―BOOOOM!
A scythe of life, swung in a perfect full moon arc, beca the signal for an apocalyptic disaster.
Water, fire, wind, earth, light, darkness,
The power of all the spirits twisted together and surged toward the Naless One.
Soon after, Yggdrasil’s roots burst from the ground, coiling around the Naless One’s entire body.
The flowers blooming there absorbed and froze the surrounding magic power, halting the very space itself.
“Hmm.”
But,
It ant nothing.
“Laila, who do you think this power originally belonged to?”
Rustle.
The mont the Naless One’s foot touched the ground, everything disappeared.
“And do you really think I stayed here because of you?”
[Don’t get cocky!]
Even so, Laila did not stop.
Even if her power originated from the Naless One,
Even if every attack turned to nothing,
Laila stubbornly clung to the Naless One’s steps, refusing to let go.
Because it was the only thing she could do.
Because it was sothing only she could do.
“Don’t get cocky, huh.”
Tap, tap.
The Naless One chuckled, stepping toward Laila.
“Did you think I didn’t know what you all were plotting?”
Through the violent rampage of the spirits,
The Naless One’s voice remained calm.
Her movents were graceful.
Her beautiful form unmarred, an ethereal glow surrounding her.
“If you really thought that, it’s quite hurtful. I’ve always paid more attention to you than anyone else, you know.”
Brilliant light blood.
Eight pairs of wings unfolded, but what they spread was no longer radiant [divine power].
“Sigh… but what can I do?
The one who loves more always has to endure.
So I’ll endure it, Laila.
Because I love you all so much.”
A lovely smile.
A coquettish laugh.
The [divine power] surging around her snapped Yggdrasil’s branches,
rotted the trunk,
drained the life from the spirits,
and withered the flowers.
And then,
CRACK!
[Khuk…]
Laila’s entire body was skewered,
Pinned against Yggdrasil’s trunk.
The once vibrant greenery dimd.
Yggdrasil’s life force flowed into the Naless One.
The entire sequence felt almost natural.
Because Laila, once a Beast of the End, carried life force that originally belonged to the Naless One.
“Since I used a rough thod, let
confess one little secret.”
Giggle.
“I didn’t actually know everything you were planning. I knew you would expose yourselves to the outside world eventually, but I never expected you’d burn everything down right here, at this mont.”
Tap, tap.
The Naless One walked toward the dimming tree of life.
She gently lifted Laila’s chin with her hand.
“So then, Laila, Like I asked earlier, let
ask you again.”
“Why do you think I’ve only been watching all your mischief? Why even now do I simply watch?”
With Laila’s face tilted upward, the Naless One guided her gaze, toward the Red Moon and the roaring inferno of hellfire.
“Because I’m curious. Because I want to see.”
“How the variables created by the Opponent of the End will affect this world, my world.”
Crack,
Snap!
Laila’s hand clenched into a fist.
Yggdrasil’s trunk, responding to her will, twisted and wrenched her limbs free.
With her limbs torn away, freed from the [divine power]’s shackles,
Laila bit her tongue and spat blood onto the ground.
“Even now, I’m watching. This is a result I could never foresee. Everything else doesn’t matter,
But everything touched by the Opponent of the End, Noah, moves in ways I never anticipated.”
From the earth soaked in Laila’s life force, countless stems rose.
They thrust into her torn limbs, reconstructing her arms and legs anew.
“I only wanted to see the light of humanity. To see it standing proudly, shining alone. But, I saw sothing even more beautiful.”
“And now, I don’t know how to react.”
At the sa ti,
CRUNCH!
A massive foot, drawn from a giant’s silhouette of [divine power], crushed Laila.
A giant’s hand seized her limbs, twisted her neck, ripped her torso apart, scattering her innards.
“And that’s why it’s so much fun.”
“The unknown future is so, so, so, so, so much fun.”
“Even the other gods of other worlds, even the exalted, noble Lilith, none of them ever deviated from my expectations.”
“But,
The Opponent of the End,
That girl,
Noah, whom “I” love so dearly,”
“I can’t read her at all.”
And again,
Just like before,
That nauseatingly warm [divine power] healed Laila’s shattered body completely.
“So I’m curious. How will she laugh? How will she cry?”
“What will she look like in pain? In agony?”
“What must I do to bring that out?”
“Should I hurt her? Where should I hurt her?”
“Her body? Her mind? Her loved ones?”
“Or…”
Giggle.
The Naless One, trembling with excitent, placed a hand on Rubia’s chest.
“Her most beloved person?”
The hand, glowing with [divine power],
Tore through Rubia’s clothing.
Shredded her undergarnts.
And pierced her pale skin, making bright blood gush forth.
“No, I can’t. If I break my precious toy now, before I see the light I want, it’ll be ruined.”
“That’s why I left her. That’s why I pretended not to see. That’s why I’m only watching.”
But, that was the end of it.
The hand that had almost skinned Rubia alive gently withdrew,
calmly smoothing over the torn chest like nothing had happened.
“Understand now?”
“The reason I’m just sitting here waiting, It’s not because my awakening isn’t finished.”
“It’s just…”
“Because I’m curious. Because I’m excited.”
