The Decisive Battle

Daitron Bridge is one of the bridges connecting Empire and Holy Kingdom territory.

And in the early morning, there's almost no one around.

A convenient situation for Wall, having just finished some shady work.

Wall wore a cloak over his black priest's robes, a large bundle strapped to his back.

Too large to be travel luggage.

Wall, his robust physique defying his age, carried it without any trouble.

Inside was a single girl.

"Wait."

A voice stopped Wall as he approached the bridge.

A figure stood in the middle of the stone bridge.

Sharp eyes fixed on Wall—Riogren.

In those eyes burned a will that would never break.

"… You came."

Wall murmured, letting something like sorrow—or perhaps compassion—show on his face.

"I'm taking Laura back."

"You haven't forgotten that I said I would kill you if you stood before me again, have you?"

"Of course not."

Rio's eyes held no hesitation.

It wasn't that he wasn't afraid of death.

Riogren had been an ordinary farm boy until recently.

He hated pain. He hated fighting.

But losing Laura would be even worse.

"So once again, I must crush a young soul…"

Sighing, Wall drew his scripture from his breast pocket.

For Wall, this battle's outcome was already decided.

Rio couldn't break through the barrier. There was no way Wall could lose.

"OOOOOOHH!"

Yet as the young man still charged forward, sword raised high, Wall sighed once more.

The sword struck the barrier covering Wall's body.

But no damage.

Rio slashed again—twice, three times—but Wall still hadn't even moved.

The sword colliding with the Spatial Severance scattered sparks, filling Wall's vision.

"Straightforwardness is a young person's privilege… but isn't this a bit too foolish?"

He thrust his hand forward to crush the young man before him.

At that moment, Wall noticed something wrong.

The weight of the bundle on his back was gone.

He quickly turned around to find Gil trying to make off with the bundle.

"—Impudent!"

He switched targets and launched an attack barrier.

A massive impact struck Gil's back. He collapsed on the spot, dropping the bundle.

"Tch… my pickpocketing never got caught back in the Imperial Capital…"

"I see. It doesn't matter if you can't beat me, as long as you reclaim 'Time Reversal.'"

"Yeah. Unfortunately for you, I'm not as green as Rio."

Gil knew exactly what he had to do.

The victory condition wasn't defeating Wall—it was reclaiming Laura.

If the bundle had been covered by the defensive barrier too, they would have lost.

Wall couldn't manipulate the barrier he constantly deployed with such precision as to freely change its size.

This was a form Wall had perfected through years of training, shaped to fit his body exactly in order to minimize energy consumption.

The more proficient one became with Soullight, the more it was refined to maximize power with minimum effort.

Wall's constantly deployed omnidirectional barrier was no exception.

"Also, that guy over there seems seriously intent on taking you down."

Wall felt an impact from behind—Rio had slashed at him again. The sword was once more deflected by the barrier.

"Nuisance."

Wall pointed his right hand at Rio.

But just as he was about to deploy an attack barrier, something unexpected blocked his vision.

"'Water, obey my will.'"

As Fren's chant rang out, water drawn from the river surged toward Wall.

The water was blocked by the barrier and didn't reach Wall's body.

But the water filling his entire field of vision was more than effective as a smokescreen.

"Tch…!"

He deployed a wide attack barrier, pushing the water back.

By then, Rio had already vanished from his sight.

"… Which means, behind me."

Turning around, he found Rio slashing at him again.

Behind him was Gil, reaching for the bundle once more.

"Nuisance."

He didn't even bother reacting to Rio swinging down his sword anymore.

Wall took aim at Gil and launched an attack barrier.

"Guh…"

Though his hand reached the bundle, Gil's body was sent flying again.

As he flew, Gil's fingers caught the wrapping, tearing part of it away.

"Laura!"

Laura's face, eyes closed, was exposed, and Rio called her name.

"Once I know your aim, the rest is easy."

Wall walked steadily toward Laura, step by step.

Rio unleashed a storm of sword strikes, but Wall didn't even bother to counterattack anymore.

"Damn it…"

Attacking with everything he had, yet being completely ignored.

Despair began to fill Rio's heart.

