Calling for Help at the End of the World

For a while, I was left dumbfounded by the surreal scene before me.

No matter what breathtaking view I might encounter in the future, nothing would surpass this.

Even on my deathbed, I would surely remember it vividly.

King Izard, having exhausted all his power, dissolved into particles of light and vanished with the wind, just as his knights had done.

The expression on his face at the end was turned toward the heavens, and I couldn't read what he was thinking.

I believe it was the greatest proof that a great king had once existed in the Deianclure Kingdom.

Where King Izard had stood, a fragment of his crown lay. Yohane picked it up, carefully wrapped it in a handkerchief, and tucked it away in his breast pocket.

I would deliver this to the Kingdom and restore the broken crown. It was the final wish of the benefactor who saved me from this hellish place.

I had to bring it back no matter what.

Now then, the problem was what came next.

Did that blue sky lead to the outside world…?

I looked around for Iefuda to ask his opinion and found him near a collapsed wall with Jill.

When I went over to see what was going on, there was something black and squirming at their feet.

"Ahh…"

A groaning voice could be heard.

Though small, I could tell at a glance that this was an evil presence.

That said, it seemed to have lost most of its power and couldn't even move.

"So this is the end of a god who once stood shoulder to shoulder with Oscar and Barbatos. How pitiful."

This small black object was apparently the remains of the World's Master.

Though it hadn't been completely destroyed by King Izard's final strike, it had apparently used up almost all its power.

Even in this state, it might recover if given enough time.

I was about to say we should finish it off when Jill pinched it up and put it in her mouth and ate it.

She chewed several times and swallowed.

Yohane watched with a dumbfounded expression.

"It doesn't taste very good."

"But as a foundation, it's excellent. Equal to an elemental, or perhaps even greater."

Iefuda had said Jill was the same as Azu.

That meant she would be enhanced by some kind of power.

Azu had housed elementals within her and gained supernatural abilities.

In contrast, Jill had taken in the remnants of a god.

"Was this your goal?"

"Who knows. I had no guarantee, and besides, I told you. It's a job. More importantly, this isn't the time to be worrying about that."

"What do you—"

Before I could say "mean," a massive tremor struck.

I nearly fell, but Jill grabbed me by the scruff of my neck, preventing me from colliding with the floor.

The shaking subsided quickly, but that was the signal for the castle to begin collapsing.

Intermittent tremors continued.

Iefuda tapped me on the shoulder, and we decided to leave the castle first.

By the time we exited the throne room, the walls and floor of the room had completely dissipated.

If we didn't hurry out of the castle, the footing would disappear and we'd be dashed against the ground.

While running, I spoke up.

"This world was like that thing's stomach. If the owner disappears, of course it can't be maintained, right? It was stronger than expected and I didn't think we could beat it, but now we should finally be able to get out."

"But how are we supposed to get out? If everything disappears like this, I wonder if we can even make it back."

"That's where we have to thank that king. He split the world along with that thing. What incredible strength…"

"So it has to be there after all."

The sky that King Izard had cut open.

If we were going to get out, that was our only option.

We managed to escape from the castle safely.

Any means of investigating this world had been completely lost, but at least it was certain there would be no more victims.

"Over there!"

We ran toward where the blue sky was visible.

The flames outside had burned out, leaving only scorched earth.

The forest we could see but not touch, the flesh-like ground, none of it was there anymore.

We could now go to places that had been inaccessible before. It seemed the rules that had bound this world had vanished.

The problem was that the blue sky was slowly being sealed again by the red sky.

We'd come this far. I ran desperately, determined to escape no matter what.

Behind us, there was no longer any castle or ground. Only nothingness spreading out.

A bottomless dark hole, perhaps, is how I'd describe it.

If I fell into that, there would be no saving me.

I understood that instinctively.

Iefuda and Jill were faster than Yohane.

Jill especially reached the destination in no time despite carrying a greatsword, and leaped into the blue sky.

"It was more fun than I expected. Don't hold a grudge if you don't make it."

Leaving those final words, Iefuda jumped in as well.

The void had crept right up to my feet.

My footing nearly gave way, but since there was just a little more to the blue sky, I jumped and reached for it.

Somehow my left hand caught the edge of the rift.

The ground had completely vanished. There was no going back now.

The blue sky was slowly closing.

I had to jump in before it closed completely.

Yohane put strength into his left hand and slowly pulled his body up.

Just as his right hand seemed about to reach and he thought he might make it, the rift shrank and his left hand was pulled upward.

"I should have trained more…"

If it were Azu or Alexia, they would surely escape this predicament easily even in the same situation.

I smiled wryly, thinking that in the end, it wasn't money but strength that mattered most.

From fatigue, I was gradually losing strength in my grip.

Not only that, but my left hand was slowly being squeezed.

My pinky slipped off, then my thumb, and suddenly the load increased dramatically as I began to slide off.

I thought this was it. But I should at least be allowed one last struggle.

The moment my left hand let go, I took a deep breath.

"Help me!"

I had rarely asked for help, actually.

I always hesitated to do so.

That's why I could only say it when things became truly hopeless, when it was already too late.

The blue sky was swallowed by the red sky.

I simply waited for the void to fall upon me.

At that moment, someone grabbed my outstretched left arm.

Then a rope wound around it and bound it. I was pulled in with tremendous force.

Just before the rift vanished, Yohane's body was sucked into the blue sky.

And then I was embraced by something soft.

"Thank goodness…"

"We were really worried."

I was being held by Elza.

Azu was there too. It seemed she was the one who had grabbed my left arm.

Apparently, I had survived.