Chapter 157

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-- Chapter 157
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borisdrakoni (Spoiler):

The One Who Was Stolen

Hajime and Shia instinctively shout out Yue's name.  With the mysterious attack obviously aiming at Yue they were naturally feeling impatient.

Under the pillar of light, Yue's body finally began to move.  In fact, she'd had her movements temporarily restrained by the dark magic Eri had shot at her.  Due to her Necromancer class being a derivative of the dark magic system, as her strength was boosted her ability with dark magic also increased exponentially(think Shimizu mk. II).

Yue who can finally move again tried to escape from the pillar of light, but found the boundary hard as if a barrier were there.  She used Space magic in an attempt to break the pillar, but that also failed.  Giving up on destroying the pillar she tried to open a gate out but that also failed.

Noticing Yue's distress, Hajime told Myuu and Remia not to move and put cross bits around them to act as shields.  He dashed out to destroy the pillar, but was obstructed by Alv who, while enjoying Hajime's  struggle, summoned a horde of demonic beasts, apostles, and Eri's zombie army comprised of both humans and Majin tribe to impede him.

Hajime immediately used Limit Break and started his attack.  Even though he had also been continuously improving himself with image training, as expected since they were apostles they did not go down easily and used the sheer force of numbers to prevent him from advancing.

Meanwhile, the others found themselves in similar situations.  Shia was defending Aiko, Lily, and the classmates to the best of her abilities.  Tio, Shizuku, Ryuutaro, and Suzu had to deal with the apostles, demonic beasts, and zombies surrounding them.

As for Kaori, she was warding off both Kouki and incoming attacks from apostles.  Thinking he had been affected by some kind of magic, she tried to use status abnormality recovery magic on him while telling him to come back to his senses, but it had no effect.

Kaori asked why her magic failed.  Kouki responds that it is Kaori who should come to her senses.  He asked her how long she planned to continue doing this.  When she questioned what he meant, he replied by asking her if she had listened to Deinrid's story.  He was trying to save the world.  Kouki couldn't permit Hajime's actions against such a wonderful person.

Kaori was perplexed by Kouki's incomprehensible words.  Mental interference was part of the dark system of magic....Though Shizuku and the others were having a rough time, Kaori's eyes landed on Eri.  At that moment Eri showed a wicked smile.

Kaori accused Eri of turning Kouki into her puppet, but Eri denied it, saying she only put the idea into his head.  The rest was his own conviction.  The brainwashing had been easily accomplished due Kouki's convenient interpretations and the load recent events had put on his spirit.

Kaori still harbored some doubts about why Kouki had attacked her.  Eri replied, “You didn't know?”  Kaori, confused, took some attacks from the apostles.  She managed to avoid a fatal strike by dodging and parrying, but still took quite a bit of damage.  Instantly recovering, she faced Eri again.

Eri explained while laughing, enjoying Kaori's appearance.  She hadn't been just playing around.  She had not been negligent in putting in effort to become a better “good woman” for Kouki.  Her skill had improved to be able to work directly on a living person.  Though instead of controlling him directly, she had instead planted the idea of what was correct into Kouki, making herself into the brave heroine who supported him.

Kaori shuddered hearing Eri's explanation.  Her having stuck to Kouki after entering the castle had likely been to apply the magic.  Moreover, after the induction is finished, the effect doesn't end even if the magic is stopped since the person in question believed that the decisions were made by himself.  The more time passes, the more it becomes true for the person.  This method has an extraordinary effect on a person like Kouki.

As to why Kouki was only attacking Kaori, since Kouki likely couldn't be convinced to kill her, he was directed simply to force her to be unable to act with the help of the apostles.  Kouki unconsciously judged this to be the correct action.  In other words, Kouki was already Eri's puppet while still living.  Being easily manipulated by Eri's devilish flattery and because he believes that what he is doing is right, Kouki's combat efficiency doesn't fall.  Because of this, the fatal flaw of his hesitation that Hajime pointed out earlier was miraculously canceled.

