What was that earthquake just now?
Ever since then, for some reason, a dull ache had been throbbing in my right side. That was exactly where I had absorbed the 《Faceless Mud》.
…
Huh?
Why do my cheeks feel strangely cold?
The ground is awfully close.
No—wait.
I was lying on the ground.
When did I fall?
Did I pass out from running out of mana?
That’s strange though. I could have sworn I still had enough mana left for at least one more fight.
Thump!
My right side suddenly throbbed violently. And with it, my consciousness began to fade—
“Oniisan!? Hey, Oniisan, stay with me!”
I came to at the sound of someone’s voice. Forcing open my heavy eyelids, I found myself staring into the familiar face of Mia.
“What happened, Oniisan? Are you hurt somewhere?!”
“Probably just out of mana.…”
When I told her that, Mia nodded.
“—《Supplemental Transfer Spell: My Spirit Energy Is Your Nectar of Vitality, So Draw It Forth》.”
She chanted the spell and took my hand. A gentle warmth slowly spread from the point where our hands touched.
Supplemental Transfer Spell. Just as the name implied, it is a magic that allows one person to share their mana with another.
The transfer was painfully slow, but little by little, my consciousness began to clear.
“Thanks. You saved me, Mia. …But why are you here?”
Wasn’t she supposed to be outside, treating the wounded?
“I had a bad feeling. It was really vague, but… I felt like you were in danger, Oniisan…”
“I see. The power of love, huh?”
I answered jokingly.
Mia nodded.
“Maybe. Because I really do love you, Oniisan—my Hero.”
She suddenly dropped that on me.
“…”
“…”
“…Don’t say something like that and then get embarrassed yourself.”
“…………You’re the one blushing, Hero.”
Damn. What the hell were we doing, getting caught up in some cheesy romantic-comedy scene?
I had managed to drive Reona and Aria back, but it was still far too early for an epilogue.
That earthquake from earlier was bothering me, too. I needed to hurry and go after Phyllis.
“Hero, think you can move?”
“Yeah.”
I slowly pushed myself upright.
Then—
“Seriously, you can drop the ‘Hero’ thing now.”
The thought had suddenly occurred to me, so I said it aloud.
“If someone else heard you calling me that, they’d wonder what the hell was going on.”
“Then what should I call you?”
“Just ‘Oniisan’ like usual. Besides, why did you suddenly start calling me ‘Hero’ in the first place?”
“Why not? I just felt like it. It’s a mood.”
I really didn’t understand a woman’s heart.
Still—
“Then call me by my name. Seriously, being called ‘Hero’ in this world is… well, it makes my skin crawl.”
Back in the other world, it had been an honorable title. But this world was different, and so were the circumstances. Nobody exactly went around using the word “hero” in everyday conversation here. And if they did, it would probably be in the sense of “Yeah right, hero, lol.”—Something meant to mock whoever was being called one.
“Your name… y-you mean your first name, right?”
“Yeah. You remember it, don’t you?”
“Of course. It’s the same as in my previous life, right? Uhm…”
Mia hesitated for a moment, looking distinctly embarrassed.
Then, somewhat shyly, she finally said—
“Y-Yoshito… …Oniisan.”
“Drop the ‘Oniisan.’ Try again.”
I gave her a hard time on purpose, rejecting her first attempt.
“Take two. Start!”
“Huh? Whaaat?! …Y-yo, yo yo yo—”
“Yocchan Squid?”
For the record, I like the spicy version with the winning lottery ticket inside. Back when I was in elementary school, me and my three other friends had pooled our money and bought a fifty-pack in a glass jar for a school field trip. The snack budget was capped at 300 yen per person, so 300 × 4 = 1,200 yen. It was a perfect plan, right? But for some reason, the teacher got angry with us. I still don’t understand why.
“Y-yo… Yoshi… Yoshi—”
Mia was still hesitating. She kept going “yoshi, yoshi…” though. Was she trying to pat me on the head or something?
Eventually—
“…Yoshito.”
At last, she managed to say my name. Her cheeks were even redder than before, practically the color of a freshly boiled octopus.
“Mia.”
When I called her name in return—
“Fwah?!”
Boom! Mia’s face exploded. Well, metaphorically speaking of course.
“Uu… auuu…”
I watched Mia flounder in embarrassment as I got to my feet. I was still on the verge of running completely out of mana, but at least I was doing better than before.
“Come on. Let’s go.”
“O-Okay.”
We started walking, still holding hands. Mia’s left hand, my right.
