I Am Among Friends

As anticlimactic as it was, my final attack against the archbishop wasn’t flashy at all. There were no explosions, no bursts of flames or other magical effects.

It was simply that: a final blow.

Due to the nature of [Fa Jin], the damage that was done was mostly internal, and with my current strength, the archbishop’s innards had been completely disintegrated, leaving behind a corpse that was naught but hollow.

He didn’t even get to say his final words.

But even so, he’d accepted death readily enough. The moment I placed my palm on his chest, there was a look of frustration on his face that was immediately replaced by calm.

To be frank, it was unexpected. I imagined that he was the type that’d go out with a delusionally inflated sense of self-importance. The type that would scream “Impossible!” and “No! I cannot be killed by the likes of you!” or other cheesy lines like that.

Instead, he simply closed his eyes and accepted death.

I suppose I had to give him at least a measure of respect for that.

As his corpse collapsed onto the ground, I felt a great sense of release. I had finally come to the end of this journey. For the first time in my life, I felt as if I had achieved something.

I felt satisfied.

[Congratulations! You have leveled up!]

That familiar screen popped up several times as if to agree with me.

I breathed out a long sigh and threw my head back, staring up at the black ceiling that hung above us. It was the closest approximation of a night sky that I could stare into right now.

You see this, asshole? I’m comin’ for your ass.

That’s right. I haven’t forgotten about our debt, “God.” Satisfied as I may be, I still couldn’t get it out of my mind.

It was the whole reason that I aspired to strength in this world. The reason that I came here in the first place instead of picking a world that was the furthest thing from a generic fantasy novel.

My revenge.

My revenge that had been neglected in favor of escorting Lucrezia to find her sister. But now, all of that was done, and it would be time for me to begin in earnest.

As strong as the archbishop was, he was still only nothing more than an ant in the face of that terrifying “God.” Just like me.

“Ryuuko...” Priya approached me hesitantly, as if she didn’t fully believe what had just happened. “You... You really did it!”

“Oof!” I exclaimed as Priya rammed into me with a full-force hug. I didn’t really know how to respond seeing as I’d never actually been hugged before so I just patted her on the head awkwardly.

Thankfully, she didn’t seem to mind.

Antenora gave me a look of approval and a nod—which I returned—before heading over to Lucrezia and Aurelia.

I should probably go and check on them as well, but I didn’t know whether it’d be taboo to break away from Priya’s embrace or not. The last thing I wanted to do was make her feel like she’d overstepped her boundaries.

Luckily for me, Priya probably sensed that I was mentally floundering about the whole situation, so she released the hug after a few more seconds. Her smile afterward made all of my effort thus far more than worth it.

The two of us made our way over to Antenora, Lucrezia, and Aurelia. The latter two were still unconscious on the smooth black tiles which lined the room.

Incidentally, this was the only area of the room that was undamaged save for the long gash that ran across the floor due to the one attack that I’d redirected.

“Let’s get the hell out of here first,” I suggested. “I’ll open a hole in the ceiling.”

“Do not do that. We are currently inside of a mountain, Ryuuko.”

“Oh. Right.”

My battle-addled mind had somehow allowed that fact to slip, and we were narrowly saved from a cave-in thanks to Antenora’s interjection. However, my mistake had brought something important to the forefront.

“Where the hell’s Liandra?”

It seemed that in the heat of the moment, everyone had forgotten about her. I wasn’t blameless in that regard either, but after all the shit that just happened, she wasn’t exactly the main priority in my mind.

Antenora clicked her tongue in annoyance. “She escaped in the chaos. I had to drop her during the fight and when it was all over, she was already gone.”

Priya nodded, as if to confirm the fact. “We tried chasing her down, but she disappeared behind a hidden door.”

I sighed. “Well, the archbishop’s dead, so I don’t think there’s anything else to worry about. The Black Constellation was never our problem, anyway.”

That much was true at least. The only reason why we even got involved with them was because they were the ones who were holding Aurelia captive. If I’d succeeded in saving Aurelia the first time around, we’d probably be at the Zaltsel clan’s territory by now.

I easily hefted both sisters on my shoulders and the five of us booked it out of the Precipice of Night. The room that I’d left Antenora and Priya in with the Shades was practically rubble now.

Corpses of the Shades lay strewn across the ground in awkward and unnatural positions. Blood coated the walls, and hardly any of the corpses could really be called “human.”

I couldn’t help but spare a glance toward Priya and Antenora.

“Just what the hell did the two of you do?”

“What we had to.” Antenora answered simply.

“I got a lot stronger thanks to training with you, Ryuuko!” Priya began before pausing in thought. “Actually, I might be stronger than my teacher now, ehehe!”

When the three of us finally made it out of the Precipice of Night, the sun had already begun to set, and only the upper half was still visible above the horizon despite our elevation.

