episode_0315

I gathered the overflowing aether and looked around.

On the parched earth, not a single blade of grass remained. The entire forest had withered because of the miasma; this would do. New sprouts would appear when spring arrived.

I carefully searched the desolate wasteland. There were truly no survivors. Not a trace of miasma remained.

Duke Darius was also dead. I had definitively struck him down. The altar of the descent ritual was destroyed, and his ambition thwarted. Moriarty is over.

For some reason, I felt a sense of emptiness. I knew all the suffering the people had endured, their efforts for revenge, all that time. It felt a little too quickly over.

‘Not that I wanted to fight for a long time.’

Shedding one’s body and rewriting it anew is not an easy task. It consumes an awfully large amount of aether.

‘I don’t know how many instant-kill curses like the ‘Ten Plagues’ he possesses, so capturing him as quickly as possible was the right decision.’

Moreover, the final moment had been a critical situation. At first glance, the Duke’s blood-feeding and my White Night seemed to be locked in a tense tug-of-war.

However, compared to me, whose entire body was defenseless after pouring out all my strength, the Duke’s blood-feeding could have devoured me further. Due to the added curse ignoring all defensive actions, death was truly near.

If I hadn’t found the altar hidden within his body, it would have been my defeat. It’s safe to say the gamble paid off.

“I… should prepare more thoroughly next time.”

It was a difficult opponent, but I learned a lot. I learned just how vicious a person can become. If he’d used that intellect for good, he could have been a hero.

Shaking my head to dispel the thoughts, I moved.

I decided to return to the battlefield first. As the head of a nation, I can’t just wander around as I please.

I had heard that the front lines had pushed back to the Filbrog Barony. However, as soon as I started running, I soon saw the Imperial Army.

Looking down from the sky, I could tell immediately. The reason he could command the numerous Imperial soldiers as one was due to madness and brainwashing.

Both are based on miasma addiction. Thanks to the Kingdom’s top forces individually defeating Moriarty’s named individuals, the miasma had weakened. The army’s direction was also wavering.

A million-strong army without a head was nothing more than a rabble.

I didn’t need to lift a finger. At this rate, the Imperial Army would be annihilated. They would retreat to the capital, and the war would end in our victory.

Thump-

I landed in the middle of the battlefield. Those who noticed my presence began to approach one by one.

“Your Highness!”

“Guys, the Lady’s here—!”

As Nix shouted loudly, everyone rushed over. I patted Yuri and Lulu’s heads and patted Nix’s butt.

“Kyaah-”

“I told you not to call me by my name in front of others!”

“Kyaah, I don’t wanna—”

She even pushed her butt out, as if she liked it. I pinched her hard, and she finally whimpered and tucked her tail between her legs.

Then Aspi approached.

“…It’s a relief you’re safe.”

“Yeah. You alright too?”

“Yes, I am.”

Hmm… if Aspi is also unharmed, then who exactly chopped Moriarty’s named individuals to pieces? It’s not important, so I’ll ask later. Anyway, one of them is definitely Yuri’s doing.

Finally, Tier descended from the sky. She was wearing a black robe adorned with gold embellishments, but for some reason, she was clutching her hem.

“Did it rip again?”

“N-No, it didn’t!!”

She furtively looked at the others. They shrugged and said they didn’t know.

“It ripped.”

“It ripped.”

“It ripped.”

I gently stroked Tier’s flushed cheeks and scattered a bit of aether on her collarbone. It slowly seeped into the fabric, mending the tear.

“Don’t go around doing this for just anyone.”

“U-Uh… Thank you, no, thank you very much.”

“It’s fine. No one’s around now anyway.”

Even with her head bowed, her beet-red face was visible.

Anyway, this brought together all of our top forces in Naifrantz. I looked at their faces one by one.

“Aspi, what’s our situation?”

“A little less than half of the Kingdom’s soldiers are injured. Ten percent are seriously injured… and half of those have perished.”

“Right. Tell the rear to not neglect corpse disposal.”

“Understood.”

I feel truly sorry for those who died, but they fought incredibly well until the very end. I believe their spirits will remain in my heart for a while so I’ll never forget them.

