“You are Sloth, are you not?” I asked. “Is it not bothering you to be blocking my way?” “Sure is. I’d take sleep over work any day of the week.” “Then get the hell out of my way, please! I need to see my brother!!” If my strongest attack didn’t cut it, then I was going to have to call upon quantity rather than quality. Expand! Expand! Expand! Expand! I spread my mana across the room, thick and broad, like several layers of paint. Then I transformed that mana into hundreds of tiny spears of wind. So long as Sloth wasn’t going to do anything, I could just try again and again until something worked. Perhaps the barrier had a weak point somewhere. If I could find that, I could tear the whole thing down. I had to try, for my brother’s sake. “Why are you trying so hard?” came Sloth’s grumpy voice. “Nothing good ever comes of putting in effort, you know.” “Oh, now you want to talk?” I spat back. “Well, please be quiet. I’m trying to concentrate.” “The trials fit whoever faces them. That means you’re guilty of sloth, I guess.” “I resent that… Even if you do have a point.” Controlling my mana was somewhat akin to doing complicated math in my head. Like keeping a candle flame alight. And casting the spell felt like throwing a bucket of ice-cold water over that flame. “Anemol Arsenal: Symphony of Wind!” Thousands of wind spears, too many to count, filled the room and flew at the barrier in unison. Each of them was too fast to track with the naked eye, but as they approached the barrier, they disintegrated into magic particles, just like everything else I had tried. Even attacking the whole barrier at once did nothing. If only there was some clue… I tried using Symphony of Wind a few more times, but no matter how many needles the barrier devoured, nothing changed. “Ah, now I know why I hate the sight of you so much,” I said. “It’s like looking into a mirror.” “Wossat? I’m not out there risking my life, like you. If that’s what you want to do, then…bah. I can’t be assed to talk anymore.” “…Maybe we’re actually not that alike.” Keep looking! Isn’t there anything I can do?! My mind was working on overdrive. “You’ll never get past that barrier,” said Sloth. “Why not just give up? You hate wasted effort more than anybody.” “Yes, you’re right. I’ve never wasted a second of my life.” Sloth. Perhaps it was a fitting trial for me after all. I’d always been content to enjoy the luxuries extended to me as Kaito’s little sister. I’d never reached for anything more than that, because I knew it could never be. All I did was attempt to deny him other lady friends, while ensuring that I remained his top priority—In other words, maintaining the status quo. But even so…the things that I did for him were never in vain. “I think I need to thank this fantasy world we’ve found ourselves in,” I said. “It may have taken much from my brother and me, but it’s given us so much, too.” “And yet your brother will never love you back. Not like you love him.” “…I have never once put effort into chasing a dream I think is futile.” “…” Once again, every last spear that I fired was taken apart into dust. …Which means, I only have one last trick to try. Watching each one of my attacks come undone had given me an idea. “My next attack…will tear through this wall,” I declared. “…When will you give up?” I began weaving my mana into a circle, spinning it faster and faster. “Grh!!” Suddenly, I began to feel lightheaded and almost lost control for a moment. I’m using too much power, I thought, as I hastily reasserted my grip. I had never used this technique before, but there was a first time for everything. In terms of raw power, it was not a very efficient use of my mana. To make up for my lacking strength, I was using mana to supplement my strike, and once I had used the last drop, the remainder came from my health instead. This is…quite difficult to endure. Oh, if only dear brother were here to tell me what a good girl I’ve been. Bit by bit, gashes began to tear open my skin, but I didn’t care. I would push myself to the very brink, if that was what it took. If I succeeded, I could be closer to Kaito than ever before. We could be one. We could enjoy the beautiful life I’ve always dreamed of… Then, once I felt like I had charged enough power, a swirling vortex of particles wreathed the tip of my naginata blade. “Tear this wall to shreds. Anemol Arsenal: Law of the Meek!” My technique felt like it might come apart at any moment, so while I still had it under control, I swung my blade. Not with force, not with technique. I simply let go. If everything I launched at the barrier was going to be transformed into particles anyway, then what would happen if my attack was made of particles to begin with? Just as I’d