As planned, Noir and Rainer appeared on the 100th floor.
Before departing for this year’s “Final Festival,” we split into two groups. Glen and I acted as scouts, a party moving ahead. Rainer, Noir, and Shira formed a party that would strike from behind, following a short while later.
To sandwich them, we chose separate routes leading to the “Deepest Part.” One route went through the first labyrinth in the “Frontier” Allied Nations, and the other through the second labyrinth in the Mainland of Daryl. This strategy was possible because Shira Legacy had already conquered the latter labyrinth a few months prior, confirming that both routes connected to the same “Deepest Part.”
Of course, this pincer strategy involved many uncertainties. Even if Rainer and the others had a plan to breach the 100th floor from behind, successfully crossing the “Deepest Part,” coordinating the timing of the assault was akin to a gamble.
In the end, we lost that gamble. Glen died, and our timing was completely off. However, I didn’t feel like we had failed at all.
On the contrary, I felt we had succeeded tremendously, exceeding our original plan. This feeling likely stemmed from the fact that I now had more people than anticipated within me. Furthermore, at a perfectly timed moment, Rainer Helvirshine successfully executed a surprise attack on Kanami.
And so, it was a fleeting, brilliant encounter. A beautiful emerald sword slash. Before I knew it, an impact surged through my restrained body, and I felt a sensation of floating.
Rainer had cut through the roots of “Wood,” and with his incredible speed, he had kicked me away. Like Noir, I was grateful for his utterly unreserved assistance. This forceful rescue sent me flying, slamming me into the shallows of the 100th floor.
“Guh, ah—”
As I groaned, the distance between me and Kanami widened significantly. It wasn’t just me being kicked away; Kanami had also taken evasive action and distanced themselves.
Still collapsed in the shallows, I immediately moved only my eyeballs to assess the situation on the 100th floor. Kanami stood about ten meters ahead, clutching their chest, breathing heavily, and glaring at me.
“Hah, hah, hah—R-Rainer…!? You stole the magic stone again…! Without going through the 99th floor, where did you even come from—”
But the target of their glare had already shifted to Rainer, standing beside me. Or rather, to the magic stone clutched in Rainer’s left hand.
In the brief moment of the surprise attack, Rainer had skillfully stolen the “Thief of Principles” magic stone from Kanami. As a result, Kanami’s body became even more unstable, forcing them to concentrate on controlling the “Half-corpse.”
This “Half-corpse” transformation appeared even more agonizing than the first time, and their scattered mutterings accelerated.
“Did he… come up from the ‘back’… traversing against the flow…? Hah, hah, there’s no other explanation…! But there was no future where anyone could pass through there… Damn it, ugh! No, more importantly… I need to adjust first… Remember. Thanks to my sister, I’m used to all kinds of pain. I’ve experienced every attribute and nature of magic power. I can adapt to any soul’s form. Ugh, adjust properly… I just need to adjust my own adjustments, the ones my sister did for me. It’s simple. I, my adjustments…”
Kanami’s body, muttering to themselves, grew even thinner and more translucent due to accumulated damage and repeated transformations. The boundaries of their limbs were now indistinct, making it hard to tell where “half-magic” ended and “half-corpse” began.
Rainer, standing beside me, stared blankly at Kanami’s unfinished, illusion-like form. Opening his left hand, he confirmed the “Thief of Principles” magic stone and murmured.
“It really… worked. I took the magic stone from Christ… Just by hooking it with the sword tip…”
Rainer had accomplished what I wanted to do, without needing “Distance Mute.” Yet, he was astonished by his own great feat. Glowing in his palm was a magic stone mixed with emerald and white. It seemed he hadn’t just taken one, but two. Rainer, who held the siblings who were always together, glowed with hopeful eyes.
“The ones I took were Teacher Aid and that idiot Titty… Just as he said, as if guided, they came through “Sylph Ruf Bringer”… Then, is it true? If it’s true, then more—”
Earlier, I had thought the timing was “as if timed,” but it seemed there really was someone who had instructed Rainer. Perhaps it was Shira Legacy, the leader who had yet to show herself—or perhaps someone was at the “Deepest Part” of the second labyrinth they had just come through?
