Chapter 156 – The Hot Furnace Buried At The Bottom
Translator: Jay_Samuel Editor: JackOFallTrades
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「Huh, eh, what, have you finally gone crazy?」
「Huh, you’re actually right, I have gone crazy a long time ago. I just forgot that I am actually crazy」
As soon as I regained my vow, my headache disappeared as if shattered.
And as the turbid flow of memory pervades every parts of my brain cells, it felt as if they were being resuscitated.
The first time Hero Summoning.
The Journey to defeat the demon king in order to return to my original world.
The day I wept because of my incompetence for being unable to save Leticia.
The day I died amidst betrayal and something akin to hatred.
The day I arrived in the world the second time, like a miracle.
And newly acquired Minnalis and Shuria, such extremely rare accomplices.
And that in that world, there still remain some folks that has to be killed.
I rose up from the toppled-over position I was and looked up at the blue sky that looked so transparent.
「The sky, is so blue」
How many times have I fallen to the ground and looked at the sky in this manner I wonder.
However, this blunder is a major blunder that rates among top five even among those in the past.
「Yet another reason Leticia is going to be pissed at me」
Even with so many thoughts swirling through my mind, such words were the first I was able to utter out of my mouth.
I was told I would burst into tears anytime I think of Leticia when I eventually return to my original world just like this, but to think I would completely forget about the other world.
To think I would abandon and leave my revenge unfinished, and live a carefree life while leaving my accomplice girls behind.
To think I would pretend not to see because I’m scared and choose to stay in a state where the memories that were burned in my body and the vows that were burned inside my soul was robbed by something unknown.
「Is that not even worse than trash, what the hell am I doing……」
Grrrr, as I grit my back teeth.
Part of this situation was as a result of my naivety.
Bad habits of my past self.
Pretend not to see what I don’t want to see, or something I don’t want to know, and push it far away.
That’s how I was betrayed in the other world, losing everything.
Even in this world that I finally returned to, I have been hurt by someone and betrayed like this.
And that bastard just told me straight out that after me, he is going to do the same to my beloved sister as well.
「……That must be way too much adrenaline for you to rise up in that state. Well, it’s better than you crying from the pain」
I turned my sight and saw Onishi, who took out a second cigarette in a quite indifferent and nonchalant manner, and then skillfully lit the cigarette again.
「Listen here, you know, umm, what’s the name again, your sister’s friend. Oh yeah, Miyuki-chan. Shit was ugly during that girl’s time. She was crying, screaming, going all wild. At that time too, I was told to capture her alive, and when I tried to tie her up with a rope, she scratched my neck with all her might. At that time, Miyakawa-san made fun of me and asked, 『Were you done in by a woman? 』, and since that time Miyakawa-san seemed to be suspicious of me strangely, and I couldn’t move around carelessly. That was a totally evil woman to me」
「……Aha, aha ha ha ha !! Wow, this guy is a real psychopath. Even in the other world, there aren’t that many that are as badass as this guy」
I felt no maliciousness, hostility, guilt, uplifting, or murderous intent from the words that fell from his mouth.
Even assassins who have been drugged and thought-educated, it’s difficult to find anyone who can hurt someone without feeling emotional completely up to this point.
If it was the me who lost hie memories, apart from looking at someone like Maeno with plain eyes, it is impossible to see through the true nature of a human who is capable of doing this much harm without malice.
「What do you mean by psychopath, that’s so mean. It’s a lie if you say you won’t do it when you’re in such financial distress. I mean, you get tens of millions just for simply grabbing a girl, or for just bringing a corpse you know?」
While Onishi was saying such in a disgruntled manner, there indeed was no strange behavior mixed in.
He really just, simply behaved in a natural manner based on a rational judgment, an attitude that does not think even for a second that he has done anything wrong.
