The Blade of the End of the World, Ragnarok, was shrouded in mysteries.

Once wielded personally by the Demon King during the war, not a single scratch or chip had ever marred its edge, nor had even a fragment of its material ever broken.

Legends and anecdotes surrounded it, and the lack of concrete information about its origin only fueled its myth.

The Time Reaper, Akasha, could craft more powerful spells. The wood of the World Tree could create lighter weapons with unique properties. Stardust was durable and possessed excellent mana conductivity.

Individually, each of these materials surpassed that sword in some aspect.

And yet, one truth remained certain:

Among all the swords forged to this day, and all those yet to come,

Ragnarok would forever hold its place as the supreme blade.

“...The soul, huh...” Lily murmured, repeating the words she had just heard.

“Yes! It was so amazing to learn about!” Still clinging to her wife, the purple-haired girl beamed as she finished recounting everything she had discovered.

Though happy to see her so animated, Lily couldn’t help but worry about the dangers Nia had faced.

“I’m glad you enjoyed... but please, don’t take such risks again, alright?”

Both she and Nia had grown stronger, and Lily had set her mind on facing the demon and saving the city to protect their new home. But none of that would matter if Nia ended up suffering irreversible harm.

“I’m sorry...”

With slightly teary eyes, the girl lowered her head once more into her wife’s chest. But before sadness and discouragement could weigh her down, a gentle hand stroked her hair.

“It’s alright. I just don’t want anything bad to happen to you. I love you, Nia. You’re more important to me than anything.”

Whispering softly, Lily watched Nia’s face light up once again. Nodding over and over, as if to show she understood, the metamorph clung to her wife even tighter, all of her tentacles wrapping around her.

“I’ll be careful! I love you more than anything too, Lily!”

Feeling her wife’s body tightening around her, every tentacle beneath her dress holding on firmly, Lily couldn’t resist placing a few more soft kisses on the girl’s forehead before finally turning her attention back to the current situation.

“I’ve already spent most of the mana I had left, and still couldn’t land a decisive blow. That could be a problem...”

Clutched firmly in the demon’s hands was the most beautiful blade Lily had ever seen.

Its black hilt, adorned with silver, looked as if it had been designed by the very heavens. Its dark, opaque blade was darker than night itself—a deep, absolute black.

According to Elarielle, the sword was strong enough to withstand the weight of all the dark mana accumulated beneath the forest, serving as the central point of the seal. In that case, it wasn’t so hard to imagine how it had endured her magic.

“Nia... this will be the first time we fight like this, won’t it?”

Gently releasing the girl, Lily watched as black wings unfolded gracefully from her beloved's back, a faint smile spreading across her lips.

“Whether from within Lily’s body or outside of it, fight as freely as you wish. I will never let you be harmed.”

In the night sky, two pairs of black wings spread side by side.

And on the other side of the battlefield, a man gripped the hilt of his sword even tighter.

With black smoke supporting him in the air like solid ground beneath his feet, cold sweat ran down Drelkos’s face. His serrated crimson eyes locked on the staff resting at the waist of the silver-haired girl.

“Akasha...” Drelkos whispered.

There was no way he could fail to recognize it.

The situation had just become even worse.

Tightening the wrappings around his waist, he glared at the opponents before him.

His attempt to flee had failed, and another enemy had entered the battlefield.

There was no longer any following orders.

It was kill or be killed.

At this point, words were unnecessary.

Both sides advanced.

A blade of stardust and one of ice clashed against the demon’s sword, sparks scattering into the air.

Heavy.

There was no better word Lily could use to describe the wall she was trying to break through.

Her swordsmanship was far from perfect, lacking the natural ease of someone who had devoted years to practice. Yet not even the slightest frown appeared on her beautiful face when her strike was stopped.

After all, she did not fight relying solely on her blade.

A flash of azure burst forth the instant the ice sword shattered. A dense mass of crystals erupted from the broken weapon, spreading up Drelkos’s arm from wrist to shoulder, locking it in place.

Spinning her body in midair, Lily’s black blade traced a half-moon arc aimed directly at the demon’s neck.

“Tsk.”

Clicking his tongue, Drelkos raised his gloved left hand, his metallic fingers closing into a fist to halt the stardust blade from advancing even a centimeter further.

A sharp crack, like breaking glass, rang out as fractures spread across the frozen arm. With a violent jerk, Drelkos freed himself.

His crimson eyes locked onto the mismatched gaze before him.

