Chapter 27 - Chapter 3: The Sack of Ur (Part 1)

"Hii!" A high pitched shriek echoed throughout a corner of a tunnel dimly lit by green glowstone, somewhere in the depths of the Great Orcus Labyrinth.

"What's wrong, Shizuku-chan?"

Kaori Shirasaki, a member of the hero's party, turned to her longtime friend, a puzzled expression on her face. It was uncharacteristic of Shizuku Yaegashi of all people to scream like that.

"U-Umm... it's nothing. I was just surprised when a drop of water fell on my neck, that's all."

"I see. Fufu."

Shizuku awkwardly averted her gaze. Kaori giggled when she realized her stoic friend had been scared by a mere drop of water.

Though considering monsters could attack them at any time, it didn't seem so far-fetched to be frightened by a sudden chill running down one's neck. Especially as the party was now traversing uncharted floors. But Kaori still couldn't help but find her friend's embarrassment at her mistake cute.

Thinking there might be some foul play at work, Shizuku snuck a glance back at Kaori. She was walking with a relaxed air, but despite that she still kept a close watch on her surroundings.

Was it just my imagination then? But it's been happening more and more frequently... Maybe Kaori's not the one doing things and I'm just tired? But then... Shizuku fell deep into thought.

The cause of her scream had nothing to do with water dropping on her. If that had been enough to startle her, she wouldn't have made it as the vanguard commander of the hero's party.

The actual reason was...

"Hya!"

"Shizuku-chan?"

"Shizuku?"

"Shizushizu?"

Shizuku's scream was louder than before. It wasn't just Kaori that noticed this time. Kouki Amanogawa, her childhood friend and the hero of the hero's party noticed, along with their barrier master, Suzu Taniguchi. Kouki's best friend, Ryutarou Sakagami, and Suzu's best friend Eri Nakamura noticed as well, along with Jugo Nagayama, Kentarou Nomura, Ayako Tsuji, Mao Yoshino, Kousuke Endou, Daisuke Hiyama, Yoshiki Saitou, Reichi Kondou, and Shinji Nakano. Nagayama and Hiyama were both leaders of their respective units, and the entire party came to a halt as they stared at Shizuku.

Still shaken by what she'd just seen, Shizuku spoke in a faltering voice.

"Th-There was a demon mask. R-Right there, a demon mask, no a demon mask-san was floating in the air." The others grew even more puzzled as Shizuku added "-san" to the demon mask. They each took out their artifacts and cautiously swept their surroundings.

"Shizuku...where did you see it? That demon mask-like monster?" Kouki asked and began pouring mana into his sword, causing it to glow pure white. Even using his Sense Presence skill he couldn't sense any monsters nearby. Cold sweat poured down his forehead as he considered the possibility that they might be facing monsters skilled enough in stealth to evade his Sense Presence.

However Shizuku didn't sense Kouki's nervousness, and instead shot another suspicious glance at Kaori.

"...Ummm I saw it floating behind Kaori..."

"Huh!? Me!? No way, where!? Where is it!?"

Kaori began to panic. She circled in place with her head turned back, like a dog chasing its own tail, looking for the mask Shizuku'd seen. Her cleric's robes fluttered around her, giving off the illusion that she was dancing.

Kaori's adorable antics combined with Shizuku's apologetic expression served to drain the tension from Kouki's body.

"Sorry. I think I'm just seeing things."

"Well, we are deep inside a dark dungeon. Don't worry about it Shizuku. I'd rather you say something every time you think you see something than miss noticing an ambush. Meld-san said the same thing, remember?"

Kouki reassuringly patted Shizuku on the shoulder, and the other party members all nodded in agreement.

They had been making steady progress, and were now on the seventy-eighth floor. The reliable commander of the knight corps, Meld Loggins, was nowhere to be seen. Him, along with a retinue of handpicked elites were waiting on standby at the seventieth floor. They'd discovered a teleportation circle that went from there to the thirtieth floor. This was the first shortcut they'd ever discovered in this labyrinth, so Meld and his knights were making sure to guard it to guarantee safe passage through.

While Meld and his knights were the strongest the kingdom had to offer, they had been forced to retire around the seventieth floor. Even though their skills had grown as they'd continued exploring, the monsters they faced in the latter half of the seventies had proven too strong for the knights to handle, and they'd left the students to progress on their own.

Before they 'd set off on their own, Meld had repeated to them over and over all of the tips and tricks he'd learned about dungeon delving, to the point where Kouki and the others had gotten tired of his nagging.

At some point he'd started sounding less like a knight and more like their mother, saying things like "Do you all have handkerchiefs? Make sure you don't scavenge for food in the dungeon okay? If you eat anything strange make sure to spit it out at once," and so on. At some point they'd stopped being tricks about dungeon delving, and just plain fussing, as he said things like "Are you sure your equipment's good enough?" The Kingdom's treasure, the holy sword, had no longer been good enough for Meld, who was overcome with worry.

"These are the best treasures your kingdom has to offer!" Kouki and the others had retorted.

But in the end, it looked like this incident really had just been Shizuku seeing things.

"I guess even you get spooked sometimes, huh Shizuku?"

"I never thought I'd hear Shizuku say 'demon mask-san'... This is truly a day to remember."

"Suzu, please stop snickering like that..."

The party resumed their search. Kouki took the lead, with Shizuku and Kaori following behind. Shizuku continued sneaking glances at Kaori as they walked.

"H-Hey, Kaori."

"What is it, Shizuku-chan?"

"Are you okay?"

"?"

Kaori tilted her head in confusion, not understanding what Shizuku meant. However, a second later, her face went pale and she asked Shizuku a question in a shaky voice.

"S-Shizuku-chan. Don't tell me that thing is still behind me? Shizuku-chan, how long has it been there!? Have I been cursed!?"

"N-No it's not that! I don't see anything, don't worry!"

"R-Really?"

Kaori continued glancing over her shoulder making sure nothing was there. It was just like when walking home alone one felt like there was someone behind them, and looked back only to see no one. Even knowing there's no one following them, they still become paranoid. Kaori was terrible with scary things like ghosts and demons, so she was doubly scared of the "demon mask-san" Shizuku had seen.

However when she glanced back for the hundredth time, Kaori actually did spot a black shadow out of the corner of her eye.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah it's the demon mask-saaaaaaaaaan!"

"Wait, wha— Hebagfh!?"

Kaori let out a shrill scream, closed her eyes, and started wildly swinging her staff around. A second later she felt a thud as it hit something, and one of the male students screamed.

"Kousuke!"

"So that's where you were hiding!?"

"Endou-kun just went flying."

"Wow he really got some air time there!"

The person Kaori had mistaken as a demon mask-san had actually been Kousuke Endou, a member of Nagayama's party and the world's most inconspicuous person. He had such a weak presence that before they'd been whisked away to Tortus, even automatic doors in Japan had ignored him. His job, quite aptly, was Assassin.

He'd been friends with Jugo and Kentarou for ages, but even they'd go "Wait, where'd Kousuke go?" "The bathroom, maybe?" "But he was right here..." almost every day, even when he was standing right next to them. Even before he'd been summoned his invisibility had practically been a super power, but after coming to Tortus, he'd honed his stealth skills even further.

So much so that, despite the fact that he'd been right behind Kaori, directly in her line of sight every time she turned back, she hadn't even noticed him.

Seeing her tearful expression every time she turned back had been bad for his heart. His heartbeat accelerated to dangerous levels, and he decided for the safety of his health that he should move somewhere else. But just as he'd begun to do so Kaori had turned back, catching a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye... resulting in him getting smacked.

Which was bad for his health in a different sense.

"Huh!? Endou-kun!? Awawa, I'm so sorry!" It seemed the true identity of the demon mask-san had been Endou. The force of Kaori's blow had sent him sprawling, and he was sitting on his knees, dazed. Embarrassed, she walked up to him and cast a healing spell. He looked off into the distance as Kaori's light purple mana enveloped him. He looked truly pitiable.

Kaori apologized over and over, bowing her head as low as it could go, before Kousuke finally responded.

"It's fine, really. I'm used to it... And besides, Hiyama's starting to give me scary looks." That only served to make him look more pitiable, and Jugo came over to comfort him. Finally the party's best scout was fit for duty once more, and they resumed exploring the seventy-eighth floor.

"I'm sorry for scaring you, Kaori."

"It's fine. I was the one that overreacted. Don't worry about it."

Shizuku apologized, as it was her initial scream that had been the cause of all this. She let out a sigh of relief when Kaori forgave her. Then, thinking back on everything she'd seen recently, she expanded on her previous question.

"Anyway, Kaori, are you sure you're okay? You've been feeling kind of different recently. You keep brooding over something... and sometimes it feels like you're not all there, like you're staring at something far off in the distance... or am I just imagining things?"

"Huh? Really? I don't feel like I'm any different, though..."

"I see..."

