“Huh!?”
Guanghui cried out in pain and was once again thrown back against the wall. Even though the Holy Armor's magic power gathering function could extend the duration of "Limit Break", wasting it recklessly would only be a waste.
The time left for Guanghui is running out.
"You don't want to listen? You're even trying to deny Shizuku's heart."
The phantom's footsteps approached, and he shook his head while giving Guanghui a cold look.
Breathless from the impact, Guanghui used his holy sword instead of a cane to barely stand up, kneeling on the ground in an awkward position, glaring fiercely at the phantom. His usual cheerful and good-natured image was gone.
"That would never happen... absolutely impossible."
His deep voice was like the growl of a wild animal, while Phantom's tone was calm and composed in comparison. Phantom's words turned into a rope, tightly binding Guanghui's heart.
"Sometimes I vent my anger on you, sometimes I get upset, and sometimes I smile from the heart... Actually, you've already noticed, right?"
“…She’s like this to everyone.”
"Wasn't Shizuku displeased when she saw Nanyun, Yue, and Shia together?"
“…She was just annoyed with Nagumo, who didn’t know the situation…”
"When Shizuku looks at Kaori, does she sometimes look embarrassed?"
"...She's just worried about Kaori..."
"Haha, even I think I'm really stubborn. Are you really that unwilling to believe it?"
The phantom extended the magic sword towards Guanghui.
Guanghui glared at the phantom fiercely, as if trying to pierce through it with his gaze. However, the phantom was of course unmoved and even laughed out loud.
At that moment, the phantom suddenly murmured, "Are you here?" and looked towards the empty ice wall. He grinned like a crescent moon hanging high in the night sky.
"The timing is perfect."
"Stop looking so relaxed!"
Guanghui took the opportunity to raise the holy sword.
Without even looking at the phantom, he successfully blocked it with the magic sword. As the two blades clashed, he turned his gaze back to Guanghui and spoke as if announcing a death sentence.
"See, reality is visiting?"
"What nonsense are you talking about!"
The next moment, part of the ice wall melted and a new road appeared.
There is only one reason why a new road appeared even though it has not been conquered yet.
However, Kouki, who knew nothing about this, cast his gaze over without any psychological preparation and saw that scene.
"Still in the trial..."
What reached his ears was a familiar voice, but it was also the voice he least wanted to hear at the moment.
What came into view was also the scene he least wanted to see.
The person who appeared before him was Hajime, carrying Shizuku on his back.
Guanghui's gaze was drawn to her, and Shizuku's expression was deeply engraved in his mind like a brand.
Resting her cheek on Hajime's shoulder, she fell asleep peacefully from the bottom of her heart—Shizuku's expression was filled with happiness.
Something in Guanghui's heart broke.
The pure white light turned into a huge waterfall, pouring down from the top of his head.
There was a familiar figure in front of his sight, but with an expression he had never seen before.
Guanghui, with a face as ferocious as a demon, leaped high into the air, wielding a holy sword that emitted a strange light, and slashed at Shi.
For a moment, Hajime wondered if the other party had mistaken him for a monster and attacked reflexively. If that were the case, all he had to do was cast "Yaegashi Barrier!" and Kouki would have desperately stopped the attack. But...
(He's lost his mind.)
Guanghui's ferocious expression was needless to say, and his eyes were even more obvious. From those cloudy pupils that revealed a hint of madness, it was clear at a glance that Guanghui's mind was in an abnormal state.
If you judge there is danger, jump away and take evasive action.
The next moment, a resounding roar and flash of light swept toward where Hajime had been. Unbelievably deep cracks carved into the icy surface. Though they repaired in an instant, the damage clearly showed that Kouki had attacked with murderous intent.
Hajime glanced at the phantom standing a little distance away, grinning. Then, turning back, he saw Shizuku, who, after the loud noise and the hasty avoidance, only grumbled "Hmm," and continued to sleep soundly.
While feeling helpless, a sense of foreboding emerged in his heart.
