Alright, need to think about this carefully.

As he leapt over mounds of rubble, quickly picking up speed on his way to the thing, Dauma began to formulate a plan of attack.

Yuu was eaten by it, so she must still be inside. However, I need to figure out how it works first.

“Help!”

“Help me!”

A few stray mockingbeasts, who had been disturbed and escaped the temple during all the commotion had sensed his breathing, and were now diving towards him, all eager to be the first one to catch their prey.

“Shut up.”

With a few sword strokes, he cleared the opportunistic beasts, leaving their burning carcasses behind him without stopping or turning back.

Its speed… it was slow, and now looking at it, it’s much faster than before. It seemed to catch everyone off guard when it burst out of the ground as well. There was no time to react for them. Does that mean…

Completely focused on his thoughts, his foot suddenly caught an exposed rock, and he tumbled onto the ground with brutal speed.

I don’t have time for this.

Using his hands to support his fall, he did a quick flip back to his feet before running again.

I suppose getting eaten by it isn’t the best idea to save Yuu. In that case, then I would have to drag her out. But how do I do that?

When he was close enough to it, he applied his brakes and slowed down while aiming the pistol he snatched at the Lost that had attached themselves to its body like suckerfish.

They don’t seem to be interested in me, but as long as I’m near them, I can’t be sure.

“Oh, come on!”

“You’re still here?”

“You can’t be serious!”

He was close enough to be noticed by it again, and despite its attention still being focused on getting rid of the strange annoying things latched onto it, it sent out a few of its arms to stop him.

In response to that action, before he came to a complete stop, he quickly leapt in a different direction away from it and fired a few bullets at the approaching hands, causing it to shout in frustration.

“Slippery!”

“Can’t let it get away!”

“It can’t keep up with these!”

Undeterred by his dodge, it extended more arms and circled them around until they were coming behind him. At the same time, the limbs that had not been hit by any bullets continued on their original path towards him, creating a pincer attack on both sides.

That’s how it wants to play, is it? Fine.

Continuing to fire until he ran out of bullets, he readied his sword and hurriedly pushed his body back down to the uneven ground.

Once his feet touched, and he was low enough, he could make a rapid and massive jump up, and he doubted that the hands would be fast enough to respond to that sudden movement.

Here we go!

“Dauma!”

However, right as he made contact with the ground, he heard a familiar voice, and the unmistakable twangs of a bow following it.

Huh?

“Another one?”

“Why do they keep coming?”

“Get rid of them!”

Its mouths continued to scream in rage as suddenly, multiple arrows of light were fired into the arms surrounding him, the impact forcing their trajectories to change such that they just barely missed him.

As he looked up and saw the angel floating above, he did not smile or celebrate. Instead, he merely nodded and gave a snide remark.

“Took you long enough.”

“…you seem to have horns,” she remarked back as she flew down to his location.

“That’s not important right now. I don’t think your arrows will do the trick for long.”

“What do you—”

Her question was cut off as she also noticed the change. The arrows of light, which were pinning its arms down, were disappearing one by one. After a quick shake off, they were back on their paths, and now heading towards the both of them instead of just him.

Instinctively, they turned and ran backwards, moving a safe distance from its approaching hands before she spoke again.

“How did…”

“They said it’s an angel killer, and I assume this is one of the properties that makes it fulfil its purpose.”

“Tch,” she clicked her tongue, “then that’s the weapon they were talking about, huh? What do you suggest?”

“Yuu is inside,” he replied as he pointed at it, “Claine says she was eaten, so we need to get her out.”

“Yuu? What’s she got to do with this?”

“I wasn’t with her for quite some time so I’m not sure, but since it went to the trouble of getting rid of her that way, I can only assume that there’s something she has that can hurt it.”

“Alright.”

As its arms continued to stretch out towards them, they moved further and further back, jumping from rubble pile to rubble pile, all while he continued to explain the situation to her.

“There’s another problem. Something to do with what it’s doing with its arms right now.”

“What?”

“I’m not sure, but something about their speed and growth is unnatural. It’s almost like… almost like…”

“You can’t get away!”

“Come back here!”

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

“Stop running!”

As Anten took a quick glance backwards, she suddenly noticed something and stopped.

“Dauma, wait!”

Even as its hands were getting threateningly close to them with each wasted second, she did not budge as she pointed at its body. As he turned to look, he noticed it as well.

