Oo.
Ooh…?
Ooooh──!!
Suddenly, energy surged through my body. It was incomparable to what I absorbed from the magical armor puppets' cores of .
‘This energy is…!!’
The first to notice my change was Hilde.
“Lara, your… hair is glowing…?”
“Yes☆ That’s right─♪ How about calling ‘Ultra Ether Clara’?”
“What on earth is…”
Hilde, confused, was running her fingers through my light pink hair, which had started to glow a soft golden hue. Occasionally, she would bring her nose close and take a sniff.
“What on earth happened to you, Lara?!”
Sniff─
Sniff─
Behind , I heard the sound of heavy breathing.
‘Why are they sniffing my hair? I haven’t washed it in over a day.’
…
Well…
Whatever.
I decided not to worry about it since it wasn’t important.
Hilde spoke with her face buried in my softly glowing golden hair. Her voice was muffled by the strands covering her face.
“Your hair has a different kind of ether fragrance… What is this familiar yet strange scent…?”
“Ugh… It’s dirty.”
“…[The Violet Spinning Wheel], are you insulting Lara’s hair by calling it dirty?”
“N-no, I was talking about your actions right now…”
“…”
Freya watched Hilde for a while with a disgusted look. Then she pointed at my neck and exclaid in shock.
“You, you rascal…! Golden flowers are sprouting from your neck scar! And there’s so sort of light emanating from inside your clothes…?!”
“Oh my…☆”
What was that about?
I hastily pulled open my collar to see for myself.
Golden flowers were blooming from the scars that twisted around my neck and chest like brambles. The golden blossoms resembled the luscious grapes said to have been eaten by ancient gods… The buds erged, scattering brilliant afterimages as they spread.
Plop─
Plop─
They grew instantly.
They blood instantly.
They scattered instantly.
Golden flowers grew to the point of covering my scars. The countless golden petals ford and entered my hair and body, returning as warm and gentle energy. The endless cycle and overlap eventually covered even my own wounds.
‘This should be enough to fill the ether void completely.’
Like a golden flower field dyed in the evening glow, the ether in my body was endlessly radiating light. All the golden ether was originating from the sa place.
“…!”
I raised my head and looked at where the golden energy was coming from.
Following the path of the golden energy… it was all coming from the cat lazily wagging its tail in the distance.
“Ugh, where am I…? Oh, senpai…?”
And sure enough, next to the golden cat was Rota, who was groggily getting up while holding the first grimoire.
‘The owner of the golden color… Until Rota uses the first grimoire in the ga, she’s the only one with this color. But for ‘her remnant,’ which only existed as an item effect in the original, to appear directly…’
I now had an idea of what the golden cat’s identity was.
“[Golden Witch]…”
“…!”
“…!”
Hilde and Freya, upon hearing my mumbling, turned their heads sharply to look at the golden cat again.
Flick
The golden cat perked up its small ears in a gesture of affirmation and spoke to . Its voice was rhythmic, like reading a fairy tale.
『To be precise, I am her mory and her last defiance. A manifestation of the will that sought to understand the laws of the universe within the spindle woven by [Fate].』
“T-that…!”
『I am a thought construct made of the ether, a dium of [Fate], within this chaos-filled universe. I am the entity that hid to fulfill her last wish.』
“T-that…!”
『…You know, to be honest, you have no idea what I’m saying, do you?』
“T-that…☆”
Oh… I’ve been found out.
‘Even with my brilliant mind, there are things I don’t know…!’
The golden ether cat also appeared only as an awakened version of Rota’s skill effect in the ga. Even if I asked about its origin and purpose… I wouldn’t know.
『Although this era’s ‘saint’ has peculiar tastes, this aspect is the sa as ‘her’. It seems that similar natures are linked by [Fate].』
?
A saint?
And ‘her’…?
Could it be the [Sacrificial Saint] inscribed in the corner of the statue…?
‘An epithet that doesn’t appear in the ga, which features only the [Fate of Three Heroes]…’
The golden cat… [Golden Witch] let out a sigh and then gazed at the enormous black snake slowly advancing toward Yggdrasil.
『…To put it simply, when the ti cos for the beast god of chaos to appear, I am a replica trapped within the grimoire, only understood by a child with a [Golden] fate.』
“…?”
『The child needed to be prepared enough to face their own [Fate]…』
For so reason, I seed to understand why she appeared now, despite her appearance being slated for the later parts of the story.
‘Rota… has gained confidence faster than in the original…’
The journey Rota has taken. The mont she stepped out of the checkpoint on her own, with , Kara, Albit, and Freya… All these things helped her grow faster than in the original.
The [Golden Witch] spoke to .
『It doesn’t seem like a coincidence that the only ‘saint’ and ‘witch’ who can accept my ether are in the sa place at this mont.』
Then she fixed her gaze back on the ‘snake,’ muttering bitterly.
『But what shook this world with chaos… was not the [Dragon Crouching in the Abyss]… It was the power left behind by the [Serpent of Wisdom and Cycle], after all… The ‘prophet’ and the dragon’s followers…』
“…!”
The na of the prophet suddenly slipped from the [Golden Witch]’s mouth.
“The prophet is…!”
But at that mont, another shockwave from the collapsing barrier washed over us.
Rumble──!!
