"The Pink Lemon Sherbet."
A massive pink spiral shot forth.
It was fired once more to kill the "Priest of Corrosion."
BOOM—!!
Black water splashed everywhere, turning the surroundings pink for an instant. Panic flashed in the black eyes of the "Priest of Corrosion."
"No...! That's...!"
Grafvolluðr, perhaps remembering the beating I'd given him before, frantically twisted his body to dodge. He contorted so violently that several of his wooden leg supports tore apart.
CRACK—!
With the sound of crustacean shells being forcibly twisted and broken,
Grafvolluðr's voice rang out through gritted teeth.
"Grrr...?! Did you think I'd fall for the same trick twice—!!"
Desperate wing flapping.
The centipede geezer fluttered his wings and soared into the sky. It seemed the pain had made it impossible for him to crawl around as before.
WHOOSH—!!
The pink spiral narrowly missed him through the gap.
*So typical... scurrying around dropping summons, pressuring opponents with status effects, and wearing enemies down with endless ambushes and encirclements.*
But such an underhanded creature wouldn't know one thing.
*Jump dodging is a double-edged sword.*
A place where attacks from the ground can't reach.
It might feel like escaping to an invincible space, but...
"With no cover and limited directional control... you're actually more vulnerable than ever—☆"
"What?!"
Hilde and I were already positioned on either side of the flying creature. We each launched ourselves from the right and left with clenched fists.
Hilde wrapped in azure lightning,
And I wrapped in pink hearts, we faced each other.
"Lala—!"
"Hilde—!"
We called to each other and grinned.
Distinct aether crystallized around our fists.
*After all... girl talk is best done with fists.*
The centipede geezer shouted as he saw the "Unique Aether" flashing from both sides.
"You brats—!! Think I'll just take it—!!"
Grafvolluðr, hovering in the air, frantically flapped his wings trying to escape upward. It was the only direction available to escape our encirclement...
That's right☆
This makes your direction so predictable—♪
The centipede geezer fleeing upward was shocked.
"What?!"
From above, a wave of purple armaments came rushing down. They were woven together like a net for catching birds, blocking Grafvolluðr's escape route.
From far away, Freyja muttered in disbelief.
"I can't believe he actually tried to escape upward...!"
"You wench?!"
"I-I'm not a wench, I'm a woman..."
"You wench—!!"
"He's... he's really annoying..."
Grafvolluðr's wing flapping slowed. And we welcomed the centipede geezer back into our range.
Where he entered wasn't simply the domain of our fists.
Pink and azure blue.
This place where aether flashes.
This shall be your grave.
Fists tightly clenched.
Arms firmly locked.
I feel the flow of aether from my perineum to my abdomen. The energy flowing through my body's main channels returns to my heart.
What flows through the blood vessels.
It's the fighting spirit deep within my chest.
The hot-flowing blood carries the energy of fate passed down since ancient times.
This eternal battlefield is where I've arrived, guided by the World Tree.
All the girls of this land gather to fight.
Yes.
Reborn, I am a Valkyrie.
One who fights upon this land.
"Remember me!! And die—!!"
I drove my pink-blazing fist toward my first and worst nightmare. The pink light lingered on the black carapace before disappearing, then erupted as red blood.
BOOM—!!
A vibration that shook heaven and earth.
The impact and pain felt through my fist.
Unlike before,
Those black eyes were so close.
Close enough that I could see his panic.
*Now it's you who fears, not me.*
Vanish into the folds of nightmares,
That even death couldn't hide.
"I am!! Clara of Academy City—!!"
The brightly shining pink consisted of countless hearts. They displayed the strength of the level I had finally reached.
Striking that fist countless times,
I traced the path of punches I had drawn countless times before.
Thousands upon thousands of intertwined paths became a realm of destruction.
TATATATATATA—!!
From the opposite side, Hilde also threw her punches. Wrapped in lightning that was once the strongest, she roared as she struck endlessly.
"AAAAAAAH—!!"
"HAAAAAAAH—!!"
Two pairs of fists pounded the dragon that had risen from darkness. Lightning and hearts surged, becoming a massive storm.
TATATATATATA—!!
Between the trajectories of countless punches,
I exploded pure physical force.
I was unleashing fighting spirit that transcended even the fate of weapons.
TATATATATATA—!!
Between his shattering carapace from my punches, Grafvolluðr stubbornly resisted. In his bleeding eyes was a determination to make up for his mistake.
"Corrosion—!!"
WHOOSH—!!
The abyss rising from the deep floor below split into hundreds of branches, extending like tentacles toward us. Hundreds of Chaos Insects rose up through the dark wing shadows.
A space that felt like hundreds of meters in radius filled with the energy of corrosion. This was probably his full power.
Grafvolluðr shouted as he bled.
"In this game of fate!! Rise to save my children!! My people who have become insects—!!"
