Volume 2 – The World Sneered
Ami felt relief somewhere in her heart while running through the forest.
Lover’s Reverse that Ami was affected by was probably a power that transformed its target to ‘someone hated by everyone’.
In summary, it was not just Cutie and the others who were under its influence.
In addition, Ami somehow felt that there was some ‘noise’ mixed in with the hostility Cutie showed her.
The villagers who did not know Ami had a pure, completely black hostility for her – there was a difference there.
This did not really change much, though.
It was just mere consolation.
Perhaps even just an assumption.
Something to help Ami keep her spirits up and let her keep running through the forest.
Ami used this consolation like firewood and burned it to make sure she did not lose her zeal.
“Aah…… Aah…… Where am I……? I’m trying to get closer to the park, but……”
There was nothing but the forest all around her.
Ami checked her positioning by looking up at the sky, but she did not know how reliable this was.
Ami stopped and was about to sit down.
She faintly heard the sound of something cutting through the air, approaching fast.
She quickly leaped ahead.
Then, the bullet shot by Calaria grazed her back.
“She can still aim at me here…… is she close to where I was earlier? No, I should have smelled blood. She can see me, but how can Calaria do that without any powers……!?”
The next shot came before Ami could solve the puzzle.
However, it was easy to dodge if it was just this attack.
She dodged a few shots, and the shooting stopped for a while.
It was probably because of heat.
Machinaneus was not originally a rifle that could shoot that rapidly.
Ami used this chance to look around.
Then, she saw an ‘eyeball’ coming out of the ground.
The eyeball quickly hid itself underground when they saw each other.
“That was my sis……! They’re cooperating and checking my positioning.”
Mary’s ‘eyes’ were probably all over the forest.
The eye showed up again behind Ami.
She noticed the sound: ‘There!’ She threw a small wheel at high speed and smashed it.
She felt bad when she considered that it was a part of Mary.
From what she had seen so far, however, Mary herself would not be hurt by destroying that thing.
She saw more eyes after that, but she smashed them like moles while repeatedly dodging bullets and the eyes stopped showing up.
Ami sat behind a large tree trunk and leaned against it.
Calaria’s rifle had probably finished cooling down, but the next shot still did not come.
That probably meant Mary’s eyes could not see Ami.
“Even if I crushed those eyes and they can’t shoot me now, they still know my general position. If sis is cooperating with them, they must have made sure that I won’t be able to reach the park. This is bad…… what am I supposed to do……!?”
She held her knee and saw her hand.
The number decreased to IV.
More of her body became transparent.
“It’s going down too quickly……”
Ami looked at the ground with one eye while lying face down.
Then, she heard a voice coming from afar.
This was not outside, but it was ‘inside’ her, and it gradually became louder.
“Can you hear me, Ami?”
It wasn’t exactly a ‘long time ago’, but it was the first voice Ami heard in a while.
“……God?”
“That’s right, I’m Wheel of Fortune. Ever since I received that power, that is.”
“I feel like it must have been a very long time ago. Even though it’s only been 10 days.”
“I won’t talk for long, I’m briefly going to tell you something important…… If you want, it’s possible to temporarily further increase the power of Wheel of Fortune.”
Ami wanted nothing more right now.
But something caught her attention.
Why was the arcana itself going to the trouble of telling this to her?
“You’re going to die if this continues. Without reaching World. I know I’m the one who pushed this on you, but that would be a waste of your life.”
“I think so too…… but can I really just get more power like that?”
“Yes.”
The arcana spoke firmly.
However, he continued.
“But, it’s going to reduce your lifespan even more.”
In other words, he was asking Ami to give up more of her life if she wanted to survive.
Ami stared at the ground without a reply.
Then, she murmured during the uncomfortable silence.
“……No.”
She sounded like a selfish child.
But that was her true desire right now.
“No…… No, no, no! I…… want to keep on living……”
She meant it when she said that she was fine with giving her life up for Mary.
