Editing Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 1 Chapter 4 (section)

===Part 4===

The wind howled in the distance. A wind that brought with it a low and heavy ring like a coming storm.

The wind at his cheeks was still balmy. But before long a downpour would surely come.

Then he had to go home quickly.

---With whom?

He immediately got an answer for the sudden question. It was obvious. Together with Mio and Maria.

And they should bring Yuki too. Yes--- They all had to return together. Therefore,

"…Uh…?"

Basara opened his eyes. But even though he tried to straightened up his body, he couldn't muster his strength well.

Even so, he somehow raised his head. And then Toujou Basara saw it.

"This…"

The surrounding space was colored red and rumbled like a from a tremor. Like a tornado, the wind beat furiously. A bit apart, he saw the collapsed Maria. On a different spot, Yuki had collapsed too. Looked like they received some kind of impact and lost consciousness.

And then. In the center of the torrent of red surges that shook everything--- there was Mio.

The color of her long hair had changed into a deep crimson which gave the impression of a blaze--- and on her back grew small wings.

Basara understood right away that Mio's own power was out of control.

And that precisely this was the inherited power of the previous Devil Lord.

Most likely the trigger for it was,

''…me, huh.''

Just when she was saved and relaxed, Basara collapsed in front of her eyes from an ambush.

She must have felt responsible for it and couldn't forgive herself.

"…I- Idiot… I'm just fine… Hey, Mio!"

"B- Basara…?"

On his outcall, Mio, bewildered, met his eyes.

Apparently she had her senses.

''…Good…''

There was a ray of hope in the worst situation. With that, the situation might still somehow be saved. With no sign of the enemy, they must have retreated for good now.

Or they were destroyed. Either way, it should be safe to assume that there was no more danger from them.

"Calm down… I'm fine… Everything is over… Okay?"

"I, I'm trying… but it's no good…!"

Mio shouted and shook her head.

"I can barely restrain my power. I, I can't subdue it all. It's not working… Wh- Why?"

The flustered Mio was partly in a panic and Basara changed his expression into a bitter one.

''…Damn, she can't calm it down after all…!''

But--- that said, he couldn't leave it at that.

''…Wilbert had the power to control gravity.''

Then, what would happened if it went out of control? --- Before long, that took place.

"Eh…?"

Mio raised a surprised voice. The space around her started to flicker like a heat haze.

"…Here it comes, huh."

Basara clicked his tongue. An excessive mass that couldn‘t be controlled ended up--- at the singular point of gravity.

At this rate, a black hole would form around Mio and suck in the surroundings.

---Naturally, as Mio was the source of it, the singularity would disappear if Mio were to be erased.

It certainly wouldn't cause the destruction of the world, but even so the vicinity would get completely wiped out. Most likely it couldn't be prevented that part of the town within the radius of several kilometre could get erased.

However--- that was only Basara's guess. The mass of energy from the rampage was an unknown quantity. It might cause less deaths, or even more. Thereupon,

"P- Please, Basara… I can't, restrain it any longer… So"

Knowing what Mio was trying to say with her trembling voice, Basara raised his voice.

"Wait! I'll think of a solution now! I'll come up with some kind of---"

"---Listen! There's no more time. Before I destroy the world like this, before I drag you and others into it,"

With a grim voice, Naruse Mio stated her last request.

"Please--- hurry up and kill me…"

It certainly would solve the problem. The fastest solution.

If Mio was sacrificed, the town, Basara and the others, everyone would be saved. But,

"……I refuse."

Saying so, Basara slowly stood up, whereas Mio shouted flustered.

"I, Idiot… Between the world and me, it's obvious which is more important!!"

"Like I care… Tell that to the oh-so great Heroes. I'm afraid I'm no longer one of them. I neither plan, nor have the power to do something about something as large-scale as world peace."

But--- He had the power to save Mio. Toujou Basara knew the one and only way for that.

In the past he could use it, but not anymore. The unique power in the world that was just his.

''…Yeah, right.''

It was easy. The situation called for it. For the sake of the future, right now--- he had to overcome his past.

Therefore, Toujou Basara slowly advanced forward.

"…I'm no longer a Hero. But you know, I'm your family. Your older brother. Even if it's only temporarily for you, I seriously believe so. And, as your brother--- I'll protect my little sister, even if it turns the whole world against me!"

Basara threw out the words yelling. To convince not Mio, but himself.

"…I'll bring you back home."

"Eh---…?"

On his mumbled words, Mio asked back.

"I'll definitely bring you home… You'll go back, with me, to our house! As a little sister, shut up and let yourself be protected by your brother at a time like this--- Got it?!"

Basara threw his own feelings at her. It wasn't about logic or reasoning, just pure emotion.

But, precisely because of that, it was conveyed.

It reached her.

"…Okay."

While looking close to tears, Mio nodded. Over and over again. And then,

"Please--- save me, Brother." Mio said.

She certainly said it. Therefore, Basara nodded with "Yeah".

"Just you wait. I'll erase it now. Your pain, your sadness, all of it--- I'll make it Nil."

There he halted. It was as close as he could get to Mio, who rampaged her power.

While the gravity urges shook the atmosphere, Toujou Basara took a deep breath and relaxed his whole body.

He started the preparation for a perfect <Banishing Shift>.

He had to feel out Mio's rampaging power--- Its source of existence, the "Heavenly Energy".

But all kind of matters - substances were faintly swaying its existence.

Naturally, the position of the Heavenly Energy constantly changed. Furthermore, Basara tried to erase the torrent of a raging power. The Heavenly Energy was moving irregularly around at apex speed. If he missed, it was all over. Moreover, even if he cut the Heavenly Energy, he couldn't afford to harm Mio. Not to mention, erase her with it. Not the slightest mistake was allowed. Only 100% success was valid.

From the great blood loss, his vision was hazy--- That alone made it harsh already,

"----"

yet Basara felt his own heartbeat jump up. And his hand started to shake.

''…Damn…!''

It happened because he factored in a failure. The words of the white mask resurfaced at the back of his brain.

‘---Now you're going to erase even her?'

He remembered the tragedy from five years ago. The never healing wound in his heart and his guilty conscience over his past, mercilessly trying to swallow his heart. Therefore,

''…I can't do it after all…''

Toujou Basara thought. That he absolutely couldn't do it--- Yeah, right.

''He definitely couldn't do something like let Mio learn the same pain as him.''

When he suddenly looked, Mio was watching him with gentle eyes.

When he met her eyes, she closed them.

Her mouth formed a--- "I believe in you".

In that moment, Toujou Basara made his resolve. Like Mio, he closed his eyes.

"------"

Basara entrusted his body to the fiercely blowing wind, the torrent of the raging power.

On top of that, he sharpened all his senses, his mind and soul--- to feel it.

The one and only possibility for Toujou Basara to save Naruse Mio.

And then--- In the next moment, all noise vanished from the world. The rampage of Mio's power had gone up in one go.

The spreading destruction and surges of nothingness.

Toujou Basara just--- quietly swung down Brynhildr.

[[Image:Shinmai Vol1 0153.jpg|thumbnail|right]]