Was this the price for burning through my life?
My vision flickered, and the sensation in my limbs began to fade into a dull numbness.
But in exchange—the partner gripped in my right hand radiated a brilliance unlike any I had ever seen.
Silver light swirled within the pitch-black blade.
Darkness, yet light.
As I stared at the beauty shimmering amidst that contradiction, a small surge of happiness welled up within me. It felt as if there might actually be some salvation to be found in the way I lived my life.
"Look at that..."
So it wasn't just a murky, abyssal black.
Zest and I... we could actually look this impressive.
"——■■■"
Irene unleashed her magic.
Spears that shaved away everything they touched manifested in the air. There were two hundred of them in total. To think she could conjure such a number without even manifesting a Gate...
However, the current version of us wouldn't have a problem.
I activated Dark Arma and unleashed a relentless storm of high-speed sword strikes.
—I can do this.
The current me didn't even need a Gate to bridge the gap.
A hundred slashes per second. By unleashing that twice, I shattered every single spear.
"I’ve managed to read the power of the Boundary... slightly," Zest reported.
Really? Tell me everything.
"Presumably, it causes the target to vanish by blurring the outlines of existence. Boundary, border, division, outline... It is a power that manipulates the very definitions of form."
I don't get it! Summarize!
"If you use enough force, it’s not a problem!"
All right!
I struck down the next wave of spears with a flurry of slashes.
A few missed and hit me directly, but when I braced my entire body as Zest instructed, the pain remained agonizing, but my flesh was no longer erased.
What Irene wielded was the power to make existence unstable and blink it out of being.
Therefore, to resist it, I simply had to remain stable. I arrested my movements for a single heartbeat, hardening my flesh, magic, mind, and soul into something unwavering and absolute.
"Now!"
At Zest’s signal, I dove into Irene’s personal space.
The giant’s arm swung down, but it was slow.
To me, having accelerated by shaving away my very lifespan, the world looked as if it had ground to a halt.
And because of that, I saw it.
The tears spilling from Irene’s eyes...
...Hey, Reiji.
For a moment, I recalled the scenery I had seen through the Master Eye.
Reiji... what did you feel when you were forced to kill Irene?
I won't let it happen. Not here.
You guys don't need that kind of pain in your lives!
"One tragedy is enough for Reiji—and that tragedy will be me!" I screamed, swinging Zest with everything I had.
A black-silver trail sliced clean through the giant’s arm.
"I will be the stepping stone for Reiji! I will be the sole tragedy he has to overcome!"
One more strike.
I sliced the wings from its back.
"That's why—I’m the only tragedy this story needs, damn it!"
Even if the world hates me.
As long as the people I love can draw breath in this world—I will protect them to the bitter end.
Call me blind. Call me a fool.
That is the way of life for a Proud Stepping Stone.
"——■■■!?"
Irene let out a shriek.
I’m sorry. It hurts, doesn't it?
I really do nothing but hurt you, Irene.
Someday, I’ll make it up to you. I promise.
So————sleep for now.
"Ooooooooooh!"
I let Zest drink every drop of life I could spare and mowed down the giant’s torso.
A black-silver flash streaked through the chamber.
The giant’s movements seized—and eventually, it collapsed.
Is it... over?
My knees buckled, but I managed to stay upright by using my sword as a cane.
My breathing was ragged. My heart pounded like a frantic bell against my ribs.
It seemed the power I had obtained in exchange for my life had placed a far greater strain on my body than I had anticipated.
"...Ugh... ah..."
I heard Irene’s groans from within the mass of the collapsed giant.
She reached out a trembling hand toward me. Her eyes were hollow and glazed, but her lips moved with a faint, ghostly whisper.
"...Elysion."
A flash of golden light enveloped me.
The pain eased instantly, and my wounds began to knit back together before my eyes.
"This is... is she strengthening your natural healing factor?" Zest asked.
Seems so. As always, her magic is in a league of its own.
It appeared that as she came down from her rampage, Irene had regained a shred of consciousness. However, since she was this dazed, I could probably bluff my way through the explanation later.
I'd just tell everyone the one who saved Irene was... Logen.
Dead men tell no tales. He was the perfect scapegoat, and no one could verify the truth now.
"Your wounds are healed. ...But it won't bring back the years you've lost," Zest noted grimly.
Yeah. It looked like even Royal Rank Magic couldn't restore a lost lifespan.
I could feel it in my gut. That power was essentially a cash advance on my remaining years.
But I had no regrets. Because I had saved her.
"Now then..."
Time for the finishing touches.
I walked atop the white giant and stopped near its chest, where Irene was still embedded.
