Chapter: 126. The Truth of Betrayal
(“The soul is the most primordial existence in this world…”)
(“Hoshimiya Nagi is a preemie who should never have survived, yet she miraculously lived through the intensive care unit…”)
(“In the original work ‘Hoshiyuki 2’, the male protagonist ‘Tsukimi Kanade’ and the female protagonist ‘Hoshimiya Nagi’ do not appear together…”)
……
……
Nagi’s mind was flooded with important information she had previously overlooked, as a vague memory seemed to break free from some restraint and suddenly appeared before her—
It was a grand altar, and the ritual had begun. One of the altar’s two spires flickered with a purple-black light, shining brilliantly.
However, the other spire remained dull and lifeless.
Countless attacks surged forth, and the intense impact interrupted the progression of the ritual, preventing another entity from being successfully summoned.
The black great dragon sprayed its breath rampantly, countering the approaching enemies, while purple rays streaked across the sky, erasing everything they touched, making it disappear without a trace.
“Master, are you okay?!” Garuda suddenly leaped out from the folds of space, positioning itself between Nagi and the enemy.
Its massive wings spread wide, unleashing a tremendous storm, strong air currents slicing through the successive attacks one by one.
The wind whistled like a blade, and in the memory, her clothes were lifted by the gusts, smeared with bright red blood.
While the golden flames continuously attempted to heal her body, an equal force of corrosion ravaged her wounds, and the regenerative flames were targeted by the opponent.
Her body gradually lost strength, and her vision began to blur.
Before collapsing to the ground, her gaze fell on the altar below, where a sea of corpses spread across the landscape like a desolate wasteland, bodies piled high, blood staining the ground red.
For the opponent, this was a bloody battle with no way out.
It seemed they were exerting all their effort just to block her.
“…Is this where it ends?” She coughed up a mouthful of black blood, froth spilling from her lips.
As she slowly raised her hand, thirteen different magical auras danced in her palm, a result of her innate abilities and the power granted through her contract with twelve fantasy monsters.
Thirteen powers, thirteen authorities, thirteen blessings.
“Even if I have come this far, I still can’t… change this world…”
The opponent drained their remaining energy, sacrificing everything they had, launching an attack like a torrent, ripping apart her unfolding domain at an unbearable cost.
The fantasy monsters she summoned fell one by one, strong beings gradually succumbing under the will of the world.
The only defense remaining between her and her enemy was Garuda.
“I’m really not reconciled to this; I didn’t expect to lose at the final step.” Her gaze passed over Garuda’s figure, landing on the spire that had yet to shine.
“Clearly, I’ve already gathered the initial priestess and the end, just missing the last step… If I could summon Alpha…”
Her eyelids began to feel heavy, and the magical glow in her eyes gradually dimmed.
……
……
“Garuda, I have a way to transfer the light.”
“The end… The plan has already failed, even if the Master could miraculously escape, this world will not let him go.”
“Then let the light ‘die’ before them—just sending away the soul.”
“Do you think humans and fantasy monsters won’t notice? The world will assist them in locking onto the Master’s position…”
“—I will erode the soul of the light, temporarily altering its memory and cognition, causing the world to lose track of the target.”
“But by doing so, the end you will—”
“In order to avoid being locked onto by the world, I will eliminate the ‘ego,’ so you must guide the light to collect my fragments, allowing me to descend again and return everything to the light to continue this plan.”
“—Kill us, Garuda, this is the last opportunity.”
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Loki did not let go of the flaw exposed by Nagi’s hesitation.
He raised the staff in his hand, and a new domain began to expand centered around Nagi, seven colorful jewels revolving around the staff emitted brilliant light, dazzling intensely.
Nidhogg also moved, its massive bony jaws opened, breathing a torrent mixed with dragon and underworld power that quickly took shape, aimed directly at Nagi’s slender frame. Although she was an incredibly powerful protagonist, her physical strength was that of an ordinary human; there was no being that could survive under a dragon’s breath.
However, at the moment they initiated their attack, several pre-set domains took effect—
The Flower of Mirrors suddenly appeared before Nagi, a power from the contract beast “Amaterasu,” capable of folding space.
The space containing Loki and Nidhogg’s attacks was locked and folded into a new dimension, and while enough power could break through this space, the power from the contract beast “Leviathan” firmly froze the already folded space.
This prevented the full-on assaults from the two fantasy monsters from breaking through the immovable space.
“Tsk, this combination of thirteen blessings is really troublesome!” Naga frowned and couldn’t help but murmur.
On the other side of the spatial defense—
Brilliant magical light accompanied by pure white feathers appeared out of nowhere, and Garuda was once again summoned from Nagi’s soul.
“Garuda… you betrayed the end? Betrayed everyone… me?” Nagi recalled the last moments before her previous life’s death from the broken memories.
After her previous life ended, her soul was injected into “Hoshimiya Nagi,” who should not have been alive due to the authority of the end’s star.
