Watching the Hundred-Form Monster's soul let out agonized screams within the world of the Law of Life, Cid felt no sympathy at all. If anything, he wanted to hit it even harder.
"Let's go, Zeta."
Closing the gate to the Law of Life, Cid called out to Zeta. Behind him, slime liquid rose up and formed wings like a Devil's, spreading wide.
"..."
"?"
When no reply came, Cid turned to look at Zeta and tilted his head.
"My Lord, there is still a little final cleanup I need to finish here. Please allow me to remove any possible obstacles to your great cause..."
Glancing at Petos, who had been pinned to the ground by Zeta's golden wheel and was screaming in pain, obviously not looking like a good person, Cid felt he had finally pieced together the whole situation.
With a pathetic soul like the Hundred-Form Monster's, a soul that had its faith ignited by an outsider without even realizing it and was then possessed in turn by the faith-born consciousness known as the Beast God, it was basically certain that it had been created by someone else as a biological weapon.
At any rate, Cid refused to believe that a trash-level soul like that, something so worthless it could barely even qualify as the soul of a Hundred-Form Monster, could have gathered that much power of faith by itself.
And combined with what he had seen the moment he arrived, the newly born Hundred-Form Monster attacking Zeta, it was obvious that the priest-robed man in front of him had created it to deal with her.
So the sequence of events must have been this: a terrorist organization was fighting itself over power. Zeta, as one of the people competing for control, had come into conflict with the priest-robed man before her. He created a Hundred-Form Monster to deal with Zeta, but the powerful energy fluctuations released at the moment of its birth attracted Cid here.
Then, to keep the aftershocks of the battle from accidentally killing Zeta, Cid kicked the Hundred-Form Monster away and fought it himself.
Meanwhile, during his battle with the Hundred-Form Monster, Zeta had successfully solo-killed Petos and was now finishing him off in order to completely seize control of the organization.
There were still a few minor issues with that version, judging from what "Cid" had experienced earlier, but it was basically right.
Now that he understood the whole story, Cid nodded at once. This was Zeta's personal matter. As long as Zeta hadn't gone insane, there was no way he, as Zeta's friend, would protect her enemy.
With permission granted, slime liquid formed another golden wheel in Zeta's hand, and she hurled it toward Asagi Aiba and the others, who had been trying to slip away from the rear.
"Clang!"
The spinning golden wheel crashed against a greatsword. After a brief deadlock, the wheel, lacking any follow-up force, was ultimately knocked flying.
Sayaka Kirasaka, who had managed to react in time and block the blow, was not happy in the slightest. Looking at Shadow and Zeta as they turned their eyes toward them, she could only force out an awkward smile.
Catching the returning golden wheel, Zeta fixed them with a deathly cold gaze, and magical power erupted from her body once more.
She had never expected to be forgiven after making such a grave mistake, and at that moment, Zeta's heart was overflowing with emotion. The confusion born from being abandoned was swept away as well.
The Zeta who had sealed off her heart, the Zeta whose mind was full of thoughts of making Cid rule the world, had returned.
And so, for the sake of the best master in the world, she would never allow these three women, women who knew far too much, to leave this place alive. Tampering with memories was nowhere near reliable enough. Only death was reliable.
For her master's reputation, for Shadow Garden's secrecy, and to keep the major factions complacent and off guard, from a purely pragmatic standpoint, eliminating these three women had already become a higher priority than even Petos.
...
You've got to be kidding me.
Feeling the stares of Shadow and Zeta, especially the increasingly terrifying killing intent radiating from Zeta, Asagi Aiba felt like ten thousand alpacas were stampeding through her heart.
What did we ever do to deserve this? Why is it that every single time we try to sneak away, we get spotted immediately, and then someone suddenly jumps out wanting to kill us? Do they seriously just have it out for us?
And this time it was even worse. The one who had his eyes on them was Shadow, one of the strongest in the world. Are you kidding me!!!
They might not even be able to beat Zeta. Going up against Shadow, one of the strongest in the world? They may as well just kill them now.
"Clang!"
After dodging the strike from Zeta that sent Yukina flying back, Asagi Aiba watched Sayaka Kirasaka get completely overwhelmed. Gritting her teeth, she summoned Mogwai for support and unleashed one spell after another from her hands.
She had no idea why Shadow wasn't making a move, but right now all she could do was deal with things one step at a time. She could not die here.
...
Watching Zeta attack Sayaka Kirasaka and the others, Cid was dumbfounded, the corner of his mouth twitching.
Zeta, are you killing the wrong people...? No, wait, why are Asagi Aiba and the others here?
