Ch.184Chapter 184. A World Where You Can’t Survive Alone

A cold wind blows.

As if to freeze everything in this land, as if to honor the final moments of the noble knight buried here…

If such a memorial were to continue forever, even the immortal monsters would remain frozen, and they would never emerge into the world again.

“…What about Lady Phobia?”

As if feeling that same wind, Flandor, riding on my back, whispered with difficulty.

“Lady Phobia, did she truly return to being human at the end?”

Is she still uncertain?

Or is she still grieving over the death she couldn’t prevent?

“…Yes.”

But my words now aren’t just to comfort her.

Even in this moment, the spirits in the blowing wind are teaching me that what he showed at the end came from reason.

Having felt fragments of the life he experienced through that communion, I could speak with even greater certainty.

“I guarantee it. That guy remained human at the end.”

Because his life was miserable, because he didn’t receive rewards for his efforts in this harsh world…

After overcoming all that and regaining his humanity, his end became all the more noble.

“Even in a world like this…”

In response to my confident answer, Flandor buried her face deeper into my back.

“Even in a world like this, is it really okay to pursue hope?”

In reality, not in dreams.

Is it okay to desperately chase hope while living, rather than meeting one’s end lost in fantasy?

“Well, I’m not sure about that either.”

I wanted to offer comforting words, even if they were empty, but I couldn’t honestly express such feelings.

This world is far too harsh, and I myself was struggling just to carry this girl on my back.

“…That’s unfair. After coming to get me, now you say something like that.”

“I’m sorry. The master who came looking for you turns out to be this inadequate.”

Despite how difficult it is to bear, why did I come here?

The answer to that question was already organized within me.

“…Still, I think that rather than bearing hardships alone, it’s okay to depend on others.”

Because I need this child.

Because I felt the same destiny with this child whom I met following the prophecy that guides me, as with the others I’ve met before.

“It’s a world too burdensome to live in alone, but together… we might achieve what we couldn’t accomplish on our own.”

Yes, isn’t this a harsh world?

If we still want to live despite that, we need to reach out to those who can stand with us, and sometimes take risks for them.

I hope this child will be included in that place…

-Clop, clop.

As I continued forward with such thoughts, the sound of someone approaching from the opposite side of the street began to reach my ears.

In this cold wave where one would quickly lose body heat without preserving it with warmth as I do, could there possibly be some moving monstrosity now?

-Neigh!

No, not a monstrosity but a horse.

Unlike the hideous creatures I’ve encountered so far, this was a horse with a normal body, thoroughly equipped with warming gear, proving it was owned by someone.

“Why is there a horse here…?”

-Snort!

As I wondered, the horse approached and knelt down before me.

There was a note inserted in the saddle that was presented as if inviting us to sit.

A letter from the presumed owner of this horse, sent to whoever they hoped would ride it.

[Hero, this is Samson. I don’t know how the situation is unfolding, but I’ve quickly sent this clever child in case of emergency. If you find it, please ride it with Miss Flandor and join us at the designated location.]

…Damn these contrary kids.

These guys who don’t even call me by my proper name are now ignoring my orders to return to the system and staying behind.

-Snort, snort!

But now that the situation has been resolved, this consideration is somewhat welcome.

As I looked back at the horse, I noticed it bringing its head toward Flandor who was on my back.

It was clearly expressing familiarity with Flandor. After all, the expedition’s horses were generally managed by her hands.

“It seems worried about you.”

“About me, this child is?”

“Yes, if you honestly ask for help, it will surely assist you.”

It must feel grateful for being cared for all this time, and surely it wouldn’t mind carrying us both?

But my words seemed strangely unfamiliar to Flandor, who couldn’t bring herself to stroke the horse and instead buried her face deeper into my back.

“…That’s an unreasonable request. For me, who was created to help humans, to ask someone for help.”

“Sometimes you need to depend on others in order to provide that help.”

If your legs are broken and you can’t move forward, couldn’t you ask someone to lend you their shoulder?

No matter how awkward it feels, there’s no choice now that you’re in my hands.

Thinking that we could gradually improve the situation, I mounted the saddle and secured the physically impaired Flandor with straps, then casually asked a question.

“Or is it that you don’t like me?”

“…I don’t dislike you.”

As if finally giving up, she buried her head against my back and wrapped her damaged hands around my waist.

The trembling I felt from those hands told me she still hadn’t shaken off her fear.

“And that’s why I’m afraid. After leaving this place, I might end up pointing a sword at you.”

…Right, that still remains.

No matter how special we become to each other, this child has a mission, and I have a determination to protect those who care for me.

If we maintain those commitments without giving them up, we will eventually clash.

Yet the reason such a future doesn’t feel entirely frightening is because I sensed possibility in her not rejecting me.

“Then, until that time comes, we’ll have to find a way.”

This child, just like me…

I’ve become confident that she will care for the people I love…

-Boom!

But that feeling of expectation was short-lived.

My body tensed at the subsequent tremor of the ground, and my gaze reflexively turned toward the direction we had come from.

What should exist there are the ruins of the Reformation Office, collapsed after Flandor’s fierce battle.

