A cloud of ashes drifted beneath the maelstrom-covered dome.

The existence of the Black Cross is dissipating, but the gray-blue vortex that has been torn open has not disappeared, and the dream world that envelops the imperial capital has not been lifted, and it is still a post-apocalyptic landscape ruled by the ash desert.

Gasping tiredly, leaning on the "Dawn" sword body inserted in the ground, Loren looked at the top of his head with a somewhat dazed expression.

It's over... It's all over.

There may still be a remnant of power, but Seriel's "existence" has completely dissipated with the death of his materialized body, and the possibility of a comeback has been completely lost.

If you are killed, you will die, and it is impossible for the dead to be resurrected... This is the most basic truth of the objective material world.

The Void World, which was originally ruled by Seriel, gradually began to return to its original state with his death, and sooner or later, either because of the information and emotions of the living beings, or some people who knew how to manipulate the power of the Void, a new "evil god" was born in that primordial chaos.

And the power controlled by Seliol naturally approached the most powerful consciousness around him with the demise of his consciousness, and feeling the power of the void gathered towards him, he could basically determine that the Black Cross was completely dead.

Not simply killed, but obliterated - the void has no concept of time and space, and an evil god is erased rather than devoured, which means that he never existed.

There is bound to be some kind of confusion and a chain reaction that comes with it, and trouble is bound to come one after the other......

Now Loren doesn't care about that.

He just wants to be quiet, close his eyes and not be disturbed... Quietly enjoying this relieved serenity.

It's been a long time... Maybe only for a minute... When he opened his eyes again, he was greeted by Asriel standing intact, looking at him with a smile.

The little black and red dress, the almost translucent face, and the scarlet eyes under the golden hair made the already bloodless lips look lighter, and they were spotless from head to toe, as if they were carefully dressed for the ball.

Of course, intact is just what it looks like... Asrael, who had lost everything, was so weak that only those who remembered him could see him, and he had no strength at all.

"The myriad years that have passed since the Black Cross opened the third valve and the New Age has come to an end, and the prophecy of the end of the world has been the eternal world that sleeps in the palm of Serol... It will never come. ”

Speaking slowly, Asriel's handsome face only had a flat smile: "Dear Loren, congratulations. ”

"Now, you can finally get what you want, the most precious thing you have. ”

"Oh?"

Loren looked at the blonde boy's gentle gaze: "What's that?"

It's like an inquiry, but it's more like a self-question, because the answer is known to both people.

"Freedom... Uninhibited, restricted... Freedom of choice. With his little hands behind his back, Asriel whispered, "Dear Loren, you can do anything now. ”

"You can be another Black Cross, or the ambition of Eckhart de Salion, you can rule the whole world, or you can take the world into your own palm or even ......"

"Go home. ”

The moment he said the word, Asriel's expression trembled visibly.

Loren raised an eyebrow.

"Opening the third valve and controlling enough Void power, dear Loren, you can go home, back to where it truly belongs to you. The smiling blonde boy crossed the corners of his mouth with bitterness:

"Poor Asriel doesn't know any of this, but now that Loren can come into this world, he wants to leave... At least theoretically, it should be achievable. ”

"That's right. Loren nodded:

"It can be done. ”

The blonde boy who kept smiling tightly pursed the corners of his mouth.

"But the consequences are also severe. Loren changed his words: "Now I am equivalent to inheriting the power of Serol, once I leave, the power of the void that has penetrated the material world will still run wild, and the barrier between the two realms where cracks appear will completely collapse, and the two worlds will collide together like heaven and earth collapsing." ”

"Not only that... If I were to force my way out, it would be like tearing a hole in this world that could not be healed, and then there might be an unrestricted influx of existence from other worlds, or something from this world would be thrown out... No one knows what will happen. ”

"It doesn't matter. Asrael's smile became a little reluctant, and he said in a cynical tone:

"We deserve it. ”

"Oh?"

Loren laughed as if surprised: "So no matter what I decide, you won't stop me?"

