Suddenly, I find myself in a white space.
“Eh? Where…”
I remember this place.
This is where I met god after being overworked to death in my previous life.
“I’m pretty sure I was sleeping…”
This empty, white space, is enough to scare me.
Could it be that the life I’ve been having on that island was just a dream, and that I’ve been here the whole time after dying…
“Good evening.”
“…!?”
Someone appears in front of me all of a sudden, and I jump back.
I didn’t feel any presence here, and I didn’t see any humanoid figure either.
“Did I surprise you?”
I see a woman with golden hair in a ponytail, fascinating eyes, and a figure that would catch the attention of any man.
She’s wearing white Japanese clothing loosely, and she’s hiding her laugh with her hand while looking at me.
“…Who are you?”
“I see… You can call me Tamamo.”
“Tamamo…”
That’s the name of Luna’s ancestor, that I heard from Wil this morning.
And in my world, she was a beautiful siren who…
“Fufufu, so the me in your world did some interesting things.”
“…”
Did she read my mind?
And…
‘Don’t go carelessly imagining a being that can cross worlds.’
Is what Wil said.
She looked abnormally serious, and if I accept what she said literally, this is happening because I imagined it.
“Don’t be worried. Wilhelmina pulled that power from its roots.”
“…Really?”
“The most I can do is interfere with dreams like this…”
She’s still hiding her mouth, but now she’s pretending to cry.
I can tell it’s not serious, but at the same time, I feel like I have to do something.
“You know Wil?”
“Yes, we knew each other for a long time. And another person you know, Suzaku.”
She said she ‘knew’ her. That means she’s an ancestor of divine beast people who have lost that power, and was alive at that time.
“I heard Wil and Suzaku were trying to kill each other though?”
“That’s just how close they were, you know?”
“…”
“Everyone alive at that time was looking for a place to die.”
Maybe that’s the case for immortal beings like Wil and Suzaku.
But no matter how strong they were, I doubt they were absolutely immortal.
So to seek death by killing each other…
“…So, what do you want?”
I should probably not think about that too deeply.
She has a strange charm. I can’t help but answer her questions, and wonder what she’s thinking.
But my instincts keep telling me that continuing to listen to her is dangerous.
“Can you bring back my power, that Wilhelmina took from me?”
“I refuse.”
“Oh?”
Apparently she didn’t expect me to flatly refuse it. It’s like she never thought a human would say no to her.
Her charm is probably some sort of magic that affects the spirit. I doubt even the king of time can resist her charm.
And I’m sure I’m only able to remain sane thanks to the cheats I got from god.
When she realizes it’s not working, she starts thinking, and then continues talking, with her eyes squinted, and a bewitching smile.
“That black jewel you were given. That is my negative power sealed. And my true power was taken by Wilhelmina.”
“Didn’t I say no?”
“Is that a reason for me to listen?”
She’s not paying attention to what I say at all. She’s completely selfish. And yet, I feel like I need to listen.
“So?”
I prompt her to continue, before I even notice what I’m doing.
“My descendant, Luna, has lost most of her power.”
“…”
“In a matter of days, she will be hit by the magic energy of beings on this island, won’t be able to lead a satisfactory life, and will die.”
“Wha…!?”
Danger.
I keep hearing alarm bells in my mind.
I know. I know. I’m sure it will be a lot of trouble if I keep listening to her.
There’s no intent to her words. I can’t even tell if she’s telling the truth.
And yet, it all feels real to me.
“…What should I do for Luna to live?”
“I told you before. Get that true power back from Wilhelmina.”
When she took Luna’s power, she handed me a black jewel with dark magic energy.
But it didn’t feel like she took anything else.
“…Is that true?”
“Fufufu…”
It doesn’t look like she’s going to answer me. Which means it’s not.
“Wil had no reason to take Luna’s power, did she?”
I purposefully don’t call it Tamamo’s. Even if it was originally hers, it’s Luna’s now.
