6. Separation

◆ ◆ ◆

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 Sarah 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.

◆ ◆ ◆

「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 Midogal’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.

◇ ◇ ◇

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.

《14 Separation》

How long had I been standing there?

Yesterday, there was a city, Dallas, here ……

The cityscape that I had spent five years with Dan and the others disappeared as if it were a …… phantom.

If I had more power, could I have prevented this catastrophe?

I don’t know if Alfred had anything to do with it, but would there have been a different future if I had questioned Dan then?

If I had followed the three of them, even stealthily, …… would anything have changed?

No matter how much I think about it, I can’t …… find the answer.

It’s already a happiness I can’t get back.

No amount of looking back is going to bring Dan, Sarah and Galwin back to life. ……

It was as if the silent wilderness was telling me that the peaceful life that had been destroyed would never return. ……

It was then that I saw something moving in my field of vision.

As I focused my attention on it, something was approaching me.

Both Airi and Lisa seemed to notice, and Lisa had a look of surprise on her face.

His body was translucent and not very tall. About 160 centimeters?

He had soft silver hair that reached his shoulders, and a neutral, neat face.

And when this person, whose presence seemed to be somewhat scarce, reached us, Lisa said in a faint voice.

「You don’t think …… that …… that’s a spirit? But his body is translucent?」

◆ ◆ ◆

My name is Kronos, the Spirit of Time!

And this is my spirit body.

My main body likes to travel the world as it pleases.

I think it was about 150 years ago that my main body visited this place.

There was a black dragon living here, and it attacked me out of the blue. The main body fought with all its might, but it was too much for …… me, and I was sealed up with some kind of special sealing technique.

The main body seems to be regretting that it should have run away.

Yeah, yeah, I should’ve just run away!

But if I ran away, I wouldn’t exist now as a spirit body, though!

As a mere spirit, I have little desire to exist! I don’t have much of a desire to exist, so it doesn’t really matter to me.

Just before the main body was sealed off, it created a space-time space with a spirit body that is me.

And then the main body, with a sliver of hope that I would somehow be resurrected, pushed me into that space-time. I can go in and out of space-time, but the black dragon can’t come in.

Afterwards, the black dragon fused the magical elements of the land with the magical power that it continued to suck out of the sealed body to create the Labyrinth of Time’s Lament.

My existence is linked to the main body, so the lower the power of the main body, the less my existence will be. And eventually, I will disappear.

It is only a matter of time before the entire body would be sucked out, but I had little desire to exist, so I accepted my fate to disappear.

At such a time, the black dragon used the power it had absorbed from the main body to cause a stampede.

I stepped out of time and space to observe the stampede.

The battle between humans and monsters was becoming fierce, but if it continued, the stampede was going to be subdued by the efforts of the humans.

But that didn’t happen, did it?

Well, you could say that was subdued in a way.

Just as the battle was gradually calming down, the humans broke ranks, which led to a huge explosion.

As a result, the area has been turned into a wilderness.

This really took me by surprise!

I also tried to stay put for the time I had left before my existence disappeared. ……

The woman who had caused the huge explosion had a vestigial appearance, and a boy who was still inexperienced but possessed considerable power for his age appeared.

I decided to take a chance on this boy.

I don’t have much of a will to exist, but I do have a will to save the main body.

If we can defeat the black dragon, the seal will be lifted and we can help the main body!

Well, if that happens, I’ll be back to being the same as my body, and my spiritual self will disappear.

◆ ◆ ◆

「Hey, Louis. That’s …… probably a spirit.」
「Is that a spirit? Why would they be here?」

Lisa asked me about that, and I had no idea why. Lisa and Airi didn’t seem to know why either, and they were clearly confused.

In the midst of all of this, the person who approaches in front of me speaks up.

「Well, well, well! My name is Kronos, the Spirit of Time. But I’m still a spirit body, though!」

We were baffled by the sudden cheerful greeting.

I was wary at first, but as I listened to Kronos and the others, I understood that I didn’t need to be wary.

I had acquired the 〈Crisis Detection〉 skill as soon as I woke up this morning, and the fact that it didn’t react at all was another reason why I decided not to be alarmed.

Then the three of us introduced ourselves.

Apparently, Kronos had something he wanted to discuss with me.

When I asked him about it in detail, he told me that he was going to disappear soon and that he only had a little time left.

He wanted me to defeat the black dragon that was sealing the main body, and in order to do so, he needed me to become stronger.

And I hear there’s a perfect time and space for me to train in……

I want to be strong, and I’m intrigued ……, but first I want to know what happened here.

We asked Kronos if he knew anything about what had happened in this place.

Kronos then showed me the image that he had called up using some kind of ability.

By looking at it, all three of us could understand what had happened here, what had happened just before the explosion, and what had caused it. ……

I’m sure I cried so much yesterday. …… Me, Airi and Lisa can’t stop crying again.

With tears streaming down my face, I was overcome with anger.

I also vowed to become stronger and stronger, and to never give in to unreasonable violence and power, so that tragedies like this one would never be repeated.

Lisa and the others must have had something on their mind, because now they stopped crying and put on a mysterious face.

I once again urge Kronos to continue with the consultation.

