Ch.22Fatalism (3)

The demon only has regenerative abilities. Its physical abilities aren’t particularly threatening, and it lacks intelligence, so it’s not a major threat.

However, its regeneration ability is exceptionally powerful. That’s why this war of attrition puts us at a disadvantage.

Even so, we don’t have many options. We can’t avoid combat because of the evacuated people, and we can’t defeat that demon either.

We’re just desperately holding on with the vague hope that reinforcements will arrive and resolve this situation.

But our remaining resources are running low. The 14 bullets we managed to create are all used up, and Ju-an is visibly exhausted.

Plus, I’m feeling terribly tired and dizzy, probably from the lack of blood in my body.

Still, thanks to all the resources we’ve poured in, we’ve managed to temporarily neutralize the demon. Though it’s obvious it’ll recover soon and come at us again.

“How much longer can you hold out?”

“I’m still fine.”

Ju-an said while catching his rough breath.

I need to rack my brain and come up with a good idea before that damn demon gets up again.

“Hey, let’s say I can use things related to my body as bullets. Besides blood and mana, what else could be useful as ammunition?”

But my head isn’t working well, probably because blood isn’t circulating properly. And no matter how much I think, my brain won’t be much help. So I might as well use his brain instead.

“What exactly counts as ‘related to your body’?”

“I can even use abstract things like emotions or memories. Oh, and the more important the element is to the body, the more powerful it becomes.”

“Can you use things like cancer cells as bullets?”

“Probably possible, I think?”

“Then I guess you don’t have to worry about dying from cancer later.”

Ju-an’s brain works well. The problem is it often works too well in useless directions.

“…You’re really talking nonsense.”

“But you know how terrifying cancer is, right?”

“We’re about to be torn apart by that demon before cancer has a chance to kill us!”

We don’t have suitable bullets, and Ju-an’s condition isn’t exactly good. If that demon gets up again in this state, we’ll definitely struggle.

But for some reason, the demon hasn’t gotten up for several minutes. Wasn’t it regenerating within seconds before?

…Could it be?

“Why is it regenerating so slowly?”

“Because I slowed down the demon’s time, so of course its regeneration speed is slower too.”

“Damn… I got my hopes up for nothing.”

I thought we had managed to deal a significant blow and weakened the demon.

Seriously, why won’t that thing die? After all we’ve done, it should have the decency to die.

“By the way, what’s the fuel for your ability?”

“Mana.”

“How much mana do you have left?”

“Enough to slow time for about 2 minutes.”

“Good, let’s think hard for those 2 minutes.”

***

After racking our brains for 2 minutes, we discovered some useful information.

First, being able to use emotions as bullets was more useful than I thought. When I’m furiously angry or irritated, I can turn those feelings into bullets, and I immediately calm down after firing.

Plus, the power is stronger than expected. And since I can easily control the pace, there’s no risk while getting crazy returns on efficiency.

I also discovered that I can use bodily waste as bullets. Thanks to that, I won’t have to struggle when I can’t find a bathroom.

But I won’t do that. Even if the bullets are odorless and colorless, it still feels gross. And the power is pathetically weak too.

If Agath were here, she’d probably make some sex joke about this.

We also came up with the idea of using fat as bullets. With this, I could eat as much as I want without worrying about gaining weight!

…But I already eat so little that I don’t need to worry about gaining weight. If I lose more fat from this state, wouldn’t that be a bigger problem?

“Oh right, couldn’t this solve diabetes too?”

“Then you could eat all the chocolate you want.”

I’ve always been told sweet things are the enemy of muscles and couldn’t eat them. Now I can eat as much as I want without worry!

“When I first saw this ability, it seemed pretty useless, but it’s actually much more useful than I thought?”

“Yeah. But these are just things we came up with in 2 minutes. If we think more, we’ll probably come up with many better ideas.”

This is already plenty useful, but there’s even more good stuff? Just thinking about it makes me smile.

I’m glad Ju-an’s brain works well in these areas…

…Oh.

“…How did our conversation end up here?”

“…Good question.”

We spent our precious time finding useful bullets for everyday life instead of combat.

“Hey, think harder! We’re in serious trouble if that thing gets up!”

“I know! But all the powerful options are dangerous ones that I’m hesitant to recommend!”

“Just tell me what they are!”

“Sensory nerves like smell or taste, memories, lifespan, organs, or your legs.”

“…I guess everyone thinks the same things.”

Even I, with my brain not working well, had thought about all of those before.

But they’re all problematic to use. Especially smell or taste—what if you use them and never recover them?

Something with low risk and high return…

“My mana is all gone! I can’t use my ability anymore!”

As soon as Ju-an finished speaking, the demon’s body regenerated instantly.

Its severed limbs and head sprouted back immediately, and the wounds on its body healed as if they were never there.

—ROAR!

