Chapter 442: Light in the Dark Prison

[After the summoning, we barely exchanged any words. And yet———- why is that, I wonder?]

From behind the restraints, Vysis made some kind of sound, and I said to her:

[Over the course of the journey that led me here, I feel like I’ve had plenty of “conversations” with you.]

All the things Vysis had done in the past.

What I’d heard from Hijiri and the others who’d been involved with her.

The image of Vysis I carried inside me matched all of that perfectly.

I could even say it was almost completely identical.

It honestly surprised me.

When we reunited, the impression she gave was too consistent with everything I’d imagined.

Well————- maybe it’s simply that she hasn’t changed at all since the last time we stood face-to-face.

On the other hand, it seems Vysis felt that I had changed.

I could tell from the way she fought just moments ago.

[How pathetic.]

[……………..]

Touchy, aren’t we?

She might have felt anger or hatred toward others before, sure———–

But she’d probably never experienced being mocked so unilaterally like this.

……That said.

Kirihara, for example, he never gave the impression he’d defer to even Vysis.

No…… perhaps Vysis only thought she had him completely under control.

Even if Kirihara hurled insolent remarks or outright abuse at her, she probably dismissed it all as the ramblings of someone she was merely manipulating.

In the end, she would be the one laughing.

Believing that, Vysis must have always had a margin of composure left in her.

[What’s wrong?]

I said, without smiling.

[For a goddess, you’re looking awfully short on composure. What happened to that smile you wore when you sent me to the Disposal Ruins…… the smile of someone just about to crush a bug?] ℞α𐌽ɵ𝐁Ê𝙎

[………………]

Vysis glared up at me, killing intent blazing in her eyes.

I see.

Her pride is extraordinary.

No———-

Not just extraordinary. Exceedingly high.

Then.

If that’s the case, she could just ignore my words.

She could simply keep up her lack of response.

As if to say, “Who’d bother reacting to your nasty emotions?”

Because she reacts to everything———– that’s why my words work so well.

By the way, the lower half of her face———- her mouth has been bound.

There’s another reason I haven’t removed it.

Letting Vysis ramble on would bring nothing good.

She’d just unleash filthy insults and bitter resentment, that much is guaranteed.

And if she tried some superficial, over-the-top begging for her life…… that would be annoying in its own way.

There are beings in this world who are better off not given the right to speak.

At least, that’s how I see it.

I meet the glare in Vysis’s eyes head-on.

With utterly emotionless eyes.

————-Just like hers, for example.

Then I cross my legs and let my gaze wander up toward the ceiling.

[…………Can’t accept it huh.]

[?]

[That you were so blind you tossed a brat into the Disposal Ruins by mistake———- and ended up getting utterly, completely defeated by him.]

[ ! ]

[You strutted around calling yourself a goddess, but you suffered total defeat at the hands of a mere human you’d looked down on…… If you admitted how ridiculous that makes you, you’d certainly be nothing but a pathetic loser.]

[————-, ………………..]

Hff, hff——–

Vysis’s breath flares through her nose.

With veins bulging, eyes twisted with rising killing intent, she glares at me.

I lift my chin slightly and stare back with the same dull lack of emotion.

[Your biggest mistake was this…… You underestimated the sheer number and weight of the grudges, the hatred you’ve been accumulating. People always say it, don’t they———– “The past can’t be erased”. You can forget it, sure, but the past itself doesn’t vanish. Everything you conveniently believed you’d erased…… all of it was still there.]

Sitting in the chair, I spread my legs, lean forward, and point at my own throat.

[The grudges that want———— to tear out the throat of the world’s most idiotic goddess, who was sitting there smiling like an idiot.]

[~~~~~~~~~~~~]

Vysis thrashes.

This is one of my aims.

Provoked and losing control, she seems to be trying to break free of her restraints———-

[……………………]

But it doesn’t look like they’ll break.

