Chapter 411

The spheres dispersed, revealing the night sky.
The sea of stars that had been obscured opened up overhead.
Akasha’s body lost speed and began to fall.
A spray of blood from the cut stained the sky.
『—■.』
The crack in his mask widened once more.
This time, he wasn’t smiling.
A screeching roar erupted, like an infernal machine running amok.
『■■■■ ■■■!!!』
It was supposed to be a scream.
It was a roar like the rampage of an infernal machine, but to me it sounded sweeter than ever.
I bit my tongue and gathered myself.
My consciousness was fading because I was exerting myself so much.
“Not yet—not yet.”
It was a mistake not to decapitate him.
Whatever it is, it needs to end this time.
The miracle that fulfills my wishes has long since left my body.
Poof!
He swung his sword across his chest and an explosion went off.
It was a very ignorant change of direction, but there was nothing I could do about it.
The endlessly rising body plummeted toward Akasha.
“Get the hell out of here!”
The bangs are flipped.
I gripped the hilt of my sword with both hands, preparing for the final blow.
Out of nowhere, Akasha stretched out her right arm.
“『■■!
“Wham?!”
I reflexively took a defensive stance.
This time, however, it wasn’t an attack.
Akasha’s index and middle fingers were crossed.
It was a hand gesture I’d never seen before.
Then, Akasha’s blood, which had been pouring down like rain, stopped in midair.
“Blood?
It was like watching Sita’s abilities.
The stuffed blood droplets began to cluster together.
A long, red line appeared down Akasha’s falling back.
It was the moment he untangled his fingers.
Chaaaaaah!
The straight line gaped open like a gill, revealing a massive crack.
“What the—!”
It was a crack like no other.
Inside the storm of magic, there was one narrow, long path.
At the end of the path, another identical crack opened up into a sunlit meadow.
“Parallel worlds.
It wasn’t hard to deduce the situation.
The rift was a portal to the next parallel world.
Akasha was on the verge of death and was trying to escape.
“Fuck you.”
It was unacceptable.
All the while, the distance between us was closing.
We’re only about twenty steps away.
The hilt of his sword flared red as he gripped it.
Kwah!
Accelerating with another explosion, I swung my sword.
“Why don’t you stop right there, you asshole!”
The landscape blurs.
It was eyeball-crushingly fast.
The red-tailed sword was about to rip Akasha’s throat out.
『■■■■!!!』
“Well.”
His arms spread out as if in a frenzy.
Four more cracks opened up over the smooth mask.
Each crack, circular in shape around the center, looked like an eye.
The cracks that originally looked like mouths had changed direction and turned into pupils.
The reversed colors of the white and black letters made it a little creepy.
“Ugh—!”
Five pairs of eyes glared at me.
Five faces of me were flickering across five retinas.
My head pinged, albeit briefly.
Kaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!
A powerful backlash erupted around Akasha.
“Crack!”
The blade that was digging into his throat bounced off.
My body flew backward as if hit by a steel ball.
In the end, the rift swallowed Akasha whole.
An evil roar burst from deep in his throat.
“Fuck!”
It was a close call.
There was nothing more I could do.
I had no strength left in my body, having used up all my nursing energy.
The body, flying in a parabolic motion, slowly crashed.
“Me, you son of a bitch! You’re a disaster!”
No matter how many times I called out, Akasha didn’t answer.
Eventually, you’ll miss it.
My falling body tore through the layers of energy and escaped.
The sphere was gone, but the night sky was still a cauldron of madness.
Fire and shadow, a storm of color bursting forth from the destruction of Ceniel.
“Is that good?
Sweat beaded on my palms.
It was an overwhelming sight to behold.
I honestly felt like I shouldn’t have left it alone, but I didn’t know what to do about it.
I was just getting used to the sensation of falling.
Suddenly, a rumbling cry echoed down my back.
“Moo-eee-benefit!”
I’ve heard this mantra before.
It was a head-turning moment.
A huge mass grabbed my rear end.
“Kek!”
I didn’t even have time to complain about being strangled.
He plummeted to the ground with me pinned to his side.
Kaaaah!
There was a loud crash upon landing.
“Kahhhhhhh!”
The man who had thrown me fell to the ground.
On the great man’s head, sprouting from his great body, were the antlers of a thrifty stag.
His severed left arm was wrapped in bandages.
I scrambled to my feet and walked over to him.
“Jesus fucking Christ, are you okay?”
“It can’t be—it can’t be—it can’t be—.”
Fantasia gasped.
He was lucky to be alive.
He was in worse shape than he’d been since he’d been beaten by Akasha.
A smile tugged at the corners of his bloodied mouth.
You’re crazy for jumping that high, you bastard.
“First of all, thank you. Where’s Orse and why are you here?”
“That demon dragon is–whoops, he’s busy right now.”
“Busy?”
“Yeah—there—.”
Fantasia jerked behind me.
As it turns out, Orsay wasn’t the only one.
Most of the resistance that was supposed to be on the ground was nowhere to be found.
I turned my head and froze in place.
“What—”
Not far from the headquarters, Navarordze lay dead.
As she lay there, she looked less like a living thing and more like a red mountain.
The resistance surrounded her head, sobbing.
“Hmph, I, Navarrozze—!”
“You can’t go this way. Get your shit together, okay?”
It was as if he was encouraging a patient on his deathbed.
It didn’t feel very good.
Orse, back to his true form, breathed fire over her flesh.
