Book 9 Chapter 25

Episode 224

"Constructing a magic square, a double 5-star."

Vomiting blood in pain, I mentally calculated countless mathematical formulas with my hazy mind, building different 5-star magic in each hand.

The three runes defining power were common, but the first rune, which imparted the root attribute, was different.

And the last rune, which determined how that power was exercised, was also different.

For thunder (雷), it was fall (落).

For fire (火), it was rise (承).

Now that Miria was buying me time (though I couldn't possibly understand how that was possible), I could use "this technique."

Though I wouldn't have even dreamed of it in a one-on-one fight.

"Dragon Thunder Line Fire."

A replica of Dragon Thunder Slash, a fatal secret art used by Dragon Slayer, humanity's greatest swordsman.

From the cracks spreading across the ground, dragon flames surged, and from the sky, dragon lightning continuously exploded.

Perhaps sensing danger, or realizing it couldn't be avoided once activated, Rista violently swung Shirpen, shaking Miria off.

"Ugh!"

And in a world where the sense of time slowed, she alone moved swiftly, placing the spacetime I was in onto the trajectory of her slash.

Whoever activated their power first would be the turning point of victory or defeat.

Pipi leaped directly forward, as if to obstruct Rista's vision.

"No, no, no."

Shirpen rang dully, and a subtle crack spread across Rista's expression.

"Target, annihilation…"

Even though it was a body without a soul, perhaps the tremor of the bond deeply embedded within the holy sword caused a momentary hesitation.

No, Shirpen stopped Rista.

Shirpen, emitting a faint light, did not want to strike Pipi. The sword itself betrayed its master's will.

Thus, what was activated first by a hair's breadth was not a spacetime slash, but Dragon Thunder Line Fire.

Rista failed to strike Pipi, merely knocking her away with the back of her hand, and that very act almost made me hesitate as well, but—

"Let's end this now, Rista."

Just then, a lightning bolt tore through the sky and engulfed Rista's left arm.

The part below her elbow vanished in the superheated lightning, as if severed by a sharp blade.

The blood pouring from the severed surface was red. My chest ached as if it were tearing. Pipi barked loudly, as if sobbing, perhaps feeling a similar emotion.

"Don't interfere from here! You'll get hurt!"

Unlike Dragon Slayer, the bombing radius of Dragon Thunder Line Fire was set small.

Where Rista was now was my territory; the dragon would not be harmed by its own flames and lightning.

That place, where flashes poured down without cease and a heatwave raged, was the space where I could gain the upper hand in my fight with Rista.

- Rista's letter was entirely apologies and regrets. That's what I saw.

Rista moved breathlessly, parrying the wildly pouring lightning with her holy sword and evading the surging flames.

The masterful skill residing in her body allowed her to block even a natural disaster that shook heaven and earth with just one sword.

I converted the runes of the current particles, which had just been shattered by Shirpen's blade, and bestowed upon them the runes of "Jeseoseoran-yeon."

- She regretted bringing Rin, I mean you… to the hero party at such a young age.

Rista leaped upwards to avoid the dazzling chains formed from all directions.

As Rista parried, slashed, and cut the chains that bent and twisted at complex angles, her gaze turned towards me.

She must have decided it was endless, and thus decided she had to eliminate me, the caster.

"Swallow, Shirpen."

Shirpen maximized its absorption output.

The indiscriminate frenzy of fire and lightning was sucked into its blade.

The sword energy enveloped the blade with overwhelming power, emitting a resplendent light.

- She said if only she could turn back time, she wouldn't have come to meet you.

But this isn't enough.

The real Rista was tens of times stronger.

- That's all I read. But I think the rest of it was probably similar content. …Somehow, I just feel that way.

Our reunion was a wish that could never be fulfilled. A tragedy that should have ended there, on that day 300 years ago.

I'm the one who wants to turn back time.

If only I could go back, if only I could undo that mistake, I would have given you a proper farewell then.

If there had been no lingering regrets, her corpse wouldn't have been subjected to such humiliation.

"Rune amplification, Hon (尊)."

Before the sword energy, which had risen nearly 8 meters above Shirpen's blade, could be discharged as sword aura.

Before the concentration of power was complete and she could assume the drawing stance.

According to my command as the caster, the final power of Dragon Thunder Line Fire concentrated on the ground.

"Thunder River (雷川)."

A flash of transcendental power, so bright it felt like my eyes would burn out, swallowed all the cracks in the ground with golden light, engulfing Rista's lower body.

It seemed she would block it with Shirpen, but just before the collision, the root rune of thunder (雷) was converted to fire (火).

Engulfing the opponent with the speed of lightning and annihilating them with the power of fire. The conversion of root runes, which was only a delusion during my Rin days.

A fierce explosion.

In the storm that felt like my entire body was being torn apart, the smell of the air itself burning danced.

The sound, amplified beyond limits for an instant, lost its power, and a long silence fell upon the world.

Thud, the hero crashed to the ground.

Since her lower body had been burned away, a proper landing was naturally impossible.

As her stance collapsed, the greatsword Shirpen, as tall as a man, also flew from her hand.

