"What?" Ian tried to ask reflexively.

Of course, it was impossible. He couldn’t even grasp what was happening. Mev’s face was already fading away again, blurring into the distance.

Their clasped hands crumbled apart like scattering sand, and another familiar voice followed.

"I only hope our sacrifice won’t be meaningless."

Amid the crackling noise that filled his vision, the outline of plate armor briefly appeared. A half-shattered visor, and beneath it, a pair of bright yellow eyes, remained comparatively clear.

"Just in case, I’ll say this now, my lord. It has been an hon—"

Before the sentence could finish, Philip’s figure scattered apart, replaced by Lucia’s wide-eyed face.

"I’m going with you. At this point, I can’t be the only one left out!"

Her face faded beyond the noise, and Miguel’s grim expression swept past Ian’s sight.

"Leave it to me. I’ll wait. So you’d better—"

After him came the face of a beastfolk, covered in scars. "To achieve everything... only to meet such an end. Truly, I have no regre—"

"Damn it. I’m going, Ian Hope! I’m not dying like this!"

"Honored guest, please stay safe."

"No, Godfather. Please!"

After Diana came Mukapa, then Elie. They flashed by faster and faster now, until it felt like a life flashing before his eyes.

"This is my atonem—"

Nasser appeared as calm as ever, and after him came a chaotic torrent of faces and voices Ian could barely even recognize.

Then suddenly, hands gripping his face came sharply into focus.

"Remember this, Ian. There’s no way for everyone to survive."

Thesaya’s face filled his vision, her eyes wide as she stared straight through him.

Her lips moved urgently. "That’s a trap. Do you hear me? So instead, even now, you should just kill the Emperor—"

Before she could finish the shocking statement, her face scattered apart.

However, that wasn’t the only reason Ian was startled.

It felt as though she could see him, see the one peering into the future, and was speaking directly to him.

Crack, crack, crack!

The dark black fissure began spreading across his vision immediately afterward. The static had already transformed into swirling storm clouds, with light flickering faintly beyond them.

Swoosh—

However, the fissure exploded faster, like glass shattering.

The dark blue darkness swallowed Ian’s consciousness.

—Sorry for deceiving you, my friend.

Even within that instant that felt like an eternity, a faint whisper slipped into his mind.

A snickering laugh followed it.

—That being the only way... was a lie.

In the next moment, all his senses came crashing back at once.

Ian convulsed, jerking upright.

A closed door filled his vision. He had been sitting in a chair, meditating, but at some point, he had collapsed onto the floor.

"Phew... Phew..."

Yet Ian, gasping for breath, didn’t even notice.

The scenes from the foresight he had just witnessed were still raging chaotically inside his mind.

So even the changed future ends up like that?

Every image had been ominous. In some ways, it even felt worse than before. Especially the final moments, those involving Mev.

What the hell was that?

Slowly steadying his breathing, Ian began sorting through the vision piece by piece.

It was still maddeningly fragmented and cryptic. He couldn’t even be sure it had unfolded in chronological order.

Once his breathing had finally settled, a low voice drifted from behind him.

"How rare. Quite a spectacle, really."

Ian froze for a moment, and Thesaya continued leisurely, "To see Ian this startled. What was it? Did you glimpse a future where the world ends?"

Ian’s head turned behind him almost automatically.

Thesaya came into view, crouched on a chair facing backward, a bottle in her hand. She sat comfortably, likely because the carriage was rolling down a gentle slope.

"Good heavens. You really did," Thesaya muttered after a brief pause. She had clearly read his expression. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Ian finally blinked and shook his head. "As if. No, I just had a nightmare."

"That’s a lie. You weren’t just asleep, Ian. You were seeing something." Thesaya shot back immediately.

Narrowing her eyes slightly, she leaned forward. "But it was a little different from before. Your eyes didn’t change like a corrupted one, and your magic was surging wildly inside your body. So I just took a guess."

She studied Ian’s expressionless face for a moment, then slowly curled the corner of her lips. "You really can glimpse the greater currents now. Since when, Ian? Don’t tell me all those times you acted in ways that made no sense were because of that?"

Ian remained silent, not because he was at a loss for words, but because he wasn’t searching for an excuse.

It was because the face of the Thesaya before him overlapped with the one from the vision.

So she really said those things, assuming the past version of me would see them.

One question had just been answered.

Thesaya’s smile deepened slightly. "Don’t worry, Ian. I’ll keep it a secret. In return, you should at least tell me a little about what you saw."

"Is that why you closed all the windows?" Instead of answering, Ian asked a question of his own.

Thesaya swung her legs down from the chair and nodded. "I figured the others would cause a fuss if they saw you like that. Redhead especially. And if that happened, you wouldn’t have told us anything at all, right?"

"Good judgment." Ian finally let out a chuckle and pushed himself up. His clothes were damp with cold sweat.

