Chapter 66 – Colored world

“Now all that’s left is you, life sage Cradle Destar.”

The castle of memories is crumbling.

Memoria and I slowly turn around, and see Cradle standing still, looking completely stunned.

“…I-it can’t be… The demon king transformation was undone…? T-that can’t be… It’s impossible! It’s a demon king! A being that surpassed magic and attained sorcery!? And that power…. Are you a demon king too…!? There was no data about…!?”

Apparently Cradle had been formulating all sorts of strategies against me based on what he saw in memories of me.

But of course, those memories of me were from when I fought those weak mages.

“It looks like you thought you knew me just because you saw some memories, but do you really think I used even ten percent of what I have against those weaklings?”

“W-what!?”

“Anyway… There’s not much time.”

The castle of memories is still collapsing.

It won’t hold for much longer, so before it falls…

I pick up my sword and thrust at Cradle.

“Let’s begin, life sage Cradle Destar. I’ll deny your future right here.”

“S-stay away!”

Cradle’s composed expression from earlier is completely gone, and he shrinks back with clear panic on his face.

There are no beasts under Cradle’s control here in the castle of memories.

With each step I take, Cradle takes one back, until…

“…!?”

Cradle puts his foot in a hole of the collapsing castle, created as the pages that form the floor are sucked down to the surface.

“Eek!”

Cradle quickly grabs on to the edge, but…

“M-my memories…!?”

He’s touching memory eating white pages, and memory pages fall from his body.

But if he lets go, his body is going to drop from the sky.

“M-Memoriaaa!! What are you doing!? Didn’t I tell you not to take my memories!? Hurry up and save me!! You dunce!!”

Cradle screams orders, but…

“…No.”

Memoria puffs her cheeks and turns away.

“Ah… Aaah!?”

It sounds like Cradle really wasn’t expecting this, as he raises his voice in complete confusion.

This is probably a first for him. The first time something he created turned her back on him.

And while this is happening, Cradle’s memories are still falling.

“W-what kind of joke is this!? Who do you think made you!? You’re a doll that lives for me!”

“…That’s not how you talk to a person when you want their help. That’s a terrible attitude.”

“Wha…!?”

Cradle yells in confusion again.

There aren’t any beasts under Cradle’s control in this castle of memories.

He didn’t save anyone, protect anyone, and felt any love or friendship towards anyone. He only controlled others, and there is no one here to save him anymore.

“W-why!? Whyyy!? The future I pictured should begin here! Everything should’ve worked! I completed a demon king, had it under my control, and should’ve ruled the world! The world should be my toy! My name should be carved in history for eternity as the world’s most evil monster!”

“…Yes, that’s right. That future really should’ve become a reality.”

I look down at Cradle with a cold look in my eyes.

“Your future wasn’t just a small thing that could be easily averted. If I wasn’t here, you would’ve continued to create demon kings, and lead the world to its ruin. Your research on demon king cells would’ve continued to birth demon kings, and your name would’ve been carved in history forever as the mastermind behind the destruction of the world. But that future is done.”

“N-not yet! It’s not over yet!”

Cradle takes out a syringe from the pocket of his long coat.

That pale blue liquid… That syringe is filled with demon king cells.

“You proved to me the effectiveness of demon king cells! Yes! At this point, all I have to do is become a demon king! And then I will destroy everything!”

He screams while injecting himself in the back of the neck.

I don’t stop him.

“It’s here. It’s here it’s here it’s here! This wonderful power!”

Cradle’s body starts morphing.

His flesh is shaved off, his bones become narrower and longer, and countless ribs grow out of his body like legs.

Cradle has been transformed into a giant, sinister bone snake.

“Destroyyy! Chrom Chronogate!”

The bone snake raises his head, and lunges at me to rip me apart with his bone fangs.

But I don’t move.

“I’ll predict your cause of death in these last moments you have.”

I slowly point at the bone snake.

“You will be destroyed by something you created.”

And just as I say that…

“Eh… Ah?”

The bone snake’s fangs stop right in front of me.

I didn’t stop time or anything.

The proof that I didn’t, is the cracks running through Cradle’s bone body before it bursts.

