They say people look back on their lives before they die, but as Sherry stared at the white light right in front of her, a different thought surfaced in her mind.
Today, the day I spent with Cid, was probably the happiest day I've had in years.
...
For Sherry, luck and misfortune had always gone hand in hand.
She had very few personal interests. Research and ancient artifacts barely counted as half of one. The reason it was only half was because her initial interest in those fields had actually been influenced by her mother.
Her mother had been a researcher, a scholar who had become famous at a young age. But because the theories she held were too far ahead of their time, she was rejected by the entire academic world instead.
As a child, Sherry left the academic city with her mother. Fortunately, their life afterward was not greatly affected. Her mother also met a partner willing to support her research, though Sherry never knew who that partner was.
Unfortunately, the good days did not last. Perhaps her mother's research had stepped on someone's interests, because one day, Sherry received news of her mother's death. After her mother died, she was adopted by her former foster father, Lutheran.
He was a kind-looking old man and the vice principal of a Magic Swordsman Academy. And so, Sherry studied and grew up in her foster father's academy.
For some reason, even after attending for several years, she still did not have a single friend… Maybe it was because of her introverted personality, which made her unwilling to start conversations with others. Or maybe it was because her major was in the sciences, where the research atmosphere was especially strong.
Then she met Cid.
To be honest, when she first met Cid, she was actually startled. Rather, any girl would be startled if a boy suddenly appeared in front of her while she was walking, said nothing, handed her a snack called "chocolate," and immediately left.
Afterward, she asked her foster father about it and learned that it was a way for boys to confess to girls. A boy she had only met once had fallen in love with her at first sight and confessed… It was so troubling. How was she supposed to respond?
She wanted to refuse, but worried that doing so would hurt Cid's feelings. She wanted to accept… and although she did think Cid-kun looked very cool when he fought so hard, becoming a couple with a boy she had only met once was still far too embarrassing.
Fortunately, Cid-kun was not unreasonable. After a school tournament, she gave him cookies in return and said she wanted to start as friends first. Cid-kun agreed. That was wonderful. She had successfully made a friend.
After becoming friends with Cid-kun, Sherry felt light and giddy every day. When she could not see Cid, her heart would not settle, and her desire to spend more time with him grew stronger by the day.
Unfortunately, just when Sherry felt her life was finally getting on track, when her foster father's illness might improve, when her relationship with Cid was gradually warming, and when marriage might naturally follow, tragedy struck.
A group of terrorists used an ancient artifact to take the entire campus hostage. They slaughtered people throughout the campus, while she and Cid worked together like heroes in a novel, analyzing the situation and cooperating before splitting up. In the end, they successfully destroyed that ancient artifact and saved the students.
Unfortunately, during that terrorist attack, the evil Shadow killed her kind foster father. After leaving her with the words, "You don't need to know anything," he disappeared… She had no idea what that evil Shadow had meant!
To gain the knowledge she needed to take revenge on Shadow, she accepted an invitation from the academic city of Laugus. She briefly said goodbye to Cid, promised she would explain once everything was over, and left.
Do not ask why she did not have a long farewell. She had absolutely no confidence in her own self-control.
After arriving at the academic city, her days were filled with dull reading and experiments. There was no one willing to talk to her or become her friend. That was fine too.
The only exception was probably after she published one of her research reports, when an elf with long pale-purple hair came to find her. Somehow, the two of them inexplicably became pen pals.
In a sense, she and that purple-haired elf were very good friends. Good enough that, for a shared goal, they could drag each other toward death. But honestly, that purple-haired elf was absolutely dangerous.
Sherry could not describe exactly how dangerous she was. But from what she knew so far, after the elf sent her a letter saying that surveillance around her had lessened and asking Sherry to introduce a few good ways to get research funding, a large number of poisons targeting extraordinary people abruptly changed the style of the entire world.