「Aa-h, and here I thought it was a more decent world ……., why is it that scums just always approach around me like this I wonder. Is it because I myself, am a scum afterall I wonder, in whichever world, that saying that friends attract their kind?」
「Tsk, tsk, tsk, You’re missing the point. Money really is important you know? You see that tens of millions, is an amount that earnest hardworking adults like me, take decades to save up. That being said, I wonder maybe it’s too difficult for a student like you to understand?」
He laughed off conceitedly with some cheesy words like he picked it up from somewhere.
I am sure he’s already aware that my countenance has changed, I guess the reason why he still feels confident is because of the crossbow in his hands, he must think that he could just quell my resistance should I try to do anything.
It’s not as if he’s without vigilance as the crossbow is aimed to pierce my joints, and Onishi’s gaze has never deviated from me.
Apparently, psychopaths usually look very decent, was something I read online or somewhere, I got to say that I am convinced.
An average human being can not move like this so spontaneously, in a natural manner.
「Hey more importantly, when you said you finally remembered just now, do you mean the memories of the time you went missing? So, does that mean that you actually did went to another world?」
「Huh, that’s right. I remembered various things I experienced in the other world」
「Eeh! Wow, that’s so cool, please tell me. What kind of place is the other world? Are there really magic and such? My client told me that he/she* wants to use you to make magic available in this world too……」 (TLN: The client’s identity is not yet disclosed)
「There’s not much difference. It is the same as this world. It’s beautiful, but it’s dirty and there are different kinds of people, and I’m sure that the ratio of unhappy people mixed in is rather higher than happy ones. It’s not at all different from this world」
I said such interrupting Onishi who began to talk with such keen interest.
「No no, that’s not what I wanted to hear, you see……」
Onishi just made a grumpy looking face at what I said, and still hadn’t noticed what I had done.
「Like I said, it means that the way people break too, isn’t that much different」
Then he made a dumb looking face.
「Ah? eh, What?」
Thud, as both the crossbow, and his right hand falls to the ground.
And the possibilities of a blank time during a long brief moment.
「There, you see, the way a hand that is slashed falls is the same right」
「GYAAaaAAAaaAAA!?」
The beautiful red and white cross-sections are instantly covered with fresh red blood and fall off, forming a blood pool underneath.
「The same color of red blood that burns into your eyes too is the same」
「Blood, blood AaaaaaAhHHHH!?」
Onishi has become frantic and squeezes his arms, I wonder where his confidence a while ago ran off to.
「I’ll die, I’m going to die!?」
「AHaha, that annoying trash screams too are the same」
That’s right, that’s such a lovely scream. A scream that denotes that an enemy who is trying to take away something important from me is suffering.
However, I on the other hand have no intention of letting you die off easily.
「Rest assured, I won’t let you die just yet」
I pull out the bowgun’s arrow that I have stuck while enduring the pain.
After some resistance a little stronger than usual, 【Verdant Green Crystal Sword】 emerges in my hand without any problems.
「……Thou which conveys from trees, dwells in the leaves that rides the wind, with the blessings of the forest I summon thee Verdant Green Light 『Healing Verdure』」
A pale light covers the wound and the bleeding stops shortly after.
It would look like a thread of spider hanging in front of Onishi’s eyes.
「Th, is that, magic!? Blood, please stop the blood!!」
「Kukuku, Like I thought, in whichever world, people don’t really change that much」
Onishi, whose eye-color changed as expected, I feel a black water filling a cup of fire burning so thunderously inside of me.
「Wh, what are you waiting for!! Didn’t you just say that you won’t let me die! Hurry and heal my wounds too!!」
「Hahahahaha!! …………Don’t get ahead of yourself, what kind of misunderstanding are you having, you bloody dimwit」
「Eek!」
I stood up on my healed feet and in turn looked down at Onishi, who was standing on his knees.
I didn’t even bother trying to control my killing intent no more.
「It seems like you’re not aware so let me tell you. The place you are right now, is already the entrance to the bottom of hell」
「Wha?」
I created 【Yang Sword of Flame Wheel】
I held it in an unadorned grip with no fancy of showing off the blade that looked like flame itself just turned into a blade.
