By now, everyone knew it.
The end of this long, long play was drawing near.
The first sign came with a single sound like glass shattering.
Crack!
"Huh, what?"
"That's... no way, that barrier from before?"
A transparent, thin wall-like thing shattered and collapsed in front of the giant's body.
From the circumstances, everyone could tell it was the barrier that had once blocked Bell Cranel's dazzling final blow.
But why had it suddenly broken?
As if to answer that question, the Magus's voice rang out from the air.
"Well done, Lili."
It was in praise of the efforts of two people who were not here now.
And at last, it was the tolling of the bell that announced the beginning of the final despair and trial.
"You are free now, Keter Malkuth."
No sooner had those words ended than the giant's body began to glow a vivid red.
White steam burst violently from every gap in that heated, massive frame.
Then came the strange, thunderous heartbeat from the magic stone core near its chest.
Thump!
-KROOOOOOOO!
As if affected by it, the giant let out its loudest roar yet, as though it were exploding from its mouth.
It was the joy of finally obtaining true birth and freedom.
At the same time, it was the death cry of sorrow for its own life, now rapidly dwindling in real time.
"Rejoice, all of you. At last, the final trial. I sincerely admire how you've managed to survive until now."
Amid that, the Magus made his promise.
That this was the end.
That once they got past this, all this hardship and nuisance would be over.
But precisely because of that,
"Still... to end with only this much would be rude to our long-awaited 'audience.'"
The despair before them was higher and harsher than ever.
"Now then, let's begin the real 'war'!"
It would become danger itself.
Thud... Crash!
"Aah!"
"W-what is it?!"
The giant rampaged again.
But this time, something was different.
Its enormous hands and feet no longer targeted only the terrain near its feet as they had before.
This time, more directly.
More decisively.
It began clearly targeting the humans beneath it with its own hands and feet, crushing and swatting them.
It was an obvious change in pattern to anyone watching.
"Damn it! Didn't that thing say it couldn't 'directly' touch us?!"
Until just now, the giant's hands and feet had always been limited to nearby terrain.
It rarely targeted people directly.
Even those few times, it had only been to shove or brush them aside.
Even that had already been proven by Bell Cranel's own body to be extremely dangerous for ordinary adventurers, but it still looked far better than this.
At least back then, it hadn't been trying to stomp and crush people underfoot.
That was an act filled with unmistakable murderous intent.
While everyone was shocked by that, Daphne alone spoke as if it were obvious.
"That bastard said it earlier, didn't he? The 'controller' was broken."
"W-what about it?"
"In other words, that thing is basically a runaway colt right now. It's not being controlled directly anymore. Which means even that counts as an 'accident,' I guess."
"T-then...!"
"Just like he said. Up until now, he'd been holding back because of his promise with the Guild. From here on out, he's probably really going to..."
They might have to risk their lives.
Seeing her pale, tense face drenched in cold sweat, the others also went white.
But whether they were shocked or not,
the giant attacked faster and harder.
-KROOOOOOO!
It bared its murderous intent without hesitation.
Even those who had been watching safely as spectators were shaken by it.
The old god and his longtime companion were no different.
"Ouranos, the situation has reached this point. And you still intend to keep watching?"
"Hmm..."
"Ouranos!"
"...Fels, where are Ganesha's children currently controlling the perimeter around the battlefield?"
At the old god's question, the shadow, Fels, fell silent for a moment.
Then, after thinking it through, a heavy groan escaped her lips.
"Indeed, this is tight. Honestly, I don't even know whether Ganesha's adventurers could rush out on their own and intervene there in time."
"He must have factored even that in."
That was confirmation enough.
The Magus had predicted and planned for the situation to reach this point from the very beginning.
In a sense, it was practically a fraudulent contract.
"For now, hurry and contact Ganesha Familia and move them as close to the battlefield as possible. In the worst case, even a first-class adventurer like Ankusha, the Staff of the Gods, should be able to buy some time."
