Masamune's eyes were as dim as a corpse.
　He left the Capitol building with Holly, who floated in the air, and passed through the dark passageway surrounded by stone walls to the sunlit plaza.
　The faces of the bound heroes were all there.

　The Acting Adventurer's Guild Church Master-in-Chief, Scratch Daman Scanner, had been captured by William Vector with a knife to his neck.
　When Masamune reached the square, he found William in his left hand and smiled at him.

'Mr. Vector, we don't need that man,'
I'm sorry, sir.

　William quickly tore Scratch's head off with his knife.
　Blood began to spill out as if he had turned on the tap, and Scratch fell to the ground as he held his neck.

　Throwing Holly down in the square, Masamune checked the expressions on the faces of those brave men.

''Holly!''

　The Raid shouted as he was captured by the white armor-clad one.

'What happened to that guy ... what happened to Sonoda!　Are they still in there?
Gosh, gosh, gosh, gosh........Sonoda is.......

　Holly looked away.
　He didn't know how to state the words beyond that.

'Romero,'

　Immediately after Masamune called out that name, a white-haired old man with a faint smile appeared next to him.

''What is it?''
Bring her to me.
I'm sorry, sir.

　As Masamune summoned a dungeon vortex, Romero disappeared into the vortex.

　A moment later, a figure appeared behind the vortex.
　It was Romero.
　But unlike earlier, he was pushing something with his hand.
　All of them stared at it with their eyes.

'This is Kenshiro Sonoda.

　A man appeared, sitting in a wheelchair, looking like a dried up mummy.
　His hair was falling out, his cheeks were hollowed out, and his body was emaciated, with his ribs sticking out.
　With only a layer of skin, it no longer looked human.
　It was wearing only a single, thin jacket, the kind that ties the front together with a string, and it wore nothing else.
　So its miserable appearance was easy for them to understand.

'Lies........right. A lie. This.........this can't be Sonoda!

　Holly stared in stunned amazement at the tiled ground with a look that sucked the life out of her.
　Naturally, tears rolled down her cheeks and her eyes were glued to the ground.

　Sonoda stretched out his hands to the sun-drenched sky, smiling as he uttered unintelligible words, "Ai...............
　He looked as if he hadn't seen the sun in a long time, and the brave men imagined what had happened to Sonoda.
　Each of them clenched their teeth and turned away from Sonoda, who had tears in his eyes and smiled kindly at them.

I thought this was a good opportunity when I found out that the Carefree Brave Men's Club had been formed. Just when you guys were getting amped up to change your name to the Brave Society and promote it to a regular club, the real Sonoda had disappeared from your sight. For the past two years, a year and a half to be exact, until Sonoda lost his mind and was in this wonderful state of mind, I'd sit up every night with this guy over drinks and talk about how to kill Saeki, even though we never came up with any good ideas. All I ever heard him say was "think again" and other cold words.
Don't tell me you killed Mr. Saeki...

　Kamii Emi was astonished and involuntarily held her mouth.
　She was grabbed by the white armored one by the neck and pushed to the ground.
　Next to her, her best friend, Mitarai Chiharu, was suffering from a similar condition.

''Everyone else...''

　The same goes for Haruhiko Chosokabe, but what's slightly different from the others is that he's holding hands with his girlfriend, Jessica Yamanaka, even as she presses her body to the ground.
　Their hands are held tightly fingertip to fingertip.
　She was similarly restrained by the white knight.

''We're going to start with this, for starters, I got my hands on Saeki first. But to be clear, I have no hard feelings for anyone else, including you guys. It seems that for me, my relationship with you guys was only a matter of time. Saeki was different, though, and then there's Kida. I'm going to give that guy the consequences he deserves.
Are you going to kill him... and Ichijo too?

　Hiiragi was on his feet.
　She was holding her left elbow as if she was injured.

''Akane........''

　Next to her is a restrained Kato Shiori, who is worried about her childhood friend Hiiragi.

'Shiori, it's okay. I'll be fine.

