What the!? Crap, I won't be able to dodge in time— Hajime's eyes were glued to the light. It looked just like the rainbow-colored light that had nearly killed him back in the Great Orcus Labyrinth.
Judging by how bright this is, it might be even more dangerous... It felt as if the very air was being torn apart by the light. The labyrinth's creator had purposely timed this trap to activate when everyone was at their most defenseless... right when they thought they'd won.
The light of destruction swallowed Hajime whole, and he vanished without a trace.
"H-Hajimeeee!"
Yue let out a bloodcurdling scream.
Shea and Tio had just been standing in place, stunned. It was Yue's scream that had brought them back to their senses. They'd never heard her so much as raise her voice before.
The giant wall of light swallowed up the remnants of the magma serpent Hajime had just killed and crashed into the sea below. The impact sent magma flying everywhere, and for a second, the base of the volcano was visible.
The light grew fainter as it bore through the rock. Eventually, it faded entirely, vanishing without a trace, leaving not a speck behind.
Yue flew through the air, rushing to see what had become of Hajime. As the light faded, she saw him, still floating in the air. His clothes were a tattered mess. He'd used his arms to protect his face and torso, keeping his vitals intact. However, he no longer had the strength to remain airborne, so he plummeted toward the magma.
"Updraft!" Yue used her magic to keep his limp frame afloat. From the looks of it, he'd lost consciousness. Once she got close, she grabbed him and carried him over to a nearby platform.
"Hajime! Hajime!"
Shea and Tio had never seen her so panicked. Yue fumbled through her
pockets and pulled out a vial of Ambrosia that she quickly fed to Hajime.
He was in pretty bad shape. So much of his right arm had been burned off that bone was showing. Plus, his artificial left arm had melted together. His eyepatch had been ripped off, and the right side of his face was bleeding profusely. Worst of all, though, his stomach had been burnt black. The fact that his organs were intact was a testament to how much he'd grown since fighting the Hydra.
In the moment he'd had before the aurora struck, Hajime had twisted his body away from it while simultaneously activating Diamond Skin's derivative skills, Focused Hardening and Diamond Protection. Thanks to that he'd been able to protect his head with his hardened left arm, while at the same time he saved his lungs and heart with his right. His stomach had been protected with monster leather that he'd enchanted with Diamond Protection. Most importantly, his ridiculously high Magic Defense stat kept the aurora from melting right through him. His wounds were certainly terrible, but not fatal.
"Mmm... It's taking too long to heal." Yue's impatience showed on her face. The Ambrosia was barely healing Hajime.
Back when they'd been fighting the Hydra, Hajime had been demolished by this same light when he was protecting Yue. She'd sworn to herself on that day that she'd never let something that terrible happen to Hajime ever again. And yet, it had happened again. This was the exact same situation. Her mouth twisted in grief, her frustration at being unable to save Hajime spilling over into her expression. Unfortunately, their enemy wasn't going to give her time to grieve.
"Fool! Above you!"
"Ah. Oh no—"
Just as Tio shouted out her warning, countless beams of light rained down on Yue. They were all miniaturized versions of the first blast that had hit Hajime. Most of them had hardly a tenth of the strength the first one had, but even that was enough to kill most people.
Yue had been too caught up in feeding Hajime Ambrosia to notice the attack. It was only when Tio screamed out her warning that she looked up. There wasn't any time to cast a spell, as the light would have hit her far too quickly. If only I had three... No, one more second... Yue desperately tried to cast a defensive spell anyway.
"I won't let you! Cloudburst!" Fortunately, Tio managed to buy the time Yue needed. Cloudburst was an intermediate-rank wind spell. It created a compressed wall of air, which Tio used to hold back the deadly light. The wall of wind bent inward as the light hit it. Normally, it would rebound whatever attack struck it, but when faced against an attack this powerful it was all Tio could do to keep the wall from shattering. Even then, she could only hold the wall for a few seconds.
Still, few seconds was more than enough.
"Hallowed Ground!" Yue cast the strongest barrier spell she knew. If she'd had the time she would have used Spatial Severance instead, but forming the image she needed for gravity magic still took her longer than all the other elements. Practice had shortened that time, but casting Hallowed Ground was still faster. That was why it was the best option for Yue.
A bright barrier of light appeared in front of her outstretched hands. It spread out into a dome, protecting Yue and Hajime. A split second later, Tio's Cloudburst shattered, unable to hold back the barrage of mini auroras. Their fury unabated, the beams of light slammed into Yue's barrier.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! A hailstorm of light pounded against Yue's Hallowed Ground, making it crack.
"Gwaaaaaah!" Realizing the barrier wouldn't last at this rate, Yue transformed it from a dome into a shield that only covered the area above them. The less area her barrier had to cover, the stronger it would be.
No longer protected by Yue's shield, the ground around them was pelted by rainbow-colored light. The auroras destroyed all of the boulder they were on except for the spot where Hajime and Yue stayed.
The light attacks seemed to be focused on Hajime. A few beams fell toward Shea and Tio as well, but only enough to keep them busy while the bulk attacked Hajime and Yue. That being said, it took a lot to keep Shea and Tio busy. Being able to keep Tio, Shea, and Yue on the defensive simultaneously was no small feat.
"Hajime-san! Hajime-saaan!"
"Calm yourself, Shea! If you leave my barrier, then you'll just end up killing yourself!"
"But Hajime-san's in trouble!"
Tio tried to hold Shea back while simultaneously maintaining her Cloudburst so that they wouldn't be drowned in deadly rainbow light.
Tio was just as worried about Hajime as Shea was. She understood her feelings of wanting to run over and help him, but she also knew that jumping out in the middle of a barrage of light powerful enough to nearly kill even Hajime wouldn't do anyone any good. Tio grabbed Shea by the collar and pulled her back to the safety of her Cloudburst barrier.
Time slowed to a crawl. Tio couldn't tell if ten seconds had passed, or a minute.
After what seemed like an eternity, the barrage finally abated. Most of the boulders had been pulverized, and white smoke rose from the few that hadn't.
Yue and Tio were both panting heavily, their mana nearly spent. They used the respite they'd been given to drain their magic accessories' reserves.
As they were recovering, a man's voice spoke to them from above. He sounded almost impressed.
"Your strength is certainly formidable. Ambushing you here was the right choice. You four are too dangerous to let live. Especially that man over there..."
The three girls looked up at the ceiling. Their eyes opened wide in surprise. A massive number of dragons filled the sky. One of them was far larger than the others, and was pure white from snout to tail. Riding atop it was a red-haired, dark-skinned, pointy-eared demon.
"To think he could survive even a direct hit from my Uranos' breath... Plus, those strange weapons of his that were mentioned in the report are even stronger than I imagined... You girls as well. It's amazing you were able to withstand a concentrated barrage from fifty Ash Dragons. Who on earth are you people? How many ancient spells have you already acquired?"
His eyes glowed golden, like Tio's. He met the girls's gaze and glared pointedly at them. He seemed to be under the misconception that Yue and the others' strength came from the number of labyrinths they'd cleared.
"How about you tell us your name first before asking questions? Or do all demons have no manners?"
The person who replied was Hajime. The demon furrowed his eyebrows. Before he could answer, though, Yue shouted,
"Hajime!"
"Hajime-san!"
"You're alive, Master!"
Hajime had managed to prop himself up, but it looked like he was ready to collapse at any second. Yue rushed to help him. Tio and Shea leaped over to what remained of the crumbling platform to get a closer look at his condition too.
Hajime smiled to reassure everyone and rose to his feet. He was in no condition to fight, though. The effort it took to stand had left him sweating. But even so, he looked the demon in the eye and smiled fearlessly.
