kscans

Chapter 166 - The Hourglass of Life and the Little One, Part Four

"To be honest, the question is how we visit the Abyss Dark Spirit King," I said.

That was right. Only souls could visit the Abyss.

The Little One had fallen as far as Joker’s web in the past. That time she had come from the Celestial Realm, so it might have been a special case. Before that, she had visited as a soul alone.

.....Hm?

Come to think of it, what had Joker said when she first visited the Abyss?

‘You smell the same as me.’

"Ah....."

I see. I understood now. The "same smell" was the scent of the same drug.

The drug from Cyril that had put the Little One, back when she was Fatima, into a coma.

It was likely the same reason Consort Habilus frequently visited the Abyss. But that drug could no longer be made. I had heard that because Cesare altered the properties of the medicinal herbs, the drug’s effects wore off for Consort Habilus, and she had returned to her senses. Even if we could use it, the others would never stay silent. Dorfen in particular had developed a massive trauma from that drug. If he ever found out it was being used, he might even take his own life.

We have no choice but to take a different approach.

The group watched silently as the Little One engaged in a quiet monologue.

In the end, they had no choice but to rely on her. All those around her could do was help make the path she walked a little smoother. Burning with impatience, Dorfen clenched his fists tightly. Glancing at Dorfen’s faintly trembling fists, Katsumi also racked his brain. Although he could now use the magic he had always dreamed of, Katsumi could only use mundane, everyday spells. He had been thrilled at first, but now, traveling with Chihiro, he could weep at how pathetic he felt. Everyone had their strengths and weaknesses. Well aware that he was more of a scholar than a man of violence, Katsumi had placed his hopes in magic, but that dream, too, was shattered. That left intellectual labor as his only remaining option.

He had heard the general story from the Little One. Could he come up with something from that? The Abyss, a place only souls could go. Befitting a place that governs death. And Joker’s spiritual avatar had a web stretched out there, was that right?

Apparently, it had shrunk for a time, but after Hyrulia’s foster brothers fell in, it had been re-spun, larger than before.

.....Hm?

As Katsumi organized the information he had heard, he noticed something. With a tense expression, he stared at the Little One’s hands. There, though almost fully healed, were faint, rose-colored lines.

Swallowing hard, gokuri, Katsumi’s lips trembled.

"Hey..... there’s a place that connects to the Abyss, right? Here in Arcadia."

Everyone turned reflexively, noticed what Katsumi was looking at, and their faces froze.

"You bastard! Are you trying to kill Chihiro-sama?!"

Dorfen roared, enraged. His agitation was so great I almost wanted to praise him for not putting his hand on his sword. Katsumi raised a hand to stop him and laughed fiercely.

His eyes shone like a bird of prey sighting its quarry. Seeing the sharp glint flash in his eyes, Dorfen’s skin broke out in goosebumps. Where had this gentle-looking man been hiding such madness? It was a deep killing intent that made even Dorfen, a seasoned warrior, flinch.

"I’ll be the one to go. Yeah, that’s right. It was my problem to begin with. I’m glad there’s a route I can take in the flesh."

The Little One’s willow-leaf brows shot up at Katsumi, who was chuckling with a low, kuk kuku kuku.

"If we’re going, we’re going together. We’re in this together, right?"

"I don’t need you to. The others wouldn’t allow it, and I’m more comfortable on my own."

He understood perfectly well.

Eyes can be more eloquent than words.

Dorfen’s gaze, for once, affirmed Katsumi’s reasoning.

Ah, good. I can avoid getting Chihiro involved. What was I worried about, this was easy.

Filled with a terrifying sense of relief, the strength drained from Katsumi’s entire body. He, too, had heard the stories of the deep fissure that had split the land. And that it was related to the Dark Spirit King. What a stroke of luck.

Then, suddenly, Katsumi’s eyes widened.

.....Luck?

Was it really luck? Was it just a coincidence?

Seeing Katsumi knit his brows in thought, the Little One sensed he would reach the same conclusion as her.

That’s right. Doubt it. Doubt how strange everything is.

It was probably a coincidence up to the point where the gods asked her to create the Golden Ring in the borderlands. And that she had trained herself and her country using every means possible to achieve it.

But things got strange after that.

Cesare woke up, regained his memories, and grew powerful. Around that time, the Little One had begun to sense some kind of will at play. That question was answered at the Table of the Gods by Sapphard and the four great Spirit Kings.

The Higher Beings were maneuvering in the shadows.

And now, she was sensing a different will.

All the events up until now had been tied together, ultimately creating a situation where the Little One had no choice but to act. Someone was guiding the Little One to the Dark Spirit King. Going so far as to connect the mortal world to the Abyss. The fissure that split Frontier. The story had probably changed from that point on.

