That's... Him?!

In the middle of a dense forest, the wind blew as the sword swung quickly, slashing at a monster right in front of me. The saintess muttered a few words while holding a necklace she had worn.

I thought I'd be facing that monster too, but the five of us were just told to watch? So how exactly are they planning to help us level up like this?

Even though we weren't moving, I and the other four heroes suprisingly still got experience points. Many panel screens popped up, showing that my level was going up fast.

[ Level up! ]

[ Level up! ]

[ Level up! ]

Okay, there are so many panel screens that they cover my view! Luckily, I can close them all. From what I've observed, I just need to stand close to the killed monster to earn experience points.

"Can it be like this? Wouldn't it be better for the five of us to fight too? to gain fighting experience..." Keichi staring at the saintess.

The Saintess looked at Keichi for a second, then gigling at him.

"Haha, that's not necessary! You'll all will learn that with Allion anyway."

Keichi was right. It'd be great if we could learn combat by facing monsters, but the saintess wouldn't let us. Are the saintess concerned about our safety? But aren't heroes supposed to face such dangers?

I'm pretty bored since I can't do anything to deal with the monsters. It's frustrating! I'll have to find something else to do. 

So I decided to find out what my phone, which had a sacred fictional weapon, could do now.

After an hour to find out, did I find anything good? 

Nah, absolutely not!

My phone screen just went white with a spinning circle animation, It's totally useless! My phone seemed to be loading something, but it still didn't finish even after half an hour of waiting.

But gladly, I found some useful thing from Yamada, like my phone can become a bracelet that can be worn directly on my hand, useful enough to be easy to carry, and in fact that applies to all sacred fictional weapons.

After a day of watching and collecting experience points, I and the other four heroes just went back to the royal palace because it was getting dark. But really, this is weird. Is this really how heroes to get stronger?

Well... even though I'm confused, I can't do anything now, I'd better just go to sleep.

...

I rested in the room to pass the time. The day went by quickly, and I woke up from my sleep.

Not long after I woke up, I immediately looked for Allion with the other four heroes, and surprisingly we couldn't find him anywhere.

Oh, right!

I remember Allion gave me a letter, and I still keep it, did he tell something in the letter?

Huh?

"What letter is that Lein? and that picture... even my grandmother could draw better." Asked Yamada who was curious.

I don't really understand what is written in this letter, there are some pictures of diagrams and drawings which I must admit are really bad....

"I don't know either, Allion who was give me this."

"It's clearly a guide, the question is what the guide is for?" Said Sato who saw the letter.

This letter describes something I've never seen before. It introduces Magin, which I think is another way of saying magical energy in this world.

So, he just gave me this to study it? He seemed serious yesterday...

Ck!

Ugh, forget it! I've thought about it a lot, but honestly, I'm still not sure I get it. When I was silent, Yamada suddenly took the letter from me and shoved it in his pocket.

"Oi?!"

"I'm really curious now Lein! I think I can learn it!"

Geez... his face suddenly got serious. I hope he really understood what the letter said.

It's not just that Allion's gone, there are still other issues to deal with right now.Keichi told me that when he tried to leave the palace, the guards wouldn't let him.

It looks like me and the other four heroes can't leave the palace unless someone like the saintess or Allion is leading the way.

It means I can't walk around freely, so how am I supposed to find a clue to find my sister?! Things are getting a bit weird. I've got to meet the king to talk about this...

But at before I even made it to the throne room, the palace guards stopped me. He said the king can't be disturbed right now. The palace guard's face also looked unfriendly to me, like he was disgusted.

After a while, the saintess came over and invited me and the other four heroes to level up again. He looked at me with a silent smile. I thought, well, this is better than staying in the palace and waiting for Allion to come back.

Yamada, Keichi, Sato, and Naoki, along with me, did some more levelling with the saintess and the church soldiers. 

After walking for a few minutes, we finally arrived back in the dense forest full of dangerous monsters. I thought today would end like yesterday, but I was too quick to jump to conclusions.

While hunting a monster, one of the soldiers was hit by an attack that tore his body apart. Should I throw up now? But honestly, I don't feel anything now... I'm just really shocked.

"Agh! h—help me! ugh..."

The soldier screamed loudly in pain. but instead of getting help, suprisingly the saintess used a spell to make a fireball that would burn his face alive.

ARRGHH!!

A loud scream filled the forest, and the other soldiers just watched silently. Like— what the hell was that!? She even killed him without hesitation!

"H-hey! what are you doing!? are you crazy!?" Yamada shouted loudly at the saintess.

"T-that's too much! how could you do that to him!?" Naoki was very surprised when he saw it.

Things got a little tense at that moment. The saintess just smiled and lowered her head, as if this was a normal thing.

"Sir Hero, his injuries are too severe. I can't heal him with my magic... also taking him with us will only make things more difficult."

I could only listen to her words silently, which sounds cruel. Even if the world is used to horrible things like this, it's still crazy to burn people alive without showing any emotion.

After such a tense situation, the saintess and the church soldiers were still searching for monsters to level me and the others up, and time just kept passing by as usual.

...

The next day, we did this again. The next day was the same, and so on. We just leveled up without doing anything, day after day. and now on the seventh day...

After I'd leveled up a few times in the forest with the saintess and the church soldiers, a panel screen popped up in front of me.

[ The level limit has been reached (level 30) ]

[ Do "Ascend" to evolve and increase the level cap ]

So this kind of thing exists, huh? From the looks of the other four heroes as they shared glances, they must've experienced it too. I mentioned it to the saintess. We can't level up any more because we've hit the limit

"Saintess, we've reached our level limit, so what should we do now?"

"Fufu... don't worry, I already knew that. It's time for the next step."

Hm? what's the next step? What are we going to do? Are we going to "ascend?" as it said on my panel screen earlier. if so, that's goo—

!

I hadn't even finished thinking when I suddenly went blind. Out of the blue, church soldiers put a sack over my head! What will they do to me?!

I tried to escape, but I couldn't. Then, I suddenly felt... sleepy.

...

...

"Ugh..."

I heard faint voices in my mind. I woke up and opened my eyes. I looked around. Everything was different. I was in the middle of an area that looked like a colosseum. There were a lot of people looking at me and throwing small pieces of trash at me.

I remembered what happened earlier! that saintess! Yamada and the others were just like me, now standing in the same place.

The people who saw us and threw various small pieces of rubbish at us were on top of a high wall. These high walls surrounded and formed a circular area.

The saintess suddenly appeared at the top of a higher wall. Her voice was clear and loud. What would that woman do next!?

"Everyone! This is a sad day, but also a good day! I was happy when they arrived, but—"

The saintess pointed her finger at us, looking sad. The king was also seen sitting on a special chair next to her.

"Sob... they were originally demon heroes! I really sob... didn't expect this. But gladly! We still have the real heroes who will purify them!"

Suddenly, a gate with iron bars opened not far in front of us. Three people came out of it, and the onlookers cheered.

H-huh!?

Why?!

Is this real?!

My eyes felt like they were going to pop out! There's no way I'm seeing things! It's Sakai! Why is he here?

I slowly approached him, and sure enough, it was him! I could find out what was going on if I asked him.

"Sakai! This is me, Lein! How did you get—"

Slash!

I was very surprised and stopped in my tracks. I felt a steel needle cut my cheek a bit. My cheeks started to bleed, Sakai... really attacked me?

Something was wrong with him. He wasn't the Sakai I knew! But judging by his face and physical appearance, it was definitely him. 

I have more and more questions, and I don't understand what is really happening. But there is one thing I know right now: I am in danger!

...