He couldn’t remember the last time he had fought such a futile battle. Neither could he remember if he had considered a battle futile before.
Speaking of fighting a higher “difficulty” battle, Kagami, who knew the true value of obtaining experience, had considered this an opportunity to discover new possibilities. That was why he had continued to fight, even though it was unpleasant. He believed that he wouldn’t be able to change, no matter how much time passed, if he didn’t clash with them here and now.
Even without the fear of death, he could recognize the futility of this battle. However, since it had made him think about trying to battle, this was a wall he would surely have to overcome before he could be the victor of this dubious challenge. That was why Kagami would fight. Lacking the fear of death allowed him to fight this futile battle, without hesitation.
Before someone could overcome this wall, even if they assumed that they were a god, they would have to be able to change themselves. That’s right, until he came out victorious, it would be a dangerous but exciting battle.
“This time…might be a little bit stupid…and dangerous.”
However, Kagami muttered that while sending the giant Monster that had caught up to him flying several meters backwards. In the process, he received wounds from the surrounding Monsters, which had used this opportunity to attack.
“Although I still have some stamina left…without a doubt, this is impossible. It’s too much trouble, and there’s still a good several thousand of them left…I might be done for.”
Even though Kagami still had some stamina, he quickly concluded that this was as far as he could go.
Kagami would only fight if he could imagine himself as the victor. However, it was a completely different matter when he couldn’t see himself winning.
Even up until now, he had been optimistic by thinking “I wonder if I will win??”, and would only decide to quickly run away if he was trapped in a situation that had a 100% chance of becoming 【Useless】. On the other hand, if there was even a slight possibility of winning, Kagami would not stop fighting. This was because those fights were not 【Useless】.
Until now, Kagami had chosen his battles by deciding which ones were 【Useless】 or 【Unlikely】.
“Aah…What have I been doing?”
However, this time, there was no doubt that it was a battle where he would lose 100% of the time. He would lose and die, without running away. Everything that he had accumulated until now would be destroyed. Even though he understood that, Kagami had not thought about trying to run away.
Why?
It was because he hadn’t thought of this battle as useless.
“Well then, I wonder how many of them have disappeared?”
If enough of the Monsters here vanished, it was possible that the Adventurers in Salumeria would regain their morale. Even if the path to coexistence with Demon’s was far away, Alice and Takako, as well as those with similar mindsets, would surely be able to reach it somehow, someday.
The town would definitely be rescued if that happened. They would be able to prevent the long war looming on the horizon by occupying this place. Kagami thought that the best method of doing this was to not spread that hatred. That possibility alone was sufficient for him.
Kagami hadn’t placed his bet on winning the fight, but on the 【Path of Coexistence】.
“Why am I…smiling like this?”
As he thought, it was exciting. Before overcoming this, he made an opportunity for his own path, one that he had set for himself. Although he might not be able to see it, Kagami imagined a scene where he opposed this world’s way of life, and his strength began to overflow from within him.
He had already strengthened his resolve. He would fight until he reached his absolute limit. He would run away if he could run away. If it was impossible, he would die and never have any regrets about it.
“Yosha! All of you come at me! As long as I’m alive, I won’t let you into Salumeria. Even if I lose my life, I won’t let you take away the only possibility for my dream to come true.!”
Right when he declared this, Kagami charged forward, piercing through the giant Monster’s body with all of his might, blowing it away in a straight line. The Monster became a bullet that shot towards the group of Monsters behind it, scattering and grinding them all into dust, as if Kagami had used Wide Area Annihilation Magic.
Immediately afterwards, the surrounding Monsters came flying at him in unison. He kicked one of them with a Reverse Kick, grabbed the Monster that was now bent over, and threw it towards the Monsters that had followed it. When it hit them, the group of Monsters were blown off their feet at the speed of lightning and were pulverized.
Without even giving them time to breathe, Kagami immediately struck with his next attack, continuing to deal with the Monsters. Meanwhile, other Monsters flew into the sky while shooting Heat Beams. Since his view of the flying Monsters was impeded, Kagami didn’t noticed them until their Heat Beams had already burst through the bodies of the Monsters around him and approached him.
“Your dream is not just a possibility. I won’t…let them take your life!”
Kagami had honestly believed that he would be struck by the Heat Beams that had suddenly appeared. However, they vanished into thin air without touching Kagami’s body, as though a mysterious force was surrounding him.
“Holy Thunder – Furious Beheading Wave!”
In the next moment, the name of a Skill was roared out, even though it could be used without shouting, and several Monsters in the back were eliminated by a Light Blade surrounded by electricity that surged forth.
“I’m the Hero…it’s impossible for me to not fight…and let you, a Villager, fight!”
Kagami turned around and looked towards the direction of the voice. What immediately entered his view was Krul, who was releasing magic power with the palm of her hand pointing as if she was casting magic on Kagami, and Rex, who was wielding his sword.
“Oho, the Hero and the Sage came here to die.”
Kagami said with a troubled look, not knowing why the two of them had come here.
“There’s no doubt that we came here to save you…Kagami-chan!”
Before Kagami had enough time to think about their reason, Takako, who was approaching him with a high speed, immediately passed by him. As Kagami showed a surprised expression, Takako approached the Shelled Monsters that were closing in on him and used her vigor to send them flying with a kick. Although they weren’t blown away, their shells split open like an egg and they turned into gold, just like that.
“Even Takako-chan…What are you doing?”
“We came to save you, so we won’t let Kagami-chan die.”
“Well…I can’t go back, you know? I’ll run away quickly if I can run.”
“I know that. That’s why we will defeat all of them.”
A question mark appeared over Kagami’s head when he saw Takako assuming a stance that made her look like a strong bear about to break into a run. He didn’t understand the meaning of this. The result wouldn’t change just by adding three people to the party. Yet, surely this sacrifice was good for him.
“Don’t do anything useless. Your life is important! It will trouble me if I let Takako-chan die! There is no need for the Hero and Princess-sama to lose their life either! I will be the only one to vanish.”
“If that’s the case, then I will be responsible for the part of making Kagami vanish. I’m the same as Kagami, so it’s fine for you to not bear the risk of dying in vain, you know?”
Several Monsters behind Kagami vanished as lightning poured out of the sky like rain. Menou, who seemed to be the one that shot out the lightning, walked up slowly from behind Rex.
“No, you shouldn’t be here! It’s too late now!”
“I’m the same as Kagami-dono. Right now, there is always value in your life.”
Kagami was dumbfounded by Menou’s statement. However, he broke into a smile of curiosity.
“Aah! As I thought, it’s tattered! It’s becoming a shabby rag!”
He then became aware of the fact that the wounds on his body had been healed. Even if he had his Skill, there was no way for them to heal so quickly. Tina came running forward in a panic as she spoke in amazement.
Palna followed close behind her, muttering “It would be troublesome if you died on us.”
“…Is it true that you’re fine? You’ll die, you know?”
“He won’t die. I won’t let him die!”
When Kagami saw Krul eagerly say this, he opened his mouth and gaped for a moment.
However, he quickly closed his mouth.
His heart became warm. The dull sensations that had always let him fight by himself gradually began to return to him. He realized that Takako’s group, that had come for him, weren’t necessarily betting on the possibility of Salumeria being safe, but on the possibility of Kagami’s survival instead.
Kagami was honestly happy. Until now, there hadn’t been any idiots that would associate with his unreasonable self. There hadn’t been any companions who had seriously worried about his life.
The power that had overflowed from within him earlier began to overflow again, and his body throbbed with pain.
“Yosh…change of plans! Let’s just go beat as many as we can and run away like chickens! Our lives are important!”