“Tier, now that almost all the shadow soldiers have disappeared, have the Great Divine Army focus on treating the wounded.”

“I will.”

“Make sure that no injuries lead to death. Yuri, Lulu. Help Tier. Replenish her mana when it runs low.”

“Okay.”

The war approaches its end. The more certain of victory, the more cautious we must be in reorganizing our ranks.

Even without pressing our offensive, the Imperial Army would have no choice but to retreat.

“Nix, how’s the Imperial side?”

“Um… um… There were a total of 819,753 shadow soldiers deployed, but now there are about 5,000 left. Even those are difficult to control.”

“…You counted them all?”

“Huh? Of course. All 52 airships were shot down, and out of 721 cannons, 659 were destroyed… the rest are the 32,124 surviving infantry retreating while recovering.”

Hearing the numbers, my head suddenly throbbed. Why is this happening when I didn’t even calculate it myself?

I nodded vaguely and looked at the battlefield again.

“Aspi, continue to lead the army forward. Don’t forget to rest too.”

“I will obey.”

“Nix, go with her. Try to incapacitate and capture them if possible.”

“Yes, Your Highness! Kuk… I really wanted to use this line once.”

The personnel allocation was finished, and there was only one thing left for me to do.

Thump-

Something poked my side. Looking down, it was Yuri’s elbow.

“Yeah, I know.”

“I… was incredibly worried, please tell her that.”

“I will. Don’t worry too much yourself. Wait for me. We’ll definitely return together.”

Before leaving, I hugged each of them once. The weather was still cold, but even a light hug conveyed warmth. My strength surged.

“I’ll be back.”

I stepped onto the aether and ran through the air. Footprints that left no shadow were etched onto the white sky. Forcefully, but not too fast.

With a tremor that a loved girl might hold in her heart, I flew towards the Black Star.

In fact, the situation isn’t that good.

‘The Black Star… hasn’t moved since a while ago.’

The one controlling the black tentacles was the fallen Eve, the Termina Emperor. With her as the head of the Empire, she neither moves nor commands the army.

If she’d realized Darius’ death and intended to surrender, I wouldn’t have asked for more. But from the time I chased the Duke into the Black Forest, the star hadn’t budged from its position.

“You… were waiting for me, too.”

Nothing else came to mind. The Emperor’s objective wasn’t the Empire’s victory, nor Darius’s wish.

It was simply to gather all life and return, to meet ‘Adam’ again. Even if Darius is dead, her lack of agitation likely means she gained a clue in using the reincarnation spell.

Adam will never resurrect. If things proceed as the Emperor intends, Eve’s wish will never come true.

I need to snap her out of it.

Whoosh—

Formless Step, Quick.

I tore through the air and flew. More powerfully than anyone, faster than anything in this world could chase me.

Eve called to me. No other reason was needed. Even if Yuri or the others called me, I probably wouldn’t have been able to go any faster.

The Black Star drew closer. I raised my Formless Sword and slashed with all my might.

‘Don’t… stop me.’

Formless Sword 0th Style, Self-Portrait.

The sword was me, and I was the sword. Was it because I successfully achieved the Extreme Limit Supernova against Duke Darius just before? I could depict myself in a single blow.

Screech— Slash—!

Eve’s black tentacles couldn’t stop me cutting, tearing, and piercing myself. They couldn’t even hold me for a moment.

Like a star falling into the universe, I advanced unimpeded toward the Black Star’s core.

Screech-

I cut down the last tentacle and reached the Black Star’s innermost part. There was a large cavity. A girl with black hair was floating in the center.

“…You’re late.”

“Sorry. Thinking about seeing your face again made me too nervous.”

Thump- Thump-

I lightly stepped onto the aether. The distance between Eve and me gradually narrowed.

Eve stretched out her hand. Black tentacles coiled around her arm and extended, soon revealing a jet-black sword.

I placed my hand on my lower abdomen. Aether condensed to an unprecedented degree, gushing out to reveal a pure white blade.

Formless Divine Sword, Draw.

“Let’s see the end, My Lady.”

“Yes. For our new beginning.”

Without any signal, we simultaneously lunged at each other.