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“Never mind that!” Valentine said, bopping Tsuya on the nose with her right index finger. “We’re going on a scenic walk, aren’t we? We should enjoy it!” She looked around, taking in the sights, and breathed in a deep lungful of fresh air. “Mmmh!” she exclaimed. “This must be what people mean when they talk about getting somefresh air—this place is delightfully refreshing! But it’s strange...somehow I feel even hungrier than usual...” She reached out as she spoke, taking another fruit from the branches of a tree as they passed.

Hero Gold-Hair let out a chuckle at Valentine’s behavior. “You’re right about that, anyway! And once we’ve had our fill of the scenery, the next stop is a long, leisurely bath!”

The party set off once again down the road, but they had barely taken a single step before Hero Gold-Hair felt a sudden sense of unease. He halted in his tracks, looking all around...just in time to see two glowing orbs, one red and one blue, erupt without warning from the lake up ahead on their trail, not far from the hot springs village itself. The orbs seemed to be engaged in some kind of chase, flying low over the ground as they darted this way and that.

“W-Watch out!” Hero Gold-Hair shouted as the orbs veered in the party’s direction. “Everyone get down!”

Tsuya and the others obeyed in an instant, throwing themselves flat against the ground just in the nick of time.Ka-smash!The orbs careened over the party’s heads, missing them by a hair and colliding with the rocky mountain surface with an ear-shattering sound that seemed to shake the entire mountain. A plume of dust erupted from the impact, swirling around the party and robbing them of their sight.

“Ack, hack! H-Hero Gooold-Hair! Are you okaaay?” Tsuya coughed as she lifted her head, looking up from where she lay on the ground to see Hero Gold-Hair lying prone. Grabbing the baby carriage Aryun Keats with Wuha Gappoli inside, she hurried over to him as fast as she could.

Next to her, Valentine roused herself as well, following suit. “Hero Gold-Hair! Are you all right?”

The two ran up to where they thought they had seen Hero Gold-Hair lying on the ground, but when they got there, they froze up in shock at the sight before their eyes.

Wuha Gappoli, meanwhile, was frozen for a somewhat different reason—it seemed she had been knocked unconscious from the impact and was now lying peacefully in the baby carriage with a pacifier sticking out of her mouth.

What they found when they arrived at the spot Hero Gold-Hair had been was the red orb they had seen flying just moments ago, buried in the ground with only its top half exposed.

“Wh-Where’s Hero Gooold-Hair?” Tsuya asked, looking around every which way in her confusion. “I-I’m sure he was lying over heeere...” Hero Gold-Hair, however, was nowhere to be seen. “Th-This red ooorb didn’t crush Hero Gooold-Hair, did it?” she asked, blanching at the thought as she looked down at the orb through narrow eyes.

“Well...” said Valentine. “It seems like it must have.” She held out her hands, summoning threads of darkness from her fingertips. A cold smile played on her lips, but her eyes were deadly serious. Tsuya, meanwhile, retrieved her Drilldozer Shovel from the Bottomless Bag she carried.

The Drilldozer Shovels were a pair of legendary items that had once been held in the citadel of Klyrode Castle. Of the two, one was in the possession of Hero Gold-Hair while Tsuya held on to the other.

And so, Tsuya and Valentine crept one step at a time up towards the red orb.

◇ ◇ ◇

Inside the orb, a woman wearing a tattered cloak shook Hero Gold-Hair by the shoulders. Her body was clearly inhuman, with half of it resembling a young maiden and the other half a bare skeleton. “U-Um...” she started. “Mister, are you all right?!”

This woman was one of the Contract Executors charged with the enforcement of the sacred Blood Oath Contract, making her an angel and disciple of the Celestial Plane. When disciples were dispatched from the Celestial Plane to lesser worlds it was their custom to don tattered robes and carry heavy scythes, transforming their bodies into half-maiden, half-skeleton visages, like the one this woman currently wore.

Hero Gold-Hair’s body flopped limply in the angel’s arms, clearly unconscious.

“Hello! Hello, hello!” she cried with increasing desperation, shaking him again and again. “Are you all right? Mister, won’t you please open your eyes?”

Alas, Hero Gold-Hair’s body betrayed no signs of life.

“Oh no, oh no, oh no...” the angel repeated, the color draining out of the half of her face that resembled a young maiden. “I’m already going to be in big enough trouble for injuring a living creature from a world I was visiting on a mission!” She quickly placed her hand to Hero Gold-Hair’s wrist, feeling for a pulse, and pressed her ear to his chest to confirm whether or not he was still breathing. “His heartbeat is weak, and his breathing has almost stopped...” she said, sitting back up. “Oh, no no no no no no no... This man is on the verge of death, and it’s all my fault!”

The angel looked even more frightened after her examination of Hero Gold-Hair’s condition. By now the color had gone out of her face completely. “This is really bad...” she said, swallowing nervously. “Even though it was a complete accident that happened while I was chasing the Devil-Beast Bel Munhra after it escaped from the escort taking it to its prison in the Hell Realms, if the goddesses find out I’ve killed a human of this world whose time wasn’t meant to be up, they’ll exile me from the Celestial Plane for sure!”

P-Plus...she added to herself.If they find out the whole reason Bel Munhra got away was that I was slacking off and eating sweets, exile would be getting off lightly...The beads of cold sweat dripping down her forehead at this point resembled nothing so much as a waterfall.

“I-I know!” she suddenly declared, taking a crystal out of the Bottomless Bag she wore on her belt. “Now’s the perfect time to usethis...”

This crystal was a magic item capable of sending messages between worlds, granted to disciples of the Celestial Plane whose missions took them far from home. She held it aloft in her right hand and activated its communication function. “This is Griyn. Repeat, this is Griyn,” she said, speaking quickly. “Dina, are you awake?”

After a short while, she got a response. “Griyn?” said the somewhat groggy voice coming out of the crystal. “Haven’t I told you enough times to stop bombarding me with interworld transmissions without any warning? I have plenty to deal with on my own plate, you know.”

Relief washed over Griyn’s face when she heard Dina’s voice. “Th-Thank goodness, it went through... I-I’m very sorry. It won’t happen again.” Griyn took a single deep breath and smoothed her cloak over her chest, taking a moment to compose herself before continuing. “But never mind that, this is an emergency! Someone needs your help, Dina—me! I’m begging you!” She clasped her hands together, desperately entreating her acquaintance.

“Well...” Dina said at last, “I admit, I have an extremely bad feeling about getting involved with whatever this is...but I suppose I can at least hear you out. What in the cosmos is going on?”

Griyn’s face lit up with a smile at Dina’s offer to help, tears welling up in her eyes. Just then, however, the world around her began to shake. “Wh-Wh-What’s this?!” she cried, looking all around. “What’s happening?!”

The walls of her red orb, however, only continued to shake with greater and greater intensity.