As I tried to make sense of the situation, Rainer moved to attack the suffering Kanami, baring his canine teeth.
“More can be taken…! Now, it’s easy…!”
But that was still a bit premature. Although Kanami was in pain and seemed vulnerable, calling it “easy” was incorrect. For that person, being in pain and vulnerable was their normal state. It hadn’t actually become easy, I explained, raising only my upper body, like a senior guiding a junior.
“N-Not yet. Don’t rush, Rainer Helvirshine… First, the three I possess… no, including me, it’s for five people. Inherit our magic stones first, then proceed—”
My tone towards Rainer was a bit stern. Perhaps it was because I was nearing my end. Mimicking Serdra’s final moments, I felt a desire to show some authority to my junior.
However, Rainer seemed perplexed by my suggestion.
“Your magic stones too…?”
“My ‘Lingering Desire’ has been fulfilled. No, it had already been fulfilled. The ‘Great Savior’ I had been searching for was me. Therefore, I should have already died in hell… but, hahaha, that Glen shouted so loudly. I was just fighting with sheer willpower to fulfill the other ‘Lingering Desire.’ So, this is where I stop. I’m sorry, after you saved me.”
I said this with a slight, joking smile. Then, my body, mixed with “Blood Doll,” gradually began to transform into magic particles. The limit had been reached for my mind and body, and this was the final blow.
The final blow came, as expected, from the impressive figures of Noir and Rainer.
However, I would take this fact to my grave and laugh with the person I loved. Pretending to be overwhelmed by Kanami’s continuous basic magic, I smiled and my body began to disappear.
Perhaps sensing my true intentions, Rainer calmly surveyed his surroundings as he spoke.
“……You were also called by Glen-san, weren’t you? Actually, we were only able to get through the ‘Deepest Part’ on the other side thanks to Glen-san’s voice calling us—”
Mid-sentence, he looked at Kanami as if pulled by some “Threads” and his expression changed as if he had realized something. He had perceived Glen within Kanami. With an “evil sense” as sharp as mine, I—
For some reason, I felt time moving towards the “present” now. I can’t “see the future.” But it felt like it was progressing towards a very good “future” from this “present”—as if the long history of blood had entered a better flow—
“…Hah.”
Finally, I could breathe a sigh of relief. So, my cause of death can be “because everyone else was there, I lost my resolve.”
With everything empty and my tension released, my body and consciousness, already at their limit from maintaining multiple “magic,” faded, being beckoned to the adjacent hell.
But before that. I placed my hand on my chest. Knees still knelt, face bowed, a smile playing on my lips. In a posture that seemed like a vow made with only my upper body, I continued to hum.
“You go on the path ahead… Sorry, but I’m a little busy singing…”
“Singing…?”
“Ah, [Fafnirniel Helvirshine Lorelei] sings a crimson song in hell… Even as a magic stone, even if I die… even if I fall into hell, forever and ever… ‘Together’ ‘happily’ go… kuha-ha…”
These were words that no doubt made Rainer confused. However, leaving behind this important “incantation,” I forcibly removed my exposed heart.
“Fafna-san!?”
After traversing through hell, “Hermina’s Heart” was finally made whole. Holding the three pulsing hearts, I transformed them into a crimson magic stone.
I was delighted. In a single magic stone, like a small room, there were three souls. With hands holding everyone’s souls, I also extracted the magic stones of my two colleagues who had cooperated thus far. Clasping the hands of a total of five people, I prayed.
“Ah, I am Fafna-san… That’s why I promised Serdra-san… It wasn’t about who would save Kanami-san, but rather… that ‘we’ would be ‘Helvirshines’… I don’t want to end the ‘Seventieth Ordeal’ yet. Wherever we go, together… talking more enjoyably… continuing… a lot, a lot—”
I want to connect this path forward with everyone. That is my wish to the boy who resembles my young self.