"Even so, sacrifices will definitely happen. It's late to say this now, but... honestly, I'm worried he may have calculated that too."
"It can't be helped."
But that was not what mattered to the two of them right now.
What they had to do now was bring this to a favorable end before any greater damage occurred.
Especially now that things had gone this far, trusting the Magus completely afterward would be absolutely impossible.
They would need countermeasures for that as well.
"Ouranos, can we really control him?"
"It seems unlikely."
"Then...!"
"Besides, that was never our role to begin with."
"Hmm?"
To Fels's anxious worry, the old god simply answered with a solemn, expressionless face.
Only a meaningful reply.
It felt almost like hearing a prophecy from myth long ago.
"In any case, I shall depart first."
Whatever the meaning behind those words, it was not important right now.
Just as Fels was about to set off,
"Hm?"
"Oh?"
Something changed beyond the remote view.
No.
Perhaps this too had been a development foreordained long ago.
Slash!
Thud!
-WOOOOOOO!
The giant's hand, which had been merrily smashing Apollo Familia, had a portion of it cleanly cut off and dropped away.
And just like before, it quickly recovered and returned to normal.
Up to this point, it was no different from the repetitive scene they had just seen.
So there was nothing especially surprising about it.
Nothing that should have reversed the mood of the battlefield.
And yet,
this time, it was definitely different.
"Bell... Cranel?!"
"It's the Little Rookie!"
"The Little Rookie's back!"
The young adventurer with snow-white hair.
The Little Rookie, Bell Cranel.
He had clearly been retired earlier after taking a direct hit from the giant's attack.
Everyone had watched that scene, that outcome, live and in full.
And for some reason, after going berserk in a chaotic frenzy, unable to tell friend from foe,
he had rampaged like a beast and been forcibly knocked out of the battlefield by the masked elf swordswoman who was his comrade.
After that, only the elf swordswoman had returned to the battlefield, so everyone had thought he was no longer able to fight.
But now he had returned.
He had even thrown away the hideous skull mask that had hidden his youthful yet somehow resolute face.
The hope of the battlefield had returned here once more.
"He's not going to go berserk like before again, is he?"
"W-who knows? At least from the outside, he looks fine..."
As everyone was thrown into confusion by his return, filled with doubt and anxiety, hope and relief,
"You've come?"
The Magus welcomed him.
The emotion in that voice was unmistakably relief and anticipation.
"Honestly. If this weren't such a situation, I'd have several things I'd want to ask you. How you managed to break free of the Hollowfication rampage on your own, what exactly happened inside, and so on."
"But before that, one last question."
"Even though he's already beyond my control, depending on your answer, I can still lend my strength in my own way. I promise you that sincerely. The damage will be limited to them alone. I'll take my fair share of blood price and end it there."
"So choose."
"Life or Dead?"
-KROOOOOOOOO!
It was the final question of a binary choice.
The last option.
To that, Bell Cranel...
"Hoo."
He took one deep breath.
Then he settled into a familiar stance.
"Ander... no, Magus."
With a face filled with more resolve than ever before.
With a smile brighter and happier than ever before.
"Please tell me your name."
"Huh?"
"If we win, please tell us your name."
He made an offer no one had expected.
So unexpected that even the Magus himself could not hide his momentary bewilderment.
Bell's proposal was that surprising, that incomprehensible.
And naturally, while the Magus was still unable to answer right away,
"Then I'll take that as your acceptance..."
"N-no, wait! What on earth are you even saying...!"
"Here I go!"
Tap!
Bell Cranel moved.
Like a loosed arrow.
No, like a streak of white light.
The boy of possibility dashed forward more energetically than ever before.
The Magus watching him still had no idea what was going on, but
"...Fine. Whatever."
It was already beyond my hands anyway.
With a dumbfounded laugh, he stepped back.
From here on out, it was their own domain alone.
There was no room left for a loser like him to interfere.
What awaited the charging boy, naturally, was the giant, Keter Malkuth.