That was, in all likelihood, the ‘best choice’ for Ami.
So, the desire to live longer was something even more than the best choice, a wish, no, a delusion.
“I fell in love with sis after we first met. I became good friends with Cutie and Calaria too. I know that this is because I offered my life up! But still…… I want to be with them for as long as I can……”
“One week is necessary to reach the park and kill Lover. Call me if you want.”
“……One week.”
It was a short, but also a long time.
What could she do in one week?
What could they chat about? What could she eat? Which beautiful landscapes could she see, and how many times could she kiss Mary?
The more she thought about it, the more valuable this time became.
She buried her face between her knees and stood completely still.
Time mercilessly passed on.
◇◇◇
“Should we chat a little?”
Wheel of Fortune spoke to Ami, as if tired of waiting.
“I thought we had no time.”
Ami replied while still holding her knees.
“I thought we should still chat. There’s a security risk to coming down from the level of a God to the level where I can talk with a human.”
“I don’t get it……”
“You and your friends are opposing World right now.”
“Yeah.”
“As you know, arcana is what gave birth to this world. In other words, it’s what gave birth to humanity.”
“Mhm……”
“If I were to give you a metaphor, humanity from our point of view is like a picture someone drew on a piece of paper. It’s also like a story written with letters. If we feel like it, we can overwrite a person’s mind, memories, or anything we want. Humans are small beings compared to Gods, their minds are even weaker than their bodies.”
“So what?”
“World doesn’t hesitate to do such things.”
While faintly, Ami could see that this was not going to be a comforting chat.
“This is only happening because of Lover’s user, and it will end when you kill her. But, World is an arcana without a creator, something that should not have ever existed. World has no respect for life at all. As such, he’s not as weak as Lover. I think you should have some experience before facing off against him.”
“What do you want me to do? Did you always know it would end up like this!?”
“I thought that you would have to face off against an arcana that controlled the minds of people one day. But, would you have chosen death if I told you this from the start?”
“Well……”
“I do feel bad for taking your life away. But, you’ve already fought an arcana user trample on people’s minds and dignity. It just hasn’t been turned against you yet.”
“Yeah, but.”
“The reason I chose you is that you have a strong desire to live despite everything. Because I felt emotions from you that are strong enough to stand against World.”
“If World really is that strong of a God…… what’s the point for a commoner like me to try as hard as I can? Can me, sis and the others even do anything?”
“I don’t know.”
Wheel of Fortune spoke so clearly that Ami did not even feel any sense of irresponsibility from the words.
Ami stayed quiet for a while.
“I’ve been watching the world through you, but, his plan may have progressed so far that it cannot be stopped by any means now. He’s cunning, and it may have been over already the moment he took such a significant action like the murder of Mary Pulsherima.”
“That’s……”
The important people in every country were already subdued and could no longer resist.
Leaving the world’s destruction aside, one could say that World already succeeded in ‘world domination’.
“But it’s all over if we give up. There has to be a way to save this world. For that, you have to overcome the crisis you’re in right now.”
It went back to the same thing.
Nothing would start if Ami did not survive this fight.
“I want you to stand firm even if you have to kill your friends one day.”
“That’s never going to happen.”
“That’s happening right now.”
“It’s different! That’s not gonna happen! Even if it did, I wouldn’t be human any more if I could fight without breaking….. it would be pointless to live……! If this is a fight between Gods, then leave humans alone and do it among yourselves!”
“You’re right, we’re bad Gods. But you humans would not have been born if we did not exist. You can’t say we are not related.”
“Then you should help us in more direct ways.”
“I would have, if it was possible. But I cannot. We live in different dimensions.”
“You’re so irresponsible!”
“Yeah. The objective of becoming a God – we considered that the most just final destination. But, was that really the right thing to do? After watching the humans for so long, seeing their prosperity and their degeneration, and after seeing this fighting, I’m not sure anymore.”
