The reflection of me in her eyes.

　Were Dia's eyes asking for help?
　Were my eyes asking for help?
　For a moment, I couldn't decide.

　But I was sure.
　I had always been the one subconsciously asking for help.

　It could have been anyone.
　As long as I wasn't alone, that was all that mattered.
　No matter how strong I was, I didn't want to be alone in this world.

　The story goes that it was Diablo Sith who happened to hit me.
　He was dying at any moment, so he put his hand out, thinking that he would be safe and secure in his pocket. And, fortunately or unfortunately, we were on the same side. If I wasn't mistaken, we would have been friends of our own age.

　If this is where the companion named Dia died, I would still be alone in the labyrinth.
　I'm not talking about in this dimly lit labyrinth.
　In the labyrinth of an infinitely expanding other world, there will be no allies left in the labyrinth.

　Once the two of us savor our time together, the horror of the situation is multiplied many times over.

　So, I genuinely want to help my friend, Dia.
　The feeling of wanting to protect the person she depends on with her own cuteness.
　These two mixed feelings fill me up.
　Those filled feelings have no place to go, and my body moves.

"Get away from--!

　With his third sword, he flicks the blade that is about to decapitate Dia's head, and the whole body collides with it, sending Tida backwards.

　Then, he ran to Dia, who had fallen on his face, and looked at his profile - his heart jumped.

　Her eyes were empty, lifeless and lifeless.
　Out of the corner of my eye, Dia's right arm, clutching the treasure sword that had been lying in the ground without a trace.
　He continues to stare at it and is stunned and self-destructive.
　A large amount of blood is flowing out of the end of the severed arm.
　With every second, you can see that death is getting closer and closer.　

'I'm amazed ....... It's beautiful how humans help each other. It's even more beautiful because of the futility of it .......

　Tida wavers and regains her position and comments on Dia's struggles.
　To this doomsayer, the action Dear took seemed to be a good one.
　He approaches her as if he were about to applaud her.

　The fact that he praises her but does not intend to do anything about it is evident in his killing spirit.
　I raise my sword and think.
　I only think about killing this monster.
　The only way to save the seriously injured Dia is to kill this monster as soon as possible.

　Fortunately, all of the elation that was robbing me of my thoughts has been turned into fear.
　But it's not fear of my own death, it's fear of my friend's death.
　I may be raging with anger, but my body will never cower.

　I kick the ground to crush Tida's frozen body.

　The odds are slim.
　But there's only one more element to outsmart Tida.
　I believe it's still possible if you can keep yourself in check and bet everything on it.

...... 'Excitement' has turned to 'fear' as well. Then I'll have to work my magic again and--!

　Tida looks at my face and seems to take stock of my condition.
　But in the middle of it all, she looks at me as if she sees something unbelievable.
　No, more precisely, she looks behind me - at me.

Sacred magic, Theon.

　I heard a voice that wasn't Tida or me.

　Immediately, Tida jumped back in a defensive stance.
　I checked behind me to make sure the enemy had moved away.

　Countless bubbles of light.
　The spherical light, several meters in diameter, filled the space between them.

''Wha, Dia--?

　At the center of it all, a bloodied Deer stood up.

　She stared at Tida with vacant eyes.
　Not caring about the unstoppable overflow of blood, Deer waved her right arm, which had no end in sight, to the side.

　Fresh blood arced on the ground.
　In conjunction with that, countless light bubbles begin to rage.

　The swarm of bubbles becomes a torrent and engulfs me and Tida.
　At the same time, the pressure of the magical power holds me down.

　The light bubbles themselves have no physical power, but I can see that they have the effect of inhibiting the magic power. The magic 《Dimension》 that was developing around me distorts.

　Furthermore, Dia chants a magic.

''-- Sacred Magic [Cure Fool], Sacred Magic [Strathfield], Sacred Magic [Divine Arrow], Divine Arrow [Divine Arrow], Divine Arrow--''

　Sacred Magic (・・・・).
　This is Dia's best skill.
　Dia's real magic--.

　The magic was close to indiscriminate.

　The recovery magic had stopped Dia's bleeding, healed my cuts, and even lit up Tida.
　And that attack magic was unleashed all over the labyrinth without setting anything in stone.

　It was indiscriminate.
　Anyone could see that they were in a frenzy.
　Although I can feel the hostility towards the enemy, Tida, there is no consideration for me as an ally.
　I understand this and keep my distance from Deere.

　And I rejoice at the opportunity.

　No matter what, Dia's bleeding has stopped.
　I don't know if there were restrictions on the use of sacred magic until now, or if she had never used it in the first place. But it is certain that this has caused Tida to lose some leeway.
　Tida's fluid body is frozen in the magic of the light bubble. Even now, I can see her struggling to dodge the magic that is filling her up.

　I move Dia out of sight and run straight for Tida.
　If I hit some kind of magic in the process, then so be it.
　I risk it all and launch a final attack.

　My vision is red, and I can taste iron in my mouth.
　My legs are as heavy as lead and I can't feel my arms.
　My body is already beyond its limits.
　Still, I can put all of the recovery that Dia brought to me into these limbs.

