Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 16 - Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Conduit

“I’m...a Conduit?”

I couldn’t digest what he told me. However, the first savior continued as if he was stating the obvious.

“Is it really that surprising? Nakajima Kojirou interfered with that world’s defense mechanism successfully, but you should’ve been capable of the same. The power to interfere with the world. Even if on a different scale, its nature is the same. That is precisely what makes a Conduit.”

“But...that’s not my power.”

“You mean to say it’s her power as one capable of creating worlds?”

The first savior pointed to Salvia, and I nodded back to him. The power to interfere with other worlds was at most Salvia’s, not mine.

“You’re mistaken, my fellow Conduit,” he said, denying me. “Simply forming a contract with her isn’t enough to have the power to interfere with a world. Even if you could, it would take an extremely long time. The same goes for using a Dimensional Cornerstone.”

I recalled Harrison’s use of a Dimensional Cornerstone. Even a man of his tremendous strength had had to brute force his approach to manipulating another world. That wasn’t the case with me, though.

“You should’ve felt it each time you used that magic mist,” the first savior continued. “‘We must have great affinity,’ I mean. That’s only natural. You possess the same ability, after all. You’ve had the power to interfere with the world itself from the very beginning.”

It was true. Salvia and I had great affinity. Thanks to that, I’d learned how to use the Misty Lodge quickly. I was completely incapable of using other magic—but this one magic I’d learned abnormally fast.

“Naturally, the presence of the Misty Lodge likely served as training wheels. However, this power was originally yours.”

He was making sense. That said, it was difficult to accept.

“Say you’re right... Why do I have that kind of power?” I asked. “My power should be to form a connection with another’s heart.”

“A good question, so allow me to put it like this. It’s exactly because you possess the power to connect to another’s heart.”

It was starting to sound philosophical, but it didn’t seem like he was joking or trying to confuse me.

“Let’s start from the beginning. Conduits can be generally classified into two types,” he said, holding up two fingers. “First, those who have the power to manipulate the world itself to their heart’s content. However, by all rights, those end up becoming what you call warriors. With such unfocused power, even if they have a considerable disposition for it, they’re unable to exhibit any influence on anything beyond their own selves. To become a Conduit this way, one must possess an unparalleled disposition for it, ambitions which surpass the bounds of the human mind, and a tremendous ego.”

The first savior sighed.

“Such a thing is impossible. It’s supposed to be impossible. But one has appeared.”

“And that’s Nakajima Kojirou?” I asked.

“Yes. The Calamitous King. An unexpected irregularity that occurred due to a teleportation event on an unprecedented scale. Considering that, on average, two visitors appearing within a century is considered a lot, it should’ve taken fifty thousand years to see a thousand visitors. That said, I doubt another such being will appear in the next fifty thousand years. He is a rarity, nearly an impossibility.”

That made sense. That was why he was a calamity that nobody could’ve predicted.

“However, there is one other type of Conduit,” he continued. “The type who is rooted in the mechanisms of the world. Just as you know, this world arises from the unconscious cognition of all who live in it. The shared cognition that the world must exist makes it a reality. The shared unconscious of all humanity—in other words, the Sea of Unconsciousness, makes it so.”

“The Sea of Unconsciousness...”

I’d only heard the term moments ago. It was also a place I’d nearly dissolved into. This was the unconscious domain shared by all of humanity. In our world, it was apparently called the collective unconscious.

“The Sea of Unconsciousness establishes the world...? Wait, hang on. That means...”

I’d nearly dissolved into that ocean. In other words, I’d touched the Sea of Unconsciousness? The implications of such an act plunged me into a deep unease.

“That’s right,” the first savior confirmed. “One with the power to connect to another’s heart can of course form a connection to the dimension where the heart resides and meddle with it. One day, they can even form a connection to the Sea of Unconsciousness deep inside this abyss. Then, through that connection, they can change the world itself.”

It was a phenomenon particular to this world. Human cognition made up the world itself, so the power to interfere with that cognition could affect the world. I knew of an example of this too. It was none other than the woman standing right next to me, Salvia. The greatest illusion magic could fool the world itself—to borrow the first savior’s words, it could cast a glamor over the Sea of Unconsciousness. That was the Misty Lodge. Likewise, I was capable of touching the Sea of Unconsciousness. If so, it wouldn’t be strange if I could modify the world.