There was hesitation in that voice.
Perhaps it was an effect of coming down from the level of Gods.
If they tried to change something, something else would definitely get distorted.
People.
Gods.
Commoners, aristocrats, sorcerers – twisting any of this would create a reaction.
Sometimes this was ruin, and sometimes destruction.
The power to destroy what was built up.
“Gods were humans too, right?”
“We were a little different than the ‘humans’ of this world, but yes.”
“Didn’t anyone else regret becoming a God, like you did?”
“I don’t remember. I discarded my human memories when I ascended to the God dimension.”
“Why did you do that?”
“Because a human mind could not endure the long years I was going to spend as a God.”
“Dreams are pointless if you have to erase yourself for them.”
“Yeah, but…… It seems there are some fragmentary memories remaining in the corners of my memory area.”
“What kind of memories?”
He answered Ami’s question in a slightly subdued voice.
“A young girl around the same age as you, crying. ‘Come back, brother.’ She’s begging me.”
Nostalgy – no, the memory was too old to express it with that word.
But it was protected dearly; the memory of a sin.
“The young girl is sad. Because she saw me changing into a God.”
“You had a little sister.”
“Apparently.”
“I bet she was really important to you.”
“I’m sure.”
“Having to discard such important memories to create this world is the reason things turned out this way.”
“You may be right.”
“Don’t admit it, that’s sad.”
“I apologize.”
Ami was openly sullen after a series of very brief remarks.
After a short pause, she changed the subject and asked another question.
“Hey, isn’t there anything else we can use other than my life span?”
“No.”
“That was quick……”
“But you’re not going to just lose something. There is an advantage as well.”
“Like what?”
“If you survive and come back, I’m sure Mary Pulsherima and the others will beg you for forgiveness. It is not their fault, but they will want to pamper you. You want that as well.”
“You’re the worst!”
Ami looked at the empty air with sharp eyes and shouted.
“……Oh, I’m sorry. I descended from the God level, but there are still big differences. Our sense of values do not match.”
“Don’t use being a God as an excuse……!”
“Sorry.”
Ami could not see him, but Wheel of Fortune was quick to feel down.
With that, he stayed quiet for a while.
Ami also stared at the ground while holding her knees and pouting.
After the silence continued for some time, Wheel of Fortune muttered a few words.
“I found another fragment. A scene of my little sister scolding me for ‘not having any delicacy’.”
“She’s right. That had nothing to do with being a human or a God just now.”
“Looks like it. I thought I discarded my humanity, but some things still remain.”
“Maybe…… that’s exactly why it was so sad for your little sister.”
“Why?”
“She had hope. Hope that maybe you would go back to normal.”
“……Yeah. Maybe it would have been better if I had turned into something completely different sooner.”
Then they became quiet again.
◇◇◇
Perhaps Calaria and the others were considering this a ‘deadlock’.
Maybe they were all waiting nervously while stretching their eyes of observation, spreading bugs, holding a rifle, not knowing when the fighting would start again.
In truth, however, Ami was not doing anything.
After the conversation ended, she simply did nothing and waited for the time to pass.
The countdown continued.
The letter on her hand was I – in other words, 10 minutes remained.
“Hey, God.”
Ami slightly raised her head and spoke.
He answered immediately.
“Did you make a decision?”
“Mhm…… I never had another choice anyway.”
It would be a lie to say she had no hesitations.
But, she made up her mind.
Rather, she never had any other choices.
She would die and everything would end if she gave up here.
24 days, 17 days, these numbers were pointless. It would be an instant 0.
In which case, her only choice was to lose a precious week of her life so that she could survive for a little longer.
“Give me strength. The strength to kill Elastis without hurting anyone else.”
The heat left her legs after Ami made her wish.
The color of her skin became grey, gears were uncovered and her legs changed into something in the territory of machines – no, exactly machines.
