An Outstretched Hand

Even after Hajime had left, Kouki continued glaring up at the clock tower. Eri also

cautiously gazed upward to make sure he didn't suddenly return.

"Wow… so that monster managed to get through. Interesting," Eri muttered to herself.

After confirming that Hajime really was gone, she let out a sigh of relief, though a hint

of frustration remained in her eyes.

For a moment, Shizuku was confused by her reaction, but then everything fell into

place. But then, she mused, "Was the reason they didn't use the gate to escape because

they couldn't?"

"Huh? Whaddaya mean, Shizuku?" Ryutarou asked.

"Ehit rejected them… or rather, he thought it'd be fun if we clashed, so he set this up."

"So he's pitting us against each other for his own amusement? What a scumbag."

Shizuku was relatively confident in her hypothesis, especially considering how Eri

glared at her after she voiced it.

Sighing, Eri shook her head and pushed Ehit's games out of her mind for now. While

she wasn't happy about it, right now she had bigger fish to fry. At least she didn't have

to deal with the one enemy she knew she didn't stand a chance against—Hajime. Her

condescending grin returned, and there was no fear behind it anymore.

"You guys are stupid. You should have thrown your pride aside and begged that

monster for help. Without him, you don't stand a chance against us," Eri proclaimed,

spreading her wings and making her gray-colored mana swirl around her in an

attempt to intimidate Shizuku and the others.

However, Suzu wasn't fazed at all, and she casually replied, "You sure got talkative once

he left, Eri. Don't worry. No matter what happens, we won't try to call him back here,

so you can stop quaking in your boots."

"I see you've learned how to talk big," Eri said, her smile vanishing. She then examined

Suzu like she was some strange new creature.

The Suzu that Eri knew was naive, simple, and easily manipulated. It was hard to

imagine the person before her was the same one she knew. Suzu looked more

determined than Eri had ever seen her before, and she appeared to have more depth

to her as well. Eri didn't like this new Suzu at all. She couldn't explain why Suzu's

determined, unwavering gaze bothered her so, but it did.

Bloodlust oozed from Eri's eyes, and in response, Suzu's eyes flared with fighting

spirit. The two were staring at each other so intensely that it felt like sparks were

flying from the force of their gazes. It was at that point that Kouki finally returned his

attention to the ground.

"Won't you guys please surrender? I just want to rescue all of you," he said, sounding

utterly sincere. Unfortunately, he was under such a huge misunderstanding that his

"help" was no help at all.

Ryutarou scoffed and replied, "You've got it backward, man."

"I do?"

"We're here to save you."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't get it? 'Course you don't. Because right now, you're being a fuckin' idiot. You're

too dumb to see what's in front of your goddamn face," Ryutarou declared as he took

a resolute step forward, grinning like a feral wolf. Kouki was so overwhelmed that he

swallowed his protests. "But that's why I'm here. I've gotta knock some sense into you!

You're my best friend, and that's why I'll beat the shit outta you! Grit your teeth, 'cause

this is gonna hurt!"

Ryutarou's deep emerald-green mana swirled around him. There was a lot more of it

than before, and it was clear to Kouki that Ryutarou had grown stronger as well. In

fact, Ryutarou was now stronger than Kouki had been before his own strengthening.

But more intimidating than his power was the sheer determination in his eyes. Kouki

took an inadvertent step backward not because of how strong Ryutarou appeared to

be, but because of the look in his eyes. Despite the bindings that Eri had placed on his

soul, he still cast a longing glance toward Shizuku, the original reason why he'd fallen

this far. Even though he was physically the strongest person present, he looked

completely desperate and vulnerable. He'd hoped that even while brainwashed,

Shizuku, at least, would've shown him some sympathy. As he had so many times

before, he ignored the reality in front of him and prayed that things would line up

conveniently for him.

However, Shizuku cut through his hopes immediately by saying, "I didn't come here

with half-hearted resolve. Don't expect any mercy from me!"

Her voice boomed through the destroyed city, and as she drew her blade, Kouki's face

paled. What horrified him the most was that Shizuku's words were directed to both

him and Eri. Now, even Shizuku's scolding was no longer reserved solely for him.

Kouki's heart sank, and he began slowly sinking into a deluge of despair. He had

desperately hoped that Shizuku would look only at him and feel guilty about what

she'd done to him, but none of that had happened.

"Don't worry, Kouki-kun. It's okay. I'll save you. Remember, I'm on your side," Eri said

in a sweet voice. Her words reached Kouki even while he was wallowing in despair.

"Eri…"

"I'm the only one who'll never betray you. I'm the only one who'll always stand by you,"

she whispered seductively, tearing Kouki's attention away from Shizuku.

Kouki turned to find Eri's face inches from his own. "Yeah, thanks, Eri," he said as he

flashed her a lopsided smile, his clouded eyes seeing nothing.

Eri smiled back at him, her face looking like a cracked pane of glass, and snapped her

fingers. A deafening roar resounded, and then numerous figures burst from the nearby

rubble, causing it to rain down all around them. The conversation thus far had just

been a ploy to buy time. Gray-winged warriors surrounded Shizuku on every side

except the one Hajime had obliterated. They were all knights of Heiligh that Shizuku

recognized, but they'd been turned into grotesque facsimiles of themselves after Eri

had mixed monster blood into their bodies and bound their souls. Shizuku had seen

these undead soldiers once before, but they had a shocking new addition this time.

"Gray wings…? Don't tell me…" she muttered darkly.

"You know it!" replied Eri, clapping her hands. All of her soldiers had been demiapostleified.

"I call them my Corpse Apostles. They might not be able to take a missile to the face,

but simply burying them under rubble isn't enough to kill them!"

There were almost two hundred of them, and while they weren't as powerful as the

original apostles, they were still among the most powerful beings in existence.

Shizuku finally understood where Eri's arrogance was coming from, especially

considering barely three days had passed since their showdown in the Demon Lord's

castle. She probably assumed Shizuku and the others couldn't possibly have gotten

that much stronger in such a short time.

"Did you really think I'd fight you guys fair and square? Hell no. I'm gonna crush you

with numbers and—"

"Soul signatures analyzed, coordinates locked. Hallowed Ground - Immortal Prison."

With a simple twirl of her fans, Suzu completely shattered Eri's expectations. Geysers

of orange mana burst forth from her, trailing the arc her fans had drawn and

swallowing all of the Corpse Apostles whole. Hallowed Ground - Immortal Prison was

an original barrier spell that Suzu had personally developed. Her fans were enchanted

with spirit magic that let her trace the souls of her enemies, as well as spatial magic

that allowed her to lock on to specific coordinates. As a result, she could pinpoint

multiple enemies at once and trap them in a specially crafted barrier. While the

abilities of her fans were impressive, what was even more impressive was her own

ability to keep the coordinates of two hundred enemies firmly in her mind and seal

them all. Both Eri's and Kouki's jaws dropped open. Meanwhile, Shizuku and Ryutarou

pressed their advantage.

"Demonic Steel Fist - Giant Slayer!"

"Instant Transcendence - Flash Slice!"

Ryutarou and Shizuku dashed forward with such force that the rubble beneath them

was pulverized. By the time Kouki regained his senses, Ryutarou's fist was inches from

his face. Kouki quickly raised his shield, but that wasn't enough.

"Ngh!" he grunted through clenched teeth.

