Published at 17th of August 2019 7:55 am

Volume 11, Chapter 7: Love is All

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

Part 1

April 12, Monday

Sanae was casually walking down the road by the riverside. Since she had just been released, she walked home from school in an attempt to build up her stamina.

Since the day was about to grow colder, there were many people on their way home walking down the same road as Sanae. Sanae observed the haze around people passing by her while indulging in thought.

I wonder what that was about...

She was thinking about the haze.

Through her mind's power, she was able to see a mysterious haze around people. Because the haze would change depending on the person's intentions, Sanae had become able to somewhat read a person's feelings. And there was something regarding that on Sanae's mind; that was the strange feelings that a few of her classmates had towards her.

Class 2A that Sanae had joined warmly welcomed her. While it could not be said for everyone, the majority of the class was friendly with Sanae. But amongst the class, there was a handful of classmates that held a different emotion about her.

The first one she noticed was Koutarou. Since the atmosphere around him was different from the others, Sanae first thought he liked her as a girl. But after observing the class for a little longer, she realized that there were others who held similar feelings as him.

The mature Kurano Kiriha, Kasagi Shizuka who had an older sister aura to her, Nijino Yurika who was easy to approach, and the two international transfer students Theia and Ruth. Adding in Koutarou, there was a total of six people who held a different emotion towards her.

Why do they have such feelings towards me...?

Upon further observation, those six held similar emotions towards one another as well. It appeared that those feelings were something the group had towards one another. But if that was the case, Sanae couldn't understand why those feelings were directed towards her as well. Before she came to this class, she had never met them, and she couldn't think of a reason for why they would feel that way about her.

And that feeling itself was a mystery. When walking around the city, she hadn't seen another group with the same kind of feeling. Though the feeling was similar to the feelings lovers and married couples shared, to families and to sport teams, it was still different from those feelings. It might be a feeling that had all of the mentioned incorporated into it. Either way, it was a feeling Sanae hadn't seen before.

But, I don't hate it...

Sanae didn't know the reason, nor did she know what kind of feeling it was. But she was happy that such a feeling was directed towards her. She felt that emotion the strongest when staring at Koutarou's back. During those times, she had the same feeling as the group of six, but she hadn't noticed that herself yet. That's why she looked at the people around her even now in search for an answer.

“...Huh?”

That was when Sanae saw something. The road she was travelling passed under a steel bridge, but she could see a haze swirling in the darkness underneath.

“What is that I wonder?”

All she could see was the haze, there was no one nearby. Sanae had seen strange haze like this a few times before.

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

But the atmosphere around it was different from normal. The ones she had seen before were much vaguer, but she could clearly see this haze in front of her. And she was able to clearly read the feelings of that haze.

Hate, envy, grudge, anger, grief and despair.

All kinds of negative emotions were contained within that haze. The moment Sanae felt it, she instinctively edged back.

What is that dark thing!?

The moment Sanae screamed on the inside, the dark haze looked at Sanae. The haze didn't have eyes, but Sanae could feel like it was watching her.

“I've been waiting for youuuuu!”

Along with the feeling of dark desires, a joyous shout filled the area. When that voice reached Sanae, a strong sense of fear made her cower. However, it didn't seem like the people around her had noticed the shout. It was as if only Sanae could hear it.

I have to run! That is surely something bad!

Sanae swiftly made up her mind.

However, having just been released, her body wasn't as fast as her mind. So Sanae panicked because her legs weren't moving at all and ran away from the place.

Part 2

Having finished his club activities, Koutarou was heading home as the sun was starting to set. After seeing Harumi, who took a bus home, off, Koutarou headed home alone. Because the school Koutarou and the others attended was on a small mountain, the way home was a long downward slope. While casting a long shadow, Koutarou descended the slope at a quick pace.

Koutarou was alone because he was almost the only one leaving the school at this time.

In the morning, he left Corona House with Shizuka and Kenji, and he would meet up with Theia and Kiriha on the way. Yurika would often oversleep, so they would meet in the classroom. After spending the day together, they temporarily split up after school for their various club activities and other businesses. They would meet up again in room 106 for some tea before dinner. And after that, they are always together until it's time to go to bed.

Therefore, the short time Koutarou spends heading home was his only true personal time. But it wasn't as if Koutarou did something special because he wasn't with the invading girls, and he also didn't think of the girls as a nuisance. If anything, one could see that Koutarou could let his guard down a little.

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

Koutarou rotated his arms as he mumbled. Just a little while ago, his stiff shoulders had been a big problem. That had been because Sanae had possessed Koutarou. Ever since Sanae had returned to her body, his shoulders had started to recover. Now, he couldn't feel it at all unless he rotated his arms like this.

“I wonder what was better, having my stiff shoulders heal or having Sanae massage them everyday... No, Sanae was able to meet her parents. I guess the answer is obvious...”

Back when his stiff shoulders had been terrible, Sanae had given him daily massages. With Sanae gone, his stiff shoulders and massages stopped. Koutarou felt that was sad, but inevitable. He also felt that he should be happy that Sanae was able to return to her family again.

Thinking about it, Sanae was originally a ghost, and the only ending for a ghost was to pass on. If she had been a normal ghost, she would have passed on the moment she met her parents. Compared to that, the current situation was much better. She was now living together with her parents that she so desperately wanted to see, and Koutarou also knew that she was doing fine.

All that was left was for Koutarou and the others to protect their promise they made with Sanae while waiting for her memories to return, but Koutarou thought that that was wishing for too much.

The girl who was once a ghost had been revived; that alone was already an unbelievable miracle, so Koutarou wasn't planning on asking for any more miracles than that.

“Sanae is living her life happily, that is good enough...”

Koutarou's true intentions leaked through his mouth. The only time he would speak what was really on his mind was when he was alone. He would never say that in front of the girls who waited for Sanae's return.

Koutarou's intentions were just what the girls had imagined. He didn't wish for Sanae to return to how she used to be. But that was because of his feelings of resignation when it came to human relationships that his mother's death had caused, and not the convenient excuse of wishing for too much that he used himself.

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

Scared of losing those he truly needed, Koutarou never actively desired anyone. Because of that, he wouldn't have to get hurt, but those around him couldn't be unhappy. He couldn't repeat the same mistake again.

That was Koutarou's way of thinking brought about by his mother's death and by a big fault in his character. But at the same time, that was what gave Koutarou his great mental fortitude, or as the invading girls would call it, his lack of needing anyone. That's why it was a problem not so easily solved.

“Hm?”

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

“Is that... Sanae?”

She was slightly more mature than the Sanae that Koutarou knew, but still retained her young appearance. Since he was just thinking about Sanae, he could quickly distinguish her.

“Did something happen?”

Sanae was heading in the opposite direction of her home. On top of that, she was running, despite still being under rehabilitation, and she kept glancing at something behind her. These three conditions caused Koutarou to suspect that something might be wrong.

“Alright!”

Koutarou quickly ran after Sanae. She had disappeared around a corner, but it wouldn't be hard for him to catch up to her while running.

Part 3

Sanae was running out of breath and her heart was beating faster and faster. There wasn't a long distance from the road she had been on to where she was now, but since she had just been released, even that short distance was very hard on her. She couldn't catch her breath no matter how much she breathed and her heart was frantically sending oxygen through her body. She had sweat on her forehead and her mouth was wide open in an attempt to get as much air as possible. It was quite clear that she would collapse if this continued for much longer. This problem would of course solve itself if she stopped running. But she had a reason for not being able to do so.

“I-It's still chasing me!?”

When Sanae looked behind her, her expression distorted even further. That distortion wasn't from the pain of running, it was actually from the fear of what was following her.

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

Something unknown was behind Sanae in the shadows created by the setting sun. It seemed like that something wasn't stepping out of the shadows, so it was chasing after Sanae through the darkness. And so Sanae continued to desperately run because she didn't want to get captured by that unknown thing.

