So do you Actually Like your Isekai Hero? Or was that a Phase?

He liked them. Well, some of them at least. While he was far older and more well-traveled than the others, he appreciated their commonalities. It seemed everything Akira enjoyed as a kid had survived the passage of time, and he could see his old culture refined in these new protagonists. Anime, video games, board games, music. It brought him a sense of nostalgia. However, there was a shadow hidden beneath those brave faces. Unlike the others, Akira Asahara had never died. His journey to the other worlds was a completely positive experience. He couldn't recall any despair in his old 1980s Japan, but the lives of his new countrymen painted a picture that left him uneasy and remorseful. What a sad existence, he thought.

It allowed him to justify placing their souls throughout Trinity’s power circuit. They were such miserable people before that they would allow the machine to operate at full capacity. All it required was a little training to hone the souls to a fine edge beforehand. Their levels would hold them together against the corruption’s appetite for power.

Once completed, the man returned to the fortress’s head, where Xim awaited him.

“You were right,” she stated, her voice monotone. “I would’ve never thought of using the heroes as a fuel source.”

“I picked it up from a devil who took a hero’s soul after I killed him. You probably know him now as Xirxes, the All Consuming.”

“You make this old witch happy. I knew enlisting you was the right idea.”

“What do you plan to do now that you’ve won?”

“I will cover this world in darkness and kill every trace of life, down to the last cell. All, of course, except those who will serve me. Then we will depart, and thus allow Her to change the world as fate originally intended.”

“Do you know how long it will take? I’d like to transfer to the next world as soon as possible.”

“Are you bored with this realm?”

“Betraying them all was the only thing that kept me engaged in this game. Now that that’s over, I’m just waiting for the credits.”

“Human beings aren’t programs you can play with so casually.”

“No, no, they are.” Akira glanced at the girl. He couldn’t ascertain her true age, but he knew she had been around the Astral Plane before. An alias, like him perhaps? “Have you ever saved a world before?”

“No. It’s not my style. At least, not with your limited understanding.”

“I think I’ve heard enough.” The man leaned over and kissed her, not out of any romantic affection, but only because he felt it was owed to him. “I’m going to sleep. Wake me up if anything comes up.”

“Yes, of course.”  She waited until the hero left the control room to touch her lips. They were colder than hers was. “Jerk.”

The cumulocloud had a maximum speed of 200 km/h. It wasn’t advised to travel at that speed, as it increased the likelihood that someone would fall to their untimely demise. However, Gerthwyn deemed it so because no one wanted to stay on that field. No one wanted to see the darkness surge forth, to see the aftermath. 

The party members were present as such. Gerthwyn, shaken but not broken. Khylee, with sisters Pazy and Chloe, mewing in silence, playing more into their cat-like sociopathy. Kuroni, sobbing relentlessly over Mars' death. Tama, attempting to console her, but barely holding on herself. Cordelia, lost in complete despair. Noel, the noblewoman, thanked the gods she was still alive. Nice, trembling, but remaining analytical. Vel and Fura. They had joined Gerthwyn to assist in the battle, but had arrived too late to help.

“I can see it spreading below us,” Gerthwyn gritted her teeth. “Should we head back to camp?”

“No, we need to find Shige,” Vel stated. “He may be stuck in the darkness.”

“He’s gone, Vel,” Nice shouted. Her cloud floated up to its master. “Gerdy, take us to the south central hills. I know somebody there.”

The bear-woman nodded, and the 8 clouds soared off into the upper stratosphere. Above the clouds and toward the stars, the girls could see how small their land was, a remote plot of land surrounded by endless sea, where its boundaries were unknown, but understood to lead into a harsh and chaotic void of astral energy. This island was all they had, and it was going away.

The fortress of Trinity was not as fast as they were. It could only move at a paltry 60km/h with its massive legs, but the pace was constant and inevitable, and the corruption followed behind it like paint off a brush, wide and all encompassing. Even if the mountain range slowed them down, it would only delay the inevitable. If Vel calculated it right, it would reach the other end of Glynn’s World in 9 hours.

The others weren’t sure why Shige’s party had chosen this place to be their rendezvous location, but if there was anyone who could help in this situation, it was Madame Swell. It was supposed to be afternoon when they arrived, but the light of this realm made the whole world seem dark. Like an eclipse, the sun had been blotted out from the sky. Thus, it didn’t surprise her when she heard the news.

“That’s a bummer,” she said. “I guess I should start packing. You girls want a drink?”

Most would prefer to sleep and not wake up again, but yes. A few pints and a light buzz took the edge off the hard feelings. Vel, on the other hand, kept pacing around the bar. 

“This can’t be happening,” she repeated to herself. “This can’t be happening. We were so close! I wanted to see my island again!”

“Stop it, it’s over, Vel,” Nice grumbled. “Akira betrayed us. There’s nothing we can do.”

“There has to be! The fortress isn’t unassailable. We have the cumuloclouds! We can attack it from the air.”

“Vel, he’s on that fortress. You’ve seen him fight. I don’t know how to say it any other way. We can’t beat him. Nobody can. He’s invincible.”

Swell emerged from the basement and pulled out a suitcase made of plastic. With the flip of a few latches, the madam opened it to reveal a small, rotating device floating in mid-air. Its base was like circuit boards but covered in runes that sparked with magic. 

