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CHAPTER 5 – CONNECTING THE DIFFERENT THREADS
PART 04
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“That’s right! Where’s Lea?”
I looked towards the direction where I last saw Lea. And she was… she was alright! She was swaying on her feet, but she was definitely getting back up again. I made to dash to her, but I realized that there was nothing I could do to help.
But there was something I could still do right here!
“Bahamut!” I cried as I balled my hands into fists and dashed out towards the elephant demon who held his burned face in his hands.
“GUAARGH…!”
At the last moment, Bahamut turned towards me.
And I landed a punch square on his face.
“GEBUU!”
“Shit that hurts!”
His hide was truly tough. The skin on my knuckles had cracked and were bleeding.
But that didn’t matter!
I punched out again with my dominant arm.
An upper cut to his huge chin.
A side punch to the base of his snout.
My hands were bleeding, and I heard the sound of bones breaking, but I didn’t care.
I’ll continue to punch him till I defeat him.
“AAARGGGH!!” I screamed as the shock of my punches travelled up my bloodied and numb arms to my biceps and shoulders.
I was breathing hard, my throat burning.
I was running out of strength, of power, of ideas.
It was the worst feeling.
But I wouldn’t stop punching, as long as I had the will.
The anger of hearing this elephant bastard laughing at the girls’ lives, at the “stories” they were working so hard for…wouldn’t be stopped.
So I drew back my bloody fist one more time.
If I had no more ideas, at least I could still use all my energy to punch-
“Who do you think…you are!!”
“!?”
*BOOM!!*
Suddenly, a blast of wind whirled out of Bahamut and sent me flying.
“——!!!!”
A sick feeling of being suspended settled in my belly, before my weight dragged me to plunge towards the ground. I didn’t know how high up Bahamut had sent me flying, but I knew that I would die should I hit the ground.
“Rekka-san. Do it. Now’s the best chance to belt out that ‘I believe I can fly’ song.”
“Shut up! You’re the one who’s always floating around!” I roared at R as I racked my brain of a way to save myself, but came up with nothing.
Just as the worst image of myself splattered on the ground came to mind, a sudden strong force buffeted me and lifted me up.
“Rekka, are you ok?”
“L-Lea, thanks for saving me…”
“…Don’t speak so soon,” Lea whispered unsteadily as she lowered me to the ground.
I knew what she was getting at.
We turned to see Bahamut’s body swelling up.
Upon closer inspection, I could make out features in that huge mass of meat. Legs, tusks, a nose, a tail, and ears were growing.
“Bahamut is transforming into his true form… The atrocious king of the beasts, known as the ‘perfect creature’, who ravished the Earth,” Lea informed me in a voice laced with fear.
She was right. Satsuki had said that Bahamut’s body was massive enough to cover the entire landscape. That half-human half-demon form was nothing more than a shell.
He had been toying with us all along.
But maybe he was fed up with receiving a beating he hadn’t anticipated… He must have incurred some damage from Tetra’s blood burning his face, as well as my meagre punches.
Just then, two eyeballs popped out of the swelling mass, before swivelling to glare upon us.
“Haah…! Haah…! HAAH…! GEBU! AARGH, my head is swimming.”
Bahamut’s voice sounded strange, as if he was in pain, or caught in a trance.
“AAAH… This form makes me want to go on a rampage so very bad… I want to destroy it all now, all of you, this fake world, the guardians’ village, and everyone on Earth. Ke kya kya kya kya kya!”
“Damn you! This isn’t funny!”
“Gebu kya kya! Whoooaaa, ah… AH. But, it’s such a waste. After my rampage, I won’t be able to enjoy casinos, or basking in luxury, or deceiving humans and casting them into the depths of depression. These amusements you humans have created gave me as much pleasure as destroying the Earth.”
Was that the reason why Bahamut had not gone on a rampage after he’d cheated and sealed Lea away? He hadn’t had a change of heart, nor was he reflecting upon his evil deeds. In fact, he had been enjoying himself…
“And you still want to destroy it all?”
“Bugya ha hha hHa hhaa! You fool! Destroying things is much much much much much much more fun! I’ve been waiting for you humans to become overly full of yourselves, for society to degenerate further, until all of you have fallen into despair, then I’ll destroy eeeeeverything! Don’t you know, destroying something that’s just reached its potential is soooooo satisfying!?”
“So you’re really going to eliminate us all!?” I wanted to shout, but stopped myself.
There was no point in asking. The more I shouted, the more unreasonable and excited Bahamut would get.
No words could stop him now.
