In the fairy tale Jack and the Beanstalk, the protagonist Jack climbs a magic beanstalk that stretches high into the sky.
There, he discovers a giant and a goose that lays golden eggs, and he steals the goose and escapes.
The giant chases Jack down the beanstalk, but Jack cuts it down first, causing the giant to fall and die.
If Jack had simply fallen from the sky without the beanstalk, how would it have felt?
Probably… like this.
“Whew.”
Falling.
The space known as Babel disappears, and just before Babel collapses, I threw myself toward its entrance.
– Stop him! If that guy gets out of Babel, another Babel will…!
– Then why don’t you stop him?
– Tsk, fine—if no one else will—ugh!
There were those who tried to block my way in the process, but some Hunters were shredded and scattered left and right by Illinois’ charging tactics, pushed forward by Justice from behind.
And I jumped from Babel—now, I’m in freefall.
“Wow. It’s so clear.”
The sky is clear.
The first blue sky I’ve seen since Babel emerged.
“A sky without the tower is this clear…”
Thinking of how much effort humanity has put into reclaiming a sky like this—it makes me let out a soft chuckle.
“Carry.”
I did it.
But I can’t say I did it alone.
“Thank you… Elaine, Kiharu, Drei, Illinois, Justice.”
My summoned beings.
The developers of the game that served as the foundation allowing me to summon them.
And the countless people who helped me focus solely on conquering the tower.
Without their support, I’d have had to fight directly with my own body like other Hunters.
Maybe I wouldn’t have even made it to Babel.
I might’ve been in Korea, dragged away by the government, slaving under the Iron-Blooded.
How could I not express gratitude to those who made sure that never happened?
Among the five I reverse-summoned while escaping Babel, I summoned Elaine first.
“Are you alright, Master?”
With a flash of light, she appeared by my side mid-fall, locking eyes with me as we descended together.
“You’ve done well, Master.”
“You too.”
Facing the ground as we fell, she gave me a wide smile—one meant to reassure me.
“Don’t worry, Master. I’ll spread my wings and land when we reach the ground.”
“Then people will know you’re the real Elaine, won’t they?”
“I’ll just say it backwards. That the SS-rank Hunter with the Elaine concept can now even fly, finally using the wings from the game.”
Elaine pointed to the sky where Babel had disappeared.
“Thanks to Babel, you now have a convenient excuse to explain things to people.”
“What kind of explanation?”
“That’s for Kiharu to handle.”
Next to Elaine, Kiharu appeared in her cat form and grabbed Elaine’s arm.
“Now that we’ve been exposed to stories from alternate Earths via Babel, can’t we just throw out some vague bait that we’re beings from another world?”
“But I came from a game.”
“Well, what if the game wasn’t really a game? What if the devs were just manifesting another Earth’s reality in the form of a ‘game’?”
“Are you trying to make this complicated?”
“The people on the ground are the ones making it complicated. Not us. So who cares?”
Kiharu’s comment was a bit irresponsible, but her idea made some sense.
“Another world, huh…”
What used to be fantasy—another world—can now be proven through Babel. Maybe Kiharu wasn’t wrong after all.
“So on one Earth, there’s Granade Impact: Redive.”
“Then I’m someone who lived on that Earth and was summoned here through a game and supernatural power—an otherworlder, in short.”
“In my case, it’s a bit more clearly a different Earth.”
“I suppose.”
Beep.
“So that includes the future too?”
“If we consider sci-fi fantasy futures as another world, then yeah. At least this Earth doesn’t have zombies~”
Third, I summon Drei.
“Commander. You do realize this is being livestreamed worldwide right now? Gonna summon more?”
Still in freefall, Drei chuckled low as she pulled up the internet and expressed concern.
“It’s fine. If I were just falling randomly, it’d look insane—but this is right after clearing Babel.”
“Ohh, the Hero’s return, is that it?”
“Something like that.”
It’s a bit embarrassing to say, but I’m returning as someone who achieved a monumental feat for humanity.
If that’s not a hero’s accomplishment, what is?
“Partner, are you going to share the story of Babel with others?”
“I have to.”
“Why?”
“Because then others will challenge the S-rank towers. Even if something happens to me, people will continue to attack the towers and reach Babel.”
Elaine and Kiharu’s expressions stiffened slightly, but through this conquest, I came to understand something clearly.
