Chapter 455

[Mother has been waiting for you in Wilhelm Village all this time. I shall take you there.]

The small girl Luri transformed instantly into a massive holy dragon.

Mana threads flowing from Luri’s horns gently wrapped around the party members’ bodies.

Her size, larger than a typical church building, soared into the sky.

“You’re the dragon that suddenly disappeared with the witch a week ago, right?”

Hibirisu asked.

[That’s right.]

“Are you originally a Black Dragon? I thought your scales were red back then.”

[Mother told me to disguise myself as a Red Dragon when doing bad things.]

“Oh my. What a secret…!”

“Wow, NaeMe, you were really bad.”

NaeMe averted her gaze, trying to avoid Adella’s intense stare.

“You also curse online and say you’re Chinese, don’t you? It’s the same thing…”

Black Dragon Luri dashed across the map that NaeMe and Adella had traversed over the past seven days.

If there were monsters along the way, she unleashed her breath to dispose of them.

In the blink of an eye, they returned to the starting village.

At the entrance of the village, which bore a desolate atmosphere, a woman with blood splattered on her face walked gracefully towards them.

“The witch…”

“Hello. Did you enjoy your vacation?”

She grabbed the tail of a medium-sized monster lying unconscious on the ground and tossed it out beyond the fence.

Monster corpses were piled up like a mountain.

“Did you take care of all of them?”

There were well over a thousand visible.

The witch washed the blood dripping from her body away using Clean magic.

“You sure used your abilities a lot. If I had summoned more monsters than this, I would have gone myself to kill them, no matter what.”

The witch sneered.

The party members, unable to grasp her meaning, looked puzzled.

NaeMe explained on her behalf.

“Hibirisu’s ability to manipulate emotions attracts monsters just by using it. This is also a condition that could lead to a bad ending.”

“What? Wasn’t it supposed to just summon the monsters you wanted?”

“Remember that there’s always a price to pay for easy powers.”

Each time they exchanged the monsters they would use for transportation, and every time they summoned a flying monster, dozens or hundreds of monsters poured into Wilhelm Village.

If they felt relieved by the week of time given by the witch and overused their abilities, they could end up dying before the deadline arrived.

“Separating dimensions, huh? What do you think, Luri? These kids are cornering me.”

“I will do my best.”

“You’re not refusing, huh? Well, let’s give it a try then.”

[▶Legendary mission unlocked: Dimension Separation]

[▶The possible world where Hibirisu is alive exists only as a probability. Cause the Great Corruption to run rampant, defeat the dark energy clusters, and safely separate the dimensions.]

“Have you ever heard the phrase ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts’? When dividing the whole into parts, the lost information is replaced by energy. What you will encounter from now on will be the closest to the true form of the unknown entity we call Corruption.”

* * *

They were summoned to a space of nothingness.

Adella poked at the floating light in the air with her finger.

[▶Entering Boss Battle.]

[▶Progress is automatically saved.]

“What!”

The small light spread out instantaneously, filling the void space.

As the wind blew, Adella’s hair fluttered.

Underneath the blue sky, encircled by the scent of flowers.

It was too peaceful to be where the boss battle would take place.

Tap tap—

There was a child poking her thigh with tiny fingers.

Was she four, or maybe three years old?

A green-haired baby wearing a flower crown clung to Adella with a sulking expression.

“Eek?”

“Hair. Hair this. Ugh, again again.”

“The crown broke, huh? Can I make it again?”

“Uh-uh. Make it again.”

“Ugh, it’s not working very well. Can you be satisfied with this, little one?”

“No, this isn’t it! Waaah!”

The baby cried at the top of her lungs.

Boom boom boom—

As if the world was collapsing.

The ground split open, and hot lava erupted from the cracks.

From underground, hideous-looking monsters began to crawl out.

Black clouds gathered in the sky and took the form of an armored angel.