Cid genuinely had not noticed Asagi Aiba and the others. To him, unless he saw them with his own eyes or deliberately searched for them with radar, their presence barely registered in his senses, about the same as ants.
He glanced once more at Petos by his feet and began to think.
Based on the information he had gathered, aside from Asagi Aiba not telling the whole truth, Yukina Himeragi and Sayaka Kirasaka really were just innocent bystanders. They had simply been kidnapped and beaten because someone was after their exemption certificates.
Although kidnapping people just to steal their certificates without killing them was a pretty baffling move, there was no need to think too hard about it. He could just assume the terrorists were idiots.
Asagi Aiba was a little suspicious, but Cid still did not think she had joined a terrorist organization. More likely, she had just been dragged in as a technical advisor.
So Zeta was... planning to silence them for good?
That thought crossed his mind, but even after considering it for a moment, Cid still found it hard to believe.
Even if Zeta had become a terrorist, the cat was so cute. How could she possibly have bad intentions...?
"If you want to blame someone, blame yourselves for knowing too much!"
Just as that thought passed through his mind, Zeta's icy voice rang out from ahead. As she spoke, she caught an opening in Sayaka Kirasaka's defense and swung her golden wheel at her neck, aiming to slit her throat in a single strike.
All right, so she really was trying to kill them to keep them quiet.
A stiff smile tugged at the corner of his mouth beneath the mask as Cid stepped forward.
"Clang!"
The black blade blocked the fatal strike, and the collision between the golden wheel and the black blade rang out with a sharp metallic screech.
"That's enough!"
With a slight push of his right hand, the black blade easily overpowered Zeta.
Then he suddenly put real force into it. Caught off guard, Zeta instinctively leaped backward and shed most of the impact.
"My Lord, what is this?"
Before she had even regained her footing, Zeta looked at Cid in confusion. Just as she was about to ask more, Cid cut her off.
"Finish him off, then we leave. I do not like meaningless killing."
Knowing exactly who he meant by him, Zeta panicked as she looked at Asagi Aiba and the others behind Cid.
"My Lord, this is a necessary sacrifice. They know far too much.
Once others find out, when you begin to rule the world in the future, those ordinary people are very likely to develop intense negative feelings because of it. That could become a major hidden danger to your rule."
Please, stop talking. Are you really trying to get us killed faster? We do not want to know who you are, we do not want to know your plans, we do not want to know anything!
Hiding behind Cid, Sayaka Kirasaka and Asagi Aiba looked utterly ashen.
If the situation had not been so stacked against her, Sayaka Kirasaka would have rushed forward and punched Zeta's mouth shut on the spot. If Zeta kept dropping bombshells like this, there was no telling whether Shadow, who was currently planning to spare them, might suddenly change his mind.
What relieved Sayaka Kirasaka was that, even after Zeta revealed a pile of shocking things, Shadow did not seem to care at all. He simply looked at Zeta and spoke slowly.
"For the sake of profit, people can commit unquestionable evil under the banner of justice, acting as though it were only natural.
There is nothing strange about that. Double standards are part of human nature. But meaningless slaughter is evil.
Besides, my tolerance is not so small that I cannot endure a mere bit of the world's malice."
"My Lord! They..."
Zeta still wanted to argue.
"Hold on to who you are. I do not want to see you become a second Cult of Diablos.
I like jokes, but the joke of a dragon-slaying hero turning into a second evil dragon is not funny at all."
Hearing that, Zeta fell silent. She did not know what to say. In the end, she could only drop to one knee and press a hand to her chest.
"This subordinate understands."
"Then do it."
"Yes."
Rising to her feet, Zeta glanced at Asagi Aiba and the others and spoke coldly.
"Be grateful for Shadow-sama's mercy. You've been allowed to keep your lives."
With that, Zeta turned and walked toward Petos on the ground.
Looking at Petos lying there, his agonized screams now so faint they were barely audible, a trace of hatred flashed through Zeta's eyes.
The man who had murdered her family was right in front of her. The vengeance she had long awaited was finally within reach, and her heart was filled with mixed emotions. In the end, she simply let out a slow breath.
She did not use the weapon she relied on most. Instead, a slime tendril pierced into the heart of Petos's mangled body.
Goodbye, my past.
Murmuring those words silently in her heart, Zeta granted her opponent the last bit of dignity she was willing to give.
Powerful magical power spread out from his heart, grinding every cell in Petos's body to pieces. With precise control, Zeta killed him instantly, reducing him to a dried corpse.
