Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 12 - Chapter 15

Chapter 15: A Glimpse of His Destination

A little before that, I remained a captive in the world of light. I kept resisting, but the pain and effort was agonizing.

“Ugh...”

Having invaded my being, Travis leaned over me, his hands around my neck.

“Ha ha ha ha. Serves you right, Majima Takahiro.”

He was no more than a vengeful ghost now, and his twisted smile and hateful speech suited him so well.

“Keep on suffering. Heh, heh heh. Ha ha ha ha ha.”

I tried to peel his fingers off my neck, but I didn’t have any strength in my hands. I forced myself to do it anyway, then heard unpleasant cracking sounds coming from all over my body.

In this world, the light projection of my body was covered in small cracks. I’d gotten them when I stopped Shiran from turning fully into a ghoul and when I rescued Lily from Takaya Jun. The cracks were like unhealable scars on my soul, and the sound of them deepening was my soul screaming that I was at my limit.

I continued to resist, right on the edge of my own destruction. It wasn’t just me either. Countless vines stretched across the darkness, trying to hold Travis back. Asarina and Salvia were lending me their strength. Although, even with their help, it wasn’t enough to get me out of this.

I’d gotten the upper hand over Travis at one point, but because I’d pushed myself too hard by using the Misty Lodge out in the real world, I’d lost a lot of my strength in this one. I no longer knew how long I’d spent resisting like this. I’d lost all sense of time, yet the endless suffering had just gone on and on.

Seeing me in agony, Travis laughed, then glanced at Asarina and Salvia. “You two are also quite the nuisance.”

The eyes that had been his namesake were gone, and his body looked like melted wax, unable to retain a proper form, but even in this state, he continued laughing at my suffering. His repulsive resentment was on full display.

“How about giving up already?” he asked.

“Don’t be stupid,” I replied. I had no intention of ever giving up. “Are you two all right, Salvia, Asarina?”

“Yes... I can keep going.”

“Ssster...”

They sounded exhausted, but their spirits were still strong.

“Thanks,” I said, reassured by this fact. I glared at the villainous face before me. “We haven’t lost, Travis. How about giving up yourself? You can’t even maintain your own form anymore, you know?”

This relic of salvation, Holy Water, certainly had a terrifying effect. Reduced to only a soul, Travis was rampaging inside me to his heart’s content. Still, this couldn’t go on forever.

Travis was like a lit candle at this point; he would eventually burn out and disappear. His body had crumbled a fair amount compared to when he’d first appeared. He seemed more and more like a poorly made clay doll, losing his human shape bit by bit. Perhaps conscious of this, Travis’s face spasmed, but his twisted smile quickly returned.

“Yes. You’re right. It’s only a matter of time now,” he said.

He admitted it, but he wasn’t the type to quietly accept defeat. A hateful grin was still plastered on his face.

“I’ll disappear,” he said. “You’ll survive. I wanted to crush your soul with my own hands, so that’s a bit of a disappointment.”

Travis’s smile only deepened, which made me more wary of him. His expression was brimming with sadistic intent.

“But that doesn’t mean I’ve lost,” he went on, his voice embodying his tenacity. “I haven’t been defeated. Actually, it’s more fun if you survive this.”

“Travis, what’re you—?”

I tried asking what he was getting at, but before I could, something occurred.

“Huh?”

Another light was born inside the darkness, one that wasn’t me. To be more precise, it’d always been there, but it was shining brighter than before. I shared this world with my servants, so their lights were always nearby.

The reason I hadn’t sensed them until now was because Travis and the power of his Holy Water were getting in the way. His tenacity and undue resentment had blinded me with darkness, but now, a beautiful red light had flared up, piercing through that veil with a special heat that allowed it to reach this far all on its own.

The warmth was so reassuring, yet so fleeting. I knew by instinct that it was the brilliance of a light ready to burn itself out.

“Rose...?”

Perhaps because of the mental path, I could easily guess who it was. The light turned into a projection, and a familiar girl appeared. I was bewildered by the sudden change and found myself captivated by the sight, unable to look away. Rose was smiling so happily.

I’d never seen her like this. She looked so cheerful, as if she’d found her most precious treasure. Her smile was so attractive that any who saw it would be liable to fall in love. There was a brilliance to her that embodied everything about being a young girl.

And her smile was definitely directed at me. Her earnest eyes reflected only my figure. I faintly understood the reason for this, but it didn’t make my heart throb. Instead, chills ran through my entire body, because Rose’s smile showed her resolve for what was to come.

I had a bad premonition that I was never going to see her again. Her figure then expressed exactly what I was thinking.

“Goodbye, Master.”

She spoke words of parting, her gaze heart-wrenching and lonely.

“Wait, Rose. Don’t go.”

I didn’t know what was going on, but my premonition of loss now turned into conviction. It felt as if my heart was being gouged out. I was afraid. In this one instant, I forgot about my pain, my suffering, and everything else.

“Please wait!”

