Dark, heavy clouds hung low in the sky outside the window.
Village Chief Rigrutt was still engrossed in the torture of his son, Dalga.
He seemed to have lost all awareness of my presence; the mutilation would likely continue even after I left.
I suppose my revenge—or whatever this was—had reached its conclusion.
The irritation and resentment I’d carried in my chest for so long had finally vanished. I felt a sense of accomplishment, and even a degree of satisfaction.
But at the same time, a certain loneliness set in.
"Revenge yields nothing." It was a common enough sentiment, and it certainly rang true.
Not that I had the slightest intention of regretting my choices, however.
"I sure killed a lot of people..."
I found myself muttering the words aloud.
After a slaughter of this magnitude, I would undoubtedly be a wanted man.
I had killed so many—partly for revenge, and partly to provide Puppeteer with the fuel she needed to become human. Though, in truth, the number of people Puppeteer killed far outweighed my own tally.
That reminded me, I needed to check on her.
She should have finished her transformation into a human by now.
Ah, but before that, there was one more place I wanted to visit.
With that thought, I stood up and walked out.
◆
It was eerily quiet when I stepped outside.
Just as the thought crossed my mind, a scream echoed from the distance.
It seemed Puppeteer was still on the rampage.
The unnatural silence was likely because the villagers were cowering inside their homes, desperate to avoid her notice.
I ignored the chaos and walked toward my destination.
"There it is..."
Before me stood Namia's grave, a simple mound marked by small stones.
Because I had been branded a criminal, I hadn't been allowed to attend her funeral or her burial.
I sank to my knees and pressed my hands together in prayer.
"Damn it..."
Suddenly, hot tears overflowed and ran down my cheeks.
Perhaps it was only now that the reality of Namia's death truly sank in.
Until now, revenge had been my only driving force.
Now that the debt was settled, I had to move forward. Revenge was, after all, merely a way to liquidate the humiliations of the past.
But the fact remained that Namia’s death was heartbreaking. So, I let myself stay there and weep for a little while longer.
I don’t know how much time passed as I shared that final, lonely moment with her.
"I should head over to Puppeteer soon..."
The moment I stood up to leave—
"GUGYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!!!"
A low, guttural roar shook the air.
The sound was so massive it felt like it would burst my eardrums.
I whipped around toward the source.
There, an egg-shaped mass of blackness, taller than any tower, had manifested in the center of the village.
I knew instantly it was Puppeteer.
The egg cracked as if hatching, and its black shell liquefied into a muddy torrent that swept through the village.
It was the moment of Puppeteer’s birth as a human.
"Puppeteer!"
I shouted her name as I pushed through the black sludge.
Her dream had been to become a human. If she had finally achieved that, it was a cause for celebration.
I had to see her. I had to congratulate her.
I wondered if she had become a man or a woman. I was curious about everything—her height, her face.
What color was her hair?
I also felt that calling her "Puppeteer" might be strange once she was human. Maybe I should give her a proper name.
As I waded through the black tide, I spotted a figure standing in the center.
I could tell at a glance it was her.
I reached out to call her from behind, but—
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!"
A scream tore through the air.
It was high-pitched, agonized, and filled with visceral grief.
"Puppeteer, what’s wrong?"
At my voice, she flinched.
She noticed me. She slowly turned her head.
"It’s wrong."
I was about to ask what she meant when she started chanting the words like a mantra.
"It’s wrong, it's wrong, it's wrong, it's wrong, it's wrong, it's wrong, it's wrong, it's wrong, it's wrong, it's wrong, it's wrong, it's wrong, it's wrong, it's wrong, it's wrong, it's wrong, it's wrong, it's wrong, IT'S WRONG!!!"
The sheer intensity of her voice left me speechless.
"I... I wanted to be a human! Not... not a monster like this...!"
Puppeteer collapsed, sobbing.
Her right side was that of a human girl. She had pale skin, features that were youthful yet lovely, and long, flowing hair. It was a form that confirmed she had indeed been a girl.
But her left side was a nightmare.
Bonded to the human half was the glossy, black hide of a true monster.
Tentacles and reptilian eyes sprouted from various parts of her body. At the tips of the tentacles were snapping jaws lined with shark-like teeth.
"Kill me..."
"What...?"
"Kill me!"
"I can't just—"
"Because... because there's no point in living like this! So, please... kill me!"
She pleaded with tear-filled eyes, but there was no way I could grant such a request.
"I don't care what you look like. I think you're fine."
"Liar! Don't lie to me!"
"It's the truth."
"Then...!" she gasped. "Could you love something like me?"
I froze.
Even if I had forced the words "I could love you" out, they would have felt too thin, too hollow. I couldn't bring myself to say them in that moment.
"I knew it. You can't."
Puppeteer whispered the words, taking my hesitation as the ultimate rejection.
"It makes sense. I look like a monster."
Seeing the sheer anguish on her face, I finally moved.
I had to save her. Driven by that single thought, I stepped forward and pulled her into a fierce embrace.
"I love you."
"Stop lying..."
"It’s not a lie."
"Don't be kind to me... Ah... ugh... UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
I simply held her as she wailed. I think I was crying along with her.
We stayed like that for several minutes.
Eventually, Puppeteer stopped crying. She placed a hand on my chest and pushed.
I let go of her, stepping back a few paces.
"Thank you, Master."
She gave me a small smile. In the next instant—
A massive black jaw descended from above and swallowed her whole.
"...Huh?"
I stood there, stunned.
The black liquid that had blanketed the village began to recede and vanish.
Puppeteer was nowhere to be found.
She had taken her own life.
"What is this..."
My legs gave out.
A hollow, indescribable void consumed me.
Had I fought all this way just for an ending like this?
"Ah... Ahhh..."
Overwhelmed by a grief I couldn't process, I curled into a ball and sobbed.
After a long while, I forced myself to stand.
My balance was off, but I managed to walk.
"It should still be there."
I muttered to myself as I opened the Status Screen.
▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽
〈Kiska〉
Skill 1: Save & Reset
Skill 2: Provocation Lv3
Skill 3: Swordsmanship Lv3
Skill 4: None
Skill 5: Appraisal Lv3
△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△
With Puppeteer dead, the skill Master of Parasitic Sword: Puppeteer had vanished.
But it was Save & Reset that I needed to confirm.
As long as I had Save & Reset, I could try again. As many times as it took.
Steeled by that conviction, I threw myself off the cliff.
I certainly hadn't struggled this far for a future like this.
If that was the case, I would just have to redo it until I reached the future I wanted.