Chapter 589: The One Behind It (2)

For a brief moment, Alon’s eyes widened at the Karma seat that had appeared so suddenly.

KWA-GAGAGAGAK—!

In complete contrast to that, Alon witnessed purple threads pouring down toward the Karma seat, which stood as though walking upon the sky.

Purple threads fired so quickly that even Alon himself could barely perceive them properly.

However—

KKAGAGAGAK—!

The purple threads that had clearly reached right in front of the Karma seat suddenly shot upward into the sky and pierced through an unrelated door instead.

“......”

Deus frowned.

Once more, purple threads shot from his hand.

And that was not all.

─────-!!!!

The threads that had been flung toward the doors once again shot toward the Karma seat.

Continuously.

Without end.

Purple threads covered the world made of stairs.

The colorful doors.

The spiral staircases.

Every staircase going upward and downward, endlessly wandering through them all.

Solely to reach that thing standing in reverse from Alon.

KAGAGAK—! KWA-GAGAGAGAGAK—!

Purple threads continuously shot out while destroying everything, covering the entire world.

As though, if they could not reach it, they would simply continue advancing until they did.

Yet even while the purple threads endlessly overflowed—

[Why are you so quiet?]

The Karma seat spoke to Alon without stopping its laughter.

As though nothing was wrong.

As though Deus’s actions posed no threat whatsoever.

Seeing Deus’s expression grow even harsher at that, Alon spoke.

“...Are you alone?”

[That’s right? Why, were you worried other Karma seats might be here?]

An ordinary question.

However, the grotesquely smiling grin twisted those ordinary words into mockery.

KWAAAAANG—!

Behind the Karma seat, a horrifying explosion erupted.

The sound of Deus’s purple threads colliding against each other.

“Huff— huff—”

Rough breathing could be heard from beside Alon.

Yet even in that situation, the Karma seat ignored Deus completely and looked solely at Alon.

Then, as though it had suddenly thought of something amusing—

[Mm-hm— good.]

It nodded to itself before speaking.

[Say, honestly, you can’t really grasp the situation, can you?]

“...What?”

[Isn’t that right? You probably don’t understand why, in a situation where the Karma seats should all be beating each other senseless, the one in front of you is here instead of fighting another Karma seat—]

Grin.

[And you also don’t understand at all why you can’t feel the presence of any other Karma seats. Since you’ve been checking constantly while walking until now.]

“......”

[So, let’s make a bet. Reach the place where I am.]

The Karma seat flipped over the mask it was holding.

What appeared then was a smiling clown mask.

[If you make it all the way here, I’ll sincerely answer your questions.]

After saying that, the Karma seat turned around.

Along with the sound of footsteps, the inverted Karma seat climbed the inverted staircase.

As though walking up through the sky.

And after reaching a black door—

[Well then, let’s meet in my room.]

—it grinned.

[And if you don’t mind, take a look at my works on the way here too? I put quite a lot of effort into decorating them.]

Then it opened the black door and entered.

“......”

Alon quietly watched the clown—no, the Karma seat disappear before speaking.

“Penia.”

“This isn’t the kind of space where a distortion field can be created.”

At Alon’s call, an answer came immediately, as though she had been waiting.

“...Then have we crossed into another space?”

“I think so. There are no traces here of the space itself being divided through a distortion field like when we faced the Karma seat of War.”

“...Then this truly is another space.”

“Yes. I think that is highly likely.”

Penia, who had begun investigating this place from the moment Deus covered the world of stairs with purple threads, reached that conclusion.

“It seems the space itself is severely twisted.”

At that, Deus, who had been frowning, spoke next.

“I attempted attacks from nearly every direction centered around that Karma seat, but—starting from the middle point, the space itself is twisted... If I were to explain it based on the spread of my mana, then it is likely—”

“The shape of a giant star, right?”

“That is correct.”

Deus nodded at Penia’s words.

As though the excitement that had made him release purple threads the moment the Karma seat appeared had been an act, his face had already returned to its usual expressionless state.

“Even within the star’s shape, the space itself is distorted.”

“...What are the chances the Karma seat is controlling it in real time?”

“That is possible, but it did not seem that way. At the very least, my mana moved according to a fixed pattern.”

At those words, Penia, who had been silent until now, looked at Deus somewhat unexpectedly.

“...Why are you looking at me like that?”

“No, how should I put it... I really thought you were angry...?”

“One of the emotions you must never possess against an opponent stronger than yourself is anger. Anger paralyzes reason and clouds judgment. It only makes the situation even worse.”

Deus spoke calmly.

Only then did Penia once more realize that the being standing before her was the First Sword of Caliban, treated as the asymmetrical military force of the Allied Kingdom of Caliban.

“...Let’s move.”

At Alon’s words that followed, she came back to her senses and began following behind him.

####

As far as Alon could determine, this world they had suddenly been dragged into was not a world created through distortion phenomena as Penia had said, but a place where the space itself truly “existed.”

