"...Even though I said that just now, I don't think you'll die. You're the one protecting them. The only one who has to go is... me."

"E-Sato?"

Hearing that Huili suddenly stopped speaking in a boyish tone, Ling raised her head and let the tears continue to flow.

Huili turned her head away, her expression looking even more displeased.

"Didn't you already know this? Why are you still crying?"

“That’s… because…”

Ling hesitated, unable to speak. And Huili wasn't really asking her.

Of course Eri knew why Ling was crying.

"...What an idiot. What on earth could you possibly want to do with a traitor, such a scumbag?"

The white world began to collapse from the corners.

Eri continued to mutter, looking at the part that was beginning to collapse, intentionally or unintentionally.

"Things like 'wanting to be together' or 'wanting to protect'... such important words shouldn't be said sincerely for someone like me."

"Eri...Suzu is..."

"I told you, this is disgusting. Switch to the first person."

“Ugh, Eri…”

The space collapsed, separating the two. Almost everything except the space beneath their feet vanished, and a shimmering light gradually filled the space.

Now, there was no way to express any feelings to each other except through words. Perhaps because of this, Eri decided to at least continue speaking.

She continued to mutter in a monologue. That was undoubtedly her most straightforward feeling at the moment, without any pretense.

"...If it had been you I met on the bridge back then, I wonder what would have happened? It's pointless to even think about it, huh. I'm the dumbest one."

"Eri, Suzu—I'm so glad to be your friend! Even if it's fake, even if it's twisted, I'm still happy!"

The area beneath their feet finally vanished completely. The figures of the two began to dissipate like sand in the wind.

Hearing Ling's cry, Eri, who had been turning her face away, finally turned around.

Her face was expressionless, but a hint of a smile played at the corner of her mouth. She looked relieved, like a lost child who had finally found a home to return to.

Then, the last words of the girl named Nakamura Eri were heard by the girl named Taniguchi Suzu, her former friend—no, perhaps still her friend.

"...Bye, Ling. Only when I'm with you can I feel a little calm."

“──!”

Ling's cry was swallowed up by the gradually disappearing world and could not be heard.

However, at the last moment, Huili gave her a somewhat helpless smile, so Ling believed that she must have heard it.

My heartfelt feelings turned into tears, sliding down my cheeks.

The ruined city, razed to the ground except for the area behind Suzu, was filled with sobs.

Ling sat on the ground in a duck-like position, her head tilted back as she wept. The twin iron fans in her hands gradually disintegrated, fragments falling from her hands as if they had accomplished their mission.

Behind her, Shizuku and the others were completely protected and did not suffer any harm. However, no one could speak to Ling.

Shizuku and the others were unaware of the mysterious phenomenon that Suzu had just experienced.

Even so, you know that her tears were shed for the friends she cherished.

Ling's back is so heartbreaking, yet also looks sacred.

Shizuku and the others could only watch silently as Ling acted like this.

Finally, Ling seemed to have cried enough and finally calmed down. She wiped the tears from her face and stood up with all her strength, even though her eyes were still red and swollen.

She gathered her spirits and turned around with a vigorous expression. With this attitude, she told her companions—I'm fine now. I won't stop and will continue to move forward.

"Alright! Shizuku, Kouki-san, Ryuutarou-san, let's move forward!"

An innocent smile graced her face. It was the same smile she always wore, the one she used to protect her friends in a way that went beyond the barrier itself. But now, it had a touch of maturity.

Her smile now is even more charming than when she was in Japan and when she was encouraging her friends in the Great Maze.

Shizuku and Kouki's eyes widened in surprise, while Ryuutarou was so attracted that his ears even turned red.

In the end, the outstretched hand still failed to reach Huili and failed to bring her back.

Shizuku and Ryuutarou must have felt the same pain and helplessness. Although their hearts ached, seeing Ling's smile, they couldn't help but smile as well.

Because the one who wanted to bring Eri back the most was undoubtedly Ling.

Guanghui was the only one left, his face turning ashen, as if he couldn't bear the regret and worry in his heart.

Guanghui seemed to want to say something, but when he met Ling's eyes, he was speechless.

Guanghui didn't know how to describe Ling's eyes.

He only knew that he shouldn't say anything now. Ling didn't want any words now.

Ling must have hidden the story between her and Huili in a treasure chest deep in her heart. To say anything to her now would be like breaking into her heart and opening her treasure chest.

That would be too inhumane, even people outside of Guanghui know it.

So, instead, Guanghui didn't intend to speak, but simply clenched his fists in front of his chest. He vowed that he would never forget. He would always remember what happened to Huili, remembering the regret and heartache that cut like a knife.

Kouki turned his gaze towards Shizuku and Ryuutarou. They nodded in response.

"Okay, let's go after them!"

"But, Ryuutarou and I can't move..."

"And the clock tower has collapsed. There's no entrance or exit to the connecting dimension anywhere. What should we do now?"

In order to respond to Ling's feelings, the three of them tried their best to appear positive and began to think about what to do next.

"I've heard that there aren't just any ruined cities in this space. I've heard there are cities from other eras of the same civilization..."

"Then let's go look for other cities! If we search from the sky on a skywalk, we'll definitely find them!"

"And you can even recover while moving."

"Wow, no time to rest? Well, there's nothing I can do."

Suzu excitedly soared high into the sky, urging her friends on. Seeing her like that, Ryuutarou, with a wry smile, took out his skyboard and, along with Kouki, took to the air. Shizuku followed suit.

