The Principle of a Philosopher by Eternal Fool “Asley”

An emerald brilliance enveloped the world.

It lasted but a moment, yet in that brief instant, the world became aware of his presence.

“”ASLEY!?””

Those battling at the center, humanity itself, knew the bearer of that warm aura.

Temporarily, the movements of the monsters slowed under this surge of energy.

“Huh… Brother!?”

Betty’s voice sounded bewildered.

“The hell do you want from me!? I’m kinda busy right– Oh!?”

Like his sister, Bruce let out a surprised cry.

And Blazer understood the significance of Betty and Bruce’s puzzled voices.

“No, it’s all my wounds…!”

Indeed, Bruce’s lost right arm was completely restored — as if nothing had ever happened to it.

And those fighting on the front lines noticed. Their wounds had inexplicably healed.

They all realized it, happening right after that surge of arcane energy.

It was happening everywhere, even in the frontmost of the front lines — even before the very eyes of Lucifer, the Devil King.

“Now I get why you said ‘sorry’! You weren’t going to do this for me until much later! Hah!”

Gaston, the Great Mage of Flame, observed his left arm.

Even the old wound he had suffered during the battle against Billy had healed completely.

But that was not all.

“My arcane energy…”

Irene’s words made everyone aware — all the arcane energy within themselves had been restored.

But what gripped them more was something else — Those who were supposed to be lost, the hope that was supposed to be gone, the magic that was supposed to have vanished, now stood before them right here, at this moment.

Descending was the Eternal Fool. Most greeted him with astonishment, but there were two who reacted differently.

“Took you long enough, you fool…!”

Through anger and teasing, tears flowed from Pochi’s eyes, and…

“I’ve been waiting… waiting so long!”

With a determined and resilient spirit, Lina wept tears of joy.

Asley placed his hand on Pochi’s head, offering a comfort he could not before.

“…And that’s the contract voided.”

Asley instantly lifted the contract that threatened to limit Pochi’s actions.

He had the composure for it now.

Asley nodded once to Lina and quietly passed by everyone.

This was the Devil King’s domain. It was not a place to share reunions.

It was the most challenging place Asley had faced. Only Asley could face it.

Sensing this, everyone distanced themselves from Asley and leaped back.

Lucifer clenched his teeth and glared at Asley.

His demeanor was different from before, devoid of wounds and even a shadow of doubt. The calm aura he now exuded, small yet tranquil like the sea, was something the old Asley never had.

That was why Lucifer noticed — And he understood Asley’s current state.

“You… you used Space-Time Transmission…!”

“Yup. You could tell, huh?”

In the background, Irene was preparing to leave this place.

It was for the support of those battling at the center.

However, Asley stopped her.

“It’s all right, Miss Irene.”

“…Huh?”

“No one… will die anymore…”

Asley’s words, spoken calmly, carried an undeniable conviction.

But Irene, as the Commander, could not afford to take them at face value.

Even if they came from Asley, it was a decision she could not make.

That was exactly why Irene noticed the sky — it was because she quickly turned back that she could see it.

“What in blazes…?”

Irene’s words made everyone look up.

The sky lay shrouded in darkness, the sun having long set, plunging the world into deep night.

Yet, they saw it — the stirring masses in the dark night, the glimmers of violet amidst the shadows. Asley had indeed set off with Chappie and the others towards the northern lands.

However, Asley’s speed surpassed theirs by far.

That was why they fell behind. Yet, because Asley had gone ahead, they could soar through the sky.

It was because of the towering presence of Asley that they could follow suit.

Shi’shichou, serving as a vanguard in the center of the fray, murmured,

“…They’re finally here…”

Picking up on those words, the Kokki asked,

“What!? What are you talking about!?”

“Do you not remember what I said? ‘We’ve prepared for this’!”

At the onset of the battle, the Violet Phoenix had declared:

–We’ve prepared for this. Now, all that’s left is to do it.

What those preparations entailed, the Shi’shichou had not revealed. Or rather, he could not have. He knew even one word out of him could alter the course of history.

…The Heavenly Beasts — there were only five of them in the world.

Long-lived and powerful creatures. That was what a Heavenly Beast was.

However, among them was an anomaly — Chappie.

The difference between Shi’shichou and Chappie lay in their upbringing — one raised in the wild, the other nurtured by human hands. This led to a clash.

