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In the north of Dallas, a deadly battle is raging between demons that have yet to lose their momentum and adventurers, city guards, and the private army of the Earl of Windsor are beginning to show signs of fatigue.
Thanks to their hard work, the number of monsters coming into Dallas has decreased to the point where it is no more than just a shadow of its former self. There must be about a thousand of them left. It was fortuitous that the number of particularly strong individuals among them was decreasing.
There were many people in the defensive forces who had lost their lives in this battle. However, they proceed to leap beyond the corpses. I wielded my weapon mindlessly, trying my best to reduce the number of monsters approaching the city, even if only by one step.
They told themselves that they would protect their city and their loved ones at the cost of their lives.
In such a battlefield, a woman collapsed as if she had lost consciousness. Near her, the ogre general broke into a grin.
The ogre general walks slowly, stomping on the earth. It was as if to say that this prey was already his.
The ogre has a strong lust, so he is trying to take the beautiful woman for himself. But there was one more person in the area. He was all in black, and judging from his appearance and the attack on Dan earlier, it seemed that he was most adept at surprise attacks.
He opened his mouth to the ogre general who was closing in on the woman.
「Oi, Oi, that person unfortunately has a prior engagement. You filthy, demonic-looking bastard! This Kira-sama will kill you! Just like that guy back there, OK?」
「Oogaaaaah!」
The ogre general may not be able to understand Kira’s words, but he sensed that he was being mocked and let out a yell.
「I’m going to let you die easy, thank you?」
When he said this, Kira had already sunk his dagger into the ogre general’s neck.
The ogre general drops his axe in response to the attack. However, he didn’t die yet, and used his arms, which were full of physical strength, to capture Kira.
「Fuck you! Get the fuck off me! Fuck you! Get the fuck out of here!」
The ogre general’s power seemed to be slowly weakening, but he was still mustering his last strength, and the sound of Kira’s spine creaking could be heard.
――and at that moment, it happened.
「Come flame, manifest! Scorching heat, become a spear, pierce it to completion!【Burning Javelin】!」
Kira and the ogre general were suddenly pierced by a spear of flame that flew at them, and they were blown several meters away together while screaming in unison.
A woman who had collapsed just now stood up shakily.
――Her name is Sarah.
Her eyes were vacant, and I couldn’t sense any awareness of myself from her now. She took one look at the blown up Kira and the ogre general, and began to gather magic power into her own body.
As she did so, she muttered something while gathering her magic power.
「I’ll–I’ll–I’ll kill–I’ll kill–I’ll kill everyone! Die, all of you! Die! Die!!」
A huge amount of magical power converged on Sarah. She must be gathering magic power from the monsters and adventurers around her. Obviously, all the creatures on the battlefield were slowing down.
Kira, who had already fallen on top of the corpse of the ogre general and had his hand on his abdomen that had been pierced by the flaming spear, looked at Sara and muttered.
「That person’s eyes are not …… conscious? I’m not sure what to make of it, but I’m not sure what to make of it. In a battlefield like this, targeting an unspecified number of people? I’m not sure what to do.……」
Perhaps he understood from the magic power being sucked out of him, the ogre general right beside him, and the state of the battlefield that Sarah was using〈Magic Absorption〉beyond her limits.
All over the battlefield, some of those who were on their knees as their magic was absorbed seemed not to understand what was happening.
However, anyone with good intuition will understand how bad the situation is now, just like Kira.
And there ―― a weak voice that you can’t hear unless you’re very close to it.
「Dan, I love you …… I’m sorry …… Louis …… I love you …… ……You……are……Ki――」
Sarah’s eyes, which had been vacant, lit up as she came to her senses. But as she was saying those words――
The sound of explosions echoed across the battlefield, and I wondered how far it could reach.
An enormous amount of magic power burst forth from inside Sarah’s body, engulfing the battlefield and everything in Dallas.
And after this day – the city named Dallas disappeared from the world of Terra.
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「How’s the ride? Getting used to it? Louis.」
I answered Lisa’s question that came from in front of me.
「I think I’m getting used to it. My butt still hurts a little, though.」
We escaped Dallas in a carriage.
This carriage seemed to belong to Dan and his party, and they used it when they went away on a request.
I heard that it takes about a month to reach Midgard’s royal capital by carriage.
Lisa was in charge of driving in the driver’s seat, while Airi and I sat in the back of the covered wagon.
Airi seemed anxious and hugged me from behind.
About two hours after we left, we were still driving.
「Eh!?」
Lisa suddenly shouted loudly.
「What’s going on?」
I asked Lisa if something had happened, but she didn’t answer. When I moved to the coachman’s platform, Lisa’s face was tinged with astonishment. It’s like I’m not here at all.
Just as I was about to ask Lisa again, an explosion rang out.
I turned around to see what was going on, and saw a mushroom-shaped cloud of white smoke rising from the ground.
Everyone remained silent for a while, but then Lisa opened her mouth as if she had made up her mind.
「Louis, Airi ……, calm down and listen, okay? Sarah, Dan, and Galwin are dead. ……」
I was just staring at the white smoke above me.
I couldn’t swallow Lisa’s words. Airi didn’t seem to fully understand either, but her body was shaking and her teeth were chattering.
Lisa, what are you talking about? All three of them said that they would definitely follow after us, right?
「Lisa, can you please not joke about that?」
「Louis! I wouldn’t joke about this …… How I wish I was joking. ……」
From the words, that mushroom-shaped white smoke and Lisa’s expression, I finally understood …… that it was not a joke.
But I don’t know why Lisa can say that with certainty.
「Each member of our party has a magic tool, and when the party member registered in that tool dies, the other party’s signal goes out. All four of us registered each other so we’d know if someone has died. And then three people’s registrations disappeared. …… Everyone. Why ……?」
Lisa, who always keeps a dignified expression on her face, is crying. The last part was a fading murmur.
Airi was also crying aloud. Before I knew it, my cheeks were wet too.
After that, we stopped the carriage and all sobbed together for a long time.
It was already evening and it was time to eat, but we all didn’t feel like it and went to bed without eating anything.
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The next morning, when I woke up, they were already awake.
Lisa pulls out some food from her magic pouch and hands it to Airi.
We all drank the soup that Airi made for us and ate the black bread.
After lunch, the three of us discussed the situation and decided to go check on Dallas, even though we were afraid to find out the truth.
We arrived by horse-drawn wagon, and there was nothing in the area where Dallas was supposed to have been ……
The only thing visible was a crack in the …… ground, and the wilderness around it.
――I, Airi, and Lisa stood dumbfounded at the change.