Chapter 984 – I Want to Go Home

“Are you okay?”
“Okay.”

It doesn’t look good.
Our regressor, Kitz, was lying in the hospital ward, more seriously injured than I had ever seen.
His body was so badly hollowed out in places that he might have looked like a corpse had it not been for his lively face.

Human representative. A true hero couldn’t let others know that he was hurt this much, so he moved it without people noticing it.

Originally, there wouldn’t have been a need to move it so secretly.

This monstrosity would normally have been restored within seconds.
It was said that he was so injured that it would be difficult to even recover now.

I didn’t even want to make fun of it.
The current kitz is obviously strong, but the fact that this guy was messed up like this means that there is no one among humans who can withstand it.
Even if I or Intangible accompanied us, we would have been hurt together and ended up together.

“What happened?”
“I was just careless this time. If I go again, I can bring purification wine as much as I want.”
“What happened?”

When I asked the same question I asked earlier, Kitz glared at me and sighed.

“…The Dark Continent has become strange.”
“Is it getting weird?”
“Bondi was also a place where people couldn’t live, but now they don’t allow life at all.”

Without even asking what he was talking about, Kitz played the video.
It’s a technology that visualizes memories, and it’s always useful.
And those thoughts disappeared the moment I watched the video.

Typhoon.
A typhoon was blowing across the continent.
The funny thing was that the typhoon was alive.

What looked like that raging wind was actually nothing more than a huge colony of huge insects, claws and spinning.

“What… Is it a blender?”
“It’s similar.”

Katz sighed.
Just looking at the video, the continent is packed with typhoons.
Still, if it was Kitz, it would be able to ignore even a mighty typhoon, right?

Then the typhoon met a very hard-looking metal cliff.
In the next moment, the metal cliff turned to powder and disappeared.

“Wait. Those blades. What happened to the robber?”

Looking at the unusually sharp-looking blades of the insects, I asked, and Kitz sighed again.

“It’s as sharp as a slicing sword.”
“…”

He’s not the type to exaggerate.
I opened and closed my mouth.

“Of course. It didn’t have any special powers such as being unable to regenerate like a cutting sword or cutting through unreasonable beings… But if you look at its sharpness, that’s what it means.”
“Huh…”

Then even Kitz deserves her wounds.
But…

“Wow. There is no answer to the Dark Continent.”

Everyone in the room with me nodded in agreement with what I said.
However, the warrior party was a bit suspicious.

“It’s true that it’s a continent with no answers, but there was no such thing as a typhoon.”
“That’s right. I felt that it was an absurd land even in my memories of the previous playthrough, but it wasn’t to that extent.”

The scholar-type agreed with Kaitsu’s words.

“What happened then? Why did such an anomaly happen?”
“…I felt the aura of the Kaiju.”
“What? A monster king?”

Are you suddenly a monster?
Isn’t there only one monster king in the Dark Continent?

“Has Lenia been released from her seal?”
“If that’s the case, I’d have come out of the Dark Continent long ago.”

The ghastly aura of the king does not just feel, but affects the world.
If he had come out of the continent, the world would have been a mess by now.
You can see its influence just by looking at it when people who saw his main body fainted during the battle for rope in the past.

“I don’t know why, but the ecosystem of immortality was angry. The ecosystem of the Dark Continent changed under the influence of that wrath.”

Probably, traps like that typhoon were created indefinitely using the monsters there as ‘material’.
It is assumed that Rhenia’s purpose is to spread the phenomenon more and more widely and even occupy other continents.

“No. Why Lenia?”

She looks like her temper hair is dirty but that’s just her stress from being locked up for so long.

Any human being would go mad if they were not out of the same area for ten thousand years or more.
Especially since there’s not much entertainment there.
Even so, Rhenia kept her sanity, and she promised and looked forward to meeting me next time.

…Is it because of me?
Is it because I haven’t been looking for her in months?
But then. When I returned the super wizard Heorut’s foolish act, I said it would take a year, and Rhenia said that she had been locked up for a long time, but she didn’t mind waiting a thousand years.

Then why?

“Disasters such as those of typhoons have filled the Dark Continent.”
“…”
“Of course. Even so, that alone didn’t bother me…But…”

Katz hesitated.
Like a child who doesn’t want to be scolded, he looks at me.

“What.”
“…I didn’t say, but… Actually, purification wine is a very rare and precious item… It is protected by the Dark Continent.”
“Ok?”

