Chapter 121: An Adventurer's Return

It feels surreal.

Knowing that one of the biggest players of my previous iterations' disasters was successfully killed by me, it simply feels unreal.

Yes, I have faced Goetia once and succeeded in injuring him, but the 'impact' that Kenjaku brought me was that strong.

Of course, I accepted this fact—that I have become this strong. Even without [Ein Sof], I would've been able to pull it off with [Etna Daemon Ruina]. It would've worked against Kenjaku who is considered as a [Demon] due to his status as a [Cursed Object]. His brain was converted, or at least considered as one, from the moment he chose to jump between bodies.

It was made clear in one of the iterations that his cursed technique involved the ethereal body. In a sense, it 'fixes' the ethereal body to the physical body which enabled him to switch bodies. However, it does not end at that.

His cursed technique 'reads' the information on the physical body, in turn 'acquiring' these recorded techniques as his own. Moreover, cursed techniques are generally more rule-breaking compared to the earlier stages of magicka spells.

With such capabilities, he was a tricky opponent… who fell in my hands.

"What now?"

Satoru-san's blue pupils stared at me fixedly. His eyes are completely unveiled. Two cursed spirits were held in his grasp—Jogo and Hanami. They were dropped down on the ground.

Bam-!

Jogo's volcano head flared up. Anger became evident in his single eye. Fortunately, my psychic chill was enough to offset the intense amount of heat.

Suddenly, four spatial slits opened out of nowhere. Black nanites came out of it before entangling Jogo within it.

The magicka was activated along with the nanites. Soon, they turned into black chains.

"What did you—?!"

His arrogant voice rang in my ears.

Instead of answering him properly, I chose to finish this spell.

"Obretio." (Entrap.)

Buzz-!

The entire black chains lit up consecutively. White lines could be seen encroaching them.

Hum-!

A large black cube was soon in Jogo's previous spot. Soon, it shrank gradually until it became the size of my palm.

"Who are you—?"

The remaining special-grade cursed spirit, Hanami, sounded helpless upon witnessing these events.

"...I am finally able to do this."

With that answer, I trapped her inside another [Sealing Cube]. It used to be a device I created. It is inspired from the [Prison Realm]'s containment abilities as well as the application of the general theory of relativity within it.

My current capabilities allowed me to create a nanite version of it along with my evolved numerology in the name of [Hacker]. It has been a long time since I opted for command lines instead of the traditional numbers while casting spells.

Of course, its biggest requirement is the non-interference of the targeted entity. Thus, it needs to be used in surprise or when you are on the stronger side.

When the two black cubes returned to the space granted by my [Lord of Machines], they were kept in several layers of containment.

'I need to research cursed energy thoroughly…'

Now, I have all three special-grade cursed spirits within my grasp. If I could somehow understand the deeper principles of it, I might be able to learn more about this 'looming end'.

That, and the 'Grain' I found on Atlas Institute could supplement my lacking knowledge in this field.

"There's no longer any ethereal body…" I muttered. "I am now able to resurrect your friend. What period would you like it to be?"

"...Make it so he remembers everything."

"Up until his death?"

"Yeah."

For a moment, I was confused by Satoru-san's response. Of course, I understood it as his unique way of being 'fair' to his best friend. Then again, the number of lives lost on his hands are a lot.

In the end, I chose to follow his words. It is not my type to break promises.

'Modify the target's state to two years ago?'

2018 is the time Getou Suguru died in an attempt to kill Okkotsu-san.

(A/N: Everything is accurate to the canon here. The only exception are the dates which added four more years. For example, the Hidden Inventory Arc happened in 2008, but it happened in 2012 here. The main arc, which occurred in 2018, happened in 2020.)

'Confirm.'

The distortion wrapped around the severed body. Strangely, it became blurry in the sight of others, as if time was being rewound itself. By the time it was over, Getou Suguru's body was in our sight.

Sensing the activation of a cursed technique, I looked back and saw Satoru-san disappear. It didn't take long for him to come back with a plastic bag filled with Fanta.

"Huh."

