▲

Before we reached the Royal Capital Enoh————

On one particular night.

I was in that pavilion with Loqierra, Munin, and Pigimaru.

[This should, in theory, let us activate it……]

[As expected of you.]

Everyone else had been sent away.

It was the perfect setting for a confidential conversation.

Loqierra took my words, rested his hands on his hips, and exhaled.

[If you want to give credit, you should probably praise those two from the Disposal Ruins who had the origin medium————- the Azure Dragon Stones, to begin with.]

[……Maybe.]

The Forbidden Tribe———— the Kurosagas only have two people who can cast the Forbidden Curses.

Munin and Fugi.

Someday we’ll likely face Vysis directly.

And————

Before I can hit them with Abnormal State Skills, we absolutely have to insert a Forbidden Curse.

Of course, it would be best if Munin could finish it alone.

It would be ideal if Fugi didn’t have to risk herself———– best for Munin as well.

I’ll do everything I can so Munin can end it by himself.

Still, as an insurance plan in case of the worst————-

I thought we should prepare a trump card.

Loqierra looked exhausted and said,

[Phew…… that used up a lot of the power that was just starting to recover. Well, I can’t help in actual combat anyway, so maybe this was the place to use it. But if it’s anything but combat there are still things I can do, so I’d like to recover even a bit more before we reach the decisive battle……]

I noticed Munin’s worried face.

[Is something bothering you?]

[Touka-san…… even if the activation becomes possible, what about the pain that could kill……]

Loqierra picked up the concern and added,

[Seriously, yeah. You might’ve cobbled together an activation crest, but the mitigation crests you put around it with the leftover origin medium———— that’s barely going to cut it. Honestly, I think it’s going to be brutal, you know? And that activation crest itself is unstable, right? You might have increased the activation probability from something like 40 percent to nearly a hundred…… but that doesn’t mean there’s an absolute guarantee, you know?]

It’s true we haven’t done a test shot———– we can’t but……

[Just increasing the certainty of activation is already pretty great.]

We were getting into territory worth betting on.

[I mean, this idea for you to use a Forbidden Curse, this isn’t something you just thought of yesterday, right?]

[……I’d been thinking about it for a long time.]

Loqierra sighed deeply.

[That’s…… recklessly bold.]

[I also thought it was a terrible gamble for me to use a Forbidden Curse. To be honest…… I figured it was almost impossible.]

In the Faraway Country———– in the Kurosaga settlement.

When I first met Munin and heard about Forbidden Curses, I learned that “affixing” a Forbidden Curse itself could be applied by people outside Kurosaga.

From that moment I had been thinking about it.

Even before I met Loqierra I had sometimes consulted Munin.

“You said that “it’s been told” that one would lose their life at the end of an agony unimaginable in this world…… right?”

“Eh? Yes……”

“………………..”

“Touka-san…… Don’t tell me you……”

I thought there might be a sliver of hope here.

There are stories that someone experienced the agonizing pain and survived long enough to be told about it.

That could mean there was “time to pass on a warning”.

That casting it might not necessarily lead to instant death.

……No.

Perhaps, for some reason……

“They wanted to prevent its use.”

It’s not impossible that they said one would [die] for that very purpose.

Of course, it’s true that this is far too optimistic a speculation……

But it was the other sticking point that still bothered me.

“Are you certain the activation itself won’t happen?”

“Well…… according to legend……”

“…….Still, no one would invent a lie for something this important.”

That was the problem.

The matter of the deathly pain is a thin thread, but not entirely without hope.

However———– if it doesn’t activate, then it’s utterly meaningless.

“But since it’s all legend and not proven…… in other words———- you can’t say for certain that it will never activate, right?”

“……Yes. B- But Touka-san———–”

“I know. Still……”

As a last resort, it’s something we should keep in mind.

At that time we were still midway through our journey.

I myself using the Forbidden Curse then was utterly unrealistic, probabilities were terrifyingly low, and there were only doubts.

But maybe, as we traveled, something would come up that would let us overcome those obstacles.

I thought we should at least prepare as much as we could.

“I want to at least have the “affixing” of the Forbidden Curse done.”

During the trip, I had Munin perform only the “affixing”.

Then, while we were heading east towards Alions, something happened.

A stronghold south of the Golden Demon Zone was attacked by a swarm of golden-eyed monsters.

An unexpected activation of the Great Demon Lord’s tool had summoned a massive swarm of golden-eyes.

Among them were powerful Human-Faceds from the Northern Demon Zone.

I———-

Thinking of what would come later, I set out to kill that swarm.

