Why don't you just execute him, Mr. Ichijo?

　Only a round table was placed in the room, and Zelos' shouting was echoing in the room.
　There were only two people in the room, Ichijo taking a seat and Zelos standing up and putting his hands on the table.

''That black dragon's fire can't even melt a grate, what's going on!

'It's the prison I built, of course. No one can break it.

''How long do you intend to keep the King of the Abyss alive, you can't even keep the Four Heavenly Kings and demons alive!

That's why.

　To the emotional Zelos, Ichijou speaks calmly and forever.

''Demons and demons can no longer be controlled by humans.

'It's been two years since then we should do something about it. The time for wasting time in despair is over.

We've already wasted that much time. Please do the same for me. Come on, let me take care of the rest.

　With a look of indifference, Ichijo stared at Zelos's back as he left the room with a wild gait, leaving his irritation behind. There was no sigh of relief in the rest.

　A few moments later, Ichijou left the room the same way, crossing a long outdoor hallway and stopping in front of a door at the end of the hall.
　A simple wooden door on a stone wall. When he opened it, he found himself on the ground.
　It was flat, sandy and vast. But it didn't go on forever, and in the distance I could see a protective wall surrounding the area.
　It's not so much the firewall as it is the pillar of fire pouring down from above. It's radiating to something in the center. The pillar of fire did not disappear until Ichijo walked out of the door and reached the side.

''Carpent-sama!

　The black dragon Carpent ze Bach was in the sky above. When it noticed Ichijo, it stopped radiating flames and took the form of a human and descended to the ground.
　Sharp hostility. Carpent stared at Ichijo for a while in silence.
　Ichijou bowed lightly with a smile on his face and said, "I'll talk to him for a moment.
　Carpent didn't say anything until the end and walked away, walking by Ichijou's side without a word.

'It sounds like he hates you a lot.

　There was a large iron cage there.
　Masamune sat cross-legged inside, unmoving, staring at the floor.

'Everyone wishes you dead, that's why,'

But you won't allow it. Why?

First of all, no one can kill you.

'I suppose so. Don't you want to see what those guys will do next when they find out they can't kill you?

I won't let you do what you want. Humans are not like you.

"You know you're not killing me. You know that's what people are like. But come on, it's okay. It's fine.

You have a responsibility to fix this situation.

"Demons and Four Heavenly Kings?　Oh come on, that's arrogant. They're just as precious.

'Everyone who lived in the west or north is dead now,'

Of course you do.

Do you know how Greberg is getting by now?

No. I only just found out this is Greberg.

'They give the humans they collect from towns and villages to the demons. Their food includes humans. It's not their staple food, they say. And yet they are abiding by this agreement, saying that they don't want to be unable to eat for the rest of their lives. As long as humans continue to give birth to humans, Greeberg can continue to be a nation of humans.

　The motionless, colorless fine eyes that dwelled in the cage said. 'Congratulations.'

　Masamune didn't look at a single article. The hole he had made by rubbing his heel against the floor's steel plate. He was staring at the sand on the ground, visible through the gaping hole. Sometimes he would play with it between his fingers.

　The Grayberg is located relatively east of Bannome, but further east of it is the Great Forest - the Demon Territory. To the east of these lands is a clear blue sky. But if you look back to the west, the sky in the distance is red. It could be seen from inside the cage.
　Masamune would occasionally look at the red sky in the distance and then return his gaze to the hole at his feet.

''Many humans now live in the Grayberg territory. Most do not know why the world is filled with demons. They don't even know the word 'abyss', and they don't know that demons and devils are deliberately unleashed. There aren't many people left who know you, Hidaka-kun. There are only a few people who know that you are here. Human beings cannot live as long as you do. In a few decades, I won't be able to come here anymore. What's going to happen to you?

'We moved from another world, from the Temple of Consciousness, from the cave, and now to the cage. That's all. 'Beyond this?　There's nothing wrong with that. I'm just going to be quiet and sealed up.

That seal, it's already broken, isn't it?

....

Even two years ago, that stuff didn't work.

　Masamune remains silent and stares somewhere in the distance again.



