Looking down at Lionheart's bloody remains, Tsutsumi felt no sense of achievement, nor did he feel even the slightest flicker of emotion. The old man had been a traitor who chose to side with Salem, and Tsutsumi had dealt with him accordingly. There was nothing more to it than that.
The Relic of Destruction hung loosely in his hand, the traitor's blood slowly dripping from its edge. Each drop fell onto the floor, leaving a long trail of crimson behind him as he made his way toward the entrance to the vault holding the final Relic.
Tsutsumi didn't bother looking back.
Whatever Lionheart had thought, whatever reasons he might have had for betraying his allies, none of it mattered to him in the first place. The old man had made his choice, and Tsutsumi had delivered his judgment. There was no satisfaction to be found in it, nor was there any regret. It was simply something that needed to be done, and now that it was over, he had no reason to dwell on it.
With the Relic of Destruction still in hand, Tsutsumi approached the magical vault and activated Wizard Infinity once again. The familiar magic responded to his command, allowing him to examine the complicated lock protecting the entrance. It didn't take him long to decipher its workings.
Within moments, the magical lock was decoded, and the vault opened.
Inside rested the lamp containing the Relic of Knowledge.
Tsutsumi reached out and picked it up, holding the lamp in his hand as he examined it. For a moment, he simply stood there, his dull gaze resting on the Relic. Unlike his earlier actions, he didn't immediately do anything with it. Instead, he seemed to be considering something, quietly weighing whether or not he should use its power.
"Well, I didn't expect that." Morgan's voice came from behind him.
Before approaching, she casually nudged Lionheart's corpse with her bare foot, making sure the old man was actually dead. She continued toward Tsutsumi without paying the slightest attention to the blood surrounding them.
Her footsteps were light and unhurried. Not even a drop of blood clung to her bare feet or the hem of her dress as she walked past the mess Tsutsumi had left behind.
She eventually stopped beside him and leaned over his shoulder, looking down at the Relic of Knowledge in his hand.
"So, are you going to summon that whore and ask her something?" Morgan asked, her tone carrying its usual casual contempt.
Tsutsumi didn't immediately answer. His gaze remained on the lamp, as though he were still deciding whether using it would be worth the trouble.
Morgan, on the other hand, seemed rather interested in what he would do next.
To be perfectly honest, she enjoyed spending time with her new partner far more than she had with the man who wielded her before him. The previous man had failed to catch her interest, and after she refused to cooperate with his plans, he had simply given up on trying to win her over.
Tsutsumi was different.
For one thing, he didn't need her power.
From what Morgan had witnessed so far, the things Tsutsumi could accomplish were already far more powerful and destructive than anything she could offer him. He possessed more than enough strength to pursue his own goals, and he certainly didn't seem like the sort of person who needed to rely on a Relic to get what he wanted.
Yet, despite having no real need for her abilities, he had still chosen to keep her around.
He continued to travel across the land of Remnant with her, leaving a trail of chaos wherever he went, without ever making a serious attempt to force her into doing anything for him.
That alone made him rather unusual in Morgan's eyes.
Normally, someone like Tsutsumi wasn't the sort of person she would willingly associate herself with. He seemed to lean toward the side of evil, and his methods certainly weren't the kind that would earn him much admiration from others.
As the Relic associated with Destruction, Morgan was already familiar with how people tended to perceive her. Even without understanding how her powers actually worked, many would naturally look at her and assume she was nothing more than a dangerous weapon, something that existed to bring ruin to the world.
And the previous man who had wielded her had done little to change that impression. His name had been Oz-something. Morgan couldn't even be bothered to remember it properly.
What she did remember was his intention to use her power to destroy an immortal woman. He had wanted to turn the power of Destruction against someone who, in his eyes, represented a problem that needed to be eliminated.
The irony was that he himself was semi-immortal, with his soul capable of persisting by taking over another young body after his death.
In other words, he was willing to use her power to destroy someone else while relying on his own means of continuing to exist.
But that wasn't even the part that bothered Morgan the most.
The real problem was that he had never shown any genuine interest in forming a proper bond with her. He hadn't tried to understand her, nor had he shown any intention of treating her as anything other than a tool that could help him accomplish his goal.
To him, Morgan's existence was only valuable because of what she could do for him. And when she refused to cooperate, he responded by sealing her away inside the vault. That decision had only confirmed what she had already suspected.
He had never viewed her as anything more than a tool.
After all, that was how people tended to treat things they considered useful. A tool was something to be picked up whenever it was needed, used until its purpose had been fulfilled, and then discarded, forgotten, or destroyed once it no longer served a purpose.
There was no reason to care about a tool beyond its usefulness.
But Tsutsumi Ryoko was different.
He didn't look at her and see a weapon that could help him achieve his ambitions. He didn't seem particularly concerned with what she was supposed to represent, either. He hadn't even bothered trying to put a label on her or define what their relationship was supposed to be.
He simply let her be herself.
If she wanted to speak, she could speak. If she wanted to accompany him, she could accompany him. And if she didn't feel like helping him with something, he wasn't going to waste his time trying to persuade her.