The centipede geezer,
My nightmare,
The "Priest of Corrosion" Grafvolluðr,
Was making his greatest struggle at this moment.
"Haha..."
I couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity.
Perhaps.
Within <Ratatoskr>, the one I fought most wasn't the Prophet, but the "Priest of Corrosion" Grafvolluðr.
Nightmare.
And imagination.
The first time I faced a "pattern from the original work" exactly.
The worst enemy I had prepared for even after becoming "Clara."
That's why I could still remember.
Before the Prophet appeared.
I decided to leave the "dragon" to my juniors, but I would catch the "Corrosion" myself.
"Hahaha...!"
"..."
Laughing casually, I looked at Hilde. She showed me an unwavering gaze filled with endless faith in me.
*I wanted to show off alone, but... my aether recovery isn't what it used to be.*
So I asked Hilde.
"Can I borrow some?"
"Hmph."
Hilde offered her hand without asking anything.
"Everything I have already belongs to Lala!"
"..."
...That was pretty cool.
I'll have to use that line sometime.
I had the leisure to think of jokes inwardly.
Grafvolluðr approached us with our joined hands, pouring out everything the power of corrosion allowed him. Thousands upon thousands of troops came behind him, carving a distant darkness.
"My enemy!! Sleep here forever—!!"
It's too late to sleep.
My happy dream has already awakened.
-Go forth.
"I've slept enough."
I pointed our joined hands toward the corrosion army.
The power of "Bifrost" brought Hilde's aether and fused it with mine.
Crackle!
Crackle!
Lightning imbued with transcendent fate rises up.
And I clenched my remaining hand into a fist.
Very tightly.
Enough to crush my fingernails.
Crunch...!
Above that fist, countless hearts spring up. Pink hearts charged with electrifying lightning began preparing for the final secret art once more.
*No... this isn't "Pink Lemon Sherbet"...*
A new technique created by who I am now.
In other words.
The fourth secret art.
"..."
What should I name it?
Since I'm now completely Clara...
Pretty Filter has already become one with me.
Then perhaps I should name it with Kang Jin-su's sensibility?
"..."
Suddenly, Senior Frida's words came to mind.
-My dream was to set up a studio by the sea.
"..."
-"The Story of How You and I Met"... It's a story about a man teaching a girl the colors of the sea and sky. It's a story passed down from very ancient times... I really liked it.
The place I want to go.
The seaside where the blue sky reflects.
The place you wanted to go.
A place you couldn't reach even in dreams...
"Blue, sky."
Soaring blue heavens.
"The one path to the blue sky."
Changcheon-illo.
I activated my final secret art.
Then hearts with sparks gathered countless times, beginning to shine like overlapping spirals of the Milky Way. A disaster beyond a storm, a dream flow containing starlight, took form.
Squeeze—
Before throwing my punch.
It's a bit ugly, but... let me add one word before "final secret art."
"...True final secret art."
"The One Path to the Blue Sky"
And so.
I threw my punch.
A blinding flash shot forth, turning my vision white.
Whether it was pink,
Or azure blue,
I couldn't even distinguish...
A single light.
BOOM—!!
White flashed in the space filled with darkness, pulverizing everything.
The spiral pillar twisted into spirals,
Giving birth to more spirals as it divided.
Spirals divided infinitely, repeatedly merging and separating as they multiplied.
Spiral.
Spiral of spirals.
A single universe encompassing everything.
There was only light.
*
Eir plopped down on the darkness and said.
"Goodness, that was tough!"
The rest of my friends seemed just as exhausted.
Freyja collapsed as if fainting,
Astrid weakly let out a lady-like laugh,
And Anna honestly squatted down and sighed.
"..."
"...Ohoho."
"Phew."
Hilde and I also sighed, leaning against each other.
"..."
"..."
We had suddenly raided the two strongest priests.
Moreover, the centipede geezer had grown stronger after receiving power from the abyss.
But... well... we won anyway.
...
*So what do we do now?*
We desperately defeated the two priests,
But surprisingly, nothing happened.
We all rested with a somewhat... unsettled feeling.
Even Hilde, who had maintained high alert, finally lay down completely on her back.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
You know that thing☆
In youth manga where everyone lies down in a row like crayons.
That's basically how we were lying down, looking up at the dark ceiling.
The abyss inside the World Tree was clinging thickly, covering the light like a ceiling.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Ah.
This game is really terrible☆
After defeating a boss, they should quickly send out the next one—♪
Anyway.
Before that.
Um, what was it.
Hmm...
I first thanked my friends who had come to rescue me.
"Th-thanks everyone for coming to save me—☆"
"Helping Lala is only natural for me."
"Huh? Well... I've received a lot of help, so it's time to repay it, right?"
"Ohoho, helping a friend is only natural."
"Haha, I'm just... actually following the sword spirit's instructions..."
"..."
Freyja, who I thought would make a snarky comment as usual, was surprisingly quiet.
