My youth story cannot be a knight war

Looking at the monster slowly running towards him, Hoshino snorted indifferently and reached back to pull the hilt of the straight sword at his waist.

The closed hilt of the sword popped open again, and Hoshino pinched the card and stuffed it into the square opening of the straight sword.

"Finish--"

"--careful!!!"

A terrified scream sounded from behind him, and a huge black shadow silently covered Hoshino's figure and the ground where he was standing. The strong sense of crisis stung his cerebral cortex.

Clap!

The black limbs swept across from behind like long sticks, hitting the center of Xingye's waist, splashing out radial sparks.

Amidst the flying sparks, Hoshino was knocked flying, his spear flew out of his hand, and he flew involuntarily towards the spider monster that was rushing towards him. The other party also mercilessly raised one of the only two remaining limbs on the left and slashed it in the chest with a sound of tearing air.

"Well!"

Under the double attack from the front and back in a short period of time, Hoshino's body flew sideways and hit the wall, and a human-shaped gap was cracked in the barrier made of concrete and steel bars.

Hoshino fell to the ground, hunched over with his hands covering his chest, and trembled slightly with painful gasps in his throat.

This was a nearly perfect sneak attack. The attacker took advantage of the moment when Hoshino was concentrating all his attention on the front and launched an attack from behind. The speed was so fast that even if he could react, he would not have time to turn around and defend himself.

The card engraved with the emblem also fell out of his hand during this process and fell to the ground. It was then pierced by the tip of a limb falling from above, along with the floor tiles below.

"??!!!"

The punctured card dissolved into a blur of vaporized particles, dispersing. Simultaneously, a slightly different howl, accompanied by a high-temperature white mist, emanated from the ferocious, open mouth. Six enormous, terrifying scarlet eyes, their glare cold and ferocious, stared at Hoshino, who struggled to stand up from the ground.

"--This is!?"

Aqua suddenly clenched his hands and stared at the figure emerging from the curtain. The six scarlet pupils were reflected in his eyes, emitting a strong smell of blood and evil.

“There’s actually another one???”

【"cough……"

After standing up from half-kneeling, he covered his chest with one hand on the armor, and forced himself to swallow the iron taste rising from his throat. His eyes under the mask twitched as he stared at the two figures pressing forward.

The two figures are almost the same in appearance, the only difference is that one is orange and the other is black and purple. At this time, the two huge spider monsters are looking at each other, with six pairs of eyes looking at each other, as if they are actually communicating unknownly.

One of the ways spiders communicate is to receive information from their own kind through vision, and Xingye is also aware of this knowledge.

But he missed a very crucial point of knowledge, or he didn't think about it at all.

That is, among spiders, in addition to the majority that live alone, there are actually species that live in groups. The spiders in these species usually have male and female gender distinctions, and they also hunt together.

Limited by common sense, Hoshino did not expect that the monster in front of him also belonged to the latter type of spider habits.

"This is... a big trouble."

With one hand, he pulled out the straight sword named "Dark Summoning Machine" from his waist and raised it. Hoshino looked at the two spider monsters surrounding him from both sides, and felt his back wrapped in armor begin to be soaked with cold sweat.

If it's just one, it's not a problem for him, but if there are two or more, it will be very troublesome. The difficulty of fighting one against two is completely different from the former.

Not to mention that he is now injured after being ambushed, and his combat effectiveness has definitely decreased compared to before. If he continues to fight under such circumstances, the result will only be more losses than wins.

"hateful……"

Looking at the approaching enemy, Hoshino let out an unwilling growl from his throat and retreated with his back against the wall of the building behind him.

"Run away!"

The woman who was traveling with him stood in front of the outer wall of the original building, looking at Hoshino who was gradually surrounded by two spider monsters in the reflection of the mirror. She anxiously stretched out her hands and slapped the glass outer wall, making a dull collision sound.

"Aqua! Run away! There's still time to leave!"

The movement of its limbs suddenly stopped, and the newly appeared giant black spider slowly turned its gaze behind it. Its scarlet pupils reflected the figure of a woman on the other side of the building's exterior wall, who was slapping the mirror and shouting.

