#355
Finally, we’ve met.
“It’s been a while, sister. What have you been up to?”
“Buh! I’m not your sister… I’m more like a grandma… I’m not your sister…”
Undertaker puffs her cheeks at Seira’s whisper, who hugs her tightly while laughing.
I have no idea what’s going on right now.
This nonsense is just typical of the light novel world.
A sigh escapes me.
“President, Undertaker. Both of you, quiet down! Let’s deal with that creep first.”
Still, it’s a good thing that Undertaker showed up here.
I was surprised when Dokta Shinahel killed Diego Morales, but with this level of strength, we can definitely prepare for unexpected situations.
Unless Messiah himself steps in.
“Blessing of the Stars.”
I shout the skill name, now familiar despite the embarrassment.
WooOOOooOOOoo!
In a world completely soaked in the universe, starlight sparkles as the blessing of light envelops Undertaker.
It’s a blessing of stars that turns a half-baked EX rank into a full-fledged EX rank.
So, if Undertaker, who is already an elite of the EX rank, receives the blessing of stars?
“Wha… what the heck… is this?”
A slight blush appears on Undertaker’s usually expressionless face.
Her body starts to tremble.
The orb floating beside Undertaker vibrates.
“It’s… so hot inside… so much… ugh…”
Overwhelming magical power surges from Undertaker, who struggles to suppress her moans.
Ivory-colored magical waves extend from her body.
[Partner, this is… something…]
The Black Prince speaks in disbelief.
An overwhelming energy like the sun radiates from Undertaker.
I suspected she would get stronger with the enhancement, but I didn’t expect it to be this level.
At this rate, even Messiah might be able to handle it.
Thinking this, I pointed at Dokta Shinahel and yelled.
“Everyone, attack that creep!”
Dokta Shinahel.
On the surface, he might seem to have dealt with Diego with no effort, but the fact that he acted outside my expectations is suspicious and dangerous.
So we need to take him down before he can do anything.
“Thunder—Spear!!”
Pachutsutsutsutsutsutsutsuts!
The first to follow my command is Aris.
Silver sparks spread like waves in outer space.
The silver lightning extended from her spear flashes brightly as it barrels toward Dokta Shinahel.
Thunder Spear.
It lives up to its name, a fitting performance for the spear of thunder.
“Hah! Dragon Smash!!”
“Dragon Smash!!”
Next, Evangelin, with four fairy wings behind her, scatters pink magic as she unleashes a magical shockwave from her giant sword.
Isn’t the name “Dragon Smash” a bit childish?
“Kehehe. Allow the uncivilized human to witness the killing move of the Holy Maiden of Crimson Lotus. Be grateful. Strike Shot!”
“Super Nova Genesis!”
“Teddy-chan!”
Following Evangelin, Beatrice, Seira, and Undertaker each fire their skills with flair.
Enhanced by my mental projection, the attacks hurtle toward Dokta Shinahel.
[Partner. You should unleash your ultimate move too. We can’t ruin the thrill of a total attack.]
The Black Prince speaks in my head.
What’s this about the thrill of a total attack?
I let out a sigh internally and grip Durandal.
Thump, thump.
With my heart pounding, magic spirals through my body along the magic circuit.
The enemy’s position, recognized through enhanced awareness, becomes vividly clear in my mind.
Do I really have to shout out the skill name again?
I don’t even have the luxury to feel embarrassed anymore.
I lift Durandal.
“Dark Radiance Sword Technique—”
As the skill name escapes my lips, the stars floating in the universe twinkle in response.
Gggggggg.
The largest star, Earth, spins to lend me its power.
Hoooonnnnnn.
With the sound of the wind, magic envelops my entire body.
A sense of omnipotence and pleasure, coming from the augmented magic, body, and perception, hits me hard.
Paaatsuuuuuuuus!!!
On the blade of Durandal raised to the sky, an incredibly overwhelming amount of magic condenses.
