Big Boss, Part 8
Warmth, and lethargy. Those were the two sensations that filled Yohan's mind as he slowly drifted back to consciousness.
"I am—" Yohan muttered in a voice as faint as a dying breath.
He listlessly turned his head to survey his surroundings. The entire world was white. The ceiling, the floor, and everything stretching out to the horizon.
"Where..." Where was he, and what had he been doing just moments ago?
He tried to drag a memory out from the thick fog clouding his mind, but nothing came to him. Instead, the lethargy he had felt since waking only grew heavier.
He just wanted to lie here. Closing his eyes was too much effort, and thinking was even worse. It would be so much easier to just fall asleep.
"..." Yohan closed his eyes. He surrendered his body to the cozy warmth wrapping around him. Let's just stay like this. A nice, long rest. Then...
—Yohan. Wait.
Yohan's eyes snapped open, and he bolted upright. He had heard it. A voice calling his name, faint but unmistakable.
The moment that realization struck, the fog in his mind vanished like a lie, leaving his consciousness crystal clear.
"Ah, hell." At the same time, the memories he couldn't recall rushed back in a torrent.
He was Yohan. A fool who had worked for a grave-robbing crew under the Undercity Family, only to be betrayed by his comrades and left for dead. But thanks to that foolish betrayal, he had been given a chance at a different life. A chance offered by... a goddess who had been imprisoned and stripped of her name long ago.
—Yohan.
The voice called his name once more from somewhere. He had to answer. With that thought, Yohan stood up.
"Cough—!" But the moment he did, the cozy warmth enveloping him shattered. In its place rushed a skin-crawling chill and a dizzying wave of agony.
"Ugh..." It hurt. A horrific pain, far worse than when he had been stabbed in the back, radiated from his abdomen and tore through his entire body.
What was causing this pain? Yohan began sorting through the jumbled memories in his head. As he pieced the scattered fragments back together, his hazy consciousness grew sharper.
At the same time, he recalled a conversation he had shared with the Goddess not too long ago. As if responding to his thoughts, the endless white space transformed into a massive screen, allowing him to watch his own memory play out from a third-person perspective. It was a memory from their carriage journey—a trip he had started with a romanticized sense of adventure.
Late at night. With the sleeping Falco beside them, Yohan and the Goddess lay near the campfire, blankly staring up at the night sky.
"I find myself curious, Apostle. Why did you cast aside all other paths and choose the life of a grave robber?"
Yohan tilted his head at the Goddess's question.
"I don't know. I've never really thought about it."
"Is that so?"
"Well, if I had to say... of all the bad things I could do, it seemed like the one that hurt people the least?"
After arriving in this godforsaken otherworld, Yohan had to do whatever it took to survive. For a black-haired outworlder with no notable talents, this continent of swords and magic was an incredibly harsh place.
"Hurt people the least, you say."
"Think about it. Thieves and bandits mug living people, strip them of their clothes, and steal their wallets. But grave robbers? We just dig up empty tombs and ruins. The money is already there."
The Goddess wore a complicated expression at his answer.
"If you chose it simply because you disliked fighting enemies, grave robbing is hardly a safe alternative."
"True."
Her point was valid. While working with the grave robbers, Yohan had faced all kinds of traps and had narrowly escaped death multiple times after running into hordes of monsters.
"Well..."
Thinking deeply, he realized what the real reason was.
"Did you remember the reason?"
"Yeah. But I'm not telling."
Yohan replied with a mischievous grin. Realizing she was being teased, she pouted.
"What? You insolent..."
"If I tell you, you'll probably just laugh at me."
"Hmph, fine! Even if you beg me on your knees to listen, I shall ignore you. Keep that in mind!"
The sulking Goddess immediately turned into her spiritual form and vanished.
He had remembered the reason. And it was true that he was too embarrassed to share it.
Grave robbers, for the most part, don't hurt innocent people.
To think that a man who made a living out of grave robbing—an undeniably criminal act—had chosen his profession for such a reason.
"Pfft." It was a laughable excuse, even to himself. It was like a heinous criminal getting caught by the police and desperately trying to justify their actions with a sob story.
If he had to dress up his self-justification a bit more, perhaps he could call it a shred of conscience. Looking up at the starry night sky, Yohan had quietly smiled to himself.
As if a film had finished rolling, the playback of his memory ended. His surroundings reverted to the pristine white space from before.
"Sss—" Groaning at the sharp pain piercing his stomach, Yohan forced his frozen legs to move, taking one step forward after another.
He didn't have time to lounge around here. He had to wake up, and fast. If he didn't move, there was no telling how many people would fall victim to that bastard of a demon. Clinging to that single thought, Yohan gritted his teeth and endured the agony.
—Yohan!
The Goddess's voice calling her Apostle rang out, louder and clearer than before.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming!" Yohan shouted back. As he marched forward into the endless white expanse, he summoned his Light Sword once more.
The weapon flickered like a heat haze for a moment before solidifying into a perfect, brilliant blade.
Flash— Instantly, the white world collapsed, and the real world, which had been hidden behind the pale shroud, came rushing back into view.
"..." Right in the center of his vision was the bone spear impaling his stomach. And standing between him and the Demon was the Goddess, manifested in the form she had worn on the day they first met.
Ropes of brilliant white light, woven with strange, mystical patterns, tightly bound the Demon's body. The Goddess, having descended into the mortal realm in her adult form rather than her usual child-like state, was using her remaining divinity to restrict the Demon's movements.
