Otherworld TRPG Game Master - Chapter 334



334 – S6. Erased Area of the Ruined City ~The ■■ Sleeping Underneath the Rubble~ -3

What kind of monster is that thing?

The scarab, its body blown apart in every direction, muttered listlessly as it recalled the five seconds of combat that had just transpired.

Immediately after detecting the falling monstrosity.

The scarab had unleashed five illusionary magic attacks on the falling 150-meter giant. The first two were mind-breaking spells, but they missed.

It wasn’t a miscalculation in aiming. It was a whole 150 meters. It would be stranger to *not* hit, and that strange thing had actually occurred. The magic’s trajectory had almost sharply changed direction at a right angle.

At that point, the scarab understood that the monster had an innate power to deflect target designation. Therefore, the next spell it cast was a wide-area attack that couldn’t miss.

『Mental Parasite Implantation』.

A bizarre wave shot out, twisting a portion of the targeted mind into a living worm. This mind-worm then eats away at the target’s psyche, laying eggs and multiplying its numbers.

At the end, if you open the head of the victim turned idiot, you’d find a shrunken brain, its mental activity suppressed, and a gruesome swarm of translucent worms pouring out.

But even that spell didn’t work. Where a human would have vulnerabilities, blind spots, a weakness in their mental defenses, there was absolutely none. Like flawless, smooth metal.

The remaining two spells were almost a tantrum. He’d summoned a giant armored bug and a sharp, venomous insect, aiming to both shock and attack.

These were spells carefully prepared for immediate activation. Their cast time, about a second maybe.

Wooosh──!

But the insects, halfway through their summoning, were deftly nullified by magic, scattering into small butterflies.

It was as if he’d lit the fuse of a pre-prepared stick of dynamite, only to have the inner explosives turned into harmless sugar in that brief moment the fuse burned.

A huge body, and overwhelming illusion magic. Skarabé, recalling the traits of the 『Great Beast』 and some dragon’s form, could only tremble in terror.

The evil dragon that ruled half the world. That being… could not possibly be stuck in this space, defeated by some test subject of Urensto’s, could it? No, impossible.

But this feeling of unease…

Moments after that fleeting thought, physical force struck.

────.

And so, it comes to this. Skarabé, plastered against the ground, thought quietly. He wasn’t dead yet. Death, as a phenomenon, did not occur in this 『Erasure Zone』.

Which meant there was a chance. That white, slimy, writhing monster was talking to the succubus he had brought. It seemed they were planning to descend further into this space.

They didn’t seem to think Skarabé would be alive. Of course. Naturally. He slowly transformed himself into a tiny cockroach. And then his legs scuttled.

There was a narrow crevice, perfect for hiding. He wriggled his antennae, and squeezed into the gap. Here, he’d hide, recover his strength, and wait for his chance.

He was hungry.

The loss of information from the impact manifested as hunger. Skarabé, with insectile compulsion, searched for anything to eat. And then, he found another cockroach, identical to himself.

Strangely, the cockroach didn’t react. It was clearly alive, yet, despite that, it had stopped all movement.

If it wasn’t moving, all the better. Scarab worked its mandibles, gnawing at the cockroach. Cannibalism.

Delicious. The more it ate, the smarter it felt. Was it because lost information was being filled?

Having sated its hunger to a degree, Scarab pondered what to do next. What to do. First, it had to gather the scattered information and restore its body. And then…

Wait.

That’s strange. Where did the cockroach it just ate come from? It had devoured every piece of information that fell into this space, leaving not a single insect.

So, the insects wandering around here…they were spontaneous, after its death. After the giant monster crushed it. That was a little odd.

From noble mtl dot com

With a bad feeling, Scarab turned to look in the direction its corpse had burst and scattered. And it saw. From that spot, a new cockroach was being born.

In that instant, its body froze. Completely, unable to even twitch an antenna.

At the same time, it realized. It was not whole. It was an infinitesimal part of the wizard Scarab. The monster had ripped Scarab’s consciousness into thousands of pieces!

And that consciousness was awakening one by one, in sequence.

It had to return to its original whole. To do so, it had to merge, not devour. Instead of eating them, they should have become one.

But it could no longer move…

*Scritch scritch.*

The newly born cockroach crawled into a convenient gap. And soon, it found the paralyzed one. It must have been hungry. It approached, flexing its jaws.

*Crunch crunch.* Its body was being torn apart.

Scarab let out a silent scream, a closed scream.

No, that couldn’t be! You were devouring yourself! You had to merge, not eat! Realize, hurry!

I am you! You fool, think about why there are random cockroaches here! No, not like this, I can’t die in such a pathetic way──

*Thud.*

So, the 334th scarab died like that.

