The seas are splitted into pieces as the currents of itself was falling apart, the grounds and the skies have fallen apart, and–The reality itself have twisted and distorted
Takuyura City, the biggest city and capital city of Nihin, now have almost turned into rumbles of destruction of a bomb that almost ended the world
Once the busiest city in Nihin, now are more like a ghost city of the past, silence filling the city's every corner
The Nihin Ground Forces, who was stationed in city's outskirt, and hills that surrounds the city, are flipped by the explosions, along with the defense line
In Feldirach Town, the refugee and the citizens of the city now was together helping each other to stabilize the refugees areas and the situation during TFCB Aftermath
The other city in Nihin Mainland, Kimiriko, Osagu, Kjunsha, Kobai and Kasugara are also together to stabilize the situations, after a moderate earthquake that struck the entire Archipelago after the explosion of TFCB
In Kobai and Kimiriko Region along with its City sector–Nihin's Biggest economic and most industrialized regions after Takuyura
The peoples in there are evacuating the workers and civlians in damaged area or building in the city and regions, make sure the safety of workers and checking the damages on the industry
In Kjunshu Region–the Main Food Proudction of Nihin
The peoples in there are saving the agriculture infrastructure, to prevent Nihin from falls into food crises after TFCB Explosion Catasthrophe, while the city is actively managing producting food, and checking the food supplies and distribution
The rest of Nihin's Mainland Osagu and Kasugara, are providing direct aids to Feldirach Town in Takuyura Region, due to its closer to the border and more broad capability than other region
And, then, cities in Nihin's Archiphelago Region, Rokuran, Fashiku, and Hyakunoyan in Axinus Island, located at northen of Nihin, almost everyone in the island was saved and only receive a little casualties
Chihaji, Sorusahashi, Jasoyu, Indonishin, and Naroku in Nishi Island, located at the southern part of Nihin, the people in there also almost every of it are saved and receive a little casualties
At the same time, theyre also seeing something glowing above in the entire sky of Nihin, almost...like covering the entire Nihin
Meanwhile, back in the Main Frame Room...
The room was still full of dust due to the impact of the explosion, but still functioning good
Several of the staff and the soldiers in the room are midly injured, but not heavily injured or death, and currently treated by some paramedics staff who already wake up, even though the paramedics themself also injured, they priotize the main staff first before themself
The Grandmasters, who are the first to wake up, despite their own injuries, theyre helping the paramedics to treat the staff and soldiers who were injured
Then, Kouhei and Yui follows others to wake up from unconciusness
When they are waking up, Kouhei feels that his hands is a bit heavy, and, when he looked down, he find that Yui is right on his arm
He immediatly asks her if she receive any injuries from the explosion impact, but Yui is silent, her eyes is widen, Kouhei was confused at first
But then, he finally knows why...
When theres a blood splatters into her cheeks, he then lift his hand and come to touch his forehead, and when he bring it back, he found his hands are covered in blood
"K-Kouhei-kun, yo-your head..." Says Yui in a trembling tone
Then, Kurumi who was beside them two, are the last one to wakes up, and, when she glances to her right side, at Kouhei and Yui, shes immediatly screams out of fear
"Tanaka-san! Your head! Paremedic!! Or someone come here! Tanaka is heavily injured!!" Screams Kurumi as she askes for help to treat Kouhei
Upon hearing that, he finally realizes that his head ia heavily injured, thats why he felt extremely hurt in his right side of head, it turns out, he shields Yui from hitting the wall when the explosion hits the fortress
Then, several Paramedics, and Grandmaster Mandela comes to treat Kouhei, because he receives the worst injuries in the room
Meanwhile, Kurumi immediatly carries Yui out of Kouhei's arm to beside him as paramedics and Mandela starts to treat Kouhei
"His head clashed the walls extremely hard on right side of his head, causing his skull's right side to be heavily damaged to bleeds inside, and now his right eyes to shutting down, Albert! The emergency healing device!" Says Mandela as she examine Kouhei's injuries and asks Albert for assistance
Albert, whos currently treating a soldier, immediatly goes to treat Kouhei and asks a paramedic to take care of the injured soldier
When he arrives, he quickly pull out the device healing device, that turns out to have all the medical and even surgery equipment with Magi's enhancement for immediate treatment to any kind of injuries, and quickly begin to treat Kouhei
Yui and Kurumi, was watching from besides, Yui's eyes was full of worries and panics, she then grabs Kouhei's hand and hold it near her chest
She keeps saying his name to get a respond from him
"Kouhei-kun...Kouhei-kun..Kouhei-kun!! C-can you hear me? Kouhei?!"
