Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? - Volume 11 - Chapter 7

Love Is All

Monday, April 12th

Sanae was casually walking down the road by the riverside. Since she had only just been released from the hospital, walking home down that path from school in order to build her stamina had become a part of her daily routine. With the sun starting to set, there were plenty of other people out on the street also on their way home. Sanae indulged in her thoughts as she observed the hazy glows around them.

What was that about, I wonder...?

She was thinking about the haze she could see with the power of her mind. Because the haze would change depending on a person’s emotions and intentions, Sanae had become somewhat able to read a person’s feelings. It was on her mind because she’d seen something strange with it today in class.

Class 2-A, the class Sanae had transferred into, had warmly welcomed her for the most part. The students were all nice to Sanae, but there was a handful of people who seemed to regard her quite differently from the rest of the class.

The first one she’d noticed was Koutarou. Since the atmosphere around him was different from the others, Sanae had first suspected that he might have a crush on her. But after observing the class for a little longer, she’d realized that there were others who held similar feelings towards her. The mature Kurano Kiriha, the older-sisterly Kasagi Shizuka, the easygoing Nijino Yurika, and the two international transfer students, Theia and Ruth. Adding in Koutarou, there were six people in total whose auras were different around her.

Why do they have such feelings for me too...?

And upon further observation, she realized that these six people seemed to have similar feelings for each other. It was apparently just the way they regarded those in their circle of friends, but if that was true, she couldn’t understand why that would include her. She’d never met any of them before coming to school, and she couldn’t think of a reason why they would consider her part of their group without even really getting to know her.

It was a mystery to her, but so was the exact emotion their hazes were projecting. It wasn’t something she’d seen in other people walking around the city. It was similar to the kind of affection shared by lovers, married couples, families, and teammates, but it was also distinctly different from each of those. Perhaps it was something like all of those put together, but whatever it was, Sanae hadn’t encountered it before.

But... I don’t hate it...

Sanae didn’t know what it was and she didn’t know why it was happening, but she was happy that such an emotion was directed towards her. And she felt it the strongest when she was staring at Koutarou’s back. It was during those moments that she returned the emotion they were feeling, even though Sanae wasn’t aware of it herself yet. And so she continued to watch the people around her even now in search of an answer.

“...Huh?”

Looking around, however, Sanae saw something unusual. The road she was travelling passed under a steel bridge, but she could see a haze swirling in the darkness ahead.

“What is that, I wonder?”

All she could see was the haze. There was no one nearby. She’d seen something similar a few times before, but didn’t know what was causing it.

“I can see it awfully clearly today, too...”

Something was different about this odd phenomenon today. When she’d seen it before, it was much more vague and dispersed, like a fine mist. But now it seemed to be taking shape in front of her, and she could clearly read its emotions. Hate, envy, resentment, anger, grief, and despair. All kinds of negativity swirled within that haze. And the moment Sanae sensed it, she instinctively stepped back.

What is that dark thing?!

Just as Sanae was screaming on the inside, the dark haze looked at Sanae. It wasn’t like it had eyes, but Sanae could feel it watching her.

“I’ve been waiting for youuuuu!”

A gleeful shout drenched in dark desires echoed throughout the area under the bridge. When it reached Sanae’s ears, a strong sense of fear made her cower. Strangely enough, however, no one else nearby was reacting. It was like only Sanae had heard it.

I have to run! That thing has to be something bad!

Sanae quickly made up her mind, but her brain worked much faster than her weakened body. Though her legs felt heavy and sluggish underneath her, she ran away as fast as they would carry her.

After finishing up his club activities, Koutarou was headed home just about the time the sun was setting. He’d seen Harumi off on the bus she took home, and he was now walking down the street alone. Because Kisshouharukaze High School was located partway up the mountain, the walk home was mostly downhill. Casting a long shadow as he moved along, Koutarou descended the hill at a brisk pace. His commute home from school was really the only time he had to himself these days.

In the morning, he left Corona House and walked to school with Shizuka and Kenji. They often ran into Kiriha and Theia along the way. Yurika would often oversleep, but she always showed up to class eventually. After spending the school day together, they would all split up after class for their various club activities and other business. They then met up again in room 106 later for tea before dinner, and after they ate, they usually hung out together until it was time for bed.

So even though it was short, his trek home from school was Koutarou’s only real personal time. It wasn’t like he did anything special because he wasn’t with the invader girls, and it wasn’t like he was especially happy to be without them either. Really, it was just a chance for him to unwind and clear his head.

“...My stiff shoulders really did get better...”

Koutarou mumbled to himself as he swung his arms around. Not long ago, his stiff shoulders had really been bothering him. It was ultimately because Sanae was possessing him, but now that she’d been reunited with her body, that wasn’t a problem anymore. His shoulders had started to recover, and he could hardly feel any stiffness unless he swung his arms around like he was.

“I wonder what’s better... having my stiff shoulders heal like this, or having Sanae massage them every day... But Sanae was able to see her parents again this way, so the answer is only obvious, I guess...”

When his stiff shoulders were at their worst, Sanae had given him daily massages. But now that she wasn’t around, his shoulders had to recover without her help. The thought made Koutarou feel a little lonely, but there wasn’t anything that could be done about it. He believed he’d made the right choice and that he should be happy for Sanae. She was with her family now.

When he thought about it rationally, Sanae as he’d known her was a ghost, and the only ending for a ghost was passing on. If she had been a normal ghost, she would have passed on the moment she was reunited with her parents. Compared to that, the current outcome was much better. She was now living with them like she should be, and Koutarou knew that she was doing fine.

All that was left was for Koutarou and the others to make good on what they’d promised Sanae while they waited for her memories to return. But being honest with himself, Koutarou felt like that was wishing for too much. They’d managed to give new life to a girl who had once been a ghost. That alone was an unbelievable miracle, and Koutarou didn’t think they’d be lucky enough to get a second one.

“Sanae is living her life happily now, and that’s good enough...”

Koutarou’s true intentions passed through his lips as a mumbling sigh. The only time he could really speak his mind in such a way was when he was alone like this. He would never say that in front of the girls, who were all hopefully awaiting Sanae’s return.

But Koutarou was different, and the girls had guessed his feelings exactly. He wasn’t hoping for Sanae to return to the way she used to be. He felt like it would be asking for too much. That’s what he told himself. But the truth was that his mother’s death had traumatized him, leaving him in a terrible state of resignation when it came to his relationships with other people.

“We’ll get used to it eventually. Both me and everyone else...”

Scared of losing the people he relied on, Koutarou actively tried not to rely on anyone. That way, he would never get hurt again. But he couldn’t just let the people around him be unhappy. He couldn’t repeat the same mistake again.

It was a strange place to be in emotionally. On one hand, Koutarou was strong. He had admirable fortitude in his strict self-reliance. But it was also a major flaw. That was what the invaders meant when they talked about how Koutarou didn’t need anyone. It was a serious problem because he was intentionally cutting himself off from people—even the people who cared about him most. That was just how profoundly his mother’s death had affected him, and it wasn’t a problem that would be easily solved.

“Hmm?”

Once Koutarou reached the bottom of the small mountain his school was situated on, a lone girl passed by him at the intersection.

“Was that... Sanae?”

She was slightly more mature than the Sanae that Koutarou knew, but she still had a youthful energy to her. Since Sanae had just been on his mind, he recognized her in an instant.

“Did something happen?”

Sanae was heading in the opposite direction of where she lived. On top of that, she was running as fast as she could even though she was in the middle of rehabilitation. Even weirder still, she kept looking behind her as she ran. Those three things taken together made Koutarou suspect something might be wrong.

“Here we go!”

Koutarou quickly ran after Sanae. She had disappeared around a corner, but it wouldn’t be hard for him to catch up to her at his full speed.

Sanae was running out of breath and her heart was beating faster and faster. She had only come a short way, but even running just that much was exhausting in her condition. She couldn’t catch her breath no matter how many times she inhaled, and her heart was frantically trying to pump enough oxygen to through her body. Beads of sweat ran down her forehead and her mouth hung wide open as she gasped for air. It was quite clear just looking at her that she would collapse any minute now. That could be avoided if she’d just stop running, but that wasn’t an option right now.

“I-It’s still chasing me?!”

Looking behind her, Sanae’s expression twisted up. It wasn’t from the pain and exhaustion of running, but rather from the fear of what she saw over her shoulder.

“Wait! I just want to get along with you!”

Chasing Sanae in the shadows of the setting sun was something she didn’t understand. It seemed unable to leave the darkness, but Sanae continued to run as fast as she could to try and shake it.

“I have... to get away! Th-The sun... will set soon!”

Whatever it was that was following her wouldn’t step into the light, so Sanae had thought she could get away, but the sun was setting quickly now. In mere minutes, she’d be completely surrounded by darkness. That would put Sanae right within that thing’s reach. Sanae didn’t know what would happen if it caught her, but her instincts were screaming danger. That’s why she’d tried to escape while it was still light out.

“You only just got better. You shouldn’t push your body like that. You should take better care of yourself. That’s my body too now, you know.”

“It’s getting closer! What should I do?!”

