When I got back,
My numbers had dwindled, Spell Clan warriors had fallen, and
But somehow, things had actually stabilized.
Ghislaine was practically on all fours, racing around the battlefield.
Her height meant she could slip beneath the Fighting God's fists—those towering, elevated strikes his massive frame allowed—and dash around close to the ground, launching sword strikes from the front, the sides, and from behind to provide covering fire.
Her offensive power wasn't enough on its own, but the Fighting God was clearly having trouble swinging his arms around to deal with her.
And then there was
Her chantless healing magic was perfectly suited to this situation, where rapid recovery was essential.
Every time
She'd been out of active combat for a long time. Physically, she probably wouldn't keep this up forever.
But even so, she was doing the work of two healers—me and Cliff combined.
And one more person deserves special mention: Isolte.
Standing at the very front, she deflected every attack the Fighting God hurled at her and countered with precision strikes.
Her movements were fluid and meticulous.
Against an opponent whose blows could kill in a single hit, her technique made it look like she was handling a child's tantrum.
Of course, of course—none of that was enough to actually win.
No matter how elegantly Isolte countered, no matter how cleanly she cut at the Fighting God's arms or legs, she dealt zero damage.
If she'd fought the Fighting God one-on-one, she would have put up a good fight, but she could never win.
Eventually she'd tire and fall.
But in terms of buying time until I could get back, her contribution was overwhelming.
"Sorry to keep you waiting!"
"
At Sylphie's signal, the others created distance.
"Oh?"
The Fighting God didn't pursue.
He didn't spare a glance at the ones retreating. He was looking at me.
Not much difference in size.
The Fighting God Armor stood about eight feet tall.
My Magic Armor was around ten feet.
The difference was maybe six or eight inches—I was slightly taller.
But since I'd stopped about thirty feet away, I didn't have to look up at him.
"So this is the Magic Armor that forced the Dragon God to acknowledge its worth, and even brought my sister to heel!"
"...You saw the Type One once before, didn't you? Back in the port town."
"Ah, so I did?"
"It obliterated me in a single hit, if you recall."
Thinking back on that blow...
I'd been too confident in my defenses and taken it head-on. The fact that Eris and
That was partly due to the difference in protective aura, but still...
...Which reminded me—I was worried about Cliff.
That hadn't been a direct fist hit, but he wouldn't have had any protective aura to speak of.
"But if you're saying the 'Type One' was different..."
"Then this must be something else entirely?"
"Guess you'll have to see for yourself."
As I said that, I scanned the area.
Everyone was watching from a safe distance.
They'd pulled back considerably, but there was still a chance they could get caught in the crossfire.
Oh—Sylphie was running over to the remaining wounded.
Good. I'd leave Cliff's care to her for now.
"Shall we begin, then?"
The battle was about to start.
--- The gong sounded with my opening volley of Stone Cannonballs.
I fired them while retreating, and Badigadi charged after me.
Same approach I'd used against
Falling back while unleashing a barrage of Stone Cannonballs.
Honestly, I'd wondered if even that would be enough, but once I channeled magic into the King Dragon Sword, the normally sluggish Type Zero moved smoothly.
So this is what it felt like to manipulate gravity.
Of course, I wasn't practiced with it yet. For now, I'd use nothing beyond making myself lighter.
"Fuhaahahaha! Not even a mosquito bite!"
Badigadi snapped trees like twigs and tore holes in the earth as he barreled toward me.
It was obvious at a glance that the attacks were having little effect.
He didn't deflect them. He didn't block them.
At this close range, the stones simply hit his body and scattered off his back like pebbles.
No damage whatsoever—that much was clear.
Orsted had said this approach might work. It didn't.
"You're just going to run?!"
Of course, that wasn't my plan at all.
Once I'd reached my intended position, I carved out the ground beneath Badigadi's feet.
The shotgun blast gouged out a huge chunk of earth, and Badigadi stumbled just as he was about to take a step forward.
For a split second, his balance broke.
I closed in.
"Hmm!?"
Then I purged the gatling guns.
With the blade mounted on my right gauntlet, I unleashed a single flash.
The sword cut through his armor like butter, exposing the black skin underneath.