The [Supplemental Transfer Spell] is still active. Neither of us said a word. The only sound echoing through the cave was the steady rhythm of our footsteps. It wasn’t long before we reached the deepest part of the cave.
There was a door.
A massive double door, completely out of place in a cave.
“Oniisan, is that…?”
Mia is pointing at the emblem carved into the door.
How should I describe it?
An “eye caught between two shells” might give you the right image. It was the symbol of an evil god I had supposedly erased from existence in my previous life. If I were to write its name in Japanese, it would probably come out something like「ゼェャダフォァグィレャ」. It was an absolute nightmare to pronounce, so I figured I might as well call him the “Evil God Foie Gras.”
Apparently, there were two other gods of the same kind, though their names hadn’t been passed down. Probably “Evil God Caviar” and “Evil God Truffle.” You know, going by the whole “world’s three great delicacies” theme.
“…Man, now I’m getting hungry.”
“This is no time to fool around.”
I got scolded.
Sorry.
“The door’s locked with magic. …Wait here for a moment. I’ll open it.”
Mia placed her hand against the door. She was probably using the 《Unlocking Spell》. It took her a little over ten seconds. Not a bad time at all.
We pushed the doors open and stepped inside. The chamber was laid out like an altar, and an unexpected tragedy was unfolding before us.
“Phyllis-sama, why won’t you accept my feelings?! If you wish to experience love, then your disciple, who adores you with all his heart, is right here!”
“But Herbert, you’re so boring. You’re not my type. And on top of that, just because I rejected you, you retaliated by stealing someone else’s research and kidnapped a little girl. How many negative points are you planning to rack up?”
Phyllis is gouging Herbert with her words like knives. No, at this point, she is practically stabbing him over and over.
“But… I just wanted you to notice me—”
“I’m the sort of person who’ll use any means necessary to achieve my goals. But at the very least, I don’t use methods that directly contradict those goals. Or perhaps, you wanted me to find this kind of stupidity adorable? Don’t dump your mother complex on me.”
Whoa. Phyllis really had zero mercy.
Come on, being called a mama’s boy is a critical hit against any man. Cut the guy some slack.
“Uuuh… Uaaaaaaaaahhhhhh—!”
Oh, great. Now Herbert is crying.
“Phyllis, I think that’s enough…”
I couldn’t stand watching any longer, so I stepped in to stop her.
“Oh, Yoshito. You’re late. And Mia came too?”
“Yes. I just had a bad feeling you see…”
In a sense, Mia’s intuition had been dead-on. If we hadn’t shown up, Phyllis might have continued her verbal assault on Herbert until there was nothing left of his spirit.
Hmm. Judging from their conversation just now, this guy had been trying to get Phyllis’s attention. He had planned to sacrifice Matsuki-san to summon something, all so he could prove his abilities to her.
…They say love can drive people crazy, but I wish that he could spare a thought for everyone else getting dragged into it.
Come to think of it, I placed a curse on Herbert that made him endlessly relive his most terrifying memories. I wonder what became of that.
When I asked Phyllis about it,
“Sorry, but I had to remove it. Otherwise, we couldn’t have had a proper conversation.”
In other words, she had freed Herbert from my curse, only to kick him straight back into hell herself.
Phyllis is terrifying...
“I’m bored—no, I mean, I’ve had enough. Let’s take the kidnapped girl home. She’s over there.”
Phyllis pointed toward the back of the altar.
There was a suspicious-looking magic circle drawn there, with a single girl lying unconscious in its center. It was Ayano Matsuki.
“I’ll take Herbert with me. Can I leave the girl to you and Mia?”
Got it. Strengthening my physical abilities barely required any mana, so carrying Matsuki-san should be easy enough.
And with that, the case was solved.
Thank goodness.
Oh yeah, oh yeah!
Except—
That didn’t happen.
“…Kukukuku… Ahahahahaha!”
It was just as Phyllis began casting a spell to restrain Herbert.
“Ahahahahaha—(cough, cough)—ahahaha! Hahahahahahahaha!”
He was laughing hysterically through his tears, choking between bursts of laughter.
There was something warped about his laughter. Something deeply ominous.
“Oniisan, the magic circle….”
Mia’s words made me notice it. The magic circle was glowing a pale green, moving as though it were crawling across the ground. From where Matsuki-san lay towards Herbert’s feet.
And then—
“Ahahahahahaha! Kuhahahahahahahahahaha! Why am I the one getting rejected?! It makes no sense! This is ridiculous, ridiculous, isn’t it?! Ahahahahahahahahahahahaha—!”
