SSS-Class Suicide Hunter

Chapter 311: The Next World (1)

1.

The change in the spire occurred when dawn had just barely touched the edge of the earth.

The earth was dark, and the surroundings were silent.

"Uh."

The Grey Spider, who had stayed up with me through the night, perked up her ears. We were in the midst of darkness, indescribable, but certainly in the midst of silence. Even the sound of moving ears was audible.

"He's calling."

The Grey Spider narrowed her brow and looked towards the spire.

"Yes?"

"Not me… No, he's calling you, Death King."

"Who are you talking about?"

I followed the gaze of the Grey Spider and looked at the tower. The huge iron door was still closed. There was no sign or sound of anyone, whether it was Uburka who went in to suggest surrender or the spiders who decided to surrender, in front of the door.

"I don't see anyone."

"He's already standing in front of the door. Alone."

"...."

"I don't know what you can do. Maybe what you used when you fought me is just a part of your full capability. But the same goes for you. Do you think you have seen all the thousand years that the Magic Tower has?"

"Indeed."

I understood.

I nodded my head and unfolded my crossed legs.

"That's right. It wouldn't be surprising if some spider had skills like [Making the Body Transparent] and [Erasing Presence]."

"Being quick to understand is your strength."

"I'll go check it out. Do you have any message to convey?"

"[Thank you for staying. Thinking of the kids who ran away pisses me off. But let's curse those bastards gathered outside rather than them.]"

"How succinct."

I headed towards the spire.

The first headquarters of the Magic Tower were surrounded by a moat. A bridge as clear as glass connected the castle gate and the outside of the castle gate.

Standing on the bridge, I could see a faint shadow on the glass, like soot.

"Did you call for me?"

Someone was standing right in front of my nose.

Even though, invisible to the eyes.

"...."

The transparent person gazed at me for a while.

"...Don't move your lips, use telepathy."

Finally, she spoke.

"Not too strongly. Just enough for me to hear. We can't have someone eavesdropping on our conversation."

"Sending telepathy to a specific person who's invisible is quite difficult."

"It's difficult, but not impossible, right? Please do it."

I shrugged my shoulders.

"Fine. Even the elders among you would find it hard to eavesdrop on this conversation. Now, please speak comfortably."

But the transparent witch couldn't speak comfortably.

Once again, after a long silence, she spoke.

"...Are you Uburka's father?"

"Ah. That's good."

"...What is?"

"That you asked if I'm Uburka's parent instead of asking if I'm the Death King. It shows that, to you, Uburka is quite an important figure, engraved in some way. You could have called him 'that bastard' or 'pig son' with derogatory terms, but you politely used Uburka's name, referring to me as a parent."

I nodded my head.

"It seems Uburka is doing well in persuasion. Or, has done well. But the fact that instead of sending a formal surrender envoy, you chose to meet me secretly like this… suggests there's a minor trouble. Isn't it?"

"...."

The transparent person fell silent for a moment.

"...We listened to Uburka's story carefully, thoughtfully, and seriously."

"Hm."

"We heard about what kind of being you are. We're late because we were verifying if that story was true or false…"

I tilted my head slightly. There was a sense of tension in the voice of the other person.

As if fearing something close by.

Why is she so tense?

"...We didn't just sit still. We dispatched an investigation team to the Lion World. We followed the route Uburka told us, contacted the Dream Demon Race. Death King, we saw the history you've made as a god."

"Why are you so scared?"

"What?"

"You're trembling right now. You're scared. Is something wrong?"

"What do you mean, 'is something wrong'? Are you seriously asking that?"

For the first time, the transparent person let out a laugh. It wasn't a laugh of amusement, but one of incredulity.

"What are you scared of? Obviously, I'm afraid of you."

"Me?"

"In my dreams, I saw you commanding a thousand elite soldiers in black robes under your command. I saw the Goblin warriors willingly following you and thousands of Asuras. And… I also saw the image of the Constellation Killer under your control."

"...."

