Side Story – Farewell [3]
[43]
“…That son of a bitch.”
To the point where the crude curses he had picked up slipped out of his mouth.
Speira found the current situation utterly absurd.
Having rarely been thoroughly defeated in front of others, Speira now fully understood what it felt like to have her collar grabbed.
” “
Anthonyus had exploited the loophole in the constraints that bound him.
Most of the actions indirectly or directly hindering Speira occurred while Anthonyus was under those constraints.
By stopping Johanna, who was attacking Speira, Anthonyus managed to put Speira in an awkward position.
Though painful for Speira, this loophole was ultimately temporary.
Given the nature of these constraints, they would soon tighten even further around Anthonyus.
Anthonyus had used this one-time exploitable loophole at an incredibly opportune moment.
Had Anthonyus planned from the beginning to time everything exactly as it happened? Speira couldn’t be sure.
The only thing Speira could confidently assert was that Anthonyus’s maneuver wasn’t part of any prearranged strategy with Johanna.
Johanna, standing on the brink of life and death, showed resolve that was pure and devoid of any impurity.
Pure resolve like that couldn’t be faked. Besides, acting wasn’t Johanna’s forte anyway.
Still, all of this couldn’t just be attributed to mere coincidence.
There was someone within the Empire who had clearly orchestrated the events to unfold this way.
” “
Luna.
Speira believed—and correctly so—that Luna had guided the situation to play out this way.
What baffled Speira was how Luna and Anthonyus managed to coordinate without any apparent means of communication.
Direct information exchange between them was clearly impossible. Yet, despite never facing each other or discussing plans, both Luna and Anthonyus anticipated each other’s moves and acted accordingly.
And at the most critical moments, neither betrayed the other’s expectations.
” “
Speira straightened the twisted corner of her lips.
Regardless of the discomfort of having her collar metaphorically grabbed, she needed to quickly bring the current situation under control.
It was all too easy to predict how third parties might perceive the unfolding scenario.
While the situation seemed to portray Speira losing to Johanna, hadn’t the ‘Demon King’ then attacked Johanna?
This could easily be perceived as the Demon King intervening to help Speira in her time of peril.
With this in mind, Speira decided to catch up with Anthonyus and Johanna, intending to swing her sword.
If Speira caught up and attempted to kill Johanna, there was a high probability that Anthonyus would move to protect her.
‘If I can only instill the impression that Anthonyus is trying to protect Johanna…’
Resolving the situation, though challenging, wouldn’t necessarily be impossible.
Speira’s judgment wasn’t wrong.
If she could create the desired scenario by catching up with Anthonyus and Johanna, she might delay the ‘collapse’ of the Sacred Country, at least somewhat.
If Anthonyus abandoned Johanna, then Johanna could certainly be dealt with right here.
However, just as Speira was about to accelerate to catch up with the two,
A knight clad in elaborately adorned armor appeared, pointing a sword at her.
“The power you wield is something a hybrid once handled.”
“!”
“Who are you?”
The identity of the knight pointing the sword was Paula, a member of the Royal Guard from when the Empire still held its former glory.
Paula stood with all her senses heightened, openly displaying murderous intent as she confronted Speira.
Such an aggressive stance could only come from someone who deeply regarded Speira as a ‘traitor.’
” “
Speira fell silent for a moment before letting out a smirk.
In any matter, beginnings were crucial.
No matter how much dissatisfaction and suspicion bubbled beneath the surface,
without someone courageous enough to bring these issues into the public discourse, such latent feelings remained meaningless.
But once someone steps forward, suspicions can spread uncontrollably.
Speira should have moved her body before anyone else dared to step forward, but a fleeting hesitation had held her back.
Meanwhile, with the reactivation of the warp gate in Kailoom, reinforcements from Nord deployed by the Sacred Country began their urgent return.
These reinforcements, composed of staunch purists, had hastily returned upon hearing news of the attack on Kailoom.
They were originally a group Speira intended to quietly eliminate during this opportunity, but due to the attackers not damaging the warp gate, they returned unscathed to Kailoom.
Upon returning, they struggled to grasp what immediate actions were required amidst the chaotic atmosphere.
Having roughly comprehended all these situations, Speira realized…
She was truly in a bind.
It was past the point where she could salvage the situation properly.
Right now,
The collapse of the Sacred Country had begun.
*
KWAAAAANG!!!!!!!!!
Johanna was pushed back to the outskirts of Kailoom by Anthonyus.
Anthonyus didn’t stop there but continued to push Johanna further away.
Although Johanna tried to halt Anthonyus, the overwhelming force proved too difficult to counteract.
Just as Johanna was about to use all her strength, disregarding consequences, to stop Anthonyus,
Anthonyus’s voice echoed from beneath his helmet.