The demon let out a terrible scream and charged at us.

Still, thanks to our chatting, Ju-an had recovered some stamina. So the situation shouldn’t be extremely disadvantageous.

That should have been the case, but for some reason, Ju-an was being pushed back.

After exchanging blows, we managed to neutralize the demon again. But Ju-an also took heavy damage.

Ju-an now looks dangerously unstable. And I can’t think of anything useful to use as bullets.

If the demon regenerates in this situation…

“It was definitely much weaker at first… huff… why…”

Ju-an said while catching his rough breath.

“Maybe we’re just tired?”

“Probably… huff… seems that way…”

The demon was regenerating its body instantly, just like it did at first. But we’re not in the same condition.

I have no ammunition, and Ju-an is on the verge of collapse. The demon mercilessly threw a punch at the exhausted Ju-an.

—THUD!

Normally, he could have dodged it, but Ju-an was already too exhausted and took the punch head-on.

Then, with the sound of bones breaking, Ju-an flew all the way to a distant wall.

As the demon was about to smash me with its fist, all sorts of thoughts filled my head.

Am I really going to die like this? When I’ve only been alive for a week?

If I knew this would happen, I should have run away with Ju-an earlier… but then people would die.

But if we die here, those people will die anyway, right? So maybe it wouldn’t have mattered if we ran from the beginning?

…What’s the point of thinking about this now when it’s all over?

As I stood there blankly, resigned to my fate, the demon’s movement suddenly stopped as if time had frozen.

Then Ju-an, in a battered state, rushed over, cut the demon into pieces, and said:

“I’m sorry, I should have held out longer…”

Ju-an’s physical condition is beyond words—it’s a miracle he’s even standing.

In that state, he forced himself to squeeze out his body and mana to subdue the demon once more.

“Hey! You’re going to die if you keep this up!”

Ju-an spoke in an almost dying voice with an awkward smile.

“I said I was strong enough to protect at least one person… I’ve already said it, so I have to keep my word somehow…”

Now we’re truly on the brink of death. If that demon recovers again, it’s really the end.

What kind of bullet could I use…

Suddenly, a perfect bullet came to mind.

“Do you remember when you promised to grant me one wish?”

“Why bring that up suddenly…?”

“Go into the shelter right now.”

“Then what about you…?”

“I have one useful bullet. A powerful one I can use thousands of times.”

Leo told me not to sacrifice my lifespan, but if I save it too much, I might disappear without ever using it.

And I still have about 80 years to live, so losing 2-3 years isn’t a big deal.

With that resolve, I stepped forward, but Ju-an didn’t seem willing to back down.

“I’m sorry… but I don’t think I can grant your wish…”

“Then why did you promise to grant me a wish in the first place?”

Did it look like I said that just to hear him say he couldn’t grant my wish?

He never listens to what people say.

“Then just stay still and rest. You can do that much, right?”

“No… I can still fight…”

“Stop being stubborn and just stay still!”

I forcibly sat Ju-an down nearby. The fact that he couldn’t resist even though I’m weak right now shows how weakened he’s become.

—BANG!

I shot at the regenerating demon with a day’s worth of my lifespan.

I did some damage by sacrificing my lifespan, but of course, the demon’s body was regenerating quickly.

To think that sacrificing a day of my life only bought about 3 seconds of time. Roughly calculating the efficiency…

I’d need to sacrifice about 78 years to buy a day’s time.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The efficiency is extremely low. But I have to keep shooting. Otherwise, it’s obvious we’ll die.

So I continued to shoot, infusing my lifespan into each bullet.

At first, it didn’t feel like anything, but the more I shot, the stronger the feeling of my internal organs twisting became. My consciousness was also becoming increasingly dim.

It feels like I could lose consciousness at any moment, but I forcibly held onto my senses and continued shooting. Because if I don’t, we’ll die.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

My lifespan is gradually decreasing. One day, two days, one week, two weeks, one month, two months… I’ve lost count of how many shots I’ve fired.

I don’t know, but I still have plenty of bullets left.

After continuing to hold out like that, a holy knight with pink flowing hair arrived as reinforcement.

—CRASH!

The holy knight immediately struck down the demon with a golden glowing mace. The demon turned into black ash and disappeared. Divine power really is perfect against demons.

What an anticlimactic ending. Not that I’m complaining. Both Ju-an and I survived.

“Lite! Are you okay?”

Agath looked at me with concern and spoke. I never thought Agath would look so reliable.

“I’m fine, please check on Ju-an first…”

I pointed to Ju-an sitting nearby.

“…What did he do to end up in that state?”

“Can you save him…?”

“Yes. I happen to have one emergency holy water left.”

Agath took out a golden liquid from her chest and fed it to Ju-an. His expression immediately relaxed.

I guess all that fate-like pseudo-science was wrong after all.

With that reassurance, I lost consciousness.