The World Brightened for a Moment

The building with its enormous mass literally crushed Marcas.

As the building collided with the ground, an ear-splitting roar echoed, and a wind carrying clouds of dust swept past my face.

In a situation where I couldn’t see even an inch ahead, I maintained my tension and looked inside the building debris with Natural Mirror.

Marcas’s body wasn’t moving at all.

“……Did I get him?”

I even tried reciting a magic spell just in case, but nothing changed.

“Ha, ha, hahahaha!!”

I sat down with a thud and burst into laughter.

It was laughter born of pure joy. I had finally overcome it.

“And…. in such an incredibly stylish way!”

Even thinking about it again, it’s too romantic. Cutting down an entire building with a sword to crush an enemy.

Even other legendary skills couldn’t show such a stylish performance.

Of course, its actual performance is much worse, but isn’t being cool enough?

“Whew….”

As I was immersed in that romantic ecstasy, my head suddenly started spinning.

“Ugh…. I guess this is the effect of Magic Exhaustion.”

I feel nauseous. A discomfort similar to what someone who has spent 10 hours on a boat might feel spreads throughout my body.

It seems I should use this Hollow Slash carefully, as this unpleasant sensation will continue for an hour.

“Besides, if I use Hollow Slash incorrectly…. I could lose all my assets.”

In the case just now, it was a battle in Marcas’s ‘Death Duel Arena,’ so there was no problem, but if I were to recreate a similar situation in reality, I might spend my life just paying off debts.

“Even if I’m from a good family, that won’t work.”

I don’t even know if the Frelia family would help me financially.

Hollow Slash should be used as a last resort.

“Wait, come to think of it…. wasn’t I unable to use attack skills other than Counter? Why can I use Hollow Slash… ah.”

Just thinking about it a little gave me the answer.

“Hollow Slash is lacking as an attack skill.”

No matter how flashy it is, it doesn’t directly cut enemies, so strictly speaking, Hollow Slash is not an attack skill.

“My goodness, a character without attack skills. It wouldn’t be wrong to call me the only ruined character in the world.”

A subtle feeling of despair wraps around me, but strangely, a sense of competitive spirit also arises.

It might be fun to see the ending as a character without a single attack skill.

“Ha, there’s nothing that can’t be done.”

A smile forms on my lips. Seeing me smiling alone in a situation that anyone would consider serious, I think I’m quite a madman too.

No, if I weren’t a madman to begin with, I wouldn’t have played Grand Fantasia to that extent.

“Well… let’s see. The time….”

I looked at the sky through the window. Judging by the setting sun, this mock occupation war will end in about an hour.

“Ah, by the way, I wonder how Lord Pascal is doing?”

I hope he’s getting thoroughly thrashed.

---

Where did it all go wrong? Pascal gritted his teeth and thought.

• • Clang!

Was it because his teammates’ skills were poor? No. They were elites he had personally selected and organized.

There was not a single flaw in their abilities.

• • Clang!

Then did the enemy strategically overwhelm his team? No. Mistia’s plans were perfect.

The enemies had completely fallen for her schemes, and clearly his team had been gaining the upper hand.

• • Clang!

“Ugh…!”

Pascal’s idle thoughts were cut off. It was because he recognized that the swordsmanship level of the opponent before him far surpassed his own.

“Whew. Junior. Your swordsmanship is extraordinary. As expected of Megan Astorius’s younger sister, I guess I can’t do much.”

Cold sweat beaded on Pascal’s forehead.

‘I heard she was just at the level of a 4-star swordsman… but this is a monster beyond imagination.’

He could follow her sword with his eyes, but he simply couldn’t predict the next path of her sword.

Endlessly unpredictable, yet honest.

Moreover, Sheena’s gaze toward him contained clear hostility.

It feels like intense hostility from one person to another, not just stemming from the mock occupation war.

“Did I do something wrong to this junior? As far as I know, we should be meeting for the first time today.”

• • Clang!

Sheena deflected Pascal’s aggressive sword and asked.

“….Why are you bullying Sion?”

“What?”

Sion? Why is the name of that bastard I want to chew up and kill coming up here?

Pascal took a big leap backward, slightly frowned, and asked.

“Why is my cute brother’s name suddenly coming up?”

