The flag in my hand burned like fire and weighed a ton.
This is my standard.
The price of the lives of those who followed and died for me.
"So?"
Raven, who had reappeared before me, screamed.
"What can you possibly do with that flag in this mental world? If it were a weapon, you could stab me, or even an umbrella could ward off this rain! But that flag is utterly useless, isn't it?"
"You don't understand, Raven."
I gripped the flagpole with both hands and smiled wryly.
"With this flag, I and my people can fight on, anytime, anywhere, without giving up!"
I then raised the flag high and,
"Not as an empire's... no."
I shouted loudly and drove it into the ground.
"I proclaim this as my territory!"
My ultimate move, [Imperial Edict], activated within the mental world.
Whoosh!
No gray walls formed in this mental world.
Instead, a dazzling sun rose in the previously darkened sky, the clouds dispersed, and the downpour ceased.
Under the clear sky, Raven looked around in confusion.
"What? Why...? Why is even my mental world invaded by your imagination?"
The answer came from behind me.
"You must be new to this, Raven."
Salome, staggering, smiled wanly.
"Infiltrating someone's mind is like building a bridge between yours and their psyche."
"...?"
"Still don't get it?"
Salome stretched out her hand and pointed around.
"Our mental worlds are connected now. In other words, since you attacked Ash's psyche... Ash can also attack yours."
"What?"
"If you tried to kill someone, you should be prepared to be killed. Isn't that obvious?"
I gripped the flagpole tighter.
Whoosh!
As my territory expanded, the scenery around us began to change.
Not to my past, but to Raven's.
To his most painful memories. To his nightmares.
His human days began to flash around us. Raven tried to stop it, but in this world, my flag was planted.
This is my territory.
"No! Don't! Don't look, you must not look!"
"Too bad."
You've read my memories, you bastard. You only clung to my most painful parts.
So- we should exchange once, to be fair, right?
"Don't read my memory-!"
Despite his desperate screams, Raven's human days unfolded before our eyes.
His dreams, frustrations, pains, and corruption - vividly unraveled.
"Aaaaaah!"
Facing his most painful past, Raven's form began to tear apart.
***
When I regained consciousness, it was reality.
I'm not sure how long the battle in the mental world lasted. I gasped for air, looking around.
Crown and the Nightcrawler Corps had already turned into black shadows and were vanishing.
Like before, when they died, they seemed to be resurrecting at another point.
And there were others, their bodies turning into black particles.
"Cough!"
"Did you sleep well, guest?"
In front of me, protecting me, stood Sword Demon and Spear Demon.
The two wild figures were drenched in blood, and their skin was melting away. They had been severely affected by Raven's plague.
"...Sword Demon. Spear Demon."
"Don't look so glum. We are immortals..."
"We'll come back to life in the Bottom Village. If you don't defeat that plague bastard, we'll probably die again from the plague spreading through the village..."
"I believe you can do it. Make sure to kill that plague son of a bitch."
Witnessing the two dying horrifically, I asked them.
"Why do you trust me so much?"
Their answer was simple.
"You treated us like people."
"Before and after the world became like this, there were hardly any who treated us as people."
The two grotesque figures smiled with their melting faces.
Then, no longer breathing, they disappeared into black smoke.
Feeling heavy-hearted, I turned my head. A massive beast, similarly protecting me and half-melted, was there.
"Mason."
When I called out, a smile flickered across what was left of his indiscernible face, whether of a bear, lion, or human.
"This is as far as I go."
"Anything else to say?"
"I've said it all."
"To Lucas?"
"..."
After a moment of silence, Mason burst into a rueful laugh.
"If changing one's heart at the last moment could grant absolution, how easy would life be?"
"..."
"I remain a traitor to the McGregor family and an enemy to Crossroad. I strayed from the path of humanity long ago."
Mason murmured, his voice fading.
"But... But in the end, I wanted to die for something beautiful."
His eyes, dimming with life, turned to me.
"Your flag is beautiful, Your Highness. So please."
Mason's body slowly fell forward.
"Don't ever let it go..."
Thud-
Mason collapsed and lay still.
He was my enemy.
But he died for my flag.
So, I decided to remember Mason.
As I looked around at my fallen party members, I suddenly turned back, hearing a pained groan from the last of them.
"Haah, eugh...!"
"Salome?"
Behind me, Salome lay fallen.
As I approached, Salome trembled her pale lips and managed a weak smile.
"Ha-ha, you act tough, but your heart is so fragile... I almost died trying to shield you from the rain..."
That's when I realized.
While the others protected my body, Salome had protected my mind.
Raven showed me my weakness - the deaths of my comrades in the form of nightmares, and Salome showed me the continuation of those nightmares - the image of other comrades overcoming death and standing up.
Thanks to her, I was able to reclaim my flag.
"Hehe. See, I was quite helpful, right...?"
"..."
Salome is a psychic entity.
Her body heals as her mind recovers, and vice versa; damage to her mind also harms her body. She overexerted herself in the mental world to aid me... and ended up a wreck.
"But be careful..."
Salome urgently warned.
"Raven isn't finished yet..."
"...?!"
At the same time, the malicious aura characteristic of a Nightmare Legion Commander surged. I swiftly turned in that direction.
"Ash..."
Raven was there.
