After parting ways with Kuro at the Fountain Square, I set off down the twilight-soaked path toward Lilia-san's mansion. I felt a strange sense of déjà vu, as if I had experienced this exact moment before, but since no particular cause came to mind, I brushed it off as my imagination and kept moving forward.
Then, a few moments later, I was struck by a sense of unease far more profound than the first.
At this hour, the streets should have been bustling with people returning from work or heading out for dinner. Instead, the wide, straight main street was devoid of even a single shadow, wrapped in an eerie, unsettling silence. It was as if this specific pocket of space had been severed from the rest of the world. Confronted by such an obviously abnormal sight, my feet stopped of their own accord.
"...What is—this!?"
A sudden chill raced down my spine, and the hair on my arms stood on end. My brain was assaulted by an inexplicable, terrifying sensation—it was so intense that I could almost see the surrounding buildings decaying into rot and the road before me crumbling into an abyss.
I didn't know why, but my body began to tremble minutely. My parched throat clicked with an unnervingly loud sound as I swallowed. It wasn't a conscious thought; my entire being—my raw biological instincts—shrieked a fierce warning.
—Something terrifying is coming.
This was different from the magical pressure I had felt when Kuro visited Lilia-san’s mansion. This was more primal, a hopelessly horrific sensation that bypassed reason to trigger every alarm in my survival instinct. It was a negative aura so thick I could feel it pressing against my skin.
Then, from the depths of the silence-shrouded road, it appeared.
Long hair white as ash, skin of a sickly pallor, and eyes the color of deep, dark crimson blood. Clad in Black Gothic Dress-style Clothes and emitting a faint blue light, the woman drifted through the air, approaching me while wreathed in an eerie, chilling presence. Her appearance was ghost-like; even her face, which possessed a beauty that could only be described as peerless, served only to incite pure, unadulterated terror.
"Ka... h..."
Just looking at her made me fall under the horrifying illusion that my own head had been severed. I couldn't breathe. My body shook with tremors I couldn't control, yet I remained rooted to the spot, unable to take even a single step back.
A level of fear I had never known welled up from deep within, and my instincts screamed at me. Don't touch that. Run away. Run now or you'll be killed...
Yet, despite my internal screaming, my legs remained fixed as if they were bolted to the cobblestones.
『...A strange magic power... Are you... a Hero?』
"..."
Her cold voice echoed through the void, and those blood-red eyes stared me down. I was paralyzed, lost for words by a chill that felt as if it were freezing my blood and a sense of repulsion so intense it turned my stomach.
I knew this feeling. It was exactly the same as "that time."
The day I lost my parents. The sensation of blood trickling down my neck inside the mangled car, the bone-deep cold as the heat drained from my body... That was it. This was the sensation of death looming over me. An overwhelming terror that froze the very soul.
Yes, I was absolutely, utterly terrified of this woman I was meeting for the first time.
As fear began to white out my thoughts, the question she had asked surfaced in my mind: "Are you a Hero?" My instincts pleaded with me to answer, to avoid defying her at any cost, but my body refused to obey.
『...I repeat... Are you... a Hero?』
Whether she was irritated by my silence or simply persistent, the woman repeated her question, her tone growing sharper. It felt as if invisible hands were tightening around my throat. Along with the suffocating pressure, I felt a genuine, immediate threat to my life.
"...I am... an Otherworlder... but... I am not... a Hero."
『...I see.』
To the words I desperately managed to squeeze out, the woman merely nodded, showing no other reaction. The silence that followed was heavy, as if the air itself had gained physical weight. I wanted to be released from this living nightmare as quickly as possible, and the trembling of my body only grew more violent.
After a long silence, the woman reached out her hand toward me, as if asking for a handshake.
『...I am... Isis... Isis Remnant... Nice to meet you.』
"Ugh!? Ahhh..."
The moment I saw that outstretched hand, the repulsion in my heart flared. A terror far beyond my heart's capacity welled up from my gut as a wave of nausea.
Run, run, run, run... my instincts shrieked.
