Four minutes and fifty seconds, just in time.
──[Cancel Creation].
Ah, yes.
I nodded inwardly and created a new skill with [Awakening].
──[Cancel Creation].
It is a skill that returns what was united by [Creation] back to its original material. I immediately activate it, separating me and the Greedy Dragon.
The explosive power that filled my entire body gradually weakened and eventually disappeared completely.
"…..Kuh."
My vision wavered.
Ragnarok's activation seemed to have exhausted my energy, and I no longer have the concentration left to manipulate the wind.
I was pulled by gravity and fell to the ground.
Well, this is goodbye for now.
Soon [Full Assist] will restart.
When safe mode is over, ask it about you and me.
It will tell you everything you want to know.
See you later.
Whew.
I felt something pull away from the back of my chest.
I could no longer hear the voice of the Greedy Dragon.
I was still falling and would eventually hit the ground.
But I was in no rush.
Their presence was already close by.
"Kou!"
"Kou-san!"
"Kou-sama!"
Iris, Lily, Leticia──.
The three of them were surrounding me to catch me.
I'm living in luxury, aren't I?
"Thank you, everyone. That was a great help."
"I'm glad we made it in time. …I was wondering what was going to happen when you suddenly started to fall."
Iris sighed as if to let out the anxiety that had been building up in her chest.
"I, too, felt like I was losing my mind. Good grief, you are still the same as you were in the past, always reckless and worrying everyone around you."
Leticia looked at me with a sigh and touched my cheek with her right hand.
The reason why the warmth of the touch makes me feel nostalgic is because I still remember the feeling I had when I was fused with the Greedy Dragon.
"Kou-san. Are you all right?"
Lily asked me in a concerned tone.
"Please take a good rest today. If any other calamity appears, I will fight it."
"No, that's just as I expected──Mmgh."
I was about to tell Lily about my feelings, but before I could, Leticia extended her right index finger to cover my mouth.
"You should be more dependent on those around you once in a while. If you keep carrying the load alone, you're going to crumble someday."
"I've got my Fimbul, too, and you can count on me a little more."
"…I know."
In fact, my body was in a state of extreme fatigue.
Originally, I would have died from the backlash of the [Awakening].
The destination of evolution beyond the limits was self-destruction, and that was why the [Full Assist] was controlling it.
Looking up at the sky, the bloody dark red color had disappeared and returned to a clear blue.
I guess that settles it.
There was no damage to the royal capital, so it should be an unquestionably happy ending.
Perhaps from relief, I fell asleep as Iris and the others carried me.
* * *
The next time I woke up, to my surprise, it was the following night.
About 30 hours had passed since the battle had ended.
I must have slept for a long time.
"You must have been very tired. Do you want to eat the apple I peeled?"
"Yes. Thank you."
I received a small plate with an apple on it from Iris as I raised my upper body from the bed.
The place is on the third floor of the guest house, in the bedroom of the room where I am staying.
Iris had been by my bed all night.
"I am sorry. You must have been bored."
"Not at all. It's been a while since I've read a good book and…"
"What's wrong?"
"Kou's sleeping face was kind of cute."
"…Is that so?"
I involuntarily averted my eyes from Iris.
The apples on the small plate are cut into "bunny" shapes. I picked up one of them and bit into it.
Munch, munch.
It had a nice texture, sweet and juicy.
"Hey, Kou."
"What?"
"You're embarrassed, aren't you?"
"…I can't deny it."
"Fufu."
Iris gave me a happy smile and told me about what had happened while I was asleep.
Apparently, Lily and Leticia took care of the aftermath, and the report about this battle had already reached King Octo.
"I received a message from His Majesty the King to Kou. ──'Once again, you have saved our lives. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I will thank you in person at some point, but for now, just rest your body.'"
"Well, I'll take his word for it and just take it easy."
"Yes, I think that would be best."
Incidentally, the people of the royal capital did not suffer any damage, so they did not panic too much.
"But there was a bit of a commotion this afternoon."
According to Iris, people were talking about how I had protected the capital while being battered and bruised, and as a result, a huge number of people came to the guest house.
"Everyone was so grateful to Kou. Some people even brought gifts to thank you."
The royal palace is taking care of the gifts for the time being.
I will pick it up tomorrow.
Just as I was thinking about that, there was a knock at my door.
"Let me take a look at it."
Iris got up from her chair and left the bedroom.
In the meantime, I finished the last of my apple and put the empty plate on the small desk nearby.
Iris returned shortly after. Behind her were Lily and Leticia.
It seemed that they had come to visit me.
"Kou-san. It looks like you've woken up."
"Your complexion has improved a lot. I am relieved."
