I Became the Final Subjugation Target of That Era’s Light Novel

“What is this—”

One of the uncles, wrapped in my clothes on this icy cold day, looked frightened.

No, it wasn’t just because it was cold. With the smell of iron and the thick blood smeared all over him, it was only natural for him to have such a reaction.

However, there was no way I could show him any concern.

Clang.

A metallic sound echoed, and Koko’s hair moved rapidly. It was night, so I couldn’t see clearly, but it was as if I was watching a sword being deflected by a bullet. Whether it was the starlight or moonlight, the blade shining in the light flew smoothly through the air, creating a surreal scene.

“Wait a minute!”

I heard someone shouting from over there.

“Not that way!”

I recognized the owner of that voice.

…Hagiwara.

I see. Then the flying sword must be a straight-edge sword used in the church.

But there was no time to judge leisurely.

Once again, chills ran down my back.

I swung the sword a little frantically.

Swish.

I felt something catch on the sword in mid-air. A shiver ran down my spine again, not from a Yōkai this time, but from narrowly avoiding danger.

Splat.

What fell to the ground was the tip of a tentacle. If I hadn’t swung my sword, it might have pierced my throat.

Seeing that, Koko moved and blocked me.

She bent at the waist and slightly crouched her legs, preparing to spring out immediately if there was even a slight misstep, while lifting her hair.

At first, it seemed like static electricity was causing her hair to rise, but soon it began to wriggle as if it had a mind of its own. The ends were as sharp as a needle. In fact, it must be sharper than just a needle. And it would be solid, too.

It wasn’t just Koko who was moving. Kagami jumped up as well.

I didn’t feel much concern when Koko moved.

To be more precise, it’s not that I didn’t feel concerned, but I didn’t feel ‘greatly’ concerned. Koko had faith that she could protect herself.

But Kagami… isn’t she an ordinary person?

As I thought that and looked at Kagami with my mouth open, she turned to look at me.

Our eyes met for a moment. Even in the middle of the night, Kagami’s eyes were clearly visible. Was it because she was accidentally in the light?

Kagami threw the talisman she had been holding into the sky.

Just like throwing a thin piece of paper into the air, the talismans didn’t soar high. It seemed like they would float for a moment, but then they stopped abruptly, losing their center and falling again.

At first glance, it might provoke a chuckle. In a typical cartoon, such thin talismans would be thrown around casually as if they were shurikens.

However, I don’t think Kagami threw it as an offensive move.

The talismans that split apart in the air and fluttered down were glowing with blue light. It wasn’t the usual kanji found on talismans but characters in a form I had never seen before that shone bright and then ignited into flames.

“…!”

Right after that, the tentacle that had lunged for Kagami froze in mid-air as if stunned and then ignited with blue flames.

It was like pouring oil in a straight line on the ground and then lighting the end. That was the phenomenon happening in the air.

The blue flames traveled up the tentacle, cutting it in half, and then fell to the ground.

“…Is something like that really possible? Can you share some with me?”

“Oh my. If I just said it was a good thing, would you have believed me?”

Kagami answered me.

It was a very accurate judgment, and I had no comeback.

“What on earth is the principle behind this?”

“Once again, I must say, we have our experts. We even have someone with a related degree among our staff. They live next door to you.”

“Oh.”

“Think of Greek mythology. Gods kill each other, right? If there are good relationships, there are also bad ones. Therefore, honestly, we don’t really know the principle that well. We only know it works this way.”

As Kagami pulled out another talisman from her coat, she spoke.

In the Cthulhu Mythos, Cthulhu is generally known to have a bad relationship with the god Hastur.

I’m not sure if this situation relates to that, but it might operate on similar principles.

“…Is that really okay?”

“…Who knows.”

Kagami said with a smile.

“I heard it was made using a dilute mixture of some kind of powder, written into an ancient spell like paint. The person who reproduced this thought it was only for ‘ritual use’.”

“…?”

“I guess we should hope that the feelings of those involved with this power don’t get severely distorted.”

No matter how I looked at it, it seemed hopelessly dangerous.

However, even while I was thinking this, Kagami, with an indifferent expression, threw the talisman skyward. Once more, blue flames erupted as if a blue, thin veil had formed in the air.

“Oh, and, just in case, please move a little further away from me. If something goes wrong, you might end up like that over there.”

“Yeah, it’s better to be cautious.”

There was a whisper in my ear as if agreeing with Kagami’s words.

Despite the tone of the voice entailing a laugh, it felt as though it desired just such an outcome.

“…Koko, let’s be careful.”

“Uh-huh.”

At my words, Koko nodded.

The sound of metal clashing continued to echo.

They seemed to have a lot of numbers over there, but it appeared they had no weapons that could firmly confront us.

It seemed that the physical power of the other side wasn’t completely ineffective against us. It felt somehow like something lingering in between this world and that world. Of course, it would still require a properly effective weapon to inflict real damage.

Flash.

