I’m Planning to be Killed by the Heroine

Reality was not so easy.
Then, and now.
[ Can you come for a moment? This is quite important. ]
“Ah····. Just a moment, please.”
Erica was a ranker. Literally, a talent of the Association. It had been long since her exceptional abilities were known after joining the Association.
There were many times when she was needed and many times when she was called.
But even she had priorities.
“When will it end?”
[ Well, it shouldn’t take long····, around 8 o’clock, I suppose. ]
Her appointment with Ere was at 7 o’clock. Could she delay it by about an hour?
If she focuses on handling the work, she might be able to finish faster.
“So, Ere. I’m sorry. I might be a little late.”
[ So that’s why you went out. Okay, sister. Then I’ll get dressed and be ready to go out at the right time. ]
The voice over the phone was calm.
The work ended faster than expected. She knew she could finish quickly if she set her mind to it, but her hands moved even faster thinking that her sister was waiting.
The path to meet Ere after leaving the Association was slightly different than usual.
The streets were dim and desolate. Usually, there would be some people around 8 o’clock, but today there seemed to be none.
But she didn’t particularly mind. Anyway, the downtown area they would spend time in would be bright and Ere would enjoy it.
They’ll look around various stores, go shopping, and eat out.
She had made reservations at a restaurant that suited Ere’s taste. The preparations were perfect.
After walking a bit, she saw Ere at the entrance of the downtown area.
She was still pretty. Lovely. And precious.
Earrings she didn’t usually wear, long hair let down, a small bag that was elegant yet modest.
A black t-shirt and a slightly oversized coat, all of it together reminded one of a painting.
Her makeup was light, and the sight of her waving her hand and running over as soon as she spotted Erica was like a cute animal finding its owner.
Erica responded in kind and approached to hug her.
If only there hadn’t been a big commotion drawing attention.
“Gate, it’s a fucking gate!”
“Wasn’t today supposed to be okay?!”
There was a sound like space being torn, and a dark rift started forming in front of the alley leading to the downtown area.
Only then did the reason why she was briefly called to the Association earlier flash through her mind.

Originally, today should have been periodically fine, you know. As it is, there are signs of a rift near your house. Just in case, that’s why, just in case.
In the past year, the gate cycle had never been broken even once. The entire city’s citizens had started to adapt while feeling relieved about this fact.
Erica was the same. She thought it couldn’t be. Even when signs appeared, they often disappeared shortly.
Moreover, she hoped it wouldn’t be today. No, it shouldn’t have been.
For her, and for Ere too.
Purple roots invaded the surroundings from the scar that looked like space had been stabbed randomly with a knife, and it skipped stages that should have taken a long time, evolving into a gate in an instant.
“Erica-ssi!!”
Along with the voice calling her, Association hunters were seen across the street.
And noise erupted.
It was instantaneous. The magical beasts bursting out.
Wings and horns, hideous faces and bodies, things that seemed to match human size started pouring out of one space.
Erica felt like the world was crumbling.
Why? Why today of all days? Why? What did I do wrong? Is it so wrong that I wanted to make my only sister happy?
Why has it been twisting like this since before, from long ago, from a long time ago?
There was no time to think. First, she had to make Ere safe.
This place was a job that could be left to the Association’s intermediate members.
After quickly making her judgment, she ran towards Ere.
That’s when it happened. High-level magical beasts rapidly poured out of the gate.
Some of those filling the ground suddenly rushed at Ere.
It didn’t seem like they were just following the nature of magical beasts. Rather, it seemed like they were unilaterally targeting Ere.
In an instant, three Draculs in the form of winged demons clung to Ere, snatched her, and slipped into a side street.
“Ere!!!”
Erica quickly stretched her arm back and gathered magical power. She condensed it into a long shape and transformed it into a spear form. As she thrust her arm, it pierced through everything on the ground and tore through the air.
With a thud sound, it shot down one of the Draculs holding Ere.
Erica ran right after. She wrapped her body in magical power and increased her speed. She swung a sword created with magical power and crushed the magical beasts blocking her way. Fortunately, the Draculs were flying at low altitude.
She quickly chased and turned corners. Blood splattered and her breathing became rough.
As her stamina was about to run out, Erica realized. It was a human wave tactic. There were strangely too many magical beasts blocking her. Surely there weren’t this many coming out of the gate.
