Original chapter: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n0383ht/69

 

 

 

 

It seemed Setaguchi was planning to slip away in the confusion of the battle.

 

However, the area around the castle was just plains and roads.

 

There was a limit to how well he could hide in the rubble or the moat.

 

But—running away meant it was safe to assume he had no will to fight.

 

He seemed to have been hanging out with Ooki, and given that he seemed to enjoy destroying other people's families, I figured he was probably the same type of person as her.

 

If it was for self-preservation, faith would take a backseat; he'd just run away as fast as he could.

 

Looking over at Hiyami san, it seemed she had noticed Setaguchi's presence as well.

 

As long as the two of us tracked his movements, we wouldn't lose sight of him completely.

 

In that case, the immediate problem was Principal Ishigure and Giraiguu.

 

The principal had immediately covered his entire body in the black membrane and was about to fire light beams from the countless eyes that appeared on his face, but—

 

"Humans... just how far do you intend to mock me!"

 

Naturally, Giraiguu was pissed.

 

Well, yeah. After being summoned through some "ritual," it ended up getting eaten by a Kaigyo and turned into a zombie.

 

Even if it hates humanity as a whole, the ones it must despise the most are the Kaisei kyou members.

 

Deforming its flabby body, it raised something resembling a tentacle and forcefully slammed it toward the principal.

 

Sensing the bloodlust from behind, he leaped back from his spot and dodged the attack.

 

"To think you still have the will to rebel against Giraiguu sama at this stage."

 

Faced with the two of them starting to fight on their own, we looked at each other in bewilderment.

 

Should we watch, or should we intervene? Eventually, everyone's gaze gathered on me, but there was no way I knew what to do either.

 

"I am Giraiguu. The ones who summoned me were none other than you!"

 

"There is no way Giraiguu sama would have such an ugly body. For a mere tool to call itself God, how insolent."

 

"Youuuuuu!"

 

...These guys really aren't on the same page.

 

The principal even started shooting beams at Giraiguu.

 

"U-Um... we're kind of left out of the loop here, aren't we?"

 

Naturally, Rea was bewildered.

 

It was just too ridiculous.

 

But in the end, everything that happened at this school had been foolish through and through, right from the very beginning.

 

Since he was the principal, he was essentially the root cause of it all.

 

He had a duty to know the truth of everything.

 

"Hey Principal, got a second?"

 

"I will deal with you later! First, I must destroy this husk of a soul!"

 

On top of being drunk on his own phrasing, it seemed he was making up nonsensical lore just to make things consistent in his head.

 

"No, that is Giraiguu. The God you guys summoned lost to a different God, got turned into a rotting corpse, and is now being manipulated."

 

"That cannot be true. Giraiguu sama is an entity who will purify the world with light and guide us to the True World! There is no way it could lose—"

 

"But the Kaisei kyou used black slime to change people's faces and stuff, right? Doesn't it look exactly like that?"

 

"You are wrong. We have learned the truth here. That black liquid we were given was the remnants of souls sacrificed to Giraiguu sama! Giraiguu sama was turning them into its own power and utilizing them! The true form of Giraiguu sama is that giant girl appearing from the heavens—"

 

"That's Yumemi chan—Ikuna Yumemi."

 

"I see, of course! To converse with us, it took on the form of the girl we offered as a sacrifice!"

 

The principal remained highly talkative even while dodging Giraiguu's swinging tentacles.

 

I shook my head in exasperation.

 

"It's no use. You can't reason with him."

 

"We are going to erase them all anyway. We just need to dispose of them together," Nemusia said.

 

"That's True."

 

Taking aim, I threw a knife at the principal's leg.

 

The spinning blade bored into his leg like a drill, dulling his movements.

 

"Oh no—"

 

Seizing the opening, Giraiguu wrapped a tentacle around his body.

 

Then it brought him right in front of its largest eyeball.

 

"Human... after teaching me the taste of humans... after dragging me out into this world, why must I... why must I suffer like this...!"

 

"Let me go! You are not Giraiguu! There is no way the Giraiguu we believed in could be such a rotting, ugly lump of meat! A tiny existence torn apart by a girl and used as a mere tool!"