Well, it didn’t seem like there was nothing similar on the other side.

The bright light was not from turning a flashlight on and off.

Koko and I moved positions.

I left Kagami to protect the Yakuza uncles. Thanks to the blue flames rising in the air, it seemed the tentacles over there were no longer reaching out—

“Koko!”

“Yeah!”

Right.

What they had was not only the Waythley.

It would be more convenient to use only Waythley in a setting visible to others. After all, he was invisible to other eyes.

However, in this situation, when there were no worries about being discovered by others—

Thump.

I saw something moving quickly on the ground and plunged my knife into it.

Then I raised my left hand to shape the flowing blood into a spear and stabbed it again.

The monster, as if it had melted like a person, could be killed with that.

Koko could do the same. Her hair extended and stabbed down in all directions.

Although Kagami was quickly coming over the barrier, determined to break through it, I was still able to hold it off somehow.

I got hurt, though.

“Koto Ne…”

“It’s okay.”

Koko was worried about me, but at least from the outside, she appeared to be in a much better state than me, so I answered swiftly.

“Rather, let’s catch the opponent quickly.”

I don’t know if we could completely fend off Waythley. But if we didn’t repel him here, people from the church would be in danger immediately.

Among them, Hagiwara is also involved.

Flash, flash. Once again, the instantaneous white light flared up, but the sounds of yelling and splat continued echoing.

“Let’s go!”

“Okay!”

Koko shouted at my words.

A steep mountain, densely packed with trees. There was no way my weak body could easily climb it.

But now I had the power of the outer gods.

Clang!

A metallic sound came from in front of me again. Blood splattered in the air.

I threw the knife I was holding forward. Blood burst outward, and part of the tentacle appeared.

I swung my sword towards that spot while simultaneously reaching my arm forward.

As I envisioned, but the mass of blood completely encased my arm and moved.

It gripped the nearby tree and pulled me forward.

No, it wasn’t just pulling me in a straight line. It avoided the complexly grown trees, moving as if to keep my body from getting harmed, which was frankly somewhat grotesque.

Thud.

Though, that didn’t mean I avoided running into branches.

Spitting out the leaves and dirt that had gotten into my mouth, I checked where the blood mass had led me.

Quickly guarding my body with my left arm, the blood mass exploded. Far more blood poured out as if a balloon had burst, and the area was engulfed as if mist had formed.

“Cough, cough.”

Some of that blood entered my nose and mouth, and I coughed while trying to see ahead.

Gradually, the blood slowly began to cling to something.

What first appeared were horrifying tentacles. Then, a strangely crooked spine.

It resembled one that had been painstakingly halved at each vertebra and elongated grotesquely, squirming continuously supported by what seemed to be forcibly stretched nerves or tendrils.

The back was bent almost like a ‘L’ shape forward.

Human skin does not differ much from animal skin in general. Even if someone has an unusually hairy body, the skin below would still be visible.

Moreover, fur and tentacles are completely different shapes. No one would think of a sea anemone by looking at leg hair.

Yet, as I looked at its back, I recalled sea anemones. The wriggling short tentacles densely filled its back as if they were tumors.

“Ugh!”

Koko didn’t hesitate.

The hair, now united together, swung like a whip, and blood splattered. Yellow blood that seemed unlike human blood.

“Gah!”

It screamed.

Was it because all the tentacles were facing towards the church?
Kagami’s talisman definitely had an effect in that regard. It turned its eyes away towards an easier ‘target’ than us.

However, fighting was still not easy.

“Ugh…!”

I jumped back, hitting my back against a tree.

Some tentacles from where I was standing shot up like spikes from the ground. And lifting its head was a slime that looked like a face half-melted in salt.

…No.

That was a person.

From behind the semi-transparent, melted skin, its eyes that somehow had not melted yet and the remnants of its skull could be seen. A vaguely translucent mound was also peeking out ahead.

That was what had formed the spiky platforms in this platformer game.
Many of them lifted their heads.

It was disgusting.

When I read the Cthulhu Mythos, I couldn’t understand why one would go mad just seeing a slime that resembled that, but if it looked like a person who had melted, obviously I would feel horrified.

I hope those things don’t appear in my dreams going forward.
I hastily created a shield again.

Crack.

I heard the sound of something sharp piercing from beyond the blood, and the shield broke apart again.

I’m not sure if they had names or not— but they were different from Yōkai. Even after covering myself in blood, they acted like emotionless machines, preparing for their next attack without flinching.

But Koko didn’t remain idle. All their heads were severed.

I rushed in from the side and stabbed with my sword.
Not all of them, though. When I made one like that and turned to make another, once again, a tentacle came flying in. This time towards Waythley.

If Koko hadn’t rushed in and shoved me aside, it would have pierced my head this time.

Thud!

But the attacking side wasn’t us but them.

A shining blade, glimmering in the air, pierced through Waythley’s body.

It didn’t spurt out blood like when I cut him. The knife that had completely penetrated him slowly fell to the ground. Inserting a blade into an amorphous substance merely caused it to move downwards without inflicting much damage.

