"Ah...?!" Suddenly, Eleona was thrust backward with a fresh wound on her chest. What was happening?
"Harold? It's dangerous!" Before I could grasp the situation, Erina threw herself at me to shield me from danger.
"Kyaa?!" A fierce storm abruptly swept through the area, blinding my vision.
"Erina!" In trying to protect me, Erina herself was slashed across her empty back, groaning in pain.
"I'm sorry, Harold... but remember, I did this for you..."
"My husband, I couldn't just stand by..." Then, dust settled, revealing Morione and Luceria standing there with grim expressions.
"You guys, why all of a sudden...!" It was utterly confusing. Everything was supposed to have ended, so why this betrayal?
"I love you too much." The reality was hard to accept, but it became painfully clear.
It was like the sun setting and the night casting its shadows – everything that seemed smooth suddenly plummeted into chaos.
"I'm sorry... but I want you that much." They had betrayed us.
Rewinding to before we left the academy...
"Dear, can you go ahead? I have something to attend to." Luceria's sudden departure from the group made Harold a bit puzzled.
He should have realized then... if he had known such a tragedy would occur.
Reflecting back, Arsia also seemed to be leaving for a moment, and Morione had a suspicious expression...
Without arousing any suspicion, Luceria quietly left the group, heading towards a secluded corner of the academy, not far from where Mir had split the dark god.
"Ha... Nua..." There, the once-arrogant Tenebris was crawling on the ground, struggling for life.
"Found you." As her icy voice fell, Tenebris turned in panic, but soon relaxed, recognizing her aura.
The situation was dire, and the outcome uncertain. The story paints a vivid picture of betrayal, unexpected alliances, and the complexities of relationships in a world where power and emotions collide in unexpected ways. "Could it be... an ancient god? Ha... That's a relief!" Even in his near-death state, caused by Mir, Tenebris couldn't shed his arrogance, hastening his own end.
"I've heard about you... Seems like our goals align... I'm in this state, but won't you form an alliance with me?!" His light-hearted proposal was met with a furrowed brow from Luceria, who exuded a hostile aura.
"Yeah... you're searching for a partner, right? I'll become that partner!" With a sickening crunch of bones and flesh, a dull sound echoed.
"Co... cough...?!"
"An alliance? A partner? There's a limit to how disgusting one can be..." Disgusted, Luceria pierced his throat, lifting him up to maximize his pain.
"You, become my partner? Don't make me laugh..." As she focused, Tenebris's darkness transformed into her own and was absorbed.
"Sto... stop...."
"And you know... I already belong to someone, a man incomparable to someone as repulsive as you..."
Despite Tenebris's pleas, Luceria didn't stop.
"Nuuuuaaaahhhhh - !!" Eventually, the god of darkness ceased to exist, leaving nothing behind.
"Sigh... " Luceria closed her eyes for a moment, savoring the rapid amplification of her power.
"A bit dull, but is this what being a god feels like? Not complete, but enough to reach my prime..." Absorbing the god of darkness, Luceria's eyes deepened in color. She then set off again towards her beloved partner.
"Ugh... I can't muster my strength..." Wounded by the ambush, Eleona touched her injury and gradually began to slump.
"Even gods can't handle such frailty, yet you're about to collapse under this curse... still standing and possessing power akin to mine..." Luceria marveled at Eleona's incredible strength, readying herself for the battle ahead. "Ugh... so annoying, you're really not my type." Eleona, despite feeling uncharacteristically lethargic, glares at the betrayers with animosity. "Get ready."
And then, with a whoosh, both of them lunged at each other, leaving the ground with force. Bang! Crash! Whack! The relentless battle continued, seemingly without end.
"Eleona...," amidst the ongoing battle, no matter how one looked at it, it seemed like a losing fight for Eleona. "Sorry, Harold..." Moaned Morione, with a sorrowful voice, before a sharp pain erupted in my abdomen. Flung backwards, my vision grew increasingly distant.
"Brother!" Luckily, Yura caught me, preventing me from being gravely injured, but the sharp pain made it hard to keep my eyes open.
"Ugh..."
"Destiny Goddess! What is this madness?!" Abruptly betrayed, Goddess Abvene was dumbfounded, hurling magic at Morione, but to no avail.
"It's pointless!" Morione easily split the magic with her favorite axe, rendering it ineffective. "Now that my restrictions are fully lifted, my powers have grown stronger! Not entirely complete, but I can even foresee the destiny of gods now." She confidently stated, planting her axe on the ground, exuding a dignified confidence.
"Sorry, but you all have to disappear! Harold's love shared among ten is just too much." Mir, realizing the motive behind their betrayal, was incredulously appalled.
"Just for that? Dousing cold water on perfection achieved after vanquishing the main villain?!" Unable to understand such a motive, Mir attacked Morione in self-defense.
"Just that?!," Morione grew even more enraged at Mir's words, veins bulging on her forehead.
Despite not being able to land a blow, Mir found herself flung back by Morione's impeccable defense and counterattacks.