In her reincarnated state, she lost part of her memory and awareness due to the influence of the end, and Garuda was supposed to guide her to collect the fragments of the end after her awakening—
“…Um, I don’t intend to argue; this is the fact.” The white-haired young Garuda floated beside Nagi and replied gently. Based on Nagi’s expression, he already knew she had recalled part of her previous life.
“…Why? Why does Garuda wish for me to eliminate the invasion of the end…?”
“Because I… wish for you to let go of everything from the past, to live as an ordinary person and lead a simple, happy life.” Garuda and Nagi locked eyes.
His gaze was so resolute, as if he bore no regret for his decision.
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Beneath the clouds, at the Infinite Academy.
The colors of the entire world seemed to be stripped away, turning into a lifeless gray canvas.
Countless halos floated in mid-air, and numerous fantasy monsters poured like raindrops from the sky, landing on the artificial island below.
These fantasy monsters were nearly insignificant in the face of the protagonist’s top-tier combat power, so Loki commanded them to undertake infinite orders to deal with the ordinary ability users on the island.
While under normal circumstances, those ability users on the island could hardly resist the power of the infinity domain, as the infinite domain was enough to turn them into lambs waiting to be slaughtered, the infinite alone was sufficient to kill them all.
But as Loki had mentioned before, at this very moment, there was a fantasy monster of rank and power surpassing the infinite within the Infinite Academy—
“Is this the fantasy monster Tsukimi Kanade mentioned?” The sound of Kurokawa’s footsteps echoed in the quiet campus.
Unlike the previous training grounds at Ark Academy, Kurokawa was accompanied by Midelash this time.
Upon realizing the domain’s expansion, Kurokawa quickly brought Midelash towards the source of the disturbance. As long as Midelash was by his side, he could ignore the influence of the domain and act normally.
“Ah, found another strange guy who can move~” “But he looks like he’s just a small fry~” “Small fry, small fry” “Let your life be the opening ceremony for this massacre, small fry”…
The infinite noticed Kurokawa and Midelash, who had color in this gray world, approaching and couldn’t help but let out a mocking laugh.
Immediately, he released countless light particles that floated in the air, containing unimaginably great energy.
In the next second, these light particles transformed into beams of light, rushing toward Kurokawa at nearly the speed of light.
However, the latter was evidently well-prepared.
Kurokawa’s gaze was cold, a dazzling magical light flickered in his eyes, and his voice was frosty, piercing through the air: “Midelash, dispel the seal and let me consume him.”
Before his words fell, Midelash’s eyes instantly erupted with blazing red light, and her entire small and adorable body seemed to be torn apart by some unseen force.
Gray meat chunks continuously wriggled in the place where Midelash’s original physique was located, twisting and distorting, and even her typically adorable hair began to swell and deform, as if breaking free from some constraint.
Just as those magical light particles were about to touch Kurokawa, an anomaly occurred.
The particles were suddenly obscured by an invisible mosaic, becoming blurred and unstable, seeming to pass through Kurokawa’s body, yet as if they hadn’t truly hit him, all attacks and noises were distorted and concealed, turning into incomprehensible phantoms.
Not just the light particles rushing towards Kurokawa, centered around Midelash, the entire domain began to expand at an astonishing speed.
The originally clear scene began to warp, as if coated with layers of overlapping filters, gradually losing its definition of reality.
Every corner of the campus, even every detail, was consumed by this chaotic force, becoming blurry and confusing; “chaos” became the master of it all.
Even the essence and function of powers and blessings lost all meaning in that moment.
Within this domain, the order of all things ceased to exist, and the originally stable laws twisted into a vague chaos.
All ability users on the island simultaneously regained their colors in that instant, free from the bondage of frozen time.
Kurokawa’s face was solemn as he coldly stated, “The last time you didn’t take the chance to kill me when Midelash was away, was your biggest mistake.”
“Tsk! You’re just a small fry of a human! How dare you speak to me like that!” “Right! You small fry, small fry!”…
The infinite’s voice was filled with anger and disdain.
However, the halos that should have been suspended in the air, under this chaos, even their positions became ambiguous, as if they had always existed closer to the ground, and their forms and numbers became chaotic and indistinct, resembling countless entities or perhaps just one.
“Make him disappear from this world, Midelash—no, Nyarlathotep.” Kurokawa did not wish to waste more words with the opponent but issued a cold command to Midelash, who had already reverted to her original form beside him.
With his command, powerful magic surged like a storm, raising colossal waves that shook the enemies.
Midelash’s original form had evaporated, her shape becoming even more twisted; the gray meat chunks ultimately transformed into a towering flesh form, while the tuft of hair atop her head morphed into a long tentacle that reached the ground. An indescribable monster descended upon the island, exuding an oppressive aura that was difficult to behold.
This was Midelash’s true identity.
A fantasy monster descending from the “Cthulhu Mythos,” an outer god who commands chaos and madness, the bearer of chaos authority—Nyarlathotep, threat level ??, divine rank species.
