Volume 3 Chapter 1 (1/2)

WARNING: More gore in graphic detail

I was alone

There weren't any footsteps or any laughter I was all alone in a lonely world in which even time seemed to have stopped

”Louie, Eru, where are you?”

My desperate pleas were crushed only by silence

”——I have to calm down”

I pressed down on my forehead with both my hands and pacified myself before I fell into confusion I took three deep breaths

I looked back on everything that had happened until now in order to grasp the situation and to understand why I was all alone in an unfamiliar place

”This isn't japan”

By a twist of fate, I had been brought to Evelier, a world in another died earth The forests had dried up, and the toere like ruins The skies were always so ained the cooperation of two kind Gods and set forth on a journey to restore the people back to norht, and Eru, a sacred beast

If we stopped the destruction of Evelier, then the distortions in ht We were in a temple in Lavann until just earlier”

We were supposed to be able to make it all the way to Jinshan, the capital, in one shot if we used the ritual tools for translocation that were set up at most temples Like a warp

But a problem had arisen at a critical time I couldn't read the spell to activate the circle

”Then, I used the power I got from Silvai and somehow made the translocation work——”

I sed the rest of h my sentence

I was certain that the circle had reacted Louie and Eru should have been translocated here too

But, I had forcefully activated the circle using powers I couldn't fully control without chanting the proper spell Could it be that their landing point skewed a little froht?”

I wanted to believe they were I tis In any case, I had to figure out where I was

I was in a large nificent hall that closely resembled the terand iiven off if it weren't for the dust and cobwebs It was about the size of the gy the guardian God here were lined up along the walls

”I feel like the statues are observing me with this harsh look in their eyes”

I simultaneously felt both a peculiar aardness and fear

Deeper inside were gold-plated wooden pillars with a shallow pattern engraved into theht There was an eht in between thes that were probably some kind of sacred tool placed on each level of the steps There were even exquisitely made candle stands on the that looked like a sacred text

Hanging froeous glitter like a chandelier Shards of dialass were set up around it like petals of a floith the stone at the center Even those were stained by soot and had dulled in color

”The decorations here are eventhe entire wall some kind of spell?”

Or, it could've just been some kind of pattern Next, I looked to the floor

The cold stone floor was covered with a layer of dust When I gently brushed it aiththat looked like the base of another ht square in the middle of it

”This is definitely Jinshan, the capital, right?”

I could clearly see the entirety of the large hall even without any other light source thanks to the light emitted from the circle

”I wonder where Louie and Eru are I hope they're both safe”

No one was here to answer rew And, at the sarew noisier and noisier

”What should I do……?”

The pain I'd felt onin coure out a way to get in contact with Louie”

The only thing I had with e was tied to Eru's back

While it was good that I at least hadain as I found h that itThe air was permeated with the stench of dust and et possessed by the stupid delusion that I'd eventually turn into one of the statues lining the walls if I stood still for long enough

”I shouldn't ht?”

I whispered to myself in order to co

”Louie and Eru ht come find me if I wait here”

But what if they were sent so Jinshan is?”

I mean, they called it the royal capital It had to have been bigger and more prosperous than Lavann

I should have asked Louie for—like Jinshan's population, it's total area, or even its special color

”We should've decided on how to contact each other if ere ever separated, too”

I was filled with only regret I hadn't thought in my wildest dreams that we'd be separated at a tiine it either

”……Or, ?”

He had a tendency to bury his words in his heart from time to time There was an invisible curtain in between us that would hide away the is that we really wanted to say to each other

”Seriously, what am I supposed to do?”

My voice echoed weakly I had to keep e to stand up right now

It really hit home how much Louie and Eru had supportedall alone was for the first ti to this land

I had only been able to stay docile for thirty or forty minutes or so I didn't have a watch, so I couldn't say anything for sure It could've been longer, or it could've been as short as fifteenpowers vanished and the freezing darkness slowly filled the large hall

I stood up while treht

”There should've been candle stands over there”

I ran up to the altar and looked for candles But there wasn't any left on the candle stands

”Oh no……there isn't a lah the sacred tools laid out on the altar, but nothing stood out tolooked so peculiar that I didn't knoas supposed to use it

”I wished I at least had the zippo lighter with me”

I bit down hard onif I didn't keep my jaw clenched

What would happen next? I shi+vered as I found

”——Yeah, I can't I can't do this”

I was scared of the darkness I didn't have the confidence to stay calm for even an hour……no, for even just a few shortand wait near the exit”

I was sure that it would be brighter outside than it was inside Idown my back

I quickly lost my nerves the moment I entered the hallway

”It's pitch black”

There wasn't even a single source of light I couldn't even tell how long it went on for because I couldn't see

”It's like a cave ……I have to walk through this?”

