87.Traces of Dream – Lilith Atlas Wim Aileen

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Death Serpent

“I’ve always thought that if I just push myself, the children born after me won’t have to go through so much suffering anymore.”

Despite being strapped to a machine, she looked down at me with a smile.

She, who had always been by my side,… was now far, far beyond my reach.

“So, I’m fine with this. If by doing this, everyone no longer has to experience suffering, then my purpose will be fulfilled.”

There’s no way she’d say such a thing.

While being helplessly captured, I’d been hearing her crying all this time.

But… at this moment, all I could do is take this thing in my hand back with me.

Sealed within this magical device… was the soul of her successor who was supposed to be born.

This thing, which I shed blood to take it with me, was the cause of my peaceful life turning upside down… but I must not lose it. At least until I could leave it with someone I trust.

“That girl’s in such a tough situation, but I think it’s going to be okay in the end. Someday, you’ll rescue her, right? So… please, hurry up and leave.”

Behind me, the partition was beginning to descend.

It was the only escape route she had pried open with her final act of free will.

…Someday, I’ll come back for you.

Struggling to say that, I turned away from her.

Perhaps it was cruel to offer her unnecessary hope.

But… because there was a sense that giving up here would be certain if I didn’t put it into words.

“Yeah, I’ll be waiting.”

She smiled in response as if we were making a usual arrangement for a hangout.

That’s a lie.

Neither I nor probably she believed in those words.

Nevertheless… not allowed to stop, I slipped through the partition that had descended lower than my own back by now, escaping out of the room.

…It was then that I heard her voice.

“…it.”

It was her voice, escaping through the gap, her true feelings that emerged thinking I probably couldn’t hear her anymore.

“…I hate it here!”

I hesitated to eavesdrop, but I couldn’t help but want to know her true feelings, so I stopped.

What I heard from inside was… sobbing.

“I want the three of us to see various things and taste a lot of delicious food together…!”

I know. You’re surprisingly gluttonous, so I hope you don’t pass that habit on to our daughter.

“I want… to be a mom…!”

For me, you always seemed absent-minded and yet so restless and clumsy, so I’d honestly been worried if you could really handle being a mother.

Perhaps, had things gone differently and our child was born… that part of yours would change too.

“I want us to travel and explore together as a family… not just here, but the outside world too!”

The outside world… from what little we knew of it, time flew faster there than in this secluded place. I wonder if civilization had developed to an unimaginable extent over there.

Ah… everything seems so captivating… but I can’t reach any of it.

If only I had the power… not just fighting ability or magical prowess, but the power of speech, political influence, social skills, and the power to change the world we live in… Would my wishes have come true?

“I’m… I’m really sorry, but…”

Just before the partition closed, her voice reached me through the gap.

Perhaps it was a convenient hallucination.

…But even so, I did hear it.

“I’ve always… always loved you…”

That was the last I’d ever heard from her.

Iris

“……Ah……ah……”

Though dimly, my consciousness resurfaced.

My body, still entwined by the snake, remained suspended in the air, limbs hanging limply, completely devoid of strength, not moving in the slightest.

I felt nothing of my body, and only my consciousness was still barely hanging on…

“…So you can still wake up. What a shame. Had you stayed unconscious a little longer, your power will be completely gone, and you’ll be free from this suffering.”

I shook my head weakly, devoid of strength.

From within me, I sensed something crucial being shattered.

A chilling sensation gripped me as I felt the hand of destruction finally touching the deepest core of my being.

But… I couldn’t do a thing about it.

“Ha, haha… HAHAHAHAHAHA!! There’s no need to mourn such a thing! Even if you possess that power, humanity will eventually latch onto you, exploit you and eat you up until nothing remains! It won’t amount to anything worthwhile anyway!!”

He began cackling like a madman while covering his face with his hand, but I could still catch a glimpse of his left eye through the gap between his fingers.

Why… even when he’s laughing… why is there such a painful look on his face?

