TWEM Vol. 8 Chapter 11

Chapter 11 – Evil God Chronos III

The divine light that rained from the heavens reached all the way to the ground, erasing anything caught within.

Once the radiance finally faded, Chronos turned as if to leave.

“—Hey. I’m still alive, you know?”

I called out to him.

He turned sharply, his gaze snapping to me, standing in midair atop my barrier.

A look of shock overtook Chronos’s face.

“…Let me ask—how did you block that?”

“Easy. I just upgraded the barrier I’d been using. Now it’s stronger than anything you’ve thrown at me.”

“Impressive. I didn’t think you could manage such a modification in that brief window.”

Nodding, Chronos conjured a barrage of translucent spears and hurled them at me.

But I blocked them all with a single improved  “Space Rupture Barrier – Aegis”.

A moment ago, just a handful of those would have shattered it. Not anymore.

“Sorry to let you down.”

“To reject my divine judgment…”

“I’m just stubborn like that. And here’s my return gift. Catch.”

I pointed skyward and slashed down.

Moments later, a massive meteor—at least fifty meters across—burst through the clouds.

“Bringing down a star? Bold. But surely you know such an attack won’t work on me.”

Honestly, I never expected it to.

Not when even Lucifer shrugged it off.

But I figured he’d have to put some effort into stopping it, and I could use that opening.

Chronos slowly ascended and swung his sword.

The slash met the meteor, and erased it completely.

“…Seriously?”

“You underestimated my blade?”

“Not at all. I just wasn’t expecting that. So that’s the power of a Genesis weapon.”

“Hmph. I’m surprised you recognized it.”

Chronos closed in and swung again.

I tried to deflect, but the blade grazed my arm.

“Gah—!”

I didn’t retreat. I held my ground and continued our clash.

Steel rang against steel.

Dodge, strike, get countered.

None of the hits were fatal, and my auto-healing took care of the rest.

“You’re keeping up with this speed? Then let’s raise it again.”

His attacks grew even faster—barely within my reaction range.

The wounds came faster than I could heal.

I tightened my focus, deeper and deeper, and the tide began to shift.

I took fewer hits. I started landing blows.

Real damage.

“Remarkable. You’re growing stronger mid-battle?”

Even then, Chronos still looked calm.

But I kept pushing. I layered in advanced techniques, leveraged every skill I had—

“Guh!?”

At last, I left a deep gash in his side.

Not fatal, but serious.

And just as quickly, it began to close.

“I haven’t enjoyed a fight this much in eons. You have my gratitude!”

A powerful blow grazed my cheek.

Blood sprayed. Pain flared. But I didn’t stop.

Faster. Stronger. Even faster—

“What?!”

Chronos’s voice cracked.

My blade had severed his left arm; the one without a weapon.

It would regenerate fast, sure.

But even that one second was all I needed.

Seeing me shift into a drawn-sword stance, Chronos realized he was in danger. He braced himself—

“‘Cherry Blossom Flash – Violet Bolt’!”

“Grah!?”

The crimson flash carved through his retreat, slashing deep into his side.

“You bastard!”

“Ugh—!”

He swung his sword in a fury.

I blocked it, but a storm of follow-up strikes came instantly.

Wounds tore across me in seconds.

Then he kicked me square in the stomach.

As I reeled, he regenerated his left arm in an instant and pointed it at me.

“This ends now, warrior. Open the gate— ‘Prison of Time’.”

A gate opened above my head after I was blown away.

Pale arms reached out from it, trying to grab me.

“You may wander through eternity.”

“—Damn.  ‘Heavenly Fire’!”

A radiant ladder of light descended from the heavens.

But the hands didn’t vanish.

“Why won’t they disappear!?”

“Hardly surprising. This is neither light nor darkness. It is space-time—my dominion.”

If it had been dark magic or evil in nature, “Heavenly Fire” would have purified it.

The fact it didn’t meant this was something else entirely.

I slashed at the reaching hands, cutting them down—

But more kept coming.

“‘Space Rupture Barrier – Aegis’!”

My barrier pushed them back, but—

“Hmph. Allow me to assist.”

He swung his sword.

And my barrier disappeared.

It wasn’t broken. It was undone; reversed, as if it had never existed.

Time reversal.

At that point, I had no options left.

The hands grabbed me and slowly dragged me toward the gate.

Half my mana was already gone.

I had no plan, no backup. I couldn’t win.

So I used my trump card.

“‘Limit Break’!”

My magic exploded upward, spiraling into the sky.

The hands shattered.

I slashed—

And cut the gate in half.

“Well now. That’s quite the magic. I didn’t think you still had this much in reserve.”

“Told you—I wasn’t going all out yet.”

“Indeed. Then I, too, shall fight at full strength. You’ve earned it.”

Black mana spiraled from his body, launching toward the sky.

Thunder cracked.

“Let’s end this.”

“My pleasure. For peace—just die already.”

He disappeared from view.

The tip of his sword was already at my throat.

I ducked low and drew.

“‘Cherry Blossom Flash – Absolute Truth’!”

My crimson blade rang out, but Chronos blocked it with his sword.

I jumped back and cast a spell.

“‘Black Lightning Dragon’!”

Storm clouds roiled above.

A dragon made of black lightning descended with a roar.

Chronos grinned.

“Excellent!”

He poured mana into his sword and slashed.

The dragon was split in two.

But I didn’t waste that opening.

I dashed in, and pain exploded in my gut.

“Gh—!”

He caught me mid-charge and launched me through the castle wall.