Then, Kouhei lifts his left eye to see Yui, clutching into his hands like a lifeline, Kouhei then grips her hand and smiles at her
"Y-Yui..." Says Kouhei weakly...
"Dont worry...Yui-chan, im not going anywhere, ive vows to myself to protect you...i cant–....lost...peoples that...i care..." Kouhei coughs blood before continuing
"After all..."
"I...im going to win this battle...soon..."
Back in Gulf Of Takuyura
Oruvi's Hell Fire Form has been reduced to only several parts of her body, while her true body is back to normal, showing her injuries from the fight with Darius, but still holding her sytche, ready to fight again at any time
Meanwhile, Darius on the other side, his Hollow armor was fractured, and his Calamity Form that covers his entire body, now only covers several of it, reveals his body too
When Darius glance to behind Oruvi, he sees that, it turns out, the reason why Nihin Mainland and Nihin Archiphelago's are not compeletely destroyed
Its because Oruvi distribute her power to make an energy barrier, massive enough to covers the entire Nihin Archipelago, to minimize the impact of the explosion to Nihin
"Ah, you protects that island even at the last second..." Says Darius in amused tone
Then, Oruvi coughs before replying to Darius's word
"Yes, i protected them because i can, even though my powers are meant for destruction" Oruvi reply
Then, Darius asks again Oruvi, this time, about her principle
"So is it, because you can? But, aren't that means you betray your own self?"
Then, Oruvi replies again
"I can choose, my power doesnt defies who i am, but I AM"
Darius chuckles
"So is it, then, you're not using your power properly"
"Okay then, you think you've defeated me...but, this is not my true body, i can swaps back into my true body at the Battleship that carries me..."
Then, Darius lifts his hands, and then, the sea water behind him rips apart and a Battleship covered by his power emerges from the sea's gulf
This entire time, he covers the Battleship that carries the Coffin, was protected by Darius, and its the reason why Darius's armor was only part of it
Upon hearing it, Oruvi doesnt panics, she keeps her composure as calm as possible, as if shes waiting for something...
An oppurtunity...
Then, Darius begans to leaves Kuhre's body, and began to swaps again with Kuhre's souls in Darius's true body, then, the Zer Nimicul sword in the hands now teleported inside the Battleship
A seconds later, Kuhre's body, once possessed by Darius, now has been right back to Kuhre after nearly 10 Years
But, due to the injuries in the body due to Darius's uses, Kuhre cannot sustain life and immediatly dies from the injuries and falls to the sea lifelessly
Meanwhile, from the Battleship, Darius comes out into the deck on his true body
Darius's true body was extremely muscular shaped, his grey hair have reached the deck, and, his Vampire General suit, even though a bit worned due being thousands of years old, still intacts and in a good conditions
He then take a deep breath before exhaling, finally back in his body after more than 2,000 years swapping bodies
"Ah...good afternoon" Says Darius as he looks at Oruvi
Then, Oruvi turns off the shields that covers Nihin and distribute it back to her, her Hell Fire Forms now back at full power again, but, she decides to switch to normal mode
"Ah, decided to go normal again?" Says Darius
Meanwhile, Tripizt, emerges from the deck while carrying Darius's sword, before holds his hands to Darius to give the sword
Darius yurns around and thanked Tripizt
"Ah, thank you, my puppet, just what i need" Says Darius as he reaches for the sword
Oruvi, seeing the sword, she immediatly drops her sytche
"Dimensional Portal!!"
Then, portals appears right below the sword and the sytche, and makes the two weapons swapped places because they falls into a two different direction
Darius's was caught off guard by the sudden events, he tries to reach to the sword, but its too late, he instead grabs Oruvi's sytche
Meanwhile, Oruvi immediatly catch Darius's sword and flies straight into Darius
But, Darius still able to see the attacks, he then using Oruvi's sytche to block the attacks
But then, Oruvi makes the sword deformed into fire, then...
Oruvi pierced Darius's body right in his chest in the center
Tripizt tries to attack Oruvi, but Oruvi hits Tripizt until he was trown into the sea
Darius was extremely caught off guard, he doesnt even have a chance to react and processed everything
He coughs his black blood from his mouth, then, he tries to remove the sword from his chest, but Oruvi immediatly pushed the sword deeper, causing Darius to spews more of his blood
"Yo-You-....!!"
