221) Magic of Hope and Love Part 2 (Patreon)

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{3rd Pov}

This was what Destiny, or perhaps Fate, truly meant.

Regardless of whether Alec Hoshin met Flugel before the destruction of his nation or after its destruction, the outcome remained exactly the same.

None of the people he loved would still be alive.

His family was destined to die alongside his beloved lover.

Flugel's Sacrament of the Immortal King worked best when the person had not been dead for very long.

In Echidna's case during the previous loop, he had been able to resurrect her because she had died only moments earlier, and more importantly, according to the Timeline itself, she was never supposed to die at that point in history. Her death had been an anomaly, making it possible for the spell to bring her back.

But that was not case with Maria, she had been dead for too long before they came and as if timeline was trying to correct itself again, it made Flugel's resurrection magic fail.

However, Flugel refused to accept such an outcome.

He might not have known Alec Hoshin for very long, but he genuinely believed the man was a great person.

In many ways, Alec reminded him of himself back when he had been the failure known as Natsuki Subaru.

A strange guy in the eyes of others, someone whose friends if they can even called to be 'Friends', considered him weird or made fun of him for his poor grades or how cringe he was, how weird he talked and behaved.

Someone who had been looked down upon simply because he was different.

He knew that feeling all too well.

That was exactly why...

He wanted to change this cold and merciless outcome.

Flugel took a deep breath before slowly opening his eyes once again. He attempted to use his Authority of Lust, Life and Death Manipulation.

Once again, he felt that overwhelming suppression descend upon him.

It was as though the Timeline, or perhaps Fate itself, was directly rejecting his Authority, preventing the power from manifesting within the world at all.

“You know... I am not a fan of bad endings,” he suddenly said.

His calm voice echoed clearly through the ruined surroundings.

Everyone heard him.

Some looked at him in confusion, unable to understand why he had suddenly said that.

Others, however, seemed to realize what he was trying to do.

“That is why...!”

A smile appeared on Flugel's face as he used his immense mana as a conduit, attempting to unleash his Authority once again despite the suppression trying to stop it.

“Oh, Creation!”

The world itself rippled in response to his words, a disturbance so profound that even Reid and Satella immediately noticed it. The Timeline reacted almost instantly, pushing back with even greater force as it desperately tried to align everything with the established canon.

“Heed my words.”

By now, Flugel's eyes had transformed into an octagram. His Eyes of Enlightenment pierced through the overwhelming suppression, allowing him to perceive the tiny gaps hidden within the Timeline's interference. Using his vast mana, he carefully wove a path through those openings, forcing his power to advance step by step.

“And return the dead back to the living.”

The moment he finished those final words; his Authority of Gluttony was unleashed.

While the Timeline had been completely focused on suppressing his Authority of Lust, the Authority of Gluttony found an opening to manifest. Taking advantage of that brief opportunity, it erupted forth with four times the power it had previously possessed, devouring the ruins of the entire destroyed nation in a single second.

Flugel felt a tremendous surge of Aura and Ki as they rose to such an overwhelming degree that, for a brief moment, they seemed to encompass the entire world. Then, in the very next instant, Subaru's eyes were able to perceive the lines of life and death as well. Od Laguna itself seemed to shriek, as though desperately begging the Timeline to stop what was happening, but Subaru simply did not care.

He reached out and pulled the line of death.

The crack instantly disappeared as he undid Death itself.

In that very moment, the world was forcibly made to reverse the process.

This time, however, it was no longer hidden.

Farsale froze where he stood as he watched the light vanish from the sky.

'But... there is still plenty of time before night!'

Suddenly, light appeared once again in the gentle glow of morning.

By now, everyone had instinctively looked up toward the heavens, and what they witnessed was a sight they would never forget for the rest of their lives.

Heck, this very moment was witnessed by the entire world.

The sky itself began rotating as day and night alternated one after another, passing within mere seconds as though time itself had fallen into complete chaos.

The entire cycle of reincarnation was forced to reverse itself, sending enormous ripples spreading throughout every timeline connected to Od Laguna. Meanwhile, Maria's body slowly began to glow as her figure gently floated into the air. Golden particles, which had once been her Od, gradually started appearing around her body before slowly drifting back into her one after another.

All the while, the Timeline desperately struggled to stop Flugel.

The Narrative itself had almost moved to undo everything that was happening, but then as though it had found another method to correct the Timeline, a series of temporal glitches struck directly at Flugel's Od and Soul.

In an instant, his Od cracked.

Blood immediately began flowing from his eyes, nose, and ears.

The resurrection process was almost complete, so Flugel endured the pain without stopping.

It felt as though a violent tornado was tearing his Od apart from every possible direction. The cracks rapidly spread across it, growing wider and wider as the destruction continued to intensify.

