Chapter 120

An Intrusion

Finely sculpted features. Golden eyes. Red hair as vivid as flame.

His face was as exquisitely formed and elegant as a statue. His skin was fair and smooth, as though attesting to his noble blood.

Judging by appearances alone...

'He does look quite different from Leon.'

That was only natural, really. The man I remembered was Leon, the Lion of the Allied Army. The Leon before me wasn't the Lion of the Allied Army, but an heir to the throne. Of course he looked different from my memories.

'Was the difference really this drastic?'

His looks had practically changed for the worse beyond recognition since this point.

Which meant this might not actually be Leon. It could be an Anomaly wearing his likeness. Keeping my guard up, I used Predatory Instincts[S].

==<Character Information>==

Name : Leon Battenberg

Classification : Kingdom Animalia, Class Mammalia, Family Hominidae, Human

Sex : Male

Age : 21

Traits : Present Vision[L]

That confirmed he was the real Leon. On that note, his ability, Present Vision[L]...

◆Present Vision[L]

: The user can precisely observe and perceive events occurring in the [Present]. This allows the user to intuitively grasp not merely visual phenomena, but also the [Context, Cause, Circumstances] of events.

In this process, the user can exercise limited [Retroactive Perception] and [Precognitive Perception].

Its rank was [L], for Legend—the same rank as Iliana's Insight[L]. In other words, an incredible ability on par with those of the allied army's heroes. At last, I understood.

'So this was why.'

Leon's battlefield instincts in my previous life.

—If not for the Hero Ian, Leon would have become Supreme Commander of the allied army.

He was the man who might have led the allied army. It seemed his unrivaled, innate feel for the battlefield had stemmed from his ability, Present Vision[L].

After all, as the description made clear, Present Vision[L] wasn't limited to seeing events in the present. Retroactive Perception used information from the present to retrace a portion of the past. Precognitive Perception used that same information to predict the very near future. It was an ability that organically connected the flow of past and future, with the present at its center.

"H-how did this...? No, what's going on...? What?"

The Forgotten Social Gathering that I had kept resetting. After dozens of repetitions, Leon had begun questioning what was happening in the 'present.' In a sense, he could be said to be resisting the Authority of Oblivion, however limited that resistance might be.

I thought I could restore his memories with the Bond Skill Mental Empathy[E]. But I could only use it on someone whose affinity had reached the 「Bond Tier」. At this point in time, Leon and I had never even met.

I slowly approached Leon, and Seraphia hurried after me.

"W-wait for me...!"

She stuck close to my side, her face anxious. I nearly told her off, but held my tongue. At least she wasn't clutching my clothes this time.

"Your Highness, are you all right?"

Leon raised his head at my voice. Brow furrowed, he looked from me to Seraphia.

We had never met at this point, but only the memories of the social gathering had been erased. That meant the incident where Seraphia and I had run wild in the palace hadn't been forgotten.

"You two... Aren't you the wastrels of House Whitewolf?"

Leon knew who I was. Though his recollection was a little strange. Well, he wasn't entirely wrong... Anyway.

His golden eyes flashed for an instant.

"You two! Doesn't something seem strange right now?"

The question came instinctively. His gaze grew intent, as though trying to detect something.

"It feels as though the same things keep happening...? No, something...? What is it?"

But he stumbled over his words, apparently unsure himself. As I thought, he was resisting the Authority of Oblivion, 'however limited' that resistance was. Or else—

'Leon himself could be an Anomaly.'

He had never once shown up at the tea party. And not just the tea party—he hadn't appeared at any of the social events. Yet now he suddenly showed up? It was highly suspicious.

Of course, this was the real Leon. But if 'Leon being at the tea party' was itself an Anomaly, I couldn't argue with that.

'Has she run out of demonic minions?'

After dozens of repetitions of the gathering, Luseria had exhausted all the demons she could use to create Anomalies. It seemed she had no choice but to try putting me in a dilemma this way—

'That's not a problem.'

