Chapter 65
9 min read ·
Mu?' s Mi? (2)
RIIIP! RRRIP!
As the grotesque sound of tearing skin continued, Kai and I kept walking along the path the flesh opened for us.
After we had walked some distance, the flesh beside us, rather than ahead, parted with a gurgle. Faint light spilled through from beyond it. It looked just like an exit.
Just as Kai and I instinctively began to stop...
GURGLE.
The veins in the Rulebook writhed again, and another new rule appeared.
* * *
3. There is no exit here.
: If you see anything resembling an exit, do not stop. Ignore it.
* * *
There was no exit?
"What would you have us do?"
Kai asked after reading the Rulebook. He meant that he would follow my orders, but I, too, found the choice difficult.
For now, there were two options. Trust the [Rulebook] and keep moving, or disregard it and plunge into that light.
"At your command, I will enter the light first."
Kai looked resolute, asking only for my orders. Just as he said, he looked ready to leap inside the moment I gave the word.
Perhaps because his affinity was at [Friendliness], he seemed to trust me quite a bit. More precisely, he seemed to trust his own ability, Immortal Link[E]. As long as Seraphia lived, almost nothing could kill him.
That was why I genuinely hesitated. Above all, the very claim that there was no exit made no sense. I checked the Rulebook again.
"For now, we'll follow the Rulebook."
"Understood."
Kai followed my orders without complaint.
* * *
Ignoring the light that resembled an exit, we continued forward. How long had we been walking, relying solely on Kai's blue aura? Even my senses were distorted, leaving me unable to properly gauge the passage of time.
"Wait."
I paused. Kai stopped as well, and I looked around at our surroundings in the light of his blue aura.
It might have been my imagination, but...
"I get the feeling we've been passing through the same place for a while now."
It felt as though we were going around in circles, as though we had lost our sense of direction.
Kai seemed to have sensed it too. He glanced around and said, "I'll leave a mark here."
He began looking for a place to carve one. It was a standard method to use when lost, but...
"No, that won't help."
It was useless here. After all, according to [Rule 1], this space could erase or distort any traces we left.
"What do you intend to do, then?"
In answer, I extended Dragon's Claw[A] and tore a chunk out of the fleshy wall.
SKREEEEEE!
The flesh split wide with a bloodcurdling scream.
"What are you trying to do?"
"There's something I need to check."
I extended Dragon's Claw[A] again and tore into the fleshy wall.
SKREEEEEE!
Once again, a scream rang out. It was horrendous to listen to. Not that it inflicted any particular mental damage, but it was very, very grating.
Yet somehow, Kai wasn't even frowning.
"Doesn't that sound bother you?"
"It is extremely unpleasant."
"Then how—"
"That is why I'm protecting my ears with aura."
... Aura really was convenient. What else could I expect from a power that could manifest anything a person imagined? Why couldn't I use it, damn it?
SKREEEEEE!
It happened as I tore into the fleshy wall once more.
GURGLE, GURGLE!
The torn wall filled itself in, and strange patterns etched themselves across its surface. Their meaning was impossible to grasp or decipher.
'Those are...'
Yet I recognized them. Not that I understood what they meant. They were simply patterns I had seen before.
As I focused more closely on them...
【Ng’gha fhtagn, I’ ahorn wgah’nagl.】
A voice spoke in my ears, its meaning incomprehensible. But I recognized this, too. Again, I didn't understand what it was saying. It was simply a voice I had heard before.
If my memory served... One of the six Sovereigns who served the Emperor.
'The Sovereign of the Abyss?'
The Inexplicable Terror of the Unknown, the Sovereign of the Abyss. That had been his whisper.
【Tharanak li’hee fhtagn’nun.】
This was... dangerous. Under no circumstances could I face the Sovereign of the Abyss. I had to get out of here immediately. I knew that, but every sense in my body was paralyzed. I couldn't move.
It was a sensation that mere speechlessness or trembling could not describe. Before I knew it, the air around me was filled with stifled despair and whispers. Those whispers gave rise to an inexplicable terror of the unknown, which in turn became indecipherable waves that destroyed my mind.
My faculties could not comprehend what was happening. The mere attempt to understand sent my mind crumbling.
And so, as the nightmares of my previous life mingled with my present reality, only then did I finally understand Ian's words.
That thing before my eyes now...
["Should I call it the ultimate evil, rising from the heart of eternity and uttering whispers of chaos?"]
That thing tearing through my mind now...
["Or the last unholy being, born at the edge of the abyss, surging unchecked through endless time?"]
That thing gnawing away at my very existence now...
["Or a formless evil fashioned by chaos in an abyss of infinite perpetuity, endlessly roiling at the heart of eternity—the ultimate being of negation, wrought in the depths of hell?"]