"I have no reason to give my name to those who are about to die."
"I know what you mean. I just figured I'd play out the cliche. To be honest, I don't care who you are. By the way, how's your friend doing? I did him a favor if you ask me. It was a pretty ugly arm."
Hajime was only talking in order to buy time until he healed, which was why he purposely tried to goad the demon. From the demon's mention of a report and the fact that he'd been waiting to ambush them here, Hajime had already guessed that the demon who'd barely escaped with his life back in Ur had told this one about Hajime and the others. He was the one who'd been sent to deal with them, presumably.
The demon's eyebrows twitched, and he growled in a low tone.
"I've changed my mind. Carve this name into your memories, scum. I am Freid Bagwa. A faithful apostle of god, sworn to bring divine judgment to the heretics."
"An apostle of god, huh? Someone sure thinks highly of themselves. What, you think knowing some magic from the age of the gods makes you good enough to be their apostle? That magic doesn't let you control monsters, does it? There aren't enough monsters in the world that can shoot out those auroras. It must let you create them somehow. If you could create an unbeatable army with that, then maybe you'd be qualified to call yourself their apostle."
"You're a sharp one. That's right, it was when I obtained the ancient magic that god spoke to me. They told me I was their apostle. It was then that I decided to devote my all to them and work to see their wish granted. I denounce you, who dares to stand in my lord's way."
He reminds me of that pope, Ishtar. Only a fanatic would denounce us for a reason like that.
Hajime's smile didn't waver. The Ambrosia was still working slowly, but Hajime augmented it with one of Mana Conversion's derivative skills, Healing Conversion. Thanks to that, he'd at least stopped the bleeding. His left arm was useless for now, but though his right arm had been burned to the bone, it hadn't broken. He could use it if he really had to. I can still fight!
"Stole the words right from my mouth. Anyone who stands in my way is an enemy. And... I kill all of my enemies!"
Gritting his teeth against the pain, Hajime swung Donner up and fired at Freid.
His arm screamed in pain at the recoil, but he ignored it, focusing his energy only on killing the enemy before him. He activated Riftwalk as well, and sent out his Cross Bits. Yue, Tio, and Shea all attacked at the same time as him. Yue sent out her Draconic Thunder, while Tio fired her breath and Shea shot another one of her shotgun slugs.
A number of the things Freid had called Ash Dragons flew in front of him and created multiple layers of triangular, dark-red barriers to defend against the attack.
The barriers shattered one after another in the face of Hajime and the others powerful barrage, but more Ash Dragons flew in and supplemented the defense with their own barriers. With so many shields to break through, even their best attacks began to peter out. Hajime noticed that there were turtle-shaped monsters riding atop the Ash Dragons. Their shells were glowing dark red, which led Hajime to assume they were the ones casting the barriers.
"Did you think I only brought dragons with me? You won't be able to break my defenses that easily. Now let me show you the other power I've obtained. This is the true might of magic from the age of the gods!"
Freid began chanting a spell, falling into an almost trance-like state. If it's something he just recently got, that means it's probably whatever magic you get for clearing the Grand Gruen Volcano. Hajime and the others knew firsthand just how dangerous magic from the age of the gods was. They focused their attacks, determined to stop Freid before he could finish chanting.
But every time they destroyed a barrier a new turtle appeared to craft one in its place. Normally, Hajime would have charged forward to attack Freid directly, but he still wasn't fully recovered, so he limited himself to ranged attacks. He ground his teeth, frustrated that he couldn't do more.
He holstered Donner and pulled out Orkan instead. Then, he unleashed all four of its rockets, but all they managed to do was kill a few of the dragons. None of the explosions reached Freid. His Cross Bits were too weak to even penetrate the barriers.
Before he could set up any other attacks, Freid finished chanting his spell. Their time was up.
"Cosmic Rift!"
"Behind you, Hajime-san!"
Freid and the white dragon he was riding on disappeared. Specifically, they vanished inside a veil of blinding light that had appeared.
Hajime whirled around, reacting to Shea's warning.
Directly in front of him was the white dragon, its gaping jaws inches from his face. Freid was glaring coldly down at him from atop it. There was a massive amount of heat and mana radiating from the dragon's mouth.
Hajime instantly held Orkan in front of him, shielding himself from the point-blank aurora blast.
"Gwaaaaaaaaah!"
The force of the light sent Hajime flying backward. Injured as he was, his body wouldn't be able to take much more of this. He screamed in pain as the aurora's shockwaves buffeted him.
"Hajime!"
Yue and the others tried to attack the white dragon, hoping to distract it from Hajime. But before they could, the Ash Dragons up above fired a barrage of light at them, forcing them to defend.
Though he hadn't taken a direct hit, the force of the blast had reopened Hajime's wounds. Blood soaked the ground beneath his feet.
Fuck, that hurts. At this rate we're done for.
Hajime came to a decision. There was no point in holding anything back since things were this bad. It was time to use Limit Break.
Dark red mana swirled around Hajime's body and he could feel his strength multiply exponentially.
"Raaaaaaaaah!" Hajime wrenched Orkan upward, deflecting the aurora burst toward the ceiling. He was unable to deflect it all though, and a few traces of the aurora slammed into him, gouging into his wounds.
The white dragon followed up with a barrage of mini-aurora balls. Its attack patterns were almost identical to the Hydra's. But the dragon's aurora was more powerful than the Hydra's had been, which meant its mini-auroras would be as well. Hajime couldn't afford to take any more hits.
"Cross Bits!" Hajime's concentration was so intense that the world around him passed by in slow-motion. He weaved through the aurora balls with expert precision, sometimes dodging them by only a hair's breadth. He felt some of them scrape past his clothes, but he didn't let himself get distracted for even a moment. He knew he needed to stay focused if he wanted any hope of mounting a counterattack.
Hajime tossed Orkan, which had been mostly destroyed by the aurora, back into his Treasure Trove and pulled out Donner. Then, he fired a short burst while summoning his Cross Bits to him. They also fired at Freid, supplementing the barrage.
"Such persistence! To think you can keep barely dodging for so long!" Freid retreated behind the safety of his turtles' barriers once more. He hadn't expected Hajime, wounded as he was, to put up such a tough fight. He continued flying backward while he started chanting another spell.
"Not this time!" Freid had been so focused on keeping his distance from Hajime that he'd forgotten about the rest of Hajime's party. He turned in surprise as a deep voice roared next to him. Before he could see what was happening, something crashed into his side.
He clung to his dragon, barely keeping himself from falling off. The shock was enough to break him out of his chant. When he saw what had hit him, his jaw dropped open.
"Impossible. A black dragon, here!?"
"Don't be so proud of those mock dragons of yours! I will not allow you to hurt Master any longer!"
Tio had transformed into her dragon form. She knew it was dangerous to expose her existence to a demon, but she'd taken the risk anyway. Tio was smaller than Freid's white dragon, but the pressure she exuded was far greater.
Tio had joined Hajime's party because she liked him, but she'd also done it to get a better idea of what these people who were summoned from another world were like. In order to do that, she had needed to hide the fact that she was a dragonman.
If the world found out dragonmen still lived, her village would be in danger. Though each dragonman was strong individually, they were helpless against humans' sheer numbers. Tio had learned that lesson the hard way, five hundred years ago.
But Hajime, the one person she'd believed utterly invincible, had almost died. Seeing him crippled from the aurora's light had shaken Tio.
She'd been a fool. Strong as Hajime was, he wasn't invincible. A moment's carelessness could get him killed too.
