episode_0027

Ever since I was little, I wanted to hug a cloud.

It’s clear and beautiful for no reason.

That annoying blue sky, completely obscuring the warm sunlight.

“Ah… .”

My eyes opened.

A hospital room in chaos. Someone lying in a hospital bed, wheezing and breathing heavily. What were they doing?

The shards of broken glass cast a strange glare that stung my eyes, adding to the midday sunlight.

I looked down at the ship.

“Yeah… .”

I realized it.

It’s not like a magical blade flew in from somewhere and pierced the middle of the ship.

The blade, instead of breaking due to Irusia’s extremely strong magic power, is actually sucking up the magic power.

Yeah, I was stabbed when I was seven, no, eight? That’s the first time since then, but strangely, it doesn’t hurt this time. It hurt so, so much back then, but it doesn’t hurt at all.

Oh, come to think of it, I really hated sunlight back then.

I remember how I really hated the bright mornings because I was always cold, hungry, and sick when I opened my eyes. I wanted to stay asleep.

I met a boy.

Since then, I have spent days filled with happiness. When I open my eyes in the morning, I stretch my body refreshed by the sweet sleep. I am glad to be alive today. It may be a bit pretentious, but I can think that way.

Ah! Now I realize. It was all too much. And yet I still had regrets.

I already have a mountain of debt that I can never repay, so I’m just lucky to be able to live like this now, and it wouldn’t be strange if I were to have everything seized overnight at any moment.

I can’t give up or run away. I don’t want to. I knew I had to live my whole life paying it back. I wanted to pay at least the interest. I was always afraid of losing everything.

It’s okay now.

“IRUCIAAA …

Haha. Look at that expression.

Unfortunately for Sid, who was screaming hard, the blade that pierced his stomach had no effect. This was probably because it fit his body perfectly, incomparable to something like an artificial organ.

Even if something that big is instilled into her body without permission, her bodily functions are still functioning normally. This is because the magic is like her own body. Irusia’s body itself is a mass of extremely compressed magic.

It’s not surprising anymore. I guess that’s how it is.

The last thing I saw before opening my eyes was the Demon King being impaled by a sword like this.

Future me.

It is clear what must be done. Rather than that, it is more like there is nothing else that can be done.

Phew.

I exhaled as long as I could, emptying my lungs until no more air could be exhaled.

Don’t breathe in again. If you don’t do it consciously, you will naturally inhale air, so force yourself to stop.

Put your hand on your neck. If you were a man, place your thumb on the spot where your Adam’s apple would be.

Press firmly to block the prayer.

I’m not sure if it was the right location or the right way to do it, but I had to lose consciousness anyway. I had to pass out again.

The body, suddenly deprived of oxygen, began to protest violently. The tips of the feet curled up. The stomach tightened to try to get some air. The eyes widened. Fortunately, it seemed to be working.

Before I knew it, Seed was standing right in front of me.

“Irucia, you, ah, ah…!”

I don’t know what he looks like now, desperately strangling his own neck with a vicious knife stuck in his stomach, his body shaking like crazy.

I hurt you again. I’m really, really sorry.

He winked.

But we’re childhood friends, you can tell this much just by looking at our eyes, right?

It’s not like I suddenly and suddenly feel a surge of self-loathing and make an extreme choice or try to give up on life. I lock eyes with Sid, clearly holding my will in my eyes. I hope he’ll believe me.

“Ah, ah… .”

A voice that has become somewhat calmer. Yes. Calm down for a moment.

“AA …

“Kehe, cook, no, hey!! Stop it!!”

He took his hand off his neck and shouted, “Shoot!” Seed’s eyes widened.

“… Huh?”

Yeah, that’s also really good.

“You, since before, Kolok, aren’t you overly emotional? You cry and scream and yell at the drop of a hat.”

That’s always, always, really appreciated.

“Thank you?”

Heh. You don’t have to say anything. This is something that can be understood without me saying anything.

“…So, what’s the situation? Are you okay?”

If the other person is too flustered, you tend to become confused as well, but on the other hand, if the other person is too calm, you may also calm down.

Seed seemed to have calmed down a bit thanks to Irusia’s calm attitude. He had been stabbed in the stomach with a sword, but there wasn’t a single drop of blood. He guessed that there was something there.

“Ah, now… Huh?”

Huh? Oh, am I really an idiot?

“Wait, can you knock me out for a second…?”

Just ask!

“First of all, don’t leave this out.”

***

The magic energy is flowing in. The quantity, concentration, quality, and even the aftertaste are all perfect. I keep inhaling it endlessly.

“Ah… Haaa… .”

A heavy sigh.

Noctila Sarsberg was momentarily intoxicated by a dizzying ecstasy.

It wasn’t a thorough calculation. It was more of a gamble than a plan. It was just something I threw out without much thought and it turned out to be an unbelievable hit.

How could that be possible in that situation?

If you don’t do anything, it’ll end right there. Gambling is supposed to lead to your own destruction, but that’s exactly what you want.

The sweet, ultimate magic that flows out in abundance because the straw is inserted properly. And the thrill of having achieved a great turnaround in a life-threatening gamble.

Add joy to joy, and the joy is doubled!

It’s so much fun.

A chain of suffocating light that wraps around the body. Based on Noctilla from earlier, its power has been adjusted so that it is not too painful.

“ in… it.”

It was simply cut off.

“… Huh?”

The expression of a foolish teacher.

I don’t intend to disrespect Mr. Mena in that way: clumsy, sloppy, weak, and swayed by useless emotions.

As an executor, or someone who deals with demons, that part may actually be important. Even if it’s not necessarily like that, having affection and leaving a human heart behind is a precious and wonderful thing.

