kscans

Chapter 67 - The Last Forest and the Little Person

‘Where am I.....?’

When she came to, Chihiro was in a pitch-black space.

A strange space where she could not tell up from down. The faint sound of a wailing wind echoed around her.

Even so, there seemed to be a direction of movement. Whether she was falling or advancing, she could not tell, but Kobito-san's body was floating gently.

As Kobito-san drifted, carried by inertia, something sparkling came into her view.

A silver web, vivid even from a distance.

From it, she now heard a faint voice. A warm tone, like singing, like laughing. Drawn by the cheerful sound, Kobito-san was pulled toward the silver gleam.

Landing with a soft pofun on the web, it undulated greatly. Noticing the movement, something turned to look at Chihiro all at once.

There were two humans and a large spider with eight eyes.

《You....? How did you get here?》

The spider, who was clearly flustered, was Joker. Perhaps not its physical body, its slightly glowing, rustling hair was trembling minutely. Beside it were a woman with magnificent blonde hair and a child. Chihiro recognized them as well.

‘Consort Habirush..... and, Fatimah? Could it be?!’

Before her were a woman she knew and a girl who looked exactly like her. The only difference was probably the color of their eyes.

‘Joker, what is this place?’

As Chihiro panicked, the spider in question answered with a look of exasperation.

‘This is the Abyss. The domain of the gods where all worlds connect. Why are you here? Surely you haven't died, have you?’

She learned that this was a bottomless darkness where unwanted things were disposed of. As these things combined, they sometimes gave birth to monstrous abominations, so the gods of each world placed prisoners here as guardians.

‘Oh, I see. You're a prisoner in a sense, too, Joker.’

《Well, yes. Besides, it is my job to spin a web in the Abyss to save souls from the world's collapse.》

Joker was the Misaki of a great spider from the Cthulhu Mythos of a certain story. The Misaki who was imprisoned in the Abyss with Tsathoggua. Not a god of an existing faith, but a god appearing in a work of fiction.

However, there is no proof that gods truly exist, and broadly speaking, most existing religions and faiths could be called works of fiction. Among them, it would not be strange for these beings, who exist as stories, to become objects of faith and take on physical form.

Atlach-Nacha. That was her name on Earth.

When her web was completed, the world would end. Perhaps it was because the world was ending that she spun her web in the Abyss.

Which came first, the chicken or the egg.

There were various theories, but the fact that her web was complete in this way meant that the world's destruction was unavoidable.

As Chihiro stared blankly at the silver web, Joker approached her.

《This is a space where the dead and departed dwell. Why have you fallen here?》

‘I don't know. When I came to, I was here.’

She remembered meeting Cyril at the Marquis's residence. What happened after that?

Thinking that far, Chihiro's head snapped up to look at Habirush and the others.

‘Did something happen to Consort Habirush, too?’

Sensing what the little girl was trying to say, Joker shook its head slightly.

《No. For some reason, this person seems to dwell between dream and reality. When her consciousness in the real world is severed, she seems to wander in here.》

So she's not dead then.

Letting out a huge sigh, Chihiro felt a wave of relief. Fatimah must have been judged as deceased. It was a really good thing that her web was complete.

As the little girl's mind raced, Habirush tilted her head.

‘Who might you be? Do you know me?’

At the timidly spoken words, Chihiro blinked her eyes.

Huh? She doesn't recognize me? We met at the banquet, didn't we?

Joker must have sensed her question. It was chuckling as if finding it amusing.

《I told you, didn't I? This is the domain of the gods. Your mortal vessel does not matter here. Right now, you are a young woman with black hair and black eyes.》

At those words, Chihiro checked her own appearance.

Grabbing her hair, she found it was jet black and rather coarse. And the fingers that gripped it were long, not those of a little girl. In this domain, her appearance from her previous life was reflected.

Surprised and speechless, Chihiro was questioned by the spider again about the course of events.

《I see. And you lost consciousness. Something may have been used on you at that time.》

‘Does that mean the me in the mortal world is dead?’

As Chihiro clung to it with a pathetic look, Joker glanced over at Consort Habirush.

《No.... I sense the same scent from you as I do from this person. It may be that you came here through some divine intervention.》

Hearing that, Chihiro also stared intently at Consort Habirush.

