The Greatest Warrior of All Time Returns-Chapter 372

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Chapter 372

I don’t know what kind of life I lived inside the Closed World, what kind of people I met, or what kind of experiences I went through.

But one thing was certain,

I would never have betrayed anyone without a reason.

So then—what was that reason?

Even after slowly digging through my thoughts, nothing came to mind.

Did something happen to Melissa and Arsha?

Hmm… It’s possible.

But something about that feels off.

Let’s say I managed to save those two in a world that had already died out.

Then what?

It’s not like I’m the type who would just act without thinking ahead.

And when I shared those doubts with Luna, she immediately agreed.

“There’s definitely something fishy about Leon’s betrayal.”

“Right?”

“The weirdest part is the Authority. Authorities aren’t something you can just give and take because you feel like it. You need years of preparation…”

Isna said that all the Authorities she used were originally mine—that every Authority she wielded used to be the ones I specialized in.

Let’s be clear, in a world where an enemy like the Red Moon existed, giving away my own strength while weakening myself would’ve been astonishingly stupid.

Like putting jewelry inside a glass cabinet that opens with a touch.

So then, why would the version of me inside the Closed World do something like that?

I pondered it, but even the Moon Watchers didn’t know the answer.

Most of the members only had shattered fragments of memory.

And even Isna—who had the most memories—didn’t know everything.

I glanced at Isna’s back as she stared silently at the lake.

The luminous ornaments holding up her hair were firm, keeping her ponytail perfectly neat.

I’d seen that style somewhere…

Right—the Princess of Destruction wore her hair the same way.

Sure, I had wondered if they were the same person, but the chances were low.

Too many differences.

“Now that you’ve fought her seriously—how was it?”

Luna asked.

“She was strong. But we didn’t exactly go all-out. Neither side intended to kill, and both of us were conserving strength.”

It was a vague answer, but the only honest one.

Luna and I left Isna behind without saying much else.

There was certainly a lot to discuss, but she needed time to sort out her own feelings.

Whatever decision she made would be hers alone—not mine, not Rebecca’s, not Luna’s to force.

Rebecca, upon hearing what happened, looked visibly relieved and said she would wait.

* * *

Screeeech!! Clunk!!

In the underground chamber of my floating island—R'lyeh—where I had never actually used the space since creating it.

Inside, a miniature chamber held a special magic circle.

It wasn’t a place meant for people to stay in, so I had worried about it—until Marianne and the other succubi hinted that they wanted to relocate to the floating island.

The underground city was their home, sure, but R'lyeh was safer, more isolated from the outside, and still had sunlight.

They preferred the air of a place where people actually lived.

So I gave them permission to move, and parts of R'lyeh were altered through the Librarian’s power to create living quarters for them.

But that wasn’t what mattered right now.

“Wh-what is this place…?”

Rebecca asked with a stiff expression.

“You were lucky your senior’s body was intact. If either her soul or body was damaged past a threshold, revival becomes impossible.”

Whether it would work or not, I wasn’t sure.

But since we had acquired the preserved body of Meryl Dyne—Rebecca’s senior and a former Watchers member—there was no reason not to try.

Immediately after her death, her soul fragment had been too faint to even attempt revival.

But now… it had recovered noticeably.

Rebecca clutched the artifact containing Meryl’s body, her hands trembling.

“Give it here.”

I took the artifact from her and activated it, retrieving Meryl’s physical form.

Her limp body fell out—untouched, unblemished, as though she had died moments ago.

That was the value of this artifact.

A relic of ancient times.

A spatial-temporal artifact impossible to recreate with modern craftsmanship.

No human in history had ever devised such an object.

Which meant it was created by some transcendent being of an ancient age.

It was ridiculous that the Watchers even possessed such a thing.

Still, her body wasn’t perfectly intact. Some physical degradation had already occurred before the Watchers recovered her corpse.

But fortunately, we happened to have a cheat code.

“Luna.”

“Nothing major is broken. Just need to regenerate the damaged and destroyed cells.”

Luna couldn’t resurrect the dead, but her ability to repair bodies was almost miraculous.

As her multicolored light seeped into Meryl’s body, I could’ve sworn I saw color returning to her cold cheeks.

“S-Senior!?”

“She’s still dead. Sit tight.”

I calmed Rebecca, who was rushing forward, and activated the magic circle.

The soul fragment that had been floating around me slowly drifted toward the circle.

Full recovery was impossible for now, but restoring the rest after revival would be doable—though it would leave her weak for quite some time.

I cast the necromantic spell I had prepared.

Same method as when I revived Farell long ago.

Though the conditions were far worse this time, so I compensated by expanding the scale of the magic.

Years had passed, meaning more adjustments were needed.

But this was Meryl—someone who had died protecting me.

