Looking at the excited Gudako, Ren Kurose fell into thought.
Gudako tearing Goetia apart with her bare hands, making Kama—another Beast of Humanity—cry, and bringing a Beast along to pry open the gates of Human Order…
Those were mostly jokes among players.
Although some of the events really did happen in one form or another, they were fundamentally situations Gudako had been forced into rather than choices she had actively made.
But what if he deliberately trained Gudako in that direction?
Huh?
The more Ren Kurose thought about it, the more he felt that the idea actually sounded pretty good.
If the Chaotic Evil Gudako from player memes—the one who tore Goetia apart and made Kama cry—actually appeared in this world…
For some reason, Ren Kurose found the thought incredibly satisfying.
Leading humanity’s last Master astray…
Now that sounded like a challenge.
“How about I join in too?”
Once the idea appeared in his mind, Ren Kurose immediately decided to act on it.
Gudako’s face instantly lit up.
“Ren Kurose, you’re finally going to train with me?
That’s great!
I’ll finally have someone accompanying me!”
At this moment, Gudako looked completely innocent.
She had absolutely no idea what was about to happen.
Ren Kurose responded with a mysterious smile.
“Yeah.
I’ll join you.”
“What are you trying to mess around with now?”
Cú Chulainn clicked his tongue.
“Don’t say that!
Ren Kurose training with me isn’t messing around!”
The innocent Gudako was still defending Ren Kurose.
Unfortunately, Ren Kurose’s next words immediately made her feel betrayed.
“I think there’s absolutely nothing wrong with training Ritsuka’s close-combat abilities.”
“However, Ritsuka is humanity’s last Master.”
“If she doesn’t possess an unshakable will, then she shouldn’t even dream of restoring Human Order.”
“So leave that part to me.”
“I’ll train Ritsuka’s willpower.”
“I’m very good at that sort of thing.”
Ren Kurose finally revealed his actual objective.
Cú Chulainn and Shirou Emiya both stared at him in surprise.
Why didn’t he just say so earlier?
He wasn’t joining Gudako’s training.
He was going to train Gudako.
In that case, they had no objections.
Just as Ren Kurose had said, restoring Human Order was an extraordinarily difficult task.
Without powerful willpower, succeeding would be almost impossible.
So both of them agreed with Ren Kurose’s proposal.
“Sounds good.”
Cú Chulainn nodded.
“Then we’ll leave that part of the Master’s training to you.”
“You starting right now?”
“Of course.”
“All right.
Then the Master’s yours.”
The moment Cú Chulainn finished speaking, he turned around and slipped straight out of the training room without even looking back.
As for Shirou Emiya, he gave Gudako a look that practically said good luck surviving this before leaving as well.
Gudako stood there dumbfounded.
Huh?
How had things suddenly turned into this?
“Wait, Ren Kurose!”
“Didn’t you say you were going to train with me?”
“Don’t tell me…”
Gudako finally realized what was happening.
“Huh?!
How could you do this?!”
Ren Kurose laughed.
“What’s wrong?
You’re just getting one more instructor. Get faster updates on g.com.
Isn’t that a good thing?”
“I don’t want you as my instructor!”
Gudako complained.
“You always felt like you were the same as me!”
It was a rather strange thing to say.
But Ren Kurose understood exactly what she meant.
From the beginning, the aura Ren Kurose gave off had been similar to Gudako’s— that of an ordinary person.
Before his transmigration, that really had been what he was.
Just an ordinary university student.
It was precisely that ordinary quality that made Gudako feel close to Ren Kurose.
Although Gudako constantly talked about Ren Kurose being the first Servant she had summoned, the real reason she felt so close to him was that he seemed to possess experiences similar to those of an ordinary human.
That was why Gudako preferred interacting with Ren Kurose as though he were an ordinary person.
It gave her a sense of familiarity.
A sense that someone around her could understand her.
And because of that, the pressure weighing on her heart became slightly easier to bear.
She had suddenly become humanity’s last Master.
There was no way she wasn’t under enormous pressure.
Seeing Ren Kurose, someone who carried such an ordinary human presence, gave Gudako a certain sense of reassurance.
