Rebirth From Ordinary Person To The Strongest

As we ran past the now elongated body of the fallen monster, Sensei asked me the question.

I hesitated to answer. Honestly, I didn\'t know where to start.

How could I possibly explain this? How could I tell her that in this world, there are monsters, magic, and that I was born into a family of exorcists who use magic to get rid of them? Would she even believe me? Probably not...

At least, I wouldn\'t have believed it in my previous life if a kid had told me something like that.

But, maybe Sensei would believe me. She did see the monster and Nina-chan\'s magic firsthand.

"What did you think of that strange person you saw earlier, Sensei?" I asked cautiously.

"You mean that twisted-up person? Well, I thought…maybe they were doing some kind of cosplay or something," she answered, her voice unsure.

Yeah, that\'s a normal reaction.

Even if I had seen something like that back in my previous life, I doubt I would\'ve immediately jumped to, "Oh, ghosts and monsters are real!"

"There are a lot of strange people like that out there," I said, choosing my words carefully. "And one of them happens to be targeting me."

"...You mean the person on the announcement?" she asked.

I nodded. Whether that thing could even be called a person was debatable.

"She mentioned something about her little sister? Did you do something to her sister? Play a prank or something?"

"A prank… well, yeah, something like that," I said, not sure how else to explain it.

From Sensei\'s perspective, I was just a first-grader. When a first-grader makes someone mad, it\'s usually because of a prank or some harmless mischief. Her comment felt so innocent, so out of place in this bizarre situation that I couldn\'t help but feel a bit disoriented.

But if that monster was talking about her sister... she was probably referring to those two—one who liked cubes and the other who liked spheres. But it wasn\'t me who dealt with them; it was my dad and Irena-san. This was an absurd grudge.

As we kept running, Nina-chan tugged at my hand, and I turned to look at her. She looked deeply worried.

"Itsuki… are you okay?"

"Yeah, I\'m fine, Nina-chan."

"But Itsuki, you can\'t use magic right now…"

"Don\'t worry about that. Really, I\'ll be okay."

I tried my best to smile and reassure her.

At a time like this, it\'s natural to feel anxious. Nina-chan must have been scared, too.

We couldn\'t get out of the school, monsters were lurking around, and on top of that, I couldn\'t use magic. Who wouldn\'t be afraid in a situation like this?

But I had to stay strong and keep smiling for her, to ease her anxiety.

To be honest, I was terrified myself.

I couldn\'t use my magic. Even that low-level monster we saw earlier—a "First Order" monster—would be impossible for me to exorcise right now.

And yet, a "Fifth Order" monster was after me.

It would be insane not to be scared.

But if Dad or Renji-san were here, they wouldn\'t just stand around panicking like I was. So, I had to keep moving forward, supporting Nina-chan, as we made our way to the staff room.

When we arrived, it was deserted, just as expected. The desks were scattered with papers and tests, as if the teachers had suddenly disappeared in the middle of their work.

Sensei, still moving with the composure of someone who knew the place well, headed straight for a steel storage cabinet near the wall.

"Thank goodness, it\'s still here…" she said, pulling out a toolbox that looked like it could be found anywhere. She took out a hammer and showed it to us.

"Let\'s break the window with this. Just give me a second."

Sensei then grabbed some duct tape from the same cabinet and began sticking it to the window.

"You see, when you want to break a window safely, you tape it up first. That way, the glass won\'t shatter everywhere."

"R-really? I didn\'t know that…" I replied, genuinely surprised.

I made a mental note to try that if I ever had to break a window again. Though I sincerely hoped that day would never come.

As I watched, Sensei finished taping up the window, then, without hesitation, swung the hammer into the glass.

She didn\'t hold back at all.

For someone who always seemed so gentle, I could only assume the stress of the situation was taking its toll. The moment the hammer struck the window, a sharp cracking sound echoed in the room as the glass began to splinter.

With another swing, the cracks spread further.

"Okay, that should do it," she said, peeling the duct tape off to reveal a window filled with shattered glass, now held in place by the tape. With the window gone, a cool breeze blew into the room.

Ah, so that\'s how it works. The tape catches all the glass shards. I\'ll remember that.

Though hopefully, I\'ll never have to put it into practice.

The important thing now was that the window was broken, meaning we could get out.

"Itsuki-kun, Nina-chan, come here. I\'ll lift you out—there are still some sharp edges."

Without hesitation, Sensei lifted us out through the broken window and onto the grass outside.

Grateful, I turned to watch as she brought a chair over, using it as a stepping stool to get herself out.

"…So, can we go home now?" Nina-chan murmured, her voice uncertain.

"I don\'t know…" I replied, unsure myself.

We had managed to escape from the school building, but when I glanced at the clock in the staff room before we left, it had shown 5:00 PM. Yet, the sky overhead was pitch black, with a large full moon hanging high in the sky.

After seeing all this, I couldn\'t bring myself to believe that simply leaving the school would mean everything would go back to normal.

Still, getting outside was a step forward.

"Let\'s try heading for the school gate. If we can get out of the grounds, maybe those strange people won\'t follow us," I said, deliberately avoiding the word "monsters" to keep Sensei from panicking.

If what that "Fifth Order" monster said earlier was true, then the monsters were limited to the school building. The monster itself was using the PA system, so it was probably stationed in the broadcast room or somewhere inside.

That meant, logically, we should be safe once we got outside.

"…Yeah, you\'re right. And maybe Mom will come to help us," Nina-chan said, nodding in agreement.

Sensei still looked uneasy, but she also nodded, understanding that staying inside the school was the greater danger.

So we began walking toward the school gate, making our way across the grounds.

"…What!?"

