Nightfall - The Time When Everything Ends (4)

Hidden bosses in games often wield power on an entirely different scale from ordinary boss monsters.

That is because a hidden boss is, by definition, a concealed existence—one a player following the normal route will never encounter. Developers therefore tend to artificially inflate its strength. The Calamity God, Nightfall’s hidden boss and true final boss, was no exception.

The mere fact that “the First Hunter, Ariandel,” who serves as the final boss on the regular route, is nothing more than an apostle of the Calamity God already hints at the gulf between them.

Yet in this moment Yujin realized he had no need to weigh the Calamity God’s strength by such meta-game considerations.

The instant his eyes met the Calamity God’s, message windows flooded the screen without end. And in that same instant Yujin understood that his body had gone completely haywire—thanks to Insanity maxing out.

No: more precisely, the body was still moving, but not according to his will. It moved on its own. When he tried to raise his right hand, his left foot jerked. When he tried to shift his left ankle, his right knee bent of its own accord. At this rate he could not even walk properly, let alone fight the Calamity God.

So this is the side effect of Insanity hitting maximum—body and mind both drowned in madness?

Clicking his tongue at his own mistake, Yujin flicked his gaze around the chamber.

“Khhehehehe…! Khahahahaha…!”

“O great Ruler of R'lyeh…! Bestow Your mercy upon us, we beg You…!”

“Die, die! The End, the great rest, is coming!”

The Star’s Descendants who had been performing the summoning ritual around the Livre d’Ivon had all lost their minds; they babbled words that made no sense.

“M-Master…! Flee from this place—flee! That thing is an existence no human ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠power can ever oppose…!”

And Yuria, blood tears streaming from both eyes, still forced out desperate advice, urging him to escape.

…Blood tears?

For a moment Yujin felt a flicker of confusion at the sight of blood welling from Yuria’s eyes.

Isn’t Yuria just a simple puppet doll? Yet she’s shedding blood tears?

But this was no time for leisurely speculation about her physical structure. Leave her weeping blood and some worse problem was sure to follow.

Move!

Insanity at maximum kept his body from obeying, yet he poured Willpower into every limb and forced himself into motion. He closed the distance to Yuria and planted himself in front of her, shielding her from the Calamity God’s gaze.

“Haaah…”

Only then did a faint calm return to Yuria’s face. Relief touched Yujin—yet he knew at once that relief was a luxury he could not afford.

…Strong.

The Ruler he had fought before—the Star-Gazer—had been formidable in its own right. Without Willpower and the forms of the Demon-Slaying Sword, Yujin might well have lost. But the reason that fight had been so hard was that he had still been unfamiliar with virtual-reality games and, more importantly, severely restricted in his use of Willpower.

Things were not dramatically different now, and yet Yujin could say with certainty: if he faced the Star-Gazer again today, he would win without the same struggle.

But this—

I can’t even get a read on it.

Staring at the Calamity God, Yujin clicked his tongue before he knew it. He was certain. That being possessed power no different from a god’s—at least inside this world.

The Calamity God beat wings that recalled a bat’s and projected Its will.

Yujin’s brows knitted at the words.

“King of Humans? Sorry, but I’m no king.”

“.....”

“I killed your blood kin, the Star-Gazer, and you still acknowledge me? To you I ought to be the murderer of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠your own flesh and blood.”

At Yujin’s question the Calamity God regarded him with a gaze that was genuinely amused.

Then that same gaze slid past Yujin to Yuria, who trembled behind him.

“…What?”

Yujin’s brow furrowed.

The “apostle” the Calamity God spoke of—the one bound by fate to Yuria—could only be—

“Are you talking about Ariandel right now?”

The Calamity God’s tone was utterly indifferent as It confirmed it.

For an instant Yujin doubted his ears.

“…Blood kin? Who, whose?”

At those words Yuria’s body gave an involuntary shudder.

The truth. The past she had lost—the past she could never again recall. And she did not want to learn that truth here, in this form.

But—

The truth was more brutal than Yuria had imagined.

The Calamity God laughed. To It, all of this was nothing more than an amusing diversion. And both Yujin and Yuria understood that every word was true—because to the Calamity God, humans were no better than insects, and no one bothers to lie to insects.

“Why?”

Yujin asked.

At the Calamity God’s answer, every expression drained from Yujin’s face. It was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠not simply that the words had set his blood boiling.

Tightly—

Behind him, Yuria’s trembling hands carefully seized the hem of his clothes.

“…Master. Ariandel is a traitor to humanity.”

“Yeah.”

“He created a false paradise, deceived countless hunters, and cast Arkham into darkness.”

“I know.”

“He fell to an apostle of the Calamity God, raised his blade against you, and even tried to kill you—a bastard of the worst kind.”

“I know that too.”

“But even so… it seems he truly was my father after all… truly…”

Strength entered the fingers that clutched his clothes. That was why Yujin did not turn around to look at her. He did not want to see what expression she wore right now.

Instead of looking back, he took one step forward toward the Calamity God.

For the first time in a very long while, he was truly, sincerely angry.