the strongest attack? Flames that could pierce through defenses? A skill that could mow down everything? Or a spell that could erase stars?
No, none of those were the strongest. None of those compared to Lufas Maphaahl.
“O H M Y G O D!”
Sensing what was about to happen, Karkinos hurriedly grabbed Virgo and Sei and jumped out of the ouroboros’s mouth, running away from the scene. Not even he could defend against Lufas’s attacks. Karkinos jumped inside a defensive barrier that had already been erected by the Thirteen Stars and the heroic spirits, barely managing to achieve safety.
After making sure that happened, Lufas instantly flew off into the distance, securing enough space for her to suddenly accelerate, and then accelerate some more. Lufas flew so fast she’d turned herself into an arrow of light, from which she threw out a simple punch with no tricks behind it. The instant Lufas seemed to have clashed with the ouroboros, she was already through to the other side, and a moment later, the ouroboros’s body broke apart into dust.
From the ouroboros’s perspective, Lufas was small enough to just be a small piece of refuse. Even if she were to go through it, there would only be a small hole left. However, just the shock wave that was an aftereffect of Lufas’s punch was enough to deal all that damage.
The ouroboros’s body was easily destroyed, spreading tiny chunks of meat all throughout space. From there, the shock wave only expanded, causing many celestial bodies to crumble. Even the solar system just vanished. A moment later, the barrier erected by the Thirteen Stars and the heroic spirits cracked. In an instant, that crack grew until the barrier was easily sundered, and the lives of Lufas’s allies were only spared because Alovenus instantly erected another barrier to protect them.
Even then, the world’s collapse was not stopped, and cracks eventually started appearing in space itself until everything crumbled away.
ＥＸ－10
The only thing that was left after all the destruction was a distorted space with several different sceneries mixed together. There was a room that must have been in someone’s house, an amusement park, a public park, an eatery, a graveyard, a wasteland, and the abandoned ruins of a mansion. In this space, it was morning, noon, evening, and night all at once. All these times and views that should not have existed together were all squashed and warped due to having been forced together like this.
Sei looked for Virgo within this space, which seemed as if it would drive anyone insane if they stayed in it for too long. In the end, though, it was surprisingly easy for him to find her. As soon as he thought about wanting to see her, Virgo showed up.
“Virgo!”
“Sei! This is...”
The two of them held hands so as not to get separated as they looked around them. There were some places they recognized here and there, but also places they didn’t. Where are we? What kind of world is this? the two of them thought, but then a voice called out to them from behind.
“This is the realm between dreams and reality. The dream that Alovenus had flipped over was destroyed by Lufas in one hit, and now, everyone is about to wake up.”
It was Sanieve. However, he was covered in wounds, and it seemed like he would collapse at any moment.
Alovenus had said that everything would just be a dream. However, it seemed that the damage that Sanieve had taken was real. This was only natural. If everything really was just going to be settled in a dream, then Sanieve would fully recover once everyone had woken up and just go after them again. That meant this was not a dream for Sanieve alone. His wounds would not heal. They would carry over into the waking world, and he would die. It was a cold declaration of execution by the Goddess. There was no hope for his survival.
However, Sanieve’s eyes were still shining and alive, and they were tenaciously locked straight onto Virgo.
“I will soon die...but you... I will take you with me. You are the hope that I have finally found... I will not let you go...”
Even though he was at death’s door, Sanieve had still not given up on Virgo.
Take her with him... So he means to have her join him in death? Not satisfied to die alone, Sanieve was going to try to involve Virgo as well. Sei had no intention of allowing that, and he stepped forward to protect Virgo.
“You’re in the way... Move...” Sanieve ordered.
“No. I won’t.”
“What can someone like you even do?”
There was an insurmountable gap in strength between Sanieve and Sei. Even if Sanieve was about to die, he was still more than able to kill Sei, at least. I know that, but still. I decided I wouldn’t make her cry ever again. I vowed to protect her. It doesn’t matter how strong the enemy is. If I don’t stand up now, I can’t be called a man.
That was why Sei clenched his fist and recklessly swung at Sanieve.
“WOOOAAARRGGHHH!”
Sei didn’t actually believe it would do anything. He just wanted to buy as much time as he could for Virgo to run. Even if it was only a second or two, the more time he bought, the more time there was for help to come.