It seemed like most of the magical beasts were flocking this way.
As if trying to stop her.
She was irritated. She was out of breath and exhausted. She could have handled any number of mid-tier and below magical beasts, but she was still not recovered from the aftereffects of a recent battle.
In that situation, it was burdensome to face dozens of high-level magical beasts alone.
But she couldn’t give up. Her sister deserves to be happy. Her memories with Ere were few. Ere might have felt it was lacking rather.
But her sister was a ranker. She was living a busy life at the Association. The smart Ere might have thought so. That if she entered her daily life, she would be a hindrance.
At such a young age, unable to even crave love, how did she endure day by day? Her heart must have been torn and split waiting for her sister who didn’t come home.
Erica wanted to cry right away. She wanted to tear at her hair and collapse. She wanted to blame herself, blame the world, condemn everything.
Couldn’t I have done a little better? If I had been a little more excellent, just a little more····.
She was out of breath and her breathing became rough. Her hands and body had long been stained with blood. This is sin and punishment. This situation of only being able to watch Ere being kidnapped while running was hell.
She couldn’t even see Ere’s face. Because the magical beast was huge.
She couldn’t even hear her voice. Because the surroundings were noisy.
Because she was weak, because she was lacking.
She can’t save her even a moment faster.
While clutching the gouged wounds all over her body, Erica gathered strength in her hands. She gritted her teeth and as she poured in magical power, blood burst from her body.
A sword strike rippled and a huge sword flowed into her hand. As she swung her arm, a flashing line tore through the air. It pierced through things blocking the front and tore up the ground. Her vision cleared and she saw two Draculs flying in the air.
Her heart throbbed and she felt the limits of her body. Erica squeezed out her strength and imbued the sword with light. Letters were engraved on the sword and flashed.
She aimed her hand and designated the target. The moment the Dracul twisted its body while flying, she thrust the sword. The sword strike surged and crushed space. A beam burst out and exploded all living things in a straight line.
The Dracul’s body was penetrated and screams filled the space. Erica threw her body to catch the falling Ere.
Erica rolled on the ground and leaned against a wall. The world rapidly became quiet and the air currents settled. She lowered her gaze to check Ere’s condition.
“Sister····.”
“····Ere.”
It didn’t matter what happened to her own body. Even if the blood gushing from her mouth soaked her body, even if her churning heart felt like it would burst, it was okay.
Even if her abdomen was gouged and her vision blurred, it didn’t matter at all. As long as Ere was okay.
Erica rubbed her eyes and looked down at her. There didn’t seem to be any particular problems externally. Her rough breathing and slightly dirtied clothes and face were not an issue.
“I, here····, my heart hurts.”
Thud.
Erica felt like the world was crumbling.
“Her life is not in danger.”
The doctor put down the chart in the hospital room.
“It’s a spell cast by high-level magical beasts, but it’s so rare that it’s not well known. It’s a spell that curses the area near the heart to cause various diseases. From the magical beast’s perspective, Ere’s heart, which inherited Erica-ssi’s ability, must have been tempting. So it seems they tried to do something and cast the spell.”
Erica sighed and waited for the next words.
“This spell doesn’t work in a short time, and you said she was held by the Dracul for a long time, right? I think it was probably cast then. As I said, fortunately, because Ere····-ssi inherited Erica-ssi’s ability, the symptoms are not severe.”
“That’s a relief····.”
Erica was at the top in the swordsman class in terms of recovery and regeneration ability.
Ere nodded with a somewhat relieved face. Erica still said nothing.
“However, as an aftereffect, she’ll get tired easily. She probably won’t be able to do active things either. ····Until a cure is developed.”
In other words, for life.
The hospital room was quiet.
Erica was about to tear at her hair but held back. She couldn’t breathe well.
Because of me, if I had been just a little stronger, just a little faster····.
She trained herself, craving strong power. Because of that, she couldn’t be by her only sister’s side. Even when suffering from endless headaches, she justified it saying this was for Ere’s sake.

But the result was disastrous. She couldn’t protect Ere and she became trash. Yet earlier in the hospital room, Ere was watching her expression. It was because she was too kind. She thought more about her mood than her own condition. It would have been better if she had gotten upset and cursed at her.
She coughed repeatedly and vomited what was inside. She hurriedly caught it with her hands and rushed into the bathroom. Something boiled inside her.