　Hiiragi tried to calm Shiori down, "It's okay," she put the words together, "It's okay.

Ichijou has been looking for you for a long time...

　Hiiragi said to Masamune, as if he was still searching for hope.

'If you guys have good intentions, let's say I was in that dark dungeon and I was eaten to death by a mimic disguised as a serpent king or a giant, or even a mimic disguised as a box, you guys would have searched out Zephyr's dungeon in an alternate dimension that we don't even know where it is and picked up my bones and put them in the grave. Would they have dug up the same? No, he wouldn't. On the contrary, he would have forgotten about it and enjoyed his otherworldly life before long. Just like it is now. It's like it's a good thing I was alive, because I showed up aloof and alive, and somewhere inside you guys were relieved that you didn't have the slightest bit of fault, and you swept your sins away with a miscellaneous broom. It was an age-old one that seemed to be tucked away in a locker in the corner of the classroom. It's such a miscellaneous thing that you only notice it was in pain when it's broken. Well you only notice it after it's happened. Because you only see things from the front, you don't want to look at the back, the sides. That's why for the past two years, you didn't even notice that Sonoda, your precious member of the regular club, was a wax figure, listening to my orders through a puppet. Ephemeral people being manipulated by the puppet.......how was your happiness?

　Each of them, including Hiiragi, couldn't understand much of what Masamune had to say.
　Masamune had no intention of making them understand either.

　Hiiragi said.

''........Ichijo has been looking for you for a long time. Yet you--''
I'm not going to engage in hypocrisy.
"...Hypocrisy?　Is Ichijo's actions hypocritical?

　Holly couldn't believe her ears at Masamune's words.

'People's actions are subject to convenience. I have no way of knowing what his reasons are, but I can only assume that finding me would have saved him something. He just wanted to get rid of the guilt that you guys were harboring. He's a weak-minded guy, he's an egoist, that's for sure.

　Masamune gave a thin smile and scoffed at Ichijo, who wasn't here.

''Well you have been from the beginning...''
'Yes, I never thought of you guys as my friends from the beginning. My senses only perceive you as foreign to this world. I'm getting tired of talking about it by now, let's kill you before your condition worsens.
A medical condition?

　The moment Hiiragi asked that, Masamune was too stunned to take Sonoda's head off.
　The head fell silently and stopped in Sonoda's own lap.

''Masamune you've done it...''

　Raid clenched and clenched his teeth.
　An angry glare was directed at him.

''Oh, I did, and you didn't listen to me, former White King Knight. Saeki already got what he deserved, you know. For the record, it wasn't like this with Saeki. I've given him the pinnacle of cruelty. It's nothing like this.
'I know...I know...I know...I'm not going to...'

　Holly let the words slip out as if she couldn't believe her ears at Masamune's words.

''Huh?'' And Masamune looked down at Hiiragi suspiciously.

'What did you do to him? .....
"I took away the things he cares about most, the things he cares about most, and I took away his ability to scrape his feet. A hand and a foot.

　Tears flowed from Hiiragi's eyes again.

'You're crazy...' muttered Hiiragi, her eyes wet with tears as she rolled her eyes and stared at Masamune.

'It's not me who's crazy.'
''You're going to kill Xishiro-san as well, she's.......your childhood friend?

　Emi Kamii also had tears in her eyes.
　The cockapoo head's cocky figure was in disarray.
　With a trembling expression, she looked at Sonoda's dead figure right next to Masamune.

''Maybe.....

　Masamune lifted one corner of his mouth and smiled.
　It's not a fake smile, but a natural one of the unintentional kind.

''No way...''

　She exclaimed.

'I pity you. You guys were just caught up in it, so to speak. I've been wanting another world for some time now, and so that summoning itself was an opportunity. Except for the fact that I was summoned by Aries. Oh, yes, I was the one who killed Aries and the others, have I told you this story?

　The color had disappeared from the brave men's faces.
　It was the first time they had been told this fact, but each of them was no longer surprised.
　Having killed Sonoda in front of them, they understood the man Hidaka Masamune.

