“Wait, Kouki-kun. Rather than rushing out without preparation, I think we should find Meld-san and his knights first.”
“Eri... But...” Eri turned from Kouki to Nia.
“Nia-san. You said they had an army, but... do you know their exact numbers?”
“I’m not sure, but it looked to be around one hundred thousand strong.”
Everyone gulped. This was no small raid. This was a full-scale invasion.
“Kouki-kun. There’s no way we can take an army that large on our own. We need to get more people first. We’re the strongest resource the humans have, we can’t just waste ourselves recklessly. Which is why I’m thinking it would be smarter to find Meld-san first.” Though she spoke softly, her words were resolute. She was still a member of the hero party, after all. Moreover, her suggestion was logical.
“Yeah, I agree with Eririn. That’s the smart thing to do. I knew those glasses weren’t just for show!”
“G-Glasses don’t automatically make people smart, Suzu.”
“Fufu. I agree with Eri as well. It seems she was the only one thinking rationally among us. What do you say, Kouki?”
Kouki hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he gave in. Like the rest of the party, he trusted Eri’s rational judgment.
“You’re right. It’s especially in times like these that we need to stay calm. Let’s link up with Meld-san and his knights first.” Nagayama, Hiyama, and Yuka all agreed with that assessment as well. And thus, the search for Captain Meld began.
First, they headed for the staging area where they figured the knights would be.
In their haste, no one noticed that one among their party was grinning evilly.
There were plenty of soldiers and knights gathered at the training grounds when Kouki and the others arrived. It had been designated as the staging area during emergencies, so that wasn’t surprising.
Jose Rancaid, the vice-captain of Heiligh’s knights, was explaining the situation to everyone. Most of the soldiers were pale-faced; hearing that the barrier had been broken must have shaken them.
Kouki despaired when he saw how low morale seemed to be among the soldiers. Jose spotted him as he walked into the courtyard, and interrupted his explanation to address him.
“I’m glad you’re here. Have you heard what happened?”
“Yeah, Nia told us. Umm, where’s Meld-san?”
Kouki looked around the courtyard, trying to spot Meld in the press of bodies.
“The Captain’s busy right now. More importantly, come, join me. You’re our leader, so you should be standing in the center...” Jose ushered Kouki and the other students to the center of the courtyard.
The students who no longer fought seemed reluctant to join, as they weren’t doing anything to help the cause. However, they were unable to resist the tide of soldiers silently pushing them onward, and were jostled along with Kouki.
Shizuku didn’t like how silent and emotionless the soldiers and knights looked. Something was off about them. In fact, something was off about this whole situation. The feeling of unease Shizuku had felt since waking up grew stronger. She gripped the hilt of her katana.
“Hey, Shizuku. Is it just me or...”
“It’s not just you. Don’t let your guard down. Something strange is happening here.”
Yuka did her best to stamp down on the mounting feeling of dread. Though Shizuku didn’t want to go any deeper into the crowd, she couldn’t do anything but get pushed along. Fighting against the crowd was inadvisable.
Something’s not right.
The other members of the frontline parties felt it too. No one said it aloud, but they all felt it.
Finally, Kouki and the others were shoved into the center of the courtyard.
Jose continued his speech. Shizuku grew more worried by the second.
“Comrades, the situation is dire. However, there is no need to fear. There is no one who can match us. There is no one who can defeat us. Death will take none of you today. For we have the hero on our side. Remember men, today is the day we’ve trained our lives for. Draw your swords, comrades!” As one, the soldiers and knights unsheathed their weapons.
In the midst of it all, someone stammered out, “Wha, whoa.” Shizuku and the others turned to the noise. Kousuke had been casually muscled out of his spot next to Jugo. “U-Umm...” Another confused voice. This time, it was Yuka who was separated from the group.
