Hi! Lugal kug-ga here! I am a long time reader but a first time writer.

Damn, now I'm a bit sober. short chapter and test run.

Imma say this now, I own nothing of the originals portrayed in this fic, I'm merely making an iteration.

And should you see some similarities with other fanfic Authors, it might be because I've…. copied it. Or took some parts of their works and incorporated it in mine. So, credits to them.

Enough of the boring A/N and onwards to the story.

I've committed to finishing this work, should it stop updating for a year, I've probably self deleted. So, sit back, enjoy, and review!

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Chapter 5

—————————————————————————————————Shirou in Tortus POV————————

A magic circle emitting crimson light suddenly emerged on both ends of the bridge. On one side of the path, the magic circle was about ten meters wide. The magic circles on the path to the stairs on the other side were only about one meter wide, but there were several of them.

Within the numerous small magic circles, a horde of sword wielding skeleton armies emerged. Their empty eye sockets were emitting crimson light similar to that of the magic circle, and the eyeballs-like radiance looked all around. Their numbers have already increased to the hundreds, and they are still increasing.

However, compared with the hundreds of skeleton army, the one at the other side of the bridge felt worse, Shirou had this kind of feeling. What came out from the ten meter wide magic circle was a ten meter tall four-legged beast, it was wearing something that looked like a helmet, this kind of magic beast appeared. If compared to any animal Shirou knew of, the closest would be a Triceratops. However, it had many other additional factors, such as the eyes that gave off crimson light, the sharp claws, the fangs that sounded like clang of metals when they collided, and the blazing horn that extended from the helmet……

When Commander Meld muttered "Behemoth" to himself, that Behemoth took a deep breath and let out a deafening roar.

"Gurua~a~a~aaaaa!!"

"——!?"

The roar caused Commander Meld to return to his senses, he quickly started to issue commands to everyone.

"Alan! Lead the students to the stair and break through those Skeleton Soldiers! Kyle, Ivan, Gale! I need you guys to make a barrier as big as you can! We need to stop that monster here! Kouki, hurry and get to the stairs with the others!"

"Wait a moment, Meld-san! We'll fight too! Isn't that dinosaur-like monster the most dangerous? We'll help buy some time for the others to escape……"

"Fool! If that's really a Behemoth, you guys won't stand a chance at your current state! That monster is a magic beast from the 65th floor. A long time ago, even the adventurer that was once known as the "strongest" was unable to defeat this monster! Just make a run for it! I can't let you guys die!"

Although Kouki faltered for a moment after seeing Commander Meld's grave expression, he still stood his ground with, "I can't just abandon you guys!" When Kouki was about to say, "Let's think of a way to let everyone escape safely", the Behemoth let out a roar and started to charge at them.

At this rate, the students who were retreating would get trampled to death. But the Hairihi Kingdom's strongest military force summoned a multi-layered barrier to prevent this from happening.

"Repel all Malice and Enmity, Absolute Providence from the Son of God, Herein a Sanctuary, The Enemy of God Shall Not Pass, 【Absolute Virtue】"

The magical circle for this spell was drawn on a two meter square paper of the highest quality, and the incantation was made up of four phrases. In addition to that, three people were required to cast it. The barrier could only provide absolute defense for one minute. The pure white semi-spherical barrier stopped the Behemoth's charge!

The moment the Behemoth clashed with the barrier, a terrifying shockwave erupted from between them. Everything under the Behemoth's feet were pulverized, and despite how the entire bridge was made out of stones, it was shaking violently. The retreating students let out a scream and tumbled in succession.

The Skeleton Soldiers were magic beasts that showed up on the 38th floor. They were clearly different from the magic beasts they had encountered so far. In front of them was the skeleton army that made one's blood run cold, and behind them was that terrifying aura that pressed in constantly. The students were in a state of panic.

Ignoring the formation, they recklessly rushed towards the stairs. A member of the knight, Alan, tried to calm them down desperately, but no one listened due to the imminent terror. One of the female students was pushed from behind and fell down. She groaned as she lifted her head, just to see a Skeleton Soldier who had lifted the sword over its head.

"Ah!"

