Chapter: 90. The Contract with the End
“Still as chaotic as ever… Nagi-On…”
Nagi-On is already dead.
Even if just for a fleeting moment, her death is a fact.
Before she died, the entity she resonated with through the power of the stars was the soul of Nagi-Shadow, which she herself had shaped.
In the original world of “Star Draw,” the power of stars always manifests on one side; there is no scenario of star pupil vs. star pupil. Even if achieved by exploiting game bugs, due to the coding logic of the game’s foundation, it is impossible for the resonance of one star wielding the power of stars to resonate with the soul of another star’s power holder.
But in reality, this can be achieved.
Nanjo resonated with the Nagi-Shadow that resonated with Nagi-On, and with Nagi-On’s death, her power of stars was released. However, Nagi-Shadow, a soul that should not exist in this world, permanently stayed within Nanjo’s body.
At this moment, the living Nanjo became the subject of the end, while the deceased Nagi-On turned into fragments of the remnants of the end within her body.
Just like how, back in Kawano City, Nagi-On had absorbed the fragments from Amane through her own entity of the end.
With Nagi-On’s death, the fragments within her soul were also reclaimed by the end—
“This… this is—” Nanjo realized immediately after the resonance that she had been tricked.
Though she didn’t know exactly what Nagi-On was plotting, she knew she had to stop the power of the stars immediately.
However, she couldn’t do it; her body seemed to have lost control.
Even her consciousness began to gradually descend into a bottomless dark abyss.
Just before being completely engulfed by darkness, a girl’s voice echoed in her ears:
“I’m sorry~ Although you are a victim of deception, for now, your soul and body temporarily belong to me~”
Nanjo recognized this was her own voice.
Since “I” was speaking to myself, then who am I—
Cognitive distortion.
Nanjo’s existence was entirely suppressed within the darkness of consciousness.
In the next moment, Nanjo, no, the End Nagi-Shadow raised her eyes, shimmering with violet-black star pupils, gazing at Nagi-On, who was receiving rebirth through golden flames in a frozen state.
“I didn’t expect it to actually work… I must say, I’m impressed, little Nagi-On; ah, or perhaps I should call you the Elemental Sovereign instead?”
The End Nagi-Shadow wore a relaxed smile, seemingly unfazed by the fact that Nagi-On had tricked her through this underhanded method.
“After all, this gamble also risks my life…” under the influence of the dual powers of Leviathan and Phoenix.
The ice pillar shattered.
Nagi-On maintained the appearance of a young girl, gracefully descending amidst the gentle breeze.
The “Flame of Rebirth” from Phoenix could allow all non-fatal injuries to heal rapidly.
Leviathan’s “Eternal Freeze” could lock the current state of the target, which was very intuitive in the original game of “Star Draw.”
That is, when the target under the power of the ruling ability dies, it would return to the battlefield in a “living” state with 1 health locked.
When applied to teammates, it is a straightforward resurrection; when applied to enemies, it can prevent them from dying due to unexpected random rolls from oneself, thus missing out on items that could be stolen from them, or act as a ‘mercy’ when wanting to contract with them, increasing the success and tolerance rates of forced contracts.
The combination of the two represented one of the evil constructs discovered by Nagi-On as a player of the underhanded path—
As long as her magical power is not exhausted, neither instant death attacks nor accumulated damage can kill her.
Magic points serve as her second life.
“Even if they have betrayed you, would you still trust them unconditionally once again?” The End Nagi-Shadow spoke while lifting her head, looking at the fantasy beasts such as Garuda floating in the air.
At this moment, the fantasy beasts like Garuda had lost their contract relationship with Nagi-On; each of them was an independent fantasy beast, existing solely due to the magical power that Nagi-On had injected into them at the last moment.
Garuda, locking gazes with the End Nagi-Shadow, seemed to hold some profound meaning in its eyes.
Their gazes seemed to communicate silently.
In the end, it was the End Nagi-Shadow who averted her gaze first, returning her attention to Nagi-On.
At this point, Nagi-On, having completely lost the power of her contract beast, was just an ordinary 7-year-old girl.
Resurrected in a moment of life and death, she now knelt on the ground, slightly out of breath.
The magical energy from the End Nagi-Shadow or the pressure from the massive body of Omega was making it hard for Nagi-On to cope.
“I… trust them even more than I trust you…”
“That truly saddens me; clearly, I am your most loyal contract beast.” The End Nagi-Shadow said as she walked toward Nagi-On.
Garuda, suspended high above, immediately reacted, its wings fluttering slightly, unleashing countless storm winds mixed with lightning as sharp wind blades shooting towards the End Nagi-Shadow, seemingly wanting to prevent her from approaching Nagi-On.
But Omega also moved at the same moment, its immense body enveloped in a purple light, surrounding the End Nagi-Shadow.
Unlike before with Nanjo, the End Nagi-Shadow was not some inept contractor; rather, as Nagi-On’s contract beast, she fully grasped Nagi-On’s combat patterns regarding contract beasts.
Fantasy Armament.
Omega transformed into a magnificent suit of black armor covering the End Nagi-Shadow.
