159 – The inner world
“Huh!”
I swallowed my scream and opened my eyes.
Involuntarily, the hand toward the forehead. The sensation of the bullet passing through his skull is still vivid, but his forehead is intact without a single wound.
What is it? Was I even dreaming?
Looking back, something was strange. If it was a normal bullet, it would have been easily avoided.
I had already cast an evasion spell just in case.
No, you don’t even have to go that far, it’s normal if you sense that the other person is going to kill you the moment they point a gun at me.
There were too many unclear parts to be simply careless.
The strangest of all.
‘I couldn’t see the bullet.’
Obviously I heard a gunshot and even felt a sensation in my forehead.
However, no matter how much he looked back on his memories, there were no bullets flying at him.
The man in sunglasses who shot the gun was obviously wearing a pure white uniform.
In other words, he is also an enforcer just like Catherine. If that’s the case, it’s highly likely that the bullets he shot at me were also magic rather than some kind of normal attack.
After summarizing the situation, he raised his head.
“… Huh?”
The background has changed. A completely different space from the safe I was originally in.
This was a desolate cemetery in a dull darkness.
Could it be that only the soul remains after death? In the midst of looking around, feeling confused at a place so unexpected that such thoughts come to mind.
Someone walking leisurely from the other side.
It was the last sunglasses enforcer I saw in my memory.
“Yeah. It’s an honor to see you in person! I mean, I really wanted to meet you. Phantom thief.”
“…Did your magic bring me here?”
“Similar. To be precise, I brought your soul. The body will still be in the bank, so don’t worry.”
He giggled and proudly waved the pistol in his hand.
“The moment I shoot you with this gun, you are invited into my world. No matter how long you stay here, time outside doesn’t pass. That means the two of you can stay together forever. Don’t you like it?”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t like men.”
“That is a pity.”
While exchanging questions and answers, they glanced at each other and tried to understand their surroundings as much as possible.
I roughly understood it. The question is, what should I do to get out of here?
Actually, the first method that comes to mind is to defeat the opponent who is a magic caster.
I can’t say for sure that this is the correct answer, but even if you threaten to find out how to escape, it seemed essential to subdue the opponent.
Is this a coincidence? The opponent who brings up the same topic as if he had read my heart.
“If you want to get out of here, you know what to do?”
“You mean to knock me down?”
The answer came back with a bright smile as if it was the correct answer.
“Call me Ripper, not you.”
Without even a second to react to the rather bloody name, a spine-tingling change took place.
The gloomy cemetery slowly began to awaken.
There is no more accurate expression than the word that it wakes up even though it is not a living being.
It couldn’t be called a simple flow of magical power, it was something unfamiliar to the senses I felt for the first time in my life.
After that, at some point, looking at the huge scythe in the opponent’s hand, I came to understand why his name was Shinigami and why the world he created was a cemetery.
“I don’t see much of my ability outside, but… All laws are overturned here. Welcome to the world of the dead. Let’s run wild here once again. If possible.”
As soon as he finished his words, the ground in the graveyard cracked open, and swaying translucent arms protruded.
I swallowed my breath and tried to retreat, but the rotting corpses dug out of the graveyard rushed at me.
‘Ugh…!!’
This is just disgusting. I was disgusted with the sudden atmosphere of fear and looked for a way out.
Fortunately, the magic itself was usable. Let’s go upstairs and get a sense of the surrounding terrain while avoiding attacks.
I couldn’t help but fall into despair as I soared high into the sky and held the panoramic view in my eyes.
All spaces at least within the range that can be confirmed by sight were all the same scenery. The cemetery continued to spread endlessly.
Perhaps this world itself consists only of cemeteries. It would be physically impossible to escape.
“How is it? It’s open, so it’s pretty good, right?”
A Reaper who speaks friendly from below, as if mocking me.
I’m not kidding, I felt like I’d get mental illness if I stayed in a place like this for a while.
In the end, there was only one option. You have to fight and defeat the Enforcer who smiles right in front of you.
I tried to avoid head-to-head matches as much as possible in order to make use of my strengths, but running away wasn’t the situation right now.
In that case, there is nothing more to measure, and it is over quickly.
Since this is the enemy’s home ground, it won’t do any good to procrastinate.
As soon as he came down to the ground, he threw 3 cards. The opponent calmly swung the scythe without any sign of nervousness and cut all the cards.
Boom! Puff!!
Explosions fill the graveyard. I thought it would end like this for a moment with considerable firepower, but there was no way it would end this easily.
“Whew. Are you hot?”
Reaper appears casually in the smoke. Looking at the smile that never left my face, I felt as if they were laughing at me, and I was quite upset.
“Then, shall I stop joking around and go properly?”
As soon as he said that, Reaper’s mood changed dramatically. As the mischievous laughter disappeared, the oppressive feeling that oppressed his body choked him.
If you look at this moment alone, you’ve come closer than any enemies you’ve ever met.
A sense of helplessness swept over his body that no matter how hard he tried, he would be defeated.
The figure of the opponent slowly changed.
An ominously fluttering pitch-black robe overlaid on a pure white uniform.
As if wearing a mask, the face visible through the robes was covered in the shape of a pure white skull.
I couldn’t find any human side anymore in him who was transformed into a grim reaper without fail.
It was the same with a voice full of noise.
[Now is the time to harvest your life. Foolish mortal.]
A voice that hits you in the head, like when a goddess speaks.
It felt like proof that he had transcended human limits.
‘Goddess? What should I do now?’
I suddenly remembered the existence of her goddess and asked her for her help, but there was no answer from her.
Why? Even though she usually shows her engrossed appearance, in such a serious situation, why doesn’t the goddess who was more reliable than anyone else even answer now?
I immediately realized the reason. Because she wasn’t there in the first place.
This is the inner world created by the opponent. I was the only one invited there, so the goddess is not here now.
Yes. After all, everything that happened here and now was not real.
It’s like a kind of dream.
[What do you think? Even in a situation where my death is right in front of me, you are so foolish!]
That skeleton gourd that roars is also fake, not real.
The unknown energy that ripples behind his back is just an afterimage of a dream.
As I was hypnotizing myself like that, it seemed that a solution to break through this hopeless situation came to my mind at first glance.
[What a petty mortal. Die now.]
Even the moment when the god of death wields a huge scythe with red eyes shining.
I was engrossed in only the vague thoughts that came to my mind.
And.
“I figured it out.”
Once I figured out the answer, there was no need to hesitate.
I immediately pulled out a card and used magic.
To myself, not to others.
As soon as I made eye contact with the Joker drawn on the card, the hypnotic magic was activated, and my mind was sucked into a deeper fantasy.
[What, what? What have you done!?]
Laughter leaked from the perplexed Reaper’s voice.
Originally, nothing would be as stupid as hypnotizing oneself. Because the real me is defenseless, so it’s no different than asking the other person to hit me.
However, the place where I was was not the real world where the original laws were valid.
The inner world created by the Reaper where everything turns upside down. Since it is a solid space that even the goddess cannot invade, it rather means that there is no need to worry about danger in reality even if I hypnotize it like this.
The color of the world is slowly changing.
The gloomy cemetery is torn down, and buildings rise from the ground in its place.
[Ah, no! Stop!!]
No matter how much I shout like that, nothing changes. Because the subject of this inner space was me, not him.
The moon and starlight were engraved in the dark sky, creating my own world with blue light.
“Hmm. Much better.”
Under the moonlight, London is a suitable stage for a phantom thief.
At some point, even the transformation was released, and she looked down at the executioner, who returned to her original form, and returned her smile.
“Now then, let’s start the second game.”
It was time for a counterattack.