Do You Think Someone Like You Can Defeat the Demon King? (WN) Chapter 42
Escape from limbo
tl: deepl & meepilee
The basement, where countless human and monster corpses lay.
An eerie groan echoed from the disposal room in the back.
The doors, walls, and ceilings that had been set up had been destroyed to shreds, and debris was scattered everywhere by the fierce battle.
In such a place, Flamm and Nect faced each other.
It was true that it was Nect who brought the information to Flamm that there was a research institute in Sheol Village.
However, he was also a member of the church.
Flamm, still tired from the battle, drew her sword again and readied it.
Her shoulders rose and fell and her breathing was somewhat labored.
Nect shrugged his shoulders when he saw her like that.
"I'm telling you, I have no intention of fighting with you here."
"You're after my life, aren't you?""
"It's not your life, it's the power of that reversal. I don't know where it came from, but Origin wants it, and that's why they want to connect your sister."
"I know you know a lot with Connection... giving you connections, but I have no idea what you're talking about."
Flamm stared at Nect.
He put his hand to his chin and pondered for a moment, "Hmmm."
"Well, I guess this is part of the reward, so I'll tell you a little bit about it and explain it to you."
"I have to take back Milkit from Dafiz, so I'm not ...... in a good mood right now."
"Well I'm in a good mood so I'll answer as many questions as you want.
But there were more important things on her mind
"No, I am going to get Milkit."
"Are you worried about Dafiz? The most important thing to remember is that hecan't is not a murderer. Besides, I'm sure I could even tell you about Origin now. ......"
Those were fascinating words for Flamm.
If he said it was compensation for crushing necromancy, he might give him the information with no strings attached, as well as Sheol Village's location.
"But--"
Above all, Flamm wanted to prioritize joining up with Milkit, who was waiting for her.
Her appearance seemed to have lightly offended Nect's .
And if you spoil my mood now, I might just be less inclined to give it to you, huh?
The suggestion turned into a threat.
Flamm had no room to refuse.
"So if you're going to talk to me, you're going to have to put away that dangerous sword. You dont need to be so wary, I'm just looking for a chat.
If he had wanted to, he could have killed Flamm, who was exhausted, by in an instant.
Flamm, while remaining vigilant, stowed away her weapon for the time being.
"I'm glad you're being so honest," he said. "Where would you like to start?
"What do you mean by the ...... connection?"
Flamm asked in a low voice, perhaps out of nervousness.
"What do you mean by that? It's a connection, a 'click'. Then you become part of the circuit and become one with the origin."
Flamm's inversion was the only power that could destroy the origin core.
If it was Origin's goal to unite her with it, then its goal was not her life, but her ability.
"Are you trying to incorporate me so that you won't be destroyed by my inversion?"
"That would be the case."
"Then you should have connected when my status was zero ......"
Or - was there a reason why they couldn't?
The participants of the journey to defeat the Demon King were chosen by "the oracle of Origin."
Flamm had always wondered why she had been chosen - perhaps it was to connect her, to bring in her ability to flip.
But why was it necessary to go to the demon tribe's territory for that?
"This is another question, but was the trip to defeat the Demon Lord ...... perhaps a cause to get me somewhere? For example, the location of Origin's 'main body' somewhere in the demon territory?"
"No comment."
"What?"
"I will answer most of your questions, but there are a few where I will not. Origin would not allow this one, so no comment."
Flamm glared at Nect again, but to little effect.
In fact, however, it was probably safe to assume that not being able to answer the question was an equal affirmation.
In other words, in order for Origin to connect with Flamm - she herself would have had to go to the Demon Lord's castle.
Aside from the necessity of Cyril and the other members, the only other reason she could think of is that she went out of his way to bring her along, even though she would only slow him down.
In other words, physical contact with the origin was essential for the "connection" that Nect was talking about, and yet something like the main body of the origin was sleeping in the Demon King's castle.
"But let's say, hypothetically speaking, that I do reach the origin..."
"Why are you assuming what you just said? I told you I have no comment."
"Because it's just an assumption. I'm just assuming. - Wouldn't it be too risky to make a direct "connection" when I get to the origin? I'd rather stay as just a country girl than do that."