Ryutarou had practiced karate for years even before coming to this world, and Kouki

had always known how deadly his friend's fists could be. And yet, the force of the

punch he'd taken just now was far greater than anything he'd anticipated. Demonic

Steel Fist - Giant Slayer was a relatively simple move where Ryutarou concentrated all

of his mana into his gauntlets—which were a special artifact Hajime had made for him

called Demonic Gauntlets—and used that to exponentially bolster the power of his

punches. His gauntlets were enchanted with Diamond Skin, they could generate mana

shockwaves on impact, and his job, monk, let him send those impacts through his

opponent's defenses and strike their internal organs directly.

Ryutarou's punches were now strong enough to pulverize steel, and even with the

ridiculous sturdiness that Kouki's stats granted him, it took all of his strength just to

keep hold of his sword. He wasn't able to brace himself against the attack either, due

to how bad his footing was, so he was sent flying. Eri wanted to run to Kouki's aid, but

her instincts screamed at her to dodge, so she reflexively backed away instead. She

hadn't heard any sound or seen even the glint of a blade, but there had indeed been a

slash, so dodging had been the right move.

"Ngh!"

Looking down, Eri saw that her claymore had been sliced cleanly in half. Had she not

leaped backward and used that sword to block, she would've suffered that fate

instead… and her instincts had only been able to save her because she'd seen Shizuku's

sword skills so many times while they were in the same party. Even a nanosecond's

delay would have concluded this battle before it even truly began. Instant

Transcendence was a form of evolution magic that Shizuku had developed. By

activating evolution magic only instantaneously the very moment she struck, she kept

her mana consumption low and also made it impossible to tell when she was about to

use it. The new katana that Hajime had gifted her helped her control the instantaneous

activation of evolution magic, as well as dampen the usual burst of mana that

accompanied the use of any ancient magic.

Moreover, because the spell activated for only an instant, Shizuku could use it multiple

times in the same attack. Here, she'd used it once on her feet when charging forward,

once on her arms when drawing her blade, and one last time on her sword itself to

magnify its space-rending properties. As a result, her attack had been silent, invisible,

and strong enough to slice through an Ehit-made claymore.

"Looks like your little surprise attack didn't work," Eri said, countering with a barrage

of gray disintegration feathers all the while. Shizuku didn't try to push in too far and

instead backflipped away to where Suzu was and cut down the few feathers that

reached her.

"I knew you'd be able to defend against it, though I had hoped to cut your arms off,"

Shizuku said in a cold voice.

Eri summoned another claymore from thin air, a bead of sweat dripping down her

forehead, then cooed, "Oooh, how scary. You want to torture me before killing me,

then?"

Eri seemed to believe Shizuku and the others were here for revenge. Shizuku and Suzu

both opened their mouths to argue, but before they could, Eri sneered and said, "But

you know, I think you're underestimating me here."

Mana surged forth from the Corpse Apostles that Suzu had trapped. They had the same

gray-colored mana that Eri did, but it was mixed with the dark-crimson mana that

monsters had. The demi-apostleification process had unlocked the full potential of

Eri's creatures.

"Ngh, I figured they'd be able to use it too," Suzu gasped as she struggled to keep her

barrier from being eroded from the inside. She had suspected Eri's Corpse Apostles

could also use disintegration magic, but she'd been hoping they couldn't. Judging by

the fact that they hadn't used it immediately upon being caged, it took the Corpse

Apostles some time to charge it up, but the fact that they could use it at all was quite a

problem. And to make matters worse—

"Dowaaaaaah!" Ryutarou was sent flying back.

"Nimbus!" Suzu shouted, waving her fans. A net made of rings of light then appeared

to catch Ryutarou and break his fall.

"Damn, that was a close call. Nice save, Suzu."

Ryutarou rose to his feet as he thanked Suzu. Sweat beaded down his forehead, and

there was a deep cut across his breastplate. His armor, like his weapon, was an artifact

made by Hajime, and on top of being unbelievably sturdy, it was also enchanted with

Diamond Skin. Ryutarou himself had activated Diamond Skin as well, but his triple

defense had still been overwhelmed by a single attack.

"Do you understand now, Ryutarou? You can't defeat me," Kouki stated flatly, wind

swirling around him as he alighted to the ground. "Shizuku, Suzu, just stop this.

Surrender, and I won't have to hurt you."

Mana surged around him and his eyes glowed pure silver, which was proof that he'd

activated Overload, Limit Break's derivative skill. Shizuku and the others could tell

instinctively that even with all of the buffs they had from their artifacts, Kouki's stats

were easily twice theirs, if not more. From the looks of it, all of Kouki's stats were over

ten thousand.

"Oh, by the way, neither I nor Kouki-kun will ever run out of mana," Eri said with a

grin. Just like true apostles, the two of them were being endlessly supplied with mana

from Ehit.

"I-I don't want to kill you guys!" Kouki shouted, prompting Ryutarou to flash him a

confused look.

"Hey, what happened to freeing us from our brainwashing or whatever? You went

straight for my neck there. That hurts, man, I thought we were friends."

"If I can't convince you with words, I'll have to kill you, but don't worry…" Kouki

mumbled, pointing his sword at Ryutarou with a sorrowful look on his face. He was

really playing up the whole "tragic hero" angle. "Even if I do have to kill you, God will

bring you back to life. And when you wake up again, the world will be back to the way

it was before. No, it'll be an even more just world than ever!"

Kouki desperately pleaded for his friends to surrender so he wouldn't have to kill

them, but Ryutarou simply rubbed his head as if to deal with an oncoming headache

and replied, "What kinda bullshit did she stuff into your head?"

Half for Kouki's benefit, Suzu turned to Eri and said, "Hey, Eri, you plan on using your

Spirit Binding to turn us all into undead after you kill us, don't you? That's the most

convenient solution for you."

"Whaaat? How mean! I would never even dream of doing such a thing…" Eri replied

innocently, her lips twitching up into a small grin, ruining the "good girl" act she was

putting on. Though, of course, Kouki didn't notice. Naturally, since Eri wanted to be

alone with Kouki, and Kouki wanted to rescue his friends, that was the most efficient

way to technically achieve both goals.

"How could you say that, Suzu?" Kouki asked, looking disappointed in her. "Eri's your

best friend…! No, wait, this must be the brainwashing at work. Please come back to

your senses!"

"That's our line, Kouki," Shizuku said softly, looking Kouki square in the eyes. "Yeah,

your soul's being controlled, but you must have realized the truth by now. Surely you

can tell what Eri's really after, what Ehit means to do to everyone, and that you're just

pushing all the blame onto Hajime because you don't want to accept reality."

Shizuku's cold tone made it clear that if Kouki continued to remain blind even after

hearing all that, she would fight to the bitter end.

"Open your eyes. Quit daydreaming and face the truth," Shizuku said, then took a deep

breath and waited patiently for his reply. She wouldn't avert her eyes, no matter what

his ultimate decision was. She had already decided that she would never turn away

from reality, no matter how harsh it became. As one final verbal slap to the face, she

spoke to her fallen friend, saying, "Stop running away from us."

Kouki staggered backward, looking as though he'd been struck by lightning. Eri clicked

her tongue in annoyance.

"Poor Kouki-kun. Hajime Nagumo took everything from you! And even though Shizuku

and the others have betrayed you, you're still trying to save them!"

"Eri…"

"Unfortunately, it looks like the brainwashing runs so deep that we'll have to kill them.

But don't worry, Kouki-kun. I'll take care of everything. I'd never make you do

something as cruel as killing your friends!"

After saying that, Eri leaned against Kouki and flashed Shizuku a devilish grin. She was

playing up the "devoted heroine" act just as much as Kouki was playing the tragic hero.

