My youth story cannot be a knight war

"Well!?"

Hikigaya Hachiman couldn't help but grit his teeth. When he heard his own name, he confirmed that these ghosts, or other beings that appeared from the glass, were indeed here to seek revenge on him.

He even targeted his sister. If he hadn't reacted quickly, the knife would have pierced Hikigaya Komachi's eyes.

But he really couldn't understand when he had done something that could cause so much hatred from so many people? You have to know that before this, the only time he had killed an animal was when he accidentally killed the goldfish in the classroom fish tank in elementary school, not to mention other bad things.

Why do you hate me so much?

He stared at the dancing arms, his heart full of confusion and doubt, even the physical pain was suppressed at this moment.

hum-

And at this moment, the strange noise from before sounded again.

As the sound rang out, the arms began to dance and twist more violently. Hundreds and thousands of hands were waving as if they were suffering from mania, and the sounds suddenly became louder.

——"No! That's not right! You are not him! Who are you? Stop, stop it!"

——"I don't want to! I don't want to go back there! Let me out! I want to go back!"

——"Let me go! You damn beast! I am your master!"

——"So that's how it is. You are him and you are not him... Then perhaps your existence could be..."

All the outstretched arms quickly retreated towards the extended mirror. Some arms were still clinging to the outside world for a firm grasp when they were about to disappear, as if they were not doing so voluntarily.

But as a low howl, which was not possible for humans, sounded from behind the mirror, a huge dragging force pulled all the arms into it. When the arms disappeared, the countless ripples on the glass slowly shrank until they finally disappeared completely.

But the vision subsided, but the people who were frightened by this scene could not calm down.

All the students sat down on the ground, some burst into tears, some were stunned, and some had frowns on their faces. The last one was Hikigaya Hachiman.

He stared blankly at the sliding door whose glass had returned to normal, not knowing what he was thinking.

"……elder brother?"

Hikigaya Komachi, who had not yet recovered, noticed his abnormality and looked up at her brother uneasily. The hand that was holding his collar increased its strength in panic.

"Are you okay? Are you injured?!"

She looked at the cut on Hikigaya Hachiman's shoulder that was still bleeding, and reached out her hand in panic to cover it for him. The pain from the wound brought Hikigaya Hachiman back to his senses.

"...Don't worry, I'm fine."

He looked at Hikigaya Komachi's tearful face, opened his mouth, and finally asked the question in his mind.

"Komachi, did you hear just now——!!!"

The dazzling red light suddenly illuminated my sister's face, the ground behind her, and the entire classroom.

--boom!!!!!!

Before they could react, all the windows in the classroom and even the entire school shattered at this moment. The powerful shock wave swept across all the buildings on campus, carrying dust and broken glass.

At that critical moment, Hikigaya Hachiman's body reacted before his consciousness.

He hugged Hikigaya Komachi, holding her tightly in his arms, using his body as a shield to block the direction of the light and shock wave.

The back of his head and every inch of his back felt as if being hit by a battering ram at the same time. Under this impact, Hikigaya Hachiman's brain went blank in an instant, and his consciousness was blown out of his body.

Immediately afterwards, flames far more intense than before enveloped the world before him and his consciousness.

11. Fate's Proverbs (5K)

“Uh ...

In the sky filled with black fog, the pitch-black aurora swirled and floated, and an inharmonious rhythm as subtle as a musical note was produced. Then two shrill howls resounded throughout the sky.

Two figures appeared out of thin air in the aurora that spread over Tokyo, and then immediately fell downward according to the law of gravity, one after the other falling into the surging sea water directly below, splashing two huge water sprays into the sky.

"——Puwa! It's so cold!!!"

Bubbles mixed with snow flakes spread on the sea surface that was hit, and then a white mushroom head immediately emerged from the sea water, and the lips turned purple because the body temperature was quickly taken away by the cold sea water.

This person was Zaimokuza, and just when he surfaced from the sea, another black mushroom-head rushed out of the water beside him. Kyosuke Kousaka, who surfaced from the sea, immediately swam hard towards the coastline not far away without saying a word.

"Wait, wait for me! Mr. Kousaka!"

Seeing this, Zaimokuza also quickly slapped the water and used the unfamiliar dog paddle style to chase after Kousaka who was swimming in front of him without looking back. The two finally climbed onto the shore before they became hypothermic, and lay in a V-shape on the shore, breathing heavily.

"W-Where is this?! Why us? And how many times is this going to happen again?"

Feeling that his body was almost frozen, Kousaka curled up with his hands on his chest, looking at the endless horizon in front of him with a grim face, and said tremblingly.

