"What…?"
The spear he thrust forward pierced only air, and the Archer let out a stunned sound.
The "self" he thought he'd impaled blurred and vanished.
"Dawn Demon God Spear, Third Form—"
A voice from his past echoed behind him.
"Mirage Phantom Spear!"
"Tch! An illusion?!"
He turned to face it—
"Guh!"
A thrust struck his side.
Swinging his coffin toward the attack, he felt it graze something. There stood his past self.
"Well done coming up with such a trick!"
"You wouldn't have thought of it. This ability came from Georg's idea."
And so began a clash of spears. Earlier, the Archer had the advantage, but the damage he'd taken allowed Cao Cao to catch up.
"As expected of the spear Goetia prepared! To deceive even my eyes…!"
"Exactly! At first, I tried to give it the same ability as the Holy Spear's Balance Breaker, Radiant Wheel of the Holy King in Eternal Night, but it got shot down!"
"What?!"
"They even said, 'What kind of half-baked ability is this for a trump card? Are you joking?' I had talent for fighting, but not for strategizing!"
"Didn't need to hear that!"
Suddenly, Cao Cao's spearwork slowed dramatically.
(A feint? Another illusion? Then I'll sweep through them all!)
Instead of his spear, he swung his coffin at Cao Cao, but the moment it touched the spear he thought was an illusion, an explosion erupted.
"What…!"
The spear he assumed was a mirage was real. The slowed movement was simple—its weight had increased in a purely physical sense.
This was the fourth form, Baby Comet, the Explosive Heavy Spear. As the name implied, it specialized in explosive force.
(Inspired by Heracles' fist…!)
This was an idea Cao Cao, who prided himself on finesse, would never have conceived. Sacrificing speed for destructive power that impacted even himself.
This was the difference between the past Cao Cao and the future Archer.
He had comrades; I don't.
The coffin held his comrades' relics, but tools were just tools. As the Archer wielded them, their use depended on his imagination.
"Hah!"
"Gah, you bastard!"
Exploiting a moment's hesitation from the blast, Cao Cao pierced the Archer's right shoulder. An explosion followed, obliterating his right arm. Inevitably, the spear in his right hand fell to the ground.
"This is—the end!"
"Don't underestimate me!"
Cao Cao's spear returned to its normal form and thrust toward the Archer. Despite the innate talent still tinged with inexperience, the Archer dodged the fierce assault. It was his past self's attack. A little damage shouldn't make it impossible to evade.
Why couldn't he draw a new weapon from the coffin in his left hand? Hitting Cao Cao with the coffin would settle this, so why couldn't he bring himself to do it?
"'Cao Cao' is a name stolen from your ancestor, huh? Well said. But I'm not letting it end there!"
"What?!"
"I'll make 'Cao Cao' my name!"
True, he'd been using a name that wasn't his. But it wasn't about clinging to his ancestor's glory. No more playing hero by idolizing the past.
"It may be the name of the Three Kingdoms' hero, but I'll make it my own! Yes, I'll claim it!"
"Nonsense!"
"Shamelessly, I'll shout it as many times as it takes! I'll become a hero! We'll prove humanity's worth on this planet, enough to silence even the gods!"
Even if his resolve was still soft, his speed still slow, his fatigue greater than his opponent's, that single strike dazzled the Archer.
"We'll—see it through!"
(Yes, that's right.)
"It's fine to lose to someone else."
(A man like this existed.)
"But I can't lose to myself!"
(And there were those who followed him.)
"Burn, my demonic spear. Second Form—Midnight Sun Longinus, Spear of the White Night!"
"I lost."
"Yeah, I won."
His opponent was a veteran Heroic Spirit. The Saint Graph wasn't pierced, but the outcome was clear.
The Archer had some time before fading, but he had no will to fight. No desire, no meaning. This "Cao Cao" wouldn't end up like him.
"A warning from a fool who got it wrong. Listen up."
Taking a deep breath, the Archer summoned the images of comrades he couldn't save.
"Keep an eye on that idiot Heracles so he doesn't follow his master."
"Got it."
"Georg sometimes collapses from unnecessary all-nighters, so knock him out if you have to."
"Uh, sure."
"When Leonardo goes wild, he fed his own body to the monsters he created."
"Understood. I'll be careful."
"And Jeanne—don't complain about her cooking, no matter how bad it is."
"Huh?"
True, Jeanne's cooking was often too salty or undercooked, but it didn't seem worth mentioning in this context.
As Cao Cao puzzled over this, he sensed someone behind him.
"Why am I the only one singled out like that?!"
"Idiot, Jeanne, hide!"
"Your voice is too loud!"
"What?!"
Looking toward the voices, he saw Jeanne, Georg, Heracles, and, as if emboldened by being spotted, Xenovia, Conrad, and other Hero Faction members emerging. How had he missed so many people? He was secretly relieved Asia wasn't among them.
"Since when were you there?!"
"…Around when you were talking about the trauma Nightingale carved into you."
"The part I least wanted you to hear!"
The Archer was briefly startled by the Hero Faction's appearance but continued.