Is it really just my imagination then? Shizuku tilted her head in confusion, but if Kaori was insisting she was fine, Shizuku told herself there was no reason to doubt her. But before she could say as much, Kaori suddenly remembered something and dropped her fist in her palm.

"Ah, but I do feel weird sometimes."

"Weird how?"

"Hmm. I'm not really sure how to explain it, but..."

She tilted her head and looked around for a moment... then her face suddenly went blank. Her face was utterly devoid of expression, like she'd just turned into a robot of some kind.

"It's kind of like someone just stole something important to me... you know?"

"K-Kaori? Umm Kaori-san?"

"Fufufu, funny isn't it? Fufufu."

"Kaori! I'm sorry! I won't ask you weird stuff anymore so come back to us, please!"

Even though she was laughing, her expression remained blank, and even her laughter sounded monotone. Happening, cannot be! Shizuku was so shocked her thoughts became an incomprehensible jumble, and she tried to bring Kaori back to her normal self.

She had no way of knowing the cause of her best friend's strange actions was due to a white-haired boy with an eyepatch flirting with a vampire princess thousands of miles away, and could only lightly slap Kaori's cheeks.

"Hey Shizuku-chan, why are you slapping my cheek? Cut it out."

"You've finally come back to us, Kaori. Thank goodness."

The spell passed as quickly as it had come, and Shizuku sighed in relief as Kaori returned to normal. Shizuku couldn't tell how or why, but it seemed like Kaori was reacting to some unpleasant events happening far away. She couldn't tell how she knew that either, but she was worried Kaori was gradually slipping closer to the dark side.

This was a different world. If magic and monsters and even gods could exist, there was no reason strange psychic powers couldn't... Probably. Shizuku tried to convince herself that was the case. Even if she didn't fully understand the reason, her job was to make sure she brought Kaori back to her senses every time before she turned into Black Kaori for good.

As Shizuku was making that resolution, Kouki suddenly stopped a few paces ahead.

"Be on your guard, everyone. There's something up ahead. I can sense it. There's only one though."

"Do you want me to go ahead and scout?"

"There's only one of 'em right? Then we don't need to bother scouting. Let's just rush in and slaughter it."

Normally whenever they encountered enemies that had yet to spot them they would send Kousuke out ahead to assess the monsters' abilities. Hence why Kousuke offered to go preemptively, but Ryutarou smacked his fists together and suggested they fight instead.

When they ran into small groups or lone monsters the party often decided to fight without bothering to scout ahead. Which is why Kouki decided to adopt Ryutarou's plan this time, and advance.

They continued through the dim corridor for a few seconds longer before spotting...

"Is that... a person?" Kouki muttered in surprise, and everyone else's eyes went round as they saw what lay up ahead. The figure up ahead certainly looked human. Though it looked the lower half of their body had been trapped inside the wall. Long bangs covered their face, making it impossible to make out their features or whether they were even alive or dead. However their small frame suggested they were a girl.

"O-Oh no. We've got to help them!"

"Wait up, Kouki!"

Thinking it might be an adventurer that had been kidnapped by monsters, or caught in some trap that had teleported them further below, Kouki hurried over. Shizuku tried to stop him, but Kouki's high stats made him too fast.

"Are you alright!?" Kouki yelled as he reached a hand out to them. A second later, Kouki's feet sank into the ground. He just barely managed to keep his balance and avoid faceplanting. When he looked down he saw that the ground, which had been hard seconds ago, had turned into a murky quagmire, and was slowly sucking his legs into the floor. The mud in front of Kouki rose up and formed the rough shape of a human. It was a mud doll in the shape of a person... In other words, a Clay Golem. More Clay Golems rose up around Kouki, who was struggling to break free. They molded their arms into scythe shapes and swing them down at him.

"Kuh!" Kouki quickly wrapped his sword in mana and swung it around in a circle. When his right arm could stretch no further he quickly swapped his sword to his left and continued the arc. This was one of the Yaegashi-style techniques he'd learned at her dojo, Pale Moon. However halfway through the circle, he stumbled.

"S-Shizuku!?" The reason he'd messed up despite practicing this swing hundreds of times was because the golem in front of him had Shizuku's face. More precisely, it had molded its face to look like Shizuku's. As the rest of its body was still that of a golem it only took a single glance to realize his opponent wasn't Shizuku. But seeing his childhood friend suddenly appear in the path of his swing was enough to break his concentration for a split second. In a way, it was only natural for him to hesitate a little.

But natural or not, that hesitation would have proven fatal, under normal circumstances that is.

"Hah!"

"Divine Shackles!"

The golems on Kouki's right were cut down by a slash faster than light, while the ones on his left were shackled by chains of purple light. The golems quickly tried to dissolve back into mud to free themselves, but they were sliced in half by another sword slash. This was the next level of the technique Kouki had used, Rippling Pale Moon. The one who had cut them down was of course Shizuku.

"Are you alright, Kouki?"

"I'm fine. Sorry, and thanks!"

Kaori used her Divine Shackles to lift Kouki out the quagmire. More golems started sprouting up, surrounding not just Kouki's party, but Hiyama and Nagayama's units as well. They were using their face-morphing abilities and sharp scythes to press the students back.

"Damn it, there's no end to them! How're we supposed to beat these things!?"

"Even if we cut one down, it just reforms!"

Ryutarou blasted one of them away with a well-placed thrust, but it just dissolved into a pile of mud and reformed. The other students weren't faring any better.

Kouki was running around assisting whoever was in trouble, but that was only a temporary measure. As he was pondering how to break out of this deadlock, he spotted Shizuku coming toward him. This time he was sure it wasn't a golem. She looked like Shizuku from the neck down as well. Hoping to avail himself of Shizuku's wisdom, he started wading his way through the golems toward her as well.

But as he drew closer, he noticed something. The person that had originally been trapped in the wall was no longer there. They should have been directly behind Shizuku. He suddenly felt shivers run down his spine. Where was she? He hurriedly glanced around the area.

"Shizuku, watch out! Whoever was trapped in the wall isn't there anymore! They might be hiding—"

"Idiot, they're right in front of you!"

Someone suddenly grabbed him by the back of his neck and threw him back. A gust of wind whooshed past his face an instant later. Coughing, he looked up. Standing in front of him was something that looked exactly like Shizuku, but had a longsword for a right arm. A few of Kouki's hairs fell to the ground. He'd just barely avoided being decapitated.

"Looks like that thing's their boss. It looks like it can mimic people's body types and even clothes." Kouki heard Shizuku's calm voice directly behind him. Looking back, he saw the exact same Shizuku, except this one had a normal right arm. As Shizuku had said, the golem that had come from the wall seemed to be their leader.

The Grey Golem boss morphed its left arm into a sword as well and charged.

"I won't fall for that a third time!"

The two swords came slashing down at him in a winding arc, almost like they were whips. He parried one with his sword and dodged the other. He tried to close the distance between them, but the golem summoned scythes made of mud and flung them at him. The barrage of scythes kept coming, forcing Kouki back. No matter how many of them he cut down, the golem just created more.

The only saving grace is that they were all made of mud, so while the scythes were deadly, they were easily ripped apart. So even weak swings could take them out, as long as they landed. But as their surroundings were filled with mud, the golems had a near infinite amount of resources to work with. Hence why Kouki had his hands full just defending against the boss golem's onslaught. The other students were all being hard pressed by the golems as well.

Just around the time Kouki was debating using his Limit Break skill to blow them all away at once, someone jumped behind the boss golem. Kouki's lips curled up into a grin.

I knew you could do it Shizuku! I'm counting on you! Roger. They had a short conversation with a single exchange of glances. Shizuku had used her vaunted speed to circle behind the golem. She cut down the golems guarding the boss golem with a single swing of her sword, her signature ponytail swinging from side to side. She resheathed her sword and leaped toward the boss golem with frightening speed.

In an instant, the golem changed its appearance. Into that of Kaori.

"Ah." Shizuku let out a silent gasp. The thing in front of her was a monster. She understood that. At least in her head. But she wasn't mature enough to be able to accept that wholly right away. And a person's instincts always acted faster than their thoughts. To kill the golem, she would have to slice her best friend's face in two.

"Aaaaaaaah!"

Kouki couldn't tell if that was a scream of anguish, or one to psych herself up. Either way, it was thanks to that that she managed to overcome her hesitation and let loose her fastest slash, the Yaegashi-style technique, Rising Dragon. Normally the attack was followed up by a jump kick and a finisher with the sheath, but the continuation was unnecessary in this case.

A crack formed at the golem's base and quickly traveled up, just like a rising dragon. A second later there was a snapping noise, and the golem was cleaved cleanly in two, along with the mana stone inside of it. The golem collapsed in a puddle of mud, the two halves of its mana stone falling into its remains with a plop. At the same time, the other golems all crumbled as well.

"Great job, Shizuku!" Kouki let out an elated whoop as he ran toward Shizuku. Shizuku grinned and responded in a rather happy, exited tone, then Kouki turned around to congratulate Ryutarou and the others, while Shizuku looked down at her palms. Some of the mud from the Clay Golem was smeared on them. She furrowed her brows and quickly wiped it off. However, even after her hands were clean, Shizuku's expression was still grim.

