I Saved Too Many Girls and Caused the Apocalypse: Volume 12

by Namekojirushi

  Nyanyan clung to Rain and spilled her heart to the mermaid princess, who hugged her softly in return.

  “I know. I know it’s scary, Nyanyan... But sometimes, as leaders, we have to think ahead. Even if your decision brings sadness right now, as long as there’s a future, you’ll have an opportunity to regain all the happiness lost. I believe in that, Nyanyan. I believe in you,” Rain said, gently letting go of Nyanyan. “So what are you going to do?”

  “I... I’m...” After a moment’s hesitation, Nyanyan turned my way. “Rekka... You said it before, right? That you came to save me?”

  “Yeah, I did.”

  But back then, she only asked me to do something about the coup d’état.

  “Then, please.... Forget the kingdom! I beg of you, please save my people!” Nyanyan pleaded, clasping her hands together as if in prayer. “I finally understood earlier... I understood why my father was willing to use his own life to develop medicine for the people.”

  If I’m not mistaken, her father, the previous king, had passed away from overusing the time-stitching technology to continuously return to the past in order to make medical advancements.

  “He wanted to protect everyone. To a ruler, the people are like family... I was so very sad to be left behind, but...” Sadness filled Nyanyan’s eyes for a brief moment, but she raised her head and continued. “But when I saved those people who thanked me and when everyone welcomed me as the new king with such warm smiles, I finally understood why my father lived and died the way he did. I finally understand how great of a king he truly was. I want to be just like him. So, please, Rekka... Please save us!”

  There, Nyanyan humbly bowed her head low. It seemed saving the people of Shangri-La had affected an incredible change of heart within her. The pampered princess grew into a real ruler. That little bit of life experience had opened up a whole new world for her. It was a shame that revelation was pointless now that everything was on the verge of destruction... is what someone else might have said. But to me, her words just now were all the more reason to try and save this place.

  “Well, R?” I asked, turning to the girl from the distant future floating beside me.

  She gave a small nod.

  “As of this moment, you’re now involved in a new story. Feel free to go all out like usual.”

  “You bet I will!”

  Because Nyanyan’s feelings had evolved, her story was now being rewritten once more. And the fact that I was officially involved now meant there was a chance we could save it.

  At times like these, my best strategy was to go over the current story in my head. What did I have at hand? What had already happened? What had I learned from it? With only five minutes left, I’d have to think fast. Time was running out.

  But no matter how fast the clock was ticking, no matter how hopeless the situation seemed... I was going to do it! I was going to save everyone! I just had to come up with an idea!

  “Oh...?”

  That reminded me of something.

  “...Wh-What?” Chirika asked in confusion when my determined gaze fell upon her.

  ▽

  “Can’t you go any faster, Rachelle?!”

  “Eep! This is angel abuse!”

  “I’ll do whatever you want when we get back, so put up with it for now and try harder!”

  “Didn’t you say that last time too?!” Rachelle screamed as she sped up.

  It was a good thing she’d replenished her love energy during the race. Anyway, the sinking city and Corona firing off her dark magic at it eventually came into view.

  “Corona!” I called.

  “Is that you, young man?” she asked through ragged breaths.

  Looking down from the air, I could see there were great holes all over Atlantis. She’d done a hell of a job, but it still wasn’t enough to demolish the island completely.

  “Take a breather, Corona. Save your energy in case my plan fails and you need to clean up after me.”

  “...What are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to test my own greed,” I replied lightly as I reached into my shirt... and took out the Mask of Greed.

  “That’s...!”

  “If I become a demon, you two will have to stop me.”

  Without any further ado, I put the mask on my face.

  “...Guh?!”

  The Mask of Greed was a cursed item that turned humans into demons. Furthermore, the mask absorbed greed in exchange for strength. The greedier the human, the stronger the demon. And the greed that I held was...

  “Guh... Rrgh... Ugh!”

  I groaned relentlessly. It felt like my head was being torn apart from the inside out. I could tell that the Mask of Greed was absorbing my greed and reconstructing my body with great power...

  “R-Rekka...?” Rachelle called out, uncertain.

  Come to think of it, she was still carrying me... I had kinda overlooked that. It was only a matter of time before my mind was taken over by the demon I’d become.

  “Rachelle... drop... me...”

  Of course, I meant on the island, but would she figure that out? Well, I guess I could trust the dumb angel at least that much.

  “A-Are you sure? A fall from this height should kill a human.”

  “It’s fine... Right now, I’m...”

  I looked into Rachelle’s eyes from behind the mask and bared my fangs.

  “...a demon.”

  I said it in a voice so low that it surprised even me. Rachelle seemed to sense something and let out a small yelp as she tossed me into the air. I would have appreciated being thrown a little gentler, but whatever.

  As I fell, I focused. While it was partly to get the timing of my landing on Atlantis right, there was a more important factor at play.

  “Nuh... guh, ah... AAHH!”

  I had to be aware. Aware of the true identity of the greed swirling within me, trying to pull me somewhere deep and dark. I concentrated on it with all my might. If it was weaker than I’d expected, I probably wouldn’t be able to break Atlantis apart. I’d probably just be crushed by the impact when I hit the ground.

