Nephthys's Masterpiece
Fweeeee—!
At the heart of the Ivory Tower, where the hundred-story tower had come crashing down.
The hazy dust was slowly settling, revealing the shattered debris of collapsed buildings. And at the very center of it all, a massive crater had formed.
Gurgle—
There.
Gurgle, gurgle—
Droplets of lava, like beads of blood, were bubbling up from the depths.
The Tower of Time had fallen.
Fortunately, the residents of the surrounding cities had already evacuated after the emergency broadcast, and the city was empty enough that not a single human presence could be felt.
Simon swept a hand through hair gone brittle and gritty as sand, staring out at the ruined landscape. A disaster on this scale was bound to bring tragedy and grief in its wake, and yet—
"Future Simon was incredible."
Serne murmured.
"Even in the middle of all this, he thought to save the people inside the tower."
"......Haha."
Just before bringing down the Tower of Time, Future Simon had moved the dungeon-ified tower to detect every person still inside it, then coiled the walls around them and pulled them out to safety. Most had escaped with nothing worse than unconsciousness or a dazed mind.
"Over here."
Merida waved from amid the rubble.
"Lady Daniela's here."
"Ah......!"
Simon hurriedly ran over. There in the wreckage lay Daniela, unconscious. Serne pressed a feather to her, ran a quick diagnosis, and reported back.
"She'll live. Reading her memories — it looks like when Vermund raised the lava, she threw up a large-scale barrier across every floor to shield the people."
Simon smiled wryly.
"......That's Daniela for you."
What a remarkable man. He felt ashamed for having doubted him, even briefly.
"People from Headquarters will arrive soon to manage the situation. Let's leave the cleanup to them."
"Wait — so what happens to the Ivory Tower now?"
"They'll face a sweeping audit from the Dark Alliance. Not that I haven't already laid the groundwork."
She shot a sly, foxlike smile.
"Not a criminal organization that tried and failed to destroy Kizen — but rather, the victors who stopped the rampage of a handful of 'radical elements' and protected the peace between Kizen, our most important ally, and the Dark Alliance. Something like that?"
"......One hair's difference, and the nuance changes completely."
"Heheh. I've been studying politics quite diligently, you know."
[It is useless.]
Growwwl—!
Simon, Serne, and Merida whipped their heads around.
"You've got to be kidding me......!"
Lava was erupting from the ground. Serne shouted sharply.
"Run!"
KWOOOOOM!
KWOOOM!
Scarlet magma burst through the earth all around them, geysering into the air.
"......Don't tell me he's still alive?"
Simon's face went slack with disbelief.
"You skewered him straight through on the 100th floor!"
"Just run, Simon."
Merida wrapped herself in a protective blanket of magic as she spoke. The three of them scrambled away from the surging lava.
Simon swept his arm roughly to the side. Bone Armor spilled out of his subspace, seizing fallen people and carrying them to high ground. But those it couldn't reach in time were swallowed by the flowing lava and vanished.
"What are you doing!"
KWA-ROOOOAR!
When a wave of lava suddenly rose up directly ahead of them, all three froze in their tracks.
[I will not let you escape.]
Vermund revealed himself from within the lava. His abdomen was hollowed out like a donut, yet still he moved.
Even for a Tower Lord ranked among the continent's strongest, this went far beyond anything human.
"My my~ How about you stop making an ugly spectacle of your twilight years and simply vanish, Father?"
Serne hurled the vitriol with a beautifully smiling face.
[Serne.]
Vermund's body seethed and boiled.
[Why did you betray me?]
"You should get your facts straight, shouldn't you? You betrayed me first."
Serne tilted her head.
"Your grand cause of destroying Kizen — it was nothing more than an order from 'the Cabal'? And I suppose they promised you a cure for that terminal illness eating you alive?"
The feather that bloomed at her fingertip drank in a radiant glow.
"You deceived and betrayed the Ivory Tower."
As she loosed the feathers, a blinding explosion erupted.
Simon and Merida shielded their eyes from the intense flash. Vermund's lava-wreathed body seemed to crumble away — only for him to rise again, intact as a roly-poly toy.
"Give it up. Once the necromancers from Headquarters arrive—"
"There is no support coming from Headquarters."
Vermund pulled himself free of the lava, revealing his full form.
Seeing it in the flesh, the sight of his entire abdomen blown away was even more horrific. How could a body in that state still move? He was looking at it with his own eyes and still couldn't believe it.
"Do you see that?"
Vermund pointed toward the distant 'Headquarters Tower', which was now shrouded in a scarlet barrier.
"When I was first flung out of the Tower of Time, I contacted Headquarters and invoked my authority as Tower Lord to raise an 'Asymmetric Barrier'."
This barrier had been designed to repel even the assault of Nephthys — the same offensive that had once blown the Holy Federation's Sky Castle to pieces. Even if the continent itself sank, it would hold.
For two hours, no one would leave.
"And the barrier that formed the Tower of Time has been redirected, spread across an even wider area."
Simon looked up. Sure enough, at a certain point the sunlight began to bend and warp. There was no mistaking it — a barrier.
"No communication, no teleportation. The scenario goes like this: everyone who was inside the Tower of Time dies in the accident caused by Girdon tampering with the 'Frozen Clock'."
He lowered his arm and looked at Serne.
"Kizen will lose its Student Council President and its Rank 4 — but the Ivory Tower will lose its home and its heir as well, so no suspicion will fall on us. A tragic accident, nothing more."
Merida's eyes went wide.
"Who the hell would believe a crooked scheme like that?"
Flash!
