Volume 2
Chapter 7.2
Light Sinking
in the Shadows Part 2
Translator : PolterGlast
Shina was sitting on
the roof of the hut while hugging her knees. She said she was on the lookout,
but she was far from being able to do that.
All that went through
her head was frustration and regret.
When her homeland, the
Nebula Forest, fell in the Great Invasion, that black demonic beast appeared
before her stupefied eyes.
Its appearance was
different from the one that appeared today, but there was no mistaking the
black sludge that covered its entire body and its countless blood-red eyes.
What was more
terrifying than anything else was the presence that the demonic beast was clad
in. While it emitted a terrifying presence, behind it, Shina could see the
presence of spirits she was familiar with.
And it was precisely
because of this familiar presence that the beast's horror seemed even more
prominent to her.
The sheer horror and
inescapable sense of death coldly bound her mind and body like iron chains. She
remembered the people who rescued her. Her beloved parents, her sister, and a
small spirit that could be said to be her half-body.
"Run!"
"Don't worry,
you'll survive."
The last moments of
her family were recalled over and over again in the form of nightmares. She
didn't want to run away by herself. She wanted them to run away together. She
should have known that it was useless to fight when the Great Tree had fallen
to the ground.
But neither her
parents nor her sister would listen to her pleas.
Accompanied by the
desperate screams of her father and mother at her back, she kept running away
with her sister at her side.
However, the presence
of death soon caught up with them. The presence of a demonic beast approaching
from behind made Shina's sister, who had been pulling her hand, stop and let go
of her hand.
"From here, you
have to run away by yourself."
Her sister, who tapped
her on the shoulder as if to persuade her, looked back at her with eyes that
held the same resolve as her parents.
"Everyone,
Razward, take care of my sister."
As if in response to
her words, a light gathered and took the form of a small lapis lazuli-colored
bird.
This was the spirit
that had contracted with Shina, a being capable of taking on a definite form.
The spirit that had contracted with her sister, who was a high elf, had long
since been killed along with the spirit of the Great Tree.
The little lapis
lazuli-colored bird called Razward began to glow as it circled around Shina,
enveloping her in a cocoon of light.
The supernatural power
that enveloped her and the will of the spirit that she could sense in it
clearly told her what her sister and best friend were trying to do.
Shina was not ready to
lose her parents and even more so, her sister and her other half.
Get me out of here and
please save them. Shina's pleas were in vain, as her sister's last strength
sent her flying out of the Nebula Forest.
Her home forest was
shrouded in mist, but now smoke was rising from everywhere, and the place where
the Great Tree once stood was shrouded in black mist.
*Giiiiiiiii!*
The shriek of a spirit
echoed through her mind. Then, the remnant of the cocoon of light was shattered
apart as if it were bursting. It was the final scream of the little lapis
lazuli bird that Shina had contracted.
And that scream
clearly made it clear to the young Shina what had happened to the two of them.
"A-, aa……
aaaaaah!"
With her hands
clutching her face, Shina collapsed. She scratched her skin, trying to convince
herself that the hard-to-accept reality was a lie. Then, with an inaudible scream,
she lost consciousness.
From that day on,
Shina lost her connection with the spirits, and her childhood friend
disappeared, never to appear before her again.
The surviving Shina
wandered with her remaining fellow survivors. She had no other choice.
On top of that,
because the elves had ignored the warnings they had received just prior to the
fall of the Nebula Forest, they were facing strong criticism from the other
races.
Go back to your own
homeland, which has turned into hell. There is nothing to feed the elves. Such
words were directed at them wherever they went. Shina and the other refugees
had no place to stay.
The elves were
tormented by hunger and cold, but a turning point finally came.
Operation Fructus.
Humanity's greatest
counter-measure against the invading demonic beasts. The surviving elves also
participated in this operation.
For the sake of their
remaining survivors and for the sake of their families, they fought with all
their might and sacrificed their lives.
As a result, the elves
were allowed to live in the Sumahya Union, a new country created by those who
lost their country. However, Operation Fructus was postponed indefinitely
before the recapture of Nebula Forest due to the exhaustion of various
countries, and the animosity toward the elves could not be wiped away.
(That's why I came
here. To change the weak me of twenty years ago. To reclaim my homeland for
sure this time......)
Shina lost her spirit
magic, so instead, she honed her archery skills and learned the magic used by
humans.
Ignoring the ostracism
directed at her, she continued to train desperately and managed to stay in the
upper ranks.
Her efforts were
genuine, and her feelings were undoubtedly sincere.
