The Endless Wasteland was covered in corpses and bloodstains.
It was the day before the final battle. After much contemplation, I went to find Emma and asked for anesthesia, and once again, I lost consciousness. When I regained my senses, I found myself in this place.
The boundary between consciousness and unconsciousness.
I couldn’t believe that such a vast space existed within the mind of a mere human. I had come and gone through this place several times, yet I had never seen the end of this wasteland.
How long had I been staring blankly at the horizon as the sun set?
The dry timbre of a voice, as parched as the soil of the wasteland, echoed in my ears.
“Don’t be too curious.”
Startled by those words, I turned around. There, as always, stood a man with weary eyes, holding a single sword.
Tattered armor and a worn cloak. His gear wouldn’t seem out of place compared to ‘scrap metal,’ yet it could not hide the light of its origin.
Most likely an item forged by a skilled artisan.
There was no need to ask why his outfit had changed. In any case, there was little one could understand about the phenomena occurring in this place.
Instead, I blurted a dazed response.
“…What?”
“Beyond that.”
As the man took a step forward, a clinking sound resonated. His golden eyes suddenly deepened in intensity.
“At the end of this space lies the unconscious. For you, it’s still too early to see.”
“You sound as if you know what lies beyond.”
“You’ll be able to see it too. Someday, when you become a Master… everything you’ve wanted to hide.”
Just as I was about to pose a few more questions, I shook my head.
There was no time to waste on pointless riddles. The time I could exist here was limited as well.
With my resolve firm, I spat out the main point.
“Can you help me?”
At that, his golden pupils momentarily flicked in my direction.
He stared at me in silence for a while before finally breaking into a shallow, derisive laugh.
“What nonsense….”
“Help me.”
Was my reaction unexpected?
The man who had been laughing dryly closed his mouth, his eyes betraying a hint of surprise.
Yet, I didn’t stop speaking.
“We have no chance with our current strength. We have to pull out a trump card the opponent doesn’t expect.”
“I’ve already shown myself, kid… And haven’t I told you?”
Avoiding my desperate gaze, he murmured.
“It’s impossible to intervene infinitely in your world. If the cause and effect haven’t been properly established, do you know what happens if you twist a large event?”
“That wasn’t the case last time.”
Another silence.
The man, perhaps understanding what I was saying, deliberately avoided answering. But it wasn’t something he could silence me about.
“When you faced the Saint, you were hesitant to intervene in the events, right? To have a final showdown with the Saint… The cause and effect you saved for that time must still be there.”
“The Saint never had the intention of killing you. And even if I were to defeat the Saint, there would be no concern about weakening or strengthening humanity’s power.”
Perhaps he was tired of hearing me argue, the man finally began to offer a proper counter.
He must have been frustrated as well.
This incident involved, none other than, the man’s apprentice and teacher. It was only natural that he would have an interest greater than any events he had witnessed so far.
Yet the man did not take the initiative to extend his hand to me.
Naturally, there must have been a reason for that.
The reason was being revealed now.
“But your opponent is one of the Seven Deadly Sins of the Dark Cult. Do you know how many lives have perished at the hands of vampires since the war began? Yet if I were to kill that woman…”
“Even if it’s called a ‘boundary’?”
However, the man’s long story would never be fully revealed.
My sudden words prompted his silence once again. For the third time today, his golden eyes stared at me wordlessly.
“You said this place is the boundary of time… but it’s also the boundary between consciousness and unconsciousness. Do you know what I saw when I entered the vampire’s barrier?”
The man silently listened to my words.
His expression still showed no trace of emotion. His eyes resembled a dried-up well, and his face was like a calm lake that had forgotten the waves.
“The burning Great Forest… Memories were floating amidst the shattered spaces. Just like this place.”
“….Is that your only evidence?”
“Above all, there’s no way I could mistake a ‘boundary.'”
Meeting the man’s gaze, which scrutinized me intensely, I spoke with certainty.
“I am now a ‘High Expert’ too.”
