Shin Sekai yori

I don"t remember very well how I was able to calm Maria down after that. At any rate, it was necessary to explain in great detail how Shun was not in any immediate danger. I was not blessed with a talent for lying like Satoru, but It must be that as they say "necessity is the mother of invention".[1] Everyone promised to go look for Shun the next morning and somehow, we were able to send Maria back home.

I understood that rather than going alone, going with two people is more rea.s.suring. However, from the perspective that coming back alive was not certain, I could not go so far as to compromise the life of a good friend.

After seeing her off, I quickly changed my cloths. I put a wind blocking jacket on over a sweater and tied my hair back with a barrette. Having spent much time in outdoor activities, I had traveling supplies such as a compa.s.s and first aid supplies such as bandages and salves ready to go. After cramming all of it into my backpack, The idea suddenly hit me to wear the protective charm I had received from Shun.

I secretly left through the window and across the roof. Levitation like Maria"s was something I was still not capable of. While reciting my Mantra within my mouth, I resolutely leapt. The instant I invoked my Jyuryoku, the air resistance became viscous like that of water, suddenly reducing my body"s momentum. It was a feeling like that of falling in a dream. As I came to the ground, I was unable to maintain my balance, and though it gave me a chill, I was relieved that my leg was not seriously injured.

I could not allow myself to hesitate. Quickly standing up, I suppressed the sound of my footsteps as I turned to the back of the house. Promptly setting my boat loose from the mooring post, I proceeded into the pitch dark waterway. At first I made the utmost effort not to make a sound. But once I considered myself far enough from the house, I cruised along at full speed.

I was by no means sure that I would make it in time. On the contrary, despite having a limited field of vision, I was moving at a speed so excessive that, if I made even a tiny mistake in handling the boat with my Jyuryoku, there was a serious risk that I would crash into something and sink.

Even so, I felt no hesitation. Whatever else that might happen, I would save Shun. I would definitely be in time. There was nothing in my mind except the determination to make it in time.

While gliding across the top of the dark waterway, I was suddenly hit with a strange feeling of deja vu.

It was back in the first day of summer camp. At the time when I was alone with Shun riding a canoe at night. Because Shun had suppressed the waves, the river surface reflected all the stars in the heavens like the surface of a pitch black mirror.

As Shun accelerated the Hakuren VI again, the starry sky broke into countless fragments, melting away on the waves.

The river current and the scenery on both sides could not be seen clearly, vaguely melting into the darkness. In this way, the sensation of speed completely vanished while moving. That is exactly how it now is with my boat.

I gave my own boat the same name as the canoe we had at that time, Hakuren VI. I could not register it with the same name or even write it in on the hull, but to me any name other than "Hakuren No.VI" was unthinkable.

Because I had left at a speed bordering on the limits of common sense, I arrived at the junction of the waterway to Matsukaze village in no time. I temporarily stopped the boat. During the day, several ships had been keeping watch over this place, but perhaps because it was already close to midnight, only a single ship remained here. A watch fire was burning atop the ship, but I could see no sign of any people.

I did not have the time to take a detour by land as we had during the day. There was no choice but to break through here. Once more, I slowly began to advance. Concentrating every ounce of my Jyuryoku, I devoted myself entirely to erasing the sound of my wake. The Hakuren VI advancing as though gliding on the light, pa.s.sed below the entry prohibited rope.

If someone on the ship showed their face now, everything would be over.

I held my breath until I was confident that the Hakuren VI"s shape had completely sunk away into the darkness from that vantage point.

Those on the guard boat probably a.s.sumed that no one would even try to violate the ban and enter Matsukaze village. Were that not the case, it is certain that breaking through the watch point so easily would not have been possible.

Quietly cruising along, the Hakuren VI soon encountered a second boundary, and pa.s.sed below the Sacred Rope of the Holy Barrier. At this location, no guard ships remained at all.

Illuminated by the moonlight, I could see two large pine trees directly in front of me. It seemed I was arriving at a place close to the central area. Peering into the darkness, I could make out the shadows of the houses lined up along the bank, but Matsukaze village, all of it"s lighting having died away seemed to have changed into a no-man"s-land.

I turned North, entering another waterway.

I did not have a good understanding of Shun"s exact whereabouts. However, I did have a rough estimate of what direction to go in. The location of Shun"s home was at the northern edge of Matsukaze village. If I were to make a cabin in a place wherein the surrounding area contained no people and moved myself into it, there was a strong possibility that I would also avoid pa.s.sing through heart of the village, or other villages where many people lived. If I had headed directly north, I would likely not have crossed the Holy Barrier at all. As far as the direction, I could get by as long as I had a compa.s.s. The problem however, was knowing how far to go in that direction.

