The gentle breeze that had blown through carried away the thick cloud of dust.
The gaze of everyone fixed on the faint outline that began to emerge through the thinning haze.
The Black Dragon's form slowly came into view from within the dust.
"It's... dead?"
A powerful strike. After the clash with the Black Dragon, they had unleashed a devastating attack.
And at the end of it, the Black Dragon lay with its head and body severed, no longer moving.
What that meant was clear.
"...We won."
Someone murmured it.
That was the beginning.
"We wonnnnnn!!"
"It's our victory!"
Waaahhhhh!
Cheers of triumph rang out.
The reality that had felt so distant was now slowly beginning to reach me.
My companions were the same.
"We won... We won, Bell!"
"Is it true... Did we really win?"
"Yes... We've done it...!"
There were no wild shouts nearby.
But an immense surge of emotion was churning within them, no less intense for its silence.
The final wish of humanity. The last piece needed to bring the oath to its end.
The long, long war between humanity and the Dungeon had finally come to a close.
"...We won."
At my quiet murmur, joy gradually lit up my companions' faces.
And Lord Vesta too.
"...You did it."
"...Yes."
It didn't feel real. It was like dreaming.
"You've worked hard."
But Lord Vesta's voice made it real.
"...Yes."
Only then could I finally feel it and smile brightly.
"Let's go home. To our home."
Lord Vesta smiled brightly as well.
I loved Lord Vesta's smile. His warmth, like a hearth fire, had always warmed my heart too.
I didn't want to lose that smile. I wanted to stay by his side forever.
I held that wish close.
It was a wish far too great for me.
"...Huh?"
The wind blew. A black wind that would swallow everything.
Darker than before, fiercer than before.
Everyone saw it.
The Black Dragon collapsing.
The ominous wind shining with black light.
It was like night.
If there were a pitch-black night sky with no stars and no moon, perhaps it would have looked like this.
The wind, filled with dense darkness, swept mercilessly over everyone.
My companions, Lord Vesta, and me.
And Arphia too.
"Ghk...!"
The tremendous impact knocked me unconscious, then brought me back to my senses again.
I tried to get up, but perhaps a bone had been broken, because every movement sent pain stabbing through my chest as if it were piercing my lungs.
'What...'
What had happened?
Arphia couldn't understand it. No, she didn't want to understand it.
She knew. She knew what had happened. It was something she had already heard about and anticipated.
-The Black Dragon will probably have a second phase.
That was what Zeus and Hera had said before they set out.
Though she didn't know the source, neither Zeus nor Hera would joke about something like this, so everyone had stayed on guard for that moment.
The instant the Black Dragon was brought down. The moment it would have caught everyone off guard if they hadn't known.
That was when a wide-area attack would strike by surprise.
She knew it. She had known it was coming.
So the moment she confirmed the attack had landed, she immediately wrapped her body in magic.
The others must have defended themselves in their own ways too.
She had known and prepared for it, and yet...
She turned her head and looked around.
The front line had already collapsed, and this one attack had left some severely injured and others dead.
Attack power far beyond expectations. No, could this even be reduced to something so simple?
This was, almost...
"Ah..."
Before she knew it, a weak sound slipped from her lips.
Someone stood at the center of this catastrophe.
A humanoid shape, all of it black as pitch.
No eyes, no nose, no mouth. If darkness itself had taken human form, it would have looked like that.
"A spirit..."
A spirit is a divine avatar. In ancient times, the gods sent spirits down to the mortal world to watch over humanity.
They granted power to ancient heroes, slew monsters, and brought victory to humankind.
A miracle bestowed for the sake of their children.
But the ones who cherished their children were not only the gods above the clouds.
Humans were created by the gods.
Then what about monsters?
Who created monsters, and who watched over them?
Monsters came from the Dungeon. The Dungeon was their parent, their cradle, and their god.
"The Dungeon's... spirit..."
The oldest monster.
The first monster.