Even if Flamm was useless with zero status, there was no telling what kind of power she would get from some kind of strong cursed equipment.
If that should happen to destroy the origin, everything would be ruined.
"Maybe, Origin is afraid of me, an entity that could potentially kill it.
If that were the case, why did he bother to let me near him?"
"Isn't it because ...... it thinks you can't handle a power like your's right now?"
He smiled maliciously and said provocatively.
"I know you don't have to tell me, but tell me what's really going on."
When Flamm calmly replied, Nect said, "Damn," and dismissed her with a bored look.
She had such a hard time against Susie, she understood that even her Reversal might not have been enough to stop her, so why was the core so hard to beat?
"...... yeah, yeah."
He suddenly closed his eyes and nodded a few times.
He nodded his head several more times, as if he was listening to Origin's voice - he often continued to do so, then smiled and resumed the conversation.
"Origin says I am allowed to explain it to you, too, because it won't change the future of your connection."
"I know it's for reasons I wont feel good about, but ...... let me hear it quickly."
"In the beginning, when Origin recognized the existence of Flamm Apricot, its unified will was affected by fear and the possibility of death, and for the first time since its birth, it disagreed with itself."
"I'm not sure I understand this......"
If the possibility of death was to be destroyed by Flamm's reversal, what wasthe "unified will"?
"Well, you're going to have to listen to me."
Nect did not explain himself very well, but went on.
"They were divided into three opinions: kill, leave, and connect. But in the end, the opinion of the "connection" group, which was the most powerful at that time, was adopted and a plan was developed. The reason for the majority was that once an attribute was born into the world, there was a possiblity that it would be born again hundreds of years later. Like Cyrille Swicca's attribute of "hero," once dead, they attribute may "recycle" after a few hundred years."
"Are you talking about reincarnation or something like that?"
"No. They say that the first heroes were strong men, which is very different from today's heroes, isn't it? The soul is not reborn, only the power is recycled. Perhaps it would be more apt to call it resistance by the will of the stars."
Flamm furrowed her brow.
Flamm's eyebrows furrowed as he heard another word he had never heard before.
If Origin was resisting the will of the stars, then are they hostile to it?
"The crisis won't go away once you repel them. So, the Origin came to a very rational conclusion: "Deal with it before she knows how to use her power," he said.
But it fell apart.
She hated to admit it, but it was thanks to Jean's selfish outburst.
They say there's a fine line between genius and something else, and that's exactly what happened.
"But something unexpected happened along the way, and that's why Origin was even more confused."
"Maybe? Or that was part of the plan."
"But then, was he so upset which was why he started becoming active?" "Well, I can't deny that he might have overreacted. It has "many things" to consider, you know.
Flamm would have liked to hear about the "many things," but he would have just said "no comment" and brushed it off again.
"Ah yes, in case you were wondering, the farther they get from this institute, the less influence the Origin has on them, it seems"
"Well, all the more reason to stay away from there, then."
Some of the dead had already entered the institute, and those near Eterna, Ink, and Gadio may not be safe.
Paradise would soon be destroyed.
But if only they could have used a little longer time to clear their minds--that's what Flamm was thinking.
"Though it seems that all the dead in Sheol Village had already gone berserk by the time I saw them."
Nect laughted at Flamm mockingly.
Immediately after, he looked at her and lifted the corner of his mouth with a smirk.
Apparently, he meant to harass her.
Flamm bit her teeth in frustration.
"Ha-ha-ha! Intuitive people are really easy to deal with. Hey sister, how does it feel to be played with by a kid much younger than you?"
"Can I go now that you're done talking to ......?"
"I'm satisfied. I'm satisfied. I'm going to do my job now."
"Oh, and, you know, to you and that slave of yours, this time... I'm not going to touch you all directly, but I'm going to give you some advice. You might get caught in the middle of this, so I suggest you get the hell out of there."
"What are you talking about?"
Flamm turned around and asked, but Nect was not there.
The actual "connection" seems to have transferred Susie's corpse and also the body to someplace else.
"That reminds, that man...."
If Susie's body was being transported away, then there may have been one more possibility...
She didn't know why Susie's body was transported.
But the word "involved" also suggested another possibility.
The church would not want information about research using the same origin core to leak out, even though they were hostile to each other.
