Who Are You?

Two minutes had ticked by since Allen, Princess Sophia, and I were sealed inside the barrier.

Just outside the wall stood Cynthia, Lilith, Meryl, Belk, Carta, Duke, Olynn, and Tura. They were joined by the frantic arrivals of Teacher Milk, Eva, Eleanor, and Sierra.

Teacher Coco was there too, her eyes squeezed shut as she pressed her palms against the surface of the barrier.

Cynthia and the others had already unleashed a barrage of attacks, but the wall hadn't so much as flickered. They were pinning their last hopes on Coco, but she simply shook her head in silence.

"This barrier... it exceeds the level of anything humanity can reach."

"N-No... Weiss and the others are in there! Teacher Coco, please, you have to do something!" Cynthia cried out, her usual composure completely shattered.

Coco could only look back with a gaze full of sorrow. Then, Milk added a cold, hard truth to the situation.

"The man I was fighting, King—he vanished. He is likely inside that thing."

"...Nell, too," Eva added.

Despair washed over the group at their words. However, Coco spoke again, and the expressions of those around her shifted ever so slightly.

"But the collapse has already begun. It can only hold for five minutes. Once that time is up, the wall will crumble. Based on what Cynthia told me, there are three minutes left. The fact that the barrier hasn't been deactivated yet means they’re still alive."

"Three more minutes..." Cynthia whispered.

Duke, his face twisted with rage, began to hammer his fists against the barrier. "Damn it! Damn it! Dammit, dammit, dammit!"

His strikes carried incredible weight, yet the wall didn't even vibrate. Lilith was the one to reach out and stop him.

"If it’s Weiss-sama and Allen-san, I know they’ll be fine. We have to believe in them."

---

Two minutes had passed inside the barrier, and both Allen and I had already pushed our bodies far beyond their breaking point.

Thanks to the Blessing of Healing and Impulse of Destruction, Princess Sophia was currently enveloped in a Shield more powerful than anything I’d ever seen. But the cost was steep. Allen and I were covered in blood, our bones were shattered, and we were using every last drop of our mana just to keep the enemy at bay.

Since I knew the Original Story, I could tell we were putting out power that surpassed even the final boss encounter. My mana wouldn't flow properly, and my lungs screamed in agony every time I tried to draw a breath.

"How impressive. To think you’ve held out for two minutes," Nell said.

"Yeah... incredible," Racom agreed. "Nell, you weren't holding back, were you?"

"I wasn't. But isn't this exactly what the Demon King predicted?"

The Demon Race stood there with looks of pure leisure, watching us struggle. The woman who looked exactly like Eva—Nell—was particularly terrifying. King was the same; their power was simply on another level. Sulus seemed to have exhausted his mana maintaining the barrier, but Beefa and Racom were more than enough to handle us.

Then, as if bored of the game, Nell raised her hands and unleashed a torrent of magic to finish us off.

Allen and I desperately chanted defensive spells, but the attack pierced right through them, shattering Princess Sophia’s Shield into nothingness. We wouldn't be able to stop the next one.

But—

"Allen, remember. That time back then."

"Yeah. If it's us, we can do this."

The light hadn't left our eyes yet. Our friends were right outside. Even if we took the hit, even if we were on the brink of death or lost our limbs, we knew that as long as Coco and Cynthia were there, we’d survive.

"Ufufu, how interesting," Nell chuckled, wearing a smile that was a perfect, twisted mirror of Eva’s.

Allen and I raised our swords with what little strength we had left. But then, Sophia’s voice rang out.

"—I have a request. I will take my own life here and now. In exchange for that spectacle... please, I beg of you, let these two go."

The demons traded looks, seemingly surprised by her proposal. Then Nell spoke.

"What an interesting thing to say. If you truly have that kind of resolve, I suppose I could grant your wish."

I looked back to see Sophia pressing her hand against her own heart.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" I yelled.

The mana protecting her body had dropped to nearly zero. She was focusing every last scrap of it into her hand.

"—Weiss, Allen... thank you, truly. I’m so glad I got to be with you both at the end. I’m sorry... after everything you did for me..."

"Hey, stop it!"

