Now, one world has vanished.
That is to say, it’s only the world in memory that has disappeared, and in reality, it’s just a recollection that has ended.
For a long time, I was under the illusion that I was Tiara Fuziaze due to my ‘Past Sight,’ but I’m accustomed to brainwashing and amnesia, so I quickly recovered, telling myself, “I am myself.”
Then, I confirmed the situation.
It seems my consciousness leaped from a thousand years ago to the present. However, this wasn’t the ‘Day Aikawa Uzunami Revived,’ nor was it the ‘Gentle Winter World Ruled by Hidaki.’
After all, time, stage, people, everything had vanished, leaving only complete blackness. My consciousness was in a state of existing in utter darkness. To put it simply, it was like my soul was floating in the afterlife.
As I vaguely understood this and stabilized my mind, the girl who had been narrating—Tiara Fuziaze—suddenly proceeded to the epilogue.
“—And that’s it, all done! So, with this final ‘power of blood,’ I’ve persisted until a thousand years later, and now I’m connected to Master and the others. In today’s terms, blood magic?”
Only her voice echoed.
Instantly, the black world turned red. Blood filled my vision, and I felt as if I were drowning in a sea of blood.
Upon witnessing this gruesome transformation, before I could even be surprised, I felt a slight sense of nostalgia. This wasn’t my first time here. I recalled that when that idiot killed me once, I had arrived in a similar red place. Was the previous blackness similar to the other side of the 66th Floor where I fought Thief of Principles, Titty?
I calmly organized this information and re-examined my surroundings. Truly nothing was there. Not even my body that was contemplating this. Nothingness. A world of nihility or the afterlife, there was no other way to describe it.
—It’s likely that only beings who have lost their bodies and become mere souls can come here.
However, I preferred to call this place the ‘Interstice of Dimensions’ rather than the afterlife. After all, I felt no discomfort or fear there, not even a slight sense of reassurance. It felt like a space where users of Dimensional Magic could live comfortably. But Tiara wouldn’t agree with this naming. To her, a bookworm like her, this was the—’Between the lines’ of the story.
“Heehee! Rumi— Master. You get ittt~”
As if reading my thoughts, Tiara’s cheerful voice echoed in the space. Her tone was strangely upbeat, which annoyed me just a little. I tried to move my throat to reply—
“—”
I was at a loss, unable to move my throat. With this, proper conversation was impossible. Coupled with the abrupt ending of the ‘Past Sight’ and this space where only Tiara could speak unilaterally, she was truly selfish.
“Well, you say the ending is selfish… But from that point on, it has nothing to do with the ‘Foreigner’ or my daughter Rustiara. The boy in question, or rather the ‘Evil Dragon of Hellfire,’ appears as well…”
Ignoring her excuse, I focused on her voice itself. I felt a faint magical activation. Was this a composite of no-attribute and dimensional attributes? It seemed magic could be used normally here. I activated 《Dimension》 without chanting, permeated it into this space, and began to imitate the magic.
“I’ve said it many times, but the important ones aren’t the ‘Thieves of Principles.’ Well, personally, I don’t dislike them… But what’s important in the world now is that one, Hidaki Sister’s ‘Threads,’ and two, the ‘power of blood’ attained through Master and Hermina’s books. These two—”
As she finished speaking, with an effect sound like the end of a picture-story show, Tiara delivered her catchphrase. It was a catchphrase, and it was in this place, adjacent to this bodiless soul, that I understood it, even though I didn’t want to.
“These two are cursing Master and the others of a thousand years later.”
I marveled at how she could even produce convenient sound effects like that and I named my new magic.
“Ah, ah… Magic 《Di Vibration》.”
If I considered vibrating mana instead of air, it was a relatively easy spell. With my voice restored, I began to halt Tiara’s one-sided conversation. Honestly, I had a lot of questions. I had complaints too. I had apologies to make. Amidst all the words I wanted to say, I first—
“Saint Tiara.”
“Yep, that’s me! Masteerrr!”
I called her name. Tiara, showing no surprise that I’d mimicked magic, affectionately called back my name. However, knowing that her cuteness was a means of deceiving others, I first addressed the issue of ‘trust.’
“You… You lied about everything at the Eleventh Crossroads the other day, didn’t you… What do you mean ‘bye-bye’? You had no intention of saying goodbye at all.”
