episode_0745

Arriving on the cliff in Runevia’s arms, I looked around, driving away the cold air with my divine power.

The thickly piled snow was so white that no trace of people could be seen.

The tall mountain, proudly revealing itself through the clouds, gave off a mysterious aura as if it were home to unidentified life forms.

He doesn’t think much of it because he knows this isn’t the path to the Garden of the Gods.

If a person who didn’t know anything had arrived here, he would have been wandering around with red eyes.

“Nothing much?”

However, Frey is an exception. She is so far removed from ordinary sensibilities that she is indifferent even when looking at the world that touches the clouds.

Every time I saw that sight, I felt a sense of unease rising.

What if I show you the night sky after all this hardship and there’s no response? I think I’ll really start to cry.

“Astrica, is there something strange?”

I was sighing while imagining the worst, but I turned my head after hearing Runevia’s words.

“Me. Me?”

“If you are the owner of this place, you have probably been here before.”

Astria, in the shape of an owl, turned her head 180 degrees to look around, then let out a questioning voice.

“The eyes have shrunk.”

“Can you elaborate?”

“This land is so close to the edge of the world that it is called the end of the world. The snow that falls from the sky does not melt all year long and continues to pile up.”

Astria, who had declared that it would not naturally melt but would collapse under its weight, spread her wings and headed towards one side of the cliff.

“If you look here, you can see the water flowing and forming a puddle. It’s melted snow that will never melt.”

“I hope it has something to do with the disappearance of the night.”

“…maybe it’s related. It’s the only singularity on the summit where no life can be found.”

“Then we have the answer. Let’s go to the place where the snow has melted the most.”

When I asked for guidance, thinking that I might find the answer if I followed the traces of melted snow, Astria quickly spread her wings.

The moment I was about to move my feet to chase after him, I noticed Frey staring blankly at the sky next to me.

“Pray. What are you doing?”

“I think I can ring that bell.”

“Please stop talking nonsense. No prosecutor in the world can cut the sun!”

“You won’t know unless you try it, right?”

“You know even without trying!”

If there is a swordsman who can cut down a star called the sun, then it is something that should not exist in this world!

Cosmic horror! How can you possibly do something that is only possible if you make eye contact and burst into bubbles!

“Want to bet?”

“What’s the bet! If you cut the sun, I’ll do anything for you, so just follow me for now!”

“Okay. Okay.”

As I watched Frey following behind me, wondering how he could cut down the sun, I felt like saying something harsh, but I held it back.

This time I came here for Frey, so I have to endure this much.

But it’s really frustrating. How can that pure mind not work?

“Over there…”

“Hey.”

I grabbed the owl by the scruff of its neck and threw it backwards, spreading my divine energy around to dispel the unpleasant aura.

“Lucy. Is this a devil?”

“It’s not perfect, it’s just leftovers.”

Why are there remnants of an evil spirit on top of a snow-covered mountain?

Even though Agra is a disgusting Sadi pervert, he’s not a stupid kid. He wouldn’t care about a foreign place like this.

That means one of his stupid subordinates was here.

As I moved forward, chasing away the evil spirit’s energy, I found a large hole in the middle of the mountain and burst out laughing.

“There was a dungeon here.”

Dungeons that appeared in other regions were dealt with by people from all over the continent, centered around me.

The process wasn’t always smooth, but I was able to minimize sacrifices by combining my existing knowledge with the cooperation of people around me.

But this place is different. I didn’t even know there was a place like this. So even if a dungeon were to appear here, I wouldn’t be able to deal with it.

This is a disaster from Astria’s perspective as well. How can she detect a dungeon that was created so high up that it seemed to pierce the sky?

Naturally, the abandoned dungeon would have started to boil over from within and would have met the worst possible ending of a runaway.

The remnants of that are probably the hole left here.

…

“Wait a minute. If an explosion like this happened, wouldn’t you notice it?”

Let’s say you didn’t notice the ominous atmosphere in the dungeon. Even I wouldn’t have noticed.

