âHaha, my apologies. The backlash of being serious for too long made my pathos leak out for just a little much.â
â⊠A little?â X2
The light of regeneration magic that Tio exercised enveloped Suzu and Ryuutaro, illuminating the pa.s.sage. The words that Tio said while smiling during that time were tsukkomi-ed by them with scornful eyes.
The n.o.bility of Tio that was usually unseen, her elegance that was mistaken as royalty, her refinement, the recoil from all those that caused Suzu and also Ryuutaroâs hearts to be palpitating thoroughly made the gazes that were directed at Tio colder than usual. Especially Ryuutaro, it felt like his pure heart was toyed with, even though he understood that it was just an outburst of anger, his mental state couldnât help but lower the temperature of his gaze.
Drifting inside such a strange atmosphere, after the light of healing that had enveloped the two had vanished, their bodies were in perfect health without even a single injury. It was just a few seconds since Tio exercised her regeneration magic.
âEven though it was amazing⊠it was amazing but⊠but Suzu cannot honestly praise it now. But, thank you Tio-san.â
âMe too, I wonder just why this kind of pervert is like this but⊠thanks anyway.â
âThou art welcome. Also Ryuutaro. Even if thou insulted me, I wonât feel happy you know? I wonât wag my tail to anybody except master. Iâm truly sorry.â
A vein appeared on Ryuutaroâs temple. Inside his heart he cursed âItâs like Iâm trying to attract her but getting dumped instead, isnât itâ. He didnât say anything out loud because there would be no end to it.
Once again, unspeakable rage that shuddered welled up from inside him against Tio who was calmly using two exact opposite aspects, the dignified beauty just now and the perversion that conveniently converted any kind of attack into pleasure. At the same timeâŠ
â⊠Just as I thought, Nagumo is amazing, huh?â
âSuzu doesnât think that Nagumo-kun needs that kind of praise though.â
Thinking about Hajime went along with Tioâs everything, Ryuutaro saw the depth of Hajimeâs magnanimity as a man, no, as a human and raised his praise to him. Surely it was just as Suzu said, if Hajime heard that he would surely have a vein appearing in his forehead saying that it was not the case.
Like that, Suzu and Ryuutaro were fed up by Tioâs perversion that she naturally emitted. During that time, the end of the pa.s.sage became visible ahead. It was the next room.
âHmm, there art multiple presences on the other side. It seems there are members who have already linked up there.â
âNagumooo, please be there. I wonât be able to hold back if you donât take her off our hands soon.â
âPlease G.o.d, make it so the owner is there.â
Suzu and Ryuutaro murmured in prayer after hearing Tioâs words. And then Suzu also nonchalantly said something cruel. It seemed that since she pa.s.sed her trial, she had learned to punch straight with her words.
Like that, the ice wall the three approached melted and vanished and what was at the other side of the wall wasâŠ
âMuuIIIii, Yue you bhird braiiiinn!!â
â⊠Shut hup. Closeht pherverttâ
âAah geez. You two, stop it alreadyyyâŠâ
There straddling above the lying down Yue, Kaori was pulling Yueâs cheeks *gyuuuuuuu*, and toward Kaori who was doing that, Yue similarly pinched up Kaoriâs cheeks *muniiiiii*, and then, s.h.i.+a was mediating those two in a dither.
âWhatâs thisâŠâ
âCat fight?â
âThis is their usual quarrel. They really have a good relations.h.i.+p.â
Suzu and Ryuutaro were dumbfounded. Tioâs expression was smiling peacefully. Looking at the figures of the two that were pulling the otherâs cheeks with teary eyes while striking each other like pawing cats, surely it couldnât be helped that their expression turned like that. The two girls were merely running out of magic power due to the huge fight just now and so this quarrel was the most that they could do.
âEh? Tio-san? Also both of you. So all of you safely overcame the trial then. Iâm glad. Come now Yue-san, Kaori-san, Tio-san and others have arrived hereee! Stop fighting alreadyyy! Come on, release your hands from the cheeks, donât keep hitting at each other! Ah, over there, donât kick! Please calmly⊠I said stop it alreadyyy!â
s.h.i.+a snapped toward Yue and Kaori who wouldnât stop quarreling childishly. Two reinforced fists were striking down on the heads of the two, a *GOKIN!* sound that shouldnât have rung out reverberated. Yue and Kaori crouched down while holding their heads. âMy headd-, my headd~â They groaned like so.