While Kaori was dealing with Kouki and the apostles, the others were falling into similar predicaments.

Hajime in his rush to get to Yue was blowing away tens of apostles, demonic beasts, and zombies.  The apostles have started coming at him two or more at a time, but they still can't stop him.  Using his artificial arm, he blew off half the face of one of them, flying back and crashing into the mass of apostles and beasts behind her.  Taking advantage of the temporary path, Hajime rushed forward producing after images.

Alv, Freed, and more apostles move to attack, but they are intercepted by Tio who has taken dragon form.  Transformation magic must have been used since her size was larger than before, and the color of her scales was also a deeper shade of black.  Tio, while understanding the disadvantage of taking dragon form in the limited space, had done so to act as a shield for Hajime.

Alv, Freed, and the apostles shoot their attacks at her.  Using, Sublime magic, Transformation magic, and Pain Conversion to the maximum, she activated body hardening to the limit.  Even though she attempted to create a barrier of wind over and over again, the match up was too bad and her black scales start to get blown off, making her cry out in pain.

Seeing Tio hurt, Hajime told her not to do anything unreasonable.  Tio, while counterattacking with her breath and tail, looks at him with determination in her eyes and tells him that since it is unreasonable he should hurry up and go.  That light isn't normal, so he should help Yue quickly.  He can be relieved since Tio will never die before Hajime holds her in his arms.

Hajime told her that he will leave it to her and moved forward.  Without turning around any longer, Hajime focused solely on slaughtering everything between him and Yue.  He completely ignored all  attacks from Freed and Alv behind him.  A reliable woman said to leave it to her.  There was no need to worry in the least.  (Ding!  Hajime's affection points for Tio have increased!)

Hajime crushes several apostles and finally reached the pillar of light.  He and Yue call out to each other, but their voices aren't carried through the light.  Yue had tried everything she could think of, but the light hadn't broken.

Hajime, seeing Yue grasping her chest seemingly in pain while occasionally shaking her head as if to shake off something, impatiently whips out the pile bunker.  He buys himself some time while using the cross bits to machine gun the apostles behind him.  Fully charging it with sublime magic, Hajime pulled the trigger and the stake easily penetrated the pillar.  Without any time to hold doubts as to why it cracked so easily despite Yue's best efforts not having any effect, Hajime hit it with his artificial arm, shattering the pillar completely.

Hajime calls out Yue's name and immediately tries to go to her.  Something is wrong with her eyes, though, and she isn't responsive.  Finally, Yue shows some response and jumps into Hajime's chest.  He asks her if she is alright, but her seemingly happy response is strange.  Hajime, with an unpleasant feeling, tried to get away from her, but he was too slow.  Yue's hand had completely penetrated through his stomach.

Before anyone noticed the apostles had stopped moving.  Shia and the others warily turned their gazes to Hajime and Yue and were surprised by what they saw.

Hajime tried to blow Yue back and take some distance, but Yue utters a command in the name of Ehito, doubly shocking Hajime both by the use of the name and because suddenly his body was unable to move.  Ehito introduces herself(himself?  Do the gods here even have gender?  I suppose I'll refer to Ehito as her from now on since it's Yue being possessed).  Hajime, seeing the smile made on Yue's face, is reminded of the smile of the portrait of Ehito he first saw in the church when they were summoned to that world.

Ehito pulled her arm out of Hajime's body, causing blood to spray out.  She licks the blood on her hand, shivering pleasantly while enjoying a vampire's tastes.  She comments that instead of just killing him after making him feel despair, perhaps she should keep him around as livestock instead.

Hajime shouted in the face of Ehito's radiant smile.  Even though a massive amount of blood shot out of the hole in his stomach, without worrying about it at all he increased his power, causing the light of Limit Break to increase.  With a sound of something breaking, Hajime broke free of the restraint and jumped back all at once.  At the same time, Donner was shot at Ehito.  The  physical damage could easily be regenerated by Yue, but anyway suppressing the other party was necessary right now.

