To be honest, I thought there was no way to get any stronger. Because I had gained the power of Kurika, who is considered the strongest in the continent recognized by the Goddess.
If it ended there, it might be a bit disappointing, but I also had the ability to freeze time given by the Goddess of Time.
I thought there was no higher place to rise in the continent.
“Wasn’t it said that there is always a higher place?”
Feeling the mana surging within my body, I sensed the potential for further growth.
I know that too much is not good. Just like the witches of old, who incurred the wrath of the gods and were banished to the Forest of the Demon Realm.
I too could be seen as a danger, prompting the gods to join forces to eliminate Daniel McLean.
“Strangely, I feel confident.”
Still, a strange confidence swirled through my entire body.
Just look at the Army of Death being unleashed by the Goddess of Death, who ranks at the top among the gods. They are helplessly swept away without being able to use any power.
The human army has already retreated. Even though I was the only one facing the coming Army of Death.
There was no fear or trembling whatsoever.
It was as if, in a past life, Kurika had gone to battle alone wielding the Sword of Rest.
“This time, the result will be very different.”
Could she hear my voice?
The darkness surrounding the Forest of the Demon Realm seemed to tremble.
I was about to charge forward with my sword, but a green wind blowing from behind wrapped around my shoulders. Was it because my sense of smell had sharpened? I suddenly turned my head at the familiar scent of the forest that tickled my nose.
She landed beside me on the wind and lifted Artemis’s bow.
“Are you going in?”
“……Are you planning to come with me?”
I wanted to say it was dangerous, but Eris’s eyes shot a glare at me, so I held my tongue.
“Ugh, I have so many questions.”
The army that had slowly come back to life, melted by the acidic slime, was rising again. Not only them but even the slimes were absorbing their own fluids to regain their gigantic forms.
“Ask away, I think it might be better to answer now.”
Carrying the burden in my chest while continuing the battle could lead to regrets that would surface later.
I was also prepared with answers, so Eris calmly opened her mouth.
“Do you still like me?”
Her voice was calm as she asked the question. I wondered how she could ask so casually, without any tremor.
But since I knew her from our past life, I understood the burden behind those words from an elf who had lived a hard life and skillfully hid her true feelings.
That’s why, even though I didn’t want to answer. I knew I couldn’t choose silence for Eris’s sake.
I never expected this day would come, but…
“No.”
I inadvertently squeezed the hand gripping the sword. Forcing my tongue to move, I continued.
This was the only consideration I could give to “Eris” in this world.
“I do not love ‘you’.”
“……”
“As you said, the one I loved was a different Eris.”
Eris’s gaze fell. Her golden hair cascading down seemed to express her feelings, making it hard for me to look away.
Her calm voice was now slightly tinged with moisture.
“I see.”
What could I say here? I knew that no explanation or apology would help her.
Choosing silence, Eris’s response came sooner than expected.
“Do you like the child inside?”
Eris pointed toward the writhing darkness deeper in the Forest of the Demon Realm. I didn’t particularly want to answer, but I replied honestly.
“……I don’t know.”
I knew I was being shaken by Rin. She was my first love, and she never hid her feelings, always expressing them openly.
“Do you hate me?”
Her terrified face from when she asked that on the school rooftop came to mind.
At that time, I told her I didn’t hate her.
“I really have liked you since we were little. And I always will.”
Meaning every word.
She had never once wavered in her heart. Quite the opposite of me.
“Daniel, I… I’m so scared. I’m so, so scared…”
Knowing the mark of the Goddess of Death was engraved in her heart, she cried in my arms that night in Yggdrasil.
Afraid she’d become something else instead of Rin, and that she might threaten me.
“I want to sleep together.”
In City Bethel, after resolving the Murder Hotel incident, she came to my room late at night, hiding in the darkness, making unreasonable requests.
“If I ever hurt you or make you sick, just kill me.”
And that night.
We talked a lot on the bed. Rin, who wanted to be a doctor, asked me to please just kill her if she became a monster consumed by her own abilities.
“I will protect you too, Daniel.”
As I promised to protect Rin, she hugged me tightly, and while I didn’t say much at the time, that promise comforted me more than I expected.
“Are you really not sure?”
Her brilliant golden hair danced in the wind. Eris, with the question not to avoid, pulled the bowstring on her bow.
“Then go and check.”
A blue light appeared where there was nothing on the bow.
Eris’s eyes bore the imprint of Artemis, and soon after.
A piercing ray of intense light shot forth, illuminating the darkness of the Forest of the Demon Realm.
The blue light pierced a massive hole in the center of the recovering silver slime and continued without losing momentum toward the edge of the forest.
