"Now, let's go~!!!"
Protecting the exhausted Hedin, the girls stood firm, trusting one another even as the divine spears descended.
Grip!
'A shield... yes, a shield...'
He would raise a shield capable of protecting them.
Shring!
And he would take up a sword that could cleave through the enemy and carve a path forward.
"No, let's go even further."
Step, step—
He sought the strength to shatter the divine spears and the sharpness to endure them willingly.
"No matter how many you save, you cannot save everyone."
"...Kylos, even in a situation like this, you have to spoil the mood."
No matter how hard a hero fought, the tears flowing through the world would never truly stop.
"I've already lost many friends in that story."
Thud!
"I've experienced plenty of this twisted, ugly world that only begs for a hero when it's convenient."
However.
"That is exactly why, because such clear right and wrong exist."
It is a place where an incomparably beautiful, radiant unknown can be born.
"It is the [Box]."
It might contain the most terrible disaster.
Or it might contain the brightest hope.
"That kind of [Box]."
As an uninvited guest, he wouldn't be greedy for a grand performance.
"Unlike during the Knossos incident, I'm not going to advertise how damn strong I am right now."
Does saving people need to be so ostentatious?
"Watch closely!!! Zeus!!!!"
Crackle!!!
The current flowing through his body suddenly shifted its color.
"Behold!!!! [Familia Myth]!!!!!"
Upon the shield in his left hand, which resembled a tombstone, a brilliant indomitability bloomed from the ashes.
"Behold!!!! [Aedes Vesta]!!!!!!!!"
Rumble!!!!
"...[Heaven's Thunder]. It is truly the power of the world itself."
Neither the lightning of a thunder god nor the lightning of a hero, but the pure sky.
"[Divine Artifact]!!"
Whirrr—!!!
""""!!""""
At Akumo's cry, four [Divine Artifacts] manifested around him.
Simultaneously, the gods bound to those artifacts could feel it.
"Hermes... what on earth is this...?"
"Aha...!! Prometheus!"
The supreme thunder felt from the outside.
Prometheus—no, Ilia—was astonished by that aura, which felt familiar yet entirely different.
"This is truly..."
Grin!
"They are children who ruin the entire story!!"
Whether an uninvited guest or a chosen hero, they simply save.
Hermes, sensing that will through the thunder, willingly offered his own divinity as a sacrifice.
"Akumo...!"
'Just like back then...'
He might be slightly different from the king who ruled the heavens and wandered the world.
"...Yet he is a hero."
His story, reaching for true supremacy, was being written.
Shooo—!
"[Dwell within, Valhalla. Welcome that child's strength.]"
Grin!
'It's been a long time... the first time I've felt this excitement since that day...'
"[As the Queen of Valkyries, I shall gladly grant my blessing.]"
Pouring out her own divinity, she added color to the shield held in the hero's hand.
Rumble—!!!!!!!!
Soon, thunder concentrated in his hands.
"Fiercely and swiftly."
Boom!
"Strongly and firmly."
The incoming divine spears changed their form as if recognizing Akumo.
Flash—!!!!!!
"!!"
'They've split into hundreds of projectiles...!?'
Horn watched in horror, realizing that each one was a [Divine Artifact] with the power to erase an island.
"[Randgrid]."
Her gaze soon fixed upon one man.
"[Seiryu]."
The hero held a sword of blue lightning in his right hand and a brilliant ash-colored shield in his left.
Glance—
'...It's real.'
The story of the divine spear that was said to have targeted only Freya, aiming for hundreds of millions of years to kill the girl who only craved love.
"This is quite..."
Clang!
Once he confirmed it was the truth, there was no hesitation.
"You're a real bastard, aren't you?"
*
He raised his sword.
Shring!
And he struck down.
Slash—!!!!
""""!!""""
The sword of [Seiryu] ruthlessly cut down a divine spear that was flying toward the goddess's heart.
—!!!!!!
K-boom—!!!!!!!
Sensing a threat, the divine spears fired dozens more shots to ensure the goddess's death.
Thump!
Screech!
Akumo stepped forward with the incredibly strong shield in his left hand.
With concise movements, he parried and deflected the divine spears, protecting the companions behind him.
"No. Absolutely not."
Playful yet profoundly serious, and as firm as a wall.
Step—
"From this point on, no one—not even a god—shall dare to pass."
Prometheus? Epimetheus?
The flames of heaven, Olympia, the box—let's swallow it all for just a moment.
The uninvited guest would focus on his own story.
Clang—!!!!!
Clash—!!!!!!!
