“Schur.”
A single breeze of wind whisked Misa out of the airspace.
“Rouche!” she cried.
“The Demon King of Tyranny wouldn’t fall to a mere god. Not even his rumor!” Rouche shouted.
With anti-magic wards deployed, Rouche steered the third ship towards the other two as though to take Misa’s place.
“Devidra! Nigitt! What are you two doing?!” Rouche scolded them. “Even if it consumes your body, you must protect the earth!”
Her fierce scolding brought some faint life back into Devidra and Nigitt, who had just been on the verge of perishing.
“Sorry. I was remembering an old comrade of mine...” Nigitt murmured.
“They must have felt the same way...” Devidra added. “If only we could have enjoyed this peaceful era together...”
Like a star just before burning out, the magic power of the three ships shined brightly.
“We may be two thousand years late...” Nigitt said.
“But we, too, will fight for our liege!” said Devidra.
The sky was covered by an aurora of darkness—Beno Ievun, the magic barrier that could seal even the gods. It was a spell they shouldn’t have been able to cast, but by sacrificing their own lives, as well as the lives of the subordinates on each of their ships, they made it possible.
Countless sources were swallowed by the light.
“Lord Anos... Please, stay safe...”
Stop it.
Light of the end and black aurora collided, creating an impact that nearly tore apart the sky of destruction itself. Everything—the sky, air, and earth—shook.
Ein Aer Naverva mercilessly swallowed the Beno Ievun, disintegrating the Sky Fortress completely.
Another large explosion roared through the sky of destruction.
“Guh!”
Lay, who had been pushing the Sword of Three Races into Sarjieldenav, was directly in the path of the explosion. Helpless before the order of destruction, his hand was ripped away from his holy sword, and he was thrown backwards to the world below.
Stop, please.
With nothing left in its way, the light of the end shined straight down on the land. A bottomless hole opened, then spread in the shape of a cross. The land split into four, each quadrant drifting away from each other.
I don’t want to destroy anything.
Loudly, with a scream, the world was breaking apart.
I never wanted to break anything.
Creak... Creak... The cog continued to move. Despair continued to turn inside Abernyu, tearing her heart into pieces.
“I told you.”
Through the static came a voice, echoing in my head. I returned my gaze to what was before me in the Firmament of the Gods. At the bottom of its abyss, I glared at the light of Equis falling before me.
“I told you that you would regret knowing. Ignorance was their only chance of happiness. There is no salvation. They will be consumed by the cogs of the Goddess of Destruction and Creation, and will revolve according to their order.”
Equis continued.
“All it took was a small hole in their memory of the Demon King of Tyranny, Anos Voldigoad. By tearing that apart, the divine sisters would lose all hope. And with no hope, no love, no kindness, and no heart, the two sisters will fit into the world as cogs of destruction and creation.”
Sasha’s heart was by no means in its usual state. Neither was Misha’s. Their feelings had been reaching me through Leaks for a while now, but they didn’t seem able to hear my replies. The pillager’s cogs buried in the divine bodies of the Goddess of Destruction and Creation had stolen their memories of me.
It seemed that now, they could no longer perceive me at all.
“All that is left is despair. All that is left is the order of this world. They will repeat history. They will destroy the world they wish to keep safe. They will continue to create, in order to destroy.”
Sasha and Misha, Militia and Abernyu. Without me, they would have no hope.
“Hmm. You claim to be the will of the world, yet here you spout such exaggerations.”
My words caught Equis off guard; they didn’t reply.
“Despair? This?” I said. “A slightly harsh light on the world is what you call despair?”
I pointed at the scene of earth shown in the Limnet of the cogs.
“Look closer, Equis. The world has only been split into a cross. Calling that destruction seems a bit dramatic to me. It’s just split. And if it’s split, we can just stick it back together.”
When I checked on the earth through my magic link to everyone, I could see they were still fine. Gairadite and Midhaze had both been unaffected by the light of the end.
“The hero’s Sword of Three Races opened a hole in the solar eclipse, suppressing its might. My subordinates risked their lives to create a wall, preventing the light of the end from reaching any city.”
Though it was only just a little, they had succeeded in diverting the light of the end. Nigitt, Devidra, Rouche, and my subordinates who have been loyal to me for over two thousand years—all of them risked their lives to protect this peace.
The situation was far from over, far from despair. I had to repay them for their sacrifice.
“Misha and Sasha are still fighting. You can use your cogs to rob them of their hope and change their memories, but such false claims of despair could never defeat them.”
I slowly reached out at the light before me. The abyss of that light had finally come into view—and I grabbed it. My hand closed around something firm.
“I’ve got you now, Equis. Culprit of the world’s destruction.”