  So I focused. I focused for all I was worth and summoned the very roots of greed from my heart, offering them up in exchange for power.

  “...!”

  I opened my eyes. The land was closing in at a terrifying speed, but there was apparently already something inhuman about me. I was unnaturally calm. Finally, I recalled one last thing—what Chirika had said to me in Shangri-La.

  “I’d call that greed rather than arrogance. You’re attempting to save everything yourself.”

  She was right. I wanted to save everything and everyone. And for that, I felt a burning greed that consumed all else within me.

  A magical childhood friend, a space princess, a sorcerer from another world, the poster child of a family restaurant, a guardian of the world below, a mythical beast that was deceived, a girl who shared my fate, a vampire with a hundred-year grudge, a homunculus whose destiny had been predetermined for her, a treasure hunter with a sick little brother she tried her best to take care of, a grieving mermaid, a gremlin space pirate, a lonely scientist, the president of a club that was on the verge of disbandment, an exorcist of a school president, a psychic who loved her friends like family, an idol with amnesia, a sealed-away Demon King, a spirit who had lost her little sister, a nekomata girl who was just looking for a home, a hungry fallen angel, a brilliant director in dire straits, a transforming superhero who needed a helping hand, a wayward nun, a wounded fairy, a samurai from the past, a cursed phantom thief, and a princess who just wanted to save her people... Just how many stories do you think I’ve desired to save until now?!

  On top of that, I still had to prevent the War of All one day. I wanted to do that for the sake of R, L, the heroines, and everyone else who was part of the future. So take all of that, mask! Take my greed and give me strength!

  As I clenched my fist, each and every muscle in my arm made a strange sound as it swelled almo
st explosively. I couldn’t see because of the mask, but I still had arms, right? Well, whatever. That didn’t even matter.

  “RAAAAAAH!”

  I slammed my fist into the ground below and felt it give way.

  Epilogue

  After destroying Atlantis, I lost consciousness... and the next I woke, I was in the Great Library of the Heavens. I was lying in a bed in the Laputian king’s private quarters, surrounded by the worried faces of my friends.

  “Long time no see, huh?”

  Ow, ow, owowow! I’d gone for a lighthearted greeting, but they all just started punching me! They held back a bit, but I guess using the Mask of Greed without letting them know was a bad move after all.

  In reality, it took Sherlyn’s magic and everyone’s power to turn me back into a human afterwards. I’d have to do a special favor for not just Rachelle, but all of them once we returned to the future... which made me kind of want to remain in the past.

  ▽

  And so, I don’t know if it was because I had turned into a demon and destroyed an island, but I could barely move for a while. In that time, a lot happened... Well, omitting most of the details, various events transpired with the girls nursing me back to health that greatly pleased Rachelle, and I was finally on my feet two days later.

  For the record, the island of Laputa landed safely thanks to all of our efforts. In fact, it fit rather snugly in a valley, I was told.

  “We intend on filling in the gaps between the island and valley, and camouflaging it as a mountain... later,” the king had said. “Either way, however... Laputa isn’t suited for the agriculture needed to sustain the Atlantians. They will need to make their own settlement nearby...”

  After that, the entrance to the Great Library of the Heavens was sealed for the Laputian king to manage by herself. The technology that Laputa held was far more advanced than what existed in this era. On the off chance that it was leaked out and used maliciously, it had the potential to cause great tragedy. She said it was a countermeasure to prevent that from happening.

  Although she may act mischievously at times and governed a nation of one, the king of Laputa was still a fine, wise ruler.

  “Even so, Laputa already looks a lot like a mountain without any camouflage. There aren’t many manmade objects on it to begin with, and the Great Library of the Heavens is worked into the summit,” I muttered to myself as I looked up at the former island from its base.

  The Laputian king had told me she needed a sense of the environment and a perspective from the base in order to complete the camouflage, so she’d sent me to take pictures... with a Laputian-made camera, of course. But since she’d asked nicely, here I was snapping one picture after another.

  “...”

  “Hm? What’s wrong, Chirika?”

  Chirika, who had come with me to the base, was looking up at the mountain (the former island of Laputa) with a conflicted expression. When I noticed, I tore my eyes from the viewfinder and tried asking her about it.

  “Nothing. I hadn’t noticed when we were in the air, but this island—or rather, this mountain—looks similar to the Disappearing Mountain where I fought the Gold Yaksha.”

  “Huh?”

  That was where she’d travelled back in time too, right? Was this... the same place?

  “I can’t say that it’s identical, but looking at its overall shape and the scenery... There’s a close resemblance,” Chirika said as she tilted her head.

  “Maybe the former island of Laputa was just called the Disappearing Mountain in your time?”

  “Mm... Perhaps.” Chirika accepted my muttered words and nodded.

  Wait a minute... Laputa was only able to make an emergency landing in Japan because I destroyed Atlantis, right? Which means Atlantis sunk into the ocean... Which means before the timeslip, Laputa hadn’t been able to reach Japan since Laputa would have sunk into the ocean along with Atlantis. But in that case, Chirika couldn’t have climbed the Disappearing Mountain and come to my time period, so we wouldn’t have been able to impress the king with her Silkworm Slash, which means that we wouldn’t have been able to save all these stories...

