Chapter 244 – The [End]

“Kh, urgh…”

The blood I had just swallowed burst from my mouth.

I barely held on to my fading consciousness and tried to swing Frey. But Frey, caught tight in the [End]’s hand, wouldn’t budge.

Even if I let go of Frey’s hilt and tried to summon it back into my hand, there wasn’t enough distance to avoid the [End]’s attack.

I couldn’t wrench it free or force my way out, either.

The suffocating deadlock demanded a decision.

Of course, the [End] didn’t give me time to decide.

My instincts screamed. My senses blared a warning. A chilling energy stabbed my abdomen, and at the same time, the [End]’s knee drove into my gut. My collarbone throbbed. The [End]’s elbow smashed it to pieces. My ribs ached. The [End]’s fist crushed them. Blow after relentless blow pummeled my whole body.

Each time a hit landed, I managed to move just enough to avoid a fatal wound, but there was no avoiding the pain. The agony ruled my entire body, turning my mind blank and white.

My knees buckled. My mind blurred. My ki sense faded, and even my instincts’ screams grew faint.

Even then, I somehow managed to deflect or parry the [End]’s greatsword. But even that was at its limit. My hands lost all feeling. I couldn’t tell if my knees were bent or straight. I couldn’t even tell if I was still alive.

A tingling sensation spread from the right to the left, crawling up the back of my neck. The phantom pain of my throat being slit overwhelmed me. I had to stop it.

I raised my arm.

But there was nothing in my hand.

A chilling, slicing wind brushed my nape, sending shivers through my body.

At that moment, 

From my left ring finger, a warmth, almost scalding, spread through my entire body.

That energy breathed life into my battered body. It mended shattered bones. It healed torn flesh. It forcibly pulled back my fading consciousness.

I knew exactly what that energy was.

I knew who wielded the divine power wrapping my body.

Rubia.

Rubia.

Rubia.

I called her name in my mind.

I spoke it out loud. I carved it into my bones.

Clatter, the sound of chains echoed in my head.

“Ha.”

A faint laugh slipped from the [End]’s lips.

Yet, the bloodthirsty gust around my nape didn’t subside.

I steadied my breath, recalling the way the [End] had gently deflected my attack just before. Could I do it too? Of course, I could.

‘If I’ did it, I could too.

Even if I failed.

As long as I didn’t die, Rubia’s divine power would heal me.

I bent my waist gently. My feet slid across the ground. I brought my right hand to my waist.

Inhaling a calm, steady breath, I drew back my fist.

Crack, crack.

The moment that razor-sharp intent brushed my nape.

I threw my fist forward as far as it would go.

Rumble!

Thunder roared out head-on. The sound, as if it could reach the ends of the horizon, gathered at a single point before long. I instantly summoned Frey and grabbed it. My ki sense spread out.

There, the [End] smiled brightly, blood running from the corner of her mouth.

“Didn’t expect that.”

The blood trailing from her lips was sucked back in. Torn clothing regenerated. Her shredded cloak absorbed the surrounding darkness and returned to its original form.

After healing herself completely, the [End] gripped her greatsword, watching the divine power swirling around my body. She stared closely at the ring on my finger, where that power flowed from.

“Rubia.”

Whether she was naming the owner of the divine power or the ring itself, it was impossible to tell.

Shaking her head, the [End] wiped the smile from her face and gripped her greatsword.

“Now things are finally getting interesting.”

The [End] stepped forward. The same movement as before.

I, having perfectly mapped it, moved as well.

The [End]’s foot touched the ground.

My foot touched the ground.

One step.

As each of us took a step forward, 

―――!

Our greatswords collided.

* * *

A deepening smile grew on the [End]’s face as she traded blows with Noah.

It was inevitable.

With every exchange, she could feel Noah’s attacks becoming sharper. Each time she endured or countered a strike, Noah grew stronger.

Even with the help of divine power, that growth was nothing short of astonishing.

But it still wasn’t enough to break through the [End]’s guard or wound her body. That one time when Noah’s fist, boosted by Rubia’s divine power, struck her, it was only because the [End] had let her guard down.

So, keeping every possibility in mind, the [End] never once allowed Noah’s blade through.

Of course, she hadn’t managed to inflict a fatal wound on Noah, either. It was close, but Noah also managed to deflect every attack aimed at her vitals.

If Noah ever received a severe wound, the divine power flowing from the ring would heal her body, leaving her condition little different from the [End]’s.