“I, have to get away! T-The sun, will set soon!”

The unknown thing wasn't stepping out into the light, so Sanae hadn't been worried about being captured. But before long, the sun would have completely set, which would mean that Sanae would be surrounded by darkness, and that would put Sanae within that something's reach. Sanae didn't know what would happen if she was captured, but she instinctively felt it was dangerous. That's why she had to escape while the sun was still up.

“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 you know.”

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

Sanae started to panic.

It was thanks to the fact that the something chasing after Sanae always stayed in the shadows that she had been able to keep away from it. But as the sun set, the shadows got longer and bigger, and that something began being able to move more freely. The distance she had gained on it shrank, and now it was maybe ten meters away from her. Sanae wanted to escape while the sun was still up, but the chances for that seemed low now.

“It looks like it's getting bigger and bigger!!”

What made Sanae panic even more was that the presence of the thing chasing her was getting bigger. At first she had assumed that the small presence was just getting closer, but then the presence would have been approaching far too fast. If her sensation was correct, it had already grown several times larger than when she first encountered it.

“Fufufu, 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 that things would not turn out well if she was captured by the mysterious existence that had suddenly attacked, but she couldn't think of a way to escape from her situation. In fact, this was her first encounter with a paranormal phenomenon.

“My, breath... *cough*, *cough**cough*”

Sanae desperately continued running down the residential area as the sun had almost fully set. But that was when she finally reached her limit. Her breathing turned rough, she felt dizzy and her legs were exhausted and couldn't move well. Eventually, Sanae's legs got tangled, and being unable to regain her balance, she fell towards the asphalt.

“Kyaaaaaa!?”

Her body crashed into the asphalt and she felt pain all over. The pain had cleared her mind up, but she couldn't move for the very same reason.

“Are you already done, little kitten!?”

That was when the black presence approached her. Its body had indeed grown larger like Sanae had sensed. Just a little a while ago, its movement would have been restricted by the sun, but since the sun was now on the verge of passing by the horizon, it could head towards Sanae at full speed.

“I have waited for this day for so long, little kitten!! This time, we will become one!!”

The presence spread out in front of Sanae who was unable to get up. And what appeared in front of her was a malformed giant.

The giant was formed from a human base, but with no thought put into its design. It was a strange appearance that looked like clay had been randomly placed around the body. The face alone had remained unchanged; keeping the face of a normal human actually made the giant even more eerie. with the expression of that face making it even more so. The sunken eyes were filled with all kinds of negative emotions, and its mouth seemed to be distorted by malice.

Looking at its appearance, Sanae could only think of one thing, as probably would anyone else.

“M-Monster!?”

More appropriate words to explain the giant couldn't be found.

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

The monster reached out towards Sanae with its several meters-long arm. Still unable to get up, Sanae had no way of evading that arm. No, it probably would have been impossible even if she was 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 the monster's arm was about to reach Sanae, somebody jumped in and punched that arm with all their might.

“She's a magnificent and ideal woman!!”

The punched body part exploded.

“Gyaaaaaaaa!?”

The explosion was far from large, but it caused severe pain and a large shock for the monster, which created an opening.

“Eh?”

Sanae, who had her eyes shut, opened them once she heard the explosion and scream. When she did, that person was now right in front of her.

“Let's go, Sanae!”

“Ah...”

In the next moment, Sanae was lifted up and held in the person's arms.

A large body with well-trained muscles, the warmth transmitted through the uniform and those resolute eyes.

The moment Sanae felt that she instinctively held onto that person's neck.

“Be a good girl and hold on tight!”

“...Satomi... Koutarou-san...?”

Sanae had only been able to tell who that person was after she already had her arms around his neck.

Part 4

Having saved Sanae from the giant monster, Koutarou continued running while carrying her on his back. He had indeed saved her, but he hadn't defeated the monster yet. Even now, it was still chasing after them. He needed to find a place where he could finish the fight with the monster, but the middle of the urban area with a ton of bystanders around was not a good place to do so. Yurika could cast a barrier to ward off people, so at the worst he would have to fight in a place where the damage would be limited, and after meeting up with Yurika.

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

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

Theia's voice came from Koutarou's bracelet. Using the bracelet he had gotten from Clan, Koutarou had contacted Theia. And since Theia was in room 106, the other invaders were all gathered as well. After Koutarou explained his current situation, Kiriha came up with an apt plan while Ruth swiftly looked up a suitable vacant lot. There, Koutarou and Sanae would meet up with the invader girls, have Yurika cast a barrier to ward off people, 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!”

“I got it, 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 as his last, Koutarou ended his transmission.

“Alright!”

Koutarou then changed the direction he was running in, following the marker projected into his sight by his bracelet. Since the bracelet had received the coordinates from Ruth, Koutarou started running towards the construction site using the shortest path possible.

“I'm telling you to wait!! You shitty brat!!”

Having changed his direction, the monster behind Koutarou caught up a little. Noticing that, Koutarou sped up his tempo.

“Hang on, Sanae!”

“Kyaa!?”

Because Koutarou was running so fast, Sanae was surprised and lost her balance. In order to not get shaken off, she desperately held on to Koutarou.

What, is this...

After finally stabilizing her body, Sanae noticed the speed at which Koutarou was running, and her eyes opened wide in surprise. Koutarou was easily running past bicycles. And a car that was driving down the road couldn't quite lose Koutarou as it stopped at the traffic lights. His running speed at this time was far above 20 kilometers per hour.

If Koutarou had been on his own, that might be possible. It was possible for an athletic student to run at this speed on his own for a short distance. But Sanae couldn't imagine that it was possible to run at such speeds for a long period of time while carrying another person. But regardless of whether she believed it or not, it was the truth of the situation. And the distance between the two and the monster grew larger once more.

Koutarou was using spiritual energy to enhance his body.

Though it was growing weaker, Koutarou still had the ability to use spiritual energy. He reinforced his muscle power and increased the supply of oxygen to his body to keep exhaustion away. Even for Koutarou, running this 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 how he had saved her. It seemed like he was more knowledgeable about the monster than she was.

And then there was Theia and the others he had contacted through his bracelet. Sanae knew that Koutarou and Theia and the others had a deep sense of trust for one another.

Adding the pieces of the puzzle together let Sanae imagine that Koutarou and his friends were people with mysterious backgrounds.

“Us?”

Koutarou stumbled for an answer. He couldn't find a single phrase that could be used to describe himself and the others. 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 changed to something else a long time ago.

“Well...”

After thinking for a moment, Koutarou smiled.

“We are Higashihongan Sanae's merry friends.”

Koutarou couldn't think of another expression. Being so close right now, he felt like this was the most accurate description.

“Is that... related to why you are so kind to me?”

Koutarou and the other's actions towards Sanae wasn't that much different from the rest of the class. But the feelings in those actions were fundamentally different.

“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 his running. Sanae held onto Koutarou with both her arms in order to not get in his way. She stayed quiet while swinging back and forth on Koutarou's back for a while, but after some time had passed, a certain feeling started squeezing her chest.

I... know this back...?

It was an odd sensation. Sanae had no previous experience of being carried on Koutarou's back before, but a sense of familiarity came over here as she leaned her body onto him.

His wide back, his warmth, his pulse. The sensation of when he moved his arms, and the sense of security she felt while swinging on his back. All of these told Sanae one thing.

There's no doubting it... I have been on his back before...

Though Sanae wasn't sure when or how often it had happened, as she swung on Koutarou's back, she became convinced that this wasn't her first time doing this. It was impossible, but Sanae couldn't help but think that way. Somewhere deep within her heart shouted out that this was where she belonged.

Higashihongan Sanae's merry friends...

As she swung on Koutarou's back, she began thinking that what he had said before might not have been a joke.