“Are those…”

“Take that! Take that! Take that!”

It did not seem like their eyes were playing tricks on them. As the thing continued to swipe the clinging Lost off of it with its hands, several of them had extended their fingers until they were shaped like claws, before they pierced through their bodies, instantly killing them.

Very quickly, more and more hands began growing the same attachments, and the Lost began to rapidly disappear as they were all removed, freeing it enough to the point that it could properly move again, this time towards the two of them.

“… that’s it!”

As he watched the development unfold in front of him, Dauma came to the answer that had been eluding him.

“First its speed, then its growth, and now the claws. Why didn’t I realize it? It’s evolving.”

“Evolving?”

“Becoming better, faster, stronger. That’s what it’s been doing with each new attack. It’s learning how to survive.”

Using the mistakes it made that allowed it to experience the pain from the attacks inflicted, and responding by coming up with an improvement to its body that would allow it to overcome that mistake and pain.

That was the main draw of the angel-killing weapon. It was something that could become more powerful than everything if given enough time to learn.

“But wait, if it’s doing that, then doesn’t that mean…”

“… that it’ll learn how to block off any attack and become an impenetrable shield soon. If that happens, I’m not sure if Yuu can do what she can do now.”

“So, we have to rescue her as soon as possible such that she can finish it off.”

“That’s right.”

As they continued to talk while doing their best to dodge its incoming hands, the thing had caught up to them.

Without hesitating, she quickly grabbed his hand and pulled him up, and the two of them were soon flying above it, forcing it to move its hands upwards.

“We need to get closer so I can cut her out of its body.”

“How are we supposed to do that?”

“There.”

He had spotted something familiar. It was the cut that he had given it before he had been smacked away, the one he could sense during the entire fight with his newly learnt ability.

“The damage I gave stayed on it. That means that even though our weapons are weak against it, that doesn’t mean they can’t affect it. If I can push deep enough before it evolves beyond taking damage, I can most likely reach her. In the meantime, you must keep the hands off me.”

“Got it.”

“Then, on my signal, drop me.”

She nodded and carefully reloaded her bow with her one free hand, while he aimed his sword down towards it, ready to strike.

“Go!”

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!”

However, right as she let go and he dropped down, all its mouths let out a disturbingly loud scream in unison as its body throbbed and shook. Something dark had burst out from the top of its body, creating a massive gaping wound.

“What the hell!” he yelled in surprise as he continued to fall, going past the sudden thing that appeared and just missing it as he quickly approached the ground.

“What… is that?” Anten also commented as she saw the floating figure look up at her.

But even before they could see what it was, they had a strong nagging suspicion that they knew its identity.

“Could it be…”

**********************

At the turn of the millennium, a child was born to a shrine keeper.

A weak girl, she was often quiet and reserved, never speaking to anyone but her father as he singlehandedly managed the biggest shrine of the city.

After her mother left, she trusted him the most in the whole world, and trust could be exploited very easily.

From young, she was not only trained to take over the shrine but also to become a proper maiden. Maintaining the grounds, studying until the late hours of the night, and learning traditional practices were all ingrained into her mind, day after day without fail.

She was kept to a strict schedule. There was rest and sleep for her, but no relaxation. She had to be prepared for any visitors who would pay their respects at any time.

Of course, there was no time for idle chitchat, nor was there time for other ‘fun’ activities until she was ready, as her father constantly reminded her. The early days were the best time to be serious about her life, as he put it.

Still, she never objected. She trusted him. She knew he was only looking out for her future.

As she grew older, and the seasons passed, she became even more attached to the shrine. Her father was getting frailer, and with that came more lessons, more studying, and even less time to rest.

In that time, she had also become a household name in various communities, and everyone gossiped about her.

The ‘ice-cold miko’ who would soon be in control of the famous shrine. The ‘no-nonsense pure maiden’ who would not let a single transgression slide in the premises. The ‘darling princess’ of the shrine community.

As more and more people began to talk behind her back, and the rumors grew louder, she was unsure how to respond to any of it.

She knew the proper procedures and how to professionally respond to them, but even as she said it, she felt no emotion from any of her words.

Even still, she never objected. After all, she still trusted him. After everything, she knew he was only looking out for her future.

And that mindset would continue for her even now, nearly a few hundred years later.

