--Amaz the hero.

　He was a brave man who held up the ideal of making the world a peaceful place.
　At that moment when he was betrayed by his friends, Amatsu died.

　The current me is just Amatsuki Iori, who quit being a hero and teamed up with a former demon king.

　I hate that he was killed.
　I regret that he betrayed me.
　I'm pissed off that he made fun of my ideals.

　But most of all, I can't forgive him for pretending to agree with my ideals, for being so friendly, for being a friend.

　Luzas.
　Dionis.

　Thinking back, I could see glimpses of betrayal in these two men.

　Liuzas, for example--.

"You can't call yourself a hero if you can't do this!　Stop it, you're too much of a burden for me, what's the name of the hero!

　I still remember the wild temper and the quickness of his hands.

　So does Dionis.

"I'm not prepared for this. I can only see the future of your death.
Wow, you're really good at that, Dionysus. Your insights are far superior to those of a mere mortal.

　He often sneered at people, and many of his men were also troublemakers.

　But those flaws have faded over the course of our journey.
　That's why I was so convinced that they were good friends.
　Now that I remember, it was all an act, I guess.

　It's repugnant.

　Only Lucifina is the only one who hasn't been ripped apart since our first encounter.
　She was the kind of woman who would sacrifice herself for others.
　I wanted to save the world, and that guy was the biggest reason why I wanted to save the world.

　But that doesn't matter anymore.
　I'm going to kill every single one of those people who betrayed me in the end, by pretending to be my friend.



◆

　The Forest of Urgus.
　It's a vast forest that lies between the Kingdom and the Allies.
　It's not just a matter of time before you'll be able to get your hands on a new one.

That cause-reversal burial, how much magic resistance does it take to nullify the cause-reversal burial?
It's just a matter of time before the Four Heavenly Kings class is able to neutralize it. Well, the old days are definitely over.
...... really nasty witchcraft.

　A few hours after we transitioned from the labyrinth.
　We were in that forest as we headed to our next destination, the Confederacy.

''Magic that nullifies magic ...... Well, if it's as potent as loss magic or mental image magic class, there's no way we can't break through.
'It's impossible anyway. I couldn't use loss magic or mental image magic to begin with.

　Witchcraft is said to have two reaches.

　One is lost magic (lost magic).
　It refers to magic that is no longer available for those who can handle it because it consumes too much magic power or is difficult to handle.
　One of the goals is to recreate this magic and make it possible to use it.

　The causal reburial used by Ryusas is classified as this loss magic.

　And the other one is mental image magic.
　As the name implies, it is the expression of a person's 'mental form' as magic.
　The effect differs from person to person, and no two things are the same, a great magic.

　Lucifina has mastered this mental image magic.

　Both sorceries have very few people who can use them.
　For this reason, both are considered targets for sorcerers to aim for.

　The use of loss magic is impossible without a complete understanding of the principles of magic.
　It was impossible for me, who was relying on testimonials.

　And I couldn't even express my mind as magic.

So, in the end, you have no choice but to go into the labyrinth and get your strength back.
Hmm. Get your snappy powers back and kill all the traitors.

　It was Elfiszak who said some rather boisterous things.

　While we were talking about such things, the temperature was dropping.
　The sun is already slipping, and reddish-brown light is shining through the trees.

''The sun will be setting soon. We'll camp here for the day.''
What?　Don't you have a pillow and a bed?
No, of course not.
''What ......?''

　I go through the stunned Elfiszak and look around and think about setting up the camp.
　There's an open area of trees ahead of us, so shall we use that as our base of operations?

'The encampment ...... encampment, huh? Iori, what are we going to do in the camp?
"First, we need to prepare a place to sleep. You have to create a ward to protect yourself from the demons and collect firewood to use as fuel. I'm sure you'll be able to find the right one. I'll do the warding with the magic stone.

　Fortunately, we were able to find a beautiful river in the vicinity.
　The development of the warding is going well.

''So Iori knows a lot about this?''
"...... sort of.

　I remember a whole bunch of things about camping when I was traveling.
　I don't want to remember the guy I learned ...... though.

　Surprisingly, Elfiszak worked honestly.
　He collected firewood and fallen leaves briskly and without complaint.
　I had thought that he would hate these troublesome things.
　In fact, he's even humming a few steps.

'Sounds like fun,'
Yeah. I've never made camp before. I'm very excited about it.

　He seems to be a former demon king who is good at the outdoors.

　A short while later, we finished securing our beds for a while.
　Since they had consumed the magic stones and set up the wards, no lower level demons or animals would come near them.
　The firewood was quickly gathered thanks to Elfiszak's monstrous power.

