The appearance of Apostles forced Noi to direct her attention upwards, in addition to the front, back, left, and right.
In a panic, she began to push back against the spell Sion, while simultaneously increasing the dark clouds in the sky.
However, it wasn’t something that could be easily pushed back. Whether it was due to their opposing natures or simply because Noi’s magic power was nearing its limit, the struggle between white and black continued for a long time.
Noi looked up from her downcast gaze and glared at the new, troublesome enemies. She identified the casters and called out their names with a hint of confusion.
“Guh, ugh…! This magic is Sis… Di, Diplakla?”
The moment she finished calling out the names of the two who should have been her subordinates, the struggle between Sion in the sky and Black Shift: Overwrite ended in a near-complete cancellation.
At that moment, the two Apostles who had been in the heavens had descended to the shallows of the 39th Floor. The two who landed, with their divine appearances, possessed a quality of magic power entirely different from before. They had an presence that could be mistaken for real angels, but what surprised Noi now was the new form of Diplakla. He seemed to be around my age. Apostle Diplakla, a boy with a beautiful, androgynous appearance, bowed grandly.
“I apologize, Lady Noi. However, in that form, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t be counted among your numbers. Therefore, I had no choice but to discard it.”
“You… you discarded the form I created and gave you?”
“I discarded it. To put it plainly, rather than the ideals of a neglectful parent, I chose a form befitting discourse with my best friend. …Ah, it was all for that! A simple, obvious matter…!!”
Though he had the appearance of a quiet youth, his tone was rough. He had the intensity of a teenager rebelling and running away from home.
After delivering his impassioned speech, Diplakla turned his gaze to me. Through his eyes, I could feel a deep camaraderie, conveying the messages: “I will definitely save you,” “I won’t make it ‘as if it never happened’,” and “Let’s talk again until dawn.”
Beside the Apostle, who was growing into a delinquent, Sis, who had developed in the opposite direction, spoke to Noi in a gentle tone.
“Lady Noi… no, Mother Noi. There is nothing in this world that cannot be counted. To consider everything beneath us is simply a form of arrogance. I learned that on the Ground. Mother, you must have understood that too when you were on the Ground. It’s just that by remaining underground… all sorts of important experiences seem to have become distorted.”
Sis deliberately called her “Mother.”
Noi was tossed about by the power and words of the enemies that appeared one after another, her confusion piling upon confusion. Her irritation was likely at an all-time high as well. Precisely because they were her own creations, she finally let out a defiant remark that was unlike her.
“S-Shut up…! How dare you, my creations, speak as if you understand! You will never gain a new answer that surpasses your creator, me!”
“No, we will! Remember the beginning, Mother Noi! At that time, you hoped to find a new answer that surpassed yourself and sent Apostles to the Ground!”
“That’s wrong! You simply don’t know anything! The moment that Legacy betrayed me, that hope was crushed! Your roles ended a thousand years ago!!”
Sis threw a justified rebuttal at Noi. However, what was returned from a mother to a daughter was a denial and an attack with dark, purplish clouds. In a panic, Diplakla next to her attempted to counter with Sion—and then, a cold-air magic, Freeze, was added.
Hidaki, a former acquaintance, moved closer to protect Sis and the others, aiding in the cancellation of Freeze’s ‘stasis’ effect. Her sister let out a nostalgic sigh, a smile blooming on her cheek.
“…Haa. Sis, you are still so pure, easily influenced, and a champion of justice in many ways. Telling someone who doesn’t want to think, to think, is meaningless. It’s the same as with me.”
Hidaki likely intended her advice on their familial relationship as a lighthearted remark. However, the temperature difference between the calm sister and Sis was drastic. Sis was surprised, delighted, and bewildered by the unexpected help from an acquaintance from a thousand years ago, and then—
“H-Hidaki…!? Tiara too! …B-But, it’s perfect timing! Lend me your strength right now! Just like a thousand years ago, please!!”
She quickly made up her mind and requested Hidaki’s cooperation. Hidaki was slightly intimidated by her unwavering resolve and overly pure heart. This sister had a weakness for purity.
