I have been defeated.
Perhaps it’s because I continuously felt a sense of contradiction that I have no regrets.
While I seemed like a victor, I was always a loser.
I pretended to be a god, but I was a weak, fabricated person.
While I acted as an omnipotent mage, I was more enslaved than anyone.
So, somewhere in my heart, I wished for someone to finally end this contradiction for me—
Now, I even feel a sense of liberation with everything stripped away.
With this, I no longer—
I cannot read a book from the end.
I cannot read different books simultaneously.
Without reading the previous or next pages, I can focus solely on the page my hands are turning.
—It felt like waking up from a long dream.
I think the word “dream” is fitting for my life.
That’s how full of inexplicable things it was.
It was also intermittent. It felt like a hollow, continuously hazy illusion.
When did that long dream begin?
Was it when my sister Hidaki was born?
It’s undeniable that my life began to fade when I started losing to her. However, if you ask if that was the biggest turning point, I think it’s slightly different.
That was still an extension of sibling rivalry.
Within the practical scope of the Original World, we were just competing for our parents’ affection.
So, my dream-like life truly began a little later.
It was probably when the Aikawa siblings dabbled in magic.
At that time, I was despairing of a life abandoned by my parents. Hidaki was despairing of a lonely life with no one on her level.
The two siblings sat in a room with only the flickering lights of a display, and escaped into a fantasy world with hollow eyes.
Those memories are more unforgettable than nostalgic.
The time spent playing games in the dark room is etched into my brain.
We siblings truly loved games.
We had protagonists, heroines, and the Final Enemy waiting at the end of the Adventure, and we would pick games where we could hear lines like “Even if the world is against me, I’ll save the heroine!”
We siblings always yearned for a “royal road where everyone is equal” and a “world to play roles in.”
We always dreamed of and wished for a world of swords and magic.
Eventually, in that dark room, we truly began—magic.
I remember trying desperately.
But reality is harsh, and I couldn’t use magic so easily.
My sister and I were disappointed by that reality, despair deepened further, and—I made a wish.
If I don’t have talent for magic, then at least—
“—Just a little… Just a little bit, I want hope beyond this—”
That was the beginning of everything.
Ironically, that wish alone reached beyond the “break” in the Original World, and the first incomplete, true magic was established.
—My dream-like life began.
Perhaps Hidaki was the one who suggested ordinary magic like in video games first. However, it was I, the older brother, who truly initiated magic first.
And I was also the first to fail.
That imperfect product of magic, which didn’t even have a name, brought me hope in the form of Minase Konagi, with the effect of “gaining what you wished for, at the cost of losing what you truly wanted.”
However, as per the effect of that magic, Konagi was soon lost.
Her death meticulously painted my life with despair once again.
The funeral of Konagi still makes my eyes well up just thinking about it.
Just when I thought we could finally get out of that dark game room, we were thrown back into it.
And, along with Hidaki, who was caught up in the failed magic, I repeatedly read the words “GAMEOVER” reflected on the display.
It was a painful, sleepless existence.
I know now that Hidaki suffered more than I did. But that doesn’t mean my suffering was nonexistent.
Unable to sleep, I would gaze out the window of my dark, private room at night.
For some reason, I felt like it was always raining against the window, no matter when I looked.
Gazing at the city landscape filled with high-rise buildings under bad weather, I would often imagine jumping.
As if to shake off the darkness of that imagination, I sometimes turned my eyes to the moonlight in the night sky.
Then, the heat behind my eyes would bleed out to the surface of my eyeballs.
I was so sad, so overwhelmed…
I cried countless times, regretting why things had turned out this way…
However, the answer to that “why” already exists.
—It’s me.
It’s a simple story, since it was I who started both the true magic and this dream-like life.
—In the first place, I shouldn’t have been born.
At that point, the young me reached the same conclusion as Ragune Kaikuola in Another World.
Therefore, the subsequent events were also the same as Ragune’s.
Shamelessly, I try to jump off life. Furthermore, lacking the courage to jump from a building window, I beg my sister Hidaki for Oblivion. I push all responsibility onto my sister and reset my own life—
—The dream-like stage moves to Another World.
From here on, my memories are newer and easier to recall.
I vividly remember piling up failures even after that.
Naturally, I have no reason to reflect on my actions and have run away. I have repeated the same mistake as with Konagi-san again, and will reset.
I pressed the button I shouldn’t have pushed so casually twice, only to be summoned to the labyrinth a thousand years later—
—and meet Rustiara.
