Chapter 20: Chapter 20: The isekai has called, and Noah has answered.
Noah walked through the high school hallways, but he barely paid attention to his surroundings, as his mind remained trapped on the rooftop.
Both in the rejection and in Yume’s face when he rejected her.
’That was the right thing to do.’
He repeated the same phrase for the tenth time.
’I had to do it.’
However, the uncomfortable feeling didn’t disappear; it lingered there like a constant annoyance.
"Noah."
A voice pulled him from his thoughts and he looked up, finding Ren standing beside him.
"Huh?"
"You look terrible."
"Thanks."
"It wasn’t a compliment."
"I know."
Ren observed him for a few seconds.
"Did something happen?"
"No, I’m fine."
"You’re lying."
"Of course not."
"You’re definitely lying."
"No, I’m not."
"I think you are."
"How many times do I have to tell you no?"
Ren sighed.
"Someday you should learn to lie better."
Noah looked away.
"I’m fine... seriously."
"Clearly not."
Ren crossed his arms.
"What happened?"
"Nothing happened."
"I’ve known you since we were kids."
’I see.’
Ren continued watching him and this time Noah nearly gave in.
’Maybe telling him something would help.’
He opened his mouth.
"Well, I..."
Suddenly and without warning, an explosion shook the area.
The windows rattled, several people screamed, the ground vibrated, and for a few seconds silence reigned, but then chaos arrived.
Students began running while teachers shouted orders and alarms started blaring.
Noah opened his eyes.
’No.’
He recognized that.
It was an attack caused by the villainesses, but there was a problem.
That attack wasn’t supposed to happen yet according to the original timeline.
’Of all moments! Why now!?’
The story was deviating more and more.
Ren observed the smoke in the distance.
"What the hell was that!?"
"I’m not sure."
Noah lied immediately and pointed in the opposite direction.
"Go take shelter."
"What about you!?"
"I have to do something."
"Do something now!?"
"I don’t have time, I’ll explain later!"
Before Ren could stop him, Noah took off running.
"Noah!"
But it was already too late.
The smoke could be seen from several streets away and Noah ran as fast as he could, but as he advanced, a feeling of anxiety grew in his chest.
Everything was happening ahead of schedule and that was very bad.
Then he saw two familiar figures: Luna and Yume, who were already transformed.
Noah slowed down, but the girls saw him and the atmosphere immediately became awkward.
Yume avoided looking at him and Luna didn’t seem particularly happy either.
No one said anything for several seconds, but finally Noah broke the silence.
"We have problems."
"I noticed."
Luna replied while Yume simply nodded and silence returned.
Noah wanted to say something, just like Yume, but it wasn’t the time.
A new explosion echoed in the distance, reminding everyone of the situation.
"First we stop this."
Luna said.
"Yeah."
Noah replied and Yume simply nodded again.
The three continued advancing.
Meanwhile, at the center of the disaster, three figures watched the destruction.
Reina was sitting on a rock swinging her legs while she watched the monsters cause trouble.
A few meters away from her was another girl, whose enormous witch hat stood out immediately as she held a rifle resting on her shoulder and looked quite pleased with herself.
"Do you think this will be enough to rank up, Misaki?"
Reina asked.
"Of course."
Misaki replied.
"My plan is perfect."
Reina rolled her eyes.
"Really?"
"Absolutely."
"Then what exactly is the plan?"
Misaki smiled.
"That proves why you’ll never rank up."
A vein appeared on Reina’s forehead.
"What does that mean!?"
"That a brute like you would never understand such an advanced strategy."
"You called me a brute!?"
"Yes, I called you a slow brute."
"I’m gonna hit you!"
"And I’m gonna shoot you."
The two stared at each other, clearly showing they couldn’t stand one another.
"You know what?"
Reina said.
"I’m starting to understand why no one invites you to gatherings."
"And I understand why everyone considers you a problem."
"Want to fight?"
"Anytime."
The two took a step forward, but a third voice interrupted them.
"Enough."
Ayane appeared behind them with a serious tone that made them stop immediately.
"We’re not here to argue."
Ayane said.
"Our targets are approaching."
Reina clicked her tongue and Misaki also looked annoyed, but neither argued because even they recognized who the leader was.
Noah, Luna, and Yume finally arrived, but the situation was worse than expected.
