Battle Across The Omniverse

Shizuku POV - Tortus, Orcus Great Labyrinth - 2013

Not even five minutes have passed when all of the monsters are annihilated, and the battle ends, but we don't relax our guard and search our surroundings to see if there are more enemies, but seeing none I let out a sigh of relief but keep a vigilant state, but the same can't be said about my childhood friend Kouki, who relaxes and says, "Phew, next is the 80th floor, huh… We were able to defeat the monsters in this floor without much difficulty… and it looks like the end of the combat training inside this labyrinth is near".

And so I once again try to warm him so that he doesn't become careless as I did many times before, "That's why don't let your guard down now. After all, we don't know what kind of monsters and traps are ahead", and following that, that muscle-head of Ryutaro replies with a hearty laugh, "Aren't you worrying too much about it, Shizuku? Didn't we just had an easy battle in a floor no one ever reached? No matter what may come, I will defeat them! Even if it's the Demon race!", at the same time, he extends his fist toward Kouki who smiles and does the same, doing their usual fist bump.

Seeing that, I let out another sigh while rubbing my creased forehead and think, 'These two idiots, when will they learn to think a little before acting, I feel like getting older a lot faster while worrying about these two... My wrinkle hasn't increased again, right?', even while thinking that I don't restrict the two and follow after them as they regroup with the others.

And quickly notice that while the others were discussing the earlier battle, Kaori is doing her duty, to heal the injured people from the previous battle, since she is a Healer, together with her there is also another Healer, Ayako Tsuji, a young woman with shoulder-length light-brown hair and brown eyes, she has a large forehead that is exposed by a hair clip that she usually wears over her bangs, she and Kaori divide themselves and take care of all the injured.

(Image Here - Ayako Tsuji)

Then I focus more on Kaori and see that she is taking care of Hiyama and Kondou, and as I move closer, I hear her ask, "Hiyama-kun, Kondou-kun, I think you must have recovered by now. But… how are you?", to which both reply while stuttering a little, "… Aah, there's no problem now. Thank you, Shirasaki", Himaya, who was healed by Kaori, is daydreaming due to the close proximity of Kaori's face, and answered absentmindedly, 'It is obvious he is charmed by her...'.

Even Kondou is saying his gratitude with his reddened ears, "O-Oh, it's okay now. Thanks", looking at them I think, 'Because they are the vanguards, Hiyama and Kondou are frequently in care of Kaori's healing, and yet they still could not get used to coming in contact with Kaori... And although Kondou's attitude is just like any young man in puberty… There is a certain darkness inside Hiyama's eyes when he looks at Kaori. The darkness became thicker as days go by and it makes me uncomfortable… but no one else noticed it... I hope I'm wrong... But better be careful...'.

Meanwhile, Kaori who heard their gratitude, says with a smile on her face, "You're welcome",  then, she stands and turns around.

When she confirms that no one else is in need of healing, she secretly sighs, and she begins to look at the dim passage ahead with eyes filled with anxiety.

Noticing Kaori's state, I understand what my best friend feels, 'Kaori's mind is filled with worries. There were twenty more floors until the lowest floor, yet we didn't find any sign of Hajime or Eri at all... And although it means that there is hope, the despair is far stronger. Even if she decides to not believe Hajime is dead until she saw it herself, another floor was conquered, and the negative thoughts that surged when nothing was found, could not be easily put aside... Furthermore, four months had passed since the day Hajime and Eri fell into the abyss. Even if her determination was strong, it was enough time for negative thoughts to begin invading her mind.'.

Seeing Kaori's appearance while she embraces her artifact, a white staff, tightly, I'm about to call out to her since I can no longer endure it.

But, before I could make my move, the small mood-maker runs towards her, she bounces with a spring in her steps, and with a jump, she embrace Kaori from behind while yelling, "KA-O-RI~N!! There's no need to heal those guys, just heal Suzu a, lot~! Heal me with this and that~", then with a face that resembles an old pervert she starts groping Kaori's breast, making her yelps, "Hya! Suzu-chan! Where are you touching! Rather, Suzu-chan should not have any injury!".

