Chapter 25
Beautifully fluttering snowflakes.
Although they had a somewhat alien black color, they were beautiful enough to make even that impression pale.
It was a landscape born from a kind of paradox.
The thickly falling frost is tinged with shadows.
Even the spring that had bloomed freshly.
As if it had never been, it's covered by winter night.
Those who witnessed the contradictory seasons have their gazes stolen by the intense ecstasy.
Meanwhile,
"Haa, haa......"
At the center of the circular arena.
There's a girl breathing roughly.
"Cough... ugh."
A dry cough is painful.
The identity of the girl standing exhausted is none other than Emilia.
Her slender steps stagger.
Crunch-.
Footprints are left on the softly piled snow.
The girl mutters to herself blankly at the surreal background unfolding before her eyes.
Clear breath rises.
"...What on earth?"
What on earth happened?
She falls into thought.
The last thing the girl remembers is the scene of ten thousand spears falling.
And the next moment.
-Shatter.
Winter shattered.
In an instant.
The vivid scenery until just before disappears as if it were a lie.
It scatters into countless fragments.
"Ah."
It felt like being bewitched by a dream.
If she closed her eyes and opened them like this... would everything disappear, and she'd wake up in a soft bed?
Of course, the delusion doesn't last long.
Snowflakes falling on her cheek.
Because the coldly dyed body temperature was proving reality.
Emilia raised her head.
"......"
What's reflected in her blurry vision is a golden snake.
Slit eyes smiling ominously.
The boy was full of composure.
Unlike herself who had shriveled up miserably, he was elegant.
Emilia realizes only then.
The fact that she is weak.
She deployed magic trying to even touch the boy's toes, but even that was woefully insufficient.
It was truly an unreasonable gap.
"Do you still intend to continue?"
A voice asking gently.
Her breath catches.
An intense feeling of powerlessness lingers throughout her body.
Her legs with drained strength tremble.
But,
"...Yes."
She doesn't collapse.
A venomous light still glistens over her blue eyes.
It was a terrible obsession.
Emilia bites her lip.
She forcibly regulates her breathing.
An auditory hallucination rings in her ears. It was a voice she had heard somewhere before.
-Become strong, Emilia.
Her chest tightens.
-Otherwise you won't survive.
A piece of memory finally raises the girl up.
Of course, she wasn't expecting a reversal.
She had already sensed it from the previous strike.
It was a distant gap.
To the extent that even daring to look up was burdensome.
"It's not over yet."
Emilia simply didn't know.
Because in her life, defeat meant only death, she hadn't learned how to kneel.
It was the path she had learned to survive from a harsh fate.
This time was the same.
The girl clenches her fist tightly.
If she scrapes together the discharged mana to the bottom, she can barely create one ice spear.
A last desperate struggle squeezed out.
"I won't lose... Absolutely."
The atmosphere is vicious.
As she aims the sharp spear tip at the boy, a self-mutter mixed with lamentation is heard.
"My, my... I didn't want to treat you roughly."
The snake flicks its tongue as if enjoying itself.
Is it that fun?
Well, it was the process of stepping on a bug that didn't know its place and was acting up.
'Is this natural?'
She didn't particularly think it was unfair.
Wasn't this what she had intended to do in the first place?
If one decides to stab the other, one should also be prepared to be stabbed in return.
The ominous slit eyes smile.
"It can't be helped! I wanted to end this as gentlemanly as possible, but......"
Grin.
The corners of the boy's mouth twist eerily.
Killing intent spreading intensely.
"This is the result you chose, Lady."
The snake puts his hands together.
Black mist wavering around.
Emilia, sensing something was off, tried to retreat, but the boy's following action was faster.
He lightly claps his hands.
Zak-!
A bursting sound stretching straight out.
The next moment.
"...Huh?"
The gravity surrounding the girl flips upside down.
Her body stays in mid-air for a moment.
Not long after.
"Ah... Kyaaaa!!"
Blue hair shoots up towards the sky.
***
Yuda is described as the strongest evil in the original work.
A guy who acts like the protagonist's helper until the latter part, but reveals his true colors at the most important moment.
He plays the role of delivering a shocking twist.
[What?]
[?????????????????]
[Is this for real? Yuda betrays them?]
[F**k slit-eyed characters are science]
[No don't bullshit]
[More importantly, why is that bastard so strong?]
[Because he's slit-eyed, he must have been hiding his strength]
The reactions were heated even on the walkthrough video I uploaded.
Always kind, and sometimes an overflowing gag character.
It was a development where a supporting character who had established a favorable image with players was actually the mastermind behind all tragedies.
Perhaps because the foreshadowing was so meticulously hidden.
It was nearly impossible to notice on the first playthrough.
The problem didn't stop there.
An ability close to disaster.
The protagonist's group had to set out to prevent the world's destruction without even time to recover from the shock of betrayal.
Yuda's strength was far beyond the frame.
[Is this difficulty correct??]
[If even the walkthrough guy fails, it means we can't even touch it]
[Galimar faculty annihilated in 30 seconds?]