At this moment, he should be messing with and destroying my existence as he pleased… but he looked terribly, terribly sad about it.

“That’s why… you should just let me… destroy that power so it can never be used again!!”

I felt a lethal sensation, as if something crucial had been seized.

At this overwhelming sense of loss, my consciousness started fading again…

“I see… so things have come to this. He’s always the overthinking type, isn’t he? Sorry for my late arrival, but it’s okay now, I’m going to protect you.”

In the midst of sinking into darkness, unexpectedly, a light was born.

“Come on! Haven’t I told you to not bully girls?”

“I’m not bullying, I’m just… What…?”

Somehow, the man could hear the voice, even objecting to it.

He looked absolutely stupefied, and the hand that’d been tormenting me involuntarily stopped the abuse.

“Even if you don’t mean it, you always look so… well, you often seem grumpy and have a scary face, so I always tell you to be a little nicer, right?”

For some reason, even in this situation, there was a light and soft feeling… I felt like could hear a warm voice, as if being held by a mother.

“…Impossible… What trickery is this?!”

The man suddenly groaned aloud.

At the same time, the pressure gripping my head began to release.

The spot on my forehead where she touched me in a dream before felt warm and emitted light around it.

As if repelled by that light, the man’s hand moved away from my face.

Simultaneously, the dark feeling that was swirling around my mind and soul abruptly vanished, setting me free.

“……!”

I couldn’t breathe properly, and my body could barely move.

However, the cold was easing, and I was slowly regaining some sensation.

It felt like something was embracing me and warming me up.

“Why… why can I sense you with her… why are you protecting that girl…?!”

With a shocked expression, the hostility he directed towards us and the frenzy from moments ago disappeared, and the man shouted as if he were just an ordinary young boy.

“Answer me, LILITH!!”

“……Li…lith…?”

In a daze, I struggled to raise my head while murmuring what seemed like a name I heard earlier.

Amidst my fading consciousness, in my blurred vision, there was a vague sight of her, her back turned away.

“Yeah, my name’s Lilith Atlas Wim Aileen, meaning ‘Lilith, child of Atlas and Aileen’. It’s a mouthful, but what can I do.”

I remembered now.

She’s the person I’d seen in dreams several times before.

Now, in reality, despite the fading and feeble light, I could sense her right in front of me.

“It was close, but we meet again. Everything will be alright now.”

Those words… despite me still being restrained, they brought an inexplicable sense of relief.

“I can’t stay for much longer, but that girl’s arriving soon… Really, she manages to help out until the very end, even though she deserves to rest peacefully in this place. I’m truly sorry.”

She turned around and gave me a faint smile as she said that.

The next moment, the shadowy snakes that had been constricting me were suddenly pierced by numerous needle-like objects, causing the restraints to loosen.

AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

An incredible roar echoed throughout the entire area.

Even though I knew it wasn’t directed towards me, my body instinctively tensed—a wolf’s… no, a thunderous roar that could rival hundreds, if not thousands, of wolves combined in intensity.

As if being scraped away from my soul, one of the snakes restraining my body began to liquefy and dissolve, losing its form and flowing away like a liquid, releasing me.

There, standing before me as if it had appeared out of nowhere, was a majestic and colossal wolf. Her fur stood on end like needles all over her body, and her wings, spread wide, served as a shield between me and the man.

“…You’re…?”

Um, mother of the Sirius cub?

“Indeed. Sacred Daughter successor, you have my thanks for saving that child.”

Her thoughts were conveyed to me. It was an imposing will, as expected of the epitome of Phantasmal Beast, one that did not reflect any signs of aging.

“Even though these dying bones can’t do much… I’ll repay him in blood before I depart the living realm…!”

Simultaneously with that thought, the remaining two snakes restraining my body crumbled and dissolved, pierced by the countless spears formed by her fur.

“Get up, child, and brace yourself as hard as you can!”

Just as I felt my support waning and about to collapse, I suddenly realized being held by something akin to a gigantic mouth. There was no time to comprehend this before experiencing the sensation of my body floating in mid-air.