I tried to coldly scold her, recalling when I reunited with Tiara, who had ‘reborn’ in the Allied Nations’ Fuziaze. But perhaps because I had been viewing Tiara’s memories until just before, my speech pattern became close to how I was at that time.
That day, in the northern Viaisia Country, I settled things with Aid and Titty, regained control of Hidaki’s body, who was treated as the ‘Ruling King,’ and then rushed back to Fuziaze. What awaited me there were Rainer and Rustiara, who were fighting each other. And then, as if in a story written in a book, my Rustiara and I confessed our love, became one, and were mutually in love.
“Right! Most of that was a lie! But there were some truths too~ For example, a grand exposé of Master’s romantic history? Gee, I heard it’s good to weave in a bit of truth when you lie, and it really was true! Eeeheeheehee!”
Laughing, she admitted that day was nothing but a sham filled with lies. In response, I told her in the lowest voice I could manage that there was no “trusting relationship.”
“…From now on, I’ll talk to you with the assumption that you’re a liar.”
“That’s not it. It’s not that I’m a liar, but that humans, as creatures, simply can’t keep their promises even if they want to.”
However, Tiara, with a voice even colder and lower than mine, defended herself, claiming that it was natural for people to lie.
Whether she was serious or trying to mislead me—even after gaining many skills through a long battle, I couldn’t tell at all. All I knew was that, at least for now, Tiara possessed a “Deception” skill numerically higher than 1.72.
I braced myself for each of Tiara the Deceiver’s words.
After all, the Tiara Fuziaze who threatened the world in the recent “Past Sight” was truly the Saint Tiara I was talking to now, who had escaped for a thousand years. She possessed a level of strength and troublesome nature comparable to the “Thief of Principles,” to say the least.
While wary, I began to reconfirm the memories of the day Rustiara and I became lovers.
Back then, she had said this. I mimicked Tiara’s “Reading” skill to accurately review past events.
“‘Yeah. She copied a soul, degraded it, and it became fragmented, utterly missing pieces. To call this the original is a bit of a stretch, isn’t it? It makes you sick to look at, right?’” “‘—I am merely a ‘Magic’ with a shred of the memories of the Saint Tiara from a thousand years ago.’”
Lies.
Having seen her from a thousand years ago just now, I could be certain.
Saint Tiara would not give up on her own identity just because her soul was a little fragmented and missing pieces.
The “something that was neither human nor magic” that was there that day was undoubtedly Tiara herself. And, just as she said, this world a thousand years later was teeming with copies that could be called Tiara herself—and surely, all of them were real.
Furthermore, those originals repeatedly stated that “Saint Tiara doesn’t like her Master”—
“‘Exactly. The old story is over. Master, live a new story and find a new ending—’”
This was also a complete lie.
I had come to know Tiara’s excessively obsessive love.
She had a fixation on continuing the old story, no matter how many millennia passed.
In other words, only Rustiara was right that day.
That good-natured girl, with her straightforward feelings, prioritized others over herself, desperately trying to save Tiara’s life. I finally understood the true meaning of her words.
“‘—I will not allow such an ending! Tiara-sama, why are you lying?! Tiara-sama has the right! The right to express her feelings before anyone else! So confess here and now! In front of everyone! Clearly! That the legendary Saint Tiara-sama loves Kanami more than anyone else! Otherwise, your story will never end! It will never, ever end!!’”
Tiara’s story had not yet ended.
Naturally.
Tiara had no intention of dying. She had a madness that repeatedly turned the pages until she could read the final page that satisfied her.
And the root of that madness was—
“–Master, I love you.”
As if my thoughts had been read again, Tiara herself spoke the continuation.
This meant that even after a thousand years, Tiara Fuziaze still loved Aikawa Uzunami.
“Ah, Master… Master, Master, Master! M-Master! I love you, I love you, I love you!! To put it plainly, I love you to death!! I love you enough to kill you!! I love you! H-hee, hee hee hee hee—!!”
Tiara proclaimed her confession, no longer holding back.
In the blood-soaked space, only her affection filled the air. However, amidst that insane confession, the words that caught my attention were—
“Yeah! This is meant literally! I died, and I killed Master! And even so, my feelings of love haven’t diminished one bit! This is the true nature of the heavy love my daughter felt!”