◇ ◇ ◇

“A red orb...” Riliangiu said, extending her arms to cast her Search spell on the object. “It doesn’t seem to be of the world of Klyrode...” Riliangiu had been away when the incident had occurred, but she had felt a disturbance and hurried back as fast as she could.

“I’ve had enough of this!” said Valentine. “Stand back! It’s my turn!” In a single burst, she extended her threads of darkness towards the orb, striking it again and again for all she was worth. The force of the attack shook the orb violently, until a crack formed on one of its sides.

“Give us back Hero Gooold-Hair!” Tsuya shouted, lifting the Drilldozer Shovel high in the air and bringing its head down hard upon the curious object.

“Next is my turn!” Behind them, a cannon extended out from Aryun Keats’s baby carriage form, its barrel aimed straight for the enemy orb. “Bearing, check! Target, acquired! Magic rounds, loaded! Annnd...fire!”

The barrel of the gun burst into flames. A second later, an enormouskaboooooom!echoed throughout the mountain forest. The orb took a direct hit, shaking heavily as the crack from Valentine’s attacks widened still further.

“Tch!” Aryun telepathically clicked her tongue in irritation. “It’s still in one piece? Stubborn thing...and it will take five minutes to charge up the magic power for another shot...”

“In that case, I’ll simply have to destroy it before then!” said Valentine, preparing to use her thread once again.

Before Valentine could strike, however, the orb simply disappeared, leaving behind a crater filled with smoke. And in the dead center, Hero Gold-Hair stood stiffly upright like a soldier at attention.

“Hero Gold-Hair!” the four of them—Tsuya, Valentine, Riliangiu and Aryun Keats—all cried at once, running up towards their leader.

◇ ◇ ◇

“Th-That was a close one!” Griyn said. “That djinn’s magitank cannon packed a serious punch! Just a little more and the Ruby Sphere might have been destroyed! And that’s to say nothing of the destructive power of those threads that woman from the Realm of Evil was using...”

Currently, Griyn was inside Hero Gold-Hair’s mindscape, breathing hard and drenched in sweat as she looked around at the group surrounding her.

Moments ago, Griyn had finally managed to explain the situation to Dina using. After a short pause, Dina’s voice came from the crystal in response.

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“Let me get this straight, Griyn...” she said. “First, you allowed the Devil-Beast Bel Munhra to escape mid transit due to your own inattentiveness. Then, while pursuing Bel Munhra, you injured a resident of the world of Klyrode severely enough that he might die at any time. And now, that man’s companions are about to destroy the Ruby Sphere that was given to you for transportation? Do I have that right?”

“Y-Yes, well...I suppose that’s about the gist of it, anyway...” Griyn responded, her voice sounding unnaturally shrill.

Another moment of lag passed. “Are you an idiot?!” Dina snapped.

“Wh-Whaaa?!” Griyn exclaimed, taken aback by Dina’s castigating tone. Castigation or no, however, Griyn kept on pleading desperately. It was hardly the time to worry about appearances. “Well, like I said, I could really use some help! Bring a Resurrection Bead if you can! If we leave things like this, this human is going to die! AndI’llend up being exiled from the Celestial Plane! Then I’d be in the same category as that goddess Telbyress! The shame! I wouldn’t be able to bear it!”

Dina listened silently for a time, before giving a deep sigh. “Fine,” she said. “I’ll see what I can do. But just this once, understand?”

“Yes! Of course! Thank you!”

“For the time being,” Dina instructed her, “possess that human at once in order to prolong his life as long as possible. I’ll see what I can do to bring you a Resurrection Bead, so try to hold out until then.”

“Okay! I will!” Griyn nodded over and over again, tears of gratitude streaming from her eyes.

Back in the present, Griyn plunged into Hero Gold-Hair’s mindscape as he lay unconscious on the brink of death, possessing his body herself. This way she would be able to prolong his life, but as he himself was still comatose, needless to say Hero Gold-Hair’s will would not be able to animate his body for her. It fell to Griyn to control the body in his stead.

W-Well...she thought, looking around at Hero Gold-Hair’s party of companions on the outside of the sphere.For the time being, I suppose I should find some way to trick them and buy time until Dina can arrive...“First things first, though, all that excitement gave me a bit of an appetite,” she said, retrieving a bag stuffed full of a variety of baked sweets from her Bottomless Bag. She began stuffing her cheeks full, a delighted grin on her face. “Can’t do work on an empty stomach, after all!”

She had been snaking on precisely these sweets in particular when the Devil-Beast Bel Munhra had given her the slip as well, but at that moment, her past failures were the furthest thing from her mind.

Griyn alternated between snacking on her sweets and monitoring the situation around her, when suddenly, she noticed a change. “H-Huh?”

Hero Gold-Hair, possessed by Griyn from inside his mindscape, was standing there like normal as Tsuya, Valentine, Aryun Keats, and Riliangiu all came running up...until suddenly the party recoiled, drawing back and eyeing Hero Gold-Hair with suspicion.

“Something’s wrooong with Hero Gooold-Hair...” Tsuya whispered, misgivings written all over her face. “It doooes look like him, but I don’t knooow...”

“You’re right,” Valentine agreed. “It’s like he’s a different person inside. This whole situation is clearly wrong.” She wove her threads of darkness from her fingertips, making sure not to lower her guard.

“Who are you?” asked Aryun Keats, back in her human form. She was carrying an empty bottle menacingly in both hands, ready to swing should they come to blows. “Show us your true form!”

“They’re far too suspicious, whoever they are,” Riliangiu said, her arms transforming into blades past the elbows as she crouched low to the ground, prepared to spring into the air.

Wuha Gappoli, however, was still unconscious on the ground behind them and had nothing to contribute to the conversation.

The party was showing open hostility towards Hero Gold-Hair. Griyn frowned in confusion as she watched from inside his mindscape.Th-That’s strange...she thought.What could have given me away?She hadn’t expected this at all. She found herself at a complete loss for words.

At the time Griyn had let it slip her mind, but while possessing Hero Gold-Hair’s body might have prolonged his life, that was all it had done. Yes—as Tsuya and the others ran up, Hero Gold-Hair had simply stood on the spot, a blank and lifeless expression on his face. Ordinarily, when possessing a body like this, one would read their target’s memories in order to interact with the people around them without anyone noticing that something was strange. Griyn, however, had simply forgotten to do this.

Just standing and taking no other action was just about the most suspicious thing Hero Gold-Hair could have possibly done.

The party stood on guard, keeping their distance as they glared at Hero Gold-Hair’s body with open suspicion. Then, suddenly, they heard a rustling sound as the tall grass nearby began to sway, until a woman emerged from the vegetation.

“Ummm...” Tsuya said, taking a halting step towards the woman. “Are you okaaay?”

It was no wonder she should ask. The woman’s clothes were in tatters, and her feet were completely bare. Riliangiu, however, pushed Tsuya back, stopping her. “Wait just a moment,” she said, glaring fiercely in the woman’s direction.

