Chapter 202: Sharing the Same Heaven - Part 8

This feeling... it's a bit different from a feeling of omnipotence. And it's different from having my senses sharpened... My thoughts are just incredibly smooth. Yes, right now, my mind is as clear as one of those Deus Ex Machina detective characters in a mystery novel. No matter what mystery stands in my way, it is no match for me.

"Alright, let's destroy it."

"Let's think about this a little more!?"

The Throne Room. We, Team "Cannot Share the Same Heaven", had finally discovered the object known as the "Keystone," which was mentioned in the diary of the former King—or perhaps Queen—as being located on the throne.
I totally expected some grotesque lump of meat with human faces and arms growing out of it, reaching toward us with pleading eyes and groaning "Kill me... kill me..." but that expectation(?) was betrayed. It sat upon the throne at the highest level of this space, as if it were sitting there itself.

"A humanoid... crystal?"

"It looks like it would sell for a high price!"

"...Akitsu Akane, read the room."

"Yes, I'm sorry, Rust-san!"

"No, but seriously, how much do you think it would sell fo—Ouch!?"

Kicking someone in the ankle with the tip of your toe?! Are you a demon, Rust!? Oraaa!?
Damn it... Well, whatever. Anyway, this must be the "Keystone." But what bothers me is that it takes a humanoid form. Since the word "Monument" appeared in the diary, it wouldn't be strange to find a stone monument with writing carved somewhere on it...

"Sunraku-san! There's writing on the back of the chair! But I can't read it!!"

"Alright, that pretty much solves it. Let's break it!"

"Sunraku-san, somehow your thought process has become way too straightforward desu wa!?"

No, but seriously, the fact that destroying things is the quickest solution isn't entirely wrong, you know? Rather than looking for the key to a locked wooden door, it's faster to just break the door down, or even smash through the wall. There are even games out there that claim to offer "freedom," but are so free that you can just smash through the walls of the final dungeon and run straight forward, completely ignoring every gimmick to reach the boss, you know!

"...I don't really get it, but since Sunraku has become useless, we'll think about it ourselves."

"Ah, ahaha... But it's a very exquisitely crafted crystal..."

"............"

This is a fact that only I... no, only Emul and I know. This humanoid figure made of crystal... looks familiar.
Strictly speaking, it's not that I know who this crystal humanoid is, but despite being made of crystal, the design of the clothing is familiar.

(If I remember correctly, "Setsuna of Distant Days" wore similar clothes...)

Who is this? At this point, it doesn't matter who it is, but what kind of person was the woman this was modeled after? Damn it, there's way too little information, so even with my perfectly clear thought process, I can't seem to derive an answer. I guess breaking it really is the only...

"Still, this is a pretty gorgeous crystal statue."

".........Well, true. The eyes look like Rubies."

"This isn't a necklace; it's jewels embedded in the shape of a necklace. That's a diamond with a very distinctive cut......... Hmm?"

"............"

"............"

For a few moments, Rust and I just looked at each other. Then, confirming through our crossed gazes that our current thoughts perfectly aligned, we nodded to each other and sprang into action without a moment of hesitation.

"............Hup."

"Sei!"

Rust's two fingers thrust straight into the eyes of the crystal woman—whose face was carved into a gentle expression—while my hand grabbed the jewel embedded right around the center of her collarbone, a cross-shaped gem that shone with a transparent brilliance different from crystal, likely a diamond. As everyone froze at the sudden act of violence, Rust—wiggling her fingers around—gouged out the crystal woman's eyeballs (Rubies), while I ripped out every single jewel embedded in the shape of a necklace.

"W-Wa-Wa-Wait a minute, Rust!?"

"Umm, err... Sunraku-san?"

"The transfer of royal authority. When you think of what makes a King a King, not in a political sense, but in a symbolic sense, what comes to mind?"

"...And on top of that, hiding the key needed to open the main door in a completely different location is standard game design."

The very first thing you think of when you imagine the "King" job class. You get the information in the study of this castle, and then obtain the key needed to unlock the Keystone in the Throne Room from the top floor. It's a completely game-like layout, isn't it? And those jewels, neither too big nor too small, look exactly like they'd perfectly fill the gaps of something missing them.

"According to the diary, the transfer of royal authority occurred between the former King and the 'Keystone' created based on the throne. If reversing that is the correct answer..."

"Ah... restoring the lost royal authority...!"

Exactly, Rei-shi. The shabby crown with hollow sockets that practically screams, "Please insert jewels here." The radiance of royal authority was transferred along with the jewels, and now we are returning them to their rightful place.

