My Instant Death Ability is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! Volume 14 Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18

What Was All The Hardship For, Then?

The Annihilation Bullet failed to reach Yogiri and disappeared, and Mitsuki collapsed.

Alexia, a comrade of the great sage, remained frozen in place.

"Um... Is it over?"

Tomochika nervously looked around as she spoke.

"It seems like it. The world hasn't ended, so I guess this is okay, right?"

"What was he, in the end... this person..."

Tomochika looked down at the Great Sage.

He had claimed that this world was his dream, but Tomochika still didn't fully grasp the meaning.

"Well, this world was full of such people."

Come to think of it, Tomochika remembered that there had been quite a few who would show up in a grand manner, only to die immediately.

"So, we've defeated the Great Sage, but what should we do next?"

They had managed to reach the surface, their immediate goal.

But how should they go about finding a way back to their original world?

There were a few people she could think of who might be able to help - the goddess Luu, the sage Shion, and the fallen god Kouryuu, for instance - but she wasn't quite sure how to get in touch with them.

"I hope we can get back to our original world soon."

Just as Tomochika began to ponder, she heard a voice from one of the people she had in mind.

Out of nowhere, a boy claiming to be Kouryuu stood right beside her.

"You say we can go back, but how? That's what we've been worried about."

"You can go back. I will ensure your safe return to your original world, 100%. And could you please not come to this world again?"

"We didn't come here because we wanted to!"

"Perhaps, you have a slight desire to stay?"

"No way."

"Of course not!"

Tomochika replied with a hint of anger. She couldn't bear to stay in this world for even a second longer.

"Well, let's just add a little finishing touch then."

Kouryuu approached Alexia and touched her. At that moment, Alexia regained her movement.

"You are..."

Alexia glared at Kouryuu.

"Oh, could you spare me any sudden attacks? I'm not that strong, you know."

"Master Mitsuki!"

But it seemed she remembered she had no time to deal with Kouryuu. Alexia rushed over to Mitsuki.

"Well, as you can see, the Great Sage Mitsuki has fallen asleep. He's entered an eternal sleep from which he will never awaken, becoming an existence that merely continues to dream of the world."

"Eh? He's not dead?"

Tomochika, who had assumed the Great Sage was dead, was surprised. On closer inspection, he seemed to be breathing, as if he was simply asleep.

"But isn't this the best possible outcome for you? He can no longer lay his hands on any other woman. From now on, you can monopolize him forever."

At first, Alexia was bewildered, but as she understood Kouryuu's words, she gradually calmed down.

"What's the problem? As a god, I can manage the world without interference from superfluous beings like sages. You can spend time alone with the Great Sage in a place where no one can bother you."

"I understand. I accept your proposal. We will not interfere with each other, correct?"

"Yep. It's a win-win situation."

Alexia gently embraced Mitsuki and disappeared.

"This should resolve one major issue. Luu disappeared, so Alexia was the only problem."

"Luu? She disappeared!?"

"She lost a battle with the Demon King Golbagon. But don't worry about a god's life or death. They can be reborn anywhere at any time."

"Hmm. It doesn't seem that simple..."

Regardless, trying to understand the existence of gods on a human scale might be impossible. Tomochika decided to accept this.

"So, Luu being turned into the Philosopher's Stone, was that also related to the Great Sage?"

Yogiri asked.

"Yep. The current state of this world started with a tug-of-war between the three goddesses over the Great Sage. As a result of the ugly, muddy struggle, Alexia won, and the other two were sealed."

Tomochika had thought there would be some grand tale, but she felt as if she had been told a quite mundane story.

"So, if the sage won't be involved in the world anymore, what will happen to the Aggressors?"

It might not matter if she's about to return to her original world, but Tomochika was slightly concerned. The sages had been dealing with the Aggressors, so if they were to abandon that responsibility, it could become a problem.

"Oh, the Aggressors came looking for Luu and UEG. If they're not here, I don't think they'll bother coming. There's no guarantee that nothing will invade, but that's a separate issue."

"...So, in the end, the Great Sage is the root of all evil!"

It's all the Great Sage's fault. Tomochika concluded.

"We should hurry then."

As Kouryuu said this, the scenery around them changed.

The ground was made of a uniform, bluish-black material, and there was a wall of the same material in front. The wall stretched endlessly upward. There were lights in some places, but the ceiling was still invisible. Looking left and right, the wall was curved. Looking behind, the floor ended abruptly, and darkness stretched beyond.

It seemed they were standing on a narrow ledge running along the inside of a massive cylinder.

"I'm used to sudden teleportations now, but where is this?" Tomochika, sounding exasperated, inquired.

Being forcibly teleported so frequently, she was somewhat surprised but largely just resigned.

