Rubia hurriedly composed her expression and looked around.
The view obscured by the snowstorm cleared up.
The entirety of the street, which had been invisible just a moment ago, came into sight.
Hundreds of people appeared.
The sudden onslaught of snow had resulted in numerous disappearances overnight.
What were called the missing persons were essentially the same as the deceased.
They were a group gathered to search for those missing.
Adventurers whose names were well-known in the area.
Knights acknowledged by the empire and revered by the locals.
Though the force gathered was excessive for merely finding missing persons, they silently went about their tasks.
They searched for the lost and confirmed the dead.
Having checked about half of the hastily created list, the snowstorm ceased.
No, it stopped.
“R-Rubia!”
Caught in confusion, Rubia heard the urgent voice of her subordinate calling her name and steadied her trembling voice.
“…Yes.”
“Rubia, this… this kind of event is your first time, right?”
The snowstorms that arrived in Ursphere were familiar.
The white calamity, the wrath of Tylant.
Snowstorms, known by that nickname, were well-recognized.
They came unexpectedly each time, resulting in both missing persons and casualties.
But this.
It wasn’t just stopped; it had come to a halt for the first time.
“I… I also… um.”
“Hah… What in the world…”
Understanding what was happening was a challenge.
However, as the one solely responsible for Ursphere, Rubia checked her emotions and expression.
“Regardless, it’s a good thing. Let’s finish this promptly. Let’s continue as we were. Please locate the remaining missing persons and gather the bodies of the deceased. Bekan, prioritize finding Hephaestus.”
“Yes. Yes… understood.”
The man who stood beside Rubia nodded reluctantly and took his leave.
Just as Rubia was about to move in search of Hephaestus,
The snowstorm, which had stopped in mid-air, began to swirl once more.
No, rather than swirling… it flowed.
The direction of the flow was consistent.
The speed was also steady.
Rubia’s gaze followed that flow.
The summit of Karahan.
A magic circle of unparalleled size and a small sphere were visible.
The snowstorm was flowing towards that location.
Flowing, gathering, increasing the size of the sphere.
The murmurs of the people ceased.
The sounds stopped.
It felt as if the entire world had paused.
Everyone stood still, fixated on the summit of Karahan.
The sphere began to grow exponentially.
The colors of the magic circle began to gradually change.
Thus.
All the snowstorms that spread across Ursphere dissipated and concentrated at the summit of Karahan.
The sphere slowly unfurled.
It opened and opened.
Under the sky, another sky bloomed.
Not a blue sky, but a hazy sky.
A sky made of snow, enveloping the heavens.
At last.
The shape of the magic circle transformed.
It flipped over.
Twisted, shattered, and redefined.
It depicted the form of a black sun.
And then.
“Uh…?”
The sky fell apart.
It poured and flowed.
An avalanche sufficient to conceal the size of the Karahan Mountain Range took place.
A natural disaster.
The calamity advancing to consume everything shattered the hearts of the people.
It brought despair.
It snatched away hope.
Regardless of strength, wisdom, or even recognition from everyone.
Be they good or evil.
Ultimately, humans were merely mortals, reminded of their fragility.
In Ursphere, there were no screams.
No lamentations.
Nor even sorrow.
Crushed under the weight of overwhelming calamity, they could do nothing else.
They simply gazed at the approaching death.
Rubia observed this and thought.
Can it be avoided?
It cannot be.
Can it be stopped?
Absolutely cannot.
Evacuating the residents.
Impossible.
Those who might survive.
At best, only the Master.
If it were an ordinary avalanche, other adventurers and knights could have survived.
But that was no ordinary avalanche.
It was an alien calamity imbued with the will to destroy everything.
There was nothing to avoid, stop, or survive.
Under the sky, the only option was to wait for death as a pitiful mortal.
Even so, Rubia attempted to fight back.
With trembling hands, she grasped her staff.
She whipped her legs to prevent them from collapsing and forced herself to stand.
Grinding her clenched jaw painfully as she bit back her nausea.
She tightened the robe around her body and took a step forward.
There was no need to convince other adventurers.
She refrained from doing so since she couldn’t take responsibility.
Silently, she walked the path meant for her.
If she were to die anyway, she wouldn’t go down without a fight.
Perhaps that sight roused something within the other adventurers.
Among the trembling adventurers standing still, a few began to follow Rubia.
“We will die. For sure.”
Rubia forced out a calm voice.
“Yes. I know.”
Bekan, leading the group that followed, who was tasked with finding Hephaestus, responded.
“I can’t take responsibility.”
“Is there any other option?”
“Well, even so… the Empire or the Guild would recognize us.”
“As long as the pension keeps coming in for our families, I don’t care.”
Bekan shrugged and shook his head with a grin.
“If we can stop it, we could become heroes and rich!”
At his nonsense, Rubia swallowed a hollow laugh.
