Volume 9 Chapter 66 Beyond The Door
The moment Tsukiko slipped through the door, the world lost its color. The path that made her sense of self ambiguous was unimaginable, no matter how far it continued.
However, that fear vanished like a dream the moment her feet touched the ground, leaving no lingering sense of unease.
The place was a vast, stone-paved area. The pillars that had collapsed were scattered everywhere, and the walls that seemed to have existed were crumbling. And above, the sky and the darkness beyond the walls stretched out. The black space, which swayed like a veil of light, looked like the universe.
At the same time, she sensed the presence of people to her left and right.
Now that she had awakened to magic, she knew who was standing there without even looking.
Nest Anguis.
Irial.
Eris Philin Centraris.
Kougarou Efitona.
There were 4 of them.
No matter how many times she counted, no matter how far she extended her magic power detection, there were 4.
Deep down, an angel's sweet voice whispered, "They just haven't arrived yet."
But she knew that couldn't be true.
If it were the Tsukiko of the past, she would have looked left and right, counted the absent ones, and fallen to her knees in tears.
But that couldn't happen.
She couldn't do that.
It was forbidden, perhaps.
Because in front of Tsukiko's gaze, there was an enemy.
Wearing a black mantle that seemed to devour everything it touched, with hair flowing down like an aurora.
The face was androgynous, looking neither young nor old.
The eyes were cast down in sorrow.
"――."
She sensed danger in that beauty.
She judged that this person was not of this world.
This was an enemy.
She instinctively felt that this was the master of the New World (Try Order) that they had to fight.
Her magic power surged through her body, and her consciousness became a spear.
However, before she could charge, there were those who spoke.
"――Julius!!"
"Oh, Demon King!!"
It felt like an explosion had occurred on both sides.
With that momentum, Eris and Kougarou's magic power swelled up.
Julius. The Demon King.
Those words brought back memories of the story Yuusuke told.
In the world of Asteris, Yuusuke fought against the demon king, Julius Roderest.
Are they saying that's who he is? But he should have been killed by Yuusuke already, so why is he here?
Various doubts crossed her mind, but Tsukiko ignored them.
No matter who the opponent is, what she need to do remains the same.
Julius raised his gaze, which had been cast down, and a faint smile floated on his lips.
"Ah, Eris Philin Centraris, Kougarou-Effitona. And nice to meet you for the first time, Irial, Nest Anguis."
His tone was as calm as if he were chatting with an old friend.
Despite being crushed by the overwhelming pressure of their magic power, he stood lightly, as if taking a stroll in the sun.
"I thought Eris and Kougarou would somehow manage to get past the judgment, but I never thought that not a single Grimoire would come. It's no longer a position where I can offer prayers, but they've managed to buy some time."
"I don't care about your sentimental nonsense."
Tsukiko's rapier flashed sharply, pointing at Julius.
"Where is Yuusuke?"
That question belonged to everyone.
Yuusuke should have arrived here before them, without a doubt.
However, no matter how far she spread her magic power detection, she couldn't find his magic power.
"Ah――."
Julius looked at Tsukiko and the others with a puzzled expression.
His eyes seemed to be asking, "Why didn't you notice?"
"Yuusuke is here."
Here.
As she thought about what that meant, she looked down at Julius's feet with a sense of disbelief.
Someone was lying there.
Her blood ran cold, and her body temperature dropped rapidly.
Why didn't she notice?
Why didn't anyone notice?
He had been there from the start.
The moment Tsukiko and the others entered this space, he was lying at Julius' feet.
However, Julius's overwhelming presence had stolen everyone's attention.
No, that was an illusion.
Yuusuke, who had fallen, didn't have any magic power.
Not even a hint of that immense magic power could be felt.
All living beings possess magic power.
No matter how skillfully one hides their magic power, a faint magic power is always emitted as long as they're alive.
But there was none.
The moment they realized that, Tsukiko, Eris, and Kougarou all took the same action.
"""―――!!"""
The 3 of them stepped forward in unison, brandishing their spears, swords, and fists before Julius.
It wasn't just one attack.
Their attacks swirled around each other like ocean currents with different temperatures, covering each other's weaknesses.
But...
――There was no response!?
Tsukiko and the others stopped attacking and looked around, only to see Julius standing there, completely unscathed.
Without a single wound, his body seemed as if it hadn't moved at all, and he was looking at them.
"Yuusuke came here a little before you guys. He was strong, much stronger than before."
"Yuusuke!!"
Ignoring Julius's words, Tsukiko looked at Yuusuke.
The one lying there was undoubtedly Yamamoto Yuusuke. He wasn't wearing armor, and his eyes were closed in his natural state.
Blood was flowing from his entire body, with many parts torn, broken, and crushed.
Worst of all, his chest wasn't moving.
He wasn't breathing.
"――!?"
Tsukiko immediately placed her right hand on Yuusuke's chest and sent an electric current through it, forcibly stimulating his heart and blood flow using external electricity.
At the same time, she pressed her left hand against his head and brought her mouth to his lips.
She filled his chest with air, making it swell.
Cardiac massage and artificial respiration. These were the only methods Tsukiko, who didn't have any magic-like recovery techniques, could use.
Just then, golden honey began to fall from above.
Eris's recovery magic.
Even so, Yuusuke didn't open his eyes. If Tsukiko stopped the treatment, his body would really become a lifeless corpse in that instant.
Or, perhaps already...
"Tsukiko-san, I'll leave Yuusuke to you."
"Sorry, but that kind of magic magic is out of my expertise."
Tsukiko, who continued to treat Yuusuke while crying, received a voice from above.
The 2 heroes who fought against the demon king.
Eris and Kougarou only glanced at Yuusuke for a moment before immediately looking at Julius.
They judged that was what they should do now.
"I'll take his place and smash his head in."
"I agree. If we impale him and bury him in the forest, he won't be able to come back."
There's no way they wouldn't be shaken.
The fact that Julius Roderest, the master of 'Try Order', was supposed to be dead.
The fact that Yuusuke had fallen.
However, they swallowed all of that and prepared their magic.
"You guys don't want to know why this battle started?"
"Do you want to talk about it? Not interested."
"There may be hundreds or thousands of reasons, but that's not a reason for this sword to stop."
"That's right, impressive."
Julius said, raising both his hands slightly.
"Then, you'll follow the same fate as Yuusuke."
――The world tensed up.
Just by raising both his hands, not only this place but the entire vast space itself became rigid.
It wasn't a display of magic power or dominating aura.
It was an unsettling, unexplainable chill, like seeing the sky before a storm or the sea before a tsunami.
Tsukiko trembled, wondering what they were up against, and Eris and Kougarou almost simultaneously said:
"Yuusuke's fate..."
"You can't decide that on your own!"
The 'Everlasting Garden'.
'Acceleration'.
Under the dark sky's watch. The decayed demon king and the 2 heroes clashed intensely.
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