And for a brief mont,
The Naless One, who had been letting out that coquettish laughter, suddenly,
froze.
“But, Laila. There’s one thing in this fascinating storybook, one thing that could ruin this beautiful tale.”
A flat, lifeless voice.
Eyes as empty as the bottom of an abyss.
An expression so void of emotion it was chilling.
That gaze,
Was not directed at Laila.
It was aid at Serr, lying among the countless flowers.
“So, what should we do about it?”
The Naless One’s hand pointed toward Serr.
The eight pairs of wings spread open.
The [divine power] slumbering beneath her feet flared violently.
The authority suffusing the world, the blessings, the darkness of the Black Sun,
Everything poured down, intending to erase Serr from existence.
And at that mont,
―Sssshk.
One human’s [Heaven-Reversing Blade],
Denied the Naless One.
Swept away all the corruption descending upon Serr.
And then,
Rustle…
From the empty space, the highest-ranking spirits appeared.
[We greet the Lord of all life and spirits.]
The King of Spirits,
Revealed himself.
* * *
Valoran’s crimson full moon brought the heavens crashing down.
Brunhilde’s hellfire set the sky ablaze.
Kartia’s longsword,
Passed between them.
Neither severing the sky, nor cutting down Ziz, nor touching the dragons.
It simply drifted in the air.
That’s what I thought.
“Man… damn near threw my back out.”
Kartia’s exhausted gaze turned toward .
“So?”
At her question, I tilted my head.
“Co on.
Your body, how’s it feeling?”
“My… body? Uh?”
The voice that ca out,
smooth, unlike before when it cracked painfully.
Panicked, I scanned myself with [Ki sense].
I was,
Fine.
Perfectly fine.
My hands, which couldn’t even grip Frey before, were filled with strength.
My blurred senses had sharpened.
The breathing I had to force out was now natural.
The constant trembling had stopped.
The flow of [energy] within
was clear again.
Everything,
Had returned to normal.
“Fine… I’m fine.”
“Right?”
Kartia squatted down before , ruffling my ssy hair.
“To defy heaven itself. To deny the will of the gods, that is true [Heaven-Reversing Blade].”
She smiled, raising the corners of my lips with her thumb.
Her hand, soaked in sweat, trembled slightly.
Yet the strength within it remained firm.
“If you only look at the result, it might seem like [Heaven-Reversing Blade] is amazing.”
“But it’s not.”
“[Reversal] can only deny.
It can’t destroy.
It can’t erase.
It can’t overturn.”
“It’s just pure denial.”
“If you can’t even reach the heavens, you can’t even deny them.”
“An imperfect power.”
“Sothing useless alone…”
Tap.
Kartia pressed her forehead against mine.
“A power only humans, like humans, can use.”
The magic power flowing from her forehead burned inside ,
pushing away the negative emotions clouding my soul.
“But still, isn’t it romantic?”
“The weakest race, humans, “
“To stand at the very end of everything.”
She pulled back, her forehead leaving behind a faint warmth.
“But don’t be satisfied with just this.”
That fragile warmth,
I reached for it.
“We’ve lost too much.”
“We’ve forgotten too much.”
“We’ve had too much stolen from us.”
I couldn’t reach it.
“The blood we’ve shed, the tears we’ve cried, are far too thick.”
That warmth drifted farther and farther away.
“This, isn’t the ending everyone wants.”
At last, gripping the longsword,
Kartia,
Swung it toward the heavens.
Once.
Twice.
Each ti she swung,
The battle,
Her story,
Ca closer to its end.
“So, Noah.”
“I want you to write it anew.”
“A story where people can smile.”
“A story where people can be satisfied.”
“You.”
“Rubia.”
“Everyone.”
“A happy ending where everyone can be happy.”
Not as a forr hero.
Not as the Sword of Victory.
Not as a master.
But as,
One human.
Your friend.
“Please, Shin Noah.”
Heh-heh,
Kartia laughed like she always did.
“It’ll be hard. Incredibly painful. You’ll want to give up.”
“But unlike ‘us,’ who stopped here, “
“I hope you keep moving forward.”
Following those words,
the longsword was raised once again.
“And I’ll leave the door open.”
The sword she had beco one with pointed at the heavens.
Her eyes,
locked onto the sky that was now finally within reach.
“And if, far in the future, we et again, “
“And then… “
“Buy
a drink…
Yeah.
Even just one jelly would be fine.”
Slowly,
The longsword fell.
And with that final stroke,
[Opening the Heavens (開天)].
The long, long life of a rcenary.
The forgotten path of a hero.
The desperate journey of the Sword of Victory.
And,
The dreams of one human who longed for happiness.
Kartia’s,
Story,
Ca to an end.
* * *
Since ancient tis, humans could not fly.
But there existed a human who touched the sky.
A human who touched the sky,
and cut the heavens themselves.
That human had courage.
That human had strength.
That human walked a path no mortal could ever tread.
Achieved feats no mortal could ever dream.
Thus,
Humanity, who lived on the earth,
Their descendants, who would continue to live,
Would forever rember,
That existence.
That human.
Her.
Kartia.
And they would say,
Hero.
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