Jujutsushi 282.1
BGM: Wuthering Waves - Unwritten In The Stars
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Act 18: Conquering the Bottom Layer
Chapter 282: Head and Right Arm (1)
TL : Cnine
ED/PF :
R1[1-3], R2[4-6]
Part 1
At the bottom of the 『Witch’s Cauldron』, black smoke curling upwards, a skull lay in plain sight. I finally collapsed to the ground.
「Haah… man, I’m wrecked…」
All that was left was bone-deep tiredness. No victory buzz, no heroic glow. Just sweet, sweet relief that the nightmare had finally wrapped up. My whole body gave up at once.
I’d love to just flop down and pass out… But nope. Couldn’t afford to do that when I'm the only idiot still sober.
「Well, hey, at least it’s not as bad as when I took Goma’s drugs and lugged Mei-chan around.」
That one experience still haunted me. Going full berserker, turning Goma into chunky salsa, then dragging Mei-chan on a DIY stretcher all the way to the fairy plaza. Absolute misery. Zero stars. Would not recommend.
And now my teammates were scattered everywhere like dropped laundry. Which meant, surprise surprise, I was on pickup duty again. Better hurry too. If the snow ash wolves smelled all this blood, they’d be showing up like it was an all-you-can-eat buffet.
Seriously, we’d just beaten Yokomichi, a full-on big boss, without losing a single person. Dying here because some random monster fancied a snack would be the dumbest ending imaginable.
「Ugh, ow! Right… I got bitten, didn’t I?」
I tried to stand and immediately regretted every life choice that led to that moment. Yep. The headless centipede nightmare had chomped straight into my left shin.
During the fight, I was too busy screaming internally to notice pain. Now the adrenaline had packed up and gone home.
Fine. Firstly first, time to give myself first aid.
I yanked off my shredded trousers and dumped a potion straight onto the wound. And since that gross tongue of his had given my thigh an unsolicited lick, I washed that too. scrubbing hard enough to erase the sensation.
I followed up by slathering on the ever-reliable Ointment A, then doubled down with a painkiller.
The fangs had bitten deep, right down to the bone, so I splinted the leg and wrapped it tightly in bandages. Better cautious than crippled.
「Oh man, thanks to the past-me for making painkillers. Pain alone can straight-up softlock your character.」
Once the meds kicked in, the pain in my left leg finally backed off. Sure, it was just numbing everything into temporary oblivion, but when you need to move right away, this was what I absolutely needed right now.
I tugged my trousers back on. Completely wrecked, but hey, this was my SchoolTower–buffed school uniform.
Without all the enhancement magic packed into this thing, there was no way I’d have stayed mobile long enough to cook Yokomichi. Honestly, the main reason I could still move with a busted leg was this uniform doing overtime.
「All right… Let's start with Rem.」
Yeah. I’d actually gone through with the teleport and kamikaze plan. So now the big question was whether Rem could bounce back from that, or if I’d just permanently deleted something important.
No way around it. I had to try reviving Rem first. Hard to assess the situation when you don’t even know if your summon was alive, dead, or in some cosmic error state.
Physically and mentally, I was toast. But I still had a plenty amount of magical power. Plenty in the tank to fire off a curse.
「Vessel of mud. Chalice of corpses. Turn filth and resentment into flesh and blood, and let the hollow will drift. Pure soul, fear not. Waver not. Doubt not. Remain simply by my side. You who walk behind your master———— 『Corpse Doll of Resentment』」
It was my very first time using the full chant of 『Corpse Doll of Resentment』. I mean, anyone would try something drastic after suddenly finding themselves transformed into a little girl inside a suit of armour.
Fear weighed heavily on my chest as I began the spell———— Then it hit me. My magical power was being sapped, drained so violently it made my head spin. It was working.
「Please… come back to me, Rem!」
The air shuddered. Before me spread a scene I knew too well. A black, chaotic mire like a living swamp, its surface trembling with malice. My magical power flowed into it, unstoppable, and from the pitch-dark waters a small white figure slowly, painfully emerged.
「... Re~m.」
「YAAAY, YOU'RE BACK!」
Rem appeared before us, bare as the day she was born. Congratulations. A healthy little girl.
I rushed to her side at once and lifted her into my arms.
「Rem, are you okay? Can you remember everything?」
「Mas... Ter… I’m... Okay. I... Remember.」
Her large, innocent eyes blinked in quick surprise before she replied with certainty.
It appeared that her revival had gone perfectly, memories intact and mind clear.
So the core that contains Rem’s soul, her memories, her very self, still rests within me, the one who cast the spell. Just like back when she was nothing more than a mud doll. I’m honestly grateful it didn’t change. Truly grateful.
