Kill Me

“Ahaha, ahahaha, amazing, amazing, amazing! The whole room turned completely black! It looks like a king’s chamber! So pretty!”

Konoha’s eyes could no longer be called sane. At some point, she had even stopped hearing Sukuna’s voice, but that was fine. Sukuna was Konoha’s friend, so surely they would meet again soon—that was what she thought.

“I really liked this sofa too. Next time I’ll brag about it to Karen-chan and the others…”

(Huh? Why am I even here in the first place?)

“Karen-chan? Kisaki-chan? Chidori-chan? Why… why isn’t anyone here?”

Everything around her was deathly silent, and no one answered.

“Hey, everyone? Why? Why aren’t…”

“Konoha.”

A voice called out. Wondering who it was, Konoha looked around, but there was not a single person there. Of course there was not. Konoha had killed them all. If anyone remained, perhaps it was Janikoro.

“Oh, right. I forgot about Janikoro-san. I have to take care of him too.”

“Konoha.”

“…?”

The voice was close. Who was it?

“Huh?”

A leaden sky and the familiar grasslands. It seemed she had entered the dream world again without realizing it.

“Sukuna? Is that you, Sukuna? Hey, Sukuna, come out. Being all alone is lonely.”

Sukuna did not answer. Instead—

“Konoha.”

“…Huh?”

—The girl from her dreams. Konoha’s best friend was standing there.

“Ah… aaah, you’re…”

“Konoha. It’s been a while.”

As always, her face was obscured by something black and could not be seen, but the girl smiled at Konoha.

“Ah, ahaha. I wanted to see you, you know? But why are y—”

Before Konoha could finish speaking, the girl embraced her. The embrace felt somehow warm and nostalgic.

“Uh, um…?”

“Konoha… don’t break.”

“Huh? I…”

“…I’m sorry.”

“Are… you crying?”

The girl was crying.

She hugged Konoha tightly, wrapping her arms around Konoha’s back as though determined never to let her go, and she cried.

“I’m… not broken.”

“Konoha. Don’t let the darkness consume you.”

“What… are you talking about…?”

“Konoha, do you remember what you did?”

“No. But I suddenly got really strong and went wild, and… huh? What happened to me after that?”

“Konoha. You did nothing wrong. None of it was your fault. So please, don’t break.”

“W-What’s wrong? Why are you suddenly… Huh? Why am I… crying…?”

Before she knew it, tears were streaming down Konoha’s cheeks. She remembered. She remembered the utterly horrifying things she had done. She had burned the demons. She had cut off Borghese’s head. She had fought, covered in blood, laughing as she killed.

“Konoha… I’m here.”

“Uuu… aaah… what did I…”

“It’s okay. You did nothing wrong. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“Uuuuuuuuuuaaaaaah… aaaaaah…”

At that moment, Konoha felt as though the darkness in her heart was finally beginning to clear. It seemed to be purified along with her tears. Still holding Konoha in her arms, the girl spoke to the other Konoha standing behind her—Sukuna.

“Sukuna, I’m leaving the rest to you.”

“You’ve made your preparations too, haven’t you? I think you should do whatever you feel you need to do. Sukuna will try her best too.”

“I see… Hehe, we’re not very alike.”

“I’d rather you didn’t say that.”

“The difficult part starts now.”

“You’re the one making it difficult. But I’ll protect her properly and make sure she comes to meet you. I promise.”

“I see. That’s good…”

“See you again. I don’t know when that’ll be, though.”

“I think we’ll meet again sooner than you expect. Really.”

Konoha was still sobbing, but the girl released her embrace and stood.

“See you.”

“W-Wait!! I… you are…!”

The dream ended. Konoha was dragged back into reality. Back into the blood-soaked reality. And to Konoha, who had regained the heart of a normal human being, it was nothing less than hell.

“Huh…? What… is this?”

The world around her was black. Black, black blood, blood, black, blackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblackblack.

Everything she saw was black. And the Japanese sword clenched in her hand revealed the identity of the artist who had painted the entire world that color.

“Did… I do all of this?”

Splash.

She stepped on something wet. It was the blood and flesh of a demon Konoha had killed.

“Ah… aaah… no. I… this… aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”

Konoha’s scream echoed through the silent underground labyrinth.

It was a lake. Perhaps it would be more accurate to call it an underground lake, surrounded by glittering stalactites. Brilliant blue light like the seas of a tropical country reflected across the cavern, giving the place an oddly romantic atmosphere.

‘I’ was on a small island in the middle of that lake. I should have been chained up until just moments ago, but for some reason the chains had been burned completely black. Well, whatever. At least now I was free.

