Ryouta watched as Shiro fell from the sky. At the same time, the barrier was finally destroyed.

The moment she fell, he could feel as if he lost his connection to her; as if a part of his heart suddenly became hollow.

Shiro’s body, unlike most corpses that would end up making a splattered mess of blood and internal organs, shattered like glass as it hit the ground.

However, he had no time to mourn for Shiro.

With the barrier gone, the survivors were more than vulnerable to the demons’ attack.

He gritted his teeth with bloodshot eyes.

Shiro was gone.

And he had to keep fighting.

If only he didn’t suggest the idea, he thought as he impaled an enemy with his sword.

If only he protected her by his side properly, he thought as he made porcupines out of the enemies.

If only… Tsk!

He let his tears flow free as he continued to slash down the enemies.

…

…

…Why am I fighting?

Shiro isn’t here anymore.

So what am I doing?

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What have I been doing all this time?

…

Suddenly, Ryouta’s movement slowed down.

He no longer had the drive to fight.

He was tired.

“Hey! What are you doing? Snap out of it!”

Hal’s voice rang loudly beside his ears.

He snapped his head upwards just as a shadow passed above his head.

A demon’s grotesque body landed just in front of him.

“Keep fighting!” Hal shouted. His one arm, though trembling, was still holding onto his sword tightly.

Ryouta looked around the battlefield.

Carnage was everywhere. No spot on the ground remained clean from the blood spilt by his fallen brothers and enemies alike.

At the corner of his eyes, he could see Miss Vell carry a weapon as she relentlessly went against a demon thrice her size. When the demon smacked her sword away, she resorted to use her sharp nails instead.

Why was she fighting so vehemently?

Even after seeing that she could not win, she still pushed forward.

Why?

Suddenly, Vell was hit by the demon’s sharper claws, a large wound forming on her left side. A shrill scream ensued, but from the voice, it did not seem to come from Vell. His eyes moved towards the original source.

Behind Vell, a little girl was curled up with an older woman. She had been the one who screamed when Vell got hurt.

The dog-eared woman had, all this time, tried to steer the demon away from the two survivors.

“Don’t worry about me! Run! This wound doesn’t hurt at all,” says Vell to the little girl. She had a smile on her face and no one could tell how much pain she was holding in.

“Thank you, thank you,” sobbed the older woman. She pulled the little girl into her arms and ran as fast as her legs could carry.

The demon made a move to go after them, but Vell barred its path. “Your opponent is me!” She shouted, ready to throw her life away.

Ah…

That’s no good.

Vell is in danger…

“Ryouta! Don’t just stand around!” Hal once again roared, seeing the frozen boy.

Ryouta’s body moved faster than his mind.

Within seconds, the demon that had been terrorizing Vell was decapitated.

That’s right.

That was why.

“Thanks, Ryouta. You came at a good time.” Vell nodded to Ryouta. She did not wait for him to say anything before she moved to pick up her fallen sword and went off to search for any other allies that was in a pinch.

“…”

Ryouta finally came back to his senses. Wordlessly, he jumped deeper into the demon army, attempting to destroy them with his AoE attacks without worrying about friendly fire.

After three days, finally, he stopped fighting.