"And you're telling me not to be afraid? Of you? You could easily devastate us, the 50th floor, and build your own thousand-year empire if you wanted to."

The transparent person muttered, "This is really crazy."

"...I've imposed a gag order on the investigation team. Most of our kids still don't know what kind of hunter you are."

"In other words, you're the person in charge of the first headquarters. Have you considered surrendering to us?"

"Yes. But there's a condition."

Condition.

"What is it?"

"We are surrendering to you. To the Death King. Only to you."

The voice was very clear in telepathy. Transparent in tone, there was no hesitation or reluctance in that voice of resolution.

"I will never surrender to a ragtag group like the Anti-Magic Alliance."

"...."

"You were the only one who treated our races as true friends. At least, you tried your best to do so. Not just you, but you convinced your companions as well. Yes. I admit it. If it's you, there is [meaning] in our defeat to you. But not them!"

The transparent person was invisible.

However, I could clearly tell that she was pointing over my shoulder, looking in that direction, and grinding her teeth.

"Is there even one innocent person among those who set foot on this 50th floor? Ah. Sometimes there were those less guilty. Such kids willingly joined our Magic Tower. Do you understand? Death King, do you get it? We will never kneel in front of those bastards!"

It was the same thing the Grey Spider had mentioned.

"...."

I thought for a moment and then said.

"So, you mean to say you'll leave the people of the Anti-Magic Alliance empty-handed."

"Yes. They never deserved to gain anything in the first place. It's only because of you they could even get a spoonful. To those bastards, I will not even give the illusion that [we have won]."

The words of the transparent witch were resolute.

"Yes. We haven't lived well either. I admit it. But only Uburka and you, and the warriors of your world have the right to humiliate us! We would kneel to you any time, but not to the others. Never to the others."

"What does Uburka say?"

"He said, [It's a difficult task]. And he recommended talking to his father. The reason I'm here is because of Uburka's advice."

Of course.

That makes sense.

"...Happy endings are always hard, aren't they?"

"What?"

"Protecting something precious to oneself. Whether it's vengeance, pride, or anything else. The world is like this not because there are many people who value nothing more than their lives, but because there are many who have things they value more than their lives."

"What are you saying? ...Is this some kind of riddle? I'm not into that."

"I understand what's precious to you all."

I was mentally prepared.

"So, you don't have to kneel in front of your followers."

There was a brief pause.

As if my words were unbelievable.

"...Really?"

"Yes. Open the door, cross the drawbridge, and go to the Lion World. My children there will guide you well."

"...."

"But. Please cross this drawbridge on foot."

I, too, set a condition.

The invisible person finally laughed. It wasn't a laugh of joy, but one of absurdity.

"Crossing the spire invisibly and teleporting to the Lion World is impossible. If you only want to surrender to me, if you absolutely can't kneel before your followers, then show at least the courtesy and spirit of crossing the drawbridge."

"Surely… there won't be anyone attacking us while we cross the drawbridge, right?"

"I am the Death King."

I said calmly.

"If you know what kind of being I am, you should also know the weight that my name carries. You can trust that promise."

The transparent person was silent.

"...Alright."

But eventually, she agreed. She must have had no choice but to nod.

It's just, really, simply walking across the drawbridge. What's so difficult about that? The spiders working in the first headquarters must have crossed the glass drawbridge countless times.

They would think it's not difficult.

"Then, in an hour."

"Yes. Please come out in an hour."

I bid farewell and returned.

"...."

When I returned, the Grey Spider was staring at me with an expressionless face.

Ignoring her gaze, I casually sat down beside her.

"A weak one. Playing tricks."

"The elder is the chief in charge, but I still need to know how things are being handled."

"So you lied to the tower manager? Saying, '[Even the elder would find it difficult to eavesdrop on this conversation]' when you sent telepathy to both of us at the same time."

That's right.

From the beginning, I let the telepathy flow to both the transparent tower manager and the Grey Spider. Thanks to that, the elder knew the whole story.

"Was the sound quality okay?"

"Yeah, reception was good, you bastard."