Along with his maniacal laughter, Herbert’s body began to melt, turning into a viscous mass. The magic circle spun as it rapidly shrank in size, and a slender pillar of light shot upward.
Space warped.
Then it tore open.
Amid the smell of something like scorched iron, something began to crawl out.
I had seen this sight before.
In my previous life. Back when the members of the Evil God cult sacrificed their own bodies to summon a familiar of Foie Gras.
And this one, is exactly the same.
“XGyyyyYHAaaaaAAAAA….”
Accompanied by an indescribable growl, a grotesque silhouette emerged.
If I had to put it simply—
It’s a “Creepy Vine Man”. A writhing mass of vines had gathered together, forming something vaguely resembling a human. A translucent fluid dripped from each of the vines, making the whole thing thoroughly revolting.
I activated 【Appraisal】.
| [Name] Herbert von Eulen [Gender] Male [Race] Evil God (Kin) [Age] 27 [Titles] Young Girl Kidnapper, (Former) Disciple of Phyllis, Bondage Enthusiast, Masochist [Stats] ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙Level 0 ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙Attack Power: 1 ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙Defense Power: 1 ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙Vitality: 1 ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙Magic Power: Unmeasurable ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙Mental Strength: Undefined ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙Agility: 1 [Ability] Familiar: Foie Gras [Skills] Bondage X, Strangulation II [Magic] Time Spell (Passive/Always Active) |
Level 0. Attack, Defense, Vitality, Agility—all 1. A characteristic trait of evil gods and their familiars.
But that didn’t mean they were weak. Their virtually infinite reserves of mana made up for everything. And because the 《Time Spell》 is constantly active, all attacks against them were rendered completely ineffective. There is only one way to fight them. We have to use the 《Time Spell》 ourselves and neutralize it.
The problem is, I am the only human capable of using it.
This is bad.
Even if it was only a familiar, I didn’t have enough mana left to kill this thing outright.
“H-Help me! W-What is this?! Why is this happening to me?!”
Something wriggled its way out from among the vines to Herbert’s face. His expression is twisted with terror and disbelief.
“Phyllis-sama, this is too much, even for you! Ah, help me! Help me—!”
Wait a second. Hadn’t Herbert sacrificed himself because he had snapped and decided to take things too far?
There was no way that scream was an act.
“I thought I had already destroyed the summoning spell…!”
Even Phyllis looked completely bewildered.
What the hell was going on?
“Please, help me! He…Help… me! Uwaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!”
Herbert let out a desperate scream. But despite his pleas, the countless vines slowly raised their heads—
And then lunged straight at Phyllis.
＊ ＊ ＊
“At least rest in peace, Herbert. —《Tenfold, Twentyfold: Funeral Flame Dragon Cremation》!”
Phyllis reacted instantly. She cast the spell before the vines could even reach her.
It was probably the equivalent of the 《Fire Spell》 from the other world. Dozens of dragons made entirely of flame appeared and descended upon Herbert all at once. The fire dragons meticulously burned every last vine to ash, then vanished with a triumphant roar.
Not even a speck of ash remained.
—And yet, the 《Time Spell》 surpassed it.
“W-What? What’s happening?! What have I—what have I become?!”
Almost immediately, Herbert regenerated.
“This… It is the same magic Yoshito used?”
Phyllis realized what was happening in an instant, then turned her eyes toward me, as though seeking instructions.
That brief moment of hesitation proved fatal.
“—Kyaaah?!”
Vines burst from beneath her feet, wrapping themselves around her entire body.
Looking closely, I noticed that several of the vines extending from Herbert’s body had burrowed underground. A surprise attack from beneath the ground.
“Tch!”
There was no way I could just abandon Phyllis.
“—《Time Spell》—《When Your Time Comes, Do Not Defy the Flow of Time: We Shall Die Properly》—《Enchant: And》—《Wind Spirit Spell》—《My Hand Is the Sword That Severs the Sky with Magic: Cut Down the Worthless》!”
I swung my right arm downward. A blade of wind shot forth, slicing through the vines and freeing Phyllis.
So far, so good.
The problem was what came next.
“—!?”
My legs suddenly gave way. Along with the dizziness, my consciousness began to fade.
The telltale sign of running out of mana.
No way…
If I had to put my remaining mana at one hundred, then the 《Time Spell》 plus the 《Wind Spirit Spell》 I’d just used should have cost me no more than five. I should still have plenty left.
So why?
—Thump!
