Episode 3

His body was hot. His body hurt. His body was rapidly growing cold. It was only natural. There was nothing strange about it. That was what happened when one took a Unison Link from the main characters head-on.

He could not help but feel pathetic. He had decided he would choose any means necessary to survive, and yet he could not become truly ruthless. He had supposedly thrown everything away, telling himself he owed no obligation to play along with this world’s game, and yet his body, his heart, moved on their own to survive.

He did not understand anymore. He understood nothing.

Someone, anyone—please, just end this already.

At the moment of impact, rainbow light painted over her entire field of vision. Dust spread through the area from the shock.

In Selen’s hand, the one at the center of the Unison Link, there remained a definite sense of impact. Since the ice wall had been shattered, it was hard to think the shot had missed its trajectory.

“There was… no other way.”

Selen dropped to one knee. Using Unison Link did not merely consume mana, it also wore away at the mind. The more people involved in the coordination, the more pronounced that became, but Selen’s mind was being ground down badly now for a different reason.

“Selen… I will not let you bear this pain alone. —I’m beginning emergency treatment.”

“Emergency treatment? What are you talking about, Ciel! If we’re going to finish him off, now’s our chance, isn’t it!?”

Gripping his sword, Van tried to run toward Zeke. But a magic gun was pointed at his knees.

“Don’t move. If you move carelessly… I’ll shoot.”

“Kh…! He killed Grandpa! If I’m not going to avenge him now, then when am I supposed to!?”

“Revenge, revenge… stop saying it like some idiot who only knows one word! Are you really going to kill a person based only on circumstantial evidence?”

“Who else but him would kill Grandpa!? And Atri too, he tried to kill all of us!”

Van and Selen grew more heated. Glanz, watching over them, showed no sign of stopping them.

“…I think I understand now. Why Zeke had the Sword Saint’s sword.”

“…What do you mean? Say it.”

The two were on the verge of clashing. Just as Eris thought this was bad and was about to step in, the dust cleared from view.

—There stood Zeke, his right arm blown off and his whole body drenched in blood.

“What’s wrong? You missed.”

Blood poured from him without end. Anyone could see he was gravely wounded, and yet Zeke remained standing without losing consciousness.

“Is he a monster…”

“Zeke-san! Don’t move! I’ll treat you right away, so…?”

Suddenly, silver light filled their vision. A sacred radiance Ciel had seen many times before. The sacred arts that Zeke had once drawn out from Ciel’s depths were, for some reason, healing Zeke’s wounds now. Even though Ciel herself was not using sacred arts.

“How… do you have that power…?”

“I’ll give you back the words I told you before. Don’t think you’re the only special one.”

Zeke’s wounds healed as though reversing what had happened. As he used sacred arts, his hair color changed to silver.

“That hair color… royalty? …What the hell are you?”

“You’re all such optimistic fools. Did you really think I would ever lend you a hand for no benefit to myself?”

Zeke’s damaged body had recovered. Even the clothes that had been blown away had not returned, but by the same token, everything else had been fully restored.

“Now the conditions are equal. So then, what will you do next?”

Van’s swordsmanship, Glanz’s magic. Selen and the others’ Unison Link, and Ciel’s sacred arts. In all of them, Zeke possessed equal or greater power. There was no opening in Zeke, who alone could fulfill so many roles at once.

“…Then I’ll have to do it myself.”

As long as sacred arts existed, any half-measure attack would only be healed. Even if they aimed to exhaust his mana, Zeke could gather mana from the atmosphere. There had to be a limit, but in exaggerated terms, Zeke’s mana was the world itself. No vision of victory came to mind. —The only method left was to kill him in a single blow.

Heat gathered in Van’s sword. At a glance it looked like his usual flame sword, but the heat it gave off was on an entirely different level.

An incarnation of flame forged from scorching fire. He called forth one arm of it from an inferno. A giant arm wrapped in the hellfire of the underworld took shape behind Van.

“This is Grandpa’s power—the power of the man you killed.”

“You really are pitiful. Truly.”

Intense heat rose around them. An even fiercer blaze than the flames coming from Van manifested from Zeke.

It was a giant demon forged from fire. The figure of a towering oni, so great one had to look up at it, enveloped Zeke.

“Demon God… why do you have Grandpa’s technique?”