“I heard from Sion. That you harbored evil intentions and arbitrarily adjusted the teams so that Sion would guard the territory alone.”

“…..Aha.”

This damn guy. Tattling to his friend.

“I’ll ask once more. What is your reason for bullying Sion?”

Sheena asked again, but Pascal shook his head and answered.

“Because it involves sensitive family matters. It’s not something for outsiders to hear carelessly.”

“No. I am not an outsider to Sion.”

“Hmm, what does that mean? I don’t understand well.”

Pascal decided to engage in the conversation with Sheena for a moment.

He thought it was good timing as he needed a break anyway.

“I am…. Sion’s friend.”

“…..If you’re a friend, doesn’t that make you an outsider?”

Pascal tilted his head slightly and asked.

For him, who viewed friends as his subordinates, Sheena’s claim was completely incomprehensible.

“No. Sion said that a friend is someone you can talk to comfortably, and someone whose mere presence makes you happy. Such a person cannot be just an outsider to someone.”

A pure and honest claim.

Pascal couldn’t help but let out a laugh at her unadorned words that could appear in pure literature.

“Ah, ahaha! Ah, ah, sorry. I haven’t laughed in so long that I can’t calm down.”

Pascal barely suppressed his laughter and wiped his tears as he spoke.

“Astorius, you’re really naive.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well, that’s because. You really think of Sion in that way.”

“That’s right. Not just me, but Sion will think of me that way too.”

“No, you’re wrong, Astorius.”

Pascal whispered with a snake’s tongue.

“Do you think Sion would really think of someone that way? That guy who grins like he’d fly away if the wind blew? No, you’re being deceived right now. You’ve never seen that guy’s true face.”

He pours black poison into the midst of their pure friendship.

“How could that guy, born vile and always breathing cowardly, cherish someone? Just as an uneducated child doesn’t know how to write, that guy, who has never received love in his life, won’t know how to care for someone.”

He disparages Sion with a mocking laugh.

“Up until he lost his memory, that guy lived more miserably than anyone else in the world. Everyone looked down on him, and he just adapted to that situation like an idiot. You should have seen him…”

“No. Sion is not like that.”

At that moment, Sheena firmly interrupted.

“You’re the one who knows nothing about Sion.”

She points her sword at Pascal and speaks clearly without any hesitation.

“Even in a situation where he lost his memory, Sion is someone who doesn’t despair and endlessly contemplates for the immediate future. He purely enjoys conversations with others, and is a bold person who abandons his past self without hesitation for modest goals.”

• • Woong….!

Golden magic power gathers on Sheena’s sword.

“Even when the path ahead is not visible, he continues to train himself for the future, and has the humility to laugh it off as if it’s natural. He is someone who doesn’t hold prejudice against anyone, and sees others for who they truly are.”

• • Woong….!

The golden magic grew larger and larger until it completely enveloped the sword and extended far beyond it.

“No matter if you are Sion’s family, you have no right to speak ill of Sion who always works hard.”

• • Woong….!

Sheena raised her golden sword, which was much longer than her height, above her head.

“Ha.”

Pascal gritted his teeth and gripped his sword. He wasn’t sure if he could withstand Sheena’s strike.

‘That bastard Sion…!’

That bastard is the problem. All these cursed situations stem from that bastard.

Why? Why is he interfering with me? How dare Sion? A quasi-orphan who has never even seen his mother’s face? By what right? If you’re a loser, stay crushed like a loser…!

“…..He just keeps interfering until the end. That rotten bastard.”

“Do not disparage Sion.”

Sheena immediately defends Sion, somehow understanding Pascal’s mutterings.

At this point, Pascal began to wonder too.

What kind of relationship do Sheena and Sion have that she trusts and follows him like this?

“….You seem too close to be just simple friends. Are you lovers or something?”

“N-no. We’re not lovers.”

“Then what is it? What is that bastard Sion to you, that you speak as if you’d give him your liver?”

“I am……”

Sheena closed her eyes for a moment.

Then, with a subtle smile, she opened her eyes and answered without any hesitation.

“I am Sion’s first friend.”

Sheena’s golden sword swings toward Pascal.

And.

-BOOOM!!

A righteous golden current illuminated the world.