hoped, the barrier’s magic had no effect, and the full force of my attack shattered the shield into a million shards, as though it had been no thicker than a sheet of glass all along. “Urgh. What a pain,” said Sloth. “I’ve done it. I’ve won.” “…You sure about this? There’s no turning back, you know.” “Who needs to turn back? Backward only takes me farther from my dear brother.” “…Fine. Then I guess the trial’s over. What a bore that was.” Sloth finally sat up, still facing away from me, took out his two hammers, and struck them together. There was a loud, deep ringing sound, like my head was trapped inside an enormous bell, and a glowing portal appeared. Somehow, I knew just where this door would take me. “If I pass through here, I’ll be able to see Kaito again, won’t I?” “Yeah. Probably curled up and crying like usual.” “I see. Then I shall have to go do my job, shan’t I? And so shall you.” Once Kaito was back, this man would return to being another one of his soul blades. So, leaving him with those words, I stepped through the portal. “Argh, what a pain. I just want to sleep…” After Mai left, a cold silence fell over the workshop, as if the harsh fighting of only a few moments ago hadn’t been real. But to Sloth, that wasn’t a problem. For silence and stagnation were his domain. That was how this workshop was, and how it had always been, just as he liked it. And so he turned back onto his side, and soon fell asleep. Trial of Sloth: Passed. “Check,” I said, moving an ivory piece along a board decorated with black and white squares. “Hmph. An uninspired move at best. How utterly boring.” My opponent, a blond-haired boy named Pride, sighed. He was wearing a glittering golden crown, and a frown of displeasure was sculpted into his porcelain features. The Sword of Sin: Castle of the Lonely King. That was the name of the trial I now faced. It was based upon a game brought to this world by the first hero. A game known as Chess. However, the stakes of this game were high, as Pride had used his power to ensure that the loser’s soul would be utterly erased. “I was curious what the priestess of this time was like,” said Pride. “I see now you are not even worthy of my notice.” “Careful with your words, sir. My name is Metelia, and the fact that I am the priestess is entirely incidental.” “Hmph. Big words.” With that, Pride made his move, relocating a black piece to another square on the board. Our arena resembled the inside of a Lunarian church. The floors, walls, ceiling, and fittings were all white, but the most striking features were the many statues of Lunaris that decorated the upper levels. Pride and I were sitting in the center of the room, at opposite ends of a white marble table. “You are the priestess,” said Pride. “That is all that matters. Nothing more than the goddess’s puppet. You can fight that if you like, even cast off her shackles with your little death-defying stunt, but it does not change who you are.” “…” “You may have cut your strings, little puppet, but there’s one more you forgot. Unless and until you renounce the priestess’s role, you will never be free.” “…” “Even your purported affection for the hero could be nothing more than an illusion. And yet, here you are.” “I must remind you again to be careful with your words, Pride… Or should I say, Lord Arclight Lunarius, the Wicked?” “…Ah, so they still call me that in your time, do they?” “Oh, every priestess is taught about you, and how you betrayed our land and our goddess to side with the demons. I always believed it without question…until now.” I moved a white piece, and the game advanced another step. Lunarius the Wicked had once reigned as Holy Emperor of the Lunarian See, over five hundred years ago, when it had been a mighty empire. Succumbing to madness, he’d followed the will of a heretical cult and began sacrificing his own subjects to demonic beasts in a bid to slay the very goddess he reigned under, until the day a hero rose up from among the oppressed people and slew him. “You’re taught, are you? I see. Times may change, but people never do. And yet, for all their indoctrination, in the end, it came to naught. For ultimately, you saw things my way.” Pride scoffed. “I should have slaughtered you all when I had the chance. Every day, I regret not finishing the job.” “…I found the inscription your daughter left in the depths of the dungeon.” When I said that, I saw Pride’s fingers twitch. “Countless souls were sacrificed for you to be brought to this world as a baby. The Church reared and worshiped you. They called you the holy child. You were shaped into a ruler the people wanted from birth, married away for political convenience, and had a child of your own. A daughter… So when I speak