The earth giant, its body reddened by the power surging and boiling through every part of it, began to entertain him in place of its creator.
Now, with its reins finally loosed, it stretched out its arm to finish him off completely.
In the hand at the end of that arm was the familiar black obsidian greatsword.
-WOOOOOOOOOO!
Bang!
"Little Rookie!"
It landed perfectly.
Everyone watching thought so and felt sorrow.
They screamed and shut their eyes tight, turning away from the reality before them.
But—
Tap!
-Kro?
Reality defied everyone's expectations.
The boy who had been there a moment ago was no longer there.
His feet were already running forward.
As he burst through the haze of dust, everyone could not help but gasp at his back.
-KROOOOOOOO!
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The giant swung its greatsword again at the boy.
But it was useless.
The boy's body, now even faster than before, skillfully evaded every single sword strike.
He advanced through the storm of slashes and swirling sand.
Like a swallow flying through the open sky, the boy rode the wind and sprinted onward.
Faster, and farther forward!
"'Remember. Think. And recall.'"
In the inner world.
From that mysterious space, Caster had told the boy.
That the hints had all been given from the very beginning.
"'The legs. That ridiculous imitation giant draws infinite power and endlessly revives through its legs. So target the legs first. That is the first start.'"
Advice worth its weight in gold.
But for Bell Cranel, that was clearly impossible.
Of course, with the technique he had newly learned, he might have been able to destroy a section like that, but it would take too long.
There were far too many obstacles in the way.
That would be too late.
So then.
"Ryuuuuuuu!"
He had a comrade.
"Cranel-san?"
"The leg! Please break the leg!"
The boy's sudden cry.
But Ryuu could also sense the desperation and seriousness behind it.
So she immediately understood the meaning behind his shout.
"With my magic... understood."
At the boy's command, Ryuu circulated the mana within her body and began preparing her chant.
She had only one chance left.
"My mana's running on fumes. One strike!"
Thud!
"Cranel-san!"
Right then.
Once again, the giant's calamity-like foot kicked the boy.
This time it was different from before.
Unlike the earlier one, which had still held a shred of mercy, this kick was meant to truly smash and crush his body.
As everyone looked on in shock once more,
"Ku, gh..."
The boy also showed a completely different reaction from before.
At first glance, he did not seem badly injured.
Most likely, his organs had been damaged by the impact he had not fully dissipated.
Even so, unlike before, he was outwardly unharmed for now.
More than that, he had not been sent flying far away like before.
Instead, he endured.
Clinging to the giant's foot, he let part of that massive force flow away and braced himself.
As if to say that something like this was nowhere near enough.
"Not... yet...!"
He spat out his stubborn will, pulled himself in, and sprang upward.
Then he sprinted across the giant's body again.
-WOOOOOOOOOO!
His sheer tenacity was like that of a leech.
The giant's shallow intelligence was thrown into confusion by this completely different response from before.
The newborn, thin self within it kept raising questions.
What was it?
What was it that let such a weak existence survive?
What was it that had brought him this far?
What was it...?
-GROOOOOOOO!
Bang!
It waved its hand as if swatting away a fly.
It slapped and scraped at its own body.
But it was useless.
This boy... this boy, changed from before, would not give up at that level.
He could not be stopped.
Such a careless response would never halt his charge.
Then—
-KOOOOO!
It had no choice but to face him with a stronger response!
-KROOOOOOOOO!
Bang!
"Huh?"
"Th-that..."
The giant's self had already finished learning.
So it had another option for response.
The very first one.
The one that, under the Magus's orders, had brought Apollo Familia its first taste of despair.
"It's jumping!"
"N-no, don't! It's dangerous, Little Rookie!"
With its powerful leap, the giant sprang high again.
As that calamity began anew, the tiny mortals beneath its feet desperately tried to flee.
Bell Cranel, too, stopped his sprint for a moment and clung desperately to the massive body just like them.
Then the two selves, the two gazes, met.