"Shotgun Trigger!"
I fired point-blank into the opening.
One of Badigadi's arms was torn away and sent flying.
"Fuhaahahaha! Right back at you!"
But at the same time, I took four hits.
The shockwave ran through the entire Magic Armor, sending me flying back about ten feet.
But I was fine.
Direct hits, yes—but I could take them.
"Kuh!"
I immediately reversed course and retrieved the severed arm.
It was wrapped in a golden gauntlet, twitching with residual energy.
I hurled it away.
"Fuhaahahaha! Futile, futile!"
Badigadi said that even as he simply grew a new arm.
It pushed right out of his body—like an alien's antennae.
"Hm?"
But it was immediately obvious that this was a bad move.
The new arm was bare.
No armor.
"Oh? So that's what you came up with—Impressive."
Where I'd thrown the arm.
A magic circle had been prepared there.
Inside it, the Fighting God Armor arm and Badigadi's severed arm sat, unable to regenerate.
And Badigadi himself seemed to have shrunk slightly.
It wasn't that I'd thought this up. I'd just had a hint.
Badigadi, the Fighting God.
He possessed both incredible speed and power thanks to his armor.
Of course, in terms of speed, he wasn't particularly fast compared to the sword masters I'd seen before.
Orsted or Alex would have been faster.
He was definitely faster than me, of course, but with the Magic Armor on, it wasn't beyond what I could handle.
My experience sparring with Orsted and Eris was paying off here.
The real problem was his insane defense and endurance.
The Fighting God Armor was hard.
It might even be harder than the Magic Armor.
At the very least, even when Eris and the others put everything into a single strike, they could wound it, but they couldn't sever an arm or a head.
The armor repaired itself instantly, and he'd keep fighting as if nothing happened.
Normally, damage would still accumulate inside—but Badigadi, the Undead Demon King, didn't die.
Eris's slashes and Ruijerd's stabs were, in theory, damaging the body beneath the armor.
But for Badigadi, none of it counted as damage.
Slashes, stabs, bludgeoning—he recovered from everything almost immediately.
Eventually, the attacker would tire, and they'd become fodder for the destruction unleashed by his six arms.
So how do you beat him?
The hint lay in Atofe.
Atofe, the Undead Demon King.
No matter how many times she was defeated, she'd stand back up and charge at her enemies again. She was the very embodiment of terror among the Demon Continent's demon kings.
There were two ways to beat her.
The first was to dismember her and seal the parts so she couldn't revive.
This was the standard method—Atofe had been defeated this way twice in the past.
If you wanted to keep her sealed for centuries, you'd need a correspondingly powerful barrier, but even a mid-tier sealing spell was enough to prevent regeneration.
The second was to make her acknowledge defeat.
The Undead Demon King Atofe often fought people according to her own rules.
And when she understood that she'd lost under those rules, she'd accept her defeat.
Of course, I doubted the current Badigadi would concede that easily.
This time, I'd go with the first approach.
Just in case, I'd asked Cliff to prepare sealing magic circles throughout the forest.
The plan was to toss Badigadi's limbs into the circles and activate them.
I'd been worried about whether they'd work on the Fighting God Armor, but they did.
Cut through the armor with a sword that ignored defense, tear off an arm, and seal it.
Do that six times, and force Badigadi to concede.
I'd have liked to seal his entire body, but without Cliff, I couldn't use the circle large enough for the main body.
"Aaaaaahhh!"
He screamed and charged.
He didn't care about damage anymore.
I had no idea how much longer the Type Zero could operate at full power.
The King Dragon Sword might have extended its runtime somewhat, but it could shut down at any moment.
A quick decisive battle was the only path forward.
"Come then, Hero!"
I closed in on Badigadi as he spread his arms wide.
At the same time, I swung my right hand.
Thrusting the sword forward to intercept his incoming fist, aiming for a counter.
His six arms moved in ways that exceeded my expectations.
But I'd gotten a little used to it from the fight just now.
I was sharp today.
I could dodge this.
I cut into one of his lower-left arms.
Simultaneously, I drove the shotgun into the wound, fired, and blew it off.
But in that instant, a gap inevitably appeared.
The moment I severed the arm, I caught a fist and was sent flying backward.
