--a roar that is not my own emanates from my own mouth.


''Hiiiiiiiiii!''　


　-- a humor that is not my own comes out of my own mouth.


　I know why. An evil spirit demon has crawled out of the abyss and is driving the forest crazy, the spirits crazy, and the people crazy. You're not going to be able to get rid of it.


　--It's not just a matter of time before you'll be able to get your hands on it.


　It's a good idea to be able to have a good idea of what you're looking for. We tried to resist the demon's control, but the power of the other side is so great that we couldn't move a single finger of our hands to our satisfaction.

　As if to mock our small resistance, a loud laugh from the evil spirit rang out. As if trying to relieve the resentment it had been holding down, the evil spirit raised its voice vigorously. At the same time, the mutation of the body also gained momentum.

　My arms, legs, back, and face were changing into something inhuman. Being transformed.

　The mutation was accompanied by intense pain. If my arms were ripped off, my legs torn off, my back stabbed through, and my face burned while I was still alive, I would probably experience this kind of pain. If his mouth moved, he would definitely scream.

　But now Wisteria doesn't even have the freedom to scream. The only thing I could do was to endure the pain, which I didn't know when it would end - although I knew that there was no point in enduring it.

　If I were to compare the current situation to a siege without reinforcements. No matter how much you endure, you can't avoid falling, and you're only postponing your destruction.

　It would be easier if they would just give up. But for Wisteria to give up would mean that the evil spirits would gain complete freedom. If that happened, this human city would be easily obliterated.

　I'm impatient to at least get out of the city, but my body still won't move.


　-- how did this happen?


　I'm sure you'll be able to find out. It's not just a matter of time before you'll be able to get your hands on a new one.


◆ ◆ ◆


　Andorra, the forest kingdom.

　The home of Wisteria lies in the midst of the vast Catalan Desert and is rich in water and greenery.

　Most of its territory is occupied by the Sea of Trees, and many of its inhabitants are of the same elven species as Wisteria.

　The Golden Empire (Imperium) - a city covered in gold and white silver, as the humans speak of it, does not exist. Gold and silver are not necessary for life in the forest. The people of Andorra have passed their time peacefully in the forest, protected by the many layers of boundaries that have been put in place.

　However, Andorra is not without its threats.

　The name of that threat is called "The Abyss". It is a bottomless pit located in the heart of Andorra, at the far end of the Sea of Trees.

　A large amount of magical power (mana) is constantly spewing out of the abyss, and that magical power is what makes a vast forest exist in the middle of the desert. In this sense, the existence of the abyss is inseparable from Andorra.

　On the other hand, the magical power that erupts from the abyss is so dense that it can easily drive the spirits mad. Wisteria belonged to the swordsmen's squad under the king, whose main mission was to defeat the mad spirits around the abyss.

　To an elf, a spirit is like a friend. To the elves, spirits are friends, but if they are not killed, the mad spirits will spread throughout Andorra, spreading misery. This is a far greater disaster than the occasional demonic beast that crosses the boundaries to invade.

　Although Wisteria was the youngest of Andorra's elves and a newcomer to the swordsmen's corps, she outperformed the older elves in swordsmanship and spirit handling, and often excelled in defeating spirits.

　In particular, it was the defeat of the crazed Phoenix, the highest-ranking spirit in Wisteria, that brought him fame. At one point it was thought that half of Andorra would be reduced to ashes, but thanks to the Wisteria's efforts, the disaster was reduced to less than one-tenth of what was expected.

　Praising Wisteria's achievement, King Andorra bestowed the title of First Swordsman (Gladius) on the young elf. He is the head of the country's most elite swordsman corps. In other words, Wisteria was recognized as Andorra's finest swordsman.

　Although she was not inclined to rejoice in the honor she received from avenging her friend's spirit, it still made Wisteria proud to be recognized by the great king. This was because it was also the recognition of her late father, who taught her the sword, and her late mother, who taught her how to deal with spirits.

　With that pride in her heart, Wisteria continued to push forward with her mission, and the name of her new swordsman, Gradius, became known throughout Andorra.

　The days of smooth sailing, however, came to an abrupt end.


　Demons. They were possessed by what they called "daemons".


　The exact nature of the demon is unknown. It is said to be either a demon from the abyss or the grudge of slain spirits. Wisteria believes it is the former, but many people who are possessed by evil spirits belong to the swordsmen's corps, and many believe the latter theory to be true.

　The symptoms of being possessed by an evil spirit vary widely, but one thing they all have in common is that they are possessed by someone who is not themselves.

　Wisteria is no exception, and is plagued day and night by unidentified voices. Resistance and prayers were useless.

　If that had been the only symptom, however, it wouldn't have been a major problem. Some people may be possessed by an evil spirit and still lead an ordinary life.

