CHAPTER 297: ORDINARY INVADER

[――Certainly! It requires a loooot of World Stability to alter something linked closer to the essence of the world! It’s not necessary, so leaving that place with the body of that big guy would be a huuuuge waste!]

With such a reason being behind it, Librarian explained to me why I returned to my own body.

In other words, it was tough to bring the possessed body of a boss out of the boss arena.

Well, it wasn’t really an unfortunate thing.

I didn’t need the large stature of the boss, nor his giant greatsword, the visible health bar, or the second phase in order to kill the Protagonist. I only needed my own abilities, and that much had already been proven to be true.

In fact, now that I was separated from all of that, I could only hope it meant I also wouldn’t have my own position reset when he died anymore.

’Speaking of which... Where is he?’

Standing in the stone pavilion before the altar, and surrounded on all sides by a garden of black flowers, I still couldn’t sense the Protagonist at all.

I could say with ninety-nine percent certainty that he had no stealth abilities, or at the very least none that would fool Heightened Senses from the range between this pavilion and the tall flower bushes just a dozen or so metres away, and because of that, it didn’t matter that it was dark out.

’Well, there’s a path here anyway. I should probably just follow that.’

Although, frankly, there was no need for me to go anywhere, not right now. Of course, I had to kill the Protagonist, but wouldn’t he be coming to me regardless?

He would respawn right after, yes, but at least it would let me figure out where his spawnpoint was, to lessen the chances of me wandering around aimlessly in an attempt to find it.

If I could track him back to that location, destroy it, then track him to the next, repeating that process again and again...

It might very well require having to destroy every single checkpoint the Protagonist had unlocked throughout the entire map, but once that was done, wouldn’t he no longer have any place to respawn at?

The only possibility from that point... would naturally be his permanent demise.

’...I understand now.’

What it was I had to do in order to clear this Contract; it became clear to me.

At that moment, I felt it.

Rumble~!

A small tremor reverberated through the ground.

Lifting my head towards the source of the chaos, it appeared to be coming from the entrance of the garden.

’Let’s get a move on already.’

About to take a step, I suddenly paused. Turning towards the altar, I touched the open book placed atop it.

’Hm... I wanted to eliminate the possibility of him getting back to the chapel, but it’s not going into Storage... Oh well.’

If that wouldn’t work, I could only do the next best thing.

SMASH...!

―With the altar destroyed, there should be no way for the Protagonist to reach the final boss, thereby protecting the Antagonist.

Still, there was no guarantee this was a permanent measure, so it wasn’t like I could just leave.

Rumble~~!

Feeling an even louder tremor shake the ground at my idling, my attention naturally snapped back to the garden’s entrance.

Creaaaak~

The small metal gate that separated this section and whatever lay outside was casually pushed open, and in through it came――

’...What, he’s back already?’

[Him]

Watching his half-naked figure from the pavilion, I noticed that the Protagonist’s presence was so weak I could barely feel it despite being able to see him right in front of me, leading to a belated realisation that I had in fact never been able to properly sense him from the beginning.

Instinctively, I didn’t think it was magic or anything else―just that his strength was truly that insignificant.

And yet, to be as threatening as a 5-star...

"Tsk. All just for being a cockroach..."

Perhaps because it was his first time facing me in my normal body, the Protagonist hesitated upon breaching the garden’s gate, watching me cautiously by the tall flower bush walls with the same wooden club as before.

Seeing that, I wasted no time in summoning the Black Wisp.

Clang, clang-! Rustle!

"..."

Needless to say, he rolled each time I pulled the trigger, letting two shots collide directly with the metal gate behind him, then with the bush.

I expected it, but still, I frowned―not necessarily because of that outcome, though.

’It feels strange...’

The Black Wisp used magic rather than physical bullets to attack, but unless I intentionally charged a bullet with my own magic energy, it would only use up the magic energy stored within the weapon itself, refreshed upon returning to the Library.

At least, that used to be the case―until I obtained Mana Corruption, upon which I started refreshing the supply of the Black Wisp with my own magic energy, since I could finally accumulate it myself through the simple act of breathing.

In other words, it meant that every time I fired the Black Wisp or White Death, a minor amount of my own magic energy would be expended in refilling the weapon’s supply.

Because of this, I would usually be able to feel the ensuing process of magic energy being extracted from the air in my lungs when I breathe, absorbing it into my bloodstream to fill in what had been lost.

However, just now...

’Nothing at all, as if... As if I never lost magic energy in the first place.’

That wasn’t something I had noticed when I fired the Black Wisp before now in the chapel or graveyard.

’Because I was possessing another body...?’

If that was the case, perhaps it really was down to having the Heart of a Witch.

After all, that was the only possibility I could imagine, and when I thought about it deeper, it occurred to me that I never actually asked Aradine what having her witch’s heart meant when I had the opportunity.

’Agh, whatever. I’ll do it when I get back.’

Whatever the case, it didn’t seem like a negative thing.

For now, I could only take careless advantage of what I didn’t understand.

’Now die.’

Using the same trick I came up with earlier, I pulled the trigger and quickly summoned an Illusory Aegis before the Protagonist’s rolling direction, blocking his path and causing him to bonk into the ’invisible wall’. Although he evaded the first shot, all it took was a simple second firing to pierce his chest.

"Ugh...!"

[You Died]

One shot.

For once, neither the world nor my own vision altered at the Protagonist’s death.

Moments after his body hit the ground, he faded into mist before vanishing entirely.

"―――"

Silently, the world proceeded to rewind before my eyes, time turning temporarily backwards as the impacts from the Black Wisp were erased, and the metal gate of the garden swinging back to its closed original position, and undoubtedly other forms of reversal occurring beyond the boundaries of this modest flower garden.

In the midst of that, I took a tentative step forward, my head exiting the shade of the stone pavilion.

"..."

Looking up, I glimpsed the space above that should have been blue skies, instead offering the same scenery from back outside the chapel―what I could only describe as the wider universe.

That cosmic view, turning backwards alongside the rest of the world, eventually stopped.

Then, it continued once more, this time moving forwards.

Thus―

[Before World’s End]

―The Protagonist’s existence was reinstated, and ’his world’ restored.

"...Librarian."

Taking in the full scope of the situation, I parted my lips just slightly and muttered.

[Certainly! How can I assist, Enki?]

Within the garden of eerie black flowers in full bloom, there was no gentle breeze.

Simply, the world just existed as it was, and through gazing up at the endless expanse lying above, perhaps due to my elevated Tier of Authority it felt like I could barely pierce through that veil of illusion.

"What’s the time difference like between here and Earth?"

Before I’ve even realised it, things might change a lot by the time I’m back.