"Shizuku."

"Huh?"

Kouki's voice brought Shizuku out of her musings. She gave a distracted reply; her every instinct was screaming to her that death was approaching from behind. She turned around, then saw a massive spider dangling from the ceiling. Its eight red eyes were fixated on her, and some poisonous-looking fluid was dripping from its clawed legs, which stood ready to pounce.

Someone let out a gasp. This was the price they paid for letting their guards down for even a second. That was the harsh reality of the labyrinth. Those who braved its depths walked hand in hand with death. And more often than not, death would have its due. That was just the kind of place they were in.

"Binding Blades of Light!"

Luckily for the students, death had already had its fill for the day. Before its envenomed claws could sink into Shizuku's flesh, crosses of amethyst light speared the spider's body, blowing it back toward the wall and pinning it in place. As it was a binding spell and not an offensive one, the spider didn't actually take that much damage, but the impact of being slammed against the wall still confused it for an instant.

Shizuku had avoided death's embrace by a hair's breadth, saved by her best friend's magic. Next to Kaori, Suzu had hurriedly started chanting a barrier spell, but stopped mid-cast.

"K-Kaorin, how'd you get so fast..." she said, with a dumbfounded expression on her face.

"Kaori... thanks. You just saved my—" Before Shizuku could finish thanking her, Kaori started briskly walking toward the spider. For some reason, the phrase "Let sleeping dogs lie" flashed through her mind, and Shizuku fell silent. Even Kouki was a little overwhelmed by Kaori's attitude.

She stopped in front of the spider and raised her staff, summoning her binding chains. Far more than she usually called forth. Chains sprouted from the walls, the floor, and even the ceiling. They wrapped around the spider, ripping it from the wall, leaving it suspended in midair. They then coiled about it over and over, until it was encased in a sphere of glowing chains.

"U-Umm, Kaori?" Shizuku called out nervously. Though the fear of death had since passed, Shizuku could feel goosebumps rising up on her skin.

Kaori started shrinking the ball of chains, causing some disturbing creaking noises to come from the spider before slowly turning around to face Shizuku. Behind her was something that could only be described as a demon. A ghost dressed in pure white, with a horrific mask for a face.

"It's the demon mask-san!" Shizuku finally realized the true nature of the terrifying illusions she'd been seeing. Even Kouki let out a frightened squeal as he took a faltering step back.

"K-Kaori? Umm, Kaori-san? Umm, behind you—"

"Fufu, what's wrong Shizuku-chan? You usually just call me by my first name. Fufufu... How odd. It feels as if some thieving rabbit just stole something really important from me. I wonder why?"

The odd thing here is you! Not that Shizuku could say that out loud, though. The ghost-demon thing behind Kaori had pulled out a massive sword from somewhere and was tapping it on its shoulder threateningly. Just what kind of curse is she possessed by? Shizuku cradled her head, despairing over the state of her best friend. She had no way of knowing that thousands of miles away a white-haired boy with an eyepatch was getting kissed to death by a worthless bunny after saving her from drowning.

Kaori finally returned to her senses a few seconds later, by which time the spider was little more than a crushed ball of goop. After making sure she was okay, the party headed further into the labyrinth. As they continued, Shizuku had to deal with Kaori getting possessed multiple times, Kouki going crazy over Kaori's madness, German-suplexing Ryutarou when he went a little overboard, keeping demon Kaori happy, keeping Suzu in line every time she tried to grope Kaori, and staring down Hiyama when he got full of himself and tried to rush through the rest of the floor.

"This stress is going to drive me bald..." Her worries about her hair faded away into the labyrinth, much like the lives of many hapless adventurers that had come before her. Whether or not a savior would appear to relieve her of her duty of looking after the others and her worries about balding... only God knew.

Hajime drove Brise even faster on the way back than he had on the way there. Because he was going faster than his road smoothening tires could work their magic, Tio, who was tied to the roof, and Atsushi and the guys, who were sitting in the back, were shaken around like rag dolls.

"N-Nagumooo, can't you drive a bit more gently!?"

"I-I'm gonna falllllllllllllllll!"

"Noboru! I'm coming, don't— Blagh my tongue, I bit my tongue!"

"Haaah... Oh how my wounds ache. Mas... Ahem, more.... Ahem... Please let me inside." Atsushi was clinging on to the back window for dear life, Noboru was half out of the truck as it was, and Akito had managed to bite through his tongue while trying to reel him back in, and was now writhing in pain. Meanwhile, Tio was writhing in ecstasy as each bump dug into her wounds, calling out for help in a monotone that fooled absolutely no one. Had this been his world, Hajime would have been arrested, but it wasn't, so he didn't care.

About halfway to Ur, Hajime spotted Aiko's guardian knights riding hard in his direction. They were all fully armored. Using his Farsight, Hajime was easily able to make out David, who was charging forward with a ferocious expression on his face, and Chase, who was struggling to keep pace with him.

A few minutes later, the knights spotted a giant black object racing toward them. From their perspective, Hajime's truck looked like some kind of monster. They quickly pulled out their weapons and got into formation. Their quick response, even in the face of an unknown threat, showed just how well they had trained.

Hajime honestly wouldn't have minded just driving right through them. Their attacks had no hope of even scratching Brise. However, he doubted Aiko felt the same, and it would be a problem if Tio or Atsushi and the others got hurt as he drove past, so he opened the truck's sunroof and started shouting and waving his arms wildly to grab their attention.

David was just about to start raining magic down on the truck when he spotted something that looked distinctly human come out of it. He squinted, trying to make out more detail.

Normally, David would have gone through with the attack anyway, but something made him hesitate. His devotion to Aiko had given him some strange sixth sense when it came to detecting her presence. He raised his arm and gave the signal for his men to stand down. His men looked at him suspiciously, but then their eyes opened wide in surprise as the truck grew closer and they heard who was yelling from inside it. David muttered, "Aiko?" an expression of disbelief on his face.

For a second the knights were terrified some horrible monster had eaten Aiko, but then they saw her waving frantically at them, yelling at them.

"David-saaaan, it's me! Please don't attack us!" Joy spread through the knights as they realized Aiko was safe. True, they were still suspicious about the strange black object she was in, but they understood that it wasn't an immediate threat.

David was perhaps a little too overjoyed as he spread his arms wide, as if inviting Aiko to jump into them. Following his example, Chase and the other knights also spread their arms.

Hajime stared with disgust as he watched the retinue of knights all stand there in a line, their arms spread to either side, obvious ecstatic expressions on their faces. Aiko had been certain he would stop in front of David and the others, but their attitude annoyed him so much that he instead accelerated as he got close.

The knights stared blankly at the rapidly accelerating truck for a second before hurriedly diving out of the way.

Hajime mercilessly rode Brise past the scattering knights. The knights watched, smiles still frozen on their faces, as the black thing sped away, Aiko's questioning scream faded into the distance.

Then as one they screamed "Aikoooooooo!" like a group of abandoned lovers, and chased after Brise.

"Nagumo-kun, why did you do that!?" Aiko yelled furiously at Hajime.

"There was a good reason not to stop, Sensei. If we'd stopped, we'd have to explain what happened, which we don't have time for. We have to explain everything once we get to town anyway, so I'd rather not waste time doing it twice."

"W-Well, I-I suppose that's true..." She still wasn't happy about it, but considering how fast Hajime was driving, she had to admit they would have lost a great deal of time stopping for the knights.

Yue, who'd returned to her usual position next to Hajime, leaned in to whisper in his ear.

"...The real reason?"

"Those grinning knights were creeping me out."

"Mmm, agreed."

Incidentally, Tio had been moaning in ecstasy on the roof right behind Aiko during that entire exchange, but both Aiko and the knights had pretended not to see her. Yue had received quite a shock upon learning Tio's true nature. Enough that she'd mumbled "...Is that really a dragonman?" She had already had misgivings when Tio had first transformed back to her human self, but after seeing how Tio got off to pain, her illusions about the dragonmen all being dignified and wise were completely shattered.

Upon reaching Ur the party got out of Brise and headed to the town hall. As Hajime, Yue, and Shea took their time strolling leisurely there, Aiko and the others ran as fast as their legs would carry them. Hajime had been hoping to just drop Aiko and the students off here and drive Will all the way back to Fuhren, but he'd jumped out of the truck before anyone else, so Hajime had reluctantly followed after him.

The main street was bustling with activity. Not only were this town's dishes famous, but there was also a lake nearby. It attracted tourists and immigrants alike. It was hard to believe this town was about to be overrun by a horde of demons in less than a day's time. The party gazed longingly at the rows of food stalls, but they dutifully headed toward the town hall first.

When Aiko broke the news to the city's leaders, there was a huge uproar. The managers of the Ur branch of the adventurers' guild and the local priests began arguing about what to do next. No one couldn't believe what Aiko had told them. No, they just didn't want to believe it. They kept on asking question after question, hoping against hope that maybe the party had just mistaken what they saw.

