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

Pain is an alarm system that animals have.

When something goes wrong in the body, it tries to quickly identify the problem and warn us to escape the situation before completely losing function in a part of the body.

Heat, cold, and pressure all lead to pain once they exceed certain thresholds—that’s the reason for it.

Pain is also the most intense sensation for the same reason.

The fact that searing pain is classified as the worst kind of pain is probably very related.

In that sense, the burning pain in my body is, strictly speaking, phantom pain.

It’s a flame that doesn’t even cause burns, so is there any reason for it to hurt like this?

Maybe this isn’t the pain of my body, but rather the pain of my soul.

After all, it’s not really fire; it’s flame meant to burn away yōkai and other monsters.

Technically, I was that kind of being too.

Because of that, I screamed at first.

Deep within my instincts, a voice was shouting for me to stop and run away.

I almost did just that.

If I hadn’t been so accustomed to heat…

…Right.

This isn’t really the sensation of my body catching fire. Thinking back, it seems definitely better than when I was burned.

It remains the worst pain that I would absolutely never feel under normal circumstances, but considering my body can’t faint, I can endure it.

I opened my eyes. It was hot, but I didn’t have the sensation of my tears evaporating.

My skin wasn’t ugly and charred, nor did my hair cling to me as it burned.

I am still alive.

I won’t die here.

Just the thought of that helped me endure.

“So foolish.”

Then I heard that voice.

“You didn’t listen to what I said at all, did you?”

Meow, the unique sound I hear every time I come home.

“…Kuro?”

Before I knew it, a door appeared in front of me.

It looked like a normal room door, made from cut and crafted silver wood, but strangely, it felt unreal.

Beyond the opened door was a shallow staircase.

A staircase that was about my ankle’s height extended quite high. At least, the end couldn’t be seen from the door.

And on the seventh step of that staircase lay Kuro, curled up.

With her ears perked and her tail gently swaying.

“You might think you couldn’t help it, but…”

Kuro looked at me with her golden eyes and said.

“Even so, is there really a need to keep holding on to your sanity until the very end?”

Ah, I see.

The place I’m in right now seems to be some kind of mental world.

The space where I last met that being, as if it were a dream.

“If I’d just let go and lost consciousness, everything would have ended by the time I woke up.”

“Nothing is over.”

I said I was going to find Satori.

Therefore, I need to find Satori for this to end. Nirlas is that kind of being.

“Hmm.”

Meow, Kuro meowed and rolled her body.

And with her legs folded and her belly exposed, she lay there as if it were nothing special.

“That being sees you as nothing more than a toy, so is there any reason for you to listen to it so faithfully?”

“…”

No, that’s something you can say because you’re a similar being.

Ordinary people would just collapse and shake in front of God.

I’m honestly quite brave to confront it, aren’t I?

“Well, whatever.”

I had no response, but Kuro didn’t seem offended at all as she rolled around.

“This time I’ll assist you a bit. Stay here, and when it’s all over, you can return. That way, you should easily find that Satori.”

I stared blankly at Kuro for a while.

“What do you gain by helping me so much?”

“What should I gain to help others? You’re overthinking it again.”

Kuro spun around and lay back on her belly, looking at me.

“Have you never thought about it? Walking down the street and seeing a cat injured, how you might want to help without thinking? And you wouldn’t be hoping for something in return while doing it.”

Kuro looked up at me intently.

It was hard to read a cat’s expression. She looked somewhat languid, yet it also seemed like she was smiling. With that mysterious expression, Kuro narrowed her eyes and said.

“And I like cats. I also like the ones that take care of the cats and the people who like cats.”

“Not everyone in the world is there to help cats, right?”

“So don’t think too complicatedly.”

Kuro yawned widely.

“Whether it’s a coincidence or there’s a real reason behind it, it doesn’t matter, right? After all, every connection (緣) is just that. Meow.”

“…….”

“Hmm.”

As I kept wearing a completely confused expression, Kuro let out a nasal sound.

“That girl named Yuka you met, she’s an exorcist, right? By your standards, she’s not an ordinary girl.”

That’s true.

…It’s something that could be denied in a light novel. Yelling “But you’re actually an ordinary girl!” is a basic quality of a light novel male lead, and being touched by that is a fundamental trait of the main heroine.

Yuka… well, she has both ordinary and extraordinary aspects to her.

If you peel away all that, she’s just a kind girl. She’s the type who would feel an urge to help a skinny girl sitting alone on a rooftop, dipping a plain piece of bread without anything in salt.

“Meeting such a peculiar girl was a coincidence, right? And living in that world now is also a coincidence. But thinking that you want to maintain a connection with her and become friends—that’s your own thought. Then from that moment on, a coincidence becomes fate, right?”

“…….”

“Okay. I’ll take a step back.”

Kuro’s tail flicked once more.

“Somehow, you might have been curious about the world you live in, so through one of the many cats there, you might have taken a peek, and you might have happened to see those who help that cat.”

Kuro looked at me intently.