Yes, to gain experience.

Even a little bit more———-

To acquire stats that could withstand using a Forbidden Curse.

I decided that was where I should act.

In that situation, of course there were other benefits to clearing the golden-eyes.

But when I volunteered to go, there was also that intention in my mind.

Loqierra said with a slack, amused look,

[But really…… it was fortunate that we had such a large amount of those Azure Dragon Stones.]

We left enough for activation as a reserve, and used the rest for Loqierra’s Divine Crests.

According to Loqierra, it was possible because of the amount we had.

When I first saw that volume of Azure Dragon Stone, Seras was surprised too.

Some of it had been passed towards us by the Mad Emperor.

But most of it had been held by those two from that Disposal Ruins.

[Also, this something Munin had……]

Loqierra held up four sheets of parchment in her hand.

On them were written characters and things that looked like symbols.

In the imperial capital of Mira, beneath the castle of Luva———–

Inside that sealed chamber that only Munin could open.

A grimoire of Forbidden Curses different from the one I had was being kept there.

And on the walls, there were characters carved that only Munin could read.

Munin had managed to convey the meaning of most of them but……

[It wasn’t as though everything carved there was readable…… no, at first, I actually thought they were symbols or maybe just decorative patterns or something……]

Munin said that with a wry smile.

Apparently, she had taken the precaution of recording everything down.

Thoroughly.

She had even examined the altar and the lid of the box where the Forbidden Curse had been kept.

Munin lowered her gaze to her knees, still smiling faintly.

[I wanted to make sure I’d done everything I could……]

[…………….]

That, too, was her———– the Kurosagas’ obsession.

She usually didn’t show it, so it was easy to forget.

But for the Kurosagas, defeating the Goddess was a lifelong wish.

Whether they could continue living in peace depended on this battle.

For an unbelievably long time, they had carried this forward.

Their crests.

Their tribe.

Loqierra turned the parchments toward me.

[Unn, I think you were absolutely right to do it…… These weren’t decorative symbols or patterns at all, they’re genuine written characters.]

[You can read them?]

[Heh heh…… don’t underestimate us Scholar-type Deities, okay? These are, you see, a very particular kind of ancient script.]

[Different from the ancient language?]

When we first met Erika,

Seras had spoken in that language, but———–

[The “ancient language” you’re thinking of is probably a newer form. How should I put it…… it’s properly the difference between “knowing the letters” and “knowing how to write sentences”, you know? To put it simply, it’s readable. Even someone who hasn’t completely immersed themselves in research about it like me could manage it.]

In short, the writing on that parchment was a very special kind of script, one readable to someone on Loqierra’s level.

Munin had copied it down without realizing it was writing.

Loqierra flipped one of the parchments over and looked at the written side.

[What’s written here is a clue———- well, something like a hint for inscribing the activation crest. You could call it the final key. Honestly, without this, I wasn’t entirely sure whether the activation crest affixed into Touka would’ve actually worked……]

[Even without it, you could still affix it though.]

[Well, once we started digging into our own <Dispel Bubble> research, it naturally led us toward the origin incantation that nullifies it———— in other words, the Forbidden Curse. So yeah, it’s always been one of our higher-priority research subjects.]

Loqierra puffed out her chest proudly with a smug “ahem”.

[And as for the stabilization of the pseudo-activation crest, that’s my invention! By activating the origin medium through my own method, I managed to, get this, interfere directly with the composition ring of the origin core, which was thought to be fundamentally untouchable————]

……She started blabbering incomprehensible technical jargon.

I decided to let her ramble for a bit before asking about the important part.

[Does Vysis know about this?]

[Eh? Of course not! There’s no way I’d ever share research data with Vysis! Absolutely not!]

[Hmmm. So that’s just how things work in the Deities’ world huh.]

[Eh? Nah——– I just hate Vysis.]

[……I see.]

[Well, Vysis hates me too, so she’d never share most of her research results with me either! Actually, this whole thing is super top secret…… I haven’t even told Origin-sama or Thesis-sama about it.]

[…………………..]

If Loqierra and Vysis had actually gotten along, there really might’ve been a chance that our plan would’ve been countered.

[……To be serious for a moment, part of the reason I’ve kept this under wraps is because if it leaks out, it could be disastrous for us Deities. It wouldn’t just be the Kurosaga who could use it anymore. To tell you the truth…… I was planning to bury the entire study on pseudo-activation crests.]

Now that she said that, I could understand why she’d kept it so secret.

Loqierra went on.

