Kuze the Passing Disaster was surrounded by an army. An army he could see— and one he couldn't.
It was small enough to lurk in the almshouse courtyard and avoid discovery at a glance, yet it easily wielded enough military might to bring death to an entire squad of the Aureatia army. Revenants made from the corpses of insects and small animals.
"TU. DON'T REVEAL YOURSELF. THE SAME GOES FOR YOU, RIQUE."
Just how was it possible for a small flying insect's body structure to be capable of transmitting voice? Krafnir the Hatch of Truth was simply a construct master capable of such extremely delicate craftsmanship.
"Krafnir. Stop your attack. Kuze…hasn't done anything yet. Not a good move."
"…YOU'RE TOO SOFT, RIQUE. HE WAS TRYING TO KILL TU."
The bow-wielding dwarf was Tu the Magic's bodyguard, Rique the Misfortune.
Rique was already ready with an arrow nocked to his bow, but Nastique still hadn't reacted. The dwarf was simply readying himself to keep Kuze in check.
Then there was Kuze's opponent for the fifth match, Tu the Magic herself.
An invincible living weapon who possessed the physical and defensive abilities to completely nullify any and all attacks.
"Sorry… Kuze the Passing Disaster. I had no clue that Krafnir was out to get you. I actually want to fight you fair and square in our match… A win won the wrong way is totally meaningless."
Fair and square, huh. I'm not a splendid sorta guy like that.
Krafnir's hunch had been right on the mark. Kuze had indeed been trying to assassinate Tu before the match. The one attempting to avoid a fair and open fight was Kuze himself.
Am I…supposed to kill Tu now?
His target, Tu, was right before his eyes. If he used the other condition to send Nastique into action, he would be capable of disposing of Tu far more easily than in the situation moments prior.
However, the circumstances had changed. At the very least…he had been seen by the remaining two, Rique and Krafnir. In order to keep his trump card a secret, he would need to kill these two as well.
With that, he would add more unnecessary death, more murders running counter to his faith.
Keeping his aim fixed on Kuze, Rique addressed Krafnir.
"Krafnir. Did you attack Kuze under Flinsuda's orders? So she could sell the information on guys like this, aiming to attack Tu, to the other powers?"
"THAT'S RIGHT."
"…I guess, then, I really don't gel with the way you guys do things. I'm saying this for your own good… Kuze the Passing Disaster. Leave. If you make contact with Tu, you'll draw false suspicions from Aureatia, too."
"I will? But not you all?"
He understood. From the very beginning, this was an unfair fight.
"Why's an Order guy like me…the one who's arousing suspicions for being at an almshouse?"
"He's right… We're the ones who should leave." Tu cut in to defend Kuze.
"I've heard a bunch about you from the kids! They talked about how their beloved teacher's going to appear in the Sixways Exhibition! That if Father Kuze wins the fight, he might save the Order!"
"…Bweh-heh-heh. You shouldn't really be standing up for a villainous old dog like me."
Kuze sighed and tried to shut them out—the unclear and terribly dark emotions brewing inside of him.
Everyone said the Order was at fault. That the Wordmaker's teachings were wrong. The hero who killed the Demon King was just, the champions who displayed their honor on the battlefield were just, but the murderous paladin would remain unable to become a priest—and never again allowed to return back into the world's light.
"Kuze…"
"…THIS MAN HAS ALREADY SHOWN THAT HE IS WILLING TO ATTACK," Krafnir's
bug ruthlessly announced.
"A HERO CANDIDATE TRIED TO KILL SOMEONE ASSOCIATED WITH ANOTHER HERO CANDIDATE. YOU WON'T BE FIGHTING IN THE SIXWAYS EXHIBITION. YOU LOSE. KUZE THE PASSING DISASTER."
That had been the goal from the start. The construct user, never exposing his true form, had attacked Kuze, left with no choice but to automatically counterattack, from his disadvantaged political position.