Part 5

When Koutarou and Sanae reached the construction site, there were no longer any human presence around. Since the sun had set, the workers were done for the day and had left the site. Ruth, who had chosen the place, had foreseen that much.

“Is Theia and the others not here yet?”

Jumping into the construction site, he looked around the area, but he couldn't see the friends he was looking for. Because the place where Koutarou had saved Sanae was closer than the Corona House, and because he had been running quickly, Koutarou and Sanae had gotten to the construction site much quicker.

“Satomi-san, it's coming!”

“What's wrong brat, done running!?”

Even worse, the monster arrived before Theia and the others did. The monster 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 the monster had an actual form, she could have easily destroyed the gate instead.

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

Koutarou had fought against this monster, or more accurately, this female ghost, in the past. Back then she had also merged with evil spirits and had grown larger. But her size right now was even bigger than back then. Using her last remaining spiritual energy, she had gathered as many evil spirits as she could. The reason she no longer kept her human form was because she had used up her spiritual energy and because she had gathered too many evil spirits. She now had so much power in her body that she couldn't even control herself. She wanted Sanae so badly that she was able to go so far.

“Guge, gugegege, brat! Things won't go the same as they did back then!”

The only thing that reminded Koutarou of her original form was her way of speaking. Her appearance and voice had already greatly deviated from a human’s.

“Sanae, please get off.”

“Okay.”

Listening to Koutarou's request, Sanae got off his back. She was a little reluctant, but her current situation didn't allow for her to do anything but listen to him.

“But... what are you going to do?”

“I will 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 a way of dealing with ghosts. Since Kiriha was close to her armory unlike the time at the beach, she could make use of the weapons inside.

The actual problem was how would Koutarou buy enough time for the others to arrive.

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

Sanae shook her head frantically, her slightly long hair swung left and right.

She didn't think there was any way to buy time. In fact, she wasn't certain that anything could be done, even if help did arrive. The monster held such great power within it that Sanae couldn't help but feel that way.

“Doing it, even if it's impossible, is what a man does. Besides, there's nowhere else to run.”

The monster was standing in front of the exit. The sun had fully set. There was no longer anywhere to escape to. Even if it was impossible, Koutarou had to do it.

“B-But! You know–!”

Despite that, Sanae still tried to stop Koutarou, but she couldn't come up with a good way to put it. In truth, she already understood that there was nothing else he could do.

“Thank you for worrying.”

Koutarou smiled at Sanae.

“Ah...”

Koutarou was smiling, but his eyes were filled with determination. Sensing that, Sanae realized that she couldn't stop him.

“Ah, right, I almost forgot.”

Seeing Sanae so uneasy, Koutarou was reminded of the existence of an item. He reached into the pocket of his uniform with his hand.

“Here, take this.”

Koutarou pushed what he pulled out of his pocket into Sanae's hands. He hoped that it would alleviate her anxiety.

“This...”

The moment she looked at it, her heart skipped a beat. At the same time, some sort of memory popped up in her head.

“A... charm...?”

“It's blessed.”

Sanae had been given a small charm. It was a purple bag with words embroidered using a golden string. The words 'Family Safety' glimmered in the few rays of light.

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

In her hand was just a common charm. It had probably been purchased at some shrine for a few hundred yen. But the moment she put her eyes on it, Sanae was greatly shaken. She felt like she was about to remember something. But in the end, she never did, and she started feeling frustrated.

“Cradle, give me my sword.”

“As you wish, my lord.”

“Ah.”

While Sanae was distracted by the charm, Koutarou had stepped forward and stood in the way of the approaching monster. Seeing that, the monster's mouth distorted and sneered at Koutarou.

“Do you think you can do something, brat!? Last time I may have been defeated, but I am several times stronger now!!”

In the past she had been defeated by Koutarou, but now she was ready for her own ruin as she forcibly gathered as much power as possible. Even if Koutarou produced the same attack as he had before, she was confident that she could easily defeat him.

“Yes, there is a limit to what just 'I' can do. I'm just a high schooler that knows how to fight a little.”

Koutarou admitted to what the monster was saying. But he didn't take a single step backwards. With determination in his words he spoke to the monster.

“But 'We' won't lose. My friends are all exceptionally competent!”

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

“You should be able to understand!! After all, you got your power from gathering a lot of evil spirits!!”

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

“Y-You impudent brat!”

With Koutarou's hand pointed towards her, the monster instinctively flinched. Sensing that the monster was scared of him, Koutarou shouted out loudly.

“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 Koutarou's reached out hand.

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

Koutarou's confident, dignified figure and the mysterious black hole overwhelmed the monster, and though she was supposed to have the upper hand, she began feeling restless. Through that opening, Koutarou grabbed a hold of the sword that had appeared in the hole in time and space.

When he did, the sword began emitting a dazzling light. The light filled up the construction site and temporarily made it look like it was midday.

“This light is the light from that time!? Then, that was this sword's power!?”

The monster, with the female ghost as its core, had seen this light before. In the past, her allies had been burned by this light and passed on, and she herself had lost a large amount of spiritual energy. Back then, the light had appeared when Koutarou threw his charm at her.

Though even if the light was the same, the amount being emitted now was far different. It shone several times more intensely than what she had seen before.

“Your excellency, 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 this situation, Koutarou couldn't be picky about his methods. Koutarou figured that Signaltin was the only weapon he had capable of affecting the monster. Even if he borrowed a weapon from Clan or Theia, it wouldn't have an effect on a monster without physical form.

Truth be told, he also wanted to call out the Blue Knight's armor. But Koutarou 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.

Part 6

Seeing Koutarou take a hold of his sword, Maki who had been watching over the development all this time grabbed hold of her cane. She had been tailing Koutarou in order to learn of the situation in room 106. And as a result, she had reached this place before any of his friends.

There's that ridiculous amount of magical power again... But this time it might be a little tough...

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

Since Signaltin was a so called magic sword, it could deal a lot of damage against opponents whom physical attacks worked on. Against opponents who used magic, it held matchless strength. But against a ghost, it was just a normal sword. Because of that, the surplus magic of the sword had to be controlled to cover the blade in order to fight, but Koutarou was not good at that and could only carelessly use the sword’s magic power. Because of that, there was a lot of wasted magical power, which would also cause the power of the magic covering the blade to weaken.

Meanwhile, his opponent was a monster that had absorbed an abnormal amount of evil spirits and obtained a high amount of power. Though she was no match for Signaltin, she was still very powerful. Normally once something like that was done, control would be lost and the evil spirit at the core would collapse on itself, but her deep obsession made this feat possible.

Koutarou had a strong power, but couldn't use it to its fullest extent.

The monster had less power, but could freely use it.

Not even Maki could predict 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 cast a barrier to ward off people until Nijino Yurika gets here...

Maki began her incantation of a spell.

“Sanctuary – Modifier – Effective Area – Colossal.”

As she did, Maki complained to herself.

Really... why am I in this place, helping Satomi-kun... I don't get it at all, geez...

It was a strange twist of fate. In fact, in the past, Maki had fought against Koutarou and the others in this place. Though the site had changed as construction continued, there was no mistaking it.

After that, the situation had changed and Maki stopped fighting Koutarou. Now she was even giving him a helping hand. It was a situation that anyone would find strange, not just Maki.

By the time Maki finished complaining to herself, her incantation had finished and its effect began taking place. Magical power enveloped the entire construction site and hid the situation within from the surrounding residents.

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

Only Maki could see Koutarou after her spell.

It was truly strange.

She truly wanted to do so, and even felt that she had to do so, from the bottom of her heart.

Part 7

The fight went as Maki had predicted, and Signaltin was a poor match against an opponent without physical form. Koutarou's magic control wasn't good enough to overcome that poor match.