That hand, which should have been white and delicate, looked to me like a reaper's scythe. I must not touch it. If I touch it, I die. Don't resist, don't fight, just look away... alarms rang out in my head like a frantic tolling bell.
『...』
Seeing my reaction, the woman said nothing but slightly lowered her gaze. In that moment, looking at her flickering eyes, I thought I saw a deep sadness and a crushing loneliness... an incredibly intense sense of isolation.
I don't have the power to read the emotions of others. It was just a feeling, nothing more. I couldn't explain it logically. There was no evidence. But I felt that if I ran away now, I would regret it for the rest of my life.
『...Eh?』
The woman's voice sounded surprised. My body, which had been frozen in terror, moved awkwardly. By the time I realized what I was doing, I was slapping my own face with both hands.
the abnormal terror still weighed on me. The premonition of death was so strong I felt like I was going to throw up. But my thoughts were already pivoting.
Get it together! Think about this properly!
What has this person actually done to me? Has she harmed me? Has she shown any true hostility? No, she hasn't. She only asked if I was a Hero, introduced herself, and asked for a handshake. She has done nothing wrong.
I stared back into her red eyes, which now looked bewildered. As I started to reach out to respond to her gesture, that intense repulsion slammed into me again. I held back the dizzying fear and gritted my teeth, forcing my hand to move.
I didn't have a reason. I didn't know why I was being so desperate. But I felt that right now, in this moment, I had to be the one to hold her hand.
If I had been in this situation before coming to this world, I would have run away without a second thought. But since coming here and meeting Kuro, I've learned that a single act of kindness can save a heart. I've learned how much it means to have a hand reach into the dark depths of your soul.
So, if I am the only one who can reach into the depths of her heart right now... then I can't afford to run.
I was drenched in sweat and my body was shaking uncontrollably. If you're shaking, it means you can still move! Stop trembling like a coward and move!
Whether my internal shout worked or not, I bit my lip hard enough to draw blood and forced my arm forward. My hand moved just a fraction toward her. In that instant, the repulsion grew even more agonizing. My consciousness flickered, nearly fading, but I bit down on my lip even harder to stay present.
The tremors wouldn't stop. A primal fear of death filled my heart, urging me to flee. But I kept pushing.
Little by little—at such a glacial pace that it took minutes for my hand to move a single centimeter—I reached for her. With welling nausea and hazy vision, not even knowing if I was covered in sweat or tears, I struggled onward.
Why was I doing this? Why was I putting myself through this agony for a woman I had only just met? I'm just a mediocre human with no special powers. Weakness and doubt were pouring out of me. Even now, I was terrified of her.
But despite all that, I couldn't choose the option to give up.
I don't know how much time passed. Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, my hand finally reached the woman’s hand, which had remained outstretched the entire time.
The moment I grasped it, a terror far more intense than anything before it slammed into me. My knees buckled, hitting the ground hard. But I wasn't done. I hadn't given her my answer yet. Stand up! It's just fear! Put everything you have into it!
I held my shaking legs down with my free arm and forced myself up, slowly meeting her eyes. My cheeks twitched as I tried to force a smile, but that was unavoidable. Still, I anchored my heart to the single desire to be her friend—to treat her with kindness.
"...Nice to... meet you... My name is... Kaito Miyama."
The moment I squeezed out those words, the woman smiled. Immediately, the crushing terror that had been assaulting my body vanished. Not only that, but the scenery around us shifted into an endless snowfield—a Silvery World. At the same time, memories I had somehow forgotten came flooding back.
"...Eh? Wait... Isis-san?"
『Yes. That is both correct and incorrect. I'm sorry, Kaito... for testing you like that.』
Isis-san was dressed in a black gown instead of her usual blue dress, and she spoke in a resonant voice similar to Lilliwood-san’s, saying things I couldn't quite grasp. The atmosphere was different, but there was no doubt in my mind that the woman before me was Isis-san.
"Um, you are... Isis-san, right?"
