Chapter 407

Chapter 407

Akasha was thrown into the sea.
A raging plume of water blotted out the sky.
It seemed like the game was already won, but Navarordze was not done with his rage.
【hhhh—!】
The air around her began to suck hard into her mouth.
His ugly chest puffed up like it was about to explode.
The red heat was beginning to seep through the fabric of her dress.
[My child!
Navarordze opened his mouth.
Flames reminiscent of molten iron poured out to sea.
Yay!
The sound of evaporating liquid tore through the atmosphere.
A violent burst of steam obscured the bay.
“Ugh!”
Daylight has arrived in the world, albeit briefly.
I shielded my eyes as I stuck my sword into the cliff.
I felt like my corneas would melt if I looked directly at them.
Soon the light subsided.
When I saw the landscape revealed again, I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Huh.”
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
The sea in front of the headquarters had turned into a giant pit.
All the water evaporated, leaving a grayish-brown bottom.
The residual fire was licking its lips all over the place.
Unsurprisingly, Akasha was nowhere to be seen.
Only a single crack was carved into the ground where he had supposedly fallen.
Shoot!
The water that had been sitting in the air began to pour out.
Hundreds of millions of droplets shone like jewels, reflecting the setting sun.
“—— kills.”
I muttered involuntarily.
I forgot what I was even trying to do.
Navarro’s battles were literally an art form.
From his introduction to the moment he planted a Summersalt Kick in Akasha’s face, he was nothing short of spectacular.
And a hot confirmation kill.
She was a completely different person from the sister who had been clinging to me and wandering around.
“If Orsay saw this, he wouldn’t sleep well at night.
Even the nigger’s specialty, flying, was overwhelmingly superior.
This proved to be a genuine favor from Navarrozze, who recognized Orsay as a master of flight.
Because it’s pretty obvious that the pool will die if you lose.
Koo-goo-goo!
The headquarters was floating in the air and returning to its original position.
The seawater that hadn’t been swallowed by the flames was rushing in from the distance.
Akasha was nowhere to be seen.
I didn’t even notice it.
Fuck yeah.
If I could take a hit like that and still be okay, I had to wonder if it was a living thing.
Navarordze spotted me, looking around nervously.
[Oh, my God, Ronan!
“Sister.”
She flew in, her red tail dragging, and stopped in front of me.
As a quarter dragon, Navarordje was much larger than me.
She picked me up from the cliff and carried me like a princess.
It felt weird.
I’ve always been the hugger in this position.
[Hey, are you okay? I heard a commotion outside, so I came out, and I can’t believe what happened—!
Navarordze leaned in close.
Tears had formed on her eyelashes, red and dark as her hair.
I checked in with my body.
My back was a little stiff, but nothing major.
“I’m fine.”
【Ahhh—thank goodness. I’m so glad—.】
Navarordze, who was crying, hugged me.
As usual, I choked up.
Like a hearth, a hot embrace smells like flames.
“Ugh.”
It’s stuffy and cozy at the same time.
Every time I think about it, it was the perfect place to die a happy death.
I was on the threshold of suffocation before I managed to pull my face out.
“Puh-ha—! I’m really fine, but what about everyone else?”
【Everyone’s safe. The building is sturdy, so there’s little damage inside. Fantasia and Orse are organizing the situation.
“That’s good.”
I felt like my lifespan had been reduced by a decade.
When Akasha uprooted the headquarters, I thought I was screwed.
I’m sorry, but I have a sister in Navarro.
Suddenly, the battle with Akasha flashed through my mind.
“What was that?
I can still taste the unpleasantness.
His magic was not cut.
If Navarro hadn’t pressed with force, he would have lost in a heartbeat.
I feel like I’ve experienced similar power at some point.
‘Damn. I don’t remember.’
My head wasn’t spinning.
The grain felt different than the mana I had been slicing.
Maybe it’s just me, but I’m not thrilled to have accomplished the biggest task of all: killing Akasha.
Of course, we had to do what we had to do.
I flicked my bangs out of my face and opened my mouth.
“Sister. Letancier is dead.”
【——the child?
“Yes, sir. I was hoping to give him a decent grave, but that’s not possible now. If you do find his body, please bury him in a sunny spot. He may have been a villain, but at the end of the day, he fought for the greater good.”
Bitter aftertaste.
I thought back to my last conversation with Letancier.
She was reanimated hundreds of years later, but she was never given a chance at a new life.
The two remaining pairs of legs were destroyed when the headquarters were pulled out.
“That must be heavy, let’s go downstairs, I need to see everyone’s faces one last time.”
[Uh-huh. Of course–but you sound like someone who is about to leave.
“Because it’s time to go home.”
I nodded.
Navarordze’s face went rigid.
With Akasha dead, the mission was effectively over.
No more new rifts would be created, and the future me would be able to close them, and the future would be at peace.
And there was nothing more I could do.
“—I wanted to take care of the rest of it now.
I wanted to save the other two parallel worlds as well.
I didn’t want to leave a guilty conscience for myself, or for the Great General in Heaven.
But there was no way to get there since Akasha had vanished without a trace.
All that remains is a vial of Akasha’s blood to return to the original world.
“I’m waiting for Adeshan, and the telekinetic dwarf. They’re all people I can’t live without.”
[That’s—— me, too].
“Huh? What did you say?”