It was not Tu the Magic but Krafnir the Hatch of Truth who was truly Nastique's natural enemy.
"Wait a sec, Krafnir."
Tu once again held him back.
"Kuze. There's something I've wanted to ask you ever since I first heard about you…"
"Bweh-heh-heh… You sure there's any fun to be had from hearing this old man's story?"
"Why do you kill?"
It was a terribly naive question. Cruel, like an inquiring child. "That's a good question… I wonder why." Kuze mumbled.
The first time he had killed someone, he then thought about dying himself. The despair from trampling, irrevocably, over the Wordmaker's dogma.
However, the era of the True Demon King didn't even allow for such despair, either.
Amid the era of terror and murderous will, Kuze the Passing Disaster,
spreading death simply from being wherever he stood, could truly only live on as a passing disaster.
Those who dared to kill needed to be killed themselves.
To Kuze, this was the righteousness he had taken up, even if it meant abandoning the Wordmaker's teachings.
He could only ever carry through on this righteousness, yearning for the faith he once held in his chest.
"…I don't care if I lose. Even if I can't win in the Sixways Exhibition…I think there's got to be some other way out there that'll let me see Sephite. That's why I'm participating."
"…Sephite. I see. So you want to see Her Majesty, huh, Tu."
There were mere children who could accomplish Tu's trifling goal without any obstacles in their way.
Conversely, however, there were some people who wouldn't even be allowed that much, unless they appeared in the Sixways Exhibition.
The world of light and the world of shadow.
"I want to help out the Order, too, you know. All I can do is fight, so if I'm able to help everyone by fighting, then I think that there'd be some meaning to the life I've lived! But even still. Everyone in the Land of the End, Rique, Krafnir…even the Sun's Conifer guys… Everyone has their own ideas and holds their own language. That's what the world outside was like… Kill it, and it's over… I don't want to kill you, either, Kuze!"
Tu's words were incoherent. Yet she had a genuine heart. Plain enough for Kuze to see.
"If you win, then maybe the Order might just be saved! But you really can't fight without killing anyone?"
"I can't."
Kuze shook his head.
"Tu. You've probably heard about my abilities from that Krafnir fella over there, right? No matter how much I may wish for it, that's one thing I cannot do. Anyone who fights against me is guaranteed to die. Regardless of my own wishes, I remain alive. And my enemy dies."
"In that case… If that's really the only option, I don't want to let you win after all, Kuze."
"..."
"…I mean, if you end up winning…then after that, you'll end up killing someone again, won't you?! You'll kill someone every time you win… Even the
hero'd get killed! If that's the case…you'd be unable to be saved the most, wouldn't you…?"
"…Tu."
Kuze couldn't turn back.
In order to win, he killed Nofelt. He had been a close friend. He didn't want to make Cunodey's self-sacrifice meaningless.
Maqure and the deceased Rozelha had entrusted their wishes to Kuze.
Then the children. There were children with futures, capable of protecting the faith, unlike Kuze.
However, for this girl.
Tu the Magic… So you're going look at me with those eyes, too.
Beautifully green pupils. Innocent, childlike pupils, capable of believing there was good in the world.
They were like the pupils of the white angel who continued to watch him. "Tu the Magic. Please. If you let me win here… I'll withdraw in the second
round. No more assassinations like this time, either. There is only one person… who I truly want to kill."
"…Until the next match?"
"That's right… Now, why did I go saying that? Bweh-heh-heh… I really hadn't intended on mentioning that at all…"
He hadn't even disclosed it to Hiroto. It was the greatest secret of the Order's plans.
"Why, then, I wonder…"
Why did he reveal it to this young girl…and not just any young girl, but Tu the Magic, his supposed opponent?
It was as if he was only going to kill one more person. And he was begging her to forgive him, wasn't he?
"The second round…Kuze the Passing Disaster. Wait, you can't possibly mean…"
Tu wasn't the one to react.
