There's No Point Running Away (8)

"Is that really so surprising?"

'Impossible... Villagers are born without talent. No, they are Villagers precisely because they lack talent. And yet this Villager is Level 999? What kind of path through hell must you have walked...? No... Even so, you're far too strong. A Villager should still just be a Villager, even at Level 999... There are too many things that don't add up. What are you? Just who are you?!'

"Huh? I'm a Villager."

'I know that! I'm asking how you became so strong!'

For the first time, the Dark Dragon lost its temper and shouted at Kagami. Seeing that, Kagami smiled faintly.

Kagami had thought the Dark Dragon lived without emotion, simply following its mission. But it seemed to have a will of its own after all. Perhaps if Kagami pleaded and talked things through, it might even defy this system. A glimmer of hope began to take root.

'Wait... If you're Level 999, you shouldn't be able to learn a Skill all of a sudden. What is that power...?'

"I don't really know myself. But I have a Skill that lets me grow stronger beyond my limits, so I can only assume it's thanks to that. You get a Skill every 100 levels... Maybe this fight gave me enough experience to reach around Level 1,100? I'm not sure."

'Level 1,100...? The higher your level rises, the harder it becomes to gain experience. Your abilities increase more with each level, but... reaching Level 1,100 should require an absurd amount of experience.'

"I've been Level 999 for a long time. I've always fought barehanded... and there was that battle in Salmaria, too. I probably earned about that much experience. Anyway, this fight with you pushed me just far enough to gain a Skill."

Skill: Anti-Magic Will

Effect: Temporarily generates a fighting aura that reflects magic on any body part the user wills.

A new Skill had appeared in Kagami's Status Window.

The Skill was difficult to control, and so far Kagami could only activate it in both hands for a brief moment. But even that had been enough to escape that hopeless situation.

"Thanks to my new Skill, I could deflect the heat rays coming at me one after another. I made them collide with one another, causing explosions, then slipped away while the smoke blocked the view."

'How can this be...? I've never seen anyone like you. You challenged me to a fight without fearing the overwhelming difference in our strength, and then conveniently gained the power to escape this situation?'

The Dark Dragon murmured in confusion, then slowly closed its eyelids and made the blue-white spheres it had conjured in the air disappear one after another.

"What are you doing...? The fight isn't over yet, is it?"

'It would be far too wasteful to let you die. For the first time, I have found hope in you. You must... proceed to the next stage, no matter what.'

"...Hope? What do you mean?"

The Dark Dragon had said something intriguing, but it didn't elaborate. "So I'm supposed to find out at the next stage, huh?" Kagami realized why it wasn't going to explain further.

"But you're still going to reset the world, right?"

'Of course... Even after you proceed to the next stage, I must create new powerful people. That is one thing I cannot change.'

"Then I have no choice but to fight."

With that, Kagami took up his stance again. But the Dark Dragon showed no intention of fighting. It didn't even look at him, instead slowly moving its enormous body back to where it had been before.

The Dark Dragon had never expected an absolute being like itself to be sent flying so far. Once it had returned to its original position, it gazed pensively at the ground gouged out when it was knocked back, then sighed.

'Why? Why do you refuse the reset so desperately? Did you not simply brainwash and use that demon over there, too?'

The Dark Dragon was genuinely curious about why Kagami would go to such lengths to resist, and asked him. Until now, it had always made every being choose between the same two options. For the first time, it felt this was a question worth asking.

'No, that man is lying. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say he's nothing but lies?'

That was when a voice, clearly different from the Dark Dragon's and somehow familiar, suddenly echoed directly in their minds. Immediately afterward, space warped midway between Kagami and the Dark Dragon, and a demon man emerged, seemingly tearing his way through the rift.

'Why... are you here? No, more importantly... It has been a long time.'

The demon man made the spatial rift vanish, then remained suspended in midair. Rather than looking at the Dark Dragon, he turned his gaze toward Kagami and smiled as if things had gone exactly as he expected.

"Y-you... Estellera! Why are you here?!"

Menou had been trembling too much to speak, stunned by the sudden turn of events. At last, Menou managed to shout the name of the demon man who had appeared.

'An outrageously entertaining show had begun, so I watched the whole thing.'

Perhaps things had gone exactly as he'd expected—or even better. Estellera smiled with satisfaction and began to chuckle. "Heh heh heh..."

'No, forgive me. I wasn't laughing at you, Villager. The Dark Dragon's reaction was so far beyond anything I expected... This is the first time I've seen it so emotionally flustered.'

'Did you come here to mock me?'

'No, no, that's not it. I do have another reason for coming. And while I did laugh, I suppose this is only natural... I probably reacted much the same way. But even knowing that, I couldn't help finding it amusing, so I hid and watched for a while.'

The Dark Dragon and Estellera began talking as if they were old friends.

Kagami and Menou could only stare blankly at the two of them, bewildered by Estellera's sudden appearance and their conversation. At the same time, they became certain that this man was indeed 'the one who kept the world functioning.'