“When you were in the virtual alternate dimension, you saw the L’Isle-Adam used to seal Zero?” asked Yuuko.
Junko and Yuuko had left the closed amusement park and spoke as they travelled. Asakusa was not too far from the palace to travel by foot, but Junko insisted they find Keisu first.
“Yes. She was a short girl with a long sword on her back, she wore Japanese-style clothes like a Suhara follower, and her hair was tied back.”
Junko explained Keisu’s appearance and Yuuko looked confused.
“Zero knows she has that power, right? So why hasn’t she been caught if she stands out that much? The L’Isle-Adams are monitoring everywhere, aren’t they?”
“Yes, and Zero would have been able to check the old documents to find where Keisu had originally been.”
That was only a conjecture on Junko’s part, but it would not be too far off from the truth.
“Then won’t she have already been caught?”
“No. We know she was originally in the Temple of Megis, but there have not been any reports from there, have there?”
“Well, no…”
“Keisu will not be far from there. If she has the power to seal Zero, she may have the power to hide herself from him.”
“Then where is she?”
Yuuko looked puzzled, but Junko had realized a certain possibility.
“The Temple of Megis had to have been sealed off right away, so there should not be anyone inside.”
“She’s still in there!” shouted Yuuko.
They could not use magic and the public institutions were not running, so the two sisters were forced to head to the city center by foot.
The ground vehicles were not running, so people were walking on the roads. The knights were not present because they had gone to the palace, but fortunately, no one was looting.
“It looks like people are gathering at the palace.”
Strangers called out to each other to inform them of that fact. Not even their handheld devices were receiving the news, so they began walking toward the center of the capital just like Junko and Yuuko.
As they approached the center, the roads grew crowded. When they arrived at the Temple of Megis, the area in front of it was as crowded as a flying train platform during rush hour.
Even so, no one was actually trying to force their way into the temple. They would walk through the vast stone-paved entrance area and reach the large glass door, but it was of course locked.
“What should we do?” asked Yuuko.
“We can circle around back,” answered Junko. “Last time I was here, there was a door with a flimsy-looking lock there.”
Junko’s dangerous-sounding comment proved partly accurate. There was a back gate, but it did not look particularly flimsy.
“That doesn’t look very flimsy…” said Yuuko just as Junko kicked the gate.
With a dull sound, the gate’s supporting pillar bent and the lock came out of its base.
“They do not put very much money into building the temples,” explained Junko.
“I see…”
Yuuko opened the broken gate by hand and it creaked rustily.
That large empty building had a unique atmosphere to it. It felt somehow chilly and their footsteps echoed loudly. The Temple of Megis even had a small shopping mall inside, so they felt very alone inside.
“It might be tough finding someone in here.”
“Yes, you’re right.”
Junko began to think. It would take quite a bit of time to do a thorough search, so she needed to come up with some locations Keisu was likely to be.
“She did not seem very smart, so let’s check up above,” said Junko.
“Up above?”
“Even in the virtual artificial dimension, she descended from the top of a mountain and I doubt she was there from the beginning. She might be the type who always heads upwards. Like smoke.”
“That’s a mean thing to say about someone you barely know.”
“Yes, but something about her makes you take her lightly.”
Junko folded her arms.
They pressed the button to ride the elevator to the top floor. A sign informed them there was a cafeteria that overlooked the city there.
“If she really is stupid, that’s where she’ll be,” said Yuuko as she pointed toward the cafeteria.
“Yes,” agreed Junko.
They got off at the top floor, walked through the comfortably vast space, and made their way to the cafeteria. As they approached, they heard the clattering of dishes.
“Don’t tell me…”
They were in trouble if this was someone dangerous, so they held their breath and peered inside.
Someone was crouched over one of the tables and eating. They were so short that they had to stand in the chair rather than sit. They carried an overly long sword on their back.
“It is safe. This is her,” said Junko.
She stepped out from behind cover and into the cafeteria.
Keisu heard her movement and turned around.
She frowned in confusion when she saw Junko, but clapped her hands together when she recognized her.
“Oh! You are the girl I met recently, aren’t you?”
Keisu had no sense of the danger she could have been in. The table was covered with fried foods. She had clearly fried up a lot of the food stored in the freezer.
“Why are you happily eating here? “
“I can never turn down a korokke. At any rate, it seems the world has changed a lot. I cannot believe there is no one in the temple. I was beginning to get lonely.”
“Are you stupid? Zero was resurrected, so the priests were sent home and put under house arrest. And surely the L’Isle-Adams checked inside here,” said Junko.
Keisu narrowed her eyes belligerently.
“I thought I told you I do not like being called stupid.”
“This is no time for that. I apologize for the wording I used, but Zero has been resurrected. How do we seal him?” asked Junko quickly.
“By Zero, do you mean the demon king?” asked Keisu with a tilt of her head. “I may not be the smartest, but I would not be sitting around eating if the demon kind had been revived.”
“You are aware you are not all that smart? …Anyway, Zero really has been revived.”
“I do not understand why you would claim that. I have a mana link with the demon king you refer to as Zero. If he had revived, I would know,” said Keisu proudly.
“In that case, why have all the L’Isle-Adams been taken over? I thought that was Zero’s power.”
“Oh, that is Zero’s normal power. He has yet to fully revive.”
“What?”
“Once he revives, all humans will be under his direct control. The gods put some of their mana inside people during the ceremony known as baptism, correct? He should be able to use that to control humans just like he controls the L’Isle-Adams.”
“He can do that?”
Keisu had said it so casually, but the idea was so repulsive and terrifying that Junko shuddered. However, Keisu nodded without noticing her reaction.
“He cannot control your mind, of course. But he can make you apathetic, make you do things you do not wish to do, and otherwise control your actions in general. Zero believes that humans require absolute protection, so his ideal society would be one in which humans do absolutely nothing. Zero’s goal is to stop all human activity.”
That knowledge must have been installed in Keisu because she explained it all without hesitation.
“Then why is he only controlling the L’Isle-Adams for now?”
“I do not know. Most likely, someone is controlling Zero and this person is preventing him from doing any more.”
“Then if 2V is defeated…”
Junko felt sweat dripping down her spine.
“Come with us! We need to seal Zero again!” shouted Junko.
“I can never forgive you.”
Fujiko turned a murderous glare toward Issei.
His expression grew serious and he did not smile for once.
“Humans have their beliefs. Not even the black magicians were able to escape religious belief,” he said in a truly dry voice.
“Are you saying the black magicians who wanted to bring about a free society had their own religious belief?”
“Yes. It was the idea that the demon king would save them and bring them that freedom. Pointing that belief towards the gods was a good system. When it comes down to it, humans need a story to believe in, even if it’s completely worthless. Reality is filled with worthless things. In a truly equal society, everyone would have the power of the demon king. And if that happened, we would inevitably arrive at a worthless conclusion: we would all kill each other.”
Issei looked across everyone there.
Keena embraced Akuto’s corpse while Fujiko and Yoshie stood still. Kazuko had already left using transfer magic.
“Then Akuto-sama has no destined mission. He is simply someone with the misfortune to end up with that power.”
“He probably realized that himself. Given that, what he did here was quite admirable. Now, go and give him that power. But if that power can do nothing but destroy the world, who can say if giving it to him is a good thing or not. I suppose that means we can only hope he chooses not to destroy the world. This is a safety valve someone has to hold. The great power is simply what comes with it.”
“Why did you not reveal all this to the public?’ asked Fujiko.
Issei gave a snort.
“Hmph. That would only bring war sooner. He was needed to maintain the story. If he’s the demon king, then he’s the bad guy.”
“But…!” shouted Fujiko, but Yoshie placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Let’s go. We can discuss this once Akuto-kun wakes up. Or rather, he will make his decision then. I may have only watched him, but I like him. At the very least, I don’t want him to die here.”
Hearing that, Fujiko took a deep breath, formed a dignified expression, and turned toward Keena.
“Keena, it is time to go. Lead the way.”
“I’m not going to act like this makes up for what I did, but I’ll transfer you there,” said Issei.
“We will not thank you.”
“That’s fine. Now, where do you need to go?” he asked Keena.
“Roppongi. Other than that, I only know the latitude, longitude, and distance underground. Apparently, there’s an old underground facility there. Is that enough?”
“That’s plenty.”
Issei nodded and began the transfer.
“Also, send me somewhere near the palace,” cut in Yoshie.
“You are not going with us?” asked Fujiko.
“I have to look for Keisu,” she said with a nod. “If she hasn’t been found yet, I bet she’s actually still in the Temple of Megis. I doubt I’ll be captured if I go to the capital now. Oh, and it won’t matter if they can track my location, so I’ll send out the footage from my goggles over the internet. You’ll probably be able to see it on your devices.”