Shizuku and Suzu both grimaced, but the shoddy act seemed to work perfectly on

Kouki.

"It's all right, Eri. I won't ask you to dirty your hands for my sake," Kouki declared,

turning to Eri with a reassuring smile.

"Doesn't look like we'll be able to solve this with words just yet," Suzu said sadly.

"Yeah. Eri's still messing with his head and using Spirit Binding on him. Until we get

rid of that, he won't listen to a word we say," Ryutarou replied.

"That's fine. I knew from the very beginning that words alone wouldn't be enough,"

Shizuku stated resolutely. They had said their piece to Kouki already, so all that was

left was to see who would persevere in this battle of wills.

Sighing in disappointment, Kouki cast a sad gaze at his former comrades and said, "So

you won't listen to reason, then? Fine. I won't waver any longer. I… I—"

Kouki raised his sword over his head, and a swirling vortex of white and silver mana

appeared at its tip. It looked like a mini-galaxy. The mana was so dense and powerful

that it scorched the air around it.

"I'll kill you in order to save you!"

Pure-white wings spread out from the mass of mana. Next, a thick tail grew from the

back, and four powerful limbs hit the rubble with a resounding thud, claws gouging

the stone. Finally, a long neck extended from the front, ending in a ferocious head that

rested ten meters above the ground. Two horns grew from the forehead, and vicious

teeth lined the creature's jaws. It was a dragon. A huge dragon made of silver light. It

stood behind Kouki, glaring down at Shizuku and the others.

"Divine Wrath of a Thousand Forms - Dragon Form. This dragon is the radiant light

that shall destroy you," Kouki declared in a solemn voice. Divine Wrath was the

strongest light spell, as well as the hero's main trump card. Normally, it was just a blast

of light, but Kouki had found a way to morph its shape and keep it permanently active.

It was Kouki's strongest spell, something he could only do thanks to his upgraded stats

and his limitless supply of mana.

"Shizuku, Ryutarou, Suzu. We'll meet again when the world is fixed."

Upon hearing that, the three of them smiled fearlessly and refuted his words.

"Hmph. I'd like to see you try, you weakling!"

"Hah, in your dreams!"

"Our resolve is a lot stronger than you think!"

The dragon let out its first roar, making Shizuku and the others scrunch up their faces.

They were expecting an immediate attack, but instead, they saw the dragon gather a

sphere of light in its mouth.

"Shizushizu, Ryutarou-kun!" Suzu shouted. The two of them nodded in response,

immediately picking up on her intentions without her needing to say anything more,

and ran over. A second later, Suzu's orange mana flared.

"Hallowed Ground - Scatter!"

A dome-shaped barrier appeared around the group, but unlike the usual Hallowed

Ground, the mana comprising the barrier swirled around at high speeds. This was a

special barrier that both absorbed and redirected the impact of attacks.

A moment later, the dragon unleashed its pure-silver breath, and an attack several

times more powerful than Kouki's Divine Wrath slammed down against the barrier.

The part of the beam that was diverted obliterated the party's surroundings, but the

part that wasn't was still powerful enough to crack Suzu's barrier.

"Nnnnnnnnngh!" Suzu groaned through gritted teeth.

Divine Wrath ended in seconds, so it wasn't too hard to block, but this attack showed

no signs of stopping. Suzu was already struggling to hold the beam at bay, but then Eri

added her own attack to the mix.

"Pathetic, Suzu. Phantom Pain!" Eri exclaimed. Her voice carried surprisingly well

through the deafening roar of the dragon's breath.

Shortly thereafter, Suzu's entire body was wracked with extreme pain. It was as

though a thousand needles had been stabbed into every pore of her skin. Suzu howled

in pain, and her control over her barrier faltered. However, she maintained the portion

of it that was blocking the breath above them, determined to at least make sure that

one attack didn't make it through. By focusing her efforts on that single spot, she

actually succeeded in strengthening her barrier.

Unfortunately for them, Eri had expected that would happen.

"Aha! You guys are wide open now. Die," Eri said, sounding awfully excited as she thrust

out her hand and fired a disintegration beam at the group.

To make matters worse, Corpse Apostles flooded in from every direction but directly

above them. They carried a variety of weapons from swords to spears to maces to

daggers. From the looks of it, they were organized into a vanguard and a rearguard,

and the rear guard had remained behind to cast magic. In seconds, disintegration

beams rained down on them from all sides; not just from Eri. Eri was confident this

concentrated barrage would eradicate Shizuku and the others, but then, Eri and Kouki

heard the three of them talking. This time, it was their voices that carried surprisingly

well through the din.

"Come, my sentient swords. Hundred Onyx Blades!"

"Come, my hunter of the abyss! Werewolf Prime!"

"Come, my loyal familiars! Abyssal Swarm!"

Suddenly, countless black objects shot out of the white light, heading straight for

Kouki.

"What the—?!" he shouted, surprised by the unexpected counterattack. Due to that

confusion, his reaction was delayed by a split second, so he wasn't able to use his

Divine Wrath to defend himself.

Kouki reflexively tried to strike the black objects down with his sword, but he was only

able to swat away a few before he was overwhelmed.

"Gah!"

Blood spurted from Kouki's arms, and his sword flew out of his hands. Though it

meant stopping his dragon's assault, Kouki knew he had no choice but to leap away.

He called his blade back with his mind and defensively coiled his dragon's tail around

him.

A second later, ten black katanas stabbed into the light dragon's thick tail. They pierced

fully through, but stopped just short of stabbing Kouki himself.

Cold sweat poured down Kouki's forehead. Had he tried to use a regular barrier

instead of his overpowered Divine Wrath, he would have been skewered. Shaking off

the chill that ran down his spine, Kouki made his dragon whip its tail, dislodging the

katanas. To his surprise, however, the katanas looked only lightly damaged despite

being exposed to the full force of the dragon's searing light. But what was even more

surprising was—

"Th-They're flying?"

The fact that the katanas were hovering in the air, surrounding him, stunned the hero.

And of course, he knew there was only one person who could be their master.

Kouki turned toward where Shizuku was and asked in a shaky voice, "H-How did

you…?"

In one place there was a black katana blocking a Corpse Apostle's claymore. In another,

a black katana sliced off another Corpse Apostle's spearhead. And in yet another, a

black katana stabbed right through a Corpse Apostle's mace.

Dozens of black katanas circled around Shizuku and Suzu, completely halting the

Corpse Apostles' assault. If you included the ten that had attacked Kouki, there were

exactly one hundred of them.

Shizuku had somehow made a veritable barrier of blades.

"Cut them down - Instant Transcendence!"

The moment Shizuku gave her command, the barrier of blades turned into a

whirlwind of death. Each blade executed one highly precise cut. They were so precise,

in fact, that it was hard to believe that Shizuku was controlling all of these remotely.

This was the result of the new artifact Hajime had made for Shizuku, the Hundred

Onyx Blades. They had been crafted with the same underlying blueprint as Hajime's

Living Bullets. Gravity magic allowed them to fly through the air, and they possessed

a small modicum of intelligence. Essentially, they were golems shaped like katanas.

They had more autonomy packed into them than Hajime's bullets, and they were

telepathically linked to Shizuku via her own metamorphosis magic, making them easy

for her to coordinate. Most importantly though, Shizuku had spent what little time

she'd had before the battle training them all in the Yaegashi sword style, so their skill

was comparable to her own. They also were all enchanted with spatial severing magic,

making them nigh impossible to block, which was why Kouki had been cut so easily.