[Well, if Vysis had independently figured out the pseudo-activation crest———— then we’d have to assume she’s already taken countermeasures.]

[So it becomes a gamble huh.]

[Yeah…… but if she had known about pseudo-activation crests, I don’t think she would’ve been so obsessed with eradicating the Kurosagas. If she knew, she’d probably have prioritized collecting origin media, like the Azure Dragon Stone, instead. That’s why I think…… Vysis probably hasn’t realized it yet.]

That——— did make a certain amount of sense.

If she’d already discovered the possibility that someone other than the Kurosagas could use the Forbidden Curses.

Then her fixation on the Forbidden Tribe———— on the Kurosaga would feel oddly misplaced.

And then Loqierra said, with the look of a researcher on her face,

[Also, this part here, the one Munin copied down……]

She looked genuinely intrigued now.

[These ancient ruins said to exist deep underground in this world…… the technologies even we Deities don’t understand, like the Sacred Eye…… and the origin nullification incantation that can only be meant for use against Deities…… No, maybe even the very system of Abnormal State abilities themselves…… the reason <Dispel Bubble> was created…… the ancient humans…… Maybe if we trace it all the way back, we Deities ourselves might actually……]

[Loqierra-san?]

Munin spoke up in a tone that seemed to ask “Is something wrong?”

[———–Ah, sorry! The researcher in me got carried away for a second…… Right now, we need to focus on how to take down Vysis! ———Anyway, Touka.]

With that sudden change in tone, Loqierra continued.

[Seras isn’t here right now, but…… are you going to tell her about this later?]

[No———– I plan to keep the pseudo-activation crest a secret from Seras.]

[Eh? But you two seem so close, you know? With how deep your trust is, I don’t think there’d be any problem telling her. Sure, the fewer people who know, the better, but still…… Hmmm…… What do you think, Munin? You’ve known them longer than I have.]

[Errr, let’s see…… I do think Seras would be fine if you told her, but……]

I paused for a moment.

[If I use the Forbidden Curse, there’s a chance I’ll die, right? Even if it’s only a possibility.]

Loqierra looked a bit awkward.

[Eh? U- Unn……]

[Then———-]

It’s critical that this trump card stays hidden from Vysis until the very moment it’s used.

[If it’s Seras, she’ll definitely show it on her face or in her attitude somewhere.]

Loqierra turned to Munin, asking “Really?”.

I lowered my head slightly, and before I realized it, a small smile had tugged at my lips.

[Seras———— loves me too much, you see.]

Loqierra and Munin blinked, caught completely off guard.

Then Loqierra made a slightly pained face.

[Eeeh…… What’s with that random, out-of-nowhere romantic brag……]

Munin, on the other hand, covered her mouth and chuckled softly.

[I see…… That does make sense, doesn’t it?♪]

It seemed she understood———– at least, I think she did.

……Why did that make me feel a little relieved?

[No, it’s just…… how should I put it…… I trust Seras from the bottom of my heart. And precisely because of that, I feel like it might be better not to tell her about the pseudo-activation crest.]

I wanted Seras to stay focused on the enemy in front of her.

But if she knew I might die from using some unknown power.

Could she really fight properly under that kind of pressure?

……No, I don’t think so.

Or rather———– neither could I, if the situation were reversed.

The way we feel about each other is probably very similar.

[I suppose so.]

Munin said quietly, lowering her lashes with a composed, mature smile.

[Yes, I think that’s for the best. Hehe, but it’s strange, isn’t it?♪ The person you trust most being the one who’s better off not knowing. But…… I understand. Still, Touka-san?]

[Yeah?]

[What about me? I’ll probably have my face hidden behind the mask, but still…… I already know about your potential use of the Forbidden Curse, don’t I? Wouldn’t that make Seras-san suspicious of me somehow? She can tell truth from lies, so I’ll have to be really careful not to slip up in conversation…… Ugh…… I’m not sure I can pull it off as smoothly as you, Touka-san……]

[I think you’ll be fine.]

[Ara, really?]

Munin tilted her head with a bashful little smile.

[When I think about it———– since you joined this journey, you haven’t really stood out much.]

[Fufu, that’s true———- wait…… Eh? Ehhh!? You’re seriously finding faults at me like that right to my face!?]

[Ah, no…… that came out wrong. What I mean is…… you’ve always been like the mood-maker of the group. You keep things calm and easygoing, and that’s something I really appreciate. You’re considerate, too.]

[Ara, I’m so happy♪]

[……Including how quickly you can switch gears like that.]

[But, um, about the “not standing out” part…… you mean that in a good way, right?]