“To those who entered Babel, it was their personal utopia. They had no intention of clearing it. They just hoarded tower coins and lived with overwhelming power in their own worlds. And I just blew up the hunting ground that allowed that. So starting with the next Babel… everyone will be an enemy.”
The ones who escaped from East Asia’s Babel will rush into the others.
“They were already enemies. Next time we meet, they’ll definitely be enemies.”
And inside those other Babels, they’ll spread stories about me.
“That some lunatic destroyed a Babel. And if that same guy destroys another, then they won’t be able to get elixirs, mana herbs, or supernatural awakening agents from Babel anymore. So they’ll do everything they can to stop me.”
“They didn’t interfere when you were taking down the boss before, but…”
“Next time, they might try to sneak in mid-boss-fight or sabotage your last hit, right?”
“Exactly. Because… in the end, Babel is still a tower.”
I continued operating my smartphone and opened a new window.
“Alice.”
[Yes!]
“Including the rewards after conquering Babel, how many Tower Coins do I have now?”
[W-Well…]
Alice swallowed hard before continuing.
[…Currently, approximately one trillion.]
“Babel really was something else.”
We had already earned a decent number of Tower Coins from clearing S-rank towers.
But the amount received from conquering Babel completely overshadowed that figure—an overwhelming reward.
“This includes the amount allocated to Otohara Yui, right?”
[Yes! It was distributed according to the raid share ratio.]
“Even to the support units and all that?”
[Yes! Everything was auto-distributed based on contributions, so you can trust it! A-And you, Master, received all of your summons’ shares too…]
“That’s good then.”
Clearing Babel yields Tower Coins.
Just that one fact was enough to make my next steps clear.
“Let’s see. If I keep falling like this…”
“The ocean.”
“Drei, where are we?”
“Tokyo Bay.”
“Great. Then let’s make sure everyone sees that their Master is alive and well.”
I gave Drei and Elaine a glance, then quickly manipulated my smartphone and closed my eyes.
“Summon.”
Right before hitting the ocean, Justice appeared in a burst of light, catching us and placing us into the cockpit.
It looked like the Master had transformed into a giant of light.
But even so, the giant of light continued plummeting toward the sea—no wings emerged.
SPLASH!
The massive light giant crashed into the ocean.
A towering spray of water rose up, and as I sat in the cockpit, I pressed the summon button immediately.
Gugugugugu.
As always—
BOOOOM!!
Illinois surged into the sky, rising above Tokyo Bay, with Justice standing on the deck, arms crossed, feet apart.
It might look like nothing special.
“Sounds like they can hear us.”
WAAAAAAHHHH!!
Cheers erupted—cheers for the one who conquered Babel.
“To think they’d be this ecstatic—loud enough to shake all of Tokyo Bay.”
“Of course. I’m amplifying the sound with the speakers right now.”
“…”
“Kidding. That’s the real sound. From the citizens, and the Hunters.”
Babel—conquered.
And now, a successful return.
* * *
[Meanwhile, somewhere else.]
“…”
A red-haired woman landed softly on the ground, looking dazed as she gazed up at the sky.
The sky was so clear and blue, it was almost unimaginable.
“That’s… the clear sky.”
Because for Otohara Yui, she had never seen such a sky since birth.
Adults often spoke of “how the sky used to be,” but ever since she was young, Babel had always hung in the sky.
And so, she had even come to like the sky inside Babel.
She thought this must be what the true sky looked like. Facing that vast, grandiose sky—she swallowed hard.
“……”
“H-Hey! [Red Witch]!!”
Some people rushed over to Otohara Yui.
They wore loose yukata robes, white headbands tied around their heads, and Japanese swords at their waists.
“What happened?! Don’t tell me… someone conquered Babel?!”
“……”
“W-What’s with that look on your face…?”
“I have something I need to do.”
Otohara Yui lifted her staff into the air again, sat on it, and released mana around her.
“Don’t come looking for me. I’m going to act for the sake of what I must do.”
“What do you mean? Your job is—”
“To gather Tower Coins in Babel and increase the number of Japanese Hunters.”
“You know that already!”
“In the past.”
“!?”
As the Hunters stood stunned, Otohara Yui turned her staff toward some distant direction.
“That regime no longer exists on this Earth.”
“Wha—”
BOOM!
With a burst of mana, Otohara Yui vanished.
* * *
Sometime in the distant future.
On one Earth.
One country celebrated its second liberation.
