Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 16 - Chapter 20

Chapter 20: A Chance Meeting in the Abyss

With that, everything was over.

The path Majima Takahiro had walked all this time...

The unbroken history of this world...

It was all burned away by an overwhelming light.

The current circumstances were a mystery.

Everything came to a sudden end while still cloaked in shadows.

He must have found this unreasonable. Maybe he even felt anger. But that was how the world worked. This was reality. Ever since setting out in this world, ever since stumbling into that cave in a miserable state, he should’ve been well aware of this eventuality.

“Yes. That’s why. If you have something you want to protect—you’ll have to change the world.

“If you have the resolve for that, then awaken.

“Save your friends. Save the world.”

◆ ◆ ◆

“Master!”

“Ah?!”

I jolted upright.

“Wh-What...?”

I didn’t know what was going on. I looked around in a daze as someone suddenly embraced me.

“Aaah. Thank goodness. You opened your eyes.”

“Salvia...?”

Just as I straightened myself up, she squeezed me tight from the side. Salvia seemed to be crying. I accepted her embrace as I remained in a daze.

“Is this...my inner world?”

The world of light, or perhaps the mental path itself—my inner world, which had been reduced to no more than the school grounds.

“What happened...?”

I felt helpless and confused as I stood in the middle of the schoolyard. I had no idea why I was here or what had just happened.

Right... What had just happened? The hero of the exploration team, the Sword of Light Nakajima Kojirou, was the mastermind behind everything. I honestly couldn’t believe it. Even thinking back on it now, it didn’t make sense. He’d been so serious about this pursuit operation. I’d sensed true devotion and trust toward him from his comrades in the exploration team. He’d even faced me, someone accompanied by monsters, with an amicable attitude. I’d never once felt like any of that was a lie. And yet...

The truth was the truth.

“I have to accept it... We need to move on.”

I focused on my breathing and got my thoughts moving. For now, I decided to set aside questions of motives and such. First, I needed a grasp of the situation. I didn’t know why, but Nakajima Kojirou was an enemy. When I’d unveiled his identity, he’d attacked me. It seemed I’d lost consciousness from that and had come to my own world.

“Wait, hang on... What happened while I was out?”

“Master?”

I felt like I’d heard something after passing out and before waking up in this world.

“Save your friends. Save the world.”

That was it. I was sure. Had it just been my imagination?

“Sorry, Salvia. Can you let me go?”

I had a premonition. I straightened myself up and had Salvia back away. About ten seconds had passed since I woke up. I immediately recovered from the bewilderment of suddenly being attacked and waking up somewhere else entirely. It was nothing to be proud of, but this came from experience. This wasn’t my first time being on the verge of death.

“Masss—ter!”

“Yeah, I know.”

I nodded back to Asarina and turned around. The mysterious young man with dark brown hair was standing there, the one I’d seen in this world twice before. However, I could tell right away that something was different. After all, he returned my gaze. This was the first time he recognized my presence. Maybe now we could finally come to a mutual understanding.

“Hi there,” the man said. “We’ve finally connected. It seems you somehow made it in time.”

◆ ◆ ◆

“First, you may rest at ease,” the man said. “There’s no need to worry about the passage of time in here. Your companions aren’t yet dead. Even if we talk in here, it’ll be fine for a while longer.”

Something was chilling about his voice. Before this had inspired wariness, but things were different this time. I felt a deep dread, as if I were peeking into a bottomless abyss, yet still knew he bore me no animosity.

The difference was likely because the awkward incapability of understanding him I’d felt before was gone. The penetrating cold wasn’t from malice or animosity. It seemed this was a property of his very existence. Now, I was capable of observing him properly without an obscuring veil. I even felt sincerity in his attitude toward me.

He didn’t seem to be lying about the passage of time either. I felt he was interfering with this world in some way. He wasn’t an enemy. I still didn’t know what was going on, but at the very least, it was worth talking to him. I exchanged looks with Salvia as she nestled against me, then spoke to the man.

