Chapter Three 

The End Draws Near

I was seeing another dream – a dream about the first time I ever killed someone.

A dream about when Towa awakened as the Ruinmaker.

The Ruinmaker was a humanoid anti-star godment, the strongest weapon in the world. If used, it could eradicate our planet, and was without a doubt the most powerful star armament in existence.

Towa was human, but she was also a star armament. On the day my parents died, Towa transformed into a star armament and replaced my right arm. Then, I used her power to take revenge. I killed one of the men who had killed my parents.

I had one other person to kill, but the man who cut off my arm had suddenly disappeared. The one I killed had probably cast some star sorcery on the brink of death which had allowed his partner to escape.

The man who directly killed Mom had died, but both of them had been fighting Dad when I entered the room, and I was determined to make the other one pay.

...No, no. I shook my head and tried to banish the black thoughts from my mind. I couldn’t forgive them, but I was afraid of letting murderous rage germinate inside me. The more I thought about it, the more it ate me up. I was starting to lose my mind. The moment I had seen that man stab Dad, I had let my desire to kill take complete control. But right before that, I had heard a voice.

“Kill.” A voice that pushed me to murder.

Apparently, the Ruinmaker had the power to amplify its user’s negative feelings, such as murderous intent or hatred. This process acted as a supplement to one of the Ruinmaker’s other abilities: the power to steal star power from whoever it killed. If I had merely wanted revenge and nothing more, the quickest way for me to achieve my goal would’ve been to go on killing people and stealing their power in order to strengthen myself.

Regardless, I had killed someone that day. I also stole his star power. It may have happened as a result of the Ruinmaker amplifying my desire to kill, but I wasn’t about to push all the blame on to her. Even if my desire hadn’t been amplified, I’m sure I still would’ve wanted to kill that man.

I had no choice. It was the only way to protect Towa. But I wasn’t trying to rationalize any other murder, and I didn’t want to rely on killing people and stealing their power. I wanted to get stronger on my own, and use that power to avenge my parents.

I had another reason to become strong: I wanted to defeat Yukihime. I’d been challenging her ever since we met, but I’d never won a single battle. The reason Towa and I were living with Yukihime was so that she could guard Towa, the Ruinmaker, but I wanted to guard Towa on my own.

It wasn’t that Yukihime was unreliable – after all, she was the strongest star sorcerer in the entire world. If she couldn’t do it, then who could? That didn’t matter. I was Towa’s big brother. I had a duty to protect her. Besides that, it just frustrated me. I hated losing so much, it made me want to die.

On top of that – and this was so embarrassing that I’d never be able to tell her – I wanted to become a man who was fit to stand by Yukihime. If I remained weaker than her, I’d never have any right to fight by her side.

...Why am I having this dream now, though? I haven’t had it in a while... And it never gets any easier. Even though it was the middle of winter, my back was caked in sweat. Is it because Christmas is just around the corner? It was December 21. Four days away. For better or worse, it seemed like my destiny was linked with Christmas. It was the day when my parents were murdered, and the day I met Yukihime. Christmas was her birthday, too... But I guess that didn’t really matter.

I just hope nothing happens this year...

That morning, Yukihime left the house earlier than usual. It wasn’t uncommon for her to head to school alone, since she had a lot to deal with as the Headmistress. Normally, someone like her wouldn’t have any time to spend with me, but I guess she was so competent that she could finish her duties and still have time to spare. With that in mind, I assumed that day would be the same as any other, but...

When I got to class, I saw Yukihime drooped over in the next chair over, grimly muttering to herself. “This is bad...”

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“...I’ll tell you later.” She seemed different than usual. It was rare to see her so dispirited.

Why can’t she just tell me about it now? I was starting to worry, but I decided to wait until she was ready.

After school, Yukihime called me to the Headmistress’ Office. It was lined with luxurious furnishings. I had no real concept of the value of furniture, but even I could tell right away that the sofas in the center of the room were super expensive.

“Is this dragon leather or something?” I asked as I sat down.

“Of course not. I think it’s cow.”

“Aww, cow?” Still way more than I could afford, probably. “So, what gives? You look like something bad’s happened.”

Yukihime sat down across from me, then closed her eyes and remained silent for a few seconds. Finally, as if she had just made a huge decision, she started speaking in a very serious tone.

“I’m going to a meet with Khaos Schwartz tomorrow.”

“Wha... Y-You’re kidding, right?”

“I truly wish I was.”

I was so shocked that I couldn’t even form a coherent sentence.

Khaos Schwartz: One of the other worlds that existed alongside ours. There were a total of five, including our own.

#1, Blue: Azur Étoile, the Core World

#2, Black: Khaos Schwartz, the World of Chaos

#3, Rainbow: Semuleice, the World of Illusions

#4, Silver: Machina Silvaria, the World of Silver Creations

#5, White: Paradisos, the World of Sacred White

Inhabitants of the other worlds called our world Azur Étoile. Normally, worlds never interfered with each other, and for a long time, humans didn’t even know that there were other worlds out there. Khaos Schwartz changed all that.

16 years ago, when Yukihime and I were born, the First Otherworld War took place. Then, nine years later, Yukihime’s parents died in the Second Otherworld War. Khaos Schwartz invaded our world and began both of those wars.

