The Nine-Tailed Fox of the Nightmare Forest
The nine-tailed fox was both the source and the very origin of the Forest of Nightmares. Standing before a colossal hole so enormous it inspired pure shock at first glance, Bianca spoke in a bright, cheerful voice.
"I-Ian, th-this is it! This is where we're going to live from now on!"
"...Huh?"
I involuntarily glanced down at the hole's "bottom" at her words. The depths were so profound they were impossible to see with the naked eye. The darkness resembled the heart of an endless abyss, terrifying just to look at. Naturally, falling from here would mean instant death with zero chance of survival.
Gulp.
As expected, Bianca isn't normal either, is she?
Wondering if she might have misspoke, I waited for her next words, but it was clear Bianca had no intention of retracting her statement whatsoever.
"...Bianca. Are you sure this is actually a place we can live?"
"Uh, y-yes! I-I really worked so hard to prepare it!"
"Ah... I see?"
What exactly did she prepare?
She couldn't possibly be suggesting we throw ourselves in together, right? Maybe I had been fooled by Bianca's appearance and underestimated her madness.
"Sh-shall we go together, then?"
Bianca extended her hand toward me. It was small and delicate, yet it carried an inexplicable pressure. In an atmosphere that seemed to demand I take it immediately, I let out a dry laugh and tested her.
"Aha, so there's some magic cast here that I don't know about, right? The hole itself is actually an illusion, or maybe you're using spatial teleportation magic?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
Bianca tilted her head with a genuinely puzzled look, as if she had no idea what I was talking about.
Fuck.
I had only tested her just in case, but Bianca was clearly insane.
I need to escape from here right now.
If I asked for details, I might really end up falling to my death alongside her.
Somehow... I-Ian has become a lot more talkative.
Unlike before the regression, the current Ian had grown incredibly verbose. Bianca found the change pleasing, yet paradoxically it felt awkward. It was as if a certain distance had formed between them. That was partly because, unlike before the regression, they had built no bond whatsoever.
Bianca might have been naive, but as a grand mage she was no fool. She knew her tone made him uncomfortable, yet in her overwhelming joy she had unconsciously shown him far too much affection. She had missed him that terribly, and she was that glad to see him again.
But the Ian of now was a complete stranger who knew nothing about her... That fact alone made her heart ache as if it were being torn apart.
It's fine. From now on we'll be together forever.
Unlike before, only Bianca herself could now monopolize Ian's love.
Hehe.
She gazed at the place that would become their home and giggled. The enormous hole before her eyes. To be precise, this location known as the Rift of the Continent was a unique place that even the gods dared not stare at directly.
Bianca had prepared her dwelling on the outer walls here. She planned to cast gravity magic on both herself and Ian so they could slowly cross through the air. In terms of movement, instant teleportation like Teleport would have been far more convenient, but...
Th-this place makes coordinate calculation im-impossible...
Unlike anywhere else on the continent, the spatial coordinates here shifted irregularly at irregular intervals. A single mistake could sweep them into spatial turbulence.
Moreover, various laws of the continent mixed chaotically inside the Rift, making it a dangerous place that even most transcendent beings and gods avoided.
Even Bianca, renowned as a grand mage, had endured endless suffering to create a residence here.
Now she intended to reap the full reward of that labor.
"I-Ian, l-let's go quickly. Okay?"
When the impatient Bianca urged him, Ian thought for a moment before speaking.
"It looks like I need some mental preparation first... Bianca, could you close your eyes for a second?"
"Uh, yeah? Why?"
"It's because I want to do what we did earlier again..."
Ian blushed as if embarrassed.
If it's what we did earlier... i-it must be!
Bianca recalled the kiss from earlier. Had she unknowingly overwhelmed Ian with her incredible charm?
Hehe, hehehe.
The corners of her mouth refused to stop rising.
"O-okay! I-I'm closing my eyes..."
Bianca squeezed her eyes shut as instructed and waited for the kiss.
"......"
"........."
"...........?"
But no matter how long she waited, the sweet sensation never came.
"I-Ian? What are you doing...?"
When Bianca finally peeked with one eye, he had already vanished.