Then, Oruvi pulls the Zer Nimicul Sword backs from Darius's chest in a harsh pull, causing Darius to fall, laying on the deck while dying
"Agh...i never thought a day i...will finally be defeated"
"I swore to myself 8,000 Years ago, at the end of The Great Pandora War, i will...coughs, restore...Vampire controls over the entire world..." Says Darius
Oruvi looks down at him, looking at the dying "Strongest Vampire General" in history, laying infront of her
"I guess...you failed, Darius, you really failed this time, and you know whats more ironic?"
"Theres no second chance, and plus, i dont know what are you talking about this entire time"
Oruvi sighs, she even shows a confused expression before asking Darius a question
"You're speaking as if we ever met, ah, yeah, thats right, thats the question i never get to ask" Says Oruvi as she steps closer to Darius
"Tell me, Darius, have we...ever met, at some point of history?" Says Oruvi as she lifts Zer Nimicul Sword, preparing to ends Darius once and for all
Darius continue to keep calm, his eyes darting to the very sword he always used to kills hundreds millions of lives throughout his entire life
Then...Darius was pulled into a flashback as he began to recalling his memories
8,000 Years Ago...
The skies are roaring as the world have been burned to the very corner by an war to fight over an ancient artifacts that are believed to able to grants a power to challange the world, and...maybe devine brings itelf
Hollow Continents, Ruined World, Near End Of The War, 8,000 Years ago
The rumbling could be heard everywhere, explosions replaced the sound of birds in that place
The pool there was a pool of black blood that flowed like puddles of rain, because it was everywhere
On the continent, there was an ongoing battle between all races in the world, fighting for the artifacts
From Beast, Okaminase, Spirits, Dwarf, Elves, Artherian, Androidus, Ex-Machina, Sea Peoples, Medvedas, Adlerian, Hybridan, Demons, Komodonese, and Dragonborn Race, except for Human Race, are fighting to obtain the artifact
But, Vampire Race, whos never been part of the war that have been going on for one millenia, lead by Darius, decided to take participation near the end of the war, to take advantage of the weakenend races and takes the artifacts for themself to restore Vampires lost dominance
Then, Darius was transfered to the moment of the end of the war
That time, arounds the mountain range that contains and seals the artifacts, all the fighting race and human race joint forces to halt the Vampires advance to the ranges
But, the Vampires are too powerful for their current power, the Coalition was immediatly pushed back by the Vampires away from the mountain range
Darius was elevating to the summit of the mountain range, he saw that, there was an human, wrapped in bandages about to get the artifacts
Seeing the person, he immediatly recognize it as his nemesis to obtain the artifacts
Darius quickly rushes to kill the person
But, at the same time, the person stops in their tracks, and the person side glance at Darius incoming at him
And just smiled...
Then...upon about to reach the summit first, he was suddenly slammed by an enormous force from the sides
When he turns around, there was an spirit with an halo above her head blocking his way to the bandaged person, and Darius recognize the spirit
"I thought you were dead...Shiori" Says Darius in a cold and enraged tone
The spirit holding her sycthe firmly in her hands, her Hell Fire shawl goes around from arms to armpit then around her shoulder, and to her other side of arms
"Heh, like i would die...Darius" Says Shiori in annoyance
Then, her hands palm clutching into a fist besides her, her grips on her sycthe tightens at enourmous force
"And besides..." Says Shiori in an suppressed wrath in her tone
"Your murder of Sora...her death..."
Then, Shiori's memories glitches to the moment she remembered how the bandaged person, her partner, clutching into an Ex-Machina in his hands
"Sora, Sora!! Sora!!" Says the bandaged person to the Ex-Machina
But, the Ex-Machina doesnt responding...
Shiori, that time, can only carries the Ex-Machina to an capsule, and carries the Ex-Machina to the place where the bandaged person ever says he first found her and named her
Then, Shiori finally back from relieving the painful memories back to face Darius
"I will never forgive you for that..."
Then, her body, gown and shawls turns into a dark blue fire, then, her sycthe wrapped in the fire too...
"For Sora-chan...for...Kurushimi-kun..."
"Im going to kill you!!"
Then, Darius back to the present, laying on the ground, helpless and powerless, and about to die in the hands of the very same spirit in a different forms...
"Ah...yes...Oruvi, there was, once upon a time..."
"Or rather i say..."
"Shiori..."
Upon hearing it, Oruvi was confused, then, her eyes turns into hatred
"I dont know what are you talking about, but...whatever it is..."
"I just want to tell this to you, a reminder before your death"
Oruvi doesnt continue immediatly, she just turns her back and gives Darius a sidelong gaze, before speaking with an deep hints of hatred towards Darius
"I fucking hate you...Darius, you're a handful enemy...always have been"
Darius just chuckle as he about to die, and...