Tsutsumi never forced her to do anything for him, nor did he try to convince her that cooperating with him would somehow benefit her in the long run.
He didn't make promises to gain her trust, and he didn't seem interested in earning her loyalty through words.
He simply continued doing whatever he wanted, allowing Morgan to decide for herself whether she wished to remain by his side.
And strangely enough, that was precisely what made her want to stay.
For the first time in a long while, Morgan found herself accompanying someone who didn't seem to care about what she could offer him. Tsutsumi possessed his own strength, followed his own path, and had little interest in making her conform to whatever expectations people might have of the Relic of Destruction.
He didn't treat her like a weapon, an obligation. Or even seem to care about what she was supposed to be. To him, she was simply Morgan. And that was something she found far more interesting than she had expected.
Ever since her creation, everyone who had obtained the Relic of Destruction had eventually treated her as a tool, a weapon to be wielded for the sake of their own ambitions. It didn't matter what they wanted to accomplish or how noble they believed their intentions to be. In the end, they all looked at her and saw the same thing: a means to an end.
With the sole exception of Tsutsumi Ryoko, of course.
He had no need for her power, no desire to force her into obedience, and no particular interest in deciding what role she should play in his life.
Yet he had still allowed her to accompany him.
And for Morgan, that simple fact was enough to make this journey far more entertaining than anything she had experienced with any of her previous wielders.
"There is nothing more for me to ask. She can only answer questions about the past and present, not the future," Tsutsumi explained.
Despite saying that, he still chose to activate the Relic of Knowledge. After all, there was no harm in summoning Jinn, the spirit residing within the Relic, even if he didn't have any questions he wanted to ask her.
The moment the Relic was activated, the world around them came to a standstill.
Time itself seemed to have stopped flowing, leaving everything frozen in place. In the silence that followed, a massive, woman-like figure appeared before Tsutsumi and Morgan. Her light blue and dark blue hair flowed around her, complemented by the golden accessories adorning her body. A trail of glowing, light blue mist drifted from her form as she stretched lazily, as though she had just woken up from a particularly long nap.
Jinn let out a relaxed sigh before finally opening her eyes.
"Wonderful! Now, tell me-" She paused when her gaze fell upon Morgan. "Oh? It's you. I didn't expect someone to unseal you, Witch Queen."
Her voice carried a hint of surprise, though it quickly returned to its usual cheerful tone.
"You can drop that fake politeness, whore," Morgan shot back, clearly unimpressed by Jinn's appearance.
Rather than taking offense, Jinn simply smiled at her. It was the sort of friendly smile that looked perfectly pleasant on the surface but felt completely insincere to anyone who knew her well enough.
"Oh, getting a bit bold, I see. Aren't you afraid of what I might tell your current wielder about you?"
"Tsk. Go ahead and try. Tsutsumi isn't like that last guy. He doesn't need me."
Morgan crossed her arms beneath her chest, puffing it out with a confidence that bordered on arrogance. There wasn't even a hint of worry in her expression as she answered Jinn, as though she had absolutely nothing to fear from whatever the spirit might reveal.
And, to be fair, she had a good reason for being so confident.
After all, Jinn was the one who had let it slip to Oz-something that Morgan's power was the key to defeating Salem. That little revelation had led to an entire mess that could have been avoided if the spirit had simply kept her mouth shut.
Of course, Morgan wasn't about to forget that anytime soon.
"Huh?"
For the first time since appearing, Jinn seemed genuinely caught off guard.
She looked at Morgan, then briefly glanced at Tsutsumi, apparently trying to make sense of what she had just heard. The Witch Queen was actually happy that her current wielder didn't need her power?
Most people who obtained a Relic would naturally want to make use of its power. Even if they had their own abilities, the chance to gain access to something as powerful as a Relic was hardly something they would willingly ignore.
Yet Morgan was standing there, practically boasting about how little her current wielder needed her.
Before Jinn could make sense of that strange situation, she finally turned her attention toward Tsutsumi.
And the moment she did, her expression changed.
A bead of cold sweat formed on her forehead.
"Oh, uh... Well, you see, I'm a spirit who can only provide knowledge of the past and present. I really shouldn't be on the front lines."
Her voice remained relatively cheerful, but there was something noticeably different about her demeanor now. The friendly smile was still there, yet it had become a little stiffer than before.
As the spirit who possessed knowledge of the past and present, Jinn could immediately understand what Tsutsumi intended to do with her.
And, for the first time since being summoned, she began to feel that perhaps this wasn't going to be a particularly pleasant conversation.
"I don't need you to fight the entire battle for me," Tsutsumi said coldly. "I just need your power to stop time."
He reached into his possession and pulled out a card, turning it around to reveal the Final Attack Ride: Decade card.
Tsutsumi held it up for Jinn to see, his expression remaining as indifferent as ever.
"Are you going to cooperate, or do I need to take it for myself?"
For a moment, Jinn could only stare at him.
She swallowed hard.
