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I had gotten stronger. I was supposed to be strong, but I was no match for the girl standing in front of me. I drew on my trump card and pushed myself to the limit, but time ran out, and I couldn’t move my body anymore.

I believed I had become the strongest. So why had I fallen to the ground? What would my classmates think if they saw me like this? If any of them dared to laugh, I would’ve killed them without hesitation.

But I didn’t have the luxury of worrying about how they’d react. This was a matter of life and death. From the way Finis fought, I could tell, she had no intention of killing me. She dodged and deflected, never once trying to strike back.

I didn’t know whether that was all she could do or if she was just holding back, but I had to bet on her not intending to kill me. After some time had passed, I’d be able to move again. When that happened, I’d kill her for sure.

While I was thinking that, Finis spoke to the princess.

“Will you hear me out now?”
“Yes, we will. Only if you promise not to fight while we talk.”
“Let me see. I can give you my word that I won’t attack while we’re talking.”
“I’m fine with that then.”

I figured the princess knew it would take some time before I could move again.
It would help if she could buy me that time by talking. She probably believed that no one but me could defeat Finis—so she didn’t have much of a choice.

I also felt like there was something off about Finis’ words, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Regardless, right now it was better to focus on recovering.

Even though I was in a desperate situation, I believed I could win if I had another chance. After all, I was a hero. Even if I got defeated once by a strong enemy, I would win the second time. The only reason I’d lost now was because I’d been somewhat careless. That had to be it.

“And what is it you want to say? You’ve brought us all here, right next to the spirit, just to talk with us. You’ve piqued my interest.”
“It’s nothing special. I’ve told the same thing to the kings of the other kingdoms. This time, I thought that you’d be the right person for the job, Princess Topersion, so I invited you to talk.”
“What are you implying?”
“Nothing in particular.”

Princess Topersion frowned, and Finis shook her head slightly, her expression unchanged.

“The thing I want to talk about involves the spirits and the world. Let me put it simply. Give up on the spirit.”
“Why?”
“I’ll repeat what I’ve told the kings before you. It’s because keeping the spirits locked up will directly lead to the world’s collapse.”
“Nonsense. There’s no such thing as the world collapsing.”

The princess answered firmly, without the slightest agitation. It was a natural response. Who would outright believe that the world was collapsing? If that were true, the world would be in far more chaos than it already was.

In other words, the thing about her being god’s messenger was also a lie.

“I don’t really care whether you believe it or not. What’s important is whether you’ll give up the spirit or not.”
“What a foolish question.”
“I thought you’d say that.”

Finis giggled, and the princess stared at her with a blank expression. Finis wanted us to give up the spirit, and the princess desperately wanted to keep it. No matter how much they talked, they were on opposite sides. Besides, you couldn’t have a proper conversation with a lunatic who casually said the world was going to collapse.

“It seems negotiations have failed. I’d love to get back to the battle, but since we just reunited, how about we talk a bit more?”
“Reunited? What are you saying?”
“Oh! Come to think of it, this is the first time we’ve met in this form. Most of the people here have already met me before, but not with this face.”

Finis continued rambling on by herself, completely convinced of something. She was saying that she’d met most of the people here already. Did that mean she’d also met me? I didn’t remember anything of the sort, and the princess didn’t seem to remember either.

“I bet you’ve got a name or two by now, don’t you? As you can see, my purpose is to collect the spirits.”
“No… You’re not going to tell me you’re Makoto, will you?”

Despite the ache in my body, the princess’ words caught me off guard. There was no way this girl was Toriyama. If she were, then that would mean I had lost to Toriyama twice now. That was unforgivable.

As if to mock my thoughts, Finis’ form suddenly changed into Toriyama. Was that Toriyama? No, it couldn’t be. How could he have gotten this strong?

I wouldn’t forgive this. This was unacceptable! How could Toriyama be stronger than me? I was the hero. I was stronger than any of my classmates, stronger than any human being in this world.

That’s how it should have been. So why had I lost to someone like Toriyama?

“That’s how it is. I hope that now you’ll think about believing me about being god’s gofer.”

Toriyama asked the princess, having once again returned to the form of a young girl. Unlike before, the princess’ expression twisted slightly, and I noticed her clench her teeth.