They weren’t the only two, either. Before long many other students, mostly those who fought at the front lines or were part of Aiko’s guard, had been split up. Each of them was surrounded by a platoon of soldiers and knights. Goosebumps rose on Shizuku’s arms. Her instincts screamed at her to get out of here.
“Everyone, run—”
“Behold, this marks the beginning of a new age!”
Before Shizuku could finish her warning, Jose pulled something out of his pocket and raised it high above his head.
At his words, the soldiers all turned as one to him. Confused, the students followed suit.
A second later there was a bright flash.
Whatever Jose had been holding emitted a burst of light as bright as one of Hajime’s flash grenades.
Kouki and the others screamed as the light pierced their eyes. They quickly turned away, but they were already blinded.
A second later, there were a number of meaty thuds.
“Agh!?”
“Gah!”
“Gwaaah!?”
They were immediately followed by a series of screams.
Not screams of surprise, like the screams the students had given when the light hit them, but screams of pain. After that, there were a few loud thumps as people fell to the ground.
Amidst the chaos, Shizuku drew her weapon and readied herself.
She just barely managed to block the sword thrust that came for her.
Like the others, she’d been blinded by the light. But thanks to her years of training, months of experience, and excellent senses, she was able to fight back even while unable to see.
Finally her sight began to return, and Shizuku examined her surroundings. What greeted her was a nightmare.
Her classmates had all been stabbed in the back by soldiers, and were lying on the ground.
“Wha...” She’d been prepared for something terrible to happen, but this was beyond her expectations.
What on earth is happening? Why are they doing this? Shizuku’s voice caught in her throat.
The wails of her classmates pierced her ears. The scene in front of her was so shocking that Shizuku’s brain shut down.
Don’t tell me they’re all dead!? However, though Kouki, Ryutarou, Suzu, and Yuka were all lying in pools of their own blood, they were still breathing.
Knowing that her friends still lived brought some small measure of comfort to Shizuku. However, all of the frontliners aside from her were too gravely injured to even move. Cold sweat poured down her back.
Kousuke was the most badly injured out of all of them. Swords were sticking out of not just his back, but his limbs too. He was twitching weakly on the ground, clearly in pain.
Worse, the rest of Shizuku’s classmates had been cuffed with mana-sealing shackles.
No one would be able to heal them.
What do I do? What do I do? Shizuku desperately cast her gaze about, looking for a solution. It was then that she noticed something strange.
“Oh my, I guess I should have expected you to come out of that unscathed, Shizuku.”
“Huh? What? Wh-Why? What are you—”
There was a single one of Shizuku’s classmates who wasn’t on the ground in a puddle of their own blood or pinned down by a cluster of soldiers.
And right now, they sounded nothing like their normal self. Shizuku trailed off, stunned. She’d opened her mouth more out of reflex than anything.
A second later, one of the knights charged at her from behind.
“Ngh!?” Despite her shock, Shizuku still managed to
dodge out of the way. The one who’d betrayed them looked down at her, exasperated.
“I can’t believe you dodged that too... Of course you’d be the one to make things difficult.”
“Seriously, what are you—” Shizuku was cut off by a storm of steel. All of the soldiers around her attacked at once. Their movements seemed unusually sharp. It was almost as if they’d been powered up.
Shizuku still managed to dodge their attacks somehow. While she was weaving between swords, she heard someone call out to her, and turned around.
“Shizuku, help me!”
“Nia!”
Nia was lying on the ground, a knight straddling her. She was seconds away from being pierced through by his sword.
Shizuku dashed to Nia, ducking through the horde of soldiers using a combination of No Tempo and Supersonic Step. She bashed the knight away with her sheath, sending him flying.
“Nia, you alright?”
“Shizuku-sama...”
Shizuku helped Nia to her feet while warily observing the nearby troops.
Nia hugged Shizuku from behind, seemingly terrified.
Then a second later, she drove a dagger into Shizuku’s back.
“N-Nia? Wh-Why?”
“.....”