Even so, he still had to ask the person himself about the reason. So, Hajime cast a suspicious look at Guanghui.
"...What do you mean, Tian No He?"
Guanghui tightly grasped the holy sword, half of which was embedded in the ground, and muttered something in a low voice.
He lowered his head, his bangs covering his eyes, making it impossible to see his expression.
“…Yes…I…don’t…”
"Huh? I can't hear you. Anyway, your opponent isn't us, it's over there—"
"us?"
Guanghui turned around and looked at Hajime with a look that made the hairs on the back of his head stand on end. His eyes, half-penetrated from between his bangs, held a strange, eerie light.
"Why are you separating me from you two? Shizuku is not your property. Stop joking."
"...Stop talking nonsense and end this battle now. The enemy is over there."
Hajime replied calmly, but seeing Kouki slowly approaching with the holy sword in tow, his foreboding grew stronger.
As expected, it didn't make any sense. Murderous aura and magical power suddenly surged from Guanghui's body.
“…Yeah, let’s get this over with. No need for you to nag me, I’ll end this too!”
Guanghui opened his eyes wide, but there was no trace of rationality in his wide pupils.
He released a piercing murderous aura and a swamp-like hatred, then launched a surprise attack. The holy sword, wrapped in a shining blade, slashed towards Hajime's neck without hesitation.
"Hmm, has he fallen? This bastard!"
“Shut up! If I kill you, everything will return to normal! Disappear now!!”
The ominous premonition turned into certainty.
Forced into a corner by the phantom, Guanghui was defeated by himself.
Hajime moved his body, avoiding the trail of light trailing from the holy sword. He calmly stared at the blade brushing past his bangs, while keeping an eye on Shizuku behind him.
From what Kouki had just said and done, Hajime realized that he might have to stop the other party himself, and cursed inwardly, "This timing is really bad."
“—[Soaring Flash: Eight Wings]!”
“Ohhh~”
With minimal movement, Hajime dodged the arc of light slash that was heading towards him.
"Calm down, Amanogawa. You don't mind if Yaegashi dies?"
From the listener's perspective, this line sounds like a vicious criminal taking hostages. But this is an indisputable fact.
However, the current Guanghui is unable to communicate normally.
"You despicable bastard! Let Shizuku go!"
Even though he had drawn the opponent into a lethal attack, the light that took Hajime's words literally and negatively became more and more excited. The slashing storm flew wildly with even more fierceness.
At this moment, Sleeping Beauty finally began to wake up. Although she was extremely tired, she was too careless, even insensitive.
"Hmm, um~ what~? Let me sleep a little longer..."
"It's a shame you can sleep in this situation. If you don't wake up right now, I'll use you as a human cannonball."
Shizuku was moaning like a spoiled child, still looking sleepy, which made Hajime rage.
Veins bulged in his forehead as he squeezed Shizuku's thigh hard. If she still refused to wake up, Hajime was seriously considering using her as a human cannonball. Perhaps the shocking sight would bring Kouki back to his senses.
However, her hopes (?) were dashed. Shizuku cried out, "It hurts!" and opened her eyes. At the same moment, Hajime summoned a cross-shaped floater and opened a four-point barrier. A slash of light, shattering everything on the other side of the invisible spatial barrier, ignited a powerful flash of light.
Through the loud noise and the ripples of magic energy, she finally noticed Shizuku, who was currently fighting, and quickly jumped off Hajime's back.
"He's a very deep sleeper, what a bold fellow."
“I, I’m not being too bold, it’s just that Nagumo’s back is so comfortable…”
"Never mind, Yaegashi, whatever happens to you. Instead of that, let's figure out how to deal with that guy."
As he finished speaking, Hajime unleashed a burst of explosive shrapnel from two cross-shaped floaters. The torrential rain of light slashes came to a sudden halt. The shells, launched from strategically placed angles, formed a cross of overlapping beams before Hikaru's eyes, unleashing shockwaves in the air.
“W-What do you mean by anything is fine… Anyway, what exactly is going on here—huh?”