For that reason, the evidence may be destroyed.
Judging from Nect's words, they would use a method that would involve this entire facility.
"I can't die in a place like this after having survived all this time!"
She ran up the stairs as fast as she could and headed straight for Dafiz's room.
◇◇◇
The dialogue between Dafiz and Milkit ended on a parallel track.
They remained in the room in silence, each waiting for each other, trusting that their partners would win.
"......What's with this place, it's so pungent when it's in the air."
Then Nect suddenly appeared.
--The two people stayed in the room and waited for each other, believing that their partners would win.
"Susie!"
Dafiz clung to her body, which was thrown down roughly on the floor.
"Dafiz, your proud wife was defeated and turned into such a figure."
Nect looked down at him coldly and said agitatedly.
But the words did not reach him.
"I think a dirtier corpse would have made more of an impact, but I guess Flamm was too reserved. Oh, I'm so disappointed."
"Oh, are you ......?"
Milkit looked at him with frightened eyes, her hands shaking.
Then NEct's sadistic blood began to excite.
"Oh, what a tease she is!"
And then he reached out to her, as if he wanted to connect one of his arms to her, but he stopped just before he could.
"Are you related to Flamm, by any chance?"
"Do you know the master?!"
Milkit responded bitingly.
Hearing this, Nect's shoulders slumped in disappointment.
"Ah,...... I said I wouldn't touch her, I want to bully her, but it's not good to break a promise, is it?"
"...... bully? Promise?"
"The other day," he said, "Never mind, it's Dafiz who has business with me, not the bandaged girl."
He said, but he was still unfulfilled, and looked at her often - sighing, he finally gave up.
Then he approached Dafiz again.
He puts his hand on his shoulder as he hugged Suzy's corpse, then brought his face close to his and spoke to him.
"You know why I'm here, don't you?"
"No matter how much you are a member of Children's, if you mess with ...... Necromancy's facilities, you'll jeopardize the very position of the project itself."
"Sure, don't destroy it...but-- But--"
The face of Nect was distorted.
The young but well-defined face twists, was dyed red, and turned into a whirlpool of flesh.
"Oh, you ...... can't be serious."
Milkit's voice trembled at the sight of him.
She finally realized that he was one of the children Flamm had mentioned, Nect.
"--I wasn't told not to trample on you."
Gurgle
Nect made an eerie sound, staining the collar of his red shirt with the blood that had flowed out.
Then he clenched his fist as if tearing his shoulder off.
"Connection"
He then used his power on Dafiz.
Then, his body immediately sank with a thud.
He was beginning to assimilate the corpse of Susie, whom he had been holding in his arms.
"Oh,...... this,...... is the,connection,...... ah,Susie,......."
There was no pain.
Strangely, Dafiz was not afraid.
To die while embracing the corpse of my wife...
No
T̸̝̾͝h̶̤̹̿͘ȩ̶̘͑͘ ̵̩̆b̸̜̀e̶̟͋̓s̶̱̥̈̍ṫ̷͖̎ ̵̠̜̉̑w̴̫̓a̴̭̽͘y̴͎̓ ̵̤͆ț̵̀́ő̷̡͈ ̸̲̉͜͝d̶͈̓ḭ̶͝e̵̡̺̅ ̴͙͂i̷̹͓͂̌s̶̮͈͒ ̶̤̯͆ẃ̷̢̼͋h̷͉͛̐ỉ̸̮́l̷̜͋͘è̸̫̏ ̴̟̗̋b̶͕͈͝e̶̜͕͘ị̵̤̅̚n̵̲͑̍g̴̖̪͐ ̸̨̖̏ě̵̮m̷̬̽͂b̸͎̙͌͛r̷̨̅ạ̵̉̂c̴̤̲̽ē̶̼d̸͓͈̎̈ ̸̳͗ͅb̶̡̟̆ȳ̶̯̞ ̵͓̔ṭ̷̎h̷͍͎̐̅ē̶͓͎ ̶̦̈́c̶̠̎o̸̼̊r̷̪̤̓͝p̸̩͈̚s̷̤͚̎͘é̵̝̃ ̸̖͝o̴̺͋̚f̶̛̬͚̃ ̶͕̍m̴̢̎y̸̝͂ ̴̈́͜b̸̧̰͐ḙ̷̚l̵̡̺̓ǫ̶͚̇v̶̢͎̓͠ę̶̌d̶̡͎̅͑ ̷̪̈̋ẅ̴̯͇́ḭ̸̰̈́̽f̷̬̮̅e̶͚̽͝.̴̭̱̏͗
"The best way to die is to die in the arms of the dead body of your beloved wife. Ha-ha-ha-ha!"
