My youth story cannot be a knight war

"No matter what, I have to keep watching. At least... I want to see my brother embark on his final journey with my own eyes."

"—He is the brother I am most proud of in the world."

[A warm light once again surged up from the surrounding nothingness and filled the dark space, illuminating it once again and dispelling the coldness.]

Zaimokuza sat on the ground, looking up at the drifting light ahead. He remained silent for a long time, his mind still immersed in what he had just witnessed.

The final, desperate roar faded away in the light. Miou knelt silently beside him, placing her hands on his shoulders.

"That person... is he the one who was later sealed in the mountain of Kuro-dake?"

"Yes, it was Gamio who was sealed in that mountain."

[After a long time, Zaimokuza asked softly, and Miou answered with his eyes lowered.]

[…After that, what exactly happened?]

Zaimokuza stood up silently with Miou's support. His clear eyes were now so deep that it was difficult to read, and his voice became very low.

Miou looked at his slightly distraught face, her eyes dimming as well, but she continued to narrate in a low voice.

[…After that, Gamio, having gained the ultimate power, led the Gurongi clan in a counterattack against those who were pursuing them.]

[“After a long battle, the Gurongi clan, led by Gamio, emerged victorious with their immense strength. They slaughtered or expelled all intelligent races existing on this land except the Lindo clan.”]

[“Ultimate power?”]

Zaimokuza remained silent about what Miou had told him, but one term caught his attention, and his eyes suddenly fixed.

[Because this term and "Ultimate Darkness" both have the preposition "Ultimate", this is definitely not a coincidence.]

[“The so-called ultimate power… as the name suggests, it is an ultimate power that far surpasses everything else.”]

"The Ultimate Power surpasses any elemental power you possess, Zaimokuza-san. This is because the prerequisite for mastering the Ultimate Power is to possess the five elemental powers mentioned above. This is the prerequisite for achieving the Ultimate Power."

Miou nodded, her eyes dim and uncertain.

"Earth, wind, water, and fire are the four fundamental elements that make up the world. They are the foundation of the world. Everything in the world is born from these four elements, encompassing all things in the world. The fifth element represents the 'soul', or spirit."

"When a being can control the four elements that make up nature with their spirit, and completely integrate them with their own spirit, they will enter the realm of 'Ultimate'."

"The 'ultimate' realm? Wait, if that's the case—"

Zaimokuza subconsciously covered his chest, a faint phantom pain emanating from the area where his palms were covering. He looked at Miou with a look of horror, a terrifying thought making his scalp tingle for a moment.

"Number 37, he fused four elements together while fighting me. Could that be—"

"No, it's close, but it's not the ultimate power."

Miou dismissed his concerns and shook her head in rejection.

"Gadoru only used its powerful spiritual power to fuse the four elements together, without combining it with its own spiritual power. While it is indeed very powerful, it is still an insurmountable gap from the true ultimate power."

[“Is the ultimate power… really that terrifying?”]

Zaimokuza was incredulous to hear that even the powerful Demon King, Number 37, was far from the ultimate power. What kind of power was this?

"It's definitely more terrifying than you can imagine. The ultimate power is the power that can truly control this world."

"Even from the ancient times to your own time, the number of beings who have truly reached the 'Ultimate' is no more than a handful."

[Miou stroked the bracelet she was wearing and closed her eyes.]

"The Gamio we just saw was the first being to reach the Ultimate. It ruled the entire Gurongi clan for a long time... Until the appearance of Daguba, no one on this earth could rival it."

"Daguba? Is it Number Zero!?"

Upon hearing this familiar name again, Zaimokuza's pupils suddenly contracted, and his hands unconsciously clenched.

[Although he had never actually met him, Zaimokuza never forgot the existence of the Unidentified Lifeform No. 0, because it was he who created everything that is now.]

"Indeed, Daguba has also reached the 'Ultimate' realm... It was it that defeated Gamio and became the new King of the Gurongi."

When this name was mentioned, Miou couldn't help but open his eyes. An unconcealable fear flashed across his eyes, and the nightmare-like memory resurfaced in his mind at this moment.

She would never forget this name, because it was his actions that caused her brother to leave her forever. To prevent this terrifying demon from harming humans, her brother even used himself as a seal to suppress it, and the other Gurongi were completely incidental.

[But after a long time, the seal was finally broken... and thinking about it carefully, perhaps this ending was destined from the beginning.]

"Mr. Zaimokuza, the Daguba you saw earlier wasn't the complete version of Him. Although He won the battle against Gamio, He also suffered heavy damage. Even Kibolon was shattered. However, His tenacious vitality allowed Him to survive."

