributes of darkness and ice.

If the attribute matching condition was correct, only the Dark God would align with Meilin’s attributes.

However, according to the Light God, Rofus himself was the apostle of the Dark God and simultaneously the apostle of the “God of Darkness.”

Whether this was true or not, Rofus felt that the possibility of Meilin being an apostle was low.

She did not react to the probing question, and most importantly, she showed no wariness despite being alone with Rofus, her former enemy.

As Rofus turned his gaze away from Meilin, she spoke.

“…Could your question be related to the rewinding…?”

“…What?”

Rofus widened his eyes in astonishment at the unexpected word “rewinding” from Meilin’s mouth.

“You… do you have memories—”

Just as he was about to ask if she had memories, Meilin, twirling her black and white hair, continued.

“Hmm, ‘memories,’ huh. And with that reaction… it seems we were more than just acquaintances before the rewind.”

“Mmm…?”

Rofus squinted at Meilin’s peculiar phrasing.

Meilin continued.

“I don’t know the extent of our relationship, but—then do you know what resides in my right eye?”

Meilin’s heterochromatic eyes—her black left eye and white right eye—looked at Rofus.

Rofus, having seen the entirety of the “story” in his dream, knew Meilin’s secret.

He knew why she did not age and what resided in her right eye.

Recalling this, Rofus narrowed his eyes and exhaled as if understanding.

“—The ‘Devil of Time’?”

Meilin was contracted with one of the higher beings called a devil.

The terms of the contract were—

“So you know. Yes, my eternally youthful body… my body is frozen in time. I seek the depths of magic in eternal time and show all of it to him… that’s the contract with the ‘Devil of Time, Mephisto.'”

Meilin smiled and pointed to her right eye, which was as white as if it had been dyed.

“About three years ago, the ‘Devil of Time, Mephisto,’ residing in this right eye, suddenly became agitated. ‘When is now?’ he asked. He didn’t say much, but I heard that time had been rewound about ten years. I have no memory of the time before the rewind.”

Meilin shrugged, looking disappointed.

“But—if you know about the ‘Devil of Time, Mephisto,’ then it seems we were quite close. We weren’t in a romantic relationship, were we?”

Meilin smiled mischievously as if letting her guard down, but Rofus glared at her.

“…It was the opposite. We were enemies. I was killed by you and your companions in the last cycle.”

Meilin’s smile froze in fear at the killing intent emanating from Rofus.

She paled, broke into a cold sweat, and took a half step back.

“Impossible… to kill Lord Rofus…?”

Meilin looked as if she couldn’t believe it, searching for an escape route with her eyes, but Rofus stepped in front of her to block it.

“…”

Seeing Meilin’s despairing expression, Rofus suppressed his killing intent and snorted.

“Learn from this and stop talking about unasked things. Misconceptions can lead to your downfall.”

The tension in Rofus’s air softened, and Meilin collapsed to her knees as if her tension was released.

Rofus extended a hand to support Meilin’s small, delicate body.

“Be careful, or your dress will get dirty. This is borrowed, isn’t it?”

Meilin grabbed Rofus’s hand and looked at him reproachfully through half-closed eyes.

“You scared me, Lord Rofus… I was terrified.”

“It wasn’t a joke, but things are different this time. I have no intention of being hostile unless you attack me.”

“Foolish, there’s no point in attacking. Even if there was, I couldn’t win.”

Meilin shrugged and stood up, using Rofus’s hand as support.

She looked at Rofus seriously.

“Could you explain what happened before the rewind?”

“Even if you ask for an explanation…”

Rofus averted his eyes as if it were a hassle.

It seemed that Meilin had realized the world had been rewound from a different source than the Six Gods or the “God of Darkness.”

Rofus didn’t see the necessity or value in explaining the situation to Meilin.

Her abilities were not low, but not particularly high from Rofus’s perspective.

As a collaborator, she was unremarkable.

More concerning to Rofus was the higher being residing in Meilin’s right eye—the “Devil of Time, Mephisto.”

The fact that there were beings other than the Six Gods and the “God of Darkness” who recognized the world’s rewind could not be overlooked.

Whether Mephisto was an exception due to his nature of controlling time or whether higher beings like gods and great spirits recognized the rewind was uncertain.

If other beings besides the Six Gods and the “God of Darkness” recognized the rewind, the matter would be highly complex.

According to the Demon King Lars, the world’s rewind was a stage set for the rematch of the Six Gods and the “God of Darkness.”

However, if there were others who recognized the rewind, it wouldn’t end with the simple conflict between the Six Gods and the “God of Darkness.”