âHmm, it seems that the position of s.h.i.+a and Yue strangely got reversed since we came to this labyrinth⊠I wonder if Yue also slightly received the influence of the great labyrinth? Well, itâs interesting to look at anyway.â
Tio tilted her head while murmuring her guess that was half correct. Yue was also exhausted because she recalled various memories of the far past. She even let out a weak-hearted remark against her better judgment. Rather, with how large her past trauma it was strange that it ended with just this much.
And then, the unconscious reliance that was created from the weakness of Yueâs heart⊠that was naturally directed at her lover Hajime, but even s.h.i.+a who had remarkable growth since she was acknowledged as lover by Hajime was also not just a handful little sister anymore and turned into a reliable partner that Yue was apt to rely on. In other words, in addition of s.h.i.+aâs growth, her distance with Yue was also shrinking further.
âFuu, my apologies, we made you wait. The new pa.s.sage is over there, so letâs advance forward.â
â⊠Thou art really reliable right now.â
s.h.i.+a urged them ahead while carrying Yue and Kaori at both sides under her arms. Tio nodded at that while looking fondly.
The party advance through the pa.s.sage once more. The people who they hadnât found were three people, Hajime, s.h.i.+zuku, and Kouki. They were walking forward while praying so that they could link up at the next room.
Like that now, they suddenly stood still in front of the ice wall that was at the end of the pa.s.sage they had reached. s.h.i.+aâs rabbit ears were twitching around while she was making a complicated face. Right after that, her eyes widened in shock.
âEh⊠tho, those two too?â
The sudden words and att.i.tude of s.h.i.+a who had sharp senses caused the other members to look at her wondering what was going on. Yue, Kaori, Tio, the three of them immediately concentrated and reached out their senses at the other side of the ice wall. And the result, they understood what made s.h.i.+a surprised and they looked at each other.
âNothing will begin even if we just stand here. We can only confirm the situation directly.â
â⊠Nn. If he is Hajimeâs enemy, I will beat him up.â
âErr, Yue? Thatâs a little⊠â
âAnyway, letâs go.â
While her cheek was twitching at Yue who was narrowing her eyes dangerously, Kaori could only pray that she wished it was just a quarrel like her and Yue.
But, that prayer didnât reach.
Ahead of the ice wall they pa.s.sed, at the next room, storm of killing intent and hatred was blowing violently.
Yes, Hajime and Kouki were currently in mortal combat.
Amanogawa Kouki.
He who was born as the only son of an ordinary household had someone who he respected and idolized from the heart even now. That someone was Koukiâs grandfather.
The name of that grandfather was Amanogawa Kanji, he was a skilled attorney famous in business world. It was established custom for the family to go play at their grandfatherâs house when it was a long holiday, but Kanjiâs wifeâbecause Koukiâs grandmother had pa.s.sed away early, the grandfather that was living alone was very affectionate toward Kouki.
For his age, Kanjiâs back was straight and his muscular body was overflowing with ambition, nevertheless, he wasnât scary, but a gentle person. Kouki idolized dearly such a grandfather as his, that was to say he was a grandfatherâs boy.
What Kouki liked the most from Kanji was Kanjiâs story of his experiences. The experiences that Kanji obtained from his work as an attorney were told to Kouki as though he was reading from a picture book so that the small Kouki could easily understand them. Realistically speaking, the stories were also considerably arranged to not breach the duty of confidentiality, but even so, the eloquent stories of his grandfather were full of human drama that caused Koukiâs heart to dance many times.
Helping the weak, crus.h.i.+ng the strong, reaching his hand to a troubled person without hesitation, accomplis.h.i.+ng the correct thing, always being fair⊠in the end, Kanjiâs stories were a thing that included that kind of teaching. A heroâs tale that personified ideal and justice. A common story for young children.
