The Reincarnated Lizardman Wants a Hamburger

The pattern symbolizing the Dragnity Imperial Family bloomed from Liche’s fingertips and made contact with the gate.

The moment the pattern from her fingertips touched the gate, the gate trembled and reacted.

Dwoong!

With a vibration that filled the Emperor’s residence, the flow of the gate began to shake unstably.

It was clear that Liche’s bloodline magic was indeed the key to controlling the gate, just as I had expected.

A tug-of-war ensued between the gate, which continued to expand, and Liche, who was trying to close it.

In that struggle, she was clearly having a hard time, but she was gradually gaining control over the gate.

“Ugh…!”

“Is it… working?”

“Wait! Don’t say anything ominous…!”

Dwoong!

At that moment, the gate trembled once again.

And simultaneously, the gate began to grow in size.

At the same time, a blue wave spread out, and the bodies of those touched by the wave began to glow bluish.

“Mari! What did I say about saying ominous things?!”

“Ahhh! I’m sorry!”

No, to be precise, the bodies glowing bluish were those of races that did not originate from this dimension.

Mari, Serena, Arisa, Shu.

Their bodies were faintly glowing in the same bluish color as the wave emanating from the gate.

It was a sign that the gate had begun its selection process in earnest.

“Don’t tell me it’s spreading outside too…!”

Turning my gaze to the streets outside the window, I saw that the streets were also in chaos, with non-human races like elves and dwarves enveloped in the blue light.

Dwoong!

In an instant, another wave spread, and the range of people engulfed in the blue light expanded further.

“Why?! Liche is controlling the gate…!”

I immediately turned my gaze back to Liche and the gate to find the cause before the wave spread further.

She was clearly trying to control the gate.

But the gate was expanding faster than she could close it.

“Ugh…!! I can’t close the gate alone…!”

Liche’s mana alone wasn’t enough.

While she could interact with the gate using her authority, she didn’t have nearly enough mana to control it.

Whether something had gone wrong when the specter modified it, or if it was always like this, the gate was absorbing a massive amount of mana.

If one person isn’t enough…!

Having identified the cause of the problem, I immediately grabbed Liche’s hand and began pouring my mana into her.

“To control the gate, we need more mana!”

Perhaps my experience of giving emergency treatment to Joyra when she was on the brink of death helped, as I was able to transfer all the burden of the excessive mana flow to myself and deliver pure mana to her.

“Ugh! Even with my mana included, it’s not nearly enough…!”

But if it was just when the gate had opened, it might have been different. In the current situation where the gate was expanding in real-time, my assistance alone wasn’t enough.

“Kurt! I’ll help too!”

“I don’t understand what’s going on, but I’ll help too!”

“Use my mana too!”

…If one person isn’t enough, then we’ll borrow the strength of more people.

Mari, Karina, Serena.

“P-please use my mana too…!”

“I’ll help too!”

“Finally, I can be of help!”

“I’ll join you!”

Arisa, Yuri, Daria, Aila.

“Ha! Coming out of the Verde Jungle, I’ve experienced all sorts of things!”

“…I’ll help too. This is the last piece.”

“I’ll collect this debt later with pudding!”

Meow~!

Kirsh, Lakia, Shu, the cat.

“…The Resistance will stand with you too!”

Tyrving and the Resistance.

“Haha. I’m starting to feel tired too. But if the world ends, there’s nothing we can do, so I’ll help.”

Shail too.

“W-what is going on here? Someone explain.”

“Hey, Emperor! If you’re awake, help us out for a bit!”

“Huh? Are you calling me?”

“Well, who else would I be calling? Hurry up and help!”

“Ah, alright…!”

Even the Emperor, who had just regained consciousness and was looking around dumbfounded, was forcibly dragged into this.

And so, the entire group lent their mana to me and Liche.

“Gaaah…!”

I used my body as a filter, taking all the burden that would have been placed on Liche and transferring only pure mana to her.

My Lizardman body, which had become incomparably robust after ascending to Transcendence, felt like it was about to burst, with the sensation of every blood vessel burning.

