"It seems the prayer has reached its destination, Ea. The Master has broken through the trial and will accomplish her return to Chaldea, the Paradise. Umu, the one who heard your prayer must be truly gorgeous. Umu, surely quite gorgeous, no?"
—Really!? Ah, thank you, gorgeous person! Someone just as wonderful as the King of Heroes! I did it! I did it—!
(We did it! Ea, squish—!)
"I did it! I did it! Master is coming back! Crossing over hell, as a human—ah, thank goodness! Thank goodness—!"
(Squish—I'm being crushed, crushed by the 86-centimeter Ebihu mountain, squish—But, to die wrapped in Ea's big breasts... held tight by the innocently rejoicing Ea... Is there any happiness like this... —Ah...)
"––Ah! Sorry, Fou! I just, I got so happy, my heart just got so full—"
(P r e c i o u s 'Newborn Fou Explosion caused by the injection of Toutomi Precious Energy equivalent to subjugating 1000 Primate Murders')
"Fou—!?"
"That Fou's supernova explosion. Fou's supernova explosion... Fou's newborn explosion... —Tch."
"King! Fou is exploding like the creation of the universe—"
"Ha————Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!! How can I not laugh at this! It is a masterpiece, ahahahahahahahahahahaha!! Fuhahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!! To even indulge in jokes regarding a self-destruction stunt, truly, that is befitting a Beast! Fuhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!! Ha—"
"King—!?"
The Underworld
"I cannot let Ea remain alone. I shall return immediately."
"I didn't call you, and I wish you wouldn't come so often..."
Epilogue 1/2 — The Accomplice —
"Ku, Kuha! Kuhahahahahaha!!!"
Loudly, the Avenger laughs in the Hall of Judgment.
"Magnificent! Magnificent!! An incarnation of malignancy harbored by Arrogance and nurtured by Absurdity! The Beast has been defeated here!! Kuhahaha!! Hahahahahahahahahahaha!!!"
It is not a sneering laugh. It is genuinely pleasant, joyous laughter.
From the bottom of his heart—it expresses praise and delight.
"You look happy. Is this the first time... no, were you watching all along?"
"Indeed!! I feel exhilarated! I wanted to taste this even once! Just like Father Faria who guided the old me! Just like you!"
Clench, he raises his fist high.
"I, too! To the girl who does not lose to despair! Tormented and harmed by the hideous evils of the world! Yet she continues to smile, truly strong, truly irreplaceable! To that truly noble soul who fell into a hideous trap—! As my, at the very least, hope—!!"
"—..."
As I thought, he was... from the very beginning...
"—'Avenger'!"
The malignancy infesting the world.
The world that accepts it.
The Avenger who continues to hate it all.
That is precisely his—
"Haha! Yes! You understand, don't you, 'Ricca'! I admit it! You allowed me to achieve my true desire!! For this me, who was only smoldering without a single victory!! You let me strike down 'All the World's Evil'!! —The Tiger!! Has fulfilled his vengeance upon the world!!"
Even with tears in his eyes, the Avenger continues to laugh.
That his long-held dearest wish has been fulfilled.
That the future has connected here.
"He is—"
Slowly, Nightingale speaks in the place where sterilization was accomplished.
...No, that gentleness is...
"He was unable to win. Even though he was carved into the Human Order as an Avenger, because he was an Edmond who was saved in the end. Because he cast off his karma as an Avenger. He continued to be unable to handle the Him—the Count of Monte Cristo—who never accomplished his revenge and never knew the taste of victory."
Her smile was filled with tranquility.
It was like an angel seeing off a patient who had fully recovered...
"Yes. But... it is you, Ricca. You were guided by me, by Jeanne, by Mercedes; you shattered All the World's Evil and escaped the Tower."
His face is—just like his former self, who believed in all hope and future...
"What a—hope-filled conclusion this is!! To me, who remained a victorless Avenger! You! As a guide! And as one born into the world, you gave me the role and victory of an Avenger! The same goes for you! Jeanne d'Arc!"
"—Me?"
"Yes! You! You are no longer a counterfeit, nor a Servant inferior to anyone! You slew the Beast! You stood by your Master! You certainly achieved a great deed! Take pride in yourself without sorrow! You, who were invited by my invitation! The 'Proud Avenger' who protected the noble soul by her side to the end! You are Ricca's irreplaceable Pride itself!!"