 

"Then behold."

 

A human face surfaced from within Giraiguu.

 

It belonged to a woman around the principal's age.

 

"This is the soul of the wife you sacrificed, and here is the soul of your daughter. I devoured them. You offered them, and I sucked them dry!"

 

"H-Hahaha... Of course they are there. After all, you are just a collection of soul remnants. A piece of trash that deluded itself into thinking it was God!"

 

"Humans, what utterly vile creatures you are!"

 

Giraiguu put strength into its tentacle and constricted the principal.

 

A sickening creak and snap sounded from his body, and he coughed up blood.

 

"Gaaahhhh! S-So this is the trial... If I do not overcome this, I cannot reach... the True... World..."

 

"A True World does not exist! It is nothing but a fairy tale you created! Rot here and perish, human!"

 

"Oh, Giraiguu sama... are you... watching...?! I... I could not reach the True World, but... I can puff out my chest, until my very last moment, as your devout believer—"

 

I understood exactly how Giraiguu felt.

 

It wanted to break the principal's spirit.

 

It wanted to force him to admit his mistake, make him realize the gravity of what he'd done, and have him die in despair.

 

But, completely immersed in his self-satisfying, blind faith, he refused to listen to anyone else's voice.

 

Who on earth could possibly break his mind?

 

Just then, a hole suddenly opened in the sky.

 

Looking up, the face of a giant girl appeared from it.

 

"Yumemi chan?!"

 

"So that is... Ikuna Yumemi."

 

"S-She's huge..."

 

I had heard she appeared underground, but I didn't expect her to show herself this directly.

 

Maybe it's because we're close to the core here.

 

Knowing Yumemi chan, if she could interfere to help us, she absolutely would have done so to the fullest extent.

 

But until now, we hadn't even heard her voice.

 

Most likely, no matter how incomplete the Kaigyo's erosion was, if she used her power, her consciousness would be dragged away by the Kaigyo.

 

Just like how Hiiro san was absorbed by the floor boss on the second floor.

 

That's why, even if she appeared here—she would only do the bare minimum, just one thing.

 

Our eyes met for just a split second, but I understood perfectly what she wanted to say.

 

(You don't have to be lonely. We'll see each other again soon anyway.)

 

That must have been what she wanted to convey.

 

I feel the same way, Yumemi chan.

 

Just a little more.

 

Just a little more, and we should be able to meet again.

 

"Oh... Giraiguu sama. You are answering my faith. To reward me by appearing personally like this... Ah, aahh... thank goodness. Even if my life ends here, just to be able to see you once, I am...!"

 

Principal Ishigure wept.

 

Interrupting his voice, Yumemi chan opened her mouth.

 

『I am not Giraiguu. I am Ikuna Yumemi.』

 

"...What are you, saying..."

 

『You are now going to be killed by the Giraiguu that you summoned.』

 

Her face remained expressionless.

 

Her voice had no inflection.

 

However, everyone present understood the intense hatred loaded into those words.

 

Yes, this too, was revenge.

 

"That's... impossible. Truly, Ikuna... Yumemi, is..."

 

Naturally, the principal finally understood as well.

 

That the completely rotted clump of black sludge right in front of him was the true Giraiguu.

 

Giraiguu's eye stared down at the principal.

 

Here, at last, their gazes met in mutual understanding.

 

At that moment, Giraiguu almost looked like it smiled with satisfaction.

 

"Die."

 

It declared that single word and crushed the principal's body.

 

Splat. His insides burst out like a squashed tomato, instantly killing him so completely there wasn't even a need to check.

 

Right then, Gii stepped forward and approached Giraiguu.

 

"How pathetic. Gishishi."

 

When she laughed, Giraiguu's eye turned toward her.

 

"You are..."

 

"I was a part of you. I was made into a part of you."

 

"My fingertips. My mouth. I thought everything had vanished, but you remained without rotting? This is convenient."

 

Giraiguu writhed its body as it loomed over Gii.

 

"I shall discard this flesh. Receive my heart. Through you, I will regener—"

 

"Nanase Asami is no longer inside of me."