　Tida made my rapidly approaching me visible.
　Then, he quickly realizes that I'm about to abandon him, and takes a ready-made counterattack.

　In contrast, I jumped in with great vigor, saying that I didn't care where Tida's blade hit, as long as it was not the hand holding the sword.

　Tida dismissed my thoughts and swung the blade of her arm into my sword-holding hand. As I was abandoning myself, I couldn't avoid it. So much so that I was leaning forward and had gained speed.　

　--The back of my hand is slashed and I drop my sword.

　If my sword is gone, I can't inflict a fatal wound on the enemy.
　Tida understands this and contorts her face in a smile of triumph.

　--but as planned. He grabs Tida's blade with his slashed hand.

　Tida's face is filled with surprise.
　Then she tries to move the blade, but is blocked by my hand, which gripped it tightly.

　Furthermore, with my free left hand, I took out a spare sword (・・・・・・・・) from my 'possessions (...)'.

　With the momentum of taking it out, the sword separates Tida's neck and torso.

　Tida's head flew off.
　The feeling was not like slicing water, but rather flesh.
　It had been completely solidified by freezing magic and light magic, and it conveyed a solid feel to my hands.

　Tida's torso lost its strength and fell to the ground.
　I slash its limbs and poke it in the heart. I didn't know what was going to happen, so I gave the torso as much of a chase as I could.

　Finally, he turns his attention to the fallen Tida's neck.

　Tida's head, lying on the ground, was looking at us.
　It looks surprised ...... and yet pleased with itself.

　Tida, whose neck is now the only one, speaks.

''--A, uh, --Ki, I guess you guys have won.

　After that proclamation, the magic raging in the corridor subsided.

　I looked behind me and saw a kneeling Dia suffering.
　Had she lost her heat after seeing her grudge enemy chopped up?
　She held her head back against the recoil of the magic that would have been beyond her limits.

''Hah, hah, hah--!　So, yes, it looks like we've won: ......!

　I resume my breathing, which has stopped for a long time, and I too declare victory.
　Then I lift my sword to finish him off.

'Thanks, that was fun. I missed that last magic.

　Tida laughed happily that she had lost.

　The last one was not so easy.
　A surprise attack by the 'possessions' system.
　Even Tida didn't expect the sword to come out of thin air.

''Now my wish has been fulfilled ....... After all, you were the ones who fulfilled my wishes ....... If you can, keep up the good work, Arti's ...... Oh, it's the girl from the fire earlier, please grant her wish too, Icana .......

　Gradually the remaining head can be seen turning into just liquid.
　The mouth is unable to form and the words are snatched away.

'You've even killed each other as enemies, ....... Even if you say that .......'
Ha ha ha, so-so da. Atari Maeda. Ha, ha, ha--

　Tida laughs. And with that last word, he became sand.
　The remaining sand quickly turned into light and disappeared.

　After witnessing that, I lowered the sword I lifted.


[The title 'Washing away the Darkness' has been acquired.
　Mental magic has a +0.50 correction


　A single black gemstone remained in the trail of light.
　I pick it up and look at it.


[Guardian's Magical Stone]
　The magical crystals of the guardian Tida


　After confirming the disappearance of the enemy and the safety of the item, I took a breath and ran towards Dia.

　Dia was stoned.
　It was just like the first time we met.

　Looking at her HP on the "display", I don't think she's going to die at any moment. However, due to Dia's bleeding, several blood pools have formed in the room. If you think it's normal, it's a strange level to just breathe. It was obvious that he should be sent to a hospital or something to receive treatment immediately.

　I put the sword and other items into my 'belongings' and lift Dia.
　It was oddly light. I knew she was small, but even so, I felt it was abnormal. It's even as if the lost blood has drained the entire contents of Dia's body.

'...... Ki, Christ, I'm sorry. ...... I'm so sorry.

　Her breathing is ragged and her eyes don't open, but she still seems to feel my presence.
　Deer continues to gape and apologize as she's held in her arms.

'Let's go home first. I don't know what's going to happen.

　If you look, the black flames that had been closing the room had disappeared before you knew it.
　At the same time, I associate it with the fact that the boss who uses those flames might come, and I decide that this is not the time to stand around drinking.

''Dia, we'll be out of here soon. You can rest assured.

　Hearing this, Dia stopped apologizing and lost consciousness.

　Although I was in a hurry because of the sudden loss of consciousness, I am relieved to see that Dia is breathing.
　Then, I begin to return to the 'right path' without caution, until I'm outside the labyrinth.

　My condition is also bad.
　But if I lose consciousness here, all my hard work up to this point will be for naught.
　I stay strong in my resolve and continue on the path that the jewel represents.

　Along the way, I encountered some unlucky monsters, but I let Dia down to the ground and used my magic and sword to deal with them. I didn't want to die from being outspent here, so I had no qualms about cutting my maximum HP.

　As a result, Dia and I were able to escape from the labyrinth without losing our lives.
　After overcoming the 'test' of the 20-layered boss 'The One Who Steals the Darkness', we returned to the ground.