I'm Home. Crimson Full Moon.
A vivid crimson full moon hung large in the night sky. It was thanks to that moon that I could attempt this method. After all, Kenichi and Cento weren't the only ones whose powers had grown stronger than usual.
A world where time had stopped for everything. The only one moving and alive within it, I slung my sword over my shoulder and stepped forward.
"Well then, shall we get going?"
My body and abilities had been enhanced one step further. Even so, the time granted to me was not abundant.
Boom!Rumble!
Countless steel lightning bolts rained down. The iron clubs scorched the floor, and cracks spiderwebbed across the classroom as if it might collapse at any moment. It wasn't just the ground creaking. Kenichi's body, too—after rolling across the floor to dodge the goblins' strikes—was caked in dust, his limbs throbbing in agony, a total mess.
But somehow, he'd managed it.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Even as the red goblins wielding iron clubs multiplied from one to four, he'd evaded them. He threw himself to the floor, rolling; he kicked off desks scattered around the room or used his hands to launch himself into the air. Once all the desks were smashed, he vaulted off the goblins' bodies themselves to dodge the swinging clubs.
What the hell?
It was a feat even Kenichi himself found baffling—something he could never have pulled off normally. Despite the ache pulsing through his entire body, it felt light. Everything in his vision was crystal clear. Was it the fear of possibly dying? Or just from moving so frantically? His heart pounded harder than ever before. Blood surged through his veins like it might burst at any second.
For the first time, Kenichi truly felt every phenomenon in his own body. Right now, he had half-surpassed the limits of a human.
...Right now, I can survive!
Brightening with hope, Kenichi charged even more fiercely. With a more relaxed gaze and cooler judgment than before, he baited the paths of the red goblins' strikes. He taunted them as if daring them to catch him, then the instant one raised its iron club, he slipped behind another charging goblin.
Gotcha.
Crunch!
─Grraaaaaah!!!
The disruption worked. The red goblin struck by its comrade's club clutched its crushed leg. The attacker, too, trembled in confusion, eyes shaking wildly.
I can do this.
Kenichi figured that if he kept evading like this, he could take them all down somehow. Their intelligence was lower than expected, and his body was in far better shape than usual.
I can win.
Finding hope, he grinned broadly and pressed on.
─Grraaah!!
He could see all their clubs, all their movements. His body obeyed his every thought. Fast, flexible, powerful—truly free to leap about as he pleased. As the tension eased and everything went his way, it started feeling like a game. Yeah, this was a game. Like he was the protagonist of the world, a hero slaying monsters.
"Come on, bring it, you bastards!"
Protagonist Kitagawa Kenichi frolicked with the goblins, his heart lighter than ever. He was convinced: those idiots who kept clubbing their own comrades would break first, before his own body did.
And indeed, his judgment was partially correct. From the moment he got the hang of it, none of their strikes landed. If things stayed this way, that's exactly how it would have gone.
─Grraaah!
As Kenichi kept dodging the clubs, the furious goblins vented by smashing the floor.
Boom!
The same futile swing repeated countless times before. The club that missed him cratered the innocent floor. Kenichi watched the stupidity unfold leisurely—until he noticed the anomaly.
Crack, rumble!
The floor shattered.
"...Huh?"
The entire classroom floor collapsed. Humans and goblins alike, off-balance, plummeted. Kenichi tried to kick off floating debris to rise toward the road above. But for someone who'd been an ordinary guy just moments ago, such acrobatics were impossible. All he could do was flail his arms.
And so he fell.
Boom! Crash!
"...Guh!"
His body slammed into desks in the classroom below, followed by a shower of debris. His enhanced body had saved him from instant death, but he couldn't move anymore. Grimacing, Kenichi urged his trembling limbs.
...Come on, move. Move, damn it.
But they wouldn't obey. Moments ago so fluid, now his nerves seemed severed—only spasms, no movement.
...Free as can be? Like a game?
Kenichi finally realized the brutal reality he faced.
Late at night, in a classroom that should have been empty, presences stirred from every direction. Through the rising dust came heavy thuds of footsteps and the drag of some blunt weapon. Glowing eyes full of malice gleamed.
─Ugh?
Kenichi chuckled bitterly. Guess skipping math homework had shattered their grasp of numbers.
One, two... three... four...
Blankly counting the goblins, Kenichi soon reached double digits.
─Uuugh?
The growing horde eyed the feast laid out on the table—Kenichi himself. He stared back. But he couldn't move.
