ALL NOVEL Chapter 128 - [Girls' Talk is Done with Fists] (1)
[Pink Lemon Sherbet].
A giant pink spiral being fired.
It was shot to kill [Priest of Erosion] once again.
Boom—!!
Black spray burst and dyed the surroundings pink for an instant. Urgency settled in [Priest of Erosion]’s black eyes.
[No…! That’s…!]
Grafvolud, perhaps because of the memory of being hit by me, hurriedly twisted his body to dodge. He twisted his body so urgently that several legs fixed by trees were torn off.
Crack—!
Along with the sound of forcibly twisting and breaking the crustacean, Grafvolud’s angry voice gritting his teeth was heard.
[Grrr…?! Did you think I’d fall for the same trick twice—!!]
Desperate wing flapping.
The centipede geezer flew up into the sky flapping his wings. It seemed he could no longer crawl like before due to the pain.
Whoosh—!!
The pink spiral barely grazing past that gap.
‘As expected… Fitting for one who runs around scattering summons, pressures the opponent with status effects, and wears down enemies with endless ambushes and encirclements.’
But there was something such a petty guy didn’t know.
‘Jump dodging is a double-edged sword.’
A place where attacks from the ground can’t reach.
It may feel like escaping to an invincible space, but…
“A place with no cover and limited direction changes… Where you become more vulnerable than ever—☆”
[What?!]
Hilde and I were already occupying the left and right of the flying guy. We flew up with our fists clenched on the right and left respectively.
Hilde wrapped in blue-white lightning.
And I wrapped in pink hearts faced each other.
“Lara—!”
“Hilde—!”
We called each other and grinned.
Clear ether frosted on our two fists.
‘Indeed… Girls’ talk is done with fists.’
The centipede geezer shouted seeing the [Unique Ether] flashing on both sides.
[You fools—!! Think I’ll fall for it—!!]
Grafvolud hurriedly flapped his wings while floating in the air, trying to escape upwards. That was the only direction to escape from the encirclement Hilde and I were occupying…
That’s right☆
The direction becomes so obvious like this—♪
The centipede geezer escaping upwards was shocked.
[No?!]
A wave made of purple weapons came rushing from above. They were woven densely like a net catching birds, blocking Grafvolud’s escape route.
Freya muttered incredulously from far away.
“T-To think he’d really try to escape upwards…!”
[You bitch?!]
“N-Not bitch, but lady…”
[You damned bitch—!!]
“R-Really an annoying guy…”
Grafvolud with slowed wing flapping. And we welcomed the centipede geezer who came back into the gap.
The place he entered is not simply the realm of fists.
Pink and blue-white.
This place where ether flashes.
This shall be your grave.
Clenching both fists tightly.
Firmly fixing both arms.
Feel the flow of ether from the perineum behind the buttocks to the abdomen. The energy flowing through the body’s main paths soon returns to the heart.
What is transmitted through the blood vessels.
It is the fighting spirit deeply seated in the chest.
The hotly flowing blood is the energy of fate passed down since ancient times.
This place we arrived at following the World Tree’s guidance is the eternal battlefield.
All the girls of this land gather to fight.
Yes.
I am a Valkyrie reborn.
One who fights on this land.
“Remember me!! And die—!!”
I swung my fist blazing with pink light towards my first and worst nightmare. The pink light lingered on the black carapace then disappeared, splashing up as red blood.
Boooooom—!!
Vibrations shaking heaven and earth.
The impact and pain felt in my fist.
Unlike back then, the black eyes were truly close. So I could tell he was flustered.
‘Now it’s you who’s afraid, not me.’
Disappear into the folds of nightmares, that even death couldn’t hide.
“I am!! Clara of the academy city—!!”
The brightly shining pink was made of countless hearts. They were showing off the strength of the realm finally reached.
Swinging that fist countless times, I drew the trajectory of fists I had drawn countless times until now.
The trajectory engraved with thousands, tens of thousands intertwined became a realm of destruction.
Ratatatatatatata—!!
On the opposite side of me, Hilde also swung her fist. Wrapped in lightning that was once the strongest, she roared while endlessly striking.
“Uaaaah—!!”
“Haaaah—!!”
Two pairs of fists pounding the dragon that rose from the darkness. Lightning and hearts raged, becoming a huge storm.
Ratatatatatatata—!!
Between the trajectories of countless fists, exploding with pure physical force.
Exploding fighting spirit that transcended even the fate of weapons.
Ratatatatatatata—!!
Grafvolud stubbornly resisted through the carapace being smashed by my punches. In his bloodshot eyes was determination to make up for his mistake.
[Erosion—!!]
Swoosh—!!
The abyss that rose from deep below split into hundreds of branches and stretched towards here like tentacles. Hundreds of chaos insects rose up through the dark shadows of wings.
A space that felt like it had a radius of hundreds of meters was filled with the energy of erosion. This was probably his full power.
