Episode 6: "The Death of Hero Kuronaka"

Hero Kuronaka ran as fast as his legs would take him.
He was sure he made it as fast as he could.
And yet...

There was no one.
No sign of any living creature around.
It was dead silent. As if the village had been deserted for an age.

Hero Kuronaka
"Wh-Where is everyone?"

Much as he ran through the village, and looked everywhere...
...He found no one.

Hero Kuronaka
"Wh-What the heck happened?!"

Hero Kuronaka glanced toward the village gate.
There would usually be an axe-wielding warrior at his post, but no one stood there today.

(I might be able to leave the village.)

Hero Kuronaka
"...Guess I can try."

Hero Kuronaka steeled himself, making a decision.

Hero Kuronaka
"I'll try to figure out what happened!"

Gathering his courage, Hero Kuronaka stepped out of the village.

What met him past the gate was a vast, desolate land.
Neither road nor structure stood before him.
It stretched endlessly into the horizon.

(So this is what the outside of the village looks like...)

Cautiously, he moved on.
He knew that one day he'd leave the village, of course. But never did it occur to him that it'd be like this.

It wasn't too far into his trek into the outside world that he spotted a fallen figure in the distance.

Hero Kuronaka
"Hey!"

As he rushed forward, he realized it was the village girl who'd often greet him.

Though he called out to her, there was no response. She was immobile. Like...
...Like a corpse.

Hero Kuronaka
"N-No way..."

And not far from her lay yet another figure.
Hero Kuronaka ran toward it.
Soon he realized it was the proud old man who'd often boast about having saved him.

He called out, but the old man wouldn't reply. Couldn't.
Just like a corpse...

Hero Kuronaka
"..."

And not far from him were the bodies of the cat and the slime.

Yet again he called to them in vain.
After all, they were just corpses.

Hero Kuronaka
"Why did this happen?"

Hero Kuronaka stood there in a daze.

Hero Kuronaka
"Who would do this?!"

It had to be the Demon King.
Hero Kuronaka was sure of it.
It had to be his doing!
The Demon King attacked the village!

(I have to find him...)

Hero Kuronaka clenched his teeth and sped off.

The Demon King couldn't be too far away.
He circled around the village, thoughts swimming.
Then he spotted a burly yet familiar figure.

The warrior stood, axe raised and ready to strike something in front of him.

Hero Kuronaka
"Warrior!"

Hero Kuronaka called out to the warrior.

Hero Kuronaka
"I can't believe it!
I'm so glad to see you're okay!"

Yet the warrior paid him no mind.
He steeled his gaze instead, locking eyes with the two men who stood in front of him.

Hero Kuronaka
"Hang on. Who are these guys?"

They looked suspicious.
It was a pair with piercing eyes and strange clothes.
One man's hair was blue while the other one's was white.
Sheltered as Hero Kuronaka was, he could immediately tell these men were far from ordinary.

Warrior
"They're the Demon King's henchmen!
I will avenge the village!"

Hero Kuronaka
"Wh-What?! They are?!
How dare you!"

Hero Kuronaka stood by the warrior's side, intent on facing off against the two mysterious men.

???
"Huh? Wait, isn't he..."

One of the men looked at Hero Kuronaka, his expression shifted as if he realized something.
The tall, white-haired man's expression betrayed no reaction, but he leaned to mutter something to the blue-haired man.

???
"...Kazuki."

The blue-haired man, who he now knew was named Kazuki, nodded in agreeance.
Then they both focused their eyes straight toward Hero Kuronaka.

???
"No mistaking it. He's the one from the picture.
He has to be Iroha's..."

Iroha?

Hero Kuronaka
"What are you talking about?
Who are you?"

Hostility dripped from Hero Kuronaka's every word, yet the blue-haired man wasn't fazed.

???
"Calm down. We're here to help you."

Hero Kuronaka
"Huh? To HELP me?"

