Chapter 87: The Final Battle Begins

“...Look up, Irine.”

“The sky, you mean?”

Beneath the star-filled sky, I found myself gazing upward at the night, urged on by the young girl beside me.

“Magnificent. Truly magnificent. Not a cloud in sight—just a sky full of stars. I never imagined the sky above the capital could be this beautiful.”

“...Yes, it really is.”

“In ancient times, they say spirit users foretold the future by reading the patterns of the stars. They connected them with lines, forming constellations, and from the position and visibility of those constellations, they could even predict tomorrow’s weather.”

It had been a while since I’d seen Yuri, and she was already back to proudly lecturing me like always.

Scholars are the kind of creatures who just love explaining things to others—or so I’ve heard.

“In other words, the night sky is sacred ground for a fortune teller.”

“I see.”

“So, go on. Tell me. What happened after you left me? What kind of things have you been through?”

“...Alright.”

Drawn in by Yuri’s eyes—deep and inescapable—I found myself...

“After we parted ways, you see—”

Spilling everything I’d been carrying inside, pouring it all out to a girl younger than me.

---

"────I'm surprised. So that's the Hero Yury. The hero of the Second Demonic War."

"I thought you’d recognize her."

"I had a hunch, when I saw her reflected in the night sky calling herself ‘Demon King Yury’... but to think it was truly her."

Yuri clearly knew Yury well in her days as a Hero. As expected of the genius girl from the City of Learning.

No, maybe it's just that I didn’t know her well—maybe she’s actually quite famous.

"Is she really such an amazing person?"

"She doesn’t have any major feats of her own. Since she worked as a support mage, her contributions didn’t stand out enough to be passed down in stories."

"Hmm. Then she’s not that famous of a Hero?"

"Don’t be ridiculous. She’s extremely famous."

Yuri leaned forward, sounding slightly irritated as she snapped at me.

"The Second Demonic War where she was active had a scale far beyond any other war. Demons appeared all over the country, rampaging constantly without end."

"…That sounds like a truly horrific time."

"It’s said to be the largest war in human history. In terms of death toll, areas affected, and sheer magnitude—nothing else even comes close."

Then, Yuri began to explain in a very clear and engaging way what Ilyu was like when she was active as the Hero Yury.

That era was the most intense period of conflict between humans and demons, and humans had far more powerful combat techniques than they do today.

Even when it came to magic, what we now call a “spirit cannon”—considered the most powerful attack spell humanity can currently muster—was something that even average, wandering mages could fire off left and right back then.

"Combat during that time was flashy, both in swordsmanship and magic. That’s why theater performances tend to focus on the Second Demonic War. Naturally, the name of one of its Heroes—Yury—is also widely recognized."

"Theater…? So you watch plays like that too, Yuri-san?"

"My father is who he is. Sometimes he’d drag me along to the theater. Usually when he had a performance of his own."

I see. So it’s not Yury herself, but the Second Demonic War that’s famous.

Apparently in Yowin, a war chronicle about the Second War had become a hit, so people there knew all about what kind of Hero Yury was and how she fought.

It’s like how generals from the Three Kingdoms era in my previous life somehow had disproportionately high fame.

"It’s true that Hero Yury didn’t have much offensive power. I heard she was exceptionally strong against undead-type foes, but overall, she specialized in rear support."

"I see…"

"But don’t you dare dismiss her as some minor, achievement-less Hero. She was someone who bore the title of ‘Hero’ during humanity’s most brutal war."

"…"

"To top it off, she’s absorbed the abilities of the current generation’s Hero and now has no weaknesses left. Don’t get the wrong idea, Irine. You don’t have the luxury to hesitate over whether it’s okay to defeat her."

Yuri rebuked me sternly, wearing a serious expression.

"Right now, humanity is clinging to a one-in-a-million chance with everything it’s got—barely holding onto the slimmest possibility of victory. There’s no room for indulgent worries like ‘Is it okay to win?’"

…I'd been too naive. She’s right—if Yury really is that formidable of a mage, then I have no time to hesitate over something like ‘whether it’s okay to defeat her.’

If I want to win, I have to cast away all doubts and throw everything I have into the fight.

"Just think about it simply. What is it that you want to protect?"

"…What I want to protect."

"If you don’t want to lose what you just imagined… then fight with everything you’ve got. That’s all there is to it."

At Yuri’s words, I closed my eyes and began to picture the things that mattered most to me.

My younger sister, flashing a mischievous smile. My father, worn out but still willing to sit and have tea with me. And the maids at home, with Sara at their head, watching over us both.

My irreplaceable best friend from our journey, Sakura. My close and easygoing friend Karl. The comrades I once fought bandits alongside—Lev and Maika.