Because of that, for Kouki, his grandfather Kanji was exactly a hero. Just like how other children of his age idolized a certain masked rider or the s.p.a.ce alien that defeated s.p.a.ce monsters even faster than instant ramen could cook, Kouki idolized Kanji like that. It could be said that because his target to idolize was nearby that Koukiâs idolizing was even stronger than other children. He wished âsomeday I will be like grandfatherâ.
But, naturally, the real world couldnât be like Kanjiâs story where truth and justice defeated the evil and unreasonable, and the righteousness of ideals could be realized without end. In the occupation of attorney, even if they held justice and fairness, their foremost mission wasnât to pursue the truth or impeach the guilty but to protect the interest of their client.
To be called as âcompetentâ attorney, it wasnât enough with just having excellent skill as an attorney, it was also because Kanji was a human who could realistically think with good and evil at the same time. He thoroughly knew about the dirty part of society and also how it was insufficient to just carry ideal and justice in hand.
But, before he could teach that to Kouki he pa.s.sed on to the next world. It was before Kouki entered elementary school. The cause was an acute heart attack.
Kanjiâs death left behind a large influence on Kouki.
The thinking that it was okay for a young child to only think of beautiful things was something really normal, Kanji couldnât be blamed because of that. Someday, when Kouki grew up, he was planning to also talk to Kouki about bitter experience that included reality when things wouldnât go as you expected.
The death of the hero he idolized was a shock for Kouki. He thought of his beloved grandfather, the more he soaked in his memory of Kanji the more he beautified his image of Kanji as a hero, putting a deep root of âthe ideal righteousnessâ into the deepest part of young Koukiâs heart.
That righteousness was following the teaching of his grandfather that sounded pleasant to the ears of children, at the
same time it was righteousness that didnât recognize the âimpureâ part inside the minority or good and evil at all. To further say it, Kouki came to think that what the majority of people thought as right was the absolute right.
Although it wasnât like that was something peculiar. Children everywhere always watched the hero from television or comics that held the ideal righteousness inside their heart.
And then, those children would pile up days of living, repeating many failures from cras.h.i.+ng into the wall of reality. Sometimes, they would experience setback, learn how to give up and compromise. They would naturally study the way to sail the storm of reality skillfully.
They would keep their aspiration as just aspiration, ideal as just ideal, storing all those inside a treasure box that they put at the corner of their heart while looking at reality. That was the natural course of events. Kouki too should be like that. If that happened, then there would be no problem at all.
However, Kouki was too prodigious to ride the natural course of events. His high specs allowed him to overcome the wall of reality while following his ideal. Without any failure or setback, he pushed through every situation with his own strength. His ideal of children completely pa.s.sed through.
As a result, without realizing it, Kouki came to not doubt his own righteousness. He was cautioned many times about the danger of that by several people close to him, especially by his parents and s.h.i.+zuku, but Kouki only heard that advice with a smile. He didnât listen seriously or reform himself. In the first place, he had charisma and his principle was solely based on good intention, so not including those several people that cautioned him, everyone else supported Kouki and that was also one factor that caused Kouki to not change.
Of course, there was no way everything went well without anything wrong at all. Several problems cropped up in places that Kouki wasnât aware of. The envy at s.h.i.+zuku was also one of those.
But, Kouki who didnât doubt his own righteousness maintained it by his convenient interpretation. That was also helped along by the people who adored Kouki blindly pus.h.i.+ng his back. So as expected, Kouki didnât notice his convenient interpretations. Even though he received warnings, he also didnât try to notice.
Such âideal righteousnessâ of Kouki had distorted even though it was overflowing with good intention. It began to crumble in this another world. Different from the peaceful j.a.pan, in another world that ran rampant with killing intent and hatred, supernatural and absurdity, his spec and convenient interpretation didnât work. The prime example was the devil woman he faced in the lower floors of Orcus, and Hajime who went under a change of heart.
For the first time, Kouki saw the wall of reality before his eyes. He experienced painful failure that exposed the âchildâ inside his heart.
And thenâŠ
{She was taken away. Right?}
âNo! She is not takenâŠâ
The false image of Kouki with ashen hair clad in black armor was staring with those reddish black eyes while ridiculing Kouki, who was breathing roughly while sweating like a river, immediately objected.