Meaning it was impossible to escape by twisting the space itself like Penia had done before.

In other words, at this point, the only option available to Alon’s group was to advance.

And what the group saw inside the first door they encountered—

Was a black space containing nothing.

A spotlight shining down like one in an art gallery at its center.

And.

A human standing in the middle of that spotlight.

A human gazing upward toward the ceiling illuminated by the spotlight, praying with both hands clasped together.

“......”

Despite suffering horrific burns and having fluid dripping from the entire body, the man smiled with genuine ecstasy on his half-melted face as he prayed, displayed there like an exhibit.

“...Ugh—”

“......”

Penia’s voice could be heard.

Although she had already seen many corpses, she frowned as though disgusted.

Her reaction might have seemed strange, but Alon understood why she reacted that way after seeing this exhibit.

“...Disgusting.”

Just as Deus said.

This space was disgusting.

“......”

A strange expression appeared on Alon’s face.

Like Penia, Alon had seen many corpses until now.

He had perhaps even witnessed scenes far crueler than this.

Yet as he briefly wondered why this feeling of disgust was so strong—

“...Let’s move on.”

Alon pulled his gaze away from the exhibit and advanced forward.

Penia and Deus followed behind him.

Creeeak—

Alon opened the next door.

What appeared were ascending stairs and, not far ahead, a red door.

And when they opened that red door, what Alon’s group saw was a man and a woman.

The man had both arms severed.

The woman had both legs severed.

Yet both of them smiled while gazing at the spotlight.

“...What awful taste.”

“Could it perhaps be some kind of mental ability?”

That murmur escaped Penia’s mouth, followed by Deus’s words.

“Let’s go.”

Listening to the two of them, Alon calmly spoke and moved onward.

Once again, when they moved forward, they saw stairs and a door.

And after opening yet another door and entering inside, there was once more another person.

The figure, who appeared to be a woman, had died horribly this time as well.

However, her face was filled with ecstasy.

““......””

Alon’s group moved their steps, opened another door, climbed the stairs, and opened another door.

What was there was the same.

Alon’s group walked silently.

...The disgust only continued growing stronger.

No battle occurred.

No mental interference appeared.

All Alon’s group did was move forward, open doors, witness disgusting scenes, and continue advancing.

Yet the exhibits constantly changed.

Sometimes there was one human.

Sometimes two.

Sometimes four.

When they opened the next door, there were two again.

Sometimes dozens.

Sometimes hundreds.

...And sometimes, there were so many humans that Alon’s group could not even count them all.

Standing beneath the spotlight as though they were exhibits.

Every single one smiling.

“......”

“......”

“......”

At some point, Alon’s group stopped speaking.

They merely repeated opening doors and moving forward.

And after repeating that how many times—

“......!”

Penia, who had been frowning as though this entire situation disgusted her, showed a different emotion on her face.

The reason was what appeared before Alon’s group.

“That—!”

“......”

The black door the Karma seat had entered was visible.

“...It seems we have arrived.”

Deus’s voice sank low.

“Were there any abnormalities on the way here?”

“At least from what I could determine, there were none.”

“Same here.”

At Alon’s question, Deus and Penia nodded.

Alon soon gave a short nod himself and walked toward the black door.

And when they opened the black door, what Alon’s group saw was—

A world beneath a crimson sunset.

“......”

The sky was red.

Not blood-red, but red like the setting sun.

And beneath it—

Chains hung from the sky.

And below those chains—

“......”

“......”

People dangled there, hanging by their necks.

Every single one praying with both hands clasped together, their faces still filled with ecstasy.

Dozens?

No.

Hundreds?

No.

Thousands?

No.

Impossible to know.

“......”

An uncountable number of humans hung from chains in the sky.

Clung together upon the ground.

Frozen in poses of crying out toward the heavens.

With their heads buried into the earth.

Dead.

And at the end of those humans—

“......”

There was a temple.

Bathed beneath the crimson sunset.

“......”

Alon’s group silently moved forward.

Passing the corpses.

Passing the humans smiling in ecstasy as they approached the temple.

And there—

[What do you think of my works?]

The Karma seat sat upon a stone throne that must once have shone brilliantly, but had now faded red.

As though it genuinely wished to hear Alon’s group’s impressions.

“Are you curious about that?”

[Of course? Honestly, it’s a little embarrassing to say this, but—there was never anyone who properly appreciated my works. And these are works infused with my very life.]

“......”

[Ah, and if talking about your impressions is difficult, then forget the others. You can just tell me what you thought about the very first exhibit. I made it using the thing I treasure most.]

“The thing you treasure most?”

[Yes.]

It—

No.

[—That was my father.]

The “Karma seat of Salvation.”

Lowered the mask it was holding and murmured those words with a grotesquely twisted smile.

“......”

Only then did Alon finally realize.

The true nature of the disgust he had been feeling.