I slice through the air just like that.
“──Full Moon Drop.”
The moment I finish reciting the skill name.
The twinkling spot from the universe transforms into the shape of a giant black moon and plunges down towards Dokta Shinahel.
Following that, the skills of the other heroines smash into the spot occupied by Dokta Shinahel.
Flash!
Kwaa-aaaa-aaaaaang!
A massive flash and deafening roar that can’t be compared with earlier resonates throughout the universe.
The space rips and shakes, an explosion powerful enough to evoke thoughts of a nuclear explosion leaving Beatrice gasping.
“Did we take him down…?”
In response to Beatrice’s words, I couldn’t muster a reply.
With that kind of power, even an EX-rank villain should have been annihilated without a trace.
But nothing appeared on my perception, which governed this area.
If Dokta Shinahel had truly died from that strike, death should have been sensed.
But nothing registered…
There is only one being in the original work capable of doing such a thing.
As that realization hit me, I bitten my lips.
Ffffft.
From the center of the flash, black flames arise.
“Ugh.”
Due to the intense pain surging from my chest, blood trickles from my bitten lips.
The suddenly appearing black flames were not only consuming the flash but the space I dominated, and even my personal belief symbolized by mental projection, burning through the entire universe.
It was akin to a forced release of my mental projection.
The pain generated from that backlash continues to torment my chest.
It hurts.
It hurts so much I feel like collapsing.
But I can’t fall here.
Because those black flames symbolize him.
The greedy black flames devour and burn all the attacks we unleashed.
Amid the raging black flames, a massive black hole emerges.
Before it, Dokta Shinahel kneels.
There was.
“······What is this······?”
“······It’s him······.”
The Undertaker and Seira activate their respective weapons with tense expressions.
He appears beyond the black hole.
Black-haired, black-eyed.
In the hands of the handsome man, who has an incredibly kind and gentle impression, is a sword with no blade engulfed in black flames.
“My Master!”
Dokta Shinahel shouts while kneeling.
That’s right.
The only person capable of wielding the black flames that forcibly burn the opponent’s abilities is one.
The final boss of this world and the protagonist’s archenemy, who believes that the end of the world is salvation—a truly madman in a crazy light novel world.
Messiah.
He was right before my eyes.
“Thank you for your hard work, Dokta Shinahel.”
Messiah’s eyes squint.
At his gesture, the corpse of Diego Morales, pale and lifeless from poison, along with the black specters he gathered, is sucked into the black hole.
“Diego Morales. He was a good friend. I will inject his life force and the energy of the specters he collected into the mana particle accelerator and complete the Philosopher’s Stone that will guide all to the New World. Diego Morales. My friend. I hope we can meet again in the New World.”
Messiah momentarily bows his head in a solemn expression, mourning Diego Morales.
According to the original description, Messiah’s act is not hypocrisy but genuine.
Truly a lunatic’s behavior fitting for the most insane character in this crazy light novel world.
Now, Messiah’s gaze shifts towards me, precisely at me.
His eyes soften.
“That world is the Earth you came from, the world I longed for so much.”
Messiah’s pupils quiver slightly.
His gaze is directed at the Earth floating above my head.
A smile forms on his lips.
“Very well.”
Clap.
The moment Messiah lightly claps his hands.
Along with that, the mental imagery I had unfolded is forcibly undone.
The infinite ocean of stars, the dark blue universe, and the Earth that hung in the sky all disappear in an instant.
“Cough!”
Due to the backlash from forcibly releasing my mental imagery, my inner mana flows back.
Thump, thump.
My heart races like crazy.
Unable to endure the sharp pain, I spit blood out of my mouth.
“Kid!”
“Mr. Kim Deok-Sung!”
“Mr. Kim Deok-Sung!”
“······Kim Deok-Sung!”
“Human!”
As Seira, Evangelin, Aris, the Undertaker, and Beatrice rush to support me upon seeing my condition.
