"This is the supreme commander of the allied forces, Liliana S. B. Heiligh!" the artifact
Hajime gave Liliana amplified her voice, projecting it across the entire battlefield.
"The time for the final battle has come! All units, take up your posts at once!"
Her booming voice lit a fire under the soldiers, and they started scurrying to their
positions. This wasn't the time to be watching in awe; the fate of Tortus rested in their
hands.
The cracks in the sky grew larger, and just as the soldiers finished deploying, it shattered.
A giant hole appeared in the sky. It was undoubtedly the same gate Ehit had used to
transport the demons three days ago, but it looked distinctly different.
The gate back then had been surrounded by radiant silver light, but this one was pitch
black. On top of that, it appeared to be emitting an ominous miasma from its edges.
What appeared at first glance to be black rain was actually a horde of monsters that
spilled out from the gates of hell. They landed atop the summit of the Divine Mountain,
covering it in its entirety. There were so many of them that they could be seen by the
naked eye, despite the fact that the summit was 8000 meters up. Though Hajime
couldn't get an accurate count, he guessed there were millions of them up there.
The massive army of monsters rumbled down the mountainside like a dark avalanche.
And they were nothing more than the vanguard of Ehit's army.
Next, a torrent of silver poured through Ehit's gate and streaked through the bloody
crimson sky.
"That certainly is a lot of apostles…" Liliana muttered as she glared at one of the
artifacts that showed her a close-up of the sky from her command center.
Hajime had left her several screens that were linked to different areas to help her keep
an eye on the overall situation. The largest of them showed the neverending stream of
apostles flying out of Ehit's gate, and the officers in the room with Liliana shivered in
unison. They were protected by the world's best barrier mages, but they didn't feel at
all safe.
Liliana quickly scanned the other screens as well, then activated the telepathy stones
attached to one of them.
"Emperor Gahard. Don't rush ahead of your army. You're not allowed to die until this
battle is over."
Gahard had taken his personal retinue of soldiers and advanced past the vanguard, so
Liliana reined him in.
Pleased that Liliana had already settled into the role of commander, Gahard grinned
and replied, "Hah, who died and made you boss? Oh wait, I guess we did. But still, if
the alliance's strongest warrior doesn't fight on the front lines, we won't stand a
chance. Even if I die, it'll just make my soldiers fight harder to avenge me. The only
person we absolutely need to keep alive is you, Supreme Commander."
"Good grief… Well, we're about to send out the goddess and the sword. Make sure you
stick to the plan."
"You got it!"
Liliana then contacted Lanzwi, Ulfric, Cam, Barus, Crystabel, Kuzeli, Simon, and David,
offering each of them a few words of encouragement.
"Remember everyone, we're risking our lives today so that we can have a tomorrow!"
The hardened warriors all shouted in approval, while the officers that had been
cowering in the command room regained a bit of their composure.
Liliana had really grown into the role of supreme commander, and she looked more
imposing than ever before.
"All units, brace for impact!"
She wasn't saying that because Ehit's armies were about to reach them, but because
the goddess and the sword were about to act.
"Members of the alliance, brave warriors who have decided to fight to save our world!
There is no need to fear! We have the protection of a true god on our side!" Aiko
shouted from the fortress' rooftop, her voice amplified to echo across the battlefield
as well.
"The true god shall protect us from this evil imposter who wishes to eradicate
humanity from Tortus. All of you standing here today are true heroes! As the true
Ehit's messenger I, the Fertility Goddess, anoint you all as divine valkyries!"
The soldiers' morale skyrocketed. The knowledge that they were Aiko's divine
valkyries caused their hearts to soar.
"Justice is on our side! On this day, none of us shall know defeat! Shout it with me,
brave heroes! The only thing waiting for us at the end of this battle is victory!"
The earth shook again as 500,000 soldiers stamped their feet on the ground, creating
a rhythmical beat. Together, they shouted, "Victory! Victory! Victory!"
"Glory to humanity! Death to the evil god who opposes us!" Aiko screamed.
"Glory to humanity! Death to the evil god who opposes us!" the soldiers parroted.