“You’re rather talkative today,” I said. “You’re awfully different from last time.”

It seemed natural for me to point this out, but the man shook his head.

“No, I haven’t changed at all. You’re the one who’s changed.”

“I have...?” I said, not quite sure what he was implying. “How have I changed?”

“To put it simply...I suppose your existence has reached the next stage. You’ve approached the core of the world. That’s why you’re capable of speaking with me now.”

“I don’t get what you’re saying at all.”

“No, you should be able to,” he declared. I fell silent. There was a strange alluring quality to his words. “Even if your mind doesn’t understand, your soul should know. You should know that this world, which can be said to be your very self, has been continuously sinking into the depths.”

I could tell that Salvia gasped right next to me. I couldn’t say anything to deny him. Every time I came here, I always felt like I was sinking deeper and deeper. Also, the world itself gradually sank each time my ability evolved.

“So, have you ever thought about what awaits at the bottom?”

This very question felt like it was inviting us into the abyss. I’d never thought about it before, but he did have a point. If this world was truly sinking, then it only made sense that it would eventually reach the bottom. And at the bottom—in other words, the final destination of my ability—was none other than...

“The Sea of Unconsciousness. It is the vast ocean where all human consciousness mixes together. In your world, it is also called the collective unconscious.”

“Collective unconscious...?”

“Human consciousness is connected inside the depths of unconsciousness. That stratum is called the collective unconscious. Come on, as you are now, you should be able to tell.”

At his urging, I directed my gaze and consciousness beyond this world. I focused on where this world was sinking toward each time my ability evolved. I focused on what was still so far away. And what I sensed in the deep abyss...

“Ugh... Ah...?!”

A fear I had never experienced before assaulted my entire being. It felt like my skull melted and my brain spilled out. It felt so real. I was aware that my very existence was on the verge of coming apart. Sensing chills from a primordial danger to my being, my consciousness was blown away.

“Master?!”

“Sttter?!”

I heard shocked and panicking voices. Before I knew it, I was on my knees. Still in a daze, I slammed my hands on the ground to barely keep myself from fainting. It felt like the whole world was swaying. It’d only lasted an instant, but the shock still affected me.

“Ugh...”

Even the simple act of trying to remember it had me breaking out in a cold sweat. There was no other way of describing that than the Sea of Unconsciousness. Within that vast ocean, a single human’s mind was no more than a droplet. There was no good or evil. My sense of self felt like it would dissolve in an instant and vanish. I somehow managed to maintain my consciousness as Salvia held my shoulder and raised a brow.

“What did you do?!” she roared at the man.

She was seething. It was a rare sight from her. Still, the man didn’t look particularly bothered.

“Be at ease,” he said. “I’m sure it was nothing. Just looking isn’t particularly dangerous.” There was affection in his eyes as he returned her gaze. “Any ordinary person could be crippled by the experience, though.”

“How dare—”

“Calm down. It’s fine. At least, he will be. If not, he wouldn’t have reached this far down to be able to speak with me. Well, by the looks of it, it was a little early, but he definitely has the qualifications. At his level, he’ll be fine.”

“What...?” I bit back the fear that had threatened my existence and faced the friendly man. “What are you?”

Someone I couldn’t even speak to unless I reached the core of the world—the Sea of Unconsciousness—couldn’t possibly be normal.

“Aah. It’s about time I answered that question,” he said. “I am the first savior. I currently serve as the world’s custodian.”

◆ ◆ ◆

“The first savior...?”

I couldn’t hide the shock I felt at his unexpected identity. The first savior—the man who’d discovered the truth behind this world and had actualized a mechanism to maintain it to the present day. He was a legend from thousands of years ago.

“H-Hang on a sec,” I said, unable to digest this information. “How is the first savior still alive?”

