Chapter 457

Akasha tore through the crack and popped out.
A chained fist slammed into the back of the sword.
“Eek!”
With a jolt that made my wrist tingle, I pushed myself away, my fists pounding into the bony subject.
Dozens of strands of chain, forged with Akasha’s mana, slithered down his sleeves and cloak.
『■!』
Suddenly, he stretched out his finger.
Two thick strands of chain flew out and wrapped around my waist. With a tugging sensation, Akasha lunged toward me.
“On the subject of orderlies—!”
I gritted my teeth as I fell into the sky.
I admired his courage in daring to engage in hand-to-hand combat. It was probably not courage, but rather a choice. From the way he was struggling, it was clear that he was running out of mana. He hadn’t expected me to break through such a big skill.
“Onya, I’ll take it!”
I took a stance and swung my sword. The chains around my waist were cut in one swift motion. Stab after stab clashed with Akasha’s fist, their bodies bouncing off each other with antagonistic force.
“Hmph—!”
『■■—!』
Akasha and I made similar noises and cleared our throats.
And they lunged at each other, with no sense of who was first.
A vicious melee had begun. Flashes of light flashed as each blade struck Akasha. Occasionally, she could feel flesh being cut, but most of her attacks were blocked by the snakelike, animated chains.
Of course, Akasha’s attacks were not reaching me either.
“Akasha, what the fuck do you think you are!”
I shouted, swinging my sword. The wind was so loud that she had to squeeze out a voice that wasn’t there. Akasha’s voluminous hair was whipping about frantically.
He smirked.
『■?』
“Why are you destroying the future?! What’s wrong with you that you’re doing this shit!”
I couldn’t help but wonder. Strange deeds are one thing, but I couldn’t believe that a villain could visualize such a beautiful sky.
“What is your purpose, you cub, what smug purpose do you hope to fulfill by absorbing so much life force and destroying the world?”
I couldn’t understand it. Akasha’s behavior was full of contradictions.
As it turns out, he didn’t have much of an impact on the three parallel worlds.
In fact, it was a savior from the darkness.
In the first parallel world, it restored life that had been lost, and in the second, it opened the heavens so that the giants could be destroyed.
It was thanks to him that I was able to uncover the secrets of Akalusia and reunite with Cain in the third parallel world.
I’ve killed some people along the way, but like the bugs in Nebula Clasier, they all deserved to die.
“Why.
But the misdeeds of the future were unacceptable.
Akasha destroyed nearly every connection I knew and loved. My sisters Marja, Schlieffen, Erzebeth, Navarrozé, Jaifa, Lorhon, and other friends were slaughtered. It has destroyed treasures that no city or civilization can even begin to compare to.
The mementos they left behind were shuffling and rattling in his coat pockets.
I gripped the hilt of my sword harder, remembering the faces of my friends.
“As for you, I will surely tear you to pieces!”
『■■■■ ■■■■!』
“Speak intelligibly, asshole!”
A roar echoed in the sky.
The hail of swords rained down on Akasha, more violent than ever. My world’s bubbling form became as clear as a photograph.
Kwah!
We stopped falling and landed in a field at sunset. Before we had a chance to right ourselves, the battle resumed.
『■■■■—!!!』
The balance of power began to crumble. Swallowed by the sunset, Akasha was no longer my opponent. Before the chains could regenerate, a flying blow tore through his body. The stab tore through his cloak, leaving a gaping hole the color of sunset. Blood splattered like paint, drenching the field.
“■■! ■■!』
“Fuck you!”
The bonds were closing in. Akasha’s body lurched forward, off balance.
I seized the opportunity and brought my sword up in a diagonal line. A fight was supposed to end with the decapitation of the opponent’s head. The blood-stained blade was about to strike Akasha’s throat. With a thud, the creature’s back arched backwards. It was an angle no human could have made. The missed blow stroked the surface of his mask.
“Stop your useless ranting—.”
I gritted my teeth. He was persistent, but it didn’t matter.
I brought my sword down, aiming for its throat once more. Akasha’s left arm suddenly lifted. A bloodied palm covered my eyes.
“Well.”
And my breath was taken away.
On Akasha’s petite ring finger was a necklace of silver.
The necklace, simple but intricately crafted, was something I knew. It was unforgettable. It was a necklace I had given to Adeshan during the height of our romance, before we had children.
“—Adeshan.”
A second felt like a year.
It was unmistakably the necklace, albeit with a few more signs of age.
Her face lit up with tears of joy as she told me it was the first jewelry she’d ever received. All thinking stopped. Even the future Adeshan was dead.
The sword’s trajectory faltered.
『■.』
And Akasha didn’t miss a beat.
He raised his upper body as if bouncing. An arm grew below his right shoulder where nothing should have been. An arm made of hundreds of strands of chain, large and small, tangled together. Above the clenched fist, the darkness of the abyss burned like a flame.
『■■■!!!』
Akasha shouted something. Her recoil-loaded fist accelerated. It looked like it shouldn’t have hit. A legitimate hit like that would be the end of everything.
But Adeshan is dead.
I knew I had to avoid or block it.
But Adeshan is dead.
The sunset over the image was burning beautifully.
Akasha’s fist, flying in a black trajectory, sank deep into my abdomen.
“——cuck.”
The brain shook. The sunset faded. My world, teetering precariously, crumbled to dust. No groan escaped me. In the darkness of the world, a sweet voice hummed in my ear.
– You’re responsible until you die.
Adeshan was smiling as he spoke. His bright red ears peeked out through his less-than-thin hair.