Aiko desperately tried to remember what else was in the speech notes Hajime had
written for her while fulfilling her duty as the army's goddess.
"We have nothing to fear from this evil god's lowly minions! Behold as our sword
strikes them down!"
A quiet voice responded, "Your wish is my command, O Goddess."
The soldiers watched as a figure rose up from behind Aiko. He had white hair, an
eyepatch covering one eye, and wore a black coat. The man who held the fate of the
world in his hands had finally joined the stage. Hajime floated up a few meters, then
raised a palm-sized diamond high into the air.
The diamond emitted a dazzling light, looking almost like a second sun. From the
soldiers' point of view, it looked like Aiko had suddenly been wreathed in a halo. Of
course, this was all just an act to make things look more impressive than they were.
And naturally, it was also one of Hajime's ideas.
A devilish grin spread across his face, and a section of the crimson sky flashed. A
second later, a sphere of pure light descended onto the Divine Mountain. And as it hit
the peak, there was an ear-splitting roar followed by a blinding burst of light.
Shortly after that, an earthquake rippled across the plains. Shockwaves powerful
enough to warp the very air shot out from the epicenter of the impact. When the
shockwaves reached the army, the grand barrier that Liliana had moved here from the
capital activated, protecting the soldiers. But while Hajime had upgraded the barrier,
it still creaked in protest as it absorbed the shockwaves. And it couldn't stop the
earthquake, so many people ended up falling to the ground.
Even as they lost their balance, the soldiers kept their eyes trained on the Divine
Mountain.
"Holy shit. The mountain shattered…" someone muttered.
That was no exaggeration. A chunk of the mountain had been blown apart, along with
the hundreds of thousands of monsters that had been in that area.
Hajime wasn't done yet, though. The sky flashed again, and more burning spheres of
light pelted the Divine Mountain, blasting through it as though it was as fragile as a
sandcastle. It was as if Hajime was summoning the apocalypse.
Those spheres were called Gravity Meteors. Though they had the destructive power
of missiles, they were just lumps of metal that fell from the sky. However, each one
weighed a couple tons, and they dropped from an unbelievable height. Thus, the laws
of inertia made them far more powerful than any bomb. Moreover, they were enchanted
with gravity magic, which allowed Hajime to alter their course as he pleased and
target his enemies with pinpoint accuracy.
Tortus' greatest mountain became a pile of rubble in a matter of seconds.
If you're gonna rain monsters and apostles down on us, then I'm gonna rain meteors
down on you.
That was the sword Hajime had prepared for the alliance. Ehit had been kind enough
to tell Hajime where his armies would be appearing, so Hajime had decided to
obliterate his staging area. It was the perfect jab at Ehit's arrogance.
It was only thirty seconds into the decisive battle, but Hajime had already called forth
a cataclysm powerful enough to obliterate the Divine Mountain.
"...…"
The soldiers watched on, speechless, as the dust cloud from Hajime's assault rolled
over them. They were trembling, not in fear, but joy. Burning with bloodlust, the
soldiers let out a triumphant howl.
"Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
Their voices were powerful enough to push back the cloud of dust enveloping them.
"All hail Aiko-sama! All hail the Fertility Goddess!" they roared.
Meanwhile, the apostles stopped in their tracks and watched the Divine Mountain
crumble. Even these emotionless warriors were shaken by Hajime's overwhelming
might. But Hajime wasn't done yet. His diamond glowed even brighter.
"I hope you didn't think that was all I had up my sleeve. I'll burn your wings off and
make you tumble to the ground, just like Icarus, you worthless puppets!" he snarled,
and the sky above the apostles split apart as pillars of light rained down upon them.
Hajime had perfected his satellite laser artifact, Hyperion, and created seven of them
in total. He'd christened the upgraded versions Pulse Hyperions.
Seven pillars of light, each taller than the tower of babel, swallowed the army of
apostles. Thousands of them were caught by surprise and incinerated before they
could even react. Of course, thousands more coated their wings with disintegration
magic and used them as shields. But even their powerful magic couldn't stop the light
of destruction.
Hajime had strengthened the lenses that focused his Pulse Hyperions' light beams, and
the heat each beam contained was immense enough to turn the apostles' unnaturally
sturdy bodies to ash.