I used one of my levels to increase [Devouring Healing]’s skill level to 3, allowing me to now use it on other people. I promptly used it on Lucrezia and Aurelia, causing them to gradually become conscious again.

“Lady Lucrezia, Lady Aurelia. It warms my heart to see that the two of you have finally reunited safely.” Antenora was the first to greet them. A warm smile was on her face.

“...Antenora? Sister...?” Aurelia pressed a hand to her head. [Devouring Healing] could cleanse [Detriments], but not fatigue apparently. “This... isn’t a dream, right?”

Lucrezia immediately threw her arms around Aurelia, startling her with the sudden gesture of affection. Tears of joy began flowing from her eyes as she basked in the warmth of her sister’s body.

“Aurelia! I...! I was so worried! They didn’t do anything to you, did they!?”

Aurelia shook her head slowly, a gentle smile spreading across her lips as she pat Lucrezia on the back. “No... They said a lot of weird things, but most of all they were waiting for you, I think.”

Lucrezia shook her head. “T-There’s no need to remember anything about them anymore! We’re gonna go back home and put all of it behind us!”

Priya, Antenora, and I let the sisters have their moment for a bit longer. It was dangerous to remain here in front of the Precipice of Night, but we also couldn’t just break them from their well-deserved embrace.

It was only when the moon had risen that the two finally left the safety of the personal world they’d created for just themselves.

Aurelia was rather level-headed and soft-spoken compared to Lucrezia. Of the two sisters, she was certainly more mature, but even she was surprised when she learned that it was I who had saved her.

However, it had been my turn to be surprised when she had readily accepted my inclusion into her family as a result of the crest Lucrezia had given to me. It was strange having a girl you just met call you “sister,” but I didn’t dislike it.

With the two sisters united once more, Antenora seemed to have mellowed out greatly. I don’t think I could ever completely see her as “friendly,” but she was at least an ally for now. At the very least, I could be sure of that.

Aside from the occasional encounter with beasts and a few bandits, our journey toward the Fissure was peaceful and uninterrupted. I found that Priya hung around me a little more than usual now, possibly due to the fact that she’d seen me so close to death.

Lucrezia expressed some jealousy at the fact, which I thought was quite cute until Aurelia began egging her on and causing her to start taking things to extremes. It wasn’t anything bad, but Lucrezia started insisting that she had to be the one to make me breakfast and stuff like that.

As mature on the surface as she was, Aurelia certainly had a more mischievous side, though she was never mean-spirited. I truly enjoyed my conversations with her and she was rather keen to teach me things about the eastern tribes. Her energetic and bright personality coupled with her looks told me that she’d probably be a frighteningly popular normie back on Earth.

The exact type of person that I hated. But here, I found myself rather appreciative of her presence.

As for Antenora, she was content to stand back and assume the role of a servant for the sisters. It was there that she felt most comfortable, though she sometimes joined me during night watches and we had a few conspiratorial conversations regarding our plans to defeat “God.” It was comforting to know that someone else was aware of his existence and shared the same goal as me, even if I couldn’t completely confirm Antenora’s intentions.

But then again, that was life. If I didn’t have [Complete Analysis], I never would’ve been able to even think of the phrase “completely confirm” when it came to the intentions of others anyway. Though, I was still pretty paranoid and I used a good chunk of levels to boost [Psychic Citadel] all the way to level twenty.

Based on what I’d seen from other people that I’d analyzed using [Complete Analysis], level ten was already ridiculously high when it came to skill levels, and twenty was the stuff of legends, so I wasn’t too worried.

And so it came to pass that we made it to the edge of the Fissure. There, Lucrezia used her blood to activate one of the hidden portals nestled away in a cave.

I watched as the others stepped through. Lucrezia, Aurelia, and Antenora all entered the swirling mass of white-purple, but Priya stopped just before she would’ve taken her first step inside.

“Ryuuko, aren’t you coming?”

Almost simultaneously, Lucrezia’s head popped out of the portal. “What’s taking so long, Ryuuko?”

“C’mon! We’re gonna be late for the festival that I wanna show you!” Aurelia’s voice was quickly followed by the upper half of her body poking out from the portal.

“Stop wasting time, Ryuuko.” Antenora hadn’t bothered coming through the portal even partially, but there was no malice in her tone. She was just impatient to get the sisters home at last.

I hesitated, but not because I didn’t want to go. It was just too good to be true. Not a single one of them had any thoughts of abandoning me.

All this time... Was it just me who doubted them? I need to apo—

“W-Whoa!” I exclaimed as I was tugged forward.

All of them had seized my arm, with Antenora included this time. I was helpless to resist their pull as they dragged me toward the portal and through it.

“Let’s go, Ryuuko!” Lucrezia grinned at me.

With the combined might of the four of them and Lucrezia’s radiantly beautiful smile, I found myself in a beautiful new world at last.

But more than that, I’d finally done the impossible.

I, Mikado Ryuuko, found friends.