Chloe said her farewells to Hinata and Luminous, then returned to Yuki's side.
As she was leaving, Chloe tried to hand over the bracelet she was holding.
"This is..."
"My equipment. It was passed down to me along with your soul when we became one...
But it originally belonged to you, didn't it?"
It was a Sacred Spirit Armament.
Rimuru had replicated it from a broken prototype Sacred Spirit Armament and entrusted it to Hinata.
Because it was bound to Hinata's soul, when Chloe merged with her, it had been transported back through time together.
Originally, its performance had been befitting the lower tier of the Legend-class, but after Chloe used it for so long, it had adapted to her magic and holy spirit power and evolved.
Now it was a Myth-class weapon, made exclusively for Chloe.
Hinata held the bracelet she'd been given and pondered for a moment.
She could probably use it, since her soul had been unified with Chloe's. But this weapon had carved its way through history alongside the Hero.
More than anything, Hinata's spiritual energy was far too depleted—she would struggle to maintain the spirit power needed to deploy this armament.
Hinata let out a sigh.
"This is yours, Chloe. I can't wield that weapon properly.
Besides, it was created by your teacher, Rimuru.
I think you should be the one to use it."
She held the bracelet out to Chloe.
Chloe received the bracelet with both hands and pressed it to her chest.
"Wait... the teacher made this? So that's how it was...
The teacher was always protecting me."
"When I see Rimuru, I'll let them know you're doing well and that you're taking good care of this weapon.
So keep it. At this point, you could say it's a Hero-exclusive weapon."
"Thank you... I'll treasure it!"
Chloe smiled, and Hinata gazed at her with a warm expression.
The two nodded to each other.
Two souls that had fought together for so long were now parting ways once more, each to walk their own path.
Chloe bowed once more, then opened the door with a quiet motion and vanished into the darkness.
She didn't even say goodbye to the children.
For Chloe, those four children were irreplaceable.
She wanted to speak to them, to talk with them. The desire was powerful.
But now was not the time.
Only after she averted the world's collapse and brought peace could Chloe truly be free.
So she didn't hesitate.
She wouldn't meet Rimuru, and she wouldn't call out to the children.
She was still under the control of Yuki's curse.
At least until that curse was lifted, she couldn't afford to let her guard down.
She had seen her old friend, and enough time had passed. She was granted a certain degree of freedom, but staying away from Yuki's side for too long would be unwise.
If she aroused unnecessary suspicion, things could become complicated.
The coercive power of Yuki's three commands was formidable.
He could only issue commands under specific conditions, but once activated, they had to be obeyed.
It wouldn't take long for Yuki to learn that Chloe had awakened as a true Hero.
Yuki wasn't the type to act rashly, but the possibility of a confrontation with Luminous couldn't be ruled out.
That was precisely why she had to act considering every contingency.
Once outside, Chloe quietly deactivated her ability.
Neither Hinata nor Luminous had noticed, but she had been slowing the flow of time during their conversation.
In truth, only three minutes had passed since Hinata and Chloe had awakened. Perhaps Luminous had noticed, but she chose to say nothing.
Chloe believed that Luminous understood just how wary she was of Yuki.
The world's collapse had been triggered by Yuki's actions.
This time, the tide had turned significantly, and forces capable of standing against him were growing.
Chloe's power was incomparably stronger than what she'd had in the memories of a different future.
She also had Hero-exclusive equipment now, a gift from Hinata that she never possessed before.
(This time, I'll defeat him! No—this time, I will definitely protect everything!!)
In those other memories, she had been manipulated, unable to do a thing.
But now, she was walking a different path.
This time, she would defeat Yuki and protect the world.
Chloe steeled her resolve and set her determination in stone.
Her figure was one truly worthy of being called a Hero.
Born, awakened, enlightened— And in this moment, with her resolve set firm— "Chloe the Hero" truly began to move.
· · · A young boy sat lounging in an ornate chair.
Behind him stood a beautiful elven woman, preparing tea for him.
This was Yuki and
"It looks like the 'Hero' has fully awakened.
Seems like she's awakened to some absurdly powerful abilities, too?
Luckily, my constraint was placed first, so I can still issue commands to some extent...
But most of her abilities are unusable now.