My martial arts master, Rey. The tavern keeper who always prepares a warm, delicious meal.

Sayori, who helped me in Ressal. The middle-aged man, Yuma, who brought a miracle to Yowin.

The cheeky royal girl, Rita. And her father, Lord Garius, the king’s younger brother.

────And lastly, the drowsy-looking girl sitting right in front of me now: Yuri.

Ah… I have so many things I don’t want to lose.

"…Thank you. I think I’ve cleared my doubts a little."

"Good. That’s what I like to hear."

This wasn’t the time to be wavering.

Yury has staked everything she has to challenge us—humanity.

If she wins, everyone I just pictured will die.

────I can’t lose. I won’t lose.

If she refuses to listen to Karl’s persuasion… then I will put everything I have into defeating Ilyu.

"Now then. I’d like to ask something from my side too—what outcome have you foreseen for the final battle?"

"Hm."

Now that my resolve was firm, I decided to ask Yuri about her foresight.

I’d probably end up hearing it tomorrow anyway—but I wanted to know early.

"The fortune-telling at this stage isn’t reliable, you know. My magic can only see one day ahead at most—trying to predict something three days away is a total gamble."

"Even so, could you please try?"

"Well, I suppose I can. I was planning to sleep soon anyway, so there’s no point saving my mana."

With that, Yuri began muttering her incantation.

…Maybe I should learn this too. I mean, I’m supposed to be a spirit mage—shouldn’t I be the one most suited to this kind of thing, especially when it comes to foresight magic?

"…Hmmm, now this is interesting."

"What do you see? Oh, um, if it’s okay, could you teach me that spell?"

"Oho, I see. Someone like you, Irine—favored by the spirits—should have a higher affinity for foresight magic. Go ahead and give it a try."

Without the slightest hesitation, Yuri taught me the foresight spell.

As expected of a scholar—so generous. Normally, just trying to learn a spell like this would cost a pretty hefty fee.

"Let’s see… ‘Explode, O world! Race, time and space! Shine bright, Sunshine Elegant’…?"

"That’s the one."

…I have no idea what that chant actually means, but it sounds pretty cool.

Just as I followed Yuri’s instructions and began chanting the spell────

────suddenly.

My vision went dark.

---

『Bweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhh!!!!』

『H-Hey, Ilyu?』

—

—

—

—

—

When I looked, I saw Ilyu squatting before Karl, stark naked and bawling her eyes out.

……

‘Naked? Ah, right. Her clothes can’t regenerate—she’s the Demon King, after all.’

『Everyone!! My precious children are all burned to a crisp!! The demon race has been wiped out!!』

『Bow your head and surrender. Otherwise, I’ll seal you away in eternal hell.』

『A-ahhhh!! This is too much, it’s too cruel! The only family that ever understood me…! Uwaaaaaaaaaahhh!!!』

All around Ilyu, the area was charred black, covered in soot. The carbonized corpses of countless demons lay strewn about.

Apparently, Aldebaran’s ultimate spell had hit Ilyu and her army head-on. It looked like the surrounding demons were completely annihilated, leaving only Ilyu—who couldn’t die—burnt and broken, alive.

『K-K-Kill me… just kill me already… please, kill me…』

『Ugh… I feel so guilty I think my heart’s going to burst…』

『Is… is there anything we can do, Al?』

『Fool. She’s the one who picked this fight. She brought this on herself.』

Behind Karl, the rest of us—me, Aldebaran, and the rest of the Hero party—began to gather one after another.

Every one of us was casting a sympathetic gaze at the Demon King, who was now crying her heart out and begging to be killed.

『…We’ll seal her again. I’ll begin preparing the spell, so hold her down for a while.』

『Wait, what about talking to her? Now’s the time—we can still persuade her!』

『If it were possible, don’t you think I would have tried?』

I snapped at Aldebaran as she moved to seal Ilyu without discussion.

Watching yourself from someone else’s perspective in a vision—it just feels completely off.

『Look.』

『Uu… ugh… I curse you… humans… you murdered my children… my husband… my family────』

『…There’s no reasoning with her.』

Aldebaran said this flatly.

With sorrow in her eyes, she slowly raised her staff toward Yury, who now glared back at her with eyes full of hate.

『Damn you huuumaaansssssss!!!!』

—

—

—

—

—

────And then, the world went dark.

---

"────Ah!!!"

"You're back, I see."

……

Haaah.

"What did you see in the future?"

"Humanity… won. And Yury was sealed away."

"Hmm. Seems you saw the same future I did."

That was… the world three days from now.

So, humanity wins. That’s… good news, I guess.