“However, you and I do not have ‘affinity’…”
“I don’t have ‘affinity’ with the descendant. But if it’s me and a descendant, we will connect. No matter how circuitous or complicated, we will connect somewhere. Not by blood or magic, but a true ‘connection’ is what we have. …I finally understood.”
As my consciousness faded, I saw a scene in my eyes that was different from the 100th floor. Perhaps it was because the souls were so close, or because they were contained within a small magic stone. It was a very vivid flashback.
What I saw was Fania’s underground room. In the usual small room, there were Helmina-san, [Lorelei], and myself. We were reading books together, humming, sitting at the single desk. It was a very nostalgic scene. The door to the room, where we three were supposed to be alone, was open. In the corridor beyond, my friend Glen stood, gently watching us from outside. Behind him were many familiar faces. The path extending beyond them was red and bright—
Before the flashback ended. I mustered my last strength. Of course, I used that strength not for battle, but purely for shouting. I expanded the vibrations towards the “world” I had lived in. Even as I was disappearing, I left a message for Rainer—
“…Listen, Rainer! Once more, the meaning of the word ‘Helvirshine’! ‘Helvirshine’ means that Lorelei within me! Helmina-san! Fania’s ‘Demons’! They connect to everyone and go anywhere! To Glen, to Serdra! To Snow, to Noir! It reaches them all! Because separated paths, broken paths, returning paths, all of them! They are connected! It reaches even Hein within you! Even Hairi! Even everyone etched in that blood memory! Furthermore, beyond that! Souls connect to souls, forming a single line that extends endlessly! So, go!! Go anywhere!!!! Rainer ‘Helvirshine’!!!!”
After finishing my shout, as if singing. I collapsed and began to disappear. While doing so, I grasped three sets of magic stones in my right hand and thrust them into Rainer’s chest, who stood beside me.
Those three were: the magic stone of “The one who steals the logic of darkness,” the magic stone of “The One Who Steals Earthly Principles,” and the magic stone of the true “Thief of the Law of Blood.”
I entrusted everything. I believe he will connect them. There is no blood “connection” between me and Rainer. However, he, a nameless knight, saved my life, and I took the name “Helvirshine.”
It is fine. Or rather, that is the true “Helvirshine.” A thousand years ago, I was already connected to someone—the moment I realized this.
From the periphery of my vision, darkness began to spread. More than using up all my strength, I felt my soul leaving my body, and I could not resist at all. Naturally. Our souls had already transferred to Rainer’s chest. It was natural for my consciousness to shift there. My hands that just handed over the stones, my throat that just shouted. All the flesh and blood that had survived up to this point began to transform into magic particles and disappear, as if seeping into the 100th floor. It was the end. From now on, I too will follow the path of my admired Serdra and go to where [Lorelei] and Helmina-san are. Rainer, to whom I entrusted this, nodded solemnly. Holding the three magic stones he received, he turned his back.
“I understand, Ancestor. The rest is up to Rainer ‘Helvirshine.’ The legend of the Twin Sword Knight continues. I will surely connect it—”
“Ah, ah… L-Leave it to m—”
No sound came from my throat anymore. However, my eyes faintly captured the resonance of the entrusted magic stones with Rainer’s body.
It wasn’t enough to be called “affinity,” and they didn’t get absorbed into my body. Yet, the magic stones I had handed over were indeed shining and responding to each other. They acknowledged Rainer as their wielder and changed shape to lend him their power.
Their form was rings. Becoming the ultimate magic tools, they wrapped around Rainer’s ten fingers. First, the crimson ring harboring the “Thief of the Law of Blood” glowed. Its blood-attribute magic flowed through his arms and torso, dyeing the scabbards of the twin swords at his waist red. Following the emerald and white mixed ring, the magic of the black ring enveloped the magic sword in his right hand. It was only then that I realized the magic sword he held in his right hand was an improved version of his former colleague Teeda’s beloved sword, “Ruf Bringer.”