After confirming that all her companions were airborne, Ling glanced at the ground.

The sadness and reluctance in her heart made her bite her lips and murmur something in a low voice.

Although no one else heard it, it must have been a farewell.

Then, a vibrant and powerful smile appeared on Ling's face, just like her usual self, and she shouted an order.

"Alright, everyone, follow me!"

"Sure thing."

"Haha, that's exactly what you should do."

"I'm really impressed by you."

When you stretch out your hand, there are things you can grasp and things you cannot grasp.

The four of them, each with their own thoughts, steeled themselves a bit and flew away quickly into the sky of another world.

Volume 12, Chapter 4, White Dragon and Platinum Apostle

The sky was filled with thick dark clouds.

Thunder and lightning kept interlacing, the storm was coming with great force, and there was a vast ocean with strong winds and waves.

"Wow, I hate this space the most!"

As they rode the skyboard through the storm, Shia grumbled with annoyance.

Thanks to the protection of the wind barrier set up by Tio, they were not soaked.

However, Hajime and Tio reacted the same way as her, seeming very impatient.

"This is already the fourth dimension... Hmm, are they really trying to make things difficult for us?"

"It's possible. After all, this is his territory. He should be able to move us wherever he wants."

After parting ways with Shizuku and the others, Hajime and the others moved from the clock tower in the ruined city to the next dimension. Since then, they have passed through three dimensions.

The first is a world where the earth and sky are reversed. Local gravity is disrupted, and objects fly in all directions, up and down, left and right.

The second space, in simple terms, resembled an art gallery. It was an underground space with a maze-like complexity, neatly arranged with a terrifying number of statues. They included humans, demons, demihumans, tiny figures, giants, monsters and gigantic creatures never before seen, and even alien forms whose existence was indeterminate.

The third space is the library. In a white space without sky or earth, huge bookshelves are arranged in a maze, containing books in various languages ​​and bindings.

"So, the enemies that appeared are all troublesome looking. Are they trying to make things difficult for us?"

Shia clapped her hands as if suddenly realizing something.

In a space where the world is upside down, the three of them are attacked by a group of unidentified quadrilateral pyramidal objects. These creatures appear more like machines than living things, but their materials and structure are completely unknown. They possess the ability to interfere with gravity and fly in formation like fighter jets, challenging the group to an aerial battle.

However, all of them were shot down by Hajime using Agni Alcorn.

In the underground space filled with statues, as expected, the statues moved and attacked the group.

So, Hajime used Agni Alcorn to blast them all.

As for the space that is like a library maze, the books on the shelves summon magic or creatures to attack the group.

So he started burning all the books by Agnes Alcorn.

"Having said that, in reality, it wasn't difficult at all."

"Agni is really showing off his abilities! We, on the other hand, are completely useless..."

"It's more cost-effective to use up ammunition than to waste your strength. After all, I also feel that we've prepared too much."

Hajime said this while shrugging his shoulders while checking the direction with a compass.

Furthermore, the reason we didn't fly above the rain clouds was because there were a lot of enemies flying around in that space, and they looked quite troublesome. Those enemies wouldn't descend below the rain clouds, so it was easier to advance in the storm. Just be careful of the storm and lightning.

However, there are always exceptions to everything.

Shia's bunny ears twitched in response. After a snap, Hajime and Tio also looked up.

The next moment, a loud noise like fingernails scratching glass echoed around.

Rain clouds churned, and from there descended a gigantic pterosaur. The dragon folded its wings and burst out of the cloud like a cannonball, hurtling down towards Hajime and the others.

Therefore, Hajime took out Agni Alcorn in a flash—before that.

"Don't even think about it!"

Shia shouted, and from her treasure chest, she pulled out an iron ball roughly the size of a human arm. She then grasped the Veled Luken, twisted her upper body to the limit, and swung it with all her might.

Because the iron ball was compressed, its mass was much greater than it appeared. Shia launched the iron ball, sending it soaring straight upwards. The loud noise and speed of the impact were no different from a cannonball.

The attacking dragon spread its wings and extended its front legs, like a giant eagle about to catch its prey. At the same time, this ridiculous human-made cannonball hit its abdomen squarely.

"Aww, ugh, ugh, ugh!" The muffled wails and the miserable sound of flesh being crushed rang out at the same time.

The pterosaur was enormous, measuring forty meters in length, with its wingspan reaching a whopping two hundred and fifty meters. Even so, the iron ball hitting its abdomen still caused significant damage.

The pterosaur's body shook, then fell headfirst onto the surging sea.

"Hehe, I'm faster this time!"

"So when you said 'Don't even think about it' just now, you weren't talking to that guy, but to me?"

"Because my hands are really itching, I can't help but want to do it."

"Are you a battle fanatic?"

"It's because I ate the cheat friend. Now my whole body is so hot, so hot."

"That's not going to have that effect."

While the two were busy bickering, Tio fired "Dragon's Roar" downwards, as if casually finishing a chore.

The moment the pterosaur fell into the sea, a large number of monsters living in the sea gathered around like carp competing for food, and one of them jumped up and attacked them.

The seawater rose from the surface like a tornado, and a monster rode this column of water. It was a gigantic shark at least thirty meters long. Tio fired a beam of light as thick as her arm, easily piercing its head.

The dragon's roar continued to sweep across, from the head to the tail fin, cutting the monster's huge body in half.

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