The arrow that broke free from the [Wind Bow] sliced through the air and raced toward its target.
Whoosh-
“The wind is weird!”
“Evacuate! Hieta used the [Wind Bow]!”
The two girls, Kaguya and Yuzuru, felt the dense wind and immediately told the spirits to get away from [Kerubiel].
At their words, the spirits glanced back, spotted a massive arrow flying toward them, and threw themselves backward to dodge it.
Boom-
By the time the arrow struck [Kerubiel], Mayuri felt a tremor that shook heaven and earth.
Kragagagagak-
With a grinding sound, the arrow kept gnawing away at [Kerubiel].
[Kerubiel] tried to block it with its wings, but since the wings were slowly wearing down, it changed tactics.
“N-no!”
The new method was to angle the wings and deflect the arrow’s path.
The arrow, which had been flying in a straight line, had its trajectory thrown off and vanished into the sky after leaving only a small wound on [Kerubiel]’s body.
*******
“Whoa, that thing actually uses its head?”
My arrow had been deflected by [Kerubiel]’s trick, and the attack failed.
And the one watching it all, Kyung-sik, blurted out that ridiculous nonsense.
But that didn’t matter.
More important was figuring out how Kyung-sik had ended up in this world, so I grabbed his shoulder and asked, “How did you get here...?”
“Well, I met you in a dream? After that I figured, hey, at least that’s a relief, and then I went to sleep after playing Dark Souls Scholar, and when I woke up I was here...?”
I was about to say what kind of bullshit that was, but since I was living proof of something even crazier, I couldn’t say a thing.
“For now, let’s deal with that first. I’ll help.”
“What can you even do—”
“Hey, asshole. Just trust your big brother.”
At those words, Kyung-sik’s body began to change.
No, more accurately, his atmosphere changed.
His usual flippant, lightweight vibe vanished, replaced by a calm, heavy presence.
“What the—”
“Now, brace yourself.”
With that, Kyung-sik walked up to me and lifted me up with one hand.
“Hey! Hey!!! Don’t tell me you’re not—?!”
“You’re thinking the right thing!!!”
Kyung-sik then threw me straight at [Kerubiel].
This bastard had dumped everything into strength.
“You bastard!!!!!”
My body drew closer and closer to [Kerubiel].
In that situation, I had to think fast and come up with a plan.
And then it hit me.
Become the [Incarnation of Kings], the state that let me unleash my highest, strongest attack.
The moment I thought of it, I acted.
While flying, I swapped my weapon to the Spiral Sword, stabbed it into my chest, and triggered the lightning.
Heat spread through my body, flames burst up, and I entered the [Incarnation of Kings] stance.
Then, with the distance between me and [Kerubiel] now close enough for the Spiral Sword’s range to reach, I swung hard and cut horizontally.
Flames burst from the Spiral Sword and melted the sphere connecting Mayuri and [Kerubiel], and at the same time I began to fall.
“Min Kyung-sik, you bastard!!! I curse you!!!”
As I fell, Mayuri came over, caught me, and flew with me in her arms.
That kept me from crashing, but my body was so hot now it was practically on fire, so there was no doubt Mayuri was in pain.
“Mayuri! Just throw me!”
“But then you’ll fall!”
“It’s better than you getting hurt! I’ve got an idea, so hurry up and toss me upward!”
At my words, Mayuri went silent for a moment, then nodded and threw me up.
“Kaguya! Yuzuru!”
The moment I was airborne, I called out the names of the two girls who could control the wind, and fortunately, they must have heard me, because they used the wind to lift my body.
“Seriously, isn’t this way too reckless?!”
“I had no choice. My friend threw me.”
“Question. Did Shido throw Hieta?”
“No, it wasn’t Itsuka-kun, but...”
At my answer, the two of them tilted their heads, looking like they had no idea what I was talking about.
Seeing their reaction, I decided to explain Kyung-sik later and pointed at [Kerubiel]. “For now, let’s figure out what to do about that.”
-&^)(@!^@()!^!!!!*
Then [Kerubiel] let out a bizarre shriek and began to transform with a horrifying sound effect.