"After losing his own Kibolon, he slept for an extremely long time to heal. Even after waking up, he remained in a semi-complete state, his power greatly weakened... Otherwise, Riku might not have been able to seal him back then."

[“Such a terrifying Zero has been weakened!??”]

[Hearing the secret revealed by Miou, Zaimokuza took a deep breath, his eyes unable to conceal his shock.]

[He was seriously injured and unconscious during the battle in Outer Village, so he didn't see all the subsequent developments, but later Kosaka told him what happened afterwards, including how Number Three died at the hands of Number Zero.]

Many images of that event have survived. The towering pillar of fire rising from Sotoba Village transformed roughly half of Nagano Prefecture from darkness to daylight. Even satellites in outer space could clearly see what was happening there. The magnitude of the commotion was incredible, a true natural disaster of the largest scale.

Every time Zaimokuza rewatched the video, he felt an indescribable weight of pressure in his heart. He thought that even if he used his strongest black form to attack with all his strength, he might not be able to achieve such a degree. Moreover, he was not sure whether the opponent had used his full strength at that time.

[And now, the news he heard from Miou made his scalp tingle. Even though he possessed such terrifying power, he was still in an incomplete state of Number Zero?]

[How powerful is his complete form? ]

At the same time, Miou's words also revealed another message. He suppressed his inner shock and asked tentatively.

"But even in an incomplete state, he was able to defeat Zero and seal him. Could your brother also..."

“…Yes, Riku has also reached the ultimate state.”

Although Miou's voice was clearly trying to remain calm, the pain she felt was unbearable, and even her body was trembling slightly.

"And it is precisely because he has reached the 'ultimate' state that Riku chose to seal himself and the entire Gurongi clan together... Because Riku knew that if he didn't do so, he would replace the Gurongi and become another existence that threatens the world."

After hearing her tell the truth about the Gurongi clan being sealed, Zaimokuza was stunned.

[“What’s going on?”]

"The ultimate power hides a great hidden danger. Without a strong and resilient heart, the darkness it brings will devour you. And Riku..."

"Mi, Miou?"

[Under Zaimokuza's bewildered gaze, two clear tears slid down from her eyes, and Miou wept silently.]

"...Rik, he had already reached his limit at that time. He never liked fighting, but to protect me and everyone else, he kept pushing himself."

[“And in the end, to protect this world, he chose to bury himself and the Gurongi together, in this way resisting the call from the 'Ultimate Darkness'.”]

[…A summons from the 'Ultimate Darkness'?]

Upon hearing this, Zaimokuza's heart suddenly stopped, and a huge chill surged through his cervical vertebrae.

【What does it mean?】

“…This is what I want to tell you, Zaimokuza-san. This is the truth you must understand.”

[Reaching out to wipe away the tears streaming down her cheeks, Miou raised her head, her eyes filled with sadness, pain, and deep guilt as she gazed at Zaimokuza.]

"To create an existence that has reached the 'ultimate' realm is the true purpose of the Gurongi's 'Kikiru' ritual. Because only an existence that possesses the ultimate power—"

"Only then can you become the 'key' and truly bring 'ultimate darkness' upon this world."

42. From Before the Beginning (5k)

"The 'key'? Is the existence of ultimate power the 'key' necessary to bring about the 'ultimate darkness'?"

[While mumbling the information Miou had given him, the chill on his spine not only didn't subside at all, but actually deepened. An indescribable fear lingered in his heart.]

[“That’s right… but this is just a nice way of saying it. The real name should be…”]

[After hesitating for a few times, Miou lowered his gaze and spoke softly.]

“‘Sacrifice.’”

"Sacrifice... Wait, let me sort this out for a moment."

The source of that chill was finally confirmed. Zaimokuza felt his entire body frozen in a bone-chilling cold, and the corners of his eyes twitched unconsciously.

He covered his forehead with one hand, trying to straighten out his thoughts, which had been thrown into chaos by this information.

"According to the information I previously learned, the purpose of the Gurongis holding the 'Kikiru' is to bring about the 'Ultimate Darkness'. And you, Miou, also said that the prerequisite for bringing about the 'Ultimate Darkness' is to sacrifice a being of ultimate power—a key. And the method to create this 'key' is to become... 'Ultimate' through the 'Kikiru'?"

“…Yes, the existence of the ‘Ultimate’ is essentially a sacrifice, and the final step in the sacrificial process of ‘Kikiru’.”

"All the previous sacrifices and elimination processes were designed to select sacrifices that met the standards."

