Chapter 38: Divergent Fragments

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POV: ???

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Ba-dum!, ba-dum!…Ba-dum!, ba-dum!…

“Wait… we could do it another way, it doesn’t have to be like this.”

There were only two figures standing in this place, one with red hair and one with golden hair. The one who had just spoken was the golden-haired girl, asking her friend to reconsider what she was about to do.

On the other hand, the red-haired woman with blue locks was holding an unconscious man. Both were a mess, as if they had been through a battlefield, and that was exactly what had happened.

The surroundings were anything but normal: they were surrounded by the ruins of what appeared to have been a civilization now destroyed.

There were bodies of different creatures, both human and non-human, humanoid beings with horns and other unusual features.

The sky was a deep red, with clouds so dark it seemed impossible that they were natural.

Occasionally menacing red lightning could be seen; the atmosphere was so heavy that it seemed as if the sky itself was about to descend and crush them.

In that apocalyptic place, only those two people remained standing.

“You don’t understand, ■■■■■ has decreed it so. There is no alternative left.”

“Who the hell cares what ■■■■■ wants? You don’t have to do this, you don’t deserve this.”

“You know I have to do it, it’s the only way for you to at least get out of here.”

“But you can come with me, you don’t have to die here.”

“You are the person who has understood me the most all these years, and you must know that I would never do something like this. I can’t leave he alone,”

The woman said as she looked tenderly at the man in her arms.

Ba-dum!, ba-dum!…

“But…there must be another way.”

“No, there isn’t. him sacrifice is necessary and I will accompany him.”

“Damn it! He never deserved you, he just ignores the things in front of him, acting like a hero, but unable to protect his own.”

Ba-dum, ba-dum…Ba-dum, ba-dum…

The golden-haired woman refused to accept what her friend was about to do and tried to talk some sense into her, but it was useless and she knew it. Still, she wanted to try.

“I know, and I still decided to love him. This is what I chose and I want to follow it to the end.”

“But…”

“You know, I want to apologize for everything. You just got drawn into this against your will. And regardless of your initial intentions when you approached us, you were my only and best friend. For that I thank you for putting up with me all these years.”

“No! Damn it, why are you talking like this? This isn’t over yet, this can’t end like this, I won’t let it end like this again!”

The golden-haired woman began to scream as she refused to accept the other person’s words.

But she knew that her screams and tantrums would not change anything. Still, tears spilled over the inevitable fate of her friend.

“No, I won’t allow it!!! “Lux Annihilationem!”

Ba-dum, ba-dum…

Refusing to give up, she began to concentrate a large amount of mana, reciting the chant of what sounded like a spell and formed above her a colossal circle with countless runes on it.

As it did so, a pair of white wings formed on its back, emitting an intense light that fed the colossal magic circle in the sky, and the surrounding pressure increased.

It felt as if the atmosphere was trembling.

The mana was beginning to thicken and accumulate in the magic circle; premonitions of what would happen began to echo in the air, which vibrated with fear that the spell would be completed.

Any normal person would be suppressed in the face of such pressure, but the person in front simply sighed and said…

“Haaah…. You know it’s useless.”

“No! It can’t end like this! We won’t know if we don’t try, we can both get out of here.”

“You will live, that’s how it was decided. I will die, so decided. At least it’s my decision in the end.”

Suddenly, the large magic circle was beginning to fluctuate and fade.

The golden-haired figure tried to stop it, further intensifying her power output, which caused her white wings to increase in brightness and turn into wings of light.

But it was all useless, it was as if the great magic was beyond her control, even though she was the one who summoned it.

“damn it…it works!!!”

She wanted to complete it anyway and overexerted herself without giving up, but she simply could not; even the mana in her body began to betray her.

All her efforts to complete the circle were in vain and her wings began to fade.

Meanwhile, she felt invisible chains encircling her and holding her back, as even her physical strength faded, causing her to fall helplessly to her knees.

