Chapter 526
In the space dominated by endless darkness, the hands of the alchemists surrounding the white marble round table moved busily.
The final alchemical ritual, initiated by the Blue Girl’s suggestion, was rushing toward its climax.
The magical formulas created by the nine alchemists, each specializing in different fields, were so complex and intricate that they could not be compared to anything else.
The hands of the one who controlled space drew patterns in the air, while the staff of the one who created illusions refined them.
The light that bloomed from the fingertips of the one who circulated matter filled the patterns, and the gaze of the one who made contracts breathed life into them.
The alchemy they were creating was not just a skill; it was an art.
It was a bold attempt, as if defying the laws of the universe or challenging the domain of the gods.
But there was no hesitation in their movements.
They were certain that this would be their greatest achievement, the last legacy they could leave behind.
At the moment the ritual was nearing completion, an unexpected change occurred.
The endless darkness surrounding the round table began to slowly turn white.
It spread naturally, like paint bleeding, but at the same time, it gave off a threatening feeling, as if it could erase everything.
“This…”
A sigh, mixed with confusion, escaped from the mouth of the mage of contracts.
The round table began to fade, like morning mist.
The pure white space that had swallowed the Gray Reaper was now encroaching upon where they stood.
Before the wave of white that had climbed up the chain of causality, their existence, made of thoughts, seemed infinitely fragile.
The alchemists’ faces were filled with mixed emotions.
Though they did not voice it, they were all thinking the same thing.
A mixture of awe and fear at the existence of such an overwhelming external being.
At this rate, it seemed their last mark would be dissolved and vanish into the wave of white.
At that moment, the alchemist of the tower stood up.
There was no hesitation in her movement.
It was as if she had been preparing for this moment for a long time, resolute in her decision.
“I’ll go first.”
Her voice was soft, but there was the will of steel behind it.
She placed a small spider doll on the table, patted the Blue Girl’s shoulder, and began to walk toward the white space.
The intricately made small spider doll, unlike its appearance, was a work that encapsulated her entire life.
Inside it was etched her endless challenge toward infinity.
A false infinity formula that she had always wanted to create but could not.
And lastly, she turned her head and stared at the pile of sand.
The pile of sand was drawing the figure of a girl.
It was the only proof that the tower she had made was not meaningless—the figure of the girl with pink hair.
And with one step toward the white space, the tower’s alchemist stretched out her arms.
Her lips slowly parted.
[The End’s Tower.]
A brief wave of energy resonated in the air.
It was not just alchemy, but a trace of her life, something that could be said to be the very existence of the tower’s alchemist.
The endless steel tower began to rise.
It soared as though it were going to pierce the sky, lifting the round table upward.
Escaping the waves of light that dyed everything white, it desperately rose higher and higher.
The alchemist of the tower smiled as she looked up at her last creation.
It was a smile without sorrow or regret.
Soon, from the tips of her toes, she began to turn white.
It was slow, like snow accumulating, but with an unstoppable force, her existence began to be erased.
Her form melted into the infinite white, with no distinctions, no features, no self.
The Blue Girl, holding the small spider doll left by the alchemist of the tower, was looking down at the scene from the round table.
Perhaps it was due to the influence of the white space eating away at the lower part of the tower?
Or perhaps it was because the false infinity had not been completed?
The tower, which seemed as though it would endlessly rise, began to wobble slightly.
The massive steel structure creaked, as if groaning, and the tower, which had been stretching toward infinity, eventually stopped ascending.
Then, as if it were her turn, the alchemist with purple hair stood up.
She was still unable to take her eyes off the pile of sand, where the figure of a girl was being drawn.
The girl, resembling the purple alchemist like a twin, appeared incredibly hollow and sad in the image drawn by the sand.
“I guess I have to go…”
The voice of the purple alchemist trembled faintly.
Her lips formed a bitter smile.
“I’m not the real mother; I’m just a thought…”
The moment she said that, real tears gathered at the corners of her eyes.
But she quickly wiped them away and forced a bright smile.
It was a smile meant to hide her pain and convey warmth.
Slowly, she moved her steps toward the outside of the tower, leaving a single picture at her place.
