Not From Around Here I

Number of times König Geistdunkelrustung has resurrected: 19

As Geist formed from the darkness that sheltered him between ‘deaths’, Chrysaor’s memory lingered in his mind. The state of the once mighty castle, now in ruins after thousands of years, and the alleged complete extinction of demons and monsters across the world hit harder than when he first learned of them. The Pure, or at least the humans, if there were any other fantastical races who aligned with them, were dead set on wiping out all of the Corrupted and Corruption from their world. The impossible task of coming to an understanding between the two was right there in the names they used, Pure and Corrupted.

Sitting on the barren floor, his shoulders slumped as he was lost in thought. I can’t use Research without a target, so I can’t ask Seepu about how this world defines certain concepts and terms. But ‘Corrupted’, huh? Inessa mentioned something about that before, about how someone can ‘turn’ into a demon. Considering his race was displayed as a Greater Demon, that implied there was at least one other type of demon. But as he tried to figure out what it all meant, he didn’t register that Inessa had arrived to kill him until her blade pierced through his back and out his chest.

“Hey, Geisty~! My turn ends today.” She said cheerfully. The only times she allowed herself to talk to him were greeting him when she arrived and bidding him farewell when he died, but it seemed she had more to say this time. “Lia’ll be taking over– hmm? What’s wrong? You look depressed.” Noticing the change in his composure, his distracted gaze, and the fact that he didn’t try to defend himself, she pulled her sword from him. “I know it’s a bit late to be asking this, but does it hurt when I stab you and cut you to pieces?”

“Hm? Oh, no. It’s a bit tingly, but I don’t feel pain.” He answered, and while he had maintained the stance of not wanting to fight all this time, he couldn’t even muster the energy to treat being killed so often as more than an inconvenience. “Demons… Demons don’t just form out of Dark Magic Corruption, do they?” He asked, looking at the brunette with hollow eyes.

Getting ready to stab him again, Inessa froze for a moment, then grit her teeth and thrust her blade forward, looking away. “No. Only Greater Demons like you do, and none have spontaneously appeared in a long, long time.” She said, answering him despite knowing she shouldn’t. “You really don’t know? About how Dark Magic Corruption turns plants and animals into monsters? How it twists and warps people into demons? Even though you’re the leader of all the Corrupted?”

“Well, I was only recently born into this world, and the only ones who could teach me either slice and dice me into pieces, or crush me under her shoes while refusing to communicate.” He said, drained of any motivation to put up a futile resistance, and just lying on the floor. “And you’re telling me I get to look forward to the bottom of Lylia’s soles from now on, starting tomorrow? Great…” Somehow, the sigh that escaped him took even more of the near-nonexistent energy he had left.

Seeing the massive being of darkness and shadow effectively sulk on the ground, Inessa giggled, relaxing her posture a bit, but keeping her sword in hand. “It’ll only be for a week, then I’ll be back to turn you into minced Demon Monach.”

“So, all it took was three weeks, and now I’m going to be stuck in a cycle of getting hacked to pieces and stomped to death? Great…”

“Hey, if it makes you feel any better, my weeks off won’t be much better since I won’t have the excuse of coming to kill you…” Trying, in her own way, to make him feel better, Inessa trailed off slowly as what he said fully registered in her mind. “What was that, Geisty?”

“What? That all I have to look forward to is your blade and Lylia’s–?”

“No! Not that!” She snapped sharply, moving to stand over him, the tip of her sword trembling at his throat. “H-How long have you been the Demon Monarch for?” All her usual playfulness had evaporated in an instant, and it wasn’t pity or sympathetic hesitation that unsettled her mind. There was a very real, visceral panic creeping into her voice. “No… Forget that. How many days are in a week, König Geistdunkelrustung?”

Hearing his full name and title come from her lips for the first time, Geist could feel the weight of seriousness that implied. “Uh… I’m guessing the number you’re not looking for is ‘seven’, right?” He asked hesitantly. And her eyes going wide in surprise, followed by a gasp so hard and short it seemed to force her to stumble back, was all the answer he needed.