Snatched and ripped away from the shadows, I sensed being flung backward… It was only after my body was already hurled into the air and started its descent that I became aware of this.

“Guh… Iris…”

I was barely conscious when Reiji-san caught me, who seemed to have regained consciousness himself.

The two of us tumbled to the ground together, and in a protective manner, Reiji-san shielded my fall with his own body. But he seemed to lose all strength once again.

In a frantic attempt, despite my entirely unresponsive body, I turned it back towards the direction we came from. There, a colossal wolf, shining in gold, was entwined in combat with the shadow, now transformed once more into a large serpent.

A gruesome battle unfolded between the two, as they entangled, each attempting to devour the other.

“…No… stop…”

The losing side… was clearly the mother Sirius.

It seemed that her body had done all it could for that single throw. Her golden fur was rapidly stained red.

With the shadowy serpent entwined around her body, she was immobilized. Yet, her head and neck were still able to resist, fighting against the restraint.

Then… a slender object fell toward me with a red trail and rolled to the side.

It was… the mother Sirius’ right foreleg.

Severed from her body.

“Please… stop…!”

I felt emotions flooding in.

With those feelings riding on it, my throat, which shouldn’t have been able to move, quivered and shouted out.

“…pauwel…slepir…!”

From my heated forehead, light spread once more… and the giant shadowy serpent halted its movement.

Released from restraint, the mother Sirius regained freedom and, standing unsteadily on her remaining three legs, moved to shield me.

“…Ridiculous. Why… not just Lilith, but why are you standing in my way?! Don’t you harbor resentment for this world as well?!”

The man raged, shouting his anger at his surroundings.

His demeanor felt almost like that of a child left behind by his parent.

“You utter fool… Have you gone so blind that you don’t even recognize your own child, the successor with her blessing?! Has your brain finally turned into mush, or you’re this foolish from the very beginning?!”

“…What did you just say?”

The man went stiff at the mother Sirius’ words.

“It’s as I feared, you don’t get it at all… Begone from this place, and reflect on what you’ve done, if you’re still even capable of it, that is.”

“No… this can’t be… Are you saying this girl is… Lilith and I’s…?”

His eyes locked firmly onto me.

Gradually, the madness within them receded, replaced by a rational gleam, and the man’s face contorted slightly with a sense of astonishment and shame.

“Then, what have I… done…?”

He was dumbfoundedly looking at me, as if wondering whether he’d done something that couldn’t be undone…

“Rayo Gerifalte!”

Suddenly, a voice filled with resolute determination echoed from behind.

It darted past me and Reiji-san, racing through the air while emitting fierce flashes of lightning.

“Guh…?!”

The man, taken by surprise, quickly created a barrier with his hands, redirecting the lightning towards his back.

“…Tch, I should have realized this is your home turf. Humans can be unexpectedly capable, right, Sir Vice Knight Captain?”

Someone else interposed himself between the man, who once again emitted an aura of resentment, and us.

Clad in comfortable yet practical attire, he effortlessly wielded a large sword with just one hand… He was none other than the ruler of this land, Leonhardt-sama, whom I had seen only once before on the battlefield during our initial encounter.

“I apologize for my tardiness and for allowing you to face such a situation due to my inadequacy. I’ll take responsibility later for any blame… but for now!”

He thrust his sword into the ground before him and began an incantation.

“Ignition, Acceleration, Circulation… Speed of lightning…”

Every time Leonhardt-sama advanced his incantation, numerous magic circles expanded around him… this magic was something I’d never seen before. Perhaps it’s a spell not implemented into the game?

“Full Install!”

From the purple magic circle floating around him, bolts of purple lightning extended towards Leonhardt-sama, wrapping around his body. With lightning enveloping his entire form, he dashed forward.

…Even Reiji-san sprinting at maximum speed was no match for this.

Using that kind of speed, Leonhardt-sama thrust his greatsword into the man in a reverse grip.

