The date had changed.
Their charge would be complete. I could be dragged into their battlefield from a puddle at any time.
"Maxwell, deactivate the alarm."
"Sure."
And I was headed to the aquarium in the harbor sightseeing district"s shopping area on my own. It was of course closed by now, but that didn"t matter. I used Maxwell to knock out the sensors and cameras before setting foot inside. I just hoped everything went according to plan.
"I know the security guards" patrol route, but I cannot predict the actions of the Remora infected. Be careful."
"Right."
Thinking back, the Leviathan"s interference had fully stopped Tanabe-san here. Both him and the Remoras coming from his eyes and nose.
Minaki-san was right. The Leviathan had a greater control over the Remoras. And if she had had the Leviathan"s support, my stepmom would not have been attacked by the infected while she searched that glowing ocean for hours. They could have been stopped at any time.
"…I"ll turn that b.a.s.t.a.r.d into a fish dumpling hotpot…"
"Are you irritated because you are hungry?" asked Maxwell.
We released the electronic lock and I entered the building. I walked between the dark, unlit tanks and made my way to the staff only door. I glimpsed security guards a few times, but they were fortunately on their usual patrol route. That didn"t prove they weren"t infected with Remoras, though.
I was blinded as soon as I opened the door. The staff only area had its lights on.
"…Curse this public facility. They"re wasting money and power."
The light could be seen as a positive or a negative, but I didn"t actually know what kind of eyesight the Remora infected had. It would be silly if I thought the darkness was aiding me, but they could actually see in the dark like a cat. I had to use this to my advantage.
"User."
"I know."
I had been fidgeting with something in my hands, but now I placed it over my head. It was an open-face helmet I had bought at a 24-hour discount shop. A really cheap one.
After stepping through another door, I found that giant tank.
"Leviathan."
It was calmly swimming there. It must have been quite pleased with itself for manipulating us puny humans like that. Probably felt superhuman.
When it came to thoughts and cunning, that may have been true.
But it failed miserably when it comes to human emotion. There was none of the familial love found in my stepmom or Minaki-san even though they were Archenemies as well.
This shark only understood one part of humans: the negative emotion of envy.
It must have tried to speak to me a few times because the Leviathan turned to face me.
But it had to have noticed something was wrong.
I couldn"t hear any kind of voice.
"You can no longer control me."
I tapped on the temple of the helmet.
"You control the brain using a different method than the Siren. It was a pulse, right? This thing is cheap, but I melted down a fishing sinker and covered the inside with a thin layer of lead. I don"t know if you use microwaves or X-rays, but they won"t reach me."
And there was no need for conversation.
I just had to get my words through. Anyone could declare war.
"…You know why I"m here, don"t you? You hurt my stepmom, used Minaki-san, stole control of the Remoras, and used the city"s people as hostages. It"s time you paid for that."
The Leviathan moved a bit away from the tank"s gla.s.s. But not because it was not willing to listen. Was it going to build up speed to break the gla.s.s? Did it think a human boy or two wouldn"t last long against its teeth?
"Didn"t you hear what I said?"
But for a supposed schemer, you didn"t give this much thought, Leviathan.
I don"t have to stick to a one-on-one battle.
"You control the brain using a different method than the Siren!"
That meant I had no defense against Minaki-san. With the guidance of her ultrasonic song, I could reach that battlefield.
All I had to do was step in a puddle that was already there. And my opponent was already in a tank of water.
"Let"s settle this on the other side, you piece of s.h.i.t!!"
As soon as I plunged into the demon lord"s ocean, I was engulfed by the roaring current.
And the Leviathan had already crashed its 30m body against the reinforced gla.s.s wall, shattering it.
At first glance, this seemed like suicide.
In an all-out underwater battle, a human with no gills or flippers had no way of defeating a giant shark.
…Or so you might think.
This was no accident. I had intentionally challenged the Leviathan to a fight in this setup!
"Cough!!"
A salty flavor made it through my tightly-closed lips and my eyes hurt like thin needles were p.r.i.c.king them.
The Leviathan would not have prepared a "today"s exit" door this time. But I had asked Minaki-san the Siren to prepare an exit herself. Specifically, the closest door, the one I had used to enter the room. It was glowing blue. I could survive as long as I pa.s.sed through there!!
The water roared.
That great ma.s.s stirred up the water. It twisted nature to its will and perfectly aimed at me. I would be killed instantly in a straight-line chase. But a 30m shark could not smoothly pa.s.s through the narrow staff pa.s.sageway. It was like the difference between driving a scooter or a large tractor trailer through a back alley. The shark"s great size meant it had to repeatedly move back and forth to squeeze through.
Meanwhile, I arrived at the door. It opened the other way, so I didn"t have to worry about the water pressure holding it shut.
I escaped in less than a minute.
The Leviathan"s head had to be full of questions, but I had no intention of answering them.
This was a human battle. By the time those questions occurred to it, the battle was 80% over already. That demon lord needed to learn how fearsome proper preparation could be.
I threw open the door.
I returned to reality along with a bunch of water.
"Cough! Cough cough!!"
"Wait, are you okay?"
Himatsuri-san frantically ran over to me. According to Minaki-san, the Leviathan and the Siren could only send others to the glowing ocean while in reality. If that was true, Himatsuri-san could approach me safely despite the puddle forming around me.
And since they were here…
"O-okay, here I go. Three, two, one…"
She did not sound nervous, but she was an Archenemy.
With a loud crashing sound, the thick metal double doors were bent and another hit broke the hinges so the doors sank down into the water.
Yes, that was the gate the Leviathan used to get in and out.
"…Its body is 30m long. It doesn"t matter where the "today"s exit" door is if it"s too big to fit through. It would destroy the door that links reality to that blue battlefield as it tried to fit."
And we had destroyed the reality-side version of the one large gate a giant marine lifeform could pa.s.s through. And if it could not use that…
"I can"t choose to kill an Archenemy." I spat out the words to someone who was not here. "So, lord of the ocean, you can rejoice in your lonely freedom in your eternal prison that takes up an entire world."
If its influence vanished from reality, control of the Remora-infected people would return to Minaki-san. The Leviathan itself could not harm anyone either. Even if some infected remained in the glowing ocean, they could be collected through exits too small for the giant shark to pa.s.s through.
This was checkmate.
It was the perfect ending that matched my ideal.
"That was cruel, user."
"I won"t deny that."
But just as the Leviathan had obeyed its desire, I would force my ideal through.
I would not allow any bloodshed.
So I would instead accept all other methods.
We would never meet again.
But that went beyond just me. The Leviathan would never meet any human or Archenemy ever again.
"Let"s head home."
"Sure."
There is no decision to make. Nothing like that is necessary.
Where am I?
What is this?
What happened? The entire world is here, but no one from that world is here.
Is this the end for me?
I finally rule the world, but everything has left that world?
Ha ha.
No.
This is the how I have always felt! This is the scene I have been watching my entire life!!
I am the strongest.
That is why no one ever loved me. That is why I could never truly fight anyone. I was forbidden from going all out. The world was just too fragile.
That is what I have here.
Eternal loneliness and a never-changing throne. Must you smugly show me what I was had been given from the moment of my birth!?
I hate it.
Yes, I hate it.
But not that a puny and fragile human did this to me.
…If this was to be a historic enough battle to leave me in defeat, you should have told me from the beginning. Then I could have given it my all. That was a great warrior who could provide such a challenge for me, yet I was so inexperienced I overlooked it and lost my chance to thank him. It is that inexperience which I hate…!!