POV: Daiki Greyrat
We decided to head to the hills just outside the Citadel of Roa. Rudeus had promised Ghislaine he would show her what a Saint-tier water spell looked like. Eris, of course, came with us.
Truth be told, she only came to spar with me... and because, after the demonstration, she planned to challenge Ghislaine to a friendly match.
"Daiki, let me hold your sword, please!" Eris asked, her eyes sparkling.
"Sure."
I unsheathed the sword, feeling my mana reinforcement release along with it. Eris took it with almost exaggerated care, as if it were made of glass.
"Wow... it's actually quite light. I thought it would be heavier."
I smiled at her.
"That's because you're an Advanced-rank swordswoman. It shouldn't be a problem for you."
Eris tried to make a couple of cuts through the air, but suddenly, her wrist was yanked downward, as if an invisible magnet had caught the blade.
"W-what's wrong with it...?" she managed to say.
In an instant, the sword began to weigh as if it were made of pure lead. Eris's legs trembled, fragile as a newborn deer. She refused to let go for several seconds until, finally, her strength gave out and she let it drop.
"How strange..." I said, picking it back up. "If you were holding it just fine a moment ago..."
Eris was panting, sweaty, and let herself fall to the ground.
"G-God... You were right when you said that sword bites. I felt it sucking the life out of my hand."
And then I understood.
The sword had a specialty: Binding. It only responded to the one it had accepted as its wielder. For everyone else, it was like carrying a stone golem.
"It drained your mana, right?"
She nodded, looking at the weapon with a mixture of fear... or perhaps curiosity.
"Let's see here, kid. Let me have a look." Ghislaine approached, ignoring Rudeus for the first time all day.
She gripped the sword firmly... and exactly the same thing happened.
The blade became absurdly heavy. So heavy that Ghislaine herself began to sink into the dirt.
We stared, jaw-dropped. It was the first time we had ever seen Ghislaine actually struggle just to hold something.
"...Enough," she growled.
She released the sword, and we all braced for the crash of a falling meteorite. But no: the metal touched the ground, harmless.
"...It surely has some spell, or it absorbs mana... that must be what makes it so heavy," Rudeus muttered, activating his magical genius mode.
I picked up the sword. To me, it remained a light extension of my arm.
I looked at Ghislaine, who was rubbing her wrists with a furrowed brow, and then at Eris, who was still catching her breath. If the Queen of the Sword couldn't hold it... then it wasn't a question of physical strength.
"Brother." I walked over to him, offering the hilt. "Here."
Rudeus jumped back, waving his hands frantically.
"No way!" he squealed. "Are you crazy?! You saw what it did to Ghislaine! That thing swallowed her mana and sank her into the earth! If I touch it, it's going to rip my arms off and leave me dry as a raisin!"
"It won't."
"How do you know?! It's a cursed sword! I'm a mage, Daiki! My arms are for holding wands and touching soft things, not for lifting demonic anvils!"
I took another step, invading his personal space.
"Rudeus. Trust me."
He stopped instantly.
That phrase always worked between us. It was our code: if I said it was okay, it meant I had calculated every possibility, every risk.
"...If I lose an arm, I'm blaming you in my will," he muttered, resigned.
I could see my brother's hands trembling as he reached his fingers toward the handle.
"Here goes..." I murmured.
I let go of the sword, letting it fall into his hands.
Rudeus squeezed his eyes shut, ready to hear the crunch of his bones or feel his mana drain all at once. He expected a scream... but nothing happened.
Only the evident effort of keeping the sword raised, trembling under its natural weight.
Rudeus opened one eye. Then the other. And his gaze met mine.
"Huh...?"
He stood still for a second.
"Oof... it's heavy," he grunted. "Pretty heavy, like a sack of potatoes. But..."
He didn't sink into the ground.
"It's not biting me," he said, surprised. "It's just... a heavy sword."
Eris jumped up, pointing a finger with a vein popping on her forehead.