Nina-chan, who was walking ahead of us, suddenly froze.

The moment I saw what she saw, I also came to a halt, and Sensei, right behind us, did the same.

"Well, well, well, if it isn\'t Itsuki Kisaragi! Welcome back!"

How could I even begin to describe this scene?

The best way to put it would be to say that monsters were playing in the schoolyard.

On the jungle gym, three giant eyeballs were wriggling around. On the swings, a monster made entirely of arms was clapping endlessly. In the monkey bars, a spider-like monster had woven webs between the bars, and on the ground, dozens of monsters were playing soccer, kicking around one of their own kind like a ball.

And in the center of it all stood one woman.

"You\'re late, aren\'t you, Itsuki Kisaragi? Keeping a woman waiting is a surefire way to stay single," she said.

Her upper body was covered in tattoos.

No, not tattoos… When I looked closer, I saw that they were some sort of moving patterns, wriggling across the surface of her skin like living creatures.

"I\'ve been waiting, so very patiently waiting for you, Itsuki Kisaragi," she said in a loud, carrying voice, even though we were several dozen meters away. Her words vibrated through the air, as though she were standing right in front of me.

"All of these creatures here are my dear, sweet sisters, gathered to avenge the ones you\'ve exorcised. Each and every one of them is here for your blood, Itsuki!"

She stomped the ground, and in that instant, all the monsters in the schoolyard turned to face us.

Each one, on its own, wouldn\'t have been a big deal. If I could use my magic, I could easily take them out.

But that wasn\'t the case right now. Even one of those creatures could kill us at this moment…!

"Don\'t get cocky just because you know a bit of magic, brat! Without your magic, you\'re just a helpless kid. You get that, don\'t you?!"

She stomped the ground again and again, each step punctuated with her shouting.

"This is a \'closed world,\' a space where human magic doesn\'t work, created just for the purpose of making you suffer and die! So go ahead, try and beg for mercy, but I\'m not gonna give it to you!"

Hearing those words, I turned to glance at Nina-chan beside me.

Because there was something very wrong with what the monster had just said.

She had said this world sealed off human magic.

But just a while ago, Nina-chan had used magic.

So even though she said human magic was sealed, the only magic that seemed to be affected was mine…

…Wait, could that really be it?

"You can grovel on the ground and beg all you want, but I\'m not letting you off that easily, brat!"

The monster had indeed said that human magic was sealed off.

But Nina-chan\'s magic, although human, wasn\'t exactly normal. Technically, it was the fairy who was casting the magic.

That\'s why it hadn\'t been sealed. I see.

So, that\'s how it is, huh?

It felt almost like discovering a glitch in a video game, but even so, I\'d found a loophole in her plan.

"I see… You sealed human magic, didn\'t you?" I said, taking a step forward.

"Exactly! To make sure you die in the most miserable way possible."

When she put it like that, it made sense. Kai Technique and Silveit were techniques for manipulating magical power, not actual spells. The reason I\'d been able to use them was that they weren\'t technically considered magic.

I understood now.

I finally got it.

My mind filled with clarity, and along with it, the possibility of finding a way out of this situation. My heart raced with excitement.

"Nina-chan. Sensei. I need you two to step back for a moment," I said, stepping forward without waiting for their response.

Fairies, Nina-chan had told me, were born by combining two types of magic: one to form the core and another to serve as the vessel.

And beginner-level users of Condensing Magic practiced by putting magic into dolls or stuffed animals, using them as vessels.

If that was possible, then…

Could the opposite also be true?

What if, instead of the core, I prepared the vessel with my magic, and used an existing item as the core?

If that were the case, even a beginner like me might be able to create a fairy.

As I thought this through, I came to a conclusion.

…I wouldn\'t know until I tried.

Yeah, I wouldn\'t know unless I gave it a shot.

I was anxious, and the thought of failing scared me.

But Nina-chan had taken the first step forward.

She had learned how to use fairy magic almost entirely on her own. She had exorcised a monster despite being so terrified she could barely breathe.

I thought that was amazing. I had to follow her example.

So this was my turn to try.

I reached for the treasure of Raikou douji.

Even in death, it had left behind a crystal of magical power, an artifact of the "Sixth Order."

What would happen if I used that as the core?

And if I used my own magic to form the vessel, creating something that exceeded the power of this "Fifth Order" monster—something of the "Sixth Order" or higher?

The Silveit threads I summoned wrapped around the Raikou douji artifact, forming a human shape, their magic warping the very air around them.

The amount of magic I needed would be akin to the level of a "Seventh Order."

The female monster, sensing something off, spoke up in confusion.

"What the hell are you doing…?"

But it was already too late.

The figure I had created took on a pitch-black hue, darker than the night itself, with two horns extending toward the sky. Its tall frame was clad in a muscular body that resembled a suit of armor.

And as the last bit of magic crackled to life, it was complete.

"I… am reborn!!"

A deep, booming voice echoed across the field.

In an instant, lightning surged from the figure toward the monsters in the schoolyard, and they all exploded into nothing.

The other monsters, who had been watching from a distance, stood frozen in shock.

Of course, they were terrified.

Before them stood a monster stronger than anything of the "Fifth Order"—a "Sixth Order" entity.

"Long time no see, Raikou douji," I said.

"Indeed, it has been long, my master," the figure replied.

"...Master?" I asked, taken aback.

"You have summoned me, thus you are my master," Raikou douji said, kneeling before me.

"Well, if that\'s the case, this makes things easier," I said.

"Nina-chan, Sensei, and I must remain unharmed," I began, turning to my summoned ally.

I had just played my trump card.

"Now, Raikou douji… cause as much chaos as you\'d like."

"As you command."