“Of course, I don’t mind. Sis, it’s easier to fight together with you. However—”
Because of this, Hidaki had many thoughts, but before she could voice them, her partner Tiara interrupted.
“Sister Hidaki. Isn’t it ‘easier to manipulate’ instead of ‘easier to fight’? …Hey, Sister Sis. Are you really okay? We’re the ones you’ve been manipulating all this time. Can you really trust us? Can you forgive us?”
She brought up their shared history from a thousand years ago to confirm.
However, at that level. Sis was no longer intimidated. With her unwavering resolve and pure heart, she spoke directly.
“Yes! I do trust you, and I forgive you! Because those agonizing days were by no means in vain! I finally understand that it wasn’t a mistake! Here in this era, a thousand years later!!”
“Is that really true? Honestly, it wouldn’t be strange if we were killing each other as mortal enemies right now—”
“We are ‘friends’!! We have always, always been ‘friends’!! Since you two are here on the 39th Floor too, I’m trying not to think of anything unnecessary! Please, Hidaki, Tiara! Don’t take any more of my ‘friends’ away from me!!”
There was no falsehood in Sis’s earnest appeal. She looked at her two friends, her eyes slightly teary. Her appearance intimidated not only Hidaki but also Tiara. This aspect of Sis, just like my siblings, was actually a weakness for Tiara as well. Because of that, the wicked duo of the Thief of the Principles of Water and the Thief of the Principles of Divinity finally resolved themselves.
“Tiara, from here on out, we will fight with all our might. For the sake of our ‘friends,’ we won’t choose our methods.”
“Yeah, Sister Hidaki. From now on, let’s help with all our might. For the sake of our ‘friends,’ we can’t be too casual, can we?”
They began to move seriously.
Frankly speaking, the two of them had held back until now.
Perhaps it was because they believed the main focus of this 100th floor stage was the bonds of the “Thieves of Principles,” not themselves with their cheating powers.
However, for Sis’s sake.
I, who was in the same circle of friends, understood that this was their personal decision based on favoritism.
Then, led by Sis’s “Let’s go!”, a party of three, including Hidaki and Tiara, headed towards Noi.
The Apostle Diplakla, in the guise of a kind old man, was warmly watching the friendship of the Fuzyard girls from a thousand years ago from behind. He had abandoned his fittingly warm-eyed old man persona and had been watching me – and now, he was looking at a man behind me.
“You… that face, you are Teeda Runs, aren’t you?”
Before I knew it, the “Thief of Principles” was standing behind me.
At the same time, I thought that the battlefield on the 100th floor had lost all sense of tension.
Everyone was easily withdrawing from the front lines and wanting to exchange brief greetings with their acquaintances.
But that was fine.
Even if Teeda, the knight known for his “betrayal,” stood behind me, I could peacefully accept him.
And I could also listen to the conversation between these two fated individuals with peace of mind, as I no longer needed to mediate.
“Ah, it’s me. Apostle Diplakla of Knowledge and Moderation. Surprised?”
“I am surprised. But more than that, there is much I must say to you. Now, I believe I can offer a sincere apology, not just a perfunctory one.”
“An apology? An apology is no longer necessary. I told you a thousand years ago that I would forgive you if this face was healed. Don’t you remember?”
“I remember. However, it wasn’t me who healed my face. In the end, I couldn’t atone for anything I did to you all a thousand years ago.”
“Ah… you’re nitpicking. What happened to that sharp retort you gave Noi earlier? I didn’t like your stiff and flavorless old man persona a thousand years ago… but I thought we might get along now, so I approached you. Let’s have more fun, shall we?”
Teeda showed off his healed face and treated his former enemy with the same casual attitude he’d show a companion.
Diplakla must have understood that he shouldn’t dismiss such consideration. He cast aside his thoughtful, remorseful self and laughed back like a carefree, unrepentant youth.
“Ha, hahaha… Indeed! Now, we might get along. I truly understand the desire to betray one’s lord and rebel, as you did!”
“Right? Betrayal isn’t always a bad thing. Sometimes it can be used to admonish or help one’s lord. Of course, there are many things you lose by betraying.”
“What I lose by betraying no longer matters. All I care about now is not losing my friends. For Kanami’s sake, I’d betray even Lord Noi…!”