"Dear Loren, there is no one in this world who can stop you anymore. Asrael, who was still hesitating and struggling in the last second, became very relieved at this moment:

"Whatever you want to do now, anything, the whole world, will work according to your will, and you can change it as much as you want to achieve whatever you want. ”

"The will of the king, the lord of all creatures, the ultimate dream of a wizard... There is no exaggeration, no hypocrisy, just a description of the facts. ”

"So... What can I do now?" asked Loren deliberately.

The blonde boy smiled brightly: "Anything." ”

"No one is going to stop me?"

"No one. ”

"No one objected?"

"Except for dear Loren himself. ”

"That's ......"

Looking at Asrael, as if in serious thought, Loren propped his chin and deliberately dragged out a long tail note.

"That's right!"

"Huh?"

Although he had "resigned himself to his fate", Asrael's expression still trembled when he saw the black-haired wizard's determined expression.

It's like a self-defeating death row prisoner, who still feels terrified when he hears the verdict handed down.

No matter how much he explained, sacrifice or sacrifice, he could not hide the fact that he had used Loren - yes, Asriel could make up a thousand reasons, ten thousand lies to explain it all, and he even believed that Loren would forgive him even if he knew it was a lie.

But... That's not right.

Reasons are used to comfort oneself, lies are used to deceive others... Mentally there is a certain degree of overlap between myself and Loren, and these are not needed.

You have to pay the price for taking advantage of your friends.

As long as he can defeat the Black Cross Serol, Asrael doesn't mind being wiped out and obliterated, all he cares about is who he dies at.

This is very important.

"The Black Cross has been wiped out, but there is still a lot of damage and all kinds of trouble he has caused. Loren said in a deep voice: "The most important thing is that because he has been completely obliterated, it means that all the locations related to him in the entire timeline will be chaotic." ”

"Maybe the dragon kingdom will disappear because of this, maybe the Holy Cross will become even more powerful than it is now, maybe there will be no more wizards at all, and the whole world will become a paradise for evil gods... Who knows what will happen?"

"If you don't solve all these troubles, it won't be completely over, will it?"

Facing Asrael's gaze, which was becoming surprised little by little, Loren said word by word: "What's more... Now I only rely on the power of the Holy Grail to open the third valve, and my state is still very unstable. ”

"If I leave now, the devil knows which world or time I'll be teleported to, or I'll die as soon as I land because my heart was gouged out. ”

"So until all this is settled, I'm not going to think about anything else for a moment - maybe I'll stay, I'll leave, I'll become another Black Cross or... Myself. ”

"It's... It's my choice. ”

A stunned Asriel stood still, stunned.

There was silence for a long time before he hesitated to speak:

“...... Why?"

"It's my choice, so there's no why. With an unquestionable tone, Loren said in a deep voice: "You also said that no one can stop me now, so this is my choice alone." ”

"I wanted to do it, so I did it... It's not out of interest, it's not forced to be helpless, it's not trapped by human feelings, it's completely free to do what you want to do at this moment, isn't the so-called 'free choice' just like that. ”

Spreading his hands, Loren shrugged his shoulders: "Of course, it is not without other reasons that I insist on saying it - I promised Ain that I would be with her wherever she goes or what she does, and I also promised her to wait until the matter is over and tell her everything as it is." ”

"In addition, there is also research that Isaac has not completed, Lusen, who has become a vampire, has to find a way to help him recover, Leah has promised to accompany her to sweep Ruwen's grave, and the agreement with Brandon has also to be completed, and I promised Master Corona to rebuild the Nine-Pointed Star Wizard Tower, and I have also promised the continuation of the Dragon Clan in Jufeng Mountain; Uh......"

Loren paused.

He still wasn't sure if what she was saying was true or just a "white lie."

If it's true, then ......

Even if it's fake, I have an obligation to protect her, after all......

Hesitation, trepidation, uncertainty, heaviness... Loren's expression changed rapidly,

"Of course... Asreel, and you. In the next second, Loren, who had regained his senses, quickly diverted the topic.