As the light faded, the apostles who'd been lucky enough to be outside the pillars' path
and the newcomers who'd just come through the gate were forced to regroup and
rethink their strategy.
Hajime was a far greater threat than they'd anticipated. The only way to fulfill their
objective was to destroy his artifacts. Realizing that, all of the apostles simultaneously
shot upwards.
"Oh, still hungry for more? Don't worry, I've got enough blasts to fill you all up!"
Hajime viewed the oncoming apostles through the farsight stone he'd loaded onto his
lasers, and grinned. His diamond flashed again, and a section of each of his Pulse
Hyperions split into ten pieces. Each piece looked like a triangle studded with crimson
jewels.
The apostles watched these triangles fall with a bemused expression, but they
determined that getting within firing range of the lasers took priority, so they ignored
them. It honestly wasn't a bad choice to go for the main weapon rather than the
auxiliary parts, but they really should have been warier of Hajime's tactics.
The Pulse Hyperions fired their second volley. The apostles barrel rolled out of the way,
then flew up close enough to hit the satellite lasers with their disintegration beams.
But just before they could launch their counterattack—
"Ah!? How—?"
A tiny beam of light perforated one apostle's chest, while another lost their head to a
similarly-sized beam. Both beams had come from behind.
The apostles that survived the first barrage looked below in shock.
"Is this the work of those smaller artifacts from earlier?" one of the apostles muttered
as she looked at the ruby-encrusted triangles surrounding her.
They were called Mirror Bits, and Hajime had equipped each of his Pulse Hyperions
with ten or so to protect them. They used spatial magic to bend and reflect the main
satellite's huge laser and strike approaching targets from all angles.
It didn't take long for the apostles to realize how dangerous that was for them.
The Pulse Hyperions launched their third volley, but this time it was a scattered one
rather than a concentrated barrage. The apostles were still able to react, but dodging
had become impossible.
"Oh no—"
The Mirror Bits continued bending the smaller lasers, creating a prison of superheated,
hyper-focused light. And the lasers didn't just change direction when they reflected
off a Mirror Bit, either. They also swerved in unpredictable patterns when two lasers
collided with each other. There was no safe place for them to retreat within this web
of death.
Hajime had created a perfect kill zone for any foe foolish enough to fly close to his
weapons.
The apostles hurtled to the ground as the lasers burned their wings to ash.
"You came up with some pretty cool things, Vandre Schnee. Actually, I guess the credit
should go to Oscar Orcus?"
The idea for the Mirror Bits had come from the superheated laser part of the trial in
the Frost Caverns.
After thanking the two Liberators, Hajime looked up and said, "Well, looks like it's time
for the grand finale."
He then twirled his diamond with a smile, sending one last present to the apostles
struggling desperately against his Pulse Hyperions.
Each Hyperion dropped a small jewel that fell to meet the few apostles that had
managed to use numbers and brute force to push their way past the laser prison.
"Disappear, you eyesores."
Seven suns winked into existence in the dark crimson sky.
The jewels were another special artifact Hajime had installed into his Pulse Hyperions
called Rose Helioses. They were light bombs made by focusing an enormous amount
of sunlight and compressing it inside a specially crafted Treasure Trove. The satellites
got their light from a similar Treasure Trove, but the Rose Helios used its energy to
create a heat explosion instead of acting as lenses.
Due to how volatile they were, Hajime could only load one Rose Helios onto each Pulse
Hyperion, but the tiny spheres were immensely powerful. The seven concurrent
explosions were stronger than a nuclear detonation, and they created a miniature
solar flare.
For a brief moment, the world went white. But a second later, shockwaves made of
heat and energy rippled through the air.
The apostles that had tried to destroy Hajime's Pulse Hyperions were reduced to ash,
and the newly arrived reinforcements from Ehit's gate were blown away. The cloud of
dust that had covered humanity's fortress was dispersed by the shockwave as well.
Had Heiligh's prized barrier not been active, the entire alliance army might have been
destroyed by that shockwave alone.
"Whoa, that's one big explosion."