Shizuku’s mouth twisted into a pained grimace as she looked down at her friend.
Nia’s eyes were devoid of their usual warmth. She looked expressionlessly up at Shizuku, as if she were an unthinking doll.
It was then that Shizuku finally realized.
Nia hadn’t been acting oddly because the capital’s barrier had been destroyed. Her subdued demeanor and empty eyes were exactly like the knights and soldiers surrounding them.
In other words, she was under the influence of whatever it was that had made them all go crazy.
Unfortunately, Shizuku had come to this realization too late. Nia pinned Shizuku to the ground, twisted her arms behind her back, and shackled her with the same magic-sealing cuffs the soldiers had put on the other students.
“Ahahahaha. I guess even you couldn’t predict she’d stab you, huh? Yeah, see, that’s why I waited until the last minute to put her under my control.” The burning sensation in Shizuku’s back contrasted starkly with the cold ground at her cheek. She realized now that the soldiers acting strange hadn’t been the work of demons, but this student.
The truth stung. Shizuku couldn’t accept it.
No, she didn’t want to accept it. That she’d been betrayed by someone she trusted.
They’d gone through so many crises together. It was inconceivable that she would betray them, but Shizuku couldn’t deny what her eyes showed her.
“What is the meaning of this... Eri!?” Eri, the quiet, thoughtful, kindhearted girl who always put others first, who had fought together with Shizuku for the past few months was in fact— a traitor.
She’d purposely missed everyone’s vitals. So that they could lay there writhing in pain while she gloated. All of the other students gazed at Eri in shock.
Eri’s soldiers made no move to attack them any further. They stood at attention, lifeless eyes trained on their new master.
Eri walked past the students, examining each in turn. Jugo lay on the ground, twitching. Kousuke had lost so much blood he’d nearly fallen unconscious. Yuka stared wide-eyed at Eri, disbelief written across her face. Eri’s footsteps echoing off the cobblestones was the only noise that broke the silence.
She ignored Shizuku’s question and stopped before Kouki.
With a maniacal grin, she whipped off her glasses, grabbed the mana-sealing collar her soldiers had put on him, and dragged him to his feet.
“E-Eri... why... Gah... would you...” Though he wasn’t as close to Eri as Kaori and Shizuku were, Kouki still considered her a good friend. He couldn’t understand why she would betray them. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he forced his question out.
Like before, Eri didn’t answer. Her expression didn’t look entirely sane.
She leaned over and said in a singsong voice, “Caaaught you, Kouki-kuuun.”
“Mmmf!?”
She pressed her lips against Kouki’s in a passionate kiss.
The sound of their saliva mixing together carried surprisingly far across the empty courtyard. Eri lost herself in the act, savoring the kiss as if she’d been desiring it her whole life.
Stunned, Kouki tried to shake her off but the nearby soldiers pinned him in place. In his weakened state, bereft of his magic, Kouki wasn’t able to overpower them.
After a good amount of time Eri finally pulled away, satisfied. A silver thread of drool connected the two of them. She licked her lips seductively, then suddenly turned to the other students.
They were all looking at her, their expressions a mixture of confusion and pain.
Eri nodded in satisfaction and focused her attention on Shizuku.
“Well, that’s how it is, Shizuku.”
“What do you mean, that’s how it is...? Gah.”
Shizuku glared at Eri, blood leaking from her mouth. Eri shook her head in an exaggerated motion, as if talking to a particularly slow child.
“Still haven’t figured it out? You see, I’ve always wanted Kouki-kun to myself. I just did what it took to make him mine. Make sense now?”
“If you loved Kouki... all you had to do was confess! You didn’t need to go this far...”
Eri’s face went blank for a moment.
But then, her grin returned.
“No, no no no. That wouldn’t work. Kouki-kun’s too kind to give people preferential treatment. Even though you’re all trash, he’s too nice to leave you alone. The only way to make Kouki-kun mine and mine alone was to clean up all the trash lying around him.” Eri shrugged her shoulders, as if her motives were the most obvious thing in the world.
