Creak, creak—the chair rocked to a steady rhythm.
If one sat upon it and surrendered oneself to its swaying, the whole world became peaceful.
A life in which one did nothing at all, merely swaying along as the world swayed.
But such a life was impossible for him.
Because there was a book resting on his knees.
An old book without even a title.
He carefully brushed his fingertips over the cover, blackened from how many times it had been read.
A cover with a rough texture, like an old man looking down upon twilight.
The quiet dignity of one who had weathered the cruel storms of time.
Gentle waves.
No unfamiliarity.
A firm silence.
And yet, if one turned even a single page, what lay within was of an entirely different sort from the cover.
The sparkling joy of one who had first taken the world into their eyes.
A sea of rapids where all manner of emotions mingled and whirled.
Familiar curiosity.
A tender stir.
Unlike the cover, stained black with the touch of hands, the pages within were pure white, not so much as blemished.
Contained in the crooked handwriting was a pure heart toward a new day.
All of it, day by day, had become a single diary.
* * *
『April 13』
『Today I went flower viewing with Mom and Dad! Mom said she wasn’t sick today, so I felt happy. But then she coughed a lot, so I felt sad again. So we couldn’t look at the flowers very much. But it was still fun! I hope Mom gets better soon so we can go one more time!』
……
『May 17』
『Today I talked with Mom as much as I wanted for the first time in forever! Dad said I could even hold Mom’s hand today! Mom didn’t cough and smiled a lot, so I smiled too! I wish every day was like today! I’m going to talk with Mom tomorrow too!』
……
『May 20』
『Until yesterday I held Mom’s hand and even read fairy tales together with her in her bed, but today Dad told me not to go into Mom’s room. So I said, but yesterday Mom said she was almost all better, and Dad got angry. Then he told me to go to my room, so I went to my room and cried. I hate Dad. I’m not talking to Dad anymore. I’m only going to talk to Mom!』
……
『May 27』
『Today I couldn’t go into Mom’s room again. But Dad’s face looked bad in front of Mom’s room, so I asked Dad why he was like that, but Dad didn’t say anything. I asked if I could go into Mom’s room, but he didn’t say anything. So I cried and kept saying I wanted to see Mom, and that he shouldn’t keep stopping me, and that I hated Dad. But Dad hugged me and said he was sorry. So I cried and said I was sorry for saying bad things too. Dad cried with me. Dad, I’m sorry. I won’t say bad things anymore.』
……
『June 8』
『A lot of people wearing black clothes came to our house. I was scared and wanted to see Mom, but they said I can’t see Mom anymore. So I hid behind Dad. Those people said Mom left for heaven now. I wanted to see Mom so much, but if I said that, Dad would be too sad. So I didn’t cry and stayed right next to Dad. In the fairy tale book I read with Mom, it said heaven is a really pretty and good place. Mom is really pretty and really kind, so she must have gone to the best heaven. But just in case, I read the fairy tale book one more time. I knew it, Mom must have gone to the best heaven. But Dad didn’t seem to think so. So tomorrow I’m going to read the fairy tale book to Dad. Then Dad will know Mom went to the best heaven and he’ll be happy too!』
……
『December 2』
『I wanted to go outside and play, but Dad said I shouldn’t. So I held in my cough for a really long time to show him I wasn’t sick, but in the end I couldn’t hold it in and coughed a lot. But bright red blood came out with it. Dad’s face looked really bad, so I was scared.』
……
『February 23』
『I was sick, so I couldn’t write in my diary much. Today a different doctor came, and a different priest of healing came too. I like the priest of healing. He makes light with his hands, and he always talks with a smile like Mom, so I smile too. Dad came in after talking with the two of them outside, and he was smiling brightly too. He smiled and said if I just hang in there a little longer, I can get better. But I know now too. When Mom said she was almost all better, Dad smiled just like he is now. But if I say that, Dad will be sad, so I smiled along with Dad too. Then am I going to heaven like Mom too? It would be nice to see Mom, but what about Dad? What about our poor Dad, who was secretly crying in his room yesterday too? I’m sorry to Mom, but can’t I stay beside Dad just a little longer before I go?』
……
『February 28』
『It hurts. My body hurts so, so much. So tears kept coming out, but I held them in tight so I wouldn’t cry. Dad said when spring comes, we should go flower viewing together like last time. I asked if he meant the place we went with Mom, and Dad said yes. It made me so happy that Dad talked about Mom for the first time in so long! I was so happy I forgot about being sick! So I talked with Dad about Mom a whole lot. Dad talked with me like he was having fun too. So I was even happier!』
……
『March 4』
『The time I spend with the priest of healing has gotten longer. It was fun to look at the light the priest made, but when it ended, it hurt again. I have to get better quickly so we can go flower viewing, so I can’t be sick like this. So I told the priest, and he smiled and told me it would be all right. It was a smile like Dad’s.』
……
『March 10』
『I’m sorry I secretly ate the sweet cookies at night when I was told not to. I’m sorry I said bad things and told Dad I hated him. I’m sorry I didn’t know Mom was very sick and whined at her to play with me. But, Goddess. Goddess of Peace. Goddess of Love. Our Dad is a really kind person. Mom said he is a really amazing and important person. So, Goddess. Even if I go to heaven, please make Dad happy. Please let him not cry sadly every night. Our Dad. Our kind and gentle Dad. Please let him walk around smiling brightly even without me. Goddess.』
……
『March 13』
『Dad, I love you. Dad, I’m sorry. Please don’t cry. Dad.』
* * *
He closed the final page.
And with that, the world sank back into darkness.
