WeTried Translations
Translator: Botanica
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Academy's Pure Love Dark Knight ◈
Chapter 92
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Episode 92. Christmas carols rang out.
* * *
The Demon King of Omniscience, Head Ache, had been watching the situation from a distance.
'...Something's off. Even accounting for the variable of a hero being added to the mix.'
It was taking far too long.
Dennis shouldn't have mastered the three-dimensional magic circle, which meant he was stuck in the central hall, unable to leave, and Laplace's or the sage's intelligence network should have been sealed off by the power of Erasure of knowledge.
"This is already the seventh repetition. And I already confirmed it last time."
He murmured shortly, checking the number of bullets left in his revolver's cylinder. Only one chamber was empty.
Head's thoughts grew tangled. Where had the margin of error crept in? On that assumption, he pulled the book from inside his coat and skimmed through the information he'd recorded earlier.
"...11:15. Fifteen minutes have already passed."
By his calculations, that should have been more than enough time for the Apostle of Gluttony to subdue every student in the academy.
"And the telepathy spell isn't getting through, either."
He shifted his gaze toward the athletic field. If it were Metus, who devoured others' trauma to fuel his own power, this shouldn't be happening.
There was a flaw, of course, the ability only took hold if the black mist was inhaled through the respiratory system, but there was no way the academy's students could have known that.
"This is far too strange. I'll have to go and see for myself..."
He felt that something had gone badly wrong. There was someone out there capable of neutralizing his omniscience or his Erasure of knowledge, and perhaps he'd placed too much trust in trauma as a weakness.
Bang.
Having deliberated, the Demon King fired his revolver in the direction he'd been watching, and an instant later his body was pulled through space.
He felt the texture of sand under his feet. Having arrived at Grand Hearts Academy's athletic field, Head looked around.
"...What in the world is going on here."
The field, with only a single exception, had no one lying collapsed on it. The academy's students all looked perfectly fine, without so much as a scratch.
"Kyaaack..! My lord! Please, spare me!!"
The Apostle of Gluttony was already bound and subdued, wrapped in what looked like chains made of water, and the hero and mage, Kainel and Ariel, weren't trapped in their trauma either.
"And the princess is siding with that hero? Why on earth..?!"
He noticed something off about the scene, the Glass Knight kneeling beside a fallen man wearing the Black Knight's helmet, holding his hand, praying with a noble bearing.
The very fact that Phine Gransia, a woman famous for her cold demeanor and disposition, would behave that way felt deeply strange to Head.
That knight should have been trapped in her trauma, reliving the past Magic Hat had inflicted on her. Every single thing here was the exact opposite of what he'd expected.
"Curious about the reason? Head."
That was when it happened. Right before Head's eyes, as he stood at a loss trying to make sense of his surroundings, as though a projector had started rolling.
"It's because the Demon King's schemes always fail."
Click, click. With that sound, the scenery around him began to change. A moment later, the Demon King was teleported to what looked like a corridor where golden-hued figures sat.
"It's been a while. Do you remember me?"
"...Dennis!!"
The pinnacle of water magic. The drunken mage who twisted his element through the use of alcohol. Dennis stepped forward and blocked his path.
"You mastered the three-dimensional magic circle? No, that's wrong. This can't be! It's supposed to take a long time..."
"You don't know about the combined bachelor's-master's program, do you, Head."
He couldn't hide his shock at seeing the three-dimensional magic circle in the blue-haired man's hands. Mastering an ultimate skill like that should have taken at least a month.
Who on earth had bent fate this far to make it happen?
"...Dennis, if you're standing here, you can't protect Chartiness or Nex, can you?"
Forcing his sluggish brain to work, he tried to win Dennis over. He was at a disadvantage in this place.
"Wahahahaha!!"
"Drink up!! Get drunk!!"
A banquet hall where golden, shimmering figures sat in a row, glasses raised.
These people's presence meant Dennis's barrier, formed with the three-dimensional magic circle.
"A blessing upon this drink! A grace upon it!"
"Let's really cut loose tonight!!"
Once Dennis learned his ultimate skill, the three-dimensional magic circle, he could teleport any opponent to a location he'd prepared in advance, whenever he wanted.
"Weren't you also a professor who valued his students' lives, same as me? Dennis!!"
Head couldn't escape unless he used a holy sword. But if he pulled out his revolver in response here, he might make it impossible to fulfill his prophecy.
This was, to begin with, a situation he hadn't anticipated. He needed to lead things back toward the future he knew as best he could.
"Talking about the second-years, are you."
"That's right! Even you should know that much, if you have any shame left!"
Because of this, he had to reveal as many of the cards he held as possible, to pressure his opponent. Seeing that, Dennis's hand paused for a moment.
"The Heroic Cult members they brought this time are strong!! There's no way the students alone could drive them back..."
The Demon King of Omniscience spoke with bravado, feigning composure. Nex's Phoenix Cradle, as far as he knew, would only be used when he himself destroyed the academy.
"The second-years are already safe. I saw Nex use the Phoenix Cradle myself."
"...What did you say? It shouldn't be now..."
"An absolutely invincible barrier. You saw Asha use it during the war too, didn't you?"
Because it was the last line of defense to keep the students from getting hurt.
"Ha. You're quite the liar. Hurry up and cancel your ultimate skill, and go save your students!"
"Does this look like a lie to you, Head."
"..."
"The rest of the students are all safe too. I just came from checking on every one of them."
Looking at the composed mage before him, Head's face twisted into confusion. There was no way Dennis should have been able to master the three-dimensional magic circle.