It was Rique the Misfortune, his arrow still trained on Kuze.
Of those gathered there, he alone realized the meaning in Kuze's words.
…Oh no!
It all happened in an instant. Rique pulled back his bow. Then the arrow— "Rique!"
"Get away from him! What this guy's trying to do? He's—"
That was the end.
Faster than the flight arrow could be fired, Nastique's blade brushed against Rique's arm.
The weight of the death, brought down in a split second, made Rique's arrow ever so slightly miss Kuze.
One of the reasons Rique the Misfortune had survived across numerous battles was because he would sense approaching death as a red flash of light— however, the angel of absolute mystery alone had been imperceptible.
"Rique! Rique!"
"I couldn't see it, ah…dammit…nothing at all…"
"Rique! Hey…c'mon, you're okay, right?! Nothing hit you at all or anything, right?!"
Tu screamed, even as the shallow cut running along his hand was plainly visible.
Feebly reaching a hand out to Tu's crying face, Rique groaned. "…It's okay, Tu. It's all right…"
And then it was over.
He had tried to kill Kuze. Thus, he died.
In the midday almshouse courtyard, Kuze stood stock-still, aghast. "You gotta be kidding me."
Both Kuze and Tu were trying to avoid a fight. Right up until that moment. Yet the death dispersed by Nastique had nothing to do with Kuze's own intentions.
A decisive failure.
He moaned in a voice too small for anyone else to hear. "B-blast it… Damn, dammit all… Dammit…!"
He hadn't been able to avoid anything. It had been impossible for Kuze, possessed by an angel of death, to end things without a single sacrifice.
He had already killed. He couldn't stop it. "WEH, HIC, RIQUE. RIQUE. WAAAAAAH…!
"RIQUE… KUZE THE PASSING DISASTER, YOU BASTARD!"
Krafnir's myriad constructs were surrounding him. Tu's sights, emitting green light, were aimed toward him.
Nastique would make her move when intense murderous intentions were turned Kuze's way.
She'd end their lives faster than they could act on those intentions. Everything. Anything and everything.
Murderous intentions focused on Kuze— Ah. It was all going to be for nothing.
"Can I kill this girl?" Please stop.
"Can I kill those who kill you?" No.
"Is it okay if I kill everyone?" Nothing in this world was okay to kill.
"Krafnir!"
Tu shouted, still crouched down beside Rique's corpse. "Don't kill him!"
Her expression was hidden behind her bangs.
"TU…! BECAUSE I'LL GET HIT WITH HIS COUNTERATTACK?! YOU THINK THIS IS THE TIME FOR SOFT NAÏVETÉ?! RIQUE… RIQUE, HE… HE'S BEEN KILLED! NO MATTER HOW MANY CONSTRUCTS DIE, THIS BASTARD'S GOING TO PAY!"
"E-even…even still! It's the same for Kuze! Even Kuze…doesn't want to kill anyone, either!"
It was like she was squeezing the words out of her chest.
As though she was shouting Kuze's own feelings in his place. Still at a loss for words, Kuze shrunk one step back.
"..."
"Let's just end all of this. Enough of this, Kuze… People dying, getting killed… You're—you're fed up with it, right…? Right, Kuze?"
He couldn't believe it. Nastique wasn't killing Tu. In other words.
I…
Tu the Magic wasn't showing any intention to kill him… Even after accidently killing Rique.
I don't want to kill. I truly didn't want to kill him.
There was no continued chain of murderous thoughts sent his way.
"…Hey, Krafnir. You think maybe I had things all wrong from the start…?" "…TU."
"I tried to make my wish come true…by becoming a hero candidate and winning my fights…but I never even realized that it might end up meaning I'd have to kill someone…"
"NO, YOU… TU. YOU'RE INVINCIBLE. YOU HAVE THE POWER TO WIN EVEN WITHOUT KILLING ANYWAY."
