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"What are those things?!"
Deon's subordinates reflexively looked up at Leticia and her group.
Idris seized the opportunity and approached the escape pod Deon was in.
"Damn it!"
Seeing this, Deon hurriedly exited the escape pod.
"Y-Your Highness!"
Elise called out to Deon as if asking for help, but he didn't have the luxury.
Bang―!
Fortunately, Idris's magic pierced through the escape pod just as Elise barely managed to escape from it.
The escape pod was destroyed in one attack, shattering even the small magic stone in the center.
Elise swallowed hard as she looked at the horribly shattered escape pod.
'If I had been even a little late, I might have ended up like that...'
She had smuggled him out of prison to save Deon and even boarded the airship with him in a dangerous way.
She resented Deon for abandoning her to save himself, but there was no time to dwell on such feelings.
"Now, we're equally cut off from escape, aren't we?"
Idris, with murderous eyes, approached menacingly.
"If you surrender now, I'll ensure you safely set foot on imperial soil."
Well, you'll only set foot on it, but you'll end up dying anyway.
Idris omitted the last part and approached Deon, casting magic.
"But if you don't want to..."
"..."
"According to imperial law, I have no choice but to summarily execute the traitor who threatened the lives of imperial citizens."
As Idris launched an attack spell at Deon, one of Deon's subordinates intercepted the attack.
The staff who came with Leticia also began to fight Deon's subordinates in earnest.
Deon gritted his teeth as he watched Idris approach him step by step.
'Damn it...'
Now that the escape pod was destroyed, the only way to survive was to seize this airship.
To do that, he had to defeat Idris, but his opponent was a war hero.
A great mage who had led countless wars to victory.
Even though they had a slight numerical advantage, their chances of winning in a head-on fight were slim.
"Keuhuk!"
Idris instantly knocked down Deon's subordinate who had blocked his path.
Deon, who was faltering and stepping back due to Idris's momentum, sensed it.
'...At this rate, I'll die anyway.'
In the end, the only option that came to his mind was to destroy the magic stone.
"Destroy the magic stone!"
Upon hearing Deon's command, his subordinates immediately changed their target and began attacking the magic stone.
The staff who had been fighting Deon's subordinates hesitated for a moment, unsure whether to protect the magic stone or attack the subordinates.
Taking advantage of the gap, Deon's subordinates attacked the staff and quickly turned the tide of the battle.
"Crazy bastard...!"
Idris knocked down Deon's subordinates who were relatively close to protect the magic stone, but he couldn't handle those who were far away.
Kwaang―! Kung―!
The magic stone, attacked by Deon's subordinates, cracked.
Seeing this, Idris hurriedly cast a protective spell on the magic stone, but then.
"Idris, behind you!"
At the same time as Leticia's urgent voice, who had been watching the situation from the upper door, cold metal pierced Idris's heart from behind.
Blood trickled down the blade of the sword, and the trail of blood soaked Deon's hand holding the sword.
"Oh, you shouldn't let your guard down like that."
"Keuk..."
"If you die before the magic stone is destroyed, it's over."
Red blood gushed out from behind Idris, who was staggering.
He felt his life ebbing away.
Idris gritted his teeth and used magic to strike Deon.
Kwaang―!
"Keuhuk...!"
Deon, who was hit directly by the magic, flew and crashed into the wall of the airship.
It was at that moment.
Kung―!
One of Deon's subordinates, who was fighting the staff trying to protect the magic stone, missed his target and shot his magic towards the ceiling.
As a result, the magic pierced the ceiling, and a huge piece of debris fell.
Directly towards the magic stone.
It was a momentary event that no one could do anything about.
Kwajik―!
The fallen debris shattered the cracked magic stone.
Soon, blue mana began to flow out from between the shattered magic stone.
It was Elise who broke the brief silence.
"No!"
Elise, with a pale face, approached the broken magic stone, but another piece of debris fell and crushed her, silencing the surroundings.
Only ruins remained where Elise's scream had disappeared.
The dead, and those fatally wounded who would soon die.
Idris staggered towards the magic stone.
The magic stone was flashing, warning that the mana was rapidly depleting.
At the same time, the airship could be felt gradually shaking.
His body, unable to withstand the shaking, collapsed to the ground. Blood was visible beneath his kneeling knees.
'...Is this the end?'
The wound was deep.
He knew instinctively, as he had been injured countless times.
That he wouldn't last long.
But he couldn't close his eyes like this.
"Idris!"
Idris looked at Leticia, who had run to his side.
He had no regrets in life, except for one.
You were my regret.
Fear was evident in Leticia's blue eyes as she looked at him.
If things continued like this, he would die first, and Leticia would face death alone with the crashing airship.
At that moment, Idris's mind flashed with one last hope.
Idris barely clung to his fading consciousness and opened his mouth.
"The reason I couldn't find you right away when we went to the imperial palace... was because I was afraid Deon and the late empress would find out about your existence and you'd be in danger."
"..."
"They destroyed everything I loved."
Red blood gushed out every time he spoke.
Leticia shook her head tearfully.
"Don't talk. The blood..."
But Idris stroked Leticia's cheek, who was shedding tears, and continued.
"And even after the empress died, even after I met you again, I was always uneasy. I was afraid you'd be in danger if you were by my side..."
"..."
"I vowed to prevent anything like that from happening... but it ended up like this."
"It's not your fault..."
"...I'm sorry. I wanted to show you a wider world."
Idris's voice gradually weakened.
Leticia, anticipating his end, desperately grabbed his hand and was about to say something.
'...A butterfly?'
A white butterfly flew from him.
A white butterfly like a phantom.
It was the butterfly he had seen before, just before he died in his previous life, and when Idris came to save him at the hunting festival.
The butterfly landed on Leticia's lap, and soon unfolded a magic circle as large as her body.
"Idris...?"
"I wondered who would use such an absurd magic... I didn't know the fool would be me."
At that moment, Leticia remembered a story Idris had once told her.
"Idris. Is there a magic among the magics that can return to the past?"
"There is. But there's no fool who would attempt a magic that isn't guaranteed to work, with such a huge risk."
The butterfly, which was initially one, had grown to dozens, hundreds, and began to envelop her.
"...It's said that you lose what's most precious, so if this magic succeeds, the me of the returned life will probably lose you."
Leticia finally realized.
That he was the one who had regressed her.
The white butterflies obscured her vision, and her consciousness began to fade.
"If there's a next life... don't get involved with me."
She opened her mouth to answer his words, but no words came out properly because her throat was choked.
In a world that had already turned completely white, only his voice echoed for the last time.
"I love you, Leticia."
At that moment, I should have said it.
That regression magic exists.
That I would definitely come to save you.
But the world simply blinked out.
And...
"...Heo-eok!"
When I opened my eyes, I saw a familiar room.
The Delua Grand Duke's mansion.
And just like that, I returned to the past once again and opened my eyes.
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