373-Epilogue-Father of the Devil-




 The next day--

 I visited the hills southwest of Midhays early in the morning.

 I thrust the Universal Lightning Sword in my hand into the best vantage point on that hill.

 I now owned this sword.
 Only Sin or Ray will be able to pull it out.

"Graham continues to perish.

 Facing my father's memento of the Universal Thunder Sword, I spoke the words.

'In the depths of this root, even that emptiness will disappear and we will taste infinite perdition until we reach true nothingness.'

 Even now, his emptiness is deep in my roots, repeating the cycle of extinction.

I will not let his emptiness escape me, even if my body will perish one day. Father, I take over from you. At the root of the Voldigord, which my mother risked her life to bring into the world, I will lock that fool in the depths of hell.

 There is no eternity.
 Sooner or later, I will perish as nothingness.

 If it is a mistake and he lives in eternal nothingness, then my perdition will also continue for eternity.
 His emptiness, sunk in the abyss of this root, will eventually continue to perish forever.

'I found the Emperor Shapps in the dungeons of Eiltheve.

 Facing my late father, I continued my words.

'It seems that Bomilas thought the Emperor had some use for him, and kept him alive. Although it is not yet settled, the Inzuel Empire is expected to join the Council of Heroes. Azéon is in the hands of a group of volunteers who want peace and a better future.

 Another step closer to peace in the world.

Mid-Hays is peaceful.

 A ten thousand lightning swords stabbed into the hills.
 From its tombstone, you can see Mid-Hays in full view.

'There are so many smiles in that city that it looks nothing like it did two thousand years ago.

 I've finally arrived at the moment when I'm not afraid to fight.
 At the end of my father's repeated destruction, at the end of his lost and tormented battle, there is that smile.

With the countless corpses as his foundation.

 Those of us who live in this age can't even imagine it.
 But that's all right.

"I will not forget you again.

 I look back on the past that I saw on the Genesis Aerial.

The valor of the noble knights who fought for tomorrow without leaving their names in history. The noble backs of those who were tossed about by the fires of war and neglected by the people they were supposed to protect, but they still stood up for themselves.

 Maybe that's why I followed it all the way here.

I will inherit your will for peace.

 Lest we repeat the tragedy.

The ghosts have been destroyed.

 When my father came to see me for the 17th time, he said to me.

 He said that he would destroy the ghosts and change the ravaged world.
 In other words, he would build an era in which there was no need for the Knights of Illusionary Names.

 He must have had a hunch.
 I wanted to see my father's true face playing the role of a ghost.

 You believe that you can do it.
 Nothing is out of my grasp.

 As it turned out, my words gave him one last chance to make up his mind.

"...did you come to me for help in defeating Graham?

 Then, if I had said the words differently, we might have had a future here, side by side, looking at the city.

 No matter how much I think about it, it's out of the question.

 Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't.
 Either way, this was over two thousand years ago.

 We don't need to worry about it.
 If I don't look ahead, I don't float.

"My great father, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

 I close my eyes and say a silent prayer.

 Rest in peace--

 I couldn't get those words out of my throat.

 Maybe I wanted to keep this moment going for as long as possible.

 A warm breeze gently caresses my cheeks in the calm morning.
 In the silence, I felt gratitude for my father overflowing incessantly.

 I remembered Misha's words.

 There is no hurry.
 It would be fine to stay in sentimentality for a while longer.

 It's more peaceful, and my father feels more at ease that way.

 I listened to the faint sound of the wind and followed the few memories of my father that Sousei had shown me.

 I could hear various sounds of peace on the wind.
 The sound of peaceful sleep, the sound of bouncing feet, the sound of spilled laughter.

 Everything was what the nameless knights had asked for.

 And then--.

Hmph!

 A loud, boisterous voice.

'Teriya!'

 The sword, brought down with great force, cuts the wind.

''Do-u-rya-aaaah!

 I couldn't keep silent at that annoyingly insistent voice, so I looked at him.

 My father was glancing at me while swinging his sword, glancing at me.

''........What are you doing here so early in the morning?''

Oh, Anos. There you are.

 Dad thrust his sword into the air and struck a pretentious pose.

'Odd.'

 You should have known, obviously.

"You see, this is what my father has to do. "This is what my father does early in the morning," he said. To sharpen his hardened sword for the sake of the soul.

 Again Dad draws his sword and swings it down.

'I've never heard of this, but when did your routine start?'

Of course...

 The sword cuts through the wind with a buzzing sound.

''-- Starting today!

 It's not a routine.

