Repeat Vice - The Villainous Noble Doesn't Want to Die, So He Swore to Not Die As One of The Four Heavenly Kings - Chapter 80: Each Battlefield

Chapter 80: Each Battlefield

After parting ways with Riruka, Abel headed to the academy alone.

His eyes were dyed crimson, and his body emitted flames as he sped through the royal capital.

Burning away the summoned beasts that came into view, Abel muttered half in exasperation.

“Transferring Rofus, what were you thinking? If it had failed, we would have become enemies. Doing something unplanned…”

“Ah, shut up! Are you my mother? It’s fine, it worked.”

The blue fireball reincarnated soul, who was accompanying Abel, turned away sulkily.

Abel sighed.

“…I didn’t hear about that deal either. Offering your life, what were you thinking? If Rofus had taken you seriously, how were you planning to dodge it?”

You almost got stabbed, Abel thought.

“I wasn’t planning to dodge it.”

“Seriously? You were willing to offer your life to Rofus? I’ve never heard of forced ghostification. Does that magic tool really have such power?”

“It does. Besides, you don’t know anything about magic items. Did you make it to the final boss without using any magic items?”

“No magic items? That’s like playing with a handicap…” the blue fireball reincarnated soul said in disbelief.

“…Why go to such lengths?”

“For what?”

“From your perspective, it’s just another world’s matter. Why risk your life…?”

It’s been three years since they shared a body, but Abel knew nothing about the reincarnated soul.

Why he was so fixated on a happy ending, or even his name.

He had asked before, but the reincarnated soul stubbornly refused to talk about himself.

And it was the same with this question.

“…I already died in my original world. Compared to the people living in this world now, my life is worth less. If sacrificing one life brings us closer to a happy ending, it’s a small price to pay.”

The blue fireball reincarnated soul spoke with his own logic.

But that wasn’t the reason Abel had asked for.

“A spirit of self-sacrifice? But why try to save Rofus and Raymond too? That has nothing to do with the harem ending you mentioned.”

“I’ve told you before, a harem is just a means. My goal is the true happy ending. Rofus saved Riruka with his villainous reincarnation move, so I slightly changed my plan. Rofus’s death is now a bad ending for Riruka. And Raymond’s death is a bad ending for Rofus.”

The blue fireball reincarnated soul spoke matter-of-factly, and Abel narrowed his eyes.

“…Are you planning to save everyone?”

“Heh,” the blue fireball reincarnated soul laughed self-deprecatingly.

“That’s impossible. I’m not that arrogant. I couldn’t save the residents who were sacrificed in the summoned beasts’ attack. But I’ll save the characters I know—the ones within my reach. No matter what it takes, no matter the means.”

Abel fell silent for a moment.

Until now, Abel had never felt the weight of the reincarnated soul’s words.

His tone, his attitude, even his humanity seemed paper-thin.

And the idea that he would even lightly wager his own life was beyond belief.

Yet, the words “happy ending” he spoke carried a peculiar weight, almost an obsession.

The blue fireball reincarnated soul would gamble his life on what he called the “true happy ending.”

And in that happy ending, Rofus and Raymond were included.

Abel thought.

What he aimed for was to truly defeat the ‘Dark God’ and prevent the world’s destruction.

Raymond and Rofus were merely obstacles among many.

However, that was likely the same for the reincarnated soul until midway through.

He must have recognized them as unavoidable obstacles and enemies to be defeated.

But Rofus saved Abel’s companion, the heroine of the story, Riruka.

He became important to Riruka, leading to a path other than confrontation.

So, the reincarnated soul incorporated Rofus and Raymond into his desired happy ending.

Self-righteous and selfish, yet a future worth achieving even at the cost of his life.

Perhaps it was a possibility of peace Abel had never considered.

“…”

Abel silently burned through the neck of a summoned beast about to attack the residents with his flame sword.

Seeing the collapsed residents, Abel pointed to the path he had come.

“Go through this road to the central square. The knights are gathering the residents.”

With tearful thanks, the residents ran towards the square.

Abel looked at the academy nearby—the roof—and spoke.

“A happy ending, huh. At first, I was skeptical, but now I want to see that vision you talk about. First, we stop Raymond, right? No matter how I see it, I can’t stop Raymond alone. Guide me… partner.”

“Leave it to me.”

Abel renewed his resolve, and the flames around his body intensified.

＊

At the southernmost end, past the city area of the royal capital.

Near the defensive wall surrounding the capital, August was running at full speed with Annegelt on his shoulder.

“This is it! Stop here, August! …Hey, you went too far!”

“Shut up! I can’t stop suddenly with this momentum!”

Despite his grumbling, August stopped abruptly as if applying brakes, and turned back to the spot Annegelt indicated.

Annegelt quickly jumped down and drew a magic circle at an incredible speed on a part of the wall, placing a fist-sized magic stone at the center.

“Hey, will this really stop Raymond’s summoned beasts?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never done anything on the scale of the entire capital. But if we don’t do it, the capital might be destroyed.”

