Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Kurisu

The world needed kindness.

It was precisely because of kindness that humanity had survived until today… No, it should be said that humanity’s very birth, and the source of life for all living beings, was due to the kindness of nature, a miracle of the universe.

But, there was also another phrase: “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

This was actually a warning.

Not all good intentions would actually be good. Sometimes, acting kindly wouldn’t bring about the best results. Sometimes, acting evilly wouldn’t bring about bad consequences. This was true for both the person acting in such a manner and the receiver.

Good deeds would be rewarded and evil deeds would be punished. That was what people wished for. Yet, that wasn’t how reality worked.

Kindness didn’t equal justice.

Kindness wasn’t absolutely correct.

It was the same for sacrificing oneself in order to save others.

Even if it was only sacrificing one’s personal benefits rather than one’s own life in order to save others, it would still be the same. This would be considered a noble action, one that others would praise, but… it wouldn’t equal being “correct”.

In that case, what was being “correct”?

Being selfish and abandoning kindness, viewing others’ lives as worthless, was considered incorrect.

Being completely unselfish and as kind as possible, sacrificing one’s own personal benefits for the sake of others, was also considered incorrect.

In that case, just what was “correct”?

Seiji asked himself and probed his heart as he deeply considered this question.

He wanted to value his own personal benefits.

He also wanted to be a good person to others.

Finally, he arrived at the most mundane conclusion possible…

Only by doing both would be the most “correct” answer!

“I’d like to ask a question,” Seiji finally spoke up after a long silence. “If I choose the second option, is it possible to strengthen myself and also simultaneously use the residual energy to save those who died?”

Yui widened her eyes slightly.

“…It might be possible. But, it’ll be incredibly difficult and dangerous,” she spoke in a serious tone. “It will already be difficult to remain conscious after drinking the spiritual wine that’s been combined with the residual energy. Plus, you want to cast a spell to revive everyone on top of that. Even if you’re able to follow my instructions in casting the spell, using an unstable power will greatly increase the risk. You’ll definitely receive serious injuries or even die if anything goes wrong. And even if your spellcasting is perfect, the possibility of saving the dead will still be much lower than directly using the spiritual wine to save them.”

‘I don’t think that it’s possible for you.’

Although she didn’t say this directly, Seiji could sense what she meant.

Having the Qilin Girl say that this was an “incredibly difficult and dangerous” idea probably meant that it would be as difficult as creating a miracle.

Logically speaking, he shouldn’t do something so stupid, yet…

“I choose the second option,” Seiji spoke resolutely.

As long as it was possible, he would try!

As for difficulties? Danger?

He had his system’s greatest power of all: the ability to save and load. What did he possibly have to be afraid of!?

At this moment, Seiji emanated an incredibly imposing aura.

Even Yui was stunned by his aura, sending a ripple through her heart.

However, she soon calmed herself down. “Are you certain?” she asked for confirmation.

“I’m certain.”

“If anything goes wrong, it’s unlikely that I’ll be able to save you. You really will die.”

“I won’t die,” Seiji replied confidently and fearlessly.

Yui took a long, long look at him.

She then had him walk away a short distance. Then, she lifted her spear and gathered energy upon it.

The spear began to glow a hazy white as fierce flames ignited on the spear’s tip. Yui stabbed the spear straight into the ground.

She then let go of the spear and speedily created a seal using both her hands while uttering an incantation.

The spear then glowed even more blindingly as a golden white glow spread along the ground in a circle. This glow gradually formed a giant complex spell formation.

The spell formation started glowing a dark red as the ground itself began to rumble. A blood-red glow transferred from the spell formation to the spear, before transferring to the spiritual wine hanging from the end of the spear. The spiritual wine started increasing in quantity, gradually turning black.

Seiji and the others then saw the forest’s trees starting to disappear. The cluster amaryllis flowers also started vanishing as the environment around them slowly returned back to the normal island environment.

Everyone then saw the red moon in the sky beginning to burn up with white flames. Soon, it became a fireball that burned fiercely before gradually beginning to shrink in size.

