The darkness seemed to go on forever when I looked down from up there, and apparently it does.
The darkness means visibility is bad, and I’m even losing the sense of what’s up and down and left and right.
“Are you all right, Katima?”
“Y-yes, but how long is this gonna go?”
“Hm…”
This is less like we’re skydiving, and more like we jumped into the ocean. Like we can’t see the ending because it never ends.
“What do we do… I think this is some sort of magic.”
Even someone like me, whose sense of fear deserted him, can tell this isn’t good.
It would be one thing if we had a clear enemy, but we have no way to resist or even attack this magic.
“…Arata, it’s no good. Katima’s heard of magic like this.”
“Eh?”
“It’s called prison of darkness, the strongest sealing magic, used by the darkness great spirit on people that did something bad. It’s said that only one person has ever escaped this magic.”
Katima sounds like she’s given up, but from my point of view, the fact that someone’s escaped it means there’s a chance.
“And how did this person escape the prison of darkness?”
“They say that this person already had the power of darkness. And that they broke through by force…”
“I see.”
That’s simple.
If it’s possible to break through it forcibly with the power of darkness, even I can do it.
“Katima, hang on a little tighter so you don’t fall.”
“Eh?”
“I’m going to use all my power.”
I let myself fall into this darkness without any footing, and relax for a moment.
“A-all? That just makes Katima scared…”
“I’m kind of scared too, because I’ve never done it before.”
“…”
Katima looks bewildered, but hangs on to me.
She’s like a frightened child. Darkness really is scary.
I used to be afraid of the dark too. A picture of a balloon casually hanging in your room could look like a killer clown that wanted to kill you, or your body could be frozen and you’d hallucinate like you were being possessed by a ghost…
“All right, let’s do it.”
I say, and Katima holds on tighter.
I’m deciding in my heart to consciously let loose the power I’ve been holding back almost unconsciously when I face living beings.
And then, light begins to shine faintly in my body.
Katima said it’s impossible to use magic in this world of darkness, but apparently she was exaggerating.
“Blow away!!”
I punch with full power, and the white light building in me rips through the darkness like a beam.
“Ah? Ahhhhh!? My prison of darkness was blown away…”
A female voice I don’t recognize echoes.
The darkness is blown away, and I touch down on the ground.
Apparently I was standing on the ground this whole time.
“Katima, we’re here.”
“O-ohh… Ohhhhh?”
“Katima?”
Katima shakes with her eyes spinning.
I feel like I can’t put her down, so I keep holding her and look up. I can see the sun above the precipice.
There are precipices on both sides, so apparently this is actually a crack in the earth.
That said, this crack looks big enough that even a dragon would fit…
“So that’s how it is…”
The precipice is so high up, that we couldn’t see where I’m standing now. It’s probably over a kilometer deep.
“I-is this… Where the darkness great spirit lives…?”
“Ah, Katima. Are you all right now?”
“…Yes. Hum, probably not. In a lot of ways not. But Katima can stand…”
I put her down and she looks around, still looking dizzy.
That’s right, she’s never been here either, so she’s probably curious too.
“Katima’s finally here. In the place of the great spirit that’s said to be the most fearsome among them…”
“Really?”
“Apparently the fire and earth great spirits communicate with alfar like Katima to a certain extent, but the darkness great spirit almost never gets close. That’s why Katima doesn’t know a lot, but is more scared than she is of the other two.”
“Eh…”
That’s a problem. I need to be careful, because Reina warned me about not being able to read the room too.
“All right, then we have to be careful not to upset the great spirit.”
“Yes. Honestly, Katima doesn’t expect anything from Arata, but that mindset is at least important.”
“…Isn’t that pretty mean?”
“It’s not.”
I see…
I guess I’ve lost a lot of trust from Katima based on my behavior so far. But if I lost it, I just have to get it back.
In order to regain my honor, I decide to deal with the darkness great spirit properly once they come out.
“By the way, what do we do now?”
“There’s really no other choice except move forward.”
Says Katima while turning to the west.
The crack in the earth stretches east and west, so we have to pick one or the other, but Katima doesn’t hesitate.
“That way?”
“Probably. There’s spirit power over there.”
“…Yes. There’s a strange feeling that’s different from magic.”
I’ve never met a spirit, but if I sharpen my senses, I can feel a strange power welling up.
And it’s the strongest I’ve felt since I came to this island. It probably really is a great spirit.
“Listen Arata! Katima will say it one more time! Don’t do anything to disrespect the darkness great spirit!”
“It’s all right! I got it!”
“…Katima’s never heard such a confident and scary answer.”
“Isn’t that pretty mean?”
“It’s not.”
Katima’s kind of cold.
Well, I haven’t done anything to the great spirits, and every person of these strongest races I’ve met so far has been surprisingly lenient, so I’m sure it’s fine.
With these optimistic thoughts in mind, Katima and I walk towards where we believe the darkness great spirit is.
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