“Understood. Please do.”
Fujiko nodded toward Yoshie and Issei.
And Issei produced a transfer circle.
Hiroshi floated in midair, but it did not seem he would have time for a break. An aerial combat formation was ascending toward him.
“But this is the city.”
Hiroshi looked around. People were gathering even within the park on the palace’s grounds. He would have to shoot down this formation as close to the palace as he could.
—There are twenty of them.
He checked the number of enemies and the amount of energy he had left. He had yet to enter the field, so his charge was at one hundred percent. However, he still had to avoid using the high energy weapons that required transfer time after use.
“High frequency blade.”
Claws made of a special metal extended from his hand. The claws had their cutting power increased by high frequency vibrations, so he did not lose much energy.
“Hh!”
Hiroshi sliced at a nearby one. His suit could fly faster than his opponent could evade, so he easily cut through it.
“Having to think of where they crash makes this difficult.”
Hiroshi watched the sliced wreckage fall, but the enemy formation attacked while his focus was elsewhere. Multiple units flew about with strange trajectories.
“But they’re running on a program!”
Hiroshi used his gaze to input a command in the multi-display inside his visor. He had the suit predict the enemy’s flight pattern and the suit’s voice replied.
“Give me a priority list for attacks. I choose not to use lasers.”
<Understood. Pattern recognized. If you react within 0.5 seconds of instruction, you can escape. If you react within 1 second, you can exterminate them. It is recommended you choose extermination.>
“I choose the latter. Tell me what to do!”
<Please attack the target indicated by the pointer. Target #1 is…>
Hiroshi did as instructed and attacked repeatedly while splendidly flying around. The enemy seemed to be following a pattern in which three units attacked at once. A fleeing opponent or a slow opponent would have found that hard to avoid, but its effectiveness was halved against someone who could attack faster than the formation. The combat unit could not target Hiroshi, so it could not fire its bullets or beams. The formation was too slow to react to his movements. This was a simple case of their computers being inferior to the suit’s computer.
“I can do this! How many flying units are there? Any reinforcements?”
Hiroshi glanced around after shooting down quite a few of them.
And now that he had the composure to do that, he heard the voices around him.
“Way to go!”
“Our hero!”
“Our courageous hero!”
He realized he had never fought before a large crowd before. Just as Lily had said, those voices brought a sense of responsibility bearing down on him.
—So I have to act as a hero.
The responsibility was heavy, but having so many people cheering for him gave him courage more than anything else. That support was reassuring and it meant that many people were united. He decided to call this justice.
—I’m fighting for the people. I carry their desires and fight for them!
Hiroshi felt as if he had come to understand something important.
He cut through the last unit and checked his remaining energy. He had only lost twenty seconds of flight time. That was no problem.
He looked down and saw a giant polyhedron. It was Zero.
—I don’t know how to defeat him, but I can buy some time.
The inside of the polyhedron had been made into a virtual alternate dimension and Zero’s program was maintained inside. That meant Zero had no physical form. But if most of the data making up his program was destroyed, he would lose most of his functionality. Akuto had defeated the god Suhara in that same way.
“Let’s go. I’ll use a plasma ball,” commanded Hiroshi.
That was the suit’s greatest weapon.
Junko and Yuuko watched Hiroshi fight overhead as they struggled through the crowd. They could not move another step forward. They were about to be buried in the sea of people along with Keisu.
“I give up. I cannot move.”
“What are you planning to do at the palace, anyway?” asked Yuuko.
She had a point. Junko could do nothing but watch.
“We still need to get Keisu there.”
“I cannot move either,” said Keisu.
She was completely buried in the crowd. She was even shorter than Junko, so she was currently grabbing at the hem of Junko’s clothes.
“We cannot fly without magic, but what about you?”
“I am not equipped with anything as inelegant as that.”
“You can’t fly?”
“I do not like being mocked.”
“Fine, fine. We can move back a bit and look for another way in.”
The three girls began moving back toward the Temple of Megis.
“How do you seal Zero anyway?” asked Yuuko.
Keisu appeared to think for a bit and then made an unexpected announcement.
“I do not remember.”
Meanwhile, Keena, Fujiko, and Akuto’s corpse appeared in a large unknown space.
Technically, it was not completely unknown. They knew its coordinates and depth underground. However, they had no idea what it had been built for. It contained several pillars which were several meters thick and the ceiling was too high to see. Also, a single coffin-like object sat in front of the three of them.
“We are likely the first people in here for hundreds of years,” said Fujiko as she looked around.
The only light was placed around the coffin. The illuminated portion of the stone floor contained no dust. That showed that humans had never been there regularly. If nothing fibrous floated in the air, dust would not gather.
This location had clearly been made solely for the coffin. Most likely, only someone who knew what it was could find this place. It did not look like a facility built for another purpose that had been abandoned. The lack of an entrance or exit was enough to know that.
“I assume this coffin is what we want,” said Fujiko.
Keena was the only one to hear Peterhausen’s voice. It was not his soul because all that remained was the data within the gods, but some kind of connection could be felt in the fact that it only spoke to Keena.
“Don’t worry. This is it,” said Keena.
She begun struggling to place Akuto in the coffin, but he was too heavy for her.
“Here, give me his head. You take his feet.”
Unable to just watch, Fujiko helped.
“Thanks. There we go.”
Together, they placed Akuto in the coffin.
The coffin reacted. A mana screen appeared nearby and text scrolled by saying it had activated and what work it was currently doing.
“Is there nothing to do but wait?”
“Looks like it,” said Keena.
Fujiko crumbled to a sitting position on the floor.
“Are you okay?” asked Keena.
Fujiko nodded, looked up toward the ceiling, and muttered to herself.
“I cannot help but wonder what I would do if Akuto-sama remains dead… Yet when he died, I controlled myself oddly well even if I did get a bit emotional.”
Keena smiled just a bit.
“I felt the same.”
“I want him to be revived. I truly do. But…”
“But?”
“Will this really work? Once he revives, will he really be the same person? And once he revives, will he find nothing but pain waiting for him?”
Fujiko was not her normal self. Keena walked over to her and placed her hands on her shoulders.
“A-chan will always be the same person. He won’t be anyone else. I’m sure it’s the same for everyone born into this world. He can be revived because he was created, but he will still be the same person. Everything will be fine.”
She had no proof and it unpleasantly pinpointed the fact that Akuto’s ability to be revived made him even more similar to an artificial human, but it still put Fujiko somewhat at ease.
“Yes. I hope everything will be fine. And if Akuto-sama is the same person, he will make the same decisions no matter how many times he is revived.”
“Just like before, he’ll diligently think about what he should do for society,” said Keena with a laugh.
The coffin continued its work, but it gave no sign of how long it would take. Every single second seemed to stretch out forever.
“Will this really work?” asked Fujiko again.
“It will. And if you’re anxious, you can pray.”
Keena’s suggestion sounded ridiculous.
“Pray?” repeated Fujiko in surprise.
“Yes, pray. After all, there’s nothing else we can do,” said Keena innocently.
“That may be so,” said Fujiko with a shake of her head. “But to who? A god? They were already-…”
“There is one…I think. If there isn’t one, nothing but pain awaits for A-chan even after this.”
Fujiko gasped.
“Yes. I suppose belief may be necessary in that way.”
Whether it was the evolution of humanity’s belief in the gods or it was the real origin of the human soul, lacking belief in it would render the demon kings’ lives meaningless.
Keena kneeled next to the coffin and clasped her hands.
Fujiko closed her eyes and prayed to “something”.
The coffin quietly continued its work, but no one there knew what was going to happen.
Yoshie complained when she realized she had not been transferred to the temple.
“Dang it. But maybe it can’t be helped. The temple might be shielded. Now where am I?”
She looked around and realized she was in the familiar lobby of the Temple of Megis.
“That makes things a little easier,” decided Yoshie as she approached a window and looked out.
She saw a sea of people that could not be described as a mere “crowd”.
“Those aren’t just onlookers. The wrath of the people sure is scary.”
Yoshie fidgeted with her goggles and set the footage it recorded to be automatically broadcast online.
“Come to think of it, this is even more convenient if I’m looking for Keisu.”
Just as she was about to turn around, she spotted three people moving in the opposite direction of the crowd. In a crowd like that, someone going against the flow really stood out.
“Fwoh! That’s lucky. Are my habits finally paying off?”
The three moving in the opposite direction were Junko, Yuuko, and Keisu. Yoshie had seen Yuuko in various media, so she recognized all three.
She moved to the temple’s entrance and beckoned them over.
“Hey, over here. I’m glad I found you so quickly!”
But all of them looked confused.
“Who are you?”
“Do you work for the temple?”
“You seem somehow familiar, but I do not recognize you.”
Yoshie remembered she had not used her real form in the virtual alternate dimension.
