Crossroad. City center.
"Aaahhhh!"
Crying.
Serenade.
She clung tightly to me, sobbing her heart out on my chest.
"Se, Serenade? It's okay, calm down..."
"Heuuuugh."
"This is hopeless. She's completely regressed to infancy."
I gave up trying to soothe Serenade and raised my hands in defeat.
Serenade's personal maid, Elize, rushed over and tried to comfort her.
"My, my lady. Everyone is watching, please calm down..."
"Aaahhhh."
"Uuuuh, please don't cry... You're making me want to cry too... snff."
Elize wiped her reddened eyes and sniffled. Why did she have to cry too... Several characters were breaking down today.
Elize also failed. Serenade continued to cling to me like a cicada, crying loudly. Elize gave up too, raising her hands and wiping her eyes before smiling at me.
"Welcome back, Your Highness."
"It's still too early to be relieved."
I smiled bitterly, looking at Serenade's tear-streaked face.
I couldn't tell her that I had died and come back to life, nor how much of the man she loved was left in me.
Instead, I gently patted Serenade's back.
Everyone around us broke into a cold sweat seeing Serenade's pitiful state.
"Has the guild master always been like this...?"
"Maybe she's been holding it in all this time..."
"I get it. This is the second time Ash has gone missing and come back. How worried must she have been?"
Kellibey grumbled, patting my back roughly. Other heroes followed suit, hitting me one by one, saying, 'This is for Serenade.'
Stop hitting me, you guys! Lucas, don't just stand there with your arms crossed, do something!
"...I didn't want to see such a touching scene."
Crown, who had joined us, grumbled from behind, and Damien, next to him, rubbed his tear-filled eyes.
"Snff, snff... I'm sorry. This isn't the time for this..."
Serenade finally calmed down, sniffing and stepping back.
She was right. It was cute and heart-wrenching, but now wasn't the time to be relaxed.
I carefully wiped Serenade's tear-stained face with a handkerchief and asked.
"Serenade, where is His Majesty the Emperor?"
Before I left for the expedition, I had informed the Emperor about the final strategy... Operation Night Closing.
I had advised him to consider it if all other defensive plans, from Plan A to F, failed.
And now, with all other plans rendered useless, had the Emperor prepared this final strategy?
"He is in the warehouse district, preparing the last strategy you left, Your Highness."
As expected, my father, the Emperor, didn't waste his experience!
"I also helped prepare it. This way, please."
Following Serenade's lead, we rushed over.
Amid the warehouses destroyed and burned by Night Bringer's breath, we saw a standing hangar.
Even though giant monsters were fighting outside the fortress walls, threatening to destroy the world, the production guild members inside the hangar worked tirelessly without even blinking.
And what they were working on was...
"...What?"
It was an airship I had never seen before.
It was much smaller than an aircraft carrier on Earth but had a similar shape.
The deck extended forward, and the hatch also opened forward, allowing heroes to come and go.
Overall, it looked like a mix between Alcatraz and Geronimo. The beautiful curved design and tightly fitted armor were like Alcatraz, while the bulky rear thrusters resembled those on Geronimo.
The weapons seemed to be hastily attached. There were about ten machine guns capable of firing magic bullets at the front, and all available ammunition, including Dwarf-made guided missiles, were loaded in the back.
I gaped at the impressive airship that had suddenly appeared. Where did this thing come from?
"During the salvage and repair of Geronimo, we accumulated technology, gathered ancient information from across the continent, invited master craftsmen from various races..."
Serenade lowered her voice and looked around cautiously.
"Ahem. The design plans we bought under the table from the Imperial Airship Fleet, and the core technology from an Imperial engineer we scouted... all combined to construct this new airship for the guild, Your Highness's personal vessel."
Serenade awkwardly explained, as if caught revealing a prepared birthday gift too soon.
I couldn't close my gaping mouth. They made a new ship just for me from the start? I never expected this.
"Actually, it was barely flight-capable and far from complete, but His Majesty transferred many parts from Alcatraz, combined with Crossroad's magical construction techniques and the full capabilities of the production guild. Now, it can fully function as an airship."
As I approached, the production guild members, covered in oil and grime, stood up and saluted me. I silently returned the salute.
Everyone had fought together without giving up until the very end.
'I thought I'd be putting my father in the retired Alcatraz as a pilot and forcing it to move…'
I was truly taken aback and carefully examined the new ship. Serenade continued her explanation.
"It's an assault landing ship designed prioritizing the deployment and recovery of heroes. Its name is..."
She glanced sideways at me.
"Please name it, Your Highness."
"..."
At that moment, a name came to mind as if it had been predetermined. I slowly uttered it.
"La Mancha."
"La Mancha..."
Serenade rolled the name around in her mouth and tilted her head.
"What does it mean?"
"It's a meaning we have to create from now on."
Then someone descended the new airship's deck and approached me.
"Now that it has a name, it just needs to launch."
It was, of course, the Emperor.
He looked at me with his characteristic steel-like face, containing unexpected relief, and smiled through his beard.
"I was about to take this airship alone and charge into the sky, but now that you're back, I should hand over the helm to you."
"I can't let you monopolize the first monumental flight, Father."
Although I needed to stay here to deal with matters on the ground...
As I exchanged a silent father-son dialogue with the Emperor, someone cautiously called out to me.
"Ash."
It was Kellibey. He gestured toward the Siren statue [Steadfast Superstition] he was dragging along the ground.
"Can I attach this to the bow?"
"Of course, Kellibey. I'd actually prefer it."
Kellibey's face brightened as he hurriedly dragged the statue to the front of the airship.