*



　It's windy here because there are no buildings to block any of it.
　When you see the barrier in the distance, you feel like you're in the center of the coliseum. It brings back memories of the days when I stood on the field one day against the school.
　Nem, Sufilia, and Toa in the audience. Every time I won, the three of them leaned over the railing and waved at me.

　In my memory, the three of them are laughing.

　Every time I remembered, my mouth almost loosened up. Just that. No emotion since, just that. And then the loosening of my mouth disappears and I return to nothingness.
　That happens occasionally, and I've apparently spent about two years in this cage.
　Two years ago in the village of Tanya, I had an encounter with an apparition that I didn't know if it was Romero or Adam's. It was there that I noticed something. That's when I knew something was up.
　I just couldn't remember what it was that I noticed.
　A feeling of daze has followed me ever since.

"Ichijo, you know what?

Hmm?

Adolf was jealous of his friend. That's why his abyss is full of jealousy.

What about it?

Zephyr is oblivion. Adams' sister, Victoria, despairs. Oliver is furious. Hey Ichijo, what do you think my abyss is?

Your abyss?

'I lost to me as a result. They say the cause of that defeat is the same as the essence of the abyss that dwells in me.

Did someone tell you that?

"Maybe Adams said it,

'Master Adams? ...But, Master Adams,

I think he's alive.

　Ichijo gave him a doubtful look.

He's not going to show himself. He's done his job, in his own way.

...duties.

"Adams had a cause of failure, I don't know what. They say we all carry a defeat. But I don't know. My abyss is still a blank.

　I think Vel said something to me one day. Maybe Vel knew the root of my abyss. Maybe it's because I'm half-body. Maybe I've forgotten it.

"I think I finally figured it out when.

'Are you suggesting that it has something to do with this situation that you should be looking at?

I've always looked to myself. I'm the one who unleashed the demons and monsters. I had my part to play. Everyone has a part to play in something.

'It's a crazy idea, are you saying that the slaughter of humans was your job? So you're saying that I had to do it?

I won't say. It's just that people live in an unchangeable schedule for much of their days. Even if you can make a tangible change, it is only a small part of the change, because everything is in harmony. It's all in harmony.

What do you mean?

They were going to seal me up and that was the end of it. But now I'm here in the cage. You're right in front of me, and you're still giving me preachy little speeches. It's part of the same scene as when I was being bullied by Saeki in class. Ichijo, why are you still standing in front of me?

　I think I've been imagining this scene somewhere in the back of my head for years. I was sure I thought it would be sealed and that would be the end of it. And after that, there was nothing, and if I were to compare it to that hole I spent two years in, I'd always had an image of a blank space like that hole in the ground.
　But I also knew that there was no such thing as "nothing". As long as consciousness does not disappear, there is no end in sight. So if I acted, I didn't know for how long, but I would see the "end". I knew.

'There's nothing I can do about it,'

That's why you're standing in front of me. No. You still have your job to do.

If that's the case, Hidaka-kun, doesn't that mean you also have a role to play?

Like what?

I was just doing my part to help.

No way, man.

　As soon as I said that, Ichijou suddenly changed his face, looking unwell.
　He fell to his knees on the spot.

Ichijo, what's up?

　He holds his neck and coughs lightly.

'I can't breathe, I can't...'

Breath?

　It's nothing at all.
　I wonder if the air is thin in this place. I can't see any green at all........
　The body of Ichijou, who was about to fall down, glowed with a golden light. For some reason, that seemed to be similar to the feeling I had when I released a red-black presence from my body.
　Ichijou stood up as if nothing had happened and looked behind me, somewhere in the distance, with a slack-jawed gaze.

'Ichijo? .....

　I couldn't help but look back at this guy's gaze.

What is that?

　A typhoon's eye suddenly appeared in the red sky that had dominated the west and instantly blew the red away. Later, a clearer blue sky appeared than the skies above Graysberg.
　Ichijo stared with a grim look in his eyes.

It's not magic.

So it's a skill. No, it's not. This is His work.

　My work is an ability used by observers. Skills are the scraps that come from this deed. The ability Oswald used to seal me in the past is very close to his karma. It's a collection of skills.