"Do I look a bit different to you now?"

The Grey Spider looked up at me.

The look she had when I casually mentioned Uburka's past and now, after hearing the conversation with the transparent witch, was a bit more intense.

The Grey Spider lamented.

"Is it all true?"

I crossed my arms and puffed out my chest.

"Yes. I am the Death King."

"Not that, you bastard."

"A thousand elite soldiers in black robes obeying without hesitation, countless Goblin warriors, thousands of Asuras backing me up. I have two rivals; one commands a thousand elite soldiers in white robes and warriors of 256 colors, and also a scruffy, wild-haired punk, and the other, without such influence, is just an incredibly strong old man, with the original Sword Emperor."

"Not that, you damn dog."

I puffed out my chest even more.

"Of course? The part about turning the immortal brilliance into a sword? Subjugating the blood-red Devil King and making him serve? That fearsome constellation killer, even the [season boss] of this 50th floor, Constellation Killer, is under my command?"

"Ah, not that [trivial] stuff! You're really slick, damn it!"

Unlike the transparent witch who showed fear of the power I held, the Grey Spider dismissed it as [trivial].

"Strong bastards. Bastards who control a mountain of strong bastards… If you live a thousand years, you're bound to see countless [ordinary strong ones]. What do you think is the reason we haven't pinned down all the constellations under the tower? Those fake gods and their higher-ups, those perverts led by Mahos, watching us from the 50th floor while munching popcorn, what do you think is the reason?"

The Grey Spider gritted her teeth.

"The slightly unexpected part is that you took in Constellation Killer, but that's because he wasn't one of those trivial strong ones! The same reason the Sword Emperor was different. But you… you know what I'm talking about."

Hmm.

"Really?" Yes.

"Truly?"

That's right.

"Death King, you are…"

The invisible witch, who had paid more attention to my power, had not fully realized something that the Grey Spider, even from a distance, had accurately understood.

She groaned and asked.

"On the 30th floor, the 40th floor… did you not reign as a god?"

I nodded.

"Yes."

"I can't believe it!"

The Grey Spider shouted out loud.

"That you are such a person, no, that such a person exists! Until now, no one…"

"Yes. You can say that."

I spoke to the spider.

"You can believe that. You can think of me as a liar, assume that the contents confirmed by the first Magic Tower were misunderstood, dismiss it all in one go, forget about it and move on. That's definitely a choice you, Spider~nim, can make."

"...."

"Or, you can choose a completely different option."

The Grey Spider clenched her teeth.

She leaned towards me, but at the same time, she took a step back, ending up in an awkward stance, neither coming closer nor moving away.

I waited.

The Grey Spider, looking alternately at the Magic Tower, the armies surrounding it, and the increasingly bright dawn, muttered like a cornered animal in its death throes.

"...The Dream Demon Race or whatever, they showed them your conquest process in dreams."

"Yes."

"...Show it to me too. Let me see it, and then… no. Anyway, first, show it to me."

I nodded.

"That's something I can do for you."

And so, I did just that.

2.

Dawn was slowly climbing up the sky.

The sound of dawn climbing was the sound of the followers in the tents and makeshift buildings of the Anti-Magic Alliance stretching, the Apostles getting ready, a child crying somewhere, livestock bellowing.

"...Yes."

And it was the sound of a certain magician, who had lived for a thousand years, saying yes.

"...."

The eyes of the Grey Spider were blurry.

It wasn't just because she had just had a long dream with the help of the Dream Demon Race.

"...."

A small murmur.

"...I,"

After a little while, with her face covered, the Grey Spider began to speak.

"I never had the intention of protecting my sisters. I just wanted to find the man who impregnated my mother, kill him, burn his village, destroy the territory of the village, topple the country of the territory, burn the continent of the country… At some point, I found sisters around me."

Her words seemed to flow out not from her flicking tongue, but just from her parted lips.

"I had no sense of responsibility. But I had responsibilities. A bastard who doesn't shoulder responsibilities where they are due, I realized, was like my father, like our godly kin. I decided not to become like them and became a monarch to my people. I established the Magic Tower."