As he only a seconds away from death, hes also said his last sentences
"I...also fucking hate you too, Shiori..."
With that, Darius was killed, in the hands of Oruvi, his greatest enemies in the past
Then, Oruvi tries to channels to Kouhei with the spirit connection between them
But, suddenly, Oruvi went unconcius as she was about to connects with Kouhei, her body cannot sustain more exhaustion, and fall, lays on the deck, besides Darius's dead body
Meanwhile, Kouhei whos now is currently treated by Mandela, Albert, Tesla, and the paramedics, went unconciusness when channeled by her
Yui panicked upon seeing Kouhei suddenly goes unconciusness, she immediatly grips his hands tighter and screams to him
"Kouhei! Kouhei...!! Kouhei!!" Says Yui in a panic in her tone
Then, seeing this, Mandela quickly went to check his conditions, she use the healing device to monitors Kouhei's vital current state, and displayed to a monitor nearby by connecting the device output
The monitors then displayed the device's analysis on Kouhei's vital organs
"His brain is lightly damaged at frontal lobus, parietal lobus, and his brainstem are by the impact, but functioning, his respiratory rate is around 8 to 10, sign of bradypnea, but alive"
"His blood preasure is reaching only 81 to 86 averege, his blood rate are also alarming, reaching low as 73/mmhg, but now stablizing to 80/mmhg, but still at the borderline to Too low blood rate due to the injuries" Says Mandela as she analyzing Kouhei's condition
Upon hearing that, Albert quickly told Tesla and paramedics to perform an surgery to stablize Kouhei's conditions and told Kurumi and Yui to get an oxygen tanks and oxygen mask from the corner
Immediatly, Tesla and paramedics prepares to perform an immediate minor surgery, then Tesla give them instruction on how to perform a surgery
Some of them felt nervous and at high tension due to he urgency and stakes of the surgery and its consequnces if they failed, but Tesla reassures them that as long they keep composure and focuses on precision, they will able to succedes the surgery
Meanwhile, Kurumi and Yui are back from corner with oxygen tank and oxygen mask, quickly connects the tank and mask, and put it to Kouhei's face
After putting the mask, Yui gaze at Kouhei, her eyes are full of worry, but hints a hope of his comeback
Yui leans to Kouhei's ears, and then, she brush a bit of her hair from her face before finally whispering into his ear, her tone is soft, comforting, and full of longing
"Kouhei...comeback, okay? I waits for your return, right here..."
Then, Yui crouch next to close to Kouhei as the surgery starts, and hope for his returns
"Dont worry...im not going anywhere..."
Meanwhile...
The sky is blue, the clouds are white, the sounds of the waves hitting the beach are heard throughout the entire beach
An beautiful vast grass fields, soothed by the wind of time, creating an harmony of movement from the wind sooth
The wind on surroundings was smooth as a silk
There, Kouhei was standing in the middle of the field, facing straight into the vast ocean in the border of the beach ahead
His white hair was soothed by the wind, his hair moves at a harmony following his surrounding's harmony
He walks slowly through the grass field into the beach, he put his hands above the grass, feels its texture as he moves through them
"Its soft..."
Then, he finally steps into the beach, his shoes steps into the sands from the dirt of the grass field
"I guess, is this afterlife?" Says him
He start to walks along the beachline, he gazing into sea, occasionally hit by the waves in his shoes
Then, a blue butterfly decends from the grass field into his hair, Kouhei doesnt drive it away
Then, he sees a group of turtles in side of the beach, looks like theyre laying eggs in the beach
He walks again, mutters under his breath
"This is...nice, its been some time since i ever been to beach..."
Then, he recalls the last time he ever been to beach
Several Years ago
A married couple, the man with an light blue eyes, and his wife with a smooth white hair, was sitting on a beach while sunbathing
"This is a very good day, isnt it, darling?" Says the wife to her husband as her hair was soothed by the wind
Then, the husband, take off his sunglasses while chuckles a bit
"Hahaha! Of course, honey, just look our son over there, his acts says it all" Says the husband as he points to a little boy near the beachline
The boy has a light blue eyes of his father and white hair of her mother, currently was observing some baby turtles trying to go to the sea
But, the baby turtles was being harassed by a group of seagulls
"Hey! Get lost! Evil seagul- Waah!!"
But, the boy was chased and pecked by the seagulls instead, he running in a circle, but avoiding stepping on the baby turtles
Seeing the son was being pecked by some seagulls, the father immediatly rushed to chase away the seagulls from his son
"Hey! Get away! This is my son!" Says the father as he chase away the seagulls
After a moment, the seagulls was finally able to droved away and fly away from them
Then, the son hugs his father tightly
"Thanks! Dad!"
