Broken Sun.
Twilight Sky.
Wrinkled Landscape.
Burning World.
Flames rising from the ground stretch towards the sky, as if to touch the broken sun, carving cracks into its surface. From the engraved fissures, another flame spills out.
Flames soaring from the ground.
Fire falling from the sky.
In a world that seems to have replicated the appearance of Hell, wings stretch out to block the gaze of the sun, fluttering in rhythm with the dancing flames.
Burning the sky, scorching the world, they blaze magnificently.
Once again, they flutter.
Following this, the flames gather around Brunhilde’s form.
Crack– Snap—
And then.
Like a butterfly breaking free from its cocoon, Brunhilde’s form is revealed, having emerged from the nest of flames.
A figure distinct from before.
Her tattered body had been healed, and the wings that had burned with fire transformed back into the demon’s wings made of membrane.
“There’s still time, so how about we talk?”
Clad in armor of flames instead of the shattered bone armor, holding a single spear.
Against the backdrop of a massive halo rising behind her, not above her head,
Brunhilde strides forward in a stately manner, step– step— through the air.
Embracing flames that seemed ready to burn just by looking at them.
Standing squarely at the center of Hell beneath the broken sun, Brunhilde spoke.
“I wanted to have a chat with you, the one who revealed everything.”
The chill spreading around her held back the fierce heat of the flames. Feather-like wisps of energy dispersed the falling fire from the sky.
“You know, whether I kill you or you kill me, that’s a result determined in a fleeting moment. So let’s have a little chat.”
Crack– Brunhilde, who had propped her spear in the air, crossed her arms.
A calm demeanor devoid of any provocation.
I too pulled my sinking consciousness back to reality.
Relaxing my posture, I gathered my thoughts.
“Ahaha, thanks. So… what should I ask first?”
In a landscape of hell that seemed to contain the ruin of everything, with less than two minutes left in time, Brunhilde’s atmosphere remained incredibly relaxed.
“What do you think of our existence?”
“Forgotten… heroes.”
“Hmm—and?”
As if demanding I not play coy, Brunhilde’s voice pierced through sharply.
So she knew too.
Brunhilde, Valoran, Tylant, Carpen.
If they had been the Monster of the End, blindly following their given instincts, they would not have realized this fact, which was forcibly reclaimed through a shortening of their lifespans.
Imagining what Brunhilde’s feelings might be.
Chewing over the emotions I felt connected to the beings tied to my soul, I slowly opened my lips.
“…Pieces of the key.”
Snap– Brunhilde clapped her dainty hands with a radiant smile, her elegant tail swaying.
“Exactly. We are pieces of the key. Pieces meant to unlock the door to the upper world. You call them Masters, those children have the divine nature of Lilith embedded within them. So then, what do we have embedded within us, what can we contain, are you aware of the level we’ve reached?”
I recalled the images of heroes that Valoran had shown and the experiences I’d felt in the trials.
The essence that permeated their bodies.
What they had reached, what I had reached.
The final destination I had tried to completely surpass—
“Ascension. Once mere mortals, we had managed to attain the realm of ascension. Thus, the divine nature was embedded in our bodies. With time passing, crossing walls, had we stepped into a new realm, our souls too could have contained divine nature.”
Tap– Clap– As if Brunhilde’s emotions were surging, the heat of the flames dancing with her intensified.
“Indeed. We truly could have… surpassed the end of this world, led every being living here, and ventured into the ‘upper world.’ But we couldn’t. The time given to us was not that much.”
Brunhilde’s voice, smiling, was laced with deep regret and unending self-reproach.
“What you all refer to as the upper world… what exactly is it?”
Thunk– As Brunhilde snapped her fingers, the flickering flames halted. The drifting smoke stopped. The air ceased. Space halted. Time halted.
The light of the cracking, crumbling sun began to fade.
“A world where created beings don’t have to follow a set order. A world where beings live in their complete selves, free from predetermined fates, concepts, or regulations. For instance, the Demon Realm where I used to live—and”
The Celestial Realm where Valoran lived.
The Phantom Realm where Tylant lived.
Another Phantom Realm where Carpen lived.
And.
“The world you lived in.”
Bang– Clap– As Brunhilde exhaled, time began to flow again.
“Then, I too am a piece of the key—”
“Correct. You are a piece of the key. But you are not.”