But Suzu rebuts, "There is! Suzu's glass-like heart is injured! That's why, spoil me! To put it concretely, use Kaorin's big breasts!", and continues groping Kaori's bountiful chest, and helpless Kaori starts to ask for help, "B-Brea—… I said stop! Ah, hey! Yanh! Shizuku-chan, help!", while Suzu continues to knead her breast to her pleasing with a sloppy expression, "Haa, Haa, is this good? How about over here? Young lady, you are quite th-puuutt!?".

At that moment I decide to make my move and chop on Suzu's head stopping her and making her collapse on the ground, and say, "… Haa, stop it already, Suzu. I know you don't mind the boys' gaze… But, you should…", then Kaori quickly clings to me with teary eyes and says, "Uu~, thank you, Shizuku-chan. That was embarrassing…", I gently pat her head and comfort her, "Alright, alright. It is okay now. I have exterminated the pervert, okay?".

At the same time, I check Kaori's complexion while gently stroking Kaori's silky hair, 'Kaori is looking a Suzu on the ground with a troubled but somewhat happy expression, and her anxiety from before is no longer there. Apparently, her feelings have changed for the better even if it is a temporary thing...', then I also look a Suzu and think, 'I can't help but admire her... Even if she is still grieving for what happened to Eri, she makes sure to not show it to the others and forces herself to be bright, and continues to cheer on the others... As expected of the class's mood maker, Suzu, without her this group unity would have collapsed long ago...'.

Then I once more encourage my best friend by putting my hands on her shoulders and looking at her in the eyes I say, "There are only twenty floors left… Let's do our best, Kaori", and it seems that it works as Kaori slaps both her cheeks and looks back at me with a resolute glint in her eyes as she says with a soft smile, "Un. Thank you, Shizuku-chan!".

After a few seconds, Kaori, who still believes in Hajime's survival, looks down on her current self, and so she wonders out loud, "If it is now… can I protect him?", and seeing that she is once again doubting herself, I decide to lighten the mood, and say, "I see… I am sure you can. We are different from that time… Even our levels have surpassed Meld-san and the other Knights… However, hehe, isn't it possible that he has also become stronger? Even that time, he was the one who helped us in the end", and it seems it works as Kaori lightly laughs and says "Haha, jeez… Shizuku-chan…".

After cheering up Kaori, I again check the situation of our group which is made up of me, Kouki, Ryutarou, Kaori, Suzu, five people including Nagayama Juugo, and Endou Kousuke, who I lose sight of from time to time, Hiyama's gang of four, and Yukitoshi Shimizu, who has been a lot quieter than usual, for a total of 15 people.

Meanwhile, Meld-san and the Knights are standing by on the 70th floor, as that floor is the limit for Meld-san and the Knights, 'To begin with, there were only Meld-san and few others who could keep up with us when we were around the 60th floor. Thus, even if I don't like to say it out loud, they had only become a hindrance to our party when we reached the 70th floor... Even Meld-san was conscious of that. He taught us all the know-how about the Labyrinth. Then, he and the Knights decided to try their best to secure a safety zone around the teleportation circle found on the 70th floor that leads to the 30th, and let us move on our own...'.

Then my thoughts are interrupted by Kouki's voice who timidly calls us out, "I think it's about time to leave… Is it okay now?", from his tone his clear that he is still misunderstanding what is going on with Kaori, 'Since he saw me embracing Kaori in her room after what happened to Hajime and Eri, Kouki's attitude became suspicious, which had taken Kaori aback, but I know what is in his mind!', and only quietly watch him but my eyes are truly expressing, "Until when are you going to keep this strange misunderstanding, you fool!", but he pretends to not notice my gaze and order the other members to move.

