As the two age old friends kept falling through the clouds, Shaid calmly demanded that Olya talk to him honestly. There was no anger in his voice, but his stern tone suggested he didn't want to get played for a fool anymore. Olya looked nervously back at him.

"You don't have the Books with you?" He asked.

"The Books... are not long for this world, amigo."

"...Bud, what's this about?"

"For now, both Books are in Edward's care." Shaid elaborated, "But before that, I placed a timer on them. I wished that they'd both disappear, never to be found again once two more wishes get written inside its covers."

"What! Why would you do that, you idiot!?" Olya sweated.

"Amigo, you've been tarnished by them. The fatty I call Olya was a fun guy, a smart man, and above all, the one that wanted to better the world just as much as we did." Shaid looked him in the Eyes, "Now, before me stands a boney mess."

"Cheh, not the time for disses." The old man chuckled, "So, I take it you made that timer specific for a reason?"

Alluding to the wish Shaid made that would effectively seal the Books away forever, Olya already knew more or less where this situation was going. They must have figured out a way to kill him indefinitely, even with Olya's immortality. Now, as the distant islands below them kept growing, all he wanted to know was how. A simple curiosity, nothing more behind it. He didn't even feel scared, just curious.

"I used the first wish, amigo. I wished for me to swap places with Lune and the kid once they've properly beaten some sense into you." Shaid chuckled, "I was getting a bit nervous when nothing happened for so long, but thankfully I'm here now... And those two are safely back with their families."

"Right, so you saved their asses, basically. Good job." Olya remained unamused, "Still doesn't explain why you'd ever get such a dumbass idea as destroying the Books. Do they even know you did that?"

"Nah, I don't think even the Gods know yet." He continued, "This was my plan solely, since I might yet have a way for us to survive."

Uttering those words made Olya's heart race. He was sure he heard him right, Shaid still wants them to live! Immediately, Olya got giddy with excitement once he realized his old pal wasn't gonna give up on them just yet.

"We can live through this?! Wait, so you guys didn't figure out a way to turn me mortal again?"

"Geez, shut up for a sec, amigo. Let me finish." Shaid groaned, "Lune knows what the next wish should be as well, since we talked about it beforehand. Right about now, it should take effect."

Olya blinked as his vision got blurry. Something was definitely happening, but he couldn't exactly tell what. Before him, the image of Shaid once again became clear, and as he felt the aching of his bones suddenly disappear, it was all too clear to him what the final wish was.

"Ah, you actually did it." He pinched his fat cheeks, "The Gods are gonna be pissed once they figure out what that guy did. Pretty sure they hate it when people change the past."

"No one changed the past, amigo. We just brought back the fatass within you." Shaid chuckled, finally seeing the friend he knew from back then, "I'm glad you're finally back to normal. Seriously, you look sickly when you're not chubby."

"...Cheh, and here I thought I finally got rid of all those extra flabs."

Indeed, Olya was turned back into the past version of himself, back to before he became immortal. Turns out Issei's discarded idea had worked after all, but as they said, the Gods will probably be angry with Lune for this.

"So you didn't change the past, but we'll definitely be changing the future with this." Olya explained, "Ah, well. I guess there's no use if we don't survive this fall."

"We won't?" Shaid wondered, "You know, there's a small chance, and frankly we most definitely won't have our legs after, but it's not impossible to survive this fall."

At this naive comment, Olya couldn't help but laugh with all his might, mocking his friend just like the good old days. They were tens if not hundreds of kilometers above the ground. A regular person would break their legs just falling from a couple of meters, so even suggesting they're gonna survive is hilarious in comparison.

"You're a dumbass if you think we'll live through this, bud." Olya kept cackling, "Where's all that hopeful optimism coming from, even?"

"Yeah, I expected that reaction from you. Guess that means you're really sane again." Shaid chuckled warmly, "Instead of answering, I think it'd be better if I turned the question over to you, amigo. What's with the negativity?"

"Tch, even if we lived, what good does it do for us?" Olya pouted, "Schnell's stuck in Hell, and we won't have our legs with us. Honestly, dying would be a better deal than that reality."

"Ah, I believe I forgot to mention it, but we're not technically going against the Gods' warnings either." Shaid finally explained the rest of his and Lune's plan, "You aren't gonna remain mortal for long, amigo."

"Eh?"

"What? You said it yourself—If we kept angering the Gods, they'll spend the rest of eternity hunting us down. I didn't feel like living a life of fear and paranoia, so I had Lune write in that you're only back to your youthful mortal fatass version for a random amount of time during the fall."

"So that's the case?" Olya was genuinely baffled, "In the end, you're not even gonna let me die properly? Are you that cruel, bud?"

