23 Chapter 20.5: Intermission

-Kazuya's POV-

We are now now running..

Moving our legs as fast as we can..

You can hear the complaints and yells of my 7 other comrades..

"Ren! Why can't you keep your hands to yourself?"

"Ren-nii, I can't run anymore.."

"Ren-chan, the blame on this is all on you, just to let you know.."

"Ren-kun! Stop running ahead of us! Mou, even though you caused this situation!"

"Why can't you just stop them with [Sin Gate] or use [Mass Teleportation] to get us out of here, Ren-niisan?!?"

The 5 people who can still say that with obvious irritation and anger are breathing heavily, while the other two are so out of breath, that they can't even voice a complaint.. to me..

Yes, we are now running from a horde of desert giants..

And I am in the lead, since I have the fastest legs, of course..

"Ah, that smug face of yours is thinking that you have the fastest legs, and it's to be expected of you! Right, you are the fastest alright, the fastest to run away first!"

I swear, this guy can read me like an open book given that we spent all this time together..

My brother, or technically, my foster-brother, Zen..

"Ah, I can't use those skills right now Angela-chan, I just started recovering my magic power from the last battle and those skills cost a lot of mana..With that said, let's just keep running!"

Yes, I realized these few years, that [Sin Gate] wasn't my innate ability..

My hero skill was actually [Space-Time Magic] which is, by my standards, pretty awesome..

I studied it and put it into practical application and found out that I can make new skills related to it endlessly if I can just understand the basic principle and theory of the skill, which was not hard, since I learned about it in school..

Well, since we can't fight in this situation since that incident, I'll reminisce a bit while escaping..

"Ah, he's showing a blank stare again.. Why do you daydream at a time like this?"

The angry voice of youth doesn't reach the me who's looking into empty space..

After we survived that wolf attack, I discovered my skill [Sin Gate] which was a unique skill that could access the legendary swords which were used by the 7 Dragon Kings that ruled the continent long ago..

Naturally, I didn't tell anyone else about this but I did use them under the guise of a skill I developed, I shared my power with each of them, each one holding one [Sin Sword] which holds immense power sealed within..

So when I gave them those weapons, they were happy that they could finally protect each other but, at first, they couldn't even wield the swords properly..

So while traveling through the wastelands of the demon continent, I trained them in swordsmanship..

Which was strange for me since I thought I knew next to nothing about the proper way of swinging a sword..

But to my surprise, I could move as natural as breathing..

And naturally, I applied this to my teachings and through the course of one year, they were able to master them..

They said it was all thanks to me training them but I disagree, it was they, themselves who were working hard in order to learn them even a second faster, I even caught them training in the middle of the night..

This is just the result of their unwavering determination to become strong enough to protect our small family..

Since we stick together all the time, we naturally gone through life and death situations together..

And with teamwork and coordination, we surpassed every challenge thrown at us so far, resulting in the creation of a bond stronger than camaraderie..

The bonds(kizuna) of family..

Even though were not blood-related, we treat each other like loved ones..

Although we fight sometimes, no.. a lot, it doesn't affect our trust in one another..

And while traveling throughout the continent, I discovered my innate ability and used it to make skills for two reasons..

One was to make life on the road much easier..

Like constructing skills such as; [Spacial Dimension], [Teleportation], [Mass Teleportation], [Instantaneous Movement], [Quicken], [Slow], [Replicate]..

Which I developed using theories of a bag in a different place, moving in an instant. moving faster, make things move slower, going to a different scenery, and being at different places at the same time..

And my ultimate skills that I've developed in secret which are..

Chronostasis

Enables you to stop time from moving in a designated space

MP Cost: 10000/10 Seconds

Sin Sword Convergence

Enables you to gather the power of the 7 Deadly Sins into one weapon

MP Cost: 70000/1 minute

And my last resort skill, that combines both, my [Sin Gate] and [Space-Time Magic] into one..