Normally, she shouldn't have any reason to be afraid of someone like Tsutsumi. She was a spirit residing within a magical lamp, capable of answering questions about the past and present. Her purpose was to provide knowledge, not to fight battles or put herself in danger.
She wasn't even supposed to be on the front lines in the first place. And yet, something about the man standing before her made her instincts scream that she was in danger.
It wasn't simply his strength, either. There was something about the way he looked at her, so utterly calm and uninterested in whatever she might say, that made her feel as though her usual tricks and excuses would accomplish absolutely nothing.
Tsutsumi wasn't asking for her cooperation because he needed to persuade her. He was giving her the opportunity to cooperate before deciding whether he would take what he wanted by force.
Jinn's hair practically stood on end as her survival instincts kicked in.
"...Normally, I wouldn't use my power for such reckless actions," she began carefully, trying to maintain some semblance of dignity. "But since you've collected all four Relics, I believe I can make an exception for you."
She paused briefly, taking a moment to consider how best to explain the limitations of her power without provoking the man standing before her.
"As you already know, my power isn't limitless. Stopping time is only a side effect of my abilities, so I can't simply keep it active all day without accomplishing anything."
Jinn offered him another smile, though this one seemed more like an attempt to negotiate than a genuine expression of friendliness.
"How about this? I can stop time a total of five times every twenty-four hours. Each activation will also have a ten-minute cooldown before I can stop time again."
She waited a moment, seemingly hoping Tsutsumi would accept those terms without further argument.
"Of course, there's one more condition. Whatever you need to do while time is stopped, you have to finish it within fifteen seconds. Otherwise, time will start flowing again, whether you're ready or not."
Jinn finished explaining the conditions she had just proposed, then looked at Tsutsumi expectantly.
She had made her limitations clear and offered him a reasonable arrangement. At least, she hoped it was reasonable enough that he wouldn't decide to ignore the entire agreement and take her power by force.
After all, she had no desire to find out what would happen if she refused him outright.
"Tsk. What's the matter with you all of a sudden? Did you hit your head?" Morgan asked, leaning closer toward Tsutsumi.
She had been watching the exchange with considerable amusement, but Jinn's sudden willingness to negotiate had apparently caught her attention as well.
The spirit who had once been so willing to meddle in other people's affairs was now practically offering Tsutsumi a deal before he could even make good on his threat.
It was quite a sight.
"Oh, please, Black Witch. I'm not an idiot!" Jinn snapped back.
Her smile finally slipped, and she shot Morgan an irritated look.
"Do you seriously think I'd pick a fight with someone like him when I can just negotiate instead?"
Morgan merely looked at her, seemingly unconvinced. Tsutsumi, meanwhile, had already lost interest in their exchange. Without another word, he opened his Reality Marble and casually tossed Jinn's lamp inside.
The lamp disappeared into his Reality Marble, safely stored away just as Morgan had been before him.
Jinn blinked as she looked at the empty space where her lamp had been, then turned toward Tsutsumi with a complicated expression; after a few moments, she seemed to accept her fate and disappear back into his Relic now stored within him.
Morgan, having finished her little exchange with Jinn, disappeared back inside Tsutsumi's body.
With that, time returned to normal.
The stillness that had surrounded Tsutsumi finally came to an end as the world resumed its usual flow. Having finished dealing with the Relics, he casually turned around and began walking out of Haven Academy, heading toward the outside without any particular sense of urgency.
As far as he was concerned, there was nothing left for him to do inside the building.
The moment Tsutsumi stepped outside, he stopped.
His dull gaze lifted toward the massive crowd standing in his way, and for a brief moment, he simply stared at the sight before him.
There were far too many people for him to count at a glance.
Huntsmen and Huntresses stood alongside criminals and ordinary civilians, their backgrounds and circumstances as different as night and day. Some possessed power, while others had little to their names. Some had spent their lives protecting people, while others had lived on the opposite side of the law.
Yet, somehow, they had all gathered here. And now, they were standing together, blocking his path.
"Well, this is unexpected..." Tsutsumi murmured.
He hadn't expected to find anyone waiting for him, let alone a crowd of this size.
After all, he had only been inside Haven Academy for a short while. He had spent that time beating Lionheart to death, retrieving the final Relic, and having a brief conversation with Jinn. None of those things should have taken long enough for so many people to gather outside and form such a massive lineup.
And yet, here they were.
Somehow, during that brief window of time, people from all walks of life had managed to come together and stand in his way.
Tsutsumi's gaze swept across the crowd before him. The sight was certainly unusual, even by his standards.
For once, the people standing before him weren't divided by their backgrounds, their power, or the wealth they possessed. Whatever differences they might have had, whatever grudges they carried, and whatever paths had brought them to this moment, they had all made the same choice.
They had chosen to stand together. Because of him, Huntsmen and Huntresses, criminals and civilians, the powerful and the powerless had gathered in one place, united by a common purpose.
They had come to face what they believed to be the final evil threatening their world, preparing to protect Remnant, even if it cost them everything.