-U...!
"This is...!"
Before their staring contest could even be decided, the giant's body rapidly dropped back to the ground.
Then came the enormous impact.
KWAAAANG!
"Ugh!"
"Aaaagh!"
"Damn it! Hold on! Everyone, hold onnnnn!"
The ground was shaken into chaos once more, creating countless injuries.
And yet, the fact that not a single person had died this time was truly astonishing.
But no one here had noticed that yet.
"W-where's the giant?!"
"What happened to the Little Rookie?"
Amid everyone's confusion, the answer came from far away.
Bang!
-KROOOOOOOO!
Emerging through the pale dust spread everywhere, the giant roared.
And once again came its self-destructive thrashing.
It beat at its own body and rolled around wildly.
That behavior told everyone one thing.
Bell Cranel was still there.
He was still fighting!
-WOOOOOOOO!
"Haaah!"
Their loud roars and battle cries crashed toward each other.
By rational judgment, the giant could simply ignore the boy on its body.
His weapon was currently only a short Hestia Knife.
With something like that, he could not inflict any serious wound on the giant's body.
Even if the boy rampaged, all he could do was leave scratches.
Something like that would be healed in an instant.
So it could just ignore him and deal with the other bugs at its feet first.
That was the rational choice for the giant.
But at the same time,
it was also a rational choice.
True, the boy's weapon could not deal any meaningful damage to the giant's body.
But the boy himself was different.
The giant had already witnessed and remembered the boy's pure white flame, that dazzling strike, earlier.
If that kind of power were used again at such close range?
If it were to strike the core near the heart by some chance?
-KAAAAAAA!
At the ominous conclusion it had instinctively imagined, the giant desperately tried to tear the boy off its body.
The barrier that had first protected its body was now gone.
It could no longer expect any help from its creator.
That was why the giant found the boy before its eyes so troublesome.
That was why it could not ignore him.
Yes.
This earth giant had already clearly recognized the little rabbit before it as a definite 'threat.'
It would not stop until it made itself safe from that threat.
In the end, this great clay doll was nothing more than an imitation of a human.
"The sky of a faraway forest now. The infinite starlight scattered across the endless night sky..."
Then, from far away, a beautiful singing voice reached them.
No one here failed to hear it.
And naturally, that included the giant.
"In response to my foolish voice, let the blessing of a meteor descend here once... Light's mercy upon the one who cast you aside..."
-KROOOOOOOOOO!
The giant had already learned.
That this singing voice was also a considerable threat.
The little fairy's magic was powerful enough to break and destroy its sturdy body.
But not enough to break through and pierce the strongest part near the heart.
At most, it could break off an arm or a leg joint.
That would have been the extent of the damage, so ordinarily it would not have cared much.
-KAAAAAAA!
But the situation was different now.
There was already a clear threat clinging stubbornly to its body and refusing to let go.
What did that mean?
What did that imply?
The giant already clearly understood the answer to that.
That too was knowledge its creator had already taught it.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
"Ugh, this is...! [Firebolt!]"
Boom! Boom!
-KROOOOOOOOO!
As the giant turned its steps toward Ryuu, Bell hurriedly fired his magic at its face.
But that level of explosive force, that level of flame alone, could not stop the giant's heavy steps.
Something else was needed.
"Even now, 'that'...? No, not yet."
Not yet.
It was still too early.
The final blow that would decide everything had to be used only once.
Only in that one perfect chance.
So Bell hesitated.
At this rate...!
"...Descend from the heavens and come upon the earth."
Then.
Another singing voice, weak and faint, drifted from somewhere.
No, a desperate breath.
"Shinbu, Totsu..."
Futsunomitama.
Whoosh
With a trembling, faint exhalation, the enormous sword everyone had already grown familiar with fell from the sky and stabbed into the ground.
And with it came a threatening barrier of gravity.
But—
-Kro?
The gravity barrier that appeared again felt far weaker and more pitiful than the one before.