"...!"
A crack appeared on the surface of the Magic Armor.
So I couldn't withstand the Fighting God's fists after all. But the unarmored arms could be ignored.
Four more.
I just needed the Magic Armor to hold out until all of them were gone.
"!"
I noticed something else.
(The barrier...)
The magic circles I'd drawn on the ground had been scraped away during our exchange.
The collateral damage of the fight.
It was so obvious I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed earlier.
Of course, there were probably some circles still intact, but I had no way of knowing which ones.
"...Damn!"
In a split second, I threw away the arm I'd cut off.
I threw it into Earth Dragon Valley.
Like how Atofe had taken time to revive after being dismembered, if I separated the parts far enough apart, she couldn't revive right away.
Eventually she would—but it had to matter.
(...Huh?)
For some reason, the armor itself wasn't regenerating either.
Once separated from the caster, did it lose its power?
It was crude as far as regeneration went, but maybe the Fighting God Armor had degraded from years of disuse?
Or was it one of Badigadi's tricks?
No—I wouldn't waste time on that now.
I'd treat the lack of regeneration as an advantage and focus solely on severing every arm.
"Hmm..."
Badigadi groaned but didn't grow any new arms.
Instead, he retracted the arms he'd just regenerated into his armor, like a turtle pulling into its shell.
"!"
What was he doing?
The next instant, two of the remaining four arms vanished.
The arms—gauntlets and all—had been swallowed into the armor.
And the two remaining arms grew thicker.
They bulged with a sickening sound, growing larger and thicker.
Two arms left.
They'd gotten bigger, but could I still cut them?
Yes. This sword's sharpness increased the harder the target. Even if he'd strengthened his arms and reinforced his defenses, it wouldn't matter.
I made that judgment in a heartbeat, kicked off the ground, and closed in.
Some part of my brain was sounding an alarm.
But whatever the opponent did, I'd already played my trump card.
My mana was draining toward zero with every passing second.
If I didn't press the attack, I couldn't win.
"Aaaaaaahhh!"
I just screamed.
That's how I drew out my power.
It pushed back the fear and anxiety, letting a sliver of courage peek through.
A little courage to deepen my commitment.
Like Eris, it made a decisive charge possible.
I body-checked the Fighting God.
He staggered but caught it.
I swung my right hand.
Carved into his left arm, cutting through.
Thrust out my left hand.
Pressed the shotgun against the wound.
And screamed.
"Shotgun Trigger!"
Badigadi's arm, Fighting God Armor and all, went flying.
But at the same time, I was flying too.
I'd been sent reeling.
By the other remaining arm.
It hit me dead on.
The front of my armor shattered completely.
The shockwave transferred inward, and I was engulfed in a pressure that threatened to crush my body flat.
I hit the ground on my back.
"Geh... guh..."
Blood surged from my throat.
My mind screamed that it wasn't over, but the words were hollow.
I'd lost the exchange.
Badigadi had sheathed two arms to make one blow hit harder.
He'd let me cut the arm to break the bone beneath.
The fist, aimed precisely at the crack in my armor, had shattered the Magic Armor completely.
But I wasn't done.
Not yet.
One more arm.
"!"
I couldn't move.
The Magic Armor's response was sluggish.
Wounds wouldn't heal.
The part that could be considered the Magic Armor's core was located right near where the main body sat.
If that was damaged, the Magic Armor's performance degraded.
It wasn't that it couldn't move at all—it wasn't that simple a machine.
But it could only move.
In this fight, that translated to being fatally slow.
I desperately pushed mana through.
Yes—I still had mana left.
It could still move.
This wasn't mana depletion.
I could still fight.
So why couldn't I move?
"A fine scheme, fine resolve..."
Badigadi closed in on me as I lay immobilized.
"And it was a good fight. Farewell, Rudeus. Even Laplace wasn't this meticulous."
Badigadi raised his fist.
A fist like a cannon.
It was about to come crashing down— "Gaaah!"
Something red came charging in from the side and slashed at the arm.
The arm was severed at the base and sent flying through the air.
"Hm!"
There were only so many red things in this forest.
It was Eris.
Had she followed? Had she been here the whole time?