Being protected by the continent…?

“It is said that purification wine is a kind of object of faith for the monsters of the Dark Continent.”
“…Ah.”

In other words. If you’re trying to bring purifying liquor outside…

“Are the monsters going crazy?”
“All monsters will be aiming for the target with Purifying Wine.”
“Ha…”

So don’t get hurt
Something like a storm of cutting knives has filled the entire continent, and all of them are targeting one person.

It’s like a mental world from which you can’t escape.

“Tell me about that.”
“I thought it would be fine.”

If it was the usual Dark Continent, it would have been fine as Kaitsu boasted himself.

I felt a little stumped.
If Kitz failed, would it be okay with me?
My senses didn’t seem to be of much use this time either.
Even if you assume that you can find out where the purification wine is and go there, all the knives will be directed at you the moment you obtain the purification wine, but what will you do when you return?

Um… Maybe develop a new stealth skill?
But developing new skills will take a long time, and I don’t want to leave Rope-chan alone anymore…

Then Katz said.

“There is a way.”
“What?”
“I’m taking Askatlov with me. I wonder if he has purifying wine. If he disappears, the monsters won’t show any interest.”
“…Oh!”

Do you think so?
If you have to have a purification drink to attack it, then just get rid of it.
If you take Rope-chan to the place where the purification wine is and feed him with the purification wine, the monster’s energy will be purified and he will not be attacked.

But…

“Rope-chan isn’t being attacked by the creatures of the Dark Continent…? You’re saying to spit it out after you eat it and attack it intensively?”
“There is a possibility, yes.”

Since he has never fed purification wine to a monster king in the Dark Continent, Kaitsu is also in a position to not know.

“But think about it. Could there be a big monster that attacked the Kaiju?”

Even if monsters attacked, Lope-chan wouldn’t even snort.

The cutting sword was able to cut Rope-chan because of the combination of several complex powers, which could be called authority, in addition to sharpness, but Rope-chan and Kaiwang were not weak enough to be torn by simple sharp claws.

Rather, the monster will have to run away from him.
Still.

“But…”

Kitsu, who stared at me in hesitation, opened his mouth.

“You seem to regard him as a weak little animal, but look at the reality. He’s not weak enough for you to protect.”
“…Okay.”

Katz nodded his head and said.

“After making enough preparations, let’s set off with me.”
“Hero!!”

Garcinido approached with a face of opposition.
And I was against it too.

“No. You stay.”
“Why? This time I was just careless.”
“No matter how hard you are, you can’t move properly while receiving Rope-chan’s energy.”
“…”

Even if the serious injury this time was due to carelessness, there was no way she could move in good condition as she was exposed to Lope-chan’s mighty energy.

You’ll probably get hurt more than this time.
To be honest, I still don’t know what Rope-chan’s energy is. At least the rest of his strength can’t handle it.

It’s something only I can do.

“Just tell me the location of the purification pot. I’ll do something with my detection ability.”

***

Tweet.

Ah. The sound of birds chirping.
Could it be the bird you saved before?
No.
As the bird tried to approach, it was blocked by a vicious energy.

These are memories of the past.
Askatlov remembered the distant past.

The time when he was sealed in the magic stone forest. When there were still things that could be called real forests there. There was a very smart deer.

Perhaps the bird had a higher intelligence than humans, it understood that Askatlov was sealed away in the forest and tried to contact him.
Although it was a contact, it was not that there was an insidious ulterior motive.

The deer may have been looking for a relative.
He was smarter than a human being, but as a deer, his limits were clear, and he was so smart that he couldn’t get along with his own people and felt lonely.

He found someone to play with as an equal, and that was Askatlov.
The deer, though frightened, had come to attract attention with its birdcalls and to converse with Askatlov’s consciousness.

I’ve never seen it with the naked eye.
If it encounters the main body, the deer will die. We always communicated only through consciousness.

It was fun nonetheless.
It was a pleasant day to have conversations about how beautiful it was today and how the sun was shining in a situation where I couldn’t move.

And one day The deer was naturally eaten by the monster.
It was a miracle in itself that he had survived so far against the unusually powerful monsters in the Magic Stone Forest.
At that time, Askatlov was so constrained that he could not even control the monster.

He had to stare at the deer die and tasted a strange feeling.

Sadness.
Anger.
Despair.

