"The curse, I deem you enemies of all the human alliance!"

...

"Does it seem like I care?"

"..."

I had not even waited a single more second before coldly replying to Sakura. Everyone, for some reason, seemed taken aback by my careless reply to such a threat...

To be quite honest, despite having no idea what the human alliance was, what she just declared did, in fact, make me flinch... But in the end, just being the [Demon Empress] myself, kind of makes me an enemy of the entire human race already so...

"I don't care that you consider us as enemies of the human alliance. I just did what was necessary... I will not allow anyone, and I mean ANYONE, to defame or falsely accuse us of anything at all... This 'trial' or whatever you want to call it, was not even close to what justice is supposed to be... But what else is there to expect from the Everidian kingdom..."

I had just spoken with my heart to be frank. Those were actually what my true feelings looked like right now... If I could've simply avoided all of this trouble I would've happily done so... But it was far too late for that...

"Silence! I don't have to take anything from you, monster!"

"Oh no! You do! You should know how putrid the Everidian kingdom is... You were summoned by them after all! Besides... the only monster here was none other than that imbecile, Pietro..."

"Shut it! He was no imbecile! No brute like you either!"

"Oh, so he was just a plain liar?"

"...Pietro was a good man..."

"He was nothing but a cockroach who deserved to die... He defamed, insulted and even went as far as to try to lock us up while killing me... That guy... that same guy who did those crimes... is the true monster of this room..."

Everything had been regular heated discussion up to this point... but, something changed here... because the moment I finished my sentence... the aura around Sakura began to become infused with magic power as she kept arguing...

"You don't know anything about him!"

"Oh, I know enough!"

"You know nothing about Pietro or me, you have no idea how much support Pietro gave me after he left!"

"Well, I don't care, Pietro might've been nice to you because you're a hero and all, but what he tried to do to us... is absolutely unforgivable..."

"..."

For a change, after this response, Sakura remained silent...

But it wasn't because she was agreeing with me...

I had actually sensed it earlier... but Sakura had kept getting more and more and more killing intent as I kept refuting her...

By this point, it seemed as if she was about to fight me... and I really wasn't wrong...

I could quite clearly tell Sakura was preparing herself for something as she gripped her staff and carefully attempted to amass magic power within it...

She did so with care so as for me not to notice, yet it was a little too late...

I had already noticed, she was clearly becoming ready to fight me...

"Pietro-sama wasn't weak, or fake... He has helped us so much since arriving at this world... yet you killed him without remorse... I'll make you pay..."

Immediately after, Sakura's entire body began faintly glowing white, while I just remained standing still...

'So this is it huh?'

That was my single reaction as the magical power Sakura had gathered up to now materialized itself before me...

All the while, I just stood there waiting for Sakura to make the first move... I wasn't dissapointed...

As she finally chanted...

"[HOLY COLLAPSE]!!!"

*Creack* *Creack* * Creack*

The moment Sakura finished her incantation, she plunged her staff into the ground causing a small tremor...

...

Yet the noise that followed...didn't exactly come from the tremor...

"WE'RE GOING TO DIE!!!" -Audience Adventurer

"SAVE ME!!!" -Audience Peasant

"REIKA-CHAN I'M SO SORRY!!! PLEASE SAVE ME!!!" -Audience Merchant

The tremor might've been small for me... but surely not for those around me...

The members of the audience who still remained within the guild had actually become affected and trapped by the sudden fissures of light that appeared from the ground.

The fissures of holy light grew larger every second... Releasing more and more energy...

At this pace, as the ground kept fracturing, they would all die...

I didn't mind killing Pietro or getting into a fight with Sakura, but I would like to avoid killing civilians directly or indirectly if possible...

Yet... the situation did orove very difficult, as fissures where beginning to form everywhere in the guild...

Even if I tried my best... I would barely even be able to save 1/4 of the people...

It all seemed lost...

But... contrary to expectations... something positive actually happened for once...

"[VOLTAGE FIELD]!!!"

Out of the blue, strong and magnetic cloud of lightning began forming overhead as dmall bolts of lightning began running along the floor, nullifying the effects of Sakura's skill...

And of course, the author of such a skill was no mystery either...

As he began signaling everyone to leave the guild as fast as possible, Callum turned to me with a warm smile on his face as he pleaded in his usual friendly tone:

"Just please promise you won't kill this one.."

"I can't make any promises..."

"Heh, that is so you... Good luck..."

And with that small laugh and nice smile... only Sakura and I were left in the guild...

No one really dared to utter a word...

But remembering back... I did have a question... which I did not hesitate to ask...

"Might I know who is him?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"Oh, is he so weak that you wouldn't wsnt me to hurt him?"

"No! He is none other than the most honored, proud and hard-working hero this world has ever seen or will see... He is the one I do everything for... He's the reason I need to get stronger..."

...

'Ugh... I just had to be right...'

I knew quite well who fitted into that description...

Of course, none other than the snob that is Seiichi...

'I guess, in the end, he even took her huh?'

...

No...

I don't know why... but I just couldn't possibly contain my anger...

It was probabky because of everything leading up to this point...

But, the moment my suspicions were confirmed... something inside me snapped...

Up to now, I had controlled myself...

But after confirming such a thing... I could no longer hold back...

In a swift single movement...

I ran up to Sakura at mach 1, while sending one of my strongest punches straight at her staff...

*BOOOOOOOOOOM*

In the end... my rage got the better of me...

Her staff disintegrated the instant my jand grazed it...

I clearly wasn't able to properly hold back on my attack any longer as I finally had sent Sakura flying across the room, crashing against the marble stairs...

But that wasn't it just yet... because the sudden collision, also caused the stairs to collapse on her, which resulted in her being immobilized by her injuries and the debris...