It would probably have been more than enough to defeat the ghosts that had captured Sanae last summer. And unknown to Koutarou, he was being backed up by Yurika's magic back then. But right now, Yurika wasn't here, and the monster in front of him was far more powerful than the one last summer.

“I was surprised when you pulled out that sword, but in the end it's just a sword! As long as I keep my distance, it's nothing!!”

The monster floated and kept her distance from Koutarou while using her powers to attack him from afar. She made objects lying around the construction site float and sent them flying towards Koutarou. It was a paranormal phenomenon known as Poltergeist.

“Haah!”

Koutarou swung his sword to swat away the objects flying towards him. Iron, sandbags, nails, screws and the likes flew towards him, all dangerous objects. But fortunately, since they were all physical attacks, Koutarou could block them. He swung his sword to block the large objects, while using Signaltin's magic power to block the smaller objects with a defensive spell. He was barely able to prevent these attacks thanks to his body being enhanced by spiritual powers.

But that wasn't the enemies only attack.

“Come on now, are you sure you should focus on only doing that!?”

“Guhaa!?”

With his hands full blocking the Poltergeist attacks, something suddenly crashed into Koutarou.

As a result, acute pain ran through Koutarou's body and he was robbed of his physical strength and body heat. At the same time, his vision turned darker and he looked like he was about to lose consciousness.

That was the monster's other attack. While attacking Koutarou with her Poltergeist, she launched another attack from his blind spot. The attack sent from the blind spot was a ball made out of hardened spiritual energy. It was an attack fitting of a ghost as it stole life energy from whatever it hit.

“D-Damnit!!”

Koutarou shook his head to clear up his mind, and that was when another wave of Poltergeist attacks assaulted him. Unable to move from his pain, Koutarou had no way to block them and ended up taking direct hits from several objects. Koutarou was wounded by the attack, but this wasn't the only one. He had been on the defensive for a while now because of this combination attack.

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

After regaining his balance, Koutarou started blocking the Poltergeist attacks once more, but he already knew that this situation couldn't continue on for long.

Koutarou's sword couldn't reach the monster, while she could still attack him. Even if he focused on dodging the ball of spiritual energy, he couldn't distinguish it from the large amount of flying objects. On top of that, since a simple defensive spell couldn't protect him from the spiritual energy attack, he had no way of preventing it.

As a result, Koutarou had been injured by this combination several times and was gradually getting cornered. 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 notice that it would be very difficult.

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

Sanae also knew that Koutarou was in a dangerous situation. There was more than one wound carved into his body, and all of them were deep. If he continued protecting Sanae, it was clear that he would be killed.

Of course, Sanae didn't want Koutarou to get hurt. She also didn't want the person that had been working so hard to protect her to die. And because she had learned of the warmth of his back, she couldn't bear to lose it.

If she had enough physical strength left, she would have surely run in front of Koutarou to protect him. But without any stamina left, she was unable to move. She hated the fact that all she could do was watch.

“Hehe, I-I can't just do that.”

Koutarou did his best to block the attacks while answering Sanae. But he wasn't looking at her. His hands were full just blocking the incoming attacks.

“Why!?”

“Because I am stubborn!”

Betraying Sanae's hopes, Koutarou didn't run away.

Even if she didn't have her memories, Sanae was still Sanae, and Koutarou couldn't abandon the girl he had been together with for such a long time.

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!!

It was fortunate that the monster's focus was on Koutarou. As long as it continued focusing on him, the chances of saving Sanae raised, even if it was just a little.

I'll leave the rest to you, everyone!

Koutarou foresaw his own defeat, but the reason he didn't retreat was because he believed in Theia and the others. They would be able to save Sanae. With that in his mind, Koutarou resolved himself to buy as much time as he could.

Since Koutarou had been prepared for his parting with the invaders, he didn't regret the fact that he himself might not be saved.

“Uooooooo!!”

Koutarou shouted and pumped himself up as he readied his sword and charged. Based on what the monster had done until now, he was certain that she wouldn't attack Sanae, so he decided to close the distance between himself and the monster as quickly as possible. By moving around, the chances of an attack hitting him lowered and he was able to better attract the monster's attention. This was his last attack in an attempt to buy as much time as possible.

“You can't, Satomi-san!! Don't do it!!”

Sanae who could read other's feelings, understood why he had suddenly stepped forward.

“Wait! Please wait!”

Sanae firmly grasped the charm in her hand while desperately calling for Koutarou. But he didn't answer. He didn't turn back. And he continued to charge.

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

All Sanae could do was stare at Koutarou's mysteriously warm back. When she thought that she wouldn't be able to feel that warmth anymore, she couldn't stay calm. That's why Sanae 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 was supposedly her first time experiencing that, but strangely enough it didn't feel like it. However, Sanae didn't have the time to clearly consider that, as she desperately chased after Koutarou. But the distance between them kept growing. The amount of wounds on his body kept increasing.

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

Driven by her intense emotions, Sanae shouted in a loud voice. She didn't even know what she was saying. But she desperately shouted to Koutarou who was leaving her, wanting him to always stay with by her side. She followed what her soul wanted, what her feelings wanted.

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

However.

Unable to completely block it, a large chunk of iron crashed into Koutarou's body. Having taken the hit, Koutarou was sent flying. After flying back for a few meters, he crashed and rolled across the ground. Once he stopped rolling, he lay on the ground and remained unmoving.

Right in front of Sanae, something that was the same as the world ending, something that she couldn't accept, had happened.

“Koooouuuutaaaarooooouuuu!!”

In that moment, Sanae's feelings leaked out. That changed the way she called his name and her voice filled the construction site.

But what overflowed at this time wasn't just her feelings.

“Wha!? What is this abnormal amount of spiritual energy!? Is this the little kitten's true powers!?”

An enormous amount of spiritual energy overflowed from the screaming Sanae. The center of it was her right hand. It was the 'Family Safety' charm that she had been holding in her hand.

The spiritual energy leaking from the charm turned into a dazzling light that even normal people could see, and it flowed from Sanae's hand into her body. Now, the dazzling light wasn't just being emitted from her hand but her entire body. The light continued to expand, and in the end, Sanae was standing in a pillar of light with a look of blank surprise.

“H...Huh...? I...?”

But once she returned to her senses, the light rapidly shrunk, as if it was being absorbed into her body. At the same time, the amount of spiritual energy she emitted returned to the same amount she normally did.

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

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

“Koutarou!!”

Sanae forgot what had just happened to herself and rushed towards Koutarou.

Just a moment ago she had been so weak that she couldn't even move. But now there was no sign of that whatsoever. Another strange occurrence, but Sanae didn't notice it at all.

The monster stared at Sanae with wide eyes. Her eyes were already big, but the surprise enlarged them even further.

“Impossible... This is on a completely different dimension from what I saw in the summer… Not even a land god has this much power... It is quite clearly a class above that... I can't believe it... Just who is this girl...?”

Though temporarily, the amount of spiritual energy that Sanae had emitted was far too much. It had long exceeded the limits of man and was stepping into the boundaries of gods.

“Aha, ahahahaha! I want it, I will definitely make that body mine!”

Despite witnessing her power first hand, the monster didn't fear Sanae, and instead got even more excited. Her desires for what would happen when she got a hold of Sanae's power was greater than her fear, although that might just be the way an out of control evil spirit might think.

“As long as I get that body, I can become a goddess!”

As the monster was getting abnormally excited, she followed Sanae with its eyes. Now that Koutarou had been defeated, she was about to get its hands on Sanae. Sensing that the days of eternal glory was near, the female ghost at the monsters core couldn't keep her excitement hidden.

Part 8

Having reached Koutarou, Sanae held up his large body.

“Koutarou, Koutarou! Please, wake up!”

As Sanae had been running, she was terrified that Koutarou might have died. That's why she shook him fiercely while her voice was breaking up.

“S-Sanae...?”