The next second, Petos's entire body began to crack apart. A breeze swept through, and Petos crumbled into dust and was carried away by the wind.
"Let's go, Zeta."
With a flap of the wings on his back, Cid shot straight into the sky.
Watching Cid's departing figure, Zeta glanced back at Yukina Himeragi and the others behind her and fell into thought.
Under Zeta's gaze, Yukina Himeragi felt goosebumps rise all over her body. She was terrified that now Shadow had left, Zeta might change her mind.
"My Lord is too kind, so I will not deliberately kill you. But if you fail to pull through on your own, that will not be my responsibility.
For your sake, I will erase all traces of your presence here. What you need to do is try your hardest not to be erased along with them.
If you survive, then I suppose your lives were not meant to end here. Just remember to keep your mouths shut."
After saying that in a cold voice, another pair of wings extended from Zeta's back, and she flew up toward the hole overhead.
Once Zeta was gone, Sayaka Kirasaka and the others stood there blankly, staring at each other, unable to understand what she had meant by those final words.
"So we're... okay now?"
"If I understood that right... I think... so?"
As she watched the patterns gradually appear across the ground, Asagi Aiba's voice slowed more and more.
"A self-destruct spell formation?"
The moment she recognized what kind of spell it was, Asagi Aiba's expression changed.
At that moment, she finally understood what Zeta meant. If they survived the explosion that would wipe out all evidence, then with a bit of maneuvering afterward, and with Shadow blocking fate divination, there was a very good chance they could keep the major factions from finding out anything.
And by the same logic, if they could not even escape the blast, then dying in it would be convenient enough. Better that than getting their souls searched by the major factions afterward until they were turned into idiots.
"Run!"
With a shout, Yukina Himeragi and Sayaka Kirasaka grabbed Asagi Aiba and sprinted for the exit.
A few seconds later, the explosion began.
...
With trembling steps, Cid walked into the ruins before him. Looking at the shattered remains of all kinds of ancient antiques scattered across the ground, his vision went dark, his legs gave out, and he dropped straight to his knees.
Even though he had not used magic to beat his tear ducts into action, tears still spilled out uncontrollably. His mouth opened on its own, and for some reason, his heart ached.
"AAAHHH!!!"
It hurt. It hurt too much!
Crying out loud, Cid knelt on the ground, raised his clenched fists, and smashed them down hard. The entire Itogami Island shook violently.
Ignoring the commotion, Cid picked up a piece of metal.
He recognized it. This was Collection No. 333, the cane he had loved carrying around the most. And now it was gone.
And No. 2, No. 8, No. 77...
As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but ruins.
"Zeta, I'm gonna kill you!"
Tears streamed onto the ground without stopping. He had thought he could accept it, but now that he saw this devastated wasteland, the killing intent inside him toward Zeta surged so high that he was only a hair away from actually doing it.
"Earth: Material Reconstruction."
Speaking the name of the skill, Cid tried to save his collection. But when he looked at No. 333 in his hand, restored to its original shape yet filled through and through with magic, so obviously fake at a glance, his expression twisted.
The killing intent in his heart surged again. At that moment, he really was only that tiny step away from actually going to kill Zeta.
Be grateful, Zeta. You just picked your life back up.
"Ugh..."
After who knew how long, Cid had cried himself exhausted. Even the sound coming from his throat had weakened considerably. Then he heard footsteps approaching and instinctively looked up.
"Thank goodness, Cid. You're okay."
Covered in wounds and supporting each other as they walked, Sayaka Kirasaka and the others appeared before him. Asagi Aiba hurried forward excitedly, pulled Cid up, and hugged him tightly, tears glimmering in her eyes.
Behind her, Yukina Himeragi watched Asagi Aiba hug Cid, and her expression visibly worsened. But with her body too weak to do anything, she could only sigh and turn to Sayaka Kirasaka, who was supporting her and seemed to be in better shape.
"Thanks, Sayaka. I didn't expect Senpai to really be here. By the way, how did you know Senpai was here?"
"Coincidence. Just coincidence..."
The corner of Sayaka Kirasaka's mouth twitched as she tried to brush it off, but her eyes stayed fixed on Cid, a faint ripple passing through them.
He's crying this hard for us... fine. For now, I'll accept you being with Yukina.
"Ugh..."
Cid wanted to say something, but the only thing that came out when he opened his mouth was more sobbing. He was so overwhelmed with grief that his ability to speak had completely fallen apart.
Cid cried even harder.
...
"Kukuku, picking up a Fourth Primogenitor for free..."
A black feather drifted to the ground.