Wuuuuung…

[The Necromancy Mana Circles are entering overload status.]

Not a bad opportunity to expand my available number of necromancy circles.

“H-how will this turn out…? Will my senior…?”

“We wait. If luck’s on our side, good things happen. If not… well, that’s fate.”

Even then, the success rate was only around seventy percent.

A lot lower than it sounded.

I erected a full isolation barrier to prevent outside interference.

“The results will take a few days. By then, your leader will probably show up—meet her then.”

Rebecca couldn’t tear her eyes away from her senior’s body.

And indeed, Isna arrived at the floating island about four days later.

For some reason, she was still wearing a black robe and mask.

“You really aren’t tired of that? You know we already know your face.”

She didn’t answer.

“Leader…”

Rebecca walked up to her slowly.

Isna reached out and took her hand.

“You’ve worked hard.”

“H-hic… All our seniors… they’re all…”

Even if Rebecca wasn’t an original member, she had gone through countless ordeals with the Watchers.

Bonds were inevitable.

Isna spoke softly to her tear-streaked face.

“I’m giving up on the Watchers. If that’s their decision, I’ll respect it.”

Though, of course, that also meant we were enemies now.

“But my goal hasn’t changed.”

“But, Leader… It’s just the two of us now… No more memory awakeners from the Closed World are appearing…”

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“Rebecca has a point. You’re the only one left who could follow that ideal.”

Isna nodded at my words.

“But I still have to do it. It’s a promise to the ones who died.”

Then she looked straight at me.

“Leon. I’ve thought it over and made a decision. I’m going to bet on your claim—that this time, you won’t betray us.”

A lot had changed.

And when considering the strange contradictions surrounding my so-called betrayal, it was a reasonable conclusion.

She inhaled once and continued.

“You’re right. Your betrayal has too many parts that don’t make sense.”

The betrayal of those she trusted had forced her to rethink everything.

Ironically, the only pillar she had left was the one she had once distrusted most,

me.

“You’ll kill that monster, won’t you?”

“I have to. And… there’s something personal I want to confirm.”

“Then help me regain strength. After we deal with Garlan, the collateral damage from fighting that thing isn’t something I can handle alone.”

Like the Deep Ones when we fought Dagon.

She didn’t have a method anymore—no memory awakeners left.

I picked at my ear.

“…Why should I?”

Rebecca snapped her head toward me, startled.

“I’m dealing with things my own way. Why should I support a broken-down Watchers?”

Isna fell silent…

Then removed her mask.

And lowered her hood, revealing her red hair.

Isna Mielephon stared at me with her crimson eyes—no disguise, no distortion.

“Help me, Leon.”

“…Ah. Friendship really is something, huh. Sure, I’ll help. Feel free to use this island for anything Observation-related.”

Rebecca tilted her head, confused at my sudden shift.

Luna leaned in and whispered to her.

“He’s asking her to choose her identity.”

To me, the “Head of the Watchers” was just someone who maybe wasn’t evil.

But Isna Mielephon was a friend.

There was a big difference.

Even if she had stuck close to me just to monitor me.

Of course, I expected payment.

“Nothing’s free. Two conditions. First—no more acting like you have secret knowledge no one else has. I hate that crap. The Watchers is gone. You’re not its leader anymore. You’re Isna Mielephon. And you’re Rebecca—a spirit mage. Got it?”

If you know something, you tell me everything.

Isna nodded.

Rebecca followed.

If we were going to share a boat, information had to be shared too.

“And second…”

“What do you want?”

Seeing my expression, Isna stiffened.

I calmly answered.

“Let’s play a game.”

I imitated the doll-like voice of the masked killer who loved elimination games from my previous life.

“A… game?”

Yeah.

That’s what I thought.

Isna Mielephon didn’t suit gloomy, world-weary expressions.

What bothered me the most when I reunited with her was exactly that—that someone who used to smile so harmlessly at everything now carried the weight of the world on her face.

“Fire Spirit made a new game using the Paradise Artifact. Let’s fight.”

Luckily, Isna happened to love Paradise Artifact games too. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

She let out a small bitter laugh and waved her hand.

“No thanks. Suggest something else—”

“Scared?”

“Bring it on, bastard.”

And so the match began.

The result: 49 to 51.

51 victories for me.

I narrowed my eyes, grinning wide.

“Isna.”

“…”

“My shoulders won’t stop rising. Fix this.”

“I swear, I’m going to smash your cheekbones.”

She ground her teeth furiously.

“REMATCH!!”

“Hm. I don’t play with scrubs.”

“ARGHHH!!!”

Watching her lose her mind from frustration was honestly hilarious.

Yeah.

That’s Isna Mielephon.

Maybe it was my imagination—but she seemed a little less burdened than before.

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