I approached his tent, more nervous than ever. All my life I've followed the divine decrees, as one of the blessed—and more importantly, as a demigoddess. Yet on the day of my death, I want to enjoy myself at least a little — even if it's selfish, even if it's useless. I want to spend time with the man I love.
I entered and saw him there. Just as I remembered — cleaning his equipment despite having no reason to, since weapons of this quality didn't require maintenance anyway. Magic kept them in perfect condition.
It was a habit he had whenever he was stressed.
Then he turned. Golden hair, like that of a lion, along with golden eyes, pale skin, and a height that would be any princess's dream. He carried himself nobly, despite the exhaustion visible in his heavy gaze and gestures.
People say we look alike, and it's true — something that has always secretly made me happy.
"Ariel, what are you—?"
"There's no time, Midas. Come with me."
We have no time. I need to do this quickly before everything ends.
I led him to the northern wall to be alone with him, even spending a large amount of mana to activate my magical tools.
I brought him up here because I had something selfish to ask. I wanted to see him smile sincerely at least one last time. If I could see that smile on his face, the weight of these years would finally lift greatly. The weight of hiding from him what was about to happen…
Then he looked at me for a few seconds and smiled. He looked even more radiant than the first time we met. I wonder how someone like him can even exist.
Pain filled my chest. I wanted to tell him that I loved him, that I had been in love with him for a long time. But that would only hurt him. After all, the world would not last beyond today. And yet, I didn't do it. Instead, I told him something that I hoped would bring him more peace than what I truly wanted to say from the bottom of my heart.
"I'm going to die."
"We're all going to die."
It doesn't really matter, because everything was already decided. It all had to end this way. For there to be a tomorrow, this world has to die. Yet I can't tell him the whole truth. My father forbade it.
But if we're all going to die, there's something I'd like to do with him. I still remember the first time we met. He was the only boy who dared to talk to me. Remembering his initial shock when I rejected him always makes me laugh. But I can't tell him that. After so long, I honestly regret it. I wish I had danced with him back then.
"No… I still have time."
"I'd like to make one more request, Midas. We don't have much time left, so… would you like…?"
Then, the sound of war trumpets reached us.
I've always hated those damn trumpets. Today more than ever.
There were still so many things I wanted to tell him…
How glad I am to have him by my side.
How strong I've been only because I had him to support me.
That it doesn't matter if the world is destroyed, because my soul will remember him.
That I'm sorry for lying to him all this time, because the ones truly responsible for destroying the world were us, along with the gods.
That he forgive me for using him.
That I love him. That if I could, I would choose to perish a thousand times with him and let this new world be born. Yet such a wish is no longer possible for me.
My heart weighed heavier than ever as I saw Leviathan. Still, that wouldn't make my spear any less deadly. I wanted to unleash my anger on something — this helplessness I felt, this inability to decide my own fate… this creature would pay for it.
If we were to destroy the world, then you were the ones who pushed us to it. Filthy beasts. I would kill every last one of you with my own hands.
Leviathan and I rose into the sky, higher and higher. Then the beast spoke:
"Once I kill you, I'll devour that little nuisance down bel—"
There was no need for words anymore.
I shot forward like a meteor. It was the largest dragon in the world. Yet that wouldn't stop my spear.
The beast spewed fire, trying to burn me. Flames embraced me, melting part of my armor, but it was a sacrifice to get closer. Then I struck the beast in the stomach, placing a magical seal that forced it to descend, allowing my legion to attack.
However, with every movement, the beast slaughtered countless of my soldiers. Seeing they were useless against it, I ordered them to fall back and assist below. I would face Leviathan alone.
The dragon, seeing its prey retreat, grew furious and unleashed its breath — but I blocked it with a barrier of equally powerful fire.
"Filthy flies, you'll all burn alive!"
Abandoning its attempt to kill the small annoying creatures, Leviathan turned and lunged at me.
To my dismay, we were equals in the sky when it came to flying.
Just before we clashed, a massive surge of mana gathered around us — one I knew well.
In an instant, the sky filled with storm clouds, and powerful bolts of lightning shot toward Leviathan, creating an opening for my attack.
The lightning kissed its scales, tearing them apart and revealing the dragon's raw flesh. In that moment, I saw my chance, and my attack followed its natural course toward the exposed wound of my opponent, paralyzed by the electric current running through its body. It seemed that being so massive wasn't exactly useful right now.
My spear pierced its flesh. Yet a weapon of that size did little against the thick layer of muscle protecting it. Still, it allowed me to strengthen the rune I had already implanted, and the dragon was hurled to the ground, roaring in fury.
"Let me go, you bitch! I'll eat every piece of your body!"
"Dawn Spear."
A gigantic spear of aura descended through the clouds. Its size was immense — as large as the dragon itself.