In the past, during a conflict, the Shi’shichou, a wild Heavenly Beast, targeted Chappie, only to be defeated with Asley’s assistance. Reluctantly, the Shi’shichou lent his power in the past war.

The victory in the war, Asley’s presence, and Chappie’s existence — all led Shi’shichou to reconsider his stance.

Violet Phoenixes possessed a trait and a law unlike other Heavenly Beasts — the trait being asexual reproduction, and the law being the rearing of its offsprings until they consumed one another.

Through meeting Asley, Shi’shichou reconsidered this latter law.

It all began with the two Violet Phoenixes.

Bright the Black Emperor, having acted alongside Chappie, knew this.

The Violet Phoenix was known to give birth to offspring every five hundred years. 

The two new Violet Phoenixes born to Shi’shichou and Chappie would, like their predecessors, bear children five hundred years later. Thus, every eight of them would bear children again in five hundred years. 

It had been five thousand years since Asley overcame the past war.

Ten to the power of two. Irene, was the first to understand the meaning behind this formula and the significance of this exception made by Asley and Pochi.

The writhing darkness encompassed precisely one thousand two hundred and thirty-three spots of violet.

Throughout these five thousand years, the only one who managed to raise them all without fail was the son of Asley the Eternal Fool and his familiar Pochi — Chappie.

And when he was on the verge of failing, his father, Asley, came from the future to rescue them with Stone Bullets.

[“All right, we’re going in, Chappie!!”]

[“Yeah, Chicken! I’ll allow it today — go all out!”]

At the forefront, wearing sunglasses bought by his father and shouting loudly to show his valor to his beloved mother, Chappie Mask bellowed,

“CHAPPIEEEEEEEEE ARMY!!!!”

“”AWOOOOOOOOO!!!!””

To the avian cries that defied avian expectation and the rallying cry that hardly seemed half-made of his descendants, Shi’shichou lamented.

“Perhaps I should have raised them myself.”

Despite saying so, Shi’shichou could not help but smile slightly, looking somewhat pleased.

“It’s Chappie! Look, Lina! It’s Chappie! Look, over there! He’s my son! Isn’t he fast!? My son’s leading the charge!! Look!! Isn’t he fast!? Look!! Look!!!”

“Y-yeah! Yeah! He’s so fast!”

Pochi’s right foreleg pointed continuously at Chappie, while her left tugged at Lina’s clothes. Lina happily agreed, gazing at the Chappie Army with joy.

Over a thousand Violet Phoenixes swooped into the midst of the monsters, unleashing their power all at once.

Though they grew younger towards the rear, they were still over a thousand Heavenly Beasts.

There was no monster that did not fear them.

Gradually, the monsters grew confused, and some even chose to flee.

Yet, as if to stop them, a wizard, her familiar, and a man appeared in the center.

“Blue, prioritize taking down fleeing monsters.”

“Leave it to me.”

“Miss Minerva! And that’s–!?”

Appearing behind Trace was Minerva.

But there was one more — the person who she had lost track of.

“Master Leon…!”

Leon, previously called Lloyd of the White, appeared with Minerva.

What was the meaning behind the light in Leon’s eyes?

Even thinking about it, Trace could not figure it out — for the answer was known to only Asley, the only one who had used Space-Time Transmission to fly to Sagan’s time, with the knowledge that Tūs would eventually be missing from the ranks of the army.

–Next! Where do I go next!? WHEN do I go next!? No, wait… is there still something I have to do in this era?

After parting ways with Sagan, Asley used the Levitation spell and was in the sky above Regalia Castle.

–……Wait a second… Well, better be safe than sorry! I feel bad for Pochi and the others — but they’ve gotta wait just a bit longer! Just a bit longer, all right!?

As Asley uttered these words, he flew into Regalia Castle — yes, he had once again entered Regalia Castle, to accomplish what he had left undone in this era.

Within Regalia Castle, Asley appeared before Leon — Lloyd of the White — and subdued him in an instant without resorting to arcane energy to avoid detection by Lucifer, Idïa, and others.

“Ugh… agh…!?”

[I knew it… The mind control is weaker in this era! This should work!]

Asley applied further mind control magic on Leon.

“Listen, Leon! When Devil King Lucifer and Asley fight, and Asley’s arcane energy disappears from the world — That’s when all your memories and mind control will be undone!!”