Rather than criticizing it, they acknowledge it, affirm it, and praise it as beautiful.

The more this happens, the greater the gap between you and yourself, who is now cutting out all those things and falling endlessly.

Why don’t people often say things like, ‘You’re unhappy because you compare yourself to others!’ That’s it. That’s what they want.

I wish for a misfortune that I cannot do anything about.

“Let’s see. He’s gone.”

“Oh my, this is fun… .”

“Only the teacher is left?”

He drew out the magic and transformed it into a sword.

In a fight with Mena, who uses divine power, the number of swords is meaningless. With moderate density, it will easily be disintegrated.

If we look at compatibility, it is still unfavorable.

The name Executor is not a form. If Mena were to unleash her divine power at full power, even a sword of magic would melt away just by getting close to it.

I concentrated and condensed my sword into one, with the idea of piercing just one point. As much as I could while maintaining the form.

Like pitch-black paint, the remaining magical energy that had not yet been combined dripped from the fingertips holding the sword.

“Oh, sure, I think he’s stronger than me~.”

End it before you can get in. Noctilla rushes in, tearing through the air. The blue aura she originally possessed is engulfed and mixed with pitch-black magic, giving the impression of the night sky.

sting.

This time, Mena stretched out the chain of light without any strength control.

“That again?”

“Are you short on words to the teacher?”

This would not be enough to tie up Noctilla’s current body, but that was not the purpose.

With a crackling sound, the chain wrapped around Noctilla’s sword. It barely managed to break, but it was a miracle. The difference in strength had already been tens, hundreds, thousands of times… an unimaginable level.

“Ha.”

It’s not that I was able to stop it with just this. The rush doesn’t stop. However, with just a little bit of resistance, the trajectory is slightly distorted.

Taking advantage of this gap, he leisurely dodged to the side like a bullfighter, not forgetting to smile slightly.

“But, I’ve never fought a demon weaker than me?”

The side of the nun’s habit was torn long. However, there was not even a scratch on her white skin. It was a narrow evasion, the thickness of a single piece of clothing.

“Tsk!”

“Please protect me.”

Noctilla just slashed heavily, severing the already tattered chain of light with a single strike.

Then, a barrier of light extended from Mena’s hand and took the blow.

“Hehehe.”

If it’s a slash with a wide surface area, compared to a stabbing where the force is concentrated on one point, it can be easily blocked from the front any number of times.

“Try stabbing it well.”

It makes you think so.

I bluffed, even though I expected I wouldn’t last more than a few minutes.

***

A butterfly flew up from the tip of Seed’s finger and tickled his nose, and then he lost consciousness.

I opened my closed eyes.

The ground and sky are completely black. There are no clouds.

I’m back again. The space in my heart.

I looked at it.

-Come on, take this off.

In front of her eyes was the girl who had been the Demon King with her stomach pierced. She didn’t open her mouth, but a voice rang in her head.

The black floor was covered in bright red blood. It looked like paint had been spilled. The girl was clearly in pain. She was shaking in pain. It was understandable that she couldn’t speak.

Irusia looked down at her stomach. The sword on this side had completely disappeared.

Irushia’s body was pierced and the material magic was absorbed, so her consciousness here was intact. On the other hand, the Demon King, who only existed as a consciousness in the mind, was now being devoured in this way, ‘striking’.

◦If you subtract %◦?”

That’s fine. The voice inside my heart that I can’t identify. Its identity is me, who has fallen to the devil. That’s what I thought. I thought we were getting closer.

The girl in front of me shuddering in pain, and me just staring at her. It’s as if I’m drawing a line between us as different people.

-You can live. You didn’t care, right? This is what’s important.

If things continue this way, Noctilla will gain the full power of the Demon King. Then no one will be able to stop him. Not even the current Cid.

From the beginning, Noctilla’s magic had been expanding like crazy, so Irusia’s body was secondary. The wisdom and class of the Demon King within her mind were the key.

I’m still getting sucked in like crazy.

-Draw your sword as soon as possible.

“Are you going to die?”

The Demon King has already lost all his power and is now reduced to nothing but the dregs of his consciousness. Now that even that has been absorbed, he has no choice but to disappear.

Was hiding it.

Also, a line was being drawn.

“Haa… .”

There are things that I’ve always wanted to touch, but when I get closer, they become invisible and untouchable.

I thought about that.

be near.

But far away. I am standing.

Can you do it?

I grabbed the body of the girl in front of me.

He took the pitch-black sword that had protruded from her stomach and placed it against his own stomach, at the exact same location, and stabbed it deep inside.

“… ”

A pain that was hot like red-hot iron and also sticky and nauseating.

He keeps pulling at the girl’s body. The tip of the knife comes out through the fabric on her back. It’s still hot. It feels like my stomach is churning. I feel like I’m going to throw up.

It hurts, really hurts. My fingertips are shaking violently. My shoulders are shaking, my spine is tingling. My teeth are chattering. I can’t think of anything. Tears are just falling.

-Stop, stop. Stop. Please… .

I couldn’t scream. It wasn’t because the pain was too much to make a sound, but because the chest cavity where my lungs were was pierced, making breathing structurally impossible.

But with this, the two are equal.

He approaches the crying girl without stopping. He touches her belly to belly, chest to chest.

The distinction between reality and imagination is gently blurred. Before you know it, the scenery is inside a hospital room.

Do clouds get sick too?

Will there be a day when you cry because you’re sick?

I thought about that. I definitely did.

“Uh, huh…?”

A small sound of wind, unable to become a voice, leaked out from the girl’s mouth.

The sharp sunlight pours through the broken wall. The passing clouds create a subtle shadow.

okay.

Lips and lips covered.

I stayed like that for a while.