Of course, she has not
forgotten to regain her spirit magic.
(Even so, nothing
could be done when it came down to it......)
Feeling frustrated and
pathetic, she clutched her arms around her knees and squeezed them tightly.
Her feelings were
getting worse and worse, but the anger she felt toward herself kept swirling in
the depths of her heart. Honestly speaking, she felt as if her heart was about
to fall apart.
(Don't worry, it's
okay, it will go away soon. I'll try not to be bothered by it......)
Regardless, she wanted
to be alone now. And yet .......
"Good grief, I
couldn't find you around the hut, so I wondered where you'd gone, and here you
were on the roof."
The person Shina least
wanted to see called out to her.
"What are you
doing? In a place like this......"
In response to
Nozomu's question, Shina turned away and remained silent.
"Anyway, why
don't you try getting something to eat? I made a simple soup, in case you want
to try it......"
Nozomu sat down next
to Shina, a body's length away from her, and offered her a bowl of steaming
soup, but she did not even look at the bowl.
"Hey. I'd like to
ask you something......"
"W-, what?"
"Why did you
volunteer yourself to be the bait?"
"Huh?"
Nozomu tilted his head
at the unexpected question.
"Why you ask?
There was no one else who might have been able to do it ......"
Indeed, not everyone
was in a condition to fight at that time. The only way to escape was to have
someone be a decoy, and Nozomu was the only one who seemed to be able to do
that.
"There was no one
else? It would have been fine if it was me who stayed! Since I was the cause,
it makes more sense for me to stay!"
Nozomu's words were
inexplicably justified, but they conversely caused Shina to become agitated.
Even she understood
this with her rational mind. She knew that she could not even stop that demonic
beast by herself.
Negative emotions
erupted violently. More than anything else, the fact that she herself had
caused the crisis completely severed the threads in her heart that had been
tautly stretched over the years.
"You're in the
tenth class, aren't you!? If you think about it, there is no way you can escape
from it! Why would you do such a thing if you knew you were going to
die!?"
"W-, well, I'm
alive though ...... -eh, wa-, wait!"
Shina, with her eyes
dilated, grabbed onto Nozomu's chest and brought her face so close to his that
he could feel her breath on his face.
Nozomu was startled by
Shina's sudden action, but he noticed the boulder-like tears in her eyes and
couldn't say anything.
"Yeah! Surely you
were different from me who couldn't do anything! They said you were the weakest in our grade, but you
were actually strong! But that beast is a lot more dangerous than that! Why are
you being so reckless!"
Her incoherent words
and actions were the result of the trauma she had experienced and upon seeing
Nozomu, who had acted as a decoy.
Meanwhile, Nozomu was
attracted to the dark emotions behind Shina's furious eyes.
It was a color of
disappointment and resignation toward herself that began to spread in her heart
as the threads of tension were broken.
"Why, why
......"
She turned her head
down and kept muttering these words with tears in her eyes. She did not even
know to whom these words were directed to.
◆
Having had its torso
severed by Nozomu and blown away by [Light of Annihilation], [Gray] crawled on
the ground with only its upper body to reach a place in a hazy state of
consciousness.
A tributary flowing
into the Vein River. Its riverbank. The place where his family was buried.
On the freshly dug-up
soil, [Gray] lays himself down.
The sludge-like blood
leaking from his body seeps into the ground, as if his life is spilling out.
*Gurururu……*
[Gray] growled in a
calm voice, his whole body stained with the blood that flowed out. It was as if
he was relieved to be able to sleep where his family slept.
His eyes, which had
been dyed red, somehow returned to normal, and his body rapidly lost its
strength.
His body was already
as good as a corpse.
His heart had
originally been crushed. On top of that, his torso had now been cut in half.
He has not long to
live. He cannot move any longer.
It was a war of
survival to gain new territory. Above all, it was a battle to avenge the deaths
of his family members, but it ended in vain.
The hatred that disappeared
along with his life, and the instinct to live. What came instead was regret and
relief at the verge of death.
[Gray] had already
realized his own death. The reason he came to this riverbank was because he
wanted to at least end up at the place where his family was laid to rest.
Drenched in his own
blood, he slowly closed his eyes.
However, the
"existence" assimilated into his body did not allow [Gray] to die.
Suddenly, the ground
soaked in [Gray]'s blood rose up.
What appeared was
[Gray]'s family, the Direwolves, who had already died.
*Kyuuu, kuuu......*
[Gray] was surprised
to see his family members suddenly resurrected.
However, the
resurrected Direwolves clearly had a different air about them.
