NOVEL NEXT Book 13:Epilogue
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Epilogue
“──I’m back.”
It was a mysterious space.
Numerous galaxies drifted through space, and the activities of people from various worlds continued to flow at the feet as if they were video images.
In the center of the space, there was an oddly shaped being.
“Juru….gujuru…”
First of all, can it be described as a body?
The spherical object was entangled with numerous tentacle-like tubes that pulsate like blood vessels.
Suddenly, a portion of the tubes extended into a galaxy drifting in space and pierced it, and then, as if sucked up with a straw, the galaxy disappeared.
The sucked-in galaxy is absorbed directly into the sphere through the tube of the oddly shaped being.
And then──.
“…Aahh… It was delicious.”
Suddenly, the strange creature spoke a human language.
Not paying any attention to this eerie situation, the masked man continued to speak.
“That’s very good to hear.”
“So, what happened?”
The man replied to the strange creature’s question.
“Well… It was a failure.”
“Hmm… that spiritual or mystical power is a power that even I could not obtain. So I had high hopes for it… but that’s all it was?”
“Yes. I thought there was no need to use him as a pawn.”
“Well, that’s all right. What about that world?”
“About that… it’s a little strange there, too…”
“Strange?”
“Yes. The pawn fought against another him in another parallel world, but that being was more powerful than the pawn, and on top of that, he was using an unknown power.”
“Hou?”
The strange creature listened to the man’s story with interest.
Then, suddenly, the tentacles and tubes that were entangled around the sphere began to converge and were sucked into the sphere more and more.
Then the sphere shrank more and more as if compressed and eventually became as small as the size of the masked man in front of it.
From there, the sphere transformed its shape and eventually changed into a humanoid form.
Gradually, the sphere transformed into a head, face, body, arms, and legs, and finally into a bald-headed, muscular man.
“The unknown power… This is also a world worth taking from. I hope I can take it away next time…”
Thus, an unknown threat crept into the world of Yuuya and the others from the shadows.
＊＊＊
While Yuya was fighting his other self, Meiko was cleaning the storage room of his house.
“T-this is… tremendous, isn’t it?”
From the perspective of Meiko, who had originally been sealed in the underworld for a long time and who, because of her origins, had acquired a great deal of knowledge from the great sinners, the storage room in Yuuya’s house was filled with extraordinary items.
“…W-what is this space…?”
“…After all, even from your point of view, it looks amazing.”
“Oh, Kuuya-sama!”
While Meiko was overwhelmed by the presence emanating from the storage room, Kuuya also came to the storage room to see what was happening.
“I was originally resurrected from a scroll on a shelf in this room… I thought I was going to faint when I resurrected!”
“T-to that extent?”
“That’s right. Just as I woke up, I was suddenly exposed to an immense rush of power that I had no idea about. It would be impossible not to be surprised.”
“I-I see… I can also understand things related to spiritual or mystical power…”
After saying this, Meiko turned her gaze toward a coffin that looked as if a pharaoh was sleeping inside.
“…That’s got contents in it, doesn’t it?”
“There must be something in it. It is certainly a man of tremendous mystical power.”
From the two people who could sense mystical power, the mystical power emanating from the coffin was extraordinary.
However…
“The frightening thing is that even the mystical power that can be felt from that coffin is only a small part of the power that swirls around this room…”
“What in the world is in there, including that coffin, and if you carelessly touch it, you will not only end up with serious injuries.”
“Y-you’re right. There are many forces that we don’t understand… I really wanted to clean it, but I think it’s better not to touch it.”
“That would be the wisest thing to do.”
The two of them then left the storage room.
──At that moment, however, they did not notice that the coffin had moved slightly.
As they exited the room, Meiko suddenly remembered something.
“By the way, the things in that room were collected by Master’s grandfather, weren’t they?”
“That’s what I heard.”
“Master too, but don’t you feel anything when you look at that room…?”