“It would take a while to explain in detail, so I’ll keep it short: I’m Yoshihiko.”
None of them seemed to know what she was talking about. The idea of using a different face in the virtual alternate dimension may not have been as obvious to someone unused to crime or trickery because Junko was much slower to catch on than Fujiko had been.
“I’ll explain more later, but I’m on Akuto-kun’s side. And it is true that I work for the temple. I helped the priests. Oh, there’s an emergency floating escape boat we can use to reach the temple. I can explain on the way.”
The three still did not seem to get it, but they had grasped that she was not an enemy. She led them to the release lever for the boat. An emergency exit led outside midway through the building and a boat was contained within a case to the side of the exit. It sat six and floated using the repelling force of mana. Pulling a lever released it from its moorings.
“I doubt an enemy would go this far,” said Junko while Yoshie pulled the lever, but Junko still seemed to have her doubts.
“Please believe me. I do regret what I did, but I really am Yoshihiko.”
That comment only seemed to deepen Junko’s caution.
“A-anyway, let’s get on the boat,” said Yoshie as intense light flashed overhead.
Brave Hiroshi had begun battling Zero’s polyhedron.
“Getting too close would be dangerous, but we still need to hurry. And I guess I should bring some kind of weapon.”
Yoshie tossed in a chainsaw meant to cut through the metal moorings for an emergency release. She hopped in after it and grabbed an oar coated with a film that let it stir up mana.
The other three climbed aboard and Yoshie began rowing.
“That’s the guy who defeated the demon king,” she said as she looked up at Brave’s battle.
“That’s right,” said Yuuko without mentioning Hiroshi’s identity. “I’m sure he’ll manage it this time too.”
“If he defeats Zero, that’s fine with me. That’s no problem at all. He looks strong, so maybe he can do it,” said Yoshie hopefully.
<Transferring heat resistant cape. Transferring plasma balls.>
A cape appeared on Hiroshi’s suit and spheres of plasma appeared around it. They were collections of heat that would melt anything that touched them.
Hiroshi accelerated his suit downwards. The instant after passing through the field that prevented any transfers, he had to destroy that polyhedron. This technique would use up his energy and it would take five minutes before he could use the weapon again. He had to finish this in a single blow.
The cape whipped in the wind and the plasma balls began spinning around his body. He looked like a giant drill spinning through the sky.
<Plasma ball fixture field holding. Time from contact to release set at one nanosecond. Anti-flash visor’s visible light penetration rate lowered from 23% to less than 1%. Expanding dimensional fault field. Three seconds until contact with target.>
The suit continued its report.
The glittering polyhedron lay directly in front of Hiroshi. It reflected the plasma and glowed an eerie red, but it quickly grew in Hiroshi’s vision.
“Go!”
Once almost his entire vision was filled with the polyhedron’s reflections, Hiroshi was sure of his victory.
But he was suddenly hit by an intense impact.
He had no idea what had happened, but everyone in the gathered crowd saw it.
An instant before Hiroshi reached it, the polyhedron had moved like a living creature. It had been fixed unmoving in space, but now its entire form bent and flew toward Hiroshi like a bouncing ball.
Plus, it seemed the polyhedron’s mirror-like surfaces were covered by some kind of field. Hiroshi realized it had withstood contact with the super-hot plasma. After he recovered from being knocked away, he righted himself in midair.
<The plasma balls were lost after release. The field they came into contact with is thought to be a dimensional fault field.>
“A dimensional fault field…”
That was supposedly future technology only used by this suit. That was how the suit could survive being so near the explosion of the plasma balls.
—Why? …No, the reason doesn’t matter. I need to prepare my next attack. …It isn’t going to use “that”, is it!?
Hiroshi tried to calm his tense mind so he could think. He ascended away from the polyhedron, but he carefully did so in reverse so as not to turn his back to it.
What Hiroshi referred to as “that" was the dimensional slice. That was another piece of future technology that Yamato Bouichirou had once used. It most likely functioned on the same principle.
And his guess was correct. The polyhedron opened one of its triangular faces outwards and a rainbow-colored beam shot straight up from the opening.
“Kh…!”
Hiroshi evaded it. The space he had been in a moment earlier slid out of place. It was as if the sky itself had been sliced with a utility knife.
“How much energy do I have left?”
Hiroshi checked his remaining energy out of the corner of his eye. He could not use any weapons, but he could open a field to block the transfer of Zero’s attack.
“A bit over four minutes left,” he muttered under his breath.
And once Zero saw Hiroshi could evade the attack, he changed his attack method. The polyhedron opened all of its faces outwards. It changed shape to a surprising extent like an origami figure being transformed with more folds. The polyhedron transformed into what looked like two plates pressed together and began to spin like a flying saucer. It flew toward Hiroshi like that.
“Analyze pattern.”
<Its physical ability is equal to this suit’s. It is recommended you transfer control over to the suit. Voice instructions after analysis will not be fast enough.>
“Give control to the suit,” said Hiroshi.
The suit forcibly moved Hiroshi’s body and carried out unpredictable movements at blinding speed. However, Zero’s flying saucer did the same. Zero also intermittently fired dimensional slices. The two objects moved at speeds no human could keep up with as they flew through the air while space continually slid out of place due to the slices.
—Even if I can avoid it, I can’t attack after four minutes if I don’t have control!
Hiroshi began to panic. Not only could he not attack, but keeping his movements at the limit like this was lowering his energy reserves more quickly then it could be resupplied.
—Should I flee?
Weakness entered his heart.
But then he heard voices from below.
It was a great earthquake-like roar rising into the air.
The crowd was cheering him on.
“Brave! Brave!”
They were calling his name.
—What…!?
Heat filled his chest.
—Not yet! I haven’t hit the limit yet! I can keep at it until I run out of energy!
“Brave! Brave!”
The crowd filling the roads around the palace had to number in the tens of thousands. As far as the eye could see, the area was crammed full of people and they were all cheering on Brave in his predicament in the sky above. Their voices were so loud one had to cover their ears to withstand it. The volume was enough to shake Junko and the others’ bodies as they rode the boat low in the air.
But Junko was staring blankly at Yoshie. Yoshie had explained it several times and Junko had finally realized the truth.
“You are Yoshihiko…”
“I’m sorry. That’s why I didn’t think it was a big deal for you to strip down,” apologized Yoshie while looking up at Brave’s battle.
Yuuko and Keisu were focused on watching the battle as well, but Junko lowered her head.
—Th-then…
When Akuto had said “once we get back to the real world, you should spend the day with her at least once” to Yoshihiko, he had been speaking to Yoshie. And when Junko thought back, she remembered them saying something about having a different appearance from reality.
—I was so worried about something that trivial?
Junko began laughing at the ridiculousness of it.
“Wait. Are you okay?”
Yoshie seemed worried, but she spread her arms to say she was fine.
“There is no problem. …I see. With that in mind, I think we can get along. You act quite differently than you did there, though.”
“Yeah, I ended up like that when I tried to act like a guy. Girls like that apparently. But enough about that. I need to tell you about Akuto-kun.”
Yoshie went on to tell Junko how that journey had ended.
Junko’s expression grew more and more serious as the story progressed.
“So can he be revived?”
“We don’t know yet. We can only wait.”
Yoshie shook her head, but Yuuko pointed up into the sky.
“Everything will be fine if you wait,” she said. “And Brave will finish everything before he gets here.”
Yuuko may have been right. Junko had a feeling Akuto would arrive in a situation like this, but Hiroshi seemed to hold that position for Yuuko. And he was currently being cheered on by almost the entire imperial capital.
“A hero, hm?” muttered Junko.
In that instant, he truly was a hero.
And then the decisive moment arrived.
Light shot up into the sky from below. It was a mana sphere. It flew from the palace and was deflected by the surface of Zero’s flying saucer. Someone who could still use magic was assisting Brave.
“Someone can still use magic?”
“Who is it?”
Yoshie and Junko could only ask those questions, but Brave did not overlook the opening.
—Someone attacked from below?
Hiroshi questioned it for an instant, but it did not matter who it was. All that mattered was that it created an opening.
—How much energy do I have left?
He could attack once with the monomolecular wire.
“Transfer control to me! Wire!” ordered Hiroshi.
At the same time, he shot by the side of Zero’s flying saucer.
The wire he fired from his hand appeared to simply fly gently through the air, but Zero’s flying saucer sliced splendidly down the middle an instant later.
“Did I do it?”
Hiroshi turned around.
He did not have enough energy for another weapon. He could not move at high speed either.
But he did not need to. After being sliced in two, the flying saucer tried to return to the polyhedron but failed. Its triangular parts scattered and fell to the ground.
“I won! It’s over!”
An indescribable feeling of satisfaction filled his body.