of love, you know what I’m talking about, don’t you?” In my first life, I had been a pure and upstanding priestess of Lunaris. I’d studied the tenets, had lived for the Church, and had never once doubted my faith. The teachings had been law, and I had been a bird in a cage. A mouthpiece for Lunaris’s wishes. A servant of her will. I’d lived for one purpose and one purpose only: To join the hero when he arrived and assist his gallant bravery. I awaited this man of courage, this unflinching, determined champion. This peacekeeper, this upholder of justice. …But what I got was something very different. The hero had been a weak man. A boy, even. A kind boy, yet naive, fearful, and unwise to this world and its dangers. He was no hero, and yet I was expected to treat him as one. Then, just as I was starting to curse this world and its cruelty, I fell into a trap while we were exploring an old ruin that had transformed into a dungeon. The trap separated me from my party, and I wandered alone, looking for a way out, when I came upon it. “She…wrote something?” “Yes, she told about how she had fallen terminally ill, and how you made a pact with the demons to save her. How the ‘demonic’ beasts appeared right after you went against the goddess’s will…and how you stayed in the castle to fight the hero, giving your daughter time to escape.” My speech was punctuated by the sound of Pride placing another piece, but he said nothing. “…” “And finally,” I said, “it told of her gratitude for you. She thanked you for bringing her into this world. For being her parent. For loving her. That stone contained her love for you.” “Did it, now?” Upon the board, an opening was created. A slight tremor in Pride’s conviction that hadn’t been there before. I must apologize for resorting to unconventional tactics, but I have little choice. Responding to his suboptimal move, I continued pushing the board toward my desired arrangement. “Hmm.” It didn’t take long for Pride to realize the mistake he’d made, and with his next move, he sought to close the gap he had opened. “I must thank you,” I said. “You, and your daughter. Because after reading that inscription, I finally realized what I wanted for myself. It’s because of you that I’m here now, fighting by Kaito’s side.” “I don’t need your gratitude. We may be similar in some respects, but you and I are not the same.” After he placed his piece, I moved mine. The speed of our exchanges quickened. “You’re right,” I said, “Our desires are very different. For one, I have not yet given up on mine.” “Hmph. You talk an awful lot…for a commoner.” Pride slammed his piece onto the table. “Unfortunately, you will have to back up your words with actions…or you will not live to see another day.” “Oh, you don’t need to worry about me,” I replied. Pride’s latest move was a decisive one. He had fully made up for his previous error, and now the board was approximately even once more. However, from here, the route to my desired arrangement was clear. “You are quite right,” I said. “I have not abandoned my role just yet. Kaito is the hero, and the priestess is there to support the hero in everything he does. I am here to be mixed into him, deeper and deeper than ever before, so I can be his very foundation.” Even if that means I must… “…I see,” said Pride, looking down at the board. “So this is what you were aiming for all along.” He sighed. He knew what I was trying to do, but taking measures to avoid it would end up handing me the advantage anyway. “Yes,” I replied. “If I want to be Kaito’s strength, I will have to go there eventually. Besides, isn’t this kind of determination precisely what these trials are meant to test for?” “You are rather presumptuous for a commoner.” “Am I wrong? Well, even if I am, that doesn’t change what I must do.” “You commoners are all the same. Striving beyond your means. Even when I was alive, you never knew your place.” “Oh, but it isn’t beyond my means at all. I have already died once, remember. It’s not so scary once you get used to it. And besides, it’s something I’ve wanted for a very long time. It’s only natural.” I gave a modest titter while Pride looked on in amazement. After a beat passed, he guffawed and slapped his knee. “Ha-ha-ha-ha! Natural! Only natural, she says! Oh, the arrogance! The entitlement! Now I see why you came to me! Everything, from the way you are, to the way you feel; even the way you played this game are all dripping in arrogance!!” Pride went on laughing, and when he finally calmed down, he looked at me, still smiling like he couldn’t contain his joy, and moved his next piece. “Well, go on then,” he said with a grin. “The path to hell is best walked with company.” “Indeed,” I replied. “And Kaito