Mushoku Tensei — Chapter 140 - Vita — The Conversation

The third time I opened my eyes, it was to an unfamiliar room.

And suddenly, I remembered everything.

Roxy, Sylphiette, Eris.

I love them.

But...

No matter how I look at it, cheating in a dream is still cheating...

"This ability is really something terrible..."

I muttered to myself. A voice answered.

"Heh. Those thoughts came from within you. You harbored them toward those two women long before I arrived."

Before me stood two figures.

No. Two beings.

One was a skeleton. Crowned, its entire body stained with black filth.

The other was a slime.

Or at least, most likely a slime. Something shaped like blue adhesive, seated in a chair. Sitting, anyway, that was how it looked.

"Nice to meet you. I am Nether King Vita."

The slime spoke. Translucent and blue.

So this was the true form of Nether King Vita.

"Nice to meet you. I am Rudeus Greyrat."

"This battle, I have lost."

The slime said it in a completely deadpan voice.

Lost?

So we fought? That dream was the battle? He wanted to trap me inside something like that?

A dream that wasn't even happy, he wanted me lost in it forever?

Or maybe his definition of happiness is just fundamentally broken.

"Your ability," I said. "Is it to make people experience that kind of dream?"

The slime made a sound.

Frustrated. Bitter. Tinged with self-mockery.

"My ability is to predict possible futures from the memories of others, then weave in your desires. It is the supreme illusion."

"Uh... I didn't feel anything supreme about it. I felt that something was wrong more than once while I was inside."

Mm.

Wrong.

The simple fact that Roxy, Sylphiette, and Eris weren't in that world, that alone felt wrong.

Nanahoshi too. Something off about her.

Though, thinking back on that world's setting, it was plausible enough that Nanahoshi could end up that way...

But Aisha. Aisha was genuinely wrong. I can't see her doing something like that.

Wait.

A possible future?

How could that...

While I was still turning it over, Nether King Vita spoke again.

"Heh. If not for that [Lacasus's Bone Ring] on your right hand, you wouldn't have felt a thing. You likely wouldn't have even dreamed of those two women."

"Ah...?"

I raised my right hand and looked at the ring.

Orsted gave it to me.

He anticipated this? He must have.

"Lacasus's Bone Ring — a ring crafted by Death God Lacasus to kill me. It uses the image of whoever the wearer trusts most among the dead to shatter illusions, cuts off the caster's escape, and drives them into a corner. Though if the wearer has no trusted dead, the ring won't activate at all..."

Hm?

Most trusted deceased?

But...

"Did you see my dream?"

"I did."

"But my wives are all alive."

"Which is exactly what I found strange. Why were you able to dream of your wives — and even your own little sister?"

Mm...

This ring.

Orsted came from a previous timeline. This ring probably did too.

Which means...

Maybe in that timeline, it wasn't just Aisha and Eris. Maybe Roxy and Sylphiette also...

Just thinking about it made something cold crawl through me.

I shook my head. I wasn't going to follow that thought any further.

"Anything else you want to say?"

Vita laughed. Like something had just occurred to him.

"This might sound like I'm trying to stir up trouble," he said, "but Ruijerd dreamed of your little sister. I'm sure you know what that means."

"Heh. I don't have any particular thoughts on it."

Vita's laughter died. He spoke again.

"A failure... I thought I could sweep them all up at once this time. The Superd warrior, and you..."

He said it like he was chewing on something bitter. And as he spoke, he began to shrink. As if his power was draining out of him by the second.

At the same time, the skeleton across the room started to crack apart, a dry, brittle series of pops and fractures.

"Vita."

"Mm?"

"I have one last question."

"Ask it. I'm dying anyway."

"Are you an apostle of Hitogami?"

The slime went silent.

Only for a moment.

"Perhaps. I received a great deal of help from that god, and I did follow his instructions. This time was no different — I came to deal with you and the Superd on his behalf."

"What if you'd refused? Would he have punished you?"

"I don't know. I help Hitogami because I want to repay what he did for me. Don't paint him as purely evil, either. He's not a good god, but he has genuinely helped many people. Most of his apostles are only there because they're doing the same thing I am, repaying a debt."

"Repaying a debt..."

"Yes. The reason Hitogami moves against you and your family is simple: you threaten his life. Can you understand that?"

"I can. I'm not a good person myself. I'd kill any number of innocent people to protect myself and my family."

"Right? Everyone is selfish. Even gods."

"Who else is working for Hitogami? Can you tell me?"

"Heh... I wouldn't know. Do your best, Rudeus."

And just like that, Nether King Vita was gone.

➤ Next: Genius, — Face to Face