Even Seldra Queenfilion, renowned as the strongest Demon, was frozen. This fact clearly illustrates the danger of the Blood Doll.
It was a product that, even in the research institute a thousand years ago, everyone unanimously called “abominable.” While it may be like an adorable pet to me, it’s likely the opposite for normal beings. Just looking at it exposes one to an overwhelmingly dense malevolence, making the body tremble.
That natural predator for all living things was now attempting to grab Kuuneru with what appeared to be a distorted arm in close proximity.
The moment I understood the situation, my body moved. Was it a sense of duty as a staff member to protect the customers? Or did some other sense of justice kick in? I tackled Kuuneru, and as we struggled, we fell to the ground.
Then, as I immediately tried to move to the next action and looked up––
“––Magic, Distance Mute.”
I saw Kanami’s back. His arm, faintly glowing purple, had already pierced the Blood Doll.
By creating a Connection with the soul and sharing that life, it dispels the opponent’s fighting spirit without question. I broke out in a cold sweat from the surprise, but I felt a moment of relief––or so I thought. After a brief silence, Kanami’s flustered voice echoed.
“Ngh…! Even though the souls are one, they aren’t alone…! As expected, they’re clinging to each other…!”
He looked at me as if to confirm, and I nodded back immediately. As he suspected, this Blood Doll is one of the failed products I saw when I used Past Sight on my own life. It was born into this world as a result of researchers repeatedly tampering with, and surgically connecting, Demons that had undergone durability and modification experiments in their attempt to create a Thief of the Principles of the Soul. In terms of souls, there is likely no existence more artificially complex. Even Kanami––no, precisely because he creates Connections with souls, facing this Blood Doll is disadvantageous.
Intuitively understanding this, I quickly called out a greeting to my familiar friend.
“––Everyone!”
I was confident that I could communicate. If I couldn’t be useful here, since I can’t talk to Kuuneru or Seldra, then there would be no meaning to my existence. I had my Blood Doll’s throat vibrate as I pleaded, wanting to talk to them again, just like a thousand years ago.
My voice reached them. I don’t know where the organ responsible for hearing is, but in response to my call, all their eyeballs moved in unison.
Rolling. They caught sight of me again and stopped. It was a nostalgic gaze. The reason they stopped now was surely because they recognized me as myself. Unlike the hastily formed Connection with that savior, I felt a strong bond with the Blood Doll that had not changed even after a thousand years.
Ah. My sense of nostalgia intensified. With the reunion of my old friends, not just the environment and the smells, my heart was overcome with emotion. I even felt as though tears unexpectedly welled up from nostalgia.
“I have something I want to talk about… Something I absolutely must convey to you all––”
Not just my tear ducts, but my mouth moved on its own. There were so many things I wanted to say to celebrate our reunion. My feelings and words were spilling out of this throat uncontrollably. My feet naturally moved towards embracing the Blood Dolls. But, halfway there––
“––Aah! ––––––––––!”
It was a weak, voiceless cry. It wasn’t Kanami’s or mine. From the scene before my eyes, I knew it was the Blood Doll’s voice. All of its countless eyeballs were trembling minutely. Using its entire body as a vocal organ, it emitted a sound that was roughly like a voice, though ungracefully. It’s common for failed products and Blood Dolls to lack throats. Being quite accustomed to such things, I moved closer to try and converse with the Blood Doll.
––However, I was the only one seeking conversation.
The Blood Doll trembled as it gazed at me, and its volume increased again. As if drawing blood from the ground beneath our feet, it continuously sprouted eyeballs like fruit and increased their number. The number of eyes finally exceeded one hundred. Furthermore, the trunk-like parts that served as limbs split and divided, destroying even the minimal human form of “two arms and two legs.” Following that, its many thin, red arms flickered in the air like smoke. The tips of the arms were sharp like blades––and suddenly, my vision was filled with countless dots.
