Chapter 129

About 30 minutes ago.

While the Principality-grade Kelly and the Sword God’s clone were returning to the battlefield after ensuring the safety of Chel and her group…

“Orabeoni. May I ask you something?”

…Taking advantage of the brief lull in battle—an unspoken ceasefire held until they were sufficiently far from Chel’s group—the two shared a short conversation.

“I am not your Orabeoni.”

“But you are a clone of Orabeoni.”

“The original and I are separate entities. Of course, if the original were to divide his consciousness to control this clone, we could be considered the same person… but that is not the case here. Aside from the mana supply, we are completely separate.”

“Ah….”

“To put it simply, I am a thought-form instilled by the original. Think of me as a sort of AI injected to control this vessel.”

“Then… things that you come to know, Orabeoni—I mean, Clone-Orabeoni—won’t necessarily be known by the original Orabeoni, right?”

“That’s correct.”

“That’s a relief.”

“…Hm?”

“…Clone-Orabeoni. Can you trust me? When I give the signal, could you allow yourself to be defeated and fall?”

“…Why should I do that?”

“I am going to stab Disis.”

“……!!!”

“If I defeat Clone-Orabeoni, I will naturally take on the role of Disis’s guard. Naturally, I will be the one responsible for her back. She will never suspect me.”

“…….”

“Please do not inform the original Orabeoni. If he reacts awkwardly, Disis might notice.”

“…You are Disis’s subordinate. Is it even possible for a subordinate to stab their master?”

“…Normally, it’s impossible. However, there is exactly one scenario where it is. That is….”

Kelly, having pierced Disis’s chest with her halberd, wore a sorrowful smile.

“…This is the end.”

“You… you….”

Unlike Kikar, who was still locked in a struggle with a clone, this was the commendable subordinate who had supposedly defeated a clone and flown back to protect her rear.

Because Disis had never imagined Kelly would stab her in the back like this, her eyes could only widen in shock.

“Let’s finish it here. You. Me. And… us.”

“Not if I have a say!!”

Though caught off guard, Disis’s next reaction was terrifyingly fast.

Mana began to swell. It was the sign of a mana explosion, identical to the one she used to push me back moments ago.

I accelerated my thought processes, slicing the moments of time into infinite fragments.

Through my territory, expanded to its limit, I took in and synthesized the massive amount of information pouring in, grasping the situation to find the optimal move.

‘An attack from a lower-ranked being against a higher-ranked one has its damage reduced. In other words, despite appearances, the wound Kelly inflicted isn’t fatal. It won’t stop her from fleeing, even if it affects her combat ability.’

‘By the time she recovers from the shock of the mana explosion, she’ll have already vanished. Then, she’ll never show herself again until I’ve hunted down every last one of the tens of thousands of doppelgangers on the ground.’

‘Then it’s over. The five minutes Bel mentioned is likely the absolute maximum. Even if I deal with a reappeared Disis later, Shia will likely have been caught by the chains by then.’

As a side note, “Territory” is a kind of extrasensory perception obtained upon reaching a seat of transcendence.

This sense reaches beyond dimensions, providing an overwhelming amount of information once opened. Because the data is so excessive, even transcendents usually keep it closed.

Furthermore, because this sense transcends time (as time is also a dimension), it provides “premonitions or intuition” to lower transcendents, and near-certain “precognition” to high-ranking ones…

I was no exception, and in this moment, I was checking countless variables.

‘No matter how many simulations I run, there is no “next time.” This moment is the final chance to kill Disis before Shia is captured.’

‘One strike. I finish it with this one strike.’

However, there weren’t many means even I possessed that could pierce that pointlessly powerful mana explosion and inflict a fatal wound in a single blow.

Overwhelming power, in and of itself, harbors mystery.

‘A frontal clash won’t work. I have to bypass it.’

‘In the end, is there only one answer?’

—Dimensional Cleave.

But there was a problem. She surely knew as well as I did that this was the moment that would decide the fate of the fight.

She would undoubtedly be just as focused, opening her own Territory.

