A Parting

Souma felt his whole body grow cold. Every muscle was telling him he needed to run away as quickly as possible. He wasn't sure he had ever felt so immediate and powerful a reaction to anything at all. He stared across the massive arena at the figures standing on the other side. It was dim and hard to see, but it looked like some of them were carrying lights, magical lanterns like the ones he and Selina had. There was no mistaking it. Her hair was still tied in a loose braid slung over her shoulder. She still had that kind, infinitely caring look on her face. It was her. It was Ami.

But also, it was not Ami. He could feel it. She was still wearing her red and gray blazer, but there was a silver chest plate over the top now. Other small pieces of armor. Shin guards over heavy stitched boots. Studded leather gloves. She held herself differently now. More than anything, she gave off the same energy Selina did when she was in Demon Lord mode, only... More so.

"Human," Selina said very quietly, creeping a little closer to Souma, unable to hide the childlike excitement in her voice. "That girl... She's the Hero. I can feel it."

"Yeah, me too," Souma whispered back. "We should be careful."

"I'm pretty sure we can take her," Selina bounced from foot to foot. "If we need to. I mean."

"Calm down! We can't rush into this!"

He wasn't even quite sure how Selina knew, or how he knew she was right. But she was. And it gave him the creeps. Just looking at her, he could tell the Ami standing on the other end of this large circular room was the Hero. The Anti-Selina.

"Souma?" Ami asked again, and started to walk towards them. Slowly. Without lowering her sword. "Is that really you?"

Souma licked his suddenly dry lips.

"Hold up!" He said suddenly, "hang on a second!"

"Souma? That's you, isn't it! You're alive!"

"Ahhh, yes." He looked down at her sword again. "So, maybe could we just hold up for a second-"

From the other side of the hall, two of the other students pushed themselves to the front of the group. One was ridiculously tall, wearing the same uniform as Ami, though now mostly obscured under a long black robe. The other looked like she'd shredded her clothes, though she was wearing a hefty looking amount of armor everywhere but her bare arms.

"Ami! What's going on!"

"Lady Ami!"

Ami laughed. "Javi! Ruka! I found him!" She called over her shoulder. Without taking her eyes off Souma. Without lowering her sword. "Souma! It's me! Souma! I'm so happy! I thought you were... When we first arrived, you were attacked by that beast, and I thought you... Surely you were dead, but... But here you are... And... Souma, who's that with you?"

Why had he thought this was going to go smoothly? Somehow he had imagined that if he could just be in the same room as the others, with Ami, for just a few minutes, then he could explain everything to them. Let them know they didn't have to carry out their quest. They could just stay put and eventually somebody would figure out a way to send them home.

But now that he had Ami right in front of him, it all seemed so obviously like maybe the single most poorly thought out plan he'd ever thrown together. Why on earth would they even begin to believe him when he had shown up together with the Demon Lord?

He needed to explain it to them bit by bit. Break the news gently. Warm them up to the idea that in this world, the humans were the ones causing all the trouble. To the idea that Selina was a fundamentally good person.

Souma wiped sweat from his brow. "Well, that's the thing... This is-"

Too late. Selina pushed him out of the way.

"Remember today well, humans! For you are in the presence of greatness! Fall to your knees and grovel for mercy! Before you stands the one true descendant of Ziggurath Hellstorm! The rightful master of all those who draw breath! The steel-toed boot that crushes all who dare stand in her path! The dark flame that will consume the world!"

The idiot gremlin put one hand over her face, red eyes peeking through her splayed fingers. She threw her other hand out dramatically behind her, sweeping her cloak back over her shoulder.

"Tremble! You stand in the presence of the Demon Lord! Selina Lorelei Zellin Doombringer!"

Souma buried his face in his hands.

"You just can't... You really can't help yourself, can you?" Souma muttered.

"Don't hide your face, human! Show them proudly that you are worthy of being my minion!" Selina practically shouted.

Souma chopped her on the head.

"Geph!"

"Would you shut up for a minute, you stupid gremlin? Can't you read the room a little?"

"I am reading the room! I'm not a gremlin!"

"For the love of-"

"Hey, Souma," Ami said quietly, from just behind him.

All the hairs on Souma's body stood up at once, and he slowly creaked his neck about to see Ami standing barely inches away, looking at him with a confused expression. Without lowering her sword.

"The... Demon Lord?" Ami said softly. "You're a minion of the Demon Lord?"

Souma took a small step backwards. He could see something changing in her, as though she were listening to a voice only she could hear.