As far as I knew, only people from Azur Étoile, Khaos Schwartz, and Semuleice traveled to other worlds. The fourth and fifth worlds made absolutely no outside contact. Semuleice was a friendly world that was on good terms with us, while Khaos Schwartz was the only world that had ever invaded any other ones. On top of that, the men who killed my parents were also apparently from Khaos Schwartz. There was no way to identify them, though. It was dark that night, and I hadn’t even seen the killers’ faces.

Khaos Schwartz was a world that had several different countries and forces. The people who were coming to visit us now could be from a completely different force from the ones who killed my parents, but there was still a chance that they could be connected somehow.

Yukihime and I had both lost our parents to people from that world. We had no history with the rest of the worlds, but things were different with Khaos Schwartz.

“...Why do they want to have a meeting all of a sudden? There must be some reason. Nothing like this has ever happened!”

“Okay... Just calm down and listen to me. Khaos Schwartz, they...”

“What?”

For a moment, it was silent. Then, Yukihime continued. “They want us to hand over the Ruinmaker... Towa.”

“Are you kidding me? That’s insane!“

“They must be in serious trouble. Otherwise, they’d never make such a crazy demand.”

“...Damn it. What did the Seven Houses say?”

“Some of them were stupid enough to request we quietly hand Towa over. Even putting personal feelings aside, there’s no way we could just hand her over to them. It doesn’t matter how much they claim that they’ll take care of her. If she were to be used in a war, there’s no telling what could happen, and besides, if they take her... They might never return her.” She went on. “On top of that, to us, losing Towa means losing crucial military strength. If we hand over our most powerful weapon, we’re basically inviting our enemies to come and attack us.”

She was right. She was right, but...

“...I’m sorry. There’s no way I’d ever hand Towa over to anyone,” she added.

“I know that...”

Towa was a weapon, but I refused to see things that way. Yes, she’s extremely powerful, but so what? That just means I need to get strong enough so that we don’t need to use her anymore! That’s the sort of fantasy I was chasing. I know that I need to prepare myself... I know I need to give up on this, but...

“But Kokuya, we need to think realistically this time.”

Yukihime...

“This could lead to war. And if it does, we may need to use her.”

She confronted me with the very reality I didn’t want to face.

“Nothing’s set in stone yet. It all depends on how the meeting goes tomorrow. But there’s a very high possibility that things may come to that, so I want you to prepare yourself... so you can make the right decision when the time comes.”

“Okay, I will,” I said.

“I’m sorry we had to discuss this.”

“...It’s okay. It’s not your fault.”

“That may be so, but I still wish I didn’t have to say these things to you. I know how much you treasure Towa...”

“Thanks for thinking of me... I’m really glad that you became Towa’s guardian. Thank you, Yukihime.”

It was a little embarrassing to say, but they were my true feelings. You have to be honest with stuff like this.

“...Why are you acting so weird all of a sudden?” Yukihime blushed.

“I’m not. I’m just saying, if someone more selfish was in your position, they might say ‘We need to fight to prevent a war’ and that’d be the end of it, right? I could easily picture a different person acting like that if they gained control over Towa. I mean, most strong people are jerks, right?”

“....Uh, hmm. Does that mean you realize just how amazing I am now? Took you long enough.”

“If only you didn’t say stuff like that, I would have figured it out much sooner...”

“...Sh-shut up.”

“Sorry, can’t help it.”

“You could at least try to. Anyway, thank you, too.”

“For what?”

“B-Because... I’m glad that someone like you is Towa’s big brother, and...” Embarrassment caused her words to momentarily trail off, but she went on. “That you’re the Finalfist, the one who can use her.”

The Finalfist was the title given to the person compatible with the Ruinmaker. No one really knew how Ruinmakers were born or how they worked, but every world had one, and they were all girls. This was apparently because back in a mythic age, a goddess named Ruin took on the form of a girl and pushed the world to the brink of destruction. Eventually, she was sealed away, and her soul was split into five different parts.

There were no traces of this age to be found in our world, but myths about Ruin existed in Khaos Schwartz and Semuleice. The goddess Ruin had appeared in the form of a girl, therefore, only girls could become vessels for the parts of her soul. She possessed many great powers, and each Ruinmaker could use part of them.

It was also said that Ruin had been sealed by a hero with a prosthetic arm known as the Finalfist, a ‘fist capable of ending everything.’ Some people doubted the legends that were inscribed on documents in the other worlds, but it was clear that the Ruinmakers existed, which proved that it wasn’t all fantasy.

Towa had inherited part of Ruin’s soul and gained the power to destroy the world. She was the Ruinmaker, the strongest weapon, and I was her Finalfist, the one who could best use her.

On the night when our parents were murdered, Towa had awakened as the Ruinmaker, and a voice had echoed inside my head. Since it kept encouraging me to kill, I imagined it was probably the voice of Ruin, who lived inside Towa.

And so, I had borrowed Towa’s power and killed one of the murderers. Murdering didn’t really make me feel anything. I simply used the immense power of the Ruinmaker to erase a human life. But despite my numbness, the truth remained in my mind. I had used my little sister to kill someone.

It was my sin, mine alone, and I was prepared to bear it for the rest of my life. I never wanted to push any sort of weight onto her. I didn’t want to use her in another battle, but it seemed like I didn’t have a choice this time.

Yukihime went on. “If the Ruinmaker had fallen into the wrong hands, it could have gone from the world’s best method of protection to the worst weapon of mass destruction that our world had ever seen. Things could have easily gone awry at any moment.”