An azure aura surrounded the blades as they whirled around at insane speeds.

Unsurprisingly, the Corpse Apostles were unable to withstand the onslaught, and

twenty of them were cut to bits along with their weapons and armor. Even those who'd

managed to back away in time had lost some of their body parts or their weapons.

After the assault ended, the blades returned to their master, their points facing toward

the floor. Standing in the center of the formation, Shizuku looked just like one of the

heroes Kouki had admired so much. Her ponytail fluttered in the wind and her cold,

clear gaze was captivating.

"Beautiful…" Kouki muttered without realizing it.

He was so bewitched that he didn't notice what was going on around him.

"Awoooooooooooooooooo!"

Upon hearing that roar, Kouki turned to see a black-furred creature with glowing red

eyes, sharp claws, and pointed teeth. It was a werewolf, and it was currently attacking

Eri. It had appeared at the same time Shizuku's blades had, and it had cut a swathe of

destruction through the Corpse Apostles on its way to Eri.

The werewolf moved so fast that even with her apostle-heightened senses, Eri only

saw it as a blur.

But more deadly than its speed was the variety of karate techniques it was using. They

all resembled Ryutarou's techniques, and the werewolf's assault was so vicious that

Eri didn't even get a chance to take to the skies. She was trying to wear it down with a

barrage of disintegration feathers, but the werewolf's leather breastplate and

gauntlets deflected them all with ease. It had the same equipment Ryutarou had too,

though it had grown when the wearer's body had morphed, and its shape was slightly

shifted to account for the change in physique.

At this point, it was clear to Eri that this was Ryutarou.

"Tch… You used metamorphosis magic on yourself? God, you really are a musclehead!"

"Can it! You fucked us all over, so now I'm gonna make you pay for it!"

Eri's guess was right on the money. Ryutarou had used metamorphosis magic on

himself to greatly increase his stats.

Transformation was a simple enough spell in theory. The caster ingested a mana

crystal taken from a monster, which granted their body the properties of that monster.

Until now, Ryutarou had focused on his close combat capabilities and neglected his

magic training, so even though he had an affinity with metamorphosis magic, he'd had

a hard time getting familiars to follow him. However, after a lot of thinking, he'd come

to the conclusion that if he couldn't subjugate monsters to serve him, he'd just

transform into those monsters instead.

But while that sounded simple, transformation was one of the hardest metamorphosis

magic spells to master. Ryutarou had been lucky enough to have a natural affinity for

body transformation though, and he'd powered through the training with brute force.

Eri truly hadn't been far off the mark when she'd called him a musclehead.

For this transformation, Ryutarou was using the mana crystal from the werewolf king

that lived on one of the lowest floors of the abyss. The transformation gave him the

special magic of the monster he was using as a base, and in this case, the werewolf

king possessed Foresight, Perception Enhancement, Flash Step, No Tempo, and

Acceleration. This form was specialized for speed, which was why Ryutarou was able

to overwhelm Eri.

Impatience welled up within Eri and she glanced at her Corpse Apostles to see why

they hadn't fired off any disintegration barrages. When she saw what was going on,

she shouted, "What the hell are you useless morons doing?! How can you let some

bugs get the better of you?!"

Indeed, a swarm of insect monsters had attacked the Corpse Apostle rearguard just

before they'd been able to finish casting. Giant centipedes spit out highly corrosive

acid that ate through the Corpse Apostles' bodies.

The Corpse Apostles were obviously fighting back, and the centipedes weren't nearly

strong enough to take a warhammer to the face, but they were still taking quite a few

undead down with them. Plus, a swarm of giant hornets the size of babies was firing

off a barrage of stingers that exploded upon contact, sowing even more discord among

the Corpse Apostle squads.

A group of praying mantises waded into the confusion, firing off wind blades in all

directions to wreak even more havoc among the Corpse Apostles. A number of the

Corpse Apostles tried to take to the skies to flee to safety, but they got caught in the

unbelievably strong webs spun by a group of spiders. However, if they remained on

the ground, hordes of ants started overwhelming them. They all rushed out of a group

of storage artifacts that Hajime had given Suzu, ones he'd dubbed Pokeyballs. While

Shizuku and Ryutarou had kept Kouki and Eri busy, Suzu had thrown them out to every

corner of the battlefield. The reason she'd even captured the Corpse Apostles with her

barrier was to keep them from noticing the real threat.

Those monsters are way stronger than the ones we saw at the Demon Lord's castle! Eri

thought, panicking slightly. But of course, the monsters Suzu was using now were far

stronger than any that lived in the Haltina Woods. These were all monsters from the

depths of the abyss, after all… and there were a good fifty of them.

Meanwhile, Suzu herself was protected by an airtight barrier. This was another one of

her inventions, Hallowed Ground - Citadel. She'd cast twenty Hallowed Grounds at

once, and any time one of the outer barriers was destroyed another would surge

forward to take its place.

Protected as she was by such a powerful barrier, Eri and Kouki couldn't hope to stop

the monsters' assault by taking her out. Moreover, since she was protecting herself,

none of her comrades needed to stay back and guard her. As soon as she finished

deploying her defenses, Shizuku turned all one hundred of her katanas on Kouki.

"Numbers twenty to fifty, kill Shizuku! Sixty to eighty, support me! The rest of you

should attack Suzu! Rearguard, don't bother trying to charge your disintegration

magic, just rush them down!" Eri barked out orders in a shrill voice, her mask of

confidence slipping. She could feel the tide shifting away from her. It was as if everyone

and everything in the world was rejecting her, which was an all-too-familiar feeling

for her.

"Raaaaaaaaaaaah!" Ryutarou roared as he charged at Eri.

"Quit barking, you mutt. Crazed Moon - Full Power!"

Eri unleashed a wave of disintegration magic all around her, causing Ryutarou to

stumble momentarily, then used her ultimate dark magic spell to make Ryutarou lose

consciousness for a few seconds.

A flickering black moon the size of a tennis ball appeared between Eri and Ryutarou.

This was a spell that had worked on even Yue before. The moment Ryutarou gazed

into the Crazed Moon, Eri grinned, confident of her victory.

"Thunderclap Blows!" Ryutarou shouted, not even slowing down.

"Wha—?! Gah!"

His fist sank deep into Eri's solar plexus, sending her flying back into the mountain of

rubble. She quickly bounced back to her feet but was left grimacing in pain.

Ryutarou's Demonic Fists were enchanted with Lightning Field, as well as his own

innate ability to make his blows penetrate armor. Thanks to that, he'd sent the spell's

powerful shocks through Eri's entire body.

Eri couldn't fathom why her Crazed Moon, which had brought even Yue low, had

somehow failed to work on Ryutarou.

"You already used that trick against Nagumo!"

But of course, the fact of the matter was that Hajime had developed countermeasures

for it precisely because it had worked in the past.

Are you fucking kidding me?! Eri screamed internally. She hadn't forgotten how

monstrously adaptable Hajime Nagumo was, but she hadn't thought he could counter

a spell after just seeing it once.

Wait, calm down. We've still got the advantage here!

Ryutarou launched himself at Eri again, sparks flying off his gauntlets. But she just

sneered at him, and a second later, her Corpse Apostles came to her aid. One of them

stomped their foot on the ground, and an instant later, the ground under Ryutarou's

feet exploded. Shards of stone bombarded his legs, stopping him momentarily. Then,

a second Corpse Apostle appeared. He suffused his tower shield with dark-crimson

mana and launched himself at Ryutarou. The mana-enhanced shield bash sent

Ryutarou flying, giving Eri some much-needed time to think and heal herself.

