“Even I no longer have the patience to abide by Kizuna’s wishes,” Glass stated. “This is the time to truly bring an end to you and this foolish battle you have started!” She raised her fan and struck a fighting pose. “Raphtalia, if anything happens to me, I leave Kizuna and L’Arc in your hands.”

“Calm down, please, Glass!” Raphtalia responded. Glass was attempting to gather all of her evil energy into herself. I had used the Shield of Rage myself, so I understood the feeling crackling in the air.

“If we lose this battle, Kizuna is not going to come back. I’ll do whatever it takes—” That was when I leapt in front of Glass, cutting her off and calming things down.

“Calm down. We might be able to win this without any noble sacrifices,” I told her.

“That voice!” It worked. Glass stopped what she had been doing. She’d been attempting to use a cursed weapon. That was why I stopped her.

There had been a reason why I didn’t talk to Raphtalia and the others immediately after arriving at the battlefield.

“I, hero, command the heavens and earth! Transect the way of the universe and rejoin it again to expel the pus from within! Power of the Dragon Vein! Obey now orders from the hero, the source of your power, combining my magic with the power of the hero. Read again the way of all things and lend strength to them all!” I chanted. “All Liberation Aura X!” The highest level of support magic was cast across everyone within range whom I considered an ally.

“This is . . . incredible! I feel so light!” said Glass.

“My stats have been incredibly boosted! What a rush of power!” said L’Arc.

“Huh?” The one with L’Arc’s scythe turned his gaze on me, clearly not happy with this unexpected new arrival. “Just who might you be?”

“Mr. Naofumi!” Raphtalia saw me, her eyes opening wide and her expression brightening. There were even tears in her eyes. But of course, the last time I’d seen her I’d been close to death myself. She hadn’t even known if I was alive or dead, so this wasn’t an overreaction. Honestly speaking, I wanted to enjoy the reunion myself, but first we needed to do something about these enemies.

“You started out as Kizuna’s allies, right?” Ethnobalt had told me that it was a bunch of former allies who had launched a surprise attack and stolen L’Arc’s scythe. “Didn’t he tell you about me? One of the four holy heroes from another world?” If they had been allies, I was sure to have come up in conversation.

“So you’re reinforcements, called in because we’ve got your little friends here bleeding out. Turn around and go back to wherever you came from, and I promise not to cut you down as you go,” the man growled.

“You’re not possessed by Kyo, are you?” I asked. He was acting just like that dick. Ethnobalt had made it sound like this guy and Kizuna had been pretty close. The sheer wall of overconfidence he presented totally rubbed me the wrong way. It told me one thing: he was my enemy.