「Ah… thank goodness. Really…」
I hold her tight, letting the relief sink in. Since gaining a human form and a voice, Rem has become more precious to me than ever. This wasn’t simple attachment anymore. It was love. Losing her here would have been unforgivable.
If Rem were gone, Kyouko and Hayama would mourn her. Kinako and Benwio too, without question. She wasn’t just a companion anymore. She was part of the party. Family, even.
「Anyway, everyone survived. Come on, Rem, help me gather the others.」
「Yes, Master.」
「…But before that, go get changed.」
There was no way I could ask her to help while still stark naked.
Fortunately, the Roirops loaded with luggage had merely been flung off onto a side path and left lying there, rather than vanishing entirely. The supplies were unharmed as well.
After Rem finished changing quickly, I carried Kyouko first, then Hayama and Beniwo, and finally, bracing myself, hauled Kinako, who boasts the largest build in the party, over to Fairy Square.
A normal bear-sized Kinako was far heavier than any human. If Rem hadn’t been able to transform into the Dark Knight, moving him would have been impossible.
「We're safe, at least for now.」
Kyouko had been knocked unconscious by the aftershock of the lightning breath, but her breathing was steady and her pulse normal. She’d be all right.
Hayama, Kinako, and Beniwo were all down together, simply suffering from magic power exhaustion. It was painful, sure, but if they just sleep it off, they’d recover. I know this from experience.
With everyone successfully gathered in Fairy Plaza, I could finally allow myself to rest as well.
「Sorry, Rem. Can you keep watch for a bit? Let me sleep too… just for a while.」
「Good night, master.」
「Good ni~ght.」
===
「———Hearken, my chosen one, Momokawa Kotarō.」
Whoa, already? Didn’t expect a divine phone call this soon. I’m flattered, Ruinhilde-sama.
「The beast of foul and boundless appetite hath grown beyond thy sole dominion———— Yet know this: victory is not wrought by might alone. Child of the spirits, thou hast guided them well.」
「Yes. I survived because of them. Without the spirit beasts and my allies, we wouldn’t have lasted a heartbeat.」
The reality was harsh. With our original forces, we were barely managing the opening act before Yokomichi invoked his 『Re: Monster(Complete Metamorphosis)』. Had it started seriously, the difference in power would have ended us instantly.
「A god standeth alone as a pillar. Yet mankind is a folk who gather, who cleave unto one another. Solitude is not the path of man. Take hands, and walk as one. Thus shalt thou tread both the king’s road and the forbidden way.」
I never imagined Ruinhilde-sama would be the one to speak of bonds and fellowship. Unexpected… And yet, strangely stirring. Perhaps she, too, carries the fire of old heroic tales.
「Though one seek the highest summit, man remaineth man. Unless thou art god, omniscience and omnipotence shall never be thine. Man is both solitary and drawn unto the many. As with the legs that bear the body, lose one and thou shalt fall — yet nay, this counsel exceedeth thy need. Be not led astray. Trust thy chosen path, and walk it.」
「Thank you very much.」
In short, taking either individualism or collectivism too far ends badly. Even if you rise to the peak of power, a human was still a human, not a god.
And yet, this was a magical world where gods grant blessings like special abilities. Beings like the 『Hero』 Sōuma-kun, whose power is overwhelmingly beyond the norm, truly exist.
Differences between people are already vast, but here they widen into chasms. If Sōuma-kun grows even stronger and receives greater divine favour, he might one day wield power that comes frighteningly close to god.
That raises a troubling question. Can he still be called human? If someone who has transcended humanity were to stand at its summit, what kind of people would gather beneath him? — honestly, I had a very bad feeling about it.
「I shall grant thee a new curse.」
「Thank you very much.」
This was the reward for subjugating Yokomichi. Gaining a new spell just for defeating a single enemy really hammers home how absurdly out of scale that opponent was.
「The eyes reflect not truth alone. Within the mirrored pupil abide substance and shadow, falsehood and phantasm alike. Therefore, should one seek to deceive, let the eyes be the beginning————」
Why does that sound like one of those preachy sayings teachers love?
Wait, don’t tell me———— Illusion magic
「Ooh?」
Suddenly, my vision blurred, and the figure of Ruinhilde-sama standing before me began to distort.
Was this the effect of the new illusion magic…? No. That’s not it. It isn’t my vision that was warping.
「I'm... The one who's warping...」
By the time I realised it, it was already too late.
I could feel my body going all squishy, melting straight into the background like I was part of the scenery. Like I’d just been painted on and someone decided to repaint over me. Bye-bye, me.
Th-this was certainly an imaginative way to die, Ruinhilde-sama…