"No, seriously, please. Especially don't compare it to Asia's cooking. No, not just Asia's—don't compare it to any dead person's skills. The awkwardness back then was unbearable."
"Stop. I can imagine it without details."
"I couldn't even apologize… Why did that rotten angel show up then?"
"Enough! Don't insult the parallel-world me any further! …Fine, I'll learn to cook from Asia. No, from the Professor!"
"No! I'm sick of peroxide and ethanol!"
"Salty pasta or undercooked pizza is fine—just stay the same, Jeanne-san!"
"It's better than Xenovia-san's horror cooking!"
"Nooo! My feminine pride won't let me be compared to that! I'll learn, no matter what! Let me go!"
"Stop her!"
"Ha, haha, hahahahahahaha!"
The Hero Faction froze at the sudden burst of laughter.
"Damn it, I'm so jealous, you immature brat."
With tears, he spat out his heartfelt envy.
The brilliance he couldn't protect was there. The comrades he lost were there. The self who had what he wanted stood before him.
"What went wrong, I wonder?"
"…You didn't see the world's end, did you? Maybe after you died, someone—"
"No way. The enemy wasn't just the God of the Bible. The threat of the outer gods hasn't gone away."
Recalling his regret and rage, the Archer spat out his frustration.
"The Gate is closed! Raum devised a formula based on Truth, and because it hit the mark too well, its power was paradoxically sealed. We drove them back, but that's it. The Satans of that world know ours exists."
The Professor once likened the world to a circle. But here, it's better understood as a tree with leaves. A thread stretches from a leaf on the tree called C to a leaf in D, where the Archer came from. The spider, in this case, is that world's Issei Hyoudou.
"The Path from C to D remains. Ironically, the God of the Bible's Cage protects that world from outer gods. No, god-slaying is impossible to begin with. The enemy is the Beast of Truth. It surpasses even Goetia."
It exists beyond human imagination. That's what omniscience and omnipotence mean. That's the nature of the One God. Different from humans or the gods of polytheism, who are facets of phenomena.
To grasp its threat, one must consider what kind of original sin Truth is.
"Without something just, people falter. Without it, they can't live. They seek light in the dark because they believe where light exists is just. Even if that's wrong, people follow knowledge and common sense. Why do you think heliocentrism was denied for centuries?"
No sensation of the Earth moving, unproven stellar gravity, geocentrism's persuasiveness—many reasons. But the main one: heliocentrism was thought to be wrong. No matter how white, what's deemed black is black.
An Evil of Humanity with no path to victory. One that destroys other Evils. That is the Beast of Truth.
"As long as the thought persists that 'the God of the Bible cannot be defeated,' it's invincible. The moment that Beast manifested, that world ended. All that followed was desperate struggle."
"That's not true."
A third voice interrupted the Archer's self-mockery.
"—Finally, we meet."
"Hey, Cao Cao. Long time no see. Sorry, I was busy greeting folks here and there. We found traces suggesting you were summoned by Solomon the other day, so I searched frantically… but it looks like I barely made it."
"Why are you…?"
A carefree greeting from a boy, maybe in his late teens. He wore a worn cloak and carried a coffin like the Archer's on his back.
The Hero Faction shared one thought:
Who is this guy?
From the Archer's reaction, he was an acquaintance from his world line, but none in the Hero Faction recognized him. Even accounting for Cao Cao's age changes, no one came to mind. Leonardo was closest in age, but their ethnicity seemed different.
"No surprise you don't know him. I met him after Goetia was defeated, after Asia died, just before the outer gods came."
"Hey, to the Hero Faction who don't know me, and I don't know. Date-wise, it's about six months from now. Cao Cao saved me when I was attacked by a Lahmu swarm."
"…Back then, I could only save you."
"Yeah. That's why I'm standing here alive."
After a hearty laugh, the boy met the Archer's eyes seriously.
"So why are you here? Don't tell me you fled to this world. What about the Cage the God of the Bible made?"
"Well, I finished some cleanup and took a detour."
"Cleanup?"
"Destroying the Path. Escaping the Cage was with their help."
The nameless boy gestured toward a middle-aged man in a suit and a honey-haired girl.
"The Gate is fully closed, and we'll return to open the Cage completely."
"Wait… Then, that means—"
The boy grinned smugly.
"Let me report, Cao Cao."
"I discarded that name. It's not mine. It's Emperor Wu of Wei's."
"Nah, to me, Cao Cao isn't the Three Kingdoms hero—it's your name."
Heracles nudged Cao Cao at that.
"That's what he says."
"…What?"
"It's more embarrassing than I thought."
Ignoring the Hero Faction's chuckles at the unexpected reaction, the Archer and boy continued. A report of glorious victory began.
"We won."
"Is that so?"
"We humans survived. We're rebuilding the world with the surviving gods and Satans. I can't confirm the population, but it's at least above fifty thousand."
"Really?"
"There are skirmishes and issues here and there. Peace is a ways off."
The Archer's expression froze, utterly shocked.
