Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest Volume 10.
Chapter 2: Thank God She’s Still a Pervert!.
This was a dream. That much she knew. It was a nostalgic, albeit mundane dream about an inconsequential past event.
Two high school girls sat on a park bench in the evening. The setting sun dyed everything orange, and the cawing of crows filled the air. Aside from the girls, the park was mostly empty. A single elderly man was walking his dog, and no one else. Every now and again a vehicle would pass by the road adjacent to the park, the roar of its engine cutting through the ambient noise.
The two girls were slumped on the bench, looking more like exhausted office workers than high school girls.
“Aaaaaaah…” One of them moaned softly. The other, Eri Nakamura, smiled ruefully at her companion.
“Suzu, you sound like an old man.”
“But Erirriiiiiiiin…”
Suzu, for the other girl was naturally Suzu, flailed her like a child throwing a tantrum. Her pigtails flailed around her as she shook her head.
I’m pretty sure this was the day before we were summoned… Despite how she was acting, Eri examined her surroundings with cold, emotionless eyes. It was as if she’d detached from her body and was looking down on everything. Why am I seeing this dream? It’s just some pointless scene tainted by lies and deception. However—
“Eririn, today’s Sunday.”
“Umm… yes, and?”
“Let me ask you something.”
“Suzu, are you trying to imitate some TV actor again?”
“We’re in high school now, right? Isn’t it our duty to enjoy our youth and find love and friends and mostly love!?”
“I-I’m not so sure about that. Also, you said love twice.”
“And yet, how did we spend our precious weekend!?”
“We took it easy?”
“You foolish four-eyed school librarian! How can you say that like it’s a good thing!?”
“Wh-What does being the school librarian have to do with anything?”
Suzu reached for Eri’s glasses, which she desperately protected while smiling awkwardly. To a bystander, their playful joking around made it seem as though the two of them were unbelievably close. It was just another normal weekend, with a perfectly normal pair of friends hanging out and passing the time. Eri sighed internally as she watched the scene play out.
Suzu Taniguchi was a girl who could get along with anyone. Meanwhile, Eri’s goal was to make Kouki hers. The only reason she’d become friends with Suzu was to use her to get close to Kouki. To her, hanging out like this with Suzu was nothing more than a necessary annoyance.
I bet this airheaded simpleton doesn’t even realize that her timid-looking best friend is actually manipulating her… Of course, Suzu wasn’t the only one who’d failed to realize this.
Had you asked anyone in Eri’s class what they thought of her, they’d likely say something along the lines of: “She’s a quiet, introverted girl.”
“But she’s pretty sharp too, and whenever she opens her mouth it’s to contribute something meaningful.”
“She’s kind, and helps people out without expecting anything in return.”
“She’s always smiling and knows how to compliment anyone, she’s like the perfect girl.”
Not a single person had realized Eri’s true nature. They didn’t know she was a crazy, malicious psychopath who wouldn’t hesitate to hurt others if it helped her achieve her goals. Even the perceptive Shizuku had believed Eri Nakamura was a kindhearted girl. What a joke! We were all idiots! I can’t believe it!
“Goddamn normies, taking all the guys!”
“D-Don’t shout things like that, Suzu. It’s embarrassing!”
When am I going to wake up from this dream? Eri thought as she stared coldly at Suzu. Unfortunately, Suzu’s next words drew Eri back into the dream.
“Hey, Eririn. Who do you think would be a good match for me?”
“How would I know?”
“Aww, come on, I thought your hobby was people-watching. Shouldn’t you have enough data to know?”
“It’s not a hobby!”
Eri mentally clicked her tongue, berating her past self for getting so flustered at that. As she was watching, she remembered. Suzu Taniguchi would occasionally point out things like that. No matter how well Eri hid her personality, Suzu had managed to glean snippets of her true self.
Eri hadn’t particularly hated Suzu, nor had Suzu probed deeper into her personal life than any other person. Suzu had just managed to pick up on parts of Eri’s true personality via the everyday conversations they had. Part of the reason was that whenever she was with Suzu, Eri would occasionally let her guard down and her facade would slip. Like it had just now.
Come to think of it, she always was good at sensing other people’s emotions. Considering how much time we spent together, I suppose it’s inevitable that she’d pick up on a few hints. Eri tried to justify her mistake to herself.
Maybe she realized I was actually a calculating, cunning woman and chose to keep hanging out with me anyway… No, there’s no way that’s true. Eri internally shook her head, berating her own foolishness.
Besides, that would mean she would have known I was planning something truly evil.
Ever since coming to Tortus, Eri had been overjoyed. Being summoned to another world had made it much easier to make Kouki hers. Compared to when she’d been in Japan, she’d been a lot more overt about her priorities. Especially when they’d been attacked by that demon woman in the Great Orcus Labyrinth.
She’d almost let it slip that she would have been fine with just her and Kouki escaping. At the very least, she was certain her expression hadn’t been the perfect mask it had been before.
While she doubted anyone else in the class had noticed, it was plausible that Suzu, the one person who’d spent the most time with Eri, had picked up on the malice she was hiding within. But in the end, Suzu had said nothing on that fateful day. Which had led Eri to the conclusion that not even Suzu had realized. Either that, or she’d known all along and just been unable to say anything.
Personally, Eri thought the latter was the more likely option. Because Eri knew Suzu just as well as Suzu seemed to know Eri.
Suzu, you’re a coward, aren’t you? Even when Suzu was aware of something, she’d pretend not to be. Even when she understood, she would feign ignorance. No matter the time, no matter the situation, she’d match her wavelength with others and greet them with a cheerful smile. That was the fragment of Suzu Taniguchi’s true nature that Eri was aware of.
Eri laughed derisively at her friend’s cowardice. Just then, she suddenly felt like she was floating. The dream crumbled away like a sandcastle. It looked like she was waking up. Eri floated away from the dream, feeling not the slightest hint of regret. She cut away her past without remorse. From the very bottom of her heart, she didn’t care about her so-called friend.
“Mmm…”
Eri sat up and stretched. She looked around her room, the one she’d been granted in the demon lord’s castle. It was midafternoon, and sunlight was pouring through her window. As far as she could tell it was the same time of day that she’d fallen asleep. Meaning she’d been sleeping for a day or more. Eri sniffed, still feeling like she was in a dream. A vast presence flew in overhead, and Eri realized this must have been what had woke her.
“It’s time to leave.”
“Oh, you came all the way here to tell me that personally? You’re such a nice guy, Freid.”
General of the demon army, Freid Bagwa was looking down at Eri from atop his white dragon, Uranos. He furrowed his brow in response to Eri’s flippant tone. He wasn’t a fan of how actively malicious she was.
Unfortunately, Eri’s default state was annoying, so everything she did pissed Freid off. Freid himself knew saying anything was a waste of time, so he just shook his head.
“Don’t do anything rash. Follow my orders. I don’t want to have to bury you.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know.”
Freid harrumphed and turned Uranos around, flying out the open window. A pair of ashen wings appeared on Eri’s back, and she got to her feet. Her hair had also turned grey, and she looked like a slightly dirtier version of a God’s Apostle. As she watched Freid fly off, Eri looked back at the room she’d been dreaming in. She couldn’t fathom why her brain had shown her a dream like that.
However, it was undeniable that she’d dreamt of someone she’d never even once considered a friend. Perhaps that was why she felt compelled to say, “You always avert your eyes from the truth. That’s your weakness, Suzu.”
Her whispered words were carried away by the wind, heard only by herself. A moment later, she flapped her wings and chased after Freid. Suzu wasn’t even on her mind anymore. Even if they ended up meeting again, Eri wouldn’t think anything of it.
“That’s our weakness.”
Suzu’s copy sneered at her. Its hair, skin, and even the fans in its hands were pure white, the opposite of Suzu herself. Its crimson eyes glared at Suzu. She was panting heavily and surrounded on all sides by her copy’s crimson barriers. A second later, those barriers began emitting an overwhelming pressure.
“Ngh! Hallowed Ground!”
