On the Black Plains, a land where sunlight should never shine, a faint beam of blue and a dazzling celestial staircase descended from the heavens.
Standing beside Nina, I gazed at that sunlight—so beautiful, so strangely familiar—with wide, stunned eyes.
"…We did it."
The words slipped out in a whisper.
Having gone beyond my limits, I let my giant sword fall—it was already cracked, scorched, and crumbling. I dropped to one knee, barely able to support myself, breathless and overwhelmed, the rush of emotion hitting me before I could even understand what I was feeling.
"Ah, you really pulled it off."
Through the falling ash, the knight approached.
Professor Leon, his silver armor scorched but intact, stood before Nina and me—both of us still in shock—and smiled gently.
"Thank you, Bell. It's thanks to you that we were able to defeat the dragon."
At those words of gratitude, a smile finally found its way to my lips.
"You were amazing, Rapi-kun—no, Bell-senpai!"
Nina's cheeks were flushed with excitement as she rushed over to me.
But I couldn't hold out any longer.
The last thread of tension snapped. My body swayed, collapsing—until Nina quickly caught me in her arms.
Her support, the way she embraced me to keep me from falling, filled me with embarrassment. I hadn't even made it to the end on my own feet.
But in that moment of warmth, I couldn't help the smile that tugged at my lips—bitter, yet happy.
—"That was truly something… I'm glad I came along on this 'adventure.'"
Professor Leon watched over us with a gentle gaze, then looked up, squinting slightly at a ray of sunlight filtering through the shattered sky. It was as if he were honoring what we had accomplished together in this journey.
As I watched him, the thought struck me—Leon-sensei must have known all along. About the dragon that had broken free from its seal… about that earth-shaking roar.
He could have defeated the Centipede Dragon himself, no doubt. And if something even stronger had appeared, he would have been ready to face it.
And that's why… he brought us here.
So that I could defeat the dragon.
So that I could learn just a fragment of "Afterglow."
And then…
"The Urban Tournament Festival, Orario Piard… it doesn't really matter anymore, does it? Bell, do you want to keep fighting?"
"…No."
"I see. Well then, despite all the surprises, I admit my mistake. Let's call this match… a 'draw.' The contest between Orario and the School District never came to a conclusion."
There was something almost shameless in the way he said it—but it made me smile.
Nina, still holding me up, seemed to understand too. With her usual seriousness, she tried hard not to laugh.
—"If I could offer a 'solution' to all this mess without involving either Orario or the School District… would you be willing to cooperate?"
Now I finally understood what Professor Leon meant by "solution."
Instead of ending the Urban Tournament Festival with a final battle, we had turned the dragon—a force that needed to be defeated—into an "outside threat," and made sure the conflict between Orario and the School District had no true resolution.
But… would everyone accept it like that?
As I thought about the adventurers and students watching us through the "mirror," Professor Leon spoke again.
—"Bell. Now that you've ended up fighting a dragon from the 'Valley'… let me ask you. What do you think we should do?"
—"…What to do?"
—"Do you believe the adventurers of Orario can defeat the dragons on their own? Do you think the School District alone has the strength to keep protecting the Lower World?"
That was likely the final question… of this "field assignment."
Through this journey, Professor Leon had been trying to discover what kind of answer I—the subject of this research—would come up with.
Niina held her breath as she looked up at my face.
But I had already made up my mind.
—"Even if a great 'hero' appears… they can't win alone."
I smiled faintly—at the girl whose eyes widened, at the knight who smiled too, and at all the people who had been watching us this whole time.
A bittersweet smile, from the depths of my heart.
—"If we're alone, we can't do anything.
But if there's two of us, we can manage a little.
If there's three, we can do even more.
And if everyone stands together… then we can do anything."
Without Professor Leon and Niina, I never could've defeated that dragon.
Even Professor Leon, by himself, wouldn't have been able to destroy all the dragons sealed away in that place.
Each one of us has limits.
And here, in this moment, I finally understood that truth.
That's why—I want to shout, to cry out for help.
Because many heroes are without a doubt stronger than just one hero.
—"Is that line from a hero's tale?"
—"Yeah. It's from a book my grandfather loved… and it just came to mind."
It was a line from a hero in a story my grandfather used to read to me back in our village.
Words that had always stayed in my heart—and now, at last, I knew this was the time to say them out loud.
—"I really don't think I can win without everyone else… that's what I believe."
Upon hearing my answer, Professor Leon gave a deep nod—as if awarding me a perfect score.
—"I believe that too."
—"Professor Leon…"
"There are still so many people in this world who fight each other—so many forces that clash.
But one day, I want us to come together.
All of us who stand against the same end… there's no doubt we're all looking toward the same future."
When he reached out his hand mid-sentence, I already knew what my answer would be.
Smiling, I grasped it in a firm handshake.
Nina, watching us up close, smiled too.
As the sky tried to close itself again with swirling black clouds, the warm sunlight continued to shine down on us, all the way to the end.
And then—
A divine voice descended upon both Orario and the "School District" in the midst of a long, heavy silence.
"'As the Knight of Knights once said, it seems we haven't reached a conclusion… So what now? Orario? School District?'"
The voice of Hermes—indifferent as ever—rang out across the coliseum arena, echoing through the magical amplification.
Everyone in the stands had serious expressions, arms folded, lost in thought…
While the gods, as usual, spoke with casual detachment.
—"Scary, wasn't it? The Dragon's Valley, out there at the edge of the world."
"Someone has to master something like that. And as long as they're busy fighting each other, no one will be born who can."
"That's the divine message."
The world needs heroes──
Atop the towering temple in the School District, the god of light murmured as well, a soft smile on his face, eyes closed in serene thought.
"If you can lower your raised fists, then we—the gods of Denatus—will mediate between Orario and the School District, and find a path of constructive compromise… What do you say?"
Everything lay in the palm of the gods' hands.
One adventurer, who despised the gods, spat out bitterly:
"What a farce."
Young students echoed the sentiment, biting their lips in silent frustration.
And so, no one answered.
But likewise—
No one rejected the gods' outstretched hand with a smile, either.