"Lev…" Olga stepped forward, trembling.
"…Hm? Oh—hello, Olga. You're alive too, I see."
"So it really is you. Lev."
—So he knows.
No. That's not it. He was the one behind Olga Marie losing her body.
There had been an explosion at Chaldea. The Director, along with forty-seven others in the Rayshift room, were left half-dead.
"Why are you here, Lev?" Olga demanded, her voice shaking. "No—where have you been all this time…?"
"—Ah, Olga. Sorry for making you worry. I must have scared you badly. Come now, like always, I'll save you."
"Answer me first! Are you Lev!? Are you really that Lev!?"
"Of course. I am."
"Then why! Why are you looking at me like I'm garbage!?"
Lev smiled, a twisted, cruel expression. "Isn't it obvious? Because you are garbage."
"—Huh?"
"I'll show you. The ruined state of Chaldeas that you longed to see."
With those words, space tore open. Beyond the rift, Chaldea came into view.
—Its core was dyed in a burning crimson.
"That… is Chaldeas?" Olga whispered. "That can't be true. Why is it so red?"
That was Chaldeas—the observatory that watches over human history…
From Olga Marie's despair, it was clear that something truly abnormal had happened.
"Not a trace of the blue that proves humanity's survival remains," Lev explained with glee. "Only the red of incineration. You humans burned like dust and were wiped out."
—With those words,
I understood without needing more.
The Incineration of Humanity—the end of history. A future burned away. The extinction of mankind.
This was not something that could be prevented.
It had already happened.
—Humanity… is already gone?
By him—by them—
Humanity had been destroyed…!
"What a shame, last heir of Animusphere. This is the end brought about by your kind."
"Chaldeas… Chaldeas is… no… my Chaldeas…" Olga mumbled, broken.
"It was never yours. Honestly—until the very end, you were such a troublesome existence."
In that instant—
"Director!?" Rikka screamed.
"Ah—no, wait, I'm being pulled toward Chaldeas…!?" Olga flailed.
"If you're that obsessed with Chaldeas, then by all means, experience it with your whole body," Lev laughed. "You'll be the first human to ever touch Chaldeas."
"W-Wait! Chaldeas is made of many overlapping spaces, you know!?"
"Yes. No different from a black hole. Or perhaps the sun. Even your remaining lingering thoughts will be broken down to the molecular level."
"L-Lingering thoughts…?"
"What does that mean!?" Rikka shouted.
"Olga is already dead, of course," Lev stated matter-of-factly. "I placed the explosives right at her feet. SHEBA kindly picked up her lingering thoughts. You have nowhere to return to. Your body is gone, so you can't go back to Chaldea."
"N-No…! No, no, no! That's a lie, right!? Help me! Mash Kyrielight! Rikka! Help me!!"
"Director!!" Rikka lunged forward.
"I'm coming, Director—!" Mash followed.
"Fool! Do you want to die with her!?"
"But the Director—!!"
"I don't want this! Not now! I don't want to die! I want to live—live much longer!!"
"I was finally praised! I was told I did well! For the first time in my life, I was praised!!"
"—"
I knew it. In the end, she really did—
She wanted someone who truly understood her.
"I was finally acknowledged! I finally understood how happy it is to work hard and be acknowledged!"
The pull continued.
"I even made friends! Rikka, Mash Kyrielight! You treated me as an equal! Even when it was silly, you listened and talked with me seriously!"
"I—I haven't apologized to Mash! I left everything to Rikka and never gave anything back! There were so many things I wanted to do, so many things I had to do! I could have done them!"
"Director—!" Mash reaches out, tears streaming down her face.
"No… no… Director!!"
"I finally wanted to live! I finally decided to try in my own way! I don't want an ending like this!"
"For a final scream, that was quite good," Lev noted coldly. "Now then, be broken down in the space between dimensions."
"Noooo!! Like this—without doing anything—"
"If regret remains, then struggle!"
My voice slices through the crushing weight of despair like a blade.
"G-Gilgamesh…!"
"Clinging to life is your kind's virtue, humans! Not repentance, not curses—just 'wish'!"
That's right! The vessel already held the means to save her!
"Director!" Rikka shouted.
"Director! Don't go!" Mash cried out.
"Mash, Rikka…!"
"We—we became friends, didn't we!!" Rikka yelled.
"Yeah! Let's… do things together again! Let's eat candy together!" Mash added desperately.
"What are you doing! Squeeze it out from your soul!" I roar. "This is not the time for your judgment—now is not that moment!"
"—I-I…!"
With her entire being, Olga Marie resisted her fate and screamed.
"I don't want to die—leaving my friends behind!!!"
"—That's enough. Well done."
At that instant, Lev's face twisted in confusion.
"…This reaction… impossible."
In the next moment, a blinding golden light erupts from Olga Marie's chest, wrapping completely around her body.
"—Hmph." I cross my arms, a smirk spreading across my face.
"That's impossible… the Holy Grail!?" Lev recoils. "Why does Olga Marie have it!?"
A sharp glare turned toward us.
Ignoring his angry, frustrated stare at his failed scheme, I calmly mock him.
"Who knows? Perhaps she picked it up somewhere."
The golden light grows brighter, acting as an anchor, finally breaking free from Chaldeas's deadly pull.
It then wrapped around Mash Kyrielight and the Master as well, creating a perfect safe zone and completing preparations to return to Chaldea.
"Doctor, we're returning to Chaldea," I commanded through the comms.
"R-Really!? Is that okay!?" Roman stuttered.
"What happened to Chaldeas should tell you everything. If you still don't understand, I'll explain."
I glanced one last time at the seething Lev. "There's nothing left here worth seeing. His pathetic little show seems to be over anyway."
—This time, I truly felt like giving a full victory pose to the vessel's arrogance.
"Hero King—y-you… youuu…!!" Lev shrieked, his human form destabilizing.
The transfer begins.
Mash Kyrielight, Rikka—
…and the girl who escaped death—
"Farewell, clown," I declared. "Next time, choose your spectacle more carefully."
"—Of course, if you dare enter my sight without permission then—"
"You will pay for that rudeness with your life…!!"
The world fades to black.
With two girls—
And two cheats—
They return to the observatory.
—It seems… this bet was our victory.
(End of Chapter)
--
A blind fool who thinks he's the mastermind—Flauros.
Donate some powerstones if you like the story.