"They're not chasing us anymore..."
Miss Ain looked back.
That colossal thing that had shadowed them countless times, driven them to the brink of death, and cast a heavy pall over everyone here had now vanished beyond the horizon.
Teacher Zephyr let out a long breath as well.
It was finally over.
"Bright,"
he turned to look at Bright, who was still sprinting ahead. "Slow down. It's not chasing us anymore."
Bright did not react at first.
"Bright?"
Teacher Zephyr could not help calling out to him again.
"Oh..."
Bright shuddered and finally came back to himself.
He had focused all his attention on watching their surroundings and fleeing. He had not even had the spare time to think about anything else, almost falling into a trance.
"Whew—"
Bright slowed down and released more clouds, nearly forming a cloud platform that carried everyone. "So we can finally relax now?"
"It would seem so."
Bartholomew Kuma sat atop the clouds and slowly took out a pair of half-burned gloves, putting them on. "But don't let your guard down completely."
"My, my..."
Aokiji had collapsed entirely onto the clouds, his arms spread wide as he lay flat on his back. "There were so many times when I thought we were done for. I didn't expect us to actually survive in the end."
"But,"
Bright sat down on the clouds as well, stretching out his long legs and supporting himself with both hands behind him as he gazed up at the sky. "It's finally over."
"It's finally... over?"
Ain's colleague, a man named Binz, could not help covering his eyes with both hands. His shoulders trembled continuously. "It's finally over..."
They had finally escaped the shadow of death and embraced this vast sky once more.
They no longer had to die like this.