Unfortunately for her, this approach wouldn't work on me either. All I had to do was let the gathering continue. There was no need to determine whether Leon was an Anomaly.

If he was? It would reset. If he wasn't? I could proceed to the next day and beat Alex up again. Either way, I'd just accumulate more Sanity. There was no problem at all.

Except for one thing.

"Your Highness, where have you been, and what have you been doing during the social gathering?"

I did need to look for Leon after the gathering reset.

"... Why do you ask?"

"You mentioned feeling as though the same things keep repeating. I've experienced it too."

"You have?!"

"Yes. So if this happens again, I'll come find you."

The furrow in his brow deepened. He remained silent for a moment, seemingly turning something over in his mind.

"I..."

He drew the word out, as though searching his memories.

"While the social gathering was taking place—"

His expression twisted slightly.

"I... What is this?"

At that moment, his expression froze. He looked like someone who had almost remembered something.

"This, this... It makes no sense."

"Your Highness, are you all right?"

"It can't be. This... It makes no sense, I tell you. I was certainly with him—"

Just then.

"That's enough."

A voice, cold yet languid.

At the same instant, the air changed. A dizzying atmosphere enveloped the tea party, and a woman appeared, mingling chilling terror with intense allure.

Luseria, the Enchantress of Lust.

She took a graceful step forward with a beguiling smile.

"You aren't permitted to remember any further."

Her slender fingertips pointed at Leon.

* * *

The Forgotten Social Gathering. A space of endless repetition and endless forgetting. What Luseria had planned and intended for this space was not merely a repeating social gathering. It was a ritual that would slowly but surely consume the soul.

In the endlessly repeating gathering, every memory faded; in the endless cycle of oblivion, existence itself grew hazy. Those trapped here would eventually forget even who they had been, until their lingering emotions vanished as well.

At around that point, she would infiltrate Seraphia's mind and corrupt her. That was Luseria's objective.

But there was a variable.

Adrian. That bizarre wastrel.

Even within the repeating gathering, he had not succumbed to oblivion. His memories and soul should have been swallowed up, his sense of self long since lost. But that hadn't happened. He was vividly aware of every repetition. He was resetting it of his own free will.

The Forgotten Social Gathering worked by consuming souls through endless repetition. But that process had broken down the moment Adrian failed to forget. The gathering was no longer proceeding normally.

As a result, Seraphia had escaped the Authority of Oblivion. Now even Leon, the First Prince, was breaking free.

Leon was never supposed to appear at the gathering. Whatever else happened, he could not be allowed to do so. His memories, above all, must never return. Luseria had no choice but to intervene herself.

"You aren't permitted to remember any further."

HISSSSS!

Darkness streamed from her fingertips. A flow of black magical power blanketed the space.

Just then, Adrian charged straight at her without a moment's hesitation. As expected, he was impressively decisive and quick to act.

But those sharpened nails of his. From the look of it, he meant to counter her with them—

'Foolish.'

His approach was misguided. No, it went beyond misguided—it was flat-out wrong. The darkness she had unleashed was a form of black magic. And black magic was different from ordinary magic.

Black magic was not 'magic' that interpreted and reproduced laws. Rather, it was a power that twisted, rejected, and overturned them. As such, understanding, analyzing, and blocking it could never counter it. Sharpened nails were certainly no answer.

That... was how it should have been...

CRACK!

A strike tore through the darkness.

"What...?"

The darkness had been ripped apart, as though its very power had been negated. But... how was that possible?

Black magic couldn't be broken. It was a shapeless curse, a power that defied laws and order. Yet now...

Adrian charged again, giving her no time to think.

"Not so fast!"

HISSSSS!!

Pitch-black darkness instantly wound around both her hands. She immediately took a defensive stance, wrapping the darkness around herself like a cloak.

Adrian casually swiped his nails. She could sense neither magical power nor mana. Yet it felt anything but casual to her.

A merciless, far-reaching force tore through her darkness once again.

CRAAACK!

"What is this...!!"

