BOOM!
The last meteor strikes the ground in a series of blasts. The dust splashed everywhere, along with stone splinters and burning fragments. Flashes, explosions, and shock waves.
I am tossed around and struggling to regain my senses.
In that bombardment, I try to understand where Dal is shooting from. I see the scene of the scythe falling and that first explosion that shocks Fulzo, me, and the [Yellow Queen].
Dal saved me.
[Dungeon path]
I emerge in the distance and see the [Fire dart] meteors. As in the last loop, Dal is lurking this time. The ballistic bows come from over a cliff. The fire suddenly stops. Below there is a black blanket that obscures the luminescence of the corals.
[Dungeon path]
I appear near where I expect Gron—Dal to be.
Ready for my appearance, Dal-Dazzer sprints and tries to hide by descending the cliff.
“Gron, wait! Wait, please!”
The cat stops and shakes his head negatively. Then he starts running again while shooting [Fire darts]. He has a metal coat and a more massive build.
They are signs of buff spells.
… I have no doubts now.
“Dal, thank you.”
♠Interference♠
…
[Dungeon path]
[Dungeon path]
…
[Dungeon path]
It does not matter how much skill, ingenuity, dodge, or feint. I am constantly the target of these magic missiles. There are gaps between shots, but it is clear that Dal-Dazzer has marked me in some way.
So, this is the decision he made? Does he also yearn for rebellion, destruction, and the disappearance of my beloved System?
I was so close! One shot. A clean shot!
I will stop it. I can [obliterate] that mage without any risk. There, will remain me, my version [Empress], Fulzo, and the System. We will be happy, and we won't need to do anything. All I need to do is rewind time to just after the passing of the [Devilish L3viathan], and we will be part of an eternal and unloving universe.
System, hold on. Resist even if you do not have understanding. Hold on for me, and let me help you: hold on.
Another rain of fire. It is time to fight back. I brandish the scythe and rend the space in front of me.
[WARNING]
[Continuity-compromising Operation]
[Privileges: Yellow Queen]
[Operation allowed]
[Continue?]
[Yes] [No]
[Yes]
[Reality evisceration, expanding]
[Hazard Rate: 2.3%]
The tear widens and swallows the flames, the sky, and part of the highest corals.
[Hazard Rate: 2.8%]
With rapid movements of the needle at the base of the handle and the scythe hook, I sew up the space-time fabric, triggering a series of portals with geometric shapes. I decompose the [Fire dart] spell, rework its energy, and…
[Waste energy conversion]
[Reintegration into reality in progress]
[Eject] [Convert]
[Converting in progress]
[Black dart storm]
[Black dart storm in preparation…
FIRE.
Amplified by the reserves of [Dry Flare] that fuel me, I send a shower of black flame projectiles back to the sender. Obliterating any organism they affect.
The background explodes, but black on black, there is very little to see. Not even the satisfaction of seeing the System's enemies obliterated. Never mind, I do not care.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
[Tear closure]
[System Normalization]
[Cosmic Tree Regeneration Tool]
…
Ha-hahaha! Disappear Dal-Dazzer~. Disappear and let me fulfill my mission. Now, all I have to do is find the [Empress].
♦ Retuning ♦
…
These are not ordinary bullets.
I hold Dal to my chest.
[Dungeon path]
[Dungeon path]
The rain of black fire obliterates anything that burns, hard to see in the glow of the coral blunders.
A fire breaks out, leaving behind only fine, glittering ash.
[Dispel]
[Dispel]
It does not work!
[Shadow wall]
“N, let me go.”
“You saved me; how could I!?”
“I only did it to honor the friendship between you and Gron. You don't have to risk your life for me.”
Ci-cin.
“We're taking a risk anyway, no point in having these hesitations.”
“Let me at least empower you.”
“Aren't you already doing this!?”
“I'm keeping some skills to myself and constantly monitoring Y's position. I can fight her if necessary.”
“You're strong, but unlike us, you can't use Dungeon Path. With that scythe, she could obliterate you in one fell swoop.”
“Prr… I used Scan, I know. I have a plan to steal it from her.”
Ci-cin!
[Dungeon path]
We emerge onto the veranda. The rain of black fire seems to have stopped.
I place Dal on the ground on the charred boards.
“I'm listening.”
He adjusts his muzzle with his paws and looks around. He smoothes his tail. “Well. But know that, in the end, you will have to be ready to judge yourself fairly.”
♠Interference♠
...
[Radar]
...
[Targets detected]
Well. Close to each other, I can fix them in a short time. Considering the privileges that the scythe grants me, I can only tremble at the idea that soon, the System and I will be together forever. The only flaw is the amount of energy this miraculous tool consumes.
[Cosmic regeneration] is not enough. My energy must recharge with the reserves of [Dry Flare] contained in my six tails. [Immortality] would be needed but, alas, the System deemed it more appropriate to grant this ability to the [Empress].