As far as I knew, that scumbag killed Aikawa Uzunami.
However, Tiara spoke of that entire series of events as if they were her own achievements. She spoke as if she could also manipulate “Threads.” I couldn’t fully see through the meaning behind her words. Even though I knew this Tiara’s innocent-seeming tone was false and that she was actually a deeply calculating liar—or rather, precisely because I knew it—I could no longer discern what was true.
“Hahaha. It was tough persuading the daughter who sensed something amiss to eventually lead her to mutual love? Thanks to Aid-kun’s magic, she recalled my hidden memories several times! Aid-kun, for a ‘Thief of Principles,’ you’re rebelling too much against the ‘Magic Thread’!”
Tiara then boasted about the hidden workings of the story.
There were many things I wanted to question her about… but first, I felt I needed to respond to Tiara’s current confession. She might want me to take it lightly, but unlike my past self, I knew well that this confession could not be taken lightly.
“Tiara… Thank you for loving someone like me. …But I choose ‘Rustiara’. I do not choose ‘Tiara’. That choice, I suspect, will never change again.”
I stated it with finality.
To be honest, the me of a thousand years ago was ‘abnormal’ as a human. Even from my current perspective, I was a madman who was very unapproachable and would likely inspire revulsion. I was truly thankful that you loved me and helped me in many ways.
It was at that moment that Tiara’s cheerful chatter finally stopped.
And after the confession of love, unstable laughter filled the air.
“—! … Heh, heh heh. Hehehehe! Hahahaha! Ahahahahaha! Ha, ha, ha, ha…”
I let out a big sigh.
Sensing that jealousy was mixed in, I asked, referring to my recent memories:
“You orchestrated this, didn’t you? … The person I choose dies because of the ‘Price’.”
“…Yes. If the Master’s heart connects with their Master, that person will be in grave danger. That’s why I cheered on my daughter from a thousand years later like crazy. Frankly, as a substitute.”
Tiara admitted it.
After that, she ran and ran and ran, searching for someone to force her ‘Price’ onto—and in the end, she must have created a substitute for herself.
That turned out to be the ‘Magic Stone Human’, Rustiara Fuziaze.
“It’s true… Even so, I will never give up on the person I love… I don’t want to bend anything anymore.”
As long as I’m alive, those around me will be unhappy. I’m facing the same dilemma as Teeda from a thousand years ago—but even so, I stand firm, my gaze fixed on my own path.
Indeed, Rustiara and I’s mutual love might have been according to someone’s plan.
However, even if I was being manipulated by ‘Threads’ from behind the scenes, that doesn’t make my memories with Rustiara a lie. Meeting her, exploring the labyrinth while laughing together, helping each other, and having truly enjoyable adventures together—that’s all real.
I love Rustiara.
That won’t change, even with the ‘Curse’.
I’m sure everyone would agree that it shouldn’t change…
“I don’t want to bend anything anymore, huh… But if Master thinks like that, is he really Master? Just like my daughter, isn’t that feeling itself ‘artificial’? Isn’t it ‘handmade’ by Hidaki Sister?”
At this, Tiara asked a suggestive question, trying to shake me.
This had also been the dilemma of ‘Aikawa Uzunami’ for a thousand years.
However, I answered immediately.
“Even if it’s ‘artificial’, it’s fine. I won’t waver anymore. Even if we ourselves were created, ‘I am myself’. Even if my life was scripted by ‘Threads’, the path I’ve taken is one I chose with my own will.”
I felt like I had said something similar in past battles. As if to recreate that battle, Tiara, with a tone similar to that man, tried to push me further.
“Heh, hmm. Then, what is this ‘self’? Is continuing to play out someone else’s ‘Ideal’ what it means to be the real Master? Is becoming the ‘Me that suits me’ forced upon me by Hidaki Sister what it means to be ‘Aikawa Uzunami’? You realize yourself that ‘Aikawa Uzunami’ is nothing more than an empty shell, don’t you? Hey, isn’t there a contradiction somewhere? You actually hate Hidaki Sister, don’t you? What’s the point of living then!? Hey, hey, are you listening properly? Maaaaaster!”