At those words, the man let out a laugh as if he found it amusing.
In fact, I had already been briefed on the similarities between the vampire’s barrier and the ‘boundary.’ When I fought against the vampire within that barrier, the Great Witch had personally explained it to me.
That said, it did not mean I was lying.
I was a ‘High Expert,’ and I had crossed the ‘boundary.’ How could I forget that unprecedented power?
Even the dullest of humans could not ignore it. It was an overwhelmingly profound experience.
But the man seemed to find my very words laughable.
“You’re only just starting out as a ‘High Expert’… Yeah, you’re right. Kid.”
It was a refreshing acknowledgment that made the previous silence seem incomprehensible.
I had no choice but to respond joyfully.
“Then…!”
“Still, it’s difficult.”
However, the words that followed were straightforward and clear, and it was now my turn to be silent.
Before my dazed self, the man exhaled in a low voice.
“Do you still not know how many are involved in this incident? It’s not just about the ‘vampires.’ The life of the ‘Great Witch’ is at stake too. Even if you exhaust all the cause and effects you’ve saved, there are limits to what you can achieve by digging within the ‘boundary.'”
“…Is it completely impossible?”
“It is possible.”
With deliberate steps that crunched against the wasteland, the man turned his back to me, speaking in a flat tone.
“However, you’ll come to regret it.”
It was a statement so simple it was even more terrifying.
I caught on to the fact that the man’s warning was sincere. No matter how emotionless a person might be, my opponent was ‘me.’ Naturally, I had enough sense to understand that.
But even so, I could not abandon my lingering attachments.
There was no choice in the situation at hand. I was forced to be desperate.
“Even if I regret it, please somehow…!”
“Kid.”
His voice was tinged with exhaustion.
I was left speechless by the emptiness in his tone. When I looked again, the man’s gaze was tilted downwards.
Downwards, towards the corpses scattered in his mind.
“Do you think power comes without a price? Every choice carries a responsible weight.”
“…Like when I didn’t follow your intentions?”
“Yes. I certainly warned you when you faced the Corpse Giant.”
The man’s gaze shifted towards the back again. The golden eyes that briefly gazed at me remained deep and unreadable.
I had heard that warning many times before.
Though I had forgotten it until now, why did it feel particularly chilling today?
“You can’t escape without losing something, kid. Maybe not now, but there will come a time when you will have to. Do you still wish to borrow my power?”
I struggled to respond for what seemed like an eternity.
Opening my lips and closing them again.
I agonized repeatedly over whether I would regret this choice or not.
In truth, the man’s words were not incorrect. Depending on someone else’s power indefinitely was impossible, and just as he said, the day would come when I would have to pay the price.
But still.
“…Help me.”
In the end, my decision did not change.
The man looked at me for a while, and then finally turned his gaze towards the vast wasteland.
“Do you want to protect it that much?”
“Because that’s how you looked.”
The man, who had been silently gazing at the wasteland, suddenly tensed.
For the first time, he showed signs of surprise and looked back at me. So I sighed and had to explain again.
“Now I can protect it.”
“I….”
“Then protect it.”
The man, who had been on the verge of arguing back, ultimately turned his gaze away in silence.
“I too will go save the people I need to save.”
It was just then that he spoke.
“…I’ll say it again, there are limits.”
He never turned back to face me again. But as always, he conveyed the matters to be cautious of in his unchanging tone.
“In the end, it has to be you.”
“I know, I too…”
I sighed, my expression turning into a bitter smile.
“…There are people I have to meet again.”
That was the end.
The man and I decided to go our separate ways towards our respective paths.
Of course, it wasn’t going to be simple.
For the man to exhibit his proper skills, he had to satisfy some absurd conditions.
But I accomplished it.
In my fading consciousness, I was convinced as I saw my body rising on its own.
Perhaps a very brief moment would be enough.
The man spoke without even properly loosening his body.
“Come at me. We don’t have time.”
As if that was to be the only mercy granted today.