Grafvolud shouted while bleeding.
[In this game of fate!! I rise to save my children!! The people who became insects—!!]
The centipede geezer.
My nightmare…
[Priest of Erosion] Grafvolud.
He was making his greatest struggle at this moment.
“Haha…”
I laughed for a moment, dumbfounded.
Perhaps.
The one I fought the most within
Nightmare.
And imagination.
I faced the ‘original pattern’ for the first time.
The worst enemy I had prepared for even after becoming ‘Clara’.
So I could still remember.
Before the prophet appeared, I decided I would catch [Erosion] myself, even if I left the ‘dragon’ to my juniors.
“Hahaha…!”
“…”
I laughed leisurely and looked at Hilde. She was showing an unwavering gaze with endless faith in me.
‘I wanted to show off alone… But I guess my ether recovery isn’t what it used to be.’
So I said to Hilde.
“Can I borrow it?”
“Heh.”
Hilde offered her hand without asking anything.
“All of me already belongs to Lara!”
“…”
…That was kinda cool. I should use that later.
I even had the leisure to think of jokes inwardly.
Grafvolud approached us holding hands, pouring out everything the authority of erosion allowed. Thousands, tens of thousands of troops were approaching behind him, engraving a distant darkness.
[My enemy!! Fall asleep here—!!]
It’s too late to sleep.
My happy dream has already been shattered.
-Go forth.
“I’ve slept enough.”
I aimed the hand holding Hilde’s towards the army of erosion.
The power of [Bifrost] brought and fused Hilde’s ether.
Crackle!
Crackle!
Lightning containing transcendent fate blooms.
And I clenched my other fist.
Clenched it very tightly, enough to crush my nails.
Crunch…!
Countless hearts spring up above that fist. Hearts containing tingling lightning on top of pink began preparing the final ultimate technique once again.
‘No… This isn’t [Pink Lemon Sherbet]…’
A new technique created by the current me.
In other words.
The fourth ultimate technique.
“…”
What should I name it?
Since I’m now completely Clara…
Pretty Filter has already become one with me.
Then should I name it with more of a Kang Jinsu-like sensibility?
“…”
Suddenly Senior Frida’s words came to mind.
-My dream was to open a studio by the sea.
“…”
-
The place I want to go.
The seaside reflecting the blue sky.
The place you wanted to go.
What you couldn’t reach even in dreams…
“Blue, sky.”
Azure sky.
“The one and only path to the blue sky.”
Path to the Azure Sky.
I activated the final ultimate technique.
Then sparking hearts gathered countless times, beginning to shine like a galaxy overlapping countless spirals. A disaster beyond a storm, a flow of dreams containing starlight was embodied.
Grip—
Before throwing the punch…
It’s a bit ugly, but… Let’s add one word before ‘final ultimate technique’.
“…True final ultimate technique.”
[Path to the Azure Sky]
Like that.
I threw my punch.
A flash so dazzling it dyed my vision white was fired.
Whether it was pink or blue-white, I couldn’t even distinguish…
A single light.
Boooooooom—!!
White flashed in the space full of darkness, pulverizing everything.
The spiral pillar twists into spirals, giving birth to other spirals as it splits.
The infinitely split spirals repeat merging and separating as they multiply.
Spiral.
Spiral of spirals.
A single universe encompassing everything.
There was only light.
* * *
Eir slumped down on the darkness and said.
“Oof, I’m tired!”
The rest of the friends seemed just as exhausted.
Freya collapsed as if fainting, Astrid let out a weak lady’s laugh, and Anna honestly squatted down sighing.
“…”
“…Ohoho.”
“Phew.”
Hilde and I also sighed and leaned on each other.
“…”
“…”
We suddenly raided against the two strongest priests.
Moreover, the centipede geezer had become even stronger after receiving power from the abyss.
But… Well… We won anyway.
…
‘But what do we do now?’
We desperately defeated the two priests, but surprisingly, nothing happened.
We took a rest feeling somewhat… somewhat unsatisfied.
Even Hilde, who had been raising her guard, eventually lay down completely on her back.
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
You know that thing☆
That often appears in youth manga… Lying down in a row like crayons.
We were lying down like that looking up at the dark ceiling.
The abyss of the World Tree’s interior was sticking thickly, blocking the light like a ceiling.
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
Ah.
This game is really trash☆
After beating a boss, you should quickly bring out the next boss—♪
Anyway.
Before that.
Um, what was it?
Hmm…
I first thanked the friends who came running to help.
“Th-Thanks everyone for coming to save me—☆”
“It’s only natural for me to help Lara.”
“Huh? Well… I guess it’s time to repay all the help I received.”
“Ohoho, helping a friend is only natural.”
“Haha, I’m… actually here because the Sword Spirit told me to come too…”
“…”
Freya, who I thought would make a snarky comment as always, was unexpectedly quiet.
She quietly pointed up with her finger and said:
“Above…”
“Above?”
Huh.