This meant that the tips of the Blood Doll’s flickering arms were pointed at me. By the time I understood, the countless dots had grown larger. The needle mountain approached, intending to turn me into a sieve––
“––Rowen.”
Kanami, who had muttered that, was suddenly standing before me. Furthermore, all of the countless trunks had been minced into tiny pieces. Seeing Kanami holding a beautiful sword, it was evident that he had resolved the situation with Swordsmanship. However, I couldn’t discern how he wielded the sword within this narrow hut.
“–––Zzz!!”
The Blood Doll cried out, trembling. Honestly, it was a little shocking to be rejected in conversation and then attacked. But, it couldn’t be helped. Before Kanami used Distance Mute on me, I too had been attacking living beings, just like the current Blood Doll. So, this couldn’t be helped… I sorted it out within myself, but unlike me, there was someone else who was completely flustered.
“—! Shut up!!”
Seldra was in the corner of the room, partially manifesting dragonization and trying to spread just one wing.
Her eyes glowed red, appearing enraged.
“We’re at our limit! –Dragon’s Wind, crush it!!”
He flapped his wings.
As a result, a blast of wind erupted inside the hut.
Of course, it was perfectly controlled wind and attacked only the Blood Monster as if it had a will of its own. However, it was too immense for such a confined space.
By the time I recognized the danger, my vision turned completely black.
The wind entered my eyes, and I closed my eyelids (though they were more like flimsy flaps of flesh).
Following that was the sound of the wood and clods of earth that made up the hut being destroyed.
It was truly an explosion and a deafening sound.
The impact was more than enough for me to instinctively assume the same defensive posture as Kuuneru at my feet.
After the impact on my back subsided, a ringing in my ears echoed in my head.
I was a little disappointed, thinking that even as a Blood Doll, I wasn’t that different from a human. I straightened my hunched body, opened my eyelids, and surveyed my surroundings.
The hut we were in had burst like an overinflated balloon, and we were all forcibly expelled outdoors. The town, colored red, was in ruins, as if struck by a typhoon or earthquake. Rubble, presumably the remains of buildings, floated in a shallow sea of blood.
Kuuneru’s “safe zone” had collapsed.
In the now unobstructed view of the town, only two people stood.
Kanami, unharmed at the center of the explosion, holding his sword.
And Seldra, who had caused the explosion.
Unlike the scene he saw before the explosion, Seldra had also partially dragonized his right arm.
He raised his arm, which had swollen to about three times its size, and supported the bottom of the bed with his palm. Inside that bed, Shis was still sleeping soundly with cute snores. …I was convinced. This person, once they fall into a deep sleep, is going to be hard to wake up.
There were many things I wanted to say, but Seldra had brilliantly protected his companions and repelled the Blood Monster.
That was the scene that appeared.
However, reality seemed different, as Seldra continued to glare at the blood-red water with a stern gaze.
Mixed with the floating rubble were the remains of the Blood Monster.
Its scattered eyeballs twitched again.
Then, as if repeating the scene from before, the eyeballs began to split.
At supernatural speed, demonic grapes grew.
Moreover, using the scattered eyeballs as seeds, each one…
At a glance, it seemed like about thirty new Blood Monsters were about to grow, surrounding us.
“…Is this all that happens when you defeat them halfway?”
Even as the threat multiplied, Seldra remained calm.
He appeared accustomed to fighting splitting monsters and was preparing for the next attack.
However, before that, the party leader shouted to stop him.
“Seldra! What about the ‘Fear’?”
The words Kanami spoke were two characters in the language of Another World.
They didn’t mean exactly what they said.
The grotesque appearance of the Blood Monster stirred the survival instincts of living beings in an unusual way.
Even if one were accustomed to even more monstrous forms, it was irresistible.
As if it were the “Law of the World,” it plunged its opponents into “Fear.”
Some researchers rejoiced at this phenomenon, calling it the “world’s first artificial Curse.”
However, Seldra had easily overcome it.
“I’m getting used to this ‘Fear’ too. … I’ve experienced it a few times now. It also helps that I’ve studied various things from books about Another World, unlike before.”