Eris pointed her hand at the arrow.
“It was an honor to create a path for you, Daniel McLean.”
With a hand over her heart, she gave a stiff, formal bow. Knowing that this was a farewell among elves.
I expressed my gratitude to Eris and moved toward the inner part of the forest along the path she had created.
Naturally, the inside of the forest was dark, but thanks to the soft blue glow left by Eris’s arrow, it was easy to see.
Within the forest, the Army of Death was densely positioned. From regular magical beasts to ancient magical beasts.
Each and every one of them charged at me, wanting to stop me from reaching their master. However, one swing of the Sword of Rest would turn them into nothing more than crushed bugs.
“Rin…”
I had so much I wanted to say.
Although the time apart hadn’t been long, I strangely missed her.
Now, the hope that I could finally free that child from the goddess’s power, like a curse, spread from the weight of the dagger I carried within me.
The arrow’s tip.
Just like in a past life when Eris’s arrow hit the sword held by the one wielding the earliest apocalypse, it guided me to the destination.
The goddess residing in Rin swung her sword to deflect Eris’s arrow that suddenly flew toward her and glared at me.
“Get away! You monster who knows nothing of the goddess’s will!”
Then, in an instant, she vanished into the darkness, trying to avoid a direct hit from the dagger of sealing.
Perhaps knowing there was nowhere to run, the darkness materialized and engulfed me, but.
“I’ll make it clear, Rin.”
With the Sword of Rest, I repelled and shattered everything around me.
“You will never be able to harm or kill me.”
From the goddess’s perspective, it must have sounded absurd, but I believed it. I was certain my voice would surely reach Rin within.
“So.”
Mana enveloping me from the Sword of Rest. I began to use mana for the first time, so I didn’t know the difficult maneuvers.
With the sword driven into the darkness where the goddess hid, I unleashed a massive amount of mana. The goddess emerged, groaning in pain from the darkness that burst open.
“Ughhh!”
“So I will never kill you.”
If I’m going to hurt or make you sick, then just kill me?
Give me a break.
With the power to merely destroy the continent, you can’t inflict any pain on me.
So.
“Don’t worry, I’ll definitely protect you.”
“Stop it…!”
CRACK!
With that last word, time froze. The Apocalypse, which tried to block my approach, reached out to shout something, but remained suspended in the air.
I drew the dagger of sealing from my pocket.
Stabbing the Sword of Rest into the ground, I walked through the now still clumps of dirt that had been exploding.
“It hasn’t been that long, surprisingly.”
To be precise, only about a year had passed since the time of regression. I achieved a feat of stopping the apocalypse that was to occur in ten years, all in just one year.
“Of course, I heard another apocalypse remains.”
According to what Kurika told me, while there would be other apocalypses after the earliest, the likelihood of their numbers being many was slim.
Despite the exhausting need to continue such battles, I was certain I could overcome it, recalled by the power I had left.
I plunged the dagger of sealing into the imprint left by the goddess of darkness.
And time began to rewind.
“Stop it!”
The white dagger of sealing began to activate as time flowed once more.
It started absorbing all the darkness scattered outside. With nowhere left to run, the Apocalypse clung to me, struggling and shouting in vain.
“NO! It can’t be! If I fail this time…!”
“Any god will fail.”
A warning of sorts.
Having experienced and felt my power firsthand, the Goddess of Death was aiming to indirectly instill this fear in other gods.
But as she writhed and wept, she screamed.
“The continent is doomed! You Daniel McLean! It would have been better for me to perish right now, right now! Do you still not know the tragedy that lies before you?!”
“……Your gods talk too much.”
CRUNCH.
The dagger began to fulfill its purpose. The goddess completely lost control of the darkness, leaving her mustering all her strength just to place her hand onto mine, gripping the dagger tightly.
“Why…? According to my calculations…”
SWISH!
All remaining darkness vanished.
The dagger, having fulfilled its role, now had its pure white blade turn black as if it were turning to dust before disappearing into the breeze.
I regretted that I could not stop the other apocalypses with that dagger, but for now, the thrill of victory surged through my body.
The long and arduous battle that began in a past life had finally come to an end.
The earliest apocalypse had been completely defeated and disappeared.
“Da, Daniel…”
“Rin!”
“Y…you really… saved me…”
Rin, regaining her senses, opened her eyes faintly. I worried that something might have happened to her, but fortunately, she seemed to be okay.
“Yeah, we did it.”
I wanted to pull her into a tight embrace, but her claws made me halt for a moment.
However, Rin used whatever remaining strength she had left to pull me into a tight hug.
