Usato, Kira, Suzune, and Kazuki were sucked into a mysterious vortex and disappeared from this space.

If I had focused more on foresight, I could have avoided it.

Disgusted by his own inadequacy, he calls out to Nea and Bulllin, who are looking for traces of him in the place where they were sucked into the vortex.

 

"Nea, Bulllin, do you know what?"

"Grua ......"

 

Bullin shakes his head.

The smell seems to have completely ceased.

 

「…… There are traces of witchcraft being used."

"Do you know where it comes from?"

 

Nea nods at the sound of Mr./Ms.'s voice, who is wary of her surroundings.

 

"It's barely there, but it might take a long time to trace it with this concentration of magic."

"It's enough to have a clue, and if you follow it, you'll find Usato, right?"

"Yes, Usato and the others are still here."

 

Nea said as she placed her hand on the stone slab on the floor.

 

"Maybe this magic is a short-range type of spatial transfer."

"Is it like when I was brought to Mialak by a guy named Farga?"

「…… No, the wielder must have a lot of power, but for that, the composition of the magic is conspicuously rough."

"What do you mean?"

 

I tilt my head as well as Ferm, and Nea groans as she puts her fingers to her mouth in annoyance.

He looks like he's at a loss for what to say.

 

"It's incongruous, it's like you have the power, but you're not used to handling it. I have no idea who set this up...... Honestly, it's weird."

「…… First of all, let's follow its trail and go to find everyone who was sucked into the vortex."

"Yes...... traces of magic continue from the other wall."

"Hmm......"

 

Nea pointed to a passage that was blocked by a wall when he entered here.

Mr./Ms. nodded her head in the direction she pointed and took the spear in her hand and threw it towards the wall.

When a spear pierces a wall, it generates icicle-like ice from its tip, destroying the wall from the inside.

 

「…… Okay."

"Hey, hey, Leona!?"

"We don't have time to waste, let's go ahead with brute force at this time."

 

She grabs the spear that has returned by itself and walks on.

We follow her through the passage at the end of the destroyed wall.

 

"Usato, Suzune, Kazuki...... And I wonder if Keira will be okay ......."

"You don't have to worry about Kira because she has Usato, but it's more of a Usato's...... He was the first to shove me and Nea ......."

 

Immediately after the vortex appears, he is shoved by Usato, and Ferm, who escaped the disaster, is in a bad mood.

Nea is also in a bad mood, although she doesn't say it.

He must be annoyed that Usato was the first to put Ferm and the others before himself.

Usato ...... because he basically puts himself on the back burner.

 

"The next time I see you, I'd like to complain about one of them."

"I'm going to punch you."

"It probably won't work, so make it something else."

 

Nair and Ferm exchanged words.

While watching their backs, I talk to Bulllin, who walks next to me.

 

"Bulllin, are you worried about Usato and the others?"

"Grua"

 

Bulllyn chirping with a bright voice.

His voice conveys the emotion of trusting Usato and the others rather than worrying about them.

 

「…… Yes, that's right. Usato and the others will be fine."

"Guru"

"Hehe, thank you."

 

I pat the head of the bulllin who squeals one more time as if he cares about me.

I have a bad feeling about it.

This case is different.

With such vague anxieties, we proceeded through the ruins to search for Usato.

 

●

 

Immediately after the Demon King's Second Legion, Koga Dingal——— appeared in front of us, a vortex of white light appeared in front of us.

We were helplessly sucked into the vortex of light that appeared as if only me and Kazuki-kun were attracted to us, and the next time we opened our eyes, we saw a pure white world.

 

"Senior, ...... here?"

"I was drawn into that whirlpool of white light...... I know that, but other than that, it's refreshing."

 

One thing I can say for sure is that it wasn't Koga who trapped us.

After all, he was also drawn into the white vortex.

As we make sure that we have our own hero's weapon and keep an eye on our surroundings, something like a figure appears in front of us.