What do you say? You want to do what you always do? Hmm?

Always?

 I walk to my father.

'The one where we'll both sharpen our swords together.

 Hmmm, you're playing in the kitchen.
 I mean, I've only been out once before.

Here.

 Dad forces the sword into my hand.
 Then, with a light step, I walk towards the basket that was lying on the hill.

'Ahhhh, hmmm.......and........'

 Dad said, as if he wanted to say something.

Well, you know, Anos, you've been back, haven't you?

 Dad says as he fishes for the sword in the basket.

'What's that?'

No, you see, you don't look well.

 I got a straight face.

'Do I look like that?'

Oh, well, what the hell, if it's my imagination, I hope it's not! Well, well, even if it's not your imagination, it's okay if Anos says it's okay. Of course, every man has a wall or two to get over, you know.

 Choosing a sword, Dad turned to me.

'I don't mean to brag, but my dad had so many walls that he was buried in them.

 I imagined my father cowering within the walls.
 Certainly, I'm not proud of it.

'What's up with those walls?'

 Dad huffed and gave a grin.

'It's still buried.'

 You haven't gotten over it.

That's just the way life is. But Anos, unlike his father, is very good at what he does. He'd smash it to bits if it was buried in the wall.

Well.

 As he said it, Dad laughed.

"Dad," he said. You got up early to tell me that?

I told you. It was an accident.

 I don't like the way my dad dresses up.
 It's a problem, but....

 Strangely enough, I felt better than I did earlier.

'Thank you,'

What's happening all of a sudden? It's not like I'm going to be thanked for saying the right thing.

 Even as he said this, Dad was very embarrassed.

'Well,' 

Oh.

 I was about to turn on my heel to go home, when Dad said, "Let's do it.

"Hey, you go!

Are you going to do it?

Of course you do.

 He had that look in his eye that says it all.

 Hmm. Well, all right.
 You're worried about your dad, so you might as well go along for the ride.

"I'll be there for you.

 Of course, there's no way I'm really going to be serious about it.

I wish.

 Dad chuckled.

 We both keep our distance and raise our swords.

"I've got nothing against you, but I'll let you die in peace!

 Dad held his sword in his right hand, and with his left hand he held the Universal Thunder Sword that he was stabbing into the hill.

'My sword is not one!

 I put in a lot of effort, but of course that magic sword didn't budge.

 It's a good thing that I'm the owner, or else I would have been shot to ashes by Shiden.



 Dad throws away the sword he was holding and tries to pull out the Universal Lightning Sword with both hands.

''N........N.......I can't pull it out--''

 It was a foregone conclusion.

Don't think so. That's my stance.

 With his hand on the thrusting universal lightning sword, Dad pretends to be forced to hold it up.

"Do you care who I am? I am the King of the Annihilating Sword!

 Dad continued onward, still forcing me to go on.
 He was still making a fierce appeal to me to ask his name.

 Oh dear, it can't be helped.

"Who are you?

 As I say it, I walk loosely towards my dad.

"Phew.

 He laughed at that very moment.

 It's not worth mentioning, right?

 No.

 That face--
 You have a look on your face like you're trying to outsmart me.

 Another pattern?

 He's going to attack me with the same words until halfway through, and then he's going to make a sudden change so that I can't read his words and actions.
 But I've gotten used to my father's kitchen sickness.

 It doesn't matter how many lines or how bizarre they are, it doesn't matter anymore.

"Ghosts have no name!

 For a moment, his voice sounded dubbed as my father from two thousand years ago.

 It's a cliché line. It must be a coincidence.
 I paced further, wondering why my father was so sick in the kitchen.

"You shall burn the name of your father in your heart.

 It felt like time was passing terribly slowly.

'I am the Phantom Knights, Commander (Isis)--'

 I just listened to my dad's words, "How could that be.......

 Looking back, I couldn't hear beyond that in the past of the Founding Star.

''--The Annihilating Sword King (Metsusetsukenou) Garderahiput!

 With my father's words, the ten thousand lightning swords slipped out of the ground with great force.
 In the hands of its original owner, as if to say that it was back in the hands of its original owner.

''Deaaaaah!

 The sword was swung as hard as it could outside of the interval.
 As I moved forward without a care in the world, the ten thousand lightning swords hit my head with a thud.

''Uaaaah........ah, ah.......anosu.......!

 My dad screams.

"I'm sorry, Dad, I don't know what...! 

 Graham said he was dead.
 My father, Cerys Voldigord, is dead.

 The one whose head was stolen by the bloodline of Zeiron will not perish, but die.

