My Instant Death Ability is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! Volume 14 Chapter 17

 CHAPTER 17

But I'm Not So Sadistic As To Want To Keep Watching That

"Well. After a series of events, it seems I have to kill you."

The sage, who had been dealing with the samurai-like man, had seemingly reached a conclusion and turned towards Yogiri.

"If that's the case, it would be less bothersome to have done so from the beginning."

They had already encountered the sage in the pyramid during the underground quest. If he intended to kill them all along, he should have done it then. There would've been no need for pointless fighting and killing. Yogiri felt a sense of futility.

"I thought it might be interesting. In fact, it was interesting because a lot of unexpected things happened. But, it's about time to wrap it up. It doesn't seem to be getting any more interesting from here."

"Interesting, not interesting... Are you that starved for amusement?"

Yogiri was starting to feel fed up. It was no small matter to be dragged into trouble over such trivial things.

"Yeah. I'm basically just bored. So, how about you use your power? You like it, don't you? Watching a confident opponent helplessly defeated, their face saying 'this wasn't supposed to happen'."

"I don't particularly like it. And even if my power doesn't work, I'd just think 'so that's how it is', so I don't think I'd make a funny face."

If his power didn't work, that's all there was to it.

Yogiri was not overconfident in his own abilities. So far, his power had been effective in every situation, but it wasn't strange to think there could be exceptions.

While this power was taken for granted by Yogiri, he didn't even understand the principle by which it caused others to die. If it didn't work, it wasn't like he understood it well enough to find it mysterious.

"Just to be sure, can't you return us to our original world?"

"It's not impossible, but the people you've killed would remain dead."

"So you can do anything because it's a dream?"

Yogiri didn't consider his existence to be part of the Great Sage's dream.

But if everything was someone's dream, then that's just the kind of world it was. If he felt he had free will in that world, then Yogiri thought that was enough.

"The rule that the people you killed cannot be revived applies in this world. So I have to remove that rule. And to do that, you need to die."

"I get it. If you're going to try to kill me, I'll resist."

"Well, what should we do? There's no fun in instant death either."

The Great Sage raised his right hand. A small light illuminated at its tip.

"This looks seriously bad!"

"Indeed."

Yogiri, a novice, had no way of knowing the potency of magical-like powers just by looking. However, the wild pressure it held was something anyone could feel.

"Let's call it the Erasure Bullet. If it hits, it erases the existence in the past, present, and future. Simply put, I just forget about you and don't remember."

"So, because this is your dream, if you forget about something, its existence disappears?"

"That's right. There's really no need to resort to this kind of method, but I thought it would add a bit of a challenge. It's about the speed a person would throw, so if you try hard, you can avoid it. Here it goes."

"Please wait!"

Just as the Great Sage was about to throw the bullet, Alexia stopped him.

"Is something the matter?"

"I checked the boy out of an abundance of caution. He's just an ordinary boy. He's a human who will die if killed without any special methods. However, this is strange. In fact, he has killed various beings. He's even causing the inexplicable phenomenon of the ones he killed not reviving, even when Lord Mitsuki resets the world! Therefore, I tried to know more, in more detail!"

Alexia was frantic.

From Yogiri's perspective, she was almost irrelevant, but she was so desperate that he couldn't help but pay attention.

"But, I couldn't understand anything. That's strange! There's no way that could be! Even though I want to investigate, I lose the desire to! I'm trying to avoid my eyes! Something is set up against me! There's a protection placed on me! I have dedicated everything to Lord Mitsuki! I've exhausted everything I could offer and am a mere husk now. But! There's still something left in me! There's something entwined with the origin of me, something inseparable from me!"

"I see? What does Alexia think she should do?"

"Let's send the boy back to the original world! The dead will remain as is, and there should be no problem even if we reset the world! There's no need to take unnecessary risks!"

