[So we can meet again here.]
Memories from cycle 16 resurfaced.
[Sorry for leaving you alone every time.]
“That was definitely something NoName said right before the last cycle… But now!”
As I recalled all the forgotten memories leading to the final 17th cycle, tears filled my eyes.
[This time, I’ll definitely come back alive.]
“Ugh, I did it… I don’t know what it is, but I did it…! I remember everything! So please, God…!”
The moment Adella saw the phrase to return, she couldn’t shake the thought of rushing to NoName.
As she absentmindedly brushed against the stone wall, suddenly Pabat—sparks flew, and the mechanical sounds that had been messing with her head became clear.
[Remember, recall, don’t forget.]
At the command to recall, she managed to.
NoName, today, today, and today again, kindly brushed her hair in all ‘todays.’
Furthermore, at the urging to remember, she finally did.
In a mission that she could never succeed, NoName willingly sacrificed himself to protect her. And the world was reset.
With the promise to never forget kept, Adella hurried to the place where her benefactor should be.
“This memory…! I won’t let anyone take it from me. I’m absolutely going to save NoName!”
But it was too early to relax.
The condition for Adella’s memory to return was always limited to times when NoName died and the world collapsed.
However, she was somehow convinced that this cycle would feel different.
In an instant, the background changed, revealing the Academy’s Training Arena.
Having already lost friends twice in the same place, Adella felt a pang in her heart.
Could it be too late? Would another strange message appear, signaling her death again?
Clutching her anxious heart, she jumped from rooftop to rooftop, avoiding the gaze of people.
And then she saw it.
With a striking golden hair uncommon in the system and pointed ears sticking out, concentrating further on the mana revealed even more of that mischievous expression.
He’s alive.
“NoName!”
She shouted at the top of her lungs, praying it would reach him. Even if her throat went hoarse, or even if she couldn’t speak ever again, it didn’t matter.
“Adella…?”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Adella leaped toward Na-me.
They had obviously just been together, but the emotions were overwhelming, as if they hadn’t seen each other for a decade.
“Why are you here? Ciciela?!”
“I did emergency treatment! You told me, right? Regeneration magic!”
“No, you…!”
Ignoring the disbelief on Na-me’s face, Adella calmly assessed the situation.
They were still at a standstill, but the battle hadn’t started yet.
Hope was visible.
“Forest Keeper, let’s escape…”
“What are you saying? We’re in the middle of a mission—”
“If we die, what use is that mission!”
She couldn’t help but detest the Forest Keeper’s unwavering eyes.
How could he throw himself without a moment’s hesitation?
“Adella, calm down. They have no intention of letting us go anyway. And Alperion…”
Na-me pointed to the knight collapsed on the opposing side.
He looked like he could die at any moment.
Adella squeezed her eyes shut.
It was a desperate situation. She shouldn’t have taken this mission in the first place.
But she couldn’t leave behind the devil’s cornerstone hidden within the Laurel of Life.
If the laurel fell into the hands of the Demon Worshippers, destruction was imminent.
“I never thought you’d still be at the Academy. This is beyond imagination.”
-????????
-Is this even a story?
-Did Jin Chronicle come in person?
-Is this a bug?
A voice, unpleasant and gravelly, rang out. The ticking pocket watch joined in as well.
Jin Chronicle, the Vice Chancellor of the Academy and also a Demon Worshipper, had descended.
The story had twisted into a mess.
Logically, within the Academy, players could never encounter Jin Chronicle.
No matter how long they dragged things out by facing students and the Guard Knights, it would be no problem.
It shouldn’t make sense, but it was a restriction set by the game developers, and Jin Chronicle would just wait endlessly for the protagonists to exit the Academy.
The man who descended from the air walked straight through the crowd.
Literally passed through them, as if they’d never existed at all.
-Kyaaaah!!!
-It’s a ghost!
-This is really a bug, lol!
-I almost lost my heart!
-Wha—what’s going on?
“What the… how did you pass through people…?”