While Kellibey attached the statue to the bow and the production guild members made final adjustments to the airship, I addressed the assembled heroes.
"We have no time, I will explain Operation Night Closing! The plan is simple."
I felt like a peddler every time I said 'simple' or 'easy', but this operation was genuinely straightforward.
It was just difficult to execute.
"All special forces will board this airship, La Mancha, and fly south… to approximately this point."
Pointing to the sky damaged by Nameless's pillar of light on the map, I continued.
"The heroes on the ground will mark the exact target area. Then, you will pierce through the barrier at that point and keep ascending..."
Thud!
I tapped the map with my finger and finished the explanation.
"Slice through all the following barriers and break through to the highest point."
The Emperor, who had been listening quietly, chuckled.
"Easy to say."
Indeed. The operation's outline was extremely simple, but its execution was far from easy.
We had to dive into the central area of the wicked darkness, where mere proximity would corrupt the mind, and slice through the malevolent entities trying to corrupt us while soaring to the sky's end.
'But this battle is beyond easy or difficult. The time to consider possibilities has long passed.'
It's about whether we succeed or not. That's all.
Whether fortunate or not, the current special forces heroes were already tainted by darkness in body and soul.
They could withstand the curses emanating from the dark barrier. Because their minds were already corrupted, they could endure additional corruption.
"No time to waste. Prepare to launch immediately!"
"Aye-aye!"
The special forces, without a word of complaint, immediately gathered their equipment and ran towards the airship.
Lunared hesitated, looking around nervously, but with many eyes watching, he groaned and reluctantly headed towards the airship as well.
'Go, people of La Mancha.'
As I watched their retreating figures, I called out to Lucas, who was the last to grab his gear and leave.
"Lucas."
"Yes, my lord."
He stopped immediately. I approached him.
"Remember this: It doesn't matter where you land or where you wander. Just don't forget what we were looking at."
I untied the tattered black flag of the World Guardian Front that had been fluttering on my banner and wrapped it around Lucas's left arm.
Lucas, looking at the long black flag fluttering like a ribbon from his left arm, stammered.
"But my lord, the flag..."
"I'm fine."
I smiled broadly.
"I always have it."
I patted Lucas on the back, still looking confused.
"Go, quickly! Open the path for me!"
That seemed to snap him to attention.
Even with the fierce face bearing traces of beastification, he gave me his usual serious expression and bowed deeply.
Then, he ran heavily towards the airship. I watched him until he was out of sight.
"The Alcatraz may be stripped to its bones, but it's still operational."
The Emperor then moved towards the adjacent hangar.
"I will take Alcatraz and support La Mancha. Son, I leave the ground to you."
"Thank you, Father."
"Ash."
When I glanced back at the Emperor, his eyes no longer sparkled with a golden glow.
"I can sense a certainty in you that wasn't there before."
Instead... there was the joy of a king.
The relief of a father looking at his grown successor.
"Have you found the answer to the trials I set?"
"..."
I smiled silently, and the Emperor chuckled, showing his teeth.
"I can't die before hearing that answer."
"..."
"If you have confidence, then probabilities don't matter. Believe in yourself... and follow the path you've chosen."
The Emperor waved and left.
After organizing the team to launch into the sky.
"Thank you, Serenade."
I faced Serenade, who had prepared the airship, and expressed my gratitude and request.
"Please oversee La Mancha's launch process until the end. I will go to the wall to command the rest of the operation."
"Your Highness!"
Serenade, who had called me, clenched her fists as if making a resolution, and looked up at me.
"I've made my decision too. I will fight until the end of this life, without giving up. So..."
She smiled brightly despite her exhausted face.
"I won't just wait anymore."
I chuckled softly.
She really didn't know herself.
She had never once just waited. She had always fought in the best way she could.
"Serenade, what you've done so far is more than enough... Uuuuff?!"
As I was about to commend her, she grabbed my collar, pulled me in, and pressed her lips against mine.
Ah, so not waiting means this kind of action?!
"Se, Serenade? Everyone's watching, just calm... Uuuuuff."
Serenade did not calm down and showered me with kisses repeatedly. It seemed her inner limiter broke after crying so much earlier...
Everyone around us pretended not to see, turning their heads. Damien blushed and cleared his throat, and Crown muttered in frustration.
"...I didn't want to see such a passionate display."
Shut up! I didn't want to show it either!
"Go on ahead."
Serenade finally let go of me, her previously haggard appearance now shining with vibrance, smiling radiantly.
"I'll catch up soon."
"..."
I squeezed her hand once firmly.
Then I turned and walked towards the wall. Damien and Crown immediately followed me on either side.
Crown's eyes narrowed as he looked at me from behind his mask.
"I didn't want to see such a warm display..."
"Shut up! If you repeat that line one more time, I won't let it slide, Crown!"
Feeling embarrassed, I grumbled, while Damien chuckled.
"Hehe. Still... it was much better than seeing everyone cry."
"..."
"Indeed, with the prince here, the front lines come alive."
Right. What's the big deal about a kiss show?
If the world doesn't end and everyone can tease me and laugh... what's there to worry about?
'I will see it through.'
To protect the moments where people can laugh.
I would sprint down the last remaining path to victory, no matter what.
With renewed determination, I hurried my steps towards the wall.
"Let's go. While the people in the sky split the darkness, those on the ground have their own tasks to do."
Crown chuckled and made a joke.
"Then what should the people of the lake do?"
"...Just follow quietly."
But seriously, Crown, you jerk, haven't you been enjoying making jokes since earlier?!