The ultimate battle form of Ἑκατόγχειρες that Alice invoked. The one who took the initiative to challenge that power, which was completely unknown to the Gods…… was Chronois.
Chronois immediately stopped time and approached Alice with as much speed as she could muster.
The power that she exercises is different from that of ordinary magic. If one wants to stop time, there are several kinds of such magic that can be used once one is of the Count-rank.
However, Chronois’ power is different from them. The authority bestowed upon her by Shallow Vernal, the God of the world, is overwhelmingly superior to their Time Magic, and the only one who can interfere with the time manipulated by Chronois is Ein, “who was also given the power to manipulate time by Shallow Vernal”.
In fact, in the early stage of the battle, Alice fought back against Chronois’ authority of time by swapping with a clone beforehand and exploiting the opening that appeared that she had opened up.That’s why Chronois quickly attacked without giving her time to switch with her clone.
Within the stopped time, Chronois approaches Alice with overwhelming speed…… but in a moment of time, she sees “Alice turning towards her within the time that was supposed to be stopped”.
[Impossib——— Ghaaakk!?]
Surprised, Chronois’ body was blown away by Alice’s nonchalant counterattack, and rolling down on the ground several times, she released her time stop.
[God of Time and Space!?]
[……I- Impossible…… Even within my stopped time……]
[Yep, “I can now move within it”.]Alice nonchalantly replies to the dumbfoundedly muttering Chronois. Life, who has quickly finished healing Chronois’ wounds, approaches Alice.
[God of Time and Space, take command of everyone! I’ll take care of her!]
Alice catches the fist that Life swings at her, but Life’s overwhelming physical strength surpasses her in terms of pure strength, and she begins to push Alice little by little.
(……In this case, I can do this. I have more pure power than her…… If I can engage her in battle with God of Time and Space’s support……)
She could see a faint chance of victory…… But immediately after….. Life was powerfully slammed on the ground.
[……Eh?]
The damage she received itself was minimal. However, she couldn’t immediately understand what had happened.
(…… “I lost in power”? Me? How? After all, just now……)
She certainly should have been overpowering her. It was impossible for her, the God of Life, to misjudge the physical capabilities of her opponent. With that thought in mind, she turned her gaze to Alice, who was quietly looking down at her, and became astonished.
She then immediately shouted to Chronois, who was astonishedly looking from a distance.
[God of Time and Space! This is bad! We need to defeat her quickly……]
[W- What do you mean?]
[It’s going up! In just seconds…… no, even faster than that! Phantasmal King’s “physical abilities and magic power continues to increase at an explosive rate”! If she becomes even more powerful, she’ll really be out of our control!]
[What!?]
Fate, who was watching their exchange of attack and defense from a short distance away, was also astonished, as her eyes opened wide, just like Chronois and Life.
[Eeeehhhh…… W- What’s happening? Shall-tan is clearly getting stronger and stronger……]
[……Let me explain it to you.]
[Eh? Ahh, errr, if I remember correctly, you’re Shall-tan’s best friend……]
[Umu, she asked me to explain it to you. My name is Iri———-]
[You’re “Riz-tan”! Unnn, I don’t know what’s going on, so please explain.]
[……Wait, calling me that is……]
[Explain it already!]
[U- Umu……]
(T/N: Irisu → Risu-tan. I can’t find the words to translate it in english, but if Alice/Iris’ world were somewhat the same as Kaito’s, Fate sounds like she’s calling Iris “Squirrel-tan.)
Iris, materializing so that she could explain what’s happening to Fate, looked as if she wanted to complain about the nickname Fate had immediately given her, but Fate’s vigorous urging pushed her to start explaining.
[……That is the power of the ultimate battle form of her heart tool, Ἑκατόγχειρες. No, I guess it might be better to say that it’s one of its “special characteristics”.]
[Errr, Shall-tan’s Ἑκατόγχειρες will allow her to use the power of the person she’s bonded with, right?]
[Umu, that indeed is its normal ability. Meanwhile, that ultimate battle form of her is the form she had once when “she had spun the hope of the whole world” to face the Evil God, and it’s also the power that transformed her body into “the Incarnation of Hope”.]