[True: Arrogance]

The giant angel looked down at the dragon.

“We have to fight that…?”

There was no time to be surprised.

The angel raised the lightning spear it held high into the sky.

“Adella, it’s dangerous!”

Hibirisu shouted.

Crash-!

Thousands of bolts of lightning descended from the sky to the ground.

Hibirisu commanded the monsters to leap over Adella’s head.

“Gahh!”

“Uwaahh!”

Dozens of monsters were electrically grilled and ended their lives indiscriminately.

The angel, witnessing this, threw a trident wrapped in electricity.

Boom-!

At the end, a sonic boom erupted as it flew in at an incredible speed.

[Casting: Polar Coordinate Assignment]

Blocking the way was NaeMe.

“How long are you going to keep staring blankly? Aren’t you going to test it out properly?”

NaeMe handed a magazine to Adella.

[Anti-Particle Bullet x1000]

“You’ll ride Luri and snipe Arrogance from the sky. Meanwhile, the witch and I will hold it off from below. Since the hit rate is low, it shouldn’t be too difficult.”

“Okay! Leave it to me.”

With her hands nervously trembling, Adella accepted the magazine.

She jumped onto the dragon, and Luri soared into the sky in an instant.

From above, it was sheer chaos.

Hibirisu dropped incoming monsters back into the lava, while Brooks kept her safe with his sword.

Thud thud thud—

The first magazine was emptied neatly.

It was evident that the angel’s blood had decreased significantly.

NaeMe had snuck around behind the angel and began to chant.

[Area Spell: Arabesque Knot – Gold]

Suddenly, a massive mesh of light appeared from the sky.

The net completely covered the angel’s body.

[Casting: Glakis Astar]

Kuu ka ka ka kwoong-!

At the same time, 40 ice stakes hanging from the net crashed into the ground.

“It worked perfectly! Nice, NaeMe!”

Adella cheered.

It was still too early to be surprised.

The golden-eyed witch walked forward with her arms crossed.

She used the magic circles as steps, climbing higher and higher.

As her gaze met the fallen angel, the witch extended a white arm from her robe.

“Your gaze is higher than mine. It makes me feel uneasy.”

Whoosh—

Eight circular magic circles manifested.

Numerous complex equations within the magic circles began to inscribe simultaneously, ultimately sealing the circuit and completing the closed loop.

[5th Circle Cast: Chain Light Amplification]

[6th Circle Cast: Hellfire]

[4th Circle Cast: Le Kaizen Familia]

[6th Circle Cast: Hemoglobin Explosion]

[4th Circle Cast: Gravity Coefficient Adjustment]

[4th Circle Cast: Rapid Cooling]

[3rd Circle Cast: Wind Cutter]

[5th Circle Cast: Arabesque Knot – Explosion]

Destructive light beams pierced through the angel’s body, and flames erupted from the holes.

Mana beasts rushed in, widening the wounds, and the blood of the monsters infiltrated, causing a chain reaction of explosions.

The thrashing limbs of the angel sank deep into the ground, and a cold chill bound the body tightly.

Invisible blades sliced through flesh and ice, and explosive whips mercilessly struck down.

The godly level of octacasting.

Those beautiful yet brutal spells shattered the angel’s body.

The boss’s health gauge turned red.

Amidst the swirling tidal waves, Adella loaded her Anti-Particle Bullet.

She entwined mana like a string, connecting it to the magazine filled with Anti-Particle Bullets.

“Phew, I can do this…!”

[Casting: Polar Coordinate Assignment]

Bang-!

“Highly developed bullets can’t be distinguished from bombs!”

The bullet, wearing the magazine, struck the angel’s chest.

Doom-!

Dozens of Anti-Particle Bullets exploded simultaneously.

Kuu ka ka ka ka-!

With the explosion, Adella lost control of her body.

She was flustered but knew very well what it implied.

Game clear.

The open world transitioned into a cinematic scene.