His temper flared, and Hero Kuronaka raised his voice.

Hero Kuronaka
"That's rich coming from a bunch of murderers!
You killed so many innocent people! They were just living their life in the village and you murdered them!"

Anger surged through him, his vision turning red at the thought of the fallen villagers.

???
"I don't believe we're on the same page here. 'Murderers'?"

The blue-haired man replied to the white-haired man's inquiry, almost as if Hero Kuronaka wasn't there.

???
"Might be he's been brainwashed.
It's just the kind of thing he'd do."

???
"Brainwashed?"

Hero Kuronaka couldn't make heads or tails of what they were talking about.
What did they even mean by 'brainwashing'?

(What the heck are they even talking about?
Just who are these two?)

Warrior
"Don't be fooled, Hero Kuronaka!
These are the Demon King's henchmen!"

The warrior raised his voice in encouragement.
But his words, instead, seemed to spark the blue-haired man's interest.

???
"Kuronaka?
So you ARE 'Yo Kuronaka,' right?"

Hero Kuronaka
"Yo... Kuronaka?"

Static flashed across his field of vision.

What did he mean by 'Yo Kuronaka'?

(I'm Hero Kuronaka.
Of that I'm certain.
And still...)

(Who is 'Yo,' then?
The goddess called me that before she crumbled...)

???
"What's the matter? Am I wrong?"

The blue-haired man spoke, catching Hero Kuronaka's attention.

???
"Or maybe... they happened to erase all your memories?"

Warrior
"What are you waiting for?!"

The warrior, growing impatient, raised his voice at Hero Kuronaka.

Warrior
"We must avenge the village!"

???
"You. Shut it."

Shortly after he finished uttering those words, the white-haired man leapt at the warrior in a flash, swinging his fist and connecting with a clean blow.
It was so fast, one could barely keep up.
And it was hard to believe a man so big and tall could move that fast.

Warrior
"Ughh!"

As the blow connected, the warrior flew back, colliding with the wall of a village house.
The sheer force of the impact made the house shake.

???
"Now, back to the topic at hand."

The blue-haired man, completely unfazed by what just happened, started his line of questioning again.

???
"Tell me, Yo Kuronaka. Do the names 'Tsuki Iroha' and 'Sui Yakumo' mean anything to you?"

Hero Kuronaka
"Tsuki... Iroha..."

Unease grew within.

Hero Kuronaka
"Sui... Yakumo...?"

The moment those names left his lips, a violent noise engulfed his senses.
A fierce headache knocked him down to one knee.

Hero Kuronaka
"Arghh!"

It was then...
That the wall of the shaking house tumbled down.
And not only did it come down...

Hero Kuronaka
"Huh?"

But there was nothing inside it.
You couldn't even call it a real wall. It was nothing more than a facade, held up by a cheap frame.

Every wall in the village followed suit. Rows and rows of what once were houses came falling down, exposing nothing but falsities.
None of the structures were real. It had all been lies.

Hero Kuronaka
"Wh-What in the world?!"

Through the noise, Hero Kuronaka watched on. Perplexed.

Hero Kuronaka
"What the heck is going on?!"

Hero Kuronaka shouted frantically.
His static-filled vision worsened.

H?r# Kur%na*a
"What is this?!
These were all houses! And now it looks as flat as a toy!"

He couldn't hear his own screaming voice.
His sense of self went away with his hearing.

(Am I really here?
Who am I?)

H?r# Kur%na*a
"Arghh!"

Intense and a head-splitting headache bombarded his senses.

Y0 Kur%na*a
"Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!"

His voice tore out of his throat as the whole world was enveloped in noise.

And thus...
The world plunged into darkness.

...
......
.........

Through the darkness he could see two faces.
That of a blonde girl and a red-haired boy.
They looked... familiar.
Of course they're familiar!
They were his two...

...
......
.........

Something suddenly snapped.

And everything changed.
The world around him...
Even himself...