Chapter 76

Flam pierced through the wall of flesh and emerged into an open space. In front of her, standing with one hand holding the Soul Eater, were the three cores embedded in the wall. One of the cores had already been used on the giant earlier, so originally there were four, supporting this enormous creature. As Flam approached the cores, a mass of flesh the size of a human emerged from below, blocking her path. It soon took on a human form, even reproducing a woman's dress, and there she was—Mother, appearing in the exact same form as she had seen before.

"You... you, you, you, youuuu!"

Mother thrust her palm forward, creating a whirlwind of air. Flam leaped to the side to avoid it, and as she landed, she quickly closed the distance, slashing horizontally with her sword. In an instant, Mother's form disappeared. Without even needing to sense her presence, Flam had already anticipated her teleportation destination, dissipating the Soul Eater into particles and storing it. She turned around with the momentum of her swing, lightly jumping and delivering a high kick to the head of Mother, who was attempting to strike from behind. Mother guarded with her right arm, but the kick contained a force of reversal magic, which she couldn't fully block with her Origin power, causing her to stagger.

Taking advantage of this, Flam retreated, creating enough distance to quickly draw the Soul Eater and draw a cross, releasing two beams of sword energy. Mother didn't even bother to guard. Her body was cruelly quartered. Immediately after, all the pieces transformed back into the original form of Mother. Facing four enemies, Flam was not intimidated.

"Isn't it time to end this after all the chaos you've caused?"

"I'm not done yet—I haven't reached my goal yet—!"

All four Mothers groaned simultaneously, shaking their heads. She had tried to become a loving mother, to overcome the mother who had abused her. She had tried to be a happy child, to overwrite the painful memories etched in her mind. By the time she had given birth and enveloped the capital, she should have been "complete." But it wasn't enough.

"There's still a 'mother' inside me! No matter how much I try to shake her off, she's still there, lodged in a place I can't erase!"

Their voices resonated in unison. Flam nodded in understanding. No matter how much one denies it, the bond that is born with a person cannot be erased.

"Indeed..."

The people trapped in the cocoons were all experiencing the same dream. Mother's memories. The memories of a single boy who had been abused by his mother and had become twisted, as if they were their own. That's why Flam had realized it.

"The way you lose it when faced with an inconvenient reality is just like your mother."

Suzanna Smithy, Mike's mother, always had a hysterical fit when she lost control. She would scream and lash out. Because of her cross-dressing, her emotional outbursts seemed to resemble her even more.

"...If you hadn't been here, if you hadn't pushed me to this point, I wouldn't have realized it."

"Would it have been better if you hadn't realized it?"

"Then what do you want me to do?!"

"How would I know?"

No matter how much memories are forced upon someone, they are still another person. No matter how far you go, you can never fully understand each other. That's why you try to understand and support each other.

"But if I had to say—"

Suzanna Smithy was indeed a hopeless mother. She never tried to support her own child, only pushing her away. But if Mother's choice to overcome her by becoming this was the result, it was the most futile thing. Self-contained, rejecting others, and calling the children who adored her failures. All of this—wasn't it just a reenactment of what her mother had done?

"I think it was the opposite."

"What do you mean?"

"Instead of trying to assimilate others into yourself, if you had listened to their voices, the complex about your mother would have naturally disappeared, wouldn't it?"

The Spiral children truly revered her as a mother. That was enough. They didn't need the Children or the Origin Core. Whether she was cross-dressing or not, if Mike had taken care of them as a proper mother, their wishes might have been fulfilled. She couldn't say for certain, but at least they wouldn't have ended up in such a hopeless state.

"It's impossible... How could I? Because, because, Mother! She never taught me any other way to interact with people except to force my will on them!"

The four Mothers lunged at Flam simultaneously.

"Everyone has to figure it out on their own!"

She channeled magic into her feet. The floor's flesh was cut and flipped, and she used the momentum to glide through the air. She bisected the first one as they passed, and in front of her was one of the triangular cores. She thought she could reach it by running, but another Mother emerged from the ground, trying to grab her feet. Sensing another presence from behind, she reversed gravity, leaped up, and kicked off the ceiling to land behind the enemy. From a low stance, she swung the Soul Eater upward, severing the right thigh and left armpit in a straight line. It seemed Flam had the upper hand, but the one she had cut in half split into two and approached her.

"It's too late, there's nothing you can do!"

The Mothers lunged at her again. Flam reversed gravity and ran along the ceiling toward the core.