It squirmed, shrank into a single point, and from that point something black emerged, wrapped around it, and soon took on a shape.
That shape was...
“Giga Drill Break?!”
The form of a giant drill.
“That’s [Kerubiel]...”
Along with Mayuri’s murmur, light condensed at the tip of the drill.
“No way! [Lahat Haelev]!”
The light compressed to its limit, then turned into a laser and scraped across the mountain behind us.
Kwagagagwang-
The mountain exploded with a deafening blast.
We could only stare blankly at the mountain behind us, stunned by the sheer force of the sight.
“That thing... got way stronger than before!”
Just like Yoshinon said, once it took the shape of a drill, its attack had become much stronger.
But that still didn’t mean I was about to give up.
“...Kaguya, Yuzuru. Throw me at that thing.”
“What!? That’s dangerous!”
“Agree! Kaguya’s right!”
“No. I’ve got a method.”
I planned to enter the second phase of the [Incarnation of Kings]—the form I’d used in battle against the princess—and my final form.
After I explained the plan, they tried even harder to stop me, but I didn’t change my mind.
That was the only way to smash that stubborn thing.
“Aah! Fine! Who’s going to stop this stubborn idiot?”
“I’m sorry!”
“Please! Just come back in one piece!”
In the end, they gave in to my stubbornness and hurled me toward [Kerubiel] with the wind.
As I closed in on [Kerubiel], I gathered my strength and entered my final form.
“Hoo...”
When I exhaled, black smoke rose up.
Proof that my body was burning from the inside out.
Seeing that, I laughed.
It felt like just yesterday I was trying to control my power, and now here I was again, forced to go all-out and smash whatever was in front of me.
How could I not laugh?
“Hup!”
When my flying body was just moments from colliding with [Kerubiel], I swung the Spiral Sword with all my strength and cut it vertically.
Fwoosh-
Flames rose along the sword’s path and burned [Kerubiel].
But then...
“No. Way.”
[Kerubiel] endured my strongest strike.
Even while engulfed in flames, it regenerated and held on.
Why? How? Had I failed?
As negative thoughts began to swallow my mind while I fell, I heard Mayuri’s shout.
“Hieta! To erase [Kerubiel], you have to cut off the supply of spiritual power at the same time as the external impact!”
Cut off the supply of spiritual power.
In other words, seal Mayuri’s spiritual power.
As soon as I thought that, an item acquisition window appeared before my eyes.
Of course, the item was the Soul of [Judgment], which in this situation was obviously Mayuri’s spiritual power.
I took the item without a moment’s hesitation and asked Kaguya and Yuzuru to throw me one last time toward [Kerubiel].
“Got it! This is the last time!”
“Agree. Last one!”
And they did as I asked.
My body surged toward [Kerubiel] at even greater speed than before.
“Cut it down big.”
That was the only thing I thought about.
And then came the Spiral Sword’s movement.
Fwoosh-
Once vertically.
Fwoosh-
Once horizontally.
With just those two motions, [Kerubiel] was split into four pieces and burned away.
“H-Hieta! Mayuri!”
Along with Kaguya’s voice, wind lifted my body again.
Kaguya came toward me, carrying Mayuri, who was slowly fading away.
“M-Mayuri!”
I immediately canceled the [Incarnation of Kings] and placed my hand on Mayuri’s stomach.
“Hieta...”
“Please...!”
Even when I tried to reconstruct her body, I kept failing.
The repulsion between souls and spiritual power only grew stronger, and her form flickered, reappearing and disappearing over and over.
“I was happy to meet you... And [Kerubiel]’s strange behavior was probably because I was jealous of the other girls.”
“Then! Then you have even more reason to live!”
I kept trying to reconstruct Mayuri’s body.
Again and again, no matter how many times I failed.
But as the failures continued like there was no hope at all, her spiritual power began slipping away bit by bit.
“But now I don’t have to be jealous anymore, right? I met you too, and I got to spend a day with you. So even if I disappear now, I’m satisfied—”
“Spirit!”
The Fire Keeper appeared, cutting off Mayuri’s words.
She was in Rinne’s arms.
“Sachi! Please!”
