356. 'Star of Death ???' 'Brilliant Light of ????'
356. 'Star of Death ???' 'Brilliant Light of ????'
***
At the sight revealed after entering the final phase, the last stage, Serin momentarily lost her words.
"..."
A city like a scene of utter ruin. The sight before her eyes now was definitely in her memory.
Because I had experienced this before.
I had seen this sight with my own eyes.
And I could never forget it, to the point that it surfaced even in dreams.
And the moment I recognized it.
I couldn't help but feel a strange phantom pain, as if a part of my chest were throbbing.
I had definitely braced myself, prepared my heart.
But. Even so...
The sight of the catastrophe I now faced directly struck me without mercy. As if a sharp sword were stabbing into a festering wound... a strange pain seemed to tear through my heart.
To that extent, the city now entering my gaze. The sight of the city wrecked as if a giant meteor had fallen was striking. The city that must once have been splendid and most prosperous had lost its light, and in the desolate space at the city's center, 'it' was revealing its presence without reserve.
Slip...!
Before I knew it, I was gripping the Crescent-Moon Weight with all my strength, and endless emotions rose ceaselessly in my heart.
I simply could not tear my gaze away.
The sight of the ruined city, and the demonic beast whose bulk had been infinitely swollen by the Great Demonic Beast's unique trait, 'Gluttony'—it wore exactly the same form as in the past.
When the endlessly swollen demonic beast had possessed power beyond expectation. It was not the slightest bit different from the sight I had faced when I, failing to properly recognize it, had thrown myself forward in arrogance.
The Great Demonic Beast I had barely managed to kill after indescribable hardship. Even now, I couldn't understand how I had survived back then.
It was like a kind of miracle.
—The Seven-Person Subjugation Party.
That day when the beings who represented the present and future of the Grandelia Empire all met death on a single day.
When I alone survived... the first time I deeply regretted it. Now, just before a great regret. It felt as if I had returned to that time.
When I had foolishly broken formation first and thrown myself at the demonic beast. I had been arrogant.
Amid countless emotions, I saw two people slowly moving their steps.
"What the... even the location changed...?"
"There wasn't any message saying the location was fixed, but no, still. Plea! Hasn't the location never changed until now? This background is something I've never seen before, either. And Zervallua's size is abnormally huge, too..."
Had they also not expected this kind of space? Sua and Yujeong, exchanging words as if surprised, carefully approached the edge of the hill to examine the situation more closely.
And I followed close behind them, trying all the while to steady my heart.
"Sua. Is it different from what you expected?"
Approaching the edge of the hill, I carefully spoke.
Because right now I felt like I might fall into pointless anguish alone. Rather... before that, it seemed better to steady my heart by talking with them.
At my words, Sua, who had been alternating her gaze between the ruined city and Zervallua with disbelieving eyes, nodded.
"Yes. It's absurdly different... No matter what, this situation is a bit much."
So much so that her confident entrance into Phase 5 after taking the elixir seemed meaningless. Sua had become composed. And Yujeong, who kept ruffling her hair, looked no different.
"Seriously, what do we do? No matter how I look at it, this situation really... seems like a bug."
Yujeong, wearing a hollow smile, seemed unable to accept this situation at all. Watching the reactions of the other two, I forcibly swallowed the sigh that was about to escape.
'....Stay calm.'
Even the place where I now stood ironically reminded me of my past self. The point where I had released my presence and first leaped toward Zervallua. The place where I had stood then was, by coincidence, this very hill.
But even if I steadied my heart, the current situation was impossible to view favorably no matter how I tried.
Now that we had taken the elixir, I didn't think Sua and Yujeong were inferior even compared to the members of the past subjugation party.
But back then, it had been a subjugation party of seven including me. Now there were only three, not even half that, and compared to my past self, I was weaker now.
The higher my stats rose, the more ironically I could only feel the difference between my current self in Another World and my Black Ark self.
As if the objective strength I had previously considered was all meaningless. What I felt was clearly different.
Even though I had obtained the hidden class Moon Princess. That hadn't changed much.
In Black Ark, traits could increase infinitely depending on my efforts, and there was no visible limit to growth. But in Another World, there were limits.
The limit on the number of traits. Even increasing that was nearly impossible without something special that was hard to obtain.
In that moment when I was lost in countless thoughts.
Ding!
A massive notification appeared.
*
————
[Phase 5! Subjugation of Zervallua, Beast of Destruction!!]
The Grandelia Empire in crisis due to the appearance of the Great Demonic Beast Zervallua!
Your strength is needed to subjugate the Great Demonic Beast that has destroyed even Elysium, the city that boasted the most splendid civilization!
