Reversal

Hah?

Time seemed to stop still after C’s ridiculous revelation. With Tarisha still in hand, I took a few steps back from the disgusting old man I was unable to kill and turned to look at my friends.

C still looked astonished as if he couldn’t believe the words that came from his own mouth. Kai, on the other hand, looked more confused than awestruck, possibly not even understanding the situation.

And it was the imprisoned witch Mana who spoke up first.

“You… what… you’re Three? But I… but you…” she continuously sputtered and muttered, still sitting on the floor of her dirty cage.

Merely looking at her in that state brought some very painful memories that I had to suppress to the best of my ability in order to focus on the present.

If C was Three… what did that mean?

No, how did that make any sense in the first place?

The emperor gave another one of his annoying laughs. “Ohohoho, look at your faces! This is simply wonderful. I knew this moment would come! Have you finally retrieved your memories, Master?”

“I’ve constantly wondered,” said C, slowly pacing forward with his gaze on the floor and a hand holding his head, “about the names.”

“The names…?” muttered Kai.

“One, Two, and Three,” the boy replied. “I already told you, the order makes no sense. But I finally understand. They weren’t meant to be sequential, as such… this entire naming started from Three. —That’s my name, right?” He turned to the emperor.

“Indeed, Master Three. You have told us this yourself back then—that C, your nickname, is the third letter of the alphabet. That was how we realized the prophecy about the ‘Warrior called Three’ had, indeed, referred to you!”

I was so shocked my grip on Tarisha slackened. I could do nothing but keep listening to them talk.

“But… but Three’s gone!” Mana rejected this from her cage. “And no summoned person can ever return! I’m the last remaining Doorway witch of my clan, I know this! Everyone’s eventually drawn back to their own world, never to return!”

“Never to return… is it?” cackled the emperor. “Except that you re-summoned him, haven’t you?”

Mana remained frozen with her mouth open.

“Hold on just a minute,” said Kai. “I can’t understand any of this. What’s going on, C? What does it mean that you’re Three? Explain, damn you!”

C now stood right next to our enemy, looking perfectly calm. “This is Avallux, the Crossroads of the Worlds. Worlds that are both real and imaginary connect to it… just like mine did back then… Huh, has it been a hundred years already? Outside that would be just a day before I invited you two to try out my game,” he explained. “I suppose there’s some kind of time dilation thingy?” C turned to the Emperor. “Have you really waited that long for my return?”

“We have, Master,” said the Emperor, actually bowing. “You have foreseen this, which is why we took the elixir of immortality… We knew you would lose your memories of everything that happened, but none of us expected to wait for so long until your second coming.”

“Hmm. Well done, Half.”

“…Ahaha, Master, I no longer go by that nostalgic name,” said the emperor, his smile waning. “Anyway, everything is prepared. The ministers and nobles all know of your imminent arrival, so there will be no trouble even despite your current form.”

More and more shocking pieces of information surfaced one after another, but I focused only on one of them for now.

An elixir of immortality?

We have heard Mana being referred to as an immortal witch or whatever—but was this ugly guy immortal, too?

Was the bastard unkillable?

…No, that couldn’t be the case. If that was true, he wouldn’t have bothered with the protective spell.

“All this time…” mumbled Mana from the cage. “You made me drink the potion, put me here and made me suffer just for this…?” She looked almost despondent and her bearing caused an involuntary shudder to pass through my body.

“Indeed,” replied the Emperor. “We needed a way to call him back here for good. You were our only choice. Not like it was easy. Master Three and Two also had to arrange something with a ‘com-pyu-ter’, though I don’t really understand how it works, ahaha.”

C snapped a finger and opened his mouth. “Right, that’s why I saw that red screen! I remember now. Using Two’s machines and Mana’s magic, I made sure my game would get connected to this world the next time I tried logging in… man, I really am a genius.”

Red screen? I had no idea what he was talking about, but I was liking this entire thing less and less the more I heard of it.

Kai seemed to share my feelings. “So let me get this straight, C. You’re actually—or have been, or whatever—this world’s evil tyrant dude? Did I get that right?”

“Evil?” asked C, putting a hand to his mouth as though scandalized. “That’s not a very nice thing to say. Isn’t this quite a pleasant world?”

“No it’s not!” Kai argued. “Are you blind? There are villages terrorized by monsters, people like that psycho bitch going on a killing spree, this disgusting emperor… it’s insane.” He shuddered. “Let’s just go home, C.”

“Hmm… no, I don’t think I will.”

Kai clicked his tongue and pulled his hand out of his pocket. “It’s up to me to be the real hero here, then.” He nocked an arrow again.

“Come on, Kai. There’s no need to be like that,” said C casually.

The Emperor also laughed. “Indeed, ihihihi! You are a friend of Three, are you not? I am sure the Master can spare some lovely wives for you as well…”

“Shut up! I don’t want any of this!”

C also smiled for some reason, but then his eyes widened. “Wait… Half! Dodge!”

“Hrrm?”

C tried giving the much larger and fatter man a push, but it was too late. I also belatedly realized what Kai did just as he shot the arrow that had a gleaming edge to it.

The usual protective bubble did appear for a moment, but was then shattered as if it was made of glass, dispersing. The arrow struck right into the fat man’s chest.

“What? But I…” he groaned, then stumbled and fell.

Hah, right. I forgot Kai possessed a piece of mogage tied to one of his arrows. That would definitely pierce through any magical defense.

Well deserved.

C groaned and held his head. “Did you really have to go and do that?” He sighed. “Ah well. Never really liked him anyway, even back when was a sniveling boy. We called him ‘Half’ for a reason. He was somewhat useful, though… now what?”

“Now,” said Kai, slightly shaking, “let’s free Mana and all go home. I’ve had enough of this place already. Let’s just pretend none of this happened, C. It’s better that way.”

The other boy snorted. “Nah. Are you kidding me? You want me to just leave after remembering I’m the supreme ruler here? I already told you—this world was meant for me to control.”

“C! I still don’t really understand what’s going on, but—”

“Oh, stop it already,” groaned C. “I’ve had enough from you. You were pissing me off this entire trip. Goodbye.”

I was caught completely off guard by the various revelations. If not for that, perhaps I could have reacted in time.

C casually waved an arm, casting a spell I had never seen him use before. A large spike was shot toward Kai, immediately impaling his chest with great force.