I chose to block the Nameless King’s thrust with the pipe right there.
"Ghk...!"
The lightning gathered in the Nameless King’s spear-sword ran down the pipe and into my body.
Thanks to that, I got zapped again.
It felt like I was getting every shock I’d ever have to suffer in my entire life all at once today.
"W-Why..."
Marina’s flustered voice came from behind me.
Why, she asks...
"I-I don’t know either...!"
"What...?"
I didn’t know either.
If the goal was to stop Marina, there was no reason to stand here and take it like this instead of dodging.
And if Marina had taken a fatal wound from the Nameless King’s attack, things would have gone in our favor.
So why was I standing here, not dodging, and blocking the Nameless King’s attack like this?
"I-I said I don’t know the reason either...!"
"W-What does that even mean..."
"I just wanted to!"
I just wanted to protect Marina.
I didn’t even know why.
But I didn’t want to see Marina die in front of me.
"I know it’s forced! But I definitely saw it! Your kind side!"
Still, if I had to give a reason, then yeah.
Maybe it was because I’d seen Marina’s kind side.
"I saw you helping that old lady...!"
Marina had helped the old lady, who was basically just an NPC, because if the old woman died, blood would splatter everywhere.
Even after that, she kept grumbling, but she didn’t refuse when I patted her head.
Maybe that was enough for me to think she wasn’t naturally a bad kid.
Maybe that was why I was blocking the Nameless King like this.
"Ghk...!"
The Nameless King’s thrust grew stronger and stronger.
It looked like he meant to pierce straight through me along with the pipe.
"...No, no, no!! You don’t get it! I’m a fake, after all. I’m not human, and I’m not a spirit! You don’t know that loneliness of mine!"
Marina’s voice cracked as if some long-buried feelings were finally spilling out.
I couldn’t see her face behind me because I was blocking the Nameless King’s attack, but I figured it probably wasn’t a pleasant one.
"Ghk...! Fine, maybe I don’t...!"
I don’t know Marina’s loneliness.
I don’t know how lonely she must have been.
Well, I’m not Marina.
"But! I’m no different from you...!"
"What kind of nonsense—"
"I was alone too!"
When I first fell into this world.
No, from the moment I fell into Dark Souls, I was alone.
There was the Fire Keeper in Dark Souls, but back then I didn’t pay her any mind.
I started in both worlds alone.
"You saw my memories, so you should know...! How lonely I was, how much I suffered!"
I didn’t show it.
There was no point in showing it.
I thought it was better to just bury it.
But no.
The reason I was struggling like this now was probably because I didn’t want to lose this connection.
"I was lonely too! I was alone! I was there, not human and not a spirit either!"
It’s true that when I first came to this world, people mistook me for a spirit, but I wasn’t one.
And if you asked whether I was a normal human, I’d honestly say no.
A being whose body regenerates even if it’s cut apart, who won’t die no matter how many times he dies, and who will bring about the world’s destruction if his heart breaks.
How the hell is that human?
"But! Look at me! I met Itsuka-kun! I met the commander! I met everyone else and became happy! I found so many good connections that I’m not lonely anymore!"
"Hieta..."
I shouted while enduring the Nameless King’s increasingly brutal attack.
I was no longer the lonely person I used to be. I had met good connections, and I wasn’t lonely anymore.
"Maybe it’s sophistry! But still! I’m proof of it! You can change too! You can stop being lonely too!"
"Stop it, stop it!! Don’t confuse me any more!!!"
"I won’t stop!!! No matter how many times you deny it, I’ll keep saying it! You can change too, and you can stop being lonely too!"
"Stop it...! Stop it, stop it, stop it!!! Don’t show me hope...!"
Marina sounded like a child throwing a tantrum.
Like a kid who had shut herself in her room because she didn’t want to get hurt anymore.
"Don’t show you hope...? Don’t spout nonsense! Get out of that room already! You want hope more than anyone! You want connections more than anyone! Then—ghk!"
In the end, the Nameless King’s spear-sword pierced my stomach along with the pipe.
And lightning gathered along the blade of the spear-sword.
"Hah, y-...!"
"Hieta!!!"
Maria and Itsuka-kun’s worried voices.
Hearing them, I smiled.
"Fine, then let’s see who dies first...!"
I threw away the pipe, which was already so broken it was practically split in half, and grabbed the Nameless King’s spear-sword with both hands.
Then he stopped gathering lightning and pulled back, trying to wrench the spear-sword free.
But it wouldn’t come out of my stomach.
"Cough! I’m not letting go...!"
!
The more he tried to pull it free, the more strength surged into my grip.
!!
Apparently deciding that pulling the spear-sword out was hopeless, the Nameless King resumed gathering the lightning he had interrupted partway through.
He meant to fry me to death with lightning, then recover the spear-sword afterward.