Having gone about 500 meters down the narrow waterway I came to a stop. Coming across a small dock with quite a few boats present, I moored the Hakuren VI at post recessed into the wall of the waterway and disembarked. On the way, a splendid looking torch affixed to one of the ships caught my eye. Unlike the pine wood we always used, it was made from torn bamboo tied together to make a tube, and packed with old rags, straw, magnesium wire and such fuel. Igniting it by Jyuryoku, it lit up to produce a beautiful flame, suddenly opening up my field of vision.

Although I was unfamiliar with the exact layout of Matsukaze village, and had only a rough idea of my present location, I continued heading North.

Walking along the street, the things illuminated by my torch were literally in ruins. Only a short amount of time should have pa.s.sed since Matsukaze village"s residents had evacuated. In spite of this, trash and sc.r.a.p were scattered about along the road and all of the buildings looked seriously rotted.

However when forced to pause in such an ominous neighborhood, I was quickly hit with an anxiety attack.

Because the torchlight"s intensity was too weak to illuminate the area completely, my field of vision was limited to a sphere of a few meters. The road continued into a field the end of which I could not clearly make out. On the other hand, the form of me walking along with that dazzling torch could probably be seen from as much as a few kilometers away.

Feeling a sense of foreboding hinting at danger, with great effort I acted against my instinctive desire not to let go of the light in my possession. I wanted to useJyuryoku to weaken the light enough to see the other side, but while brightening the flame or extinguishing it completely would be easy, dimming it while preserving a moderate amount was something I understood to be next to impossible.

I picked up a withered pine branch that happened to be laying near my feet. With this I should be able to constantly maintain a small source of light. While thinking it would have been better to choose such a thing from the start, I extinguished the torch.

For a moment, my field of vision was plunged into complete darkness within which red and green scribble like patterns danced about.

After that, I ignited the end of the pine branch.

Before my eyes, was a large black cat.

That is not to say that it was larger than should be expected. Just as Maria had said, the animal"s body length was about that of a lion. It had an exceedingly long neck and limbs, and a relatively small head that was still about as large as a leopards. It"s eyes glittered in the phosph.o.r.escent light at a height not particularly different from that of my own.

Purring contentedly from deep in its throat as it approached, the black cat stretched up and took hold of my shoulders.

In the time that I was taken aback unable to think, it bit down on my neck with its large mouth.

The cat"s fangs made the slightest of grating sounds. My mind went completely blank as though trapped by hypnotism, and I was unable to recite my Mantra.

Was this, an Impure Cat?...... Fragments of such thoughts ran through my terror-numbed brain.

I vaguely felt the sensations of its hot breath disturbing my hair, and it"s drool sluggishly flowing along my neck. The ammonia-like stink characteristic of the felines made my nose curl.

After that, I felt myself still beginning to regain control of my senses.

The ImpureCat"s fangs tightened on my neck with tremendous force, but my carotid artery was not stopping. It was the anti-cat Good Luck Charm given to me by Shun. The st.u.r.dy collar of thick leather woven through metal hoops protected the blood flow to my brain, allowing me to avoid loosing consciousness.

The instant I returned to myself, I reflexively muttered my mantra.

I attempted to pry open the jaws of the ImpureCat that solidly gripped my neck. It seemed that its upper and lower fangs were held in place by some kind of lock joint jaw structure that would not easily open but, boosting my strength with the limitless power of Jyuryoku, it came apart with a hateful sound of cracking bone. With theImpureCat"s shattered lower jaw dangling loosely below it"s head, my neck was finally free.

Taking a few steps back, I help up the flaming pine branch. Illuminated by the small flame, the ImpureCat"s features were fully visible to me. Glaring at me with its large eyes, its throat produced a menacing sound reminiscent of that made by a snake. Quite a lot of blood was trickling down the Saber-Tooth Tiger like upper jaw fangs that had just been gripping my neck.

I visualized two burly arms like those of "Two guardian Deva kings" in the air before me. With one arm gripping the ImpureCat"s neck, and the other firmly grasping its body, they twisted it as though wringing out a towel. Its cervical vertebrae broke with a dry cracking sound. After a violent full-body convulsion, the ImpureCat"s body became completely still.

I sat down for a short while my breathing rough. I was unable to stop the tears from flowing. I examined my aching neck by touch and, even that st.u.r.dy collar seemed to have been crushed. The deformed metal fixtures would not come unfastened so I forcibly tore it off using Jyuryoku.

