Chapter 583: birthday at 大監獄

birthday at 大監獄

* * *

If I were to extract and summarize the elements of this arc, this would be the title.

Now then, Arc 25 begins!

“Mmm…”

I woke up.

I wriggled around, turned over, stuck my fingers into the sturdy cocoon, and tore it open.

And then, I stuck my head out through the gap.

“…………Oh.”

I involuntarily let out a voice at the sudden heat.

Next, I looked at the floor, dimly lit by the light coming in through the air hole.

Yes, the floor.

Since I make my cocoon in the corner of the ceiling when I sleep, the first thing I see is the floor.

It’s a rough, stone floor.

This isn’t Akashiterika’s office.

It’s the floor of a prison cell in the Great Prison of Delenezo, where prisoners sleep.

Naturally, there’s no smell of the tea she brews.

Perhaps… I’ll never have the chance to smell it again.

Thinking that makes me sad, and my chest aches, but it can’t be helped.

I can’t stay in one place.

Because I bring misfortune to those around me.

It’s okay, it’s okay.

This was bound to happen sooner or later.

I’ve just returned to… where I should be.

As I was spacing out, Extra-sama, who had woken up, spoke to me.

Good morning, Extra-sama.

“…Huh?”

My thoughts stopped, and I slid out of the cocoon upside down.

And then, putting my left hand on the floor, I jumped with the strength of a single arm, and did a backflip.

As soon as I landed, I weaved my 【Black Tentacles】 and created an outfit.

What I’m wearing today is the same outfit as when I was walking underground, something like a diving suit that thinly covers my whole body.

It’s easy to move in, cool, and comfortable, since it’s not loose-fitting.

…No, the outfit doesn’t matter.

“I’m twelve now?”

…Yeah, that’s right.

I’ve grown.

My body is also becoming more adult-like.

But… hmm… huh?

No, well… never mind.

It’s not like my body’s strangeness is anything new.

I haven’t even gone to the bathroom recently.

Some difficult words like “mana decomposition” came up…

Hmm?

…………?

Something’s… bothering me…

What do you mean?

I regained my composure after Extra-sama said that.

Certainly, I have to think about that.

But, Extra-sama, I wasn’t sent here for committing any crime, right?

The guards of the Great Prison… didn’t imprison me here, did they?

I haven’t seen any guards since last night… Wouldn’t they be surprised to see me here?

If I explain that ‘I was transferred here by mistake’, wouldn’t they investigate and let me out?

Seriously?

Certainly.

There’s no one in the cell across the corridor.

Or rather, there’s probably no one else imprisoned on this floor, except for me.

Because my fantasy hearing isn’t picking up any sounds.

Not even the sound of someone shifting their body, or the rustling of cloth.

The only sound I can hear is the occasional rumbling vibration coming from below.

I wonder what that is?

Well, putting that aside…

E-‘Enemies of the gods’!?

Like… enemies of the gods!?

A cell for super bad guys!?

That’s terrible!?

S-Seriously…?

So I have to somehow get out of here on my own, no matter how difficult it is?

Even if you say that…

I scratched my head, and lightly poked the stone wall of the cell with a backfist.

“Lightly”, but it’s a mana-infused blow.

It would shatter an ordinary stone wall.

But…

Clang!

Just like yesterday, that strange sound came from the wall I hit.

And the stone wall is completely undamaged.

This is what Extra-sama calls an ‘abnormally strong barrier’, right?

To escape, I have to somehow deal with this barrier… and those iron bars that hurt when I touch them.

Thinking that, I sighed, looking at the bars.

I figured.

From the guards’ perspective, I’m just a prison escapee… so they’ll attack me.

…I wonder if they’re strong.

The ‘Three Great Jailers’… That sounds super strong…!

As I gulped, Extra-sama slowly told me their names!

That name alone is terrible…

That name alone is terrible…!

That name too, is terrible…!!

Well, their names are terrible…

But I see…

A battle, huh…

I see…

So…

“A massacre, then.”

Those words involuntarily slipped out of my mouth.

They sounded colder… than I expected.

…Sadly, it felt… right.

Killing intent, along with mana, leaked out from my whole body.

And a jet-black haze.

I feel my mind, dulled by living in the city for so long, sharpening.

I have no choice but to kill.

Whether the opponent has a righteous cause or not.

For me to be free.

A very simple thought.

To defeat a strong opponent, you need this kind of monstrous thinking.

This time… if I show even the slightest weakness, I’ll lose instantly.

That’s what I think of my opponents.

“A massacre, then.”

Saying that again, this time with a clear intention.

I manipulated my 【Black Tentacles】 and created a sword in my hand.

It’s just a 【Black Sword】… not a 【Black Greatsword】, since I can’t swing that in this narrow cell.

And I gradually increased the mana poured into the 【Black Sword】.

Stronger.

Sharper.

Imagining a sword… that can easily cut through the iron bars before my eyes.

“…RAH!!”

And then, I swung the 【Black Sword】 at the iron bars with all my might!

BACHI BACHI BACHI!

The 【Black Sword】 clashed with the iron bars, scattering intense lightning!

But…!

“…Undamaged.”

As expected of a god-made facility.

This single blow wasn’t enough to destroy the iron bars.

But.

Yeah.

Then.

I’ll just do it again, and again.

I’ll keep cutting until these bars break!

I started pouring more mana into the 【Black Sword】, my fighting spirit burning…

But that’s when it happened!

GAAAAAN!!

That… the sound of something hitting metal, came from far away!

“!?”

Surprised by the sudden sound, I ran to the bars… and tried to see where the sound came from.

And then, I heard the sound of a door—GIII, BATAN.

And then, I heard the sound of multiple people running towards my cell.

“…………”

I continued to glare in the direction of the footsteps, increasing my vigilance.

And then, after a while, three men appeared from around the corner at the end of the corridor.

One is an angel, with wings on his back, his burning red hair flowing.

One is a blue ogre, with two horns on his forehead, holding a long sword.

One is a giant, so tall that his head almost touches the relatively high ceiling of the corridor.

They’re all wearing the same white uniform.

Extra-sama, seeing them, immediately recognized them and urged me to be cautious!

But… I couldn’t help but tilt my head.

Because those three—

“Hih… Hih… Haa… Wheeze…!!”

“Aaah… Uwaaah, aaah!”

“Hiiiiiiiiiin! Hiiiiiiiiin!”

—Are crying and whimpering, tears and snot streaming down their faces.

They’re so battered and bruised that it’s obvious they’re completely exhausted.

Because they’re desperately… running.

They look like…

No, not ‘like’.

Almost certainly, they—

—Are in the middle of running away from something.