Sanae started to panic. She had only been able to stay away from it because it was keeping to the shadows. But now that the sun was dipping low, the shadows grew longer and bigger. It could move more freely this way, and it was quickly gaining on her. It was only ten meters or so behind her now. Sanae was trying to escape before darkness fell, but the chances of that seemed low now.

“And it looks like... it’s getting bigger and bigger!”

Sanae’s panic only worsened when she realized the presence that was chasing her was getting larger. She thought at first it only felt that way because it was getting closer, but it was close enough now that she could tell that wasn’t the case. If her sense of it was correct, it had already grown several times larger than when she’d first encountered it.

“Heh heh, just a little more... Just a little closer!”

“At this rate... I’ll be captured! B-But... what can I do?!”

Sanae was helpless. She knew she would be in trouble if that thing caught her, but there was no way of escaping it. This was her first encounter with a paranormal phenomenon, and she had no idea what to do.

“My... lungs...”

Sanae gasped and coughed as she desperately continued running through the residential area. The sun started to fall below the horizon, and she was finally hitting her limit. She had a hard time breathing, she was feeling dizzy, and her exhausted legs were barely responding. She eventually tripped over herself, and couldn’t regain her balance.

“Kyaaaaah!”

She crashed into the asphalt with nothing to break her fall. She felt the pain all over her body. It cleared her mind, but it nearly paralyzed her.

“Done already, little kitten?!”

That was when the black presence closed in on her. Its body had indeed grown larger like Sanae had feared. And with the light of the sun quickly fading, it came charging towards her at full speed.

“I’ve waited for this day for so long, little kitten! This time, you will become one with me! You will become one with us!”

The presence spread out in front of Sanae, who was unable to even get up, and took the shape of a malformed giant. It was vaguely humanoid, but with no thought put into its design. It looked like pieces and limbs had been randomly assembled around the body. Only the face alone was distinctly still human, but seeing a human face on such a grotesque form was bizarre. Even creepier still was its expression. The sunken eyes were gleaming with all kinds of negative emotions, and its twisted mouth seemed to be made of pure malice.

Looking at the thing in front of her, only one word came to Sanae’s mind, and rightfully so.

“M-Monster!”

There was no word more appropriate to describe the disfigured giant.

“How rude! If I were a monster, what would that make you with that ridiculous amount of spiritual energy?!”

The monster reached out towards Sanae with an arm several meters long. Still unable to get up, Sanae had no way of evading the arm. No, it probably would have been impossible even if she were standing. The arm was simply too large and moving too fast. Faced with the giant arm closing in at an unavoidable speed, Sanae finally resigned herself to her fate and closed her eyes.

“That’s obvious!”

But just before it reached Sanae, somebody jumped in and punched the monster’s arm with all their might.

“She’s an incredible woman!”

The next moment, the punched arm exploded.

“Gyaaaaaaaah!”

The explosion wasn’t all that large, but it was a painful shock to the monster, which created an opening.

“Huh?”

Sanae opened her eyes when she heard the explosion and scream, and when she did, she saw a certain someone in front of her.

“Let’s go, Sanae!”

“Ah...”

Not a moment later, she was lifted up into his arms.

With his large body, well-trained muscles, and resolute eyes, he radiated strength and warmth. The moment Sanae felt that, she instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Be a good girl and hold on tight!”

“Satomi... Koutarou-san...?”

Sanae only realized who that certain someone was after she had her arms wrapped around him.

Once he’d rescued Sanae from the giant monster, Koutarou continued running while carrying her on his back. He had indeed rescued her, but they weren’t out of the woods yet. The monster was still chasing after them even now. Koutarou needed to find somewhere where he could finish the fight, but the middle of a neighborhood like this with a ton of bystanders around wasn’t a good option. Once he met up with Yurika, she would be able to cast a ward to keep people away, but he still wanted to go somewhere that would cause the least damage.

“I got it! The construction site in the suburbs, right?!”

“Yes! It seems like Yurika’s spell can just barely cover that site! And because it’s under construction, there’s a metal fence around the area as well! It’s the perfect place to fight!”

Theia’s voice rang out from Koutarou’s bracelet he’d gotten from Clan. He’d used it to contact her, and since Theia was in room 106 with the other invaders, everyone knew what was going on. After Koutarou had explained, Kiriha had came up with an apt plan while Ruth swiftly looked up a suitable vacant lot. Koutarou and Sanae would meet up with the invaders there, have Yurika cast her ward, and then they would defeat the monster with their combined force. That was the plan Kiriha had come up with.

“Theia, tell Kiriha that the enemy is the ghost woman from that one time!”

“Roger that! I’ll tell her! And pleb!”

“What?!”

“I will leave Sanae to you! Protect her no matter what!”

“As you wish, my princess!”

With those words, Koutarou ended the call.

“All right!”

Koutarou then changed the direction he was running in, following the guidance marker projected into his field of vision by the bracelet. Since the bracelet had received the coordinates from Ruth, he could now make a beeline towards the construction site.

“I’m telling you to wait, you filthy brat!”

After changing directions, the monster behind Koutarou caught up a little. Noticing that, Koutarou picked up the pace.

“Hang on, Sanae!”

“Kyah!”

Koutarou was running so fast now that Sanae nearly lost her grip on him. In order to not get shaken off, she desperately held on to Koutarou with all her might.

What is this...

Once she was secure, Sanae realized just how fast Koutarou was actually running. Her eyes opened wide in surprise as she watched him easily overtake people on bicycles. He was even keeping pace with a car that happened to be driving down the road before it stopped at a traffic light. He had to be going at least twenty kilometers per hour.

If Koutarou had been on his own, that might have been possible. It was possible for particularly athletic people to sprint at those speeds for a short distance. But Sanae couldn’t imagine that it was possible to run like that for an extended period, much less while carrying someone. But regardless of whether she believed it or not, it was happening right in front of her. And with every step Koutarou took as he ran down the sidewalk, the distance between them and the monster increased.

Koutarou was actually using psychic powers to enhance his physical abilities. Though it was growing weaker, Koutarou still had the ability to use psychic powers from Sanae. He reinforced his muscle power and increased the supply of oxygen to his body to keep exhaustion at bay. Even for a strong guy like Koutarou, running that fast on his own power was not possible.

“Satomi-san.”

“What’s wrong? Did you get hurt?”

“No, that’s not it... Just who are you people?”

Sanae couldn’t understand anything. The speed at which Koutarou was running was abnormal, and she also didn’t know why he’d showed up to save her. It seemed like he knew something about that monster, too. Then there were the classmates he had contacted through his bracelet. Sanae knew that Koutarou, Theia, and the others were bound together by a deep sense of trust. Adding it all up, Sanae could only imagine that Koutarou and his friends were people with mysterious backgrounds.

“Us?”

Koutarou stumbled for an answer. He couldn’t find a single apt way to describe himself and the other girls. When they had first met, “invaders and their victim” had sufficed. But now he felt like that explanation wasn’t suitable anymore. Koutarou and the others had become something much more than that a long time ago.

“Well...”

After thinking for a moment, he smiled.

“We are Higashihongan Sanae’s merry band of friends.”

Koutarou couldn’t think of any other way to put it. They were all close friends, so Koutarou felt like that was the most accurate description for the time being.

“Does that... have something to do with why you’re so nice to me?”

Koutarou and the others treated her much the same way the rest of her classmates did, but the feelings behind their actions were fundamentally different. Sanae felt kindness in everything they did for her, and that made her happy.

“Maybe. But let’s leave that for later. We have to hurry on ahead as fast as possible for now.”

“Yeah...”

After that, Koutarou fell silent and focused on running. Sanae held on to his back with both her arms and tried not to get in his way. She stayed quiet to as she bounced up and down on Koutarou’s back as he ran along for some time, but then a strange feeling started squeezing her chest.

I... know this back...?

It was a bizarre sensation. This was all new to her, but a sense of familiarity came over her as she leaned against him. The width of his back, his warmth, his pulse. The sensation of her arms around him. And the sense of security she felt while trusting herself to him. All of it told Sanae one thing.

There’s no doubt about it... I’ve done this before...

Though Sanae wasn’t sure when it had happened or how, she became convinced this wasn’t her first time riding on Koutarou’s back. It seemed impossible, but it felt right. Something deep within her heart was shouting out that this was where she belonged.

Higashihongan Sanae’s merry band of friends...

As she bounced on Koutarou’s back, Sanae began thinking that what he’d said might not have been a joke. The warmth she felt in her arms was a calming, familiar relief to her. It was like she’d known it forever.

When Koutarou and Sanae reached the construction site, there was no sign of anyone around. Since the sun had set, the workers had finished for the day and gone home. Ruth, who had chosen the place, had foreseen that much.

“Are Theia and the others not here yet?”

Jumping into the construction site, Koutarou looked around the area as he headed for the center of it. He was glad not to see any bystanders, but he didn’t see his friends, either. Because he’d been closer to the construction site and because he had been running so quickly, Koutarou and Sanae had reached their destination much quicker than the others.

“Satomi-san, it’s coming!”

“What’s wrong, brat?! Done running?!”