The arm Van had spent years training to finally manifest. And yet Zeke, an outsider not even of the Freak style, had completely made it his own. Van’s heart raged like a storm.

“—Flame Demon God. Mr. Masfelt’s supreme art. I saw it only once… but this is…”

The heat released by the Flame Demon God scorched the earth and seared the atmosphere. Anyone swallowed by that inferno would have their very existence erased. The hellfire, which burned even fire itself, shone brilliantly through the dark night. As though a new sun had appeared.

“It is a double-edged great technique so powerful it burns even the caster’s own body. A move premised on support from healing magic.”

Zeke’s body was being burned by the flames. The fire raged as though trying to burn the caster away, and yet Zeke’s existence did not vanish. The sacred arts wrapped around him rejected the flames and healed his wounds.

“Applying sacred arts to combat. There has likely never been a warrior among its users like this.”

—We can’t win.

Van let his sword fall.

The demon arm Van had summoned vanished.

“Weren’t you going to avenge the Sword Saint? …Do you have anything else? Is this already the end? Entertain me more. —Show me someone who can stop me.”

Zeke’s words were drowned out by the raging flames.

Each step the Flame Demon God took burned the ground. Death approached Van and the others simply from its advancing. Before that absolute power, not a single one of them attempted to resist.

“If it’s fire, the theory would be to extinguish it with water, but…”

“Yes. It may look like flame, but its true nature is something else. It transcends the very concept of fire.”

With the end drawing nearer second by second, Van had lost his words. He was not afraid of death. He was in despair, feeling both the bitterness of being unable to avenge his precious grandfather and the gap in strength that could never be overcome no matter how he struggled.

(I’m sorry, Grandpa. I couldn’t… avenge you.)

Van had set out on a journey to save Masfelt. He had traveled from place to place to cure the strange illness known as mana sclerosis. Relying on scraps of information, he had moved forward step by step, finally grasping a desperate last chance at a comeback. —He was one step away, just one more step. He had been so close to saving him.

(Why? Why does everyone keep disappearing…?)

His mother had died, and his father had gradually grown strange. Even when his grandfather collapsed, his father had not changed expression once. Even when Van begged for help, he was not even acknowledged.

“My sacred arts are not at full strength. Zeke-san’s body is already…”

“We’re stopping him. I don’t know if we can reach those flames, but we have to try.”

Even after having the overwhelming difference in power shown to them, Ciel and Selen still had not given up. They were desperately fighting to stop Zeke.

(Every single one of them, always Zeke, Zeke, Zeke.)

What they possessed in sword and magic was utterly different. Even the ultimate art of the Sword Saint, something Van himself had never been able to master, Zeke had in his grasp. He did not know why, but Zeke was indeed manifesting the Flame Demon God. That was all that mattered.

(What’s different between me and him…?)

Even though Ciel’s sacred arts had healed his injuries, strength would not come into his body. He could not even grip his sword. The sword he had held many times every day. The sword he had not gone a single day without touching.

Someone, anyone—please, help me.

Just standing near it made their throats feel as though they were burning. Even inside the new barrier Ciel had put up, the heat still assailed them.

“Glanz. Take Van and the others and withdraw.”

“What do you intend to do?”

Driven by the hot wind, cracks formed in the barrier. This was not a direct attack. It was hellfire that tried to erase everything around it merely by existing there. There was little time left.

“Ciel and I will somehow handle it. So—!?”

The flames that had been raging as though to burn the heavens suddenly weakened. The Flame Demon God, which had radiated overwhelming pressure, seemed unable to maintain its massive body any longer and began to disappear.

Where the demon god vanished, Zeke lay collapsed.

At some point, his silver hair had returned to black.

“Zeke-san!?”

“Infinite mana. Endless life. No such things exist. It seems… this is as far as it goes.”

Though he seemed to be putting strength into rising, Zeke could not stand. He coughed and spat blood violently.

“Ciel. Treat him.”

“I know.”

“What is the meaning of this!?”

An unfamiliar voice echoed through the area. Appearing with several horses were knights clad in armor bearing the emblem of the Kingdom of Diabalet. A platoon of the Kingdom Knight Order surrounded Van’s group and Zeke.

“I am Hares, regimental commander of the Knight Order. What happened to create this devastation? And what was that fire monster that appeared just now!?”

The ground had been destroyed across a wide area by the manifestation of the Flame Demon God. Commander Hares wore a grim expression, while the other knights looked bewildered.