But I’ve just been repeating the same thing over and over…
In the end, Hidaki, Tiara, and Rustiara, everyone…
They’re gone…
The more I remember, the more I truly…
I feel my life has been a series of failures upon failures…
Using my sister’s death as a “Price,” I finally turned the pages of my life’s book and began to reflect.
I repeatedly went back and forth between the first and last pages…
And over and over again, I told myself…
—I want to fix it.
The beginning of everything was that first, true “Magic.”
True “Magic” is, in essence, life itself. If that flawed “Magic” can be fixed somehow… My failed life will surely be fixed too…
And I’ll be able to make everyone “Happy”… it should become true “Magic”…
Therefore, I sought the completion of “Magic.”
I believed it was the only way to reach my beloved Rustiara and save everyone who suffered because of me…
I believed it was a “Magic” that would one day save even someone like me…
If that “Magic” could be completed, I’d be willing to be the “Price” myself.
It’s a “Contradiction” to want to save myself while sacrificing myself, but that’s nothing new.
At this point, I had already created the “Contradiction” of “seeking Rustiara while turning away from her” through “narrowing” my perspective. I was good at averting my eyes from reality.
So, I truly believe I was succeeding in repairing my own “Magic.”
The inner strength Hidaki gave me made it possible.
No, it accelerated it.
Now, the reach of my magic extends not just to the ends of the world, but beyond.
All the powers of the “Thieves of Principles” have gathered within me, a “Vessel.”
Upon inheriting the “Lord of the World” on the 100th floor, I transcended dimensions.
From here on, I will become “Magic” itself, and it’s only a little further until I’m mistaken for a “God” by everyone—
Finally, I can kill.
I can kill the me I despise.
Yes, I felt a dark joy somewhere in my heart, but—
“…It wasn’t enough. …I lost again.”
Trembling, I opened my eyelids.
My tear-blurred vision was filled with a grotesque, dark red light.
It felt as if oxidized blood were continuously flowing over the surface of my eyes, evoking a visceral disgust.
Furthermore, from my ears came the vengeful cries from the ends of hell.
Like wind passing through a collapsing tunnel, terrifying and unsettling vibrations echoed endlessly on the 100th floor.
Looking down at my body, my “Half-Magic” had crumbled.
Most of it was composed of a “Half-corpse,” with characteristics of beasts, birds, and fish appearing all over. My arms, multiplied by the power of a chimera, had all been severed, leaving only unstable and fragile parts.
My form was weak, far from divine.
Before me, in my cripppled state, stood two figures.
Rainer and Noir.
More precisely, Sia-chan was on Noir’s shoulder.
And further back, behind Rainer, were my older brother Mr. Hein, Palinkron, and others.
—I lost to them.
There wasn’t a single factor that should have led to defeat.
I had gathered all the Magic Stones of the “Thieves of Principles,” and as a “Protagonist” who had finished the story, I had reached a level worthy of being called “God,” with victory even promised by “Future Sight.”
—And yet, I was defeated.
Now, I understand the reason.
As mentioned above.
My defeat stemmed from the unearned power of having gathered all the Magic Stones of the “Thieves of Principles,” reaching a level worthy of “God” as a “Protagonist” who had finished the story, and having my victory promised by “Future Sight.”
In other words, I was the same as all the “Thieves of Principles” I had encountered.
Blown about by powers I didn’t deserve, I failed to recognize the mistakes that led to my defeat and lost sight of my own initial wish.
Yes.
I had been mistaken all along.
What I wished for at first was “just a little.”
Seeking a modest happiness, I only wished, “Just a little is fine, ‘I want hope beyond this’…”—but…
But, somehow…
My wish kept growing…
To create omnipotent “Magic,” “make all humanity ‘Happy’,” and save the “World”…
And even beyond that… to go endlessly…?
It had become impossibly, immeasurably large.
“Ah… Hah, haha…”
It’s so similar to the other “Thieves of Principles,” it goes beyond exasperation and makes me laugh.
I should have learned from fighting the “Thieves of Principles” so many times…
Sometimes, I even taught *them* and understood each other…
I was the same.
Having forgotten, I betrayed.
Having become unreachable, I could not return.
Putting on airs, I acted tough.
Going mad, I attempted suicide.
And in the end, even making the same mistake as my sister—
—I distanced myself from true “Magic.”
Now, I truly understand many things.
As researcher Hermina said a thousand years ago, magic is meant to bring everyone happiness.
However, that magic can never be achieved alone.
Magic is the same as science in our world. It’s something that countless predecessors have passed down to subsequent generations, building it up.