Maybe thanks to my Abnormal State Skills.

So…… she has become this weakened……

She doesn’t even have the strength left to break those restraints.

I can assume that much.

Her pained reactions also show that <Poison> is still in effect.

And the secondary damage from <Paralyze> is continuing as well.

If———- she broke free and attacked us……

I’d already exchanged glances with Itsuki earlier and had her prepare.

Itsuki has already spoken the skill name.

That means she’s wrapped in lightning, ready for combat.

At any moment, she could strike Vysis with her lightning.

Or scoop me up and evacuate the room immediately.

She could bring me to Seras.

Takao Itsuki’s Skills work well for retreat too.

Her ultimate skill is combat-focused, but her others are strong in speed.

Incidentally, Pigimaru, who took heavy damage, is resting in another room.

So for now, I can only rely on Itsuki as my partner.

“She has excellent combat instincts. Far sharper than mine.”

That’s how Hijiri evaluated Itsuki.

So for now———– I’ll trust the instincts Hijiri praised.

……Or so I thought.

Observing Vysis again———-

At this rate…… neither combat nor retreat may be necessary.

[I’ll say it again.]

[ ? ]

[How pathetic.]

[……………………]

Itsuki loosens her crossed arms as she leans against the wall.

[…………You’re quite the mean one, Mimori.]

She sounds a bit taken aback.

Well———- because it works.

If she’d ignored me, I would’ve wrapped this up quickly.

Keeping my eyes on Vysis, I speak to Itsuki.

[I don’t recall ever trying to convince you I’m a nice person.]

Itsuki sighs.

[……That’s a good personality to have, Mimori Touka.]

———Even as she says that.

I sense no malice or disgust from her.

Earlier, when I chatted with Itsuki, I heard that the Takao household is rather unusual.

Her mother’s maiden name———- her former surname is apparently very eccentric.

Judging by what she said, the sisters didn’t grow up in some spotless, sheltered world.

And so, I add:

[Even if I’m unpleasant, I’m nowhere near as rotten as this sh*tty goddess.]

Vysis reacts.

[…………..]

Without even smiling, I look down at her and say:

[Quite a shame, isn’t it, Vysis?]

[……………………]

[You broke free of all sorts of restrictions from Heaven and planned to do whatever you wanted, right? But everything you spent ages building up…… crumbled instantly. All of it ended in total futility. Well, good work out there———– doing all that wasted effort, I mean. Ah, maybe the phrase “wasted effort” exists just for your sake.]

[ ! ]

[Hmph.]

I stand up.

[———This kind of thing…… It’s something you’ve been doing all along, right? Mocking and insulting anyone who displeased you, over and over. So…… how does it feel? Being looked down on and hit with the same words you used to spit at others? If you even felt a tiny bit of what felt like being on the receiving end, that’d be interesting. But I wonder…… could a piece of trash like you ever truly feel remorse? Could that miracle ever happen?]

Well———- there’s no way she’s got such a humble spirit.

We’re talking about that Vysis after all.

Just like me…… at her core, she’s not someone you can save.

I crouch down and look down at Vysis.

[Those eyes.]

I say it.

[They’re the eyes of a loser.]

Maybe it was the humiliation boiling up inside her in an instant.

Vysis’s eyes widened, and she let out a violent groan.

Because she moved too much, the side effects of <Paralyze> made her bleed.

Beside me, Itsuki is still on standby, ready to move at any moment.

[……………………]

I’d deliberately given her chances several times.

Openings, just subtle enough not to be obvious.

If Vysis planned to counterattack, I made sure there were moments she’d see such openings.

But Vysis shows no sign of breaking free or attempting a surprise attack.

Even though I created the perfect “openings” for her……

She doesn’t strike.

……A far cry from how she fought earlier——— weak, timid.

So, can I take it that this isn’t just an act?

I spoke.

[You’ve got sick hobbies, you know that?]

I place one hand on my knee and stand, then walk.

