-5-
WE RETURNED to the ninety-ninth floor. Once there, Lunaère used white magic to break the curse on the strange lump of flesh. In just moments, the toad turned back into a huge thirty-foot-tall demon—Satan’s original form.
“Thank you so much…” he said. “I was certain that was the end of me. Lady Lunaère, Master Kanata, there are no words to express my gratitude!”
The large, six-armed demon bobbed his head, bowing over and over to the two of us.
“Kanata…do you know this person?” asked Lunaère in confusion.
“Ah… I-I am the guardian of Cocytus!” said Satan. “D-don’t you remember me, Lady Lunaère?”
“I don’t think we’ve met,” said Lunaère uncomfortably.
“But we have! You don’t remember?! And we’ve even met twice! A whole two times!” said Satan, desperately trying to convince her.
Thinking about it…when I graduated from being Lunaère’s student, she didn’t tell me about Satan guarding the one-hundredth floor. Maybe she’d totally forgotten about him by then.
“One of the times we met was when you were leaving Cocytus recently!” said Satan.
“…Now that you mention it, I vaguely remember seeing a monster blocking my path on the hundredth floor, so I cast Gravity Bomb from a distance. That can’t be…”
“It is! That was me! I had to try so hard to avoid your spell that I leapt into the void. I nearly couldn’t make it back!”
P-poor Satan…
Satan cleared his throat, then said, “A-anyway… Thank you very much for defeating Lucifer and returning the Black Staff. With things as they were, the monsters of Cocytus could have overrun the surface.”
“Who was that Lucifer guy anyway?” I asked.
“He was a demon created when Locklore itself was created, so that he could make adjustments to the world. He filled the post I currently hold. However, he abused the authority he was given and tried to destroy Locklore. His crimes were so great that they sealed him away in another dimension. What were the higher beings thinking…pulling back someone like that…? Could it mean they’ve truly abandoned Locklore?” Satan sounded dejected, and he didn’t seem to care about how it looked.
“We can leave you to handle Cocytus, right, Satan-san?” I asked, and Satan gave a big nod.
“Yes, yes, thank you again for returning the Black Staff of the Apocalypse. With this, I can strengthen the barrier again and control the dungeon so no more monsters spill outside. Unfortunately, I can’t do anything about the monsters that have already escaped…”
“I think the group we have standing by outside can manage something there.”
They had Philia, Noble, Pomera, and Veranta. And Lunaère and I could go immediately to bolster their forces. We should be able to clean things up pretty quickly now that the stream of monsters was cut off.
“But…Lucifer destroyed the floor on the hundredth floor, so we’ll have to go the slow way up the stairs again,” I said. “And we would have been able to teleport out from the altar in there…”
Even if we took the shortest route, it would take the same three days to get out that it took to get down here.
We didn’t even know what the higher beings were going to throw at us next, so I’d really wanted to avoid having to spend another three days crawling out of Cocytus.
“Oh, that won’t be an issue,” said Satan as he thrust the butt of the staff into the floor. A magic circle appeared, and we heard a loud rumble from downstairs.
“What was that just now…?” I asked.
“The Black Staff of the Apocalypse is for managing Cocytus. I’ve put the hundredth floor back the way it was. You’ll be able to teleport out of Cocytus if you go to the altar in the back,” said Satan proudly.
“Huh, that thing really is useful,” I said, and Satan looked uneasy as he quickly hid the staff behind his back.
…Seriously. It’s not like I want to steal it or anything.
Satan walked with us as we traveled down the path on the hundredth floor.
“This was probably the end of the fight against the higher beings, Kanata. I doubt they have any people that are secret weapons more powerful than the demon created at the beginning of time. And the rest of the Unseen Hand are likely done recovering the other pawns. This should mean the higher beings have no more moves left they can make. The only thing left is to see how they react…”
I shook my head. “…They’re probably still holding on to one person.”
There was that last thing Reniement said: “Curse Locklore! I only pray the other two will bring destruction upon the world!”
He very clearly said “the other two.” Naiarotop had one last card to play, something along the lines of Reniement and Lucifer. The first two were terrifying, broken individuals, so I really doubted the last person was someone normal.
Reniement and Lucifer had been sealed away for eternity in another dimension for their great crimes. The third person was definitely going to be a criminal of the same caliber.
And that battle should be my last against Naiarotop. But…even if I won, I didn’t actually have any clue if that would free Locklore from the higher beings’ evil influence.
I took a slow, deep breath, then opened my eyes.
“Lunaère-san… We’re going to get away from Naiarotop. I…haven’t forgotten that promise, that you’ll let me come with you to travel the world! Once we beat him, I’m going to make sure you keep that promise, whether you want to or not!”
“K-Kanata?! I-I mean, it did sort of sound like a condition, but it was really just a turn of phrase…u-uh… I-it’s just, if I’m with you, then the unholy impurity will make it so you can’t live a normal life! So, I just…” Lunaère’s face turned bright red as she got worked up into a fluster.
“I don’t care about that as much as I want to be with you!” I firmly took her hand in mine and stood in front of her.
I knew I had to say it now, when I could. I had to say it because it was now. I didn’t know what was going to happen after this. I might never get a chance in the future.
It didn’t matter how hard we fought, the higher beings had the overwhelming advantage in this fight. No matter what we did, no matter how much we struggled, it might all be for nothing. We might be doing nothing more than accelerating the end of Locklore.
This world might not exist tomorrow—and that’s why I had to say what I wanted to say as soon as possible. Right now.
“U-um, uh, uh, b-but…I…I-I do want to be with you too, but…” Lunaère was trying to select her words carefully. I just waited, standing there in front of her, watching as her lips formed the next words.
“I—!”
“I’m not intruding, am I?” came a voice from behind. It was Satan, who had come to see us off. Lunaère jumped, and her back went ramrod straight.
“K-Kanata, anyway, we should really hurry to the others to report! We don’t know what’s happening outside, after all!” she said, then pulled her hand from mine and practically ran away in a panic down the path. I watched her from behind as she stepped up onto the altar, and then I sighed.
“…Satan-san, you couldn’t have kept your mouth shut for one more minute?” I asked.
“M-my apologies, Master Kanata. I just…couldn’t bear the mushiness any longer.” Satan scratched his head, looking apologetic.