Crossover anime, starting with Hachiman Hikigaya replacing Subaru Natsuki!

"Lia, he ran away!" Parker chuckled, covering his mouth. "He saw something incredibly rare."

Emilia sighed deeply, "It's such a pity. We finally managed to get some feedback, but in the end, we still couldn't repay Hachiman-kun."

She didn't think about sex or love at all. If the average person's purity is 10, Hachiman Hikigaya's is 50, and Emilia's is at least 80.

Seeing his daughter clearly oblivious to the seriousness of the situation, Parker slapped his forehead and suddenly realized that Hachiman Hikigaya and his own Ria might actually be a good match.

"Hachiman Hikigaya staggered as if a demon lived in the mansion. He kept running and running until he got far away, and finally he let out a long sigh of relief and slowed down."

"Just now, at the moment Emilia gave him the lap pillow, all the cold attitudes he had received from countless women he had only met once since childhood, and the tragic case of his confession in junior high school being announced to the whole school, all these unfortunate examples flooded his mind in an instant."

"Women are the most beautiful trap!"

"Right? How could any girl be so nice to me? Hahaha, that was close! That was really dangerous. If I had fallen asleep on her, I would have been deluding myself again."

"Wandering outside the mansion, as the sun sets and dusk meets night, Hachiman Hikigaya looks up and catches a glimpse of Roswaal flying into the distance."

Hachiman Hikigaya's heart skipped a beat.

"No matter how much I hate Roswaal, the powerful strength of this clown is quite intimidating. With him gone, this desolate territory seems to be fraught with hidden dangers in all directions, in Hachiman Hikigaya's eyes."

"Let's go home early; I feel uneasy."

Suddenly, the scene changes to Hachiman Hikigaya on his journey, the starry sky dim, the earth dark and gloomy, not even a sound of insects.

At this moment, silence speaks louder than words. Without any background music to enhance the atmosphere, the suggestive shots alone are enough to let many people know that some terrible news is about to happen.

"Hey, stop setting up flags!" Hachiman Hikigaya panicked. Watching himself die again and again was definitely not a pleasant experience.

"Unfortunately, Hachiman Hikigaya's premonition was correct."

"Bang bang bang bang bang!!!"

"In the silence, suddenly a rumbling sound came from the impact of a large grove of trees being struck, a whole tree being cut in half and crashing to the ground with a heavy thud. A sound like a storm was coming from afar."

"An object that generates sound, its speed barely matching that of sound itself; the source of the attack is approaching the speed of sound!"

"Hachiman Hikigaya heard the sound the instant he was hit by the attack!!"

-

26. The Third Death

"The next second, Hachiman Hikigaya's body collided with the object, caught off guard—more fragile than a rag, he was sent flying more than ten meters away in an instant, his cheeks, back, and limbs scraping against the ground repeatedly."

"It stopped because it hit a rock that was more than two meters high."

"Hachiman Hikigaya's entire body was no longer able to move on its own. All his remaining strength had been completely exhausted. From his icy cold hands and feet to his internal organs, everything was swaying slightly. This uncontrollable, passive swaying was like the Grim Reaper slowly torturing him with his scythe."

"He struggled, determined to climb up, but..."

"My...hand?"

"A broken and blood-splattered arm and a leg belonging to Hachiman Hikigaya lay alone on the blood-stained ground."

"It had reached a point where 'pain' was indescribable. Hachiman Hikigaya trembled, his throat wide open, instinctively trying to release the dense wounds covering his entire body through screams and wails, but it was pointless, and he suppressed his instincts."

"Hachiman Hikigaya was completely turned into a bright red blood-soaked figure, and died a very painful death."

"Don't look!" Hachiman Hikigaya's eyelids twitched suddenly, and his first reaction was to raise his hand to cover the eyes of the girl beside him.

The gruesome manner of this death is comparable to the swollen corpse of someone who has committed suicide by drowning; the visual effect is more frightening than watching a hundred horror movies.

Yukino Yukinoshita shook her head slightly, her heart pounding, but she still gritted her teeth and said slowly, "I can't accept it, but I want to accept it, Hikigaya-kun, don't stop me."