According to Romel, she had an intellectual disability, was always in a dreamlike state, and did nothing but nonsensical things. She had thought that perhaps this mental ambiguity was what caused her to wander into this domain.

She and I have the same scent?

What could that mean.

Joker watched quietly as Chihiro pondered.

Will she realize it? That this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

The unwritten law of the gods also applied to Misaki. They could convey the will of the gods, but they could not give advice concerning the reason of the world. Unaware of the eight eyes staring at her, Chihiro tilted her head and looked at Fatimah.

Suddenly, a high-pitched sound rang out in what should have been the void of the Abyss. A clear, beautiful tone, as if striking glass. Distracted by it, Chihiro noticed that her own left hand was glowing. And that Fatimah's right hand was glowing as well.

Ah, ahhh, I see!

‘Fatimah, I'd like to borrow that right hand for a bit, is that okay?’

Fatimah, who was being held by Consort Habirush, smiled and held out her right hand.

‘Hiro, I’m fine. I’m not hungry. It’s warm here. Fatimah is okay. Is Hiro okay too?’

The innocent words of a child. With those words, the memory of her death in the royal palace flooded back into Chihiro's mind.

Ah, that's right. At that time, Fatimah was starving, thirsty, and disappeared while being crushed by loneliness.

That must have left a strong impression on her.

It's warm here, she says. Back then, hunger made it feel so cold.

And Fatimah knew that the person before her was Chihiro. That they were souls that had been together.

Placing her left hand on the offered right hand of Fatimah, Chihiro's face twisted with sorrow.

‘I'm sorry I couldn't save you. I'm really, really sorry.’

Then, a light erupted from their joined palms, enveloping them both. An overflowing light spilled out and dissipated, leaving behind a single little girl.

Before Joker stood an adorable child with black hair and golden eyes. Golden magical power surged from her small hands.

《Good grief. Now I'll be free from babysitting.》

Was it just her imagination that she sensed a hint of loneliness in its blunt murmur?

‘What happened? Where's Fatimah?’

As Kobito-san frantically looked around, Joker poked her in the chest and grinned.

《Right here. That child has returned inside you. Take her back with you.》

Chihiro pressed a hand to her chest and listened to its warm heartbeat.

Returned? Really?

《Hmm. I see. You are not dead. It seems your ego has temporarily disappeared due to an overdose of the drug. The regenerative power of the god's left hand is maintaining your body.》

A small spider on Joker's head was waving its legs frantically, conveying something.

《Now that you have obtained the devil's right hand, you should be able to counteract the drug's effects. Return to your body quickly.》

With that, Joker wrapped Chihiro's body in thread and swung her around with all its might.

‘Heeh? Wah wah wah!’

Carried by the centrifugal force, Chihiro's body was thrown high into the air. The giant spider cut the thread and watched Chihiro fly away.

《You'll automatically return to your body once you leave the edge of the Abyss. Be careful.》

Even though this is a mental domain, the way back is physical?!

Watching the little girl become a twinkling star, Joker looked at Consort Habirush. The beautiful woman looked melancholy at the sense of loss in her arms where Fatimah had been, even if she did not understand what had happened.

You probably won't be coming here anymore in the near future either.

The prisoner imprisoned in the void of the Abyss, Atlach-Nacha. She was truly grateful to the two visitors who had, even for a moment, soothed her immense loneliness.

May a happy future visit them.

The sun must have risen. Habirush's form blurred vaguely, and the next moment, she dissipated, leaving behind only a faint breeze.

To visit the Abyss, the domain of the gods, was something that should have been impossible.

Some god's will was at work.

Lying on the silver web that glittered in the pitch-black space, Joker sank into a sea of thought.

The endless accumulation of knowledge, the polishing of it.

Along with the gods who live for eternity, she too continued to watch over the world. Hoping to be of some help, Joker mobilized all her knowledge, searching for a thin, wavering thread of a chance to avoid destruction.

But she did not know.

That the unconsciously strongest little person had already grasped that thread.

True greed saves the world.

The little person who wanted everything to go her way, more greedy than anyone else.

I want to eat delicious food. I want to be happy with everyone. I want to live each day happily.

She will not give up on any of it.

Soaring through the empty void, Kobito-san goes her own way today.