Only when the damage reached the very brink of complete annihilation did it finally stop.

By then Maria had already been resurrected.

“Maria!”

Alec could not believe his eyes.

Maria was breathing again.

Not only that, but as her body slowly began to fall back toward the ground, he hurriedly stepped forward, catching her as gently as he could before carefully lowering her onto the ground.

“Alec... You are here? How... am I alive?” the woman asked in confusion, her hazy eyes slowly opening as she looked around. Her mind was still in a delirious state, unable to comprehend what had just happened or how she had returned.

Meanwhile, Alec completely broke down in tears.

“Truly... I am so grateful,” he cried, his voice trembling uncontrollably. “I am so happy that I can see ya again. I... I have not disappointed ya.”

Meanwhile, Flugel had finally reached his limit.

The moment he stopped using his Authority, his body completely lost its balance.

He collapsed onto the ground.

“Flugel!”

Satella screamed as she immediately rushed toward him without the slightest hesitation.

...

“He seems to be waking up!”

Flugel heard a familiar voice as he slowly opened his eyes.

An overwhelming sensation of weakness spread throughout his entire body. Even breathing felt exhausting as he slowly drew air through his nostrils, his body refusing to obey him properly.

“Flugel! You are alive! You are alive!” Satella cried, unable to hold back her tears any longer as she gently reached out and touched Flugel's cheek, relief clearly visible across her face.

“How long... was I out?” Flugel asked weakly, quietly feeling the soft warmth of Satella's hand against his face.

“Sir Flugel, you had been unconscious for two whole days. In fact, according to Echidna, it is nothing short of a miracle that you are even alive. Your Od has been completely cracked,” Farsale explained with a wry smile, though the relief in his voice was impossible to hide.

Meanwhile, Reid narrowed his eyes as he stared directly at Flugel.

“Oi... what the fuck did you do?” he asked bluntly. “Not only did you somehow resurrect her, but whatever you did nearly got you killed as well.”

“Sir Reid, this is not the time to ask something like that,” Echidna said as she stepped in front of him with the same polite, fake smile she always wore. This time, however, anyone paying attention could clearly tell just how irritated she was by Reid's question.

Reid stared at her for a brief moment before letting out a quiet sigh.

“Whatever. That pathetic man's lover is back. He feels guilty about what happened to you, and of course, he is stupidly grateful that you brought his lover back to life.”

“I think Flugel should eat something first! Please give him some time to rest!” Satella said adamantly as she gently cupped Flugel's cheeks with both of her hands before looking at everyone else with a protective expression, almost as if she was afraid someone would trouble him any further.

“Okay, mother hen. Let's prepare the food quickly,” Farsale said with a smile. Fortunately, they had already prepared the ingredients beforehand, so it would not take them very long to make something for Flugel to eat.

As soon as the food was ready, Flugel was gently spoon fed by Echidna while he rested with his head lying comfortably on Satella's lap.

“Flugel, you are not feeling uncomfortable, are you?” Satella asked worriedly as she gently caressed his cheek, carefully checking his expression for any sign of discomfort.

“No. Lying on your lap reminds me of many fond memories,” Flugel replied with a faint smile.

Beside them, Echidna carefully blew on the hot soup to cool it down before gently bringing the spoon to Flugel's mouth and feeding him with surprising patience.

Farsale's eyebrows twitched as he watched the entire scene unfold before his eyes.

A part of him could not help but feel jealous of Flugel, who was currently being so attentively cared for by two incredibly beautiful women.

Although, as a Prince, he had never lacked women interested in him, even Farsale had to admit that Satella and Echidna were in a completely different league from the noblewomen he had met before. Not only were they exceptionally beautiful, but they were also powerful women with remarkable talent.

Farsale had always preferred the idea of having a strong woman as his future Queen.

So, in all honesty...he was extremely fucking jealous.

Of course, Farsale had no intention of trying to pursue either of these women. First of all, both of them already had feelings for someone else. Secondly, he highly doubted either of them would ever agree, because after the journey was over, they would have to remain in the Kingdom permanently if they were to become his Queen.

While Farsale was busy thinking about his future waifu choices, Alec Hoshin and Maria quietly entered the room.

“L-Lord Flugel...” Alec called out softly as he looked at Flugel's weakened condition, his expression filled with both embarrassment and guilt. At the same time, he also felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude toward the man who had saved the life of the person most precious to him.

Maria also looked toward her saviour.

She still had not fully come to terms with the destruction of her nation or the loss of the remaining members of her family. Nor could she completely comprehend the fact that she herself had somehow been brought back to life.

At the very least, however she found comfort in the fact that Alec Hoshin was still alive and standing beside her.

“Lord Flugel, I want to express my gratitude,” Maria said as she knelt before him. She did not know the proper noble etiquette for kneeling before someone of higher status, but she still lowered herself onto one knee as sincerely as she could.