After that, I finally forced myself to stand up and went over to confirm the ImpureCat"s body. It was a perfectly matched descriptions of the TricksterCat pa.s.sed down in schoolyard stories. Its body was approximately three meters long. Its slim physique was comparable to that of a Lion or Tiger with abnormally long neck and limbs. At a glance, its facial structure would have been identical to that of a house cat but for the mouth torn far to the back.

I examined the fangs jutting out of its arching large mouth by touch. They seemed to be at least fifteen centimeters long. They had a rough texture like that of sharkskin, with an elliptical cross-sectional shape. The structure seemed such that they could normally be concealed by folding up into the upper jaw. One point in which it differed from the Saber-Tooth Tiger was that its lower jaw also possessed fangs of a similar length. Both the upper and lower fangs had rounded ends. These were not used to pierce the prey, but to hold the neck and apply pressure to the carotid artery, making the prey faint before killing it by strangulation.

I could only think of one reason for a creature to kill by such a method. In accordance with the legend of the TricksterCat carrying off children, it would leave no blood at the scene, and by carrying off the victim"s corpse, would eliminate all evidence of their having been killed. However I looked at it, I could think of no other reason than that the ImpureCats had been created specifically to kill humans.

I vomited by the side of the road. Despite being this big, I nevertheless felt a physiological sense of disgust facing the fact that I had killed another warm-blooded creature. However, more so than that, I was undergoing a serious shock at the knowledge of this cursed living thing"s existence.

After walking for a little more than an hour, I finally arrived at Shun"s home, which was shaped like the edge of a half-buried mortar. I had to hurry. From my chest to my underwear and even my socks, I was soaked with not only sweat, but the ImpureCat"s sticky saliva. More so than the cold, I was bothered by the terribly disgusting feeling of it but, regrettably, I did not have the time to stop and dry myself off.

Nearly being killed earlier had taught me a lesson, and I no longer carried a light. If ones eyes are adapted to the light, and that light is extinguished, ones eyesight is s.n.a.t.c.hed away completely. This being the case, even if one can only see imperfectly, it is better to be adapted to the darkness.

Though watching the compa.s.s intently to continue heading north, my confidence that I was going in the correct direction, came from the sight of a spiderweb that stood out in the dim moonlight. The mesh pattern was distorted, and at some parts, features resembling human faces and letters were visible. Though I did not know it at that time, in such situations, the part of the natural world most susceptible, where mutations first become apparent, is in the webs of spiders.

Furthermore, starting near where I crossed the Holy Barrier, the deformation of the surrounding trees began to become striking. It was as though it were an area where strong winds blow all year round, causing most of the trees to twist and lean in a single direction.

Starting a short while earlier, I had begun to be attacked by vague feelings of anxiety and discomfort.

‘I want to turn back.’
‘Right now, I want to run away from here.’
That was the voice of instinct.
I felt that I did not want to linger in this place for even a single second.

But, thinking about Shun, I desperately encouraged myself.
‘I must not allow myself to turn back now.’
The only person able to help him, was none other than myself.

Somehow or other, I continued advancing. Upon closer inspection, the strangely twisted vegetation also served the role of guideposts. I had the feeling that, were I able to see the entire forest as a whole, it would be twisted into a whirlpool-like shape. If that were the case, Shun must be at the heart of it.

The trees, countless tentacles possessing demonic octopus like silhouette were transforming into. I constantly crawl forward continuing, those tentacles as though beckoned to, hastened my steps.

Without my noticing, a dense milk-like fog had descended upon my surroundings. Now, however much I might strain my eyes, I could not see more than 10 centimeters in front of me. I could constantly hear what sounded like a voice whispering in my ear. The wind sounded like a laughing voice from which I was sometimes able to hear words but, could never make out their meaning.

The information I was receiving from all five of my senses seemed degenerate, becoming increasingly vague. Even the sensation of the ground beneath my feet became strangely soft, airy, and unreliable. Without my realizing, the compa.s.s"s needle had begun spinning round and round in circles.

Before long, my vision had become entirely ineffective. I could no longer even distinguish whether it was dark or light, and lost my sense of direction entirely.

Where, exactly is this place?

I was. .h.i.t with an intense headache. I felt as though a vice were tightening around my head. Eventually, the act of thinking itself became difficult. I was unable to move from that spot. But now, even my bodily sensations seemed to be vanishing and, I could no longer even tell if I was standing or sitting.

Where exactly is this?

"Shun! Where are you?"

I cried out in a loud voice.

In the moment that my own voice reached my ears, my senses worked clearly but, immediately after became hazy again. In this situation, as I wondered if my mind had gone somewhere far away, I was able to hear a voice.

"Saki! what are you doing in this kind of place?"

"I don"t know. I"m not even sure where here is......"

In the next moment, the mist that had been obscuring my vision disappeared as though somehow absorbed. While beneath my feet, the firm ground was restored.

