Fwoooosh!


    Thanks to the War Shoes, they were shooting through the sky.


    Dangling from Findenai’s arms, Aria peeked down below.


    She felt a bit awkward witnessing Professor Deus and Dante’s leader, Luaneth, working together to push away the tentacles.


    It was unexpected that these two people, one her absolute ally and the other her absolute enemy, come together to pave the way for her.


    Bang! Bang!


    “Ha! She shoots pretty well, huh?”


    Watching Deia’s shotgun providing clean cover fire, Findenai grinned.


    They kept ascending to reach Romuleus, who was soaring high in the air; in reality, they essentially needed to fly vertically to achieve this, so their speed wasn’t fast.


    And it would be impossible to attempt something like this without the War Shoes.


    Findenai, who was aware of that, deliberately stepped on Romuleus and leaped. She was trying to save fuel to use the War Shoes later. However...


    “Brat, it seems like things are about to get a bit more dangerous.”


    Findenai spoke with rough breath, sweating profusely. After looking down below them, they could see that they had ascended to a dizzying height, indicating that they were about to reach the top.


    “No more fuel?”


    “Uh, it’s running out slowly.”


    “...”


    Aria bit her lip. Just a little more and she would reach Romuleus’ mouth.


    She had an idea on how to do that, but it was difficult to say it out loud.


    “Use me as a foothold and advance.”


    However, Findenai offered to sacrifice herself without reservation.


    Actually, Aria had the same idea. However...


    “...Will you be okay?”


    Even Findenai would certainly die if she were to fall from this height.


    Dark Mages like Deus and Luaneth were waiting below them, but the risk of falling from this height was still too much for typical nerves.


    “Hey.”


    However, Findenai raised the corner of her lips as if her worries were ridiculous.


    “Do you think Master Bastard would just watch me die without doing anything?”


    There was no hesitation or wavering in her voice, just a solid trust. Well, it could even be called blind faith.


    Aria was a little envious but nodded, confident that she wouldn’t be left behind.


    “Okay.”


    Findenai acted as soon as she heard her reply. Grabbing Aria with both hands, she immediately threw the petite girl upwards.


    Bwoong!


    Rising effortlessly while cutting through the air resistance, Aria began to fall back down.


    Simultaneously, she began gathering her mana and concentrated it in her legs.


    “It might hurt a bit!”


    Meanwhile, Findenai clung to Romuleus like she was climbing a rock wall.


    Falling freely, Aria stepped on Findenai’s shoulders, lowering her body like a coiled spring.


    “Kkuh!”


    With an exclamation and a groan, as if trying to push herself, Findenai managed to hold on.


    Shoot!


    Using Findenai as a foothold, Aria leaped up with the mana’s impact. As Aria shot up at tremendous speed, Findenai was unable to withstand the aftershock and fell below.


    “Heubb!”


    Aria’s skin flapped from the air resistance, as the cold, strong winds at the high altitude rushed in.


    However, she managed to secure herself by stabbing a knife into the monster’s giant mouth.


    Upon reaching the summit, Aria immediately checked on Findenai. However, seeing the maid in her revealing uniform being embraced by her master, she felt a bit jealous.


    “Keeeung!”


    Aria entered the mouth that stretched toward the sky. Passing between the giant teeth, she saw numerous, disgusting tentacles stretching upwards.


    At the center was Mul, who had merged with Romuleus’ body.


    Although the upper body still belonged to Mul, the lower body had become tentacles, and he was staring at Aria.


    “Have you come this far to chase your destiny?”


    It was a bizarre greeting, mixed with the voices of countless people.


    Aria gripped the greatsword Duathane firmly and glared at him.


    “I don’t know about that. I’m just here to kill you.”


    Tentacles extending from all directions seemed ready to attack Aria at any moment, but Mul simply smiled as if enjoying it.


    “That is precisely your destiny, Savior of the Continent.”


    “...”


    “You came here to kill me, the one put the continent in danger.”


    “...”


    “In the end, you are unable to escape from your own destiny.”


    Mul laughed as if the sky was departing.


    That was why these beings called gods were so desperate for her to return to being a hero.


    Also, Aria felt like she understood why they were so hostile to someone like Deus Verdi, or to be precise, Kim Shinwoo.


    “You are... the very meaning of this continent’s existence.”


    The protagonist.


    The hero.


    She heard those words constantly, and it had become excruciatingly tiresome. Yet, hearing a being who had once been a god say, it felt really hard to bear the weight.


    However...


    “I see.”


    Aria replied boldly.


    “Too bad.”


    As if it wasn’t related to her at all.


    “We exist for the sake of assisting you. As the rightful owner of this continent, you must save this land.”


    It seemed like Romuleus was criticizing Aria for escaping reality and from her mission. However, she simply shook her head.


    “You fool.”


    It was a playful rebuke, as if saying that he was being ridiculous.


    “How can this continent have a protagonist?”


    “...Is that really something you should say?”


    At Mul’s weary voice, Aria chuckled, placing Duathane on her.


    “I can say it because it’s me. I am the person you’re talking about—the hero, the savior of the continent? But I don’t care about such things.”


    “...”


    “Am I more special than others?”


    The entity leading the play was called the protagonist.


    The others behind were essentially supporting roles, assisting the protagonist.


    It would have been fine if this was simply a play in the theater. However, how pitiful would it be for those in the supporting roles if it was also applied to reality?


    In the end, weren’t all their actions simply used to prepare the lead?


    “If that’s the case, I will discard this sense of uniqueness.”


    Aria wanted to step down from the stage.


    She was now truly certain that she wanted to shed the title of hero.


    Ultimately, if everyone became supporting roles—or better yet, if they all became protagonists of their own stories—it would lead to the salvation of all who existed solely for one girl.


    “...”


    “Why? You don’t like that?”


    “Ultimately, your actions are disregarding our long and patient wait.”


    “That could be the case.”


    “In the end, you are deceiving us, who have worked for your sake. You are simply abandoning responsibility and running away.”


    “Yes, I know.”


    Mana burst forth from Aria Rias’ entire body.


    The immense power that had been suppressed finally burst forth. After all, this was the second round of the girl who had almost saved the world.


    “So what?”


    If this had been in the past, things could have been different.


    In the original game [Retry], Aria sacrificed herself to save the continent in the second round.


    However, things were different now.


    Because she had learned from a certain professor that this was not the true answer.


    Duathane soared high.


    It was the Sword of Predation, which had consumed the clone of a god and had now temporarily become a weapon capable of killing a god.


    “As the Hero Aria, this is where I severe my destiny.”


    The towering mana enveloping the greatsword surged towards the sky like a pillar.


    As it happened, Romuleus, who had been silent until now, began to move violently.


    “This is the last salvation I can offer everyone.”


    So that everyone, and not just Aira, could uphold their own worth.


    “The salvation of the continent! Destruction! Are you really going to pretend to be ignorant about it?”


    Romuleus began to close his massive mouth. At the same time, the tentacles within his mouth rushed towards Aria.


    However, facing Mul’s final, desperate outburst, Aria responded confidently.


    Of course, that person will do that for me.


    “You damned wench! Our wait! Effort! Preparation for you! My life! You’re just throwing everything to the grounddddd!”


    "Freedom for everyone."


    As the curtain of light descended, the hero truly stepped down from the stage.


    The continent, bound to the girl named Aria Rias, had lost its purpose.


    This, in turn, meant freedom.