“If you’re just a mind, you won’t mind dying, will you?”
“Gwahahaha... That’s right... Killing me won’t cause... any problems... for me.” There was a snapping sound as The One’s neck broke, and the dog stopped talking.
“P-President, there may still have been things we could’ve asked him...” Michie said hesitantly, but Lily just glared.
“We’ve learned enough. The origins of mana. The belief of the gods in the Law of Identity. What the imperial family protected all these years. It’s all connected. All that’s left is to figure out what to do with that asteroid.” Lily pointed to the sky, where there was still nothing that could be seen.
”Don’t tell me... we’re all gonna die?” Michie asked uneasily.
○
“I’m not sure it’s ethical, but... we should evacuate. Probably,” Yoshie said calmly, when Lily explained the situation. She was always calm, but it was impressive that she’d kept her cool even in a serious situation like this.
“Evacuate...? To where, exactly?” Yuko asked in a timid voice. She’d gone dead pale.
Everyone else in the command room was panicking. The war situation was getting worse. Marine had sworn to stop the Republic, but their attack wasn’t slowing at all. No, their physical weapons had stopped. But the colorless flames created by the Faceless Power will still raining down on the empire. It was a sign of just how much the Republic people hated the Empire.
“Well, the surface is pretty much done for.” Yoshie said, displaying a simulation of what would happen if the asteroid hit. It showed a huge asteroid smashing through the atmosphere, creating an explosion that sent pieces of the Earth’s crust flying up into the air. The shockwave traveled across the entire Earth, before bursting outward like a volcanic eruption on the other side. It was clear that anything on the Earth’s surface, or several kilometers above it, was done for. And there were barely any people living more than 3 kilometers above the Earth’s surface.
“We don’t have the supplies needed to take anyone to space...” Korone said.
The moon base had been destroyed. The space stations had mostly shut down.
“Hear me out. I’m trying to stay as rational about this as possible. So basically... it would take a long time to explain, but the only person who would really survive would be Keena Soga,” Yoshie said.
“Huh?” Yuko gasped, before falling silent.
Keena leaned toward Yoshie, looking shocked.
“W-Wait... I can’t... What do you mean?”
But Yoshie was calm.
“I told you it would take a long time to explain. First, let’s say that hypothesis I came up with was right. Um... the one about this world being a fiction someone created. If that’s the case, the key is the Law of Identity. And by making sure that the Law of Identity, and the Empress, who can communicate with her and use all these different items survives... we can stop humanity from completely becoming the Faceless Power.”
“But how do we do that? She can’t go alone...” Korone began, but Yoshida cut her off.
“The Swallow’s Cowry Shell is a spaceship and preservation capsule. Her highness can go inside it, enter cold sleep, and then orbit what’s left of the Earth.”
“What...?” Keena couldn’t believe what she was hearing. The followers of Suhara in the command room started to murmur among themselves.
“It’ll buy us about a thousand years, I think,” Yoshie said.
“A thousand years? So what, everybody else is just going to die?” Yuko protested. But Yoshie just nodded calmly.
“I’m telling you that you can’t think of death that way. If my hypothesis is right, there’s a world after death, and you can use the Robe of the Fire Rat to go in and out of it.”
“Huh? Then...” The look on Keena’s face said that she’d figured something out.
“That’s right. Only the Demon King can enter and leave it,” Yoshie said. ”So this is the plan: We take Keena, the Demon King, and then the Jeweled Branch, the Robe of the Fire Rat, and the Dragon’s Neck Jewel up to the old space station. Then she goes into cold sleep, and after the asteroid hits, the Demon King enters the afterlife.”
“What about the rest of us?” Yuko asked.
“All of us, including me, die. Every. Single. One. Of. Us.” Yoshie grinned.
“W-Wait, that’s...”
“Not something you’re comfortable with. Of course. But we don’t have a choice,” Yoshie said.
Everyone fell silent. It was Keena who broke the silence.
“Um, but what does Ackie do after he goes to the afterlife?”
“I don’t know...”
“Huh?”
“I don’t know. Maybe he can take everyone with him and come home. Maybe he can’t do anything. Maybe he can come and go, but everyone else has to stay there.” Yoshie shook her head.
“B-But that’s so irresponsible...” Yuko said
“I mean, from an emotional standpoint, I’m against it too... But it’s the only way,” Yoshie said with a shrug.
○
Throw a punch. Get hit with a punch. Recover. How many times had both of them repeated that process?
Both Akuto and Marine were covered in wounds they hadn’t had time to heal, and were inflicting yet more wounds on each other’s bodies. Each strike from one of them was enough to easily shatter rock, but the two of them had each taken dozens of hits.
“What good is your pride if you can’t stop the war?”
“It’s better than refusing to stop the war because you’re mad about a girl!”
“You won’t gain anything from winning this fight!”
“That’s better than just looking for something to take your anger out on!”
Still, the speed at which the two of them were throwing their punches had begun to decrease. They would throw a punch, then rest for a moment, taking huge panting breaths.
“You’re almost out of stamina... aren’t you?”
“What about you? You look like you can barely stand. I guess you should’ve trained harder, huh?”
