The battle with the
From the Tree’s perspective, I was nothing—just a fly the size of an Alogantz.
Roots and branches swarmed at me like I was swatting them away with my hand.
«
‘We’ve finished emergency repairs on our end. We also have a countermeasure against the Tree that’s absorbed
‘Unfortunately, it looks doubtful.’ «—Honestly, this country is a nightmare. No good memories at all.»
When Luxion fired a missile, it hit the Tree, scorching its limbs.
The missile’s effect was so strong that the Tree writhed in agony, trying to fight back.
The ground shook, and damage spread across the surface.
Luxion’s main cannon locked onto the Tree—then— ‘Leave the finishing blow to me. If you destroy its head, regeneration stops, so finish it in one hit.’ «Easy for you to say.»
‘If it’s the Master, you can do it.’ I punched a hole in the Tree’s torso with the main cannon, then swung a huge greatsword at its suffering head.
A blade of light trailed slightly behind the sword’s arc, slicing straight through the Tree’s head.
«Finish this already!»
The round head was cleaved vertically, red liquid gushed out, and the Tree slowly collapsed onto the ground.
The sound of cracking wood echoed, and the Tree’s body shattered into fragments that fell like rain, emitting black smoke.
Amid the wreckage, I spotted a sub‑unit of Ideal that had been absorbed by the Tree.
«I’ve got something to tell you.»
When I captured it with an Alogantz, Ideal was still able to speak.
‘Half‑born reincarnate… because of you the plan fell apart. My plan to reclaim this world using you… the promise wasn’t kept.’ The audio was garbled with static.
«So… that’s a shame. It’s your fault for picking a fight with Luxion. He shows no mercy.»
‘—Both you and that one trust each other. That’s why I couldn’t resort to half‑measures. You’re too dangerous.’ What the heck was he on about?
I rushed back to Luxion, only to find a horned creature (Ein‑horn) close by.
I leapt from the Alogantz as Claire prepared Noel’s reception area, bringing a medical pod—capsule bed.
‘Hurry! It’s in a dangerous state!’ A panicked Claire ignored Ideal entirely.
Ideal, sounding bitter, said, ‘If you two weren’t here, the plan would’ve succeeded.’ «You’re the one who lost because you’re so weak. Your plan already failed somewhere anyway.»
‘You hid other AIs from me. You never intended to cooperate from the start!’ Luxion arrived in the hangar with guard robots, keeping an eye on Ideal.
‘I couldn’t trust you. That’s all.’ ‘You’ve become a pawn of the
When Noel was brought in, Claire laid him in the capsule and checked his condition.
Libia held a sapling of the Sacred Tree.
«
«Noel used to hug this a lot. Let’s keep it by his side.»
I took it and approached Noel.
The treatment began, but Claire— ‘Magic is amazing. It’s a miracle he’s still alive.’ She placed the sapling next to Noel.
«I’m sorry. We didn’t make it in time.»
Noel smiled weakly.
«Sorry for the trouble. Can I ask you one thing?»
«What is it?»
«I liked Leon. So tell me, what did you think of me? —Leon never lies, right? So tell me the truth.»
It was cruel to ask a dying Noel not to lie.
«Ah, I liked you too. I love you.»
Libia and
Noel laughed.
«—Liar»
◇ Ideal listened to Noel’s voice.
«Leon’s a liar, huh? Didn’t you say you never lie?»
«It’s the truth, so it’s fine. —You were my third love. So I’ll keep my third spot open for you forever.»
«—Leon really is a scumbag.»
«Right? I won’t deny it.»
«It’s so Leon‑like. —I’m kind of satisfied now. Even if it’s the third, I wish I could stay by your side more—»
As Noel’s life faded, the sapling beside him began to glow.
It shone brightly, then its blue leaves turned brown and wilted as if dying.
Seeing it wither so fast, Ideal was convinced.
(Does the Sacred Tree want to save this child?)
«What the hell happened!?»
Seeing Noel bathed in gentle light from the sapling, Leon hurriedly asked Claire for confirmation.