She just laughs at my resistance, and doesn’t correct me.
“Wilhelmina isn’t happy with the present state of this island.”
“…”
“A really long time ago, the strongest fought to the death. She wants a world with that brutality.”
Sometimes she looks lonely when she thinks about the past.
Suzaku also told me that everyone left Wil behind, and the reason why she was alone, and didn’t make underlings.
I’ve heard a lot since coming to this island. That’s why Tamamo’s words sound true to me.
“My power will be a trigger. Do you understand?”
‘Everything I say sounds real to you, right?’
I understand that Tamamo’s power is very dangerous. She could say this to other races.
‘Other races are coming to destroy you.’
I don’t know how well it works, but if she has the power to make that sound real, she could make the strongest people of their races move out to protect their own.
And what awaits after that, is a war for the preservation of their races…
Suddenly, I hear a loud clicking noise echoing.
“…!?”
I slap myself in the face hard.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t really hurt, but the impact is tremendous.
Enough to take the composure out of Tamamo’s face and make her grimace.
“…Wil might want that, but…”
There’s one thing I learned about her by living on this island.
“She’s not the kind of person to hurt others for no reason.”
‘Well said.’
“…!?”
As if glass is breaking, the white space around me crashes.
I see an ever dark sky, a round moon, and a shadow hovering.
The shadow slowly descends, and a beautiful girl, as if blessed by the moon goddess, touches down on the ground.
She’s not like the usual kid, so for a moment, I wonder if she’s really Wilhelmina. But she looks like what Wilhelmina would look like if she grew.
“Kukuku… It’s been a while Tamamo.”
“Yes, Wilhelmina.”
The two sirens are facing each other. That’s all that’s happening, but I feel an incredible pressure.
I’ve never felt this even on the island, so if this is what it’s like when they’re ‘serious’…
“Too bad. I thought it would be a little longer.”
“It’s useless. He’s a bigger monster than you think.”
“Apparently. He actually broke through my charm. Oh, my confidence…”
She says while pretending to cry again.
It’s a cute gesture, but unlike before, I feel no charm from it.
“Hmph, you can use my name all you want, but you failed, so hand over your power already.”
“All right. Fufu, I haven’t spoken to anyone in a while. It was fun, so I’ll go.”
I don’t understand what they’re talking about, but then, Tamamo’s body turns into golden particles and disappears.
“See you some other time, Arata.”
Is what she says before disappearing completely, and a white ball falls on the ground.
“Hmph, always such a bother, this one.”
Wil picks it up in her adult form, and throws it to me.
I hurry to catch it, and notice that it’s just like the black ball from before.
“Let Luna drink this when you wake up.”
“Ah, yes.”
It’s a little confusing to me how she’s the same old Wil, other than her appearance.
I assume she saw what we were saying earlier. And I don’t think Tamamo was lying.
“Hum…”
“Hn? What?”
“You still want fights to the death and bloodshed?”
I ask, and she looks at the sky.
And after being silent for a while, she responds.
“Yes.”
And a kind of lonely smile forms on her face.
“But no one on this island shares my feelings anymore.”
“…”
That Phoenix, the great spirits, the old ancient dragons, the demon gods, everyone has found things they want to protect. And everyone that wanted to kill each other like idiots is dead.”
“Wil…”
“So it’s fine.”
She says as she floats.
“And… I found another thing to enjoy on this island!”
“…!?”
Darkness swirls around Wil for a moment, and she returns to her usual form.
And then she turns to me with an amused tone, as if making fun of me.
“I’m going to keep humiliating you and enjoying that supreme taste!”
‘Get ready, Arata!’
She laughs loudly, and disappears into darkness.
And once I’m alone…
“No, how do I get out of here?”
This is probably like a dream, so am I going to wake up if I just wait?
With that optimistic thought in mind, I start thinking about what Wil was saying before.
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