The story we started

[Baruba was knocked back a few steps and looked at its receding back. He said nothing more and there was no trace of anger on his face. He was still as calm as ever.]

[She reached out to stop Garima, who was about to attack Ginoga because of his rude behavior, and gently touched the pearl necklace on her fair neck, her eyes moving as she thought about something.]

[“I’m talking about myself? Haha…”]

[“…That’s not wrong.”]

……

【Tokyo, Jonan University, Research Laboratory.】

[Beep, beep, beep——]

【"?"】

[The slender fingers that were tapping the keyboard stopped because of the ringing of the phone. Yukinoshita Yukino looked at the ringing phone on the desk not far away, stood up from the chair in front of the desk and walked over to pick it up. ]

["...Officer Kosaka?"]

[Looking at the four big characters "Kousaka Kyousuke" displayed on the communication screen, she couldn't help but frown.]

[For some reason, an ominous premonition began to rise from the bottom of her heart, covering Yukinoshita Yukino's heart like a diffuse mist. ]

[“Hello? Mr. Kosaka, do you have any more questions about the inscription that you would like to clarify?”]

[She answered the call on her cell phone and whispered to her ear.]

【“…”】

[There was an unexpectedly loud noise from the other end of the line, with all kinds of voices, but not Kousaka Kyousuke's voice.]

[“Hello? Mr. Kosaka, why is it so noisy over there? Where are you now? Is there anything wrong?”]

[At this moment, the ominous premonition in her heart suddenly soared. Yukinoshita Yukino suppressed her uneasiness, but her voice of inquiry gradually became serious. 】

【“…Ms. Yukinoshita.”】

[After she asked the question, Kousaka Kyosuke's voice finally came from the other end of the line. His calm and rational voice as always helped to calm Yukinoshita Yukino's inner anxiety.]

[“Mr. Kosaka, what on earth is going on——”]

【“Zaimokuza, something happened.”】

[——But the uneasiness that had subsided a little bit was immediately ignited to its peak by what Kousaka Kyousuke said the next moment.]

【“——”】

【Listening to Kousaka Kyosuke's explanation, Yukinoshita Yukino's eyes gradually widened, but her hand holding the phone gradually loosened. 】

[Patter! 】

[The black phone fell to the ground. The impact of the landing caused the screen of the phone to crack into several clear black cracks, dividing Yukinoshita Yukino's shocked expression into several parts, no longer complete. ]

……

[“Hmm…”]

[Zaimokuza's whole body twitched weakly, and he tried his best to speak, but his damaged vocal cords could no longer even achieve the most basic resonance.]

[Strange and creepy black lines continued to climb from his neck along his face, occupying most of his face. Even the bloodshot whites of his eyes began to have fine black cracks, like a black venomous snake crawling in a pool of blood.]

[This can only mean one thing, that is, the toxins in his body have caused an extremely deep erosion of Zaimokuza's body, and the extent of the erosion is so deep that it has even begun to show on the surface of the body. ]

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

Many women outside the light curtain screamed after seeing this horrifying scene, and most of the men who could withstand it turned pale and turned their heads away, unable to bear to watch.

Even these outsiders who were watching felt so horrified that it was hard to imagine what the victim, Yoshiki Zaimokuza, was feeling right now.

Even if it's not a life worse than death, it's probably not far off.

[“This poison is too strong. Although Yamadam can heal it, the balance of power in your body has been completely disrupted. In this case, it is even more damaging... With the current spirit stones, there is no way to heal the poison and rebalance the unbalanced power at the same time.”]

[“…I’m sorry, I don’t have enough strength to do anything.”]

[Those hands stroked Zaimokuza's face, which was covered with black lines, and the female voice continued to speak with guilt.]

[“If I want to heal you now… there is only one way.”]

[“But, if you do that, you will never again…”]

[As if thinking of something, the hands that were caressing Zaimokuza's face stopped, and even the voice showed hesitation for the first time.]

[“Puff!”]

[And in the brief moment she hesitated, Zaimokuza spat out blood again. The turbid black blood even corroded the towel that was pressing on the wound on his neck, causing white smoke to continuously rise.]

【“——!”】

[Looking at this Zaimokuzu, the hands couldn't help but tremble for a moment, and the fingers slowly tightened. ]

[“——I don’t know whether this is right or wrong, but… this is the only way!”]

[Finally, the female voice became firm, and she stretched out a hand, holding Zaimokuza's jaw to stabilize his face.]

[“Uh—uh—”]

[A warm touch suddenly came from his forehead. Zaimokuza barely had the strength to open his eyes now. He could only try hard to move his eyeballs and look upwards.]

[In the corner of his eye, he saw a blurry face emerging in the darkness, with a sense of illusion that he couldn't see clearly.]

[But only those black eyes were so clear, looking at me with guilt, sadness, pain... and nostalgia. ]

【--Who are you?】

[The hand wearing the bracelet gently covers Zaimokuza's wide-open eyes, burying his questions along with them.]

[“This is the only thing I can do now, and the only way to save you.”]

[“I don’t know if this is the right thing to do, but…if you and ‘Him’ really have some of the same qualities in your heart, then this can’t be wrong.”]

[“Next, you will fall into a deep sleep, and your soul will sink into the sea of ​​memory.”]

[“There, you must find yourself, understand your own beliefs, and rely on yourself to complete your soul... Only in this way can you stimulate the true power of Yamadam.”]

[“——Through this, I will embark on the path to becoming the ‘Ultimate’.”]

12. Two long-lost names in one

Chiba Prefecture, Chiba Benzan High School, Health Center.

“‘Ultimate’…?”

Kyosuke Kousaka, who was watching the light screen, suddenly felt a strange feeling rising in his heart after hearing this word.

