[Beach Trip with a side of Dread]

Two years ago, when Haru, Touka, and Airi were nearing the end of their first year. And way before they got transported into a fantasy world with their classmates. His little sister, Kanzaki Sayaka, was brutally murdered. And ever since then, he's been trying to suppress and shove those memories into the back of his head.

He'd gotten a day off from school. Apparently a student snuck in and stink bombed most of the entire campus, leading the school to be closed down for cleaning. And Haru, being the mature young man that he is, found it extremely hilarious. His stomach even started to hurt from all the laughing.

Now he was just staying in his room alone in the dark, playing an online FPS with Touka. They had just finished a game when he heard someone knocking at his door, excusing himself before going to answer it. Revealing that it was his stepsister Sayaka at the door.

Haru: Ah, Sayaka. What's with the outfit?

Sayaka: I'm going out to meet some friends, thought I should at least notify you, big brother.

Haru: I see, I'll send a message to mom then.....probably.

Sayaka: And one more thing.

Haru: What is it?

She jumps at him, giving her big brother a nice tight hug, much to his embarrassment and slight annoyance. Letting go after a couple of seconds go by. Not knowing that this would be the last time this happens and the last time he would see his sister alive.

Haru: Jeez, you're about to enter high school. You should really stop doing things like this.

She turns back and heads towards the apartment's front door, completely ignoring her brother's words, putting on her shoes and walking out. As Haru stayed by the door to his room, with the girl saying that she was heading off before closing the front door. After this he went back inside his room, sitting back on his chair and putting on his headphones as he and Touka started playing again.

Touka: Who was it?

Haru: It was Sayaka, she was heading out to meet her friends.

Touka: Maybe I can come over then~

Her voice shifted from her normal tone into a sultry, almost seductive one as she said so. Causing him to blank out for a second, lowering his guard and getting him killed in-game in the process. Touka laughing at the fact that she got him with just that.

Haru: Dammit, you got me killed!

Touka: But really, I can come over if you want. Maybe even after this.

Haru: It's fine, but I'm not really gonna stop you.

The two kept playing for a while, as the rain started pouring quite heavily outside. The sky turned gray as it continued pouring down. Eventually, he and Touka finished their last game for the day, Haru going out for a snack to find that his parents were already back home.

His stepmother, Sayaka's mom, asked him where she went. Telling her that she went out to meet with some of her friends and that she should be back in a couple hours give or take, since this wasn't the first time she's gone out on her own.

While his father fell asleep almost immediately on the couch after getting home. Leaving him to help out his mom with getting the rest of the groceries from the car. After this he changed into a gray tracksuit, having taken a bath since he ended up getting drenched in the rain while helping out.

Haru's Stepmother: Could you give your sister a call, Haru? She wouldn't pick up when I called her.

Haru: Sure.

He pulls out his phone from his pocket, calling his sister's number. And to his surprise she wouldn't answer as well. She would usually answer him quite quickly most of the time. There's a first for everything, he thinks to himself as he tells his mom.

He tells her that he'll try and find her as heads out, grabbing an umbrella and putting on his shoes before walking out in the rain. He first heads over to a fast food chain that she and her friends frequent. There he finds one of his sister's friends outside waiting for someone.

Haru taps her shoulder and asks her if she knows where Sayaka is. She responds by telling him that she went off to a bookstore that he frequented himself. The only problem with that is how far it is from their apartment, but nonetheless he gives her his thanks and runs off.

He passed by what seemed to be a crime scene on the other side of the road, people were looking into an alleyway with police tape despite all the rain, sirens blaring quite loudly as he paid no mind to it and kept on towards the bookstore.

Or so he thought as he felt someone grab his sleeve. Turning around to see another one of his sister's friends accompanied by an officer. Just what was about to happen to him? He thought, getting nervous even if he's done nothing criminal.

Officer: Sorry to bother you, young man, but this girl says you happen to know the victim. Is this true?

Haru's fist clenches, he remains silent for a couple seconds. There was no way, right? And with his little sister's friend right in front of him, it made him all the more anxious. But he wasn't sure, he hoped that he was completely wrong altogether before finally speaking up.

Haru: I want to confirm if it's who I think it is, is that alright?

Officer: It's fine but, are you sure about this?

Haru insists as the officer then takes him and his sister's friend back to the crime scene. Getting the other people out of the way so they could see, stopping them just at where police tape borders them and the scene itself. His fear came true, almost as if he'd jinxed himself by questioning it in his head.