Whatever artifact Nagumo gave them was probably meant to actually be a

countermeasure to Divine Edict. If it protects their souls from being affected in any way,

it probably also has the side effect of defending them from mental attacks. And yet, my

Phantom Pain worked on Suzu. Probably because it's magic that directly affects the

senses. In other words, my magic is still effective so long as I limit it to hitting their senses.

Ryutarou quickly got back to his feet, but the Corpse Apostles were on him in seconds.

With stunning coordination, they surrounded him and charged at him, their weapons

wreathed in their respective special magics.

As Ryutarou desperately dodged a burning red spear, a claymore clad in lightning, and

a longsword emitting petrifying smoke, Eri cast her cold gaze on him.

"Oblivion."

Oblivion was a simple dark spell that covered the target's vision with a black haze.

"What the hell?!" Ryutarou shouted. He then rushed toward where he'd last seen his

opponents in the hope of closing the distance and keeping them from using their

longer-reaching weapons, but it was difficult when he couldn't see.

The spear-wielding Corpse Apostle easily sidestepped him and thrust at Ryutarou's

unguarded flank. And upon seeing that, Eri smirked, certain that Ryutarou was

finished.

"Hallowed Ground!" Suzu exclaimed, summoning a group of shimmering hexagonal

shields to protect Ryutarou. They didn't slide into place from somewhere else either;

they simply appeared at the exact spot needed to block the attacks.

The spear slid off the angled shield, while another two shields took the other Corpse

Apostle's swords head-on. That wasn't the end of Suzu's tricks, however.

"Burst!"

With a single word incantation, the shields exploded outward, blowing the Corpse

Apostles away. Then, without missing a beat, Suzu shouted, "Etheria!"

Etheria was a light magic spell that cured all negative status effects.

"Thanks, Suzu!" Ryutarou shouted as he regained his vision. He turned to Suzu and

gave her an appreciative nod. As someone who'd fought by her side for quite some

time, he knew barrier magic wasn't Suzu's only specialty.

In the same way that Kaori had mastered barrier and support magic after a great deal

of effort despite having the job of priest, Suzu had also trained hard in healing magic.

And she'd done it all to get the chance to talk to Eri again.

Suzu swung her fans over and over from within her magical citadel, protecting and

healing her familiars, who were outnumbered by the Corpse Apostles two to one. On

top of that, she seized every opportunity she could to cast Immortal Prison and

temporarily cage every Corpse Apostle in sight. If they took too long to escape, she

could add fire or lightning magic to her imprisoning barriers and kill the Corpse

Apostles outright.

Unfazed by the Corpse Apostles' insane toughness or their plethora of special magics,

Suzu soldiered on. While she hadn't succeeded in defeating too many on her own, her

exceptional abilities as both a commander of familiars and a rearguard support

allowed her to take on two-thirds of the Corpse Apostles so her comrades could focus

on Kouki and Eri.

After a few seconds, Suzu locked eyes with Eri, and Eri's confident sneer slipped a

little. Contrary to her expectations, Suzu was protecting her comrades instead of

cowering in fear. In fact, her steadfast resolve seemed the strongest out of everyone's.

"Don't act so cocky, Suzuuuuuu!" Eri roared, clearly incensed.

Suzu just smiled back. At long last, Eri was unable to ignore her like she had before.

Suzu was no longer beneath Eri's consideration. Eri's anger proved that beyond a

doubt. She'd been properly recognized as a foe.

"I'll smash those pathetic barriers of yours!" Eri exclaimed, taking Suzu's genuine

smile of happiness as a provocation as she flew high into the sky.

Eri and her Corpse Apostles were masters of aerial combat. Even if, in werewolf form,

Ryutarou could keep up with them on the ground, he didn't stand a chance in the air.

Up there, they could unleash a barrage of disintegration magic without interruption…

Or so Eri thought, but after she'd risen into the air, she felt blinding pain in her head.

"Gaaah!"

The pain was so intense that she blacked out for a brief instant.

What happened? Did a monster get above me without me noticing?

Looking up, Eri saw nothing at first, but when she squinted a bit harder, she realized

what she'd been hit by.

"A barrier?!"

A tiny, transparent barrier the size of a quarter was what had hit her on the head. This

too was another one of Suzu's original spells, Barrier Maze. By setting up tiny,

transparent barriers all around her enemies, Suzu could limit their range of

movement. The truly dangerous thing about this spell was that the faster her enemies

were, the more they damaged themselves on collision.

In her haste, Eri had flown headfirst into one of the barriers.

"Ha ha, what idiots!" Ryutarou shouted, laughing heartily as he watched the Corpse

Apostles that had surrounded him run into similar barriers and fall back to the

ground. He then quickly set about slaughtering all of them before they could regain

their bearings.

It was clear that his focus was on them, but the timing of his outburst was so perfect

that Eri felt as though it had been directed at her. Her grin vanished completely and

she snarled, "Fine, let's see if you can block this!"

Then, she wrapped her gray wings around herself like a cocoon, suffusing them with

disintegration magic to protect herself from any attacks that might come her way.

After a few seconds, she shouted, "Phantom Pain, Insanity Howl, Oblivion, Decimate!"

Eri had cast a series of dark magic spells in quick succession. Phantom Pain, which

distorted the target's sense of touch and caused them to suffer extreme agony rushed

toward Shizuku. Insanity Howl, which caused auditory hallucinations and interfered

with the target's sense of hearing hounded Ryutarou. Oblivion, which blinded the

target, and Decimate, which dispersed the mana of the spells the target was casting,

struck out toward Suzu.

Shizuku grunted slightly, while Ryutarou, whose hearing had been heightened

considerably due to his transformation, howled in pain and covered his ears.

Blinded, but acutely aware that her barriers were beginning to crumble, Suzu twirled

gracefully, her fans dancing through the air.

"All targets locked… Etheria! Gather around me once more, Hallowed Ground -

Citadel."

Suzu healed herself and her two comrades instantly while simultaneously redeploying

her fortress. Then, she once again locked eyes with Eri and replied, "Looks like I can,

Eri."

At long last, Suzu was able to stand on equal ground with Eri, without having to rely

on anyone else.

There was a brief moment of silence, then Eri covered the battlefield in destructive

gray light, which Suzu met with her protective orange light.

The two surges of mana clashed around Shizuku, with Eri seeking to destroy her and

Suzu seeking to protect her.

I guess this counts as a conversation of sorts… Shizuku thought to herself with a small

smile. Like Ryutarou, she had absolute faith that Suzu would be able to protect her

from anything Eri might try. Plus, even if she hadn't, she had her hands full with Kouki

already, so she couldn't exactly do anything about Eri.

"Instant Transcendence!"

Kouki's dragon of light fired its breath at Shizuku, and she used Instant Transcendence

in combination with Flash Step to dodge in the nick of time. She then landed a good

ten meters away, pivoted on her right leg, and shouted, "Roar—Lightning Blade!"

Drawing her katana with lightning speed, she sliced at the two Corpse Apostles that

had been closing in on her from behind. They managed to stop themselves just in time

to avoid getting cut in half, but Shizuku had predicted they would. After all, the real

power of Lightning Blade was the paralyzing shockwave it unleashed, not the force of

the blow itself.

"Flash Slice!"

Indeed, the shockwave caused the two Corpse Apostles to stiffen for a second, and two

of Shizuku's blades flew in from behind to split them from head to toe.

That's five!

Thirty Corpse Apostles had come to Kouki's aid, and Shizuku had already slain five of

them.

