Kimi to Boku no Saigo no Senjo, Aruiha Sekai ga Hajimaru Seisen - Volume 12 - Chapter 2.2

2

Empire, eighth checkpoint (northeast).

Had this been a time of peace, a line of a dozen private vehicles likely could have been spotted at the inspection area, but the checkpoint was as good as deserted.

The Grand Witch Nebulis had struck.

Because the Grand Witch had revived after a century of slumber and attacked the seventh checkpoint, all civilians had been evacuated from the area.

“Perfect. They made the right decision.”

Clack…clack…

Along with the orderly echo of footsteps, a man in a mask sauntered right through the gate of the checkpoint.

“Now, if you’d like to know what is most wonderful about it, it’s that they were perfectly correct in choosing to leave the Empire. From today, the Imperial territory will become a sea of flames. Instead of running through this checkpoint into the Empire, they fled to the neutral cities. What a wise decision.”

The sound of a buzzer—the warning alarm—rang out. The moment the masked man had taken a single step through the gate, the sensor equipped at the checkpoint had begun to flash a bright red.

It was a large-scale astral-energy sensor. The masked man showed no sign of being disturbed by the clamor as he continued to walk through.

“And thanks to that, we are free to move as we like. It would be most irritating to have civilians making a fuss during our skirmish with the Imperial forces, after all.”

A dozen or so men and women followed after him. Though they were disguised as suit-wearing civilians, as they passed by, the astral-energy detectors continued to blare. The alarm was shrill and strikingly loud as it howled.

“I apologize for keeping you waiting, dear Uncle.”

A girl wearing a blindfold gracefully walked toward him. She was likely thirteen, maybe fourteen. Her long black hair had a beautiful sheen, and her dress was gorgeous and ornate. Though her eyes were covered, her delicate nose and mouth made her look as charming as a doll.

The buzzer began to sound even louder. The alarm made it clear this girl possessed more astral energy than the masked man and his subordinates combined.

“I had lunch,” she said.

“That was very quick, Kissing. You could have taken your time, you know.”

Uncle.

Lord Mask turned to the black-haired girl, Kissing.

“We need a break as it is. It will take some time for Shanorotte to meet us here, and we will not be able to invade the Imperial capital as confidently without her guidance.”

“Will we meet her here?”

Kissing looked slightly hesitant, which was highly unusual for her. It seemed she had reservations about what her uncle—the dearest person in the world to her—had just told her.

“ ”

“What is it, Kissing? If you have something on your mind, do speak up.”

“It’s too noisy here.”

“Ah yes, I suppose you are right. You can turn off the sensor, and the gate as well… Hmm? How odd.” Lord Mask placed a hand on his chin and pondered something. Kissing looked up at him in curiosity. “We have activated the alarms, after all. I would expect the Imperial soldiers to come rushing in… Did they really evacuate every single person from the checkpoint?”

The Imperial forces had yet to show hide or hair of themselves. Considering the clamor the alarm was making, the Imperial soldiers on guard should have naturally come running, but not a single one had appeared.

“Our Revered Founder is attacking the checkpoint next to this one. I could understand if they sent over reinforcements, but it seems rather foolish to leave this place entirely unguarded.”

The Founder was currently attacking the seventh checkpoint. Because of that, the Nebulis Sovereignty had sent assassins to another location in order to infiltrate the Empire while she created an opening. It was an old trick that the Imperial forces should have been able to anticipate.

“And this is still the border, after all. There should be at least one or two soldiers here to communicate with the rest of the forces. What in the world are the Imperials thinking?”

He headed toward the inspection area with his subordinates and Kissing walking behind him. The alarm continued to wail, trying to warn others of an unprecedented number of astral-corps members attempting to invade the location.

It continued for seconds…then minutes…

Regardless of how long they waited, not a single soldier showed any sign of storming in.

Why?

Then their malaise grew, turning into full-blown suspicion.

“Are those people?”

The moment one of the subordinates said this, they noticed a pile of bodies scattered around the inspection area. The closer they approached, the more striking the scene became. And there, Lord Mask saw something most peculiar indeed.

“What in the world is this?!”

They were Imperial soldiers who were still holding on to their guns. Some still sat in the driver’s seat of their vehicles, but not a single one so much as moved or opened their eyes.

The entire force had been decimated.

What could it mean?

Just what had happened?

“What is this…?” Even Kissing expressed her confusion.

They had been prepared to fight the Imperial forces once they arrived, yet someone else had come before them and annihilated their hundred-year-old enemy. And of all places, they’d defeated the soldiers at the border.

“Uncle, what do you think happened?”

“You wait here, Kissing, though I doubt they’re pretending to have fallen.” Lord Mask wandered alone into the space.

He observed them. The strangest thing he noticed was that not a single soldier seemed to have any external wounds. Then what had done this to them?