『You could say that, or you could say I'm slightly different. But yes. I would be happy if you called me Isis.』
"I understand... So, Isis-san. Where are we?"
『With my power, I "connected my heart" with yours. You can think of it as being inside a dream. Earlier, to test you just a little bit, I made it so you couldn't recall certain memories...』
Inside a dream... I see. It was a bizarre situation, but that explained the strange events from before. It was essentially a reenactment of our first meeting. The wrongness I felt must have been because my memories were suppressed. I didn't know Isis-san could do things like that.
『I am a part of Isis’s heart. It’s not that one of us is the main body; only when I and my other self are joined do we truly become Isis Remnant. That is what I told Isis—my other self. It’s both right and wrong... Tell me, Kaito? Do you know who I am?』
"..."
I tilted my head at her riddle-like phrasing. Both right and wrong... if I took her literally, then she was Isis-san, yet also someone else. As I thought about it, a realization struck me.
"...Are you... perhaps, the Magic Power of Death itself...?"
『Yes. Correct. Or more accurately, I suppose I am the Memory of the Existence that was the Source of the Magic Power of Death... perhaps?』
"Um, I'm sorry. I don't quite understand..."
『It’s okay. I will explain everything properly. That is why I called you here. But first... I want to walk with you for a little while. Is that... alright?』
The Magic Power of Death—or rather, Another Isis-san—looked at me with a slightly anxious expression. Her face was exactly the same as the Isis-san I knew so well. No matter what her true nature was, she was still Isis-san to me, and that thought brought me a wave of relief.
"Of course, I’d be happy to. I’d never turn down a date with my precious lover."
『Ah... yes!』
At my words, Isis-san beamed with a smile like a flower in full bloom. She was so unfairly cute that I couldn't help but smile back. She reached out her hand expectantly, and sensing her intent, I took it as we began to walk.
"...It’s really beautiful here. A vast, silvery world... and since the sky is so clear, it feels even more special."
『Kaito, have you not seen this kind of scenery very much?』
"No. It didn't snow much where I lived. This feels very fresh to me."
『Fufu, I see.』
"...You seem happy, Isis-san."
『Yes. I am very, very happy. Having you with me is part of it... but it’s also because I was able to see for myself once again that Kaito is the coolest person in the world.』
"T-That feels like a bit much, honestly..."
Isis-san seemed genuinely happy from the bottom of her heart, praising me with a radiant smile. Feeling embarrassed, I scratched my cheek with my free hand, but she shook her head.
『It isn't an exaggeration. Because Kaito grasped my hand... I believed that Kaito would try to face the Magic Power of Death "even without Sympathy Magic." But I didn't think you would actually be able to hold my hand.』
"E-Erm..."
Ah, I see. The reason our meeting felt different from what I remembered was because—I don't know the logic behind it—I was in a state where I couldn't use Sympathy Magic.
『The Magic Power of Death is a Fundamental Fear that isn't supposed to be overcome by sheer will... yet Kaito suppressed even that. In the midst of terror that would have caused a normal person to "go insane or suffer a mental collapse dozens of times," you still grasped my hand. You really are amazing, Kaito!』
"...A-Ahaha... Y-You can count on me."
Wait, what!? Was I really in that much danger earlier? Going insane? Mental collapse? The Magic Power of Death is truly terrifying after all. I felt a chill just hearing about it, but since Isis-san was so happy, it was worth the effort.
『Ah, o-of course, if it looked like you were in real trouble, I was going to stop immediately.』
"It's okay. I didn't misunderstand, and I'm not angry. If anything, I'm just glad I could live up to your expectations."
『Ah, yes! Ehehe, as I thought, Kaito is the coolest in the world... I love you.』
Serious-senpai: "Look at that. This is the protagonist explicitly stated to be the strongest in the work—the man with the mental fortitude to claim that walking for a hundred years was 'unexpectedly short.' He's just built differently."
???: "No, suppressing the Magic Power of Death through sheer willpower is seriously on an inhuman level. We're talking about an Authority Class Power of a God, after all... but then again, I suppose that's just Kaito-san for you."