Unlike in the past, my inner thoughts remained as calm as a lake’s surface.
What came to mind was a recent event.
The final moments of that idiot who killed each other at the ‘Summit’ of Fuziaze Castle.
Ragune Kaikuola, who had lost all meaning to live, yet spoke contradictory words while laughing, and then died—
“Ragune said that ‘my contradictions’ were what she was most proud of. —I am the same.”
I don’t deny the words that I hate Hidaki.
At that ‘Summit’, not only Ragune, but Nosfy was there too. Thanks to her, who illuminated us pathetic two until the very end, I’m no longer afraid to pursue the truth.
“I understand that it’s all become meaningless. But humans, they make mistakes and contradict themselves a little. I won’t stop my steps for that. I promised that from now on, I will continue to move forward…”
To this series of smooth answers, Tiara grunted, seemingly impressed.
“Oooooh… To think that Master, who used to lose himself so easily with just a slight confession, has become so strong…! It feels like watching a child grow, just like a parent!”
Indeed, compared to myself a thousand years ago, who would have had a trauma reaction from a simple confession, I’ve certainly grown.
However, I was still being treated like a child. I sought to understand what that meant.
“After all… this mental strength, it’s all according to your script, isn’t it?”
“You understand well, you’re correct. The mental strength that Master thought he earned with his life was, in the end, just growth on the palm of our hands! Heh heh heh.”
I had vaguely suspected this all along.
And after winning against Ragune at the ‘Summit’, it became clear in my conversation with Hidaki.
It wasn’t surprising that Hidaki confessed then that everything had gone according to her plan.
““Ahhh. And now! Including those below, all of Brother’s burden of ‘Reason’ has ended! Brother has cast aside his weakness and gained true strength…! All according to that ‘Future Prediction’! Ahhh, ahhh, ahhh—!””
With those words as a signal, we began our private family meeting.
That must have been the cause of the cataclysm that struck the continent, enough to make Noir-chan, who was at the edge of Fuziaze, tremble.
It’s not hard to imagine my Dimensional Magic clashing with Hidaki’s Ice Magic.
Yes.
I can imagine it.
But I can’t recall the details of the battle at all.
My memory after facing Hidaki is completely gone.
The moment I realized it, I was in that ‘World of Winter’.
From this, there’s only one conclusion I can draw.
“Ah. So that’s why I lost to Hidaki?”
“Yes, you lost. I confirmed it through Noir-chan. Master earned the right to challenge Hidaki-sister by becoming ‘First Place’ at the ‘Summit’ of the world. But, even after saying the exact same words to Hidaki-sister that you just said, and fighting with a strong heart… he still lost.”
The outcome of the battle was clearly understood here.
It seemed I had become the loser and even my memories of losing were stolen. However, I was used to this. My agitation was slight, and I lightly nodded in acknowledgement.
“That’s right! Even though Master was ‘First Place’ in this world, it was all according to Hidaki-sister’s plan! He fell easily into Hidaki-sister’s hands! Ta-da, it’s all over!”
After that, Hidaki, who had awakened, must have begun acting freely in this Other World.
I was a little curious about what events had occurred on the Continent until they connected to that ‘Land of Winter’ –
“Hehehe, want to see? Want to see how he lost? If you do, collect my blood next time. Then, I’ll show you the continuation with ‘Past Sight’—”
“No, that’s fine. I’ll hear about it directly from Hidaki, as is. More importantly, what happened to Rustiara after that? I want to know about her.”
I shook my head.
While I did want to know about the battle between me and Hidaki. There was a high probability that important information to understand Hidaki’s inner feelings was scattered there.
However, the one I should prioritize most right now was my companion, Rustiara.
Just before watching the ‘Fanian Arc,’ I had seen her fighting the three ‘Thief of the Principles of Water,’ ‘Thief of the Law of Blood,’ and ‘Thief of Nothingness’ in Fuziaze Castle.
If Tiara could guide the ‘Past Sight’ well, I wanted her to focus the viewpoint on the main entrance rather than the rooftop of Fuziaze Castle.
Upon hearing myrequest, Tiara burst into laughter again, then immediately sighed.
“—Hahaha, right. Ahahaha… You’re right, you know… *Sigh*…”
I wished she would stop getting shocked every time I prioritized Rustiara, even though she was the one who set it up.
