Episode 1

A sword wrapped in flames closed in as if in slow motion. He dodged it with room to spare. Diagonal slash, left sweep, thrust, downward split. He could tell, could not help but tell, each form and every one of Van’s aims as though they lay in the palm of his hand.

The reason such a gap in ability had opened up was not merely because of the difference in performance between the characters. The meaning behind gaining strength, the purpose for which he had fought, the will to survive no matter what happened. Everything was different from the protagonist and the main characters, who had lived along the rails laid out for them.

He had no choice but to handle everything himself. What for the protagonists was an absolute push from behind, the scenario, had been something equal to a grim reaper for Hiroto.

“Damn it! Why won’t this hit…… he’s too fast.”

Though it looked like he was swinging his sword wildly, each strike was a form, a sword technique. Though he looked like rage had rushed to his head, Hiroto could not help admiring that he really was the protagonist.

“What are you looking at? How boring.”

He kicked Van away with a martial arts technique from his blind spot. It seemed Van had barely managed to block with his sword, but he lost his balance and fell over.

(If I’d thought a little more about it…… I should have understood.)

Zeke (Hiroto) laughed at himself mockingly. At this rate, he could not make fun of Van either.

He had acted all this time to break free from the scenario. He had crossed the line of death again and again in order to survive.

He had not wanted to fight people, nor even monsters. He hated the thought of his own hands being stained with blood. Seeing his own blood was still better. Inwardly, he had grumbled about why it was always him.

Even so, the reason he had never stopped was because he had the goal of surviving.

(Was it too naive to think that Zeke, who kills Masfelt, saving Masfelt would be the ultimate scenario break?)

He had known the development where Zeke, seeking power, killed Masfelt. That was precisely why he had chosen that path.

His biggest reason had been to break away from the scenario, but he had also harbored a faint hope that he might be able to make use of the Sword Saint. That was all. Saving someone he knew was going to die………… it was far too late now to pretend he was doing it out of goodness.

(And the result is this mess. If I hadn’t gotten involved…… no, this probably would have happened anyway.)

Zeke did not kill Masfelt. As a result, Elzen, the final boss, came out instead. Even if Zeke had been somewhere far away this time, Masfelt would have died, and for some reason or another, he would have ended up becoming enemies with Van and the others. He had failed to avoid the future he had wanted to avoid most.

“What the hell are you laughing at!? I’ll kill you!”

Seeing Zeke mocking himself, Van mistook it for Zeke laughing at him.

From a distance, he sent flaming slashes flying, but none of them caught Zeke. The protagonist’s swordsmanship Hiroto had seen again and again in the game. Even if he had grown somewhat stronger than in the original, he was no threat to the current Zeke. He had the strength to fight the final boss alone. No, if not for Pariaach’s power, he would have won by a landslide. If only that had been enough to clear the game, how easy it would have been.

Zeke punched away the consecutive blades of fire flying at him and canceled them out. Zeke’s body, wrapped in mana like armor, would not be injured. Even after consecutive battles against Elzen, there was no problem if his opponent was the weaker Van. ——The real problem was the existence of the other main characters.

One-on-one, they were nothing serious. Even Zeke from two years ago probably could have beaten them. But their true worth came out not alone, but in coordinated battle. Not a simple addition, but a cheat-like power where everything became multiplication. He could not allow them to do that freely.

“Draw your sword! I’ll break it in half!”

“You’re still all talk, as always. Scatter.”

He slipped past Van’s sword and struck him with a shock burst. It was a technique he had shown before, but Van could not respond and was blown away. Right to where the other main characters were.

“What’s wrong, you pieces of trash? Do you think that defective thing alone can kill me?…… You think awfully little of me.”

Van was still glaring at him as if to shoot him dead, but the others wore confused expressions. They looked unable to decide what to believe and how to act.

(Why are you people the ones getting shaken up? I’m the one who wants to lose it, damn it……)

“If you get in my way, I’ll erase every last one of you. If you don’t want to die, then struggle and show me.”