Had it been anyone else who had told them their town would be destroyed tomorrow, they would have dismissed it as the ravings of a madman. However, it had been one of Ehit's messengers, the woman the townspeople referred to as a fertility goddess who had brought such news. And as the Holy Church had already made it public knowledge that demons might have found a way to control monsters, the story sounded entirely plausible.

While they had been driving back, Aiko and the students had agreed that it was better not to mention Tio's true identity, or that the mastermind behind the monsters was likely Yukitoshi Shimizu. They hadn't mentioned Tio because Tio herself had not wanted knowledge of the dragonmen's survival to become public knowledge and had requested they stay silent, while not mentioning Shimizu was because Aiko didn't want to incriminate one of her students until she was absolutely sure of the truth.

Leaving Aiko's sentimentality aside, dragonmen were not looked fondly upon by the Holy Church. The students really hadn't wanted to deal with the hassle of making the situation even more chaotic, and possibly be branded as heretics, so they'd unilaterally decided to keep quiet.

It was in the midst of this uproar that Hajime entered the town hall looking for Will. He seemed wholly unconcerned by the tumult.

"Hey Will, don't just run off by yourself. Think about the guy that has to protect you. If you're done warning everyone, then it's time to go back to Fuhren." Everyone turned to Hajime in surprise. The town's leaders exclaimed things to the effect of "Who's this kid?" angry at his sudden interruption.

"Wh-What do you mean, Hajime-dono? This is a huge crisis. You can't seriously be suggesting we abandon the town..." Annoyed, Hajime retorted casually,

"What do you mean abandon? No matter what we're going to have to evacuate until reinforcements come. A tourist town like this doesn't even have any walls or anything to mount a defense from... and if we're going to have evacuate anyway, may as well evacuate to Fuhren. I'll just be evacuating you a bit faster than the others."

"B-But... I mean, I suppose... but still, I can't just run away before everyone else does! There has to be something I can do to help. Hajime-dono, please..."

"Please, won't you help too?" is what he wanted to ask, but he trailed off after seeing Hajime's frigid stare.

"How many times do I have to say it before you get it? My job is to deliver you safely to Fuhren. I couldn't care less about what happens to this town. And I don't care about your opinions either. If you refuse to come... I'll just break your arms and legs and drag you back."

"What...? Y-You..." Will went pale when he realized Hajime was serious. He involuntarily took a few steps back, unable to completely believe it.

To Will, Hajime was practically a hero. He'd easily beaten down the same black dragon that had annihilated Gale and his veteran party in a single attack. Will had assumed that despite his gruff nature, Hajime was still a good person who would have unconditionally helped the villagers in a crisis. That was why he felt betrayed when he heard Hajime speak so coldly.

He staggered backward, and Hajime took a step forward. He was clearly pressing Will for a decision. The tense atmosphere had everyone else frozen in place, but one person stepped in between the two. It was Aiko. She stared right into Hajime's cold eyes and questioned him.

"Nagumo-kun. Isn't... Isn't there something you can do about that monster army? No... I know you can fight them." Conviction crept into her voice by the end. She was certain he'd be able to save the town if he wanted. The townspeople broke out into another huge uproar at that.

According to Aiko, the army bearing down on them was tens of thousands strong. Plus, it included ridiculously powerful monsters from up to two mountain ranges over. This was already at the level of a full-scale war, so a single person's effect was miniscule. A single normal person's, anyway. The only person strong enough to change the tide of battle single-handedly would be the strongest person among those summoned to save the humans... Namely, the hero.

But even they wouldn't be able to take on an army alone. Without the help of their party and the rest of the human race, they'd be overwhelmed by sheer numbers, so naturally they doubted that this boy, who wasn't even the hero, could save them all singlehandedly. Even when it was their goddess saying it was possible. In the face of her determined gaze, Hajime waved his hand casually, as if to deny her claims.

"No way, Sensei. That's impossible. From what I could tell, there was more than 40,000 of them. There's no way..."

"But when Will-san asked whether or not you could do it back on the mountain, you didn't say no. You said 'In a forested place like this full of boulders and rivers, there's no way I could be sure I'd gotten them all.' That means out in the open on the plains you could definitely wipe them all out. Am I wrong?"

"I'm surprised you remember that." Hajime berated himself for saying something like that when he knew how good Aiko's memory was. Well, no point worrying about it now. Hajime averted his gaze, and Aiko pressed her case, urging him to help.

"Nagumo-kun, won't you please help us? At this rate this beautiful town will surely be destroyed. Worse, many people will lose their lives."

"...How unexpected. I always thought you prioritized your students before everyone else. Aren't you even only helping this country with its war because you're hoping it'll let them get home faster? And yet now you want one of your students to fight and possibly die for the sake of some strangers? Even when they don't want to? Isn't that exactly the same thing those war-hungry priests were trying to get us to do?" Hajime's rebuttal silenced Aiko. She bit her lip and furrowed her brows, conflicted over what she should do.

Still, she kept her gaze on Hajime the entire time, as if trying to read something in his expression. After a while shook her head, as if to clear the hesitation, and stared resolutely at Hajime. She had her teacher face on. Back in Japan, any time someone had come to her with a problem, this was always the expression she'd had.

The nearby priests narrowed their eyes when Hajime insulted the Holy Church, but Aiko ignored them, her attention focused solely on Hajime.

"...If there was some way back home, I'd take you all with me in a heartbeat. That hasn't changed even now. But right now, there isn't one... and if there isn't, I'd at least like to do what I can for the people I've met, talked to, laughed with in this world. Isn't it only natural to want to help other people? Of course I'm still your teacher, so if I have to make a choice, then I'll always pick you guys over everyone else, but..." Aiko paused for a moment, then continued more slowly, as if she was deliberately choosing each word.

"I'm sure that something really terrible must have happened for a gentle boy like you to become like this, Nagumo-kun. Where you were, you surely didn't have the option of worrying about others. Maybe what I have to say will just seem shallow... After all, I wasn't there to help you when you were suffering the most. Still, I'd like you to listen all the same." Hajime silently indicated for Aiko to continue.

"Nagumo-kun, I can understand your strong desire to return home. You probably want to go back more than any of us. But you know, do you plan to live like this when you return too? Ignoring everyone except those close to you? Eliminating anything that gets in your way? Can you really live like that in Japan? And if not, do you really think you can change your mindset the moment you get back?"

"..."

"Nagumo-kun, I understand that you have your own principles, and that you've already decided your path for the future. I won't try to change that, but I also think that no matter which future you choose, it's... too lonely to only live by ignoring everyone aside from those you care about. If you keep going like this, neither you nor the people you cherish will find happiness. If you want to find happiness... you can't lose sight of your kindness or empathy. You have to think of other people, even if it's only a little. Those are valuable qualities you possessed from the start... Please don't throw them away." Each and every one of Aiko's words pierced Hajime to the core. Everyone else also listened quietly.

The students especially felt the weight behind Aiko's words. They hung their heads, ashamed at how selfishly they'd wielded their powers until now. At the same time, they were both happy and somewhat surprised that Aiko had given so much thought to their lives after they finally returned home.

Hajime smiled to himself. Even if they got dumped into another world, no matter the situation, Aiko always put being a teacher before anything else. Even if one of her students had transformed into a completely different person. It was really something to be praised. Considering how nicely Aiko had been treated thus far, it would have been easy for Hajime to just say "You don't know what I've been through!" or "How could you possibly

understand!" Like she'd said in the beginning, he had every right to call everything she'd said shallow words from someone who'd never suffered. And yet he couldn't. She'd said those words from the heart, and to take them lightly would make him the shallow one. Worse, it would have been an insult to her dedication. Even if everything she said was full of contradictions.

And because she'd never once pushed him to do the "right" thing, her words had that much more weight. Everything she'd said, even if it had ostensibly been to save these townspeople's lives, had still been out of concern for Hajime's future and his happiness.

He glanced over at Yue. She was staring at Aiko with a nostalgic look in her eyes. But when she noticed Hajime's gaze, she quietly turned to look at him. It was clear from her expression that she'd go along with Hajime no matter what he decided. If nothing else, Hajime definitely wanted this girl to be happy. She had been the one who had saved him when he was on the verge of losing his humanity. He had believed his current lifestyle had been the best way to achieve that, but if what Aiko said was true, it would only lead to misfortune. Not only for him, but for Yue as well.

Next to her, he saw Shea looking worriedly at him. She'd brought a much-needed dose of lighthearted levity into his and Yue's lives. No matter how harshly Hajime had treated her she'd chased after him wholeheartedly. Now she was an important part of their family, and it was obvious from how much she doted on her that Yue really treasured her friendship with Shea. Was she not happier because Hajime had begrudgingly let Shea into their party? For Hajime, this world was nothing more than a prison. A cage that kept him from going back to the place he wanted to be. It was for that reason that he had such a hard time doing anything for the people that lived here.