────But that situation was absolutely heartbreaking!!

She was crying for real—she truly hated humanity from the bottom of her heart. And of course she would… her whole family had been slaughtered.

……

Is that really the best possible outcome?

"Irine. Foresight magic three days in advance has less than a ten percent accuracy rate."

"Ten percent?"

"Exactly. So it’s best to assume that the future we saw today is completely unreliable."

……Right. Yuri did say it before. The further into the future, the lower the accuracy.

What we saw just now wasn’t a fixed future—it was just one of many possible outcomes.

"But still, at least we now know there’s a chance humanity can win. For today, let’s take comfort in that."

"…It’s hard to feel happy about it, after what I saw."

"Then try flipping the perspective. Imagine you were the one left alive, surrounded by the corpses of everyone you loved, sobbing your heart out. How would that feel? What we saw was better than that, wasn't it?"

Yuri let out a sigh, then stood up and turned her back to me.

Well… she’s not wrong.

"When a more accurate, more dependable future comes into view—that’s when you can start worrying. Thinking too much now is just borrowing trouble."

"…You're right."

Yuri said that, then paused thoughtfully for a moment before giving me a small nod.

"It’s getting late. See you tomorrow, Irine."

"Yeah. Good night."

In other words… don’t overthink it. Maybe even Yuri, after seeing that vision, has a few doubts of her own now.

Well, it’s true—there are still too many unknowns.

For now… I’ll get some rest.

---

The next morning.

"Yuri? It’s been a while."

"Yeah. And you’re still as sturdy as ever."

Yuri had been introduced by Lord Garius and was now set to participate in the strategy meeting as one of the top foresight mages.

Which meant, before the meeting began, she joined us at breakfast for a proper introduction.

"Oh? Aldebaran, did you get yourself a boyfriend?"

"Hah? What are you even talking about all of a sudden?"

"Fufufu. I’m quite good at reading people’s fortunes, you know. I can smell love on you. Though it doesn’t seem like you’re lovers yet… maybe you’ve just fallen for someone?"

"Hey, Yuri, stop saying weird things."

The little girl dropped bombshells without batting an eye—even against a Hero. She had a real bold streak.

…Still, so Aldebaran has someone she likes?

"Wait, Al—so you’ve got someone you’re into!?"

"Ohh, I’m curious about this too."

"A spring breeze for our fearless leader!!"

"Shut up, all of you. That’s nonsense. Back off."

The Crimson Hero swung her staff and drove off the curious party members who had pounced on her words.

…But on her face, there was a faint blush and just a hint of dishonesty.

"Oh my, so you really do have someone you like. She’s lying, no doubt about it."

"Oho, if Irine says so, then that settles it."

"Kukuku. Our leader can’t hide anything from big sis."

"Aaagh, you guys!!"

Sometimes, when the conversation turns fun, you just have to go along with it.

Even a Hero is still a young girl—it’s not surprising she’d fall in love.

"If I used a bit of mana, I could even figure out who it is. Let’s see, the chant was—"

"Stop right there, Yuri. I’ll tell them myself soon enough. Don’t stir the pot."

"Oho, my bad. I was just surprised—never thought you of all people would fall in love. Couldn’t help myself."

"It’s a nuisance. What’s so wrong about me liking someone?"

…There’s absolutely nothing wrong with it.

"It’s okay, Aldebaran-san. Even Heroes fall in love. Our Karl did too… right?"

"Yeah, and that was a mess."

"…Still kind of stings."

"I already said I’m sorry about that!"

Even Heroes who recently stirred up the whole party with their own love life are sitting at this very table.

"Eh? What’s this? Tell me more. Was big sis involved too?"

"This guy confessed to Irine in front of everyone and got totally rejected."

"What the heck, that’s hilarious! Perfect for some tea-time gossip—spill everything."

"Ilya, it’s not nice to laugh at someone’s misfortune."

"Oh, I see. So my confession is officially filed as a ‘failure story’ in your mind now."

It’s nothing but a failure story. Especially since he confessed to the wrong person.

"Falling in love is fine, but we can’t let it distract us from what matters right now."

"True enough."

"We have meetings and training ahead of us today. So, in short—I won’t act on my feelings right now. It’d just cause unnecessary tension in the party."

"Ugh…"

After shooting Karl a sharp, sidelong look…

Aldebaran calmly dropped a bombshell of her own.

—

"Once this war is over, I’ll confess."

---

Well, in my previous life, Aldebaran would’ve just raised the biggest death flag imaginable with a line like that.

But here, people around her just gushed about how romantic or lovely it was, and she cheerfully headed off toward the conference hall.

…Of course, in this world, that kind of line doesn’t really count as a death flag.