We have explored 90% of the 79th floor, and the route we are about to take now is the last place that remains to explore, 'Thinking about the structure of the floors up until now, it is about time for us to see the stairs that leads to the 80th floor.'.

The prediction turned out to be right, as we discover the stairs 10 minutes after we moved out, and so after reading ourselves, we descend the dim, spiral staircase while always checking for the presence of traps, and after we descend for around 10 meters, we finally arrive at the 80th floor.

The first thing we do is carefully look around in vigilance like Meld-san taught us, since this is the starting point of the floor and often they have a nasty surprise, like a trap or the surprise attack of a new type of monster, however, just by its external appearance, nothing has changed from 70th-ish floors we had just finished exploring.

So we immediately begin our exploration while mapping, even if the structure is the same, but we can't let our guard down because the monsters that will eventually appear might be strong ones.

In constant vigilance, our party explores the passages and rooms with the same structure as before, the exploration progresses easily, too easily.

By the time the party reaches a deep inside broad space, the incomprehensible feeling reaches its peak, and Kouki leaks out a questioning voice with a perplexed expression on his face, "…What's with this?", we are all also perplexed just like him, so we all stop when Kouki asked the question, then he continues to express everyone's doubts, "… Even though we have explored it so much, why we didn't encounter even one demonic beast?".

Our exploration has explored at least half of the whole floor, excluding the unneeded passages, and normally we would not have been able to advance this easily since we would be furiously attacked by strong monsters, and in my mind, I try to find a reason for this strange event, 'Normally, we need two days to reach the latter half of a floor. However, not even three hours had passed since we started exploring the 80th floor... And still, we didn't encounter even one single monster on this floor!'.

I carefully look around while my internal monologue continues, 'In the beginning, we thought the monsters were observing our party from the shadows, but nothing popped up even when we used our perception skills and magic spells... It is strange for us to not even feel the presence of a single monster. It is obviously an abnormal situation!'.

And while the others are talking about this strange situation, trying to find a reason, Ryutaro says, "…How to say it, it feels eerie. Was nothing here since the beginning?", and our confusion only deepens, so I suggest to Kouki, "… Kouki, shouldn't we return for now? Somehow I feel an ominous premonition. Meld-san and Knights might know something about this situation", at the same time, I also strengthen my vigilance.

Kouki considers my suggestion as it is obvious that he also has a bad feeling about this, but I can clearly see that he is hesitating on answering because he feels that we must keep advancing no matter what happens.

But, while Kouki is hesitating, the party members who are exploring the nearby surroundings catch my attention as they unexpectedly raise their voices when they find something, "This is… blood… right?", then Tsuji Ayako adds while clearly pailing "It is hard to discern since the blood assimilate with the color of dim wall… They are all over the wall".

Nagayama advance from within the pale party members, and he touches the liquid they thought was blood with his finger while saying, "Oi, oi… this… this is quite the amount", afterward, he confirms the details by looking and smelling the blood stuck on his finger and says, "Amanogawa… we should follow Yaegashi's suggestion… This is monster's blood. Furthermore, it still fresh".

And Kouki quickly rebuts, "Well, if that is monsters' blood, it means the monsters around her have all been killed. Not only that, but it also means there's a strong one who did it… But, won't we be unable to advance unless we defeat it?", Nagayama shakes his head towards Kouki's rebuttal.

Seeing him like that I quickly think, 'Even though Nagayama was the second biggest after Ryutarou, he had a very prudent character, unlike the other one', meanwhile, Nagayama watches the surrounding carefully while being prepared for battle, and says what he thinks of the current situation, "Amanogawa… the monster is likely not to go out of this room alone. We also haven't even encountered one in the passages and rooms up until now. In addition, it is the first time we discovered traces. In other words…".

And I finish what he is about to say hoping that Kouki would listen if he sees that I agree, "… Something must have hidden the traces of the attacked monsters, right?", to which Nagayama nods.