[……U- Unnn?]
[The true power of that ultimate battle form is that it adds all the bonds she weaves to her own power…… That’s more than powerful enough on its own, but Alice has gained another ability after becoming the Incarnation of Hope.]
As if she still didn’t understand what Iris was trying to say, Fate curiously tilted her head.
[She told you about it earlier, didn’t she? That she usually “doesn’t grow in physical ability or magic power”……]
[Errr, I think she said it only grows under a certain condition…… Does that mean that that ultimate battle form is that condition for her growth?]
[Umu. “If I can’t win the way I am now, I should just become a me that can win”, is what she likes to say before…… Her current form is the embodiment of this mindset of hers. People’s thoughts…… Hope…… All of it doesn’t end. “All of it will make her explosively and indefinitely grow”…… That is the true ability of Ἑκατόγχειρες’s ultimate battle form. And the growth she gained after using it “doesn’t disappear even if she releases Ἑκατόγχειρες”.]
[Eeeehhhh!? T- That’s too absurd…… Then, the reason why Shall-tan was super stronger than 20,000 years ago was……]
[Yeah, it’s because she had fought in a battle with that God from another world in that state before. She grew stronger at that time.]
It was truly a tremendously absurd ability. There is no end to Alice’s power now. If she can’t deal with Chronois’ authority of time, she will grow to deal with it.
If she was being physically overwhelmed by Life, she would evolve into a being physically capable of overcoming her. This is her ultimate power that allows her to easily step into the domains of the Gods, and continue to infinitely evolve……
Chronois and Life, who had managed to overhear Iris’ words, also had despairing expressions on their faces.
(……Well, this ability has various restrictions like if all of my abilities outperform my enemy, my growth rate will slow down, or how this ability has strict activation conditions buuuuuut~~ I don’t really need to bother telling them this, do I?)
Alice’s abilities have grown to the point where not a single strike can wound her body anymore, even if all the Gods attacked her at the same time. The Gods don’t have any chance anymore…… However, there is still a light in the eyes of the Gods.
Seeing them act like this, which made Alice know that “it still went just as she had expected”…… “She quickly released Ἑκατόγχειρες’s ultimate battle form”.
As meteor-like lights began dancing around Alice’s body again, she spoke, touching one of those lights.
[……Now then, I’ve met all the “requirements” now. However, looking at this again, I really feel like it would take me some time to get used to this.]
[……What are you talking about?]
Neither Chronois nor Life could understand Alice’s intentions. After all, right after they thought that Alice would begin one-sidedly overrun them from here on out, she deactivated that ultimate power of hers.
Even though they knew that she would still retain the growths she gained, they felt that there was no advantage to releasing it.
[No, I just thought I’d play one more of my “trump cards”. Ἑκατόγχειρες’s ultimate battle form is indeed powerful but…… it’s more convenient to use this in its normal form. You’re wondering what this is? What do you think? Well, I’m just going to end this quickly, so I’ll just tell everyone the answer…… It’s “Kaito-san’s Heart Tool”.]
[ [ ! ? ] ]
Chronois and Life know that the Heart Tool was the mysterious ability that Alice was using. That’s why, when they heard that it is Kaito’s Heart Tool, they became even more vigilant.
Their decision may have been right…… but whether they can handle it with their vigilance is another matter……
[The heart treads upon the definite path——– Smiling together——– Crying together——– Accumulating footprints of memories together——– The bonds I weave are the fragments of a miracle——– My heart, burst forth! Together, become one! “Αναμνήσεις”!]
(T/N: Memories)
The moment she said those words, a dazzling light was released that covered the space. And when it cleared up…… looking as if she was about to start crying, Alice muttered.
[……I just need a little time. That’s why, please lend me your strength.]
As her voice gently trembled, with an expression that doesn’t fit the battlefield she was currently in, her words were answered with the sound of footsteps.
[……Unnn. I’ll help you, “Big Sister Alicia” is saving…… someone important to Big Sister after all.]