Fren used magic to block Wall's vision with water, but Wall no longer even reacted.

He simply walked straight toward Laura.

Rio's grip on his sword tightened, his blade's speed increasing further.

But Wall's barrier didn't waver. Rio ground his teeth.

This result couldn't be blamed on any lack of effort from Rio.

Wall, now past fifty, had spent over thirty years honing his Soullight. He'd been training since long before Rio was even born.

That Rio couldn't reach him was only natural.

"Damn…"

"Eyesore."

Wall suddenly changed his movement, and Rio couldn't react.

A thrusting-type attack barrier.

The Spatial Severance, sharpened like a knife, was driven into Rio, and he collapsed with a gaping hole in his abdomen.

"Gah, ah…"

"Rio-san!"

Wall's emotionless eyes looked down at Rio.

Fren and Gil tried to intervene, but there was no way they'd make it in time.

Rio's vision flickered.

On the verge of death, he had no room to dodge an attack.

"Then, as declared, please die."

"—Rio!"

Before he knew it, Laura had awakened and was looking his way.

Rio and Laura's gazes met. To Rio, on the verge of death, that moment felt like an eternity.

After all, he couldn't give up.

If he died here, Laura would die too.

A kind-hearted girl would be killed by someone whose face she didn't even know.

It was wrong. It was unjust. Unforgivable.

That feeling hadn't changed since he took her hand and left the village.

He clenched his teeth and tried to force strength into his body.

—At that moment, Bloom's words came back to him.

"Yes, that's the radiance of your soul, its essence. 'Indomitable.' With that, you can't lose to anyone."

Words he couldn't understand at the time. Words that returned to him in this desperate moment.

The radiance of his soul, its essence. Rio turned his gaze inward, trying to find it.

—It was a small, weak light. That soul was, like Rio himself, immature and feeble.

But even on the brink of death, it hadn't lost its radiance.

This was the essence of his soul. The origin of his Soullight.

Once more, he wrung power from his soul. Believing that 'Indomitable' was his strength, he tried to manifest that power.

His dying body should have had no strength left to stand—or so it should have been.

—At that moment, a change occurred in Rio's blood-soaked soul.

A dazzling light shone upon Daitron Bridge.

 

＊　＊　＊

 

"Here it is, here it is, here it is! Riogren's awakening scene!"

A dazzling light shone on the bridge below.

I leaned out from behind the tree in excitement.

Having watched them fight with bated breath, my elation was all the greater.

You could even say this moment is the most intense scene in all of Sourai.

Getting excited as a fan is only natural.

Ahh, I wish I could've taken a picture. Such a shame cameras don't exist in this world.

Rio's body on the ground was enveloped in brilliant light.

The soul's radiance overflowing outside the body—normally an inconceivable sight.

But the protagonist Riogren's Soullight was special.

Manifesting its true value only under miraculous conditions, Rio's Soullight held many times the power of an ordinary person.

His awakened ability was 'Synchronization with Parallel World Selves.'

He could wield such power because 'Time Reversal'—Laura—was by his side.

'Time Reversal' essentially meant her very existence served as a divergence point to parallel worlds.

The act of reversing time was nothing other than returning to a divergence point toward a different future.

And in any world, the person whose future she most wanted to change was always Riogren.

She wanted his future to be happier. She wanted him to live a better life.

Such wishes layered upon each other, and eventually Rio became like the trunk of a tree, branching into divergence points with parallel worlds.

A sort of distortion in the world also affected Rio's soul, making interference with parallel worlds possible.

This was less a result of Rio's talent and more a consequence of the peculiarity of Laura's Soullight.

That's precisely why even the final boss Milady couldn't foresee this power.

"In other words, Laura and Rio are fated partners, inseparable soulmates, two wings of one bird, the perfect couple! His childhood friend is his femme fatale—how perfect is that!? Riogren, just explode already!"

My excitement boiling over, I stood up and shouted.

Right now everyone's focused on the battle, so no one will notice.

I felt just like a kid cheering at a hero show.

"Go, Rio! Gooo!"

Because I was shouting like that, I completely failed to notice the shadow approaching from behind.

The shadow behind me raised its arm.

