Chapter 254
The deepest part of the ruins was the 6th Basement Floor. Facing the boss of the labyrinth, Franz froze for a moment.
The figure was not very tall, red armor covering the entire body, and red hair cascading down to the calves. For some reason, the figure’s appearance felt all too familiar.
Was that all? The sword the figure held was also also all too familiar to Franz.
Shining brilliantly in five colors as if unaffected by the passage of time, the sword was none other than Jupiter. It was the holy sword meant to save the world from ruin and the sword used by past Heroes.
'Yuna…?'
He couldn’t deny the possibility that it was just a coincidence. No, rather, it would be strange if it wasn’t. The Goddess herself had said that another dimension was beyond the gate.
At the same time, he also couldn’t deny that she looked bizarrely similar to Yuna. None other than Franz himself was feeling that way.
If she really was Yuna, what in the world had happened in this world? What had happened for her to be trapped in a place like this?
Swallowing those questions, Franz slowly took a step toward the figure. In the serene silence, the sound of his footsteps echoed unusually loud.
One step, two steps, the moment he took his third step, the figure, who had been blankly staring into the air, vanished.
'What…!'
Franz immediately deployed a protection spell without even having time to activate his trigger, snapping his fingers.
Right after that, the vanished figure reappeared. The figure lightly thrust her sword, and Franz was sent flying and smashed into the wall while surrounded by a round protective shield.
If his judgment had been delayed by just a few seconds, no, even one second, he would have lost his life. Coming down to the floor along with the debris created by the crumbling wall, Franz stared blankly at the figure.
“Is it really a coincidence…?”
Having spent a long time with Yuna, Franz knew her habits: the direction she stepped when swinging her sword, the angle of her arm, and even where she directed her gaze.
There was naturally a basic swordsmanship, but wouldn’t everyone’s habits be different? No matter if they learned from the same master, there would be minor differences.
But why was it? The way the figure just swung the sword was a spitting image of Yuna’s, as if they were the exact same person.
While the questions gradually piled up like that, the figure began to move once again.
BOOM-!
With a loud roar, dirt and dust fluttered backward as the figure’s form disappeared.
Since Franz couldn’t just keep taking hits either, he immediately deployed his magic. Letters and shapes formed a magic circle, granting meaning to his magic power.
The magic circles created in that manner numbered in the dozens. Whether the figure was Yuna or not, she wasn’t an opponent to be underestimated, so he intended to go all out.
Magic shot out from each magic circle, but the figure reached Franz first.
The figure swung a sword as tall as her own height as lightly as a feather. As her massive aura unfurled from the tip of the blade, a huge scar was carved into the wall even though the sword hadn’t touched it.
Of course, Franz was not in that spot. He had already escaped using Spatial Movement Magic.
Following that, dozens of spells headed toward the figure. Each and every spell possessed enough destructive power to obliterate a decent-sized city, so if she took a direct hit, she wouldn’t be left unscathed either.
The first thing that headed toward her was a fireball about the size of a fist. Since it was fired from her blind spot, she shouldn’t have been able to respond to it easily.
However, as if finding it laughable, the figure did a backflip and slashed the fireball with her sword.
The Holy Sword Jupiter was a sword that severed everything it touched. It couldn’t erase the magic itself, but it was more than enough to cleave the fireball in half.
BOOOOM-!
The fireball, split into two, brushed past the figure and exploded behind her.
It was the same after that. A boulder massive enough to cover the ceiling, a fierce stream of water in the shape of a dragon, and ashen smoke that melted everything it touched - all magic was powerless before her sword.
Even while slashing away the magic like that, the figure attacked Franz. It wasn’t that Franz had shown an opening. The figure had simply forced the situation to be that way.
As the battle continued like that, Franz’s thoughts grew firmer.
The figure before his eyes was definitely Yuna, though he didn’t know why she was put in this situation.
“…Yuna.”
Franz spoke in a low voice.
Did she hear it? The figure’s movements, which had been swinging the sword, stopped for a moment.
Following that, the figure stepped far back and widened the distance.
“…Who are you?”
Did she just speak…?
Even though he heard it himself, Franz couldn’t believe it. He hadn’t expected to hear human speech in a labyrinth, after all.
Anyway, this made it certain. Although the figure’s voice was quite subdued, it was definitely Yuna’s.
“The Mage of the Hero’s Party, Franz Gilbert.”
“What a joke. The Mage of the Hero’s Party didn’t have a name like that. And he is gone from this world already.”
