Chapter 71 - The Existence Proof of a Creation Soul (5)

An abandoned factory in the dead of night was the very definition of desolation.

Due to the enclosed nature of the factory, there were almost no light sources, making it excessively dim.

And the sound? As it was a building with no human activity, a breathtaking silence filled the factory.

In such a silent, abandoned factory, at the entrance to the stairs leading to the basement.

Rain Enlight stood firm in that passage, looking at the opposite corridor.

And then.

Step, step.

Step.

Footsteps echoed through the corridor. Because there were no other sources of noise, the footsteps rang out very clearly.

There was nothing human about the footsteps. No matter how well-trained an army was, they could not produce such rhythmic and simultaneous footsteps.

At the forefront of those making such rhythmic sounds was, out of place, a... girl, finely dressed in a one-piece dress.

“……”

Even seeing the girl, the boy guarding the passage did not change his actions.

He just stood there.

As if to protect that corridor.

“Arien is in the basement, isn’t she?”

The girl with the navy-blue bob—Stella—spoke, having grasped the boy’s intention.

Her voice had a pure, child-like air, matching her appearance of an elementary school student.

But the boy with the somber impression—Rain Enlight—did not answer her.

Schwing.

The only response he showed was to draw his sword and point it at the girl’s party.

As if he had no intention of letting them pass.

Click.

And in his other hand, he held a revolver of considerable size.

Seeing his reaction, Stella shook her head.

“You know, I’m angrier than I look, you see?”

And so, she continued the conversation. Though her voice held not a hint of anger.

And that very imbalance made it somehow chilling.

“...You don’t look like it at all.”

Rain spoke his honest impression. In response, Stella replied with the same smiling face.

“I learned to smile for my friends. And I learned that if I just smiled, everyone would be happy.”

“……”

“What do you think, aren’t I kind?”

At first glance, one might have thought she showed a deep emotional expression unimaginable for a homunculus, but that was a mistaken idea.

The girl was clearly broken as a human. Perhaps that was the right way to exist as a homunculus.

“You know, I was in a good mood. I got to see Arien after a long time… and I thought maybe we could go together. I was hoping I wouldn't have to use my backup plan, you see?”

A backup plan. She must have been talking about the Ulfendite buried in the factory basement.

In fact, Stella's scheme had almost succeeded. Arien had felt a great emotional stir upon seeing Stella.

“But then, you showed up.”

However. There was a variable.

“You ruined it.”

The context unabashedly revealed her displeasure. But in contrast, her still-gentle tone only evoked more discomfort.

“But do you know what’s really annoying?”

“...How would I know something like that?”

“It was the fact that Arien chose you not with reason, but purely with emotion.”

A moment of choice, where both options were utterly suspicious.

A moment where no one had any rational grounds, and only emotions remained.

Arien chose Rain.

At least, that was what Stella thought.

“……”

“It was the fact that I lost to the likes of you.”

Her expression did not change, but the venom in her tone grew stronger and stronger.

Whoooosh-.

And… I could tell that the concentration of mana Stella was drawing up was also thickening.

A unique mana that existed in a different realm from ordinary mana.

It was the mana of Dream Realization.

The mana of an Anti-World that recreated the world the girl had left behind in her dreams.

The reason Stella wasn't reacting to the Ulfendite, despite using mana so freely to summon homunculi, was probably because of that.

Shuk.

Rain slowly got into a stance in response to the thick killing intent he felt from Stella.

As he did, he opened his mouth.

“You don’t understand at all.”

“...?”

“Do you really think Arien-ssi chose me based entirely on emotion?”

Stella’s expression slowly hardened. Then, as if to hear him out, she tilted her head once.

“What do you mean?”

“Even if I told you, you wouldn’t understand.”

To Stella’s question, Rain shook his head.

“Someone like you, who only tries to fit Arien-ssi into your paradise in an ideal form.”

“……”

Stella did not react any further to Rain’s words.

What the girl felt was a slight displeasure. It was because of the man’s tone, which seemed to see right through her.

Therefore, Stella simply raised her hand and pointed at Rain.

It was to eliminate the source of her displeasure.

At that moment—.

Tat-!

The homunculi standing behind Stella… no, the dream of homunculi, their traces, began to charge at Rain.

***

Let’s turn back time a little.

After Arien and I decided on our course of action, we headed straight for the warehouse where the Ulfendite was buried underground.

There, chunks of rock glowing a brilliant green were piled up, quite literally, like a mountain.

“...The quantity is a bit, no, a lot more than I expected.”

