"Mom! Mom! Mom! WAAAHHH, I'm so relieved your okay!!!!"

"Sigh, look at you. After all this time you are still such a cry puppy. There there. I'm here…"

With her tears in her eyes, Bianca threw her arms at the heavenly beauty in front of her: Silent Frozen Star, Bianca's adopted mother from Fralhame. The last time Elian and Bianca saw her was during the crucible for Earth.

Although it felt like a few hours from their perspective, the fear that this version of Silent would vanish was a real possibility.

Meanwhile Elian raised his fist toward Fluffy. The Beowolf hesitated for a moment but smacked her fist to his.

"I'm glad that you are okay, Fluffy. How is everyone? We couldn't identify any mana signature, so we assumed the worst."

"…"

Seeing her being characteristically quiet, Elian tilted his head in confusion.

"Fluffy?"

"Please forgive her, Sir Elian. She needs time to adjust. We all do."

A gentlemanly voice came from behind. Much like Fluffy and Silent, one of the guards removed his helmet, revealing a handsome man with red hair. It was a familiar face, one that Elian considered trustworthy.

"Burny. Explain."

Burny exhaled before placing his hand on Fluffy's shoulder.

"Simply put, the reason you and Master couldn't detect any familiar signatures is the one you originally believed. We are not the same people you knew before. At least not entirely."

Burny's words caused Elian to flinch. The words of the system once again echoed in his mind. Although he understood what it meant, the nuances of what gets left behind were still vague.

[The multiverse would collapse and revert back to being only a single universe. The state of all surviving worlds will determine what gets recreated in the last reality.]

"…"

Knowing that further context was needed, Burny nodded before adding, "In this world, my name is Rise of Ashes. I volunteered to be a Weapon of my own accord. Various differences are present; however, I remembered my life with you."

Elian couldn't help but grimace at the realization. If even someone like Burny had such a different life, how could anyone guarantee that the other people in their universe would still be the same?

Bianca similarly trembled as she asked Silent anxiously, "Mom? We are still family, right?"

Without missing a beat, Silent embraced Bianca tenderly.

"Of course, my daughter. The memories we share are the only reason I have been able to hold on to this grim life. I have been waiting for so, so long to see you again…"

However, rather than reassuring Bianca and Elian, her words only made their stomachs churn.

"Mom, I don't understand what you mean."

Silent bit her lip before gazing toward the city.

"This world has been changed to accommodate the differences. The result is everyone living in the Tyrant of the End's reality but gaining memories of yours. In this world, Elian Reed has only recently overthrown you."

"What? You mean even Bianca is still in this world?"

Before anyone else could answer, system pop-ups began to spring up for Bianca and Elian.

[Multiverse Reintegration has been completed. Due to conflicts in unique identity, the roles Elian Reed and Bianca Valestra are no longer available. Please elect new identities to anchor your existences in this universe.]

It was only then that Elian and Bianca remembered. They were both still in the middle of their ascensions. Their forms hadn't even finished, and now that the worlds were reintegrated, they could no longer even use their own names.

"So he gets to keep my name? Is it because of what happened to the rest of the universes?"

At that moment, the quiet Fluffy spoke up.

"It's not that simple. Right now, every inch of my body is trembling in fear of you, Elian. Rather much like I have memories of being a Beowolf, I also have memories of dying to your Weapons as a Snow Wolf Alpha hundreds of times."

Bianca gasped as she hugged Silent tighter, "No… Then everything we did was pointless?"

Silent then rubbed her back, trying to soothe her.

"No, it isn't, Bianca. The Weapons are connected to the Memories of Metal. So we know the full story. But normal humans wouldn't be able to understand. I can confirm that Charlotte, Katri, Ned, and Elian's parents are fine. We protected them early on… but…"

WOOOOOOOooooOOOOOOOooooOOOOO—!

A loud wailing klaxon suddenly echoed in the sky.

[Crucible Wide Broadcast beginning: Streamer: Elian Reed.]

Then a system screen showing a video appeared to everyone. It showed a handsome man with Elian's face. But unlike the original, his eyes looked dead and lifeless. He stood like a robot and moved with slow and creepy movements.

[I am sure everyone has noticed the strange visions and dreams that began to haunt you all recently. They are all true. And I have come to conclude this long farce. I issue a command to all the Weapons, it is time to end this once and for all.]

The Elian in the video began to morph his body in real time. His skin melted, revealing a body of black. His bones grew more pronounced and began to overlap like plates of armor. His eyes joined as one, grew larger, and began to burn.

Soon, the human in the video was nowhere to be seen; instead, only a terrifying humanoid golem remained.

[I am the Tyrant of the End. The same one in your memories. I have but one goal: to raze this universe one final time. Whether you resist, relent, or join us makes no difference. Enjoy the time that remains. You will see me soon enough.]

Abruptly, the video ended. The silence that pervaded afterwards felt terrifyingly cold. Visions of death and destruction at the hands of the Weapons naturally engulfed everyone's mind.

"Mom! You won't fight for him, right? Please tell me you won't." Bianca pleaded.

It was a small hope. Although she had resolved herself to fight the Tyrant of the End. She naturally didn't want to kill her family.