"WHAT?! Why can he do it?!" she exclaimed, indignantly. "Rudeus has no muscles! I'm a thousand times stronger than him!"
"Hey, I do have muscles...!" Rudeus defended himself, flexing an almost invisible bicep. "I'm just not a swordsman like you guys! I'm an athletic intellectual!"
Eris snorted.
"You're soft, Rudy."
"I'm aerodynamic!"
I smiled slightly.
"It's the blood," I said, taking the sword back from my brother's shaking hands before he dropped it from lack of practice. "Or perhaps, simply put, the sword knows how to recognize family."
Rudeus massaged his arms, not taking his eyes off Eris. She shot him a huff, and he responded with another.
"Well... I suppose that means I'm worthy," he said, puffing out his chest with pride. "Although I prefer my staff. That thing has no magical style."
I put my sword away.
"Enough experimenting. Ghislaine, are you ready? Rudeus wants to show you his magic."
Ghislaine nodded, though she was still eyeing my sword with suspicion.
"Show me the power of a Water Saint."
Rudeus grinned.
"Very well, now for what you've all been waiting for. I, Rudeus Greyrat, will teach you my all-powerful secret technique!"
"Yes!" Eris clapped with joy. Ghislaine also looked deeply interested. And I, I won't lie, was excited too.
Rudeus looked at me before starting the chant, that spark of rivalry in his eyes.
"Are you challenging me, brother?"
"A mage is cooler than a swordsman! Let's see if you can pull this off!"
--
POV: Rudeus Greyrat
"Mwahahaha!" I raised my staff toward the sky as I recited the spell. "Magic Power, come to me! Magnificent Spirit of Water, ascend to the heavens... Eh?"
It was at that moment that I realized.
"Mm?"
"What is that?"
The three of them followed my gaze upward.
"I don't know, but that's an incredible amount of magic power!"
So she could see it. After three years, I finally confirmed her true power... a Demon Eye.
Ghislaine quickly put her eyepatch back on.
Should we go back to the city? I didn't know what this abnormal sky presaged, but if something happened, I wanted a roof to hide under. We'd be in trouble if it started raining spears.
"No, the closer you are to the city, the more concentrated the magic power is. It would be better to move away," Ghislaine said.
"But we have to at least go back to the mansion and warn everyone!"
"In that case, I will go..." Ghislaine was about to leave, until...
"Rudeus! Get down!"
I ducked instinctively.
Something whistled past me, slicing the air at full speed right where my head had been a microsecond ago. A chill ran down my spine.
"That was..."
"What... what was that? What just happened?"
"That was the technique of the Sword God Style, Saint-rank: The Sword of Light."
My brother already had his sword in hand, and Eris was behind him.
Oh... Ghislaine had shown me this before. And even my brother. It was a secret technique said to reach the speed of light at the tip of the sword.
I turned around slowly.
"Who...?"
Standing there was a man. He had blond hair and was wearing something that looked like a completely white school uniform, buttoned at the front. He probably had a handsome face, but it was hidden behind a yellow mask shaped like a fox. There was a dagger in his right hand.
It must have been that. That was what almost decapitated me.
"Who are you? State your name!"
"..."
Following Ghislaine's shout, the subject's face shined.
An intense light blinded us all for an instant. I slammed my eyes shut.
"Gaah!" Ghislaine roared.
I heard the clash of metal against metal. Twice. A third time. Inhumanly fast movements.
When my vision returned, Ghislaine was in front of me without her eyepatch. She had taken it off in the instant of the flash to use her Demon Eye.
"Bastard! Who are you? Are you an enemy of the Greyrat family!?"
"Arumanfi the Light. That is my name."
"Arumanfi?"
"I came to investigate this strange phenomenon, under the orders of Perugius-sama."
Perugius.
One of the three legendary heroes who sealed the Demon God. A summoner with twelve familiars. I recalled the name like a chain reaction.
Arumanfi the Light. One of the twelve familiars.