Everyone was still too shocked to get angry at her disparaging remarks. Her entire personality had changed, and Shizuku was honestly doubting whether the girl in front of her was really Eri or not.
“Fufu, I’m so glad we all came to this world. Getting rid of all of you would have been difficult back in Japan. Which is why, of course, I can’t let you guys win this war and go back home. Because Kouki-kun’s going to spend the rest of his days here, with me. Forever.” Suddenly, everything clicked. Shizuku hesitatingly gave voice to her conjecture.
“Don’t tell me... the reason they broke the barrier so easily... was because...”
“Ahaha? You noticed? Yep, I did that. I smashed the artifact that powered the barrier.” Her guess was spot on. That still didn’t explain how the demon army had reached the capital completely unnoticed, but that was at least one mystery resolved. Eri nodded to a platoon of soldiers who were standing silently next to her, looking like reanimated corpses. Shizuku guessed they were the ones who’d actually carried out the deed.
“I mean, if I killed you guys, there’s no way I’d be able to stay in the kingdom. So I went to the demons and made a deal. I’d let them into the capital and take care of you guys and the soldiers for them, and they’d leave me and Kouki-kun alone.”
“When... did you get the chance to...” Kouki muttered in disbelief.
Eri had been training together with them in the palace all this time. It should have been impossible for a demon to get past the barrier and make contact with Eri. Kouki still half-hoped that this was all some big misunderstanding.
Sadly, even that hope was dashed.
“Remember that woman we fought in the Great Orcus Labyrinth? Before we left, I used necromancy on her. I commanded her to deliver a message to the demons who came to retrieve her body. To be honest, I was scared it wouldn’t work. I needed to get in touch with them without getting killed... so I ended up using necromancy... but I’d wanted to keep those skills hidden so they wouldn’t get suspicious. It turned out alright in the end though.” As she’d said, Eri had reanimated Cattleya’s corpse to deliver a message to the demons who came to retrieve it.
That was also how they’
d discovered who’d been the one to kill her.
The demons had sent their reply by reanimating a human’s corpse and sending it to Eri. The barrier was primed only to keep out demons, so the corpse had made it past.
Shizuku, already pale from blood loss, paled even further when she realized the implications of what Eri had said.
Necromancy was an art that utilized the lingering regrets people left behind when they died. Though she’d hidden her abilities, Eri had long since mastered the skills needed to reanimate people. In other words, all of the soldiers in the courtyard, and even Nia were acting strange not because they were under some kind of mental control, but because they were dead.
“Then...that means everyone here is...”
“Only moving because of my necromancy of course. They all died ages ago. Ahahahaha!”
Shizuku grit her teeth, her mind refusing to accept the answer her reasoning had brought her to.
“Y-You’re lying! There’s no way a dead person should... gah... be able to talk!”
“I’m just that good. I can give my corpses a portion of the personality and memories they had in life, so they’re capable of holding a conversation. It’s an original spell I came up with, Spirit Binding.”
Normally, all necromancy was capable of was reading the last thoughts of the deceased, or creating a corpse by injecting mana into the lingering regrets they left behind. Skilled practitioners could even reanimate corpses, but they would still be mindless.
Their abilities would be inferior to their living versions, and as they were incapable of thought, the corpses would need to be controlled directly by the necromancer. Of course, a simple command like “Attack” didn’t require constant management, so a necromancer could set a horde of corpses on someone without having to micromanage them all.
But something like holding a full conversation like Nia and Jose had been doing should have been impossible with just necromancy.
What Eri had done with her Spirit Binding was rip out her victims’ memories and personalities from their souls, and implant them into their corpses.
In other words, she’d interfered directly with their souls. With just her own skills, Eri had managed to create an inferior version of ancient magic.
Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest Vol. 6 Page 13