“But even if that was a coincidence at first, continuing to communicate afterward might be my own will. I don’t know the reason. I don’t feel like looking for it. I just do it because I want to. Like a cat. Meow.”

It was a response that seemed to make sense, yet didn’t.

However, one thing I had to admit is that the answer was indeed cat-like.

“Uh, I still have some time left.”

Kuro yawned widely and chattered.

“Since I’m bored, should I just say anything? How many stairs do you think there are?”

She must be talking about the staircase she’s lying on.

The staircase that stretches high beyond the door.

“There are 70. After 70, there are 700 more stairs.”

“What’s the point of dividing that?”

“It has meaning. In sleep, there are light and deep sleeps.”

Kuro rolled around as she spoke.

“Right now, you’re not even in light sleep; I guess it’s more like dozing?”

Kuro lay flat on her belly once more, looked up at me.

“It’s about time to wake up. When you deeply fall asleep next time, let’s meet again. I’ll continue looking after you. Meow.”

With that, the Kuro in my dream said, I opened my eyes.

—

I shook off the ashes stuck all over my body and got up from my spot.

What was around me… wasn’t a pleasant sight at all.

Just because the body is as big as a house doesn’t mean what’s inside is the material necessary to build that house. What swallowed me in one bite wasn’t a house but a monster that looks almost doubtful if it’s even a living creature.

What was around looked like intestines that had been left on a plate for too long. Most were charred black, giving off a horrible smell.

Oddly, the almost-turned-to-ash things didn’t burn at all underneath them. Mostly dry leaves, yet the fire hadn’t even touched them.

Was this fire really not from this world…?

“Koto Ne!”

Koko called my name loudly as she rushed over.

Thud.

With a sound like that, Koko darted toward me and hugged me tightly.

“Koko.”

“Koto Ne, are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

“You stopped making any sounds halfway, and your form completely disappeared…”

From the look of her, shedding tears incessantly and babbling, it seemed Koko was in shock.

How did I look while floating in the air?

At first, maybe my appearance could have been seen. Since the body of the monster is transparent.

The fact that it’s transparent means that light cannot reflect off it.

Instead, I, who was inside that body, would have been clearly visible. No matter what, my body is still made of matter. I probably appeared floating in mid-air while being engulfed in blue flames.

That means everyone around could see my body engulfed in flames, screaming in pain.

And when the fire began to spread, causing the huge Weytrily to catch fire, my body must have not been visible anymore. Once that Weytrily started burning, my body would become visible again.

Koko couldn’t enter there.

Even if she knew that normal flames wouldn’t harm an ordinary person, no one would dare enter inside where flames were blazing so violently.

“Koko. Are others…?”

“Wuu?”

Contrary to Koko’s worries, my body was completely fine.

Honestly, it felt much better than before I lost consciousness.

Kuro called it light dozing, but I felt like I had slept the deepest sleep I had in some time.

I still felt a bit of lethargy—

“…Ah.”

—Yes, my left arm still hurt.

Nirlas has a much more tenacious personality than I expected.

I was curious what would happen if I didn’t keep the promise in our deal, but it seems I got a glimpse of that here.

From a distance, I heard hurried footsteps approaching me.

When I looked, Kagami was running toward me.

“Kagami.”

“…….”

But Kagami didn’t come close to me like Koko did.

Instead, she stood nearby with a rather hesitant expression.

“…The work isn’t over yet.”

“…You…”

“First finish it, then I’ll answer you.”

Seeing me respond calmly made Kagami’s expression subtly complex.

“Koko. Can you help a bit?”

“Wuu…?”

“I’ll guide the way.”

When I looked straight at Koko and spoke, she finally nodded her head.

Later on, I should treat her to something delicious.

Such a thing wouldn’t be enough to earn forgiveness for everything I made her witness today, but I feel I must at least do that to ease my own heart.

“…Are you okay?”

Having seen the same scene a moment ago, Kagami asked.

I nodded.

“At least for now.”

Once the work is done…

Who knows, maybe then I’ll need to take a little break.

—

I asked Koko to move a little slower than usual.

It wasn’t specifically because of my body condition. Rather, it was because if I moved like teleporting as usual, I wouldn’t be able to find the path.

After moving for several seconds—

“Koko, over there!”

“Okay!”

Clang!

I heard the sound of metal clashing, and a dagger flew into the sky.

Swish, I also heard the sound of flesh being sliced and blood splattering.

“……”

And there was a woman squinting as she looked at me.

Her impression was very similar to Kagami’s. I once mistook this woman for Kagami when I first met her.

But now that I face her like this, her impression seemed slightly different.

“Surely, you look older.”

I tightened my grip on the sword and said.

Surprisingly, my words seemed quite effective. Kosuzu was glaring at me.

Did she dislike me interfering in her task again?

She had succeeded, after all.

In Kosuzu’s hand was a small monkey.

It wasn’t that large. It was small enough that, at a glance, you might think it’s a baby, with a red face and light-colored fur.

It was bleeding from its neck.

The chill that had been creeping down my back subsided slowly.