… Daddy…

Yuu had completely disappeared below the surface of the fluid, her entire body too weak to move or respond.

It’s a trick… it has to be…

“Why aren’t you doing anything?”

Despite her best efforts to block it out, the voice persisted, echoing in her head repeatedly.

It seemed that whatever or whoever was creating these voices knew that this one was affecting her the most out of all the rest, so they doubled down on using it against her.

“Do not disappoint me!”

Why was she feeling that level of aversion towards ‘his’ voice? Why was she trying to deny ‘his’ presence? Why was she feeling so weak?

“This is for your own good!”

She trusted him, didn’t she?

“…”

“It is only proper for a lady to respond to a question that is asked!”

That was only natural. It was a skill that was not just required for a shrine keeper, but for everyone to communicate. Words were crucial for people to understand one another, be it spoken or written.

So then, why couldn’t she respond to ‘him’?

She wanted to, she knew she had to, but as soon as she opened her mouth, the disgusting unknown fluid poured into it, and nothing came out except for choking and coughing noises.

“… how pathetic. You don’t deserve to live.”

Witnessing this display, her ‘father’ went in for the kill. As she heard it, she despaired and knelt down in a seiza position despite still being suspended in the fluid, bringing her head down to her knees and bowing.

Please forgive me, daddy! I know I did wrong, please don’t be mad!

“…”

But as much as she apologized and pleaded in her mind, she still could not say anything out loud to ‘him’.

“If you don’t know how to be a proper lady, allow me to show you.”

She tilted her head up and froze. In the murky substance, she could see ‘him’ coming towards her.

A spectral-like shape with a faint outline, almost like the strange creatures that Kara had described to her before, the ones that had allowed her to return to the real world.

“All you have to do is to let me.”

Even though there really was nothing to ‘him’ other than just a faded shadow, she still obliged, bringing her head up and welcoming ‘him’ in with a weak but friendly smile and an open-handed gesture.

“W… Wel…”

“With that treasure, I will live forever.”

…wait, what did Daddy say?

Her smile quickly disappeared. Perhaps she had misheard it, but she had remembered something familiar about that statement.

Noticing the change, ‘he’ stopped as well, instinctively knowing something was wrong. After a few moments of silence, ‘he’ tried again, this time using a much firmer tone to speak to her.

“Let me take care of it for you.”

“…y… y…”

Her mind grew weak upon hearing ‘his’ order, and she put on her smile once again.

And yet, she still felt that there was something inherently wrong as ‘he’ swam closer and closer to her.

That… Particle…

She slowly looked down at her chest. The green orb was still on her, despite everything that had happened.

If I’m not wrong… Kara said…

‘He’ wanted it, so why could ‘he’ not have it? The question popped up in her mind among many others, but she could not answer it.

No.

She could not answer it, but she knew the answer all the same.

“… what are you doing?”

‘He’ had stopped again, and this time she could feel a visible change coming from ‘him’. A growing sensation of fear, of panic, continuously exuding out of her ‘father’ without stopping.

And suddenly, as soon as she felt that emotion from ‘him’, she remembered.

It was a gift to the shrine.

She remembered the last time she had felt it.

There was a big party to celebrate, and I was there cleaning up after everyone.

It had been the only time she did.

I was mesmerized by it, and he said…

“With this treasure, my shrine will last forever!”

It was the first time he had ever shown it to her.

I had made up my mind that day.

I threw away my duties. I got rid of my responsibilities. I let go of my dreams. All to do one simple thing.

Pure fear. Whether for her or for himself, that was unclear. Either way, it did not matter to her.

I embraced my choice.

“NOOOOOOOO!!!”

‘He’ let out an inhuman screech as ‘he’ began to move away from her. The other voices were also yelling, creating a cacophony of noise as they attempted to overwhelm her again.

“… you’re not my father.”

But it was too late. She had made that choice again.

They were all getting sucked into the Particle, and her body was gaining a green aura that was only growing stronger and brighter with each one.

“I will never trust you again.”

Holding onto the rapidly pulsating Soul Particle tightly with a determined expression on her face, she glared at the frantically squirming impostor as ‘he’ too began to get sucked inside it.

There were so many more choices she wanted to make. A whole new world she had to explore. New friends she had to trust. And she knew that he was no longer here to stop her.

“I will decide what I want to do with my life from now on.”