"I guess Hajime-kun's strong enough to change the world's geography when he's not
holding back…"
"He basically did the earth equivalent of leveling Mt. Everest and then detonating a
bunch of nuclear bombs all at once. We better keep a close eye on him once we return
home."
"Looks like you're gonna have a hard time keeping him in check, Shizushizu. I'll do my
best to help, since I don't want Japan to get blown up, either."
"It's too late for Tortus, huh…? First thing I'm doing when we make it to the Sanctuary
is beat Kouki senseless. I'm worried if I don't get to him first, Nagumo will wipe him
off the face of the planet."
Shea and the others smiled wryly as they watched Hajime decimate Ehit's forces.
They had known from the start that Hajime was planning on launching a preemptive
strike, and they'd known about his meteors and lasers as well. But even then, they
hadn't expected that he would be able to obliterate an entire mountain and create fake
suns in the sky for a few seconds.
A short distance behind Shea, Tio turned to her grandfather and said proudly, "What
do you think, Grandfather? My future husband is amazing, no!?"
"He, uhhh, certainly is amazing, yes."
Tio puffed her chest out while Adul just watched on in awe. The other dragonmen
were similarly nonplussed. Ristas was so shocked his knees had given out.
Some of the students and soldiers had actually fainted because of how overwhelming
the spectacle had been. The only other people who weren't stunned speechless were
the Haulia. The murderous rabbitmen were all whooping in excitement.
"Hell yeah! That's our boss for you! Always doing the impossible!"
"Boss! I love youuuuuu! Please fuck me!"
"All hail the Rondo of Red Death!"
"Bow before the White Fang Hurricane, you maggots! Hahahahaha!"
"Wait, you guys! The titles we came up with before aren't cool enough to express his
awesomeness at this point! We need a better name!"
"How about 'Demon Lord of the White Night, Bringer of the End'!?"
"We have to work red or crimson in there somehow! It's Boss' trademark color! What
about 'Crimson Godslaying Emperor'!?"
It seemed that by the time this battle was over, Hajime would have a new slew of edgy
nicknames.
While the Haulia were cheering, Aiko addressed the soldiers. Doing her best not to
laugh at Hajime's new nicknames, she said in a commanding voice, "B-Behold the might
of our sword! With him by our side, our victory is guaranteed!"
"Victory! Victory! Victory!"
Gahard chuckled to himself as the soldiers regained their morale.
"Alright, you lot, draw your weapons! Aim for those pesky flies in the sky! We can't let
the goddess' sword take all the credit! Remember, you louts are all heroes today! Fight
to the bitter end! Don't stop until every last enemy has been buried beneath our feet!
It's time to show this bastard the might of humanity!" the emperor roared in a voice
loud enough to carry across the battlefield. He didn't even need a voice-amplifying
artifact.
"Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
All of the soldiers cheered and started aiming with the heavy weaponry Hajime had
provided them. Their morale was as high as it could possibly go. There wasn't a shred
of fear in the warriors' eyes, and they were shivering with anticipation.
The surviving apostles hurriedly regrouped, while yet more continued to pour from
the gate. Alva hadn't been kidding when he said Ehit had an almost limitless supply of
them.
The real battle between mortals and the gods was about to begin.
"That was a great speech, Sensei. No wonder everyone worships you."
"Nagumo-kun… I'm no longer sure how to feel about what I've done," Aiko replied,
looking a bit conflicted as she returned to where Hajime was waiting. She wasn't sure
if she should praise Hajime for coming up with a speech like this or reprimand him.
As she rubbed her temples, Hajime handed the diamond that served as the Pulse
Hyperions' control panel over to her. She gingerly accepted, looking down at it as if it
were a bomb.
"Only a goddess is fit to control the light that rains down from the heavens. Don't
worry about breaking the lasers, by the way. I don't mind if they get destroyed."
"Okay… Stay safe out there, Nagumo-kun," Aiko said, steeling her resolve.
Hajime nodded in satisfaction and turned to Kaori.
"Your face still looks like an apostle's, but everyone will be able to tell it's you now
because of your hair. Black hair definitely suits you best."