I quivered as a new terror crawled up froe the building hat ti Louie and Eru weren't here, either, and I didn't have any food, or water, or anything——

All that existed was the overwhel about it

”Anyway, I'll go outside for now! I'll decide on what to do next after that”

I steeledthe wall

The re careful, but I still caught my foot on such obstacles and stuht really hurt ht be better to look for a candle first”

It gave ht now and put it to words

I approached one of the rooms that lined the hallalls

Fear crawled upquiet fro inside……?”

The ie of Urs popped into my mind

I pressed down at my mouth with one hand and stifled a scream that threatened to escape my throat I quietly stepped back and moved away

”There still should've been soht?”

Which meant it was so the day inside Even then, they were plenty dangerous I couldn't say that even just proceeding through this hallas safe at all

There was a possibility that a starving beast would juuard down

The divine sword, h normal beasts

Even if it could, there was still the fundamental problem that I wouldn't be able to wield it properly because I didn't even know the basics of swordplay More iet in

”Louie, Eru……I' reverberated through the darkness

Calm down, it's okay, it's okay But my terror and anxiety only increased no matter how many ti even though it was unco down ht?”

I wasn't circling the sa was I right now?

”Ow!!”

I stuain and fell over A small piece of stone had buried itself in ainst it and curled up in pain for a little while

”……I see, so Louie spent so …”

I was reaching my limit Each minute felt like an hour Each hour felt like a day

I hadn't known that being alone was so terrifying Louie had really done well to endure it for so long

”I wanna see Louie”

I finally understood how he felt

Would he die or would he go crazy first? ——It must've felt like a miracle when someone other than himself had appeared before hih such cruel days

It was only natural that he'd been so desperate not to lose what he'd just found

”It hurts so much to only be able to hear your own footsteps”

You didn't want anything, and you didn't need the for you All you needed was someone to stay with you and hold your hand And that would lead to hope for survival

”I'll do ot up and stepped forward again while fuh the darkness

After I had progressed along the wall and had turned left once

I arrived at a dead end after going straight for a while There was a door there It was sturdier than the others

”Is it the exit?”

I remembered to be wary despite my anticipation and carefully cracked the door open Fresh air drafted in froht I enthusiastically pushed the door the rest of the way open

”……A courtyard? It kinda feels like an outdoor ritual cha around……”

The surface of the ground, which looked like a lawn, didn't actually have grass on it Instead, it was blanketed by fine sand that was dark green in color

Several buildings that were connected by stone passageways surrounded this expansive courtyard

Furthers that looked like imperial shrines both inside the courtyard and out They were built in multiple areas, like a ular There weren't many with soft, feminine roofs Still, they were very vibrant in color I was sure they'd be gorgeous once you cleaned thes had different colors to theht?”

Lavann, which worshi+pped the God of wind, used a lot of blue

However, all of the colors were being used here In other words, it ht be that the teoverned over those colors——that there were many different Gods here

”It's like the boss of all temples…… Oh, maybe it's like a symbol of authority?”

It looked like I could make it outside the teeway between the buildings and cut across it

”The Kingdoe Louie has Western features, but s feel more Asian…… It's kinda like japan, how the two cultures are ether like it's only natural”

I shook h I would've been able to talk to Louie if he were here I looked up to clear awayloneliness and started It was alht soon”

The time of despair thatabout it It was impossible for me to endure that darkness on my own

I eway I'd looked to earlier so that I couldell until then But it was et out of the teeways that connected the buildings weren't uniformly made Some were composed of only roofs and pillars while others had walls,them impossible to cut across When I ca and use the proper exit in order to get back outside

Maybe I could've just looked for the passageways that I could cut across, but the te It would've taken up a lot of tieways