The woman glared right back.

“Ummm... Is something wrooong?” Tsuya asked.

“That woman is dangerous,” Riliangiu answered, refusing to lower her guard. She certainly seemed frightened—her forehead had already broken out in a cold sweat.

“Quite right...” Valentine concurred, turning to face the woman herself, still keeping her threads at the ready. “That woman might have assumed human form, but she certainly doesn’t seem to be any sort of ordinary human.”

“I-It’s her!” Griyn exclaimed inside Hero Gold-Hair’s mindscape, her eyes opening wide when she saw who the woman was. “There’s no doubt about it! She’s in human form at the moment, but that’s Bel Munhra!” She gulped. “Judging from its condition, it seems the effect of the Bind spell hasn’t completely worn off... If I can keep running until Dina arrives, together we might be able to figure out something we can do... But until then, I should make a tactical retreat!”

She held out her right arm, ordering Hero Gold-Hair’s body to flee. The body, however, didn’t move a muscle.H-Huh?!she thought, holding out her arm once again. But no matter how many times she repeated the gesture, Hero Gold-Hair’s Body showed no signs of moving anytime soon.

“Wh-What’s going on?!” she asked. “As long as I’m possessing this body, I should be in complete control! Why can’t I get it to move?!” Baffled, she held out her arm time and time again, but Hero Gold-Hair’s body stayed rooted steadfast to the spot, not so much as twitching a muscle. “Wh-Why is this happening?!” she screamed inside Hero Gold-Hair’s head, getting more and more frantic with every arm swing.

Suddenly, Griyn heard Hero Gold-Hair’s voice inside the mindscape itself. “Don’t be ridiculous!” he snapped. “What good would running away do us?!”

“Aiiieee!!!” Griyn shrieked so startled she jumped up in the air. A second later, she found herself face-to-face with a manifestation of Hero Gold-Hair. “F-Fweh?! Y-You! You’re that man’s psychic construct! But, how?!”

The psychic construct of Hero Gold-Hair held out his right arm. “Keats!” he bellowed. “Blow her away!”

“Wait! B-But you’re on the verge of death! You’re in acoma! How could you possibly produce a psychic construct in that state?! It doesn’t make any sense!” She clutched her head, staggering this way and that in sheer confusion.

Aryun Keats, however, turned away from Bel Munhra for a second to glance over at Hero Gold-Hair’s body. “I-I’m not sure if I understand what’s going on...” she said. “But I thought I could hear someone telling me to ‘blow her away’...” She transformed her body into a formidable magitank, aiming her turret straight at Bel Munhra. “Then blow her away I shall!” she declared. “Three! Two! One! Fire!!!”

Aryun fired a magic shell from her turret with a violentkabooooooom!!!

“Good job! That’s how it’s done!” said Hero Gold-Hair, clenching his right hand tight into a fist and nodding with satisfaction as he watched from his own mindscape. Griyn could only stare back and forth between him and Aryun Keats outside, unable to believe her eyes.

The area around Bel Munhra was shrouded with smoke in the wake of the point-blank blast from Aryun’s cannon. “Grrrhhh...” A low growl came from inside the plume, as the party saw the Devil-Beast’s silhouette move.

“Well then, how about this?!” said Valentine, releasing her threads and lashing out at the figure inside the smoke for all she was worth.

“Graaaaaah!!!” Bel Munhra roared, swatting aside thread after thread with her arms and the tail that had appeared behind her. It seemed the threads of darkness had done little more than anger the beast. She howled, shooting a jet of crimson flame from her open mouth that burned away every last one of Valentine’s threads.

“It can’t be!” Valentine exclaimed, her eyes shooting open in shock. “My threads of darkness!” It was no wonder Valentine was so surprised—her threads were woven with the magic of the Realm of Evil, which was incomparably stronger than the magic of Klyrode. Even a dragon’s flames would have been hard-pressed to destroy them. “I could tell that woman was extraordinary, but it seems we’ve run into a rather troublesome opponent indeed...” she said, producing a fresh batch of thread once more.

Bel Munhra stood there, shoulders heaving as she breathed in and out in ragged breaths. Then, before Valentine’s eyes, her arms transformed into bestial limbs as a horn sprouted from her forehead. She was becoming more and more of a Devil-Beast by the second.

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“See? I told you!” Griyn said as she watched the events play out from inside Hero Gold-Hair’s mindscape. “Bel Munhra is a Devil-Beast, a creature with more magic power than any magic beast! It’s too dangerous to try to fight something like that without a plan of some sort! So come on...we need to withdraw!” She cried out again and again, but it seemed Hero Gold-Hair’s companions simply couldn’t hear her. None of them made even the slightest reaction to her voice.

“Grrrhhh...” Bel Munhra, however, turned to face straight towards Hero Gold-Hair.

“Noooooo!!!” Griyn shrieked. She turned towards Hero Gold-Hair, who was standing beside her with his arms folded in front of his chest. “Hey, you! Hurry up and order them to retreat, won’t you?! They can’t hear me! At this rate, every one of us is going to die!”

Hero Gold-Hair, however, stood right where he was, not moving a muscle.

Griyn pleaded and pleaded, swaying unsteadily on her feet. Finally, Hero Gold-Hair saw fit to move, turning to look over at Griyn. “What are you, an idiot?”

“Thank you!” said Griyn, confused by his sudden response. “Now, tell them to— Wait, what did you say?!”

Hero Gold-Hair opened his eyes, glaring at the angel with righteous indignation. “And what do you think will happen after we run away?!” he demanded. “There’s a hot springs village at the peak of this mountain, you know! There’s bound to be scores of guests up there, even as we speak! What do you think is going to happen withthem?!”

Griyn flinched, startled by the force of Hero Gold-Hair’s words. “B-But!” she argued. “Bel Munhra alone has enough magic power to destroy this entire world! How do you expect us to defeat something like that? There’s just no way!”

“Poppycock!” Hero Gold-Hair said, grabbing Griyn by the shoulders and shaking her hard. “What’s with your attitude?! Are you going to do anything but look for reasons why you can’t?!”

Just then, as Hero Gold-Hair shook her, something fell out of Griyn’s pocket and clattered to the ground at Hero Gold-Hair’s feet. “Hm?” he muttered, bending down to pick it up. “What’s this?”

It was a rod-shaped object, emitting a dim light. Hero Gold-Hair stared at the thing, looking it up and down.

“A-Ah!” Griyn cried when she realized that her own magic item had found its way into Hero Gold-Hair’s hands. “S-Stop!” she pleaded, reaching out to take the rod back. “That’s a Celestial Wand, a magic item only we disciples of the Celestial Plane can use! It’s far too dangerous for an ordinary human like yourself!”

Hero Gold-Hair, however, ignored her and went on studying the Celestial Wand. “What have we here? This part looks like some sort of button...” And before Griyn could stop him, he pressed it. The Celestial Wand began to shine with brilliant light. “Wh-What’s happening?!” Hero Gold-Hair cried out, squinting at the sudden radiance as the wand’s glow grew, enveloping the psychic construct that served as his body.