It felt like it had been forced out with no strength left at all.
In fact, the barrier barely managed to do anything to the giant's body.
It exerted no force, no effect whatsoever.
"No way...!"
"Did her mind finally hit zero?"
"Well, she did use that much."
"And she's out of mind potions too...!"
As those around her feared, the caster, Mikoto, had already reached her limit... no, she was practically completely drained of mind.
It was honestly impressive that she had not fainted, and instead had somehow remained barely conscious enough to force out a sloppy spell in her dazed state.
"As expected... impossible..."
Half collapsed already, she could only barely extend one arm forward.
Her exhausted mind was already fading fast.
She was on the verge of fainting and falling asleep at any moment.
It was a limit anyone would have to acknowledge.
"S-sorry..."
Crack!
In the end, her magic was dispelled.
The giant also turned away from her and moved again.
It was probably trying to attack Ryuu and interrupt her spell.
And amid everyone's sorrow, Mikoto's consciousness slowly sank beneath sleep.
Then, at her ear,
"Are you satisfied with that?"
"Hah!"
For an instant, she heard the voice of her deity, which should never have been audible.
No, she felt as if she had.
"Ugh, my head...!"
Startled, she forced herself awake again.
But her head still had no strength in it.
Her mind remained foggy.
She wanted to sleep right this instant.
Even then, the giant was moving farther and farther away.
So she...
"Haaah!"
Bang!
slammed her head as hard as she could into the ground before her.
Bang! Bang!
Again and again.
Even if her forehead split open and blood ran down.
Even if everyone around her stared in shock and horror.
Until she could at least keep herself conscious.
She kept smashing her head down again and again.
It was a battle spirit and willpower so absurdly brute-force it was almost unbelievable.
"How, shameful...!"
Ignoring the blood running down her face, she bit her lip hard.
Not enough even then, she bit and ground down until the pain itself stung.
Thanks to that, her mind awakened faintly, little by little.
"Truly... I'm so... ashamed...!"
She desperately recalled it.
Bell Cranel's dazzling will.
Welf Crozzo's steadfast grit.
Liliruca Arde's desperate challenge.
And then.
Her own miserable disgrace right now.
"And I dared to say I wanted to repay the favor... what is this lack of resolve...!"
She resolved to reflect on her sins.
She vowed to repay the debt.
And yet she could not do as her comrades had done.
She did not possess Bell Cranel's will.
She did not show Welf Crozzo's grit.
Even the Pallum girl Liliruca Arde, whom she had thought the smallest and weakest among them, had achieved such a feat by risking her life.
And yet she, a level 2... she, a swordswoman in name... she, one who aspired to be the greatest shinobi...!
"It is too much honor for my mouth to speak of. My god who crushes all things..."
As Mikoto raised her trembling arm and chanted once more, she felt something in a corner of her head creak violently, as though it were burning hot.
Something inside her was surging upward too.
But she did not stop chanting.
"Your divine power, which guides the lofty heavens, to this small body..."
Mind zero or whatever, limit or whatever—she no longer cared.
She did not want to know, and did not need to know.
She only wanted to erase this unpleasant, helpless shame she felt now.
So from here on out, she would...
"I shall stake my life and bind your feet here!"
Even if it meant her head burned out and she died for it.
In the name of the god she revered and feared, the one she held deep in her heart!
"Shinbu, Totsu!"
Futsunomitamaaaa!
Whoosh
Crash!
-KROOOOOOOOOO!
Once more, the sword fell from the sky and the gravity barrier spread.
Its power was stronger than ever before.
Above all, the range was limited.
At the very edge, one of the giant's legs was caught in the barrier.
What an impossible coincidence, no.
It was fate's inevitability.
"...Run fast! Carry starlight and strike the enemy!"
Luminos Wind!
At just the right time, Ryuu's chant also reached its end.
Bright spheres of mana rose around her.
Everyone's eyes focused on the explosive majesty of the mana contained within them.
And naturally, so did the giant's.