He saw Sayaka, his little sister, right there. Lying in a pool of her own blood and rain water, her eyes dull and lifeless. With several stab wounds around her body, the most notable of which was a fairly large gaping slash on her belly. These wounds seemed to be freshly made, as most of them were still bleeding. While her phone was next to her body, the screen cracked at the corner, likely from having been dropped.

That meant that the killer was nearby, or at least one side of him thought so. The other half was in denial, unable to process the fact that he is seeing his little sister's brutally murdered corpse right at this moment, his fist clenching once more.

And not long after, his phone began to ring. He took a few seconds before reluctantly fishing it out before looking at who was calling him, it was his stepmother. He braced himself for impact as he answered the call, and as he thought, they found out as well. He could hear both of his parents sobbing through the call as he just stood there, biting his lip as tears flowed down from his face.

A couple days had passed since, while his parents were still trying to make through at work despite all of this. Haru became standoffish, even towards Touka, and began seeing his sister's dead body in reflective surfaces. He was unsure if there was anything wrong with him or if it was because he wasn't eating well.

Then, it happened. He got a phone call from the police at home, he had given them his and his parents' numbers while he was at the scene, asking them to call if there were any major updates. Now there he was, silently listening to the officer telling him that they've found the killer and have him at the police station.

Haru asks them where the station was exactly, since he wasn't too familiar with the area even if he's been living there for quite a while now already. They tell him where they were before ending the call. After this he began plugging the location into the map app on his phone, then began walking towards there. The bright and clear sky contrasting perfectly with the mood he was in.

He entered the station, and saw who it was. It was a boy who went to the same middle school as his sister. The uniform being a dead ringer for that. They told him over the phone that his motive was that she rejected him, and that he wanted revenge. As for looks, well...he did look like the type to do that, there was no way to sugarcoat that.

He turns to look at the boy after confirming with the officer that it was really him, the boy's hands were cuffed behind his back. As Haru spent a couple seconds just looking at him, the neutral look on his face unchanging as he did so. He quietly exhaled, trying to prevent himself from doing something stupid.

Haru: Hey you...how'd you feel while stabbing my little sister?

Boy: I-i was wrong, I wasn't thinkin-

Haru snapped and caved in, delivering a left hook to the boy's jaw. Knocking him to the floor, continuing to beat him up. With the officer trying to pull him back as his parents make it to the station, witnessing Haru, their only child left now, pummeling the boy who killed his sister and their daughter.

Then, he woke up. Finding himself in his new room in his new place, sitting up on his bed for a couple of seconds wondering how his parents were doing back home as he looked out the window, seeing that he was still in the fantasy world. Haru noted that the "dream" he saw was almost exactly how those days played out, though the thing he wondered was why he had it now.

But eventually he would just give up and start putting on his gloves along with the rest of his usual outfit. All before going down and having breakfast with the girls. After this, the five of them headed for the castle. According to Celica, her father wants to talk to them.

Elf King: To think that my eldest daughter would find her suitor in you. I can't say I'm really surprised Mr. "Grim Reaper".

The nickname obviously irked Haru, but he managed to keep this to himself. As he felt Celica cling onto one of his arms, obviously trying to play it up so he wouldn't be suspicious of them.

Elf King: In anycase, I thought I'd give you two a gift, well five I guess. You'll be going on a trip to one of our kingdom's finest beaches. I'll be sending someone to pick you guys up later.

After this short meeting, they went home, quite excited as they walked back, and packed up as quickly as they could. Though luckily they were told that they were only going to be there for a day, so they didn't really need to bring too much.

When the five of them finally got there, they were surprised that there weren't too many people there. Despite it being "one of their finest" according to the king himself. Aside from that it wasn't too particularly sunny either, though he thought of that as more of a blessing than anything else.

Haru went on ahead as the girls went off to change. Finding a nice place to set up their spot, placing down the beach blanket, using {Bone King} to create some spikes so the blanket doesn't fly off. Before placing the sunshades and completing it, lying down on the blanket and taking a rest.

As Haru laid there, he thought about the "dream" he had earlier. Still wondering why he had it only just now. Though this wouldn't last for too long, thankfully. As the girls finally arrived to where he was, each wearing a swimsuit of some kind. With Elleth calling out to him breaking him out of his thoughts, sitting up and turning behind him to see them.

Speaking of Elleth, she wore a crimson plunge V-neck monokini with her hair tied into low twintails. The swimsuit had sizable cuts on its sides, showing some more her skin aside from her large chest. Said sides showed a fair amount of scars on her, likely from past battles she's had.

Celica, on the other hand, wore a teal two-piece bandeau with swirly white patterns around it. Which worked with her medium-sized chest and hairstyle, or at least Haru thought so anyway.