“Damn you… for a human to…!”

After staggering the man with the impact, Leonhardt-sama took another step and slammed his hand on the pommel of his greatsword with tremendous force.

The man was frozen in place and couldn’t react, and with a loud clang like steel being struck, sent flying along with the barrier he erected.

“I can’t pierce through…! Nevertheless, today’s the day you go down!”

Leonhardt-sama effortlessly swung his greatsword like a stick, pulling back into a stance as if pulling back a bowstring.

The purple lightning that covered his entire body converged into the greatsword.

It emitted a dazzling light, rapidly increasing in momentum, scorching the surroundings and blinding the sight.

“Receive the retribution for trampling upon my territory and harming His and Her Highnesses! Thunder Dragon’s Wrath!”

“That won’t do, you imbecile…!”

The man, despite reaching out to defend against the purple lightning flash, was completely engulfed and overwhelmed by its brightness, which was about my height in diameter.

“…Take this, monster!”

“I’m not… done yet…!”

At that moment, someone else’s roar was heard overhead.

“ORAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”

The lightning fired by Leonhardt-sama faded away, and a large figure, resembling a meteor with a crimson glow, descended toward the man that had just become visible.

As the light held by this figure was swung straight at the man, the force field surrounding him was shattered, sending shockwaves tens of meters away before finally stopping.

“Curses… so this is a Cyclop-made weapon, made to slay dragons…!”

The man, finally sustaining some damage, with his shoulder and chest torn open, coughed up blood from his mouth.

The large figure who inflicted real harm on the man we couldn’t so much as leave a scratch before… was Captain Walter, the “Ars Nova” he wielded glowing even more ominous than before.

“You know how long I have waited to skin your slimy hide, snakeface!!”

With his hair standing on end due to rage and emitting a powerful fighting spirit that could be felt even by us standing behind him, Captain Walter’s demeanor was vastly different from the hearty and somewhat reassuring atmosphere he usually exuded. He appeared more like a demon god in that moment.

For the first time since the battle, the man showed fear, if only briefly.

Captain Walter, not taking any chance, leaped at him like a berserker and swung his battle axe at the man’s neck.

“…No…you can’t…!”

A plea escaped my lips involuntarily. Despite everything that he had done to me, it was strangely unbearable for me to witness him getting hurt right in front of my eyes.

And not just me…

“I beg you, please don’t kill him…!”

I felt as if she was also pleading to spare his life.

The next moment, the warm light that had saved me before surged and enveloped the surrounding again.

“What the…?!”

The crimson light emanating from Captain Walter’s “Ars Nova” suddenly vanished, causing his axe, swung wildly, to miss its target.

Despite being shocked by what happened, Captain Walter still managed to pull back.

Neither side ended up getting hurt… For reasons I couldn’t understand, I felt relieved about it.

“…Doesn’t look like I can win against all three of you at once, can I?”

As the man spoke, the wound on his chest vanished.

He cleaned off the dirt from his slightly tattered clothes before turning away.

“…I’ll let you go this time. But if you dare show up in front of me again… I won’t be so merciful.”

He wrapped the shadowy snake, which had reverted to its small form, around his arm and spread his wings wide to take off.

Walter-san seemed to want to pursue him, but after a glance back at us, he reluctantly lowered his battle-axe.

“Oh, and one more thing… I have no obligation to give you advice like this, but…”

As if he only remembered at the last minute… he looked back at me, whose consciousness was still hazy, and…

“…Don’t come near Acropolis. If you want to keep your human rights, that is.”

With that, the man known as the “Death Serpent” flew away.

As soon as I could no longer see his back and the pressure disappeared, the thread of tension that had been building up in me finally broke, and my consciousness blurred.

“Irisria-sama, hang in there-”

Leonhardt-sama called out to me in a panic, but his voice quickly became distant.

As my consciousness sank into darkness again, only a single thought lingered.

The man’s final expression when he looked at me before leaving, it seemed… lonely.