“I am Glanz Fort. Knights, why have you come to a place like this?”

“!? Sage-sama!? …Sage-sama, what in the world? We received a report and came to the scene.”

According to Hares, a report had reached the Knight Order that someone was running wild, firing magic at random. By chance, Hares’s unit had been nearby on a different mission and came to investigate the location.

“Sage-sama, what exactly happened here…”

“Commander!? Look over there!”

One knight cried out in panic. In the direction he pointed lay the collapsed Zeke. Hares’s eyes widened, and the other knights drew their swords.

“Zeke Lagias? Why is that bastard lying there covered in blood…?”

“Commander, wasn’t this the one who was rampaging with magic?”

Hares was suspicious of the situation, while the knights’ eyes held a trace of fear. There was a clear difference in how they were taking it.

“If it’s him, he’d absolutely do something like that. Considering what he’s done up to now.”

“Wait, all of you. There are plenty of people here who know the situation. Don’t get ahead of yourselves.”

“I-I saw it!”

Glanz was about to speak and correct the strange direction things were taking, but another knight raised his voice like a scream.

“During the entrance exam two years ago, this bastard… went berserk without caring who was enemy or ally. If it hadn’t been for the Mage Corps barrier, we all would’ve died!”

“Calm down, you idiot! Whatever the process was, it’s because Zeke Lagias was there that we even have the present at all!”

Hares shouted, trying to bring the fear-stricken knight back to reason, but his voice did not reach him.

“That doesn’t matter to him! He just wants to flaunt his power and do whatever he pleases!”

“Commander. …Because he’s a Lagias, isn’t he?”

“You bastards…”

The knights who had drawn their swords edged forward to surround Zeke. Selen and the others tried to stop them, but the first to move was the corrupt noble at the center of it all.

“Ku ku… Foolish knights who were so conveniently used by a traitor. You’re desperate to regain trust, aren’t you?”

Zeke started laughing as he coughed up blood. His eyes were thick with contempt.

“Now that you’ve abandoned thinking for yourselves, what can you incompetent fools even do?”

Using his sword like a support, Zeke rose to his feet. The pressure he released made the knights flinch, yet despite his harsh tone, his face was pale and his body was in ruins.

“C-Commander, your orders!”

“Now’s our chance while he’s weak!”

“This monster has to be k-killed here…”

Fear spread from one to another. Hares as well, but especially the knights who had been present at the entrance exam two years ago. They had encountered a being called Zeke who could not be measured by their common sense.

Zeke had overturned a situation where death had been right at their doorstep. There were a certain number, like Hares, who thought their lives had been saved by him, but there were also many who had come to fear him.

A hero could at times become the symbol of disaster.

Because what was different from oneself was frightening.

“What’s wrong with all of you? Something’s… strange…”

Even if Hares was confused, time would not stop. The world kept turning along a great flow that could not be resisted. In accordance with the memory of the world, which never failed to follow its course.

“You look like you’re in a lot of pain, Mr. A-rank Adventurer.”

Only one person. Only the one who had deviated remained an irregularity in the eyes of the world.

A person who gave off the impression of having a strong-willed nature. A woman with pale pink hair that flowed past her shoulders. The D-rank adventurer active in the royal capital stood before Zeke.

“W-who the hell are you!?”

“Seriously… aren’t you ashamed? Grown knights ganging up like this. He’s alone, and on top of that he’s half-dead. It’s pathetic to watch.”

Eris openly wore a look of exasperation. She blatantly provoked the knights, trying to draw even a little of their attention away from Zeke.

“…Young lady. Are you intending to obstruct a knight’s duty?”

“What knight? You jump to conclusions without properly investigating. Pointing swords at someone and trying to take their life based on their birth alone is barbaric. That’s not knighthood. You lot are no different from bandits.”

The knights’ faces stiffened at Eris’s just argument. Just as intended, the panic was beginning to fade.

“I’ll confirm just in case—do you know the meaning of the word abetting? What relationship do you have with Lagias?”

“I have nothing to do with Lagias. I’m Zeke’s friend!”

Eris declared it boldly, puffing out her chest. The knights, seeing Eris like that, looked less angry than bewildered. They exchanged glances with expressions that said they could not understand what she was talking about. And there was one more person who was bewildered as well.

“…”

“And you need to stop acting tough forever too.”