「There are three of you now, but only one of you can go into space-time with me, and of course that’s Louis, who has to defeat the Black Dragon. And the other two, there’s no point in waiting here, so you’d better go to another city somewhere else!」
「Why?!」

Lisa complained unrepentantly.

「The main body created that space-time with all the power it had left. That’s why the capacity is only two people, including me. I don’t have much energy left either, so I’m going into a dormant state when I get back into space-time.」

Kronos replied to Lisa’s question.

So, to put it simply, Kronos’ main body gambled its remaining power on help that might come at any moment.

At any rate, now that I know that only one person other than Kronos is allowed in the space no matter what, I’ll ask him what’s on his mind.

「If so, what can you do in that space-time?」

In response to my question, Kronos spoke up with a look on his face that said, “I’ve been waiting for you.”

「You heard me right! While you’re there, you won’t have to eat or sleep! But there’s a downside. Since the flow of time is ten times faster than in this world, the speed of physical growth is also ten times faster. But the time it takes to learn a skill or raise a skill level is much faster. That’s how we’ll get the power to defeat the Black Dragon.」
「What’s inside that space-time?」
「Hmm, there’s nothing here. It’s just a wilderness, just like here. There aren’t any living things there either. So if you go in there, you’ll have to spend your days training endlessly. You can train for twenty-four hours straight, you know? You’d need a strong will for that, though.」

I think about what Kronos said. What’s the benefit of this story? It’s easy to focus on the flaws, but …… isn’t that a benefit to me?

At any rate, I can only use 〈Status Enhancement〉 as many times as my skill level in a day. I’ll be able to use it more and more, and if I don’t need to eat or sleep like Kronos said, I can just keep working out single-mindedly. 〈Creation〉 would be quite useful as well.

As I continue to think, I hear Kronos’ voice again.

「The time and space created by my main body is amazing! Well, the truth is that given its flawed characteristics, I would have preferred a talented and long-lived elven or demon race, and that’s what my body was created with. But Louis, you’re still so little, and I see some potential in you, more than in that elf kid over there. I guess that’s my intuition as a spirit.」

As Kronos is talking to me, a grim-faced Lisa interrupts him.

「That doesn’t explain why me and Airi should go to another city after all!」

Kronos replied with a smile, even when Lisa raised her voice, clearly angry.

「The reason I said you should go to another city is because there’s no Dallas here anymore, and neither of you can live in a place like this, right? And the little girl seems to be pretty weak…」
「Louis! I think this is dangerous! Besides, I’ve been asked by Dan and Sarah to take care of you. Why don’t the three of us go to Midogal Kingdom together?」
「Dear Louis! Why don’t the three of us go to Midogal Kingdom and live together? Any more goodbyes would be …… too …… hard for me.」

Lisa cornered me, looking distraught. Airi is still very young, though …… I can’t speak for others, so it must be hard to have a series of goodbyes in such a short period of time.

It is true that I also feel …… lonely and it would be painful to leave Airi and Lisa.

Even if it was under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t be able to see Dan, Sarah and Galwin anymore.

But this is …… where I think I’m at a turning point in my life that I won’t regret in the future.

「I’m sorry, both of you. And thank you. Once I have the power to overcome anything, …… then I want to see you both again.」

The two of them, clearly depressed by my words, spoke up.

「So …… Louis …… you’re so determined …… then I’ll be waiting for you in the royal capital of Midogal Kingdom, okay?」
「Louis-sama, …… I’ll be waiting for you too, please take care …….」

And I made a decision to leave Airi, who I’ve been with since birth, and Lisa, one of the few people I know in this world.

◆ ◆ ◆

――Afterwards, a merchant who visits the area notices that the land where Dallas once stood has become a wilderness.

The news from the merchants that Dallas was missing reached the Ustenian Royal Palace.

Then, under the direction of the Ustenian royal family, a survey team departs.

The survey team succeeded in contacting the people who had escaped from Dallas, and they told us that after the stampede, there was a huge explosion of unknown origin.

The results of this investigation will soon be delivered to the royal palace of Ustenia.

《15 Black Dragon Subjugation》

For the past year since I left Airi and Lisa, I’ve spent my days training in Kronos’ space-time.

The downside was that I couldn’t level up, but since I didn’t need to eat or sleep, I focused on acquiring skills, improving my skill level, and increasing my status. Kronos had gone into a dormant state, and I had no one to talk to.

He had told me that the life of this time and space and the main body would last for two and a half years at most.

I’ve already acquired enough skills, and my skill level is up, so I’ll be out in the world in a year.

I didn’t know how long it would take to defeat the Black Dragon until I entered the Labyrinth of Time’s Lament, and I was also convinced that my abilities would improve dramatically as I leveled up.

I then entered the labyrinth of time’s lament and set my sights on the lowest level.

Incidentally, it seems that the lowest level of the Labyrinth of Time’s Lament is the 100th floor.

From here, I hunted more and more monsters to raise my level to gain more ground.

I use 〈Water Magic〉 for drinking water and monster meat for food.

Of all the meats, the Orc King’s meat was considerably tastier than any I had eaten on Earth. I hadn’t eaten that much expensive meat on Earth, though, so the comparison was to cheap meat.

I was able to use【Warp】, a space-time magic that allows you to transfer to a place you’ve been to once, so when I went to sleep I went outside the dungeon and rested in a tent I made myself while using 〈Light Magic〉 to create a ward.