[13] : End of the 100-Year Contract (II)

Dimensional Rift.

[***]

"So it will finally end… one hundred years of war against these disgusting invaders," murmured Kotori, who was sitting on Aiden's lap while watching the battle in the distance.

Thousands of Phrases were falling rapidly, killed by the weapons fired from golden portals.

"Eh," Aiden nodded, his gaze fixed on the chaos.

"This will be the last invasion we personally defend against. From now on, the contract with Yog-Sothoth is complete," said Aiden, as an invisible chain began to wrap around his body.

It was the contract he had made with Yog-Sothoth a century ago.

He had fulfilled his part, and now, the chain symbolized the end of his commitment.

—Crrrraaaaack!

Aiden tore off the chains, breaking them with a simple thought.

An astral armor appeared instantly on his body, glowing.

"[Eloah Tzabaoth]," he pronounced, and his body lit up, transforming into a black knight's armor—elegant and powerful, a fusion of beauty and strength.

"After this battle, this world will be left in the hands of Mochizuki Touya…" Aiden murmured.

A hundred years ago, Yog-Sothoth had revealed the name of the person who would take his place: Touya.

The future protector of this world, capable of eradicating what remained of the Phrases.

Most of the invaders had already been exterminated by Aiden.

Now, he was enough to maintain peace.

"At last, we'll see a world similar to Darling's past life," Miku commented from within Aiden's soul.

"Declaration: I am excited, though also sad. We'll be leaving behind the world we protected for so long," said Yuzuru with a melancholic tone.

This world was full of memories, and though the war against the Phrases had marked their lives, she couldn't help but miss the place where they had spent over 90 years.

"We can always come back whenever we want with Aiden's magic! So don't be sad, sister. Though I will miss flying through this world's skies too," said Kaguya, cheering her sister up.

Aiden let out a soft laugh.

"With my [Kaleidoscope] magic, we can return whenever we want, as I have this world's coordinates. So don't feel down, Yuzuru," he said, while continuing to fire all kinds of weapons at the enemy army.

He could hear the humanoid Phrases cursing in the distance, their furious screams like music to his ears.

"That's right, don't feel down, Yuzuru-chin. I also put up a lot of barriers together with Aiden-kun around our house. Nothing will happen to it," said Nia.

"We can treat that house as our vacation spot," added Kurumi.

"Un! Un! That's a great idea!" exclaimed Tohka, wholeheartedly agreeing with Kurumi.

"I agree," said Origami briefly.

They all shared their enthusiasm, thinking about how they would return whenever they missed their home.

Meanwhile, Kotori, still leaning on Aiden, noticed something in the distance.

"Aiden, they're starting to bring out the heavy artillery. Your swords and weapons can no longer pierce their defenses all at once," Kotori said, alarmed.

Aiden nodded and lifted Kotori in a princess carry, standing up.

The throne [Sandalphon] disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

"I see," Aiden said, his gaze fixed on the horizon.

There, he saw hundreds of high-ranking Phrases approaching, each exceeding 400 meters in height, though their sizes varied.

"Lend me your strength," Aiden said, looking at the red-haired girl in his arms.

She frowned, clearly annoyed.

"Don't you want me to fight alongside you in my human form? Are you afraid of me getting hurt, or are you underestimating me?" she asked, clenching her fists tightly.

Aiden gently stroked her head, smiling.

"Haha… none of that. Although I don't like seeing you get hurt, I'm not underestimating you at all. I know you're strong, but… aren't we stronger when we fight together?" he replied with a smile, continuing to stroke her hair.

It was true. The <Divine Authorities> were more powerful when Aiden wielded them.

"Don't treat me like a little girl while they're watching!" Kotori protested, embarrassed, as all the others were watching from within his soul.

It didn't take a second for the first provocation to start.

"Hya~ Kotori-chin is shy. Despite being the age of a grandma, she acts like a little girl," Nia said, openly teasing, followed by the others' laughter.

Veins bulged on Kotori's forehead.

"Fufufufu… Nia-san, you can't expose Kotori-san's fetishes so easily. Even though she's the age of a grandma (95 years old), she still calls Danna-sama her 'Oni-chan' when they're alone, despite already being married to him," said Kurumi shamelessly, exposing Kotori's fetish without flinching.

More veins popped on Kotori's forehead as her face, red as her hair, seemed about to explode.

"Speaking of fetishes… Aiden seemed to like it when Kotori called him 'Oni-chan.' Maybe I should do it too," said Origami, the most shameless of them all, leaving everyone speechless.

Aiden nearly choked but quickly refocused on the enemy army, firing from the [Gate of Babylon] at the low and mid-ranking Phrases, annihilating the cannon fodder with precision.

"Origami, have some shame!" Natsumi intervened, embarrassed by Origami's shameless words.

"Yeah! You can't make fun of Kotori's fetish like that!" Kaguya chimed in.

"Even if her tastes are questionable… it's not right to mock others…" Yoshino murmured softly.

"Pffft~." Yoshinon, Yoshino's alter ego, chuckled.

"Is Yoshino mocking Kotori or defending her?" Natsumi was speechless.

"Eh?! That wasn't my intention…" Yoshino quickly apologized just in case.

"Kotori, everyone already knows you have that fetish, so there's no need to deny it… You're not the only one with questionable fetishes. Cheer up!" Miku said.

"Hey! I don't have any weird fetishes," Tohka protested.

"Having Aiden praise you, pat your head, and call you 'princess' during intimate moments, isn't that a fetish?" Origami asked.

"...!!" Tohka.

"Pffft~." Kurumi laughed.

"I don't have weird fetishes; don't drag me into this," Natsumi said.

"She's right…" Kaguya and the others agreed with Natsumi.

