me like a little bird in chains.

Vows and promises that no longer had any meaning. They were no longer noble things to create the future for, but only things that stubbornly bound them to one another.

In his head, Nozomu understood this, but he couldn't stand to see them like that any longer.

“The promise we made at that time is no longer something that helps us achieve our dreams. It has become something that destroys our dreams instead...!"

There was only one thing left for Nozomu to do.

He clenched his teeth against the aching in his chest and ignored the words of the giant dragon bellowing in his head.

"If you stubbornly continue to distort the promise you made, then, I will cut it all off. That's what I have to do ....... That's all I can do now."

He will end this fake relationship completely. He will completely destroy the fake world that Ken and his friends have been locked up in. Even if the result was they will never be able to get back together.

Nozomu activated his [Instant Move].

While his friends are watching, he rushed head-on toward Ken.

"Die, die!"

As soon as Ken swung his arm, and as if to answer his murderous intent, countless ice blades exploded and rushed at Nozomu.

When Nozomu saw the ice blades raining on him, he mobilized every muscle in his body to change the direction of his rush.

However, that was not enough to avoid them. A shower of ice raining on him like a shower. Nozomu's physical ability was not enough to escape from its attack range.

The corner of Ken's eyes smiled as he pictured Nozomu being pierced by the ice blades and covered in blood.

Ken thought that was the end. Ken's eyes shone with anticipation as he felt a slight sense of satisfaction, but in the next moment, his eyes were colored with shock.

"W-what the f*ck?"

The rain of ice blades slammed into the ground. Nozomu appeared as if he were breaking through it.

His body was slightly injured, but his momentum had hardly diminished.

The sound of explosions echoed again as Nozomu re-accelerated with his blinding speed. He lunged in a straight line toward Ken.

"Ku~! How!"

(How on earth!? How did he get through that rain of ice blades?)

A series of questions came to his mind as he witnessed the unexpected scene, Ken swung his magic sword two or three times, shooting down a rain of ice blades towards Nozomu.

"Fuh~!"

Judging that he couldn't avoid it, what Nozomu did was quite simple. It was to break through the center of the ice rain.

Once again, Nozomu used his [Instant Move -Curve Dance-] to develop a complex curved movement. He ran through the gaps in the ice rain, escaping as much as possible from the area of effect of the falling blades ice.

However, that alone was not enough to break through the swarm of ice blades unscathed. Some of the blades that rushed in were sure to reach Nozomu's body.

"Sei~!"

The moment Nozomu saw the ice blades approaching him, he swung his Qi-enveloped katana. A layer of Qi was formed in front of Nozomu. The fan-shaped layer of Qi formed to block the approaching ice blades and repel them.

It was, without a doubt, a Qi layer created by the Qi technique [Fan Shaped Sail].

Originally, the [Fan Shaped Sail] technique involved swinging the katana in a circular motion to form a Qi layer, but the Qi layer could not be maintained for long.

In addition, there was a gap when he swung his katana, and judging that it was impossible to overcome the continuous rain of ice blades, Nozomu chose to swing his katana slightly to minimize the gap as much as possible and form a fan-shaped layer of Qi.

However, this would result in a smaller layer of Qi being formed. Therefore, Nozomu decided to avoid the opponent's ice blades with [Instant Move -Curve Dance-] and to block the ones he couldn't avoid with [Fan Shaped Sail].

It wouldn't be enough to block magic with great penetration power, like [Icicle Dance], but if it was just a few blades of ice then it would be enough to repel them using [Fan Shaped Sail] without releasing his ability suppression.

Using [Instant Move -Curve Dance-] originally required a high sense of balance. And [Fan Shaped Sail] was also a Qi technique that needed to be used carefully due to its short duration.

However, Nozomu had mastered such Qi techniques and continued to repel the storm of ice blades.

"N-no way...... but!"

Ken was agitated to see Nozomu able to break through his attacks almost unscathed, but regained his composure when he saw that his opponent was almost inside the snake-like sword attack range.

In addition to the rain of ice blades, Ken thought that he could use his sword to attack in waves, which would help him fight Nozomu back quickly.

The moment Nozomu got into Ken's attack range, Ken found the right moment and launched his [Crawling Snake Fangs].

Along with a launching sound, the tip of the snake-like sword lunged toward Nozomu, ready to plunge its fangs into him.

Nozomu's eyes fixed on the tip of the approaching snake-like sword.

He held his katana out as if to thrust it out.

In the blink of an eye, the two approaching blades intersected.

At that moment, Nozomu took another step forward, while swinging his katana to the back to deflect the path of the snake-like sword. His plan was to close the distance between him and Ken.

"It's futile!"

However, as if to block Nozomu's thrust, the snake-like sword expanded.