"That's impossible. I was wrong about all of it?"
The helplessly subdued Apostle of Gluttony, Phine Gransia's changed behavior, Nex's Phoenix Cradle deployed ahead of schedule. He put it all together.
"Who could..? Who could deceive omniscience itself to this degree?"
There was no way it should be in use right now. Why were his calculations coming out so differently?
"...I wasn't deceived. The future itself changed..?"
If Magic Hat had covered it up with a lie, then the information should have been outright wrong. But the prophecy had seemed to be unfolding smoothly, right up until now.
"Licht!! Is it because of that hero, Licht!!"
It wasn't the Demon King of Truth's doing, that much was certain. Then the thought that it might be the hero Licht's ability flashed through his mind like lightning.
"Seems even the Demon King of Omniscience has things he doesn't know."
The blue-haired man's white eyes flashed, and he stood without so much as flinching.
"No! This isn't the future I saw!!"
Head clutched at his own hair and howled.
'So it really was thanks to our Licht. Then he might be a hero of omniscience too, in his own way.'
Dennis had already guessed that this was thanks to the student summoned as a hero, Licht, but he didn't bother mentioning it.
'But I can't tell him that.'
If he let that slip, the information might get out and be turned back against him by Head.
"Brothers!!"
Without missing the opening, he quickly began chanting an incantation.
"Tonight, we take back the spring that was stolen from us!"
A cup made of water formed in the blue-haired mage's hand.
"For the Gransia Empire!!"
"For the Empire!!"
"Let us together erase the very 'concept' of that Demon King, Head Ache! 「Cheers!!」"
"Cheers!!"
As he raised his cup and shouted, the golden, glowing figures clinked their beer mugs together and shared a toast with him.
The smell of beer spread through the air, and a foamy fwoosh sounded. Every person holding a cup found it automatically refilled with golden beer, as if by magic.
"Ahahahahahaha!!"
"Drink! Get drunk!"
"Wahahahaha!"
"Cheers! Cheers!!"
People drank happily, ate meat, and traded stories. Every single one of them, except for the Demon King, was rowdy and full of life.
"This barrier, formed by combining an ultimate skill with Beer Gold... It should still be weak..! If I cancel it..!"
Watching this, Head pulled a red revolver from inside his coat and aimed it at Dennis, but.
"What are you doing right now? Demon King of Omniscience."
His vision spun like a drunk man's, and his balance gave out beneath him. Watching the Demon King fail to aim his muzzle at his target, Dennis sensed victory,
"This... can't... be happening..!!"
Head, resisting the intoxication rushing over him all at once and the laughter that threatened to burst his eardrums,
"My perfect prophecy..! It can't be wrong..!!"
raised his arm toward the corridor's ceiling and pulled the trigger.
* * *
A hospital where snow was falling thick and heavy.
"See? I told you Santa Claus is real!"
"Yeah. You're right, Youngmin."
"Hehe, Suhyun, you cried today, so you don't get a present~!"
The little boy in the red beanie had no idea what was about to happen,
"Ho ho ho. Merry Christmas!"
"Thank you! Santa!"
and grinned brightly as he received a gift wrapped in colorful paper. I watched the boy and tried to think of a plan.
"Wow, a transforming robot! I wanted one so badly..!!"
A robot made of a car and a dinosaur that combined together, a toy with every boyhood dream packed into it. No wonder he was thrilled enough with that.
'...They say fate can't be changed.'
The Apostle of Gluttony. This was Metus's attack. This was my trauma. In the end, the future where Youngmin dies here won't change.
'What am I supposed to do. What am I even supposed to do...'
I wanted to squeeze my eyes shut. There were less than three hours left now. Soon, the moment everyone went to sleep, the fire would break out.
An inescapable fate. Was there no hope anywhere to overturn it?
I picked up the fire extinguisher nearby and tried to bring up the subject of fire, ran out in front of the crowd and tried to shout out a warning, but every attempt failed.
"Ho ho, Merry Christmas to you too, Lee Suhyun."
Lost in thought, my turn had come before I knew it.
"Suhyun got a present too? Santa must have checked on you after all!"
"...A snow globe?"
The gift I received from the adult in the red Santa Claus costume was a snow globe.
Snowflakes drifted slowly inside the glass sphere, catching my eye. A thing that tricked the eye into thinking snow was falling, with little decorations or miniatures set inside the orb.
'Wait. As if snow were falling?'
A snow globe doesn't actually make it snow. When you shake it, it just makes it 'look' like snow is falling.
If I couldn't change the past, then all I had to do was recreate something close to it.
"...Youngmin."
"Yeah, Suhyun?"
"They say Rudolph shows up behind that Christmas tree over there, every night."
I pointed a finger at the big tree in the distance. Just as I'd expected, this would work. It wasn't something that had happened in the original past.
"Don't you want to see Rudolph?"
"Of course I do! But they don't let us out of the ward at night.."
"...I'll sneak out and catch Rudolph for you."
I didn't know why, but this boy in front of me had been found, during the fire, in the very place we were standing now. If that was the case, then...
"Youngmin, you stay put in your room tonight, okay?"
All I had to do was give up my life in this boy's place. The past where I got burned wouldn't change,
"Really! It's a promise!"
"Yeah. It's a promise, just between the two of us."
and the fact that tonight, 'a boy' would lose 'his life' wouldn't change either.
"So don't tell anyone."
It was an atonement that had come far too late, and the Apostle of Gluttony's attack might well affect reality itself, but,
a Black Knight is someone who sacrifices himself for others.
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