A Story Written for a Promise (Continued)

Pandora, cleaved in two, sprouted new flesh and blood as her two halves separated. Surtr, having lost her chest cavity, had her entire upper body transform into a ball of fire and then reform in a new posture.

Death and rebirth are separated by only a moment.

Those who die and are resurrected are of equal speed.

Two identical Pandoras simultaneously raise two identical parasols.

Surtr, having regained his stance, also let his blood flow onto the blade.

Surtr recognized the technique— Kazami Yuuka's Double Magic Cannon, a move she had encountered many times in the original work and numerous fan games. While she didn't know why Pandora, or rather Gaia's remains, insisted on replicating Kazami Yuuka's technique, she knew that if its purpose was to replicate the original, then the Double Magic Cannon would simply represent a pure release of power!

Strong against strong, a clash of titans.

Very good.

Miss Surtr enjoyed this form of sparring—just as the simplest way to solve a nine-linked ring puzzle is to cut it open with a single sword stroke. What she loved most was the pure clash of strength!

Thus, two magic cannons were unleashed from the double parasols.

At the same time, the red and black blades were stained with blood, and the blood flames spread like Twilight.

—One of the Three Phases, the Godfall.

There was no talking, nor any shouting.

There's never much time for fancy tricks and gimmicks during a deathmatch.

The instant the two forces collided, a brilliant glow erupted from the surface of Mars, a glow that would be clearly visible to Earthlings in the night sky six minutes later.

Nebula M78 756365104

Light, pure light.

The interior of Pure Light is a mixture of magic cannons and Twilight Flame.

Approximately six million square kilometers of land were covered and destroyed by this pure light. In the sixth second, when the outcome was already decided, the pure light was completely overwhelmed by the spreading Twilight Flame. And several gigatons of land, equivalent to almost half of Antarctica, were stripped from the surface of Mars by the Twilight Flame, which stretched forward in a straight line, because Mars is a sphere!

The outcome is decided.

Pandora's two bodies remained suspended in place. Surtr, however, appeared about a hundred meters behind them, with his sword fully extended.

The inferior magic cannon, not being the original, was ultimately no match for the truly unparalleled Twilight Flame. The six million square kilometers of land beneath their feet were split in two: one half was as smooth as a mirror, while the other half was torn into a complex pattern of ravines and gullies by the out-of-control force.

Surtr raised her sword and turned around. In her eyes, she saw Pandora's two bodies turn to ash inch by inch. Then the ash disintegrated in mid-air, until nothing remained.

"It's over," she said to Pandora.

Because she knew that only Pandora was ending, not this battlefield.

Her mind and body were vibrant, her blood was boiling. And right before her eyes, around the annihilated ruins of Pandora, scattered, pure starlight rose from the ocean of nothingness.

Fifty years ago, this starlight from another land slain the soul of this planet during its gestation process and then parasitized it.

Five seconds ago, Star Soul's last tentacle, Pandora, representing all the remaining reason and knowledge Star Soul possessed, died under her blade.

All the gods are dead.

All the containers were removed.

So, the starlight that no longer enjoys the container must naturally leave its most hidden hiding place. It must find a new host, or confront Miss Surtr, who ruined its plans.

Obviously, anything with wisdom would choose to proceed slowly and deliberately in such a situation, avoiding direct confrontation.

However, the problem is that even if the power projected by this second traveler wants to escape from here, Miss Surtr will not allow it to remain in this universe.

Miss Surtr has made her decision.

Whether or not these aggregates of starlight possess intelligence, they must confront this fact.

Because Pandora's final efforts were not in vain, the time manipulation that the immature Star Soul possessed, which directly corrected the past, could no longer be used due to the destruction of the container.

This means that the starlight here is left with only two choices: first, to face Surtr; second, to tear through space and escape, but in doing so, it will also have to face Surtr's power.

Choosing one of the two options won't make a significant difference in the final result.

At the very moment when all the starlight overflowed from nothingness, beneath Miss Surtr's feet—not for posing or any cutscenes—millions of square kilometers of land were transformed into blazing inferno.

Muspelheim, unfolding once again.

So what's next...?

"It's a time-consuming and labor-intensive process for garbage collection, but it's generally free of any major setbacks."

Miss Surtr's sword was once again stained with the colors of Twilight fire.

Achoo!

The silver-haired, blue-eyed knight girl sneezed—she rubbed her nose, and after confirming it was just a normal physiological phenomenon, she shook her head slightly—then picked up her coffee, brought it to her lips, and took a small sip.

The coffee tastes very bitter.

It's a flavor she likes and is used to.

The bitterness invigorated her spirits, allowing her to break free from her previous half-awake state.

"Lately, I've been having some strange dreams," the silver-haired knight maiden sighed, a hint of melancholy in her voice. She stood up and left her desk. Walking to the window, Milan at night was as bustling as ever.

Liliana Kranichal—that's her name. And regardless of the timeline, her name and identity have remained largely unchanged.

This meant she was still a Great Knight; she only needed to look up to see the brilliant stars twinkling in the night sky—she noticed that Mars seemed brighter than usual today. It twinkled for a while, then returned to darkness once more amidst an unusually bright glow.

She knew Mars was very far from Earth, and Mars even at its closest point, it would take four minutes to travel there. And whatever happened on Mars, it wouldn't really matter to Earthlings who couldn't do anything about it.

She was merely Great Knight, not a legendary demigod. Nor was she the powerful being known as the 'God Slayer' she had seen in her dreams. Even though she felt that perhaps with a little more effort she could surpass the Great Knight's rank, she knew perfectly well that it was just her illusion.

There's no way around it; after all, it wasn't until a hundred years ago that someone researched the level above the Great Knight. And in a mere hundred years, for an Earth that has been largely free of war, this amount of leisure time is at most enough for a small group of geniuses to take one foot onto this new level.

Liliana didn't feel she could cross that line anytime soon. Nor did she feel the need to be in such a hurry. After all, there was neither the God Slayer of her dreams nor the Unwilling God from the same dream in this world. As a scion of a secure noble family, she had no need to gamble her life and future.

"But... well, God Slayer, huh."

The silver-haired girl walked away from the window and returned to her desk, where she carefully took a stack of manuscripts from a hidden box.

Ah, that's right. Liliana Kranjcar. The sword fairy from the Italian Knights of the Twins, secretly. A sentimental and artistic young woman.

The artsy young woman plans to add some background information to her novel today.