“Damn it, why, why did this happen again? You forced me to join them, now that they are no longer needed, you just throw them away? What do you want, dammit, what do you want from me, what do you want from us, is this just a game to you?”

The now kneeling figure began to cry out in tears to the heavens in helplessness, bringing out all the pain she was carrying, but no one answered her cries.

Ba-dum, ba-dum…

“I’m sorry… but that’s the way it must be.”

Saying this, the red-haired woman began to walk away at a slow pace, climbing a barely usable ladder of no more than ten steps with the still unconscious man in her arms.

As they approached what looked like a large black egg that was over a hundred meters long, dark, red veins could be seen all around it and, every now and then, a throbbing could be heard that caused chills for whatever would come out of it.

Ba-dum, ba-dum…

Showing no fear or trepidation, the girl slowly but steadily approached the huge egg. She stopped just in front of it, turned one last time and saw her friend kneeling, she was crying in frustration for not being able to stop the madness that was happening in front of her.

Seeing her, she thought at least someone would remember her. If someone was crying for her, it meant that she had somehow left her mark on this world. And deep down she wondered if she should do this.

Feeling her end approaching, her calm posture broke. Looking at the man in her arms and her friend, the tears simply came. But she hid them by tilting her head down so her friend would not see them.

Now looking at the unconscious man, to whom she could never properly express what she felt, she thought that at least now she had the courage to do so.

Now that it was all about to end and now that he was unconscious,

’I really am a coward to the end,’

She thought as her tears fell on the man’s face. Her true thoughts came out in a barely audible whisper, words she never dared to say.

“~I… don’t want to die either, not like this at least. Sniff… I simply wanted you to reciprocate. I would give everything for you. Sniff… You were the first light in my dark life. Sniff… To you I was just another friend, but to me you were my world. Sniff… At least I can finally be with you,~”

She said in a tearful tone as she looked at the unconscious man and kissed him for the first and last time.

Turning her attention back to her golden haired friend who was still crying in frustration, she didn’t know if she had listened, but she sincerely hoped not. She didn’t want her goodbye to be sad.

She hid her tears and put on a calm face again, wanting to change the somber mood and began to talk to the other girl.

“…haaah~Don’t cry for me. You know…, I’ve thought about it and maybe if I had met you before, things might be different and you could make your nefarious intentions come true.”

“Stop talking nonsense…sniff, from the beginning that was never a possibility,… you were always like that.”

“…Who knows…, maybe you should go back in time and try.”

“Not a chance…. Even if that were possible, I’d avoid you….sniff, I wouldn’t want you to suddenly stab me one day and take my head while running away in a boat as you hug her.”

“Don’t be exaggerated, I couldn’t do something like that. Besides, what’s with that very specific description?”

“….”

“Hey, why are you being quiet? I’m not that crazy, am I? Or yes, I think… maybe… uhmm, a little yes.”

“Hahaha-hahaha.”

Even with all this, the golden-haired girl couldn’t help but laugh at her friend, who started to doubt herself.

“Hahahah-ahaha-haha.”

On the other hand, the other girl also started laughing; why only she would know reason maybe she just wanted to laugh.

They both started to laugh at each other’s silliness. They both knew they didn’t have much time left, even so they both laughed together, maybe their farewell would be amid laughter instead of crying, at least the red-haired girl hoped so.

But that didn’t happen. The laughter slowly turned to crying for both of them this time they couldn’t stop the tears.

Ba-dum, ba-dum…

“Why are you crying? d-didn’t you always say that your masculinity snif... was stronger? e-even with that body…. didn’t you say you’d show everyone how manly you were? Then why are you crying…snif…like a girl?”

Even though she said that, her voice could barely hide her own sobbing which she tried to conceal only to end up failing, because her tears were evident on her face to begin with.

Ba-dum, ba-dum…

“Hush…they just come out…snif….. Is it really necessary for you to do that?”

Ba-dum, ba-dum…

“With him in this state… someone has to stimulate his body. I know he… you never liked him. Honestly, I was always envious of you. You had within your grasp… what I always wished for, but… I just couldn’t hate you, even when your dream was something as silly as making a harem.”