Then, the father lifts his son into his arms
"Heh, of course son, and you're very brave too, you saved those baby turtles from the seagulls, thats my son!"
Then, the mother walks to both of them
"Both of you are brave, good job, son, honey" Says the mother as she steps beside the father and pats her son's head
The son was very happy to be patted by his mother, he leans into her hand and nuzzling his head into it
"I love you! Mom! Dad!"
The father and the mother then smiles at him before hugs the boy tighter
"Yeah, we love you too..."
"Kouhei-kun"
Then, Kouhei stops in his tracks, he gazed into the boy who was hugged by his parents
Then, the mother and the father fades except for the boy, he looks at Kouhei
"Thats a good time, isnt it? Kouhei?" Says the boy to Kouhei
Kouhei nods at him
"Yes, its a good time...little me" reply Kouhei to his younger self
Then, his younger self turns to face the sea ahead, then, he sits on the sands
Kouhei younger self then gestures Kouhei to sit beside him
"Come on, older me! Sit beside me!" Says the younger self to Kouhei excitedly
Kouhei walks to beside his younger self, then, he also turns to face the sea and sit down beside his younger self
Then, his younger self asks Kouhei how he have doing currently
"So, how have you doing lately?"
Then, Kouhei reply with a tired tone in his voice
"Ah, i...im doing fine, im now in another world, sounds crazy, but its true"
His younger self looks at him with a bright eye
"Wow! You're in another world?! Thats so cool! Oh! In my time, i dont have a friends because i was isolated by others, oh! Do you now have friends?"
Kouhei remembered he was then isolated from everyone for being too smart
"Hes weird..."
"Yeah! Kouhei-kun is weird! He always talks about
But, when he thought about present times
Yui appears in his mind, then...Oruvi, then Kurumi, then the Grandmasters, and...peoples of Nihin appears in his mind, the one who believed in him, the one who put hope in him
He smiles at his younger self
"Yes, yes little me, a lot of friends, very a lot of friends who believed in you..."
Kouhei younger self was very happy when he heard that
"Wow! Friends?! A lot?! And also believed in you?! Thats amazing!!"
Then, Kouhei gazed at the sea again
"But...i dont know if im being a good friend to them..."
Then, Kouhei younger self's excited then fades a bit, then turns to face the sea too
"You're afraid of that..."
"Being a good friends or not to them, being a friends group leader seens very hard, isnt it? Older me?"
Kouhei nods at his younger self questions, then, his younger self continue again
"Is it...because your guilt? Is it...because you thinks you've hurt some of them?"
Then, he remembered the demonstration's chaos, his Radio Station's massacare, the war between people of Nihin against Beastrion Pupper Government, the Infections Outbreak, then ..the TFCB Explosion
Its all of his fault...
Then, his younger self speaks again to him
"I see, you've done bad things to them, dont you?"
It cuts Kouhei into half pieces...
Then, the younger self speaks again
"Intentionally too, to achieve your goals, right?"
Kouhei doesnt look at his younger self
"Yes...to achieve my goals, my goals...causes harm and blood..."
"Im not worthy of being their leader...or as they friends"
"What kind of leader or friend who would hurt others he knows for his own gains?!"
"Im such a coward, hiding behind my friend's body and use them as a shield, to reach my goals"
"I manipulated them, i deceived them, im a liar, i hate myself!"
"The reason why i told Kurumi why she can kill is to got away from all of my crimes! I...just make it like im willing to sacirfice myself..."
"But, i dont know why..."
Then, a flash of Yui's, Oruvi's, Kurumi's, the Grandmaster's, and the people of Nihin's hoping and smiles appears in his mind
"Why i cant...i let them go?"
....
His younger self just smiles and turns to face Kouhei
"Kouhei, you say that you're an leader of your friends, right?" Ask Kouhei younger self to Kouhei
Kouhei nods and speak at a low tone
"Yes...but i dont think im not worthy, im terrible..."
Then, his younger self speaks again
"Yes, you are, you're not even ready yet to be a leader"
Then, the younger self continue again
"Have you ever heard this?"
"Those who cant do it for themself, cannot do it for others either"
"Ever heard of it?" Says Kouhei's younger self as he cuts anothee of Kouhei's defensive layers
Upon hear it, Kouhei nods again
"Yes...but i never thought of it, i thought...if im smart enough, i can do it, i can do this, because...i believe im...maybe will finally not...be "a uselesss NEET hikkimori" anymore..."
