Gwaaaaah!
Screaming pointlessly in my mind, I break through the shell in front of me.
My body's movements are clumsy and weak. Even breaking through the thin shell takes time. Finally I succeed in cracking it open and crawling out.
Looking around, I'm surrounded by what look like eggs. The same kind that I just emerged from. This scene is certainly similar to when I first got reincarnated into this world, but the eggs around me haven't hatched yet.
They're rattling around a bit, though, so they'll probably hatch soon. Where am I right now? Well, it's somewhere between the Middle and Upper Stratums of the Great Elroe Labyrinth. In other words, the place where my old home used to be.
Mother knew about this location, which means it wouldn't be too surprising if the Demon Lord knows about it, too, but it was the first place that came to mind as an emergency escape spot. My memories of this place run pretty deep, after all. If you're wondering how I escaped the Demon Lord's Abyss Magic, the short of it is that I abandoned my body and got reborn. That's not a good explanation?
Yeah, I know. But that's what happened. To elaborate, I used the Egg-Laying skill I got from Mother a while back.
As the name implies, it obviously allows me to lay eggs. And when the eggs hatch, I can put the babies to work as my kin. I tested it out right away, but, y'know. They were still eggs.
They take a while to hatch. I left my mass-produced eggs in this hopefully safe area, my old base of operations in the Great Elroe Labyrinth.
The thing about this skill is, as you may have guessed from the fact that I can produce the eggs by myself, it's actually more like making little mes than bearing children. It's basically a skill that creates inferior copies of yourself with minds of their own. Although considering that Mother's babies were all small lesser taratects, I think they're a little too inferior.
My thought process was, if this skill can make inferior copies of me, doesn't that mean I could transplant my Parallel Minds into them? That's probably not how this skill was intended to be used, but when it comes to Parallel Minds, I tend to operate waaay outside the intended framework. I figured it was worth a try, just for kicks.
To be honest, my current Parallel Minds have started to have a difference of opinion with the original (me), probably as an effect of eating Mother's soul. I mean, up until then, it was basically just like there were a whole bunch of mes in my head.
That might be hard to imagine for an ordinary person, but I don't know how else to explain it. But now, the Parallel Minds are different. It's like there are other people inside me, which isn't a great feeling. If possible, I wouldn't mind getting rid of them.
I might be able to deal with it by turning off the Parallel Minds skill, but that would basically be like killing my Parallel Minds, which I'd feel a bit guilty about. Besides, it's possible that if I turned it off, I'd give in to that outside influence myself. I definitely don't want that. So I decided to transplant my Parallel Minds into some of the babies in these eggs. See, as soon as they hatch, our souls are connected thanks to Kin Control.
I figured it seemed like a decent possibility. But before I got to try it, that whole war went down. The war itself was one thing, but why'd the Demon Lord have to show up at that exact moment?
Unreal. So when it was looking like the Demon Lord might kill me, a light bulb went off in my head. If I can transplant my Parallel Minds, can't I transplant myself along with them?
There's not much difference between transplanting a part or transplanting the whole thing, right? In which case, if I transplant my whole consciousness, doesn't that mean I can escape?
So I tried it out, and presto, I'm reborn. No doubt the Demon Lord's Abyss Magic has vaporized my original body. But guess what! My consciousness lives on in a whole different body!
Heh-heh-heh.
Between the Immortality skill and this egg revival technique, my body and soul are both indestructible!
Bwa-ha-ha-ha! It's impossible to kill me now!
Well, unless I get caught off guard with some Abyss Magic or something. So I better not get too cocky. Hoo, boy. I'm lucky that worked when I hadn't even tested it out. Otherwise, I really would've died that time. Yikes, I don't even wanna think about it. So what do I do now? First, I better see what's up with my current body. Right now I'm a newborn baby spider, fresh out of the box. As a result, this body's a whole lot smaller than my old one. I'm talking the size of a tarantula back on Earth, small enough to fit in a human's palm. I guess that's because my old body couldn't lay giant eggs like Mother.
Physically speaking, it'd be impossible to lay eggs almost as big as yourself. Even in a world that has magic and stuff, physics doesn't simply cease to exist. Consequently, the eggs I laid aren't much bigger than a chicken's. Smaller than ostrich eggs, maybe? So it makes sense that my body would be around the same size, since it hatched from one of those eggs. So how are my stats looking, then?
Buh?!
