The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic

The way I know how Usato fights.

Usato's own inhuman reflexes, his defense with his cage hands, his binding and resistance with Nair's magic, his dark magic robe with Ferrum's dark magic, his many techniques applying outbursts of lineage reinforcement, and...my technique of adding elasticity to magic power... Elasticity weaving.

I have done everything I could do, and by using it differently depending on the situation, I have been able to deal with any opponent.

But Usato in front of me is different.

He was too different from the Usato we knew.

"---oh!"

His movements were like a storm.

Spinning around and charging at his senpai, Usato's behavior is too out of the ordinary to be human.

Swinging his long sword, which should be wielded with both hands, he easily cuts down trees that would otherwise be obstacles, thrusts the small sword in his opposite hand into the ground, and forcibly changes his direction of movement---all with such ferocious force that he is sure to corner his senpai. He attacks.

"You are responding to my movement ......!"

"I'm used to it after what I just saw. ......!"

"That's the same here!　You are too adaptable, aren't you!"

Usato and senpai engage in sword fights at blinding speed.

However, as Usato slams his long sword down with a storm of spinning blows, Senpai has no choice but to fall back.

The long sword Usato is using---that's the one I used to use.

It was broken in a previous battle with Koga, and it is the weapon I have used the longest in this world.

"Are you dragging our deaths around with you? ......!"

I was very upset that Usato was using that instead of his signature fist.

It's as if he's trying to make sure that I and my senpai's deaths are his fault and he'll never forget it, and I feel helpless.

"Hmph!"

Usato thrusts a small sword into the ground while swinging his long sword.

Spinning on his axis, he spins even faster and leaps at his senpai with the force of his momentum.

"My sword is so awkward!

He quickly bends down, and several trees are cut in half at once.

This is a swordsmanship without any swordsmanship skills.

But perhaps it is because of this that he has been able to sublimate his excessive power into a technique.

"Ka ka ka ka, Kazuki!　Help!　Oh no, he's going to break my sword!

Senpai! Get a foothold!

He releases a disk-shaped magic bullet, which stalls around the senior.

Using it as a foothold, she dodged Usato's long sword with a single stroke of her hand, and then she struck him with a kick to the neck, which was covered in electric shocks.

A momentary discharge, but Usato does not seem to be intimidated in the slightest, and turns his head to face the senior who threw the kick.

"Oh, ...... sorry?"

"......"

He tried to thrust his sword into his senpai, who couldn't do anything until he landed on his feet, but... I won't let that happen!

I fire a volley of magic bullets from my left arm into Usato.

Usato!

I fire fifteen magic bullets at Usato, manipulating them simultaneously.

To prevent them from disappearing, he gives them elasticity...!

This will make him move...

"Sweet."

Usato slams his foot down on the ground, causing the ground to rise up like tatami mats and erasing half of the magic bullets.

In addition, he struck the raised ground with his long sword, which he swung widely, sending a large amount of debris toward us.

"......!"

As he drew his magic bullet and made the debris disappear, he saw Usato leaping toward him and about to swing his long sword down.

"I guess we'll just have to take him on. ......!"

He rolls to avoid the attack, draws the sword on his back, and floats a magic bullet in his cage.

He is at a disadvantage in melee. It's no longer a situation where you can say "hold back"!

He disengages his elasticity and shoots a small magic bullet, which has the ability to disappear, at Usato.

"......!"

If he can take away the freedom of his limbs, he should be able to neutralize him. ......!

He directs the magic projectile at Usato with a feeling of disgust at the fact that he is directing his light magic at him.

Seeing the magic bullet heading for him with cold eyes, Usato thought he would evade it without hesitation, but instead, he plunged into the magic bullet without care.

"What?

The magic bullet hits his leg and shoulder, leaving a hole, but the wound regenerates at a speed that even healing magic cannot imagine.

As he catches the small sword with his basket hand, a cold voice emanates from Usato.

"Your aim is too weak. You have to aim for the head, or you won't be able to defeat me.

"Usato!　What did you take ......!　You're not normal!

"......A drop from the Kureha Fountain. Well, you wouldn't understand if I told you..."

He was hit only by the force of his arm and staggered backward.

He tries to quickly create a magic bullet and releases it, but... he hesitates involuntarily.

"---You're too careless."

"Ah!"

While I was hesitating, Usato stepped into my bosom at once.

Before I knew it, he had let go of his long sword and was pointing it at my torso.

"Shima..."

"Healing Crushing Fist."

"Gah! ......"

A strong impact hit me in the abdomen, and I was sent flying backward.

Still, he manages to stay on his feet and adjusts his stance, using his sword for support.

Breathing on my shoulder, I see Usato walking toward me, carrying the sword he picked up on his shoulder, brushing off the blood on his hand.

"Kazuki. You're too kind."

Usato then swung his sword carelessly at my head.

"Gghh......!"

I managed to parry it diagonally with my sword, but the bone in my right arm creaked and I felt a sharp pain.

