The Broken Possessors of the Infinite Regression Academy - Chapter 186



Chapter 186 – Receiving – 5

As soon as the golden light touched the monster, it bloomed like a flower. A golden aurora appeared in the sky, and a golden Milky Way was embroidered. Particles filled with the sun sparkled and floated.

Even his eighteen heads, his body as big as a small hill, and his forelegs that could easily crush a mountain were of no use in the face of the golden sun.

As dawn broke, the world that had stopped began to move again. This did not mean that time was passing. It meant that the sight of everything melting under the bright light was revealed to the world.

-Key, keyiieik… … .

The monsters summoned to fill the horizon instinctively sensed the danger of the divine and roared in fear rather than threat. Their bodies looked back rather than forward, but the sun was fair to all.

The shark monster that tried to escape by soaring high into the sky turned into a handful of ash and scattered among the aurora. The four-headed mole that tried to hide by burrowing into the ground collapsed without even being able to dig a handful of ground.

It didn’t take long for the horizon, which had been swarming with monsters, to become a straight line again.

The light was retracted. The body of the largest monster that had been holding out until the end collapsed as if blown away by the wind. Aria, who was left alone again, trembled.

“Do you want to keep going? I don’t mind.”

He opened his mouth indifferently.

I was the only one who could do that. The seven people behind me were busy staring blankly at the golden light that decorated the sky with their mouths open, and Aria was still busy shaking her body and bursting into laughter.

“… … Yes. That’s right. We have to keep going. Nothing will change if we stop now, right?”

“I know you well.”

Aria, who had been looking at me with clear eyes that didn’t match the light, turned her gaze slightly for a moment. Not at me, but behind me.

The body leapt forward. It was truly a split second. As I used my body enhancements to react to that speed, the movements of the others stopped.

Aria, who had all sorts of magics layered on her, was running towards me. I took a step to the side and confronted her head-on. Before our bodies collided, the magic and the magic first met.

Light and magic collide.

Through the frozen time, a sound of something exploding was heard.

-!!!!!!

Orange and yellow pillars of fire, brimstone, and lava shot up into the sky in a haphazard manner. Diagonally, explosions of pure mana erupted, while swamps of poisonous lightning overflowed on both sides.

Countless magics overlapped and scattered. The shockwaves that burst out randomly were seen going around the curtain of light and heading back. The direction was changed. A hemispherical shield began to unfold behind the back.

Almost simultaneously with the mana forming the shield stretching out, intertwined with the divine, I saw a shockwave crawling over it like a spider web.

Each of those shock waves, which are nothing more than thin threads, would have the power to easily crush a building. If time hadn’t stopped, it wouldn’t have been strange if the loud noise alone had caused hearing problems.

Aria’s hand moved again. A black sphere appeared in the space that the shield had not yet covered. As the sphere activated, the space nearby began to slowly warp.

Light spread out from the light window. The light that spread out pierced the center of the sphere that had just begun to rotate. The sphere that had been pierced through the center turned white and evaporated without even having a chance to absorb anything.

Meanwhile, the defensive barrier that had been steadily stretched out finally enveloped all seven of them. None of them were able to move a single finger yet.

The shock wave that had spread out a step behind exploded as soon as it hit the ground. For a moment, the heavens and earth flashed. A tremendous wind of great intensity blew in to fill the space where the oxygen had suddenly evaporated.

“-Mira-ssi!!!!!!”

At that moment when I turned my head to check for safety, Aria changed her target and ran towards me. No, rather than running towards me, it would be more accurate to say that she tried to hug me.

Because all kinds of mental magic were sprinkled all around.

Eliciting specific emotions from the subject, extracting only specific memories and discarding them, injecting or distorting fabricated memories, amplifying emotions, or, conversely, erasing them.

The moment they allowed access, a mental magic that could turn the target into a puppet or slave was coming within striking range. The intention was obvious, but if they allowed access, it was over.

This time, everything will be ripped out, except for your memories of Aria.

He fixed the light spear to the ground and summoned Eternity. Even at this moment, the spirit world magic was endlessly being drawn by Aria’s side.

The blade of eternity was covered in a golden glow instead of a blue one. She twisted her body and drew the sword stroke that she had become accustomed to. As eternity flashed, a red liquid gushed out from Aria’s body.

Immediately afterwards, countless golden trails appeared.

The magic circles where the divine sword passed by began to melt away one by one. However, Aria clung to him even more tenaciously, as if she would not give up.

Exactly one second had passed since Aria lunged.

If time had not stopped, Aria would have flown away with a loud “Kudangtang” sound and rolled around on the floor. The sound of her coughing, “Kelok, Kelok,” pierced through the quiet atmosphere.

“Careful… …? Huh, huh?”

As the battle ended and the acceleration of the body was released, the words that had been stretched out too long to be understood began to be heard clearly. Rosaria, who had been trying to warn of the danger, looked around in confusion.

“Mi, Mira… … Just now… … .”

It seemed that Leona was the only one who could keep up with the battle a little bit. While everyone else was staring at Aria, who was coughing up blood, in bewilderment, she was the only one looking at me, quietly sweating.