Suzu crafted her own barrier to defend herself, and it pushed against the copy’s gravity barrier and started destroying it from the inside. Shards of glimmering yellow barrier mixed with wispy tendrils of crimson mana as the two barriers canceled each other out. Suzu then swung her fans down, summoning a gravity barrier of her own to assault her copy. Forced back by the pressure, the copy fell to its knees. However, it was still sneering.
“Even though you know. Even though you understand better than anyone!”
Even though it was the copy who was under attack, Suzu felt like she was the one being pushed back. The copy’s words squeezed Suzu’s heart like a vice, and she could feel her composure breaking. No! It’s not my fault! I didn’t know anything! Suzu wanted nothing more than to shout those words back. After all, admitting her copy was right meant admitting she was partly to blame.
“You knew from the start, didn’t you? You realized from the very beginning that Eri wasn’t just a nice, quiet girl.”
Everyone else had thought that was all Eri was. But not Suzu. From the start, she’d known Eri had a cunning streak to her. The reason Eri put on an introverted persona was so she could observe people from afar and make sure she could secure a safe spot for herself.
Naturally, Suzu never pointed that out. But she’d never thought less of Eri for it either. Because Suzu had thought Eri was only like that to protect herself. It was the whole reason Suzu had wanted to be Eri’s friend in the first place. Suzu would never blame someone for putting on an act to protect themselves. She couldn’t. After all—
“You thought she was just like you, didn’t you?”
Blaming Eri for putting on a facade would have been equivalent to denying herself. There was a sharp crack as the copy destroyed Suzu’s barrier. It then assaulted Suzu with a barrier of its own. This time walls of fire bore down on her.
Suzu quickly neutralized it with a water barrier. She used her left fan to protect herself, while she swung down her right to create another barrier to restrict her copy’s movements.
“How about I help remind you just what kind of person you are. Along with what crimes you’ve committed!”
Both sides continued deploying and neutralizing barriers in a defensive tug-of-war. Suzu’s class was Barrier Master, and her focus was on defense. Because of the way her skills worked, she couldn’t move much while fighting. Meaning both Suzu and her copy just stood in the same places, dancing with their fans to summon yet more barriers. This was what a fight between Barrier Masters looked like.
As their battle raged on, the copy’s words continued to worm their way into Suzu’s ears. Though she was focusing entirely on her battle, Suzu was still forced to relive old memories. The first was a memory from back when she was still a child, and much less cheerful.
For as long as she could remember, Suzu’s parents had been workaholics. Day and night, they’d worked. They’d rarely ever shown up for parent-teacher conferences or participated in school events where parents were invited. In fact, Suzu had been practically raised by the caretaker they’d hired for her. Suzu had more memories of spending time with her than her actual parents. Whenever her caretaker had left, Suzu had been left alone in that huge house.
Perhaps because of the isolated environment she’d grown up in, Suzu hadn’t been very cheerful as a child, and she hadn’t had many friends. Lonely, but also unsure of how to get rid of her loneliness, Suzu’s childhood had been an unhappy one. Had it not been for her cheerful and lively babysitter, Suzu might have ended up even gloomier than she had.
It wasn’t that her parents hadn’t loved her. They’d been careful about not spoiling her, and even if Suzu was often asleep by the time they returned home, they’d check up on her every night. But that hadn’t been nearly enough for a young child like Suzu. So even when she’d been awake when her parents came home she’d pretended to be asleep, or if they’d made time to come home early she’d just pouted instead of spending time with them.
It had been thanks to Suzu’s babysitter that she’d been able to transform from a gloomy, moody child, into the cheery, outgoing girl she was now. A few years after she’d been employed, the caretaker had been able to see Suzu slowly turning into an unsociable child, and had given her some advice.
“Just smile.”
Honestly, it had been pretty half-assed advice, but the old caretaker had meant it from her heart. Furthermore, she’d been like a second mom to Suzu. Though Suzu hadn’t fully believed that was all it would take, she’d been willing to try anything to alleviate her loneliness. First, she’d tried smiling at her parents.
“Mom, Dad! Thank you!”
She’d acted overjoyed the next time they’d given her a present. Honestly, she’d still felt annoyed at them for neglecting her all the time, but she’d pushed those emotions down. Naturally, her parents had been surprised by her sudden change in attitude, but they’d also been happy.
“N-No problem, Suzu! Daddy wants you to be happy!”
“Suzu, come give your mom a hug!”
She’d never seen them smile so happily before. Of course, their workload hadn’t changed, but now they seemed happy when they were with Suzu rather than apologetic. And that, in turn, made Suzu happy for real.
In time, she’d tried smiling more at school as well. Even though she wasn’t necessarily having fun at school, she’d smile all the time anyway.
Before she knew it, she’d made dozens of friends. And all of them had seemed happy to be spending time with her. In a flash, her dreary school life had become exciting.
It was then that Suzu had learned that smiling was the solution to her problems. As long as she was smiling, she’d never be alone. And thus, the class mood maker was born. From then on, Suzu was always smiling cheerfully, even if she didn’t actually feel that happy inside. She kept her happy, joking persona up no matter what.
“You empathized with Eri’s calculating nature, didn’t you!?”
Suzu snapped back to the present. It seemed she’d been paying too much attention to her memories. While she’d been distracted by the barrier battle and her own thoughts, her copy had snuck a few moving barriers—Heaven Crushers—underneath her defenses and slid them across the floor to her.
By the time she realized she was in trouble, it was already too late. The Heaven Crushers unleashed a blinding flash, and exploded in a burst of mana, sending shards of barrier flying everywhere. Her copy had hit her with a barrier burst.
“Gah!”
Suzu just barely managed to protect her vitals with her fans, but the blast sent her flying backward and she hit the ground with a thud. After rolling for a few meters, Suzu came to a stop and gingerly got to her feet. Judging by how little she was talking, Suzu was at her limits both physically and mentally.
However, for some reason, the copy shot her a confused, probing look. But then a second later it sneered again and added, “You thought Eri was just like you. You believed she’d empathize with you too. Which is why you really, truly, believed she was your best friend.”
Suzu had thought Eri was just acting to protect herself, not because she was evil. She’d believed that Eri really did care about her friends, and just acted the way she did as a self-defense mechanism.
“No, that’s not true. You wanted to believe that.”
Suzu had ignored all the warning signs she’d noticed since coming to Tortus. Though she’d started to suspect that Eri might actually be evil, she’d pretended not to see anything. She’d just blindly put her faith in Eri and stamped down all of her suspicions. She’d been too scared to confront the truth.
In the back of her mind, though, she knew that the moment Eri Nakamura’s mask came off, their friendly relationship would come to an end.
“So you ran from Eri.”
“……”
As a result—
“You invited a tragedy.”
Because of Suzu’s willful ignorance, two of her classmates, Captain Meld, and a whole host of other knights died. On top of that, Kaori nearly lost her life as well.
“You should have confronted Eri. You should have asked her what she was really thinking! You were the only one who even had an inkling of what she really was! You were the only one who could have stopped that tragedy! But instead, you ran away! In order to protect your fragile little heart, you averted your gaze from an inconvenient truth! And in doing so, you averted your gaze from your best friend!”
Suzu’s copy laid down criticism after criticism. But all of those statements were something Suzu herself had thought at least once.
“Ngh…”
Suzu grit her teeth, unable to argue back. This was the darkness residing in her heart, the darkness she hadn’t told anyone—the overwhelming guilt she felt at not confronting Eri earlier. She’d told herself over and over there was no way her best friend was evil, and given up critically examining the evidence thrust before her. As a result, tragedy had struck. Even if she hadn’t possessed the courage to confront Eri herself, she should have at least brought her concerns to Shizuku. That way, they might have been able to prepare.
Of course, all of those were what-ifs. At the end of the day, it had been Eri who’d chosen the path of evil, and Suzu was one of her victims. Suzu knew that if she told Shizuku what she was feeling, that’s what she would tell her.