Even a single Blood Monster could turn an entire town into a sea of blood in one night.
A normal person would go mad at a mere glance and scream until death.
He seemed to have grown accustomed to that “Fear.”
Hearing this, Kanami seemed relieved and took a breath.
The two of them then coordinated their next moves, ensuring the Blood Monsters’ limbs wouldn’t finish growing.
“So, what do you plan to do with these now? Our leader?”
“I feel like it’s been diluted by Seldra splitting them up. Maybe Distance Mute will work this time on these Blood Monsters…”
Kanami glanced at me.
It seemed he was going to officially adopt the name I had given them.
“So, this is called a ‘Blood Monster’? Regardless, I don’t recommend it. As a former Commander, I advise you. This is clearly a turn of events that wasn’t in our foresight. You should stop.”
“No, this future wasn’t entirely absent. That’s why I don’t want to give up yet… Seldra, please continue to protect Kuuneru and the others.”
“…I will follow the leader’s orders.”
After a moment of hesitation, Seldra nodded.
He was clearly dissatisfied that his warning had been ignored.
“Seldra, thank you for your warning. But if I retreat now, I will definitely ‘regret’ it later. So—”
So, he would give it his all.
With a look of determination, Kanami returned the beautiful sword he held into his own body as if sheathing it.
At that moment, the thirty Blood Monsters surrounding them had already completed their limbs and begun to move.
Seldra immediately leaped next to me with his powerful legs, still holding up the bed.
“—Hitaki.”
Then, Kanami, acting as a decoy, stood still and uttered a name in a small voice.
This was the incantation, not for a sword, but for threads.
A thousand years ago in the garden of Fuziaze Castle, Hitaki conjured a magical snowfield by swirling white threads like a water current.
Similarly, purple threads extended from Kanami’s knees.
A dark purple line was etched into the crimson water’s surface. It shot out like lightning, spreading in a spiderweb pattern—no, like cracks in the Blood Land. Perhaps because of its color, it felt slightly more ominous than the original.
Unlike Hitaki, Kanami wasn’t swirling them leisurely, likely due to a lack of quantity. These were a degraded version of threads, honed for two months, yet Kanami seemed to be focusing on the minimum required number.
Upon touching the purple threads, the Blood Beasts flinched.
“—Distance Mute.”
The moment the connection was established through the qualialess nerves, the forbidden magic spread. The Blood Beasts sensed the enemy’s magical intrusion and simultaneously turned their eyeballs towards Kanami.
However, at that moment, it seems they carelessly made eye contact with Kanami, peering into his eyes. Just like it happened to me, confronted by those engulfing eyes, the Blood Beasts froze.
“—!”
The Blood Beasts were clearly shaken, their movements sluggish. Even though they knew they should attack Kanami, the caster of the purple threads, as quickly as possible, their steps were slow, awkward, and weak, as if they were wearing heavy armor.
Still, the Blood Beasts managed to muster their courage, raised their arms, and attempted to pierce Kanami with their thin, red limbs.
However, it was too late. Against an enemy where every second counts, it was far too late.
Just before those sharp points reached Kanami, their arms lost their form, erupting in blood mist like burning paper. The red limbs of nearby Blood Beasts crumbled, as if ravaged by rapid aging and erosion. Naturally, all the eyeballs that had sprouted on their bodies fell into the shallow blood. Watching this, Kanami spoke softly, warmly, as if in prayer.
“A little of your soul has mixed in and become distorted… but nothing has changed. It’s the same for me, so I understand. Your souls are no different from ours—”
These were words that seemed to fully comprehend the Blood Beasts before him. If a normal person said them, they would undoubtedly sound arrogant and condescending.
But for Kanami, who could re-experience lives through Past Sight, the perspective was forcibly equalized. In just these few seconds, Kanami had seen the equivalent of hundreds of years of these Blood Beasts’ lives. And so, the souls, having finally found a sympathizer who understood their suffering from the same perspective, lost the core that maintained their bodies—their lingering desire in this world.