The strongest lifeform created by the Dungeon to protect its monsters.
A manifestation of the Dungeon itself.
That was the Black Dragon.
"It's not really that strange, honestly."
Watching the scene, Zeus clicked his tongue and muttered.
"Once you reach the point where it can nullify divine power, it's easy enough to infer that the Dungeon is something on par with the gods, right? Then it wouldn't be strange for it to have a spirit too."
Zeus said it as if it were obvious, but his expression was twisted like he'd bitten into a bug.
Even with prior information, the front line had been annihilated in an instant.
Those on the battlefield had not been careless, nor had they made a mistake.
The only problem was that their opponent was absurdly strong.
They had not been wiped out yet, but it was only a matter of time.
"What are you going to do?"
"..."
The question was a little disjointed, but Vesta did not panic.
Perhaps because he was thinking the same thing as Zeus.
"What are you talking about all of a sudden!"
Hera was the one who snapped back, though to be precise, she was more flustered than angry.
Annihilation. It wasn't there yet, but it was obvious even to Hera that it would be soon.
They needed a change. And the greatest change was right here, right now.
But...
She still could not make the decision.
And at this moment, she was not the only one.
'The battle situation...'
Had completely tilted. If it stayed like this, it would become irreversible.
The scale had not yet fully tipped, but it was only a matter of time.
If nothing were placed on the other side, it would simply fall to the ground. And there was only one thing I could place there.
Could that restore the balance? No matter how I thought about it, it wasn't enough.
Not in perfect condition, and with me weakened like this...
"By definition, a hero is..."
"...!"
It was something I had heard long ago.
"Not one who wields a sword, nor one who carries a shield, nor one who brings healing."
I know those words.
I remember that feeling.
In a warm, drowsy bed, I always heard that voice.
I admired that voice.
"The one who wagers themselves is the one called a hero."
A story heard in the distant past, a story someone yet to be born would one day hear.
A story I had thought I would never hear again.
The first admiration that made me dream as a child.
The first hero.
The story of beginnings, told by you who are different from back then.
The story of endings, heard by me who am different from back then.
"Being weak is no excuse."
With the same voice as before. With a different feeling than before.
"Do you resent me?"
"..."
"Do you resent me for driving you to the edge?"
I wanted to say no.
But for some reason, no voice came out.
"Even if you do resent me, what can you do? I've always been that kind of god."
He was indifferent. His eyes were not the warm eyes I knew.
Arrogant, distant, and cold.
It was not the mischievous, playful, cheerful gaze I knew.
It was not that kind, gentle look.
"The victor always exists within the defeated."
-Protect your comrades. Save the girl. Stake yourself on it.
"If you want victory, move toward defeat."
-Don't mind if you break. It doesn't matter if you're bent.
"You have to break through defeat and carry victory on your shoulders. And if that's impossible..."
-Then force your wish through. Cry out from the heart.
"Make it possible. You're an adventurer, aren't you?"
-Because that's the most magnificent kind of hero.
For some reason, though they were surely the same words, I never thought of them as words spoken by my grandfather.
They must have meant the same thing. So why did they strike so differently?
Had I admired these words?
Had I been captivated by them?
I...
"...No."
"Hera..."
"No, no, no. It still won't do. You're too weak. Look at yourself now. How are you supposed to fight that thing?"
At Hera's words, Zeus said nothing.
As if he had already said everything he meant to say.
"Even Guel, Forte, and Arphia were brought down in an instant. What changes if you go?"
I turned my eyes.
I looked at the screen.
I looked toward the place where calamity had descended.
"I..."
"Please, Bell. You—"
"I am Vesta."
Hera stared at him in stunned disbelief.
He did not look at Hera.
"Thank you."
He simply offered his thanks.
What was he thanking them for?
I didn't know. But I knew that in this moment, an irreversible choice had been made.
"N-no, don't... don't..."
"I'm going."
"No!"
Hera blocked Vesta's path.
"..."