However, even if Suzu understood that in her head, she couldn’t rid herself of the guilt that gnawed at her. And her copy was a manifestation of that guilt. Which was why it was mercilessly dredging up that guilt and laying it bare.
“You might even have been able to do something to save Eri before she became so twisted. And despite that, you have the gall to call her your best friend?”
“……”
“You thought everything would turn out fine as long as you were smiling, didn’t you? But in truth, all that did was give you a bunch of shallow friendships. There’s not a single person you’re actually close to, is there? And yet you thought you weren’t alone anymore. Eri was right, you’re a moron.”
Suzu silently swung her fans at her copy. Dozens of Heaven Crushers appeared out of thin air and rushed toward it. Once they’d crowded around the copy they exploded in a series of barrier bursts. Countless jagged barrier shards shot toward the copy.
However, the copy emerged unscathed. It had been able to block the barrage with a simple barrier, and it looked disdainfully down at Suzu, its mouth hidden by a fan. It had grown a great deal stronger since the start of the fight.
Suzu had remained silent throughout, taking all of the copy’s barbed insults without fighting back. Her face was twisted in pain and anguish, and she was the only one taking damage from the back and forth barrier attacks the two were unleashing. Not a single one of her barrier techniques had gotten past her copy’s defenses. That difference in strength between them made it clear just how shaken Suzu was by her copy’s words.
“Even if you do get to meet Eri again, what will you do? You don’t even know what you want to say to her. Besides, even you think she’s just going to try and kill you again.”
The copy was even using Suzu’s apprehensions for the future as a weapon. While it was true that Suzu desperately wanted to meet Eri again, it was also true that she was afraid to do so, and that she had no idea what to say to her former best friend. On top of that, she was still dragging along the guilt and self-loathing of not confronting Eri earlier with her.
Every single one of her regrets and fears had been laid bare. Her heart had been beaten to a bloody pulp, just as much as her body had. And yet—
“Despite all my insults, I’m not getting much stronger. In fact, I’ve stopped getting stronger at all.”
The copy’s sneer turned into a frown. It was then that Suzu finally opened her mouth. Her voice was surprisingly firm, as was her gaze.
“I knew it, that’s how this trial works. In that case, you won’t be getting any stronger from here on out.”
“So it seems. Ever since I blew you away with those Heaven Crushers, your resolve has slowly been growing… I see now, the reason you didn’t say anything back was because…”
This whole time, Suzu had been focused on herself. This was a trial Suzu had longed for. From the beginning, she’d wanted to be forced to face her weakness. Because even before she’d entered this labyrinth, she’d promised herself she wouldn’t run away anymore. It was only by doing so that she’d found the courage to ask Hajime to travel with him. She was nearly drained of mana, her face was pale, her breath came in short gasps, and her hands trembled as she held her fans. But her stance, her gaze, and her voice had a wild beauty to them.
“Everything you said is absolutely right. I really was a coward. But that doesn’t matter anymore. I’m done with trying to protect myself. Ever since I saw that dream in Haltina’s labyrinth, I realized I’d been running away from what really mattered.”
“That was quite the fantasy you saw, wasn’t it?”
The copy sneered again. But this time, Suzu smiled too. It was a smile marred by pain and suffering, but that smile came from the heart.
“That dream could have been a reality if I’d just accepted reality to begin with.”
Her eyes clear of doubt, Suzu began talking, more to herself than her copy.
“Back then, when Umeko-san told me to just smile, she hadn’t meant that smiling was the only thing I needed to do. What she’d been trying to say was that if I’d wanted to understand others, first I needed to open up my own heart to them. I only realized that now, though.”
Suzu had managed to open up to others more. But not fully. Because she’d been a coward. She’d been afraid of making her friends angry. She’d been terrified of being abandoned by them. As a result though, she’d lost the one person she’d called her best friend.
“You’re right. I still don’t know what I’m going to say to Eri when I see her again. I don’t know if I want to yell at her, apologize for not paying better attention to her, or try to persuade her to come back.”
That night, the night she’d been betrayed, Suzu’s heart had been ripped to shreds. A torrent of emotions had welled up within her, and it had taken everything she’d had to keep it together. It still was. Suzu had no doubt that when she met Eri again, that dam would burst. However—
“I have no idea what to say, but I know I have to see her again.”
She would never again repeat the blunders she’d made in the Haltina Woods. From now on, she wouldn’t avert her gaze from the truth, no matter how painful it was. The fiery determination in her eyes made that clear.
“My power’s weakening. It looks like that resolve of yours is the real deal.”
“Yep. I’m tired of seeing sweet dreams. I’ll surpass you and keep moving forward! Gather and become whole— Hallowed Ground – Reversal!”
Suzu fuelled her determination into her magic and cast her greatest spell yet. As she swung her fans down, the entire room began to glow. Countless tiny dots glimmered in the air like stars in the night sky. They were the shattered fragments of all the barriers Suzu had cast thus far. The fragments swirled around the copy, forming a galaxy of stars around it. After a few seconds, they began taking shape.
“So you… I see. You controlled all of the barriers you cast with your left fan, the one enchanted with restoration magic. All so you could bring them back. Did you plan this from the very start?”
“I know that labyrinth trials aren’t easy to overcome. Ever since the whispers started, I thought it’d come to this. And I knew I’d need a trump card.”
Suzu hadn’t just been throwing barriers out willy-nilly. The number of barriers she’d summoned with her left fan numbered 150. Furthermore, she’d poured all of her remaining mana to create another 300 barriers to add to the massive barrier burst she was preparing. All of her shields converged on the copy. They glowed orange as they approached, preparing to explode. The entire room was filled with a sunset-orange glow, and the colossal mass of barriers looked like a mythical floating castle. In the center of that glowing orange castle stood the copy, looking surprisingly tranquil.
“Very well. Show me just how strong that will of yours is! Prove you’ve overcome your weakness!”
“Thank you for existing, trial. Here I come! Bloom into a thousand flowers—”
Smiling slightly, Suzu thrust her fans forward.
“Blossom Burst!”
There was an explosion of light so bright, and for a moment it felt as though a sun had suddenly appeared in the room. Light blanketed everything, blotting out even sound. Seconds later, the sound of the explosion followed, rocking the room with its force.
Suzu had used all of her available mana for one massive barrier burst. Unlike her usual barrier burst spells, this was a full-out attack that required her to control as many barriers as possible and explode them simultaneously. It was Suzu’s ultimate trump card. Since her focus had been solely on offense, Suzu hadn’t been able to erect any barriers to protect herself. The shockwaves from the explosion blew her away too, and she slammed into the wall behind her.
It took all of her concentration to remain conscious through the pain. She couldn’t hear anything except an incessant ringing. Though she was too drained to move, she kept her blurry vision firmly focused on the enemy in front of her. Shattered barrier fragments and dislodged shards of ice glittered in the air. But there was no copy to be seen. Instead, a gentle voice seemed to whisper directly into Suzu’s ear.
“It’d be nice if your feelings reached her.”
Relief flooded Suzu, and her consciousness began to fade.
I think I’ll rest… for just a little bit… Suzu watched as a section of the far wall crumbled away to reveal a new passage, then passed out with a smile on her face.
Some time later, Suzu slowly found herself waking from a deep slumber. It felt as though she was floating up from a dark pool of water. The pool itself was surprisingly comfortable, like a cradle. It even rocked her slightly with waves.
Consciousness hazy, Suzu felt as though it couldn’t hurt to sink back into the pool for a little while longer. But just as she began to close her eyes again, the thudding of footsteps and a warm hand on her cheeks forced her into full wakefulness.
“Wh-What!? What’s going on!? How did—”
“Yo, Suzu. Finally awake?”
“Huh? Ryutarou-kun?”
“In the flesh.”
For a moment Suzu had thought she was being kidnapped by an ogre, but then she heard Ryutarou’s familiar voice and relaxed. It seemed Ryutarou was carrying her on his back.
Feeling a bit guilty for mistaking him for an ogre, Suzu cleared her throat and asked, “Umm, why are you carrying me, Ryutarou-kun?”
