Chapter 313
Chapter 313
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 313
Chapter Title: Chapter 7-1. The Sixth Fragment, Requiem
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Exactly once.
It might be far too insufficient as an apology for you, who has suffered all this time, but I'll give you this chance.
Judah felt his entire body burning away in the heat radiating from her, but he endured it. Carpediem and Valentine's magic resistance, Althemia's regenerative power, Arhil's healing, Lime's chilling auxiliary magic—all of it protected him. Even Iris seemed intent on helping, as black energy swirled around his body, shielding it from the heat.
His burning flesh, scorched like a burn wound, regenerated. A sizzling sound echoed as white smoke billowed from his whole body. It was a bizarre sensation. It felt like he was slowly getting used to it, which only made it worse, but Judah summoned chains while gazing at Esther Sellion through the flames with his demon eye. Ripples spread through the air, and the chains materialized.
Clank!
The chains pierced through the flames enveloping Esther Sellion's body. Mana consumption was far greater than usual due to the fragment's rampage. Still, it was something he could withstand.
Esther Sellion, who had been swinging her sword only to be disrupted by Iris's scythe, belatedly tried to swing it again. But the summoned chains bound her limbs and seized Requiem.
She had said much and done much, but all this happened right after severing her tail. As the chains pulled her taut, Judah dropped the Yakal from his right hand and summoned Althemia, aiming at her right arm clutching Requiem.
Slash!
The sharp red blade unleashed the fragment's power, cleanly severing the scale-covered right arm. He summoned more chains toward the severed arm and Requiem, binding them tightly. Rudmilian, which had rampaged after absorbing excessive mana, held out somewhat against Requiem's raging heat.
But there was no time to worry about that. Judah moved from behind Esther Sellion to in front of her.
"Ah..."
A small groan escaped her lips. It was merely a prelude.
"Aaahhhhhh─────!"
Not a scream of sorrow, but one laced with agony. An enormous amount of mana began leaking from her body. It was only natural, having been enthralled by Requiem and absorbed mana beyond her limits.
Fwoosh!
The mana leaking from her body soon turned into flames that engulfed everything around them. Voices calling Judah's name faintly reached him from afar, but even a quick glance showed nothing but massive flames.
"Aaahhhhhh!"
How much mana had been packed into this small frame? It kept pouring out endlessly. Judah used all his remaining chains to bind her and called her name.
"Esther Sellion!"
Requiem was bound by the chains. Even if she had been enthralled by the fragment's mana, she could regain her senses now. At the sound of her name, focus returned to her eyes, which had been reflexively wailing in pain, and tears began to flow. The intense heat from the surrounding flames turned her tears to vapor the moment they fell, but it was clear she was crying.
"Ah... why."
"......"
"Why... did you come... so late, my God."
She spoke in a choked voice. The word "God" made him flinch. She seemed to be mistaken about something. Yet there was no resentment in her voice. Her eyes moved as if trying to look around, but all she could see were the flames bursting from the mana flowing from her own body.
"My God. Thanks to you."
Not because of you?
"Thanks to you. After all this endless pain. Finally. It seems I can escape."
Judah frowned at her words. If she learned the truth—no, if she already mistook him for a god, she would realize whose fault all this suffering was and resent him. He couldn't understand why she gazed at him with such resigned eyes, forcing a smile.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
He didn't know why he had suddenly switched to informal speech with her.
Because of that one word, "God"?
But to Esther Sellion, whether he used informal speech wasn't the point. The apology itself mattered more.
"Why do you apologize?"
Because of me.
He never imagined a game he created just for fun would end up like this. No one could have foreseen it. They had only thought of her as a mere chunk of data made of 0s and 1s.
"For a hundred years, I repeated this world countless times. I saw angels and demons."
She seemed to remember every one of those repeated years.
"They couldn't save me. They died by the sword in my hand and became part of this world. But you, my God—you're different. You finally appeared before me and saved me. Why do you apologize?"
"......"
"I'm glad you came to me in human form for my sake. It seems this long pain, regret, and sorrow will finally end."
All Judah could say was he was sorry. Esther Sellion was still smiling. Tears streamed from her eyes while her mouth curved upward.
─────!
Something collapsed with a sound. Looking up, he saw the sky crumbling through the flames. With Esther Sellion's defeat after nearly a century of the fragment's repetitions, the compulsion had been lifted. Seeing it, she murmured.
"Fortunately... this isn't a dream."
"Forgiveness to those who sacrificed themselves, trusting my weak will."
"Forgiveness to the countless people who died by my hand."
"And finally, to the God who heard my wish, appeared here in human form... and saved me."
Her hand reached out toward Judah. With a tear-streaked face, she forced a smile and moved her only remaining hand. The chains around her wrist tried to pull her back strongly, but as if reading Judah's mind, they loosened.
Her hand grasped Judah's left hand and slowly pulled it toward her. The back of his hand faced her, and Esther Sellion pressed her lips to it. The surroundings were so hot, and his flesh kept mashing and regenerating, billowing white smoke, that the sensation on his hand barely registered. It was just visually knowing her lips had touched his skin.
"Thank you."
Her body began turning into light. The stairs under Judah's feet, the flames engulfing everything—they all dissolved into light and floated away.
In the game, she never said such words. When the fragment was taken by the player, she simply vanished with "......"
And that process was unfolding before his eyes now. If it continued, she would die. She would vanish with this world. Judah quietly watched her. Her face overflowed with emotions—regret, perhaps?—expressing crying and laughing at once. Yet she seemed resigned to the impending dissolution.
Judah didn't think long. Carpediem on his finger gleamed with a striking purple light amid the flames. He roughly grabbed her hand, which was about to let go, dropping Althemia in the process.
"Isn't it too regrettable and unfair to go like this?"
"What..."
The light from Carpediem reflected in her eyes identically. She looked bewildered, trying to grasp the situation. But Judah gave her no time for that.
"Let's get out of here. You and me."
"But I am already..."
"Who do you think I am?"
He could see her eyes trembling. At the very least, she saw him as a god now. A god in human flesh. Angels and demons known by name had appeared before her, but they all turned to ashes by her hand—unlike him.
Judah spoke while watching her dissolving body. He didn't know if it would work, but if it did, she might escape this collapsing otherworld with him. In a game, it might crash with a system error or ignore unset patterns, treating dependencies as nonexistent. But if an unforeseen bug occurred—one even the creator hadn't anticipated—he might pull her out.
This place was a world, not just a game, after all.
Even if it failed, Sian would help.
Her heart wavered at Judah's proposal.
"Do I... have the right to follow God? ...Do I? Because of my weak will, those who sealed with me died by my hand. The people of this land went mad, died by my hand, and in the end, I burned this entire land!"
"What you saw was false."
What happened couldn't be false. She wouldn't believe it anyway. She would know Judah was lying.
"...Even if it was false, don't I have nothing left?"
She said bitterly. The surrounding flames were already scorching hot enough to kill, and her body was dissolving without waiting. It was miraculous they even had time to talk like this.
"You still have something. Survivors are waiting for you. They haven't forgotten you yet."
At least that was true, not a lie. There were people who still remembered and waited for her, some directly connected to her still alive.
At those words, her eyes widened in disbelief.
"B-but...!"
Judah felt frustrated at her hesitation. He yanked her hand hard. Bound by chains, she offered no resistance and was pulled straight to him.
"Just think you want to follow me! We'll figure out the rest later!"
That became the turning point. Purple energy seeped into Esther Sellion's eyes.
[Successfully subjugated 〈Esther Sellion〉.]