And then there was Soleil.

Meeting that turtle had sealed the future where the Little One would confront the Dark Spirit King. Half of the continent of Arcadia was Soleil’s body. There was no way that turtle hadn’t noticed the fissure in the land. In other words, Soleil had brought up the Dark Spirit King knowing full well what was happening. And knowing it was the only way. It was an ancient creature that had supported Arcadia since before even plants came into being. It might know something that people did not. No, perhaps it knew something that even the gods did not.

It was a beautiful rail, laid out as if everything had been prepared in advance. The Little One had finally noticed its existence.

With the Golden Ring completed, Frontier had established new principles of magic on the continent of Arcadia where magical power was reviving, and had begun to spread them among the people.

In the midst of this, the theater business was permeating society. Paper-story shows and puppet shows were already popular in every country, providing good entertainment.

"Are fairies really real?"

"The gods and angels are watching over us. I’ll do my best in my studies today, too."

"The flowers bloomed so beautifully. The spirits will be pleased."

As people became able to use magic, a respect for unseen beings began to blossom within them. The world of Arcadia, having definitively started to change, was facing a new turning point.

".....This is strange. I feel like we’re being guided by invisible strings."

His triumphant air from moments before was gone. Katsumi’s eyes trembled with anxiety. As expected of an earthling with modern knowledge. He had noticed the unsettling strangeness of it all.

"That’s why we’re going together. Knowing you, Katsumi, you probably thought about taking full responsibility, but things aren’t that simple."

Katsumi blushed, his intentions seen through.

If he went alone, in the worst-case scenario, only he would die. In fact, he had even felt a strange sense of relief that he could decide the time and place of his own death.

What kind of edgy teenager am I, how embarrassing.

Dorfen stared quizzically at Katsumi, who had buried his head in his hands. He didn’t understand the content of their conversation, but to Dorfen’s medieval way of thinking, Katsumi going alone seemed like the correct decision. That’s why he couldn’t fathom why Katsumi had withdrawn his opinion.

"This is Katsumi’s problem. Isn’t it right for him to go and resolve it himself?"

The Little One shook her head at Dorfen’s growling words.

"Katsumi is just bait. I don’t know who or what it is, but there’s a will that wants me to meet the Dark Spirit King."

Yes. If left alone, Katsumi would surely die. This was a scenario written by someone who knew the Little One couldn’t stand by and watch that happen. Katsumi was merely being used. They were dangling a spider’s thread before her nose, luring her in.

Whoever it was, they certainly drew a cruel picture story.

Fine. I’ll play along.

As the Little One’s lips twisted into a cruel smile, that someone was watching her.

‘Correct. This child is sharp, after all.’

《It’s useless. I... will not leave the Abyss, do you understand?》

In the lightless darkness, someone was muttering.

The large mass squirmed, flicking away the clinging, oozing sludge with displeasure.

‘Now, don’t be like that. We’re stuck in the same place, aren’t we? I’ll help you out a little. .....I’m bored, after all.’

Rolling its large eyes, gyorori, the speaker stroked the black mass. When had it been? When had the darkness of the Abyss that imprisoned it taken form and gained a will of its own? It didn’t know which of them had been there first. When it realized, they were nestled together, and they had been together ever since. The one with large eyes would lean against the mass and tell it all sorts of stories. The formation of stars, the principles of life, the lives of people. From idle chatter to specialized philosophy. It continued to speak as if singing a lullaby. Then, the darkness gathered into a mass and gained a will. It even reached the point of being able to converse.

《You are the one who gave knowledge to me, who had been vaguely drifting. I am grateful, but.....》

The increased knowledge caused all sorts of emotions to sprout within the black mass as well.

Joy, fun. Sadness, loneliness.

‘Sorry about that. I was bored, you see. But I’ll take responsibility, okay? The one who will set you free will be here soon.’

Stroking the black mass, he gazed suspiciously at the sky far above. His appearance was peculiar. A body like a giant pear with fur like a hedgehog’s. Most notable were the large eye that took up half of his head and the giant mouth split open in a sticky grin. His limbs were short, like mere decorations that served no purpose.

‘I wonder how Naqua is doing. I hope she’s not crying. I’ll go see her again.’

His name was Tsathoggua, a seeker of knowledge and a prisoner long confined to the Abyss. His deep and vast knowledge threatened even the gods and was met with caution from the Higher Beings, who isolated him from the mortal world. Because he himself was equal to a god and had obtained eternity, the Higher Beings could do nothing more than imprison him.

How much time had passed since then?

It was possible to peer into the world below even from the Abyss. Darkness exists everywhere. Using it as a medium, Tsathoggua and the mass of darkness watched the world. 《How cute. Humans are such lovable things.》

‘They are, aren’t they? They’re foolish too, but they’re more charming when they’re a bit clueless.’

