112 - Chapter 112: The Magic Spear's Time to Shine
(T-this is...)
The moment Shannon felt the spear in their hand enveloped in a dazzling golden light, they found themselves floating in a white space. There was no sense of up, down, left, or right, nor any sense of distance, yet they felt no anxiety. For some reason, it felt nostalgic.
(It's warm...)
Their limbs, their body, and their heart all felt it. Despite having been in the middle of a battle just moments ago, that heat was gradually subsiding, like the pleasant drowsiness before falling asleep.
As Shannon surrendered to this mysterious sensation...
'It's over.'
"Eh?"
'The curse is broken. Now that thing, Bartholomew, can exert its true power.'
A golden spider the size of a fist, Misha, appeared before their eyes. Come to think of it, wasn't it with Marianne just now? As Shannon tilted their head in confusion, the spider raised its two front legs, and an image was projected from their tips.
There were two people, a boy and a girl.
One was a black-haired boy wearing glasses. Despite having such an intellectual look, his mouth was curved in a cynical, provocative smirk, like that of a brat.
The other was a girl with long auburn hair tied in a single ponytail, looking down and weeping. As Shannon wondered what this scene of sorrow was about, the black-haired boy roared.
'Don't underestimate Japanese otaku! If you've fallen in love, then you've gotta accept them even if they're an otokonoko!!'
"Eh?"
Otokonoko, it sounded like. No, to be precise, the pronunciation they heard was "otokonoko," but for some reason, that specific meaning slid smoothly into Shannon's mind.
The boy who looked like a girl looked up at the black-haired boy, as if startled.
'This is a memory. Bartholomew's beginning memory. That's why you, the user, can understand.'
Following the golden spider's explanation, Shannon glanced down at their right hand, where the usual blue magic spear rested. Its dull light seemed, somehow, to possess a nostalgic radiance.
'You wanted to be born a girl, right? You were denied it, you suffered, you grew to hate it, but because you couldn't cast it aside, you clung to it and dressed as a girl, didn't you? In that case, I'll give you my Magic Eye. The authority of Phenomenon Reversal.'
The black-haired boy declared this, took off his glasses, shoved his finger into his right eye, and plucked out the eyeball.
"Ugh..."
Suddenly thrust into a splatter scene, Shannon instinctively recoiled, but the auburn-haired girl... no, the boy, was also shocked and hurriedly worried about the black-haired boy.
However, the black-haired boy seemed indifferent to the pain. He crushed the gouged-out eyeball, scattering the vitreous humor, but instead of falling to the ground like liquid, it remained fixed in mid-air.
Eventually, it began to take shape...
'Reverse that gender, and become a girl. Then, you'll be my wife. No arguments. Even if you run, I'll hunt you down. After all, my wives told me that's how I should be!'
And then, it transformed into the magic spear Shannon knew so well. While shedding tears of blood, the black-haired boy blinked a few times as if checking the eye he had restored with a recovery spell or something, and laughed loudly.
That's when they realized. They remembered the origin of this magic spear. A fairy tale from an era slightly after the Mekshuria civilization. The legend of the seven Magic Armaments corresponding to the seven Magic Eyes.
'Don't sweat it. TS is a standard character trait for old-school otaku. To an old otaku who once lived in the future, the world is just a lap behind, making a fuss over boring things like LGBT and diversity. To the ignoramuses who complain without knowing that history, just flip them the bird and tell them, "Who the hell do you think you are now? Apologize, pay reparations, and then die!"'
The seven Magic Armaments began when he shared his authority among seven wives.
The protagonist, the central figure, and the one said to have eventually obtained everything in this world, the King of Magic Eyes.
In the image, the Demon King, who handed the blue magic spear to the auburn-haired boy, wore a provocative smile.
'I'll stick with you no matter how far it goes. Because that's what falling in love means.'
This black-haired boy is...
"Demon King Yusuke,"
Shannon murmured blankly, and the magic spear in their hand throbbed like a heartbeat. At that reaction, which felt like joy, Shannon finally understood.
(I see... this... the blue Magic Armament, Bartholomew... was Demon King Yusuke's... proof of his love.)
Eventually, the spear made from the flesh and blood of the Demon King, given to the boy who became a girl... the one he loved. That was the true identity of the blue magic spear, Bartholomew.
(No wonder I couldn't master it. This spear was made only for him... no, for her.)
The images continued to flow.