Putting poison on swords was now considered a fairly honorable tactic. Those with money directly suppressed enemies with poison gas, then followed up with Magical Power disruption barriers and mental shocks…
In one of her letters, the purple-haired elf had once complained to her, "Master keeps saying that if he lets me out, I'll bring disaster to the world. What a joke. I have no idea what Master has secretly created…"
Thank you very much. Sherry also wanted to complain about the purple-haired elf and her so-called Master. Knowing full well that letting the purple-haired elf out would bring disaster to the world, yet still loosening the surveillance on her. That Master truly had a big heart.
Once Sherry had achieved something in the academic city, she received invitations from several factions. First, she ruled out every faction that appeared righteous on the surface. Then she selectively drew investment from a few forces and began setting up her game.
The Hero Faction, led by the Infinite Dragon God, set its sights on the Light-Dark Imbalance Curse the purple-haired elf had given her as bait. The Cult of Diablos, named just like the villain defeated in fairy tales, wanted the final experimental results. Netheril, which claimed to be the wealthiest, wanted all the knowledge she possessed. And the short-sighted Fallen Angels wanted her… labor.
The Hero Faction's subordinates, the Cult of Diablos's technology, Netheril's money, and the Fallen Angels' precious materials, money, and weapons. All of it suddenly fell into place. As for whether those factions could receive anything in return… that would depend on their own ability.
And so, after coming here to meet her pen pal, Sherry encountered the person she wanted to see most, and also the person she least wanted to see.
...
For the plan I worked so hard to prepare to end because of my death… that really is laughable.
As Sherry watched the white light reach her, that thought surfaced in her mind. Her body had no time to dodge. She could only watch helplessly as the white light bringing death drew closer and closer.
"Get out of the way!"
A familiar voice reached Sherry's ears. A tremendous force struck her from the side. Caught off guard by the powerful push, Sherry, who had already given up resisting and was waiting to die, let go of the handbag she had been gripping tightly.
"Gah!"
The instant the handbag slipped free, the corner of Sherry's eye caught a clear glimpse of Cid's face as he saved her at the brink of life and death. The urgency and tension in his eyes were impossible to fake.
Perhaps because Cid had been running too fast, Sherry felt as if she saw an afterimage of him where the handbag was swallowed by the white light.
"Thud!"
Sherry's soft, boneless body was knocked to the ground by Cid. Sharp pain shot into her mind from the places where she scraped against the ground, but Sherry did not let out any sound of pain. She only looked at Cid lying over her, raised one hand to cover her eyes, and could not stop the corners of her mouth from curving upward.
"Ha!"
Sherry laughed for no reason. She knew it was not appropriate to laugh right now, but she wanted to laugh anyway. A happy laugh.
After the terrorist attack ended back then, she heard from others that while she and Cid had split up, Cid had been stabbed through the heart by someone while saving a woman.
She knew she should not feel that way, but she had to admit that when she learned about it, she felt some jealousy toward that woman.
And now? She had let it go.
"Heh, heh, heh. It's gone again…"
People truly did not understand one another. Listening to Sherry's laughter after narrowly escaping death, watching the two people fighting in the sky and the two groups fighting on the other side of the street, Cid only found them noisy.
While saving Sherry just now, he had moved at an unimaginable speed and managed to rescue a good portion of the contents before the handbag was completely swallowed by the white light. But with the amount he had saved… after treating Delta to a feast, there would be nothing left. The artwork he had already reserved was gone!!!
"Heh heh heh. Cao Cao, if you're looking to die, I don't mind sending you on your way."
Cid let out a chilling laugh, his anger already at its limit. He admitted that the money had basically fallen into his lap, but that was no reason for the two people in the sky to blow up his wallet.
"Looks like two Longinus wielders. Whatever. I'll beat them both. Against Longinus, I'll use him."
That was right. Cid had already recognized one of the fighters in the sky.
The one attacking the white armor with a long spear was Cao Cao, half a student of his. As for the others fighting nearby, the armored woman, the two men dressed like a mage and a warrior, and the big guy were Cao Cao's companions.
Cid did not know who the two men and one woman on the other side were, but they were most likely the white armor's subordinates.
With that thought, rage-filled white slime gathered in Cid's hand, pure white light shining across its surface.
"Sherry, how are you feeling? Are you hurt?"