After casting a protective spell on the magic circle, Annegelt returned to August.

“Come on, let’s move to the next one.”

“You’re really bossy. How many more places are there…?”

“69 more. Hurry up and carry me. We need to hurry.”

“Man! What does Rofus see in a strong-willed woman like you?”

Grumbling as he carried Annegelt again, August looked up at the sky and sighed.

Annegelt frowned.

“Huh? Why are you bringing up Rofus? Did he say something about me?”

“No, not really.”

With such exchanges, Annegelt and August rushed to the next destination.

To activate the grand magic needed to deal with the scattered summoned beasts in the capital.

＊

While lightning and black wind clashed in the sky and both sides fought fiercely, the knights and mage squads were battling the summoned beasts in the city area.

The central squares of each district of the capital were set up as evacuation centers for the residents, with the knights mainly guiding the residents and the mage squads focusing on eliminating the summoned beasts.

Among the knights, a girl was devoted to rescuing the residents.

The First Princess, Asteria Roa Sinterio.

With the sudden attack of the summoned beasts throwing the entire capital into chaos, Asteria herself led the knights in rescuing the residents.

Almost simultaneously, she joined forces with the mage squads, minimizing the damage by dividing the roles.

Despite the scale of the damage, the rescue operation was relatively smooth, with nearly 40% of the total population already protected.

However, Asteria’s face was extremely pale.

She had noticed familiar beasts among the monsters attacking the capital.

Shaking her head in disbelief, Asteria couldn’t ignore the magical energy from the monsters that reminded her of Raymond, which deepened her despair.

Yesterday, she had sincerely apologized to Raymond.

For betraying his feelings towards their engagement.

As a princess, it was not something that could be resolved with an apology.

She was simply waiting for the punishment from her father, the king—when this monster attack happened.

Raymond would never commit such an outrageous act.

Of all the people she knew, Raymond was the most noble, possessing both conscience and righteousness.

If Raymond was indeed behind this turmoil, what had twisted him so, what had driven him to such extremes?

Surely, it was her betrayal that caused this.

Asteria, with a haggard expression, launched five simultaneously deployed Shine Lances at a giant tiger-like summoned beast.

The giant tiger was engulfed in the torrents of light and disappeared without a trace.

Asteria fought to remain conscious due to the intense magical consumption, and drank a mana potion in one gulp from her pouch.

She shook her head as if to dispel her anxious thoughts.

She shouldn’t jump to conclusions.

It wasn’t certain that Raymond was responsible.

“…You’ll run out of magic if you don’t pace yourself, Princess.”

The one who calmly advised Asteria was a short girl with white and black hair, a blue pointed hat, and a robe with excessively long hems.

The head of the mage squad—Grand Mage Meirin.

One of Abel’s companions and one of the heroines in the original story.

It was thanks to her efforts that the mage squad joined the knights in rescuing the residents, who were initially delayed.

Under normal circumstances, they would have split up, but noticing Asteria’s unusual condition, Meirin stayed with her, also serving as her bodyguard.

Meilin often accompanied Asteria on her excursions outside the royal capital, ostensibly to help others but actually to keep an eye on her. 

Despite not knowing each other for long, they had built a close enough relationship to call each other friends. Incidentally, though Meilin looked very young, she was much older than Asteria.

Asteria, chastised by Meilin, silently lowered her gaze.

There lay a blood-soaked corpse, seemingly a victim of the giant tiger.

I wasn’t in time… Asteria thought bitterly, closing her eyes.

“…It’s better to focus on those you’ve saved rather than those you couldn’t. At least, his death isn’t your fault, Princess.”

“You’re wrong…”

“…Princess?”

“It might be my fault.”

Meilin tilted her head, not understanding Asteria’s almost tearful whisper.

“…I don’t know much, but it’s not rational to brood over uncertain things.”

Besides, Meilin looked up at the thunderclouds floating far above the royal capital.

“We don’t have time to worry. The horde of monsters has been largely dealt with, leaving only the strong ones. These are beyond the capability of the knights and the mage squad. We have to deal with them.”

The sporadic lightning from the thunderclouds had ceased.

From the thunderclouds, intermittent screams and waves of highly refined magic could be heard.

It was clear someone was fighting the monster lurking in the thunderclouds.

“…It seems there are others fighting for the royal capital. Quite skilled ones at that.”

Meilin surmised it might be a top-level explorer who happened to be in the capital.

At this moment, one of the detection spells Meilin had deployed—sonic detection—reacted.

There was a rustling sound like countless legs crawling on the ground.

The sound was rapidly approaching.

There was no reaction to the magic detection, and looking in the direction of the sound, there was nothing visible.

Meilin frowned and pulled Asteria closer by her hem.

“——!? Hey, Meilin?”

“Quiet, I can’t hear the sound.”

Meilin, listening intently, deployed a magic circle.

Sparkling snowflakes danced, forming a frozen spear.

“——Blizzard Lance!”

She cast the intermediate spell, Blizzard Lance, without an incantation.