”Is this supposed to be a uess”

I was deeply relieved when I finally stepped out of a door that looked like a side entrance of sorts and ainst the outer wall and steadiedI noticed that there was a la the wall I copied what he had done and twisted the screw-like thing at the botto sigh escaped e iet out of the area with the buildings……, but I still have aaround e and vast, and perhaps this hat s were dense with trees, like a forest

Most of the limply froht my eye There was one tree with a lot of vitality that was bustling with plenty of richly-colored leaves

It was proof that this world wasn't co out above the trees in the distance when I looked around

I couldn't tell what kind of facility it was It only looked black to ht soon”

I quivered ——The ti closer

I checked that my sas still atthe lamp

This sas ht the Reims

”But it doesn't matter whether I'm prepared or not”

No matter how much I hated and rejected it, there was no doubt that Reiht since this was the capital Naturally, there'd be a lot e of Urs I took another deep breath and stuck close to the wall

Once again, I felt the shock of being alone anew

”……Should I try shouting for theht hear me and come here if they're close by”

But it was risky too There was a chance that there were starving ht call over soerous if I made needless noise

All I'd be able to do was run if they found me and attacked

”I should probably turn off the laht in the darkness was just as bad as shouting out loud

But, I couldn't go through with it although I knew that I should abandon the lamp ASAP

”It's because I'm a coward”

I covered my face with an arm I was all alone in an unfamiliar place I really didn't think I'd be able to stand it if I didn't have any light on top of that

”What should I do; what can I do right now?”

I worked my brain so hard that it hurt from its core If I had some fireworks or flares for exa plans that involved things I don't currently have on hand

”Then, should I write on the ground? ……But I can't write in the Kingdorew more and more irritated at my pathetic bewilderment I was always like this

What could I do to send a signal to Louie and Eru when I didn't even know if they were nearby or far away?

The outlines of the trees around an to take on the sa made any noise

My fear and panic rew denser I felt like my sanity would be sed up by the darkness too, like the trees and the buildings My thoughts grew shallow and I couldn't come up with a proper plan

”Eru, Louie Where are you……?!”

The tips offuriously I was so scared of Evelier's darkness that rew by the second and made me terribly dizzy

”Please, don't leave h rant hi to leave hi well I wanted to cling to so If someone appeared before ive the I had!

I saw that the frail moon had risen above the forest when I finally put iven up on any and all hope

”Somebody answer me, anybody!”

I slowly sank dohere I stood

In just a little while longer, a darkness so overwhel that it wouldn't matter if my eyes were open or not would cover the area

”How did Louie survive this darkness all by hi hopes had carried hih to tomorrow?

Was there even a shard of hope left within et

I suddenly reet We are your protectors

I blinked The places where I'd received the Gods' blessings had suddenly started to groar to cheer me up”

A small flame, like the lamp in my hand, lit up in et It'll be okay, I won't lose I can still fight”

I had to have hope I needed to have a will as strong as steel that wouldn't give in no matter how miserable the situation was

”I wanna see Louie and Eru again I'll tell all of Evelier about the Gods that were erased I'll turn everyone back human And then, and then…”

It's okay, my heart is still alive I can endure this, I affirmed to myself

”I have to press forward”

My heart hadn't lost the ability to keep wishi+ng yet

”Let's go!”

It happened after ether ers andnoise even though there wasn't any wind

”……What?”

Rustle rustle It was the sound of sorowth underfoot

It wasn't the sound of adragged

I bit down on s I was all alone here Neither Louie, who'd protect me, nor Eru, who's cover for me, were here

I recalled what had happened at the village of Urs I didn't knohere the Reims had appeared from Maybe they crawled up frohttime

My chances of victory weren't zero

”It was still pretty sluggish before it transformed co that tiht And the powers that that Gods gave me”

I approached the source of the noise and drew ht from the lamp reflected dimly off the rusty color of the blade

Rustle, swish It was really close

I listened close to pinpoint where the sound was cos' shadows, the trees' shadows, andit even darker I had to do so before they finished

Then, I suddenly noticed soonally in front of

”Oh, I see…”

Do the Reiht draws closer?