Koutarou slightly opened one of his eyes and looked up at Sanae who was holding him.

Fortunately, he was still alive. He was injured all over and he had taken a lot of damage, but he had somehow survived the previous attack.

“Koutarou!”

Sanae readjusted her hold on Koutarou and embraced him.

Koutarou hadn't died thanks to Maki helping him out, but Sanae couldn't care less about how he had survived. To her, there was nothing more important than that he was alive.

“Thank god, Koutarou is alive...”

The warmth she could feel as she embraced Koutarou was the same warmth that she sought for in the present and in the past. Tears began flowing down Sanae's cheeks, and she was so happy that she was able to feel Koutarou's warmth that she couldn't keep her tears from overflowing. The tears streamed down her cheeks and dripped down on Koutarou's face.

“I was, really, worried...”

“...Sorry.”

Koutarou reached up with his hand and wiped away Sanae's tear. Koutarou felt that tears didn't suit Sanae, no matter the kind.

“If you leave me again, you'll regret it. If you do leave again, I'll put you in my Scorpion Deathlock I practiced the other day!”

“Sanae, your Scorpion Deathlock still doesn't hurt that much... Wait, Sanae, why do you know that!?”

Noticing what Sanae was nonchalantly saying meant, Koutarou hurriedly rose up in surprise. He had been so surprised that he forgot about the pain of his injuries.

“Of course I know that. Did you go senile?”

Having been told that the technique she practiced wouldn't hurt, Sanae's response became a little more malicious. She still hadn't noticed what had surprised Koutarou so much.

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

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

The ghost Sanae knew about the Scorpion Deathlock, but the hospitalized Sanae didn't.

And if the Sanae in front of him knew that, it must have meant that she had the memories of when she was a ghost.

“Eh...? Memories?”

Sanae blinked repeatedly. She had been so focused on Koutarou that she hadn't thought about herself at all. It wasn't until Koutarou pointed it out that she noticed the change that had taken place in her.

“Y-Yeah... it looks like it...”

While surprised by her own change, Sanae nodded repeatedly.

Sanae's memories regarding Koutarou and the invader girls had returned. Right now, Sanae had her memories of when she was hospitalized and her memories of room 106 at the same time. It was a strange sensation having two sets of memories, but it wasn't as important as having regained her memories.

“I remember... Koutarou, it's Koutarou! We... we meet again...”

Tears formed in Sanae's eyes. And though Koutarou had just wiped them away, tears streamed down Sanae's cheeks again.

“Sanae...”

Koutarou was so surprised that he couldn't spit out any other words. His surprise was bigger than when he had learned that Kiriha and Kii were the same person. He had believed that he would never meet Sanae again.

“Sorry for interrupting your moving reunion... but it's about time to end this.”

But that was as much as the two were able to speak. They were currently in the middle of a battle, and their enemy wasn't going to wait for them to finish talking. This was the time for action, not words.

“I'll take that body of yours, little kitten!”

“Sanae, you get back!”

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

“No way!”

But the Sanae right now wasn't someone that only needed to be protected. Right now, Sanae had her love and courage that she had developed during her year with Koutarou and the others, and the perseverance that she had developed during her long-term hospitalization. She had evolved into a third Sanae, and that Sanae wished to be by Koutarou's back at times of peace, and by his side at times of emergencies. If anything, she wanted to protect Koutarou.

“I am happy you protected me, after all, I'm a magnificent and ideal woman.”

Heeding her desires, Sanae stood next to Koutarou. Her appearance was no longer weak and timid like before. Her exhausted body had been healed by spiritual energy, and her appearance as she stood with her hands on her hips exuded confidence, as if she was convinced of her victory.

“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.

That's because his back was for hugging, not staring.

And if he didn't understand that, Sanae was going to forcibly make him understand by using the hold she had learned.

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

The monster sneered at Sanae. She had an enormous amount of spiritual energy, but Sanae couldn't freely use it all. And having only just returned to her own body, that ability of hers was still unstable. That's why the monster believed that the Sanae six months ago might have been able to do something, but not the current Sanae.

“I can do anything! I can make any miracle occur!”

However, completely unlike what she had been just before, Sanae didn't flinch at all. She puffed up her chest, glared at the monster and clearly stated.

“That's because someone said so!! That love is all!!”

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

“Sanae, I have no idea what you're talking about.”

By this point, Koutarou had given up trying to convince Sanae.

Since the monster wanted to absorb Sanae, she wouldn't hurt her, and since Sanae could use spiritual energy far better than Koutarou can, she wouldn't get in the way.

“What, you're saying you can't trust what this Sanae-chan is saying?”

Even though there was a powerful enemy in front of her, Sanae spoke in the same way she did when taking it easy in room 106. She then leaned in towards Koutarou and swung her waist into him as a sign of discontent.

“No, I was only thinking that it's some great rock'n'roll.”

“Naturally!”

In that moment, Sanae's right hand began glowing white. Her spiritual energy was starting to focus into the charm. At first, the spiritual energy grew stronger and weaker in accordance to her pulse. But as she got excited, it eventually gained its own rhythm.

“A maiden always plays at eight beats.”

The name of the song is Love is All. The rhythm played at eight beats.

It was just a small band with just her and Koutarou, but Sanae believed they could obtain the world.

That world, was a mere six tatami mats big.

It was a very small world, but it held everything Sanae wanted.

Part 9

Once the fight restarted, Sanae began with giving Koutarou an unexpected demand.

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

“What!?”

The weapon in Koutarou's hands was Signaltin, the strongest weapon he could use. It was thanks to this sword that he hadn't been killed by the monster's first blow. So having been told to change it confused Koutarou.

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

“I see!!”

Understanding what Sanae was saying, Koutarou who was holding Signaltin with both hands let go of it with his right hand and reached it forwards.

“Blue Knight, give me my sword!”

“As you wish, my lord.”

The bracelet he was wearing was Clan's, but thanks to Clan and Ruth's underground dealings, Koutarou could send orders to the Blue Knight using the same bracelet. And his order was to transfer over Saguratin, his other sword.

“Come, Saguratin!”

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

The mechanism worked the same way as when the Cradle transferred Signaltin. A black hole opened up in front of Koutarou and Saguratin appeared from it.

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

The only difference would be the message given during the transfer. The Cradle had the voice of an artificial intelligence, but the Blue Knight had Ruth's voice. This was due to Ruth's meticulous nature.

“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, Saguratin which he had been using for all this time felt just right in his hand.

“Let's go, Koutarou!”

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

“I knew it! This sword will work!”

Saguratin that had been permeated with Koutarou's spiritual energy easily accepted Sanae's spiritual energy. Since Saguratin didn't hold any special powers, Sanae could freely infuse it with her own spiritual energy since Koutarou's own energy didn't reject it.

“We're good, Koutarou!”

As a result, Sanae successfully poured in an enormous amount of spiritual energy into Saguratin.

“Alright!”

Koutarou started using not only Signaltin in his left hand, but Saguratin in his right hand as well.

Since Saguratin was infused with Sanae's spiritual energy, Koutarou could use it to easily fend off the monster's Poltergeist. His attacks didn't even need to score a direct hit as whatever came close to the sword was sent flying. It was almost like the sword had gotten a meter thicker. Not even Signaltin when covered in shockwave magic had this large of a radius.

“Sanae, with this I can put up a fight!”

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

“Fufu~n, and on top of that I can do this!”

Getting into the swing after being praised by Koutarou, Sanae turned her hands towards Koutarou. When she did, Koutarou's right arm moved on its own and swung Saguratin from right to left.

The swing produced a blade of spiritual energy. The blade continued travelling forward and knocked away a large amount of objects as it headed towards the monster.

“Gyaaaaaaa!?”

Not expecting this attack, the blade of spiritual energy scored a direct hit. The blade struck the monster's waist and forced many of the evil spirits that had gathered around that area to pass on.