Next up was Touka, who was a bit shy to show off. He couldn't really blame her given the significant difference between her, the previous two, and her older sister. She was wearing a black triangle bikini with a pair of jean shorts over the bottom of the bikini alongside her eyepatch and bandaged right arm.

Then came her sister, Airi, who wore the one she had custom-made back when they were still living in Ersune. It was a purple and black cut-out ring linked one piece which showed off a lot of her midriff, sides, and of course, her huge chest.

He could tell that they put quite a lot of effort picking these out for themselves. Especially Airi considering she had hers customized. While he just wore his usual short-sleeved black dress shirt open, showing off his somewhat toned body, with a pair of camo trunks.

Airi: So dear, what do you think about mine?

Haru: Oh hey look, it's the swimsuit that gave me an excuse to buy ice cream.

Airi: Eh!? You're kidding me, I got this one cause I thought you'd like it...

Haru: Sorry, just wanted to tease you a bit. It looks pretty good on you, a bit revealing, but pretty nonetheless.

Elleth: What about the rest of us then, Haru?

He looks at the other three's swimsuits, staring at them for a little bit before giving the most straightforward answer possible.

Haru: You look hot, Touka especially.

This, of course, ended up garnering a slight blush from said girl. Though she was quite happy with his compliment regardless of how simple it was. Lifting her spirit up even slightly, since she wasn't really confident in the swimsuit the others picked out for her.

Elleth: The bare minimum, huh? But still, thanks for that, I was a bit nervous myself since I don't usually wear things like this.

Haru: No problem, I guess.

Elleth: Now, how about we finally get in the water?

Haru: No, you guys head on first. I'll go in a little later.

He goes back to their spot. Sitting down and enjoying the cool seabreeze. As the girls then headed towards the nice cold sea. And started playing around in the seawater, eventually having a full on splash fight between the four of them.

After that little while, Haru would join in too, having taken off his black dress shirt beforehand and jumping into the water. Getting Airi with a fairly large splash of water that knocked her back a bit, much to her frustration in trying to do the same thing to him.

As they played around, Touka felt something grab her leg, finding that it was Haru, who was attempting to give her a bit of a fright. But only ended up with him becoming her human shield against a large splash from Celica. The salty seawater getting into his eyes and causing him pain, only for him to be knocked over by another splash as the girls continued on with their battle.

Eventually, the five of them would get a bit hungry and head back to shore. Going over to a snack bar nearby. Getting a little bit of everything that the bar had to offer on their menu, making the most out of this vacation they were on. Even if they didn't really do too much to earn it outside of Haru ending up as the princess' suitor, albeit accidentally.

It was now nighttime, Haru, now clad in some casual clothing, was leaning the wooden railing of a balcony on the inn the five of them were staying at. The door behind him opened to reveal Touka, who joined him as he looked out the balcony onto the beach they were at earlier in the day.

While inside the room, Airi was already asleep as Elleth and Celica were busy having a bit of a pillow fight, or more accurately, a pillow duel. The sounds of which could be heard even outside the door, where he and Touka were.

Touka: You don't have to force yourself, y'know?

Haru: Huh? Where'd this come from?

Touka: Ah, I didn't mean it like that. I just thought you need to hear that, that's all.

Haru: Right.....You're not in the wrong though. Had a terrible dream last night.

Touka: A nightmare, huh? What happened? If you don't mind me asking.

Haru: It was more of a flashback now that I think of it, but still. It was about my little sister, Sayaka, the day she was murdered, and the day when they caught her killer.

Touka: I see.....

Haru: I can't exactly say I don't see any meaning behind it. I mean it happened only just now, it's not a dream I've had before.

Touka: You tell me this like you're expecting an answer. Then again, I-

Haru: Though I still don't know what happens next after I defeat the demon lord. Do we get to go home afterward or....

Touka: Eh? Why do you say that like you're going to face it alone?

Haru: Oh, uh, my bad. But still, what do you think will happen when we finally defeat the demon lord?

He caught himself much quicker this time, it's better she and the others remain oblivious to his deal with Drodia, the deal that involves him actually dying. Or at least that's what he tells himself, trying to justify the decision even if his death will make them cry.

Touka: Same as you, we get to go home. That's what I hope happens, If not then fair enough, you can't have everything.

Haru: That's true, but I can't help thinking that they'll turn us into the new enemy. Then again, it's probably just me being paranoid.

Touka: That was the plot of a manga you lent me back then, right? The hero defeating the demon lord and being betrayed by the very world he saved, or something like that.