"...Huh, it doesn't fit."

"...Sunraku, you're holding it upside down. Honestly............ Nngh, .........! .........!"

"Rust, if you force it in that hard, it'll break! Actually, isn't that jewel supposed to go in a different slot?"

Eh, so this one goes here? No, that doesn't fit either... Huh, huuuuh?

"............Maybe destroying it actually is the better option."

"See? I told you it was a great idea, didn't I?"

"No, no, no, no........."

"I'm actually good at puzzles!"

Since Akitsu Akane said that, Rust and I handed over the crown and the jewels, albeit half in doubt. Can she really do it? The incredibly difficult puzzle that even Rust and I couldn't solve after racking our brains... to think that Akitsu Akane, who—pardon my wording—can be a bit special, would... Yep, she just flipped the jewel upside down and... ah, it fit perfectly.

"I knew it, the front and back were reversed from the start! I wonder if Ctarrnid went out of his way to flip them upside down?"

"Laugh at me, Akitsu Akane. It seems I am absolute trash."

".........Shame is equivalent to a poison that kills the self...!"

"Eh!? What's wrong!?"

What the hell were we doing, not noticing such a simple trick......... Let's pull ourselves together. If we break here, we'll probably shatter entirely during the Ctarrnid fight. Anyway, the crown should have returned to its original form now, but is there any change...?
Turning our gaze toward it, the golden color began crawling across the rusted surface of the crown like—for lack of a better comparison—mold multiplying. And a few seconds later, resting in Rust's hand, was a golden crown embedded with colorful jewels; a crown that had regained an appearance truly befitting the symbol of royal authority.

"............It's not like anything is happening right at this exact moment, huh."

"Does that mean we have to... go to Ctarrnid after all?"

"No, let's explore just a little more."

I wanted to initiate combat while Revolve Lantern's effect was still active, but I also wanted to gather as much information as possible. I walked around to the back of the throne to check the writing mentioned earlier.

"Hmm.........? Is this..."

It's a very idiosyncratic writing style, but this is cursive...

At that moment, the entirety of Ruluiath shook. Naturally, us being in the center of Ruluiath, we had our balance completely thrown off by the tremor.

"This kind of delayed-trigger event is a massive pain when it hits you as a surprise attack!"

"Are we going straight into the Ctarrnid fight like this!?"

"...That's highly likely...!"

Hands resting on our weapons, we dropped to our knees in the Throne Room—which had started shaking so violently we couldn't even stand—and remained vigilant of our surroundings. But what bared its fangs at us wasn't Ctarrnid, but this space itself.
When I first saw it, I thought it was a bug or something. After all, static noise was running across every single object other than the players and NPCs. But before I could even communicate that to the others with words...

"Huh?"

"Heh?"

"Eh?"

"Wah."

"Wa—"

Gurun. The heavens and the earth flipped upside down.
The floor that was supposed to be beneath our feet until just a moment ago was now far above us, and instead, the ceiling was shockingly close to our feet. But the most important part is that our bodies, obeying proper gravity, were falling up......... no, wrong. We were falling down.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait! A first-timer trap fall-damage death is way too cruel, hey!"

"More importantly, if this keeps up I'm going to get crushed desu waaa!?"

No, wait, believe! If this was a trash game, we would 100% just fall to our deaths right here, but since it's a god game—a god game!—they'll surely account for that...! Actually...

"If I die to fall damage like this, I'm going to review-bomb this game for generations to cooooome!!"

Fugutaiten (Cannot Share the Same Heaven). The meaning of the word denotes absolute hostility; a hatred so profound that even existing under the same heaven is unacceptable, referring to a state of mutual repulsion like oil and water refusing to mix. But heaven and earth, providence, and absolutely everything else was inverted the moment the Keystone relinquished the royal authority of Ruluiath.
And precisely because of that, it—which had reigned as the sovereign leader at the bottom of the deep sea—resolved to face them. To measure whether the successors of the great divine humans—who had fought against the "World" to bring about an ordinary tomorrow for the future they left behind—could step forward on their own two feet.

【You have encountered the Unique Monster "Ctarrnid of the Abyss".】

The abyss now, right here, shares the exact same heaven once more.

Author's Afterword

• Kthanid
  In Brian Lumley's works, Kthanid is the leader of the Elder Gods. He is Cthulhu's cousin and shares the exact same appearance as Cthulhu, but possesses golden eyes filled with deep affection. He is a strong and gentle god who wishes to protect humanity.
  (Excerpt from Wikipedia)