Crossover anime, starting with Hachiman Hikigaya replacing Subaru Natsuki!

702. The story of thirty years: Sebastian emerges from the water.

"Good, good, good, finally we're not hesitant anymore. We'll save whoever we can."

Inside the red sphere, Kyosuke Kousaka nodded repeatedly, filled with emotion. He thought about how he had traveled to so many places and seen so many hells, yet all he had ever done was kill one Entoma in self-defense.

Now that he has finally taken the first real step in saving lives, he can't help but be excited.

Not to mention Kyosuke Kousaka himself, at this moment, even people like Houtarou Oreki and Futaro Uesugi, who are either not easily swayed by emotions or don't have much kindness, couldn't help but clench their fists secretly and praise, "Well done!"

The long-suppressed repression begins at this moment; the path to salvation begins then.

When Kyosuke Kousaka took the initiative to eliminate this group of traitors, he had truly reached a level of respect, becoming a selfless hero, a hero who attempted to save the world.

A small step toward saving the world begins with a giant leap toward saving a few dozen poor refugees.

Crusch, Reinhard, Inuyasha, and others particularly admire this kind of person.

"Uh... of course it's good, but..."

On the street, Kirino Kousaka fidgeted, her feelings a mix of emotions.

She was naturally happy that her stupid brother Kyosuke could achieve such success, finally reaping the rewards of his hard work. However, the fact that he did it with that vixen, that bitch Evilue, made her very depressed.

Moreover, in this post-apocalyptic future where the land is occupied by the undead of the Magic Kingdom, where can those dozens of people be put to live?

All she could think of was sending those dozens of people back thirty years by making a wish, but that would mean her stupid brother Kyosuke would suffer.

So, while saving lives is a good thing—she's not exactly cold-blooded, though she can be a bit violent sometimes, but when it comes to matters of life and death, she still has that normal sense of right and wrong—she's not willing to do it if it puts a huge burden on Kyosuke.

Black Cat, Ayase, and Manami are not highly intelligent individuals. When they saw Kirino's distorted face and hesitant speech, they realized the same thing after being pointed out.

So they all started to act coy too.

"Of course, he didn't explain his origins. Kousaka Kyosuke only said his name and race, and treated the poor people who were covered in dirt and had various injuries with a kind face. Then he used healing magic to treat these dozens of people."

"Just like that, he became the sun in the eyes of these dozens of people, and they all wept bitterly, crying out all the suffering and grievances they had endured over the past twenty years."

"These people should just use their brains. With that kind of aura, Kyosuke Kosaka must be a good person who wouldn't torture or kill indiscriminately. That's enough. They've been in hell for far too long."

"If you manage to escape, have you planned where you'll go?" Kyosuke Kosaka asked.

His question caused the dozens of people who had almost finished crying to look at each other in bewilderment, and they asked in confusion, "Well... if we can escape successfully, of course we should seek refuge in Lord Sebas's territory. Aren't you Lord Sebas's subjects?"

Kyosuke Kousaka shook his head. He remembered that Demiurge had mentioned this name before, and immediately asked curiously, "Tell me more about it."

"After a brief moment of confusion, the dozens of people were grateful and did not have any bad intentions. They told everything they knew in detail."

"To talk about Sebastian, we need to start from twenty years ago."

"Twenty years ago, when the upheaval had just occurred, all the undead leaders changed their attitudes and vented their anger on the living."

"At that time, only three races were unharmed: the lizardmen, the dwarves, and the elves."

"The lizardmen were the first race conquered by the Great Tomb of Nazarick. They were extremely loyal and caught the eye of Cocytus, who then granted them protection. The others respected Cocytus's authority and also admired the lizardmen's loyalty, so none of them were taken away."

"The reason why no one has gone to slaughter the dwarves is because the Sorcerer King Ainz Ooal Gown personally visited their country and made a forging deal. They have special uses and can forge weapons, which are useful to the Sorcerer Kingdom."

"The reason is that Mare and Aura are Dark Elves. As the Undead version of Elves, they are more or less related to Elves. Just for fun, I casually granted them my protection."

"However, Mare and Aura only provide casual protection, so if other undead leaders are interested in slaughtering them, they won't stop them. As long as the elves aren't brought to near extinction, they won't interfere."

"That's why there are elves but no dwarves or lizardmen in the land of vampires."