“Got it! Rinne! Over there!”
“Okay!”
Rinne carried the Fire Keeper over to me.
Then the Fire Keeper placed her hand on top of mine.
At once, the repulsion between souls and spiritual power vanished, and Mayuri’s body began to reconstruct smoothly.
“Th-this is...”
Mayuri’s eyes widened in shock at the sight of her body being born again, and she couldn’t finish her sentence.
I smiled at her and said, “I told you. I could do it.”
Little by little, the repulsion between souls and spiritual power stabilized, and before long the reconstruction was complete, so Mayuri would no longer disappear.
“Hieta!”
“Aaaagh!”
As soon as the reconstruction ended, Mayuri hugged me.
Thanks to that, we drifted out of the wind’s range and fell together.
The good news was that Mayuri could also fly... probably.
Probably...
She’d just been sealed, so she couldn’t fly.
She was naked right now, too.
“Aaaagh!!! We’re falling!!! We’re dead!!!”
“Eeeek!”
She and I clung to each other and braced for the impact of the fall.
Just as we squeezed our eyes shut, the impact that should have come never did.
“Haa~ I really don’t like seeing my darling hugging another woman, but I guess I don’t mind hugging women myself~?”
At Miku’s voice, I opened my eyes and saw that she had caught us.
Miku landed on the ground with us in her arms, then took Mayuri from me.
And then she suddenly handed over a piece of clothing that was obviously stuffed full of her own private tastes, complete with fluttery frills.
“Now then, Mayuri! Put this on!”
“H-Hieta! Her mental state is seriously messed up! Save me!”
But despite Mayuri’s cries, Miku had already used her angel to raise walls around her.
There wasn’t any clothes to put on Mayuri anyway, so I offered a silent prayer for her and headed back to the others.
“Miku. Take it easy.”
“Of course~!”
“Hieta!!!”
Let’s ignore the screams coming from inside the wall made of instruments.
“Hey~ Taesik~ You handled it pretty well?”
“Yeah. I handled it, you bastard.”
Kyung-sik greeted me when I returned.
I rushed at him and put him in a headlock.
“Hey! Hey! Sorry for throwing you out of nowhere! Let me go!”
“You little punk! At least warn me before you throw me!”
“Tap! Tap!!!”
Kyung-sik slapped my arm with his palm, but I didn’t let go of the headlock for several minutes.
*******
After the little incident passed, I introduced Kyung-sik to everyone.
“All right, this is my friend Min Kyung-sik.”
“Oh! Nice to meet you all!”
Since Kyung-sik had shown up so suddenly, everyone looked full of questions.
“So your name is Min Kyung-sik...? Hieta. Was your friend Korean?”
“What, you didn’t explain it properly?”
“Right?”
At my answer, Kyung-sik looked at me like I was insane.
“Even so, not telling them about your past is kind of messed up, isn’t it?”
“What am I supposed to do if the timing never comes?”
“But here your name is Hieta?”
“Yeah. Higakieta Hae. Shortened to Hieta.”
“Pffft! What kind of stupid name is that? Hahahahaha!!!”
Seeing Kyung-sik burst out laughing after hearing my name made me think he really was the Min Kyung-sik I knew.
But that was that, and this was this.
“Heh-heh—kugh!”
“Quit laughing and introduce yourself.”
After I punched him in the stomach, Kyung-sik quieted down and introduced himself.
“Ahem! My name is Min Kyung-sik! I’m the best friend of this idiot right here!”
Everyone who heard his introduction looked a little dazed.
“Why does he have Tonomachi’s vibe...?”
Even Itsuka-kun said something like that.
Honestly, I’ll give him that.
He did have a bit of Tonomachi-kun’s vibe.
“Then Hiki. Is that guy also an undead like you?”
When the commander asked that, Kyung-sik looked at me like he had no idea what she meant.
“Wait, you only told them about that side of it?”
“I can explain everything now.”
I confessed everything I’d been through.
That I had been a modern-day person too, that I’d suddenly been dropped into the world of Dark Souls by some mysterious phenomenon, and that this place was where I’d ended up after moving once more from there.
