Chapter 98

※The background is black, but your information terminal is functioning normally.

Inside the 'Eternal Barrier,' it was pitch black—so dark that even his own hands were invisible.

It was a darkness where even the tip of one's nose was shrouded in blackness.

"Still, it's inconvenient not being able to use my techniques and abilities... I didn't expect my body to feel so heavy."

Since being trapped in this 'Eternal Barrier,' for some reason, he couldn't activate his techniques or abilities.

The physical and acquired abilities enhanced by the god remained, but he couldn't use the Flame Scatter Bullet or any of his enhanced abilities.

Incidentally, the scratch on his hand healed immediately, indicating that the substitute talisman was functioning properly.

"The Eternal Barrier doesn't have a function to seal techniques and abilities, so it must be due to the presence of another entity within this space. Since I can't acquire it, it must be a demon's ability... Oh, here it comes again."

Muttering to himself, he dispatched the beast-like demon approaching him using the combat techniques taught by Dies.

Ever since he was trapped in this space, beast-like demons had repeatedly attacked him.

He thought it was around the 30th one by now.

"I'm really glad I received combat training from Dies for when I lose my sight..."

Recalling the time when he was employed by Kurenai, he determined the position and movements of his opponent through sound and presence, swinging his fists.

"The demons attacking me can't see anything either, so maybe they're using beasts with excellent noses and ears?"

While pondering this, he noticed a faint sense of unease.

"It really feels like my spiritual energy is gradually improving..."

Probably, the sealing ability had its limits.

However, he hadn't recovered enough power to break the Eternal Barrier, so it would still take some time to escape.

"Oh, the attacks have stopped."

As he was thinking this, the demon attacks ceased.

There must have been about 50 demons in total. Since the demons summoned by the Thousand-Year Chess dispersed and vanished when defeated, he couldn't be sure of the exact number.

"Finally, I can search for everyone. Is anyone there!?"

He shouted as loudly as he could, but there was no echo. It seemed to be a vast space.

"I'm worried about everyone. I need to find them quickly."

Thinking this, he sharpened his senses and searched for any presence around him.

"I don't feel anything..."

No matter how much he strained his ears or sniffed, he felt nothing, so he decided to trace something else.

"The unpleasant presence clinging to my body... the source of the seal on my techniques and abilities... is it over there?"

Searching for the position of the entity that had sealed his abilities, he sensed multiple demons in the distance.

There must be over 20 of them.

To have been sealed by so many demons... no wonder he couldn't use his techniques or abilities.

"I'll defeat all the demons with sealing abilities, break the barrier, find everyone, and defeat the Thousand-Year Chess. There's no time, but I have to... Whoa, dizzy!"

As he was about to run, the scene suddenly changed, and he found himself inside a building.

"An ability of the Eternal Barrier, huh? This is troublesome."

The Eternal Barrier could change the internal scenery according to the caster's imagination.

It couldn't change the scenery to something that directly harmed, like a floor of needles or a sea of lava, but it could transform the space into any other setting based on the caster's imagination.

"Still, where is this? A school?"

The wide entrance with the setting sun shining through, the lined-up old geta boxes, and the visibly deteriorated corridor.

It was familiar... no, he remembered. This was a place he knew well.

"...My middle school?"

It was only a few months ago, but he had almost forgotten.

This was the middle school he had attended for three years.

"The Eternal Barrier doesn't have the ability to read memories. So, there must be a demon with the ability to read my memories and change the scenery based on those memories."

Continuing his observations, he walked through the school building.

At the end of the corridor on the first floor was a classroom. This was the classroom he had attended in his third year of middle school.

"I don't have many good memories, but it's nostalgic..."

Even though he knew he shouldn't be doing this, he found himself walking to the front of this classroom.

"There's no time. I need to hurry... Huh?"

Just as he was about to leave the classroom, he heard voices and sounds coming from inside.

It wasn't just one or two people; he could hear multiple voices.

"Is someone in there!?"

As he called out and forcefully opened the classroom door, he saw several male students beating up one male student.

"I see, so this is the kind of ability."

Realizing they couldn't defeat him in combat, they were attacking from a different angle. It was a smart strategy. If the goal was to buy time, there was no more effective method.

While he thought this calmly, a cold sweat trickled down his forehead at the sight before him.

"A mental attack... impressive."

The scene before him was... a memory of him being beaten up in middle school.

More accurately, he was being beaten up by a group of students.

"Is this an illusion created by the Eternal Barrier, showing my trauma?"

He tried to touch the body of his younger self being kicked, but he couldn't. However, he could touch the desks and walls around him.

The classroom's interior was recreated by the Eternal Barrier, and the moving people were likely illusions.

"Still... this is a well-crafted illusion."

Not only the expressions of the classmates beating him, but even the expression of his younger self was accurately reproduced.

Since he couldn't see himself, it must have been reconstructed based on memory.

"Well, it's fine. It was tough back then, but it's not a trauma now."

It was a past he had already let go of.

As he thought this and left the classroom to hurry on, the scenery changed again.

This time, he found himself in a small hut made of scrap wood in a forest.

"...This memory is a bit painful."

This hut was the place that had triggered his confrontation with his classmates.

In his third year of middle school, it was the secret base he had built with a friend who had become distant.