“I know how to change the way of the world,” the man replied cheerfully. “I’m a Conduit. Still, I simply didn’t have enough talent or time. When I made the connection, I became a captive of the Sea of Unconsciousness.”

He smoothly spoke of how the first savior had met his end, something that wasn’t mentioned in any of the legends.

“Thanks to that, my plan was foiled. I meant to have the management of the world through the Dimensional Cornerstones be flexible to match the ages. Before I could finish setting that system up, I became a captive of the world, and so was only able to leave behind fragmentary knowledge. On the contrary, due to the world’s military forces weakening because of my sudden absence, the required knowledge was lost amid intense fighting. I prepared several backup plans, but because of unforeseen accidents, they weren’t quite ready and largely failed to accomplish anything.”

The mechanisms of this world were relatively stable, but not unshakable. That was why Harrison and the Holy Church had to work so desperately to stabilize it. However, those mechanisms were apparently not what their creator had envisioned.

“Still, getting caught in the Sea of Unconsciousness isn’t all bad things. I took the empty seat of the world’s custodian by chance and am even able to come in contact with you like this, after all.”

“With me...?”

“That’s right.” The first savior nodded. “The world is facing an unprecedented crisis.”

“You mean Nakajima Kojirou...? You called it being a Conduit, right? He’s one too?”

“That’s right. Depending on the circumstances, a Conduit can become a dreadful calamity. At this point, he should be called the Calamitous King.”

“Calamitous King...”

Having been the first Conduit who’d created the mechanism to stabilize this world, he understood the truth behind this threat.

“A Conduit is much like an independent Dimensional Cornerstone,” he continued gravely. “To be more precise, a Dimensional Cornerstone is a magic tool with the same power as a Conduit. He can’t do whatever he wants right now because of the Dimensional Cornerstones and the laws I imposed within them, but if the Dimensional Cornerstones fall into Nakajima Kojirou’s hands and he destroys them, the entire world will degrade to being the Calamitous King’s toy.”

“His toy... That can’t...”

“I’m not exaggerating. That man possesses that much power.”

The words of the one who’d decided the way of the world were heavy.

“Shall I put it in simpler terms?” he added. “The Calamitous King will become the world’s god. There is nothing a perfect Conduit cannot do, after all. That is, of course, only a problem if he doesn’t care about the world’s balance and the harm inflicted on its people.”

“He’ll become a god...?”

I felt a chill run down my spine. There was still so much I didn’t know, but considering the probability that Heaven’s Voice had been manipulating Jinguuji, it was entirely possible that the Conduit and Heaven’s Voice were the same person, or at least working together. It was bad enough for Kudou to claim that Heaven’s Voice simply delighted in watching their crimes unfold and sought ruin. If someone like that could do whatever they wanted with the world, there was no telling what could happen. At the very least, it was hard to imagine someone like that caring about the balance of the world or harm done to its people.

“Can anything be done?” I asked.

Nakajima Kojirou had to be stopped. For the sake of the world and in order to live in it with my companions, he just had to be stopped. But who could possibly stop someone who could be likened to a god?

“As another Conduit, can’t you do something about him?” I said, clinging to the only hope I could think of.

“Unfortunately, I can’t.” The first savior shook his head. “After all, I’m no more than the man who became the world’s custodian by accident. I can’t say I even had enough power in life, and I have to use my strength to maintain my ego while stuck in the Sea of Unconsciousness. There’s very little I can do.”

“No way...”

It was hopeless. However, the first savior kept speaking.

“Still, there is someone who can oppose the Calamitous King.”

“Really?! Please tell me. I’ll do anything.” I would go to any lengths to escape a future where my companions were toyed with and met their end. There wasn’t a hint of falsehood in my words. “Who could possibly...?”

“You don’t know?”

I fell silent. That was because the first savior looked straight at me—and only at me.

“Yes. It’s you. After all, you are, in truth, another Conduit.”