The girl had not yet regained her stance—he could end this now.

With a flick of his wrist, he thrust his sword like a spear, the edge driving straight for the girl’s chest.

“-!?”

A dull black glow burst forth with a heavy thud. A grunt of surprise escaped Drelkos’s lips as his blade collided against a dark sphere.

Indestructible though it was, his sword would not shatter the girl’s barrier.

Gritting his teeth, Drelkos shifted his bandaged feet, creating distance from the silver-haired girl.

His body dropped low, barely evading a dense barrage of black-ice crystals.

Turning his head to the side, he caught sight of the purple-haired girl floating calmly in the air. Her cheeks were flushed, her fingers laced over her chest as if she could feel the sound of her racing heartbeat. Those crimson gem-like eyes no longer even looked his way.

No time to waste. He rose to his feet.

A storm of sword strikes surged toward him, met by a dense wall of black smoke.

Leaping back to widen the gap, Drelkos used his very soul to hold off Lily’s relentless assault.

But the unease gnawing at him only grew stronger.

He had to find a way to cut down his disadvantage.

When a powerful thrust came, a gap tore open in the black smoke that had served as a shield, and Lily’s body, having lost her target, stumbled forward off balance.

In an instant, the eye of black smoke snapped open, its crimson pupil lunging toward the girl, shattering her barrier to pieces.

Drelkos could no longer tear Gardenia’s soul away, but that didn’t apply to the newcomer.

“One less.”

His gloved hand stretched forward, and in a single heartbeat the black smoke engulfed the girl’s entire body.

Within her very being, a bluish smoke appeared before him.

As calm as a cold breeze and as gentle as the warm touch of sunlight, it flickered with tenderness.

That was all it took—a single moment. With one swift motion, his soul enveloped hers completely, and then he pulled.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!”

The thunderous scream of sheer agony rang out, accompanied by a spray of crimson blood bursting from the center of one's chest.

Collapsing onto the black smoke that served as ground, Drelkos clutched at his own wound. A hole had opened between his ribs, pouring out a terrifying amount of blood from torn flesh and exposed organs.

He had failed to rip the soul from that woman. Something he had never witnessed before had happened when he tried.

The instant he seized the bluish soul, another existence had seized his.

“S-She has… she has two souls… in her body?” His stammering lips could barely form the words.

Raising his trembling eyes, the man met the sight before him: two crimson eyes glaring down at him, radiating a bloodlust colder than anything he had ever felt.

“Did you really think I’d let you steal my wife’s soul?”

In the girl’s hand, a crimson eye wrapped in black smoke was held tightly. With a twist, Nia clenched her fingers, crushing the eye even further.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!”

Blood poured uncontrollably from him. His body convulsed violently in spasms as he struggled just to remain on his knees. His muscles stiffened, his very existence being crushed.

Desperately, Drelkos pulled his soul back into his body, wrenching it free from the girl’s grasp.

The black smoke immediately enveloped his chest, replacing his ruined organs and preventing him from dying from the massive blood loss.

“Ah… Aaah… Ah…” His lungs fought for oxygen, his gaping mouth and half-lidded eyes making his former composure seem like a cruel joke.

He could no longer use his soul to attack—if he tried, if that existence touched his soul even once more, he would die.

Drelkos needed another way to fight. Gathering mana into his arm, he tried to channel it into his sword.

And then, he remembered.

“Damn… the limiter…”

His mana couldn’t flow through the weapon.

Staring at the sword in his trembling fingers, he grit his teeth even harder. His barely open eyes blinked rapidly as his mind scrambled for a way out.

“What?”

The weapon vanished from his grasp.

“Well, that’s one problem solved already.”

A cheerful female voice rang out from afar.

Holding the black blade in her left hand, a silver-haired woman examined it with curiosity, while a bluish staff floated energetically at her side, almost as if it feared being replaced.

“Calm down, it’s not like I’m going to throw you away.” Watching Akasha in its panicked state, Lily let out a small sigh between a laugh.

At her side, Nia clung tightly to her neck with both arms, rubbing her cheeks against Lily’s with restless affection.

“I’m fine, Nia, you protected me.” Smiling softly, Lily let out a light laugh and spoke in a gentle tone meant to reassure her wife.

Still holding on firmly, Nia’s worried eyes grew even more intense as she pressed closer.

“I won’t let him get that close to you again!”

As if the words meant to calm them only fueled their resolve, both Nia and Akasha pressed themselves even closer to Lily.

