After leaving the A rank party, I aim for the deep part of the labyrinth with my former students
"The broadcast… is reaching…?"
With a look of surprise, Rain gathered strength into her unmoving body.
Somehow she managed to pull out her tablet, which floated gently into the air, shrouded in golden light.
Looking up, she saw that GoPro-kun was also faintly glowing gold, buzzing cheerfully overhead.
"What’s going on?"
As I faltered at the strange situation, the broadcast continued, as if answering me.
"This is Gato from the Royal Broadcasting Service! We’ve fully activated the kingdom-wide magical communications network! We are now live-streaming the Clover party’s assault on the ‘Tower’!"
"This is Sho! The sudden appearance of the ‘Tower’ in Finis triggered a massive, out-of-control Stampede… but right now, adventurers are desperately fighting to clear it!"
"The inside of the ‘Tower’ is laden with powerful curses, but Clover, who have resistance, have entered and begun the assault… though it seems rather dangerous…"
The image of us was being displayed on the tablet.
Seeing this, Papa sneered through his nose.
"How foolish. Do you intend to broadcast your own deaths to every corner of the nation? What a joke."
"That’s not it, Papa. You really don’t understand anything, do you?"
Marina softly said "Activation check" and touched her right eye.
Something faintly spread out… and quietly illuminated the tablet.
"Yeah, it’ll work. —I wonder if Ankelias is watching, too?"
As Marina spoke, something bright began to emerge from the darkness.
"Marina-chan! You can do it!"
"Yuke-san! Don’t lose!"
"We believe in you, my lady!"
"Big sis, stand up!"
The images rising up looked like a live stream from the tablet, showing familiar faces cheering us on — adventurers we often saw at the tavern, the apothecary’s owner, a young dark elf, Jamie’s little brother Tac… and that light spread, as if to cover the entire darkness.
Flustered by the support coming from beyond, Papa let out a shaken voice.
"What is this? What good will something like this do…?"
"You should already know, Papa."
Just as Marina said, the freezing presence that had filled the space vanished.
"I… can move…!"
"I’m fine too!"
"The numbness is gone! I can do this!"
"I showed such a pathetic side… but I’m okay now, Tac!"
One by one, our companions stood back up, brimming with determination as if the earlier despair had been a lie.
"Impossible… impossible! Why can you move!? I gathered all the despair of the world!"
"…Yeah. That’s why… I’m gathering all the hope of the world."
Marina’s right eye glowed blue as she looked up at the streaming screens filling the endless void.
Faces from not just Finis, but also Duna, Troana, Salmutaria, and even the people of Vilmuren Island appeared there.
"This place… is the farthest from the world, yet the closest to it. It’s fragile, full of countless possibilities — that’s why… you thought you had to change the world here, through this ‘Festival,’ didn’t you? Because you were all alone?"
"Don’t you dare speak as if you know anything, you tool! I won’t accept this! I’ve come so far! At the very moment my story was to begin, the blessed moment — I won’t allow this stain on it!"
Papa pointed at me and shouted.
Ironically, he looked more human than he ever had before — far more than when he’d been spouting hollow words about revolution and stories while hiding behind a facade.
"Hope, you say…!? Have you forgotten? I control this ‘Tower’! I’ll open the underground Abyss Gate of the Deep, and show those fools! Will it be a demon dragon that comes forth? Or the alabaster legions of Albus? Perhaps Ankelias itself will be drawn out?"
"…! Stop!"
"Too late."
With a snap of his fingers, Papa triggered something.
But nothing happened — there was no presence. If something had appeared, my scar would have throbbed.
Apparently, this surprised even Papa.
"…What… why won’t it open!? I’m the administrator of this tower! Enough — it’s all ruined anyway. This world is wrong! For it not to go the way I want… this world is wrong!"
As he lost his composure and screamed, grotesque tentacles revealed his true form — a humanoid monster with a head like a sea anemone, just about to devour Papa.