The morning after our first night together, we were on the grounds of Pileon Academy, holding hands, side by side, sunlight breaking through the leaves, feeling warm, talking about things we hadn’t finished in the early morning, blushing at the sudden thought of each other’s naked bodies, and her holding me when I told her that of course I would,
Picture a happy future,
Smile,
Smile.
****
The darkness exploded, revealing a blue sky. The darkened valley of Da Conya was illuminated.
A black shadow crashed to the ground from high above.
『■—■■—!』
When the dust settled, Akasha emerged.
He was gasping for air like a man about to die. His right arm, made of chains, had done its job and was disintegrating into mana.
“Huh—■uh—.”
Beneath his mask, a strange voice emanated, a voice that I couldn’t tell was laughing or crying.
Red puddles were pooling under his cloak. His luxuriant hair soaked up the blood like a paintbrush. You’ve fought your way to victory, but you’ve taken too much damage.
Akasha froze, realizing that something was wrong.
『■Run—.』
He raised his shaky left hand and fiddled with the inside of it. For a moment, his voice sounded human, but then it became grotesquely modulated again.
Suddenly, a dull crash echoed from behind me.
『■■—!』
Akasha turned her head sharply. About ten paces away, Ronan lay on his stomach, seemingly in much better shape than she was. The only place bleeding was his mouth.
But Ronan couldn’t open his eyes.
『■■■■■■—.』
Akasha let out a long sigh. After five minutes of waiting, Ronan hadn’t moved. He seemed to be dead on his stomach. After another long breath, Akasha staggered to her feet.
『■■■.』
It was as precarious as a sandcastle being beaten by the waves.
Her legs were limp, her slender body swaying in the wind.
But he didn’t give up.
Akasha crawled to her feet and stood before Xeniel. The sacred rock had stopped spewing life force and was repairing itself. The smooth cut had given way to the bumpy surface of stone, like a scab on a wound.
Akasha watched, then placed her hand on Ceniel’s.
『■■ ■■■■■■.』
He began to chant a strange incantation.
It was the same list of words from the last parallel world.
The life force that lay dormant in the rock was being absorbed by him.
Unlike then, there was no one to stop her. Akasha drained the power from the rocks until the life force they emitted was visibly diminished, as well as from Ceniel, who floated around the area.
『—■■.』
Akasha threw up his arms. A life force pulsed in his chest that could restore even an ecosystem destroyed over centuries.
But the grave wounds on his body hadn’t healed.
It was impossible to do unless you suppressed the use of life force yourself.
『■. ■ ■■■■■■ ■■■■.』
Akasha muttered to herself, then looked up at the sky in disbelief.
The look of both regret and happiness on his face reminded me of an old man who had fulfilled a lifelong desire.
He was admiring the colorful sky of Da Conha.
“Ah—Kasha.”
A familiar voice rang out from behind me.
『■■.』
Akasha froze. He turned his head, creaking like a rusty hinge. Ronan stood there, staring at him, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.
Silence descended.
Akasha opened her mouth.
“『■■■—?
“I blocked it–by a car.”
Ronan rummaged through the inside pockets of his coat.
The hand that slipped back out held three chunks of some sort of broken mineral. They were shards of Ceniel. The splintered sections glittered like jewels. It had blocked Akasha’s final blow.
Ronan shoved the shard back into his pocket.
“I owe him in more ways than one.”
“『■■!
Akasha stretched out her arm impatiently. All five fingers were extended.
The last of the energy he’d saved for last turned to magic. A tidal wave of unruly power surged toward Ronan. Ronan calmly drew his sword and swung it vertically.
Kaaaaaah!
A stream of power that split him in half passed by his sides.
『■—!』
Akasha stumbled backward. Her magic didn’t work. Ronan’s sword was a color she had never seen before. It was not the crimson of the sword, nor the scarlet of the world. A beautiful color, half gold and half dawn, flowed over the hilt.
Ronan said.
“It was almost over, but it’s a shame—it was a good maneuver to show that at the end.”
『■■■—.』
“I guess I’m the kind of person who can’t help it. I know that staying calm is the way to save everyone, but I can’t—because I love them so much.”
With that, Ronan shook the necklace.
It was a memento of the future Adeshan that Akasha had dropped in her fall.
“But now I’m awake—thanks to a good punch in the gut. I’d like to thank you first.”
『■■■■?』
“Yes—in a way, you’re the one who saved the three parallel worlds. It was a nerve-wracking problem, but in the end, it all had a happy ending—I’m sure the Great One is watching with delight.”
Akasha didn’t say anything.
Ronan’s face was calm, even slightly relaxed. It was a very different look from the one he had when he was in battle with himself and the world.
“So—I can forgive you—hey, no future tragedies—we’ve come this far, and I’m not going to let anyone die an unfortunate death.”
『■ ■■■■ ■■■?』
“Yes–I’m dying, but isn’t that what you’re dying for?”
Akasha flinched at Ronan’s answer.
He was speaking as if he could hear his own voice.
He hadn’t even checked the mask’s condition. The glow from Ronan’s blade grew stronger.
“So, this is a one-two punch—.”
The light was warm as sunshine. It was hazy, yet full of life, reminiscent of the mists rising over the ridge. But aside from being beautiful, it was also disturbing.
『■■—!』
“It’s okay to say no.”
Akasha, sensing danger, was about to take action. Ronan swung his sword. The light of the bursting sun bathed the valley.
“With gratitude—it’s my gift.”
The voice was distant.
Akasha’s consciousness snapped with the sensation of something massive pushing her away.
The Academy’s Genius KnifemanChapter 507