EPILOGUE
“Miss Selia…Miss Selia, are you all right?!”
“Mm…Leo…?”
Leonis knelt beside her and gently shook her shoulders. Riselia’s eyes opened but only barely.
“Hm… Where’s the Void…?” she asked feebly.
“It disappeared into a crack,” Leonis explained bitterly.
The tear in the skies above the Seventh Assault Garden was gradually closing, and the Voids that had appeared would be dispatched by Excalibur Academy’s military units.
…So my seventh match with Shardark ended in a draw.
And yet Leonis’s mana was nearly entirely depleted. If that battle had continued, he would have undoubtedly lost.
“…I see. Leo, I’m…I’m glad you’re safe.”
“Miss Selia, please don’t do anything that reckless again… Still, thank you for rescuing me.”
This was the second time she’d saved his life. Riselia smiled softly and took his hands in hers.
Leonis’s Holy Sword had already disappeared. He didn’t know how to summon it at will, so he’d have to ask Riselia about that later.
Still, to think that a Dark Lord like me would awaken to the power of a Holy Sword…
It wasn’t that he hadn’t considered the possibility, but it still came as a surprise. And why had it taken the form of a pistol? A Holy Sword was said to be a materialization of one’s soul, so it should have been a staff, or perhaps a sword, owing to his time as a hero.
The Holy Swords were supposedly a power granted to humankind by the planet to oppose the Voids. Was that the truth, though? Why did Holy Swords and Voids suddenly appear sixty-four years ago? The fact Leonis now possessed a Holy Sword could’ve been a clue to solving the mystery.
The tear in the sky was gradually shrinking. Leonis felt confident that he would encounter Shardark Shin Ignis, the hero who had succumbed to the power of nothingness, again. As Leonis was now, however, he wouldn’t be able to stop the man who had consumed gods and Dark Lords.
…I must hasten the reformation of the Dark Lords’ Armies. And I think I’ve had quite enough of those fools who are skulking about and plotting behind the scenes.
Leonis turned his gaze to the sky and gave an indomitable smile.
—It’s about time I move in to crush them.
At the Former Veriad Continent, some 2,700 kilometers to the southwest, located 9,044 meters below sea level, was a point called the Oceanic Gulf. Within the inky dark of the water, a large crimson flame burned.
“…Honestly, did it have to sink so deep…?”
A stunningly beautiful girl with dazzling crimson hair sighed as she stood before a wrecked structure. It was the remains of the Azure Hold, which had fallen to an offensive led by Gisark, the Divine Dragon of the Six Heroes.
Veira hoped to use the astronomical observation device at the fort’s core, the Almagest, to confirm changes in the position of the heavenly bodies during the last one thousand years, and possibly solve the mystery of the Star of Calamity.
Looking around the ruins, she spotted many gigantic dragon bones sunken in the structure. Veira closed her eyes, silently mourning the loss of brave dragons. And then…
“—Your queen returns!”
Thuuuuuuuuud!
She slammed her fist against the gate, blowing it off its frame. Then the Dark Lord ventured deeper into the wreckage, walking barefoot. The deepest parts of the ruins were protected by an ancient barrier that kept the seawater out.
“The Almagest should be just past here…”
Yet no sooner had Veira entered the throne room than she came to a stop.
“…Who’s there?”
Someone was occupying the Dragon Lord’s throne, as though they owned the place.
“Oh, I spy me a reckless fool. To take advantage of my absence and sit upon my chair—” Veira produced a red fireball in her hand. “I’m a forgiving Dark Lord, so I will burn you to nothing quickly.”
The burning sphere streaked forward, melting the surrounding stone pillars.
Tiiiiiiink!
However, they were easily extinguished before reaching the figure on the throne.
“…What?!” Veira’s ruby eyes betrayed her disbelief.
In the dying light of the flames, she spied a girl with a cold beauty and hair the color of amethysts.
“…It can’t be. Rivaiz Deep Sea, the Lord of the Seas?!”
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