53 - Twenty-second "Roaring"






 In the endless vastness of space.

 Helian stood dumbfounded in the face of the threat (SS rank) of the blue knight, which was not supposed to exist.



 The blue knight remained motionless. He does not seem to show any new movement. However, this immobility is due to the fact that we are not moving. The red eyes peering through the slit show clear hostility. If we make a move forward or backward, he will attack us immediately.



 Levee, too, is keeping herself immobile and watching the blue knight with eyes that are on her guard. If the blue knight makes even a slight movement, she immediately starts her action. Conversely, she is also prepared to remain immobile until the blue knight makes a move. She just remains still and waits for instructions from her master.



 Therefore, all the decisions in this situation are left to one individual, Helian. As long as Helian decides and does not move, both of them will continue to remain steadfast.

 Then, Helian thinks to himself, for the umpteenth time, the question of the current situation.



(How can this happen?)



 I had planned this carefully in my own way.

 I had somehow managed to keep my eyes on the work that kept pouring in one after another, and I had decided to face up to my shortcomings without looking away and to keep trying to be the "king of all demons" until the day when I could go home.



 I am not confident enough to be proud that this is the best way.

 Even so, I thought it through to the best of my ability, agonized over what I could do, and, almost crushed under the weight of the responsibility I was about to take on, I worked out a plan in the limited time I had and gathered up my courage and left the country.



 --And yet, the reality is so cruel.



 The plan that he had worked so hard to create went haywire even before he reached his destination, and he ended up getting involved with powerful people with whom he had no business being in contact.

 Even so, I tried to somehow correct the course of events, but on the second day of my arrival, I intervened in a riot that caused the labyrinth to run amok, and I was completely noticed.

 Furthermore, because he was trapped by his own choice, he could not refuse the request of the frontier count and had to participate in the labyrinth search, forcing him into a state of isolation, thus witnessing a mythical threat that should not exist in an unknown place.



"----"



 The situation is so cruel.

 I can only assume that we are now completely cursed.

 Things are not going as planned, and one after another, difficulties are coming one after another, forcing us to make choices.

 And yet, all the efforts we have made to do what we believe is best have borne no fruit.

 Furthermore, the situation forces us to make choices without regard to our circumstances.

 It is as if we are playing with our destiny.

 Everything that strikes you is a series of absurdities.

 Nothing is as it seems.

 It's beyond unreasonable!







"------What's up with that (・・・・・・・・)?"







 With a strange sound, my consciousness (switch) switches.

 The image etched in my brain resembles a gun claw.

 The force with which the button station is struck is like the force with which a hammer is dropped.

 The transformation of consciousness is instantaneous.

 Tsukasa Misaki puts on a mask and stands there as the Helian, the King of All Evil.



"......Yes, that's right. This world is unreasonable, that's not true..."



 I knew that long ago.

 Because it's only real.

 Real life always forces us to make unreasonable choices suddenly.

 No matter how carefully you plan your life, the gears are always out of alignment, and there are only a few times when things go according to plan.



 This is why Tsukasa Misaki was attracted to virtual reality.

 He indulged himself in the gentle world that promised to reward him with an equivalent amount of experience (return) for his efforts. I spent a large part of my adolescence absorbed in this perfect box garden composed of numerical values. I continued to immerse myself in this dreamlike second world.



 But this is now reality.

 It is no longer a convenient illusion composed of zeros and ones, but an undeniable and cruel reality.



"Function Window: Open



 Tsukasa Misaki must have already been aware of this unacceptable fact.

 He had arrived at the "place of beginnings" that day after all the suffering and panting he had endured.

 Pushed by a certain noble sister...

 And so you acknowledged it.

 This world is real, no matter how you look at it.



"Activation: Moon Wolf



 Then how can you lose heart at a place like this?

 This is the result of a choice you made.

 Then you need to take responsibility for the consequences.

 Choice and responsibility are supposed to be such things.

 It is not something special, but a common sense that we all take for granted.



Additional settings (configuration): Execute (on). Subconfirmation: Cut."



 So don't look down.

 Do not look away.

 How can you run away from the consequences of your choices?

 Everything was decided by you!



"Secret Activation Declaration "Fobidun Phantasm": "Crimson Moon Blessing"!



 With the declaration, something precious is taken from the body.

 The life force that has been drained from the body is devoured by the system and converted into food for activating the secret. The body of the first subordinate is taken into itself.



 At the same time, pain strikes you. But he does not show an expression of anguish. With his mask on, he is completely unmasked, and such a state of disregard is out of the question.




 I am about to go into battle - no, it is not the form of the King of All Evil to moan in anguish even before he fights in front of his men who are about to be thrown into battle by my hand.



"...... Helian-sama?"



 Levee let out a bewildered voice as she wondered how she had received the act of invoking the secret.



"There is no escape, Rieve. I don't care what it is, but if it is an obstacle to us, we will defeat it.

"But, however, we are completely separated from Gardi and Ceres. In this situation, a head-on battle with a mythological threat is not an option. ......"



 Yes, indeed, we are divided.

 The chariot (rook) and the priest (bishop) are already lost.

 The pieces have fallen off.

 The situation is hopeless.

 But..,



"I still have you. The other Rieve-Frekiwurz is here.

 --Then where is the reason to run away?



 A gasping sound arose nearby.

 Regardless, Helian takes a step forward.



 --Yes, yes. Yes, I still have Lieve.

 I still have my first lieutenant, the only one I decided to trust on that day of my death.

 Then how can I show my frightened and bewildered appearance at the mere appearance of a mythical foe?



In the name of Helian Edda Elsinorek, King of All Evil.

 Alkimaira commands her eyes, Lieve-Frekiurs.



 He holds his right arm out straight.

 At the tip of his right hand, with five fingers raised, is a mysterious blue knight.

 A mythical threat of unknown identity.

 The enemy is powerful.

 He has only one man under his command.

 But I am left with my first and most trusted subordinate, the Queen!



 Then don't be afraid.

 Show your authority with a toothy grin.

 Scream without hesitation.

 There is only one word to shout!



"---- destroy!







    + + +







 --And the first men heard the king's decree.



 How to express the shock of that moment, he wondered.

 She thinks about it with overflowing emotions.



 ...... I've been anxious all my life.

 She has spent many sleepless nights alone with her sins.

 I spent many nights agonizing over how to regain her trust.

 He feared that one day he would be abandoned.



 But the king told me that there was no need to run away.

 He was alone in the face of an unidentified mythical threat.

 Still, he told me that there was no need to flee because I had you.





 --I thought he told me that he believed in me.





 Maybe I was mistaken.

 Maybe it was just an ego trip.

 But that's what I thought for sure.



"Guru ......"



 A sound spills out from Gekkou's throat.

 The roar that began with a "R," soon became a series of sounds.



"Rrrrrrrrrrr ......!"



 Both hands shuddered with rage, and then formed fists harder than blades.

 The breath that poured from the crevices of his clenched fangs was like burning heat.

 The outpouring of hidden emotions fills the body with two words: elation.

 An unbearable urge ran through my body via my bloodstream.







 The heat and the sound.

 There is no reason to stop now.

 Gekkou surrendered to the surging impulse.

 The boiling passion turned into a scarlet roar and gushed out.










 --Howling Moon.

 The scream was sublimated as a skill and activated.

 A high roar that announces the start of war.

 The cry that shakes the air gives power to the body of the moon wolf, and brings the effect of basic combat ability enhancement (status buff).

 Gekkou, his whole body filled with the will to fight, turned into a spear and plunged into the blue knight in order to immediately carry out the royal command entrusted to him.



 --The duel in the mythical realm opened the curtain.