“Gods, divine beasts, higher spirits, beings that control time—there are too many candidates. What a bother…”

Ignoring the bewildered Meilin, Rofus muttered in frustration.

He was disheartened by the prospect of having to pay attention to beings other than the Six Gods and the “God of Darkness.”

Meilin, who had not received an explanation from Rofus, timidly prompted him.

“Um, Lord Rofus… about the explanation?”

“I don’t know. Ask Abel.”

“Abel…?”

Meilin frowned, wondering who that was.

Yes, the commoner who had been commended during the recent capital attack had such a name.

Could that commoner be related to the rewind?

Just as Meilin was about to ask, Rofus seemed to sense something.

“Lord Rofus?”

Rofus gestured for Meilin to stop approaching.

“…Urgent matter.”

Rofus lowered his eyes in concentration.

＊

Without any warning, Rofus received an urgent message from Yurika.

Rofus sensed Yurika repeatedly talking to the familiar hidden in his shadow.

He connected part of his consciousness to the familiar and listened to Yurika’s words.

“Lord Rofus…! Apologies for the sudden contact… I have urgent news…”

“No problem. Speak.”

“Yes… it’s about—”

Yurika’s urgent message was that the Steria territory had been attacked by the Imperial army.

Rinus and Carlos, who happened to be present, intervened and managed to repel the Imperial army, but both were severely injured.

Carlos, in particular, was critically wounded and was transported to the Lightress main house via teleportation, where Yurika conducted intensive treatment to save his life.

However, he had not yet regained consciousness.

Yurika conveyed all this in a fatigued voice.

“I see… well done.”

Rofus’s response was a brief word of thanks after hearing the report.

Through the familiar, he saw Yurika’s relieved yet tearful smile.

“Take a short rest. I’ll contact you again.”

Yurika hastily stopped Rofus, who was about to cut the communication.

“Wait! I have a message from the predecessor—Lord Rinus.”

“From Grandfather Jiji?”

“Yes, the content is such that I couldn’t grasp the intention, so I will convey it to you word for word.”

With that preface, Yurika began to relay the message.

“There is a fragment of the Yaminokami in the Empire—this is a message from the first generation.”

“That’s all,” Yurika concluded.

Rofus was silent for a moment before saying, “Got it,” and severing the connection with his familiar.

As the shared vision with his familiar was cut off, his own vision returned, and he saw Meilin’s anxious face.

“Was it an urgent telepathic message? Is something serious…”

Meilin started to speak but then fell silent, her face turning pale.

From within Rofus, a cold, piercing dark magic power was emanating.

The anger was palpable, despite Rofus’s unchanged expression. His eyes were as dark as the depths of hell.

“Sorry. I just received some news that I can’t stomach.”

Rofus apologized for intimidating the unrelated Meilin.

But Rofus’s atmosphere didn’t soften, and Meilin, feeling the rough magic power prickling her skin, opened her mouth nervously.

“What happened? It seems to be something quite significant for you.”

“Not for me—but for the kingdom.”

“Huh…?”

Meilin frowned at Rofus’s cryptic reply.

Rofus exhaled deeply to calm his rising anger and placed his hand on the balcony railing, gazing at the crescent moon in the sky.

The Empire’s attack was too sudden.

However, the attack itself had happened in the “story” as well.

In the story’s third chapter, the Alchemy Empire Arc—the beginning involved the Empire attacking the Steria territory.

It’s too early, Rofus thought.

It was more than six months ahead of the “story.”

But in a way, it made sense to Rofus.

In the “story,” the Empire’s attack happened right after the rebellion led by the “Second Demon King, Raymond.”

It was precisely when the kingdom’s military strength was weakened.

This time, Raymond’s summoning beast attacked the royal capital more than six months earlier than in the “story,” influenced by the Yaminokami.

If the Empire’s attack was coordinated with the timing of the royal capital attack, this invasion timing also made sense.

However, if that’s the case, it means that the kingdom’s situation is completely known to the Empire.

Either there are Empire spies infiltrating the kingdom, or they have some advanced scientific means of gathering information.

In any case, the information conveyed from the first Dark God via Rinus was something that couldn’t be ignored.

There is a fragment of the Yaminokami in the Empire.

It felt like they were being used by the six gods, but the Empire had killed Carlos.

That was something Rofus could not overlook.

“Shall we destroy the Empire?”

At Rofus’s extremely dangerous mutter, Meilin burst out.

“Rofus!?”

What kind of message did you receive to lead to that!? Meilin’s eyes widened.