[“——Isn’t there something wrong with the logic here???”]

Miou pursed her lips and nodded. Zaimokuza lowered his hand from his forehead and spoke in disbelief.

"The purpose of the Gurongis' murderous game, 'Kikiru,' is to become the ultimate winner, qualified to bring about the 'Ultimate Darkness,' in other words, to become the 'Ultimate' being... But the way to bring about the 'Ultimate Darkness' is to sacrifice a being with the ultimate power? In other words, the ultimate winner is actually used as a sacrifice?!"

"This is completely contradictory! How could those Gurongi sacrifice themselves to do such a thing?"

After all, the two sides have been "loving and hating each other" for almost a year. Putting aside other aspects, Zaimokuza is still well aware of the current behavior of the Gurongi. That is why it is so difficult for him to believe this matter.

Those guys are all egocentric lunatics, doing everything for themselves, following the law of the jungle, destroying all the weak. They are cold-blooded and ruthless even to their own kind. It can be said that even if all their own people were wiped out, they wouldn't even frown.

How could such a group of selfish people, who only care about themselves, possibly perform such a "noble" act of sacrificing themselves? And if the final victor is simply to become a sacrifice to bring about the "ultimate darkness", then this "Kikiru" is simply a complete joke and a lie.

[Those Gurongi were the hosts of the "Kikiru" sacrificial ritual. Even in ancient times, we only heard of hosts of similar rituals sacrificing others, but never heard of them sacrificing themselves.]

After all, sacrificing others is indeed inhumane, but the logic of doing so for one's own benefit is still sound. But why sacrifice oneself? Tozawa's descendants and fellow clansmen?

If the subject were a human, Zaimokuza would believe it, but if it were a Gurongi, Zaimokuza would rather believe that the Prime Minister who was assassinated two years ago and the president who was shot in the head were indeed related by blood. After all, the way they died really looked like father and son.

It would make sense if the players participating in "Kikiru" were deceived by the host without knowing it, but based on Zaimokuza's understanding of the Gurongi clan, their brains, with their white matter transformed into muscle, probably don't even have the concept of "deception."

[This doesn't make sense at all. It's a paradox both in terms of reason and logic.]

Gifu Prefecture, Kamiyama City, Kamiyama High School.

"Hey, hey, hey, isn't this too ironic?"

Ihara Mayaka looked at the information revealed on the light screen and couldn't help but be amazed.

"Those monsters used killing to sacrifice others, but in the end they ended up becoming sacrifices themselves. Is that some kind of humorous joke?"

"But if that's true, then the brain circuits of these monsters are truly amazing. If they were to work, they would definitely be the most sought-after recruits in every circus."

Her eyes were full of gloating. Ihara Mayaka had no good feelings towards the Gurongi clan at all. Although the origin of this clan was indeed pitiful in the eyes of those who knew the truth, in her eyes, the dead Gurongi were the good Gurongi.

She is a girl who dares to love and hate, and this character also extends to her views on things. In her opinion, the Gurongi race should be completely wiped out and is not worthy of sympathy or pity at all.

"That would require a circus to dare to use them, but I guess normal people would just run away the moment they see these monsters."

"Hey, Houtarou! What's wrong with you—Hotarou?"

Fukube Richi smiled at her words, then turned around to ask his friend's opinion, but what he saw stunned him.

Oreki Houtarou, who was sitting next to him, rarely got rid of his usual lazy expression. His eyes became deep, and he twisted his bangs with his right index finger and thumb.

Anyone who knew him well knew that this was Oreki Houtarou's subconscious habit when he was deep in thought, indicating that he was completely serious.

"Hotaro, did you find anything?"

"Oreki-kun, is this true?!"

Fukube Rizhi, who knew him well, asked tentatively, but Chitanda Eru, who was sitting next to Oreki Houtarou, was not as reserved as him. She jumped right up to him, her amethyst eyes sparkling with pure curiosity.

"Can you tell me? I'm really curious!"

“…Probably.”

But this time, Oreki Houtarou did not react unnaturally to her face being so close to him like he had done in the previous times. Instead, he responded in a somewhat dull voice.

"I think I should know why these Gurongis are holding this killing game."

"Really!?"

The light flashing in Chitanda's eyes was like stars. She directly held Oreki's palm. In the past, whenever she did this, the other party would never be able to refuse her request.

Although Chitanda doesn't know the reason, any method that can satisfy her curiosity is a good method!

"Oreki-san?"

"...Richie."

But this time, to her surprise, Oreki did not answer her question. Instead, he turned to Fukube Rishi who was also looking at him and spoke.