Thesaya immediately held out the bottle to him as he sat across from her. "Then tell me at least a little, Ian. Did I appear in the future you saw?"

"...Yeah. You did." Ian took the bottle and answered, holding her gaze for a moment. Her swamp-green eyes sparkled differently from the ones in the vision.

As if sensing the meaning in his gaze, Thesaya’s brow twitched. "What was it like? Don’t tell me I die."

"No. That future changed." Ian replied, leaning back against the seat.

That alone was enough to make Thesaya’s eyes widen. "Changed? Then originally you saw a future where I died?!"

Instead of answering, Ian simply shrugged and raised the bottle to his lips.

Thesaya let out a groan. "Good gods... I almost died again without even knowing. So what else? Surviving is important, sure, but was that all?"

"No," Ian lowered the bottle. "You told me to kill the Emperor right now."

"What?" Thesaya blinked, then let out a chuckle. "I told you to kill the Emperor? Me? Why would I say that?"

"I don’t know. But you said there’s no way for everyone to survive... and that it’s a trap."

Ian let out a long breath through his nose and looked at Thesaya, whose smile had completely faded.

"If someone has to die, maybe you meant it should be the Emperor instead. Of course, maybe you meant it literally. Actually, I should be asking you, Thesa."

Ian shrugged and held the bottle out to her.

"Even if it was the future you, it’s still something you said."

"True," Thesaya answered a beat late, though she had been the one asking to hear it.

She brought the bottle straight to her lips. Her eyes were already swirling with far too many thoughts.

Suppressing a chuckle, Ian didn’t press her. He simply crossed one leg and let his gaze drift toward the closed window.

Either way, it seems they still haven’t found Nosnel.

After all, it had already been two days since they had entered the mountain range.

The search was taking longer than expected, partly because the roads were crude, and partly because monsters occasionally attacked during the night.

Of course, it was still too early to assume they wouldn’t find it today. Ian had only come inside and begun meditating after the sun rose, so it was probably still midday. The fact that Yog was still asleep made that clear enough.

"...Good heavens. I have no idea. The clues are far too few," Thesaya let out a sigh not long after.

The carriage had just begun climbing another gentle slope.

A bitter smile flickered across Ian’s lips. "So someone finally understands how I feel."

"But at least now I know the situation must get bad enough for me to say something that insane."

Running a hand down her face, Thesaya looked back at him.

"Is the world really ending, Ian? Or the Empire?"

"I’m not sure. And the rest... you’re better off not knowing." Ian added, extending his hand toward her. "There are already more than enough variables as it is. I don’t want to throw you into the middle of them, too."

"Fair enough. My head’s already starting to ache just thinking about the part that involves me. Maybe it’s better if I don’t know the rest," Thesaya said as she casually passed the bottle back to him.

Ian exhaled through his nose and raised it to his lips.

As he drank, she continued. "Now I understand why the princess always looked so burdened. But still, I doubt it meant you should kill the Emperor immediately, Ian. Setting aside how difficult that would be, even if you succeeded, we’d all become traitors. It would only lead to another war. There’s no way the future me wouldn’t know that."

It didn’t sound like she knew.

After watching him for a moment, Thesaya added, "So maybe it meant you should officially join hands with the Dark Prince instead. Use him as a figurehead and tear down both the Great Church and the royal family."

"Hmm..." Ian lowered the bottle thoughtfully, turning the fading vision over in his mind once more.

"But then why call it a trap?" Thesaya had begun to narrow her eyes as she spoke, but suddenly fell silent.

A knocking sound had reached them from the small window beside her head.

"Sorry to interrupt your rest so soon."

The window slid open, revealing Miguel’s face. He looked at Ian with slightly tense eyes.

"You should come out. I think... we may have found Mount Nosnel."

"Alright. I’ll be right out." Ian nodded calmly, snapping out of his thoughts.

Once the window closed, Thesaya spoke again as if she had been waiting. "Let’s talk about this later, Ian. I’ll think it over some more. There are still parts that bother me."

"Forget it. Don’t feel pressured." Ian shook his head as he pushed himself up from the chair. "Let’s focus on the plan in front of us for now. The spellcasters’ den should be close."

"Alright. I will," Thesaya nodded, taking a deep breath as if deliberately shifting her mindset.

Ian returned the nod and finally reached for the closed door.

"I almost forgot to say this because of the shock. Thanks, Ian," Thesaya added quickly.

Ian paused and looked back at her. She tilted her head slightly. "For saving my life again without me even realizing it. I’ll find a way to repay you. As you know, I’m the kind of fairy who repays her debts."

Ian let out a faint snort of laughter and opened the door.

Though we don’t know the meaning yet, maybe the future you have already repaid it.

A cold wind rushed in immediately, revealing the bleak landscape of a barren valley stretching before them.