Chapter 28: The Liar Hero

〈Kibogaoka Hibari's Affection Rank Limit has been unlocked〉

After accepting Hibari's past and deepening our bond with her once again, we continued walking toward the Calamity God.

We were heading in the direction where the smell was strongest.

A peculiar stench permeated the Special Zone from every direction.

It was an odor that inspired instinctive disgust, almost as if the smell of rotting garbage had been mixed with gasoline.

This was probably the miasma that had once killed every single resident of Tokyo.

If that was the case, then it was safe to assume that the Calamity God was at the source of this stench.

As we steadily made our way forward, a sudden roar reached our ears.

Hibari, who was walking ahead of me, immediately reacted.

"Shota-kun, over there! Let's go!"

In the now-deserted Special Zone, there was no one who could be making noise besides us, the Calamity God extermination team.

Hibari and I immediately ran toward the source of the sound.

Before long, the sight that greeted us was the enormous dragon-shaped form of 『Invasion of Fiction』—the Calamity God—and Victoria being sent flying by it.

"—Ree-chan!"

Hibari immediately rushed toward Victoria. I followed right behind her.

When we hurriedly reached the scene, we saw a girl lying among the rubble.

"Victoria!"

Hibari and I rushed to her side and took hold of her hand, blood flowing from her forehead.

A chill ran through my fingers from hers.

Looking at her properly, I realized just how terrible her condition was.

Her usual Gothic Lolita outfit was riddled with bloodstains and holes.

Her complexion was deathly pale, and her hands were trembling slightly.

And both of her vacant eyes were as red as blood.

Red eyes were a precursor to Ascension Flyout.

They were proof that death by insanity from overexertion was drawing near.

The image of Raika from before flashed through my mind.

"—!"

I tightly squeezed the hand of the girl lying there.

An Anchor's role was to keep a Bluffer tethered to the world of the living.

By using that power, it was possible to alleviate Victoria's condition.

But it looked like it would take some time.

Victoria's vacant eyes didn't even seem capable of recognizing us.

Her condition didn't look like she was simply suffering from physical injuries. It seemed as though she had been subjected to some intense exhaustion.

Then the Calamity God's horrifying growl came from behind us, cutting my thoughts short.

This wasn't the time to think.

The enemy was closing in.

We had to get up and fight back immediately.

But if I let go of Victoria's hand now, it felt as though she might die right there.

I didn't know which action I should take. My movements froze.

"Shota-kun. Use your power to heal Ree-chan."

Kibogaoka Hibari spoke to me in a firm, resolute voice as I hesitated.

"I'll draw the Calamity God's attention. This is only the opening act. I can handle something like this by myself."

Her words were filled with faith in hope, so much so that it was difficult to believe we were in a hopeless situation.

Hibari flashed a confident smile, then used her magical power to take flight in an instant.

Ahead of her was the Calamity God, spreading despair wherever it went.

The girl flew through the gaps between the skyscrapers. She looked utterly fearless, every movement filled with courage.

In an instant, Hibari closed the distance until she was right in front of the Calamity God's eyes and raised her wand.

"Blade, deploy... Take thiiiiiiiiis!"

The girl charged at maximum speed, moving far too quickly for the Calamity God's eyes to follow.

Like a shooting star, she tore through the air, her blade leaving a cut across its massive body.

It was nowhere near a fatal blow.

But for Hibari, it seemed her goal was simply to draw its attention.

The Calamity God shifted its focus from the fallen Victoria to Hibari right in front of it.

It swung its tail, swept its claws, and unleashed its breath attack.

But none of them could hit the tiny shadow.

Hibari darted around the Calamity God's snout at incredible speed, gradually drawing its attention like a buzzing bee.

She was buying me time to heal Victoria.

Believing that, I squeezed her hand tightly.

Victoria's hand, having lost so much blood, remained cold.

"Victoria. Hibari is doing her best right now. Let's all make it home alive."

Her vacant eyes turned toward me. Seeing Victoria looking at me with both eyes felt strangely unfamiliar.

Without her eyepatch, she seemed even more fragile than she had before.

"Cough... Observer. I will fight too. Let go of my hand."

"Victoria, don't push yourself yet. Your wounds haven't even healed, and if you use any more power..."

"—This isn't the time to be saying that!"

Her brilliantly red eyes pierced straight through me.

Boiling anger swirled within them like magma.

"—Cough, cough..."

After shouting, she doubled over in a painful coughing fit.

But she didn't stop speaking.

"That thing is my sworn enemy! Killing that god is my very reason for existing! Even if you are the Observer, I will not yield on this!"

"Victoria..."

Even as she teetered on the brink of madness, she remained completely devoted to her own purpose.

Staring at something far beyond this place, Victoria continued speaking.

"I am the one... I am the one who must do this. I am here because I sent so many people to hell. I killed someone precious to me, drove my friend into a corner, and yet I am the one living on carefree and alone. This is my responsibility. If I don't do it... If I don't kill the Calamity God, I can never be forgiven!"

"Victoria..."

Her condition looked like what was known as survivor's guilt.

It was the psychological trauma experienced by people who had survived a major disaster while feeling guilty that they alone had lived.

Surely she had been trying to numb that pain by losing herself in a world of fantasy.

But even then, she couldn't forget the pain, so she sought to atone by defeating the Calamity God.

A lonely, clumsy, stubborn way of living.

From the emotions transmitted through the hand I was holding, that was how I came to understand her.

"...I can tell from the emotions coming through this hand that you've been fighting all this time to defeat the Calamity God."

What lay beneath those emotions wasn't simply a burning desire for revenge.

"There was guilt toward the people who died, too. —But right now, you wanted to defeat the Calamity God and free Hibari from her suffering, didn't you?"

"What...?"

When Hibari had been on the verge of breaking, Victoria had given her a reason to rise again by giving her a goal.

The goal of defeating the Calamity God and saving everyone in her homeland. Hope had given the empty Hibari a false sense of vitality.

But at the same time, it had also hurt Hibari.

The pressure of having to face the Calamity God, the very thing she feared, had driven Hibari to her limits.

Victoria must have felt responsible for that.

That's why she tried to do everything herself.

Defeating the Calamity God. Freeing her homeland. Freeing Hibari.

That self-centered way of carrying everything alone also reminded me of her smoking cigarettes while enveloped in purple smoke.

Sacrificing herself so that everyone else could be saved.

Why were there so many clumsy people around me?

"You've done enough, liar hero. But you don't have to kill the Calamity God with your own hands. We'll take over your role."

Victoria's red eyes widened.

She didn't need to carry guilt.

She didn't need to feel responsible.

Because she had already done enough.

"So you can rest for a little while."

Footsteps came from somewhere in the distance. The presence of several people approaching us.

"—Sorry I'm late."

The liar hero wasn't the only one.

There was another person here who possessed the same nature.

A small figure dressed in a pantsuit. Her clouded eyes held a strange sense of calm.

Usobuki Raika appeared at the scene with a dignified stride.