One dreamless sleep later, Claud opened his heavy eyelids to the sight of Lily resting her head on his chest. It was an innocuous gesture, but her hands were also touching his wrist, in what looked like a clear attempt to feel his heartbeat.

“You’re up.” Lily let out a small sigh. “Upsy-daisy…”

Getting him to sit up, Lily touched his face. “Your body feels a lot colder than usual.”

“You’re just warm,” Claud replied. “My kind of warm, in fact. You…didn’t sleep at all, right?”

Lily lowered her eyes, but she didn’t reply to his query. Claud simply smiled and stroked her hair slowly. He already knew why she stayed awake the whole time — Lily had been keeping track of his heartbeat and breathing, fearful that he would just die during his sleep. It was a fear that he too sometimes lived with, but Lily was always lively, so he had gotten above that small trauma after a while.

To think that he would be making Lily of all people feel this terror.

“Sorry. I’m so sorry.” Claud hugged her once. His arms felt like lead, and he was a bit scared that he couldn’t fully control his strength, but Lily simply buried her head in his neck.

She sniffed a few times, and then looked up at him, her eyes shiny. “It’s my fault.”

“It’s not your fault,” Claud replied, his fingers tracing her eyes. Her violet hair fell all around his hands, and he pressed his lips to her forehead for a moment. “And it is utterly worth it to do all this. You are my life, and I yours. That is our vow. Always has been. This is what it means to live, even in adversity.”

A frigid chill nipped away at his body, but Claud didn’t care. While his body felt like a suit of really thick plate armour right now, he could still muster his senses and move his body. As long as he didn’t give up on life itself, having his lifeforce hollowed out would never kill him.

“Don’t worry.” Claud found himself a bit surprised at the confidence in his own words, and Lily’s face brightened. “As long as I never give up, this won’t kill me.”

He ran his fingers through her hair. “Come, let’s go down for breakfast.”

Claud tried to get up, and then made a face. “…I’ll have to trouble you to help me up first, though. The mind wants one thing, but the body’s still unaccustomed to this state of weakness.”

“Alright!” Lily replied in a voice full of energy. She, like him, was forcing it, but Claud had no intention of letting her fake it any further. All he needed to do was to go about the next year as per normal. He would make Lily forget about this little incident by living life to the absolute fullness.

“Up we go, then.”

Claud got off his head. He still felt like crap, or at least like a person made from low-quality steel — both uncomfortable and very fragile — but he was still alive. More importantly, the two of them had escaped the incredible trap that had been laid last night; it was a cause worthy of celebration.

“Alright, let’s have a huge breakfast set,” Claud decided. “Lily, I order you to feed me!”

Lily’s smile turned genuine, and she placed his hand onto her chest. “Yes, my lord.”

“We’re roleplaying now?” Claud asked.

“By all accounts, you’re going to ascend to godhood,” Lily replied. “I am practicing for the future.”

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

“True. But how does a god behave anyway?” Claud asked. “I need to learn the corresponding etiquette. Or maybe I can ask the me in the Last Tutorial, assuming he’s there.”

“It sounds like a dream or something, though. The Last Tutorial…” Lily made a face. “That’s the stuff of legends.”

“I’m a legend too, okay?” Claud winked at her. It was an awkward movement, since his eyelids were very heavy, but he had managed to pull it off at a good enough level that Lily didn’t catch it…

He had a feeling that Lily just didn’t point it out, though.

“Yeah, a legend.” Lily moved her lips to his ear. “After all, you’re so popular now. Everyone wants you, right?”

“They should just stay cooped up or something.” Claud shook his head. “Still, if I had chosen to stay as a tri-folder or something, and never improve, would anything have changed?”

Lily looked at him. “You said that there are countless Clauds or something trying to prevent my death, right? There must have been some who tried that, only to realise that not doing anything is dangerous. Besides, it’s the Fourth Godsfall. There’s no way being weak will let us survive.”

Claud thought about her words, and then nodded. “Sorry. That’s just me being cowardly, I suppose…”

“But it’s nice that you thought of such a thing too,” Lily replied. “It’s so not you, after all.”

“…Maybe.” Claud let out a heavy sigh, and then opened the door.

The two of them left their room. Instead of having Lily support him, though, Claud was using mana to make sure that every step was stable — even with his senses dulled, his Mana Control Proficiency remained as impressive as ever.

It was quite tiring, but all that was just mental fatigue, over anything else. In fact, Claud also had the feeling that lying in bed for an entire year probably wouldn’t count as actually living up to his ideals too, so he wanted to keep moving around.

A person, even if they felt hollow inside, could definitely live as much as they could.

“There’s even more people right now,” Lily noted. “Everyone’s gunning for the Fourth Bearer of Destiny. The rewards are really exquisite, after all.”

Claud mouthed two words at her, and Lily nodded. “Shortly after that announcement, everyone received a mission. Killing the Fourth transfers the Aeon Fold skill, the Divinity Aspirant skill, and the divinities will also reward the killer with oodles of lifespan.”

His heart trembled once, but Claud didn’t show any other expression. Now that he was heading downstairs, and now that there was an actual chance to become a god, everyone and their parents would be out in full force to look for the Omen. It also didn’t help that the Nihila Dukedom had been highlighted as the place where Tot had been last spotted.

The two of them sat down at a table and ordered a scrumptious breakfast.

“So, what are our plans now?” Lily asked. “Do we go back?”

Claud thought for a moment. What was the best choice for him, as he was right now? What would the others think, if he returned like this?

“We’ll need to tell them that I failed,” Claud replied. “First and foremost. Second, tell them that I discovered a method to retake the Third Tutorial. Third…I should stay here and recuperate. We have a lot of money on us, right? We can rent a small store and sell some skillstrips here and there.”

“What skillstrips are you thinking about?” Lily asked.

“Hmm. Cleanse, I think. It’ll soon have a ridiculously short cooldown, so it’s fine,” Claud added. “It’s going to be very useful too, for everyone, and…”

“And?”

“I hope that I can save a few more people with Cleanse, in the maelstrom that’s fast approaching us.” Claud closed his eyes for a moment, and the bone-deep fatigue within him threatened to drag him down into an endless abyss. He shook his head a heartbeat later, and then then said, “It’s kinda my fault, after all.”

“That’s just not how it is, but okay.”

The two of them fell silent as a waiter approached their table. Even in his current state, the smell of sizzling bacon and sausages had a strong effect on Claud, and his spirits rose as he picked up his fork and spoon.

“It’s a bit heavy, these things.” Claud eyed the spoon. “But that’s just my head telling me all these, right?”

“Probably.” Lily looked a bit worried. “I could feed you.”

“I’m fine.” Claud put on a brave smile. “All the singles will curse at us behind our back, and while I wouldn’t have minded normally, I’m currently in my nadir. I don’t really want to have my luck lowered or something…”

“Oh.” Lily looked a bit disappointed. “But I’m feeding you in private.”

“Of course you are.” Claud rolled his eyes. “I’m going to become a baby at this rate, though. Anyway, after this, let’s go rent a small storefront. We’ll also need to inform Schwarz about what happened to me, and we need to caution them to not rush into things blindly.”

Lily nodded.

“Beyond that,” Claud muttered, “I think we’re fine. For now, anyway. We’ll just sit here and sell stuff. Maybe provide refuge if this place turns into a warzone or something.”

“Don’t jinx it.”

Claud rolled his eyes. “The top powers of all three continents are headed here, though. I’m sure something’s going to happen…”