"I… I'm not going to participate in the Sixways Exhibition anymore."
She personally rejected the chain of death and violence. That meant withdrawing from the Sixways Exhibition.
Thou shall not hate. Thou shall not harm. Thou shall not kill. Treat others as thou would treat thy own family.
"…TU. I… I'M GOING TO KILL. IF I WIN AND ADVANCE, THAT'LL MEAN MY OPPONENT DIES. I'M NOT GOING TO BACK DOWN NOW, THAT'S FOR SURE."
"I'm sure you can avoid killing them; I just know it." Tu smiled, tears streaming down her face.
"…I settled things, without us killing each other." Kuze the Passing Disaster bit his lip.
As if he were standing before a blinding light. For the sake of his faith, he had to betray someone he absolutely shouldn't, the person who believed in Kuze the Passing Disaster, even when he should have been her hated enemy.
"…This is farewell. Tu the Magic."
If the two of them had fought in the fifth match, would Kuze have been able to win against Tu?
He knew that answer ever since he heard about Tu from the children.
It was this very understanding that left him no choice but to assassinate her here instead of facing her in the arena.
Tu the Magic was kind. She had no intentions of killing Kuze the Passing Disaster from the very start. There was no way he would be able to kill an opponent who wasn't trying to kill him.
"…Hey. Kuze."
From far behind him, a voice called to Kuze. The voice seemed to be in tears.
"I know."
He didn't have the courage to turn back. "You…you can't kill people; you just can't…" "…Of course not. I know that… I always have…"
Which was why he was the only one who should be burdened with the responsibility.
The next day. One of the hero candidates, set to appear in the fifth match inside the castle garden theater, never appeared.
Checking the time, Twenty-Sixth Minister Meeka the Whispered declared— "Silence!"
Her raised voice traveled well, even through the noisy spectators.
"…The significance behind consenting to the true duel in the Sixways Exhibition is to question the very resolve and courage of all those who would declare themselves heroes! Putting one's entire destiny, their entire lives on the line, and losing it all should they suffer defeat! Inevitable logic would dictate one should be fearful of such a thing, and no one unable to stand as a champion themselves should denounce anyone for this fear… However, I ask, just how terrifying must it be when compared to the True Demon King who our hero battled against!"
For these Sixways Exhibition matches, when one of the two combatants failed to appear…
"Thus, I, Meeka the Whispered, have decided that Tu the Magic does not have the qualifications to be the hero! The winner of the fifth match is Kuze the Passing Disaster."
Sparse applause, nowhere near the cheers of the fourth match, surrounded the black-dressed man.
"…Sorry." Kuze softly murmured with his face covered. "I'm sorry, Tu."
She had left the spiral of conflict herself.
He had hoped she wouldn't show up there. That she wouldn't break her promise with Kuze.
Kuze was double-crossing Tu the Magic. The young girl who had been so willing to earnestly extend a helping hand.
Even if he hadn't told a lie, he was deceiving her. He was acting in opposition to the Wordmaker's teachings.
Tu the Magic. I… I…can't save you.
Neither Hiroto the Paradox's faction, who he was cooperating with, Nophtok the Crepuscule Bell, who had used assassins to probe into Kuze's abilities, nor Tu the Magic had a grasp on the other condition to triggering Nastique the Quiet Singer's attack.
By winning this very first round by default, he was able to keep that truth secret.
During the war with Lithia, he had killed Curte of the Fair Skies. He used his power to sever the life of a dying young girl.
In a church, he had killed Nofelt the Somber Wind. The general had accepted his own death without any resentment for Kuze.
Nastique the Quiet Singer's true power was not limited to automatic counterattacks bringing instant death.
The condition was line of sight. As long as they were within Kuze's sights, no matter who it may be…
He could kill them with just a thought.
That's why my assassinations are guaranteed to be successful.
He was targeting the life of a single person.