◇ ◇ ◇

In the outside world, Valentine and Aryun Keats were standing against Bel Munhra as Tsuya urged Hero Gold-Hair, whose body was still standing motionless, to flee. Then, suddenly, Hero Gold-Hair’s body began to shine with light.

“Hwuuuh?!” Tsuya exclaimed, startled by the sudden development.

“Wh-Whatever is the matter, Lady Tsuya?” Valentine asked, glancing over at Tsuya as she continued to fire thread after thread towards Bel Munhra. Aryun Keats and Riliangiu, who had been in the middle of launching their own attacks, turned to look as well.

Hero Gold-Hair’s body shone brighter and brighter before the group’s eyes. The light wrapped around his limbs, transforming into a golden bodysuit as his golden hair seemed to burst out of his head, growing longer until it was long enough to reach his waist and fluttering dramatically in the breeze.

“Whaaa?!” Tsuya, Valentine, Riliangiu and Aryun could only watch Hero Gold-Hair’s unexpected transformation.

Wuha Gappoli, however, didn’t react at all. She was still out cold from the earlier impact.

They watched as Hero Gold-Hair, his entire body now brilliant gold, got to his feet, gingerly brushing away Tsuya’s hand. He swiftly moved his arms and legs this way and that, checking to see if everything was in good working order. “Hm...” came Hero Gold-Hair’s telepathic voice. “I can’t say I have much of an idea what’s going on, but it looks like I can move normally as long as I’m in this suit...”

Everyone present stared wide-eyed, stunned by Hero Gold-Hair’s transformation. Bel Munhra, however, narrowed her eyes, shooting him a questioning glare full of hate. “You...” she said in an inhuman voice, her mouth twisting into a scowl. “You are not of the Silver Pursuers. Who are you?”

“Who am I?” Hero Gold-Hair said, looking back at the Devil-Beast. “You’re looking at the one and only Hero Gold-Hair! And don’t you forget it!” With that, he kicked off the ground, headed straight for Bel Munhra at a pace far outstripping his ordinary running speed. He was so fast that even Valentine, who boasted perceptual prowess worthy of the Twelve Evil Generals of the Realm of Evil, found herself unable to keep track of her movements—to say nothing of Tsuya, who was nothing more than an everyday human. At his speed he looked like a mere golden blur, zooming straight for Bel Munhra.

“A golden orb? And a man...?” Bel Munhra muttered to herself, watching in disbelief as Hero Gold-Hair closed the distance.

“Hah!” Clad in his golden bodysuit, his newly waist-length hair streaming behind him like a banner, Hero Gold-Hair was upon Bel Munhra in a second. The golden warrior struck with a powerful right straight punch, putting all the momentum from his sudden dash behind the blow. Mere instants before the blow landed, Bel Munhra crossed her arms in front of her to block the attack, but it was no use. The overwhelming force of Hero Gold-Hair’s punch sent her flying back into the forest, plowing through hefty trees and sending them keeling over before landing in a heap on the ground.

Hero Gold-Hair, however, was far from finished. With a “Hup!” he leaped high into the air, coming downwards towards Bel Munhra with his right leg outstretched in a devastating flying kick. Bel Munhra, finding herself buried in a pile of fallen timber, shook her head as if trying to determine whether or not she was awake while she pulled herself to her feet—just in time to see Hero Gold-Hair bearing down on her from above. She bent down, light emitting from her back as crimson flames gathered in her mouth.

Before she could follow through and roast the incoming Hero Gold-Hair with her fiery breath, however, Bel Munhra found herself bound with countless threads of darkness, reaching all the way to the back of her neck and forcing her head down towards the ground. “Grwaaaahhh!!!” she roared in frustration, unable to properly face her target.

“I haven’t gone anywhere, you know!” Valentine said, smirking as she used her hands to manipulate the threads. “Don’t tell me you forgot about me!”

Bel Munhra’s looked up at Valentine with an expression of pure hatred.

“Hi-yah!” Hero Gold-Hair shouted as his kick impacted the back of Bel Munhra’s head with a tremendous burst of force. With Valentine distracting Bel Munhra, she had taken the full force of the attack, cratering her into the forest floor. Hero Gold-Hair alighted to the ground beside her, looking down upon his fallen foe.

Inside Hero Gold-Hair’s mindscape, Griyn watched in disbelief, eyes wide and mouth agape, positively stunned. “W-Wait a minute...” she said, swallowing nervously as she looked over at Hero Gold-Hair. “Th-The Celestial Wand is a magic item disciples of the Celestial Plane use to change into a form that enhances our abilities in order to apprehend dangerous magic beasts...but itshouldhave a mechanism that prevents it from being used by anyone other than its owner!” She swallowed once again. “B-But somehow...some way or other...this golden-haired man was able to transform...and move...and even fight?” All she could do was stare in disbelief at the sight of Hero Gold-Hair dressed in his golden bodysuit.

Bel Munhra pulled herself to her feet once again, glaring furiously at Hero Gold-Hair. “What are you...you...golden orb man?” she demanded.

“My name isn’t ‘Golden Orb Man’!” Hero Gold-Hair said. “It’s Hero Go—” But before he could finish, Tsuya, Valentine, and Riliangiu all came running up, hugging him tight.

“Hero Gooold-Hair!” said Tsuya. “We were sooo worried!”

“That’s right!” Valentine concurred. “After all, you suddenly stopped moving entirely!”

“I had no idea what had become of you...” said Riliangiu. “Truly, I was out of my mind with worry!”

“Hero Gold-Hair!” said Aryun Keats, cutting into the celebrating crowd, still in her magitank form. “I, too, was very worried!”

“Ghah!” Hero Gold-Hair cried as Aryun Keats’s turret jabbed into his abdomen. “K-Keats! What do you think you’re doing?!” he protested, doubling over in pain.

“A-Ah! My apologies!” Aryun Keats said. “I was so overcome with emotion, I must have forgotten to return to my humanoid form!” With that, she transformed, wincing apologetically as she scratched the back of her head.

“What am I going to do with you...?” Hero Gold-Hair sighed, looking over at Aryun. His face, however, was covered entirely by the golden bodysuit, making it impossible to tell what sort of expression he was making.

Tsuya, Valentine, and Riliangiu all burst into laughter at the sight.

“U-Um... Excuse me?” Wuha Gappoli said as she came walking up to the group in no particular hurry.

“Oh! Wuha! Finally awake, are you?” Hero Gold-Hair said. “I’m glad to see you’re all right.”

“Well, thank you for your concern, I guess...” Wuha said. “But what about...you know...”

“Hm?” Hero Gold-Hair asked, tilting his head in confusion. “What about what?”

“Well...” Wuha said, pointing off to the side into the forest. “That freaky-looking woman who was on the ground there ran away while you all were catching up...”