By the time I realized it, hope plunges beneath despair. My vision distorts, and space begins to warp.
* * *
When strange patterns appeared across the fleshy wall, Kai saw a new rule emerge on the Rulebook.
* * *
4. If strange patterns appear on the walls, leave the area immediately.
: Unidentifiable patterns may occasionally appear on the walls. Do not look at them or attempt to understand them. Your consciousness will gradually become captive to this place.
If the patterns begin spreading onto your hands or arms, kill yourself.
* * *
Kai moved immediately, following the Rulebook's instructions. But...
"Lord Adrian?"
... Adrian wasn't moving. He stood rooted to the spot, staring blankly as though bewitched.
Just then...
GURRRRGLE!
To make matters worse, the flesh around them began to undulate again.
Faces with eyes and mouths protruded from the walls, ceiling, and floor, watching them. Soon, grotesque legs and tentacles stretched out, gradually swallowing up the space.
"We must move, now!"
Kai shouted urgently, but Adrian didn't budge. Examining him up close, Kai found his eyes utterly unfocused.
At that moment, the Rulebook writhed again, displaying another new rule.
* * *
5. Constantly remind yourself who you are.
: This place gradually erases your memories and identity. You will lose your name and even the knowledge of who you once were. Ultimately, you will lose your sense of self and become part of this place.
Remember your own existence at every moment.
* * *
"Snap out of it!"
Even shouting directly into his ear failed to stir Adrian. Then an ominous presence emanated from the Rulebook, and strange patterns began to appear on Adrian's hand.
Kai couldn't tell what was happening. But one thing was certain. He had to separate the Rulebook from Adrian immediately.
He grabbed the Rulebook in Adrian's hand and tried to snatch it away. But it wouldn't come away from his palm.
It wasn't that Adrian wouldn't let go. The Rulebook wouldn't let go of Adrian. It refused to come away, as though fused to him.
On closer inspection, it was merging with his skin, trying to become one with him as though it were part of his body.
"What in the world..."
He had to destroy the Rulebook. Just as Kai was about to swing his sword...
SKREEEE!
The Rulebook's flesh surged outward like a wave and lunged at him—a grotesque shape resembling a mixture of slippery mollusk and stone. As Kai leaped back, a new rule was inscribed on the Rulebook.
* * *
7. Do not damage the Rulebook under any circumstances.
: This Rulebook is your only guide. If you damage it, this place will become aware that you have damaged the Rulebook.
* * *
As if in warning, the Rulebook's flesh swelled enormously. Its veins began writhing wildly, emphasizing that rule. That alone was enough to tell him it was an evil thing.
Yet something else bewildered Kai: the rule that had just appeared.
"Rule seven...?"
That was Rule 7. But the last one had been Rule 5. In other words, it had skipped Rule 6.
The moment Kai realized this, the writhing veins on the Rulebook's swollen flesh inscribed a new rule.
* * *
8. There is no [Rule 6] in this Rulebook.
: If you happen to discover Rule 6
* * *
No, could that really be called a "rule"?
* * *
9. Kill yourself.
: There is no hope whatsoever for you.
* * *
The Rulebook entangled with Adrian's hand expands as though breathing, its fleshy fibers tearing and creaking.
Then...
* * *
10. Once again, there is no exit here.
: Simply die here. Please di—. Please d—. Plea—? D—!?.
* * *
As the new Rule 10 appeared, the Rulebook's text abruptly cut off. At the same time, Adrian's hand, fused to the Rulebook, began thrashing wildly as though he had suddenly lost control of it. It bent at angles impossible for human joints.
CRACK, CRUNCH!
The ghastly sound of breaking bones rang out. Then that out-of-control hand suddenly seized Adrian's throat.
* * *
Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die.
* * *
It began squeezing his throat with all its strength. Adrian's face turned blue in an instant.
Kai immediately kicked off the ground and leaped forward. He wrung every last bit of aura from his body and poured it into his sword, but...
GURRRRRGLE!
Fleshy tentacles shot out of the Rulebook and blocked his path. No matter how many he cut down, more kept springing up, preventing him from advancing.
"Snap out of it, Lord Adrian!"
All Kai could do was shout. But shouting alone could accomplish nothing.
CRUNCH!
At last, the sound of flesh being crushed reached his ears. And Kai saw it: a grotesque grin spreading across Adrian's lips. His unfocused eyes suddenly flashed.
And in those flashing eyes, tangled emotions rose together—fragments of feeling gathering and swirling within him.
"Found it."
The moment he spoke...
SKREEEEEEEE!
A piercing scream erupted from the Rulebook fused to Adrian's hand.