From that alone, I could tell it was already too late.

Looking around, I noticed we had slain several slimes.

But many more remained unharmed. I had swatted Kosuzu’s wrist away, and Koko aimed for Kosuzu’s neck, but the attack was quickly blocked by a rampaging mass.

Moreover, there wasn’t just one target I needed to worry about. Satori was dying, and there was also a person.

The person, soaked in blood and unconscious, was someone I knew.

“……So you made it here after all.”

“What on earth happened to you to come this far?”

“You really don’t seem to be happy.”

As usual, Kosuzu did not give me a proper response to my words.

Thud.

The monkey in Kosuzu’s hand fell to the ground.

Koko seemed ready to kill Kosuzu as she wildly shook her hair, but—

Swish!

All the slimes around us extended their bodies as one.

…In the Cthulhu Mythos, which originally occupied the place of slimes, wasn’t Shoggoth actually a tool?

Later on, though, it would betray its masters and devour them all.

Clink.

And then, a sound came from beyond the erected wall.

I swung my sword, but the curved wall that seemed to cling to all the slimes was not something I could easily cut down.

Even if I took out a talisman, it was probably too late.

When Koko and I barely managed to break through the dome-shaped wall and looked inside, Kosuzu was already gone.

Alright, at least now I knew that Kosuzu has the ability to wander around freely.

It probably related to the sound of the bells. The mirror Kagami has must be some object that connects to that place; the bells would serve a similar purpose, I bet.

I couldn’t figure out how Kosuzu managed to stay safe on that side despite everything.

After confirming that Kosuzu had disappeared, I turned my body back toward the bleeding person.

“……Miura.”

So she was here after all.

I hurriedly rushed to Miura’s body and pressed my hand against her wounds. Blood was oozing from the cuts all over her body, but the largest wound was the one on her chest. A deep stab from the dagger that Kosuzu had been holding.

Scattered around were not only Miura but also people dressed in military uniforms and men in suits, all sprawled out haphazardly… It didn’t seem like there were many survivors at a glance. Some had probably been eaten by the slimes since their corpses were barely intact.

I think I now understand what Kosuzu was after.

I couldn’t apply any strength into my hand. Blood continued to flow from my left wrist.

“Koko, help me.”

“Okay!”

Upon my words, Koko’s hair moved. As Koko wrapped around Miura’s wounds, I removed my hand.

Koko’s hair wrapped around not only Miura’s body but also the bodies of others. Checking if they were alive, if they had wounds, she tight wrapped them up. Only after seeing that did I breathe a small sigh of relief.

Unsteadily, I rose to my feet and turned my gaze to Satori slumped on the ground.

Beyond the dimness, I could barely see her chest move.

Was she trying to escape from me?

Thud.

I knelt beside her.

Tears welled in the monkey’s eyes.

Surely, she didn’t want to die. That’s only natural; any living being wouldn’t.

What should I do?

I didn’t know how to heal this yōkai. Should I take her to the animal hospital?

But knowing that already, it was clearly too late. The spot Kosuzu jabbed was her neck. Blood was gurgling out from there.

No. That vein had almost already stopped throbbing. It must have bled a lot.

Still, the desire to help just a little surfaced in me. I had come here to kill her, but in this situation, that was meaningless.

Slowly, I reached my hand out and brought it to her thin neck—

And suddenly, as Satori’s eyes slowly grew wide, I felt her gasp.

Her face turned pale with horror, twisting into a primal expression.

Through the touch of my hand at her neck, I could feel Satori drawing a deep breath.

And then—

“I want to live!”

Such words burst out from her.

“I don’t want to die! The truth is I don’t want to die! I want to live longer! I want to be together! Truthfully, it hurts so much and it’s painful! I feel like I’m going to die, but I don’t want that!”

Satori’s voice was far different from what I had imagined.

I thought it would be more like a ‘uh-uh’ noise, truly just like a monkey’s voice, but…

“Someone, help me! Please, please…”

Satori’s last breath slowly escaped her mouth.

“Save me… help me.”

“…….”

And Satori, with her eyes wide open, breathed her last.

I stared blankly at Satori for a while, then slowly retracted my hand.

The tips of my fingers trembled.

I felt cold. As if I suddenly became aware of the cold now.

Turning slowly, I saw Koko’s face, wide-eyed, staring at me.

She stared at me with her mouth agape.

And slightly farther away, Kagami stood, looking dazed.

Both just quietly gazed at me.

Slowly opening her mouth, she immediately closed it again. No matter what I said here, it wouldn’t really help either one of them.

From afar, I could see light.

Determining I no longer needed to breathe, some people turned on their flashlights and were shining them toward us.

There were people dressed like Catholic priests and soldiers, as well as gentlemen in suits. From a distance, our people’s figures stood out clearly.

The blood that had been flowing from my wrist had stopped.

The knife had vanished, leaving only its stain behind.

…I see now.

This is what you wanted. Nirlas.

With a somewhat empty feeling, I let my arms slack down.

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