A mountain of corpses covered the rugged wilderness.
A sea of blood flowed, soaking the hill.
Shining brutally in the grotesque carnage.
The black sun, slowly turning darker.
Leaving behind such an abnormal landscape, a pair of beautifully white-blue eyes gazed at me.
“Just one left, Noah.”
“…Yeah.”
I lowered my head and closed my eyes.
“First of all, I’ve done everything I can. What about you, Noah?”
“I… I’ve finished as much as I could.”
“I’m curious about what you’ve done… But I won’t tell you, so don’t you tell me, Noah.”
“…What’s that about?”
“Isn’t it more fun to keep it a secret? Next time, when we meet again… we can chat endlessly about it.”
“We could… talk all day without that. What do you…”
A gently trembling hand brushed against my eyes.
“Why are you crying like that? You’ll ruin your cute face.”
Then she smiled softly, picking up the great sword lying on the ground.
“If you hold Cartia’s great sword, the feelings of this moment will be conveyed. So we must have a happy time… for sure.”
“Seriously… that’s cruel. What if I can’t even hold it?”
“Huhuhu… It can’t be helped. You need to feel emotions now; they might help you a little in the trial. And… if you met me fast, Noah, you could probably hold it without taking the trial. For sure.”
Amidst a short silence, I recalled the preparations I made.
Events that would mark the greatest turning points.
Among them, the trial I would receive at the Temple of Memory would be the most… important.
“I have to believe in that. This sword is… the most important key.”
I opened my closed eyes.
The ones I had killed with my own hands.
Killing them, tearing their chests and pulling out their hearts.
Familiar faces entered my sight.
“I can finally see clearly; it’s upsetting.”
A hand that was always warm cupped my chin.
“I wished only for you to see good things, Noah. Hmm, I suppose the only face looking good right now is mine. Alright, look to your heart’s content. I’ll make any expression you want.”
Ruby’s smile, always warm, now had cracks.
“Since it’s the last time, look until you’re sick of it. Ah… but if you get sick of it, I’ll probably be a little angry, so don’t get sick of it, hehehe…”
Tears welled in the corners of her beautifully curved eyes.
“What do you think? I haven’t washed in a while… still pretty?”
“Yeah… you have a certain decadence now.”
“Ahaha, I’m glad. So, in your world… uh, a game? Did you call it a game? Who looks prettier, the one you saw there or the real me?”
“Both… Rubia is pretty in both.”
“Wooow, finally, you’re saying the right answer… you’ve really improved…”
“That’s the result of being brainwashed for a while. Heuheu…”
Her cracked smile shattered.
The droplets gathered in her eyes rolled down.
At that moment, Rubia’s arms wrapped around me.
The clothes soaked in blood, the body, the hair, drenched her.
“Now, speaking without stuttering, and your voice is louder… it feels like only happy things are left.”
“You only speak well to Rubia.”
“I don’t need to talk to anyone else. Not a single word. Just talk to me.”
“Am I supposed to live as an outcast?”
“You’ve been doing a good job at that. What’s so shocking about it?”
“That’s true… heh-”
“Oh? If you laugh while crying, you’ll grow hair on your butt.”
Hehe– Rubia’s laughter rang out clearly.
“Ha, do you believe such nonsense?”
“What? You’re the one who said that first. How ridiculous.”
“That was just… just a random thought. Um… but you know.”
“Yes?”
Gently pulling away from Rubia, I asked soberly.
“If I grow hair on my butt, will you dislike me?”
Pwahahaha! Suddenly, what kind of nonsense is this?
“No, but if that happens, I would have to apply hair removal cream to my behind.”
“What?! Why would you do such a horrible thing?!”
“If Rubia is the only one with hair on her butt, it would be embarrassing. If I’m embarrassed too, it would be halved.”
“What kind of… what kind of nonsense is that… Seriously, you’re driving me… crazy…”
Her voice trembled with moisture, breaking off.
“That’s such a Noah-like response… so pathetic…”
“…They say if you laugh while crying, you’ll grow horns.”
“That’s… troublesome… really… It’s really… troublesome… I can’t even remove the horns… hehehe…”
As Rubia laughed in disbelief, she wrapped me in her embrace again.
At the same moment, shadows began to loom over the wilderness.
“Hooh… Noah…”
“…Yeah.”
“I don’t want to hate you, Noah.”
“…You can’t.”
“I never want to forget you… for my whole life.”
“You have to forget.”
Rubia’s trembling, the heartbeat, the emotions.
I felt them all deeply.
“If you could go back to the past, Noah… would you go?”
“Yeah. I would.”
“Would you throw away all the time we had together?”
“…Yeah.”
“Even if we couldn’t meet again and couldn’t remember this time?”
“Yeah. As long as I can save you, I can do anything.”
Rubia slowly pushed me away.
“Then… do you regret making this choice?”
“…Yeah. I regret it. If only I hadn’t met you. Rubia, you would’ve been happy.”
Her once brilliant silver-white hair had turned black.
“I have no regrets.”
“…Rubia.”