"What are you talking about now?!"

After all this, after becoming this, did you really think you could fix things? Mother probably believed that if the Children were completed, she would be saved. That was the only salvation in her life. If she had been able to listen to others, she might have met someone who could have stopped her from "such a foolish plan." But—Flam repeated in her heart. It was all too late.

"I don't want to! I can't die like this, with my efforts unrewarded! It's not my fault, it's the fault of the mother who gave birth to me like this! Why should I be the one to suffer?!"

It was a selfish and childish rant.

"You're an adult, and you had power in the church, with many choices. You chose this miserable life yourself!"

She cut her off, spat it out, and kept running. The writhing wall of flesh, the three black cores embedded in it. Despite the overwhelming fatigue, Flam accelerated. Forward, forward, forward. Everyone was waiting for her on the ground. Just thinking of their faces gave her strength.

"Take this!"

She thrust the Soul Eater, which she held in her right hand, toward the core. However, the tip did not reach its target—a massive face emerged from the wall and bit off her right arm.

"Aaaaahhhh!"

A beast-like roar, devoid of any femininity, echoed.

"Aaaaahhhh!"

But Flam was not about to give up. She screamed to mask the pain, mobilizing all her physical and mental abilities. First, she infused the severed right arm with reversal magic and detonated it inside the mouth.

"Guhhhhhh!"

Mother, whose face was destroyed and in agony, but the core did not disappear. However, there was nothing left to obstruct her. She moved forward, gripping the Soul Eater with her remaining left arm. Immediately, countless arms emerged from the floor, grabbing her legs and twisting them with Origin power. Her toes pointed backward, and a dull sound reverberated through her body. More Mothers from behind fired rotating projectiles—several hit, tearing out some of her internal organs, and Flam lost her left arm.

"I told you, I won't die! I'll kill you, and then I'll kill all the others and reclaim my 'perfection'!"

Mother, triumphant. Even if she did, the existence of "mother" that she had recognized would not disappear. But she had no other choice but to believe it. Even in this desperate situation, Flam did not give up. She had anticipated this level of retaliation. It was a lie, a bit of bravado.

—It hurts, it's painful, I want to go home, talk to Kiril, hug Milk, eat something delicious with everyone, take a bath, and sleep like the dead. I also want to change my tattered clothes and go shopping for cute outfits sometimes. Anyway—there were so many things she wanted to do. So no matter how difficult it was, she couldn't give up.

"I won't... die here, aaaaahhhh!"

She severed the captured legs with reversal magic. The momentum sent her flying, her torso battered and bruised, having lost both arms and legs. It was still a bit short of reaching the core. But she reversed gravity, floated, adjusted her trajectory, and barely reached the swirling crystal.

"You can't... be serious...?"

Flam drew the Soul Eater with her mouth from the subspace. To destroy the core, she needed the power of reversal, not the force of a slash. As long as something could channel magic, it could destroy the core from any position.

"Haaaaahhhh!"

She tilted the sword with the strength of her neck. The blade's edge made contact with the triangular core. Magic flowed in. The Origin power began to reverse, and the crystal shattered under the negative energy. Crack—when the core's power supply stopped, the Mothers approaching Flam stopped moving, and the wall's pulsation ceased. Flam, having lost her limbs, slid down and lay on the soft floor, exhaling deeply.

"Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Mother let out a final, agonizing scream. The flesh walls lost their color, and the collapse began.

"Aaah... aaah... breaking... apart..."

The womb enveloping the capital, the room where Flam was, everything lost its color and decayed.

"I don't want to... I don't want to die, I don't want to end my life like this, unrewarded..."

Flam pitied the voice that came from nowhere. Why did you grow up as a child and become an adult? Why did no one stop you along the way? Why did you never meet someone who could change your direction?

"Hey, Flam Apricot... aren't you a hero?"

Fate can be kind, but it can also be cruel. Equality does not exist in this world. Flam, who met no one. Milk, who met no one. Kiril, who met no one—just thinking about it made Flam shiver. The possibility of going down the wrong path exists for everyone.

"You broke the unjust with the power of reversal and saved Ink, right? Then do something about me."

But she had no intention of treating this irresponsible man as a "victim." Flam coldly pushed away Mike Smithy, who was approaching her in the face of death.

"Your life can't be saved, even with reversal."

The floor finally collapsed, and Flam's body fell toward the surface, pulled by gravity. By then, her limbs had almost regenerated.

