Episode 9: The Rider of the Steppe

My name is Mehleeza Janebekova. Seventeen years old. My favorite food is borsok—fried bread slathered with plenty of honey. Foods I can't handle include the natto the Captain eats every morning. Also the pickled freshwater fish Koshiba keeps recommending to me every day. The smell is just a bit too strong.

(I still remember the flames of that night so vividly.)

The night of the burning steppe. My mother stood weeping.

"Mommy...?"

A silver staircase stretched toward the starry night sky. I couldn't even see the shadow of its end, countless kilometers above. It was a sight far too magical to be real.

"The Infinite Library."

The skull-masked man murmured.

"It really exists up there?"

He was one of my father's guests, I was pretty sure. My mother spoke to the man wearing a vividly colored skull mask—I think it was the kind worn during Mexico's "Day of the Dead."

"Please take care of Mef."

The masked man nodded.

"Wait. Mommy. What are you going to do?"

My mother gazed at the staircase leading to the heavens.

"Papa was taken into that place."

My father was a sorcerer. He'd wanted to reach the Infinite Library—a place in anti-reality containing an infinite number of books—no matter what he had to sacrifice. I never wanted to know his reasons.

"So Mommy's going to bring him back."

Impossible, I thought. Even to an ignorant child, it was too obviously otherworldly.

"Mef. Promise me. For the rest of your life. Just promise me this one thing."

The masked man held my unconscious older brother—Termibek Janebekova. Mother kissed Ter's forehead lightly, stroked his hair with tender affection, then did exactly the same for me.

"No matter how deep you fall into the depths of despair, keep reaching out toward the starry sky."

Suddenly, from somewhere far above in the night sky, a thunderous roar shook the earth. Instinctively, I knew it was the voice of a living creature. I still don't know why I thought that.

"Nurgul."

The masked man called my mother's name.

"Hurry. We're out of time. Monsters from the dimensional rift are pouring out."

My mother nodded and embraced me tightly.

"Mef, listen to me. Never forget just that. If you do, everything will be okay."

Her gentle voice. Her gentle gestures. Whenever I close my eyes, I can recall my mother's words.

"...Take care of yourself. I love you. I love you so much. My darling Mehleeza."

"Mommy... sniff I don't wanna... Mommy..."

I would never forget the sensation of my mother's tears running down my cheek.

"You take care too."

Mommy smiled at the masked man. He murmured quietly, "Godspeed." He lifted me onto his back and straddled a motorcycle. The bike shot forward like the wind.

"Safe travels!"

My mother shouted. I turned around. She was taking her very first step toward the staircase leading to the heavens. As brave as any hero. Without a single weapon.

"Hold on tight!"

The masked man shouted. He cradled the unconscious Ter in one arm as the bike raced on.

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO—"

I heard the roars of countless monsters from behind. They were creatures woven together sloppily from something like fungal mycelium—enormous, frighteningly hollow beings filled with rage.

"What are those?!"

"Scavengers! Monsters that kill everything to devour the World's Seed!"

Pure white Scavengers beat the air with pure white wings.

"Come! Bard and Poetry!"

When the masked man shouted, a large, rugged pistol appeared in his hand. It was brutally simple and functional—a weapon that evoked the merciless beauty of a guillotine.

"Ooooooooooooooooh!"

The masked man fired bullet after bullet at the approaching monsters. But holding Ter with one arm threw off his aim, and the shots seemed to do little more than hold them back.

(At this rate, they'll catch up!)

Neigh!

A whinny rang out. It was my mother's beloved black horse, Chalquiruq. But how? The horses and sheep were supposed to have fled with my uncles.

Neigh!

"...! I understand, Chalquiruq."

I felt like I understood his words. The aged horse who had watched over me since I was small.

I gripped the masked man's back, stood up, and jumped toward Chalquiruq.

"What—?!"

The masked man was startled, but this was nothing to me. We'd lived our whole lives alongside horses. It wasn't graceful, but I managed to grab the reins.

"Hand Ter over here!"

The masked man nodded and passed Ter to me. I mounted him on the horse and held him tight from behind. Even unconscious, Ter's hands gripped the reins firmly.

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO—!"

The monster screamed. But the muzzle of Bard and Poetry was aimed precisely at its skull.

"—Shut up and die. All of you."

The muzzle flash of Bard and Poetry sliced through the night sky for an instant. A hole the size of a large cauldron had opened in the flying white monster's head. As if nothing had ever been there.

"Thank you! That helped! Let's keep moving!"

I don't know how long we kept running. It felt like one or two hours, and yet also like only ten minutes. We shot down monsters as we ran, finally reaching a small rise.

"What a disaster..."