Shizuku, slightly shocked by Hajime's words, had tears in her eyes, but the scene that came into view after the flash of light faded made her stand there speechless.
Shizuku showed an expression of disbelief.
The one who attacked them was actually Guanghui.
This was no surprise. After all, the opponent who unleashed such a powerful attack was her childhood friend.
"It seems he has fallen and considers me the root of all evil."
“How could this be…”
Hajime turned his gaze towards the radiant phantom. The phantom, with a smile on its face, looked at Hajime and the others.
Shizuku, who had roughly grasped the situation from this scene, flashed a sharp gaze the next moment and shouted loudly at Kouki who was about to launch a cannon of light.
"Kui! No! I can't lose to another me! Recover my sanity and defeat myself!"
Shizuku looked at Guanghui, her eyes filled with deep worry.
Despite his many personality issues, Kouki is a kind and compassionate childhood friend. He is Yaegashi's protégé (mentor), and their families have been close friends since childhood.
However, the other party now wore an expression twisted in a way she had never seen before, filled with murderous intent and hatred. Shizuku, unable to bear it any longer, shouted desperately, trying to cheer Kouki up.
But Guanghui looked back at Shizuku with cloudy eyes, a murderous smile on his face, and responded with a nonsensical word.
"...It's okay. I'll definitely save Shizuku."
"Kui? What are you talking about..."
"You've been brainwashed by Nagumo, right? Don't worry, it should be undoable once you defeat Nagumo."
Kouki turned his gaze away from the stunned Shizuku and looked at Hajime.
"...Nagumo, even if you were my former classmate, if you dare to hurt my most precious childhood friend, I won't let you go. I will defeat you and undo the brainwashing inflicted on Kaori and the other girls! From then on, I will save the world with them!!"
It's completely impossible to communicate.
The brilliance at this moment was just like the one he had with Shizuku on the night Kaori, Hajime and the others set out on their journey, without having spoken to her in the [Holyard Town].
That night, Shizuku's heavy words stopped Guanghui's rampage.
He was unable to change his mindset immediately, and continued to harbor many thoughts about Hajime. Consequently, Kouki provoked arguments with him several times during the journey. Even so, thanks to Shizuku's words, Kouki remained with Hajime and stopped mentioning Kaori.
But on the other hand, all of this can also be said to be "because Shizuku is by my side."
There is a "childish" side to his values. The "ideal justice" deeply rooted in his heart during childhood was never blocked by the high walls of reality, so it is only natural that he has grown up with that sense of justice to this age.
For the childish Kouki, having his last childhood sweetheart, who filled him with a possessive desire, taken away from him would naturally cause him to "run wildly out of control."
The phantom revealed the truth he was unwilling to admit. Guanghui could only desperately deny it, desperately look away, and try to stop himself at the edge of the cliff...
But he never expected that Shizuku, his last spiritual pillar, would lean on Hajime with a look of happiness. The reality was staring him in the face, and even Kouki had to admit it.
Once he admits the fact that he desperately wants to deny, the rest will be like a stone rolling down a slope.
A heart that has lost control willfully replace reality with a fantasy that suits its wishes, because this is the only way to escape the pain.
In other words, Kouki imagines that Nagumo Hajime is the root of all evil, has brainwashed his childhood sweetheart and several other girls, and intends to prevent him from saving the world.
Shizuku was speechless at Kouki's completely confusing statement. However, even though Kouki's exposed inner thoughts were disgusting, she still managed to squeeze out a few words.
"Kui! Cheer up! Don't be fooled!"
"Shizuku..."
Shizuku spoke calmly and gently, using the tone of someone counseling a younger brother she had raised, choosing her words carefully. She knew very well that if she gave up, Glory would fall into an abyss from which there would be no return.
"Listen up, Kouki. Facing the parts of yourself you hate is incredibly difficult. I almost died myself, so I understand. But if you don't have the courage to accept it, you won't be able to move forward. If you want to save more people, you can't indulge in wishful thinking. Your enemy is yourself, the other Kouki standing there sneering! Wake up!"
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