“The mission objective has been achieved. Withdraw.”
“…!”
Johanna was bewildered.
While she had received some hints from Luna regarding the Demon King, she had never imagined such a situation could arise.
Nevertheless, despite her bewilderment, Anthonyus’s words were correct.
As Johanna’s resistance diminished, Anthonyus intensified his force, suppressing the surging darkness threatening to escape his physical form.
He needed to distance himself from Kailoom as much as possible while he still retained control over his body.
GRRRRRRTTTT!
The darkness enveloping Anthonyus grew more intense.
Anthonyus successfully helped Johanna achieve her goal by exploiting the loophole in his constraints.
However, the time Anthonyus could exploit this loophole was limited.
The wrath of the evil spirits was already crushing his spirit.
At this very moment, the evil spirits were compelling Anthonyus to stop and attack Johanna with unprecedented intensity.
An oppressive force far beyond what human willpower could endure.
Even so, Anthonyus maintained his self-awareness and distanced Johanna from Kailoom.
Once sufficiently far from Kailoom, Anthonyus spoke again.
“…This is far enough, Johanna.”
Johanna was still perplexed by the entire situation, but Anthonyus’s next words confused her even further.
“In accordance with the contract made with Ray, I have fulfilled my role.”
“…!”
“Now, it’s your turn. Fulfill the obligations given to you…”
GRRRTTTTT!
Anthonyus suddenly convulsed, shaking his body violently, then forced out the sentence with a strained voice reaching its limit.
“Complete…the myth.”
This story did not begin with purity.
In fact, there was no purity in their tale from start to finish.
Some acted for love.
Others for revenge.
Still others because they couldn’t let go of what they’d lost.
They merely flailed about in tattered minds, struggling for their selfish desires.
Yet Anthonyus draped this vulgar struggle in vivid righteousness and voiced it aloud.
“You must…complete it.”
The grand myth that a hero six hundred years ago sought to achieve, which eventually crumbled, was being resurrected in a grotesque form, blooming anew.
Thus, this journey of selfish individuals earned the title of true myth.
For false purity was the boundary that distinguished history from myth.
“Go.”
Anthonyus released his grip on Johanna, who had been thrust away.
Scraping against the ground, Johanna barely managed to stop herself.
Amidst the swirling dust,
Johanna briefly turned her gaze toward Anthonyus before finally turning her back and walking away.
Anthonyus also turned his back on Johanna and faced Kailoom.
If Speira pursued, Anthonyus would need to intercept her.
Johanna was not yet ready to confront Speira at full power.
” “
Darkness swirled around Anthonyus.
Having resisted the pressure of the evil spirits head-on, Anthonyus’s mental fortitude was rapidly approaching its limit.
Time was running out. Before his mind was completely overtaken and became a puppet of the evil spirits, only a little time remained.
Still, until the very end, Anthonyus refused to kneel solely by his own will.
” “
On that day,
He aimed the sacred sword at his sister’s neck and moved it.
The fleeting sensation of slicing through flesh passed through the sacred sword and reached his grip.
That fleeting touch became an eternal mark imprinted on Anthonyus.
Anthonyus was still trapped in that eternal moment.
“I…”
Amidst the onslaught of the evil spirits’ power, his memories and sense of self were crumbling.
Yet, holding onto that indelible eternity within his heart, Anthonyus looked up at the sky.
“I will not forgive you.”
*
” “
Luna slowly rose from her seat.
A pivotal moment in this war was concluding.
Everyone had faithfully carried out their roles.
Thanks to those who endured sacrifices and hardships to fulfill their parts, the ‘situation’ Luna had designed was laid out.
If things had gone slightly awry, it would have taken much longer to set everything in motion.
Despite numerous variables, the situation unfolded precisely as Luna had envisioned.
With the situation established according to her design, an even more intense offensive would soon begin.
” “
Until now, Speira had been secretly working to consume the continent.
But now that her veil has been lifted, she would undoubtedly act openly to dismantle the continent without hesitation.
If Anthonyus’s mind were completely overtaken, the battlefield situation would deteriorate drastically.
Bloodier battles than ever before were imminent.
The front lines would retreat, and everyone on the continent would face unprecedented levels of exhaustion.
The crimson future was distressingly clear, yet Luna showed no signs of wavering.
This sacrifice was inevitable, and the path they walked was the best route to reach the conclusion with minimal loss.
Luna stood silently with an expressionless face for quite some time.
Then, as if showing someone, she faintly smiled.
“…Please wait just a little longer.”
The six magic circles revealed around Luna gradually faded away.
“I’ll give you the happy ending you’ve wished for…”
Even if…
I can no longer be by your side.
Certainly.