Was the glowing property due to holy water?

Was that why the blade shining towards me was so?

Not just one blade was hurled towards him.

It seemed there were a few people making a wide arc around Waythley. I could faintly hear murmurs of prayers from a distance.

Waythley snarled as if annoyed.

I gathered strength into my left arm, which was extended beside Koko, and stabbed Waythley with blood again.

Whoosh.

Waythley’s waist bent at an angle.

If it were an ordinary person, one would have been in shock from the extreme pain, but Waythley was looking down at me. His face stained red and his eyes similarly covered in blood.

It was terrifying.

But Koko’s hair ran into that face.

As Koko got up, I rolled on the ground as well.

The slime’s head was right before my eyes, but I lifted my sword from below and stabbed from chin to head. Fortunately, it was a ‘slime’, and the bone inside had already melted enough to be breakable with a knife.

I pulled the sword out through the face and leaped towards Waythley.

The incoming tentacles from both sides struck Koko’s tentacles. There were some surviving tentacles aiming for my neck, but they were blocked by my blood-formed shield.

Moreover, in addition to that, blades were still flying towards Waythley from all directions.

Crash, the sound of glass shattering echoed, and amid Kagami’s blue flames, the contrasting white light distinctly caught my eye. Several slimes on the ground twisted like a salted sea slug. There was no sound, yet it was still equally terrifying.

The blue flames were getting closer.

As Kagami approached, it seemed she was using the talismans; even the slimes were turning to flee from the heat.

“Grr…!”

Waythley groaned like that, then used his tentacles to pick up a few slimes from the ground.

Then, with his broad hand, he stuffed one into his mouth and chewed it.

…Clearly, whatever had once been a human face had opened wide, and the sight of him chewing on a slime larger than my head was something that transcended the grotesque and horror. It was an unsettling sight in the most realistic yet unreal way.

And half-eaten slimes flew towards me.

I freaked out and threw my body to the side to dodge, but I couldn’t completely avoid the bodily fluids that splattered from the one that burst on the ground.

“Gah…!”

It was incredibly hot. Not in an acid way, but literally as if the body temperature itself was unbelievably hot. Like water just before it boils.

Koko has endured something like that?

Waythley’s body was healing.

“Get back!”

Kagami shouted. I, who had dived to the side and lay on the ground, rolled up and hurriedly dodged.

Waythley attacked Kagami too.

And he succeeded.

It seemed the blue barrier didn’t completely block the attacks because Waythley’s tentacle penetrated through the barrier.

Of course, flames ignited on Waythley’s body.

But just as when a fire ignites on a human, it doesn’t necessarily lead to immediate death. Waythley’s body, which is sturdier than a human, withstood it.

I ran with all my might.

Fortunately, the place I had laid down wasn’t too far from Kagami.

“…!”

Seeing the tentacle aiming for her shoulder, Kagami’s eyes widened in surprise.

No, right now, a tentacle was currently stuck into her shoulder? And it was still on fire.

But did she have time to care about my running in?

“Koto Ne!”

Only when Koko called my name did I realize that, in fact, the true person who had to worry was her.

Ah, right. That’s right, indeed.

Kagami had also told me and Koko to maintain distance, just in case.

I recalled that only after slicing off the tentacle stuck in Kagami’s shoulder.

By then, my sword was already ablaze with a blue fire. The flames had transferred onto my hand far too easily.

There was no scream.

The flames—

“It must be hot.”

I heard a whisper in my ear.

“It must hurt. Isn’t that so?”

It hurt.

To the degree where my consciousness turned white.

“However, don’t worry. It’s not enough to burn your body. You won’t get hurt to the extent of falling apart here.”

As if they had known all along.

My vision was tinted blue.

It hurt.

It hurts.

While my mind faded into a white haze, my body continued to move. It wasn’t by my will.

…Ah, that’s right, indeed.

Nirlas could move my body.

“I think it’s right to abandon something that has gotten tiresome. Well, if I entertained you until here, that itself is a sufficient use.”

Nirlas laughed.

Perhaps that laugh echoed bluntly in my footsteps. My steps felt light, almost as if I were taking a stroll.

Tentacles flew in, but my body smoothly dodged them as if I were dancing.

“Oh, how delightful. I hear your cries.”

Nirlas said.

Knowing, that—

But it seemed having no intention of releasing my body, Nirlas moved my flaming form toward Waythley.

Waythley looked down at me.

His eyes peered into mine.

Did he see something there?

Did he see the embers coming to burn him?

The expression on the red droplets floating in the air changed.

It was fear.

“That would be troublesome.”

Seeing Waythley belatedly turn his body, Nirlas spoke through my mouth.

“If the enjoyment of this lady is ruined, it would be problematic.”

My sword elongated.

The red sword that burned with blue flames grew longer than I could handle—

And easily cleaved through whatever was in front of me.

That was the end.

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