At the same time she let out a scream, the sword was swung down towards her head. She thought she was going to die at that moment, but then an arrow hit its head then the ground under the Skeleton Solider's feet suddenly caved in. Losing its balance, the trajectory of the blade missed the girl and struck the ground instead. Following that, the upheaval continued like a wave towards the end of the bridge, tripping up many Skeleton Soldiers along the way. This caused some of the soldiers to fall into the abyss.

Two meters off the edge of the bridge was the silhouette of Hajime who exhaled heavily and Yukitoshi holding a sword at the ready. continuously used transmutation on the ground, while Yukitoshi guarded him, as well as Shirou despite being on the bridge with Kouki and the others, still provided support. He transmuted the ground into a slide to throw the magic beasts off the bridge.

Seeing Hajime help the student who fell down Shirou continued to shoot reinforced arrows, which went through and over the skeletons. While chewing the Magic Recovery Pill, every time his magical energy got depleted.

A moment to rest, he surveyed the battlefield. Everyone was in a state of panic, they brandished their weapons carelessly, and even the magics were in disorder. At this rate, it was highly likely that someone would die. Although Knight Alan was desperately trying to bring them under control, it was not going well. During this time, more reinforcements came for the Skeleton Soldiers through the new magic circles.

Behemoth was still repeatedly charging at the barrier. A powerful shockwave was produced every time it collided with the barrier, the stone bridge creaked due to the pressure. There were already cracks on the barrier, it was only a matter of time before it gave in. Commander Meld also joined to reinforce the barrier, but it was like a cup of water on a burning cart of firewood.

"Ah, crap! It won't hold for much longer! Kouki, hurry and retreat! You guys go too!"

"No! I will not abandon Commander Meld and the knights! We must all return alive!"

"Ku, to be so egotistical at this moment…"

"It's not about being egotistical! I just want everyone to return alive! Commander Meld what can I do?"

Commander Meld's expression was as if he just ate a bitter worm. In such a narrow space, it would be very difficult to avoid the Behemoth's rush. Therefore, the best option was to run away before the barrier became ineffective. But such a subtle opportunity could only be grasped by someone experienced, it was highly unlikely for Kouki and his party to have such an insight.

While explaining the situation as briefly as possible, Commander Meld urged them to retreat. But Kouki did not take his advice and refused to "abandon" them. Besides, from the look in Kouki's eyes, he really meant what he said. He believed if they worked together, they all might be able to go back, and escape from the behemoth.

It couldn't be helped, he was still too young. He was Still being naive a little too much. Commander Meld had showered them with so much praise to maintain their confidence, but it seemed to have produced the opposite of the desired result.

"Kouki! Let's retreat as Commander Meld said!"

Shizuku, who understood the situation, quickly admonished Kouki and grabbed his arm.

"Sigh~ This is not the first time Kouki is being unreasonable! I'll back you up!"

"Ryutaro…… Thank you."

Ryutaros statement just fueled Kouki's enthusiasm even more. Shizuku clicked her tongue at that.

"Are you drunk?! Try to understand the situation! You big idiot!"

"Shizuku-chan……"

"Tch, I'm running out of arrows! Decide already!"

As Shizuku was getting impatient, Kaori got more anxious. Shirou got more and more tired as he continued to rain down arrow after arrow at the skeletons. At this time, a boy jumped in front of Kouki.

"Amanogawa-kun!"

"Huh? Nagumo!?"

"Nagumo-kun!?"

As everyone was surprised, Yukitoshi also arrived. Hajime was doing his best to explain the situation by waving his hands.

"Hurry up and retreat! Everyone can't make it without you! Hurry!"

"Yeah! even I can't control the mindless!"

"What are you saying all of a sudden? What are you even doing in a place like this? This is not a place you should be! Just leave this to us, Nagumo, Yukitoshi, you…"

"This is not the time to be saying that kind of thing!"

"Can you not see what is going on?! Everyone is in a panic! Just because the team leader is missing!"

Hajime grabbed Kouki's shirt with one hand and pointed over there with his other hand. In the direction he pointed at, his classmates were surrounded by Skeleton Soldiers and running all over the place, and Shirou at their side, now continued to shoot arrows sparingly, only at the ones that the students can't defend against.