Shizuku had grouped her hundred blades into ten groups of ten. The first group was

focused on protecting her, while the remaining nine split up into even smaller groups

of three, with each subgroup handling a Corpse Apostle.

Unfortunately, it's getting harder to kill them with just my Hundred Onyx Blades.

Unlike true Apostles, the Corpse Apostles weren't merely puppets. Though they were

bound to serve Eri as her loyal slaves, they still retained much of the skills and tactical

knowledge that they'd had when they were alive. And as a result, they could adapt to

Shizuku's techniques.

Luckily, now that she had downed five Corpse Apostles, her third group had some

leeway to further impact the battle. At the same time though, five of her blades had

been brought down by the Corpse Apostles' disintegration attacks—which they'd

sacrificed their own comrades to buy enough time to charge up—and their oscillationrelated special magics. Still, Shizuku was the one dealing proportionally more damage.

"Divine Wrath - Ten Celestial Flashes!" Kouki roared as he unleashed a series of

shockwaves to trap Shizuku in place while his dragon rained a beam of light down on

her.

At a distance, the sparkling display of pure-white light looked rather beautiful. But to

Shizuku, it was the light of annihilation. If any of those attacks hit her, she'd be reduced

to ash, which was precisely why she advanced rather than choosing to dodge. She

placed her faith in the artifact her beloved had given her and marched boldly forward

into that rain of death.

"Blades one and three, attract. Blades seven through nine, repel."

Two of Shizuku's katanas moved diagonally in front of her. The gravity magic imbued

in her blades allowed them to draw things toward them, so Kouki's shockwaves of

light changed course as they entered the katanas' gravity fields. Meanwhile, three

other katanas soared over Shizuku's head and, like an umbrella, repelled the dragon's

breath to fall all around Shizuku instead of on her.

Using a combination of Flash Step and No Tempo, Shizuku closed the distance between

herself and Kouki in an instant.

"I've already analyzed all of your movements, Shizuku," Kouki proclaimed, swinging

his sword down at her. His arm had already been healed. The apostleification process

had increased his natural healing rate exponentially, and there was a Corpse Apostle

with powerful healing special magic at his side as well. Even cuts deep enough to sever

his muscles healed in seconds.

As Kouki swung his sword, his dragon also tried to stomp down on Shizuku with its

foreleg. Each of its claws was a Celestial Flash unto itself, but with how densely packed

the mana in them was, Shizuku would have been crushed far before she was cut apart.

Kouki seemed to think he could just bring his friends back after killing them, but

Shizuku idly wondered if that would still be possible if they were annihilated on the

molecular level.

I bet he hasn't even considered that. After all, he just ignores any truth that might

inconvenience him. Sorry, Kouki, but I'm the one who's analyzed you.

"Group Three, defend me! Shock Impact!"

Shizuku's katanas formed a round shield above her, and their azure auras pulsed with

power. The katanas were enchanted with the ability to convert mana into shockwaves,

which allowed them to withstand high-density attacks.

Of course, they could only last an instant against the massed might of Kouki's mana,

but an instant was all she needed.

"Limiter Removal!" Shizuku exclaimed, using evolution magic to boost her strength

even further and surge forward while her katanas were crushed behind her. She then

weaved her way through Kouki's barrage of attacks and reached him so quickly that it

looked like she'd teleported.

"Flash Lightning!"

Shizuku drew her blade with blistering speed, bolstering her iai slice with lightning

magic to unleash a slash powerful enough to split even Kouki's holy armor.

But of course, Kouki reacted in time to avoid being bisected. A loud metallic clang

resounded and sparks flew as he blocked Shizuku's attack with his holy sword. The

lightning that arced out from her blade was absorbed by his armor as well, leaving

him completely unaffected.

However, Shizuku had been expecting that. She already knew how heavily Kouki's

stats dwarfed hers. And so, she tilted her katana and slid it up the length of Kouki's

blade to slice at his head.

"Ngh!" Kouki grunted. He jerked back his head just in time, but Shizuku's katana still

grazed his cheek.

However, Shizuku followed up by going for Kouki's knee with her sheath.

"Force Impact!"

Kouki just barely lowered his sword in time to prevent his kneecap from being

shattered. Unfortunately, the force of the blow caused his sword arm to stiffen for a

moment, and Shizuku did a returning downward slash with her katana. But just before

her blade hit Kouki's shoulder, her instincts screamed at her to run, so she forced

herself to leap backward. Her legs groaned in pain at the exertion, but it was worth it,

since a beam of light blasted right through where she'd been a second ago.

Kouki's dragon had lowered its head to the ground and fired a horizontal blast of

breath at her. It had kept the attack small so as to not accidentally hit Kouki as well,

but by focusing its breath, it had made it even more deadly. The beam hit a building a

few kilometers away, passed right through it, and then passed through another dozen

buildings behind it.

"You're strong, Shizuku. You almost had me there."

"You've just grown weaker. You're a disgrace to the Yaegashi Sword Style."

Shizuku and Kouki locked eyes. Kouki's gaze was almost tender, while Shizuku's was

ice-cold. He should have been able to respond to Shizuku's attack using his own

Yaegashi Sword Style techniques. Like her, he could have used his sheath as another

blade. But instead of relying on the skills he'd built up himself, he'd clung to the power

Ehit had given him and used his superior stats to weather Shizuku's assault.

Sadly, Shizuku's scolding fell on deaf ears. Rubbing the cut on his cheek, Kouki

narrowed his eyes at Shizuku and said, "Poor thing. You've been brainwashed so badly

that you can't even tell how huge the gap in strength between us is."

He clearly had absolute faith in his light dragon. The limitless supply of mana and

increased strength he'd received had made him overconfident. He didn't even register

the fact that Shizuku's swordplay was far superior to his own.

"But it'll all be okay soon enough. I won't let Nagumo hurt you anymore. After I revive

you and remove the brainwashing, I'll protect you from him."

Kouki's words were so empty, so devoid of emotion, that they were hard to bear.

Shizuku let out a disappointed sigh. She hated seeing her childhood friend like this.

Even knowing her words wouldn't reach him, she couldn't help but try to convey her

feelings to him.

"Protect me, huh? You said that before too, but honestly, I don't think you've ever

actually protected me even once."

"I see… So Nagumo's messed with even your memories, eh? Well, you might not

remember, but I've always been there by your side, protecting you. Though I guess my

words can't reach you right now."

"That's my line!" Shizuku exclaimed. She could tell Kouki had genuinely thought that

even before Eri's brainwashing, which pissed her off more than anything.

Kouki raised his sword high and stated, "I've finally gotten used to this power."

A moment later, his dragon's light grew even stronger. Like Eri, he hadn't had much

time to get used to his newfound power. Fortunately for him, he had an innate knack

for battle, so he'd finally figured out how to optimally use his power to strengthen his

dragon.

Of course, Shizuku wasn't just going to sit there and let him power up. She gathered

the ten swords of her first group around her and prepared to charge at him once more.

But before she could, she felt a chill run down her spine.

"Ngh!"

Diving forward on instinct, she rolled just in time to hear something whoosh over her

head. Turning around, she saw one of her katanas pointed at her. She tried to turn

away before it could stab her through the head, but fortunately, a barrier appeared to

protect her.

Looking around, Shizuku saw a number of her other swords being similarly blocked

by barriers. But while she was safe for the moment, she couldn't afford to relax. There

was no reason her blades would be attacking her, so the situation at hand made zero

sense to her. But then, she saw the veneer of gray mana covering the blades as they

quivered, and everything fell into place. A second later, a wave of orange mana came

to cleanse her swords.