“But I can’t do anything like rewriting the world,” I said, raising a brow.

“You’re right. I’m sure you can’t,” the first savior agreed immediately. “It is probably extremely difficult to reach such a stage. I spent thirty years trying and ended up becoming a captive here. You seem to specialize in forming connections to the heart rather than battle, but it’s questionable if you’ll reach that stage either. Just maybe, it’s beyond humanity’s reach.”

“Then...there’s no hope.”

Whether it was impossible or would take thirty years, I doubted Nakajima Kojirou would wait for us.

“What we need is a power that can be used right here and now,” I said.

“Indeed. I’m not asking you to obtain the power to freely manipulate the world. What’s needed is, at most, to obstruct the Calamitous King.”

“Do you have a plan?”

He nodded. “It’s simple. You may just use the Dimensional Cornerstones I left behind. By doing so, your power to interfere with the world will be amplified.”

“I see...”

I wasn’t capable of it on my own. The Dimensional Cornerstones the first savior had left behind weren’t enough on their own either. So, we just had to combine the two.

“There is no other way,” the first savior added. “That’s why this was truly a close call. You did well to make it this far. I thought you wouldn’t make it in time.”

Now that I thought of it, he’d said the same thing earlier.

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

Had he said that precisely because my reaching this level was the one and only way to oppose the Calamitous King? Thinking back on it, there’d been signs of this. It was still fresh in my memory how shocked I’d been at my increased ability to interfere with other worlds during this pursuit operation. That had likely been a manifestation of my growth as a Conduit. I could also now understand why I’d grown too.

At the time, I’d questioned why my power to interfere with other worlds had grown stronger. I’d thought nothing new had happened beyond my forming a connection with Katou using the mental path. But that was the answer. My power as a Conduit depended on my power to connect to hearts, so by forming a connection with Katou—by forming a connection with a human—I’d grown substantially.

“You don’t want to see humanity’s unconscious destroyed, and the laws I’ve drilled into the world are still working,” the first savior said. “All of existence should side with you. With that, even if only temporarily, you should be able to barely oppose the Calamitous King’s grasp on the world.”

“Even after all that, it’s still temporarily and barely?”

It was a grim outlook. That was simply how dreadful Nakajima Kojirou—the Calamitous King—was. That said, the possibility still existed.

“Even if it’s only temporarily and barely, you can resist,” the first savior said. “You need to somehow escape and prepare yourself.”

Because of the surprise attack during the pursuit operation, I didn’t really have any forces on my side. Even my servants weren’t all together. My enemy was abnormally powerful, so it was questionable whether gathering my allies would be enough to win, but at the very least, winning here and now was impossible. The first savior was right.

“Wait a moment,” Salvia cut in stiffly. “Be it simple obstruction or whatnot, it doesn’t change the fact that my master must touch the world’s core, the Sea of Unconsciousness, yes?”

She had a grip on my sleeve and stepped forward as if to cover me. I’d never seen such hostility and anger in her eyes.

“What’ll happen to him if he does that?!” She glared at the man who’d become a captive in the Sea of Unconsciousness. “He’s already reached his limit.”

“It is of course dangerous. Extremely so, in fact,” the first savior admitted. “But there’s no other way. He’s the only one who can do it. The Calamitous King’s existence was practically impossible, but a single person with the disposition to form a connection to the Sea of Unconsciousness was more than enough of a miracle of its own. Even in the huge teleportation event this time around, only three possessed the potential.”

With that, the first savior turned my way.

“There’s no hope in one of the other two,” he continued. “That one doesn’t have the strength to approach the Sea of Unconsciousness. That said, it’s probably better that way.”

“How so?” I asked.

“Because it’s the one you call Heaven’s Voice, the one who’s also aiding the Calamitous King.”

“Aah...”

Now that he mentioned it, if everyone with an ability to affect the heart was qualified to become a Conduit, then Heaven’s Voice met those requirements too. In that case, it was out of the question. Salvia knew this too.

“And the other?” she asked, desperation clear in her voice.

Her fingers grasped my sleeve tightly. She didn’t even realize how desperate she was. She was worried about me like a sister would be for her little brother. Or maybe...

After looking at her curiously, the first savior was about to answer, but Asarina’s head perked up before he could.

“Ssster?”

I noticed the same thing just as I was about to ask her what it was. A presence was taking shape in the center of the schoolyard.