Nekuto spreads his palms and laughs, as if drunk with himself.
Seeing the bizarre scene, Milkit backed away.
Then the laughter stopped, and the writhing face of flesh turned toward her, shaking with blood.
"Now, there, girl. Soon your master will come for you."
"How did you know about ...... Master?"
"I met her a while ago, and I gave her a warning. So, I hope you can escape safely."
Saying this, Nect held out his right arm in front of him.
He held his right arm out in front of him, palm facing up, and gripped it tightly, while at the same time declaring in a loud voice: "Let's all go down together!"
"All will be crushed, Connection!"
Go...... go.......
The entire building shook, and low, heavy sounds enveloped Milkit from all directions.
"Well, see you then."
Nect said, and disappeared from the laboratory.
Left alone, Milkit, eyes watering, mouth half-open, looked around.
Gogo ...... paki ...... gogogo .......
The unstoppable vibrations and heavy bass, plus the sound of something cracking that was heard.
A clang...... and pieces fell from the ceiling and rolled across the floor.
Milkit reacted to the sound and reflexively looked at the wall near the ceiling.
Then she discovered a number of cracks.
Besides, the ceiling seemed to be out of alignment--
"Why ...... eh? The ceiling is getting closer to ......?"
Milkit was right.
In other words, Nect was trying to connect the floor and ceiling of the entire institute and crush all the people, equipment, and materials inside.
Realizing this, she rushed to the door of the room and tried to get out by twisting the knob.
But it would not open.
The distortion of the wall had also distorted the door, causing it to get stuck.
"Kkk...... hh, ugh!"
Milkit desperately tried to open the door with her weight while twisting her hand with a clatter.
But it didn't even budge a smidge.
A she moved away from the door, she made a last-ditch body slam.
"Please, please please!"
She repeated this over and over again, but no matter what she did, it wouldn't open.
Meanwhile, the ceiling got closer and the distortion of the wall and door gets worse.
"I'm going to die in a place like this!"
Even she had no intention of dying in such a place.
But despite all her efforts..
The powerless Milkit alone would not get out of this place.
Her shoulders ached, and it was physically impossible for her to repeat the physical assaults any longer.
It was then that she heard a voice from behind her.
"Mil......t......s."
"Dafiz_......san?"
These were the words of Dafiz, who had become almost one with the corpse and was a sight to behold.
Milkit approached him, frightened, and listened to his voice.
'"In... my ... coat pockets"
"White coat pockets ......."
She stuck her hand in there and a small key came out.
When she showed it to him, Dafiz spun yet another word.
"At... the desk.... drawer"
"In the desk drawer? Dafiz, what's going on? Mr. Dafiz!"
"I'm ...... sorry ............ I'm not ......... ...to ...... be ......."
Finally, he died, leaving behind an apology to whomever he had addressed it to.
Their assimilation continued, eerily moving and intertwined.
Milkit wept a mixture of fear and sadness, letting the drops soak into her bandage.
◇◇◇
Ha, ha, ha, ha--"
Flamm's clothes, tattered and full of holes from repeated battles, fluttered in the wind.
Flamm, out of breath, finally arrived at Dafiz's room.
She guessed that the building was about to be crushed and that it was Nect's work, nine times out of ten.
The ceiling was now two meters high.
She checked to make sure there was no banging on the door, and immediately used her sword to cut it askew.
The entire wall was cut in half and the board fell to the floor, revealing a lump of unidentifiable flesh inside and Milkit sitting on the floor, holding some kind of material.
She found Flamm and ran to him, shouting, "Master!" she cried and ran to her.
Flamm also approached Milkit and hugged her.
"Milkit ...... I'm glad you're safe."
"But Mr. Dafiz ......"