How could she have forgotten something so obvious? It was only now that she realized what her oath had really meant to her. She'd sworn to serve Hajime. Not just because she found him interesting, and not just because he was her Master.
No, it was because Tio didn't want to lose him. He was an irreplaceable friend, and the man she loved.
That was why she'd thrown caution to the winds, choosing to reveal her dragon form. If she prioritized her mission over the lives of her friends, then she had no right to travel with them. Nor did she have any right to call herself a Guardian. Even if this decision led to her clan being persecuted, she had to do it. More than anything though, Tio Klarus would never put her own safety before the lives of her friends.
"Behold, boy. This is what a true dragon's breath looks like!" Deadly black light gathered in Tio's mouth.
She unleashed it with a roar. The black light closed in on Freid with unbelievable speed.
The white dragon turned to face Tio and countered with its own breath. White and black clashed, sending massive shockwaves across the room. Waves of magma spread out from beneath the point of impact.
At first the two beams of light seemed evenly matched, but eventually Tio's started pushing the white dragon's back.
"Gah, to think I would run into the remnants of the dragonman clan here... It seems I have no choice. It's somewhat dangerous, but I'll have to blow this entire—"
"You won't be doing anything."
"Ah!?"
Freid was genuinely surprised that Tio was a dragon. That hadn't been mentioned in his reports. He began chanting a new spell, hoping to create an opportunity to retreat, but was stopped once more.
He felt something hit his back, and stumbled forward.
He turned around to see Hajime, who was bleeding from multiple wounds, leveling Donner at him. In a short few seconds, Hajime had gotten behind him. Hajime fired another six rounds. They all landed at once, each with pinpoint accuracy.
The turtles surrounding Freid put up a barrier, but it was no match for six bullets fired at point blank range. The barrier shattered, leaving him defenseless. Hajime leaped forward, closing the distance between the two of them.
He wreathed Donner with a Gale Claw and swiped at Freid.
"Gwaaaaaah!?" Freid stumbled backward, narrowly avoiding being cut in half. Hajime's claw still gouged deep into his chest though, leaving him severely injured. Hajime didn't let up his attack, and followed up with a Shock Conversion-enhanced roundhouse kick.
"Gaaah!" Freid blocked it with his left arm, but he wasn't able to kill the force of the attack. Hajime's kick shattered Freid's arm, damaged his internal organs, and sent him flying off his dragon.
Distracted by what was happening to its master, the white dragon let up its aurora attack. That allowed Tio's breath to punch through.
It slammed into the dragon a second after Hajime jumped off its back, sending it flying.
"Graaaaaaaaaaaah!" Though it had been injured heavily, the dragon managed to straighten itself and fly up toward the ceiling. Freid was waiting there for it, riding one of his Ash Dragons. Once the two were level with each other, Freid hopped off the Ash Dragon and onto the white one.
Hajime tried to chase after him with Aerodynamic, but—
"Ngh!? Gah!"
The red mana swirling around him vanished, and he coughed up blood. His Limit Break was up. His injuries had made it last shorter than usual, and there was also more recoil as well. Unable to keep his Aerodynamic going, Hajime plummeted toward the magma sea below.
"Master, get ahold of yourself!"
"Guh T-Tio..."
Tio soared down and caught Hajime on her back. Hajime was barely conscious, but he managed to struggle to his knees. His eyes still burning with determination, he glared up at Freid.
The Ash Dragons that had been attacking Yue and Shea clumped around him.
"Hajime!"
"Hajime-san!"
Free from the barrage, they rushed over toward Hajime. Tio landed on a nearby platform and let Hajime down. Considering the state he was in, she couldn't fight with him on her back. He'd likely fall. Shea and Yue arrived at the platform Tio had landed on and helped him stand.
"Your combat prowess truly is impressive. And the women you have with you are quite strong themselves. The dragonmen should have died out, and yet one travels with you. Furthermore, you have a mage who can cast spells without incantations and a rabbitman that has some strange precognitive powers. I didn't think anything could press me this hard now that I have ancient magic at my disposal. Had my surprise attack not succeeded, I likely wouldn't have stood a chance." Freid spoke quietly, but there was a fire in his eyes. His breathing was ragged, and he covered his wounded chest with his good hand.
"You say that like you've already won. I'm nowhere near done yet." Hajime frowned and glared at Freid. Though he could barely stand, his bloodlust remained undiminished.
"So it seems. No matter how badly I injure you, your determination doesn't waver. What's truly frightening about you isn't your physical strength, but the inexorable persistence you show in killing your enemies... No, perhaps it would be more apt to call it your will to survive."
Freid looked down for a moment, steeled himself, then turned back to Hajime.
"I didn't want to have to use this. But if that's what it takes to get rid of someone as dangerous as you, it's a price I'm willing to pay."
"What are you going on about?"
Freid didn't respond. Instead, he whispered something to the bird-shaped monster sitting on his shoulder.
A series of loud noises followed. Dundundundundun! Thud! Crash! The entire volcano shook, and the magma sea began to seethe.
"Whoa!?"
"Hm!?"
"Kyaaa!?"
"Nuoooh!?"
The impact knocked all four of them off-balance, and they struggled to regain their footing. The rumbling increased, rising to an earthquake of at least 7 in magnitude. Pillars of magma rose up from the sea.
"Hajime-san, the magma's rising!"
Hajime looked down. The magma was indeed rising, and the amount of rock left for them to stand on was rapidly shrinking.
"What did you do?" Hajime yelled at Freid. It was obvious he was behind this. Freid flew over to the center of the room, directly above the main island.
"I just destroyed the keystone."
"The... keystone?"
"Didn't you ever find it strange, looking at all this magma? The Grand Gruen Volcano is clearly an active one. And yet, it's never erupted. That can only mean something in the volcano is controlling the magma's flow."
"And that was the keystone... Wait, don't tell me—!?"
"It is as you suspect. Now that I've destroyed the keystone, the labyrinth will be submerged in magma. It's a shame I cannot share this ancient magic with my comrades... but this is the only way to destroy you. Sink into the depths along with this labyrinth!"
Freid held up the pendant hanging from his neck and glared coldly down at Hajime. Cracks started appearing all along the ceiling of the room. It opened up near the center, revealing a circular passage heading straight to the summit.
That pendant was probably what he got for clearing the labyrinth. And that's the shortcut back out... Freid looked at Hajime one last time before turning his dragon around and flying through the opening.
The sea of magma had turned into a raging whirlpool, and magma pillars erupted from the center one after another. Magma started pouring down on the boulder they were standing on. It was as if they were watching the world end.
Hajime closed his eyes and considered his options. After a few seconds he came to a decision and struggled to his feet.
Though Freid had gone up, he'd left behind his Ash Dragons. They once again started bombarding Hajime and the others with aurora balls. He wasn't taking any chances.
Yue cast Spatial Severance to keep the aurora balls at bay, while Tio prepared to fire another breath attack at them. Hajime grabbed his Treasure Trove and tapped Tio's cheek to get her attention.
"Tio, listen to me. Take this and escape through that passage in the ceiling." Her expression went from confused to hurt as she realized what Hajime was saying. She growled at Hajime in a voice full of rage. She would not abandon her comrades and escape alone.
"Master, are you saying I alone am not worthy to fight with you until the end? Are you truly asking me to abandon you all? I will not—"
"That's not it, Tio. We don't have much time, so I'm only gonna explain this once. I haven't given up. We're still gonna get the ancient magic from this labyrinth, and we'll get back at that bastard soon enough. We still have to keep our promise to bring stillstone back to everyone, too. But I can't do it all alone. I need your help. Only you can get back to Ankaji in time. Please, Tio. I need you to do this."