Their eyes, like those
of [Gray] before, were dyed red. The gaze they turned on their former
leader was vacant to the point of emptiness, not something they would ever turn
on their own kin.
*Gurururu......*
Those were the eyes of
a corpse. [Gray] roared as it realized the "existence" lurking in the
depths of those eyes.
That
"existence" is what kept him alive when he was supposed to die.
That
"existence" focused its eyes of hatred on [Gray], who could no longer
fight- ...... no, who had given up his will to fight.
[...... Then, I don't
need you anymore. Be my food.]
Such a declaration
echoed in [Gray]'s mind. The next moment, the resurrected Direwolves
surrounded [Gray], and began to pierce [Gray] with their fangs one after
another.
*Gyau, guuuu,
giuuuuu……!*
The groans of [Gray],
accompanied by intense pain, wafted through the darkness of the night.
Direwolves devoured
[Gray] and dug their heads into [Gray]'s body, eating away at its flesh with a
gnawing sound.
The bodies of the
Direwolves dissolved, and only their crimson eyes were seen as they were pulled
into [Gray]'s body.
As a result, [Gray]'s
body underwent a change as well.
The lower half of his
body, which had been severed by Nozomu, began to regenerate.
The flesh on the
severed surface bulged out, forming a reddish-black bare hind leg.
The vertebral arch of
his spine grew sharply like swords, and his tailbone split and enlarged.
Finally, transformed into three gigantic tails.
Furthermore, his lower
jaw, which was severed by Nozomu's [Phantom], also regenerated by fusing each
of the Direwolves that had bitten into it.
And when all the
Direwolves fused together, [Gray]'s consciousness completely vanished, and
there stood a bizarre-looking beast with countless crimson eyes all over its
body.
*Vuooooooo~o~o~o*
A roar of overlapping
voices echoed through Spasim Forest.
The bizarre beast
rushed out into the forest, radiating a thick, black light of source element as
if its entire body were a muddy mixture of paints.
Ahead of it, there was
Shino's hut, where Nozomu and the others were taking shelter.
◆
Shina kept crying,
but eventually calmed down and quickly let herself go.
"....... Sorry. I
said a lot of strange things."
"N-, no. It's
okay ......."
The two of them sat on
the roof of the hut and looked up at the sky.
They were
neither close to each other, nor were they pushing each other away, but there
was a small distance between them, enough for a single person.
The wind of silence
was flowing through this gap.
"Thanks. For
listening to my complaints without saying anything......"
"Eh?"
What broke the silence
was a word of thanks. Nozomu was surprised to hear these words.
"It's not like I
did anything worth mentioning......"
"That can't be
true, can it? You let us escape from that thing. Taking care of us, and cooking
meals for us. On top of that, you listened to my filthy complaints without
saying anything to me."
"...... There's
no such thing as filthy complaints, is there? Everyone has times when they feel
down. Sometimes we even lose it ......"
Shina smiled, although
it left her somewhat tired. However, Nozomu could see that her smile was only
on the surface.
It was the expression
of someone desperately trying to hide a weight they had been carrying. It was
the same mask that Nozomu himself still couldn't remove.
A fake smile, a look
of resignation and disappointment. An inexpressible anxiety welled up in
Nozomu's chest.
"Thank you so
much. And I'm so sorry. I've said a lot of terrible things to you until
now."
"Hey, is that
demonic beast somehow related to you?"
I have to say
something. Nozomu thought so, and as he spoke these words on the spur of the
moment, Nozomu involuntarily put his hand over his mouth.
Shina was silent for a
few seconds, then slowly opened her mouth.
"That mutated
Garm was the same demonic beast that killed my family, my friends, and
destroyed the Nebula Forest."
"Eh?"
"Of course, it
was a different individual from the one that destroyed my homeland. I don't
know why it's here in the Spasim Forest, but there's no mistaking those crimson
eyes."
Shina's past was
recounted in a way that seemed to push it out of her mind. If one were to look
closely, one would see that her eyes, staring into the distance, were filled
with tears that seemed to be on the verge of spilling.
"Did you lose
someone, as well?"
"Hm?"
"A grave. It was
right next to this hut."
Nozomu's gaze turned
toward Shino's grave beside the hut.
"She's my mentor.
Sleeping Death Syndrome, and just recently......"
"Is she someone
important to you?"
"...... Yeah. My
benefactor."
"It's painful, isn't
it? Losing someone important to you......"
After her meek
monologue, silence once again fell over the two of them.
The quiet wind
gradually became stronger and began to rustle the branches and leaves.