Only hollow silence remained.
"He, hehe."
Bianca laughed.
"Hehe... Ian. This is a joke, right? Yes?"
Still laughing, she raised both hands. Mana particles became visible as every scrap of mana in the vicinity rushed into her palms.
Meteor. Inferno. Flames of the Apocalypse. Ashes of Asherald. Each one a high-tier spell capable of erasing a city.
Having activated all of them, Bianca began incinerating the Forest of Nightmares alone.
It was the beginning of a true catastrophe for the anomalies.
"Ian... I'll come find you myself...?"
Whew. I didn't think she'd actually fall for that.
I felt a twinge of guilt for deceiving Bianca's innocent heart, but there was no helping it. I couldn't die with her.
After running for a long time while leaving her behind, the surroundings remained nothing but overly dense trees with little change.
The silver lining was that Bianca's buff still kept my stamina completely fresh.
Just as I prepared to run farther, a voice roared inside my head.
How dare this insignificant creature ignore me!
"...Huh?"
Only then could I hear the voice clearly. It was thick, sticky, and seductive. It definitely didn't sound human.
"Who are you...?"
Haven't I been speaking to you endlessly since earlier!
"Oh, so the hallucination from before was you."
I answered far too casually, but the speaker was most likely an anomaly from the Forest of Nightmares. This was a situation that should have left me trembling, yet the current me felt strangely calm, to the point that even I sensed the alienation.
Enough. Hurry and worship this seat.
"I refuse."
Wh-what?
The voice sounded utterly flustered, as if it had never considered rejection.
But my mouth kept moving.
"Telling me to worship you is the same as trying to make me your subordinate or servant, isn't it? What possible use could a mere human like me be? Wouldn't it be better to take a more skilled and loyal anomaly as your underling instead? This insignificant human finds it difficult to accept."
The key was to refuse without causing offense. I didn't know the extent of this anomaly's power, but anything intelligent enough to hold a conversation could kill someone like me without effort. Reading the room was only natural.
When I refused, the voice grew furious.
No, this seat personally declared it would bestow power upon you!
This is your last chance. Accept this seat immediately.
The air turned icy cold in an instant, as if refusal would no longer be tolerated.
It seemed continuing to reject the offer would end badly.
In that case...
After a moment of hesitation, I spoke again.
"...Then could you tell me specifically what power I would receive and what I would need to offer in return?"
?
"If the contract is unfair, it would only make things uncomfortable since we'll be seeing each other often. Wouldn't it be better to negotiate properly first and clearly establish what each side wants?"
You... are you really that fellow?
The voice sounded considerably flustered.
That fellow?
He wasn't the type to talk this much... Hng.
After a brief pause, the voice seemed to reach a decision.
The current this seat is still in a weak body, so I cannot grant you power that would satisfy you.
"In that case I have no choice but to refuse..."
I can only grant you enough power to face a lower deity.
"......Pardon?"
As expected, you wouldn't be satisfied with merely this. It can't be helped.
As the voice sounded disappointed and began to withdraw, I called out.
"Wait."
?
"You should listen to someone's words until the end."
This seems like...
I had hooked a real pushover.
After a fierce battle, the man studied the anomaly's true body in the now-ruined forest.
Talian, the monstrously powerful chaotic deity. Its size was pitifully small compared to a beast of disaster, yet it remained enormous. For an anomaly, however, its appearance was unmistakably...
Fluffy fur. A pure white body that somehow looked beautiful. And the clearly visible number of tails.
"A nine-tailed fox?"
How dare you! Are you insulting this seat!
"No, no matter how I look at it..."
Do not even think of comparing this seat to those inferior yokai races! This seat is a one-of-a-kind existence.
The man tilted his head and raised his sword again.
Just as the fight was about to resume, Talian spoke first.
Those who breathe die.
Those who open their eyes die.
Those who think die.
All the powers of the anomalies Talian had devoured fused together to create this spatial domain.
The unreasonable rules that would make anyone laugh dryly gathered and aligned. In the Strange Domain, rules were absolute propositions. No being could violate them.
Talian smiled seductively as it stared at him.
Now then, how do you plan to escape?