Amidst such a moment, a piece of paper fell from the sky, carried by the night wind.

The paper was drawn to Rofus’s hand as he gazed at the crescent moon.

The falling paper—it was a single letter.

It was a simple one, with neither sender nor recipient written on it.

But it had a single letter, “R,” written on it.

Rofus widened his eyes and quickly opened the letter.

Inside was a single piece of paper.

Written on it was just one sentence.

“Seek help.”

Below that sentence were coordinates in spirit language used for teleportation magic.

The location indicated by the coordinates was—the Empire.

Rofus’s hand tightened around the letter, wrinkling the paper.

“Really, one thing after another…!”

Rofus spat out, unable to hide his irritation, and returned inside the mansion.

Meilin hastily followed him.

＊

The Empire—central capital.

In the depths of the city’s underground, there was a nameless underground research facility.

In its innermost part, there was a research lab off-limits to ordinary scientists and researchers.

There was a single person—no, a being that seemed human.

At first glance, he was a slender young man.

With a researcher’s build, his thin body lacked muscles.

He wore a white coat, and his ID card on his chest bore the title of Chief Executive.

The man, whose eyes harbored an inexplicable madness, was named Theseus.

He was the mastermind in the third part of the original work, the Alchemy Empire Arc, and the chief executive of the Empire’s science department.

He was responsible for developing numerous weapons and contributed to the Empire’s scientific and technological advancements.

He was known as the “greatest mind of humanity.”

Theseus was watching the battle report of the recent Steria territory raid on a large monitor.

The damage was far beyond expectations.

As a result, despite launching a surprise attack with full strength, they couldn’t capture even one base.

It was a clear defeat.

However, Theseus didn’t show any frustration; he just watched the monitor with interest.

“A white mist, huh? That wasn’t there last time.”

Last time—Theseus looked at another monitor as he spoke.

On it were numerous faces and names, sorted by rank, “special grade” and “first grade.”

Among them were photos of Rofus, Abel, and Raymond.

“Rofus Ray Lightless. We attacked when he was in the south—we sent enough forces to easily take down Steria. To think even the Jabberwock was destroyed… But the ‘white mist.’ Lightless’s forces were conveniently there.”

I wonder if information leaked from somewhere, Theseus tilted his head.

“Well then—who is the naughty joker taking actions different from history?”

Theseus laughed ominously.

Behind him—in the center of the lab, a massive jade-colored magic stone floated thanks to an anti-gravity device.

The magic stone had numerous tubes attached, constantly extracting magic power.

The massive jade magic stone pulsed with magic power.

The will carried by the magic power waves spoke directly to Theseus’s mind.

Theseus glanced at the magic stone, somewhat annoyed.

“Really, you’re as noisy as ever. An inexhaustible magic power source—it’s top-notch as a power source, but this ‘whispering’ is a problem.”

A massive magic stone excavated about three years ago.

This one, which emitted endless magic power, was an inexhaustible resource.

Although the process of converting it into energy was somewhat troublesome, magic power was now an energy resource that surpassed electricity, firepower, wind power, and hydro power in the Empire.

However, the problem was that the magic power emitted from this magic stone was extremely harmful to the human body, causing mental disorders just by being nearby.

Therefore, general researchers couldn’t enter this lab where the magic stone was stored.

However, Theseus was different.

He listened to the mental disorder-inducing “whispers” emitted by the magic stone with a calm expression.

In fact, he had the leisure to converse with it when he was bored.

“Talk of the six gods’ apostles and the revival of the Yaminokami… I’m really tired of your fairy tales. Can’t you understand how annoying it is to be endlessly told about something I’m not interested in?”

Theseus continued to speak to the magic stone.

“Whether you’re the remnant of the Demon King defeated by the six gods or not, I don’t care. If you’re going to talk, provide useful information. Your stories are boring.”

Reacting to Theseus’s words, the magic stone emitted a particularly strong wave of magic power.

Sensing the emotion of anger, Theseus laughed mockingly.

“Shut up, loser. As long as you stay quiet, you’re an extremely useful power source.”

Ignoring the raging waves of magic power from the magic stone, Theseus turned his eyes to one of the “special grade” faces on the monitor—Abel Carrot.

“Abel Carrot… I have prepared enough to kill you. Raymond Roi Nordens Galeon, who is moving suspiciously, and Rofus Rei Lightless—you guys included. This time, I will win, Magic Kingdom Sinterio.”

Theseus’s crazed eyes gleamed ominously under the light of the jade magic power.

—End of Chapter 5, “EP Legion”—