--Dying (...).


　The moment I realized that, I had already collapsed in a pool of blood.
　I played the blood I had shed with my cheek and felt the heat I had lost from my body on my skin.

　Where I was just at my limit, I was slashed on the thighs of my supporting legs. And my heart, which was pumping blood through my body, stopped. The damage was more than enough to make me fall down.

　I couldn't get any strength in my body, but I could still keep my eyelids open.
　He moved his eyeballs and managed to check his surroundings.

　First, in front of his eyes, he could see both of Ragne's feet stepping on a pool of blood.
　Furthermore, I moved my eyes over them and looked at her face - and our gazes met.

　With a grim face, she is staring at me.
　Even in this state, she is still wary of me. I'm not going to be able to get the same thing done. It's just as careless as when I defeated the "Stealers of Reason" and they never lose their will to fight and kill.

　I still can't get used to that mixture of disgust in her eyes.
　I still can't believe that she had such a clear intent to kill me to this point. Honestly, I thought Ragne understood me. After Palinkron and Rustyala, I thought he was my true understanding. And yet, why--

　I break my gaze as I flee and turn both eyes in the other direction, tears nearly spilling out of my eyes.

　A little farther away, Nosphy is sitting flat on the floor, eyes and mouth wide open in dismay.
　He seems to be okay, but he hasn't moved at all from where I was pushing him away.
　You can clearly see that he doesn't fully understand what has happened on his face.

　It's understandable. I'm the same way.

　It all happened so fast.
　In a matter of seconds, everything was settled.

　The only thing that is safe in my body right now is my left arm.
　On my abdomen is the [never to return] wound that was stabbed by Nosfy.
　My right arm was slashed from my shoulder, blood flowing like an open faucet.
　Both thighs are slashed so deeply that he can no longer walk.
　One hole in each lung, and I can't breathe.
　Then my heart is pierced by a stop.

　My heart stopped beating and my blood stopped pumping.
　Obviously, I don't have enough blood in my head.
　And yet, why? I feel like my head is clearer.
　Could this be a runner?
　I've been thinking about a lot of things for a long time, in a short period of time, and not even 0.1 second has passed, and yet so many words are coming out of my head.

　Like the last spark, my thoughts just keep popping up and never stop.
　It's a really strange feeling.
　The sensations in my body are dull and no longer belong to me. The camera that was attached to my body is still alive, but the controller doesn't work. This is exactly the time when the characters in the game die and go dark. All that's left is to press the start button on the game over screen.

　In the aftermath, I don't press the start button, and slowly I come to understand the reality of the game.

　My defeat.
　Defeat and death.
　All my failures.
　Acknowledging them.

　It was a nice surprise (backstab).
　You know, it was the ideal way to kill me.
　To put it bluntly, I spent all I had on my Nosfi opponent, only to be stabbed in the back by a girl I thought was one of my friends. ...... The process was beautiful from start to finish.

　Most importantly, the 'killing intent' was unwavering.
　He aimed for the heart from the first blow. I was able to miss it, but I couldn't avoid a fatal wound.
　I've lost my dominant arm and my "swordsmanship" is sealed, my lungs are pierced and my "chanting" is sealed. A series of more heart attacks after two of my biggest weapons were sealed off.

　Ragne attacked me not only with sword fights, but also with words.
　Like me, he didn't just attack with words, and like Nosfi, he didn't just attack, but he used both effectively and came to kill seriously. Even now, those words of Ragne's still stick in my mind.

　I thought for sure that I was going to be able to (・・・・・) in a hurry. I had the feeling that it would all work out (・・・・・・・・・) again in the end anyway (・・・・・・・). I felt like the 'magic' was going to make the story work in my favor. Yeah, I'm a human scum (・・・・・), that's for sure. Yes, I'm a human scum and there's no mistaking me for a human scum--

　I've heard this story before.

　Oh, yeah.
　This is my dad, ......, I believe.

　Same as him.
　Same shape and the same way he died.
　Consumed by a life gone too far, unable to save his beloved companion, leaving his own child alone in front of him, and dying a regrettable death by being stabbed in the back. ......

　...... the end?　Is my dad dead?　I've seen the stabbing a few times ....... As I recall, I never saw him again ....... After that, it was ...... that?

　I can't seem to get my thoughts together.
　I guess it's only natural because I can't get my blood flowing in my brain, but even though my thoughts are strangely quick, I can't think that deeply.

　Just when I thought that, the world warped.
　Like a mirage in a heated desert, my vision and thoughts become limp and hazy.
　Like the inside of a cold deep-sea whirlpool, my vision and thoughts are being sucked into a whirlpool.
　Gradually my senses are going crazy, blending, fading and moving away.