The Phanatics had been trying to push us to become just that, but they failed. Because she saved us. The girl sitting in front of me saved us all on her own.

“Anyway, it’s nice to know that we both feel grateful to each other. For now, though, we need to focus on the matter at hand,” I said.

“Yeah...”

“Did you talk to Towa?”

“There’s no telling what may happen at this point. I wanted to talk to you about it first.”

“...We need to hurry up and tell her, then.”

There was no way I could use Towa in a battle without letting her know first. I needed to tell her the truth. It made me sick to my stomach, but I knew there was no other way.

With my mind made up, I stepped out of the Headmistress’ Office.

“I want to fight, too.”

That was the first thing Towa said after we relayed the news to her. “I don’t just want to be protected all the time...”

“B-But Towa...” I said.

“No buts. You think I’m just going to hide somewhere and pretend nothing’s happening while you and Yukihime get hurt?”

“B-But...”

No buts. Towa was right. Wanting to keep her out of danger was nothing but selfishness, and it wouldn’t fly here. Yet I still didn’t want to make her fight... even if it meant putting the entire world in danger. To me, my little sister was more important than the world itself.

“Big brother...”

“...Yes?”

“I believe in you. That’s why I want you to use me to protect the world, together with Yukihime.”

“Looks like Towa prepared herself for this even quicker than we did. She seems a lot firmer in her resolve, too,” Yukihime said.

“I guess so...” Towa looked at Yukihime, revealed a pained smile, and let out an exasperated sigh. “For ten years, I’ve done nothing but let you protect me... I always told myself that when a time like this came, I wouldn’t run away. I’ve been ready for the past nine years...”

During our time with the Phanatics, Towa and I became targets for the other students. The new people always got picked out, and if you didn’t have the courage to do something about it, you’d just end up becoming a plaything. I was able to use my strength to make the others accept me, but things were different for Towa. Somehow, they had heard a rumor about Towa’s powers, and decided to pull it out of her using fear. No one knew how to activate her powers, so they just kept trying to scare her over and over.

There were others who targeted her for sexual reasons. They came after me, too. Age and gender didn’t matter to those people, and a shockingly large number of them had twisted sexual preferences. Some of them only got excited at the sight of a five-year old – Towa’s age at the time. I fought them all off, and even hurt some of them to the point that they’d never be able to commit any more atrocities.

The Phanatics were nothing but a group of degenerates. I had a hard time believing that some of them were even human. There were some sane people there, of course, but they always died first. No one was able to retain their sanity for long.

“I want to go home... I miss Mom and Dad...”

I still dreamed about it – Towa, staring at me with hollow eyes, whimpering the same thing over and over. Whether I was awake or asleep, Towa just kept crying.

And so, I vowed to protect her. I vowed to kill the people who did this to us – the people who killed our parents.

“Up until now, I’ve done nothing but let you protect me... Now it’s my turn to help you, big brother,” Towa said, staring straight at me as she continued to speak. “If I can’t help out in times like these, then what am I here for? Why did I even get this power in the first place? At least let me believe that I was given this power to help you in times like these.”

“...Fine.” I couldn’t run anymore. It was time to act. “But don’t do anything rash. That’s the one thing your big brother won’t allow, got it?”

It was December 22 – the day of the meeting. School had been canceled, since the two envoys from Khaos Schwartz were coming to meet us right at our very own Star Gate Academy. Aside from its status as the world’s top star sorcerer academy, the school also administered four Star Gates underground, which connected our world to the others. One of them led to Khaos Schwartz, and two envoys would be coming out of it at any minute.

“Big brother, Yukihime... Be careful. And come back safely,” Towa said.

“We will,” I replied.

“Don’t worry. We shouldn’t have to face any danger today. We’ll be back soon,” Yukihime added.

After Towa saw us off, we headed toward the academy. We had walked this way so many times, yet now it felt strangely foreboding. Once we arrived, we headed straight for the large tower inside the campus, where the Council of Seven Houses usually met.

“Kokuya, stop.”

“Wh-what is it?”

“We need to go and meet the envoys from Khaos Schwartz before we head to the meeting room. Follow me. You’re my bodyguard today, remember?”

“Roger that, Headmistress.”

With that, we headed to the academy basement, which housed the Star Gates.

“This place always gives me the creeps,” I murmured.

The room had an otherworldly atmosphere to it. It was a Crack, a rift that existed between worlds. Deep within pitch black darkness, I could see distant stars shining. It looked like outer space. Cutting through the darkness was a pathway of white stone, and beyond it sat four doors. No one knew who had created all this, or when.

On the far right sat the Black Gate, which led to Khaos Schwartz. Next came the Rainbow Gate, the door to Semuleice, then the Silver Gate, the door to Machina Silvaria, and finally the White Gate, the door to Paradisos.

Suddenly, I felt a huge amount of star power emanating from the Black Gate on the right.

“Here they come,” Yukihime muttered.

As apprehension rippled through me, I took a deep breath. An ominous sound echoed out, the gate opened, and from it emerged two people dressed in black.

One of them was a woman. She had purple hair that came down to the tips of her shoulders, with an extra bundle in the back that flowed down like a tail. Her drooping eyes looked calm, and there was a mole under her left eye.

It also looked as if her voluptuous breasts were about to spill right out from her deeply plunging outfit. Otherworld people are really crazy... What do you have to eat to get breasts that big? It looks like she’s got a bust size of at least 90 cm...