The promised morning.

The iron door of the spire creaked open.

"I never had an aspiration in my life. Not to become like that. Not to resemble him. To kill those bastards… Looking back, I've been living consistently with just that purpose."

The followers of the Anti-Magic Alliance murmured.

The murmurs were of various kinds. "Are they really surrendering?", "Damn it", "Let's see how shameless they are when they come out!", "It's over! It's our victory!" Thousands of people, each expressing their own emotions, surrounded the spire, watching.

"It was the first time. With the Sword Emperor."

From the gap in the opened door, hundreds of spiders walked out.

"Like him. It was the first time in a thousand years that I wanted to be like someone other than myself."

The spiders did not come out carrying a white flag. "What's this?" The murmurs of the diverse crowd began to converge into a singular focus. "There's no white flag." The spiders walked with confident strides and did not bow their heads.

"..."

Straight. They walked out of the iron gate, looking straight ahead.

"Really, what's this?"

As if they had not been defeated.

"It was light."

The voice of the Grey Spider, saying this, was not heavy either.

But that was because there was no longer anything left in it.

"That man seemed like he hated nothing. It wasn't an act. I have the discernment to recognize that much. But that doesn't mean he's particularly good. He wasn't the type desperate to help others. He was just… light. Like the wind."

Anger. Contempt. Malice.

Even the deep-seated hatred that had been firmly in place until I showed her the dream.

"I wondered if it was possible to live like that man."

The people of the Anti-Magic Alliance began to shout. "Kneel!" "Apologize!" Feeling they had been too lenient in witnessing the surrender of the past four headquarters, the followers shouted without hesitation. "Kneel!" That their entire lives were fundamentally wrong, "Kneel!" Not just a few parts, but their entire existence was fundamentally flawed, "Kneel!" The followers attempted to prove this conclusively on this occasion.

"I thought to myself."

"Kneel!"

"That it's impossible. That such a life is impossible, not only for me but for anyone else."

"Kneel!"

"That the Sword Emperor was just a unique exception."

"Kneel!"

"But now, I see."

"Kneel!"

"It wasn't necessarily so."

"Kneel!"

The spiders of the first headquarters began to step onto the drawbridge. Thud. The bridge, clear as glass, did not tremble under the weight of hundreds of footsteps.

The Grey Spider and I were standing at the edge of that drawbridge.

"Even if different from the Sword Emperor. Even if completely opposite. Even if it's heavy. Extremely heavy."

"...."

"A different life was also possible for me."

As we watched, the spiders of the first headquarters confidently crossed the glass bridge.

The closer their confidence came, the hotter the anger spewed by the followers became. "Kneel! Can't you kneel?!" "Those creatures!" Some even tried to throw rotten fruit or trash, fetched from who knows where.

"You don't have to."

I said.

"Thank you. It might be possible."

The Grey Spider lowered her hand from her face.

"I spent over a hundred years thinking of the Sword Emperor as a special exception. I could spend over a thousand years thinking of you as a similar exception."

"...."

"I was not wrong. I lived my best. I did. I did. …But."

As she said this, she was both crying and laughing.

"How utterly embarrassing that would be."

And then.

The Grey Spider slowly knelt down.

"...."

The spiders of the first headquarters, who were crossing the drawbridge, paused.

Not just them. The spiders of the second, third, fourth, and fifth headquarters, who were nervously watching the surrender ceremony, and the followers of the Anti-Magic Alliance who were frenziedly jeering, even the ordinary hunters who had joined in the festival-like scene, shouting and cheering, all stopped.

"I'm sorry."

The Grey Spider knelt towards the followers.

"I apologize. I was wrong."

In place of the hundreds of spiders who refused to kneel, the largest spider, the monarch of all witches, a God Slayer who had never knelt even before gods, with bandages wrapped around her body, pressed her forehead to the ground.

Quietly.

"My thousand years were wrong."

The city fell silent.