"I wouldn't say minion, exactly? We're more like... business partners?"

"Souma?" Ami said. "I'm confused. Why are you with the Demon Lord?"

"I just-"

"We're supposed to kill the Demon Lord, Souma. That's our quest," Ami was still smiling, but it was creaking about the edges. "To keep everybody safe, you know? Souma?"

Souma risked glancing back at Selina, who was standing with her arms folded, and a self-important look on her idiot face.

“Nobody can kill me human. I’m unkillable.”

"Ami, listen, you've got it all wrong. You can't kill her. I mean, you could, she's not actually unkillable. But you shouldn’t. I mean, you really shouldn’t kill any..."

Souma's rambling died away as he became aware of the sound of laughter. A small cackling that slowly gathered momentum until it was uncontrollable.

"Souma! You vile excuse for a human!"

From the middle of the group of summoned, Tenka pushed his way forward.

"Oh good. It’s Tenka," Souma took a small step backwards, away from Ami's sword. "Long time no see."

"Everybody! Listen! Listen to what this scum is about to say! Listen to how he explains siding with the Demon Lord!"

"Enough!" Ami frowned, and turned her head towards Tenka.

"Enough? Aren't you even going to admit I was right? Leader?" Tenka stormed towards them, pointing his finger at Souma. "How about you at least admit I was right that this guy really is a piece of trash?" He had practically crossed the room. As though he were delivering a grand speech, he turned to the others, speaking as he walked. "Everybody! You watch! Look at how it plays out now, and mark my words! She's going to find a way to defend this scum even now!"

"Tenka!" Ami shouted. She took a second to calm herself, then continued in a calmer voice. "There's got to be a good reason-"

"What kind of reason do you want!?" Tenka spun about and screamed as loudly as he could, right in her face. "He's working for the Demon Lord!We are in another world, and this scum is working for the Demon Lord! Weare here to kill the Demon Lord, and everybody who sides with them! So! She's right there! WHY AREN'T YOU KILLING HER!?"

Souma could practically see the thing that snapped in Ami.

"Tenkaaaaaa!" she howled. She brought her sword up and swung it back again with a terrible, raging force.

"RESTRAIN!"

The sword hung motionless, almost at Tenka's throat. It did not move. Ami did not move. Tenka did not move. The air itself was still.

Tenka's face was white. He looked between the sword, Ami, and Souma. Finally silent.

"Let go of me," Ami said, voice flat. Devoid of emotion.

"I really don't think that's a good idea," Souma replied, and used his free hand to wipe at the blood that was slowly trickling from his nose. He hadn't been careful, or precise. If he had wasted time targeting Restrain he might not have made it in time. Instead, he used it on everything. Ami, the sword, Tenka. The other summons. Everything he could see.

"Child," Ami said, in a voice that was not entirely her own. "Let go of me. I know you're using your unique skill. Restrain. Stop it. My duel with the Evil One is not yet due. Let go of me, and I will allow you to crawl back into the darkness until she is worthy of dying by my blade."

"Still not liking the sound of that."

Ami sighed. "It is a shame that you sold out to the enemy. We could have used you to great effect. Now let go of me."

Souma felt Ami pushing against Restrain. A deep pressure started welling up inside his head. Blood was running freely from his nose. He couldn't keep this up much longer, but hopefully neither could she. Selina said she could only stay in Demon Lord mode for a minute at best. Was the Hero's unique skill like that? Or would it last even longer?

"Who are you?" He asked.

"Let go and I'll tell you."

"Not happening."

Ami chuckled. It was not pleasant.

"Stubborn. Very well. Listen carefully child, for this is the day you should acknowledge as the most glorious of all your days. You stand in the shadow of one who was chosen by God of the Sun! The holy light that shines through the impenetrable darkness! The spear of virtue that pierces the cursed shield of the wicked! I am the blazing sword of joy that men and women weep to behold! The glorious call to righteous arms!"

"Ghh, you talk just like her this is unbearable," Souma struggled to keep Restrain working.

"I am the Hero of Humanity! Arseny Fyodor Vellstorm Brightsword!”

Wait, Brightsword?

"Human," a small voice whispered from behind him. The only person in the arena he hadn't frozne. "If I become the Demon Lord now... I can kill it. We might not get another chance."

"Don't," Souma pleaded. "Please. Don't kill her. I don't want... I don't want anybody to kill anybody..."