The dragon, witnessing its enemy's monstrous attack, fired a breath of void energy toward the heavens, trying to stop the descending spear. For a moment, the two powers clashed, but the spear remained unshaken, descending until it finally struck, and a ferocious explosion followed — leaving behind the sight of the wounded dragon and an angel gasping for breath in the sky.
The dragon raised its head one last time to look at its enemy.
And roared. Roared with uncontrollable rage. Its body slowly became surrounded by a red aura — the berserker energy — and the seal placed by the rune shattered. Its body began to regenerate, and it took flight, destroying everything beneath it.
I tried to dodge, but the enraged dragon was too fast.
Finally, its massive body struck me, hurling me toward the earth.
Yet before I hit the ground, I managed to steady myself again and rose into the sky once more.
Leviathan dove down, intending to use all the kinetic force of its immense body to crush me. And I soared up to meet its challenge.
At that moment, a manemite spear flew at lightning speed.
I was surprised for a brief instant.
"Midas."
The spear struck the dragon, briefly halting its advance and slowing it down — a golden opportunity for me.
We collided. But the dragon's scales broke before my body did, and my spear pierced through its chest — this time the aura expanded, tearing through its organs.
A simple dragon cannot compete with a demigod. But this was no ordinary dragon. This was Leviathan, the great traitor.
Even with its chest impaled, it lowered its head and bit my body ferociously. Just one of its teeth was the size of my whole body, and the dragon bit with precision — enough to maim but not swallow me by mistake.
My armor shattered, as did my body. Yet I didn't loosen my grip.
But the dragon did.
Finally, we fell to the ground, and I stood over the beast's corpse.
With my last strength, I rose to search for Midas. I wanted him to be the last thing my eyes saw.
I ascended to the sky, and there I found him — still holding his position.
Pain courses through my entire body. I'm more exhausted than ever. The only ones left from the legions are Alnis and me. The beasts decided it was easier to slaughter our men and focused their attacks on them.
Alnis fought bravely until her vocal cords burst and she could no longer speak. Now she lay on the ground a few dozen meters away—I could feel she was still alive, but not for much longer.
Even so, I remain standing, though one foot is already in the grave. But…
I want to see her one last time. If I can see her just once more, then I'll fight—and I won't stop.
Then, the beasts surrounding us vanished, purged by holy light—Ariel's magic. I smiled and looked up.
It was the first time I had seen her so badly wounded. And yet, she was still beautiful.
"Midas, I finally found you."
Then she created a dome around the entire island, with us inside it.
I couldn't hold on any longer, and my body slowly fell backward. But Ariel caught me and gently lowered me to the ground, placing my head on her lap. My exhausted body could finally relax.
"Looks like this is as far as we go, Ariel. After everything… in the end, we lost."
"No, that's not true. The truth is, we won, Midas. All our pain was worth it in the end."
"Look—it's already happening."
When I turned, I saw the structure we had been protecting, now brimming with divine power that had long since been lost.
"I thought those bastards had abandoned us."
I turned back to look at Ariel, who—for the first time—was crying.
In the distance, a massive black figure made of void ether rushed forward, trying to stop what was about to happen, but it was struck by a gigantic wave of solar energy.
The world trembled at the collision of those two forces.
"Forgive me, Midas. I've been lying to you all this time."
I fell silent, unsure of what she meant.
"Because we are the ones who ultimately destroyed the world. I'm sorry, but I can't keep holding it back anymore. Now that it has finally begun, I can say everything freely. Midas… I'm sorry. And I love you."
Her head lowered, and her lips touched mine—our first kiss, and also our last. In that moment, Ariel's life slowly slipped away.
I looked at her cold body, a storm of emotions raging within me. And I cried—for the first time in a long time. I cried because today I lost the woman I love—not only in her death, but also in the sweet memories I once had of her.
I wondered what she meant when she said we had destroyed the world. I wondered if she had been delirious in her final moments—but I knew one thing clearly: Ariel was not the kind to ramble, nor to say such things carelessly.
"What does this mean for us—for those who fought? If it's true, what the hell have we been doing all this time?"
A deep wave of nausea washed over me, but I forced it down through sheer willpower.
I felt like I was going to vomit.
The voices of the gods emerged from the structure we had protected, chanting in unison about the destruction of the world. But for some reason, the doomsday machine slowed, its rotation growing more sluggish—until the protective dome shattered, breaking into countless fragments.
At that moment, a new, semi-transcendent aura appeared before me, followed by the one who emanated it.
He bore a halo shaped like a circle with solar rays adorning his helm—perhaps a symbol, as the rest of his golden armor was decorated the same way. He wore full golden armor; the only visible parts of his body were a pair of furious eyes glowing with golden light and long hair.
I knew who this man was—or rather, this god. His divine aura was unmistakable. It was the Sun God himself.
"Didn't Ariel kill you? What a nuisance."
The Sun God unsheathed an exquisite blade, crowned with a solar disk, flames raging fiercely along its edge.
"No matter. I'll correct her mistake."