Eventually the pair called it a day and went back inside their room. With Haru immediately getting hit in the face by a stray pillow, courtesy of Elleth missing her shot. Before hitting her back with the very same pillow, as he and Touka joined in on another playful fight. All the while Airi remained soundly asleep.

The next day, they were now back from the trip. And Haru was heading off into another forest, doing another subjugation quest. He now wore his signature olive green coat with fur collar, along with the rest of his somewhat new adventurer clothing after having lent it to Touka for a while.

Speaking of her, she was with her sister and Elleth still in the urban areas of the kingdom. They went out to buy a couple of things and finally picked up Touka's new armor. So it was just him and Celica on the quest, it was a bit awkward on the way there however, since she doesn't talk too much.

They were now at the spot where a pack of demonic wolves lived, said wolves terrorized local farms so a request was sent out for them to be hunted down to be killed or stopped at the very least. Haru was nervous as all hell, these were demonic wolves after all, while Celica just casually summoned out her gigantic claws, ready to fight them.

She approached them carefully, and when their pack leader caught wind of her, it was already dead. The rest of the pack soon began to attack her as Haru backed her up from behind in his Battleship form, but just as they thought they'd finished off the last one, more came from deep within the cave they called home.

Their eyes flashed a bright glowing red as Celica got in close and personal with them, ripping and tearing them to bits with her claws. With Haru continuing to back her up, this time in his Carrier form. Though some of the wolves went after him instead of her, leading him to use Vlad, summoning up dozens of bone spikes out of the ground, impaling said wolves before they ever got to him.

The pair fought them for quite a while, the numerous waves of demonic wolves coming after them seemed to be never ending, even with them using their skills it still took a lot out of them to cut through a good chunk of the wolves.

When they finally finished dealing with all of them, the two were now used to the smell of the wolves' blood, which reminded Haru of the whiffs of gas that he would get whenever his dad would stop to refill their car back in his world.

Celica turned her claws back into their standby form as Haru dropped to the ground. The bone spikes he conjured up earlier disappearing into dust as he could finally catch his breath from all the fighting they did, all the while Celica approached him.

Celica: Good work, my suitor.

Haru: You too, I mean I wasn't the one fighting those things up close, right?

She says in her monotone voice as smiles at him before leaning over, giving him a pat on the head, ruffling his hair a bit as he sighs, still having not gotten used to becoming her suitor. As much as having a harem is a dream come true for someone like him in this situation.

Celica: So what now, are we to skin these wolves and sell off said skin?

Haru: I'm pretty sure we're supposed to go back and tell the farmers that we've ended their problem, but you can go ahead and do that if you want. Having some extra cash to spend isn't a bad idea.

Celica: I see....I'll get started on that.

Haru: And I'll be in that cave, considering how many wolves were in there. There's bound to be something valuable that they've been guarding.

He heads in there as Celica uses her claws to skin the wolves of their hide, following his advice and what she was about to do anyway. Though thoughts of eating these wolf's meat did pop into her head as she did so, shaking them off only for them to return a moment later.

While Haru, who was in the cave, found that he was still able to see at least somewhat. This was all thanks to the fact that the cave had some cracks and holes, letting light through. And to no one's surprise, he was right, he found something he thought was valuable.

It was a golden sword whose blade was embedded in some stone. It reminded him of the "sword in the stone" of Arthruian legend, one of the many myths and legends he liked to look into and read up on as a hobby of his back in his world. A smile creeps up on his face as he slowly but surely approaches it, the thought of getting a new, possibly legendary, sword made him ecstatic.

But, as he got closer to the sword it would only get farther and farther from him. This obviously confused him, he stopped running towards it to figure out what exactly was happening. And not a moment later a dark figure punched him in the gut, sending him flying back to where he entered that part of the cave.

Celica hears this as she's just finished skinning most of the wolves. She rushes in trying to find out what caused that noise and if anything's happened to Haru. There, she finds a blonde man standing over Haru. Who was on the ground, struggling to get up.

The man was wearing a suit of thin-looking scalemail armor with a dark brown undersuit. Alongside a royal blue cape with a fur collar overtop. He spots her from the side, turning his attention from Haru towards her and revealing the extremely scarred left side of his face.

???: So there's the other one, excellent. It's not the one with Velia's severed arm, but I can't be too picky now can I?

Celica: What are you doing to him?

???: I'm just showing him the gravity of the situation, that's all...

Celica begins levitating off the ground, the man seemingly controlling her as his hand was outstretched, his palm facing outward covered in a purple aura. He then throws her out of the cave as he kicks Haru back onto the ground, not even letting him get up.

