Desir poured the last glass into his mouth, recalling why Priscilla created this Shadow World. Persuasion.

That was why Priscilla showed Desir the Shadow World that contained her ideals. She thought that if he lived in the world and saw what she wanted to make, he could not deny it.

In truth, Desir became sympathetic to Priscilla’s ideals. A world where everyone lived happily and fulfilled their dreams in their own way was not terrible.

The perfect world, where even impossible things that could not be achieved in reality were realized, gradually encroached on Desir. He would have conceded, had he not noticed at the very last moment: Priscilla’s world had distorted in a way she did not intend.

He recalled a conversation he had with Romantica under a tree that was fluttering petals.

* * *

“The dress you designed last time, when will it be released?”

“Well… I don’t know. All I can do is design, so I’ve never thought about anything else.”

* * *

In the world created by Priscilla, Romantica became a famous designer. She showed her talents to create a design that anyone would admire. In the real world, people are forced to take up jobs for survival, unable to pick what they would actually like to do. In this fake world, people instantaneously achieved their dreams.

There was only one copy of her dream. No one wore the clothes that Romantica designed. No, to be exact, no one could wear them. Her designs would never become real clothing, at least not for anyone else. Romantica had achieved the ideal of ‘design’ but it would never amount to anything more than that.

A life where you did not have to try anymore because you had achieved what you wanted.

Was that really the ideal Romantica desired?

Desir recalled dinner with Pram’s family. In the world that Priscilla created, Pram lived with his family. His dream was impossible to obtain in the real world, but here it was able to come true.

* * *

“Because, as you can see, I’m with my family.”

* * *

Desir was bombarded with endless questions at the dinner table with Pram’s family. But there was no occasion where Pram stepped out of the shadows and opened his mouth.

It was inevitable. Because Pram was the child of a concubine.

True to his good nature, he would always keep his mouth shut in order to avoid sowing discord. But Pram was satisfied; he was happy with this situation. His ideal of ‘living with his family’ had been fulfilled.

Merely being around a family. Was that really the kind of family Pram wanted? ‘It can’t be.’

Desir recalled the time when he drank a muggy, but cool beer with Adjest.

* * *

“If I’m working to protect their smiles, then wouldn’t anything be worth it?”

* * *

Adjest, who wanted to defend the people of the Empire, magically became a Royal Guard. It was completely different from the ‘process’ she would have gone through to actually protect the people of the real world.

The princess and the Royal Guard clearly had entirely different standing and power, but they were in the same boat. So, even if the process was different, did the distinction between the two matter if the results were the same?

‘Of course it does.’

It was by no means a decision that should be made by others. But in this world, everything had been predetermined by Priscilla, or at least by proxy of her decision.

A life in which one ideal had been achieved. But that was a mere shadow of real life. “You made everyone happy with it.”

Human greed is endless. But you can not listen to it all. This was why Priscilla had achieved a single ideal for each person in an attempt to keep them from craving more. These people were satisfied with that.

As a result, everyone’s lives were coordinated, and as a result, everyone living in the world could feel happy because they achieved their ideals in some form.

“But can you really say that their life is worth living?”

In the world created by Priscilla, people live a set life. It was not a self-decided life, but one determined by a machine. It was not something Desir could be satisfied with. It was a world of eternal silence.

Perhaps it was the best solution, even if not perfect.

But…

“You’ve put limits on everyone’s lives under the pretext of saving them all.”

Desir believed in the possibility that the human collective possessed. He was sure that he could exceed all limits.

“I cannot accept this world, Priscilla.”

[-Answer has been given to the main quest ‘The Ideal World’.]

[-As participant Desir Arman firmly denies this world, no world reversal will occur!]

Unlike any other Shadow World, no alarm sounded indicating success or failure could be heard. Instead, only the sound of broken glass resonated low, ending a world that could have become a reality.

[-…Then what is your alternative?]

Having forcefully merged with the system, Priscilla’s voice had lost all trace of humanity. The only thing that remained of her was a slight impact in the tone it carried.