Dimension Rift

Enables you to open a rift in space-time into the [Void Realm]

MP Cost: 100000/1 Second

Yes, this dangerous skill uses the power of all 7 [Sin Swords] and rips the fabric of space itself in order for me to go back to a random moment in the past 24 hours so that I can change something before it happens..

But all these skills have a major drawback, namely, the cost of magic power needed..

It's reasonable considering the amount of knowledge I possess on it is so little..

Since the level of consumption and usage depends on my knowledge of space-time itself..

Now for the last resort, I know it works because..

I only ever tried it once, and here is what I found..

First, you can only use it when all 7 [Sin Swords] are present..

Second, you have a time-frame of one second to enter it before it disappears..

Third, it costs an enormous amount of mana, and when you've successfully traveled back into the past, the magic power used will not be able to recover and is locked in a sealed state until you reach the time frame from when you opened the [Dimension Rift], only then will it start to recover..

Fourth, you can only go back until 24 hours in the past and it is a random process since there is yet a way I can figure out how to control the exact time and place I end up in, so based on this hypothesis, I may just end up one second before the opening of the rift and just wasted my mana for nothing, henceforth, a last resort..

Finally, you can alter anything in the past, but if you try to tell someone that you time-traveled from the future to warn them, you get a severe headache that stops you from thinking straight right before you warn them..

I always liked to gather information since when I was back in elementary school, I dreamed of becoming a scientist..

Well, that will never come true now, but I know I have my precious family to take care of this time..

Well, after I developed those skills, we traveled a lot faster because of it..

They kept pestering me about how they can use it, but I'm pretty sure that they can't since I knew it was a hero skill..

And these guys didn't look like heroes, even so, the other reason why I developed these overkill skills was to prepare for the coming battles in the future with the heroes who I believe to have even more overpowered skills..

So this is just meager insurance compared to them, who I have not yet met..

I just hope, when the time comes, my precious comrades will stay out of it..

Since I don't want them to die after all..

Especially if there was someone with a bad personality among the other three heroes..

Well, I guess we'll find out then..

Until that time, I will never stop preparing and never let my guard down till I see their defeat with my own eyes..

My eyes shone with a chilling light of anger and an unwavering blaze of determination at that time when I made my decision to follow through the prophecy that the Demon Goddess' Polaris said to me..

Anyway, over the years, I've developed different skills and ways to make living easier for me and my comrades and at some point, we found out that our name spread to most of the [Demon Continent] as a party of mercenaries, a group of friends that hold terrifying skill with the sword, problem-solvers, and we were coined "The Traveling Sword Party"

Well, we did find some artifacts and treasures in various ruins scattered around the continent..

And saved a bunch of villages and towns while we were just passing by..

What can I say, my party members are soft-hearted..

But that doesn't make their value any less in my eyes..

They were just a merry bunch growing up together bound together by fate, and their love of discovering new places..

Of course, me as well..

I enjoyed the antics and clever pranks, adventures and problems, that came along the way..

Now, I'm 14 and a half years of age, closely the same age as the rest of my party..

So far, it all lead up to here, wherein we are running from a horde of demonic beasts because the ruins that we found had an artifact inside and through many battles, we reached the boss located in the center of the ruined undergrounds and conquered him at the cost of our slowly diminishing energy..

And when we were just starting to recover, sprawled across the stone floor of the boss room..

I found a ring on a pedestal which seemed to be the artifact and I yelled while simultaneously picking it up..

{"Hey guys, I found the artifact!"}

I said while showing a grin of accomplishment..

{"Ren, you idiot, Sana-chan hasn't even checked for traps yet!"}

And then and there, I saw Sana-chan, the girl the same age as me, with blue hair tied in a twin-tail hairstyle with short horns growing out of the sides of her head, pure white skin and beautiful blue eyes like an azure gem, showing a face of despair and resignation..looking behind me..

So, as my mind moved at rapid speeds while taking every detail into account, thereby calculating the next course of action, it finished in the time-span of a second..

The result was, I ran..

As fast as the wind..

And with dumbfounded expressions and some sighs here and there after, they as well, ran after me..

