— Leon Anemoi Greyrat —
It was now the beginning of the seventh month of the year K431, and as such, I was now a 26-year-old man.
Haa… well, at least my age was finally catching up to how old I felt internally, but I guess the combination of having memories of a previous life, as well as the stress of nine kids would do that to anybody.
As for the recent developments around the house, it had actually been quite quiet and calm, with the only thing of note being Roana and Damian's fifth birthdays, and with those two being born only a week apart, we decided to merge their special days into one big celebration where we rented out an entire bar.
Suffice it to say, that ended up being quite the bad choice on our part, as both of them were on the quieter, more introverted side of things… but at least everyone else had fun, and those two still got to enjoy their presents, with Damian getting a small alchemist set and Roana getting a painting set.
It seemed that Roana wasn't interested in only Rudy's figures, which she had used as inspiration to start learning earth magic, but other forms of art as well.
I was glad to see that all the kids had their own niches, not only to ensure they didn't feel the need to follow any mould as they grew up, but also to reduce any possible bad feelings that would come with a difference in natural talent.
But yeah, other than the birthdays, things had been very calm recently… so calm, in fact, that the thought of the Man-God had all but disappeared from my mind, as he hadn't sent any new apostles after us or anything.
But today… well, I wouldn't be able to ignore that whole issue anymore.
"So… this is the seal?" Orsted asked, looking down at the incredibly intricate magic circle, the many layers of paper having been stacked together.
I couldn't even pretend to be able to understand whatever this was… Shizuka and Roxy really were amazing.
"Yeah… it is…" Shizuka said, her head buried into her arms as she leaned on the desk, while Roxy stood behind her, gently patting her back as the glow of healing magic flowed from her hand.
I guess she was quite exhausted after a long day… I should do the same to Roxy tonight, alongside a massage.
An innocent one, of course.
"I see… this is certainly convenient, to be concentrated in a small stack of paper… will it require direct contact?" Orsted asked.
"Yeah… at least for the final activation step…" Shizuka said, releasing a groan as she turned her head to glare at us. "Actually… do you two mind shutting up and leaving me alone? I need… to go home… and sleep…"
I looked over to Roxy, only to see a very empathetic look on her face as she shook her head at me.
"Did… something happen?" I asked.
"Yeah… you could say that," Shizuka said, moving her head to look at me. "In essence… you could say that my theory was correct."
Huh?
What was she talking about?
"About me having… a purpose, I mean," she clarified, wincing in pain for a moment. "As soon as we finished the final circuit… I felt something change inside of me… and lo and behold, I suddenly got my first period in fourteen years…"
…Oh.
So it wasn't just exhaustion, but it was… that.
Just as she had hypothesized, her purpose in being summoned into this world was to create a seal for the Man-God… and now that it was created, I guess there was no need for her to have her time stopped any more.
I know she had presumed that it was the power of fate keeping her alive through stopping her aging process until she was able to create that seal… but just how did that work?
No… much too complicated to think about.
"Mmgh… and not only that… but this is definitely the worst cramps I've ever had in my life," she continued, turning to bury her face into her arms once more. "… I take it back… I want my time stopped again… this fucking sucks…"
Ah… well, I couldn't do much to help her with that, but at least Roxy was supporting her.
But arguably more important than having Shizuka's chains of fate finally broken… the final key for our plan to end the Man-God… it was finally prepared.
I slowly looked over at Orsted, the two of our eyes meeting as we shared a nod.
We both knew what this meant.
My goal that I had since learning of the Man-God's threat… was finally time to end this for good.
— Leon Anemoi Greyrat —
I took a deep breath, feeling the fresh air flow through my lungs to calm my nerves before I opened my eyes, turning to my family as Orsted stood behind me, holding all the gathered sacred treasures in his hand, having bound them together for ease of transport.
Today would be the day.
The day that we fought the Man-God and, if all went well, the day we would seal him.
And as such… it was also time to say goodbye… for what would, very hopefully, not be the last time.
But still… this atmosphere felt a bit too sombre.
I wouldn't be a good father, or husband, if I didn't reassure them before I left.
And I prided myself in being the best at both of those roles.
"Hey… what's with those worried looks?" I asked my wives, the four of them furrowing their brows before they moved closer.
