"Looks like I'm in time. That's good."
After kicking down the door filled with Ether traces, June casually walked into the room and scanned his surroundings.
'4...and that's the warp initiator.' His eyes glinted. 'How deceiving.'
Hints of an intense battle remained, telling all he needed to know about what happened.
'It's these 4 who activated that thing after fighting this guy...I'm impressed.'
Judging from their individual level, the guy below his feet surpassed them by quite a margin. However, they had more innate talents than the guy who had to rely on demonic energy, so that's probably why their teamwork worked.
'Enough of that. Time never waits.' Casting aside his thoughts, he declared, "Well, first things first, we need to shut off the warping thing."
The 4's surprised faces at his appearance didn't cease but instead deepened at his words. There were also no abnormal Ether fluctuations from their air.
It's a confirmation that they didn't know, though that was obvious from the beginning.
However, there was no time to explain.
"[Sleep]-"
SLIT!
Following his own words, June bent his neck to the right. Blood began to flow out of a hole in his shoulder.
THUMP!
'What terrifying instinct.'
It was a boy with messy black hair, his spear drilling June's shoulder with extreme precision. He fell just seconds after the others, proof of a beast unwilling to go down helplessly.
'It was still slow though. He still needed honing.'
He might have let his neck be pierced through had he not had business left. The pain eating away at him was too good to miss out.
'A bit anti-climactic. Well, it shouldn't matter as always.'
With several steps, he quickly arrived at the initiator and placed his hand on the small spinning magic circle. Letters danced around his arm, thrusting one by one into the circle and disappearing.
"[System: Override]"
A magic circle is different from general magic spells in that, while both conjure phenomena from understanding and imagination, the former is a larger amalgamation of information comparable to a program with various features.
If modifications for spells are only to be made upon cast, they can be pre-existing features for a magic circle.
This is because, unlike spells which usually possessed a frame of reference beforehand, a circle is to be built from the ground up.
It is also why one can't quickly understand or create a circle without taking time. It is a kind of creation that is meant to cost time, but for that, it allows one to reach beyond their Ego's limits and lack of "understanding".
That's what makes it a magic circle, not just because it's conjured from Ether.
Talking about features, this circle here only allows direct modification at the initiator. It is probably why the deceiving veil conceived by the hooded guy only covered the initiator and not the outside manifestation, which most couldn't read from inside anyway.
'An impressive veil nonetheless. It plays with one's misconceptions and careless mind like a fiddle.'
Under that veil was a circle heavily interfered with at the deepest level where information was directly modified. Its security system was riddled with blatant signs of data corruption and forced breakthroughs.
Clearly the work of an amateur who had power but lacked competence.
As he continued to overtake the system, the demon energy residue became even clearer.
'That reminds me. Didn't I throw a rod at something with the same demonic energy?'
His mind was drifting away again. No good. Shaking his head, he focused on the current problem: The speed was insufficient.
There's only a bit more than 1-minute maximum away from the warping, but the overriding progress was barely half.
'The output's not enough. Am I intentionally holding myself back?'
Pain felt good, but pain was still pain.
Even if he registered it as otherwise, as something to be joyful about, his body would never think so.
Unless one's cognition, senses, and conditions warped them to the extreme, their preservation instinct will always be intact.
He was like that, but no longer.
Did he really become a full-flesh human?
"Maybe."
His body knew that if he pushed for more, he'd risk death. A whiff of fear pierced his heart, attempting to fear him off this impossible task.
"I'm surprised."
It felt surreal. The colors that made a human. Everpresent, yet once looked so dull.
Ever since coming to this world, these things he's always been feeling were obligations no more. Instead, it slowly became a way to interpret the world around him, to guide him.
Even if many of those memories were tampered with or just straight-out fake, there was merit.
When "caught up by one's past" is used, one would naturally assume it's negative. But, just maybe, this is one of those where it's positive instead.
Everything that occurred truly came out of left field, but he wasn't dissatisfied with the result.
[Even if it's because of someone's incompetence?]
"I'm not sure what you're talking about, but sure."
It was a foreign voice resembling his own echoing in his head, but there was no use pondering when he didn't have time.
[Then don't worry about trivial things. "I'm" always on your side, after all.]
Was that his god? How reassuring, even though he hadn't heard that voice for long.
Boosting the output of the spell to the best of his abilities, his surroundings shone even more brightly. With the increasing manifestation of rune characters, his complexion grew worse by the second as something crammed his throat.
BLEURGH
His vision dyed crimson.
His nose was stuffy and his lung was burning.
A heavy taste of iron overwhelmed his tongue as he threw up.
His insides felt like that one moment when that reincarnator stabbed that thing into him.
'It really wasn't meant to be used by humans.'
He might really die at this rate.