"The ‘Festival’ continues. That’s right, nothing changes. I’ll slaughter you here and now, and reshape the world. I have the right and the power to do so!"
Even as he was being swallowed by the Culling, Papa raved.
"The world must change! By my hand — properly!"
"You’re wrong! The ones who change the world are the wills of each and every person who lives in it!"
I raised my shortsword in my left hand and glared at the monstrous Papa.
The wills of people across the world were gathering toward us.
"Take Finis back!"
"Do it, Clover! I love this world!"
"We don’t want some forced revolution!"
"Yuke, now’s your time to go all out!"
"We can’t fight, but we can cheer!"
"Take that bastard down!"
"Clover can definitely win!"
"You can do it!"
"We believe in you, Clover!"
"Then I’ll play my little part in the story too."
"We’ll fight to the end too!"
"Nene, you can do it!"
"Just like always!"
"Leave the door to me, Yuke!"
"Why the hell do I have to help you…"
"Don’t give up, Clover!"
"Show them everything you’ve got — now’s the time!"
"This victory is for Rain-chan!"
"We’re cheering with all our hearts!"
"Don’t lose!"
"This battle’s already decided!"
"Marina-chan! We believe in you!"
"Push, push, push! Go go go!"
"Jamie-san, hang in there!"
"Show that fighting spirit!"
"May Lady Silk have Amber’s blessing!"
"Believe in your own strength. I believe in you — give it everything!"
"Only the brave win! Give it everything for victory!"
"We’re counting on you! You must win!"
"Nene-neesan! We’re rooting for you too!"
One after another, the voices of encouragement came from the screens — the wills of people living in this world, directed at us.
As one who had become a vessel for several Cullings, I could turn that into power.
To reach Papa, this was the only way.
"We’ll… do it. Yuke."
"Yeah. Now’s the time to use it — everyone’s feelings, everyone’s will, their answer — and hit him with it."
"Mm. Then I’ll protect you."
Rain planted her staff and cast her spell: Sanctuary.
"I’ll protect you. No matter what happens, we’re together."
"Yeah. Then… let’s begin! Silk! Take command!"
"Understood! Marina, Nene, you’re on solo strikes! Jamie-san, support them! I… will also take a few risks myself."
Silk declared so, her eyes gleaming amber.
"Here — here at the edge of the world — my voice should reach. Come… come… come!"
At her call, glowing amber roots spread from beneath her feet.
They gradually rose, transforming into an amber-colored tree that enveloped Silk.
"Guardian of the World Tree, Amber Ancestor, come forth! In the name of Amberwood, become the tree and forest that resists the Culling!"
Amber-colored elves appeared one after another from the pseudo-World Tree she had manifested.
Carrying swords, bows, daggers, and spears, the amber elves charged straight toward Papa.
So this was her power as the World Tree’s priestess.
"As expected of Silk-san! Looks like even my brothers back home are watching, so I gotta do my best too!"
"Nene, do you have a trump card too? Like my demon sword form?"
"It’s… a little different, but… I can buy time for Yuke-san."
Saying that, Nene quickly formed a series of intricate hand signs.
No doubt, she could hear Mamul-san’s voice in her heart.
"This is my trump card!"
Nene’s form blurred, then split left and right.
In an instant, there were ten Nenes, each drawing their large knives in perfect synchronization, and dashing in different directions.
"Amazing! So many Nenes!"
"It’s a combo of clone technique and protection magic! Even I… the inheritor of the name ‘Gray Hermit’… when it’s time to act, I act!"
Replying in ten voices, Nene began to confuse Papa’s tentacles.
I hadn’t known she was capable of something like this.
"I’m going too. Jamie-san, I’m counting on you."
"If it’s about keeping him in check, leave it to me. I’ve got plenty of moves. I’ll show everyone that I’m no longer the person I used to be."
Jamie leveled her staff at Papa, now half-transparent and monstrous, and dozens of Energy Bolts floated around her.