The ability to inject enough magic power to activate, is a flame inside the blade that has the ability to burn everything in an instant.
The flaming sword that I brandished, cut off the tip from the elbow and the cross section burns with high heat.
From the wrist that fell off earlier, the arm also falls to the ground.
「GYAAaaAAaaAAAaaaaaa!?」
「There, this will stop the blood? As long as you don’t lose blood, you won’t die that easily even if I cut off your hands and feet. Hey, don’t faint just yet」
「Hygh!?」
I grabbed Onishi’s hair and pulled it.
「Don’t, DON’T FUCK WITH MEEEEEEEEEEEE!! HEAL ME, you better heal my arm dammittttttt!!」
Onishi, who has gotten so excited, may not even know left from right anymore.
He was sticking out an arm that is no longer there, and getting all angry as if he had forgotten about pain and everything else.
「Do you know what’s going to happen after doing this? I will kill you, I will absolutely kill you!! And then sell your sister and friends after tomenting all of them!!」
「And I keep telling you, to stop misunderstanding me don’t I? And just now, you just asked what I was doing, huh? Are you stupid? Are you dying? Do you want to die? I think you’d like to die right? If that’s the case, you should have said so in a more straightforward manner right?」
「Gi, Gigi ……!?」
I pressed the grabbed head against the ground and rub it as if filing with a rasp on his face.
I continued doing so until all resistance of trying to raise his head stopped completely, and then after, I raised his head.
「Now then, shall I have you answer a few questions, if you tell a lie or hesitate to speak……, well? I guess I need not finish the sentence, you can think for yourself?」
「Eek!?」
Onishi who is covered in bruises now has a slightly more prettier face and looking better with fear manifested all over his face.
「Well, if you walk down memory lane, you’re realize you’re a little sloppy and suspicious……, when there are actually some who don’t even make contact」
「Answer, I’ll answer, puris just stop」
「Good, then, first of all, start by telling me the mastermind of this particular incident」
「It’s Kawakami, a lady reporter who goes by the name of Kawakami Kumiko!! He requested that I……」
「Hmm, I see. As expected huh……」
I am convinced after hearing Onishi utter out that name just like I feared.
In retrospect, for some reason she was able to sniff out my existence that the police are concealing and came to see me at the hospital, or somehow meeting by chance on the road.
And in every one of them, she expressed strange subtle changes in her expressions that, I, who had lost my memories, couldn’t discern. Well, it’s not quite accurate to say I did not notice on the spot, as I made the judgment from the memories I reclaimed, so its credibility wasn’t quite reliable. I was actually thinking more along the line of Maeno-sensei for the most part.
But, he’s just too much of a small fry to be the mastermind.
「So, but……, wait a second, in that case, I guess I have no more use for you?」
Now that I have gotten confirmation that the so-called 『Client』 he wouldn’t shut up about is the same person as who I was anticipating, then there goes the need to ask anything more.
It is much more efficient to light the fire on the mastermind’s ass rather than pressing him for information that may not even be credible when there’s not much time.
Just because I regained my memories, still doesn’t change the fact that, it’s not a good idea to take my eyes off the current Mai.
Onishi yells with a more frightened distorted face, as if he read my thought process.
「Eeek, forg, forgive me, kidding, I was just kidding, so I won’t come near you anymore……」
「……Forgive you? I, to you? You’re kidding right?」
Naturally, I was not going to be kind to my opponents, and I threw such sentiments away right from the beginning.
As I knocked down the kneeling opponent with a kick, flame emerges on the sword once again and I lopped off his ankle.
「Gyaa!? GYAAaAAAaaAaaAAAAAAA!?」
「There’s no way in hell I could forgive you, you crossed that line a long time ago right」
This bastard deceived me.
This bastard hurt my sister’s friend, and probably helped kill that friend.
And above all, he said that he would hurt my sister.
In that case, he is my enemy.
He is an enemy that gets in my way and destroys my world.