"Hmm. Words from none other than Alexia. There might be something. But that doesn't change the fact that this is my world. How can someone in a dream kill me? Even if they could, wouldn't that just end the world?"

Yogiri noticed at the words of the Great Sage.

If he could kill the Great Sage with his power, then what would happen next if this world was the Great Sage's dream?

Simply thinking, everything would disappear. It would be a mutual destruction, and there would be no point.

"But!"

"No more interruptions."

The Great Sage replied dismissively.

Alexia froze. She was about to do something and the Great Sage stopped her. Alexia stood still as if time had stopped.

"Sorry about that. This is getting a bit anticlimactic."

"It's fine. It'll be over soon."

What would happen if he killed the Great Sage? The extent of that impact. Yogiri understood that the Great Sage's words were true. He felt that if he killed the Sage, the world would also be destroyed in a chain reaction.

Yogiri unsealed his power.

He opened the second gate to Phase 2, and further opened the third gate to reach the final phase. This was the original state of Yogiri without any restrictions.

If killing him would end the world, and if that was inseparable, he felt that he couldn't handle it with just Phase 2.

"This time I'm really going!"

The Great Sage, as if he were playing catch, threw the ball of light.

Yogiri activated his power.

　　＊＊＊＊＊

Mitsuki was in the dark.

He was in a situation he didn't understand, but Mitsuki was easygoing.

There was no fear in him who could do anything. He had the luxury of enjoying any situation.

"Did something happen?"

He tried to recall the events that had just taken place.

He had thrown an annihilation bullet, and Yogiri hadn't dodged it. Even if he had dodged, it would just have followed him, but he hadn't explained that far.

Since he didn't remember the scene of the bullet hitting, it seemed to have turned into the current situation just before it hit.

"Something must have happened. But, I really don't know what was done."

"I'll tell you."

Hearing such a voice, Mitsuki turned around.

There was a boy in the darkness.

He recognized the presence. He was one of the gods who ruled the world before Mitsuki came to this world, before he started dreaming.

"You were the one who was the god before Malnarilna, right?"

"That's right. And now I'm the current god. I've had various experiences and now I'm going by the name Kouryuu, so I'd be happy if you call me that."

"Kouryuu, huh? I wonder why you came."

"Finally, everything went as I wanted. As the final touch, I came to see how you were doing."

Mitsuki interpreted this as him saying that Malnarilna had died and he had taken back the seat of the gods. If the world was reset once more, such a fact would disappear, but he probably knew that. Mitsuki didn't particularly care about his words, thinking that if he wanted to enjoy temporary glory, he could do as he liked.

"So what happened?"

"You should be able to figure it out easily, shouldn't you?"

"I try to hear things from people as much as possible."

If he wanted to, he could know everything in the world. But that was boring. Mitsuki had decided to ask people even the most trivial things and have conversations. Because it was more interesting that way.

"Then let's go along with your story. As for what happened, it's quite simple. You lost to Takatou Yogiri. Your bullet didn't reach Takatou Yogiri."

"I see... That's interesting! It was worth coming out for this! I didn't expect this to happen!"

"You seem pretty calm for someone who lost."

"It's just a dream after all. It's like a game that can be restarted at any time. You wouldn't freak out every time the player character dies in a game, would you?"

"Pfft... Ahahahaha!"

Kouryuu suddenly burst into laughter.

Unable to contain himself, he burst out laughing.

"A game! A game, huh! It's indeed like a game! Yeah, yeah."

"What's so funny? I'm not dead, you know?"

That was obvious. He couldn't be dead because he was thinking like this.

"You're not dead, that's true. This time, Takatou Yogiri didn't kill you. He must have released all his power for that."

"So what does that mean?"

Mitsuki was slightly annoyed. That was because Kouryuu would only make suggestive remarks without talking about the essential matters.

"If you die, the world will end. Perhaps if that hadn't been said, things wouldn't have turned out this way. But well, I guess that's worked out somehow. Since Takatou Yogiri is the entity that defines the Ultimate Collective World, it would be a major problem if he were to die instead."