Of course, she had fainted the very first time they met because of him.
But Gudako had always assumed that had simply been because she was exhausted.
“Then I won’t act like an instructor.”
Ren Kurose smiled.
“Friends can train together too, can’t they?”
“But…
didn’t you just say you were going to teach me?”
“Heh.
What are you talking about?”
“Friends don’t ‘teach’ each other.”
“We’ll be exploring it together.”
Ren Kurose said it with a smile.
Gudako immediately brightened.
“Right, right!
Exploring it together!”
“Ren Kurose, you really know how to put things.”
“Let’s do that!”
“Good.”
“Then let’s begin.”
“Mm!”
The moment Gudako agreed—
Ren Kurose stopped suppressing the power contained within this body.
In an instant, Gudako’s consciousness blurred.
Then…
her entire body visibly wilted.
“Ren Kurose…
you lied to me.”
“My head hurts…”
“That’s normal.”
Ren Kurose spoke calmly.
“If you can’t even withstand this little pressure, how are you supposed to restore Human Order?”
“You’re humanity’s last Master.”
“The entire future of humanity rests on your shoulders.”
“If you can’t keep going, humanity won’t have a future.”
Ren Kurose continued using his words to pressure Gudako.
And this method really was effective.
To the current Gudako, Human Order truly was an enormous burden.
Worse still— it was a burden she couldn’t simply throw away.
This time, Gudako stopped complaining.
She merely gritted her teeth and endured.
Ren Kurose’s verbal pressure had clearly succeeded.
But that alone wasn’t enough.
So Ren Kurose immediately changed his approach.
“How about you give up?”
“No!”
“I refuse!”
Gudako gritted her teeth.
“If I give up, humanity won’t have a future!”
“But isn’t this too painful for you?”
Ren Kurose continued.
“How about I reduce the pressure a little?”
“No!”
“Keep it like this!”
After being repeatedly provoked by Ren Kurose’s words, Gudako herself was now the one refusing to let him ease the pressure.
Watching from the side, Mash broke out in a cold sweat.
At the same time, she couldn’t help feeling a little distressed for Gudako.
“Ren Kurose-senpai…
Master-senpai won’t be hurt, right?”
Mash asked cautiously.
Ren Kurose shook his head.
“Don’t worry.”
“Gudako already endured the initial stage.”
“If she got through that, there shouldn’t be any major problems afterward.”
“All right…”
Hearing Ren Kurose say that, Mash could only suppress her concern.
Watching Gudako endure like this, Ren Kurose could already tell that Determination of Steel EX was beginning to sprout.
But Ren Kurose didn’t want that version.
“Not bad, not bad.”
“Ritsuka, you really were born to be humanity’s last Master.”
“As your friend, I have an idea.”
“It can make you feel much better without reducing any of the pressure.”
“Want to hear it?”
Ren Kurose continued guiding her.
“What?”
Gudako forced the word out.
“You’re humanity’s last Master.”
“Romani even delayed entering the Singularities because he was worried about your safety.”
“So naturally, your needs are going to be taken seriously.”
“Why not be a little bolder?”
Gudako continued enduring the pressure.
“Bolder…?”
“Exactly.”
Ren Kurose smiled.
“Go whenever you want.”
“Do whatever you want.”
“That way, you can release some of the pressure building up inside you.”
“You’re carrying all of Human Order on your shoulders.”
“Surely you deserve somewhere to vent, right?”
“So come on.”
“Do what you want to do right now.”
“Be more casual about it.”
“Whether it’s something good or something bad, just follow your heart.”
“Don’t worry about the consequences.”
“Romani and I will deal with them for you.”
The power of an Outer God naturally affected the mind.
And right now, Ren Kurose was deliberately guiding Gudako.
False Determination of Steel EX:
Never abandon what you believe in, and never allow outside influences to change you.
True Determination of Steel EX:
Place yourself at the center of everything.
Do whatever you want.
Never allow anyone to change you.
Restoring Human Order is merely something you happen to do along the way.
The only thing that truly matters is doing whatever you desire.
That— was the version Ren Kurose wanted.
And it was also the condition required for the birth of—
Chaotic Evil Gudako.
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