When Eris turned back, Zeke stood there in stunned silence. Just seeing an expression he normally never showed had already made it worthwhile, and a smile slipped out of her.

It was the same situation as two years ago, only their positions had been reversed. Compared to an ogre and a mere common knight, it might seem less impressive, but she had resolved to repay that debt.

“What are you doing? You’re in the way. Get lost.”

“I don’t have a choice, so I’ll help you. Listen, when you’re alone, it’s painful and lonely. That’s why people live huddled together.”

Zeke had trampled everything with overwhelming power that kept others at bay. Eris did not know everything, but she understood enough from his accomplishments, the rumors she had heard, and the way he carried himself. Zeke had always been alone.

(No matter how strong you are, you’re still human. Because you’re clumsy and kind, you choose the path where you’re the only one who gets hurt, don’t you?)

“If you want help, then say you want help.”

“…Are you an idiot? There’s no need for anything like that.”

He rejected others not because he was arrogant and proud. It was because he was afraid of hurting people. He was strangely afraid that the environment surrounding him would make someone unhappy.

(That arrogant behavior of yours is just to hide how weak your heart is, isn’t it?)

When a person was driven into a corner, their true feelings came out. Even if he was the strongest Eris knew, that did not change. Because he was kind, he chose to be alone, and because he was lonely, he grieved over that solitude.

“You saved me without asking, so why are you trying to die on your own without asking? Do you really think I’m going to allow that?”

“…”

“You need to look around you properly. There’s more kindness in this world than you think.”

“Do you think you’re lecturing me? …I am a Lagias. One of the kind you despise.”

Lagias. A lordly noble family known by everyone in this country. Great villains who treated their people like slaves, exploited them, and kept stripping away their dignity.

Even Eris, who did not know the details of House Lagias, understood that much—that they were the symbol of evil. That was why, the first time she met him, she had spoken abusively to Zeke just for being a Lagias.

“From the moment I was born into this world, I was Lagias. I have no need to be understood by the likes of you. Nor do I intend to coexist with you. It doesn’t matter how many of you die.”

“Even if you were born a Lagias, the way you live should still be your own. You should have the right to live freely too.”

There had been a difference between the Lagias she had imagined and the boy of her own age she had actually seen. His sharp tongue matched the rumors, but his actions were far removed from what had been said. The Lagias she had heard abused people had saved total strangers from the royal capital and had saved Spirito itself.

The truth had never come to the surface because of the filter of the name Lagias, but even so, the fact remained that many people had been saved. Eris was one of them.

“You, who know nothing of the meaning of Lagias, speak of Lagias? Of me, whose fate was decided the moment I was born?”

(Lagias isn’t just some hated name. There’s definitely something behind it. Just looking at you makes that painfully clear.)

She had let herself be carried away by the words of those around her and had turned her eyes from the truth. If she could go back two years, she would punch her past self for thinking she understood, and then shout this: ‘I’ll stay by your side.’

(Because I met you, I was able to change. And because you were left alone, you’re still suffering now, aren’t you?)

She had aimed to become an adventurer because she no longer wanted to watch anyone get hurt for unreasonable reasons. That had been the point. And yet Eris had been making a huge mistake.

How could she fail to support someone so much closer to her—her savior, her goal, her precious friend?

(Now is the time. I gained this strength for this very moment.)

“The fate of Lagias cannot change. We Lagias will never break free from the structure of this world. …Never.”

“You can change, absolutely. Because Zeke—you changed my fate, didn’t you?”

“……………………”

The wind blew. A gentle wind, like a caress against the skin. As though pushing Eris and the others onward.

“Now then, more importantly, we need to do something about this situation.”

The knights were still on guard against them. The fact that they showed no sign of sheathing their swords was proof they had no intention of letting them go. However large the gap in individual ability might be, the opponent was still the national army. Taking on this many would be more than a little rough. It would also be too cruel to count the half-dead Zeke as proper fighting strength.

(He’s quiet for now, but Van and Atri are still here. There’s no knowing how Ciel and Selen will move either. And the most troublesome of all is Mr. Glanz.)

There was no way they would simply let Zeke go while he stood under suspicion. Because Glanz had once belonged to the Mage Corps, he would surely demand Zeke surrender so the truth could be determined. And then he would move with everything he had to prove Zeke’s innocence.

(But that won’t work. It’s obvious he’ll be treated unfairly just because he’s a Lagias.)