–

Yuri asked,

“Don’t we need to clean up? If it was the previous Tower Lord, they might have set up a method to revive even from a pancake state.”

-Don’t worry. That’s why I looped it to die on its own.

“The fight ended simpler than I thought.”

-It’s a hallucination mage, how the hell’s he gonna stop a 150-meter-tall body press? To stop that, he’d need to go to the Gold Tower. Or use illusion magic better than me.

It was a good type match-up. That’s how you can summarize the fight just now.

A strong resistance to illusion magic, immense physical power, and even the mechanical algorithms built into a giant robot. Listing those specs makes it like a nightmare for an illusion mage.

Right now, I’m practically a 0.3 Cleaning Golem. Let the Dark Yu or whoever come at me. Armored Colossus Mima will deal with them.

With the nuisance out of the way, all that’s left is the exploration. With Yuri on my head, I sink down. The deeper we go into the *Erasure Zone,* the less light there was, and the atmosphere became viscous, pressing down like the deep sea.

And at some point, it’s as dark as space.

“…There’s nothing material to see here. There’s nothing at all.”

-No, I can see it. It’s full of eerie and gloomy memory information. I’ll make it easier to see.

As I wave my hand, the memory information sparkles like red stars. In this small universe, a crimson galaxy flows, emphasizing the darkness.

I slowly sink deeper, skimming through the memories of the *Erasure Zone*. Fragments of the past.

The scarab I just ripped apart and the voice of the *Lamb* echo.

-To make a person a *Door* and a *Mirror*, they must be free of impurities. A mindless, idiotic state is most fitting. If the *Mirror* gains consciousness, it will reflect what it wants to reflect.

-And after that, you’ll reflect a fragment of the evil god and summon the god of the violet magic tower. A truly brilliant idea.

-So, *Goat,* my disciple, devise a way to break the hearts of these children. They must live, but in a state that is not alive.

And so, they subjected the test subjects to trial after trial. Making them distrust each other, forcing them to taste the extremes of all emotions, until they were exhausted by their emotional turmoil, reduced to burnt-out cinders.

Until they reached a state of forced detachment, unmoved by any pain they might experience.

And from all that torment.

-This week’s ration is a single piece of bread. If you can’t stand the hunger, you may have to eat the thigh flesh of other children. Now, I will open the cages. And provide each of you with a knife.

-Here, I’ll share my bread, so don’t hurt each other. You mustn’t. You absolutely mustn’t hurt each other.

The girl with violet eyes.

-This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t used the 『Golden Key』! Just you, getting away with it, not suffering at all, pretending to be so good?!

-I… didn’t use it! Believe me. And even if I had used it. You mustn’t fall for the wizards’ tricks. Let’s hold on a little longer. Just a little…!

From all malice.

-Urensto, your will is remarkable. But aren’t you starting to tire? The children think of you as a traitor, they find you bothersome. That must be cruel. They tear apart your pure good intentions. So, let’s stop now. If you just shut your mouth, I promise you better treatment.

-Absolutely not. I will, I will… remain human. We’ll all remain human together!

-…You’re holding back the experiment. The children shouldn’t have held out this long. Fine. If you insist on being stubborn. Let’s see if you can still hold out after sharing the pain of all the children at once.

-Pain won’t break me. I will, ugh, aaah…!!

Resisted.

“…Mima. It would be better to release your grip. Your claws are digging into your forepaws. I understand your feelings, but still.”

How could she possess such courage with that small body?

And… why is it different?

She knows Yuna well. That she loves love stories, that she is someone who can be happy to see the happiness of others. But if you asked if she was someone who would give her life for some absolute good, the answer is no.

There are some hints as to her transformation.

Dark Yuna said that she must be erased because she is loved. She wanted to make it so she wouldn’t feel the pain of loss, because she had never gained it. She was protecting Yuna with such extreme aggression.

So, how would the dark Yuna see it— how would Yuna’s goodness appear to her?

Perhaps she’d judge it as self-destructive, malicious information.

Why must one strive so hard to do good? What is the reason to walk a path that no one appreciates? It’s endlessly futile.

Especially in the past, a space brimming with the pain of the Self-Tower. Resistance only amplifies the suffering.

So— was that why it was the first thing she erased with “subtraction”?

“…Mima, down there.”

Deepest within the ‘Erasure Zone,’ at the darkest bottom, there was a star shining brightly. I felt a pulsing goodness emanating from it.

That’s it. That is the star within Yuna’s heart, the one she originally possessed.

I cautiously reached out to cradle it, but paused for a moment. Yuri Lanster, reading my hesitation, asked the question for me. The devil’s mouthpiece.

“Must you return it to her?”

-It was originally hers, after all.