“Of course.” I nodded.

[You get excited at times, sure…… but in other situations, you don’t lose your composure or panic, or make big mistakes out of desperation. You can grasp what’s going on quickly and stay calm no matter what happens. In other words———– You’re someone “I don’t worry about” in a good way.]

[Ara……]

You could also call her low maintenance.

Not that she was detached, she just wasn’t easy to notice unless you looked for her carefully.

Munin had been the chieftain who held the Kurosaga together.

That alone said a lot.

You could tell just by seeing how the others in her settlement acted.

Of course, she wasn’t immune to emotion or error.

She didn’t have an unbreakable will of steel like Takao Hijiri.

But……

[At the very least, ever since we met…… I don’t recall a single time you caused any kind of trouble or problem for me. And on top of that…… you’ve always had your resolve.]

She’d fulfilled her role perfectly during the Kirihara battle, too.

Even if she sometimes joked about lacking confidence,

She’d never once said such a thing seriously.

If she said she’d do something, she did it.

That was her way.

And besides……

She’d never struggled to adapt to the outside world.

Never wavered in her purpose.

Never lost herself over her identity as a Kurosaga.

No such “burdens” ever weighed her down.

She even carried out the signing ceremony at Mira Castle properly———-

As the representative of the Faraway Country.

Maybe that was it.

For someone whose behavior and words have what you’d call a [cute] side to them.

That Munin was a “real adult”————

That might have mattered more than I realized.

[Errr…… that’s…… fufufu…… quite the compliment, isn’t it?]

Maybe she wasn’t expecting such an evaluation.

Munin’s cheeks turned a little red, clearly flustered.

I gave a wry smile.

[Well, except when it comes to things involving Fugi…… sometimes I do wonder how to handle that……]

But———– that’s unavoidable.

After all, we’re talking about her daughter here.

I would’ve felt the same.

If my uncle or aunt were involved, depending on the situation, I might lose my cool and stop thinking straight.

[Even so, I trust you to do your part properly when “that time” comes———– meaning that, in that sense, I trust you, Munin.]

I won’t tell Seras because I trust her.

I’ll tell Munin because I trust her.

[……Touka-san. Fufu, thank you.]

“Still doesn’t change how I apparently have low presence though……” Munin slumped down.

[No, really, I’m sorry about that……]

[———–But, Touka.]

Loqierra opened her mouth there.

[You know full well, but the Forbidden Curse enabled by that pseudo-activation crest is……]

The expression Loqierra wore just then had no “playfulness” in it.

She looked serious.

The mood tightened in an instant.

[……Yeah, I know. But———–]

Of course.

It’d be best if Munin ended up successfully landing her Forbidden Curse, as she bears no usage risk.

If it’s decided as a contingency for Munin’s failure, that’d be a huge help.

However……

[If I feel that we won’t win unless I use it here———– I won’t hesitate; I’ll use the Forbidden Curse with this pseudo-activation crest.]

There’s meaning in someone who isn’t of the Forbidden Tribe using it————

Surprisingly, that might matter.

Vysis isn’t just an idiot.

Even if it’s likely she doesn’t know about the pseudo-activation crest’s existence, she must have some countermeasures against Forbidden Curses.

She might take measures we can’t even imagine.

Something we didn’t expect could happen that puts us at a disadvantage.

In that case———– we should have our own trump card prepared to strike back.

That said, the degree of damage it’ll do to me when used is unknown.

We can’t even test-fire it.

It’s do-or-die.

Hence the risk is very high.

That’s why……

[To put it bluntly…… if using it here is the only way to avoid everyone afterward being killed by Vysis or suffering a worse fate…… then even accepting the risk, we should use it here———-]

Screw letting Vishis win just like that.

[I’ll make that call.]

▽

Yes———– Munin and Loqierra knew.

They knew that, in the worst-case scenario, “my Forbidden Curse” and Abnormal State Skills would become the deciding factors.

[Haahh…… haahh…… ————<Dark>.]

A skill that had been almost completely useless against Ars and Wormungandr.

That was the reason I hadn’t used it earlier.

Even if I were to cast it on the sleeping Vysis now, it might be meaningless……

But at least, for the moment, I could afford to use it.

So, just in case, I layered <Dark> on top as well.

At a glance…… both of her clones had stopped moving.

From the look of that smoke, it seemed they started melting.

It was probably due to the condition Vysis herself was in.

……Judging from what I could see, the Abnormal State Skills were clearly taking effect on Vysis.

She was still alive…… probably.

