Chapter 35 – If I Die While Still a Wizard…
...
"No… Alexis! Call those monsters back right now! My script never included the protagonist dying!!"
When there was no response, Akane Shinjo gripped the monitor tightly, shouting into it:
"Alexis!! Did you hear me?! Now!
Immediately! Call them back!!"
"…Sigh. I thought we could enjoy each other's company a little longer."
This time, the voice didn't come from the speakers.
It came from behind her.
Akane spun around instantly, raising her box cutter defensively.
"Aren't you supposed to be an immortal digital lifeform? Since when did you get a body?"
"That's thanks to you, Akane Shinjo."
Alexis spread its cloak slightly. "Your vast negative emotions and that kaiju clay gave me a new body."
"Save the gratitude. Call the monsters back."
"Unfortunately… I can't do that."
Akane's eyes narrowed behind her tinted glasses, a cold glint flashing within.
"…So you're betraying me?"
"No, no." Alexis chuckled.
"You were never anything more than a pawn I used from the very beginning. Betrayal doesn't apply here."
Now that it had a physical form, Alexis had begun seizing control of the world itself. It no longer needed Akane to create monsters.
It could finish everything on its own.
"To claim victory without effort would be… rather dull."
What Alexis loved most was human emotion.
especially the darkest extremes of it.
To a being with endless lifespan, the peak of human despair was like the first sip of ice-cold cola, addictive, intoxicating.
Akane's emotions had grown stale to it.
But now—
a new target had appeared.
Its gaze shifted to the screen, where Kihara fought desperately.
A twisted smile formed.
"Akane Shinjo… tell me—if I tear the heroine apart in front of your precious protagonist… then have monsters present her remains to him like a feast…"
"What kind of beautiful, black blossom do you think will bloom in his heart?"
"…Alexis…"
Akane clenched her teeth so hard they nearly cracked.
If looks could kill, it would've been torn apart a hundred times already.
Only now did she realize.
She had invited disaster with her own hands.
Her authority as a "god" was nearly gone. Defeating Alexis herself was impossible.
So now—
Everything rested on him.
Don't disappoint me… my protagonist.
With a sudden motion, Akane hurled the box cutter at Alexis.
It didn't even try to dodge.
The blade struck its cloak.
and vanished, as if swallowed by water.
"…Is that your last act of resistance?" Alexis mocked.
Akane slowly stepped back.
until her hand touched something behind her.
She glared at it.
"Don't celebrate too early… Kihara will destroy you."
"Ahahahaha!"
Alexis burst into laughter.
At that exact moment.
Akane shoved everything on the desk straight into the screen.
"Wait—what are you doing?!"
Before she could act further.
An invisible force struck her.
BOOM!
Her body slammed into the wall. Blood trickled down her forehead as she lost consciousness.
"…Strange. I didn't detect anything."
Alexis frowned slightly.
"Was she just buying time? …How pointless."
Shadows spread from beneath it, forming a cage.
trapping Akane inside.
The black cage connected directly to its body, continuously draining her remaining negative emotions and what little divine authority she had left.
"…No point delaying any longer."
It decided to personally enter the battlefield and kill Kihara.
As for Rikka—
it didn't even care.
Because it had realized.
Kihara dying in front of Akane…
would squeeze out every last drop of her emotional value.
Battlefield....
"Exceed Charge!"
"Just die already!!"
A crimson blade flashed.
like a blood-red rose blooming amidst a battlefield of corpses.
Kihara's Faiz armor was already damaged after prolonged combat.
The good news?
The broken part was the helmet.
which meant he could actually eat during battle to replenish energy.
The Photon Blade tore through incoming monsters like paper, reducing them to pieces.
He had been stuck here for nearly thirty minutes.
At his feet—
a mountain of corpses had formed.
The stench was unbearable.
At last—
the endless tide stopped.
Whether they had run out… or something worse was waiting ahead, he didn't know.
And didn't have time to think.
He just kept stuffing food into his mouth.
His supplies were almost gone.
He didn't dare deactivate his transformation.
Somewhere deep down.
he knew:
If I use acceleration two more times… I'm dead.
But if he de-transformed?
Without the enhancement of photon blood.
his body would collapse even faster.
No matter what the outcome seemed the same.
Death.
And yet—
Kihara wasn't afraid.
He was fighting.
for his girlfriend…
and a girl who might become one.
Back before all of this.
he could only imagine scenarios like this.
Now that he was living it.
"…This is kinda cool, isn't it?"
He laughed to himself.
"The only regret… is not getting a proper romance ending."
"Maybe if I die as a wizard… I'll reincarnate into another world and meet a bunch of cute beast girls. Live a wild life day and night…"
"…To stay this optimistic in such a situation…"
A voice cut through the air.
"…I must say, I'm impressed."
A violent gust struck from behind.
Kihara's instincts screamed but it was too late.
BOOM!
A massive force slammed into his back, launching him like a cannonball into the ruins.
"…Ghh—!"
Every bone in his body felt shattered.
He forced himself up from the rubble.
and saw it.
Floating in the air—
Alexis Kerib.
Its cloak extended into a black cage.
Inside it, an unconscious Akane.
"…So you finally decided to show yourself, Alexis."
No reply.
In the next instant.
it vanished.
Then reappeared right in front of him.
Kihara tried to dodge.
but his legs refused to move.
Gritting his teeth, he raised his arms to block.
CRACK!
The punch landed.
He clearly heard it—
the sound of his bones breaking.
His body was sent flying again, smashing through building after building.
Blood spilled from his mouth.
Pain burned through his brain, like fire.
And yet—
his eyes remained clear.
Unbroken.
.....
Thank you for reading.