Repeat Vice - The Villainous Noble Doesn't Want to Die, So He Swore to Not Die As One of The Four Heavenly Kings - Chapter 64.7: Someday’s Memories II

Chapter 63.7: Someday’s Memories II

Abel and his companions, having defeated the Four Heavenly Kings led by the Second Demon King Raymond—namely, the Indomitable August and the Thorny Anne—had reached the central part of the academy.

The army of shadow familiars released throughout the kingdom, which inflicted great damage on the kingdom’s forces, were all controlled by the Shadow Wolf, Rofus.

For Abel and his team, Rofus was an unavoidable adversary and the next most important target after Raymond.

Clad in a dark robe, Rofus tilted his head in apparent boredom when he saw Abel and his team.

“August and Annegelt… failed, did they?”

Rofus spoke as if disappointed.

Abel responded quietly, “Don’t forget about the butler…”

The elderly butler, Carlos, who wore a dark tailcoat and stood in Abel’s way to protect Rofus, had fought valiantly but was ultimately defeated.

Rofus narrowed his eyes. “I haven’t forgotten. It was his duty to protect me. If he couldn’t fulfill that, he is not worth mentioning—just a useless fool.”

“How dare you…! He tried to protect you!” Abel’s shoulders trembled in anger.

Rofus glared at Abel. “You? Who do you think you’re speaking to, you filthy commoner?”

Before Rofus could finish his disdainful remark, a blonde female sailor—Faratiana—leapt forward.

“Rofus Ray Lightless!!” She slashed at Rofus with her cutlass, her face contorted in rage.

Rofus blocked her blade with a dark wall he conjured, Dark Cliff.

Despite the block, Faratiana pressed forward, her blade biting into the dark wall with a grating noise.

“First a filthy monkey, now a noisy one.”

“Because of you Lightless, Norn, Norn is…!!” Faratiana shouted, her voice breaking.

“Who is that? I don’t remember any such person. I don’t bother remembering the names of commoners. Also, don’t come any closer; you pollute the air.”

As soon as Rofus said this, countless dark orbs appeared behind him and were launched at Faratiana.

Abel pulled Faratiana back, shielding her and creating a wall of flame to block the dark orbs. The orbs, disadvantaged against fire, dissipated.

“S-sorry, I acted recklessly…”

“It’s fine. I understand how you feel, Faratiana. But still…” Abel consoled her.

Abel and his team had come not to fight but to negotiate to prevent further casualties. They had agreed beforehand that violence would be the last resort.

“Rofus, I’m sorry for attacking you suddenly,” Abel bowed his head and continued, “Please withdraw the dark creatures you’ve unleashed across the kingdom. Many people are suffering…”

Abel pleaded with a pained expression.

Rofus sneered. “Suffering? That’s because the fools are resisting. My familiars do not attack those who do not resist.”

“When a swarm of monsters suddenly appears and attacks, of course people will resist…!”

“Didn’t we issue a proclamation beforehand?”

Before unleashing the shadow creatures, Raymond had sent a telepathic message to all citizens, declaring rebellion against the royal family. Those who resisted would die; those who accepted would live. Consequently, the kingdom’s army suffered heavy casualties while non-combatant citizens did not.

“It might seem rational to avoid unnecessary sacrifices, but that’s just the perspective of the rebels.”

“Was there no other way? Why did you have to rebel…?”

“Raymond wants to be the king of the world. We have the power to make that happen. The conquest of the kingdom is just the first step.”

Rofus continued, “It seems August and Annegelt were not strong enough. To be defeated by commoners…”

“They fought to the death. How can you speak of them like that? Weren’t they your comrades?”

Abel grew quietly furious, recalling the deaths of August, Annegelt, and Carlos.

Rofus looked at Abel, Faratiana, and Rilka, then glared at the kingdom’s first princess—Asteria Loa Sintelio.

“Three filthy commoners and a whore obsessed with one of them, along with other worthless rabble… To think I once considered those who lost to such trash as comrades is shameful.”

Something snapped inside Abel. In the next moment, he lunged at Rofus with his sword engulfed in flames.

Rofus blocked the flaming sword with a dark scythe he conjured without incantation.

Despite the elemental disadvantage, Rofus’s dark scythe clashed with Abel’s flaming sword, the two opposing elements grinding against each other.

“Don’t talk about Asteria like that…! And how can you speak of your comrades who fought to the death like that…!”

“They are no longer my comrades.”

“Rofus!”

In response to Abel’s anger, the flames on his sword intensified. Rofus also increased the output of his dark scythe.

“Don’t come near me, commoner. You’re stifling.”