K-ching—!!!!!
"..."
He blocked every divine spear coming from every direction and every blind spot.
'...It's getting faster and stronger.'
Odin's divine spear, [Gungnir].
It possessed its own ego and was exerting its full power to clear the obstacle before it.
"Seventy-one."
Slash—!!!
"Seventy-two."
However, the obstacle before it was pure strength—the absolute limit of endurance and fortitude.
Crackle!
Even if the divine spears grazed him and the torrent of power broke his body.
Grit—!!!
"I will endure. I will endure and overcome."
His stamina would not run out, and he would ultimately emerge victorious in this war.
Boom—!!!!!
K-boom—!!!!!!
Crash—!!!!
The sound of a human's sword clashing with a god's spear continued for a long time.
In the process, Akumo didn't hear other stories, nor did he want to.
Smirk!
Because he believed. He believed that, as always, his child would yearn for the hero... and yet surpass him.
"Chiyaaaah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Ding—!
Ding—!
Ding—!
Just as he thought, the brilliant sound of a bell rang out once again.
"...[Awaken, Bride! Priestess of the cursed mud!]"
Whoosh—!!!
"[The kindness of the foolish, the covenant of despair, the hellfire of betrayal! Hope is gone and blessings shall vanish!]"
Epimetheus raised his cursed sword, reciting his own tragedy against the sound of the bell.
Throb!
"Ugh...!!!"
Yet, the more he chewed and swallowed his own tragedy, the more his head ached, as he suffered from the tragedies of others.
—'...What is this...'
A prince who inherited unwanted power and caused his own tragedy.
"Shut up...!!!"
A young man who wanted to die at the hands of his companions and end this curse.
"I will end it!!! I will destroy this world for you!!!"
Grit—!!!
"Listen to me, you bastard!!!!!!"
Epimetheus shouted with all his resentment.
He began to recite the curse for his final strike.
"[Our story, swayed by the choices of others.]"
Grit!
"[I will burn that tragedy with hellfire and eliminate all despair.]"
"[Ah, cursed sword, respond to my call!!!!]"
[Kaua] was held in Epimetheus's hand.
"Die!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Whoosh—!!
[Pandora].
The strike of conviction, aimed at breaking the box called the world, was fired.
—"...Then, what about those living in the present?"
Suddenly, a man's voice was heard.
"...What?"
The world seemed to stop, and Epimetheus's mouth unconsciously uttered a question.
—"Look before you."
"..."
—"Look at those who are struggling for hope... even though they are engulfed in despair within the box of the world."
Swoosh—
How are they any different from us?
If they have no right to stop us, and we have the right to hate the world.
Then why are they and we so similar?
"I will repay everyone. I will prove it to the gods!!!!"
Nevertheless, Epimetheus tried to swing his sword and move toward the irrationality before him.
Swoosh—
"...!!"
However, the uninvited guest and the clown he loathed was already...
'He's not... looking at me...'
The eyes of the shining hero and warrior, for whom he felt 'jealousy,' were no longer looking at him.
Clang—!!!
"Come on!! Keep them coming!!!!"
Clash—!!!!!
He was simply writing his story by cutting and blocking the divine spears flying at him.
For a happy ending for everyone.
"..."
More accurately, for a happy ending for his people.
'...Maybe I was envious.'
Clench—
His hand gripped the sword tightly.
But that hand was empty.
'I, who received the flames and wrote the story of a hero...'
—'A black monster immune to flames? What nonsense is that!!'
'Sudden misfortune and failure felt even greater.'
What was even more terrible was not simply the failure.
—'Why...!! Why couldn't you save them...'
—'And you call yourself a hero!!!'
The joy of saving, the happiness that success brings.
Could not cover the scars left by the sorrow of failing to save and the failure itself.
—'Why.... Why can't you even erect their tombstones..!!!!'
It couldn't comfort him for losing his comrades, nor could it change the reality where he couldn't even set up headstones for them.
"And yet you all..."
Are you going to walk that path where such pain is certain, a story where a sad ending is guaranteed?
""Haaaaah!!!!!!!""
But Akumo and Bell remained unchanged and looked no different.
Still foolish and dull in Epimetheus's eyes.
This world was also still achromatic.
Slash—!!!!!!
"Heh..."
That's why Epimetheus could realize.
—'Do you... understand now?'
"Shut up, ghost."
—'...Even though you're a ghost yourself.'
"Yes... a ghost..."
Such madmen, such foolish and stupid clowns.
"Are they not the ones packaged as heroes?"
That's why people are drawn to them and expect things from them.