âItâs just as s.h.i.+zuku said, from the beginning Kaori liked Nagumo⊠thatâs why IâŠâ
{You donât need to lie to yourself. I am you. I know you better than anyone else. You pretended to accept what s.h.i.+zuku said, but deep in your heart, you are thinking that she is taken from you. You are still thinking that Kaori should be together with you. You two had been together all this time since elementary school. I donât know about the meeting at middle school or anything, but even though she has been with me longer, even though I believed that from now on we will always be together too, even though Kaori is the heroin of me the heroâŠ}
âShut up. Iâm not thinking anything like that! Donât say whatever you want- you labyrinth monster! You wonât lead me astray!â
Kouki glared at the false image with bloodshot eyes and let loose a blade of light with all his strength. Several streaks of slas.h.i.+ng light rushed toward the false image.
However, the false image let fly light blades with exactly the same trajectories, neutralizing them all. No, far from that, several of the lights didnât stop and attacked straight towards Kouki. It was the proof that he lost completely in strength.
{You say that but in contrast you are shaken really bad, huh. Even the holy sword that Nagumo especially upgraded, like this itâs just throwing a pearl before the swine. Or else exactly because it is created by that hateful Nagumo you envied, that you donât want to use it properly, perhaps?}
âThatâs irrelevant! I, donât hate Nagumo or anyâŠâ
{Come on, itâs because you immediately averted your eyes from reality like this⊠that Iâm strengthened again here.}
An extra large âSoaring Heaven Sword â Quakeâ was unleashed by the false image. Its might was obviously different compared from before. His own signature move that was gouging the ground while approaching him made Kouki shudder and he immediately dodged to the side. His instinct told him that he couldnât block that.
{Not just Kaori, you also cannot stomach Yue and others adoring Nagumo, right? Girls that are that cute, strong, and charming, arenât they worthier to be together with a hero like me? You cannot accept they adore someone like Nagumo who can easily cut down a human. right?}
âCut it out! Those girls seriously love Nagumo⊠thatâs something those girls decided themselves⊠thatâs why-â
{Nagumoâs strength is also irritating. That strength originally should be mine, isnât it? Rather, Nagumoâs everything is just vexing yeah.}
âWrong-. Certainly, Nagumo likes to act as he pleases, but he saved us many times⊠that kind of guyâŠâ
{You said you donât hate him? You mustnât lie. Even when you were saved, you felt jealousy instead of grat.i.tude, didnât you? Even though gallantly rus.h.i.+ng to save someone is my role, you envied him like that, didnât you?}
âThere is no way thatâs true! Such a thingâŠâ
{Oi, oi, just how much you are going to strengthen me until you are satisfied?}
That wish of his to be a hero, the envy to Hajime that was nearly a hatred, and then his desire to monopolize Kaori along with his desire for other peopleâs good will⊠having those shoved to his face, Kouki objected with the large part of himself believing his own words. Like that, because he was unconsciously avoiding recognizing it, the false image was strengthened endlessly.
The false image of Kouki lifted his black holy sword to the sky. Right after that, a dazzling surge of light burst out from there and the light split open near the ceiling, it became several streaks of meteors that began to bomb Kouki.
Kouki avoided those with âShrink Groundâ while looking for the chance to counterattack, but the color pasted on his face was obviously one of fl.u.s.ter. Cold sweat couldnât stop flowing from the strength of the false image.
The meteors that were attacking from the air were equipped with homing functions to some degree and Hajimeâs impact conversion so there was nothing more troublesome than this. Even if he waited until they almost hit before evading instantly, if he was late in the timing even for just a little the storm of shockwaves would swallow him. Having said that, only neutralizing the attack like this without being able to counterattack would only turn this into a war of attrition.
âBecause Hajime put those functionsâ⊠for a moment such thinking was whirling inside his chest. Kouki wiped that thought away in a fl.u.s.ter. That was because such thinking wasnât ârightâ toward the person who lent his hand to him. That was why right after that he sealed the memory that he even had such a thought in the bottom of his mind.
