The event is over.
　The bell rang to signal the end, and the threat that seemed to be coming was crushed by a single demon.
　There should have been cheers, such a situation.
　And yet...
　And yet...

　None of the residents of the city of beginnings could even raise their voices.


'I'm back!


　Because the scourge had returned.

　Sukuna returned to the fountain square in the city of beginnings.
　The starting point for all players. It was the place where it all began.

"Huh?

　Skuna landed with a thud, and saw a strange sight.
　People were far away. It was as if they had formed a large circle around the fountain, and only the area around Sukuna was empty.
　It's only a matter of a second for the current Sukuna to reach the fountain, but he's a little disappointed because he thought it would be more crowded with toys.

　I thought I could destroy them.
　I'm going to have to break a few less.

　The reason for Sukuna's frustration was that he was thinking like a child who was sad that he would have less time to play.
　But that expression was only for a moment.
　He easily took out his throwing knife and tossed it at the people without a second thought.

'Ah ......'.

　Whose voice was that?
　A flash of silver light.
　Thump. With such a light sound, the knife pierced the eyeball of a young NPC girl.
　Her light little body shook as if she had been struck by a bullet, and the NPC girl fell down without even a scream.

'Ehehe.

　Nice hit.
　The NPC girl fell down without even a scream.

　It had only been a few seconds.
　In just that much time, a lump of flesh had been created all too easily.
　It should have been a horrible scene that would have caused a scream, but no one could even speak.
　It was so intimidating that every person in this place, no, every living thing, was prepared to die.
　If she were to lose even the slightest bit of her attention, the last thing that would be waiting for her would be certain death.

　And yet, she herself is smiling as carefree as a young child.
　The imbalance of this contradiction makes it even more frightening.

　I wonder who I should choose.
　The way he chose his next prey was cruel to no end.

　All eyes were on Sukuna's every move.
　It was as if time had been stretched to its limit, as if it were an eternity.



　But...
　The hero (amber) easily overcame such a tense situation.

　The heroes easily overcame such a tense situation.


'I'm here to kill you, Skuna.

'Oh, so Amber is playing with us.


　The strongest demon and the deadliest demon meet.
　The curtain of the battle was cut off with frightening ease.


☆


　Their attacks collided with each other with a roaring sound.
　The shockwave destroyed the fountain in the square, and debris shattered and scattered.
　It was no less than a battle between two heroes, and the people could only watch in amazement.

'Haha, ......, you're really doing it, aren't you?

'What?

　The girl who was supposed to have had one of her eyes pierced by a throwing knife and her brain gouged out.
　The girl who was supposed to be dead muttered that and stood up as if nothing had happened.
　Ignoring the people around her who were looking at her in astonishment, she pulled out the knife with a slurping sound and thrust it directly into the ground.

''[Boundary Art, Black]''

　As if to protect all the people surrounding Sukuna and Amber, a translucent black dome rises up.
　'Boundary Art Black'. It is one of the arts of the rare skill "Warding Art" that there are not many users in this world, and it is also the hardest class of defense that focuses on strength.

It's also one of the hardest defenses in the world.

　The girl sighs and looks at the two demons fighting in the center of the square.
　With eyes that seemed to have understood everything, she watched the trend of the battle.

　However, the people around her could not hide their shock at the girl who got up so naturally.
　It was a female player who mustered up the courage to call out to her.

'Oh, is that ...... okay?

'Can't you see it?

'Um, but the knife cut my eye .......'

　The girl looked at the player woman who was sluggishly worried about her and realized something, 'Ah! I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not, but it's a good idea.

　The shabby figure of the girl was a temporary one.
　Golden hair. Red eyes. A girl of extraordinary beauty, who could be called "leaning" but still lacking in beauty, appears.

'Melty. You might want to remember that.

　The world's strongest bloodsucker, who took the bait at Amber's request, laughed mischievously as she said this.


☆


　The return of the demon god.
　This is the first time I've ever seen such a thing.

　When he saw Skuna laying waste to the giant dragon, he was filled with an inexpressible joy.
　It was as if the scene was a direct copy of the demon gods that Amber had imagined since she was a child.



　He was surprised when Sukuna used the "Five Style," which he could not have used, but even that was a pleasure for Amber.
　Even if it wasn't as good as "End of Ceremony," "Zekken" was a technique worthy of using "Type 5.
　The Oni-no-Mai's 《Shiki 5: Doji no Mai》 is an art that gives the practitioner pseudo-immortality. As long as that dance is in effect, the dancer's HP will never run out. In other words, it's a clenching effect that lasts for a certain amount of time.

　Originally, it was intended to force the dancer to stay alive until the end of the End Ceremony, but Sukuna seems to have used it simply to avoid death from recoil damage.
　The fact that he did not care about the damage as long as he could save his life seemed very endearing to Amber.

　But...
　But the joy would last only until this moment.
　Even though it was less than two minutes, Amber was dealing with a copy of a demon god.
　It was, without a doubt, the incarnation of destruction.

'Ohh!

'Ha-ha-ha-ha!

　Five blows at once.
　All of the blows that Amber unleashed with all her might were easily dealt with.
　But it was more than he expected.

I'm not sure what to make of it.

　It's only been three weeks since the last time we met.
　I'm not sure what to make of it, but I think it's a good idea.
　In fact, Skuna may be better than Amber in almost every status.

