Ian stared for a moment at the spot where Dagon had vanished, then exhaled a breath mingled with the stink of blood and looked down at the jewel in his hand.
A green jewel. If one had to compare it to something, it resembled an emerald, but its color was a little murkier than a real emerald’s. It had none of a gemstone’s distinctive sparkle or brilliant radiance. If anything, it looked ominous.
‘Since it’s a jewel made by grinding up an entire Outer God, I suppose that makes sense.’
He spat out the blood pooled in his mouth, carefully wrapped the jewel in cloth, and put it into his bag.
The moment he turned, his body plunged with a splash into the sea, which had already returned to normal.
“Ugh.”
Fortunately, his underwater breathing spell and the spell that let him withstand water pressure were still active, so he did not panic too much.
However, his body creaked from the prolonged use of magic. The spells from the Records of the Deep Sea had not required anything particularly special, but the Hand of Re-creation and the Book of Contracts were a problem. Since he had used magic that placed a considerable burden on him, his condition was far from good.
“Urgh……”
Every joint in his body screamed.
Muscle pain went without saying, and the bitter taste of blood that kept rising lingered on his tongue. The internal injuries he had inevitably suffered in the process of using re-creation magic were causing trouble. A pain difficult to even describe throbbed near his solar plexus.
‘Swimming in this state seems like it’ll be a little difficult…….’
Just as Ian thought that and looked up at the surface, with a fluttering sound, a tiny butterfly sprang out from his right eye.
“Ugh!?”
At the same time, pain like a burst of sparks shot through him. Ian grimaced and pressed his palm over his eye, while the butterfly that had flown out flapped its wings in front of him.
[Father, are you all right?]
“……Regressor? Didn’t you disappear completely?”
[I was inside your body, Father. I’m the only one, but I survived for now.]
Regressor gently landed on the back of Ian’s hand.
[I’ll take you up to the surface. In your current state, Father, it must be difficult for you to move properly.]
“……I’m grateful, but……”
[Don’t worry. My stomach is already full. I intend to bring you safely to the surface and then return.]
“Ah.”
Ian nodded. Regressor perched on the tip of his finger and stirred her wings.
Thoom!
With a dull sound, Ian’s body began to move after Regressor. At the fairly high speed, he frowned.
“Wait. Let’s go a bit slower. I feel like I’m going to throw up.”
[Ah, yes. I’m sorry. I wasn’t considerate enough.]
Regressor slowed the beat of her wings. Ian exhaled with a slightly more comfortable expression and let all the strength drain from his body.
“More importantly, I’m impressed you managed to fill up. It didn’t look like you ate much.”
[I don’t require that much food. Since my hunting ability is poor, I can survive well enough with only the bare minimum. Instead, once I fill my stomach, um…… by Earth’s standards, I have to enter a resting period for about three months. In other words, sleep.]
“Like hibernation, something like that?”
[Similar. So after today, you won’t be able to summon me for three months.]
“……Hm.”
Considering Regressor’s abilities, it was quite a shame, but it was not as if he could pressure her not to rest…… It seemed he would have to quietly wait three months if he wanted to call her again.
Of course, it was not as though Ian’s combat ability would drop significantly without her, so Regressor’s absence was not a major blow at all. It was simply a little regrettable.
[We’ve arrived.]
While he had been thinking, Ian had reached the docks before he knew it. With Regressor’s help, he climbed onto land and loosened his stiff wrist.
“You worked hard. Thanks.”
[Not at all. Being of help to you, Father, is my happiness.]
Flutter.
Regressor flew up and settled on Ian’s shoulder. Her body turned into sticky black seawater and melted away.
[Then I’ll see you again next time, Father. I’ll be going back now.]
“Yeah. See you next time.”
[Yes. Without fail.]
Regressor twitched her antennae. Since the sight looked almost like a smile, Ian smiled back and gently stroked her transparent wings. Regressor quietly accepted his touch.
A moment later, her form disappeared completely. Ian let out a groan and walked through the corpse-filled street into the cathedral.
“……”
As with the street, the inside of the cathedral was swarming with corpses. Along with shattered debris on every side, grotesquely twisted believers lay sprawled about, unable even to close their eyes. Ian stared at them for a moment, then took out a cigarette, put it in his mouth, and entered the prayer room.
Crack, crunch.
The remains of the stained glass behind the door were pushed aside with it, producing an unpleasant noise. Kim Yul, who had been sitting in the center of the prayer room, turned her head at the sound.
“Ah, you’re here.”