I couldn't tell.
No other support was coming.
Only Eris had charged in.
But in the next moment, I noticed something wrong.
Her sword.
Eris's sword had broken.
That famous Phoenix Dragon Sword—snapped clean at the base.
Of course. Up until now, surface damage had been dealt but never enough to sever at the root.
When you forced a cut deep enough to sever at the root, the blade could break too.
"Gaaaaaah!"
Eris didn't stop.
Either she hadn't noticed her sword was broken, or she didn't care—she was roaring as she faced the Fighting God.
And she wasn't alone.
Ghislaine, Sylphie, Ruijerd, Isolte—they were emerging from the forest one after another, chasing after Eris.
But they were too late.
"To stand alone against me—foolish!"
Badigadi lunged toward Eris.
No one was there to protect her.
In that instant, I activated the emergency eject and freed myself from the Magic Armor.
Then, from the Magic Armor's back— I drew the sword I'd stored there.
The moment my hand gripped the hilt, an overwhelming sense of omnipotence surged through my body.
The staggering mana contained within.
I poured my own mana into it as well.
Everything I had left—every last drop, as though I was emptying myself completely.
I didn't think I could even use this thing properly.
But right in front of me stood my family, sword broken, guard raised, teeth bared, howling—to protect me.
I hurled the sword toward her.
"Eris!"
The demon sword traced a gentle arc through the air.
Eris turned, caught it, and raised it high.
King Dragon Sword Kajakt.
The world's most powerful sword, forged from the remains of the King Dragon King.
Eris raised it overhead.
"Gaaaaaah!"
"Hm—that's...!"
She brought it down.
At the very last instant, for just a moment, the Fighting God's body lifted off the ground.
The sword bit into him.
At the same time, a blinding flash filled my vision.
A deafening roar numbed my eardrums.
Something overwhelming took control of the battlefield.
Destruction unfolded before my eyes.
But there was no shockwave.
No concussive force.
Only silence.
The destruction had gone inward.
The mana that had been driven in formed a sphere, engulfing Badigadi.
It wasn't just Eris's power.
Every last drop of mana I'd infused had been released by the demon sword.
And inside the sphere of mana— I watched.
The sphere slowly rose, destroying everything within.
Cracks spread through the Fighting God Armor—it crumbled to pieces.
Badigadi was compressed, disintegrating silently into powder.
I thought Badigadi was struggling.
But he could do nothing.
The Fighting God Armor was nonfunctional, and Badigadi was crushed even as he regenerated.
...
The sphere vanished.
The armor fragments that remained in midair tumbled down into the depths of Earth Dragon Valley.
They clattered and clanged against the cliff face on the way down.
Along with the embedded King Dragon Sword.
Just the armor.
Badigadi's black flesh had vanished without a trace.
I stared at it.
For a long while, I just stared.
The valley, now silent. The Fighting God Armor, gone.
Nearby, Badigadi's severed arms remained.
Motionless.
Not the slightest twitch.
No sign of regeneration whatsoever.
Was he dead?
Had I won?
Was it not over yet?
Would he appear any moment now, laughing his "Fuhaahaha"?
I stared down into the valley, thinking all this.
Nothing happened.
No indication he was rising back up.
Only silence remained.
Thump.
A sound came from behind.
I turned to find Eris on her knees.
Her face was white as a sheet.
"..."
I rushed over immediately.
Was she hurt?
Had she taken a counter?
I reached out to cast healing magic, and then I collapsed to my knees too.
"...Ah."
It wasn't a wound.
I recognized this feeling. I knew the look on Eris's face.
Mana depletion.
The King Dragon Sword Kajakt had drained not just my mana, but Eris's as well.
For Eris, this was probably her first mana depletion since childhood.
She sat there, blinking dazedly.
"Eris."
"Rudeus... your hair's gone white again."
I reached up to touch my head.
I couldn't tell on my own.
But looking closely, one lock of Eris's hair had turned white too.
Like a highlight, streaked through.
"Yours too, Eris."
"Then... we match."
With that, Eris toppled forward.
She hadn't lost consciousness.
She'd simply exhausted every last ounce of her strength.
I wanted to collapse on top of her too, but I forced myself to hold upright.