She flung her arm and a curse shot out, crackling with light. But Vermund deflected it with a single flick of his mantle, sending the curse rebounding straight back into Merida's body.
Kuhak!
She was thrown backward and crumpled to the ground. Already pushed past her limit, Merida lost consciousness on the spot.
"Merida!"
"Believing it or not hardly matters."
Vermund chuckled dryly.
"Simon Polentia. No doubt it was another personality of yours — the one that appeared when you went berserk with the 'Frozen Clock' — that shot me down. But when I took that sword's attack, I knew for certain."
The corner of his mouth curled upward.
"You are exactly the child the 'Elder' desires."
"......!"
"I have no more need of the Ivory Tower. By delivering you as an offering, I can ascend to a new stage."
He stalked closer, step by heavy step. Serne moved forward.
"Simon, run."
"No way. You're just as drained as I am."
Both of them were completely out of Jet-Black and stamina alike.
Simon, from his berserk rampage with the 'Frozen Clock'. Serne, from unraveling the 'Absolute Seal'.
They had both brushed past death, and merely standing upright was a feat in itself. Fighting was simply out of the question.
'Pier exhausted himself protecting me. Akemus is badly wounded, Herseba needs time to recover. And even summoning Prince would take Jet-Black I don't have......!'
With every step Vermund took, the sky darkened black with falling volcanic debris.
Simon raised the Greatsword of Ruin with trembling arms, and Serne, leaning against his back, clenched a feather in her hand. The light shimmering within it was faint.
"This is your last chance, Serne."
Vermund said gravely.
"Offer that boy to me."
"......"
"We share no blood, but you are of my kind. You have ambition, and for its sake you wouldn't care what became of the Ivory Tower. Do this, and everything can still be undone."
"Don't flatter yourself."
Serne glared at her adoptive father with loathing.
"The reason I oppose you isn't merely because you betrayed the Ivory Tower."
"Then what—"
"You tried to kill Simon."
She lifted the corner of her mouth.
"Simon and Mayrin are not within the range of things I'm willing to concede. Father."
As Simon turned to her in wide-eyed surprise, she suddenly placed her right hand on top of his head and began ruffling his hair without mercy.
"He does need to live at least ten more years, after all."
"Wh-what are you doing!"
"Revenge."
Serne smiled with her eyes.
"For daring to treat me like a child?"
"I never did!"
Watching the two of them, Vermund's eyes went cold and still.
"......So it's because of a man. I never imagined you had such a side to you. How absurd an ending — laughably so."
He raised his arm.
"Perish."
Scarlet lava surged up behind him. At Vermund's gesture, the wave of molten rock came crashing toward the two of them.
Back to back, Simon and Serne faced the oncoming tide.
'Can I take him down in one strike, in this condition?'
Impossible or not, he had to try.
Having settled his resolve, Simon slid his left foot forward.
'Through space itself—!'
SHUUUUUAAAAAA!
An uncanny azure wave came rolling in and crashed against the scarlet tide of lava.
"That—!"
Vermund's expression hardened into a scowl.
"So you were all here. Hm!"
When Simon turned around, his face lit up brilliantly. A massive man had arrived riding the wave with magnificent flair, touching down neatly on the ground.
A sight so welcome it could bring tears to his eyes.
"......Phantassus, Senior!"
"Hahahahaha!"
With a hearty laugh, Phantassus raised his muscular arm.
"Been well, my junior! I've always heard of your exploits — and cheered you on, every time! Hm!"
Serne, who knew him well, waved too.
"My my, it's been a while, Senior."
"Hm! Still as sharp as ever! Thank goodness you're both safe!"
Merida lay asleep in his arms, breathing softly. With nothing more than a gesture, Phantassus raised a wave from empty air and laid her gently down upon it.
Shuuuaaa!
The wave carrying Merida — raised from a place without a single drop of water — swept past the ruins and swiftly carried her far from the battlefield.
"The evacuations are nearly complete! Hm!"
In the blink of an eye, the lava-scorched ruins of the Tower of Time had become a flood plain, as if a great deluge had struck. Waves surged everywhere, carrying the injured away to safety.
"So the risk has become reality."
Vermund's brow furrowed.
"Nephthys's greatest masterpiece, and Kizen's former Student Council President — Phantassus Hugh Ikel."
Phantassus knocked his two fists together with a thud!
"A pleasure to finally meet you, Tower Lord."
"How did you even get here?"
"The necklace my sister wears told me her location."
"......I see little reason for us to fight, do you?"
Vermund shrugged.
"You are merely being used by Nephthys. She knew things would come to this when she sent her sister into the Ivory Tower. Doesn't that gall you? Exploiting the weakness of a graduate — an alumnus — and still ordering you about like one of her own students?"
"I'm afraid Merida is not my weakness."
"Look the other way, and I'll release your sister."
Vermund swept his hand outward.
Far in the distance, volcanoes suddenly erupted on either side of Merida as she rode the wave. Phantassus's water twisted sharply, dodging the flying debris.
"But if you choose to fight, I can promise neither your sister's life nor your own. Withdraw. Now."
"Hahahahaha!"
Phantassus threw his head back and laughed long and loud — then, with a sharp chak!, he dropped into a stance and drew his Jet-Black up from its depths.
"I'm afraid those two are the juniors I cherish most in all of Kizen! Looking away is not an option!"
"A shame."
The light in Vermund's two eyes flashed with savage intensity.
"Then you too shall die here."
Phantassus grinned, flashing white teeth.
"Then allow me to make you pay the price. Tower Lord."
The moment both titans moved their hands, lava and water came surging together and collided.