She had landed on some of the wolves she's skinned, softening her fall. As the man trailed behind, coming out of the cave and glaring at her. He then creates a sphere of black and purple energy just behind her, floating in-between the trees before unleashing a strong gravitational pull and sucking almost everything around it in.

Celica acted quickly and used her claws to anchor herself onto the ground. All while the man stood there, unaffected by the gravitational pull of the sphere. Though Celica wouldn't last as long as she had thought, her claws were beginning to slip out of the ground, even anchoring them somewhere else wouldn't cut it as the gravitational pull of the sphere grew stronger and stronger.

Meanwhile inside the cave, Haru was finally able to stand up. He opened his status, his eyes glaring at his skill {Fleet} for a couple of seconds before telling himself that the chant for Captain's Orders would make it obvious as to what he was doing.

His gaze shifted towards his other skill {Bone King} as he voluntarily activated his Sovereign form for the first time. The black bones quickly wrapped around his body and formed the armor, said armor anchoring him down as the pull of the sphere was able to reach him even from inside the cave.

Haru then slowly releases the bones that anchored him to the stone floor of the cave, intending to use the effects of what was more or less a black hole to his advantage. He takes a deep breath before releasing himself and flys towards the man feet first. The man was now being dragged on the ground by Haru, before anchoring himself, the man, and Celica to the ground.

Haru: Stop that thing before I crush that head of yours and do it myself.

???: Oh, how nice. The boy thinks his threat has any meaning.

The man then casually gets up despite the restraints and causes the black hole to disappear, before throwing Haru at Celica. The part of the forest that they were in was now nothing but an open space with just dirt and some tree stumps.

???: But I will humor you. It's not really fun to see you this easily beaten, isn't it?

The pair stand up as the man just gives them a grimace, clearly making fun of the two. Haru rushes towards him as he is immediately slammed to the ground, his body feeling heavy as he struggles to even move his head, slowly struggling to breathe as well as a result. The same was happening to Celica as well.

???: See what I mean, even just using my gravity manipulation skill {Graviton} is enough to make you two crumble. It's quite boring.

Haru: You say that as-

???: As if I had more? I do, but right now I wouldn't even deem it necessary to use those two considering your situation.

He laughs at the two of them, as they keep struggling under the sheer amount of downward force he was using to keep them to the ground. Unbeknownst to him, Haru had his bones go underground, using his body as a cover so he wouldn't see it. And when they were in position, he had them shoot up, catching the man off-guard along with freeing the both of them from his grasp.

The two now began to fight him, attacking him from both sides front and back. Celica used her skill {Blackout}, the same one she used in her fight with Haru which allowed her to manipulate darkness, and shot a massive blast of darkness point-blank at the man. While at the same time Haru cocked his fist back and launched a Hundred Impale, also point-blank.

After this piercing attack which injured him a lot less than they had thought, the three of them continued to fight, with the man seemingly almost one step ahead of Haru and Celica as they did. Even creating illusions by bending light using his skill, the same way he did to Haru inside the cave earlier.

In the end the two became incredibly tired as the man just stood there, looking unfazed even with the amount of damage they had somehow managed to inflict on him. He gave the two a threatening glare as Haru deactivated his sovereign form with barely enough time to spare before his berserk autopilot could take over for him.

???: I'm delightfully surprised you two survived. Though then again I wasn't really going at full force. I just wanted to test you two, especially Kanzaki Haru.

Haru: Me? What do you even wan-

???: Don't be such a fool, I'm not stupid enough to tell you why. But I will, however, give you a warning.

Haru: Huh?

???: The one that shall lead to your demise was always there.

With that warning the man pulls out a crystal from his pocket and teleports away, leaving the two very wounded and tired. Celica tried to ask him what that form of his was as they walked back to town, but couldn't get an answer out of him as he was left confused and speechless after having heard the man's warning. Said warning reminded him of what the goddess and the voice he heard told him, his death was imminent and that was all he knew.

Luckily for them they encountered three familiar faces when they finally made it in the town. Their faces went from surprised to see the two of them to worry in the blink of an eye as they saw how wounded they were, with Elleth running up to them and using her Repair Virus on them.

Haru: You've already got your new armor, right?

Touka: Y-yeah, we had it sent to the house. Why do you-

Haru: Good, we're heading to a special temple tomorrow. All I can really say is that it'll involve fighting, fighting dragons specifically.

Elleth: Wait, dragons? Don't tell me it's that temple!

Haru: Makes sense you would be familiar, but still, you three should get ready. As I said just a minute ago, we're heading to that place tomorrow.

And with that, the two left them to head back to the house. As Elleth lets it be known that she's at least heard of the temple that he was talking about, while the two sisters remained clueless as to what they were talking about.