What is it.
I felt like I was about to think of a joke—☆
Since it’s not coming to mind, it was probably one of Jinsu’s Three Kingdoms jokes.
‘Aigo Jinsu-kun! I told you to make jokes according to the atmosphere—☆’
Separate from my thoughts, Freya suddenly stood up and said:
“C-Could this be the roots of the World Tree?”
“Hm? Roots?”
“Et-Ether, the energy of life, is the energy of the s-sky… Con-Conversely, seeing those who died again and… Fa-Falling asleep is ultimately closely related to the energy of death… Dr-Dreams are also said to be passages for souls…”
Rambling speech.
Hearing those words, Hilde stood up and said:
“In other words, the ground opposite to the sky. Because it’s the World Tree’s roots deeply buried, it’s a place where the energies of death and dreams gather?”
“Y-Yes… Well… That’s right.”
Anna and Astrid stood up simultaneously.
“Then the center of the World Tree is ultimately…”
“Above here?”
“Then how do we go now?”
Eir slowly got up and stretched.
“Mmmh— Can’t we go with [Spiral]’s strange teleportation?”
“It doesn’t work near the World Tree…☆”
“Then why don’t we burn the roots from the inside? If the outside is hard, the inside should be soft. If we just burn this side of the roots like that, can’t we go somehow?”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“What. Why is everyone suddenly looking at me like that? You know this is just my way of talking.”
Hilde put her hand on Eir’s shoulder.
“I permit it.”
“What?”
“Burning it.”
“…”
Eir opened her eyes wide and said:
“R-Really?!”
* * *
“G-Good…!”
“There’s only one chance. Aim well.”
“Heheh…! Hahaha! There’s no way someone from
Hilde, Freya, Anna, and Astrid place their hands on Eir’s back.
The five except me were exchanging ether through [Bifrost], transferring all their power to Eir. Since it was to burn one side of the giant World Tree’s roots, they planned to use up all the ether of five [Unique Ether] ability users.
Using [Bifrost], to send me to where the prophet is.
Rumble—!!
As the ether of five people poured into her body, Eir began to laugh maniacally while blood flowed from her nose.
“Kuhehe…! Kuhahaha!! To think I’d really get to burn the World Tree!!!”
“Are you ready?”
“Hyaaah—!! I’ve been ready since the entrance ceremony 3 years ago—!!!”
Eir laughed maniacally, rolling her eyes gleaming with five colors. Though somewhat alleviated by the power of [Bifrost] sharing power, the side effects were not negligible.
But putting everything aside.
She stomped her foot hard and raised [Laevateinn].
A wheel of white raging flames shone brighter than ever.
Boom!
“Everything, everything, everything—!!!”
Eir threw the rotating Laevateinn with all her might.
“Burn it all—!!!”
The powerfully rotating Laevateinn grew larger as it cut through the air.
Laevateinn, which grew from body-sized to as large as wind turbine blades, began to burn everything as it cut through the abyss.
Rumble—!!
White flames spreading here and there.
According to the fate attribute that burns distortions and the abyss.
The fire was spreading as if oil had been poured.
Crackle—!
“…!”
As the World Tree’s power shook, a path that can be moved through [Bifrost] became ‘visible’.
A faint path of light that had been hidden by the abyss in the darkness arose.
Creak…
And a way to get out of the World Tree as well.
“Th-This is?!”
“Is it like a door leading outside…?”
“I-If we follow this backwards… It goes up towards the center.”
A very familiar goddess’s power.
The path that a small ring of light had passed through stretched from the roots up towards the top.
‘Is this… the path Urd left…?’
When on earth did she throw a ring of light from the center to the outside?
Eir shouted while blood flowed from her nose. Part of her hair had begun to burn white.
“Gooo—!! Clara—!!”
“Well then…”
I turned around and confidently shouted:
“I’ll be going now—☆”
“You must, must win…”
“Ohoho!! I’ll be waiting for good news!!”
“Okay! See you later!”
Hilde didn’t say anything, just moved her lips.
-Forever.
I’ll be waiting for you.
“Got it!”
Whoosh—!!
I was enveloped in a spiral of rainbow light.
Passing through the burning roots and the abyss toward the center beyond… the very top of the World Tree.
Feeling the presence of all souls that have ever existed.
I moved forward.
And then…
Boom—!
“…”
“…Hey there, Jinsu-kun☆ Long time no see.”
“…”
A space bathed in bright starlight.
A dark figure remained alone before my eyes.
Sitting with a glass bead placed on a tiny sapling, the Prophet looked at me with completely vertically split pupils.
Various colors of light flashed across those eyes.
It seemed they had inherited several abilities from the World Tree.
They muttered with a surprised expression.
“…Another me.”
“…Yeah.”
“I see. Neither Brunhilde nor… Clara… but ‘me’ in Clara’s body…”
“No, right now I’m just Clara.”
“…Is that so.”
At last, we faced each other.