Novel Bin Chapter 449: – The End of Fate
『Partner, how’s it looking?』
I ask my partner as she checks behind.
『It’s no good. It’s getting closer! What do we do? The next one is coming soon!』
She replies, a slight reproach to her voice.
Damn it, what do I do? What can we do? Should I try attacking it as soon as I see an opening? Now that its HP has halved, my chances of somehow miraculously being able to kill it might be better than my chances of managing to stay away from it for several minutes on end.
N-no, I shouldn’t become desperate. Challenging it would be like an insect jumping into a flame. There’s a limit to recklessness.
Bit-by-bit, the ruin closes the distance.
『Hey! The next one is coming!』
There’s no knowing where it is aiming. If I try slowing down to dodge, it’ll catch up to me. If I dodge to the left or right, I might fly straight into the [Ruin] and die. If only my [Telepathy] skill was as good as the queen red ant’s, I could have read its aim!
No, I can still do this! If I move in a direction it’s not expecting, I can survive! Now that it’s like this, it’s all-or-nothing! I’ll try everything I can!
I tilt my head down to enter a sharp dive. I pierce through the ocean surface, head-first. With a large splash, my body is engulfed by the water. As I plunge through the water with the momentum of my [Flight], I see the surface covered by light. After turning ninety degrees and pushing through the water, I break through the surface and return to the air.
I check behind me. The ruin seems to have lost sight of me, and is a slight distance away. I can do this. I can still get away. It really was close, and it wouldn’t have been strange for me to have died at any second, but somehow, I was able to survive.
Although the ruin appears to scowl at me, it doesn’t move. Does it plan to hit me with another [Ruin]…? No, that doesn’t seem to be the case. It feels strange, almost as through the murderous intent and the malice have disappeared from it, and it has become empty.
I feel anxious. But, there’s no way I can let such an opportunity slip. I face forwards and focus on [Flying].
Has its urge to kill me been completely surpassed by its destructive impulses? But, with its current HP, it shouldn’t be able to return to the capital… No, that’s wrong!
I was mistaken. The range of its [Ruin] is terrifyingly large. As long as it can see the target, it can easily blast away unmoving buildings, killing countless people. Just reducing its HP enough for it to be unable to return isn’t enough to prevent there from being any more casualties.
『Why did it, suddenly…』
As I hear my partner’s wondering [Telepathy], I immediately turn around. My bad premonition was correct. The ruin has turned its back on me and is heading towards the capital.
『What are you doing!? I’m Irushia! Have you forgotten!?』
I twist my body to stay still in the air as I hurl my [Telepathy] at the ruin. Even so, the ruin’s movement doesn’t slow. While I am confused as to what to do, it suddenly happens.
Just in front of my eyes, an iridescent ball of light appears. Seeing that, I finally realise I was tricked.
“Gaaah!”
My partner howls. The light of [High Rest] wraps my body. At the same time, I turn my body around and fly away. I need every bit of distance from the [Ruin] as I can get.
From behind me, an intense heat and iridescent light presses in on me. I lose consciousness for a moment. When I awake, I am floating on the water’s surface.
In front of my line of sight is the ruin. It is slowly approaching me, a broad smile on its face. It’s an evil expression unimaginable for its initial expressionless state.
It was able to reach this form just through its feelings of hatred towards me. I’m made to understand that truth just by looking at its face.
Frustrated by me slipping away from it each time through various means, the ruin rationally grasped why I provoked it in the first place, pretended to leave to lure in, then aimed for the moment I stopped moving. Pretty much all of its capacity for thought has returned.
“Irushia… Die with me.”
Even though it should have lost the language skill, words escape from the ruin’s mouth.
I spread my tattered wings and try desperately to fly up. As I fly, I use [Autoregeneration]. But, I can’t fly properly. I’ve come this far, and yet…! Damn it!
『Hey, partner… Cut me off. There’s no other way.』
My partner calls out to me.
『Shut up! I told you, there’s no way I’m doing that!』
『…It’s not at all the time to say that, but it makes me a little bit happy that you care for me that much. Right, that’s who you are.』
Her [Telepathy] has a calmness to it inappropriate for the situation.
『Hey, partner, hey.』
She thrusts her head in front of me.
『This is no time to be talking about unnecessary things!』
As I glare at her, my body stiffens. Her eyes are gleaming red. It’s the ouroboros’s skill, [Ruler’s Demon Eye]. In addition to stopping movements, for opponents of the same wavelength as the user, it allows for some control over their movements.