Hajime stared into Tio's eyes. This was the first time she'd seen him look at her so seriously. Hajime, who'd always been so confident in himself, was asking someone else for help. In order to fulfill all of his promises, in order to come out ahead, he needed her help. Without Tio, they'd fail.
Hajime had no intention of giving up here, and this wasn't part of some noble self-sacrifice.
When Tio realized that, her face lit up with joy. The man she'd fallen for had entrusted her with an important mission at this critical point in time. If she couldn't live up to his expectations, then she didn't deserve to travel with him.
Filled with determination, Tio nodded.
"Leave it to me!" Hajime stuck the Treasure Trove into a gap between Tio's scales. He positioned it so that when she transformed back into a human it'd already be in her hand.
After making sure it was secure, Tio nuzzled Hajime's head. In this form, it was all she could do to show her affection. Hajime patted her gently one last time, and she took to the skies. Before she left, she glanced down at Yue and Shea. They nodded back at her resolutely. They hadn't given up either.
"Tio, tell Kaori and Myu that we'll see them soon. I'm counting on you."
"Fufu. I shall." She smiled at how casual Hajime's message was. A second later, she wrapped herself in a gust of wind and shot up toward the ceiling. The Ash Dragons focused their fire on her, but she avoided the aurora balls with a barrel roll and slipped past them. Realizing how dangerous it would be to let her escape, the Ash Dragons turned to chase her.
Tio deflected the next barrage with her breath, but the continuous bombardment made it difficult to keep all the balls at bay. Before their attacks could overwhelm her though, a good chunk of them were wiped out by a beam of their own light.
Yue had sent a powered-up version of their attacks back at them by using the light she'd absorbed into Spatial Severance. Shea followed up by a wave of shotgun slugs. Their shockwaves blew apart quite a few of them as well.
The passage Freid and the white dragon had left through began to close. Realizing she didn't have much time left, Tio shot forward, focusing only on speed. Now that she was no longer holding the Ash Dragons back, some of their aurora balls started hitting her.
"Hmph, this is nothing! In fact, it feels good! Bring it oooooon!" Tio sped up even more, the aurora balls giving her a boost. She was using one of Draconfication's derivative skills, Pain Conversion. It transformed the damage she took into a boost to her stats. She'd learned it back when she'd first met Hajime, and it was the first derivative skill she'd acquired in centuries. She really had opened the door to a world of new possibilities when Hajime had beaten her senseless.
Even the Ash Dragons were astonished by her speed. Tio broke through the storm of aurora balls and shot through the opening just before it closed. Above her, she could see a faint light. That was the surface. There were a number of doors she'd have to pass through first, and they were all closing.
Tio poured all of her remaining mana into the wind that was pushing her forward, leaving only enough to maintain her Draconification.
She flew faster than the raging wind, faster than she had ever before.
She blew past one door, then another, then another. There was just one door left between her and the summit. She blasted forward, surrounded by a storm of jet-black wind. A wall of rainbow-colored light rained down on her from overhead.
It seemed Freid had noticed she was trying to escape and had launched one last attack to slow her down. The door was already mostly closed. She had to decide now if she was going to dodge out of the way or take the hit and push through.
The white dragon had burned through most of its mana, so the aurora didn't have as much strength as before. Tio guessed it was only half as powerful.
But even so, it was far more devastating than the aurora balls the Ash Dragons had been firing at her. If she tried to intercept it or dodge it, she'd lose speed. In turn, that meant she wouldn't make it through the door in time.
"Let's see what you've got!" Tio prepared herself to take the hit and convert the pain into speed.
But just before it reached her, a few small shadows flitted past her and interposed themselves between her and the light.
Tio recognized those shapes. They were Hajime's Cross Bits. He'd sent them to follow after her.
Three of the Cross Bits glowed dark red and angled themselves to deflect the blast. The light quickly melted through them, but they held on long enough for Tio to push through. The remaining four stuck close to Tio, protecting her as she flew.
"What a surprise! Master, I truly love you!" Even when he was surrounding by a rising sea of magma, Hajime had managed to control his Cross Bits to protect Tio.
She'd never met anyone who'd been strong enough to protect her before. Even among her village, she'd been the strongest. Until now, she'd always been the one who'd protected others. She'd never known just how wonderful it was to have someone else protecting her.
"Graaaaaah!" The white dragon let out a mighty roar as Tio slipped through the final door. A swirling black gale shot up into the sunlight. Though the sandstorm raged all around Tio, the eye of the storm was calm.
"You managed to escape under those circumstances!? You truly are a pack of monsters. But even a black dragon of your caliber must be weak after sustaining all those injuries. I'll have no problem—"
Freid hurriedly tried to prepare a follow-up attack, but stopped short. The remaining four Cross Bits had Freid and the dragon he was riding on surrounded.
He instantly ordered the turtle he'd brought with him to create a barrier. He'd learned earlier the Cross Bits couldn't break through it. Had Hajime loaded his Cross Bits with the same exploding shells he'd put into Drucken, Donner, and Schlag it might have been different, but he hadn't had time. His and Shea's primary weapons had taken priority.
But what Freid didn't know was that the Cross Bits had one other powerful attack available to them. Freid was certain the Cross Bits couldn't harm him, and therefore let his guard down. It was in that instant that Hajime chose to activate his Cross Bits' trump card.
Freid had only a second to ponder why the Cross Bits were glowing even brighter instead of firing before they all exploded.
There was a huge bang.
Shockwaves assailed Freid from all four sides, followed by a hailstorm of bullets. The explosions had released all of the Cross Bits' remaining ammo in a deadly barrage.
"Gaaaaaah!"
"Graaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
Demon and dragon screamed as they were blasted into the distance. With the last of her mana, Tio added her own powerful tornado into the mix. She wanted to make doubly sure they got him. She'd wanted to use her breath to guarantee the kill, but she no longer had the mana left for it.
Tio observed the direction Freid had fallen in for a few seconds in case he miraculously got back up.
Once she was certain he wasn't coming back, she looked back down at the oddly silent volcano.
"I believe in you, Master, Yue, Shea."
Tio turned toward the sandstorm, her whisper carried away by the wind.
Her destination was Ankaji. She needed to deliver what had been entrusted to her.
She vanished into the sandstorm...
A few minutes later, the Grand Gruen Volcano shuddered.
The shaking was followed by a massive eruption. The force of it blew away the surrounding sandstorm for a short while. Black smoke rose from the volcano's peak as it spat out gouts of magma and chunks of white hot rock. Forks of lightning flashed within the smoke released from the volcano.
This was the first eruption of the Grand Gruen Volcano in known history. The historic event faded from view as the sandstorm veil covered the volcano again a few minutes later.
Though the volcano itself was obscured, the plume of smoke rising from its peak could be seen as far away as Ankaji.
The two girls who were waiting for Hajime's return watched it anxiously.
"There's just something cool about going out in a blaze of glory."
"Hajime?"
"Hajime-san?"
Hajime grinned, prompting Yue and Shea to stare at him in confusion. They were still being assailed by the Ash Dragons' aurora balls. Hajime just shook his head and, with Shea and Yue's help, managed to leap onto the central island.
In the few minutes since Tio had left, the magma had gotten even more violent. Only the central island was still above the writhing sea of death. In another five minutes, even the central island would be submerged.
Yue's Spatial Severance was doing a perfect job of dealing with the aurora balls, and the Ash Dragons were starting to get desperate. They began diving down, trying to attack the party directly, but Shea swatted down any that got close. Another ten dragons fell.