Yet, I sought an Ideal for my own true magic: “Magic that makes all humanity happy.”
It’s impossible.
There’s no need to.
In reality, it was enough to do it little by little.
Even magic like a single paving stone used on a cobblestone path would have been sufficient.
Because, magic is—
“Someday… we will align ourselves together… That was the true value of magic as Hermina saw it…”
Yet, I, by myself, rushed, feared, and went out of control.
It was probably because of a trauma deep within my heart. My own true magic once killed Konagi and destroyed the Aikawa family. So, I could never truly believe that magic would save me someday…
“Magic… is just talk in games. Nothing so convenient exists anywhere. I didn’t have it… So…—”
That’s why I never trusted magic.
If magic is life itself—then, for me, nothing is less trustworthy than my own life.
In other words, it’s the same as Ragune again.
I love her, but I hate her.
I believe in her with all my heart, yet I don’t believe her at all.
From the beginning, it was nothing but lies, pretense, and contradictions.
That’s why, even after the Final Festival ritual ended, I would have probably run away from the third act of my own life. Fearing that I would reach the summit of my life, I would have undoubtedly tried to commit suicide again, like jumping from a skyscraper window.
That’s why everyone gathered for the Final Festival.
They saw me, in my desperation, attempting to make the failed magic, the cause of all this, fail even further—
“They tried to stop me… They knew I couldn’t do it alone… If it were possible, it would have to be done by accumulating it little by little, together… They knew from the start… Ah, that’s right. They knew from the start… —Konagi did.”
Now, I am finally obtaining the answer to my own magic.
But I realized that it wasn’t something I solved myself, but something I had been taught from the beginning.
I recall my childhood in the Original World. After school.
In a classroom where the sunset streamed through the window, we were having the exact same conversation as we are now.
Shedding tears, about the same amount as the me in that memory, I apologize again.
“From the beginning, Konagi taught me everything… But, why… I’m truly sorry… I couldn’t completely believe in Konagi’s ‘everyone together’ until the end! Not only her name, my precious childhood friend, but even what she left behind! Was I trying to pretend it ‘never happened’…!!”
The hope that came from the failed magic that I myself had caused—no, the true threads with my precious childhood friend, Konagi, had taught me the answer to precious magic from the very beginning.
The moment I admitted my greatest mistake, it felt like the dark clouds that had hung over my head for so long had cleared.
The black mud that had crawled into my body also felt like it was disappearing.
And through the black threads, a vibration of relief—
“‘Ah, so that’s how it was. … ‘Shadows do not believe even themselves’, ‘It is because you sank into the twilight’. But, we were connected. ‘People do not search for someone to betray them, they just find themselves they can believe in’. As long as the bond of souls believing in each other does not fade, our night will break…”
The incantation of Teeda Runs, The one who steals the logic of darkness, reached me as a final auditory hallucination.
At the same time, freed from all chains, I felt my vision rapidly expanding. As “The fog of the earth’s delusion and the end of night” vanished, my curse was lifted. The constriction I had relied on for so long had now completely disappeared. Furthermore, mistrust had fulfilled its role, and things I couldn’t see before began to come into view.
First, the 100 floors, which change their form according to the viewer’s heart, transformed. The malevolent, dark red light and the night sea that stretched to the abyss. Everything had been inverted. Beneath a clear red light, a beautiful shallow sea, like scattered silver foil, spread out.
And the two people standing before me also changed. Not enemies obstructing me—but Liner, the True Knight who came to stop me, his beloved lord. And Noir, the True Saint who fought without regard for danger for Rustiara.
Liner looked at me, who had collapsed in tears, with lingering concern. Noir gazed at me, accepting my defeat, with what seemed like genuine amusement.
It wasn’t just these two. From Noir’s soul, I strongly felt his bond with Rouge on the ground. Of course, with Shiya and Hairi as well. Naturally, he was also connected to Liner beside me, and from there, it reached Mr. Hein and others—the connection was unbroken, reaching me right before my eyes—as if connected by threads.
I could finally see it. This was the “true threads” that Rustiara had spoken of before. I had never been able to believe in such a thing.
But, finally, now. Thanks to the “narrowing” and “mistrust,” I was able to believe.
With these people, I’m sure they can create a better flow than I could.
He can even find a future of “everyone together” that I can’t reach.
Believing that, I extend my left arm forward.
“Rainer…”
However, my body was completely weakened, and it felt as if there were no bones inside, lacking any strength. I couldn’t even stand up yet, and my movements were as sluggish as a sickly person’s.