"I, I, I want to know too..."

The facial features of Zaimokuza were almost wrinkled into the shape of an "*". Faced with the abnormal phenomena that happened to them one after another, he also felt speechless.

Although Zaimokuza usually doesn't like to think for himself, he is not a fool, otherwise he would not have been able to get into Sobu High School, which has one of the highest deviation values ​​in grades in Chiba Prefecture. So now that Zaimokuza has left his external brain (Hikigaya Hachiman), he is forced to use his brain, which is in a downtime state except for exams, to think about the current situation.

First of all, it is certain that the abnormalities that happened to them were definitely not coincidences or bad luck. After all, the combination of "Yoshiki Zaimokuza & Kyosuke Kousaka" alone is very intriguing. You must know that their other identities before this were the male lead and the second male lead in the "story" played on the video and the light screen.

It just so happened that the two main characters in this "story" were dragged into the sky by a strange force when the vision occurred. According to Kousaka's previous discovery, Zaimokuza could believe that the two of them had indeed come to the future world that was previously played on the light screen, and even to Tokyo, the main location.

But you have to know, according to the information they know, the future of the two of them is now in this ruined city that has become a wasteland.

There must be a reason for this, such as what mission the two of them are shouldering in coming to this future world, or what connection is there... connection?

Thinking of this, Zaimokuza was stunned for a moment, and then he immediately realized it.

Connection - You know, in the future they will be the well-deserved saviors of the world today. If viewed from the perspective of the three major religions, they are the promised people who combine all the good deeds, Buddha's fruits and destiny in the world, and are comparable to the saints who are the reincarnations of Jesus and Sakyamuni Buddha.

And they are the past existences of the protagonists of two such eras. Is there any connection in the world that could be more profound than this?

In other words, as long as we find their future selves, we might be able to get answers to all these anomalies!

Thinking of this, Zaimokuza's heart suddenly began to beat rapidly. He quickly sniffed his runny nose and turned to the trembling Kousaka beside him and said:

"Mr. Kosaka! Maybe we can go—"

--boom! ! !

A violent roar shook the sky, the shock wave swept up the snow crystals on the surface of the sea, and the violent whirlwind drowned out the words that Zaimokuza wanted to say.

"Ugh!!!"

The shock wave from behind pushed them both so hard that they almost fell into the sea again, but they quickly stretched out their hands and grabbed the mooring piles beside them to stabilize their bodies, and hit the edge of the shore before falling into the water.

Zaimokuza felt dizzy for a moment as his entire face hit the concrete embankment, while Kousaka covered his nose with one hand, and blood flowed from under his palm. It was obvious that his nose had suffered serious injuries.

He poked his head out from the embankment tremblingly, and the firelight reflected in his eyes made Kousaka's pupils shrink rapidly.

“W-What’s going on!?”

……

"Before we start, I have a question for you."

Kousaka was the first to break the silence and repression between the two people present. He pointed a gun at Baruba, who was still calm in front of him, with one hand, and slowly raised a piece of old parchment with the other hand.

There are a total of ten patterns engraved on this parchment with an anti-slip surface. The texture and style of those patterns allow people who know them to see at a glance that these are the unique totem-like signatures of Gulangi.

Among these totems, Baruba's personal logo is prominently listed, in addition to Daguba, and even Gamio's totem is engraved on it. Among these totems, only the representative totems of these three are distinctively white.

Holding the parchment, Kousaka's gaze pierced the icy beauty in front of him with a cold knife and asked his questions.

"What is the purpose of 'Kikiru'?"

"You've asked this question before and got the answer, right?"

Facing the muzzle of the gun from which steam was still emanating, Baruba's eyes remained calm and his tone was composed.

"Kikiru is just a sacrificial ritual. Its sole purpose is to summon the Ultimate Darkness. The sacrifices are humans and the other Gurongi who failed in the game. That's all."

"...That's just the essence. What I want to ask you this time is your true purpose in doing this—for example, what exactly will happen after you invite the 'Ultimate Darkness'?"

The word "sacrifice" from her mouth made Kousaka squint his eyes, hiding the boiling murderous intent flashing in his eyes, and he continued to question indifferently.

"What's going to happen? What's going to happen, haven't you seen it by now?"

Baruba turned his head and looked through the old, blurry glass windows of the warehouse at the dark sky outside, the phantom of the city, and the faint purple ring of fire at the end of the sky, and spoke softly.

"This is the 'Ultimate Darkness,' a demonic force that descended from the sky and eroded this land in the past. It is a higher-dimensional existence that transcends the dimensions of the universe, a world beyond the reach of any single life form."