She quietly pointed upward with her finger and said.
"Up..."
"Up?"
Huh.
What is it?
I thought I was about to think of a joke—☆
Since nothing came to mind,
It was probably one of Jin-su's Three Kingdoms references.
*Geez, Jin-su! I told you to make jokes according to the mood—☆*
Regardless of my thoughts, Freyja suddenly sat up and said.
"C-could this be the roots of the World Tree?"
"Huh? Roots?"
"The life energy aether is the e-energy of the sky... Conversely, seeing dead ones again and f-falling asleep is deeply related to death energy... D-dreams are said to be pathways for souls..."
Her speech was rambling.
Hearing this, Hilde got up and said.
"So, the opposite direction of the sky is the ground. Because it's deeply buried in the World Tree's roots, it's where the energies of death and dreams gather?"
"Y-yes... well... that's right."
Anna and Astrid stood up simultaneously.
"The center of the World Tree is ultimately..."
"Above us, is it not?"
"How do we get there now?"
Eir slowly got up and stretched.
"Mmm— Can't we just use that weird teleportation of the 'Spiral'?"
"It doesn't work near the World Tree...☆"
"Then why not burn the roots from the inside? If the outside is hard, the inside must be soft. If we just burn these roots, we should be able to go somewhere, right?"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"What? Why is everyone looking at me like that? You know this is just how I talk."
Hilde put her hand on Eir's shoulder.
"I authorize it."
"What?"
"The burning."
"..."
Eir opened her eyes wide and said.
"R-really?!"
*
"G-good...!"
"You only have one chance. Aim carefully."
"Heheh...! Hahaha! A graduate of <Scarlet Academy> can't fail at setting fires!!"
Behind Eir, Hilde, Freyja, Anna, and Astrid placed their hands.
The five of them, excluding me, were exchanging aether through "Bifrost" and transferring all their power to Eir. Since they were planning to burn one side of the massive World Tree roots, they intended to use up all the aether of the five "Unique Aether" users.
Using "Bifrost"
To send me to where the Prophet was.
BOOM—!!
As the aether of five people poured into her body,
Eir began laughing maniacally with a nosebleed.
"Kehehehe...! Kahahaha!! I can't believe I'm actually going to burn the World Tree!!!"
"Are you ready?"
"Hyaaaah—!! I've been ready since the entrance ceremony three years ago—!!!"
Eir rolled her eyes, which were sparkling with five different colors, and laughed maniacally. Despite being somewhat mitigated by the power-sharing ability of "Bifrost," the side effects were still significant.
But putting everything aside.
She stomped her foot hard and raised "Lævateinn."
The wheel of white flickering flames shone brighter than ever.
WHOOSH!
"Everything, everything, everything—!!!"
Eir threw the spinning Lævateinn with all her might.
"Burn it all—!!!"
The powerfully rotating Lævateinn grew larger as it cut through the air.
From the size of a torso to as large as a wind turbine blade, Lævateinn cut through the abyss and began burning everything.
BOOM—!!
White flames spreading everywhere.
According to the fate attribute that burns distortion and the abyss.
The fire spread as if oil had been poured on it.
CRACKLE—!
"...!"
As the World Tree's power shook,
A path that could be traveled via "Bifrost" became 'visible.'
A faint path of light that had been hidden by the abyss in the darkness appeared.
Crack...
And also a path to exit the World Tree.
"Th-this is?!"
"It looks like a door to the outside...?"
"I-if we follow this in reverse... it leads up to the center."
A very familiar goddess's power.
The path where a small ring of light had passed stretched from the roots up toward the heights.
*Is this... the path Urd left...?*
When did she throw the ring of light from the center to the outside?
Eir shouted with blood streaming from her nose. Some of her hair had already begun burning white.
"Go—!! Clara—!!"
"Then..."
I turned around and confidently shouted.
"I'll be back soon—☆"
"You m-must win..."
"Ohoho!! I shall await good news!!"
"Yes! See you soon!"
Hilde didn't say anything out loud, just moved her lips.
-Forever.
I'll wait for you.
"Yes!"
FLASH—!!
I wrapped myself in a rainbow-colored spiral.
Past the burning roots and the abyss,
Toward the center beyond the top of the World Tree...
Feeling the existence of all souls that have ever existed.
I advanced.
And then...
WHOOSH—!
"..."
"...Hey, Jin-su☆ Long time no see."
"..."
A space where bright starlight shines down.
Before my eyes stands a dark figure alone.
He was sitting on a small sapling with a glass bead placed on it.
The Prophet looked at me with completely vertically split pupils.
Various colors of light flashed in those eyes.
He seemed to have inherited various abilities from the World Tree.
He muttered with a surprised expression.
"...Another me."
"...Yes."
"I see. Neither Brynhildr nor Clara... but 'me' in Clara's body..."
"No, I'm just Clara now."
"...Is that so."
Finally, we faced each other.