“I’m not. I’m just saying, if someone more selfish was in your position, they might say ‘We need to fight to prevent a war’ and that’d be the end of it, right? I could easily picture a different person acting like that if they gained control over Towa. I mean, most strong people are jerks, right?”
“....Uh, hmm. Does that mean you realize just how amazing I am now? Took you long enough.”
“If only you didn’t say stuff like that, I would have figured it out much sooner...”
“...Sh-shut up.”
“Sorry, can’t help it.”
“You could at least try to. Anyway, thank you, too.”
“For what?”
“B-Because... I’m glad that someone like you is Towa’s big brother, and...” Embarrassment caused her words to momentarily trail off, but she went on. “That you’re the Finalfist, the one who can use her.”
The Finalfist was the title given to the person compatible with the Ruinmaker. No one really knew how Ruinmakers were born or how they worked, but every world had one, and they were all girls. This was apparently because back in a mythic age, a goddess named Ruin took on the form of a girl and pushed the world to the brink of destruction. Eventually, she was sealed away, and her soul was split into five different parts.
There were no traces of this age to be found in our world, but myths about Ruin existed in Khaos Schwartz and Semuleice. The goddess Ruin had appeared in the form of a girl, therefore, only girls could become vessels for the parts of her soul. She possessed many great powers, and each Ruinmaker could use part of them.
It was also said that Ruin had been sealed by a hero with a prosthetic arm known as the Finalfist, a ‘fist capable of ending everything.’ Some people doubted the legends that were inscribed on documents in the other worlds, but it was clear that the Ruinmakers existed, which proved that it wasn’t all fantasy.
Towa had inherited part of Ruin’s soul and gained the power to destroy the world. She was the Ruinmaker, the strongest weapon, and I was her Finalfist, the one who could best use her.
On the night when our parents were murdered, Towa had awakened as the Ruinmaker, and a voice had echoed inside my head. Since it kept encouraging me to kill, I imagined it was probably the voice of Ruin, who lived inside Towa.
And so, I had borrowed Towa’s power and killed one of the murderers. Murdering didn’t really make me feel anything. I simply used the immense power of the Ruinmaker to erase a human life. But despite my numbness, the truth remained in my mind. I had used my little sister to kill someone.
It was my sin, mine alone, and I was prepared to bear it for the rest of my life. I never wanted to push any sort of weight onto her. I didn’t want to use her in another battle, but it seemed like I didn’t have a choice this time.
Yukihime went on. “If the Ruinmaker had fallen into the wrong hands, it could have gone from the world’s best method of protection to the worst weapon of mass destruction that our world had ever seen. Things could have easily gone awry at any moment.”
The Phanatics had been trying to push us to become just that, but they failed. Because she saved us. The girl sitting in front of me saved us all on her own.
“Anyway, it’s nice to know that we both feel grateful to each other. For now, though, we need to focus on the matter at hand,” I said.
“Yeah...”
“Did you talk to Towa?”
“There’s no telling what may happen at this point. I wanted to talk to you about it first.”
“...We need to hurry up and tell her, then.”
There was no way I could use Towa in a battle without letting her know first. I needed to tell her the truth. It made me sick to my stomach, but I knew there was no other way.
With my mind made up, I stepped out of the Headmistress’ Office.
“I want to fight, too.”
That was the first thing Towa said after we relayed the news to her. “I don’t just want to be protected all the time...”
“B-But Towa...” I said.
“No buts. You think I’m just going to hide somewhere and pretend nothing’s happening while you and Yukihime get hurt?”
“B-But...”
No buts. Towa was right. Wanting to keep her out of danger was nothing but selfishness, and it wouldn’t fly here. Yet I still didn’t want to make her fight... even if it meant putting the entire world in danger. To me, my little sister was more important than the world itself.
“Big brother...”
“...Yes?”
“I believe in you. That’s why I want you to use me to protect the world, together with Yukihime.”
“Looks like Towa prepared herself for this even quicker than we did. She seems a lot firmer in her resolve, too,” Yukihime said.
“I guess so...” Towa looked at Yukihime, revealed a pained smile, and let out an exasperated sigh. “For ten years, I’ve done nothing but let you protect me... I always told myself that when a time like this came, I wouldn’t run away. I’ve been ready for the past nine years...”