The days passed uneventfully.

When was it that things changed?

《.....It was destroyed again.》

‘.....Yeah.’

Before their eyes, a star that had destroyed its own world was freezing over.

The dust from that star had destroyed even the stratosphere and spread into space. It was a place beyond the clouds. It was unlikely that it would ever disappear.

Just what kind of terrifying weapons are they making? Almost all of the planet’s volcanic veins have ruptured. Ignorance is scary, isn’t it.

A low, penetrating mutter reached the ears of the astounded Tsathoggua. 《Why must people perish? Why do they create things that bring about nothing but self-destruction?》

‘That’s the eternal mystery. For some reason, humanity finds pleasure in trampling others. It’s a feeling of ecstasy. It’s like a drug. Their instincts crave it.’

Yes. As if it were etched into their very DNA, humanity seeks strength. The ultimate expression of that is killing their own kind. Strength is the military power to overwhelm others, and they pour their blood and sweat into causing the greatest possible damage. This was akin to a disease. Some people contracted it, while others were completely unaffected. Tsathoggua found it interesting.

Hearing this explanation, the mass of darkness twisted its mouth into a wide, nitah grin.

《In other words, I just have to prevent it from manifesting, correct?》

‘Hmm?’

From here, the machinations of the dark creature that had established its ego began.

The darkness, having gained power through knowledge, took on a self and reigned in the Abyss as a Spirit King. Its vaguely drifting consciousness awakened, and newly born darknesses followed it as kin.

The darkness that gives birth to darkness.

Tsathoggua observed this with great interest.

‘My, oh my, the wonders never cease, nope.’

The Dark Spirit King, having gained power, began to interfere with the principles of the world. Whispering sweetly to humans, the Dark Spirit King kept them in a state of sloth and depravity so they wouldn’t do anything foolish. With their food, clothing, and shelter satisfied, humanity, indulging in indolence, stopped thinking and simply reveled in a peaceful life. They performed only the bare minimum of daily activities and then slept listlessly, like giant babies.

《How lovely. It would be good if they stayed as babies forever.》

Tsathoggua diligently observed the satisfied Dark Spirit King.

So twisted it's scary. What do you call this again? A yandere?

The Dark Spirit King, believing that withholding knowledge and preventing civilization from developing was the vaccine to keep humanity from extinction, extended its tentacles to other worlds one after another.

Where there is light, there is darkness.

There was no way to resist the rampage of the darkness that exists in every world, and the gods were helpless. Light and dark are two sides of the same coin. Even the Higher Beings could not stop the Dark Spirit King. If they were to erase the darkness, the gods, its counterpart, would also disappear.

The gods lamented, their worlds stolen from them.

The Higher Beings, too, could do nothing but glare hatefully at the Abyss day after day.

How many hundreds of millions of years ago was it that a single ray of light shone through?

Visitors from another star arrived in Arcadia. They adapted to the world of Arcadia and became its foundation.

They were creatures who had been O-saki in other worlds.

Now, they have become monsters and play a part in the world of Arcadia.

.....This is it.

The Higher Beings had a flash of inspiration.

It was not necessary for the Dark Spirit King to rule the Abyss. They could simply grant eternity to someone else and make them a substitute. They could purify the kin of the Dark Spirit King infesting the Abyss with light and fill it with new darkness.

From here, the hardships of Cesare and Sapphard began.

The Higher Beings and the Dark Spirit King, at their core, were the same. They only wanted to protect those they loved. Even if it meant destroying and trampling over everything else.

And there was one human who was remarkably similar to these beings.

"What a pain. All I need is for Hero to be by my side, and that’s enough for me."

Poking at a letter with his fingertip, Chihaya let out an exaggerated sigh. He could just leave it be, but if something were to happen to the sender, his sister would be sad.

Hero is kind, after all. Then I might be resented. I don’t want that.

Seeing Chihaya pondering what to do, everyone misunderstood, thinking he was worried about the other party. Chihaya’s mind was filled with nothing but the Little One. In a sense, it was because of the Little One that Chihaya was able to make judgments as a normal human being.

A way to refuse without making Hero sad. Maybe I should consult Romel.

Romel, who had gone to the southern seas with him, probably didn’t know about this matter yet.

With that thought, Chihaya said he was going to consult Romel, then grabbed onto Tarō-kun and flew off to the royal palace.

The Little One was unaware that her brother had been fallen to the dark side ever since he could remember. A fortunate Chihaya-kun, whose dark-side-specific brokenness was held in check by his beloved little sister acting as a stopper, allowing him to unconsciously restrain himself.

His emotions gloriously absent, this over-the-top sis-con big brother, not to be outdone by his sister, always marches to the beat of his own drum.♪