Niike's roars echoed across the sealed land they were trapped in. If it was because of rage, terror, or desperation, the Hundred Knight could not tell. From what Mani- no, Aguni, had said, at some point both Niike and the Hundred Knight had been one and the same, a greater whole. But that was no longer the case, the Hundred Knight having grown from his time wandering Medea and the inhabitants he had encountered, the two of them were no longer anywhere within the same realm of being "one and the same". The Hundred Knight would put his all into protecting those he cared about, while Niike only cared about exacting his vengeance from the people of Medea, and then continuing his feast on the parallel worlds.

Throughout the fight, he could feel Metallia's mana at the edge of his awareness, doing her best to support him though this fight, but she was running on fumes after he had smashed his way through the seal. Even without the connection between the two of them, their hearts were one, fighting towards the same goal. A world where his master could roam free, without having to worry about her connection to the swamp, where she could go out and have fun with as many people as she pleased. Where she could visit as many places as she wanted and attend as many Witches Parties as she pleased. For his master, who had suffered through loneliness for over 100 years, he would make sure that that last wish she had uttered would come true: The desire to play with Visco again, and as many times in the future as possible.

Even though he had been doing it instinctively, the Hundred Knight continued to follow the path towards the brightest future. Everything, from defeating the three Dark Witches who formed the dimensional barrier, to his travel through parallel dimensions, everything the Hundred Knight did was for the future where his master could smile brightly. For Malia, who had suffered silently, torn between her duty as the Forest Witch to drain the Mana Swamp, and her desire to save her child from a fate that led to death. For Arlecchino, who steadfast stayed by Metallia's side, bearing the brunt of her abuse in the name of doing his duty as her butler. Visco, who had befriended Metallia even with the abuse hurled at her, and ultimately sacrificed her life to protect her family from the beastman who had invaded her home. For Nezaria and the Walpurgis Witch Party, Sabina, Nahab, Dulche, and the citizens of the Amataya Kingdom. And even for Lucchini, driven to despair after witnessing countless attempts to save countless worlds fail.

As he steadily whittled down Niike's defenses, the Hundred Knight could feel the battle coming to a close. It just served to display the differences between the two who were once one, as the larger majority of the god was flagging and failing, unable to keep up with the tiny unknown part that made up the Hundred Knight, who was able to keep the advantage, even if only barely. In this fight for the future of Medea, the Hundred Knight would not lose, even if it took everything he had. Although he cared only for a fraction of the people living in this land, it was their home and so he would protect it and its future, to ensure the fate that Lucchini had foreseen would not become true.

With the last of his masters mana, the Hundred Knight leapt towards his foe and struck-

GROOOUGH

-the resulting movement sending him backwards as Niike let out his final cry, the edges of his body disintegrating into ambient mana. The Hundred Knight collapsed onto the ground, his gigacals having dropped dangerously close to zero and his contract torch having turned red a while ago, but the battle had finally reached its end. He turned his gaze up, towards where his master was appearing, a smile growing on her face as she beamed towards her former servant. Before any words could be exchanged between the two however, a forgotten third party spoke up.

"N-Niike… Nii…ke… D-Did you…die…? Niike… Did…Did you…die…?" The whispered words echoed throughout the void, the Swamp Fairy apparently in shock as reality caught up to her. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I'll curse you!" were her words, as anger replaced her shock and she turned towards the pair that had finally slain her beloved. "Envy…! Jealousy…! Hatred…! I'll curse you…! I'LL KILL YOU!" Her declaration made, as her mana swelled and her body grew and transformed. A large face, carried by hair-like tendrils and covered in eyes had replaced the swamp fairy, as she let her hatred consume her and the dark overtake her.

The Swamp Witch and the Hundred Knight were both too exhausted from the previous battle, both magically and physically, to react Aguni's actions in time. Quicker than their minds could keep up, one of the tendrils lashed out and coiled around Metallia before returning to its main body. "Blacky!" were her final words, the tendril pulling her inside Aguni's body, absorbing everything that she had to offer.

The Hundred Knight, having leaped up when the tendril snapped her up, could only watch in despair as the reason he had fought so hard and for so much had disappeared in an instant. With the hope that if he acted fast enough then she could be saved, the Hundred Knight charged towards the dark witch with his sword. It was all for naught as with a swipe of a tendril, the Hundred Knight got sent back as the last of his gigacals were used up trying to repair the damage.

Everything he had worked for was crashing down around him and there was nothing he could do to save it, the Hundred Knight realized. His main method of dealing with problems had failed him, and he was at a loss at what he could do. An idea hit him soon before Aguni hit him and with a quick use of Mystical Dodge, the Hundred Knight was sprinting toward what counted as an edge in the void.

