Chapter 50 : Jealousy of INVIDIA(2)

‘The commander’s form…!’

It, having taken on Violet’s form, twisted its fingers and joints. Then, it made a gun shape with its index finger and pointed it at us.

“Hey, duck—!..”

Before Cled’s warning could even be delivered, a dark ray pierced through numerous Spirit Masters and turned them to dust. A disaster that happened in an instant, it was truly a state of panic. However, Cled swung his greatsword and charged at Invidia.

But Invidia, taking on the form of Violet, stopped Cled’s greatsword, swung with all his might, with just one hand.

“…Humans are so weak.”

“What…?”

And then, it broke the greatsword in two with just the strength of its grip. Invidia, having broken the sword, struck Cled far away with one arm.

“Instructor…!”

Luna increased her speed and caught Cled, who was sent flying at tremendous speed by Invidia’s counterattack.

“Ugh..!”

Because of the speed he was attached to, Luna was pushed back a great distance even after catching him before she stopped.

Seeing Cled get hit, everyone charged at Invidia. All the Spirit Masters simultaneously summoned their Osteons and began to attack, and the battlefield was filled with loud roars and screams.

“Futile acts…”

Invidia was receiving dozens of blades and spells, but rather than feeling pushed back, it seemed relaxed. It instantly imitated the various attribute spells it received and returned them to the surroundings with even greater power.

“Kyaaak..!”

Because it neutralized any spell that was sent, spell attacks no longer seemed to work on it. And if you thought blades would work, it would kill and absorb the surrounding Osteons and quickly restore its body.

“Annoying…”

Invidia leaped a great distance away and began to gather dark matter in both hands.

‘Don’t tell me, that technique again…’

Thanatos, a death skill that uses lifespan as a price. This time, it was going to fire the ray using both sides, not just one hand.

‘The gathering speed is significantly slower than before…!.’

It’s a Sarkas body that doesn’t have a lifespan, but that doesn’t mean that the Thanatos spell doesn’t put a strain on the body.

Instead of losing lifespan like humans, Invidia’s body was noticeably losing its regenerative power.

Realizing the situation, I said to my teammates.

“Yuri, Carne. Luna and I will try to cut off its arms by approaching. Provide cover with spells so we can approach.”

The two who heard my plan nodded, and I and Luna charged, kicking off the ground from both sides, drawing the same line.

“Saya, tentacles are coming..!”

While casting the Thanatos spell with both hands, Invidia couldn’t use other spells.

Tentacles extending from Invidia’s body fiercely attached themselves to prevent the two humans from approaching its body. However, most of them were stopped by Yuri and Carne’s spells.

“Now..!”

Having narrowly narrowed the distance, Luna and I neatly cut off the two arms of Invidia, who was gathering the spell. Invidia’s two arms flew away before it could finish the spell, but the spell continued from an unexpected place.

Invidia opened its mouth abnormally large and gathered the dark matter.

‘Crazy, that’s possible…?’

“Saya, duck..!”

“Ugh..!”

Thanks to Luna, who grabbed me and knocked me down, I barely managed to avoid the beam, but the dark ray that shot out from Invidia’s mouth again drove many Spirit Masters to their deaths.

But, right after firing the beam with its mouth, Invidia’s condition was a little strange. I thought it would immediately rush to the Osteons to heal its severed arms, but it suddenly stopped moving and screamed in pain.

“Kyaaaaak-!”

‘…? ’

“What is this, this body..! What did you put in this body, human….!”

Invidia, who had imitated Violet’s body, seemed to be in terrible pain for some reason.

Invidia had stopped its own movements, so it was an opportunity we couldn’t miss.

“Luna!”

She immediately understood the meaning when she saw my eyes. Luna, with electricity wrapped around her sword, strongly cut off Invidia’s neck. Invidia’s severed neck soared into the sky, and the remaining body scattered into the air.

“The core has moved to the head…!”

Yuri, who had been restraining it with spells from the other side, changed her gaze.

“O Osteon of Frost…”

Yuri had been saving a vast amount of spells for this very moment. She poured the potion she had made herself into her mouth, and accurately aimed at Invidia’s head floating in the air and cast the spell.

“With an icy spear, pierce all things..!”

Dozens of ice spears created in the air pierced the head, and with various freezing spells that Yuri used in succession, Invidia began to freeze, unable to move.

‘…Here, I have to finish it…’

Perhaps this might be the last chance.

If Invidia isn’t eliminated before Yuri runs out of strength and releases the spell, the world will again face the same ending as the original work.

While she was restraining Invidia, I needed a way to finish it off for sure.

‘…Thanatos.’

I stretched out my finger, aimed at Invidia, and gently closed my eyes.

“Saya, don’t tell me..!”

I knew that simply hitting the area where the core was wouldn’t kill it. Now that even Violet was incapacitated, the only one who could use Thanatos to a level comparable to his was me.

Because I am the weakest dark-type Spirit Master, the strongest technique I can use.

I decided to use that contradictory technique, which uses lifespan as a price, right here and now.

‘O Osteon of Darkness, I dare to borrow your power..’

From the tip of my finger, I felt the sensation of dark matter gathering. The pressure and weight, which were on a different level from Dark Bullet, pressed down on my whole body. As it’s a spell that’s fired by sacrificing lifespan, it was a feast of terrible sensations that I wouldn’t experience again.