But the Nameless King had overlooked one thing.
I still had nine Estus left.
"Yeah, come on then...!"
I bit down on an Estus and held on.
Rumble!Crackle-!
One bottle of Estus was consumed.
Crackle-!
Another bottle.
Crackle-!
Another bottle.
The Estus kept draining away, and soon I was down to around six bottles left as I shouted through the pain.
"Ghk! Itsuka-kun! Now!"
"But if I attack now, you—!"
"Don’t worry about me! Hurry...!"
Itsuka-kun hesitated at my words for a moment, then swung [Sandalphon].
The Nameless King saw the slash flying toward him, let go of the spear-sword, and tried to retreat.
Thud!
"Not so fast!"
There was no way I was going to just stand there and watch that happen.
I clenched my grip hard enough to break the Nameless King’s wrist and gave a feral grin.
"You’re dying here with me."
KWA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-BOOM――!!!
With countless slashes flying in, the Estus began to drain even faster.
And when the last Estus was finally gone.
Shhhhhh
The Nameless King met his death.
"D-Dear...!"
"We did it!"
The fog cleared, and the Mother Room regained its original form.
All that was left now was Marina.
"Now, Marina. It’s over—"
"Don’t come any closer!"
Marina went into a fit and slapped my hand away.
"Don’t confuse me anymore! I only need Father... He’s the one who made me, the one who gave me a purpose. It was all Father..."
Electricity began to gather along Marina’s black wires.
"I am, I am!!!"
"Damn it..."
Electricity shot toward me.
I still had some health left, but I wasn’t confident I could endure that attack.
On top of that, the memory error was over now, so I was back in my regular clothes.
I didn’t have any lightning resistance either, so it was obvious I’d take even more damage.
Even so, I didn’t back down.
"Ghk! Marina...!"
"Give up already! Just give up!"
The more I endured the attack, the more electricity Marina unleashed.
The attack was becoming harder and harder to bear, and before I knew it, my legs gave out.
"Oh, crap...!"
And then my body toppled.
"Hieta!"
What caught my eye as I pitched forward was a blue-haired boy.
"Ghk...!"
Itsuka-kun braced himself with [Sandalphon] like a shield and didn’t move an inch in front of me.
"Itsuka-kun! What are you doing...!"
"You’re not backing down, so how could I back down...?"
Electricity seared through Itsuka-kun’s body, and the damage was restored by the commander’s power.
Unlike me, he wasn’t used to pain, and he was just a young boy standing in front to block the attack.
"Ghk, KRAAAAH――!!!"
It was almost a scream.
Even while feeling the pain of being zapped in real time, Itsuka-kun didn’t take a single step back.
But in the end, he was still human.
That meant fatigue existed, and humans got tired.
"Damn it, so it is impossible after all...!"
He said that, but Itsuka-kun’s body was trembling more and more, looking like he was about to collapse any second.
"Kheh!"
And then, in the end, Itsuka-kun broke.
With us unable to withstand the attack, all that remained was to be swallowed by the electricity and wait for death.
The moment the bright light took over my vision and I frowned,
"...Because you’re more precious than anyone else!"
I heard Maria’s voice.
As the blinding light faded and my vision returned to normal, I saw Maria.
"Maria...?"
"Maria, that outfit is..."
But Maria’s clothes looked a little strange.
They were a completely new outfit, different from before.
It was as if the aerial ship called [Fraxinus] had been turned into clothing, and the outfit reminded me of a spirit’s [angel].
"It seems the world hasn’t abandoned me yet."
Maria, having blocked Marina’s attack, murmured that.
*******
Inside [Fraxinus], the retrieval of authority to stop Marina’s plan was in full swing.
"Authority access! Failed!"
"Tch!"
As the failures piled up, Kannazuki clutched his head and searched for a solution.
"...In the worst case, we may have to abandon [Fraxinus]."
It was Reine Murasame, the analyst, who said it.
Abandoning it sounded nice, but in truth it meant they would have to destroy [Fraxinus].
"Vice Commander! A spirit has been detected in Sector 5."
"Damn it!"
To make matters worse, something was happening elsewhere too.
With most of [Fraxinus]’s authority already stolen, they couldn’t even confirm what kind of spirit had appeared.
The crew could only hope that Hieta and Shido succeeded in stopping Marina.
"...What the hell, where am I now?"
What appeared in Sector 5 was none other than Min Gyeong-sik in his Darkwraith state.
Min Gyeong-sik looked around, thinking the situation felt oddly familiar, and spotted something strange.
"...What is that...?"
A group was approaching him.
Because the soul dwelling in Min Gyeong-sik’s body emitted spirit waves, he was judged to be a spirit manifestation, and AST was dispatched.
"Shit...!"
The moment Min Gyeong-sik saw AST coming for him, he started running in a hurry.
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