--Basement of the entrance hall, an underground space of unknown use, a battle golem unit hangar for the ground invasion.

　It's a good idea to have a good time with them.

"If you don't want to help me, I'll make you want to beg for your submission.
Okay. You think you can do that?
It's possible. Give him the right amount of pain and he'll break his own knee. Even for a man who has called himself a loyal subject and a hero.

　At the same time as he lightly raised his arm, heavy magic power swirled around the feet of Demon King Gandalf, generating countless spikes of magic power in the air.

　They were like blue-black crystals, distorted in shape to inflict horrific wounds to the eye.

　They should be able to use a variety of magic, but they dared to choose the magic that caused the greatest amount of pain.

　I had known for a long time that they were extremely vicious, but I was reminded of that fact.

''Step back!　The white wolf!

　Garnett shouted, and just as I was about to retreat backwards, the spikes of magic power deployed around Demon King Gandalf were fired all at once.

　Immediately, Garnett released a slash of magic power to shoot down some of them, and the portion that he couldn't shoot down was prevented by the magic barrier.

　The spikes of magic power that pierced the floor instantly split apart and destroyed an even larger area of the floor.

''This is disastrous if you take even one hit.
Will you be satisfied with just protecting yourself?

　A large amount of spikes of magic power were additionally deployed at a height near the ceiling and shot out as if they were pouring down on me.

　I tightened my grip on the fragments, dismantling the basement wall by a fraction of a second, in order to create an improvised barrier with the application of 【Restoration】.

　Faster than that, Garnett turns on his heel and fires a series of slashes of magic power.

　A spike of magic power cut off and shot off.

　However, the fact that he turned his back on Demon King Gandalf in order to intercept it was a crucial gap.

''Gaaa......!

　A spike of magical power pierced the bulging shin (calf) of Garnett's right leg, splitting it into fine thorns and slicing the bone flesh from the inside.

　A follow-up strike is shot at the fallen Garnett, and the one shot that the protective barrier didn't have time for sticks into his right arm, spreading the thorns like roots and hurting Garnett.

''Geez, ...... is ......!
Garnett!
It's a curious thing about people.

　Gandalf, the Demon King, looked at Garnett, who was screaming and suffering, without any emotion, and spoke to me in a disgustingly calm tone of voice.

'There are many who can endure their own pain, but cannot bear the pain inflicted on another individual they see as special. Not once or twice has a mighty hero bent his knees and pleaded with me.

　Then, he deploys a spine of magical power in the air that is more than twice as large as the previous one.

''According to Norzuri, you have challenged me to fight in the face of this human crisis, disregarding the overwhelming difference in strength.
"......!　The white wolf!　You don't need to worry about me!

　Some of the deployed spikes of magic power are continuously shot out, targeting only the garnet.

　Countless thorns of magic power thrust into the magic power barrier deployed for defense, and the barrier is broken down so that the split thorns take root.

　The defensive wall that pops up and disappears.

　A well-aimed shot is shot there, piercing the left shoulder and destroying it from the inside.

'Gu...... aaaaah!

　A scream echoes through the underground space.

　Right leg, right arm, left shoulder.
　It was no longer necessary to endure intense pain just to lift the sword.

　The Demon King Gandalf is clearly swinging his garnet.
　It's just to break my heart and make me succumb.

　There is no way I can stand still and cower quietly while being shown these things.

'd*mn it ......!'

　Holding the wreckage that slightly [disintegrated] the wall hidden in his hands, he runs to [repair] Garnett's injuries.

''Fool!　Don't come here!
No way!

　As if to tell me to stay silent and watch, a few spikes of magic power are shot out towards me.

　I put the magic power of 【Restoration】 into the wreckage I grasped and cast it onto the floor, defending against the thorns with a wall that was made to distort 【Restoration】 using the floor as material.

　When he goes around to the front of the garnet, even more spikes of magic power are swept out, but he [repairs] the remaining wall remnants to prevent them.

''Why, so ...... why did you come ......!
'Don't underestimate my weakness, okay?　If you're hit, it's the end of the world, as soon as you're caught. If we don't want to [repair] it, there's no future for us, and--

　Activating the [Disintegration] of the magic thorns and the [Repair] of the injured part at the same time, Garnett's limbs are restored.

''I don't ever want to do anything but abandon you. Even if you tell me to do so.
...... you big, dumbass ......

　Just as we were about to complete all the [restoration] in one step, I heard the sound of a part of the defensive wall that I was turning my back on being damaged.

　I turned around quickly to grasp the current situation.

　At that very moment, the first shot that pierced the protective wall flew from directly in front of my line of sight and became a large picture in the right half of my field of vision.

　Half of my vision went dark, and I felt intense pain -- and then my consciousness was cut off.










　-- and the next thing I knew, I was lying in an empty, blank space.

　I hurriedly got up and looked around at the landscape around me.

　I have no idea where I am.
　At least it wasn't an underground hangar, and I couldn't even see Garnett, let alone the Demon King.

　Although I had the sense that I was standing on a solid foothold, everything was really white, and I couldn't even make out the boundary between the floor and the walls.

　No, I wasn't even sure if the walls and ceiling existed or not.

''It looks like you've finally managed to reconstruct your consciousness.
Who are you ......!

　I turned around when I was approached from behind.

　There was a boy ...... that I had seen somewhere, a young child who seemed to be about a single digit in age.

...... Um, what's the situation with this ......?
Ha-ha, you know what I mean. Have you forgotten about your right eye?
Right eye?　...... giggles!

　I lost consciousness after being hit by a stray bullet from the Demon King's attack on my right eye - the moment I remembered that fact, the right half of my vision disappeared along with the intense pain, and an enormous amount of fresh blood flowed out of my eye socket.

　Upset, he tried to activate 【Restoration】, but for some reason the bloodshed didn't stop at all.

　--In the first place, he couldn't feel the response to activate it.

　The mysterious child began to walk around me in a circle, looking at me who was writhing in pain, looking strangely happy.

'No, no. That power is in flesh and blood. You can't use it right now because you don't have a good enough connection (link).
What are you talking about ......?

　By the time the kid circled around me, the figure had somehow grown a full circle and was about fourteen or fifteen years old looking.

　It was just about the age I had left my home village.

'Gandalf has always been a fan of that magic. "Gandalf has always been a fan of that magic because it automatically avoids fatal wounds unless you hit a very critical point, so you can inflict plenty of pain.

　By the time I circled back another time, the boy was already a young man.

　Even I can understand it now that I've come this far.

　This guy in front of me is the same shape as I was in the past.

"You are ...... what are you ......?
'It's a tough question. Harbals, Gagunlars, or simply Wise Man (Wiseman) ...... because there were so many different ways to be called.

　At some point, the man took on the same appearance as I do now, and then stopped to face me.

'If it's a name you can understand - well, I'll call myself Alfazul. Yes, of course, this appearance is provisional. It's more convenient this way.