Chapter 42: Me and Sena vs. Ainika (Part 1)
A rectangular space, carved out by a familiar crimson blade, turned into a pitch-black void, and from there—
“Sena!”
My beloved appeared before me. She—Sena, glanced around and noticed me.
“Ichiro—”
For a moment, Sena swayed and began to collapse to her knees—before I quickly caught her! I cradled her in my arms. Sena showed no signs of resistance, leaning her body against me.
—Ichiro, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. Just, wait a little, okay?
That voice from back then echoed in my mind. When she had tried to leave Hidden Mountain, she had apologized to me and suffered a great malaise. Sensei had hinted that the cause of her distress was something deep within her heart. The fact that Sena was here meant she must have endured all of that.
“Ichiro, I’m so glad you’re alive…”
Her fingers brushed against my cheek, tracing along my left eye.
“It must have… hurt so much, right?”
Her delicate fingers touched my now-missing right ear. As I glanced at my patched-up body, tears began to spill from Sena’s eyes. Despite her own unsteadiness, she cried for me.
“It definitely hurt. But because you came, Sena—”
Before I could finish my thought,
“Shut up and die quietly, will you?”
Ainika, the One Who Loathes All Life, who had been closing in on us with a massive sword, transformed the tips of the eleven Arms of Light into hooves, accelerating them all to strike.
Once I confirmed that the nuisance was incapacitated for a while, I cleared my throat.
“And because you came, I’m okay now. I don’t know why, but I really feel like I’m okay.”
Feeling her warmth, I truly believed that. It was strange, almost like a sense of omnipotence, or perhaps an absolute feeling of security. Sena blinked a couple of times, then managed to plant her feet firmly on the ground, reaching out to place her hand on my back.
“Ichiro, what is that, you fool?”
She fit snugly within my arms, her hands tightening around me. Not to be outdone, I held her tightly in return.
“Once this is over, I have something I want to tell you.”
Death flags? I didn’t care about those. I could build as many as I wanted and break them just as easily.
“Ichiro, what a coincidence. I have something I want to tell you too.”
What could we possibly want to say to each other? I didn’t ponder that. Her feelings were already conveyed to me through her voice, her words, her gestures, her presence, and the warmth of our touch—everything about her had already reached me.
“Then just wait a moment. I’m going to take that thing down.”
It felt surreal, almost like an illusion. Just having her by my side made me feel like I could do anything.
“Girl! Have you forgotten that you were just impaled by my Arm of Darkness?!”
Ainika, the One Who Loathes All Life, finally revived and roared with fury—
“Shut up! You’re the one who put Ichiro through this!”
Sena’s beautiful yet fierce dance of strikes landed blow after blow on Ainika, causing smoke to billow from his body.
“Ughhhhhh!!”
Ainika’s agonized scream erupted from his throat. As he regenerated, the castle walls crumbled and vanished into the air.
“Ugh, it seems that even now, it’s still a bit difficult for you, Ichiro.”
Gah! That feeling of omnipotence was just an illusion after all.
“Don’t make that face. Ichiro, it’s okay.”
Sena touched my right hand, which had been replaced by Light Magic, as I stood there, half in tears.
“Ichiro, you said you would fight. I believe in you. What I’m going to do now is just a little bit of help.”
Something flowed from her to me. It was a familiar power, one I had felt from Sena and Sensei before.
“With your current ability to grasp Qi and manipulate Light as if it were second nature, you can feel and wield Divine Qi.”
What flowed from her to me was a power of a different tier than the Light Magic I shared with Mika. My instincts recognized its sanctity.
“This is that help.”
What I received was not just power. It was Sena’s—her true heart touching mine.
“If you can’t win with this, Ichiro, I’ll take on his opponent.”
She said it with a brave face, even though it must have been hard for her.
“But that won’t happen.”
I didn’t ask why, but Sena’s words continued.
“I know you better than anyone else.”
I found myself blushing at her direct declaration.