 

"Naturally. She became my nourishment."

 

"But her hatred remains, like a throbbing scar."

 

That wasn't a memory, but a "record."

 

It probably meant that even if the emotion itself died, the fact that she had harbored hatred wouldn't disappear.

 

"My body part, what meaning is there in this dialogue?"

 

"Besides, I hate you myself. You, who called yourself the mother body but never recognized us as beings with our own will. You, who only used us as tools."

 

"Enough. Receive the heart, terminal. As a piece of my flesh, fulfill your duty!"

 

A slimy tentacle extended from within Giraiguu.

 

Buried in its tip was something resembling a red sphere.

 

Was that the "heart"?

 

"Gishishi, you really still think of me as just a 'terminal'."

 

Gii laughed, extended her own tentacle, and impaled the heart.

 

"Impossible. How can you defy me—"

 

"Shining."

 

Magic fired from the tip of Gii's tentacle, destroying Giraiguu's heart from the inside out.

 

"GUAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

 

The agonizing scream of the one who was called a God echoed far and wide.

 

Bathed in it head-on, Gii laughed loudly.

 

"Gishishi, gishi, gishishishi! I am Gii! Erika's Gii! Your name doesn't bind me anymore! You couldn't even realize that; you, who refused to even look at us, will be killed by your own blindness!"

 

"Guu, guuuuuuuh!"

 

"Gishishi, does it hurt so much that you forgot the human words you went out of your way to learn? I'm feeling fantastic, Giraiguu!"

 

The reason Giraiguu and Gii understood human language was because they had been in contact with humans since ancient times.

 

Before that, they only possessed minimal sounds like "Gii" and "Guu"—thinking about it that way, the name "Giraiguu" was also something given to it by humans.

 

What if that name held some sort of ritualistic meaning that connected humans with the otherworldly Giraiguu?

 

The fact that Gii had obtained her own name as an individual might hold a much greater significance than I realized.

 

Setting that aside—Giraiguu was writhing in agony from having its heart destroyed.

 

But it wasn't dead.

 

That was strictly the heart of "Giraiguu."

 

Just as Shimakawa Yuya and Ooki, who had been swallowed by the Kaigyo's Gangrene, possessed "weak points" other than their human hearts, the rotten Giraiguu must also have a weak point as an Gangrene.

 

"Gii, can we join in now?"

 

"Thanks, Erika. You were being considerate of me, huh."

 

"Well, I had a lot going on with my own family, too."

 

I looked at Rea, and she nodded in agreement.

 

"Family... I wonder. I feel like I can only attain that after I separate from that thing. When my existence as an individual is completely established."

 

"More importantly, Erika."

 

"What's wrong, Nemusia?"

 

"Earlier, you were waiting for Gii to settle things, weren't you? Honestly, I couldn't keep up and was just watching in a daze."

 

When Nemusia said that, Marin, Hiyami san, and Inoue san all made faces showing their agreement.

 

Well, that was to be expected.

 

"I was like that too until the principal died, but once Gii stepped forward, I just sort of figured that was what was going on."

 

"Why don't you tell us the fine details after we defeat this thing?"

 

Hiyami san was right.

 

Giraiguu had been continuously screaming in agony, but it was gradually starting to settle down.

 

No, rather—

 

"It might be dead."

 

Right. Giraiguu was swallowed by the Kaigyo's Gangrene.

 

As an entity called a God, it had managed to maintain its ego to some extent until now.

 

That's why Yumemi chan had to bind it directly, tearing it apart and tormenting it.

 

I doubt she imagined that the teachers would use those torn fragments to turn themselves into monsters, though.

 

But now, with its heart crushed, its consciousness as Giraiguu had weakened, completely reducing it to a mindless Gangrene that existed solely to kill humans.

 

"Then all that's left is to crush it. Everyone, let's do this just like before!"

 

In this state, Giraiguu was nothing more than a rotting lump of meat.

 

Then there was only one thing left to do.

 

To crush it with overwhelming firepower and beat it into submission.

 

 

◆◆◆ 

 

Setaguchi had managed to move to the moat surrounding the castle, hiding in the shadows of the completely pulverized castle rubble.