"Thanks to you, I feel better. Thanks for coming all the way out here."
"We are friends, aren't we? It is only natural."
"Yes. I'm so glad you're okay, Kou-san."
Lily and Leticia's cheeks relaxed as if they were truly relieved.
"In the meantime, since it's no good to stand around talking, why don't you both sit down?"
"Ah. I'll get you a chair."
It was Iris who said so.
Iris was going to get a chair that was a little further away.
"No, no, that's not necessary."
While restraining Iris's movement with her hand, Leticia told her.
"We have no intention of interfering with your meeting."
"That's right. We will visit you tomorrow morning, and we will bring Surara-chan with us too."
What does she mean by 'meeting'?
Anyway, Lily and Leticia don't seem to plan to stay long.
I heard that they cleaned up after the battle instead of me, so they might be tired.
It would be inappropriate to keep them for too long.
However, there was something I wanted to tell the two of them──or rather, the three of them, including Iris.
"Thanks to everyone's help, we managed to win again this time. Thank you so much."
"That goes for all of us."
Iris answered with a smile.
"If it weren't for Kou, we would have been annihilated."
"Is that so…"
Lily nodded her head repeatedly.
"I don't think I would have made it even if I had inherited the power of the God of War."
"In any case, it's good as long as you're alive. ──Now, I think it's time for the intruder to leave. I will see you tomorrow."
Leticia spread the hem of her skirt, bowed, and left with graceful steps.
"I, too, will take my leave. Kou-san, Iris-san, good night."
Lily also bowed her head and left the room as if following Leticia.
"…They both disappeared in a blink of an eye."
Iris muttered with a wry smile.
"They could have gone a little slower."
"They really just came to see your face."
"I'm sorry I made you guys worry."
Iris shrugged her shoulders as she came to my bedside.
The moonlight faintly illuminated her figure in the large bay window behind her.
It's beautiful.
I honestly thought so.
"As Leticia said, I'm glad Kou is safe."
Iris said, turning her affectionate gaze toward me.
"I was really worried that you might not wake up again."
"Me?"
"Yes. After the battle, Kou was sleeping like you were dead. I was afraid you would stop breathing when I took my eyes off you."
"Is that why you were with me the whole time?"
"Yes. …But, that's not all."
Iris mumbled and leaned toward me.
Her expression was somewhat sad, and she looked as if she was on the verge of spilling something she was holding.
Her cheeks are slightly flushed.
After her gaze wandered slightly, she slowly opened her mouth.
"I wanted to be with you."
I understood that these words were not made out of a sense of friendship or camaraderie.
Before I could respond, Iris continued.
"I feel very comfortable with the distance we have now, and it would be wonderful if it were to last forever. …But we both know that anything can happen to us at any time. I am the same, and so is Kou. You're so out of the ordinary all the time that it's difficult to remember that Kou is not a god but a human being. If you push yourself too hard, you will collapse, or worse; you will die. ──So, listen to me."
Ahem.
Iris cleared her throat and looked at me again.
Her red eyes were moist and shining like jewels.
And when she was about to tell me something──
Giiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!
It was an irresistible, unpleasant sound, like fingernails scratching on glass.
It sent a tingle down my spine and gave me goosebumps.
I covered my ears, but the sound still shook my eardrums and sent fear to my brain.
"What is that…?"
Iris seemed to hear it as well, holding her ears with both hands.
The sound gradually became quieter and then completely inaudible.
What was that?
I took a breath and got up from the bed.
I open the window and look outside.
Below me, a garden illuminated by magic lights spreads out.
Outside the grounds, the urban area of the royal capital was stretching out, but I couldn't find anything out of the ordinary.
"Kou, look!"
Iris shouted right behind me.
She was pointing to the sky with her right hand.
I looked up and gasped.
What is that?
A corner of the starry sky was concave toward us and covered with countless cracks.
The view would be just like that of an eggshell that has been smashed into a corner, viewed from the inside.
The cracks in the starry sky gradually grew larger and larger, connecting with each other and eventually forming the shape of a crescent moon.
Beyond it, abyssal darkness spread out, creeping out like a purple bubble blotting out the sky.
"…Could that be?"
Iris's voice was trembling.
"They say it created the calamity and the great calamity──"
"Yeah."
I nodded.
I was unknowingly gnashing my back teeth.
I heard a dull grinding sound in my mouth.
I felt a great power swirling in the back of my body.
The Greedy Dragon must have smelled its presence and reacted accordingly.
Zogral.
It is a threat beyond the reach of even the worst of calamities, a phenomenon that has no thoughts or feelings but only engulfs the entire world──or perhaps the very concept of "destruction" itself.
The bubble that signals the end has appeared in front of us.