After bidding farewell to Raika-san, our group left the second floor of the Selection Realm behind and set off toward the next level. I’d gained a new title, but it didn’t exactly make me feel any stronger. Still feeling a little down about that, I shook off my disappointment and continued walking toward the third floor.
“Man, you guys are amazing! I can’t believe you managed to overcome that trial!”
The one leading the way and enthusiastically praising us was the Space-Time Rabbit, whose whereabouts until now had been anyone’s guess.
We’d barely said our goodbyes to Raika-san on the second floor when he suddenly appeared out of nowhere, smugly declaring, “All right, let’s move on to the next one!”
I was a little annoyed by his attitude, but honestly, whether this guy was around or not made very little difference to us. At this point, I was content to just let him do whatever he wanted.
“Shaaaaaa!”
“That’s right. You did a great job. We have you to thank for it.”
Walking behind me, Shion-san gently stroked the head of the mini dragon perched on her shoulder, showering him with praise. As she said, there was absolutely no doubt that Ryunosuke-kun was the MVP of the second floor.
As for me, I’d done little more than eat something bizarre and pass out. I’d been practically useless in that room.
“What kind of place is the next floor, Space-Time Rabbit?”
Mina-chan, who was walking behind Shion-san, directed the question at the rabbit in a slightly displeased tone.
“The next level, the third floor, is the Southwestern Executioner Region. Rakshasa is waiting there.”
“The Southwe—what? And who’s Rakshasa?”
“Whaaaaaaaaaat?!”
While Mina-chan stood there with a whole row of question marks practically floating over her head, I couldn’t help blurting out in shock.
Well, of course I was surprised!
When someone mentioned Rakshasa, there was only one person who came to mind: that very same guy I’d once blown away with the combination of Hell Gate and Cremation. I vaguely remembered the term Southwestern Executioner Region, too.
“Daishi-san, Rakshasa is that enormous Buddha statue we saw at the temple, right?”
“Yeah. Though his actual body isn’t nearly that huge.”
“Apparently, Daishi Ajiri and Satsuki Amane have already fought him once and won. That’s what the Goddess told me.”
It seemed there was no doubt about it. This was the same guy I’d defeated before.
I was pretty sure I’d taken him down in spectacular fashion, too. So how the hell had that not been enough to finish him off…?
No, wait a second.
Come to think of it, I vaguely remembered that Dam Goddess saying something about souls and how they could be revived or something along those lines.
“Is this guy strong?”
Shion-san asked a perfectly reasonable question.
“He was ridiculously strong. Well, I was still pretty weak back then, so maybe he just seemed disproportionately powerful at the time.”
“Unfortunately, the same can be said of Rakshasa.”
“…Huh?”
The Space-Time Rabbit spoke with an unusually grave expression.
“The Southwestern Executioner Region you fought Rakshasa in before was a fake. Well, more precisely, it was just a cheap imitation—a hollow realm designed to resemble the real thing. But the place we’re heading to now is the genuine article. The true Executioner Region.”
“W-what’s the difference?”
“Apparently, the absolute limit of the power Rakshasa can unleash is on a completely different level. The Goddess said that in the fake realm, he could only use about one-hundredth of his true power.”
“O-One-hundredth…? You’re kidding me…”
He was only using one percent of his power back then?!
That was downright absurd. Rakshasa had been insanely strong even as it was. And sure, I’d gotten a lot stronger since then, but my stats hadn’t increased a hundredfold. By a simple calculation, it didn’t look like I had the slightest chance of beating him.
“Judging by how rattled the old man looks, this fellow must be quite the formidable opponent.”
“Well, I think we’ll be fine. There’s only one of him, right? If we all work together and coordinate our attacks, we should be able to manage somehow.”
Shion-san flashed a sly grin, while Mina-chan seemed relatively optimistic about the whole situation. Perhaps their confidence came from everything we’d been through together so far, because neither of them seemed particularly worried.
“Ugh… I really don’t want to fight.”
“Tell me about it.”
Satsuki-chan and I weren’t exactly thrilled about the prospect, either. Our previous battle against him had been a pretty tough fight. And now we were supposed to face an opponent who was a hundred times stronger than before?
If possible, I’d really rather avoid fighting him altogether. But after coming this far, I couldn’t exactly back out now.
All right. Time to steel myself.
“Well, here we are.”
“Whoa…”
The moment we reached the bottom of the spiral staircase, a gigantic gate stood waiting before us. I couldn’t help holding my breath at the sight. It was completely different from any entrance we’d encountered so far, and the sheer scale of it left me speechless.
Yes. If I had to compare it to anything, it would be… the Hell Gate. Well, the appearance was completely different. I was talking about the atmosphere. The gate towered before us like a living creature, its surface oozing a pulsing, black light.
It stood well over a dozen meters tall, and its massive double doors were tightly secured with countless studs and heavy chains. Yet a sinister darkness, almost like a miasma, seeped through the gaps. It seemed to make the very air around us tremble, as though anguished groans were leaking from within.
There was no doubt about it. Beyond this gate lay the so-called Southwestern Executioner Region.
“Ahhh, nope. I can’t do this after all. Daishi-san, I’m counting on you.”
“Indeed. The fragrant aroma of Hell is positively overwhelming here. Old man, I shall leave this to you.”
“That place is far too ominous. Daishi-san, I’ll leave the rest to you!”
“Shaaa.”
Hey, hey, HEY!
Why were all the women suddenly getting cold feet?!
Weren’t we supposed to work together and clear this floor as a team?!
Sure, I might be the oldest among us, but that didn’t mean I wanted to go in there alone! Facing whatever lay beyond those doors by myself was downright terrifying!
“I mean, I don’t want to go in there, either…”
…Huh?
Wait a minute.
Was the gate… slowly opening?
WHOOSH—!!
“Kyaaaaa!”
“Waaaaaa!”
“Nghhh! I’m being pulled in!”
“Sssshaaaaa!”
“Well then, everyone—may fortune be with you!”
The space-time rabbit alone escaped the suction. Amidst the fierce howling headwinds, the rest of us were all, in the end, sucked inside.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com
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