I can't help sputtering when I look at my stats with Appraisal. All my stats are at 3. 3. No ifs, ands, or buts. Just the number 3. Thankfully, my original stats are still listed as the maximum values, with a note next to my status saying that they're currently lowered. Does that mean my stats went down temporarily because I switched bodies? My skills are still the same, but I definitely can't do any fighting in this state. Well, that ain't good. How am I even going to obtain food like this? I do have some supplies in my Spatial Storage via Spatial Magic, but I don't even have enough MP to activate that. If I could at least get my max MP back, I could use magic again, but I'm kinda worried that I'll starve to death before then. Worst-case scenario, do I eat what's inside these eggs? Mother did the same thing, so I guess I could theoretically sacrifice some of my children for my own survival. We'll save that for a last resort, though. And then there's my other option.
Yes, I do have one.
But I'm pretty sure that would be a serious gamble. See, the level displayed in my Appraisal results is 50. And next to that is the indicator that I can evolve. My next evolutionary step is the one I've wanted for so long: Arachne. I really, really wanna evolve.
But when I evolve, it uses up a huge amount of SP. And know what my current SP is? You guessed it: 3. I could easily starve to death in the process of evolving. Once the evolution is complete, my stats might come back, which would let me use magic to get my supplies out of Spatial Storage, but I don't know whether this fragile little body can survive evolution in the first place. So yeah, it's a gamble. Hmm. What should I do? If the evolution succeeds, my stats will probably recover, and all my problems will be solved. The problem is, I don't know whether it'll succeed. Man, I dunno what to do here.
As I'm waffling back and forth, I sense a fluctuation in the air. Someone is trying to teleport here! My blood runs cold. Did the Demon Lord follow me?
If so, I'd be totally screwed. I can't resurrect into another egg if all the eggs here get destroyed. Then I'd die for real this time. I'd be killed. But against all expectations, the person who arrives isn't the Demon Lord. Instead, a man emerges from thin air. A slim body that seems to be fused with its armor. All covered from head to toe in black. I've met this dark man only once before. In the Middle Stratum of the Great Elroe Labyrinth after I beat the fire dragon. The administrator Güliedistodiez. One of the gods who control this world.
"Th** is * surprise. I *** not expect y** to survi**." I still can't pick it all up completely, but I've learned a good amount of this world's language. I can fill in the spotty parts with my imagination. He's saying that he's surprised I survived, right? Ah! That's right! The Demon Lord doesn't have Spatial Magic! Does that mean she was able to teleport to me because of this guy?! Which would mean he's my enemy, too!
"N* need to ** so guarded. I h*ve no **tent**n of h*rming you now." Administrator Güliedistodiez— Ugh, too long, let's just call him Güli-güli. I don't sense any hostility from Güli-güli. As long as he doesn't intend to kill me, I guess we're okay for now, right? "Can you understand me like this?" Suddenly, I hear a muted voice that seems to beam directly into my head. It's kinda like the Divine Voice (temp.). And like our friend the DV, it comes through to me in Japanese. Silently, I nod. "I have altered a skill D made to add a translation function. This way, my telepathy will sound like your language to you, and your words should also come through to me in mine." Huh. You can do that? Is there a way to just have translation on all the time? "Incidentally, I am implementing this function through force. It is not a function of the skill originally, so it would likely be very difficult for you to implement it yourself." Oh really? That's too bad. Well, guess I might as well start asking questions. Or I would, but I'm so bad at conversation that the words just won't come out! "You must find it strange. That I sent Ariel to you and yet I have come to you to have a conversation now. Allow me to begin by explaining." Sweet, thanks. Mr. Güli-güli's the best, guessing what I want to know before I even say it. "Ariel and I are old friends, with a deep connection. I decided I would help her, just once. D has ordered me not to interfere with the reincarnations, but I did not do so directly in this case." Hrmm. Isn't that what people call a technicality? But I do kinda get where you're coming from, Güli-güli. If someone you know is in trouble, of course you'd wanna help them. But this time, it almost ended in me dying! I'm not just gonna be like, "Okay, that's fine, then!" "Your anger is understandable.
Thus, although it does not excuse my actions, I wish to offer you this." Güli-güli reaches into another space and pulls something out. Something huge! It's the giant corpse of a dragon. No, several of them, in fact.
"These dragons fought for your sake. I am certain they would be honored to offer their flesh and blood for you as well." There's a touch of sorrow in Güli-güli's eyes. I don't really know what you're talking about, but that means I can eat these, right? "This is the last time I shall lend a hand to Ariel. From here on out, I swear never again to interfere with any reincarnations." Oh yeah? Glad to hear it. That means the Demon Lord's not going to randomly teleport to me again. As long as I keep an eye on her whereabouts with Professor Wisdom's marking feature, she won't catch me by surprise again, I hope. "This is a gesture of good faith from me personally, in regards to the issues I have caused you as well."
