Chapter 64

Kirill, left alone, felt as if she had been thrown into the darkness.

She could hear the sounds of battle from a distance.

Mixed in with them were screams and cries of agony—surely many people were losing their lives.

She was afraid.

The death of people was very frightening.

The thought of getting hurt herself was also very frightening.

Scared, scared, scared.

It was probably a very ordinary emotion that everyone naturally felt.

Kirill was not special.

She was not a hero who could rise up with a sense of mission when told to defeat the Demon King or save the world.

She was just an ordinary, small girl who had been burdened with the overly heavy role and power of a "hero."

“What can I do?”

It was easy to decide that she could do nothing, and it could be an excuse.

So she chose that.

She could do nothing, so she would do nothing, and it was inevitable.

She repeated it over and over.

Because she was afraid.

The world outside the daily life of farming in the countryside—everything was frightening.

“I...”

She couldn't do anything extraordinary.

Saving the world was out of the question.

She could barely handle what was happening around her.

But if she stopped here, she wouldn't even be able to do that.

“...I have to do something about Mute.”

She didn't know what to do.

The actions of Linus and Maria, who tried to stop her, were right.

Kirill knew that too.

But she didn't want them to die.

Even if it was to atone, there had to be another way... No, maybe there wasn't.

No, there probably wasn't.

But—she couldn't leave this vague feeling as it was.

Kirill started walking in the direction of the sound.

As she got closer, the ground shook more violently, and the damage to the buildings worsened.

It didn't seem like it was something Linus had done.

But it also didn't seem like Mute had that much power.

She had a bad feeling.

Her steps naturally widened, and her expression showed anxiety.

Then—the scene opened up.

“Maria-san!”

“O, O, Ooo...”

What Kirill saw there was a monster that looked like a human skin had been peeled and twisted, and Flamm standing against it.

In her hand, on the rubble, was a sword as tall as she was.

“Flamm...”

She, who was supposed to have no power to fight, who was supposed to have been sold as a slave, why—

Kirill was confused, but more than that, she realized the one possibility of the monster attacking Flamm, and her spine froze.

Linus and Maria, lying on the ground.

The town, completely destroyed.

And Mute, nowhere to be seen.

So—so that was—this, this monster is—!

A red fist slammed into the ground.

The wind pressure made Flamm lose her balance and roll on the ground.

To finish her off, magic blades appeared around the monster—no, Mute.

“...I... I...!”

Before she knew it, Kirill had started running.

She didn't understand the difficult things.

This situation, who was good and who was evil, nothing, nothing.

It was all unclear from the beginning.

The journey to defeat the Demon King was a farce, the church was evil, Flamm was alive.

Lies and truths were mixed.

Despair and hope were muddled.

Perhaps, from the beginning, trying to think about it was wrong.

The movement of her body was the answer to everything.

What Kirill, who was ordinary and not special, should do, what she wanted to do, was not to save the world.

Just—protect important friends.

That was the simple answer.

“It won't be in time.”

There was still a distance left.

Before that, the magic her friend cast would pierce her friend.

It wouldn't reach, not at all.

No, no, that's wrong.

The situation wasn't clear, but the idea of friends killing each other, she didn't want to see it, didn't want to see it.

The motive was selfish.

It wasn't heroic.

But ironically, that emotion was what brought out Kirill's power.

That is, the "power of courage"—

“Breeeeeee!”

Goo!

A pressure was released from Kirill's body, blowing away the surrounding rubble.

Until now, she lacked the confidence and courage to use it as she wished.

But now, she could handle it.

Not for the world, but to save a friend, she could run.

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Kirill Svitka

Attribute: Hero

Strength: 15760

Magic: 16512

Health: 16924

Agility: 18263

Senses: 13092

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Courage made Kirill stronger—literally.

A power that only a hero was allowed to use.

The moment she used the magic, her stats increased up to three times their original value, depending on her mental state.

That was what made a hero a hero.

The magic she cast approached Flamm.

To Kirill, the scene appeared in slow motion.

Without considering her own body, she jumped in and covered Flamm.

Thud!

A dull sensation on her back.

It destroyed her insides as it burrowed in and pierced through to her abdomen.

Needless to say, it was a fatal wound.

Her abdomen was burning hot.

The smell of blood mixed with her breath, and something was rising up.

But she felt relieved.

She had made it in time, she had saved her—so she thought.

“It... made... it...”

And blood was spewed from her mouth.

“Kirill-chan...?”

Her voice was trembling.

Was she sad that she was hurt?

Did she still think of her as a friend?

“O... Ooo... Ooooooo!”

Mute was also crying mournfully.

“Kirill-chan, why are you here... Kirill-chan, hey, Kirill-chan!”