She had a tattoo on her left breast, and was wearing a long skirt with a slit that went all the way up to her waist, revealing a bit of the garter belt she wore underneath. Everything about her was just so sexy, including the confident smile on her lips.

The moment she saw me, she drew near. “My, my, aren’t you a little cutie?” she said, then suddenly hugged me.

“Gggh?!” I... I can’t breathe! Because of her boobs...!

“Hey, what are you doing?!” Once Yukihime barked that out, the woman let go of me and stared blankly at her.

Then, that gentle smile returned to her face. “Oh, sorry. I just can’t resist children. Do you want one, too?” She stared at Yukihime and opened her arms.

“...No, thank you,” Yukihime replied.

This is playing out much differently from how I imagined it would. I thought that we’d be coming face to face with two scary, hostile people... But this just looks like a sexy, older woman.

The other envoy looked to be a boy around Towa’s age. He had long, blond hair, and a black mark that looked like a lightning bolt near the center of his forehead. He also had lightning bolt earrings, a lightning bolt tattoo over his left eye, and was dressed in a customized military uniform.

“Are you the two envoys from Khaos Schwartz?” Yukihime asked.

“Yes, that’s right. I’m...” As the woman began to answer, she was interrupted.

“Of course we are. Who else would we be?!” the boy shouted in an irritated voice.

At first, Yukihime and I were too surprised to retort.

“Umm... Maybe the translation star sorcery isn’t working properly.” Yukihime tried to pass it off, but the boy went on.

“What do you think Grom just came out of? The gate that leads to Khaos Schwartz, of course. Or are you mistaking Grom for a piece of Semuleice trash? Are all Azur Étoilians this stupid?”

Yeah, it probably had nothing to do with the translation star sorcery.

“You’re the stupid one here!” the woman shouted, then swung a white-gloved fist down on the boy’s head. “Sorry for the late introduction. I’m Elemia Argyros, one of the Seven Wicked Knights who directly serve Lord Redge, the Dark Emperor who rules the Granz Empire, the capital of Khaos Schwartz’ human realm. And this...” She grabbed the boy’s head and raised it up. “Go on, tell them your name.”

“...Grom Eguleil, from the same place,” the boy said grumpily.

“I’m Yukihime Yukigane, Headmistress of Azur Étoile.”

Elemia interjected. “Over here, the representative of your defense agency/star sorcerer training facility also acts as the representative of your world, correct? So strange.”

“Is that why these two kids are here? So this isn’t just a joke? She’s really their representative? Grom thought they were just trying to insult us.” After Grom spoke, a loud ‘wham’ sounded out as another one of Elemia’s powerful fists collided with his head.

Elemia cleared her throat. “Who’s the other kid?”

“Kokuya Kurono, my bodyguard,” Yukihime answered.

“Ooh, so your name is Kokuya?” Elemia peered into my eyes, and I quickly averted them... right to her deep cleavage. I felt like I could dive right in.

“...What are you looking at?” Yukihime whispered, then administered a lightning-fast chop to my head.

I had thought they were acting way too casual for two envoys who had the weight of their world on their shoulders, but I guess my captain wasn’t much different.

Just give it up, captain. You’re no match for an otherworldly bust like that no matter what you try. Don’t take it personally.

“So, where should we talk?” Elemia asked.

“I’ll guide you to the meeting room. But before that... Can I take your star armaments, like we agreed earlier?” Yukihime replied.

“Oh, right... Star armaments, was it? Tee hee...” Elemia gave us a suspicious smile. “Liberation – Sand Scorpios.”

In Elemia’s hand appeared a silver, wide-bladed sword, which she gave to Yukihime. Both parties had agreed to keep their arms out of the meeting room. If the star sorcerers had access to their weapons, all kinds of ambushes would be possible.

“You too,” Yukihime said to Grom.

“What? No. Grom came here as her bodyguard, after all. Don’t worry, Grom will be nice and quiet as long as you two don’t try anything stupid. Man, this is gonna be so boring...” Grom glared at me. Grom was short and looked very young, yet his glare betrayed a spine-tingling malice. “You can keep your weapon, too. We’re just doing this as a courtesy, right? I mean, you people could hide soldiers all over this place if you really wanted to. Grom would be able to murder them all in a flash, though...”

The kid certainly had a mouth on him. Even though we hadn’t planned anything like that, he was right. We could promise that we had no intent to fight, but there were still many other star sorcerers lurking about in our world. Still, he had quite the confidence. I imagined he probably possessed enough power to back up his arrogance.

Khaos Schwartz was split between two rival races who were locked in a furious struggle: humans and monsters. Unlike Azur Étoile, the star sorcerers of Khaos Schwartz were always at war. The only two star sorcerer wars we’d experienced had been the Second Otherworld War nine years ago, and the First Otherworld War sixteen years ago. My generation started training after the second war ended, when the academy started gathering star sorcerers to prepare for the next war. We became star sorcerers during peacetime, so we didn’t know what war was really like.

In the past two wars, we had fought against Khaos Schwartz. Not the two standing in front of us right now, but a different force from their world who had attacked us. The enemy hadn’t taken it seriously, though. They had just figured Azur Étoile would be an easy world to conquer. Despite that, our star sorcerers had fought desperately in order to protect our world.