At the prison door, I picked up the sword propped against it.

The ancient Magic Sword Eve used in the recent battle.

She said it grows stronger and sharper when magic power flows through it.

I channel magic power into the sword.

The faint edge glows pale blue.

Still holding the sword, I circle around to Vysis’s side.

She tilts her head to look up at me.

She clearly understands, more or less, what’s coming.

[I don’t know how many you hurt directly…… but indirectly…… you tortured and killed way too many people just because you didn’t like them.]

———Psh.

I drive the sword into her from behind, piercing straight into her heart.

[ ! …… Fuhh, gghhkk!?]

[——–It goes in huh.]

This sword……

[Maybe it wouldn’t have pierced you during the fight earlier…… but now it goes clean through. Proof that you’re good and weakened.]

[Mhhghkk……!?]

Not turning in Itsuki’s direction, I speak.

[Itsuki.]

[Hm?]

[If you don’t want to see any of this, close your eyes. I’ll signal you if needed.]

Plus, I have my own Abnormal State Skills.

Sure, I might not match Itsuki’s raw speed.

But I trust my foresight and reflexes.

There’s also my status corrections.

[……I mean, I’m fine, really.]

[You’re really fine with this?]

I’m not asking for reassurance.

It means: So what they said earlier wasn’t just talk huh.

I remember what Takao Itsuki said about her mother’s side of the family. That “special nature” of theirs.

It sounded like they’re somewhat close to the “violent side” of the world.

They aren’t something one can call a yakuza……

But well, to use a cliché term…… they’re part of the “underworld”.

In that case———- it makes sense.

How the sisters moved in class, I mean———– especially Takao Hijiri.

How she could stay unnervingly calm and competent even in a world like this.

……Kirihara, who absolutely wasn’t calm, is another story.

But that only makes one person even harder to explain: Ikusaba Asagi.

In some ways, she’s even more abnormal than the Takao sisters.

Maybe Asagi’s family has some strange background too?

At my earlier words, Itsuki answers:

[Yeah, I’m fine. It’s not exactly pleasant to watch, but whatever.]

But at the same time, Itsuki does have normal sensibilities.

Of course, she does.

A scene like this shouldn’t be pleasant for anyone.

Digging the sword into Vysis’s heart, I apologize.

[……Sorry.]

[You don’t want Seras to see this kind of stuff, right?]

[Yeah. It’s childish, I know.]

Somehow……

I don’t want Seras to see this.

Yeah…… it’s a ridiculous selfish desire.

It’s okay for Itsuki to see, but not Seras.

Pretending it’s “for Seras”———– when really, it’s for my own sake.

I don’t want her to see me like this.

Pretty arrogant, honestly.

I think that about myself.

A pathetic kind of thought.

[……………………]

……Well, now’s not the time to wallow in self-pity.

There’s something I need to do.

I pull the sword out.

Itsuki continues our earlier topic.

[I mean, it’s not like Seras would feel good watching this, so…… you’re probably right…… Honestly, that just sounds like your own kind of consideration, Mimori.]

[……You trying to comfort me? If so, thanks.]

[…………What worries me more is———]

Then I———-

Drive the sword through the back of Vysis’s skull, all the way out through her left eye.

[Mghhh!? Nngh!? Gguuuuuuuggghhh———–!?]

The sword still pierces cleanly, and she clearly feels pain.

Probably because my Abnormal State Skills have weakened her this much.

To prevent her from using her clone ability, I avoid severing anything.

Loqierra said they’d check for that.

Apparently, that Thesis-sama can detect if she’s split or not.

Well…… even doing just this much is more than enough to make her suffer.

[Not being able to die easily…… turns out that’s a lot harsher than I thought.]

Back in my original world, I’d read stories where immortals appeared.

Sometimes immortals had regenerative powers, bodies that simply refused to die.

Either way———– death didn’t come easily.