"Hehehe, really? Then I better end this war quickly so I can get my old body back."
Kaori was still using Noint's body, but she'd dyed her hair black using one of the
appearance-changing artifacts Hajime had made. They didn't want anyone accidentally
mistaking her for an enemy, so that made sense.
Her combat uniform was also dyed black, as were her wings. She looked kind of like a
fallen angel. In a way, it was a fitting appearance for an apostle who served the Demon
Lord.
"I'm counting on you."
"Don't worry, we'll be fine. I'll protect the place you need to return to, Hajime-kun. I
won't let anyone lay a finger on Myu-chan or the others, so… you better bring Yue
back."
"You bet. Just you wait, I'll bring Yue back and we'll tease you until you drop."
"Mrrr, Hajime-kun, you bully!" Kaori puffed her cheeks out angrily as she said that, but
her eyes were still smiling.
Hajime smiled softly at her. His faith in Kaori was absolute.
Shea, Tio, Shizuku, Suzu, and Ryutarou walked up to them.
While Kaori and Shizuku shared an intimate hug, Hajime activated his telepathy stone
and contacted Liliana.
"Princess, you better make good use of my anti-apostle artifacts."
"Don't worry, I will. You can count on me. Also, after we safely get through this, can
you please start calling me Lily? I'll be praying for your success, Hajime-san."
Even at such a critical juncture, Liliana wasn't letting up on her efforts to join Hajime's
harem. Smiling to himself, Hajime ended the transmission and connected his telepathy
stone to Cam's.
"Cam. I only have one thing to say to you. Go wild."
"Hehehe, now that's the kind of order I wanted to hear. Aye aye, Boss. Hurry up and
kill Ehit. We'll be waiting for you."
Hajime couldn't see them from his position, but he had no doubt the Haulias were
grinning from ear to ear.
"Sonobe. You'll be saying goodbye to this world soon, so make sure you enjoy your
final party in Tortus."
"How can we possibly enjoy this, you moron!? Sheesh… You better come back safely,
Nagumo."
"You got it. Oh, and Endou."
"Y-Yes?"
"Kaori might be our ace on the ground, but you're our joker… our trump card. Don't
get scared. As long as you remain confident, no one stands a chance against you."
"If that's what you think, then I guess I've gotta live up to those expectations. Don't you
worry, I'll take care of anyone who tries to get close!"
Hajime could hear the excited muttering of his classmates through his telepathy stone.
His words had far more of an impact on his classmates than he'd realized.
Noticing that Gahard, Ulfric, and the other world leaders were also listening into his
transmission, he spoke in a casual tone, saying, "Well, guess I'm off to go kill god."
Despite how nonchalant he sounded, everyone had absolute faith in his words.
Gahard and the others smiled. Hajime's words resonated in their hearts. They were
scattered across various points of the battlefield, but their hearts were one.
Hajime cut the transmission and leaped into the sky with one of his skyboards. Using
that artifact was far faster than jumping 8000 meters up with just Aerodynamic.
His companions followed suit, and the six of them left a multicolored trail in the sky
as they flew upward. Far below, Hajime could hear soldiers cheering him on with
words like, "Go get 'em, Sword!" and "All of humanity's depending on you guys!"
Before they got very far, however, a group of apostles appeared to bar their path. It
was clear from their wary attitude that they were scared of approaching Hajime.
His lips curled up into a smile, and a dangerous glint entered his eyes.
"Hah, cowards. Wimps like you can't stop us!"
Over twenty apostles brandished their swords at Hajime, but he didn't slow down in
the slightest. In fact, he sped up. And as he did, he summoned a giant artifact into the
sky.
"I'll tear you to shreds!"
A crimson whirlwind erupted from his weapon as streaks of light shot out of it. The
apostles' disintegration-magic enhanced swords and wings were not enough to
protect them against it, and their defenses crumpled like paper.
In an instant, all the apostles died. There was a high-pitched whirring noise as the
barrels of his new railgun-enhanced Gatling gun that fired pile bunkers started to spin.
The pile bunkers it shot out were half the size of his dedicated pile bunker artifact, but
they were still way more powerful than bullets. Of course, they lacked the range of
bullets, but when it came to slaughtering apostles at close range, it was a far more
fitting weapon.
