Wobbling.
Swaying.
With no purpose.
With no place to return to.
In the darkness of her broken heart.
The only thing swaying was the impulse that was hanging in the air.
The event was over.
The bell rang to signal the end, brought by a single demon who crushed the incoming threat.
It should have been a situation where the cheers of people are heard.
But still.
But still.
None of the residents of the city of beginnings could even raise their voices.
“I’m home!”
Because the Calamity Hero had returned.
Sukuna teleported to the fountain square in the city of beginnings.
The starting point for all players. It was the place where it all began.
“eeeh?”
Sukuna landed lightly and saw a strange sight in her eyes.
The people were keeping their distance. And there’s no one around the fountain. A large circle of people formed around her.
If the current Sukuna wanted to, she could reach them in less than a second, but she was a little disappointed because she thought more toys would be around.
She thought she could destroy as much as she wanted, but the number was less than she expect.
Sukuna feels like an unhappy child because her time to play was less than she wanted to.
However, that expression only lasts for an instant. Sukuna then took out her throwing knife and flung it towards the people without any hesitation.
“Ah….”
Who was it that said that?
A flash of silver light flies, and softly, the knife pierced an eyeball of a young NPC girl.
Almost as if a bullet had shot her, her light body trembled, and the NPC girl fell down without even having time to scream.
“ehehehe.”
Nice hit. Sukuna thought while smiling from ear to ear.
It took only a fraction of seconds. In that amount of time, a lump of meat was easily created.
It should have been a horrible scene that would have caused a scream, but no one could even make a sound.
It was so intimidating that all the people in this place, no, all the creatures, were prepared to die.
If they were to lose even the slightest bit of their attention, the last thing that would be waiting for them would be certain death.
And yet, the culprit herself is smiling as carefree as a young child.
There’s an imbalance of contradictory that makes her presence even more dreadful.
[I wondered who I should choose.] as she wonder a cruelty to no end which she will inflict to her prey.
All eyes were drawn to Sukuna’s every move. And it feels like the time had been stretched to its limit, which make every second seemed like an eternity.
But.
In such a tense situation. The hero Kohaku come forward leisurely.
“I’m here to kill you, Sukuna.”
“Oh, so Kohaku is coming to play with me.”
Now, the strongest Oni and the deadliest Oni had encountered each other, the curtain of the battle will easily brought down.
☆☆
Accompanied by a roaring rumble, each of their attacks collided.
The shockwave from their fight is destroying the plaza’s fountain, scattering its rubble everywhere.
It was no doubt a battle between heroic monsters, and people could only watch in amazement.
“aHaha, … you’re really doing it.”
“Eh?”
The girl who was supposed to be dead with her eye pierced and brain gouged spoke. Ignoring the mutters of her surrounding, she stands up as if nothing ever happens.
With a slurping noise, the girl pulled out the knife resting on her eye and thrust it on the ground.
“Dark Barrier.”
A translucent black dome rises up as if to protect all the people surrounding Sukuna and Kohaku.
No one knows how many people in this world know how to use this [Dark Barrier]. It’s one of the rarest skills in the world that boasts itself as one of the hardest barriers, as it solely focused its feature on sturdiness alone.
“I wonder how much this will be useful against these two.”
The girl sigh while staring at two Oni fighting in the center plaza. And her gaze feels like she could see through everything as she is watching how the battle goes.
However, the people around her could not hide their shock at the girl who got up so naturally.
After a short time past, a female player summoned up the courage to call out to her.
“Oh, um… are you okay?”
“Is there something wrong?”
“Um, but the knife… and eye……”
Looking at the sluggishly concerned player woman, the girl realized something “Oh! “.
Undoing her shabby temporary figure, she is transforming into a girl with Golden hair and Red eyes. A girl of extraordinary beauty, you can compare her to a palace courtesan, and that is still not enough to describe how beautiful she is.
“My name is Melty. Maybe it’s worth remembering?”