The values he'd forged in the depths of the abyss, the determination he'd tempered to return to his homeland no matter the cost and to destroy anything in his way, weren't something he could change so easily. So, even if he couldn't sympathize with others right away, he could still act. And if those actions brought happiness to those he cared most about... to Yue and Shea, then he'd gladly do anything.

This didn't mean he suddenly agreed with everything Aiko said, but it was still a heartfelt lecture from his teacher. He'd have to be a child to reject it all for no other reason than to be contrarian. If he did decide to help, it was possible things would come to a head with the Holy Church much sooner than he would have liked, but surely he could count on his teacher, Aiko, to help with that. After all, she had to take responsibility for what she'd said to him. And someone who loved her students this much wouldn't refuse.

I knew I'd get found out eventually. It was just a matter of time. I already have a few countermeasures in place, and besides, I promised myself I wouldn't hide who I am just for the convenience of the people in this world... Hell, it might be fun to cut loose and go all out every now and then. After justifying it to himself, Hajime looked up at Aiko again.

"...Sensei, do you promise you'll always be my teacher?" The implied question was whether she'd always be his ally. His question was half-teasing, half-hopeful.

"Of course," she replied without hesitation.

"...No matter what happens? Even if I decide on something you don't approve of?"

"Yes. A teacher's job isn't to decide their students' future. It's to help them choose the future they want for themselves. If you choose not to help even after listening to what I have to say, I won't hold it against you, Nagumo-kun."

Hajime stared at Aiko for a while, trying to determine whether or not she really meant it. The reason he'd been so insistent was because Hajime himself didn't want to ever have to fight Aiko. After confirming there was no falsehood in Aiko's gaze, he abruptly turned on his heel and headed for the exit. Yue and Shea followed after him.

"N-Nagumo-kun?" Aiko asked, surprised. Hajime turned around and shrugged helplessly. He couldn't ever win against Aiko when she was serious.

"If I'm going to take on an army, there's some things I need to prepare first. You guys can keep talking if you want."

"Nagumo-kun!" Aiko's eyes lit up, to which Hajime smiled awkwardly.

"This is what the best teacher in the world advised me to do. And if it'll make these two happy then... I can't just ignore it, can I? Anyway, I'll go beat the shit out of those monsters for you." Hajime patted Yue and Shea on the shoulder, turned around, and left the building. This time he didn't look back. The two girls exchanged happy glances and headed out after him.

Once the door closed, the town leaders, who had been silent until now, all started pressingly into Aiko with questions. Aiko just looked at the door Hajime had left through, her shoulders trembling. Her words had gotten through to him, but she wasn't happy at all. What she'd told him, the things she'd said about his current way of life being too sad, they were all her true thoughts.

However, that didn't change the fact that she'd guided a student into danger, and asked him to fight an army of monsters. She knew it was a contradiction, telling him she didn't want him to get too used to fighting his way through problems, and then tell him to fight his way through a problem. She did want Hajime to rethink his views on life, but she also wanted to save the town of Ur. In practice, she had probably achieved both those things, but... she slumped her shoulders, thinking there must have been a better solution and blaming her own incompetence for not being able to discover it.

She had hoped her students could all return home without any of them losing sight of their original selves... but it seemed that wish could no longer be granted. When she'd spoken with Hajime last night, she'd already known her dream was lost, but she wouldn't stop hoping.

Surrounded by a group of angry townsfolk, Aiko let out an almost imperceptible sigh. The students all stared at the door Hajime had left through as well, a myriad of emotions coloring their faces.

Incidentally, Tio had entered the building with Hajime, but all she said was "Even though I should be an important part of his fighting force... th-this kind of abandonment play is... Master truly is..." and so everyone present completely ignored her feverish mutterings.

The town of Ur. To its north were the Northern Mountain Ranges, and to its west was the Urdea Lake. It was blessed with natural resources of all kinds, and was now protected by walls that hadn't existed the day before.

Hajime had created those walls. He'd driven Steiff around the perimeter, transmuting walls behind him instead of leveling the earth in front of him. As Hajime's transmutation radius only extended four meters past his point of contact, they were only about that high. Large monsters would have had an easy time climbing over them. They were basically a last ditch effort made with the mindset of "Well, it's better than nothing." However, Hajime had no intention of letting the battle even reach those walls.

The citizens had all been made aware of the impending monster army invasion. Judging by their speed, Hajime guessed their vanguard would arrive by evening of the next day.

Naturally, the town was in a state of panic. There were those that blamed the mayor and the other town leaders for letting this happen, those that broke down crying, those that clung to their family in desperation, those that tried to run, and those that started fights amidst the chaos. Most people couldn't remain calm knowing tomorrow their home would be destroyed and that if they stayed they'd die. Panic was the normal reaction to that.

However, someone managed to calm them down before the town devolved into full-scale rioting. That someone was Aiko. Taking the advice of the knights that had returned a short while ago, Aiko had stood up on a platform in the town square and spoken to the citizens. Her composed demeanor and overwhelming popularity helped her calm the citizens down to a reasonable level. In a way, Aiko Hatayama was more powerful than any hero.

Once the people had been pacified, they naturally divided into two groups. Those that couldn't abandon their homes, and were willing to share this town's fate, and those that were ready to flee and call for aid.

A lot of people in the group that chose to remain insisted the women and children escape at least. They believed Aiko's words that the monsters would be repelled, and the men went around the town looking to see if there was any way they could help, while the women and children prepared to run. The town remained brightly lit deep into the night, illuminating groups of people crying as they parted with their loved ones.

Those that were fleeing packed their things and left before the sun rose. It was high noon now, and those that remained were swapping between sleeping and working in groups. Most of those that remained did so because they believed their goddess and her friends would deliver them salvation somehow. That being said, they weren't just blindly praying. They too were doing everything they could to defend their home.

Despite the fact that the town only had a fraction of its population left within it, it was livelier than ever. Hajime sat down in his makeshift chair atop the city walls and cast his gaze far into the distance. Yue and Shea were next to him as always. The two quietly sidled closer to him and watched him lapse into thought.

Aiko, Yuka, the other students, Tio, Will, and David's knights walked up to the trio. Despite their noisy approach, Hajime didn't turn around. David raised his eyebrows in annoyance, but before he could say anything Aiko spoke up.

"How are your preparations coming along, Nagumo-kun? Is there anything you need?"

"Nah, I'm fine, Sensei." Hajime didn't turn around. Unable to stand his attitude, David angrily flared up.

"Hey, brat. Aiko... Your teacher's talking to you. Is that the kind of attitude you take with her? She's the only reason we're not grilling you about your artifacts and how you plan on taking down this huge army, you know that? You could at least—"

"David-san, could you please be quiet?"

"Gah... Yes, ma'am..." One word from Aiko instantly shut him up. He was like a trained dog. Though he was no beastman, it was easy to imagine him having dog ears and a tail. He obediently hung his head in remorse after being remonstrated by his master.

"Nagumo-kun. About the black-robed boy..." This was what Aiko had really come for. A pained look crossed over her face as she spoke.

"You want me to find out who he is, right? And not kill him?"

"...Yes. I have to be sure. Nagumo-kun... I understand what I'm asking isn't easy, but..."

"I'll bring him to you."

"Huh?"

"The black-robed kid. I'll bring him to you. Do what you want with him... I'll follow your decision."

"Nagumo-kun... Thank you so much." Aiko was surprised at how cooperative Hajime was being, but grateful nonetheless. Seeing as he hadn't turned around once during their conversation, it seemed to her that he had his own thoughts to contend with as well. Internally bemoaning her own powerlessness once more, she thanked Hajime with a strained smile. Once Aiko was done talking, Tio stepped forward.

"Hmm, I too have something to discuss with you, M— Ahem... with you. Will you please listen to my request?"

"Huh...? Oh, is that you, Tio?"

"Wh-Why the long pause? Y-You could not possibly have forgotten me already... Haah... Haah... To think this could be so pleasant..."

Tio's voice grew so strange that Hajime couldn't help but turn back. As he did so, he scowled. Her elegant black and gold kimono had come partially undone, revealing the silky smooth skin of her shoulder, and giving Hajime an exquisite view of her cleavage. The hem of her kimono had somehow been folded up to her thighs, giving a tantalizing view of her legs... Her beauty was stunning enough that no man could forget it after seeing it once, but Hajime's response was incredibly casual.

"Oh yeah, I remember now." Somehow, instead of getting angry at being forgotten, Tio's blushed and her breathing grew heavy. Whatever the "this" she had been referring to as pleasant... was something Hajime decided he didn't want to know.

"Mmmmmm! Umm, once your battle here is over, and you have safely seen young Will to his family, will you be resuming your travels?"

"Yeah."

"I see. Well I was hoping... that I may be allowed to join yo—"

"No."