The boy who obtained the authority of reversal changed his own gender and walked through life as a woman. Because it was a time of war, there were many unwanted battles, but there was also much peace.
Eventually, she bore children with the Demon King, who had ended the war and become the ruler of the world, lived as a woman, and reached the end of her natural life. At her end, she was surrounded by the many family members she had left behind.
(Beautiful...)
The face of the woman who had become an old lady at her death, however, wore an innocent smile like that of a young girl. Shannon thought that face was beautiful from the bottom of their heart.
After all the hardships, she still desired to be united with the one she loved and achieved her great wish. She was like Shannon's ideal. But at the same time, they thought they could probably never become like her.
Shannon would no longer choose either.
They were aware of being a woman, but in reality, they also desired power as a man. To continue protecting Lumilia, a man's body was necessary. They could not choose a life of discarding that to return to being just a woman and continuing the family bloodline.
That's why they were a little envious of her, who had obtained everything. As they gave a wry smile, the magic spear trembled. It was a throb that felt like a challenge, as if asking, "So what?"
"I probably can't become like her... but is that still okay?"
A radiance returned, signaling that it didn't matter. Simultaneously, the memories of the strange fate this magic spear had walked through also flowed in.
The fact that they could not fully become a woman, nor fully become a man, was the color of Shannon Ilmelta's soul.
It wasn't about which was better or worse, nor about asking the world which was correct. What mattered was how they wanted to be, and that was the wish of the magic spear's creator, Demon King Yusuke.
Therefore, it was designed so that anyone with the qualification to hold it could use it. However, since it was a conceptual interference weapon called Phenomenon Reversal... something that could potentially surpass a divine artifact, it couldn't simply be left for posterity. Thus, Demon King Yusuke's children had placed strong seals and trials upon it. Originally, the seal was meant to give a fitting trial to whoever held it, but after it fell into the hands of the Delgamiride cult and was tampered with, it was distorted into a curse.
Yes, a curse that reverses one's form and soul into the person furthest from their own desires.
The reason Shannon ended up only partially masculinized was that when they first held the spear, they were an eight-year-old girl, and the future they desired was the innocent and kind wish to remain Lumilia's friend.
The magic spear, created from the biased ideology of the creator, Demon King Yusuke, who believed that friendship between men and women could not exist, interpreted Shannon's pure wish in that way and granted them a body that TS'd, which was the curse. And as a result of that being combined with the trials, they ended up alternating between womanhood for friendship and manhood for affection, causing their heart to anguish.
Furthermore, all other users either became the weakest monsters, far from the strongest, or bore the karma of killing someone, including themselves, every time they saved someone, with almost all of them suffering tragic fates.
Now that the curse had been shattered by Mishandra's Prayer of Severance, and they had obtained their own answer... the resolve to live not as a man or a woman, but simply as Shannon Ilmelta, the magic spear Bartholomew recognized Shannon as its true master.
"This is..."
Through the spear, a torrent of power that knew no moderation surged through Shannon. It was as if it were rewarding them for all their previous hardships and trials.
They didn't know if Bartholomew had a will, but it was born to help its master, yet its nature had been distorted, unintentionally causing trouble for those around it. If such a thing existed, it wouldn't be strange for it to come to the rescue with all its might out of guilt.
However, Shannon also thought this.
It wasn't the form they first desired, but the path they were walking now wasn't so bad. No, from here on, they could surely change it for the better.
Therefore, there was only one thing to say to the power given as an apology.
"Thank you... shall we go together, Bartholomew!!"
A fighting blue wind filled Shannon's heart.
To fulfill the oath they made as a young child to protect Lumilia... now was the time.
●
A blue torrent rose from Bartholomew.
Eventually, a blue whirlwind erupted around Shannon. An explosion of vast magical power. Shannon's own power and the power from the blue shining magic spear overlapped, and a raw force, like an inverted great waterfall, pierced the heavens.
It possessed a radiance that could reach divinity, much like a blue World Tree, Yggdrasil.
"What... what did you do! What on earth did you give this brat!?"
'I just broke the curse of the armament. It's overkill to lend additional power to someone who could already kill you.'
Albe screamed at Shannon, whose threat level had suddenly jumped, but Mishandra, who had returned to Marianne's shoulder, transmitted the thought to the surroundings. The emotion carried in those words was boredom. For Mishandra, it was likely a predictable question and answer.