Within the deafening roar, I heard the green dragon Offnir’s maniacal laughter. He stood in a nacing posture atop the giant snake’s head, looking like a threatening mantis.
[Hahahahah─!! Haha, hahaha!! I have!! Succeeded─!!]
In the path of the [Serpent of Wisdom and Cycle], dark ether armants were forming and firing at those trying to block its advance.
Whoooosh──!!
Swoosh swoosh swoosh──!!
A wave of dark armants surged.
Thousands and tens of thousands of dark ether weapons of different shapes were endlessly appearing. Faintly contained within them was the aura of the ether skills of the noble faction students from .
“…!”
Freya saw it and spoke with trembling eyes.
“T-those are…!”
『Correct, those are remnants left by the [Fate] of the worshipers sacrificed within the serpent. The serpent erases others' [Fate] and infinitely cycles, mastering all knowledge of this world. It seems it has now absorbed the ‘Golden Armant’ I left behind… Attacks using the ‘Golden Armant’ won’t work anymore.』
“T-then… are we unable to resist the serpent at all…? Is this… is this… is our [Fate] to be destroyed by folly…”
Freya murmured despondently, closing her eyes.
“My [Fate] is… ‘Ignorance’… a fool who can’t do anything. Ultimately… no matter how much I struggle to escape [Fate], this is what it cos to…”
“…!”
For the first ti, I heard Freya’s [Fate]. She believed it to be a curse that couldn’t be changed, no matter how much she struggled. That was why she had isolated herself from the story in the ga.
‘…Freya.’
For the first ti, I fully understood Freya’s resignation. I could see why she lived such a lonely and desolate life.
『…You are a strange child. Your [Fate] is closer to that of a sage of this era than anyone.』
“…Pardon?”
Even hearing that, the [Golden Witch] spoke to Freya in a nonchalant tone. It was as if she was answering a child’s question about sothing obvious.
『There is nothing closer to the truth than knowing that you don’t know. When you think you know, that’s when ruin and arrogance co.』
Freya spoke with a desperate voice. Her pitiful purple cat ears trembled mournfully.
“T-then what should we do now…?!”
『…』
The [Golden Witch] now looked at Rota, who had fully awakened.
『Start from ignorance… and create new magic.』
“Yes…!”
Even though she had just woken up, Rota sohow seed to know what she needed to do. The letters of the first grimoire she held in her arms were softly glowing golden.
The [Golden Witch] flicked her tail as she looked back at us. Her gaze, which moved from to Hilde, Freya, and then Rota, glittered with gold.
『Let’s use all of my remaining ether to create sothing.』
“…!”
『…This will likely be both a joyful eting and a farewell.』
“A-a farewell?!”
The [Golden Witch] spoke to us one last ti.
『Before we begin, each of you can ask one question. Do you have anything you wish to ask?』
After resolving each of our curiosities, we awakened the students of the Inquiry Faction and headed to the ‘Sage’s Room’. And in the center of the ‘Sage’s Room,’ with the [Golden Witch]’s help, the one creating new magic was…
…not Freya, but Rota.
*
The library of the Inquiry Faction.
The rooftop under the spire where the ‘Sage’s Room’ is located.
We returned to the place where I had fought Offnir intensely.
“…”
“…”
“…”
Hilde, who couldn’t sit still and kept glancing my way.
, in a softly glowing golden, fully charged (temporarily) state.
Freya, who erased her grave expression and returned to her original self.
These three decided to head toward the [Serpent of Wisdom and Cycle].
“…”
As I looked at the scars on my body, where golden flowers were blooming, I thought.
‘My physical condition is really good right now. If I assu I’m a dodge tank in this fully charged (temporary) state, then the combination of bruiser magic dealer tank…? It’s not a bad combination. With this lineup, there’s a chance…!’
Now that a way to approach the [Serpent of Wisdom and Cycle] had erged, I quietly reignited my determination for the upcoming battle.
“…”
While I was having those thoughts, Hilde quietly took my hand.
She didn’t even ask anymore; she just grabbed it.
“…Lara, are you really okay?”
“Yes☆ I’m perfectly fine─♪ Maybe this is my pri☆ Is your body itching for so action? How about a light sparring match~☆”
“…I’m fine.”
“Hehe─♪”
“…?”
“…I thought you would sneak a peek while gauging the ‘distance’~☆”
“…”
“You always sneakily☆ silently do that~☆”
“…”
I chuckled and joked with the girl who had troubled my heart all day. Surely she would forgive this small bit of revenge.
‘Being surprised by unexpected physical contact… she needs to be more aware of that.’
Hilde looked into my softly glowing golden eyes and spoke.
“…Because Lara asked to trust her.”
“…”
“Then I will trust you forever.”
“Hahaha…☆”
…
…
…
Ah, I don’t know.
If I continue thinking here, it might beco a big problem.
So I quietly nodded my head.
“…Yes. Thank you for trusting .”
“…No. Thank you for keeping your promise.”
“…”
“…”
Beside , I heard Freya tapping her chest in frustration.
“You, you crazy girls… you, you crazy girls… Are you planning to set Yggdrasil on fire…?!”
“Why would Yggdrasil burn☆?”
“Th-that’s just… Oh dear…”
“…?”
When I tried to inquire about the ominous prophecy.
『Let’s begin. The story of gold.』
“…!”
Flash─!!
A brilliant golden light began to burst forth from the Sage’s Room.
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