I Obtained the Final Boss' Power

Rampage (5)

Louis's consciousness, now asleep, lay in a space where nothing existed.

He was simply lying comfortably in a place where there was nothing at all.

'Not bad, really.'

Louis remembered exactly what he had been doing until now.

He had lost his mind suddenly, overtaken by a rampage.

The instant he threw a punch, the map changed, and he was cloaked in all manner of attributes, attacking with their strength.

Louis was well aware of exactly what he was doing now.

Of course, that included attacking Kelian and Silia with that power.

However, Louis was not surprised.

He had, just once, expected that it would come to this.

'What was coming has arrived. That's all there is to it.'

Chaos Dragon's power—never knowing when or where it would run amok.

Barely controlling that rampage with the torture spell was all he could manage.

Without it, a gruesome disaster would no doubt have swept the continent as early as four years ago.

'Of course, it could be happening right now, for all I know.'

What would happen if that torture spell were to disappear?

He had thought about it at least once before.

And now, finally, that had become reality.

Without the spell, how many people were there who could stop Louis?

'None.'

As expected, even the special task force's key officers like Kelian or Silia couldn't stand against him.

The only one who seemed remotely possible was Bellain, but this so-called Hero couldn't be of much help either.

Louis did recognize the overflowing strength, but it was utterly pointless—brandishing a power you can't control only left a scratch on him at best.

'Still, at least he managed to injure me.'

If only Andrew, the original owner of the power, were in a better state, maybe there'd be a chance, but as he was, there was nothing he could do.

What about Laika Bisted, another Swordmaster?

He too had lost all his strength and fully retired since the academy incident.

Or perhaps Commander Paulo?

He was the only Swordmaster who had not lost his power.

But he too was past his prime, so it was hard to harbor any hope.

Perhaps it was a feat in itself that he had managed to retain that much strength in his aged body.

In the end, there was no one able to resolve this situation.

'Haaa...'

It was truly a frustrating situation.

There was no solution.

Of course, Louis thought about how he might clean up this mess.

But no matter how much he racked his brain, or listed out old game information, there was no answer.

'It's like no matter how much you DPS the final boss, the damage is always zero, and every attack from the boss is a one-shot kill.'

If Chaos Dragon had been updated as a true final boss, wouldn't it have been just like this?

Honestly, if that were really the case, people would call it a hopeless game—but what was happening right now was exactly that sort of situation.

'Chaos Dragon... update...'

Chaos Dragon, who was originally meant to appear as the final boss.

But Louis had transferred to this world before that update had even happened.

Usually, there are strategies discovered for mobs that appear in the game, but Louis didn't even know the strategy for this damn Chaos Dragon.

However, in this world, he was able to figure out what entity opposed the Chaos Dragon.

'And the World Tree...'

The torture spell that helped suppress his power was essentially created by the power of the World Tree.

Thus, the root of control was no different from the World Tree itself.

And didn't the spell disappear the second the World Tree collapsed?

'So in the end, it means there's no method except the World Tree.'

Just as there is fire and ice.

Just as there is light and darkness.

Perhaps the World Tree and Chaos Dragon are, similarly, entities that are fundamentally opposed.

Louis speculated cautiously.

Both are desperate to destroy one another, and yet if either disappears, balance is lost.

That imbalance means the self-destruction of all.

Thanks to that, even if their relationship was bad, they couldn't truly harm each other.

And with the World Tree now destroyed, the power of Chaos Dragon was rampaging and threatened to destroy everything.

'The World Tree... the World Tree...'

In the end, all solutions led back to the World Tree.

But how could he possibly restore a World Tree that had already collapsed?

'Damn it!'

There was still no answer, so Louis lay down petulantly.

Utterly powerless in a situation where everything might be destroyed.

Yet even in such a situation, Louis found his heart at ease.

Had he finally gone insane?

No, it was the opposite.

Louis had never had a moment of rest since coming to this world.

He always had to be wary of the Chaos Dragon's rampage, and educating his squad members was no ordinary challenge.

For the first time in this world, Louis was able to feel something called 'family'.

He still couldn't forget the faces of the two who had made him feel that.

The squad members were native to this domain, essentially their legacy.

For Louis, the idea of them dying was a painful prospect.

Yet now... Louis himself was directly causing this painful event.

'I'm sorry, Rio.'

The sensation of Rio's bones shattering lingered again and again in Louis's hands.

But what could he do in this situation?

Should he cry?

Should he rage?

Should he collapse in despair at his helplessness?

'Am I crazy?'

In the end, the only thing Louis could do was lie down.

Yet the moment he did, a sensation of comfort spread through his whole body.

Just like after graduation at training camp... No, exactly like the feeling after being discharged from the military following two hard years.

It felt exactly like that.

A kind of liberation.

'Maybe now I can just stay still?'

Let's just do nothing.

No point in stressing over it—he'd only get a headache.

For some reason, the World Tree was already destroyed.

There was no way to find an answer.

What else could one do in such a situation?

'Let whatever happens, happen.'

He decided not to think about anything anymore.

Just as Louis closed his eyes—

"...."

Someone was standing on two feet in front of the lying Louis.

The figure, humanoid in shape, was entirely white.

"Who are you?"

Startled, Louis opened his eyes wide at the sight.