With an exasperated sigh, Rofus unleashed a massive dark slash from his scythe, consuming Abel and his flames.

The dark torrent advanced to engulf Abel’s companions, but it was stopped by a radiant blue-white ring of light.

“—Aureole.”

Princess Asteria had cast a high-level light defensive spell, covering Abel and his companions in a protective blue-white light, shielding them from the dark slash.

Irritated by his failure to annihilate them all, Rofus clicked his tongue.

As the darkness cleared and Abel’s absence became apparent, Faratiana screamed.

“Abel…!?”

“Abel! Show yourself! Everyone is worried!”

Responding to Asteria’s reprimand, scattered sparks of fire gathered and formed Abel’s figure.

“That was close. I can’t blame Faratiana now.”

“Don’t fight alone. That’s why we’re here together.”

“Sorry, Asteria.”

Abel apologized earnestly after being scolded by Asteria.

Rofus watched their exchange with a cold, detached gaze, analyzing the situation.

Abel’s body had been obliterated by the dark slash. Yet, he revived with the flames.

It wasn’t a resurrection or healing spell. It appeared to Rofus that Abel had transformed his body into flames to avoid death.

Rofus tilted his head.

“Body transformation into flames…? Only spirits should possess such a unique ability.”

“You figured that out in an instant…?”

“It’s not mere elemental magic. Could it be a unique magic? No, it can’t be. Not for a commoner.”

Narrowing his eyes, Rofus watched as Asteria stepped forward.

“…Raymond’s actions are partly my fault. I deeply regret it. But still…!” Asteria glared at Rofus with a pained expression.

“There are things you can and cannot do! Do you know how many soldiers have died because of your dark creatures…? You should be targeting me alone if you hold a grudge!”

Asteria’s declaration was imbued with the dignity and power befitting royalty, enough to overwhelm even Abel.

However, Rofus remained unfazed, only tilting his head in mild curiosity.

“Your words are off the mark. We don’t have time to be obsessed with you alone. The kingdom is merely a stepping stone for Raymond’s conquest.”

Asteria gritted her teeth, while Abel readied his sword with a sense of resolve.

“…If you won’t withdraw the dark creatures, we have no choice but to fight.”

Rofus smirked and conjured numerous dark magic circles behind him.

“Wrong. The only path left for you is annihilation—a bad end.”

Abel’s flames and Rofus’s darkness clashed violently. The outcome was disastrous for Rofus.

—

The scene shifted to the academy’s clock tower.

On the ground, the golden dragon knight Vallum, clad in magical armor, was single-handedly overwhelming Abel’s team.

In the clear skies above, lightning crackled, tracing the paths of the winged dragons and raining down bolts to support Vallum, who maintained dominance throughout the battle.

Despite having faced powerful foes, Abel’s team found themselves unable to see a path to victory against Vallum’s experienced spear techniques.

However, they had Saintess Fran. Her divine revelations provided the strategy to defeat even the strongest of the Four Heavenly Kings, Vallum.

Dodging the lightning, Rilka Skyfield, wrapped in wind, soared through the sky.

Approaching the white-winged dragon, Frugel, Rilka managed to land a strike. The wind magic on her sword exploded, sending countless wind blades to tear apart Frugel’s wings.

With its wings shredded, Frugel plummeted to the ground.

Vallum could only watch in stunned disbelief. He lost his will to fight, dropped his spear, and staggered towards the fallen Frugel, kneeling beside it in defeat.

Weapons still drawn, Abel’s team watched as Vallum, without a glance at them, approached his fallen dragon, embodying his despair and loss.

“…You want to stop Raymond. Do as you wish. I have no reason to fight anymore.”

With that, Vallum did not speak again. He simply stayed by the side of Frugel, lying there as if he had lost his dearest companion.

Feeling an unbearable sadness, Riruka, Abel, and the others continued forward. Breaking through the Four Heavenly Kings, Abel and his group headed towards the instigator of the rebellion—Raymond.

*

The top floor of the academy building, the rooftop garden.

Having defeated the Four Heavenly Kings, Abel and his group reached this point. Raymond, sitting gracefully on a bench on the terrace, welcomed them while enjoying the aroma of freshly brewed tea.

“Welcome to my castle. Would you like some? I’m quite fond of this brand.”

Raymond offered the tea in a friendly manner, as if greeting friends. Seeing no sign of Abel and his group’s willingness to accept, Raymond, with a hint of disappointment, set the tea on the table.

On the table’s tray, separate from Raymond’s, were four mugs.

Raymond began to speak quietly.

“…August didn’t care for fancy things and didn’t drink tea or coffee. He always drank milk. Anne shared similar tastes with me, and we often exchanged tea leaves from our territories.”