I approached it stealthily I stopped right in front of the creepy shadow

”……That's a really stretched-out ar soft It rudely chewed noisily and sed I heard the sound of flesh being torn apart, too

Ahh, ahh, I heard cries echoing froether in a chorus and melted away

I took in a deep breath Then, I held up the la its own flesh as it dropped out in chunks from its torn-up abdo on its own broken body

The Reim abruptly stopped as I watched and looked back atarht of the laht, shone brightly on the grotesque figure and created an even rip on htly as if it was embarrassed It was rather sth left h with it

It felt crueler for a child to suffer than for an adult to, even if the circumstances remained the same And yet, I couldn't takeoff and chewing on its own body after it lost interest and looked away It smoothly pulled out a bone of its bloody wrist fro on the bone after taking a good look at it A thin line of saliva hung down frorip on my sword

”It's now or never”

It would be difficult to kill once it had co its ”humanity”

I have to kill it quickly! But my limbs were frozen and refused to move even when I told myself to hurry

Hoas I supposed to drown outterrible It was like there were little flies flying aroundaround me no matter how many times I tried to shake them off

”I have to hurry……!”

I placed the laraspeddown the blade

What are you doing; you have to hurry! Look, there are Reims everywhere—there, and over there too

They'll just keep gathering Move!

——Kill!!

I clenchedup ed into the Reih the flesh, and I felt the hard feeling of bone being cut through my sword It was intensely unpleasant I shuddered I wanted to let go!

In my terror I had the delusion thataway And yet, I also thought that I'd suddenly turned into a cold, h!”

A cold andstirred up a whirlpool in roaned

I'd learned from the first time around that I had to cut it off in one fell swoop

I covered ht into the hilt of my sword I looked away for a brief ure head on

Just then, the Reiht abruptly vanished and the tip of round I pitched forward a little, having lost my support I realized that I'd successfully severed the Reim's head

”I did it!”

I looked up I heard so pleasantly Pieces of flesh scattered as the Reian

I stared in a daze as it happened

The scattered chunks of flesh gathered back up into one place and was covered by a translucentspeed Huh……”

I heard a voice It belonged to a ”huh theout the liquid that looked like amniotic fluid in the process Their shoulders heaved like they were gasping and they collapsed

——They turned back

My fingers had tightened their grip on my sword before I'd realized

This made it the second ti with joy like I had been last tirew cautious Did I really succeed? I won't make the same mistake twice, will I?

……Will fate rear its s the moment I let myself be happy?

”Ah, ahh……”

A feeble voice painfully escaped thehts and went to look at how they were doing

They weren't a child, as I'd thought they were, but a slender boy with shapely features

He was about twelve or thirteen His wet charcoal hair clung to his cheeks He coughed painfully a few ti deeply with his delicate shouldersup and down

I moved in front of the boy He looked up when he sensed my presence His dark blue allint of intelligence in his surprised eyes

”How are you——”

I suddenly noticed as I started calling out to him There was a stone the sa out fro, but it wasn't Upon closer inspection, I saw that it was digging into his skin

Was it a divine stone?

”Can you understand ; can you move?”

I came back to my senses and rapidly asked him questions

I felt bad for hiht now Rustle rustle I could clearly hear estion noises

”We have to go somewhere we can hide”

I unfastenedouter robe, and draped it over the dazed boy's shoulders It would be i area back huht completely settled in

——But even still

I would seal away my fear cut down as many Reims as I could for now There was no other way

Besides, I'd be in danger too if I didn't turn as many Reiht even be a knight as skilled with the sword or soeable about the structure of the temple and knew of a safe place

”Stay here!”

I said to the boy, who still didn't see on, and ran over to where another Reiht from the lamp just barely reached me I wasn't too far away fro down and was single- inside its cheeks, with undivided attention Strands of its hair fell out every tiain and moved behind the Reim so that it'd be easier to kill

——It's okay I can kill it

”I' to kill you once I' away at its own body, and swung upoff a Rei that one time at Urs It was et tired because it took a lot of strength to sever through the bone

But I couldn't slack off The Reim would feel pain if it was cut It had a sense of pain just like humans did

If they had to be in pain no matter what, then I at least wanted it to be over quickly

I was sure that this hat inally human, too, but there was also the way how the Reims resisted in so much pain, in so much sorrohen you killed them while they were defenseless

Did Fortune leave a way for the Reims to be resurrected in order to inflict pain on both the people ielded the sword and the people ere killed by it? The question suddenly popped into my mind

It was an incredibly merciless decision, if that was the case

”Does Fortune really hate Evelier that much?”