No longer able to restrain their hunger, a goblin reached for him. He numbly sensed his end.
...Am I dying like this?
So much he wanted to do. Even today, he'd promised Hotaru to go to the supermarket and watch the lunar eclipse. Whatever the future held, he wanted to live more. There were comics he hadn't finished, PE class with friends—suddenly, it all felt desperately vital.
Kitagawa Kenichi realized: he really didn't want to die.
...I want to live.
Strength returned to his once-lifeless pupils. He gritted his teeth. He'd struggle to the end. At least not go down like side dish—die fighting. So hurry up.
Damn body, move!
As the goblin's hand drew nearer, his heart thundered. Longing for life, terror of death—all those desperate emotions surged from his heart into his blood, flooding every vein.
Please.
Move.
‧ ‧ ‧ ‧ ‧
Thump, thump. In rhythm with his fierce heartbeat, matching his desperate wish, the cross around his neck pulsed.
The full moon brimming with mana, the ancient bloodline passed down through ages—it all fueled him. The necklace, inscribed with its master's desire, glowed brilliantly.
Move.
Kenichi screamed inwardly at the goblin's approaching grasp. He strained with all his might, desperate to budge even a little. He yearned for the power, the chance to slay the monsters before him. He wished for it.
Move!
His sword answered the call.
"───Move!!"
Granting power in response to its master's wish: a spark of vitality, the form of a sharp blade, and the ability to nullify any power.
Instinctively seizing the necklace—his Demon Sword—Kenichi unleashed it.
And awakened.
At this instant, fully beyond human limits, he was ready to fight the goblins. With a blazing glare, Kenichi moved to cleave the one that had nearly devoured him, sword in hand...
"Huh?"
Where his gaze fell, goblins stood frozen—mid-reach, surrounded by countless others. Things that had been breathing, alive moments ago, now utterly still. Dozens in the classroom, all petrified like statues.
─As if time itself had stopped.
"...."
Sensing something off, Kenichi glanced out the window. The vivid red moon still hung there. But the clouds beside it didn't stir. The wall clock's second hand, which should have ticked on—tick, tick—was frozen solid.
Time had stopped for the entire world.
Is this my power?
He thought so, at first.
"Wow, a red goblin party on the first day, huh."
Startled, Kenichi whipped his head toward the voice. There stood a white-haired man with a familiar yet villainous aura.
Ignoring the monsters blanketing the floor, he sauntered in with utter nonchalance.
"Something even a vet like me might struggle with—guess you're unlucky. Or wait, you lasted this long without unleashing your sword? Makes this Kenichi pretty impressive, so maybe I'm the lucky one."
"...Shiki?"
Kenichi mumbled blankly at his friend spouting nonsense. But the narrow-eyed man just stood there, stroking his chin thoughtfully.
"Hmm, wondered if your counter ability would work on it, but who knew—you're moving just fine. My swordsmanship isn't a joke, but can't have you snatching it. What a series of headaches today. Or is it a chain of choices?"
"...What the hell."
Maybe it wasn't Shiki after all—then electricity surged through Kenichi's body.
"Kitagawa Kenichi."
Ichimaru Shiki called his name with his usual sly smile.
"You confident you won't die on anyone, right? It'd be a real problem if you handed over that sword. Actually, things are already kinda problematic."
"...You."
"Maybe I'm placing too much faith in someone so weak. Feels like using it myself would be the right call for that friend, too."
The narrow-eyed man glanced at his sleek black sword and shrugged.
"I don't touch vet gear, that's my rule. Well, guess I'll reluctantly give you a shot! Never thought I'd say that. Better answer wisely."
Ichimaru Shiki extended his hand as he spoke.
"Kenichi, don't you want to get stronger than you are now?"
Their half-lidded eyes and swirling gazes met.
"One."
Sawamura Cento murmured on. At the same time, she'd been honing her senses lest her opponent flee—but now she relaxed her brow. Just a fraction, easing her tension.
Her promised foe was still there.
"Two."
She uttered the final number, then lifted her eyelids.
And froze in shock.
Just as her senses indicated, Ichimaru Shiki was right there. But in that brief interval, something had happened—blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. Subtle, but his face looked worn.
Something had definitely gone down. Yet true to form as her equal, Ichimaru Shiki merely tilted his hand and body leisurely, speaking as casually as ever.
He said,
"I'm home."
Another incomprehensible remark.