“It doesn’t seem to be poison gas. My, my…”

Thump.

He kicked a soldier’s head. They did not react. However, he noticed the slightest, nearly imperceptible movement of the soldier’s chest as it rose and fell. He could also just barely hear the soldier breathe as well.

“So they’re alive… Which means they’re sleeping…or rather they’ve been knocked unconscious? But this is still strange, nonetheless. Especially as the alarm is making such a clamor, and they show no sign of waking.”

Something felt off. In fact, it went beyond that—it felt ominous.

He knew of astral powers that could hypnotize, but the Imperial forces were the very people who would be the most likely to dedicate themselves to finding countermeasures to such attacks.

Yet those very people had been wiped out?

And not even one had been hurt in the process. All of them were fast asleep. This seemed incredibly unrealistic. He had never seen such a tranquil method of defeating soldiers before.

“This is truly odd. Someone dealt with the Imperial forces before us? But it looks as though they never fought, which means…”

He couldn’t come up with scenarios that would have resulted in this. Even as the proxy leader of the Zoa, one of the royal families, Lord Mask couldn’t think of any method that could incapacitate the Imperial forces in such a manner.

And that irritated him.

“Come, Kissing. It seems we can approach this area, but make sure not to accidentally touch them.”

“Yes, dearest Uncle.”

The girl gracefully walked toward him; however, she stopped right before she entered the area.

“…”

“What is it, Kissing?”

“……No.”

“Hmm?”

“Nooo! Ahhh!”

Her scream could no longer form intelligible words. In front of Lord Mask and the subordinates, the girl began to suddenly spasm as she held her head and screamed. The blindfold she wore fluttered down to reveal her eyes, which glowed purple.

Kissing Zoa Nebulis IX had a great gift.

Her astral crest appeared within her eyes. All astral mages had crests that would appear on their bodies. However, never in history had anyone had a crest in their eyes except Kissing. She could see astral energy.

Kissing visualized astral energy with tens of thousands—even a million—times greater precision than any Imperial cutting-edge sensor.

Because of that, Kissing was a secret weapon. She was the Zoa family’s weapon for their scheme to fight against astral mages.

“No…! Don’t…don’t come near me!”

And now that very girl was screaming.

She had seen something. Right at that moment, in that space, she had seen a monster the likes of which she had never seen before drawing near.

“Kissing? Calm down. What in the world do you see—?”

“Oh, I thought I recognized you.”

A flirtatious voice echoed around them.

Right in front of Lord Mask and the others, a black current began pouring out from a crack in the paved road—a black vortex.

That was all it could be described as. The black current spiraled into the air and condensed into a humanoid silhouette. It turned into a pitch-black monster without eyes or a mouth.

Thump…

It was as though their hearts were being squeezed. Cold sweat began to drip from Lord Mask’s brow.

“What?!”

Immediately, he grabbed Kissing and pushed her behind him. With just one look, he understood the Imperial forces had been annihilated by this monster—and it was also what Kissing had seen.

“ ”

The monster stared at him but suddenly turned away to face the fallen soldiers.

“Are you worried about them, Lord Mask? They were so rude. They called me a monster and began to attack me. So I decided to punish them a bit.”

“Wha—?!” He was so surprised, his voice cracked. How did this monster know his name?

“Now, what do we have here…?” He hid Kissing, who continued to shiver, behind him and took a step forward. He was in front of his subordinates, after all. If he, their leader, flinched, it would affect his troops’ morale. “Why would such a grotesque being know my name?”

“How uncalled for,” the thing said dramatically as it placed a hand on its cheek and feigned being hurt. “Did you forget who I am, Lord Mask? But we had such an exhilarating tryst in the Moon Spire.”

“What?!”

“Oh, I kid.” The monster’s voice returned to its usual tone without skipping a beat. It laughed like a devil. “My voice echoes so much in this form that it seems humans have trouble hearing me. But what a disappointment to see even you can’t recognize me.”

It traced a fingertip over its large bosom. Had the monster been human, its curves most certainly would have been described as captivating. And its voice had taken on a bewitching tone.

“…” There was only one person who came to mind. “Elletear…is that you?”

“What an honor it is that you realized.”

His subordinates began to murmur. Of course they wouldn’t be able to hold back their shock. The greatest beauty of the palace—no, the greatest beauty in the Sovereignty—and this black mist-like monster were nothing alike. It was as though she were a shadow of herself.

“Then did you do this to the Imperial forces?”

“It was such an enjoyable endeavor.” The monster that claimed to be Elletear opened her arms wide. “I showed what is supposedly the largest military force in the world a little love, and they helplessly fell right over. How very, very adorable they are.”