Lumilia had no power to fight, and they had acted because their master, Marianne, feared for her, but there was no need to lend power one by one to Shannon, who had possessed one of the Seven Authorities, the Magic Spear, from the start.
All Mishandra had done was make it so they could use it fully. That was enough.
"Shannon."
"Yes, Lumilia-sama."
As Shannon finished controlling the overflowing magical power and took a short breath, Lumilia approached and whispered quietly in their ear.
"Once you step in, please wait without pursuing. Because they'll fall."
"Yes."
Shannon answered their master's prophecy immediately. They didn't understand the meaning. But they had a conviction. That it would definitely happen. So Shannon readied the spear, lowered their hips, and smiled at Lumilia.
"I'll end this quickly, and then let's start over. The confession... and our relationship, from the beginning, once more."
"...Yes!"
Then, looking forward, Shannon accelerated without further words.
The speed of their step was the maximum combat speed recorded in Shannon's life. However, because of that, it was likely easy to read. Albe flapped the wings on his back and flew into the air.
"Idiot! An attack as obvious as that... guh!?"
And immediately after, a spiked club flew from somewhere, and he crashed. Out of the corner of their eye, Shannon spotted the Saint taking a Zanshin pose with an unnecessarily refined form. The Saint's lips moved.
"Smash him."
"Even without being told...!"
Shannon thrust the spear toward the falling Albe. However, it stopped just as the tip buried itself, without penetrating.
"Being stabbed by something like this...!"
Yes. Having absorbed the Spirit Dragon, Albe, who possessed its attributes, was, so to speak, the extreme of the undead. Physical attacks had almost no meaning against a body that was also a spiritual entity, and even if an attack imbued with magical power was added, it might stir things up and dissipate, but it wouldn't cause essential damage.
"I know. That's why..."
But Shannon now had the power to break that.
To be precise, the authority of the conceptual interference weapon they possessed, the blue Magic Armament... Bartholomew's Phenomenon Reversal.
"...Reverse!!"
"Gah!?"
The moment Shannon exercised it, an abnormal sense of fatigue and an extraordinary sharp pain ran through Albe's entire body from the point where he was stabbed.
"G-gi...!?"
Moreover, he collapsed, bleeding from his mouth. This was Albe, who was mostly a spiritual entity.
"The reason you have a body like it's immortal is because of the Spirit Dragon Stein's attributes, right?"
As Albe was speechless, wondering why, Shannon quietly declared.
"So, I reversed that."
"!?"
Originally, he was mostly a spiritual entity... in terms of ratio, it was 9:1. That was why he could heal instantly with little magical power and showed a recovery capacity that could be called infinite. That had received the conceptual interference of reversal, and it became 9 physical and 1 spiritual. In other words, the current Albe was almost a living creature, bleeding and breathing.
And if he was alive... then even if he were a god, he could be killed.
On top of that.
"We've been fighting in this plaza for quite a while, haven't we? Now, how many Afterglows do you think are left?"
Invisible installed slashes... that is Afterglow. By placing the trajectory of the tip, these are installed, and Shannon had set a considerable number of them during the period when they were purely on the defensive.
Each single strike was only enough to sever the arm of Albe in his complete state, but if he received them in his current physical state, it wouldn't end well. The problem was how to hit Albe with the installed attacks of Afterglow, but... suddenly, their eyes fell on the magic spear stabbed into him.
That's when he realized. The threat before his eyes. What Shannon was trying to do.
The conceptual interference weapon... the authority of Phenomenon Reversal.
If, just if.
If the event of installation was reversed... that would be removal.
If the event of outputting Afterglow was reversed... that would be input.
Then, if the vector of the Afterglow output from the tip was reversed, where would it be input?
The answer was at the tip of the magic spear buried in Albe's stomach.
"...Stop it!!"
"Reverse!!"
The moment Albe, having realized, screamed, Shannon activated Phenomenon Reversal. The Afterglows in standby state spread around the area all at once reversed and returned to the tip that created them, returning to the magic spear stabbed in Albe's stomach.
"Aaaaaaaah...!!"
While slicing through the physical Albe who was in their path.
As if his entire body had been put through a food processor, Albe was turned into mince, and his throat was quickly torn apart, allowing only a brief death rattle... eventually, he lost his power, became ash, and was carried away by the wind.
●
"Well, then, let's go."
'Did you notice?'
"Who do you think I am?"
