It was just like that day. The same wind that had blown back then…
It was over in a moment. All that remained of the monsters around them was a red mist and a deathly silence. The distinctive scent left by powerful magic beams filled Hanabi’s nostrils. The blue bubble protecting them was gone, having shielded them from that terrifying wind attack.
She looked at Kuon, dazed. The nine arms deployed at his back retracted, but Hanabi was unaware this meant the special weapon had stopped functioning.
Hanabi just thought, But he’s dead. Yet the Hero who had died thirteen years ago was right there in front of her.
Without turning to face her, he spoke to Hanabi in that exact same tone: “I’m glad you survived.” It was like he’d been waiting thirteen years to say that to her. “I’m glad you lived to grow up. That was my last wish.”
The Hero turned around. By then, his features had become something much more familiar. Maybe it had just been a dream, perhaps an illusion, but the idea was real.
My little Hero is right here…
“Sorry I kept you waiting, Hanabi-senpai.”
It was Okegawa Kuon.
He’d come. She had no words.
The fight was over. Hanabi was crying like a child. All the air in her lungs rushed out in a giant sob as she inhaled great gasps of spent magic and dark red mist to replace it.
In the center of the scorched earth battlefield, Kuon reduced his DM to minimal deployment and put his arms around Hanabi. He stroked her head as she clung to him with all her might. “Sorry I took so long, senpai. I made it in time though. Thank goodness.”
Hanabi took a long whiff of his scent and shook her head. Her answer didn’t make it into words, but Kuon understood what she was trying to say: I thought you weren’t coming. How dare you take so long? But I believed in you. I was so scared. So very scared. But you came. I’m so happy. Thank you. I’m so glad to see you. But what took so long, you idiot? You’re an idiot. I love you.
So Kuon just said, “Yes, yes, sorry,” and Hanabi was glad for that. She rubbed her face on his scrawny chest, still sobbing.
“Senpai, I brought some spare capsules for everyone.” Kuon took a small plastic box out of his pocket and showed it to Hanabi. She accepted it, and the moment she released him he went over to Fuji and Rin, giving them capsules as well. “Let’s use these to get out of here. There are ships out to—”
Kuon’s words died in his mouth. The blood drained from his face.
“Kuon-sama!” En shrieked.
“I know!” he yelled, turning around. His senpai looked confused, but Kuon and his Guide were focused on one thing: the hole hanging above them at the Gate.
“Senpai! Run—”
The hole expanded.
Everything around them turned pitch black in every direction. They found themselves floating in space with only the tiny lights of the stars in the distance.
“Senpai?!”
Tentacles wrapped around her, and… “Kuon-kun! No! Kuon-kun!!”
“Senpai!” Kuon reached out his hand, but there was a jerk, and Hanabi and the tentacles sank into the void.
“Hanabi!”
“Suzuka-kun!”
Deploying their DMs, all three looked around, searching for Hanabi. But there was no sign of her. They couldn’t see her anywhere.
It was very quiet, almost like they were floating in the depths of the sea again.
“En! Find her, please! And hurry!”
“I am!”
If he were to blindly trust his radar, speedometer, altimeter, and magic meter, right now, they were inside a bubble of magic with a value of 7,777,777 while traveling at three times the speed of light at an altitude of -5000 meters. In Kuon’s previous life, En hadn’t been with him, but now she confirmed those readings to be somehow correct.
Damn it! I was right there with her!
Kuon gritted his teeth, swearing. Hanabi had to be there somewhere. When he’d seen his squadmates surrounded by Jave and the Queen in the sky, Kuon had resolved to finish them all off in a single attack. He may not have learned the ultimate art, but his magic expenditure had already sunk to 1/100,000,000. He figured if he used Nine-Count Strike, he could pull off the strongest art he’d used in his previous life, so long as it was within that nine-second window.
His attempt had failed.
I never thought the Queen would return so soon!
He’d blown away all the ordinary Jave, just like last time, but it had never occurred to him it would cause the Gate to go haywire and swallow them up.
Kuon realized the four flesh pillars weren’t Gate control devices. At the bitter end of his past life, the Queen had tried to eat him without killing him first. Since the Queen had been badly injured, the Gate went ten years without opening. The field inside the Gate had a magic value of 7,777,777, which could be classified as Division 7, and he guessed this was itself magically activated…just like Division Maneuvers. And Division Maneuvers were weapons you wore with magic—in a sense, putting one on was like casting a spell.
In which case, that meant the Gate was essentially a DM the Jave used. Like the invisible bullets they utilized, it was a magic spell.
The high-end AI Device, En, agreed with this assessment. So what was it that activated the Gate? Not those four flesh pillars. What kind of creature could put out a number as ridiculous as 7,777,777? Kuon could only think of one.
“Kuon-sama! There!” En pointed.
“What? Below us?!”
All three piloted their frames in the direction En indicated. The monster they found there had soaked the blow from Kishin Ryuenbu, oozing thick, black blood, but stubbornly clinging to life. It was the big boss of all the monsters.
The Jave Queen.
When she saw Kuon coming, she spread her tentacles like a wild animal trying to make itself look bigger.
“Hanabi-sama’s signal is inside that Core!” En shouted.
He’d seen that Core during the fight in his past life, after it had failed to swallow him and fled to the other world. That glowing purple eye… This time, it had obtained the ultimate meal, and taken it inside itself.
He checked again at maximum magnification. Inside that purple orb, he saw Hanabi bound by countless tentacles. Her eyes opened.
“Senpai!”
“Kuon-kun…?”
Their comms still worked; Hanabi was still alive. “Just you wait! I’m coming to save you!” Kuon drew his Blade and charged. Rin and Fuji expanded their DMs, giving chase.
Skreeeaaaaaaaaa!
The Queen put up a final resistance. An incredible number of tentacles thrashed. Kuon could swing his Blade, but couldn’t cut through them all. The ones suddenly appearing from empty space were particularly obnoxious. His radar was just barely picking them up in time, but he still couldn’t force his way any closer to the Queen.
Fuji and Rin weren’t faring any better. The capsules had recovered their magic a little, but not nearly enough for them to fight properly. “Damn it!” “Hanabi!” they swore over the comms.