"But after your death, it was rough. Metatron and Sandalphon, secretly Samael's pawns, freed him from the Underworld. Then Satanachia, Nebiros, and Agaliarept's remnants revived the original Lucifer. And that bastard Solomon came back, merging with Samael, Lucifer, and the God of the Bible into a demonic fusion."
"That sounds rough. Well, Samael and Lucifer are fragments of the God of the Bible. Trying to become a god despite hating it—that's just like that bastard."
"Whoa, that was some huge info dropped casually!"
They wanted details, but interrupting their conversation felt too crude, so they waited.
The Archer eyed the coffin the boy carried, identical to his own.
"You inherited it?"
"Yeah. After your death, we discussed it. Most of the Hero Faction was gone. We thought Theodor might do, but… if Leonardo were alive, he'd have been the unanimous choice."
"Who knows? He'd have been obsessed with Beast Creation."
"Kouya Kanzaki said I'd be good too."
Kouya Kanzaki. The Primordial Darkness. A man with the God-Slaying Gears Azure Innovate Ark and Ultimate Makara. A bug considered among humanity's strongest.
That such a big name was mentioned so casually showed how far beyond normal their conversation was.
"So you defeated the God of the Bible—or rather, the Beast of Truth, as you put it. Your choice wasn't wrong. That's incredible. God-slayer, beast-slayer—what a feat."
"That feat is yours too."
"No, it's yours. You did well in place of this useless guy. You're amazing. Far more a hero than me."
"No way. It's thanks to you, Cao Cao. Because a hero like you existed, we won."
"Don't be ridiculous. I'm a fake. A loser—"
"Enough already!"
Something in the Archer's attitude enraged the boy.
"Fake? Loser? So what, the gratitude and admiration we have for you is fake too?! Am I, standing here before you, a corpse?! Don't decide the value of your deeds! Stop being so arrogant, you chuunibyou!"
If you say you have no right, you have no right to belittle yourself. Your deeds aren't as light as you think.
"Without you, I'd be long dead! More would've died! We couldn't have saved the world. Humanity would've been extinct. Be proud! Stop moping, it's annoying! Listen up—whether you regret it, feel powerless, saved only one out of ten, couldn't protect your comrades, or ended up killing Satans, fake or loser—"
"—Because of you, we're alive!"
Your world was saved.
You saved me.
In the world you protected, we live.
"—I see."
Hearing that, the cleaner smiled as if a weight had lifted.
"I really did something amazing."
"Of course."
"I became a hero?"
"Obviously."
"I protected the world?"
"Don't make me repeat myself."
It was reckless. Impossible. But not in vain. Not meaningless. Their fight was never wasted. They left something behind, protected something, connected something. Goetia's, the Hero Faction's, humanity's fight was never meaningless or worthless.
"I got my answer."
He might have let go of what he wanted, but something continued. He couldn't protect what was entrusted to him, but someone was there to entrust what he wanted to protect.
"See you, everyone. Take care of me. I'm a hopeless guy, but support him."
"We know he's hopeless."
"We get that we have to support him."
"He's more hopeless than I thought."
"Really, our leader's even worse without us."
"Someone back me up."
Watching the exchange with envy and loneliness, the Archer looked at the boy who inherited his coffin. The hope he left behind.
"I'm counting on you for our world."
"Got it. You okay on your end?"
Could he endure being used as the Counter Force's soldier?
The Archer answered brightly.
"I'll be fine. I'll keep going."
"Good."
"We've got a long road ahead, but let's do what we can."
No more words needed, the man who wanted to be a hero and the man who became a savior bumped fists.
And the Archer—no, Cao Cao—faded into ether with a smile, while the boy forced a smile to see him off.
True Name: (Unknown)
Class: Savior (tentative)
Stats:
Strength: D
Endurance: B
Agility: B+
Mana: C
Luck: A-
Noble Phantasm: A++
Skills:
Magic Resistance: B
Charisma: ?
Battle Continuation: A
World Alteration: C
God-Slaying Gear: EX
Noble Phantasm:
The End to Overturn I: The Time of Reorganization Has Come, We Are Those Who Walk the Stars
Note: Class is a pseudo-assignment. Eligible for all seven standard classes. Has Avenger aptitude but not Ruler.
Remarks:
A human who inherited Cao Cao's coffin. One who joined the ranks of the planet's saviors. A survivor from the first city attacked by recreated Lahmu swarms. Not a descendant of heroes, a reincarnated warrior, from a mage family, or a hybrid aberration. Did not possess a Sacred Gear at birth, nor the greatest intellect or innate talent, nor aptitude for holy or demonic swords. Merely a pure "human" with the potential to slay beasts. In a world line where the God of the Bible doesn't revive, they'd likely live an ordinary life.
In the world after defeating the Beast of Truth, effectively humanity's leader—or rather, a middle manager between gods, demons, and humans. Awaiting them back in their world is work that would make even a wise king grimace. Good luck.
I considered making the coffin's successor someone from the original cast, but that felt "meaningless," so I did it this way. I wanted to assert that the Hero Faction, Church warriors, and XxX members aren't the only humans in this world.
After all this seriousness, it's okay to go wild in the next chapter, right?
***
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