Even worse, the monster arrived before Theia and the others did. It passed through the entrance gate and invaded the construction site. Its body had grown even larger than before and was now several meters tall. If it were corporeal, it would have destroyed the gate walking into it like that.

“That monster... Just how many evil spirits did she merge with before coming here?”

Koutarou had fought against this monster—or more accurately, this ghost—in the past. Back then she had also merged with other spirits to grow larger. But she was much bigger now than she’d been back then. She’d used the last of her spiritual energy to gather as many evil spirits as she could. That’s why she no longer appeared human. She’d used the last of her spiritual energy and couldn’t maintain her form, especially not as the mass of evil spirits she’d become. She had so much power this way that she couldn’t control it herself. She was so desperate for Sanae that she’d sacrificed her body to try to get what she wanted.

“Heh heh heh, you brat... This won’t go down like it did last time!”

The only thing that reminded Koutarou of her original form was the way she talked. Her appearance and voice had already greatly changed, and were inhuman in every sense of the word.

“Sanae, please get off.”

“Okay.”

Listening to Koutarou’s request, Sanae climbed off his back. She was a little reluctant, but it seemed like her best bet was listening to him.

“But... what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to fight her to buy some time until help arrives.”

Koutarou had told Theia and the others that the enemy was an evil ghost. Kiriha should have ways of dealing with ghosts. And since she had access to her armory, unlike the time at the beach, she could make use of the specialized weapons inside. The only problem was how Koutarou was going to hold the ghost off until Kiriha could get there.

“That’s impossible! That thing is incredibly dangerous!”

Sanae shook her head frantically, making her somewhat long hair swing left and right. She didn’t think he had any chance of standing up against that monster. In fact, she wasn’t even certain that that this “help” of his that was coming would be able to do anything. The monster held such great power within it that it terrified Sanae that much.

“Doing things, even if they’re impossible, is what a man does. Besides, there’s no escaping now.”

The monster was standing in front of the exit. The sun had fully set. There was no longer anywhere to run. Koutarou had to take on the monster, even if it was impossible.

“B-But... But you...!”

Sanae still tried to stop Koutarou, but she couldn’t come up with a good way to put it. In truth, she too understood that it was simply something he had to do.

“Thanks for worrying about me.”

Koutarou smiled at Sanae.

“Ah...”

Koutarou may have been smiling, but his eyes were filled with determination. Sensing that, Sanae realized that she wouldn’t be able to stop him.

“Oh, right, I almost forgot.”

Seeing Sanae so uneasy, Koutarou was reminded of a certain something in his possession. He reached into the pocket of his uniform to get it.

“Here, take this.”

He then put it in Sanae’s hands, hoping it would alleviate her anxiety.

“This...”

The moment she wrapped her fingers around it, her heart skipped a beat. It felt like some kind of memory was bubbling up in the back of her head.

“A... charm...?”

“It’s for protection, you know.”

Koutarou had handed Sanae a small charm. It was a purple fabric embroidered with the words “family safety” in golden thread. Looking at it, they glimmered in the last few rays of sunlight.

What was that... I was about to...

It appeared to just be a typical charm. It had probably been purchased at some shrine for a few hundred yen. But the moment she laid eyes on it, Sanae was overcome with the powerful feeling that she was on the verge of remembering something. But nothing ever came to her, and that left her feeling frustrated.

“Cradle, give me my sword.”

“As you wish, my lord.”

“Ah.”

While Sanae was distracted by the charm, Koutarou stepped forward and stood in the way of the approaching monster. Seeing his defiant attitude, the monster’s mouth distorted as it sneered at Koutarou.

“Do you think you can do something, brat?! You may have gotten the better of me last time, but I am several times stronger now!”

Koutarou had defeated this ghost in the past, but she was different now. She’d sacrificed her own body to gather as much power as possible. She was confident that she could easily defeat Koutarou this time, even with his powers.

“Yes, there is a limit to what I can do alone. I’m just a high schooler that knows a thing or two about fighting.”

Koutarou freely admitted to what the monster was saying. But he didn’t take a single step back, and he spoke with determination in his voice.

“But we won’t lose. My friends are all exceptionally competent!”

“So what?! Who cares about your friends?!”

“You should know after gathering power from all those other evil spirits!”

As Koutarou shouted that out, he held his right hand out in front of him.

“Y-You impudent brat!”

With Koutarou’s hand pointed at her, the monster instinctively flinched. Sensing she was afraid of him, Koutarou made his move.

“Come, Signaltin!”

“Call sign confirmed. Coordinate axis fixed. Commencing transfer of Signaltin.”

The moment the AI answered through Koutarou’s bracelet, a black hole appeared in front of his outstretched hand.

“What is that?! Brat, what are you trying to do?!”

Koutarou’s confidence, his dignified figure, and the mysterious black hole all intimidated the monster. Though she was supposed to have the upper hand, she began feeling anxious. In the moment she recoiled, Koutarou grabbed hold of the sword that had appeared from the hole in time and space. When his fingers wrapped around the handle, the sword began emitting a dazzling light. It was so bright that it flooded the construction sight and temporarily made it look like it was midday.

“This is that light from last time! So it was that sword’s power?!”

The monster, with the female ghost as its core, had seen this light before. In the past, it had burned her ghostly allies and forced them to pass on. It had cost her a great deal of her spiritual energy, too. She’d already seen the light in action when Koutarou punched her arm earlier with the charm in his hand. But even though this was the same light, it was on a totally different level now. It shone several times more intensely than what she had seen before.

“Your Excellency, Lord Blue Knight, this ship, the Cradle, will pray for your fortune and glory in place of the nation of Forthorthe.”

“...Thank you.”

The enemy was powerful and he was unarmed. But he had to protect Sanae no matter what.

In that situation, Koutarou couldn’t be picky about his methods. He figured that Signaltin was the only weapon capable of harming this ghostly monster. Even if he borrowed a weapon from Clan or Theia, it likely wouldn’t have any effect against an incorporeal creature.

Truth be told, he also wanted to call for the Blue Knight’s armor, but he didn’t think that the monster would wait long enough to let him put it on. He had to hold his ground with Signaltin alone.

Seeing Koutarou take hold of his sword, Maki grabbed hold of her staff. She had been tailing Koutarou in order to learn more about what was going on in room 106, and so she’d been watching over him and Sanae all this time. As a result, she’d arrived at the construction site long before the invaders.

There’s that ridiculous amount of mana again... But this time it might be a little tough...

Since Maki had experienced the powers of Signaltin firsthand, she understood the situation at hand better than anyone else.

Since Signaltin was a magical sword, it could deal a lot of damage against opponents that were affected by normal physical attacks. And against opponents who protected themselves with magic, it held matchless strength. But against a ghost, it was just a normal sword. The surplus mana would have to be used to coat the blade directly in order to do any real damage, but Koutarou wasn’t that good at controlling it. He only had a rough understanding of the sword’s magic. Because of that, there was a lot of wasted mana, which meant that the magic covering the blade was weaker than it should be.

Meanwhile, his opponent was a monster that had absorbed an abnormal amount of evil spirits and obtained great power. Though she was no match for Signaltin, she was still a considerable opponent. Normally once a ghost amassed that kind of power, things would spiral out of control and the evil spirit at the core would collapse on itself. But with this ghost, her grudge was still keeping her together.

Koutarou had a strong power, but couldn’t use it to its full extent. The monster had less power, but could freely use it. Not even Maki was sure who would come out on top in this battle.

In the worst case scenario, I’ll have to step in... But for now I’ll just cast a ward to keep people away until Nijino Yurika gets here...

Maki began incanting her spell.

“Sanctuary! Modifier: Effective Area, Colossal!”

At the same time, Maki began griping to herself internally.

Really... Why am I here helping Satomi-kun and the others? I don’t get it at all, jeez...

It was a strange twist of fate. This was actually the same construction site where Maki had once fought Koutarou. Though work on the site had advanced since then, there was no mistaking it.

Things were different now. Maki and Koutarou were no longer fighting. In fact, she was even giving him a helping hand. It was a reversal that anyone would have found strange, not just Maki.

By the time Maki had finished her internal griping, her incantation was finished and the spell went into effect. Mana enveloped the entire construction site and concealed what was happening within from the surrounding residents.

“You can do it, Satomi-kun... I will always stay with you...”

Maki was the only outsider still watching Koutarou after her spell went off. It was truly strange. It was all she wanted to do—even felt like she had to do—from the bottom of her heart.

The fight between Koutarou and the monster went as Maki had predicted. Signaltin was a poor match against an opponent without physical form. And Koutarou’s control of the sword’s magic power wasn’t enough to overcome that hurdle.

It would probably have been more than enough to defeat the ghosts that had captured Sanae last summer, but unbeknownst to Koutarou, he was being aided by Yurika’s magic back then. And she wasn’t here right now. Worse yet, the monster before him was far more powerful than the ones he’d faced then.

“I was surprised when you pulled out that sword, but looks like it’s just a sword after all! As long as I keep my distance, it’s nothing!”

The monster floated into the air and kept her distance from Koutarou while using her powers to attack him at range. She psychically lifted up objects around the construction site and hurled them at him. It was a paranormal phenomenon identical to Sanae’s Poltergeist powers.

