As expected, the man's target is Yuusuke.
If he came here to search for Yuusuke, even abandoning the God-Demon War, then he is most likely a magician who fought in the first God-Demon War.
"If you promise to surrender the Saint, I will answer."
"Unfortunately, that's impossible. This key will be necessary for the battle against him."
Those casual words shook Kanami's heart.
(As I thought, that's his objective.)
This man is here to fight Yuusuke. Whether it's revenge against the Demon Lord or the grudge from the first God-Demon War, either way, if the monster in front of her fights Yuusuke, it will be a reproduction of the Rantenas Fortress battle.
She slowly breathes to not let the opponent notice. Magic power flows through her body, restoring her strength. No matter who the opponent is, she will not abandon her duty as a guardian. She made a promise with Yuusuke to leave the rest to her.
"In that case, there is only one answer."
Upon hearing those words, the man closed his eyes once and gently embraced Lisha as if handling fragile goods. As he said, he probably has no intention of needlessly harming her.
When he opened his eyes again, within his previously cold and ruthless gaze, there was a crushing determination. Just that alone made the gathered will seem to scatter.
"If you intend to resist, then give up. I am a warrior, so I will show no mercy."
Those words were so belittling that she couldn't help but laugh. She only conveyed the decision to crush the enemy if they were to oppose each other.
Certainly, there is a difference in strength. She understands that much. That's why she doesn't intend to fight head-on. She will use every trick in the book, show all her cards, and retrieve Lisha before escaping.
With that determination, she lifts Ferger and points the gun at the man. Kanami must close the distance now, create an opening with a magic bullet, and run through. The man stares at the rugged gun barrel and mutters quietly under his coat.
"If you choose that path..."
Then there was no need to think any further. If their paths intersected, it was a simple matter of who would prevail. The outcome had already been decided at that point.
Kanami's fingertips squeeze the trigger.
In an instant, a dull sound reverberates from both of her arms, and the magic bullet flies in the wrong direction.
"Ah, guh!?"
Kanami forcibly suppresses a scream that would have pierced her throat. If she didn't, she would have let out a high-pitched scream.
Both arms supporting Ferger were broken from the elbows.
What happened? She couldn't catch up with the understanding, and her head was filled with pain and astonishment. She shouldn't have taken her eyes off the enemy or let her guard down.
Nevertheless, Kanami's arms, like a low-quality splatter film, bent and twisted in an instant. Within the black sleeves, her arms sway like broken toys with cut strings.
The man didn't move at all. He undoubtedly used magic to break her arms, but she couldn't see how it happened at all.
"Shayka Eyes" was meaningless. At this moment, Kanami finally understood. What she had been looking at, thinking it was a difference, was nothing more than a mirage akin to a desert oasis.
Just as people mistake a large lake for the sea, it was impossible for Kanami's level to capture that silhouette.
Her heart breaks at the fact that she was made to understand with just one blow. To resist the merciless black darkness that envelops her, willpower and pride alone are too powerless.
"Ugh..."
Ferger falls from her hand, her grip weakened. The pain is so intense that it feels like her head is short-circuiting. It's clear that the slight advantage she had is disappearing.
Even so, the faces of two people come to mind. The girl she must protect and the person she admires more than anyone else.
Rather than becoming a person who can't face them, it would be better to die.
Kanami bites her lower lip until it bleeds, trying to distract herself from the intense pain in her arms. She kicks the ground, making a sound.
Even if her arms are useless, she has a magic tool that can be activated. If there is a chance, it is only in this moment when the opponent thinks they have crushed her attack method.
——Lisha!
With determined eyes filled with deep blue light, Kanami approached the man. And just as she was about to activate her magic tool, it happened.
Squish! The sound of something watery being crushed resonated from within. A sensation of shock running through her entire body and the feeling of floating in mid-air.
'Who do you think you are, thinking it's over?'
Amon's voice descended into her flickering thoughts.
This guy, he's still moving——
Kanami's thoughts were cut short. Her body was struck sideways by a mace, sent flying. Unable to stop her momentum, she was slammed into a wall.
Blood and violet hair burst vividly on top of her gothic dress, falling.
Her body could no longer move.
'Tch, you're wasting my time.'
Amon raised his mace. Half-dead or not, he was still alive. He would crush her head here for sure. This was not a game, it was war. When you can kill, you kill.