With tears welling in her eyes and a choked voice, the girl said, "If I can't accept you in your disheveled state, in your pain, in your ugliness, if I can't even accept watching you like this, then I absolutely have no right to stand beside you... You're the one who's truly entered this hell, Hachiman-kun..."

She was filled with hatred, hatred for her own helplessness and powerlessness.

Hachiman Hikigaya couldn't help but glean this message from the resolute Yukino Yukinoshita.

Only this time, looking at Yukinoshita, whose light makeup was ruined by tears, could Hachiman Hikigaya quietly confirm that this time it was definitely not just his wishful thinking.

"A toad can indeed win the heart of a swan. Reality is indeed more realistic and dark than fairy tales, but it can also be more beautiful and pure."

Hachiman Hikigaya hesitated, half-extending his hand before abruptly withdrawing it. Until he was certain the video was over and he hadn't gotten involved with other women, he decided to behave himself.

The next second, his body trembled and he shuddered violently.

With her teeth clenched, Yukino Yukinoshita appeared extremely resentful, seemingly trying to kill the murderer with her eyes. Her entire body, with its delicate white skin and faint fragrance, gently pressed down next to Hachiman Hikigaya.

At this moment, the only thing separating the two of them was their two thinnest shirts.

Hachiman Hikigaya's throat bobbed, he held his breath, imagining himself as a stone statue, his peripheral vision irresistibly drawn to the picturesque snow-covered landscape.

"Hehe..."

Hachiman Hikigaya's scream interrupted the secret rendezvous between him and Yukino Yukinoshita.

"The sound of chains."

"The murderer slowly emerges from the darkness, stepping on the grass and over the branches."

"Re... Rem?"

"Hachiman Hikigaya, barely clinging to life, was unusually puzzled."

"I can understand if it's Beatrice, Puck, or Roswaal, but... why you, Rem?!"

"Suspicion is a cardinal sin. I can't let a dangerous person like you get close to Lord Roswaal and my sister." Rem's steps were cold, her tone tinged with a faint sense of pleasure. "If you confess honestly, Rem can give you a quick death."

Now that things had come to this, Hachiman Hikigaya felt his body was deflating like a punctured balloon, and he no longer had the leisure to explain. He just wanted to extract as much information as possible from Rem: "Confess?"

"Hey, are you kidding me? Is Hachiman Hikigaya even human? Is he really just an ordinary high school student, or is he the son of some mercenary family or a yakuza boss?"

At the banquet, the wealthy men, who had been silent for so long because of the sudden video, were all dumbfounded one after another.

"To be able to think, set traps, and solve puzzles like the most precise machine while bearing such injuries—even seasoned veterans can't do that!"

“Yes, humans can’t do that.” Yukinoshita Haruno said with a sense of loss. She knew that if it was really necessary, Hachiman Hikigaya would go all out, and she couldn’t actually beat him at that level.

"But a monster is an exception! This guy—he's a 'rational monster'!"

"What exactly is your relationship with the Witch Cult?"

""Witch Cult? ""

The moment the question was answered with another question, the chain pulled the iron ball, kicking up clouds of dust, and mercilessly smashed into Hachiman Hikigaya's body. "Don't play dumb! Don't try to get away with this!!"

Rem's eyes were bloodshot, and her anxiety was visibly palpable: "Although it's very faint, almost so faint that it's easy to miss, you gave yourself away... If you sniff carefully, you can still detect the witch's stench emanating from you!"

"So that's how it is."

Like the dying Hachiman Hikigaya, Rem wore a bewildered expression, but upon hearing this explanation, she suddenly understood. "It smelled like a witch and acted so suspiciously, of course Rem would kill it, even though I feel terrible for the innocent customer..."

Ram glanced pityingly at Hachiman Hikigaya, who was breathing heavily, and then pulled the listless Rem into her arms: "You can't do that again, Rem. It's safer and cuter for Rem to stay safe and sound. Don't do anything."

"Rem will do whatever her sister says."

Rem nodded warmly.