'So what Saeki said back then was true. Nito's magic was very similar to the one that appeared in Graysberg that day...''

　Holly mumbled as she stared at the tiles, stunned.

'That was a mistake. I didn't think that far ahead. I'm pretty sure it was right after sunrise when they destroyed the castle, but how early you guys are up and about. You didn't even have much training.

　Masamune laughed in a natural atmosphere.
　He held his belly in a cocoon of glee.
　Something seemed to have hit the nail on the head.

'Hiiragi was a high-flying student who always looked down on others because of his family background. He watched me being teased by Saeki with an onlooker's gaze. It's meant to kill. But not you guys.

　Masamune turned his attention to Emi Kamii, Chiharu Mitarai, Haruhiko Chosokabe, and Jessica Yamanaka.

'Kamii and Mitarai, you guys leave the classroom at lunchtime and probably head to the library. You are residents of the same library as Sonoda. I've seen you around a few times. In the classroom, you are ornaments. But in the library, it's different, there may be some users who just come to borrow books, but most of them are people with the same ideology who came together with no other place to live. They always have the same faces and talk about anime and light novels. We talk about the same things. Instead of being an ornament in the classroom, you don't hold grudges. You don't have any connections to people like me. You're not, you're a returnee, aren't you?

　Masamune looked at Jessica Yamanaka.

'You moved here from Finland, I believe. Poor thing, if only you hadn't come to that school, you wouldn't have gotten involved in the summons. I spoke to you once one day, and since Finland is the birthplace of death metal, I thought we might be able to talk. ........Maybe I was looking for something from you from a different country at that time, just like I was looking for something from another world.

　Jessica Yamanaka didn't change her expression in a mysterious way.
　She no longer seemed to be talking about Masamune.

'But you said you don't listen to death metal, so I never spoke to you again. Chosokabe-kun, the big name Chosokabe-kun you were called Alkaline or something, as I recall.

　That was Chosokabe Haruhiko's nickname.

I thought you were sitting at the bottom of the school caste, but you were the only friend and lover of a returnee blonde beauty, and everyone around you was amused behind your back. They wondered how that kind of loose, manly, womanly guy could be with a beautiful woman. That's why people called you 'alkaline' for your gender.

　Masamune shifted his gaze to Mitarai Chiharu, "You have no such thing as an impression.

'I've always been by Kamii's side, and I've never seen you talk to him. For some reason I also know that apparently Kamii and I have been classmates since elementary school and were childhood friends. He was shy and was not good at sports. He has a tendency to laugh at everything and cover it up.

　Masamune turned his back on them once, then took a deep breath and continued talking.

'I hated that world. I hated that world," he said, prying into other people, calling them strangers, and half-knowing them, he would sneakily whisper behind their backs. He would look for the right moment to look down on others, and when he was ready to make a decision, he would look down on them and ridicule them. They have the right to determine the value of others and their relationship with themselves, and they only judge people based on whether they can or cannot look down on them. A race that can only talk about things in the limited dimension of dualism. The demons are out, even the unknowable good fortune is out - they are non-interventionist, but they only talk behind the scenes on a daily basis. They are not bent on despising others. They are a dark creature, dark in character, ethnicity, and everything else, the source of the world's stench, the culmination of their leaven. How could such a thing be brought into this sublime, clear world!　It's an affront to another world!

　Masamune's tone gradually became more heated.
　Each of them got used to this air space with time, and little by little they began to understand Masamune's words more easily.
　But by that time, it was already time for Masamune to finish his story.

'When you reincarnate, you should repent. I know, I know, I'm the leaven, right?　But ... if I'm the leaven of the world, then you're the ones who created it, there is no innate evil. Thank you so much for educating me, my old worthless friends.

