“How are we going to do this, Lunaère-san?” I asked.
“Let’s cripple that huge, sturdy body in one go with space-time magic. He may be a higher being, but he must still have some organ inside him that he can’t survive without, something like a human’s heart or brain. Let’s dig that out and expose it.”
I nodded.
But I hadn’t been able to effectively cut through Naiarotop’s body with a Gravity Bomb. The two of us would be attacking this time…but would it really go well? I was a bit worried, but the only people here who could use space-time magic powerful enough to destroy Naiarotop’s sturdy body were me and Lunaère…
Right ahead of us, I saw Philia about to be attacked by Naiarotop’s tentacles. A giant shield with a face drawn on it immediately appeared in front of her, but a tentacle slipped past the shield, and that one hit sent Philia flying all the way to where we were.
“Aaah!” she cried, but I caught her. “Thanks, Kanata.” She looked back at me in relief.
I looked into her face, and then it hit me. “Philia-chan…can you turn into Lunaère-san and split yourself into four?”
She looked at me with a blank expression for a second, then she split into a huge grin. “Yep! Philia can do that!”
Lunaère, Philia, and I moved around Naiarotop, looking for an opening.
“Cube of Erasure!”
Another four cubes appeared and blasted away Veranta’s golems. The horde that had been swarming the battlefield was now reduced to nothing but a pile of remains.
“Aaargh!”
On top of that, Nobunaga took a glancing hit from the cubes. He collapsed, blood pouring from the wound. One shoulder, a chunk of his hip, and part of his leg were gone.
The others seemed afraid to get closer to Naiarotop and his erasure magic. A reckless dash toward him might end up with them missing parts of their body, like Nobunaga. Their entire existence might even be erased.
“You’ve been quite persistent, but this is the end!” howled Naiarotop.
The golem horde was gone. Nobunaga, who was extremely valuable as someone to take Naiarotop on at close range, was lying on the ground. Morale was dropping fast.
Just after Naiarotop cast Cube of Erasure, there was a moment where his attention was diverted. Our only chance was to hit him with everything we had. Now.
The four Lunaères that Philia had turned into approached Naiarotop from behind. “Four times Gravity Bomb Boom!”
Four explosions of black light tore into Naiarotop’s back.
“Gah! You little—!”
Naiarotop was being worn down, bit by bit.
Lunaère and I came after Philia, flying toward Naiarotop with Lunaère holding me up by my back. Lunaère was first to form a set of two magic circles.
“Gravity Bomb!”
Her two castings slammed into Naiarotop’s back in quick succession.
I used all the strength in my body to thrust my sword into his damaged body. “Gravity Bomb!”
Black light exploded at the tip of the sword, sending blood and pieces of Naiarotop’s body flying. We’d hit him with a total of seven Gravity Bombs now. We’d worked our way into a mass of flesh, evil looking and reddish black. It expanded and contracted over and over. This must be one of his important organs.
I rushed toward it, still with the momentum of flying, and struck it with my sword. The mass of flesh spewed out a dark red liquid. I punched right through his body, coming out the other side.
“Kanata…Kanbaraaaaaaaa!” He turned his wide-eyed gaze upon me.
He was…still alive.
My stance was shot. I’d been so focused on putting everything I had into that one strike that I hadn’t thought about how I was going to land.
Naiarotop’s reaching tentacles chased after me, closing in on my back.
I couldn’t dodge them, not like this. And if I didn’t finish him now, he would immediately regenerate. We had no chance of winning if that happened.
“We’re not going to—!” I started, but something warm wrapped around me. At first, I thought it was another one of Naiarotop’s tentacles, coming from a different direction, but I was wrong.
…It was Noble’s tongue.
“Noble!”
He whipped me around, then threw me at full speed toward Naiarotop. “Get ’im, Kanata!”
I slipped past Naiarotop’s tentacles back to the gaping hole in his body. His organ, that heart-like mass, came into view. The tip of my sword tore into it. It beat weakly, and I thrust my sword in with all my might.
“No! How? To a lowly puppet…?!” said Naiarotop.
And his large body finally crumpled to the ground.
-8-
I STOOD ON TOP of his remains, my chest heaving with each breath as I looked down at his face. His expression was twisted, his eyes frozen in time, filled with intense rage and confusion. He never believed he could lose, not even at the very end.
I looked into those eyes, and I was certain that Naiarotop was finally dead. I slowly lowered my sword and returned it to its sheath.
“The winner of this match…is us!” I declared, standing atop Naiarotop.
“We won… That means the world is safe, right?” said Pomera, sinking to the ground as all tension faded from her body.
“Well done, boy! Gya ha ha! There couldn’t be a more joyful end!” said Nobunaga with a proud laugh.
“Ha ha ha… This means it’s over…everything…at long last… Ah, I still can’t believe what I’m seeing with my own eyes…” said Veranta, tears flowing from behind his mask. No one wanted true peace for Locklore more than Veranta. He’d lived his last few millennia specifically for that purpose.
While we were each savoring the victory, we were suddenly swallowed by a whirlwind of applause and cries in a language we’d never heard.
It was the higher beings floating in the sky. Countless huge hands appeared alongside the faces, clapping energetically. It looked like they were celebrating our victory.
I was hit with mixed emotions. We won against Naiarotop in the end, but this was forcing me to acknowledge we were nothing more than entertainment to these beings.
But that didn’t change the fact that what we did today was pull off a miracle, a miracle that would save Locklore. Supposedly.
I turned to the higher beings in the sky and shouted, “In accordance with Naiarotop’s agreement…the higher beings won’t interfere with Locklore anymore, and they won’t erase it either. It’s safe to assume that’s true, right?”
I had to check. I’d made that agreement with Naiarotop, and he was dead now, and we had used some underhanded tactics, even if they were technically within the rules. And I didn’t actually know how much they intended to hold up their side of the bargain.
The answer didn’t come immediately. I tried to hold back my unease as I glared up at the sky. The answer didn’t come for more than a minute.
“I am the one who created the Upper Realm… I am the highest of the gods. I have no name, as I am the only true being,” came a voice, booming out from no direction in particular.
The highest of the gods…?
“Kanbara Kanata… Your heroic, god-vanquishing story did not disappoint. No human has ever accomplished such a feat. On my honor, I vow that Locklore’s existence will continue…and that we will not interfere with it.”
I felt relief wash over me. I didn’t really understand who this god was or how things worked in the higher realm, but this at least meant Locklore was safe.
“Kanbara Kanata, come,” the god’s voice echoed. “You are the first to ever provide me with such entertainment, entertainment greater than even that given by any of the higher beings. I wish to grant you a boon.”
As it did, what looked like a distortion in space appeared next to me. I got the impression that if I went through it, I’d find myself face-to-face with this Highest God or whatever he was.
All the higher beings in the sky erupted into excited cries. It looked like it was a huge honor among the higher beings to be called for by this Highest God. It wasn’t like I wanted to go visit him, but the higher beings seemed really worked up by the invitation. Maybe they thought this would make me happy.
“…Yes, Your…Godliness.”