The amount of lifespan that Thanatos consumes is about 5 years. It may not be a period that resonates much with humans with a normal lifespan, but it was a fatal technique for Spirit Masters who live a short life, only half that of ordinary people.

But in exchange for such a price, it’s truly an ultimate dark-type technique that guarantees the certain death of any living creature.

“..Yuri, the spell restraint is gradually loosening..!”

Carne urgently said, looking at Yuri.

Even though Yuri used the emotion catalyst to increase her output beyond normal, Invidia was trying to escape her magic.

Yuri, who was already using both hands to spew out magic, said to Carne.

“…Carne. There’s medicine in my pocket. Feed me all of it.”

Yuri’s body, which was already exceeding its limits, was sending danger signals through the blood that was overflowing from her mouth.

“But, if you do that, your body..!”

“Quickly!”

“…”

After worrying, Carne eventually took out all the medicine and poured it into Yuri’s mouth.

“Gigantas, help me..!”

The magic, combined with the Osteon that Yuri summoned, became stronger and covered Invidia, and Yuri and I, with one mind, pushed it.

“I’ll take you to hell, Invidia….!”

“Kiiiiiiaaaak-!!!!!”

Invidia’s roar, which was close to a scream, resounded, and 1mm of tentacles, extending from a very small crack in the ice, stretched out towards my head.

“…How…!?”

Yuri’s spell immediately followed the tentacles and froze them, but it was significantly faster to reach my head.

‘Almost there…!”

Even Luna, who was next to me, was too slow to stop it, and Invidia’s last struggle approached to pierce my head.

‘Is this the end..’

When the tentacles were almost a paper-thin distance from my face, a black-armored wolf appeared in front of my eyes and took the tentacles with its body instead.

“Why are you doing this on your own…”

Its identity was Daengdaengi, my Osteon.

Daengdaengi, who I didn’t even summon, voluntarily came out and blocked the tentacles with its body. Even Daengdaengi’s hard armor was pierced like paper in front of Invidia’s tentacles, and it soon reached the part where Daengdaengi’s core was.

“Summon release-!”

I urgently gave the order to release the summon, but Daengdaengi didn’t listen. An Osteon was a creature that prioritized the life of the Spirit Master above all else. In that respect, Daengdaengi was no exception.

“You, you’re going to die…..!”

Despite my screams, which were close to a cry, Daengdaengi didn’t disappear and stood in front of me.

“….”

Eventually, the tentacles pierced Daengdaengi’s blue core,

and the light in Daengdaengi’s eyes disappeared.

“Invidiaㅡ!!!”

With my cry, the dark ray fired from my fingertip was shot towards Invidia. A large amount of light emitted from the ray that pierced Invidia, obscuring my vision,

and seeing that light was the last thing I saw before I lost consciousness.

My eyes are filled with darkness. For a very long time, it felt like I was wandering in a dark place.

Did I stop the end? Or am I alone in a world where everything has disappeared?

[..Saya.]

I heard someone’s voice. Like a newborn star, it was a sparkling voice.

[…Saya? ]

Did I die and go to heaven?

“Saya!”

“..Huh.”

I raised my body and looked around.

It was an all-white room. The sensation of a soft bed greeted me, and in front of my eyes were familiar faces.

Luna, Carne. And even Cled.

‘I’m not dead, I’m not dead.’

“Are you feeling better? I was worried because you kept groaning. You’ve been asleep for a week.”

“A week..?”

Hearing Luna’s voice, I felt like my sense of reality was returning.

“It’s all over. You and Yuri finished off Invidia.”

Cled’s voice was heard.

“You two wouldn’t wake up, so I thought I was going to have a two-person team with Miss Luna. You reckless idiots.”

Carne, who had red eyes from crying, said in her usual sarcastic voice, leaning against the wall.

“..Carne, is Yuri okay?”

“Who’s worried about whom? She’s lying down well in the next room. She hasn’t woken up yet because of the poisoning symptoms.”

“..That’s a relief.”

The grand goal of 17 years has come to an end… I stopped Invidia, so now the world…

Daengdaengi.

Daengdaengi…?

I had a serious expression on my face because I had forgotten something important.

“Daengdaengi..? ”

Everyone was silent. They couldn’t meet my eyes and maintained a very gloomy expression.

“I’m sorry, Saya.”

The first to answer was Cled.

“It seems that its core was destroyed while trying to protect you during the battle.”

“…”

“I tried to find even a soul stone, but I haven’t found it yet. I’m sorry, Saya.”

Come to think of it, as a Spirit Master, I didn’t have many memories with my Osteon. I wasn’t as close to it as others were, and even now, I only remember shouting to somehow make it listen to my orders.

But that’s why I think I regret it more.

“..There’s nothing to be sorry about. It’s no one’s fault..”

If I had to ask who was at fault, it was the fault of the incompetent master.

“Can you leave me alone for a while? I feel like I want to sleep a little more..”

Numerous Spirit Masters lost their lives to Invidia. Although the end was prevented, the wounds left on the people in the academy were indescribable.

At my request, the three quietly got up.

“Get well, Saya.”

“Yes.”

I answered Luna’s kind greeting with a smile, and I was left alone in the hospital room where the three had left.

“….”

Reality was different from the novel.

There was no such thing as an ending.

Even after turning the last page of the story, this world lives and breathes. From now on, as Saya, a black-haired girl, I will have to continue living in this world.

I quietly closed my eyes and lay down on the bed to calm my disheveled thoughts.

[ Hello, human. ]