Though she seemed asleep…… she looked practically half-dead.

I heard talk about the Deities having “existence power” and such.

Handling a Deity in this kind of state……

I felt like I should ask Loqierra for her opinion first but———–

[Haahh…… haahh……]

……Sogou.

Hijiri.

For now, those two……

[Sogou———–]

At that moment,

[Anyone with first-aid knowledge, please tend to Ayaka-dono and Hijiri-dono! And to Touka-dono too!]

Seras, who still hadn’t lowered her guard against Vysis, shouted.

As for Sogou and Hijiri.

————That was exactly what I had just been about to say.

[Haahh…… haahh……]

The tearful voice of Itsuki calling Hijiri’s name sounded unusually loud……

[………………….]

……Seras.

She must have realized that I couldn’t raise my voice right now.

So she spoke in my stead.

……I see.

In terms of years, it hasn’t been that long.

But she’s been by my side all this time, watching me.

So of course, she understands me.

She knows me……

I turned my face toward Seras and met her eyes, giving a single nod.

We still couldn’t afford to drop our guard against Vysis.

But in my current condition, Seras could respond faster than I could.

[Guh…… d*mn————]

I turned my gaze towards “there”.

[……You really went and did something reckless.]

I didn’t even know what kind of expression I should have right now.

[Pi…… gii…… giii……!]

Even so, I called the name of the companion who poked his face out from behind my neck.

[Pigimaru.]

At some point, Pigimaru had connected himself to me of “his own will”.

So quietly that even Vysis wouldn’t notice———-

No, so quietly that even I didn’t notice.

Bshut———–

A part of Pigimaru’s gelatinous body splattered onto the floor, bouncing like spurting blood.

It was as if———– he was bleeding.

He had received it.

A massive damage.

[…………………..]

Loqierra’s damage-reduction crest.

The Hero’s status correction from all the levels I’d desperately raised.

Just as I’d imagined, activating the Forbidden Curse caused intense pain————– a massive amount of damage.

Deathly pain.

I see, that was a fitting name for it.

It really did hurt like hell, so much that it felt like dying.

And yet————-

Here I was, still standing.

Still able to speak.

In other words————- it was agonizing, but the damage was less than I’d expected.

[……You…… took some of it for me, didn’t you……]

The connection with Pigimaru.

What would happen if I got injured while in this state?

I’d never really thought about it.

But maybe Pigimaru had understood from the start.

That he would take some of the damage himself.

……So that’s what it was.

I’d thought he’d been unusually tense since the start of this battle.

As if he had already made up his mind about something.

Well, it was a direct showdown———— a decisive battle with Vysis.

So it’s not surprising that it turned out that way.

But no, Pigimaru had been planning it.

Secretly connecting to me, without telling me, to share the damage from the activation.

That’s right.

When we’d been talking about the pseudo-activation crest……

The only ones there besides me had been Munin and Loqierra.

Pigimaru had been there too.

He’d heard it——— that conversation.

And yet……

[You know, this time…… I’m a little angry with you.]

[Pi…… gi……]

[Why…… Why would you———-]

[……Pigi.]

[You tried to take all the pain for me, didn’t you?]

[Pi…… gi……]

Most likely…… Pigimaru had intended to die……

In my place.

To take on all of the pain.

It must have happened the moment we were connected.

That feeling had reached me clearly.

Fortunately, the deathly pain hadn’t gone entirely “to just one of us”.

As a result, we shared the pain between us.

In that connected state, I understood it.

In a sense———– it was truly, literally, a “shared pain”.

The three Forbidden-type Reinforcements.

Because of those, Pigimaru had gained a considerable amount of endurance.

That was probably a big reason why he managed to withstand it.

His endurance had increased, far more than I’d expected.

……Even so.

[You idiot…… seriously…… you idiot……]

[……Pii♪]

Why are you always———— so much like this……

So much that……

I could feel my face twisting under the weight of the emotion welling up inside me.

[———————]

All throughout this journey……

You’ve always been devoted.

Your innocent nature healed not just me, but everyone.

You encouraged us.

You lent me your strength……

Over and over again.

You kept doing so, always.

You saved me, countless of times……

Even in ways I couldn’t see……

[Pigimaru…… you really are……]

I’ll say it, as many times as it takes.

[My irreplaceable———– greatest partner in the world.]

[Pinyuuu…… iiii……♪]

[……You’ve done enough already. From here on…… just rest.]

[Pi……]

[……………..]

[……………..]

[Pigimaru.]

[Pi…… gi……]

[…………Thank you.]

[…………Pii♪]

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