The process continued for quite a while. Finally, the cluster amaryllis flowers, red moon, and forest all disappeared completely.

The spiritual wine floating in midair had multiplied in quantity by approximately three times. Its color was almost pure black now and it also appeared rather sticky. The wine now gave off an ominous impression.

‘I think I’ll go into a dark form if I drink that…’ Seiji couldn’t help but comment in his mind as he saw how this liquid had mysteriously changed its form.

Yui’s spell ended and she sent the spiritual wine to float in front of Seiji.

“Should I drink it just like this? Is there anything I should pay attention to?”

“Just drink it as quickly as possible.”

Alright then. Cheers!

Seiji approached the sticky black liquid.

“Brother!” At this moment, someone shouted out to him.

Shika was unable to watch this for any longer as she ran over.

“What is this liquid?” she asked Seiji.

“This is the Challenger’s Bloodwine… after some modifications,” Seiji told her. “I’m sorry, Shika-chan. I used up your portion as well.”

“Brother is going to drink this?” Shika didn’t care about her portion of the Bloodwine. She cared about what her adopted older brother was about to do.

“Yeah.” Seiji nodded.

“Will this be dangerous?”

“Yes… a little.”

“Please tell me the truth, Brother Seiji!”

Shika found it difficult to believe that this would only be “a little” dangerous as this sticky black fluid appeared quite ominous.

“I’ll be fine. She’ll be watching over me.” Seiji pointed at Yui. He decided to use her as an excuse.

Something flashed in Shika’s eyes as she glanced over at Yui.

“This modified Bloodwine doesn’t look very good, I know. But please don’t worry, it’ll be fine,” Seiji consoled her again.

However, Shika still had an ominous premonition.

This black and sticky fluid truly seemed completely unnatural. If Seiji drank this…

“I want to drink it as well,” Shika stated. “You said that my portion is in it as well… I want to drink this together with Brother.”

“That’s… no good.”

“Why?”

“Because… if we split this up and drink it separately, the effect will be much weaker,” Seiji told her. “I’ll give you something else in the future to make up for this. Please let me have this portion of Bloodwine, Shika-chan.”

Shika’s ominous premonition became even stronger.

She wanted to say something else, when Yui suddenly spoke up beside her, “Let’s not waste any more time. The longer you wait, the more unstable the spiritual wine will become.”

Seiji turned to look at the black sticky wine again when he heard Yui say this.

“Brother…” Shika wanted to stop him. However, Yui suddenly appeared next to Shika and placed her right hand on Shika’s shoulder. This sealed Shika’s movements!

Then, Yui lifted her left hand and pointed at Izawa and the others who were running over. She also sealed all of their movements!

Seiji took a sip of the black spiritual wine.

It was rather cool and slippery. The taste was like a bitter red wine.

Seiji swallowed this mouthful and immediately felt a subtle chill spreading throughout his entire body.

He started drinking more of the wine, causing his body to become chillier and chillier. Yet, he also felt a faint heat starting to move within his body, giving his body an indescribable subtle sensation.

Then, he suddenly passed a certain boundary and Seiji heard something like an explosion as he sunk into an unknown world…

Pain.

A lot of pain.

An incredible amount of pain.

Tremendous, countless, endless, existing, clashing, intersecting, overlapping, combining…

Seiji was within this, being hit, smashed, thrown around, torn, combined…

He felt an incredible amount of pain, pain that no human would be able to withstand, over and over again, countless times, repeated endlessly…

Seiji resisted, struggled, raged, collapsed, went berserk, cursed, and hated… but everything was returned to silence.

This was a pitiful state that no living human would be able to imagine. Not a single existing word would be sufficient to describe this state.

Everything was meaningless. The entire world was the void. So-called beauty was nothing more than a minor impurity. Only death and silence were eternal.

….

….

…No.

Even though he was in incredible pain and such a pitiful state, he would still deny any attempts to reject everything.

Although he was quite an insignificant and tiny existence, he still existed.

Just like the only visible speck of starlight in a dark, long night.

He would wake up again.