"We shall perform," Kuro announced. Magnawell-san was the first to act.
He retracted his long neck from where it had been extending toward the plaza and slowly turned his gaze toward the heavens.
"Oooooooh!"
A thunderous roar that felt like it would split the sky echoed through the air. However, no shockwaves reached our position—Kuro and the others were likely maintaining a protective barrier.
Even so, Magnawell-san’s roar seemed to vibrate through the earth itself, sending a prickling sensation through my skin.
In the distance, far from the city hosting the festival, the ground surged upward. It formed a colossal mountain range that encircled the entire city like a ring.
Even from this distance, the rocky peaks appeared to be several thousand meters high—massive structures nearly as large as Magnawell-san himself. The gathered crowds gasped in awe at the sheer power required to terraform the world with a single cry.
Naturally, that was only the beginning. Jet-black magic power began to swirl around Kuro. With the poise of an orchestral conductor, she raised both hands, and the ring of mountains that had just erupted from the earth rose into the sky as one.
"...Incredible... To move such mass without a single chant or magic circle..."
I heard Lilia-san murmur in a daze, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from the spectacle.
Once the mountain range had reached a sufficient height, Megiddo-san thrust an arm wreathed in crimson flames toward the firmament.
A pillar of fire erupted from his fist, scorching the sky and pulverizing the floating peaks with a titanic explosion.
Before I could even register the heat, Isis-san appeared at the heart of the blast, drifting through the dissipating smoke.
She spun with the grace of a dancer, and the mountain fragments—along with the roaring flames—froze instantly. A vast field of ice blocks now hung suspended in the sky.
Watching the giant blocks of ice begin their descent, the terrifying thought that this rain of frozen debris would turn the city into a graveyard crossed my mind. But it was not to be.
Three massive trees erupted around the city. Their branches surged upward at an incredible speed, catching the falling ice as if the wood itself possessed a will of its own.
This was Liliwood-san’s work. These three colossal trees, each as magnificent as the World Tree itself, served as a testament to her immense power.
For the finale, Alice, draped in her jet-black robe, leaped high into the air.
Her form blurred like flickering static, and an impossible number of clones materialized, saturating my field of vision.
She had mentioned earlier that her main body could control a hundred thousand split bodies, but seeing it in person was nothing short of breathtaking.
Like a shower of meteors, the clones streaked across the branches in every direction. They worked with supernatural speed before converging back into a single person at Kuro’s side.
In the span of a few seconds, the landscape had been utterly transformed.
The three trees surrounding the city were now adorned with exquisite ornaments of multicolored ice. A ring of frozen flame connected the trees like a brilliant, shimmering halo.
Furthermore, the characters for "Human," "Demon," and "God" were inscribed into the bark of each tree.
I see. The three trees represented the Three Worlds, and the ring of glowing ice showed that those three worlds were now bound together.
It was a simple concept to describe, yet the scale of the execution—decorating an entire city in heartbeats—reminded me that the Six Kings were truly overwhelming existences.
Amidst the rising waves of admiration and astonishment from the crowd, Kuro spoke once more.
"Exactly one thousand years ago, the Friendship Treaty was signed between the Three Worlds. Since then, the three realms have stood together, side by side, as we carved our names into history. We are proud to hold the very first Six Kings Festival in this milestone year. We pray that the future—one where we hold hands with our dear neighbors—will continue for another thousand years... no, for eternity. I hereby declare the Six Kings Festival open!"
The plaza erupted in thunderous cheers.
"Amazing! This is unbelievable!"
"They changed the very terrain in an instant... As expected of the Six Kings-sama!"
"Did you hear? The Six Kings-sama called us their 'dear neighbors.' We have to make sure we live up to that!"
"Exactly! We can't match their power, but Humans, Demons, and Gods all have their own strengths. Let’s work together!"
"You bet!"
Everywhere I looked, people were praising the Six Kings and expressing their pride in the treaty. It wasn't just about being protected; they were talking about mutual support.
Ah, truly, this is a wonderful world. No one is acting small or defeated; they are looking forward, determined to do what they can as a matter of course.
That should be something incredibly difficult to achieve. Yet, seeing Humans, Demons, and Gods laughing and cheering together felt like proof that the many races of this world—despite their different forms—really were dear neighbors.
Dear Mother, Father—in that moment, I felt it again from the bottom of my soul: I’m glad I came to this world. This warm atmosphere where everyone’s hearts seemed to beat as one... the realization that I am becoming a part of it, even if just a little at a time...
It made me so incredibly proud.