Chapter 186
Chapter 186
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 186
Chapter Title: S4. Succubus's Dream / Annihilation Squad of the 440th Year -6
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Inside the academy's dessert cafe.
Analyst C of the Imperial Defense Bureau had agreed to hear out Violet Magic Tower Master Yuna Yurensuto Violetiris. She set a cup of coffee on the table and began her story.
"What happened in the year 440, you say?"
"Yeah. Even stories from outside that year are fine, as long as they involve Yuri."
"I heard she was in a coma... What exactly is her condition?"
"Session... Ugh. She's swallowed up in a nightmare reconstructed from her memories. That's why I'm asking for information. It helps break the nightmare."
C seemed convinced. Her eyes grew distant for a moment, as if rummaging through long-buried memories. Seeing her tone and expressionless face, Yuna suddenly felt that Yuri and C looked remarkably alike.
Even their insistence on suit fashion.
Their hair color, eye color, and builds were all different, so blood relations were out of the question, but...
As Yuna's round violet eyes scanned C's appearance two or three times, she opened her mouth and began.
"That was... the time when Yuri and I were living together."
"Living together?!"
"Should I call it being her supervising investigator? She was a key witness in uncovering the Succubus Queen's true nature, and her circumstances were so pitiful that I kept her under protective surveillance while living together. In my mansion."
"Ah..."
So that's how it was!
Yuna had thought it strange. How could a green rookie like Yuri, who couldn't even adapt to the Annihilation Squad, afford to live in a mansion?
Her village had been obliterated, so she had no fortune left, and she wouldn't have seduced men for money either.
To begin with, the Annihilation Squad didn't seem like the type to pay well. Vengeful spirits worked for relatively low wages. They had clear purposes.
Just like how, even though the Violet Tower was strapped for research funds compared to other towers... everyone stayed without leaving.
So she wouldn't have been given enough to buy a mansion!
Before entering, Yuna and the mad wizard had detected a 'gap for one person.' The Queen had deliberately erased one piece of data. That must have been C.
If C had been Yuri's guardian figure, erasing her would remove Yuri's emotional pillar.
Thankfully, the mad wizard had neatly filled that spot...
Her stiff speech and suit style—had she picked those up from living with him? Tracing back someone's childhood through familiar people was intriguing. Yuna propped her chin with both hands and asked.
"Yuri... didn't adapt well to the Annihilation Squad, huh...?"
"Yes. They're like wild dogs—biting anyone who looks weak is their daily routine. She endured quite a bit of bullying, from what I know."
"Oh dear..."
"I focused on her mental care and repeatedly suggested other departments, but she wouldn't deny that 'the Annihilation Squad offers the highest chance of personal revenge.'"
The place with the highest chance of revenge would be rising through promotions to a high position. Like commanding others, as C did.
But with her own hands? That would be tough. If C demanded to personally tear apart the Succubus Queen, Irid would block it. No wasting valuable personnel.
But the Annihilation Squad respected individual vendettas enough to exploit that drive. They could drive a spear into her heart themselves—
Yuri must have been drawn to that pitch, C said.
"She came back badly hurt many times. Trying to make those dog-like bastards acknowledge her, she'd swing at adults too and get carried back after taking hits."
"...Huh, rougher than I thought?"
Well, even now, after all this time, her triggered revenge burned fiercely. Imagining its intensity in childhood was easy enough.
Just look at the Bens ton mansion incident with Magical Girl Pure Knight.
Yuri Lancer had seethed with rage at the mere traces of the Succubus Queen, needing deep breaths to calm down for a while.
She took the wounds. She hated the Annihilation Squad's bastards. But she endured because she had to tear the Queen apart with her own hands. Yuna could understand that.
"Hmm."
From what the mad wizard said, young Yuri had a quite delicate look. Had the Queen suppressed her aggression a bit...?
As Yuna tilted her head suspiciously, C continued.
"But looking back, that bullying led her to awaken Metamorphosis. Should I call it a blessing in disguise?"
"Ah, that chain-binding thing...? When did she awaken it? Dream-Yuri can't use it yet."
