A single drop of dewy nectar traveled down the valley of the witch's breasts and into my mouth.
Awakening Water. So there was still some left.
Or had the witch gathered materials and made more? I couldn't tell.
My consciousness sharpened to a fine focus, like a camera lens locking into place — clear enough for me to consider those possibilities.
But what I felt then was the sudden sensation of being dropped into water, sinking deeper and deeper.
My body couldn't move a single finger. I just kept sinking, and sinking, and sinking.
In truth, the space around me was a luminous blue, like a liquid medium.
The breath I exhaled became bubbles, and a torrent of them streamed off my body as well.
And yet I wasn't wet.
It was an indescribable, peculiar place.
I was sinking, but I couldn't see a bottom.
"…………"
This was inside me.
Inside my mind, my heart — something like that.
And I was heading farther in than before. Much, much farther.
"……So all the answers are inside me, huh…"
Without warning, I hit the ground.
"Ow—… Wh-what… is this…?"
I slowly got to my feet.
Dirt. The sky was overcast and gloomy.
"This place is..."
Forest surrounded me on all sides. Ahead there was a small bridge, and on the other side I could make out a building.
It looked like a church. Someone was standing on the bridge.
"That's..."
Stabbing a sword into the planks for support and standing like a guardian statue—a knight in jet-black armor...?!
"!"
I could never forget it. There was no forgetting it. That black knight from the forest.
The opponent I had lost to for the first time.
"Why are you here...?"
The black knight spotted me and leveled its sword.
I understood instantly. I had to defeat this black knight.
Defeat the black knight—wait, why, hold on, a black knight in the first place...?
"............"
I checked myself. I had clothes on. The "Still Saint's Gauntlet" was there, and so was my pouch.
I had my knife too. It was the latest model—not the knives from back then.
Right. This was different from back then.
I closed in on the black knight at a walking pace.
The black knight raised its sword. The moment I entered range, it swung.
I caught the blow with "Agaro's Improved Knife" and deflected it.
But the black knight was completely unfazed. It raised its sword and brought it down again. I dodged it by a hair.
"---As I thought, it's no good."
That was my movement. My mind was calm. I could see the black knight's motions clearly.
The black knight didn't move a single step from where it stood, attacking anything that entered its range.
If I didn't enter its range—right then, the black knight moved.
It came straight at me. With the sword held in one hand, it swung a horizontal slash.
I blocked with my knife in a split second, but it was sent flying. "Agaro's Improved Knife" spun through the air.
I stepped back and grabbed another knife. A silver cross-shaped one.
I used the Relic [Deep Stillness]. I aimed it at the sword and fired.
"Banish!"
First, get rid of the black knight's sword. But then something unbelievable happened.
The black knight timed it perfectly and swung its sword in a vertical arc.
Banish was cut.
"What—... Banish!"
I fired again, aimed at the sword. The black knight reacted first, swinging its blade.
Banish was severed at the perfect timing.
How is that possible... The black knight closed in to arm's length, angling its sword downward.
"Kuh!"
I caught it with my knife. If the sword won't work, then how about the black knight itself?
"Banish!"
It hit the black knight and should have vanished—but it didn't.
Only the black knight's armor disappeared. What emerged from it was... what the hell. This guy.
"............"
When the armor crumbled, a man appeared.
Gleaming long purple hair. Purple eyes. Dark skin. Light garments that looked like some kind of exotic ethnic clothing.
Purple hair and eyes—that's the Generous title!?
The man spotted me and raised the black knight's sword. The blade gleamed a dark crimson.
He took his stance and charged. Fast.
"[Banish]!"
I tried to aim, but he swung the sword quickly and cut right through it with ease.
I knew it was going to be useless, but sure enough, no dice. While I was trying to figure out what to do next, he closed the distance.
Crap—the dark crimson blade pierced right through my body.
"Guhaaah!?"
I collapsed. No good. My body wouldn't move.
What was going on. My body was suddenly getting lighter.
"...There's no wound...?"
The stab wound was completely gone. What was that about.
And there hadn't been any pain, either. Maybe because it was an instant death?
"I see."
This was inside my mind. Not reality.
So I can't die. Well, no, I can die.
It would be my spiritual death. Probably if I gave up, that's what would happen.
I slowly stand up. He'd been waiting for me to do so.
He hefts the strange triangular sword—its blade glowing red-black with purple light—onto his shoulder.