[F**k is this right]
As such, there were many intense scenes.
Among them, the most talked-about scene was the 'Continental Gravity Reversal' appearing in the [Final Battle].
《It's getting a bit boring.》
《Shall we... make our world a bit more fun?》
He denies the laws.
When the boy claps once, the gravity of the entire continent reverses.
People fall towards the sky.
A world fleetingly entering destruction.
It was a direction that still remained in my mind.
[How do you beat that]
Of course, that was only possible for the Yuda in the original work.
My power wasn't even close.
Even though 3 years had passed since possession, the ability called 'lies' was still tricky to handle.
With insufficient output, it was difficult to hit the high points.
To begin with, reversing the gravity of an entire continent?
How on earth does that work?
It was a level of power I absolutely couldn't comprehend.
'But.'
That doesn't mean I can't do it at all.
The ability to manipulate reality with lies.
It's simply that the output is lower, not that the contents are different.
If it's a narrow range I can handle, I can easily go against the world's laws.
Zak-!
This was exactly that.
"Ah... Kyaaaa!!"
The principle was the same 'gravity reversal', but it was a version reduced to an incomparable degree.
If the target specified by the original Yuda was the continent.
The target I specified was just one girl.
An afterimage rising vertically at high speed.
Watching the figure gaining acceleration, I hold a regretful smile.
-I won't lose... Absolutely.
As expected.
Emilia didn't indicate any intention to surrender.
A venom to fight to the end instead.
To break that, I had to use a somewhat rough method.
If she intends to keep standing up even knowing the difference in power.
Then I just need to shake her so she can't stand up again.
"Huhu."
Even the judge doesn't seem to have any intention of stopping it.
It must mean it's okay to continue the duel.
As the girl's head is about to touch the clouds, I clap my hands once again.
Zak-.
Right after, the gravity surrounding the girl returns to normal.
Blue hair hanging at the edge of the sky.
It seems to swim in the sky for a moment, then starts falling to the ground.
A faint scream is heard.
"Uh, uwaaa...!"
Emilia coming down quickly as acceleration builds.
No matter how tough her body is, she would be severely injured falling from such a height.
Moreover, in a state where mana exhaustion, fatigue, and powerlessness overlapped.
The girl was clearly going to meet the ground without being able to brace for impact.
Of course,
"Let's go up again."
Zak-!
I didn't let her be like that.
Just before the fluttering blue hair touches the arena, I put my hands together timed perfectly.
Emilia's face moves away again.
"For saying such resolute words... your screams are quite cute."
A small villainous young lady shot up by the mastermind.
I repeated the applause.
Zak-!
Zak-!
Zak-!
If she seems to reach the sky I drop her, if she comes down I send her back up.
Sometimes I switch gravity horizontally for variation.
"...!!"
For a while, only faint screams echo in the arena.
How much time passed like that?
When I stopped clapping.
It was after a system notification popped up.
-Ding!
[Most of the output of the unique ability 'Liar' has been consumed.]
[Current remaining output: 4.7%]
"It's about time to wrap up."
Zak-!
After clapping for the last time, I wait in place.
As I stand with both arms outstretched, before long I see the girl falling at a terrifying speed.
Her blue hair leaves a long tail.
"Oops."
I lightly catch the falling girl.
Using my ability to erase the acceleration, I gently embrace the body that has lost strength.
"Do you feel like giving up now?"
"......"
Emilia in a daze.
I deliberately whisper in her ear to tease her. Meaning I'll show her worse if she doesn't forfeit right away.
Her slender shoulders tremble, twitching.
"Hmm hmm."
I put the villainous young lady down on the ground.
Her legs stagger as soon as they touch the ground.
As expected, Emilia immediately sat down in place.
Her chin trembles like an aspen leaf.
"Lady."
"......"
"Lady?"
"......"
No answer returns.
I, who had been smiling broadly, only then realized something was wrong.
Did I play too rough?
Still, she's a student with some skill. That's why I felt at ease playing with her.
Her dubious reaction was concerning.
'Wait a minute.'
As I raise a question, one setting I belatedly remember comes to mind.
'Come to think of it... I think there was mention that Emilia has severe acrophobia.'
It was a detail I vaguely remembered from an extra booklet released sometime.
A feeling of my insides going cold.
"Oh my goodness."
=Oh shit.
I hurriedly examined Emilia.
The villainous young lady knelt with blank eyes.
It was already too late.
"Lady! Are you alri- Huh?"
The girl's pants were wet with moisture.
Centered where she's sitting, a small puddle has formed.
The black snowflakes that had piled up from previous attacks quickly melt as they touch the flowing water.
White steam rising at the same time.
"Oh."
My brain stops.
Yellow liquid.
No matter how I look at it, it was water that came... from below the girl.
I hurriedly raise my head and try to pretend I didn't see, but unfortunately my gaze meets blue eyes.
"......"
"......"
Pupils shaking as if about to break.
Tears gradually welled up.
The trembling gets worse.
Finally,
"Hic...! Ugh, waaah...!"
Emilia bursts into tears.
Oh no.
I messed up.