“Oh…?” Lord Mask’s impression of the situation changed with that response. Learning how the first princess of the Lou family had ended up like this, what power she had used on the Imperial forces—those were things to figure out later. Understanding what had happened would take time. The most appropriate action now would be to determine how he could use her and her power to defang the Imperial forces. With the Founder and Elletear, they would be able to take down the Imperial capital in a single night.

“Shall we escort you, then?” He echoed Elletear’s actions and opened his own arms. “You are a fellow astral mage. Come with us, my dear Elletear. This is the most perfect time to destroy the Empire with our Revered Founder.”

“Yes, we do not need the Empire. As far as I am concerned, it can disappear.”

“Wonderful. In that case—”

“Just like the Sovereignty.”

She laughed.

For a moment, Lord Mask wasn’t able to understand the meaning behind her enchanting smile, and he simply stood there.

“What did you say…?”

“I no longer need the Sovereignty, the Revered Founder, or any member of the royal family at all! You’re no use to me.”

“What are you saying, my dear Elletear?” His voice grew hoarse, and his throat went dry. “You’re a Sovereign princess. You’re the queen’s own beloved daughter, aren’t you?”

“I am a witch.”

“?”

“I’ve always wanted to become one. The world’s final witch. The true witch. A being who neither the Empire nor the Sovereignty can stop.”

The monster once again placed a hand on her breast.

“Who cares about the Founder or purebred types? A country ruled only by the select astral mages from the royal family isn’t a paradise. So I will destroy it. I will destroy the Zoa, Hydra, and Lou, and I will create a true paradise.”

“…”

“Rejoice, Lord Mask. The Zoa family’s most cherished wish to destroy the Empire comes true today. So please worry not as you fall as well.”

“Wait… I don’t understand what you mean by all this, but…” Under his mask, his eyes were as sharp as a hawk’s. “I suppose this means the thing in front of me isn’t Elletear—you’re simply a monster!”

“I’m glad to see you’re quick on the uptake.” The monster of darkness’s voice was jubilant with delight. “Even I was hesitant to harm a person who wouldn’t resist. So please, go ahead and use your power against me. The royal family’s power, a purebred’s power.”

However…

She said briefly between her words, “It will be in vain.”

Clang!

A knife had pierced the road. It had gone right through Elletear’s transformed body and embedded itself in the ground behind her.

“Oh?”

“My, Lord Mask, how frightening. You would throw a knife at someone without warning?”

Elletear placed her hands around her own throat where the knife had traveled through. Had she been human, blood would have been spurting out, but the knife hadn’t so much as harmed her. It had simply passed through her like a blade going through water or air. It was most likely the same for the Imperial forces’ bullets and cannon fire.

“I do wonder what trick is behind that. Behind your body.”

“It isn’t a body at all. Right now, I am something like a crystallization of astral energy.”

“So you’re astral power!”

“No, something more frightening than that.”

The true witch stretched out her hand to him. The subordinates behind Lord Mask readied themselves. They would not let her approach. Elletear’s, or the monster that she had become, power still remained a mystery, and given that she had taken down the Imperial forces, their best option was to stop her before she could use it again.

“This is an excuse I was not even looking to find…”

“What we are eradicating is a monster. She is not a Lou princess!”

They were the Zoa family’s elite troops. Fire, lightning, frost, and shock waves came from all directions and swallowed the monster in the blink of an eye. She had nowhere to run.

The dozens of astral powers collided and burst in a chain reaction; then, as the wind rushed out after the impact, it whipped through the entire checkpoint. The energy had condensed, and as it crystallized, light was released.

That was how powerful the barrage had been. Considering that, the epicenter of the maelstrom shouldn’t have allowed any physical material to remain intact…

“Oh, what a beautiful sound.”

Yet they heard her croon out. In the center of the crater that had been dug from the road, they found a monster gazing at the blue sky as though she was simply pensive about something or other. There was not a scratch on her.

“You all were born with powerful abilities. And the chorus your powers produce as they layer upon one another creates such a vigorous tone. I never had that. No matter how I wished for it, I was simply never born with that power. I do admire you, however…”

You are all fools.

“Uh?!”

“But we hit her! She’s unscathed?!”

The Zoa’s elite forces grimaced. They hadn’t defeated her at all. Instead of feeling pain, the monster had perceived their attacks as only a comforting “sound.”

“Now, all of you, of the Zoa household.” She spoke from deep within the crater.

Elletear—the monster—made her way up the slope. She took each step one at a time, walking slowly as though she enjoyed watching the astral corps standing outside the crater shudder in fear.

“Because you were blessed with powerful abilities from birth, you were treasured and praised before you were even aware of your surroundings. Because you led such brilliant, dazzling lives, you likely became conceited enough to believe you were the chosen ones. And that is what upsets me.”

It wasn’t like that for Elletear Lou Nebulis IX.