"Shun!"

I could see a young man standing at a spot about 20 meters from me. For some reason, he was wearing one of the "Masks of Purity" worn by the Shinshi in the Tsuinaceremony but, when I heard his voice, I knew without a doubt that it was my dear Shun.

"You mustn"t come to a place like this. Return home, quickly."

"No way!"

I shook my head.

"Have a look at this"

Shun, pointed to the ground. At first, I could not see what he was pointing at in the darkness, but our surroundings began glowing with a faint luminescence, allowing me to clearly see the countless bugs wriggling about on ground.

Every one of them had some remarkable abnormality. Various sized moths had wings reduced to withered networks of eye shapes, while their bodies were strangely bloated such that there was honestly no way they could fly. A TrashBug looked as though it were walking on stilts, random limbs having become absurdly long and, with the left side longer than the left, could not walk straight, instead going round and round tracing a large circle. Another bizarre case was a centipede. It"s head and tail had been fused forming a sad looking complete loop. It"s countless legs flailed about trying to walk, but could do no more than rotate around in place.

"If you don"t want to end up like them, get out of here right now."

"No."

I firmly stated.

"Give me an Explanation. What in the world is going on? I"m not moving an inch from this place without that much."

"Don"t be stupid!"

Shun said sharply.

"Stupid is fine by me. I came all the way out to this place for the sole reason of helping you. Along the way, I was nearly killed when attacked by an ImpureCat." I said in a choked voice.

"You encountered a cat?"

"Yes, I only survived thanks to the Good Luck Charm I received from you. But, there is probably another cat out there."

"I see....."

Shun said with a deep sigh.

"I understand. 10 Minutes. You can stay here, but only for 10 minutes. I"ll explain as best I can in that time. But, when that time is up, you must return home."

Having no other option but to continue arguing here, I nodded in agreement.

With that, our surroundings were suddenly bathed in illumination as though stage lights had been turned on. As I looked up, an Aurora appeared spanning the entire sky. Pale green light formed a shape reminiscent of an enormous curtain draped across the sky, while red, pink, and violet lights spread out above it.

"How did.....? Shun, Is this your doing?

I knew for a fact that the Aurora was a phenomenon unique to the areas surrounding the North and South Magnetic Poles. The details regarding things called Solar Wind and Plasma were beyond my understanding but, a stunt such as summoning an Aurora anywhere in j.a.pan, let alone the Kanto region, was a feat no one but Kaburagi Shisei should have been capable of.

"......In light of how you were attacked by an ImpureCat on the way, we should probably withdraw. Shall we talk in the bungalow?"

Shun gestured to a small building standing behind him with his chin. I hadn"t even noticed its existence until that moment. Illuminated by the dim light of the Aurora, the entirety of the cabin was strangely distorted, as though I were seeing it through a crude lens. Looking from the outside, one could easily notice the bent pillars and twisted beams. Furthermore, individual long pieces of hay from the thatched roof were standing on end as if to defy gravity, giving the structure the appearance of an angry porcupine.

"How did this house end up in such a strange condition?"

"Even this is merely what was left after my continuing attempts to restore its original form."

Shun went inside through the distorted door. I followed soon after.

"Ten minutes..... I should at least be able to suppress it for that long."

Numerous Hachib.a.l.l.s[2] that had been rolling about the floor rose into the air. Suddenly, the s.p.a.ce around us was filled with noisy buzzing, as though we had entered a beehive.

"What are these noisy things?"

"There"s no other choice. Just put up with them for a short while."

Crossing the dreary room, Shun sat down facing a large wooden table. The tables corners were all warped, creating a terribly uneven surface upon which were 10 or so books and many sheaves of paper.

"Would you like to sit down as well?"

He said, offering me a chair sitting on the opposite side of the room. I shook my head, looking around at the room"s interior. Everywhere I looked, wood and stone that should originally have been solid seemed to have become weak and flexible. Looking at it all was only getting on my nerves, and even my sense of reality seemed to be growing weaker.

"Where should I begin, I wonder if that"s okay. ......All problems, arise from the human mind."

Not understanding what Shun was even talking about, I raised my eyebrow.

"Out of the whole of the human mind, the thing called consciousness is like the tip of an iceberg. The subconscious portion beneath the surface of the water is so much larger as to be beyond comparison. As a result, the mechanisms behind one"s own thoughts and emotions are beyond understanding by any means.

"I didn"t come here to listen to a psychology lecture. What I want to know, is what is happening to you."

"That is exactly what I was just trying to explain." Shun said in a m.u.f.fled voice.

"Hey, why are you wearing that mask? Take it off. Won"t you feel more at easy that way?"