"Leon… are you sure I can't go?" Eris asked, her finger tapping against her crossed arm. "It's not because I'm useless… right? I beat that old man, so… I'm strong enough… right?"
Was she really still worried about that?
"It isn't about strength, Eri… it's about the strain of the teleportation… a regular human can't handle it," I said, reaching up to cup her cheek.
She turned her head away, as if avoiding my affection, though I did spot her face gain a bit of a flush.
"Yeah, yeah, I know… 'special soul' and whatever…" she said, looking back at me as her lip trembled. "Just… come back to me… alright?"
"…Of course," I said, my eyes shifting to the other three. "To all of you… I'll definitely come back. I promise."
Ariel's brow furrowed slightly, and Sylphy gently clenched her clothes, while Roxy just gave me a worried look.
I guess that wasn't enough, huh?
I stepped forward, pulling all four of them close and into my chest, causing Eris and Sylphy's cheeks to press together, while Roxy's face was nearly buried in Ariel's chest, causing my blue-haired wife to pout a bit.
All four of these beautiful women… even if I ignored every other reason to return, just having these girls waiting for me was more than enough of a motivator to stay alive.
"I still have our family to look after, and once this is all over… everything will be much more relaxed. I won't need to go on any more random missions for all of this, and no more getting into big fights unless someone attacks us directly," I said, feeling all four of them sink deeper into my hold. "The five of us can have a fun and relaxing early retirement full of love and lust… watching the kids grow older and watching them choose their own paths… doesn't that sound amazing? So there's no way I would want to miss it."
Especially when I've worked so hard for the sake of it… I wasn't going to just let it go.
I gave them each a peck on their foreheads, moving down the line as Ariel took the chance to meet my lips with hers.
"You were open, darling," she said, her smile seeming a bit more relieved. "And regarding my worries… if you say you'll come back… then I will trust you."
"Of course… and even without those selfish reasons, I know that my death would make everyone sad, and that's the last thing I would want to do," I said, squeezing them all before I released them, the five of us taking a small step back from each other to separate. "So I will be back… and it shouldn't even take a day."
There was no way I would leave them sad and in despair.
I met all their eyes one by one, conveying all the emotions I could, trying to give them all the reassurance that was possible before I departed-
"Dada?" Aria asked, having walked up to pull on my sleeve.
"Yes, Aria?" I asked, looking down at her curious eyes.
"Umm… what does 'lust' mean?" she asked, tilting her head.
…
"It's nothing, sweetie," I said, gently rubbing her head.
That… was a talk for much later.
I raised my head once again as Sylphy reached over to take my hand.
"I understand… and I trust you, Leon," Sylphy said, looking into my eyes. "But… do you really need to go?"
That… was indeed a good question, and one that I had thought over more than a few times after the fight against the apostles.
After all, since then, not only was I finally able to get a taste of a relatively stress-free life, but after that fight, I had secured myself as one of the strongest in this world, where I could defeat anyone that would come after me and my family.
But no… I was assured, more than ever, that this was the correct choice.
And it was something that I should have thought of before, but perhaps due to never questioning my quest to kill the Man-God, I never had.
Past the issues of him targeting my family, restricting their freedom by making me need to be in their vicinity to protect them, or their safety if I let them go… there was another, perhaps more problematic issue.
After all, if Orsted wasn't able to defeat the Man-God, then in another eighty or so years, everything would be reset as he began another loop.
And in those loops… I had never appeared as I am now, with Kaito's memories.
This was the only loop where I was who I am now, the only loop where I married the four of my wives, and the only loop where they gave birth to my nine precious children.
So, if I allowed everything to be reset… then it would be akin to killing them all.
Literally in the sense of my children, while for my wives, killing them in the sense that they wouldn't be who they had become today.
And I… would not accept that.
Never.
"I do. I need to end this, and I will," I said, giving her a nod to convey my sincerity.
She made a slightly difficult face, but with a small nod, and a chaste kiss on my chin, she backed away, giving me a smile as I then kneeled down in front of the kids.
Seeing them all gathered in front of me like this… I really had been keeping myself busy over the years, huh?
"Aria." I patted the blue-haired girl's head, causing her face to light up in a smile.