It seemed like they had never been trained before and fought haphazardly. Since they were so inefficient they were being overwhelmed by the reinforcements. As a result, they were still unable to break through until now. Although they were able to preserve their life due to their out of norm stats, and Shirou's support, it was only a matter of time.

"A power that can break through them is necessary! A power that can erase the fear in everyone's hearts is also necessary! And the only one who can do it is our team leader, Amanogawa-kun! Don't just look in front of you, look at what's going on behind you too!"

Kouki was dumbstruck as he saw his classmates in such a chaotic situation, after shaking his head in admonition, he nodded towards Hajime.

"Ahh, I understand. I'll go over there immediately! Commander Meld! Wait for us!?"

"Goooo-!"

"Shimizu-kun, go help the others first!" Shouted hajime.

"Got it!" Then Yukitoshi ran towards their other classmates, slashing down skeletons.

"Sorry, I promise I'll be back!" The moment Kouki turned around and said this to Commander Meld, the barrier finally fell along with Commander Meld's howl. The raging shockwave assaulted Shirou and the others directly. Hajime quickly stepped forward and transmuted a wall, but it was easily blown away. However, he was able to weaken the shock wave. The whirling dust was blown away by the Behemoth's roar.

On the ground was the groaning Commander Meld and three knights. Their body was unable to move due to the after-effect of the shockwave. Behind Commander Meld and the knights, Kouki and his party had also fallen to the ground, but they got up quickly. Looks like Hajime's wall was effective.

"Ku…… Ryutaro, Shirou, Shizuku, can you buy me some time?"

As Kouki asked them, he walked towards the three who still seemed like they were in pain. Since Commander Meld had been disabled, it was up to them to do something.

"I guess we don't have a choice!"

"I still got arrows left! I'll take it's attention!"

"……I'll try to think of something!"

Both Ryoutarou and Shizuku suddenly assaulted the Behemoth, and Shirou ran to the side shooting at its eye, trying to distract it as much as he can.

"Kaori, start healing Commander Meld and his men!"

"En!"

Kaori moved according to Kouki's instruction. Hajime already got beside Commander Meld. In order to not get caught up in the aftermath of the battle, he quickly conjured a stone wall. Although it seemed nothing more than paper wall to the Behemoth, it was still better than nothing. Kouki began to chant in order to unleash his big skill.

"Divine will! Perish everything that is evil with your light! The breath of God! Blow away the ominous clouds and purify this world! The mercy of God! Forgive all my sins with this strike! 【Heaven's Might】!"

An aurora gushed out from the Holy Sword after the chant. The skill was similar to the 【Soaring Flash】, but its power was on a completely different level. The aurora gouged the bridge as it shot towards the Behemoth, shaking the bridge with its might. After the chant, Ryutaro and Shizuku had already cleared out. However, the two were extremely exhausted. They suffered a considerable amount of damage in such a short period of time.

The bombardment of light hit the Behemoth directly. Light had painted that area white. The intense vibration caused cracks to appear on the bridge.

"With this…… Haa~ Haa~"

"Hmph! As expected, shouldn't we have done this earlier?"

"Hu… It's just that……"

Ryutaro and Shizuku returned to Kouki's side. Kouki breathed heavily after using such an enormous amount of magic power. That skill earlier was Kouki's trump card. His remaining magic power were almost used up. Behind them, Commander Meld and the fallen knights stood up after they got patched up.

Not long later, when the light and the dust settled down, in that place…… was an unscathed Behemoth. With his eyesight, Shirou was the first to notice.

"Tch! Not yet! It's still standing!" He shouted.

The beast sent a death glare at Kouki and growled. After that, it raised its head, the horn on its head began to glow red-hot and emitted a high-pitched sound like that of fingernails scraping the glass. Following that, the helmet ignited like a lava.

"Look out!"

"Don't just stand there! Move!"

Shirous' shout and Commander Meld's voice helped Kouki's party to regain their senses. The Behemoth soon began to dash forward, and then it jumped towards Kouki. The red-hot helmet fell towards them like a meteor.

Even though they jumped sideways immediately, the shock-wave caused by the impact still blew them away. They rolled on the ground with a rumbling sound, when they finally stopped, they had wounds all over their body, Shirou was more fortunate as he's a bit further away. Commander Meld, who finally regained his movement, rushed over. The other knights were still being treated by Kaori. The Behemoth's horns were stuck on the bridge. After bracing its leg, the Behemoth pulled it out.