"And although it is called a sanctuary, the dwarves, lizardmen, and elves who survived actually had a very difficult life."

"On the one hand, their status is basically lower than that of all the undead. Only the lowest-ranking skeletons are no higher than them. Any undead with intelligence and self-awareness has the right to order them around, enslave and beat them at will, as long as they are not killed."

"On the other hand, the world has been polluted by the undead, and there are fewer and fewer areas where vegetables can be grown and animals can be raised, and survival resources are becoming increasingly scarce."

"And the most terrifying thing is that those low-level skeletons, who have no mind or self and wander around aimlessly, often go into vegetable fields and rice paddies and trample on the unripe crops."

"But the living have no right to kill these skeletons."

"Cocytus, Mare, and Aura turned a blind eye to this situation. They didn't need to eat; they only protected their race and lives and didn't care about these things at all."

"Later, the dwarves realized that things couldn't continue like this, so they sent their most humble and respectful representative to Albedo's territory to meet with the Grand Administrator of the Sorcerer Kingdom and beg Albedo to grant them the authority to kill the lowest-ranking skeletons."

"Then this representative was locked up and turned into a plaything—yes, right here among these dozens of people, he was almost killed by Selma just now."

"However, he said this not to show how miserable the dwarves' lives were, but to use the contrast to highlight how kind Sebastian was."

"In the vampire land of Lady Shalltear, the livestock farm of Lady Demiurge, and all the other territories occupied by other adults, humans live especially lowly and pitiful lives."

"However, Lord Sebastian is different. Compared to the dwarves, lizardmen, and elves, humans in Lord Sebastian's territory generally live much better lives than any of the three races."

"The dwarf representative expressed his heartfelt respect and admiration for Lord Sebas, as he spoke. The preamble is over, now the main event begins, and he recounts Sebas's achievements in detail."

703. The story of thirty years, Sebastian emerges from the depths.

"Thirty years ago, before the power of the Sorcerer Kingdom had surfaced, Sebastian was sent by Ainz Ooal Gown to infiltrate the capital of the kingdom, observe the human nations of this world, and gather intelligence."

"This is a man who is 1.9 meters tall, with gray hair but a lean physique, and whose appearance can be described as that of a middle-aged gentleman."

"He is different from other high-ranking members of the Magic Kingdom. His race is half-human and half-dragon, and he has no connection with the undead in the slightest. In fact, he does not hate the living and is quite righteous. His values ​​are normal and he punishes evil and promotes good."

"His only commonality with other high-ranking officials of the Sorcerer Kingdom is his wholehearted loyalty to the Sorcerer King Ainz Ooal Gown."

"At that time, Sebastian was lurking in the capital. One day, while out, he happened to see a pitiful woman who had been abused beyond recognition and was about to be thrown away. Out of kindness, he rescued her."

"The mastermind behind the persecution of that woman is the kingdom's largest criminal organization, Eight Fingers. Those who knew about it came to us demanding bribes. After reporting to Ainz Ooal Gown and seeking instructions, Sebastian went directly to Eight Fingers' base to eliminate the organization."

"Brian and Clem were also involved in the operation at the time."

"Later, with Ainz Ooal Gown's permission, that woman became a maid in the Great Tomb of Nazarick, and within ten years of the Sorcerer Kingdom's unification of the world, she finally achieved her wish and married Sebastian."

"That woman's name is Kiarena Belon, also known as Kiarena."

"—The above information was told to the outside world by the very happy Kiara during the first ten years of peace, actively spreading the wonderful stories of her tall and reliable sweetheart Sebastian."

"Eh?"

Not long ago, she was in the slave room of Eight Fingers. Now, after Eight Fingers was swept away and she was freed, walking on the streets of the royal capital, Qi Ya Lei stared blankly at this unbelievable scene.

She was bewildered for a while before letting out a startled gasp. If it were just a shared name, she wouldn't have presumed upon it, but a shared name coupled with similar circumstances was pretty much a confirmation.

Although she had only been captured and transported to the slave room in the capital before being abused and played with, there was no need to even think about what would happen to her if there were no future broadcasts.

"I can't believe it... no, is this actually a good thing?"

Qi Ya Lei covered her head. If things had gone according to plan, she would have been incredibly lucky to have met Sebastian, as if she had used up all her luck for ten lifetimes. But what about now?

