Sophia stared blankly around her.

A closed space where no presence could be felt.

All that was there were thorny vines binding her body and sucking her blood.

The pain of not being able to eat was fine. Compared to the pain of those who truly starve to death, hunger that didn’t lead to death had its limits after all.

The pain of the flesh was also fine. Pain that didn’t come with the fear of irreversibility was just a temporary stimulus once one got used to it.

However, the pain of the heart was painful, even for Sophia.

The regret of not being able to protect her cherished student.

The despair of having to leave behind the people who had gathered believing in her.

The fear that all the knowledge and achievements she had built up would turn to ashes, and that she herself might be sealed here forever without being discovered by anyone.

Therefore, she voiced all those emotions in words.

“When Langwidere was taken away to heaven, I decided to fight against them.

“It wasn’t an easy thing. It’s difficult for a mere individual to raise their voice against those who manipulate even large nations at will.

“So, I decided to set a lower limit. So that no matter how much they deny me and try to suppress me, they can’t completely silence me forever.

“As long as I don’t die, I can tell the story to someone again and again.

“As long as I don’t lose my memory, I can spread the knowledge I’ve built up again and again.

“Even if I myself don’t have the power to overturn the heavens, so that I can someday pass on this will to those who have such will and power.”

There was no answer coming back.

Nothing was visible, and no changes occurred.

But that was enough.

Even without an answer, even if unreachable, even without knowing who the other person was, even if unable to see their appearance with eyes.

Just by someone “being” there, a person’s heart could be saved.

Even if unable to confirm the answer, if this side’s words were conveyed, it was clearly a conversation, not meaningless soliloquy.

***

“Are you still listening to my words?”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ answers not to worry because he’s listening!]

“I’ve thought about various things regarding your identity, but unfortunately, there are too few clues. But that’s okay. I have plenty of time to think.”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ answers that a higher difficulty is more suitable for passing time when bored!]

“This vine seems like a creature made with quite some effort. Since I recover immediately if it just takes blood, it’s gradually evolving in the direction of diluting the blood concentration. I still have some leeway now, but later I might have difficulty even speaking.”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ is astonished, saying he wouldn’t do such biological observations even in this situation!]

“The wooden golem guarding this place must be quite bored, too. I tried to have a conversation, but seeing that it doesn’t come near me much, it seems to have received orders like that.”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ evaluates that he doesn’t know about orders, but it was a fellow that felt good to hit!]

…That was, in a way, a useless and meaningless action.

The Tin Knight could hear Sophia’s words, but couldn’t convey words to her.

Sophia could convey words to the Tin Knight, but couldn’t hear his words.

Some might mock it as a clown’s act.

They might click their tongues, saying why she bothered with such meaningless actions.

They might point fingers, saying they were playing quite well for a tin doll without a drop of blood and a magic beast that couldn’t stand proud under the sky.

But the two didn’t mind.

In the dark underground without a single presence, the two continued to converse.

Thus, a long time passed.

As Sophia herself had predicted, from a certain point, she became less talkative.

The thorny vines binding Sophia’s body couldn’t kill her, but they could weaken her to the limit without killing her.

The time when her consciousness was unclear became longer than when it was clear, and silence flowed in the cavity where voices had been unceasing.

The Tin Knight leaned his back against the pillar Sophia was tied to, silently keeping his place.

He didn’t consider it a difficult task.

The sense of time in dreams was ambiguous.

Compared to Sophia, who had to endure for a long time in reality, he thought this wasn’t particularly great.

What remained was the end of this dream.

That was, just enduring until “they” in reality came someday.

However, there were those who didn’t allow that.

Swish.

The red mist filling the world gathered towards two points, and soon formed some shapes.

A deep blood-colored cup and an eerie flute.

And centered on those two objects, the appearances of two women floated like heat haze.

From the blood-colored cup, a vampire with an indolent and bewitching atmosphere.

From the eerie flute, an angel with a gentle face but a mechanical nature inside.

The Tin Knight took a stance in preparation for battle, but the vampire and angel didn’t rush towards him.

Instead, they opened their mouths for the first time.

“Step aside, Knight who guarded the land of ashes.”

“Please step aside, Stranger dwelling in the knight’s body.”

“That is my vessel. I gave it the charm to attract people.”

“That is my vessel. I prepared the intelligence to contain foresight in it.”

“I will obtain wholeness that won’t be swept up in the tiresome ill fate of two kings.”

“I desire immortality that will stand firm even in tribulation, not a life like a disposable consumable.”

“It was a strategy for that, and a death.”

“It was a consultation for that, and a biding of time.”

“It shouldn’t be a bad story for you either.”

“This is a proposal that benefits you as well.”

“After resurrecting in the vessel’s body, I will fulfill your wish.”

“We have power and foresight. We can fulfill most wishes.”

The Tin Knight shook his head left and right.

A creaking sound came from the rusted joints, but it was manageable enough to move somehow.

When the Tin Knight pointed his sword forward, the vampire and angel’s eyes narrowed.

The next moment.

They had become one.

Seeing their newly transformed appearance, the tip of the Tin Knight’s blade trembled ever so slightly.

Beautiful green hair flowed down like waves, enveloping the body.

Under clothing that looked like both a dress and a robe, feminine curves were fully revealed.

Within facial features that were both gentle and bewitching, eyes that alternated between pink and red gazed at the Tin Knight.

