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“Hmph! Do not lump me in with such toys. My skeleton is made of orichalcum, my brain is powered by a philosopher’s stone, and my heart is a dragon gem. In theory, my body is that of a perfect maid who can operate indefinitely without maintenance.”

Orichalcum—the legendary metal, now almost a myth.

Its binding power seemed effective, as Igoronak struggled desperately but remained subdued.

In front of my astonished eyes, I caught sight of Coppelia’s white apron drifting down. The earlier impact had loosened it, and now it floated down gently, finally settling on the quicksand. The lightness of its fabric kept it from sinking, and it spun and danced on the surface like a falling leaf. The whole scene felt surreal, like something out of a dream.

“Dragon Gem release! Thirty seconds until critical mass! Clara, escape now while you can!”

With her shout, a red light began to swirl from Coppelia’s heart, expanding outward in a spinning, ever-growing radius.

Shocked back to my senses, I took a step or two forward and reached toward her.

“Wait! How do you plan to escape yourself!?”
“Yeah, you heap of scrap metal, get out of there already!”

Eren cried out beside me, her face twisted with desperation.

But I knew the answer, even before I asked.

Coppelia looked straight at us with an innocent smile, unclouded by any doubt.

“I am sorry, but the Dimension-Shattering Bomb, the Ultimate Arcane Armament, is designed to be self-destructive. There was never a way for me to survive this.”
“What?!”

She smiled brightly at my speechless reaction and continued.

“You are right, you know. I was the source of it all, the beginning of this tragedy. I got so caught up in my dream that I neglected the world beneath my feet. This is my fault. And I have to end it myself if I am to atone for that sin. I am truly sorry, Clara… no, Jill.”

The red light expanded rapidly, reaching nearly to where we stood.

From within its center, Igoronak writhed, struggling to release black flames and miasma, but all of it disintegrated at the edges of the light. Meanwhile, Coppelia, who was clinging to him, bore the full brunt of the impact, and her maid uniform had already been torn to shreds.

“Jill, now is our chance. I’m not sure about the details, but we need to retreat from here so we don’t waste her sacrifice!”
“But…”

As I hesitated, Luke gripped my right hand tightly, his face full of urgency.

“Let’s go, Lady Jill. We’ve got to honor that dummaid’s efforts.”

Eren, wiping her nose against the back of her hand, resolutely took hold of my left hand.

Pulled by the two of them, I turned around one last time to look back at Coppelia—or rather, Dr. Victor—but all I could see through the red light was a blurred silhouette. Yet, somehow, I sensed a smile on that face, a smile of someone who had fulfilled their purpose.

“—Let’s go. Vier, I know it’s a lot, but please carry everyone.”
“Woof—!”

With a resounding bark of acknowledgment, Vier swiftly leaped, carrying us on her back, and bounded over to the stunned Lieselotte and the others, effortlessly picking them up one by one with her mouth and placing them on her back.

“Whoa—!”
“Wh-what is this!?”
“This is Vier, my familiar! Hold on tight so you don’t fall off!”

Lieselotte looked stunned, while Viola laughed gleefully. Sensing their reactions, I called out to them quickly, urging Vier to get us out of there.

“Woof!”

With a mighty flap of her wings, Vier glided away, carrying us safely beyond the range of the red glow.

♦♢♦♢

Just as I’d been told, the Ultimate Arcane Armament’s area of effect was a hemispherical shape with a radius of about five hundred mertes—though it resembled a flattened dumpling, with the elevation slightly lower in the upper regions.

From above, I could see red light covering the area below, where fierce lightning struck down like torrential rain. It’s terrifying to think that we could have been right underneath that if we had been any slower.

Once we were at a safe distance, about two hundred mertes away from the edge of the blast radius, Vier landed within the forest. I patted her back in thanks and led the way as we dismounted, with Eren, Luke, Lieselotte, Viola, and then Cestlavie following suit.

Even though it was past midnight, the sky above us was painted crimson, as if under an eerie twilight. Luke glanced up at the sky and spoke with urgency.

“So, did we manage to defeat the No-Life King?”
“…I’m not sure.”

In truth, I had little idea of what was going on. All I could sense, with my ability to use Sky magic, was that the space and time around that area had become completely distorted.

“All we can do now is trust that junk of a maid…” Looking at the sky, glowing like a surreal sunset, I could only offer those few words.

Luke then asked hesitantly, “Was she… well, was she a friend of yours, Jill?”

“Who knows…” My time with Coppelia had been brief, filled with action, and complicated by the fact that she possessed two personalities—each with its own quirks, to say the least. If I really thought about it, it’s hard to say that I saw her in a purely positive light…

—“Ah, Lady Clara, so you have finally given your humanity. Congratulations!”
—“Oh, you are sharp! This is a special fragrant tea made from surplus Batacutilius used in experiments.”
—“Exactly! Professor Victor Francis, the genius sorcerer and extraordinary alchemist,”
—“Hmph! Well, I am a magnanimous person. I will never forgive Igoronak for taking my life, but as for your apology… well, you could consider it accepted.”
—“Do you think you could ever understand the struggles of a man who, no matter how much he tries or what he accomplishes, is completely ignored by women!?”
—“What is this, Clara? Who is the fancy-looking lad? Is he your new boyfriend?”
—“I am truly sorry, Clara… no, Jill.”

All these brief memories with Coppelia suddenly surfaced, filling my chest. Now that I thought about it, this was probably the first time I had been present at the death of someone close to me.

Maybe… I should cry.

Just as I felt the tears rising—

Whooosh! With a whistling sound, a rocket punch shot out from the crimson light.

“ “ “ “ “ “What—?!” ” ” ” ” ”

Looking closer, I saw that the rocket punch was holding Coppelia’s severed head in both hands, with her mouth gripping her apron.

In a daze, I watched as the hands carefully placed the head on the ground, flipped the apron inside out, and with a loud thud, a full body—Coppelia’s, minus the head—dropped out. It appeared that her apron was actually a kind of spatial storage bag…

The hands then deftly set her head onto the new body, adjusting her arms back in place. Coppelia’s once-lifeless face blinked repeatedly as though she had just been revived, turned to focus on my face, and gave me a cheerful V-sign.

“Memory transfer to the sub-body is complete. All systems confirmed to be operational.”

“What the…?”
“ “ “ “ “ “What is that supposed to mean?!” ” ” ” ” ”

Needless to say, we all immediately shouted as if demanding our emotions be returned!

“What do you mean, ‘What is that’? The master’s memory reached satisfaction and vanished, so authority returned to me. It seemed like things were getting pretty bad, so I escaped with what parts I could. And here I am, back and reporting for duty. Oh, and this body doesn’t have a self-destruct function—instead, it comes with an incredible Oppai Beam.”

Coppelia saluted crisply.

Despite how bizarre this situation was, I couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

“Ah… hahahahahaha!”

I clutched my stomach, unable to stop laughing.

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