Although significantly weakened from the damage sustained, he still exuded the terrifying aura of a plague demon, gathering his strength.
"I will make sure to kill you, and you alone..."
I smiled wryly and stood up in front of him.
"We've shared some embarrassing memories, Raven."
"Don't talk nonsense...!"
Humiliated by his past being exposed, Raven's smoky form quivered.
But I wasn't the same.
Reading his past... I felt compassion for him.
"You and I are alike, Raven."
"...What?"
Raven's voice was incredulous, but I was sincere.
He and I were very much alike.
Striving to protect people, but hitting the wall of reality and choosing to become a monster to change this reality.
Someone who tried to give up being human,
A weak, fragile coward like no other.
The only difference between him and me is one thing.
Before becoming a monster, was there a hand to stop him?
I had good people who kept me human, comrades who desperately stopped me from crossing the line.
But Raven lost all his comrades.
That's why I remained human, and Raven became a monster.
"If I didn't have my comrades, I might have become a monster like you."
Living as a human is difficult.
It's like endlessly climbing high and endless stairs, gasping for breath with aching legs.
That's why the weak give up this hard path and become monsters.
They fall into an easy downhill path where they can live without further contemplation.
I was also weak.
That's why I tried to break the flag. I tried to become a monster, not a human.
But now, I've realized again, and I've made up my mind again.
I will never... let go of this flag again.
"Don't act all high and mighty, human...!"
As I looked at him with pity, Raven boiled with humiliation.
"I'll rot you. I'll definitely rot you... even the last piece of your flag! I'll make everything rot like me-!"
Raven charged at me again.
But having clashed in the mental world, I had an idea of how to deal with him.
He lost his body and soul, but...
Raven still had 'mind'... 'heart'.
That's what I needed to target.
I closed and then opened my eyes wide.
Kiiing!
With a blue flash, [Gaze of Command] activated, my will penetrating his mind to dominate it.
However.
Ulk!
I failed.
With the system window non-functional, I couldn't see the success rate of [Gaze of Command].
It was just a blind attack, ignoring whatever the chance might be.
"It doesn't matter."
Wiping the blood from my nose, I smirked.
"I'll keep trying until it works."
The only means I had to attack him was this.
Then, I will keep attacking until it succeeds.
"Did you think I would just watch, foolish one!"
Raven's black mist engulfed me.
His plague was truly extraordinary. My mental barriers melted, and even my body, which had been resistant due to the invincible defense effect, began to take damage.
But, I could endure it.
Originally, my mental and poison defenses were nearly invincible. Though they were gradually eroded and weakened by his plague, they were still bearable.
"Raven, you evolved into a plague itself."
Preparing for the next [Gaze of Command], I grinned.
"In other words, your only means of attack now is the plague. Right?"
"...!"
Raven had transformed into a transcendental plague, discarding everything else. In the process, he lost all other means of attack.
Meaning... he has no other pattern than to rot the opponent.
"Will my body and mind rot faster, or will you be penetrated by my evil eye faster?"
It's that simple a fight.
Kiiing!
A blue flash sparkled in front of me again. And just as he had penetrated my mind, I attempted to penetrate his.
Ulk!
Failed again.
Blood surged within me. It doesn't matter. I endure.
The next attempt followed, amidst the sparks.
Kiiing!
Pachick...!
Failed.
Still enduring.
My head throbs. It feels like burning inside. Is this pain a backlash from failure? Or his plague?
It doesn't matter.
If this is the only move I have, then I'll keep swinging it until it lands.
Creak...
Crack...!
Raven's mental barriers were not entirely intact due to the situation before. I clearly sensed cracks forming in his mental defenses with each of my attacks.
One more hit.
One more hit.
One more...!
"Cough, cough!"
I spat out a mouthful of blood.
Raven scoffed at me, staggering while holding the flagstaff.
"Fool! You're hastening your own end. You could last longer if you stayed still, but are you intent on committing suicide by exhausting your strength?"
"Yes."
"What?"
"It doesn't matter if I die."
Taking a deep breath, I prepared the next [Gaze of Command].
It's true. I am prepared to die now.
The flag I raised to kill monsters and protect people,
It wasn't just mine alone.
It may have started as my flag alone, but soon, many people gathered under it...
And all of them joined hands, together raising the flag.
To protect each of their precious worlds.
‘My flag has already become everyone's.’
That's why I couldn't break it even if I wanted to.
Even if I perish here, the flag and the will – they will surely continue.
Just as I inherited the will of the deceased. Even if I die here, our flag and determination – they will continue.
My death is not a game over.
The game continues. As long as those who inherit my flag don't give up.
As I recalled the faces of my trustworthy comrades, a smile naturally formed on my lips.
My beautiful people.
I can't let such a filthy plague like this spread to them.
"Raven. I can't let a dangerous plague like you loose in the world."
You must die here.
If sacrificing my life means mutual destruction with you, then so be it.
I'm willing to do that.
Kiiing!
I used the next [Gaze of Command], and,
Crack...!
Finally, a significant crack appeared in Raven's mental barrier.
"Kuk...?!"
He staggered backward in shock.
Wiping the bloodied lips with the back of my hand, I smirked, curling one corner of my mouth.
"Let's die together, in this hell...!"
--TL Notes--
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