Moreover, her body, connected to the backbone of the Artemis system, was not able to keep its form. Even though it was warped and broken, it did not look too strange. She was still able to maintain a very rough outline of her original shape due to her near-disgraceful obsession.

Priscilla wanted to be convinced. She knew it was all over when Desir denied everything, but she could not help asking. But Desir’s answer made her despair.

“There is no alternative.” [-Then why… ]

“I’m a bit greedy.” Desir laughed.

“I just don’t want to achieve only one ideal, and I don’t want to be satisfied with any limit imposed on me. I’m going to go beyond all limits you have set and achieve a lot of ideals.” [-That’s absurd optimism!]

Priscilla raised her half-broken body, the jostle separating her from the backbone of the Artemis system. In the process, her arms were crushed to ash, and her legs were smashed to the point where it was difficult for them to support her body, but she stood before Desir, not as a machine but a human, limping without regard.

“You’ve seen it so many times! Those who have fallen apart without achieving even one wish!”

This was certainly the case. Even Desir himself had died before his return, failing to achieve any personal goals before his life was shattered by the appearance of the Shadow Labyrinth.

It was not just him. Through the Shadow Worlds, he learned that there were many such people throughout history.

Like Lord Wilhelm Evernatten, who sought to save all those who asked, whether they were a citizen or refugee, but ultimately failed to stop the Shadow World encroaching. He and his men had their own ideals, but they never came to fruition, and they ultimately disappeared into the annals of history.

“Even if limits exist, so long as everyone is happy within it, what could make a world more perfect!?”

Priscilla cried out at the absurdity. Wailing in a hoarse voice, she denied Desir’s idea.

“If there are no fixed limits, I’m sure you know that some will end up dead and hopeless! But can you prove that this reality is better than a world where everyone is happy?!”

Priscilla wanted proof. Otherwise, this outcome was completely unacceptable.

She was mortified. She was angry. It was more than she could dream of because so many people believed and followed her. She could not comprehend the absurdity that came with being denied by groundless beliefs.

Priscilla grabbed Desir by the collar. “Anything… anything… I need some proof… ”

Priscilla, who had continued wailing, noticed something strange. Desir’s eyes were fixed on something behind her. Turning her head, the center of the Artemis system, which had lost its original shape, came into view. Only then did Priscilla realize why Desir’s gaze was directed there.

It was strange. When Desir denied the world she wanted to create, she gave up maintaining the Artemis system. From that moment on it was nothing but a cold lump of scrap metal, unrecognizable as the pinnacle of technology from a transcendental, ancient civilization. But she still felt the flow of mana within it.

*Psssst*

A fine noise came as she paid attention. Then an eerie red light began to flow from beneath the facade of the half-pierced machine, emanating from the red-tinted jewel embedded in the center.

What started as a dim glow slowly spiraled into a dazzling light that bathed the surrounding area. As the intensity of it increased, so did the powerful gush of mana that flooded their surroundings, distorting the air and ground alike.

*Crash*

*Crackle*

With time, that red color gradually began to color the surroundings an infinite dark black, like a dark abyss had come to claim the world and turn it into nothingness.

The light was eroding the surroundings.

Typically, erosion only occurred once a Shadow World was unsuccessfully cleared as a result of damage to the Artemis system. The system had been fixed, and the power source should have been drained, so where had all this mana come from, and what was eroding the world?

“…No, that’s… impossible!”

Priscilla belatedly realized the problem. The Shadow World she created was completely different from the usual Shadow Worlds. If the original Shadow Worlds were a reproduction of history, then Priscilla’s Shadow World was the creation of history.

To accomplish this task, which was literally recreating the entire world, the Artemis system had exhausted all of the mana in its power source. If everything had gone as planned, the ideal world that Priscilla had dreamed of would have been fully realized, and all of that mana would have been used in the process.

However, Desir denied that world, and it never came into existence; the mana, which was enough to permanently change the world, had lost its purpose and been dumped back into the air where the Shadow World existed. If such a high concentration of mana were to be forced into the atmosphere at a single moment, it would surely go out of control.

This time, the world would be changed for certain.

This time, it would be the destruction of history.