I desperately cried out. I tried to get her to stop what she was doing, but my words didn’t reach her. The connection between us was supposed to work both ways, but with this poison eating away at my soul, I didn’t have the strength to get my feelings across to her. I couldn’t stop her farewell.

“I adore you, even if my body should break.”

That was undoubtedly a confession of love, but at the same time, it was a vow to prepare for her own destruction. In all likelihood, Rose was wishing for these blossoming feelings in her heart to reach me, which was what had caused her to appear so brightly here. It was a miracle born of the heart. Her wish had been granted in a way that she probably hadn’t even expected herself, but in a sense, this way was far crueler than if her wish had gone unanswered.

“Wait...”

My outstretched hand didn’t reach her. My voice couldn’t stop her. I had no way of responding to her feelings. I was powerless, unable to do anything.

“May you have a good life.”

With those last words, Rose’s figure vanished. All that remained was darkness.

“Aaah...”

My thoughts were frozen as I stared into the abyss.

“How gallant,” a poisonous voice said as I stood there in a daze. “Driven into a corner, their destination lost, that girl faces her death.”

Travis theatrically put into words the reality I refused to accept.

“A sacrificial pawn to stall for time, I suppose. Aah, what a tragedy. To meet her end on the battlefield, her fleeting emotions receiving no answer... Like rotting garbage.”

He kept speaking as if to rip my wounds open with all the strength he had.

“And you must live on with her sacrifice. You’ll never recover from the pain of loss. Sorrow will fester in your heart, torturing you for a long, long time.”

He was exactly right. Just this premonition of loss already felt like a hole in my heart. If this became a reality, I would never be able to fill this void in me again. Travis was right in every way. I had no rebuttal, a fact that brought to light something questionable.

“Heh heh. A fitting end for a filthy monster. It must be a nightmare for you. Keep on suffering. Suffer to the day your soul rots away. Heh heh, ha ha. Ha ha ha ha ha!”

Travis kept joyfully laughing and strangling me as I stared expressionlessly at his twisted smile, no longer even conscious of my own pain.

I simply found it strange. Why did this man think I was going to sit back and do nothing? Well, that didn’t matter. I didn’t give a damn about him.

At this point, I completely lost interest in Travis. He was just an obstruction now, an eyesore that was in my way. I had to get him out of here, so I did.

“When I imagine your coming agony, I can’t help but— Aaaaaah?!” In the middle of his gleeful tirade, Travis suddenly started screaming. “Wh-Whaaaat?!”

He wailed in disbelief, but that stood to reason. Both his arms had crumbled to pieces at the wrist.

“Shut up already,” I spat. He’d been going on and on and on. It was hard on my ears. “Just shut the fuck up.”

I threw off the fragments of Travis that had been stuck to me and grabbed his face.

“Eek...”

As he finally came to grips with the situation, fear dominated Travis’s features.

“H-How...?!” he exclaimed, unable to understand this development.

I looked at him emotionlessly, then bluntly said, “Do you even need to ask?”

I hadn’t done anything special. All I needed was determination—well, determination equivalent to jumping off a cliff.

“Impossible...” Travis muttered, finally realizing what was happening.

Sounds of destruction echoed through the world of light. The small cracks running all over my body snapped and crackled as they turned into deep crevices. I felt the damage I was doing to myself, but I’d already known this would happen.

In exchange for the power I’d gained, I’d lost a big piece of myself. Mizushima had already scolded me for this, and Katou had cried at the thought of my losing even more. But from another perspective, so long as I was willing to pay the price, I could gain more from my ability.

“A-Aren’t you afraid?!” Travis wailed. “Y-You’re mad!”

He was missing the point entirely.

“What’re you saying?” I asked, narrowing my eyes. “Of course I’m scared.”

Every second I felt myself breaking apart, fear sent chills through my entire body. The feeling of slowly losing myself was enough to drive me insane. I wasn’t that strong a person, and under normal circumstances, I’d have been shivering, but at this moment, I had no hesitations or regrets.

“S-So why...?!” Travis yelled.

“Isn’t it obvious? There’s something I’m even more scared of.”

I didn’t want to lose anyone, not ever again. I didn’t want to return to the isolation I’d experienced before meeting everyone. That was the wish that defined me, so no matter how scared I was, I would never hesitate at this stage.

“Get lost, Travis.”

I put all my strength into removing the obstruction in my way. As I did, cracks echoed from all over my body. I was destroying myself, but it wasn’t just simple loss. The damage to my figure in this world affected Majima Takahiro the human. By strengthening my ability, my soul changed. The true nature of this process wasn’t destruction, but transformation. Crack, crumble, break, transform—just like a chick breaking out of its egg, or a butterfly emerging from its cocoon.

Even with no eyes, Travis seemed to see something. Perhaps he saw the destination of my very being. His lips trembled, and when he spoke, there was fear in his voice.

“You damn monster...”

What did he see with those eyeless sockets in his last moments? Whatever it was, it filled him with despair and terror. I didn’t really care, and I didn’t intend to find out, but it was sure to be the greatest of nightmares, fitting for the end of a villain like Travis.

With that, I crushed what was in my hand.