Marianne, who witnessed the end of the evil fairy Albe, told Mishandra on her shoulder.
'Then, shall we clean up?'
"Indeed. We must dispose of him thoroughly so that he never involves himself with this country again."
She knew the methods of that kind of small-fry well, not just in this life, but from her previous life. He might have been able to deceive others, but there was no way he could deceive Marianne, who was a merchant to the core. And she also knew that if they didn't settle it here, it would haunt them later.
"Then, I'll leave it to you. Mishandra... no, Misha."
'Understood.'
As Mishandra nodded, Marianne's vision distorted and turned white.
●
In a black, empty space, a single fairy sat cross-legged with a bored expression.
"Honestly. It's tiring to play along with such a farce."
It was Albe.
He was not in the giant form he had been in until a moment ago, but in the form of a small fairy about thirty centimeters tall. He could have taken that form if he wanted, but for now, he had returned to his original fairy form to save energy.
"I managed to escape well, but... sigh, damn it. What should I do. I used quite a bit of magical power."
The sub-space teleportation using the authority of the Spirit Dragon Stein was one thing, but a considerable amount of power had been taken by the clone he left as a lizard's tail. A hollow shell would have been fine, but the golden spider was there. A half-hearted soul-split would be seen through immediately. While putting on a performance of having his power shaved away little by little, he was actually extracting enough magical power to escape into this space.
And to pretend to be defeated at the end, he actually let the clone be killed. The golden spider might have found out, but for a human who was struggling just to manifest, pursuing into a sub-space would be impossible.
In any case, he had managed to escape from the irregular. Letting out another deep sigh, Albe shifted his mood.
"Well, fine. I'm exhausted, but by absorbing the Spirit Dragon Stein, the vessel of my soul has expanded. It will recover with time. The problem is... it seems their lifespans will run out before I fully recover."
He was thinking of revenge. Being beaten like this just didn't suit his nature.
"Honestly. Getting in my way. I want to say I won't let them get away with it, but..."
Regardless, the recovery of the exhausted magical power was the first priority. That said, he was optimistic about this. After all, the exposed dragon vein was directly beneath the royal capital. There would be no problem if he just picked some up from there.
However, since he had expanded his vessel by absorbing the Spirit Dragon Stein, he estimated it would take nearly a hundred years to fully recover. He wanted to strangle them directly, but Shannon's magic spear was troublesome. If he acted in a half-baked state, he would end up like the clone.
But if he waited until full recovery, by then, Lumilia and Shannon, who were mere humans, would have reached the end of their lifespans and would no longer be in this world. No matter how much of a monster Albe was, he couldn't take revenge on lives that had left this world.
"Hmm. In that case, maybe a roundabout way. Put someone under my control and send them into the heart of the country. How about a peerless handsome man? And it would be interesting to tear those two apart... the country would perish in a messy drama of love and hate. Serves them right."
They were a suspicious pair who were flirting even in the middle of battle. Breaking that relationship would also be a pleasure, Albe thought, wearing a malicious, grinning smile.
"How dare you put me through this. Just you wait. I'll make you taste plenty of despair before I kill you."
Now, what kind of game should I play next... just as he thought that.
"I thought you'd go that way."
Just as he thought he heard a voice from the void, spider threads wrapped around Albe like a mat, restraining him.
"What...!?"
The shocked Albe looked toward the voice, and there was the silver-haired girl, Marianne. On her shoulder sat the golden spider, Mishandra.
"W-why are you here!?"
"What do you mean, of course I chased you. Do you really think I, of all people, would let a great sinner who tries to tear apart a yuri couple get away?"
'Yaaay, a great contract-breaker who is seen through even by a human.'
Being stared at by the red compound eyes, and the divinity carried in the thought, Albe shrank back.
"The... untouchable... god..."
"Oh? Misha, is he an acquaintance of yours?"
Marianne wondered at the terrified expression on Albe's face and looked to Mishandra, but he shook his front leg slightly in denial.
'I know him, but he's not an acquaintance. Just a small-fry.'
"A small-fry. From your perspective, everyone is a small-fry, I suppose."
After all, he was a primordial god. From the perspective of a being who, if they felt like it, could erase the memories of this world and make the entire world as if it never existed, most people were small-fry.