A target of torture and murder who shattered my sister’s world.
「EEeEeKkkk!! rEDdddD!?」
「Die, die, die, die, a bastard like is not worthy of salvation」
The sword flashes which moves from side to side like swinging a pendulum kept slashing Onishi’s lower leg, below the knee, above the knee, and thighs into mincemeats.
Lumps of meat with burnt surfaces just kept rolling around.
「Honestly, I would have loved to take my time and deliberate carefully on how to go about killing you, but unfortunately I can not afford to spend anymore time and effort. So, I’ll be generous and kill you in a method I just thought of in a whim」
「Puriss Zdop, Heru, HERUBB……」
「Don’t be silly, are you saying that you don’t want to die after leading all those people to their deaths? Uh. You’ve done so at prices of tens of millions, and assisted in committing the crimes right? If so, then something like this is only fitting as the penalty for failure too right?」
I called forth 【Stone Sword of the Sleeping Dragon】 in the other hand, and placed the concrete floor under its control, and from the iron parts segregated from it, a coffin was created for Onishi who now look like a Bodhidharma doll.
At the bottom of the large cave-in that crumbles away, a silver colored cube of 1-meter square appears.
「So, just die, die regretting, die while suffering even if just a bit, die in despair」
I tossed the lumps of flesh and Onishi’s limbs that rolled down into the bottom of the iron box.
And finally, as I grabbed the collar of Onishi’s immovable body and entered into the caved hole, I laid him inside the box, as if on a ride.
「And now, you’re going to be roasted in this box. I will close the box, and you’ll keep heating underground. Oh, of course it’s a magical fire, so it won’t disappear after just a day. So in the end your whole body will be charred nicely. Well, I haven’t tried it before, so I don’t know at what stage you will die」
「Oh, Oh No no goash, puriss I’m sorry, I apologize, I apologize! 」
「Now then, I wonder what would be the cause of death? Either you die from getting cooked nicely and steamy in high temperature, or you die first from suffocation, Ah, there is also the possibility of dying from shock in fear. Say, which do you think you will die from?」
「No way, no way, no way, NO WAYYYY, SUCH, OH NO, NO WAYYYYYYYY」
「Ahahahahahaha! It’s no use, you made a conscious decision to step into such a world afterall! 」
Laughing, laughing, laughing.
Laughs, laughs, laughs.
The flames within me raise a voice of dark joy.
Laughing at the past, laughing at the future, laughing at everything.
Standing firmly on a hill of dead bodies, and laughing at that which can’t be undone.
Laughs when I take revenge. Laughs at something unacceptable.
Burns my very self in that same fire and encroaches everything around me.
So, I decided to go look right ahead and keep on living.
「So then, Adios, oh that’s right, if God takes a fancy to you, maybe you can start all over again? Ahahahahaha!!」
「Herubu……」
I did not listen to that word right to the end, and instead laughed to the end and kept looking at the hole narrowing and closing as if it were a mouth of a living creature.
And, I burn that countenance of despair into my eyes.
「Ah, with this, I am now a murderer in this world too huh!」
I look down at the box echoing out the muffled voice, and poured magic into the 【Yang Sword of Flame Wheel】.
「――――Oh, are you a servant of the Sun? Then I will do my best and work like a cog-wheel to fuel your flame. I bow my head to this white flame that never goes out. 『White Flame of the Sun God』」
The blade of the 【Yang Sword of Flame Wheel】 swayed lightly, and drops snow-like particles into the hole.
The particles fall to the ground and turn into glowing white flames.
「Goodbye, die alone at the bottom of the dark ground without anyone knowing」
Then I put a lid on the sunken hole along with the burning white flame and a dark-grey cube.
At first glance, it seemed like an ordinary ground with nothing.
But just below this ground, there is a magical fire that does not require oxygen or fuel.
(By the way, this world seems to have a fairly high concentration of magic……. It’s too dense and it seems that the difficulty of magic manipulation increased as a result)
I withdrew the real weapons in both of my hands while having such impression.