Even Chairman Nikana, who was maintaining her succubus queen form, looked obviously flustered.

“As expected… … It’s Mira-ssi… … .”

Aria stood up unsteadily. Blood started flowing from her shoulder, down her left arm, and dripped from her fingertips, as she clutched her stomach in pain.

In the back and forth that lasted exactly one second, Aria was almost completely defeated. A light swipe to the cheek at the very end was the only successful attack.

“I never thought there would be this much of a difference… … Even now, you are giving me strength… … .”

“You have to speak properly. You’re not giving it to me, you’re taking it away.”

“… … If you don’t want it stolen, you can stop it. It’s not like it’s impossible now. I know everything… … You just want to be connected to me, right?”

“If I cut off the power going to you now, this place will be destroyed along with it, and since I can’t even find a way to return to my original world, you want me to become lost in the dimension?”

“Oh, did you notice?”

Aria laughed bashfully. It’s true. The reason why this world can maintain its time-stopped state right now is because of Aria, and if for some reason that becomes impossible, the entire world will fall apart.

Because as much time as had been stagnant will rush in all at once.

If there was no interference, it would last for some time, but if Aria was alive, that ‘how much’ could be pulled back a few seconds. In order to prevent that from happening, it was necessary to untie it directly, not forcibly.

That’s why I kept my life. At least I should have heard the method and killed him.

“Yes. Since you noticed, tell me quickly. There are two ways to interfere with the world, and one way to return to the original world.”

“I’m sorry. You know I wouldn’t do that.”

“If you refuse, you know what method I will use.”

“Of course. You want to tear my head apart? You want to tear my head apart, make me an idiot, and then take my memories. How could I not know that?”

“You know, but aren’t you surprised?”

“There’s nothing I can do anyway.”

Aria sneered, her face slightly pale.

“Even though I drained all my strength, you regained your memories and appeared before me. You skipped a few stages as a gamble and reached the final stage, and Mira-san has also become stronger. No matter how many monsters you summon from the first world, they will all melt away. If I confront Mira-san head-on, I will just be pushed back like I just now. But what else can I do here?”

Then, Aria coughed up blood mixed with her words and spread her arms wide, shouting in an exaggerated tone as if she were performing a play.

“Okay, Mira. I’m ready. Now finish it. You have to figure out how to return to the original world by digging through my memories, and how to protect this world. Hurry up.”

“… … .”

That’s true, but I found that seemingly enlightened attitude very uncomfortable. I couldn’t tell if he had some kind of faith or if he had truly given up.

As I was seriously considering whether I should kill him and look inside since he was still a corpse after he died anyway, someone approached me.

“……mummy.”

It was Leona holding the holy sword.

Leona’s face was filled with tears, as if she was about to cry at any moment.

“I… … There’s this thing called searching for memories, Aria said. Is it possible to do that on dead people?”

“If only it hadn’t been so long.”

Memories are only properly retained for about 5 minutes at most, and after that they begin to fade rapidly, so even if you’ve been dead for just 10 minutes, you can practically give up on trying to salvage anything.

Of course, in a situation like now, this story was almost non-existent. There was no way I would kill Aria and leave her alone for five minutes.

“Then… … Yes. It may sound shameless… … Mira, if you don’t like it, there’s nothing I can do… … but can you let me kill Aria with my own hands… …?”

“What? Seriously—”

I was about to ask, “Are you serious?” but I closed my mouth. The tears that had been welling up in my eyes began to flow. I stared blankly at the sight and quietly took a step back.

In the original, it was Leona who killed the Demon King and ended the novel. So I thought it was right to leave it up to Leona to end the world in this novel.

“Be careful. You never know what he might do.”

“Yeah. Thanks, Mira.”

Leona approached Aria with the holy sword in hand without even thinking about wiping away her tears. Aria greeted Leona with a strange smile.

“Hello, Leona. No, should I call you Miss Brunhild?”

“……aria.”

The golden blade touched Aria’s neck. Even as the tip of the blade stabbed her neck, Aria remained calm. Just by looking at it, it was hard to tell who was stabbing and who was being stabbed.

“… … .”

Ten seconds passed, thirty seconds passed, a minute passed. The two men still remained motionless.

“What are you doing, Miss Brunhild? We must finish this quickly.”

“… … One thing. I have a question for you, Aria.”

“You said you would kill me, and now you’re asking me a question? That’s bad taste. Well, okay. I’ll answer out of respect for our old friendship. What is it?”

“You… … thought of me as a friend?”

Aria paused for a moment after hearing those words.

The silence did not last long. A pure and bright smile appeared on her face, just like the original aria.

“How dare you try to compare with me? Disgusting.”

Leona’s body flinched so much that it could be seen from a distance. Then the holy sword pierced her neck. Aria slowly collapsed, still smiling. Leona climbed on top of her.

And then, he raised the holy sword high and stabbed it into the chest, just like the original hero did to the original demon king.

Aria’s fingertips twitched as she tried to lift herself up, then fell limply to the ground. Her movements stopped completely.

“Sigh… … Huh… … .”

Leona was crying on top of it.

It was not the ending of the original novel, but the ending that this world faced.