Completely defenseless, I failed to notice—and was sent flying by a violent impact.

… It was such a good part. At least let me watch till the end.

As I fell into the river, that was about my last thought.

 

＊　＊　＊

 

The moment Daitron Bridge was enveloped in dazzling light, a great change came over Rio.

First, unfamiliar knowledge flooded rapidly into his mind.

It was proof that his soul had connected to parallel worlds.

Proof that Rio had truly mastered his Soullight.

The memories flowing in belonged to 'Rioglens of parallel worlds.'

Memories of dedicating his entire life to the sword.

Memories of devoting his life to magical training.

Memories of mastering foreign swordsmanship.

Memories of spending a lifetime as a mercenary on battlefields.

All of them were what Riogren might have become.

What-ifs of Rio's life had he survived losing to Wall here. Memories of parallel worlds.

Memories of dedicating his life to training in order to defeat the Vanguard Church that took Laura away.

Visions and memories that ordinary people could never see flowed into Rio's mind.

One of the triggers was meeting the eyes of Laura, the bearer of 'Time Reversal.'

And another was having a heart that said "I won't give up" even while facing death.

The trigger connecting parallel worlds to this place was the 'indomitable heart.'

A heart possessed by Rio in every world. The moment when his soul shone brightest.

That resonated across worlds.

Having swallowed the sensation of what felt like a thousand-year journey, he finally became aware of the true essence of his soul's radiance.

Bloom had said his Soullight's essence was 'Indomitable.'

But 'Indomitable' was, so to speak, merely the prerequisite of his power.

Not a single Riogren in any parallel world had given up.

Laura, who had been taken, might still be alive.

If they defeated the Vanguard Church, they might be able to get her back.

They had each lived nearly a thousand years clinging to such slim possibilities.

A heart that would never give up no matter how many times it was repeated.

Through his Soullight's awakening, he now held within himself the power of all those parallel world Rioglens who had never given up.

 

＊　＊　＊

 

"Huu…"

The dazzling light settled into the young man's chest.

At the sight, like a miracle from God, everyone had stopped moving.

Even Wall, who should have been an enemy, stood dumbfounded without delivering the finishing blow.

But Rio, who had caused this phenomenon, showed no signs of confusion.

He drew a deep breath. Rio's aura had completely changed.

Already, the immature boy from before was nowhere to be found.

There stood a martial artist with clear eyes fixed on his enemy.

"Tch…! 'O sacred wall!'"

Finally snapping back to his senses upon seeing those eyes, Wall released a full-power attack barrier.

An attack holding nothing back, born from sensing danger to his own life.

A spear-like Spatial Severance shot toward Rio. Its tip was invisible and impossible to defend against—or should have been.

"Hah…"

The sword Rio swung down deflected the transparent spear.

If you could sense the flow of air, even an invisible spear could be predicted.

For the current Rio, whether he could see the enemy's weapon was a trivial matter.

"No—no matter how skilled with a blade, it's impossible to break through my invincible barrier!"

Rio, sword ready, closed in on Wall.

But as long as slashing was a physical phenomenon, there was no way to break through the Spatial Severance.

Wall was certain of this from his years of experience.

"Shibahara Style—"

Rio's stance shifted.

From an orthodox middle guard to one specialized for thrusting.

"Raiden."

It was a Far Eastern sword technique that a parallel world Rio had mastered.

A thrust developed to slip through gaps in armor and inflict fatal wounds against heavily armored opponents.

Wall's barrier wasn't a wall covering all of space.

It was more like a screen door than a wall.

The holes were made small enough that swords and magic could never pass through, achieving practical invincibility.

The proof was that Fren's water magic had slightly dampened Wall's clothes.

—If so, there was no reason a thrust accurate enough to thread a needle couldn't break through.

"OOOOOOOOH!"

Rio's superhuman senses felt the flow of air and identified the gaps in the barrier.

The sword tip, honed by a thousand years of training, broke through the barrier—and pierced Wall's heart.

"Guh, hah…"

Impossible.

With that expression, Wall coughed blood and collapsed. Rio watched him impassively and sheathed his sword.

"Gil, please take care of Laura."