 

"Welcome to this space"

"Who are you?"

"I'm Kannagi, and I'm the one who lured you to the ruins this time."

 

Holding a gauntlet, he waits for Kazuki, who is about to release a magic bullet of light magic, and tries to continue the conversation.

Normally, I'm too attractive to be a kemonomimimi, but the presence in front of me is too shabby.

No, wait, isn't that okay with the smelly chemomimi?

Rather, it would be ant to try various things with the body that is seized as it is.

 

「……」

"Hehe, you're on guard, your eyes are bloodshot."

"Calm down, senior."

 

Oops.

He switches his consciousness and asks Kannagi again.

 

「…… What is the purpose of us?"

"It's for you."

"What do you mean?"

 

At Kazuki's words, Kannagi smiles.

 

"I'm rooting for you."

"...... cheering for you?"

"The Demon King needs to stop breathing this time, and I want to help you guys who are working to do so."

「……」

"It may sound like a lie, but it's undeniably true, and the Demon King is my nemesis too."

 

He doesn't look like he's wearing a cat.

She seems to be telling the truth, but I still can't trust her.

You can spit out as many words as you want that sound good.

A woman named Kannagi dares to leave out the essential part and put it into words.

 

"Usato's going through the test."

"Oh, are you doing something to Usato......!"

"Don't worry, he's got something to entrust. For the time being...... Ah, yes, I'm fighting very well."

 

Why did you say it?

Kannagi's expression, which had been smiling sheepishly, became subtle for a moment.

But what do you want to entrust? It sounds special from the way Kannagi speaks, but I don't think it's a good thing.

 

"Of course, I want you to be put to the test."

「…… What if I say I don't like it?"

"I'll still take it, because you will never be able to defeat the Demon King as it is."

 

Pointing at us who were unable to say anything to the words of certainty, Kannagi continued to speak.

 

"You are sweet, you are prepared to defeat the enemy, but you are helplessly sweet. So it's absolutely impossible to defeat the Demon Lord, right?"

「……」

"There was not a shred of kindness in the battles of the previous heroes, there was no mercy, there was no carelessness. There is only the will to get rid of the other party for sure. Compared to that...... You guys can't do it."

 

It is true that we are different from the heroes of our predecessors.

In the first place, it is a matter of course that the way of the former heroes who were called in the rough times is different from ours.

But that doesn't stop Kannagi's words.

 

"Kindness is important, isn't it? But at some point, you're going to have to make a ruthless decision. As heroes, you two must be willing to make a certain amount of sacrifice for the happiness of many."

"I'm not going to let you do that......!"

"Kazuki, that way of thinking is already naïve."

 

In a calm voice, she says to Kazuki and raises her palm.

Then, out of nowhere, an unusual concentration of magical power gathers and turns into a sphere.

 

"What are you going to do?!"

"I'm just gathering the magic that is floating in the ruins, and I won't use it to attack. Instead, you're going to have nightmares."

 

She put her hand to her left eye and began to concoct her spell in a pained voice.

 

"Strengthening the ——— system"

 

The moment she said that, the white space around her was greatly distorted.

The distorted landscape gradually fades in color, and even the place where we stand changes.

Before I knew it, Kazuki and I were standing in the middle of an unknown battlefield.

 

"Is it burning? Where is this place?"

 

There is no sign of Kannagi who was there earlier.

The trees growing around it are on fire, and the corpses of humans and soldiers of the Demon King's army are lying everywhere.

As he involuntarily stared at the sight of reality, which was not an illusion, Kazuki noticed something.

 

"Senior, there's a person over there!"

 

Look in the direction Kazuki was pointing.

 

"We're going to retake our home!"

"Ooo

 

There were soldiers who were roaring.

The armor they wore was from the Ringle Kingdom, but it was covered in scratches, as if it had been used many times.

