Maria repeats my true name. “Kanami… Aikawa, Kanami…”
With that, Maria’s flames began to wane. Her flame sword unraveled, losing its shape, and the heat gripping my left hand as I held her at bay also disappeared.
I could feel that my words were reaching her.
Furthermore, the magic “Midwinter of Overcrowded Dimensions” was draining Maria’s heat and weakening the chaos residing within her.
“Ah, I won’t make Maria suffer anymore. I won’t make Maria’s love a ‘tragic love.’ I will become Maria’s. That will be the end of it all…”
I declared, continuing to cool Maria’s body without letting my guard down.
Upon hearing this, Maria dispersed her flame sword into mist and slowly leaned her body towards me. Burying her face in my chest, she joyfully called my name.
“Kanami, Kanami Kanami…!! Kanami-san! Kanami-san’s name is Kanami–!!”
With the hand I had released from my sword, I stroked Maria’s head. As I did, Maria lifted her head, met my gaze with teary eyes, and shouted. She confessed.
“Kanami-san, I love you…! I love you so much! I love your kindness, I love your excessive leniency, I love your pathetic side, I love your cowardly side, I love your childishness, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love all of it–!! I finally remembered!!”
Ah, she’s so similar. She truly resembles someone so much… I had always thought so. Now, I can say it out loud. Maria resembles my sister, Hidaki.
“I love you like family, like an older brother. Of course, I love you as a member of the opposite sex too. So, please… please stay with me forever!!”
As she shouted, the surrounding temperature seemed to rise. The emotions she spewed out danced around us like flames. I was slightly wary, wondering if the chaos would increase again. However, sensing it with my skin, I realized it was a groundless fear. These were not destructive black flames, but pure, joyful red flames.
While she exhaled those flames, I continued to cool Maria, drawing out all her heat so she could find peace.
“Ah, I am Maria’s. I promise I won’t leave you alone anymore. Please forgive me…”
I embraced Maria, pouring all my emotions into the embrace, and cooled her with all my might. Maria accepted it. With an expression I had never seen before, she held me tightly.
“Ah… Kanami-san, you’re so cool and pleasant…”
With that, Maria’s flames finally extinguished. I felt the heat within her body disappear. Then, having exhaled all the emotions she had been holding back, Maria murmured in a voice free from worry.
“Finally… Finally, you looked at me… I can feel you by my side now…”
Those words were everything. All it took was for me to truly see Maria and be by her side. Love, jealousy, flames, and chaos – those complicated things weren’t important. All it took was to look without averting my gaze and convey my feelings honestly – that was enough.
[Status]
Condition: Mental Contamination 0.12, Confusion 0.38, Memory Impairment 0.48
Her condition visibly improved. My prediction was correct.
Now I understand. Her emotions must have fueled the flames, and the flames must have fueled her emotions. Simply suppressing the flames with cold air, or suppressing her emotions with words alone, would not have worked. Only by simultaneously calming both could Maria regain herself.
As I held Maria, I rejoiced that she was restored to me, unharmed.
—However, naturally, there were those who were not satisfied with this.
A heat source was born between Maria and me, and a vortex of flames flickered and burst. This separated us. Then, the flames remaining in the air spoke.
“Wait, Maria… You believe that’s true? Christ was a man who lied his entire life. It’s just his tongue again. He’s trying to deceive you just to resolve this situation. He’s exploiting your kindness!!”
Arti was undoubtedly within Maria. Therefore, only through flames could he interfere with us. I moved to extinguish Arti’s flames. All the while, Arti continued to shout.
“You can tell with your ‘Eyes,’ can’t you!? If it’s the true Christ, even your ‘Eyes’ would work! Look, that man will absolutely not make you happy! He can’t! Heroes, in the end, are all selfish and only scatter misfortune around!!”
Maria shook her head, stopping my advance. Maria’s eyes held a firm resolve. I could sense her determination to end this herself. After hesitating, I stopped and entrusted the situation to Maria, trusting her.
“Yes… I can see with my ‘Eyes.’ But I believe in Kanami-san. I want to believe him…”
“You mustn’t believe him!! I know… I know!! Heroes never keep their promises!!”
Arti’s flames blazed, attempting to warm Maria’s chilled body. He roared as he burned. In response, Maria calmly replied.
“Arti-san… After merging with you, I briefly felt your life. You, who lost everything because of your ‘Eyes,’ were far more miserable than I… far more unfortunate. I understand that you’re desperately trying to prevent me from going down the same path…”
Maria harbored no hatred towards Arti. It was clear from her words and her eyes.