Subjugate Zervallua alongside the key figures of Grandelia!
【Phase 5 Clear Condition: Subjugation of Zervallua, Beast of Destruction】
————
*
Along with the massive notification, two giant pillars of light soon appeared nearby. Sua and Yujeong brightened at the pillars of light.
"Ah! As expected, there's something."
"Right? Looks like there's support. I mean, no matter how you look at it, this situation was absurd for the three of us to clear."
Between the surprised voices of the two, I simply stared at the pillars of light. The brilliant clusters of light gradually faded, and figures slowly began to reveal themselves within.
And the first person to catch my eye was a knight.
A knight with golden hair reaching the shoulders and cold features, clad in golden armor. He was someone I had never seen before, but his presence felt overwhelming, with a restrained intensity.
For a brief moment, my gaze met the knight's, but the golden-haired man immediately turned his eyes away from me. Looking at the ruined city and Zervallua, he bit his lip, revealing fierce emotion.
"...Damn it!"
As I gave him a slightly puzzled look, I turned my gaze toward the other figure, and in that instant, I received a shock as if my breath had stopped.
"You are..."
I couldn't help but speak.
A being who should not be here.
A being who must not be here, a being I knew.
Transparent hair holding the color of water. The all-black light armor clinging to her body wrapped her mysteriously, as if granting her invisibility.
But even so, that characteristically cold face, as if all emotion had been erased, was something I could never forget no matter how I tried.
And she, too, looked at me, and a change appeared on that face which had shown no shift at all.
"...Grand Duke?"
As she opened her mouth in a surprised voice, I bit my lip.
—Dersia le Belua.
The foremost assassin of the Grandelia Empire and... none other than the woman who should never leave the side of Cecilia, who by now would have ascended to the position of Empress, in order to guard her.
The mere fact that Belua was here made me feel that something was deeply wrong with the situation.
"...Grand Duke?"
"Rin. Do you two know each other?"
Sua and Yujeong, who had been watching the two newcomers with curiosity, voiced their confusion at the title she had used for me. I briefly wondered what to say, then simply gave a faint smile as if giving up.
"Ah, yeah... there's a story there. We know each other."
From the moment she called me Grand Duke, it was already too late to hide it. But explaining it in detail wasn't feasible in the current situation.
When I glanced at Belua, she gave a slight nod as if she understood. Her distinctive water-colored eyes held clear questions as she looked at me. But she seemed willing to go along with me for now, which was a small relief.
Just then.
Ding!
*
————
[Among the Three Stars of the Grandelia Empire, 'Star of Death - Belua' and 'Brilliant Light's Arianne' join the subjugation!]
————
*
A brief notification about the two appeared in my vision.
With the designation of Belua, I became certain she was the person I knew, and the newly appeared golden-haired knight seemed to be the knight called Arianne.
"Wait... if they're Stars, then Great Heroes!?"
As Sua shouted in surprise, Yujeong also widened her eyes.
At that moment, I realized something new from Sua's words. At her words, neither Belua nor the knight Arianne showed a reaction of denial.
Perhaps even if they weren't called Great Heroes, being called Stars alone seemed to mean they were beings on the same level as Great Heroes.
Then Arianne turned his head.
And after taking in me, then Sua and Yujeong in turn, he twisted the corner of his mouth and spoke.
"This is truly... a hopeless force."
At the knight's voice, which seemed to have grasped the current situation, I inadvertently let out a hollow laugh.
The words themselves were incredibly arrogant and demoralizing. But they were true.
No matter that two beings called Stars, equivalent to Great Heroes, had joined. It was hard to say this was better than the past Seven-Person Subjugation Party.
'Arianne.'
It said he was a being called a Star of Grandelia, but he was a new existence I didn't know.
But if he was a Great Hero, it wouldn't be strange for him to possess arrogance like Daji. The knight with overwhelming presence, with the caliber of his existence, had the skill to back up those words.
Separately, as Sua and Yujeong both frowned, I was about to say something, but strangely, Belua spoke before me.
"Arianne. Watch your words. You are before the Grand Duke."
"That's a laughable thing to say. Belua, who among those present here is a Grand Duke?"
Arianne's gaze as he answered held genuine confusion.
He didn't know me, and I didn't know him. So perhaps it was only natural.
Rather, how Belua, who knew me, and this knight Arianne, who didn't know me, knew each other felt complicated.
The moment I thought that.
————!!
A massive black flash completely severed the space.
In that instant, at the chilling sensation, I unconsciously gripped the Crescent-Moon Weight.
Clang!
Arianne, who had drawn his sword like light, hardened his expression completely and glared at Belua.
"...What is the meaning of this, Belua."