The sudden opening of the Spirit Realm’s gates.
From there, billions of [primordial spirits] and tens of thousands of [interdiate spirits] all bowed their heads in unison.
At the forefront stood [high spirits], and the only three [supre spirits], bowing as well.
And then,
[We greet the Lord of all life and spirits.]
Their king,
Kneeled on one knee before Laila.
“Oh my, how did the Spirit King end up here?”
The Naless One, unconcerned that her attack had been stopped, bead brightly at the sight of a new “toy,” like a child discovering sothing new.
“Weren’t you sealed in the Spirit Realm? You committed a grave taboo. Even for you, that was a ‘law’ laid down by Lilith. How exactly did you break free?”
[I owe you no answers.]
At the Spirit King’s cold reply, the Naless One pouted briefly, then quickly regained her smile and nodded.
“Sigh…
Why is everyone so cold?
Well, even if you don’t tell , there are ways I can find out, huh?”
But only for a mont.
The Naless One’s smile vanished.
The gentle curve of her lips dropped.
Her beautifully arched eyes glazed over.
Emotionless.
“Ah… have you placed it on the scales?”
The abyss wearing a human mask gazed at Serr, nestled among the countless flowers behind Laila.
“You’ve tethered the Spirit Realm’s existence to your own life?”
Tap.
The Naless One took a step forward.
“When did you pull off such a sly little trick?”
At the sa ti, billions of [primordial spirits] blocked her path.
The colors of the [interdiate] and [high spirits] repainted the world.
The awe of the [supre spirits] standing guard around Serr surged toward the Naless One.
In response,
The [divine power] trailing behind the Naless One roared up.
A massive wave rose, a black abyss with teeth and mouths and limbs, an amalgam of everything grotesque in the world.
It charged.
The spirits resisting to protect Serr were devoured in an instant, swallowed whole.
The black pit ford behind them was the sa, bristling fangs, countless tongues, catching, biting, tearing, feeding the shredded spirits into the gaping darkness.
Thus, with just,
Three steps,
The Naless One had annihilated seventy percent of the spirits.
She stretched her hand toward Serr.
And,
Rustle.
Three pairs of her eight wings vanished.
The Naless One’s hand recoiled.
Her hollow gaze lifted skyward.
“Ah-ha?”
There,
The heavens had opened.
No Black Sun.
No lingering [authority].
Nothing left of the Naless One’s dominion.
Just, the clear, transparent sky.
The sky a human once dread of.
The sky of a new era,
Spread wide open.
“But how? How could you?
I… this world…
Lilith…
We bound you with rules,
How…?”
And then,
“Simple.”
The “magician” opened her eyes.
“Because I’m a genius.”
* * *
The sky was no longer dark.
The earth once dimd by the Black Sun,
The heavens once veiled by the Naless One’s [authority],
The shadow of Kartia who once protected ,
All of it,
Had vanished without a trace.
Because of that,
I couldn’t lift my head.
The blinding light hurt my unseeing eyes.
The warm light was unfamiliar.
Kartia’s will was too heavy to bear.
The sky she opened, I wanted to turn away from it.
With my head bowed,
I could only fumble blindly at the remnants left behind:
A scattering of black feathers,
And,
Clink.
A broken bracelet, the sa color as her hair, a piece that could never be nded.
“Noah!”
A slightly rough hand landed on my head.
Followed by,
The soft brush of a fluffy tail, the faint tallic tang of blood hiding behind a warm scent, squeezing
tight, as if trying to pull
into herself.
“Sss… haa… You sll so good…”
“U-uh…? Ca, Carpeng?!”
“Shhh…
Hold still.
I won’t get another chance.
Sssss, “
Carpeng sniffed .
The crown of my head, my ears, my neck, my chest, and then, smiling mischievously, she gently set
down.
“Haa…
I’m feeling the urge to mark my territory.”
“Go pee on the sand dunes if you want. Unless you want to get smacked.”
“Kyah?!”
And right on cue,
Frey, squeezing the blood from her hair, grabbed Carpeng’s tail and furrowed her brows.
“You mangy mutt!”
“Yeah, yeah, mutt.”
Ignoring Carpeng baring her fangs at her,
Frey finished wringing her hair and walked toward .
“F-Frey, too?”
“Why the shocked face? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Ah… no, I just, “
Kartia, Valoran, and Brunhilde were gone.
They had beco fragnts, keys to open the gates of paradise,
their very existence erased from this world.
And yet,
Carpeng and Frey were still here.
“But… why?
How?”
“I haven’t finished my business yet. Carpeng, either.”
Frey squatted down in front of , tilting my chin up.
“We still have regrets left, you know.”
“So… after you finish…?”
“Hah, as expected of her disciple.
You really are high maintenance.”