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“S-Say what?!” Hero Gold-Hair hastily turned to look at the spot where Bel Munhra had been just moments earlier, as did the rest of the team. However, the Devil-Beast was nowhere in sight. “Th-That won’t do! We need to go after her!” Hero Gold-Hair said, looking off in the direction Wuha was pointing. Just then, however, his gold suit began blinking red.

“Hero Gooold-Hair?” Tsuya asked, looking utterly perplexed by the changes affecting their party leader. “What’s happening nooow?”

“H-Hm...” Hero Gold-Hair said, looking down in confusion at his suit as the rest of the party gathered around. “I haven’t the foggiest myself, I’m afraid...”

In Hero Gold-Hair’s mindscape, meanwhile, Griyn clutched her head in her hands, looking up to the heavens. “See?!” she cried. “What did Itellyou?!”

Oh no, oh no, oh no...she thought.The warrior transformation is about to run out of time! Oh, this is bad... That golden-haired man is going to go back to his human form and succumb to his injuries all over again! Could things possibly get any worse?Realizing that she was truly in the worst-case scenario, Griyn clutched her head even tighter and collapsed to the floor. “I lost my hold on his body when he transformed...and took a good deal of psychic damage to boot!” she said. “If he weren’t so badly injured, I might have time to redo my possession, but as it is he’s on the verge of death! Oh, what to do, what to do, what to do...?”

Griyn lay on the ground for a while, helplessly flailing her arms and legs, before finally taking her interworld communication crystal out of her Bottomless Bag. “This is Griyn... Repeat, this is Griyn...” she said. “Dina, do you copy? Do you copy, Dina? Dina? Do you copy?” She repeated herself time and time again, until finally, she got a response.

“Griyn...” came Dina’s voice. She sounded angry. “Didn’t Ijusttell you to stop bombarding me with interworld transmissions out of the blue like this?!”

Griyn flinched back from Dina’s voice for just a moment, but she cleared her throat and turned back to the crystal. “W-We don’t have time for that!” she said, as quickly as she could. “How are things coming with the Resurrection Bead? Things on my end are looking pretty bad right now...”

“Excuse me?!” Dina snapped. “Don’t be absurd! Do you think these things are easy to come by?! I’m working on my request to the goddesses right now, and trying as hard as I can to think of excuses for you!”

Oh, noooooo!Griyn thought, the color draining from her face.If she’s still in the middle of making the request, there’s no way she’ll get it in time! And when they find out I killed this golden-haired man in a freak accident, my life in the Celestial Plane is finished!

Griyn looked out at the events transpiring outside of the mindscape with an expression of despair. Then, she suddenly seemed to remember something. “Oh, that’s right!” she said, pulling something out of her Bottomless Bag—another wand, this one bright red. “Nothing for it, I suppose. I’ll have to take the risk!”

Back in the material world, Hero Gold-Hair’s suit continued to blink rapidly. With no way of knowing what that might mean, Hero Gold-Hair took off after Bel Munhra. Just at that moment, however, the blinking stopped. “H-Hm?” he said, stopping in his tracks, confused as the golden suit that had adorned his body vanished completely, leaving him back in his usual form. “N-Nghhh...” he moaned, clutching his chest as he collapsed on the spot.

“H-Hero Gold-Hair!!!” Valentine and the others rushed up as Hero Gold-Hair lay on the ground, completely still.

A second later, Hero Gold-Hair’s psychic construct body reappeared inside his mindscape. “Mgh?!” he exclaimed. “I-I’m back here...” He looked around in complete bewilderment. “What in the hells is going on?” He patted his own body up and down before finally looking up. There, he could see an image of what was happening in the world outside—his own body lying unconscious, not moving an inch as his party tried desperately to see to his wounds. “A-And what’s going on overhere?”

“You’re back!” a woman’s voice called from behind him.

“N-Ngh?!” Hero Gold-Hair said, wheeling around. As soon as he did, the woman from before pressed a red cylinder-shaped object into his hand. “What’s with this stick?”

“Hurry!” the woman—Griyn—said. “You have to press the button on that Celestial Wand! It’s now or never!”

“H-Hm?” Hero Gold-Hair said. “What is this thing, anyway? It looks a bit like the wand I picked up earlier...” Still hopelessly confused, Hero Gold-Hair found the button on the Celestial Wand located in the same place as the one he had handled previously and pressed it. “Nh!” Once again, his psychic construct body began to shine with light.

◇ ◇ ◇

“Huuuh?!” Tsuya, who had been trying to help the immobile Hero Gold-Hair to his feet, suddenly opened her eyes wide. “H-He’s shiiining again!”

True enough, Hero Gold-Hair’s body had once again begun to glow with brilliant light.

“I-Is this the same thing that happened earlier?” Aryun Keats asked, utterly baffled.

“S-So it would seem...” said Valentine, seeming no less confused than anyone else as she watched Hero Gold-Hair closely.

Then, as the party watched on, Hero Gold-Hair’s body was once again enveloped in his golden suit, his transformation complete. “Ghhh...” he muttered as he returned to consciousness, shaking the cobwebs out of his head.

“H-Hero Gold-Hair!” The whole party cried out with joy, all hurrying to hug Hero Gold-Hair as he lay supine on the ground.

A dry smile came over Griyn’s face as she watched from Hero Gold-Hair’s mindscape.A-Aha ha...she laughed to herself.I guess I should apologize to Dina for that one, huh. That’s the wand I accidentally took home with me from a drinking party over at her place! I can’t believe I ended up using it...

Celestial Wands were designed to prevent anyone other than the designated owner from using their power, but for whatever reason Hero Gold-Hair seemed to be able to use them to transform regardless. That could only mean that the wand’s ownership permission had somehow been changed.

Griyn picked up her own Celestial Wand from where it had fallen on the floor of Hero Gold-Hair’s mindscape when his first transformation ran out and pressed the button herself, only for a message to appear, reading: “Wand Owner Not Identified.”

I knew it...she thought, looking down at the wand in despair. “Sorry, Dina...” she muttered to herself.Oh!Suddenly, she remembered an important detail.Transformations from a Celestial Wand only last a short amount of time!

The color draining from her face once more, Griyn held the crystal that let her send transmissions to other worlds up to her mouth. “This is Griyn, repeat, this is Griyn!” she said. “Dina, hurry! I need you noooooow!”

“How many times do I have to tell you before you finally listen, Griyn?” came Dina’s exasperated voice. “Cut it out with the constant transmissions!”

“I-I-I’ll apologize good and proper once we’ve gotten this whole thing wrapped up!” Griyn insisted. “B-But what about the Resurrection Bead? Do you have it yet?!”

“You are just impossible...” Dina said. “Yes, I happened to get my hands on one right this very moment. I’m heading your way right now. Just give me about an hour.”

“Five minutes!” Griyn pleaded. “I need it in the next five minutes, please and thank you! If you can get it here by then, I swear I’ll do anything!”

