Thick fog blankets Landosol in the early morning. Megumin yawns, eyes watering: "Why do we have to go to the palace so early? Do royals really wake up this early?"
"Who knows... Oh right, what's the king's name? Should we call him 'His Majesty' or just 'King'?"
Faced with Jhin's question, the other three came up blank. Only Pecorine answered quietly: "The king's name is Sopemu von Astraea. Calling him 'His Majesty' will do just fine."
"Got it. Come to think of it, it's rare to find something about local customs that Kokkoro doesn't know."
"Ngh... that's a failing on my part, Master. Once we're back, I'm going to read through every book on the shelf again!"
"No problem. I'll keep you company then."
Jhin looked over at Pecorine, who didn't seem in especially high spirits. "What's wrong? You don't look very happy."
"It's nothing. Our weapons are all in your storage space, right?"
"Yeah. Bringing weapons to a royal audience would be a hassle, wouldn't it?"
"That's true."
Chatting and laughing, the group arrived before a gate of pure white marble. Soldiers on either side slowly drew the doors open to let them through, and beyond lay a magnificent palace done in tones of blue and white.
The moment they stepped forward, the ground suddenly gave way beneath their feet, and one by one they tumbled into a yawning void. Fortunately, Jhin reacted in time, donning his [Elemental Armament] to catch them safely, and the weapons kept in storage space were returned to their respective owners.
Clap. Clap. Clap. Applause echoed through the empty hall. A silver-haired Beastmen stepped slowly out of the darkness and settled comfortably onto the throne of royal authority, a glint of mockery in its crimson beast eyes. "Well, if it isn't the stray dog that once fled from me in defeat. Come crawling back, have you?"
Just from its appearance, Jhin could confirm that the Beastmen before him was the very target assimilated by [What Heads Toward Death] — and the glow given off by the amulet Eris had granted him only confirmed its identity further.
"Didn't expect that coming here to collect a bounty, I'd run straight into the final boss. Lucky me. Though as I recall, I wasn't the only one who ran off that time — didn't you flee too?"
His taunt drew no reaction at all. Instead its gaze stayed fixed on the companion standing behind him. He turned to look — the one being watched so intently was Pecorine.
With a ringing clang, her greatsword left its sheath, the point aimed straight at the Beastmen on the throne. Her voice came out firm and resolute: "I've come back this time to reclaim everything I've lost!"
"Oho... congratulations. You've evolved from a stray dog into a mongrel that talks big. Princess Eustiana von Astraea."
"Princess!?"
"Pecorine??"
Facing her companions' shocked stares, Pecorine gave an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry... for hiding it from you all this time. But... right now, I'm Pecorine of the Gourmet Edifice! Not Princess Eustiana von Astraea!"
"Hmph. A laughable little game of pretend." The Beastmen on the throne shifted its pose, resting the back of one hand against its cheek as it looked down at Kyaru. "The pawn I threw away hasn't died after all. If I'd known this would happen, I should have killed you too when I destroyed your homeland. Who knows how much time I wasted trying to mold you into a proper attack dog."
"Yap yap yap, so noisy. My past has nothing to do with me anymore. But settling scores with you does sound nice!"
"Interesting. Without your memories, you actually dare talk back to me now. Fine... it hardly matters, since everything's about to return to nothingness anyway." The silver-haired Beastmen rose from the throne, spreading both arms wide and tilting its head up toward the sky. "My name is Hatou. Soon I shall be the sovereign who reigns over this world. The earth shall tremble because of me. The sky shall shift according to my will. And every living thing shall prostrate itself at my feet in submission."
"As for those false gods — I will tear open their throats and let their blood drip down from the high heavens, until I become the true, perfect being."
Jhin's expression stayed calm. He didn't even draw the Void weapon out from within Megumin and Kyaru. He was waiting for an opening — one that also happened to be the very moment [What Heads Toward Death] craved most. "Hey, Hatou. Why not let your other good friend come out and have a chat?"
The edge of its crimson beast eyes flicked toward him, its mouth curling with amusement. "Otherworlder... I'd nearly forgotten you were still here. Your wish to meet the other me is bound to be disappointed — it's a bit busy right now."
"From the sound of it, the two of you get along quite well."
"Naturally. Without it, the perfection I seek would be nothing but a blank page."
Amid the tense atmosphere, Jhin sat down cross-legged. "Mind telling me how Pecorine's parents are doing right now?"
"Facing death so candidly, are you? Heh. Consider it a reward for learning the other me's true form — I'll indulge you a little." Of course Hatou wasn't nearly as kind-hearted as it sounded; it was merely stalling for time, all the while wary of Jhin's suspected ability to stop time.
Because its consciousness hadn't fully merged yet, a small error had crept into its invitation. It had meant to complete the fusion first and toy with these little bugs from atop the throne of a world sovereign, but a miscalculation in the meeting time forced it to emerge before the fusion was complete.
Fortunately, these people seemed more interested in prying hostage information out of it than in launching an immediate fight, so Hatou was more than happy to keep the conversation going.
"Oh, those two little bugs, you mean. At first I planned to devour their lives outright as nourishment for myself, but with the other me's help, I simply seized control of their minds and tossed them into the dungeon instead. Perhaps afterward, breaking this princess's limbs and letting them keep her company as a family would be a fitting choice."
"Good, as long as they're unharmed. As for breaking limbs — I think you'd make a far more suitable target." Jhin rose to his feet, an elemental greatsword gripped in hand.
"Not interested in chatting a bit longer?"
"No. Keep talking much longer and the two of you will finish fusing, won't you?"
"Heh heh, ha ha ha ha! Dead wrong! We've already become one!" An indescribable pressure radiated off Hatou's body, the burst of released force shattering the very stone pillars of the palace.
"So that means... you've finally become a single living creature, haven't you?" Jhin's mouth curled upward. As transparent ripples spread outward with him at their center, the world fell still.
Hatou believed that keeping more than twenty meters between itself and Jhin meant it needn't worry about a sneak attack — whether out of arrogance, or confidence in its post-fusion strength, it never stopped to consider whether he might have other cards left to play.
[Inverse Life Force] could only take effect on living creatures. Before [What Heads Toward Death] and Hatou had fully fused, he hadn't been certain the trump card would even work — after all, something existing as little more than a viral program was hard to classify as a living being at all.
Shouting "Muda muda!", Jhin used [Spatial Displacement] to drive dozens of [Inverse Life Force] throwing knives into Hatou's body, then snapped his fingers.
"Time begins to flow again."
The warning that had been blaring nonstop in his mind, announcing the mission was about to fail, went silent — replaced instead by a notification that the mission had been completed.
____
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