“But I want to believe. — I can’t believe ‘Christ,’ ‘Master.’ But I can believe in Kanami-san. So, like the Arti of the past, please let me proceed.”
“No, no, no!! Even if you believe, it will only bring more pain!! Unfulfilled feelings will pile up endlessly, you’ll suffer more and more, and in the end, you’ll be betrayed!!”
I had no idea what the two were talking about. Having always run away, I knew nothing of their relationship. However, I could tell they were discussing something important to them. Therefore, I never interrupted.
“No, I don’t know that. I don’t know yet. Because you and I are different people. So, it’s not guaranteed that we’ll have the same end.”
“It is guaranteed! It’s decided we’ll be the same! Because Maria is the same as me—”
“No, I had Arti. But Arti’s life didn’t have people like Arti. That’s a significant difference.”
Maria spoke to Arti slowly, with gratitude.
“……!”
Hearing that, Arti faltered for a moment. However, he quickly regained his momentum, his flames flaring as he shouted.
“I’m not a significant difference! I know! I know from my own body that it will turn out that way! It was like that in my case! My ‘Eyes’ tell me that I’ll never be happy! So—!!”
“Arti-san, thank you. I will go a different path. I’ve also found a way to go a different path. That’s right… It was precisely because I could see with my ‘Eyes’ that it went wrong…”
With those words, Maria brought both her hands to her head. “From now on, no one knows what will happen—”
And then, she gouged her fingers into her eyes.
“Ah, aah…! Aaahhhhhh, Maria—!!”
I leaped forward, intending to stop her, but was cut off by Arti’s pained cry. Maria was now trying to gouge her eyes out of her own will, not manipulated by anyone. From his cry, I understood that this was the most unacceptable thing for Arti. Trusting Maria’s will and resolve, I planted my feet on the ground and watched.
“Ku—, uuu, aaaaaahhhhh—!”
Maria endured the excruciating pain and pulled out her eyes. Then, she immediately burned the extracted eyes with flames, reducing them to ashes.
“Aah, Maria! What have you done, what have you done—!!”
Arti cried hysterically. In response, Maria replied in a gentle voice.
“With this, you and I are no longer the same… I will no longer be swayed by my ‘Eyes.’ For my own sake, I will believe in Kanami-san. Arti-san, please… Please let me believe that this will not end in a ‘tragic love’…”
“Aaah…, aahhhahhh…”
Arti wailed and sobbed, his flames trembling. The flames leaked from Maria and writhed out, crawling. As they gathered, they solidified and took on a human form. It took the form of a young girl. The girl-shaped flame — Arti — placed both hands on the ground and murmured.
“Ah, aa… The last affinity has also broken… We can no longer be together. I… I am alone again…”
Arti’s flames no longer exuded any strength. If I looked closely, the surrounding flames were also weakening. Arti’s heart was breaking, and in response, the flames in the area were dimming. Like Maria, Arti’s flames were strongly linked to his emotions. And the exchange that had just taken place was undoubtedly decisive.
Arti flickered like the last flame of a dying candle and stood up weakly. There was no trace of his former overbearing demeanor. He looked at us with the eyes of a child his age.
“Arti, are you still going to fight…?”
Believing the battle was over, I confirmed with Arti. Arti, who specialized in magic and had lost Maria as a shield, had no chance of winning.
“Ah, I will…”
However, Arti suppressed his weakness and responded with his former overbearing tone. It was a facade. Clearly, he lacked the strength to back it up. It was almost—
“Certainly, Maria’s ‘tragic love’—no, her ‘love’ may have been fulfilled… But my ‘tragic love’ is not yet fulfilled. There is still meaning in continuing…”
Arti continued his bravado, constructing a flame sword in his hand and walking towards me with a smirk, speaking. It brought to mind a presumptuous criminal being led to the guillotine.
“‘When humans and monsters meet, they kill each other. That is the unwritten rule of this world,’ huh… Haah, Tida’s self-imposed rules sometimes touch upon the truth…”
However, the flames of his body and his flame sword looked as if they could vanish at any moment.
“You…”
I had no intention of forgiving Arti. I picked up my fallen sword, ready to intercept him at any moment. However, as I heard Arti’s pained cry and Maria returned, I felt my anger subsiding. My brain, which had just gone through a confession war while losing its mind, was now calming down and suggesting the possibility of reconciliation with Arti.
“Shut up…!! More than anything, I hate guys like Christ!! Die, all heroes, go extinct—!!”