"Haaah!"
At last, following her will, her magic shot toward the giant's leg.
Of course, the giant would not just stand there and take it.
-WOOOOOOOO!
At the incoming assault of dangerous magic, the giant hurriedly planted the greatsword in the ground and tried to shield its leg.
At the same time,
Crack
-Wuh?
Something strange and discordant rang out.
Then Boom!Thud!
One of the giant's feet shattered and collapsed.
It was the foot caught at the edge of Mikoto's gravity barrier.
To the giant, lacking knowledge as it was, this was an incomprehensible phenomenon and result.
But it was only natural.
Normally, Keter Malkuth's regeneration was a kind of restoration process, not like other living beings where flesh grows from within and pushes foreign matter out.
Rather, it covered the affected area and buried it inside the body.
Under ordinary circumstances, that would not be a problem.
Living beings would naturally suffer as foreign matter inside them tore and damaged their flesh from within, but in the end the giant's essence was still a golem.
It would not suffer pain from foreign matter inside its body.
In fact, by making that foreign matter part of itself, it reduced the mana expenditure that would otherwise be consumed.
That was far more efficient.
So normally, there would be no issue.
But this time was different.
The foreign matter inside its body had not yet fully transformed into part of it.
This was the final state of the weapons that Apollo Familia had left behind while clinging to the giant's body and struggling just moments ago.
And on top of that came the tremendous pressure of gravity.
If the whole body had been under pressure, the force would have been dispersed and it would not have broken or collapsed like this.
But now only one leg was bearing that pressure.
Therefore,
-KROOOOOOOOOOO!
It was both coincidence and inevitability.
One of the legs supporting the massive body completely collapsed, and the giant's stance crumbled with it.
Its desperate attempt to stop it by planting the greatsword was meaningless.
Fwoosh!
Then Ryuu's magic came rushing in before its eyes.
The giant hurriedly stretched out an arm to block it instead.
KAGAGAGAGAKANG!
The mana spheres collided with its arm and exploded one after another.
The giant's arm was shattered, cracked, and turned into a mess.
Was that enough?
No.
It was too early to relax.
Whoosh!
Several mana spheres changed direction and flew in.
The target was the giant's remaining leg.
The mana bullets it had failed to block all crashed down there at once.
KAGAGAGAKANG!
"Hah!"
Crash!
Then Ryuu herself charged in and struck the giant's remaining leg with her weapon.
And yet it did not fall.
Though the mana shots cracked it and broke pieces off, it still did not collapse.
Unfortunately, the power was insufficient.
As Ryuu bit her lip in frustration,
"Hey, mask! Move!"
"Wha...?!"
A shout from behind called to her.
And she felt a considerable amount of mana and heat behind her back.
"This is the last oneeeee!"
Crash!Fwoooosh!Crackle!
As Ryuu hurriedly pulled away, a barrage of magic rained down.
It was Apollo Familia's last bit of strength, their final struggle.
As a result,
Rumble...!
"Ah...!"
"We did it!"
At last, both of the giant's legs shattered and collapsed.
And naturally, the massive body could not withstand the damage to its lower half and completely toppled, sinking down.
From here on, it would only be able to barely hold on with what remained of its body.
"Its recovery is slow!"
"Now's our chance! This time for sure...!"
Just as everyone cheered and tried to squeeze out their last bit of grit,
Crash!
"Aaaagh!"
"W-what?!"
The wounded giant's rage swept over them.
-KROOOOOOOOO!
Its feet and legs had been destroyed.
Lower-body damage, over 50%.
Movement impossible, no smooth evasion possible.
Mana supply from the earth also cut off.
Link to the creator also severed.
Internal magic stone core overload initiated.
Main core heat limit at maximum.
Still rising without stopping.
Recovery and regeneration systems shut down.
All internal mana allocated to combat parts.
All-system limiter released (overclock).
"Final Battlefield" mode activated.
-WOOOOOOOOOO!