"This place is called the Celestial Axis. It connects different Celestial Discs. You can go to various worlds through here. Some worlds might not be connected by the Celestial Axis, but yours is connected, so no worries."

"Was it that simple all along!?"

"It's not something just anyone can use. It's managed by the gods. Until I regained control, it couldn't be used."

"Wait... so you're saying we could've returned any time after defeating Malnarilna!?"

"Well, yes, but as long as the Great Sage was around, there was a chance we could've been whimsically sent back. That's why it was absolutely necessary to defeat the Great Sage."

"I feel like we've just been used..."

Tomochika eyed Kouryu suspiciously.

"See that sphere over there? That's the vehicle for moving within the Celestial Axis. The path to your world has been registered, so you can return quickly."

"You're rather rough in handling us!"

There was indeed a sphere adjacent to the platform, pointed out by Kouryu. It was roughly ten meters in diameter, made of some metallic material with a door near its center.

"Are you sure we can really get back with this?"

Yogiri eyed Kouryu skeptically.

"Of course. I'm well aware of your capabilities. I have no intention of scheming anything now. My sincere wish is for you to leave as quickly as possible and never come back."

"I hate to say this but... are you sure the world is going to be okay? It seems quite devastated."

"Survivors exist, they'll manage somehow. I don't intend to hold you responsible for this. Now, go, go!"

"This guy really wants to kick us out! What was all the hardship for, then?"

"Isn't it fine to say that all your hardships have led to this moment?"

"Eh? I'm not really satisfied with that..."

But in the end, it seemed that they had to defeat this Great Sage, and various experiences were needed for that. They may have been just going with the flow, and it felt like they could have returned more easily, but there's no point in thinking about that now.

"I guess I'll overlook the details as long as we can go home."

"Wait! Are we going back dressed like this? Isn't that a detail?"

Yogiri was dressed all in black, and Tomochika was still in the garb of an evil female executive. If they went back looking like this, there's no telling what would be said.

"Alright, alright. Is this okay?"

At Kouryu's words, Tomochika's appearance changed instantly. She was back in the outfit she wore when she first arrived in this world - her high school uniform. Naturally, Yogiri was also in his school uniform.

"Here's your stuff. They're the things that were on the bus."

A pile of luggage fell in front of them. It was Tomochika's Boston bag and what seemed to be Yogiri's large backpack.

"I can definitely feel the pressure not to complain too much!"

"Is there anything else you need? If you want to take something back with you, I can give you anything."

"It seems like it would be a hassle if we brought back something from another world, so no, we don't need anything."

"Shall we go then?"

"Yeah. How about some pickled radish? You've been asking a lot."

Tomochika headed towards the sphere. When she opened the door, there was a flat floor. Chairs and tables were set up, it seemed like a place to relax.

After she got in, Yogiri followed.

"Even though he said we could go back, I still can't really believe it."

"Even though he said it could move between worlds, it just looks like a regular sphere..."

The Celestial Axis seemed to be something like a giant pipe. It was not physically present but was merely a conceptual path connecting the worlds. Even though this was explained, Tomochika didn't quite understand it.

"But, it feels profound to think that we can finally go home..."

"Can you please hurry up and go home without getting lost in thought?"

Just as they tried to recall their journey, Kouryu's voice could be heard.

The door closed on its own. It wasn't as if they were locked in, but it certainly felt like they were being rushed to go home.

"Shut up! We can take a moment, can't we?"

'You only have a moment. About five minutes. To depart, press the start button on the console.'

Kouryu's voice was coming from somewhere inside the sphere. It seemed they could still communicate with the outside.

"It's rather rushed..."

It seemed he was afraid of being resented for forcibly making them leave. It seemed they were leaving the timing of the return up to them.

"Hey, what about the other classmates who survived?"

'I'll talk about that later. If you want to go back, go back.'

When they called out, they got a reply from Kouryu. It seemed they could communicate with the outside until they depart.

"In that case, we should all—"

It seemed Yogiri thought that everyone should return together. Tomochika agreed.

'I don't want to do that! Just you two go back right now!'

"You're really desperate!"

'Is there anything else?'

"Hmm... there are people we've been involved with, and it feels awkward to just leave without saying anything..."

What was on Tomochika's mind was the people they had met and collaborated with in this world.

"If you have a message, I can pass it on. Tell me here and now."

"With your powers, couldn't you just teleport us to them?"

'What would you do if some kind of trouble arose while we were doing that? If you really want to go home, shouldn't you take this opportunity and go back as quickly as possible?'

"I guess you're right."

Yogiri and Tomochika had a discussion and passed on messages for a few people.

"Is that all? Is there anything else left to do?"

