Chapter: 83. The All-Out Effort of the Dark Player (3k5)
Time travels back to a little earlier.
This was what happened the night before Sō and Mana’s operation.
“Big brother, do we really have to do this? Ah, no, should I call you big sister?”
“Of course, you should call me big sister, right?”
“Same here.”
“Big sister is great~”
“Enough! You make me feel like a gangster…” Nagin had a bit of a headache from Hydra’s incessant chatter among its nine heads, leading her to rub her temples and vent her frustrations.
“Eh? Isn’t that the case?” Garuda chimed in from the side.
“What kind of image do I have in your eyes!?”
Summoning Garuda after such a long time made Nagin feel inexplicably exhausted.
After Nagin shared her plan with the long green snake with nine heads in front of her, all nine heads frowned in unison.
“I understand big sister’s idea…”
“I also understand.”
“Of course I understand it too, to the fullest!”
“Same here.”
“I—”
“—Can’t you all unify your opinions and speak with one voice!?”
Nagin interrupted Hydra’s chattering once again.
“Although according to big sister’s plan, we can use my ability to return big sister’s body to ten years ago, back to a time before being assimilated by the End…”
“The amount of magic power required, however, will still significantly accelerate the current erosion speed…”
“And the duration won’t be very long. Even at its longest, it would only be one to two months…”
“However, the magic power expended each time is expected to accelerate the erosion speed by more than half a year.”
After a brief internal exchange among Hydra’s nine heads, they explained the actual situation to Nagin.
Hearing this, Nagin showed no signs of disappointment, as if she had anticipated it all along.
“…..It’s nothing, I had already thought of it. It’s impossible to easily exploit the bugs and indefinitely delay the erosion.”
—If Hydra could revert her to a child for one month, and the erosion speed was only accelerated by about half a month during that time.
Nagin had dreamt of such a beautiful fantasy, even if at that point she would remain a legally defined loli forever, but at least she could solve the End’s erosion through this bug exploitation method.
But the reality is that this underhanded method could not extend her remaining time; instead, it would exponentially accelerate the erosion speed.
As a trade-off, she could unleash most of her power from her previous life without restrictions during that time.
“Do we really have to do it this way?” asked one head of Hydra while glancing at Garuda.
“This enemy, even big sister Garuda cannot handle it?”
“Unfortunately, even with my remaining little faith magic power, I may not necessarily be a match, even if I give my all.” Garuda candidly stated.
The entity she learned about from Nagin was no ordinary foe.
Though she didn’t know how her master found out, similar events were not happening for the first time.
In such times, it was often enough just to trust Nagin.
Though she may seem unreliable in both the past and present, Garuda had not yet seen anyone more reliable than her in this regard.
“This time, we’re not just about defeating the opponent.” Nagin explained with a serious expression.
“My plan is to use its power to delete the part of my soul related to the End…”
The Dragon of Extinction – Omega.
One of the final bosses from the original *Starlight 2*, also representing the work’s title.
By design, it possesses the ability to “delete” all extraordinary beings.
That is part of its authority.
However, whether it can affect the End—
Even Nagin, the hardcore dark player of *Starlight*, had to question that.
—There is theoretically a possibility.
Because in the original *Starlight 2*, Omega and the End never truly appeared on the same stage.
As the final boss of the “Yasuhira Mana Route,” Omega could be said to have never had direct contact with the End through that route; even the greatest masterpiece, Yasuhira Mana, had long since escaped the Star Chronicle and the curse of the End in the middle to late story, and thus could not serve as a reference.
Moreover, what players obtained in the second playthrough from the “Black Box” was not Omega’s true form, but a black dragon named “Dirette” that had lost its authority.
It was a typical development of being darkened and becoming three times stronger, with redemption being akin to a dog.
This was even more evident in the dreadful *Starlight*.
It could not serve as a reference.
“And regrettably, I cannot use the conventional method to make a contract with it,” Nagin confessed to Hydra and Garuda.
“If I were to make it my contract beast, it would only become tainted by the End’s corruption, so I must communicate peacefully, or forcibly make it communicate with us, and then leverage its power to eliminate the End’s pollution.”
Though both the process and the outcome remained uncertain.
This was one of the methods Nagin could think of to potentially resolve the End’s pollution.
Thus, she had never considered making Omega her contract beast from the beginning.
Especially when Nagin saw Nanjō and the star pupils flashing in her eyes for a moment.
A bolder plan emerged in her mind.
As a holder of the star’s authority, she naturally understood what the greatest advantage of this authority was—
But unfortunately, no matter how much she pushed Nanjō to the brink, the latter refused to use “soul resonance” with her.
……
……
“The guidance has failed~” Nagin thought to herself as she watched Nanjō raise the Black Box.
Even more unexpectedly, Omega actively formed a contract with Nanjō.
If Nanjō had released Omega first and then contracted with it, perhaps Nagin could have found a way to stop it.
But for Nagin, who was particularly sensitive to magical reactions, she could tell at a glance that a magical bond had formed between Nanjō and that enormous shadow.
“Tsk, am I too late?”
As it turned out, the originally feasible dual plans had ultimately boiled down to just one.