"—I am... Ricca's pride... A proud, Avenger..."
"—Yeah!"
Squeeze, she hugs Jeanne tight.
"You are the one and only... Fujimaru Ricca's Pride! Jeanne!"
"————A, aah... aah... aaaaaah...!"
—Triggered by those words, Jeanne breaks the dam.
"Is it okay... for it to be me? Me... as your, pride... Really, really...!?"
"I don't want anyone but Jeanne!"
"————Riccaaa!!"
Clinging to Ricca, Jeanne cried and screamed.
"I, I...! I'm so happy that you wanted me... Always, always! I wanted to be of use to you! I wanted to become something irreplaceable! To someone...!"
"Yeah, yeah...!"
"Did I become it...!? Did I become... something to you...!? Is it okay... for me to be it!? To be your pride...!"
While wetting her face with tears.
"Is it okay... for me to become yours...!?"
"—Of course! I won't give you to anyone! My very own Avenger! Jeanne d'Arc Alter!"
"Hic————Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh—!!"
Burying her face in Ricca's chest, Jeanne simply continued to weep.
Hatred does not burn.
Wrath does not scorch.
Only joy, gratitude, and pride fill her now—
"I love you! I love you, I love you! Please stay with me forever! Please let me stay by your side forever! I will do my best for you! Forever and ever, I will wave my flag for you! —Please continue to think of me as your pride! —My beloved, one and only Ricca...!!"
"Yeah! I love you too, Alter! You are my pride—!"
"Ah, aaaaaah! I am, I am—no longer! A 'Counterfeit'! Because I was able to become someone's irreplaceable 'Pride'—!!"
She continued to cry. With the joy of birth.
Biting into the fact that she had become a unique existence in the world—
—It was not just Ricca who achieved rebirth here.
"Yes! It is 'Our' victory! It means the King of Mages is nothing but a blind fool!"
"! As I thought, this was Goetia's!?"
Glint, Ricca's eyes shine.
"Yes. It was them who dropped you here. You met eyes with that man in London, didn't you? For him, that was enough."
"The Evil Eye... The King of Heroes mentioned it."
"Correct. The lethal poison was administered at that moment. —A Beast of destruction lurking within Chaldea. A suicide mechanism for the Security of Humanity. They cast it, yes—but they did not understand human malignancy at all. It was all well and good to harbor a Beast based on desktop theories, but they finally understood what that meant only when they saw it with their own eyes."
Happily, the Avenger sneers.
"They thought, 'This is wrong.' All they wanted to destroy was Chaldea. They never anticipated that a hideous Evil Dragon, the same as them—no, greater than them—would be born to destroy the world. That is why they panicked and devised a means to dispose of you."
"Dispose?"
"'This must not be.' 'Dispose of her.' 'Save humanity's final Master in the Prison Tower.' 'Erase her existence through resignation.' 'Her existence is a calamity that will devour our great undertaking.' ...They showed me everything, told me how hideous you were. But I had no intention of following such things. There is no reason to get friendly with fellows who don't even know vengeance. That is why I decided, in my own way. To guide you, kill the Beast. And forge you."
The Avenger laughs loudly.
"The result is as you see! Too bad, Beast of Pity!! Your foolish plan to create a Beast! Your fatal conceit has come to naught here! Because you only see tragedy and do not glimpse human possibility!! Serves you right!!"
Genuinely happy, joyous... and proud.
"Walk as a human!! Continue to struggle like a noble beast! Cast off sin, obtain virtue! And you, having become human!!"
Flipping his cape, he declares loudly.
"Someday!! You will save the world!! Kuhahahahaha!! Hahahahahahaha!!"
In an instant, a shining path appears before their eyes.
Reaching far into the heavens—it is none other than the road home to Paradise.
"Can we get out?"
"Ah, of course we can! Return with your chest held high! Originally, only one person was supposed to be able to leave this Château d'If! Supposed to be!"
"Supposed to? What do you mean 'supposed to'? Was there an accident?"
