Chapter 39 - Yohan's Bizarre Vacation (7)

"Hear the sound of the falling rain!"

Listen to the rain falling.

"Coming down like an Armageddon flame! Hey!"

Pouring down like the flames of Armageddon.

I sing on the hall roof, watching the zombies swarm toward me.

“Holiday” really is a great song. Look—even the zombies love it to death!

"Aaaaaah!"

I watch the zombies tangle their bodies together into stairs and ladders, trampling over one another to climb onto the roof.

... Oh, I can't resist this.

I draw the pistol from inside my coat and pull the trigger at the zombie that's climbed closest.

BANG!

"Aaaah...!"

"Hahaha!"

It doesn't do much damage, but the impact of the headshot knocks the zombie backward, sending it tumbling down.

"The shame, the ones who died without a name!"

What a shame, those nameless people died.

The gun's recoil jolts my body. I sing.

I pull the trigger.

BANG!

"Hear the dogs howling out of key!"

Listen to the dogs howling.

BANG! BANG! BAAANG!

"Aaaah...!"

'Damn... Singing while shooting zombies is fun!'

It feels like all the stress I've built up since coming to this campground is melting away.

The best part is that firing wildly isn't a crime here.

Or is it? Desecration of corpses? ... Ah, fuck that.

I haven't made any money here, just suffered. Let me have some fun too.

You've got to look on the bright side of life.

BANG!

"To a hymn called Faith and Misery! Hey!"

Howling a hymn called faith and misery.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

I don't bother aiming. There are zombies everywhere, so I'll hit one wherever I shoot.

"Beg to dream and differ from the hollow lies!"

I pray to dream, to break away from those hollow lies.

The zombies swarm up onto the roof. I pull the trigger.

BANG! CLICK. CLICK.

I shove the empty pistol into my coat pocket and kick a zombie in the head.

Backing away from the ones that have climbed up, I focus on the song.

"This is our lives on—"

After all, this is the highlight.

"Holiday!!!!!!"

This is our life on vacation!

"Haah..."

Yeah. At this point, at least I've had more fun than anyone else who came to the campground today.

"Whew..."

I stop singing and casually toss the microphone onto the ground. The zombies stop too.

Not because my singing is so good.

It's because he's here.

I look at the stern-faced old man who has climbed the staircase made of zombies.

I can tell at a glance. He's the one controlling them.

The necromancer who caused all this.

'... Looks like a living body this time.'

The two magicians sized each other up.

Edward immediately checked the ground beneath Yohan's feet.

... There was no magic circle.

He sneered at Yohan's foolish choice.

"You wasted precious time evacuating the others? How stupid of you."

Thirteen zombies lined up around Edward, clearly different from the others. He had painstakingly crafted them himself.

Clad in armor and wielding spears and axes inscribed with spells, they looked like knights.

"In the end, you're just an ordinary person who happened to pick up a grimoire. You gave me a bit of a surprise, but that's your limit."

Seeking to restore the pride that the magic circle had wounded earlier, Edward spoke in a cold voice.

"... If you have any last words, let's hear them."

I looked at him.

I hadn't sung specifically to save the others. That was just an added bonus while I lured him out.

Partway through, I'd simply started enjoying myself.

But seeing him check for a magic circle the moment he arrived, that earlier attack must have left quite an impression.

A faint smile escaped me.

... Except he'd focused too much on that.

Did he think I'd carried all this sound equipment up here alone?

Anyway, in response to that rather classic invitation, I delivered a line from a comic I'd always wanted to say.

"Ora."

"... What?"

Edward frowned at the incomprehensible word, then his expression turned to horror.

Yohan's empty hand shimmered as a grimoire materialized in it.

As a grimoire's master, summoning one was nothing unusual.

Except it wasn't <Lemegeton>.

A grimoire bound in dark steel.

De Vermis Mysteriis.

<Mysteries of the Worm>.

Another grimoire that shouldn't have been there.

'... Two... grimoires?'

BANG!

With an explosive sound, Edward's left shoulder burst apart, taking his arm with it.

"...? Ghurk!"

Perhaps his heart had been hit too. Edward coughed up blood and crumpled to the ground.

'... What? What was that?'

A calm, low voice continued speaking to Edward.

"Ora ora ora."

It was so forceful in the comic. Does it sound kind of mediocre when I do it?

Anyway, the rooftop is crawling with zombies. A frightening sight, but it's fine.

I've got something even scarier with me.

A hungry Grizzly.

"■■■■■!!"