Spear-type magic generally excels in piercing power, and Blizzard Lance is a highly offensive intermediate spell.

The ice spear, fired without a moment’s delay, shot straight toward the source of the sound, its trajectory bending as per Meilin’s will.

The Blizzard Lance struck something invisible but was repelled before it could cause a magical explosion, dissipating effortlessly.

“What? A resist spell…!? Against an attack spell?”

Magic nullification through resist spells requires high magic resistance, but it generally applies to status effects or magic effects.

Directly destructive attack spells can only have their power somewhat reduced, not nullified—normally.

The impossible phenomenon caused by the invisible monster made Meilin’s eyes widen in shock.

Meilin and Asteria were typical mages who struggled with close combat.

If magic didn’t work, they had no choice but to escape. Meilin activated a teleportation spell, including the startled Asteria.

“——Shadow Move.”

It was a teleportation spell cast without an incantation.

Meilin and Asteria sank into the shadow beneath their feet.

Immediately after, the invisible monster approaching with a rustling sound was blasted upward by a torrent of water bursting from the ground.

Following the torrent, a figure leaped up, thrusting a blade into the monster’s back and slamming it into the ground.

A tremendous crash echoed.

The impact was so great that the cobblestones were gouged out, creating a crater.

At the center of the crater, the invisible monster—now revealed as a giant white centipede—lay exposed.

The girl who had extracted the cutlass from the centipede’s carapace looked up.

With her golden hair fluttering in the wind, the girl—Fol—gazed at the astonished Meilin and Asteria.

“Sorry, are you hurt? This thing was so fast, it escaped here.”

Scratching her cheek apologetically, Fol smiled wryly.

Meanwhile, a red-haired girl who had quietly appeared in the crater was examining the giant centipede’s corpse with interest.

“An Invisible Centipede… I believe it was a floor boss in an advanced dungeon. It has special armor that disperses magic and techniques, making it a mage’s worst enemy. Why is it here…?”

Muttering to herself, the red-haired girl tilted her head, then turned back with a smile.

“It was a pretty dangerous monster. You two were lucky.”

Having just arrived in the royal capital, Farathiana and her attendant Carla had been demonstrating their prowess, defeating numerous powerful monsters while touring the city.

“Who are you…?”

Interrupting her Shadow Move spell, Meilin asked, her eyes wide with surprise.

Unable to comprehend the sudden appearance of these powerful individuals.

Asteria, on the other hand, noticed the dark outfit adorned with a crest worn by Fol.

A crescent moon devouring the sun.

To Asteria, it was the emblem of her benefactor—

“Are you… related to Lightless?”

“…Huh?”

Fol, puzzled by Asteria’s question, widened her eyes.

Though they had no memories, by coincidence or fate’s whim, they were reunited with their former comrades here and now.

＊

On the rooftop plaza of the academy.

Abel threw open the door and confronted Raymond, who was waiting there.

Raymond was seated on a bench, elegantly sipping freshly brewed tea, a scene reminiscent of their last encounter.

“Oh, Abel Carrot. I thought Rofus would be the first to arrive, but it’s you.”

Raymond looked at Abel with slight disappointment and dismay.

Abel, with eyes burning like crimson flames, stared at Raymond.

“What happened to everyone in the academy?”

There wasn’t a single person in the academy’s grounds as Abel made his way to the rooftop.

Raymond narrowed his eyes.

“The students and teachers? Principal Einbel evacuated them.”

Raymond shrugged, speaking as if it were nothing.

“He acted as if he anticipated I would take over the academy. He transferred everyone out before I could do anything. He even left a parting remark, ‘Unfortunately, I’m not your opponent.’ Could he be an apostle of the Six Gods?”

Abel didn’t answer Raymond’s question. Instead, he summoned a blue-flame sword and took a stance.

Raymond narrowed his eyes.

“I remember. You stopped me with that sword last time.”

“…So, you do remember. Then there’s no point in talking anymore.”

“Is that so? What a pity. Abel Carrot… this is goodbye.”

Raymond snapped his fingers towards the sky.

A space above Raymond’s head cracked open, revealing a monkey-like creature with countless tentacles writhing from its head.

The eerie summoned beast made Abel frown.

Seeing the summoned beast, the blue fireball reincarnated soul shouted in panic.

“——!? Why is it… Abel! Switch with me now—”

“It’s useless.”

Raymond, spotting the blue fireball reincarnated soul, smirked.

“Vine Wise—also known as ‘Spirit Eater’—is here. The outcome is already decided. I was once killed by Abel Carrot. It’s only natural I would take precautions.”

Immediately, the sanity disappeared from Abel’s crimson eyes, and he collapsed as if his body lost all strength.

The tentacle-headed monkey—Vine Wise—had a small floating fireball in its hairy palm.

The tentacles writhed around the fireball, devouring it hungrily.

Vine Wise lay sprawled in the air, patting its stomach contentedly.

Abel, now bereft of his reincarnated soul, stood up unsteadily.

His face was etched with despair.