“Guu, Guaaaaaaaa, w-what is that, that's just unfair!”

The monster summoned forth more evil spirits to heal the wound on its waist as it glared at Sanae.

Sanae's powers were far greater than what the monster had expected. She had assumed that Sanae wouldn't be able to do much, but she ended up suffering a major blow for her lack of caution. The monster's advantage of being able to attack from a distance had been easily overturned.

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

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

Koutarou was amazed in many ways.

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

“But I'm not sure on that name.”

When she had been a ghost, Sanae's spiritual powers had been quite impressive, but she was far above that right now. It was most likely because she had become one with her body, but her progress gave Koutarou quite the surprise.

“...With this, I'm probably better off with Saguratin. Cradle, reclaim Signaltin.”

“As you wish, my lord.”

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

“Oh? You only need one?”

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

Koutarou hadn't trained to use two swords, and since spiritual energy was more directly connected to the mind and soul than magic, Koutarou decided it would be best if he didn't split up his attention.

“What a waste. It looked so cool too.”

“I'll practice for it next time. Now then...”

Koutarou pointed the tip of the sword towards the monster.

“It's our turn now.”

Koutarou and Sanae had recovered their normal confidence, and the monster was starting to fear Sanae's powers. It was now clear that the fight was going to turn in their favor.

“As if I would let you!”

The female ghost that made up the monster's core had bet everything on this fight. Using up all 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 eventually pass on as she had already used the majority of her remaining spiritual energy. Because of that, she couldn't retreat.

“You guys, give me more power!”

The female ghost forcibly extracted power from the evil spirits making up the monster's body, and attacked Koutarou and Sanae. Its method of attacking was the same as before, but it attacked with several times the numbers. She used her Poltergeist phenomenon to cause a large amount of objects to float and created several balls of spiritual energy that stole life force.

“Is she going on her final offensive!? Here she comes Sanae, stay on guard!!”

“Koutarou, I will protect your back!! So you just look straight forward and beat that thing!!”

“I'll leave it to you!”

The relationship between Koutarou and Sanae was the opposite of the exploited evil spirits. They felt for, protected and supported each other. If there was someone there to witness the battle, they would surely have declared Koutarou and Sanae the winners at this point. In the face of a dangerous battle, their trust for one another became a power that surpassed all limits.

“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 began taking 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. Using her spiritual energy, Sanae was going to support Koutarou with a bow and arrow.

Sanae's real body had been part of an archery club during her middle school years, just like her mother. She hadn't been able to participate much as she had grown weak, but it was the easiest weapon for Sanae to imagine.

“Dieeeeee!!”

Before Sanae could take aim, the monster attacked. It sent a large amount of objects towards Koutarou while attacking him with balls of spiritual energy from his blind spot.

“I'm the only one who gets to mess with his back!!”

With a shout, Sanae let go of her arrow without aiming. Had it been a real bow and arrow, she would never have hit a thing. But since she was using a bow and arrow made out of her own spiritual energy, the shape was just an image to make her attack more clear. As the arrow flew through the air, it split into 18 smaller arrows that flew after different targets.

“Hiiit theeeeem!!”

Sanae was aiming for the 18 attacks aimed at Koutarou's back. With her spiritual abilities she could sense all of those attacks. There was no attack that was easier for Sanae to sense than one based on spiritual energy.

The fired arrows were like guided missiles that drew beautiful arcs as they hit their targets. The 18 arrows had all successfully shot through their target. As a result, Koutarou's back remained unscathed as he continued his charge.

“Alright♪”

Satisfied with this result, Sanae called out to Koutarou.

“Goo! Right there! It's a home run!!”

“Gooooot iiiiiit!!”

Responding to Sanae's words, Koutarou swung Saguratin with all his might.

“I'll knock you out of the park!!”

And the produced swing had a dynamic form that had enough power behind it to look like it would be a home run.

The large sweep created a gigantic blade made out of spiritual energy. Its size, thickness and speed were all above of what Sanae had created by controlling before. The created blade blew away the objects in a large area and created a path for Koutarou.

“Kuh, don't get full of yourself, brat!”

Of course, the path Koutarou had created led to the monster. And as a result, the blade of spiritual energy assaulted the monster.

“Haa!!”

But since it had predicted this attack, the monster didn't take any damage. It controlled the balls of spiritual energy that it had created to attack Koutarou to crash into the blade.

The two attacks collided mid-air and unleashed their energies, creating a large explosion.

“As if I'd let you beat me so many times!”

“Aww~, 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.

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

“O-Oh no!?”

The monster didn't expect that Koutarou would take such an action so her reaction was too slow.

“How about thiiiis!!”

With Saguratin raised above his head, he swung it down against 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 by the elbow. The arm vanished before it could fall to the ground, and the evil spirits that made up the arm passed on.

“Too shallow!?”

However, Koutarou clicked his tongue at the results. He had been aiming for the monster's head. Since the female ghost, who was also the core, served as the monster's head, Koutarou figured that if he had been able to strike it, the monster would go down in a single hit.

Koutarou's aim had been disrupted because he had jumped through the explosion. The blast had slowed down his body and the flames had blocked his sight, the result being that his aim was thrown off ever so slightly.

“Kyaaaaaaaa, my arm!!”

Having had its arm cut off, the monster quickly retreated. It wasn't foolish enough to remain in place to allow for Koutarou to follow up with another attack.

“A-At this rate, I'll lose! In that case!!”

The monster started falling back even faster.

“What? Is she aiming for a long distance fight? Or is she running away?”

Even if the battle turned into long distance shooting, Koutarou and Sanae wouldn't lose. Even if the monster ran away, the female ghost who served as its core was almost at her limit. The monster’s actions seemed illogical and Koutarou couldn't find a reason for it to retreat.

That's why Koutarou continued pointing his sword in the monster's direction while confusedly watching it.

“Aaah!?”

Eventually as the distance grew so big that attacks would no longer reach it, Sanae let out a bewildered voice. Her face was pale as she had figured out what the monster's plan was.

“What's wrong!?”

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

Sanae who had sharper sense than Koutarou could tell what the monster was doing even from this distance, and that was that it had started to target the humans outside the construction site. That could only mean one thing: it would eat all nearby humans to increase its power before facing down Koutarou and Sanae once more. Its goal was to replenish its energy.

“She is thinking that she can't win at this rate, and she also can't run away, so she's going to eat people to power up!!”

“What!? That would be seriously bad!!”

Koutarou hurriedly chased after the monster. The monster was already outside of his range. His attacks wouldn't reach from here, but before long the monster would escape from the construction site, and the chances of stopping her before she could go on a rampage on the outside was next to none.

Damnit, to think she would do something like that...

Koutarou regretted not being able to predict what kind of actions the desperate monster would take.

How many victims would there be? Ten? Twenty? Or even more?

Koutarou turned gloomy as he thought about that while chasing after the monster.

“There's no need to worry.”

That was when a familiar and 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, Theia. She was standing in a place a little further away from the two as she glared at the monster while proudly standing in a dignified manner.

“Theia!?”

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

“Theia, what are you going to do!?”

Upon finding Sanae, Koutarou asked her what she meant.

“Koutarou, Sanae, you two continue chasing after her.”

But Theia didn't answer his question. Instead he was given an order.

“I got it! Let's go Sanae!”

“Yeah!”

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

“Yurika, stop her movements!”

“Okay!! Quick Cast – Bind Undead – Modifier – Super Penetration!!”

Yurika incanted a spell that prevented ghosts, zombies and the likes from moving. Magic tended to not be very effective against powerful undead creatures, and knowing that, Yurika poured more than enough magic power into her spell.

“Gah, my body!?”

The spell proved effective as the monster stopped midair. Yurika's magic power turned into a rope that had caught the monster and stopped her in her tracks.