“It was something she had already lost. A long time has passed since then. Would returning it even have any meaning?”

-Whether it has meaning or not, we don’t know.

“The return of goodness could be painful for her. This world is cruel; the wicked live without hesitation, and the good suffer. Do you want to cause her pain?”

-No.

I carefully cradled the shining star. I wrapped it multiple times, with plenty of padding, doing everything possible to ensure its safe delivery, without any damage.

Thanks to Yuri, my thoughts had become clear. I decided to return this to Yuna. The reason is simple.

-I want to give her a greater joy.

“Joy, you say.”

-It’s a matter of high points. There are four possibilities for a story. Whether good is done, and whether there is a happy ending.

Evil acts and unhappy endings are the worst.

Evil acts and happy endings, meaningless.

Good acts and unhappy endings are tragic.

If you act good, and everyone meets a happy ending, that would be ideal.

-Yuna just needs to act good, I’ll somehow make the happy ending part. Then, we can definitely achieve the best performance, right?

“You are correct. Surely, you will do so for me as well, Mima?”

-You can do whatever you want, and I’ll make sure you’re happy. Let’s go up, I need to return the star to her at the top of this tower.

And, I will tell her that the struggle in the prison was not meaningless.

–

KIIIIIIIING──!!

The red orb was preparing to explode. The magic, “The End of the Crimson Moon”, had reached completion, and now only the release of its massive power remained.

Mirror Yuna, fiddling with the brim of her pointed hat, said:

“Why don’t you just give up already. Yuna needs to be by Yuna’s side. I want to tell you that futile resistance is meaningless. I don’t even want to shoot this magic, it’s tiring.”

“……Shut up!”

“What exactly are you fighting for? You, shard of the Evil Dragon. Your master is dead. You’re free. You could just run away by yourself.”

“You don’t understand, you crazy mage. That human…will return.”

Aisha wiped her mouth with her tattered arm. Yes, even if struck by “Subtraction,” the crazy mage would return. And even if he were truly dead and gone.

“……What I received so far, it won’t just disappear, right?”

If you remember, it’s not death. She remembers the time she spent with him. She’s still walking the new path he proposed. She’s actually a life that should have died a long time ago. She was a shard that fell away from a wicked dragon.

Nevertheless, she received a new name and a new life. And it wasn’t even that bad. If you add a spoonful of exaggeration, you could even call it fun.

So, I was planning to fight for every bit of playtime I’d given.

Mirror Yuna tilted her head.

“All you got was, wasn’t it, s*xual harassment.”

Aisha grinned, baring her teeth as she chuckled.

“It’s not s*xual harassment, it’s father-daughter playtime, see.”

“……Having filled the moon with lament and sorrow, let the night sky weep for me. 『Crimson Moon’s End : Descent』.”

Sssshhh──

Red light spread like a wave. The area was silent, but magic surged like a tidal wave. An unavoidable, fatal blow was about to strike. Aisha sensed her death. And then,

Squirm.

The severed tentacle of the mad mage she’d stashed in her pocket wriggled. Aisha’s face lit up.

“Your timing is so disgustingly perfect, I swear…!!”

So, what am I supposed to do. You’re coming out now? Or do you want me to buy more time? Or like, do you need some other contraption?

Squirm, squirm.

“Throw it? You want me to throw it…?! If this hits the ground here, Dad’s gonna die, shit, I don’t know!”

*Thud.*

Driving her left leg deep into the ground.

Drawing a large curve from her limbs, through her waist, shoulders, elbows, to her fingertips, and simultaneously exploding scales from the back of her hand── She throws!

*Whoosh──!*

The piece of the Mima soared across the night sky, rising high. And then.

*FWOOSH──!!*

From that single point, a colossal hand exploded outward.

“……uh.”

Mirror Yuna, with a blank expression, looked up at the sudden shadow. It was the right arm of the 『Great Kaiju』, the one she’d clearly erased with 『Subtraction』, that had appeared out of thin air.

She felt a premonition of what was to come, and crouched down, pressing her pointy hat with both hands as she squeezed her eyes shut.

The 『Great Kaiju』’s arm struck Mirror Yuna without hesitation.

CRACK–!!

“Gghk.”

Thud, THuuuD–! KRaaaSH–!!

Mirror Yuna, with a single, strangled cry, crashed down, tearing up the forest and the ground.

A voice echoes through the night sky.

-Aisha, my daughter, have you been waiting long?

“You did great, my daughter. Your stepmother will give you a praise sticker.”

THOOM–!

And descending from the sky. An aberrant monster clad in full armor, the 『Armored Great Kaiju』… and its pilot, Yuri Ranster.

“……You’re late! Try to be on time once in a while!”

Aisha yelled, barely managing to keep her lips from curving upwards.