　No matter how much I accelerate my thoughts, death is definitely getting closer, step by step. As if to prove it, the one skill that had been maintained all along is released.


[The skill 'Pledge of the Deepest (Di Cavernator)' has been deactivated.
　The accumulated confusion will be 'refunded' in exchange for the original emotion.


　And the emotion I just selected just now comes back.
　It's a swampy, deep and sticky love affair.
　The urge to save 'the one and only person of destiny' who was dying.
　They are revived and a burning heat is lit in my world.

　Rustyala .......
　The only person who can save me is Rastiara .......
　Even though I no longer understand myself, I always believed that Rastiala ...... would save me one day. Rastiara, Rastiara, Rastiara, Rastiara.
　Rastiara Rastiara Rastiara Rastiara, Rastiara Rastiara Rastiara Rastiara Rastiara Rastiara Rastiara Rastiara--!

　Any sober analysis or reflection melted away in an instant.
　Driven by the heat that dispels even the coldness of death, I move my face.
　It's Rastiara's figure lying in the room.

　I've been forcing him out of my sight for a long time, but now that I've reviewed it, his condition is too bad.
　Like me, the bleeding in her abdomen has created a round pool of blood, and her shining hair is spread out in a circle above it. Underneath that hair, I find myself breathing raggedly.
　It closes its eyes and moves its pale peach-colored lips, making the blood and hair ripple with its breath. It is so beautiful in its poignant form that I can't take my eyes off of it. From the tip of her head to the tip of her feet, everything about her, including the blood she has shed, feels lovely. That's right, I can't bear to be loving--

　I want to call Rustyala's name right now.
　I want to exchange words with her again, because I love her and I love her so much.
　But I know I can't do that anymore.

　If that's the case, I want to die with you.
　I decided before I came here that I wanted to die with you.
　If it happens, we'll die together (・・・・・)--and I've made a vow.

　I want to say I love you in the end.
　I want to repeat them over and over again because one word of love is not enough at all.
　I want to die whispering them all the time.

　With Rastiara: ......!
　Please, in the end, I want to die with Rastiala: ......!

　To my horror, my body was moving.

　Using my remaining left hand, I somehow managed to crawl closer to it.
　Not so far. The intense pain was past.
　With the last bit of time and all the strength I have left, I can be with Rustiala. In the end, Rustiala and I will end our story, making love to each other. With that alone as my hope, I wriggle and try to crawl to decide how I'm going to die.

　-- but the continuation (...) is released to interrupt it.

　The continuation of the skill 'Pledge of the Deepest (Di Cavernator)'.
　At the point of death, the bondage being released was everything.
　Not one, but all.
　Now the second skill is released.


[Skill "?"? has been lifted]
　You will be 'refunded' by replacing the created self with the original magic.


　That's a bit of a nostalgic message.
　I stopped seeing it once I named the skill - the skill '??' The word 'display'.
　That's what I saw here, and now I see it once again as an 'indication'.

　For the second time in a short time, 'Refund'.

　But the text was different from when it was written.
　What used to be a 'refund' for emotions, this time it's about you and your magic power ......?
　I don't understand: ......?　What kind of--

　Just as she reads it through, a pain rips through her brain.
　The pain is so sudden that it makes me think my head is going to explode.

-What?

　He should have been covered in holes all over his body, and his sense of pain should have been numbed by the pain of being a human being.
　My brain was on the verge of collapse, and my five senses must not have been working properly. But even so, an unidentifiable agony that can only be described as intense pain assaults me.

　And I know intuitively what is being done to me, of course, since it is my skill.
　Along with that pain, I know that something is coming back to me. An unknown skill '??' or something like that has touched my soul and is forcing a 'refund'.

　It opens the lock.
　The key put on by someone is removed and the pathway to the area that must not be touched is connected.

　-- the restrictions of the running lights disappear.

　Naturally, the running lights accelerate.
　There were more important memories to be remembered for sure.
　As if a breakwater had broken, everything that had accumulated erupted. One by one, the memories avalanche down like a mudslide.

　Rather than remembering, it was now a flashback of a nightmare.
　Even though I'm not in a situation where I'm dying to see such a thing, and I wish I could see Rustyala more than that, it rushes through my brain - chasing me from my back.

　It's every moment.
　.1 second, just as I first thought.


　-- in the meantime, I 'see' the running lights.


　The first thing I saw was a school.
　Not a different world, but a memory from the original world.
　It's not the big school that I remember. It's a little difficult to remember the details of the building now - memories of the elementary school.

　My soul was screaming at me not to look at it.
　But the door is now open. It's connected.
　At the point of death, whether or not...
　I am being made to see my past.