He managed to parry it with his sword, but the bone of his right arm creaked, and he felt intense pain.　Now I may have cracked the bone of my right arm......!

If he backed down at this point, he would surely get hit.

I took a big step forward, and I unleashed my left fist, which was filled with light magic, at Usato's shoulder.

WOOOOHHHH!

That's why you're so sweet.

Before my hand can reach him, Usato's knee slams into my stomach.

Coughing on my knees from the intense pain, Usato looks down at me.

"Don't go easy on me. You should be stronger than this.

"...... Usa,t?"

I can't see his face in the shadows.

Usato raises his sword, but before he can bring it down, his senpai slashes at him from behind.

"I won't let you kill anyone. ......!"

"I can't. I've come too far to turn back.

I don't care!

You're stubborn.

"That's me!　That's the troublesome senior you know, Suzune Inukami!"

"You say that yourself? ......!"

Turning around, Usato repelled the senpai's attack.

With that, the two disappear and a high-speed battle ensues.

Usato follows with his high-speed movement, which is a mastery of the electric shock system, and his movements that transcend even the limits of human beings with the power of the mysterious water called the Kureha Fountain.

While the battle heated up, destroying the surroundings and scattering electric shocks, I was thinking about something else as I was recovering with my abdomen held down.

"Usato, you are ......."

I've always felt strange.

If Usato was serious about killing me and my senpai, there was something obviously unnatural about the battle so far.

I had never questioned the fact that Usato had become my enemy and I was supposed to fight him, but now I finally realized it.

"No way. ......"

I felt anger welling up inside me.

In a sense, this may be the first time I have ever felt such anger.

And why Usato was fighting us.

Why Usato is the way he is now.

If what I think is true, I must be angry with Usato.

"......"

He removes his hand from his abdomen and kneads the magic.

No more hesitation.

I will not harm you, and I will not kill you.

I will do everything in my power to stop Usato without regard for myself.

"If you think I'm being naive, just say so!　I have a lot to say to you, too!

He thrusts his hands forward and forcibly creates twice as many magic bullets as he can make at the same time.

He makes all of them elastic---reenacting the outburst of Usato's system reinforcement.

"Senpai!　I'm going to get caught in the middle!　I'm sorry!"

"Yeah, okay!　What?　What do you mean...

"Spread!

The system reinforcement is triggered, and fresh blood gushes out from his right hand, which is leaking magic power.

The shockwave that accompanies it causes the magic projectile to spread out in all directions, sending it flying over a wide area.

What?

The magic bullets, which were shot out with an acceleration that I could never have achieved with my magical manipulation, bounced off the obstacles around them, and rushed toward the two of them with a mysterious trajectory.

"---I see, that's how it works!　Thunder Beast Mode 3!"

The senior, clad in purple lightning, shoots back the magic bullets flying outward toward Usato one after another.

I quickly manipulate the magic bullets, panicking a little when he starts to do something different from my intention.

"Attraction!

The magic bullets that are heading toward Usato are absorbed by Usato, restricting his movement.

Seeing the magic bullets absorbing into his body, Usato's movement slows down, but he quickly changes his target to me and comes toward me.

But...his movement is so slow that even I can see him.

"Strengthening ......!"

He throws his sword, and cages the magic power in his left arm.

The condensed light system magic power turns into a dangerous substance that annihilates everything it touches.

"Kazuki!

USATO!

---...and he swings the long sword, which has been transformed into a handheld sword.

Without a glance at the long sword, which melts from the base like butter, he catches the next small sword in his palm and obliterates it.

"......!"

Clench your teeth!

In an instant, Usato loses his weapon and raises his blood-soaked right fist.

In response, Usato's eyes widen, then he smiles a small smile and lets go of the hilt of his weapon, dropping it to the ground.

Usato is hit on the cheek, and falls backward without even taking a stance.

"Huh ...... huh ......!　Ow......!"

My right hand is covered with blood due to the sudden consumption of magic power and the fact that I had triggered the system reinforcement myself.

I was breathing on my shoulder, and the senior rushed to the fallen Usato and spoke to him in a bewildered tone.

"Kazuki-kun,...... please tend to your wound. ......"

"No, not now."

I don't have time for this now.

I grab Usato as he lies there helplessly.

He has already lost his will to fight, and I glare at him and slam the words I wanted to say into his mouth in anger.

"You're the one who's holding back!　From the very beginning!

"......!"

"It doesn't suit you!　It's not like you to force yourself to act so bad!"

It was only a matter of time before he figured it out.

Usato had been aware of it since the first time he was cut down by his senpai.

That's why his tone of voice had changed back to the respectful one he uses when talking with senpai, and when senpai grabbed his arm, she was fine.

If Usato had really intended to kill her, it would have been over when he grabbed her arm.

"You are no different from the Usato we know!"

"......"

"He's a kind, good-natured, reliable ...... friend of mine!"

That's how it was with me.

