My youth story cannot be a knight war

This process lasted for a long time, during which Kyosuke Kousaka's struggle gradually weakened as time passed. When the last alienated tissue dissipated, the pure golden Kibolon belt tied around his waist also glowed, and then turned into firefly-like light particles and slowly dissipated.

The unconscious Kousaka Kyosuke fell to the side, and then a slender hand emitting the same white particles as before held the tired face.

"..."

Baruba, whose body was covered with porcelain-like cracks, smiled as she stared at the face in front of her with closed eyes. Then her other hand, which fell to her side, began to disintegrate into ashes from the fingertips.

Now she is just an empty shell, because Baruba transformed her body into a kind of raw data similar to natural properties and replaced it with Kyosuke Kousaka's body. This is a more thorough method than any organ replacement surgery known to mankind. It can be said that one replaces the "existence" of others with one's own "existence".

Just like the so-called "Ship of Theseus", all the old parts of the hull were replaced according to the original appearance of the ship until the main body was completely brand new.

Baruba injected all of her flesh and life into Kyosuke Kousaka's body, becoming a part of him.

So naturally, the fate of death that was originally destined for Kyosuke Kousaka was transferred to her.

But Baruba has no regrets, because in a sense this is also the ending she was looking for.

She was once human, but for most of her life she turned away from humanity and became a Gurongi, and at the last moment of her life she turned back into a "human".

Born like a "human", grew like a "human", and finally, died like a "human".

The meaning of life finally got a perfect answer.

And from then on, there will be another person who inherits his "existence" and lives on for him.

"Children of Linduo, live on. This is the future I hope for..."

The woman who used to be Gurongi whispered, slowly closing her beautiful eyelids.

"You will bear witness for me."

As the words fell, the hand that had touched Kousaka Kyousuke's face turned into scattered light dust, and the giant cocoon that enveloped him began to fall apart...

"Mr. Kosaka."

……

"Ugh?"

Kyosuke Kousaka looked over in shock, only to see a rough hand touching his head, and equally rough fingers rubbing his short black hair.

"...You really have grown up."

Looking at his son who was now as tall as him, Kousaka Daisuke smiled for the first time on his serious face. His smile was so genuine, and there was a warm light in the corners of his wrinkled eyes.

"I never expected you to be like me. I just hoped you could live a peaceful life... That's why I was so angry when you said you wanted to be me."

"But now, I believe you won't become me, because you are better than me... You have completely surpassed me, and I don't need to worry about you anymore."

"Dad..."

"You should go back. You still have things to do. It's too early for us to reunite now. So go back. Go back to the people who love you. They need you too."

Slowly putting down his hand, Kousaka Daisuke took a few steps back and looked at his son who was already covered in light. He said softly.

"Take good care of your mother and Kirino, by the way..."

"There are things I didn't have time to say before, but now I can finally say them with confidence."

Staring into those stunned eyes, Kousaka Daisuke spoke word by word, his tone so firm:

"Kyosuke, you will always be my pride."

"...!"

Looking at his father's appearance and listening to his words, Kyosuke Kousaka's pupils trembled violently, and he finally realized something.

"and many more--"

The light suddenly became brighter, and Kousaka Kyosuke stretched out his hand towards Kousaka Daisuke, shouting loudly:

“——Dad!!!”

Golden light cut through the darkness. He slowly raised his head and looked at the light that shot up into the sky and broke through the darkness. However, Kousaka Daisuke's figure was gradually swallowed up by the darkness that surged from all around.

"...In this way, I can finally leave with peace of mind."

"Kano."

……

"Daisuke?"

Kousaka Yoshino, who was walking up the stairs, was suddenly stunned. The familiar voice came from behind her again, just like before.

She looked back quickly and with surprise, but all she saw was a long staircase, without the figure of that person.

"...!"

Her pupils suddenly contracted, and Kousaka Yoshino covered her right palm tightly with her left hand. The golden ring on her ring finger flashed a faint light at this time.

It's like the farewell of an old friend before he leaves.

……

"Mr. Kosaka."

"Well……"

The warm light could not be obscured even with eyes tightly closed. Slowly opening my eyes, I saw a pure white face looking at me quietly in a gray world.

"...Zamokuza?"

The focus of the pupils automatically contracted and adjusted to adapt to the light, and the scene in front of him gradually became clear. Looking at this familiar face, Kyosuke Kousaka spoke hesitantly.

"Yeah~ It's me, Mr. Kosaka."

Zaimokuza Yoshiki, who was half-squatting, smiled, stretched out his hand towards Kousaka Kyosuke who was lying on the ground, and spoke softly.

"Welcome back."

"..."

Because of this sentence, his brain quickly recalled everything that had happened before. Kyosuke Kousaka did not immediately grab the outstretched hand, but subconsciously circled around it.

What meets the eye is pure white. White vines and roses cover every inch of the vision, even the buildings are covered with them. Everything is as beautiful as a pure white painting.

But apart from that, the only people there were him and his friend in front of him. Kousaka grabbed the outstretched hand to use as leverage to stand up, his tone hesitant.

"Just now...was there anyone else here?"

"No."

