To be honest, Rozen was furious.
Not for any other reason, but because of Altera's attitude.
He truly couldn't understand it.
"Just because of this, you've been hiding it all along? Was that really necessary?"
His words made Altera look straight at him.
"Don't you understand?" Altera restrained her emotions as she spoke: "I told you. I am the enemy of the world, the enemy of civilization, the enemy of humanity, the enemy of everything on this planet. I once even destroyed all that lived upon the earth. Do you truly not..."
Not care? Not fear me at all?
That was what Altera wanted to say.
However—
"Not care about what?" Rozen's voice grew sharp with resolve. "You already said all this nonsense long ago, didn't you?"
Altera was stunned into silence.
But it was the truth.
Thinking back—when Rozen first met Altera, the Giant God Altera sealed within the stone chamber had already said:
"I am neither a Heroic Spirit nor a hero. I cannot respond to your summons, nor can I help you save humanity. If anything, from your standpoint, I should be considered your enemy."
That was the fact Altera had bluntly revealed from their very first meeting.
Later, when Heroic Spirit Altera first manifested and forged the Absolute Contract with Rozen, before his very eyes—and even before Solomon, the King of Magic—she had declared:
"I—am the embodiment of destruction."
"I—am the invader of civilization."
"I—am the enemy of all that exists."
"I—am the calamity that ravages all and destroys everything."
This had always been Altera's definition of herself.
Even though she had hidden her true identity, she had never concealed her stance or her danger.
In other words, Altera had always been self-aware, always warning others of just how dangerous she was, that she was not one who could be approached lightly.
And in such a situation—
"Have you forgotten? It was knowing all that, that I still went to the sealed you within the stone chamber, and asked you to lend me your strength to repel a great enemy."
Rozen said it directly.
"I knew exactly how dangerous you were. And yet I asked for your help. I forged a contract with you."
"Given that, even now, do you still think that if I knew your true identity, I'd be afraid, I'd recoil, and I couldn't accept you anymore because of mere positions?"
"Are you stupid?"
Rozen couldn't hold back and cursed aloud.
"This..."
Altera was left speechless, staring blankly at Rozen as he berated her. Ripples stirred in her heart.
And Rozen kept on scolding.
"How many times do you think I've seen you trampling the earth as the White Giant in my dreams?"
"How many times do you think I've witnessed your terrible destruction with my own eyes?"
"How many people have warned me you're dangerous? How many times has your very presence sent chills into those who beheld you?"
"And I've seen all of it. I've felt all of it. I've understood clearly, without the slightest doubt, what your existence truly means."
"But have I ever once shown fear? Ever once shown terror? Even once regretted forging a contract with you, even in the slightest?"
Rozen didn't hold anything back. Without thinking, he simply unleashed everything that had built up in his heart.
"I was the one who begged you to lend me your strength. No matter the consequences, I'd bear them myself. So what are you worrying about?"
"You've helped me countless times up until now. And you think I'd reject you over something as trivial as a stance?"
"Think properly. Since our contract, how many worlds have we walked through together? How many years have we spent side by side?"
"As Master and Servant whose souls are bound together, we've shared at least forty or fifty years by now. Forty or fifty years—and in all that time, do you still not understand what kind of person I am?"
"If that's really the case, then I can only say one thing."
"Altera. Sefar. Spearhead of the Wandering Star. The White Giant feared by the gods of antiquity—you've truly wasted all your years of life."
Rozen's voice was scathing.
But in Altera's ears, every word pierced deeper than any blade.
As she recalled all the years spent with Rozen, Altera suddenly realized—she really had wasted much of it.
Just as Rozen said, after spending forty or fifty years together with him, how could she still not understand him?
She should have known long ago.
She should have realized—
"Enemy of the world, enemy of civilization, enemy of the planet, enemy of humanity—all of that has nothing to do with me."
Rozen declared.
"All I know is that you are my familiar, the Servant bound to my soul."
"Do you know what my Absolute Contract means?"
"Do you know what it means that you forged this contract with me, engraved your existence into my soul?"
"If you don't, then let me tell you."
Rozen fixed his gaze firmly on Altera.
"You no longer belong to the Wandering Star. Nor do you belong to the Huns."
"Listen carefully, Giant God Altera."
"You belong to me."
These words shook Altera's heart completely.
"I... belong to you..."
Of course, she understood what those words meant.
"Why would I fear from what is my own?"
"Why would I recoil from what is my own?"
"You are a being who can never disobey my command, aren't you? Then what is there for me to fear? To dread?"
"Or is it that you think, because of the sins you once committed, I would reject you? Loathe you?"
"Do you really take me for some savior? Do you really think I'm a saint?"
"After all these years, you should know better. I would never reject you, never despise you, because of what you once did."
"Do you understand?"
Rozen's words made Altera bite her lip hard.
In her ruby-like eyes, tears finally welled up.
Seeing this, Rozen instead smiled.
Then he turned his back.
"You said it yourself—you are my weapon. How I use you is up to me, isn't it?"
Rozen spoke firmly.
"Then I'll tell you this: I see you as a friend, as a comrade, and as a partner bound to me for life."
"So stop treating yourself like something expendable."
"Like that War God's Sword in your hand—you've already been taken by me, merged with my very being."
"Therefore, you are my sword, my scourge of god, my trump card."
"Never forget that."
Leaving those words behind, Rozen, carrying the barrier of radiance, soared into the heavens.
His target—Tiamat.