Chapter 39
Chapter 39
Episode 39
A gate leading to the Underworld was open within the Avatar's mouth.
I had been shortsighted. He was far more cunning than I'd anticipated.
Even though he'd said he'd stop at nothing, I still assumed his spirit would remain within the Avatar.
His words weren't meant to confuse me, but to hide the fact that he'd already left the Avatar.
“Crazy….”
“Indeed, the thirst for victory is enough to drive one mad.”
Anyone with common sense wouldn't stand near the gate to the Underworld, even if they'd opened it themselves.
It was obvious.
A gate doesn't just open in one direction.
If Tia were to bombard the gate, the entire vicinity would become a sea of flames.
In fact, Tia was probably merrily showering the opened gate locations with magic right now.
“Aren't you afraid of the Dragon Emperor?”
If Tia were to appear here, the [Death King] standing before the gate would be scattered to dust.
[Death King], who should have been in the safest place, had effectively thrown himself into the jaws of death.
That bold decision sent shivers down my spine.
“One cannot seize victory by cowering in safety out of fear.”
[Death King], Thanatos, was a monster comparable to Tia, if not her equal.
His mere presence radiated a soul-rending malice.
“Ugh….”
I couldn't stop thinking.
Even though I'd fallen into a trap, it wasn't over yet.
I couldn't afford to lose my composure. There had to be a way.
Yes, I just had to close the gate.
The [Death King] was critically injured.
Eleanor's all-encompassing attack had definitely hit him.
The wound that ran across his chest from his shoulder proved it.
The [Death King] couldn't move yet.
“Hmm.”
I took another step.
The gate was still unstable, as it hadn't been prepared in advance.
Wasn't that why he'd provoked me, shaking my resolve?
If I could just inflict some damage, I could close the gate.
But as long as the malice permeated the area, ordinary magic wouldn't even reach it.
Nothing had changed.
There was only one thing I could do: get as close as possible.
And then, disrupt the gate.
But….
“Can you do it?”
“…….”
I was terrified.
I was only about 3 meters away.
If I got a little closer, even intermediate magic would be enough to destroy the gate.
But if I went any further, my body wouldn't be able to withstand it.
Then there was only one option.
[Mana Dominator Lv. 2]
“I have no choice but to rely on luck.”
I didn't expect much.
At this distance, any high-level magic would do.
[Wind Piercing]
Despite my hopes, what materialized was an intermediate wind magic.
“Damn it….”
The [Wind Piercing], which launched a spear of wind, didn't even reach the vicinity of the gate.
It was consumed by malice before it could even leave a breeze.
I felt like collapsing in despair, but nothing had actually changed.
The idea of entrusting everything to luck was flawed from the beginning.
I just had to keep moving forward.
“Haa….”
My breath grew ragged.
The sensations of pain and death blurred my vision.
This was suicide. If I took one more step forward, I would die.
I could still turn back. I could run away.
Did I have a reason to go this far for Marie?
-The sky here is beautiful and clear.
Even if Marie died, it wouldn't change the future course of events.
She was destined to die anyway.
Even if I retreated now, I had already gained enough.
-The clouds, the sun, and most of all, that clear blue… Yes, that's why I was looking.
Trying to grasp everything was nothing but arrogance.
Yes, that was certainly true, but….
-Those things didn't exist where I lived.
“I'm an arrogant person.”
If that was the reason, it was enough for me to engrave it deep in my heart.
I would obtain everything.
I moved as soon as the thought crossed my mind. There was no more time to waste.
[Death King] was right.
Cowering in fear wouldn't allow me to achieve anything.
“That reason is enough.”
I stepped forward.
And the moment I did, intense pain engulfed me, and my vision went black.
[Erosion Rate 40%]
“Don't forget.”
Along with the searing pain, I felt fragments of memories flowing in again.
I saw Oz standing alone in the middle of a battlefield strewn with corpses.
“Even if you forget everything else, never forget that one thing.”
Whether it was a pledge to himself or not, Oz was muttering something as if urging himself on.