"All of you, get up!"

All he got in response were groans. They were probably paralyzed by the same shock-wave that the Commander and the knights received earlier. It seemed like they received considerable damage to the internal organs. Commander Meld turned his head around to call out to Kaori. What got into his line of sight was Shirou's figure, who approached.

"Shirou! Carry Kouki and retreat with Kaori!"

The commander gave Shirou such instructions. Kouki, only take Kouki along with him. That instruction indicated that it would be great even if only Kouki was able to get away, it was probably that kind of wish. Commander Meld clenched his teeth and prepared his shield. He planned to put his life on the line to hold back the beast.

Shirou looked at the commander who were prepared for certain death, and looked down with a clenched fist.

'do I have to abandon others to save another!' he thought.

Think, there must be a way to save everyone from this situation. However, there was little time, and the chances of saving everyone were also very low. Shirou is now in a bind.

Though it seemed like Nagumo said something to Commander Meld who hesitated, the Behemoth already got into battle mode. Its helmet started to sizzle red-hot again. They had no time.

"……Can you do it?" he heard him say to Nagumo.

"I can definitely do it."

Hajime looked at Commander Meld with a resolute gaze. Seeing Hajime like this, a smile emerged on Commander Meld's face, while Shirou stood on the side.

"I didn't expect we would entrust our lives up to you, I ask of you to save everyone. Therefore…… We'll leave the rest to you!"

"Yes!"

"...let me help." Shirou interjected. At which made Commander Meld expression to scrunch up.

" Why are you still here! You were sup—" but Shirou cut him off.

"I know. But like Amanogawa, I have no intention of just leaving and letting you die. So, let me help."

"Kuh! Fine! Ask the boy for the plan!" At that he conceded, as there was no room for hesitation in this situation.

Commander Meld walked towards the Behemoth after saying these. He released a simple spell to provoke it. Looking at how the Behemoth was targeting Kouki earlier, it seemed to have a habit of baring its teeth at those attacking it.

Commander Meld firmly fixed his gaze on the Behemoth. After that, it pointed its red-hot helmet at Commander Meld, it suddenly charged and took a leap. Commander Meld intended to provoke it till the last moment, he stood there confidently. At that moment, a small incantation could be heard.

"Disperse, 【Wind Wall】"

He jumped backward and chanted simultaneously. Following closely, the Behemoth landed at the area where Commander Meld was previously stationed at. The 【Wind Wall】 was able to deflect the shock-wave and debris from the impact. Since the Behemoth's attack pattern was simple, it was still possible to avoid it. But if he was to dodge while protecting Kouki's party at the same time, they might be completely annihilated.

Again, the Behemoth's horns were stuck on the bridge. After instructing Shirou, Hajime quickly threw himself into the fray. The remnants of the blazing heat burned his skin, but Hajime endured the pain and began to chant. He only had to chant the name, it was the most simple and only spell in his possession.

"【Transmutation】!"

The Behemoth's movement to pull its head out from the stone was stopped. Even if it smashed the stone in the surrounding, Hajime would continue to transmute new stone. Bracing its legs, the Behemoth was going to forcefully pull its head out, but Hajime transmuted around the foot this time. While it was struggling, the head sunk another one meter into the ground due to transmutation. The Behemoth's power was so terrifying, cracks would appear the moment he let up for a brief second. It wanted to escape, but it was stopped by Hajime's transmutation and Shirous reinforcing the ground, while his arrows shot at its eyes every time he got the chance. In the end, the Behemoth's entire head was buried underground, it was quite a silly figure.

In the meantime, Kaori and the recovered knights gathered everyone together, they attempted to carry Kouki's party back. At the skeleton soldier's side, it seemed like some students had regained their composure and started to cooperate with each other. The reason for the recovery was because of the girl Hajime saved earlier.

"Wait! Nagumo-kun is still over there!"

Facing Commander Meld who urged them to retreat, Kaori protested fiercely.

"There's no need to worry, Trust in Shirou and the boy! We are going to break through the Skeleton Soldiers and unfold an all-out magic attack after we secured a safety zone! Of course, Shirou the boy will retreat during that time! We will hold up the Behemoth with magics until they get back, then we will retreat to the upper level."