"Why don't you speak plainly?"

"Even though you said listening to people is your hobby, if they won't answer, shouldn't you just give up and check for yourself? This is your world, you're omnipotent, and everything goes your way, right?"

That was indeed the case. There was no need to rely on a trivial god who didn't know why he came.

"Alexia!"

The Great Sage called out.

The Great Sage's call was sucked into the void. Alexia didn't appear, nor was there any reply.

There was no response from Alexia, who always appeared immediately at any time, happy to be of service to the Great Sage.

"No, no, no! You stopped Alexia, didn't you? There's no way there wouldn't be a reply!"

"Alexia, I permit you to move!"

Regretting his carelessness, he called out to Alexia again.

But still, there was no response.

"Umm, maybe your attitude earlier wasn't good? Even Alexia might have taken offense."

"That can't be true! Alexia loves me! She will do anything for me at any time!"

His irritation was turning into anger.

"Why don't you try doing it yourself for once? You always leave things to others because you find them troublesome, right?"

The fact that there was no response from Alexia was true. Reluctantly, Mitsuki decided to investigate the current situation.

"What's the matter? Why don't you investigate quickly? Being omniscient should make it easy, right?"

Kouryuu started to make no effort to hide his mockery.

This fueled Mitsuki's irritation even more. But he had no idea how to investigate.

Being omniscient didn't mean he could know everything at all times. He might be able to if he wanted to, but that would be exhausting and wouldn't allow his mind to rest. The key to using it effectively was to focus only on what he wanted to know.

Focus on what you want to know, concentrate your mind. That alone should project the information into his mind, but no matter how much he focused, no information surfaced.

"What the hell is happening!?"

"Uh-oh? Don't you know?"

"Shut up!"

Mitsuki reflexively tried to erase Kouryuu. It was a direct power he hadn't used in a while. But Kouryuu didn't disappear. He continued to stare at Mitsuki with a smirk on his face.

"I would love to be quiet on the Great Sage's orders, but I can't. I wonder why?"

Mitsuki couldn't afford to associate with an antiquated god like Kouryuu. He decided to return to her base.

Everything is a matter of imagination. If he desired something, it would become her reality.

If he wanted to return to her base, he should be there in the next instant.

Yet, the darkness continued to surround Mitsuki.

"Why!"

He cried out.

He tried to light a lamp, to return to the Meld Plains where he had just been, to call for her companions. But nothing went as he wished.

The surroundings remained dark, and nothing changed at all.

"Please... tell me... what is happening..."

Mitsuki pleaded. He had finally come to terms with her inability to change the situation.

"If you're asking, I can't help but answer. I'll tell you. Takatou Yogiri killed the connection between you and the world."

"...What... does that mean...?"

He didn't understand. He knew how to kill a living being. He could just about understand how to kill a phenomenon like gravity. But what did it mean to kill a connection?

"Imagine if the world was someone's dream, how could one escape from the influence of that someone? You would need to sever the connection with the dream. You would need to lose the ability to freely manipulate the dream. That's what Takatou Yogiri must have thought."

"...What does that mean...?"

"I mentioned a game analogy earlier. In terms of that analogy, it's like your controller has been broken. In other words, you can't do anything anymore."

Slowly, he began to understand.

He was beginning to grasp what was happening.

And as he understood what it meant, a sense of terror began to rise within her.

"Well, now that the reveal is over, I'll be going. You'll probably be overwhelmed by confusion and fear after this... But I'm not so sadistic as to want to keep watching that."

Kouryuu disappeared, leaving Mitsuki alone in the darkness.

He tried to die, but he couldn't.

In fact, Mitsuki no longer had a physical body.

He was now just a conscious existence, completely disconnected from reality.

Mitsuki had become a being that existed solely to sustain the world, merely observing its dream.