What I heard was unmistakably Ellen's voice.
I couldn't help but be surprised.
And it seemed the same was true for my opponent.
With lifeless eyes wide open, it shook as it aimed its sword at my throat.
It was something we had done many times before.
Although Ellen's will was absent, it was as if we were fighting in Ellen's style.
After numerous habitual battles, instead of thrusting the sword into my throat, Ellen stopped.
I had always been defeated.
Ellen had always won.
Just as it had become a habit for me to lose to Ellen, it had become a habit for Ellen to win against me.
So that habit of stopping at the last moment carried over.
Even those familiar words involuntarily escaped my lips.
"Uh… Ugh… Ugh…! Hic! Hic!"
Tears that couldn't be contained flowed from Ellen's lifeless eyes.
Tears mixed with rainwater streamed down endlessly.
The one who shouldn't cry was crying.
These were not tears of bitterness or anger.
They were simply tears of sadness.
"Ellen…?"
"Hic…! Ugh! Ah, ah… Uh…"
I didn't know what was happening.
However, I could sense the violent struggle within the silence.
Ellen hadn't disappeared completely.
Somewhere inside, Ellen was still there.
Yes.
Luna had said she could bring Ellen back.
Although I didn't actually borrow Luna's power, it meant I could recover Ellen.
And from the beginning, it had said it could bring Ellen back as well.
Ellen hadn't vanished.
I was just too weak.
I was so weak that I couldn't recover Ellen.
Luna could bring Ellen back, and it could return Ellen on its own.
I just couldn't find the way.
Ellen could be restored completely, and Ellen was still somewhere inside it.
Biting my lip, I tried to do something, but the sight of Ellen sobbing helplessly told me it was painful.
A wave of pale energy erupted from Ellen's body.
"Gh…ugh…!"
Clutching its head,
"Hu… Hic… Hu… Uh… Ahhhhhhh!"
With a roar like a lost soul and a shockwave that could tear apart not only the surrounding earth but my body as well, I was swept away for dozens of meters.
Barely managing to stand after being thrown back, Ellen clutched her head amidst the torrent that seemed to pour down.
A tremor like an earthquake resounded as something erupted from her body.
"I'll kill… Kill… Must kill… You too… The hero too… Everything you love. Everything precious to you… Must be taken away… That's… Fair… That's the only way…"
Holding a broken sword, she glared at me with a bizarre appearance as vengeful spirits emanated from her body.
I couldn't tell if her condition was bad or good.
If her condition worsened, would that be good for me?
I didn't know if the torrent of vengeful spirits surging from Ellen's body was because they were leaving, or if they were going berserk.
However, the rough gray torrent erupting from the broken sword certainly told me that not only was it dangerous for herself but also for me.
Approaching carelessly might have killed me.
But there was a strong conviction that now was my only chance.
It was clear.
The method to repel that thing.
I didn't know.
The method to kill that thing.
I didn't know.
But there was one thing I did know.
Having been consumed by it, I learned one thing while my soul was being attacked by the strange power of the sword it wielded.
It could kill a living being, but it couldn't kill a soul.
It could possess a body, but it couldn't kill the soul's original owner.
If it could, it would have killed my soul the moment it possessed me from the beginning.
The fact that it couldn't meant that, although it was a collection of souls, it could never kill or eliminate a soul.
I, who was swallowed by it and yet not killed, was the proof.
The fact that Ellen's soul still remained somewhere out there proved it.
So.
I went.
-Krrr!
Facing the thing that rushed at me, clad in a tumult of vengeful spirits.
I didn't back away, but instead approached it.
-Kwaddddduk!
Not only attacking my mind, but I felt a tremendous physical pressure from the colliding swords.
-Krrr!
The raindrops pouring down in the shockwave were pushed away by the sheer physical force, never reaching us.
From the broken sword that collided with Tiamata, a fierce flame erupted as the pressure of the surging spirits and Tiamata's divine power clashed.
I didn't know if it was the flame of the spirits being burned away or a physical flame.
The flames of vengeance engulfed me, and my sanity seemed to fly away from the pain that felt like it could tear my brain apart.
In the turbulence of vengeful spirits, it tried to kill me somehow, as if squeezing out the last flame.
The pain that felt like my soul was being torn apart and the otherworldly pain trying to rip my heart apart both loomed.
But.
I knew the pain could weaken my soul, but it couldn't kill me.
The Void Sword could cut my flesh.
The dark sword of resentment could attack my soul.
But it could never kill my soul.
I just had to not crumble in the pain and fear.
-Kaddddduk!
I knew.
I couldn't win.
I had never won, not even once.