To be honest, I wasn't even sure if she was still alive for a second, but after seeing the cloud of dust fade away... I let out a sigh of relief knowing I had at least managed to keep her alive...

And as I finally managed to confirm her being alive, without waiting for anything else, I turned around to finally exit the guild...

I felt so relieved everything had finally come to an end...

I could clearly picture myself returning to my strange daily lifestyle after so many mishaps and problems had come our way...

It filled my heart with joy and happiness...

But as always...

Those feelings... are not the ones I'm supposed to be acquainted with...

As I kept leisurely strolling towards the exit, leaving behind a wreck of a guild... a slight tap on my shoulder was what followed...

I turned around ready to be met with their happy expressions...

Yet... that isn't what I found...

Rather than seeing either of them happy or outgoing... both seemed the slightest bit gloomy and nostalgic...

"Is something wrong...?"

"Reika... after this... we will need to leave..."

"Yeah〜 Despite the heroes' complete lack in strength or intelligence, their authority is sadly, unquestionable〜"

Even though they looked somewhat positive on the outside... Nor Myria, nor Scarlet seemed happy... even their words... seemed empty...

And as they had talked... I had not processed it properly...

Well, to be honest... that's a lie... I just didn't want what I was thinking of to be true...

I just wanted to hide in the comfort of fantasy for just a little while longer...

But I guess, that is simply not possible...

"Wait, what do you mean?"

"Reika... after this... we will have to run away... The human alliance... is not something we want to go against..."

"Yep〜 It's just like Myria says〜 The human alliance is quite literally the army used to attempt to subjugate the demon king so...〜 I guess you're officially a proper demon empress. now that the entire human race wants your head〜"

"..."

I just remained in shock by what Myria and Scarlet had both just told me...

I was actually quite desperate... I did not even consider the fact Sakura would have enough authority to deem us targets of the ENTIRE HUMAN ARMY!!!

I had not considered it, but what Sakura had said at first... still applied...

We would never be able to stay in this kingdom ever again...

Myria's home... Myria's parents... She might have to abandon it all... because of my actions...

Kira, Callum, the guild... we might never see it again...

I really messed up...

Once more...

The reason why we're all suffering...

Is because of me...

I could clearly tell my eyes watering from the pain my heart was just subjected to...

Guilt was truly one of the hardest emotions I had to deal with, after all, I never did feel too guilty for others back on Earth... Yet here... I cared too much for my friends...

'I at least now get why they say friends are a fortitude and a weakness...'

You wouldn't be able to properly fathom how heartbroken I felt from having destroyed our new opportunity to return to our daily lives...

I could tell my heart

"I did it again... I am at fault... I'm so sorry..."

I apologized as tears welled up in my eyes...

I could feel my heart aching from the feeling of remorse from having caused all of this... But before I could drown in guilt... Myria spoke:

"Ey, it's fine, you already have your own kingdom we can go to anyways... Just... be sure to say goodbye to everything you might miss... including her..."

As Myria brought our dialogue to an end, she pointed towards the collapsed stars where a blood-covered, barely-conscious Sakura laid...

I did not quite understand why she had done such a thing, but everything finally made sense as Scarlet popped in:

"Yes Reika〜 I can't begin to take you, if you're clearly involved with that girl so...〜 Say goodbye to her, so you can finally love me〜"

Well, besides the obvious awkward and romantic connotations Scarlet's message implied... they both had a point...

I had never settled things with Sakura...

I never did say goodbye to her...

That had kept me clinging to that very last memory of my old self and persobality...

And it was finally time to sever that bond, once and for all...

As I responded with a nod, to my smiling friends I turned to an injured Sakura, who lay defeated before me...

And without wasting anymore time, I slowly approached...

Sakura, still buried under the debris noticed my approach, and without any warning... crystalline beads began to be released from her eyes...

That unending stream of tears began making its way down her face as she seemed to be preparing herself to die...?

I, of course, didn't have any intention of killing or injuring her further... And despite her being terrified regarding my approach, I keot pushing forwards without hesitation... I was going to say my goodbye...

She had clearly forgotten all about me anyways... And it was quite obvious, she had completely fallen for Seiichi by this point...

But once again, that was my fault too... Yet that didn't really matter right now, did it?

I could feel my heart aching away as I got closer. My will, strongly preventing the tears from rolling down my eyes too... But of course, these weren't tears because of Sakura... no... not anymore... these tears were only because of my past... that same past I would bury someday...

I just continjed my slow approach as Sakura hopelessly looked at me with watery eyes...

But, I did not pay attention to such a thing... as my thoughts kept racing...

With Sakura being my childhood friend... emotional support and guiding light throughout the darkest moments of my life... I cannot just forget her... Despite her having forgotten me... despite her falling for that guy... I am still grateful for what she has done for me in my past...

I was finally just a foot away from where Sakura lay, covered in blood, scars, and debris... It pained me, even more, to see her in this state... But that didn't matter... after today... I would never see her again...

I kept closing in, I don't why I kept doing so, but it just seemed like the only way to end my memory of her forever... Yes, she was probably thinking I was about to slaughter her due to my approach, but all I wanted to do, was whisper a soft goodbye into her ear...

As I crouched to face her directly, I happened to pushed my face towards hers...

In the end, our faces were no more than 10 inches away...

I could feel her uneasy breathing... She truly was scared...

But it would all end soon enough...

I disregarded her terrified look and finally went in for the goodbye... While she slowly closed her eyes in melancholy...

And, as a final tear cascaded down her pristine cheeks...

A single sentence...

Backed by the largest amount of love and care in the world...

Left her lips...

"I'll be seeing you soon Reiki..."