Chapter 5 - Everything Within Me (5)
No.
Among the endlessly branching paths of the future, I finally found the only branch that didn't break.
I was alive.
In that future, I wasn't holding the twig.
Instead, I was connected to the twig.
It sounds crazy, but it's true.
Although it looked like I was holding it the same way, we were actually connected.
The connection between a person and a sword.
I had seen something like that before.
My father on the training ground.
The sword my father held in his hand back then.
The sword was connected as if it had become one with his body.
Union (合一).
The unimaginably high realm of swordsmanship.
Just like my father, I too had reached that same realm.
But was it possible?
Even if it was the only way for me to survive...
Then all the illusions scattered like smoke.
"Kuaak!"
The monster before my eyes roared and lunged.
And I was one with the twig.
I saw it.
I can do it.
Breaking through a realm beyond incredibly low odds, I finally completed the Union.
Did I change reality because I knew the future?
Or did the possibilities of reality create the future?
I don't know which came first.
I simply extended the unified twig forward.
It would no longer break.
Because that's what Union is.
Even if it's only for a single moment, that single moment ultimately determines life or death.
The twig pierced into the solar plexus of the charging child.
Naturally.
As if it was destined to be so from the very beginning.
"Cough..."
Dark red blood gushed from the child's mouth.
He thrashed, flailing both arms.
But it was a meaningless struggle.
His strength was already gone.
His swollen body gradually shrank.
His legs gave out, and he slumped down.
The focus left his eyes as he stared blankly into space.
Then, everyone watching fell silent.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Hey! Did you see that?! Did you just see that?!"
The manager belatedly shouted.
"Th-that bastard! That scrawny one stabbed the opponent with a twig! A rotting twig! He killed a half-poison-human with that!"
"No. Isn't something strange? Did he just get lucky? The opponent seemed to run at the stick on its own, didn't it?"
"Are your eyes rotting? The rotten twig pierced into a person's body like an awl! Can't you tell how ridiculous this is just by seeing that?!"
"Well, it was incredible, but... No, I think I remember hearing something in cult education."
One of the minions tilted his head, then clapped his hands.
"That's a swordsmanship technique the Sword King family uses. I don't know what it is, but..."
"Is that so? Anyway, it's amazing. What a splendid talent. It's been a while since I saw something interesting."
"More importantly, the transfer is starting. This is the last one now."
"Oh, finally."
The excited minions shuffled backward, retreating.
Simultaneously, a red aura began to overflow from the dead child's body.
Transfer?
Is this what they call "transfer"?
This, where the condensed red poison seeps into my body...
Then, a droplet of water fell from the ceiling.
Plop.
Red liquid seeped from the floor as well.
Splash.
Was something starting?
I don't know.
But I feel like I know.
Once it starts, it will be a terrible, irreversible thing.
A massive wave that human power cannot resist.
Is that why I can't see illusions or the future?
Because it won't change anyway?
So, if I'm going to do something, I have to do it before that.
For example, a petty revenge.
Regardless of anything else, it seemed I could kill all those minion bastards.
If I utilized this unified twig...
But it was difficult.
My body grew heavier and heavier.
The newly infused poison was consuming my body.
Facing the Poison King family's minions with this body was an act of suicide.
Unless something else changed.
Then an illusion appeared.
A single illusion, one and only future.
In it, all five minions lay dead and sprawled out.
"Ah..."
This was the only future.
Ultimately, I didn't need to change anything.
Just being like this was enough.
Without adding or subtracting anything, simply standing still like this would allow me to kill those bastards.
"Aah!"
"Finally!"
The minions cheered.
"The sacrifice has been chosen!"
"Life-Death Poison! Life-Death Poison bursts from the poison den!"
"The Vice-Cult Leader's words were true! The Life-Death Poison flowing through the leyline descends upon reality!"
"The Poison King's poison! Life-Death Poison!"
"That person returns!"
"The Poison King!"
"Oh, Poison King! Our savior who fought for those not chosen!"
"Let us all recite the doctrine! That person plunged into the leyline to transcend death and purify the world! And after 250 years, they will be resurrected and return to us!"
"Ohh!"
"Oh, Poison King!"
"The Poison King Cult is eternal!"
"Eternal!"
Would that really be the case?
Of course, whether the Poison King Cult would be eternal or not, I didn't know.
I didn't even know what the Poison King Cult was to begin with.
But all of you will die here now.
"That person returns... Hmm? What are you doing?! A sacrifice should lie flat!"
"..."
I moved forward, shaking my head.
Very slowly.