"Stop."
However, his actions came to a halt with just one word.
Amon lowered his mace without resisting the man's words, turning his back on Kanami in silence. No one here felt any sense of unease at this unnatural change, as if a person had switched.
The man walked away, still holding Lisha.
The reason he didn't kill Kanami was not out of kindness. The man had realized that she had manipulated Amon.
Everything was for his own purpose.
As the man departed, night approached as if chasing after them. The surroundings regained their tranquility as if forgetting about the battle. Only one thing remained, the blood-soaked violets.
The past that had been buried was already crawling out, waiting with an open mouth. Waiting for the arrival of the Hero, Shirogane.
* * *
I can't remember when I stopped counting the humans I couldn't protect.
Wrapped in the darkness of the night, I ponder.
Was it when I rushed to the city that had already turned into ruins, alerted by the urgent report of the appearance of demons?
Or was it when the woman I saved on the battlefield hung herself after learning that her fiance had died?
Or was it when I was entrusted with a cold baby by her dying mother?
Or was it when I moved forward with soldiers being slaughtered behind me as bait?
Or was it when the companions I traveled with for a long time died?
I unconsciously stopped counting. But just because I stopped counting doesn't mean the pain disappeared.
The lives that should have spilled out from my back have turned into an invisible weight, pressing down on me. It becomes an immense pressure, asserting its existence in a fleeting moment
And just as much, countless hands are grabbing onto my body. They are not the ones I couldn't protect. They are the hands of those who died unwillingly for me or those I directly killed. They will never leave me, unless I go to the same place. They won't be satisfied with anything else.
When I returned to this earth, along with disappointment and sadness, I certainly felt it. The relief and liberation of not having to go through such feelings anymore.
"..."
But it was an illusion.
As I walk through the city in the night, whose whereabouts are unknown, I take out an accessory like a hairpin from my pocket.
The moment I see it, I remember the girl sleeping in the white room.
The air of decay and death. The weight on my back begins to take shape and becomes suffocating.
Kanami, who was supposed to protect Lisha, was attacked and left in critical condition. The assailant has kidnapped Lisha and disappeared.
Suppressing the anger boiling up from the depths of my stomach, I maintain my composure.
I must not overlook what needs to be done now.
The fact that Kanami wasn't killed and that he purposely kidnapped her means that he probably has no intention of killing Lisha at this point.
Kanami is not dead. She is a human who has even been called a hero from the princess. She can't die. That's the only thing I can believe. Even such powerlessness is frustrating and infuriating. I infused magic power into the hairpin. Faint light emerged from the pin, pointing in a certain direction like the needle of a compass.
This is the last clue Kanami left behind. Most likely, Lisha and the enemy who took her away are at the end of this light.
The members of the Anti-Demon Special forces, including Kagami-san, were surveilling me. They must have been watching me to make sure I didn't take any unauthorized actions. To them, I am just a powerless ordinary person, and if I were to act recklessly, I would only worsen the situation.
That's why I just managed to slip away from the Anti-Demon Special forces facility a little while ago.
From here on, I am not Yamamoto Yuusuke anymore.
Emerald magic power envelops me, and a silver armor tears apart the laws of the world and manifests itself. The infinite corridor where magic power calls upon magic power, "My True Name," responded to the stimulation of emotions.
Explosively heightened physical abilities and an immense sense of omnipotence.
I kick the ground and jump up into the sky in one go. Landing on the rooftop of a nearby building, I jump again. I head towards the light indicated by the pin. The surrounding scenery flows by at a speed that surpasses that of riding a bullet train, and the night view disappears, leaving behind numerous beams of light.
I think while moving.
What is the enemy's aim?
Judging from the situation, the attackers are undoubtedly demons, but their actions have many inexplicable points.
Clearly, Kanami is in a state where she can't fight back or escape. There is no point in keeping her alive.
Moreover, it's questionable why they would kidnap Lisha.
Clearly, they are luring me. It's likely that the enemy's aim is me. Since I have already defeated Luiid and Tarim, it's not strange for the demons to notice my existence and move to eliminate me.
But still, what is this uneasiness? A unpleasant sensation as if my internal organs are being grasped tightly.
As if to show that uneasiness, darkness awaits me ahead.
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