There were also Samariars, Calmerios, and unfamiliar soldiers in white and light blue armor, all heading in the same direction.

 

「…… Is that the Ringle Kingdom?"

 

They were heading to a familiar place for us: the Kingdom of Ringle.

Black smoke filled the castle, which was so beautiful, and the castle, which was full of people, was engulfed in flames, and the soldiers of the Demon King's army were camped around it.

 

"Why is there a Demon King's army in the Lingle Kingdom......?"

"What the hell is going on......

 

We were stunned.

When the situation was unbearable, he found the familiar back of the Ringle Kingdom in the direction where it resided.

A dark-haired boy wearing a white uniform with a slight hint of red.

He sat on something with his back to me, looking at the blazing kingdom of Ringle.

 

「……!!」

"Senpai!?"

 

He might know something.

With that in mind, she runs up to him and notices that his body is covered in blood.

Just like when he assimilated with Ferm, the hem of his uniform and his arms were stained red, and the uniform itself was covered in scars.

 

"Usato-kun! Are you hurt!?"

「……?」

 

He turned around with a slow movement and rolled his eyes in surprise at the sight of me and Kazuki.

 

"Senpai...... Kazuki......?"

"Usato--"

 

Just as I was about to run up to him who was injured, I saw Usato-kun in front of me trying to thrust a piercing hand into my throat.

As I spoke, I was struck by lightning and distanced, but there was a small cut on my cheek caused by Usato's penetration.

 

"Wow...... Wow...... Ugh, Sato-kun?"

 

He puts his hand on the wound on his cheek, his voice trembling at the slight amount of blood on it.

Did he, Usato-kun, try to kill me?

He slowly stood up, staring at the loose sword, and his expression contorted in anger as he looked at us stunned.

 

"Ah, that woman, I should have dropped her head after all. I can't believe you're going to show me such disgusting visions again......

 

Usato holds his head and curses.

If you look closely, it wasn't a log that he was sitting on.

It is the corpse of a soldier of the Demon King's army piled up.

His throat has been smashed, his chest has been gaping and he is dying.

 

"Usato! Don't you know us!?"

「……」

 

Usato, who looks at Kazuki, who desperately claims to be him, with cold eyes, punches himself in the forehead.

His sudden action makes me and Kazuki scream.

 

"Haven't you woken up yet, this worked well the other day......

 

Fresh blood dripped from his forehead, but he looked up anyway.

 

"Senpai and Kazuki died, because of me, because I didn't make it in time."

 

A voice that is not full of emotion.

His voice was cold and icy, far from the one we knew.

 

"That's why I'm fighting for you...... We have to protect everyone's place to go."

 

He muttered to himself, his bright red eyes oozing from his forehead and raised his fist.

 

"If it's an illusion, I can kill it and it will disappear."

 

———Me and Kazuki-kun are dead?

I don't think his words are a lie. After all, the attack on me earlier was really an attack that was intended to stop the roots.

 

"He's ...... Isn't it the Usato we know......?"

 

His pride, the life-saving team's uniform, is soaked in blood and patched together.

Kuma's prominent eyes and bright red hands were too fierce to be human anymore -- they were too painful to look at.

When I saw him squarely, I noticed.

I noticed, understood, and tears welled up uncontrollably and ran down my cheeks.

 

「…… That's ......."

 

A world without me and Kazuki.

At that time, he was killed by the Black Knight and the Demon King's army won the war.

There is no Usato here that we know.

There was a man who had carried everything on his back alone and had become a veritable monster.

 

"Usato-kun, you're ......."

 

Oh, what a nightmare ......! Kannagi ......!!

From now on, we will fight against Usato-kun, who has fallen into Shura......!

_________________________________________

Senpai and Kazuki's opponent will be IF Usato.

 

Mr./Ms. is traumatized by doing something in a parallel world.

If you launch a mental attack on a mentally strong guy, I feel like I'm ready for the Akan direction.