“… … .”
Oz was lost in thought while looking at the checkerboard. Yes, the result is fixed.
but… … .
“3-3 is a foul.
No one knows what will happen after that. When one ends, does everything end? No, no.
The world doesn’t end that easily. Oz knows that.
Thanatos said.
Even death is not the end.
There is no eternal end to the world.
“Put it back.”
“… … Just move on to the next game. How about this?”
Seeing the unchanging appearance of Oz, Janus naturally laid out the next board.
He took out a large book.
It looked like a magic book, but it didn’t look special.
Janus put the book down and tossed some gold coins over it.
“… … What is this?”
“Pandeering. I don’t know?”
“I know… … Well. yes.”
subtly insignificant
Until I played chess, there was some atmosphere, but now, let alone set the mood, it feels like a break time in school days.
“Well, okay. It’s because it doesn’t seem real. Or what? Do you think that’s enough? You’re going to throw yourself away to win as if you were the unfortunate protagonist?”
phut!
Janus slammed the book and overturned the gold coins.
The gold coins shimmered in the air, reflecting light, and then fell onto the books.
I couldn’t turn everything over at once. Now it’s Oz’s turn.
“Well. Neither side is confident enough to say ‘yes’. Of course I’m hoping for a win. Of course I don’t want to disappear either.”
“then… … .”
“But I mean.”
phut!
Likewise, the gold coin that floated into the air falls down again.
All but one of the coins were overturned, and the remaining one rolled across the book in a gentle curve.
“You asked earlier? Does anyone else know that I am not Oz? yeah i don’t know most don’t know But there are people who know.”
Eventually, the gold coin fell under the book.
I was pushed off the stage.
There are no particularly enforced rules in panchigi. Since it was not a game with a long history in the first place, the rules were diverse.
“And not all the relationships I’ve built have been built entirely on my own. Among them, there was definitely a bond that could be built because it was Oz, the successor of the King of Sorcery.”
The gold coin turned over.
but fell off the stage.
“Do you think it is ambiguous? Do you think it’s indecisive? Wrong. Janus.”
Depending on which rule is applied, the result is inevitably different.
“I am not optimistic. I kept that possibility you mentioned in my head, and decided to stop your bullshit nonetheless.”
The result is fixed.
However, until the blackout is removed, the result cannot be guaranteed.
“The world is not decided only by black and white, heads and tails.”
It is said that there is no definite result of defeat or victory.
“I will not disappear. And I’ll stop you in that state. It doesn’t matter whether you win or lose.”
Even a draw if necessary, even a second best if you can’t pick the best.
he lived like that
Always avoid the worst and choose the lesser evil. I tried to pick a lane at least.
He didn’t want perfect results, just getting better was enough.
“… … yes?”
Janus cleared the plate.
If the opponent doesn’t want to play the game, these actions are meaningless.
“To be honest, I don’t hate you that much.”
Janus knows a lot. I came to know a lot.
I know that the existence in front of me is different from Oz. He knows better than himself how he ended up drifting into this world.
That’s why it was unacceptable.
“Because you are infinitely close to Oz and at the same time different from Oz. I know what Oz did to you. I sympathize with you.”
Moonlight comes through the window and illuminates the two of them.
Janus reaches out.
The moonlight touches that hand, refracts, and spreads out.
Oz knows the refraction of that light.
“Open up——”
start of the key.
“——The mirror on the other side.”
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Kwajik!
Cracks appear in the air as if they were being forced open.
The [Speaker’s Key] that denies the things of this world and at the same time transcends space.
Its power crosses the world.
“I will not force you.”
the world is crumbling
The space breaks like shards of glass and illuminates the beyond.
“But this is the only time I am giving you a chance.”
A place full of loud roars.
A road where black and white intersect.
The light created by the gathering of lights creates a flickering green person.
Below that, the same green light starts counting down.
“Why don’t you check it yourself?”
Yes, how can I forget
“The reality of your anxiety.”
the landscape of the earth.
* * *
Arrieta left the cabin so as not to get in Oz’s way.
She went a little farther from the cabin to avoid overhearing the conversation, and after some distance she said:
“Olivia.”
Instead of her usual soft expression, she had a cold expression.
“Conquer heresy.”
“Yes, saintess.”
she’s not stupid
An oath not to harm?
I haven’t lived a normal life enough to believe a few words like that and lower my guard.
The public’s evaluation of purity?
It’s not funny at all.
She didn’t grow up seeing only clean and beautiful things.
Trials have always come to her, and she has overcome them.
“What is this?”
When Orator frowned at the blade that entered the tip of his throat.
Arrieta said calmly.
“Orator Ragnar, I researched the name. He used to be a cardinal, but he became a heretic, right?”
Orator Ragnar became a believer in the apocalypse theory.
It can also be said to be another side of Ajin, but it is not right to interpret it by looking only at the ending, excluding the cause and process.
Sacred punishment was intended to punish those who would commit a crime worthy of it.
It is foolish to look only at the result of moving for the end.
Religion is also a part of society.
Faith that cannot be incorporated into society only causes trouble to others.
“1 cardinal, 13 high priests, 81 apprentice priests. 282 citizens.”
The number of innocent people killed in a frenzy when Orator Ragnar was stripped of his position as a cardinal in the past.
There was nothing wrong with them.
“You killed a lot.”
I just didn’t agree with Orator’s extreme faith.
“I’m not so naive as to believe someone like that straight away.”
The fate of the saintess is harsh.
Was there no doubt about faith in such a harsh fate?
