Apocalypse Witch: To the Strongests of an Age of Plenty
Episode 27's
Utagai Karuta felt dizzy.
Even he did not know how he was still standing right now. A large amount of blood flowed from his side where the long claws were detached. He should have died after losing so much blood.
But for some reason, the first to faint was a woman in a yellow and black military uniform. He felt he had no choice but to underestimate her.
That is his job as a winner.
"Karuta!!"
His childhood friend, Marika, frantically ran over. She and the Crystal Aine Girl sustained her unsteady body and she finally managed to exhale a rust-smelling breath. The wound must have been very deep because the sound of the crystal scattering had not stopped.
A beautiful blonde woman fainted at his feet.
He more or less knew that no one could save him. He also did not beg for his life.
His yellow and black armor melted.
She asked him a question as he lay on his back and slowly stopped moving with a slanted face.
"You can twist your wrist to widen the wound before pulling your hand. It will destroy the healing crystal and make me unable to recover. In other words, you could have killed me. Why not?"
Marika was late looking at him in surprise. If he makes one mistake - no, if everything goes normal - he will not succeed. He seemed to have finally realized how difficult it was for him to walk on a rope.
On the other hand, Anastasia did not look towards him.
He may have been blind.
“Didn't I tell you?”
“Deliver what?”
“This is my daily life in the middle of the apocalypse. I've always ruined someone and will one day be destroyed by someone. If today is that day, then I should give up the title of being the strongest in the world. I have no interest in taking you with me. I have become an ordinary woman and you have become the strongest in the world.”
“…”
“But be careful.” He said with a faint smile aimed at an unknown place. “You will find yourself trapped in a life that must fight the Threat as the strongest in the world. On the road to the strongest, fellow humans will continue to hinder you because they want to help or because they decide they are your rivals. You won't find any allies outside of your own group. If you ever want to retreat, then let go of your vigilance in an instant. You will soon be devoured by Threat or fellow humans.”
Karuta, Aine, Marika, and Kyouka.
They will rule in place of the previous five.
They will be the four rulers of the new era.
“I'm not interested in being the strongest.”
“But there is no other way to avoid it.”
“…”
“You will not be able to avoid being the strongest in the world, as we used to be.”
“What..”
The child could not tell if the healing from the Crystal Blossom was enough or if this would be a fatal blow and his entire body would become stiff. Desperately he tried to stay conscious to ask this question.
He wants to know the answer.
“Where is Problem Solver from? Where did you start?”
“Before bound by the strongest title, we are nothing more than ordinary girl and her friends.”
His words sound like a curse.
“And now I have given up that title. The most powerful force in the world is considered justified because it is the most powerful force in the world. So now that I have fallen, no one can stand up for what I did or said. So, let me say this one thing to you, who became the new strongest and so recklessly reached this point."
Anastasia Blast gathers the final strength of the fading flames from her life to utter these final words.
"I'm sorry for what happened in Grimnoah. We're scared" Anastasia Blast said.
The strongest top in the world has left.
After listening to Anastasia Blast, the tension within Karuta finally broke and her mind fell into darkness.
He thought he heard someone yelling in his ear, but he could no longer respond.
Revenge, the driving force of his soul, had reached its conclusion that day - at that very instant.
Between Lines 4
"Crystal Flower?" ask the strongest magician in the world once. "You think it can beat us and be the next strongest?"
"Of course," replied the old man who had become his sidekick. "And once enough of them are in place, the distortions of the world no longer need to be focused on the individual. Magic Crystals will protect you five, so you can finally get off the stage, Anastasia."