“Haaah!”

Koutarou swung his sword to swat away the flying objects. Iron bars, sandbags, nails, screws, and similar projectiles were all sent flying right for him. And though they were dangerous, they were all normal objects, meaning Koutarou could block them. He swung his sword to block the larger projectiles, while using Signaltin’s magic to block the hails of smaller projectiles with a defensive spell. His physical abilities enhanced by psychic powers just barely allowed him to keep up with the monster. But throwing things wasn’t her only attack.

“Come on now! Are you sure you should be focusing on just that?!”

“Guah!”

With his hands full blocking the Poltergeist attacks, something suddenly crashed into Koutarou. An acute pain ran through him, robbing him of his strength and body heat. His vision then went dark, and he looked like he was on the verge of losing consciousness.

This was the monster’s second attack. While hurling things at Koutarou with her Poltergeist powers, she launched something else at him from his blind spot. It was a ball made out of hardened spiritual energy—a fitting attack for a ghost that stole the life energy of whatever it hit.

“D-Damn it!”

Koutarou shook his head to clear his mind, but that was when another wave of Poltergeist attacks assaulted him. Unable to properly move from the pain, Koutarou had no way to block them this time and ended up taking direct hits from several objects. He now had several more cuts and bruises, but it wasn’t like he’d survived the earlier onslaught of attacks unscathed. He’d been on the defensive for a while now.

I can’t keep up like this! I have to come up with something quickly!

After recovering, Koutarou started blocking the Poltergeist attacks once more. But even he knew he couldn’t keep this up for but so much longer.

Koutarou’s sword couldn’t reach the monster, yet she could attack him freely. Even if he focused on dodging the balls of spiritual energy, he would have trouble picking them out of everything that was already coming flying at him. His simple defensive spell couldn’t protect him from spiritual energy, meaning he had no way of blocking those attacks.

As a result, Koutarou was taking hits here and there and was gradually being cornered with this combo attack. He was trying to buy as much time as he could in order for Theia and the others to get here, but he had started to realize that doing so would be very difficult.

“Satomi-san, that’s enough! Please! Just forget about me and run away!”

Even Sanae could see that Koutarou was in trouble. He was bleeding from multiple gouges now, and all of them looked deep. If he continued protecting her, it was clear that he would be killed. And she didn’t want that. She didn’t want this boy who’d been working so hard to save her to die for her sake. She’d just learned of the warmth of his back, and she couldn’t bear the thought of losing it.

If she had had enough stamina left, she would have run out in front of Koutarou to protect him. But after all the energy she’d used, she barely able to move now. She hated it, but all she could do was watch as he fought.

“Heh, I-I can’t do that.”

Koutarou answered Sanae without looking at her. He was at his limit just blocking the incoming attacks.

“Why not?!”

“Because I’m stubborn!”

Betraying Sanae’s hopes, Koutarou refused to run. Even if she didn’t have her memories, Sanae was still Sanae to Koutarou, and he wasn’t about to abandon such a good friend.

Even if I die, I have to keep that monster away from Sanae until Theia and the others get here... And to do that, I have to buy as much time as I can!

As rough as things were, he was glad the monster was fixated on him. Every attack it sent his way was one less chance it had to hurt Sanae.

I’ll leave the rest to the others!

Koutarou foresaw his own defeat, but he still didn’t back down. He had absolute faith in his allies. They would be able to save Sanae. With that hope in his heart, Koutarou resolved himself to buy as much time as possible.

And since Koutarou had been prepared to part with the invaders from the start, he didn’t grieve the life-threatening situation he was in.

“Haaaaaaaah!”

Koutarou shouted out to pump himself up as he readied his sword and charged in. Based on how the monster had been behaving so far, he was convinced it wouldn’t attack Sanae, so Koutarou decided to close the distance. If he stayed on the move, it would be harder for the monster to hit him, and he would likely keep the monster’s attention away from Sanae. It would be his final attack, and he wanted to put it to the best use possible.

“You can’t, Satomi-san! Don’t do it!”

Since she’d developed the ability to read people’s feelings, Sanae immediately understood what Koutarou was doing.

“Wait! Please wait!”

Sanae firmly grasped the charm in her hand as she desperately called for Koutarou. But he didn’t answer. He didn’t turn back. He simply charged ahead.

He will die! At this rate, Satomi-san really will die!

All Sanae could do was stare at Koutarou’s back as he ran. The thought that she would never be able to feel its warmth again overtook her, and she couldn’t take it. She had to do something. Anything. That’s why she started crawling after him.

“Don’t leave me behind! I don’t want you to go!”

Koutarou was putting his life on the line for her. It should have been the first time anyone had ever done that for her, yet strangely enough, it didn’t feel like it. But Sanae didn’t have time to dwell on that. She was putting all her strength into crawling after Koutarou, but the distance between them just kept growing. The number of wounds he suffered just kept increasing.

“You promised me! That everything would stay the same! That we would always have fun!”

Driven by her intense emotions, Sanae shouted loudly after him. She didn’t even know what she was saying, but she was desperate to get through to him. She wanted him to come back. To stay by her side forever. She was listening to the desires of her soul.

“So dying on your own is unfair! You have to keep your promise!”

However...

A large iron bar came flying at Koutarou. Unable to block it completely, he took the hit straight on. The massive bar struck him and sent him flying backward. He hit the ground with a thud and rolled. When he finally came to a stop, he laid there motionless.

Right in front of Sanae, the unthinkable was happening. It felt like watching the end of the world—it just shouldn’t be real. She could scarcely believe her eyes.

“Kooouuutaaarooooouuuuu!”

In that moment, Sanae’s channeled all of her emotion into her voice. She screamed for Koutarou, and his name echoed through the construction site. But Sanae was overflowing with more than just emotion now.

“What?! What is this abnormal amount of spiritual energy?! Is this the little kitten’s true power?!”

An enormous amount of spiritual energy was radiating from the screaming Sanae. It was concentrated in her right hand—the one holding the “family safety” charm.

The spiritual energy from the charm turned into a dazzling light that even a normal person would have been able to see, and it spread from Sanae’s hand over her entire body. She was completely aglow now, but the light only continued to expand. Eventually, Sanae stood in a pillar of light with a look of blank surprise on her face.

“H-Huh...? I...”

But once she returned to her senses, the light rapidly shrunk like it was being absorbed into her body. As it did, the amount of spiritual energy she was emitting returned to normal levels.

“That’s right, Koutarou! What about Koutarou?!”

Sanae had been surprised by the light that had surrounded her and then disappeared, but she soon remembered something more important.

“Koutarou!”

Sanae put what had just happened to her out of her mind and rushed towards Koutarou. Just moments ago, she had been so weak that she could hardly crawl. Yet she felt fine now. It was another strange phenomenon, but Sanae paid it no mind.

The monster stared at her with wide eyes. Its eyes were already big, but the surprise enlarged them even more.

“Impossible... This is on a completely different level from what I saw over the summer... Not even a lesser god should have this much power... It exceeds even that... I can’t believe it... Just who is this girl...?”

Though it hadn’t lasted, Sanae’s burst of spiritual energy was off the charts. It far exceeded the limits of man, and was stepping into the boundaries of the divine.

“Ahahahahaha! I want it! I will definitely make that body mine!”

Despite witnessing her power firsthand, the monster didn’t fear Sanae. Instead, it grew more excited at the prospect of consuming her. The desire for her power far outstripped any fear the monster felt at having to fight her for it. Perhaps that’s simply how evil spirits were programmed to think.

“As long as I have that body, I could even become a goddess!”

The excited monster followed Sanae with its eyes. Now that Koutarou had been defeated, all that was left was this little girl. Sensing her victory drawing near, the female ghost at the monster’s core could hardly contain herself.

When she reached Koutarou, Sanae held up his large body.

“Koutarou, Koutarou! Please wake up!”

She’d run over to him, terrified that he was dead on the spot. That’s why she shook him fiercely and her voice was breaking up as she called for him.

“S-Sanae...?”

Koutarou half opened one of his eyes and looked up at Sanae, who was holding him. Fortunately, he was still alive. He was badly injured, but he had somehow survived the attack.

“Koutarou!”

Sanae firmly embraced him. The only thing that had kept him alive was Maki’s magical interference, but Sanae couldn’t care less about how he had managed to survive. To her, all that mattered was that he was still breathing.

“Thank god, you’re alive...”

The warmth she could feel as she embraced Koutarou was the same warmth that she had longed for, both past and present. Tears soon began welling in Sanae’s eyes. She was so happy at getting to feel Koutarou’s warmth again that she couldn’t keep them from overflowing. The tears streamed down her cheeks to her chin, and then dripped down onto Koutarou’s face.

“I was really, really worried...”

“...Sorry.”

Koutarou reached out with his hand and wiped Sanae’s cheek. Koutarou felt that tears didn’t suit her, no matter the kind.

“I won’t forgive you if you leave me again. And if you do, I’ll put you in my scorpion deathlock!”

“Sanae, your scorpion deathlock still doesn’t hurt that much... Wait, Sanae, do you remember that?!”

