Finally, I confirmed my own thoughts and reaffirmed my purpose.

　My physical condition is still the same, but instead of being the same, it's getting worse with every second. But my entire body was beginning to feel stronger and my walking speed was increasing.

　Ah, finally ....... Finally, as 'the one who steals the reason for the light', I am on the verge of reaching the same realm as my friends (titties) I saw in Viasia. I can see that for myself.

　Leaving it to its new power, I pass the forty-fifth floor of remembrance - the forty-sixth, forty-seventh, and forty-eight floors - and finally reach the fiftieth floor.

　Finally, it's the top floor of Hoosier's Castle.
　I'm almost there ....... I walk along the wall of the last corridor and open the door to the "Senate" room, rejoicing that in just a few minutes I will be able to fulfill my final role.

　It was redder, darker, brighter and fuller of blood than any other place I've been to so far.
　The moment I open the door, the blood that had been pooling in the room flows out into the corridor, and I nearly fall down.

''--!

　And then the gap is exploited.

　The ugly monster that had been waiting in the room moved.
　The moment I entered the room and recognized it, it had already flashed. The example 'something' in the center of the 'Senate' room was waving one of its tentacles at me.

　I was unable to defend against it as I was consuming it with wear and tear.
　It's not that I hadn't anticipated it. It was just that it was faster and more frightening than I had anticipated.

　The 'something' that was waiting for me was many times larger than normal and its shape was extraordinary.
　Here I felt the most physiological disgust ever running through my body, and my body went rigid. That's where the blade at the end of the tentacles would pass through. I couldn't defend myself with the flag in my hand in time.

''Gu--, aaaaaaaaahhh--''

　My torso is slashed and easily split into upper and lower halves of my body.
　As soon as I enter the room, I feel a floating sensation and fall directly to the floor.

　My face is buried in a shallow pool of blood.
　However, when I get to this point, the pain in my body is no longer the same. I was able to calmly sort out my situation and think about what I should do next.

　I managed to move my hands and try to move my upper body alone.
　However, when I looked up, the 'something' that attacked me was right in front of me and was about to wave its blood tentacles once more.
　My thoughts are spinning as fast as when I fought the 'reason stealers' a thousand years ago.

　This place will be intercepted with a flag - no, close combat is impossible in this state.
　The only way to do this is to activate a different kind of magic.
　Even if it's an outburst.
　Somehow, I'll use my magic to keep them away, and then--

　But in the midst of that thought.
　A flutter.
　I heard a sound from behind me.

　Hearing that sound, I moved my head only to check my rear.
　There was a further enemy, the 'Blood Puppet' standing there in one piece, holding the blood sword in its hand at the upper level.

　It's in the form of a pincer shot.
　It would be useless to blow either of them up with a magical outburst in this.

　--Okay.
　Bad bad bad bad.
　If this is the case, the limbs will be torn apart.
　I'm not going to die, but I'll be unable to act.
　I don't care if it hurts. I don't need the lower half of my body anymore, to be honest.
　But we need at least one arm to get to the roof.
　I have to leave one arm behind and crawl through a pool of blood to get to it--

What--?

　When I was thinking about how to handle this pincer attack with one arm left, all my worries were blown away.
　The blood puppet at the rear of the vehicle sprinted over me, jumped over me, and cut off the Something's tentacles with its blood sword.

　Furthermore, the "something" didn't even take a step back, but instead used its sword to cut both sides of the "something" in opposite directions.
　In the small room of the Senate, a blood-and-blood sword fight began.

'What ......?　...... yea, no, now--

　Before I can be surprised, I crawl across the floor to my lower body and begin to use my recovery magic to make a first-aid but jointed connection.
　However, no matter how I am, I can't get it back to perfect. It's all I can do as I use the characteristics of my body and put my magic power into it to move for the rest of the day.

''Hah, hah, hah ......!

　As soon as the stitching was finished, the battle between the Blood Puppet and the Something was over.
　The "blood puppet" had defeated the higher up "something" and returned to just blood.

　It's abnormal.
　Obviously, the "something" that was waiting for you in the room was a special product.
　I think it was the last stronghold that Fafner had prepared to protect Ragne.

　This "blood doll" that defeated it is not as strong as "The One Who Stole Reason", but it is as strong as the "Seven Celestial Knights" downstairs.