But crying over my beloved's machinations is foolish, foolish, foolish. Let's think about who to start with. Dal-Dazzer has not revealed his potential yet, but I am sure that, with the scythe, he can beat him in no time.
The [Empress] is a nuisance. I vainly counted on cannot defeat her with her surprise, the panic of being betrayed by trusted people... I was naive, and now I have to fight her again. Unlike the [Yellow Queen], the [Empress] is a battle vanguard. Our skills are already in her favor, plus she is also immortal.
…it is undoubtedly, necessary, risky. I cannot let my poor desire be crushed, not by such a vile creature. I will deal with Dal-Dazzer later. As strong as he is, he is not an [Eldritch Entity]. I can eliminate him even without the [Yellow Queen] privileges. Complex, but certainly possible.
So.
[Dungeon path]
Here, I am emerging into the clearing of smoothed ash. Standing, the [Empress], with the umbrella open to cover her head. My tails quiver. Hers sway indifferently.
Our shady gazes meet. I fear I am simulating something akin to insecurity, wavering.
“N. If we have come to this, no one is certainly to blame. We are simply different, despite being descended from each other.”
“I agree. I'm also sorry for how the situation has evolved. I keep thinking that if I had never brought the mercenaries to your Sanctuary...”
I draw a circle in the ash with the handle of the scythe. “Do not say that. The God of Wisdom would have made another game. He would have led them by the hand, in any case.”
“Like pieces on a chessboard. You use them as long as you need them, and when they're not there, you replace them.”
The [Empress] lowers her gaze and ears. It is something she does all the time, and I know it is a lower-guard moment. Perhaps—
N disappears into the darkness. What!?
[Dungeon path]
I catch the distance in time and see the blue blade emerge from the ground. Sinking in the sky, ready to disappear into the sea of shadows.
She is using [Shadow Wall] and [Dungeon Path] in combination. An obvious move on her part. I stick the tip of the scythe into the ground. A dimensional fracture opens along a straight line.
[Eruption and suction from deep space]
[WARNING!]
[Risky operation—
[Risky operation—
…
[Risky operation—
[YES, FOR ALL]
Columns of emptiness erupt ahead of me. With this maneuver, I can exchange parts of space. The suction of the cosmic void attracts me, but the tails keep my body firmly on the ground.
The void erupts like a geyser, a raging river that swaps places with ash and sidereal space. Here, the [Empress] appears beyond my attack. She emits a mist and… no, a dark purple jet of thick clouds.
[Delete]
[Undo for all]
[Dungeon path]
Despite the attempt, I emerge in the middle of the [Poison cloud]. I brandish the scythe and assign permissions to expel parts of the cloud from reality with slashes of the scythe.
BOOM!
A rain of fire, damn it! I have to search—
I feel my body is thrown away. I hit some rocks. My gashes widened as the scythe slipped from my grasp.
Its glow is lost in the dense cloud.
Gron transformed into an arsenal creature. He has blade legs and a hammer tail that growls with knife teeth. He throws a sweep that forces me to dodge. My tails fight back and grasp, and bite him.
“Checkmate.”
A cold blade cuts through my chest.
“If you were a living person, you would be deceased by now. But the Umbrella of Murderer has one last ability.”
I try to turn my head, but I cannot. My body is paralyzed; even my tails break due to Dal-Dazzer's sudden movements.
I feel cold. The lips do not answer my call for help. The System does not rush to give me a special ability. Without the scythe, I cannot react.
“That's right. You can't even speak. This is because the weapon's ultimate ability is to freeze blood. In your case, the Flare-Oil that flows around you.”
The light of the blade's waves shines from my chest and illuminates the [Empress] who passes me in the cloud. It gets lost in the fog, but I see the glow moving. The sound of her bells.
Ci-Scriiin.
It is clear.
She has picked up the scythe.
I cannot let everything end like this. System. System! Grant me a skill! Grant it to me! Do not let our existence end in such an unjust, brutal, and mean way! I…
{Is restart prepared?}
Yes. An inner voice? It cannot be the System. As wonderful as it is, it is unable to communicate. I feel time slowing down as if my cognitive functions were expanding in an anomalous alteration.
{I'm letting you hear my dream, Yellow Queen.}
What am I dreaming about? I who can only simulate, am I admitted to dreams? What does it mean? You if—
{Exact. Know that the scythe emits the energy needed to restart on its own.}
No need. The voice has disappeared. N is in front of me. She looks grim, and she is about to lower the weapon on me. She stands for.
But she would not.
The voice in her head shows me a scythe chart.
{Reset}
…
{YES}
The blow falls on my chest. Everything becomes light.
↓
Perfection is the Wisdom′s Failure,
Ambition is the method.