And as I hoped Kouki's expression shows that he realizes something because of those words, then, just like Nagayama, he raises his vigilance to the maximum with a stern expression and says, "There's also the possibility of monsters becoming more intelligent… But, it was natural to think someone was here… In addition, for only traces in this room not to be hidden, either it means it didn't have the time to do it, or…"

But a deep man voice I have never heard before suddenly rings out, "Here is the last stop", and we all quickly enter our battle state and turn our gaze toward the source of the voice all at the same time, but all we see is the darkness of one of the few lightless tunnels of this floor.

The sound of footsteps resounds, but what appears from deep within the darkness of the spacious hall is a young man with blazing red hair, his ears are slightly pointed, and his skin is darkish and he has almost shining golden eyes.

I open my eyes wide in astonishment, the man's features are something I know very well, though I have never seen it before, it is a race's characteristics that always appeared inside the lecture from Ishtal and the others, the enemy of the Church, and also the arch-enemy of human race.

And next someone mutter, "…Demon race", and the man reveals a faint cold smile.

Freid POV - Tortus, Great Orcus Labyrinth - 2013

I smile as I look at the heroes' party who have their eyes widened with surprise, and at the same time, I think, 'So this is it... Jayr was right... I can't feel a hint of a threat from them... Sure they are strong and have the potential to be stronger as that girl Eri showed me, but there is no way I could lose against them in their current state...'.

Then I move my gaze to the one who is wearing some kind of bright white armor that seems their leader and ask, "You are the hero, right? Yes, you, the one wearing a stupidly sparkling armor", and the young man quickly replies with slight anger in his tone, "St-Stupid… sh-shut up! I won't accept being called stupid by someone from the Demon race! Besides, why would a person from the Demon race be in a place like this!?".

As my disappointment grows, I look at him like he is an idiot, let out a sigh, and ask, "What do you think one of the Demon Race would do here? Sightsee? A picnic? Or trying to get rid of the Heretical Apostle of the human God, the only real threat to his race? I could also come here to come and join our side, and become an Apostle of the merciful God Alva-sama...".

The idiot hero starts to stammer clearly confused, "Wh-What did you say? Come to your… what do you mean!?", resisting the impulse to sigh again and facepalm I say, "Looks like your comprehensive ability is rather low. The meaning is exactly as I said. An invitation for Mr. Hero. I want you to come to our side. There are various preferential treatments, too, I heard that we have cookies too...".

It seems that they are totally stunned by these unexpected words and need some time to comprehend them, then, the other members of the party all look at the hero, who glares at me with a strained and disgusted expression, and finally, they understand what I meant, as he yells, "I refuse! How dare you… asking me to betray… Human race… my comrades and the people of this Kingdom! It's exactly as I heard, the Demon race is an evil existence! You purposely came here to invite me, but for you to come alone is too foolish! We have the numbers. So, surrender now!".

I almost stammer when I heard this and think, 'Really, surrender!? He didn't even notice my presence until I revealed myself... Has clearly seen that all the monsters of this floor are dead, presumably killed by me on my own something that they can only do as a team, and he has the confidence to say surrender, only because he thinks he has a number advantage, he didn't think that I was simply waiting here for them after preparing some kind of advantage or trap, nor did he even notice that I didn't even break a sweat when I reached this floor ahead of the 15 humans... What a fool! Was he kicked in the head as a child?'.

Then I simply mutter, "I see", and do not pay attention to the immediate refusal, then I say, "Well, it is okay for your comrades to come with you, you know? So how about it?", further testing him and his comrades, but without discussing with his comrades, the hero, immediately answers, "My answer is still the same! No matter what you say, I absolutely won't betray Human race!", I notice that a young woman with waist-length black hair tied up in a ponytail with bangs hanging over her forehead and red eyes and the buff young man behind the hero clicks their tongues at the hero's behavior.