“That means I am not…”
“I’ll reiterate. A dreadful thorny path treaded in your place—a ‘hypocrite’ who was betrayed and abandoned by those she trusted, by the whole world. Even killing the one she loved, twisting and shattering causality. Eventually, she proclaimed herself the end of everything. That person became a piece of the key instead of you.”
“What does that mean…”
Crack– A dark light seeped out from the cracked sun. It reached out toward Brunhilde’s psyche. It quelled the flames. It constricted her form.
But Brunhilde laughed without caring.
“By the way, did you know? Aside from the hypocrite, there’s one arrogant, foolish, and stubborn human who volunteered to be a piece of the key.”
The Sword of Victory.
“She wasn’t a being summoned from the upper world like us. But she was stronger than any other being. So strong that the thought of defiance was impossible. She could have surely surpassed the end. Truly embodying divine nature and enduring everything all, she could have led every being resembling her into the upper world. But she didn’t.”
Brunhilde’s powerless gaze.
She looked upon the crack that opened in the sky.
She gazed at her own flames.
She stared at the chill that quelled the heat.
She looked at the feathers that shielded against the flames.
She regarded the Blood Aura enveloping my form.
And finally, she looked at the sky.
“Perhaps because she originally belonged to this world. Her desired victory wasn’t one distorted, but rather a complete victory. That’s why she volunteered to be a piece of the key. With that power, at the cost of every essence, she twisted the rules, leaving two beings in a single era which created a ‘variable.’ Thus, she opened the path. A path leading toward perfect victory. It was her duty to make that choice.”
A self-deprecating smile.
Yet it was a smile infused with hope and gratitude.
“What an arrogant girl. Ahaha, did I talk too much after asking to have a conversation? I got a bit excited since it’s been a while since I’ve spoken like this. But… yeah. I’m sorry. Since there’s not much time left, I think I have to end this.”
The massive halo behind her flickered. Consequently, the flames surged wildly.
“After all, if I die, it’ll seep into your soul. But then, I won’t be able to remain as the ‘complete me’ like now. So, when I’m in my complete mind, I’ll ask just one last question. You don’t have to answer right away. Just show us in the final moment.”
The dark light intensified.
Like shedding a shell, the form of a black sun revealed itself behind the broken sun.
“Adversary. What choice will you make? Will you shatter the sky like me? Or will you deny the sky like foolish celestials? Perhaps you might freeze in place like a timid beast, or leap into the sky like a mindless beast.”
A spear was held in Brunhilde’s outstretched hand.
As all flames flowed in sync with that movement. They twisted. They harmonized, cascading down. They surged upward. They raged fiercely. Setting the sky ablaze and igniting the world.
I did not respond.
I could not respond.
But Brunhilde.
Seemingly pleased, almost relieved.
With a smile brighter than anyone else’s, filled with joy, she laughed brightly.
“Exactly. Whatever choice you make, I hope you won’t walk the path of our failure.”
The sun that cracked and split—no longer a distorted form but a complete black sun solidified into its full shape.
“Continue without bending, taking your own path.”
The dark light descended.
Brunhilde’s flames swallowed that very dark light.
All consumed in flames, burning away her own existence, the pitch-black flames.
It stretched out towards the world.
It rose to break the sky.
“At the end of everything, just make a choice without regrets.”
Brunhilde’s world screamed. The fiercely burning flames tore, ripped, and tangled themselves.
The massive halo floating behind flickered.
The world that was screaming began to rise.
The flames twisting around compressed into the spear.
It was layered. It formed a new shape.
What was created was a spear meant to slay a god.
A spear meant to shatter the sky.
In the end, unnamed.
Forgotten past.
It was launched.
A colossal Fire Demon.
Everything she had built came rushing towards me.
Shattered, bent, collapsed, erased, leaving no trace.
But the hero’s soul, still burning, radiated light.
“Adversary. Achieve not what we want, but what you desire.”
Among flames burning hotter than the searing sun, I raised Frey.
I focused my mind. Reaching out towards the ‘thing’ calling me from the fringes of consciousness. I craved strength.
But I did not covet.
I did not wish.
I did not pray.
I merely brought forth what I desired.
Now, in this moment.
What I wanted the most.
Victory, and.
Rest.
Gently exhaling.
I lifted Frey.
“Thank you.”
From below, to above.
From the ground to the sky.
From the past to the future.
To achieve Disappearance (消失).
To achieve Burn (燒失).
I cast my will upon the world.