His acting was so bad it could hardly be called acting. Cid had already checked Sherry's body. Other than a few light scrapes, there was nothing…
Seeing Sherry suddenly start smiling, Cid thought for a moment, then decided not to make any bold claims and honestly focused on her safety instead.
"I'm fine, Cid-kun."
Sherry calmed her dizzy head and answered with a smile.
"Since you're all right, be a little more careful from now on, Sherry. I'm going to rescue the others."
"Eh? Can't I follow behind you and help, Cid-kun?"
"I'm afraid not, Sherry. The damage they've caused is huge. For now, we can only wait for the security team to arrive and subdue them. Until then, there are still many people in danger here who need to be saved. I'm going to bring them out one by one."
That was what he said, but in reality, the two groups in the air had already changed locations during that short exchange. If he dragged this out any longer, their fight would probably be almost over.
With that in mind, Cid could not keep waiting for Sherry's answer. He simply picked a random pile of rubble and ran toward it.
...
I am Cao Cao. Of course, not the Cao Cao from history, merely his descendant. I am the wielder of the True Longinus, the strongest Longinus, and I am currently in the middle of solo-killing the White Dragon Emperor.
"Vali, is that it? You stole the Infinite Dragon God from right under my nose, and this is all you can do at full strength?"
Facing the white bullets fired by the white armor, the young man holding the holy spear did not dodge. He swung the True Longinus and knocked away every one of those powerful, highly compressed masses of Magical Power.
"Vali, I admire you. Tell me, where is the Infinite Dragon God now?"
Cao Cao shouted the question and seized an opening. The spear in his hand curved past the white armor's defense at a strange angle, aiming straight for the heart.
"What have you done to this place?!"
A furious voice came from the other side. The sound waves swept over both of them, causing Cao Cao and the white armor, Vali, to fall into a brief deadlock.
"Who are you?"
Cao Cao frowned and looked in confusion at the handsome boy on the other side, who had long platinum-blond hair and was dressed like a magician. Cao Cao had only arrived on Itogami Island today and had not witnessed the Moonlight Solo the evening before last.
"The legendary Child of God. They say the Moonlight Solo the day before last saved hundreds of millions of people.
Can I call you Roy? Whatever. Actually, I wanted to say this when I saw you the night before last, but it's not too late now. You're strong. Come fight me."
Vali looked excitedly at the platinum-haired boy before him. As he answered Cao Cao's question, he flapped the wings on his back and charged toward Cid.
"Cao Cao, should we keep going? It looks like he's hostile toward us too…"
"No rush. Let's observe first."
Cao Cao smiled as he watched Vali rush at Cid. Hearing another young man's voice by his ear, his expression did not change as he calmly replied.
"Don't any of you feel even the slightest remorse for what you've done?!"
Ignoring Cao Cao's side for now, Cid, who was being attacked wildly by Vali, showed none of his earlier calm. His fists clenched, and invisible rage swirled around the platinum-haired boy.
"I only need to take care of myself. Whatever happens to anything else doesn't matter. How could a battle not damage the surroundings?"
"Divide! Divide! Divide!"
Vali's cold, ruthless voice rang out from inside the white armor. As it sounded, the blue jewel on the armor's chest followed with a mechanical English "Divide." His armored right fist slammed hard into the platinum-haired boy's Magical Power barrier, and fine cracks spread across it.
"Is that so? That's what you think?"
"Divide, Divide, Divide…"
With the power of Divide applied again and again, the barrier finally could not withstand the pressure and shattered.
"Clang!"
The sound of metal striking metal rang out from the gauntlet on Cid's hand, a gauntlet in the same style as the white armor's. Flowing Slime Suit liquid wrapped around the platinum-haired boy's entire body, slowly forming angular plates with a metallic sheen.
"Then as a weakling, provoking someone stronger, getting beaten down, and being humiliated afterward is normal too, right?"
Silver-white armor identical to Vali's white armor appeared where he stood, blocking Vali's attack. An emerald-green light lit up on its head.
"Divide!"
The green jewel on the chest of the silver-white armor released a mechanical voice.
"Divide."