Flamm guessed from those words that the piece of meat was Dafiz and Susie combined into one.
The ceiling was slowly warping
The ceiling is now 1.8 meters high.
Flamm, holding Milkit's body with both arms, ran towards the exit at once.
With a gogo-go-go-...... sound, the floor and ceiling came closer together and the walls crumpled.
Flamm climbed over the many fallen bodies and moved her feet forward, careful not to slip on the blood.
"Ha, ha, ha!"
"Master ......."
.
She was obviously exhausted.
"Milkit! I'd rather die with you than abandon you!"
She knew that such an answer would come back to her without even having to ask.
But she knew she was slowing him down.
She said through her ego that she wanted to follow Flamm, and now here she was...
"Milkit, I know you're thinking ...... something ...... bad right now."
"No, I'm not."
"Okay, I'll tell you what I'm thinking. I can ...... do this ...... because Milkit is there for me, you know! If I was alone, I would have died ...... long ago, you know!"
Out of breath, Flamm desperately conveyed those words to her.
1.6 meters
I had to bend down to get to her.
"I am so grateful for your life! I can't thank you enough!"
"I can't ...... do anything for you!"
"I cant do everything! I can do the housework and all that, but I cant do it all myself! I'm missing a lot of ...... things!"
1.5 meters.
Flamm's head hit the ceiling.
"I'm ...... sorry, I'm sorry, I'm ...... sorry, I'm really sorry."
1.4 meters.
That's almost as high as she could run with Milkit in her arms.
And - there is still a distance to the chapel, the entrance to the institute.
1.3 meters.
Flamm lowered her to the floor.
"This ...... haha, haha ...... won't make it, I don't think."
"...... yes.""
Milkit, as expected, had no choice but to agree to this.
Even if Flamm had been in perfect condition, she probably would not have been able to reach it.
In order to get a bit of legwork done, she now carried Milkit on her back and proceeded to lower herself to the ground.
Even so, she was going much faster than if she had gone forward without Milkit alone.
She was a little bigger than me, but she was dependable and warm.
She felt sorry for herself that she was always being carried on her back.
But Milkit, who had no special strength, could only support her in areas other than fighting.
"I'm sorry. I should have come to pick you up ...... earlier, even if I had to force my way through Nect."
Flamm murmured.
That's absurd.
If Nect had been in a bad mood at that time, Flamm probably would have died without seeing Milkit.
Still, when death is right in front of you, you can't help but regret it.
1.2 meters
"Um, Master?"
"Hmm?"
"I've been thinking about something since the day we met."
"What have you been ...... thinking about since that first day?"
"I have always only been treated as a slave. But Master is different. Master and slave cannot express it, something else--"
Goooh!
As Milkit was speaking, a gust of wind blew in the corridor through which they were proceeding.
A few moments later, they were found.
Gooooooo--goggahgahgahgahgahgahgahgahgahgahgahgahgahgahgahgahgahgahgahgahgahgahgahgah!
Without any lingering sadness, the ceiling, which was about to crush the building, was blown away with a ferocious sound.
The force of the blast was so great that the peeling debris, which was as big as a person's head, was immediately shattered into sand.
And strangely enough, Flamm and Milkit were not harmed at all.
Not a single cut was made, except for a strong wind.
Flamm hugged Milkit protectively.
In this state, they watched, stunned, the supernatural phenomena that had suddenly engulfed them.
By the time the wind stopped, the ceiling - or rather, most of the building - had been destroyed, and the light of sunset fell on the girls.
In addition, the conversation that was in progress had been completely blown from their mind.
"Wow,......,......, as expected of Mr. Gadio, he destroyed everything with one blow. I'm still not good enough."
"Eterna and Ink are here too."
Milkit said when he saw the figure walking their way.
Originally, she would have stood up and rushed to them, but now that she had lost all strength, Flamm can not even do that.
Their two fingers touched each other.
They intertwined, and when they hold hands deeply, they touch each other shoulder to shoulder.
The distance between their bodies shrinks even more.
When they got too close and bumped head to head, they looked at each other, shook their shoulders, and laughed.
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TN: so sorry for late chappy, diced's should come out on schedule. 44 might be 44.1 and 44.2 cuz I have essay due woo
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