'No. It's a matter of how the soul exists. Those who cannot reflect on themselves, cannot find their own path, only receive or steal from others, and do not show the radiance of their own soul, all follow the same path. Small-fry who just open their mouths and wait for food. Idiots who have no awareness of that, nor any sense of propriety.'
"Idiots. That's an evaluation one rarely hears these days. Still, you certainly say whatever you want. ...In other words?"
'Template. Boring as hell. Write it on the back of a flyer. Seriously, fuck you.'
Albe's throat tightened as a clear sense of disgust was directed at him.
"Well, certainly. If you twist it a bit, even a small-time villain has their own aesthetics."
'Aesthetics?'
"Faith, style, honor, and courtesy. Grouping those together and calling it aesthetics... it's an important factor that determines how a person exists. Perhaps, surprisingly, even this one has some?"
'...No. I'll hear your purpose.'
It wasn't that she was defending him, but being one-sided isn't good, Marianne suggested, and Mishandra asked Albe with a reluctant look...
"What are you people! Why are you getting in my way! I just want to destroy things as I please! I just want to feel good! I don't need stress! I want to live easily, swinging around cheats! What's wrong with playing with an empty head! Using your brain is tiring! What's wrong with me seeking a world that's convenient for me!!"
Facing a divinity with hostility, Albe screamed in a half-frenzied state, exposing an unbearable sight of ugliness.
'...A novice?'
"How cliché. It would be fine if you didn't bother others, but."
'In other words?'
"Guilty."
'Roger.'
Sensing the presence of the two who had decided there was no further treatment, Albe screamed.
"Stop it! Are you planning to seal me again!?"
"Seal you? No. I hope you'll be grateful. Because we're going to present you with a new world that you can destroy freely."
What does that mean!? he tried to scream, but he was forcibly silenced by the divine authority directed at him.
'Your desire to be a god is very nauseating. These shackles aren't even that interesting, so why do you desire them? Then, I'll make you a god, so play as much as you like. If you can only destroy, it'll be hell, though.'
As Marianne raised both hands, a white sphere appeared at the tips. The swirling white thing was more like purity than white. That alone terrified Albe.
There was nothing beyond that.
Nothing to destroy, no things, no objects, nothing.
The toys he desired could not even maintain their form.
And since Albe had never developed the spirit of creating what wasn't there, only stealing what was, he couldn't even make toys.
He would be left alone in a world where only infallible time was carved.
"If you want to play with building blocks, you can do it until you're satisfied in a salty world of nothingness where there's nothing to destroy and no one else. All alone and lonely."
'Losing both memory and power, starting over from the beginning...'
That was the essence of the Prayer of Severance, the Incomprehension.
It is because there is an Other, an Incomprehension, that one understands oneself.
It is because they overlap their counter-fantasies that Understanding, Love, is born.
Then, when that premise... the Other, the Incomprehension, is removed, how much strength can the individual called "self" maintain?
Because Mishandra was a born divinity, although he grew bored, he was so strong that he didn't even know the concept of enduring. Conversely, even with divinity, he had no choice but to seek the Other, the Incomprehension.
A heartfelt prayer that the severance of the unknown, the Incomprehension, would please exist in this world.
Then, what about Albe?
He was a fairy, but he was a living thing. Then, he had a mother who gave birth to him, he had family, he had sworn enemies, he had toys, humans... he had always lived with others.
'This time, until that spirit perishes.'
"Hiee...!!"
At this point, Albe realized.
Marianne and Mishandra intended to create a new world and send him there. But there was nothing in that world. No one for Albe to take revenge on, no toys to enjoy, no pleasure, no delight, nothing.
And for Albe, who only knew how to destroy, it would be a world where he wouldn't know why he existed. Eventually, even moving a fingertip would become a chore, he would stop thinking, and in the infallible eternity, his spirit would die.
It was a world with no magical power, no sound, no color, nothing. Escaping by his own power would be impossible. And no one would ever find such a small world.
What awaited him was the eternal solitude of a sensationless hell.
"Stop...!"
Facing such a death sentence, Albe squirmed while still wrapped in the mat, but that infuriated Marianne. Grabbing Albe firmly, she moved toward the white sphere.
"Shut up! If you're just a disposable role, at least have some grace in your final moments! There is no mercy for those who die by NTRing a yuri couple! ...Small New World, Ars Nova!!"
She threw him just like that, and the white sphere vanished as if folding inward.
And it never... opened again.
Next time, a two-part episode with the Final Chapter and an Announcement.