That possibility was extinguished by Arti’s怨念-filled scream. Arti kicked off the ground and closed in, swinging his flame sword horizontally. I blocked it with the flat of my sword. It was light. His strength, his flames, were all light.
“Arti, already—”
Arti had no strength left. He was on the verge of disappearing, like the last flame of a candle. Even after casting powerful magic, enduring the cold, and being rejected by Maria, this lack of strength was abnormal. One thought came to mind.
— A way to kill the Guardian without fighting. Guardians lose their power and eventually disappear when their ‘lingering desire’ is gone. Arti was on the verge of losing his ‘lingering desire.’ I could think of no other explanation. Was it because he felt he was close to achieving Maria’s goal while parasitizing her? Did he feel a sense of ‘fulfillment of tragic love’? No, it was different. It was likely a contributing factor… but it wasn’t the whole story, I intuitively felt. Arti was on the verge of disappearing because some other ‘lingering desire’ had been resolved, something he himself was most unwilling to admit. Thus, Arti screamed.
“Not yet—! I still have ‘lingering desire’! I can still fight!!”
Arti seemed to sense what I was thinking from my expression and desperately claimed, “I still have ‘lingering desire’.” While screaming, he spewed flames and swung his sword. His actions seemed to indicate he was burning through the last of his remaining power. Gradually, I found it harder to defend against that desperate flame sword. Although Arti was on the verge of disappearing, I was also on the verge of death.
— As a result, unable to hold back, I sliced through Arti’s body. Even so, Arti didn’t stop. Arti’s flame sword was about to strike my neck, so I instinctively severed her arm. Arti’s slender arm flew into the air, and red blood colored the ground. The severed arm vanished into flames, and the red blood bloomed like a fiery flower on the ground. It was unbearably beautiful and unbearably unpleasant. The fact that I had severed Arti’s arm. The sensation of it. It was all unpleasant. In contrast, Arti laughed. With a look of contentment, she murmured and constructed a flame sword in her remaining hand.
“Ah, ‘blood and flesh burn’…. ‘Adding oil to blood, the flesh ignites’…. But it doesn’t matter. ‘Humans don’t live by flesh, but by the flame lit in their hearts’…. As long as the ‘inferno burning in my soul’ doesn’t die, I won’t stop…”
Arti chanted while spitting blood and attacked me. No, she wasn’t spitting blood. She was fighting by shaving away her own being — her flames. The ferocity of her attack slightly pressured me. Her des desperate resolve dulled my sword. Yet, Arti’s sword still couldn’t reach me. Arti’s final strike was blocked by Maria’s flame sword, which stepped in between us. The flame swords intertwined, melted, and disappeared.
“I’m sorry, Arti-san—”
“Ma, Maria—”
Arti called her name sadly and then her expression changed rapidly. She seemed sad, happy, displeased, and content, weaving a tapestry of emotions, before finally stepping back. She created distance, looked down, and murmured.
“I lost…”
Arti muttered. “It’s my loss… Congratulations, Christ. No, Aikawa Kanami. With this, the ‘Ordeal’ of the 10th floor is over…” She declared the end. Arti’s torso was splitting, she had lost an arm, and only a sliver of her flames and magic power remained. The outcome was clear to anyone who looked. Arti herself admitted it. However, after meekly accepting her defeat, she immediately smiled thinly and glared at me defiantly.
“However, I didn’t lose to you. I lost to Maria. Don’t misunderstand that.”
Saying that, Arti looked at Maria and smiled. Then, while Maria and I watched, Arti put her fingers into her own eyes.
“Hey, Arti! What—”
“You know, the winner usually receives a magic stone. But this time, it’s not happening. Sorry, Kanami. I can’t compromise on this one.”
Arti, still smiling, gouged out both her eyes, evading my question nonsensically. The gouged-out eyes, just like Maria’s, disappeared into flames. Arti had become ‘the same’ as Maria. Seeing this, Maria seemed to sense something and stepped forward with a serious expression. I tried to stop her, sensing danger, but she stopped me instead. Maria approached Arti with a solemn expression. Arti approached Maria with a similar expression. The two joined hands, touched foreheads, and bid their final farewell.
“With this, we are the same. — Take me with you, Maria.”
“Of course. Arti-san is my ‘best friend’—”
I didn’t know what kind of time had existed between the two of them. To me, Arti was only a monster that had driven Maria mad. However, Maria called her her ‘best friend.’ For some reason, that pricked at a corner of my heart. If things had gone as they should have, that role…
Arti could no longer maintain even her head in a solid form. And she said her final words to me.