Glancing at the two sleeping figures on the ground not far from him, Zaimokuza Yoshiki said with a smile.

"When I rushed here, the only person I saw was you, Mr. Kousaka."

"……Yeah?"

Kousaka Kyosuke stood up and glanced around, his eyes lost in thought as he took in the beautiful scene that filled his entire field of vision. Zaimokuza said nothing, but quietly cast his gaze out to the distant sea with him.

For them, some things don't need to be said directly. Just silent companionship is enough to understand everything in each other's heart.

"Mr. Kosaka, you seem very happy. Did you have a good dream?"

"Sweet dream... Indeed, it felt like a very long dream."

Slowly withdrawing his gaze from the distance, he lowered his head to look at a white rose blooming at his feet. Kousaka's tone was inexplicably bleak, yet also relieved.

"But this dream has finally ended... Let's go."

"So what should we do with these flowers, Mr. Kosaka?"

Kousaka turned and headed towards the harbor exit, while Zaimokuza looked around at the white rose bushes that filled the view and asked him a question.

This question made Takasaka, who had walked a short distance, stop. He looked up at the dark sky and did not speak for a long time.

"...Keep it."

"!?"

A familiar cold female voice suddenly sounded in his ears. Zaimokuza's eyes changed slightly and he immediately looked towards Kousaka's back.

"Keep it... After all, these flowers do look beautiful in Tokyo now, don't they?"

“…Indeed.”

Kousaka said softly while turning his head to look at Zaimokuza, and Zaimokuza nodded thoughtfully as he listened to what he said.

"Let's go then, Mr. Kosaka."

……

"..."

The bunch of blooming white roses was reflected in the dark pupils, and then with a blink, the depths of the eyes became dark and empty again.

It was a rare moment. Daguba's face lost the smile that he always had on it, and became expressionless. There was even a hint of sadness in his eyes.

But everything returned to its original state in the next moment. The smile reappeared on his face. He looked up at the dark sky, and the edge of his pupils perfectly matched the edge of the ring of fire that began to burn again.

"It's almost time for the final battle~"

"KUUGA~?"

……

['The White and Dark Game' has been completed, with two advanced players.]

[The "Ultimate Game" is about to begin, with two players participating.]

【Human side: Zaimokuza Yoshiteru】

[Gurungi side: N-Daguba-Zeba]

【Opening time: Tomorrow at midnight. 】

16. Always by your side (5k)

Chiba Prefecture, Sobu High School, Service Club.

“What…exactly happened???”

The pitch-black fog surged in, and the scene above the sky gradually collapsed. The final image was fixed on the two figures walking away from the white rose bushes.

After seeing this scene from the window of the club room, Hayato Hayama couldn't help but increase the strength of his ten fingers that were clasping the windowsill, and the look in his eyes was uncertain.

"Hey! Hayato... Zaimokuza, Kousaka, and the others, should they be okay?"

"...I don't know. No matter how the situation develops, it won't be surprising."

Miura Yumiko said worriedly, and Hayama was silent for a while, shook his head and gave his answer.

"But Zaimokuza-san...he actually went to the future with Kousaka-san???"

Thinking of the familiar figure he had seen in the video in the sky before, he felt incredible. People from the past actually went to the future?

This was such an absurd thing, but it was the reality right in front of him, forcing Ye Shan to believe it.

At this moment, he and Miura were the only ones in the office that originally belonged to the Service Club. Tobe Sho, who had always been inseparable from the core members of these two small groups, ran to the classroom to maintain order to prevent the students from continuing to riot.

In fact, there had been a riot before this incident began. At that time, Ye Shan stepped forward and used his status as the most popular student in the school and his popularity to calm the anxiety and panic in the students' hearts, thus preventing the situation from continuing to spiral out of control.

It has to be said that reputation does have an excellent effect on humans, who are essentially social animals, especially in this country where capital and personal relationships are extremely important. The riot that even the teachers together could not quell was handled by Ye Shan alone.

But now, rather than feeling honored, he felt more anxious about this situation. Ye Shan had rarely experienced such powerlessness in his life, and even including today, it had only happened twice.

The first time was many years ago, the day he lost his first friend in his life.

The second time was today. In this global upheaval, all he had was the ability to maintain the stability of a small high school. Apart from that, he was just like any other ordinary person and could do nothing.

Now that familiar feeling of anxiety lingered in his heart again, like a lingering ghost, so Ye Shan couldn't help but feel a little scared subconsciously.

He had lost a lot in the same situation before, so what would he lose this time?

The anxiety therefore gave rise to a sense of urgency. Ye Shan really wanted to do something about it, but now he couldn't say whether he could make any effective efforts to deal with the current situation. Now the morale of the entire school was barely calmed down because of him being here. If he showed any signs of going to the outside world now, or if the situation deteriorated even a little bit, the entire Sobu High School would fall into the same riot as the outside world.

So he could only sit here and wait for the end of this battle spanning two time and space like everyone else.

And those who might be able to do something about this situation have now arrived at the battlefield... Thinking of this, Ye Shan lowered his head, looked at the knees of his trousers that he was clenching, and pursed his lips.

Those eyes that always seemed bright and lively were now a little dim, like amber covered with a layer of gray haze.