Being rushed so much, Tomochika, who was initially a bit annoyed, gradually started to feel sorry for him.

"I don't have any regrets about this world, so I don't mind leaving right away."

"Me neither, but it feels a bit... abrupt to just go back like this."

"Oh. That reminds me. There was something I wanted to say if we could go back."

"Huh?"

Tomochika looked at Yogiri, wondering what he was about to say. Yogiri had a more serious expression than usual.

"We weren't close to begin with, and we were essentially forced to act together."

"Well, yeah. We didn't interact until we came here, and I only saw you as someone who sleeps a lot."

"So, I thought that once we return to our original world, we wouldn't have any relation anymore."

"Well, isn't it a bit late for that?"

Indeed, Tomochika wasn't callous enough to say, "We've made it back to our original world. Thank you for all your hard work. Goodbye."

They had gone through so much together, it was inevitable that a bond of sorts had formed.

"So... um... when we get back to our original world..."

Yogiri started to speak, clearly finding it difficult.

"Huh? What?"

What? Is he about to confess his feelings? Huh? Was Yogiri like that? Well, maybe, and it's not like I'd dislike it, but here? Now? If it was after we returned, it might feel a bit dishonest...

"Would you like to be friends?"

"Is that all!?"

"Huh? So, you don't want to?"

"No! We've been friends for a while, haven't we!"

"Really?"

"How can you be so unsure!?"

"Well then..."

"Okay, okay, friends, friends!"

Feeling let down, Tomochika answered nonchalantly.

"Well then, nice to meet you."

With that, Yogiri held out his hand, and Tomochika wondered for a moment what he was doing.

"It's a handshake."

"Do friends really need such a ceremony!?"

However, she couldn't just brush off his extended hand or ignore it.

"I'm looking forward to continuing our friendship."

Feeling a touch of embarrassment, Tomochika nevertheless took Yogiri's hand.

A/N:

This marks the conclusion.

Thank you very much for reading up to this point.

I myself was wondering what to do as the pace was gradually slowing down, but I managed to make it this far somehow.

The story also concludes in the 14th volume of the book, which is set to be released today, March 15th.

In the book, we delve into stories post-return, and address queries like "What happened to that character?" So if you're interested, please do buy it.

The volume is about 1.7 times that of the web version. It features matches involving side characters and such, so if that interests you...

Also, it's going to be adapted into a TV anime, so please look forward to that too.

Not much information has been released yet, but I believe an official website and such will be set up soon.

I've also started a new work.

It's a tough game-like alternate world, but it seems to be manageable in the Dannoura style. → https://ncode.syosetu.com/n9669ic/

Surely, it's strange to say "We're making it into an anime!" when the main story is finished. The anime broadcast is still a while away, but I have not done anything since then. So I thought it might be a bit troubling if nothing else happens, and decided to write a story that is somewhat related.

However, since continuing with Yogiri, who is guaranteed to never lose no matter what, would be challenging, I decided to have the protagonist be a disciple of the Dannoura style, who is Tomochika's apprentice. That's the child that appeared in the new content of the 12th volume of the book.

Please look forward to that as well.

T/N
Hello. Sorry, I procrastinate a lot, so this took longer than necessary, and I even failed to translate one volume in time. Regardless, thank you for sticking with me. This started out using just DeepL and a dictionary, which probably didn't produce great results, but I've been using GPT-4 recently and it's basically flawless with everything except names and pronouns, which are always finnicky with Japanese no matter who is translating. Well, maybe not pronouns since the gender of a character is typically stated, but GPT-4, or at least the Chat version, isn't capable of reading far enough back to remember stuff from the first chapter, though I wish it could.

Anyway, I think I'll translate Fujitaka's new work, 無理ゲーみたいな異世界ですが！(English title pending), next (if nobody else is already doing that) and try to apply what I learned with Instant Death for that.

Also, my translations will probably not be up to scratch with official translators' translations for at least a year, because I'm still learning Japanese and very much a beginner, using AI like a crutch, so when the official release of this volume comes out, make sure to purchase it from J-Novel Club (DO NOT EVER NO MATTER WHAT BECAUSE ITS REALLY MEAN SO JUST DONT download it for free from one of those horrible piracy websites, like https://jnovels.com/hlight-10novel23-epub/ or https://www.justlightnovels.com/ or perhaps even https://nyaa.si/?f=0&c=3_1&q=) because not only is it likely to be a better translation than mine (the official translator is actually pretty good, which is impressive as far as JP to EN localizers go) but also because it has extra content, like Fujitaka said above in the A/N.

NOTE: If people use the above links for piracy I'm not responsible because I told them not to do it, so like... don't freaking get mad at me and stuff, dude.