Zzzzzzzzzt—!
Boom!
A searing beam of light grazed past the flesh of my cheek.
If I had leaned even slightly more to the right, I would've been charred black like a scorched ant.
The thought alone made the hair on my head stand on end. But I couldn't afford to stop running—because Ayra, who was sprinting ahead of , showed no signs of slowing down.
『Enough—.』
A booming voice rippled through the space around us. As I gasped for breath and looked up, I saw several winged monsters manifesting midair.
They were creatures with grotesque faces and multiple bulging arms, each one wielding a mace or sword. Seeing them stirred so old mory in the back of my mind.
I'd seen angel statues that looked like those monsters before.
Angels.
Even back then, I felt it—angels, to , were children with halos on their heads, playing harps or trumpets.
These things were the opposite of that.
—Groooo—.
—Ga'm—
Those angels, grotesque in their devilish form, flapped their white wings and charged toward Ayra—
"You won't get many chances. Keep up."
Ayra's calm voice steadied my resolve as she swung her sword in a great arc from above, slicing clean through one of the monsters.
Shfffft—!
The angel split cleanly in two and disintegrated into powder. One, then two.
Skkk—, skkk—.
Ayra cut her way forward with her sword—her presence, overwhelming and reassuring. Even without magical assistance, she was soone of exceptional ability.
If she had been born an ordinary princess...
She might've grown up beloved by all and beco a wonderful queen in the most ordinary way.
Thanks to Ayra's fierce charge, we made it to the foot of the enormous god.
To climb that divine body would require a leap of several dozen ters—but then Ayra took hold of my hand.
"A long ti ago, this might've been different. But now, that god is nothing more than a colossal Ars Nova. Teo, just do what you've always done."
"A little more detail would be—ah!"
Before I could even finish speaking, Ayra grasped my arm with a strength I never imagined she had.
She gathered all the strength in her arms and legs, then spun around like a discus—and flung through the air.
"Stella! Catch him! Get him up to the head!"
Even as my vision spun and I felt completely disoriented, Ayra's voice rang out loud and clear.
I felt a deep kinship with the ingredients spun in a centrifuge—and then, as Ayra released , my body soared into the air.
And then—soone seized the scruff of my neck.
"Gotcha!"
When I ca to my senses, I was cradled in Professor Stella's arms—like a football tightly tucked under the arms of a running back. She imdiately broke into a sprint.
"Teo, be careful not to bite your tongue!"
The problem was, she wasn't running on a flat, open field, but on the massive, uneven, and tilting body of the god.
Gooooooo—.
The god, trying to swat us climbing up its body, flailed several of its remaining arms toward us.
"We're switching routes!"
Each ti, Stella would spin a rope with a hooked tip and fling it upward, hooking it onto a higher arm. It was a full-on three-dinsional maneuver—terrain ant nothing to her.
"Hiiieek...!"
In Stella's arms, my whole body jolted violently with every move, making it nearly impossible to stay conscious.
If she even slightly lost her grip, I'd splatter like an egg dropped from an apartnt rooftop.
All I could do was cling to her like a cicada on a tree.
With my eyes tightly shut, the only things I could hear were the imnse groans of the giant god and Stella's panting.
Gooooooo—.
『Such pathetic antics.』
"I'm gonna die, seriously!"
Stella groaned—but her voice held a strange undercurrent of joy.
"In all my long fairy life, this is my first adventure like this! Not even my brother got to do anything like this! Right, Teo? Don't you think so too?!"
"Uuuuuh..."
"But! We can't go any farther this way! I'm going to toss you up! Elga! Catch him when he cos!"
Her hands grabbed my waist—and then I felt the rush of wind as my body launched high into the air. Like I was flying.
And soone caught .
It was Elga, clinging to the highest part of the giant's shoulder. Grabbing my clothes, she pulled into her arms like a goalie catching a ball.
"Got him! So, what am I supposed to do with this guy?!"
Elga shouted.
"Where am I even supposed to take him?!"
But it seed like no one could hear her.
Stella was dodging a flurry of arms by hair's breadth. And Ayra, down below, looked exhausted from fighting the horde of angels.
"Tch, I don't know either!"
Elga, holding tightly, started running.
She was heading upward—higher than where she already stood. A mory surfaced, about how ladybugs instinctively climb to the highest point before spreading their wings.
Racing across the shoulder as wide as a sports field, she finally reached the collarbone area—where a massive hole, instead of a neck, yawned open.
From within that gaping hole, a blinding light poured out. It seed Elga had realized where I needed to go.
And I did too. If I jumped into the god's body, there would be no going back.
Squeeze.