　But for some of them, the symptoms got worse. They lose the freedom of their bodies, then their bodies mutate into inhuman objects, and finally they become demons in body and mind, attacking their former compatriots.

　The worst example of this occurred to Wisteria.

　During one battle, Wisteria used more power than she could muster to save her allies - and as a result, the evil spirit took her body.

　This caused her body to mutate quickly, and it became clear to all that Wisteria was possessed by an evil spirit.

　The Wisteria, the First Swordsman (Gladius), and a powerful evil spirit that even the Wisteria cannot resist. If these two bared their fangs at Andorra, they would pose a threat no less than the madest of spirits, the Phoenix.

　The conclusion King Andorra came to was execution. There is no way to recover an elf who has progressed to this state, and there have been no cases of spontaneous healing. The only way to protect the country was to execute the demons that possessed them, just as one would execute a mad spirit to protect a forest.

　However, simply beheading them would not be the answer. The moment the host died, the evil spirit would appear in the world using the corpse as a catalyst.

　The power of an incarnated evil spirit is nothing compared to a spirit that can go mad. In the past, they had ordered higher-ranking spirits to cut the corpse into small pieces or to extinguish charcoal, but none of these methods were able to prevent the evil spirits from appearing in the world.

　As a result, one method was devised to execute an evil spirit's possession.


　--You'll be able to find out what's going on.


　The beast, also known as the Divine Beast, is slowly circling outside of Andorra's wards, protecting Andorra. As if to protect Andorra. Or, to keep a watchful eye on Andorra.

　The elf, possessed by an evil spirit, offers himself to the divine beast. The divine beast eats the elf, and with the elf's death, it also eats the evil spirit that appears in the world, and begins to circle around Andorra again as if nothing had happened.

　The execution of the Wisteria was done in this manner as well as the past demonic possession. After being given a minimum amount of food and water, she was thrown out of the warding, left alone to search for the divine beast and jump into its mouth. That was the last order given to Wisteria.

　At this time, the evil spirit possessor could also escape, but no one had chosen this method in the past. For the forest elves, the desert climate is more frightening than a bad monster, and venturing into the desert is just as terrifying as being eaten by a divine beast.

　In addition, the elves of Andorra do not know that there is a world of humans outside the desert. They believe that the world of hot sand will continue forever. In that sense, none of them had any intention of escaping.

　In fact, Wisteria had no intention of escaping either. Her parents were already dead, and she had no brothers and sisters, so she had no regrets. With the pride of the first swordsman (Gladius) in her heart, she intended to end her life by dedicating herself to the divine beast.

　But somehow, he couldn't find the divine beast. No matter how hard they searched, the great beast couldn't even see its shadow.

　Wisteria was puzzled. If it continued to die in the wild in the desert, the evil spirit that had appeared in the present world might attack Andra. Although there was no such case in the past, Wisteria felt an unspeakable fear of the thing that lived inside her, and she couldn't be optimistic.

　Maybe it was simply the desire not to die that made her act that way, but anyway, Wisteria expanded her range of action to discover the divine beasts - and found one of the oases scattered across the Catalan Desert.

　For Wisteria, who had always thought that outside the wards was a world of death and sand, the surprise of meeting a human was indescribable.

　However, that doesn't change the purpose of the trip. After replenishing water in the oasis and securing food by hunting desert monsters, Wisteria continued to repeatedly challenge the 'unexplored areas' as the humans call them, in order to find the divine beasts.

　Some adventurers became interested in Wisteria, and Wisteria also contacted them for information about the divine beasts, and obtained some information even though she struggled with the language. It was also at this time that she learned that the humans called the divine beasts behemoths.

　However, the information obtained from the humans did not lead to the discovery of the divine beast.

　There is no way to find the beast. Their minds and bodies are being devoured by the minute. After thinking about it, Wisteria headed for the human city called Belka. If Belka, where information is gathered from all over the desert, it might be possible to obtain information on the behemoths - she trusted a little bit of hope in the adventurer's words.




　........and the result is the current situation. The hope I had in mind was crushed in the worst way possible: the involvement of others.

　It is no longer possible to stop the evil spirits from invading. Already in the daze of Wisteria, I can feel the joy of the evil spirit as if it is freeing me from the yoke of years.

　I am melting, my own being (Wisteria).

　I am melting, crumbling, mixing with the evil spirits. I am being consumed.

　At that moment, a shiver ran down my spine. The horrifying, yet pleasurable sensation of having my soul licked directly at me made my last remaining consciousness scream.


　------I can't take it anymore.


　The words I've been trying so hard to keep away from come back to my mind. A single tear spills out of my right eye, which still bears the vestiges of an elf.

　And so it was when Wisteria was about to close her eyes in the face of the inevitable catastrophe.

　A voice was heard.　



''--shinso excited (reiki).



　I heard a voice, filled with trembling authority.