The sword seemed to be about to explode at any moment. Countless blades of ice stood upside down, waiting for the moment when they would be unleashed in search of the blood of their prey.

But the next moment, Ken's eyes widened at the sight that jumped into his eyes. With a twist of his wrist, Nozomu had entangled the blade of the snake-like sword, which was about to explode, with his katana.

"Foolish!"

In less than a second, the snake-like double-edged sword which was fully infused with magic will explode. Nozomu's act was suicidal.

There was no way for him to escape at that close range, and even if he were to deploy a layer of Qi, it will not be able to withstand such a close-range explosion.

There was nothing Nozomu could do. Ken was sure of that.

However, that conviction was soon overturned.

The explosion was less than half a second away. Nozomu sent his Qi into the katana and compressed it extremely fast in a moment that exceeded a second. The Qi on his katana blade exploded into countless needles.

Qi technique [One Billion Severance]

The blade of Qi that exploded at such zero distance pierced Ken's snake-like sword, which was also swollen and about to explode, and crushed it from the middle.

"Wha~ !!"

Shortly after Ken made a surprised voice, Nozomu filled his legs with Qi and released it. The explosion was so close that Nozomu was pierced by the exploding ice shards. He was bleeding, but he didn't care.

Ken's trump card was shattered, and before he could recover, Nozomu quickly closed the gap.

"Fuu, fuu ... haa!"

At the same time, he sheathed his katana and sent his Qi into it, and started compressing the Qi extremely again.

He had already used a lot of Qi and was starting to breathe heavily, but Nozomu had no intention of retreating at this point.

Nozomu, who had completely caught his opponent inside his attack range, was about to pull the katana out of its sheath.

Ken still had a hint of impatience on his face.

He was convinced that Ken was not going to move at all from [Phantom] attack range even if the distance was shortened

(Ken can't move while using his? [Crawling Snake Fangs].)

However, if he thought about it, it was reasonable. A magic sword that could enable long-range attacks and direct attacks at the same time. It took an incredibly high level of concentration to maintain such a high level of magic.

As Nozomu had discovered, when Ken was deploying this magic, he was so busy controlling it that he could barely move.

Starlight illuminated the blade peeking out from its sheath, and the shining blade glowed in the moonlight.

And just as Nozomu was about to draw his katana, Ken's mind reflected himself being cut down by Nozomu.

The figure of himself crawling on the ground.

The figure of his beloved Lisa disappeared into the darkness.

He tried to raise his voice, but his voice could not reach her as she was roped and trapped in narrow prison.

He felt a sense of emptiness and loss as if a hole had been left in his heart. It was the same feeling that he had felt since he saw Nozomu and Lisa first start walking together.

"I don't want it"

The sense of loss that he remembered again fueled Ken's sense of crisis about losing Lisa. It was like the magma of a volcano, raging and exploding at once.

"I-I don't want it ... I don't want it!"

A burst of emotion and the sound of something snapping echoed in Ken's head, and Ken's senses were sharpened all at once.

A feeling he had never experienced before. He felt as if he were floating on water. Ken could see everything with his eyes, and even the magic power surrounding his own body.

The [Crawling Snake Fangs] that was crushed by Nozomu.

The magic sword that he had struggled so much to control was now as comfortable in his hands as if it were his own limb. He could feel everything about the flow of magic power inside it.

It was very similar to the time Nozomu was immersed in extreme concentration.

Was it the result of his delusion, or was it a miracle of his fear that things would fall apart? Either way, Ken had exceeded his limits at this very moment.

In an instant, he understood the inner structure of the magic sword and repaired it. In addition, to avoid being noticed by Nozomu, he moved the sword using only magic power and launched a surprise attack from outside Nozomu's field of vision.

The half-shattered tip of Ken's [Crawling Snake Fangs] lifted up and lunged towards Nozomu's defenseless back.

(This is over!)

Ken was convinced of his victory and his mouth lifted up.

However, Nozomu went even further than that.

As the snake-like double-edged sword was about to pierce the back of Nozomu's head, Nozomu's eyes squinted. The next moment, Nozomu's body, which was about to draw his katana, spun on the spot.

"Eh~...."

Nozomu turned around in an instant, leaving Ken's dumbfounded words behind, and used the sheath of his katana to brush away the snake-like sword that was about to pierce the back of his head.

He then stepped forward again. This time, he drew his katana as if to cut off everything in his path.

Ken tried to pull the magic sword back, but it was too late, and Nozomu's katana blade sliced deep into Ken's right arm and chest.

"Agh~...."

A moment of silence.

Then, along with the sound of something dripping down, a red flower blooms on the white stone floor.

"A-, aaaaaaaaa!"

Ken's scream echoed through the air.

At the same time, Ken's [Crawling Snake Fangs] shattered with a cracking sound and vanished like a haze.