"Hm?"

Much to his surprise, I brought out a can of BOSS Coffee out of my spatial storage.

"You should've asked for some. I have everything up my sleeves."

"...Nah, it's fine." Satoru-san replied. "Suguru hates Fanta to the bone."

"I see…"

Satoru-san is planning to screw around, huh?

As I had expected, he acted when Getou-san started regaining consciousness.

"Ugh…"

The can of Fanta drew a parabola in the air before landing perfectly at his forehead.

"Ow!"

Getou-san grasped his forehead as he stood up. When he finally saw his surroundings, he went silent.

"...Is this heaven?"

Satoru-san's response was the can of Fanta thrown at Getou-san. This time, the latter managed to catch it.

When he realized it was Fanta, he had an unsightly look on his face.

"...Not this shit."

From what I've heard, he wasn't the type to swear. Perhaps he hates the drink to its bone.

Sou-!

He threw it back at Satoru-san, only for his Infinity to block it. The can was squeezed as its contents spewed out.

"You really are in heaven, Suguru."

"What kind of afterlife is this..?"

While Satoru-san chose to screw around Getou-san, I went to Melusine's side. She was virtually unscathed when she fought with three special-grade cursed spirits single-handedly.

It shows how strong he was, even more when she received Albion's blessing in the Singularity.

"Are they the enemies of your world?"

"Yes. They are the manifestations of humans' fear towards a certain thing. Natural disasters, weapons, even death itself… There are far too many things humanity is concerned about."

"...so they're bringing their own end?"

"In a sense."

I nodded at her words.

"We are helpless in this regard. We aren't able to treat the root cause after a thousand years."

"Britain…"

Melusine's eyes turned complex as she fell in deep thought.

"There's no need to worry. We'll be able to overcome it eventually. I'm sure of it."

Even without me, there are still the others. Lord Nettesheim expressed his certainty with Suimei once. He bore the fate of fighting against the end, not me.

Then again, I must do my duty—to fight for my new world.

Melusine's armor disappeared as it was replaced with her usual blue and white dress. Without a warning, she looked me in the eye and said:

"It won't happen again."

Seeing a girl like her being this determined, my will to fight this looming end, something Kenjaku expressed as 'insurmountable', became stronger.

'I will be able to visit them again.'

I thought of the connection on Sora. The moment it becomes active, I will be able to use it to instantly return to their side.

'Later…'

My heart began to anticipate our reunion.

*****

Two years.

That was the period of time that passed in Gekai after Nobu's disappearance. His influence reached far and wide as the youngest level seven adventurer. He broke through the records one after another and established a legend that would last for the years to come.

Moreover, it was not limited to that. His teachings changed the structure of the top-ranking familias.

Instead of Freya Familia, it was now Loki Familia who occupied the top spot. For some reason, they had a huge spike in terms of combat power—to the point their rising star, Sword Princess, became a level seven adventurer four months ago.

Lastly, Hephaestus Familia began to form an 'exploration squad', transitioning from the pure production-type familia to a mix of production and exploration. Their newcomers came from various sources and were screened via different tests.

It doesn't help that 'Sirius' came from this familia. As such, their popularity is by far the highest, surpassing even Loki Familia themselves.

"Sigh… It's been nearly two days…"

Hephaestus stopped reading the documents on her desk. Instead, she stared at the night sky beyond the window. The sea of stars reminded her of her child who got separated from her. Despite their daily communication, not once were they able to talk with him properly.

Worse, their line of communication was cut off a day and a half ago.

She could still feel the active falna she gave on him, but she couldn't help but be unsettled.

The last time her connection remained was when 'something' happened to the god-forged blade, [Sora no Kata (Sky's Edge)]. It is a joint project between Nobu, Hephaestus, and Artemis. When it was reforged, it became one of the strongest swords of this world as it could perfectly handle Nobu's ever-increasing strength.

"Nobu…"

Just as her thoughts started turning dreamy, she saw a shooting star in the sky. It drew a bright arc of light as it passed through the darkness of the night.