"...What's that supposed to mean?"

While falling, she heard the man's voice.

"No, no... I don't want to die, I can't accept this injustice... I, I..."

Flam, while falling, gripped the Soul Eater with her regenerated right hand.

"After involving so many people, that's not going to fly."

She lightly swung it, releasing a blade of prana. It barely cut through the remaining living flesh. Then... the man's voice, which had been constantly spewing resentment, abruptly stopped.

"Haaa... finally over..."

It felt like a very long battle. The number of casualties was incomparably higher than before, and the city below, though some parts were intact, had suffered a significant blow. It would take a long time to rebuild. But regardless of whether they could celebrate, Flam's home was safe. A smile appeared on her face as she fell.

"Well, it's about time—"

The ground was getting closer. She needed to slow down with gravity reversal and prepare for landing. As she thought this, in her field of vision,

"Welcome back, Flam."

Kiril, with tears in her eyes, appeared suddenly.

"...I'm home, Kiril."

She was supposed to be at the top of the cathedral, but if she could fly to the ceiling as she claimed, it was possible for her to jump to this height. But seeing it in person was still astonishing. Kiril, holding Flam's body in both hands, landed effortlessly. She began walking in a princess carry, and the revived companions rushed over.

"Wait, Kiril, put me down! It's embarrassing, put me down!"

Flam struggled, thinking she might be seen by Eterna or someone. But Kiril, saying "You're more energetic than I thought," just smiled brightly and wouldn't let go. Usually reserved and timid, she was unusually forceful today. Or rather, Flam's words weren't getting through. She must have been so happy to see Flam return safely. Thinking about it, Flam couldn't reject her forcefully.

"Well, I guess..."

She reluctantly accepted it, but when she saw Eterna first, she had a bad feeling. She and everyone who had escaped the cocoons on their own had their injuries healed by Maria's recovery magic. Still, after such severe injuries, they should rest. But as Eterna approached and peered at Flam's face, she wore the expected smirking expression.

"Flam, you're cheating. I'll tell Milk."

"Is that your first words...?"

Flam was exasperated, and Eterna, unusually, laughed with a shaking shoulder. Then, with a gentle smile, she patted Flam's head. Though she didn't say anything, it seemed she had been worried about Flam in her own way.

"Thank you for your hard work, Flam."

"Yes... and you, Maria."

She was standing next to Linus and praised Flam sincerely. After the battle with Mute, when she woke up, she wasn't there. Flam had thought she might disappear again this time, so it was a bit of a surprise to see her still here. No—she would probably disappear again soon. It was hard to imagine her living a normal life, and she didn't seem to have the intention.

"I'm completely at a loss, if it weren't for Flam, I would have died."

"Ah, it's all my fault, I owe Flam again."

"No, no..."

Flam, who was not used to being praised by people she had once thought were out of reach, could only blush and smile awkwardly.

"The sky...!"

Kiril looked up at the sky. Sunlight shone through the gaps in the collapsing ceiling, illuminating the capital. The cocoon, having lost its power, slowly fell to the ground and dissolved like a burst balloon upon landing. Seeing the capital returning to its original state, Flam realized the intense battle was over. Many people had lost their lives, but there were also those who had been saved.

"Thanks to Flam."

"It wouldn't have been possible without Kiril."

"No, we wouldn't have won without Flam."

"No, it was only possible because of Kiril."

"...You're surprisingly stubborn."

"I can't back down on this."

Flam didn't become arrogant just because she was given credit. In front of her humble companions, Linus began to get carried away.

"Well, I think it's safe to say we won, right?"

"We didn't do much."

"Yeah, we were too weak to call it a victory."

But Eterna and Gadio immediately shot him down, and he pouted.

"Hey, it's fine, right? We did our best while Flam was fighting up there. Right, Maria?"

"Hehe, I think everyone did their best."

It was the first time in a while that everyone had heard Maria laugh. Linus seemed particularly pleased and continued to talk animatedly. While they were chatting, the "Children" completely collapsed. A clear blue sky, free of clouds, appeared overhead. Feeling the warm sunlight, Flam felt a strong urge to sleep. Needless to say, she was extremely fatigued. But, thinking it would be inappropriate to fall asleep in Kiril's arms, she was trying to hold on—

"It's okay. Good night, Flam."

She had received permission from the person herself. Now, there was no resisting. Flam slowly closed her eyes and surrendered to a comfortable doze.

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This concludes Chapter 5.

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