The warmth from her body spread naturally, giving me a warm sense of relief within.
“Thank you… Daniel. Thank you so much for saving me.”
“Rin, I have so much to say to you.”
Where should I even begin to explain my feelings? I wondered what face she would make and what answer she would give after hearing them.
Would she be happy?
I hoped she’d feel happiness.
The battles ahead would be extremely grueling and fierce, but I hoped this girl would just wait calmly from a distance.
With that thought in mind, I opened my mouth, but…
The sun is falling.
This sight could only be summed up in that phrase. Gigantic meteoric fireballs were raining from the sky, mercilessly trampling the continent.
“Rin!”
I forgot about the sharp claws and hugged Rin tightly.
BOOM!
The deafening roar and explosion that covered the entire continent gradually quieted down.
A desolate land remained, with nothing left.
The Forest of the Demon Realm, which never allowed an invasion, revealed itself bare.
Burning trees and the intensely heated ground. The entire surrounding land was ablaze. Was this what some of the gods referred to as hell?
I could hear Rin’s labored breathing in my arms.
Thanks to the barrier from Kurika, I could barely endure it, but Rin struggled to breathe amidst the excruciating pain as if the abandoned house were burning down.
“Da, D…aniel…!”
I wanted to tell her it was okay.
I tried to reach out to reassure her not to worry, but…
I had no hand.
Not just my hand. Starting from my right shoulder, something had slashed through me, leaving a grotesque cross-section.
I couldn’t touch Rin.
Wanting to keep Rin, who was nestled in my left arm, as far from the scorching earth as possible, I gathered my strength, but it wouldn’t budge.
I nearly stumbled back.
As a result, the sweat drenching my body began to drip, and it was red.
What I thought was sweat was, in fact, blood, and I only now realized it.
And then, before us.
A golden-haired man approached.
“The earliest apocalypse has failed. Thus, the ‘Following Apocalypse’ has come.”
His golden eyes shone like a blazing sun. Our childhood friend was completely unconscious, having had his body seized by the god.
“Daniel McLean.”
He called my name, seeming a bit enraged.
The heat bearing down made it hard to breathe. I felt my tongue drying out in my mouth.
“There is no next time for you.”
The golden sword he held pierced my heart.
And that was the end.
I had no strength left to freeze time, no energy to flee.
The power granted by the goddess was utterly useless, and my childhood friend’s power failed to exert its influence.
Despite being on the verge of collapse, Daniel McLean still held onto his childhood friend and beloved woman.
But the girl met the same tragic fate.
Sunset shone down.
The blazing heat vanished as if washed away, replaced by a strangely cool breeze that swept over me, comforting me.
“Rin? What’s wrong?”
The boy who had just stabbed his heart with a sword approached with a puzzled expression. Rin took a step back in surprise.
But…
She knew this scene.
Aios Academy.
This place was Aios Academy, and she was on her way home.
“What’s going on? Did Ares do something?”
“Nope. I just asked if Daniel wrote a letter to Diana noona about possibly being expelled.”
The girl who had once been my close friend, now belonging to the organization Tudogs, approached.
“Uh…?”
Suddenly, an intense wave of nausea rose in her chest, but unfortunately, the girl had no time for such feelings.
Because.
Vivid memories she hadn’t seen before violently surged upon her.
It felt like her head was about to explode, yet she couldn’t resist and helplessly welcomed it.
[Daniel McLean was expelled, but she collapsed in exhaustion while searching for him, crying.]
[Aios Academy was shut down due to various incidents.]
[She continued searching for Daniel, but ultimately failed, becoming a doctor caring for children in her village.]
[Ten years later, she was killed by a priestess who came to visit.]
[And thus became the ‘Earliest Apocalypse’.]
[She killed the priestess.]
[And killed all the village people.]
[Destroyed the human nations.]
[Consumed the beastmen’s land.]
[Burned Yggdrasil.]
[The dragonkins perished.]
[The dwarves didn’t even put up a proper fight.]
[Entered the last remaining Forest of the Demon Realm.]
[Slaughtered the tyrant and the emperor.]
[Pierced the heart of the elf Eris Anen Seriere.]
[Killed Daniel McLean.]
“Uh…?”
No, she had never done such a thing.
It couldn’t be true.
“No! No! No! No! Daniel saved me! He… didn’t abandon me, he stayed with me and promised…”
[Daniel McLean failed.]
“Promise…?”
[And began again.]
“Da, Daniel.”
Finally understanding the entire sequence of events, Rin knelt down, shedding sorrowful tears.
She realized that no one else in this world knew the tragedy she had just experienced.
And the boy she loved so dearly had just died.
She understood.
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