"There was indeed! It was him! The Golden King of Heroes! Having his treasures usurped, he destroyed every concept and rule of the Château d'If to take them back! And, the beautiful Beast as well! To take back the caged Princess who was her treasure, she slaughtered almost all the grudges and pain filling the Château d'If! As if to say, 'We know nothing of the judgments of hell'!! It was a thrilling rampage!! In this world! There are those who cannot be bound by anyone, who must not be touched! Kuhahahahaha!!"
"Gil...!"
"To get that genuinely angry, what did you drop... Ea? The Sword of Rupture?"
...Only the Avenger knows that the King and the Beast act for the one they love.
"—Does that mean everyone can leave!?"
"Ah—that is how it is! Ah, yes! We have no more business in a hell like this! All that remains is to walk the path where light shines!"
"—Then, I have to say it! As a Master!"
"Yes. As a Master."
Turn, she faces the two of them firmly.
"Mercede—Nightingale-san! Please teach us the correct way of cleanliness! I am counting on you for the treatment and hygiene of the Paradise of Chaldea!"
"—Understood. Leave everything to me. I, too, was looking forward to seeing what a paradise on earth looks like."
"Yay! Thank you! Nightingale-san!"
"Fufu. ...Now then, please give me your hand."
"? Okay."
Nightingale gently holds the proffered hand.
"Congratulations on your complete recovery and discharge. —This is my modest pleasure. Holding the hand of someone leaving the hospital like this."
That smile, laughing purely and lovely, is truly—
"—An angel..."
"An... an angel, you say...?"
Grii, sudden force is applied.
"Ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch!!!"
"An angel, calling me an angel...? Me, I am an angel? Haha, ahahahahaha... Me, an angel? You say strange things... An angel, ufufufu."
Blushing, shy, becoming incoherent, the Angel inadvertently nearly crushes Ricca's hand.
"Ah—, I, I am sorry. Forgive me. Please show me, is the bone broken?"
"It hurts."
"I, I am sorry... Um, stop with the angel. ...It is embarrassing..."
"Mercedes... Heh. Quite a woman."
"Cognitive impairment? This won't do, treatment is needed."
"Wait wait! Next is Avenger! Next is Avenger!"
Jeanne soothes Nightingale.
"Whoa there! Whoa there!"
"—Then, give me your words. That is enough for a bond."
"Okay! Then... A-Are?"
"...? What is it?"
"Huh, if I think about it, I've never confessed to a man face-to-face before! It's not written in the Ricca Manual!"
"That falls flat, Kuhahaha!"
"Eeei, here goes nothing!! —Avenger!!"
Bam, she stares at him.
"Please, become mine!!!!!"
"——————"
"Ahahahahahahahahahaha!!!"
Nightingale freezes. Jeanne bursts into laughter.
"As expected of my Master! The absolu~te best killer line!! Ahahahaha! Someone throw water on me! It's bad, I feel like I'm seriously going to lose it! Ahahahaha!"
"Understood."
Splash, Nightingale dumps antiseptic solution over Jeanne's head.
"Blarghhhhghghgh!!! Stinks! The antiseptic stinks!!"
"If you were in hell, be clean. Now, it is laundry time."
"Wait! Wait! Stop for now!! If I get bleached, my! My identity will beee!!"
"Hu, huh? Was it wrong?"
To Ricca, who says "That's strange,"
"—Ricca."
He gently pulls her into an embrace.
"—I will accept those words. However..."
"However?"
"—Do not say them to any man other than me. —I might kill the man who is told that."
"—Okay!"
—Here, he and she became Accomplices.
Crack, the wall splits, and a fissure runs through hell.
"Waa!? What!?"
"The Château d'If is collapsing. Since I was reinforcing what had been nearly totally destroyed by the King and the Beast. And—I have no business here."
"Wah!"
He lifts Ricca up in a princess carry.
"The King stands at the vanguard, and the Junior protects the rear. And the Pride you hold aloft is the Avenger who is not Edée. —Then I shall nestle close beside you. Forever, and anywhere."
"Yeah! From now on, I'm counting on you forever!"
"—What a sinful woman you are."
"Heh..."
"What is wrong? Shall I treat you?"
"No thank you. ...I have established it. Master's Partner Position. I look forward to Mash's frustrated face. —Also, I realized painfully that being an airhead was better."
"Is that so. Shall we begin treatment?"