The magma dome that had been covering the center of the island had vanished, revealing a jet-black building. Next to the building was a disk that was floating a few centimeters off the ground. It seemed that was what was normally used to transport people through the shortcut back to the surface.
There were so many magma pillars shooting out now that the remaining Ash Dragons had to cut their attacks short to keep out of their way. Hajime watched them out of the corner of his eye as he walked up to the building.
There didn't seem to be any door, but one of the walls had the familiar Liberators' crest on it.
The party stopped in front of it, and the wall fell away to reveal an opening.
They stepped inside just as the magma started flowing over the central island. The door closed behind them seconds before the magma reached them.
The party watched the door warily for a few seconds, but it didn't seem like the magma was melting through it. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Hajime had guessed that if they'd built their house in a place like this, they'd have made it impervious to magma in case something happened to the volcano. It had still been just a guess though, so Hajime was relieved to discover the building really was magma-resistant.
"Looks like we can rest for a bit now. I can't believe this room even dampens the shaking..."
"Mmm... Hajime, there."
"It's a magic circle."
Hajime marveled at how well the building nullified the volcano's shaking. His musings were interrupted by Yue pointing out the magic circle. It was more complex than most he'd seen. Stepping into it would likely grant them this labyrinth's ancient magic. The three of them nodded to each other and walked into it.
Just like the circle in Oscar's room, this one read their memories, tracing their path through the labyrinth. Once the circle had confirmed they'd defeated all the magma serpents, it imprinted the knowledge needed to use this magic onto them.
"So this labyrinth was spatial magic." As Yue had said, the Grand Gruen Volcano's magic was spatial magic. Looks like this magic's pretty crazy stuff too. Hajime wasn't even surprised anymore at how ridiculously powerful it was.
"We can teleport with this."
"Yeah, that's what he used to get behind us, isn't it?"
Yue thought back to their earlier fight. Shea nodded, remembering his sudden appearance.
He'd probably used that magic to launch the first surprise attack, too. Hajime would need to test it some more before he could be certain whether it actually allowed teleportation or just the warping of space. Either way, it was still unbelievably powerful. Had it not been for Shea's Future Sight, that first attack would have likely killed Hajime. He really got me good.
As the magic circle's glow faded, there was a dull clunk and a section of the wall fell away, revealing a small alcove. Glowing letters appeared inside it.
I pray the day comes where people can be free. —Naiz Gruen
"Short and sweet, I see." Hajime gave his honest impressions. Looking around, they noticed Gruen's hidden hideout was rather Spartan. Unlike Orcus' place, there wasn't even any furniture or household appliances. There was just the magic circle.
"I guess he put his affairs in order before coming here."
"Yeah, it looks like the only thing Naiz-san left for us here was the magic circle."
"Come to think of it, Oscar's diary mentioned Naiz. It said he was a pretty quiet guy."
Yue left Shea to support Hajime and walked over to the alcove. She groped inside it and pulled out a pendant. It was slightly different than the things they'd received so far as proof of clearing a labyrinth. The pendant was circular, inlaid with an ornate pattern. Yue walked back and put it around Hajime's neck.
"Alright, we've got the magic and we've got our crest. Now we just have to figure out how to get out of here."
"Any ideas?"
"You have a plan, right? The whole place must be filled with magma by now."
Both Yue and Shea were confident Hajime could get them out of this mess. Happy that they trusted him so much, he began to outline his plan.
"We're going to swim through the magma."
"Hm?"
"Come again?"
Has the blood loss finally gotten to him? the two girls thought at the same time. His suggestion definitely didn't seem sane.
"Hold on, I'm not crazy, I swear. I'll explain it all, so don't give me that look. Okay, so the truth is, I left a submarine outside. I figured it made sense to make one since Melusine comes next. I wasn't sure if it'd survive the magma, but since our strengthened boat could, I'm sure it'll work. Glad I tried that out."
"When exactly did you have time to..." Shea stared at Hajime in shock. Even Yue widened her eyes a little in surprise.
When Freid announced that he'd destroyed the keystone, Hajime had instantly pulled his submarine out and dropped it into the magma. If it had melted, Hajime would have told everyone to ride Tio out and forced his way through. He tracked its movements with the spirit stone he'd put in it and saw that it was perfectly fine.
However, with how chaotic things were getting there was a possibility they wouldn't make it back in time to save Ankaji. They would've had to take risks to make it back in time, and Hajime wanted to avoid that. And so, he'd sent Tio on ahead just in case. He knew she'd be able to make it back with time to spare.
"As for the route we're going to take, we have the shortcut Freid took. Yue, I'm going to need you to make a barrier to hold back the magma until we're in the sub. Can you handle that?"
"Yeah... No problem." Yue nodded and deployed a tri-layered Hallowed Ground. The shimmering dome surrounded the three of them. They nodded to each and other and walked up to the door. Hajime clutched the handle and slid it open.
Burning hot magma rushed into the room. Yue's barrier protected them from it, but they couldn't even see two inches in front of their faces because of how much of it there was. Though he'd planned for the situation, Hajime was still amazed. They were seeing what a volcano looked like from inside. Chances were, the three of them were the only people in the whole world to have experienced something so strange.
"It's not far. Let's go!"
"Okay."
"R-Roger!"
At Hajime's command, the three of them slowly walked forward. Though they couldn't see anything, the submarine really was only a few feet from the room's entrance. Yue extended her Hallowed Ground to make them a path.
The three of them ran over to the entrance hatch and hopped inside. Once they were safely inside, they all relaxed.
Just then, a massive quake ripped through the volcano. And, at the same time, the magma began rushing violently toward something. The submarine was carried by the flow, and Hajime and the others rolled around inside it like bowling balls.
"Gwaaah!?"
"Hwaaa!?"
"Hawawa!? Owww!"
They cried out in pain as they slammed into the sub's walls, floor, and ceiling. Yue deployed a miniature version of her Spatial Severance to keep everyone from flying around. The contained gravity field stabilized them enough that they could regain their balance.
"Th-Thanks, Yue."
"Thank you very much, Yue-san."
"Mmm... Anyway..." Yue manipulated her Spatial Severance to drop Hajime off into the cockpit. Hajime began pouring mana into the submarine's control system, but he made little headway trying to steer it. The thickness of the magma and the speed of its flow made stabilizing the sub very difficult.
"Tch... If only this meant the volcano's erupting. We would have had our express ticket out."
"It's not?" Yue tilted her head quizzically.
"Yeah, it's not. I added lodestones to the Cross Bits when I sent them out. That way, I'd always know what direction we're going in. I dropped them on the summit before I made them blow up, so I know where the shortcut comes out... But we're getting further from there, not closer."
"Wait, does that mean the magma's taking us further underground?"
"Yeah. It's going at a slant, but we're still descending. I wonder where we're heading... Yue, Shea. It looks like we won't be making it back anytime soon. All we can do is see where this takes us."
Yue and Shea smiled gently and sidled up to Hajime.
"All I want is to be with you. If I can have that, I don't care what else happens."
"Hehe... So this is what 'through hell and high water' really means... As long as I can be with you two, I don't care where we go!"
"I see. Fair enough." Hajime smiled back.
The three of them huddled together in the submarine as the ocean of magma pushed them along.
While Hajime and the others were being pushed along by the magma, Tio was flying through the sandstorm. Her silhouette was the only thing that wasn't brown in the sky.
"Mmm. This does not bode well. Unbelievable, to think that charlatan's breath would... I suppose I have no choice. Master, please forgive me." Even with Hajime's protection, some of the white dragon's aurora had hit her when she'd pushed through. And now, its insidious poison was eating away at her wounds. At the rate things were going, she would collapse long before she reached Ankaji. She reached into the Treasure Trove and pulled out one of Hajime's few remaining Ambrosia vials. Then, she popped the whole thing, vial and all, into her mouth with a muttered apology for taking it without permission.