âFly and turn, âSoaring Heaven Sword â Stormâ!!â
Kouki somehow slipped through the explosion and started counterattacking. Koukiâs slash was added with wind blade, the slash of wind that was hard to see even in the best of times slipped into the light and magic power and became even harder to perceive. The visible slashes were ten, but actually slashes in thrice that number were launched in a spread to block any escape.
In response, the false image was wearing a cool face. The light bullets that became meteors  flew wildly and instantly converged on the black holy sword, converted into a streak of bombardment. There was no need to escape or anything, he just needed to smash Koukiâs attack from the front.
That plan came to fruition. And it was extremely easily on top of it. The countless blades Kouki launched were scattered with just a single flash. The bombing of light charged at Kouki without stopping.
âblock, âLight Armorâ!!â
The holy armor that Kouki was wearing s.h.i.+ned, countless rings of light extended in front of him and produced a barrier. Immediately after, the light bombing hit and scattered with a severe flash and impact. âHeaven Claw Flowing Rainâ originally was a technique that didnât have that much power, but Hajimeâs demonic remodeling and the strengthened power of the false image were combined and sublimed the technique into one with might that wouldnât be an exaggeration to be called a sure kill technique.
ThereforeâŠ
âGuwaa!?â
Koukiâs barrier was smashed and he was grandly blown away. He rolled all over the ground and finally stopped moving when he crashed into the ice wall. Blood was trickling down from his temple.
{You want to overwhelm him, right? That Nagumo. You want to make that guy kneel and beg for forgiveness. After that, you will take back Kaori, Yue and the others will direct their favor to you, save the world, bring everyone back home, showered in admirationâŠ}
âSHUT UPPPPPP!â
While feeling the black emotion that was fished out from the depth of his heart, Kouki drove his flaming hot body forward following his violent fury. Vast amounts of magic power from that body became a bursting out a torrent, it was âLimit Breakâ.
Kouki himself understood that it wasnât the right time to use it, but he couldnât listen to the words of the false image more than this. He didnât want to notice the emotion that shouldnât be harbored by himself who should be righteous. That was his whole heartedness.
Kouki stepped in with terrific speed that should even be called G.o.d speed. He swung down the holy sword that was s.h.i.+ning pure white with brute force. That was easily blocked with a scoff by the false image of Kouki whose body was clad in reddish black magic power before he realized. The false image was also using âLimit Breakâ.
The pure white holy sword and the ominous jet-black holy sword clad in reddish black aura clashed, in that instant violent impact rushed out and a crater was created under the false image.
The moment Kouki understood he was blocked, he twisted his wrist and changed into a sweep of the sword. The wood chopping attack transformed like a lie into a neck mowing attack. However, even that attack which was like a sudden flash was easily blocked by the false image.
{Isnât murder of humans evil?}
âYou are not human!â
The teasing words of the false image made Kouki gritted his teeth while accelerating his sword even more. The sword left behind a trail of light while *zurararara-* creating countless after images. The sword that should be just one piece looked like several swords at the same time with its abnormal speed.
The storm of sharp swordplay that continuously swung in circle motions never stopped, as expected from the person that was supposed to be praised as a hero. That strength could be quickly ranked from above even in this world.
But, the enemy before his eyes perfectly responded with similar swordplay that left behind after images with his composed expression still unbroken. On the contrary, the false image saw an opening and let out a counterattack that created a shallow wound on Kouki who couldnât dodge.
âUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!â
{Whatâs the matter? You are smeared in that much killing intent⊠huh, hero?}
Kouki yelled while exhausting the martial arts that he possessed, but his heart that was totally disarrayed even if he didnât recognize it made him unable to display his strength except as a paltry shadow of his original strength. Naturally, with that, there was no path to win against the likes of his false image that was gradually turning stronger, his uneasiness was also growing violent when he thought about the time limit of âLimit Breakâ.
There, the false image further talked with words that shook Koukiâs mind. That wasnât Koukiâs negative part that was brought up from the past, but words that incited his anxiety about the future.