Akuto and Marine spat insults at each other, and then both punched each other in the stomach.
“Still... it’s so strange that we’d be fighting each other when we might all be about to die,” Marine said.
“People once said that if a threat ever came from outer space, humanity would band together to fight it,” Akuto said with a sarcastic smile.
“I guess that was wrong, then.”
“There was also a story about a sage... or a man who ruled his country like a dictator... who brought the world together.”
“That was a lie too.”
“It’s a shame... but I guess it doesn’t matter.”
“Agreed. By the way, you’re about at your limit, aren’t you?” Marine said, breathing heavily.
“I’ve still got a lot of strength,” Akuto said, between panting breaths.
“Liar.”
“...Alright, let’s finish this. Let’s see which is stronger: stubborn pride for one’s country, or misplaced anger over a girl’s death,” Akuto said, and Marine smiled with bloody lips.
“Yeah.”
The two of them raised their fists. The air around them began to roar. Two whirlwinds sprung up, collided, and became tornadoes. At the center, the two of their fists had collided. Sprays of blood and bits of shattered bone and flesh were caught up in the whirlwind. It lasted for several minutes.
Suddenly, the tornadoes stopped, and the wind calmed.
They were both a mess. Both Akuto and Marine’s fists were no longer recognizable. They were pounding raw lumps of meat into each other’s faces. Akuto’s knees buckled and he staggered. But before he could, Marine collapsed backward, sending up a cloud of dust as he landed.
Marine looked up at the sky in a daze.
“So the girl... won out over the country, huh?” he whispered.
“That’s the natural order of things... probably.” Akuto pulled his legs out of t
he ground, walked over to the Jeweled Branch, and took it.
“What will you do now?” Marine asked.
“It may be a waste of time.. . But I’m still gonna see if I can’t stop that asteroid.”
○
But things were going in the exact opposite of the direction Akuto wanted. Brave had gone on to try and persuade Marine’s little sister on the front lines to stop the war. He’d only succeeded when the Republic forces realized the asteroid was falling.
“...Alright. We’ll pull back our forces.” Marine’s sister, the princess, said.
There was no joy on Brave’s side. This had only happened after he’d shown the princess the data Yoshie had sent, and after she’d seen Marine’s defeat. There was no joy to be had on anyone’s part.
“It’s almost too late... as much as I’d rather not say it,” Brave said to the princess.
The two of them were facing across from one another on her ship. She’d invited Brave here to negotiate. But the princess just gave him a peaceful smile.
“That’s just how politics works.”
“As long as the Empire and Republic can work together to stop the asteroid...” Brave said, but the princess cut him off.
“We will return to the bottom of the sea. There’s some small probability that we’ll survive that way.”
“What? But you can’t...”
“With our technology, there is almost no chance of stopping the asteroid. So we’re going to choose the path that grants us a chance at survival. The sea trench is several thousand meters deep. There must be some places that will survive the impact.
“But...” Brave tried to insist, but the princess’s expression did not change.
“That’s just how politics works,” she said. “We’re also willing to accept you as an honorary citizen, if you like.”
Brave shook his head.
“I’ll pass. I think I’d better go, then...” Brave left, feeling filled with despair.
5 - Farewell, Humanity
Of course, it took a while for both Akuto and Brave to agree to Yoshie’s plan.
“We may still be able to stop the asteroid.”
“I agree with the boss.”
The two of them spoke in tandem.
“But you know... We know that the Jeweled Branch had no effect on it,” Yoshie said coldly.
Keena had tried waving around the branch like a magic wand, chanting nonsense spells. But while she could do her ordinary magic with it, nothing special was happening.
“I know that. But...”
“I know what you’re going to say. Giving up doesn’t suit your personality. But there’s no physical way to do anything about that asteroid.”
“Is the Faceless Power that strong?”
“Yup. It’s the will of an entire species. In order to match it, you’d need to have all of humanity be one person.”
“Then if we can bring humanity’s will together...!” Hiroshi’s eyes were shining, like he thought he’d just had a great idea.
Yoshie shook her head, though.
“You couldn’t do that with the Republic. And non-mana civilizations don’t even have the ability to turn their will into power,” she said. “The Faceless Power is a terrifying curse.”
“Then there’s really nothing we can do?”
“Probably not. But you know, I think anybody except Akuto’s free to try anything they like.” She sighed.
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Akuto’s going to need to go to the afterlife for us. So we can’t have him dying. Of course, the Empress is going into cold sleep, so we can’t have her dying before or after either. And we need Brave to carry the capsule up to orbit. But if anybody else dies, either before or after, it’s not a problem.
“That sounds... really ridiculous, somehow,” Akuto said, a little confused.
“Everybody else just has to be ready to die, after all. Anyway, we’re doing this tomorrow. The reason why it’s tomorrow is that the asteroid lands tomorrow night. Until then... anybody’s free to do whatever they like. Even commit suicide,” Yoshie said, indulging in a moment of dark humor.
○
“I still refuse to accept this,” Lily sighed. The table in the student council room was laden with snacks. The trio were sitting around it, gobbling them down.
“Yeah... It’s pretty pathetic that our last meal is convience store junk food,” Mochie said.