"Chain-binding... Yes. As I recall, while chasing the black mage group 'Crimson Regeneration,' she made a mistake. Or rather, she acted in a way unfit for the Annihilation Squad."
Compassion.
She'd shown compassion to a child suspected of ties to 'Crimson Regeneration.' The kid was indeed connected, and as payback for her mercy, Yuri took a blade—and awakened Metamorphosis right there.
Binding and sinking herself in chains so tight it saddened onlookers.
"But that timing was fortunate."
"Fortunate...?"
"In the following battle to subjugate 'Crimson Regeneration,' she crushed the enemies' Illusion Magic and shone brightly. Reviewing the battle logs afterward, we concluded we wouldn't have won without her Metamorphosis."
Better a mental scar than death, right? C said with a smile. Yuna smiled ambiguously, neither affirming nor denying.
The mad wizard's info-bomb setup rate was climbing steadily.
Detonate them all at once, and the session forcibly clears. No need for keys or anything—the wizard heads to layer 2.
So... no matter how much the Queen dragged her feet, the story ends around the Crimson Regeneration subjugation. Nothing beyond.
The Queen knew that too. So why cling so desperately? Using the subjugation as the main event? Betting everything there?
If so, dream-Yuri might need to suffer a bit more.
A battle unwinnable without Yuri's Metamorphosis. With the mad wizard inside, he'd win with raw physicality and wits... but at a cost.
But an 'originally winnable fight' minimizes that cost.
Dream-Yuri hadn't awakened yet. Wait for her 'mistake,' or prod her emotions earlier to force it.
There was guilt.
Making Yuri suffer for their sake. Even if it was to save her—pain was pain, wounds were wounds.
But.
That was the plan. Preserve the mad wizard's resources till then, and it was a guaranteed win.
Yuna relayed this to the wizard.
I agonized over it plenty.
Even after getting info from Yuna, I agonized a ton.
Rationally, I'd decided. The Queen's intent was clear.
Think.
I'm at the chessboard with the Queen. Reading her expression hidden beyond the shadows. I glimpse it faintly.
She's consistently wanted 'Yuri's wounds.'
Yeah.
From stuffing me into that pig black mage's body, weaving misunderstandings, picking the year 440 as stage, dangling bait when I tried going to the festival with Yuri to block it.
And excluding Kirby, the ally role, from the story.
Acting like she wanted young Yuri hurt. To extract mana from her pain? Or make her hate me enough to attack?
I couldn't pinpoint the goal.
But ultimately, helping Yuri was the right call.
I'd moved completely against her intent. Chatted with her, joined the festival, laughed and chatted.
But I couldn't purely enjoy this luck because emotion overrode reason in choosing it.
This was... greed.
Yuri's tragic past gripped and shook my heart. Seeing someone precious suffer like this, emotions run wild inevitably.
So.
I wanted Yuri to have at least this happy moment in the dream. It wasn't time travel, just a dream—no changing the real past.
But memories linger after it ends. I hoped she'd think of me looking back on this. Even if reality differed, I wanted 'Mima,' the imaginary friend, by her side.
So she'd cool that boiling rage enough not to leave my side, abandon the impulse to go lone-wolf throat-slitting.
Walk with me instead. Something like that.
So why agonize repeatedly?
It's going great. I'm stubbornly chasing what she tried blocking. Sneer at the bait, enjoy the festival with Yuri, done.
Keep her happy till the end, get the key from her, descend, start round 2.
But... something nagged at my heart.
I had to check. Instinct screamed I must confirm this part.
I chose to strike the Queen's exposed throat.
......
The sky collapses straight at me. Visually dizzying, but adjusting sight to info density alone...
Waves of data crash over me. Much easier to perceive.
Collide with passing NPCs. Barely skinned shells, but good material. I fold info into sharp contaminants.
Stuff with math problems; on contact with their processors, force computation... Problem bombs. Make three, hurl simultaneously.
Sizzle. Zzzt-zzzt.
Waves lag and stutter.
Bought time—counterattack. Shred magic into rats, unleash everywhere. They gnaw buildings, ground, sky, burrow in.