Adella’s senses were on high alert.
This was absurd; could he really have returned as a ghost?
“What people are you talking about? It’s just you and me, plus that one impersonating the Forest Keeper.”
What Jin Chronicle saw were only Na-me and Adella.
Their worlds had collided.
It was overwhelming enough to deal with one, but now they were forced to face two factions.
“Forest Keeper… how is this…”
“Adella, you said all your memories came back, right?”
“Ah… yes! That guy… he was a Demon Worshipper! He wasn’t even from the Empire!”
“Then you handle Jin Chronicle. I’ll take care of the rest.”
A way to escape from this annoying first act quickly flashed through Na-me’s mind.
*
Suddenly, a boss battle with Jin Chronicle broke out. However, Na-me couldn’t join in.
She dashed toward the Academy Main Building while carrying all of the army’s aggro. Stating briefly that she was looking for a child named Giselle Phoenix, she left.
“Has it really been exactly two years?”
At the man’s indifferent question, Adella’s fists trembled.
“We just met yesterday, you bastard…!”
“How unfortunate. Seems like this is our first meeting. Perhaps you were spying on me from afar?”
Despite accumulating experiences through 18 cycles, Jin Chronicle’s power felt utterly vast.
Because she had gotten stronger, she could more accurately gauge it.
The title of Vice Chancellor of the Academy wasn’t acquired without merit.
One could truly grasp just how incredible the Forest Keeper was for overwhelming him head-on.
While thinking so, Adella sharpened her nails and steeled her resolve.
All she could do now was buy time for NoName’s plan to succeed.
A deep fear pressed down on her, but more terrifying was the thought of losing her companion forever.
“I’m not strong like NoName… But!”
Adella crossed her arms. Beyond the ominous blade of the dagger, her eyes gleamed green even in the night.
“If you still have the memories of the last cycle, then I’m sure this version of me would feel like facing NoName.”
No more treats or carrots, now was the time to make decisions on her own.
Still, Adella had confidence that she could make the same choices NoName would in any situation.
Feeling as if she was born just for this moment, Adella threw her daggers, signaling the start of the showdown.
Two daggers shot toward the man like scythes.
One straight ahead, the other spinning widely to the side.
Clang—!
The dagger, unable to penetrate the sword energy Jin Chronicle had summoned, ricocheted as Adella swiftly retrieved it, stabbing toward his neck again.
Surprise flickered in the man’s eyes. She was surely a child with no potential for growth.
Yet, her movements were distinctly different now than they had been two years ago.
But there was no time to think deeper.
A crucial attack aiming for her vitals was interrupted by the pocket watch.
Moreover, she didn’t forget the dagger flying in from the side. Though it didn’t carry formidable force, who knew what tricks it had up its sleeve?
Since he wasn’t primarily a sword-fighting type, Jin Chronicle chose to evade over defend.
In a brief moment, his gaze fell upon Adella’s head.
Her hair appeared slightly flattened.
“Did you suddenly improve because you had the laurel?”
“Humph, it won’t be of any use even if you try to take it! This is not your contracted Laurel of Life!”
“Without the ability to use magic, it wouldn’t matter anyway. I’ll kill you here and take both away.”
*
-Anyone watching from Adella’s perspective?
-Nope.
-Nope.
-Can Adella actually do a one-on-one?
-The Room Leader must have something in mind since it’s all about stalling.
-I believe in our Adella!
The perspective of a living NPC could be viewed from Camera 9.
And a small number of viewers watching Camera 9 on Na-me’s broadcast fervently cheered for Adella, even if their supportive shouts couldn’t reach her.
Show us that NoName’s hope in you wasn’t in vain.
And just like that, as if to respond to that expectation, Adella landed the first blow on the boss.
-Wow, was that a critical hit from the start? Lucky!
-What kind of movement is that!
-You won’t know until it ends.
Though Jin Chronicle dodged their blades shot in different directions, Adella appeared behind him with a slash that left a wound on his thigh.
