He pulled out his gatling gun, Metzelei, from his Treasure Trove. Red sparks ran down its length, and its barrel began to spin.
Atsushi and Yuka knew what was coming next, and their faces twisted into a striking impression of The Scream.
“Everyone, get down!”
“Oh shit, out of the waaaaaaaaay!”
Ryutarou and Jugo pushed down anyone who was too slow to react. And a second later, Metzelei began spitting out death at twelve thousand rounds a minute.
This was the weapon that had turned a Liberator’s army of golems into a pile of rubble, obliterated an army of monsters, and even overwhelmed an apostle of god’s deadly feather barrage. Human bodies wouldn’t even last a second against it.
The railgun-accelerated bullets ripped right through Eri’s soldiers and turned the walls of the courtyard into swiss cheese. Hajime rotated in place, mowing down everyone around him.
Bloody mist filled the air, and chunks of flesh rained down.
Soldiers died by the dozen, their strength and training meaningless in the face of such destructive might.
Finally, Metzelei’s rampage stopped, and silence filled the courtyard. After a few seconds, the sound of footsteps could be heard again.
The students were all too stunned to move. They could only watch as Hajime continued his relentless march toward Eri.
Like the others, she’d dropped to the ground and waited for the storm of death to pass her by. When she opened her eyes, she was greeted by the sight of Hajime’s boots.
Timidly, she raised her head. Hajime stared coldly down at her. His gaze made her feel small, as if she were nothing more than a pebble on the roadside.
Metzelei wasn’t in his hands anymore. He faced her down bare-handed.
Eri couldn’t say anything. She stared dumbly at Hajime, the silence stretching on until he finally opened his mouth.
“So?”
“Ah...”
Hajime didn’t know the details of why Eri did what she did. However, her actions had made the fact that she was his enemy clear.
Had she been any normal enemy, he would have killed her and been done with it, but Eri had hurt someone important to him. That was the one thing he would never forgive. Just killing her wasn’t enough. He wanted Eri to taste despair first. He’d asked her that question because he’d wanted to prove to her that there was nothing she could do.
Eri realized that as well, and she grit her teeth in frustration. A trickle of blood dripped from her lip. A few moments ago, she’d been in complete control of the situation. Everyone had been dancing to her tune, and her dominance was but a simple fact. Somehow, Hajime had come in and destroyed all of that in seconds. The unfairness of it all infuriated Eri. She glared daggers at Hajime, her hatred overpowering her fear.
“You little—” Before Eri could finish her insult, she felt a cold, metallic object press into her forehead.
Hajime had drawn Donner so fast that she hadn’t even seen it.
“I don’t care what drove you to this, I don’t care what your motives are, and I don’t have the time to listen to you explain them. If that’s all you’ve got to say... then die.” Hajime wrapped his finger around the trigger. Eri could tell from his eyes. He wouldn’t hesitate to kill one of his classmates, nor did he care that doing so would mean he’d never be able to make Kaori his puppet.
I’m going to die. That single thought filled her mind.
Fortunately for her, it appeared Eri had the devil’s luck.
A fireball came out of nowhere before Hajime could fire the trigger. It burned white-hot, and had quite a bit of force behind it. However, it wasn’t nearly powerful enough to hurt Hajime. He just shot a bullet right through the spell’s core, and the fireball dispersed.
“Nagumooooooooooooooo!” Hiyama burst out from behind the fireball, charging straight for Hajime. He was covered in wounds, and didn’t even seem capable of proper speech anymore, but had somehow found the strength to fight.
He had a sword in his hand, though his right shoulder was shattered and dangling limply. Blood dripped from his mouth as he ran.
Fact of the matter was, he looked utterly pathetic.
“Shut up!” Annoyed, Hajime kicked Hiyama in the chin. He rose a few inches into the air, but didn’t go flying. The force of the impact had been transferred entirely into his body, which was why he didn’t move much.
Hajime then raised his leg up high, and brought it down in an earth-shattering axe kick.