Of course, I didn’t mention that Dark Souls and this world were fictional works.
If I had told them that, the shock they’d suffer would be beyond imagination.
“...”
When I finished telling everything, everyone fell silent and kept up a heavy quiet.
“O-okay! Everyone’s faces are way too dark! I’m fine, so don’t worry! I’ve met a lot of good people here, so there’s no need to be sad!”
And because I hate that kind of atmosphere, I clapped my hands and lightened the mood.
“So that’s what happened.”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
It was all in the past now.
There was no point sinking into gloom over what was already gone when I’d met so many good people here.
“Wow~ But do you actually meet women here?”
“...If you’re going to say that now—”
“The problem is that there are too many of them.”
“...What?”
At the commander’s words, Kyung-sik stared at me with wide eyes, as if he thought he’d misheard.
I gave an awkward nod.
“W-wow... Is that really the same guy I knew? You’re not sick or something, are you? No, wait, the guy who used to be called a block of wood? How many is it now?”
At Kyung-sik’s question, several people raised their hands.
Yoshino, the Fire Keeper, Kaguya, Yuzuru, Miku, and Mayuri.
And Mana looked like she was about to raise her hand too, but maybe that was just my imagination.
“Uh... Just asking in case, but is your dream to become a harem master?”
“No, it isn’t!!!”
What the hell kind of nonsense is that!
“No, no. Something’s weird here. If you’re not a harem master, why are there so many?”
“Having that many women around darling is a problem, yes~”
Miku nodded as if she agreed, resting her chin on one hand.
No, I don’t know why it ended up like this either.
“There’s even a kid... I’m seriously starting to suspect you, so are you a pe—”
“Shut the hell up!”
I clamped my hand over Kyung-sik’s mouth as he started spouting nonsense.
“Mmphmmphmmph!!!”
“You shut up for a bit!”
He kept trying to say something with his mouth covered, so I punched him in the solar plexus and physically shut him up.
“Haa...”
If he weren’t actually my friend, he’d already be half-dead.
“So, how exactly did you get here?”
“Ah, I think it was because I touched some weird white letters...”
“Oh, shit.”
So Itsuka-kun was the cause, huh, damn it.
*******
Mayuri went to [Fraxinus] for an examination, and the others headed home.
I took chicken and beer to a nearby park and ate with Kyung-sik while having the kind of conversation only friends have.
I got the beer thanks to [Ratatoskr]’s power.
“How far have you gotten?”
“I haven’t gotten together with anyone.”
“Wow... This bastard is the real deal.”
Stuff like that.
Then Kyung-sik said with a serious expression, “You were using polite speech with everyone earlier. Haven’t you broken that habit yet? Or are you doing it on purpose?”
The habit he was talking about.
Using polite speech to keep distance from other people.
There was a time when, after losing someone close to me, I started putting distance between myself and others and speaking politely because I was afraid I’d lose them too.
“No. It’s not that. It just happens automatically. I guess my habit turned real polite speech into a habit too.”
“I see.”
That was the end of our conversation.
We knew each other well enough that there wasn’t much else to say.
“Oh, my body’s turning transparent.”
“What!?”
“Probably because that weird drill-shaped thing is being treated like a boss. Looks like beating it sends you back to your original world?”
“What on earth is this phenomenon...”
“I don’t know either. Anyway, you know what? After becoming friends with you, and after you lost your parents, it got harder to see you smiling.”
“Did it?”
That was news to me too.
I thought I’d been smiling plenty.
“Not fake smiles. Real ones. But here, it feels like you’re smiling from the heart.”
At Kyung-sik’s words, I gave a snort and held out the can of beer.
“Then at least have one last toast before you go.”
“Yeah. It was fun seeing my friend again after so long.”
After sharing one last toast with my friend against the night sky, the beer tasted especially good.
--------------------
The Soul of [Judgment]
One of the abnormal souls carrying power
A golden soul that carries an emotion of unknown origin.
Can be used to seal [Judgment]’s spiritual power within the body.
[Judgment] is a spirit born from the emotions of spirits,
and her angel is said to be so sturdy that even other spirits cannot break it.
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