Lily frowned at her.
“That’s not what I meant. I meant the fact that there’s no way to fight back.”
“But all the stores are closed, and we can’t get anything that’s appropriate for a last meal, gya.” Kanna complained too.
“Shut up. You only get a good last meal if you’re on death row. What would you even want to eat, anyway?” Lily asked. Both Michie and Kanna thought for a moment before answering.
“Rice and miso soup.”
“Rare steak. With potatoes.”
Lily snorted.
“Yeah, I thought it’d be something like that. Not really any different than junk food, is it? You never drank soda or ate junk food because you were worried about your weight. So you’ll never get another chance to eat this much. Eat up.”
“You’re right, aren’t you gyah?”
“Melon bread’s got lots of calories, after all...”
The two of them went back to wolfing down the junk food.
“Gugah.”
Arnoul, however, hadn’t eaten a thing.
“Sure, you don’t eat, do you... Huh? Headmaster?” Lily shouted in surprise.
The headmaster’s face was poking out from behind Arnoul.
“Eh, I’ve got nothing to do, so I came to get some junk food too.” He reached for the potato chips.
“You didn’t have any last minute stuff to do?” Lily asked, stunned.
“When you’re as old as me, the temples stop giving you work. I’ve been really bored.” He sighed dejectedly. The other teachers had all been summoned by the various temples to help quell the panic that was taking place.
“Don’t you have any family to spend your last hours with?”
“Well, when you live as many centuries as I do, you don’t, really...” he laughed. His laugh was a dry rattle.
“I’m sure young maidens like you would prefer a younger man to spend the end of your lives with, though.”
“Nah...” Lily chuckled, but Kanna seemed to take him seriously.
“That’s right! The problem is we don’t have any boys here!”
“Gugah.”
Arnoul tried to quiet her down, but then Michie joined in, too.
“That’s right! I spent my whole youth without a boyfriend!”
“Gya-gya!”
“Calm down. There just weren’t that many guys who were good enough for us, that’s all,” Lily said, tossing a piece of chocolate into her mouth.
“Well, you’re lucky. Anybody who hit on you, you just hit them in the face.”
“That’s right. Nobody ever tried to date us at all!”
The two of them sighed sadly..
“Be quiet. The world could end at any time, so if you want to date somebody, tell them,” Lily said sarcastically.
“Hmph. I should’ve attacked the first good man I saw.”
“That’d make you just a wolf woman...”
“I don’t want to hear that from someone who’s basically a vampire girl. Anyway, is there anything you regret not being able to do, President?” Kanna suddenly asked.
“Sure. I told you in front of the tower that I might die, but that I was ready for it, right?”
“Yeah, gya.”
“What did that mean?”
“I... think I expected to die fighting. I wanted to go out in a blaze of glory... But instead I’m just sitting here eating junk food.” Lily laughed in self-derision.
“That’s part of being young... I understand how you feel, but not everybody gets to be a hero. When something’s not going to happen, it’s
best to just give up on it,” the Headmaster lamented quietly.
“I wanted to do everything with a bang.”
“That’s how the world ends. It just quietly fades away. Many civilizations in the past died the same way, I’m told. But perhaps, this may not be the end. That man may still yet have something in store for us...”
“Akuto Sai, you mean?” Lily asked.
○
Meanwhile, someone else was saying a last goodbye to his girlfriend. Hiroshi and Yuko were walking along the beach.
“Sorry I’m not more cheerful...” Yuko apologized.
Hiroshi shook his head.
“It’s fine! It’s not your fault! No place is open in town, and it felt like we’d just be all gloomy if we stayed there...”
“Yeah... But you know, it feels weird. The world’s going to be destroyed soon. And if it isn’t, then everybody is still going to die...” Yuko said, staring out at the sea.
“I-It’s fine. They say even if you die, you don’t really die... That there’s life after death. S-So you know, even if you die, you’ll be okay...” Hiroshi said, but there was no strength behind his words.
“I know. Yoshie told me. But do you believe that? I mean, I don’t really know, but in the end, I guess we might just be some characters some author invented?”
Yuko leaned up against Hiroshi, unable to hide her fear. Hiroshi felt the weight of her body, and realized he didn’t really believe what Yoshie had said, either.
“It’s weird... What does it really mean, that this world might be fictional?”
“Yeah... I mean, if you die, you die, right? I don’t want that...”
“Yeah..”
All Hiroshi could do was nod.
“And you’re taking Keena... her highness... up to space, right? If you do, I’ll never see you again.”
“I have to do it anyway. It’s important. If it works, I may be able to bring everyone back to life...” Hiroshi said, stumbling over his words. But even as he spoke, he still couldn’t bring himself to believe it.
“It can’t be true! I mean, even right now I’m thinking my own thoughts... I’m me!” Yuko buried her face in Hiroshi’s chest and began sobbing.
“It’ll be fine... Brave is... I mean... I am... allowed to do whatever I want whenever the mission’s done. So I... I’m going to stop the asteroid myself. I can still do things in space. So I know I can...” Hiroshi said, and then Yuko looked up at him.
Demon King Daimaou: Volume 12 Page 8