By the time the light of the contract ceases to shine and I open my eyes, Ys is no longer there.
Nevertheless, I could sense that the contract has been firmly established by the fact that my body is awash with power at a level far different from that of the past.
“Hmm?”
And as I try to stand up, the sensation of moving my body is not the same as it was before the… contract was signed.
More precisely, I feel as though I have gained a head of height and that my chest area is being pressured, which makes it somewhat more difficult for me to breathe. Also, although it has nothing to do with physical movement, I feel that my skin color has become whiter than before.
In addition, my clothes are much tighter because I have grown taller, but I don’t have any problem with that.
Judging from the situation, I would say that this is a result of the contract I signed with Ys.
“Well, forget it. It’s not a major problem.”
It is unknown to me if this is partly a consequence of the contract or otherwise, but I feel like I can move my body without any difficulties despite significant physical changes.
[Can you hear my voice?]
“Yes, I can hear you perfectly fine.”
From inside my head, I can hear Ys’ voice.
Apparently, due to the deep contract I have made with them, I am in a form of near-assimilation.
[You know how to use my power, don’t you?]
“Yeah, I have no problem with that either.”
With my right hand, I hold the sling that has bullets embedded in it as I meditate with my left eye to command the power.
I subsequently begin to exert power over my right eye.
[Now, you have my power. I will have you defeat a mud puppet of that caliber with ease.]
“Even if you don’t tell me, I’ll do everything I can to avenge Beyta. I will crush it with all my might.”
From the shadow of the cube, I move to a position where I can see the door and the frog at the end of the passage.
As I step out into the passage and assume my stance, the black spots on the frog’s body surface move and direct it towards me.
“Let’s go!”
[Do it!]
I lunge towards the frog, and it opens its wide mouth in response.
In its mouth, the harpoon that had just been launched against the wall is planted in place of a tongue, the tip of which is solidly oriented towards me.
“Ge…”
A harpoon is hurled from the frog’s mouth towards my torso at a breakneck speed.
But oddly enough, the feeling of threat is absent from my mind. After all, even if I say “breakneck speed,” it is only at the human level of dynamic vision. It is as if time is frozen in my eyes.
“Freeze.”
“Goh…”
With my eyes fixed on the harpoon, I unleash the power I have gathered in my right eye and reveal my divine attributes, freezing the harpoon from the tip as it is released from the frog’s mouth.
“Shatter.”
“Oo…”
The frog’s harpoon, however, continues to advance in my direction despite being frozen.
Yet, things frozen by the force of Ys are far more fragile than they were before. This is why I handle my sling like a jackpot and smash the frozen harpoon that arrives right in front of me.
“Now…”
“Oo…!?”
With the momentum of the sling, I freeze part of the frog’s body and spin around, aiming at the red crystal at the end of it…
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“Crush it!”
The frog starts to escape in fright as soon as the sling releases a bullet that shoots straight at it, destroying the harpoon on its tongue and sending it flying towards the backside.
“Gegaaah!?”
The sling’s bullets eventually reach the frog’s back, smashing the frozen harpoon as they approach the red crystal that serves as the core; when they hit the red crystal, the sling’s bullets shatter it in a single blow.
“Gegego…”
The body of the frog whose core is destroyed changes into mud, and when all of it is converted into mud, it dries up at once and turns into dirt clay.
“Phew.”
[Well done.]
From the way Ys speaks, it is safe to say that the frog has died.
How it turned into mud after it died is a mystery to me though.
[Now, hurry up before the next batch arrives.]
“Am I going deeper?”
[No, I have things to convey to the god of Japoterasu, and you alone are not prepared with the right equipment or the right number of people to conquer this ‘Maze’. First of all, you shall go through that door and return to your original world.]
“You mean you don’t want any unnecessary sacrifices due to recklessness?”
[That’s what I’m saying.]
Although there are many questions I would like to ask, I put them aside for now and approach the door while having a conversation with Ys in my head.
“…I may not be allowed to take Beyta’s whole body, but I’ll at least take his recognition card with me.”
[Do as you please. And while you’re at it, take some of the clay with you, too. It will come in handy.]
“I understand.”
At the door, while looking at the bloodstained walls and floor, I crouch down and pull out the personal identification card distributed to all security personnel from Beyta’s corpse, whose head is neatly missing, and place it in my hip pocket.
Even with the bloodstains, it will at least offer some comfort to Beyta’s family.
As for the clay, I have no idea what it does, but I collect some of the clay in the shape of a dango that the frog monster has changed into, as Ys told me to do.
Since Ys, the God, took the trouble to tell me to bring it back, it must have some significance.
[Now let’s go.]
“Yeah.”
I approach the door and gently start to open it; as I do so, a white light starts to leak out from behind the door.
When eventually it opens completely, I turn around to bid Beyta one last farewell.
“Hmm?”
[That is…!?]
In the same instant that I turn around and notice a figure at the room’s watertight door, Ys, who is sharing my view with me, exclaims in shock.
The person to whom Ys raised a cry of surprise is…
A slender woman dressed in a sappanwood-colored military-like uniform with a bloody hatchet in her hand.
——————
A/N:
Yeah. There she makes her appearance. This is Outer World Story, so it can’t be helped.
T/N:
She is Licorice=S=Insanity aka God of Calamity (her replica name, not her actual title or name) named by Kurokiri in Outer World Story: The Black Mist that Devours.