I'm not going to be able to get a good look at them. That's what they say. Blowing it up in an instant was the work of a demon.

No, I thought. That's what I thought.

For example, growing up.

Demons are the most powerful creatures today. Some of them can even rival demons. They don't need to grow up.

I can't breathe now. So that means ... air.

　As if noticing something, Ichijo changed his blood color and quickly ran.
　I folded my arms behind my head and leaned against the grate, thinking, "It's hard work.

　The sky in the west was so blue. It seemed to be slowly eroding the once safe blue sky in the east.
　Is it my imagination.....

'What is it?'

　The wind in the area had stopped blowing.



*



　The look on Ichijou's face as he ran through the streets of the town was serious. On the streets around him, he could see people falling one by one. Everyone was holding their necks or suddenly falling down in a flap.
　Spotting Zelos in front of the barracks, Ichijo ran up to him.

'Zeru, get a grip!'

　He picks himself up, but his dim eyes gradually close and Zelos loses consciousness.

　He carried her on his shoulders and tried to carry Zelos to the clinic, but a black dragon passed over the Greyberg. Ichijo's feet stopped.
　He looked up at the sky and called out his name, "Carpent-sama".
　The black dragon was clearly falling towards the ground. After a few seconds, a vibration that seemed to belong to Carpent was transmitted from the ground to his body. It must have crash landed somewhere.
　After pondering over it.

I'll be right back, Zelos. Just wait here.

　Leaving Zelus in his place, Ichijo ran through town again.



*



　The baby was floating in front of me, as if it had been there all along.
　I hadn't seen him in a long time. I immediately remembered, "An observer," I muttered to myself. There was no response from the other side.

　The baby grew by leaps and bounds on the spot. It's all about appearances.
　Quickly, he grew taller and taller, and he didn't look much different from me now. His pale, quiet, Noh-masked face became more mature.
　His eyes had no color and he didn't feel as alive as a figurine. No clothes and completely naked. The first thing I saw was between his legs. There was nothing there. It was smooth as the surface of tights. No gender, let's call it alkaline.

'Do you know why the observer takes the form of a baby?' said the observer.

'Well,'

'Because I want pure sensibility. We don't understand life based on death until shortly after birth.

　That's no longer necessary now, said the observer. Then he held out his hand to me.
　Immediately after, the cage turned into something as fine as sand and disappeared as if the wind had swept it away. Only then did I feel the wind on my skin.
　More and more, there was nothing around. I was just sitting in a clearing.

'There's no wind you changed the western sky, what did you do with the demons?

This is a no-wind zone.

Windless zone?

'It wasn't Efreet or Thor that made the western sky look red, it was this windless zone you created.

You're a pain in the ass. You should have said it in plain English.

'We have just transferred the windless zone to Greberg. There is no oxygen in the land now.

　The observer speaks uprightly and unassumingly. I don't know what he wants to do.
　I felt uncomfortable in my vision. A crush of sand floats in the air. Countless. Not drifting, but stagnant. The area has changed to the color of sand, the area is like a desert. But it's silent and soundless.

"We're going to spread this out over the whole of Banorm. From this point on.

Okay.

Humans need air. It's the same for beastmen. Then what about the demons? That's Romero's fragments turned into living things. In other words, an organism. Then what about demons? They are originally spirits. Spirits became wild after Adams gave birth to them, in other words, they are living beings. Although inverted, they too are biological. Observers, Hidaka Masamune, ichneumon, and other things with a high concentration of existence, such as ichneumonids, can ignore the providence. The same is true of demons. But creatures cannot. If you widen the windless zone, all of them will die.

So, you're saying that Bannome is going to be a world of demons?

'It's not just Banome. Eventually, it will spread beyond this continent.

What do you want?

It's what you wanted to do.

　It just doesn't feel right. I don't know what I wanted to do.

"You wanted a world where no one is oppressed and no one is scorned, don't you?

　So that's why.
　So you think that beastmen and demons should be killed just like humans.
　But still. Even if they were gods and Buddha-like beings, this observer is a humanistic foolishness, isn't it?

"Hydaka Masamune, you will be the next observer.

　To top it all off, I didn't understand any of it.