‘Which means, no matter how fast or without preamble I thrust my blade, she will respond in some way. I lack the certainty that it will be a fatal blow.’

Yet, at that very moment, within the slowly flowing time, I caught sight of Kelly’s eyes just as she began to be swept away by the mana storm.

Even within that horrific explosion that had forced even me to retreat rather than endure, her gaze was burning with a blue fire.

‘Do it. I’ll stop her.’

In that moment, without hesitation, I thrust Astraphe into the void.

Immediately, Astraphe—not merely passing through a single higher dimension as before, but traversing five dimensions—emerged into reality without warning, harboring a remote and ancient mystery.

Kwadjik!!

And… Disis’s mana finally exploded with a thunderous roar.

Kuaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!!!

The explosion subsided… and as the dense mana that had dyed the world red slowly dispersed into the atmosphere….

Cough….

Disis looked down at Astraphe, which had impaled her heart, and spat out blood.

“…Keuk.”

After agonizing in pain for a while… she eventually turned her head with difficulty, looking back not at me, but at Kelly, who had betrayed her.

“…How did you… stab me? I should have made it so you couldn’t perform an act I didn’t desire. Cough….”

At that, Kelly—who had been hit directly by the mana explosion to aid my attack, yet had gripped her halberd until the very end—smiled weakly while blood poured from her eyes, nose, and mouth.

“…That’s right. I can’t do anything you don’t desire. So the answer is simple, isn’t it?”

“Inside of me… there was a part of me that wanted this end?”

“Yes. If that weren’t the case, why would your subordinates be so silent in this situation?”

She quietly turned her gaze toward Kikar, who stood in the distance with sorrowful eyes, and the thousands of doppelgangers looking up at the sky with pained faces.

“…They know it as well. That this, too, is a form of salvation you desired.”

At that, Disis let out a soft groan of realization, “Ah…”.

And with that, the black and red chains tightly binding her body became visible, before they began to snap one by one.

Snap. Snap-snap.

‘Providence… the Trial System… is discarding a tool that has broken and lost its utility.’

Snap! Clang! Chaaaaa….

As the chains broke one by one, the anger and anguish that had clouded her eyes began to fade.

“Huhu… huhuhu….”

A hollow laugh.

“Right. Now that I think about it… I used to live with the words ‘I want to die’ constantly on my lips. Yes. You are right. This, too, is the salvation I wished for.”

Snap, thud! Clang!

The chains snapped in rapid succession.

With a face that looked as though she had shaken something off, Disis looked toward Kelly—who was in even worse shape than herself—with a bitter expression.

“You’re a fool… You must have known that if I die, you, my subordinate, die as well.”

“…Because I am no different from you. Just as you wished to cast off the bondage of the chains and live as yourself, I simply wished to decide my own life.”

“Ah….”

“If I had just conformed, I would have just been ‘Doppelganger A’… but by finishing it like this, I can remain as myself, as the being known as Kelly, until the very end, can’t I?”

“Ah… I see. I was your chain. Please… forgive me.”

Kelly gave a faint smile at Disis’s apology.

“I forgive you. After all, thanks to you, I gained sisters and made friends. And…”

Kelly looked toward me, her smile remaining fixed.

“…I even got to love. That alone was enough to make my life satisfactory.”

Having finished her conversation with Kelly, Disis finally turned her gaze toward me.

“…Could you come here for a moment?”

I did not refuse her request. The vitality had long since vanished from her physical body.

She was merely deferring her final moment through her high rank.

As I approached, she reached out a hand—bloodstained, yet looking all the more fleeting and beautiful for it.

“Your hand….”

As I took her hand, her mental intent, along with her memories, came rushing in like a tide.

“…You went through some shitty things.”

“Didn’t I? Huhu….”

“…….”

“So, if you feel even the slightest bit of pity for my life… please, in my stead… place a floral tribute on this island… for them….”

“…Fine. I’ll cover the whole place in flowers, so don’t you worry.”

“…Thank you. And please tell Akathastasia I’m sorry. Now that I’m free from the chains, I realize all over again just how terrible the things I did were.”

“She won’t mind. That girl is pointlessly bold for someone so short.”