“Waaaaah! Waaaaah!”

From the mouth of the building-sized angel came the sound of a baby crying.

Adella stared at it with a serious expression.

Kugugung—

The ground’s fissures began to close again.

Lava turned into water and seeped into the earth.

Drip drip—

Then, cracks appeared on the white angel’s body.

Before long, the green-haired baby from earlier reemerged within the angel’s body.

“Waaaaah, Daddy!”

The baby cried as if she were the ruler of the world.

As she did, a misty ghost approached and knelt down.

The ghost resembled Brooks.

“Hibirisu, why are you crying here?”

“Daddy! The flower you gave me got torn!”

“Daddy brought you a new crown. Want to try it on?”

“Sniff… Yes!”

Father placed the new crown on Hibirisu.

The baby, as if forgetting her tears, began to giggle while sniffling.

The angel vanished with that scene.

“I remember the crown that Dad made for me… It was so beautiful…”

Hibirisu whispered softly, wiping her tears.

“Sniff… Can I meet my father again, who remembers my most precious memories…?”

“Stop crying.”

Smack—

The witch slapped Hibirisu’s cheek hard.

Her body flew through the air, tumbling onto the wet ground.

“Hibirisu!”

At the same time, a man rushed out, calling her name with a heart-wrenching tone.

It was Brooks, who had participated in their party earlier.

“Hibirisu, are you okay? Let me see our daughter, did she hurt her head? Sniff… If you aren’t okay, tell Daddy right away!”

“Oh, I’m fine… Father…? Daddy…! Daddy, do you remember me? Is it really you?”

“Yes, Hibirisu!”

“Not Marigold?”

“Our daughter’s name is Hibirisu!”

“Sniff… Why did it take you so long to recognize me? It’s too late, Daddy… Waaaaah!”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for forgetting our daughter. It’s all my fault from beginning to end. Leaving you alone in the village, all of it.”

“Sniff… I’m sorry too. I should have hidden well as you told me…”

Watching the emotional reunion of the father and daughter, Adella couldn’t hold back her teary eyes.

She rubbed her eyes with her sleeve and muttered with a sulky tone.

“Cliché, it’s a cliché. Sniff… Not believable at all. Sob…”

After catching some minor bugs, NaeMe nestled into Adella’s arms.

“The true ending is just something I made up on my own.”

“Don’t say you made it up! Hibirisu is alive!”

“Fine. But still, Adella, isn’t an unbelievable happy ending better for you? Right?”

Nod nod—

Adella couldn’t deny it.

“So I want to get some feedback from you. Can you speak candidly for a bit?”

“The story is good, and the difficulty wasn’t as hard as I expected. Considering your personality, I thought I wouldn’t be able to clear it even if I died.”

“I don’t like hard games.”

“…?”

“I mean it.”

NaeMe genuinely felt wronged.

Given her dislike for failure, it made sense she wouldn’t enjoy games that required trial and error.

“Still, the last true ending seems too much. An angel, Anti-Particle Bullets… Is it sci-fi? It doesn’t match the earlier atmosphere at all. Other than that, it was perfect.”

“Okay. I’ll keep that in mind. But I can’t modify the assignment now.”

“Oh, one more thing. Traveling across regions takes too long. It would be nice if you could shorten that a bit too.”

“That’s not easy. Thanks for the feedback.”

In the cloudless sky, three letters floated up in a HY style font.

[-END-]

“Change that font.”

* * *

Open World Engineering time.

“Let’s all give a round of applause for NaeMe!”

It’s impossible to predict everything in the world…

But I never expected my assignment to be evaluated like this.

It wasn’t harsh criticism.

Rather, the professor appeared very pleased.

The score was A+.

The reason? First place in the sci-fi category.

By the way, I created the sci-fi game all by myself.

‘Isn’t this not sci-fi?’

I could only smile sheepishly as I watched my classmates applaud.