Seeing that I almost shake my head but stop myself while thinking, 'And it seems that he even ignores his comrades and decides for himself what is the right thing... Having an almost unbelievable belief that he is never wrong, so he misinterprets any situation to suit his own point of view, ignoring reality, as he only wants to hear and see what he wants... Urgh... Something about this seems strangely familiar... Seeing him acting like that is unpleasant...'.

While I was thinking that, the hero activates the Holy Sword, which then becomes clad in light and yells, "There's no more need for discussion, and I will use force if you don't surrender!", at the same time, I notice that among these 15 people, only 3 noticed that something is truly off with this situation, 2 of them are the same young man and a young woman standing behind the hero, while the other is a quiet gloomy young man with a pale complexion, black hair in an unkept fashion, black eyes with black bags underneath them and freckles.

(Image Here - Yukitoshi Shimizu)

Seeing all I needed, I realize that it is finally time to give them a dose of Jayr called "Reality Check", and also vent some of my frustrations on them, so I say, "I see. Then, I won't ask anymore. Also let me say this… to invite you is not my main priority, so don't even think of something naive like I won't kill you... Guys!!. It's time to eat!", and give an order to my invisible familiar, who have already surrounded them, to finally act.

The only ones that are able to barely react as two of my invisible monsters move to attack, are once again the young woman and the buff young man, I see that they barely noticed the blurred space left behind by the monster as they move and react to protect their comrades but soon the sound of something crushed echoes along with the young woman and young man's anguished voices as they are blown away at the same time.

Jayr POV - Tortus, Orcus Great Labyrinth - 2013

Hidden in a pocket space created with Spatial Magic, I and Eri eat some popcorn as the meeting between Freid and the Hero's party finally happens, looking at the back and forth between Freid and Kouki, Eri smirks and comments, "Heh... Look at Freid's eyebrows! How it twitches, he is clearly annoyed by Kouki's behavior... Do you think he will notice that he and Kouki are very similar? Kouki believes that he is never wrong and Freid's belief in his God is on the same level, they both twist facts to better match their belief...".

Grabbing another fistful of popcorn I reply, "If he does, it will be a step in the right direction for him... This is also why I didn't stop you guys when you proposed this plan...", while we are chatting, Kouki does what he does best, ignores everything else and prepare to attack in "rightful" fury, and so Freid gives the signal to his invisible monster and the fight finally start.

Shizuku and a buff young man, whose name is Nagayama Jugo as Eri told me, are the only ones that notice the blurring space left behind by the approaching monsters and move to protect their classmates.

Shizuku rushes forward draws her swords into a cross towards the blurring space and tries to jump back to dull the force when she receives the impact, however, the monster's attack power is far greater than she has imagined, so her defense is broken, and she is thrown to the ground, sucking all the air in her lungs, there was even shallow cut on her abdomen, and seeing that Eri starts to grin as she munches on the popcorn and comments, "That should have hurt a lot... Nice!".

On the other side, Nagayama uses some kind of magic that from what I saw before hardens his body and raises his defenses so for now I will call it Body Hardening, however, even he has his defense broken through by that four-armed horse-faced monster, and is blown away while splattering blood from his deeply wounded arms, he barely escapes the additional damage of crashing into the ground by chance, as he lands on Hiyama's gang who is in the rear.

At the same time, the glass cracking-like crushed sounds come from the barrier magic Suzu had chanted beforehand as soon as she felt that a crisis was approaching, and seeing that I nod and praise her, "She didn't feel the "existences" of the monsters, but she somehow used the barrier to not only envelop Shizuku and Nagayama but also everyone on the rear... It was something she did instinctively which could also be said that it was due to her experience. Her action was extremely correct... Without Suzu's barrier, the third monster would have "finished off" Nagayama...", then I crunch a fistful of popcorn and continue to enjoy the fight between the human heroes and the demon commander.