"But this situation isn't what you originally wanted to see, right?"

Glancing at the blurry world outside the window, Kousaka sneered and mocked.

"Although the specific cause is still unknown, the advent of 'Ultimate Darkness' has clearly caused a major problem. It's currently in a state of limbo, isn't it?"

The next moment, his tone suddenly changed, and he shouted almost like a roar.

"Tell me! What is your true purpose in bringing about the "Ultimate Darkness"!?"

This sentence made Baruba slowly turn his gaze back to Kousaka. Staring at his face, Baruba suddenly smiled.

"You're right. This is indeed an unexpected surprise... It seems this planet hides more secrets than I know."

"But it doesn't matter. The current situation is actually quite favorable for us. Perhaps we can take remedial measures to address the current situation."

The muzzle of the phone was pointed at Baruba's eyebrows, and Kousaka's tone became even colder. Several snowflakes that floated in from the leak in the house passed in front of him, but were shattered into snow grains by the murderous aura that was almost condensed into substance.

"So, I'd like to ask you, one of the people who caused all of this to happen, what exactly will happen if the 'Ultimate Darkness' truly descends upon this planet?"

"...Haven't you already guessed this? You're so smart after all."

Faced with this question, Baruba's eyes looked very strange, and he looked at Kousaka with a smile.

"...Linduo will become like us."

"..."

After receiving a firm response from her, Kousaka took a deep breath and suppressed the urge to pull the trigger immediately.

He had to admit one thing, this woman was like his natural nemesis. Every time they met, she could easily use words to cause severe damage to his rationality and calmness, or even completely defeat him.

With a tense face, Kousaka's expression could no longer be described as "cold as snow", but only as "chilly as ice".

"As expected...when the 'Ultimate Darkness' descends, all humans will become Gurongi?"

"Yes, but it's more than that."

Baruba calmly acknowledged the truth that would cause panic among all mankind if it were spread, and continued to add lightly.

"By then, not just humans, but all other life on this planet, including plants and even inanimate inorganic matter, will be assimilated by the power of the 'Ultimate Darkness,' just like this."

hum-

She reached out and took off one of the stone magatama beads on her right wrist, then raised it in front of Kousaka's slightly changed expression and gently clenched it in her hand.

A pale green light appeared between Baruba's fingers. A pale long blade, similar in shape to a Tang sword, extended from her palm. The bone-white blade was smooth and bright like a mirror.

Then Baruba calmly inserted the long blade into the ground. The hard floor tiles were easily torn apart by the blade like water. There was not even any cutting sound. In fact, because the blade was too smooth, it was still slowly sinking.

"The Azedite Jade I'm using is a stone that was eroded by the power of the first arrival of the 'Ultimate Darkness' and has mutated. Due to its scarcity, players who participate in 'Kikiru' each time can receive a string to use as a ritual catalyst. Only high-level combatants in the 'GO' group are eligible to equip it."

"Weapons made with Yased Jade are of superior quality compared to weapons made with other materials. I think you should have discovered this after all this time."

She withdrew her hand, allowing the long knife to tear through the floor tiles and sink into the next layer.

"And when the Ultimate Darkness fully descends, every stone on this planet will transform into Aseed Jade. Everything will possess the same qualities as us Gurongi. Even the name 'Gurongi' will refer specifically to life forms transformed from humans, becoming part of the same lineage of life that inherits the power of the Ultimate Darkness as all other creatures."

"It is a brand new era for all life on this planet, a complete reversal of all past history. The new future will be born from the remains of the old."

Having said that, Baruba paused, and his eyes suddenly became a little hazy and lost.

"And the cycle of reincarnation will restart again."

"……What's the meaning?"

Kosaka was trying his best to suppress the murderous intent that surged in his heart after hearing these words, then he keenly noticed the hidden meaning in Baruba's words and said with a cold face.

"...Actually, the reason we did this in the beginning was simply because we wanted to gain new companions."

Baruba slowly raised his right hand. The skin on this hand was flawless white, without any pores visible. Even in the Far North country that produced many Wikipedia models and beauties, it was difficult to find women with such beautiful arms.

This is a hand with extremely high artistic beauty. If there is a beauty pageant with the theme of "beautiful hands" in the world one day, Baruba will probably win the championship.

But in the next moment, this stunningly beautiful hand changed. Countless vines broke through the skin and climbed and entwined on the surface. The delicate five fingers stretched and twisted, and the nails and fingertips assimilated into each other, flashing a cold light that even a dagger could not match. On the pale skin, densely packed scaly tissues like fish scales could be seen.

This is no longer an arm that a human can have, it can only be possessed by demons and monsters.