The words he truly wanted to say never came out of his mouth. That automatic translation function that had never changed for years. ——But that did not matter anymore. It really did not matter anymore. He would never gain understanding. They would never understand one another. Because in this world, Zeke was the villain meant to be cast out.

The enraged Van challenged Zeke again and again. Even though his sword could not reach him, he did not give up and kept slashing over and over.

The gap in ability was clearer than fire itself. Even so, Van could not stop. Not until he avenged his grandfather and master.

“How did it come to this……?”

“I don’t know. The only one who understands is Zeke.”

Ciel stood dumbfounded, while Selen quietly kept her eyes on the battle. Neither of them could take their eyes off Zeke.

“There should be no reason for those two to fight. There has to be some mistake. There’s no way Zeke-san would hurt someone for no reason.”

Ciel pressed a hand to her chest and forced the words out painfully. Her expression looked like she might burst into tears at any moment.

“That may be true. But if…… there was a reason, then what would you do, Ciel?”

“Huh?”

Zeke knocked aside Van’s flaming slash with his bare arm. Ordinarily, no one would challenge a heat-laden sword with bare flesh. It was no different from suicide. And yet Zeke was still alive, and more than that, he was overwhelming Van. It was because he wrapped his inhuman amount of mana around himself like armor and used it as both offense and defense.

“No, whether there was a reason or not aside――Van can’t beat him. The difference in ability is far too great.”

Van had become blind to everything around him in his anger. Given what had happened to Masfelt, that was understandable, but even if he were calm, even if he brought out every bit of his power, he still would not come anywhere close to Zeke. What they possessed was fundamentally different.

“If he truly meant to, Van would…… Atri, are you really fine with that?”

“……”

Like Ciel and the others, Atri watched the battle between the two. Eris seemed to be preparing support magic, but showed no sign of moving yet. Glanz stood quietly.

“!?…… that idiot.”

Van raised his sword to the night sky. The sword blazed with a brilliant flame. A hellfire sword carrying enough heat to lure people to their deaths. He was about to unleash it at Zeke. Meanwhile, Zeke remained motionless in contrast. Such a thing could never threaten him. His attitude, as if to say go ahead and try it, scraped harshly at Van’s nerves.

Van’s sword tore through the dark night and came down toward Zeke――but just before it struck, the earth split open between them.

Shadow Jaw. At the sight of the giant maw emerging from darkness, both of them leaped back. It was Atri who had stopped the clash between Van and Zeke.

“……Stop this already. Why are you fighting?”

Atri was normally hard to read, but what came through from her now was deep sorrow. She could not bear to keep watching the collision between Van and Zeke, both of whom she had known since childhood. Those feelings were laid bare.

“‘Guide.’ So you’ve finally decided to kill me?”

“That’s not my name.…… You saved me. That’s why I want to save Zeke.”

Save him. Van could not understand what that word was supposed to mean. As Van moved to rush Zeke again, Atri held out a hand to stop him.

“Save me? What nonsense are you talking about? Did the Sword Saint’s death drive you mad?”

“……You can’t cover it up with harsh words. I can tell. Being alone is painful, very painful.”

As if recalling something, as if trying to reason with Zeke, Atri spoke to him.

“Don’t speak as though you know anything. As long as you, the ‘Guide,’ as long as your kind exist, Lagias will never be freed.”

A fierce rejection. In the blue eyes shining from his surging emotions floated hatred. ——Along with a faint fear and sorrow.

“To Lagias, you are death itself. And that death wants to save me?――Ha, don’t make me laugh. You mean you want to kill me.”

For the first time here, Zeke drew his sword. The plain, undecorated blade caught the moonlight and glowed faintly.

“Mistraze. You were the one who should have died. Not the Sword Saint――you.”

“? Mistraze? What are you talking about?”

“That’s enough, fall back, Atri! He’s lost his mind!”

At the sight of Zeke drawing his sword, Van stepped in front of Atri. But Atri did not retreat. She could not. There was something she had to confirm.