Or rather, why can't Fortune help but hate Evelier?

I idly thought about Fortune as I watched the second person resurrect with ae existence who had dropped me into this cruel fate Was Fortune a he, or a she? I couldn't tell his gender or even how old he was

I let out a sure from my mind

The second person who'd turned back was a sturdy led and ith bodily fluid

I was bewildered for a ive him, but I quickly decided to prioritize his safety first I didn't have the time to waste just because I was embarrassed

”Go to where that kid is,”

I whispered in the o eyes turned to ed hiht from the lamp hardly reached at me at all I confirmed the Reim's location based on its presence and the sound of its chewing, which was le

My sword arm felt awfully heavy My body felt weird, too I couldn't help but keep getting the chills

”……I have to kill the next one”

I didn't feel anything even though I'd successfully resurrected two people, possibly because I didn't have the time to It was like my body wasn't really mine

”How many ht, all businesslike, as I killed the third Reim I couldn't liftaround my sword almost blindly, like what I had done at Urs

Bodily fluids cah It hit e it on the spot I idly thought that it felt as gross as I'd thought it would be

”Next”

I was careful not to get hit by any bodily fluids when I killed the fourth one I lent the fourth person a shoulder after they were safely resurrected in order to help them to where the boy and the others were

I'dman until I'd actually touched them, because they were tall and slender It was actually a woman Her hair, cut in a short bob, had a stiff atmosphere to it as if she had intentionally cut away any feht, I saw that her hair wasn't completely black, but had a bit of red to it

Shoot, I should've given the robe to her instead I regretted my earlier actions in a corner ofto her It felt like I was lacking soht now

I couldn't even say anything to try to cheer them up in their uneasiness

”I have to kill more”

I looked around and ran to yet another Reih with its resurrection in a mechanical manner What's happened to me——?

”And the fifth”

I could see so on the laht was pretty weak and I could only just barely see about an arm's reach ahead

But I could clearlyup my sword, the fifth Reim turned to me and suddenly raised its arms

I paused inits own eyeballs in its raised hands

So intolike it had nothing to do withdown ist of it now

I couldn't just hit theo—I had to aihtly at an angle

”This is hard……”

And it wasn't as if the Reims stayed still like dolls

The fifth person was a man He was in his thirties I pointed him to where the boy and the others were and turnedheartburn,”

I said to cover up how terrible I felt and killed the sixth Rei bone

Bothdyed by the Reims' bodily fluids It smelled horribly raw I felt faint

——Kill

The seventh was a girl She was a cute girl aroundclear white skin The girl, who had just finished resurrecting, was fresh and clean

But me, on the other hand I had a sword in my hand and was covered in sweat Plus, I was also ait”

The voice echoing in ement to a cold-hearted cohth Reim with heavy footsteps

I fell down heavily onthe way

”Ow……”

I quickly used aze back on the Rei” The bulging skin on its back was breaking open like flower

The next one would probably bedanger with it

This Reiht back the most out of all the Reims so far, maybe because it was close to coh it ushed out of the Rei fast andany better

”Stop it, stop fighting back!”

I desperately swung down my sword even as I started to feel nauseous I felt like I was cruelly persecuting the Reim with my haphazard strikes The Reim's screams were loud

”I'm the one ants to scream……!”

I held the hilt of my sword, which was slippery fro the sword again repeatedly

The eighth person, who o to the boy, but the words got stuck in my throat I couldn't speak because of the saliva that had pooled up in round and clung to it like a cane with both hands while breathing heavily

Nohurts I want to throw up

——Kill Kill

”No I'ht do you have to cry like that?

Voices of reason and eether in my mind It was like I had another personality insidewas so cold I could hardly believe it was mine

I spat out what saliva I couldn't s I really wasn't acting like a girl at all I'd never done anything like this before in japan I fell into a depressing bout of self-loathing for a brief hts Iup?

The stench of the Reims' bodily fluids permeated into even my saliva