Its surface gleamed with purple scales, instantly dissipating the incoming wind blades.
In this moment, the final bosses of “Star Draw 1” and “Star Draw 2” merged into one.
This was a form that had not appeared even within the original game.
The fusion caused intense fluctuations in the space they occupied.
The realm of Amaterasu, as well as the storm realm of Garuda, was swallowed and rapidly disintegrated by another powerful force—
The dark clouds that had shrouded above vanished in an instant.
Replaced by a starlit night sky.
But surprisingly, this sky had an ominous purple-black hue, and the countless stars flickered with a purple brilliance, appearing both eerie and enchanting.
[Realm of the Stars]
This marked the first time the power of the stars transformed into a complete realm.
Had it been the old Nagi-On, she would surely have noticed the connection between the End and Omega, which must exist under a worldview that had not been displayed in “Star Draw.”
However, her attention was entirely focused on the End Nagi-Shadow before her.
“What this child just said is not a lie; you and I are both rejected existences in this world.”
“Have you forgotten? The one who fought alongside you until the very last second was not Garuda, not Phoenix, but me.”
“They betrayed you at the final moment too; otherwise, do you think that with this combination of powers, Circlet SEMA and the three major academies could have killed us?”
“… No, no, that’s not it…” Nagi-On shook her head vigorously, as if desperate to drive away the End Nagi-Shadow’s words from her mind.
But the more unwilling she was to accept this notion, the more her mind would recall that memory.
Perhaps because of just being revived, Nagi-On felt her memories were in chaos, the last memories of her previous life flashing before her as fragmented images.
What she saw was Garuda stirring up the storm to confront the End.
“That’s also one of the reasons why Garuda and the others can influence your memories, right?” The End Nagi-Shadow maintained a teasing tone, looking up as if seeking Garuda’s approval.
“No, ultimately, perhaps it’s because you corrupted me… so they had no choice but to deal with you by killing me…” Nagi-On struggled to cling to her final will and voiced her opinion.
“A very reasonable self-deceiving explanation, but there is a significant flaw—”
“If I had truly completely corrupted your soul back then, then the one who would become the Star Palace Nagi-On would be me, not you.” The End Nagi-Shadow’s response left Nagi-On without a retort.
The corruption of the End began when she attempted to shape “Nagi-Shadow” using the power of stars and exploited bugs to create starlight.
There is plenty of evidence supporting this statement.
At this moment, maintaining the 7-year-old form of herself, using magic would not hasten the corruption, which is the best proof.
Everything Nagi-On had experienced, along with the memories that flashed back, seemed to continuously prove that what Nanjo and the End Nagi-Shadow said was indeed the truth.
She found no points of contradiction.
“Admit it, the world you love does not love you.”
“Rather, everyone believes that if this world did not have the Elemental Sovereign, it would be a better place.”
“No, no, no, no…” At this moment, Nagi-On, besides endlessly denying the End Nagi-Shadow’s assertions, could find no other reason to refute them.
In the end, Nagi-On could only helplessly look up at the sky.
There, was the first fantasy beast she contracted with after coming to this world—
“Garuda! Tell me, this isn’t true, right—”
“……”
Garuda did not respond.
“Liar… Phoenix! Answer me—”
“……”
“Leviathan—”
“……”
“Hydra—”
“……”
…..
Nagi-On’s last plea received no response from her former contract beasts.
“….. Why, clearly I…” Nagi-On collapsed back to her knees as if she had lost all strength.
—Could it be that all of this was just a delusion of my own making?
—What savior… what Elemental Sovereign…
—In the end, I was just a player wanting to verify my own underhanded playstyle in the real world…
—This world does not need me… does not need any Elemental Sovereign… does not need any savior…
Nagi-On felt her vision becoming hazy.
Her eyes grew heavy and moist. Was it because a young child finds it difficult to control their tear ducts?
Nagi-On had already forgotten when the last time was that she cried out of isolation and helplessness.
But at this moment, her eyes uncontrollably filled with tears.
Turns out, from the very beginning, I have not had a true place in this world—
“—You do.”
“Huh?” Nagi-On looked up in surprise at the End Nagi-Shadow standing before her.
The latter extended a hand toward the kneeling Nagi-On—
“Let’s sign a contract again, this time it will not be a one-sided forced signing, but a true contract—”
“Let’s join forces once more. This time, I will certainly fulfill your wishes—” The End Nagi-Shadow smiled gently.
“I, I…..”
Nagi-On stared blankly at the outstretched hand.
A teardrop slid down her cheek, eventually dropping onto the ground—
Drip.
I want to—
「Hold her hand」
「Hold her▍▍」
「▍▍▍▍」
「▍▍▍▍」
Crack—
That was the sound of the realm shattering.
“Tsk.” The first to react was the End Nagi-Shadow.
In the next instant.
The realm of stars trembled violently, the night sky dotted with stars was forcefully torn apart.
From the other end of the crack came the roaring of beasts, carrying a momentum that threatened to tear apart heaven and earth, resonating throughout every corner of the realm.