I was honestly a bit impressed. Right, to blow up the entire area, it would have to be this much.

“……”

Arien was stroking her chin, deep in thought, and I asked her.

“How long will it take to absorb all the mana from this Ulfendite?”

This was practically the key issue. If it took too long, Stella, having figured out our intentions, would storm this place, and it would all be for naught.

And to my question, Arien answered.

“Even if I hurry… It will likely take about 15 minutes.”

“15 minutes…”

It was tighter than I thought. Even if it took Stella 3 to 5 minutes to get here, that left only 10 minutes.

“It would be impossible to fight while absorbing mana, I presume.”

“That is correct.”

“...Which means I have to buy time alone.”

“……”

Arien lowered her head. As if confirming that it was true.

“...I apologize. I did not know the reserves would be this large.”

And she apologized like that. In her characteristically stiff tone.

To her reaction, I shook my head and replied.

“I don’t think it’s your fault. This was the only way, wasn’t it?”

“……”

Not that Arien’s expression loosened up, though. She was a girl with a naturally faint expression.

…Was that something I should be saying? Anyway.

Thump.

Leaving the unresponsive Arien behind, I walked toward the warehouse entrance.

And then.

Grip.

Arien grabbed my sleeve.

“...Arien-ssi?”

I couldn’t help but be surprised. For that Arien to do something like this.

Come to think of it, the Arien I knew had done many unexpected things, so I had become somewhat desensitized, but this action was particularly surprising even among them.

To think the cold Star Seeker from would show such a side.

“...Th-that is…”

Arien mumbled, as if she didn’t know what to say.

Scratch.

Seeing her, I couldn't quite figure out what to say. Or how I should react.

So, I just scratched my head awkwardly.

She was already quite different from the Arien in the original work, so my predictions no longer held much meaning.

All I could understand was that Arien didn’t seem to want to let me go.

‘Hmm, but I still have to go.’

Thinking rationally, there was no telling when Stella might storm this warehouse.

It would be safer to go as quickly as possible and block the passage.

I looked again at the sleeve Arien was holding.

‘What should I do in a situation like this…?’

In all my life, and through all my regressions, I had never once been in a situation where I had to pry off a girl’s hand holding my sleeve.

I pondered how to do it without hurting Arien’s feelings, and then…

‘I don’t know.’

Pat.

I took hold of Arien’s hand that was gripping my sleeve.

“...Rain-ssi.”

At that, Arien, who had been looking down, raised her head and met my eyes.

Arien's unique, shining sky-blue hair and sky-blue eyes, illuminated by the moonlight streaming down from the window above the warehouse… shone even more brightly blue.

To her, I said this.

“I’ll trust you and wait.”

It was my way of saying I would hold out, so she should finish quickly and join me. The appeal that I believed she would do so was a bonus.

“……”

Her ambiguous reaction was a bit concerning… but, well, what could I do?

I carefully let go of her hand, which had moved from my sleeve to my hand, and walked out of the warehouse with quick steps.

Creeak-.

And just as I opened the warehouse door and was heading to the first floor.

“Please don’t die, Rain-ssi.”

I heard Arien’s words.

And upon hearing them, I…

“I have no intention of dying.”

I replied so simply. Not that I could die in the first place.

[ Episode 5. Proof of the Creation Soul ]

Affirm the existence of a created soul.

[System : 『Overcoming Ten Thousand Deaths』 has reached a checkpoint!]

As I stepped onto the first floor, a notification informing me of the checkpoint, as always, came into view.

“So this is where it begins.”

I stood tall in the passage in front of the entrance to the basement and waited quietly.

For Stella, who was bound to head this way.

During the wait, I mulled it over. Arien was so emotionally swayed by Stella… so why did she reject Stella, both in the game and now?

Why did she choose a friend she had known for such a short time?

I kept thinking about it. I didn’t know if it was the right thing to think about before a life-and-death battle.

But it was definitely a topic of value.

And after a little time passed.

“...That might have been it.”

Just as I was reaching my own conclusion on the matter.

Step.

Step.

Step.

Footsteps echoed through the utterly silent corridor.

‘She’s here.’

Then, just as I expected.

“Arien is in the basement, isn’t she?”

With that straightforward remark, the girl with the navy-blue bob and white dress, Stella, appeared.

Schwing-.

Click.

Instead of answering her, I drew 『Spellbinder』 and 『Outlaw』.

She likely knew everything anyway, so there was no point in being coy.

Well then, let’s defend this path.

Wagering a life that will never perish.

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