Just before reaching Kanami, the Blood Beasts collapsed one after another.
“It’s happening little by little, I’m starting to understand. If souls are fused, we can carefully perform surgery on each one. After that, it’s the same as with the Blood Dolls…!”
I see. The problem of fused souls could apparently be solved by performing surgery that perfectly analyzed and reversed the grotesque experiments and modifications carried out a thousand years ago. Honestly, I had no idea what he was talking about.
However, even if I couldn’t understand Kanami’s words, the reality was overwhelming. Proving that there was little difference between the magic beasts and the dolls, the Blood Beasts that reached Kanami began to lose their form in sequence. The total time taken was only about ten seconds. In that short span, the Blood Beasts were already doomed.
Of course, new Blood Beasts were born from the spilled eyeballs and continued their attacks, making it seem like the battle was ongoing.
—But they were clearly decreasing.
I was convinced that the Blood Beasts from just moments ago contained over a thousand unrewarded souls. However, the pressure from the Blood Beasts currently attacking Kanami was thin. The thin Blood Beasts repeatedly attacked Kanami, only to fall apart just before reaching him. They would quickly recompose their bodies and charge again, but in their thinned state, they couldn’t possibly reach him. Their souls were further decomposed, understood, and rewarded—they simply continued to dwindle.
“…Boring.”
It was tedious. Kanami was so strong and unfair it was ridiculous to even think about it seriously. Kanami had constraints such as “maintaining an ample magic power,” “not harming himself,” “not harming the opponent,” “not harming companions,” and “above all, not defeating but saving them.” Even so, it didn’t even escalate into a battle. It was like a repetitive harvesting process.
“Fuuu—”
After about three minutes, I yawned. In contrast, a desperate voice could be heard from below.
“S-Seldra-sama… Even if they’re decreasing, isn’t this bad…?”
Kuuneru, who had been crouching beneath me, lifted her head slightly. Then, looking at Seldra beside her, whose mouth was strained to its limit, she cried out.
“—Seldra-sama!!”
Seldra, who was called, turned her face towards Kuuneru. Immediately understanding the reason for the scolding, she wiped away her smile and they began to assess the situation.
“Ah, ah. I have a feeling the enemies are decreasing, but how many are packed inside? I thought it would end soon, but how many seconds have passed…?”
It seems the two have finally understood the current situation, following me.
Over 200 seconds have passed since I spread out the “Purple Thread.”
From the outside, it merely looks like the “Blood Beast” continues to burst and its numbers dwindle. It’s a rather simple sight, but from Kanami’s perspective—he’s constantly using “Past Sight,” re-experiencing the tragic lives of unrewarded souls—approaching a total of 2000 years.
Kuuneru and Seldra’s faces were even paler than when they were ambushed by the “Blood Beast” earlier. While they stood there stunned, they realized that myriads of years were passing within Kanami.
Unable to bear it, Seldra shouted.
“—Kanami, it’s too much! Remove the Magic Stone and kill them instantly! This is a trap clearly aimed at you, Kanami, the ‘Thief of the Principles of Dimensions’!”
Even Kuuneru nodded in agreement with the warning.
It seems the current situation was so unbearable that the two, who didn’t get along well, found common ground.
“Just as Kuuneru Shurus said, we’ve been detected! The fact that our natural enemy emerged from underground, the only place that can escape ‘Threads’ and ‘Future Sight,’ is proof! Fafnir is using your good intentions against you, trying to mentally break you! Don’t fall for it like an idiot! If you become a shell of your former self for any reason, it’s all over!?”
He seemed genuinely concerned.
He harshly warned Kanami to stop.
Seldra’s voice seemed to reach Kanami, who was focused on the “Purple Thread” and looking down.
Kanami reacted, and while still on his knees, slowly raised his head.