Burrowing magic contaminates internals, forces replication. Virus-like. I seize temporary control over tainted info.
Clench my fist.
Boomph-!!
Explosions from within scatter it. Textures hollow into black voids, cracks spiderweb everywhere.
Felt like a world-ending demon king. Fitting, since I was smashing a nightmare.
I dominated.
Despite the odds, the Queen showed no retreat. Her info veil cracked bit by bit; now I saw her silhouette. Eerily familiar.
Meanwhile, my greed kept prodding.
You're dancing to her tune— No, Yuri's face kept surfacing. Time passed. She'd be waiting.
Yuri must be searching for absent Mima.
"'Sky Piercer'."
Vrrrrmm──!!
A massive drill erupts from the ground. Vicious spike at the tip. A few thrusts to punch holes in reality.
Grind. Drilling starts. Veil shatters with each boom shaking the world, revealing the Queen more. Almost got her.
Capture her, and it's over.
Crack. Shards fly; her left eye exposed. Dull, empty socket. She thrashed desperately, but I controlled it all.
She must've gone back.
Yuri went home. Not idiotically waiting. Saw I was late, figured something came up...
Back home, stewing complaints. Primed to grill me on why. Yeah.
She wouldn't wait.
Grind. Crk.
Impatience and anxiety fueled... Gather info, whip it like a lash. Path warps, smashes people and an inn midair. Sky rumbles.
The Queen had a ponytail. Didn't suit her at all.
This area was time-warped chaos from info war—sun and moon jumbled—but outside, probably moonlight.
"Shadows at your feet, peeking through wardrobe cracks..."
As I prepped another strike to shatter her veil.
A fractured space-slice mirrored Yuri far off, like glass. Clouds veiled the moon; dim night.
Yuri stood blankly at the dead campfire clearing. Still.
Over and over, turning to leave. But couldn't step, turned back. Face a mess. Expression twisted serpent of hope and despair, dried tear tracks lingering.
"......"
My heart plummeted. Thud.
I didn't expect it'd hurt this much. Excuses change nothing. It's done. But.
Not too late. She was waiting. Still.
I knew finishing fully would take time. That Yuri would wilt slowly in it. She hurt now.
Check Queen.
Exhausted. Clinging to her veil, panting. No more threats. Just enduring.
Heart won.
"...Damn it, 'Gate-Step Realm-Ascend'!"
Bound her. Veil and all, tight and precise. No one undoes it unless old man Queen comes knocking.
I'll finish properly later.
Folded space, raced. To Yuri. To gather shattered heart shards.
And so... he tightly bound the fake Queen and ran off chasing love.
That seal was solid. Truly. Hard to melt even if found. He'd rigged it to signal him if touched, so that brief leeway shouldn't cause issues.
But... because of that brief leeway, he never identified his rival—the fake Queen—who'd bickered through the tale.
Maybe he could've pieced it from clues so far. He's sharp and capable, after all.
But he didn't notice. Why? No interest. The Queen was the vulture eyeing his beloved Yuri.
No wonder. Jealousy fools even the smartest.
Annihilation Squad member, brainwashed pitiful kid by evil statue, my living chair, now dream-Queen proxy. He amusingly called her 'Black Dyke.' So vulgar, right...?
The character 'Queen.'
Her name is Seris.
Mid-transit, Yuna whispered.
-Hey, was that... really okay...?
"......"
Truthfully, no. But that expression... I had to erase it, risks and costs be damned.
Too late. No, not yet.
-Wa, it...
Yuna's voice faded as I reached the clearing. Stepping aside to not interrupt Yuri?
She stood blankly still.
I deliberately rustled. Footsteps. Yuri's small frame twitched with anticipation. But no look back.
Fear of another letdown.
Wind rustles, birds flit—how many thrills, reactions, deceptions? Turning to empty swaying leaves... how much disappointment?
No confidence to watch that, using victory or efficiency as excuse.
So.
"...Did I keep you too long?"
With that arrival line, I resolved to make up for every letdown.
Yeah. Damn it, scoop up every bit. Not a protagonist-suffers-to-happy-end tale, but daily life overflowing joy each moment.
And end the story with laughter to the last.