　Masamune wielded the [Executioner's Axe] as if a beast had taken over.
　At first, Kamii Emi's torso was cut in two from her left shoulder to her right side.
　Masamune is bathed in returning blood all over.
　A resounding, Mitarai Chiharu's scream.
''Emi-chan!'' He shouted repeatedly.
　Masamune said, "Do you still have ringing in your ears! And as if to shake off the noise while bobbing his own head, he swung his axe sideways and cut off Mitarai Chiharu's head, then swung down vertically and cut off both sides of her body with an amused smile that lifted both corners of his mouth.

　The returning blood dyed Masamune's entire body red.
　Two crimson eyes glistened on his face as if he was wearing a full face mask of crimson.
　It was no longer Hidaka Masamune, but Nito's figure.
　The figure of Nito, wearing the demon mask of a dwarf chief.
　A full, convulsive smile can be seen around his mouth.
　Masamune brandished his axe single-mindedly.

''Haruhiko!''

　Chosokabe Haruhiko's brain fluttered open, exposing his brain, and Jessica Yamanaka's screams roared out.

'The returnee is no longer worth it!　This is a different world!　There are plenty of people your size, and their good looks are all over the place!

　As she pleaded with tears in her eyes, Masamune swung his axe at her.

''You're next, conglomerate daughter's goldfish poo-- ''Unreasonable Robbery (Riddick Lost)!

　Kato Shiori's heart was ripped out by the robbery magic.
''Gofu!'' And when blood spurted out of his mouth, "Shiori! And Holly's shrill cry of grief was heard, but shortly afterwards the enforcer's axe was swung down.



*



　Masamune pulled out the tip of the axe that was stuck in Holly's head, lying there spitting blood and popping out her eyes.
　After washing the blood with the Skill 《Washing》, he puts the axe away to the different space storage.

　The Raid, which had already been released from its restraints, was speechless in front of the devastation.

''You........what the hell are you doing........''

　A shaky voice that seemed to shake.
　The Raid's gaze wasn't on their bodies or Masamune, it was on some other floor.
　His gaze went directly to Masamune, and it turned into a sad glare.
　In the face of the scene, Raid could barely keep his temper in check.

'You made the wrong choice,'

　Masamune announced quietly.
　Raid slowly looked up.

'I shouldn't have gotten involved with these guys, that's all.

　Masamune held his palm up to the raid.
　He has a sloping, droopy look in his eyes.
　But there is no hint of sadness in them.
　Those eyes looking down at the raid are like colorless marbles.

'It's sad for Sierra...'

　There was no hesitation that was worthy of those words.
　When the Raid slowly closed his eyes, Masamune chanted, ''Wave of Erosion, Disappearing Aura,''
　Without hesitation, the magic was activated.
　There was nothing else to do, and Masamune looked around, his expression changing as if he had come to himself.

　Masamune looked up at the great sky of the other world with a bloodied expression, and he meditated as he basked in the wind.

　Masamune was immersed in the memories of the past year and a half with them.
　The casual conversation he had had with Chosokabe Haruhiko.
　His laughter.
　Masamune leaves when he sees Jessica Yamanaka running up to him with a smile, trying to join the conversation.

　The memory of when he was talking to Emi Kamii about his childhood friend, Kotori.
　Mitarai Chiharu squirming restlessly by her side.

　The time when she was having a meeting with Hiiragi and Sonoda to discuss how to run the organization in the future.
　It was an amusing conversation that took place at that time.
　Kato Shiori, behind Hiiragi, whose cheeks turn red whenever their eyes meet.
　And the look on Sonoda's face in the dungeon as he repeatedly brings up the story in the library and tries to get her to change her mind.
　To Masamune, it all seems like yesterday.

　Masamune was suddenly reminded of the graduation ceremony sometime ago.
　The students wearing the same blazers were chanting on the stage.
　Occasionally he heard sobbing, and as the chorus approached, they increased in number.
　Masamune's mind was filled with the chorus and the bouncing of the piano keys.

　Masamune hummed the phrases and walked over the accumulated bodies of his classmates.

　In front of the Capitol building, where there was no more sign of people.
　Splattered entrails and a gentle breeze that lifted the smell of iron.
　Masamune's humming can be heard reverberating in the wind noise.