Kathia's Perspective Kyoya's collapsed body crumbled to dust and vanished.
No sooner had I witnessed that than Shun toppled over without even trying to break his fall.
"Shun!?"
"So he'd reached his limit too."
The
Then she walked over to Thunder Dragon Goka, who lay crumpled on the ground.
"Any last words?"
"I'm hungry."
"Sorry, but with that body, you can't eat anything anymore."
Goka's body had been smashed by Kyoya's attack and was a horrific sight.
With Shun unconscious, resurrection was impossible.
And Shun's resurrection had a time limit.
If it wasn't done immediately after death, it would be too late.
"What about Byaku!?"
"Busy on that front. Can't make it here in time."
Far in the distance where Reise had raised her gaze to look, the light of healing was glowing.
Earlier, Byaku the Light Dragon and
Even though she had borrowed Byaku's power, there was no way Sue was unharmed after taking one of Kyoya's blows.
That much was easy to imagine from the fact that she had been sent flying an astonishing distance despite having her guard up.
Byaku, the recovery specialist, was treating Sue right there.
In other words, she had no spare capacity to rush over here.
"Ah, when I'm dead, you can eat me. Should be enough to fill your stomach, right?"
"You idiot, eating something that tiny wouldn't fill anyone up!"
Goka spoke words that could have been serious or a joke—it was hard to tell.
In response, Hyuban the Wind Dragon fired back with a similarly joking tone.
But Hyuban's voice was trembling.
"Yeah. But before I die, I've got something to offer up too."
With those words as his last, Goka's body turned to dust just like Kyoya's.
"...Idiot. Now I can't even eat you. You were a colossal fool right to the very end..."
"..."
Hyuban, tears in his voice, watched the dust that had been Goka drift away, and Guern the Fire Dragon covered half his face with one hand.
"Someone contact Lord Ronant. We need to pull back and regroup."
Amid all this, Reise alone remained calm.
One might even call her cold.
"Couldn't you at least wait a little?"
I couldn't help but voice my displeasure.
"Yena is buying us time this very moment. And you'd have her sacrifice be for nothing?"
I had no rebuttal to the words thrown back at me.
"What Reise says is right. I'll contact him myself."
Guern pressed his remaining hand against the arm Kyoya had severed and spoke.
With Shun collapsed and everyone from Guern onward battered and bruised, we were in rough shape.
My barrier of purity had been up nonstop, and my MP was virtually empty.
If even I was in this state, those who had actually been fighting like Guern must have been far worse.
"Well, well. I can finally get out of this hot place."
Without warning, Nia the Ice Dragon appeared from wherever she had been hiding.
Where on earth had she been until now?
"Nia. Go retrieve Byaku and young Sureshia."
"Why should I be the one?"
Grumbling but obedient all the same, Nia headed toward the glow of Byaku's healing light.
Before long, Lord Ronant arrived via teleportation, and we made a temporary withdrawal from the Great Ello Dungeon.
"How is it? The boy's condition?"
"He still hasn't woken up."
Back at the base, each of us was resting as best we could.
I sat beside Shun's bed, watching over him.
"Young lady, you should get some sleep too."
"...I can't."
Lord Ronant showed his concern, but even with my eyes closed, there was no hint that sleep would come.
My fatigue had peaked, yet...
"Your emotions are running high. That's common on the battlefield. But when you hit your limit in that state, consciousness just snaps and you drop like a stone. Just like the boy."
Lord Ronant shrugged as he said it.
Shun's Mercy-based resurrection had looked grueling enough just to watch.
He must have been resurrecting Guern and the others over and over until he collapsed.
"But the boy didn't fall from that alone. Right?"
Lord Ronant fixed his gaze on the room's entrance.
Dark Dragon Reise was standing there.
"You're sharp."
"I've lived long enough. Not as sharp as an ancient dragon, though."
Reise's words amounted to an affirmation—that she was hiding something.
Something about Shun.
"What do you mean?"
"Don't look so frightened. I didn't know about it either."
Reise walked over to the bedside and peered down at Shun's face.
"It's the cost."
"Huh?"