Alarm bells began ringing in her head. The cloak of darkness shredded and vanished. Pain tore through her entire body. The sudden shock jolted her senses.

She couldn't understand it, but...

...she was the one who was wrong.

Spitting out the blood welling up in her throat, Luseria desperately clung to her fading consciousness.

Curses to restrict his movements were useless. Defensive black magic was pointless. Neither curses nor black magic meant anything against Adrian.

'Compared to what I saw through the crystal ball...!'

He was far too strong. His strength went without saying. His utility abilities and the way he used his body were all beyond her expectations.

Especially that incredible speed. It was like Blink, the spell that allowed spatial leaps. But it wasn't the same. Blink produced a fluctuation of mana at the moment of the leap. By reading it, one could predict when and where an attack would come.

Adrian's movements did no such thing. They produced no mana fluctuations at all. That meant they were purely physical movements, without any use of mana.

She didn't know whether that was even possible. Regardless, she couldn't predict his position.

'Still, if it's just physical movement...!'

Luseria opened her eyes wide. And in that instant, her consciousness cut out. Her body flew a long way, and she only came to after crashing into the ground.

She had thought she could track purely physical movement by sight...

...but once again, she was the one who was wrong.

Adrian was beyond comprehension.

'Where did a monster like him come from...!'

She gritted her teeth.

She couldn't imagine even the slightest chance of beating him. Would it have been different if she had her demonic minions? ... She didn't know. In any case, she had used them all up over dozens of repetitions of the gathering.

Still, she wasn't without options. She had a single objective: infiltrate Seraphia's mind and corrupt her.

But that was only Luseria's objective. It wasn't the reason the Forgotten Social Gathering had been held. She had merely used this space as a tool. Its fundamental purpose lay elsewhere.

The true purpose of the Forgotten Social Gathering was—

RUMBLE!

The darkness spreading behind her surged violently. Pure dark magical power swirled around her.

Her fingertips trembled—and as pitch-black shadows writhed beneath her feet—

"Awaken! You who were forgotten within the bonds of oblivion!!"

The darkness exploded outward in every direction.

* * *

Darkness exploded and raged. As though Luseria had drawn on all her power, it swallowed the space. Light vanished, and pure darkness blanketed our surroundings.

I couldn't approach recklessly. As I took a step back—

"Ahahahahaha!!!"

Luseria burst into maniacal laughter.

Then the darkness engulfing the space roiled. What emerged from within was—a massive cocoon. It looked woven from threads of darkness, as though something were gestating inside.

"Every time you repeated this gathering, 'it' was growing, devouring your memories and soul!"

Her laughter deepened.

"Within the cycle your insane actions created, it was able to become an even more perfect being!!"

The cocoon's surface writhed. Its black threads pulsed like a heartbeat. Cracks spread across the massive cocoon, and Luseria's eyes gleamed with anticipation.

"Now, face its true form for yourself!"

CRAAACK!

The surrounding space shook. This wasn't mere black magic. It was as though every trace of forgotten beings had mingled and warped inside the cocoon, and was now awakening.

At last, someone slowly emerged from the darkness seeping out of the cocoon. Black hair. Red eyes. Even the clothes were identical—

"Brother...?"

It was me. A perfect copy, as though I were looking in a mirror. But the being before me was no reflection.

I immediately used Predatory Instincts[S]. And I was able to identify the 'me' standing before me.

==<Character Information>==

Name : Adrian Whitewolf (Memorier)

Classification : Kingdom Animalia, Class Mammalia, Family Hominidae, Protohuman

Sex : Male

Age : 19

Traits : Regeneration[B+], Toughened Skin[B], Nutrient Synthesis[B], Promote Metabolism[C+], Dragon's Claw[A], Metabolic Overdrive[U], Dragon’s Skin[U], Predatory Instincts[S], Find Weakness[U], Infinity[M], Wrath of The Frenzied Dragon[L], Berserk[?], Slime Cell[B-], Assimilation[C+], Low-Light Vision[D+]