━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Unbelievable as it was, the moment that strange feeling struck her, Emilia had known what must have happened.
After all, she'd already gone through it twice. And Cynthia's screaming voice soon confirmed it.
Her last mission… had been completed!
Of course, compared to simply making the White Deer Corporation number one, making the Black Tiger go bankrupt, or even making Crystal and Amos hate each other, Emilia had always known that the last mission would be much more unpredictable.
After all, there was no clear definition of a 'winner in life', and the crimson-haired girl truly had no idea just how far she would have to go to convince Amos — or more precisely, the world will inside of him — that she was no longer someone he could ever reach.
There is no reasoning with the demented, after all. Or so she thought.
Naturally, unlike her partner, Cynthia had no scruples celebrating her success, and even animated the 'mission successful' panel in Emilia's vision to make it more 'formal', presumably.
==========
Ding! Ding! Ding!
The world will has admitted its fundamental loss, and is now in the process of abandoning its host and entering a dormant state to recover. Please proceed to the location of the former hero immediately!
Immediately!
===========
Since it was important, Cynthia had mentioned it twice, and despite her previously despondent state, Emilia at least seemed to know her priorities, reaching the Blue Lotus Palace the same day.
"Don't waste time with this blonde monkey now, you two can always talk later! Quickly go grab that brat!"
The raven-haired girl's anxious voice made it impossible for Emilia to stay still, and after giving Crystal a 'wait here' look, she immediately dashed into the basement at full speed.
'I clearly felt some chaos energy flow into me before, but it barely upped our reserves by seven percent.' The crimson-haired girl narrowed her eyes. 'I'm guessing that even that stupid thing must have some way to cut off its ties with the abandoned host and save itself, huh?'
After completing her first two missions, Emilia's energy reserve was already over ninety-six percent, and despite her making use of it whenever necessary, it had only fallen by 3.97 percent in total, leaving her with 99.84 percent energy currently.
It was just a little short of a hundred, and even without Cynthia's help, Emilia felt that she could probably try squeezing out some form of remnant energy from Amos if possible, or seek some out elsewhere to finish her goal. In the worst case, if she had no other choice, she could even try channeling back a little bit of what she had previously given out.
But the crimson-haired girl had the feeling that while reaching a hundred percent in energy reserves was a 'requirement', it wasn't really all that they needed from this world.
Emilia's thoughts were confirmed when Cynthia gave her a warning not to make any strange moves the moment they stepped in front of Amos.
"We can't let it escape, this is our only chance, understand? Just be normal, and wait for me to make a move."
The crimson-haired girl naturally had no reason to refuse, and schooled her expression as best as she could before stepping in front of the deliriously laughing boy.
Surprisingly enough, despite her third mission's success and the world will's abandonment, Amos was quite sober compared to his usual delusional self.
"Ahahaha… are you here to mock me too? Figures, now that no one in the world can even think of stopping you… ahaha…. what are you even keeping me alive? Want to make me your toy or something?" He sneered. "Although I might have fallen this low, don't underestimate the pride of Amos Black. I would rather be dead than be your toy."
Although she hadn't been able to properly question Crystal because of Cynthia's urging, Emilia could more or less tell what must have happened to put Amos in this state.
The blonde girl was clever enough to understand her mission with just a few hints, so there was no surprise that she was able to figure out a possible way to help her complete it.
She must have used her recent 'success' on the battlefield to make it seem like even the combined might of thirteen 'strong' countries stood no chance in front of her, and naturally, with the hero's understanding of the world, it wasn't a surprise that his mentality collapsed once he could no longer deny that 'truth'.
Of course, with her current state of mind, Emilia couldn't really feel any joy from the hero's despair.
Amos also seemed to feel something strange, and just his gaze was starting to wander up and down her body, a black shadow seemingly materialized out of nowhere right behind him, and the hero felt his vision fade as pain exploded from his chest.
Shockingly enough, there was a wispy, shadowy fist poking out of his torso, grasping something golden, but Amos had no time to ponder on any of it as he lost consciousness.
"Hah! I finally got it!" Cynthia triumphantly lifted the thing in her palm into the air, a huge grin on her face.
Her shadowy form had solidified again the moment she lost contact with the hero's body, and the golden mass in her hand also seemed to have gained form at the same time.
Emilia frowned. "Is that… the world will?"
The thing in Cynthia's palm was shaped like a little pig, except that it had no eyes, and its snout was almost twice the length of what it should be, but thanks to its small form, it didn't really look too odd.
Had she been in a good mood, and it had not been what she thought it was, the crimson-haired girl might even have had the urge to pet it.
Of course, as it was, she felt little regret when Cynthia crushed the squealing 'pig' with both hands, and kept squeezing the golden 'bubblegum' until it was the size of an apple.
"Want a bite?"
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━