But my voice, at least, trembled clearly.
“Your hand…”
Still on my knees, blood dripped from the palm of my outstretched left hand, stained from battle.
Rainer immediately understood my intention and replied as he walked towards me.
“…!” Ah, leave it to me. The magic you couldn’t master… with everyone, it’ll be fine. No, we’ll make it even better magic.”
After kneeling to match my position, he grabbed my outstretched left hand.
At that moment, it flowed in.
Through the blood and wound, the vast amount of “Spell Formations” I possessed began to be imprinted on Rainer’s soul.
It was the inheritance of magic.
This blood clearly contained not only the “Spell Formations” of 《Levan》 and 《Line》 but also the “Spell Formation” for the ceremony to gain a “half-magic” body.
Originally, it wasn’t something that could be copied so easily. The proper method was to drink it from the mouth, either blood or a magic stone. However, in this special situation, a handshake alone was sufficient—no, I believed this handshake was the most fitting method for us right now.
“…, …!”
However, as a massive amount of “Spell Formations” flowed in, Rainer winced.
First and foremost, the sheer quantity was extraordinary.
It was an act that could never be called risk-free.
Still, I trusted Rainer’s “Hellfire” and relentlessly continued to entrust it to him without a word.
“…”
The new ritual, performed on short notice, was incredibly quiet.
The vibrations from the very depths of the earth no longer reached me.
With my defeat, the power of the true “Magic” of the 100th floor was rapidly weakening. The vibrations of the “Black Threads” clinging to my body were also the last to be felt with Teeda’s “Incantation” just now.
The great sound that had been shaking my soul so much was now as quiet as a beach in the night sea…
From this side, it should still be able to reach.
Believing that everyone would choose the vibration of “Blessing,” I offered a prayer.
As if clasping my hands before a grave.
“Everyone… please help Rainer too. I’m okay now…”
I conveyed my feelings.
While thanking everyone who had come to stop me, I smiled.
“Thank you for watching over me like this until now… But I’m not going to fight anymore. I’m not going to push myself…”
It wasn’t a forced smile anymore.
I didn’t have the energy or余裕 to fake it.
Thanks to everyone who had shaved me down with their all, I could finally say it.
“Because… I’m not suited for it. Helping people has always been for my own sake… Not for someone else. Helping everyone was, in truth… just hypocrisy. I was always calculating.”
At that confession, Rainer, standing before me, gave a wry smile.
To match the quiet ritual, he added a blessing.
“I don’t think of it as hypocrisy. …Either way, how are all the people I’ve saved feeling right now?”
I understood.
My body was now incredibly weak and heavy, but my mind was different. It was clear, light, sharp, and I could firmly grasp the “present.”
I no longer needed to be on guard with 《Dimension》, let alone use “Future Sight” or “Past Sight.”
I didn’t need to pay attention to anything else with “Parallel Thinking,” nor did I fear anyone’s “Threads.”
Because I only needed to see myself and the people in front of me in the “present,” everything was vivid and clear.
Therefore, like the souls of the “Thief of Principles” on the 100th floor, I could also offer a wry smile.
“Ah… Even if it was hypocrisy, that act of helping people was ‘real.’ Just because my origin is ‘artificial,’ it doesn’t mean the actions I’ve taken become fake…”
I’ve done many things I can be proud of, not just mistakes. By trying to make all of them “as if they never happened,” I ended up being scolded by the “Thief of Principles.”
I continued speaking, my voice hoarse from crying too much, with self-deprecation.
“But because a hypocrite is a hypocrite… Saving those close to me might be one thing… but saving the world… honestly, I don’t have the motivation anymore.”
I finished speaking and stopped laughing.
I am proud of my hypocrisy. Yet, I clearly denied that I wanted to be forced to continue helping people for eternity.
At that moment, an important “display” appeared in my vision.
【Skill “???” has been released】
You will be “refunded” to your original magic power by converting yourself into the magic power you created.
That message was the first since I died at the hands of Ragune.
I had now released the second skill, “???”, which was separate from the “Contractor of the Deepest Part.”
I was happy that I could release it of my own volition and, as a celebration, moved the “display” to my skill list.
【Skills】
Unique Skill: Contractor of the Deepest Part
???: ???
It felt a little anticlimactic that the skill name, which signaled the conclusion of everything, remained “???.”
Come to think of it, recently I had given simple names to my powerful magic like 《Black Shift: Overwrite》 and 《Torsion Field》.
Therefore, I wanted to give just this one skill a slightly elaborate name.
As Rainer suggested earlier, a name is an important thing.