It has to end.

This fight, and the lingering regrets (未練) between you and me that have continued for 300 years.

"Rista, I don't regret following you one bit."

I rushed towards her.

Pressing down on both her arms with both my feet, subduing her.

"Because by following you, I was able to learn about the world (世上) that books couldn't teach me."

I confessed my feelings.

Ever since I came back to life, whenever I faced a situation, I would wonder how you would have acted.

Back then, I would deny it out of embarrassment, but perhaps I actually wanted to be like you.

Someone who could bring smiles to many people, like you and the Dean.

"Meeting you and the Dean was truly a greater miracle than a miracle."

So, I mean.

If, truly if.

If time were to be turned back according to your wish, if I were to go back to that time…

"Will you come pick me up again?"

Moisture spread across Rista's face as she looked up at me, murmuring with a broken smile.

Those weren't tears shed by a doll. They were tears pouring endlessly from my eyes.

This was the end for you and me, the final chapter of a story that could never find closure in any form, the last act of our story.

"I will always follow you, no matter when."

Thank you.

For finding me in a corner of the world, and for that, for taking me to the other side of the world…

Keeping the words I couldn't utter due to my choked throat in my heart, after conveying only my true feelings.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't keep my promise."

In the torrent of emotions, just as I raised my staff, held in reverse grip, Rista—no, Miria—grabbed my hand.

"No matter how I think about it, this shouldn't happen."

"What…?"

"I still can't forget seeing my father die in front of my eyes. Even after 10 years."

"…"

"But what would it be like to kill someone precious with your own hands?"

"But this fight is…"

"It will be a nightmare that follows you for your entire life, until the day you die. That's something you can't endure. So this… leave it to me."

"…?!"

"Look, this Demon Sword wishes for it too."

For me to end it would have been courtesy to this guy who waited for me.

I should have refused and ended it myself, but at that moment, I felt an overwhelming gratitude for Miria's proposal.

Because whether it was a doll or a soulless corpse… I didn't want to kill Rista with my own hands.

"Then…"

I embraced Pipi, who had settled on Rista's forehead and was crying, with both hands and stepped back.

In Miria's grip, the Demon Sword shone even more intensely and fiercely, sharpening its blood-red blade even more ominously.

And that sword.

The sword imbued with the heart of the Demon Slayer Link, she plunged straight into the heart of the doll in Rista's form.

* * *

The moment the sword plunged into her heart, what happened was a resonance of souls.

The engraving of memories through contact with the old body…

From Miria's perspective, fragments of memory that she couldn't understand were vaguely etched in her mind, like cherry blossoms fluttering on a spring day.

'What are these memories…'

Rista's memories were not superimposed on Miria's personality.

Nor were all memories fully revived. Only fragments of hazy memories returned.

But the emotions Rista felt during those days were, for some reason, conveyed to her heart with unmistakable clarity.

[In the field of Twilight Flowers.]

[Teaching Rin polearm techniques.]

[Not being able to say goodbye to Rin.]

The echo of those emotions.

So uncontrollably sad and sad again.

That she had to bury her face in her arms gripping the Demon Sword and tremble.

Hum, hum, hum.

It was then that the Supreme Holy Sword Shirpen, which had been lying on the ground, began to emit light.

The moment she looked at the sword, its light drew Miria's consciousness into the domain of the holy sword.

"Thank you."

In the middle of that domain, the hero, pushing her beautiful white hair behind her ear, smiled quietly.

"For not letting Rin experience pain."

Hero, Rista.

Once an admired being, and now… a being she couldn't help but be wary of.

"I've been waiting for you to come here. Leaving my will in Shirpen."

"I haven't done anything to deserve your thanks."

The moment she recognized that being as her previous life, she somehow felt as if she would no longer be herself.

"I am not you. I only acted according to my will."

"Because you like Rin?"

"Consider it repaying a debt. Besides, unlike you, that slick guy isn't my type."

Then the legendary hero, with a smile warmer and more dazzling than sunlight, which no book had ever properly described, said:

"No, he is your type."

"Because I am you?"

"Didn't I just say no? I think you know the answer to this question better than I do."

The domain of the holy sword, which contained the memories of the sword master, began to crumble.

From the scene outside the scattering domain, Rista's body was seen being burned in dragon flames.

This was a funeral dedicated to an old bond and the end of a long wait, so that her body could be freed from the shackles of the abyss.

"Rista, Rista, Rista."

Seeing Pipi crying sadly on Rain's shoulder, who had lowered her gaze, my chest trembled with pain.

Was it because memories and emotions were shared…?

It was then that she instinctively, yes, truly without realizing it, picked up Shirpen, which was powerfully pulsating as if calling to her.

[Please take good care of Rin in the future.]

The ashes of the burned old body brushed warmly past her ear, as if whispering those words.

Miria saw a sorrowful smile form on her face reflected in Shirpen's blade.

Feeling the unknown regret and obsession, which had been oppressively lodged somewhere in her heart since birth, slowly melt away.

"I'll do that even if you don't tell me to."