Tu the Magic. The sole person I'm trying to kill in my second-round match…
Rique the Misfortune had known Kuze's ability and still disregarded his own life to try to take Kuze's.
It was rightful rage and intent to kill.
The Sixways Exhibition held official royal games, and beginning with the second round, it was common knowledge that the royalty would come to watch the matches.
"I want to meet Sephite."
He had learned that this humble and simple wish was Tu's only desire.
I'm trying to kill…the Queen. That person is Sephite, Tu.
He would kill the hero. If the person who was finally left standing in the Sixways Exhibition was going to be treated as the hero, then in order to make sure that no hero was born, the only choice was to crush the Sixways Exhibition itself.
With the Queen's death, everything would be over.
Neither Hiroto the Paradox nor Nophtok the Crepuscule Bell knew the true reason behind the Order's participation in this fight.
Seizing on the Imperial Competition to assassinate the last member of the royal family. A wicked deed that would likely be passed down through generations.
Nevertheless, the group, only able to watch as they were carried away in the all-too-colossal current of the times…needed to make some sort of move right now. In order to make sure their compatriots were spared in the world coming on the horizon.
The Order was putting their final plan into motion.
Rique the Misfortune died.
Kuze the Passing Disaster departed with his disappointment, and afterward, Rique's corpse and Tu were the only ones left behind.
Winged insects drifted in the air besides them. "I… I TRIED TO MAKE YOU WIN, TU."
Even through his insect mouthpiece, Krafnir's chagrin came through clear. "BUT I NEVER… I NEVER WANTED TO LEAD RIQUE TO HIS DEATH…"
"…I know that. Even Rique knew that, too."
Tu smiled. Ever since they had first met in the Land of the End, Tu knew. "You're actually a good guy, Krafnir."
"…ARE YOU REALLY OKAY WITH THIS? RIQUE'S DEATH WILL BE FOR NOTHING. THERE WERE ALMOST NO YOUNG MEN LIKE HIM. I… I REGRET LETTING THIS HAPPEN…"
"Ah-ha-ha… Really, I guess…this whole Sixways Exhibition stuff might've been impossible for me from the start. I can't fight against Kuze."
"HE'S LYING…! THAT 'CONDITION' HE LAID OUT TO YOU: IT WAS AN EMPTY PROMISE! HE'LL EASILY GO BACK ON HIS WORD!"
"I believe him."
Kuze the Passing Disaster. Sun's Conifer. And the Demon King's Bastard.
There were those in this world who were immediately distrusted. That may have been their own responsibility—and always correct, natural logic.
"I want to believe that Kuze's not going to kill anyone…that he'll be saved." Even if reality differed, she wanted the world to be this way.
"Besides, I just need to go to school if I want to meet Sephite, right? Rique told me about it! I'll study from here on out…and pass whatever tough exam they throw at me, and then, and then… I'll see Sephite."
—and apologize.
"I… I MAY BE ONE THING, BUT YOU—YOU COULD'VE FOUGHT HIM…!"
The spear of absolute death and the shield of absolute arrest.
Within the Sixways Exhibition, the two individuals never truly exchange blows using these abilities.
"IF YOUR BODY TRULY IS INVINCIBLE…! IF YOU REALLY ARE IZICK THE
CHROMATIC'S MASTERWORK! EVEN KUZE'S ATTACKS MIGHT NOT HAVE EVEN LEFT A SCRATCH ON YOU! IF YOU FOUGHT, THERE WAS A CHANCE YOU COULD WIN!"
Who was truly the strongest? Would a time come when the world would find out the answer?
"…Yeah. But…even if it all really was like that."
She wiped her tears. She faced Krafnir and gave him a smile.
No matter how cruel the reality she saw outside the fish tank was, even if it was different from the vivid colors she believed in…
"Even still, I wanted to save Kuze."
Match five. Winner, Kuze the Passing Disaster.