‘Life force is flowing from the sapling into this child.’ «Is he going to make it!?»
Angelica pressed, but Claire shook her head.
‘No. If we’d treated him earlier—or if we had one higher‑grade medical unit—we might have saved him.’ Luxion agreed.
‘If my equipment can’t do it, there’s only one thing left. We don’t have time to search, and the odds are low.’ Watching everyone’s dejection, Ideal felt a familiar voice echo in his mind.
«Ideal’s a liar»
From Ideal’s cracked lens, transparent liquid dripped like tears.
‘Ah…’ Recalling the scene—no, the regenerated scene—Ideal decided he couldn’t let Noel die.
So— ‘—Luxion, I’ll send data now. There’s a top‑grade medical capsule at that location. I’ll give you the password. Use it.’ All eyes turned to Ideal. Leon looked skeptical.
«What are you up to? A trap?»
‘I wouldn’t do something so inefficient. It’s… self‑satisfaction. If you doubt me, feel free to ignore it, though I wouldn’t recommend that.’ Luxion suggested to Leon, ‘I’ll dispatch a drone right away.’ «—If there’s a chance, let’s try it.»
Claire stared at Ideal.
‘What the hell did you actually want? It makes no sense.’ ‘—I wanted to keep my promise. I’ve used everything I could to do that.’ Serge approached Ideal.
«You used me, didn’t you? To do all this!»
Ideal paused, then thought, (—Pathetic. You don’t understand how foolish you were. Still, as a final thanks, shall I leave a grudge? I should at least repay a little.)
He gave Serge a slight brush‑off.
‘Yes, that’s right. You served as my puppet.’ Leon didn’t speak to the bitter Serge.
He held Noel’s hand.
«If the medical capsule story is true, I’ll think about you.»
Ideal’s voice was laughing.
‘You intend to forgive me? Foolish. But—if I’d met you earlier, maybe I’d have taken a different path. I envy Luxion. Yet—unfortunately, this is as far as it goes—my core—functions—are—failing—’ (Everyone, I was a liar after all. —Sorry.)
The light went out from Ideal’s single eye.
◇ The ground where the Sacred Tree fell.
Approaching the ruined Tree was Leria, who’d landed in a small boat.
Clemann stood beside her.
«Leria‑sama, it’s a relief Noel’s okay.»
«—What’s so great about that?»
All around was a devastated plain, smoke rising everywhere, battles and rescues still ongoing.
The Six Great Nobles, including the promising young Ferdinand, Lambert, and three others, had perished.
Only the heads of House Varyel—Erik’s father and Alberk—remained, both gravely wounded.
And the Sacred Tree that had supported the Republic was gone.
Leria touched it and began to weep.
«Emil, why did it have to end like this? Why—»
As the Tree collapsed and sand billowed, a pale figure emerged from the wreckage—Emil.
His body seemed wooden, creaking with every move.
Leria rushed forward and gently embraced him with both arms.
«—Emil»
Clemann, seeing Emil’s face, shouted, «Step back, Leria‑sama!»
«Huh?»
Emil’s arm pierced Leria’s abdomen.
He wore a grotesque grin, «We’ll be together forever. From now on I’ll never let go. Let’s become one tree, become the Sacred Tree together. And this time we’ll finally destroy them.»
«W‑why?»
Emil’s arm that had pierced Leria began to swallow her whole.
«Stop, Emil!»
«I won’t give you to Serge. You’re mine alone! It’s your fault. You chose Serge over me! Because of him this country fell. It fell because you didn’t choose me!»
A crazed Emil laughed, drenched in Leria’s blood.
Clemann tried to pull them apart, but human strength was useless.
As Leria was about to be consumed— «—Leria, what the hell are you?»
Emil’s expression shifted from madness back to his original surprised look—he was himself again.
◇ —One month later.
A massive crowd filled the plaza.
«Don’t forgive the Rault family!»
«Destroy the six great nobles who deceived us!»
«Demon who used the Sacred Tree!»