In this situation where the entire nation is united against the Magic Kingdom, should she be friends with Sebastian or not?

"Sebastian! How dare you!!"

At the same time that Kiara's thoughts were in turmoil, a thousand miles away on the top floor of the Great Tomb, Albedo raised her hand to kill, and Sebastian showed no intention of resisting.

"Stop right there, and be quiet, Albedo," Ainz Ooal Gown commanded in a deep voice.

He could tolerate whatever the floor guardians did as long as they didn't betray him, after all, it was the legacy of the guild members, symbolizing his friends whom he could never see again.

Although Sebastian was loyal to the living and seemed to have done something afterward, as long as he didn't betray them and remained loyal to the Great Tomb of Nazarick, everything was fine.

"But, Lord Ainz!" Albedo cried out anxiously.

"I said, be quiet," Ainz Ooal Gown said in an unquestionable tone. "Whatever it is, wait until I finish speaking."

"The previous part was learned from what Qi Ya Lei said, and the following part is what everyone has seen with their own eyes, or what they have heard about even if they haven't seen it."

"At the beginning of the eleventh year, when Albedo and others vented their anger by torturing and killing the living, Sebastian was the only high-ranking member of the Sorcerer Kingdom who not only did not do so, but also protected all the living people in his territory."

"He protects not only humans, but also other subhuman races, as long as they are righteous and not evil."

"It's not that he betrayed Ainz Ooal Gown, but rather that the massacre and torture of the living were not Ainz Ooal Gown's orders. He simply hid in the Great Tomb of Nazarick, tacitly agreeing to let his subordinates do as they pleased."

"It was not Ainz Ooal Gown's order that Sebas chose to act according to his own conscience."

"He was just a good person, but not to this extent. It was mainly after he married his wife, Qi Ya Lei, that he became more humane and kind."

"At the time, the other undead leaders were very dissatisfied with Lord Sebastian's actions, and a great battle ensued... I happened to be in the distance and witnessed it."

The dwarf representative sighed, "It's a pity that Lord Sebastian couldn't withstand the other commanders on his own. Fortunately, the other commanders weren't authorized to kill their high-ranking colleagues, which saved Sebastian's life."

"In that battle, the other undead leaders abducted a large number of residents from Lord Sebas's territory. Because Lord Sebas was of equal status to them, they managed to leave some behind."

"For the next twenty years, the remaining people were under Lord Sebastian's protection and had no worries about survival supplies. The reason for this is..."

"Lord Sebastian has stationed his undead army in the crop-growing areas, and any low-level skeletons that intrude are to be killed without mercy. While the living are not entitled to kill the undead, the undead are."

"Now, Lord Sebastian's territory is the only place in the world that isn't hell yet."

The dwarf representative sighed and shook his head. "Occasionally, other undead leaders still go and abduct some people, and Lord Sebastian is powerless to stop it."

"Why do people still escape from the various hells even today? It's because they've learned about the good life in Sebastian territory from those who were kidnapped, and they want to try their luck."

"If it weren't for the goal of the Sebastian territory, the people would have been enslaved for twenty years and would have given up on the idea of ​​escaping long ago."

"The Magic Kingdom's higher-ups actually have people like this?!"

"Kousaka Kyosuke was greatly astonished, and was filled with immense surprise, even delight."

"Unbelievable! There are actually good people among the undead?"

At Yuiga's house, Ogata Riju and Takemoto Junka were so shocked that their mouths were wide open. Yuiga Nariyuki immediately corrected them: "No, there are no good people among the undead. Sebastian himself is not an undead."

Fumino Furuhashi nodded and then said, "Although Evileye is an undead, it is only a fake undead. In essence, it is human. So far, there is not a single good undead known. Don't be fooled."

"but…"

Nariyuki Yuiga and Fumino Furuhashi exchanged a glance and paused, both knowing what the other was thinking.

Although Sebastian is a good person, he may not be so kind to Kyosuke Kousaka.

Loyalty, oh loyalty, alas.

704. The Biggest Joke

"Give some face to your colleagues and leave some people behind? This is not funny at all."

Despite being in different locations, Hachiman Hikigaya, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, and Houtarou Oreki all turned pale upon hearing the dwarf representative's words, immediately recognizing their malicious nature.

"Hmm, is there a problem? Is the dwarf lying?" Rem tilted his head in confusion.