"No way" Shun said curtly.

"We don"t have time to worry about that. ......alright? However we might try, Humans cannot completely control their own emotions. Even if you achieved perfect control of your conscious mind, things completely unknown to you are still happening in your subconscious. Our Jyuryoku is the most obvious manifestation of this.

"What do you mean?"

"When one initiates a physical action, there are several stages between picturing the action in the mind and it"s actual occurrence. Motivation is transmitted from the subconscious, but before action is taken, it must pa.s.s through the domain of the conscious, allowing one to stop or correct the action in accordance with reason and logic. However, in the case of Jyuryoku, the impetus and implementation of an action can be said to occur almost simultaneously. Because of this, there is too little time to make corrections if a mistake is made."

"But, don"t all of us abide by the chosen process, calling a clearly defined image into mind, and then invoking Jyuryoku to put it into action?"

"Even that image, despite having been clarified by the conscious, still contains elements shrouded in the darkness of the subconscious."

I got the feeling that the pitch of many buzzing Hachib.a.l.l.s floating about the room had increased slightly.

"I don"t understand what you"re talking about. Even if an image unknown to oneself exists within the mind, it must surpa.s.s a powerful restraint before its manifestation. If ones Mantra is not recited, Jyuryoku cannot be invoked."

"You don"t understand. However much rigid control we try to impose through the use of Mantras and (Hypnotic)Suggestion, Once a gateway is opened to the subconscious, leakage occurs without fail."

"Leakage?"

"Ah. Jyuryoku, always leaks out to some extent. In some sense, we are constantly altering the world around us as our subconscious mind commands."

"Such a.......!"

I was rendered speechless. What a stupid idea I began thinking but, then realized I could not come up with any reb.u.t.tal.

"Saki, for what purpose exactly did you think that the "Holy Barrier" existed for? Do you think that "Sacred Shrine Rope" will do any good against something attacking from the outside?"

"I don"t know. What are you trying to say?"

My mind had been through into a state of confusion.

"The Holy Barrier was not created to deal with outside enemies, but those that come from within. The enemy in this situation, is our own constantly leaking Jyuryoku. Considering Fiends or Karmic Demons, what we truly fear is that which comes from within ourselves."

Shun"s voice was calm but, the Hachib.a.l.l.s that had been rotating in place began to sway irregularly within the air.

"Of course, this leaking Jyuryoku is normally quite faint so, it isn"t something one needs to worry about over short periods of time. But, if exposed to the thoughts of many people over a long period of time, the extent of their influence becomes unfathomable. That is why, no matter what, it must be directed outward."

"How?"

From repet.i.tion starting at a very young age, a fear of facing the outside world is inserted in our minds, reaching even the subconscious. This enormous image of a world of darkness, comes to resonate with the other dark s.p.a.ce that exists within our subconscious minds. By creating a direct link between the subconscious and the outside world within the mind, leaking Jyuryoku is directed to the outside of the Holy Barrier. The Holy Barrier is a mental tool that exists so that "Impurity", or LeakedJyuryoku, will be released outside.

The things Shun spoke of were difficult, not at all something that I could easily comprehend.

"......Then, what happens to this Jyuryoku that is released outside?"

"It probably has a variety of effects on the surrounding area. But since no one has ever seriously investigated it, I can"t say anything for certain."

As Shun extended his hand, a large group of "Hachib.a.l.l.s" slowly began patrolling the inside of the room.

"But, I think that fact solves some puzzles as well. Minoshiro"s for instance. A mere thousand years ago, nothing remotely like them existed. When considering the time scale on which Evolution operates, 1000 years ago might as well be yesterday. The Minoshiro"s ancestors were perhaps, some variety of sea slug that lived in the ocean but, how could they possibly have evolved into such large life forms in so short a period of time?"

"Are you saying that the Jyuryoku that leaked out from us, created the Minoshiros?"

"Not just the Minoshiros. TigerCrabs and probably HayThatchers as well. I briefly looked through a picture book of the new life forms of the last 1000 years. Such nonsensically rapid acceleration of evolution seems to begin only in a very limited set of locations, around the edges of Holy Barriers."

The things Shun was saying, were so overly extraordinary, that I was unable to suddenly believe it.

"......However, shouldn"t leaked Jyuryoku be no more than a collection of scattered thoughts? How could those produce something with so coherent and consistent a form as Minoshiros?"

"In the Human Collective Unconscious, there exist a great number of things with similar forms as though born from a common template. In Jungian Psychology, these are called Archetypes. The Shadow, the Great Mother, the Wise Old Man, or the Trickster to name some examples. Many common characters can be found in legends from around the world, which is exactly the result the theory of Archetypes predicts. If you look into what kind of Archetypal influence the Minoshiro orHayThatcher might have been born from, you will find some very interesting things."