That might not have happened had he not sustained all those injuries.
What about all the children he wanted to save?
What about that demon who disappeared after he woke up?
What if the enemy's reinforcement came?
Upon his death, his "world" would crumble into pieces at the dissolving of his soul, leading the kids absorbed back here.
If he died here, no one could protect these and even those he hadn't reached before the academy's forces arrived.
In the end, despite holding much power, he couldn't commit to just one thing.
Whether to just sit down and take a rest without caring, save kids suffering from this tragedy, or indulge in his newfound "enlightenment", he's just too indecisive.
Maybe none of this would be troubling him so had he not cared in the first place.
He should have already known and done so, being someone who despised annoyance and all.
"Well, I'm a hypocrite who can't stay right to his character, contradicting himself even until the end." June muttered in heavy breathing, "Death, huh?"
With those little memories at the back of his head, he thought this would've been a happier occasion. Instead...
"I found myself a little afraid."
Having lost almost everything even before he woke up, he thought he would let go easier.
Could it have been because he just finally gained something meaningful?
'This is human too...isn't it?'
Dying with regrets, something exclusive to those with a "heart".
Thinking about that fact, his heart went calm or perhaps, even mesmerized.
Drowsiness hit him hard. Stumbling back, he could sense faint words filling his head.
[Override Completed. What would you like to do?]
"Check...previous states...preferably uncorrupted...ugh."
[Checking...Unfortunately, most of the records are corrupted.
However, recovering and returning to the previous version is possible.
The probability of success is 0.0000...01%.
Would you like to proceed?]
"Haha...that sounded cliché as hell...and I'm not even a gambler..."
Holding on with all his strength, June mumbled.
"Well, what're we waiting for? Do it."
[Confirmed. Initiating process...]
THUMP!
As if the threads holding him up snapped, June's body collapsed to the floor, his hand barely grabbing onto the circle interface.
'I...guess this is it...'
[Error! Error! Error! Insufficient ene@g$j&jwoi!\¥£~]
It seems fate still thought things were too smooth to pass, he thought.
He had to gamble, even if his will might not be as sincere as it should be.
"[O KI...This impudent one offers an accord...To release many from misery...is one's greatest honor...and one's most honored sacrifice...One shall become the cog that turns for your future...so grant them love once more!] "
"...Confirmed...Continuing the process..."
It's working...It's his lucky day, huh?
Somehow, his mind felt clearer than before and not as sleepy anymore.
'Ah, it's so bright.'
He was fading away, turning into glitters of light that vanished right after.
Even though he was still somewhat afraid, joy continued to fill his heart.
...At least it wasn't a lie that he wanted to save these children.
'I wonder why.'
A soft smile spread across his face as he closed his eyes.
***
Sitting atop the grassland, in a cage that seems to blink in and out of existence erratically, a young boy stretched his arms upwards, yawning.
"I guess it's time to end this painstaking long arc. What do you think?"
Before him stood another boy bearing June's face...or rather it was June who currently bore his face. A look as average as what's considered most average, as if a concept turned human.
Not that they look much different from one another, to begin with.
"I wouldn't know, haha." The fellow laughed awkwardly.
"It's obvious why 'Loop' was chosen, right? The 'plot' might have a lot of problems, but if you only consider its generating power, it's suddenly top-notch."
"..."
The fellow was confused, but that was the least of the boy's concerns.
"Go then. You accepted him, didn't you? You must want to tell him something."
"C-Can I?"
The boy nodded, promptly "shoo-ing" the fellow away.
As the fellow vanished, the boy's face crumbled into nothingness.
Nonetheless, he didn't heal or piece it back this time, letting small crumbling pieces of his "human body" fall apart at their discretion.
Recalling the content of that black box, he leaned onto the chair.
"It's time to let go."
He knew it.
That Synchronization was a last-ditch effort.
That his presence - the link to ***, meant that there was no chance to recreate that past.
All path leads to ***.
Once a part of ***, always part of ***.
That said, it's a miracle he's still conscious.
Most believe there's no part of *** that could or should be conscious, but there's him and there's a [Throne] that he sat on.
Maybe even *** needs a representative? Who knows?
At least it's clear that his last moment might be coming soon.
'What irony. No matter what one feels for it, one still has to return to its embrace all the same.'
He hated it but he wasn't afraid.
He was aware from the beginning, after all.
It's just a bit sad when one realizes that even ruling *** still means one's powerless against it.
A "warm" sensation caressed his heart.
"For you to be there at my beginning, for you to be there at my last.
You, who sat beside me, embracing me in my darkest hours
O sorrow, you're as beautiful as the day you left.
Ah, I realized it: you are a friend more dear and dedicated than any to part.
O sorrow, won't you once again accompany me, even to the depths of ***?"