Eris cast support magic on herself and on Zeke. Her trump card, something that had found her a way through many times in her adventurer work. This time too, it would surely work. —No, she would absolutely save him. Even if it cost her life.

“So, you do intend to fight. If it comes to that, then the Knight Order has to act. Sorry, young lady, Lagias—surrender quietly.”

“That’s not happening. I won’t let you lay a finger on him.”

With dagger and short staff at the ready, Eris faced the Knight Order, who formed ranks around Hares. The difference in force was clearer than fire itself. Even so, there was no trace of resignation in Eris.

One knight stepped forward, but went no farther. —Thick, solid ice completely covered the ground beneath his feet. Then, steep icicles shot up around the knights. They looked like razor-sharp icebergs that would skewer anyone who took them head-on.

“Who gave you permission to proceed on your own? Your lives and deaths are for me to decide. This is an order.”

Zeke stood in front of Eris.

The air around him was different now from before. It was the back Eris knew so well—the antihero who would always overturn even the most hopeless situation.

“What’s wrong? Weren’t you going to arrest me? Exercising authority comes with responsibility. So then, what exactly do you intend to pay as the price for fulfilling that responsibility?”

At the sight of his wicked smile, one knight after another lost consciousness. Even those still awake had gone deathly pale.

“Hey… Eris. We’re flying out like this. Get ready.”

“Flying? You mean… teleportation magic?”

Zeke spoke to her in a low voice. For the first time, there was no clear rejection in it. Thinking back, Eris felt this might be the first time he had called her by name.

“We can’t manage long-range transfer. We’ll move by carriage immediately after.”

“Got it. But wait just a little.”

Eris stepped up beside Zeke. It was both a declaration of intent and a statement of resolve.

“Van. I’m sorry. I couldn’t fulfill your request. —I’m truly sorry.”

“Eris… what are you doing?”

She bowed her head deeply. Putting aside Zeke’s issue, she had still failed the request to help save Masfelt. Apologizing was all Eris could do right now.

“I’m not asking you to forgive me. If you hate me for it, I can’t complain.”

“Why are you the one apologizing? Besides, you didn’t do anything wrong…”

“A failure is still a failure. And I…”

She remembered the days spent with Van and Atri, and with Glanz as well. They had not been long, but they had been deeply meaningful. The journey to find the basilisk had not worked out in the end, but it had still become a precious experience and a precious time.

This might possibly be the last time. Even so, Eris had decided to move forward. So that she would not regret it anymore.

“I trust Zeke. No matter what happened.”

“!? …Even if that guy really did something that would get him arrested by the Knight Order?”

“That’s right. Even if, hypothetically, that really turned out to be true… then I’ll personally take responsibility and throw him in prison! Of course, that future isn’t happening.”

Even though this was a serious moment, she ended up laughing. The idea of her grabbing Zeke and dragging him off was just too ridiculous in her mind.

“It’s okay, Atri. I’ll prove Zeke’s innocence. The real culprit has to be someone else.”

“…Yeah.”

“Atri. If there’s something you truly want to know, then you have to move on your own. …That goes double if it’s something you want.”

“Yeah. I’ll do my best.”

There were many times when Eris could not tell what Atri was thinking, but fundamentally, she was kind, like a little sister. Though there were times she muttered alarming things, that had surely just been her imagination.

“And Glanz-san, as for me…”

“Ho ho, youth is a wonderful thing, Eris-san. …Leave things here to me. Therefore—please, I’m counting on you.”

“!? Thank you, Glanz-san.”

A strange light enveloped Zeke and Eris. She did not understand the principle, but Zeke formed an incantation and magic formula similar to the teleportation magic Glanz used. He muttered quietly that it was troublesome because there were two of them.

“Lagias. What are you trying to do?”

“If you have time to worry about me, shouldn’t you be worrying about yourselves? Or have you already given up on rebuilding the Knight Order?”

More icicles formed, as if to keep the commander in check. Hares did nothing but stiffen. Unlike Strohk (her father), he did not seem like much at all.

Just before the transfer, Zeke and Van’s gazes met. Neither spoke, but their eyes said something.

Zeke’s gaze was as though measuring Van.

Van glared hard, but uncertainty floated there too.

If possible, Eris wished both Zeke and Van could find happiness.

Wrapped in light, Zeke and Eris vanished.