For example, this world is in a tightly packed box filled with blocks.
Even if you try to move the block, it’s a world where the blocks cannot be moved because there is not enough space. It will take a fair amount of skill to operate magic in this world.
In other words, it means that I will be able to fight fairly well in this world.
「Now, for the time being, I should hurry up to Mai’s location……」
And thus my phone ringer goes off.
「I don’t know this number…… but the timing is too good, have I perhaps been monitored?」
After a short hesitation, I put the two real swords back inside me and then answered the phone.
「『Is this Ukei-san? Great, he picked up! 』」
Upon answering the phone, I heard an impatient voice from the other side.
I do not have any recollection of the voice, but I realized that the possibility of my thoughts just before I picked up being the case from the sound of it, was me thinking too much.
「『 This is the police investigation unit 1st division. Please calm down and listen』」
I frowned my face involuntarily to the words I heard.
It was too disturbing to begin with.
「『Just now, a barricading incident surrounding a person thought to be a 『Transfer Candidate』 at Fujinomiya High has occurred. They’ve taken the academy’s students hostage and are demanding for Ukei-san』」
「…………Huh?」
The face which was lightly knitted, made a deep wrinkle this time.
From one thing to the other, what the hell is going on?
「『Somehow, it seems that information about you being a 『Returnee』 who survived the disappearance case got leaked……. They’re demanding for your person while hiding behind the hostages. Of course, we have no intention of complying, but for the time being we need you in safe custo……』」
Beep, I hang up and start looking up information on my smartphone to gather information.
I ignored the phone call calling back, and found a site called 『Breaking News Blog』.
It seems to be updating the blog in real time, and the details of the incident is being covered. There’s also a clip of the news just a few minutes old, and I wait for the video to play while I’m stuck in slow loading.
The video started with a glimpse of the entire familiar school at a slightly retracted position.
In the aftermath of the disappearance case, the shutters that were installed to strengthen school security is shown falling off. As shown in the clock in the video, around that time usually, it should be about halfway through the second period timewise.
It’s about when I left the house and met Onishi.
「『 You can see, it has already been over an hour since this incident. This incident that was revealed by the reports of the neighbors and the transmission of a video which is believed to be a crime statement, the following is a part of the video that was transmitted on the internet』」
As the news reporter says thus, the screen changes, and another video starts streaming.
There, in a room like the principal’s office, a fat man sitting on a leather chair was reflected on the screen while wearing a smiley face.
「【Yeah yeah, everyone, how do you do. I am 『Swordsman hero, Alex』 I am a kindhearted hero who saves another world. Hahaha】」
A guy who laughs on the screen.
「【Well, well then, this world is not my world. I, I have been chosen by a holy sword in a different world and I have to go in order to defeat the demon king. To that end, I have to release the sealed power of me and my comrades】」
That said, the viewpoint of the camera shifted towards the man’s supposed comrades, a long-haired skinny man, a huge man wearing glasses, and a few other men were shown.
「【I, I guess I am 『The Destroyer of Mortality, Rosenhardt】」「【I am known as the 『Destroyer of Gatherings Zenzenji Agito』」「…………『The Conqueror of Eternal Darkness Schweinsteiger』】」
Followed by a self-introduction which would be an understatement to say it made my head hurts, and finally the focus eventually returned to the first man.
「【There have been a mistake in the world where we were born. So we were supposed to be summoned to the other world a year ago. However, due to unfair magic interference from the demon king faction, the position of the Summoning circle has been displaced to this school. This is because of the demons who are disguised as students attending this high school! It’s unforgivable right! 】」
Saying so, the self-proclaimed 『Swordsman hero, Alex』 makes a rough voice tone.
Those who are his comrade at the back of the screen raised their voices in favor.
「【So, we are going to kill all the demons who nest in this school! At the cost of these demons’ lives, we will travel to the world where we ought to be! 】」
To the man who talks as if he’s tripping in ecstasy, they raised their voices Oooooh!!