"...Haah... Haah... Such a prompt rejection. I knew you would make a wonderful ma— Ahem! Of course, I am not asking you to do this for free! If you agree to let me join you, then I shall call you master, and devote myself to you body and soul! Surely—"

"Go home. Better yet, go die." Tio spread her arms wide, declared herself Hajime's eternal slave, and Hajime just looked at her like she was dirt, and in fact told her to go become one with the dirt.

His instant rejection sent shivers down Tio's spine. Her cheeks flushed a deep rose color. She was clearly a pervert. A massive, raging, pervert. Everyone else was creeped out by her as well. Yue especially, as she'd held dragonmen in such high regard before. Her expression was a blank mask as she stared at Tio.

"How... cruel... Even though you're the one who made me like this... You have to take responsibility for your actions!" Everyone's gaze shifted to Hajime, a look of surprise on their faces. Hajime certainly couldn't allow his good name to be slandered like this, so he turned to look properly at Tio, a vein bulging on his forehead. He glared at her, waiting for her to explain.

"Aah, that scornful glare again...Haah haaah... Mmm... Well, you see, I am quite strong." Trembling under Hajime's gaze, Tio began explaining how she came to desire being his slave.

"Within my village, I am one of the strongest fighters. My endurance especially is far greater than the others. Even when someone did manage to get the better of me, they could never inflict any damage." As the knights were present, Tio omitted the fact that she was one of the dragonmen.

"It was only after I fought you that I first came to learn the true pain and humiliation that accompanies a real defeat. Your fists rocked me to the core! And your dirty fighting style left a lasting impression! You left my whole body aching and... Haah... Haah..." Tio got excited telling her own story, and the knights, who didn't know the details, looked at Hajime as if he were a criminal. The way she told her story, it definitely sounded as if Hajime had raped her. How dare he be so violent with a lady, the knights thought. The reason they didn't give voice to said thoughts was because the lady in question didn't look very upset. In fact, she looked euphoric, leaving the

knights confused as to how they should react.

"...So Hajime opened a new door of experiences for you?"

"Verily so! I can no longer live without him!"

"...Disgusting." Yue's usually deadpan expression twisted into a frown. There wasn't an iota of respect left in her voice. Hajime was so creeped out that he unintentionally let his thoughts slip.

"Besides..." Tio suddenly clenched her butt with both hands and said her next sentence in an extremely embarrassed voice.

"...You took my first."

Everyone's jaw dropped open as they stared at Hajime. Hajime's face cramped up and he shook his head in denial.

"I most definitely did not."

"I decided long ago that the only man I would consider being with would be one who is stronger than me... However, there was no one like that in my village... That was my first time... being held down and humiliated... and then you did that to my butt... You were so rough. I can no longer get married... so you must take responsibility for this." Tio gazed up at Hajime with moist eyes, her hands still squeezing her ass. The knights looked at him with a mixture of fear and disgust. Disgust because he'd clearly raped this poor woman, and fear because he'd been so violent with her ass.

Even Aiko, who knew the truth of the situation, was looking at Hajime reproachfully. Even Yue and Shea averted their gazes, as if saying "Well, that was a bit much." Hajime had found himself surrounded by enemies before the battle even began.

"D-Don't you have a mission you need to finish? Isn't that why you left your village in the first place?" Desperate, Hajime tried to plead his way out of the situation.

"Indeed. But fear not. My investigation shall be made even easier if I travel with you. Truly, it would be killing two birds with one stone... I'm sure your travels will grow stressful at times. Would it not be wonderful to have someone to vent those frustrations on whenever you need to? You can be as rough as you like. Is this not a wonderful deal for you, my master?"

"I can't possibly see how having a pervert join my party would be wonderful in any way." Tio clung desperately to Hajime, but he flung her away. That earned him the wrath of the knights, the disdain of Yuka and the girls, the jealousy of the boys, and a lecture from Aiko about not engaging in illicit sexual relationships. However, for some reason, Will was looking up at Hajime in awe.

Around the time Hajime was growing tired of this farce, he sensed movement on the horizon and quickly grew serious.

"...They're here." Hajime turned toward the mountains and looked off into the distance. They weren't visible to the naked eye yet, but Hajime's demon eye was receiving their images from his drones.

The horde of monsters was large enough to bury the earth. There were Bulltaurs, other humanoid monsters, massive black wolves three to four meters large, six-legged lizards, pythons with needles growing from their backs, praying mantis-like things with scythes for arms, spiders with tentacles growing out of their engorged torsos, white serpents with horns growing from their heads— Even through a video feed, Hajime could tell.

The army was massive. They kicked up a tornado of dust as they passed, and swallowed up the ground before them like a wriggling black tidal wave. Their murderous red-black eyes glinted in the black mass, a sea of corrupted rubies. There were even more than he'd initially seen at the mountain. At a guess, there seemed to be around fifty to sixty thousand in total.

Worse, the sky was filled with flying monsters as well. They looked like a flock of pteranodons. They were smaller than the wyverns Hajime had fought, but the dark red miasma oozing from their bodies spelled trouble. He was certain they were stronger than the Hyverias he'd seen in the Reisen Gorge.

Among the dozens of pteranodons, one of them was clearly bigger than the rest. And while it was hard to make out, there seemed to be a human-shaped figure riding it. That's probably the kid. I know Aiko doesn't want to admit it, but chances are he's Yukitoshi Shimizu.

"Hajime."

"Hajime-san."

Yue and Shea tensed up, guessing from Hajime's sudden change in mood that the enemy was coming. He nodded to them before turning back to Aiko and the others, who were looking around nervously.

"They're here. And there's more than I expected. They'll be at the city in thirty minutes. There's a little under sixty thousand of them. There's a lot of different kinds, too."

Their faces paled when they heard there were even more than they'd initially expected. They exchanged uneasy glances. Hajime jumped to the top of the wall and turned back to them, a fearless smile on his face.

"Don't look so worried, Sensei. A couple thousand more's no big deal. Anyway, like we planned, you guys man the wall in case anything slips past. Though you probably won't have to fight." He spoke as casually as if he were on a picnic. Aiko squinted at his radiant confidence and responded to him in a worried tone.

"Okay... I know I'm in no position to say this since I'm the one who asked this of you, but please... stay safe..."

"Should we really leave it all to him?" "It's still not too late to evacuate." The knights muttered amongst each other, then began heading back to alert the town.

Aiko and the students turned to follow after them. They'd only gone a few steps when Yuka stopped. She was staring at the ground, a conflicted expression on her face. Atsushi and the others stopped too when they saw Yuka wasn't following. Confused, they called out to her. However, Yuka didn't respond. Instead, she steeled her resolve and turned toward Hajime and the oncoming horde of monsters.

"U-Umm! Nagumo!" She stuttered a bit, but still yelled as loud as she could. Hajime turned around, raising an eyebrow in mild surprise. He had thought she'd left with Aiko and the others. Yue and Shea turned around as well. Hajime silently waited for her to continue. Yuka hesitated for a few seconds, but then she found her courage again and glared sharply at Hajime.

"Th-Thank you! Thank you for saving me back then!" Yuka had finally managed to put her feelings into words. Her expression, her tone, and even the loudness of her voice made it sound like she was trying to pick a fight, but it was clear from her gaze that her gratitude was sincere.

Hajime tilted his head in confusion. He tried to figure out what he was being thanked for and came to the conclusion that it must have been saving her from Tio's breath. Though that was mostly just a side effect of the fact that he'd had to protect Will. It took him a second to even think of it since back then they hadn't even registered in his mind, nor had he really been conscious of the fact that he'd protected them too.

Yuka noticed that Hajime seemed to be thinking of the wrong thing, and hurriedly added to her statement.

"Umm, thanks for saving me yesterday too, but... I was talking about that time in the labyrinth, when you saved me from that Traum Soldier, and then stopped the Behemoth for all of us."

"...Oh. You mean that time you were about to get your skull split open... I forgot that was you, Sonobe."

"Umm, could you please not... describe it so graphically? It's a kind of traumatic experience for me." She covered her head, memories of that day coming back to her. Hajime stared at her expressionlessly, his head still tilted to one side.

"And?"

"Ah Umm... well... you see..." Yuka started stammering again, but then she took a deep breath to compose herself.

"I won't waste this life you saved! Maybe you don't really think anything of it, Nagumo, but I'll still treasure this life you gave me!" It was the same thing she'd felt when she'd first resolved to stand back up again. It was only because Hajime, who'd been laughed at as worthless, had given his life for them that everyone else was still alive. In the end they'd found out he hadn't actually died at all, but Yuka's feelings hadn't changed.

He'd still risked everything to save them. He'd put his life on the line for the sake of his classmates. She wasn't going to waste that life he'd saved. Even if she was so weak she couldn't even compare to Hajime's pinky finger. Even if the events in the labyrinth still gave her nightmares. Even if she couldn't be of any use in the battle to come. Even then, she'd keep trying.

Atsushi and the others all turned to Hajime and nodded solemnly as well. Their feelings were the same.

Hajime's response was just two simple words.

"I see." Then, he looked back to the monsters in the distance.