No…… depending on the situation……

They couldn’t die easily.

Immortality.

Their greatest advantage, and their greatest curse.

And if the gods were similar to those immortals……

Then depending on the circumstances, that trait could very well be a living nightmare.

[……The Disposal Ruins I was dropped into…… there were piles of bones there. Probably other discarded ones like me. Judging by the state of things, the golden-eyes in that ruin must have toyed with them to their heart’s content and eventually killed them…… There were plenty of signs making that obvious. Some of them were still being toyed with even after death. And as for that Soul Eater…… I bet it kept tormenting its victims’ souls for fun, long after they died.]

I ground the sword deeper into Vysis’ skull.

Vysis’s body jolted, twitching violently.

A muffled groan escaped the goddess’ throat, her voice warped by pain.

[The things that “Heroic Sword” you used did to the Speed Tribe…… the Sixth Cavalry did the same to the Dragon War Army of the Faraway Country…… And I’m sure there are countless other atrocities I’ve never even heard of. You…… You tortured so many people, directly and indirectly, playing with them until they died…… Quite the sick hobby you have, you disgusting freak.]

Normally, there was no reason for those people to suffer something like that.

“Being played to death”.

Compared to simply killing someone———- it was hundreds of times more vicious.

Just like the way my own parents once tried to do to me, when I was a child.

I twisted the sword buried in her head…… now in the opposite direction.

From within the restraints, Vysis let out a pained, cramped shriek.

[……Come to think of it. You were about to say something earlier, Itsuki.]

She’d said something like “What I’m more concerned about is……”

[Hm? Ah, well…… I mean, I’m not really the one who should be saying this, but……]

[Don’t hold back. Just say it.]

[It’s just that, Mimori———]

Itsuki spoke, still wrapped in crackling lightning, her tone neither confirming nor denying anything.

[You have…… way too little hesitation when it comes to doing “that”.]

[………………..Yeah.]

I answered as if nothing was wrong.

But after she said it——–

Inside, I froze for a moment.

Being confronted with it so plainly forced me to acknowledge it again, more sharply than ever.

[A, it’s not that I’m blaming you or anything, okay? Mimori can switch modes just fine, so it’s not like you’re out of control or———-]

[No…… you’re right.]

Quite the abnormal one———— Touka Mimori is.

He was already abnormal.

Right from the start.

He just hid it——— just forgot about it.

And faced with extreme conditions, he merely remembered who he really was.

He was always this kind of person.

Even before being summoned into this world.

I thought I was aware of it……

But the way I don’t hesitate now, hearing it pointed out made it hit home.

Well…… it’s probably exactly why I managed to survive in this world at all.

[Don’t worry, Vysis.]

[…………..?]

It’s the same story as what the mistress in the White Coin told me.

[After you’re erased, I’ll eventually “fall” to the same place you will…… For born piece of trash like us, there’s only one final destination.]

In a way, we sure are alike.

Yeah…… it fits.

And that’s exactly why I could trace what Vysis was thinking so easily.

Why preparing for the final battle, predicting her moves, countering her, all of that came naturally.

Because we’re the same.

At the root.

This was just like when I’m with my real parents.

[……There’s no helping what we are.]

If a single button had been fastened wrong.

I could have ended up on her side just as easily.

If I’d never met my uncle and my aunt……

That thought scares me a little.

[On this journey of revenge, I’ve killed a lot of people for my own reasons…… Someone out there might try to take revenge on me for that. And I’m not planning to stop them, but I’m not going to accept it easily either. I killed people because I believed they needed to be killed. According to my reasoning. And well, Vysis…… according to your reasoning, maybe you also believed people deserved to be tortured and killed, right? So in the end, mutual understanding is impossible———– between people like us.]

On the other hand……

My uncle and aunt.

Eve, Liz.

Erika.

Guys like Sogou.

———Seras.

And many more.

Those with goodness in them can understand each other.