 

He searched for a waterway to escape further away, but it was blocked by rubble and unusable as an escape route.

 

He also considered using the underground passage Marin and the others had used, but since they already knew that route, if they ambushed him at the exit, it would be completely over.

 

Which meant his only option to escape was above ground.

 

"Tch, I have no choice but to slip away in the confusion of the battle..."

 

Would that really work? As far as he could see, Erika and her group seemed accustomed to fighting.

 

Furthermore, before he knew it, the principal had died, and Giraiguu also seemed to be pushed into a corner.

 

"Giraiguu sama... That mere lump of sludge rampaging around and spreading that stench is the God we believed in?"

 

The stench it scattered drifted all the way into the moat.

 

Realizing that it wasn't a "tool" used by Giraiguu, but Giraiguu itself, made even the black membrane cloaking his own body feel filthy.

 

It was only natural.

 

The man named Setaguchi Ataru had been a believer of the Kaisei kyou since his parents generation.

 

Raised from childhood to become a believer, he had actually become an executive, living up to those expectations.

 

Therefore, he didn't become a believer because he was drawn to its mysteries.

 

He became a believer because his parents had preached to him how wonderful Giraiguu was, and what a grand existence worthy of worship it was.

 

But the God he actually encountered was nothing like the figure he had admired.

 

"You've got it wrong. The reason I worshipped you was because you were strong. These rotten humans who would betray even their own families just by being sweet-talked a little—I believed you would destroy the world those people lived in and show me a new one."

 

Admiration that is too strong can sometimes easily turn into hatred.

 

Reaching his hand toward Giraiguu, Setaguchi suddenly clenched it tightly into a fist.

 

"Yet here you are, rotting away. What am I supposed to do with that? The True World doesn't exist? Are you kidding me?"

 

His voice trembled.

 

His reason for living wavered.

 

Right before his eyes, countless beams of light rained down from the sky.

 

Giant spheres of light smashed into Giraiguu's body, vaporizing its flesh.

 

A sword as massive as a tower cleaved Giraiguu cleanly in half.

 

A streak of a blade pierced the God, blowing a massive hole right through its center.

 

"Ha... haha..."

 

Setaguchi had no choice but to laugh.

 

He also knew that Kuragane Erika was supposed to be the sacrifice.

 

After all, he was Marin's biological father; he had investigated her pitiful older sister to some extent.

 

And imagining that utterly miserable life, he had sometimes sneered at her.

 

But look at her now.

 

That very Erika was trying to kill God.

 

The blade unleashed by the woman who had been treated like the absolute bottom of society as a sacrifice, and who was supposed to die following that exact fate, was striking down the God summoned at the cost of so many lives.

 

And supporting her were the girls who were supposed to become executives of the Kaisei kyou.

 

Heck, there was even someone claiming to be a part of Giraiguu itself.

 

"There's no way it's a God. There's no way an entity that would lose to them could possibly be God."

 

He looked up at the sky.

 

Erika was leaping high into the air.

 

"Do it, Erikaaaaaaa!"

 

Rea shouted.

 

Showing enough composure to even float a smile on her face, Erika brought down judgment from the heavens upon God.

 

"This is the end, Giraiguu!"

 

"You humans... How dare you, how dare you do this to me, who merely wished to liiiiiiiiive!"

 

"Meteor Dive!"

 

True to its name, she pierced through Giraiguu's weak point with the momentum of an actual meteorite.

 

Echoing a death cry that sounded almost like sour grapes, Giraiguu turned entirely into liquid, melting into sludge and seeping into the ground.

 

He could hear the girls cheering in victory.

 

Meanwhile, the sludgy black liquid dripped away from Setaguchi's body.

 

A stench of rot drifted through the area.

 

Was this the misery of a loser?—Such words crossed his mind, but he immediately shook his head in denial.

 

"No, I haven't lost. The Giraiguu we believed in wasn't that thing. What I believed in was—"

 

He looked up at the sky.

 

There was an eerily black, massive hole, and a giant fang piercing the heavens.

 

A short while ago, the figure of a giant girl had been there too.

 

Setaguchi reached out his hand—confirming the true object of his faith.