"Then, I'll stay and help!"

"That's out of the question! 'Let Kaori retreat and heal Kouki' That's what he said!"

"But!"

Kaori who still wanted to say something came to a pause after receiving Commander Meld's sermon.

"Don't let their effort be in vain!!!"

"——!?"

Including Commander Meld, the one with the highest firepower was without a doubt Kouki. If she did not use her healing magic to recover him, they may not have sufficient firepower to stop the Behemoth when the time comes. That is why it is necessary for her to heal Kouki while retreating. By the time both Hajime and Shirou exhausted their magic power as well as his arrows the Behemoth will start to move.

"Breath of Heaven, Fill to the brim, Purify and Heal, 【Heaven's Blessing】"

Kaori was crying, but even so she continued to chant. A pale light engulfed Kouki, this is a magic that heal physical wounds and recover magic power at the same time. Commander Meld placed a hand on Kaori's shoulder and nodded. Kaori also nodded in response, then she turned her head again to look at Hajime who continued to cast 【Transmutation】 desperatelyand Shirou reinforcing it after. After that, Commander Meld carried Kouki onto his shoulder and retreated. Shizuku and Ryutaro were carried by the knights.

The numbers of Skeleton Soldier was still increasing, the quantity already exceeded two hundred. The side that led to the stairs was crammed with Skeleton Soldiers. However, in a sense it might be a good thing. If there was a gap, the students would try to push through and get themselves surrounded. As a matter of fact, when there were only a hundred of them, the students were caught up in a dangerous situation.

Despite that, there was no casualty, it was all thanks to the knights. It was not an exaggeration to say that they were desperately protecting the students with their own lives. As a result, they are now covered all over with cuts and bruises.

The increasing numbers of the Magic Beasts led to great panic, the students even forgot to use their magic, they only waved their spears and swords recklessly. Under this kind of circumstances, if they lost the knights' support, they would fall apart in matter of minutes.

Despair struck the students who came to realize it. The girl that Hajime saved earlier appealed to them, the minority of the students fought bravely in a group, but they were almost at their limits, they have an expression that looked like they were about to cry. Just when everyone thought it was already too late……

"【Soaring Flash】!"

A pure-white slash cuts right through the ranks of the Skeleton Soldiers, and then it exploded. The Skeleton Soldiers that were pushed to the side edges of the bridge fell into the abyss. After the slash, the Skeleton Soldiers fell like an avalanche. The students saw the path that led to the upper level. That was their only salvation, the only thing that drives them to brandish their swords!

"Everyone! Don't give up, I'll open up a path!"

He spewed those lines as 【Soaring Flash】 tore through the enemies. The charisma displayed Kouki raised the students' morale.

"Guys! What have you been doing this whole time? Remember the training! Organize into groups at once! You fools!"

The appearance of the commander that everyone relied on and the skill that knocked down the enemies, the unparalleled 【Soaring Flash】. As well as that normally reliable voice, when all of these came together, the declining morale resurrected immediately. Their body were no longer feeling numb and their mind cleared up. But in reality, it was the effects of Kaori's magic, the Calm Mind magic. To a certain extend, when the relaxation magic was combined with Kouki's performance, it was super effective!

Everyone with high aptitude for healing magic began to treat the wounded. Those with high aptitude for magic began the chants for powerful magic at the rear. Those with high defensive power served as vanguards. Instead of attacking, they focused more on defending.

The knights who recovered also join the fray, then the signal for their counterattack was ignited. They launched their cheat-like magic and martial arts which descended upon the enemies like a surging wave. The enemies were wiped out at an astonishing rate, they had finally passed the spawning rate of the Magic Beasts.

Soon, the path to the stairs opened up.

"Everyone advance! We must secure the open space in front of the stairs!"

Kouki started to run as soon as he shouted. The fully recovered Ryutaro and Shizuku followed closely behind. They cut through the encircling Skeleton Soldier like a hot knife through butter. Finally, they broke through the besiegement. Behind them, the Skeleton Soldiers wanted to enclose the path to the stairs again, but they were scattered by Kouki's magic.