Nozomu's breathing
becomes shallower accompanied by the rustling sound of the wind.
Little by little,
Nozomu felt his uneasiness growing.
"About your late
family and former friends-......"
He tried to cover up
his growing uneasiness by continuing the conversation.
But Shina stood up as
if she was trying to stop him, and then she quickly turned around.
"I should head
back. Thanks for the meal......"
With the cold soup in
her hands, Shina got off the roof.
Without realizing it,
Nozomu clenched his fists tightly.
What he felt for Shina
was a kindred spirit and admiration. At the same time, however, he also sensed
a stark difference between himself and her.
Both of them had built
high walls against others, both of them held secrets that they could not tell
others, and both of them were looked at coldly by those around them.
However, while Nozomu
ran away to protect himself, Shina persisted in her struggle.
Shina's attitude of
never losing sight of her own goals and moving forward was dazzling to Nozomu,
who had turned his eyes away from reality.
But the current her
was beginning to wear the same air of resignation as the past Nozomu.
This caused Nozomu to
feel frustrated, even though it was not about himself.
But even with the same
hesitation and darkness, Nozomu and Shina's feelings did not intersect.
Because neither of
them has yet to take the first step in the true sense of the word.
Because they were too
busy trying to endure, and because they were used to carrying the burden alone,
they had not yet developed the courage that was truly important to them.
And Nozomu's
premonition came true in the worst possible way.
The next morning, all
Nozomu and the others found was Shina's empty blanket and a note from her
saying, "I'll take care of the rest, please take care of Mimuru and the
others".
◆
*Jingle-jingle*,
*creak-creak*.......
The dark lakeside.
Deep in the depths of Nozomu's soul, a giant dragon stared begrudgingly at the
chains that had once again been placed upon it.
Tiamat herself had
never thought that she would be defeated and absorbed by a human being.
An unexpected
situation. However, these strange circumstances brought a ray of light to the
giant dragon, which had been sealed up in that world for thousands of years and
submerged in a swamp of darkness.
Although being
absorbed by a human being was an unpleasant experience, this was fortuitous.
With astronomical
probability, it would have been possible to capture the giant dragon, but the
sealing vessel was only a human being.
Even the slightest
loss of balance between power and mind would easily cause it to self-destruct.
Then, in a real sense, Tiamat could be revived.
*Grrrrrr......*
(Then, for now, let's
just accept these chains. Either way, this fragile host cannot escape its fate.
And at that time ......)
*Jingle-jingle*, one
of the chains that bound Tiamat was released.
A resurrection. Tiamat
waited quietly, convinced of that future.
The time to break this
seal, which was constructed in an exquisite balance, will come.
◆
"What is she
thinking!? She told people not to be reckless, and now she's doing this!"
Nozomu, who had
learned of Shina's arbitrary action, was stunned and asked Mimuru, Kevin, and
the others to escort the wounded, leaving him to pursue after her alone.
She had some kind of
connection with that demonic beast. From the way she looked yesterday, it was
obvious that Shina had gone to settle the score with it by herself.
The past that she
wanted to forget but could not, her desire not to involve her friends, and her
guilt over the danger she had brought upon her friends.
All of these
complicated factors led her to act arbitrarily.
(What a troublesome
person!)
While swearing in the
back of his mind, Nozomu's mind recalled the figure of the girl who had
unintentionally revealed her overflowing emotions at Shino's hut.
Indeed, her dismissive
attitude would make her seem cold-hearted. But it was a mask she wore to
protect her own heart.
Certainly, her way of
thinking would seem rigid and inflexible. But it was a frame she had put in
place to keep her from losing sight of her own dreams.
A girl who was kind
but could only speak harsh words. A girl who was weak but desperately trying to
be strong.
(...... I guess I'm
just as much of a troublesome person as she is.)
Shina could not tell
Mimuru and the others because she was afraid of involving others in the
confrontation with the Black Demonic Beast.
Nozomu, too, could not
tell Irisdina and the others about his secret because he was afraid of the
power he possessed within him going out of control.
In fact, the two were
very similar in this aspect. That is why Nozomu was so concerned about Shina.
While he felt repulsed by Shina's refusal to believe his words, he couldn't
help but worry about her delicate and imbalanced mental state.
If she were going to
settle things with that demonic beast, the place she was headed to was probably
where they had encountered that demonic beast yesterday.
Considering the time
she left, there was no time to spare.
"Damn it, please
make it in time!"
At any rate, he
decided to speed up his pace to get to her first. Now, he just felt frustrated
that his legs were slower than he wanted them to be.
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