　But with no sleeping bag or anything else, they had to lean against a tree to sleep.
　If I had a cloth, I could make a simple bed by pulling it over the fallen leaves.

I should have brought ...... cloth or something.
Hmm, you want some fabric?
'Do you have one?'

　Nodding, Elfiszak abruptly thrust his fingers into his head.
　The tips of his fingers sank down as he zubbed them.
　After a moment, he pulled his hand out and found two pieces of cloth in his hand.

'Here.'
...... No, wait. What was that?

　What's that cloth coming out of his head?

It's a storage spell. It's connected to another dimension, about the size of a small room, so you can pack some stuff in there.

　The magic on it is the same as the pouch I have.　
　But I've never seen a guy with a storage spell attached to his head before.

"But if you pack it in too tight, things will come pouring out of it.

　...... That's a pretty shocking picture.
　A little bit, but not too much to look at.

　Then we got some wild rabbits and fruit for dinner.
　For water, we scooped up some river water, boiled it and drank it.
　Both food and water were stored in a bowl that came from the head of Elfiszak.

'This ...... is.'

　Elfiszak's eyes widen as he eats the food I've prepared.

''Iori!　Call the chef who made this!
'It's me!'
It was.

　What's going on?

...... Didn't you like the taste of that?
No, no. I just thought it was much better than I imagined it would be. I'll give it that as a compliment.

　With a big smile on his face, Elfiszak is gnawing on the meat of a wild rabbit.
　Even though it's a dish, it's only lightly seasoned with herbs and salt.
　I'm glad if you liked it.

''Mm, after all, you are my personal chef.
"No.
Yeah, .......

　For the moment, my belly was swollen and my throat was moist.

◆

　After dinner.

　I was experimenting with magic on a cot with a cloth drawn over the fallen leaves.
　Thanks to taking in the labyrinth core, I was able to use magic to some extent even with a magic stone.
　I'm trying to see if I can't reproduce the techniques I've been using until now with less magic power.

''To a certain extent, it seems to be usable.

　Rather than degrading it, though, its effectiveness would be reduced on a different level.
　The Demon Sealing (Il Ataraxia) might also be able to be activated depending on the training, if the scale and power were greatly reduced.

　After completing the experiment, it was time to settle down.

''After all, it's nice to be in the outside world.

　Elfiszak, who was lying next to me, muttered to himself.

'There's light, there's sound, there's wind, there's good food.'
............
'It's so dark inside the seal because it's isolated from the world. There was no light, no sound, no nothing. It's special to be outside for the first time in a long time.
...... thirty years, was it?

　I heard that Elfiszak was sealed just after I died.
　Then Elfiszak had been in the dark for thirty years.

'What comes to mind is the scene just before I was sealed. Ortegia laughing that his men had long ago killed him. The man of the demon tribe laughing that he was a clown. Lucifina, who lowers her sword to my body while looking down at me with a heartfelt condescending look in her eyes. I hated those guys, I hated them, I hated them, I hated them - I hated them, I couldn't stand them.

　With that statement, Elfiszak let out a breath to suppress his emotions.

'It's a strange feeling to be the first person I've had a proper conversation with in a long time, you.
...... Elfiszak.
Iori. You've been calling me that for too long.

　As if to break the heavy atmosphere, Elfiszak said.

'...... I'll allow you to call me Elfi, specially for you. You may consider it an honor.
Always a pompous prick.
It was a big deal.

　Past tense.

...... Well, okay.

　Elfiszak - a small nod in response to Elfie's return.

'We'll call you Elfi from now on,'
That's good. Don't put out the campfire.

　After saying that, Elfie fell silent.
　After a while, I could hear him breathing in his sleep.

'............'

　He has a leisurely demeanor, but this guy seems to have quite a bit of darkness in him too.

　Every time Elfi has a conversation, he stares into our eyes as if he wants a response.
　It's as if, if you don't, you won't be able to discern whether this is really real or not.

'...... Huh.'

　I break off my thoughts and lie down.
　Tiredness from the battle with the earth demon general remained in his body.
　As soon as I closed my eyes, my consciousness sank into sleep.

◆

　Then a few days passed.

You're starting to see ......

　Finally, they reached the exit of the forest.
　Once out of the forest, there was a well-maintained city road.
　Beyond that, we could see a huge volcano and a city at the base of it.

　That's the Confederacy.
　It's the country with the Purgatory Labyrinth that we must traverse to regain our power.
　And it's also where the traitors we saw in The Golden Sword of Exploration are located.

　A werewolf species that has been approaching you for the sake of peace, putting on a good face.

　I will find them and kill you as my first act of revenge.