I considered the things I had just heard, but was unsure if I understood it sufficiently or not.

"I don"t have any idea if that theory is correct or not. However, honestly speaking, I don"t particularly care. What I want to know, is what exactly is happening to you!"

Shun was silent.

"Shun. You......."

At that moment, something came waddling unsteadily towards us from a corner of the room. I did not recognize the thing at all as it first came into my view. I screamed in reaction to it.

"It"s alright. It"s just Subaru."

Shun went to Subaru"s side and gently stroked his chin.

"How? What was done to Subaru?"

"Nothing...... I, truly, did not want to do anything."

The Hachib.a.l.l.s went flying about the room as if they had gone mad but, became tranquil again as Shun looked up.

"Do you understand. This is a result of what is happening to me."

The entire surface of Subaru"s back was covered in a hard carapace with spiny protrusions, giving him the look of some monstrous armadillo.

"I can no longer stop the leakage of my Jyuryoku. In addition to that, it"s grown steadily more intense and difficult to control. As a result of my subconscious running wild, abnormal Jyuryoku leakage is having a destructive influence on everything around me, often transforming things grotesquely. It"s called Hashimoto-Appelbam Syndrome. I have become a Karmic Demon."

"That...... That can"t be true!" I cried out.

"Terrible though it may be, it"s the truth."

Shun, while being careful not to touch the spines, took Subaru into his arms.

"All of these books are Cla.s.s 4. Every bit of it knowledge that should have been eternally consigned to oblivion. They"re usually stored in a secret bas.e.m.e.nt below the library for safekeeping. Your Mother specially lent them to me."

"My Mother did?"

"To acquire knowledge regarding the phenomenon of becoming a Karmic Demon, the only thing one can do is read these books. These represent everything we know about the topic."

The stained covers of the tomes all had the brand indicating a Cla.s.s 4 Doc.u.ment. The first type are marked "訞,"* meaning Doubtful Words. The second type, "烖,"* mean Catastrophe. Those most dangerous books belonging to the third type "殃," are considered Divine Catastrophe. Censure. Things that must thereby result in death. ***

"In exchange for being allowed to borrow these books, I agreed to continue entering my own experiences. Before long, I suppose my name will be included within these as the newest case."

"Don"t say that kind of thing! Before that, a Treatment? What can we do to help you?"

"A treatment for this, does not currently exist."

Shun put Subaru back down. Subaru at this point waddled his way over to me.

"It was at first thought that Hashimoto-Appelbam Syndrome might be connected to Schizophrenia but, that has since been refuted. The things that occur within the brain, if anything, seem close to some form of Panic Disorder."

Shun"s tone sounded disinterested, as though he were talking about someone else.

"When a firm reality exists as a fixed thing, medical treatment is usually possible for delusions and morbid fears. But, in situations where reality itself is being transformed in accordance with the shifts in that unstable mind, it seems there is no longer anything that can be done. The boundary between delusions and reality decays in a sort of negative feedback loop, becoming a vicious circle. Moreover, all of this is happening at a subconscious level, so there is no way to deal with it."

"Couldn"t your Jyuryoku be sealed again?"

"Sealing as we know it, only prevents the conscious use of Jyuryoku, and doesn"t seem to have any effect on what leaks out subconsciously. Nevertheless, to be sure that attaching psychological bonds wouldn"t in some way reduce Jyuryoku leakage, I had Priest Mushin perform a sealing technique on me. In the end, It didn"t seem to have any effect. My Jyuryoku is, how to say it... like a container with a broken lid that cannot ever be sealed again.”

I was both terrified and amazed.

"Then, is it possible that...... your Jyuryoku cannot be sealed again because, I made some kind of mistake in the method I used to restore it before?

Back at that time, unlike Satoru, Shun"s level of consciousness had not decreased, leaving him aware that he was trapped by hypnotism. Moreover, he had already remembered his Mantra.*** By releasing the forced seal under these circ.u.mstances, I may have completely annihilated the (Hypnotic) Anchor* that had been buried within his mind.

"No. Like I said before, from the very start, we never expected sealing to be particularly effective. Saki. This isn"t your fault."

I broke into tears. I could do nothing but gently stroke Subaru"s chin after he made his way to my feet.

"10 minutes is almost up. It would be best if you left soon." I shook my head while still crying.

"If the time period is kept short, I know that I can suppress the abnormal leakage for a while. It"s somewhat simplistic but, if I devote every bit of Jyuryoku that I have at some task that requires concentration, things are okay. During that time, almost no aberrations occur. I am currently manipulating 700 Hachib.a.l.l.s in order to keep this from affecting you. However, I can only keep this up for 10 minutes, maybe 15 at most. My concentration is weakening as I tire, and I don"t know when I will begin to loose control......"

