[System Error: No Players with the name Isval are alive]
[System Error: Isval has died]
[System Error: Thalamik is still alive, finishing blow not delivered]
[System Error: No Victors from the appointed fight]
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[Solving System Error]
[Designating a New Winner]
BADUMP...
BADUMP...
BADUMP...
Twitching eyes.
Blood moving along my beating heart.
I opened my eyes.
Momoka was beside me, casting a healing spell. My injuries were mended as I could feel myself getting better. My blurry vision slowly focused as I looked over to the side. Lying there was Linon, her hand reaching out to a large figure. A towering man who resembled that of a Demon Lord Envoy. Her mentee was standing with his sword thrust into the ground.
"Isval Il Opache."
That's when I realized the situation.
"OI, ISVAL!"
[Isval has died. You have been declared the winner by technicality]
[Linon was defeated. You have been given the chance to deliver a finishing blow]
"What?" I stood up, pushing Momoka away. "Master..." Walking limply, I reached him, touching his clawed hands. A sensation of coldness spread all around his body. It was as if his death was almost instant.
But how?
How was I alive and he dead?
I bit my lip as it started bleeding.
Linon smiled before slowly speaking. "Master Isval had only one motivation after all the time he spent here. It was to 'defeat' you as his rival. That... was his source of determination. Upon seeing the victory message, he was perhaps... sated."
Sated?
Of victory?
"Then, did that make him lose his 'determination'?" I asked Linon, looking at Isval's corpse in the face. A smile was painted there. He died standing with a soft smile.
"He entrusts his 'will' to you, Mr. Thalamik," the dark elf said, breathing in and out. I didn't even notice the wound near her chest. "As the sole winner of this death game. Stay determined," she continued.
[Finishing blow insufficient. Automated disqualification will begin.]
Slowly, Linon's body began to disintegrate into dust. Smiling, she closed her eyes as she disappeared completely. Isval's corpse also disintegrated not long after that. I was left there to watch an unspeakable scene.
"That Isval... he just wanted to defeat me so badly that he literally became a monster. But once he did win, he just died instantly like that. What a stupid senior," I said to Momoka, who was behind me, with my hair covering my eyes.
"Master..."
"Well, it was quite a journey, right, Thalamik?" Someone appeared before me. An elf that I had been acquainted with quite well. The Sky Piercing Cobalt. "Cobalt..." I said, unsure whether what I was seeing was real or not.
"I am glad you made it all the way to the end," he said with confidence. "I am but a mirage, I am sure. But I was made from his 'will' entrusted to you." Then, slowly, one by one, mirage after mirage appeared.
[Congratulations on your victory!]
[You are qualified to wield Blastar, Sword of Darkness]
[Your Artifact Fragments have increased to 999]
999 fragments.
1998 souls.
Appearing in front of me like some sort of graduation day.
"Even through hardship and everything else, you did well staying determined," Cobalt said.
"No. It wasn't supposed to be like this."
I caressed my head as I could feel my hands trying to claw it down.
"I WAS SUPPOSED TO DIE! I WAS SUPPOSED TO LOSE! I WAS SUPPOSED TO DIE! I DON'T DESERVE TO LIVE!" I said, my mouth blabbering and stuttering along the way, speaking like I didn't accept fate. "WHY DID EVERYTHING BECOME LIKE THIS!? HOW UNFAIR IS THIS!?"
Cobalt and the others just smiled at me before finally, the person who was both my final opponent and senior walked to stand in front of Cobalt. "What the hell are you saying, brat? Stop bitching around and live on with your life," Isval Il Opache said to me with an annoyed tone.
The tears in my eyes rained down. "YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO WIN! WHY THE HELL DID YOU LOSE!"
"It was because I needed to be a monster to defeat you. Yet, you never needed to become one to defeat me. You are clearly stronger, dumbass. In matters of doing the best thing in the worst possible situation, your determination is stronger than mine."
I stared at him, not even able to comprehend that logic.
Slowly, the mirages began to dissipate into magical energy.
"We don't have much time left," Cobalt said to Isval. "Thalamik, one more thing," Cobalt said to me. "That fuel Blastar desires isn't necessarily the only thing you can use. Stay on your own path. Lastly, remember us, please."
My heart beat harder as I didn't want this exchange to end.
"Please remember us. Everyone here, not who we had become, but who we were."
"Not the monsters inside this death game."
"But comrades and innocents brutally manipulated."
"Though some are agents of Zuatha, they never intended to actually kill anyone. We are all victims of this predatory death game."
"Please. Remember us well, Thalamik. Can you do that?" Cobalt finished asking me one final question. Memories of this one-year journey replayed in my mind. "I will..." I kneeled down. My body shook all around.
"Thank you. Stay determined. Our Hero." Slowly, the mirages began dissipating one by one into the sky, turning into magical energy. As if returning to how everything was. I reached out my hand, shouting, screaming, howling to the sky in frustration as I never even managed to reach them.
[Ending Live Stream]
***
[Ending Live Stream]
[Dear Audience, thank you for watching!]
Raymed exited the house inside United Front, running towards the colosseum where it was held. He jumped from building to building before flying towards the academy. From the gate, he saw Carmilla standing in the colosseum. Besitulars, Trish, Lulu, and Killiar were running towards her.
A pillar of light appeared in the center of the colosseum, as if acting like a beacon that the death game was finished once and for all. Without hesitation, Raymed dropped down to join them in greeting his arrival.
The person who had to win.
The person who was the most determined.
He exited the pillar of light, dressed in dark armor with blue linings.
His hair wasn't like the one shown in the stream. It was now shorter than it ever was, but it covered his eyes perfectly. It resembled how he looked in high school prom. Beside him stood a fox demi-human who wore an outfit matching his colors.
"Thalamik!" Carmilla said, her hand reaching for him.
A cold smile was painted on his face.
Carmilla's hand failed to touch him, halted by that person's technique, Mana Field. The duo walked, evading the touch of everyone. Even that of his friends. Unsure why, Raymed sensed items being thrown.
Tomatoes, sandals, used paper, rocks, anything the audience could find.
"WHERE IS MY SON!"
"WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER?"
"MY CHILD WAS AN INNOCENT CHILD!!!"
The crowd went wild while Thalamik and Momoka passed through them without a hitch. Using his Mana Field to push anything and anyone out of his way. The crowd's thrown items could not even touch him. He walked slowly outside the gate before getting enveloped in shadow, disappearing from everyone.
Where could he have gone to?
A knock sounded on Veuz's office.
Looking at the door, "Kaiser of Darkness is here," AA said.
"Thalamik? Please do come in," Veuz said.
"Sorry to interrupt," Thalamik said softly. "Is there any medical facility in Saint HQ that I can privately book? I wish to do a medical checkup for myself and Momoka."
Veuz shook her head. "No need to book. I will contact the HQ telepathically. Just go there and take your time resting." She smiled with a sad face.
"Thank you, Veuz," Thalamik said before closing the door.
His footsteps sounded until they disappeared.
"AA. He might have suffered mental trauma in the worst way possible. Would you also look into it? His care is our number one priority for now," Veuz said to AA.
"Eh? Even above the communications with other races?"
"Yes. That boy has suffered enough and never got rewarded for any of it. If I could help just keep his mentality strong, that's my bare minimum! Please go now," Veuz said, dispatching AA to Thalamik's side.
AA nodded before turning into a pink orb, starting to fly towards the Saint HQ.
Alone in the office, Veuz joined her hands. "I am sorry... Thalamik. You never deserved to suffer from any of this. I am sorry, all of this was due to my incapability," she said with tears in her eyes.