"Anna." I did the same to the brown-haired girl's, her red eyes narrowing in displeasure before she eventually closed her eyes and released a pleased hum.
"Ars." He gave me a charming smile as I rustled his shoulder-length hair, the scar over his eye that he got from training that he wanted to keep 'because it was cool' rising along with his eyebrows.
"Emilia." She gave me a practiced smile in response, though I did feel my smirk grow as her hand reached up to gently grasp my own before letting go.
"Roana." I leaned down to give her a small kiss on her forehead as she hid behind her doll, my hand gently wiping off the paint stain on her cheek as she gave me a smile in return.
"Alice." She beat me to the punch, moving away from my arm and jumping up, crawling over my shoulder as she hugged my head from behind, her feet tightening around my neck.
What a little troublemaker…
"Arthur." He tilted his head as I patted it, pulling back a bit to get closer to Emilia.
"Athena." She was quite a bit more accepting to my affection, leaning into my hand as she grabbed my wrist.
And lastly…
"Evelyn." I said, the girl that had stood holding her older sister Anna's leg, peeking past as I gently brushed her green bangs out of her face.
"All of you… be good for your mothers, okay? I'll be back soon…" I said, pulling them one by one into a big group hug. "I love you… I love all of you, okay?"
"We love you too, Dada!" Aria said, with Anna nodding in agreement.
"Y-Yeah! A lot!" Athena added.
And as for the third most affectionate daughter of mine who was still on my shoulders, Alice simply pulled on my hair to express herself.
Well, that was as good as I was going to get, I suppose.
Slowly releasing them from the hug, I reached behind and picked Alice up before placing her back on the ground, and as I stood up, I sent another look over to Roxy, Ariel, Eris, and Sylphy.
"And it goes without saying that I love you all too," I said with a smile.
"We know… and you should know that the feeling is more than returned," Roxy said.
"Yeah, I know… but anyway, you guys should go," I said, turning to Orsted who gave me a serious nod. "We don't know exactly what this activation will do to the surroundings…"
Hence, why we were far out from the city.
"Got it… be safe, Leon," Roxy said, giving me a peck on the cheek as she passed.
"You got it," I returned, taking another breath to calm myself as I walked to stand nice to Orsted.
This was it.
No more time for regrets, and with my goodbye having been said, it was finally time to put everything into action.
— Leon Anemoi Greyrat —
"Are you prepared?" Orsted said, opening eyes as he looked up at me from his crouched position, the five sacred treasures gathered on the ground in front of him, their gems glimmering with his mana.
The way they were interconnected… it was incomprehensible, as if someone had passed me a sentence from a completely foreign language and alphabet, with all the characters smudged out, and the strange letters spread sporadically across the paper.
In fact, it was similar to what I saw with my magic eye whenever Orsted demonstrated his 'Dragon Gate' spell, as rare as that was.
I guess this must be what made those spells unique to the Dragonfolk.
"Yes… as I'll ever be," I said, reaching out to grasp his shoulder. "Is the spell ready?"
"It is… but Leon, I need to tell you once more. I… have never gotten this far before, so I do not know what exactly to expect," he said, his head moving to face me as his expression took on a rare look of worry. "We only got here because of you, Leon, and it would be a shame to have it end in tragedy… so be careful."
He really had slowly become a softie over the years, hadn't he?
"Right… but don't worry. The motivation of seeing my family again is more than enough to spur on my survival instincts," I said, feeling a small smirk creep onto my face. "But thanks… partner."
His piercing eyes widened slightly in surprise.
"Partner… I suppose we are…" he said, looking back down at the sacred treasures that had only gotten brighter with each passing moment. "As the only living being that I see as my equal, I suppose it would be right to call you that… so let us put an end to this farce… partner."
"Yeah… let's," I replied.
And with that, Orsted flooded the sacred treasures with an amount of mana that only Rudy could rival as my vision was suddenly bathed in white, as the familiar pull of teleportation magic sweeping through my body, but this time, the sensation was much… much stronger.
Well, considering where we were going, I guess that made sense.
I sense of balance swam as I felt a pain pulsate through my core, as if I was being torn apart from the inside.
I wanted to scream.
It was almost too much, but before I knew it… I found myself in a blank space.
