It was practically a miracle that I was still conscious. I thought I’d been pulverized into atoms, but my limbs were still attached. This was the fruit of Lily and Shiran’s desperate last stand. That said, this was our limit.
“Ah... Guh...”
The Rosette Dagger was burning in my breast pocket with a heat I’d never felt before. This magic tool that Rose had gifted me reacted to danger and limited damage done to me, though feebly. The heat I felt from it was like an expression of wanting to protect its master, while also pleading with me to run away. Either way, my body wouldn’t listen to me anymore.
That was when I heard dreadful footsteps approaching me.
“Found you, Majima.”
The one treading across the obliterated soil was none other than Nakajima Kojirou.
“How...?”
I couldn’t believe it. I was sure I’d sent him as far away as possible when I’d expelled him from that world. How had he found us? Besides, my Misty Lodge was supposed to be keeping a watch of our surroundings.
No, maybe... The sudden thought gave me chills. Nakajima Kojirou was a Conduit too. Therefore, it wouldn’t be strange if he had the same perception abilities as the Misty Lodge. He could likely detect things over a much wider range too. That was exactly how he’d found and attacked us.
The boy, wearing a mask of deceptive sweetness, stood some distance away from us. At this range, our attacks wouldn’t reach him. At this range, the Sword of Light would kill us with absolute certainty. That said, he wasn’t one to come to a stop for such petty reasons. He looked so much like a hero that I was sure of this. His radiant figure didn’t harbor any darkness. There was nothing shady about him. Something about him attracted others. He stood at ease as he spoke to me.
“I never thought you’d get away from me like that. What’s more, I can’t make a connection. Ha ha. This is your doing, yeah?”
He had a Dimensional Cornerstone in his hand. He must have snatched one before being expelled from that world. By all rights, everything should’ve been over the moment he took one. Now, I was functioning as a stopper using my power as a Conduit and the will of the first savior. The world wasn’t yet in the hands of the Calamitous King. Just for now...
But so what? This was the worst-case scenario. Once I was gone, there would be nobody left to obstruct him. It was all over. We were done for. The world was done for. It was because I believed this...
“Just as I’d expect of you, Majima.”
That I couldn’t understand this man.
“You really are great. You’re the best.”
There was a hint of excitement in his voice. He was definitely our enemy and he had my life in his hands. And yet, in this last moment, there was clear friendliness in his eyes.
“Honestly, this was a complete failure. I had no intention of fighting you when you didn’t have all your forces gathered. In this instance, I would’ve been fine so long as I could fight Jinguuji—the Dragon—at his full might, after throwing away everything he was to break his limit.”
I just didn’t understand.
“The Dragon was on the right track, but I guess not enough to be satisfying. Well, that’s fine too. It was within my expectations. The horrible part was being exposed by such a worthless coincidence. The defense mechanism going wild, I mean. I would’ve been able to survive on my own, but the moment I thought you were gonna die, I protected you. It’s such a drag that I had to expose my identity like that. What a boring outcome. It’s utterly disappointing.”
I really didn’t understand.
“But you made it through. Man, it’s just as I thought. You’re the real thing.”
“Why...?” I finally managed to interject. “Why do this? With that much power, you should be able to do anything.”
I found it utterly baffling. He always had a surplus of composure, had nothing to worry about, and could solve any problem. He was a leader who could save everything within his sight. This was an ideal I’d once looked up to. No matter how I thought about it, there was no reason for him to put that all to waste except for pure malice. It was precisely because I sensed no such malice that I couldn’t understand him whatsoever.
If I could understand him, maybe it would be possible to do something about this situation. At the very least, we were having a conversation. Now that we were pushed into such a corner, our only choice was to find some hope in this. I swallowed my blood-flavored saliva and cut to the chase.
“Did you want to become God? No. In that case...even without doing anything like this, you could’ve become anything you wanted without any difficulties.”
Nakajima Kojirou simply possessed that much potential. With the unimaginable power he’d obtained by coming to this world, he could’ve conquered the entire world without difficulty as a hero. With the charisma he’d used to control the exploration team and his astounding leadership to prevent those still under his command from causing any problems, it would’ve been entirely possible for him to gradually seize stewardship of this world from the Holy Church. Even if he didn’t resort to such forceful means, he could’ve done things far more covertly. I truly believed that. That was exactly why...
“I mean, isn’t that totally boring?”
His answer far exceeded the bounds of my imagination.
“Boring...?”
Even though he answered my question, I couldn’t understand. I just didn’t get it. Nothing made sense. What the hell was going on? I couldn’t see the man in front of me as anything other than a monster wearing human skin. This was probably not a misunderstanding either.
“Hey, Majima. You just said I can do anything, right? Yeah, I won’t deny it. I can do anything I put my mind to. It’s been like that since I first opened my eyes.”
Thinking back on it, this was the first time I’d heard this from the man himself. Kubota, who knew him well, had once said that Nakajima Kojirou lived in a different world. He’d wondered if everyone had simply gotten caught up in Nakajima Kojirou’s being teleported to this world.
Also, the first savior had called him an anomaly beyond expectations. He was a product of fifty thousand years’ worth of trial and error that wasn’t likely to be replicated in the next fifty thousand years. If I didn’t know better, I would’ve called this an exaggeration. I would’ve called it ridiculous. But I knew better. This was no more than the plain and simple truth.