Khaos Schwartz had many more star sorcerers than us. Their military strength was far superior to ours. If we tried to fight them head-on, we’d surely lose. Their world was simply on a different level than ours in terms of power. They had their own problems to deal with, though. With their world always at war, they were never able to deploy their full power in an all-out attack on us. Basically, if they fought us with all they had, we’d lose. But since that would probably never happen, we always had a chance at survival. This knowledge was a combination of what I had learned in my time with the Phanatics, and what Yukihime had taught me.

“Well then, shall we head to the meeting room?” Yukihime asked, as we put the Crack behind us.

While the meeting began, Grom and I stood outside the room. Next to us were Yukihime’s Snowbloom and Elemia’s weapon.

“...Hey, you. What was your name again?”

“...Kokuya.”

“Right. Kokuya, Kokuya. Okay, Grom’s probably got it memorized... Hey, Kokuya. What do you think’s gonna happen here?”

“What are you talking about?”

Grom grinned as he stared at me. “You know, are you guys gonna end up fighting us?”

“...That all depends on you.”

“That’s Grom’s line! This would all be over if you’d just hand us the Ruinmaker!”

Stupid kid...

“You Azur Étoilians are too cocky. Weaklings like you should just do as you’re told!”

“If we’re so weak, then why do you want to steal our weapon?”

“Why does Grom need to explain that to you? Elemia’s probably already explaining it inside... Man, this is so boring. Hey, let’s fight!”

“What did you even come here for?”

“Grom told you! Grom’s the same as you! A bodyguard! Bo-dy-guaaard...”

“Then just shut up and wait for them to finish talking.”

“What’s it gonna be, though? Are you guys gonna hand over the Ruinmaker or what?”

“That’s what they’re discussing inside.”

“You’re not just some flunkie, are you? You gotta at least know that much. Better tell Grom, or Grom might go a bit wild here...”

“...We’re never going to hand the Ruinmaker over to you.”

The moment I muttered that, Grom’s smile grew wider.

“...’zat so? Ah well. If you put up a fight, we’ll just steal it by force, and then it’ll be playtime. Then Grom will get to play with you, Kokuya.”

Grom’s words sent fear into my heart. He was an ass, but I could sense something dangerous in his words. He wasn’t just spouting off nonsense. He had the bite to back up his bark.

As I glared back at him, I felt like he and I were bound to clash eventually.

After the meeting, Yukihime had a ton of things to do, so I followed her around. The sun had set before we made it home.

Basically, negotiations had failed. We tried proposing alternatives and compromises for their demand to hand over the Ruinmaker, but they refused everything. Khaos Schwartz was currently stuck in a power struggle between humans and monsters. Originally, the humans had possessed Khaos Schwartz’s Ruinmaker, but when the monsters managed to steal it, the humans had fallen into severe danger. They needed another Ruinmaker in order to turn things around.

Just like Yukihime said yesterday, if they took our Ruinmaker, our world would lose a huge chunk of its strength, and we’d become unable to protect ourselves from otherworld invasions. Even if I ignored how precious Towa was to me, she was still vital to our world’s safety. We couldn’t accept their demand, but they couldn’t back down, either... which meant the only thing left to do was fight.

I’ll never forget the ear-to-ear grin I saw on Grom’s face after the meeting ended and Elemia told him what had happened.

“I knew I’d get to play with you soon.” He slit his eyes and gave me a smile that was as innocent as it was sadistic.

Unlike Earth, Khaos Schwartz was a world that had been split in two. Elemia currently stood in the meeting room in Strahl Castle, which acted as the core of the Granz Empire. It was the most important stronghold the humans possessed.

“It looks like we’ll be proceeding with your plan as scheduled, Lord Redge,” Elemia said, as she finished her report. The silver-haired man she spoke to was the one who ruled the empire and commanded its greatest weapon, the Seven Wicked Knights. His name was Redge Ferimento, also known as the Dark Emperor.

“The other knights are still carrying out their missions, but no problems have arisen so far. May I carry out the plan as-is?” Elemia asked.

“Fine.”

“As you wish, my lord,” Elemia said, then left the room.

Once alone, the man muttered to himself. “...So close now.”

Memories of a certain night ten years ago filled his mind. He saw images of his mentor, the one he had vowed to surpass, crumbling before his eyes. He saw a dark room, a small boy, and a silver arm enveloped by golden light – the Ruinmaker.

His powerful, determined voice slipped softly through the darkness. “...I will not fail again.”

On December 23rd, the day after the meeting, Yukihime, Towa and I stood in the academy’s second arena. Our usual arena had various stages in it, but this place was a huge sphere, and over a hundred meters wide from end to end. We could probably even play baseball inside it.

Khaos Schwartz gave us a day to finalize our answer, but Yukihime said she had already made her decision. “We’re never going to hand Towa over to them, no matter what. Which means we’ve no choice but to fight.”

Luckily our Headmistress wasn’t a coward. Apparently, the other heads of the Seven Houses prioritized their own immediate safety and suggested we hand over Towa as soon as possible.

We had come to Arena #2 so I could practice using Towa’s Ruinmaker powers... although it was more like rehabilitation.

Towa awoke as the Ruinmaker ten years ago. It had been nine years since I last used Towa’s powers, so I was worried about whether or not I’d still be able to use them to their full extent. I needed to use the little time we had to re-learn how to use her properly. Since the Ruinmaker was meant to protect us, I was only allowed to use her in certain situations. We’d never encountered any serious danger in the past nine years, and I had hoped this peace would just continue on forever.

