Vol 11 Chapter 43 (2/2)
”Yes, it's been the case fro Henceforth—probably until death—This will never change”
Although I could not explain the reason properly, I still asserted with confidence
”In your heart, Nii-san, I am the one you hold dearest”
Astounded, Mitsuki whispered The fla in the sky added all shades of color to the side of Mitsuki's face
”Dearest Dearest Really? Why? Eh, I know the reason”
I waited for Mitsuki to calely
”Reason Reason Is there, a reason?”
Next, Mitsuki's eyes lost focus Her face blank, she began to murmur intermittently
”Hey, Mitsuki?”
Although I questioned, Mitsuki continued to speak as though in a dream
”I know definitely now—but where as it”
”Mitsuki!”
I grabbed her shoulders and called her name loudly Startled, Mitsuki looked up at
”Oh—”
A tear streamed down from Mitsuki's eye while her body froze
”Yes—I see now That day, Vritra Why would I forget? —!”
Her expression gone tense, Mitsuki shook off my hands forcefully
She took a few steps back as though escaping then placed her hand on the back of neck, the location of her dragon mark
”Mitsuki? Are you having a fever again?”
Unable to understand the situation, I leaned towards Mitsuki who seereat pain However, Mitsuki called out harshly to stop me
”Please stay back!”
”Stay back—Why?”
Stopped by Mitsuki's fierce vigor, I asked in my confusion
”I To Nii-san, I am actually just someone completely worthless”
With abject despair surfacing on her face, Mitsuki answered me in a whisper
”What are you talking about? Didn't I tell you? You are the one dearest to me, Mitsuki!”
”These feelings—are false Because!?”
Mitsuki asserted firmly then suddenly moaned in pain and collapsed on the beach
Seeing that her right hand, which had left her neck in order to support herself, turning black in color, I took a deep breath
”Mitsuki!”
About to rush to Mitsuki straight away, I was stopped again
”Do not touch that girl!”
Standing on the breakwater, Vritra appeared in my view as I looked back in surprise
Vritra jumped down to the beach from the breakwater directly and approached me with a solemn expression
”Although Neun's authority remains hitherto unclear, 'tis evident it is insufficient to suppress the ninth dragon completely”
”Vritra? What are you talking about—”
”Dost thou not know? Nay, it should not be so Thou art the one who had sealed the ninth calairl's body—Thou must have encountered this 'darkness' before”
Pointing at the dark substance taking over Mitsuki's right hand, Vritra pointed out sharply
Darkness The deep darkness devouring Mitsuki—
A chill ran along my spine
This was my most painful memory
Along the way to a caht in a traffic accident
I suddenly could not see anything Neither did I knohere I was Inside darkness, I desperately searched for Mitsuki's whereabouts
”See—This darkness will devour everything, spreading and expanding Thou shalt encounter danger if thou wert to touch it recklessly After all, that girl is probably Neun like thee now”
Just as Vritra pointed out, the darkness spilling out fro to spread to the beach
Invaded by the darkness, the sand lost its texture, producing an illusion that it had become a bottomless pit
”I have seen this darkness previously 'Tis likely shareth the same nature as the seventh calamity that had destroyed the world in the past Kiskanu called these fragments of hell—'end matter'”
”End matter?”
I repeated those words hoarsely and Vritra took a deep nod
”'Tis so diametrically opposed to dark matter which embodies all possibility That hat Kiskanu said”
”What will happen to Mitsuki at this rate?”
Still unable to fully understand Vritra, I asked the question that concerned me most
”She will be devoured by the spreading darkness, rendered unrecognizable In other words, she will disappear”
The instant I heard that, I sprang into action without hesitation
I ran towards Mitsuki, who had collapsed in pain, and held her in my arms
Mitsuki's body was giving off heat The dragonblue
”N-Nii-san?”
With a feeble expression, Mitsuki looked at me
”Don't worry, I'm here”
I firh Vritra frantically called o
The darkness began spreading to htly with reckless abandon
I did not care even if this darkness would devour me
After the traffic accident, I had woken up in darkness I could see neither h I reached out and touched Mitsuki's hand, in my state of extreme exhaustion, I did not know if she was still alive
As a result, I started to iined Mitsuki as she was normally Inside the darkness, I recalledall I could to trace out that unforgettable ie of Mitsuki with a lively smile
Then after I did that, a beaht streamed in and I—
”!?”
The dragon mark on my left hand suddenly heated up
As though responding to Mitsuki's dragon ht flooded out froht forced me to close my eyes
”This is”
At the same time, I heard Vritra's surprised voice
Opening htly to check the situation, I discovered that the darkness invading ht
Mitsuki's face, distorted by pain, was gradually relaxing As the darkness disappeared, the light froon mark also subsided
Having lost consciousness, Mitsuki rested against me limply
Although I did not understand what had happened, I was relieved that a crisis had been averted However, Vritra called out to me sharply
”'Tis not over yet! Beware of the sand!”
I instantly looked down The darkness that had spread to the beach was shrinking into so like a pond
”!?”