“Never thought I’d be using this,” Swell said. “But there’s a first time for everything.”

Vel grabbed Nice by the robes. “Is this why we’re here!? I can’t believe you!”

“What is it?” Gerthwyn asked.

“It’s an astral jumper," Swell said. "An adventurer who stopped by gave it to me as a parting gift. Said that if I wanted another taste of his sword again, I could use this portal.”

“Gross.”

“I think he was from Urdreth, so this should take us there once I warm it up.”

“We’re…abandoning Glynn’s World?”

“No...father.” Cordelia shook. “We need to gather him from Dreams as soon as possible.”

“There’s no time, princess.” Noel huffed. “The goddesses have forsaken us. We must make off with our lives, if able.”

“No one’s going nowhere!” Vel shouted. “Nice, you’re Rani’s chosen. Why are you leaving this realm?”

Nice put her hand to her chest. “I can feel her through the Soul Lighthouse. She’s hurt, dying. Whatever Akira did, he has shaken this realm to its core. I’m…one and the same with Rani. She’s been with me ever since I was a baby, and the only thought on her mind right now is to run, for us to run.”

Vel’s face scrunched up with unrelenting frustration. Nice’s words were genuine, and thus not easy to bat away. Her wisened years as an elf left her with no rational reason not to take this opportunity, other than it assaulted her emotional core, a core she could not break away from.

“Fine. If you’re going to run away, go ahead, but I’ve already run away before. I’m not going to do it again. That goes for all of you. Are you going to be a coward, or not?”

“I will!” Noel took Nice's side. “I’m not willing to kill myself over a suicide mission.”

“Isn’t that funny?” Tama grumbled. “Both of the avatars are abandoning their goddesses.”

“You don’t know what it’s like right now. We are dead women talking.”

“I’ve been ready to die since day 1. I’m not afraid of anything!” Tama stood with Vel.

“We’re not too attached to this world,” said Khylee. “If we die too, so does our entire lineage. We’re going.”

“My country is all I have,” Cordelia wiped her tears. “Even if it’s the man I love, I’ll kill Akira myself!”

“If she’s going to be on your team,” Gerthwyn sighed. “I’ll leave. This world has been nothing but cruel to Beastmen.”

“I…Tama.” Kuroni couldn’t speak further, but her choice was clear.

The only one left in between them all was Fura, who had been quiet up to this point, but like the crybaby she was, she was bawling tears with the inability to stop. 

“Why are we fighting like this?” she cried. “We’re friends, aren’t we? We’ve worked so hard to save the world. This is our home.”

“Fura…”

“Fura, we lost,” Nice said. “But, we can go to a new world. Just the three of us. We might be able to get your arms back.”

“I don’t want it to be just us three! I wanna get Shige back! I don’t care what you think. I know he’s still out there. He’s probably afraid, and alone, and calling for our help! If we abandon them here, any of our friends, then we don’t deserve anything good in the next world!”

“You’re forgetting who he is! Shige, pervert Shige? The one who left us first!? The one who couldn’t look me in the eye anymore!? Do you think he still cares about us!?”

“Of course he does. Same for Hideyoshi, and little Fuuma! They all loved us!”

A shockwave went through the group, and no one could see through Fura’s radiance. Gerthwyn’s memories flashed through her head. For a moment, she was standing with Sarugami at the end of a long pier, overlooking the ocean. She didn’t know him that long to trust him fully, but his kindness and stupid monkey grin made him worthy to follow, a human man cherishable in her heart. 

Fuuma may not have been perfect. In fact, they may have seen the worst he could offer, but the sisters knew who he was underneath the troubled boy. They thought of the young man who, when presenting his weapons to them, had the pride and wonder of an inventor who only wanted to be appreciated.

“And Vel knows this more than any of us,” Fura clenched her non-existent fist. “Shige may be Shige, but he’s only ever had eyes on you, Vel!”

The elf did not react or give away her inner thoughts, but this thought had been with her for some time. After all, she was the first person in the world to meet him. She could still remember the first night he set foot on Glynn’s World.

“I’m going to start a harem,” he said nonchalantly. “By the end of this, hordes of women are gonna be fawning over me.”

“You say that,” Vel groaned. “And expect me to go along with you?”

“Well, I don’t know if it’s gonna work, like, at all.” His chuckle fell into awkward silence. “I guess even if it was just you, I’d still be happy about it.”

What a stupid, idiotic fool. What was it about another world that made him so brazen? 

When they were in a party, there was an invisible force that kept the girls loyal to their heroes. It was like a hypnotic suggestion that no matter what foolishness their boys got into, they'd be forgiven, because, in a way, the universe demanded their wishes to come true. That force was now gone. They could now judge their heroes as individuals, and they all came to their own conclusions. Yes, they were protagonists, but friends, enemies, companions, lovers? That was for them to decide.

“Fura, I know how you feel,” Nice said. “But is that worth killing yourself over? Unless we have a plan, I don’t know how we’re getting out of this.”

“I can help!” The voice was ethereal, distant, yet it caught everyone’s attention. Its source wasn’t certain until a strike of lightning burst through the brothel and into the floor, and from the realm beyond, a new hero spawned in the women’s midst. His eyes were a striking blue like none had seen before, but everything else was familiar. “The goddess Marine is not out just yet!”