“I’m Atri. You saved me.…… Atri from Alhi Village.”

There was no reaction to the name Atri, but Zeke’s attention shifted elsewhere. He showed a sign of reacting to the words Alhi Village.

“Alhi Village………… and that white hair……”

Muttering under his breath while staring at Atri, Zeke then turned his eyes in order toward Van, then Glanz behind them, then Ciel and Selen. ——So that’s what it is, he let out words that sounded almost like lamentation.

――The world froze.

““““““!?””””””

A cold mana that tightened the very air covered the world. The grass and trees froze, their breath turned white, and crystals drifted down from the sky, transforming the earth into a silver world.

The earth became a silver-white world.

“Ku ku ku…… hahahahahaha………………”

Zeke stood alone in that frozen world of ice. Laughing loudly as though something were absurdly funny. Van found the sight eerie, while Atri felt as though he was grieving and mourning something.

“What a masterpiece this is. To think the ‘Guide’ was in Lagias Domain. And on top of that, without even realizing it, I……”

As though responding to Zeke’s emotions, icicles burst from the earth, and the falling snow from the sky turned into a blizzard.

Magic that changed the weather was said to be the pinnacle of a mage’s art. Zeke was accomplishing it through his own mana alone.

“So it was all arranged from the start. Everything, from beginning to end――all of it was pointless.”

No one understood what Zeke was saying. All they understood was that Zeke stood at the center of this supernatural power. Zeke, who seemed to harbor something dangerous.

Zeke closed his mouth. ——There was no preparatory motion.

“――Huh?”

Van and Atri stood side by side. Zeke suddenly appeared between them. The sword in his right hand. He brought down that cold blade, laden with killing intent――toward Atri. Van could not react.

――Gakiin.

A dull sound echoed through the area.

“Real killing intent…… what are you trying to do, Zeke!”

“So it still came to this……”

The one who blocked Zeke’s sword was a magic gun. Selen had caught the blade with the barrel.

“You moved well, gun woman.”

“……Of course. Because I’m only watching you.”

The sound of metal scraping against metal rang out. Zeke trying to force his sword down, Selen stopping it. Stance, build, weapon reach. By any measure, Selen was clearly at a disadvantage. Van and Atri were frozen by the sudden surprise attack.

“What’s wrong, Yaksha? Aren’t you using that spear of yours anymore?”

“……You purified that grudge of the Yaksha for me, so there’s no need for it anymore.”

Selen desperately tried to hold out, but cracks ran through the gun barrel, and an unpleasant noise reached their ears. A magic gun was never designed to clash directly with a sword in the first place.

“Yaksha. I should have killed you back then. And that accursed child behind you as well.”

“!? Talk to us properly! What happened……? We still haven’t even really had a chance to talk—“There’s no need.””

Van, having come back to his senses, tried to move in and support her, but the mana wave Zeke released blew all three of them away together. Van failed to break his fall and crashed hard, while Selen rolled away with Atri in tow…… but Ciel’s barrier caught them gently.

“Why, Zeke-san……?”

“I have no reason to accept pity from discarded goods like you. Isn’t that right, Sage?”

Ciel in tears. Atri left stunned. Selen wearing a pained expression. And Glanz standing before them. The greatest mage in the kingdom, dressed in his jade-green coat, spoke quietly to Zeke.

“Is this the chance for me to repay my debt, Mr. Zeke?”

“There’s no longer any need for that.…… You should have fallen in that dungeon. There was no need for you to crawl here in misery.”

The cold swords flying from the sky were diverted by Glanz’s magic, shields formed of rock, as though brushed aside from their course. The cold swords that stabbed into the ground behind Glanz and the others exploded while releasing freezing air around them.

“Your magic is crying.…… Did my words fail to reach you?”

“Have you gone senile, old man? I exist for my own sake alone.”

A fixed fate. Before a destiny they could not escape, they burned their lives. They had no other choice.