Pick Me Up!

The collapse had begun.

Boom!

The entire city shook as if it were about to crumble.

And from the black hole, countless shards burst forth.

[Shard of Chaos Lv.113] X 13,253

[Shard of Despair Lv.108] X 17,643

[Shard of Grudge Lv.121] X 12,289

Kiaaaah!

A scream that shattered the minds of those who heard it.

<Fire! Fire at will!>

The defense forces also began their counterattack.

Giant weapons set up all over the buildings spewed flames.

Thousands of shards at the front evaporated at once. But tens of times more shards filled the empty spots.

‘Told you to run away.’

They said we could last for an hour—what a lie.

Shards kept pouring out endlessly from the hole.

[Shard of Chaos Lv.113] X 113,253

[Shard of Despair Lv.108] X 117,643

[Shard of Grudge Lv.121] X 112,289

Already numbering in the hundreds of thousands.

The lights of the night view were being swallowed by the shadows of the shards.

‘Those are just part of them.’

Whether it’s a hundred thousand, a million, or ten million, their number can’t be calculated.

Those were my true enemies. An army of apocalypse large enough to blanket the entire universe.

“Are you ready to flee?”

<Most of the citizens have boarded the evacuation ships. However, to open the server gate, we need more time…>

I turned around.

On the outskirts of Eden, giant airships hundreds of meters long were waiting to depart.

“Don’t worry. I’ll open the gate.”

I snapped my fingers.

At the far end of the sky, golden magic surged up, and a massive dimensional gate opened.

“Enter through that gate. You can escape to Server 2. Run before it closes.”

<……Understood.>

“Can you promise? That you’ll revive the world once more.”

<I swear it… upon my soul.>

“Good.”

The shards collided with the city’s first line of defense.

All sorts of missiles, machine guns, and beam weapons fired madly, but only for a moment — the shards erased an area several kilometers wide in an instant. Like locusts devouring a cornfield.

‘So many.’

I looked up at the sky.

[Shard of Chaos Lv.113] X 763,253

[Shard of Despair Lv.108] X 587,643

[Shard of Grudge Lv.121] X 492,289

The hole could no longer be seen.

It was beyond human senses to grasp now.

[Crystal of Chaos Lv.322] X 5,843

[Crystal of Despair Lv.315] X 3,111

[Crystal of Grudge Lv.311] X 4,289

The city, once called Server 1, was vanishing from the front.

[Loki, I brought the juniors!]

In the middle of the road.

A manhole cover flipped open, and a small girl jumped out.

It was Freya, the fairy in charge of Townia.

Soon, a pillar of light soared from the manhole.

It was a mass of countless fairies gathered together.

“The vault?”

[Finally found it. It was stacked full of Gems. I’ll pass them on to Cizel-nim!]

Gems.

Crystallized interference power, created from looting users’ wallets.

They would become essential fuel for restoring the world.

[Nyaaahhhh!]

Tens of thousands of Iselles hovered briefly in the air, then began heading toward the evacuation airships.

[Is it… over?]

“Yeah. It’s over.”

Tell was dead, and the Company had collapsed.

Another war had reached its end.

[Now we fight the shards.]

Freya smiled brightly.

She fluttered her wings and tried to fly toward me.

[Loki, from now on, together…]

“No.”

I held out my right hand.

A dimensional sword appeared in my grasp.

I slashed it across the ground behind me.

Vuuung!

A golden barrier stretched between me and Freya.

[Eh?]

“You’ve done well, Freya. Now find your own life. Cizel will help you.”

[What do you mean by that? Loki, Loki!]

Freya flew like a bolt, spreading her wings, but soon collided against the barrier.

[Open this! You said you wouldn’t abandon me!]

“…….”

[You said it was a joke. You said you’d make me a real body. You said you wouldn’t abandon me!! Lokiiii! Lokiiiiiiii! Don’t do this, I have worth! Together with you, I am, with you……!]

I gripped the dimensional sword tightly.

The golden blade turned black.

[Please, please…….]

“I’m sorry.”

[Waaahhhhh!]

Freya collapsed and burst into tears.

‘Foolish.’

You were deceived by me.

I swung the darkly glowing dimensional sword once more.

The golden barrier turned pitch black.

I couldn’t see the scenery behind me anymore.

The dimension had completely separated.

Kwooooh!

The shards tried to break through the wall to advance but spun helplessly on the spot.

Of course. No one could leave here unless they killed me.

“Kyaaaah!”

The shards that had devoured most of the city began swirling above like a vortex.

“2.7 million years.”

That was the time it would take me to deal with the shards.

But honestly…

“It’s a lie.”

It doesn’t make sense.

Only that much?

27 million years?

270 million years?

No. No.

I closed my eyes.

I recalled Tell’s voice whispering by my ear.

‘You will continue an eternal battle within infinite time.’

Until the end of the universe.

‘No one will remember you.’

Forgotten.

Unable to feel anything.

Becoming a specter and fading away.

‘Is this… the ending I wished for?’

I don’t know.

I couldn’t tell anymore.

I couldn’t remember what kind of thoughts had made me set up such an absurd plan back then.

The panorama of my life was almost completely blank.

Like a burned album, most memories had disappeared.

“Loki.”

My name.

Felt like there were others too.

But I forgot them.

“Transcender.”

I turned to the side.

Far beyond the back alley, an old man staggered out.

“Alpha Zero, huh.”

“That title no longer holds meaning. Call me Recardis.”

I'm currently Translating the following novels: Pick Me Up! | A Frontline Soldier Awakened as a Gamer In The War! | The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player. If you want to support me and read more chapters please subscribe to my Patreon!