 

On the other hand, Erika and the others, having defeated Giraiguu, were sharing their joy while already turning their attention to the next battle.

 

"Now we just have to find the path leading to the roof where the Kaigyo is."

 

Setaguchi reacted with a twitch to Erika's words.

 

"Kaigyo... Marin had mentioned that thing was the root cause of everything."

 

He was deeply intrigued by this entity known as a Kaigyo, which could rot even Giraiguu.

 

"Defeating the floor boss should have made the walls disappear. But Erika, do you know where to go to get to the roof?"

 

"We'll just have to split up and search. Besides, just reaching the roof doesn't mean everything will be resolved."

 

Eavesdropping on their conversation, a smile formed on his lips.

 

"The path to the roof... I know it. I know it. When I saw it before, it was blocked by a black wall so I couldn't proceed past the door... I see, so it was a mechanism where the wall disappears when you defeat this 'boss' thing."

 

If he headed to the roof ahead of them—Setaguchi could encounter the Kaigyo before Erika and the others.

 

"Even if we reach the Kaigyo, can we get Ikuna Yumemi back? That is the question."

 

"Currently, the Kaigyo is using Yumemi san, who is only a soul, as its core, right? Because it lacks a physical body, it can't exert its full power."

 

Marin and Hiyami meticulously explained the Kaigyo's current situation.

 

Setaguchi listened intently without a shred of doubt.

 

"If it were me, I'd want a better core."

 

"I agree with Gii. If a human possessing both a body and a soul appears before it, the Kaigyo might discard Yumemi and choose that person as its core instead."

 

A core, that was Ikuna Yumemi's current state.

 

In other words, because she had become such an entity, she was able to grow giant and reveal herself.

 

"If I become the core... I, too, can wield a portion of God's power."

 

Setaguchi audibly gulped.

 

"A God that can kill even God... an entity with overwhelming power. Then, wouldn't that be Giraiguu sama to me? Wasn't the God I believed in the Kaigyo all along?"

 

Faith was nothing more than a means to encounter an entity with power beyond human comprehension.

 

If so, for him, Giraiguu didn't even need to be Giraiguu.

 

"If that girl is Ikuna Yumemi, it means the human who becomes the core can maintain their consciousness to some extent. In that case, I could even change the world—"

 

There was no need to entrust it to Giraiguu.

 

He could change the world into his desired form with his own hands.

 

Setaguchi dreamt such a dream.

 

"I will reach the roof first. And in place of that sacrificed girl, I will become the core... That is the culmination of faith I should arrive at. To create my own True World...!"

 

His goal was set.

 

He leaped out of the moat and onto the ground.

 

Casting a quick glance back to confirm his distance from Erika and the others, he began sprinting down the road at full speed.

 

 

◆◆◆ 

 

"He took the bait."

 

Seeing Setaguchi finally show himself, I smirked.

 

"That man is awfully fast, considering Giraiguu is supposed to be dead," Marin noted.

 

Just as Marin said, that wasn't human speed.

 

Now that Giraiguu was gone, he couldn't borrow the power of that black slime, meaning that was his own physical ability.

 

"He was chosen."

 

"By what?"

 

"By Yumemi chan."

 

Marin tilted her head.

 

She still didn't get it, huh—well, it couldn't be helped since she didn't really know Yumemi chan.

 

"He seems to have a high position within the Kaisei kyou, and he was heavily involved in the ritual, right? So, just like Ooki and the others, he was probably given powers that mimicked ours."

 

"Why would Ikuna Yumemi do such a thing?"

 

"Well, you'll find out when we go up. Gii, are you tracking him?"

 

"Gishishi, no problem. A tiny me is clinging onto him."

 

It seemed the clones Gii made with Twin Life Whip could also have their size adjusted.

 

So, she shrunk one down to the smallest possible size and had it ride on Setaguchi's shoulder without him noticing.

 

He would lead us right to the location of the door to the roof all on his own.

 

Just then, the ground began to shake violently.

 

"Kyaah!"

 

Rea let out a scream and stumbled, so I caught her and supported her body.

 

"Thanks. If it's starting to shake here too, that means..."