I didn’t admit it at the time. Okay. Askatlov was devastated by the loss of his only friend.
His anger withered all the plants in the Magic Stone Forest, dyed the sky black, and made countless magic stones spring up from the ground.

The animal that ate the deer also became ill and died.

Even the young that the predator brought food to.
Even the humans who lived nearby, who had nothing to do with it. All dead

‘I must not be angry.’

Even if a creature called Kaiwang is angry, it inflicts great damage to the surroundings.

‘I am the king.’

You must have dignity and dignity.
Don’t take life recklessly.

Askatlov has since given up hope of his connection.
As long as he is a Kaiju, it is impossible to have a normal relationship forever.

So what he wanted was a landscape.
The warm sunlight that my friend deer told me about. A babbling brook. Starry night sky. Hot lava. Harsh glacier…

He vowed to one day break the seal and see all of the beautiful nature.

Now you can make that dream come true.
You can leave whenever you want.

But he couldn’t.
If it continues like this, it will cause harm to humans, again. It might be considered dangerous and locked up in a sealed cage.

Night sky. Small river. More than the sun… The food that man brings. A hand was expected.

Don’t be good at it in the first place.
Because I don’t want to be disappointed.

“…Is it.”

Askatlov realized.

I’ve been looking forward to it, and I’ve given up on it.
He knew the warmth.
I was afraid of losing it now.

So he kicked out the one who came to see him.
Because he was afraid of what he would say.
If he says he can’t live with me anymore, he asks me to leave. What should I do…

“Rope.”
“!!”

He had just entered the mansion.
The King’s senses could detect his voice on the first floor, as well as what he was doing and what he was holding.

He had something like a strange whistle in his hand.
Know what
The same item that was hung around Askatlov’s neck the other day.
It is a security buzzer that informs the location when it is separated from Askatlov.
Askatlov saw his expression and had a hunch that he could not be kicked out this time.

What should I do?
The Goewang, who had been looking around in bewilderment, suddenly ran to a certain place.

***

“Rope~?”

I know you’re running around, but what are you doing?
Are you still running away because you don’t want to see me?

But. It’s enough to bring me here and not pay attention to it for a while.

How to soothe
I looked down at the food in my hand.
Could this be enough to soothe Rope-chan…?

Tata Tata.

“Huh?”

A knocking sound coming from far away.
The rope-chan is approaching me.

The corners of my mouth naturally went up at the thought of being able to see my cute pet I hadn’t seen in over a week.

And Lop-chan who appeared in the dark… Had something in his mouth.

“Huh?”

Bedding…?
And the things he was holding in the hands of the darkness sprouting from his body were water and food.
Rope put it down in front of me and said.

“…You must be tired.”
“…”
“Eat… Sleep…”
“…”

I don’t know why it’s all of a sudden…

“Rope Yat!!”

Snap.

I hugged the rope and rubbed my cheeks.
Is there such a wonderful guy!!

“Let go…!”
“No!!”

I hated the rope, but I like it.
I spoke with the rope for a while.

“Rope.”
“…”
“Let’s go to the Dark Continent with me.”
“…!!”

The moment he heard that, Rope’s face was stained with anxiety.

“…Seal… Is it?
“Huh? A seal?”

Come to think of it, I think I’ve said something similar to this before…?

“It’s a seal. There’s no way I can separate you from me.”

The rope rolled his eyes here and there, making a hushed voice.

“I-I… Don’t want to go…”
“Rope. Gotta go.”

So that the rope can live with everyone.

“You know it can’t go on like this, right?”
“…”

The rope was silent for a long time, then nodded his head.

“I get it.”
“Hey, nice!”

I rubbed the rope and his face and fell asleep together.

***

“…”

What is the Dark Continent?
Hugging himself and looking at Zandre’s face, Askatlov felt intense anxiety.

That is Rhenia’s territory.
A place full of monsters that humans cannot live in.
In other words, it is a suitable place for Askatlov to live.

After absorbing the power of death, it is very suitable for throwing away Askatlov’s ferocious aura…

‘No.’

He would have said honestly that if this man was going to abandon him, he would.

No. He would have asked to leave before then.
Still, the anxiety did not go away.

Askatlov looked at the blankets and water he brought earlier, and thought he should do something like this.

Okay.
Goewang didn’t want to be abandoned, so he decided to beg to live with him.