I didn’t know what to say.
No, I understood what kinds of words and actions Tiara preferred, but to someone who knew it was an act, showing them an ‘Ideal’ would only hurt them, so I inevitably had to be half-hearted. But with my magic and skills, it wasn’t impossible to create an ‘Ideal’ that they wouldn’t realize was ‘Ideal’— as I was agonizing over this, Tiara pouted slightly.
“If you want to know, go pick her up.”
That was a little different from the “Rustiara’s aftermath” I had expected.
“…Pick her up? Is Rustiara in that ‘Land of Winter’?”
“Yes. Right now, Hidaki-sister is attaching ‘Magic Thread’ to frozen beings and taking over their brains… but actually, there’s a place that it can’t reach. When you wake up, head there.”
“Oh…”
I knew that hallucinations were always present in the ‘Land of Winter.’
However, learning that the reason was that the ‘Magic Thread’ was directly connected to the nerves in the brain, I was impressed. It was a pretty cruel act, but it was within our mutual understanding that Hidaki was capable of such a thing, so we moved on to the next explanation without any particular issues.
“Listen up? The weakness of ‘Magic Thread’ is that it doesn’t easily extend underground. Places like that Labyrinth or the ‘Deepest Part’ are especially like that. And separately, there’s a special space that Noi-chan and I prepared. The underground of ‘Mainland’ Fuziaze Castle and ‘Allied Nations’ Fuziaze Cathedral— these two places. It’s less affected by Hidaki-sister there.”
Tiara had clearly prepared a place to fight Hidaki in Fuziaze, her hometown.
I recalled the underground of the castle where I fought Fafnir, the ‘Thief of the Law of Blood,’ but immediately shook my head.
“‘Mainland’ Fuziaze Castle is far. Is the basement of the Cathedral alright?”
Presumably, when I woke up next, I would be in the Allied Nations.
There would probably be a ‘Connection,’ but the Cathedral would be closer than heading to the ‘Mainland.’
I didn’t know the interior of that Cathedral at all.
When I had gone to kidnap Rustiara before, I had heard the structure from Dia. I hadn’t gone through it when I infiltrated with Mr. Hein, Rainer’s older brother, but there were indeed stairs leading to the basement.
“—Yes. Beyond those stairs, our daughter, Rustiara Fuziaze, awaits the ‘Protagonist’.”
Tiara, a book lover, called me the ‘Protagonist.’
I wanted to deny that grandiose and unfitting title, but I accepted it willingly and nodded.
Only about being Rustiara’s ‘Protagonist’ could I not shake my head. That day, I had indeed been begged by her to become the ‘Protagonist’— and I had affirmed and made a ‘Contract.’
“Before birth and after death, she has continuously been waiting there. Dreaming of meeting the ‘Protagonist’ from another world, as the new ‘Heroine’ of this world, for a long, long time…”
Tiara casually mentioned Rustiara’s death.
At that one word, my always calm heart wavered. But I quickly regained my composure. This Other World was a world where one could be revived with magic. —It’s okay. Convincing myself of this, and believing that I would definitely meet Rustiara again, I looked forward.
Unrelentingly, Tiara then told me the truth about Rustiara. It was also the reason why she had shown me the ‘Fanian Arc’ in such detail.
“I think you know this, but that girl is—
the culmination of ‘Revannism’ that began a thousand years ago.
The endpoint of the ‘Magic Stone Line’ that spanned two Continents over a thousand years.”
This is a masterpiece of a Magic Stone Human, a crystallization of lost technology.
Its existence is exactly the “power of a god” Romis Neisha desired, and at the same time, the pinnacle of “human power.” She is the sixth stage of the plan, a true “Living God.”
She boasted to me about the value of her greatest “creation.”
“In a story of just four years—no, precisely because she was a child of four years old, Rustiara Fuziaze finally achieved it. More mature than anyone, more pure and innocent than anyone, more of a ‘heroine’ than anyone, she was united with the ‘protagonist’ of the story. …Just as I planned.”
However, all of that boasting—
“With this, Tiara Fuziaze can finally move in earnest. …Ah, it took a thousand years to get this far.”
In the end, Rustiara was nothing more than a sacrifice for the true “rebirth” of Saint Tiara.