"Ghislaine, be careful. According to the books, this guy can move at the speed of light."
Daiki moved, trying to get closer to her.
"Ghislaine! I'm going to help you!"
She growled, irritated by the intrusion.
"Are you joking? I don't need your help right now."
She answered without taking her eyes off the enemy. And before Daiki could react, Ghislaine lifted her leg in a blur of motion.
In the blink of an eye, my brother was launched backward like a projectile.
"Rudeus, take the Young Mistress and fall back."
--
POV: Daiki Greyrat
I landed digging my boots into the dirt, kicking up a cloud of dust. The impact didn't hurt; Ghislaine had used just enough force to push me away, not to injure me.
I turned and swallowed hard.
Now what are we supposed to do?
If that really was Arumanfi, a normal sword couldn't touch him. I read it in The Legend of Perugius. He is a spirit of light; he can travel any distance instantly if it is within his field of vision. He wasn't patrolling around here; he literally flew here at light speed upon seeing the anomaly.
"Move, woman. This strange event might cease if I kill that boy."
I knew perfectly well who he was talking about: my brother. But why? What did Rudeus have to do with all this?
"I am the Queen of the Sword, Ghislaine Dedoldia. That thing in the sky has nothing to do with us. Withdraw!"
"Queen of the Sword? How could I believe that? Show me proof."
"Look! This is one of the famous blades of the Seven Sword Gods, Hiramune. Are you still unsatisfied?" She pointed her sword at him.
"Swear it on the names of your master and your family."
"I swear it on the name of my master, the Sword God Gal Farion, and the honor of the Dedoldia!"
"It was Dedoldia, wasn't it? Very well. If we later discover you are lying, Perugius-sama will decide your fate."
Arumanfi sheathed his weapon. It seemed the physical conflict was over.
"Fine, as long as you are not the ones responsible."
"And you won't even apologize for attacking us out of nowhere?"
"It was your fault for being here doing something suspicious," he replied, turning his back on us with disdain.
"Um..." my brother started to say.
"Mm?"
Just as Rudeus was about to speak, the sky turned white.
A beam of light descended, impacting the earth in absolute silence. The instant it touched the ground, the light expanded into a dome at a terrifying speed, a tsunami of pure energy. The mansion, the citadel, the trees... everything was devoured.
Arumanfi disappeared in a flash.
Ghislaine turned, shouting something the silent roar didn't let me hear, and lunged toward us. But the light caught her before she could take two steps.
She vanished.
"Shit!"
I spun toward Rudeus and Eris.
"HOLD ON!" I screamed with everything I had.
I concentrated all my strength into my legs. I turned myself into a human missile toward them.
But it was useless; just as I was getting close, the light seemed to increase in speed.
I stretched out my hand toward them, trying to close the gap, trying to grab even a finger, a piece of clothing, anything.
When my fingers grazed the air near them, I felt gravity disappear.
"Daiki!" Eris screamed. I saw her reach her hand out to me, her face twisted in terror.
The only thing I could feel was the brush of the skin of her wrist against my fingers, a fleeting contact, until my entire arm was sucked into the void.
I failed.
[CONNECTION ERROR]
[DESTINATION: UNKNOWN]
*
*
*
.....
When I opened my eyes, I realized I was in a sort of "void" of absolute white.
I immediately knew this wasn't real. It had to be some kind of lucid dream or post-mortem hallucination. Even so, for some reason, I felt... heavy. Different.
I looked down at my hands. They were pale, thin, without sword calluses. Bigger than the ones I remembered.
Touching my face, I felt rough skin... and a muscular stiffness.
It was... that body.
The emptiness I had refused to feel for years. I tried to frown, scream, cry... but nothing came out. I only felt an uncomfortable tug under my skin...
Of course. It was my old face... My old body... The same one that hadn't been capable of drawing a sincere smile in eighteen years.
All the memories of my past life hit me full force, even those I thought I had forgotten. The loneliness, the apathy... it all returned to crush my chest.