White… but not quite.
How weird…
"We're here… the Void World," Orsted said, his voice snapping me back to reality as I turned to face the same direction as him. "And it seems that he was prepared for our arrival… that maggot."
I didn't have to see his face to know that Orsted was wearing a fierce glare at the moment, one that would probably send a regular person running for their lives in fear.
But I could understand him.
After all, on the other side of the white space, there stood an incomprehensible figure… a blurry silhouette of a person that blended into the surrounding space, yet their presence… it was much too strong to ignore.
"Man-God… finally… I can face you and cut you down," Orsted added.
The figure extended his hand, waving it up and down as if swatting away a fly.
"Yeah, yeah. You made it all the way here, good for you! I'll even give you a round of applause, if you want!" the being said, his annoying voice digging into my mind. "But you know… I'm not just going to die just because you got here. This is my domain, after all… and I'm not just some pushover who only knows how to control puppets."
I wanted to say that his comments were meaningless, but faced with the amount of pure mana in front of me… it was hard to say that they were just empty words.
And that pressure that seemed to permeate my every being… it felt just like divinity that the Technique God used, but… even stronger.
Orsted didn't respond to his provocations, simply storing the sacred treasures that remained in his hand into his coat pocket as touki engulfed his form.
"Tch. Just a bunch of idiots, you two are… especially you, damned anomaly," the Man-God said, his attention turning towards me. "Don't you have better things to do, huh? Coming all the way here to fight little old me… ignoring how the hell you're still alive right now, don't you have a family to take care of!?"
It seemed that he was misunderstanding something.
"It's because of that family that I have come to defeat you, not out of malice," I said, narrowing my eyes. "And unfortunately for you, even if you asked for a truce right now… I would still need to cut you down."
Ignoring how I wouldn't trust a word he said, the loops wouldn't end with just a truce, after all.
An eruption of pressure resonated throughout the space, causing my legs to lock up on instinct.
Hmm… it seems that I angered him with my words.
"I see… I see now… but are you sure about all this? Especially with how odd your very being is…" he mumbled.
I felt something enter my body… a foreign feeling that was difficult to describe.
"What… do you mean?" I asked, wanting to use the time to find out what this weird feeling was.
It wasn't mana… and it wasn't even divinity, at least I don't think so… it was something entirely different.
Was it to do with this realm?
Or perhaps it was a power granted by taking in part of the Creator God… I wasn't sure, but it felt uncomfortable.
"What do I mean? Well… are you sure you want to do this? Fighting me, that is… After all, haven't you wondered… who exactly is your true self?" he said, that foreign feeling flaring up in my chest. "Only I can make it happen, you know! If you kill me here, you won't ever know about it, nor how to return those lost memories!"
…What?
What was he talking about?
Was he talking about Kaito?
But… how did he know that?
Wait… that foreign feeling… I see.
So that's what it was… probing me to find a weakness and to destabilize my confidence… just what you would expect from a master of manipulation.
This must be the power he used to get into his apostle's heads and figure out how best to make them do his bidding.
…Ha.
Pathetic.
Perhaps, if it was the past, when I was still unsure about my place in this world, especially after reading that diary, I probably would be shaken by such things, at least a little… but that insecurity has already long since been dealt with, and my curiosity at my origins had all but faded after being sent to the Dragon World.
Quite unfortunate for him, I suppose… but still, I really didn't like having him invading my thoughts.
"I know who I am!" I shouted confidently, my touki flowing through my body as the foreign feeling inside me evaporated into nothingness. "I am Leon Anemoi Greyrat, the de facto King of Asura! The husband to four of the six most amazing women in the world, and son of the other two!"
I reached down to unsheathe my sword, the black blade glimmering with the purple hue of gravity magic as I raised it to point at my enemy.
"And I will not be swayed by your deceitful, honeyed words…" I felt my smirk grow wider. "You damn pretender!"
The Man-God recoiled in fear, his form coming more clearly into view as I noticed his eyes shaking as he stared at me, a mix of recognition and panic in his gaze.
And with the Dragon God at my side reaching in front of him, only to pull out his own blade a moment later… the battle truly began.
The battle that would mark the finale of all the troubles this damned Man-God had put me through.