Yuka couldn't even tell if he'd accepted her thanks, or if her resolve had meant anything at all to him. She simply stood there dumbly, unsure of what to do. Eventually, she turned around and began heading back to Nana and the others.

Hajime felt stares from both sides. He glanced both ways and saw Yue and Shea smiling at him. After how harsh Hajime's life had been since coming here, they were overjoyed to see this kind of warmth around him for once. They were also proud of how he'd done something that had left a positive impact on so many people.

Hajime scratched his head awkwardly and looked over his shoulder to say one last thing to Yuka.

"Hey, Sonobe."

"Y-Yes?" She hadn't been expecting him to say anything more and was so surprised that she jumped a few inches into the air. Everyone else was surprised too, though not to the same extent.

"You've got guts. I could tell even back then." Despite having nearly been cut literally in two seconds ago, Yuka had still rushed to save the rest of her classmates without a second thought. And even now, despite the trauma she'd suffered, she still kept fighting. Hajime really meant it when he said she had guts.

"U-Umm..." Yuka stammered, unsure how to respond. She couldn't figure out where Hajime was trying to go with his words. However, his next sentence cleared that up.

"A girl like you won't die so easily."

"..." Yuka stared silently at Hajime.

"Well, probably not, anyway," he added, ruining the moment. Yue and Shea gave him exasperated looks, but they were still smiling. To a bystander, Hajime's words probably seemed frivolous.

However, to Yuka they meant far more. They served to wipe away the dark sludge that had been gathering in the corners of her mind. And not just her. Atsushi and the other students had also first felt the fear of death when they'd seen Hajime fall. Hearing "You won't die," from the guy who'd actually almost experienced death carried far more weight than usual.

"...Thanks." Yuka's voice was barely more than a whisper, quiet enough to be carried away by the wind. She smiled at Hajime's back before turning around and rejoining her friends. The other students all looked at her, unsure of what to say. Before they could say anything though, David shouted at them to hurry along. The students all responded with a cheerful "Roger!" and ran after him. They all looked somehow more energetic than before.

The only people left with Hajime now were Will and Tio. Aside from Yue and Shea, of course. It was obvious they had something they wanted to say as well, but they'd kept quiet until Yuka had finished.

Will dithered for a few seconds, unsure of whether he should say what he was thinking or not, but then he realized there wasn't any time left. He shook his head, mumbled something to Tio, and then bowed to Hajime before hurrying to join Aiko and the students.

Hajime tilted his head in confusion, so Tio smiled and explained.

"He said that if I survive this battle he'll forgive me for the deaths of his adventurer friends... And so, I humbly request that you let me assist you. My mana has mostly recovered, and even without transforming my flames and gales are quite powerful."

The Holy Church looked down on dragonmen as subhuman and placed them in the same category as beastmen, but they were actually more like monsters in that they could directly manipulate mana. Sure, they weren't like Yue, who could control all elements effortlessly without the need for chants or magic circles, but they could still at least use the magic they had an aptitude in without chants or circles.

Tio flashed her ample cleavage at Hajime in an attempt to convince him. He wordlessly pulled out one of his magic stone rings and flung it to her. She looked at it, puzzled, before realizing that it was a mana reservoir crafted from Divinity Stone.

"Master... to think you would propose to me before a battle... I... Of course my reply is—"

"Hell no. I'm lending that to you so you can be our turret. You better give it back when we're done here. What the hell made you think I would ever propose to you?"

"...I see. So this is what they call a dark past." Inwardly cringing at the fact that she'd once made the same joke as a pervert, Yue slumped her shoulders.

Hajime did his best to ignore Tio, who had completely tuned out Hajime's words and was grinning at the ring in her hands. Finally, the demon army crested the horizon and grew visible to the naked eye. Soldiers gathered on the walls carrying bows, or papers with magic circles engraved on them. The battle would soon be upon them.

Before long the earth rumbled from the pounding of tens of thousands of feet. A massive cloud of dust followed in the wake of the monster army, which was now close enough that their howls could be heard by the men on the wall. Some of them clasped their hands in prayer, while others looked on, pale-faced.

Hajime stepped forward. He transmuted a pedestal for himself, then turned to address the townsfolk. He didn't care too much for assuaging the crowd's fears, but he wanted to avoid letting a panicked riot break out as that might have result in friendly fire.

Everyone's gazes naturally focused on the white-haired boy glaring down at them, seemingly ignoring the horde at his back. Once he was sure he had everyone's attention, Hajime sucked in a huge breath and spoke in a booming voice.

"Listen up, brave men of Ur! Our victory is assured!" The citizens looked at each other in confusion. Hajime ignored them and continued, his voice full of confidence.

"Why? Because we have a goddess on our side! Men, never forget that the great fertility goddess Aiko-sama stands with us!" The people suddenly started whispering excitedly to their neighbors. Aiko, who had been guiding people from the rear as per her guards' instructions, suddenly turned around.

"So long as the great Aiko-sama stands with us, we cannot lose! She was sent to mankind by the heavens in order to lead us to victory and prosperity. And I am her sword and shield, an avatar born from her desire to protect the people! Behold! This is the strength of one who has received the goddess' divine blessing, the strength of the holy sword!" Hajime pulled Schlagen out of his Treasure Trove, then placed it on its stand to stabilize it. He kneeled, carefully aligned his scope with one of the pteranodon's that had gone ahead of the herd. The townspeople watched with bated breath.

Crimson sparks began running down Schlagen's barrel. Within seconds the barrel was coated in a veil of scarlet, giving it a suitably ominous appearance. Then—

Schlagen proved its fearsome appearance wasn't just for show.

Bang! The thunderous noise gave the onlookers a huge start. A single red streak blazed through the sky. It raced toward the pteranodon faster than the eye could follow.

Like a spear thrust unleashed from god himself.

The pteranodon never stood a chance. There wasn't even time for it to dodge. A bullet faster than sound, powerful enough to pierce through the toughest steel, and coated with a diamond-hard full metal jacket, ripped through the pteranodon flying a few kilometers away. The shockwave was so powerful that it shredded the nearby pteranodons' wings, sending them hurtling to the ground below.

Hajime continued firing shot after shot without pause. The sky was filled with streaks of death, each one obliterating another pteranodon. He purposely avoided the huge one carrying the robed figure, but made sure the shockwave of his nearby bullets sent them flying back.

The massive pteranodon lost one of its wings to the shockwave, and spun to the ground with a piercing shriek. The robed figure atop it was flung off and flailed wildly as he hurtled to the ground.

Hajime wouldn't have an opportunity to let Aiko meet with the robed boy until after he'd cleared out the monster army, so for now he'd made sure he wouldn't be able to escape. Aiko would probably be horrified if she learned one of her precious students had fallen, but Hajime had only promised to bring him back alive, not unharmed. And since he'd fired from such a huge distance, he doubted Aiko had even seen.

In the span of a few seconds, Hajime had annihilated the monsters' aerial corps. Then, he rested Schlagen on his shoulder and calmly turned to the gathered citizens. Their jaws were hanging open in shock. However, Hajime merely grinned fearlessly.

"All hail Aiko-sama!" He raised his arms up triumphantly, extolling Aiko's greatness. A second later...

"All hail Aiko-sama! All hail Aiko-sama! All hail Aiko-sama! All hail Aiko-sama!"

"All hail our goddess! All hail our goddess! All hail our goddess! All hail our goddess!" In the eyes of the people of Ur, Aiko had become a goddess not just in name, but in truth. The citizens were no longer afraid. Each and every one of them looked at Aiko with eyes full of hope and worship.

Aiko blushed with embarrassment and started trembling. She looked up at Hajime and mouthed, "Just what do you think you're doing!" Hajime, however, just shrugged nonchalantly and turned back to the oncoming army.

He'd had his reasons for hyping Aiko up so much. Firstly, to increase Aiko's influence so that she would be more useful when the Holy Church and Heiligh turned against him. He had no doubt that they would feel threatened by his overwhelming might, and seek either to use him or to bury him. And at that time, Aiko would surely turn against them for his sake, like she had before for her traumatized students.

And with this incident, her fame as a holy goddess would spread. Even without Hajime promoting her any more, rumors would spread. Thus, Aiko would soon be more than just a useful tool for the Holy Church, she'd be the common people's idol. Neither the Holy Church nor the king would be able to move against her for fear of inciting revolt. Furthermore, her leverage over the nobles and clergy would be massively increased.

Secondly, this way the townspeople wouldn't be afraid of him for displaying godlike strength. They'd believe he was some kind of soldier sent by their goddess, turning their fear and suspicion into relief and trust. So, even when the Holy Church turned against him, he knew there'd be people willing to help him all the same... Hopefully.

Thirdly, as it was his teacher who had convinced him to do this, he wanted her to share in the responsibility of what she'd started.

Lastly, and most importantly, this had been the only way he could think of to avoid starting a full-scale panic. It was possible there might have been better solutions, but there wasn't enough time to think. He had no doubt she'd scold him for this later, but this benefited Aiko too. Not only that, but this was a direct consequence of her own actions... or at the very least, that was how he was going to put it to her before making his escape and leaving her to deal with the aftermath.