Surprisingly, Sei’s fist—the fist of someone who knew they were powerless—hit Sanieve straight on the face and sent him flying.
“Ghh... Argh...!”
Sei paused. “Huh?”
It did something? Was it just a lucky punch that happened to hit? He considered this for a moment. No. Even if it was lucky that it hit, there shouldn’t have been any damage. But he’s not acting. My punch worked. It did something. There was no doubt that Sei’s punch had affected Sanieve, and the one who was most surprised about that was Sei himself.
“Youuu... If this weren’t the dream world, I would never...”
Sanieve slowly stood up, holding the area Sei had punched. Seeing that, Virgo realized something.
“A dream... I see!” Virgo said. “Sei, this is a dream! There’s no relation to your strength in real life!”
“She’s right... Everything depends on the strength of the heart here... Powerful individuals like Virgo and I become weak, while weaklings like you become strong. Of course, I’d be willing to bet that that monster Lufas Maphaahl would just stay a monster...” Sanieve took a step forward and glared at Sei. “With this, we are now even. Or do you still believe you need help? Can you not protect Virgo by yourself?”
Sei didn’t reply. It was a clear provocation; Sanieve’s intent was obvious. If help were to come, or if Virgo were to decide to participate, Sanieve had no hope of winning. That was why he told Sei to come at him alone. There was no need for Sei to take on that challenge, but even if it was obvious, there were times men just had to step up.
“Virgo, get back.”
“Sei...”
“If he’s going to go that far...” Sei trailed off. “Even I have my pride, you know.”
Sei had Virgo step back, allowing him to face Sanieve alone. No matter how soft he seemed, Sei was a man. He wanted to protect Virgo on his own, of course, as well as punch the man who had tried to take Virgo from him.
“Allow me to put you to the test, Minamijuuji Sei!” Sanieve bellowed as a shining sword appeared in his hand.
How is that possible? This asshole... I’m unarmed! Sei complained internally. I need some sort of weapon to fight him with... As soon as he thought this, Sei found himself holding his sword, Kouen. This really is a dream. Anything goes, huh?
“OOOOOAARRGGGHHHH!” Sanieve howled, making a swipe with his sword.
Sei reacted, swinging his sword as well. Both blades clashed, sending sparks flying.
“YOOUUU! IF ONLY YOU DIDN’T EXIST!”
Sanieve’s tenacity was overwhelming. Each one of his sword strikes was heavy, and the toll of blocking them was making Sei’s hands go numb.
However, Sei was the same in his desire to not lose. If I can’t defeat this man here and now, what right do I have to be next to Virgo? I wouldn’t be able to be proud of myself. That was why Sei swung with his swords at speeds impossible in real life, pushing Sanieve back.
“Stop being so...selfish!”
“Shut up!”
Their two blades clashed again. Neither side took a step back, both bracing with their legs to root themselves on the spot. However, it seemed like that didn’t matter to Sanieve, as he continued to swing his sword.
“If only you didn’t exist, I would never have had to see that girl cry! I would never have had to think about the future, where you will leave her in tears! Why?! Why are you a human?! Why did you steal her heart, even though you know how short your life span is?!”
Sei couldn’t reply, those words piercing straight through his heart.
“You don’t have the strength to protect her, the life to stay with her, or the guts to accept the courage she had to wring out to stay with you! How could I lose to such a man?!”
Sanieve’s fist caught Sei in the face. The impact and pain shook his vision and forced him to step back. Even so, Sei clenched his teeth and managed to return a punch to Sanieve’s gut.
Shocked, Sanieve was silent for a moment. Then he yelled, “It doesn’t hurt! It doesn’t!”
However, Sanieve immediately came forward with another punch, drawing blood that quickly covered Sei’s face. Then Sanieve followed up with a knee to Sei’s solar plexus before swinging down his sword. Even though Sei managed to block the strike just in time, he was still heavily disadvantaged. Sanieve put his weight into his sword, trying to forcefully cut Kouen in two.
“Now what? Is that all? Can you not even defeat someone at death’s door, like me?!”
“Sh-Shut it...!”
“Are you going to have someone else protect you every time, just like this?! Are you going to just make her cry again?!”