Fueled by anger, the man unleashed a torrent of water disguised as a laser, but Adella’s nimble body didn’t allow a single hit.
-Damn, Adella is fast, lol!
-She hasn’t taken a hit yet?
-I told you she could do it!
-We need to keep watching.
To viewers, it seemed like Adella was dodging with ease, but she was running for her life as though her teeth might break any moment.
She understood full well that even one hit from the pocket watch would be perilous.
But she wasn’t scared of death anymore.
She had realized that she feared something even more than death, and thus threw herself through the streams of lasers.
After trading fierce blows many times and determining that defeating the pocket watch was key to securing victory.
“Damn this noisy clock!”
Summoning all the power of the laurel, Adella infused it into her legs and dagger.
It weighed more than she could grasp unless she put every bit of strength into her hands.
Adella’s gaze was solely focused on the pocket watch. The eyes of a predator watching its prey.
-Go for it!!!
-Please…
-Another beam is coming!!! Dodge!!! No, destroy it!!!
-Ahhhhhhh!
-Oh no, it’s too late!
“Goodbye.”
“…!”
Before Adella’s dagger could reach the pocket watch, a beam unleashed by Jin Chronicle struck faster.
Engulfed by the light beam shooting straight, it was a scene that made anyone doubt her survival.
“No…!”
[Laurel of Rebirth lv1: Death Delay]
[When the damage you receive would result in death, you only take 50% of that damage over 3 seconds. Effect of ‘Death Delay’ disappears when the enemy is defeated.]
[3… 2…]
Facing the beam head-on, Adella swung the breathtaking dagger.
“You’re the one who’s dying! I’ve decided that! I made a promise to NoName!”
The dagger’s tip struck Jin Chronicle’s neck.
A moment later, a burning pain surged through Adella’s head.
It was a reckless gamble risking death.
Adella’s body, drenched in blood, collapsed, overlapping with the crumbling form of Jin Chronicle.
[The Death Delay effect is gone.]
[Laurel of Rebirth: (0/30min.)]
“Haah… I hope you come back soon and bring me some treats…”
Even she thought this was a reckless move that NoName would never attempt, but that made her prouder of herself for achieving it.
*
Adella defeated the boss. However, she had only faced Jin Chronicle without the laurel.
The Laurel of Life that Na-me possessed floated above and was absorbed by the lifeless man.
“Good timing to take him down.”
Returning from the Academy, Na-me rushed to restore Adella’s health with healing skills.
However, at that moment, the man suddenly rose, furrowing his brow and casting magic without warning, separating them.
[Ice Prison]
108 pillars tried to bind Na-me’s body once again.
No matter how hard she tried to resist, she couldn’t escape as long as she was subject to the laws of physics.
“It’s too dangerous. If just a little time had passed, even this guy’s power wouldn’t have sufficed.”
“No… NoName…”
On the ground, trembling with her hands, she looked pathetic.
“Your talent is truly remarkable. You’ve even managed to overcome the curse laid upon you, foolish creature.”
As in the previous cycles, the devil within the laurel tried to take Adella’s body as a host.
He knew well enough that once he fell, the demon would descend.
But now without any stored strength, she could only be dragged along by him.
“Touch my body, and see what happens…”
“I’m not killing you. I’m offering you a new life. Don’t you long to take the body bestowed upon you by Yggdrasil?”
“Get lost… I don’t need such a big chest!”
“It’s pointless to resist. We understand your true nature better than anyone else. We are merely paving the way for your dreams to come true.”
“Get lost! Get away from me!”
“What? What about your chest?”
[Greater Casting: Turbulence]
A sudden strong wind smashed the bloodied man away from Adella, sending him crashing into a building.
In the meantime, NoName, now free to move, approached Adella, cracking his neck.
Seeing his murderous, intent-filled gaze, Adella muttered in a daze.
“How…?”
“Was I so easy to deal with? Considering you’re still babbling on, it seems so.”
The frozen pocket watch was melting away, thanks to Giselle Phoenix’s Avatar of Flames.