Then the manager's eyes widened, and he stomped his foot.
"Stop! Don't move! That person is about to descend! Don't move from there! No, this bastard?! Do you have to be beaten to come to your senses?!"
The excited manager lunged.
Fast and agile, but somehow clumsy.
Thanks to that, I could perceive reality.
They couldn't kill me.
I didn't know exactly why, but I had already become an important entity to them.
That's why their movements were unnatural.
They had to suppress me, but they couldn't actually kill me.
That's why their movements were awkward.
I calmly extended the twig into that gap.
Slowly but naturally.
As if it was the obvious thing to do, the twig followed the flow and pierced the enemy's neck.
"Gasp..."
Blood gushed from the manager's mouth.
Blood.
Seeing blood was painful.
But this blood was different.
It felt as if my blocked breath suddenly cleared.
"Huh? What was that?"
"What just...?"
"Wh-what are you doing! Everyone, attack! Take him down right now!"
"But we can't kill the sacrifice..."
"Don't kill him, suppress him! If you can't, just pin him down with your body! Is it that hard? The opponent is a slowpoke, poisoned by a hundred-year-old toxin and leyline poison!"
The minions, bickering for a moment, charged simultaneously.
A pincer attack.
It was useless.
In my eyes, they were perceived as separate, scattered masses.
These guys weren't connected at all.
The first minion to charge threw a punch.
Naturally fast and strong.
Much more so than someone like me.
But the enemy's attack only had substance.
All objects have substance.
But a sword is different.
The swordsmanship I learned had various principles besides substance:
Flow, natural order, illusion.
So, let's assume that incoming punch is a sword.
That sword has no flow, no natural order, no illusion.
Therefore, it is ultimately nothing.
Dealing with something that is nothing is not difficult.
I dodged the sword with a slight movement and thrust my finger into the opponent's solar plexus.
Thud.
The opponent's sword was not a sword, but a fist, and my finger was not a finger, but a twig.
But what did it matter?
My finger, stained with the enemy's blood, was already wet.
"Ugh..."
The enemy groaned and collapsed.
"!"
The second minion's movements became even duller.
He lunged with heavy movements.
Heavy as a rock.
But his skin wasn't as tough as rock.
The twig again pierced the enemy's side.
It was only a span long, but that was enough.
After all, the human body dies if pierced by just a span.
"Cough..."
The enemy coughed and hunched over.
The other two who charged after him also coughed up blood and fell to the floor.
There were no screams.
Would it have felt more satisfying if I had heard screams?
Perhaps if I had used more finesse, it might have been possible.
Unfortunately, actively responding in that way was impossible.
Because my body was heavy.
I killed four people in an instant.
But I barely moved from where I was originally standing.
I couldn't move.
And now, I truly couldn't move anything at all.
"Ugh..."
Poison, poison, poison, poison.
My entire body was filled with poison.
Still, I felt better.
It was only killing the enemy's minions, but it still felt better than doing nothing.
Then my body convulsed.
Dizzy and nauseous.
Even though I hadn't eaten anything, it felt like I was going to vomit everything and die.
Then, purple smoke leaked from the bodies of the dead minions.
Hiss!
Were these guys also targets of the transfer?
Again, the leaking poisonous aura began to seep into my body.
"Ugh..."
I wished it wouldn't.
If it were the dead children, that would be one thing, but the poison those minion bastards carried was something I politely declined.
But nothing changed.
I felt more suffocated, and my vision grew blurrier.
Perhaps it was a side effect of different toxicities mixing.
Just then, something covered my body.
Splash!
It was the water droplets falling from the ceiling and the liquid rising from the floor.
Was this also poison?
I couldn't breathe.
No, breathing wasn't the problem; water was forcefully flowing into my nose and mouth.
"Cough, sputter..."
I never expected to drown in a cave.
I struggled desperately to cough up the swallowed water.
I couldn't die like this.
I had to live.
I had to somehow live and fulfill everyone's wishes.
For everyone who died for me.
Even if it meant sacrificing everything I had...
-It's unfair.
Then a voice was heard.
It was chilling.
My blood felt like it was freezing.
Whose voice was this?
-It's futile.
A hollow voice.
The voice was empty.
This was dangerous.
I would become just as empty.
The swallowed poison was no ordinary poison.
I had to resist.
Somehow.
But...
I no longer had the strength to do so.
Even getting this far was close to a miracle.
It was only possible because I could see the future.
But now, I saw nothing more.
I'm sorry, brother.
I'm sorry, sister.
I'm sorry, Tiber.
I guess this is as far as I go.
But I tried my best...