What a pain. Everything keeps going wrong.
Honestly, things should have descended into far more chaos by now.
What do you think, Kazalim?"
With a cheerful grin, Yuki—the boy—addressed the woman behind him.
She shrugged at his question.
"You're asking me?
Isn't the conclusion already clear?
The plan has failed.
Our dear Clayman is dead, too.
There's no hope of sowing discord among the Demon Lords anymore.
We could try to get the Guild to censure the Western Holy Church for their blunder, but some opposition forces would likely move to block that.
The Guild branches around the nations near the Great Forest of Jura won't be at our beck and call anymore.
Even the collapsed Farmus Kingdom has produced a hero who's rallied its people.
They must have a frighteningly intelligent ally to have achieved so much in such a short time.
Using that country's instability as a lever to spread chaos and conflict to its neighbors is also off the table.
The number of monsters has dropped dramatically, and trade is thriving around the Monster Country.
The nations surrounding the Great Forest of Jura have entered an era of stability and prosperity not seen in living memory.
It's the exact opposite of what the Master intended."
Kagali answered without any enthusiasm.
"Hey, why do you talk like a guy when you're such a pretty lady?
Is that, like, your thing?"
"Don't be ridiculous. It's because the Master calls me Kazalim!
I'm just playing along, Master dear."
Suddenly, her tone shifted to a refined, ladylike register as she addressed Yuki.
For Kazalim—or rather, Kagali—gender held little significance.
Power was everything, and Yuki, Kagali's master, possessed that power. That was all that mattered.
Sowing discord in human society, producing countless laments and deaths— That was what Kagali's master had said, but the plan clearly wasn't going well.
"This game is harder than you expected, huh?" Yuki made cryptic remarks like that as Kagali offered him his tea.
Her speech patterns could shift freely, but her refined hand movements were the product of years of practice.
Originally, Kazalim had no concept of gender, but the influence of Kagali—the spirit possessing her—was significant.
One aspect of that influence was the abilities of tea ceremony and cooking.
Playing a role, switching personas at Yuki's whim as if donning different masks—that was Kazalim, or rather, Kagali.
"You're unnecessarily skilled at things that have nothing to do with combat, you know that?
Well, whatever.
Still, when everything fails one after another like this, it really shakes your confidence.
Makes you want to get out there and cause some havoc myself."
"Please don't!
Actually, don't bother stopping me—just let me escape first before you go on your rampage."
"You're really something, you know that?
Weak and useless, but when it comes to self-preservation, you never miss a beat..."
"What can I do?
My Unique Skill, 'Heart's Controller,' simply isn't suited for actual combat."
"It's honestly kind of amazing that even combining your planning ability with my knowledge, things still don't work out."
"Yes, well...
This is just speculation, but I can't rule out the possibility that some entity with superior computational abilities is pulling strings behind the scenes."
"You think so too? Then I suppose it's time.
Let's head east. Leave only our intelligence operatives here—everyone else comes with me."
"Are you sure? You're willing to abandon the foothold we've painstakingly built here?"
"There's no choice. If we don't cut our losses, the damage will only keep growing.
Besides, it's not exactly fatal.
We did succeed in restraining the 'Hero' with a high probability of killing me.
If we'd failed here, every single operation would have fallen apart."
"Is that so... Yes, I suppose you're right.
Understood. I'll select personnel immediately and leave only the best behind.
The rest will relocate east. Is that correct?"
"Mm, that'll do.
There was also the option of cornering the Holy Church and Luminous through witch hunts, but...
That's a double-edged sword—if it fails, the damage to us would be severe too.
Deploying the 'Hero' at this point is poorly timed and a waste. Can't be helped."
Thus, Yuki casually made the decision to abandon his position and issued his orders.
The trust he had built over more than a decade, and his seat at the pinnacle of the Free Guild— All of it meant nothing to him. They were mere tools for achieving his true objective.
With plans failing one after another, a reset was necessary at some point.
Kagali received the order and left the room to carry it out.
Yuki watched her leave with cold eyes.
"Still, Chloe really has surpassed me now, hasn't she?
What a waste—but I should probably use one of my commands to prohibit her from using her abilities against me."
He murmured to himself.
This was a calculated statement, based on an accurate assessment of the power gap between himself and Chloe.