As he was now, not even apostles stood a chance against Hajime. They lacked the
wisdom to adapt to sudden changes, they hadn't trained like hell the way Hajime had,
and most of all… they didn't have his unshakable determination. Realizing they couldn't
stop his momentum, the apostles circled around to Hajime's flank and tried to catch
him in a pincer attack instead.
"Don't think Hajime-san's the only one who can fight!"
"Indeed! Leave your flanks to us, Master!"
Shea and Tio instantly moved to intercept, but before they could do anything, a few
blasts of light shot up from the ground, blowing the heads off the apostles.
"Huh?"
"Wh-What was that?"
Shea and Tio looked blankly at the dead apostles tumbling to the ground. Hajime and
the others also turned to see where the light had come from. Only Shea, who had
insanely buffed physical attributes, and Hajime, who had the Farsight skill, could see
who was giving them a thumbs-up from the fortress 5000 meters below.
It was Par, the young Haulia boy who'd decided he wanted to be called Baltfeld the
Executioner. He was standing next to one of the massive anti-air rifles Hajime had
affixed to the fort's roof. The rest of the Haulia sniper squad was there as well, and
they were firing away with wild abandon.
These were guys who could hit a target a hundred meters away with a crossbow. But
now, they were wielding railgun-enhanced sniper rifles that had Farsight and Foresight
enchanted onto their scopes while wearing goggles enhanced with Riftwalk. Their
sniping range had been increased considerably.
That being said, Hajime was still amazed they were able to hit things 5000 meters
away. On top of that, it was clear from Par's thumbs-up that he was actively working
to clear out any enemies getting in Hajime's way. That meant he was sniping enemies
in extremely close proximity to Hajime and the others without missing a beat. He
continued sniping the apostles that were trying to pincer Hajime, but eventually, they
started dodging his shots. Still, his accuracy was terrifying enough that they didn't
dare get close to Hajime and the others. If they stopped for even a second to attack,
they'd be shot out of the sky.
"Why is my family so insanely strong?" Shea lamented.
"You may no longer be the only special existence among your clan, Shea," Tio replied
with a smile.
"How is it that everyone who spends time with Hajime ends up insanely strong…"
Shizuku groaned.
"H-Hey, Shizushizu, we're still normal, right? We haven't been infected by Nagumokun's insanity, right?" Suzu asked timidly.
"I dunno about you, but it's probably too late for me," Ryutarou muttered.
The reason everyone was able to banter so casually was because of how much support
they were receiving from the ground. It wasn't just the Haulia sniping squad that was
helping them out. Liliana was directing a bunch of other soldiers to cover them as well.
They fired barrage after barrage of missiles into the air, using the weapons' wide-area
explosions to prevent the apostles from grouping up.
Of course, the apostles were powerful enough that a few were able to weave their way
through the hail of missiles and bullets. But they weren't able to arrive in enough
numbers to even be a threat to Shea and Tio. The two of them rebuffed any apostles
that got close, allowing the party to continue surging forward.
"We're through! Keep those puppets at bay, guys!"
At long last, Hajime and the others reached Ehit's divine gate, which looked more like
the gates of hell. Hajime put his Gatling pile bunker away and took out his inferior
version of the Crystal Key. It had the same translucent glow as the old one, but this one
looked like a dagger instead. He adjusted his grip on the hilt and charged toward the
gate.
"Tch, even if it looks different, it's still as sturdy as before."
Hajime slammed the dagger into the gate's entrance, and a crimson ripple spread
outward. The miasma surrounding the gate weakened slightly, and the barrier
protecting the gate shook.
After a few seconds, part of the gate lost its miasma entirely, and apostles stopped
appearing from that section. But the gate was huge, and there were still apostles
pouring out of every area not affected by the dagger.
"Get lost!"
"I won't let you get in Hajime's way!"
"Suzu, Ryutarou! Take care of the enemies below us!"
"On it! Hallowed Ground!"
"Let's go for broke!"
