The light hit the capital like a tsunami, consuming everything within its path. Buildings, corpses, even the very ground itself seemed to dissolve into particles of light.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't impressed. Being able to destroy an entire capital is worthy of praise. Although, I do wish that they could have collected the bodies first and given them a proper burial.
Alas, what can I do?
I wasn't even here when they died.
I had only arrived when they began their onslaught against the giant crimson-armored figures parading through the capital. I was about to jump in and help, but it seemed as if they had everything covered.
I was a bit worried when they started combining to create one massive soldier, but it seems that blonde-haired guy took care of everything, along with that white-haired young man supporting him with his magic.
To say I didn't have ulterior motives in helping them would be a lie.
Sure, I wanted to get rid of the soldiers, but I also hoped that this would count toward my admission into the academy.
But I guess that won't be happening anytime soon.
As the light dissolved and the capital finally came into view, what was left was a massive crater.
In the middle of it was the blonde-haired man, and just a little bit away was the white-haired young man.
I'm assuming he is as impressed as I am.
His jaw is completely slack.
That level of power... I'm to assume it's an Astral Skill.
An Astral Skill works on a conceptual level. This doesn't even scale up to that, although it does look like something a Soul Skill would be capable of.
Understood.
Well, it was over.
Their attempt to hold out long enough for the massive ship in the sky to escape turned into a success. Not only did they hold on long enough, they even managed to defeat it completely.
I wonder, though, what were Azar's soldiers doing here? They should have been called back when he left the collapsing dimension.
Did something go wrong, or did he deliberately leave them here?
I didn't know, and I definitely wasn't going to find out by standing there.
Claudia, Shiro, Astra, the purple-haired woman, and everyone else were safely back in Infinity's Domain. I told them I was heading out for a second, and true to my word, only a second would pass while they were in there.
Alright, time to move.
I put on a mask I created from Qi and stitched with mana. I've decided to call this technique of mine, Weaver.
And so, I immediately used Trinity and teleported down toward the crater.
---
As Reinhardt stood in the middle of the crater, a thought wandered into his head.
Departed souls, your sins have been cleansed.
He impaled the ground with his keris and knelt.
There was no one there, but he did so to pay his respects to the dead.
They had helped him defeat this dragon.
While he may have been the executor, it was their souls that had defeated the massive Crimson Soldier. They were the ones who won this battle.
Now, it was over.
He got up and looked toward the sky.
At some point, the Aether Ark had managed to escape.
It was a good call.
Despite the lack of soldiers, anything could happen. Staying here would only put the people at risk in case something unexpected happened.
"Nice call on the ice chain," Reinhardt said as he turned to Julius.
Julius's jaw was completely slack, and his eyes seemed to stare at where the Crimson Soldier once was.
"I am praising you. Do you not know how privileged you are to hear that?"
He finally turned his eyes toward Reinhardt, but his jaw remained slack.
He just stared at him, as if he were trying to burn a hole through Reinhardt.
Finally, he closed his mouth and spoke.
"What was that?!" he shouted.
"Why? You've never seen a Soul Skill in action before?"
"Of course I have. But I've never seen one capable of this much destruction. What exactly is your Soul Skill?"
"Very well. I shall enlighten you."
Ameteratusu—Lord of Stellar.
It was a Soul Skill that Reinhardt had obtained seventy years prior.
Reinhardt himself wasn't a native of this world. He had come from another.
He was from Japan and had been transported to this world through System Cardinal.
How he lived up to this point was a story for another day. Right now, it didn't matter.
Upon transferring to this world, he had gained the skill Amaterasu—Lord of Stellar.
In his life, he'd experimented with the skill as much as he could, and so far, these were what he could do:
Sun Halo Blade.
The keris in his hand was produced by his mana, beliefs, and convictions. As long as Reinhardt managed to stay true to his way, this sword would cut through anything in its path without resistance.
It could bypass regular magical defenses and could even strike a target's soul.
Prideful King.
If Reinhardt managed to form connections and trust with others, he would gain a portion of their power, just as they would gain a portion of his.
Every single person on the Ark believed in him, and Julius had managed to trust him.
Sun Halo King.
Through Prideful King, Sun Halo King would then transform their power into mana. This mana would strengthen him beyond human limitations.
As a side effect, his body would heat up and output his mana, and if he continued for a long time, he would exhaust himself.
So, in order to last as long as possible, he must take off his armor, leaving only his regular clothes.
Cosmic Flame.
It allowed him to absorb and release all ambient energy within the area and turn it into one massive dragon.
Under normal circumstances, the dragon wouldn't be nearly as big as it was.
But through Prideful King, the souls of the dead in the capital called out to him, and through that, he was able to fuse them with the dragon.
That just shows how much the people trusted him. Even in death their trust in him still remained. He was truly grateful.
"That's basically all there is to it. At least, that's what I've managed to figure out so far."
"Wow. I never knew a Soul Skill as powerful as that existed. It might be at the level of an Astral Skill."
"Now you're just exaggerating. An Astral Skill is far beyond what my simple skill can do."
Julius shook his head in agreement.
Despite the destruction around them, they still managed to find time to just chat.
It was nice.
"Ah yes. Before I forget, remind me to—"
But as he spoke, a chill ran down his spine.
It wasn't that he was cold.
No, that was exactly it.
The area was scorching with heat, but all of a sudden, it went cold.
He looked to find Julius staring upward with a horrified expression.
His eyes widened as he shook.
Reinhardt turned around.
What he saw was a figure dressed in a red shirt and black pants. It wore a black coat over them, along with a black full-face mask.
Long black hair was tied in a high ponytail, while two long sections of hair fell loosely along either side of its face, framing the mask.
The figure was the source of the chill Reinhardt had felt.
The figure was small.
But its aura was so deep and twisted that Reinhardt couldn't even utter a word.
---
W-what... is this monstrosity?
The figure before Julius and Reinhardt was simply standing there with its arms in its pockets.
Out of choice, it didn't speak.
Julius couldn't even if he wanted to.
It seemed to be the same for Reinhardt.
Its aura made the Crimson Army seem like ants in comparison.
No—Worse than ants.
Maybe they were like bacteria compared to it.
Either way, there was nothing they could do.
The figure tilted its head, as if trying to appraise the two of them.
Whoever this figure was, Julius wasn't sure whether it was a enemy or not.
One thing was for sure: it was dangerous.
Thankfully, the Aether Ark had managed to escape earlier, so that meant there was no reason for them to stay.
This figure was not their problem to deal with.
So within his mind, Julius formulated a plan. A very simple plan.
"Run!?" He shouted at the terrified Reinhardt.
Summoning every ounce of strength he had, Julius turned the other way and began running out of the crater.
Reinhardt quickly followed behind.
But as they ran, the bone chilling aura they felt completely disappeared, as if it was never there.
It almost seemed like a bad dream. One they had no intention of confirming.
From behind them, they thought they heard a voice.
"Why are they still running?"