A voice spoke.
“Usurper who steals the order of the world.”
The voice was eerie, tone threaded with static.
“Like you said yourself, you cannot see my cards.”
The voice reverberated throughout the whole sky of destruction and creation.
“The demon ships have fallen. So have the fake Demon King and the stolen Keepers of order.”
The first, second, and third ships of Azetta had all suffered heavy damage and were barely floating at the bottom of the sky. They no longer had the power to rise back towards the sun—even their return to earth was not guaranteed. Ten more of the Conflagration King’s top hats flew through the air, but they were pierced by arrows and summarily turned to ash.
“You have no wings left in your cards, usurper. All hope has now been erased. Burn from the Solar Eclipse of the End and disappear along with all those on earth.”
Static chittered and blipped like mocking laughter. Nothing could be seen; the Solar Eclipse of the End had shut the world in darkness.
“Bwa ha ha... Indeed, indeed. Defeat... Yes, this is a perfect defeat. But gambling is only fun when you can lose,” Eldmed said. “Isn’t that right, Equis?”
“Farewell, foolish demons.”
Silence fell in the sky. The magic of the sinister solar eclipse expanded and condensed into ebony light, sparkling with a black and red sheen.
“The end has come.”
Light of the end radiated from Sarjieldenav’s total solar eclipse. But just before it could reach the earth, something stabbed the condensed ebony light, stopping it in its tracks.
“What?”
In the faint light of the end, one could see the figure of a hero—accompanied by a laugh.
“Bwa ha ha! Ha ha ha! Gya ha ha ha ha ha!”
The absolutely gleeful laughter of Eldmed echoed through the sky.
“How could the Almighty Radiance, of all beings, fail to notice we still had wings?”
While the world had been covered in darkness, Lay had reached the Sun of Destruction and thrust the Sword of Intent he had filled with his condensed magic into the light of the end, creating a small hole.
“That’s right—wings of wax!” the Conflagration King said.
Equis had deemed the Leiacanetts that had carried the decoy top hats unworthy of notice, but it was exactly what had allowed Lay to cross the final stretch to the Sun of Destruction.
Leiacanetts were blasts of holy water. Holy water in and of itself was a highly versatile magic tool, one humans could use as a source of extremely effective magic. To a demon like Lay it was poison, but as a former hero he was well versed in its use. And so, just like Emilia had once used it, he was able to use it too. He had been gathering whatever holy water had been used up in the sky of destruction—in other words, the steam it had been reduced to once the Leiacanetts barrier collapsed—while he was outside the ship.
All so that he could fly through the sky without using his own magic. In short, Lay had used Fless to save his fall after Misa’s cloak burned to ash and flew the rest of the way with the magic power of the holy water. The moment the Solar Eclipse of the End occurred—the moment the Sun of Destruction could not teleport and change positions—he had thrust Siegsesta forward and bored a hole into the light of the end before it could be fully released.
The Conflagration King had used the fact our cards had been revealed to our advantage. If the enemy believed we still had one last gambit they would’ve been on guard, but Equis had known all the moves we could possibly make. By consistently and explicitly describing Leiacanetts as “wings of wax,” Eldmed fed Equis the impression that the spell was useless. He had hidden this card not from the eyes, but from the mind.
“Sword of Three Races, second hidden art—”
Lay charged into the Sun of Destruction without any anti-magic. Black rays and the light of the end wrapped around him at once, rapidly reducing his source; it was only due to the protection offered by the Sword of Three Races that he was even barely able to maintain his physical form. When he had been left with just one source, he stabbed Evansmana into the hole made by Siegsesta.
“Sky Piercer!”
A divine light covered Lay’s body and Evansmana, releasing a single forward thrust. The surface of the Sun of Destruction revolted as a hole opened among its tremendous black rays, stabbed open by the Sword of Three Races.
Light flooded in every direction, sparks of dark flame scattering across the sky. All the air between the sky and the earth shook.
Slowly, the Sun of Destruction shifted out of the eclipse and back to its normal position.
Had Lay done it? Had the Sword of Three Races successfully pierced the fate of the Solar Eclipse of the End? The Moon of Creation and Sun of Destruction had gained distance from each other.
“Everything shall turn like the cogs of order,” an eerie voice said.
The Sun of Destruction was back to a half-eclipse state. But ebony light was gathering on its surface, as though it intended to fire its rays even without the total eclipse.
Lay pushed Evansmana forward with all his might, yelling through Leaks.
“Retreat from the airspace!”
“It’s too late—”
Lay poured the last of his magic power into the Sword of Three Races.
“Please hold on, Evansmana! Just half to go—”
In response to his emotions, the white light further pierced the sun.
With all his might, Lay thrust his holy sword through the sun.
“Stoooooooooooop!”
The light of the end twinkled brilliantly.
“Ein Aer Naverva.”