A low howl sounded from its mouthparts, and its six compound eyes emitted a murderous light that could kill people.

"Oops!?"

Seeing this scene, Hoshino felt his heart suddenly stop beating, and a strong panic surged from the bottom of his heart.

"Go quickly!!!"

He didn't care about anything and immediately drew his sword and rushed towards the black spider monster, but he had to stop urgently halfway and jump back.

The silver limbs scraped across the ground where Hoshino had originally stood, leaving a clear scratch. The orange spider monster lowered its body and let out an excited scream at the culprit who had seriously injured it.

At this moment, the black spider monster turned around, its six eyes staring at the woman who had not yet reacted, and the mouthparts on the spider head below opened.

The silver-white spider silk shot out with the force of a bullet, and the tip pierced through the air, stirring up a cone wave that broke the sound barrier and shot towards the reflection of the building's outer wall.

"stop!"

Time seemed to stop at this moment. Hoshino started running, ignoring the other monster attacking him, and stretched out his left hand towards the woman in the reflection of the outer wall.

"——Komachi!!!"]

Clap!

The chair suddenly fell to the ground, and Hikigaya stood up suddenly, staring at the curtain in front of him.

No one could see his eyes, as his drooping bangs covered the upper half of his face, leaving only his lips, which were tightly pursed and pale, visible.

However, an invisible pale aura began to slowly sweep out from his body. Everyone around Hikigaya felt that their breathing began to become suppressed and difficult.

"Small, small business..."

Yuigahama stared at Hikigaya blankly. Feeling his aura, she suddenly realized that she seemed not to fully understand Hikigaya.

Because she had never seen Hikigaya like this before. His back was silent and solemn, like a high rock under a rainstorm. The empty and oppressive aura was even more vigorous than before.

"Ugh?"

Sitting in her room, Hikigaya Komachi also stared blankly at the black knight who was shouting her name to the woman.

At this moment, she felt that the other party was calling her.

When she came to her senses, Hikigaya Komachi discovered that the other person was indeed calling her.

But, it is not the current me.

"That is……"

Within the curtain, the motorcycle helmet on his head fell to the ground due to the impact, and his combed long black hair flowed down, as well as the familiar hairpin on the left forehead.

Hikigaya Komachi reached out and touched the hairpin still on her forehead, her eyes dull.

"The future...me?"

[Click.]

Scarlet blood drops fell, slapped on the back of the hand and slid down, leaving a deep and gorgeous line on the fair skin.

Hikigaya Komachi, lying on the ground, stared blankly at the man lying on top of her. His baseball cap fell to the ground. Under his messy black hair, the muscles on his sweaty face twitched, and his eyes were full of suppressed pain.

"That man—Gu!"

Hoshino stopped running and looked at the strange man who saved his companion in the reflection of the outer wall in surprise and suspicion.

Before he could think more, the sharp sound of breaking wind behind him made Hoshino's heart alarm ring, and he immediately rolled forward to avoid the attack from behind.

The long limbs swept across, easily cutting off a tree along the way, and then pierced into the wall of another building. Hoshino, who dodged the attack, felt a lingering fear when he saw this scene.

If he hadn't dodged in time, the blow would have cut off his head.

"Who are you? Why..."

On the other side, Hikigaya Komachi looked at the strange man who had just saved her at the critical moment, with many questions lingering in her mind.

However, these doubts immediately disappeared after seeing the pain in the other person's face. She raised her hand and wanted to push the other person away, but as soon as she raised her arm, her movement became stiff because of the red liquid that soaked most of her clothes.

"This? You're hurt!?"

Blinking her eyes and looking at the blood-stained cloth on her arm, Hikigaya Komachi lowered her gaze and saw that part of the clothes on the other person's right waist had been scraped off, leaving a straight line of flesh and blood on it, and blood was still flowing.

"Well……"

Amidst Hikigaya Komachi's exclamations, Hayama Hayato groaned, covered his wound with his hand, and stood up with some trembling.

"Wait! You can't stand up anymore! Lie down quickly, or else—"

"??!!!"

A familiar howl interrupted Hikigaya Komachi's anxious words. In the reflection of the mirror, the huge and ferocious black spider monster was furious when it saw that its hunt had failed.