"Y-yeah…"

Though bewildered by Rio's completely transformed aura, Gil responded.

Rio slowly walked toward Wall.

"You look satisfied for someone who lost."

"Heh, do I?"

Wall's eyes no longer held hostility. He understood that his wound was fatal.

"—Surely, I wanted to be punished like this."

The believer who had lived fifty years spoke.

"While doubting the darkness of my own work, I continued carrying out my duties, telling myself it was my mission, shutting down my own thoughts. I continued harming others while vaguely knowing it was wrong. Surely, the Lord has given punishment to a fool like me."

"…"

If he knew it was wrong, I wish he'd stopped doing things that hurt Laura.

Though he held such thoughts inside, the composed Rio asked matter-of-factly.

"Who were you following while knowing it was wrong?"

"The Archbishop."

Wall answered without hesitation, and Rio furrowed his brow.

"Is that the one trying to harm Laura?"

"… Yes. The Archbishop ordered me to bring Laura-jou."

Wall answered Rio's questions honestly, his expression refreshed as if years of regret had lifted.

"Orders from the Archbishop, the highest authority, are equivalent to the Lord's will. As long as the Archbishop doesn't give up on Laura-jou, the church will attack you again and again."

Wall slowly closed his eyes.

At the end, he left words for the young seed who would remain for the future.

"That's why you must become even stronger to protect what's precious to you. Because surely, even as you are now, you are no match for the Archbishop."

Peacefully, as if being watched over by family and passing away in bed, Black Priest Sixth Rank Wall breathed his last.

 

＊　＊　＊

 

Time rewinds to shortly before Wall's defeat.

Bloom, suddenly attacked, was sent flying into the river.

The back of my head, where I'd been struck, throbbed intensely.

My whole body hurt from slamming into the water's surface.

"Kh…!"

I swam out of the river and immediately drew the Death God's Scythe.

Being submerged in water had cooled me down considerably, and I regained clear thinking. Apparently I'd gotten carried away watching Rio's awakening.

I organized the situation in my mind.

I'd been ambushed by an enemy. I hadn't confirmed their numbers, appearance, or abilities.

A pretty bad situation.

For now, let me forget about Rio's battle and focus… Though I'm dying to know what's happening.

"'Fog That Heralds Death.'"

I deployed fog as a smokescreen.

This should prevent another ambush.

That's what I thought, so I'd neglected to watch above.

"[Unintelligible sounds]!"

The flying enemy struck from directly overhead.

Just before my skull was split, I barely rolled on the ground to dodge.

"… It can see?"

The fog was a domain where only I could gain visual advantage.

Being ambushed was a first.

I could deduce that the enemy had some way to see through the fog.

That powerful first strike plus enhanced vision… what kind of Soullight was this?

Through the fog, I finally got a look at the enemy's form.

—It was clearly a monstrosity.

Its build was impossible for a human.

Its height had to be at least two and a half meters.

"… What?"

For a moment, my thoughts stopped. I blinked, wondering if I was seeing things.

It was unmistakably a robot.

A humanoid one and a half times human size.

The closest image would be a powered suit.

Its entire body was encased in silver armor. What appeared to be sensors gleamed red in its eye area.

At the end of its right arm was something like a machine gun. Its left arm ended in a blade.

Thrusters for acceleration and jumping were attached to its soles.

Perhaps a model number, "YR70" was written on its chest area.

—It was unmistakably a robot.

"… Huh?"

While I stood dumbfounded, the robot—YR70—closed in on me.

It accelerated while swinging its blade. The destructive power was comparable to Rio's brute strength.

I tried to backstep but it connected with my torso, leaving a shallow wound.

Blood flowed from the wound.

But for me right now, that was a trivial matter.

"Robot… mecha…?"

Next, the machine gun spat fire.

I tried to dodge by running, but couldn't avoid everything.

Bullets grazed my body, opening multiple wounds.

"Ugh…"

YR70's eyes began to glow red.

Heat radiating from the frame reached me.

Overboost, perhaps.

The blade shone and transformed.

The blade came at me twice as fast as before.

"This is totally canon-breaking!"

Screaming, I circled behind it and swung down my scythe.