Once again, my right side throbbed.
Could it be…?
Was the 《Mud》 I had absorbed into my body somehow siphoning off my mana? But nothing like this had happened until now.
Why all of a sudden?
“Ow! That hurts! Why don’t you help me so it doesn’t hurt?!”
Herbert bellowed. As if giving form to his rage, the vines twisted together, taking shape into a gigantic arm. A colossal fist came hurtling toward us, dragging a vortex of wind along with it.
Then—Bang!
For a moment, I felt weightless. Then I was slammed into the ground.
“Ugh… ah…!”
The air was driven from my lungs. A moment later, the pain hit. An excruciating agony, as though my entire body had been torn apart piece by piece.
“Oniisan—Yaaah?!”
“Mia?! Ngh…!”
Mia’s scream.
Phyllis’s groan.
I desperately clung to my fading consciousness.
Gritting my teeth, I forced my eyelids open.
And there, through my blurred vision—
“Mm… hya… hn—”
“Yaa… ah… ugh…!”
Mia and Phyllis had been captured. Vines dripping with viscous fluid were wrapped around their bodies, crawling over them as though licking every inch of their flesh.
“Oh, I’m sorry Phyllis-sama, but you look absolutely wonderful like that! Ahahahahaha! And the little girl beside you isn’t half bad either. If I’m not getting out of this alive anyway, then I’ll drag everyone down with me! This is your punishment for a world that refused to go the way I wanted! Hyahahahahahahaha!”
Spouting that utterly deranged logic, Herbert tightened the vines around their necks, squeezing harder and harder.
I tried to rush over and save them immediately. But my body wouldn’t move. The bones in my arms and legs had been shattered, twisted at grotesque angles. And then an overwhelming drowsiness came crashing over me.
Damn it.
There was no way I could let myself pass out here.
I had to save Mia.
I had to save Phyllis.
But my vision was gradually swallowed by darkness—
—Thump.
For some reason, the only thing I could still feel clearly was the pulsing in my right side.
◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆
—Hey, Yoshito-kun. How about I lend you a hand?
—But there’s one condition. It’s nothing major, really.
—I’d like you to stop calling me “Foie Gras.”
—I mean, that’s the fatty liver of a goose or a duck, right? It’s pretty hurtful for a girl to hear that.
—Okay? Make sure you keep your promise.
…
…………
…………..
—Alright, work’s done.
—I never expected you to absorb the “Mud,” but I guess it all worked out in the end.
—Your operational limit is probably around three minutes.
—Should I throw in a “Color Timer” while I’m at it? Just kidding.
…
…………
…………..
—Huh? You’re asking if I was supposed to have vanished?
—Bwahaha! As long as there is evil in people’s hearts, I shall rise again and again!
—Just kidding…. I’m more like… a bonus that came with Mia-chan?
—Just so we’re clear, I had nothing to do with this whole affair.
—I just thought the whole idea of using “me” as a sacrifice to summon “myself” made absolutely no sense.
—It’s kind of funny, isn’t it? The person trying to do the summoning was right there, yet nobody noticed.
—As for why our kidnapper friend ended up becoming the sacrifice… well, maybe I’ll tell you next time we meet.
—Good luck out there, Yoshito-kun.
—I’d be happy if you played house with me again sometime, if you feel like it.
◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆
I dreamt. In the darkness, I was talking to someone. I couldn’t remember what we had been talking about, but I had the feeling that the other person had been a girl.
Then, in the next moment, I found myself floating in a pure white space.
—Clank. Clank.
The sound of armor approached from somewhere in the distance. A jet-black knight clad in armor, a red scarf wrapped around his neck.
It was me.
My former self.
Suddenly, I remembered my conversation with Phyllis. The results of her examination of the 《Mud》.
> It looks like the conceptual information of the Black Knight is stored inside Yoshito.
> Sorry, could you put that in simpler terms?
> I don’t know how yet, but there’s a possibility that you might be able to use the Black Knight’s power…
So that was what this meant.
I reached out my hand. The armored knight reached out his hand as well.
My past self. My present self. The two became one.
I opened my eyes. The exhaustion I’d been feeling just moments ago was gone as if it had never existed. The mana that had been on the verge of running dry now surged through my entire body.
I stood up. Metal struck against metal with a loud clank. My eye level was higher than usual.
I looked down at myself.
I was clad from head to toe in jet-black armor. The form I had possessed in my previous life.
The power of the Black Knight. More than enough to destroy a familiar of the Evil God.
All right. Let’s go.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com
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