“Well, you see. I beat that fucking asshole who looked just like me and went through the new tunnel that opened up. It led into another room that looked just like the one I was fighting in, where I found you unconscious in the corner. So I picked you up and took you with me. You wouldn’t wake up no matter how much I shook you, and I wasn’t about to suplex you awake, so carrying you was the only option.”
“Yeah if you’d suplexed me awake, I would have barrier bursted you in the face.”
Suzu glared reproachfully at the back of Ryutarou’s head. Still, considering he used to go off about things like gender equality before hitting girls, I guess you could say Ryutarou-kun’s grown a little too. Suzu evaluated Ryutarou, her thoughts uncharacteristically arrogant.
“But… I never knew our trial rooms were connected to other people’s.”
“Looks like it. Who’s room do you think we’re going to?”
“I hope it’s Kaorin or Tio-san. I’m still pretty tired and… Oh yeah. Thanks for carrying me, Ryutarou-kun. You must have had a pretty tough fight too. Are you okay? Is carrying me tiring you out?”
Though she could only see his back, Suzu could tell that Ryutarou had taken a significant amount of damage during his fight too. Like Suzu, his equipment was torn. In fact, he looked like he’d taken even more physical damage than Suzu. And though he was trudging along with the same heavy footsteps as always, he seemed slightly off-balance. He was also walking a bit slower than usual.
“Don’t worry. You’re light, Suzu. It’s like I’m carrying a roll of toilet paper.”
“Excuse me? What kind of metaphor is that?”
Even if he’d grown, it seemed Ryutarou was still wholly lacking in tact. Suzu glared at Ryutarou again. Depending on your answer I may have to kill you.
Ryutarou shivered, then tentatively said, “I-I meant as light as a flower?”
Was that good enough? Well whatever, I’ll just deal with it.
Fortunately, Ryutarou’s save satisfied Suzu and she asked, “All joking aside though, are you sure you’re okay? You don’t look too good.”
Relieved that Suzu’s tone had returned to normal, Ryutarou replied cheerfully, “This is nothing. I just dislocated a shoulder, broke five ribs, and one arm. No big deal.”
“That sounds like a really big deal to me!”
“Nah, man. I popped my shoulder back in and I’ve been using Diamond Skin to keep my arm usable so—Gah!?”
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Ryutarou-kun, you’re coughing up blood!”
Ryutarou doubled over, blood spilling from his mouth. The sight was so ghastly it would likely win first place in a most shocking videos contest. Pale-faced, Suzu jumped off of Ryutarou’s back and hurriedly cast healing magic on him. She didn’t have an affinity for it like Kaori, so her healing magic wasn’t too effective. She’d only learned a few beginner spells in case of emergencies.
Still, her elementary healing magic was enough to heal most of Ryutarou’s minor wounds, and stop him from coughing up blood, so it definitely helped. Ryutarou wiped the corners of his mouth and grinned. It was hard to imagine he’d been bleeding out seconds ago.
“Whoa, I’m healed! Thanks, Suzu!”
“You’re not healed at all. You know, Ryutarou-kun, you coughed up like a bucketful of blood. How can you still act like you’re fine? Are you a minotaur? Or just stupid?”
“You sure don’t pull your punches. I mean if you’ve healed me this much, I can power through everything else with guts, so it’s fine.”
“Guts, huh? How convenient.”
Looking haggard, Suzu finished healing Ryutarou. She wanted to argue back, but she knew of a certain rabbit that powered through literally everything with guts, so she couldn’t.
I want to see Shizushizu… She’s normal. I need someone who can heal my heart more than my body… Though she thought that, Suzu still cast a bit of healing magic on herself too.
Most of what she was able to heal were small cuts and bruises. There was nothing she could do about the deep exhaustion she felt or the dull ache in her joints she’d been feeling ever since slamming into the wall. For that, she needed either Tio or Kaori’s help.
Seeing Suzu’s exasperated expression, Ryutarou hurriedly added, “W-Well, I guess I’m also pumped up since I finally managed to clear one of the labyrinth trials.”
“Oh, yeah, I get that. It’s a nice feeling knowing you can actually fight… unlike how it went back in the forest.”
“I know, right.”
“By the way, how’d your trial go, Ryutarou-kun? I feel like you’re the kind of guy who never worries about anything… Oh, but if you don’t want to talk about it, it’s fine.”
Suzu was basically implying, “You’re a musclehead so it’s not like insults can hurt you anyway, right?” which was pretty harsh for the otherwise cheerful Suzu. It seemed she’d finally started to give up her mask.
On the other hand, Ryutarou didn’t really mind the implied insult. Rather, he didn’t even seem to pick up on it.
“Nah, I don’t mind talking about it. It wasn’t anything special, anyway. My fake just called me a cowardly loser and shit.”
Suzu gave Ryutarou a blank look. Ryutarou was the kind of guy who’d charge headfirst into any challenge, no matter how dangerous. She couldn’t imagine him being scared of anything. In fact, he was a paragon of reckless courage. Of all the things for the copy to point out, cowardice seemed like the strangest choice. Seeing Suzu’s confused expression, Ryutarou smiled awkwardly.
“I’ve just been trying to hide it by acting tough, you know. Like think about it, I’m way weaker than Kouki and Nagumo.”
“You mean…”
“You’ll always be a side character. The guy the true protagonists always need to come save.”
“You’re jealous, aren’t you? You wanna be that guy who stands in the spotlight.”
“But you know why you never try to steal it for yourself?”
“I’ve always thought I could never beat those two. And I’ve always been scared of losing to them. I never wanted to challenge them cause I was afraid losing would prove it. Prove that I’m just a worthless sidekick. That’s the kind of shit my fake told me.”
“You really thought that?”
The two of them continued walking down the corridor, side by side. Suzu looked hesitantly up at Ryutarou, who smiled ruefully and nodded.
“That annoying fake was basically me, right? Means I’d definitely been thinking that in the back of my mind.”
At the very least, Ryutarou knew he hadn’t been able to deny those claims. He scratched his head awkwardly and continued his story.
“You know how before we got summoned here, Kouki and I used to stick our noses into other people’s business all the time?”
“Yep. Well, it’s more like Kouki-kun attracted everyone else’s problems. Shizushizu was always talking about how hard she had it.”
“Yeah, that sounds about right. Anyway, most of the time we’d end up saving girls from delinquents and shit. And every time we did, Kouki was the only one they’d thank.”
“Aaaaaaah…”
Suzu could see what Ryutarou was getting at. Kouki looked like a knight in shining armor. He stood out like a sore thumb. On top of that, he was unbelievably charismatic.
“So yeah, even the girls I had crushes on all went for Kouki instead of me.”
“Ooof.”
Suzu was beginning to wonder why Ryutarou was even friends with Kouki. She sympathized with his plight. While she was still busy processing all these new revelations, Ryutarou dropped another bombshell on her.
“Even Yue-san’s Nagumo’s woman.”
“Yeah, she… Wait…? What…? WHAT!?”
Suzu shrieked, her scream echoing down the corridor. Her eyes looked like they were about to pop out of her skull. She was so surprised she came to a stop and took a few steps back. Blushing, Ryutarou looked away and zipped his mouth.
“Hold on, are you for real? Ryutarou-kun, you like her? Seriously?”
“Why do you look so surprised? Is it that weird that I fell for her!?”
“N-No, not really, it’s just… you never showed it or anything, Ryutarou-kun…”
“You really think I could try to hit on her when the two of them are flirting 24/7?”
“Poor Ryuarou-kun…”
“Shut up! I’m not pitiful! Besides, when did you become this mean!?”
Suzu looked at Ryutarou as if he were an abandoned puppy and gently patted his arm. Ryutarou angrily slapped her hand away and changed the topic.
“Anyway, my fake talked about how I was only pretending to be content with being the sidekick even though I actually wanted to be the main character.”
“I see now. So did your copy get stronger too, Ryutarou-kun?”
“Stronger? What do you mean?”