His heel slammed into Hiyama’s skull, and smashed it straight into the ground. The floor cracked as Hiyama’s head hit it, and a fountain of blood spurted from his forehead. Then, his eyes rolled back into his head and he fell unconscious instantly.
It was obvious he was at death’s door, but Hajime didn’t stop beating on him.
As Hiyama’s head bounced back up, Hajime kicked it again, sending him flying into the air. He held back so that Hiyama would regain consciousness instead of die.
As Hiyama fell back down, Hajime grabbed the back of his collar and held him up. Hiyama struggled against Hajime’s grip, but his weak thrashing achieved little. Hajime was beyond the realm of mortal strength, and Hiyama had lost too much blood to put any power behind his kicks and punches.
“Ish all your fault! If it washn’t for you, Kaori would’ve been mine!” He vented all of his deep-seated resentment. Hajime was honestly a little impressed that anyone could sink so low. Hiyama’s unabashed depravity would have made normal people sick to their stomach.
Hajime, however, didn’t even bother saying anything. His face was an expressionless mask. To him, Hiyama wasn’t even worth wasting his emotions on.
“It wouldn’t have mattered if I was here or not. Hell would have to freeze over before you’d manage to do anything worthwhile with your miserable existence.”
“Ish all your fault!”
“Don’t pin the blame on other people. You’re the one who decided to stoop to this level. Both here and in Japan, you’ve always been the loser. You didn’t lose to other people. You’ve lost to yourself. You never once tried to take responsibility for anything. All you ever did was sit on the sidelines and insult everyone else, when the real loser was always you.”
“I’ll kill you! No matter what ish takesh, I swear I’ll kill you!” Hiyama had gone completely insane.
Hajime gave Hiyama one last pitiful glare before looking off into the distance. He had just noticed that the demon army had made it all the way to the castle gates.
He threw Hiyama into the air once more and punched him with his artificial arm as he came down. The force of the blow made Hiyama start spinning like a top.
“Good luck surviving out there. Knowing you, you probably won’t make it.” Hajime spun around and slammed a roundhouse kick into Hiyama’s chest.
There was a rippling shockwave and a sickening crunch as Hajime’s foot connected, and Hiyama was sent flying out of the courtyard, right into the path of the oncoming demons...
Hajime had unconsciously held back just enough to keep Hiyama alive.
He was making Hiyama’s death a much more painful ordeal not because Hiyama was the one who’d knocked him into the abyss all those months ago, but because he’d tried to kill Kaori.
Hajime himself was only dimly aware that was the reason, but it was clear from his actions that deep down he cared that much for Kaori. Hence why he’d kicked Hiyama into the horde of monsters and demons to let them rip him apart.
Unfortunately, because he’d taken his time with Hiyama, he’d run out of time to kill Eri.
Not because she’d managed to run away. But because a new pest had appeared. Hajime looked up to see a beam of aurora-colored light headed straight for him.
“Tch.” He clicked his tongue, leaped to the side, and fired Donner at the light. Three streaks of red light shot through the deadly beam, like dragons scaling a waterfall.
A second later the beam’s trajectory suddenly changed, and it headed for Kouki. Er
i hurriedly pulled him clear before it could vaporize him.
Eri wanted him for a puppet, so she couldn’t let him get turned to ash.
As the light dissipated, Freid descended into the courtyard on his white dragon.
“Stay right there, boy. If you try anything funny, I’ll kill your precious comrades.” Freid appeared to be under the misconception that Hajime was fighting for the sake of the kingdom.
Looking around, Hajime saw that they were surrounded by a sizable army of monsters. Freid had used his specialty, teleportation magic, to bring them here.
Freid knew he wouldn’t be able to beat Hajime in a head-on duel, so he’d tried to take the students hostage. Though Hajime didn’t know it, this was Freid’s last resort. Yue’s spell had left him gravely injured, and he was in no condition to fight.
The white raven on his shoulder was healing him, but it would still be some time before he was fully recovered.
Just then, Tio called out to Hajime.