Then, Kouhei younger self speaks again
"Well, smart enough is not enough, you need to able to lead yourself through problems that you've faced"
"You? You dont, dont you?" Says Kouhei younger self
Upon hearing that, Kouhei feels more helpless, more be little by a younger version of himself, he felt...more powerless, but he doesnt deny it
This time...hes trying to accept it
"Yes..." Says Kouhei softly
Upon hearing that, Kouhei younger self smiles again
"You're selfish and arrogant, but you felt responsibile of what you've done"
Then, Kouhei younger self asks Kouhei again
"You hurt people that you knew, right? You manipulate some of them, you deceive some of them, you use all of them, you do that, dont you?"
Then, Kouhei feels that guilt has eaten himself, and start to rip aparts his defensive layers, but...somehow, it feels...relaxing, it hurt though, but hes okay with it
"Yes...i use them, for my own selfsih goals, to bring what i perceive as "equality and unity"..."
"But, my reasoning about the prophecy is wrong, right? Its all...only my very self altering its means due to my selfishness"
"Ive stained their belief, with my reasoning, with my twisted, dirty beliefs!! I forced them into believing what i say..."
"I....hate my-!!" Then, Kouhei breaks, his tears falls down of his eyes
Upon seeing it, his younger self finally looks at his with not only smile, but also affections and understanding...
"Yes, i know you hate yourself, i know you felt guilt of what you do, of what you've done"
"You're doing what you're not good at, and resulting of what happens to them, you saved maybe 95% of lives, but still, the 5% that you've sacirficed or used or a victim of your plan, its still dead, because of you"
"But...do they really feels the way you thought do?"
Kouhei confused
"What do you mean?" Asks Kouhei
Then, Kouhei younger self stands up and walks to the sea, he walks until his foot is submerged underwater, Kouhei immediatly stands up and ask what is he doing
But, the younger self just simply inhale and exhale, before finally starts to speaks
"Hey, older me..."'
"I believe youre bearing too much"
"You bear a guilt that you believed that it was yours, while it was never is"
Kouhei younger self turns to face the sea
"You used your friend as a bait"
Image of Oruvi massacaring the Beasts Soldiers in Radio Station and fighting against Darius in Sea Of Nihin, image of Yui replacing him as "Meiji" in the revolution while he was goes undercover, appears in Kouhei's mind
"you manipulate them until theyre broken..."
Image of Oruvi's crying after he broke her in his first confrontation with her, and Kurumi's broken under his manipulation as Kalimosin appears in his mind
"You send them to near death"
Then, image of Nihin's soldiers fighting off the Vampirism Outbreak in Takuyura and, Hofurz and the volunteering soldiers to drop the TFCB, and...the imagining the suffering of Nihin's people at Aftermath of TFCB appears in his mind
But then...Kouhei's younger self says something that shocks Kouhei...
"But, i dont think all of it are your fault, instead, you helped them grows from what really hurt them..."
Kouhei turns his head to face his younger self who was gazing into the ocean
"What?! I hurted them! I...im terrible, im a coward...hiding behind my righteous persona to save myself!" Says Kouhei enraged by his younger self
"Im the one who responsible for all of this, im the one who lead them into this mess, this is automatically my fault!" Says Kouhei as he walks towards his younger self, he then also entered sea
But then...his younger self start speaking again, that made Kouhei stops in his tracks, his foot already submerged underwater
"Theyre not doing it because of your manipulation, its not by your fake persona, not because you're wearing a shining knight armour..."
"But because you brought hope"
"Even if your intentions are false, but the hope its real, and thats why peoples believes on you, and ready to die for hope that you brought to them"
"Older me...you're an amazing person, you're a very capable person..."
"But dont burden yourself with something that you're not capable of..."
Kouhei sees hes alone with his younger self in middle of ocean, while hes carrying light in his shoulder, slowly sinking into the depth of the ocean
Hes capable of bringing hope, but burdened by it, and slowly start to lost himself and replace it with what he thought as "his responsibility"
"Remember, you're not alone anymore..."
Then, a hand reaches to him, then another, and another one, and soon, there is too many hands reaching into him, and pulling Kouhei towards the surface of the ocean, meanwhile his younger self starts to fades underwater
"You have peoples you can relies on"
Then, the hands are pulling Kouhei faster into the surface
"Because, from now on..."
"You're not just yourself..."
