Nightfall - The Time to Kill Gods (4)
The moment Ariandel’s name left Yujin’s lips, the chat window ignited hotter than it ever had before.
“Ariandel… Does that mean the one standing before us is my former master?”
Yuria asked Yujin, clearly startled. On Ariandel’s side, he regarded her with a look of mild intrigue.
“Somehow I sensed a familiar presence… so it was the puppet. But where has your true body gone, and why are you trailing that young man in such a tiny form?”
The interest lasted only a moment. Ariandel’s gaze shifted to the holy sword in Yujin’s hand, and a meaningful smile curved his lips.
“Keh-heh-heh… So that was it. Puppet… no, Yuria. You had already abandoned me and found yourself a new master…”
“Mind your words. As I recall, our contract was like that from the very beginning. I was only serving you temporarily; I never truly regarded you as my master.”
Having said so, Yuria fixed Ariandel with a look of genuine disgust.
“But looking at you now, that was clearly the right choice. You claimed you would slay Arkham’s beasts for the sake of humanity, yet behind the scenes you contracted with a Ruler and became an apostle… Truly, you were a human of the most revolting sort.”
“My, how harsh. To speak so freely to your former master. And allow me to correct one thing: I am a man who cares for humanity more than anyone else in this world. In the past, and from now on as well. Always.”
“Ridiculous. A man who claims to care for humanity not only remodeled the hunters who followed him into ‘Descendants of the Stars,’ but even desecrated their corpses as he pleased?”
“Not remodeling—blessing. I specially petitioned the great Calamity God to bestow the power of the constellations upon them. Those insects ought to be thanking me instead, should they not?”
“Such… such absurd sophistry…!”
Yuria, bristling at Ariandel’s words, was about to retort further when Yujin quietly raised a hand and cut her off.
“Enough. Talking any more is pointless. It’ll just be a waste of time. Isn’t that right, old man?”
“Hmm… Young hunter. You understand me better than anyone after all. Well, I felt it from the first moment we met. I… somehow took a liking to you…”
At those words, Yujin simply snorted.
“You tried to kill me the first time we met, and now you’re talking like that.”
“It was not an attempt to kill you—it was a thread of mercy. I knew better than anyone what a wretched fate awaited a hunter who failed to enter ‘Paradise’ in Arkham…!”
“You said hunting beasts was a hunter’s duty. In that case, you won’t have any complaints if I kill you, will you?”
“Do not grow so arrogant simply because Yuria chose you. Mere human power is nothing but dust compared to the power of the Rulers who stand above even those constellations…!”
At a glance it might have seemed they were holding a conversation, but that was not the case at all. They were simply hurling the words they wanted to say at each other, one-sidedly.
“And you say you will kill me? I am sorry, young hunter, but your wish is nothing more than something that can never come true. For you are fated to die in this place…!”
Rumble—!
The instant Ariandel’s words ended, the ground began to shake violently, as if an earthquake had struck all of Arkham.
As the earthquake split the ground, something began surging up from beneath the earth. Its true form was none other than a colossal tower. And above it hung a moon that radiated a blood-chilling crimson light.
Kyaaaaaaaah—!
At the same time, a chorus of ghostly wails echoed across the entire city. The city that had been gloomy yet possessed a certain elegant gothic charm—Arkham—was gone without a trace. What remained in its place was nothing but a cursed city overflowing with grotesquery and malice!
Stage name has been changed.
City of Beasts Arkham → Madness-Manifested Demon Realm R'lyeh
Causality value has collapsed. Caution. This place is no longer a location where the principles of the present world apply.
The power of Alaya has been greatly weakened. The non-human aura upon this land grows even stronger.
Residents of R'lyeh, the subordinates of the Calamity God, can now appear in Arkham without any restrictions.
If R'lyeh completely overlaps with the present world, the minds of every human upon this land will completely collapse.
Current Insanity Value: 1%
“Good heavens… Arkham… is beginning to transform into R'lyeh…!”
The instant the city turned into something alien, Yuria spoke with a look of utter despair.
“Ariandel! Whatever method he used, he is trying to raise R'lyeh into this world. If this continues… if the Calamity God appears in the present world with its full power intact… it may not be just Arkham—humanity itself could face extinction!”
At Yuria’s words, Yujin lifted his head and took in the city’s scenery. A crimson moon that somehow dragged people into madness. An Insanity value that climbed rapidly just from breathing. Sticky, massive tentacles reminiscent of octopus limbs blanketing the entire city. And, most decisively, every manner of demonic beast catching the scent of the only “meat” present inside this demon realm and charging straight toward them.
Arkham was already no different from hell itself made manifest in the present world.
“It is an extremely desperate situation… but there is still hope. There is still a way left to save the world.”
Saying so, Yuria pointed with her finger toward the massive towers rising at the outer edges of Arkham in each of the four cardinal directions.
“Arkham is a city built by hunters and mystics joining forces. As such, this city is equipped with various devices to resist things from the ‘Outside.’ If we activate the devices located there, it will be possible to weaken the power of things that defy the principles of the present world—”
“Nah, I don’t think we need to bother with that.”
“…Pardon?”
Yujin cut Yuria’s words off cleanly midway.
“You said activating those devices weakens their power, right? Why the hell would we do something that wasteful?”
He had not witnessed it with his own eyes, but ever since R'lyeh had risen, he could sense the presence of things possessing considerable power on the far side. He had finally been thinking he might get a fight that made his heart pound—why on earth would he need to weaken the enemies’ power from his side?
“B-but if we do not activate those devices and weaken the enemies’ power, we will not be able to defeat them easily!”
“I’m confident I can slaughter every last one of them even without those devices.”
“Have you forgotten? We must resolve this entire situation before R'lyeh fully rises! To save time, we should activate those devices—”
“Wouldn’t charging in and killing all the enemies in the time it takes to get over there actually save more time?”
“.....”
Sensing that the conversation had started going somewhere strange, Yuria stared at Yujin with an expression of pure disbelief. Of course, even if Yuria made that face, Yujin was the sort of generous soul who could magnanimously forgive her for it.
There was an old saying: if your head is bad, your body suffers. But if you flipped that around, didn’t it mean that if your body was sturdy enough, your head didn’t have to suffer?
“In that sense, I will not be activating the devices that weaken the enemies’ power.”
Yujin said with a bright smile.
“Because that would make the game way too easy.”