“I was really happy. The year we spent together… was the most precious days of my life. From the beginning till now… I’ve always been happy.”
Rubia’s hand clasped mine.
“Noah.”
Her transparent blue eyes began to cloud, taking on a crimson hue.
“I…”
The warm hand that always patted my head.
The reliable hand that held mine and guided me.
The hand that became my eyes.
The hand of the person I loved.
“I love you.”
She stabbed my hand into her heart.
“Forever.”
Bursting forth was brilliant divine power.
Bloody divine wrath exploded forth.
The screams of Lilith echoed.
The despair of all the people I had killed.
The results of my duplicity.
Turning into a cacophony,
it opened the sky.
The regulations enforcing order.
The laws suppressing balance.
The concept of rebirth repeating.
The foundation maintaining the world.
“I do too.”
The sensation of crushing Rubia’s heart.
The deep emotions that burst forth from her.
“I love you, Rubia.”
It seeped deeply into the great sword.
*
[What the hell.]
In the usual dark void, Rubia’s figure formed.
In my right hand was Cartia’s great sword.
In my left hand was my great sword.
Not hot and mushy.
But cold and hard.
A familiar sensation.
[No, what… is going on?]
I felt droplets rolling down my cheeks.
I pulled my hand away from Cartia’s great sword and wiped it off.
Tears.
No, is it blood?
Why would blood…?
[Hey… Shaman. Why the sudden tears? Huh? I want to cry right now!]
I was suffocating.
Feelings I couldn’t describe.
Things I couldn’t understand.
Kept surging up from my chest.
Clip-clop- Clip-clop-
“Noah.”
A warm sensation wrapped around my back.
“Ru, Rubia…”
[What is this… has it broken from not being used for a long time?]
Bang- Bang- Bang-
[Hold on… No, it seems fine.]
Bang- Bang- Kaboom-
“Are you okay?”
[Ah, yeah. The sword seems fine-]
“Can you please be quiet, Lady Cartia?”
[…Alright.]
“Noah, are you okay?”
“…Yeah.”
“Then turn around and hug me too.”
The arms that were tightly around me loosened slowly.
“Hurry.”
I slowly turned toward Rubia.
“Why are you crying? It’s ruining your cute face.”
A warm hand brushed against my eyes.
Then she pulled me back into a tight embrace.
I buried my face in Rubia’s arms in response.
Breathing deeply as I felt her gentle touch.
[Still… there’s an adult next to you. Isn’t this too much for you? I’m a thousand years older than you, you know.]
Hehe– “Haha, Grandma…”
“Oh? Didn’t you say if you cry and laugh, you’ll grow hair on your butt?”
“…No, that’s not true. I saw you the other time and there was none.”
[Oh wow.]
Thanks to Lady Cartia’s noisy chatter beside me, the overwhelming emotions quickly settled.
What was that…?
The moment I grabbed the sword, I felt something… like a dream.
I don’t know.
The more I think about it, the more I recall that terrible feeling…
I just want to forget.
After my sobs settled down, I slowly stepped away from Rubia.
“Are you okay now?”
“…Yeah.”
[Really? Then try grabbing it again. It seems like it broke a while ago.]
“I d-don’t want to.”
[…Why not?]
Cartia, who was walking towards me with her sword, looked taken aback.
Why…?
Ah, well… I don’t know.
I just… don’t want to grab it…
But…
Thanks to Cartia, I calmed down fast…
“Actually… I’ll just try holding it once.”
“Are you sure, Noah? What if something goes wrong?”
“Yeah, I’m okay.”
[Good idea. I fixed it for sure, so you can’t hold it anymore.]
Seeing Cartia puffing herself up, Rubia chuckled lightly.
“You didn’t really fix it; you just hit it with your fist.”
[Yeah. We did that in my day.]
Cartia, who casually banged her great sword on the ground, stood it back up.
“Now, go ahead.”
Nodding, I walked toward the sword.
[Hooh… now I’m nervous too.]
Cartia placed a palm on her flat chest and let out a deep breath.
“Wh-why are YOU nervous, Lady Cartia?”
[It’s just a thing, kid. Now, go on. Do it.]
“…Yes, Grandma.”
[Hah, Grandma?! I’m only 35! You little brat!]
“Hehe…”
I don’t know why, but I smiled mischievously at the now-casual Cartia and reached for the sword’s handle.
Just as my fingers were about to touch it.
Suddenly… an unexpected question popped into my mind.
“Um… Rubia.”
“Yes, Noah.”
“Hey, you wouldn’t dislike me if I grew hair on my butt, would you?”
“…Huh? What’s with that out of nowhere… No, um… if I had to answer…”
Her bright smile.
The dazzlingly brilliant and painfully intense feelings.
Turned toward me.
“Not at all. Then, would you dislike me if I grew hair on MY butt?”
“Ahaha… No. If… if that ever happens.”
With lightened steps.
With a refreshed feeling.
I grabbed Cartia’s great sword.
“I’d put hair removal cream on my butt too.”
And drew it out.
