Chapter 338
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: True Ending (2)
“Ah…!”
Fienne jerked her upper body upright.
Her breathing trembled in panic.
The shadows clung stubbornly to her face, refusing to fade.
It was the very image of someone fleeing a horrific nightmare too overwhelming to overcome on their own.
Yet her eyes gazed beyond anxiety and fear, fixed on something farther away.
Even as the shadows relentlessly tried to stain her pupils, a single point of light held firm at the center.
That beacon had guided her through the nightmare darker than pitch black.
Fienne had pierced the darkness alongside it to arrive here.
No—returned here.
To the reality beyond the darkness she had already reached.
And soon.
The darkness receded from Fienne's eyes.
“Rishir…!!!”
The moment she regained her signature silver eyes and fully shook off the shadows, she called his name in a voice brimming with elation.
Her outstretched hand reached tenderly, as if ready to pull him into her embrace at any second.
“Huh…?”
But that hand merely grasped at empty air.
“I—right now—”
Fienne was confused.
She knew full well.
That the man who had led her through the nightmare was not here.
He was surely off somewhere, being his usual 'Rishir' self.
There was no need to worry, no reason to suddenly miss him.
Yet why?
Even in this moment, it felt as if that man was right there with her.
As if, should that nightmare return, he would unwaveringly stand by her side.
Always.
In the same place.
Forever.
“Ah.”
Fienne gently caressed her cheek.
A single tear trailed down it.
“Why…?”
The idea that man would protect her forever by her side.
Normally, she would have felt disgust at herself for such a creepy delusion, drowning in shameful fantasies she couldn't share with others, consumed by self-loathing.
“Why on earth…?”
But what was this?
These sudden tears.
This abrupt sob.
This aching heart.
“Ah—”
Then Fienne remembered.
The final moment shared with Rishir in the nightmare.
—Don't worry.
The back-alley child with no parents or home feared parting from that kind man.
That once he left, the unfamiliar happiness would end, and the familiar misery would return.
To that—
Rishir had gently comforted the young Fienne and said,
“I'll always be by your side…”
Fienne hugged herself with trembling arms.
His presence—Rishir's, even now with her—felt even more vividly.
Now she vaguely understood.
The meaning of the flowing tears.
The identity of the surging emotions.
It was fulfillment.
And at the same time, loss.
Those two incompatible emotions coexisted.
All stemming from an instinctive intuition.
That he—might have paid an enormous price to protect her.
To protect them all.
Instinctive intuition.
Fienne placed her hand on her chest, feeling Rishir's presence once more.
It still felt vivid.
No, perhaps even more so.
It was only natural.
For it was undeniably a part of him.
Only Rishir's presence could drive away that horrific nightmare.
Thus, Rishir had shared a part of his very existence with them.
“No way, it can't be—”
Fienne struggled to her feet and hurried away like she was fleeing.
Her destination was clear.
She felt Rishir's presence within her echoing in other places too.
“Rishir—… Huh? Fienne?”
Roera, collapsed in the hallway, regained her senses and recognized Fienne.
“What, Fienne. Don't tell me you too with that guy—”
Roera spoke to Fienne with bubbling excitement.
Her eyes intuited that Fienne had shared the same experience.
“…”
“…Fienne?”
And moments later.
When that intuition solidified into certainty—
“…Huh?”
A single tear trailed down Roera's cheek.
Confused, she clutched her chest.
“Wh-what…? Why am I like this…?”
“Roera—”
“Fienne—Fienne! What's this!? I feel so weird… like that guy, that guy is—…!”
Roera's desperate cry cut off.
“…”
“…”
They gazed at each other in silence.
More precisely, they stared but couldn't find words.
Gasp.
Gasp.
The anxiety catching up from behind soon overwhelmed them both.
Their breaths and steps grew ever more frantic.
“Lady Fienne!”
The two continued chasing Rishir's presence.
“Could it be you too—”
Yet Rishir himself was nowhere to be seen.
They kept encountering others who harbored his presence.
With each repetition, their shared anxiety swelled in magnitude.
Fortunately—or not.
That vicious cycle did end.
Fienne's group, now a large crowd, arrived at the Goose mansion's backyard.