It moved its six sharp limbs and rushed towards this direction quickly, vowing to successfully capture the prey it had set its eyes on.

Covering his wound and leaning against the pillar beside the building, Ye Shan looked at the giant monster in the mirror rushing towards him with terrifying momentum, and a glimmer of firm determination flashed in his eyes.

“…Get out of here now.”

He stretched out his hand, protected Hikigaya Komachi in front of him, took a few steps forward, faced the deadly beast rushing towards him in the mirror, and said in a dull voice.

"Next, leave this to me."

“C-Can you see it???”

Hearing what Hayama said, Hikigaya Komachi opened her eyes slightly and stared at his back in astonishment.

"Wait, you're also...!"

The words stopped abruptly, and in the eyes of Hikigaya Komachi who was shrinking, Hayama silently reached into the right pocket of his trousers and took out an item.

It was a pitch-black card holder, exactly the same in style and construction as the one Hoshino had held before.

The only difference may be the shape of the coat of arms engraved on the front of the card holder.

Unlike Hoshino's emblem of a bat with spread wings, the emblem of Yeshan's card holder is also golden in tone, but its appearance reveals a sharpness in its roundness. In the middle of the six upward-pointing golden convex corners, the red circular decoration is flashing a sudden light.

The emblem looks like the evolved head of a certain creature, but this creature definitely does not exist in reality.

“That man…!?”

After dodging another attack, Hoshino also saw Hayama standing in front of Hikigaya Komachi in the reflection of the outer wall. When he looked at the card holder in his hand, the eyes under the mask froze instantly.

Holding up the card holder, Ye Shan said calmly to the spider monster in the mirror that was already very close to him:

“…Come here.”

“——Ahhh!!!!!!”

A violent roar came from the sky. Facing this roar, the black spider monster's roar was instantly overwhelmed by the brutal and arrogant power contained in the roar.

The six running limbs stopped on the ground, and the spider monster looked up at the sky. The hissing from its mouth was no longer ferocious, and even became full of human "fear".

In the world of beasts, only the fundamental law of strength and weakness exists. Concepts such as emotion and compassion are meaningless when facing other kinds of creatures.

Therefore, the only thing that can frighten a bloodthirsty beast is another more powerful beast.

A slender, pure red shadow descended from the sky. Its figure became blurry and hazy due to its extreme speed. Only a slender red streak could be seen crossing the sky. The momentum was like a flying arrow shot by a famous general in ancient times with a heavy bow weighing one stone.

A red flash flashed, and the spider monster fell backward amidst the sparks blooming in front of it. It was knocked to the ground without even realizing that it had been attacked.

The slender figure rose into the air, twisting its body in the air and lowering its head to the spider monster struggling to stand up below, roaring with its fangs wide open.

The full appearance of this figure was finally fully exposed to the gaze of everyone present.

This is a dragon, a red dragon.

The crocodile head, deer antlers, snake body, eagle claws, and catfish whiskers perfectly match the image of the dragon recorded in Eastern cultural legends and myths. The red body gleams with a steely luster under the sunlight, and when the blade-shaped tail cuts through the air, a slight tearing sound can be heard.

The orange-yellow eyes stared at the evil beast below. The roar of the red dragon made the air in the area vibrate slightly. The posture of the dragon standing upright in the air with its waist bent displayed overwhelming majesty.

"This is simply..."

Taking the opportunity to retreat to the side, looking up at the huge red flying dragon, Hoshino muttered.

"It's simply a giant."

"..."

Outside the mirror, looking up at the majestic red dragon in the mirror, Ye Shan's eyes did not contain any surprise or shock, but only indescribable complexity.

"A dragon-shaped...contracted beast."

Also looking at the red dragon flying in the air, Hikigaya Komachi clenched her hands in front of her chest, and she stared closely at Hayama's back holding the card folder.

"Sure enough, this person is also..."

hum-

As Hikigaya Komachi was muttering to herself, a silver belt appeared in Hayama's reflection in the mirror. Looking down at the belt around his waist, Hayama closed his eyes and covered his struggling pupils with his eyelids.

——"Once you are sucked into the mirror world... you can never go back..."