Chapter 22 — Interlude: Looks like Our Next Job Is to Wipe Out All Life in This World
Zakuro, Haruto, and Euphemia descended into the hole where the castle once stood. Haruto used his wings to slow his descent, while the other two fell straight down, landing in a mountain of rubble.
As Haruto landed gracefully, the others pulled themselves out of the rubble. Naturally, they were unharmed. They were more than capable of floating in the air themselves, but it seemed it was too much of a bother. Haruto only kept himself from doing the same out of pride as a winged beastkin.
“Now then, where did the Overlord go?”
They were in a deep darkness. An enormous cave stretched out under the palace. It was large enough that even something as massive as the Overlord had no difficulty moving around.
“I hear something from that direction. It seems likely that is where it went,” Euphemia said.
The sound of crumbling, crushing, and screaming echoed from farther in. Zakuro headed towards them, Euphemia and Haruto close behind.
The enormous cavern ran deeper underground. As they walked, the light from above vanished, leaving them in a pitch black. But despite the darkness, none of the three had any difficulty navigating. Keeping track of their surroundings without sight was no challenge for them.
As they walked ever deeper, the sounds from below grew louder. It seemed like the source of the noise had been moving before, but now it was staying in one place. As they got closer, the presence of the Overlord grew stronger.
“Is there a second one?” Haruto mumbled. Something the same size as the Overlord was in the darkness, fighting it.
“Hmm. I think that is also the Overlord,” Zakuro said.
“So why is it fighting itself?”
“Who knows? There’s no way to know what it’s thinking.” To Haruto, it didn’t sound like those words held any respect at all. Zakuro seemed to have given up.
The two enormous monsters fought, coiling around each other, striking each other, ripping each other apart, bathing in each other’s blood. It was a truly bizarre battle.
“What do we do?”
“Nothing. They are both the Overlord, so we can’t help either of them.”
Haruto could do nothing but watch. The fight soon devolved into the two monsters biting each other. They were eating each other. Ripping off parts of their opponent, they were chewing and swallowing. As the lost chunks of their bodies regenerated, they took on increasingly warped forms. Eventually, it became impossible to distinguish between them.
As they ate each other, they slowly became a single entity. And over time, they grew smaller. They couldn’t regenerate infinitely, so as parts of them were eaten, they couldn’t all be restored.
Finally, there was an end to the seemingly endless cycle. A small, human figure was crouched down in the darkness.
“Goodness. What an annoying process,” Zakuro sighed with exasperation as he approached the figure.
“Hm...what was I...” The figure was smaller than Haruto and looked like a young girl.
“Overlord, have you awakened? Do you know what you were doing?”
“You are...Zakuro?”
“Yes. I’ve come to find you.”
Zakuro knelt down in front of the Overlord. Euphemia and Haruto followed suit.
“Where are we?”
“In the bottom world. More precisely, we are in a cavern beneath a castle on a small island on one of the planets in that world.”
“I am starting to remember! How dare they tie me down in a place like this!” Though it may have been rude to think so, her angry complaining seemed exactly like one would expect from a girl her size.
“Now then, since you have returned to your original form, we have no more need to stay in this world. Shall we go?”
“What?” The girl named the Overlord seemed unhappy. “What are you talking about?! After meeting such a fate, how could I quietly return home?!”
“It doesn’t have to be quietly. I think we can be rather brazen about it.”
“Cease your jokes! After such humiliation, I will not be satisfied until I have had my revenge!”
“I understand, but the gods that sealed you away have died, thus allowing you to be freed. There is no one left for you to seek vengeance against.”
“If the gods are gone, I will annihilate all life in the world they created! That should be enough to soothe my anger!”
“Overlord, do you not think you are being childish? This is not the behavior of a god.”
“Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up! We’re doing it! I’ve already made my decision! We’re going to wipe out all life here! Or do you plan on disobeying me, Zakuro?!”
“If it is an order, then of course I will obey,” Zakuro said, turning to Haruto and Euphemia. “I suppose that’s it, then. Looks like our next job is to wipe out all life in this world.”
Haruto couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. It seemed the Overlord was a bit petty.
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