“I’m sorry, but······ we don’t need any audience except for Black Beast.”
Snap.
As Messiah snaps his fingers, the battle mode of the five heroines gets forcibly released.
And the five heroines who were about to rush towards me get flung back.
“Ugh?!”
“Huh?!”
“Eek?!”
“My, my mana······.”
“My internal mana is frozen, I can’t move. Why?!”
I hear the panicked voices of the heroines.
The heroines lying on the ground grit their teeth and groan.
All Freeze.
It was Messiah’s signature skill that forcibly freezes the opponent’s mana.
The only one who could ignore this skill is the protagonist, who possesses colorless mana, a higher tier of all mana.
One of the reasons Messiah obsessively targets Kurosawa Yuji in the original work.
Whooooooosh.
In the snowstorm raging in the mountains of Gangwon-do.
From the depths of the towering pine trees, Messiah walks toward me.
The Messiah walks towards me through the mountains.
Even in the powerful blizzard, his neatly kept appearance looks almost unreal.
[Partner… What is this…]
Finally, the Messiah reaches me and lowers his waist to meet my eyes.
Unnecessarily handsome face.
White skin contrasting with his black hair and black eyes enters my view.
The Messiah lightly caresses my cheek.
“…At last, we’ve met, Black Beast.”
A smile appears on the Messiah’s lips.
He bursts into laughter.
“Hu-huh, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!”
In the snowy mountains, the Messiah’s insane laughter resonates.
In animations, there are those who love it when voice actors go all out, but seeing it in real life isn’t pleasant at all.
It’s just.
Disgusting. My mood.
This bastard, being a man, is touching my cheek like a damn gay guy?
[Partner. That guy in front of you is not the main body.]
The Black Prince whispers in a low voice in my head.
Yeah.
Just like in volume 17 of the original story, he’s a clone, a phantasm here.
That means the real body is at the New World League Headquarters beyond the portal.
Judging by his earlier lines, the Philosopher’s Stone is still incomplete, so he wouldn’t recklessly show his real body when his wounds aren’t healed.
So even if I eliminate him now, it wouldn’t be of much use.
That means, conversely, the current Messiah doesn’t intend to eliminate me.
Like a final boss from a light novel, he has an incomprehensible stubbornness, choosing to genuinely face his enemies only with his real body, not with a clone.
“It’s surprising that the adversary who hindered the New World project up to this point is not the Son of the Sword Master, who possesses the Colorless, but someone like you, an irregular. That’s why I wanted to see your face in person, Mr. Black Beast Kim Deok-Sung.”
The Messiah touches my chin as he speaks.
“I wonder what the expression of one from an ideal realm is like? What is the true appearance of the hero prepared by the false old world to eliminate someone like me, who is the guide of the New World? I was really curious.”
I remained silent in response to his lengthy speech.
After all, there’s no need to throw bait to someone who’ll interpret whatever I say anyway.
“Is silence your answer? Do you think there’s no value in talking to an enemy like me? How truly admirable, the resolve of a hero summoned from an ideal realm chosen by the old world. However, honestly, I don’t intend to properly face you right now. The time for the New World hasn’t come yet.”
Tap tap.
The Messiah gently smiles while brushing off the snow piled on my shoulders.
“February 15th. The day of the showdown. Once we’re both fully prepared, let’s settle this long fight at Shuo Hero Academy, Black Beast.”
The Messiah whispers in my ear.
“On that day, I will surely save this world, tormented by gods and demons, polluted by abilities and magic. So please, do do your best to hinder me with your full strength. As a phantom of the false old world and a hero from the ideal realm.”
With those final words, the Messiah stood up.
He slowly vanished into the black portal.
Following him, Dokta Shinahel entered as well, and the black portal gradually closed.
The mountains were left with everyone disappeared.
Whooooooosh.
Only the cold winter wind wrapped around my body.