"Scary! This Angel is scary! —Now, shall we go, Ricca!"
"Hey, come on!"
The Avenger princess-carries Ricca, and Ricca princess-carries Jeanne.
"Mercedes! Grab onto my back!"
"Understood."
Dig, Nightingale digs her claws into his back.
"Guooooooooooohhh—!!!"
"Isn't that the most pain you've been in!? Out of everything so far!"
"Pain is proof of vital activity. It is okay, it is okay."
"Scary! Scarier than a devil!"
"Now, then...! Let us proceed!! Escaping from hell! We go to the Paradise in the Heavens!!"
"I wonder how everyone is doing? Ugh! I'm getting excited!"
"Then, Ricca. Now is the time for the only thing we idiots know!"
"That's right! To life, only that is permitted!"
"...That phrase is good. I want to make it a new oath. Yes."
The Accomplices fly at super-speed through the rubble of the collapsing, crumbling hell.
"Ricca! Lead the chant!"
"Alright, here we go everyone! One, two!"
""""Wait! And Hope————!!!""""
The girl who devoured all of hell and harbored a dragon in her heart to challenge the world's future.
Together with the Angel by her side, the Witch of Pride, and the Tiger who is her Accomplice.
They fly toward the Paradise where the King sits—!!
"—Hey, my Ricca."
"Hmm? What is it?"
"When we get back to Chaldea, there is something I want only you to do."
"Sure, ask me anything."
"—My hair."
"...Hair?"
"Will you... take care of my hair?"
"—Hair is..."
"Yes. Hair is a woman's life. Therefore... I entrust my life to you. —It is delicate work. You cannot do it without Girl Power, can you?"
"—Yeah. I got it. ...Delicately, carefully. —I'll do my best to train my Girl Power too!"
"—Thank you. I'm counting on you from now on. My, Ricca—"
"Umm... Chaldea is this way, huh. ...I can't accept this. Having my flyers and solicitation completely ignored is a stain on a manager's name. I won't be satisfied until I say one word of complaint. Or rather, what's this 'Paradise'! It's an inspection, I'm going to inspect it! If they call it Paradise, surely they have at least strawberry ice cream, good grief!"
'The Princess that the King of Heroes cherishes so dearly... I want to meet her and talk at least once. I wonder if we can be friends... If we could, that would surely be fun—'
'○Numbered Ticket x2'
"—Huh? Why am I holding two of them?"
[—Halt.]
"!!! ...Ugh—Someone in the same trade...?"
(What is this guy... He's absolutely not someone you should look at directly—! Right now, 'Death' itself is standing before me...!)
[...One who desires Paradise. Thou hast the qualification. Thou mayst pass.]
"...I-Is it okay?"
[Heaven's decree falls upon those who hold the numbered ticket. Go.]
"...I-Is that so. ...Then, I'll pass through."
'That sword. Even though there is nothing strange about it... the chills won't stop. Even though it is completely covered in blood, all that dwells in it is faith—. I wonder if we can talk someday. I'm looking forward to it—'
"O-Oh..."
[Now then, since I slipped out nicely, what should I do. I left a bit of usable mud inside the young lady, so if the young lady who tamed me with her life gets the urge, she can grow wings and fly or change into the Evil Dragon... But I crushed the vengeful spirits meant for fuel into magical energy properly, you see? When leaving a place, doing it properly is my motto? So the young lady now won't have any trouble with usable magical energy. I filtered it thoroughly so rest assured... Well, maybe it wasn't necessary. Her Abyss was stolen by the Holstein Parent anyway... What to do...]
[Take this.]
[Hyeh!? Don't talk to me out of nowhe—Ah, thanks...]
'Numbered Ticket'
[...Well, I guess whatever happens, happens. —Now, the result is—]
"Hell? I finished my descent into the underworld long ago, you fool. I smashed it thoroughly, but I have neither regret nor remorse. It is the fault of the mongrels who touched Ea."
(The grudges and stuff were in the way, so I Murdered them one after another, but it's fine, right? I won't apologize. The guys who confined Ea are in the wrong.)
"La♪ La♪ La♪ La♪" ←Melody of Cosmic Air
'Mesopotamia Stew'
"Let's have everyone eat it! I hope everyone likes it..."
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