“Huh? Isn’t the whole trial about whether you reject or accept your feelings? And your copy gets weaker or stronger depending on what you do?”
“What’re you talking about?”
Ryutarou wasn’t following at all. Suzu and Ryutarou both cocked their heads in confusion. Suzu briefly explained the rules of the trial, but Ryutarou still looked confused. It seemed his trial had gone differently than hers.
Ryutarou’s copy had offered him a deal. It had asked him to join hands with it to gain the power to supplant Kouki and the others as the protagonist. The power to do as he wished and take whatever he wanted through sheer force alone. He’d be able to become his ideal self.
“So there are people who had trials like that too…”
Rather than overcoming himself, Ryutarou’s trial had focused on how well he could resist temptations offered to him. Considering the gods were likely to employ similar means, it made sense as a trial.
Maybe the trial thought he didn’t have enough negative emotions, so it tried to tempt him as a last resort or something…? Nah, can’t be.
“S-So, what happened when you took the fake’s hand?”
“Hey… Do you really think I’d accept a deal like that?”
Suzu averted her gaze. And in response, Ryutarou sighed and said, “Even I’m not stupid enough to think taking that fake’s hand was a good idea. I just punched the shit out of it.”
“Huh, so you didn’t succumb to temptation?”
Suzu gave Ryutarou a look of admiration, but instead of seeming proud of himself, Ryutarou’s expression was oddly stiff. His eyes glazed over and he said, “Just think about it. If I’d actually gotten all that power and did whatever I’d wanted, what do you think would have happened?”
“Hm? Well, you’d be able to take whatever you want by force so… Oh.”
Suzu’s look of confusion transformed into one of sympathy. Had Ryutarou failed the trial and given in to his base desires, it was obvious what he’d try to do first. Make Yue his. But Suzu and Ryutarou both knew how that would end up. No matter how much power the labyrinth gave him, “You’d get destroyed by Nagumo-kun.”
“Just like Hiyama.”
Having seen how close Hajime and Yue were, Ryutarou had already made his peace with the fact that she’d never look his way. Trying to change that now was paramount to suicide. The copy may have thought it was trying to tempt Ryutarou into a life of decadence, but to him it had seemed like nothing but a road leading straight to death.
“I ended up yelling, ‘What the fuck’s wrong with you!? Take a hard look at reality! If I do that I’m just gonna die!’ at my fake.”
Ryutarou had then snapped and defeated his copy in the ensuing fistfight.
After hearing out his story, Suzu said, “So you basically beat your trial by throwing a tantrum.”
In the end, I guess that’s just how Ryutarou-kun is… Suzu’s shoulders slumped in disappointment. Ryutarou shrugged, then resumed walking down the corridor.
“Still…” Suzu said with a grin, refusing to let the topic die. She felt happy that Ryutarou had been willing to share his deepest feelings with her. As a result, she felt no reason to be reserved around him.
“I’m kinda surprised. I never thought you’d fallen for Yue-oneesama, Ryutarou-kun.”
“You’re still going on about that? Besides, what’s so weird about that anyway? You’re the one who’s been calling her onee-sama ever since that day!”
“Oh yeah, good point. I guess it’s not that weird after all.”
Suzu clapped her hands together. The day Ryutarou was referring to was the day Hajime and Yue had saved them from the demon and her monsters in the Great Orcus Labyrinth. Yue had looked dazzlingly beautiful as she’d cut through swathes of monsters with her azure fire dragon.
She’d fought with such poise, despite her young appearance. On top of that, she’d shown a sliver of kindness to Suzu. It was only natural that all the students present for that battle had fallen for her. In the same way that Suzu had come to call her onee-sama, Yoshiki Saitou, Shinji Nakano, Ayako Tsuji, and Mao Yoshino had all come to respect Yue immensely. So it was hardly strange that Ryutarou felt something similar.
“You better not tell anyone this.”
“I won’t. You’d just get teased about it if I did. Actually, why did you even bother telling me?”
“Well, I guess I shouldn’t have, but…”
“Oh. You just wanted someone to hear you out… didn’t you?”
“I always forget how sharp you are. Yeah, that’s basically it. Sorry for grumbling about all this crap to you.”
Ryutarou smiled ruefully at Suzu, and she smiled back.
“But still, you really shouldn’t try to fight every challenge head-on like that. Kaorin’s gonna get mad if you keep showing up all beat up.”
“My fake’s face just pissed me off so much. Just thinking about it makes me want to deck him again.”
“You could always start punching mirrors.”
The two continued bantering with each other for a few minutes until they finally reached a dead end. It seemed they’d found the next connecting room.
“Oh, we’re here.”
“I really hope it’s Kaorin or Tio-san’s room…”
Suzu brought her hands together in prayer, then approached the wall of ice. As she neared, it melted away to reveal the room beyond. Fortunately for Suzu, her prayers were answered. However—
“Kyaa!?”
“Uwoooh!?”
The first thing to greet Suzu and Ryutarou as they stepped into the room was a torrent of magic. Yelping in surprise, Ryutarou hurriedly jumped in front of Suzu and crossed his arms defensively in front of him. At the same time, Suzu erected a powerful barrier.
After the shockwaves faded, the two of them looked up to see Tio and her copy exchanging breath attacks.
Let us rewind the clock to a few minutes before Suzu and Ryutarou’s arrival. Tio faced off against her white-haired, white-robed copy while illusory pitch-black flames danced at the edges of her vision.
Those flames were a manifestation of the hatred that raged within her. The seeds of that hatred had been planted 500 years ago, when the dragonmen had been eradicated from history, along with their prosperous nation.
“Even though we cared for the weak and powerless, even though we supported them and protected them from harm…”
The copy’s voice was a mixture of scorn and regret. It summoned up a wave of flames which threatened to swallow Tio whole.
“True. We dragonmen offered protection to all who sought it, regardless of race, nationality, or gender.”
Replying calmly, Tio swung her arm down. Her kimono sleeve fluttered in the breeze, and a wall of wind rose up to meet the wave of fire. The wind collided with the flames, absorbed it, and transformed the wave into a fiery tornado that Tio sent rushing back at her copy.
“Was there anyone not saved by our grace? Was there anyone not moved by our virtuous and noble nature!? Was there anyone who did not respect us!?”
The copy transformed into a beautiful, white-scaled dragon and charged right through the burning tornado. It headed for Tio, planning to crush her flat beneath the weight of its charge.
“Others praised us, calling us the strongest and most noble nation in the world.”
There was a flash of black light, and Tio transformed into her dragon form as well. She braced herself, taking the copy’s tackle head-on. She was unable to absorb the full force of the blow though and was pushed back to the wall. There was a clear difference in strength between the two of them.
Emboldened, the copy shouted, “Our nation was meant to be a paradise! A place where the weak and the strong, the rich and the poor, could live together in harmony!”
The path to reaching that paradise hadn’t been an easy one. Upholding the lofty ideals of the dragonmen had been an unbelievably difficult ordeal.
For centuries, other races had laughed at the dragonmen’s dreams, looking down on them as nothing more than foolish idealists. But thanks to the blood, sweat, and tears of generations of dragonmen, they finally created the ideal country they’d dreamed of. A firm, unyielding nation filled with kindness and warmth. Having realized an ideal all others thought impossible, the remaining races had bowed their heads in respect to the dragonmen.
From then on, dragonmen were the protectors of the world, the arbiters of peace. They were the true rulers of Tortus.
“Indeed,” Tio muttered, her voice tinged with sadness.
Just before Tio crashed into the wall, she wreathed herself in a veil of black light. A second later there was a massive boom, and a section of the wall was pulverized. However, Tio wasn’t anywhere near the wall. In fact—
“Limiter Removal.”
Enhanced by evolution magic, Tio’s black breath shot toward her copy. She’d slipped directly underneath the white dragon and was firing at it from below. Just before being slammed into the wall, Tio had canceled her transformation, allowing her to fall underneath her copy. Blindsided by the counterattack, Tio’s copy nevertheless managed to spread out its wings and stop its backward momentum just before it crashed into the tree at the center of the room. It then opened its maw and fired a breath of white breath back at Tio.