Not only could she not be with her, she couldn’t even protect her. It felt like she was suffering from endless self-loathing.
“····Ha.”
Erica dried her face and banged her head against the glass wall a few times. Countless chains of thought connected and broke.
She needed immense power. She wanted to stand at the pinnacle where no one could approach. She needed a huge weapon that could judge sin. Endless desire welled up and pressed down on her head.

Move.
Erica pushed herself even harder. She stood at training every day and jumped into every case she saw. She led magical beast subjugations and conquered gates. She punished criminals and exhaled while facing their countless evil deeds.
She didn’t forget to visit Ere every day. For her who had to stay in the hospital for a while, she brought food and entertainment she liked. Before entering the hospital, she always managed her expression.
“How’s your body?”
“It’s fine~ You should take it easy with work! Don’t worry about me!”
“Okay. I am. What should we do today?”
Every time she entered and left the hospital room, Erica had to suffer endless guilt. Self-loathing and disgust at the world’s evil decorated her. But there was nothing else she could do. All she could do was keep moving more.
Even when gates weren’t opening, she was busy. She faced incidents happening every moment in the metropolitan area. The crime scenes of awakened ones were beyond terrible, they were desperate.
Blood filled her body and the dense scent of magical power always lingered around her. When she came to her senses, she was bleeding in a corner of the battlefield. She groaned in pain from the attacks of criminals she faced.
As days passed, her hatred for magical beasts and contempt for awakened ones reached the sky. It was natural. If only they didn’t exist in the world, she wouldn’t have struggled. She could have spent precious time with precious people.
But she didn’t sigh. She didn’t lament. That’s not what a grown adult should do. That’s not what she, who was embracing sin, should do.
She could endure even if blood churned and her heart ached. She could bear it even if her breath was short and her brain felt like it would burst. As long as she could protect her smile.
“Hello.”
That’s why the silver-haired girl now in front of her eyes,
Even to Erica who had handled countless cases and conquered gates.
Was an unapproachable irregular.
She couldn’t understand. She couldn’t approach. She was overwhelming. She was always relaxed and always acted outside common sense.
Of course she far surpassed her magical power. She cut her down in one strike with leisurely movements.
I must kill her.
Such a thought occurred.
It was an immense power she had never experienced before. If she couldn’t defeat this girl, there was no future ahead. She thought so and acted so.
Even when she felt like she would die from her abdomen being scraped by the sword, even when her mind reeled from the distant magical power, the thought that she absolutely could not let the being in front of her live conquered her mind.
Because villains must be punished and the city’s public safety must be maintained. Because beings that invoke disgust must be so.
But in the end, she couldn’t do it. She felt a wall. Her heart throbbed and her breathing became rough. Her arms and legs had long been broken.
Just before resigning herself thinking ‘Am I going to die now?’, she shouted with her last strength.
“I’ll kill you.”
The girl smiled. She couldn’t understand the meaning. She, who was buried in something, could not fathom the meaning of that smile at all.
Is it fun to roll her around like a toy? Or did she just laugh because it was ridiculous?
The girl disappeared from that spot without erasing her smile.
It was the same when facing the golem.
She, whom she had so condemned and despised, was still relaxed. No, she seemed tired for a moment.
Of course, it didn’t matter. Evil must be punished and what’s in front of her eyes now is a golem harming people.
She was exhausted countless times in the exchange with the golem. Her breath felt like it would break and her brain became distant. Her mind had long been crushed. Even though her whole body ruptured and blood gushed, she didn’t give up.
Why, she doesn’t know.
It just somehow became that way. Under the pretext of punishing evil and maintaining public safety, under the punishment of the original sin of not protecting her younger sister, she became such a being.
Even when hit in the abdomen and chest by the golem, her legs broken and groans of pain flowing from her body, in the countless memories that flashed by.
Suddenly,
She thought it might not be bad to live and die like this.
But then, then who will kill that girl?
When that thought occurred, strength surged in her body. She crushed the golem’s core with all her might. At the moment her limit was reached and her body collapsed, the girl’s face flashed by.
Why.
Why is she smiling?
She, she absolutely could not understand the meaning of that smile.
Even when that girl was now approaching her as she collapsed and headed towards death in the middle of the vast battlefield.
She couldn’t understand.
Not even a single bit.