I gripped Zest in a reverse hold and plunged the blade into her solar plexus.
"Full Drain."
What I was drawing out was the power of the Artificial Mythos Logen had planted.
When I had sensed the members of the Order earlier, I’d felt strange, grain-like particles near their mana signatures. That was likely the Seed of Artificial Mythos.
When I had first brought Irene to the basement, I should have checked her more thoroughly. If I had, I might have realized she carried the seed too.
No... even if I had realized it, I wasn't sure I could have changed the outcome.
The giant’s flesh covering Irene dissolved into particles, sucked greedily into Zest’s blade.
Eventually, only the familiar blonde girl remained.
Perhaps as a side effect, her hair had grown to an incredible length—at least five meters. Cutting that was going to be a nightmare.
"This power is highly volatile," Zest warned. "It will be difficult to incorporate into our own."
What does that mean? What happens to it?
"I will hold it in reserve for now. It appears this power can only be wielded by specific compatible individuals."
That tracked with what Logen had said about the Apostles being "compatibles." Not everyone could handle the strain.
Regardless, my goal had been to return Irene to her human form.
Mission accomplished.
Just as I let out a sigh of relief————.
"Gugh!?"
My vision warped.
My eyes burned with a searing heat. To think it would trigger at a time like this...
As if mocking my exhaustion, the Master Eye forced another vision upon me.
The location was the same... the Royal Castle Underground.
Three figures stood in the chamber.
"Get out of the way, Claude! He’s the one behind all of this!" Reiji shouted.
Reiji was facing off against Logen.
And there I was, standing in his way, shielding the Prime Minister...
"Have you lost your mind, Reiji? You’re accusing the Prime Minister of being the mastermind? Don't be ridiculous!"
I see...
In the vision I’d seen the other day, I had been nowhere to be found.
It seemed that in the Worldline as It Should Be, I had been Logen’s loyal dog.
However, from the look of things, that version of me hadn't known about Logen’s true plan. I wasn't a co-conspirator; I was just a pawn being manipulated for his convenience.
"Prime Minister, please escape. I will hold him here."
"H-hahaha! I'm counting on you, Claude. You must strike down that traitor!"
"As you wish."
"As you wish," my ass!
I felt a surge of disgust watching my alternate self bow elegantly to that snake. I was being completely exploited.
The vision shattered.
My sight returned to the present.
"Claude..."
I know, Zest.
I understood why the Master Eye had activated now.
I was a wreck. Even if my physical wounds were closed, I was at my mental breaking point. My body creaked and screamed with every movement, a lingering protest from the lifespan I’d burned away.
To be honest... I just wanted to go home.
I wanted a hot meal, a bath, and a soft bed.
But————don't run.
That was what Fate wanted to tell me, wasn't it?
You sadistic piece of work...
"...I'm not running."
Zest’s magic perception picked up a new signature.
Someone was sprinting down the stairs, heading straight for this basement. The mana radiating from them was every bit as intense as Irene's had been during her transformation.
With a violent thud, the figure landed in the center of the chamber.
Rubble and dust billowed into the air. Through the haze, I saw two brilliant glints of light.
Reiji stood there, gripping his Golden Twin Swords. His fierce, predatory eyes were locked onto me.
"Claude."
Being caught in the crosshairs of that burning gaze made the hair on my arms stand up.
Haha... incredible.
What was with that sheer weight of presence?
I didn't know what he’d been through, but he was fundamentally different from the boy I knew. Had he finally stepped into his role as a hero?
The current Reiji radiated the absolute pressure of a master who left no openings.
As expected of the true hero... Reiji Wolf.
For a stepping stone like me, you are the only one who can truly be my eternal rival.
The stage was perfectly set.
Irene lay collapsed and helpless.
And there I was, standing over her with a sword at her chest.
You know what you have to do, don't you?
If you're a hero, there’s only one choice.
Reiji shifted his stance, leveling his twin swords.
In an instant————he vanished.
"——!?"
I barely managed to bring my sword up in a horizontal guard before a massive impact rocked my world.
My vision flipped. A second later, I realized I was flying through the air.
He attacked me?
You have to be kidding...
I didn't even see him move.
I twisted in mid-air and stuck the landing. Reiji didn't follow up with a second strike. Instead, he moved to Irene’s side, staring down at her pale face.
He blinked slowly, then turned his gaze back to me.
His eyes were filled with a cold, unwavering resolve.
"I'm going to..."
Reiji’s knuckles whitened as he gripped his swords.
Mana began to howl around him like a localized hurricane.
"I'm going to————kill you."