She laughed mischievously as she said this. She is the world’s strongest bloodsucker, who was acting as bait at Kohaku’s request.
☆
The return of the Kishin.
The premonition Kohaku had that day was not a mistake.
When Kohaku saw the Sukuna laying waste to the giant dragon, she was overjoyed beyond words.
It was as if the scene was a direct copy of the Kishin that Kohaku had imagined since she was a child.
She was surprised when Sukuna used the “fifth form,” which is also the form that she could not have used, but even that brings joy to Amber.
Even though it wasn’t as good as the [End Ceremony], the [Zekken] was still a technique worthy of using the “fifth form”.
Oni no Mai’s [Fifth form: Douji no Mai] is an art that gives the practitioner pseudo-immortality. As long as that dance is in effect, the dancer’s HP will never run out. In short, it is a freeze effect that lasts for a certain amount of time.
The original purpose of this art was to force the dancer to live until the end of the “End Ceremony”, but Sukuna used it simply to avoid death caused by recoil damage.
As long as she could save her life, she didn’t care about the damage itself.
Nevertheless.
She was happy, until this moment arrives.
Even though it was less than two minutes, Kohaku now facing the copy of a demon god.
And she is, without a doubt, an incarnation of destruction.
“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!”
“AHaHaHAhAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
In an instant, five blows are traded.
Kohaku’s full-powered barrage was so easily handled.
But this much is expected. Kohaku didn’t even think for a second that this will be enough to take down the current Sukuna.
(Still, she’s growing much faster than I expected.)
It’s only been about three weeks since they met.
Considering the increase in Sukuna’s level and the non-ordinary buffs applied by the [Furious Rage], there would no longer be any difference in status between Kohaku and Sukuna. And In fact, Sukuna might be better than her in almost every status.
However, even ignoring these factors, Kohaku could tell that Sukuna’s movements is more polished compared to their previous meeting.
Or perhaps you could say she finally got used to it.
Her natural gift that had been left rusted and unpolished due to the lack of opportunities to use it despite being born with it, now begun to show its shine after the last three weeks.
If we look at the bigger picture, it’s still far from perfect, but even so, Sukuna’s combat sense is already in a different dimension.
She was able to completely parry Kohaku’s brutal power without taking even a single damage.
And on top of that, she has a dead skill activated.
Can anyone deny her strength? At least for Kohaku, the current Sukuna is stronger than anyone she had fought in the past.
“Sei!”
Kohaku did not even bother to guard against the strike from the [Yoiyami] as she grabbed it using brute force.
“You kidding!?”
“Don’t get that surprised. I’m the strongest person in the world, remember?”
That’s right, Kohaku title [Power Holder] is the only given to the person with the highest strength value in the world.
Even against the Furious Sukuna, Kohaku’s greatest weapon is still her strength.
(Buy time. I only need to do that to grasp my victory.)
Earlier, the system announcement voice of the creator god was echoing throughout the world.
The dead skill, [Furious Rage] allowed Sukuna only five minutes of activation time. Therefore, you only have to distract her for the remaining minute or less of the time limit.
The time limit is too short compared to Kishin who once destroyed half the world with her never-ending rage. And it’s probably thanks to Sukuna’s immaturity.
Or perhaps that’s the limit of Sukuna’s mind.
Kohaku understood.
Anger is an emotion that can consume a person’s heart to such an extent.
The current Sukuna is smiling, but her eyes are hazy.
It’s as if she’s forcing her body to move with only a fraction of her emotion.
To her surprise, Sukuna released her weapon so easily and…
“RAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa”
“Ugh!”
Sukuna shouted and swung her fist to pierce Kohaku’s body, she felt a tremendous shock, but she won’t let that chance pass and stopped Sukuna’s fist there.
(Oh ……)
What a sad fist.
Amber thought about this as her HP was reduced by more than 30% with a single blow.
What was conveyed by Sukuna’s fist is only a mass of sadness. It was so clear that it took no time for her to notice.