She smiled brightly. Ian nodded back, lit the end of his cigarette, and walked toward her.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“My thigh got scratched a little, that’s all. The rest of me is fine.”
Kim Yul stuck out her thigh slightly to show him. On her fair skin, there was only a wound that looked as if it had been drawn by a sharp splinter of wood; there did not appear to be any serious injury. Ian let out a sigh of relief.
“Phew…… Good. I’m glad you weren’t badly hurt.”
“Hehe, were you that worried about me? Does your heart ache when you imagine me getting hurt? Hm? Am I super precious to you?”
“I just want to avoid increasing my burdens.”
He flicked Kim Yul’s forehead with his finger. Kim Yul stuck out her tongue.
“Bleh. Tsunderes aren’t popular these days, you know! Men and women both like characters who are devoted to them!”
“Uh, yeah. I see.”
Ian casually brushed her words aside and looked at the believers tied up in front of the door leading to the confessional.
There were eight of them in total, men and women.
Most of them held fairly high positions within the religion. It seemed Kim Yul had captured and tied up only the ones they needed.
“What are you going to do with them?”
“I don’t plan to interrogate them myself. I’ll hand all of them over to the Bureau.”
“……!”
At the word Bureau, several of the believers went into a fit. Kim Yul looked down at them and immediately swung her leg. With a crack, the nun’s jaw snapped to the side.
“We’re talking among ourselves.”
“……”
“If you don’t want to end up like your friend over there with the smashed head, keep your mouth shut.”
She muttered while pointing at a corpse in the corner. The nun swallowed hard and nodded repeatedly. A mixture of sweat and saliva trickled down between the tape sealing her mouth.
Even if she was a believer who served Dagon, she was nothing more than an ordinary person with no abilities, and there was no way she could hold out against Kim Yul. If a gun worked on her, perhaps it might have been different, but Kim Yul was a mage who counted as a veteran in her own right, and she had countless ways to deal with firearms.
To begin with, as long as there was water, she could freely switch between active defense and offense anywhere. She was an opponent difficult to face with a mere gun in many ways.
Well, in any case.
Ian and Kim Yul dragged the tied-up believers out of the cathedral one by one, then quietly gazed at the space that had begun to collapse from beyond the horizon.
“Wow…… It’s beautiful……”
The breaking sky scattered like stardust. Countless particles of stars reflected on the surface of the sea, presenting a breathtaking view. The part where the sky had disappeared was dark as night, but that only added to the mysterious atmosphere.
“Doesn’t this kind of feel like we’re a married couple meeting the end of the world together, hm?”
Kim Yul said as she leaned her head on Ian’s shoulder. Ian did not bother pushing her away and sat down on the ground with her, looking up at the sky.
Clink, clink, clink.
The summoned Book of Contracts bound the believers with chains and restrained them. Then it carefully wound the end of the chain around Ian’s wrist.
A restraint to make sure that after the space collapsed, they would open their eyes in the same place so they could not escape elsewhere.
Since all he had to do was bind them with chains, there was no need to chant a separate spell. After confirming that the chains were properly fastened, Ian watched the collapsing space with Kim Yul.
The splitting sky sank into the sea. The edge of the horizon was shaved away in real time, and the sun, clouds, and stars vanished beneath the water. Thanks to that, the sea became the universe, and the sky became the deep sea. The darkened heavens were torn apart, and the glittering fragments of stars over the sea made a person sink into sentiment.
“Ah……”
Kim Yul let out a sigh of admiration. Then she naturally took Ian’s hand and looked up at him with moist eyes.
“Ian……”
“What?”
“Doesn’t it feel like dying here would make for a really ideal picture……?”
“……What kind of bullshit are you—”
Kooong!
The world sank. The ground where the two of them sat disappeared, and sight, hearing, and smell vanished one after another. Even so, warmth could still be felt from their joined hands, and though the two of them exchanged no words, they gripped each other’s hands tightly.
Like that, one second, two seconds, three seconds.
And then, the moment it reached four seconds.
……Fwoosh!
Light returned to the world. The five senses that had disappeared found their place again, and Ian and Kim Yul opened their eyes in the living room of her house, still holding hands.
“……Mm.”
Kim Yul looked down at her body, which at some point had returned from the nun’s habit to her usual clothes, then smiled playfully, pulled Ian’s hand to her, and kissed the back of it. Then she smiled radiantly.
“Thanks for saving me, Ian. I like you!”
Bubble, bubble.
In the fish tank beside the two of them, the two fish Kim Yul had personally named “Yul” and “An” leisurely swam through the water.