The place where they had last parted from Rishir.
There, a single holy sword awaited them.
The true holy sword, Zarak.
He shouted in an urgent voice.
A holy sword.
Rishir's holy sword, no less.
No one doubted his words.
Fienne's group quickly gathered around Zarak and followed his instructions.
Expanding light swallowed them whole.
An endlessly vast world of pure white—
There, Rishir welcomed Fienne's group.
While lying unconscious on the ground with eyes closed.
“Rishir!? Are you okay!?”
“Wh-what!? You're not even bleeding from your face or anything!?”
A somewhat twisted but fitting direction of concern.
Someone's shout heightened the group's anxiety.
A man appeared before them.
Zarak's following words sent ripples through the gathering.
Fienne's group finally took stock of those guarding near Rishir.
Seven holy swords.
One true holy sword.
Their creator.
And even a being claiming to be the First Hero.
Fienne's group was utterly overwhelmed by their presence.
Mighty swordmasters and great tower lords alike seemed mere mortals here.
Fienne's group felt an unstoppable tidal wave crashing upon them.
All they could do was listen quietly to their tale.
“What… happened to Rishir?”
Fienne spoke in a voice stiff with tension.
Lindal began his explanation with a deep sigh.
“…!”
Fienne sharply inhaled.
The others did the same.
“F-fading away—what do you mean, how, in what way is he fading…?”
Fienne gripped her trembling hand with the other.
Even so, the shaking wouldn't fully subside.
Lindal glanced between her and Rishir before beginning.
He first asked about what Fienne's group had experienced.
Then.
He explained the entity known as the Will of the Void.
What situation Rishir now faced because of it.
Finally, compiling Fienne's group's testimonies, he reached a conclusion.
Why?
Lindal immediately voiced their question and answered.
“I-it doesn't make sense—”
Master Meltas forced out the words.
“If it's Rishir… that guy, surely there was another way!? Something besides sacrificing himself!”
Lindal firmly dismissed the master's words.
Lindal knelt before Rishir, placing a hand over his face as if gauging something.
His expression darkened with deep anguish.
Crunch.
Lindal clenched his fist with all his might.
His face now held a mix of emotions.
Fury toward the Will of the Void.
Guilt toward Rishir, who had been branded in his stead.
And—
“Why!?”
Fienne couldn't hold back and shouted.
“Why does that man have to sacrifice himself? What did he do wrong for that Will of the Void to be so desperate to devour him!?”
Rishir.
Lindal pronounced the name clearly with conviction.
“…!”
For a brief moment, Fienne's group escaped the pity and terror of loss.
The awe Lindal felt toward Rishir's existence transmitted to them.
Silence fell over the place for a time.
A reverent yet uneasy silence.
“Then—”
Fienne broke it.
Her face filled with resolve.
“I'm fine with it.”
“I—”
That resolve soon twisted into unbridled sorrow.
“What do I need to do…? If he's trying to save me, then to save him in return—what should I do…?”
“Like you just said, should I just annihilate my own essence? If so, then at least Rishir won't have to vanish in my place—”
“Fienne!”
Roera grabbed Fienne's arms.
If left alone, she seemed ready to collapse.
“This, this kind of thing—…!”
Fienne's silver eyes endlessly shed tears.
“This is too much… You, to me—to all of us, without a single word—”
Fienne pleaded.
Toward Rishir, still with eyes closed.
“Please… don't leave like this… Please, say something—”
She pleaded again and again.
Did it finally reach him?
“…”
Rishir's fingertip twitched faintly.
“Hey! Duran!!! Are you really doing this!? Your master is me! Not him!”
Rishir flinched briefly.
'No matter how many times I hear it, that name never gets old.'
He lowered his head.
Duran.
A cat by that name was curled up on his folded legs, sleeping soundly.
“Duran…? Mind getting down soon? My legs are starting to cramp.”
“…”
Duran responded by flopping onto its back instead.
“Aah! Duran! That's not fair! You've never shown me that kind of affection!”
The dark elf girl grumbled.
She shot Rishir a resentful glance.
“You, what on earth did you do!? Why does Duran prefer you, a human, over me!?”