"Idiot human. If anything happens to you..." Selina growled but didn’t finish her threat.

"You're growing weaker, child!" Ami cackled. "I'm going to kill this meddling little wretch here, then I'll kill you, then the Demon Lord, then I'll kill every single person on this planet who isn't human! It's gonna beeeee great!"

This was completely insane. Why was he doing this again? Souma suddenly more than anything felt incredibly tired.

Why am I putting myself through this? I should let this monster kill Tenka... Let it kill everybody... What do I care? Why should I suffer so much for that jerk? All he ever did was make my life hell and now I'm supposed to suffer for it in this life as well?

No, that wasn't it.

Souma fixed his eyes on Ami.

Obviously. This wasn’t about Tenka. It never really had been. He couldn't care less what happened to him. But he did care about stopping Ami from killing him. Because he knew there was something in particular about that specific line which, once crossed, made it impossible to come back. If Ami killed Tenka, even like this, with her hand forced, how would she see herself? Or what about Selina? What would happen if she killed the Hero now? What good would come of that? When those girls looked in the mirror, who would look back at them? Would Ami forever see Tenka? Would Selina be haunted by Ami? Souma knew what it was like to have done unforgivable things. And what it was like to see good people do terrible things in return.

He could understand why Tenka hated him so much.

Something was cracking inside of him. The protective shell around Restrain was being crushed under immense pressure, like a submarine diving too deep into the ocean. But still. He had to stop them. Keep them from killing each other.

No matter the cost.

Souma reached deeper, thrust his hands deep into the mental space where his unique skill was. He could feel the vessel, floating deep in his mind. Already battered, cracked, falling apart. Unstable. He gripped it as tightly as he could, and squeezed it with as much force as he could gather. His psyche recoiled.

Tick tick tick

The sound of monsters moving across neat square tiles.

Outside his bedroom window, a geometric object floating motionless in the air.

Through the crack in the door of the Chemistry Lab, Emily pinned against one of the desks, looking at him past Mr. Oda's back.

You are dead

The vessel splintered.

The world went dark on one side. Souma clenched his teeth against the pain in his right eye, so hard he felt his gums crack. For a long time all he felt was a horrible, tearing, pulsing pain that began in his skull and spiralled down through his body.

Unique Skill Upgraded: Restrain II
Skill Path Unlocked: Mental Lock

And then, through all the pain, he felt a great relief. The pressure in his head dropped off. He could still feel the same energy kicking around in there as before, but it felt as though his skull had expanded to twice the size. And something else. Something new.

"What are you doing, you traitor!" Ami roared. There was a wrenching sound, like metal dragging over metal, and her sword began to move again. Sparks flew from the air as her blade crawled closer to Tenka's neck. She was pushing through Restrain with brute force.

Souma raised his other hand towards Ami. He was seconds away from running out of power entirely. It was now or never.

Just like the first time he'd used Restrain, he understood implicitly what to do. How to make it work. He reached beyond her physical form, further in, to that same psychic space where he knew the unique skills were hidden away. Hers was easy to find. There was only one. But it was huge. Nothing like the tiny vial that had been the first version of Restrain. Herowas something else entirely. He knew that it must have some kind of a shape, but to him it was like standing in front of an infinitely large wall. Stretching out farther than he could see. And while he could tell only the tiniest part of it was fully active, he knew it wouldn't take long for the whole thing to come to life. Before it took over Ami entirely. Before she was unstoppable. The scope of it terrified him, but he lay his hand flat against it.

"What are you doing!? Get out of my head!"

"Mental Lock!"

Ami looked back at him, her eyes filled with a burning rage. And for just the shortest instant, he thought he might run out of steam and she'd spin about and cut his head off instead of Tenka's. Maybe if she hadn't burned up so much power struggling against Restrain she could have done just that.

The sword went slack in her hands, clattered to the floor. Ami fell to her knees, coughing in fits.

Time started ticking forward again.

Souma couldn't see at all out of his right eye. He felt a deep fear deep in his stomach about what state it might be in. He could taste blood in his mouth, as though he had cracked all his teeth. He felt light-headed. He wanted to cry and throw up. He took one wobbly step backwards before his knees gave out, and he stumbled backwards, downwards, towards the blood stained floor.

He didn't get there.

Selina grabbed onto him, her arms wrapped around his middle. Holding him up. Keeping him steady. Her white, fluffy hair tickling his nose.

"Idiot Human! What's going on!" She hissed at him.

Then everybody else was yelling at the same time.