“Kanami. Don’t bully Maria. I’ll be watching.”
I couldn’t argue back. I didn’t know Arti well enough to argue. I hadn’t tried to know her. That was all. Seeing my silence, Arti sighed. Yet, she seemed somewhat satisfied. She said nothing more. Arti looked up at the sky with satisfaction. The sky had turned cloudy due to the massive amount of flames and smoke. Yet, she gazed up at the gray sky, squinting as if it were bright. The flames were gradually transforming into light.
“Ah, the worst… But this time, I might have said what I wanted to say. That’s enough, I guess…”
Arti murmured to the sky, not speaking to anyone in particular. Everything about Arti turned into light, and her words began to fade.
“I… tried… my… best…”
With those fragmented words, Arti disappeared. She vanished, and a single magic stone fell into Maria’s hand. However, it quickly lost its shape and transformed into a small flame, which was absorbed into Maria’s body.
[Title “Ashes of Fire” acquired]
Fire Magic gains a +0.50 bonus.
“Display” appeared on my retina, confirming that the monster named Arti had indeed died. Without her master, Arti, the surrounding flames also weakened. Simultaneously, it began to rain. As the flames vanished and the temperature dropped, it was convenient for me. However, if the flames extinguished all at once, it would likely allow Valt’s guards, who couldn’t approach due to the flames, to move closer. I quickly approached Maria and spoke to her.
“Are you alright, Maria…? Your eyes…”
“No, I can see as long as there are flames. More importantly, Kanami-san…”
Maria created a space with her palms and generated flames within it. I didn’t know when she had acquired this ability, but it was likely the same as Arti’s. She could now gather information about her surroundings with it.
“I’m fine. More importantly, let’s get out of here. Once the flames die down, people will come here.”
Honestly, if I let my guard down, I felt I could pass out at any moment. However, I couldn’t afford to lose consciousness until we left Valt and secured our safety. Preferably, I wanted to rendezvous with Rustiara and the others today. Once we met them, there would be nothing to fear. Then, everyone would be back to normal. Despite everything that had happened, I had gotten Maria back. Now, again—
My and Maria’s bodies were trembling, but we forced ourselves to walk—
—Then, we heard the sound of applause.
A chill like a cold hand tracing my back ran down my spine. I had experienced this turn of events, this applause, many times. It was the usual development, where I was caught off guard after a segment had concluded, and someone had secretly approached.
The applause came from a corner where the flames had weakened. From beyond those flames, a man walked towards us.
“Congratulations, Christ’s older brother. Or rather, Aikawa Kanami now.”
The one who appeared, clapping his hands gleefully, was Palinkron. Palinkron Legacy.
“—Palinkron! Why are you here!?”
I exclaimed in surprise. I thought he was pursuing Rustiara and the others. However, Palinkron had appeared as if he had timed it perfectly.
“I finished over there quickly. Things got complicated, and I cooled down. So I came here.”
Finished…? Did that mean Rustiara’s group had lost to Palinkron? That was impossible given their strength. Despite their injuries, all of them were superior beings to Palinkron. More importantly, Palinkron had an unhappy look on his face. It seemed he had returned here faster than planned due to an unforeseen event that hadn’t gone his way. Palinkron glanced at his bloodstained sword, reminiscing about something. He looked displeased… I immediately mapped out an escape route in my mind. Frankly, in a one-on-one fight, I didn’t think I would lose. If I could shave off just a bit more of his maximum HP, I should be able to win without a scratch, just like the other ‘Seven Knights of Heaven.’ —However, I didn’t want to fight him. My instincts screamed at me not to fight this man. If I were to flee, it would be in the opposite direction of Palinkron. But that was towards Fuziaze. Moreover, since Maria was slower than Palinkron, a simple escape would easily lead to us being caught. My mind raced as I desperately tried to keep track of Palinkron’s every move. In response, Palinkron declared with a relaxed expression.
“Congratulations, Kanami. But it’s not over yet. The ‘Ordeal’ isn’t finished. Well, I’ll borrow your prelude. Let’s see.”
The ordeal wasn’t over? A prelude? A shiver ran down my spine. At the same time, the rain falling from the sky seemed to turn black — a hallucination.
“It begins now. Now, the Allied Nations will reach the twentieth floor. The floor of Tida, “The one who steals the logic of darkness.” My apologies for the impromptuness and haste, but consider these countries the twentieth floor of the labyrinth. Now, shall we begin the ‘Twentieth Ordeal’?”
Palinkron raised his bloodstained sword, showing his intent to fight.