It stung, a little, to see her demonstrating the true essence of magic — something I once aimed for myself.
"All right, here I go! Marina… let’s go!"
Marina shot forward like an arrow.
This might not be the time to think it, but… yes, Marina had to be like this.
I couldn’t help but love seeing her back as she charged forward — spirited, unflinching, strong.
All right, it was time for me to begin as well.
To suppress a Culling with a Culling was, in a sense, the right way to do it.
And now, the strong will of the people of this world was pushing me forward.
Papa said this world was wrong — but there was no such thing as “right.”
Every living being had their own story, walking as the protagonist of their own tale.
Little by little, the world changed that way, in time, in big ways.
Each person’s change might seem small.
But even so, the world changes — someone’s small change reshapes the world.
I began weaving that into the magic formula.
Combining the curse-bearing Prismatic Missile and the wish-granting Wish, I kneaded it together with the amber mana dwelling in my left arm.
"I heard your voice in the endless night. The cries, sobs, and anguished screams disappeared into the forest, leaving behind only hope. There is light. It illuminates the darkness and shows the way. That path leads to utopia."
While watching my companions’ backs as they fought, I built the magic formula.
Blood trickled down my cheek, and I felt myself slipping somewhat into a Shadow Stalker state, but that was fine.
More concerning was the faint cracking sensation in my left arm.
After all, it was amber — it could literally be breaking.
That man had said my Culling was nothing but scraps, so it might not withstand this magic.
Even so, I had to complete it.
Because I bore the wishes of the people of this world — heavier than the title of Hero.
"You, and everyone else, will one day reach that place and be blessed — someday you’ll forget that day long past."
I completed the magic formula and quietly fixed my gaze on Papa.
He no longer seemed to mutter nonsensical things, but his will was still there.
He was trying to repaint this world… to turn it into a “utopia.”
In the first place, Cullings were worlds forcing themselves onto each other.
And so… I had to force this onto that man.
A strong denial of him, and the wishes of this world.
And, with just a little requiem mixed in, I softly spoke the name of the completed spell.
"—Another Regrettia, That Day Long Past."
A magic sphere, about the size of a fist, shimmered with seven-colored light as it quietly advanced through the air.
Surely, everyone was dumbfounded.
That I could weave a spell like this while cracking my left arm…
But this was the greatest threat imaginable to that Culling.
"Ha… haha… you call this the will of this world? Petty! Fragile! How fitting!"
Only his voice rang out — Papa’s will was still there, after all.
Which meant… perhaps I’d cast a cruel spell.
"—Eh."
That became Papa’s final word.
The instant the seven-colored orb touched him… the tentacled-headed monster that was the Culling dissolved into particles of light and scattered into nothing.
It was a spell imbued with a clear will of denial.
Our wish — the will not to allow his existence — erased him from this world.
But that wasn’t all — the spell gnawed at his time and memory.
Even now, Papa was likely falling endlessly through his memories, forced to relive his life over and over.
That cycle would continue infinitely, until his memories and existence were ground into nothing.
Whether he, as a Culling, could ever truly become nothing… that, I didn’t know.
"As expected of Clover! As expected of Hero Yuke! You’ve defeated the calamity splendidly! Wonderful, Gato-san!"
"Ahh, my heart was pounding! But that was magnificent magic, and splendid teamwork!"
"Clover!"
"Clover!"
"Clover!"
"Clover!"
The deafening cheers reverberated through the labyrinth’s depths.
If only I could at least wave back… but I didn’t even have the strength left to stand.
I must have pushed myself too far. My consciousness was starting to fade.
"Subjugation complete. Everyone, let’s get out of here."
With the last of my strength, I activated a magic scroll I’d taken out.
"Exit… activation check!"
The moment I was enveloped in the floating sensation of teleportation, my limit finally came.
I surrendered myself to the darkness and let my consciousness fade away.
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