The vast amount of mana she'd spent casting multiple breath attacks and speeding through the volcano regenerated at an alarming rate. Her wounds didn't start healing right away due to the poison, but the aurora's effects were diminished.
After flying for a few hours, she finally spotted Ankaji in the distance. If she got any closer, Ankaji's lookouts would spot her. Tio considered changing back to her human form.
"Well, now that the white dragon tamer's seen me, I guess there's no point in hiding it." Besides, if I'm going to continue traveling with Master, a time when my dragon form will be needed again will surely come. In the end, Tio decided not to stop.
Her hidden village wouldn't be found that easily. Even if it was, her clan was notoriously hard to kill. More than anything though, she had Hajime. If by some chance the whole world turned against them again, then she could count on him to have her back. He tried to act tough, but Tio knew he'd do anything for those he cared about.
Only a few kilometers remained between her and Ankaji. When she looked down, she spotted the lookout panicking and pointing in her direction. Tio didn't want to have to deal with them accidentally attacking her, so she angled down toward the main gate and landed there.
She kicked up a massive cloud of dust as she landed. A contingent of Ankaji's soldiers were waiting for her. She glanced up and saw another squad of soldiers aiming their bows and staves down at her from the walls.
The wind began to sweep away the dust cloud and soon Tio's silhouette was visible. The soldiers gulped nervously. However, when the sand finally cleared all they saw was an exhausted woman.
A girl pushed past the bewildered soldiers and ran up to Tio. It was Kaori.
Bize and the soldiers tried to stop her, but she ignored them. She only stopped when she was next to Tio, who was doubled over and panting.
Kaori had known Tio was a dragon, so the moment the lookout had reported that one had been spotted she'd run to the main gate.
"Tio, are you alright!?"
"Oh, Kaori. Despite how I look, I shall be fine. I'm just a little tired."
Kaori paled when she saw how hurt Tio was. Every inch of her was covered in wounds. Kaori kneeled down next to Tio and began examining her injuries. When she realized the damage had been caused by an unknown poison, she quickly cast a cleansing spell, followed by a healing spell.
"How come... Why can't I purify you?" The aurora's poison was so potent that even Ambrosia took some time to flush it out. Kaori's skills weren't nearly good enough to get rid of something like that.
Though, she was still far better than any other healer. The combination of her magic and the Ambrosia healed most of Tio's more serious injuries. Tio smiled and patted Kaori's head.
"Don't worry child, the rest will heal soon enough," she said.
Kaori smiled in relief as she saw Tio's wounds begin to close up. It seemed there really hadn't been any need to worry. Still, her expression grew worried again as she noticed no one else was with Tio.
"Tio... Umm, where's Hajime-kun? Did you come back alone? And what was that eruption..."
"Calm yourself, Kaori. I will explain everything. But first, can you please calm those soldiers, and find somewhere we can talk privately?"
"Oh, uh, of course." Kaori turned back, as if she'd only just noticed the army of soldiers behind her. Still a little worried, she nodded and began reassuring them. The only reason she wasn't panicking was because Tio didn't seem sad.
Kaori explained the situation to Bize and Lanzwi before taking Tio somewhere they could talk in peace.
"So then, Hajime-kun and the others are..."
"Indeed. They should be joining us soon. Master didn't seem worried at all. I didn't have time to ask for details, but I am certain he has a plan."
Kaori clenched her fists, looking pale as a ghost. The worry she'd felt when she'd first seen the eruption returned with a vengeance.
Tio gently placed her hands over Kaori's and gazed sternly into her eyes.
"Kaori, I have a message from Master."
"From Hajime-kun?"
"Yes. Well, technically, he said it was for both you and Myu... Regardless, the message is 'we'll see you soon.'"
Kaori had expected him to say something reassuring like "Don't worry" or "I promise I'll come back." Not something casual like "We'll see you soon." He made it sound like he was just going out for a bit to get groceries.
An image of him smiling fearlessly flashed in the back of her mind. She could just imagine him saying "Come on, this isn't even worth getting worried over." He was the kind of person who'd overcome any hardship thrown at him with a big grin on his face. Kaori smiled wryly to herself. He must have said something lighthearted like that because he knew it'd reassure me more than a serious promise.
"I see. Well, I guess he's fine, then."
"Precisely. Master is the kind of man who can overturn any kind of hopeless situation and make it look easy. You can't help but trust in him..."
"Yeah... As long as Hajime-kun's there, they'll be fine. I should focus on my job here while I wait."
"That you should. Allow me to assist you."
Though Kaori felt the same despair she had when Hajime had fallen into the depths of the Orcus Labyrinth, she told herself Hajime would be fine and decided to focus on what she could do. She wiped her eyes and stood up. Lanzwi and his attendants had likely finished crushing the stillstone Tio had brought them and would be distributing it to the patients. In the meantime, she needed to heal all the people in critical condition so that they could recover quickly.
On her way to the hospitals, Kaori stopped by the palace and explained what was going on to Myu. Lanzwi's daughter, the fourteen-year-old Ailee, was taking care of her.
Myu started crying when she learned Hajime hadn't returned, but Tio shushed her by saying Hajime's daughter had to be a strong girl and strong girls didn't cry. And so, Myu held in her tears and tried to be strong.
Though Myu was a Dagon, everyone had treated her kindly. There was, of course, the fact that she was part of Kaori's party, but that wasn't all. Once they got to know her, everyone couldn't help but be moved by how adorable Myu was. Ailee especially had taken to Myu immediately.
Lanzwi and the others had been surprised to learn Tio was a dragonman, but they didn't seem to hate her for it. In the end, she'd risked her life to save theirs, and they owed her for that regardless of who she was.
Two days later, Hajime still hadn't returned. Kaori had been busy healing patients, but she knew she couldn't distract herself with work for much longer.
Tio had flown back and forth from the volcano multiple times, but she hadn't found any trace of Hajime or the others.
The evening of the third day since Tio's return, Kaori made a suggestion.
"I finished healing all of the patients that were in critical condition. The ones left will heal naturally given time or can be looked after by Ankaji's doctors. So... I think it's time we start looking for Hajime-kun."
"We're going to find Daddy?"
"Hmm, I suppose we should. I was thinking of going to look for him myself."
Myu leaned forward eagerly, while Tio lapsed into thought.
"But we can't really take Myu with us to the Grand Gruen Volcano, can we?"
"Indeed. Master left her here because it was too dangerous to bring her along. Besides, searching the area will be difficult now, since it just erupted."
"Yeah. I agree. I think we should get Myu to her mom in Erisen first, then turn back to look for Hajime-kun."
"Hmm, that does sound sensible... Very well. It will be faster if you ride on my back. Through the air, Erisen is only a day's journey from here. We should arrive tomorrow evening if we leave early enough in the morning."
Myu watched the two of them with a puzzled expression on her face. The conversation was moving too fast for her to follow. Kaori kneeled down and explained what they were talking about to Myu. She frowned when Kaori said they couldn't go look for Hajime right away. However, she really wanted to see her mother again too. Reluctantly, she agreed to go home first and wait for Hajime there.
Tio and Kaori smiled ruefully at how calculating Myu had been in her decision. She'd picked between Hajime and her mother, just like Hajime would have done in her position.
They set off the next day. Lanzwi seemed reluctant to let them go, while Bize saw them off with tears in his eyes. Kaori and Myu got on Tio's back and the three of them headed off to the west. The townspeople cheered them as they went, their voices resounding through the desert.