Then, Kouhei opens his eyes, hes almosy reaching the surface, he can sees Yui, Kurumi, Oruvi, the grandmasters, soldiers of Nihin, and peoples of Nihin pulling him out with an hopeful expression
Then, he looks again at his younger self
Then, his younger self fades, , along with faint form of his parents behind his younger self
"Live, but not with burden, or guilt, or pain..."
"But with hope for a better future"
...
A light immediatly dazzling his visions as he finally opens his eyes
Then, he felt warmth in one of his hands
When he look to his left, he saw Yui, her eyes was teary when he finally wakes up from his coma
Then, when he looks around him, he sees Kurumi, Albert, Mandela, Tesla, the staffs, the soldiers, the paramedics
Then, he also sees Oruvi, and...the volunteering soldiers and Hofurz too in there, seems like his sealment of Hofurz and others inside INA Surosafu as the TFCB explodes are succcesful
Then, Yui speaks softly besides him, her voice was full of gratidude and longing, and her hands are caressing his right side of his head and face who was bandaged
"Welcome home, Kouhei"
Then, he looks at Kurumi, her eyes darts from her, but her cheeks is reddening, she speaks with an sharp tone, but lies with warmth in there
"Y-yes...im the one who told Yui-san that, so what?! Come on, Say it!"
Kouhei just chuckles softly at Kurumi's annoyance of getting caught telling Yui that phrase
Then, he looks at Yui, he grips back Yui's hand in his bandaged right of his face, and reply Yui's welcomes, his eyes tears as he spoke in a soft tone
"Yes..."
"Im home, Yui, everyone..."
"Im...back"
Then, everyone else in the room then reply Kouhei's greets, not as member to a leader, but as a friend to him
"Yes, welcome home too, Tanaka-san"
....
At night, Kouhei was strolling down the halls inside the fortress, occasionally greeting soldiers that patrolling around the halls
As he strolls down the halls, Kouhei coincidencely meets soldiers that have volunteers to retrieve TFCB and deployed the bomb with Hofurz, he greets them upon seeing them
"Ah, hello there, if im not wrong, both of you are part of the TFCB volunteering soldiers, right?"
Then, the soldiers, upon seeing Kouhei, both of them immediatly saluted Kouhei and put a perfect manners
"Sir Kouhei! Sir yes sir! We're part of the TFCB Volunteers Soldiers!"
Then, Kouhei lifts his hands and gestures them to stop saluting him
"Hey, come on, stop it, relax, im your friend, all of the army of Nihin is my friend, you know?"
Then, upon hearing it, both the soldiers are a bit reluctant since theyre meeting with the Nihin's Prime Minister, but, they eventually obeys Kouhei's order and relaxes a bit
Then, Kouhei finally relaxes too, and start speaking to them
"So, how have you two been?"
The two soldiers then answers Kouhei's question
"Ah, sir Kouhei, we two have been doing okay after the mission" Says the first soldier with thin glasses and Sergeant hat
Then, the second soldier, with an scars on his face then bows down to him and thanked him for saving from the explosion
Kouhei then orders the soldier to lift his head, the second soldier stop bowing and lift his head
Then, Kouhei start to speaks
"No, i...i dont deserve your thanks, im the one who sends you to that mission, it was almost suicidal if i havent planned to save you"
"Ive used you and other soldiers for my plan..."
"I...i..."
Suddenly, the second soldier grips his shoulder, it silenced Kouhei, and makes Kouhei lift his head to face the soldier that grips him
Then, the soldier reassures Kouhei that it doesnt matter, and said that he and others in the volunteers team, theyre already ready to die for Nihin and for him
Then, the soldier with thin glasses then speaks too, saying that theyre not even hesistated when hearing Hofurz's order to deploy the bomb
Kouhei smiles softly at the reassurance, then, he thanked the soldiers for comforting and want to understand him, then, he asks the name of the two soldiers
The one with glasses is the first one to introduce himself
"Sergeant Otto Von Friedrich, Sir Kouhei!" Saya Friedrich in a loud voice and saluting Kouhei
Then, the soldier with the scar on his face follows behind to introduce himself
"Colonel Scwahrz Stauffenberg, Sir Kouhei, its an honor..." As Stauffenberg also salutes Kouhei
After departing, Kouhei strolls foward again to the storage room
After a while, he finally arrives in the room, then, he strolls foward to enters, the room immediatly slides open to both sides
It was dark there, but Kouhei doesnt mind, he just want to take a rifle from one of the shelf and get out of the room again immediatly after that
Then, he goes to meet Kurumi in her room
But, he met her leaning right infront her room's door
Kurumi then glances to look at Kouhei, then, she pushed herself frol the door and turn to fully face Kouhei, then, she starts to speak, her voice is calm and controlled
"Ive been waiting for you...Tanaka-san..."