Gritting my teeth, I looked up.

Countless translucent spears floated before Chronos.

“‘Chrono Spear’.”

I tried to dodge, and realized I couldn’t move.

The space around me had warped.

Chronos’s doing.

“No—gah!”

One spear pierced my gut.

Blood gushed from my mouth.

I crashed into the earth.

I cast healing magic, but it took time.

I dropped to one knee, glaring at Chronos still hovering overhead—

And then I heard a voice I couldn’t believe.

“Haruto-san!”

“Finne…? Everyone else—why are you here?!”

I turned.

Finne, Iris, Suzuno, Ephyr, Kuzel, Ilmina, Char, and even Fran, stood there.

Zero and Glatnis were with them.

They brought everyone?

As confusion swirled, they rushed to me.

“Are you okay!?”

“I’m fine. But Zero—why did you bring them here?!”

I glared at Zero.

“Don’t blame him. It was my idea.”

“Finne… why would you…”

She answered with a sheepish expression.

“Well… we’d taken care of most of the enemies, so we were waiting in the rear, but then we felt some bizarre magical shockwaves. I started to worry. Then Zero asked if we wanted to go to you…”

I glanced at Zero. He looked away.

Well… I couldn’t blame them for worrying.

～

“I’m sorry… for making you worry.”

“We want to fight too!”

“No. It’s okay.”

I appreciated the offer, but the enemy was just too dangerous.

Besides, the girls didn’t look well.

Even if Chronos hadn’t shown any particular hostility toward them, just his presence was overwhelming.

The pressure alone was enough to make it hard for them to stand.

“Haruto… please, don’t push yourself!”

“Yeah! If you weren’t here, I…”

“Haruto… it’s okay to run.”

“You’ve done more than enough.”

“Haruto, you’ve saved so many lives. No one would blame you if you ran now.”

“You’ve already fought more than anyone could ask for. Please, just go.”

“Haru… you’ve done so much. No one’s going to fault you for leaving this to someone else.”

One by one, Iris, Suzuno, Ephyr, Kuzel, Ilmina, Char, and Fran spoke their thoughts.

Then, Chronos descended slowly a short distance away and spoke in his usual, casual tone.

“They’re right, you know. You can still run. I assume you understand what would happen to this world if you did… But honestly, even if you stay, the result won’t change. You’ll die either way.”

Yeah. I knew that.

If I ran away here, a lot of people would die.

And even if I stayed, the odds of winning were… almost nonexistent.

But I also knew what everyone really wanted.

What they hoped for.

That’s why I couldn’t give up—not here.

I slowly stood up and raised my sword.

Without turning back, I spoke to them.

“Sorry. I’ve never been good at giving up.”

“Why, Haruto-san!? Why are you doing this!?”

I turned just my head and looked at Finne, who was clinging to the hem of my coat—and the others too.

“Because I want to go back home with all of you. But if I run away here, I’ll never be able to go home.”

“That doesn’t mean you should throw your life away!”

Finne cried out, trying to stop me.

I placed a hand on her head and gently patted her.

“If I don’t do this, the world ends. And I don’t want to see the people I care about die.”

“…Then promise me. You’ll come back safe.”

“Yeah. I promise.”

When I nodded, Iris smiled beside her.

“Then when you do come back safe, I’m getting a kiss!”

“Sure. I owe you, Iris—you’ve kept me going.”

Then Suzuno gently took my hand.

“We’ll all go home together, okay?”

“Yeah. Our families are waiting for us.”

Ephyr shyly tugged on my sleeve.

“I hope I can meet your mother and father soon.”

“You will. I promise.”

Kuzel stepped in front of me.

“So, uh, once this is all over… I want to fight you.”

“Then let’s have a proper match when this is done.”

“Right! So go beat that guy quick!”

“Count on it.”

Ilmina approached next, a little embarrassed.

As she cast healing magic on my wounds with what little mana she had left, she spoke softly.

“I’m always the one being saved by you.”

“Not true. You’re saving me right now—healing me like this.”

“Please… come back safe.”

“You got it.”

Char stared straight at me and declared:

“Hurry up and defeat him so we can have our rematch.”

“Yeah. I’ll be your sparring partner until you’re tired of it.”

“I’ll win next time. So go save the world already.”

“Will do.”

Lastly, Fran stepped forward.

“Since this all started with a demon revolt, I’d wanted to settle it with just us demons. But we dragged the humans in, the whole world… and in the end, we had to rely on you. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. Chronos’s revival was always their goal. One way or another, it was always going to come down to me fighting him.”

“…Hearing that makes me feel a little better. Good luck. And also—I’m still waiting for you to make me your fiancée.”

“Yeah… wait, what?”

Did she just say fiancée…?

“Hehe. Now go win.”

Without answering, Fran stepped back.

Then, one by one, the girls leaned in and kissed me on the cheek.

“This is our charm for you.”

Finne said it softly, her face flushed.

“Thanks. This is the best good luck charm I’ve ever gotten. Zero, Glatnis—I’m counting on you to protect them.”

“Understood.”

“Leave it to us.”

Zero transformed into a dragon, and everyone climbed aboard.

He flew down toward the ground, carrying them to safety.

As I watched them disappear, I turned to face Chronos once more.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

I had been expecting an attack while my guard was down, but Chronos remained eerily still.

Instead, he gave a slow, unnerving grin.

“No need to apologize. That was quite the show. But I wonder… what kind of faces will they make after you die?”

“…You’re sick.”

I raised my blade and pointed it at him.

“Let’s get this third round started.”