YR70, its armor dented with a clunk, toppled forward.

I looked down at the robot, breathing hard with anger.

"I see, the Death God's Scythe doesn't work on inorganic things. As expected of the final boss, well thought out."

Indeed, I'd been pushed into a corner like never before while in this body.

YR70's speed of movement was in no way inferior to a Black Priest.

And its radar function that could pinpoint my location was the natural enemy of fog.

—But, but still.

"I HATE original settings that ignore the worldview being shoved into fanfiction like you!"

Follow-up strike. YR70, trying to get up, kissed the ground again.

Sourai was a medieval European-style fantasy world.

And its main theme was about the human soul, its radiance.

Mere machines had no place here.

"What even is that form!? Someone's overpowered OC!? Something like you has never appeared in the original work, not even once!"

I slammed my scythe against the armor with brute force.

YR70, sprawled on the ground, twitched and convulsed like a dying bug.

Soullight, meaning the radiance of the soul, was closely connected to emotional movement.

Therefore, it wasn't unusual for power output to increase as emotions intensified.

That's what was happening to me now.

What was intensely burning my soul—

It was rage.

The Death God's Scythe was being slammed against the robot with power unlike anything before.

I hadn't been this angry even when saving Fren.

"Don't underestimate the radiance of human souls! Don't underestimate human potential! That's not something that should be trampled by the likes of machines!"

As I struck with my scythe, I felt a definite response.

The robot, its core-like component destroyed, ceased functioning.

I put away the Death God's Scythe while breathing heavily.

My head felt dizzy somehow.

Oh right, I'd taken a lot of hits earlier, hadn't I?

I'd forgotten all about it in my anger.

Now that I'd calmed down, my whole body ached.

"Haa… haa…"

Huh, my body wouldn't cooperate.

I collapsed right there.

Ah, that's right, I might never have been this injured while fighting as Bloom.

Blood kept flowing, and consciousness grew distant.

"—oom-san! Bloom-san!"

Ah, I was even hearing things now.

My oshi was calling my name.

If I could die while hearing such wonderful hallucinations, it might not be such a bad end.

Thinking that, I closed my eyes.

 

＊　＊　＊

 

It felt like I'd slept soundly for the first time in ages.

It felt like when I used to sleep in my own bed in my previous life.

The beds in this world, to be honest, included many that weren't exactly high quality.

Sleeping poorly wasn't unusual.

But right now, there was that satisfaction unique to a deep sleep.

Soft sensation beneath my head.

A gentle, fluffy warmth.

A surprising sense of security.

In that drowsy state, I vaguely opened my eyes.

"Bloom-san…"

The first thing I saw was Fren's face looking down at me.

Tears were falling from her eyes one after another, landing on my cheeks.

"… Fren?"

"Thank goodness, you've finally woken up…"

For a while, I couldn't understand the situation.

Why was I looking up at Fren? Why was Fren's face above mine…

When I squirmed a bit, Fren looked ticklish.

Could this be… a lap pillow…?

"…!"

I shot up and escaped from Fren.

But Fren immediately grabbed my head and returned me to the lap pillow.

"You mustn't stand up so quickly. What if you fell?"

"…!?"

I was returned to that heavenly sleeping comfort once more.

"Does your wound still hurt? Laura-san closed it for you, but there are cases where only the pain remains."

"I'm fine. So let me up."

"Are you thirsty? You lost blood, so you might not have enough fluids."

"I'm fine. So let me up."

"Are you hung—"

"I'm fine. So let me up."

Fren was acting strange…

I tried to get up again and again, but kept being pushed back into the lap pillow by Fren.

Wait, how did this happen again? Didn't I sleep in a bed last night?

"…"

Ah, that's right, I'd fainted from wounds inflicted by that robot—that canon-breaker.

Could Fren have found me collapsed and taken care of me?

That's kind of lame and embarrassing…

I'd up and left on my own, only to come back like this.

Like a brother who left home only to come crawling back saying "I'm broke."

That kind of embarrassment.

"Was it you who saved me, Fren?"