“Master! I have stabilized her for now! But restoring her will take time. If possible, I would like Yue’s assistance for this. She will not last long like this!” Hajime looked over his shoulder and nodded.
His classmates looked at him in confusion, not comprehending what he was trying to do.
Freid, however, looked over at Tio in surprise. He was capable of using ancient magic too, so he’d guessed what she was attempting.
“I see, so you’ve discovered yet another ancient magic. Could this be the magic of the Divine Mountain? I would very much like to know its location. If you refuse to tell me, I’ll— Ah!?” Hajime interrupted Freid’s pathetic attempts at intimidating him with a bullet from Donner.
One of the turtles next to Freid put up a barrier that just barely managed to block the shot.
Freid narrowed his eyes grimly and ordered his monsters to cluster around him.
“What do you think you’re doing? Do you not care about the lives of your countrymen? The more you resist, the more the people of the capital will suffer. Or are you just too stupid to understand the position you’re in? I have over a hundred thousand monsters stationed on the outer wall, and another million waiting in reserve. You may be strong, but can you protect this city from such a large force?” Hajime glared coldly at Freid for a few seconds before shifting his gaze to the massive army waiting near the outskirts of the capital.
He then silently pulled out a fist-sized spirit stone from his Treasure Trove. He poured mana into it, and it glowed with a dazzling light. Far brighter than his bracelets did when he was manipulating his Cross Bits.
“Tch, what are you planning!?”
“Shut up and watch.”
Freid had a terrible premonition. He ordered his dragon to fire another aurora at Hajime.
However, Hajime kept Freid and his dragon at bay with Donner. A few seconds later, Hajime finished his preparations.
Divine wrath descended from the heavens. A massive pillar of light shot down from the sky, obliterating all in its path.
It eradicated everything it touched, regardless of age, race, strength, or affiliation. The sky lit up, and for a few moments it looked like it was noon.
Kweeeeeeeeeeee! The pillar of light was a good fifteen meters in diameter, and it scorched the very air as it passed. Anything that came into the light’s domain, whether it be monster or demon, was vaporized instantly. Its heat was so great that even things not directly in the light’s path melted.
Hajime poured more mana into the spirit stone, and the pillar began to move, swallowing up the monsters and demons trying to flee.
Death came for them all. Inescapable, inexorable death. Unless they could teleport like Freid, no creature could outrun the speed of Hajime’s laser.
Monsters and demons surged into the capital, desperately trying to find shelter from that beam of destruction.
The light zigzagged a path around the plains outside the city and dispersed as it reached the wall.
White smoke from the blackened earth hung around the city. Deep furrows had been dug into the ground wherever the light had passed. Hajime’s attack had scarred the earth.
The few demons who’d managed to escape into the capital collapsed in a stunned heap. In the span of a few seconds, they’d lost almost their entire army.
Freid, Eri, Shizuku, and the other students were just as shocked. They stared at Hajime in amazement.
“You’re the moron here. Did I ever say I was fighting for the kingdom? Or that these guys were my comrades? Stop jumping to conclusions. If you really want to carry on your pointless war, be my guest. Just know that if you get in my way, I’ll wipe you off the face of the earth. Well, I don’t have time to kill all million of your stupid monsters, so I’ll let you go this time. Hurry up and get out of here. You’re the one in charge, right? Order your army to retreat.” Rage bubbled up within Freid. Hajime had just wiped out most of his comrades, and now he was taking this arrogant attitude with him?
But he didn’t want to risk losing the rest of his army. Sure, he could open portals to teleport them elsewhere, but as long as he didn’t understand the principle behind Hajime’s attack, there was guarantee they’d be safe. The last thing he wanted was to get hit by another one of those.
In all honesty, Hajime didn’t want to let Freid go. But right now his number one priority was saving Kaori. If they took too long, she’d be beyond even their powers to bring back. Worse, this would be their first time using Spirit Magic. They’d have to pull everything off without even a trial run to experiment with how this magic worked.