"Me?"

Unexpected blonde teenager, eyes widened.

"About you and Ariel... It's another Asriel thing, and now that I think about it, you shouldn't have told me the truth. Cocking the corners of his mouth, Loren pretended to be serious:

"So I think some guy needs to make amends for the friend he's been keeping in the dark for so long - where he came from, why there were two Asriel, what kind of thing the Holy Grail was, why did he kill the Black Cross Serol at all costs......"

"Before you leave, you'll have to explain it to me!"

The shocked blonde boy was stunned for five seconds, and the corners of his mouth showed an elegant arc.

"Dear Loren, it's going to be a long, long story. ”

"It's okay, what we have now is time. Loren was very indifferent and said:

"There's a lot of trouble left behind by Seliol's disappearance, and there's time to tell your long story along the way. ”

"On the way?"

"I haven't tried time travel and need a proper guide. Loren, who got up lazily and stood up straight, looked down at the blonde boy who was only up to his chest:

"Can you recommend me a good candidate?"

After saying that, he quietly waited for the other party's reply.

With his mouth open and speechless, Asrael suddenly wanted to avoid Loren's gaze - he was relieved, he knew that the other party had forgiven or even blamed him, but even then he did not expect the two sides to go further than in the past......

“...... Of course. ”

Under the gaze of the black-haired wizard, the blonde boy raised his left hand slightly, his right hand behind his back, and his left calf bent back slightly, with an elegant smile, he hid his grateful look in his heart, and bowed:

"Dear Loren, your best friend Asriel always... Forever... Always happy to serve you. ”

"Until the end!"

With a solemn expression, the serious Asrael didn't hold on for even a second, and the corners of his uncontrollable mouth turned up slightly again, as if he was desperately trying to put on a serious appearance but couldn't hold back a smile:

"But there's a small problem with that, as dear Loren said, the power of the Holy Grail opened the third valve, and the actual power was far from enough. Looking around, the blonde boy who deliberately glanced at a certain corner had the corners of his mouth almost reaching the root of his ears:

"If dear Loren is going to clean up the mess left by the Black Cross, then the task of maintaining stability in the world is ......"

"Bell !!!"

The loud sound of the steel sword nailing into the ground made the two tacitly turn their eyes in the same direction.

“...... I didn't mean to bother, but it seems that this Excellency has finally remembered my presence. ”

The words of indifference without a trace of emotion sounded, and the Oath Knight, who was sitting in front of the sword of the "Bright Star", slowly looked back, and looked at the two people at the same time with subtle eyes.

A light golden light wrapped around the sword body of the "Bright Star".

"That's ......," Loren looked slightly surprised.

"The power of the Holy Cross... Or rather, the last trace of the Holy Cross in the world. The Knight of Oath's voice was calm: "The moment the Black Cross was obliterated, he should have disappeared but... I am alive, as the 'sword of oaths' of the Holy Cross, and the oath on my body sustains its existence. ”

"This power can be maintained until I die completely—it can't restore order, but at least it can maintain the balance between the two realms. ”

"But that also means ......"

"It means that I must not leave here even half a step, or this dying body may die at any moment - I am the Knight of Oaths, and my body cannot accept the unexpected power from the Holy Cross, so I can only let it slowly lose its vitality. Glancing down at Seliol's chest, the Knight of Oath said in a deep voice:

"I guess... That's why I'm alive, that's my mission—to be the last guardian before the world is truly delivered into the hands of those who rightfully belong to him. ”

The expressionless Knight of Oath, his deep gaze met Loren's.

The black-haired wizard took a deep breath, "This mission sounds heavy and boring enough. ”

"That's right. "Knight of the Oath Chin:

"So it's time for you to leave, stranger wizard from afar... Loren. ”

The words fell, and the breeze blew.

By the time the Knight of Oath turned back, he was the only one left in the desert hills of midnight, a sword, an endless wilderness, and a maelstrom that covered the dome.

In the dark midnight, the Holy Cross flickering on the desert hills gave the world a little light.