It was as if she wanted this to be the one thing that remained until the end—a single picture left behind.
It was not just any picture; it was a special portrait drawn with all of her alchemy.
On the canvas was a girl with purple hair surrounded by numerous ghouls.
The warmth seemed to radiate from the painting as if it were alive.
The purple alchemist summoned her specialty—the legion of ghouls.
They quietly surrounded the purple alchemist, like loyal soldiers.
Her back, walking toward the white light, looked lonely but dignified.
In the final moment, she looked back.
She took one last look at the girl drawn in the sand, and her lips whispered a final farewell.
“Mom’s leaving. You must live well.”
With those words, the purple alchemist walked into the white light with the ghouls.
The white space, like dense fog, quickly erased her figure, but the flames emitted by her ghouls continued to burn brightly.
White flames that consumed the objects.
Though the flames were white, strangely, they did not mix into the white space and continued to burn around the round table until the end.
One by one, the alchemists departed.
It was as if they had made an agreement, leaving their alchemy to the Blue Girl before disappearing.
It seemed as though only the ‘Blue Girl’ could carry on their legacy, and they silently trusted her and left.
The tower’s alchemist, who had created the tower to survive.
The purple alchemist, who vanished with her lively ghouls.
This farewell, which had begun with those two, came to an end when her master left.
Now, only the Blue Girl remained.
Before the empty round table, the Blue Girl began to weave alchemy tinged with golden light.
Her body had already lost most of its color and faded, but her will remained sharp.
“It’s okay, they’re all thoughts.”
She murmured softly.
“I’m just a thought, so it’s okay.”
Alone at the round table, she resolutely continued the alchemy.
To complete the alchemy that would adorn the last of the world she loved, she did not stop until the very end.
“Done…”
Finally, at the moment the alchemy was completed, the white marble round table began to crumble into dust.
At the same time, the traces left by the alchemists began to disappear one by one.
As if they had finished everything they needed to do…
The cute spider-shaped doll, the treasured photo, the king’s token, and even the alchemist’s 2nd place graduation certificate, which was handed to her as ‘the only blemish.’
Lastly, the rocket left by her master melted into the air.
The photo of the Blue Girl from her childhood that had been inside it also disappeared.
Everything was perfectly finished.
Everything she had wanted to accomplish was finally complete.
“…”
Though everything was perfectly finished, she should have been happy…
Strangely, she felt like she might cry, so the Blue Girl looked up at the sky.
An endless, pure white sky.
She lifted a strand of her blue hair and held it against the white sky.
As she gazed at the last remaining color, a wistful smile appeared on her lips.
“I wish the sky was blue…”
At the end of a world dyed entirely white, the Blue Girl looked at me and smiled.
“Finally, we meet.”
Her tone was as if she already knew me.
The Blue Girl slowly approached, matching my eye level.
In her eyes, which looked exactly like mine, my own reflection was visible.
‘Who are you…?’
The moment I met the Blue Girl, I felt the anxiety that had been there before vanish, and I sent my will to her.
Hearing that, the Blue Girl looked as if she were choosing the words she needed to say, her eyes flickering back and forth, and then she spoke.
“I was the victim of a bombing incident in a park a long time ago… Well, from your perspective, it wasn’t that long ago, right?”
Clearing her throat, the Blue Girl continued.
“I was just a human part, used like a disposable item, having learned nothing in this harsh world.”
The words that came from the Blue Girl were filled with an all-too-familiar story.
That’s because the story the Blue Girl was telling contained my memories from my human life.
Realizing that, the Blue Girl smiled softly.
“To put it simply, I’m you who flew off to a fantasy world, and you’re me who stayed behind in this world.”
At that moment, the Blue Girl’s hair began to turn white.
As if to signal that time was up.
“It’s a pity. I liked this color…”
The Blue Girl murmured as she looked at her hair, which had started to fade to white.
“And there were so many more things I wanted to talk about…”
“I didn’t think the moment of reunion would be so short. Now it’s time to say goodbye.”
With a truly wistful expression, the Blue Girl murmured and then reached for the sky, drawing alchemy that glowed with a golden hue.
And as the alchemy she created by burning herself was completed, brilliant golden light began to fill the white space.