During our time with the Phanatics, Towa and I became targets for the other students. The new people always got picked out, and if you didn’t have the courage to do something about it, you’d just end up becoming a plaything. I was able to use my strength to make the others accept me, but things were different for Towa. Somehow, they had heard a rumor about Towa’s powers, and decided to pull it out of her using fear. No one knew how to activate her powers, so they just kept trying to scare her over and over.
There were others who targeted her for sexual reasons. They came after me, too. Age and gender didn’t matter to those people, and a shockingly large number of them had twisted sexual preferences. Some of them only got excited at the sight of a five-year old – Towa’s age at the time. I fought them all off, and even hurt some of them to the point that they’d never be able to commit any more atrocities.
The Phanatics were nothing but a group of degenerates. I had a hard time believing that some of them were even human. There were some sane people there, of course, but they always died first. No one was able to retain their sanity for long.
“I want to go home... I miss Mom and Dad...”
I still dreamed about it – Towa, staring at me with hollow eyes, whimpering the same thing over and over. Whether I was awake or asleep, Towa just kept crying.
And so, I vowed to protect her. I vowed to kill the people who did this to us – the people who killed our parents.
“Up until now, I’ve done nothing but let you protect me... Now it’s my turn to help you, big brother,” Towa said, staring straight at me as she continued to speak. “If I can’t help out in times like these, then what am I here for? Why did I even get this power in the first place? At least let me believe that I was given this power to help you in times like these.”
“...Fine.” I couldn’t run anymore. It was time to act. “But don’t do anything rash. That’s the one thing your big brother won’t allow, got it?”
It was December 22 – the day of the meeting. School had been canceled, since the two envoys from Khaos Schwartz were coming to meet us right at our very own Star Gate Academy. Aside from its status as the world’s top star sorcerer academy, the school also administered four Star Gates underground, which connected our world to the others. One of them led to Khaos Schwartz, and two envoys would be coming out of it at any minute.
“Big brother, Yukihime... Be careful. And come back safely,” Towa said.
“We will,” I replied.
“Don’t worry. We shouldn’t have to face any danger today. We’ll be back soon,” Yukihime added.
After Towa saw us off, we headed toward the academy. We had walked this way so many times, yet now it felt strangely foreboding. Once we arrived, we headed straight for the large tower inside the campus, where the Council of Seven Houses usually met.
“Kokuya, stop.”
“Wh-what is it?”
“We need to go and meet the envoys from Khaos Schwartz before we head to the meeting room. Follow me. You’re my bodyguard today, remember?”
“Roger that, Headmistress.”
With that, we headed to the academy basement, which housed the Star Gates.
“This place always gives me the creeps,” I murmured.
The room had an otherworldly atmosphere to it. It was a Crack, a rift that existed between worlds. Deep within pitch black darkness, I could see distant stars shining. It looked like outer space. Cutting through the darkness was a pathway of white stone, and beyond it sat four doors. No one knew who had created all this, or when.
On the far right sat the Black Gate, which led to Khaos Schwartz. Next came the Rainbow Gate, the door to Semuleice, then the Silver Gate, the door to Machina Silvaria, and finally the White Gate, the door to Paradisos.
Suddenly, I felt a huge amount of star power emanating from the Black Gate on the right.
“Here they come,” Yukihime muttered.
As apprehension rippled through me, I took a deep breath. An ominous sound echoed out, the gate opened, and from it emerged two people dressed in black.
One of them was a woman. She had purple hair that came down to the tips of her shoulders, with an extra bundle in the back that flowed down like a tail. Her drooping eyes looked calm, and there was a mole under her left eye.
It also looked as if her voluptuous breasts were about to spill right out from her deeply plunging outfit. Otherworld people are really crazy... What do you have to eat to get breasts that big? It looks like she’s got a bust size of at least 90 cm...
She had a tattoo on her left breast, and was wearing a long skirt with a slit that went all the way up to her waist, revealing a bit of the garter belt she wore underneath. Everything about her was just so sexy, including the confident smile on her lips.
The moment she saw me, she drew near. “My, my, aren’t you a little cutie?” she said, then suddenly hugged me.