Chapter 73
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Zhuge Liang looked up at the night sky.
Amid countless stars flickering with their own light, the Three Stars that governed his fate were wavering faintly.
The time granted to him
was a sign that the mandate of heaven was drawing to an end.
“Ah, heavens. Why must you be so cruel?”
A mouthful of red blood coughed out from his mouth.
Against the Cao family, who denied the Han.
For his entire life, he had burned everything he had for the great task of fulfilling his promise to Emperor Xian and restoring the Han realm.
His body was already crumbling like a rotten old tree.
And there were still too few talented men to assist the young emperor.
So.
Even if Heaven would not permit it.
He had no choice but to twist fate with every last ounce of strength.
“Jiang Wei.”
At Zhuge Liang’s voice, Jiang Wei immediately knelt.
“Yes, Chancellor.”
“I intend to defy Heaven’s will and borrow a little more life for myself. For the seven days it takes to build the Seven-Star Altar and offer prayers, no one is to be admitted. If the lamps remain lit for seven days, then I may yet gain a little reprieve…….”
…….
…….
Seven large lanterns modeled after the Big Dipper.
And forty-nine small lanterns surrounding them.
At the center, he placed the life lamp that symbolized his own life.
“Heavens, please look kindly upon me. I, Zhuge Liang, am not begging for life out of selfish desire. I still wish to bring peace to this troubled world, so please grant this humble body a little more time.”
A desperate prayer.
One day.
Two days.
Three days…….
continued without end.
Without eating anything.
Without drinking anything.
With only the fervent light in his eyes shining brighter than the lamps, Zhuge Liang prayed day and night without rest.
…….
…….
On the night of the sixth day.
The wind raging outside the tent sounded like a ghostly wail, and the flame of the life lamp trembled uneasily in response.
Zhuge Liang never stopped.
One day.
If he could just hold out for one more day.
That was when it happened.
The murmuring that had sounded like an auditory hallucination from far away drew closer and closer, and urgent shouts began to shake all of Wuzhang Plains.
Soldiers shouting.
The rough pounding of galloping hooves.
“The Wei army has attacked! Report to the Chancellor at once!”
Along with the frantic voice, a commotion broke out at the tent entrance.
Jiang Wei’s desperate attempts to block them could be heard, but they were outnumbered.
Whoosh──!
As if severing the underworld from the world of the living.
The tent flap that had been hung shut was roughly thrown aside.
Wei Yan, wounded and bleeding, came in and immediately prostrated himself before Zhuge Liang.
“Chancellor! The Wei army has launched a surprise attack. Our forces are in danger. Right now──”
Wei Yan too seemed to have come through a desperate crisis.
But the wind stirred up by that frantic rush swept through the tent.
At that moment.
The central life lamp that had sustained Zhuge Liang for the past six days trembled violently, then snuffed out helplessly.
Blue smoke rose.
Like the shape of a soul slipping away.
Zhuge Liang’s expression as he looked at it was instead peaceful.
“You traitorous bastard! You were the one who cut off the Chancellor’s life!”
Jiang Wei, who rushed in right after, lunged to cut Wei Yan down in one stroke, but Zhuge Liang weakly raised a hand to stop him.
A sorrowful gaze fell on the extinguished lamp.
“Life and death have their appointed fate. It is man who devises, but Heaven that brings it to pass…… what can I do if my fate ends here? Do not blame General Wei Yan.”
…….
…….
The night wind seeped through the torn gaps in the tent and scattered the smoke from the extinguished lamp.
The final flame of the Sleeping Dragon was dying down.
Because his soul was far too noble and pure to be contained in a mere human body, Heaven had already arranged a fate for him not as a crouching dragon, but as a Yellow Dragon ascending to the heavens.
Yet Heaven’s great will
by nature cannot take account of mankind’s small wishes.
A single star
was falling from the sky over Wuzhang Plains, dragging a red tail behind it.
(The final episode will be serialized in the next issue.)
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Without even daring to think about reading another novel, he carefully folded the newspaper with slightly trembling hands and set it aside.
“Haah…….”
Eisen let out a deep sigh.
As the saying goes, schemes are made by man, success by Heaven.
To devise things is man’s intent.
To make them succeed is Heaven’s intent.
As he murmured the proverb in the demon language he had learned back in academy days, Eisen suddenly thought of the writer who had imagined this horrifying development.
If that writer with the dark circles under the eyes had been right in front of him.
He might have reflexively punched them in the face.
“Secretary.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Dispatch the Imperial Guard around Novelpia.”
“……? Understood.”
Only after he had started to enjoy art a little did one fact finally become clear to Eisen.
There had often been nobles who ran amok after getting too absorbed in art, and until now he had not understood them.
Now, just a little.
He felt like he could understand that feeling.
Still, he couldn’t let someone get beaten to a pulp.
Nor could he let a building be set ablaze in the middle of the imperial capital.
Swallowing the thought that he’d go watch it later, Eisen finally set the newspaper aside and got to work.
“Honestly, what a bastard.”