"Didn't you find it strange? Resurrecting the dead—that's supposed to be an impossible miracle. That's true even in this world with its System. If anything, the existence of the System should make resurrection even more impossible. And yet, the price for performing that miracle being nothing but MP—don't you think that's far too cheap?"
"That is..."
Now that she pointed it out, she was right.
In the games of my previous life, resurrection magic was commonplace, so I had unconsciously assumed it worked the same way. but in reality, resurrection of the dead was nothing short of a miracle.
And having heard this far, a bad feeling was settling in.
A bad feeling that was almost certainty.
"He's eroding his soul."
I caught my breath.
An image of Kyoya crumbling to dust flashed through my mind.
"If he keeps using Mercy like this, it won't be long before his soul shatters. And if that happens, whether the System exists or not, he won't be able to reincarnate. Not even death—just nothingness."
"That can't...!"
Death was terrifying.
But nothingness was something far worse.
And that was happening to Shun?
"It seems there was a barrier placed on the souls of those who reincarnate. But it's been worn away by his continued use of Mercy. The reason he could unleash Mercy so many times was precisely because that barrier existed. He was being handed poison. She didn't intend it that way, I'm sure."
Reise's words washed over me without fully registering.
Kyoya had willingly offered up his body, his soul.
He had chosen—of his own free will—to become something worse than death.
Nothingness.
He had entered this battle prepared for that.
And what about me?
I hadn't had that kind of resolve.
And because I had carelessly pushed him forward, Shun was now facing the threat of oblivion.
My mind went completely white.
"...How many more times can I use Mercy?"
"Shun!? Your eyes—?!"
At some point, Shun had opened his eyes.
"Well. I'm no soul specialist myself. There might not be another time. Or there might still be several."
"I see."
"Shun, you must not use Mercy anymore."
"...I can't do that."
Shun raised his upper body on the bed.
"I'm the one who decided to fight. Kyoya showed me exactly what this battle is—I can't be the only one to run away now."
Shun clenched his fist and stared at it intently.
"I didn't have enough resolve. So I'm making it now."
There was no longer any hesitation in those eyes.
The one who lacked resolve was me.
"...I'm sorry. Please, just leave me alone for a moment."
At Shun's words, I stood up.
I couldn't think of a single thing to say.
"I'll bring you something light to eat later."
"Thank you."
And together, we left the room.
"I told you I didn't know, didn't I? But you'd already guessed, hadn't you?"
Lord Ronant pressed Reise.
"Otherwise you couldn't have called the symptoms of something as invisible as the soul. Right?"
"Well observed."
"! You—?"
That meant she had anticipated that the more Shun used Mercy, the more his soul would wear away—and she had let him use it anyway.
"Don't blame me. I never forced him to use Mercy. Every bit of it was his own choice."
"You may not have forced him, but you certainly encouraged him."
"Well, yes. Without that, we couldn't have beaten that demon."
Hateful as it was, she was right.
"You saw how Goka met his end, didn't you? We all intend to offer ourselves up in this fight, win or lose."
"That is..."
"We're fighting with that resolve. I just didn't expect the enemy to feel the same way. But do you lot have that resolve?"
"..."
"That's why we can't afford to lose. And for that, we'll use whatever we can."
I had nothing to say back.
Because my resolve wasn't enough.
"Hmph! Don't try to silence us with grand words."
Lord Ronant cut in, looking displeased.
"I don't care about your resolve. Is having it really so impressive? Does it justify closing off the future of a boy with his whole life ahead of him? Hiding things and using him—and then you can stand tall and call yourselves right?"
"..."
This time it was Reise's turn to stay silent.
"...I'm used to playing the villain."
"Hmph! Fine. I doubt my saying anything would change your approach at this point. But remember this—I am furious about this matter."
"I'll keep that in mind."
With that, Reise turned her back to us and walked away.
"Young lady, if you're going to leave, now's the time."
I couldn't deny that Lord Ronant's words were tempting.
But.
"I'm going with Shun."
Because it was my responsibility that had drawn Shun into this battle.
Skill Costs Skills do not use the System's basic energy. If a Skill consumed the System's energy, it would defeat the entire purpose. The cost of any Skill is borne entirely by the Skill holder. Titles such as Hero are the exception.