“...This is...”
There was a long message waiting in Momotalk.
“...Haruta! Wake up, hurry!”
Akashi turned the volume all the way up and tried to wake Haruta, but it seemed the sound never reached him. He was still asleep.
“Ugh... first, someone I can call quickly...”
Someone flashed through Akashi’s mind.
“Ah! Yuuka!”
Akashi quickly sent a message, explaining Haruta’s condition, where he was, and that Schale was open so she should come in.
“...That should do it...”
-----------------------------
“Haruta! Where are you? Are you okay?!”
Yuuka covered her mouth with one hand when she saw Haruta collapsed on the floor of Schale, then took one step, then another, toward him.
“...Haruta...?”
She poked him a few times, then, once she confirmed he was completely asleep, slowly looked at his face.
“...Seen up close like this... he’s really handsome...”
“Mm... Yuuka...”
Haruta mumbled her name in his sleep.
Yuuka’s face slowly turned red, and she lowered her head little by little.
“...Haruta... I don’t care what you think of me...”
“Mm... Yuuka?”
“Ah..! H-Haruta!”
“Ugh... my head...”
“Haruta, are you okay?”
“Uh... what was I doing again...”
“Huh?”
“No, never mind. I should sleep in my room too.”
“...Haruta... what do you think of me...?”
“Huh...? Out of nowhere?”
“Yeah...”
“Hmm... well... I don’t know what the future holds, but... maybe a friend I could end up getting closer to later?”
Yuuka’s face flushed once more, and then her expression relaxed.
“Hehe... okay. Good night, Haruta!”
“Yeah... thanks for coming all the way here this late.”
“Mm! Good night.”
“You too.”
After seeing Yuuka off, he went back to the dormitory.
“At least today...”
Haruta was still unable to shake off the nightmares and the trauma from his past, which had sunk in too deeply.
“...Today was normal... or not...”
“Haruta, look at this...”
“Hm? What is it?”
Akashi showed him a Momotalk message.
“...Seia? But why...”
There were nearly thirty missed calls.
“...Wait, this is serious.”
Haruta immediately called Seia.
“—Riiing.”
“Haruta! Why didn’t you answer your phone!”
“Wait, Seia, calm down and talk.”
“...Are you all right?”
“...I’m fine, I guess...?”
“Haa... thank goodness...”
“No, what do you mean by that?”
“In the prophetic dream, you...”
“Me?”
“Your arm... was cut off...”
“??? My arm?”
“Yes, and your chest had a hole in it, and your legs... were completely mangled, and you were on the verge of death...”
The situation was turning serious. Seia’s prophetic dreams almost always came true. Whether it took a year or two, it would inevitably happen.
“Got it... thanks, Seia.”
“Please... please take care of yourself... you really could die like this...”
“Yeah... it’s late, so go to bed.”
“...No matter what happens, don’t get involved...”
“Depends on the situation.”
“...I understand.”
The call with Seia ended there.
“...Haa... this might be a little scary.”
“Haruta, I know why you kept searching for weapons...”
“Then you should’ve stopped me sooner.”
“Still...”
“Sometimes I just get like that.”
“...Please, like Seia said, don’t get involved... that’s the only way to avoid fate.”
“Yeah, thanks for worrying about me...”
I lay down on the dorm bed and thought of a face I missed for a moment.
“...Huu...”
It seemed I had tried to calm myself down, but only ended up making myself more restless.
“I can’t seem to sleep tonight.”
When I took out my phone and checked the time, it was already 1:36 a.m.
“...Let’s just not think about anything and sleep.”
After closing my eyes, I fell asleep almost immediately.
----------------------------
“...Where is this...?”
“Hey! Long time no see.”
“Haa... you again?”
“Yeah, I came to warn you today.”
“That damn warning again, seriously.”
“Just listen.”
“Fine, I’ll listen. What is it?”
“XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX”
“So?”
“XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX”
“...”
“XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX”
“Cut the bullshit and get to the point.”
“XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX”
Haruta grabbed him by the collar and quickly raised his fist.
“Haa... just listen, will you?”
“Hey! You bastard! What the hell are you spouting now?!”
“Just please listen.”
“Shut up. I’m doing things my way.”
“I’m the one who gave you your power, so shut up and listen.”
“I don’t care if you take my power away or not. Just stand here and enjoy the show, you damn bastard.”
“Do you think I’m joking? The words of a god?”
“I’m saying that because it’s you.”
“Haa... you’re really getting on my nerves after all this time, aren’t you?”
“I’m going my own way.”
“Just listen, please... you’re really going to get into huge trouble!”
“So what?”
“...”
“Then I’m leaving.”
“Hey! Wait, just a second before you go!”
“I’m pissed off too, you know? Just shut up, okay?”
“At least... don’t die.”
Before Haruta even finished hearing that, he came out of the deep layer of consciousness.
--------------------------------------------------------
“Damn it... seriously, I can’t just ignore what that bastard said.”
For now, he needed to calm down first.
With that thought, I headed to the first-floor lounge and grabbed a drink.
“...”
Gulp
After a sip, it felt like my head was working normally again.
“Akashi, there’s nothing going on today, right?”
“Yes. The Teacher went to the Remedial Knights today, so you have a free day.”
“Right... well, that’s enough.”
“Where are you planning to go this time...”
“This really is the last one.”
“All right... so what weapon is it this time?”
“Paradise Lost.”