He heard the pieces of the polyhedron falling to the palace below, but another noise soon drowned that out.
It was of course the people shouting the name Brave.
“Yes!”
Yuuko let out a cheer and clapped her hands.
“Hoo… So it’s over.”
Junko let out a sigh of relief.
“Well, this resolution is fine too.”
Yoshie stopped rowing the boat. They had arrived at the outer wall of the palace. The crowd had climbed over the wall and entered the palace’s front yard, but the girls could see what was happening in the temple from their position.
Keisu then looked up in the air and then cautiously to either side.
“What is it?” asked Yoshie.
“He isn’t dead,” said Keisu quickly.
“Eh?”
“Zero isn’t dead,” she insisted.
She could likely sense it.
“We know he can’t be completely deactivated, but that isn’t what you mean, is it?” asked Yoshie worriedly.
“I don’t know the details,” answered Keisu with a shake of her head.
But before Yoshie could ask another question, an obvious answer arrived.
“Zero’s rule and ambition have been eliminated,” announced a sudden voice.
It was audible over the praise of Brave, so it could not have been a normal voice. It was being amplified magically and it of course came from the palace.
The person who stepped out on to the palace’s terrace was Kazuko.
The people’s cheers grew. The girl’s image was projected large in the sky so even those in the distance could see her.
“Valiant warrior, I do not know who you are, but you have given us all the courage to fight. It touched me as well. That is why I fired magic on Zero.”
The Kazuko speaking to the crowd was of course 2V.
“Oh, no…”
“It cannot be! She is taking it this far!?”
Yoshie and Junko recognized 2V, so they knew that was who this was.
“Where is the real Kazuko-sama?’ asked Junko.
Yoshie shook her head.
“I don’t know. She’s on the run from Korone who was being controlled by Zero.”
“If Kazuko-sama is killed, 2V is the empress? Is that what she is after?”
“But Kazuko-sama was really powerful. I don’t think she’d be taken out so easily. Is 2V lying now to survive?”
Junko and Yoshie questioned the situation, but no one in the crowd knew of 2V.
“However, the magic all of you used cannot be recovered. The gods most likely died along with Zero. I am announcing now that I shall once more stand at the center of the empire. I swear I shall bring back magic and I shall directly govern as empress until the gods of the temples have been revived! Please help me rebuild our empire!” announced 2V loudly.
“She can’t do that. The imperial constitution says…”
Yoshie began a legitimate argument, but her small voice was drowned out by the overwhelming cries of the crowd.
“Long live Kazuko-sama! Long live Kazuko-sama!”
Their voices piled atop one another and spread out around the temple.
The people were supporting “Kazuko’s” declaration of a dictatorship. They were passionately supporting it.
“Wh-what are they thinking? Until now, the people had believed in the gods and made their own decisions in life,” said Junko blankly.
“It might be specifically because they believed in the gods. They’ve sensed how weak the system that relies on the gods is. At the very least, they now know Zero was the first demon king. In other words, they’ve given up on the priests,” said Yoshie.
“But it was the priests that actually fought back. These people would not have done anything to fight the control over them if Brave had not called out to them.”
“That’s how it works with groups. We’re the same. There have been times when we should’ve said something but didn’t. And we’ve believed in stupid things,” said Yoshie with a nod.
“But once they know the truth…it will all work out, right?” asked Junko with a pale expression.
No one could answer her.
Only the cheering for Kazuko could be heard.
Meanwhile, 2V felt true joy and waves of satisfaction over accomplishing her goal.
“How about that, Zero? This is what people are! I’ve proven that people are insane! They stood up to escape oppression, but now they’re shedding tears of joy and begging me to be their oppressor!” she said quietly to Zero.
“But that will not last long. They will eventually come for your head. And then they will seek a new ruler. That is how I determined humans are insane,” said Zero calmly.
“I agree with you there, but I wanted to bet everything on it and prove it myself. I wanted to laugh at the stupidity of every imperial citizen.”
“Did you devote your life to that because you are one of those stupid citizens?”
“You can think of it that way. Either way, only death awaits me after doing something like this. But I’ve set up some countermeasures to live as long as I can. …Now, let’s end this world while I’m still drunk on joy. Zero, release your power now.”
“This is why I obeyed you. I have been waiting for this.”
“Here it comes!” cried Keisu as her ears and hair twitched like an animal’s ears.
“Here comes what?”
“Zero. I sense Zero awakening.”
Keisu looked around, but there was of course nothing there.
“2V is using magic. She must be causing his awakening,” said Yoshie as she looked toward 2V through her goggles.
She could see the flow of mana with them.
“Then if we defeat 2V…!”
Junko looked up into the sky where Hiroshi was.
“Please!”
Yuuko clasped her hands up toward the sky.
But Hiroshi was slowly descending.
—I’m out of energy… And the field preventing me from transferring more is still active… This was a trap!
Hiroshi clenched his teeth.
He had of course recognized 2V and he knew he had to defeat her.
But…
—Could I kill 2V even if I had the energy?
He was both regretful and thankful that he was out of energy.
Most likely, he would not have been able to do anything. The people were still applauding in their direction. There was no way he could kill their empress before their eyes.
He would be killing Kazuko who the people loved and supported. He did not fear the act itself. What he feared were the angry cries of the people and the never-ending talking behind his back. Even if it was his duty to do so, he would have hesitated.
—This means Zero is still alive. What is going to happen!
“It’s no good. I think he’s out of energy,” said Yuuko as she looked up in the sky.
“What will happen if Zero awakens?” asked Junko again.
“Everyone who has been baptized will have their ability to think taken by that system,” answered Keisu.
“But then it’s all over!” cried Junko.
Ignorant of this, the people continued to give cries of joy. Most likely, those cries would remain unchanged once Zero awakened. 2V would use Zero’s power to have them worship her.
“Keisu, please do something!”
Yoshie shook Keisu, but the small L’Isle-Adam merely tilted her head and could not think of anything.
“Now this empire is forever mine!” cried 2V.
She spoke loudly enough for the people to here.
She received passionate shouts in response.
“Praise this empire which will continue for a millennium!” shouted 2V.
Suddenly, dark clouds arrived.
“Clouds?”
Shadows fell over the crowd. The people looked up into the sky and saw ominous dark clouds hanging over the palace.
“Why are they so isolated?”
“What is going on?”
The crowd began muttering.
Thunder roared. It was loud enough to drown out the people’s voices.
Voices of fear now came from the people.
No rain fell. The clouds produced only repeated lightning and thunder.
“What?”
2V looked up.
They had yet to find Kazuko, but there was no sign of her having entered the palace. The priests had made it inside, but they could not use magic and were having trouble with the combat machines 2V had given permission to kill. That left only one option.
“The demon king.”
He was floating.
His silhouette was visible in the flashes of lightning.
The screaming crowd grew silent.
A male form covered in a dark glow stood in midair. If the light surrounding him had been white and his expression had been filled with kindness, everyone would have thought he was a saint. However, he was the polar opposite of that.
Black glowing wings of light grew from his back.
His body was wrapped in bulging muscles that gave him an ominous appearance.
His face contained a brutal smile and fangs were visible within his mouth.
His eyes glowed a brilliant red.
“Foolish people who wish to obey this empress, if you can regain your lost freedom in obeying, then do so. But if you wish for freedom and for power, then I shall give it to you,” said the demon king.
He spread his arms wide and the people began to mutter amongst themselves once more.
“My magic power…”
“It’s returned…”
“Thank goodness,” said Junko as she looked up in the sky.
“Yeah, I can use mana again.”
Yoshie tried gently wrapping mana around her fingertip and the fingertip did indeed glow.
“I wasn’t talking about our magic,” said Junko as she trembled and rubbed her face.
“I know. He’s back. But he certainly looks different.”
Yoshie grinned bitterly.
Yuuko trembled in fear when she saw Akuto, so Junko placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Don’t worry. He hasn’t changed on the inside. I can tell from what he said. He intends to take it all onto himself.”
“Take it all onto himself?”
“That’s right. He will…end it all,” said Junko.
In that instant, lightning shot down toward the terrace on which 2V stood.
With a tremendous explosion, half the palace terrace was blown away without a trace.
2V’s body fell before everyone’s eyes as a black carbonized mass.
After a few seconds of silence, screams of fear and anger rose from the people who had grasped what had happened. Those screams gradually spread throughout the palace yard.
But the demon king only laughed loudly and spoke.
“You may have defeated Zero, who I sent ahead of me, but he succeeded in killing the gods. Why do you think that is? It was so I could give everyone the power of magic equally. And why did I kill your empress? It was to destroy the current world order. Now, do you wish to serve someone? Or do you wish to live for yourself? The time has come to choose where this world is headed. This is the final war and I am this world’s last demon king.”