But most of all, Hajime couldn’t fire that laser again. It had been a prototype weapon, and one shot had broken it. Hajime could take on a million monsters even without it, but it would take up far too much time. Killing Freid here would turn his army into a disorganized mob. And right now, that was the last thing he wanted.
Freid clenched his fists so tightly that his hands started bleeding. No matter how frustrated he was though, he couldn’t afford to waste his brethren’s lives needlessly. He opened a portal and glared at Hajime.
“I swear I’ll make you pay for this. I swear it by my god! You’ll meet your end at my hands!” Freid spat, his words dripping with hate. He turned on his heel and beckoned for Eri to follow.
For a moment Eri thought of taking Kouki with her. But then she caught sight of Hajime’s bone-chilling stare and thought better of it. Cold sweat pouring down her forehead, she hurried over to Freid.
Before she walked through the portal though, she shot one last crazed look at Kouki. Despite the poison’s strength, Kouki was still conscious, and that look sent shivers down his spine.
Eri didn’t say anything, but it was clear from her gaze that she would stop at nothing to make Kouki hers. This was her declaration of war.
Eri and Freid passed through the portal, and a second later three balls of light burst high in the sky. That was likely the signal for retreat.
Yue and Shea arrived just as the army began its retreat.
“Mmm. Hajime, What happened to that ugly demon?”
“Hajime-san! Where’d that piece of trash cretin go!?”
It looked like they’d come here to beat up Freid. They didn’t bother asking about that pillar of light because they knew Hajime had been the cause of it.
Hajime didn’t answer; right now there was a far more pressing concern that needed their attention.
He explained what had happened to Kaori. Shocked, the two of them looked over at her corpse. When they saw Hajime’s grim expression though, they quickly composed themselves.
In an almost pleading tone, Hajime begged Yue to save her.
“Okay, leave it to me,” she replied instantly. Though she didn’t fully understand the situation still, she knew what took priority here.
The party all headed over to Tio. Hajime gently took Kaori from her and began walking out of the courtyard.
Before he could leave, Shizuku staggered over and called out to him.
“Nagumo-kun! Kaori’s... She’s... What should I do?” Shizuku looked far more ragged than Hajime had ever seen her. She was on the verge of breaking down.
The earlier battle had kept her from dwelling on Kaori’s death for too long, but now that the immediate threat had vanished, the reality of what had happened crashed into her.
When he saw Shizuku’s expression, Hajime hesitated. After a moment’s deliberation, he shook his head.
“Shea, take care of Kaori. Tio, show everyone where the labyrinth is. I’ll be there soon.”
“Kaori-san... I promise we’ll keep her safe.”
“Understood. Shea, Tio, we’re heading for the summit. Follow me.”
Shea took Kaori from Hajime’s arms and held her tight.
The three of them flew off into the distance, using all of their significant abilities to reach the mountain as fast as possible.
Everything happened so fast that no one knew how to react. Hajime walked through the crowd of silent students and knelt in front of Shizuku, who was sitting on the ground.
He cupped her cheeks and raised her face, forcing her to meet his gaze.
“Stay strong, Yaegashi. Trust in us. I promise I’ll let you see Kaori again.”
“Nagumo-kun...”
A faint glimmer of light returned to Shizuku’s empty eyes. Hajime smiled gently and joked, “If you’re not there to look after everyone, how’re these fools going to manage? Besides, Kaori wouldn’t want to see you like this either... right? We all need you. No one else is masochistic enough to take care of these guys.”
“Who’re you calling a masochist, you dork? Can I... really trust you?”
Hajime’s smile faded and he nodded sincerely.
Looking into his eyes, Shizuku could tell he was serious. He would find a way to bring Kaori back, even if he had to wade through hell to do it. Seeing his unwavering determination warmed her heart, if only slightly.
The color returned to her face. She nodded to Hajime with newfound resolve. She would put her faith in him and his comrades.
Relieved that Shizuku no longer looked like she was about to break, Hajime stood up. He pulled a vial out of his Treasure Trove and handed it to her.
Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest Vol. 6 Page 16