　After finishing the battle, the 'Blood Puppet' turned to look at me.
　And it didn't move even slightly.
　He is very quiet and gentlemanly, like a knight in the service of someone else.
　It looks like it's waiting for me to make a move.

　Who is this 'blood puppet'?
　Fafner uses magic to call the knights who have died in the past indiscriminately - or perhaps in order of strength.

　If so, is this guy one of the knights who served me a thousand years ago?　Is someone who owes me a favor and is ignoring Fafner's orders?　No, there is no way you can ignore it. If you can ignore it, then more 'blood puppets' are rebelling.

　Perhaps this knight is helping me by following orders.
　If so, what are the orders given to this? 'Kill the enemy' or 'Don't let them through to the rooftops', and if there's anything else, it's 'Protect Lagne Kaikwola'--'

　A flutter.
　I heard the sound of blood popping again.

　The 'blood puppet' hadn't moved an inch, but it was moving its face.
　It's not looking at me, but at the stairs leading to the roof.
　His expression was so bloodied that I couldn't see it at all, but I sensed an emotion from him, as if he was worried about something. However, if I don't know his name, I can't gauge the true intentions of someone whose face I can't see.

'No ....... Go ahead ......, let's go .......

　I couldn't fully understand where those emotions were going, so I gave up trying to figure out who he was.
　Instead, I should prefer to do my part.

　I move my newly joined body and bow to the 'blood puppet'.
　It's still difficult to walk, but by placing my hand on the wall of the room, I manage to reach the stairs that lead from the top floor to the roof.

　It's not the movement of a human being who has been cut in half, if you will.
　No, I guess I'm not human anymore.
　I can tell without checking my body.
　After the damage that was done earlier, I was 'half corpse-ized'.

''Ha, ha, ha, ha ......--''

　With a sly, slithering motion of the lower half of his body, characteristic of the snake species, he climbed the narrow stone stairs.
　I clap my hands on the wall, gasping for blood, losing blood from my wounds, continuing to chip away at my life, climbing through the blood, little by little, step by step.

　And at the end of it all, I reach the end.
　Above the "Senate" room.
　The rooftop of Hoozeyer's Castle.
　To the top of this world.

　The moment I stepped out of the stairs, the wind blew through from right beside me.
　It was the wind of the sky mixed with clouds. The night wind that froze my entire body exposed my bangs and at the same time stole the heat from my entire body. The combination of the night and the high altitude made the coldness numb his skin.

　It had been so long.
　The time, the battles, the stairs - not the time, the battles, the stairs - but the whole journey to this point has been a really long one.

　But finally I have reached the 'summit' of my life.
　From here, there is no more.
　This is my end.

　The place where I end is very dark.
　Now that the Great Sacred City had lost its light, it was really dark on the rooftop.
　Mud-like darkness swirled in the sky, clouds like burnt-out black coal flowed, and the entire vision was stagnant like inside a jet-black jewel. The wind noise that echoed in that darkness, along with this bloody footing, was like a call from the underworld.
　The faint of heart might be reminded of death just by standing here.

　Of course, I'm fine with that.
　It's true that at some point in time, I was afraid of the darkness and couldn't bear it. In bed, no matter how much light I put on the 《light》, my soul kept on being frightened. There have been times when I cried so hard I didn't know the meaning of life.

　But I don't mind now.
　I've seen a lot of feelings along the way to this point.
　Even if there's no light, I can still feel the light in the world.

It's called the "Magical Banner of Light.

　And I build a flag of light.
　I treat it like a torch and walk on the rooftop. The destination is not your father, the ultimate target - but Ragne, who is beside his corpse.

　Ragne was also looking at me. He sensed that I had appeared on the rooftop, interrupted some kind of magic and pulled out the arm he had inserted into his father's body.

　He then began to walk towards us.
　His face looked different from this morning.
　Due to Ragne's stance, I thought that she was going to take everything from me, with no useless questions and answers, only killing each other. However, there was no killing intent on her face now; on the contrary, I could even sense a willingness to talk to her.

　While I was doing my best to move forward a little bit, Lagune quickly took five steps forward.
　Gradually Lagune and I are getting closer. When we are within the distance to exchange a greeting, she opens her mouth in a daze.

''--Huh?''

　He stops and looks into those eyes, not at me - but behind me.