“What?! Griyn, you’re being ridiculous! You realize I’m in the Celestial Plane right now, don’t you?! You know how much of a hassle it is to leave one world and go all the way to another!”

“I know that perfectly well, believe me!” Griyn said, holding the crystal in both hands. “But please! I’m begging you! You have to make it in the next five minutes somehow! For me!” she begged relentlessly, drowning out Dina’s voice.

Outside, Hero Gold-Hair, now once again shining radiantly with golden light, set off to resume his battle with Bel Munhra. “Right!” he declared. “This time she won’t get away!” In fact, with Hero Gold-Hair’s transformed state, the party had no trouble at all finding where she had fled. They had hardly even begun the search when Hero Gold-Hair discovered her using his new abilities. When she saw him coming, Bel Munhra slammed her tail against the ground and kicked furiously, deeply vexed to see that her foe had caught her scent so quickly.

“Settle down and come quietly!” Hero Gold-Hair said, swinging his arm in a full-power haymaker. The moment he impacted, the color of his suit changed from gold to red—an alternate form of the warrior transformation optimized for sheer power.

Bel Munhra tried to counter with her powerful tail, but Hero Gold-Hair’s attack crashed through hers like it was nothing, scoring a direct hit on her body. “Graaaaaah!!!” she cried in a voice halfway between a bestial howl and a human scream as the blow sent her flying through the air.

Tsuya stared after Hero Gold-Hair, eyes wide with awe. “First gooold and now reeed...” she said. “How many colors can you turn into, Hero Gooold-Hair?”

“Believe me, I’d like to know that just as much as you!” Hero Gold-Hair snapped. Just then, however, Bel Munhra charged in, attacking with her tail in an attempt to take advantage of his momentary distraction. “Gah! That was a close one!” he said, dodging the sharp point of the tail with a superhumanly quick dash out of the way. This time his suit, which had returned to its default golden color, turned blue as he moved—a form of the transformation optimized for speed.

Hero Gold-Hair used his newfound speed to run circles around Bel Munhra in a ploy to confuse his opponent. The stratagem worked like a charm; Bel Munhra seemed completely unable to keep up.

“Valentine! Now!” Hero Gold-Hair barked.

[GENERATION FAILED - RAW TEXT]

“Of course! Leave it to me!” On Hero Gold-Hair’s signal, Valentine released her thread. Bel Munhra went to burn it away with his fire breath like she had before, but this time she had forgotten an important detail. In order to use that particular technique, she would need to stop moving, leaving her a sitting duck for another one of Hero Gold-Hair’s flying jump kicks.

“Ughraaah!!!” she shrieked as Hero Gold-Hair’s foot impacted her straight in the back of the head, sending her to the ground once again.

When Aryun Keats saw that Bel Munhra was no longer moving, she charged forward, transforming once again into her magitank form. “Launching follow-up attack!” she declared, aiming her turret straight for Bel Munhra. “Bearing, check! Target, acquired! Magic rounds, loaded! Annnd...fire!” The magic round launched from her turret, impacting Bel Munhra with enough force to violently shake the earth, enveloping the area in a cloud of dust. “I got her!” she said, turning back into her human form and flexing her muscles in a macho pose of celebration. “Ahhh, what a sensation!”

The next second, however, Bel Munhra came charging out of the cloud of dust, striking the off guard Aryun with a devastating rush attack.

“Uwaaah!!!” Aryun cried as she was sent flying far away into the depths of the forest.

“A-Aryun! Waaait!” shouted Wuha Gappoli, taking off running after her comrade.

Hero Gold-Hair, on the other hand, had a somewhat more violent reaction. “You fiend!” he shouted, leaping once more into the air. “How dare you hurt Keats!” His leg came down, landing yet another flying kick to Bel Munhra’s head—the third such blow the Devil-Beast had taken that day. She fell to the ground.

“Now’s our chance!” said Riliangiu, springing into action from her position nearby observing the situation. She transformed her arms past the elbows into sharp blades and pressed them up against Bel Munhra’s neck, ready to cut her down at a moment’s notice. “Even you can’t survive without your head. Now yield!” Completely unable to move, Bel Munhra growled in aggravation.

“And take this, for good measure!” said Valentine, binding Bel Munhra’s mouth tight with her threads of darkness to prevent her from breathing flames. She proceeded to tie up the rest of her body in turn, until Bel Munhra resembled nothing so much as a matryoshka doll.

“It looks like she’s finally given up...”Hero Gold-Hair said, breathing a sigh of relief at the sight of the immobilized Devil-Beast. “Hey, woman!” he added, addressing Griyn in his own mindscape. “Are you watching? What am I supposed to do now?”

A small box appeared in Hero Gold-Hair’s hand, as if in response to his words.

“I’m supposed to shut away the monster inthistiny thing?!” Clearly unconvinced, he approached the Devil-Beast when suddenly the box began to glow, sucking its target inside of its own accord. Bel Munhra’s body grew smaller and smaller as it was absorbed into the box, until she was safely stowed away.

“I see...” Hero Gold-Hair said, marveling over the sight. “So the box had a trick to it, then!” Just at that moment, however, his suit began to blink red. “Nh...?”

In Hero Gold-Hair’s mindscape, Griyn was once again beginning to panic. “Oh no, oh no, oh no...” she said. “This is really, really bad! It will be another twelve hours at least until the first Celestial Wand he used is ready again, and I don’t have any other wands to give him!” She pressed her hands against her cheeks in horror as she watched.It’s all over...she thought.B-But at least he was able to recapture Bel Munhra... Maybe they won’t exile me after all...

She sat down heavily, and as she did, something came tumbling out of her pocket. It was a small box. “Wh-What’s this?” Griyn said, looking at the box with mounting distress. “A Box of Imprisonment? But...what’s this doing here? I sent the one I had down to that golden-haired man, didn’t I?” Suddenly, her eyes opened wide in realization. “A-Ah...” she said, a cold sweat beginning to run down her brow. “Now that I think of it, I had another Box of Imprisonment that got destroyed, didn’t I? But then, which one did I send over...?”

Down in the material world, meanwhile, the Box of Imprisonment Griyn had given Hero Gold-Hair suddenly burst into flames in his hands. “N-Nghah?!” he exclaimed, startled into dropping the box, where it flew into pieces on the ground.

I-It was the broooken oooooone!!!Griyn wailed in her mind as she watched with an expression of growing despair as Bel Munhra appeared once more outside the box, her crimson flames burning away the threads that had held her bound.

“Damnation!” Hero Gold-Hair spat, his bodysuit blinking rapidly all the while. “But I’m not giving up either! Let’s do this one more time!”

Bel Munhra, however, let out a mighty roar, growing bigger and bigger before his eyes until she towered above the forest.

“Sh-She’s become a giant!” Hero Gold-Hair exclaimed with mounting distress.