{If you are like this, you might have more things taken away again.}
âWhat are⊠â
{Letâs stop with your pretense of not noticing. After all, something that I noticed is also something that you notice.}
âThatâs why-! What are you talking about-â
The false image sent Kouki an exasperated gaze as though he was looking at an idiot. And then, he easily said the thing that Kouki feared the most.
{Just who is s.h.i.+zuku looking at⊠thatâs what I mean.}
ââ!!â
Kouki felt like the blood all over his body was boiling. He screamed soundlessly, and when his mouth couldnât go further he launched a shockwave from close range that might swallow himself too.
The false image easily withdrew from that using âShrink Groundâ and he continued with mocking words toward Koukiâs desperation.
{So you donât even want to think about it? After Kaori was taken away, on top of it, even s.h.i.+zuku will⊠}
âDIEEEEEEE!!â
{Oi, oi, thatâs not a line of a hero, you know? Besides, no matter how much you shout, itâs the truth that s.h.i.+zukuâs heart is leaning toward Nagumo. It might even be understandable, yeah? She was saved by him several times already, and s.h.i.+zuku is unexpectedly girly.}
âZEYAAAAH!!â
Kouki shrieked. The swung holy sword increased in brightness, but the black holy sword was increasing even more than that in the thickness of its ominous magic power. Inside Koukiâs heart, he was trying to deny s.h.i.+zukuâs feeling and throw away the reality with all his might, which in turn raised the strength of the false image endlessly.
Therefore, the unsightly attack that although was done with all his strength but no different than throwing a tantrum, was easily repelled from the front.
âGaah!?â
Kouki screamed and he was blown away towards the wall once more. Although the magic power convergence ability of his holy armor lengthened the lasting time of âLimit Breakâ,if he recklessly exhausted himself then even that benefit would be pointless. The time Kouki had left was only a little.
{I see. You even deny s.h.i.+zukuâs matter.}
The false image was walking to Kouki with clacking footsteps, he was shaking his head while sending a cold gaze at Kouki.
Kouki somehow stood up using his holy sword as a stick while his breathing was blocked from the impact, he returned a bloodshot gaze to the false image.
âWr, wrong. Toward Nagumo, s.h.i.+zuku⊠such a thing⊠no way it could possiblyâŠâ
{Venting her anger, sulking, showing a smile from her heart⊠you noticed all those, right?}
âSomething like that⊠she did that to everyâŠâ
{Even though when she saw Yue and s.h.i.+a close with Nagumo, she was making a sullen face?}
â⊠Thatâs just⊠because they didnât know the place⊠that was displeasing forâŠâ
{And the awkward face she made when looking at Kaori approaching that guy?}
â⊠s.h.i.+zuku⊠she is also not recognizing⊠Nagumo from her heart.â
{Ku-ku-ku, thatâs just extreme even if I say so myself huh. You donât want to believe it that much?}
In front of Kouki who was on his knee while supporting his body with the holy sword, the false image was chuckling while pointing his holy sword. The false image sneered even further at Kouki who was glaring murderously.
And then for a moment, âOho?â the false image faced at ice wall where there was nothing with a surprised expression. He sensed the familiar presence approaching from the other side of the ice wall with âPresence Detectionâ. Although it seemed Kouki didnât even have the composure to notice that.
{This is⊠what good timing.}
âDonât act composed!â
Kouki leaped up and slashed up his holy sword at what he saw as an opening. Without even looking at that the false image blocked the sword into sword locking contest while grinning widely, and then he pa.s.sed down words that sounded like a death sentence.
{Now, the reality is coming here, you know?}
âWhat are you saying-â
Right after that a part of ice wall of the room where the two of them were at melted, a new pa.s.sage appeared. Kouki twitched in surprise and while being cautious of the grinning false image in front of his eyes, he slightly moved his gaze at the direction of the pa.s.sage.
And then, his eyes widened looking at the scene ahead of his gaze.
âStill in the middle of trial huhâŠâ
There was Hajime carrying s.h.i.+zuku on his back there. Koukiâs gaze was drawn into s.h.i.+zuku. More accurately, at the sleeping face of s.h.i.+zuku who looked happy while sweetly entrusting her cheek on Hajimeâs shoulder in relief while breathing peacefully.