No matter how divinely it was expressed, it was the same act as Romis, whom I despised. She simply pushed her “price” onto her followers. And this one, onto her own daughter, who likely shared her blood, to bring about her own death—
” …I will surely never forgive you.”
Even though I knew I had no right in the world to say it, I had no choice but to deny Tiara.
“That’s fine. No, that’s better. —But Master, you have no choice but to cooperate with me. No matter what you do, there’s no one who can cooperate with you more than I can. For example, I am the only one in the world who knows Hidaki Sister’s inner thoughts, which Master is so eager to know.”
“Hidaki’s…? You reached her from that place? Deep into Hidaki’s heart?”
A thousand years ago, Tiara resisted death wanting to read that.
She claims to have already achieved that goal.
“It’s the victor’s bonus from a thousand years ago. As the ‘last one standing,’ I had plenty of time to find out. If you want to know, I’ll even go to your Rusti-chan for you.”
It might be a lie.
But Tiara Fuziaze now possessed a dignity that made me believe it.
Unlike the “Thief of Principles” and apostles who were defeated and sent a thousand years into the future, she had the achievement of winning and passing on to the present.
“—Well then, it’s about time. My magic power is dangerously low from too much ‘Past Sight,’ Master!”
It seemed Tiara had finished what she wanted to say and was wrapping up the conversation.
However, I still had questions.
“W-Wait! The talk isn’t over yet!”
I listed the questions in my head, then immediately sorted them.
First, about ‘her’—but concerning the childhood friend from the original world, I would have to ask Hidaki. What else, the ‘World’ beyond the ‘Severance,’ the power of ‘Magic Thread,’ Tiara’s current objective—
“‘Severance,’ huh? If you want to put it in modern terms, it’s the ‘Deepest Part.’ Once you go there, you’ll find out its true nature quite easily. The truth of the world that Noi-chan has been hiding for so long lies there. Well, it has nothing to do with us.”
Before I could ask, Tiara answered me quickly. I thought she was a caring and kind person despite everything—but her next words were nothing but pure selfishness.
“Yes. I don’t care about the world. All that matters is the story.”
Even though I had no body, I felt a chill.
She was saying the same thing as the Tiara from the memories just now—even after a thousand years, her feelings hadn’t faded at all. I felt a strength in her that the “Thief of Principles” lacked.
” …Yes. I haven’t changed. I always look forward to the final ending, my heart swells with excitement, and I turn the pages with great anticipation. I’m living solely for that.”
I couldn’t read her inner thoughts, but I felt that part of her was the same as the Tiara from a thousand years ago.
“No matter what Master does, I suspect it will all be within Hidaki Sister and my grasp… However, I think we expect Master to surprise us with the ending. It’s because it’s you, Master, that it’s possible—”
And then, I was entrusted.
With the final page that neither Hidaki nor the ‘World’ could write—
“Hey. Master, what will you do with the final page? After a thousand years have passed, after living one more year, and after becoming a little stronger thanks to the ‘Thief of Principles,’ what do you want in the end?”
As I was asked, faces of acquaintances flashed through my mind.
The “Thief of Principles,” Nosfy and Ragune, who had become like family.
Teeda and Arti, whose bonds I had reaffirmed. And my best friends, Rowan, Aid, and Titty, whom I could be proud of… As an afterthought, Palinkron was included.
Next, I thought of my companions. Dia, Maria, Snow, Reaper, Rainer, Sera. There were also Mr. Hein and Hairi. Elmiraud and Glen were there too.
And finally, Rustiara.
“Tell me the ‘Answer’ on the final page.”
But I was interrupted; it wasn’t time to hear the answer yet.
At the same time, I felt a push from behind.
It was a faint force, like ‘Threads,’ and I only “felt” it as a push. But I truly felt the presence of Tiara’s ‘hand.’ And that ‘hand’ seemed to be telling me that I could no longer look back.
Finally, my vision darkened, and the world receded.
Knowing it was a precursor to waking up, I accepted the darkness, knowing resistance was futile.
From the conversation just before parting, Tiara’s objective became vaguely clear.
Her only remaining goal is “to read the final page.”
With her wish in hand, I am returning.
Driven by that push, to the world a thousand years later where Hidaki awaits—