Only the red-bronze ring was as it always was. More than the pride of a sword, it was naturally special to Rainer. It was held in his free left hand as the “Aris Family’s Treasure Sword Rowen.”
In other words, unlike my time, there were four swords. There was no such thing as “extra.” I felt with my soul that all of them were resonating and connecting in a beautiful line through Rainer’s body.
I burned the image of the too-extravagant Twin Sword Knight’s back into my eyes and closed my eyelids. My vision darkened—not really. Of course, the back of my eyelids was red and bright. My consciousness had not yet ceased. Because the song could still be heard. I too was vibrating my soul and singing. The vibrations echoing in the bright 100th floor did not allow my soul to sleep.
“—Christ, it’s me. …Can you recognize me? Can you see me? As a knight, I’ve come to stop you. I am your ‘True Knight,’ Rainer Helvirshine.”
The descendant announced his name. I eavesdropped on their gradually continuing conversation.
“R-Rainer… If you are my knight, return those magic stones at once… Do as your master commands without a word.”
“I heard the same from Rustiara. You masters truly are alike. But you should understand by now that being a knight doesn’t mean obeying everything.”
Kanami commanded earnestly. Rainer refused with a wry smile. The last thing I heard was a master-servant exchange, the way of a knight.
“What are you talking about…? A knight is loyal to their master, devoted without self-interest… Rainer, don’t mistake a knight’s role and priority value!”
“No. There is no such role. That’s what you said. Idiot…”
“…I, I said that?”
“So, let’s stop with someone having to sacrifice themselves or not. We just need to find a way for everyone to help each other and be saved. Christ.”
“I’ve already finished searching!! And with that said, in order to save this world and everyone, this is the ‘Best’ way! My sacrifice leads to the ‘Ideal’ ending!”
“Ah, self-sacrifice is the easy path, isn’t it? I love it too. But let’s stop that when it comes to ‘Dungeon Exploration.’ I know it’s difficult, but still, let’s find a way to survive, just the two of us… no, everyone together. No matter the time, no matter what happens, no matter how difficult, don’t give up on that path until the end. …I was taught that very recently.”
“Dungeon Exploration too…? What are you really talking about? Haven’t we already passed that dimension!? Rainer, can’t you see what kind of place this is!? This isn’t a labyrinth; it’s the ‘Summit’ of all worlds!!”
“This isn’t a labyrinth? The ‘Summit’? …Do you really think so? What are the people inside you saying?”
Kanami’s voice, fraught with suffering, grew hoarse. In contrast, Rainer’s admonishing voice was calm. His gentle, natural tone conveyed that he was accustomed to lecturing Kanami as a “friend.”
…Enviable. I truly wanted to be like that too. To be Kanami’s best “friend” and stop him head-on. But I couldn’t become that—
“Christ, you can hear Rustiara’s voice too, right? I’m sorry, but as one who inherited my soul from my deceased older brother, Hein Helvishein, I am also a knight to Rustiara Fuziaze. I must obey my master’s command and stop you.”
—No, I don’t think I couldn’t become that. Rainer “Helvirshine” became that. He is now fulfilling what I wanted to do, in my place, as a “friend.”
The descendant absolutely can do it. Of course, it’s not because he’s naturally talented or special. First, a nameless knight showed him a grand example of his back. His older brother, Hein Helvishein, conveyed his way of life to him. The words of Will Linker, etched in his blood memory, connected with him. The bloodlines that have survived in this land are now gathering in the boy named Rainer. This is a “magic”-like miracle happening in the “world of our descendants” a thousand years later, just as Helmina-san taught me—
Facing his descendants, Kanami’s voice grew low, dull, and heavy.
“R-Rainer… Even on the 100th floor, you would be my knight alone… I believed that… You’ve been by my side for two months, so I believed… But, as expected… According to the ‘Plan,’ you chose Rustiara and became my enemy… You couldn’t overcome the ‘Fate’ Tiara orchestrated.”