　However, even without these factors, the precision of their movements is much higher than in the previous hand-to-hand combat.
　He has become accustomed to the power.
　His talent, which had never been polished because he was not blessed with the opportunity to use it, has been polished and begun to shine in the past three weeks.

　This is still a bit rough considering her original size, but even so, Sukuna's combat sense is in a different dimension.
　She was able to completely absorb the power of the amber without taking even a single damage.

　And on top of that, he has a dead skill on top of that.
　How could he not be strong? The current Skuna was stronger than anyone Amber had fought in the past.

'SAY!

　Amber grabbed the blow in the darkness by force without even guarding it.

'Oh, no!

'Don't underestimate me. I'm one of the strongest in the world, remember?

　Yes. Amber is a "power holder", a title given to those with the highest muscle strength in the world.
　Even if Sukuna is tainted by the forbidden power, her absolute strength value that still surpasses it is her greatest weapon.

(Bide your time. That's the only condition for me to win.

　The voice of the creator god (system announcement) echoed throughout the world.
　The dead skill "Runaway Rage". Sukuna was only allowed five minutes to activate it. Therefore, you only need to distract her during the time limit of less than a minute left.



　Compared to the demon gods who had once destroyed half the world in a never-ending runaway, the time limit was far too short, probably due to Sukuna's inexperience.
　Perhaps Sukuna's mind could not take much more.
　Amber understands this.
　Anger is an emotion that corrupts the human heart to such an extent.

　In fact, the current Sukuna has a smile on her face, but her eyes are cloudy.
　It's as if she's forcing her body to move with only a haphazard emotion.


　I'm not sure what to do, but I'm going to do it.

'Uaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

'Ugh!

　The fist that was shouted and swung pierced the belly of the amber. A tremendous shock struck Amber, but she did not like being blown away and forced herself to stand still.

(Oh ......)

　What a sad fist.
　I'm not sure if it's a good idea, but I think it's a good idea.
　It's not that I don't like it, it's just that I don't like it.

　At first glance, he seems to be enjoying himself.
　But that's because his heart is so worn out that he can't keep it that way.
　There is no one left to vent his rage on.
　There's no reason to keep raging anymore.


　And so, having lost even its purpose, only the destructive impulse that's been left in limbo is barely moving Sukuna.


　That's why the current Sukuna can only think of destroying.
　Perhaps Sukuna had already been broken when he was fighting the giant dragon.
　When she lost that woman Rinne in front of her, something inside her was broken.
　And so she gave herself over to a tyranny that would have been impossible for a normal Sukuna, and burned her body and soul to the ground to pay for it.
　Even so, Sukuna continues to be burned by the unquenchable flames of anger and sorrow.


(So that's what ...... was.)

　Amber is ashamed of herself for being even a little bit happy when she saw Sukuna's fall.
　That's right. I've realized that the "outburst of rage" that the demon gods once released was the same as the current Sukuna.
　If you use it, even your own heart will be burned away, and in the end there will be nothing left. You will lose everything and stand on the scorched earth.
　That's because I've come to understand that it's such an excessively sad power.

'Let's end this, Skuna.

　Amber declared, grabbing Skuna's arm that was buried in her stomach.
　Even biding his time is a waste.
　We must defeat her as quickly as possible.
　Let this sad demon sleep.
　Let her lose nothing more.

　Skuna is a foreign traveler.
　Unlike Amber and the others, death is only a temporary respite.
　That is why Amber chose to end the battle with her own hands, to save Sukuna.



'No! No!　No, no, no, no, no!　I still have to destroy it, I still have to destroy everything!

　Sukuna screams out as if in desperation. Spilling black tears, she spits out the contents of her heart.

'I have to protect it!　Because, because ...... I don't want to lose ...... anymore, but ............'

　I shouted that much, and then realized.


☆


　That's right.
　Why did I forget?

　I was so consumed by anger that I forgot.
　What did I want to fight for?
　Not to destroy it.

　I didn't want to.
　I didn't want to lose it.
　I didn't want to lose it.
　So I broke the giant dragon.
　Break it, break it. .......
　And before I knew it, destroying it became the goal.


--Is it enough?


　I heard such a lonely voice inside me.
　A memory, an impulse I'd kept dormant.
　It was my own emotion, fulfilling my wish.

　Yeah, that's enough.
　I replied in my mind, and the voice laughed and said.


--Yeah, good.


　I'm sorry. Thank you.
　We'll be together from now on.
　I won't lock you up anymore.


--We'll play again.


　I'm sure we will soon.
　The voices mingled as they dissolved, leaving a faint heat in my chest.


☆


　The blackness that had been covering Sukuna lifted.
　Her horns returned to their original size, and the color of her eyes slowly returned to normal.
　But the darkness that cracked her body remained.
　It continued to consume Skuna's avatar like a curse.

　Just in the nick of time, Sukuna released the dead skill.
　It was a sign that she could come back without crossing the final line.
　It was a sign of Sukuna's determination.



'............ amber'

'Are you sure?'

'Yes.'

　No more words are needed.
　Amber hugged Sukuna gently, and with a gentle blow that made no sound, took away her HP.

'Lin, baby.

　I miss you.
　I want to see you.
　Sukuna, who was assisted by Amber, smiled a very satisfied smile and scattered her life.