This feeling is hard to describe. This is clearly the first time I heard this word, but it felt like I had seen it before.

"Well!?"

Suddenly, there was a piercing pain in his brain as if being pierced by a needle. Caught off guard, Kyosuke Kousaka let out a muffled groan, then covered his forehead with his hand with a look of pain.

#@￥#@￥@￥@￥#￥…

Tall buildings, streets, cars, shops, bridges - and pedestrians.

Everything that I was accustomed to in my daily life was now engulfed by the boundless flames. All the scenery I saw was surrounded by blood-red flames, and no other colors could be seen.

Being surrounded by this raging fire, even without being directly touched, one can feel the burning pain as if the skin is being swallowed by the heat, and the water in the body is constantly decomposing under the high temperature.

All I could hear was the sound of buildings collapsing, glass shattering under the intense heat and pouring down from the sky like raindrops, and burned trees falling one after another.

And the screams of people.

The wails of countless humans filled this world completely engulfed by flames. At this moment, all things were heading towards equal death and end under the flames of destruction, even the rulers who claimed to be the spirit of all things on this planet were no exception.

The dark sky was illuminated red, and the sky on all sides was dyed with the color of fire. People's cries echoed in such a red world, making this scene like the hot hell in myths and legends that burned all the sufferers.

"what happened?"

In this scene filled with wailing, a brisk voice that didn't match the atmosphere was heard.

"Why do you look so miserable? Don't you like seeing other people smile? Then you should also like to smile, right? Can you share your smile with me?"

"Become stronger and give me more smiles, please?"

-

"!?"

The pain came quickly and went away quickly, passing in just a dozen seconds.

But during this period of time, all the clothes on Kyosuke Kousaka's body were soaked with sweat, and even the sheets under him had a small circle of wet marks.

Kyosuke Kousaka's eyes were wide open, his pupils almost shrunk into a point, and his palm, which was lowered from his forehead, couldn't stop shaking, as if the shock had not yet gone away.

Cold sweat continued to ooze out from his forehead, sliding down the curve of his tough face to his chin, and then dripping onto his crossed legs under the force of gravity.

What was that just now?

「——Wait, who are you……」

[His clasped hands covered Zaimokuza's eyes, and everything in front of him fell into endless darkness at this moment.]

[Then, at the end of the pitch-black darkness, a ray of white light slowly appeared.]

[At first, it was just a pinpoint-sized light, and then as time passed in my senses, it gradually expanded, and finally dispelled all the darkness, and the white light enveloped everything in front of me! ]

[A stream of white light washed over him, and Zaimokuza felt that his body seemed to be constantly dissipating in the flow of light. His restless consciousness slowly calmed down, and a sincere feeling of sleepiness kept coming from the bottom of his heart.]

[Finally, he lost all his consciousness and fell into nothingness.]

……

[“Hmm…”]

[The long eyelashes trembled gently, and then slowly parted, revealing the black eyes full of hesitation.]

【"here it is--!?"】

[Zaimokuza looked at his own feet in sneakers with a confused look in his eyes, and murmured in confusion.]

[The next moment, he came to his senses and suddenly widened his eyes, and immediately sat up from his chair with a surprised expression.]

[“Oh right! I was in the battle with the twenty-fifth... Mr. Kousaka!? Where are you!?”]

[His brain started to work rapidly, and all the memories of what happened before surged from the depths of his mind like flowing water. Zaimokuza looked around vigilantly, calling out the name of Kousaka Kyousuke, who was the last person he saw before he lost consciousness.]

[But when he saw everything clearly, his eyes, which were originally full of vigilance, became dull in an instant.]

[“This place is——”]

[White snow drifted down from the sky, covering all the buildings in sight with a pure white color without any dirt. The irises of Zaimokuza's eyes reflected the buildings in front of him that were completely wrapped in snow, and his eyelids gradually opened.]

[“This is… Sobu High School?”]

[Looking at this familiar complex of buildings, Zaimokuza muttered to himself, his eyes full of disbelief.]

[No matter how much time has passed, he has never forgotten the name of this building complex in front of him - because the school with this name once changed his life.]

[Here, Zaimokuza met the most important people in his life, including the teacher who taught him attentively and pointed out the way for his life, the first club he joined that made him feel warm, and the friends he cherished most in his life...]

[This school left Zaimokuza with too many firsts, and it occupied too much of his memory. Therefore, even though he had graduated and left for many years, he would still often return here in his dreams at midnight.]

[…But why? Why is he here now? ]

[Haven’t I already——]

[“Hmm!”]

[The purple light and the horrible pain that followed flashed through his mind, and Zaimokuza reflexively reached out to cover his neck, his face full of lingering fear.]

[But he immediately put down his hand in surprise, looking at his white palm in astonishment, without any dirt on it.]

[“My injury…what on earth is going on???”]

【Zaimokuza felt extremely surprised. He clearly remembered that his neck had two holes opened by the sneak attack of No. 25 before, and even his vocal cords should have been completely destroyed by that attack.】

[But why can I still speak now? And even the serious enough to be fatal injuries are gone? ]

[But that's not important. The most important thing is why I'm here now? In Sobu High School? In this high school that I returned to not long ago to fulfill a promise with my teacher? ]

【Thinking of this, Zaimokuza looked up without any hesitation. The familiar scenery and layout in front of him immediately reminded him of where in the school this was.】

[Whether it was the football net over there, the running track, or the tennis court not far away, all of them seemed to be vividly remembered, bearing the indelible marks of his student days.]

[“This is… the playground where we have physical education class? And why is it snowing? Isn’t the snow season in Chiba long over by now?”]