“Could this be, t-the same as that time!? Which means―”

The female ghost at the monster's core remembered this sensation of not being able to move her body. She had felt this same sensation when she had lost against Koutarou and the others last time.

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

“I-It's them!!”

The monster was barely able to move her eye to look behind her. Along with a clear sense of hostility, she spotted a girl with golden hair. Next to that girl were four other girls hurriedly moving about. The monster couldn't imagine that the girls had come to this construction site for fun.

“The spiritual energy sensor is activated Ho-! Ruth-chan, are you getting the data Ho-?”

“I'm getting it, Karama-chan! Data has been converted and inputted into the Blue Knight's fire control system! Your highness, we are ready!”

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

“The photon – spiritual energy converter has begun normal operation! Korama, how are the adjustments?”

“Shizuka-chan, we're counting on you Ho-”

“Uhm... something like this? Eii!!”

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

“Theia-dono!”

“Good, here we go everyone! I don't want to see any blunders!”

The monster could see Theia's fearless smile.

“Hii.”

And upon seeing that smile, she shivered. Theia's face at this moment was one of clear hostility. It was the fierce and brutal expression of a royalty that had decided to eliminate her enemy. And while maintaining that expression, Theia gave an order to the bracelet on her right arm.

“Blue Knight! Anti-material laser cannon!”

“As you wish, my princess.”

In the next moment a black hole appeared next to Theia. It was the same kind Koutarou used when calling out his sword. But what appeared from the hole wasn't a sword, but a large laser cannon with a barrel several meters long. It was the largest size of laser cannons used by individuals, and because of its size, the user couldn't aim it themselves. It was a weapon that aimed on its own.

Once the cannon had fully appeared, 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 her your best shot!!”

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

“Fire!”

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

“As you wish, my princess.”

Immediately after, the laser cannon converted all of the energy it had stored into photons and ejected it from the muzzle. In Forthorthe, standard issues lasers for attacking are purposefully colored to show that it is firing. The laser from this cannon was originally red, but what was actually fired from the barrel was white light.

The reason for the light's change in color was due to the girls’ cooperation. Karama's sensor picked up the monster, and then Ruth sent that data to the Blue Knight. The Blue Knight then used that data for its attack. The photons to be fired were changed into spiritual energy thanks to the devices installed into the muzzle. The converted spiritual energy was then synchronized to match the same wavelength Shizuka had when she would attack; so as long as it hit, even a spiritual body would take serious damage.

In other words, this was a weapon created out of the girls’ cooperation in order to defeat ghosts.

“Gyaaaaaaaaa!!”

The monster let out a loud scream.

Having been changed from light into another type of energy, it wasn't a pure laser, but it still had overwhelming speed. By the time the monster saw the light leave the barrel of the cannon, it had already been hit. Having received a direct hit from an attack with the power of defeating the enemy inserted into it, the monster's lower half was completely erased.

The damage taken from this attack was so great that the monster lost the ability to stay in the air and fell towards the grounds of the construction site.

“Koutarou!”

“Yeah!”

The monster fell down right in front of Koutarou and Sanae. The two had headed there in the case that Theia's attack didn't defeat the monster. It was a splendid plan as the two rushed towards the monster to stop her.

“Uughh, why, why am I the only one who’s this misfortunate... Couldn't I, a-at least get a little happiness after dying...”

The monster was still alive. She had lost her lower body, but she crawled across the ground with her upper body.

“Koutarou, she's also...”

“Yeah. I know.”

The monster was still moving, but the female ghost controlling it had suffered a lot of damage from the previous attack. It was obvious that she would pass shortly, even if left alone. Even if she had been an evil enemy, Koutarou and Sanae couldn't attack her in that state.

“Nobody... nobody cares about me... I am alone... and I will face my end alone... fufu, fufufufu.”

Before long, the monster was unable to move. The female ghost no longer had enough spiritual energy to order around the evil spirits.

“You're wrong. It won't end just because you die.”

Sanae approached the her. After squatting down next to her, she wiped away her tears.

“Little kitten...?”

“And you won't be alone. Somewhere out there. someone is watching over you. I know that.”

“Sanae...”

Koutarou felt a strange feeling inside of him as he watched over Sanae's conversation with the female ghost that was starting to pass on. Koutarou still thought of Sanae as a child, but right now, she was opening her heart up for someone else. It was an action overflowing with gentleness and was far from being able to be called childish.

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

The female ghost's body began emitting a faint light. Her outline weakened and her body gradually lost its shape. The time to pass on to the afterworld had finally arrived.

“Take better care next time, okay?”

Sanae smiled as she said that and wiped away the female ghost's tears once more. But since the female ghost's existence was weakening, Sanae couldn't touch her. And Sanae felt that was sad, it no longer mattered if the woman had been an enemy or not.

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

“Of course. There's no way there won't be.”

The female ghost's body grew fainter and fainter and had almost disappeared. Only Sanae could see and hear her now because she was so sensitive to spiritual energy.

“You think so?”

“Yeah. I don't think this world's god is such a strict person.”

Sanae was convinced of that. If that hadn't been the case, she wouldn't have been able to reunite with Koutarou. Just being able to meet Koutarou again required several miracles, and that's why Sanae believed that this world's god was truly gentle.

“Fufufu.... I, hope so...”

The female ghost disappeared, leaving behind a small laughter. Not even Sanae could tell if she had been saved or not. But the laughter she could hear at the end was far from empty. That's why Sanae decided to believe that the woman had been saved.

“Bye bye, ghost lady... let's meet again...”

Like that, the woman who had hesitated for so long passed on while being seen off by Sanae, whom she had after.

Love is all, huh...

And Koutarou was overcome by a strange sensation when he realized that Sanae was more mature than he thought.

Part 10

After seeing the female ghost off, Sanae wiped her tears away with her hands and turned around to Koutarou who was behind her. Once their eyes met, she smiled. She felt that the battle was now over and was finally able to relax.

What, is this...?

However, Koutarou's was still feeling tense. Even though the female 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 was also able to feel something strange about the presence in the area. And once she focused on that evil presence, she realized that it was by her feet.

“Koutarou!! This is strange, the ghost lady has gone, but the monster's body isn't going away!!”

The monster created by the female ghost was the identity of the evil presence. Its lower half had been destroyed by Theia's attack, while the female ghost who served as its head had passed on. Despite that, the upper body remained without disappearing, and its evil presence was growing ever larger.

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

“Okay!”

Sanae hurriedly ran towards Koutarou.

The next moment, the monster's fist slammed into the ground where Sanae had been standing.

“What is the meaning of this!?”

There was no one left to control it, but 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 putting Sanae behind him, he pointed his sword towards the monster's upper half that had begun moving again. However, the monster simply continued to crawl and roll in circles, instead of going after Koutarou and Sanae. It looked like it was just a coincidence that it had almost hit Sanae.

What's going on with that?

Sanae poked her head out from behind Koutarou and looked over the monster's upper body. By doing that, she was able to see the flow of spiritual energy inside of it. And the moment she saw that, she instinctively let out a scream.

“What is that!?”

The spiritual energy was so disordered it couldn't even be called a flow. Normally, there were flows of spiritual energy similar to blood vessels throughout the body, but the monster ignored that common sense and moved its spiritual energy in all directions. The monster's upper body crawled and rolled in accordance.

“What's wrong!?”

“Koutarou, there are too many evil spirits in that body and it's getting out of control!”

“Out of control!?”

It was a nightmare that the female ghost had unintentionally created.

In order to fight Koutarou and Sanae, the female ghost had gathered a lot of evil spirits at the cost of losing her own body. And she had only been able to control that through her iron will. As a result, a normally impossible amount of evil spirits focused into a single spot and she obtained great strength.