does get so terribly lonely at times.” Wearing a faint smile, I played my next and final move. “It has been fifty moves,” I said, “and neither one of us has captured a single piece. That makes this game a draw.” That was the outcome I had been pushing toward. With no loser, neither one of us had to pay the price. I would pass the trial, and Kaito would lose nothing. “Yes, let us end the trial here,” said Pride. “Beyond that door lies what you seek.” He pointed to a nearby statue of Lunaris, at whose base a glowing portal of light suddenly appeared. “Thank you for entertaining me,” I said, curtsying politely. “Now I must be on my way.” Aah, finally, my efforts will be repaid. Oh, Kaito. Oh, Kaito, Kaito, Kaito. It’s been a long, long journey, but at last I can be your priestess. The priestess must grow close to the hero. That is her duty. “Hmph. This is why I can’t stand women.” Despite his flippant words, Pride wore a smile upon his lips. He thought about the woman he had just seen, and her eyes, laced with a boundless greed. Eyes that seemed to pull everything else into them. She harbored a possessiveness that bordered on obsession, and an unstoppable will to make everything turn out her way. “Heh-heh-heh. Giving thanks to my daughter, while choosing the path of the condemned for herself.” Pride took the black king in his hands and twirled it on his fingertip. Sitting alone in the room in which he was slain, he sat back and grinned. Trial of Pride: Passed. “Excuse me, First Hero?” “Yes? What’s the matter?” I drained my cup and leveled a glare at the faint, glowing humanoid figure seated across from me. “Shall this tea party be going on much longer?” I asked. “Oh? Is the tea not to your liking?” “If it weren’t to my liking, I’d have spat it out and not drunk three cups of the stuff,” I replied. Besides us two, the chairs, the table, and the tea set, there was nothing here save for a boundless sea of stars. After I’d been teleported, I’d met this peculiar figure who’d introduced herself both as the first hero and Kaito’s Soul Blade of Beginnings. When I’d asked her to explain her indistinct form, the first hero had told me that for the first-ever hero summoning, Lunaris had sought to summon a hero who bore as close a resemblance to herself as possible. As a result, the first hero was more or less the spitting image of Lunaris, but had erased her own appearance out of spite. “I’m glad to hear that,” the first hero said. “Making tea was my sole joy in life. Alas, coming to this world rather deprived me of many chances to practice it.” “I see. ’Tis a shame. Even the maids at the demon castle never made tea as delectable as this.” “A shame, but unavoidable. I would sooner die than do anything for this world.” “Is that so? Then I assume this conversation cannot be mere pleasantry, either.” “Fear not. I mean no harm upon you. Not if we are to be living together.” “…So that’s what this is about,” I said. “You knew all along this was coming, did you not? That is why you and the previous hero both helped me accomplish it. I must thank you, you know, for managing to string along those other women into this as well.” The woman gave a pleasant laugh. “I didn’t string anybody along,” I retorted. “They all wanted this for themselves. If anyone strung anybody, it was that womanizer Kaito, picking up all these ladies when he already has me.” “Yes, even I can see what a terrible excuse for a human being the current hero is. Look at the state his interpersonal relationships are in now, thanks entirely to his own half-hearted attempts at placation. As a woman, I feel some pity for you all, but after seeing how you all behave, I have to say you somewhat deserve it.” “Harsh.” Nothing was more difficult to hear than the truth. I twisted my face in disgust. “Quite. And yet, so long as it is no impediment to our vengeance, I see no reason why you may not be allowed to proceed. You may copulate like rabbits for all I care.” “…I’m not sure I much liked the way you said that. And even if I wanted to…” “Well, take your time. Just not too much, because there’s precious little remaining.” “G-grr…” “Oh dear. Your face has gone bright red.” “Sh-shut up! You still haven’t answered my question.” Half to get away from this embarrassing topic, I steered the conversation back on track. “Ah, about how long this tea party will last? It will last until all the trials are complete.” “Trials? What trials?” “We must ensure the other girls are pure in their malice. We must know if they are worthy enough to be brought into the fold. When their trials are over, they will all be brought here.” “Do I not need to face a trial, then?” “You already completed your trial by transferring your soul to the current