Crash! Crash!
"Aaaahhh!"
"Kuhk!"
"What the hell...! It feels even stronger now?!"
Screams burst and scattered from all directions.
And when everyone's momentum began to sink again,
"Don't give up, you idiots!"
Daphne's shout rang out, having led them this far on an improvised basis.
It was the very last, final shred of courage.
"This pattern's familiar! It's just like with Goliath! That giant bastard's started its last-ditch struggle, same as the floor boss!"
"T-then...?"
"Yeah! We're really close now! We're really close! So hold on until the end! Survive somehow!"
"""Ooooooooh!"""
At her encouragement, cheers rang out once more.
The gloomy atmosphere grew hot again, if only a little.
Of course, even so, there was nothing they could do here now.
They had reached the end of what they could do.
From here on, they could only dodge and run as best they could, desperately protecting their worthless lives and enduring.
Believing in them.
Their only hope, Hestia Familia.
No.
Believing in the Little Rookie, Bell Cranel.
"We're there..."
Meanwhile, even without anyone telling her, there was one other person who knew this was the end.
That was Cassandra.
The prophet of doom recalled the contents of the prophecy she had kept in her mind while retracing the course of the earlier battle.
"The blood of the young orphan and the spirit..."
That had already been revealed to refer to two people.
"The sword of the god of war..."
That referred to the magic of the eastern female warrior.
"The fairy's wind..."
That was the masked elf's magic.
Both names referred to Hestia Familia.
And then.
"The white sword of fire."
Fwoosh!
Far away, beneath the giant's body.
The boy's dazzling white flame was clearly visible even from that distance.
The boy, Bell Cranel's will.
"So the outcome was decided from the very beginning."
The witch of prophecy stared endlessly at his back, as if fascinated.
And then, soon after, she closed her eyes again, saying she was tired.
Yet nowhere.
There was no trace of anxiety on her face as she closed her eyes.
Everything was already as good as over.
"So, we've really reached the very end."
Confirming the golem now glowing red, so hot it seemed ready to burst and melt, the Magus gave a bitter smile.
Even if it was a miserable failure, it was a work he had painstakingly made with his own hands.
Thinking that its end had come, he could not help but feel a little, just a little, lingering attachment.
But at the same time,
"However, this is not the end."
His expression was full of anticipation.
"You can tell at a glance, can't you? That thing is in a pretty dangerous state right now."
It really was dangerous.
This was not simply a matter of a last-ditch struggle or a power-up.
More fundamentally, that state right now was...
"The overload has long since exceeded its limit. To put it plainly, more directly..."
It would explode.
It would definitely, absolutely explode.
It would blow up and send the entire surrounding area flying.
Since everyone here was an adventurer, they would not all necessarily die.
But among them, the weaker and the unlucky could very well be killed.
It was certain that considerable damage would result.
"...That's the situation. So, what are you going to do?"
At the Magus's teasing question, Bell Cranel looked up into the air.
As if the Magus were standing there.
In truth, the two were now looking directly at each other.
Bell did not know that, but
"No one dies. Not a single one."
"A firm gaze. Good eyes."
Then show me.
Your answer.
With that exchange over,
"Sss... haa."
Bell steadied his breathing.
Then came the strange, mysterious tolling of bells.
Ding... ding... ding...
White light gathered in his hand.
What he gripped was Crozzo's magic sword.
The final magic sword, the one he had entrusted entirely to Ryuu at the start and saved only its final strike for.
-Kuuuu...
Sensing the mysterious pressure radiating from that dazzling cluster of light, the giant instinctively groaned and grew tense.
But the Magus watching him grew cold instead.
He had intended to stand back and watch quietly, and this was how it ended after all.
"Move aside."
The boy Bell Cranel's dazzling white flame.
Even now, that mystical fire added to the decisive strike looked absurdly powerful.
Especially if fired using Crozzo's magic sword.
That would surely be enough to smash straight through the giant's unprotected body in a single blow and blow away the core at its heart.