The figure lunged forward the moment she finished speaking. She considered Franz’s words to be a lie.
Clicking his tongue with a Tsk- that their conversation had derailed, Franz poured out magic and widened the distance with Spatial Movement Magic.
'To think the Mage of the Hero’s Party isn’t me…'
Where was this world right now, and what in the world had happened?
His mind was muddled, but given the situation, thoughts didn’t come to him easily.
After the offensive and defensive battle continued for a long while like that, something suddenly flashed through his mind.
“Could it be that the one who made this world like this is you…?”
At Franz’s question, the figure stopped dead in her tracks. Then, she raised her head and looked at the ceiling.
Why was it? Even though she was clearly hidden by the helmet, that gaze felt faint and sorrowful.
“Yes, it was a world with not worth saving. So I destroyed it. In exchange, I was cursed by the gods and am unable to truly live or die in this place.”
“…It’s because of Duke Ishtar.”
“Yes, that’s right. I tore his limbs apart and fed him to the wild dogs. By the way, I have a question. I should have killed all the humans, so where in the world did you come from?”
“Well…”
I came from another dimension. Over there, you are living happily with your parents and younger sister.
Franz forced himself to swallow those words. Saying unnecessary things would only make her more miserable.
All he could do in this moment was simply put her at ease.
“Well, whatever. You’ll meet your death here anyway. Thanks to you, it was fun for a little while.”
The figure aimed the tip of her sword and drew up her aura. A dark red aura surged up explosively, pushing away the surrounding air.
Franz also drew up his magic power to match her. The surrounding magic particles reacted to the intense magic power and sparkled in blue.
This one clash would surely be the last.
At the same time the figure stepped forward, Franz lunged toward her.
Following that, a burning sensation in his shoulder joint. The figure’s sword had pierced right through his shoulder. Since a Mage had lunged at a swordsman, it could be said to be a natural outcome.
Still, wasn’t this getting off cheap? The opponent was a Hero, after all.
“Keu, keuheuk - .”
Franz’s hand had pierced through the figure’s armor and was gripping her nape.
It was possible because he knew even her most trivial details so well. Even though he had aimed for a momentary opening, he still had to give up one of his shoulders.
If they had fought normally, he would have been defeated by her, who had outstanding recovery abilities, after several days and nights.
Squeeze - .
Since he was causing her magic power to flow in reverse, it would be normal for her to be unable to move a single finger, yet she moved her hand, albeit slowly, and grabbed Franz’s wrist.
As Franz increased the output of his magic power even more, his hand gradually lost its strength before dropping with a thud - .
Then it was time to put an end to this, as it would be good for Yuna, and for the world that had met its bad ending.
Franz drew up the divine power that had been dormant within his body. A radiant golden energy flowed out of his body and slowly seeped into Yuna.
Death was also a blessing bestowed by the gods. The curse that prevented her from accepting that blessing slowly began to be erased.
Was it right to grant a peaceful death to the one who had destroyed the world? If someone were to ask that, he would have nothing to say.
It was just because it was Yuna. It was simply hard to watch Yuna suffer.
And above all, if Yuna didn’t die, he wouldn’t be able to escape from this place, would he? So this was also an action for his own sake.
Eventually, as the curse completely disappeared, he felt the strength drain from Yuna’s body.
Franz supported her and sat her, leaning against the wall.
Yuna, who had lifted her eyelids with difficulty, directed her gaze toward Franz.
“How truly bizarre… I should have hated all humans, yet your touch isn’t entirely unpleasant…”
“…Is that so?”
“Mom… Yuri-ah… I’m sorry…”
The eyes visible through the gap in the helmet gradually grew dim, and soon completely lost their focus.
Franz, who had been staring at her blankly, took out a mana recovery candy from his bag and placed it in her hand.
It was because he remembered how she kept asking for more, saying it was delicious, even though he had clearly told her it was a substitute for a potion.
It was then. As if announcing her death, the labyrinth began to shake. At the same time, he could tell through the flow of magic power that the gate leading outside had opened.
“The holy sword is…”
Franz shifted his gaze toward the Holy Sword dropped on the floor, but what was there was not the holy sword, but a small purple jewel. To be exact, it was the jewel that had been embedded in the Holy Sword.
Slowly taking a step and picking it up, Franz spoke in a low voice.
“Goodbye, Yuna.”
He earnestly hoped that she would be happy over there.