 

"Giraiguu died, so the floor is collapsing. The time for the Adrasia Kingdom to completely vanish has finally come."

 

"Guu, then we need to hurry and grab the people inside the Sanctuary."

 

"Since we're tracking Setaguchi's location, there's no need to panic. Let's move together as a group."

 

This was the third time a floor was collapsing; I was used to it by now.

 

The terrain would gradually start collapsing from the edges, and in a few hours, it would completely vanish into the void.

 

But conversely, that meant we had a few hours of leeway.

 

We returned to the village and rendezvoused with the people waiting for us.

 

Taking them along, we chased after Setaguchi.

 

◇◇◇ 

 

 

Right in the middle of a plain field of grass, a staircase sprouted up.

 

At the top of the stairs was a landing, and beyond that was a door.

 

"It's finally the end, huh..."

 

Looking up at the door, I muttered deeply.

 

"When I first met you, Erika, it feels like it was ages ago."

 

Rea intertwined her arm with mine, jumping onto the topic.

 

"Me too. It hasn't actually been that long, but I feel like I've been with you forever, Rea."

 

"I've been with you forever too."

 

Seeming slightly jealous, Gii slid her face out from between us.

 

I gave a wry smile and replied.

 

"I know. Even though it's been a short time since I met you, Gii, it feels long to me too."

 

Patting her on the head, her expression softened.

 

Her face was still undeniably Inuzuka san's, but whether it was because I'd gotten used to it, or because her expressions had changed since her inner self was different, I genuinely thought she looked cute.

 

"Mine has been short compared to you two, but far too many things have happened in that time."

 

Nemusia looked a bit exhausted.

 

It was to be expected; her homeland was actively collapsing as we spoke.

 

No matter how resolved she was, things that wore away at you would still wear away at you.

 

And what awaited us ahead was...

 

"And I suppose many things will happen from here on out as well."

 

"I... want to spend more time with you, Nemusia."

 

"You cheater."

 

"...Are you seriously saying that right now?"

 

"That reaction means you're self-aware of how fickle you are. What are you actually going to do? Once we go outside, this abnormal environment ends. When we return to our everyday lives, you won't be able to run away anymore."

 

"I plan to embrace all of it."

 

"You said it."

 

"You sure said it."

 

"She said it."

 

The three of them laid into me.

 

Well, I did say it.

 

"I've lived a completely miserable life up until now. I don't want to miss out on anything, and I have no intention to, either."

 

"S-So she says. What do you two think?"

 

"I..."

 

"Wait a minute, Nemusia, isn't this exactly the kind of thing we should talk about after we get outside? This is something to discuss in a calm setting. At the very least, it's not a conversation to have with so many people listening."

 

"Exactly."

 

Marin crossed her arms and glared at me with narrowed eyes.

 

Just because she got over her issues, she's making such a cheeky face...

 

Then, Hiyami san cut in between us before we could start bickering.

 

"I understand the urge to talk things over now that we've finally made it here. But let's save all that built-up conversation for after we get outside."

 

Mitsurugi san followed up with a complaint.

 

"I can't be bothered to listen to a lovers quarrel after coming all this way."

 

Even Ushizawa san and Hiiro san piled on.

 

"But Ai thinks that Kuragane san being able to form deep relationships with someone is a wonderful step forward."

 

"Yeah... Having someone precious to you is a wonderful thing."

 

Comments going in that direction damage me in a completely different way, so I wish they'd spare me.

 

"Anyway, everything comes after settling things with the Kaigyo."

 

And finally, Inoue san stole the spotlight.

 

It was such a sound argument that I couldn't even mutter a peep in return.

 

Yes, everything comes after drawing the curtains on this stage of revenge.

 

Even so, there are still many things that must be settled, so in a sense, it's not the end, but a beginning.

 

"Then let's go. To Yumemi chan's place."

 

We climbed the final staircase and opened the door.

 

Yumemi chan.

 

The first time I see you, there's something I absolutely have to say first.

 

I wonder if I'll be able to convey it properly.

 

Even now, I'm so nervous that I can barely even manage to put one foot in front of the other—