“When you were in the virtual alternate dimension, you saw the L’Isle-Adam used to seal Zero?” asked Yuuko.
Junko and Yuuko had left the closed amusement park and spoke as they travelled. Asakusa was not too far from the palace to travel by foot, but Junko insisted they find Keisu first.
“Yes. She was a short girl with a long sword on her back, she wore Japanese-style clothes like a Suhara follower, and her hair was tied back.”
Junko explained Keisu’s appearance and Yuuko looked confused.
“Zero knows she has that power, right? So why hasn’t she been caught if she stands out that much? The L’Isle-Adams are monitoring everywhere, aren’t they?”
“Yes, and Zero would have been able to check the old documents to find where Keisu had originally been.”
That was only a conjecture on Junko’s part, but it would not be too far off from the truth.
“Then won’t she have already been caught?”
“No. We know she was originally in the Temple of Megis, but there have not been any reports from there, have there?”
“Well, no…”
“Keisu will not be far from there. If she has the power to seal Zero, she may have the power to hide herself from him.”
“Then where is she?”
Yuuko looked puzzled, but Junko had realized a certain possibility.
“The Temple of Megis had to have been sealed off right away, so there should not be anyone inside.”
“She’s still in there!” shouted Yuuko.
They could not use magic and the public institutions were not running, so the two sisters were forced to head to the city center by foot.
The ground vehicles were not running, so people were walking on the roads. The knights were not present because they had gone to the palace, but fortunately, no one was looting.
“It looks like people are gathering at the palace.”
Strangers called out to each other to inform them of that fact. Not even their handheld devices were receiving the news, so they began walking toward the center of the capital just like Junko and Yuuko.
As they approached the center, the roads grew crowded. When they arrived at the Temple of Megis, the area in front of it was as crowded as a flying train platform during rush hour.
Even so, no one was actually trying to force their way into the temple. They would walk through the vast stone-paved entrance area and reach the large glass door, but it was of course locked.
“What should we do?” asked Yuuko.
“We can circle around back,” answered Junko. “Last time I was here, there was a door with a flimsy-looking lock there.”
Junko’s dangerous-sounding comment proved partly accurate. There was a back gate, but it did not look particularly flimsy.
“That doesn’t look very flimsy…” said Yuuko just as Junko kicked the gate.
With a dull sound, the gate’s supporting pillar bent and the lock came out of its base.
“They do not put very much money into building the temples,” explained Junko.
“I see…”
Yuuko opened the broken gate by hand and it creaked rustily.
That large empty building had a unique atmosphere to it. It felt somehow chilly and their footsteps echoed loudly. The Temple of Megis even had a small shopping mall inside, so they felt very alone inside.
“It might be tough finding someone in here.”
“Yes, you’re right.”
Junko began to think. It would take quite a bit of time to do a thorough search, so she needed to come up with some locations Keisu was likely to be.
“She did not seem very smart, so let’s check up above,” said Junko.
“Up above?”
“Even in the virtual artificial dimension, she descended from the top of a mountain and I doubt she was there from the beginning. She might be the type who always heads upwards. Like smoke.”
“That’s a mean thing to say about someone you barely know.”
“Yes, but something about her makes you take her lightly.”
Junko folded her arms.
They pressed the button to ride the elevator to the top floor. A sign informed them there was a cafeteria that overlooked the city there.
“If she really is stupid, that’s where she’ll be,” said Yuuko as she pointed toward the cafeteria.
“Yes,” agreed Junko.
They got off at the top floor, walked through the comfortably vast space, and made their way to the cafeteria. As they approached, they heard the clattering of dishes.
“Don’t tell me…”
They were in trouble if this was someone dangerous, so they held their breath and peered inside.
Someone was crouched over one of the tables and eating. They were so short that they had to stand in the chair rather than sit. They carried an overly long sword on their back.
“It is safe. This is her,” said Junko.
She stepped out from behind cover and into the cafeteria.
Keisu heard her movement and turned around.
She frowned in confusion when she saw Junko, but clapped her hands together when she recognized her.
“Oh! You are the girl I met recently, aren’t you?”
Keisu had no sense of the danger she could have been in. The table was covered with fried foods. She had clearly fried up a lot of the food stored in the freezer.
“Why are you happily eating here? “
“I can never turn down a korokke. At any rate, it seems the world has changed a lot. I cannot believe there is no one in the temple. I was beginning to get lonely.”
“Are you stupid? Zero was resurrected, so the priests were sent home and put under house arrest. And surely the L’Isle-Adams checked inside here,” said Junko.
Keisu narrowed her eyes belligerently.
“I thought I told you I do not like being called stupid.”
“This is no time for that. I apologize for the wording I used, but Zero has been resurrected. How do we seal him?” asked Junko quickly.
“By Zero, do you mean the demon king?” asked Keisu with a tilt of her head. “I may not be the smartest, but I would not be sitting around eating if the demon kind had been revived.”
“You are aware you are not all that smart? …Anyway, Zero really has been revived.”
“I do not understand why you would claim that. I have a mana link with the demon king you refer to as Zero. If he had revived, I would know,” said Keisu proudly.
“In that case, why have all the L’Isle-Adams been taken over? I thought that was Zero’s power.”
“Oh, that is Zero’s normal power. He has yet to fully revive.”
“What?”
“Once he revives, all humans will be under his direct control. The gods put some of their mana inside people during the ceremony known as baptism, correct? He should be able to use that to control humans just like he controls the L’Isle-Adams.”
“He can do that?”
Keisu had said it so casually, but the idea was so repulsive and terrifying that Junko shuddered. However, Keisu nodded without noticing her reaction.
“He cannot control your mind, of course. But he can make you apathetic, make you do things you do not wish to do, and otherwise control your actions in general. Zero believes that humans require absolute protection, so his ideal society would be one in which humans do absolutely nothing. Zero’s goal is to stop all human activity.”
That knowledge must have been installed in Keisu because she explained it all without hesitation.
“Then why is he only controlling the L’Isle-Adams for now?”
“I do not know. Most likely, someone is controlling Zero and this person is preventing him from doing any more.”
“Then if 2V is defeated…”
Junko felt sweat dripping down her spine.
“Come with us! We need to seal Zero again!” shouted Junko.
“I can never forgive you.”
Fujiko turned a murderous glare toward Issei.
His expression grew serious and he did not smile for once.
“Humans have their beliefs. Not even the black magicians were able to escape religious belief,” he said in a truly dry voice.
“Are you saying the black magicians who wanted to bring about a free society had their own religious belief?”
“Yes. It was the idea that the demon king would save them and bring them that freedom. Pointing that belief towards the gods was a good system. When it comes down to it, humans need a story to believe in, even if it’s completely worthless. Reality is filled with worthless things. In a truly equal society, everyone would have the power of the demon king. And if that happened, we would inevitably arrive at a worthless conclusion: we would all kill each other.”
Issei looked across everyone there.
Keena embraced Akuto’s corpse while Fujiko and Yoshie stood still. Kazuko had already left using transfer magic.
“Then Akuto-sama has no destined mission. He is simply someone with the misfortune to end up with that power.”
“He probably realized that himself. Given that, what he did here was quite admirable. Now, go and give him that power. But if that power can do nothing but destroy the world, who can say if giving it to him is a good thing or not. I suppose that means we can only hope he chooses not to destroy the world. This is a safety valve someone has to hold. The great power is simply what comes with it.”
“Why did you not reveal all this to the public?’ asked Fujiko.
Issei gave a snort.
“Hmph. That would only bring war sooner. He was needed to maintain the story. If he’s the demon king, then he’s the bad guy.”
“But…!” shouted Fujiko, but Yoshie placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Let’s go. We can discuss this once Akuto-kun wakes up. Or rather, he will make his decision then. I may have only watched him, but I like him. At the very least, I don’t want him to die here.”
Hearing that, Fujiko took a deep breath, formed a dignified expression, and turned toward Keena.
“Keena, it is time to go. Lead the way.”
“I’m not going to act like this makes up for what I did, but I’ll transfer you there,” said Issei.
“We will not thank you.”
“That’s fine. Now, where do you need to go?” he asked Keena.
“Roppongi. Other than that, I only know the latitude, longitude, and distance underground. Apparently, there’s an old underground facility there. Is that enough?”
“That’s plenty.”
Issei nodded and began the transfer.
“Also, send me somewhere near the palace,” cut in Yoshie.
“You are not going with us?” asked Fujiko.
“I have to look for Keisu,” she said with a nod. “If she hasn’t been found yet, I bet she’s actually still in the Temple of Megis. I doubt I’ll be captured if I go to the capital now. Oh, and it won’t matter if they can track my location, so I’ll send out the footage from my goggles over the internet. You’ll probably be able to see it on your devices.”