However, his expression was contrary to Seldra’s expectations—
“A shell of myself? Seldra, I’m perfectly fine. Rather, I’m getting used to it. I’ve been too complacent recently, but I feel like I’m finally getting back into my groove. Right now, my Magic Power feels incredibly good…!”
He looked happy.
With a cheerful smile and gentle eyes, Kanami, who had “Past Sight” into nearly a hundred tragic lives, seemed brighter than ever, as if he were finally experiencing the feeling of being alive.
The reaction surprised and bewildered even the life-experienced Seldra and Kuuneru.
“Wh-what, Kanami…!”
“President…”
If he truly had room to enjoy himself, then so be it.
However, the two couldn’t shake off the feeling that their leader wasn’t genuinely smiling.
Seldra hesitated and looked around.
First, he exchanged glances with Kuuneru, confirming they shared the same expression, then shifted his gaze. Next, he looked under the raised bed and shook his head repeatedly.
“……?”
Something felt a little off.
If both Seldra and Kuuneru were “anxious,” why weren’t they stopping him, even by force? Unlike me, an observer, they should have the power to do so.
They could jump in right now and attack the “Blood Beasts” in Kanami’s stead.
Whether it was non-attribute magic or a vampire’s ability, anything would do.
Yet, why weren’t they acting?
—Perhaps they couldn’t defy their leader, Kanami?
Just a little while ago, I had connected with Kanami and we glimpsed into each other’s lives.
However, Kanami’s life was obscured by the aforementioned ■■■, with parts intentionally made unidentifiable even to himself.
For example, the story of when Seldra and Kanami fought in the “Original World” two months ago.
Or the story of when Kuuneru and Kanami went shopping in the “Original World” three days ago.
Both should have had some kind of conclusion, and some kind of “Contract” should have been made at the end—but they were unnaturally, conspicuously missing.
That unnaturalness seemed to be connected to this sense of unease.
If that “Contract” involved something close to absolute obedience, then this situation could be explained. However, considering Kanami’s gentle nature, it seemed unlikely…
“Heh—”
Regardless, things were getting interesting.
It seemed this Party had no one who could stop their runaway leader.
What would happen to Kanami if he continued to “Past Sight” into other people’s lives like this?
Moreover, lives filled with “misfortune” lived in this hell, spanning thousands of years.
How far would those lives stretch, and where would their souls ultimately end up?
Ah, it was a familiar sensation.
When I was at the research institute, I would watch over interesting experiments like this.
I wanted to see this soul multi-layered experiment through to its conclusion without anyone interfering—and just as I was getting a little greedy, exceeding the bounds of an observer.
“—”
“Huh?”
Another shrill sound.
This time, it was an even more unidentifiable grating noise.
Even I, accustomed to all sorts of screams, found it extremely unpleasant to my ears.
It wasn’t the voice of an animal.
It wasn’t a sound that could be naturally produced, nor one that could be artificially generated.
Among what I knew, it was closest to the sound of an insect buzzing.
In Kanami’s terms, it was like nails on a chalkboard.
In any case, what they had in common was that it was annoying, unpleasant, disgusting, and unbearable.
Hating the source of the sound, I looked back.
At the end of the street, I spotted a single human figure.
However, before I could shift my gaze, I had already found the source of the grating noise.
—A black line.
Before I knew it, a single line had appeared in front of my eyes, stretching horizontally across the surface of the blood water in the empty air.
Something like Black Threads extended from the silhouette I saw, taut and stretched.
It was as unnatural as graffiti drawn on a landscape painting of the Blood Land.
From the Black Threads, which seemed to stretch all the way to the horizon, a continuous, strange sound echoed.
“Wha—this is my—?! Kuuneru, cleaner! Crouch as low as you can!!”
Seldra seemed to have noticed as well.
Sensing what was about to happen before I did, she tossed the bed she was holding high into the sky, grabbed my and Kuuneru’s heads, and forcibly lowered us, along with her own head, down towards the blood water.