“In that case, I’m using every thread I have!” Valentine said, conjuring threads of darkness with both hands. “This time, she’s finished!” It only lasted a second, however, before her body began to visibly shrink. In a moment’s time, Valentine’s body had regressed to child form. “Are youkiddingme?! Magic depletion, at a time like this?!”

Valentine originally hailed from the Realm of Evil, and as such required a massive expenditure of magic power to sustain herself in the world of Klyrode. Whenever her internal stores of magic power became precariously low, her body would shrink down to the size of a child in order to protect itself from vanishing entirely.

“Wh-What are we to do?” Riliangiu said. “We can’t harm an opponent so much bigger than us!” She was running circles around Bel Munhra’s now enormous feet, hacking and cutting with her arm blades, but her attacks all glanced harmlessly off the hard skin of Bel Munhra’s giant form.

“Not to worry!” said Hero Gold-Hair. “I’ll just...” He jumped up, aiming for the giant’s head, but somehow he couldn’t exert the force he had managed before. The superhuman power that had been animating his body seemed to have completely vanished.Wh-What does this mean?!he thought, looking down at his blinking suit.Does this have something to do with the way my body is blinking...?

“W-W-W-W-Weeell, then!” said Tsuya, wielding her own Drilldozer Shovel in trembling hands as she looked up at Bel Munhra. “I-I-I’ll juuust...”

Bel Munhra glared back down at her, piercing her with a deadly stare.

“Hah...hah...hawaaahhh...” Tsuya breathed, falling to her knees in the face of her foe’s absolute enormity.

Just then, however, Aryun Keats’s voice rang out from the forest. “When you’re up against a giant opponent...” she said, charging out of the trees in her magitank form, on the opposite side of Bel Munhra from Tsuya. “Just aim for the legs!”

Aryun’s actual plan, however, was to draw Bel Munhra’s attention to herself, in order to help Tsuya to run away.

“Yeah!” Wuha Gappoli cheered from her perch atop Aryun. “Go Aryun! Give ’em hell!” She closed her left eye, keeping her right open, helping the magitank aim the best she could. “Keep going straight! Straight ahead!” she instructed her friend. “Okay, now a bit to the right...perfect! Now!”

“And...fire!” Aryun declared, launching her projectile in time with Wuha’s signal. The attack struck Bel Munhra in the back of the leg, scoring a direct hit on the Achilles tendon. Even Bel Munhra couldn’t laugh off an attack like that. Her face twisted in pain.

“All right! It’s working!” said Wuha. “Again, again!”

“Fire! Fire! Fire!” Aryun Keats launched shell after shell as Wuha Gappoli gave instructions as her spotter. Enraged, Bel Munhra lashed out with her tail in an attempt to destroy the tank, but Wuha saw the counterattack coming a mile away.

“Wait! Full stop!” she ordered. “Make a hard left!” Aryun did as she was told, driving fast out of range of Bel Munhra’s strike.

Unlike Valentine’s threads, which defeated an opponent by overwhelming them from all directions to disable their movement, Aryun Keats’s magic munitions were doing heavy damage with each attack. After taking so many direct blows, one after another, Bel Munhra’s oversized body was starting to become notably unsteady on its feet.

“There’s more where that came from!” Aryun said, firing shot after shot from her turret.

Her current tactic, however, was nothing short of suicidal. Each of the magic rounds Aryun Keats fired was formed out of her own magic power. Firing them off one after another without giving herself adequate time to recover would only serve to deplete her own magic. Soon she would be unable to move, or worse, her life itself might be in danger from sheer magic deficiency.

Hero Gold-Hair fell to his knees as he watched Aryun Keats’s desperate last stand. His suit was blinking even faster than before, and his strength seemed to have left him entirely.Keats and Wuha are putting their all on the line, and what amIdoing?!He chided himself. But no matter how much he willed himself to move, he had grown too weak even to speak an articulate word.It’s not over...he thought.I can’t give up now! How can I lie here when my own followers are fighting as hard as they can?!

With desperate effort, Hero Gold-Hair lifted his head. And then, at that moment, he noticed something.Hm?he thought, his eyes drawn to something shining on his belt.Th-That’s...He reached out, guided by the light, and grabbed hold of his Bottomless Bag. Inside, his hands touched a familiar object.That’s right...You’ve always been there for me, haven’t you?

Meanwhile, Aryun Keats was engaged in a desperate battle of her own, fighting on in her magitank form as Wuha Gappoli perched atop, valiantly giving instructions. “Come on, Aryun!” she said. “Go! Go!” Just then, however, Wuha noticed that something was wrong. Aryun’s tank body had begun to sweat, in astonishing quantities of perspiration. “Aryun...” she said. “You’re...”

[GENERATION FAILED - RAW TEXT]

“Never mind that! It’s just a small thing! Let’s keep up the pace!” Aryun said, her own voice full of spirit in an attempt to assuage Wuha’s concern.

Wuha nodded just slightly. “That’s right,” she said. “Let’s keep up the pace!”

Aryun sped up, Wuha on her back. The sweat pouring from her body was like a waterfall, but still she kept firing shell after shell as Wuha gave her precise instructions. The two fought on in perfect harmony until at last the giant Bel Munhra fell to her knees.

“Great!” said Wuha. “Now, aim for the head!”

“Right away!” Aryun lifted her turret up towards Bel Munhra’s head. “O-Oh...” she said, her voice sounding suddenly concerned. “Oh dear...” She could feel the last bit of strength leaving her body.H-How could I run out of magic...right at this very moment...?she thought, as her movements slowed to a sluggish pace.

“Hey! Aryun!” Wuha said, sensing the change right away. “Don’t tell me...”

I...I can still fire...just one more shot...Aryun told herself, marshaling her last bit of power and concentrating it into her turret. Before she could manage to reload, however, Bel Munhra’s back began emitting the familiar light that appeared whenever she prepared to fire flames from her mouth. She glared down at Aryun and Wuha with a look of sheer enmity.

“Madame Wuha...” Aryun said. “Please, save Madame Tsuya...”

This, however, was just a pretext on her part. The truth is, she simply didn’t want Wuha Gappoli to go down with her.

“I’m not going anywhere!” Wuha insisted. She knew Aryun Keats well enough to understand her intentions. “Don’t act like I’m some stranger!” she said, wrapping her arms around Wuha’s turret. “We’ve been partners since forever, haven’t we? Two minor djinn up against the world...”

“M-Madame Wuha...” Aryun said, finally going still.

Wuha clung tight to the turret, closing her eyes as she braced for the impact. Crimson flames issued from Bel Munhra’s mouth. Wuha and Aryun both could feel the heat on their bodies as they stood there, unable to move...

And then, without any warning, Bel Munhra plummeted down into the ground.

“Huh?” said Wuha.

“Huh?” said Aryun.