That's why love is directed at them, and jealousy and doubt are directed at them.
"Because... because they write a contradictory story..."
—'I have no choice but to believe.'
"...Ah, I'm jealous."
I'm so jealous of you all who will win love and bring happiness.
"I and this sword will eventually be cursed and die, but..."
I'm envious. So envious.
The cursed flame and sword finally die while still cursed...
Smirk!
"Still, as a ghost. As a villain who awakens heroes."
It's quite fun. No, it was very fun.
"That I am still alive, that we still remain in the world like this."
Thank you for providing a colorful epilogue to a story that ended in achromatic tragedy.
"Mr. Epimetheus...!?"
Bell watched in shock as Epimetheus, cut in half, continued to smile.
Even so, Epimetheus continued to speak with a smile.
"Each is right, and each is wrong."
—'That is a hero's battle.'
"That's why it's even more joyful when you win."
—'And that's why it's even more frustrating when you lose.'
"Still... I'll say one last thing."
He would say it to him because he was naive, unlike that warrior wrapped in blue thunder over there.
"Kindred spirits. In terms of being a hero, you and I are alike."
'Unlike that clown over there.'
If he had lost in a fight between hero and hero, or warrior and warrior, he would have been very frustrated and angry.
"Because it was a fight between a protagonist and a villain, I can die without regrets."
I lost.
I lost to the protagonist.
But I'm not that angry.
"I can finally be liberated... from these tiresome flames..."
Thank you for finally letting me end this long heroic tale.
"If I've lived as a hero for three thousand years... I can rest now, right?"
Epimetheus asked Bell sincerely.
"I'm tired of enlightenment, corruption, awakening, and growth."
Smirk—
"I want to just watch as an audience member too."
It was a reward for stopping and liberating him, who was trying to flip the chessboard itself.
"How about it? Does this make the guilt go away a bit?"
Don't hesitate anymore. Remember a guy like me, but never be bound by it. Move toward the goddess.
"Move toward destiny."
For you yourselves are the spear that will pierce destiny.
*
Dash—!!!!!
"I left it to the gods, but still..."
'That guy... I didn't even get to talk to him properly...'
Akumo felt a bit of regret for Epimetheus, who had left first with a smile.
"The Flame Men are writhing in pain...!"
"They're not even attacking; they're just being purified."
He ran toward the altar with Bell, heading for the place where the [Sacred Flame] and the [Polluted Flame] would be clashing.
"...Is there something in the sky? Ryu."
They headed toward the altar where their companions would be.
"...The sky is closing because of the miasma from the flames."
Rumble—!!!
"Just like when the fake moon appeared in the Ruins of Elsos..."
A divine power that even the heavens feared, capable of ending the lower world in an instant.
Dash—!!
"Then why are we running?"
Nevertheless, they ran toward the altar.
They ran toward the altar with the spark called the Hestia Familia.
"I wonder... why indeed..."
Because they had already seen it.
Rumble—!!!!!
Even in the closed sky, he was calling forth dark clouds and wrapping himself in the thunder of heaven.
"All we can do is wait, but..."
Dash—!!
"At least I want to see what kind of ending it will be from as close as possible!!"
With Aisha's refreshing answer, they continued to run toward the altar.
"...The dice in hand have all been cast."
Swoosh—
"But the board itself has changed, so the dice no longer matter."
Kylos, who had been watching everything, spoke.
He shouted in a voice that suggested he no longer knew anything either.
"Did you leave happily!!!! You irresponsible bastard!!!!"
Toward someone who had left first, for the clown who had suffered more than anyone.
"If it's a board you made yourself... you should at least block the uninvited guest properly..."
Still, he felt relief for the warrior and hero who had left with a smile.
"[Aedes Vesta]!!!!!!! Just you wait!!!!!!!"
Stomp—!!
"Just like back then! No, different from back then!"
The [Pandora] of Prometheus and Zeus.
The battle between the flames of heaven and the thunder of heaven.
"It is a [Rematch]!"
The spark that fell to the lower world during that day's battle was surely hope.
But it was also surely despair.
"It will be the same this time!"
This story would be a distorted and twisted failure for some.
"But for others, it will be a brilliant victory and adventure!"
What was more important than those things was the heart to move to the next stage, whether in failure or success.
"The foolishness to open the next [Box]!"
Smirk!
Kylos smiled. Because the end of the flame that was like a disaster—and was indeed a disaster—was approaching.
"For that is the qualification called [Courage]!"
Because a new spark and thunder had descended like a miracle.
========================
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