“What my purpose was.”
Muttering so, Oz drew a composite spell in the air.
The composite spell, which took a form I'd never seen before, seemed to be missing something.
“So don't stop challenging yourself.”
The composite spell was complete.
Yes, it was complete. But even though it had taken a perfect form, something was missing.
“Don't be obsessed with the goal.”
And I already understood what was lacking.
It was proof that Oz had challenged and reached the very edge of it.
“Don't forget what we endured all this for.”
『This is not a plea.』
As if it were natural, I began to chant the short sentence.
Oz, who had been standing in the open field, was no longer visible.
But the composite spell that Oz had drawn in my memory was already in place in the air.
『I declare to you, who sits upon the arrogant throne.』
All I could see was the swirling malice and, beyond it, the figure of the [Death King] looking at me with interest.
Oz's memory fragments began to melt into the present.
『The beginning is set, but the end is not.』
Magic and divine art.
A picture and a song.
I sang to the world as I drew the spell.
What was completed was magic with only intermediate level power.
But within it was the will of one who had studied and strived to catch up to God, reaching for that power.
The fruit of one who had challenged God.
『Know that fate has been twisted.』
Divine Magic
[Another Savior]
The divine arts using divine power held absolute dominance over malice and demonic energy, but they rarely exhibited offensive effects.
Even if they did, most of them were relatively weak, so they weren't often used unless against the undead or demons.
However, magic tended to have more destructive power.
"Not enough with hand-to-hand combat, now you want me to use swordsmanship too?"
What was born was something close to a miracle, a wonder wrought by one who had challenged the divine and reached its very edge.
A power that possessed the properties of divine power, but in terms of destructive force, was closer to magic.
A greatsword of divine magic, reaching 2 meters in length, began to appear in my hand.
Before its completion, I grasped the hilt with both hands and lunged forward.
Since the sword was made of magic, I didn't feel its weight.
“Haa….”
I didn't know how to wield a sword.
Since it was magic, simply swinging it would be enough, but before I knew it, my body had naturally assumed a stance.
“Am I tainted too?”
The image of Eleanor swinging her sword flashed through my mind.
Crude, yet the fruit of Eleanor's straightforward and accumulated efforts.
I extended one leg forward, bent it, and raised the sword high above my head.
“Hah!”
And at the same time the sword's form was completed, I swung it down, following the same trajectory as back then.
Crack!
The greatsword of light shattered the gate.
Originally, intermediate level magic wouldn't have been enough to close the gate.
But with divine power, which had an advantage against malice, it was a different story.
They repelled and interfered with each other upon contact.
“……Impossible. How could a mere human?!”
“Shut up and get lost.”
The gate to the Underworld closed.
"A human can't possibly reach the realm of the divine..."
Crack!
And the blade that had destroyed the gate proceeded to shatter the staff Marie held, which served as a lock.
And at the moment the staff broke, I instinctively knew.
“Ha! It was worth the trouble.”
The key the [Death King] held was split in two.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Marie checked on Oz, who had collapsed from exhaustion in front of her.
She saw the Saintess trying to reach Oz repeatedly, despite stumbling.
She saw Noah, who had collapsed after pushing himself to the limit for her sake.
She saw Lucia, who was checking on Noah.
She saw the Fist King, leaning against something in the distance, quietly observing the situation.
“Ah….”
There were so many things.
She had been reluctant to blend in with her surroundings.
Marie, born in the Underworld, had been as good as dead while alive.
When she was in the Underworld, she always looked down at the ground, and when she came to Scientia, she looked up at the sky instead.
‘So this is what the scenery is like…’
Her eyes were filled with tears, so she shouldn’t have been able to see anything in front of her, but it felt as though she could see more than usual.
There was no longer any reason to turn away from the world.
She had gained freedom.
“How does it feel?”
At that moment, she heard a voice calling her.
Oz Quabadis.
The person who had broken her shackles spoke to her with difficulty while receiving treatment from the Saintess.
The voice that had been filled with anger and arrogance just a moment ago now sounded gentle.