"Sorry, Shizushizu! I wasn't able to stop her in time!" Suzu said via telepathy.

"Well, you saved my life, so I'd say you still made it in time," Shizuku replied, similarly

via telepathy.

Since Shizuku's katanas were biological golems, they were susceptible to status effects

like any other living organism. Of course, Hajime had made sure to protect them from

Divine Edict and other spirit magic, but they still relied on their visual and auditory

senses. He could have made them rely solely on soul sight, but then they wouldn't be

able to sense creatures that had no souls, like the apostles. And so, while they had no

eyes or ears in the traditional sense, they were imbued with magic that granted them

all five human senses.

Eri had been clever enough to figure that out and take advantage of that weakness.

And unfortunately, Suzu hadn't been expecting an attack like that.

Of course, Eri's dark magic worked just as well on Suzu's familiars as well, so she was

struggling to keep up with protecting them all. There was a huge gap in skill between

Suzu, who had simply picked up healing magic as a side skill, and Eri, who was a

master of dark magic and possessed the strongest dark magic job of all, necromancer.

Furthermore, Eri had a limitless supply of mana, whereas Suzu had to rely on manarestoring artifacts, which caused there to be a slight delay every time she ran low. This

was why she'd had to use a barrier to protect Shizuku before she could switch to

healing magic to fix her swords.

Whatever the case though, Shizuku had lost her chance to stop Kouki's power boost.

"Divine Wrath of a Thousand Forms - Advent of the Dragon Horde."

A bunch of smaller dragons split off from the giant light dragon. But even the smaller

ones were easily a meter in length. And like their origin, they too were composed of

the spell Divine Wrath. What's more, there were fifty of them in total.

"The problem with my initial dragon was that it wasn't very good at making tight

maneuvers," Kouki said, pointing his sword at Shizuku. "This is the end, Shizuku. Even

you can't deal with this many attacks at once. This will hurt at first, but don't worry,

I'll nurse you back to health in no time."

The army of small dragons rose into the sky. They then opened their jaws

simultaneously and began gathering light. From the looks of it, they were targeting the

entire battlefield. Shizuku, Ryutarou, and even Suzu were in their line of fire.

"Shizushizu! Ryutarou-kun! We're switching it up!" Suzu shouted, prompting Shizuku

to spin on her heel.

"Sorry, but there's only one guy I want nursing me back to health… and it isn't you,"

Shizuku replied curtly before she started running. She then recalled all of her blades

and used No Tempo and a series of Flash Steps to zigzag her way between the torrent

of light raining down on the battlefield.

Ryutarou threw the Corpse Apostle he'd just killed at another Corpse Apostle, then

similarly disengaged from the battlefield.

"Aha, you sure you want to let my Corpse Apostles run free?"

Now that they no longer had to defend Eri and Kouki, the Corpse Apostles were free

to chase Shizuku and Ryutarou. Sure, a few of them were shot down by Kouki's

indiscriminate barrage, but they didn't seem to mind in the slightest. If anything, it

spurred them on even more, and they did their best to try to take Shizuku and

Ryutarou down with them. And obviously, Eri had fired off her disintegration feathers,

and Kouki had unleashed Celestial Flash after Celestial Flash at the retreating duo as

well.

It was an overwhelming onslaught. But because Eri and Kouki were focusing solely on

Shizuku and Ryutarou, Suzu no longer had to heal status effects or protect her

familiars.

"Dance—Hallowed Ground - Cherry Blossoms!"

Fluttering cherry blossoms appeared in the air as Suzu danced. But while they looked

pretty, they were far more dangerous than actual cherry blossoms.

The petals whirled around Shizuku and Ryutarou, creating a tornado of orange light

around the two of them. The barrage of attacks hit the tornado and smoothly slid right

off it. Also, any Corpse Apostle that rushed into the tornado came out on the other side

as a true corpse. Their bodies were sliced to bits, and in places gouged deeply. Some

of them were simply missing their heads.

This was another one of Suzu's original spells, Hallowed Ground - Cherry Blossoms.

As the name implied, she'd taken the powerful barriers from Hallowed Ground and

shrunk them down to the size of cherry blossom petals. Those tiny barrier fragments

could slice through anything that passed through them while also deflecting attacks

by clumping together. With every wave of Suzu's fans, the storm of cherry blossom

petals undulated and turned from a tornado, to a stream, to a wall, and back again. The

spell's only real flaw was that it took time to cast. But once it was out, she could use

Hallowed Ground Reversal to keep the spell running for as long as she had mana.

While she protected her friends, Suzu swung down the fan in her other hand at Eri

and asked calmly, "Are you sure you should be getting so cocky?"

At that point, Eri noticed something fluttering at the edge of her vision. Turning

around, she blinked in surprise when she realized what she was looking at.

"What are these? Butterflies?"

"You spent so long hiding behind your wings that you didn't even notice."

The black butterflies fluttering above Eri had crimson magic circles engraved onto

their wings. There were so many of them that they blotted out the sun, yet more and

more of them kept pouring out of the jewels set into the base of Suzu's fans, spreading

out to cover the entire battlefield.

Suzu looked like a shrine maiden doing a sacred Shinto dance. Every single time she

swung her fans, more black butterflies and orange cherry blossoms appeared in the

sky. It was a bewitching sight. So bewitching, in fact, that even Eri found herself

entranced.

"You know, I recently learned the perfect phrase for this situation," Suzu said in a

cheerful voice, snapping Eri out of her reverie. Beating her wings furiously, she silently

seethed at the fact that she'd been entranced by Suzu, even if only for a second.

Eri glared daggers at Suzu, but Suzu just smiled fearlessly and said, "I've given myself

infinite turns."

"You little…"

Suzu couldn't remember if it had been Hajime or Kaori who'd taught her that phrase.

Both of them were avid gamers, so it could have been either of them. Regardless,

Suzu's taunt angered Eri so much that she didn't realize what was really happening

until it was far too late.

"Ngh, my body's—"

"Kouki-kun?! Is that… poison?! This must be the work of some kind of special magic!"

Looking back up, Eri realized the butterflies were dispersing their scales over the

battlefield. Of course, by the time she figured out it was some kind of special magic, it

was already too late. Kouki and all of the Corpse Apostles had been paralyzed.

Moments later, Shizuku and Ryutarou leaped out of the storm of cherry petals, Shizuku

charging at Eri and Ryutarou heading for Kouki.

Kouki didn't even have time to curse his own carelessness. He reflexively manipulated

his dragon and protected himself with its tail, while having it counterattack with its

claws. Sure, Ryutarou was unbelievably fast in his werewolf form, but he wasn't

particularly sturdy or strong. Kouki was confident his dragon would be able to fend

him off. But to his surprise, Ryutarou didn't even bother trying to dodge the claws

heading straight his way. Instead, Ryutarou simply transformed into a different

monster, one better suited to defense and clashes of pure strength.

"Come, my steel demon—Transformation - Ogre!"

Emerald-green mana swirled all around Ryutarou, and his muscles bulged to twice

their usual size. His skin took on a greenish tint, his height grew to over two meters,

and his canines turned into pointed fangs.

Ryutarou parried the dragon's claws with his left hand, then redirected them with a

fluid flick of his wrist. The sheer amount of energy condensed in the dragon's claws

singed his left side a little, but that was all.

"What?! Ryutarou, how did—?" Kouki stammered.