Kaori was determined to find Hajime. She'd done it before and she could do it again.
Little did she know they'd be reunited very soon.
Around the same time back in Heiligh, Kouki had thrown himself wholeheartedly into training.
It wasn't because he wanted to improve his skills, though. He still didn't know if he could really kill someone when time came for it, so he'd tried to find the answers in his training.
However, there was no way just training would hold any answers. Though his skills improved, Kouki was no closer to knowing.
In a way, even he knew he was just trying to distract himself from facing the problem head-on. His irritation at himself grew with each passing day. Though he knew he had to make a decision soon, he couldn't bring himself to take that step forward.
And since their leader was feeling this way, the other students, even the ones who hadn't participated in combat since the Orcus Labyrinth incident, began to feel more stressed as well. A gloom hung over the castle.
Training had ended for the day, but there was still someone present at one of the less-used training grounds.
"Hmph, faster." A series of sword strokes cut through the air. The jet-black sword moved so quickly that it was back in its owner's sheath before the afterimages had disappeared. A second later, it shot back out with such speed one couldn't even see the drawing motion.
Each stroke was sharp enough to cut steel. Every time Shizuku Yaegashi swung her blade, her ponytail swayed from side to side.
She was training alone in the deserted practice grounds, swinging the sword Hajime had given to her.
After she finished her flurry of strokes, Shizuku took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
A woman's face appeared in the back of her mind. Red hair and dark skin. The demon who had nearly killed them all. She'd controlled a horde of monsters and could use powerful earth magic.
She had been a member of the army that had driven the humans into a corner. Shizuku could still remember every detail of that fight vividly. When she looked down, she noticed her right hand was trembling slightly.
I'll cut them down. The next time one shows up, I'll do it. If I don't kill them, it'll be my friends who end up dead instead. Shizuku tried to steel her resolve. Back then, a miracle had saved them. Hajime had swooped in, like a fairytale hero. However, miracles didn't happen that often. Shizuku couldn't count on one to save them again. She knew she'd lose someone precious to her if she didn't take this seriously. That was why she was training.
"Haaah!" She let out a yell and slashed at the air with all her might. Her sword cut through where the imaginary demon was standing. Still, that wasn't good enough. She knew that her own weakness had made her hesitate. Had that been a real fight, her slash would have been too slow to be fatal. She couldn't afford to be weak, so she struck again.
"Go forth... Gale Claw!" A faint breeze began to blow along the blade's length. This was the skill imbued into the sword Hajime had given her.Originally, it would have been impossible to invoke without being able to manipulate mana directly. However, the kingdom's best alchemists had worked tirelessly to modify it into a usable state.
The masterfully crafted black sword transformed Shizuku's image into a spell, and this time she cut through the image of the demon without hesitation. A second later—
"Ugh..." She groaned. Shizuku dashed over to a corner of the practice grounds and threw up.
"Bleh... Haaah... Haaah... Sheesh, I can't believe this happens every time I train. What a waste of good food. Though I guess eating only healthy foods that look and taste like crap isn't really a good thing, either." Shizuku sighed and smiled bitterly at herself.
She tottered over to the sandwich and water bottle she'd left underneath the shade of a tree. Honestly, she'd been expecting to throw up. Still, even if she wasn't hungry, she needed to replenish her body's energy or risk collapsing. She'd force the food down her throat if she had to.
She sat down on a protruding root and took a big gulp of water. The refreshingly cool water washed away the bitter taste in her mouth.
"Haaah..." She breathed another sigh and looked up at the sun setting in the west.
Just then, she heard something unexpected.
"Meow..."
"Huh?" Looking down, she spotted a chestnut-colored cat purring next to her. It seemed cats in Tortus looked just like cats back home. They were just as prevalent too.
"Where'd you come from, little fella?" The practice grounds was inside the palace complex. In other words, it was surrounded by tall walls on three sides and the mountain behind it. There was no way a cat should have been able to find its way in. Shizuku tentatively reached a hand out to it, and the cat didn't shy away. It seemed content to let Shizuku pet it. Its fur was clean and well kept.
"Must be some noble's pet... Did you run away from your master?"
"Meow~"
Shizuku scratched it lightly on the neck. The cat purred happily and nuzzled against her. It seemed to be enjoying Shizuku's petting. Surprised, Shizuku muttered something lightly.
"S-So cute..." Then, she smiled. Both her irritation at herself and her burning bloodlust vanished. She was totally absorbed by the cat.
The constant training had exhausted her, so it was understandable. Shizuku, who prided herself on her reputation as an aloof and mysterious beauty, had allowed herself to cut loose.
"You're so cuuute... But you can't be running away from your owner. Bad kids like you need to be punished." Right, she started a conversation with a cat. If any of the noble ladies who'd taken to calling Shizuku "Nee-san" had spotted her they would have likely doubted their sanity. Or possibly break out in a nosebleed.
Shizuku continued petting the cat as she talked to it.
Remember, Shizuku was exhausted from the constant training.
After a few more minutes of petting, the cat padded over to the basket holding Shizuku's sandwich and poked its nose inside.
"Oh? Do you want meow sandwich?" The cat gazed longingly at Shizuku.
Its cuteness melted Shizuku's heart. She started cooing. Naturally, she wouldn't refuse the request. However, her sandwich was too big, so she would need to cut it into smaller chunks.
"Wait just a little bit. I'll cut it up meowcely for you." There was no one around to ask why she was cutting it with her sword and not just ripping it with her hands. Or even why she was getting in a battle stance to cut it. She got into the same stance she had when she was practicing cutting imaginary demons. She threw the sandwich into the air and prepared to draw.
It was rather clear by this point, but to repeat once more... Shizukat was extremely tired. "Go forth... Gale Claw!" Hajime could never have guessed his sword would end up being used to cut a sandwich. But cut one it did, and splendidly too.
The sandwich still looked whole when it fell back into Shizuku's hand, but the moment she sheathed her blade it fell apart into evenly cut squares.
Shizuku struck a pose, as if her swordsmanship would somehow impress the cat.
"Meow that's what I call a cut." Shizuku turned around—
"..."
"..."
And locked eyes with Princess Liliana. Liliana was staring at Shizuku with a dumbfounded expression on her face.
Shizuku's smile froze in place. The princess didn't say anything. Silence stretched on for a few minutes. The cat finished its meal and ran off somewhere.
After an ominous gust of wind, the princess finally broke the silence.
"Meow that's what I call a cut?" She asked. To which Shizuku replied, loudly.
"M-Meoooooow!" She was still talking like a cat.
"Don't look at me. Please, don't look at me! In fact, just kill me right now."
"C-Calm down... It's not that big a deal. In fact, I thought you looked rather cute, Shizuku."
Shizuku buried her face in her hands. Liliana squatted down next to her and tried to console her.
It took some time before Shizuku was willing to look her in the eye. Once Shizuku had finally calmed down, she glared at Liliana and asked her something.
"So, what were you doing here, Liliana? Did you have some business with me? I can't think of any other reason you'd come to this practice ground." Liliana grimaced.
"It's true that I also had business with you, but... I didn't see you with Kouki-san and the others." It seemed she'd been worried that Shizuku wasn't with her comrades. Shizuku smiled at Liliana.
"Thanks for worrying about me, Lily. But I'm fine, don't worry."
"Then why were you here alone..."
Because I wanted to be alone. Shizuku swallowed those words. Unfortunately for her, Liliana had grown up in the ruthless world of court politics, which meant she'd gotten very good at reading people.