Realizing what Sanae was nonchalantly talking about, Koutarou sat up in stark surprise. He was so taken aback that he momentarily forgot the pain of his injuries.

“Of course I remember that. Did you get senile?”

After being told her wrestling moves weren’t any good, Sanae grew a little snippy. She hadn’t realized what had Koutarou so surprised.

“If you want, I can use it on you right now.”

“That’s not what I meant. Did you get your memories back?!”

Koutarou had practiced the scorpion deathlock with Sanae as a ghost. Sanae as she was now shouldn’t know anything about it. So if she was talking about it, that had to mean she’d gotten her memories back somehow.

“Huh...? My memories?”

Sanae blinked repeatedly. She had been so focused on Koutarou that she hadn’t stopped to pay any mind to herself. It wasn’t until Koutarou pointed it out that she realized a change had come over her.

“Y-Yeah... it looks like it...”

Now surprised herself, Sanae nodded a couple of times. Her memories of Koutarou and the other invaders girls had indeed returned. Right now, Sanae had her memories of being in the hospital and being in room 106 at the same time. Having two sets of memories was a strange sensation, but it paled in comparison to the joy of what she was remembering.

“I remember... Koutarou! It’s you, Koutarou! We... We met again...”

More tears formed in Sanae’s eyes. Even though Koutarou had just wiped them away, they streamed down her cheeks once more.

“Sanae...”

Koutarou was so surprised that he couldn’t say anything else. This was even more of a shock than learning Kiriha and Kii were the same person. He’d convinced himself he’d never get to see his Sanae again. But that was as far as they’d get for now.

“Sorry for interrupting your touching reunion, but it’s about time to end this.”

They were currently in the middle of a battle, and their enemy wasn’t going to wait for them to finish talking. Now was the time for action, not words.

“I’ll be taking that body of yours, little kitten!”

“Sanae, get back!”

Koutarou placed himself in front of Sanae and readied his sword.

“No way!”

However, Sanae was no longer someone who needed to be protected. She had all the love and courage she’d developed over the last year she’d spent with Koutarou and the others, and the perseverance that she had developed during her long stay in the hospital. Sanae as she was now was not either Sanae had existed before—it was almost as if she was born anew. And this Sanae wanted to cling to Koutarou’s back when things were peaceful, and fight by his side when things got rough. She wanted to protect the boy she loved.

“After all, I’m the incredible woman who’s going to keep you safe!”

Embracing everything she felt, Sanae stood next to Koutarou without hesitation. Her appearance was no longer meek and timid like before. Her weakened body had been healed by the spiritual energy from before. And as she stood there with her hands on her hips, she radiated confidence. This Sanae was sure she could win.

“Sanae?! Don’t be reckless, you’re still—”

“Like I said! If you leave me again, you’ll get the scorpion deathlock!”

Sanae was never planning on letting Koutarou leave her behind again. She was meant to be holding on to his back, not watching it from afar. And if he didn’t understand that, Sanae was going to forcibly make him understand by using the new joint lock she’d learned.

“Little kitten, even with your powerful spiritual energy, what can you even do? Just give up on your useless struggle and become a part of me.”

The monster sneered at Sanae. It was true she had vast spiritual energy, but Sanae couldn’t freely use all of it. And she had only just returned to her own body; her psychic powers were still unstable. So even though the monster had been wary of Sanae six months ago, it wasn’t scared of her now.

“I can do anything! I can make miracles happen!”

However, completely unlike before, Sanae didn’t flinch at all. She puffed up her chest, glared at the monster, and proudly declared herself.

“I’ve learned the most important lesson of all! Love is all!”

Sanae couldn’t remember where she’d heard those words, but she believed them to be the truth. The passion burning inside of her told her that she couldn’t possibly lose to this monster. She had no basis for that belief, but she was still convinced of it.

“Sanae, you’re being crazy.”

By now, Koutarou had given up trying to convince Sanae to back down. Since the monster wanted to absorb Sanae, it probably wouldn’t hurt her. And since Sanae could use spiritual energy far better than Koutarou could, she wouldn’t get in the way.

“What? Are you saying you don’t trust me, your Sanae-chan?”

Despite the powerful foe in front of her, Sanae was talking the same way they would while joking around and playing games in room 106. She then leaned over and bumped into Koutarou with her shoulder as a sign of her dissatisfaction.

“No, I was just thinking that we’re really rocking now.”

“Naturally!”

In that moment, Sanae’s right hand began glowing white again. Her spiritual energy was starting to concentrate into the charm. At first her spiritual energy grew stronger and weaker as it fluctuated with her pulse, but as she got excited, it began beating at its own rhythm.

“A maiden’s heart always plays at eight beats.”

The name of the song was “Love Is All.” The rhythm played at eight beats. It was a small band with just her and Koutarou, but Sanae was sure the world would be theirs. That world was a mere six tatami mats big, but it had everything Sanae could ever want in it.

Once the fight restarted, Sanae issued an unexpected command to Koutarou.

“Koutarou, that sword won’t do! Change it to your normal one!”

“What?!”

The sword in Koutarou’s hands was Signaltin, the strongest weapon he had access to. It was thanks to that sword that he hadn’t been killed by the monster right away, so Koutarou was confounded when Sanae wanted him to use something else.

“The power in that sword is too strong, so my power can’t properly pass through it! But your normal sword has your spiritual energy permeated through it, so I can infuse it with my power!”

“I see!”

Now understanding what Sanae was getting at, Koutarou let go of Signaltin and stretched his right hand out in front of him.

“Blue Knight, give me my sword!”

“As you wish, my lord.”

The bracelet Koutarou wore originally belonged to Clan, but thanks to Clan and Ruth’s recent under the table dealings, Koutarou could now use it to communicate with Blue Knight as well. And his order was to transfer over Saguratin, his other sword.

“Come, Saguratin!”

“Call sign confirmed. Coordinate axis fixed. Commencing transfer of Saguratin.”

The transfer worked the same way as when he got Signaltin from the Cradle. A black hole opened up in front of him, and the handle of the sword extended from it.

“Master, this ship, Blue Knight, will pray for your fortune and glory in place of the nation of Forthorthe. Princess Theiamillis and Guardian Knight Ruthkania both await your safe return with all their hearts.”

The only difference in the transfer process was the notification message. The Cradle’s AI used a synthesized voice, but Blue Knight used Ruth’s. It was a personal touch of hers.

“Like Ruth said, let’s return safely!”

“Yeah!”

Koutarou nodded to Sanae and grabbed hold of Saguratin. Unlike Signaltin, which he had only started using recently, he’d had plenty of practice with Saguratin. It felt just right in his hands.

“Let’s go, Koutarou!”

The next moment, spiritual energy started flowing out of Sanae’s right hand. It became a torrent of white light that poured into Saguratin.

“I knew it! This sword will work!”

Saguratin, which had been permeated with Koutarou’s spiritual energy, readily accepted Sanae’s. Since Saguratin wasn’t a magical sword, Sanae could freely infuse it with her powers since her spiritual energy was compatible with Koutarou’s.

“We’re good to go, Koutarou!”

So with Sanae’s help, Saguratin became much more powerful in Koutarou’s hands. It accepted much more of her spiritual energy than Signaltin would have.

“All right!”

Koutarou now had Signaltin in his left hand, and Saguratin in his right. Since Saguratin was infused with Sanae’s spiritual energy, he was now easily able to fend off the monster’s Poltergeist attacks with it. He didn’t even need to directly hit things away from himself anymore; anything that came near the sword was automatically repelled by its energy. It was like it had a meter wide barrier around it. Not even Signaltin covered in its special shockwave magic had that wide of a radius. It was incredibly useful in this situation.

“Sanae, I think I can do it with this!”

Sensing that he was making progress, Koutarou instinctively smiled at Sanae.

“Heehee, and on top of that... I can do this!”

Getting into the swing of things after being praised by Koutarou, Sanae turned her hands towards him. When she did, Koutarou’s right arm moved on its own and swung Saguratin from right to left. Completing the swing, a blade of spiritual energy went flying from the sword. It spun forward through the air, knocking down anything in its path as it sailed towards the monster.

“Gyaaaaaaah!”

Since the monster hadn’t been expecting such an attack, the blade of spiritual energy scored a direct hit. The blade buried itself in the monster’s waist, forcing the spirits it came into contact with to pass on.

“Hurgh... Gaaaaah! Wh-What is that?! That’s cheating!”

The monster summoned forth more evil spirits to heal the wound in its waist, and then glared at Sanae. Sanae’s powers were far greater than what the monster had expected. The monster had assumed that for all her spiritual energy, Sanae wouldn’t be able to do much with it. And it had just paid dearly for underestimating her. The monster had had the advantage of being able to attack Koutarou from a distance, but with Sanae’s help, they were on equal footing now.

“Koutarou, that’s how you use the Love Love Sanae-chan Sword.”

“...Sanae, you really do the most incredible things so casually.”

Koutarou was amazed in more ways than one.

“Just make sure you don’t use the Sparkling Sanae-chan Cutter too much. Creating the cutter puts a little strain on you.”

“I’m not so sure about your naming sense, though...”