Have you ever been shaken by what Ethan claims while shedding tears?
can’t it be
“Even if you can’t harm me, your companions can.”
She was able to stand here only after overcoming all of that.
“therefore? You want to kill me.”
“No, not this time. Because we decided to talk.”
“Talk with a knife to your throat? It’s not a funny joke.”
“Then it’s okay to kill time like this.”
“… … .”
Orator sighed at Arrieta’s resolute appearance. It wasn’t just naive.
“… … How do you feel about Janus?”
Orator eventually chose to talk.
It wasn’t originally planned, but I thought it would be fun to do.
“I do not know. He was more normal than I thought.”
“… … Is that so.”
Orator agreed with Arrieta’s words. I couldn’t help but agree.
Janus is by no means a superman. It’s not even a perfect existence.
“Not too long ago, Janus-sama killed the one and only person in the world who understood him.”
“Why?”
“It was to make my dream come true.”
“Did you regret it?”
“… … I pretend not to, but very much.”
It was a blank time until Janus, who finished his plan in ＜Spellage＞, gathered the ‘instigators’.
There were things I was able to see because he was an orator who was with me at that time.
Janus sobbed immediately after returning.
She shuddered and shed tears, unable to speak properly, with her face covered by a mask.
He was obviously regretting it.
Even though he regretted it to the point of sobbing, he did not give up on moving forward.
“I was thinking of him as the vessel of a new god.”
I was fascinated by the madness of sincerely trying to achieve the phenomenon of the apocalypse.
I was clinging to the legs that were moving toward that goal without hesitation.
But I found out.
“It wasn’t.”
he just wanted to
In fact, he wasn’t so fearless and obsessed with madness.
He is an ordinary person who only has power.
Were you disappointed with the look?
“But that made me follow him even more.”
No, despite being an ordinary person, he was assimilated into the image of him trying to usurp the place of a god.
Ordinary people cannot do that.
You can’t cut off your precious things yourself. Moreover, if it is enough to acknowledge their existence.
But Janus did. I cut them out just for the purpose.
It is impossible. And he did the impossible. Through that action, he proved his transcendence.
It’s literally a transfer, a heterogeneity, an anomaly.
“Those who want to protect what is important are strong, but no one can stop those who live for a single dream while abandoning even the most important things!”
Orator shouted in joy despite the fact that the knife was stuck in his throat.
he is a heretic
A fanatic who believes in the apocalypse.
But now it’s different.
The joy that he thought would never happen again came to him again.
A fanaticism greater than the moment when he was engrossed in apocalypse engulfed him.
“Ahh! He is not a challenger!”
Janus is not perfect.
He is a person who makes fun of superhumans with the head and body of an ordinary person.
“You are indeed a usurper!”
Ain has many names of gods. That’s because he’s gone through so many generations.
The person recognized as a vessel challenges God and takes over the position.
That is the unknown divine truth.
But that’s fine now. At least for the orator, it is. He has long since given up interest in the phenomenon.
Janus will not take over the place of God. It will take away the very place of God.
The name ‘Ain’ will no longer exist in the world.
“My faith now has two faces.”
Orator abandoned his old faith and adopted a new one.
He is convinced that only Janus can become a god.
“It seems that the conversation over there has come to an end. What would you like to do?”
Orator, who had been uttering such maddening eloquence, suddenly turned his head and looked toward the cabin.
“… … Let’s go back, Olivia.”
Arrieta felt uneasy.
It wasn’t that my heart was shaken by the words of heresy like Orator.
Arrieta believes in Oz.
I believe that Oz can overcome Janus.
However, there was one uneasiness that could not be hidden.
The existence of Janus that the orator said.
His journey was different from, but similar to, Oz’s.
There was something I felt from the first time I encountered Janus in the federation.
He is the mirror of Oz.
He is walking the opposite path to Oz, but that is why he was able to resemble him.
Such people hate each other.
Because we hate each other, we understand each other better than anyone else.
And that means… … .
‘The two of them will only leave scars on each other the longer they stay together.’
It is said that there is no choice but to know what each other’s yeokrin is.
I was complacent.
It was just a conversation, so I couldn’t move away. Rather, conversation is more dangerous to Oz now.
The means to hurt him were neither powerful magic nor sharp slashes.
It could be a sweet word.
* * *
Arrieta, who hurriedly returned to the cabin, was stunned.
“Oz-sama… … .”
I could feel Oz shaking. I could feel his heart beating wildly. Anxiety and anguish.
In the meantime, I could see him slowly crumbling.
Arrieta doesn’t know. What the hell is Oz afraid of?
“it’s okay.”
She hugged Oz, who had collapsed, and whispered. I did my best to calm Oz.
It is unknown what is drawn in the heterogeneity felt in front.
But I know that Oz suffers just by looking at it.
It’s painful not to see. But there are also painful things to see.
Arrieta covered Oz’s eyes and kept repeating that it was okay.
“Arrieta… … .”
“Yes, Mr. Oz. Here you are.”
The distance where you can feel each other’s heartbeat.
Oz, who had been listening to the regular sound, finally opened his mouth.
“… … I guess I’ll have to go inside.”
Earth’s landscape. door to it.
know. Know.
There’s no guarantee that you’ll be able to come back when you pass through that door.
But at the same time I understood.
The last chance that Janus said is definitely not empty words.
I was afraid.
An unknown fear gripped Oz’s ankles.
But you have to check. If not now, there will be no second chance.
So said Oz.
He spat out weak words toward Arrieta that he would not normally have said.
“Can you join us?”
“Yes, as much as you like.”