“…As you predicted, for these past two months, I’ve been watching you. Ever since that day I inherited Hairi, Rainer Helvirshine has been a兼業 knight to both of you. I feel slightly bad about that.”
In contrast to Kanami, Rainer’s voice remained light and nonchalant. Despite the situation and location, he spoke as if he were casually chatting with a “friend” on the street. It seemed to suit him even more than me. This was proof that Kanami had truly lived in the “present,” not just a thousand years ago. Thus, towards the “friend” he shared the same “present” with, Kanami spoke with genuine—
“—You’re in the way.”
Annoyed, he muttered. His voice, like a petulant child picking a fight, gradually grew louder.
“You’re in the way, Rainer…! You’re Rustiara’s knight? No!! If you won’t be my knight alone…! H-Hahaha! As expected, I never needed any knights from the start! I should have abandoned everyone except ‘Rustiara’! Abandon them and move on!! Further and further!! Only that path is my ‘happiness’!! Don’t stand in the way of my ‘happiness’, Raineeeerrrr!!!!”
Kanami, his body crumbling, contorted and screamed. Kanami, who had lost composure, lost even more of it. I had never seen him raise his voice like this a thousand years ago. After all, Kanami had always been my idol. He shone like a god, was omnipotent, strong, and cool—
However, Rainer seemed to have a completely different impression than me. He seemed accustomed to Kanami in this state, letting out a light sigh as if thinking, “Here we go again.” Furthermore, as if watching a poor villain’s performance in a play, he muttered, “You’re not doing it on purpose… are you…?” before replying.
“Let’s fight, Christ. This time too, I’ll see it through to the end. So, keep pretending to be strong and fight. …First, I’ll make you expel all the remaining magic stones. Let’s see if you can play the same role without that disproportionate power.”
There was no anger or impatience in Rainer’s voice. He was unbelievably calm. All I could sense from his tone was the mild annoyance of listening to a troublesome boast from a “friend.” And the strong feeling that he was facing Kanami as an equal, as his “friend”—
This was it… Ah… I always wanted this… I also wanted to face Kanami like this… Go on… Rainer “Helvirshine”…
As I cheered him on, the “unchanging” that I had imposed on myself a thousand years ago began to crumble. The world was not yet saved, but the pretense of “Lingering Desire” that remained also cleanly vanished.
Behind my disappearing eyelids, the morning sun began to rise. The scenery that should have been shrouded in dark clouds cleared. For me, who lived in an era of dark clouds, this was one of my cherished dreams. Ultimately, I couldn’t see the “blue sky” a thousand years ago. However, in this “present,” in the “world of descendants,” I certainly found a clear sky. Furthermore, I am convinced that Rainer and the others, who will live in the “present,” will make it even brighter. Therefore, the light will continue to expand. I can no longer vibrate through my throat, but I can leave a last will that Kanami will surely hear—
Goodbye, Older Brother… It seems my guidance ends with him. But I am still watching. Through Rainer “Helvirshine,” I will see you through to the end. Like Serdra-san, I will continue to emit vibrations even as a magic stone and sing. I will try my best… I will continue to cheer you on… Because… even if you can’t hear it, I now know for sure that the kind Kanami will hear it. So, from hell, ‘everyone together,’ powerfully… I will continue to deliver my blessings. That is the meaning of the birth of [Fafnirniel Helvirshine Lorelei]. Our “happiness.” —We were truly “happy” to be saved by you.
As if to reciprocate that, Kanami and Rainer took off. It was the signal for the final battle.
Thus concludes the Serdra Fafna arc. All that remains is to close Kanami’s story. However, I apologize. I will be taking a break from posting. The continuation is scheduled for December 4th, one month from now. (As some of you may have guessed, the Serdra Fafna story took longer than usual. I spent several days just on the work of finding inconsistencies from Chapter 1 and revising it… It’s entirely due to my immaturity in concluding my story. I apologize for the repeated excuses. I’m truly sorry, but please give me a month for health management and other matters. Then…)