Sanae’s psychic powers had been impressive when she was a ghost, but what she was doing now far surpassed even that. It was most likely because she merged with her body, but her sudden progress was quite a surprise for Koutarou.

“Like this, I’m probably better off focusing on Saguratin. Cradle, recover Signaltin.”

“As you wish, my lord.”

After sending Signaltin back to the Cradle, Koutarou held Saguratin in both hands.

“Huh? You only need one?”

“Yeah. You should avoid doing things you’re not used to in a fight.”

Koutarou wasn’t trained to use two swords, and since spiritual energy was more directly connected to the mind and soul than magic was, Koutarou decided it would better if he wasn’t dividing his attention between two types of attacks.

“What a waste. It looked so cool.”

“I’ll practice it for next time then. But for now...”

Koutarou pointed the tip of his sword the monster.

“Let’s do this.”

Koutarou and Sanae had gained supreme confidence in themselves, and the monster was starting to fear Sanae’s powers. The tables were slowly turning.

“As if I would let you!”

The female ghost that made up the monster’s core had bet everything on this fight. Using up the last of her remaining spiritual energy, she had summoned all of the evil spirits in the area and challenged Koutarou and Sanae to a fight. That’s why she couldn’t afford to lose. Even if she ran, she would still be forced to pass on because she’d used all of her energy. Because of that, she couldn’t retreat.

“You guys, give me more power!”

The ghost forcibly squeezed spiritual energy out of the other evil spirits making up the monster’s body, and attacked Koutarou and Sanae. She was using the same tactics as before, but she upped the ante on her attack dramatically. She used her Poltergeist powers to lift everything she could, and created several balls of hardened spiritual energy at once.

“She’s going on her final offensive?! Here she comes, Sanae! Stay on your guard!”

“Koutarou, I’ll protect your back! So you just look straight ahead and beat that thing!”

“I’m counting on you!”

The relationship between Koutarou and Sanae was the opposite of the evil spirits exploiting each other. They felt for, protected, and supported each other. Anyone watching the battle at this point wouldn’t have doubted that Koutarou and Sanae would come out on top. Even in the face of grave danger, their trust in each other was their greatest asset.

“Sanae-chan Special Attack: Wonderful Arrow!”

Sanae began focusing spiritual energy into the family safety charm in her left hand. As she did, the energy took the form of a glowing bow with the charm as its core. And when she drew the bow with her right hand, a glowing arrow appeared nocked and at the ready. Sanae was going to support Koutarou using a spiritual bow and arrow as cover.

Sanae had been part of the archery club during her middle school years, just like her mother before her. She hadn’t been able to participate much as she grew weaker, but it was the only weapon she knew how to use.

“Dieeeeeee!”

Before Sanae could take aim, the monster attacked. It threw a barrage of heavy objects at Koutarou while attacking him with balls of spiritual energy from behind.

“I’m the only one who gets to mess with Koutarou’s back!”

With a shout, Sanae let her arrow fly without even taking aim. Had it been a real bow and arrow, she never would have hit a thing. But since she was using a bow and arrow made out of her own spiritual energy, it didn’t quite work like a real one. She’d only given her energy that form to make it easier to use. The spiritual arrow sailed through the air, then split into eighteen different arrows, each going after a different target.

“Take them ooouuuuut!”

Sanae was shooting for the eighteen attacks aimed at Koutarou’s back. With her psychic powers, she had a perfect sense of her surroundings. And since the monster had attacked with physic powers too, all its attacks were targets for Sanae.

Her arrows flew like guided missiles and cut beautiful arcs through the air. The eighteen arrows each successfully took down their intended targets, successfully defending Koutarou’s flank and leaving him free to attack.

“All right!”

Satisfied with this result, Sanae called out to Koutarou from behind him.

“Gooo! Right there! It’s a home run!”

“Gooooot iiiiiit!”

Responding to Sanae’s words, Koutarou gripped the sword tightly with both hands.

“I’ll knock you out of the park!”

Koutarou swung Saguratin like a bat with all his might. Had he been hitting a ball, he most definitely would have sent it flying far beyond the field.

The wide, sweeping swing created a gigantic blade made out of spiritual energy. Its size, thickness, and speed all surpassed what Sanae had created by controlling him before. This blade blew away everything in its path and then some, leaving a clear opening for Koutarou.

“Feh, don’t get full of yourself, brat!”

Of course, the path the blade carved led straight to the monster.

“Ha!”

But since the monster had predicted the attack this time, it was ready for it. It controlled the balls of spiritual energy it had created to attack Koutarou, and shot them into the incoming blade. The two attacks collided midair and unleashed their energies, creating a large explosion.

“As if I’d let you hit me with that again!”

“Aw, so close! But I guess I don’t need a year’s worth for that one.”

“No, it’s not over yet!”

The next moment, Koutarou passed through the flames of the explosion and appeared right in front of the monster. He had thrown himself through the explosion, prepared to take some damage from it.

“Really?! Koutarou, you like old ladies?!”

“O-Oh no!”

The monster hadn’t expected Koutarou to close in like that, so it was slow to react.

“How about thiiiiis?!”

With Saguratin raised above his head, he swung it down on the monster. Without any time to react, the monster had no way of avoiding the attack. Koutarou’s strike cut off the monster’s right arm at the elbow, and the limb disappeared before it even hit the ground. The evil spirits that made up the arm passed on.

“I missed?!”

However, Koutarou clicked his tongue at that result. He’d been aiming for the monster’s head. Since the head belonged to the female ghost that served as the monster’s core, Koutarou figured that the whole beast would go down in a single blow if he could hit it.

But Koutarou’s aim had been thrown off because he jumped through the explosion. The blast had slowed him down and the flames had obscured his sight. The end result was his attack being slightly off course.

“Kyaaaaaaaah! My arm, my arm!”

Reeling from its severed arm, the monster quickly retreated. It wasn’t foolish enough to stay a sitting duck for a follow-up attack from Koutarou.

“A-At this rate, I’ll be defeated! In that case...!”

The monster started retreating even further by going up into the air.

“What? Does she want to make this a long distance fight again? Or is she running away?”

Even if the battle turned into long-range shootout, Koutarou and Sanae wouldn’t lose. Even if the monster ran away, the female ghost at the core was almost at her limit. The monster’s actions seemed illogical, and Koutarou couldn’t figure out why it was behaving this way. While keeping his sword on it, he watched it in confusion.

“Aaah, no!”

The monster continued to fly up and away, but Sanae let out a bewildered shriek. Her face went pale when she realized what the monster was doing.

“What’s wrong?!”

“Koutarou! She’s going to eat the people outside to increase her power!”

Even from this distance, Sanae could use her sharp spirit senses to tell that the monster was targeting humans outside the construction site. That could only mean one thing. It was going to eat people in order to replenish its power before coming after Koutarou and Sanae again. The whole neighborhood was in danger.

“She knows she can’t win at this rate, but she can’t retreat! She’s going to keep eating people until she gets her power back!”

“What?! That would be a disaster!”

Koutarou hurriedly chased after the monster, but it had an incredible lead on him. His attacks would never reach it at this distance. It was about to escape the construction site, and from there it would go on a rampage in town until it got what it wanted.

Damn it, to think she would do something like that...

Koutarou kicked himself for not being able to predict this ahead of time. How many victims would there be? Ten? Twenty? More than that? Koutarou’s thoughts turned dark as he gave chase.

“There’s no need to worry.”

Suddenly, a familiar, powerful voice resounded throughout the construction site.

“Well done on enduring for this long on your own, my knight!”

The voice belonged to a girl Koutarou and Sanae knew very well—it was Theia. She was standing a ways off from them, her posture dignified and her chest puffed out proudly and she glared at the monster.

“Theia?!”

Having spotted her first, Sanae let out a joyous shout. There were several other familiar faces lined up next to Theia as well. Ruth, Yurika, and Shizuka, plus Kiriha and her two haniwas. The reinforcements from room 106 had finally arrived.

“Theia, what are you going to do?!”

Upon spotting Theia himself, Koutarou asked her what the plan was.

“Koutarou, Sanae, you two continue giving chase.”

But Theia didn’t answer his question. Instead, she gave him an order.

“I got it! Let’s go, Sanae!”

“Yeah!”

Theia was no longer the kind of shallow girl that would ignore others. And because he knew that, Koutarou understood that Theia was pressed for time. That’s why he didn’t hesitate to chase after the monster on her instructions.

“Yurika, contain the monster!”

“Okay! Quick Cast Bind Undead! Modifier: Superior Penetration!”

Yurika incanted a spell that prevented ghosts, zombies, and the like from being able to move. Magic tended to not be very effective against powerful undead creatures, and knowing that, Yurika poured extra mana into her spell.

“Gah, my body!”

The powered-up spell proved effective, and the monster stopped in its tracks midair. Yurika’s mana became like a lasso that had ensnared it.

“Could this be th-the same as that time?! Which means—”

The female ghost at the monster’s core remembered the sensation of not being able to move her body. It was the same thing she’d felt when Koutarou and the others had defeated her before.

“Here we go, Ruth, Kiriha, Shizuka! Prepare to attack!”

“I-It’s them!”