“What…?”
Marie replied curtly.
She didn't know why she was acting this way.
In truth, she should have bowed her head and expressed her gratitude immediately.
But Marie couldn't do that.
“I asked how it feels to be free from your shackles.”
However, Oz didn't mind Marie's attitude.
That irritated her somehow, but Marie tried to ignore her ungrateful feelings and spoke.
“Well….”
How should she answer? Marie looked up at the sky.
The sky of the living world, which she had thought so blue, clear, and beautiful, no longer looked beautiful.
There were more beautiful things around her now.
Realizing this, Marie understood how precious a thing she had gained.
“It’s not bad, I guess.”
A lie.
In truth, she felt an exhilaration she couldn't express, but Marie lied.
Like the contrarian frog in the fairy tale, she couldn't be honest.
“Really? Well, life isn’t usually that dramatic.”
“Huh…?”
Marie looked down at Oz, who was wearing a forlorn smile, with a bewildered expression.
‘What’s he talking about? Is there some hidden meaning I don’t know?’
His words were incomprehensible.
She couldn't understand how Oz, who lived a life more dramatic and intense than anyone else, could say such a thing.
The same was true for Marie.
Her life had changed dramatically at this very moment.
“So, what’s your answer?”
“Huh?”
“Have you thought about it?”
“……No.”
To be honest, she hadn’t had time to think about such things.
When he asked for her reply, she was troubled, but not worried.
Because she thought she would never have to answer.
‘Besides, how should I respond to someone who risked their life for me?’
That was the biggest problem.
It was heavy. Considering Oz’s determination to hear a simple greeting, she felt she couldn't simply respond with casual words.
She knew it was an excuse, but at the same time, she also knew it was the conclusion of this matter.
‘Conclusion…?’
Suddenly recalling that word, Marie felt uneasy.
She didn’t want it to conclude.
The relationship between her and Oz was merely that of acquaintances.
Oz had risked his life to fight the [Death King] for her, but she had done nothing for him.
And all Oz wanted was a response to a greeting.
So, what would happen if she concluded things with that greeting?
Wouldn’t their relationship revert back to that of mere acquaintances, exchanging greetings as before?
‘I don’t want that…’
Marie stopped tugging at her hair, took a deep breath, and looked at Oz, who was being healed.
She didn't know.
She didn't know what kind of person he was.
She still didn’t know what kind of person he was, the one who had risked his life for her.
“Ah, the answer. Have you thought about it?”
Perhaps sensing Marie's gaze, Oz spoke to her again.
Marie met Oz’s gaze. His eyes were a more beautiful color than the sky she had loved.
“No.”
Actually, it wasn’t that she didn’t have an answer in mind.
She was going to start with a simple greeting and express her gratitude.
But she stopped.
“I can't think of anything.”
“What…? Did you even think about it?”
“I’m too tired.”
“Ah, well… I suppose you would be. You’ve been through a lot too.”
“That's right. I’m too tired today. You must be tired too, so why don't you rest?”
Marie turned her back so Oz wouldn't see through her lie.
Not yet.
She couldn't give him the answer.
That was the only thread connecting her and Oz right now.
“So, next time.”
Marie made an excuse.
“If I can’t think of anything by the time we meet next, then the time after that.”
She created opportunities for further interactions with him.
“So…”
Next.
Until now, the word “next” hadn’t existed for Marie.
For her, who might have died at any moment by the [Death King]'s command, the word “next” was something she couldn’t utter carelessly.
But now it was different.
The word “next” carried expectations.
“Let’s exchange greetings again, many times.”
“Yes… Next time…”
Oz fainted after those words.
He must have been exhausted from breaking through the [Death King]'s malice.
Not only was he physically injured, but he was also mentally fatigued, so he fell asleep, entrusting himself to Arietta's comforting divine power.
“Thank you, Oz.”
For the first time since she was born into death, Marie held expectations.
She, who had only ever worn an expressionless and despairing look, smiled.
That expression was still a secret from the benefactor who had saved her.