The idiotic proceeding calmed down, and a calm anger begins to rouse again.
「【Just that, there are a lot of ordinary people in this school. However, there is no way for us to distinguish them now in our weakened state. I feel very sad about that. However, the mini-boss that governs the demons is already in this world!! If we defeat him, all the demons should disappear! So everyone in this world, please cooperate with us! It goes by the name of ■■■■ in this world, and if it is defeated, there will be no reason to kill other people apart from the demons!!】」
A mosaic was covering the part of the name, but it’s no brainer, I am pretty sure it’s me.
While feeling agitated, I restrained myself to listen to the rest of the story.
「【We ask of two things from you people. First is the mini-boss of the demons who got into this world under the name of ■■■■, and the other is firearms! After all, when you talk about another world, you can’t write off firearms, Ah, not only those shabby police pistol but also the SDF submachine guns, rifles and ammunition in large quantities! 】」
The man who wears the smiley face that makes me want to club him in the face switched into a serious nasty face and continued talking.
「【But we have to jump to the world where we ought to be as soon as possible. There is not much time. So, today at 15:31, another world standard time at 6D: 342 minutes seconds, we will sterilize the whole school. By that time, please deliver the firearms and■ ■ ■ ■ ■ to us. Then, no innocent human being will have to be caught up in this!!】」
Ah, goddamn, I am really having a headache.
Like I thought, I just didn’t realize it, this world and that world are really not that different at all.
Idiots wriggle out like worms in every world.
「【So then, we hope for the cooperation of you good citizens! 】」
Finally, as the man on the screen said that, the video came to an end, and the camera moved to a reporter who seemed to be on the scene.
But I got to know what I wanted to know for the time being, so I turned off my smartphone and pondered my move. However, I didn’t even have to think about it, I really had to go to Mai immediately to ensure her safety.
「It is a little far……, but because the concentration of magic is high, consumption is less, so it will probably be okay」
I brought forth the 【Sack Sword of Round Squirrel】 and drank MP potion from the inside of the round bag.
I tried to hang the bag on my waist and noticed that there is no place to hang it on my school uniform.
「……Maybe because I recovered my memories, I completely lost touch with my student side」
After all, it just further mean that my existence in the other world is still left behind on the other side.
I returned not as a 『Student』but as an 『Avenger』.
Maybe that’s why, this something more sensitive than intuition has become sharper, and giving off a bad premonition of something creeping up as if tormenting me.
I created 【The Transition Sword of Heaven】in my hand.
「―――I shall become a cloud that transition the sky, become a dream that prowls in the dark, become a wind that sweeps the stars.
――― To the place where I want to be, to that person who I wish to touch.
――― If I could just wish to be there. 『Transition, Gathering of People』」
I recall the Mai’s existence strongly, along with the chant to save magic.
I just intensified my conscious desire to reach Mai’s location, and entrust myself to the feeling of magic power transforming my whole body.
Manipulation of magic was a little difficult, but once I got used to it, the concentration of intense magic was an environment where I could draw out the power of my Spirit Sword more easily than I could imagine.
The sensation of transition in which my whole body becomes fine particles, and each and every one of them slips into a small shadow.
There is no particular reason, none at all, but somehow I don’t particularly like the feeling of the experience.
「……Ah, I hate this」
The feeling of transition was for a brief moment.
I felt the sensation of coming back to myself as if I went through a tunnel.
―――――― An all too familiar scene of corpse with disturbing piece of scattered flesh, blood, and an expression of despair.
「Honestly, there really is no difference between this world and that world. Why am I always ……」
「De, dear brother……?」「Kaito……?」
「MmnnBrrrrrrrrr!! Ughhhhhhh!!」
「It’s already too late by the time I noticed」
There, my whole body was dyed red with the splashed blood.
The tip of the Naginata* and the blade of the sword are swung down at the men that were tied down. (TLN: Japanese Halberd)
There, I saw the figure of my close friend and my sister.