When I last used Towa nine years ago, I had been fighting Yukihime. The Seven Houses had been aiming to seize and arrest the entire Phanatics organization, and Yukihime took part in the assault. Despite the fact that she was still only seven years old, she had pretty much already become the world’s strongest star sorcerer.

At the time, the man who had taken me in said that as long as I stayed with the Phanatics, I would have a chance to find the other murderer and get my revenge, and I believed him... even though I also hoped the Phanatics would get crushed beyond all recognition. I decided that once I completed my goal, I’d just crush ‘em myself. But I knew I had to go on using them until I completed my goal, so when Yukihime came to destroy us, I had no choice but to fight her.

I fought her, and...

“Hey, Kokuya... I’ve beaten you 1,000 times, and...” I knew what she was going to say next. But she was wrong. “You’ve beaten me once, right?”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me. That time doesn’t count.”

I had defeated Yukihime only once before – a long time ago, when we first met, I defeated her using Towa’s power. I only won because I teamed up with Towa, though. It had been the Ruinmaker’s power that won that battle, not mine alone. As far as I was concerned, I had lost to Yukihime a thousand times, and that was it.

“If you insist. It still doesn’t change the truth – you have the potential to become stronger than even the strongest person in the world.”

“It wasn’t me. It was all Towa’s power.”

“Either way, we need that power now. We need to make sure we can do this, for the sake of our world.”

“Yeah... Ready, Towa?”

“Mm... I’m ready, big brother.” Towa extended her right hand.

After removing Braveright, my prosthetic right arm, I grabbed Towa’s right hand with my left. The Ruinmaker didn’t need to be liberated, and was similar to a permanent star armament like Braveright, except that its name needed to be chanted just like Chronoslayer and Snowbloom in order to unleash its power.

Gripping Towa’s hand, I opened my mouth. “Liberation – Ruinmaker.”

Instantly, a mesmerizing golden aura covered Towa’s body. Her contours faded, she disappeared, and her body shifted into the light that formed my new right arm. It looked the same as Braveright, save for one difference: a gold line, the color of Towa’s star power, ran down the center of the silver arm.

Ruinmakers were star armaments that belonged to the humanoid anti-star godment category. They were the only ones in this category, and every world had its own unique Ruinmaker. I had no idea what sort of abilities the other Ruinmakers possessed, but I could transform Towa into any weapon I wanted. She became as strong as I wished her to be, but there was a limitation: I could only transform her into the shape of a weapon that I’d used before.

There had been one exception. When I first used her, I had suddenly wished for a new right arm to replace the one I lost, and Towa had granted that wish. Even though I had no idea how to use her, I still managed to unconsciously activate Towa’s power on the night my parents were murdered.

Transforming into weapons wasn’t all that Towa could do, though – in fact, her other ability was her main strength. Whenever she transformed into a weapon, Towa gained a massive amount of total star power, way more than I could ever hope to generate – and since she never ran out, she could use a lot at once. That allowed her to easily cover for my weaknesses: my lack of power and stamina.

“Looks like I managed to do it.” Unlike when I first used her, I didn’t hear a bloodthirsty voice in my head this time.

“It’s been so long since we’ve done this... It feels kind of strange.” Behind me, Towa appeared in a semi-transparent, ghostly state. With her body transformed into a weapon, she was nothing but pure star power now.

I moved my hands toward Towa’s floating breasts. Then, just as my fingers were about to touch her voluptuous silhouette, they passed right through.

“...What are you doing, big brother?”

“Yeah, what are you doing?” Yukihime chimed in.

“Uhh, I thought I might be able to touch her... Guess not.”

“Stop goofing around and begin the next step.”

“The next step?” Yukihime moved ahead of me and turned around.

“Fight. What do you think we’re here for?”

“I have to fight already? Seems kinda sudden...”

“We don’t have time to let you ease back into the swing of things, now do we?”

“...Guess not.”

“Liberation – Snowbloom.” Yukihime gripped her azure blade. “Here I come.”

“Bring it on.”

Yukihime swung her left hand down, and a barrage of icicles shot out toward me. They were closing in fast, and there was no way I could dodge them all. I thrust my twinblade out in front of me and began spinning it at a rapid rate. As it started deflecting the icicles, I sped up my mind and body.

The moment I tried to get closer, Yukihime created a huge star circle. Out of it slid a hulking block of ice, ready to run me over like a train. I could dodge sideways, but the thought had only just crossed my mind as icicles came shooting out of the ground on both sides. I was being attacked from three different directions at the same time. I thought about jumping back, but I wouldn’t be able to escape the block of ice in that direction. Jumping upwards was also out of the question, since I wouldn’t be able to move when in mid-air. Which meant...

I injected star power into my twinblade, twisted the hilt, and split the blade in two. When I swung both of the glowing blades at the same time, two golden slashes shot out and destroyed the icicles on both sides of me.

Normally, this move was impossible for me, but Towa’s power freed me from the critical limitations of having no star sorcery range. I managed to get rid of the icicles on the right and left, but shaving off bits and pieces of the ice block that was coming from ahead wasn’t getting me anywhere.

I gripped my blades, poured more star power into them, then released one of the gigantic star power slashes that Towa was so skilled at creating. My slash collided with the ice block and eradicated it. Now I could finally move toward Yukihime – but she was no longer in front of me. Where did she go?

“Big brother, above you!” Towa called out.

I quickly looked up and saw Yukihime kicking off a square panel of ice. She raised her sword over her head, then came sailing down toward me. I crossed my blades upward and prepared to block the attack from above.

