"…"
So, this is how it ends.
I've failed.
I really lost to him.
Just as I thought that, the sensation of the invisible floor beneath my feet vanished.
It seems the floor disappeared after my heart was pierced.
After being stabbed in the heart, to die from falling from such a height...
I'd rather die before hitting the ground if possible.
"…"
As everything before me turned dark, and I lost the sense of up and down.
"Holly… Shion…"
I'm sorry, both of you.
I wanted to see you again.
Realizing this only after I can no longer see you might be the height of stupidity, but I enjoyed being with you.
I loved you.
A soft sensation hit the back of my head.
"Mr. Crow! Mr. Crow! Stay with us!"
"Jasmine, heal him quickly!"
Huh? I can hear Jasmine and Cineraria's voices.
When I came to, I was being held from behind by Jasmine, receiving healing from a healing sword.
In front of me, I could see Cineraria's back.
Where is this?
I haven't hit the ground yet.
"…On the back… of a dragon…"
It seems we're riding on the back of the dragon zombie Cineraria had summoned, flying over the nighttime capital.
Apparently, I was rescued in mid-air during my fall."…I thought you might be able to use a dragon, given your abilities to fly."
Geranium, while creating invisible floors under his feet, flies around in the air, closing in on the dragon zombie as he talks to Cineraria.
He was able to fly so freely in the sky.
By stopping time at his feet to form a transparent floor and leaping, he creates floors at his landing spots, repeating the process to move through the air.
"But even then, your timing was too perfect, wasn't it?"
"We heard your entire conversation! How dare you deceive us like that, Geranium!"
"Amaranth is crying on the ground! How cruel can you be!"
Cineraria and Jasmine glare at Geranium together.
"…Platanus…"
Typical of Platanus.
With just a single call, he understood my intentions.
Platanus's Thousand-Mile Sword manipulates sound.
It can pick up and listen to sounds from far away.
He used the Thousand-Mile Sword to capture the entire conversation between me and Geranium above the royal capital, sharing it with Amaranth, Cineraria, and Jasmine nearby.
I hadn't expected that, but Platanus went beyond what I thought possible.
"Ha ha…"
Everyone is amazing.
Everyone but me is unbelievably incredible.
"You truly are terrifying! I've had chills ever since we started!"
Suddenly, Geranium moves through the air with abnormal speed, quickly closing the distance to the dragon zombie.
"I haven't felt this fear since watching the hero and the Demon Lord fight up close!"
Screaming, Geranium spins in the air with the Timeflow Sword, slashing through the dragon zombie's wings.
In terms of air mobility, Geranium has the upper hand.
"Geranium! We have no intention of dying with you!"
"You're as dirty as your father, Cineraria! So eager for power, aren't you!"
"…!"
Cineraria, desperately controlling the dragon zombie with its wings being slashed, couldn't respond.
"And you, Jasmine! Want to revive those you've killed? That's just running away from your sins, isn't it? Hypocrite."
"…"
"Your desires and regrets are worthless trash! Death renders it all meaningless! That's why I'm saying let's all die together!"
Laughing uproariously, Geranium slashes the other wing as well."Shut up…"
"Hmm?"
"Shut up, Geranium!"
"Ha ha! You’re lively, Crow. Did you find hope in being saved? It's futile. I'll just kill all three of you together."
"Geranium! Wanting to be happy while alive, regretting killing someone, that's normal for humans! Have you forgotten that? You, who wanted to make everyone happy!"
"…You brat…!"
"Don't deny human emotions! You who denounced discrimination and inequality! You who despised human malice! You're the one looking down on people the most!"
"Don't talk back to me! A mere kid who's only lived a handful of years!"
"If you're proud of living so long, then be kind! People like you are called a nuisance to society!"
As I screamed, still not fully healed and coughing up blood, the dragon zombie, its wings slashed, began to fall towards the royal capital with us on its back.
The thought of all three of us dying in a crash sent shivers down my spine.
How many times today have I been tormented by the fear of death?
As I contemplated this, we fell onto an ice-cold slope, sliding down it.
Not like ice, but actually on ice.
An ice slope extended towards the courtyard of the royal castle.
"Iris?"
Myself, Cineraria, and Jasmine slid down the ice slope and into the courtyard of the royal castle.
There, Iris was seen creating a giant block of ice with her Frost Sword, alongside Instructor Cattleya, who was wielding her Explosive Flame Sword.
"Lord Crow! We've all regrouped! Please be at ease!"
Platanus, kneeling with his Thousand-Mile Sword, greeted me as I slid off the ice slope.
Saffron, wielding her pair of Vacuum Swords.
Amaranth, with her eyes red and swollen from crying, glanced at me before transforming her Rakshasa Sword from a cloak to an armor on her shoulder and unsheathing her Demon Sword with one hand.
Cineraria and Jasmine, who slid down the ice slope with me, readied their Underworld Sword and Healing Sword, respectively.
Everyone present glared at the same person.
Geranium, standing on an invisible floor, looking down at us from the void.
Iris, Instructor Cattleya, Saffron, Platanus, Amaranth, Cineraria, and Jasmine. In total, seven saintly sword wielders glared at Geranium, who met their gazes head-on.
"Marvelous! This is truly a scene the Demon Lord would witness! Fitting for one who seeks to annihilate humanity!"
"…I refuse to be left out at a time like this."
In an instant, the only saintly sword wielder not yet present, Heath, unleashed a thunderous strike on Geranium from atop the castle wall.It was not a fatal blow, but one that definitely paralyzed Geranium's body.
Geranium tried to regain his composure in mid-air, but an unrelenting attack followed.
A monstrous creature, resembling a giant bull, not one of us but one that Cineraria had previously turned into a zombie soldier in the deepest part of the dungeon, caught Geranium with a leap that belied its massive body and strength that matched its size.
"Cineraria! If you're going to help, throw him down there!"
Following Instructor Cattleya's direction, Cineraria, who had summoned the beast, swung her Underworld Sword.
The bull-like creature then hurled Geranium in that direction.
The moment Geranium was slammed into the courtyard,
"We've had plenty of time. All the time in the world, actually!"
A massive exploshion erupted in the courtyard.
This was the result of the Explosive Flame Sword's bomb-setting ability.
While I was conversing with Geranium in mid-air, Instructor Cattleya had apparently planted a significant number of bombs throughout the courtyard.
The blast's shockwave mercilessly struck us, but a wall of ice created by Iris blocked it all.
"…Amaranth…"
I spoke to Amaranth, who was watching the exploshion from behind the ice wall.
"…It's okay, Crow… I almost ended up following my master and causing the death of people all over the world. If that can be prevented…"
"No. It's not over yet."
"?"
As I said that, Geranium emerged from the flames, unscathed.
Despite being at the epicenter of that massive exploshion, he was completely unhurt.
A shock ran through all the saintly sword wielders present, but
"He couldn't have remained unscathed. He must have rewound his body's time the moment he got injured. He went back to a point in time when he was uninjured."
As I murmured this, Geranium burst into laughter.
"What’s the matter! Come at me, all of you together! I'll kill you all at once!"
Having rewound time, the clown makeup on Geranium was gone, revealing surprisingly handsome features.
"…"
Truly, he had the look of someone strong and wise.
Judging by appearance might be questionable, but he had a presence distinct from heroes or Demon Lords.