Turning her eye that she could just barely move, the monster confirmed what was behind her. She spotted a girl with golden hair along and a clear sense of hostility. There were also four other girls moving about busily, and the monster couldn’t imagine they’d come here for fun.

“Spiritual energy sensor activated, ho! Ruth-chan, are you getting the data? Ho!”

“I’m getting it, Karama-chan! Data has been converted and input into Blue Knight’s firing control system! Your Highness, we are ready!”

“Kiriha, how’s it going on your end?!”

“The photon to spiritual energy converter is up and operational! Korama, how are the adjustments?”

“Shizuka-chan, we’re counting on you, ho!”

“Um... something like this? Hyah!”

“Nee-san, the output wavelength has been synchronized to Shizuka-chan’s fighting spirit, ho!”

“Theia-dono, we’re set!”

“Good! Here we go, men! I don’t want to see any blunders!”

The monster could see Theia’s fearless smile.

“Eeek!”

It made the monster shudder. In spite of her smile, Theia’s face had hostility written all over it. It was the fierce expression of a royal who had decided to show no mercy to their enemy. And with that look on her face, Theia gave an order to the bracelet on her right wrist.

“Blue Knight! Anti-Material Laser Cannon!”

“As you wish, my princess.”

The next moment, a black hole appeared next to Theia. It was the same kind Koutarou had used to call out his swords. But what appeared from the hole Theia summoned was no sword. It was a large laser cannon with a barrel several meters long. It was the largest size of personal laser cannon, but because of its size and bulk, it couldn’t be aimed manually. It was a half-automatic weapon that aimed and fired on its own.

Once the cannon had fully emerged from the black hole, the two haniwas installed gold rings around the muzzle. After waiting for them to complete their task, Theia issued her next order.

“Output to maximum power! Firing mode to single-shot, and set the irradiation range to high convergence! Give it your best shot!”

“Altering firing mode. Adjusting range and focus. Retargeting in accordance to adjustments. Energy charging complete. Firing preparations are complete.”

“Then fire!”

The moment after the bracelet announced that the cannon was ready to fire, Theia gave the word without hesitation.

“As you wish, my princess.”

Immediately afterward, the laser cannon converted all of the energy it had stored into photons and ejected them from the muzzle in a flash. In Forthorthe, standard issue lasers were purposefully designed to emit light to show that they were firing. The laser from this cannon was originally red, but what actually fired from the barrel was white light.

The reason for the light’s change in color, in short, was the girls’ teamwork. Karama’s sensor detected the monster, and Ruth then sent that location data to Blue Knight. Blue Knight used that information to fire when Theia gave the order. The photons of the shot were changed into spiritual energy thanks to the devices Kiriha had brought to install on the muzzle. The converted spiritual energy was then synchronized to match the same wavelength Shizuka used when she attacked, so as long as the attack connected, it would do serious damage even to an incorporeal enemy. The girls had worked together to come up and execute the perfect plan.

“Gyaaaaaaaah!”

The monster roared in pain. After being converted into a different type of energy, it wasn’t strictly a laser anymore, but the shot from Theia’s cannon was still blindingly fast. By the time the monster even saw the light leave the barrel, it had already been hit. The shot was infused with the girls’ will to defeat their enemy, and the sheer power of it completely blew away the lower half of the monster’s body. The damage was serious enough that the monster could no longer stay in the air, and it plummeted down towards the construction site.

“Koutarou!”

“Yeah!”

The monster landed right in front of Koutarou and Sanae. They had gotten in position in case Theia’s attack hadn’t completely defeated the monster. It was a splendid plan, and they rushed in to finish the abomination off.

“Uuughh, why... why am I the only one this miserable? Why couldn’t I... h-have been at least a little happy after dying...?”

The monster was still alive. Without its lower body, it was simply crawling along the ground.

“Koutarou, she’s already...”

“Yeah. I know.”

The monster was still moving, but the female ghost controlling it had suffered a great deal of damage in the attack. It was obvious that she would pass on shortly, even if left alone. Even if she was evil, Koutarou and Sanae couldn’t bring themselves to attack her like this.

“Nobody... Nobody cares about me... I am alone... and I will face my end alone... ha... hahaha!”

Before long, the monster stopped moving. The female ghost no longer had enough energy to order around the other evil spirits.

“You’re wrong. Death isn’t the end.”

Sanae approached the monster. She squatted down next to her and reached out to wipe her tears away.

“Little kitten...?”

“And you won’t be alone. Someone somewhere out there is watching over you. I promise.”

“Sanae...”

Koutarou felt a strange sensation well up inside of him as he watched Sanae talking with the female ghost that was about to pass on. Koutarou mostly still thought of Sanae as a child, but right now she was opening up her heart to someone in their time of need. Someone who had just been her enemy, no less. She was radiating gentleness and maturity no child would be capable of.

“I don’t understand... but that’s... probably why I lost...”

The ghost’s body began emitting a faint light. Her figure began to fade and her body gradually lost its shape. Her time had finally come.

“Take better care next time, okay?”

Sanae smiled as she said that. She tried to wipe away the ghost’s tears once more, but she was so far gone now that Sanae could no longer touch her. That made Sanae feel bad. What this woman had done to Sanae no longer mattered to her. She just wanted to comfort her in her final moments.

“Next time, huh...? Will there be a next time for me...?”

“Of course. There’s no way there wouldn’t be.”

The ghost’s body grew fainter and fainter to the point that it was no longer visible to Koutarou. Only Sanae, who was sensitive to spiritual energy, could still see and hear the ghost now.

“You think so?”

“I’m sure of it. I don’t think the god of this world is that unforgiving.”

Sanae was convinced of that. Otherwise, she never would have been reunited with Koutarou. Not only had she gotten to see him again, but she now remembered him and everything about their life together. That was a miracle—no, it was several. And after witnessing those miracles come together, Sanae was quite sure the god of this world was indeed a gentle, caring one.

“Heh... I hope so...”

The ghost disappeared, leaving only the echoing sound of her soft laughter behind. Not even Sanae could tell if she had been saved or not, but that last laugh wasn’t a hollow and bitter one. Sanae chose to believe it was a good sign, and she prayed for her soul.

“Bye-bye, ghost lady... Let’s meet again...”

And so the ghost finally left this world, seen off by the very girl she’d been stalking for months.

Love is all, huh?

Koutarou couldn’t help being a little impressed when he took it all in himself and realized that Sanae was much more mature than he’d previously thought.

After seeing the ghost off, Sanae wiped away her own tears and turned back to Koutarou. When their eyes met, she smiled. Feeling that the battle was now over, she was finally able to relax.

What is this...?

However, Koutarou’s was still feeling tense. Even though the ghost had passed on, the evil presence wasn’t going away. In fact, it was growing even larger.

“What’s wrong, Koutarou?”

“Sanae, something’s strange. Don’t you feel it? This strange presence?”

“Now that you mention it...”

Once Koutarou pointed it out, Sanae picked up on it too. When she focused on the evil presences in the area, she realized that it was by her feet.

“Koutarou, this is weird! The ghost lady is gone, but the monster’s body isn’t going away!”

The identity of the evil presence was the monster created by the female ghost. Its lower half had been destroyed by Theia’s attack, and now the ghost controlling it had passed on. Yet despite that, the upper half of its body was still intact and its evil aura was suddenly growing.

“Sanae, just get back! It’s dangerous!”

“Okay!”

Sanae ran towards Koutarou. Not a moment later, the monster’s fist slammed into the ground where Sanae had just been standing. She would have been crushed on the spot if Koutarou hadn’t called for her.

“What’s going on?!”

There was no one left to control it, yet the monster was still moving. It was a bizarre and mysterious sight. As Koutarou tilted his head in confusion, Sanae came running back to him. After positioning her behind him, Koutarou pointed his sword at what was left of the monster. But rather than coming after them, the monster simply continued to crawl around and roll in circles. It seemed to be flailing, and it was apparently just a coincidence that it had almost crushed Sanae.

What’s up with that?

Sanae poked her head out from behind Koutarou and strained her eyes to focus on the monster’s upper body. By doing that, she would be able to see the flow of spiritual energy inside of it. And when she saw what was happening, she instinctively let out a scream.

“What is that?!”

The spiritual energy in the monster was far too disordered to have a proper flow. Normally there was a natural flow to spiritual energy, similar to the way blood circulated in vessels through the body. But the mass of energy in the monster was pure chaos, flowing in any and all directions at random. The upper half of its body seemed to be crawling around according to the pull of the energy.

“What’s wrong?!”

“Koutarou, there are too many evil spirits in that body! It’s out of control!”

“Out of control?!”

It was a nightmare the female ghost had unwittingly created.

In order to fight Koutarou and Sanae, she had sacrificed the last of her energy to gather as many evil spirits as she could. Her hatred sustained her, and she was able to control the evil spirits she gathered with sheer will. The end result under her influence was an abnormal number of evil spirits coalescing in one place. But she ended up passing on before releasing them from her control. What was left behind now was a clump of evil spirits forcibly merged to one another. They were all rampaged around inside in an attempt to escape from their constraints.