The Invisible Vampire, kept confined until now at its master's command, roars.

In an instant, right before Edward's eyes—

KABOOOOOM!!

Something invisible slaughters the zombies.

The air bursts, and their arms, legs, and heads fly through it.

Everything he built is destroyed.

"..."

The murderous intent and rage that filled him moments ago vanish.

The invisible monster roars.

"■■■■■!!"

An incomprehensible terror takes their place.

Cosmic horror.

Edward's eyes trembled. As a magician, he understood instinctively.

That thing was not of this world.

A being that should not exist.

I walked past the zombies that had been smashed to pieces in an instant, my footsteps steady.

"Funny, isn't it, Mr. Magician?"

With an incredulous smile, I approached Edward.

"You put all that effort into preparing your magic, and it's helpless against overwhelming physical force."

Well, that mockery was aimed at myself too.

... Though, technically, Grizzly is a magically summoned creature.

So this is magic too.

Edward coughed up blood and glared at Yohan.

"Y-you bastard... The power of the Outer Gods!"

Someone who had invoked the Lord just moments ago was commanding a familiar of the Outer Gods. It was impossible.

There was no greater heresy.

A calm voice answered Edward's cry.

"Outer Gods? Oh, Cthulhu. Why shouldn't I use their power?"

It wasn't mockery. His tone suggested he genuinely didn't know why he shouldn't.

Edward's pale face went blank for an instant, then twisted.

"... That power is dangerous! It's not something a novice like you can wield!"

But—

"... Dangerous power, huh. I already know something like that. Nuclear power."

"What did you say?"

I continue speaking as casually as ever.

"Does exposure without protective equipment damage your mind and body? Yes."

"Can mismanagement cause massive loss of life? Yes."

"Cthulhu is like nuclear power. Dangerous, sure, but that isn't a reason not to use it."

Zeus, Odin, the Lord, the Outer Gods—in the end, they're all masses of energy wearing the skins of mythology.

If I need them, there's no reason not to use them.

Bleeding, Edward spoke, but—

"Ghurk... It's a power you cannot control."

"I can."

"—!!"

The words came so naturally that Edward was left speechless.

Even I found what I'd just said absurd. I laughed as I spoke.

"... I know. 'I can do it. I'm the only one. I have to do it.'"

"Those are the words that fuck the world over. But what else can I do?"

Edward stared blankly up at Yohan's shadowed face as he stood before him.

"Even if I didn't get aboard a moving train by choice, I still need to take the wheel."

"Oh, since it's a train, maybe it's a lever instead of a wheel? Anyway."

With his greed stripped away, Edward finally saw Yohan for what he was.

A young beast, not yet fully grown. Yes, that was true.

But a young Behemoth, in an entirely different weight class.

And above all, his mindset—

Yohan's unruffled voice rang out.

"That's what being a magician means."

—was already that of a fully fledged magician.

Strength drained from Edward's body, which necromancy had been keeping alive.

... Only now did he realize.

Mystery draws mystery.

He had thought his magic had drawn Lemegeton to the campground, but it had been the other way around.

... He had been drawn to this land to serve as nourishment for Lemegeton's master.

Edward's eyes closed, and his breathing stopped.

A magician from Britain.

The wanted necromancer Edward Coffin.

Completely dead. No coming back.

"..."

I looked down at the corpse, its breathing completely stopped, then turned away.

I'd made sure to target his heart from the start.

It was impressive that he'd survived that long anyway.

Physical enhancement? Or an application of corpse manipulation?

Since he was a living magician, I'd tried talking to him before he died for good. But I hadn't gained much.

Well, for information, I could ask his soul—his postmortem memory data.

I took a ziplock bag and tweezers out of my bag and collected some of Edward's hair.

"Gyaaa..."

I stroked Grizzly's head. It was sulking because I hadn't called it out.

"You were very patient. Eat up."

"Gyaa~."

Grizzly cried happily and devoured the magician's corpse, chomping away.

Listening to it eat on the rooftop, I looked up at the sky.

The unpleasant, murky fog cleared, letting the sunlight through.

Another case solved.

And, perhaps because the fog had disappeared, I could see several vehicles approaching the campground.

Special Response Section vehicles.

"Fuck... Grizzly! Eat faster! Hurry!"

"Gyaa!? Gyagyagyagyagya!"

Grizzly ate quickly so it wouldn't make its master sad.

From far away, Ellie and Sua's voices rang out from a Special Response Section vehicle.

"Yohan!"

"Mister! Don't rush into killing yourself!"