Not until he had destroyed everything.
Bahamut had already grown as large as our entire school compound, but he was still expanding like a balloon. If this wasn’t such a dire situation, the sight would have been hilarious.
As we stood helpless, Satsuki and Harissa, with Tetra hobbling between them, hurried to our side.
“Tetra, are you ok?”
“Yes…… Sorry to make everyone worry.”
Tetra seemed weak as she managed a reply, which served to give me a moment’s relief. The girls passed Tetra to me, and I hoisted her onto my back.
“What should we do, Rekka…?”
“……”
Satsuki asked, looking anxious, but I had no reply to offer.
“…All of you should try to escape.”
Lea exclaimed suddenly as she turned her back upon us.
“Hey, stop it, you idiot! Didn’t I tell you not to go at it alone!?”
“Yes, I know, but there is no choice. I am the only one who has a chance of defeating him in that state.”
“But we can all-”
“Time passes much more slowly in this ‘fake world’ compared to reality. Holding him off here for a day means that Earth gets a full hundred days of peace. So go back and search for a way to repair the seal, or a way to destroy this ‘fake world’ with us in it.”
“But that means I won’t be able to rescue you, Lea!”
“Then come up with a better plan to defeat that bastard, right now! We have no time.”
“Grr…!”
I bit my tongue in retaliation to Lea’s retort.
Shit. Come on, shitty brain. Think of a plan!
But no matter how I chided, my mind couldn’t conjure up a feasible plan.
In the meantime, Bahamut had grown to an indescribably monstrous size. Soon, he would tower as high as a mountain. I wondered why he had not moved to attack us. Probably, no, surely because he was looking forward to toying with us more before he did so.
I had hoped that with his growing size, the burn wrought by Tetra’s blood would grow larger as well, but a glance confirmed that the wound had already been buried in masses of flesh, and was no longer visible.
He was slowly starting to resemble his true form, the “perfect creature”.
And we still didn’t have a plan to defeat him.
Damn it!! If only we had more Dark Matter… But we didn’t have the time to return to “Nozomiya” to get more. Also, how much Dark Matter would we need to feed Lea so that she could stand off against the humongous Bahamut? There was no way Tsumiki could make that much.
“…If all humans are like you, the world up there must be a wonderful place.”
Lea turned back and gazed at me, a kind and gentle smile on her face.
“Also, please help me to thank the girl you call Tsumiki. Without her cooking, I would not have had this chance to battle that bastard… Also, you will need my flesh to finish her ‘story’, right? If there is any of me left after the battle, please take as much as you can to her.”
It seemed like she really didn’t expect herself to survive the upcoming battle.
“Do not worry about me, Rekka. That is my wish. Thanks to you, I will fight with hope rather than hatred. I will protect all of you for as long as I can, so please, live on… This is my last wish.”
“Wait—!?”
I reached out to her, but I was unable to stop Lea.
Turning to Bahamut, Lea leapt upwards and started to transform.
“GYAAAAAOOOOOHHH!”
Letting out a roar as she transformed into a giant serpent-like dragon, Lea charged towards Bahamut, her body undulating in waves as she moved.
The sight was magnificent, like a great flooding river. But,
“UGYAAAAAAAAAAAAUUHHHH!”
It was also frightening, this “monster” who was larger than an entire mountain.
I was reminded of how water, gentle as it is, is able to cut through stone if there was enough force behind it. But what was the point of it all?
To put it in simple terms, what was the point of this amazing creature bent on this stupid idea of sacrificing her life like that? Even if she believed it was the right thing to do, it was the worst choice, and it brought me nothing but unhappiness.
Bahamut lifted his huge trunk and swung it down hard on Lea.
The impact caused one of the wings growing out of Lea’s back to snap in half, and soon her white body was stained with dirt and blood. Even so, she continued to charge at Bahamut, as he repeatedly beat her down.
The battle between the “perfect creature” and the “most powerful creature” shook the fake world, and even the white sky wavered from its force.
“Lea!!”
“Rekka! Wait!”
I lowered Tetra to the ground and made to dash towards the dragon, but was stopped by Satsuki.
“Let me go, Satsuki!!”
“No! What do you plan to do?”
“That’s not the point! I can’t just watch while Lea sacrifices herself!”
“That’s the point! If you really want to rescue her, then you need to think!”
Satsuki and I squared off, glaring at each other.
Just then, Harissa let out a cry.
“Rekka-sama! Satsuki-san!”
The ground started to shake violently just as Harissa screamed.
Then, the ground beneath my feet disappeared.