Hmm.
Honestly, considering what I lost, I'm not really sure this makes up for it, but that's all right. I'm not gonna push my luck by asking for anything more.
"In addition, I have a selfish request." Hmm? "Is there any way I could convince you to stop meddling with Ariel?"
Hrmmm? Meddling with the Demon Lord? I haven't been doing that, have I? If anything, she's the one who keeps meddling with me. As far as I'm concerned, now that Mother is dead, our connection is severed, and we don't need to bother each other any further.
"I understand that I am being unreasonably demanding. If you wish to reject my request, I will press the matter no further." I, uh, what? Meddling with the Demon Lord, meddling, meddling… Ah!
Maybe she's behind this?!
My Parallel Mind who used to be my body brain!
That's right! She went over to the Demon Lord! I completely forgot about that! The Demon Lord suddenly appeared while I was taking down Mother. In order to deal with her, one of my Parallel Minds went over to start attacking the Demon Lord's soul directly.
That was former body brain.
But when Mother died, the connection between Mother and me disappeared. As a result, the connection I had to the Demon Lord through Mother was also severed, meaning that the Parallel Mind who was dispatched to the Demon Lord can no longer return to me. I can't even contact former body brain. She's totally isolated. I had no idea what happened to former body brain after that, but if what Güli-güli's saying is true, she's been fighting valiantly against the Demon Lord on her own all this time. Unbelievable.
I'd just assumed the Demon Lord was chasing me to get revenge for me killing Mother, but she must have been trying to kill me because my former body brain has been attacking her this whole time!
Which means this is all your fault, former body brain! Oops, rein it in. I shouldn't get too angry at former body brain. She's been fighting tooth and nail even though she lost her way back. Anyway, how should I respond to Güli-güli? It's probably best to be honest about it, so that's what I do. "I can't." It's true. I really can't. I can't even get in touch with former body brain, never mind bring her back. So I can't stop her meddling from here even if I wanted to. I try to convey this to Güli-güli, rather incoherently. Sorry that it took me so long to explain. I'm just really bad at talking to people. "I see. Then I have asked the impossible of you, ignorant of the circumstances. I apologize." Nah, it's all good. You gave me some valuable information in the process, so let's call it even. Now I have the wonderful little nugget of hope that if I keep running away, former body brain might eventually beat the Demon Lord for me. "There is one more thing I would ask of you." Hrm? What now? "I would have you cease your involvement with humans from this point onward. If possible, please live somewhere quietly in secret from now on." Pardon? "D has given me a summary of your situation. I wish to apologize that you have gotten involved in this world's predicament. I am sorry. I also ask you to not interfere with this world any further. I am well aware that this is an impolite request. But right now, you are already one of the most powerful creatures in this world. For each action you take, there is a wave of consequences too large to ignore. It threatens to plunge this world into chaos. Again, I know this is a large request to make of you. But would you by chance at least consider it?" I can tell that Güli-güli is being very sincere. "Might I hear your reply?" Hmm. Since he's being so up-front, I should respond with equal sincerity. "Sorry, but no." I hate to be rude to Güli-güli, but I can't agree to that. I mean, he's basically asking me to let the inhabitants of this world handle everything and just go hole up in a cave somewhere. But the people of this world are too pathetic to get anything done, which is why it's on the verge of destruction. Clearly, they can't be trusted to handle things from here. I might be busy dealing with the Demon Lord right now, but I have my own plan of action, too. And so, it's unthinkable that I would just give up and go into hiding. "You will not reconsider?" Looking ponderous, Güli-güli seems to be making one last confirmation. I shake my head silently.
"I see." Güli-güli looks up toward the sky.
"From the perspective of one from another world, does what I am doing seem laughable to you?" His brow wrinkles as he telepathically asks the question. His expression is that of an exhausted and anguished man, who has nevertheless resolved to keep moving forward. I can't really answer his question. That's his business, after all. But I can say this much.
"You should do whatever you feel is best." In the end, that's just how it is. You have to push onward down the path you believe in. That's all I can really say to a question with no correct answer.
"I see. You are right, I suppose." Güli-güli looks a little surprised, then nods.
"Then I shall do what I feel is best, indeed. Still, D has a stake in your actions, as well. For the time being, I shall not harm you. But you would do well to remember this. If your actions lead to results that run counter to mine, then you shall likely find me standing in your way."
Makes sense. But I hope that doesn't end up being the case.
"Our business is done for today, then. Farewell."
Just like that, Güli-güli teleports away.