However, the bullet was stopped before it could even touch Ehito.  Countering, twelve thunder dragons were instantly produced and attacked Hajime, drowning out all sight and sound.  Shia, Kaori, and Tio screamed Hajime's name and run toward him.  The apostles don't interfere, but the aftereffects of the lightning impede their progress.  Finally, the image of Hajime with smoke rising off his entire body appeared.  He had tried to shield himself with the cross bits, but it wasn't enough.

Still, since Hajime had used Limit Break he wasn't paying any consideration to his injuries.  Ehito comments that eating so much lightning would still have dulled him, and made another attack.  Hajime tried to dodge and shield himself, but he is attacked on all sides by Gravity magic and Space shockwave explosions.  The shield was easily crushed while Hajime screamed.

Shia, Kaori, and Tio rush at Ehito, but with one command she brings them to their knees.  The floor around them begins transforming into massive stone wolves who hold them down with their claws while their fangs grip the back of their necks.

Kaori starts to use her disintegration magic to blow everything away, but with a command from Ehito her body suddenly shuts down.

At the same time the attack on Hajime ended.  He fell to his knees like a puppet with its strings cut while vomiting a massive amount of blood.  Shizuku and the others come running while calling out their names, but before they can get to them the space above Hajime forms into the shape of a cross, attaching itself to his back and forcing him into the ground.  Ehito cast a spell at Shizuku, Ryuutaro, and Suzu.  They fell to the ground with pale faces, patting their necks with trembling hands as if confirming that they were still attached.  Even though they could fight against the apostles, demonic beasts, and zombies, they were all easily defeated just by Ehito.

Ehito mocks them all as garbage.  She calmly walked toward Hajime.  Hajime tried to move the cross bit, but they were crushed into the ground by gravity.  Even the ones defending Myuu and Remia were knocked down.  Myuu was watching Hajime tearfully.  Aiko and the others who tried to step forward were stopped by the apostles.

Hajime tried to take an explosive out of the Treasure Warehouse to blow them both away, but reading his intentions, Ehito caused not only his, but also the others' Treasure Warehouses to teleport to her instantly.  Not only that, but Donner, Schlag, Doryukken, and the black sword were also teleported over.  Ehito comments on the quality of Hajime's artifacts, especially the interesting ones based on Earth's weapons.  She says that even though going between worlds as just a soul is tough, now that she has her vessel it would be fun to play on Earth as well.

Ehito crushed the Treasure Warehouses in her hand to dust.  Donner, Schlag and the rest are similarly dismantled.  Hajime's artificial arm is also crushed, giving him extreme pain.  Seeing Hajime struggle, Ehito comments that perhaps she should have made Hajime her vessel.  Hajime's magic rises further, causing the space restraining him to shake.  Ehito just looks at his struggle as if it is a trifling thing though.

Seeing that, Hajime....made his magic start pulsing with a throbbing sound.  His magic rose without bounds while red light erupted around him as Limit Break evolved to its final form.  Before, it had never awakened because Hajime was too strong.  Faced with the god's overwhelming power, though, it had finally bloomed.  The rage he felt toward Ehito for using Yue's body was the fire that lit the fuse.

Alv, who had been tearfully looking on with ecstasy seeing his master descend, suddenly wore a trembling expression at the sight of Hajime, whose power had reached the equal of his own as a god.  He calls out a warning to Ehito, but she tells him it's fine since it is a worm's struggle after all.  She then used a command to get Hajime to release his power.  (**Note, the names she used both for herself in her command, and for Alv are different in this segment.  She called Alv アルヴヘイト(Aruvuheito), and herself エヒトルジュエ(Ehitorujue).)  Apparenly using her full true name increased the power of her command.

The full force of the command hit Hajime and made him try to release Limit Break.  Hajime desperatly resisted it while screaming, causing his power to flicker.  Ehito watches him in amusement, questioning if even after everything the level of despair still isn't enough.  Hajime responds that he will absolutely kill her and take Yue back, ending everything.  Ehito, laughs, saying “Is that so?”, and says she'll proceed to show him why he wasn't instantly annihilated.