Fate really has a twisted sense of humor. Or whatever controls this universe. At this point, I didn't even care enough to curse it.
I had finally obtained a family that truly loved me. A loyal brother to share secrets with, an exceptional and strong friend... And just when I regain my humanity, just when I learn to live... I lose it all again.
I only wished it had lasted a little longer. Just a little more time in the sun.
I let out a sigh—or the intention of one, because there didn't seem to be oxygen to breathe here—and closed my eyes.
I realized a being had appeared in front of me. The individual had a blank, white silhouette, marked by a huge grin.
"Hello. Nice to meet you, Daiki."
I looked at him without getting up, keeping my guard up even while sitting on the white floor.
"Huh? What are you? God or the doorman of heaven?"
The figure let out a tinkling laugh, as if I had told the best joke in the world.
"Hahaha! Doorman! That's a new one. No, I am not a simple employee. I am Hitogami. The Human God."
He leaned closer.
"And I must say... what just happened was terrible, wasn't it?"
Hitogami put his hands to his face in a gesture of fake sympathy.
"But don't worry. I am here to help you. Because I like you. You are different from the others."
"Help me?" I repeated, narrowing my eyes. "Why would a God want to help me?"
"Because your situation is... special." Hitogami leaned in. "And because your brother, Rudeus... He really is in trouble."
"What about him?" I stood up instantly.
"He has fallen into the worst place possible. The Demon Continent. He is surrounded by monsters, alone, scared... and he has encountered a very dangerous man. A Superd."
Hitogami made a dramatic pause, waiting for my panic.
"He is going to die, Daiki. Rudeus is going to die if you don't do something."
...
"You're lying."
Hitogami paused.
"Rudeus isn't weak... And if you're talking to me about him, it means he's okay."
I took a step toward the "deity," who, to be honest, I saw more as a clown.
"If you're trying to use his safety as a bargaining chip, it's because he's still breathing. If he were dead, you would have already moved on to another tactic."
"What faith you have in him. But blind faith is dangerous. I see the future, little human. I see the threads that break. Do you think a few lessons can stop the flow of destiny?"
"The future is the sum of variables and decisions, not a movie you sit down to watch with popcorn. It's a calculation of probabilities. And you are just an annoying variable." I let out a dry laugh.
"Annoying? I offer you omniscience. I offer to prevent pain. Why fight blindly when I can give you a map?"
"In my past life, my house burned down with my parents inside. Where were the gods then? Where were you?"
"I only exist in this world."
"Irrelevant. The gods abandoned me a long time ago. I learned to live without them. I learned that the only hand that saves you is your own or your family's."
"You are stubborn. And cynical. I offer you free help. Information. Power. Anyone else would kill to be here."
"Nothing is free... That's rule number one of the market. When someone offers you a 'free' service with such insistence, it's because you aren't the customer... you are the product. Or the victim."
"What are you, Daiki?"
"I am logical." I turned around, giving him my back, the greatest insult possible in a place like this. "Wake me up. I have things to do. I have to look for my brother. Not because I think he's going to die, but because we have a promise to keep."
"You will regret it!" Hitogami screamed. "You will suffer hunger, cold, and despair. And when you are broken, I will ask you again..."
"Suffering is just another data point. I can process it."
...
"Rudeus will be more fun than you... He does have doubts. He does have fear."
"Touch my brother..." I turned my head just enough for him to see me from the corner of my eye. "...and you will discover that humans can hunt gods too."
Maybe I was being too over-the-top, facing a "God" like that, with a body I don't even know anymore... But in that moment I didn't care; he had spoken of my brother as if he were an object for amusement.
The mosaic figure stood still. Then, he sketched a grotesque and condescending smile.
He raised a hand, as if waving goodbye to an old friend.
"How scary, how scary..." he said, with fake theatricality. "But before hunting me, you will have to learn how to land."
"What?!"
"Watch out for the drop."
...