Chapter: 178. The Girl Meets the Boy (Part 2)
“I… always thought that Konagi was a flawless girl, an angel like the sun, bringing warmth and light to everything around her, but that was just my one-sided idea, an escape from… I simply wanted to interpret the happiness Konagi brought me as ‘accepting the sunlight’ as if it were taken for granted.”
“Konagi has never shown me any negative emotions, always guiding and infecting me with her cheerful and optimistic attitude—” Kanade said, placing her hand on her chest, confessing with guilt and shame, “and now I finally understand—”
“It’s not that Konagi is a perfect girl.”
“It’s that Konagi has always played the role of a perfect girl in front of me, hiding all her not-so-good sides and showing only her best side to me.”
“I, this foolish and naïve idiot, have never realized the pain that you, Konagi, have been carrying.”
“I’ve always said that I wanted to share your pain, yet I remained comfortably within the safe circle you’ve built—”
……
……
The softest string in Nagi’s heart was touched by Kanade’s words.
However, she still wanted to effortfully maintain the expression on her face.
At that moment, she didn’t even know what she wanted to conceal; every word Kanade spoke made sense, especially the last sentence.
Even if everything existed in misunderstanding and misinterpretation, the ability wouldn’t lie.
That night at Ark Academy, when Kanade tore through the domain of the End and Omega to come save her, she had already rewritten “the End” once; the ability had granted her the power to become “the nemesis of the End.”
Even though this power wouldn’t affect the contracted beast of the “target,” just like that night when Omega, as the contracted beast of the End, still managed to stop Kanade and successfully took the End Nagi away from Ark Academy.
But if she truly were controlled by the End, then Kanade would still be able to instinctively judge that the being before him was prey meant for him, and should gain tremendous power from the ensuing battle—
And she, through one reincarnation after another, overlooked the most important point due to the emotional blows she faced and focusing on nurturing Kanade.
—After all, doesn’t everyone who wishes to wash their hands of the gold dish become careless in the final task?
Nagi half-evadedly mused in her heart.
At this moment, she didn’t know how she should react.
Since her impersonation of the End had been discovered, following this crack, her past series of actions would be scrutinized for oddities.
She once heard a saying that the more meticulously designed and comprehensive a plan is, the more fragile and prone to failure it becomes.
Nagi had invested too much effort into the plan she made with Karura and the other contracted beasts; every detail from her childhood to her growth had been carefully designed, so when one aspect drew unwarranted attention, this carefully constructed, wobbling Tower of Babel completely collapsed in an instant.
“So, Konagi, you don’t need to bear everything alone anymore!”
Kanade said as he reached out his hand toward Nagi.
“This time, I will definitely share all the pain you bear! No matter what difficulties arise, as long as we are together, we can overcome them—”
“… Kanade-kun.” Upon hearing this, Nagi felt her vision blur.
At that moment, she desperately wished to accept the boy before her.
In this cruel world, there was no reason for her to bear it all alone.
To save this world didn’t have to require a plan of “regret for a lifetime.”
Exactly.
Why must she be fixated on this plan?
Previously, she was merely afraid that Kanade would hate her after discovering everything and would distance himself from her.
But if Kanade were to accept this version of her and be willing to join forces with her…
Her strength combined with the power Kanade had rewritten.
They could definitely save this wretched world.
Nagi’s body, suspended in mid-air, moved; though it was a subtle movement, in Kanade’s eyes, it seemed like a form of redemption.
A breeze of unknown origin carried Nagi’s body, slowly drifting toward Kanade.
The dark purple starlight flickering in her eyes illuminated the young man who loved her before her; everything was like a fairy tale, about to reach a happy ending—dark purple light?
As the two were clearly within reach, Nagi suddenly froze.
A torrent of thoughts surged in her mind—
Why had she just had such a notion?
Why did she feel that as long as she abandoned the “regret for a lifetime” plan, they would surely achieve a happy ending?
In the wretched game “Star Convergence,” in a worldview where only pain and hatred could bring power, could happiness truly lead to a happy ending?
Nagi felt as if her brain had skipped all thought processes, with someone inserting the final result into her mind, disguising it as her own conclusion.
And at this moment, the only one who could do such a thing was—
The End.
Nagi abruptly withdrew her hand that was about to reach out.
……
……
Nagi’s final hesitation.
However, in Kanade’s eyes, it was a misunderstanding.
He thought it meant that Nagi hadn’t yet put her heart down and would bear it all alongside him.
So he instinctively pressed on.
“Konagi, you… you are actually the Elemental Sovereign who once saved this world, right?”
If Kanade’s previous speculations had decisive evidence, then this next statement was a combination of all the clues he had grasped.
In the past, the Elemental Sovereign was undoubtedly the true protagonist of this world, the target that the fantasy monsters wanted to eradicate, and now, the special ring SEMA had once again decrypted the name “Hoshimiya Nagi” on the so-called “Book of Futures.” Although there was a possibility that Nagi was the new protagonist, it was clear that another explanation was more convincing—
Hoshimiya Nagi is the Elemental Sovereign.
If one accepted this assertion, then many other difficult-to-explain aspects would make sense.
For example, why Nagi had such immense power, and so on…
The meaning behind Kanade’s words was to convey to himself.
Even if she is the Elemental Sovereign, the savior she is destined to be, he is still willing to share these risks with her.
His love for her was that profound.
But in Nagi’s ears.
The moment she heard the term Elemental Sovereign, what flashed in her mind were the words the End had said to her in the past—
Everything she had done in her previous life, the so-called savior, was merely a show.
Her true goal wasn’t to save the world, but to destroy it—
At this moment.
Nagi finally understood why the End wanted her to accept Kanade, to accept the idea of working together to save the world.
So, in the final critical moment.
Nagi did not grasp the hand Kanade extended but silently lifted the long spear made of golden flames—
Aimed at the first boy she liked in her life, and the last one she would ever like.
In this stage’s conclusion, there was only one—