His voice was low and I couldn’t hear him properly.
As I shook my head, the Navarorde surged over the cliff.
“Whoa!”
It was a flash.
When we reached the top of Winter’s Horn, she set me down.
Before I knew it, Navarordje was back to its original size.
When I lowered my gaze, I saw watery eyes.
“Sister.”
“This is—this is unacceptable.”
A muffled voice said.
She stroked my cheek, then lowered her head.
Transparent tears began to trickle down my shoes.
“Child, why don’t you just come out here and live?”
“What?”
“I know. I know you have a place to go back to. I know I shouldn’t be doing this—but I can’t take it anymore.”
I was deeply embarrassed.
I wanted to say something, but I didn’t know what to say.
Navarordze hugged me and said.
“You are already a part of my life. Even when I’m gardening, even when I’m giving orders, my heart is tugging at my heartstrings, wondering what will happen to you——, my child, and I haven’t heard a word from you since you left for the world of the invaders and never returned.”
A hot forehead pressed against my chest.
Her fists clenched in pain.
“It’s painful. Since my kids have all become stars, I’ve never felt this way. No, it’s a little different than that–I don’t know what to call this feeling.”
“Navarorde.”
“Don’t go. I’ll listen to anything you want. Just imagining a world without you drives me crazy with pain——Don’t you honestly think it’s cheesy, I already have everything in that world—!”
His voice got a little more intense.
Suddenly she looked up at me.
His face was red and streaked with tears.
My crimson eyes were wide with panic.
It’s like a wedge flying in and lodging itself in your chest.
The strongest man in this star.
Who nevertheless lost everything due to absurdity.
Maybe I’m too attached to this side of the world.
“Sister. I’m—”
I couldn’t look him in the eye.
I was just about to open my mouth to say something when I realized.
Suddenly, a creepy crackle of magic erupted in the distance.
“Huh?”
I reflexively turned my head away.
Navarordze’s face went white.
【What—!】
She looked in the same direction as me and raised an eyebrow.
It was in the direction of the headquarters.
Above the dusty headquarters, an elongated shadow floated in the air.
“Akasha!”
He gulped, as if vomiting.
The shadow’s identity was none other than Akasha.
Navarordze’s victim was a much different creature than the one he’d met face-to-face.
The limbs were broken and twisted in grotesque ways.
The scorched cloak had already been reduced to rubbish, worse than rags.
“—How?”
And yet, he was alive.
This was not supposed to happen.
I can’t believe Navarrozze and I didn’t notice, not anyone else.
I couldn’t figure out how it had survived, or how it had gotten there.
And it wasn’t just survival that left us stunned.
A grayish-white mass was slowly rising above the collapsed headquarters.
It was just an ordinary rock on the outside, but the inside was something else entirely.
Navarordze cried out.
“What, Ceniel?!”
Goosebumps broke out all over my body.
Rising toward him was the unmistakable Ceniel.
The stone, which held the future of the world beyond its life force, glowed faintly under the darkening sky.
The moment I saw it, I kicked the cliff and ran.
“Sister!”
No further instruction was needed.
A winged Navardoze snatched me up.
If I had my way, I would have used spatial magic, but Ceniel’s magic interference prevented me from doing so.
Kaaaaaah!
We became two comets and rushed to headquarters.
The distance was closing at a rapid pace with each blast of flame from Navarrozze.
“Put that thing down now!”
A squeaky voice rang out.
We don’t know what Akasha will do with it.
But the ominous feeling swirling through his body screamed that he had to be stopped.
Suddenly, the ceiling of the headquarters shattered, and two shadows leapt out.
“Profit!”
[Who are you, asshole!
It was Orce in the form of Pantheon and Quarter Dragon.
They were much faster than us because of the distance.
In the blink of an eye, they were at Akasha’s throat, weapons drawn.
Orse’s spear is impaled.
Fantasia’s new axe drew a crescent moon.
“——.”
But the opposition was formidable.
Akasha held up her index finger in annoyance.
billion-!
A pure white crack streaked across the sky.
Fantasia’s left arm fell away from her body.
【Deer—!】
“Ugh.”
Orse’s eyes widened.
Red blood stained the sky.
But Fantasion didn’t stop when his left arm was cut off.
He switched axes with his other hand and struck again.
Akasha held up her index and middle fingers.
Kaaaaaah!!!
An intangible force struck them both from thin air.
“Murik!”
[Kak!
Unlike Navarrozze, I didn’t get away with it.
As the two men were pinned down in the headquarters, there was a massive explosion.
But we couldn’t take our eyes off them.
A crack was slowly forming on Ceniel’s surface.
As he pulled his fingers out one by one, the crack grew deeper and deeper.
“No!”
We were closing the gap rapidly in the meantime.
In terms of time, it was less than five seconds away.
There was only one thing left to do.
This should be close enough.
Pow!
He gripped the hilt of his sword, and the sunset glowed off the hilt.
“Get down here, asshole!”
Sword outstretched.
The auror shot in a straight line, enveloping Akasha.
But he didn’t come.
It’s like sunbathing, carefree, basking in the sunset.
“Well.”
My mind went blank for a moment.
Akasha ignored me and continued with her work.
Five of his right fingers were fully extended.
Kaaaaaah!
Covered in cracks, Ceniel exploded, bursting with life energy.