"That's right. I heard a loud noise and wondered what it was, only to find Bloom-san collapsed, covered in blood… I've never seen you injured like that. Have you been fighting covered in blood like that all this time?"

"That has truly, absolutely, definitely never happened. That really was the first time."

I'd had it easy up until now, so that really was my first time.

I desperately tried to convey this to Fren, but for some reason, she just looked down at me with a sad face.

"You don't have to lie like that…"

No, it really wasn't a lie…

The miscommunication had been off the charts.

No matter how bad at talking I was, this level of miscommunication was a first.

"I shouldn't have held back thinking I didn't want to get in the way of your goals. I should have realized sooner. If I…"

Oh no, Fren had gotten depressed about something.

What did I used to do to cheer up the old Fren?

Let's see…

"…"

For now, I tried patting Fren's head. Being lap-pillowed, I had to pat from below. It was a strange sensation.

"Fren has nothing to feel bad about. You're always pure and righteous."

"There you go again, saying things to spoil me…"

Fren's depressed expression softened.

At the same time, her attention seemed to waver. I slipped out of the lap pillow.

Fren looked disappointed.

"Can you tell me how everyone is doing now?"

"Oh, that's right. You were watching that battle too, Bloom."

Fren gave up on returning me to the lap pillow and adjusted her position.

"Rio-san had wounds severe enough to be life-threatening, but after that light shone, his wounds mysteriously healed. Really, what was that…"

Synchronizing with parallel world selves meant his body's condition temporarily returned to a healthy state as well.

Though it wasn't convenient enough to activate repeatedly at will…

"What about the enemy that attacked?"

"Ah, yes. Rio-san's strike killed Black Priest Wall. Other than him and the mysterious armor…? that attacked you, Bloom-san, there seem to be no other assassins."

"Forget about that armor."

"O-okay…"

Just thinking about that canon-breaker made me irritated…

"From Wall's last words, we learned the enemy's mastermind is the 'Archbishop.' We also learned that the Archbishop is obsessed with securing Laura-san's person…"

Ah, they'd finally reached the final boss.

Archbishop Milady was the final boss of Souls Light Nobly. The woman who had planned to use me and throw me away.

"So defeating the Archbishop along with Rio-san has become our goal. It seems to align with Gil-san's objectives too."

That's right. The downfall of Gil's homeland, the Federation, could also be called part of Milady's schemes.

"Well, I'm glad everyone's safe."

There were world lines where Rio didn't awaken and died there.

"… Bloom-san wasn't safe though."

At my casual words, Fren hung her head.

"You were watching over us all along while pretending to have left, weren't you?"

"N-no, that's not it at all."

This is bad, is all my stalking about to be exposed!? I need to cover this up!

"Being there at that time was just passing by. Being there at that moment was just a coincidence."

I rattled off rapidly.

My desperate deflection seemed to have worked.

Fren, sighing, nodded exaggeratedly.

"Is that so? … Then, let's go with that for now."

This time, my intent seemed to have gotten through. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ah, I'll go tell everyone that you woke up! Everyone was worried about you!"

Shortly after Fren left the room, she returned with the other three.

Laura rushed over first.

"Bloom-chan, is your body okay!? It was such a terrible wound that it took time to heal… does anything hurt!?"

"I'm fine. Thanks for the healing, Laura."

Seeing Laura here, who should have been taken by Wall, was reassuring.

But to think the day would come when I'd be indebted to Laura's healing magic…

Rio had a worried expression like Laura's.

Gil had his usual expressionless face.

"Rio, did your aura change a bit?"

"Haha, Laura said the same thing."

When I spoke to Rio, he laughed casually.

Rio, having awakened his Soullight, had a somewhat more mature aura about him. He had temporarily synchronized with his older self, after all. His aura changing made sense.

Though by now, the parallel world memories should no longer be accessible.

Rio's Soullight only showed its true value when his emotions were heightened. Even for a special Soullight, it wasn't that convenient.

"Hmm… even Bloom-chan noticed Rio's changed aura… could you be a new rival?"

Laura was muttering something, but it was completely off base.

"B-Bloom-chan, you have Fren-chan, don't you! Don't look elsewhere!"

"What are you talking about?"

Off base, I tell you.