"No! I won"t leave! I"m staying with you."

"Saki. I, because of this disease, have already caused the death of both my parents."

Shun"s words pierced my heart.

"My parents were trying to find some way to help me. But, there was nothing that they could do. I was trying to somehow suppress my rampaging Jyuryoku by pure force of will but, that turned out to be the worst possible thing to do. Eventually, the recoil that came was all the stronger for it."

"Shun......"

"I was thinking the house might be rattling and, the ground abruptly liquified, swallowing up each of the surrounding homes. What saved me, was probably one of my parents, using their Jyuryoku to immediately throw me out of the house."

Shun, choked off a cry under the mask.

"That"s why, I want you to leave. I"m begging you. I don"t want to watch any more of the people I love dying for my sake."

I slowly stood up. Despair and helplessness weighing down on me.

I, could not save Shun.

I, could not do anything.

I......

Opening the door, I looked back at Shun.

"Shun. Isn"t there anything that I can do for you?"

Shun shook his head.

Suddenly, an enormous creature slipped past my side as it entered the cabin.

It was a grey tiger-stripe patterned ImpureCat, significantly larger than the Black Cat I encountered before. Taking no notice of me, it headed directly for Shun while purring from deep in it"s throat.

While facing down its opponent with a sharp glint in its eye so as to render him unable to move, it simultaneously approached at a calm pace, projecting a complete lack of hostility by the sound from its throat. Humans who simultaneously received these contradictory messages, become unable to quickly determine how best to react. This Technique that the ImpureCats make use of when hunting people was called a "Double Bind" (two fold restriction).*

Having already once experienced this trick meant to throw one off balance, I quickly regained my senses. I promptly recited my Mantra.

"Saki. Stop!"

Shun"s voice resounded.

"It"s alright already......"

Shun"s words left me unable to move. What should I do? There was no way that I could do nothing and just watch as Shun was killed. But......

The 3-5 meter long "ImpureCat" stretched up as though to kiss Shun, opening its large mouth. I began invoking my Jyuryoku.

In that same moment. With a dreadful howl, Subaru came charging out of nowhere.

With barely a glance, the ImpureCat landed a single blow on Subaru with it"s right forelimb. It"s razor-sharp claws tore open Subaru"s back, spraying blood into the air. However, possibly thanks to his hard spiny carapace, the wound was not fatal. On the contrary, Subaru"s vigor did not decline one bit. He sprang back into action, aiming straight for the ImpureCat"s windpipe. The ImpureCat made to dodge with an agility unfitting its enormous size but, Subaru managed to bite onto the leg of the cat more than 10 times his own size.

Even now, I still don"t know exactly what happened. Was it that the ferocious character instilled in Bulldogs by the acc.u.mulation of so long a period of selective breeding had not vanished after all? In truth, as far as I know, when barked at, or even when snarled or snapped at by another dog, Subaru always maintained a "it"s no concern of mine" kind of att.i.tude. It would not even be an exaggeration to say that I had never seen him in an ill humor.

Who knows what on earth arose in Subaru at that time in spite of this. How were his ancestors" patented blood stained combat instincts so suddenly revived.

Subaru"s appearance as he savagely rushed to attack his opponent, knowing the fight could only end in his death, was the perfect image of the legendary strongest fighting dogs that would take on bulls and bears far stronger than themselves.*

Clenching his powerful jaws, Subaru swung his head back and forth.

But no matter how deeply he might bury his fangs into his opponent"s body, there was no way he could kill it like this.

The ImpureCat cried out in pain. But, the cat created specifically to prey on humans, also had far more than average cunning. Using its bitten forepaw in conjunction with the other, it twisted Subaru, skillfully flipping him upside down.

"Stop It!"

At the same moment that I screamed, the ImpureCat"s knife-like claws cut Subarus soft abdomen wide open.

The series of events that followed this, were things that I would never have expected could happen in reality.

It"s limbs spread outward, the ImpureCat rose nearly to the ceiling like some great flying squirrel. While bearing all 18 of its claws and wiggling its four upper and lower fangs, it gave forth a furious menacing sound but, its body remained rigid as though attached to a cross.

Countless gleaming and sparkling Crystal-like objects materialized in the area surrounding it. The crystals began adhering to the ImpureCat and, in a twinkle its body was entirely shrouded with them.

More and more of the crystals fused together, forming a single jewel-like translucent form that began shining with a dazzling light.

Then, abruptly, the ImpureCat vanished completely into thin air.