The idea of stopping that calamity.
What absurdity.
Yet, she didn’t correct him.
“Hah, that’s… quite a nice idea.”
And Rubia herself smiled brightly as she approached death.
Arriving at the entrance.
Adventurers who had been joking around in a relaxed manner now fell silent.
They had no choice but to.
What they saw at that place was immensely different.
Though they were still passing the middle of Karahan.
The figure became clearer, but still indistinct.
The urge to flee surged within them.
Their bodies trembled, unable to shed tears, frozen in place.
Having experienced numerous hardships, they thought themselves seasoned.
But that calamity was on another level.
With a wry smile, she planted her staff into the ground.
Charlotte and Yuria. Rubia and Noah…
And even the missing Hephaestus.
Though she had no clue where they were, she hoped they had survived.
Surely, they were beings who could bring light to this world devoid of brightness.
Though she could not be among their ranks.
Still, she resolved to be a supportive sidekick.
The figure of the calamity began to come into focus.
Each snowflake turned into a blade, rushing to tear everything apart.
And among those blades, countless monsters intervened.
Could they hold them off for even a second?
She didn’t know.
How could mere humans shield themselves from the heavens?
Yet, she ignited her magical power.
Planting her staff into the ground, she erected walls in the air.
One layer, two layers, three layers…
Drawing all her magical power to the floor, she built countless barriers.
When, behind those, other wizards erected their own walls,
Boom—!
With the sound akin to the mountains collapsing, the calamity surged to the entrance.
Ah, she couldn’t stop it.
They were guaranteed to die.
Die.
Death.
There was no escape.
Nothing but death awaited them.
Pure fear soaked her body.
Leaning on her staff to keep her upright, tears streamed down her cheeks without her knowledge.
They would be dead before a minute passed.
In just two minutes, Ursphere would be annihilated.
Hearing the cries of despair from behind, Rubia attempted to close her eyes.
At that moment.
The calamity split apart.
It ripped and tore.
Tore and scattered.
“Well, at least you’re better than those cowards running away back there.”
The disaster shattered at the instigation of a girl.
“Quit zoning out and get back there to deal with the minions!”
Slaughtering thousands of monsters.
Slaying Carpen, and even the Master, Kalt.
Noah, the adventurer,
cut the calamity.
“W-What is that… What the hell… What is going on…?”
Rubia, unable to form a coherent sentence upon seeing it, ultimately fainted.
“Whoa there.”
*
Carrying the unconscious Rubia away, the adventurers rubbed their tired eyes as they felt various energies swirling within them.
First was… two types of Elixirs.
A perfect elixir and one with side effects.
Yuria, right?
She’d try her best to keep control until the end.
But ‘I’ might be getting shorter… and my intelligence might drop a bit, but… there’s nothing that can be done about that.
After all, my intelligence was already on the floor… there was no further to fall.
Then the second:
The Divine Power from ‘Rubia.’
Thanks to this, I gained an opportunity.
I don’t know why now, nor the intent behind it…
But still, it would be the right thing to follow her wishes.
And the third:
‘My’ Magical Power.
Chaotic and unruly magical power rampaged through my body.
This was… annoying, but I’ll have to sort things out before my consciousness fades.
Clicking my tongue, I gazed at the summit of Karahan.
I could feel the killing intent from the white calamity.
Embracing it with my whole body, I chuckled – Hehe.
What a cocky little Kolagom.
The nerve to spew killing intent at me after becoming my coat.
Of course, it wouldn’t remember.
But still, such audacity.
Unlike last time, this time Rubia is with me.
I’ll have to fashion her a coat, too.
If I do that… wouldn’t we be a couple?
A bit regretful, but still, imagining Rubia’s delighted face brought a smile to my lips.
I stabbed the Great Sword into the ground and stretched.
After finishing my long haaaah— stretch,
I set my feet towards the summit.
I was given roughly a day.
Thus, I would finish it in half a day.
With the remaining time,
I would go on a date with Rubia.
What to do for fun? The thought made a smile break out on my face.
As I walked with a beaming smile,
I felt another seal being released.
Once.
Twice.
Thrice.
Four times.
In the past, when I faced Tylant, four seals had been released.
Halfway.
And now, with four more released, a total of eight seals were gone.
[b][AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA–!!][/b]
All the seals that had restrained Tylant shattered.
At the summit of Karahan.
Tylant rose.
Killing intent surged, making every nerve in my body tingle.
And just like that.
“Uh?”
Tylant hurled its body into the air.
Flying past me.
Diving towards Ursphere.
Why?
To slay the challenger?
Was it that I, in my current state, wasn’t worthy of being its opponent?
I don’t know.
It must be that Lilith has intervened again.
“Ah, damn it…”
Crack—! Gritting my teeth, I dashed towards Ursphere.
Yuria is in danger.
This time, I must save her.