Anyone with a slight amount of magical or spiritual power would be terrified by the torrent of power swirling around the storage room, and even those without any power would be able to sense some discomfort.
But Yuuya and Yuunosuke, who built the room, did not seem bothered by it at all.
“I don’t know about Yuuya, but I know Yuunosuke when I actually met him in the underworld. He is──terribly dull.”
“Eh?”
The unexpected words startled Meiko.
Then Kuuya continued as if he, too, was taken aback.
“I was surprised too, but I can only say that it is true. After all, Yuunosuke has no power at all. He had a little mystical power when he died, but like the rest of the dead, he had only gained it from being dead. He is an ordinary being in every aspect… That is Yuunosuke.”
“H-huh…”
“However, that normality is extraordinary. Where others could sense the strangeness of that room, he could not sense any of it. That’s why I said he was terribly dull.”
“I-I see…”
“In any case, thanks to his dullness, my scroll was placed in that room, and in a roundabout way, you, Meiko, too… was saved. You never know what life has to offer.”
Meiko could only nod her head in response to Kuuya as he concluded so sincerely.
＊＊＊
Meanwhile, at the same time, in another world…
“The time is here.”
A few days have passed since the “Heavenly Sacred Festival,” and several new Holy has joined the ranks of Katana Saint, Shu.
He finally decided that there was no point in waiting any longer and began to make his move.
“Now, let’s get started. The management of humanity──”
──And again, a sense of disquiet began to emerge in the other world as well.
Year of Rabbit Commemorative Special Edition: Usagi’s Daily Life
(──Hah!)
The Inceral Forest is one of several danger zones in the world.
The hot and humid climate in this region is relentless in its deprivation of the physical strength of the creatures that visit it.
In such a harsh region, Usagi was silently unleashing his kicks and kicking away the approaching monsters.
“Kikiiiiiiii!”
(How naive!)
A powerful kick, unimaginable from his small stature, exploded into the belly of a giant mantis-shaped monster… [Killer Mantis] that was well over five meters long.
The Killer Mantis that received Usagi’s kick exploded around its belly.
However, this Killer Mantis, which operated in packs, wasn’t just accepting being beaten up unilaterally.
Even after their comrades were killed, the other individuals in the pack began to move to finish off Usagi cold-bloodedly.
The scythe that was swung down at Usagi easily slashed through the surrounding trees as it moved forward.
(It’s got to be that way…!)
At first glance, Usagi, who was smiling with a ferocious smile, was not unlike a herbivore in this seemingly hopeless situation as he intercepted all the incoming scythes with a kick.
“Kii!?”
“Kishaaaaa!”
(Playtime is over.)
Usagi kicked through the ventral side of the blade to avoid being cut by the scythe.
While the Killer Mantis was exposed to the force of the kick, Usagi charged toward one of the nearby Killer Mantis.
He then delivered a powerful step kick to the belly of one of them as if using it as a foothold.
With the momentum of the step through the belly, Usagi moved to the belly of another Killer Mantis and stepped and kicked it again in the same manner.
As a result of such attacks in tremendous succession, all the Killer Mantis exploded and died.
Usagi landed on the ground avoiding touching the bodily fluids splattered around him, and then he took a breath.
(Whew… I’m getting used to it a lot now.)
There were reasons why Usagi came to this dangerous place and fought in this way.
One of them was to train to fight using only basic techniques rather than using the skills of a Holy.
This was because he realized that he should train in more basic skills rather than skills after witnessing Yuuya’s battle under the guidance of Zenovis in the past world.
Nevertheless, compared to other Holy, Usagi, who had originally honed his basic techniques more than his skills, had mastered this fusion of techniques and skills in combat at a relatively early stage.
Thus, there was an aspect of training to improve combat skills, but the most important reason was something else.
That is…
(Now… is there a [King Carrot] in the depths of this forest…?)
Yes, the reason Usagi visited this place today was in search of the [King Carrot], a carrot that can only be found here in the Inceral Forest.
(I’ve heard that it’s heavenly delicious… It’s an interesting story indeed.)