We clashed. In the next moment, Yukihime instantly created a block of ice behind her and used it to jump back into the air. Now she was behind me. Before either of us could turn around, I thrust my longsword backwards. Likewise, Yukihime thrust her own blade backwards, blocking my sword once again. After we clashed back to back, I ran out to create some distance, then swung my blades and shot two slashes into an empty space.

Yukihime squinted in suspicion. It must have looked like I was doing something pointless, but these actions were necessary for the star sorcery I was about to activate. Yukihime didn’t seem to care, and came running – right into my trap.

“SlashSet – Release.”

The moment Yukihime’s body entered the trajectory I had swung along, I chanted the words necessary to activate my star sorcery. Suddenly, the two slashes reappeared and sliced up Yukihime’s uniform.

“...What?” Yukihime froze.

That was the correct decision. If she took another step forward, she’d fall into another one of my slash traps. SlashSet was a star sorcery that allowed me to cause slashes to reappear where I had swung earlier. By using my time elemental star sorcery, I waited until Yukihime ran across the right spot and wound time back to where my slash had still been active. The star power in my slashes allowed them to retain their attack power when time was reversed, which meant that anyone standing there would get sliced up.

“That’s a pretty crafty move for you.”

“It’s all thanks to Towa.”

I would have never been able to use that move without her. The only things I could do on my own were speed up my mind to make things appear slower and speed up my body to make me move faster, although it tired me out. I could also use Progress Boost, which sped up how quickly my star power charged and allowed me to launch a really powerful attack, but that was about it. All I could really do was speed up and strengthen myself, the most basic of abilities.

“Gotta move cautiously, or I’ll get slashed again, right? No matter. I’ve already thought of several ways to get past this,” Yukihime said.

“Oh yeah? Let’s see ‘em.”

Yukihime raised her left hand into the air. “No, I think I’ll save them for now and just force my way through instead.”

“...Why would you do that?”

“Because I’m not about to let you test me.” Her gentle smile sent a chill up my spine.

In the next instant, I felt star power above me. I glanced up to see a gargantuan block of ice – the move Yukihime used to defeat me two battles ago.

The Stardrop, which earned its name from the fact that Yukihime dropped a block of ice large enough to be a meteor.

“You think that’s gonna work?!” With ease, I shot a slash upward and cleaved the ice.

“How about this?” Suddenly, an even larger ice block appeared. Can I actually cut through that? I hesitated for a moment.

“Just fast forward!” Towa’s voice echoed.

“Yeah.”

I combined my twinblade again and quickly spun it several times, but not in order to speed up my body. I followed through with what I usually did to speed up, but stopped right before I activated the star sorcery itself. Then, I threw my twinblade straight at the ice block. I was going to activate this star sorcery from a distance.

The moment my twinblade pierced it, I activated the star sorcery and sped up the ice block as fast as I could. This caused the ice to melt. No matter how big that block of ice was, it couldn’t last forever. If enough time passed, it would melt away, and I could make all that happen in the blink of an eye with a little acceleration. This had been what Towa meant when she said ‘fast forward.’

I caught my twinblade as it fell, then prepared to close in on Yukihime once and for all.

“I knew you two would give me a good fight... Guess I’ll have to get serious now.”

As she said that, a staggering surge of star power emanated out from Yukihime. It felt like something even more powerful than her Stardrop was coming... then, just as I recovered my stance–

“You can’t block this, can you?”

She slashed me. Yukihime stood in front of me with her blade out. What did she do to me? The moment I saw her disappear, I got hit. I couldn’t even tell when she had seemingly teleported and reappeared. There was no trace of where she had moved, or when she had attacked.

“And that makes my 1,001st win. In terms of fighting you and Towa together, I have one win and one loss. Ahh, finally... I finally beat you.” Yukihime revealed a content smile.

“...What was that just now?”

Yukihime answered my question. What she unveiled to me was a star sorcery so frightening, I could do nothing but stand aghast.

That night, Yukihime and I sat across from each other in the living room. Often, after Towa fell asleep, Yukihime and I would sit here and talk about things that we normally weren’t able to.

“Can I ask you a question?” Yukihime spoke up suddenly.

“What?”

“...If the person who killed your parents and cut off your arm was taking part in this battle, would you want to kill them?”

“That again? What do you know that I don’t?”

“Just answer.” Yukihime looked very serious.

“...If I had to, then I would. For example, if Towa was in danger, I wouldn’t hesitate for a second.”

“What if you didn’t have to?”

“...I don’t know. The old me wouldn’t have hesitated. It was basically my whole reason for living. But then, when I met you, things changed.” I wanted to say more, but I had trouble putting it into words. Eventually, the rest trickled out. “After I met you, and we started living together, I... I stopped having that dream so much.”

“...The one about your parents?”

“Yeah...”

The dream about my parents being murdered. I still saw it every now and then, but it became less frequent. When I was a kid, I used to see it every night, and it made me afraid to go to sleep. It was all thanks to Yukihime, who had taught me other ways to use my powers aside from just thinking about killing. She showed me another path.

That’s why I...

“Yukihime, I’m really grateful to you.”

Grateful. Yes, I’m grateful.

I still hadn’t defeated her on my own, and until I did that, I wasn’t going to allow myself to feel anything other than gratitude – for example, the pure fondness that Nagisaki felt for her. I had no right to feel such things.