Surprisingly, its breath attack was even stronger than Tio’s who’d been using evolution magic. Scorching the air as it passed, the breath rumbled ominously as it rushed toward Tio. The breath enveloped Tio, and instantly liquified the ice floor underneath her. The breath then faded away, revealing emptiness where once Tio had stood. It was like she’d been vaporized.
The copy canceled its transformation and landed softly on the floor. Then, as if nothing had happened, it resumed its speech.
“But everything we worked for was destroyed, turned to ash by the wickedness of gods and men.”
The copy turned to the side. As expected, Tio was standing there. She’d used the residual heat from her own breath to leave a mirage of herself behind, which was what had been hit by the copy’s attack.
When Tio had hit the copy with her breath, it had lost sight of her for just a second. And in that second, Tio had left an illusion in her wake and moved elsewhere. Such a feat could only be called godlike. Unfortunately, that didn’t change the fact that Tio was losing in terms of raw power.
Tio and her copy thrust their hands forward, releasing simultaneous breath attacks. Two breaths, one black, one white, collided with each other. A stunning contrast of dark and light filled the room. The two breaths were not of equal strength, however. Slowly but surely, the white breath started pushing the black one back.
Just then, two new people entered the room. Even without looking, the copy knew they were Suzu and Ryutarou. Grinning wickedly, it decided to show these new spectators just how unsightly Tio really was. It believed that by divulging Tio’s secrets to others, it would corner her further.
“Dragonmen aren’t really men. They’re evolved from monsters.”
Those words had spelled the end of the golden age of dragonmen. Suzu and Ryutarou both looked up in surprise, something both Tio and the copy noticed. The copy’s grin grew wider, and it continued recounting the tragedy of Tio’s people.
“Who knows when their vicious nature will rear its ugly head? They pretend to be protectors of the world, but behind that mask, the truth is they just want to rule over other races.”
The copy looked derisively down at Tio. It was true that throughout all of Tortus, it was only dragonmen who could transform into beasts. Their dragon forms, so removed from a normal human’s appearance, could certainly be considered monstrous. Add to that their overwhelming strength, it was hardly surprising that other races started to believe such insidious words.
But even so, despite the wicked rumors spread by the gods, the dragonmen remained noble. They showed kindness to all races and continued to grow their paradise. Their centuries of altruism should have been enough to earn them the trust of their peers. And yet—
“Their real goal is to overthrow the gods. That’s right, dragonmen are… heretics!”
Those few words had been enough to overturn all the trust and goodwill dragonmen had built up. The common people had betrayed them so easily. It was like a nightmare. The other races’ respect had turned to fear. Their trust into doubt. Their admiration into scorn.
And then, in the blink of an eye, Tio’s country had burned. Her fellow countrymen had been slaughtered, and her father Kharga and her mother Orna’s bodies desecrated. By the same people they’d risked their lives to protect and care for. The copy’s white breath pushed Tio’s black breath a few more inches backward. Slowly but surely, the white light of annihilation was closing in on her. The copy cackled.
“Fufufu, I can feel it. Your anger and your hatred, your fear and your resignation. Even after all these centuries, you still cannot forget the tragedy befell you. You and your brethren were betrayed by the very people you saved. They sneered as they killed your friends and family, desecrating their corpses for sport.”
“……”
Tio remained silent as her copy’s words echoed through the room. Suzu and Ryutarou, on the other hand, seemed stricken by the copy’s tale. The two of them hadn’t known about Tio’s past. All they knew was that the dragonmen were supposed to be an extinct race. But they’d never realized those few paragraphs they’d read about dragonmen history in the royal library hid such tragedy.
The two of them knew nothing about this side of Tio. And there was yet another side of Tio that not even Hajime and the others were aware of.
“Say, it must have felt nice, right? Blasting the church to pieces? After all, they were the ones who spearheaded that betrayal, centuries ago. Was it not exhilarating to finally be able to slaughter your hated foe?”
Tio was lucky she could use saving Hajime as an excuse to destroy the church. After all, it wouldn’t have looked very good if she’d said the reason she’d massacred all those people was for revenge. She was lucky Aiko had been there with her too. Aiko’s own struggles with what she’d done had been a good way to divert attention away from Tio.
She’d been able to destroy the church, and gotten away with it without question. Naturally, Suzu and Ryutarou were shocked to discover just how deep Tio’s hatred ran, and how calculating she really was. They expected Tio to retort back against her copy, but she didn’t. Her silence was like a tacit confirmation that it was speaking the truth.
The copy’s claims were further bolstered by the fact that Tio’s breath continued growing weaker, to the point where she was at risk of being swallowed up by her copy’s. Elated, the copy continued revealing all of Tio’s dark secrets.
“The real reason you initially joined Hajime Nagumo’s party was because you believed you could use him, was it not?”
Hajime’s strength had been abnormal. Tio knew he’d eventually catch the gods’ attention. And they were the ones who’d orchestrated the whole betrayal.
“You knew that if the gods bared their fangs at Hajime Nagumo, he wouldn’t hesitate to fight back. Meaning he’d make for the perfect pawn to carry out your revenge. Isn’t that right?”
Considering how Tio normally acted around Hajime, it was impossible to believe she’d been harboring such dark thoughts. However, the copy’s words were the truth. Even if those feelings had been slight enough that Tio hadn’t been aware of them, somewhere deep in her heart, she had indeed thought such things.
Suzu and Ryutarou couldn’t believe that the masochistic woman who occasionally acted like a kind and dependable older sister had such a side to her. As they watched on in stunned silence, Tio finally turned toward them. There was no emotion in her expression. There was no cheerful smile, no kind twinkle in her eyes, no wisdom, nothing. Suzu and Ryutarou gasped.
“Humans, beastmen, demons, and gods. You hate all of them for destroying everything you held dear.”
500 years hadn’t been nearly enough time to quench the dark fires of hatred that burned in the depths of Tio’s heart. And now her copy was fanning the flames.
“But there is nothing wrong with that hatred of yours. In fact, we have every right to thirst for revenge!”
The copy’s words resonated with Tio. A part of her wanted to agree with her copy. But another part of her wanted to deny her desire for revenge. Her mother and father had always taught her to be kind to others, and to take the noble path regardless of what the rest of the world chose to do. The last thing she wanted to do was to betray their memory.
Aware of the conflict inside Tio, the copy grinned and held out a hand to Tio, its other hand still unleashing its breath.
“Take my hand. Together we can complete our revenge. There’s no need to hide the hatred smoldering within your heart. If I’m with you, your conscience will no longer dull the fangs of your malice. I can help you guide Hajime Nagumo down the path you desire. After all, that man thinks fondly of us. Manipulating him will be easy.”
The copy’s invitation was the kindling needed to transform the fire of Tio’s hatred into a raging inferno. Rather than try to break Tio’s spirit with caustic words, the copy had instead opted to try and lure her in with honeyed promises. It was the same tactic Ryutarou’s copy had used. If Tio took her copy’s hand, it was doubtful that she’d still be the same person.
At the very least, it would be impossible for Hajime and the others to maintain the same relationship with a Tio who was determined to get her comrades to join her on a deicide crusade.
The copy’s white breath grew even more powerful, and Tio’s weakened breath could barely keep it at bay. Its wavering light seemed to reflect the wavering of Tio’s heart.
“Tio-san, don’t listen to its bullshit!”
“Go back to being the Tio-san we know and love!”
Ryutarou and Suzu shouted at Tio, their voices tinged with desperation. They were doing their best to support her the way she’d supported them. The copy’s burning hot white breath was inches from Tio’s face now. At this rate, her options would be to either be blown away by the breath, or accept her copy’s proposal and become an avatar of vengeance.
If she chose the latter option, it was obvious Suzu and Ryutarou, witnesses to her dark pact, wouldn’t be allowed to leave alive.