Which brings us back to the current situation..

"Ah, he's back! What took you so long, this time jeez.."

"Do something. Ren-nii!"

Well, I guess with all the running we did, I might have just enough mana to get out of this situation..

Let's check, shall we..

Reiten Tsuki Titles: The Chosen Ones, Demon God's Apostle,

Thief, Unwanted, Beast-Hunter, Blademaster,

Moonlit Demon, Fated One, Ruins Seeker

Level: 471

Race: Demon Class: Dual-Wielder Rank: S

HP: 120000/500000 MP: 10398/180000 SP: 90000/300000

STR: 4500 AGI: 10000 INT: 9000

VIT: 50000 DEX: 5000 WIS: 4900

WP: 1000 STC: 30% LUK: 450

Yep, I was right..

I have just enough..

So I call out to them..

"Get ready, I'm gonna cast [Mass Teleportation] so stay close to each other!"

"""""""Roger"""""""

They all say in unison while picking up speed and nearing my vicinity away from the range of the beast horde..

Well, it's fine if some of them get caught up in it..

We can always deal with one or two..

"I'm casting it, now! [Mass Teleportation]!"

I imagine the place in my head the entrance to the ruins, to designate the destination point..

The next thing we know, a blue light covers me and spreads to my radius catching everyone else in its range..

After that, our scenery changed..

We were back at the entrance to the ruins on the sandy dunes and rocks of the desert..

It's cool now, so I look up at the sky and find out that it was now dark..

I guess we spent about the whole day in there..

"""""""HAAAAH"""""""

They all sigh and plop down into the ground like it was a staged thing..

"Hmm? What's wrong you guys, let's move already, we can't sleep here you know? It's cold.."

They all shoot a tired but angry glance at me..

Huh? What did I do?

And my best friend Zen seemingly spoke up for them as a representative in a hoarse voice..

"Ha, what's with you and your bottomless stamina.. Were still tired, especially since, we know we have to go back in there tomorrow to get that artifact back..(sigh), So can't we just rest here for now, since you caused it anyway.."

Ah, so that's why..

"Oh, cm'on don't be like that, look at this!"

I held up the ring with a shining gem embedded at its center in front of them..

"Why you, that's!?"

"Yep, that's right, it's the artifact, I'm not that stupid to leave it there you know?"

Haha, I should pat myself on the back for this..

As I was waiting for my praise with closed eyes..

Nothing came..

I slightly open my eyelids to see what's wrong but what greeted me was..

*******Stare*******

Lifeless eyes..

Cold eyes..

Filled with resignation and anger..

"Huh?(Ar'e?) What's wrong you guys?"

"You really are an idiot leader huh, Ren?"

"Yep. Ren-kun is a huge idiot.."

"Umm, Ren-nii, you, baka~"

What, they're angry at me?

And that last one was cute, Sera-chan...

But that's besides the point..

"Ren, you know if you could have left the ring in the first place, they wouldn't have chased us?"

"Ah.."

I only now realize it..

Sweat gathers around my forehead and before I notice, a barrage of fists appear in front of my vision..

I of course, could have dodged, but that would be rude..

"UGH"

So I took it like a man and fell over..

"Mou, let's go everyone..I'm hungry, let's go eat at a restaurant in town.."

"Yes, Zen-kun, me too!"

Cheers are heard when Zen recommended we eat and their footsteps slowly got quieter..

"Hey! Don't leave me behind!"

In fact, I'm hungry too!

I run after them while I caught a few giggles here and there..

I wish this daily life would last forever..

Having fun with my precious family..

I look forward to a positive future..

And oh yeah, the food at the restaurant was bland as always..

Since my tongue was used to it, I stopped caring about it long ago..

But how I wish, I could taste the heavy seasoning of Japanese cooking one more time..

Well, that is just wishful thinking after all..

But, I have a dream, that my family, friends, and fellow demonkin won't have to fight and live together with the other races in peace, but I know it will take more than thoughts to change things..

So until my dream comes true, the journey continues..