Suddenly, she felt it.

"..?!"

She wasn't mistaken.

"His falna..?"

Instinctively, Hephaestus looked at her back. There, she saw starlight converging in the silhouette of a man.

By the time it was over, her sight greeted a familiar silhouette.

Standing at 188 centimeters tall, Nobu had become even more mature. His golden pupils emit a sense of stability and inexplicableness.

The two of them didn't need to talk.

Wordlessly, Hephaestus went in front and gave him a tight hug. Nobu didn't stop her, instead focusing on suppressing most of his current power. Through some twists and turns, he was able to modify the [World Transfer] spell and arrive at Gekai.

"I missed you."

"Me too. I—"

"Stop. Don't blame yourself. You didn't foresee this outcome."

Hephaestus interrupted his words as she knew Nobu's nature.

"The best thing I wished for is your return. It happened now. That's enough."

She lifted her head and looked at him directly. Nobu immediately understood her intentions.

A long deep kiss began. He couldn't forget this sensation. Even though three years had passed since they last did it, that was something he looked forward to in his return.

Perhaps due to their past experiences, the two were no longer clumsy as they did it. Hephaestus started to lose her breath and had to stop for several intervals.

By the time it was over, she felt weak to her knees. Nobu had to carry her to her office desk… which became quite messy due to what they did.

At this moment, his own heartbeat is beating at an extremely fast rate. He knew they could've gone into the final stage, but he wanted to make it more special for her.

Moreover, he thought of Artemis. It would be unfair if he chooses to indulge himself now.

"Go… go to Artemis. I'm sure she's worried about you as well."

It was not just him who thought about those things, too.

"Thank you."

With another kiss on her lips, Nobu disappeared in her sight.

Things didn't simply end there. As Hephaestus slowly regained her composure, another desire popped up in her heart.

It was also at that moment did she feel something wet on her pants.

This discovery sent her heart to chaos. Her blush deepened as she thought of it. Uncontrollably, she started to rub both of her thighs together.

"Nobu…"

At this moment, she mastered a new kind of flame.

*****

Ba-thump-!

Ba-thump-!

My heart is beating like crazy. Completely unlike my usual composure, I couldn't calm down.

Was this the result of our time being apart?

Moreover, it is nighttime. The ambience at this moment simply matched our feelings.

'I'll make up for her…'

For now, the cold night breeze managed to slightly calm my frantic heart. While I was jumping through roofs, I managed to see an individual. His pure white hair was nearly the same as mine. His crimson irises did not make him menacing but 'cute'. I believe that was how most people viewed me back when I was a child.

He seems to be with someone.

"Hm..?"

I was caught off-guard when I discovered who it was.

"Lante..?"

From the white-haired boy's looks, it seems that…

"...he fell for her..?"

His goddess might've been crying right now.

*****

A/N: Well… I wanted to create a brief announcement during the new year to give this message but decided to put it here instead.

First of all, thank you for being here (with me) on my second journey. 2023 had been a blast, both in irl (3 weeks of being nearly sleepless) and in this fic (exploring many possibilities with everyone here). All the inputs, comments, reviews… I have read them all. Though I do apologize for not being able to be as active as before due to uni stuff. 

So, let's briefly talk about this fic to commemorate this new year…

"I Will Live a Better Life!" was something that I thought of when the ending for my first fic was decided. This fic was supposed to be the improved version without many flaws (and cringe) from the first few chapters. Y'all be the judge in this one (haha).

Since I followed a 1st POV narration, I compensated for the previous omnipotent view by giving off hints regarding its future developments. These are supposed to make you feel like "Wait, what?" to "Oh, I see!". I do hope you enjoyed finding these small clues ;).

Anyways, I have to thank everyone here once more for all the support you all gave in this fic. I even doubted myself at times which made me wonder how I continued writing for two years. Part of the credit that made me continue belongs to you guys.

I do hope you all had a nice holiday break. I'll drop off a "goodluck!" since we are about to catch up with obligations after the break's done. As for this fic's future developments, do look forward to it.

Happy Reading~!