The idea was rather simple. At the current time, things had progressed to the point where the Hundred Knight did not know if they could be changed, and still retain everything he had done when patching the world to make it better. However, Uruka had recognised, and more importantly remembered him as Blacky from over 100 years ago. That told him that when he had accidentally traveled to the past, that was for the past of this world, instead of a parallel one. And so, if things in this time could not be changed, then it was a matter of traveling back to a time that could. He would be solely relying on his instincts while he tried to do it on purpose this time, but he had to believe that it would work.

Reaching what he perceived as the edge of the void, the Hundred Knight reached inside himself and transformed into his bird form and flew away from Aguni's reach. As her screams of rage carried after him, he reached deeper into himself, grabbed the specific power he desired and locked on to what he believed was the correct destination, and pulled-

Metallia was walking towards what was once the Old Hag's place, yesterday's events replaying in her mind. Malia had revealed to her about the Old Hag disappearing and probably having died, and she had attacked her for it. She had been so angry, but at the same time she had been afraid… afraid of being alone again. And even though she didn't fully like Malia, Metallia still didn't want her to leave either.

Especially since her familiar, Blacky, had disappeared after the fight yesterday. Did he decide to abandon her as well? No! She refused to believe that. They had made a promise, as master and familiar. If she called for him, then he would come as promised. Afterall, he had come back every time he vanished, so she had to trust that he would return. Blacky woudn't leave her. He was probably just on another adventure, like the previous times he had disappeared. If he could talk, then he could probably tell her about hundreds of adventures that he had been on. He was the Legendary Hundred Knight afterall! But still… she wished he was here with her now. She didn't feel fully confident going to Malia, after attacking her like that. She brought some yummy swamp candy to share with her though, so they could make up and be friends again! And then she could tell Blacky all about it when he came back!

Approaching what was once the Old Hag's home, she entered and came face to face with Malia reading a bunch of papers. "You feel better?" Malia asked noticing Metallia, "So? Why'd you come back here? Want to pick up where we left off?"

"She's really gone?" Metallia asked, not wanting to fight Malia again.

"Like I said. We'll never see her again."

"You weren't lying… It's true…" That just made Metallia feel even more bad. Malia was smiling at her now though, so they could still be friends! She didn't have to go back to being alone. Malia seemed to be thinking about something, so she decided to speak up. "U-um! I have an idea! I'll give you something good, so we can forget that I called you a liar."

"Is this your way of apologizing? All right, what's this "good" thing?" She didn't have to say that outloud! It was embarrassing…

"It's really good! My favorite food! Okay, close your eyes and open up!" Malia would love the swamp candy! It was right up there with Anima and candied seeds.

"Fine. Like… this?" Malia asked, crouching down, closing her eyes and opening up. However, before Metallia could place the swamp candy in her mouth, there was a large crash from somewhere in the forest nearby. "Shit! What's going on out there?" Malia shouted, getting up and rushing outside, Metallia following her.

It was Malia that reached the source of the noise first, her bigger form and more familiarity with the forest giving her an advantage over Metallia. She stopped at the edge of the crater that had been made however, and was staring at whatever had caused it. "What the fuck is that thing? Did it fall from the sky? I've never seen a manania like that before…" Malia was saying, her words getting quieter the more she spoke. Curious over what she had found, Metallia finally reached the edge of the crater and looked inside, only to find-

"BLACKY!" Metallia screamed, scrambling down the crater wall to get to him. It was Blacky! He was there! But something was wrong… He was face down in the crater, not moving with small cracks running around the helmet he always wore. And the torch that burned at the top of his helmet had become a tiny red ember, with tiny crackles dancing around it. He was hurt! But he was Blacky, the Legendary Hundred Knight and her Familiar! What in Medea could have hurt him this badly? Metallia turned to Malia, hoping she could help, but she was still standing at the top of the crater staring dumbly at Blacky. "M-Malia! Please! Help Blacky!" Metallia cried out to her.

That seemed to break Malia out of her thoughts, and she ran down the crater wall, muttering curses under her breath the entire time. Metallia watched as Malia picked Blacky up and examine him, staring at the cracks and the dwindiling torch upon his head. "Let's take him back to my house, we can look at his injuries and heal them better there." she spoke, shifting Blacky around in her arms and turning to face Metallia. "And then you can tell me all about this… thing, and what happened here"

Metallia could only nod at Malia's words, staring at Blacky with worry and fear in her thoughts, as they began the trek back to Malia's home.

A huge thanks to Phantom_Flan and Lyrecho of the Bread and Bitter Discord, and my friend Perported_Hades for looking it over. Thanks!