Elga gripped my arm tightly and said,
"If I let you go here, I feel like I won't see you again for a very long ti."
"You feel that way?"
"Yeah. I do. But if I don't let you go, then it feels like we'll never et again at all. Wouldn't it be better to see each other again later—even if it takes a while—than never at all?"
"Well, obviously..."
"Promise . Promise you'll finish this as quickly as you can and co back."
Her words made rember the old . Waiting for soone had always been a part of my life—so I understood the hearts of those left waiting.
"I'll be right back."
But Elga didn't let go.
"You have to co back. You must."
Finally, her hand slipped free—and I tilted forward, plunging into the blinding mass of light.
A light so pure it felt like it would erase my very existence.
"I'll definitely co back. Soday. On a day when flower petals rain from the sky."
***
—Soday, I'll give you an armful of flowers. No, a whole field of them.
—Because...nymphs like flowers?
—No, it's not about the nymphs. It's just . I want to give them to you. A field that sparkles forever. Full of daffodils and roses you love. I promise.
—But...I... It's too late. My life is... as you know...
—No. It's not too late. I never told you this, but... my eyes see the future. In the future I saw, you and I are walking through a beautiful flower field. You're smiling. And I'm...
—......
—You have a tomorrow too. A tomorrow where you laugh and cry with everyone. I'll make it happen. Your tomorrow—Lis.
It's happening again.
Soone's mory.
Seeping into like sand into every crack, it begins to fill the empty space # Nоvеlight # inside . And it stirs my emotions.
Sadness.
Pain.
Despair.
When I opened my eyes,
I was lying in a soft flower field. Surrounded by a riot of colorful blossoms.
A familiar scene. Before facing the god of holy fla, I had spent my last peaceful ti here with the ladies.
This place was identical to that one. And yet—not the sa.
Because I could tell.
This flower field looked real—but it was actually soone's ntal world, crafted by a dream.
My past experience diving into Ayra's mind told so. This wasn't reality—it was a kind of dream.
No need to ask whose dream.
I was inside the shining god of light. Having let go of Elga's hand, I had safely made it into its core—and that fact alone brought a small sense of relief.
"More than that..."
What surprised was where I had ended up. I thought I was ready for anything that might appear inside the god.
Not a temple.
Not terrifying angels.
Not a horribly distorted city—but a flower field?
I hadn't expected the heart of a dying god to contain sothing so... nymph-friendly. It let briefly drop my guard.
Of course—
There was still a part of wary that this might be a trap. Traps often co coated in honey and sweet words, after all.
But—
Shhhhh—
The wind rustled the petals into a shower. It was so beautiful. So warm.
A place where the colors of the earth soared toward the sky. It felt like a gift for soone.
Like a funeral wreath of mourning.
At the center of that vast grave stood a man.
Tall. Crimson hair fluttering like a cloak. A crown-like helt gleaming black. Armor twisted and dented all over, with glowing red eyes that pierced into .
I had never seen him before.
And yet—I knew who he was.
And he probably recognized , too.
The mont our eyes t, my blood boiled.
"Solomon."
"You know ?"
Now face to face, he seed calr than I had expected. He didn't look like the mad tyrant or Demon King I'd envisioned.
But he was undoubtedly soone I couldn't let my guard down around.
He spoke.
"I am Solomon. Pinnacle of sorcery. End of all eras. Concluder of worlds. Despair of all challengers."
Ssshing.
He drew the sword from his waist. It was as long and thick as my own body. Ominous black energy leaked from it.
"Young challenger. Who are you?"
"I am..."
Who am I?
"I am..."
A question that had long tornted , one I could never clearly answer—yet now, my mind felt clear.
Perhaps I had been waiting for this mont.
"I am Teo Gospel of Angmar. Son of Trish the Nymph and Isaiah Gospel. Husband to five wives. Father of Leonoi."
"......"
"Leader of the Imps. Honorably discharged from the army. I went to college, made friends. I fell into slavery, started out as a gardener, and made it here just in ti for my wedding...!!!"
It ca out as naturally as if I had rehearsed it.
"I will kill you—and go on to our tomorrow."
But beneath Solomon's helt, his lips twisted with strange amusent.
"You bear many nas, challenger. I'll carve them into your tombstone."
He was mocking . This twisted man had no desire for a tomorrow.
Vvvvvvvvvmmm—.
The sword in the Demon King's hand began to rage with dark power.
"Co, then. There can be only one Demon King in any age. When this battle ends, one of us—will et inevitable death."
Solomon raised his sword high—and brought it down hard.
Crack—CRACK—!
In that mont, a thunderous shattering sound erupted.
—10th Rank Spell. Sky Breaker.
The sky shattered.
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