The two of them stared in disbelief as Bel Munhra vanished from sight into the bowels of the earth. Flames erupted from the ground where Bel Munhra had fallen, but trapped as she was in the pit, the heat had nowhere to go. The Devil-Beast howled in pain as her own flames roasted her alive.

“Wh-What just happened?” Wuha said, hopping down from atop Aryun and timidly creeping up to the spot where Bel Munhra had vanished from their sight. What she found was an enormous hole, reaching down an astonishing depth. And at the very bottom was Bel Munhra herself, her enormous body charred black and twitching.

Wuha blew the insensate Bel Munhra the largest raspberry of her life. “Can you believe it?” she said. “She burned herself with her own fire, just because she fell down a hole! What a loser!”

“Fwah...” mumbled Hero Gold-Hair, his golden hand popping out of the ground right next to Wuha. “Somehow I made it just in the nick of time...”

“I-I knew it...” Wuha said, tears of joy in her eyes as she hugged him tight in her arms. “I knew you could do it, Hero Gold-Hair!!!”

“W-Wuha!” Hero Gold-Hair complained. “I understand that you’re happy, but you’re getting snot all over me!” His right hand was gripping firmly to the Drilldozer Shovel.

When Hero Gold-Hair had been on the verge of losing his last bit of magic power, his hand had been drawn to the Drilldozer Shovel as if the legendary item itself had been guiding him. As soon as he took hold of it, his body felt like it was bursting with strength. Somehow, it had been enough to dig an enormous hole around Bel Munhra’s feet.

Valentine, still in her child form; Tsuya, clutching her own Drilldozer Shovel in both arms; and Riliangiu, arms transformed into blades, all ran up. Hero Gold-Hair looked around, and gave the party a cheesy thumbs up.

“Hero Gooold-Hair!” Tsuya said, tears of relief streaming from her eyes as she hugged Hero Gold-Hair tight. “I was sooo...sooo wooorried!”

Valentine and Riliangiu followed suit, crying openly as they joined in on the group hug.

“Who do you think you’re dealing with?!” Hero Gold-Hair huffed. “Hero Gold-Hair always triumphs!”

The next second, however, the bodysuit started blinking once again, turning pitch black before they knew what was happening. Hero Gold-Hair could feel himself growing weaker once again.Ah, well...he thought.I was able to save everyone, after all. I have no regrets.

His consciousness faded as he fell to the ground, the world around him seeming to slow before it eventually came to a halt.

◇ ◇ ◇

“Mnh?” When Hero Gold-Hair next awakened, he was lying on his side, surrounded by an empty red expanse. It was clear that wherever he was, he was not back in his mindscape. “Where...am I?” Hero Gold-Hair muttered, attempting to rise. His body, however, did not so much as twitch. “Ngh...?” he grunted, frowning as made a second attempt to move his body.

Hero Gold-Hair lay there, straining himself for all he was worth, when a woman appeared before his eyes.

“Hm...” he said. “You aren’t that Griyn woman, I see...”

The woman stared intently at him, apparently unable to hear his words. She let out a sigh. “It looks like his mind has yet to vanish,” she said.

“Really?!” Griyn exclaimed, poking her head in from the side. “Really really? We made it? Just in the nick of time? That’s what it means, right, Dina?”

“I swear...” Dina sighed. “I hope you realize how unreasonable your demands have been. I had to get a gate set up faster than lightning to make it on time. You’d better personally go and thank all the angels who helped get it done.”

“Of course!” Griyn chirped, bowing to Dina with a great big smile on her face. “Don’t worry, I understand completely!”

“The only time you act like a team player is when we’re pulling your bacon out of the fire, after all...” Dina remarked with a wry smirk as she took a blue gem from her Bottomless Bag—the Resurrection Bead. She placed the bead on Hero Gold-Hair’s chest and held out her arms, beginning an incantation.

As Dina cast her spell, Hero Gold-Hair could feel his consciousness fading.H-Hold on!he thought.What the devil is going on here anyway?! Would it kill them to offer some kind of explanation?Thoroughly befuddled, he reached out with his arm towards Dina...

◇ ◇ ◇

Squish!

Hero Gold-Hair could feel his hand grasping something soft. “Hm?” he mumbled, surprised by the sensation.

“Waaah?!” Tsuya exclaimed as Hero Gold-Hair inadvertently groped her chest. Then, realizing that Hero Gold-Hair had returned to his senses, she cried out in a happy voice. “Everyooone! Hero Gooold-Hair’s awake!” She quickly pulled him into a tight hug. He was dressed normally once again, the golden suit he had been wearing moments ago nowhere in sight. While unconscious, he had been lying with his head in Tsuya’s lap, and now, with how the two were situated, Hero Gold-Hair found his head pressed up against Tsuya’s ample bosom. “Oh Hero Gooold-Hair...I thought you were a goner for suuure...”

“Mrmphfhh...” Hero Gold-Hair managed as he struggled to pull himself away from Tsuya’s chest. “T-Tsuya! Wait! I can’t breathe!”

Tsuya, however, paid his protests no mind and continued to hold him tight. Soon, Valentine, Riliangiu, Aryun Keats, and Wuha Gappoli came running up as well, all hugging Hero Gold-Hair tight as he struggled.

◇ ◇ ◇

High above in the sky, two figures watched as Hero Gold-Hair’s party celebrated his miraculous recovery. One of them—Griyn—double-checked to make sure she was still holding the Box of Imprisonment in her hand and smiled with the satisfaction of a job well done. “Look at that!” she said in a happy-go-lucky voice that seemed completely at odds with her half-skeleton, half-maiden appearance. “Thanks to you, I was able to avoid killing that local, and I even recovered the Devil-Beast! All’s well that ends well, I suppose!”

Dina, who like Griyn was also taking the form of the Contract Executor, rested her scythe on her shoulder and sighed in exasperation. “I’ve told you time and time again, but I’m plenty busy with my own affairs, you know. This had better be the last time, Griyn. I mean it.”

“Of course! I understand, don’t worry!” Griyn said, bowing cheerfully with her hands pressed together in gratitude.

Dina gave Griyn a weary smile, and the two took one last look down at Hero Gold-Hair and company before flying farther up, away into the expanse. “Speaking of which,” Dina said, “you haven’t forgotten that you promised to do anything I ask, have you? I hope you know I’ll be holding you to that.”

“Of course, of course! I understand completely!” said Griyn.

“Oh, and you recovered all of the items you brought with you, right?” Dina confirmed. “It’s not a good look to leave things behind.”

“Don’t worry!” Griyn insisted. “I made extra sure to double check everything!”

“Speaking of which, and sorry to ask this out of the blue, but have you seen my Celestial Wand, by any chance...?”

The two angels kept chatting in that vein until at last they passed through a gap in the clouds and vanished out of sight.

◇ ◇ ◇

“Hm?” In the middle of the group hug, a confused expression came over Hero Gold-Hair’s face as he felt something out of place. “What’s this?” he said, tilting his head as he reached into his pocket to produce a pair of Celestial Wands.