“Yeah, that’s how I was. I just didn’t want to lose my precious friends…!”
In his youthful form, Diplakla was exceedingly thoughtless and combative.
Teeda sympathized with his youthful remarks and stood beside him.
The two, finding common ground, headed towards the battlefield, following the Fuzyard girls.
Watching their backs, I thought this was truly a free battlefield.
And what made it possible was the “real threads.”
It was probably because the threads connected everyone without exception.
The “past” and the “present” no longer mattered.
Perhaps thanks to Snow shattering the heavens, both the ground and the underground felt the same.
It started with Arti and Maria, then continued to Rowen and Rainer, and from there, one after another, connecting endlessly. Everyone connected to everyone–
As if to prove it, another person appeared.
A young woman’s voice cut through the slightly somber atmosphere.
“KANAMI-SAMAAAAAAA!! And, while you’re at it, DIAAAAAAAARGH!!!”
Looking up at the bright sky as the voice indicated, I saw a girl with blonde twin-tails falling from the sunlit heavens.
She was Franryure Helvirshine, one of the “Seven Knights of Heaven” and the sister of my knight, Rainer.
Seeing her fall without any wings or magic, Dia, who had been guarding her with Aleis Wines nearby, panicked.
“That, that idiot! Can’t she land!?”
Even with magical body reinforcement, the height was significant.
Due to the special ceiling of the 100th floor, the fall would be greater than it appeared.
I remembered the time I princess-carried her.
Thinking she might want it again this time, I considered doing so – but Dia moved first.
Without hesitation as a friend, she extended her right arm, enhanced with “Magic Limbization,” and it transformed.
She softly caught Fran as she fell, as if enveloping her in a net, and pulled her towards herself.
Franryure, being princess-carried by her smaller friend, happily exclaimed, “Nice catch!” right by Dia’s ear.
Dia showed a slightly annoyed expression at her carefree friend.
“Idiot Fran! That was dangerous! And what about the people behind you?! There are many knights who were following you!”
“Don’t worry, we’ll reach them soon! More importantly, that leech princess has escaped into the depths of the cracked ground… ……………! What is that!?! There’s so much light and darkness, fire and wind mixed together! The clouds are being continuously cut, and bloody trees stretch to the ends of the sky!?”
“Calm down! Did that princess really descend this far!?”
Dia was confirming the whereabouts of the princess Franryure was pursuing.
I immediately understood she was referring to the Vampire Race, Kuuneru.
So, I apologized to the two talking in front and then muttered towards her alone.
“…Are you here?”
Although no one was visible around, I had a certain conviction.
If Kuuneru had reached the 100th floor, even if the red blood mist, diluted to its limit, was no longer visible, she would surely be near me.
“…Yes. I am here.”
The reply came immediately, in a small voice, just like mine. Kuuneru, the Vampire Race, whispered in my ear, not wanting the others to notice.
I ended up saying terrible things to her out of desperation. El’s words from the surface, “—Please take responsibility for proposing ‘a world without me’ to someone who deeply loved you,” still echo in my mind.
“……Can I apologize now?”
“Ah… Truly, you are such a person…”
Kuuneru’s voice clearly implied “it’s unnecessary” and was tinged with anger. At the same time, it shifted to a tone of exasperation and resignation, and she began to pour out all her pent-up feelings with great complexity.
“When you would become this way, I knew it from the start, so it doesn’t matter. It’s because you were always that kind of person from the moment we met, that I kept running away… I never wanted to see Kanami-sama, whom I love, again.”
Those feelings were likely something she wished she could have erased as they faded. Without a doubt, the rational, safe, and most profitable path for an adult would have been to pretend they never happened.
However, at this Final Festival, Kuuneru was forced to hear her naive confessions time and time again. Thanks to that, for a brief moment, her feelings were revitalized— and her heart’s ‘past’ and ‘present’ became muddled.
“However, I am not so senile that I cannot read this new turn of events. Without a doubt, protecting Kanami-sama here and ingratiating myself with everyone, even a little, is the best… Heh heh heh, I’ve always been on the side of the strong.”