I told myself not to overthink it.

By the way, that day’s meeting didn’t really lead to any meaningful conclusions.

We had earth mages start digging moats, requisitioned bows and weapons from shops in the capital, and even tried to gather adventurers by offering outrageous rewards.

We did everything we could think of… but we still hadn’t come up with any decisive move against the Demon King.

“Well then, Yuri-dono. As of today—your foresight, please.”

“Understood.”

At the end of the meeting, Yuri cast a foresight spell to see how the future had changed as a result of the day’s actions.

And the result—

“BIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!!”

—was just the same as the vision I’d seen before.

…Maybe humanity really does have the upper hand.

And so, without anything changing, the night before the final battle arrived.

And I was still agonizing over it.

After that, I’d burned through my mana to cast the foresight spell over and over.

Every single time, Ilyu was sobbing as she was sealed away.

“If it’s within 24 hours, the accuracy of my foresight is extremely high. It’s almost a 100% guaranteed future.”

“Then it’s settled! Humanity’s victory is assured!”

Even on the final day of the conference, Yuri predicted humanity’s victory, and the nobles broke out in cheers.

Karl had a face like he’d bitten into something bitter, but most of the people were positively beaming.

Some even wanted to raise a toast—before the fighting had even begun.

“However, foresight magic can fail.”

“Didn’t you just say it was 100%?”

“Almost 100%. In fact—”

Yuri cut in, admonishing the nobles who were starting to let their guard down.

“In Yowin, I foresaw humanity’s defeat… and that prediction was overturned by the hero’s actions.”

“Hmm…”

“When supernatural forces—like spirits or heroes—come into play, forces that are simply too great… there’s a possibility that foresight magic loses its accuracy.”

Yuri was a scholar—one of the type who should be absolutely convinced of their own theories.

And yet, she clearly stated that she could be wrong. She issued a warning.

“Until now, my foresight has maintained an accuracy rate of nearly 100%. But I ask that you do not blindly place your faith in this result.”

…There might be a chance Yuri’s prediction is wrong.

Most of the nobles took her words as a little scare tactic—a way for a young girl to keep them from getting complacent.

But Yuri, the one who actually saw the future herself—

—was certain.

That this prediction couldn't be trusted.

---

That day’s meeting ended early. The national army and the heroes made their preparations for dawn.

Three days later, at sunrise—that was the “attack time” the Demon King had specified.

“To go so far as to name the exact date and time… either he’s a complete fool,”
“Or he’s that confident.”

Foresight magic had already confirmed it: the enemy would attack with their full force.

This wasn’t a diversion or some clever trick—it was a true, unmistakable declaration of war.

“What’s your plan, Karl?”

“There is no plan. I’ll just do what I have to do. But Aldebaran—make damn sure I get to speak with Ilyu.”

“…”

“The foresight showed that you sealed her away without saying a word. If you really go through with that, I’ll cut you off too.”

“You’re such a damn handful.”

Under the still-dark sky, the Hero and the former Hero stood out on the plain.

We, their companions, stood around them with weapons at the ready.

The national army, urgently assembled in the capital, now deployed in force across the field with a strong, concentrated formation.

“Dawn is near.”

“…So it begins.”

A dazzling white light painted the grasslands in shades of crimson.

At the soldier’s report, the darkness of night split apart, and the world turned red with the first light of morning.

“The time for our final battle has come.”

At the front lines, Lord Garius declared.

“Each and every one of you who stands here today is a Hero. If we can withstand the onslaught of the Demon Tribe and drive them back, we will protect peace itself.”

“Ooooh!!”

“Fear not for your lives! This is humanity’s final line of defense! And thanks to foresight, our victory is already assured—there’s no need to hesitate!”

Lord Garius, having taken command as this operation’s Supreme Commander, delivered his rallying cry.

The troops, fired up by their leader’s speech, stood with burning resolve and soaring morale.

“Our battle today will become a legend passed down through the ages! Soldiers—fight with all your heart!!”

As the light spread across the plains—

—the roar of the soldiers echoed across the entire nation.

---

───Three hours later.

"Humans!! Sorry to keep you waiting!!!"

At last, the Demon King appeared on the plains.

The sun was already high in the sky by then, and the soldiers, starting to feel a bit peckish, had begun casually munching on their meals.

“Oh, finally. The demon lot’s here.”

“Well, uh… apologies, humanity!!”

Around the Demon King stood a staggering number of demons—far beyond anything we'd seen before—forming a massive horde.

It was unmistakable: Ilyu had come with every ounce of her strength, with absolutely nothing held back.

"────We overslept big time!!!"

With that loud declaration, the final battle between humanity and the demon tribe began.