Usagi muttered to himself and unconsciously wiped away the drool that was about to drip down his face.
(…That’s fast. More importantly, like the monster I referred to earlier… it would be moderately troublesome if more were to attack me at this rate. Let’s skip ahead a bit here.)
When he said that, Usagi put a lot of strength into his legs.
The next moment, he released the power that he had been holding back and leaped into the sky at once.
(I will go all the way deep into the forest in a single breath.)
Usagi jumped into the air and reached a position where he could look down on the forest.
There, he shifted his stance, compressed the air, and kicked through it with all his might.
Using the air as a foothold, Usagi, pushing forward with tremendous momentum, flew toward the depths of the forest.
On the way, some forest monsters noticed Usagi flying in the sky but were unable to even react because of his speed.
(Now, where is it…?)
Looking for the desired carrot, Usagi immediately turned on the spot due to a sudden chill he felt.
At that moment, something passed by the position where he had just tried to pass with great force.
(What is it?)
Turning his eyes toward the object with alarm, he saw, to his surprise, that it was a vine growing out of the forest.
(Hou? First was an insect, now a plant?)
Having had his momentum killed, Usagi spontaneously fell down.
Perhaps seeing him as an easy target, sharp vines attacked him from the forest one after the other.
(No easy task, I see!)
Usagi repelled the vines by using them as footholds and kicking at them.
(It’s hard…)
However, even under the kick of Usagi, who until now had slaughtered monsters with a single blow, the vines simply bounced back without exploding.
Slightly surprised by this, Usagi smiled.
(Interesting… how about this?)
The next moment, Usagi’s body was covered with a thin aura of magic power.
(Hmm… it’s not as evenly distributed as Yuuya’s.)
It was the Magic Armor that he was able to use after learning magic from Yuuya.
Although he was not very satisfied with the results, he still succeeded in strengthening his body with magic power.
(Now, can you withstand even this?)
As Usagi stepped forward forcefully, the vines he was using as a foothold were snapped off with a single blow.
With such forceful steps, Usagi pushed forward, following the vines, toward the culprit who had attacked him.
Then…
(This guy, huh?)
What was there was a sphere of intricately intertwined vines.
The sphere, which looked as if it was protecting something, made countless vines appear and attack Usagi again.
Usagi’s smile deepened as he dodged them all with aplomb.
(This monster… might have been difficult for me in the old days.)
As Usagi said, this tree vine is a kind of monster, and its rank is classified as SS rank. Without the power of the Holy, it would have been a difficult existence to deal with.
However, the current Usagi does not use the power of the Holy and only uses his polished technique and magic power to fight with it.
(Unfortunately, I don’t intend to waste my time here. Let’s finish this.)
As soon as he said that, Usagi disappeared and moved right in front of the vine sphere.
This was a gesture using the divine authority he had acquired in the heavenly realm.
The current Usagi had become stronger by using a new power in addition to the one he had previously possessed.
(Haaaaaah!)
Having thus moved in an instant, Usagi then kicked into the sphere with great vigor.
At that moment, the vines that had formed the sphere shredded and burst one after another.
And then…
(Mm!?)
When all the vines were shredded, a carrot came out from inside.
Usagi was surprised at the unexpected situation but soon came to terms with it.
(I see… this was the [King Carrot], huh?)
With the protection of the vines gone, Usagi was left with a carrot that kept floating in midair.
After landing lightly, Usagi put the carrot in his mouth.
(…This is delicious. It’s worth all the trouble I went through to get here.)
Usagi ate the carrot with satisfaction, as it tasted just as he had heard in the rumors.
When he finished eating all of it, he looked up at the sky.
(…This is not the end. There are many other carrots that I don’t know about… such as the Sky Carrot and the Hell Carrot.)
Usagi was thinking about carrots he hadn’t seen yet.
The daily life of Usagi, which even Yuuya and Iris, who is also a Holy, do not know, is a gourmet one.
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