“Their swordsman defeated Lord Zaimon one-on-one. Another wields Evansmana, the Sword of Three Races. And now they have an unknown god who can seal the order of a chief god. Their ruler may be a monster, but so are his subordinates...”
“Just what is the Demon King Academy of Militia’s World? They’re far too strong to simply be a school led by a misfit!”
“He didn’t call himself a Demon King for nothing, but to think he’d be this powerful...”
At the stark reality they could no longer deny, the remaining castle demons of Balandias were all trembling with fear. Their only ship still standing was Zeridheavens.
“We’re no match for you, Your Majesty. It appears the entire force of Balandias cannot hold a candle to you,” Farris said.
“No, this was all just a warm-up. It’s not over yet,” I replied, rising up to the Demon King Express and looking down on the sky fortress still flying freely in the sky. “You and your Zeridheavens still remain, Farris. The wings of hope the castle demons saw on the battlefield have yet to be broken. Balandias cannot wake from its nightmare until those wings have been snapped.”
The outcome was already clear, but I decided to give Balandias one more chance to win—just so the taste of undeniable defeat could be made all the more potent.
“One last match. Use those wings of yours to fly to the Demon King Express. If you can do that, this Silverwater Ranking Skirmish will end in your victory.”
“And if our wings can’t reach you?”
“Return to my side and paint what you promised you’d paint that day.”
After a brief moment of silence, a giant magic circle covered Zeridheavens. Farris’s magic power—and those of the castle demons on board—was overflowing from the sky fortress.
“I accept your challenge. But know this: Even if I lose, I will not paint,” Farris said clearly. “My brush has broken. I will never paint again. Instead, I made a vow to be Balandias’s wings. Even if I cannot be like you, Your Majesty, I can become the wings that fly towards the light that we of Balandias have all been waiting for.”
Now, with more magic power around it than ever before, Zeridheavens slowly ascended.
“It is because my brush has broken that my wings never will. Not until the day light arrives in Balandias.”
“What a martyr you make, Farris, so admirably sacrificing yourself for the sake of the world. You’ve gone from a self-willed painter to a full-fledged warrior. However...”
Why did his brush have to break? His resolve hadn’t been lacking—far from it. And he hadn’t lied about wanting to be a warrior either.
Thus, I said, “I will never praise you for it.”
I stared at the sky fortress flying straight for us.
“Sasha.”
“Is it finally my turn?” Sasha asked. “About time.”
Sasha used Fless to rise out of the train and into the sky.
“Use that,” I said.
Sasha’s pupils transformed into the Magic Eyes of Destruction before she covered them with her right hand. Upon revealing her eyes once more, her pupils had turned into the suns of darkness that beckoned ruin—the Divine Eyes of the End.
“Abernyu.”
The Demon King Express ascended even higher, to where a sun of darkness—the Sun of Destruction Sarjieldenav—had manifested in the center of the sky. The sun of Militia’s World that had once burned everything the Goddess of Destruction saw reflected in her Eyes had descended upon Second Balandias.
The Demon King Express ascended until it was swallowed inside the sun. Like this, Zeridheavens could not reach the Demon King Express without having to break through the Sun of Destruction.
“Witness the power of the Goddess of Destruction!” Sasha declared.
The Sun of Destruction filled the sky of Second Balandias with its black light, Ottolulu’s barrier easily burning away under its radiance. Magic power of devastating force gathered in the skies, Sarjieldenav’s black rays shining down on the world.
That light of ruin illuminated Zeridheavens as it rose up into the sky. In the current Militia’s World, where La Sencia had been changed into order, the power of gods obeyed love, and so the light of the black sun burned far stronger than it did two thousand years ago.
“After two thousand years, you succeeded in turning that sinister, bewitching sun into a symbol of peace,” Farris said. Zeridheavens continued to rise, its wings burning as it did so. “But here in Balandias, I was fighting too. Zeridheavens is an immovable silver castle that will never be shaken. These wings will never fall. They will fly through the battlefield as Balandias’s symbol of victory until the very end.”
Zeridheavens rose through the sky to slice through the black rays of destruction—just like they did that day.
“Now, let’s go,” Farris said to his fellow castle demons. “There is nothing to fear. I won’t say you have to be beautiful, but please, follow my lead. I will bring you victory, no matter what it takes.”
Castle ramparts burned, wings turned into tatters, but Zeridheavens continued to rise.
“This is just like back then, Your Majesty,” Farris said to me. “My wings will deliver hope to the Sun of Destruction, no matter what.”
Encouraged by Farris’s fearless demeanor, the castle demons released even more of their magic power, allowing them to collectively cast a spell to create an unshakable castle.
“Balandialtar!”
Silver light wrapped around Zeridheavens.
Second Balandias’s highest grade of castle construction magic recreated the sky fortress before our eyes. Thick walls of sparkling silver, long and sturdy wings, and countless turrets came into existence, turning the giant castle into an undeniable fort. With the same spell, the most Zaimon could do was cover himself in armor, but Farris had borrowed the magic of the castle demons to cast it on the entire ship.
They were the powerful, tragic wings of a man who turned his life’s passions into a weapon, all to protect the work of his fellow artists.
“Misha,” Sasha called.
A voice replied from the Demon King Express. “Militia.”
Lunar snowdrops fell on the wings of Zeridheavens. Countless flowers fluttered through the air until they covered the entire sky. Beside the Sun of Destruction appeared a sparkling full moon—the Moon of Creation Altiertonoa.
And it was moving. Both sun and moon shifted towards each other, sending Sarjieldenav into an eclipse. As a total solar eclipse approached, darkness swathed Balandias, until only a single girl’s silhouette was reflected within the dark sun.
“You were smiling that day,” Sasha said, recalling their previous encounter two thousand years ago. “Every time your wings broke you would remake them and say something foolish about beauty or art. And despite the situation, you were always laughing. Even as you flew straight into the sky of destruction—into your own destruction—you were laughing about a peaceful world. But the ship last time wasn’t as ugly as this one.”
Sasha opened her closed eyes. The Divine Eyes of the End shone with a vivid sparkle.
“You may think that this time, you’ve become stronger, but you’re wrong. It was your smile I lost to. Your smile was what allowed your wings to soar through the sky of destruction so freely.”
The Solar Eclipse of the End flickered with a sharp glare.
“That’s why I’ll destroy all this. I don’t want to see such a tragic end anymore.”
The next moment, enough apocalyptic rays to destroy Militia’s World were released upon the world. The light of darkness didn’t only fall upon Zeridheavens, but Ottolulu, myself, the water barrier, and the land of Balandias too.
But not a single thing burned.
With the reincarnation of Militia’s World, the order of the Goddess of Destruction had also evolved. Her authority, the Sun of Destruction, had had its power transformed by her love. The rays of the end now only destroyed what needed to be destroyed. Sarjieldenav’s radiance burned the Sky Fortress Zeridheavens alone; I was unharmed, the land was unharmed, and all the castle demons were unharmed as well.
By limiting the target of ruin, the sun’s power was heightened severalfold.
“Ein Aer Naverva!”