The surrounding air swirled inward to fill the vacuum that had suddenly appeared.

I wonder what exactly it was that Shun did. The only thing I can think of is that the ImpureCat was somehow whisked away to some other dimension.

Jyuryoku that allows us to move objects without touching them may, in some sense, transcend physical law. However, in general, one cannot manifest any phenomenon that cannot be clearly imagined.

Having become a Karmic Demon, the door to Shun"s subconscious had been opened. Even given so short a time, who knows what kind of unimaginable abilities he might already have learned.

Returning to his senses, Shun knealt before the remains of his dog.

"Poor thing......"

Subaru had already stopped breathing. A large pool of warm blood spread out across the floor. The ImpureCat"s claws had torn open the Bulldog from his heart to his abdomen.

"Shun"

I suqatted down by his side.

"Subaru tried his hardest to save me. Despite the fact that there was no way he could make any real difference."

Shun said in a subdued voice.

"I"ve tried to leave him behind many times. But, no matter what, he found his way back. ......No, in truth, it may have been me that was lonely. If Subaru had gone away, I"d have been completely alone after all."

Shun gently stroked Subaru"s chin.

"I should have made up my mind sooner. Because I dragged things out for so long, Subaru ended up in this sad state."

"It"s not your fault Shun."

I said with all of my might.

"Even that cat didn"t really do anything wrong. It just came to complete my disposal as it was commanded. ......I made the decisions about the things that I need to do, just a little bit too late."

Shun pointed at a cupboard on the edge of the wall.

"There were a bunch of bottles full of pills in there. I received them just before coming here. They contained a mixture of various kinds of poisons. A somewhat cruel parting gift don"t you think?"

In which case, had the adults confronting Shun been urging him to end his own life? Even thinking that, by now, what sentiments had not already sprung forth.*** With so many overly Shocking things having happened in rapid succession, my sensitivity might have been dulled into a torpor.

"I"m glad that you didn"t take such things. It"s best just to throw them away."

"I took them."

"Eh?"

"However, they didn"t work. I waited too long to decide. It seems that molecular poisons are easy to detoxify. But, I was quite surprised that even a.r.s.enic had come to be ineffective.[3] It may be that my Shadow, my subconscious saying it doesn"t want to die, may even have trans.m.u.ted chemical elements."[4]

I silently took Shun"s hand between my own.

"......seems like it"s coming"

Shun muttered alone.

"What"s coming?"

"Saki. Leave this place, Quickly"

Shun stood up, pulling me along by the hand.

With a thumping sound, the house rattled violently. The Hachib.a.l.l.s which had at some point ended up rolling about the floor, flew upward, oscillating wildly, then clattered back down.

"It"s the same as that time. When my home sank into the ground..... It"s laughable isn"t it? it"s almost too much like a Blessing Spirit. This one however, far from granting a blessing, is instead a messenger of death."

Shun pushed on my back..

"Come on, Hurry!"

I intended to resist but, Shun didn"t give me any choice.

"This time around, I"m going to end it. I"ve delayed too long already."

Before my eyes, what should have been a solid earthen wall was flexibly deforming as it began to shake. Bubble like things appeared and vanished one after another. By sight alone it was an insane seeming spectacle. Once again, an intense headache began to come upon me.

"Saki"

Shun said in a peaceful sounding voice as he pushed me out the door. The "Mask of Purity" he was wearing slowly began to melt, despite not even being warm.

"I"ve always loved you."

"Why are you saying something like that now? Shun! I......"

"Farewell"

In the next moment, I found myself floating several hundred meters above the ground. Beneath me, I could see Shun"s bungalow illuminated by the moonlight.

As far as I could see, the Earth"s surface had sunk into a bowl-like shape.

Facing the place where the bungalow has been, I saw a landslide like wave of earth and sand advancing from the circular perimeter. The sounds of every tree in the area being uprooted combined to form a single tearing sound like a low frequency vibration in the ground.

This terrible end of the world like scene continued steadily far into the distance. I realized that my own body was tracing a large parabola as I flew backwards through the air. My jacket fluttered about me, caught in the tempestuous wind. My Barrette was blown off, my hair trailing me through the night sky.

Striking somewhere and dying like this might not be so bad a way to go. Succ.u.mbing to such thoughts, I closed my eyes. But opened them again immediately afterwards. Shun had used the very last of his power to save me.

I must live on.

I felt the furious wind on my face as I reorienting to face forward but, still did not close my eyes. My tears were immediately blown away behind me.

My landing spot seemed to be an open meadow. I wondered if Shun had aimed at this spot as he threw me free from so far away.

Slowly, the ground drew closer before me.

Slowly, as though still in the middle of watching some long dream.