However the woman had vanished before releasing the evil spirits. This left behind a clump of evil spirits forcibly merged to one another. That's why the evil spirits rampaged around in an attempt to escape from this constraint.

“The evil spirits in that body want to be released! But since they're forced into that shape, they can't get out! That's why they're all doing whatever they can!”

“So what's going to happen!?”

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

Not even Sanae knew what would happen next. But if several hundred evil spirits forcibly clumped up continued to rampage on like this, it was clear that something bad would happen. Just the few invaders of room 106 had caused a great amount of commotion after all.

The ones to deliver the answer were the two haniwas that had flown to Koutarou and Sanae's side before they knew it.

“It will explode Ho-!”

“The pressure will continue to build until it blows up Ho-!”

They knew what would happen next thanks to the results of their sensors observational results.

“Explode!? Really!?”

“Tell us in more detail!”

Hearing that there would be an explosion, Koutarou and Sanae couldn't sit idly. They leaned forward and demanded an explanation from the haniwas.

“Assuming that the body has the standard strength for a high level spiritual body, I have calculated how big the explosion will be and how long the time we have left is by looking at the speed at which it gathers 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 all?... Then we can just leave it be.”

“Geez...”

Hearing that the ground would only get a little scorched, Koutarou and Sanae dropped their shoulders in relief.

“We can't do that Ho-! The effect of the spiritual body exploding will cause all life forms with spirits within a 300 meter radius to die Ho-! They will be hit by a shockwave of spiritual energy and their minds will break Ho-!”

All living creatures within a 300 meter radius were 100% guaranteed to die. After that distance, the fatality rate would gradually drop until there was no danger after one kilometer out.

“Explain that first!!”

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

“Another two minutes and 23 seconds Ho-”

“Kyaa!! Nooooooo!!”

It was now night, and the citizens had come home by now. Evacuating all citizens within two minutes was impossible. It would be the worst tragedy since the foundation of Kitsushouharukaze city.

“Koutarou!”

That was when Theia and the others approached. They had also received the same information and were in a panic.

“Just how many hundred meters away would you be safe!? Even if we all run now we won't make it!!”

“It's definitely impossible for me! I will definitely die!”

“I don't have much confidence 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's difficult.”

The only one not panicking was Kiriha. But even her expression was a serious one. The chances to escape from this situation were low.

“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 will naturally diffuse in the process.”

“Is that even possible!?”

“It's not possible for me. If anyone could do it, it's Sanae.”

“Noooo, I just became a human again, I don't want to die― Eh, me?”

Noticing that she had become the subject of the discussion, Sanae stopped moving.

“That's right. Karama and Korama's spiritual energy weapons don't have enough power to force that many evil spirits to pass on. But with your powers, it is by no means impossible.”

“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 will amplify your powers Ho-!”

“Three times that? Hmm... I won't know unless I try.”

Sanae furrowed her eyebrows. The amount of spiritual energy needed was on the line where Sanae wasn't sure if it was possible or not.

“But I have to do it, right?”

“That's right.”

Kiriha nodded firmly. And in response, Sanae nodded back.

“Okay, I'll give it a try! I am the woman who performs miracles, Sanae-chan!”

Sanae wasn't planning on letting go of her ticket to the future here.

For that sake, she would become as strong as she had needed.

Part 11

Koutarou stood holding Saguratin in both hands with Sanae by his back.

“I'm sorry, Koutarou.”

“Why are you apologizing?”

“I'm going to be a little reckless so I wanted to say sorry before.”

“You're always being reckless, right?”

“Ehehe, oh right.”

Sanae let out a small laugh as she lightly pressed her hands onto Koutarou's back. She then closed her eyes and focused.

“Here I go, Koutarou.”

Sanae's voice didn't enter Koutarou's ears as sound waves; instead, he could hear it through spiritual waves like he had in the past.

“Sanae?”

“Long time no see, Koutarou.”

Along with the voice, a familiar figure appeared in front of Koutarou. It was the appearance of Sanae when she had been a ghost.

“Long time no see? What did you do!? You're behind me as well!”

Koutarou was astonished. There was a Sanae in front and behind him. The only difference between them was their age and hairstyle. Everything was precisely the same, and it was hard to tell them apart.

“Ehehehe, it's what you call an astral projection.”

The Sanae in the front smiled. She was the soul of Sanae being astral projected. The reason why she looked the same as before was because her imagining of that appearance was still stronger.

“Astral projection!?”

“Yeah. In the end, the best method to increase your spiritual energy is the method the ghost lady used.”

“What do you mean?”

“I will become one with you, Koutarou. By doing that, I can use more powers than simple additions.”

The Sanae in front of Koutarou put her hands on his chest. As she did, her body slowly sunk into Koutarou's body. And before long, she had completely entered his body.

“So that's what you mean by reckless.”

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

There had been times where Sanae had been sleeping inside of Koutarou's body, but what Sanae was about do now was to take it a few steps further and merge with Koutarou. This would be her first try at this and she didn't know what might happen.

“We've done similar stuff up until now.”

“Ahaha, you're right.”

Since they met, Sanae had always been with Koutarou. There had been times where they would be apart, but they spent the most of their time together. Koutarou thought that even if they couldn't separate now, it wouldn't be that much different.

“Okay, then I'm starting, Koutarou.”

“Yeah.”

Therefore, Koutarou was able to readily answer. He was not even the slightest scared of merging with Sanae.

“Eiya.”

Along with Sanae's cheer, Koutarou could feel someone entering his mind. Koutarou called out to that someone, but it wasn't with his voice, but with his thoughts.

"Is that you Sanae?"

"Yeah, can you tell?"

"Yes. It feels strange hearing a voice inside my head though."

"I'm going to hurry, okay? If I relax, I feel like I'll melt inside of you."

"That would be bad."

"Because you hate me?"

"You already know the answer, don't you?"

"Ehehe, I just figured it would be proper manners to pretend not to notice."

Having entered Koutarou's mind, Sanae overwrote his internal structure and connected their souls. As she did, their spiritual energy began passing through each other and increased in size.

“Oh, is this it!?”

An amazing amount of spiritual energy began pouring into Saguratin that Koutarou was gripping onto with both hands. Even Koutarou could tell that the amount was close to three times what had been inside 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 do it."

“Alright, I'll give it a shot.”

Koutarou readjusted his grip on Saguratin and pointed the tip of his sword towards the upper body of the monster still crawling around on the ground.

“Karama, Korama, let's start.”

“Okay Ho-!”

“The amplifying system has been activated Ho-! Whenever you are ready Ho-!”

Thanks to his merging with Sanae, all of Koutarou's abilities were amplified. He could see the spiritual energy flowing through Karama and Korama. With this power, they would be able to force the remaining evil spirits to pass on. Convinced of that, Koutarou raised his sword high.

"Koutarou."

But just before Koutarou swung his sword down, Sanae whispered to him. And so he stopped with the sword above his head.

"What is it?"

"There's something I want to tell you."

"Can't you do it later?"

"I just felt that right now I can tell you without any misunderstanding. And there's no fear of anyone else overhearing."

"Then tell me. There's no time so try to be as concise as possible okay?"

There was already less than 30 seconds left, so there was no time to casually chat.

"Alright, then I'll say it okay? Ahem..."

Sanae stopped speaking and waited for a short time before continuing to steel herself. But once she put it into words, she did it at full force.

"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―"

There was just a single phrase Sanae wanted to tell Koutarou.

But the truth in those words were revealed by the spiritual energy's sudden increase. The amount of spiritual energy in Saguratin now was easily more than five times the amount that had been used when Koutarou was fighting the monster.

"Love is all, huh. You really are a handful..."

"Eh?"

Reacting to Koutarou mumbling, Sanae stopped speaking. But what stopped was just her words as her spiritual energy continued to increase. Sanae herself didn't notice that.

"It's nothing. Let's wrap up this job."

"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.

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