The townsfolk's cheers were almost loud enough to drown out the roars of the oncoming monsters. Hajime could feel Aiko glaring angrily at him, while David remarked "What do you know, the brat gets it after all." He ignored them all and returned Schlagen to his Treasure Trove, pulling out two massive gatling guns, Metzeleis, in its place. Then, he put one on each shoulder and stepped forward.

To his right was Yue, and to his left, Shea. For this fight, he'd lent her his rocket launcher, Orkan. To Shea's left was Tio, who was still enamored by the ring Hajime had given her.

The army hadn't slowed at all when Hajime had shot down the pteranodons, and it was closing in rapidly. Four people stood against an onslaught of sixty thousand— It was so ludicrous that it didn't seem real.

Hajime glanced over at Yue. She looked up at him and nodded. He then turned to Shea. She too, nodded confidently, her bunny ears standing at attention. Finally, he... ignored Tio.

A faint smile played on his lips as he stared at the oncoming horde. He then casually spoke the words that marked the beginning of a grand slaughter.

"Let's get to it, then."

What the fuck... What the fuck is going on!? The black-robed boy, Yukitoshi Shimizu, huddled in the far back of the monster army. He'd hurriedly dug himself a makeshift trench and hidden behind as many defensive barriers as he could muster. The earlier annihilation of his pteranodons and the current rout of his army had left him cowering in fear.

True, the sudden shock had left him speechless, but he was still cursing profusely in his mind.

As Aiko had suspected, the mastermind behind this monster army was indeed her missing student.

Thanks to a chance encounter he'd had in the mountains, he'd made a promise to wipe out the city of Ur, along with Aiko and her guards. However, what should have been an easy victory had quickly turned into a veritable hellscape. Even now, his massive army was being torn apart like it was nothing.

Tatatatatata! Tatatatatatatatatata! Innumerable red streaks dyed the sky crimson, each one heralding a death sentence for one of his monsters. Each lance of light pulverized another monster, regardless of its strength, race, or abilities. Without even an opportunity to resist, his army was quickly being reduced to a mountain of corpses. Hajime's guns fired twelve thousand rounds every minute, making him the very incarnation of death. Worse, every bullet packed such a huge punch that it pierced through enemy lines, killing dozens.

The pierced monsters were hit so hard that they ignored the laws of motion. Instead of being blown back, they just exploded into chunks of flesh. The monsters fled wildly in every direction, scrambling to get out of the line of fire, but Hajime simply fanned his two Metzeleis out in either direction, letting none escape.

The barrage was so fierce that Hajime was more like a mobile fortress than a person, and none of the monsters could even get close. They died by the hundreds, leaving behind heaping mountains of dismembered flesh from which rivers of blood flowed.

To his left, Shea was pulling Orkan's trigger as fast as its mechanisms would allow, firing missile after missile into the horde. Each missile impacted with an explosion dozens of meters wide, obliterating anything in its vicinity. Those in the center of the blast were blown to smithereens instantly, while those unlucky enough to only catch the shockwave had their bones shattered and their organs crushed, leaving them writhing in pain.

Those behind them trampled the wounded to death in their mindless rush forward.

Once she ran out of bullets, Shea swapped out with a new launcher from the pile Hajime had left for her and continued blasting. The missiles fired from this one worked like napalm, exploding over the monsters' heads and spraying burning hot flames over the hapless beasts. Like his incendiary grenades, the missiles were packed with tar extracted from flamrock. The very same one that burned at over 3000 degrees Celsius. Hellfire rained down on the monsters, searing them until only ashes remained. And as the screaming monsters flailed about in the moments before their death, they spread the flames to their neighbors, creating a chain reaction. The monsters in Shea's area had one of two choices... be blown to pieces or burned to ash.

To Shea's left, Tio was wreaking havoc as well. From her hands she emitted black beams of light so hot they scorched the air they passed through. It was the same breath she'd fired on Hajime in her dragon form. It seemed she could use it in human form as well. Flames powerful enough to test even Hajime's best defenses ripped through the army, burning straight through rows of enemies.

Tio gradually swept her arms from side to side, mowing down large swathes of monsters with her black barrage. When it finally stopped, the only things that remained were deep gouges cut into the earth. However, that single attack had drained her mana considerably. Tio tottered back and forth, her shoulders heaving. But with a single kiss of Hajime's ring, her reserves were replenished, and she straightened up once more.

She'd pulled mana out of the ring Hajime had given her. With a majority of her section already wiped out, Tio decided to forgo the breath and stuck to spells that consumed relatively less mana.

"Rise up, O furious gale, imbued with the crimson inferno of hell itself— Purgatory Blaze!" In order to keep her mana consumption even lower, she went out of her way to say the chant. A fiery whirlwind appeared in front of her. It was easily big enough to rank F4 on the Fujita Tornado Scale.

It was dozens of meters wide, and as it advanced it pulled nearby monsters into its whirling tempest. One after another, monsters were pulled into the rotating inferno of death. They were only freed after they'd been reduced to ash in the crimson furnace, and thousands of monsters' worth of ashes sprinkled to the ground like gray snow. Tio didn't stop until the ground was blanketed in soot.

To Hajime's right, Yue's extermination campaign was even more gruesome. When Hajime and the others had started, Yue had still had her eyes closed. Sensing that the right wing was safe, the monsters had all crowded in that direction to begin their assault. They were packed so close together that it was impeding their charge. Finally, when they'd closed the distance to within 500 meters of Yue, she opened her eyes. She muttered a single word. Despite her voice barely being over a whisper, it reverberated across the battlefield.

"Asura." That was the trigger for her spell. A spell that incorporated the gravity magic she had inherited from Miledi Reisen, powerful enough to influence the laws of the universe. It was such a difficult spell to master that even Yue, a vampire princess gifted with godlike talent in all areas of magic, needed time to build up the mana to cast it.

A sphere of darkness appeared above the monsters, similar to the one she'd summoned when fighting Tio. However, unlike that sphere, this one started morphing. It stretched and stretched until it surrounded a section of the monster army on all sides. Then, once it had blocked out the sunlight and trapped the monsters, it fell.

The simplest way to explain what happened next was that the monsters, and the ground they were standing on, just vanished. To the people of Ur, who were watching the battle from the safety of the city, that was certainly what it looked like.

What had actually happened wasn't much more complicated than that. The pitch black blanket had fallen atop the monsters, crushing them under an immense weight that had created a crater ten meters deep.

Without even a chance to comprehend what had happened, the army of monsters had been flattened like pancakes. All that remained was a compressed pile of bodies in the crater below. In a single stroke, Yue had slaughtered two thousand monsters. Those unlucky enough to have been caught on the edge of the dome had had their bodies bisected, entrails and organs spilling from the remaining half of their bodies.

Because of the crater's sudden appearance, the monsters charging in from behind didn't have time to maneuver, and fell in rank after rank. The charge didn't halt immediately, and monsters continued falling in for a good few seconds after that. Within seconds the hole was filled with thousands of monsters, and Yue drew on her ring for mana, casting another gravity spell. And so, the first batch of corpses were joined by a second layer of crushed bodies.

The air was thick with the metallic, cloying scent of monster blood. The wind carried it over to the town, causing a number of people to start throwing up. But still, they couldn't take their eyes from the overwhelming might Hajime and his party displayed. Cheers of triumph rang out across the town.

David and his knights were staring dumbfounded as they watched the carnage unfold. Yuka, Atsushi, and the other students felt conflicted when they realized just how big the gap was between their power and Hajime's.

At first they'd been pumped to help him defend the town, but they soon realized they were just like the townspeople, simply being protected. And by the same kid who they'd all bullied for being "worthless." There were a lot of complicated feelings bottled up there.

Aiko was simply praying. For Hajime and his friends' safety. At the same time, she finally realized the full implications of what she'd suggested. Seeing the merciless slaughter before her, it felt like her naive heart was being pummeled by a sledgehammer of all the contradictions she'd averted her gaze from.

Around the time the horde of monsters had thinned enough that people could see the northern horizon between gaps in their lines, Tio collapsed. She'd used up all of her own mana, along with the mana stored in the ring Hajime had given her.

"Ngh, it seems this is as far as I go. My apologies... I cannot muster a single fireball more." Tio fell to the ground face-down, but mustered all of her strength to look up at Hajime. Her face was deathly pale as she apologized. It was obvious she'd used up everything she had.

"...That's good enough. For a pervert, you're pretty strong. Leave the rest to us and rest."

"You're so kind, Master... I was certain you would insult me, and yet... Though, sprinkling a few compliments in between insults is certainly enticing... Can I expect even harsher treatment from now on?"

"Go to sleep and never wake up." Tio's exhausted body tingled with excitement. Despite being white as a sheet, her expression was ecstatic. Hajime shook his head in disgust, then turned back to the hugely diminished swarm of monsters.