“Huhu….”

As I quietly stepped back, she called out the names of those she longed for one last time.

“Big Disis, Mama….”

Then, her remaining mana gathered to form the figures of two women.

One of them, the younger woman, bore a striking resemblance to Disis.

From the memories I had received from her, I pulled out the image of her bringing her lips to the bodies of her diseased family members.

‘They must be the personalities of her family that had been sleeping inside her.’

For the record, despite her profound longing, she had never once summoned her family as doppelgangers since that day. She likely felt such an act would be a desecration of their memory.

In the silence, countless emotions beyond words were exchanged…

Then, the voice of “Little Disis,” rather than the “Demon King Disis,” spoke as if choking back tears.

“It’s been… it’s been so long… So, so long… Mama… Big Disis….”

—…My daughter. It has been a long time.

—…Little Disis. You’ve grown so much.

“I’m sorry. The promise to live happily… I don’t think I can keep it. I’m going now….”

—It’s okay.

—We’ve been watching from inside all along, seeing how hard you tried.

“Yes… hic….”

Then, the middle-aged woman raised her hand and wiped away the tears streaming down Disis’s cheeks.

—There, there. Stop crying. Let’s go together now, my daughter. You’d be surprised to know how long I’ve been waiting.

—That’s right. We’re together again. Let’s go back and play like we used to. Our Little Disis.

“…Yes. Let’s go. Together.”

And just like that… Disis, the Demon King of the West, ended her 700-year life with a smile on her face.

Upon her death, the doppelgangers on the ground crumbled into dust.

Following them, the elf named Kikar offered a military salute before vanishing…

Finally, Kelly scattered into a cluster of light, giving me a faint smile.

“Orabeoni. I think it’s time for me to go, too.”

I bit my lip hard and pulled her into a light embrace.

“…Yeah. Thank you for everything.”

“…You’ll remember me, won’t you?”

“Of course. How could I ever forget the terrifying Overlord of the general store?”

“…….”

“To me, you are the only Kelly. From the moment we met, until this very second as we part.”

At my answer, Kelly shed tears and kissed me. The ethereal sensation, barely there, added to the sorrow of the moment.

With her cheeks drenched in tears, she did her best to give a radiant smile.

“I’m going now, Oppa.”

“Yeah. I’ll see you again someday.”

“Yes. Someday, again… for sure….”

I stood there for a long time, rooted to the spot, watching her scatter away with the wind… before slowly closing my eyes.

“Shia!”

“Sword God!!”

“Uwaah! He’s coming! He’s here! Since you’re here, help us!!”

“Huh? Ah! Right!”

I drew Astraphe in a long arc toward the horrific tsunami of chains surging from behind.

Flash!!

Kuaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!

A brilliant pillar of light extended, pulverizing the downpour of chains.

The chains flinched for a moment at the unexpected counterattack.

As Bel gritted her teeth and accelerated through the opening, I asked them.

“Where did the Gundam go?”

Bel, whose personality had evidently soured from the sheer hardship, shouted sharply.

“That thing was smashed ages ago!”

“Is that why both of you are clinging to her hair? You’re going to make her go bald at this rate.”

“On top of that, now you’re the one pulling on my hair! Forget it! If you’re really worried about my hair, hurry up and restore the seal!”

“Alright, alright. Calm down. Don’t lose your temper. Shia.”

“Yes! I am right here!!”

I pulled the crawling Shia into a tight embrace and gripped the Sealing Sword pendant.

‘…I’m giving your power back. So, revive the seal.’

Then, I thrust my middle finger high toward the tsunami of chains looming right behind us—a sight of pure cosmic horror.

“Tag is over, so get lost. You creepy bastards.”

And, one hour later.

“Hehehe… H-h-h-hello. I, I, I’m i-i-inadvertently b-b-becoming indebted to you.”

“…….”

“Y-you’re n-not angry, right? L-let bygones be bygones… and from now on….”

I stood there, frozen like an idiot, staring at the being in front of me… before finally scratching my head in pure absurdity.

“…I mean, why the hell are you coming out of there?”