The rocking chair that had been creaking held its breath.
Even the light that had flaunted its presence as though this world were its own hid itself behind the darkness and trembled in fear.
This place was the Abyss.
The end of the world, where not a trace of humanity could be found.
And yet even that, compared to the darkness he possessed, the darkness he held in his heart, was nothing more than early evening twilight.
For more than a thousand years already, his life had been hell, and the place where he stood had been no different from the Abyss.
He rose from the stiffened rocking chair.
Kreutzwald did.
The founder of black magic did.
The strongest mage in the history of the Long Continent did.
……The one whose happiness the owner of the diary had so desperately wished for rose to his feet.
Unfortunately, nothing had come to pass as the diary’s owner had wished.
There was no Goddess of Peace, nor any Goddess of Love.
God was dead, and Kreutzwald, who had risen to his feet, was neither smiling brightly nor happy.
For in his pitch-black eyes, there existed only an astonishingly empty space.
Just like the Abyss.
And yet change came quickly.
With the first step he took, a faint smile settled on his lips.
With the second, fine wrinkles appeared here and there.
With the third, he clasped his hands behind his back, and the staff set against the wall flew to him of its own accord and was grasped in his hand.
And thus, in just four steps, what was put on was—
“Heh heh……”
A perfect mask.
The mask of a master who was moderately eccentric, moderately cared for his disciple, and moderately had a goal.
“There is not much left.”
Behind Kreutzwald as he walked away, candlelight flared to life, and only then did the stiffened rocking chair begin to do what it was originally meant to do.
The day this dreadful Abyss.
This terrible hell of his would end.
“Now there truly is not much left.”
* * *
—Gegegegek!
—Gegegegegege!
—Gekgegek!
“Yeah, I know, you Gegegi. I’ll eat you deliciously, so wait just a little.”
Aberrations that looked exactly like snow crabs, commonly known as Gegegi.
Around Kreutzwald’s safe zone, there were four different kinds of aberrations, including the Gegegi.
Gegegi, Reongreongi, Ururi, Pingpingi, and Ttuntuni.
Among them, Reongreongi, Ururi, and Pingpingi were now difficult to find.
Because Hio had wiped them all out with his own hands.
It went without saying, but it had not been an easy task.
A year and several months ago, when he first came here, had he not boldly gone outside the safe zone, only to flee back because he could not even handle a single Pingpingi charging at him?
But after learning the transformation of magic and simultaneous magic manifestation from Kreutzwald, he became capable of defeating one without much difficulty.
After he began controlling and storing the power of the Abyss and mixing it into his magic, at least four at a time became no trouble.
And by now, even if dozens attacked him at once, it had reached the point where there was no problem at all.
“Teordo.”
At Hio’s call, Teordo turned his head and lowered his gaze.
Hio was not short by any means, but the enhanced Teordo’s height had grown to nearly two meters, so it could not be helped.
Teordo, enhanced by replacing death energy with the power of the Abyss.
Because his soul had not been tainted, he had maintained a human form, and little by little, he had naturally changed into the form most suited for destruction, until he became what he was now.
Instead of consuming death energy, he consumed the Abyss, drawing out destructive power several times greater than before. His hardened body would not be destroyed even if he clashed head-on with aberrations. On top of that, the swordsmanship and strength from his human days remained intact, and even if his neck were severed and his entire body destroyed, so long as there was power of the Abyss, he would rise again.
That was the power the enhanced Teordo had gained.
“Today, it’s a crabmeat party.”
Teordo, understanding Hio’s words, nodded.
After hearing from Hio how things had come to be and grasping the situation, it had been Teordo who had taken the lead more than anyone in subjugating the aberrations.
He, too, was striving no less than Hio to reach the continent.
The continent, where they must surely believe Hio was dead. Since he could not even imagine what state Sylvia would be in beyond merely worrying, he wanted to escape this place even a day sooner.
“You have to cut them carefully so the crabmeat doesn’t spill out as much as possible, okay? Especially the body! Don’t just cut through the shell however you like. Got it?”
At Hio’s demand, full of living detail, Teordo stared at him with a sullen expression before giving a rough nod.
Because now, it was no longer the stage where he had to step forward and swing a sword himself.
“You really are reliable.”
Leaving the smiling Hio behind, Teordo turned, and before him appeared a legion with a dreadful air.
Exactly 255 undead.
From Flame Knights stained by the Abyss to corrupted Lightning Spirits.
It was Hio’s very own undead legion, reborn by inserting souls suited to powerful bodies.
Of course, their numbers were not so great as to be called a legion.
However, because they were bodies that had originally been steeped in the Abyss, the strength they gained through enhancement by the Abyss was so great that each and every one possessed enough power to be called a legion on the continent.
The Flame Knights sent abyssal flames surging from their four arms.
The Lightning Spirits spewed streams of abyssal lightning from their pitch-black bodies.
“Now, it’s time for a crabmeat party.”
The moment Hio’s command fell, they scattered in all directions and began displaying, without restraint, the power they had kept pressed down and contained.
At that enormous power and momentum, the earth pulsed and the Abyss churned.
The sounds of collision and explosions rang out from every direction, and the number of Gegegi, dozens strong, visibly began to dwindle.
Hio felt all 255 movements being transmitted to him, and while feeling with his entire body that overwhelming power they created, power no different from his own, he thought.
A city that had originally belonged to mages, but was now swallowed by darkness, stained by the Abyss.
The city of the most dangerous aberrations.
The day he would go to Tetradia, where the Mage’s Tower was located.
“Now there really isn’t much left.”
There truly was not much left.