“No… it’s silly!!!” Replied the golden-haired woman, her voice a cry choked with tears.

Ba-dum, ba-dum…

“You know… the first time I saw you I thought you were someone… disgusting. Your impure intentions… were overflowing from you. Still… you are the most tenacious person I have ever met. Even guided by something so foolish… you came so far and I’m sure you’ll come even further,”

Ba-dum, ba-dum…

“…”

The silence was filled with the sounds of her sobs and heartbeats echoing in the air.

“So… you don’t have to die here. Keep going… I’m sure you’ll be able to make your stupid, disgusting dream come true, no one has the right to look down on it when you work so hard for it,” she tried to sound cheerful, but her voice was cracked and tearful.

“You’re the one who… sniff… calls it a disgusting dream, damn it, sniff… yandere kamikaze.” she tried to joke, but her voice was an echo of pain.

Ba-dum ba-dum…Ba-dum ba-dum…Ba-dum ba-dum…

The heartbeat could be heard echoing loudly and constantly around them, telling them both that time was running out.

Ba-dum ba-dum…

“….You know, I don’t want to die… I had so many dreams. I dreamed of having a family… living in peace, having our own house… and watching my children grow up until they had their own family. I already had my children’s names planned… grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren… You know, I spent a lot of time thinking about them.”

Her voice trembled with each word, her tears falling incessantly as she imagined her now impossible future, but still a smile formed on her face as she imagined such a future.

As she spoke, she slowly backed away. Coming into contact , her foot was absorbed by the huge egg that looked like a predator that began to slowly ingest its prey.

The girl, with the man in her arms, didn’t even pay attention to him and let him slowly suck her in as she continued to speak.

Ba-dum ba-dum…

“I guess… that’s not going to happen, right? So, at the very least… I want you to achieve your dream. That… is what makes you you.” Half of her body was absorbed but she didn’t stop talking for a moment, she firmly followed what she wanted to say.

Ba-dum ba-dum…

“As long as… you still have that dream… it means that you didn’t lose yourself. uggh!haa….Walk forward, don’t let anyone look down on your dreams… you know, this world isn’t for those who doubt. Keep going and you’ll find the happiness you deserve.”

For a moment she made a sound of pain, but she suppressed it and continued speaking, wanting to convey her last words.

“Sniff,…I’m sorry… I’m sorry. If only I was stronger… no, if only I hadn’t ■■■■… if only I had listened to her and not gotten involved with ■■■■■■… I should have followed ■■ ■■■■■’s warnings and not gotten too confident, I’m sorry.”

The golden-haired woman could see how her friend was slowly consumed by darkness. She could only cry in helplessness as she apologized for her mistakes.

Ba-dum ba-dum…

It was not known if her screams were for her friend or someone else, but they came from the depths of her soul.

Ba-dum ba-dum…

“You don’t have to apologize for anything, you didn’t do anything wrong. I’m sorry things ended like this. Goodbye, Phina. I’m sorry we couldn’t say goodbye with a smile… but it was a pleasure being your friend.”

’The end of our Chapter is not the end of your story.’ As she said her last words and thoughts, the egg absorbed her.

Even at the last moment she hugged the man tightly as if she wouldn’t let him go even in death.

Along with their disappearance into the muddy darkness of the egg, a light was also born that originated from them.

The light began to grow stronger, noticeable even when the egg absorbed them completely.

Ba-dum ba-dum

“Damn it, why?!… Why? Just why are you doing this to me!”

The golden-haired woman could no longer control herself now, she began to hit the ground with all the strength she could in a senseless outburst.

She didn’t care that her hands were starting to bleed, she just wanted to get out all the frustration and helplessness.

“Why, damn it, whyyyyyaaaahhh!!!…”

Her cry of pain echoed through the air, as a great flash of light illuminated the world, eliminating every corner where darkness existed and simply leaving absolute white.

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