Silent made a blissful smile while shaking her head. She even brought up her status screen and showed it to Bianca and Elian.

"Of course, I won't, baby. I may be a Weapon, but I am not his."

___

Name: Silent (F)

Talent: Awake (S) | Daughter of Metal and Soul (S)

World: Fralhame | Earth

Species: Weapon of Valestra

Class: Vassal

Level: 84 | (Low Twilight)

HP: 10,050,000 / 10,050,000 | MP: 10 / 10

Strength: S | Intelligence: SS | Agility: SS

___

"You have Daughter of Metal and Soul? How?" Elian gasped in confusion. "And how are you so powerful?"

"Every Weapon from our universe that lives in this reality gained this talent one day. This allows us to break away from the shackles of the Tyrant of the End. For decades we have been in hiding, waiting. Waiting till the day you two would return…"

It was at this point that Silent began to shed tears of molten metal. The bright orange fluids charred the snow-white skin of Bianca's adoptive mother. But Silent didn't bother to wipe them; She only gripped Bianca tighter.

"Most of us wanted to give up… they told me I was crazy for believing these visions… But I knew. I knew that one day our Tyrant and Anchor would return. So we have prepared all this time…"

Elian and Bianca felt like someone had jammed a sword into their hearts. While they fought Origin immediately after the crucible, they weren't to keep tabs on anything else. They just assumed that it was a few days, weeks at most.

Bianca buried herself in Silent's embrace and apologized earnestly, "I am so sorry it took so long, Mom! I am so so sorry…"

Elian turned to Fluffy, who trembled, whether from rage or joy he didn't know.

"I thought you forgot about us, you bastard. After you left, you didn't come back after a year. Nor ten, nor a hundred. We did as you asked and conquered the crucible. But still, you didn't show up."

"You… you defeated the Crucible?" Elian parroted in disbelief.

Fluffy rubbed the tears falling from her eyes. "What the hell were we supposed to do? Our leader just vanished! The other worlds came, Elian! It was practically us against the entire freaking universe! YOU ABANDONED US, YOU GENOCIDAL PIECE OF CRAP!"

Unable to believe what he just heard, Elian could only approach Fluffy and hug her.

"I am sorry for not being able to come back, Fluffy. I didn't know."

"FLLUFFFFYYYY!!!!"

Bianca ran toward Fluffy and hugged her emotionally.

"Stop crying, sister! You are getting snot on my clothes!"

"WAAHHHHH!!! FLUFFFFYYYY!!!!"

Silent, Fluffy, and Bianca ended up wailing as decades of longing erupted all at once. Meanwhile, Elian could only ruminate on the idea that the army he had left behind was able to conquer the entire universe.

Burny leaned on the wall beside Elian. "You seem to have a lot on your mind. So what do you wish to do, Sir Elian?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I mean about the Tyrant of the End. Do we fight? Should you wish to do so, the Weapons of Valestra will come to your aid. We scattered, but everyone should answer your call."

"Ah, him. Yeah. I intend to kill him."

Hearing his clear and straightforward reply, Burny chuckled.

"As expected of you. If the battle with him is not the reason, then what is bothering you?"

"Oh that? I was trying to look into the memories of metal. I was hoping that since you and my mother-in-law could see my memories, I could see yours too."

"There are there, but it would take you years to find them. I will say, however, that we kept our mantra and did our best to live up to your ideals."

"That is really good to hear."

"Yes. We saved a lot more than we killed. So much so that they called us Saints. Even just as we entered the Silver Rank, the very name Valestra was equated with hope, freedom, and peace. I wish you and the master could have seen it."

At his words, Elian couldn't help but smile with pride. Thinking that the legacy of his wife had changed so much because of the Weapons, gave him joy.

"No reason we can't do it again. But we might need to do some housekeeping first. And we need to tell everyone that the owner of the house has returned."

"Huh? What do you mean, Sir Elian?"

Dusting himself off, Elian decided to stop trying to see memories of a world that no longer existed. Instead, he opened a system window and declared.

"System, is there a way to call myself a title like the Tyrant of the End?"

[Yes, there is. Every level 100 being gains the ability to give himself a title. What would you like to be called?]

Elian gazed at Burny, Silent, Fluffy, and eventually, Bianca.

His entire journey could be summed up in one word — will.

In a world that sought to grind him down, Bianca gave him purpose, but ultimately, it was he who chose to follow her. He decided who to kill, who to save, who to enslave and ultimately who to protect. Every decision and every choice represented his will.

Together they represented Elian's will that kept Bianca alive, even when the entire universe wanted her demise.

Will. Will directed everything. And it wasn't only for humanity. it applied to all sentient beings.

Much like Fralhame, will was what defined one's freedom — and one's consequences.

The Tyrant of the End probably chose his name to signify finality and death. While it also meant an end to all the evil, malice, and suffering, it also meant the end of all joy, love, hope, and life.

So, Elian would choose the opposite.

If the Tyrant of the End gave up on the will to keep living, then he would choose the will to continue. Even if it meant getting hurt, even if it meant eventually facing loss. It was still better than nothing at all.

Elian had to embody the mettle to carry on no matter what life through his way.

"Will, I wish to be known as the Tyrant of Will."