Yuki's cheerful smile never faded as he continued to think ahead.
A trump card—and one that could very well become the hand that killed him.
(How delightful. The thrill is intoxicating!)
Without uttering a word aloud, he savored the excitement.
Kagurazaka Yuki was enjoying the current situation so much that his plans' failure hardly seemed to matter.
And the fact that he was now free to operate from the shadows after abandoning his role as Supreme Commander of the Free Guild was nothing short of catastrophic for this world.
Thus was "the Bringer of Chaos" unleashed upon the world.
· · · When the children woke up and found Chloe gone, they erupted into chaos.
The most furious of them all was Alice.
"Chloe got to grow up all by herself! She just wants the teacher to acknowledge her, I know it!"
She was fuming, though her reasons were apparently slightly different from the other children's.
They had all been complaining about how Chloe left without even saying goodbye, but before long, the three boys found themselves desperately trying to calm Alice down.
Watching from the side,
But in the end— "Fritz, we'll be heading to the Monster Country. I'd like you to come along."
Hinata's request meant he was now saddled with babysitting duty.
That's just how the world works, Fritz thought with resignation, accepting his fate.
But it wasn't all bad.
If they were going together, that meant Hinata would be there too.
Cardinal Nicolaus couldn't leave the Western Holy Church. That meant there might be an opportunity to confess his feelings to Hinata during the journey!
Fritz grinned to himself at the thought.
Hinata, who had softened somewhat, now carried an aura of maternal warmth that she never had before, making her an even more unreachable figure for the Holy Knights than she already was.
The idea of Nicolaus monopolizing her was something Fritz simply couldn't stomach.
To Fritz, who was still in his early twenties, the mid-thirties Nicolaus was practically an old man. The thought of some old guy stealing away the Hinata he admired was an insult to the name of Holy Knight.
A secret alliance among the Holy Knights had been forged, with a pact to unite against Nicolaus and refuse to cede ground no matter what.
Sensing the fervent support of his comrades in his heart (or so Fritz believed), he accepted Hinata's request.
Nicolaus, who was once again being separated from Hinata, was in the foulest of moods.
To make matters worse, he had somehow injured his right hand and was being ignored by Hinata.
He twisted his agelessly handsome face into a scowl and silently bore down on Fritz with oppressive intensity.
(Fritz, I will not allow you to lay a hand on Lady Hinata!)
(Haha, Nicolaus. You may be my superior, but when it comes to this, it's man against man. I won't follow that order!)
Something along those lines—but since neither said it aloud, nothing was communicated.
"Lord Nicolaus, what happened to your hand?"
Fritz, with his keen beast-like instincts, had intuited that Nicolaus was awkwardly trying to hide his injured hand.
This was the sort of perception Fritz excelled at—probably an ability he'd developed from desperately dodging the attacks of direwolves.
"Ugh! That's none of your concern!
Forget about that—make sure you protect Lady Hinata this time! Don't let it happen twice!"
Nicolaus deflected the question, evading Fritz's inquiry.
In truth, Nicolaus had been shamelessly clinging to Hinata during the discussion the previous night...
And in his overexcitement, he had reached for her chest.
Hinata had crushed his hand with a smile, and there was no way he could admit that.
He had originally planned to use Hinata's safe return as an excuse to request spending the night together, but he had destroyed that chance himself.
A classic case of moving too fast and making a critical mistake.
Despite being a grown man, Nicolaus had failed to control his own heart like a lovestruck teenager.
He masked his blunder by delivering a stern order to Fritz.
In truth, they would be traveling in an armored carriage prepared by Demon Lord Luminous, with Luminous's elite subordinates accompanying them as well, so there shouldn't be much cause for concern.
Even so, Nicolaus couldn't help but worry.
"Don't worry, Nicolaus. We'll be back before you know it!"
In the end, when Hinata said that to him with a smile, there was nothing more he could do.
"Take care!"
Nicolaus and the remaining Holy Knights watched Hinata's group depart with hearts full of anguish.
And so, with preparations barely complete, Hinata and the others set off toward the Monster Country with the children in tow.
The Holy-Demon Alliance would soon be established.
But the founding of that alliance would serve as the tolling bell that announced the beginning of chaos.