"Even if this is inside my heart, Black Knight—I get it."
What even is this guy? Is he a Generous?
I pick up Agaro's Modified Knife where it had fallen.
I take my stance, and go speechless.
Rhombus-shaped Banishes blanketed the entire sky.
I immediately realize what this is—his Phantasmagoria.
At this point, I have no choice but to become Generous myself.
I try to go Generous—huh?
"—Wait, I can't become one?"
No matter how many times I focus my consciousness, Generous won't activate.
"What the—"
Before I can even finish saying that, I'm torn apart by the raining Phantasmagoria.
I immediately regenerate as if nothing happened, but... seriously, what is this guy?
"...What do I do?"
The only card left to play is Knife Magic, but it won't work like this.
"Anything else..."
That one. That's the only option.
[Silent Auto Move (Half): Guarantees the success of one swift, precise, high-difficulty action. Consciousness is maintained during execution.]
The Deep Silent One is about to run out. I have no choice.
"--- [Silent Auto Move]"
When I activated it, my body lurched.
With movements so fast I couldn't believe it myself, I circled around to that thing's flank.
I raised Agaro's Improved Knife and slashed its arm.
I did it.
But my body had its limits too.
It seized the opening and struck me down with its triangular blade.
Night.
The rain was still pouring hard.
Occasionally lightning lit up the sky and the sound of distant thunder rumbled.
Gazing down at him, she gently stroked Wof's head as he lay sleeping in bed.
Looking at him like this, he seemed nothing more than a sleeping boy.
In truth, that wasn't far off. But there was no guarantee his dreams were happy ones.
"Hey now, Kon believes in you, you know."
Full of wishes, full of prayers.
"So, so, you have to come back. Young Wof."
She pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead.
Please, please. Let this feeling reach Wof.
I stood up.
Ah, how many times have I... died.
I don't know, but I've been killed by that thing more times than I can count.
That thing. Strong. Is [Generous] really that powerful?
I couldn't help but smile bitterly at just how overpowered I'd been on a normal day.
But, battered as I am, not yet. Not yet. I can still stand up.
"...Hnngh."
It's not like I have no options.
Just a little more... just a little more... I feel like I'm about to grasp something.
"---[Silent Auto Move]!"
I've used it countless times already.
Honestly, I can't pull off these acrobatic movements. I think it only works because it's on auto.
But what if — even without auto, I could make that movement with my own will?
If I could... I could win.
I took that thing's downward swing of its triangular sword, failed to redirect it, and was sliced clean through, chopped to pieces.
What kind of weight is in that sword?
"Y-You can use that too?!"
Its [Banish] cut right through my [
Universe
Arm
].
[It] struck me.
I disappeared. And before even a few seconds had passed, I was back.
"...Useful or not, I can't even tell."
Fortunately, there was no pain, so coming back was easy enough.
Besides, that thing waits for me, too.
Well, this isn't reality but inside my own mind, so in a sense anything goes... right?
Anything goes.
"...Could it be?"
I stared down at Agaro's Improved Knife in my grip and thought.
And just like that, Agaro's Improved Knife transformed into an elixir knife.
It was the long-lost anti-undead knife — coated in elixir.
"Sure enough."
Why hadn't I noticed something so simple?
This is inside my mind. It's inside my mind. In other words, it's me.
If it's my mind, then naturally things work out in my favor.
Not dying, having no pain — all of it.
This space, that thing, and the current me — all of it exists inside my mind, all of it created by my mind.
And the reason I can do this is because of the Awakening Water's effect.
"Then…"
If that was the case, there should be nothing I couldn't do inside my own mind.
Ah — right now, I could become [Generous].
Now that I'd realized it, I knew I could do it.
But I was going to defeat it just as I was.
Otherwise, there'd be no point.
I see. The reason I'd wished to fight the Black Knight was because I hadn't been able to defeat it like this.
In some corner of my heart — regret, or maybe lingering attachment. There must have been something left undone.
"Well then, the first problem is that this place is dreary."
For moments like this, there was a fitting place. A scene from my past life memories surfaced.
In that instant, the scenery shifted away from that forest.
Endless blue sky and clouds stretched to the horizon, and beneath my feet, endless blue sky and clouds reflected back.
"The Uyuni Salt Flat."
I let out a quiet, fearless laugh.
Then I felt a gentle warmth on my forehead.