"Rudy!"
Sylphie was peering down at us with a worried expression.
Not just Sylphie.
Ruijerd, Ghislaine, Isolte...
"Sylphie—where's Cliff?"
"Um, after healing the others' injuries, I had Zanoba and Doga carry them back to the village. We were about to chase after you, but we held back because we thought we'd just get in the way... but Eris charged out on her own anyway. Wait, huh?"
Sylphie touched Eris's prone body and tilted her head.
She'd probably cast healing magic instinctively.
But Eris wasn't wounded. There was no need to tend to her body.
"I think it's mana depletion. That sword absorbs its wielder's mana."
"...Oh, I see."
"For now, Sylphie—put the arms that fell over there onto one of the intact magic circles. Then take Eris back to the village, tell Orsted what happened, and bring Cliff back here."
I stood up.
The Type Zero was destroyed.
I'd burned through a tremendous amount of mana myself... but I could still move.
How long until Badigadi revived?
Given the amount of mana compression he'd undergone and the way he'd disintegrated, it had to take a while.
The severed arms showed no sign of regenerating.
I wanted to believe it would take time.
Maybe I was just being optimistic.
But the Type Zero was gone. I had no Type One. My mana was nearly depleted, and without Cliff to handle barrier magic, there was no way to seal Badigadi down in the valley.
If I went down there to wait, victory was out of reach.
The only option left was to ask Orsted to fight.
I hadn't wanted him to use his remaining mana for this... but there was nothing else to be done.
I wasn't strong enough.
But I'd pushed him to the brink.
I'd done everything I could.
Whether Badigadi was still active at the bottom of the valley, I couldn't say—but I'd reduced him as much as possible.
"Ruijerd, Ghislaine, and Isolte—come with me."
"What are you going to do, Rudy?"
I'd done everything I could.
But there was still something left to do.
With what little mana I had remaining, there was something I had to do.
"I'm going after Geese!"
--- Geese was found quickly.
Almost immediately, really.
I didn't even need to use my dwindling mana reserves. He was just... right there.
Just past the valley, at the edge of the scorched forest.
In the shadow of a massive tree that had been reduced to charcoal.
Geese lay crumpled there.
Covered in severe burns, completely blackened, collapsed on the ground.
The Flashover I'd unleashed had burned the entire forest—and him along with it.
When I first saw him, I thought he was dead.
He wasn't moving a muscle, and he looked like a chunk of black rock.
But Ruijerd was the one who spotted him, and he used his Third Eye to check.
Not dead.
"...Geese."
"Yo, Senpai."
Not dead, but barely clinging to life.
And I had no intention of healing him.
That wasn't why I'd come.
But I couldn't bring myself to deliver the killing blow either.
"Heheh... water magic, earth magic, the Demon Eye, the Magic Armor... I had countermeasures for all of it, but this is how it ends up."
Geese had been equipped with all sorts of things.
A blue vest, a brown belly wrap, even something like chain mail.
They were all charred now and hard to make out, but he'd clearly prepared for every type of magic.
The fact that he'd survived the lightning strikes in the third city wasn't because of the Fighting God Armor's abilities—it was his own gear.
"So if Senpai's here... that means the final plan failed too, huh..."
Geese twisted his scorched cheek into something resembling a grin.
The final plan.
Could you even call it a plan—sending Badigadi out on his own?
"If the Sword God, or the North God, or the Demon God, or the Death God—even just one of them had stayed... things would've been different. But nobody listened to a word I said."
"Well, it's not like any of them were the listening type."
I responded to Geese's rambling words.
"Heh, look who's talking. Eris, Atofe—and is that Ghislaine over there? Your side's got nothing but people who don't listen to anyone."
"That's... just luck, probably."
"No, it's not. It's because you, Senpai, actually did it right. You properly settled things, earned trust, and made genuine effort to become real allies with them. That's why, when it really mattered, they listened to you. They followed your orders."
That was probably true.
Atofe, the Demon God— Those kinds of people, recruited out of sheer necessity, never listened to a single word I said.
Chandon and Doga were exceptions, but Ariel definitely wasn't.
"In the end... just finding reasons to fight, rounding people up, stirring them up, trying to move them from behind the scenes... that's not enough, huh..."