"Ami! Are you alright!?"

"Lady Ami!"

"Ami!"

And, still standing in place, face pale, Tenka glared at him furiously. "Souma! What are you playing at! What did you make her do!"

Tenka took a step forward, but Ami staggered to her feet, blocking his path. She turned back to Souma.

"Tell me," she coughed, "tell me you're not working with the Demon Lord."

"Human..." Selina said in a voice almost too small for Souma to hear.

Souma looked with his remaining eye between Tenka and Ami. "I-"

A deafening buzz, a quick stab of static, then the sound of a bell tolling deep from within the darkness.

internal system error E776.N12c
out of bounds exception in module MyNewEventPriorityStack2
clean up protocol initi▗▙▚▟▛

The lilac window did not look quite right. The edges were not as crisp as they usually appeared, smeared and glitched.

Then the arena was lit in red, as from high above a sprawling magic circle appeared, the runes twisting and orbiting about its core, burning with crackling energy. With the sound of a tree being twisted to splinters, something began to materialize in the center of the magic circle. Something huge. Slowly, it began to descend, pulled through an infernal gate into reality.

"We have to get out of-" Souma started, but before the words were out, another echoing crack echoed through the room.

A third door began to open, leading to a new part of the tower, where Souma could already see a familiar blue and white glow coming to life.

"A teleporter! Ami! You have to get everybody in there!"

"Souma!" Ami's face was pained. "Tell me! Tell me you're not on the side of the Demon Lord!"

The thing, the monster above them, was already about halfway out of the magic circle. Its legs were dark gray, the color of wet cement, covered in patches of muddy red hair.

"There's no time! Please!" Souma begged.

"Just answer me!" Ami shouted.

"It's not that simple!" Souma shouted back. "It's... Not that simple."

"Come with us!" Ami reached her hand out to him.

He wanted to. A part of him, anyway.

"Take everybody and get out of here! Me and the gremlin will hold it off!"

"You will die!" Ami yelled.

"Better than everybody dying!"

"Why are you in such a rush to... Argh! Then I'll help!"

Souma shook his head. "I sealed off your skill. It'll come back, but... You should try not to use it. Not if you can help it."

"Ami!" Tenka shook her by the arm. "Let him be! We have to get moving! Or everybody's dead!"

"I won't leave him behind! Not again!" Ami shook his hand off her arm.

It was a nice sentiment, but it was already too late.

The monster fell out of the magic circle, and landed with enough weight to make the whole tower shake. The floor shook and buckled, the stone splintering up under its feet. It was humanoid, though its expansive chest and arms were far too large. Where its head should have been, three thick tendrils, flesh pale and covered by the same patches of red hair as the rest of the beast. On the end of each neck, an approximation of a face. A large mouth snapping blindly, jaws made entirely of teeth, beneath two tiny black eyes.

The summoned all started screaming at once.

Ami looked at Souma, then across to the other summoned, and finally at the giant monster that was slowly headed toward them.

"I will come back for you! Somehow!" Ami promised. She grabbed Tenka by the collar, and began to run towards the teleporter. "Javi! Get them to the exit!" She yelled.

The tall summoned in the black cloak didn't even bother looking back at her. Just started shouting down the others and scaring them into running towards the teleporter. Souma hoped dearly he never got into a fight with him.

Souma watched Ami and Tenka make their escape, the other summoned racing to follow. It would have been nice if they could make it undisturbed, but the monster hissed and stamped, and began to follow them. Well, how could it not? With that many of them screaming, of course they were going to pull its attention.

Souma turned to Selina.

"Uwah! Human! Your eye! That doesn't look good," Selina recoiled.

"Never you mind about my eye. We can worry about it later. Right now we have to do something about that monster before it kills everyone!"

"Meh."

"What do you mean, meh?"

"I mean, it would kind of make my life easier if it did?" Selina shrugged.

"Come on!"

She bared her teeth at him. "Fine. But you owe me one. So what, you want me to fight it with this spear? I don't think it's going to make a dint."

Souma sighed. "I think it might be time to bring out our trump card, Demon Lord."

Selina grinned from ear to ear. "Why human, I thought you'd neverask!"

Souma turned to face the monster, lumbering down towards the largest group of summoned. He probably didn't have enough power left to do much, but he could do something. He held his hand out towards it and reached out, targeting its legs.

"Restrain!"

He felt something creaking in his head, but nowhere near as bad as it had been before. The monster howled, and fell forward, slamming heavily into the ground, its long serpent-like necks writhing around angrily.