Overwriting mind control magic using time constraints — No matter how hard Idïa tried to strengthen Leon’s mind control, it could not rival the absolute power of Asley’s mind control. Lucifer, Idïa, anyone else — they did not know what Asley had done in this era.

“Leon! Wait for my Telepathic Call once you wake up! Got it!?”

And there was also a reason to delay the release of mind control until the final battle.

“Master Leon, are you ready?”

“Yes — no problem. No one else but me can replace Tūs here!”

In this era, Asley knew — When Tūs moved from the center formation to help him, only only Leon, could fill this gap left in the army’s ranks.

The reason why Leon once disappeared from this place — it was that Gaston took him away to prevent him from being confused when he woke up.

“”Ohhh…!!””

Everyone exclaimed in admiration.

Leon’s Circle drawing was as swift as Tūs’, and his arcane energy was equally formidable.

“All right! This should do it!”

With this, the center formation’s functions were restored.

Minerva, Blue, and the Violet Phoenixes destroyed the surrounding monsters, with Leon following behind. Trace’s hopeful voice soon spread throughout the entire army.

And the same was happening in the distant eastern land of T’oued.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

In the capital of T’oued, Eddo, the temple no longer existed.

Kaoru, the Title-erasing Shamaness, sat in the Head Professor’s office of the magic classroom where Asley served as head professor.

The surge of arcane energy reached here, prompting Kaoru to rise from her seat.

“This aura… Asley?”

Immediately after, a voice came from behind the door of the Head Professor’s office — from the faculty office’s side.

“I see it’s finally time.”

“W-who’s there!?”

Kaoru’s voice held surprise rather than hostility.

She had not noticed at first, but soon recalled the voice and the words from earlier.

The reason she had not noticed someone who she normally would was because they should not be here at all.

Opening the door of the Head Professor’s office was a woman with the same face as Kaoru’s.

“Jun’ko…!? W-why are you–!? Oh, scratch that — how are you up and about…!?”

Kaoru’s astonishment was understandable.

Jun’ko, who possessed the Evil Eyes of Prophecy, had weakened due to the overuse of her ability. That was common knowledge.

As the closest relative and twin, Kaoru should have been the most knowledgeable about her condition. But even that was only Kaoru’s perception.

“It was the hardest to deceive you, Kaoru.”

“To deceive me…? What…?”

“My illness was faked, Kaoru. Asley asked me to do this! And when such a good man asks, what else can you do but comply, eh? Ahahahaha!”

“H-he asked you…? When the hell…”

After overwriting mind control magic on Leon in that era, Asley headed to T’oued.

Then, using Perfect Invisibility, he met only Jun’ko, avoiding Kaoru.

There was a reason for this, which lay with Devil King Lucifer — the same one in front of Asley.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

Amidst the ruins of Regalis Castle…

“I’m sorry, Lucifer.”

“What… What are you apologizing for!?”

Devil King Lucifer bared his fangs.

“I couldn’t afford to let you catch on.”

“What do you mean…?”

Lucifer knew.

It was the audacious idea that Asley had conceived and deduced.

“…What if I told you… I was the one who came up with that Prophecy Monument?”

“”What!?””

The shocking revelation spilled from Asley’s lips.

It was not just Lucifer; Pochi, Tūs, Irene, Warren — everyone present, except for Gaston and the observant Lylia, was equally astonished.

“He overwrote the prophecy…”

Lilia’s words sounded cryptic.

But it was Tūs who caught on.

“…! That’s it! He shifted everyone’s attention to the Prophecy Monument’s predictions! Is that what it means!?”

Even Bright, Ferris, and Chappie, who had been channeling arcane energy into the Prophecy Monument, were unaware of this.

After meeting Sagan and Leon, Asley encountered Jun’ko.

If Jun’ko had indeed fabricated the prophecy, the Devils under Lucifer’s command would have been wary.

But if that prophecy had been ‘fabricated’ by Asley himself, then what did it signify?

“The Eternal Fool…!”

As Asley murmured, his deep crimson mantle billowed dramatically.

What Irene mistook for red wings, the crimson mantle, once again, fluttered like wings.

Immediately after, the world, everyone, Devil King Lucifer included, understood the significance behind that title.

The title of ‘Eternal Fool’.

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