The Sword God hadn't listened to Geese's orders either. Neither had the North God.
They'd each prioritized their own goals.
And because of that, I was alive.
"I thought I understood, but I didn't.
I still thought somehow it'd work out.
Though honestly, the one who understood the least... might have been me."
Geese laughed.
"The Human God. That guy—was just screaming a few moments ago.
'Why? Why? It's your fault! If only you'd moved better, if only you'd been more competent—'"
Geese put on a smug, mocking grin.
"Well, no kidding. When you betray the people who worked their asses off for you and laugh about it—nobody's gonna lift a finger to help someone like that."
"So... Geese, you were holding back too?"
"Who knows. Think what you want. Was it really that easy? For the record, I was giving it my all."
Geese coughed—a rough, wet sound.
Black, soot-like particles leaked from his mouth.
"Me, Badigadi, and the rest of us—we're the kind of softies who'd lend a hand to someone like that, even after everything.
At this point, still helping out someone who screams that his own allies are useless? Yeah. Softies."
The black soot looked almost like Geese's soul.
I could feel his strength draining away.
"But you know what, Senpai? The Human God... saved me.
He did some terrible things, sure. But overall? I was saved."
"..."
"You wouldn't get it, Senpai.
You, who can do anything and walk through the world on your own.
Someone like me, who's got things they just can't do no matter what... you wouldn't understand."
I did understand.
Or at least—I thought I did.
I understood what it felt like to be unable to do the simple things everyone else could.
Geese was me. An older version of me.
But different.
The old me hadn't even tried.
When I hit a wall, I ran.
I just ran.
But Geese genuinely couldn't do it.
In this world where monsters and violence ran rampant, he'd never been able to acquire what was most essential—the power to fight.
He'd learned to do everything else, but he couldn't survive.
"No, Geese. That's not..."
So all I could say was no.
I couldn't say I understood.
I didn't want to.
I could only deny it.
"Heh, Rudeus.
If you're going to deny it, then stand tall when you say it.
After all—you won.
You beat me.
In this world, the one who wins is right, and the one who loses is wrong.
So puff out your chest and say, 'No, Geese, it's not like that.' And then—go ahead, give me a lecture as I'm dying.
Tell me what I should've done, that I shouldn't have followed the Human God, that I should've been on your side."
Geese said all that, and then his strength gave out.
With a hollow expression, he spoke again.
"Me, Badigadi, the Death God—none of them are left.
There's nobody left who'd willingly offer their help to the Human God."
"Defeat. There's nobody left in this world who can do anything to Rudeus Greyrat."
"The Human God said as much himself.
'If this doesn't work, then Rudeus is untouchable.'"
"So the Human God will probably stay quiet—at least until you're dead.
He might still be scheming behind the scenes, though."
That's when I interjected.
"...That's a lie, isn't it?"
Geese didn't laugh.
"If you think so, then think so. Him staying quiet—that's just my guess.
You should keep moving forward with 'Defeat the Human God' as your goal. It's inconvenient for him, but it doesn't hurt you."
"Hey, hey—don't look so grim.
You're
Paul would've laughed at a time like this.
Well, actually, Paul right before death probably wouldn't have laughed. He'd aged a lot in the time I wasn't looking...
But hey—stand tall.
Even if it's hollow, be happy."
"Otherwise, it'd be a real shame.
All that effort—traveling the world, recruiting the Sword God, the North God, the Demon God...
Gearing up to take him down, only for it to fall apart—I'd look like a fool."
"Well, yeah—I couldn't maneuver my allies well enough.
At the end, I gambled everything on sending Badigadi out, and look where it got me.
But at least—think of me as a worthy opponent.
That's... all I'm asking."
Geese had been crying.
Trails of tears ran down his soot-blackened cheeks.
Seeing that, I understood—Geese had never been holding back. Not for a second.
"I understand. Geese—you were strong.
I'm standing here right now, sure.
But if even one thing had gone differently, the positions would've been reversed.
This was the toughest, most grueling fight I've ever had."
"Heh... heheh, thanks, Rudeus."
There was no question he'd been strong.
It had taken me an entire year to beat him.