"Shizuku, you always push yourself too hard. Perhaps it's presumptuous of me to say this when I'm one of the people who's making you fight for our cause, but..."
"I don't think it is. We all know just how hard you're working for our sakes, Lily. And I'm not pushing myself. It's just that Kouki and the others can be a bit difficult at times. Sometimes I just need to get away from them for a while."
Liliana knew that couldn't be everything, but she also knew pressing any further would just make things harder for Shizuku. And so, she decided to go along with the change of topic.
"They can definitely be a handful sometimes."
"Yeah. It's not easy to get over the defeat we suffered in the labyrinth. It's worse for Kouki because there's what happened with Kaori, too." Shizuku stared westward, thinking of her best friend.
"Are you lonely?" It didn't show on Shizuku's face, but Liliana guessed how she was feeling from the way she looked off into the distance.
"I'm not exactly lonely. Even if she's not here, I'll always be connected to Kaori. Yeah, I'm sure of that. Besides, I have a princess who's worried about me right here, don't I?" Shizuku smiled playfully, and Liliana blushed. She felt like those noble girls who thought of themselves as Shizuku's little sisters.
"You really are like everyone's big sister." Shizuku pinched Liliana's cheek. She wasn't happy about everyone else calling her Onee-sama. Though most of the other girls considered a pinch from Shizuku a reward. Liliana could imagine how jealous the other noble ladies would be.
"So, what is it you needed me for?" Tired of talking about herself, Shizuku brought the topic back to why Liliana had come. Liliana blushed again and answered.
"I was wondering about the change in the demons, and about Nagumo-san."
"I should have known. Have the king and the Holy Church come to a decision?"
Ever since the heroes' return from the labyrinth, the country had been in an uproar. It was only natural. Their report had stated the demons could control an army of extremely powerful monsters. Strong enough that they'd defeated the hero party once already. If that was true, humanity was doomed.
Hajime was another reason everyone was in a panic. Supposedly he'd annihilated monsters that had driven the hero party's strongest into a corner.
Also, reports had come in from Ur about Hajime destroying an entire monster army even before the battle in the labyrinth. Though, most people hadn't really believed them. The events at Orcus had lent far more credence to those tales, however.
Everyone was interested in the boy who had once been labeled "worthless" now. His unbelievable strength, along with his unknown artifacts, likely held the key to saving humanity.
Yet he hadn't returned to his old comrades. Instead, he had struck out on his own.
Neither the king nor the pope were happy about that. They'd been spending the past few days discussing how to deal with Hajime. However, they had yet to come to a conclusion.
Shizuku had hoped Liliana might have come with news about a verdict, but Liliana sighed uncharacteristically in response to Shizuku's question.
"They still haven't made a decision. All they've been talking about is how they need Kouki-san and the others to get stronger as fast as possible. I think they want to reexamine everyone's jobs, too. They're hoping if there was one student who could control monsters there might be more. They don't understand the problem is mental and not physical. They think because you were chosen by Ehit for this mission that you should be happy to fulfill it. To them, the idea of killing demons isn't a big deal."
Like all other humans, Liliana was a devout follower of Ehit, so it surprised Shizuku that she would speak so irreverently of her god.
Sensing the unspoken question, Liliana smiled bitterly.
"I think it's important to be able to separate your emotions and your beliefs when examining a problem objectively." That was one thing the princess was good at, and a core part of her personality. Shizuku was amazed a girl as young as fourteen could be so mature.
"Also, I feel the priests weren't this radical before... Perhaps it's a sign of how cornered they feel. Regardless, you should be careful. The Holy Church may try something drastic soon. Kouki-san and the others are still feeling uneasy, so the pope will probably take the opportunity to push them in a dangerous direction. I thought I should warn you ahead of time."
"That certainly makes sense. Okay, we'll be careful. Thank you, Lily."
Just being ready for something made a world of difference. Knowing it was coming when it came would let you ride it out, and keep your thoughts from getting muddled.
"What about Nagumo-kun?" Liliana hesitated for a moment. Shizuku suddenly had a very bad premonition. One that turned out to be true.
"They're considering declaring him a heretic."
"You're serious, aren't you?"
They were thinking of making him a heretic. That would mean any human was allowed to legally kill him. He'd be branded an enemy of Ehit, which would mean he no longer possessed any rights. Worse, any humans would be forbidden from aiding him. The world would have effectively turned against him.
"It hasn't been set in stone yet. They're still just considering it at the moment. They can't just brand him one because he refused to obey the Holy Church's orders. It takes more than that. Still, rumors are going to spread. Even if it was something one of the bishops said in the heat of the moment, word will get out and people will talk. The mere fact that he was considered by the Holy Church as a potential heretic will ruin his reputation."
"So you want us to stop those rumors before they get too far?"
"Yes. The fate of the human race was at stake, and one of the bishops became too heated and made a careless remark. That was the only reason Nagumo-san's name was brought up at all. Please try and keep the story to just that. I suspect the official decision of what to do with Nagumo-san will come after Aiko-san returns and gives her report."
Shizuku understood why Liliana was trying so hard to save Hajime's reputation. She wanted to make sure Hajime had a place to return to. Not just for his sake, but for Kaori's too. She didn't want Kaori to suffer the pain of seeing her loved one become a hunted man.
"Thank you so much, Lily." Shizuku spoke sincerely.
"Though it may have been Ehit's decree, it's still our fault you're wrapped up in this. If I don't do everything I can to help you, then how will I ever face Ehit in the afterlife? Besides... you and Kaori are my friends." Liliana blushed and turned away. Shizuku hugged her and said some rather embarrassing words.
"Not just any friend... You're one of my best friends!"
Liliana's face grew even redder.
After getting all of the heavy stuff out of the way, Shizuku and Liliana began talking about more trivial matters. Liliana had to support a nation, while Shizuku had to support her troublemaking classmates. They both had no end of worries. Still, it was precisely due to those duties that they could talk so candidly with each other.
Those healing conversations came with a price, however. Namely, the dignity of all the people they talked to each other about.
For example, Liliana complained about how Lundel came to her crying every night because the love of his life, Kaori, had run off with Hajime.
On the other hand, Shizuku regaled Liliana with tales of the time when Lundel had run up to Kouki and accused him of being a coward for letting Hajime steal Kaori from him. The conversation had left Kouki writhing on the ground.
Liliana followed up by telling Shizuku how she'd left Lundel on the ground afterward by saying the exact same things to him. At some point, the conversation shifted to Hajime's appearance.
Had Kouki or Lundel or Hajime been present for the conversation, they likely would have cried themselves to sleep that night.
Conversations between girls was something the men of the world were destined never to know about.
"Well, Shizuku. I should be heading back now. Please don't overdo it."
"Mhm, I know. I think I'll go back to my room, too. Thanks for everything, Lily."
The sun had long since set, and the stars were twinkling in the night sky when the two girls finally finished talking. They were both smiling, glad to have had an opportunity to let off some stress.
They walked back to the castle together, then parted ways at the corridor that forked in the direction of their rooms. Shizuku watched the closest friend she'd made since coming to this world vanish down the hallway. Feeling content, Shizuku turned the other direction and started walking back to her own room.
"Ah!?" For the briefest of moments, she felt a terrible chill fill the room.
She placed a hand on her sword and fell into her battle stance. She observed her surroundings for a few seconds, but she saw nothing in the dimly-lit corridor.
"Was it just my imagination?" She tried to use magic to sense for other beings, but discerned nothing.
I'm probably just nervous because of what Lily told me. Shizuku sighed and took her hand off her sword.
She once again began walking toward her room, her pace far faster than before.
It was as if something was pushing her onward.