Unable to react in any other way, Lily simply smiled a little more, surrendering to their boundless energy.

“The moment has come, hasn’t it…” Nia suddenly stopped rubbing her cheek against Lily’s, raising a brow as if she had sensed something.

Lily didn’t need to ask what it was—one second later, everyone could feel it.

A violent tremor shook the ground.

Like a beacon breaking through a dark sea, a single golden line appeared across the World Tree, climbing toward the heavens.

And then, it happened.

Expanding outward in every direction, golden light erupted from the very heart of the forest, covering everything it touched.

The thick fog that had dominated the forest—a heavy shroud that warped shapes and devoured light—recoiled.

Like a divine breath, the dense veil of mist was not dispersed but swept away.

The light surged forward, and everywhere it passed, the world regained its colors.

The trunks, once blurred, revealed their textures—the vibrant moss, the rough bark—sights once indistinguishable came back into focus. Foliage exploded in emerald patterns, each drop of dew glimmering like diamonds.

Each of the forest’s countless biomes resurfaced, carrying with them the sweet fragrance of the earth.

And finally, as the light diminished after driving out the darkness, the absolute truth that always followed came from the horizon.

A golden streak tore through the night sky like a blade of light splitting it in two.

In seconds, it spread, bathing the low clouds in amber, purple, and rose hues. The birdsong, once distant and subdued, now burst forth in a chorus.

In the land where the fog had been banished, sunlight had returned.

“She really managed to heal the World Tree.” Lily murmured, her gaze shifting to the source of the light.

On the highest branch of the colossal tree, a blonde-haired girl had her mouth open wide, flashing both rows of teeth in a radiant smile.

Every branch scarred by explosions, every root damaged, every wound carved into the trunk—the high elf had healed them all.

Pointing her left hand at the demon, Elarielle closed her fist and raised her middle finger before the last trace of energy in her body gave out, sending her into exhaustion and unconsciousness.

“In the end, she likes to show off too.”

Watching the elf collapse, resting against the great tree she had just restored, Lily let out a small laugh.

“With the World Tree’s main barrier back, my portals are going to start acting strange again,” Nia said quietly, her eyes full of love as she watched the sunlight bathe her wife.

“Then we should finish this quickly and go home, right, Nia?”

Feeling the gentle warmth of the sunlight on her skin and savoring the moment, Lily spoke in a cheerful tone.

“It seems good, but it’s far too heavy for me.” Swinging the sword in her left hand a few times until she was sure it didn’t suit her, Lily turned her head toward the girl at her side. With care, she extended the blade toward the shapeshifter. “I think it’ll suit you better, Nia.”

“Thank you so much, Lily!” A dazzling smile bloomed across her face the very moment she received her wife’s gift.

The world creaked.

Tightening her grip around the hilt, Nia’s eyes widened as the power coursing through the sword surged into her body. Spreading her wings once more, she drifted back slightly, swinging the blade through the air at different angles as though testing its weight and balance.

Almost instantly, majestic streaks of violet and crimson lightning spread across the blade. Nia’s dark mana raced through its core, from the base to the tip.

“I think this one will withstand my magic without breaking.”

Her grip tightened further.

“Use everything you’ve got. I’ll make sure you hit.”

Her wife declared with unwavering confidence.

Under the sunlight streaming through the great forest, the two girls unleashed their mana.

Lily and Nia stood shoulder to shoulder.

The Reaper of Time, Akasha, and theBlade of the World’s End, Ragnarok, stood side by side.

Tendrils of violet and crimson danced across the dark sword, radiating explosive force into the air.

“...” Drelkos froze where he stood. His expression was more stunned than it had been at any other point that day.

There was a clear reason for his state.

It wasn’t simply because his lord’s sword had been taken from his hand.

Nor because of the unbearable pain tearing through his soul.

Not even because his magic had been nullified by a girl who had learned to reach into her own soul.

“The lock holding Ragnarok… it’s been broken…”

Once again that day, he couldn’t believe the words spilling from his lips.

At last, the orders he had received made sense.

“So it’s her!”

Dark mana flooded across the skies above the city, swallowing sound and smothering his voice.

Even stardust had a limit to how much mana it could bear. The same was true of Akasha. Though the fairy could withstand the energy required for such a spell, it was impossible for them to survive its execution.

That sword was the only vessel capable of manifesting the full scope of the girl’s vision.

The blade that would endure the end of time itself was now cloaked in a night sky studded with countless stars.

