(It's okay... it's okay...)
Itsuka Shido prayed silently in his heart. Behind him, in the distance, he could hear the sounds of constant explosions and crashes. He knew that was Tohka and the others fighting Ellen.
They just had to stall her. If it got too dangerous, they had to retreat. Even though he had told them this many tis, he still worried they would risk their lives.
Of course, he knew he didn't have the right to say that.
"If only I were more reliable... but there's no point in saying that now."
He sighed and told himself to focus.
He wasn't strong enough to handle everything alone. Being too brave would just be reckless. In this situation, he had only one choice.
Trust them, and answer their trust in return.
Shido adjusted his mindset instantly. He looked at the black hole—no, the swamp—Nia had created.
Hundreds of monsters were dragging themselves through the black mud. They were already less than a hundred ters from Shido.
"Ratziel."
As Shido spoke, blue and white lightning gathered on his right wrist, forming a dark blue tal bracer.
Suddenly, a familiar feeling of peace rose from his heart, clearing away his fear.
"I'm counting on you."
[Partial deploynt—Raphael.]
With an electronic voice in his head, a soft wind gathered around Shido's feet, lifting him into the air.
Then, Itsuka Shido charged into the army of monsters.
"Sandalphon!"
A beautiful giant sword appeared in his hand. Using the montum from his dash, Shido spun his body, swinging the sword in a wide circle.
A powerful wave of energy blasted out. Along with the mud around him, about ten monsters were crushed into dust.
The attack worked better than he expected. But Shido didn't relax for a second.
He could feel that the monsters, who were just spreading out randomly before, were now all staring at him.
(Even if those "eyes" were just holes poked in them like sticks.)
The ground below was being flooded by black mud again. Shido used Raphael to fly higher to avoid touching it.
"————————————————!!"
The monsters let out a high-pitched scream, like boiling water. They lunged at Shido with a fierce intent to swallow him whole.
"Zadkiel!"
Shido shouted. With the mud below him as the target, a thick layer of ice froze the surface. The freezing cold spread out, turning the monsters into ice statues.
However, only the ones in front were frozen. The ones further away didn't care at all. They smashed their frozen friends and used the pieces as stepping stones to keep moving forward.
They had no sense of "companions." They weren't even alive.
Shido pushed back the approaching monsters with Sandalphon. He didn't stay to fight them. He rode the wind toward the center where Nia was.
It was like flying into a funnel. The deeper he went, the more monsters there were, and the stronger they beca. It got more dangerous with every step.
(It's okay...) Shido thought.
It felt as natural as breathing. Using these Angels was as easy as moving his own arms and legs. Shido was confident he could use them just as well as the original Spirits.
Furthermore, the mories of Yutsuki training him in the virtual world in the previous tiline acted as experience. It allowed him to react calmly and accurately to the monsters' attacks.
The monsters were a threat, but he could handle them.
"..."
Seemingly noticing the "intruder" in her territory, Nia silently placed her hand on a page of Beelzebub. Part of her Astral Dress turned into a quill pen.
She quickly wrote a few lines in the book.
"—!?"
In an instant, Shido was frozen in mid-air, unable to move.
It felt different from being trapped by a Wizard's Territory. He couldn't even make a sound. His body ignored his brain and refused to move.
(Is this Nia's Future Entry?!) Shido was shocked.
He knew Nia could write the future and make it happen. But now, she was writing much faster than before. His body was locked down the mont he realized what was happening.
The monsters didn't waste the chance. they lunged at Shido.
Arms made of black mud bit into him like the teeth of a wild animal. Sharp fangs pierced his skin and sank into his flesh and bone.
Shido's face twisted in pain.
It hurts!
That was all he could feel.
It wasn't just the pain of a physical wound. It was burns, frostbite, broken bones, and a feeling of complete exhaustion. His body felt like a toy being torn apart. These phantom pains tortured his mind.
Shido realized that all this pain belonged to Nia.
It was as if the pain was being carved into her bones and soul with a chisel. Even when the wounds healed, the mories of the pain didn't go away. They tortured her rcilessly.
A normal person would have given up on life long ago.
"You've got to be kidding ..."
A surge of anger rose in Shido's heart. He gritted his teeth.
Suddenly, a massive burst of Spirit power exploded from Shido's body, blowing away all the monsters around him.
Just like Miku's voice that controlled hearts, Future Entry could write the future, but if the target had power equal to or greater than the user, it wouldn't work perfectly.
However, even though he could move again, Shido was still facing an endless army of monsters.
But so what?
Anyone else might have been worn down and defeated by these numbers, but not Itsuka Shido.
He was human, but he held the power of nine Spirits within him.
"Nia!"
Shido shouted her na with everything he had.
"The novels and manga you care about aren't finished yet, right?! You just made up with Takajo-san, right? Think about what you'll talk about when you go out together in the future! Have you read your fan mail? Have you drawn the manga your editor asked for? Or just think about what you want for breakfast tomorrow!"
"As long as you are alive, there are endless possibilities. If you die, everything is gone."
"I will never accept that death is the only escape! Since you asked us for help, I won't let you say such discouraging things. So—"
Shido stared at the ugly monsters.
If these monsters represented her pain and the reality she wanted to escape, then he would take all that pain himself and defeat them all.
—So!
"THINK OF A REASON TO——LIVE!!!!"
User Comments
0 comments from readers