At the same time, Selina shot out like a bolt of black lighting from behind him. She flew as though pulled by an invisible wire, and landed heavily in the middle of the monster's back. Seeing her standing on top of it brought home for Souma just how large this thing actually was. It was like watching a child mounting a whale.

The monster howled, and tried to shake her off. In response, Selina rammed her spear down into its middle as hard as she could, and used it like a handle while she wound back her fist and punched the thing as hard as she could. There was an explosive flash, and a crackle of light as the punch connected.

"I can't hold it any more!" Souma yelled out, and collapsed backwards, letting go of Restrain.

"Leave the rest to me, human!" Selina shouted back, cackling wildly. "Watch carefully, so you may tell our future children about it!"

Souma looked up wearily with his one good eye. It felt she just totally misspoken something just now, but it was hard to tell. His body was broken, and he was losing too much blood.

As the creature got up, Selina kept hold of it, landing punch after punch, and slowly climbing its giant form as though it were a tree.

It was undeniably impressive watching her go, and she was undoubtedly slowing it down, but Souma could tell it wasn't going to stop the creature from getting all the way to the summoned. Even in the middle of being pummeled by the Demon Lord, the stupid beast was still trudging towards the teleporter, where the Ami was desperately waving the others in through the door. Worse, its heads, on the end of those long writhing necks, were still free to swipe around freely.

"Stop moving, you ab... abrasion!"

"Abomination," Souma wheezed quietly, though he was pretty sure she didn't hear it.

Why isn't it dead? How tough is that thing? Why won't it give up on the summoned? She's hit it so many times it shouldn't care about anyone else at all.

The error message he'd seen before flashed in front of his mind. Could that monster be some kind of special case? Not quite a real creature, more like a part of whatever twisted system he was trapped in? Something designed to seek out summoned?

Either way, the monster was going to get to the teleporter before it activated. If that happened, all the summoned were dead, and this all would have been for nothing. He raised his hand again, wondering if this time it wouldn't just kill him.

Whatever. I've had about enough of this stupid world.

"Res-"

"ENTHRALL!"

Souma's words died in his throat. The girl he'd seen before, the one with the scary face and no sleeves on her uniform, rushed out from the gathering summoned. A giant curved knife in each hand.

"Rukaaa!" Ami called out.

Smiling from ear to ear, Ruka ran at the monster, which for the first time since it appeared seemed to have lost interest in the other summoned entirely. It didn't even seem to care about Selina anymore. It was now focused solely on this new target.

"Over here!" The girl called out.

The monster obliged. All three of its heads swooped down towards her, jaws snapping. Ruka leaped neatly up over one and spun about, her blades cutting deep gashes in the other two. She landed deftly, rushing under the creature's legs.

"I'm here!" Ruka yelled again.

The monster lumbered around, following her away from the summoned. It threw its heads at her, Ruka dodged the monstrous mouths again, stepping out of the way, and taking the opportunity to slash back at them before they could withdraw.

"Disrespectful beast! Forget not who rides upon your back!" Selina yelled, and unleashed another torrent of punches.

The monster staggered, roaring in frustration. When Ruka wasn't slicing it, Selina was punching it. When Selina would let up, Ruka would dash in and deliver a flurry of deep cuts. It was on the back foot.

The monster swayed.

The light from the teleporter got brighter.

They're actually going to...

Ruka slid under the creature's heads as it threw them forward. As she jumped back up to her feet, Selina pulled her fist back, crackling with dark sparks, and brought it back down with such great force the beast recoiled backwards.

Ruka had a clear line of sight. She reached back, and slashed with both blades at once, throwing all her weight behind the attack. The blades cut through flesh, and through bone.

The three long tendrils fell to the floor.

The creature was motionless.

They did it...

Souma stared in disbelief as the long necks stopped writhing and were still. They'd done it. They'd actually killed it.

"Gahaha!"

No.

"Human!" A small voice came from the creature.

No. Wait.

"Human! Did you see that?"

You haven't checked.

Souma tried to shout out, but his voice wouldn't make it out of his throat. He held his hand up, trying to gather enough power to cast Restrainone last time.

But there wasn't enough left.

He watched in horror, from a million miles away, as the giant lifted one of its arms, and like a child swatting away a toy, smashed its fist into Ruka.

The girl flew for quite a while, her body twisted unnaturally. Then she landed roughly on the stone floor. There was a sickening thud, and she was very, very still.