And so, as hundreds, thousands, of exchanges passed,

A droplet of blood sprayed into the air.

“Haha!”

It was the [End]’s blood.

Though it was just a shallow cut across her cheek, and though it vanished instantly as it healed, being pushed back, even once, over such a long exchange made the [End] laugh.

Of course, this wasn’t the [End]’s full strength.

It wasn’t that she was holding back on purpose.

Having fought countless foes, powerful enemies all at once, in her previous world, hiding her power and ambushing had simply become a habit.

But that didn’t mean she was being careless.

Murderous intent clearly filled the [End]’s sword, a will to kill Noah.

That was why the [End]’s smile, the blood droplets floating in the air, were all the more meaningful.

A short laugh, quickly released. As the echo of that laugh faded, the [End] thought:

Noah had grown strong. More than enough.

Strong enough to overwhelm even former heroes, strong enough to face Kartia with her sword.

Of course, some of that strength came from what I and Rubia had prepared for her.

But the real turning points, at every fork in the road that could have changed everything, were because of Noah’s own choices.

Of course, there were times when luck was on her side.

But if that luck continues, it’s no longer just luck.

It means it’s the result of everything Noah built up herself.

Even I, even Rubia, smarter and more meticulous than me, would be astonished by how much she’s changed.

What could have made her so strong?

There’s no need to think deeply.

First, to save Rubia.

Second, to make Rubia smile.

Third, to keep her promise to Rubia.

Fourth, fifth, 

By the sixth, it would be for her friends.

And not until the twentieth would saving the world be included among her reasons for growing strong.

In exchange, she’d willingly offer up her own life.

If it were you, you’d certainly do that.

If it were me, I’d have done the same.

But that’s not enough.

That’s not the way.

If you do that, you’ll never reach the end.

If that’s all, then it would be better, 

To pierce Noah’s heart with my sword, to pierce Rubia’s heart once more, and restart the world anew. That would be the right choice for everyone.

…Right?

Is that really the right choice for everyone?

Yes, it’s the right choice.

At least, it’s the right choice for me.

Because the path I’ve walked is one covered in [False Virtue].

With a bitter laugh, the [End] swung her greatsword, shaking off the ever-persistent Noah.

Noah, having put some distance between them, caught her breath.

The [End] straightened her posture as well, calming the sticky darkness clawing at her mind.

If Noah fails and the world is reset, not by the power of the Nameless One, but by my own hand, 

Will I still be myself then?

Even now, I’m wavering this much, can I endure without changing?

I don’t know.

But I have to do it.

For Rubia.

If I can save her.

If I can make her smile.

Then I, 

I’ll walk this path of [False Virtue] as many times as it takes.

The [End] finished thinking.

She made her choice.

In an instant, the atmosphere shifted.

Noah felt the darkness slithering out from the [End]’s body.

Her grip on Frey trembled. Even with Rubia’s divine power at her back, her instincts screamed that she mustn’t let the [End]’s sword touch her.

Even so, she stepped forward.

Even if her body burned to ash.

Even if she was erased from everyone’s memory.

To save Rubia.

To make Rubia smile.

Lifting her head, Noah aimed her sword at the [End], who had now become destruction itself.

At that moment, 

Clatter!

From empty air, from the world itself, the sound of chains echoed.

“I’ll tell you something.”

Chains linked together. To the [End]’s body. Maybe they’d been connected from the very beginning. The [End] aimed her greatsword at them.

“If you lose focus now, ”

Crunch!

The chains snapped.

The sky turned red.

The earth turned red.

Above it, a Black Sun.

A Black Sun, now dyed completely black, rose into the sky.

The [End] let out a shaky sigh.

Behind her, a mountain of giant corpses piled up. Beneath her feet, a river of blood flowed.

A nauseating, hellish landscape beyond description. Turning her back to this inferno, the [End] raised her greatsword.

“Now, really, die.”

Noah, clutching her trembling body, raised her greatsword too. She unleashed her [Aura] to the limit. She had to, or she wouldn’t survive this strike.

Gathering up every last drop, scraping the bottom, she poured everything into Frey.

The light of [Opening the Heavens] inherited from Kartia.

The light that seeks to open a new sky shone with unwavering brilliance in this crimson world.

Seeing it, the [End] gave a small smile.

A smile tinged with deep regret.

At last, the [End] swung her greatsword.

Noah swung Frey.

—

Frey broke.