But Suzu and Ryutarou weren’t at all worried about their own lives. They just didn’t want to see the dependable older sister of the party who’d helped push them along fall to the dark side. They much preferred the smiling, cheerful Tio who was always clinging to Hajime than the expressionless Tio they were seeing now. In fact, if Tio wasn’t going to listen to them, they were prepared to fight her copy themselves.
But just as they were preparing themselves to fight, Suzu and Ryutarou noticed something. The look in her eyes had changed. There was a hint of gentle kindness glimmering in her pupils, and her lips were slightly upturned into a smile. Even though she said nothing, Suzu and Ryutarou knew. They didn’t need to worry. They could just sit tight and watch.
Tio then turned back to her copy and said, “We have yet to learn our purpose in this world.”
Her voice was quiet. In fact, it sounded more like she was talking to herself than her copy.
“Is this body man or beast? If all things were made with a purpose, then the answer to that question must lie somewhere.”
“Those words…”
The copy’s eyes widened in surprise. Its surprise grew even greater when it realized its breath was no longer beating out Tio’s.
“For centuries we have been unable to find the answer. In which case, it is time we decided on an answer for ourselves!”
“Ngh, my power is… Impossible! What caused you to—?”
The copy glanced over at the two spectators, but then looked in front of her again and saw that her breath was the one being pushed back now. Black was encroaching on white, its dark luster filling the room. The speed of its advance accelerated, shredding through the copy’s breath. It couldn’t understand what was going on. It was certain it had been chipping away at the cracks in Tio’s heart. And indeed, until a few seconds ago, it had been the one growing stronger as Tio’s negative emotions overwhelmed her.
Yet now it was being utterly overwhelmed. As it watched in disbelief, Tio shouted over the roar of her breath, “A dragon’s eyes see the truth, piercing all lies and deceit!”
Perhaps they were the eyes of a beast, but their purpose was not to strike fear in the hearts of others. They were a symbol of wisdom, meant to see through the mists that misled people.
“A dragon’s talons tear through fortresses, striking down the evil sequestered within!”
So long as Tio had people to protect, she would strike down anything in her path. But she would only raise her talons to fight against evil.
“A dragon’s fangs shred through one’s own weakness, biting through hatred and wrath.”
It was precisely because dragonmen could transform into dragons that they needed to be strict with themselves. If ever they wavered, it was their duty to bare their fangs at their own soul. A dragonman’s pride lay in never letting hatred or anger control their actions.
“For once a dragon loses its benevolence, it is naught more than a beast.”
If the time ever came that Tio lost herself and used her power to hurt the innocent, she would admit that dragonmen were nothing more than beasts. But only then.
“So long as the blade of reason is my weapon—”
Tio narrowed her eyes. Her golden irises gave off a dazzling radiance. Her gaze pierced through her copy.
“Then we are not beasts, but dragonmen!”
Tio Klarus roared, howling her identity to the world. At the same time, an invisible wave of pressure emanated from her.
It wasn’t mana, nor was it the overwhelming bloodlust Hajime occasionally unleashed. It was the same noble, yet intimidating pressure Tio had unleashed when she’d annihilated the cathedral on the Divine Mountain. It was the majesty of a ruler, the weight of royalty.
“Impossible… You mastered yourself?”
The copy couldn’t believe what it was seeing. Without any impetus to bolster her, Tio had almost effortlessly rallied her spirit. That could mean only one thing.
Tio had full control over her mental state at all times. The copy hadn’t been reading Tio’s thoughts. She had been letting it read them. And only the ones she wanted to show.
From the very start, Tio had possessed such mastery over herself that she’d deceived even the labyrinth. If Hajime and the others were overpowered when it came to fighting prowess, then Tio was overpowered when it came to mental strength.
“Spirit of this labyrinth. I thank you. Thanks to your trial, I know that I can remain in control even in the face of ancient magic. Hopefully, this means I will be able to handle even the gods.”
“So you used this entire trial as an experiment… to see if you were capable of resisting the gods’ pull. No, not just that. You wanted to see if you could deceive even the gods…”
“Of course, I also wished to hear my own deepest desires from an objective perspective. A person’s heart is as vast and deep as an ocean. It was entirely possible I may have let some cracks slip in unnoticed. This proved a very enlightening trial.”
From the very beginning, Tio’s copy had been dancing in the palm of her hand. Retreating, it shook its head in disbelief. It needed to come up with a plan fast, or Tio’s breath would overwhelm it.
“Yet, my words were not lies. You truly do harbor hatred and anger in your heart, so how is it you can control yourself so perfectly despite those feelings burning within you?”
Tio closed her eyes in response. The sleeves of her kimono and her long black hair fluttered as a torrential whirlwind of mana formed around her. In that moment, she looked indescribably beautiful.
Had Hajime been present, even he would have been captivated by her appearance, regardless of whether or not Yue was also there. When Tio finally spoke, her words rang with the solemn splendor of a great empress.
“It appears you underestimated me. Who do you think I am?”
“Never forget the dark fire born in your heart on this day, but never forget the pride you hold dear as a member of the Klarus line, either. Live strong, Tio.”
Those were the final words Tio’s father, Kharga Klarus had told Tio before going off to die. As he’d asked, she’d lived while holding her hatred, her anger, her ugly emotions as close to her heart as she held her pride and conscience. With the oath she’d taken as a member of the dragonmen race her supporting pillar.
Everything she’d been entrusted, everything she’d inherited, was still with her. And those things had fused together to create an unbreakable core that formed her will.
That was why she could hold her head high and say, “I am Tio Klarus, proud descendant of the Klarus line and a noble dragonman!”
Because she was Tio, she would never break. No matter how deep her hatred, it would never be the only thing filling her heart. That was all there was to it.
The copy fell silent. It smiled faintly in resignation as if it knew there was no point in fighting any longer.
Calmly, Tio added, “The fangs of revenge are worthless. The only truly strong fangs are those belonging to a dragon. Allow me to show you.”
Tio’s breath pulsed, then expanded to dozens of times its size. It then blasted through the copy’s puny white breath, swallowing it whole. In the moment it did so, Tio’s breath looked like the open jaws of a ferocious dragon.
As the blinding black light of Tio’s breath faded away, Suzu and Ryutarou could see that nothing remained where the copy had once stood. They gulped, awed by what they’d just witnessed. It was only when they heard the soft rustling of cloth that they returned to their senses.
Tio swept her long black hair out of her eyes, her black kimono’s sleeve fluttering back and forth. She looked calm and aloof. There was no joy in her face at clearing the trial, nor was she overcome by emotion. She’d simply done what she needed to do. Slowly, she walked over to where Suzu and Ryutarou were waiting. Even the way she walked seemed elegant and refined. Not only was she completely unshakable, but she was also a peerless beauty.
“H-Holy crap… I think I might need to start calling her onee-sama too.”
“I’m not thinking anything. Nope, not anything at all. Dammit, I can’t control my thoughts.”
Ryutarou and Suzu were panicking a little. This was a return of the Super Tio who’d appeared back in Haltina’s labyrinth to help Kaori and Shea. Not only was she so cool it was kind of creepy, but she was also so dependable it was scary.
In fact, she seemed to have leveled up since then. Suzu and Ryutarou both felt that if they let their guard down, they’d just run into her arms. This time she was so overwhelmingly cool and dependable that it was neither creepy nor scary. Tio had evolved from Super Tio to Super Tio: Empress Edition. Right now, her charisma was enough to charm anyone.
Hearing Suzu and Ryutarou’s muttered conversation, Tio smiled gently at the two of them. Their hearts started beating faster.
“My apologies, you two. Though this was all part of my plan, it seems I worried you. However, I appreciated the encouragement. You have my thanks.”
“Oh, uh, it was nothing… Uhehehehe.”
“Y-Yeah. N-No need to thank us.”
Tio cocked her head to the side, wondering why the two of them were so flustered. Unfortunately, the gesture was so cute it caused Suzu and Ryutarou’s hearts to skip a beat.