The only reason he had survived while unconscious was because she had stepped forward, fully prepared to face her own fading existence.
"Yohan!"
"Yeah! Kept you waiting, didn't I?" Noticing that Yohan had regained consciousness, the Goddess called out his name in a bright voice. He gave a spirited reply and forced himself up.
"Damn it, this hurts like hell!" It was, quite literally, excruciating. But thanks to that intense pain, his mind remained sharp despite having just crossed back over the threshold of death.
Meanwhile, the bone spear piercing his abdomen looked more like a massive stake than a spear. Raising the Light Sword he had summoned upon waking, Yohan swung it down hard against the bone spear.
Sizzle— As the blade sliced through the bone spear, white flames erupted from the cut. Within seconds, the entire spear was consumed by the fire, burning away until not a trace remained.
Though this left a gaping hole in the middle of his stomach, Yohan channeled his Apostle's Authority to instantly knit the flesh back together.
Yohan took a few steps forward and stood right behind the Goddess.
"Tag team. Leave the rest to me," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder.
Yohan and the Goddess quietly locked eyes. After a fraction of a second, as if by unspoken agreement, they both nodded.
Flash— The Goddess's physical form evaporated into thin air.
"Ugh..." At the same time, the divine light that had been binding the Demon vanished. Released from his shackles, the Demon let out a pained groan.
"What the... what is that?" Meanwhile, the Demon's appearance had changed drastically from before.
Every shred of flesh had peeled away, leaving nothing but bare bone. Yet, the size and structure of the skeleton were far from human. At a glance, one might easily mistake him for some high-level undead monster lurking in the deepest depths of a dungeon.
Of course, despite being a skeleton, he had massive wings of bone sprouting from his shoulders, and his sheer bulk exuded an overwhelming pressure. No, "overwhelming" didn't do it justice. He was, without a doubt, the strongest monster Yohan had ever faced.
"..." Honestly, he looked kind of cool. He had that edgy, dark-fantasy aesthetic down pat. Looking at the Demon, Yohan couldn't help but admire the badass design.
—If you had been even a moment later, you would have died, and I would have faded into nothingness forever. It is a true miracle. The Goddess's voice, now back in her spiritual form, echoed in his mind.
"No kidding." Right, now wasn't the time to be admiring the scenery. Yohan nodded in agreement. "But seriously, if you had the power to pin him down like that, shouldn't you have just beaten him to death yourself?"
—T-There was a perfectly good reason for that... Even so, Yohan felt the need to complain.
"Are you mocking me?!" But the Demon, newly freed from his bonds, had no intention of waiting around. As he let out a deafening roar, goosebumps erupted all over Yohan's body.
He could feel it. Having completely shed his human flesh, the Demon was absolutely furious.
—Apostle. He is currently drawing upon his power while in an extremely unstable state.
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
—It means he is burning through his own life force just to tear you apart with his own hands.
Hearing her explanation, Yohan took another look at the Demon. Sure enough, the creature's bones were slowly crumbling. Every time he moved, a shower of dark bone dust fell from his frame.
—While you and I share a proper contract, it seems the bond between that creature and Big Boss was not so mutual. He likely lent Big Boss his power with the sole intention of stealing his body from the very beginning.
Hearing that, Yohan thought the guy was a real piece of work. Then again, doing evil things was exactly what made him a demon.
—However, your interference threw a wrench into his plans. The vessel's body had already died.
"So, to sum it up..."
—The Demon is dying in real-time. From the moment he possessed that incomplete vessel, his days were numbered. He likely intends to feast on you first, then move on to other humans to prolong his existence.
"Oho." In other words, if he just left him alone, the guy would drop dead on his own. Now that was some music to his ears.
Yohan smirked and gripped the Light Sword—which he had been wielding one-handed—with both hands. Instantly, the blade elongated, transforming into a massive greatsword.
"Yeah, now we're talking."
—Heh. Hearing Yohan's admiration, the Goddess let out a satisfied chuckle in his mind.
Crack— At that exact moment, dozens, if not hundreds, of bone spears rained down toward Yohan.
But Yohan wasn't stupid enough to fall for the same trick twice. If his Authority could forge a sword, it could easily forge a shield.
Flash— Yohan dismissed the sword, dropped to one knee, and thrust his left arm forward. A brilliant light flared from his arm, instantly shaping itself into a massive shield that blocked the incoming barrage.
Clang! Clang! Clang! The spears slammed into the shield, either ricocheting away or shattering into countless bone fragments on impact.
—Yes! Exactly! An Apostle's Authority takes the shape of whatever they desire most. The Goddess's praise echoed in his mind once more.
"You son of a... You are a Holy Knight, aren't you?!"
"For the last time, I'm not!"
While Yohan wore a smug grin, the Demon seemed utterly shocked that his trump card had been completely shut down. He was so flustered that his grand, dramatic tone slipped into a frantic stammer.
Whoosh— Now was his chance. Yohan sprang forward like a coiled spring, launching himself off the ground. Dropping to his knee had been nothing more than a setup to build momentum! With a fierce grin, Yohan slammed the shield forged from the Goddess's Authority right into the Demon's face.
CRACK—!
"Aaargh!" Along with the satisfying sound of solid light shattering bone, the Demon let out a sharp, agonized shriek.