The classmates revealed an astonished expression, it was only natural. The stairs was just before their eyes, it was only to be expected that they wanted to get to a safety zone at once.

"Everyone, wait! We must help Nagumo and Emiya-kun! They have been suppressing that monster all this time!"

Hearing Kaori's words, the classmates exposed doubtful expressions, while Kouki realized that their archer was missing. They thought it was impossible, after all, Hajime didn't have a combat class while Shirou was merely an Archer. However, when the perplexed classmates looked over at the bridge, They were really there.

"What the, what is going on there?"

"That demon's… upper body was buried?"

" Fuck! What are those two idiots doing!" "Emiya-kun!" Shouted Hiyama and Yaegashi.

Facing the students who were filled with doubts, Commander Meld issued the orders.

"That's right! Those two suppressed the monster by themselves to let us retreat! Vanguards! You guys deal with the Skeleton Soldiers! Rear guards! Prepare your long-range magic! Those twos' magic power will exhaust any time soon, attack simultaneously the moment they starts to run! We must stop the Behemoth!"

The students braced themselves when the voice resounded, but there were no lack of people among them who looked at the direction of the stairs reluctantly, while one was looking at the two in anticipation. You can't blame them, they just had a near death experience. Even one second was fine, they wanted to get to safety as soon as possible, that was only natural. However, when Commander Meld shouted to hurry up, they no longer hesitated and returned to the battlefield. Among them was the Classmate who touched the crystal. Since everything would start after Nagumo falls into the abyss, he's been eagerly waiting. If Hiyama wouldn't do his part, then he would do it for him.

However, Shirou is a different story. He was an unknown variable, at least the classmate thought so. So it was ridiculous to hope that everything would undergo the way the script would go, exactly now that Nagimo was not the only one stopping the Behemoth.

He was wondering if he had gone crazy while thinking of the possibility that Shirou was another transmigrator. But as he seriously thought like that, his resentment towards Shirou continued to accumulate, it was already to the point of hatred. He probably wanted to finally kill Shirou, that's why he was getting impatient.

He looked at Hiyama who seemed to be struggling not to jump there while and drag those two back while Kouki is stopping Hiyama from doing just that, and at Shizuku who looked worriedly at Shirou and the figure of Kaori praying for Nagumo entered his line of sight…… a dark smile gradually bloomed on his face.

Just at this time, Shirou felt his magic power almost running out, and he had run out of recovery pills. He quickly shot a glance at Hajime, and also seemed like he was almost out of Magic power. Then looking backward, he noticed that everyone had already retreated. They already got into formation and were preparing to chant. The Behemoth was still struggling, if he stopped reinforcing the ground that Hajime is transmuting like this, it would probably struggle for a few more seconds. During this time, they had to pull some distance. The bead of sweat from his forehead entered his eye. He was extremely fatigued, the thumping sound from his heart had never stopped until now.

At the same time when dozens of cracks appeared,

"Now!" Hajime used the last of his 【Transmutation to restrain the Behemoth. Then he started to sprint, Shirou also ran after him, saving a little magic power, in case he needed to use reinforcement one more time.

Three seconds after Shirou started to run, the ground split open. The Behemoth crushed the ground and let out a roar as it stood up. That angry look in its eyes was unlikely to be mistaken. It began to scan the surrounding for the enemy that humiliated it —— the back of Shirou and Hajime entered its vision. Again, the Behemoth let out a roar, even louder than before. In order to catch up to Them, it began to store up power in its four limbs.

However, in the next moment, every kind of magic attacks arrived in succession. It was like shooting stars in the night sky, multi-colored magics bombarded the Behemoth. Although they were unable to deal any damage, they were able to stop it from advancing.

We can do it! Shirou was convinced, he lowered his head and dashed while taking care not to fal while keeping Hajime in his sightl. Honestly speaking, it doesn't feel that good with all those lethal spells passing over his head. However, he believed their friends wouldn't make that kind of low-level mistake. They continued to run, they should have pulled thirty meters apart from the Behemoth. Hajime seemed to relax a bit, while Shirou was about to remind him that it's not over yet. However, just at this time, his expression froze.

Among the endless stream of spells, one fireball bent slightly…… It was shot towards Hajime's direction.

(Shit!? Please make it in time!?)