Flamm called her name desperately.

If she had hated her or disliked her, she wouldn't have been called with such a voice.

“I am a lucky person,” Kirill smiled.

“Flamm is really kind,” Kirill cursed herself for betraying such a kind person.

If she could return alive, could she start over?

“Flamm-san... Leave Kirill's healing to me, help her!”

Maria, who rushed over, said to the flustered Flamm.

“E... Ah, understood! Kirill-chan, it's okay, you'll definitely be fine!”

“U... Ubu...”

Kirill, spewing out a large amount of blood, finally lay on the ground.

She was very worried about her, but the battle was still ongoing.

Leaving it to Maria, Flamm faced Mute again.

“I won't forgive you... I will definitely defeat you!”

“O... Ooo... Ooo...”

Mute, for some reason, stopped her attack.

But Flamm had no way of knowing the internal conflict she was experiencing.

Angry at being hurt by a friend and at her own inadequacy for not protecting her, she charged at the enemy.

When she got within striking distance of the Soul Eater, she channeled her anger and magic into her sword and swung it with both hands.

Zash!

Before Mute could react, her right arm was cleanly severed.

Blood spurted from the cut, and it twisted like the other Core Users.

“Ooooooo!”

Receiving her first major wound, Mute staggered back, shaking her head wildly.

For some reason, there was no counterattack.

Seeing this as an opportunity, Flamm prepared for her next attack.

“No...”

Then Kirill, with a hoarse voice, stopped her.

She was crawling on her arms, trying to get closer to Flamm.

“You can't, Kirill-san, with those wounds!”

Maria had completed the removal of the ice block from her abdomen, and the particles of healing magic were enveloping it.

But the hole was still there, and she was not out of danger.

She should have been in pain that would make it impossible to move.

“That's... enough... Mute, and Flamm, too...!”

She had no solution after saving Mute.

Kirill was just following her own desire.

She didn't want to lose a friend.

“Kirill-chan, why?”

Flamm, who didn't know the relationship between Mute and her, was only confused.

Then, taking advantage of the moment when Kirill was distracted, Mute punched her.

The will of the Origin, which controlled her body, had moved her without her consent.

“Guh... Kyaah!”

Flamm, who had blocked it with the Soul Eater, was pushed back and fell on her butt.

But it was clearly less powerful than the previous attacks.

It felt to Flamm as if there was some hesitation.

There was no follow-up attack.

She stood up and readied her sword again.

“Oooooo...”

Mute, shaking, looked at Kirill and groaned in pain.

The girl, crawling on the ground, saw this and was convinced.

Mute had not completely turned into a monster.

There was a struggle between Mute's will and something else inside her, but it also indicated that the hostility inside her had not disappeared.

When Mute's will was overwhelmed, the control of her body was taken over by the Origin, and she attacked Flamm.

“Ooooooo!”

“Haaaaaaa!”

The arm was swung wildly.

Flamm dodged under it and thrust the tip of her sword into Mute's chest.

Zu—The sharp blade buried itself in her body.

“Reversal!”

As she declared the activation, the sword was filled with the power of reversal—snap, and one of the cores inside her body was destroyed.

Since one was still left, she didn't die immediately.

“Ooooo, Ooooooo!”

But Mute, covering her face with her left arm and twisting her body, let out a loud roar.

Every muscle, every fiber of her body, seemed to be alive, writhing.

Having lost half of the object that functioned like a heart, she must have been in great pain.

Flamm raised her sword again.

This time, to completely end her.

“Stop... stop...!”

Kirill, using all her strength, shouted.

Enduring the pain, she stood up and clung to Flamm's legs.

Blood was still flowing from her abdomen, but thanks to Maria's healing, the wound had become much smaller.

“Kirill-chan, let go! They've killed a lot of people!”

“I know, I know, but...!”

She understood, but her emotions wouldn't allow it.

For a girl who had lived in a place far removed from death and killing, the current situation was too heavy.

At that moment, from Mute, who had lost a core and was screaming in pain—suddenly, nothing could be heard.

“Mute?”

When Kirill called out to her anxiously, she replied softly,

“Kirill...”

The strength in her hand covering her face drained, and it hung down.

Then, the part of her that had partially returned to human form was revealed.

“It's... okay... You're... back to... normal.”

Tears welled up in Kirill's eyes, and a gentle expression appeared on her face.

“Kirill-chan, what happened to this girl?”

To Flamm, Mute was just an enemy.

An enemy who had caused many casualties right before her eyes, an enemy to be hated.

But if Kirill, who knew the truth, wanted to stop the fight, it was not too late to listen to her.

After all, she had saved Ink, one of