An entire year of fighting.
He couldn't have been anything less.
"Geese."
Then, Ghislaine stepped forward.
She looked down at Geese.
Her expression was hidden behind her bangs—I couldn't make it out clearly.
"Yo, Ghislaine. It's been a while."
"Mm."
"I'm heading out first."
"Mm. Say hi to Paul for me."
"Sure... and hey, if you come too someday, let's have a drink. I wanna see drunk Paul bury his face in your chest again while
"Zenith won't be dying for a while yet. I'll probably go before she does."
"Heh... I know... well, guess we'll all meet again someday, huh..."
And then—Geese went still.
Something about him simply... fell away.
Mid-sentence. Just like that.
"..."
Ghislaine's ears twitched.
Her tail drooped, lifeless.
"...He's dead."
Geese was dead.
--- I'd defeated Geese.
That was what I should've been thinking, but my heart wasn't light.
I knew I was in shock.
Having someone you knew die right in front of you—that never got easier.
He was an enemy, and I knew I had to take him down.
But it wasn't like I'd hated Geese from the bottom of my heart.
If I'd lost this fight, though—if Eris or someone else had died—then maybe I would have hated him.
Would that have made how I felt now more... bearable?
If I could've thought, "I got that bastard back"?
I didn't know.
The only thing I could say was that the reason I could even sit here and mull things over like this was that none of the people precious to me had been lost in this fight.
I'd met my victory conditions.
I'd eliminated the apostles while preserving Orsted's strength.
There had been struggles and failures, but by my standards, this was a rare, clean victory.
Maybe the fact that Geese died the way he did was just me wanting to salt the wound.
Or maybe, somewhere in the back of my mind, I'd been thinking that if things had gone differently, Geese might have switched sides.
It was pointless to dwell on it.
Well—at least I'd bring his bones back and give him a proper burial.
Beside Paul's grave. That seemed right.
As I burned Geese's body, that's what I thought.
"..."
Ghislaine watched us cremate Geese in silence.
Even after it was done and we'd collected the bones, her ears and tail seemed to lack their usual energy.
"Let's head back."
"Yeah."
We crossed the valley.
This was finally the end.
I was exhausted.
My mana was nearly gone.
Physically, I was wrecked.
If I lay down, I'd lose consciousness instantly.
I couldn't sleep until Badigadi was sealed, but...
I just wanted to get back to Shariah.
First, I wanted to collapse into a bed and sleep until I couldn't sleep anymore.
When I woke up, I'd eat.
Rice. I'd eat rice.
Oh right—this country had soy sauce.
I could make the perfect rice with a raw egg on top.
When we got back, that's what I'd do.
I'd eat until I was stuffed.
And after that—well, it'd be the usual.
With Geese's death, ascetic Rudeus died too.
Sylphie,
How about all three at once?
Eris would probably protest, but it couldn't hurt to ask at least once.
After all I'd been through.
Yeah—after all I'd been through.
The post-battle analysis could wait.
What Geese had said—forget about all that for now.
Just rest.
I was so tired.
"...Rudeus."
As I dragged my battered body forward, a voice came from behind.
Ruijerd.
He'd been walking at the very back. He'd turned around.
Turned toward the valley.
"What is it?"
"Enemy."
"What?"
A hand was gripping the edge of the valley.
A hand.
Something was climbing up from the valley.
Something?
No—not "something." That wasn't vague enough.
That hand.
It was gold.
A golden gauntlet.
"You've got to be kidding."
Badigadi.
Way too soon.
But wait—thinking about it, after I'd severed a few arms, I'd dropped his body into the valley.
His body had looked like it was almost completely destroyed, but the larger parts—the arms and such—should have still been there.
If the remaining pieces reassembled, a quick revival was entirely possible.
"..."
As we stood frozen, the armor climbed out of the valley.
But it looked different.
Two arms, same as when we'd beaten him, but the overall design had changed.
The helmet was different, and it was shorter.
Under six feet.
And it was holding a sword.
A massive sword.
The world's most powerful blade, forged from the remains of the King Dragon King.
No.
This wasn't him.
This wasn't Badigadi.
"A hero, no matter how cornered, always revives and turns the tide. That's just how they're built."
