episode_0069

Oooh.

Oh… ?

Oooh──!!

Energy suddenly overflows from my body. It was incomparable to what was absorbed from the magic armor puppet cores of .

‘This energy… !!’

Hilde was the first to notice my change next to me.

“Lara, you… Light from the hair… ?”

“Yes☆ That’s right─♪ Will you call me ‘Super Etherin Clara’?”

“This is… What the hell… ”

Hilde was perplexed as she rummaged through my light pink hair, which was starting to glow a soft golden color. And sometimes, I put my nose to it and smell it.

“What happened to Lara…? !”

Seup─

Seup─

Before you know it, you can hear the sound of heavy breathing coming from behind you.

‘But why does it smell…? ? I haven’t washed my hair in over a day.’

…

what…

Whatever, how are you?

It wasn’t important so I decided not to worry about it.

Hilde spoke with her nose buried in her golden, softly shining hair. His voice was muffled because of the hair covering his face.

“Lara’s hair smells like a different kind of ether… What is this familiar yet unfamiliar scent… ?”

“Ugh… It’s even more dirty.”

“… [Purple Spinning Wheel], did you insult Lara because her hair was dirty?”

“Oh, no, your actions right now… ”

“… ”

Freya was looking at Hilde with tired eyes for a while. Then he pointed to my neck and spoke in a startled voice.

“Nothing, nothing like that… ! Golden flowers keep popping out of my neck scar?! What kind of light keeps coming from inside the clothes… ?!”

“Oh my… ☆”

What does that mean?

I hastily lifted my collar.

Golden flowers were blooming from the scars that snaked like thorns all the way to the chest and nape of the neck. Like the bunch of grapes said to have been eaten by the gods long ago… Gorgeous golden flower buds emerge and scatter, leaving a brilliant afterimage.

Talk─

Talk─

Growing up in an instant.

In full bloom in an instant.

It scatters in an instant.

Golden flowers that grew to cover the scars.

Golden petals appear countless times, enter my hair and body, and return as a warm and kind energy. The endless circulation and overlap has reached the point where it even covers my own wounds.

‘If this is enough… Enough to completely fill the void in the ether.’

Like a golden flower field colored by the evening sunset.

Glowing ether was flowing endlessly from my body. And all the golden ethers were coming from the same place.

“… !”

I looked up and saw where golden energies were emerging.

I found a path with golden energies and followed it… . All those golden energies came from a cat leisurely wagging its tail in the distance.

“Ugh, this place… ? Hey, senior… ?”

And as expected, next to the golden cat was Lothar, who was waking up while holding the first grimoire.

‘The golden master… A color that only one person had until Rota used the first grimoire in the game. However, I never thought that ‘Her Afterimage’, which existed only as an item effect in the original work, would appear in person… ‘

I now felt like I knew what the golden cat was.

“[Golden Witch]… ”

“… !”

“… !”

Hilde and Freya heard me muttering. They turn their heads and look at the golden cat again.

Upright

The golden cat spoke to me, pricking its small ears in affirmation. It was a rhyming voice, as if reading a fairy tale.

『To be exact, it is the memory she left behind and her final rebellion. Even in the spinning wheel bound by [fate], it is the embodiment of the will to learn the laws of the universe.』

“Well, like that… !”

『I am a thought made up of the medium of [fate] called ether in this universe full of chaos. It can be said that he was a hidden being in order to carry out her last wish.』

“Well, like that… !”

『… Boy, to be honest, you didn’t understand anything I was saying, right?』

“Well, like that… ☆”

oh… I got caught.

‘Even a country with Zhuge Liang’s brain doesn’t know what it doesn’t know… !’

It was a golden ether cat that only appeared in the game as a skill effect for the awakened version of Rota. Even if you ask about her origins and uses… I couldn’t figure it out.

『Although the ‘saint’ of this era has unusual tastes, this is the same as ‘her’. After all, [fate] is connected to people with similar tendencies.』

I?

A saint?

And she… ?

Could it be that [Saint of Sacrifice] was written on the corner of the statue… ?

‘It’s a nickname that doesn’t appear in the game where only [The Fate of the Three Heroes] appears… ‘

golden cat… [The Golden Witch] took a deep breath and looked at the huge black snake slowly advancing towards the World Tree in the distance.

『… To put it simply, when the time comes for the Beast God of Chaos to appear, it is an clone trapped in a grimoire that only a child with a [Golden] fate can understand.』

“… ”

『The child should have been prepared enough to meet his own [fate]… 』

For some reason.

Based on the story, I thought I knew why she appeared in the latter part of the story.

‘Rota… Because I felt more confident than the original… ‘

Lotta’s journey.

Me, Kara, Arbit, Freya… And the moment I walked out of the checkpoint in front of the gate on my own. All of that helped it grow faster than the original.

[The Golden Witch] spoke to me.

『I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the ‘saint’ and the ‘witch’ who are the only ones who can accept my ether at this moment are in the same place.』

Then, with his eyes fixed on the ‘snake’ again, he muttered in a bitter voice.

『But the thing that shook this world into chaos… Not [The Dragon Crouching in the Abyss]… It was the power left behind by the [Serpent of Wisdom and Circulation], after all… The ‘Prophet’ is with the dragon believers… 』

“… !”

The name of the prophet suddenly flowed from the mouth of the [Golden Witch].

“The person called a prophet… !”

But at that moment.

The shock of the wall collapsing once again hit us.

Rumbling──!!

In the roar, the green dragon, Ofnir’s lightsaber, was heard overlapping. He stood in a menacing mantis-like pose atop a giant snake’s head.

[Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!! Hahaha, hahaha!! I!! Success—!!]

Where the [Snake of Wisdom and Circulation] passed, weapon magic made of black ether was created and was being fired towards those blocking its advance.

Gooo──!!

Shoo shoo shoo ──!!

Waves of black armor pouring down.

Thousands and tens of thousands of black etheric weapons with different appearances are created endlessly. What was faintly contained within it was the energy of the etheric skills of the aristocratic students of .

“… !”

Freya looked at this and spoke with her eyes trembling violently.

“Well, those are… !”

『That’s right, it’s now dedicated to the body of a ‘snake’… The remnants left behind by the believers’ [fate]. ‘Snake’ erases the [fate] of others and learns all the knowledge in this world through infinite circulation. It looks like they have now absorbed the ‘golden weapon’ I left behind… Attacking with the ‘golden weapon’ will no longer work.』

“Well, then… Are we absolutely unable to fight against the ‘snake’…? this… This… Uh, our [fate] is to be destroyed by foolishness… ”

Freyja closed her eyes and muttered as if she was devastated.

“Well, my [fate] is… ‘Ignorance and no knowledge’… Oh, I can’t do anything… idiot. In the end… No matter how hard you try to escape [fate], this is what happens… ”

“… !”

Hearing it for the first time, Freya’s [fate].

He considered it a curse that could not be changed no matter how hard he struggled. That’s why she separated herself from the story in the game.

‘… Freya.’

For the first time, I fully understood Freya’s resignation. I could understand why she lived such a lonely and lonely life.

『… You are such a strange child too. It seems like [fate] is closer to the wise man of this era than anyone else.』

“… Yes?”

But even after hearing it.

[The Golden Witch] spoke to Freya in a casual tone.

Like a girl who heard a child ask a simple question.

『There is nothing closer to the truth than knowing what you say, ‘I don’t know.’ Rather, when you think ‘I know’, destruction and arrogance come.』

Freya spoke in a desperate voice. Her ugly purple cat ears were trembling pitifully.

“Well, then what should we do now…? !”

『… 』

[The Golden Witch] looked at Lothar, who was now fully awake.

『Starting from ignorance… We have to create something new, magic.』

“Yes… !”

Even though Lothar had just woken up, he somehow seemed to know what he had to do. The letters of the first grimoire she held in her arms were shining softly in gold.

The [Golden Witch] looked back at us and wagged her tail. The gazes of me, Hilde, Freya, and Lotta, in that order, sparkled golden.

『Using all my last ether, let’s make it.』

“… !”

『… I think it will be a very enjoyable meeting and farewell ceremony.』

“Jak, farewell ceremony… ?!”

[The Golden Witch] spoke to us for the last time.

『Before we begin, I will ask one final question from each person. Is there anything you want to ask?』

After we answered each of our questions.

I got the students from the research group up and headed to the ‘Sage’s Room’. And with the help of the [Golden Witch] at the center of the ‘Wise Chamber’, creating new magic is…

… It wasn’t Freya, it was Lothar.

*

The explorer’s library.

The rooftop below the spire where the ‘Wise Man’s Room’ is located.

We arrived back at the place where I had fought Offnir in the heat of the moment.

“… ”

“… ”

“… ”

Hilde is looking at me all the time and is fidgeting.

Me in a fully charged (temporary) state, shining softly in golden color.

Freya erased her sad expression and returned to her normal self.

In this way, the three of them decided to head towards the [Serpent of Wisdom and Circulation].

“… ”

I thought as I looked at the scars on my body, still sprouting golden flowers.

‘Is my physical condition really okay? Assuming that I am currently in a fully charged (temporary) state and am an evasion tank, is it a combination of bruiser + damage dealer + tank…? ? It’s not a bad combination. With a combination like this, there is a possibility… !’

Now there is a way to approach the [Serpent of Wisdom and Circulation].

He was quietly rekindling his fighting spirit for the fight that was about to begin.

“… ”

Around the time I was thinking that.

Hilde said while subtly holding my hand.

Now, it wasn’t unusual for them to just grab me without even asking.

“… Lala, are you really okay?”

“Yes☆ I’m completely fine─♪ In fact, this might be my prime☆ Are you feeling itchy right now? Let’s have a quick sparring session~☆”

“… It’s okay.”

“Hmm─♪”

“… ?”

“… At the same time, I thought I would take a quick look while measuring the ‘interval’~☆”

“… ”

“Always secretly☆ sneakily♪ You do it without saying a word~☆”

“… ”

I giggled and made a joke to the girl who made me feel uneasy today. I will turn a blind eye to this level of petty revenge.

‘If you touch me without saying anything, I’ll be surprised… ‘I need you to become more aware of it.’

Hilde said, looking into my golden, softly shining eyes.

“… Because Lara asked me to trust you.”

“… ”

“Then I will always believe.”

“Ahaha… ☆”

…

…

…

Oh, I don’t know.

I felt like if I continued thinking here and now, I would be in big trouble.

So I nodded quietly.

“… huh. thank you. For trusting me.”

“… no. thank you. For keeping your promise.”

“… ”

“… ”

Next to me, I heard Freya tapping her chest in frustration.

“Me, you crazy bitches… Ugh, crazy bitches… Are you planning to burn the World Tree? !”

“The world tree… Why is it burning☆”

“Well, there is something like that… Ugh… ”

“… ?”

When trying to ask the true meaning of that ominous prophecy.

『Let’s begin. A golden story.』

“… !”

Paaa!!

Dazzling golden light began to burst from the wise man’s room.