[gasp—damn it, wake up!
Black flames engulfed Navarordze’s body.
Her scales, touched by the fire, were heating up and cooling down.
I noticed that it was a similar behavior to artificial respiration.
【That kid did it, and you’re going to leave like this! Open your eyes!
Orse roared.
More flames rained down on Navarordze’s body.
The scales shimmered beautifully, but in the end, the closed eyelids didn’t open.
“Sister.”
I staggered over to her.
Before he could say anything, Fantasia passed out from exhaustion.
The people who spotted me were stunned, their mouths agape.
“Oh, my God, Ronan!”
“I’m glad you’re back safe and sound, but I’m not feeling—!”
The crowd split to the left and right.
The medical staff rushed in.
I shook my head, keeping my eyes on Navarordze.
“I’m fine, Mr. Navarordze…what happened?”
“Kghhhhhh, he hasn’t woken up since the battle with that mage, and I don’t see any injuries on his body, and Orse barely stopped him from falling—!”
The old elf stole a tear.
He said Orsay gave everything he had and took Navarroz’s body.
Drawing on every ounce of strength he had left, Orsay succeeded in performing the same miracle as a five-year-old child lifting an armored warhorse.
But for all his efforts, Navarordze has remained silent.
The eyes that had always gazed out at the world with kindness were now covered by thick eyelids.
I don’t know what the problem was, but it was most likely Akasha.
You’ve had your eyes closed since you started falling down the sphere.
I stare at her, my brow furrowed.
“—No.”
This was incorrect.
I was out of shape, but that didn’t matter right now.
If Ceniel was destroyed and Navarordze was killed, it was all over.
I drew my sword and pressed it against my forearm.
Red blood gurgled and leaked out.
“Ro, Ronan?!”
“Kaaaaaak!”
People were shocked.
I walked over to Navarordze, whether I should or not.
My blood wasn’t a panacea, but I had to do what I could.
Navarrozze had one tooth that was almost human-sized.
It was the car that I was about to spill blood into her mouth.
Koo-koo-koo-koo-koo-koo—!
Suddenly, an unusually loud bang rang out high in the sky.
“Pfft!”
“Hmph, what, what?!”
This was not a sound that could be ignored.
Everyone, including me, looked up at the same time.
The energy that had been in the air was gathering in one place.
“What the hell is that?”
The swirls in the night sky were frightening.
The flow of power was ebbing and flowing, creating another sphere.
It was much smaller than Akasha’s, but the density was unparalleled.
Black, red, green, blue, and golden colored particles were flashing in a jumble of colors.
What the hell is going on here?
It was a car with a knife in its hilt, ready to handle anything that came its way.
The slow convergence of forces accelerated to a frenzy.
The particles that had been obscuring the sky were instantly dissipated.
It was a moment when the stars were revealed in the open sky.
Paaaaaaaaahhhh-!
The sphere exploded, sending a colorful wave of light out into the world.
“Off!”
What.
The world has brightened.
The wave was made up of colorful particles that formed a sphere.
The strange particle stretched out in all directions, changing everything it touched.
Grass and flowers grew over the barren ground.
The slimy, frost-covered soil was now fertile enough to plant crops.
The muddy, churning waters were suddenly clear.
It took less than a minute for everything in sight to come to life.
Someone who had been staring at the horizon, dumbfounded, jumped up and shouted.
“Hey, look, it’s a killer whale!”
“What kind of nonsense is that—?”
Heads turned.
As if in response, three orcas leapt in formation from the surface of the water offshore.
A look of horror crossed everyone’s faces.
Until this morning, there wasn’t a sardine in the sea.
“A school of fish—!”
The orcas were even chasing schools of other fish.
It was once a common fish, but after the giants took over the stars, it became extinct, with no individuals left.
The miracles didn’t end there.
Over the mountains rising inland, hundreds of pure white gulls soared.
“Life is—.”
Once again, a gasp went up from the crowd.
I stood frozen, like everyone else, watching the world return to life.
It was unbelievable.
No matter how much I energized Ceniel, the creature never came back.
The excitement hadn’t yet worn off.
Navarordze, who had been silent the entire time, stirred like a child awakened from sleep.
【——a.】
[Me, Navarro?!!].
Orse gulped.
It was a change that wasn’t happening no matter how much fire we threw at it.
At this point, Navarordze opened his eyes.
There was no sign of pain or fatigue in his large, clear crimson eyes.
His eyes darted around, then locked on me.
Ronan.
I faltered, at a loss for words.
She closed her eyes.
The massive body was engulfed in light and dissipated.
Paaaaaaah—!
A humanized Navarordje appeared in an empty lot.”—Ugh.”
“Sister!”
I helped her up as she staggered.
There was not a single scar on Navardozé’s body.
She grinned at me as she braced herself.
“Yeah, thanks.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Yes–as you can see.”
“Haaaa–thank goodness. You scared me.”
I patted my chest in surprise.
When I couldn’t open my eyes, I thought something really bad was happening.
I opened my mouth, pointing to the ocean where the fish had returned.
“By the way, you did this, that’s really cool, how did you do it?”
“——I didn’t do anything.”
“Yes?”
“I don’t understand, what the hell is that wizard—.”
Navarordze said to himself.
She ran a hand through her hair in confusion.
It was something I had never seen before.
“Ronan.”
“I’m listening.”
She suddenly stopped mumbling and squeezed my hand.
“Go after Akasha. Now.”