“What...?”

While we remained cautious, the first savior was perfectly calm. In all likelihood, he knew what was happening. What appeared was entirely unexpected for me, though.

“It can’t be... Kudou?”

It had to be some kind of mistake, but it wasn’t. The one standing there was a familiar boy. It was an unexpected reunion with the boy I’d been chasing through those fabricated worlds.

◆ ◆ ◆

“S-Senpai...?”

He noticed me too. Something was clearly wrong, though. His eyes were vacant and he seemed to be in intense pain.

“Ugh...”

His slender body swayed as he fell to his knees.

“Kudou!”

I immediately went over to him and tried to support him, but was startled when my hand went right through him.

“Huh...?”

“Unfortunately, he’s not actually here,” the first savior said. “His form is simply being projected. I made it so those who have even the slightest potential can be contacted.”

“What do you mean...?” I asked.

“I’m telling you he’s the third one with potential,” he answered casually.

“Kudou is?” I said stiffly.

It was unexpected. I’d been under the impression that the power to manipulate his servants as pawns and the ability to form a connection to others’ hearts were mutually exclusive, but then I remembered my conversation with Berta.

“He didn’t gain power when he decided to walk down the path of the Demon King. Having escaped the Colony, he refused to give up. He struggled to survive in the Woodlands. That was when I became his servant.”

That said, that potential had already been lost before it could bloom. It had been a possibility, but now, it was nothing more than the remnants of a trampled future that would never be.

“Just as I’d expect of you, Senpai,” Kudou said, agony clear in his voice. “Even in a place like this, you remain calm.”

The first savior had drawn him here. By all rights, he shouldn’t be able to reach this place.

“I only heard the last bit, but it seems I won’t be able to help.” He looked up at me, a self-deriding smile on his lips. “Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I told him. “Just sending Berta to us was more than enough.”

“Is that so...? Has she been doing well?”

Perhaps because he was so weakened, Kudou was more defenseless than normal. Unlike his usual emotionless expression, he smiled broadly. I could see clear resolve in his eyes. What was it? When I saw him like this, I felt an indescribable anxiety in my heart.

“Kudou...”

I’d chased him through those worlds, and now we finally met. There was so much I wanted to tell him. There was so much I wanted to ask him. I’d heard a lot of new information from Berta. She’d been keeping the fact that she’d become his servant before he became the Demon King a secret. But she was so bad at lying. She had an innocent nature that made it impossible for her. A doubt came to mind.

Did Kudou really not know?

Why had he sent Berta to me?

What was he thinking? What did he hope for?

If we had the time, I wanted to talk. But we didn’t. Before we could speak, another voice called out to me.

“Is that enough? This is the limit to the time I can make for us.”

Time was up. Kudou’s figure vanished immediately. The first savior was no longer able to interfere with this world. I could feel his threads of control coming apart. I stood up and turned around.

“Are you prepared?” he asked calmly. “You must escape the Calamitous King’s grasp.”

“You make it sound so easy...”

It was unreasonable. My opponent was the exploration team’s hero, the Sword of Light. He’d unveiled his true nature as the Calamitous King too. It would be hard enough just to run away, but I had to snatch the Dimensional Cornerstones too. Honestly, even if I staked my life on it, the probability of pulling it off was pretty much zero. This was far too reckless. Nevertheless, if I didn’t do it, everyone would die.

“One last thing,” I said. “There’s something that’s been bothering me.”

“What’s that?”

“Why did Nakajima Kojirou do this?” I asked. It simply didn’t make any sense. “If he’s a Conduit, there was no need to chase the Dragon and go through those worlds with me, right?”

Anything I could do in those fabricated worlds he should’ve been able to accomplish with ease.

“I don’t know either,” the first savior said, shaking his head. “However, it may have nothing to do with necessity.”

“What?”

“I mean to say we may not be able to understand by applying logic to his actions. Keep that in mind. The one you’ll be facing is abnormal—abnormal enough to threaten the world in the truest sense.”

What came to mind was the radiant figure of a boy who was a hero among heroes. He had every member of the exploration team in his heart. It truly looked like he was cheering them on with all sincerity. He was endlessly amiable to us as well. If none of that was just for show, then that actually made him...

“The world is in your hands.”

Nevertheless, I had to defy him. With those last words from the first savior, I surfaced from my inner world.