But if something happened to create a hole this big, wouldn’t it have had some kind of effect on the area below the mountain?

“…Ah. Now that I think about it.”

“Huh? Aaaah?!”

“Heeek!”

So you’re saying that there were signs but you didn’t notice?

Wow! Shit. This is the first time I’ve ever met someone who thinks a goofy fox would be more competent.

“Sorry. Sorry! But I just heard a thud while I was sleeping. That’s. That’s why.”

“When you come down, I’ll pluck out your feathers one by one until I can make you a piece of clothing, so look forward to it.”

“Huh!”

I looked around at Astrikka, who was shivering in Runevia’s arms, with a pitiful look on her face.

If the dungeon rampage had been underway, this area should have been scorched earth due to the traces of monsters sweeping through it.

But the only trace left by the rampage is a hole in the middle of the mountain.

There is only one possibility: if the dungeon boss that was located here swallowed everything.

I felt a chill behind my back and quickly took out my shield.

I felt a gaze upon me from above.

I followed him and raised my head to see the sun rising.

Eyes filled with hatred and resentment were looking at me.

What I had just believed to be the sun was not actually the sun.

It was just something as hot as the sun.

‘That guy. Is he controlling his power?’

Are you a being that is merely swayed by the power you have accepted?

That means you’re following your primal emotions without any reason.

If you are spewing hatred towards the one who brought down your master, then it is infinitely primitive.

I saw fireworks shooting from the sky, so I chuckled and held my shield forward.

It’s a flame with enough heat to turn night into day. If you try to block it with a small shield like this, you’ll be swept away.

So we use a different method.

That flame is unclean. It is something that must be purified. It is a horror that can never be embraced.

So I will decline.

By my authority as the daughter of the Lord, and no one else’s.

The divinities gathered in front of the shield create a barrier according to my will.

At first glance, it may look similar to the wall created by Pavie, but its foundation is completely different.

Because what this barrier draws is a conceptual barrier.

The flames of negativity can never pass through this wall.

I think about it as I watch the sloppy flames that burn everything on the mountain but can’t get over the wall.

About how to bring down that sun.

“That’s tricky. It’s too far away.”

“We’ll get shot down before we get there. It’s over. We’re gonna die!”

Well, it might be hard to take it down, but I don’t think it’ll die.

As I was laughing at Astria’s nonsense, I felt someone tugging at my sleeve and looked away.

Frey stood there with an innocent smile.

“Lucy. Lucy.”

“What is it?”

“I can ring that bell.”

“…Huh?”

“I was wondering how to cut it, but now I’m sure. Just cut it off. That’s it.”

Frey looked at me quietly, showing me his aura that was tinted crimson.

Although the sight of the puppy waiting to be fed was cute, I couldn’t bring myself to laugh comfortably.

That makes sense.

“Lucy must keep her promise.”

Because I just yelled that I would do anything to cut down the sun!

No! That doesn’t make sense!

Why is the sun not the sun!

How could I have predicted that there would be a monster here!

What should I do!?

Should I force it?!

Like that’s completely different from the sun I know?!

No, Frey doesn’t eat that kind of stuff.

That guy with a screw loose in his brain will interpret whatever I say in the way he wants to!

“Then I’ll be back.”

As I watched Frey’s back as he headed over the barrier with a bright smile on his face, I knew I was doomed.

‘…I wish you had nagged me when I first brought up the subject of ‘anything.’

‘Just wait and see. I’ll do my best to make it look pretty.’

When I said I would tell him what mutually assured destruction was, my grandfather started making excuses in a hurry, but I just let them go in one ear and out the other.

Because a more wonderful sight awaited me than the excuses of a petty old man.

“Hoo.”

As Frey took a deep breath beyond the flames and raised his sword, the flames changed direction urgently.

Even a beast with nothing but instincts had noticed that her sword could kill him.

“Die.”

But even if the beast noticed it, there was nothing it could do.

The sun was split in two with a black flame that split the world.

“Hehehe.”

A curtain of black light falls over the world, accompanied by innocent laughter like a child.