[Of course. Master…… The flames of my loyalty aren’t so fragile that it can be extinguished by “dying once”.]
[Good grief, just when I thought I’d been summoned to the Lord’s service, I found myself in additional manual labor. Well, fine. I owe you a debt after all…… a debt so great that I couldn’t repay it when I’m alive.]
A tall, blonde beauty with a face similar to Alice’s, a girl with knight’s armor with fiery red hair, and a dour-looking priest in a vestment with black upside-down crosses on them…… stood next to Alice.
It wasn’t just them. Before they knew it, a large number of people began appearing behind Alice that it’s too many to count.
These are the bonds that the girl who was once called a Hero has spun. The irreplaceable friends she had fought together and lived together.
Now, those people are gathered again. Passing through the great wall of the death, to the Hero’s side————-
<Afterword>
~~ Extra : Explanation to Heart Tools ~~
① Ἑκατόγχειρες / Hekatonkheires
In the past, it was only the ability to use the “Heart Tool” of the person with whom you had weaved a bond with (becoming in a relationship where you cherish each other), but it evolved as the user grew.
By changing your appearance itself to that of the person with whom you have weaved a bond with, you can use their true abilities to the fullest. It is not possible to activate multiple Heart Tool abilities at the same time.
Ἑκατόγχειρες itself has no combat power. It only allows its user to feel how strong her bonds with someone were, and can tell the approximate location of the person with whom they had weaved a bond with.
If the person with whom they have formed a bond dies, they can take a part of their body into Ἑκατόγχειρες as an “eternal bond”, allowing the user to use their abilities even after the original user’s death.
When the person with whom the user has weaved a bond with dies, the user recognizes their death with a pain that pierces their heart, and they can “never forget the person”. No matter how many years go by, the sadness will remain within their heart, as if the person had died only a short time ago.
② Ἑκατόγχειρες Ultimate Battle Form “Alicia : Hero of Hope”
An ability born as a result of weaving the bonds of the people around the world in order to defeat the Evil God. She takes the bonds she has built up so far into her own body, and adds them into her own power.
Just like the never-ending hope, the user continues to infinitely grow in battle. As a side effect, the user will not grow in any physical ability or magic power except when activating Ἑκατόγχειρες Ultimate Battle Form.
“Physical abilities and magic powers that have gained during activations will return to normal after release.”
The condition for activation is that “the user uses it to protect something that they care about”, but the core of the ability is the emotion of hope, and thus, unless the user has hope in their heart, the ability will not activate.
This ability once disappeared when Alicia became Shalltear.
③ Ἑκατόγχειρες Ultimate Battle Form “Alice : Hope, All For One Person”
Alice’s love for Kaito, and the reappearance of hope within her heart again, has resulted in the rebirth of a new Ultimate Battle Form.
The condition for activation is that “the user fights to protect Kaito”…… The ability itself is almost the same as “Alicia : Hero of Hope”, but the speed at which it grows has increased to an abnormal degree.
Moreover, the abnormally strong special characteristic “The physical abilities and magic power that have gained during activations remain after release” have been gained.
④ Αναμνήσεις / Memories
Kaito’s Heart Tool. It’s a very unusual “Heart Tool that holds no substance of its own”, making it unable to be used to increase the number of Heart Tool Users.
It has two abilities:
- The deceased that the user recognizes as “someone they were together with” will be brought back to life with combat power corresponding to the strength of the user’s heart. (The resurrected people can’t use the special abilities they had when they were alive)
- When activated, the resurrected people who recognize the user’s will “to be together” will receive a super-powerful boost corresponding to the strength of the user’s heart + full recovery of physical strength and magic power (No side effects or repercussions)
Serious-senpai : [Oi, cheat b*stard…… Why the heck does this look like some protagonist’s hidden ability that would awaken on the decisive battle…… This level of a cheat looks like it’s only allowed because it’s the final chapter or something……]
? ? ? : [Well, if one is to describe Alice-chan, she would be like “the protagonist you’d meet after defeating the last boss”…….]