At first glance, Sukuna looks like she is enjoying herself.
But that’s because her heart is so worn out that she can’t keep going otherwise.
There’s nothing left to vent her rage on.
There is no longer any reason to keep her rampage.
And so, having lost even its purpose, only the destructive impulse that has been left in limbo is barely moving Sukuna.
That’s why the current Sukuna can only think of destroying.
Perhaps Sukuna had already been on the verge of breaking even before she was fighting the giant dragon.
When she lost Rinne in front of her eyes, something inside her is finally broken.
And so, she surrendered herself to violence that would have been impossible for the original Sukuna, and burned her body and soul to the ground to pay for it.
Even so, her waves of sadness and flames of violence keep raging and never disappear.
(I see… so that’s how it is…)
Kohaku feels ashamed, remembering her happy self while she sees Sukuna fallen.
In fact, she knows, [Furious Rage] was born from her God after she had experienced something similar to the current Sukuna.
If this continues, her heart will continue to burn, and nothing left will remain at the end. Sukuna will lose everything as she continue to walk with her scorched heart.
Kohaku understood that this was such sad power.
“Let’s end this, Sukuna.”
Grabbing Sukuna’s arm that was buried in her stomach, Kohaku declared.
Buying time is nothing but wasteful effort.
She have to defeat her as soon as possible.
She have to put this sad demon to sleep.
And Let her lose nothing more.
Sukuna is a traveler.
Unlike Kohaku and the others, her death is only a temporary respite.
That is why Kohaku chose to end the battle with her own hands, to save Sukuna.
“No! Don’t! I don’t wanna! I still have to destroy it. I still have to destroy everything!”
Sukuna desperately screams with black tears spilling as she spits out her heart wish.
“Still, I will protect it! Because… I don’t want to lose anything anymore….”
Sukuna shouted, and shouted, and then she realized…
☆
That’s right.
How could I have forgotten?
I was so consumed by anger that I forgot.
What did I want to fight for?
It wasn’t to destroy.
I didn’t want it.
I didn’t want to lose it.
I didn’t want to lose it.
That’s why I destroy the giant dragon.
Destroy, destroy, and keep destroying…
And before I knew it, destroying it had become my goal.
–Is that enough?
I heard such a lonely voice inside me.
It was a memory and an urge that I had kept asleep for a long time.
It was my own feeling, the one that had granted my wish.
Yeah, it’s enough.
I replied in my mind, and the voice laughed and said,
–nn, I’m relieved then.
I’m sorry, but thank you.
We’ll be together from now on.
I won’t lock you up anymore.
–Let’s play again.
Yeah, it won’t be long now.
Our voices mingled together as if they were unraveling, leaving a gentle warmth in my chest.
☆☆
The dusky darkness that had covered Sukuna is leaving.
Her horns returned to their original size, and the color of her eyes slowly returned to normal.
However, the darkness that was cracking all over her body did not disappear.
It continued to consume Sukuna’s avatar like a curse.
At the last moment, Sukuna released her dead skill.
It was a sign that she had been able to come back without crossing the final line.
It was a sign of Sukuna’s resolution.
“……..Kohaku.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
No more words were needed.
Kohaku gently embraces Sukuna and takes her HP away with a silent, gentle blow.
“Rin-chan…”
I miss you.
I miss you so much.
With Kohaku’s assistance, Sukuna dissipated her life with a happy smile on her face.
====.
Death is the end of it all.
Chapter 3, The Event.
This was the story of Nana’s and Sukuna’s memories and heart.
TL note :
All that is left is the prologue. I got to say I’m glad for picking up this project; I really loved this kind of story.
Thank you.
This is one of the most fun projects (and the hardest so far) I’ve ever had.
And don’t worry, we still had so many chapters ahead, the fun is still going to continue for a long time~~
What about my second project, you say…? Ughhhh, this has been too fun to translate that I’ve forgotten/don’t have time to do that… I will try to make some space in my project, but no promises.
Comments