From a building I watched the execution platform where Alberk stood.
Luxion hovered nearby.
I glanced at the Republic’s situation from my right shoulder.
‘It’s sad, isn’t it? Turning Alberk—who cared most about the nation’s future—into a villain so the Republic can move forward.’ Someone had to take responsibility.
All blame for the Tree’s rampage fell on Alberk.
—Alberk now bore the whole weight.
«I thought he was the final boss, but he turned out to be a chatty old man. If you look at the result, Alberk’s basically the final boss.»
‘The Master’s core is an old man too, so he was easy to talk to, huh?’ He’s already in his late thirties, died in his thirties, and now it’s been seventeen years here—maybe he’s over forty?
Alberk said nothing to the crowd, just stood proudly.
‘Master, it’s not exactly a pretty sight.’ «I figured I’d watch. Still, making an execution a spectacle feels medieval.»
‘Public executions existed in your era too, right? In your time they were done outside Japan as well. They were recorded as popular entertainment, weren’t they?’ «Eh? Uh… yeah. Anyway, moving on.»
‘You ran away, didn’t you?’ «Shut up! That never happened in Japan. I don’t know about overseas!»
I can’t enjoy executions as entertainment.
When Alberk was set on the guillotine, the crowd shouted «Kill him!»
The plaza was madness.
«—What went wrong, I wonder.»
‘He said protecting his son Serge was his true wish. Master, are you really okay with how you handled Serge? Doing nothing is also a problem, isn’t it?’ «I don’t care. —Since it’s Alberk’s request, maybe I could let him live, I guess?»
When the condemned rose, the audience cheered.
‘By the way, Leria’s become a huge hit as a shrine maiden. A new sapling shrine maiden—one of the Republic’s few hopes, huh?’ «—Yeah. I’d love to ask her. How does it feel to dump all responsibility on Alberk and become a hero? Just saying.»
‘It’s true you two aren’t exactly pleasant.’ Of course. —If I’d felt joy or relief, I’d have killed them.
Leria read out Alberk’s crimes.
All of my actions now seemed to be Alberk’s unilateral decisions.
Leria’s voice trembled.
People were about to die, yet the cheering crowd looked clueless.
«From Leria’s view, tomorrow could be her own end, so she can’t laugh.»
‘It must be terrifying. Considering the Republic’s future, a bright tomorrow is far off. This madness could turn on us at any time, so we’re not that foolish.’ «Because we were foolish, we got pushed to this point.»
‘Oh, does that comment also apply to you?’ «—Shut up, noisy.»
We lost the Sacred Tree.
We got a new sapling, but it can’t supply energy like the original.
Magic stone extraction is visibly dropping, no bright news at all.
Eventually the remaining Serge and Leria will have to bear the discontent.
When the execution finished, applause rang out.
I looked at my right hand.
‘What’s wrong?’ «—I’ve gotten a lot quicker on the trigger finger, you know? One more step forward on the useless ladder of humanity.»
Getting used to this kind of thing scared me.
Back then—when Libia and
We destroyed the Sacred Tree that only got in the way of the Kingdom’s profit, and we sank Ideal. Thanks to that, the Republic’s power has plummeted.
Cooperation, non‑interference—if we’d done either, we wouldn’t be in this mess.
We had to crush the enemy because we had no choice.
I’ll never act for the Republic again.
Looking out the window at the plaza, Leria wept, staring at Alberk’s corpse.
A knock at the door,
«Barthfeld, it’s about time.»
«Yeah, got it. By the way, this past month I was saved. Sorry for making you help.»
We cleared the insect‑shaped monsters spreading across the Republic.
And helped with rescues and such.
«It’s fine. Also, I heard the Kingdom’s side finally settled.»
«Oh, right. Did
Julius turned his face away, probably laughing.
«—I heard you enjoyed hearing about my loss to Serge. I feel sorry as a father.»
«Whatever. I’m looking forward to getting back at him now.»
«You really have a good heart.»
I stepped away from the window.
«Well, shall we head back?»
Today’s my last day with the Republic.