My vision was pulled downwards drastically. However, just before my face touched the shallow blood, I caught something in the corner of my eye.
The black line of graffiti was moving. Slowly and sluggishly, it made a full circle. Centered on that distant silhouette, the taut Black Threads passed through this city, now filled with wreckage, as if drawn with drafting tools.
I also saw them touch Blood Beasts along the way. But instead of coiling around them or slicing them, the moment the Black Threads made contact, their bodies shuddered unnaturally and dissolved into a viscous liquid. Buildings that had still maintained their form also lost their shape the instant they touched the Black Threads.
From the outside, the effect was indistinguishable from Kanami’s Purple Threads. However, it was clearly different. Kanami had tried to save the souls of the Blood Beasts with kindness, warmth, and compassion. In contrast, that silhouette was mercilessly, coldly, and cruelly destroying their souls.
Ah, this was simple destruction. Those Black Threads were an attribute-less magic that destroyed souls through vibration—no, remembering Curse Techniques, I understood.
And by the time I understood, it was all over. Everything above my eye level had vanished and returned to blood.
The city, which had been beautiful and red just yesterday, was transformed. Onto this city, which had become too open, an undamaged bed fell from the sky. After Seldra caught it gently, she lowered it.
Then, the silhouette I had seen in the distance approached, its form becoming clearly visible. A young Demon in aristocratic clothing with short, coppery hair and a gentle face.
I knew, from my information, that he was no ordinary Demon. Originally, he had been a normal human. Like me in life, he was born human with pure and untainted body, despite having parents who were Demons. However, his difficult life had forged his soul, and as he continuously absorbed the Demonic Poison, he underwent a reversal and became a Demon.
He was a hybrid, mixed with insect-type monsters. However, not his entire body had transformed; his Demonization seemed to be quite controlled. The features of a bee were present only in his left eye and left arm. His left eye was packed with countless tiny eyes, a compound eye common in insect-type monsters. His left arm was the same, hard, thin, and long, characteristic of arthropods—no, on closer inspection, it was a little strange. Though it was supposed to be his arm, something like a stinger protruded from the elbow, and it seemed to be covered by thin wings.
—While I was observing this, the young man covered his demonic features with a sash adorned with glittering embroidery.
“…………… …Glen-san.”
Kanami, who was unharmed as expected, had joined us by this time and called out to his blood-stained friend.
“Long time no see, Kanami-kun. I heard you were in trouble, so I came to help… but seeing your expression, perhaps it was unnecessary?”
As he replied, Glen Walker, the primary target of the First Expeditionary Force, smiled gently and scratched his head with his left arm. He then moved the eyepatch he wore, which was also adorned with golden embroidery and looked quite expensive, from his forehead downwards, covering his compound eyes.
“No, it wasn’t like that. We were saved. Honestly, if it had continued like this, it would have been dark soon…”
“I see. Then, that’s good. I’m glad I won’t be disliked by my future brother-in-law.”
Both of them warmed to their old friendship with cheerful expressions. Breaking into their conversation was Sis, who was staring wide-eyed at the bed that had been thrown high into the sky moments before.
“Wha—?! That tremor just now…!”
She could tolerate the noise, but the physical impact seemed to be too much. Glen watched Sis, who was looking around bewilderedly, with warmth.
“Lady Sis. As expected, you have arrived as well.”
He then shifted his gaze and checked the other members of the First Expeditionary Force—
“And Kuuneru-sama and Seldra-sama too… —huh?”
Seeing me, the last person, stand up from the shallow blood, Glen gasped. The person who had appeared moments ago, spectacularly annihilating the Blood Beasts, was now visibly flustered by a single Blood Doll, me.
“Wha—, who are you?”
From his reaction, even I could tell. Glen had anticipated the existence of the Thief of Principles, the Apostle, and the Vampire Race, but my presence was completely unexpected.
“Just a cleaner you find anywhere. Please don’t mind me.”
“A cleaner…? W-, what kind…?”
And my introduction was clearly heard by him.