"Don't you know all too well?! Even if you can share his love, do you have any idea how torturous it is to share the man you genuinely love with others?!" Morione's words paradoxically convinced them of her perspective. Indeed, as she said, they all had experienced moments of possessiveness, desiring Harold's love exclusively for themselves. This recognition brought a bitter expression to their faces. It was a truth they had faced at least once - the desire to be the sole recipient of his affection.
"Right, we've all thought about it, even acted upon it," Yura broke the silence, voicing what everyone felt, "But accepting it... wouldn't that make Harold unhappy?"
If everyone had selfishly pursued their own desires, the consequences would have been clear. "Of course, I hate the thought of another woman with him, it's like death," Morione's betrayal seemed rooted in this dilemma.
"But what happiness would Harold have if we just eliminate the competition and claim him as ours?"
This realization was shared by all present - would such actions truly bring joy to Harold? "Honestly, I love him, so much that I want him all to myself. But if that were to happen, he wouldn't be able to smile, so I bear it."
Their love for Harold outweighed their desires, and despite hating the competition, they had reached an unspoken consensus for his sake. The re-emergence of this ignored issue brought visible conflict to their faces.
"But surely...," Morione's determination hardened as she stared them down, "I have prepared solutions for that!"
Mind manipulation - a heinous act Morione had once inflicted upon Harold. Regardless of the consequences of their betrayal, she believed it could be fixed.
"Ah!" With that, Morione brought down her massive axe, stirring up a storm. "Then I shall confront you!" Unable to bear it any longer, Arsia aggressively confronts Morione, casting spells into the mist, but...
"Where are you aiming?" A déjà vu situation unfolds; Arsia, once easily neutralized by Morione's unleashed power, falls similarly.
"Qof...?!" Arsia collapses, losing consciousness under the intense strike.
"Arsia?!" Next, Morione targets Aris, standing nearby. Her massive axe looms over Aris' head.
"How dare you!" Mir reacts to defend Aris, but...
"What...?" Morione, the Goddess of Fate, had foreseen everything.
With a clean slash, Mir is struck. "Uh...!" Though not completely incapacitated, her well-known weakness seems to have been significantly exploited.
"Morione! Stop this!" Marika bravely opposes, but it's futile.
"Oppa, I'll try to do something..." "Yuriel, no!" The number of those overpowered grows rapidly, even Yuriel's mysterious power unable to resist effectively.
"I already know everything!" Morione boasts, anticipating every move.
"How to win easily is clear to me!" Knowing fate, a power that transcends it, makes it difficult for anyone to rival Morione.
"Ah...!!" Yura is struck by a terrifying blow that sends shockwaves across the ground.
"Irritating..." "It'll be over soon." Even Abne, unfazed in expression, but the atmosphere is desolately grim.
"Piercing the stars... —" Without considering the aftermath, Abne prepares to cast the most potent magic she can conjure, driven solely by the thought of her own potential demise. Morione, fully aware of the consequences of inaction, interrupts Abne's incantation before it's even completed. "Sorry, but I have no intention of watching that happen!" Despite Abne's immense power, which could surpass Morione's in raw strength, Morione preemptively stops her efforts, leading to a one-sided battle.
The situation leaves Harold speechless, witnessing his allies being effortlessly overpowered. "I'm really sorry, Harold... I wanted you so desperately... I had no other choice..." Morione stands over him, having cleared all obstacles.
"Your Highness..." Harold's gaze is filled with mixed emotions. Morione's eyes distort at the sight.
Despite her treacherous actions, there's no hatred in his eyes, only a kindness that tries to understand her. This was the reason for her love and her current anguish.
"Just sleep for a while..." As she prepares to knock him out, imagining everything will be better tomorrow, she hesitates, seeing something in his destiny. It's like looking into a void; darkness where no future of Harold being knocked unconscious exists.
Why? Even though the current situation seems perfect for taking Harold, her action of knocking him unconscious doesn't align with his fate. In her confusion, she's unable to understand this anomaly. It's not hesitation from sympathy; she genuinely wants to put Harold to sleep.
And the answer to this confusing situation arrives unexpectedly.
Chang Gran - Puk!
Even as the Goddess of Fate, there was an unpredictable variable that she hadn't foreseen. "Ah...?" A surprise attack catches her off-guard, inflicting a deep wound in her side. The double-edged sword, larger than most people, is quickly withdrawn, causing profuse bleeding.
"Uh-oh?!" Even in the midst of their fight, Luslia and Eleona sense something amiss. They realize something's wrong.
"Eleona... didn't I tell you? To eliminate me, he must be involved..." Despite Eleona supposedly erasing his existence, there he was, perfectly intact.
"Now the true end is approaching." What seemed like a short battle left everyone exhausted, on the brink of collapse, and then the predestined foe appeared.
"Is this what they mean by killing two birds with one stone?" The God of Time, Tempus, reveals himself.
"Ah, my child... I have arrived." The being who wanted to die but couldn't, has returned.