Her astral power had been too weak. Due to that single flaw, Elletear had been deemed a failure from birth. She wasn’t qualified to become queen. In the palace and in the Sovereignty, no one had sworn their allegiance to her. There was no value in a princess who had no promise of becoming queen.

She had always been alone.

“The Zoa, Hydra, and Lou are the same. You all thought you brought glory to the Sovereignty and were protectors of the astral mages’ paradise. But you are gravely mistaken.”

The Founder’s bloodline had become too proud.

If the Sovereignty were truly a paradise for all astral mages, why was someone such as Elletear cast aside as useless, as a failure of the royal family?

The weak astral mages had been rejected by the Empire, and the Sovereignty scorned them for being useless, so where were they meant to go to find their place?

“I will build it. I will build a true, loving paradise for the astral mages that is neither the Empire nor the Sovereignty.”

“In that form?” He sneered. The leader of the Zoa, Lord Mask, squeezed the black-haired girl’s right hand. “A human should serve humans. It would have been one thing if you were still a princess, but now no one would be drawn to a monster like you. Come now, Kissing.”

“…Uh!” Kissing Zoa Nebulis lifted her face. Her strange eyes that held her astral crest glared at the genuine witch standing before her.

“I…find you…frightening…but still…”

“Well, Ms. Kissing, it seems you’ve finally become capable of speaking for yourself. You seem much more mature than when I first met you.”

“Do not listen to the witch. I am with you.”

“Yes, dearest Uncle!” the purebred Kissing Zoa Nebulis howled. She threw out her hands toward the sky with such force that her dress fluttered about. “Disappear, you monster!”

March of thorns—the Whole of Creation.

The air trembled. Enough black thorns to blot out the sky had appeared at the checkpoint.

She had created tens of thousands of thorns made from astral power. If they all rained down on the checkpoint, the entire establishment would likely disappear. The thorns surrounded Elletear from all sides and pierced her at once.

“Ugh!”

The monster shrieked… But a moment later, even the scream disappeared under the thorns as though nothing had existed there in the first place.

“I-it’s gone?”

“Lady Kissing made it disappear with her thorns…?”

The subordinates stood there in stunned silence. In front of them, Lord Mask lovingly tousled the girl’s hair.

“Good job, Kissing. That was surprisingly easier than anticipated. It seems even after turning into a monster, she was powerless when erased from existence.”

“…Y-yes, dearest Uncle.” Kissing’s shoulders heaved as she attempted to breathe. That had been the largest and fastest attack she had made against anyone. She had no idea how the monster would react, so to prevent it from evading her or blocking her, she had used her full abilities.

“D-did it truly work…?” she asked.

“Yes, indeed. Just look. That terrible monster is gone… Ah yes. I truly did not wish for Elletear to meet an end like this. But allowing her to sleep forevermore is a mercy compared to letting her live as that monster.”

The subordinates began to clap quietly. It wasn’t clear whether they were applauding Kissing’s victory or sending off the princess who had turned into a monster.

“That battle left a rather terrible aftertaste. Now then…” Lord Mask lifted his hand. The applause stopped. The subordinates had understood what he meant, but there was one person who continued to clap.

“That’s enough.”

Clap, clap.

“I said that’s enough. Who is doing that?” Lord Mask turned around, but he found his people were not clapping. “Huh?!”

No one was clapping at all.

But he could clearly hear the applause continuing.

“It can’t be…?!”

“How terrible of you, Kissing. That was so very painful.”

Black light began to burble up from thin air. The dark current swirled until it condensed into the form of a person.

“…Impossible.”

Lord Mask felt a drop of cold sweat trickle down his cheek. Though his calm demeanor had not wavered even in front of the revived Founder, he was now consumed by an unprecedented fear. The black-haired girl beside him felt the same.

“Uh…n…no…”

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Kissing. Don’t look at me with such eyes full of fear. I’m still not used to others looking at me like that; it pains me.”

She laughed. Though her words were apologetic, she sounded positively gleeful.

“Then again, I suppose a witch is a terrifying thing, so it is fitting for how I am now.”

There was a faint glow around the throat of the dark, transparent monster. That was where Elletear’s astral crest had appeared when she was human.

“My astral power is Voice. All my power could do was mimic another person’s voice. I couldn’t use it in battle or for political gain. It was a useless ability with entertainment value at most.”

The monster dramatically turned to the heavens like an opera singer taking the stage.

“Now that I have this power and am in this form, both my astral power and I have been reborn. And my power has become the astral power of the planet’s song—one that sings of the end.”

Her Voice power had transformed into the Song astral power.

She was the divine star mutant. Whatever calamity had transformed Princess Elletear had also mutated her astral power.

“Listen to the world’s last witch and the blight of her song.”

And so the true witch sang. She sang the curse of calamity that would transform the very world.

“I will let you listen to the requiem of the planet.”