Chapter 226

People’s splendor declined with time. Summer flowers withered in autumn. No matter how fun or fulfilling the present, no matter how hard one prayed for things to last forever, the day of collapse and decay would inevitably come. I wanted to fight against that. I had shut myself away for six hundred years in pursuit of an eternity in a higher world without conflict and hatred, only good times. I was unlike the crimson vampire. Terakomari Gandesblood. Her essence was the same as mine, and we were trying to accomplish the same thing, yet her viewpoint was fundamentally different. Through the Crimson Match, the Six Nations War, the Heavenly Ball, the Vampire Riots, the Matrimonial War—all sorts of deadly struggles—she had begun to look beyond the confines of her room. She did not fight to obtain a quiet eternity. She fought to protect this radiant moment in the now. Ultimately, we didn’t seem to be compatible. But at that moment, I could only be thankful for her presence. I was, to my very core, a shut-in vampire princess. Without someone to pull me up, I wouldn’t even be able to stand. And maybe I could entrust her—Terakomari Gandesblood—with my dream. Just like Fuyao had. I was overflowing with power. Terakomari’s blood and heart strengthened my body. One could tell the potential size and openness of a person’s heart and mind by ingesting their blood. Terakomari’s willpower was as great as mine. And with a bit of her power now within me, no one could possibly stop me. “Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha! It’s time to make up for what you did to me six hundred years ago!” I slammed my fist into an incoming belt. My mana burned the leather, tearing it apart. But another belt instantly took its place. They attacked relentlessly to protect the Fool at their center. I spun in the air and kicked the sea of belts away. I broke through two and three layers of Luxmio’s barrier in one strike. “Stop your pointless resistance.” The Fool glared at me coldly from between the gaps in the belts. He was my nemesis. The man who had destroyed my paradise and stolen Naturia from me. “Naturia Lumiere is dead. That won’t change, no matter how violently you struggle. Give up.” “She’s alive! She wouldn’t forget our promise!” I rocketed ahead and launched my fist at his face. He dodged by twirling with a rhythm. “The pope said so! Naturia’s waiting for me somewhere! I won’t let you Fools get in our way!” “You’re the fool here. Surrender.” It was a battle for eternity. A world where anyone could choose their place to die. A place without senseless violence. A world where kind shut-ins could hold tender bliss in their hearts. I wanted to live in such a higher world, in perpetuity, with Naturia. And the Fools of Observatory had ruined it. I wouldn’t be able to rest until I took revenge with my own two hands. “You stole everything from me, and I’m taking it back.” Belts crossed from every direction to create a cage around me, like the one where Naturia had been trapped. But a punch was all it took for me to escape. I broke through the waves of belts and charged at my nemesis. Naturia, I’ll kill this guy and be with you in no time. “Stop.” A giant wall appeared before my eyes. Luxmio created a barrier by overlapping his belts. I kicked the thing, and it crumbled like a cookie. I was face-to-face with the revolting fool. It wouldn’t be long until I took back my paradise. “You fell for it. Pierce, Bondage.” I sensed hostility from behind. Normally, it would be impossible for me to dodge that, but things would not turn out like they had six hundred years ago. I had trained hard to obtain my utopia. I circulated mana throughout my body to speed up. All I had to do was impale this man’s heart before the belts got to me. I threw my punch, and at the same moment, I felt my strength leave my fist. “?!” Only now did I realize a piece of belt was wrapped around my ankle. It must’ve been part of the barrier I just destroyed. “Bondage can suck mana and willpower. Even a scrap is enough to incapacitate you temporarily. And…” A fierce tremor in my gut. Luxmio’s belt was gouging my flesh. The blood I’d just sucked dripped away. It was so sudden that I didn’t feel pain, but I lost the ability to move. Unable to keep flying, I plummeted to the ground. His cold voice came from above. “Do not try to change the world. Do not try to disrupt its order. Shut yourself away.” “…” Miasma entered through my wound. A black fog ensnared my heart. This was a laughable mirage, I knew that. Only crumbs of the tragedy that idiot Yusei had created. Belts shot at me to deal the finishing blow. I couldn’t move my limbs. My brain was bound by endless regret. The tragedy of the past writhed in my mind. The poisonous reality of all the people who had suffered because of my actions. If I hadn’t looked for my paradise, if I hadn’t resisted the violence of the Fools or the Six Nations, I wouldn’t have killed all those kind people in the war. The same went for all those lives I ruined after creating Inverse Moon. I pegged those people as necessary sacrifices, but who says that was the right choice? Should I have stayed locked in the Gemini manor? Should I not have met Naturia? I…I… “Don’t give up.” I felt the softness of the crimson vampire’s arms at my back. As she held me like a princess, she raised her hand, and that alone was enough to slash through the incoming belts. Her crimson eyes, brimming with bloodlust, prickled my skin. She was so small that you wouldn’t believe she was sixteen, yet her heart was vaster than the sea. Terakomari’s lips parted. “Let’s keep going a little more.” “Why…?” “Because everyone’s rooting for you…” “…!” I heard cheers. Back on the ground, Prohellya Butchersky and Leona Flatt had escaped the belts and were sending me their encouragement. The others were staring at me, too: Lingzi Ailan and Meihua Liang, Karla Amatsu and her ninja as they hid behind some rocks, Sakuna Memoir and Esther Claire as they treated Nelia Cunningham’s wounds, and Villhaze, wearing a frown. Everyone’s emotions were different, but they all looked at me like they were asking me to complete my mission. And that wasn’t all. Suddenly, I heard voices. Prayers from all over the world. “God, please save the world.” “Please end Judgment Day.” “Smite the Devil!” Their radiant willpower cleared away the fog in my heart. I felt ridiculous. Yeah. Spica La Gemini didn’t know the meaning of the word quit. I was the Wicked God Slayer. The Netherworld’s Scholar and the pursuer of utopia. I had a duty to fight for everyone who had fallen along the way. Terakomari had said as much: I’d fought like crazy these last six hundred years. I had to complete my utopia; for the people of Lumiere, for the members of Inverse Moon, for Naturia and Fuyao—for everyone who believed in me. “God? That’s too big a mantle. You take it up instead, Terakomari.” I forged mana. Then I unleashed a special-grade regeneration spell: Circle of Eternity. My flesh swelled, plugging my wound in the blink of an eye. Terakomari rubbed my exposed belly with worry. I grabbed her hand with my left and pointed the right at the Fool. “My job isn’t saving humanity. It’s killing the wicked God that’s hurting the shut-ins. It’s creating an eternal paradise. No more, no less.” A crimson laser shot from Spica La Gemini’s right hand. The mass of mana rocketed toward Luxmio, shaking the air in its path. His belts would be useless against it. They weren’t strong enough to block it. Luxmio hesitated until the last moment, then turned away in an attempt to evade. Searing pain. The laser sliced off some of his flank as it shot past him. Luxmio mended the wound with his belts while glaring at the vampires below. Spica La Gemini and Terakomari Gandesblood. The destroyers he needed to kill. Both of them had manifested their ultimate powers, and under normal circumstances, Luxmio could have never hoped to stand against them. But now he had Yusei’s miasma. Perhaps that was exactly what she wanted. Have the Fool absorb her power to deal with her archenemies. What a sly girl. “Very well. I’ll do as you please.” He coated Bondage with miasma. Now his belts should have an effect on Terakomari. He shot Bondage at the two rapidly flying vampires. Its tip grazed Terakomari’s upper arm, spilling fresh blood. Clearly, she was vulnerable to his enhanced attacks. If he could restrain her, it would be game over.