No, they weren’t muddled, they were connected. I felt that way. Kuuneru, who had lived continuously in the ‘past,’ was now connected to the ‘present’ by a thin but undeniably ‘real thread.’
It was just a little frustrating that it wasn’t me, but instead Rouge and El who had connected that thread. But, that was fine too. I couldn’t do everything alone. If I had reliable companions, I should have just relied on them—
“Yes… We never needed to become strong alone. So, just like you are now, please let me use my strength here until my very last moment… Chairman, this is my final request.”
Kuuneru reached the same conclusion as I did, wishing to walk the same path by my side. I gave a small nod, and a faint red blood mist defense membrane began to form around me.
And then, at that moment, new companions arrived. Unlike Franryure, crawling out of the dark swamp of Connection: Dark Swamp, were two handsome and beautiful individuals transformed into Demon-like beings, like a wolf and a lion. They were Sera Radiant and Elmiraud Siddharuku.
Both were breathing heavily, as if they had undergone a long submersion. And first, Sera, as their superior, began to admonish Franryure, who had apparently rushed ahead.
“Haa, haa, haa…! Fran! Even if you’re chasing, you’re going too fast! Reaper made a gate, so you should have used it!”
In contrast, El, who arrived with Sera, didn’t seem very interested in Franryure and others, calmly regaining his breath while surveying their surroundings. Taking a deep breath, he first looked at me, who was kneeling. More precisely, he looked at me and the diluted red blood mist hovering around me, pushed to its limit.
“Fuee… As expected, there was no need to rush. Radiant-kun and Franryure-kun should learn more about maidenly feelings. And about the troublesome feelings of men, like my rival here.”
El seemed to have noticed Kuuneru’s situation. However, what he detected wasn’t magic or intuition, but an understanding of maidenly feelings. A man who understands not only my own heart so well felt truly dependable.
“El. Still, thank you for coming—”
I was about to continue, “—for a pathetic rival like me.” But I no longer needed such self-deprecating words. So, taking pride in being helped by a friend like El, I nodded deeply just once.
El seemed slightly surprised by my response, nodded back with satisfaction, and turned his back. He, who understood the situation on this 100th floor, quickly approached Franryure and Sera, who were arguing in front of him.
“B-but, Senpai Sera… Going through that gate looked quite difficult… and it was crowded too…”
“Mmm… It was certainly crowded. The head general and Fedelt-sama will likely pass through next… but it won’t be all at once.”
Seeing the two who spoke so carelessly in this situation, El smiled reassuringly. And then, with his resonant voice, he interjected, as if to mediate.
“Haha. Yes, it won’t be possible for everyone to arrive immediately… But, it doesn’t matter much. After all, the ‘connection’ from the ‘ground’ all the way to the ‘underground’ is intact. From here, I can gather the will of the explorers above— their intention to aim for the ‘Deepest Part’!”
With that declaration, El quietly closed his eyelids and began to concentrate. Then, a new flow of magic power emerged from the open ceiling. It was as potent and diverse as the dense magic power of the 100th floor. However, as it gathered, El’s body, not at its best, wavered.
I knew El was not fully recovered and had overexerted himself on the surface. Firing the magic power he was gathering now would be extremely dangerous. But—
“Then it’s fine. Lord Siddharuku, keep gathering it with all your might until you can no longer move. Don’t worry about what happens after you can’t move. Dia and the others are here. I swear, as a Knight, I will be your legs and your wall, and I will protect them.”
Sera told El, who was still recovering, to push himself further. Dia, whose name was mentioned, understood her role and agreed.
“Indeed, it’s best for Elmiraud to gather it, and for me to converge and fire. Fran, as punishment for doing as you please, inherit this defensive wind, okay?”
They cooperated with the companions around them without hesitation. However, El hesitated slightly in front of the three women. It wasn’t because he was from an aristocratic family, but simply because, as a man, he wanted to push himself a little more and act cool. But, looking at me, he sighed, “That’s uncool,” and nodded.
“As the eldest son of the Siddharuku family, I am a little inadequate… but here, I will honestly rely on you! You all can surely do more than I can! Everything above, connect to this underground!! —Resonance Magic <