hero’s body. At that time, you were too distracted to notice us, but we saw you, and we observed your behavior with great interest.” “Hmm… I’m not sure how I feel about that.” I was not too pleased to hear I’d been evaluated in secret, even if I had apparently passed. Suddenly, there was a flash of light to my right, and a large rift opened in space. Just as I thought something troubling was happening, Minnalis stepped out. “Where am I now…?” she muttered aloud. “It looks like Minnalis was the fastest,” said the first hero. “I see,” I said. “So this is what you meant…” Minnalis looked over at us and, somehow connecting the dots in her mind, let out a deep sigh. “So this means I was second place, does it? That’s a little disappointing.” “Oh, er…,” I stammered, wondering if I should tell her. But the first hero had made that decision for me. “Oh, no,” she said. “You misunderstand. The demon lord is special. She did not have to face a trial.” “You didn’t have to say it like that!!” I blurted out. “Special… Special, is she? Oh, I see… I see how it is…” “N-no, Minnalis! She doesn’t mean it like that! She means I was already evaluated while my soul was sleeping within Kaito…!” But just as I hastily attempted to explain away my sins, there was another flash of light, and a second rift appeared. “Ah, third, am I?” Metelia was the next of our group to arrive in this room. After taking a look around, she was followed by two more portals suddenly opening. “Wah!” “Where is my brother?” It was Shuria and Mai. Shuria managed to trip over her own feet and fall, while Mai immediately began scanning the room for Kaito. Then, the first hero clapped her hands together, commanding everyone’s attention. “The trials are complete,” she announced, “and I’m afraid to say that Nonorick has failed. The rest of you, however, will be allowed to proceed. I am the first hero, and I’m pleased to finally meet you all in person. Five out of six is an exceedingly hopeful result.” “Nonorick didn’t make it?” I asked. “I’m afraid not. His bloodline and the impurity of his vengeance made assimilation impossible.” I also had that impression, but I was still sad to see him go. He was a welcome companion, but unfortunately that alone was not enough to be called a true partner in crime. “Now then, you will find what you are seeking down there.” Saying this, the first hero pointed to a previously empty patch of ground, where now there was a gaping hole. However, the word hole felt insufficient to describe it. It almost seemed alive…yes, like a mouth. There were no teeth to be seen, but still we knew this was a thing that would devour us, chew us, swallow us, and digest us. Yet that was not enough to sway me from my path. Kaito was beyond it, and that was all that mattered. However, just as I set one foot toward the opening… “Well then, I’ll be going first!” Minnalis, suddenly back to her usual self again, pushed past me and threw herself into the hole, looking back at me with a grin that practically screamed how pleased she was at overtaking me. And while I stood there, blank-faced… “Whee!!” “Tee-hee! Here I come, Kaito!” “H-hey! Waking up big brother is a little sister’s sacred duty!!” “H-hey! C-come back, all of you!” All the other girls rushed past me, and before I knew it, I was the last one remaining. “Grr! Just you wait!!” I ran and leaped into the hole after them. Either a second or an eternity later, I landed on the other side. It was an inky-black world that seemed to stretch on forever, like the bottom of the ocean. The place was devoid of color, save for the interminable scarlet of the floor, which resembled blood, and a pale blue flame that drew a large sphere around us, anchoring us in this otherwise imperceptible realm. The only ones there were us five girls, and a large, white, humanoid figure, like a golem. “What a twist of fate,” I said, “to find you in this form.” The golem was made of roots and bark, twisted together. It bore a strong resemblance to how I had once looked after the Demonlight Tree had consumed me. “But in some ways, it is perfect. Now I can finally repay the favor, Kaito.” “…” Kaito was bound, glassy-eyed, into the torso of the giant where its heart would be. It was impossible to tell whether he was awake or not. The golem itself, however, was very much conscious, and from the look it, ready for a fight. It began lumbering toward us, standing at a height of nearly six meters, grasping a large greatsword in its gnarled hands. The sword was plain, rusted and chipped, and looked almost like a large bone. “…Well, looks like we’re in for a long battle,” I said. And with that, the five of us stepped forth to face what would likely be our final trial.
Chapter 121
22 min read