“My head hurts. Ugh… why am I in a place like this?”

I ran my hand through my vivid blue hair and straightened it. Looking around with eyes as brilliantly blue as embedded sapphires, I confirmed that I seemed to be inside some kind of cavern. Where was this?

“My head hurts… and being naked is rather unacceptable. I… am a mage, right?”

I noticed something strange. It felt as though something had been scooped cleanly out of my head. Memories had no physical weight, but even so, my head somehow felt strangely lighter. What was this? Well then, first I should see whether I could say my own name. ‘I’ was—

“I am… who?”

Something was wrong. I could not remember my own name at all. I could not even remember why I had been chained up here. Who was ‘I’? Where was this? Did I not remember even one thing? What had I come here to do? Why was I here?

There was only one obvious answer.

“Because there’s someone I have to meet.”

Only my purpose came naturally from my mouth. For some reason, I remembered that there was a girl I had to meet. Someone I had to meet, someone I had to save, someone I had to help—a frail, fragile, delicate girl. She was probably somewhere nearby. All that information flowed into my mind, so why could I not remember anything about myself?

“I suppose I should start walking.”

I would have preferred not to wander around without clothes, but fortunately, a robe was lying nearby. At this point, it almost felt deliberately arranged.

“Well, it’s better than nothing.”

It was not as though I had forgotten how to use magic. At least that knowledge remained in my head.

“Projection Magic.”

Magic worked by drawing magical energy from underground channels known as ‘spirit veins’ and using it to create matter. It should not violate the law of conservation of mass, at least. Hm? What exactly was the law of conservation of mass?

“There are far too many things I don’t understand. Well, first I should dry myself off.”

I wiped every part of my body with the towel I had created and dried off the water. Then I put the black robe on over myself.

“There. That should do it. Now then, let’s go.”

I had learned that caves generally carried the risk of demonic beasts being present. Had I attended some sort of school? I possessed all kinds of knowledge, yet none of the memories attached to it. I truly had no idea what was going on.

“Still, it’s eerily quiet.”

There were scorched marks here and there, so something had definitely happened. Perhaps a subjugation force had entered?

“Come to think of it, I forgot I could open my status screen.”

“Amazing. A magic capacity like this is far beyond what you’d expect from level sixty-five. And what does ‘Unregistered’ mean? This doesn’t tell me my name at all.”

Her skills were quite powerful as well. It was also strange that someone this strong had no tag color.

“Fifteen years old… huh.”

That was still an age when someone should have been enjoying their youth. Honestly, what were my parents doing? I would very much like to see their faces. Quite literally.

“Ugh, the smell of blood is getting stronger. What is this place? Is there something up ahead?”

Judging from the rooms scattered here and there, this seemed to have once been a residential area, but everything had burned down. Could this have been some underground facility belonging to a country?

Eventually, I arrived before a massive door. The smell apparently came from beyond it.

“I suppose you could call this the Demon King’s chamber? But why don’t I feel any particularly evil presence inside?”

Still, there was no reason not to stay cautious. I could open the door and be sliced apart instantly, ending everything in a bad ending.

I took a deep breath to calm myself. Yet strangely, my heart was not unsettled enough to require it. I felt as though I already knew almost exactly what was beyond this door, and that whatever waited there was the reason I was here. Someone I wanted to meet. Someone I had to meet. Someone I had to save.

Click.

The door opened with a loud creeeeak, and an overwhelming stench of blood poured out from beyond it. I instinctively covered my mouth and forced down the nausea rising from my stomach. My mouth turned sour, but that was hardly important. Because I had seen her.

—A girl sitting blankly in the middle of the room, crying all alone.

“…Beautiful.”

She was such a beautiful girl that the word escaped my lips without thinking. Her hair was silver-white, her eyes gleamed crimson like rubies, and her face still carried the innocence of a young girl. Yet two black horns grew from her head, and a large great sword lay beside her.

The instant I saw her, I was struck by the unmistakable feeling: Ah, this is her. The girl I had been searching for. I quietly approached. The girl seemed to notice me too and looked up with hollow eyes.

Cute. She was incredibly cute. I wondered whether I was successfully maintaining my composure. Had my normally calm, expressionless face twisted into something strange? Did I look like some kind of criminal?

“Who are you?”

The girl asked. I hesitated over what to say.

After all, I had no memories. I did not even know my own name. Yet the girl did not seem to care about hearing the answer. Her hollow eyes filled with overflowing tears, as though none of that mattered anymore.

Before I could say anything, the girl clearly spoke.

“I don’t care who you are. Anyone is fine… please. Kill me.”