The man known as Keiji Kuhara had nothing. Because it was all lost on that day, long ago.
But fate would not allow him to leave.
The time had come.
The time to fight.
“C’mon, on your feet! Suck it up! Get moving! Unlike Erakino, this bug has zero affection for ya. ZERO! Don’t even think about being coddled! We’re heading out as soon as you’re ready!”
The remnant traces of what had once been Erakino. This girl, who should be nothing more than an empty shell, pumped her fist in the air, trying to motivate him to get the ball rolling, just as the woman he once knew used to.
Keiji blankly stared at her with dead eyes. He had about as much motivation as an inanimate object. He was merely swept up in the flow Echo created.
“Blegh. Get ready for what? Where are we going, Era— Echooo? I’ve got no direction…” he grumbled.
“Haa,” Echo sighed. “You can’t even figure out that much? You’re so pathetic, this lil’ bug will just have to tell you♪. We’re going to go find Soalina and Fenne, duh!”
“…Huh? Why should we?” Keiji snipped, the first signs of life returning to his dead eyes as he voiced his objections.
Keiji didn’t know their whereabouts after the decisive fight with Mynoghra. Knowing them, they were likely still alive, but he had no way of knowing where they were or what they were doing.
And how could he possibly go to see them now? It was painful just remembering the days when they naively spoke about their dreams of building a peaceful world together.
How could a man, who had nothing, possibly apologize to these women he was unable to do anything for? His anger at his own incompetence came out in a harsh tone without his realizing it.
Echo grinned at his reaction. “To clean up after your mess, dummy♪. Or wait, don’t tell me you were actually planning on setting down roots and living the rest of your pathetic life in this crime city? Ew.”
“Ack,” Keiji choked. She had him pegged.
He had long realized that things couldn’t continue as they were. He’d barely managed to survive so far off of the funds Echo had scraped together for him until now. But even he knew he couldn’t keep this life up long.
If anything, Keiji had a lifetime of experience suffering from his gambling habits. He understood the importance of money and knew painfully well just how much it was needed to survive. He was on a direct course to ruination.
Besides, if he carried on like this, it wouldn’t just be his ruin…
“That won’t work, though, will it? I mean, the Succubus Army will march right in and take over this place, too, if you do diddly♪. And if that happens, poor, poor Soalina and Fenne will go through a hell of a time! Aaaah, thanks to a certain loser not putting on his big boy pants, the two frightened Saints will get dragged out of their hiding place and end up being treated the way all nuns are in crappy, erotic doujin games♪. Oh, the inhumanity!”
“Agh! Ugh…uwaah…”
Tears welled up in Kuhara’s swollen eyes and sobs wracked his body. He seemed to be remembering how he was too scared to do anything during the All-Faction Conference. Perhaps he also recalled how he had trembled in the corner of the room when the Succubus messenger arrived and had to be dealt with by Echo.
Whatever the source, the pathetic man was about to pathetically break down crying again. But Echo wasn’t going to let him keep it up.
“That’s why I’m telling you to stand up, already. Wipe your own ass. Clean up your own mess. Be a man. Become someone who can be glad Erakino died. Don’t waste away like some loser. Defeat fate. God is watching you.”
“Damn it all…”
Perhaps she’d provoked him just enough to reignite what meager pride he had left. Keiji threw aside the spineless and wishy-washy attitude that had become his norm. He shouted at the top of his lungs and rose from the floor where he’d been a trembling mess.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Damn it! I’ll do it! I just have to do it, right?! I’ll do it for you, you jackass! I’m the world’s greatest Game Master! You all just have to get off my back!!”
What man could stand letting things end after having all that said to him? After being made such a fool? He was more driven by desperation and self-abandonment than by pride and stubbornness. But he had undoubtedly started to look forward again, and taking that first step was critical, no matter what brought it about.
Echo cackled when she saw Keiji shouting to pump himself up. “Now that’s what I’m talking about! Keep it up! This is what you need. A strong will is what will cut a path through fate and bring you victory.”
“Hell yeah! I’m not outta the game yet! Most of my GM Authority was sealed, but I can still roll the dice. Next round is gonna be my big wiiiiiiin!”
Echo’s lips curved in the biggest, happiest smile at his words, and she clapped her hands. It appeared she’d gotten the exact outcome she’d wanted. Her innocent joy reminded Keiji so much of Erakino that it made his heart flutter, but it was no big deal compared to the zeal he now had to get things done.
“You better watch me, Era— Echo! I’m gonna do it! I’m gonna kill them all and win this shitty game! I’ll be the last man standing!”
He could at least talk a big game. But the lack of vocabulary and refinement in his words revealed his true character.
Echo sneered and threw out a barbed remark as if to make fun of the fact that he was all talk. “Yeah! You said it! Now use that pep to slaughter the King of Ruin too♪.”
“Eeek! The K-King of Ruin! Takuto Ira. Nooooooooooooooooo!!”
They were right back to square one. Apparently, the name Takuto Ira was a trigger word for him. Keiji crouched right back down in his corner and began muttering hateful things to himself.
“Haa, he’s a lost cause,” Echo sighed and threw both hands up in defeat.
Her gesture seemed awfully full of human emotion for an empty shell left by a bug in the system.