Only then did Vesta finally take Hera fully into his eyes for the first time.
Even as she trembled with anguish while thinking of me, that sight reminded me of a god I had once longed for.
The goddess before me also held something warm for her family, just like the god I had served.
To be included within the bounds of her family would be an extraordinary blessing.
Feeling jealousy toward the child yet to be born grow little by little, I simply lowered my head calmly and passed by her.
It was already too late to turn back. This was how it should have been from the beginning... but I had hesitated foolishly and let it come to this.
"Vesta..."
"Ais."
"If you don't go... can't you stay?"
Ais looked up at me with frightened eyes.
Holding my hand and peering up cautiously, she looked like a child who had lost her parents.
Seeing her anxiety after so long made me smile bitterly, but it was a request I could not grant.
Brush— I patted her head a couple of times, then gently let go of her hand.
"Ah..."
Ais, who had been looking at me with trembling eyes, soon lowered her head deeply.
"I don't really have anything to say."
"Lord Loki."
"Still, well... I guess I might be a little disappointed."
There was a trace of pity in the gaze peeking through her narrowed eyes.
"Please take care of Ais."
"Yeah, she's my kid to begin with."
With that, Lord Loki walked over to Ais and pulled her tightly into her arms.
"..."
Ouranos said nothing.
He simply closed his eyes and engraved the scene before him into his mind.
As if he would never forget it no matter what happened.
Seeing that, I stood before my grandfather.
"Are you going?"
"Yes."
"I see."
No other words were exchanged.
Though I felt regret at that, I said nothing more and passed by him, heading outside.
"Vesta..."
"...Gross."
Just as I was about to step out, Gross emerged from the shadows, revealing himself.
The gods who had not known of the Xenos's existence were startled, but Gross ignored them and approached me.
Looking behind him, I saw other Xenos who seemed to have been trying to stop Gross. They stood there blankly, neither restraining him nor hiding themselves.
"Are you planning to go there?"
"Yes."
"What happens if you do?"
"I'll die, probably."
Even with my flat answer, Gross did not seem surprised. Perhaps he had already guessed from the flow of events.
"...Get on."
"Pardon?"
"I'll carry you. It'll take time to get there otherwise."
"Would that be all right?"
It was kind of him to offer flight, but considering their position, it was not a good choice.
The Xenos were not supposed to appear in the world yet. If it were revealed at this point that they were on the surface, their advance into the world would probably be blocked.
Unlike back then, people's impression of monsters was far more brutal now.
Even Ganesha Familia would not defend them now.
"I don't care. I'll fly at full speed, so get on."
"It'll be hard to fly me all the way to Melhen at full speed."
"If I can at least carry you partway, you'll save your strength."
He said that, but Gross would really carry me all the way. He was that kind of man.
I considered refusing, then decided that at the end of everything, this much was probably fine and accepted.
"What exactly do you want to be?"
Seeing me get along with a Xenos, Zeus spoke up irritably.
Maybe he didn't like the human hero riding around on a monster.
Truly, he was a different person from the one I knew.
'What do I want to be, huh.'
I had admired many people and learned from them, but when it came to that question, there was only one answer.
"I wanted to be someone like you."
"What...?"
Apparently not expecting that answer, surprise finally appeared on his face.
"Please be a little gentler to the child who will be born."
With that, I took Gross and went up to the surface.
Step by step, the farther I went, the more it felt like I was walking toward the end.
My opponent was the monstrous cruelty that always adorned the end of the story. Ironically, I too would face it at the end of my own story this time.
Suddenly, one tale came to mind.
Mercenary King Albert. Alongside the spirit Aria, the man who shattered the Black Dragon's eye—the greatest hero in the world.
Long, long ago, I borrowed the strength to fight one last time from the hero who had announced the beginning.
...There was no converging light now. I had no strength to waste on what I was about to do.
And yet, I carried into this place the heart I had once held while admiring heroes. The boy took a step forward.
The end of the story had arrived.