But as a rule, no matter how powerful an attack is, it must first actually hit its target to work.
And the liberated self and combat sense of Adam's imitation, Keter Malkuth, were not foolish to that degree.
No, they were on the level of surpassing most adventurers.
There was no way such a giant would just stand there and take the greatest threat plainly visible before it.
"Recklessness, or ignorance."
Now then, which was it?
As the two glared at each other and waited for an opening,
Ding...!
-KROOOOOOOOOOO!
At the signal of the final bell, the giant moved first.
It brought down the greatsword in its most intact arm without mercy.
Bell's body moved swiftly and skillfully to evade that powerful slash.
Just as he thought he had barely dodged it—
Crash!
-WOOOOOOOOOO!
"Ngh!"
The giant's remaining arm moved.
That arm, already in poor shape, was hurled with all its might in a surprise attack, and that one blow alone shattered it to pieces, filling the air.
As a result, Bell's vision and the path in front of him were both thrown into chaos and blocked for an instant.
At this rate, evasion was clearly impossible!
-KROOOOOOOOOOO!
Taking advantage of the opening, the giant's sword moved again.
This time for real.
The greatsword came crashing down, determined to smash the boy's body to pieces.
Bell's chosen response was...
"Hah!"
Crash!
He blocked it with the final blow he had painstakingly charged and prepared.
No, he blew away the giant's arm together with the greatsword completely.
"Tch."
"Ah...!"
"No way...!"
"N-no!"
But with that, the boy's trump card was also finished.
Now he would no longer be able to deliver the giant's final end at the right time.
Just as everyone was about to be swallowed by sorrow and despair,
Tap
"Hm?"
The boy moved.
He drew the Hestia Knife again from his lower back.
His body surged forward.
"What in the...?"
As everyone, the Magus included, was filled with confusion,
the boy thought to himself alone.
Now the giant's means of combat had all been destroyed and sealed away.
There was nothing left blocking the way ahead.
There would be no unexpected exceptions.
Therefore, there would be no stopping.
No time to catch his breath either.
From here on, it was a race against time.
Only one thing remained.
Forward, and forward again!
"[Firebolt.]"
Fwoosh
In the midst of that charge, the boy activated his magic.
A single red-and-yellow arrow of flame rose from his hand.
He fired it at...
Pop!
the weapon in his hand.
The Hestia Knife.
"Hmm?!"
The Magus's expression became extremely strange at the sight.
First came confusion over what on earth he was doing.
Second came the act of searching his memory for information about the Hestia Knife in the boy's hand and recalling it.
Third came the realization of what the boy had just done.
And then.
"Ha... hahahaha..."
Despite the searing pain in his body, he laughed madly with joy.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! KAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
So that's what it was!
"The real one was that side!"
It was a fake.
Crozzo's magic sword was, quite literally, the fake.
The real one was this.
That dark knife made in the name of his beloved goddess was Bell Cranel's true power all along.
Realizing that, the Magus, even while laughing like a madman, readily admitted it.
That this War Game was, without a doubt, his defeat.
"What a cruel story."
And there wasn't even an old mirror to show it to me.
A self-mocking sigh.
With the Magus's words,
Thrust!
at last Bell Cranel's sword tip reached the giant's heart.
"Argo..."
"Vesta."
-KROOOOOOOOOOO!
Dazzling white flame burst in all directions.
Within it rang the giant's final death cry.
And when it was all over,
"Magus."
"It's my victory."
Bell Cranel, ending with ragged breaths, fainted.
Just like the other comrades who had fought so hard.
"Ah, yes."
And it's my defeat.
As if in response, the Magus answered in kind.
The final conclusion resounded from above the sky.
And that was the end.
Everyone acknowledged it, and everyone accepted it.
-War Game overrrrrrrrrr!
Under the gods' declaration, at last the cry announcing the end of the event rang out throughout the city, and beyond the city as well.
The sound marking the end of a very, very long day.