So tiring.
This was the only thought in Naoki's mind right now.
Fighting non-stop for nearly fifty hours, and maintaining full power at every moment—even with magical energy support from the planet, Naoki truly felt exhausted.
Though he was prepared to risk his life to delay Tiamat, in reality, Naoki never intended to actually risk his life. His life wasn't just his own. If he died, many people would grieve, and it might trigger various bad things afterward.
So, if possible, Naoki wouldn't let himself die.
But now, he truly felt like he was going to die from exhaustion. A massive amount of Mana flowed from the planet into his body, then was expended in an instant, and immediately refilled at the same time.
This constant jumping between full and empty made him feel like his magic circuits were about to break.
"Time... should be enough by now."
Naoki didn't keep track of how long he held out; he just thought to endure as long as possible, as long as he could. After all, preparation time was never sufficient. The longer he held out, the higher the chance of victory in the final battle.
Therefore, even though he was too tired to stand and could only kneel, Naoki still didn't stop his power output.
He was certain that if his power stopped for even a moment, the Sea of Life would immediately expand again. To suppress it once more, he would truly have to risk his life.
And now wasn't the time for him to risk his life.
(By the way, Arcueid...)
With great difficulty, Naoki lifted his gaze to that figure starting to go somewhat mad. Guilt welled up in his heart.
Though it was to respond to his request, turning Arcueid into the kind of figure she hated the most, Naoki truly felt deeply guilty toward her for making her do the thing she hated most.
After this, he had to give her proper compensation.
(But that has to wait until Tiamat is defeated...)
Right now, his main focus remained on suppressing the Sea of Life.
And right at that moment—
"Department Head..."
A somewhat faint voice sounded from the distance in Naoki's ears.
The one calling him "Department Head" in this Singularity seemed to be only Ritsuka.
(They've come?)
Slightly lifting his head, Naoki tried to spot Ritsuka's figure, but because of the world of fire formed from the Heat Mirage he unleashed, his entire field of view was red, completely unable to see clearly.
Even with fairy senses, in this situation, he couldn't focus on sensing Ritsuka—that was used to suppress the Sea of Life.
"Department Head...!"
It came again. Judging from the direction, it seemed from above.
"Department Head... Department Head..."
Closer, right above him.
Naoki looked up to the sky—
"Department Head!"
What he saw was Ritsuka calling him loudly, reaching out fully toward him.
Riding the Wind God Dragon summoned by Quetzalcoatl's authority, Ritsuka and Mash had now arrived above Naoki.
"Department Head! Sorry for making you wait! Preparations in Uruk are basically complete! You can return and rest!"
Basically complete?
Tiamat would arrive in Uruk in about two days. That meant the remaining parts could be finished in two days.
"A bit... slower... than I thought..."
Naoki smiled weakly: "What about Arcueid?"
Ritsuka paused for a moment: "Arcueid-san, she's currently unconscious. Rei-senpai said her resolve is too strong, so she sees everyone except you as enemies. Kingu-san is holding her back."
"Haaah."
After a moment of silence, what responded to Ritsuka was a sigh.
So it really turned out like this?
Naoki looked at Ritsuka and Mash: "Fujimaru, Mash, sorry, you two go back first."
"Eh?"
Both were instantly stunned.
Supporting himself with the Holy Sword, Naoki took a deep breath and quickly recovered his stamina: "You came all this way to pick me up. I'll follow soon after finishing a few things here."
"Department Head, are you planning—ugh!"
Before Ritsuka could finish her words, the lava at Naoki's feet suddenly boiled and raged, with pillars of fire suddenly shooting into the sky!
[Get out of there immediately! Fujimaru! Mash! That temperature is extremely dangerous for you! If you stay at that distance, you'll burn to ashes!]
Roman, who had been continuously observing the situation here, immediately warned, and Mash quickly pulled the Wind God Dragon to fly farther away.
"Big Brother!"
"Don't worry, Mash, I'll follow soon." Naoki smiled and waved. "By the way, the one fighting Arcueid over there is Kingu. Tell him to go too. Leave the rest to me."
"Department Head..."
Ritsuka bit her lip: "You'll come back."
"Hey, hey, I'm not going to block a strong enemy to protect you all. Don't look like I'm going and not coming back."
Naoki laughed bitterly: "I'll just make her rest a bit. Both she and I are truly exhausted after fighting so long. If we keep fighting, we'll be late for the next stage of the battle."
"So... I'll calm her down."
As those words fell, the fire pillars surrounding Naoki instantly blazed stronger.
Seeing that, Ritsuka could only nod, and with Mash, they quickly left that overly hot space on the Wind God Dragon. And right after, within seconds, the Heaven's Chains flying in the sky also quickly vanished from view.
"Aaaaaaa..."
Arcueid seemed somewhat confused, but right now she had released her thoughts. In an instant, she redirected her target back to Tiamat—she had to keep suppressing her!
However, just as Arcueid prepared to continue her attack, Naoki below raised the Holy Sword.
(Considering the situation after I stop suppressing, the remaining time to stop Arcueid... one attack?)
Stopping the rampaging Arcueid with just one attack.
A fantastic idea, but it had to be done. The current Arcueid couldn't be communicated with by words at all. Stopping her could only be done with force.
"I'll treat you to birthday cake for the next hundred years, so now let me hit your head once."
Staring at that figure, Naoki raised the Holy Sword. The fire pillars encircling him suddenly danced, transforming into blazing red dragons!
Holy Sword, full power release—
*BOOM!*
Accompanied by a collision and rumble like a volcanic eruption, several blazing red dragons merged, and a giant fire dragon head spurted out from the lava! With lightning speed, it crashed into Arcueid flying toward Tiamat!
*ROAR!*
The intense flames instantly engulfed Arcueid entirely. Not even leaving a moment for her to resist!
A massive, extremely beautiful firework bloomed in the air!
And the next moment, in the eyes of Ritsuka watching the fireworks from afar, a point of light suddenly appeared, and that light rapidly grew... No, more precisely, it was flying toward him!
"That's—uwaa!"
The rapidly growing light directly crashed into Ritsuka's embrace. The hard impact nearly made him fall off the Wind God Dragon's back. Fortunately, Mash beside him quickly steadied him.
And after seeing the true form of the light in Ritsuka's embrace, the Master-Shielder pair was instantly stunned.
Because it turned out to be a pair of...
—A little kid whose face was eighty or ninety percent similar to Naoki and Arcueid!