Just as I taught him, I first expand my imagination.
Then, I pack in the story so far, add furigana, and make it fun and grand—
“—’Lake Surface of the Dream Festival.’ Thank you for everything until now. But I don’t need ‘Ideals’ anymore. Hidaki, who gave birth to you, has found her partner… It’s over now…”
‘Lake Surface of the Dream Festival’ is a conceptual mask that was placed on Hidaki after I lost Ms. Minagi.
For me, whose memories have returned, it’s a symbol of the trauma of having my soul altered by my sister repeatedly tampering with my brain…
There was only one reason I continued to wear it even after parting with Hidaki.
—I didn’t want to show my true nature to anyone.
I thought that the reason someone like me, who I hate so much, is loved is because this skill has the preamble “as if ‘the Protagonist’.”
That’s why I could never take it off in front of ‘Rustiara’…
I was relentlessly driven to despair, believing I could never take off the mask as long as I lived.
However, through this ‘Final Festival,’ that feeling has changed a little.
I hate myself to the point I want to kill myself.
But, I feel like I can like myself for everyone who came to stop me today.
I feel like I can be confident, at least for what we’ve built together until today.
“So… you can rest now… Of course, you’re a part of me now too. Just like the ‘Contractor of the Deepest Part,’ I think there will be times when I’ll need you again. Until then, please rest…”
The more I talk about that skill, the more strength drains from my body.
It was a bit like the ‘Contract’ breaking.
Revealing the power of the mask to the world here meant abandoning the favor from the preamble “as if ‘the Protagonist'” that had supported me for so long.
To confirm this, I display my own name.
【Guardian of Zero】Thief of Principles of the Moon
The word ‘Moon’ is clearly visible.
It was no longer ‘Stars.’
The figure shouldering the ‘happiness’ of all humanity was merely my own imagined ‘Ideal,’ not my essence.
Furthermore, it’s no longer ‘Dimension’ either.
That figure, which even overcomes eternity, was merely the ‘Ideal’ that my sister Hidaki desired, not her essence.
Therefore, what remained was ‘Moon.’
Reflecting the light from those around me, only then can I exist in the world; that is my essence.
Acknowledging this, I finished dispelling the last skill.
And, the moment I was no longer ‘Dimension’ nor ‘Stars’—
“I don’t want to see it. A god like that. —Distance Mute.”
Dispelling that skill also meant betraying her ‘Ideal.’
However, by the time I heard her voice, filled with sorrow and hatred, I had already moved.
My body was sluggish, and I no longer had the ‘Speed’ I once had.
However, my field of vision was wider than ever before.
Was it because the ‘Lake Surface of the Dream Festival,’ which covered my face, was removed? Was it because I was freed from all shackles, including ‘Constriction’?
I was able to read her feelings and actions, which I had heard from her as “I don’t feel motivated,” and noticed it beforehand.
As the battle concluded, I—who was about to pass on the ‘Spell Formation.’ Behind me.
Suddenly appearing was likely an applied use of ‘Connection,’ instantaneous movement.
She appeared without metaphor, in an instant, then closed the distance with ‘Default,’ as if throwing her whole body, and extended her arm, clad in ‘Distance Mute.’
It could be called a perfect surprise attack with the unfair magic of a dimensional wizard.
—But, I dodged it.
Even with my leisurely movements, I had enough余裕 to push Rainer away to protect him.
She must have been surprised by my movements, which seemed to read the future.
“…………!!”
And then, using a rapid leap granted by magic, she passed between me and Rainer.
She landed—no, she fell from her torso and rolled in the shallow water about five meters away.
After being thoroughly soaked, she raised her face toward me while still lying prone.
Her movements were even more leisurely than mine, weak and tired.
So, she didn’t fail to land; she just didn’t feel like trying hard to land.
I understand her well.
It felt like looking at myself in a mirror.
“Welcome back… Noi.”
So, I wanted to greet her, the former ‘Ruler of the World,’ Noi El Lieberl, as gently as possible.
During that time, the sensation of standing in front of a mirror didn’t stop.
After all, Noi is using the adult form of Ragune Kaikuola, whom she killed and was killed by.
She was shivering with cold, her entire body drenched in the shallow water, there.
Biting her lip, tears welling up, she glared at me.
Noi, my predecessor in all respects, can be said to be my ‘Future’ self.
Noi and I faced each other.
Once, we were both ‘Rulers of the World.’
We were both rulers of this 100th floor—or so it should have been.
But now, neither of us could even stand on the 100th floor.