She’s normally such a pervert, so how come she can act so cute now!? Ryutarou mentally screamed.
Tio looked behind Suzu and Ryutarou, at the passage they’d come in through.
“Hmm… So the trial rooms are all connected. Are you two the only ones who have met up?”
“I-I think so. We haven’t seen anyone else.”
“I see…” Tio muttered with a somewhat disappointed nod. She seemed oddly lonely. Of course, that only served to make her look sexier. Ryutarou could feel himself blushing. Fortunately, Tio was still a pervert at heart.
“If only Master were here. Surely he would have punished me for harboring such manipulative thoughts. Likely more harshly than ever before… What a waste.”
“That’s our line!”
Suzu and Ryutarou retorted in sync. It really was such a waste that Tio was the way she was. Still, Ryutarou and Suzu were a little bit relieved to have the usual Tio back. Of course, they’d never say that.
Afterward, the three of them headed down the new path that had opened up, with Tio in the lead. Her restoration magic blanketed Suzu and Ryutarou, illuminating the corridor with a soft glow.
“Oh, my apologies. I spent so much time being serious that I accidentally let my emotions slip through a little.”
“A little?”
Once again, Suzu and Ryutarou were in sync. They glared pointedly at Tio.
When she’d been acting serious, Tio’s graceful and noble demeanor had caused their hearts to start pounding faster, so her swap back to her old masochistic self had been even more jarring than usual.
Ryutarou’s glare was especially cold. He felt as though his emotions had just been toyed with by Tio. Even as they glared, Tio’s restoration spell worked its magic and Suzu and Ryutarou were healed completely; even their exhaustion was gone. Their bodies felt lighter than ever. It had only taken a few seconds for Tio to fully heal their relatively serious wounds.
“Wow… but even though your magic’s so amazing… I feel like I can’t praise it because of your personality. Still, thanks, Tio-san.”
“Yeah it feels kinda weird to be thanking a pervert but…thanks.”
“You’re welcome. However, Ryutarou, I take no joy in being insulted by you, so don’t bother. My apologies, but only Master is capable of sending shivers down my spine with his scorn.”
You’re making it sound like I tried to confess to you and just got shot down! Ryutarou seethed internally. He wanted to yell at Tio, but he had a feeling that would just cause a repeat of what had just happened so he held his tongue.
It was both infuriating and impressive how easily and quickly Tio could swap from a powerful dragon empress to a masochistic pervert. But even more impressive than that was—
“Man, Nagumo’s amazing…”
“I really don’t think you should be praising him for being able to handle Tio-san. If anything, I’m pretty sure Nagumo-kun’s just a sadist.”
Ryutarou was amazed that Hajime had the balls and the magnanimity to deal with Tio, but Suzu saw things differently. As far as she could tell, he was just the right level of callous to deal with a pervert like Tio.
After a few minutes of walking, the party spotted a dead end. It seemed they’d arrived at the next room.
“Hmm, I sense multiple people up ahead. It would seem some of the others have already met up.”
“I hope Nagumo’s one of those people. We need him to take his pet back before she drives me crazy,” Ryutarou muttered.
“Tio-san’s owner, please be beyond this wall.”
Suzu brought her hands together in prayer. That was how badly she wanted Hajime to take Tio off their hands.
Unfortunately, her prayers weren’t going to be answered every time. As the three of them neared the wall, it melted away to reveal—
“Mrrrrrrr! Yue you shneaky little bitch!”
“Shuth up! You shtupid pervert!”
“Jeez! Cut it out already, you two!”
Yue was lying on the floor with Kaori straddling her. The two of them were pulling each other’s cheeks, while Shea stood off to the side, attempting to get them to make up. Sadly, her attempts were futile.
“What’re they doing…?”
“Seriously…”
“This is hardly uncommon. The two are just good friends.”
Tio smiled, but Suzu and Ryutarou sighed in exasperation. Their childhood friend and someone they’d come to highly respect were in the middle of an unsightly catfight. Had they been seriously going at each other Suzu and Ryutarou would have stepped in to stop them, but it was obvious from the way they were pulling at each other’s cheeks and scratching at each other that they weren’t. Even though they’d just been restored to peak condition by Tio, a wave of exhaustion washed over the two of them.
Incidentally, the reason both of them had resorted to such juvenile tactics was because they’d already exhausted all of their mana fighting each other seriously. Noticing the arrival of newcomers, Shea turned to the newly formed entrance.
“Oh? Tio-san? And the people from the hero’s party. Looks like you all beat your trials. That’s great! Look, Yue-san, Kaori-san! Tio-san’s here! So stop fighting already and let’s get moving! Come on, take your hands off each other’s cheeks, and stop slapping each other! Hey, no kicking! Calm down and—”
Despite Shea’s entreaty, the kicking, slapping, and pulling continued. Shea had had enough of this tomfoolery.
“I said give it a fucking rest already!”
Running out of patience, Shea punched Kaori and Yue on their heads, using body strengthening to enhance the power of her fist. The force of her blows caused Kaori and Yue to scream out in pain. They cradled their heads and rolled around on the ground in agony.
“Hmm… It seems as though Yue and Shea’s positions have reversed ever since we entered this labyrinth. I suppose Yue is being affected by this labyrinth more than most…or perhaps Shea has simply grown that much in this short period,” Tio mused to herself as she watched Shea grab Yue and Kaori by the scruff of their necks and drag them toward her.
Her conjecture was spot-on. Shea’s growth both in terms of physical prowess and mental fortitude had been explosive. Especially after Hajime had officially accepted her as one of his girlfriends. She was no longer the rambunctious, difficult-to-manage newbie of the party. Now she was every bit as reliable as Yue. As a result, Yue had naturally started letting herself be spoiled by Shea the same way she let herself be spoiled by Hajime.
“Phew… Sorry for making you guys wait. The new passageway’s that way. Let’s get going, guys.”
“I must say, you’ve grown into quite the reliable leader, Shea.”
“Sheashea, you’re so cool…”
“It’s reassuring knowing you’ve got our backs, Shea-san.”
Tio, Suzu, and Ryutarou showered Shea with praise. Shea’s bunny ears perked up and she cocked her head to the side, still holding onto Yue and Kaori. It was a pretty strange sight, seeing the two of them sitting quietly in Shea’s arms.
With Shea in the lead, the party headed into the next passage.
“The only people we haven’t met up with are Hajime-kun, Shizuku-chan, and Kouki-kun.”
“Mmm… Hopefully Hajime’s next. I don’t want to run into any more duds.”
“Are you implying I’m a dud, Yue? Hmmm?”
Kaori and Yue bickered amicably with each other, attempting to pinch each other’s cheeks, but being prevented by Shea pulling them apart. All they could do was glare at each other and slap each other’s hands. Once they started getting too feisty Shea glared coldly at them, causing them to meekly quiet down.
“You two should at least walk on your own…” Ryutarou muttered, and Suzu and Tio nodded in agreement. Before either of them could retort, they arrived at the dead-end that indicated the entrance to the next room. But instead of hurrying forward, Shea and the others came to a halt. Shea’s ears twitched a few times, and her expression grew troubled.
After a few seconds, her eyes widened in surprise and she exclaimed, “Wha… Th-Those two are—?”
A few seconds later, Yue, Kaori, and Tio also picked up on what was going on beyond the wall and their expressions turned grim. Yue and Kaori extricated themselves from Shea’s arms, and Suzu and Ryutarou exchanged confused glances.
“There’s little point in idling here. Let us go see the situation for ourselves.”
“It’s not a friendly fight like ours are… is it?”
“Mmm… If he’s truly Hajime’s enemy, then I’ll kill him.”
“We’ll find out soon.”
Shea and Tio stepped forward, their expressions grim. Yue looked downright murderous, while Kaori was praying the situation was less serious than it seemed. Unfortunately, Kaori’s prayers weren’t answered. A storm of malice and bloodlust raged beyond the wall of ice. It seemed Hajime and Kouki were in the middle of a true deathmatch.
Diamond. diamond. diamond.