“I-it can’t be! W-why…!? What did you do, Chrom Chronogate!?”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“Don’t lie! Why then!? Why is my body crumbling!?”

“Isn’t it obvious? You just don’t have what it takes to become a demon king.”

Cradle didn’t burst as soon as he injected himself with demon king cells… But his body still didn’t adapt to them.

“L-lies!? Don’t lie! Why could my doll turn into a demon king if I can’t!? Are you saying… That doll is above me!?”

“Yes, exactly.”

It was like this in my previous life.

Cradle was surpassed by the demon kings he brought to this world, so he took the demon king cells he created… And destroyed himself.

Cradle was a genius mage who created artificial demon kings, but ironically, he himself didn’t have what it took to become one.

Even though the girl he looked down on as a doll did become a demon king.

“I’m sure… No matter how many times you repeat your life, you will always be killed by something you created. That’s the fate of someone who keeps playing with life.”

“Dammit!!”

Cradle screams as his body collapses.

“You… Damn you!! Chrom Chronogate!!”

Is the last thing Cradle yells before his body slips and falls from the castle.

His crumbling body couldn’t hang on to the castle, and as I look down at him being thrown into the air, I say…

“End.”

And with that, the bone snake’s body turns to dust, and melts into the blue sky.

It’s a very disappointing end for a genius mage, but…

The main cause of the destruction in the future, the one who created demon kings… Has been vanquished here.

◇

Cradle has been crushed, but Memoria and I don’t have time to celebrate the defeat of the main cause of the destruction of the future.

We need to escape the collapsing castle of memories quickly.

I stop the time of memory pages, and make a slope all the way to the tower of the Sorcerer Association.

And then, we tumble our way down.

“…T-that was awful…”

I struggle to get up, and smack dust off my body.

My body is in tatters to begin with, and the recoil of the demon king transformation left me weakened.

I want to rest for a bit, but… Memoria is looking at me, and while her face is expressionless as always, her eyes are shining.

“…That was fun. Let’s go again.”

“I-I think that’s enough for me…”

“…Really?”

Memoria might be more of a curious person than I thought.

We look up at the sky and the castle of memories.

“Ah…”

It’s not retaining its original shape anymore.

It looks like we just barely made it out in time.

Pages are spread all over, like they were blown by the wind, and the castle of memories falls apart completely like it’s disintegrating in the sky.

A blizzard of paper rains on the capital like the sky is falling, and the spring sun makes the memory pages shine as they return to their owners.

“…Wah…”

Memoria lets out a sigh of amazement as we watch from the tower.

“…It’s so pretty.”

The clear blue sky, the vast green grassland, all the interweaving colors in the capital below and its people, the colorful flower fields from Almana that can be seen in the distance…

The sight we see from here has more colors than we can count.

“…Memoria forgot… The world has so many colors.”

Memoria reaches for the sky with a shine in her eyes.

She sounds so innocent, like a child seeing the world for the first time.

(Ah, that’s right…)

In my previous life, this is the future I wanted to show you.

I wanted to show you all these colors.

“…Wah…”

Color is drawn into the eyes of the white paper girl.

There are probably as many things she’s never seen as memories she doesn’t have.

I’m sure Memoria Lostmemory’s life is truly going to start now.

“…This is a happy memory. Memoria won’t forget anymore. Everything… Everything…”

This scenery of a new beginning is burned into her emerald eyes.

She keeps watching it, never tiring…

“…Thank you… You took Memoria’s hand… And showed this to Memoria…”

Eventually, she turns around, and smiles as her teardrops sparkle.

This isn’t the face of a doll anymore, or white paper.

I place my hand on her head.

“It’s only just beginning.”

“…Eh?”

“Your real life is just starting. You’re going to be a lot happier from now on, and you’re going to see more beautiful sights like this.”

“…Really?”

“Yes. I’ll look for memories that make you happy with you. And if you get lost again, I’ll find you as many times as I have to.”

I hold out my hand to Memoria, so she doesn’t stray away or get lost ever again.

“So let’s go home together, Memoria.”

She blinks rapidly, and looks at both my face and my hand.

“…Yes.”

She happily takes my hand, and smiles brightly under the blue sky.