Doubt, bewilderment, and astonishment all ran through his brain, but he managed to shield Hajime from the blast.

"Gaha!" The air left his lungs at the impact. Even though they stopped and slid on the ground immediately, that fireball still struck the ground close to them. They were blown back the way he came from by the shock-wave. Although he avoided a direct hit and didn't suffer from any internal injuries, his semicircular canal was damaged. His sense of balance was thrown into disorder. It seemed like Nagumo was Shouting something, but he's too disoriented to understand.

He stood up and took a few steps unsteadily, but…… it was impossible for the Behemoth to be suppressed by the shots forever. After Hajime helped Shirou got up —— the roar reverberated from behind —— they couldn't help but turn their heads around to look. For the third time its horns started to glow red-hot, the Behemoth firmly fixed its gaze on them. After that, it raised its shield-like red-hot head, and charged.

The unsteady head, hazy vision, and looming Behemoth; His classmates in the distance had anxious expressions, they let out a sad call and furious roar.

Hajime mustered the last ounce of his strength to carry Shirou and jump away. After that, the furious waves of attack landed on the bridge. Behemoth's attack shook the entire bridge. With this point as the epicenter, terrifying cracks began to spread. The bridge let out a crunching sound.

And finally…… the bridge collapsed.

After bearing that kind of powerful attacks repeatedly, the bridge finally gave in.

"Guaaa!?"

The Behemoth let out a cry, and desperately used its claw to scratch the slanted rock bridge. However, the place it was clinging to also collapsed. In the end, the Behemoth fell into the bottomless abyss. The Behemoth's death throes was still resounding.

Hajime crawled on the ground while trying to pull Shirou somehow, but every place that he could reach fell one after another.

(Ah, this is bad… I can't think straight…)

While thinking like that, Shirou turned his gaze towards his classmates at the opposite side. Shirou saw it —— Kaori was being held back by Kouki and Shizuku. As for the other classmates, some had pale faces, while others were covering their eyes or mouths. Meld and the Knights also had a mortifying expression. Shirou saw Hiyama beating up someone in anger, while the person who was being beaten up by Hiyama and his lackeys desperately tried to get away and crawl towards the bridge. Then he felt a tug, turning he saw hajime, desperately trying to crawl while dragging him.

'ah, it seemed like, I'm the one being saved again.' he thought. ' but at this rate, the two of us wouldn't survive.' mustering all his remaining strength, and reinforcing his body with his last magic power, he stood, making Hajime release his hold.

".E–Emiya?" Hajime asked, clearly in pain.

"Wha–"

Shirou looked at him and picked him up by the scruff of his shirt, then looking at the others, he Saw Hiyama, wondering if he left the one he's beating up, but he saw that the two are still beating him up.

"Hiyama!!" He shouted.

"Wha– idiot! Hurry up and get over here–!" But his voice choked at the end as he saw Shirou's eyes, letting him know his intentions. At that Hiyama scowled while clenching his fist.

Shirou smiled at that, knowing he got his points across. Putting his right foot forward, positioning hajime for a swing. " Wai–wait! Shirou, what are you doing!" Hajime asked with a panicked tone.

" …with this, at least one would live, be sure to protect Kaori okay." These Were his last words as he threw Hajime towards Hiyama.

"Aaaahhhhh!"

"Fffffuck!!! Gaddamnit Emiya!?" Despite shouting at Shirou, he still caught Hajime.

With his Strength and Magic power spent he fell to his knees. And then, the scaffold that held Shirou finally crumbled. And he fell into the abyss while looking upwards. He stretched his hand towards the light that gradually became dimmer…… 'I guess, I won't be able to take everyone home'.

——end of arifureta chapter ——

so I guess some of y'all got confused by the changes of POV. I'm confused you're confused, I tried focusing on a single protag but now I'm confused, they're one protagonist. and so! I, am, Confusion!

well, I went with the suggestions to separately write the different worlds into different chapters, the proceeding chapters might get shorter later on. and in every chapters focuses on a single Shirou Emiya... except for when they're in TWUB...what y'all say? the previous style, incorporated a chapter of different worlds but the change in POV meant the change in world, I admit, it's my bad I didn't put some indication. but when I've posted it, the dividing lines disappeared wtf. might be a bug.