Frey sighed, like she was exhausted, but her fingers,
The hands calloused from endless battles,
Gently smoothed out the wrinkles in my brow.
“Don’t scrunch your nose.”
Next, she gently pinched my nose.
“Relax your cheeks and lips too.”
With one hand, she kneaded my cheeks, and with the other, she lightly lifted the corners of my lips.
“Hmm, yeah.
You’re definitely cuter like this.
But,
Cute or not, we still have work to do.”
And then, with a light laugh,
SMACK!
“Ughk…!”
She smacked my forehead with a flick packed full of [mana].
“Get up, you little punk.”
“Ugh… wha…”
“I’m counting to three. One, two, three, “
SMACK!
“Khk, sniff…!”
My head rang.
The sharp pain felt like it pierced into my brain, leaving my whole body numb.
“Still not getting up?”
“Sniff… it hurts so much…”
Tears welled up from the sudden shock, but I forced myself to lift my head.
Frey, her face twisted like a furious demon, clenched her fist.
“Crying? You’re crying?!
Man, you should thank your lucky stars you t Kartia.
If it had been ,
I swear, I would’ve, “
“Eeek…”
At the snap of her fingers, I instinctively shrank back.
At the curse that followed, I peeked up timidly.
“Tsk, there’s a lot I want to say, but looks like I should leave that to soone else.”
“Soone… else?”
At that mont,
“Then, I’ll gladly take over.”
Rustle,
A familiar sound of footsteps.
“Noah, what are you doing?
Crying again?”
A refreshing breeze blew.
A gentle droplet of moisture wrapped around my body, and a warm light cradled my trembling hands.
“Se… Serr.”
“That’s right. It’s . Your friend, Serr.”
Frantically, I scrambled to my feet and started checking Serr’s body, my hands trembling.
“A-are you okay?”
“I’m fine. But Noah, is it really okay for you to grope another woman just because Rubia isn’t here?”
“H-huh?! N-no, that’s not…!”
“If it’s not that, what is it?
You don’t love , but you want my body?
Is that it?”
“That’s… that’s not what I ant!”
“Well, it makes sense.
You lack so much, after all.
Besides, my body is perfect even by my own standards.
Unlike Rubia’s… over-endowed proportions, mine are much more balanced.
Though I’ll admit, her chest might feel better to the touch, but in terms of shape and color, I’m superior.”
“WHAT are you even saying…!”
Horrified, I quickly clamped my hand over Serr’s mouth.
She giggled, gently pulling my hand down, and leaned in close.
“So? How’s your body holding up?”
“I-it’s fine…”
“Good.”
Sweep.
Serr’s finger gently traced up my philtrum.
“But why are you dripping snot everywhere? Tsk, so undignified. How can you call yourself friends with a genius like ?”
“That’s not,it’s not snot…”
“Oh really? If you want to be my friend, you need to always carry yourself proudly.”
Thunk!
Serr lightly bumped her forehead against mine.
“Don’t sit there looking all pathetic.”
Her flowing hair brushed against my cheek as she pulled back.
She glanced at the bracelet, feather, and tiny ember in my hand.
For a mont, she hesitated.
Then slowly, she spoke.
“…Noah. I can’t truly know your pain or your grief. Emotions, their depth, and their thresholds differ from person to person.”
“So I can’t ’empathize’ with you either. Pretending to understand what I cannot feel would only be arrogant and offensive.”
“Thus, having lived a different life from you,
I cannot claim to understand you.”
“But.”
Serr’s gaze lifted toward .
“But what I can say, Noah, is that you must not collapse here.”
“You must not break.”
Her gaze stretched beyond , beyond Frey and Carpeng, toward the sky Kartia had opened.
“Because doing so, would disgrace Kartia’s mory.”
“So.”
“Raise your head.”
“Stand up.”
“Face this godforsaken world.”
“And be proud, that the hero who challenged the heavens, the hero nad Kartia, was your teacher.”
“Be proud she believed in you.”
“Be proud she entrusted everything to you.”
“Never forget. Carry it in your heart forever.”
“And when you march forward, march with your head held high…”
Rustle.
Turning away, Serr’s voice lowered.
“Beco the protagonist, of the new story that is about to begin.”
Then,
Gripping one of the Yggdrasil roots floating in the air,
Crack!
She pulled it free.
It twisted around her hand and reshaped into a short wand.
“And if you truly desire it, Noah, if you truly walk that path, “
Serr waved her hand through the air.
A [magic circle] appeared.
But not one borrowed from spirits,
A true, pure [magic circle] drawn with genuine [mana].
“Then I, the genius Serr, will beco the foundation for your story.”
The Yggdrasil wand pierced the center of the magic circle.
Ripples spread through the world.
And then,
Crack!
The open sky split.
CRUNCH!
Between
and Serr,
THUD!
An all-too-familiar greatsword slamd into the ground.
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