“That... wait, doesn’t that mean you have to take down White Night?!”
“With the spear I’m using now, I can kill it in one shot.”
“No... you could just use that spear!”
“This one... I can only use it about three times a day at most.”
“What? Is there some reason...”
“The recoil... even just one thrust feels like my arm’s being torn off. If I keep using it like that, I’ll really die.”
“Ah...”
“So I’m going to get Paradise Lost. More precisely, the goal is to absorb White Night’s power.”
“Still... if it’s White Night’s apostles, that might be enough to help...”
“So I’m going to go beat White Night down now.”
“Yes... then I’ll send you the coordinates.”
That was how I found the L Corporation dimension where White Night had escaped.
“You can go in right away...”
“Yeah... I guess I should be ready.”
Haruta immediately drew his spear and clenched his hand around it.
“...All right. Let’s do this.”
With the spear in hand, he looked ahead.
“Let’s go.”
Crash!
Crossing through the space, what appeared before him was a baby crouched low, staring at him with red eyes.
“...Then let’s begin.”
An apostle burst out of the ground, and the battle began.
“Kiee!!!”
“That’s disgusting.”
What stood before him now were about three apostles. He could kill them all at once with his sword.
And from the start, his target was White Night. He pointed the spear and tightened his grip.
“...”
Zzzing!
As a wave surged out from White Night, he felt a headache coming on.
“Ghk...”
Thud!
“Kuhk!”
Bang!
One of White Night’s apostles attacked with a kick, and he blocked it head-on.
“...Even blocked, it still has that much force...”
He thought he needed to finish this quickly, aimed the spear, and prepared a single strike.
“...Try and endure this!”
“Kieeek!!!”
Clang!
Whoooosh!
White Night seemed momentarily flustered and wrapped its body in its wings.
“Too late!”
Shhk!
“Kreeeeeee!!!!!”
One of White Night’s eyes was blown away. He never thought White Night would die from a single attack.
“...Damn it! Die!”
Whoosh!
“Keee!!!”
Shhk!
White Night’s wing was torn off.
Srrrk
“...My arm...”
A tremendous pain shot through his arm.
“...Damn it...”
He quickly switched weapons, pulled out the BFG 9000, and aimed it at White Night.
“Die!!!”
Boom!
“Kreee!! Hheehee!!”
Something sounded like laughter. But right now, killing that damned monster came first.
“One shot isn’t enough.”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
He fired three more rounds and checked White Night.
“...That thing right now...”
White Night was staring straight at him with a pained expression.
“...Did you think I wouldn’t see you?”
“...What is this, some kind of abnormality?”
“Your courage is admirable, but I cannot forgive you.”
“One stained by sin. Rise and greet me.”
He didn’t know what was happening, but it didn’t take long to realize that leaving it alone would be dangerous.
“I shall be with you, to release the restraints of this place that has imprisoned you, and lead you to a paradise all may enjoy.
To free you from the terror of horrific death, I shall be with you.”
“Just die!”
He drew his spear again.
“Let’s see who dies.”
“How can we, bound by the chains of sin, hope for eternal salvation and truly claim to be saved?”
Now he had to end this with one blow.
“...Let’s finish it.”
Whoosh!!!
Kreee!!!
----------------------
Millennium Seminar
“Haa... Haruta... what is he doing, not even answering his phone...”
Yuuka was handling Seminar work again today while calling Haruta.
He didn’t answer, but nothing seemed especially strange, so she was just getting through the day as usual.
Then—
Crash!
Zzzzt, crackle, zzzzt!
“? What is that...”
Boom!!!!
A crack split the air, and static spilled out from within it.
“...What is that?”
It was clearly Haruta.
But blood was seeping from all over his arms and legs, his whole body.
“...Ah... Mil... len... nium... huh...”
Thud
Haruta had changed somehow.
A laurel wreath floated above his head, along with a halo.
And there were wings too—one pair had been torn away, and in their place a pair of white wings, soaked in blood, had appeared.
His original wings had been cut off, and in their place were white wings opposed to the black demonic ones. He had been holding a scythe in one hand, but it quickly turned to dust and vanished.
“Yuuka... sorry.”
“...Haruta! Don’t close your eyes! Keep them open!”
“Yuuka! Hurry!”
“Noa! Get him to the hospital, now!”
“Yes! Let’s get him to the hospital first!”
---------------------------------------
“...Where am I...?”
“You’re awake?”
“...Who are you?”
“Ah... I’m a doctor.”
“I am...”
“The Seminar members brought you here and you barely survived after seven straight hours of surgery.”
“...Ah! What about my wings?”
“Ah, your wings...”
Haruta looked at his back and was instantly horrified.
“...No... you never said there’d be side effects like this if I absorbed White Night...”
Who would have thought he’d be handed an E.G.O. gift?
Haruta focused on the wings on his back for a moment, and they slowly sank back into him.
“? What are you doing—”
Once all the wings had gone in, the laurel wreath above his head naturally disappeared as well.
“...Haa... haa...”
“You... are you even human?”
“Ah... yes... I guess.”
After staying in the hospital for about three days, he was discharged.
It wasn’t because any bones were broken, just because he’d lost too much blood, so there wasn’t really a problem.
But two of his wings had been blown off.
Well... I should probably be grateful that I got new wings?
Thinking that, he returned to Schale.
Comments (0)
Please log in to leave a comment. Login or Register