I gritted my teeth to withstand the overwhelming wave of mana and act as a conduit for its flow.

Even though the others focused as much of the burden as possible on me, they were still in immense pain, screaming as they poured out their mana.

───── !!

Dwoong!

Yet, the gate continued to pulsate, trying to extend its power across the entire world.

But…

“Close, damn it!!!”

Our combined strength was slightly stronger.

With everyone’s power combined, we began to overwhelm the gate.

────.

And the gate closed.

Unlike when it first appeared in all its splendor, it disappeared without a sound, as if it had never been there.

Tick tock

Ding~!

Ding~!

And in the silence, a wooden clock left by the specter chimed, announcing the exact time.

The time the specter had foretold the world would end had come.

But we were still standing on this land.

The people in the streets were still confused, but the bluish light that had enveloped them had disappeared, and everyone was fine.

Thud

The group, having exhausted all their mana in a short time, collapsed.

Considering the time, it was less than a day since we had defeated the Emperor’s knights, fought the specter continuously, and drained all our remaining mana. It was only natural.

“Hey… Kurt. Can I ask if it’s really over now?”

“…Yes. It’s really over this time. We won.”

“Ha… Ha… Kurt. Then can you finally explain what happened while we were time-stopped?”

“Ah. You don’t know? Well… it’s too early for you to know now. We’ll talk about it later.”

Lying sprawled on the ground, I caught my breath and teased Mari.

Having this meaningless conversation made it feel real that everything was finally over.

For the time being, I’ll just cook and do nothing else.

As we all lay on the ground catching our breath, Shail stood up.

Shail immediately approached the Emperor.

The Emperor, who had been drained of mana without knowing anything, recognized Shail and greeted him warmly.

“You are… Shail? You’ve aged since I last saw you. Though you still look much younger than I do now. Ha! So you’ve finally become a Master? Not aging is truly enviable. So. How long have I been asleep?”

But Shail did not answer the Emperor’s welcoming questions.

“Huh. It’s a pity. If you had stayed down, I could have assassinated you and taken the Empire’s power for myself.”

“What…!”

At those words, we all forced our exhausted bodies up and took defensive stances.

Damn.

Now that I think about it, Shail was still here.

Although we had fought together as allies all day, it was only a temporary alliance.

In truth, we didn’t even know Shail’s true intentions.

Surely, the real final trial wasn’t Shail Delphine, was it?

But contrary to our worries, the Emperor just laughed brightly at Shail.

“Hahaha. You really haven’t changed, even with age, still making those nasty jokes. Only I would laugh at those jokes.”

“….”

It was strange.

The Emperor, who had just heard someone say they would assassinate him, laughed heartily, but Shail, who had said it, just stared at the Emperor with a stiff face.

Soon, Shail silently knelt and bowed his head.

Then, with the utmost seriousness, he paid his respects to the Emperor.

“…Shail Delphine, Marquis. I greet the true Emperor of the Empire. I am ashamed to have come so late.”

“No, no. I should be thanking you for not giving up on me until the end. You’ve truly suffered, my friend.”

In other words, it had always been this way.

What Shail had said when he decided to rebel against the specter.

‘It’s quite unfair. My heart has always been filled with loyalty to the Emperor, but no one believes me.’

‘I am loyal to the Emperor of the Empire. But tell me. If the current Emperor is not in his right mind… do I still need to keep my loyalty?’

It wasn’t sarcasm or an excuse to justify his actions; it was meant literally.

Saying he wouldn’t keep his loyalty if the Emperor wasn’t in his right mind meant, conversely, that he would remain loyal if the Emperor was.

His loyalty had always been directed solely at the true master of the Spine Empire, the Emperor.

This was the oath of a vassal that had persisted since before the specter had turned the Emperor into a puppet, back when the current Emperor was still the Crown Prince. It was the sole purpose of a friend who had lived for over twenty years, always smiling while deceiving others and harboring thoughts of revenge.

Shail’s head was bowed, so no one could see his expression, but his slightly trembling voice and the hot liquid flowing down his cheeks told everyone how he felt.

And so, the long and arduous tale of the specter finally came to an end.

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