There were plenty of chances to kill me fighting without really deciding to fight.

When I used that healing crushing fist technique, or when I kicked him in the knee, if I think about it, I could have easily killed him with the power that Usato has now.

"You knew it, didn't you? That we weren't fakes.

"---They're just as fake as the rest of us. Because they are different from the Senpai and Kazuki I know."

When Usato finally says this, he looks up at the sky and smiles a self-mocking smile.

"I knew it, ...... even he knew it. I knew you weren't the Senpai and Kazuki I knew. I didn't know what that meant,...... but if you were there in real life, I didn't care about anything else."

"Did you know who I was?"

When the older man pointed at him in surprise, Usato smiled fondly.

"You are the only person I know who would say such crazy things during a fight.

"Ah,ee......ko, my fiancée is a fact."

"I wish it was a fake."

"You don't like it that much?

I think it's bad enough that you're trying to fabricate facts on your own.

When I was a bit taken aback by his senior, Usato opened his mouth again with a small sigh.

"I'm a half-hearted person who couldn't become a member of the ...... rescue squad or a healing magician. I was half a man, a fool who was crushed by the weight of what he had lost and as a result became a murderer."

"Usato ......"

"How can I face them after all this time? The senpai and Kazuki I knew are dead. I have taken many lives because of their deaths.

I don't know what kind of life Usato had after we died in this world.

But I do know that it was not a half-hearted one.

"Is that why he wanted us to defeat him?"

"...... honestly, I don't know. Did he want me to stop, or did he want me to kill him? ....... But, yeah..."

He raises his upper body and looks down at the two swords whose hilts have fallen to the ground.

The two swords that Senpai and I left behind.

If we only look at the result, we have destroyed something important to Usato, but for him, who is living in the present, these swords are nothing more than a fetter.

"I've cut off my unfulfilled love...... or perhaps it would be more correct to say that you've cut it off."

"Grua."

He muttered to himself, and Bulrin, who had been watching our fight, came up to him.

He puts his hand on Bulrin's cheek.

"Thanks. For keeping your hands to yourself."

"Guru."

"I'm okay now. I'm fine now. ......

Usato stands up unsteadily and looks back at us, clad in healing magic.

The effect of the drop from the Kureha Fountain had worn off, and he seemed to be as close to the Usato we knew as possible, now that he had regained his composure.

"I won't ask why you two are here..."

"Actually, you know what?　I was sent back to this world by a bastard named Kannagi while I was infiltrating the Demon King's territory to exterminate the Demon King!　Next time I see him, I'm going to do everything in my power to catch him, put on animal ears and a tail, and make him regret his birth!"

"...... Well, it's a fantasy world. I'm sure there's a lot going on. I won't ask too many questions.

Usato looks nostalgic even at his senpai's words that ruin the atmosphere.

Then he turned his body toward the senior again and bowed deeply.

"I am sorry. I got you into this on my own. To be honest, I was scared when I first fought with you, but I was relieved to see that you are still my senpai.

"Hey, Usato-kun. Is that a compliment?"

"Of course I am.

Usato smiled at me and then turned to me and bowed his head in the same way as his seniors.

"I'm sorry, Kazuki. I said you were sweet, but ...... you're wrong. Your compassion is not weakness. It is, without a doubt, your strength that surpasses all others."

"......usato"

"So, no matter who denies it, you go on the path you think is right."

"Yeah, okay."

After all, the world may have changed, but the fundamentals remain the same.

Usato is still Usato.

As I keep his words firmly in my mind, I notice that the body of my senpai next to me is gradually becoming transparent.

"Senpai, your body is ......!"

"So are you. Does that mean your time has come?

He is taken back to his original world.

I had so much more to tell the Usato of this world.

Usato saw us slowly fading away and spoke to us without caring.

"Senpai, Kazuki. Am I in your world?"

"...... yes."

"Are you bothering them as much as I am?"

"No, I'm more of a nuisance to you."

"Senpai, you were aware of it? ......!"

It was a surprising fact.

Usato smiles, somewhat surprised at his senpai's words.

"Then, please make such a happy person even more trouble. Maybe I'm a true healer who doesn't rely on Kureha's fountain or engage in desperate battles.

""......""

My brain conjures up images of Usato fighting even crazier than the one in front of me.

Usato here is pure strength, but I could manage it, but ...... I'm afraid of what Usato in our world can really do to us. .......

"I guess it's time to go."

"Usato, you are ......"

I'm going my own way.

Usato says it straight to the point.

Our bodies are disappearing.

I will never see Usato in front of me again.

He knows this, too, and he opens his mouth with a sad ...... smile on his face, but he keeps smiling.

"Thanks to you two, I can finally move forward.

With these words, the scene in front of me shifted.

Kannagi said he would give us nightmares.

He said he would make us give up our naivety.

But no.

I'll do what I think is right.

Once again, remembering the words of Usato from another world, I face Kannagi once more with my senpai.