"I smell like a witch... I understand, I understand, cough cough cough!" Hachiman Hikigaya coughed up blood, overjoyed, and with his only remaining hand, he gripped Rem's sleeve with all his might. "Tell me! Tell me quickly! How much does the witch's stench on me quantify? A bowl of rice? Or a whole basin? Or... ugh cough, hahahahaha cough cough cough!"

Rem's eyes widened.

"She doesn't understand, she just doesn't understand! Why is this man, who is vulnerable and on the verge of death, still so happy? Why is he even questioning himself? Who is beating whom? It's so strange!"

"Unintentionally, Rem was so frightened by Hachiman Hikigaya, this little guy who acted like a scientist who had made a breakthrough in his research, that she took a half step back."

"Of course, she wouldn't answer that inexplicable question."

"With a mixture of realization and regret."

"—Hachiman Hikigaya, died three times!"

27. Ayanokouji's Transformation

"He can still laugh? In this situation, in this way of dying so unjustly and tragically, he can still laugh? It's utterly absurd! Hachiman Hikigaya is a madman!"

Horikita Suzune had a strange expression and spoke in a fragmented manner. These fragmented views of the emperor held by beggars were also the opinions of almost everyone in the class, who were rustling in the background.

"Slap—slap—slap—!"

Kiyotaka Ayanokouji suddenly clapped his hands and walked to the podium with a blank expression.

He started from the first seat in the first row, slowly walking down to punch each seat, delivering a punch or a kick to each unsuspecting student who was left defenseless.

"What are you doing? Stop it right now, Ayanokouji!"

Hirata Yosuke was about to stop him, but his legs were rooted to the spot, and his body was trembling from the inside out. Ayanokoji Kiyotaka glanced at him with an emotionless look, and he looked like a mouse seeing a tiger.

They could only stand there dumbfounded, watching as the other classmates roared and swarmed forward, only to be instantly defeated by Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, collapsing to the ground in agony.

"The rest who are still alright are those who didn't insult Hachiman Hikigaya... gurgle..."

With a chill run down her spine and covered in cold sweat, Horikita Suzune noticed this detail. "You... are you standing up for this man you don't know?"

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka glanced pityingly at this low-IQ fool who thought he had found the answer, "Standing up for the underdog? As expected, you are just a piece of rotten wood that cannot be carved, an incompetent ruler who cannot be helped."

"So what exactly are you..."

A punch landed squarely on the stomach of the incessantly chattering Horikita Suzune, causing her to slump to her knees. She only let out a muffled groan and didn't lose her composure, which pleased the leisurely Ayanokouji Kiyotaka somewhat.

“Listen up, Horikita. Every man, every man throughout history, has the dream of becoming the best in the world—but I’m different. I was born at the top of the world, so I have no ambition, no emotions, and I’m so bored that I’ve even come to this school to play house with you guys for more than half a year.”

"But times have changed."

"Putting aside the fact that the upper limit of combat power in this other world seems extremely absurd, I really do need to thank this Hachiman."

"He taught me what 'superiority' truly means. My intelligence surpasses that of most people, and I don't look down on you. However, even after witnessing so much of Hachiman Hikigaya's behavior, Horikita, you still haven't grasped his true nature... Only I have seen how much of a treasure he is, and this gives me a rare sense of superiority."

"This world isn't so boring, so—I'm not playing this pretend game anymore!"

Ta-da!

Horikita Suzune, Sakura Airi, Karuizawa Kei, Suto Ken, and others all stared wide-eyed, dumbfounded.

Kougenji composed himself. Even someone as proud and complacent as him had to turn his head slightly away in the face of Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's overwhelming aura, and he was putting on a brave face without much confidence: "Playing house? Heh, for someone like you who is truly motivated and giving it your all, perhaps even I am slightly inferior."

Kiyotaka Ayanokouji remained expressionless. He was still focused on watching the video and didn't want to expose Kogenji's cheap 'pride'.

At the same time, if she were to encounter Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, she might not be able to tolerate his indifference and would immediately become hostile. Priscilla, as elegant and noble as the dazzling sun, covered her mouth and chuckled:

"It's ridiculous. One faction, four different mindsets. It's already low enough that Roswaal didn't treat that half-elf with sincerity, but I didn't expect him to go even further."