"Damn, that stings! But hey, I blocked it! And now it's my turn!" Ryutarou roared,

pulled his right arm back, and stepped forward with enough force to crack the ground

under him.

Kouki was still protected by his dragon's tail, but Ryutarou seemed determined to

punch right through it. The ogre boasted one of the highest durability and power levels

of any monster in the abyss, and its special magic was Impact Manipulator.

Ryutarou's fist slammed into the dragon's tail with an explosive boom, quite literally

disintegrating it. The force of the impact passed right through it and sent Kouki flying

as well. In fact, he didn't even have time to scream before he slammed into the building

behind him, passed right through it, and then through a few more buildings after that.

"Kouki-kun—" Eri exclaimed, launching a barrage of disintegration feathers at

Shizuku to try to get past her and save Kouki.

"Sorry, Eri, but I'm just the bait," Shizuku said, calmly dodging out of the way.

"Inaba-san, you're up!" Suzu shouted.

"Squeak, squeak!" a shrill noise rang out, answering Suzu's call.

Eri turned and saw a fluffy white creature with crimson eyes and crimson streaks

running down its fur heading straight for her. The prominent ears on its head made it

clear what kind of animal it was. This was the strongest of Suzu's familiars, the Kick

Rabbit, Inaba. Though it was a monster from the shallowest floor of the abyss, it had

spent a long time feeding on the Ambrosia that Hajime had spilled and eventually

gained sentience. After that, it had trained as hard as it could to chase after its role

model, Hajime, and made it all the way to the bottom of the abyss. On top of that,

Hajime had armed it with powerful strength-enhancing greaves, ear cuffs that further

raised its intelligence, and a sturdy vest made of metal threads. With such powerful

artifacts at its disposal, Inaba was as fast as Shizuku under the influence of evolution

magic.

Eri was barely able to make out its afterimages as it charged toward her. A second later,

there was a rabbit foot right in front of her face. Like Kouki, she didn't even have time

to scream as Inaba's kick sent her flying into the building opposite the one Kouki had

slammed into. She, too, passed right through it and then through a few more.

The Corpse Apostles had managed to neutralize their paralysis with disintegration

magic, but suddenly found themselves too stunned to move instead. Moreover, they

weren't sure whether they should go after Eri to protect her or try to stop Shizuku.

Without orders, they had a hard time making decisions.

Meanwhile, Shizuku and Ryutarou returned to Suzu's side.

"Here you go, Shizushizu, Ryutarou-kun," Suzu said, taking portable ration blocks that

looked like poisoned CalorieMate out of her Treasure Trove and tossing them to

Shizuku and Ryutarou.

"Thanks. I'm already starting to get the shakes. I doubt I'd survive without these guys."

"You sound like a drug addict."

Ryutarou ignored Suzu's comment and plopped the whole thing into his mouth. A

second later, he stopped trembling and the exhaustion left his voice.

"In all fairness, these things do look like some kinda drug," Shizuku replied, swallowing

her own block.

This, too, was one of Hajime's artifacts. The food-type artifact, CheatMate. He'd made

it by enchanting minerals that the human body needed, like iron, with metamorphosis

and evolution magic, then combining the powdered minerals into a solid block. These

blocks both raised a person's base stats and increased their entire body's sturdiness.

The party was also all wearing necklaces enchanted with evolution magic, which,

combined with the blocks, doubled their stats. It wasn't as good as actual evolution

magic, but it was still quite the boon. Shizuku and Suzu could only multicast all these

spells at once thanks to those artifacts, and similarly, Ryutarou was only able to

withstand the effects of his Transformation because of them.

Unfortunately, the CheatMate's effects didn't last very long. They'd each taken one

before their assault on the gate to the Sanctuary, but the fierce fighting had already

eaten through their effects, so now they each needed another.

"All right, we managed to split them up. Now we just have to keep them from

regrouping. Suzu, you take care of Eri," Shizuku said.

"Okay. Honestly, it was getting kind of hard dealing with her status magic," Suzu

replied.

Shizuku's Hundred Onyx Blades, and even Suzu's own familiars, were susceptible to

Eri's tricks. Suzu wouldn't be able to do much else if she was busy undoing Eri's status

magic, so it made more sense for her to fight Eri away from the main battlefield. That

way, Suzu didn't have to worry about protecting everyone from her. Besides, the plan

had always been to let Suzu and Eri duke it out on their own. That way, they could

separate Kouki from her Spirit Binding's influence.

"I'll leave my familiars with you. They already know to follow your orders, so make

good use of them."

"Gotcha… Be careful, Suzu," Ryutarou said, his kind voice at odds with his current

ghastly appearance.

Smiling, Suzu nodded at him and replied, "I'll be fine. After I've asked her all the

questions I need answered and told her what I want her to know… I'll make sure to

give that idiot a good beating!"

"Heh, sounds good. You've got this, Suzu!" Ryutarou said.

"Indeed, you've already made it this far. Now you can go wild. That's what we're going

to be doing at least," Shizuku added.

A moment later, the three of them tapped their fists together. Ryutarou's fist was

bigger than Shizuku's and Suzu's combined, which made the two of them chuckle a

little.

Inaba leaped up onto Suzu's head, at which point the Corpse Apostles finally got

moving again. Of the hundred and fifty that remained, half stayed back to stop Shizuku

and Ryutarou, while the other half went over to help Eri.

"All right, see you later!" Suzu shouted, riding her wave of cherry blossoms toward

where Eri was waiting.

Suddenly, a pillar of light exploded upward from where Kouki had landed, and the

buildings near him collapsed. The dragon and mini-dragons had disappeared when

Ryutarou had sent Kouki flying, but they had finally returned.

Kouki walked out of the rubble, his eyes devoid of emotion. He pointed his sword at

Shizuku, and his dragon let out a roar and unleashed its breath at her.

Unfazed, Shizuku simply said, "Ryutarou, let's put an end to this!"

"You don't gotta tell me twice!"

The two of them resolutely strode forward directly into the deadly blast.

Suzu made her way between the graveyard of skyscrapers on a wave of cherry

blossoms with Inaba resting on her head and her butterflies flitting about her. She saw

no sign of Eri, not even in the third building that Eri had crashed into. Not only that,

but she couldn't even find the Corpse Apostles that had gone running to their master's

defense.

It's fine. I already know Eri can't afford to ignore me at this point…

There was a slight possibility that Eri had slipped past her and gone to rejoin Kouki,

but Suzu doubted it. After all, Eri Nakamura was no longer capable of ignoring Suzu

Taniguchi. Not only because leaving Suzu to roam free would have been a horrible

strategic move, but because Suzu was confident Eri was more pissed off at her than

anyone else at present.

Eri had derided, ridiculed, and humiliated Suzu. She'd made it clear that Suzu wasn't

even worthy of her attention. And yet, that same pathetic Suzu was now running

circles around her.

She's probably fuming… Suzu thought, stiffening a little as she imagined Eri's wrath.

Aside from the muffled explosions she heard in the distance from where Kouki,

Shizuku, and Ryutarou were fighting, there was an eerie silence in the streets. She

nervously wiped the sweat off her forehead with her sleeve as she looked around,

trying to find Eri.

While she had gathered her resolve well before coming here, she was once again

reminded that this battlefield could potentially end up her grave… or Eri's. This was a

major turning point in her life, so she couldn't help but get a little tense. It was only

after meeting Eri again and fighting her on equal terms that Suzu had finally figured

out what she wanted to say to her.

But will my words get through to her? If they don't, I'll have to be the one to…

"Squeak, squeak."