Says her as she pockets her hands in her uniform
Kouhei was a bit shocked that Kurumi actually has guessed what Kouhei was planning to do
"How...?" Mutters Kouhei under his breath
Kurumi smiles a bit in corner of her lips, then, before then pulls out her phone, showing multiple pops up in her phone's screen
"Heh, let me explain it for you then..." Says Kurumi as she starts to explains
Turns out, Kouhei's encounter with Friedrich and Stauffenberg is not an coincidence
Shes actually is the one that ordered Friedrich and Stauffenberg to patrols around the Fortress's halls, to check either Kouhei rests or not
Both of them has been placed an audio recording and an tracker, so, she can actually supervise both of them in real time, shes also used the Fortress's surveilance to also looks for Kouhei
If shes doesnt hear Kouhei's voice in the entire operation, or do Friedrich and Stauffenberg confirms Kouhei is asleep or not
If Kouhei is asleep, then Kouhei likely has able to rest properly, but if they encounter Kouhei in the halls, then she finally confirms her suspicion about Kouhei's current state, and she confirms that something is wrong with Kouhei after he goes into coma
Then, if Friedrich and Stauffenberg talks to Kouhei, Kurumi already predicted 2 possibilities anf its branch
First, if Kouhei just greets them, and then head back to bed, then hes probably just doing night strooling
Second, if Kouhei greets Friedrich and Stauffenberg, and asks their well being and small talk, then she will concludes that Kouhei is concerned about them
And Third, if Kouhei greets them, asks their well being, and starts to talk about something serious, thats where she makes several paths:
First, if Kouhei talks about Nihin, then Kouhei is worried about the condition of the current country's conditions
But, second, if Kouhei talks about about something personal...3 possibilities might happen
Either, Kouhei asks about their backstory or their motivation why they joined the army, Kouhei must be sees something that has to do with Kouhei's guilt over TFCB Detonation
Or, Kouhei Kouhei does the very first option, thats being asking them their well being after volunteering in the mission, and...then start to blaming himself, then it must be something about Kouhei himself
Not only the guilt, but the burden, exhaustion, inner conflict, and...what Kurumi thought is impossible: desperation, which Kurumi immediatly linked with suicidal intention
Then, she predicts, that his next move after departing, is to grab a rifle, and asks her to shoot him, just like what he promised to offer to her when he said to carry all of her sins
"You're trying to run away...i dont know what really happens in your coma, but from my profiling"
"I guess you're in a transition, you collapsed, not your body, but your mind and soul, and now its being rebuilt"
"I just want to say..."
"You deserved to live a life that are not burdening you, you have Yui, everyone, including me, you ask us for help if needed"
Then, she placed a comforting hands in Kouhei's shoulders for a while
Before then...
She leans down and suddenly hugs Kouhei
Kouhei was a bit starteled by Kurumi's acts, hes then confused what to do next
But, Kurumi tighten her hugs on him, she then start whisper into his ears
"Just...stay like this for a while, okay?"
"I...dont know what to do" Says Kouhei in a weak voice as he was pinned to the wheelchair
"You dont have to, now...i want you to listen carefully, okay?" Says Kurumi in a soft tone
Kouhei slowly nodding his head in confirmation
Then...Kurumi starts speaking, so soft that her breath actually soothing Kouhei, he became relaxes as Kurumi whispering
"Thank you, Kouhei-san, for helping me breaks away from a chain that has strained me for years..."
"Im stubborn, very stubborn, i dont asks your imitations of Kalimosin for help when the Puppet Imperial Army are about to be overrun, even though he have told me to do so"
"He helped me to make sure that im not weak, not alone, that theres still peoples that cared about me, outside my positions and intellegence"
"No, i think addressing it to Kalimosin its wrong..."
"Its you that helped me, regardless what you've done to me, maybe i should address it back, aren't i?"
"Thank you...Kouhei, for helping me to break away from a chain that has been restraining me for years, you helped me to make sure that im not weak, not alone, that theres still people cared about me..."
Then, Kurumi pulls away from the hug, her cheeks is wet due to her tears, she quickly wipes it before speaking again
"You know, i still hate you for manipulating and using me as your pawn right now"
"But...yeah, i guess i owe you for saving me from ending my own life that day..."
"Tch, i hate emotions, thats when i cant fully control myself, or even lost myself"
"But...maybe, just maybe, its okay to be like that sometimes..."
"Yeah, thank you again, Kouhei, for allowing me to feel again..."