Although there were differences in hairstyle and clothing, that appearance was strikingly similar to Sophia.

《STAGE ≡二 VS Angel of Divine Calculation》

《STAGE ≡二 VS Vampire of Thousand Eyes》

‐＝≡二三二≡＝‐‐＝≡二三二≡＝‐‐＝≡二三二≡＝‐

‐＝≡二三二≡＝‐‐＝≡二三二≡＝‐‐＝≡二三二≡＝‐

‐＝≡二三二≡＝‐‐＝≡二三二≡＝‐‐＝≡二三二≡＝‐

《Error occurred.》

《Confirmed change in enemy status.》

《Updating data.》

《FINAL STAGE VS “Owl”》

While the Tin Knight briefly listened to the voice in the air.

The “Owl” opened its mouth for the first time.

“I cannot understand. What you’re trying to protect is nothing more than the vessel I prepared. It has obtained immortality, but that’s all.

“It possesses massive holy power but cannot properly handle it, and hasn’t obtained the power a vampire should rightfully have.

“But I’m different. I can perfectly handle both the angel’s authority and the vampire’s abilities.

“The appearance is the same. I can inherit memories too. If you like the original’s personality, I can act that out as well.

“You just need to put down your sword and step aside.

“Then you’ll gain a companion superior in every aspect to the existing vessel, who can fulfill any wish of yours.

“Conversely, if you insist on being hostile to me until the end, I will use every means to crush you.

“This is not reality but the boundary between dreams and the mind, but because of that, death here becomes the death of the mind. Even you, clinging to the doll’s body, cannot avoid that.

“Stranger dwelling in the knight’s body. I, too, am far from perfect condition, but even so, I’m overwhelmingly stronger than you are now. If the fight starts, you will meet certain death.

“Even a child would find such a choice quite obvious.”

The Tin Knight didn’t answer.

He had an intuition that somehow using the brooch as usual would work, but he didn’t use it.

Instead, he engraved words on the walls and floor in the language of this world that Sophia had taught him.

[Your tongue is long.]

[Stop the chatter and come at me.]

[My companion is not a high-performance transcendent being, but a wise scarecrow with a strange head.]

The Owl closed its mouth.

Various emotions appeared in its eyes.

Disappointment, despair, irritation, and displeasure, as if seeing something incomprehensible.

And finally, only emotionless killing intent remained.

“—Then disappear. Foolish one.”

A huge sickle appeared in the Owl’s hand.

The sickle, which had strange holes all over it like a flute, resonated with eerie music every time the vampire moved.

What unfolded after that was a one-sided violation.

The Owl was overwhelmingly strong, and the Tin Knight had become pathetically weak.

No matter how transcendent the Tin Knight’s skills had become, it was impossible to bridge such a wide gap.

His body was carved away as if gouged by the blood-red sickle, and his entire body trembled and creaked from the spreading sound waves.

The shield couldn’t withstand the successive impacts and shattered, and the sword had long since broken.

The fight was so overwhelming that it would be foolish to discuss chances of victory.

And because of that, the Owl’s expression gradually darkened.

It should have been a fight that ended long ago.

It should have been a life taken as if it were natural.

Yet somehow it wouldn’t come to an end.

Even while being hit, cut, and rolling on the ground incessantly, the Tin Knight narrowly avoided fatal wounds.

Although his body was dented and dirtied all over, looking unsightly, the blue eyes visible through the slit of his helmet were bright like will-o’-wisps.

Unlike what people commonly misunderstand, the Tin Knight in his lifetime was a figure who had rarely fought from the position of the strong.

He was certainly a knight worthy of the title of strongest, but the generals of the underground he had to face were formidable opponents that even such a knight had to challenge at the risk of his life.

Yet he didn’t give up.

In the process, he sometimes suffered irreversible injuries and had to replace parts of his body with cold metal, yet he continued to challenge the strong.

The current Tin Knight was a different person from the knight in the legend.

But the skills and experiences left by his predecessor clearly remained within him.

Utilizing all of that, he continued to endure.

Thus, the long battle continued.

“…”

The Owl’s movements stopped.

The Tin Knight’s appearance was truly miserable.

His left arm had disappeared somewhere, half of his abdomen was gouged out with the contents fully visible, and his right leg was bent in a bizarre direction, barely hanging on his body.

The only reason the Tin Knight didn’t stop his life activities was because he was a magic doll, not a human.

However, even that was at its limit now.

The Tin Knight no longer had the strength to avoid or block attacks.

If the Owl swung the sickle in its hand, that would be the end.

In other words, it wasn’t the end yet.

Therefore, this match was the Owl’s defeat.

「────」

Static presences were heard from far away.

There was the black witch.

There was the still immature lion.

There was the Tin Knight who had been looking forward to fighting strong opponents.

They discovered the scarecrow tied to the pillar.

The fate in memory converged to its original form.

The Owl pointed its sickle at the Tin Knight.

Victory had already become impossible, but if it finished off the Tin Knight like this, at least mutual destruction would be possible.

“…It’s meaningless.”

However, that sickle was never swung.

The prophet who had dreamed of resurrection acknowledged that their foresight had missed the mark.

“It’s your victory… no, it’s not just your victory, it’s a victory for all of you”

The world collapsed.

The long dream came to an end.

***

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