So, using the power of the Beast of Darkness, I slaughtered all the fools. There was a warrior among them, but that didn’t matter. The huge number of beasts I created with the last of my strength tore him apart mercilessly. If anyone found their bodies afterward, they would probably misinterpret this as an enormous monster strong enough to kill a cheater coming through here and leaving when the deed was done. My monsters didn’t leave, though—they simply vanished when I undid my power.
With this, the imminent threat was gone. Leaving things like this would be unfair, though. The boy’s heart had been trampled into pieces. My death would be the straw that broke the camel’s back. At this rate, he would lose the willpower to keep living. There was only one way. Hope wouldn’t keep him alive. So, the signpost at the end of despair had to do the job.
I forcefully retained my consciousness as I tried to escape from the pain and suffering. Taking this agony upon myself was hell. However, I had something I had to leave behind.
“Why...am I...?”
What I spat out next was a curse. Or perhaps, it was a bloody blessing that granted this boy a path when he was supposed to meet his end here.
“This world should...just be destroyed.”
I didn’t know whether he would walk down this path. I didn’t know how far he could go. I simply gave him a motive. The rest was up to him. The boy rose to his feet in silence. The wolf I saw earlier walked up to him. After saying one last self-indulgent thing, I breathed my last.
✦ ✦ ✦
My painful life came to an end. It was over. That was what I believed. However, against all expectations, my very being took a place in what came next. I knew the reason for this: it was my last self-indulgent request—for the wolf to eat my body when I died. I didn’t know how it worked. Perhaps my long-standing desire to be reborn as a dog had something to do with it.
Without anyone knowing, I secretly accompanied her. At first, she didn’t even have a name. Then, she was the second to receive one. I hid in a corner as her story began. She was, of course, not me. However, we shared the same perspective. I was always watching. I shared her thoughts of him. I shared her feelings. Ironically, by no longer being human, I managed to learn the human emotions I’d been so incapable of understanding.
So, in that instant, I threw away my life without hesitation. At the end of that battle against Hibiya Kouji, she tried to run off to that boy’s side. When her human half had been cleanly detached from her, my ego had separated too, living entirely within the severed torso.
I was like a parasitic plant. Without my host, I wouldn’t last long. Using just this upper torso, I threw myself at Hibiya Kouji. Then, I was tragically cut down. But that didn’t matter. Using that opening, she broke away and ran toward that boy.
Making sure of this, I fell to the ground. This time, it was over. Much like that day so long ago, everything was fading away. However, unlike that time, my heart was filled with warmth. I felt like I’d been rewarded for all that suffering and effort. The path that wolf and I had walked had that much value.
I had regrets, of course. My host had been concerned about my best friend’s future too. However, I’d done everything I could. All I had to do now was believe and leave it to him. I thought of the two boys I’d come to know through my host.
One of them, Majima Takahiro, would never give up. He was what I’d hoped for. He was the one and only person who could oppose that terrifying being. The other boy was Kudou Riku. The feelings of my host were sure to reach him. She was definitely going to pull it off. With that conviction in my heart, I closed my eyes.