Ethereal cracks began to spread through the air around the girls, as pulses of dark mana spun and clashed in relentless, explosive bursts.

The movement of the world itself halted.

And in the instant it resumed, the girl was already before her target.

Space was compressed.

And then, a slash was born.

“[Cosmos Rupture]”

The fractures converged into a single point.

To any observer, the demon’s body was cleaved in two—along with the very fabric of the world around him.

Perhaps it was real, or perhaps an illusion. But in that instant, sound, heat, and light—all of it—was erased from existence.

Like the end of everything… or perhaps the birth of all things.

A power to rival the cataclysmic roar of the stars themselves was condensed into a single strike.

Its potential was…

Limitless.

---

At the far edge of the forest, perched atop the canopy of one of the massive trees, a figure watched the battle’s conclusion.

“Space and time. Both severed at once through Ragnarok. Not even your absolute defense could withstand that. After all, this is an attack that has stepped into the realm of magic capable of killing me.” Resting a hand against her chin, the woman spoke with a faint, cheap melancholy in her tone.

Seated, her knees crossed in a manner unfit for a lady. The corners of her lips curved upward, and sharp teeth formed a fierce smile as the first light of dawn gleamed against her fangs.

“What a shame, Drelkos. It seems you met your end before we could face each other again.”

Her black dress, daringly torn into an asymmetrical design, exposed pale skin that bordered on perfection. Visually, she resembled a mature woman no older than thirty. Black and gold fabrics intertwined around her toned waist, flowing like a mantle of royalty. Long stockings descended to her high heels, yet she wore no undergarments. Beneath the dress that barely covered her form, clusters of white scales gathered around her ample chest and at her hips, ensuring nothing would ever be exposed.

From her back sprouted incomplete ivory wings, fragments of something greater. Each swayed gently, emanating a faint bluish glow. Dark wine-colored horns curved subtly backward from within her braided wheat-colored hair, like twisted crowns. At the base of her back, a long tail of crystalline scales swayed to the rhythm of her breathing.

Her gaze, razor-sharp, was split between one obsidian-black pupil and one silver, almost white. She radiated the sense that she was on the verge of toying with the world.

“How ironic… she hasn’t even realized what she’s just done. It’ll be worth keeping an eye on her.”

Sighing with careless ease, the woman traced her cheek with her index finger, staring at the horizon.

“Hey, Bahamut.”

Suddenly, a young male voice echoed behind her.

With one elbow resting on her knee, her mismatched eyes shifted only as much as needed.

Standing there, clad in a long overcoat stained with purple blood, was a young man casting her an exasperated look. He seemed like a teenager in the prime of youth, yet unlike the woman, no horns adorned his head, nor did wings spread from his back. Around his neck hung a necklace with a single sharp white fang.

“The amount of dark mana released by the seal was even greater than we thought. Far more monsters were born in the infected zones.” Wiping the purple blood from his coat with a few sharp slaps, the young man fixed his gaze on the woman. “I just finished dealing with the ones that tried to escape the forest.”

“Took you less than an hour. You did well.”

With a light nod, Bahamut shifted their attention back to the World Tree.

“Why stay here, anyway? I know you could’ve taken down the Third Twilight alone if you wanted to.” Shaking his head a few times as he approached, he raised his voice again. “You’re one of the Five Heroes. Why didn’t you go help them?”

At those words, the woman rolled her eyes in a deliberately exaggerated motion, her wheat-colored braid swaying gently in the dawn breeze.

“With how things are heading, we need every race to grow stronger. Elarielle and the elves have to learn to handle their own problems if they want to survive what’s coming.”

In a fraction of a second, her long white tail stretched and coiled around the young man’s body, lifting him off the ground and hanging him upside down.

“And call me mother, you insolent brat.” She snorted.

Even when seized so abruptly, the boy’s expression didn’t falter in the slightest, as if such treatment was nothing out of the ordinary.

“Baha—… Mother, we just confirmed who she is. Are you sure you want to leave her roaming free? If anyone else noticed and this information leaks, she’ll be hunted by every race. We went through all the trouble of coming here—why won’t you at least speak to her?”

“That won’t be necessary. We’ve just seen she’s perfectly capable of taking care of herself. Besides…”

Rising to her feet, Bahamut began walking out of the forest without a second glance. From within her dress, she pulled out an object. Swaying loosely in her hand, a book whose cover was etched with glowing symbols and inscriptions seemed almost detached from the world around it.

“She’ll come seeking me on her own one day, after all.”