◇
After that, the three of us spent a long time together in the netherworld.
I had no idea how much time actually passed.
It felt like it had gone by in the blink of an eye, yet it also felt incredibly long.
In that place where time had no meaning, August-san beat me black and blue so many times that I lost count.
Beyond that, we talked about events that were in his future, studied magic together with Shion, and listened to stories from the era of the fairy tales. It was truly a meaningful time.
I learned countless things from August-san and made them all a part of myself.
…In the end, my memories never returned, and I still couldn't beat him, but I instinctively understood that this next fight would be our last.
Just like always, I faced August-san with about ten meters between us.
"August-san, thank you for everything. I can't express how grateful I am."
When I offered my thanks, August-san looked momentarily stunned before breaking into a bright, refreshing smile.
"Yeah, I had a lot of fun too. I had lost everything and given up on it all, but you showed me that my footsteps still held meaning. So for this last one, go ahead and surpass me!"
"Yes, that's exactly what I intend to do. I'll use everything I learned from you to go beyond you! —[Magic Sword Unity: Alteration], [Final Form: Mont Ende]!"
I gathered the surrounding magical power and drew it into my body.
Next, I pushed the ki circulating within me to its absolute limit.
Inside my body, I combined magical power and ki—two forces that normally never mixed.
The "power" that my flesh couldn't fully contain began leaking out from me.
When it touched the coat I was wearing, the fabric transformed into what could only be called a magic garment, flickering like black flames.
The power that even the magic garment couldn't hold then touched the air around me, generating blue-black lightning.
I gripped my magic sword and took my stance.
(I can only maintain this state for a few seconds at most right now.)
This was the first time I had attempted such a reckless feat of holding such immense power inside my body. It required far more concentration than I had imagined, so I knew I wouldn't be able to keep it up for long.
"…Hahaha! So in the end, we reached the same destination…!"
August-san laughed loudly when he saw my state.
He then transformed his own clothes into a magic garment just like mine, crackling with deep crimson lightning.
He dropped into a low stance and raised his fists.
Although August-san had mastered every form of martial arts, his true specialty, just like Hart-san, was bare-handed combat.
I felt grateful that he was coming at me with genuine, full seriousness, and at the same time a surge of excitement ran through me.
With Shion watching over us, the distance between August-san and me closed in an instant.
The clash lasted only a moment.
As we passed each other, I swung my sword while August-san threw his fist.
It was an exchange so fast that ordinary people couldn't even perceive it.
And the one who came out on top was—
"Haha… ha… No way…"
August-san collapsed to his knees and fell forward onto the ground.
"Haa… haa… haa… I won…!"
In contrast, although I had taken damage, I remained standing.
Perhaps because combining magical power and ki had been such an extreme strain, I was struck by the kind of headache I hadn't felt since arriving in the netherworld. Even so, as I looked at August-san lying on the ground, I basked in the afterglow of victory.
"…Gh… ugh…!"
But the headache only grew stronger instead of fading. Eventually the pain became so intense that standing became difficult, and I dropped to my knees on the spot.
"Orun!? What's wrong!?"
Shion rushed over in concern when she saw me suddenly suffering.
I wanted to tell her I was okay somehow, but the flood of various pieces of information pouring into my head along with the headache left me unable to speak.
(This is… my memories…?)
The information flowing in carried emotions with it.
Childhood scenes spent with Shion and my parents.
The sight of my parents and comrades dying before my eyes during the Order's attack.
Those were the things Shion had told me about, realities I could never forgive.
—'I'm sorry for pushing the problems we should have dealt with onto you, Orun.'
—'I'm sorry, Orun. For leaving your side so soon.'
It must have been my imagination, but I thought I could hear my parents' voices.
—'It's okay, Dad, Mom. I'll keep moving forward and live properly.'
When I said that, it felt as if the two of them smiled at me.
The deaths of my parents and the people from my village couldn't be expressed with simple words like anger or sadness.
But now, I felt like I had truly been able to accept their deaths.
I had properly carved them into my heart.
—My path forward had finally been decided.
Even so, why had memories that I couldn't recover at all until now suddenly returned here?
The power created by combining magical power and ki had been circulating through my body just like ki itself.
Some of that power must have reached my brain during the process.
Had it nullified the [Recognition Alteration]?
Well, it was better that the memories had returned, and there was no need to overthink it right now.
"…Shion, I remembered. My childhood. That day when the Order ravaged everything. All of it…"
I looked straight at Shion, who had been panicking at my sudden pain, and spoke to her.
Shion stared at me with a blank expression for a moment, but her eyes gradually began to glisten with tears.
"…Really…?"
"Yeah. Now I can clearly remember the promise we made that day… in the silver world we saw together."
To prove to Shion, who still looked like she could hardly believe it, that I had truly regained my memories, I mentioned the "promise" that only the old me and Shion knew—before I had received [Recognition Alteration].
Hearing that, Shion finally let large tears spill down her cheeks.
"Orun…! Orun!!"
Shion called my name and threw herself into my chest as if she could no longer hold back.
I held her firmly in my arms.
"I'm so glad… I'm so glad…!"
Shion cried like a child. Seeing her like that made my chest tighten.
"I'm really sorry. I'm so sorry, Shion."
I kept my arms around her and didn't loosen them until she finally stopped crying.
◇
"Um… Sorry to interrupt such a nice moment, but it looks like the time limit is getting pretty close, so… is it about time?"
At some point August-san had recovered and called out to us with an awkward look on his face.
Just as he said, I could sense that the world's regression was almost over. We stepped apart and turned to face him.
Even though I had slashed him with everything I had earlier, there wasn't a single trace of injury left on his body.
"…August-san, thank you again, truly. Thanks to you, I've gotten much closer to my goal."
When I expressed my gratitude once more, he gave me a gentle smile.
"I'm glad to hear that. I'm satisfied too, since I got to hear so many things about the future."
"What are you going to do now, August-san?"
"I'm not going to do anything special. Here I look like this, but I'm already an old man past eighty. Well, I lost everything, but at least I got to meet you two at the very end. I think I can head to the afterlife in a somewhat good mood."
August-san wore a satisfied expression as he spoke.
"Well then, this old man will be disappearing now. Do your best, you young ones."
Even though it was the last time, August-san said it so casually, then turned his back to us, waved his hand, and began walking away.
"…Yes. Goodbye, August-san."
"Thank you for everything."
When Shion and I called out while he faced his back at us, his body began to blur like a heat haze and vanished from the netherworld.