“Understood. Please do.”
Fujiko nodded toward Yoshie and Issei.
And Issei produced a transfer circle.
Hiroshi floated in midair, but it did not seem he would have time for a break. An aerial combat formation was ascending toward him.
“But this is the city.”
Hiroshi looked around. People were gathering even within the park on the palace’s grounds. He would have to shoot down this formation as close to the palace as he could.
—There are twenty of them.
He checked the number of enemies and the amount of energy he had left. He had yet to enter the field, so his charge was at one hundred percent. However, he still had to avoid using the high energy weapons that required transfer time after use.
“High frequency blade.”
Claws made of a special metal extended from his hand. The claws had their cutting power increased by high frequency vibrations, so he did not lose much energy.
“Hh!”
Hiroshi sliced at a nearby one. His suit could fly faster than his opponent could evade, so he easily cut through it.
“Having to think of where they crash makes this difficult.”
Hiroshi watched the sliced wreckage fall, but the enemy formation attacked while his focus was elsewhere. Multiple units flew about with strange trajectories.
“But they’re running on a program!”
Hiroshi used his gaze to input a command in the multi-display inside his visor. He had the suit predict the enemy’s flight pattern and the suit’s voice replied.
“Give me a priority list for attacks. I choose not to use lasers.”
<Understood. Pattern recognized. If you react within 0.5 seconds of instruction, you can escape. If you react within 1 second, you can exterminate them. It is recommended you choose extermination.>
“I choose the latter. Tell me what to do!”
<Please attack the target indicated by the pointer. Target #1 is…>
Hiroshi did as instructed and attacked repeatedly while splendidly flying around. The enemy seemed to be following a pattern in which three units attacked at once. A fleeing opponent or a slow opponent would have found that hard to avoid, but its effectiveness was halved against someone who could attack faster than the formation. The combat unit could not target Hiroshi, so it could not fire its bullets or beams. The formation was too slow to react to his movements. This was a simple case of their computers being inferior to the suit’s computer.
“I can do this! How many flying units are there? Any reinforcements?”
Hiroshi glanced around after shooting down quite a few of them.
And now that he had the composure to do that, he heard the voices around him.
“Way to go!”
“Our hero!”
“Our courageous hero!”
He realized he had never fought before a large crowd before. Just as Lily had said, those voices brought a sense of responsibility bearing down on him.
—So I have to act as a hero.
The responsibility was heavy, but having so many people cheering for him gave him courage more than anything else. That support was reassuring and it meant that many people were united. He decided to call this justice.
—I’m fighting for the people. I carry their desires and fight for them!
Hiroshi felt as if he had come to understand something important.
He cut through the last unit and checked his remaining energy. He had only lost twenty seconds of flight time. That was no problem.
He looked down and saw a giant polyhedron. It was Zero.
—I don’t know how to defeat him, but I can buy some time.
The inside of the polyhedron had been made into a virtual alternate dimension and Zero’s program was maintained inside. That meant Zero had no physical form. But if most of the data making up his program was destroyed, he would lose most of his functionality. Akuto had defeated the god Suhara in that same way.
“Let’s go. I’ll use a plasma ball,” commanded Hiroshi.
That was the suit’s greatest weapon.
Junko and Yuuko watched Hiroshi fight overhead as they struggled through the crowd. They could not move another step forward. They were about to be buried in the sea of people along with Keisu.
“I give up. I cannot move.”
“What are you planning to do at the palace, anyway?” asked Yuuko.
She had a point. Junko could do nothing but watch.
“We still need to get Keisu there.”
“I cannot move either,” said Keisu.
She was completely buried in the crowd. She was even shorter than Junko, so she was currently grabbing at the hem of Junko’s clothes.
“We cannot fly without magic, but what about you?”
“I am not equipped with anything as inelegant as that.”
“You can’t fly?”
“I do not like being mocked.”
“Fine, fine. We can move back a bit and look for another way in.”
The three girls began moving back toward the Temple of Megis.
“How do you seal Zero anyway?” asked Yuuko.
Keisu appeared to think for a bit and then made an unexpected announcement.
“I do not remember.”
Meanwhile, Keena, Fujiko, and Akuto’s corpse appeared in a large unknown space.
Technically, it was not completely unknown. They knew its coordinates and depth underground. However, they had no idea what it had been built for. It contained several pillars which were several meters thick and the ceiling was too high to see. Also, a single coffin-like object sat in front of the three of them.
“We are likely the first people in here for hundreds of years,” said Fujiko as she looked around.
The only light was placed around the coffin. The illuminated portion of the stone floor contained no dust. That showed that humans had never been there regularly. If nothing fibrous floated in the air, dust would not gather.
This location had clearly been made solely for the coffin. Most likely, only someone who knew what it was could find this place. It did not look like a facility built for another purpose that had been abandoned. The lack of an entrance or exit was enough to know that.
“I assume this coffin is what we want,” said Fujiko.
Keena was the only one to hear Peterhausen’s voice. It was not his soul because all that remained was the data within the gods, but some kind of connection could be felt in the fact that it only spoke to Keena.
“Don’t worry. This is it,” said Keena.
She begun struggling to place Akuto in the coffin, but he was too heavy for her.
“Here, give me his head. You take his feet.”
Unable to just watch, Fujiko helped.
“Thanks. There we go.”
Together, they placed Akuto in the coffin.
The coffin reacted. A mana screen appeared nearby and text scrolled by saying it had activated and what work it was currently doing.
“Is there nothing to do but wait?”
“Looks like it,” said Keena.
Fujiko crumbled to a sitting position on the floor.
“Are you okay?” asked Keena.
Fujiko nodded, looked up toward the ceiling, and muttered to herself.
“I cannot help but wonder what I would do if Akuto-sama remains dead… Yet when he died, I controlled myself oddly well even if I did get a bit emotional.”
Keena smiled just a bit.
“I felt the same.”
“I want him to be revived. I truly do. But…”
“But?”
“Will this really work? Once he revives, will he really be the same person? And once he revives, will he find nothing but pain waiting for him?”
Fujiko was not her normal self. Keena walked over to her and placed her hands on her shoulders.
“A-chan will always be the same person. He won’t be anyone else. I’m sure it’s the same for everyone born into this world. He can be revived because he was created, but he will still be the same person. Everything will be fine.”
She had no proof and it unpleasantly pinpointed the fact that Akuto’s ability to be revived made him even more similar to an artificial human, but it still put Fujiko somewhat at ease.
“Yes. I hope everything will be fine. And if Akuto-sama is the same person, he will make the same decisions no matter how many times he is revived.”
“Just like before, he’ll diligently think about what he should do for society,” said Keena with a laugh.
The coffin continued its work, but it gave no sign of how long it would take. Every single second seemed to stretch out forever.
“Will this really work?” asked Fujiko again.
“It will. And if you’re anxious, you can pray.”
Keena’s suggestion sounded ridiculous.
“Pray?” repeated Fujiko in surprise.
“Yes, pray. After all, there’s nothing else we can do,” said Keena innocently.
“That may be so,” said Fujiko with a shake of her head. “But to who? A god? They were already-…”
“There is one…I think. If there isn’t one, nothing but pain awaits for A-chan even after this.”
Fujiko gasped.
“Yes. I suppose belief may be necessary in that way.”
Whether it was the evolution of humanity’s belief in the gods or it was the real origin of the human soul, lacking belief in it would render the demon kings’ lives meaningless.
Keena kneeled next to the coffin and clasped her hands.
Fujiko closed her eyes and prayed to “something”.
The coffin quietly continued its work, but no one there knew what was going to happen.
Yoshie complained when she realized she had not been transferred to the temple.
“Dang it. But maybe it can’t be helped. The temple might be shielded. Now where am I?”
She looked around and realized she was in the familiar lobby of the Temple of Megis.
“That makes things a little easier,” decided Yoshie as she approached a window and looked out.
She saw a sea of people that could not be described as a mere “crowd”.
“Those aren’t just onlookers. The wrath of the people sure is scary.”
Yoshie fidgeted with her goggles and set the footage it recorded to be automatically broadcast online.
“Come to think of it, this is even more convenient if I’m looking for Keisu.”
Just as she was about to turn around, she spotted three people moving in the opposite direction of the crowd. In a crowd like that, someone going against the flow really stood out.
“Fwoh! That’s lucky. Are my habits finally paying off?”
The three moving in the opposite direction were Junko, Yuuko, and Keisu. Yoshie had seen Yuuko in various media, so she recognized all three.
She moved to the temple’s entrance and beckoned them over.
“Hey, over here. I’m glad I found you so quickly!”
But all of them looked confused.
“Who are you?”
“Do you work for the temple?”
“You seem somehow familiar, but I do not recognize you.”
Yoshie remembered she had not used her real form in the virtual alternate dimension.