They can talk things out and build a proper world.

They can search for a middle ground.

They’re the ones the world actually needs.

……But the world I came from, and this one too, both feel like places where the good are constantly devoured and worn down.

But even so——— Those people are supposed to be the ones who keep the world running.

People like us aren’t.

We can only clash endlessly, killing each other according to our own convictions, forever.

We keep fighting until the other is completely powerless.

Keep going until one side gives up.

And at worst———— until the other side is wiped out entirely.

We have no choice but to force our selfishness through.

That hopeless ego of ours.

[If only the ones “on our side” could just kill each other off little by little…… that might be ideal. But somehow…… it’s always the good ones who get dragged into “our” mess.]

And sometimes, they’re the only ones who end up breaking.

The only ones who end up damaged.

[I guess I should’ve just killed myself early on…… but if trash like us kills each other off instead———– maybe we can protect at least a few decent people. Sometimes…… good people just don’t know how to protect themselves.]

So at the very least———

The people I want to protect,

The people whose pain reaches me,

Those within arm’s reach———

I want to shield them.

Maybe I can keep them from being harmed.

And when I think that——— I move.

Following my own selfishness, stretching out my hand, no matter how filthy it becomes.

Poison to fight poison.

All so I can force through my “selfishness”.

[……In the end……]

No matter how much I ramble, no matter how many reasons I dress it up with.

My “selfishness” boils down to one thing———-

Whether I can accept it. That’s all.

I just live however I want, exactly as I see fit.

Right before I was discarded, I had the mask torn off for real.

So now……

This is the only way I know how to live.

And……

[Mimori.]

Itsuki called out to me.

[Hm?]

[You’re talking way too badly about yourself.]

I blinked, a bit surprised.

[……Maybe that’s because of my real parents.]

[Your parents?]

[Maybe I’m trying to deny it…… the part of me that has their blood.]

[Yeah, but what about Seras-san———–]

[……Yeah.]

I cut her off, anticipating the rest.

[If I talk too badly about myself…… I feel like I’m insulting Seras too———- the person who likes me. Just like you were about to say.]

Or maybe……

I’d be insulting my uncle and my aunt who believed in me too.

I switched my tone.

[That’s why, see? I never stuff like this in front of Seras.]

[Wait, so it’s fine if it’s me……]

Despite her words, Itsuki was smiling a little.

[Heck, Elder Sis thinks really highly of you, you know? Especially for a guy. She almost never compliments men like that.]

……Where did that come from?

[What are you trying to say?]

[I’m saying Elder Sis wouldn’t praise some worthless piece of trash.]

Ah, so that’s what she meant.

Or rather……

[You really judge everything by Hijiri’s standards huh……]

Itsuki thrust her thumb up firmly.

[Of course I do!]

She answered with a bright, beaming smile.

……No kidding, there’s no room to even question that.

Her “I love my sister” trait is 100% genuine.

I checked the time.

……Looks like it’s almost time for Seras to wake up.

Itsuki, still crackling with lightning, crossed her arms again.

Then———–

With eyes so cold they could freeze, eyes she’d hardly ever shown before, she looked down at Vysis.

[But…… Vysis is seriously a bad guy. This guy even tried to kill my precious sister.]

Itsuki grinned slyly.

[Make her suffer until the very last second———- I allow it.]

[…………………]

She wore that triumphant “I’ve decided” face, but it was…… light.

Something about her energy, her attitude……

[……Technically, she’s still under <Poison>.]

Itsuki tilted her head, a question mark floating above her, as if unsure.

[Eh? What do you mean? Is this…… something important?]

Her face, still wrapped in crackling lightning, somehow made the scene feel surreal.

[No…… it’s nothing.]

Sort of.

I wanted to say that the poison would be neutralized.

[……………….]

Maybe…… if it were Hijiri, she might’ve understood immediately.

▽

Before long———– word reached me that the Deity, Thesis, had arrived.

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