“Fine, at least I finally really see Omega’s true form.” Nagin looked at the immense black dragon wreaking havoc on heaven and earth, her excitement as a dark player beginning to surge within her.
This was an action that could not be accomplished in the original *Starlight 2*.
Could the answer built from selecting contract beasts from both *Starlight* and *Starlight 2* fight against the final answer set by official settings?
Unknowingly, the corners of Nagin’s mouth lifted, excitement showing in her crescent-like smile.
However, she did not lose her calm because of this.
Instead, her brain was running rapidly.
In order to make Nanjō use “resonance” with her.
“Let me take this opportunity to show you my full strength.” Nagin had long forgotten when the last time she gave her all was.
Since Omega’s presence could serve as a cover, wouldn’t it be fine to let the situation escalate a bit?
After all, for them, differentiating between level 11 and above extraordinary disasters is quite challenging.
With that thought, Nagin slowly raised her hand.
Mana and Yako, who lay behind her, were already sent out of the area by her using the Mirror Flower.
At this moment, in this “projection world” of the artificial academic island, several realms coexisted, the last of which was Omega’s realm; the darkness that devours everything was sufficient to ensure that the magical fluctuations within the realm would not reach the outside world.
It was simply—
The best opportunity.
“If it weren’t for your late arrival, I would have forced a contract with you long ago—” When she was still the Elemental Sovereign, perhaps she wouldn’t have missed her chance, right? But how ironic, who would have thought there would come a day when she would need its abilities?
“Well, this is good too. Let me see, who is stronger, the officially set final boss, or the final answer I painfully crafted—” I’ll show you the final answer I painstakingly built in my last life.
“In the face of this absolute power, have you finally gone mad!!!” Absolute power? Ah, if it’s just a one-on-one, Omega indeed counts as an invincible being like Sō… too bad this isn’t a world of one-on-one battles.
“There’s a phrase, let me return it to you unaltered—” Ah, indeed, that line feels great~ I really hope to say it a few more times~
“You have no idea what you’re facing—” Feel honored, you’re the first to witness my full power as a dark player in my previous life.
“Delete this madman from this world! Omega!!!”
With Nanjō’s command.
The black dragon, floating in the air, uncrossed its arms over its chest, revealing a massive crystal at its center.
The cross-shaped crystal radiated a dazzling magical brilliance.
That was proof of its use of the “delete” authority.
“Descend, my servant—”
“Storm Sovereign, Garuda!” A whirlwind rose from beneath Nagin, thunderclouds suddenly rolled, and dense black clouds split open, revealing a massive body wrapped in lightning and storm descending slowly from the sky.
“Phoenix of Eternity, Phoenix!” A golden sun suddenly burst through the dark clouds, its intense light surging like the moment of sunrise, a golden giant bird unfurled its wings from the sun, the sun’s radiance and the phoenix’s golden flames illuminating the surroundings, raining down golden flames like stars, dispelling the surrounding darkness.
“World Serpent, Hydra Ouroboros!” Emerald light surged like a torrent, covering the entire land; a gigantic snake wriggled out from below, with nine heads exhaling emerald mist, eighteen red eyes shining as they gazed towards the black dragon in the sky.
“N-No way—!!!??” Nanjō screamed in shock.
She felt an unprecedented powerful pressure emanating from these three contract beasts, an oppressive aura that was definitely not something fake could mimic.
So these legendary beasts that only existed in every esper’s tales from the past were real?
“W-What… exactly are you…” Nanjō felt her mouth tremble in fear.
“What are you afraid of? It’s not over yet~” The smile on Nagin’s face grew wider, her dark eyes radiating an unprecedented brilliance, the magical power emanating from her capable of covering the entire sky.
“Wh-What!?”
“Calamity that freezes all things, Leviathan!” The ocean surrounding the artificial academic island suddenly fell silent. The water’s surface began to freeze rapidly, the ice layer spreading swiftly, instantly freezing the entire ocean, with a massive crack erupting from the ice surface, a frost beast resembling a crocodile broke through the frozen sea, revealing its mountainous bulk, the frost scales reflecting a blue chill.
“Mother of the Earth, Gaia!” The ground beneath Nagin suddenly quaked violently, as if the planet’s pulse was beating, the ground cracked beneath her feet, revealing deep fissures glimmering with dark red magma, yet vibrant plant spores broke through the earth within the magma, vines sprawling, Gaia’s goddess-like form outlined by green leaves and flowers.
“Lord of Angels and Demons, Satan!”
“Guardian of Order, Amaterasu!”
“Guardian of the Underworld, Cerberus!”
…
With Nagin unleashing her full power.
Eleven uniquely-shaped fantasy beasts descended around her, each emanating magical power strong enough to shock heaven and earth, their ranks so high that, if it weren’t for Nanjō having formed a contract with Omega, she might have fainted on the spot.
“…..” Omega, witnessing this scene, seemed to fall silent as well.
The magical brilliance pulsating from the crystal on its chest didn’t know who to target.
“Well then, are you ready?” Nagin floated serenely in mid-air amid the whirlwind, smiling at Nanjō.