“Knock it off. I don’t need your thanks...”

“Remember what you told me when we first met? That if I didn’t know how to use my power, I should just focus on using it to protect other people?”

Yukihime understood exactly what her duty was. She belonged to the Yukigane House, one of the families that had built Otherworld City and worked to protect us from otherworldly invasions. Yukihime knew that from the moment she was born, it had become her duty to dedicate her life to protecting others.

I didn’t want to have anyone decide anything for me – let alone having something decided from birth. I felt that there were an endless amount of factors capable of influencing a person’s life, like the environment you grew up in and your experiences. My entire life changed over a single night.

I was someone who couldn’t accept his own fate, while Yukihime was someone who had completely embraced her duties. No, it actually seemed like she longed for it. She took pride in her duty, and I was envious of that. She probably never once felt that someone else had decided her life for her.

“I’m happy to see you’ve grown wiser over the years,” Yukihime said.

“Back then, I didn’t understand a thing.”

When we first met, I thought she was an annoying jerk. She acted all high and mighty and lectured me on the most insignificant things. I hated how she’d always go on about the importance of duty and how important one’s birth was. Boy, did she irritate me... Because she had everything I didn’t. Everything I’d lost.

Yukihime said that her duty was her own, but her parents had taught her how to deal with it. I could understand what she meant. Even though I didn’t have an astronomical duty like protecting the world, I had still learned a few things from my own parents.

“Kokuya. Men shouldn’t throw punches over trivial things.” Dad once said that to me after I got into a fistfight with a friend.

“When are we allowed to throw punches, then?”

“When you’re protecting something important to you, I guess.”

“How do I know when that is?”

“For example, what would you do if a bad person attacked Towa?”

“Beat the crap out of ‘em.”

“Ha ha... That sounds a little dangerous, but I guess you’ve got the gist of it.”

Dad’s words still remained in my heart. If Yukihime’s duty was a blessing, then my fate was a curse – a curse of revenge. The only reason I had ever wanted to get strong was to kill people. However, a while after I first met Yukihime, one particular event caused me to start doubting myself.

One day, Towa got kidnapped. Yukihime and I immediately went to go save her. Yukihime nearly lost her life in the process, but she managed to save Towa. Before that, Yukihime had sworn to protect Towa no matter what happened, but I had stubbornly insisted that I would protect her on my own. That incident ended up changing my mindset. I realized that Yukihime was someone I could trust, and took an interest in learning what ‘duty’ really meant to her.

Afterwards, I asked how she could risk her life for duty, or for someone who wasn’t even a family member. I couldn’t understand it at all. Is it simply because she was born into that sort of family? Is that what allows her to go so far?

“But it’s easy. After all, I’m just doing what my mom and dad told me to.”

Yukihime’s parents helped end the Second Otherworld War, but lost their lives in the process. They defeated countless enemies, including leaders of the invading army, and never stopped fighting until they took their last breaths. Entrusted with her own duty to protect, Yukihime respected her parents from the bottom of her heart for having died doing exactly that. All she ever talked about was wanting to become just like them. She wanted to keep getting stronger so that she could fight and save the world.

Since she was the one who had saved my beloved sister, and continued to help me protect her, I aimed to be like Yukihime. So when she said things like that with such conviction, I longed to feel the same way. Then, one day, Yukihime showed me a new path.

It happened when we were still in middle school. We decided to make a bet and fight each other. If Yukihime won, I’d have to help her protect the world, and if I won, I’d get to order Yukihime to do something. I lost, of course.

“Now, fulfill your promise, and help me protect our world.” I could still remember her words when she won. Maybe it’s thanks to those words that I didn’t end up as a vengeful demon. Revenge and duty, killing and protecting... Those two sides were always clashing inside me.

Someday, I’ll find an answer. I’ll catch up to her. I’ll become someone who’s truly fit to walk beside her... and then...

“What’s wrong? You’re turning red,” Yukihime said.

“It’s... nothing.”

“...You sure?”

“Hey, Yukihime...”

“What?”

“I was just thinking, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if I had to protect the world with you for the rest of my life.” As of now, the promise we made was more important than ever before.

“...Now that’s what I like to hear. Don’t go changing your mind, though.”

“I won’t. We’re going to protect the ones we love, no matter what.”

“Of course we are. Who do you think you’re talking to?”

“Miss Yukihime Yukigane, the strongest star sorcerer in the world, and Headmistress of Star Gate Academy, the organization that guards our world.”

“Looks like you’ve finally learned how to talk like a true servant.”

“Huh? But you’re my servant right now.”

“Excuse me?!”

After the conversation digressed into our usual bickering, Yukihime abruptly spoke up. “Mind if I change the subject?”

“What is it?”

“What’s your favorite color, Kokuya?”

“My favorite color? Uhh... silver?”

“...S-silver?” Yukihime paled for some reason.

“Uhh, I guess black and red are cool, too.”

“Red?”

“Yeah, I like red.”

“...Oh! Good, good. I like red, too. Heroes always wear red, right?”

“Is this going anywhere?”

“N-no, uhh, never mind.” She was so bad at playing dumb. “Anyway, we should get to sleep. Once we give them our answer, it won’t be long before the battle begins. We should begin our preparations tomorrow morning.”

For some reason, Yukihime looked really happy. I wasn’t sure what was going on with her, but it didn’t seem like anything bad, so I decided not to pry.

“Okay... Good night, then.”

“Good night.”