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***

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The plan was finally explained in full, yet Olya still failed to realize its intricacies and genius. This could be due to the fact his mind was slowly losing all its knowledge and memories past the day he parted with his mortality, but it could also be that he was just too shaken up and battered to use his brain. Indeed, Lune wished for Olya to revert to his mortal young self for an undefined amount of time in the coming minutes, but who knows when that moment will come.

"You don't get it, huh?" Shaid dryly explained, "If you become old again, that means you can continue doing things the way you've been doing them. Your way. I'll die for sure, but you'll have all of eternity to try and find a way to bring us back. Properly this time."

"So you're sending me back to work the fields, is that what you're saying?" Olya smirked, "Cheh, is it so difficult to get a vacation nowadays?"

"I expected you to be happier, honestly." Shaid replied back, "Ah, but this time things will be different."

"How com-?"

"You won't be alone." Shaid smiled, "You'll have them to help you. Swear on my mother, amigo."

"Huh? You want me to go and ask the guys I've been terrorizing this whole time to help me?" Olya didn't understand, "And you really think the Gods would just let that shiet slide?"

"I don't know, but it's worth a shot." Shaid nodded, "Please befriend them, Lune said he already understands why you did all this and would gladly accept your apology. If he did so, surely most if not all of the others would soon follow suit. You can start a new journey, amigo, one that will have way better chances of succeeding."

"Still, the Gods..."

"The Gods are on the same side as those guys. If they're willing to help you find a way to revive Schnell and me, then surely they'll find a way to convince those Gods to give you something at the very least. Even if they don't, you at least asked. Not like you're in any rush, am I right amigo?"

"Y-Yeah, I guess..." Shaid muttered.

It was an odd plan, and one that certainly didn't sound all too enticing. Essentially, they left Olya's fate completely up to chance—Either these two go splat before Olya becomes immortal again, in which case they can all finally rest in peace, or Olya becomes immortal again, but he'll have to continue looking for a way to bring Shaid and Schnell back, this time without the Books. In any case, the fog of bitter hatred that blinded him had finally disappeared along with his old body, so he was at the very least willing to listen to Shaid. If the latter of the two happens, he can at least rest easy in knowing he can ask his former enemies for help.

"A damn good plan." He muttered.

"Hm?" Shaid glanced at him.

"You guys, you came up with all this just to make sure everyone's happy." Olya smiled bitterly, "Happy..."

In the next moment, Olya began to violently sob. By this point, the ground was within just a few seconds away from them, and he was yet to become immortal again. After almost a millennium of dullness, Olya had once again gotten the opportunity to face true death head on. In that moment, he could only recall the Sun God's words—In order to feel truly alive, one must truly feel death.

"I'm scared, man!" Olya revealed through tears, "I don't wanna live through another century without you two, but on the other hand, I don't wanna die!"

"Amigo..." Shaid gave him an over the shoulder hug, "You're being a baby, haha! Come on, live a little! Either we both get freed from this cursed world or you get another chance at being the immortal badass that doesn't fear death!"

"Shaid... What do I do if I become immortal?" Olya asked him as they neared certain doom, "Last time, I put all of my focus into trying to revive you, but I couldn't help but think you guys might not want that."

"The hell? Who told you that?" Shaid furrowed his brows, "Amigo, the only way we're happy over our death is if you follow us into the afterworld. I'm sure Schnell feels the same way. And remember this, if you ever start doubting yourself, just think about all the fun we'll have when you finally revive the both of us! Ah, maybe even look up ways to make us immortal as well, by chance? There are so many places to explore, I kind of think a measly human lifespan just can't see it all."

Finally, after 800 something odd years of uncertainty, Olya had gotten confirmation on what his friends thought of him. This whole time, he wasn't sure if they would agree with him reviving them, if they would consider him a monster or not for all he's sacrificed just to get them back. In times of doubt, he would confide in the ones that were helping him along the way—Alp, Kenny, the Grys family, the Chant family, among many others. And every time he would ask "Am I doing the right thing?", they would most always answer with "No, this is selfish, but you do you". This hurt Olya to his core, and kept chipping away at his views on their friendship. Now, he had a newfound certainty. Those people, no matter how kind and helpful they were to Olya, simply didn't know the two characters of Shaid and Schnell like he did. They assumed those two to be like them, to be normal, but much like Olya...

"You guys are fucking crazy!" Olya grinned from ear to ear, his youth blossoming in full.

Regardless, the ground they had hit was not the island they were on previously. Due to the strong wind currents up in the skies tossing and turning them about everywhere, they had actually fallen on a nearby island in the distance of where our heroes were. The impact caused a large boom that echoed throughout all the islands, and as for whether or not Olya lived...