Something That Shouldn't Exist

"Human? What kind of species is that, Crab?"

"A species that lives on land like this instead of the sea. They look similar to merfolk, Your Highness."

Humans and merfolk really didn't look all that different.

From the waist up, at least.

Setting aside the fish tail, a mermaid and a human were nearly identical in appearance.

"I see, Crab."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"...Then let me ask you point-blank, Crab."

Snap.

The jaws of Crabnius's pincer clamped shut with force — the movement of someone reining in his fury with every ounce of restraint he had left.

"Are you a lackey of the Second Prince, Crabcrous, Crab?"

I'd expected him to circle around it, but I hadn't expected him to come at me head-on like this. Still, my answer had been ready for a while now.

"...Since you put it that way, Your Highness, I won't hide it. But will you permit me to explain myself first?"

"Granted, Crab."

"The reason I crossed the vast sea to reach the Crab Empire was not simply because I coveted a knight's seat."

The reason I had crossed over was—

Pfft.

"?"

"Is something the matter, Crab?"

"...N-no, nothing."

I shouldn't have looked at the chat window.

Anyway, that wasn't what I meant to say.

"What I desire is not a seat, but something rare."

"Something rare, Crab? Do you mean pearls, Crab?"

"Nothing so ordinary as currency."

Not that I'd turn down money, of course — but what I wanted was something special. A weapon, perhaps, or a unique blessing, a buff, a piece of equipment. Failing that, even knowledge would do.

The Crab Empire is a great empire that has endured through seventeen generations.

From what I'd skimmed in the records, the current Emperor, Crabgrandonis, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was well past fifty — which meant that counted in reign-lengths, the empire had stood for nearly a thousand years. Somewhere in a millennium of accumulated spoils, there might be something I could use — something like Nerindia's Blessing.

Or, failing that...

There might be a clue connecting this place to Deoen.

Whatever it turned out to be, for now I had nothing to lose.

Snap.

Crabnius's eyes sharpened.

"...What is it you know, Crab?"

"What do you mean?"

"......No, nothing, Crab. My assessment of the human species seems to be shifting a little, Crab."

Crabnius appeared to deliberate for a moment. He began to say "that thing is...", then shut his mouth and looked down at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me with eyes that had surged upward.

"You haven't already gone to Crabcrous first, have you, Crab?"

"I have not."

"And if the price proves unsatisfactory, will you turn to him then, Crab?"

"I am not the betraying sort."

Though we're hardly anything to each other yet, are we.

There it is! The vice-captain bared his razor-sharp pincers. Stung by my last remark, he bristled with killing intent, ready to strike me down at any moment — but Crabnius held him back.

"Yes, Crab. A fortune like this could never have come to me alone, Crab."

The First Emperor prepared for a day just like this.

"...?"

"Follow me, Crab. I will show you something humans do not have, Crab."

"Y-Your Highness! Crab!"

"Open the door, Crab."

"B-but, this is the Imperial Secret Vault... and the ones behind you—"

"Open it, Crab."

Deeper even than the innermost reaches of Crabnius's palace. The moment we reached that deep underground chamber, the guards charged with protecting the great vault moved to block Crabnius's path.

But no matter how far Crabnius's influence had fallen, this was still his palace. As long as Crabnius remained master of these halls, there was no crab alive who could bar his access to the vault.

Crabnius opened the door with a key long ago entrusted to him by the Emperor, Crabgrandonis himself.

KUUUUGUGUGUNG!!

The massive doors meshed together on great wheels and ground open, revealing an enormous cavern hewn from golden sandstone.

Step. Step. Step.

The cavern was so vast that even our faint footsteps boomed and echoed across it.

"Do you know, Crab? Long ago, the Crab Empire was divided into countless tribes and nations, all at war, Crab."

Grind...

"The First Emperor, Crabapuosis, annihilated seven kingdoms and three tribal confederations and proclaimed a single empire, Crab. It was a greatness unmatched in all crab history, Crab."

Clack.

"To secure his legitimacy, the Emperor razed every structure in every kingdom that was not the Crab Empire — but he did not destroy their vaults, Crab. It was ages ago, but their vaults remain to this day, Crab."

At the far end of the cavern, another door came into view.

Two keyholes. One was an ordinary keyhole; the other was a hole wide enough for a massive pincer to fit inside.

Crabnius inserted a key into each hole and waited a moment.

DRDRDRDRDR—!!!

"It falls short of my father's palace and the lately-rising Second Prince's, Crab. But I suspect this place suits you better, Crab."

"Just what are you planning to give me—"

The words died in my throat.

"Of the seven kingdoms, the weakest and smallest was the Crabkin Kingdom, Crab. Their bodies were tiny, so they fought wearing hard, razor-edged equipment in place of pincers, Crab."

Much like you, in fact, Crab.

"......"

"Equipment like these should serve you well, Crab. Come to think of it, you seemed to wield a skewer called a spear — if it's a spear you want, over there is... Crab."

"......"

"Crab?"

Because there was something there that had no right to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠exist.

The vault was filled with countless weapons — and at its very center, suspended within a glass tube, floated an enormous hammer gleaming with a crimson sheen.

Instinct reacted first.

Before Crabnius could so much as raise a pincer to stop me, my hand — already laden with mana and wind — shattered the glass and seized the hammer's haft.

The hammer settled into my grip as naturally as if it had always belonged there.

A sharp outer shell that recalled a pincer's jagged edge. A length twice my own height, a striking surface many times my body's breadth. An armament imbued with the power of a predator — the very symbol of merciless force.

The Red Predator.

Without question, a weapon my past self had once wielded with these very hands.

Nine years had passed since I gave up the mantle of Saintess.

By then I was far more accustomed to the life of a huntress than a holy maiden, and I stood in the path of an ancient monster wreathed in crimson — red eyes, red hide, red everything.

The creature had the body of a crab, shell and pincers both, and it was laying waste to a city teeming with people.

Its reason was nothing more than a tantrum.

The war between the celestial race and the demon race had been escalating. By pure chance, the shockwave of an attack had ricocheted outward, piercing the ocean's surface and wounding the creature in the shoulder — a thing that dwelled in the deep sea.

It was only a stray blast, but the ancient monster raged, hurled itself onto land, and was now taking its revenge out on humanity.

I asked it.

"You got hit by the celestials and demons, so why take it out on humans?"

"Weakness is a crime, you empty-headed birdbrain! And you're half of both — which makes you a perfectly fitting target for my vengeance! KUAHAHAHAHA!"

Dozens of times my size.

No — hundreds, thousands of times larger, an ancient monster.

And it laughed as it butchered humans.

That was the defining trait of the ancient monsters. They despised the celestial and demon races for being born strong — yet treated anything weaker than themselves, anything born frail, as insects. When they suffered, they raged — but never at the celestials or demons who had actually harmed them. Always at someone else.

"...I don't care for the celestials or the demons myself. But I can't say I'm fond of you, either."

"A half-breed has a lot to say. You're not even the real thing — what could a mere byproduct possibly do?"

"Half-breed."

That was generous of it.

In truth, I wasn't even half of anything.

The colossal pincer, heavy with unimaginable force, came swinging down at me — a mass reminiscent of a small meteor. The overwhelming cascade of power crashed into my body and finally split the earth itself with a thunderous roar.

"K-KUAHAHAHAHA! I have slain celestials before, you kno—"

The creature laughed.

"...Guh? GUAAAAAAAARGH!!!"

And then it broke.

Through the cascade of crimson shards raining down, a pure white light bloomed.

"Scum."

The great hammer, charged with the light of the divine, delivered its judgment.