In the days when I learned the sword from Ellen, who knew nothing, hiding the fact that I was the Demon King, it had always been like that.
I didn't learn the sword to fight and win against Ellen someday.
But in the end, we ended up fighting like this.
Whenever Ellen was serious, losing miserably was my fate.
Defeat was all I had.
But it wasn't always the same defeat.
Collapsing in one round, later in two rounds, three rounds, four rounds.
At some point, I could even fight for about ten minutes.
'It's hard.'
Once I got Alsbringer, Ellen had even said those words, exhausted from facing me.
I always lost.
I always fell.
But I was a loser who progressed.
Knowing I couldn't win, I clenched my teeth and tried to win anyway.
I didn't become strong to fight Ellen, but I tried for the things that would happen someday.
——
I lost to you all my life.
-Krrr!
As I faced Ellen's gaze, filled with hatred and rage, trying to push my sword away in the midst of the turbulent spirits and aiming for my neck.
I said.
"Just once…."
Since the Gate Incident, for the first time, tears that had never been shed until now.
"Only."
In the end, I couldn't hold back any longer.
"Really, just once…"
I knew that tears wouldn't change anything, but still, I cried.
"Even if it's only once."
I was so desperate.
So helpless.
Tears streamed down my face as they were swept away in the raging torrent of vengeful souls, in the midst of a soul-rending storm.
"Can't I… win… just once?"
Just once.
For this crucial moment, I wished for victory.
I could lose to you for the rest of my life, as long as I won now.
Because if I lost now,
I wouldn't have any chances to lose to you in the future.
Because I was willing to spend the rest of my life being defeated by you, just like in the days of the temple.
"So…"
That eternity.
That endless time would be enough if I could just get it back.
I pleaded with my own self-suggestion.
My own word magic.
Just this once.
Only once.
"I… will…"
For this moment alone.
"I… will… defeat you."
No matter what happened.
"I will win."
Kwarrururung!
"Ahh… ugh… uhh… aaaaaaah!"
As it reached some kind of limit, it began to release power wildly, its actions becoming more and more erratic.
Bang!
Instead of blocking the upward swing of the sword, I stepped back to avoid it.
No matter what power was imbued in a weapon, there was always an absolute limit.
The broken sword.
It had its limitations.
This time, I deflected the thrust of the sword that lunged towards me.
Fighting with Ellen's senses, it was clear that the thing controlling her body was feeling confused.
It had become dull.
Ellen Artorious knew my swordsmanship better than anyone else in the world.
But, in the end,
That's why,
The person who knew Ellen's swordsmanship the best in the world,
Was also me.
As I deflected the sword that was aimed at me, she tried her best to target my neck this time.
I dodged the swing aimed at my neck after my sword was pushed aside.
Lowering my stance, I avoided the knee that was thrust upwards towards my face.
Her twisted face, filled with confusion, anger, and despair, was just inches away from me.
"Uh… ugh… ugh!"
The sword pierced through pain and despair.
But knowing that this gap would not come again, I took the hit.
Thud!
"…!"
I did not block the sword that pierced my heart.
An eerie pain shot through my brain, but this level of pain was nothing compared to the pressure on my soul at this moment.
Instead, I pulled.
I pulled the arm that had stabbed me.
Thump!
I grabbed her neck.
"Aaaaaaaaah!"
Kurururung!
There was no escape.
I would gladly be stabbed in the heart countless times for a single victory.
Dozens, hundreds, even thousands of times.
I could do anything, I had done everything to get her back.
I could endure so much more than this.
The torrent of vengeful souls exerted physical force on my body, but my body regenerated as it shattered.
As long as she didn't kill me in one blow, I would regenerate forever.
I still had the divine relic, so I could do it.
For a single victory.
For just one opportunity.
I had endured this moment of weakness.
Without sacrificing Luna.
Without sacrificing myself.
I had clenched my teeth and let go of countless opportunities, not knowing if this moment would ever come.
It had to be done now, or never.
——
Reaching towards the creature that flailed about, as if to free itself from the grip on its neck.
Towards Ellen.
I had only been accumulating everything up until this point by killing monsters.
All of the achievement points I hadn't used, even the tiniest bit, for this moment.
I used them now.
To get you back.
And perhaps.
This would be the last time.
[Using all 287,620 achievement points.]
I perform a 'revision.'
"Ugh…uh…ha…aaaaah!"
From now on, there was no need for power like word magic.
No need for power like self-suggestion.
These powers could disappear after this last use, for all I cared.
Because they were no longer necessary.
More than any other time.
More than any other moment.
With the most intense desperation.
With the most powerful intention.
I wish (self-suggestion)
I command (word magic)
With these words.
"Disappear!"