A Villain's Will to Survive novel Chapter 224

Chapter 224: Wooden Pocket Watch (3)

Epherene opened her eyes and rolled her pupils, scanning her surroundings. The blizzard still howled outside, and she was still in Rekordak, lying on the sofa in Knight Yulie's office.

“... Ah,” Epherene muttered.

Hoping the despair had only been a dream, believing—if only for a moment—that it wasn’t real, Epherene slowly pushed herself upright from the sofa.

"... You are awake," Delic said with a faint chuckle, seated at the nearby table.

But Epherene lacked even the strength to respond.

"Epherene, what made you cry out like that?"

Epherene clenched her teeth, her lower lip trembling as if she were holding back tears.

"With that chubby face of yours, pretending to be worn out isn’t all that convincing," Delic said.

“... Who says I’m chubby.”

"I heard you ate all the steamed potatoes by yourself."

Epherene lay back on the sofa, staring at the ceiling as she thought of what would come next.

The Altar's sudden attack is coming soon. We'll be scattered, everyone will die, and I’ll do nothing but run—only to regress again. And it'll repeat, over and over. As far as I can tell, there's no hope. There is probably less than half a day left before it begins, Epherene thought.

"Oh, right. When you regress, do you return to early March?" Delic asked.

“... It has to be February, not March, to stop everything.”

February... back to when Deculein was giving the admissions briefing...

Crunch—

Just then, Delic took a bite of something.

Munch, munch— Munch, munch—

The sound kept tugging at her focus. Still staring blankly at the ceiling, Epherene’s head slowly turned toward Delic

“... What is that?” Epherene asked.

“A sandwich,” Delic replied.

“... Why does it smell like meat?”

“Because there’s meat in it.”

Epherene slowly pushed herself up and settled into the chair beside Delic.

"Epherene, I heard Professor Deculein left you a letter," Delic said.

“... It’s nothing important,” Epherene replied.

"But you showed it to Yulie."

Epherene handed the letter to Delic, and in return, as a barter, she received a piece of his sandwich.

“... Epherene, I leave this letter to you,” Delic muttered, reading the letter as Epherene took a large bite of her sandwich.

As Epherene ate her sandwich, she tried to think of a solution, but none came to mind; her determination was fading, and the last embers of her resolve were barely holding on.

“You will undoubtedly understand the meaning of this letter.”

Delic finished reading Deculein’s letter, which contained only two brief lines.

"Ugh," Epherene muttered with a sigh.

“... And I, too, will keep my promise,” Delic added with an unfamiliar seriousness.

"What promise?" Epherene asked, pouting slightly as she gave Delic a direct look.

"... Hmm?" Delic muttered, raising a brow.

"I said, what promise are you keeping?" Epherene asked once again.

"What are you talking about?" Delic asked, furrowing his brows.

"You just said you'd keep a promise," Epherene said, mirroring his expression.

“... I was merely reading it.”

“Read what?”

“The letter, of course.”

Epherene’s brows furrowed in confusion as she glanced between Delic and the letter. Delic did the same, glancing back and forth between her and the words on the page. Neither understood what the other meant, and silence settled between them. Outside, the blizzard raged on, while inside, the fireplace crackled quietly, filling the room with warmth.

Pzzzt—

A sudden shock rippled through Epherene’s mind, like a spark igniting within her, and in an instant, realization struck as she straightened, her entire body tensing.

"Give me that for a second!" Epherene said, snatching the letter from Delic’s hands with a pull of Telekinesis.

"Why? What is it?" Delic asked.

“Shh!”

"... There are only three lines, but is there some hidden meaning behind them?"

Delic’s comment about the letter having three lines made Epherene’s heart pound, as Deculein’s letter had originally contained only two.

“Epherene?”

Epherene’s hands trembled as she clutched the letter, her eyes reading the lines of text, and a deep emotion welled up within her, and soon, her vision blurred with the sting of unshed tears.

Epherene,

I leave this letter to you.

A letter she had read thousands of times—still so brief. However, as she stared at the words, a single tear slipped down, soaking into the paper, causing the ink to smudge as it spread.

You will undoubtedly understand the meaning of this letter.

No matter how many times she had wrestled with it, no matter how often she had turned the words over in her mind, their meaning had always remained a mystery. Those same sentences that once left her frustrated—but now, beneath them, in elegant handwriting, was a single new line, one that had never existed before her regression.

... And I, too, will keep my promise.

At that moment, a distant sound of Deculein’s voice echoed in Epherene’s ears.

"Do not worry."

The last words Deculein had said while saving her before her regression.

"I will not place this burden upon you. You are still too young to bear such a burden."

A faint smile formed on Epherene’s lips as she reminisced about the past, but strangely, a sting of ache bloomed at the tip of her nose.

“But I promise you this.”

The heart that had once trembled in despair, the voice that had cried out in misery—now, a quiet hope began to take its place.

"Epherene, could you explain what’s going on...”

Delic called out to her, but Epherene neither saw nor registered anything around her. At that moment, only one thing filled her world—a voice from a past memory.

"... It will only be for a moment, Epherene, and in that time, you may feel alone.”

... Those simple words—it will only be for a moment—finally reached her, melting the weight in her heart. The burdens and responsibilities that had pressed down on her began to unravel, thread by thread.

"No matter how late I may be, I will follow your time."

His last words echoed in the air, a faint whisper carried by the wind to her ears.

"I will overcome regression."

Overcoming regression.

“... Ah.”

Finally, Epherene understood the meaning behind those impossible words and the true purpose of the letter, just as Deculein had said; she had undoubtedly come to realize it.

“... I see now."

Epherene turned to the window, her eyes following a lone bird gliding through the storm, its wings steady against the darkened sky. As she watched its elegant yet resolute flight, a quiet certainty settled within her. Deculein would return—she knew it as surely as the wind carried that bird forward.

***

Beneath Rekordak, Epherene and her party walked through the underground passage, making their way toward safety before the Altar initiated its sudden attack.

"When I regress, not everything changes," Epherene said. "I believe my regression and the world’s regression are not the same."

“Hmm?”

Everyone reacted differently. Sylvia nodded as if she understood to some extent, while Allen, Delic, Yulie, and Reylie—the newest member of their party—remained uncertain.

"So, basically, the criteria for the world’s regression and my regression are different. Once April 9th arrives, I will regress together with the world."

The moment of regression always fell on April 9th, but the exact point in time was never the same.

"But the world’s regression could take it back to January or February... or even to the very beginning, before the continent itself ever existed."

“... However?”

"However, my regression is tied to a single point—Rekordak in March."

In other words, the world’s regression was on a much grander scale. In simpler terms, Epherene’s regression occurred within the world’s regression. Though both happened simultaneously, she always arrived later at the point of return.

"Then that means Deculein can’t come back," Sylvia said, stopping in her tracks and narrowing her eyes as she glared at Epherene. "Because the point to which you regress is a timeline where he’s already dead."

Delic swallowed hard as a chill settled over the underground passage.

"No, it’s fine," Epherene replied with a faint smile, shaking her head.

Right, she never did like riddles, Epherene thought.

Gulp—

Epherene,

I leave this letter to you.

You will undoubtedly understand the meaning of this letter.

... And I, too, will keep my promise.

What meaning did Professor leave behind in this bracelet? Why did he return it to me? There are too many questions, but at least in this cycle, the answers will remain out of my reach, Yulie thought.

Clang, cling, clang—!

“Ugh...”

"Oh, yes!" Epherene replied, the first to wake, quickly sitting up and fastening her armor under her robe, even though she was still groggy.