But right after we left that place, something was writhing as it rose above the city.

That wasn’t there when we just came out… Could it possibly be alive?

“Ah, aaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

A fierce scream erupted as I recoiled in shock.

As it echoed throughout the city, the snowstorm blowing from behind suddenly distorted.

It wasn’t just a loud sound but one imbued with magical power.

This sensation that makes my mind dizzy just from hearing it, though incomplete… Yes, I definitely felt this when attacked by the succubus before.

“Yasmo… Deus?”

And Flandor, who gazed at the scene with me, confirmed that it wasn’t an illusion.

When I turned back, unable to ignore that name, I saw that Flandor’s face had turned pale.

“If it’s Yasmo Deus, she’s one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon Lord’s army, right? Why is she appearing here?”

“Because she was the mastermind behind what happened in this city. I thought she had died frozen by Phobia…”

So she was killed by Phobia, but somehow survived and ended up like that?

But in the form that rose up as if replacing the papal office, there was no longer any trace of her succubus appearance.

“Never… I will never forgive youuuu!!!! Not only did a mere beast dare to challenge me, but to reduce me, ME to this state…!!”

With incomprehensible howls, shadows stretched out in all directions. As they pounded the city like giant tentacles, my body trembled violently feeling the shockwaves.

And at that moment, the closest tentacle that caught my eye…

No, it wasn’t a tentacle but a person.

It looked like countless people had been indiscriminately clumped together and melted… like a slime born from melted crowds.

“Ah, yesss… You, you did this to me…!!”

As that elongated mass of flesh gradually reached out toward us, it suddenly froze in place and stopped moving.

The snowstorm, which had intensified since the commotion began, started to freeze its body.

Are the spirits helping us? So we can quickly escape this monster?

-Neigh!

Whatever the case, having retrieved Flandor, there was no reason to stay here any longer.

Deciding it would be exhausting to face such a monster, I flicked the reins, and the horse carrying Flandor and me began to gallop quickly down the road.

“Where… are you… goinggggg!”

At that moment, the frozen body forcibly moved, shooting out split flesh like tentacles.

As we raced down the road avoiding that savage attack, Flandor looked back and spoke in a tense voice.

“She probably constructed a body by desperately drawing in monstrosities as a last resort while dying. Since her main body could transform into a spirit form, she must have been able to connect herself with nearby monstrosities in her powdered state, even if imperfectly.”

“So that went wrong and she’s gone berserk?”

“From the beginning, Beastmen and vampires are imperfect fusion entities. Mixing them with the Demon Tribe would be an attempt never tried anywhere…”

-Crack, crack!!

The frozen flesh masses collapse buildings and scatter debris in all directions.

Boom, crash! Rocks and ice chunks fall in our path.

We’re somehow avoiding them with the horse’s speed and jumping ability, but even that continues very precariously.

-Rumble, rumble!

And as we proceed forward while watching ahead, behind us, the frozen flesh masses are forcibly twisting their bodies and surging forward like a wave.

If we hesitate and slow down because of flying debris, we’ll quickly be caught and swallowed.

“Damn, it’s too fast!”

“Leave me behind. So you can slow down a little…”

“Don’t say such nonsense! Why do you think I came all this way?!”

Abandoning one broken doll wouldn’t make us tremendously faster, and living only has meaning if we live together.

The only fortunate thing is that we just need to go straight to reach the drawbridge exit… Damn, what should we do?

“I won’t forgive youuuuuuu!!”

Even now, the flesh mass behind us is swelling and pursuing us at a faster pace, and its rampage to block our escape is destroying the city and obstructing our path.

Obviously, this monster could easily devour this entire city if not for the cold wave. There’s no way I could choose to fight it directly like with Phobia.

If only we could buy time until it completely freezes in this cold…

“Master! Ahead!”

At that moment, a massive shadow approached from the front.

As I gasped in shock, the shadow was already opening its mouth right in front of Flandor and me.

Its identity was a monstrosity with a thick beak and fluttering black feathers… Oh no, if we collide, that’s the end!

-Caw!

But the threatening monstrosity passed by my side and soared upward as if gliding.

At the end, it struck the flesh mass flying toward us with its body, shattering it, and then landed on the displaced street, beginning to assert its presence.

A black-cloaked monstrosity covered in feathers rather than fur, with a crow-like head.

“Caw! Cawwww!!”

As that monstrosity screeched from the side of our path, the wave of flesh mass that had been forcibly pursuing us began to twist greatly in place.

“Ah, ahhh. Yes, youuu, it’s youuu! You are the oneee!!”

As if unable to ignore the one who interfered with it.

Forgetting even to pursue us, Yasmo Deus advanced toward the crow-formed monstrosity, which began to traverse the buildings of the city through the snowstorm as if fleeing.

Despite also freezing in the cold, it moved in the exact opposite direction from our exit.

“You…”

From that retreating figure, I felt a familiarity, and soon despair began to leak from my lips.

“Why… are you here?”

Virgil Huntress.

Why has he, now completely transformed into a monstrosity, appeared here to draw the attention of that mass of horrors?