Ami screamed.

The flesh about the monster's neck boiled. Six new heads wormed their way out of the wound, howling and laughing and jabbering madly.

The teleporter room shone a brilliant white, and the summoned were gone.

The monster shook Selina off its back, sending her spinning off into the darkness, and roared at the ceiling, turning every single one of its eyes on Souma.

Oh yeah, I'm a summoned too.

Welcome, brave warrior, to the Nelahim Dungeon!

At least they made it. Souma stared at the monster, ambling towards him, and understood the impossibility of doing anything at all. He put his hand down, and waited for death to come to him.

And then what?

Let's say you're dead. Great. Then what?

Then nothing.

Nothing at all. No life after this afterlife.

And what about her?

Souma clenched his teeth. This was beyond frustrating. Here he was, about to die. Death from giant mutant. And the only face that he could think of wasn't Ami's. Or even Emily's.

"Alright you shithead," he cursed, "come here and let me restrain your lungs."

He raised his hand towards the beast.

"First mantra. I am a being of love."

The world froze. All the sounds faded away. The monster was still.

"Third mantra. I love all equally.

Delicately, as though drawn in white ink by invisible brushes, lines began to appear in the air about the monster. Thin vertical slices in the fabric of reality.

They blossomed, taking on form, substance. More thin lines began to appear, drawn directly into the air. They too began to grow wider. Overlap.

A lotus flower.

Peacefully, the flower bloomed, filling the chamber with a soothing, colorless light. With peace. Souma felt his chest ache. He felt the sensation of unconditional love. And then they were gone. And where there had stood a giant monster, there stood nothing at all. As though it had never existed in the first place.

Souma felt himself sliding back onto the floor. He heard voices, though he couldn't tell from who or where they were coming.

"Get him up! He looks a mess! And where's the lass!"

"Other there! I'll take care of the boy!"

"There's another one here! I'll use healing!"

He felt himself being picked up, gently.

When he looked up, he saw Reiny. She smiled at him. Kindly. Propping him up, one arm tucked under his back.

"You were about to give up, weren't you?" She asked quietly. "For just a second."

Souma let out a long, shaky breath. He realized he was crying. "I'm sorry, Miss Reiny."

"It's alright. You pulled through right at the end. I saw. But don't do it again." She left it at that.

Souma looked at her blurry face. "Miss Reiny... The hero... They said their last name was-"

"Shh," Reiny put one finger to her lips. "Let's keep that our little secret for now."

"Reiny! Come have a look at this!" Norrik called from the center of the room, pointing furiously at the floor. Selina, Souma was relieved to find, was standing close by, her clothes a little dirtier than usual but otherwise none the worse for wear.

That gremlin really is the Demon Lord. Or has the luck of one...

"Hold up, hold up," Reiny grumbled, and slowly helped Souma to his feet. The two of them hobbled over.

The thing that had gotten Norrik so excited was a glass orb, like the ones that were embedded in the doors. Only much larger. When Souma looked inside, he could see small gears whirring about. It looked like it had originally been sealed under the floor, but gotten exposed by the damage caused when the monster first landed.

"What is it?" Reiny asked.

"A junction," The dwarf replied, obviously excited. "Barely ever see them these days. It's probably what's powering all them nodes causing trouble up on the surface. We take this out, and things should return to normal. I mean, ain't exactly the most elegant solution. But if it works, it works."

Reiny looked over at the room where the summoned had all been gathered. "It'll definitely stop the teleporters from working, though."

"Aye." Norrik agreed, and looked at Souma. "Look lad, I know a little about the summoned. If that dungeon class teleporter is still functional, there's a good bet we could probably at least get you back home..."

"I don't mind searching for the power nodes and taking them out one by one. It wouldn't take me too long," Reiny said gently. "Souma, you do know that what's happened, the summoned and everything, that's not your fault. Right? If you want, we can figure out how to send you home. It's our world's rules that brought you here, it's the least we could do."

She's telling me I can leave this place if I want.

It wasn't a terrible proposition.

Souma looked up past Norrik at Selina. She hadn't said anything at all.

Selina Lorelei Zellin Doombringer. The Demon Lord. The small girl with red eyes and white hair, looking back at him with an expression somewhere between fear, sadness, hope, worry. Lots of different emotions.

She was so little.

He smiled at her weakly, and held his hand up. Towards the orb. Focused in on just two of the cogs. The smallest ones he could find.

"Restrain."

Souma watched the junction tear itself apart.