"She's right! Don't you dare give up yet!" Allen shouted.

But Sophia didn't wait for our answer. She released her mana—

"—W-Wait, what are you doing, Weiss...?"

"...The future can be changed. Don't you dare give up until the very end!!!"

I had thrown myself forward with every ounce of strength I had left. I jammed my Unnatural into the gap, barely managing to block her suicide attempt at the last possible second.

"—Boring."

Nell didn't miss that opening. She unleashed an attack the moment I moved. No, it wasn't just her—every demon there fired at once.

With two minutes left on the clock, we had no way to stop this. Allen tried to jump in front of us, but he wasn't going to make it. I threw myself beside him anyway. If there was even a one-percent chance of Sophia surviving until the end...

"—Weiss, even you..."

"Shut up, protagonist guy. Stop trying to look so cool."

But don't give up. Not yet. Scrape together every bit of mana you have. Until the very, very end—

Right then, my heart gave a heavy, echoing thud.

It was a sensation I’d never felt before, yet it felt hauntingly familiar. At the same time, I heard a voice. A voice I didn't recognize, yet it was undeniably my voice.

—Well, I gotta say, you did a pretty decent job.

You finally decided to show up? I thought back.

—Whoa, talk about a cold shoulder.

You could’ve come out a hell of a lot sooner—

—Hey, I’m here now, aren't I?

If that’s the case, then do something about this... Weiss.

—This is your story, isn't it?

Don’t screw with me. You’re the one who started this whole mess on your own—

—Hah! Well, you’ve certainly been showing me some entertaining things lately.

---

A thunderous roar and an explosion shook the area.

I, Allen, had prepared myself for death. But I realized almost instantly that I was still alive. Something impossible was happening. My body was covered by a Shield the likes of which I had never seen. It was too perfect—flawless, without a single seam in the mana.

What is this? Who did this? Was it Teacher Coco?

But the person standing in front of me wasn't the teacher. It was Weiss.

"—Yo. It’s been a while. You still have that annoying face, I see."

"...Weiss?"

"No clue what's going on, huh? Well, just watch. But don't tell him about any of this. It’s for the sake of the future."

In a flash, Weiss vanished.

No, he hadn't disappeared—he was moving at a speed that defied logic. When I looked up, he was already standing right in the middle of the Demon Race.

How? Why? It made no sense.

"I see some faces I don't recognize. Though, I doubt you’d remember me anyway," Weiss said casually.

"—Kill him!" Nell screamed.

The demons followed her command and lunged, but Weiss moved with terrifying fluidity. He wove through their attacks, and even when they unleashed high-level magic, he deflected it with defensive spells. He was chanting high-density mana so efficiently that he could cast top-tier spells with the tiny amount of energy he had left.

How was he doing that?

"What’s the matter? You guys are awfully slow."

Weiss began to swing his sword at point-blank range, dancing between them and baiting them into hitting each other. The demons were suddenly the ones desperate to evade and defend. His movements... he was definitely faster and more precise than even Eva-senpai or Teacher Milk.

"He's amazing..." Princess Sophia murmured, her voice filled with awe.

Nell turned her attacks back toward us, but just as I braced myself, Weiss was there. He had crossed the distance in an eye-blink and swatted her magic away with his blade.

"Weiss, how... where did this power come from?" I asked.

"Heh. It’s been a long time since anyone praised me. Now then... let's see if I can still pull this off."

Weiss suddenly enveloped his entire body in a Dark Aura.

With his right foot, he deployed the Blessing of Healing and Impulse of Destruction. Then, with his left, he manifested a magic circle I had never seen before. In an instant, more than thirty sinister, demon-like entities manifested from the four corners of the barrier.

The Demon Race backpedaled in confusion, taking defensive stances.

"Hey, Nell! What the hell is this?!" Beefa barked.

"...This isn't very funny," Nell hissed.

These things weren't like Debi. They looked far more malevolent, and the mana radiating from them was on a different scale entirely.

When did he... when did he perform a Subjugation on things like that?!

"Who... who are you?" I asked, unable to keep the trembling out of my voice.

"Me?" He glanced back, a sharp, dangerous grin on his face. "I'm Weiss Fansent, of course."