"Hahaha~, I still think it's funny that Kotori calls Aiden-kun 'Oni-chan,' even though she's older than a human grandmother," Nia continued laughing at Kotori.

The girls didn't stop teasing Kotori: Nia, Mukuro, Kurumi, Yuzuru, Miku, Kaguya, and Origami—all of them relentlessly made jokes at her expense.

Meanwhile, Tohka, Natsumi, and even the shy Yoshino indirectly joined in, causing Kotori to explode mid-battlefield.

"What the hell are you all talking about?! I don't have that kind of fetish…!" Kotori shouted, though she didn't sound very convincing as she tried to defend herself.

"Tsk! Maybe I should ask my ONI-CHAN to check [Rasiel] to expose all the embarrassing things you've done over the years. I don't even want to imagine what perverts like you would do!" she threatened furiously, making it clear she wouldn't hesitate to use the omniscient book to reveal their darkest secrets.

"I apologize," Nia was the first to say, quickly backing down.

As the bearer of [Rasiel], she didn't want her own secrets exposed.

Aiden and Kotori exchanged disapproving looks at how fast Nia apologized.

"I apologize to my little sister, Kotori-sama," Kurumi continued. She loved teasing others but couldn't stand being teased herself.

"Oh," Origami said without much interest. She didn't care if her secrets were known, as she considered the girls her sisters.

The rest quickly apologized, fearing their secrets might also come to light.

At that precise moment, a high-ranked Phrase shaped like a crocodile was already a hundred meters from Aiden, preparing to attack.

"Kotori, let's deal with that later. For now, let's focus on these things," Aiden said, refocusing on the battle.

"Got it," Kotori replied, obediently. Her body began to shine brightly, transforming into a massive wall of fire.

—Fwoooshh!

"Burn, [Camael]!" Aiden and Kotori shouted in unison.

The wall of fire transformed into something far more powerful, and then…

—Slash! Boom!

The head of the giant approaching Phrase was destroyed by Aiden's halberd as he appeared in front of it in the blink of an eye.

After cutting through the giant, Aiden manipulated the flames around him, wiping out several low- and mid-ranked Phrases nearby.

—Explosion!

He spun his halberd with skill, destroying the giant Phrase's cores to ensure it couldn't regenerate.

The flames quickly expanded, engulfing the area, and in a flash, Aiden vanished, leaving only an afterimage.

He appeared right beneath a high-ranked gorilla-shaped Phrase.

The gorilla spotted him and, with fury, swung a massive punch with its enormous arm.

Aiden chuckled. With an agile leap, he propelled himself off the gorilla's crystalline arm, using its force to bend his legs and prepare his next move.

—Explosion!

The gorilla's arm shattered like glass under Aiden's momentum as he appeared right in the monster's face.

"Hi there, big guy… but you're heading straight to hell," Aiden said with a defiant smile.

—Slash! Explosion!

—Fwoooshh!

The halberd, engulfed in flames, pierced through the giant, leaving a line of fire across its entire body.

—Boom!

The gorilla's body exploded into a thousand pieces along with its cores, scattering debris everywhere.

Aiden wielded [Camael] with astounding skill and, without losing time, annihilated over 20 high-ranked Phrases in the blink of an eye.

Seeing the havoc Aiden was wreaking, the humanoid Phrases began barking orders.

"Destroy that arrogant inferior creature!!" a humanoid Phrase shouted furiously.

More than 50 high-ranked and over 10,000 mid-ranked Phrases began gathering intense white light in their mouths. The dimensional rift filled with glowing points.

"Let him be annihilated by the civilization-destroying ray!" another humanoid roared, issuing the final command.

—Boom! Boom! Flash! Explosion!

Destructive rays rained down on Aiden's small figure, but he only smiled and called out to his wife.

"Mukuro…"

In that instant, Mukuro appeared by his side, wearing her astral dress, [Eloah].

"Yes, Nushi-sama!" Mukuro responded, summoning her [Angel] without hesitation.

"[Michael: Shifuru]"

The key appeared in her hands, quickly transforming into a spear as her Reiryoku exploded, revealing her true power. Mukuro's astral dress changed, taking on a wilder and more menacing appearance.

"Shove your beloved civilization-destroying ray where it belongs!" Mukuro shouted defiantly.

"[Lataib]!"

A massive wormhole appeared in front of Aiden and Mukuro, swallowing the destructive rays as if they were nothing.

—Boom!

The rays impacted the wormhole, but it was useless; it only grew larger, devouring them entirely.

"Now Muku sends it back to you!"

Another wormhole appeared above all the high-ranked Phrases, and suddenly, their own civilization-destroying ray began raining down on them.

—Boom! Explosion!

"Damn it…!" the humanoid Phrases exclaimed, shocked and terrified at what was happening.

The destructive rays annihilated thousands of Phrases of all ranks; only the humanoids, with quick reflexes, managed to dodge the massacre… or so they thought.

Just as they believed they were safe, a voice sounded beside them.

"Hello…"

Aiden appeared next to one of the humanoids, with a cannon covering his entire right arm.

"Damn human…!" the Phrase managed to shout, unable to react in time.

"[Meggido]!" Aiden and Kotori shouted in unison.

—Boom! Fwoooshh!

A line of fire shot through the dimensional rift, transforming into a massive flaming ray that wiped out thousands of Phrases, even eliminating several humanoids.

[***]

End of chapter.

(•_•)

A/N:

In the author's notes of the previous chapter, I mentioned that I wouldn't upload a chapter tomorrow, and that still stands.

But since I was able to finish it, here you have an extra chapter today.

Also, I uploaded Aiden's Level 10 status to the auxiliary chapter because it's too much text, and I don't want to put it here.

Thank you for reading! ~

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[Image Camael] ←

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