 When his power is taken away and he can no longer use , the remaining root source in his neck is released.

 It will meet again with the few remaining consciousnesses, the diluted root source in the detached body, and so the root source will ascend to heaven and cease to exist.

 If it cannot be resurrected or reborn, death is tantamount to extinction.
 That is what it means to die out.

 Still, Arcana said before.
 The root is reincarnated.

 Shape-shifting, power-shifting, memory-less.

 My father was still here.
 He was always here, by my side.

"...Anos? Dude, you okay? No, does it hurt?

 A single teardrop was falling down my cheek.

'It reminded me of my father,'

 My father's expression turned serious at the sound of my voice, and he listened.

"Two thousand years ago, my father, Cerys Voldigord, was a deeply loving and demanding man. He fought like a madman for peace, for my future, and at the end of his life, he looked back on his life and lamented.

 Nodding, my dad looks tenderly at me as he begins to speak abruptly.

'He was a strict, unloving, stupid father,'

 How disappointing it was.

'I should never have let him say that. My father's, his back spoke to me more eloquently than any words could.

 His voice quivered.

'I was proud of you.'

 He clenched his fists.

'I don't feel sorry for my father, who died when peace never came,'

 Then my dad puts his hand on my head.
 He gave me a strong hug as he squared his shoulders.

'You must have been a fine man, Anos' father,'

 With that, Dad looked incredibly mature, which is not usual for him.

'Dad, I think, Anos' father wasn't the last person to mourn his life, was he?'

 I looked at him and asked him a question, and Dad replied.

'You're with Anos now, so I kind of get it. Dad, I don't even think about myself when I die.

Then what?

That's what I'm talking about. I think your father was grieving for you because you couldn't receive his love anymore. He was mourning the fact that you will not live in peace from now on.

 Dad's words quickly enter my chest.

'....Really?

Maybe....

 'No,' said Dad, then hurriedly reiterated.

'No, never, never! So, yeah. It's all up to you.

 In an unusually serious manner, he says.

"Then you must live your life so that you won't mourn your father.

Oh. And that, that! The things your father lamented about not being able to do, I'll do everything for you, Anos. You can't talk nonsense, talk about your life, play kitchen games, etc.

 Trying to cheer me up, he did what he always does, and gave me a little joke.

"Then your father will feel a little better in heaven.

Huh....

 A small chuckle spilled out of my mouth.

''Kuhaha!''

Oh, that's funny? You shouldn't laugh like that. Dad, you're going to get stuck in the wall of life again.

Dad, there's a limit to the nonsense. My strict father, who lived like a bastard, wanted to be like my dad, who was buried in the wall all the time?

 He looked at me as if he were whispering to me.

I'll know. I'm sure your father was buried in the walls of his life, too," he said.

"Hahahaha!

 It's ridiculous.
 Really, it's such a ridiculous story.

 If my father, who lived his life harder than anyone else, had wanted me to become this kind of father, it would be very strange and peaceful.

 After laughing for a while, I said, "It's time for you to go.

I said, "It's about time you finished making breakfast.

Oh, yeah. I bet it's mushroom gratin in the morning.

Why?

That's because Anos wasn't feeling well.

 I'm sure Mom noticed.

All right, let's go!

 I start walking down the hill with my dad shoulder to shoulder with me.

'Are we going to keep going?'

It's nice to have a change of pace. Dad, I've always wanted to walk around like this with my son, shoulder to shoulder, man to man.

 Oh, man. Can't help it, Dad.

You know, sometimes...

 Dad laughs.

'Oh, well, what are you going to do with this sword? You don't want to bring it with you, do you?

 Dad looked at the thunderbolt in his hand.

"It belonged to my father. You can keep it for me.

Are you sure? Something so important?

My father would have wanted that.

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

 Dad says happily.

"All right, I'll take it.

 Dad stroked my head languidly with his hunched hands.
 His hands are a little rough, but I feel a great tenderness in them.

'You're getting big, Anos.

 Dad says, as if he were my father two thousand years ago.
 "I'm not as good as my father was two thousand years ago," he says.

"I'm not as good as my father.

Haha, that's it. That's it!

 Dad laughs, happy from the bottom of his heart.
 We walk slowly down the hill, shoulder to shoulder as it is, without magic.

 This peaceful, ridiculous, loving moment, with the certainty that it will continue for many more years to come.

 Amidst the sounds of laughter, I suddenly remember the little creator god.

 The world is not kind, she had said.
 Next time I see you, I'll be sure to tell you this.

 This world you've created is so full of kindness, she said--