“N-No. No, no, no, no, no.” She said to herself, as if rejecting it verbally would alter reality. “Y-You’re lying to manipulate me. Oh, I should’ve listened to Lia!” Reeling from his words, Inessa steadied herself on shaky legs, pointing her sword at him accusingly as confusion turned to anger. “Tell me that was just a lucky guess! You know the answer is ten, not seven! Th-There’s no way you can be–”

“From Earth?” Geist asked, quiet, calm, and completely confident as he slowly, nonaggressively, stood up with his hands raised. He could see something inside the brunette fracture when he said ‘Earth’, but it wasn’t enough to fully shatter the hope that he was still trying to trick her. “Or should I call it ‘Terra Frima’? ‘Sol-3’? The third rock from the sun in a backwater solar system in the Milky Way galaxy?”

That was the killing blow that made denying what she feared impossible. Her arms fell limp to her sides as she looked at who was supposed to be her mortal enemy. The nemesis of the Pure, who she had been summoned away from her life and family to defeat so the people of Facide could continue to live peaceful lives. “G-Geisty… Y-You’re from… home? Were you hit by a truck, too?”

“Well, I can’t say for sure we’re from the same country.” He said, nodding to her. Oh, yeah… Nacht mentioned something about a truck when he chose me, didn’t he? So Inessa also…? “We might not even be from the same time period. Still, I didn’t even consider you might also have been summoned to Facide, too.”

Reaching up to twirl a dark brown lock of hair with a finger, Inessa calmed down a bit and giggled. “You don’t even know that dark hair like mine isn’t native to Facide? You really aren’t from here.” She said, as her expression darkened a bit. “And yet, you’ve been getting killed… I’ve been killing you, over and over, without a clue.”

“Well, like I said before, it doesn’t hurt if that makes you feel any better.” Geist joked, happy that they could finally engage in dialogue rather than him one-sidedly getting slaughtered.

“Not really. I mean, what the hell is wrong with this place? The people of this world rip us away from our homes, our families, our lives, and tell us to fix their problems?! That’s just too selfish!” She replied, her voice shaking with genuine anger for the first time he had heard. All the times she had gotten upset before, it was out of embarrassment or from not appreciating a joke. This time, there was true venom in her voice.

And her true, unfiltered, and wholly justified resentment brought to mind the information Geist had accidentally looked at that the Research spell he cast during their first meeting revealed to him. “Oh. Is that why you hate being the Champion and this world?” Before he could stop himself, the words had left his mouth and hung in the air between them.

“H-Huh?” The silence stretched for what felt like an eternity as Inessa just stared at him. A panic unlike before took hold of her body, like all her deepest, darkest secrets, and even parts of herself she was unaware of, were exposed, and there was nothing she could do to hide them. Then, holding her sword vertically in front of her face, she resolved herself to the only course of action she could think of. “S-Sorry, Geisty, but I need time to think… about a lot of things. Use: Cleanse.”

At her command, a ray of holy light shot from the jewel in the cross guard of her sword and washed over Geist. He was hit by a sudden wave of familiar lethargy, his perception becoming non-negligibly more sluggish. It wasn’t enough to make him less reactive, but enough to inform him that whatever effect the spell Inessa just cast from her sword had the desired effect. “What was th–?” Before he could finish his question, she cleanly, gently, pierced his chest where the equivalent of his heart should be.

“Again, I’m really sorry. But at least I know this doesn’t hurt you…” She said, half her usual playfulness energizing her words as she held up a hand and half bowed apologetically to him. “See you next ‘week’.”

Huh? What does she mean? That’s not enough to–

[Dark Magic Corruption: 0/100]
[Schattenrustung effect: Cast Reanimate, unable to activate]

His thought interrupted as the message appeared before him, Geist felt his consciousness slipping back into the comforting, chilling embrace of the oblivion he would have to wait to resurrect from within. Wait. She’s always been able to do that? As he saw his Mana Crystal form, almost as if she could read his mind, Inessa winked and stuck out her tongue playfully as she picked it up. Clever girl.

He couldn’t even be mad anymore. Though their interaction offered no hope in resolving the differences between the Pure and the Corrupted, it was oddly reassuring. Two of the beings at the center of the conflict shared some common ground.