Smiling with her whole face at Hajime who is pouring out murderous intent, Ehito uses Yue's original magic to summon five heavenly dragons, saying she found it elegant.  The power of each far exceeds what Yue could produce.  Each of the five turn their attention to their targets:
Myuu and Remia
Aiko, Lily, and the classmates
Shizuku, Ryuutaro, and Suzu;
Shia, Tio, and Kaori
Finally, Hajime himself.

What Ehito was planning was clear.  Everyone Hajime cared about would be killed in front of him by the magic of the woman he loved.  Then, after enjoying Hajime's despair fully, he himself would be killed.

Hajime called out to Yue, telling her to wake up.  Ehito laughed, asking if he was calling out to his lover at the end.  It was useless since she was already hers.  Or was he perhaps stalling?  She admonishes him, but Hajime ignores her and continues calling to Yue to hear his voice.

Though the crowd of demonic beasts in the surrounding had all fallen unconscious by the killing intent leaked by Hajime, Ehito had enjoyed it as a crisp breeze.  She raised her hand to deliver the finishing blow to everyone, but to her surprise her hand started shaking and lowered itself.  She staggered as her whole body began to shake.  She tries to order the attack on Shia and the others, but a disembodied voice like telepathy suddenly resounds

“--I won't let you.”

Hajime and Shia joyfully call out Yue's name.  Kaori and the rest also join in.  Hajime, making both his body and magic groan with the effort, starts putting cracks in the cross holding him down.  Shia and the others also started to get up.

Though soaked with sweat, Ehito shouts out a command with her true name bringing massive amounts of pain to everyone.  Everyone but Hajime was unable to endure it and fell to the ground while screaming.

Ehito tells Alv that she will return to the gods' world in order to deal with Yue's resistance.  Even for a god it is difficult to fully possess someone.  That is why Deinrid's memories were used to make Yue's mind more open to it.  However, that had been ruined by Hajime, so she wasn't able to take full possession of Yue.  She tells Alv that she will return in three or four days during which it should be possible to fully take Yue over.  She tells Freed and Eri to go with her to realize their hopes.

Ehito opened the gate to the gods' world overhead.  Before going through, she glares back at Hajime, telling him that she will leave to let the soul that raised a lovely resistance know its limits.  When she returns, she will destroy this world as a last act before going to play in the other world(Earth).  Though it has nothing to do with him since he will already be dead.

Hajime tells her to wait, and to return Yue.  He reached out to her from where he lay on the ground.  Before anyone was aware, the cross restraining him had shattered.  Even the influence from the god's command was rejected.  He got up, standing in a pool of what looked like just about all of the blood in his entire body.  Hajime dashes out wearing the red light of magic, however the apostles impede him by attacking back.  Alv also shoots his attack, stunning him.  All magic formations inscribed on his clothes  were dispersed.
Still, with his killing intent bursting out, Hajime struggled to reach Yue.  To Hajime who advanced slowly despite being in a state where it wouldn't be strange if he died at any time, the eyes of the apostles began to be tinted by fear.

Ehito, looking down her nose at him, turns and continues toward the gate.  Freed, Eri, and Kouki follow.  Eri is clinging to Kouki again.  He nods to the whispers in his ear.  Further brainwashing using his convenient justice was being applied, as evidenced by the fact that he didn't even react to Ehito, who was supposed to have been his enemy.

Suzu tried to say something to Eri, but was unable due to the pain.  Eri for her part did not even spare a glance at her.

Freed, Eri, Kouki, as well as half of the apostles, demonic beasts, and zombies, followed Ehito to the gate.  Ehito turned one last time, mimicking the scene from the Churche's portrait, causing the Majin people below to cheer.  Smiling, Ehito turned and disappeared into the light of the gate.

Hajime screamed Yue's name hollowly.  His extended hand could not grasp anything.  The usual warm, dear feeling was already gone.



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