That voice, and the word "hero."
There was no way I'd forgotten.
"North God Kalman III, Alexander Ryback...!"
He was alive?
I'd thought he was dead.
He hadn't been moving at all back then.
But he was alive.
Of course—thinking about it, he was of Undead Demonkin blood.
Given enough time, he could revive.
No—wait.
It was Geese's "final plan."
This was it.
Had this been the intention from the start?
Or had he switched to it partway through?
Now it made sense.
The Fighting God Armor not regenerating—that had bothered me.
It hadn't been regenerated on purpose.
And down in the valley, Alex had put on the Fighting God Armor and revived.
Maybe when Geese had "died" yesterday, he'd already been laying the groundwork.
Dropping the Fighting God Armor and parts of Badigadi into the valley to revive Alex...
Damn it.
Did I really have to keep going?
Did I really have to fight again?
I was so sick of this.
Could we just be done already?
Give me a break. Why does a guy I already defeated show up again?
No—was it my fault?
I hadn't properly confirmed Alex's body.
I'd assumed he was defeated, assumed I'd won, and left him alone.
If I'd at least burned the body, things might have been different. But I'd just left it.
But what was I supposed to do in that situation? What more could I have done?
Well... whatever.
What's done is done.
Now what?
The Type Zero was gone.
No reinforcements.
Ghislaine, Isolte, Ruijerd.
And me, on the verge of mana depletion.
No weapons. No armor.
No cards left to play.
I couldn't imagine winning.
What was I supposed to do?
How was I supposed to beat the North God Kalman III, wearing the Fighting God Armor?
Could I at least weaken him?
"..."
Alex looked at me as I stood there blankly.
As though there was no question that I'd be there.
As though he'd been waiting all along.
"Rudeus Greyrat... I take back what I said about you being inexperienced.
You're a remarkable warrior.
Despite appearances, you were a fitting opponent for me.
Thanks to you, I've grown stronger still. Thank you."
I turned my battered body toward the golden armor.
Not that running would help—he'd catch up anyway.
I didn't have the resources to even buy time.
Might as well stand and fight.
Use everything I had left and face him.
That was all I could think as I took a step forward— "...Huh?"
Before I knew it, I was on the ground.
"I am overwhelming. Right now, I can defeat anyone."
I realized I'd been sent flying by the Fighting God when I saw three others sprawled nearby.
Ruijerd. Ghislaine. Isolte.
All three, taken out in a single blow.
"As thanks for making me stronger, Rudeus. I'll spare your life."
The pain hit me a moment later.
My leg was broken.
Too fast.
Even though Foresight Eye hadn't been active, I couldn't react at all.
No—none of the three others could react either.
Even with Foresight Eye active, would it have made a difference?
Was this the true power of the Fighting God Armor?
When the person inside was stronger, it amplified that strength...
No—that wasn't quite right.
Badigadi hadn't been weak.
He'd been strong in his own way.
It was just that when the person inside changed, the performance shifted dramatically.
The armor adapted to its wearer...
"Well then, goodbye."
Alex began to walk away.
I didn't have time to be stunned.
I immediately cast healing magic and tended to the three injured.
They'd been knocked unconscious.
Critical condition, but not dead yet.
Alex had shown mercy. Damn it—he was still looking down on me.
Whatever.
After healing the three, I hid them with an Earthen Fort and went after Alex.
Chase him, then what? I had no plan.
Had Sylphie reached the village yet? What would Orsted do?
I didn't know.
But wherever Alex was heading, there were people I had to protect.
Eris. Sylphie.
And the Spell Clan.
They couldn't be left to his mercy.
There was no reason not to chase him.
My legs barely responded.
They shook and gave inconsistent feedback.
But I could still run.
I chased after the golden armor, pushing forward.
--- The Spell Clan village was eerily quiet.
So quiet that by the time I arrived, I felt like it must have already ended.
"...Why? Why is nobody here?!"
Alex was shouting.
He'd passed through the entrance gate and gone inside—only to find the place empty.
No Spell Clan members.
No Norn, no
Cliff and the others—the ones who'd been brought back as wounded.
Sylphie and Eris, who should have left a message with Orsted.
Not a