“The evil spirits in that body want to be released! But since they’ve been forced into this form, they can’t get out! They’re all just struggling, and their energies are running amok!”

“So what’s going to happen?!”

“I don’t know! But I don’t think it will be pretty!”

Not even Sanae was sure what would happen next. But if several hundred evil spirits forcibly joined together continued to rampage on like they were, it was clear nothing good would come of it. They’d seen what kind of damage one spirit could cause before, but this was something else altogether.

Kiriha’s two haniwas had floated over to Koutarou and Sanae before they’d realized it, and they were the ones to deliver the very answer they were afraid of.

“It will explode, ho!”

“The pressure will continue to build until it blows up, ho!”

The haniwas knew what was going to happen thanks to the data they were receiving from their observational sensors.

“Explode?! Seriously?!”

“Explain!”

Hearing that the monster would explode, Koutarou and Sanae knew they had to do something. They started by approaching the haniwas and demanding more details on the situation.

“Assuming that the body has the standard strength of a powerful spiritual entity, I have calculated how big the explosion will be. I’ve also calculated how long we have until it explodes based on the rate it’s taking in spiritual energy, ho!”

“There won’t be much physical damage, ho! It’ll only scorch the ground a little when it explodes, ho!”

“That’s it? Then who cares? Let’s just leave it be.”

“Jeez...”

Hearing that all they’d be dealing with was a small explosion, Koutarou and Sanae both slumped their shoulders in relief.

“We can’t do that, ho! The effect of the spiritual body exploding will kill any life forms with souls within a 300 meter radius, ho! They’ll be hit with a shockwave capable of fracturing minds, ho!”

The fatality rate for any living thing within 300 meters of the site would be 100 percent, guaranteed. It would gradually drop off after that, but everyone within a kilometer radius of the explosion would be affected.

“You should have said that first!”

“Wait, wait! Karama-chan, how long until it explodes?!”

“Another two minutes and 23 seconds, ho!”

“Kyaaah! Noooooooo!”

Night had now fallen, and most of the residents in the neighborhood were home by now. Evacuating them all in a timeframe like that was impossible. This would become the worst tragedy Kisshouharukaze City had every known.

“Koutarou!”

At last, Theia and the others arrived. They’d received the same information and were equally freaked out.

“Just how far away do we have to get to be safe?! Even if we all run now, we won’t make it in time!”

“It’s definitely impossible for me! I’ll definitely die!”

“I’m not sure I can run that far either...”

“Kiriha, isn’t there some way?! At this rate, we’re all going to die!”

“It’s not like there’s not a way, but... it’ll be difficult.”

The only one not panicking was Kiriha, but even she wore a rather grave expression. The odds of making it out of this weren’t in their favor.

“Tell us!”

“We need to force all the evil spirits composing this body to pass on before it explodes. By doing that, the spiritual energy that’s building and primed to explode will diffuse naturally in the process.”

“Is that even possible?!”

“It’s not possible for me. But if anyone can do it, Sanae can.”

“Nooooo, I just became a human again! I don’t want to die— Wait, me?”

Realizing she had become the subject of the discussion, Sanae froze.

“That’s right. Karama and Korama’s spiritual energy weapons don’t have enough power to force that many evil spirits to pass on now, but with your powers, you should be able to handle it.”

“Sanae-chan, could you triple the amount of spiritual energy you put into Koutarou’s sword? Ho!”

“If you can, we have a chance, ho! We can amplify your powers, ho!”

“You want me to triple it? Hmm... I won’t know unless I try.”

Sanae furrowed her brow. The amount of spiritual energy required to do what the haniwas were asking was enough that Sanae wasn’t sure she could pull it off.

“But I have to do it, right?”

“That’s right.”

Kiriha nodded firmly. And Sanae nodded back in response.

“Okay, I’ll give it a try! Because I’m the incredible woman that makes miracles happen! Yours truly, Sanae-chan!”

Sanae wasn’t planning on letting go of her ticket to the future here. And to see that future through, she would become as strong as she needed to be.

As Koutarou stood holding Saguratin in both hands, Sanae moved around to his back.

“I’m sorry, Koutarou.”

“What for?”

“I’m going to be a little reckless, so I wanted to apologize beforehand.”

“But you’re always a little reckless, aren’t you?”

“Heehee, I guess so!”

Sanae giggled a little as she lightly pressed her hands onto Koutarou’s back. She then closed her eyes and focused.

“Here I go, Koutarou.”

Koutarou heard Sanae’s voice, but not in his ears. He heard it in his soul, just like Sanae used to talk to him.

“Sanae?”

“Long time no see, Koutarou.”

But it wasn’t just her voice. A familiar figure appeared in front of Koutarou. It was Sanae, but the version of Sanae Koutarou had known as a ghost.

“Long time no see? What did you do?! You’re supposed to be behind me! Wait, you’re both places?!”

Koutarou was astonished. There was one Sanae in front of and one behind him. The only difference between them was their age and hairstyle. Other than that, they were the exact same girl, and Koutarou had a hard time telling them apart.

“Heehee, this is what you call astral projection.”

The Sanae in front of him smiled. She was a projection of Sanae’s soul, which is why she looked the way she did. This was how Sanae still thought of herself on the inside.

“Astral projection?!”

“Yeah. The truth is that the best method to increase your spiritual energy is the method that ghost lady used.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m going to become one with you, Koutarou. By doing that, I can use a lot more power than I could have on my own.”

The Sanae in front of Koutarou put her hands on his chest. As she did, her body slowly sunk into his. In seconds, she was completely inside of his.

“So that’s what you meant by being reckless.”

“Yeah. I might not be able to separate from you. If that happens, I’m sorry.”

As a ghost, Sanae had slept inside of Koutarou many times before, but what she was about do now was taking that to a new level. Instead of just entering him, she was merging with him. But since it was her first time doing it, she wasn’t sure how it would work out.

“We’ve done similar stuff before.”

“Ahaha, you’re right.”

Since the day they met, Sanae had always been with Koutarou. There had been times where they were apart briefly, but they spent the most of their time together. Koutarou figured that even if they couldn’t separate after this, life wouldn’t be much different than how it had been.

“Okay, then here I go, Koutarou.”

“Yeah.”

That’s why Koutarou didn’t hesitate. He wasn’t even the slightest bit scared of merging with Sanae.

“Hup!”

With that, Koutarou could feel someone entering his mind. Koutarou called out to the visitor, but with his mind rather than his voice.

“Is that you, Sanae?”

“Yeah. Can you tell?”

“Yeah. It feels strange hearing a voice inside my head though.”

“I’m going to hurry, okay? If I relax, I feel like I just might melt inside of you.”

“That would be bad.”

“Because you don’t like me?”

“You already know the answer to that, don’t you?”

“Heehee, I thought I’d ask anyway.”

After entering Koutarou’s mind, Sanae overwrote his internal energy flow and connected their spiritual bodies. When she did, their spiritual energy merged, increasing in size as it flowed through both of them.

“Oh, is this it?!”

Their combined spiritual energy then began flowing into Saguratin in Koutarou’s hands. To Koutarou, it did feel like it was three times what he’d used before.

“Koutarou, I’ll leave the attacking to you. I don’t know much about stuff like that, so I think it’s best if you handle it.”

“All right, I’ll give it a shot.”

Koutarou readjusted his grip on the sword and pointed it at what was left of the monster’s body still writhing on the ground.

“Karama, Korama, let’s start.”

“Okay, ho!”

“The amplification system has been activated, ho! Whenever you’re ready, ho!”

Thanks to his merging with Sanae, all of Koutarou’s psychic abilities were enhanced. Right now, he could even see the spiritual energy flowing through Karama and Korama. With this power, he was convinced they’d be able to send the rest of the spirits to the afterlife. Koutarou raised his sword high with confidence.

“Say, Koutarou...”

Just before Koutarou swung his sword down, Sanae whispered to him. It was enough to make him pause before attacking, and he stood there with his sword held over his head.

“What is it?”

“There’s something I want to tell you while I can.”

“Can’t it wait for later?”

“I just feel like I can tell you without any misunderstandings right now. And I don’t have to worry about anyone else overhearing.”

“Then tell me. But we don’t have a lot of time, so make it quick, okay?”

They had less than thirty seconds before the monster would burst. It wasn’t exactly the time for chitchat.

“Okay, then I’ll just say it. Here goes...”

Sanae paused for a moment as she steeled herself. But once she put what she wanted to say into words, she didn’t hold back.

“I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you—”

It was a simple phrase, really. But could Koutarou could see—feel, even—the meaning behind it with the sudden increase in spiritual energy that came over him. It flowed right into Saguratin, which was easily five times more powerful now than it had been when he was fighting the monster with Sanae’s help earlier.

“Love is all, huh? You really are a handful...”

“Huh?”

Reacting to Koutarou mumbling, Sanae stopped speaking. But even though she fell silent, her spiritual energy continued to increase. Sanae, however, was completely unaware of it.

“It’s nothing. Let’s wrap this up.”

“Why are you laughing? Hey, Koutarou!”

Koutarou continued laughing and didn’t give Sanae an answer. He then swung down Saguratin at full force. The results need not be said.