He couldn’t focus well.
* * *
Looking up at the dawn sky as day broke, Kim Yul let out a sigh.
“I don't wanna go…….”
Kim Yul was by no means oblivious.
He had only wanted to respect the original work’s progression as much as possible.
That was why Zhuge Liang had to die.
And he painfully understood that he himself had no choice but to take the blame.
But understanding it in his head and having his body accept it were two different things.
Kim Yul weakly rolled Caesar’s die across the floor.
Click, rattle…….
“How many did you get?”
“2.”
“A minor misfortune. Still, that’s at least decent.”
In any case, to hand over today’s manuscript—meaning tomorrow’s final chapter manuscript—he had no choice but to go outside and visit the Novelpia office.
So Kim Yul dragged himself through getting ready and finally went out.
“What the hell, why is your outfit like that?”
“I'll go with you too, Kim Yul.”
At Historié’s warm words.
Kim Yul’s stiff expression loosened into a slight goofy grin, but concern soon settled in its place.
“It’ll be dangerous.”
Historié proudly placed a hand on her hip.
“Trust in the future Great Illusion Mage Historié.”
.
.
.
Among the various schools established in the Mage Tower, the Illusion School wasn’t a particularly popular discipline.
The reason was simple.
Unlike the other elemental schools, which at their peak could split the earth, freeze the sea, summon typhoons, and even bring down a meteor hovering high above.
it wasn’t all that useful in combat.
The same was true of the troupe leader, hailed as the Illusion School’s finest output in recent decades, who was responsible for the Empire’s entertainment rather than standing on the front lines.
But if you looked at it from a slightly different angle.
Illusion magic was also magic that could do anything, depending on the caster’s creativity.
So now.
“That’s amazing…….”
“Lower your voice a little. The distortion will unravel.”
To share the spell’s effects.
Kim Yul was walking down the street boldly, arm in arm with Historié.
Though the enormous mass pressing against his forearm could have been distracting, surprisingly, Kim Yul wasn’t even conscious of the feel of that bag of knowledge.
The basics of illusion magic.
As a result of the Veil of Cognitive Distortion covering Kim Yul and Historié.
They became beings who existed, yet were not perceived, and could stroll through the streets.
Of course, if their voices leaked out or physical contact occurred, the distortion’s effect would waver, so they had to move as carefully as possible.
“To think they even killed Zhuge Liang…….”
“I hear there’s a protest going on in front of Novelpia headquarters.”
“A protest? Would that even mean anything?”
“Haven’t you heard the saying that the loudest voice wins?”
Whenever he occasionally heard talk about the two heroes on the street, Kim Yul would inwardly flinch and glance that way.
But the very embodiment of cold intellect.
Historié kept him in check.
“Keep going, Yul-bbippi. Eyes forward.”
“What’s with that way of speaking, you Giga Tin Can.”
As creator and creation headed together toward Novelpia headquarters.
Sure enough, just as the passersby had said.
“……We denounce it……!”
“Guarantee…… anything……!”
“……Bring them back to life……!”
“……More chapters nowwww!”
A huge uproar in front of the headquarters building assailed Kim Yul and Historié’s ears.
But fortunately, thanks to Chloe’s arrangements, they didn’t need to walk brazenly through the headquarters’ front entrance.
To a secluded back alley.
Only after reaching the vicinity of the sparsely used author-only entrance.
“Haa.”
The moment Historié canceled the spell, she went limp, all strength draining out of her.
Kim Yul caught the collapsing Historié in his arms.
“Are you all right?”
“This ultra-high-performance AI Historié doesn’t suffer any performance drop from this much RAM usage. However, there is a bit of impact from the overclocking…….”
Supporting the strangely muttering Historié, Kim Yul opened Novelpia headquarters’ back door and climbed the stairs.
As soon as they went up to the second floor.
“……You’ve come, Author.”
“Haha…….”
Ignoring the secretary’s resentful look as best he could, Kim Yul opened the president’s office door and went in.
He had imagined Chloe would, the instant she saw his face, shriek, “Eelkkiyaaaak, you demon!” and scream herself hoarse, but.
“Huh, she’s not here?”
Chloe wasn’t there.
Supporting Historié’s still-dazed body, he laid her on the sofa.
“Where did the boss go?”
Kim Yul asked the secretary.
The secretary adjusted his glasses slightly and silently pointed outside the window.
Kim Yul’s gaze unconsciously drifted toward the window.
There.
Together with the countless people gathered in little groups, holding placards and continuing their protest.
In front of the fountain.
In a place that radiated a bizarre aura no other protesters could even dare approach.
A saintess denouncing the bad ending.
A Kkanpeu who’d recently taken to liking Zhuge Liang more than Liu Bei.
The sight of a plain yellow mutt who simply loved binge chapters was etched into Kim Yul’s retinas.
“……What kind of combination is that?”
The die roll he had made that morning flickered through Kim Yul’s mind.
Still, it was a relief that it wasn’t a great misfortune.
Because he wouldn’t die.