“It would take a while to explain in detail, so I’ll keep it short: I’m Yoshihiko.”
None of them seemed to know what she was talking about. The idea of using a different face in the virtual alternate dimension may not have been as obvious to someone unused to crime or trickery because Junko was much slower to catch on than Fujiko had been.
“I’ll explain more later, but I’m on Akuto-kun’s side. And it is true that I work for the temple. I helped the priests. Oh, there’s an emergency floating escape boat we can use to reach the temple. I can explain on the way.”
The three still did not seem to get it, but they had grasped that she was not an enemy. She led them to the release lever for the boat. An emergency exit led outside midway through the building and a boat was contained within a case to the side of the exit. It sat six and floated using the repelling force of mana. Pulling a lever released it from its moorings.
“I doubt an enemy would go this far,” said Junko while Yoshie pulled the lever, but Junko still seemed to have her doubts.
“Please believe me. I do regret what I did, but I really am Yoshihiko.”
That comment only seemed to deepen Junko’s caution.
“A-anyway, let’s get on the boat,” said Yoshie as intense light flashed overhead.
Brave Hiroshi had begun battling Zero’s polyhedron.
“Getting too close would be dangerous, but we still need to hurry. And I guess I should bring some kind of weapon.”
Yoshie tossed in a chainsaw meant to cut through the metal moorings for an emergency release. She hopped in after it and grabbed an oar coated with a film that let it stir up mana.
The other three climbed aboard and Yoshie began rowing.
“That’s the guy who defeated the demon king,” she said as she looked up at Brave’s battle.
“That’s right,” said Yuuko without mentioning Hiroshi’s identity. “I’m sure he’ll manage it this time too.”
“If he defeats Zero, that’s fine with me. That’s no problem at all. He looks strong, so maybe he can do it,” said Yoshie hopefully.
<Transferring heat resistant cape. Transferring plasma balls.>
A cape appeared on Hiroshi’s suit and spheres of plasma appeared around it. They were collections of heat that would melt anything that touched them.
Hiroshi accelerated his suit downwards. The instant after passing through the field that prevented any transfers, he had to destroy that polyhedron. This technique would use up his energy and it would take five minutes before he could use the weapon again. He had to finish this in a single blow.
The cape whipped in the wind and the plasma balls began spinning around his body. He looked like a giant drill spinning through the sky.
<Plasma ball fixture field holding. Time from contact to release set at one nanosecond. Anti-flash visor’s visible light penetration rate lowered from 23% to less than 1%. Expanding dimensional fault field. Three seconds until contact with target.>
The suit continued its report.
The glittering polyhedron lay directly in front of Hiroshi. It reflected the plasma and glowed an eerie red, but it quickly grew in Hiroshi’s vision.
“Go!”
Once almost his entire vision was filled with the polyhedron’s reflections, Hiroshi was sure of his victory.
But he was suddenly hit by an intense impact.
He had no idea what had happened, but everyone in the gathered crowd saw it.
An instant before Hiroshi reached it, the polyhedron had moved like a living creature. It had been fixed unmoving in space, but now its entire form bent and flew toward Hiroshi like a bouncing ball.
Plus, it seemed the polyhedron’s mirror-like surfaces were covered by some kind of field. Hiroshi realized it had withstood contact with the super-hot plasma. After he recovered from being knocked away, he righted himself in midair.
<The plasma balls were lost after release. The field they came into contact with is thought to be a dimensional fault field.>
“A dimensional fault field…”
That was supposedly future technology only used by this suit. That was how the suit could survive being so near the explosion of the plasma balls.
—Why? …No, the reason doesn’t matter. I need to prepare my next attack. …It isn’t going to use “that”, is it!?
Hiroshi tried to calm his tense mind so he could think. He ascended away from the polyhedron, but he carefully did so in reverse so as not to turn his back to it.
What Hiroshi referred to as “that" was the dimensional slice. That was another piece of future technology that Yamato Bouichirou had once used. It most likely functioned on the same principle.
And his guess was correct. The polyhedron opened one of its triangular faces outwards and a rainbow-colored beam shot straight up from the opening.
“Kh…!”
Hiroshi evaded it. The space he had been in a moment earlier slid out of place. It was as if the sky itself had been sliced with a utility knife.
“How much energy do I have left?”
Hiroshi checked his remaining energy out of the corner of his eye. He could not use any weapons, but he could open a field to block the transfer of Zero’s attack.
“A bit over four minutes left,” he muttered under his breath.
And once Zero saw Hiroshi could evade the attack, he changed his attack method. The polyhedron opened all of its faces outwards. It changed shape to a surprising extent like an origami figure being transformed with more folds. The polyhedron transformed into what looked like two plates pressed together and began to spin like a flying saucer. It flew toward Hiroshi like that.
“Analyze pattern.”
<Its physical ability is equal to this suit’s. It is recommended you transfer control over to the suit. Voice instructions after analysis will not be fast enough.>
“Give control to the suit,” said Hiroshi.
The suit forcibly moved Hiroshi’s body and carried out unpredictable movements at blinding speed. However, Zero’s flying saucer did the same. Zero also intermittently fired dimensional slices. The two objects moved at speeds no human could keep up with as they flew through the air while space continually slid out of place due to the slices.
—Even if I can avoid it, I can’t attack after four minutes if I don’t have control!
Hiroshi began to panic. Not only could he not attack, but keeping his movements at the limit like this was lowering his energy reserves more quickly then it could be resupplied.
—Should I flee?
Weakness entered his heart.
But then he heard voices from below.
It was a great earthquake-like roar rising into the air.
The crowd was cheering him on.
“Brave! Brave!”
They were calling his name.
—What…!?
Heat filled his chest.
—Not yet! I haven’t hit the limit yet! I can keep at it until I run out of energy!
“Brave! Brave!”
The crowd filling the roads around the palace had to number in the tens of thousands. As far as the eye could see, the area was crammed full of people and they were all cheering on Brave in his predicament in the sky above. Their voices were so loud one had to cover their ears to withstand it. The volume was enough to shake Junko and the others’ bodies as they rode the boat low in the air.
But Junko was staring blankly at Yoshie. Yoshie had explained it several times and Junko had finally realized the truth.
“You are Yoshihiko…”
“I’m sorry. That’s why I didn’t think it was a big deal for you to strip down,” apologized Yoshie while looking up at Brave’s battle.
Yuuko and Keisu were focused on watching the battle as well, but Junko lowered her head.
—Th-then…
When Akuto had said “once we get back to the real world, you should spend the day with her at least once” to Yoshihiko, he had been speaking to Yoshie. And when Junko thought back, she remembered them saying something about having a different appearance from reality.
—I was so worried about something that trivial?
Junko began laughing at the ridiculousness of it.
“Wait. Are you okay?”
Yoshie seemed worried, but she spread her arms to say she was fine.
“There is no problem. …I see. With that in mind, I think we can get along. You act quite differently than you did there, though.”
“Yeah, I ended up like that when I tried to act like a guy. Girls like that apparently. But enough about that. I need to tell you about Akuto-kun.”
Yoshie went on to tell Junko how that journey had ended.
Junko’s expression grew more and more serious as the story progressed.
“So can he be revived?”
“We don’t know yet. We can only wait.”
Yoshie shook her head, but Yuuko pointed up into the sky.
“Everything will be fine if you wait,” she said. “And Brave will finish everything before he gets here.”
Yuuko may have been right. Junko had a feeling Akuto would arrive in a situation like this, but Hiroshi seemed to hold that position for Yuuko. And he was currently being cheered on by almost the entire imperial capital.
“A hero, hm?” muttered Junko.
In that instant, he truly was a hero.
And then the decisive moment arrived.
Light shot up into the sky from below. It was a mana sphere. It flew from the palace and was deflected by the surface of Zero’s flying saucer. Someone who could still use magic was assisting Brave.
“Someone can still use magic?”
“Who is it?”
Yoshie and Junko could only ask those questions, but Brave did not overlook the opening.
—Someone attacked from below?
Hiroshi questioned it for an instant, but it did not matter who it was. All that mattered was that it created an opening.
—How much energy do I have left?
He could attack once with the monomolecular wire.
“Transfer control to me! Wire!” ordered Hiroshi.
At the same time, he shot by the side of Zero’s flying saucer.
The wire he fired from his hand appeared to simply fly gently through the air, but Zero’s flying saucer sliced splendidly down the middle an instant later.
“Did I do it?”
Hiroshi turned around.
He did not have enough energy for another weapon. He could not move at high speed either.
But he did not need to. After being sliced in two, the flying saucer tried to return to the polyhedron but failed. Its triangular parts scattered and fell to the ground.
“I won! It’s over!”
An indescribable feeling of satisfaction filled his body.