“Those are the legs of Wheel of Fortune. Normally, a human being cannot control a God’s body and keep their mind intact. It won’t be long. Hurry.”
“……Okay.”
She did not think about the fact that she lost a week of her life span.
She just felt the repulsive sensation of herself changing into ‘something’ quite different from a human being.
◇◇◇
Calaria climbed up a tall tree and set up her rifle.
She was holding a communication device over her ear, and was connected to Mary and Cutie.
“I cannot see the ‘enemy’. How about you?”
“……”
“Mary?”
“Oh, right. The enemy…… is still in the same area. She wasn’t caught in the observation net of the neighboring areas, so I don’t think she moved.”
“I’m making my bugs search for her, but I can’t find her. Her arm was blown off, so maybe she turned tail and ran?”
“It wouldn’t be so easy. She’s cunning, vicious, and wicked. She’s an enemy for everyone, and we have to kill her, but I’m sure she will come and try to kill us too.”
“I know that. That’s why I’m using all my powers.”
“Yes, that thing is an enemy all humans should hate. We cannot let her get away. But……”
“What is it, Mary?”
“Can something like that really exist?”
“What are you talking about? We already know she exists. We have to confront her. For the sake of other people.”
“Yeah, Mary, she’s here. She exists. We have to believe what we saw with our eyes.”
“……Yes, you’re right. But something is strange.”
The image of hatred dwelling in their hearts was quite indistinct.
Normally, Lover’s Reverse activated when someone saw the target’s face.
In the case of acquaintances, however, since the target’s face is already in their memories, the hatred activated automatically.
No matter where the target was in the world, she would be the object of hatred and fury.
No human could resist that.
Even Calaria barely resisted Lover’s powers in the first place.
When it became something that activated by wagering one’s life, Reverse, it was difficult to resist it even while possessing Sorcery Resistance.
“How does Elastis look, by the way?”
“Err…… She’s not reacting to anything, like usual. There’s nothing wrong with her physically, but I think she suffered a great psychological shock.”
“She definitely had something done to her. That has to be it. I don’t know why Lover was targeted, but-”
“She’s still alive. So the enemy will come for her.”
Mary spoke up right after Calaria’s deduction.
“She moved!”
“Which direction!?”
“Umm…… She’s coming straight this way with an absurd speed!”
“It’s a direct confrontation. But, she’s no match for me and Calaria-”
“She’s knocking down trees…… she’s too fast! Miss. Calaria, get ready to fire!”
“I’m already aiming. But this is-”
While holding her rifle, Calaria saw Ami using the wheels on her legs to go straight ahead without fleeing or hiding.
She left nothing behind her.
The plants, the ground, they were all scraped off by the mana surrounding her before her body even touched anything.
She got closer to the park, where traps set up by Calaria awaited her.
But the wire ropes, the buried bombs, everything was meaningless before Ami’s power.
Calaria pulled the trigger.
A mass of mana shot out with a booming noise and clashed against Ami.
The bullet did not bounce back; it vanished.
She repeatedly fired more shots, but they were all swallowed by the mana surrounding Ami and vanished, and she did not slow down at all.
“What’s with this power? It’s completely different from before……!”
The bugs released by Cutie were not much different.
They were not even allowed to get close to Ami.
The wind pressure created from her speed blew them all away.
The crowd of animals she created from the trees were also easily trampled.
“Are you telling me my familia can’t even get close to her!?”
And, in the blink of an eye, Ami reached Mary, who had remained in the park.
She suddenly braked and stood still.
Mary quietly raised her scythe.
“Sis. It’s me, Ami.”
“You’re not someone I can talk with. I’ll kill you…… I’ll kill you…… I have to kill you……!”
“Sis……”
Ami’s eyes trembled with sorrow.
But, she felt that there was some noise mixed in with the urge to kill here that she did not feel from the villagers, after all.
She saw hope there.
Then, she held wheels with both hands and entered her fighting stance.