Raymond continued.

“Rofus was an extreme coffee enthusiast. He drank several cups of unsweetened black coffee every day. Vallum, despite appearances, had a sweet tooth and added honey to everything he drank. When he tried coffee to humor Rofus, he made a grimace.”

Speaking cheerfully yet somewhat sadly, Raymond continued.

“To you, they may have been heinous rebels, but to me, they were good friends.”

“You involved them in this, didn’t you?”

Suppressing the urge to shout, Abel spoke quietly. At Abel’s words, Raymond frowned in displeasure.

“Commoner. Don’t speak of our relationships as if you understand. They agreed with my ideology and followed me, risking their lives. Reducing it to simply ‘involving them’ is highly insulting.”

In response to Raymond’s anger, white magical power overflowed from his body, transforming his form. His skin turned porcelain white, six wings of light sprouted from his back, and numerous rings of light formed a halo above his head, transforming into chains of light.

With wings and a halo of light, Raymond’s form was divine, like an angel.

This was Raymond’s high-end demon transformation.

Raymond’s sapphire-blue eyes turned jade green. Speaking in a voice that seemed to resonate directly in one’s mind, Raymond declared:

“Now, let us mourn my fallen comrades. By presenting your annihilation as their offering.”

Raymond ascended to the sky with his white wings, and a beam of aurora light from the halo above him attacked Abel and his group.

*

Raymond fought alone in his demon-transformed body without summoning any creatures. It was to personally kill those who had killed his comrades.

This choice—Raymond’s insistence—resulted in relinquishing the overwhelming advantage of various attack methods and numerous options.

However, a single high-end demon-transformed Raymond was far stronger than any number of summoned creatures.

Had he summoned creatures, they would have hindered Raymond. Thus, the strategy was not incorrect.

But for Abel and his group, who were blessed by the Six Gods and given powerful anti-Raimond powers, it was a colossal miscalculation.

Abel’s flaming sword pierced Raymond’s chest. The divine flame—blue flames given by the Fire God, one of the Six Gods—engulfed Raymond.

With the jade light fading from his eyes, Raymond stared intently at Abel.

As the high-end demon transformation unraveled, Raymond, returning to human form, called out to Abel with a bitter smile.

“Commoner… no, Abel Carrot.”

“What is it?”

“How were my friends’ final moments?”

Facing Raymond’s question directly, Abel answered.

“Setting aside good and evil… they were all brave.”

“I see.”

Raymond, burning in the blue flames, closed his eyes with a sorrowful expression. Then, he looked at Abel once more.

“Abel Carrot. Though I’m not the one to say this, don’t make Asteria cry.”

“As if I would.”

Raymond slightly smiled at Abel’s immediate response.

With that final exchange, Raymond’s body turned to ash and crumbled.

——Ah… why did I do such a thing…

Abel felt as though he heard those words from the disintegrating Raymond. Whether it was a mishearing or an illusion, Abel did not know.

However, the Raymond with whom he exchanged words at the end did not seem like the extremist who sought to overthrow the kingdom.

*

A red-haired boy, reminiscent of fire, woke up. Bathed in the morning sunlight streaming through the window, the boy sat up and stretched.

He cracked his shoulders lightly and yawned.

“That was an unusually vivid dream. Fighting the Four Heavenly Kings and Raymond. Well, the entrance ceremony is soon…”

Mumbling to himself, the boy sat on the edge of the bed.

“Probably Abel’s memories. There were scenes not in the game…”

As the boy spoke, a floating fireball appeared, fluttering around him as if it had a will of its own. Annoyed by its approach, the boy squinted one eye.

“…Ah, it’s nothing. Just had a dream.”

The boy, seemingly conversing with the fireball, glanced at the calendar on the wall.

“The entrance ceremony is in a week… the original story is about to begin. I’m looking forward to it.”

Smiling, the boy was gently headbutted by the fireball as if being reprimanded.

“Ouch? Hey, that hurts. It’s not a game? Yeah, I know, seriously, seriously! That’s why I’ve been collecting items in dungeons for the past three years, right? To prepare for the battles ahead. My knowledge of the original game has been useful, hasn’t it—Abel?”

“The knowledgeable me, the combat-skilled Abel… it’s a perfect match, isn’t it? I’m counting on you, partner.”

The red-haired boy grinned confidently.

Abel Carrot, that was his name.

The academy entrance was just around the corner.

T/N: And this ends the interchapters, which is kind of just side stories. And also, the next chapter, which is the actual Chapter 64, will be named as Chapter 64.8 due to how the order of chapters work in zetro, although Chapter 65 will be simply Chapter 65.