There were monsters everywhere, damaged buildings, people fleeing, and in the distance, three villainesses waiting.
Reina smiled.
"There they are."
Misaki adjusted her rifle while Ayane observed in silence.
Noah felt a chill and then the battle began.
The earth trembled and several monsters burst forth at once.
"I’ll take Reina!"
Luna said.
"I’ll handle the monsters!"
And she disappeared.
Reina smiled.
"Perfect."
The two clashed immediately.
Meanwhile, Yume advanced forward, but she had barely taken a few steps when a bullet passed right beside her.
Yume opened her eyes before another bullet came immediately after and she barely managed to dodge it.
"What?"
She looked up and saw that Misaki was on an elevated structure aiming directly at her.
"Hi."
The witch said.
"Smile, I’m about to erase you."
"That’s not happening!"
Yume replied, firing energy.
Misaki smiled and jumped to another point, starting the fight.
Meanwhile, Luna attacked Reina with a burst of magical shots, forcing the summoner to retreat.
"How aggressive."
Reina said.
"Annoyed about something?"
Luna didn’t answer.
"I see."
Reina smiled.
"It must be because of the kiss."
The explosion of energy that followed was massive.
"REINAAAA!!"
"Yeah, you’re definitely annoyed."
Meanwhile, Noah advanced through the rubble and tried to help where he could, but then he felt something and a presence appeared behind him.
He turned and found Ayane.
The two stood motionless.
Ayane observed him and, after blinking, recognized him.
"Huh?"
Her face began turning red.
"No..."
A little redder.
"It can’t be."
Much redder.
"Y-Y-You?"
Noah already knew that reaction.
"Hi."
Ayane stepped back.
"Y-Y-You are..."
"Yes."
"T-The prince!"
"Yes, yes, I’m the prince... wait, what!?"
Ayane seemed unable to hear, as her brain had clearly stopped working.
Then something unexpected happened: a huge piece of rubble fell from above directly toward Ayane.
Noah reacted on instinct, pushed her, and both fell to the ground.
Ayane opened her eyes and saw that Noah was on top of her, protecting her and holding her very close.
Ayane’s brain exploded.
’He saved me again and now we’re in a romantic position!’
Her mind didn’t stop.
’This happens in Chapter twenties of novels! But aren’t we going too fast!?’
Her face reached absurd levels of red and finally...
She fainted.
Noah watched her.
"..."
"Seriously?"
He received no answer, so he sighed, propped her up against a wall, and refocused on the battle, but the situation wasn’t going well.
Yume was clearly overwhelmed, as Misaki shot from different angles and each shot was precise, forcing Yume to defend herself.
She couldn’t get close or attack properly and little by little she was losing ground.
’This is bad.’
Noah clenched his teeth and ran toward the fight.
"Yume!"
She turned and was surprised.
"Noah?"
"Duck!"
A bullet passed over both of them.
Misaki smiled.
"What a nuisance."
Noah looked at Yume, who was still avoiding his gaze, and that hurt more than expected, but it didn’t matter, because now they had bigger problems.
"I’m going to help you."
Noah said and, although Yume hesitated at first, she then nodded.
"Thanks."
It was the first time they had spoken since the rooftop and the atmosphere was still awkward, but at least they were cooperating.
Noah began using his detection ability.
"Left!"
Yume dodged.
"Above!"
Another bullet flew past.
For a few seconds it worked and Yume began to close in while Misaki lost part of her advantage.
Then the witch smiled.
"I see."
She aimed, but not at Yume, but at Noah, and time seemed to slow down.
Noah saw it, but the projectile was too close and he was already tired, making his movement slow.
The bullet pierced his body, the impact was brutal, and Noah felt unbearable pain.
Then he lost strength, his legs gave out, and he fell to his knees.
"Noah...!"
He heard Yume’s voice in the distance, looked down, and there was too much blood.
’Ah.’
He immediately understood it was a mortal wound.
The noise of the battle faded little by little and his vision began to darken.
He heard screams, many screams, both from Yume and Luna.
Even Reina seemed surprised by what Misaki had done, but he could no longer distinguish the words and everything became blurry, darker, and more distant.
’What bad luck.’
It was his last conscious thought before he fell to the ground and lost consciousness.
Meanwhile, everyone around him believed exactly the same thing.
Noah had died.
Comments