“Uh… well, I healed it when it was on the brink of death?”
“Ugh…!”
An irrefutably valid reason; the dark elf girl could only pout wordlessly.
She alternated glances between the cat Duran and human Rishir for a while before speaking.
“For real?”
“Pardon?”
“If I faithfully follow what you taught me—can I really heal injured animals too?”
Over the past few days.
Rishir had spent time with the dark elf girl, teaching her healing magic.
Along with healing the cat, it was the way to dilute her aversion to humans.
Pamon.
A young dark elf training in human forests after leaving her desert to learn nature magic.
Her days in the forest had been marred by wounds from humans.
Villagers near the forest, not content with branding her a witch, had destroyed every plant and animal she touched, claiming them cursed—
Ultimately slaying her beloved cat, Duran.
Pamon still thought it even now.
If—
This human hadn't appeared and healed Duran, what would she have done?
“…”
And—
Why was this human treating her so kindly?
“Um, can I ask something? Why are you so nice to a dark el—… no, why to me?”
Curiosity and unease flickered in the dark elf's eyes.
“…”
The human gazed at her and murmured softly.
“Cats.”
“Pardon?”
“No one who likes cats is a bad person.”
“…”
The dark elf's tense expression softened into a beaming smile.
“Well, that's true. Right, Duran~… Huh? What's that face?”
“Ah, that expression just now. It reminds me of someone I know.”
“What?”
Displeasure briefly crossed the dark elf's face.
“…Who?”
She asked with a hint of expectation.
Rishir answered without hesitation.
“The person I respect most, my lifelong benefactor.”
“…”
Blink blink.
The dark elf panicked briefly, looking around unnecessarily.
Then—
“Hehe~”
She covered her mouth, giggling.
Moments later.
Brimming with excitement, she said to Rishir,
“Lessons~ When do we start today's lesson? What are you teaching me today~?”
“Ah, today—”
Rishir smiled warmly.
“Hm?”
His gaze focused on a single point.
Flutter.
A silver butterfly reminiscent of someone hovered nearby.
'That's—'
A smile curved Rishir's lips.
A rather mischievous one, at that.
“You did say you wanted to learn nature magic, right?”
“Huh!? Don't tell me you can handle nature magic too!?”
“Pardon?”
As Rishir pointed at the silver butterfly, she looked back and forth in confusion.
“Th-then what about you…?”
“Me—I have urgent business, so I should head out.”
The dark elf's mouth fell open.
And as her beaming eyes began to crumple—
“Pamon.”
Rishir took her hand and said,
“See you again soon.”
“Soon… so, we'll meet again?”
“Of course. And when we do, I'll do it properly this time—… more than now. Got it?”
“…”
Pamon blinked at him.
Unable to grasp his meaning.
Still.
She smiled.
“It's a promise~ We'll meet again soon~!”
Dark elf Pamon.
Light entered her eyes.
With that, the last fragment of void lost its place—
And the final shard of light found its home.
“…Rishir?”
Pamon frantically looked around with wide eyes.
Drip.
A tear trailed down her cheek.
“…Rishir! Are you conscious!?”
“Fienne?”
Returned once more to reality, Rishir's vision first took in Fienne looking down at him.
Her face was already streaked with tears.
“Fienne, why are you crying—”
Rishir raised his hand to wipe her tears.
In that moment, he realized.
The reason for her tears.
“Ah…”
His hand was slowly turning transparent.
Purely, pristinely.
“I see…”
Rishir finally understood.
His condition.
His future.
Probably.
After this, he would no longer be himself.
As if to confirm it, Lindal stared at Rishir in shock, unable to hide his horror.
Lindal unwittingly knelt in place.
And clasped his hands.
A being hailed as the God King in prayer.
A profoundly strange sight.
Rishir thought as much while—gazing at Fienne.
“Fienne.”
Then at his other cherished bonds.
“Everyone. Please, don't make those faces. You know I'll always be by your sides, right? Finally—”
He took a deep breath and spoke.
“I wanted to say this to you all— Huh, I leveled up.”
Rishir's gradually fading body regained its original color.
He stood, scratching the back of his head.
“““…”””
All eyes fixed upon him.
…
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