Shea transformed Villedrucken into shotgun mode and started firing explosive slugs
on full-auto, while Shizuku cut down the apostles' feather barrages with her black
katana and Tio mowed down some with her breath. Suzu swung her fans in a wide arc,
creating a dome-shaped Hallowed Ground to protect Hajime while also spawning
multiple barriers below him to slow attackers from that direction. As they struggled
to push past Suzu's barriers, Ryutarou fired at them with the shotgun Hajime had
given him. And on top of all that, they still had support from the ground.
"I'll cover you!" Aiko shouted via telepathy before sending several Mirror Bits down.
They deployed a laser net around Hajime and the others, preventing the apostles from
getting close.
"I'm not gonna let you lock me out this time!"
Hajime's crimson mana spiraled around him in a violent storm as he activated Limit
Break and pushed every ounce of power he had into the crystal dagger.
After just a few seconds, the tip pierced through the gate's barrier. However, dark
mana rose from within to try and push it out.
As Hajime warred with Ehit's mana, the apostles desperately tried to push him back.
From the ground, the area around the gate looked like a giant silver cocoon due to the
many apostles flying around it. Honestly, it was impressive that Shea and the others
were able to keep them at bay. That being said, it wouldn't be long before the apostles'
sheer numbers started pushing them back.
"Uwoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh!" Hajime screamed, his
mana glowing even brighter.
The dagger pushed a few inches deeper into the gate, and the black mana opposing it
flickered. There were cracks in the gate's barrier now, but it still refused to open.
Finally, one of the apostles managed to make it to Hajime. She had lost half of her body
to the Mirror Bits' lasers, but she'd at least managed to graze Hajime's cheek and arms
with her wings before dying.
Shea and the others were covered in small wounds as well. Fighting in such a tiny area
while defending someone was taking its toll. Cracks began to appear in the crystal
dagger as well as it neared its limit.
Am I not gonna make it? Is my power really inferior to Ehit's? Had Hajime been a normal
person, such pessimistic thoughts might have crossed his mind. But if he was at all
normal, he wouldn't have been in that position. Besides, none of the people who'd
followed him were normal, either. Despite their wounds, despite the overwhelming
disadvantage they were at, they shouted words of encouragement that showed the
absolute faith in him.
"You can do it, Hajime-san!"
"I believe in you, Master!"
"Don't worry, I know there's nothing that can stop you!"
"You've got this, Nagumo-kun!"
"Shatter that shitty barrier, Nagumo!"
Smiling, Hajime replied, "Of course I've got this. I already told you, I'll destroy anything
and everything that gets in my waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!"
Hajime pulled an arrow out of his Treasure Trove. It was the inferior version of the
Arrow of Boundaries Miledi had given Shea.
He gripped it in his free hand, poured all of his mana into it, and stabbed it into the
crack his dagger had created.
A sharp snapping noise resounded as the barrier finally shattered. Hajime's dagger
and arrow sunk into the gate without any resistance. The mana surrounding the gate
writhed, as if in pain.
Yue… Hajime thought with all of his might, providing direction for his weaker Crystal
Key. He then twisted the dagger like a key… and the path opened.
The space around the dagger warped, forming an elliptical portal. A second later, both
the dagger and the arrow shattered… and their glittering fragments fell to the ground
below.
A feral smile spread across his face due to the success and he shouted, "Come on, guys!"
His prey was in sight now, and he wouldn't let it escape.
"Coming!"
"Of course!"
"Roger!"
"Okay!"
"You got it!"
Elated, Shea, Tio, Shizuku, Suzu, and Ryutarou nodded to Hajime. Together, all of them
leaped into the small crimson portal that had appeared within the giant black gate.
Surprisingly, none of the apostles followed after them. Frowning, they simply watched
as the gate Hajime and the others had gone through slowly closed behind them. And
after the portal disappeared completely, they returned their gazes to the ground below.
Hajime and the others were no longer inside the silver cocoon protecting the gate.
They'd finally reached Ehit's Sanctuary.
Everyone in the alliance army cheered, and in response, the apostles swept down to
put an end to the hopes of the mortals fighting below.
From that point on, humanity had to fend for itself, since Hajime was no longer around
to assist them.