  “Huh?”

  “What a time paradox, right?” R commented in amusement when I cocked my confused head to the side. “It’s a phenomenon that occurs on rare occasions when interfering with the past. Well, that’s only what this is if Laputa really is the Disappearing Mountain.”

  Fair... It was possible that Chirika only thought they were similar. Maybe it was a totally different mountain after all.

  “Hmm...”

  My head was starting to hurt, so I decided to give up thinking about it any further.

  ▽

  Now that all the stories this time had been solved, it was time to send everyone back to their proper time periods. As for how exactly we’d do that, the Nyanyan we’d met at the bottom of the ocean had told us to consult the king of Laputa. We did, and she revealed to us that the device used for time travel was at the top of the Great Library of the Heavens. In other words, at the summit of Laputa.

  “So where’s the... What was it again? The Timeshift Device?”

  “It’s that pillar... over there. That is... the core.”

  There was a single steel obelisk in the direction the king was pointing, standing in an open space at the top of the mountain.

  “Hm...”

  “What’s wrong... Chirika?”

  “It’s just strikingly similar... Except the Disappearing Mountain had a lone cedar tree instead of this metal structure.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but indeed... The metal tower certainly does stand out. I’ll have to take note of that with the camouflage. A lone cedar... might do quite well.”

  As the Laputian king muttered that, she prompted us to move beside the steel tower. The Timeshift Device was activated by pouring a huge amount of energy into the tower part.

  “Rekka and I are from different time periods, so is it really all right for us to go together?”

  “It’s... not a problem.” the king answered briefly.

  I’m... I’m sure it’ll work out one way or another.

  “If you’d like... I can send you to any location you prefer.”

  “You can do such a thing?”

  “As long as there are coordinates... Yes.”

  “In that case, I can help,” volunteered Satsuki.

  The two of them then began preparations to use the device. With her magic, Satsuki’d be able to find coordinates for us in no time.

  “What about you, Chirika? Do you want to set a location point?”

  “Unfortunately, I have no idea what coordinates are.”

  “Then you can just get Satsuki to help look it up. Hey, Satsuki.”

  I asked her to help search for the information Chirika needed. At any rate, once the preparations were completed, we were finally ready to return to the future.

  “Rekka, I can’t express how grateful I am to you... And Chirika and Sherlyn too. You all saved me. Thank you.”

  As the only one in the right time period, Nyanyan was seeing us off with tears in her eyes as she thanked us.

  “Don’t worry about it. You saved me too, after all,” Sherlyn said with a smile, pointing at Nyanyan’s head. “That crown suits you much better than it did me.”

  “Thank you... Thank you so much,” Nyanyan said, wiping her eyes and smiling.

  Without Atlantis, she no longer had a kingdom to rule, but she would still lead her people in their new land.

  “Take care.”

  “You too, Rekka.”

  After Nyanyan and I exchanged our farewells, I looked to Chirika, who was standing with her arms crossed.

  “This is goodbye for us too, Chirika. We’ll both be going back to our own times.”

  “Yeah, you’re right...”

  “Huh? What’s wrong?”

  Chirika looked rather restless for some reason, so I tried asking her about it, but...

&nbs
p; “Nothing. It’s just...” she murmured and turned away. “I am also indebted to you. If you were from my time, I would have recommended you to my lord for an appropriate reward.”

  “Ahaha, I’m honored. Although I wouldn’t do well with the whole samurai thing.”

  “Indeed, you’re not diligent enough,” she said with a sigh.

  I guess she saw right through me.

  “But you have both courage and quick wits. You may have some surprising uses in directing people on the battlefield.”

  “You think so?”

  That was some strangely high praise coming from her...

  “That’s... That’s actually not what I wanted to say. What I meant to tell you... was...”

  Chirika had been acting weird for a while now.

  “Urgh. I’ve been under the care of the princess this whole time, so I’m not sure how to talk to boys at times like this...” Chirika continued to mutter to herself.

  Could it possibly be that she was sad to part ways? We were from different time periods, after all. Our goodbye here would be goodbye forever. We had gone on an adventure together that transcended time. She may have disliked me a fair bit in the beginning, but maybe... Just maybe, we were a little bit closer now.

  “Well, take care of yourself, Chirika. I’m not sure we’ll ever see each other again, but with my bloodline, you never know,” I said, offering my hand out to her.

  “...Yeah.”

  Chirika stared at my hand for a few seconds before she hesitantly returned the handshake and nodded with a smile.

  “Now... Let us commence the timeshift,” the king called out as a white light began flooding out from the device. “Perhaps fate will bring us together again.”

  She must have overheard my talk with Chirika, and said those words in a final parting. The white light then enveloped us all, and the last thing I saw was Nyanyan waving.

  ▽

  And so we safely returned to the future. Or rather, the present.

  “Phew, I’m tired...”

  “Me too...”

  After returning home, Harissa and I first changed our clothes before melting into the sofa to rest. Rachelle was just floating around.