The figure, as if hastily drawn by someone, had cracks running all over his body.

It was obvious at a glance.

Though human in form, it was not human.

Then, suddenly, he placed his hand on top of Louis's head.

And quietly whispered.

Telling him not to give up yet.

****

Pram, having opened her eyes, placed her hand on Louis's head.

As if a priest was administering a blessing to a devotee, there was an air of benevolence in the gesture.

Who would believe that this girl wielded the Great Devil's power as a witch?

Anyone who saw would naturally think of that.

"...!"

And then, Louis—who had been rampaging and wild just moments ago—suddenly froze in place.

As if paralyzed by a spell that bound movement, Louis couldn't budge.

"What is that...?"

Andrew muttered as he watched, and Bloodline beside him spoke.

[To be exact, we don't know either. But do you know what that golden energy flowing from the girl's body is?]

[That's the same energy that flowed from the World Tree when it was alive.]

The two Heroes remembered the days when the World Tree still lived.

They still hadn't forgotten the World Tree's energy they felt back then.

"So you're saying this girl possesses the exact same power as the World Tree?"

[Well, considering she's called the Saint of Prophecy, it isn't so far-fetched. But this girl...]

[She's not the Saint of Prophecy.]

They had realized Pram's identity while waking her up just before.

Which made it all the more puzzling, since that power wasn't something a 'witch' like Pram ought to possess.

[But the only one we can trust now is this girl.]

[I was never really a believer, but all we can do is pray.]

Pram's eyes showed no emotion after opening them.

Moving as if controlled by someone else, she continued to gaze at Louis.

"Huh? What's that...?"

Just then, Silia, barely regaining consciousness, walked over.

Even though she'd been flung far away, she squeezed out the last of her strength and now witnessed this strange spectacle before her eyes.

"Pram?"

Seeing Pram awake suggested their stalling tactic had worked.

But what came next?

As she wondered, suddenly, light began to burst from Pram's body.

"Ugh!"

The dazzling glare like the sun instinctively made Silia shield her eyes.

That burning light began to trace the shape of a tree.

And as the light faded, Pram collapsed once again.

"Pram!"

As Pram fell, Silia rushed to check her condition.

She had simply fainted.

Her life wasn't in danger, but what was that light just now?

Was this the reason her ancestors had tried so hard to waken Pram?

"...!!"

Suddenly, an overwhelming killing intent was felt from behind Silia.

"How...!"

Louis hadn't returned yet.

Freed by Pram's collapse, Louis began to move toward Silia again.

Was there really no way out?

As she was thinking that, light glowed from Silia's hand.

"Huh?"

It was the same light as before.

But why was it coming from her own hand?

"This is!"

Then something astonishing happened.

A spell, usually drawn on her palm, had returned, shining from her hand.

It wasn't just Silia.

Even Kelian, still unconscious, had the same spell returning to his hand.

And at the same time, a faint similar light pulsed from Pram as well.

'Why?'

She couldn't tell what was happening now.

But what she had to do was clear.

"Louis..."

Silia reached out a hand toward the approaching Louis.

"Come back!!"

At the spell's light from her hand, Louis hesitated.

Even though the spell was working, Louis tried moving as if to resist it.

"Louis!!"

Silia cried out that name with desperate longing.

Then, the spell shone even brighter and completely paralyzed Louis's body.

Originally, it was a spell used to torture soldiers.

But now, it was being used to save countless lives.

When the spell finally took hold, Louis collapsed to the ground.

Seeing Louis, now completely unconscious, Silia breathed a sigh of relief and slumped to the floor.

"Whew..."

She stroked Louis's fallen head.

"It must have been hard for you too."

Witnessing Louis's rampage was rare.

That was because it was always controlled with a spell.

But now, faced with the spell being gone, Silia felt complicated emotions.

'If it were anyone else, they'd have tried to kill him, saying it was too dangerous.'

It was a natural reaction in most people's eyes, but Silia hadn't done so.

Louis had struggled all this time to control a monstrous power he never should have had.

Treating him as an enemy, like everyone else, would be spitting on all Louis's efforts up to now.

"At least he's calmed down."

Andrew approached and said.

He could tell from Silia's still-troubled expression what her feelings were like.

"Even after all you've been through, it seems you have no intention of abandoning this boy."

"Yes..."

To Silia, he was no longer just an ordinary boy.

He wasn't even just a subordinate anymore.

"Losing my little brother once is enough."

"...."

Andrew couldn't argue at that.

He knew too well what she meant.

"By the way, why did the spell...?"

The spell that had disappeared had returned.

Surely the World Tree had crumbled, so how could it have been restored?

[It's all thanks to this girl.]

Just then, Mirianne and Frederick explained.

[She was the one who gave back the World Tree's spell.]

[Strictly speaking, the girl's very existence has become the core that keeps the spell going.]

"What do you mean?"

The two ancestors hinted at something meaningful.

[As we said before, the energy the girl was emitting matched exactly with the World Tree's.]

[So we performed a ritual to maximize that energy. It was a gamble, but it looks like it succeeded.]

"So then...?"

A sudden realization gave Silia goosebumps.

[It might be because of us, but there was no other way.]

[Did you know? Actually, the World Tree was once human.]

With words nobody could understand, Mirianne delivered the shocking truth.

[A new World Tree has been born here.]