My wings are still flapping. It seems she’s moving them.
『H-hey, partner! What are you doing!?』
『As you said, this sort of thing doesn’t suit me. Being stuck as the partner of such a weirdo really must have affected me weirdly. I can only say this now, but at the start, I didn’t like you much. You kept doing one strange thing after the other.』
My foreleg lifts up. My digits split apart, and my claws stick out. The tip of the claws touches my partner’s burnt neck. I try to resist, but my arm doesn’t listen to me.
『But… Well, it’s really a shame that this is the end. If reincarnation really is a thing, then it would be nice if I could be by your side next time too. When that happens, you’d better not forget your promise to let me eat all sorts of interesting foods.』
『P-please, partner, stop! Right, its HP has gotten low! So if I try and fight now, perhaps…!』
『Bye then, partner. Don’t let me die in vain. Don’t let yourself be killed after a half-hearted struggle.』
My foreleg swings down. My claw slices through her neck. The restraint on my body disappears. Unthinkingly, I stop moving and look down, searching for her head.
I see her plummeting towards the ocean, spilling out blue blood as she falls. Her eyes are closed peacefully.
But, just before she touches the ocean, her eyes snap open and she freezes in place. She opens her mouth open wide and howls, plunging towards the ruin at a speed far faster than the normal ouroboros’s [Flight]. It’s a sight I have seen once before in the battle against the twin head. The [Travelling Companion] skill has activated. The sensation of cutting off her head still remains in my foreleg.
Too shocked to react, I can do nothing but watch the scene unfold.
“GaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAh!”
The ruin tries to step back from her sudden charge. Her fervour is pushing it back.
The ruin quickly swings its arms in an attempt to catch her. But, it is unable to catch up to her speed. She slips through the arms and sinks her fangs into the ruin’s shoulder.
“OooO, OOOOoOOoOOOh!”
The ruin howls, twisting its neck in agony.
But, as a result of biting into a mass of magic power, her scales are torn away, and blue blood flows from all over her face. Blood spills from her eyes like tears.
『P-partner… I…』
She looks at me as though to scold me. Her last words pass through my mind.
『Bye then, partner. Don’t let me die in vain. Don’t let yourself be killed after a half-hearted struggle.』
I turn around to face away from the ruin. Sorry… And thank you, partner.
“OooOOooOOOOoOOOoOOhh!”
With an insane shriek, iridescent light flares out from the ruin. As the light clears, there is no longer any sign of my partner. An evil smile returns to the ruin’s face.
“Irujia… Irushia… IrushiAAaaaaaAAAh!”
I fly away from the ruin.
Partner… Thank you for everything. I’ll never forget about you. No matter how many times you are reborn.
So, I need my body to last! It was my last promise with my partner. There’s no way I’ll let her death be in vain! I’m also exhausted, but it has taken damage from [Travelling Companion]. There’s no way the ruin is in peak condition.
“IrushiAaaaaaAAAAh!”
The ruin has opened its mouth horrifyingly wide and is closing in on me fast. As a mass of magic power, it can change its body freely, but this appearance is still far too revolting. I thrust out my tail and [Roll] in the air to shift my centre of gravity and slip away from its huge mouth. The space where I was a second ago is consumed by magic power.
“IrushiAaaAAAaah!”
The ruin raises its arms high. Both its hands swing down towards me. At the last moment, I shoot a [Wind Slash], and use the recoil to launch myself away and gain a little distance. Its arms slam into the surface of the water, raising a huge column of water.
I’ve come this far, and yet is there is there nothing I can do to survive…!?
I glance backwards at the ruin. Behind it, I see black light in the shape of a dragon’s head. Is that… [Fake Life]…? Did she use [Fake Life] on herself!?
Just as the ruin reaches out for me, the black light opens its mouth and bites into its shoulder.
“OooOOh, OOOooOoooOoOOOoOhh!?”
The ruin writhes.
『Sorry, but I won’t let you have my partner. Until I go to that world, I’m going to see him off.』
The black mist bites through the ruin’s shoulder. Starting from the shoulder, the ruin’s body splits apart and shrinks down.
“OooOOh, OOOooOoooOoOOOoOhh!?”
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
Species: Ruin
Condition: God of Destruction
Lv: 54/150
HP: 8/854
MP: 384/1149
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
It has finally run out of strength. As a final struggle, its arm stretches out towards me.
“Iru…ji…AaaaAaAAAh!”
The arm passes through empty air just below my tail. Then, the iridescent light fades, and it sinks under the water.