He heard the pieces of the polyhedron falling to the palace below, but another noise soon drowned that out.
It was of course the people shouting the name Brave.
“Yes!”
Yuuko let out a cheer and clapped her hands.
“Hoo… So it’s over.”
Junko let out a sigh of relief.
“Well, this resolution is fine too.”
Yoshie stopped rowing the boat. They had arrived at the outer wall of the palace. The crowd had climbed over the wall and entered the palace’s front yard, but the girls could see what was happening in the temple from their position.
Keisu then looked up in the air and then cautiously to either side.
“What is it?” asked Yoshie.
“He isn’t dead,” said Keisu quickly.
“Eh?”
“Zero isn’t dead,” she insisted.
She could likely sense it.
“We know he can’t be completely deactivated, but that isn’t what you mean, is it?” asked Yoshie worriedly.
“I don’t know the details,” answered Keisu with a shake of her head.
But before Yoshie could ask another question, an obvious answer arrived.
“Zero’s rule and ambition have been eliminated,” announced a sudden voice.
It was audible over the praise of Brave, so it could not have been a normal voice. It was being amplified magically and it of course came from the palace.
The person who stepped out on to the palace’s terrace was Kazuko.
The people’s cheers grew. The girl’s image was projected large in the sky so even those in the distance could see her.
“Valiant warrior, I do not know who you are, but you have given us all the courage to fight. It touched me as well. That is why I fired magic on Zero.”
The Kazuko speaking to the crowd was of course 2V.
“Oh, no…”
“It cannot be! She is taking it this far!?”
Yoshie and Junko recognized 2V, so they knew that was who this was.
“Where is the real Kazuko-sama?’ asked Junko.
Yoshie shook her head.
“I don’t know. She’s on the run from Korone who was being controlled by Zero.”
“If Kazuko-sama is killed, 2V is the empress? Is that what she is after?”
“But Kazuko-sama was really powerful. I don’t think she’d be taken out so easily. Is 2V lying now to survive?”
Junko and Yoshie questioned the situation, but no one in the crowd knew of 2V.
“However, the magic all of you used cannot be recovered. The gods most likely died along with Zero. I am announcing now that I shall once more stand at the center of the empire. I swear I shall bring back magic and I shall directly govern as empress until the gods of the temples have been revived! Please help me rebuild our empire!” announced 2V loudly.
“She can’t do that. The imperial constitution says…”
Yoshie began a legitimate argument, but her small voice was drowned out by the overwhelming cries of the crowd.
“Long live Kazuko-sama! Long live Kazuko-sama!”
Their voices piled atop one another and spread out around the temple.
The people were supporting “Kazuko’s” declaration of a dictatorship. They were passionately supporting it.
“Wh-what are they thinking? Until now, the people had believed in the gods and made their own decisions in life,” said Junko blankly.
“It might be specifically because they believed in the gods. They’ve sensed how weak the system that relies on the gods is. At the very least, they now know Zero was the first demon king. In other words, they’ve given up on the priests,” said Yoshie.
“But it was the priests that actually fought back. These people would not have done anything to fight the control over them if Brave had not called out to them.”
“That’s how it works with groups. We’re the same. There have been times when we should’ve said something but didn’t. And we’ve believed in stupid things,” said Yoshie with a nod.
“But once they know the truth…it will all work out, right?” asked Junko with a pale expression.
No one could answer her.
Only the cheering for Kazuko could be heard.
Meanwhile, 2V felt true joy and waves of satisfaction over accomplishing her goal.
“How about that, Zero? This is what people are! I’ve proven that people are insane! They stood up to escape oppression, but now they’re shedding tears of joy and begging me to be their oppressor!” she said quietly to Zero.
“But that will not last long. They will eventually come for your head. And then they will seek a new ruler. That is how I determined humans are insane,” said Zero calmly.
“I agree with you there, but I wanted to bet everything on it and prove it myself. I wanted to laugh at the stupidity of every imperial citizen.”
“Did you devote your life to that because you are one of those stupid citizens?”
“You can think of it that way. Either way, only death awaits me after doing something like this. But I’ve set up some countermeasures to live as long as I can. …Now, let’s end this world while I’m still drunk on joy. Zero, release your power now.”
“This is why I obeyed you. I have been waiting for this.”
“Here it comes!” cried Keisu as her ears and hair twitched like an animal’s ears.
“Here comes what?”
“Zero. I sense Zero awakening.”
Keisu looked around, but there was of course nothing there.
“2V is using magic. She must be causing his awakening,” said Yoshie as she looked toward 2V through her goggles.
She could see the flow of mana with them.
“Then if we defeat 2V…!”
Junko looked up into the sky where Hiroshi was.
“Please!”
Yuuko clasped her hands up toward the sky.
But Hiroshi was slowly descending.
—I’m out of energy… And the field preventing me from transferring more is still active… This was a trap!
Hiroshi clenched his teeth.
He had of course recognized 2V and he knew he had to defeat her.
But…
—Could I kill 2V even if I had the energy?
He was both regretful and thankful that he was out of energy.
Most likely, he would not have been able to do anything. The people were still applauding in their direction. There was no way he could kill their empress before their eyes.
He would be killing Kazuko who the people loved and supported. He did not fear the act itself. What he feared were the angry cries of the people and the never-ending talking behind his back. Even if it was his duty to do so, he would have hesitated.
—This means Zero is still alive. What is going to happen!
“It’s no good. I think he’s out of energy,” said Yuuko as she looked up in the sky.
“What will happen if Zero awakens?” asked Junko again.
“Everyone who has been baptized will have their ability to think taken by that system,” answered Keisu.
“But then it’s all over!” cried Junko.
Ignorant of this, the people continued to give cries of joy. Most likely, those cries would remain unchanged once Zero awakened. 2V would use Zero’s power to have them worship her.
“Keisu, please do something!”
Yoshie shook Keisu, but the small L’Isle-Adam merely tilted her head and could not think of anything.
“Now this empire is forever mine!” cried 2V.
She spoke loudly enough for the people to here.
She received passionate shouts in response.
“Praise this empire which will continue for a millennium!” shouted 2V.
Suddenly, dark clouds arrived.
“Clouds?”
Shadows fell over the crowd. The people looked up into the sky and saw ominous dark clouds hanging over the palace.
“Why are they so isolated?”
“What is going on?”
The crowd began muttering.
Thunder roared. It was loud enough to drown out the people’s voices.
Voices of fear now came from the people.
No rain fell. The clouds produced only repeated lightning and thunder.
“What?”
2V looked up.
They had yet to find Kazuko, but there was no sign of her having entered the palace. The priests had made it inside, but they could not use magic and were having trouble with the combat machines 2V had given permission to kill. That left only one option.
“The demon king.”
He was floating.
His silhouette was visible in the flashes of lightning.
The screaming crowd grew silent.
A male form covered in a dark glow stood in midair. If the light surrounding him had been white and his expression had been filled with kindness, everyone would have thought he was a saint. However, he was the polar opposite of that.
Black glowing wings of light grew from his back.
His body was wrapped in bulging muscles that gave him an ominous appearance.
His face contained a brutal smile and fangs were visible within his mouth.
His eyes glowed a brilliant red.
“Foolish people who wish to obey this empress, if you can regain your lost freedom in obeying, then do so. But if you wish for freedom and for power, then I shall give it to you,” said the demon king.
He spread his arms wide and the people began to mutter amongst themselves once more.
“My magic power…”
“It’s returned…”
“Thank goodness,” said Junko as she looked up in the sky.
“Yeah, I can use mana again.”
Yoshie tried gently wrapping mana around her fingertip and the fingertip did indeed glow.
“I wasn’t talking about our magic,” said Junko as she trembled and rubbed her face.
“I know. He’s back. But he certainly looks different.”
Yoshie grinned bitterly.
Yuuko trembled in fear when she saw Akuto, so Junko placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Don’t worry. He hasn’t changed on the inside. I can tell from what he said. He intends to take it all onto himself.”
“Take it all onto himself?”
“That’s right. He will…end it all,” said Junko.
In that instant, lightning shot down toward the terrace on which 2V stood.
With a tremendous explosion, half the palace terrace was blown away without a trace.
2V’s body fell before everyone’s eyes as a black carbonized mass.
After a few seconds of silence, screams of fear and anger rose from the people who had grasped what had happened. Those screams gradually spread throughout the palace yard.
But the demon king only laughed loudly and spoke.
“You may have defeated Zero, who I sent ahead of me, but he succeeded in killing the gods. Why do you think that is? It was so I could give everyone the power of magic equally. And why did I kill your empress? It was to destroy the current world order. Now, do you wish to serve someone? Or do you wish to live for yourself? The time has come to choose where this world is headed. This is the final war and I am this world’s last demon king.”