Seeing bubbles appear on its surface, I held Mitsuki in my arms and hastily jumped back
The darkness on the beach turned intensely turbulent It looked like so out of the pit of darkness—This pure blackness, even darker than the night sky after the sun had set, extended towards the sky where even the fireworks could not illuminate It split into two and coalesced into humanoid forms
Standing before ly clear outlines
Hence, I was able to see Despite the black color painted all over, I could still
One of them was a well-builthair
Tied with a big ribbon, the wo hair draped down to her waist
”No way—”
The shadow displaying these traits stimulated my memories
Right I know I began to remember
Adults norreat on that person Mitsuki used to tie her hair using a small ribbon of the same style—
Then those shadows over there were the two people I knew very well, who used to play with me all the time—
”Auntie Misaki and Uncle Kazuki Is it you?”
Those were the names of Mitsuki's parents
The two I loved, who had lost their lives in that traffic accident—
”——”
However, the two shadows did not speak and slowly approached us
I backed away and lowered Mitsuki to the beach Then standing in front of Mitsuki, I stared intently at the shadows
The shadows reached out to Mitsuki, shuffling slowly towards us Seeing this situation, I realized Mitsuki was their target
Were the two deceased seeking Mitsuki?
”No They wouldn't do that”
While shi+fting
I—Mitsuki and I had personally witnessed their bodies Crying at the funeral, we had bid them farewell
Hence—This was not them
Since it was not them, I must not allow Mitsuki to see these fakes
I held my breath and ran
At the sa it into a weapon for destroying enemies
Anti-army armament—AT Baal
What I e coe was one with the barrel
Despite being one of the pre-civilization weapons recreated using Yggdrasil's data, its true nature was designed for anti-personnel combat
Norainst this unidentified ”darkness”
However Now that the eneardless of weapon
I suon, ”Fafnir,” that had become a part of me
By this point, I fully understood the scrapped authority of Code Lost
It was a power to twist huuarantee death
Although I had shared the portion beyond irls, this poas still greater than what I had before So long as the opponent had human elements, it did not matter even if their true nature was a monster's
What I interfered as causality itself
Hence, starting from the moment I decided to kill them, the destruction of the shadoas already ascertained
A silver flash ripped through the darkness
As I stepped into the darkness and swung down the gunblade, I decapitated one of the shadows
Next, I turned, aier
Accoe-caliber bullet punctured a hole in the shadow's head
Feeling the vibration in the air, I slowly lowered the gunblade
Next, suffering ould have been fatal wounds for hu into dust, they vanished
I was attacked by the pain of killing the shadows of two people whom I revered as fas in my heart
”—Phew”
I exhaled the breath I had been holding and observed s
No new shadows appeared Lying on the beach, Mitsuki was also at peace
”Splendid, Neun”
Vritra walked towards me
Why had she shown up with such ti off with Mitsuki earlier? There were a s I wanted to find out
However, I asked the most important question first
”Is this—Over?”
”Nay, 'tis the beginning of everything”
I asked, slightly hopefully, but Vritra refuted me assertively
”According to the late Kiskanu's prophesy—nay, his prediction There is still tion 'Tis why ency was no lie Nevertheless Thy transfor to the end times”
Vritra spoke cal on the beach
”It's my fault?”
”Do not show that countenance 'Tis too early to assert that thou rong Rather, this could be a good thing After all, thou hast proved that Neun's authority is effective against end matter”
Saying that, Vritra turned her gaze back to
”Thou ns of the ninth calamity or a portion of it—Thereafter, thou obtained the authority of Neun Then thou irl as thou didst just noever, according to e have seen, Code Neun is unable to erase the darkness co Hence, end irl Or perhaps, it lurketh there intentionally”
Vritra provided her viewpoint seriously then pointed to Mitsuki
”Be that as it irl's transformation into Neun hath—It hath started to break out of its shell This is likely the reason for the unusual changes occurring to this girl”
”Break out of its shell Well, as long as I stay by her side, I can repeat what I just did—”
I instantly thought back to earlier
”Verily Thou wouldst do well to accoirl—Continue to watch over her That is thy duty and probably Neun's instinct”
”Instinct?”
Noticing a word that could not be ignored, I looked up
”Indeed, thy obsession with that girl standeth as evidence thou knowest Neun's duty Consequently, thy actions henceforth need only follow thy heart As an original counterdragon, thy instinct shall choose the right path for thee”
”W-Wait a sec I a Mitsuki out of instinct? No way—”
I was about to deny on reflex, but recalling how Mitsuki had acted earlier—
With despair on her face, yelling atfor her were fake—
”Don't tell me that you said the same to Mitsuki?”
When I asked in a tre voice, Vritra avoided eye contact in embarrassment
”—Apologies 'Tis et this memory for a while However, she has evidently remembered I am responsible for her mental breakdown on this occasion”
””
Her earnest apology dampened my fury
”damn it!!!!!”
I clenchedwith rage that I could not vent anywhere
'You are the one dearest to me, Mitsuki'
The answer I had given, how exactly did Mitsuki interpret it I could not iine
Even I was having trouble understanding how I felt inside
”Nii-san Sorry”
A tiny voice reached my ear
By the ti up, she gazed atlike she was about to cry
”Sorry Sorry, Nii-san—”
—Why was Mitsuki apologizing?
She probably thought that I had been hurt She ht that she had hurt me
However, the one who had been hurt the most was
””
I gnashed , ehtly
”Let o Nii-san I-I—”
Mitsuki resisted but when I hugged even tighter, she finally began to cry
”Sorry Sorry—”
She kept apologizing while she cried
While I was e my sister's petite and delicate body, I also wondered whether I was doing this merely out of instinct—