Seeing her do so, Alec also knelt beside her.

“I cannot express how grateful I am,” he said earnestly, his voice filled with genuine emotion.

Flugel quietly swallowed the spoonful of soup that had just been fed to him before speaking.

“Please rise. I did not revive her because I wanted something in return... Accepting gratitude as a reward would only insult what I truly wanted to accomplish...”

“Yeah, lads, get up. Don't insult him and his sacrifice,” Reid said.

Out of everyone present, Reid understood better than most just how much Flugel had sacrificed.

Previously, merely standing beside Flugel had been enough for Reid to sense danger.

It was not an overwhelming feeling, but it was still significant. There were very few beings in the entire world who could make the Sword Saint instinctively feel that way.

But now?

He felt absolutely nothing.

Nothing...

Flugel now felt no different from any other ordinary weakling.

Just another pebble one could casually find lying beside the roadside.

Reid would not deny that he was disappointed.

He had genuinely hoped that one day he would be able to fight Flugel with everything he had.

Alas, that dream now lay in complete shambles.

“I really... really... cannot express it... I know this is pathetic. I really know it is,” Maria suddenly said as tears began pouring down her cheeks.

“Everyone I knew is gone... except for Alec. I have nothing left anymore. When I was dying, my final thoughts were that I wanted to see Alec one last time. And, Lord... you made that wish come true. You snatched me away from death, even though doing so nearly killed you. I truly do not understand how you accomplished something like that, but... I wish there was some way I could repay you,” Maria said through her tears.

No one present was particularly surprised by her emotional outburst.

In fact, out of everyone in the room, Alec understood her feelings better than anyone else.

After gently consoling Maria and carefully wiping away the tears running down her face, the room gradually fell silent once more.

The quiet atmosphere lingered for several long moments before Alec finally gathered the courage to speak.

After Alec consoled Maria and gently wiped away the tears from her cheeks, the atmosphere once again fell into silence. The quiet lasted for several moments before Alec finally spoke.

“Lord Flugel...” he began, only to stop after noticing the knowing look Flugel gave him. Letting out a quiet sigh, he corrected himself.

“Flugel what happened to you? I do not need to know how you... you know... resurrected her.”

As he spoke, guilt weighed heavily on his heart.

Back then, he had been the one who begged Flugel to save Maria. Even though he knew the chances of such a miracle happening were incredibly small, he had still pleaded with him because he believed in the claims that Flugel was Omniscient.

“Sir Flugel, your Od is almost completely destroyed... what exactly did you do?” Farsale asked seriously. “You definitely did something. Not to mention what happened to the sky. The cycle of day and night suddenly began changing at an unbelievable speed. It probably frightened the entire world and caused chaos everywhere.”

After all, Farsale could easily imagine just how much confusion and panic that single phenomenon must have caused across the world.

For a brief moment, even Farsale had genuinely believed that the world itself was about to be destroyed.

“The world has yet to be destroyed, Farsale,” Flugel chuckled.

The Lion Prince could only let out a helpless sigh.

Once again, Flugel had casually demonstrated his Omniscience by reading exactly what had been going through his mind.

“I know that my actions had consequences...” Flugel continued calmly. “But I have no regrets.”

As he spoke, his gaze shifted toward Alec Hoshin before slowly moving to Maria.

“I would always choose my friends and family over the world. That is simply the kind of selfish person I am.”

A faint smile appeared on his face before he slowly closed his eyes.

“As for how I resurrected Maria...” he said after a brief pause. “Just say that because Hoshin dared to hope, I turned that hope into reality. Because they loved each other, I bridged the distance between them, even though they had been separated by life and death.”

His words left everyone present stunned.

Especially Alec Hoshin and Maria.

“And since what I did was against the natural order of things, I naturally received my punishment. But you do not need to worry about that the price has already been paid. She will live,” Flugel said as he looked toward Alec, whose fists had unconsciously clenched.

“That is why... promise me, my friend”

“You will never think about losing hope again.”

Alec remained silent for several moments, countless emotions bubbling inside his heart before he finally nodded.

“Yes... I will never lose the hope and love in my heart.”

“After all, this truly is a magic.”

“A magic that you have proven, Flugel,” he said earnestly.

Flugel still needed to examine just how much damage had been done to his Od and body, but for now, he was simply glad that Alec Hoshin had finally overcome his depression.

Flugel himself had gone through that phase once before.

He knew the magic of hope and love better than most.

Because when his depression told him to give up, Hope had quietly whispered into his ear.

'Try one more time.'

Leaving aside the fact that "one more time" had eventually turned into an entire roller coaster for the countless different Natsuki Subarus, Flugel's journey as the Great Sage continued.

To be continued...