The masked man murmured. His mask must have cracked when the monsters attacked—through the gap, I glimpsed a face marked by a large scar. That was when it started. My inexplicable fascination with scarred men.

"...Is the world going to end now?"

The staircase leading to the night sky. From its impossibly high origin point, monsters poured down like a waterfall. I had a vague sense that yes, the world was probably going to end.

"It won't end."

"Huh?"

"It won't end. I won't allow that."

Suddenly Chalquiruq whinnied and began thrashing, as if trying to throw me off. He was such a gentle old horse. He'd never done that before. Surprised, I dismounted.

"What? What's wrong?"

He rubbed his cheek gently against my face.

Neigh!

He whinnied proudly and broke into a run.

"Wait! Chalquiruq! No!"

I understood painfully well what he was going to do.

He was the most loyal, the most courageous—and he was going to help his master.

His master—meaning my mother.

"Come back! Come back, Chalquiruq! Come back!"

But the old horse with his beautiful black mane kept running like the wind, melting into the darkness of night.

He too had gone to fight. Braver than any hero. Without a single weapon.

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupiiiiiiiid!"

It was a week later. My father was discovered on the burnt steppe, in a state of complete mental collapse.

—In his hand, they said, he was clutching a severed rein.

* * *

"Let's go, Chalquiruq."

The two of them went. I glared at the Guardian, hanging from Sleipnir in his small drone form.

"Aye! But at our current state, we shan't last two minutes!"

"At least five."

"..."

"Let's buy five minutes."

I had long since realized how terrifying that enormous monster truly was. Right now it was just confused, lashing out. If it got serious, it could kill insignificant creatures like us in an instant.

"Five minutes? You trust those two that much?"

"Trust? Hardly. We only met a few days ago. There's no room for anything so wonderful."

But this was a very simple matter.

"We have no choice. That's all there is. So I've resolved to fight."

I remembered my mother's back as she climbed the staircase leading to the heavens that day. She couldn't have had any hope of winning. She must have known she'd be devoured miserably by monsters.

But still, my mother fought. Against despair.

"—Believing in hope."

That frail glow, like a spider's thread.

"Then, Mef. Let us go all out."

"Of course. No holding back."

Let's go. Like the hero I yearned to become that day.

"Devour me, my beloved steed. Together, let us race across the lake of death!"

The instant I spoke, Sleipnir's body melted into sludge and coiled around my left arm.

"Ngh... gaaaaaaaaah!"

Sleipnir devoured me. My arm was crushed in a vise-like grip. This was—mastication. My arm was being ground to mince. Chewed again and again. Bone and flesh, twisted together.

"Steel yourself, Mef! From here on, 'tis your life force that moves this one. Spirit is everything!"

Sleipnir swallowed my arm. In that instant, his body expanded explosively, forming two enormous rifles. One was a jet-black rifle fused to my shoulder in place of my lost arm. The second was an identical rugged rifle. Both were easily over three meters long.

"...!"

Pain shot through my back. My muscles were being forcibly remade. I had become one with Sleipnir now. A being of the same nature.

"Gyaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Massive wings burst through my screaming back. They were brutally crude—wings of pitch black, formed from cobbled-together machine fragments, without a shred of elegance.

"This one is your wind!"

"Yes!"

The Guardian was tearing away the music box from the ground, trying to pursue Kotoyorozu-kun and the others. It didn't seem to register us at all. That worked in our favor.

"Be blown away—"

Picturing the Captain's light in my mind, I pulled both triggers. The tremendous recoil tore the tendons in my arm apart, but Sleipnir's black slime immediately repaired the damage.

"Damage to the head confirmed. This is not insignificant."

Our massive bullets had punched a hole through the giant machine's head. But it was immediately repaired with wire-like metal, and an exposed eye glared at us.

"Mef! An attack doth come! Evasion!"

"No! We charge!"

"What?!"

The Guardian aimed its hedgehog-like array of turrets at us. A blinding light erupted from them.

"Uooooooooooooooh!"

I beat my black wings, threading through the gaps in the light, and closed in on the massive machine's head.

"—You're annoying. Die. Every last one of you."

I pressed both rifles against its forehead at point-blank range. I squeezed the triggers.

"Raaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Again and again I pulled the triggers. Each time, I felt my body breaking apart. I felt my soul being consumed. But none of that mattered.

"You're... in the way!"

One of the Guardian's arms swatted us from the side. Like brushing away an insect.

"—"

We were sent flying hundreds of meters and slammed into the black ground. But immediately our wings beat and we took flight again.

"Mef, are you alright?"

"I'm fine... My skull is fractured and my ribs are stabbing into my heart, that's all."

"Ha ha ha! If 'tis only that, this one shall fix it right up!"

Even our desperate assault didn't seem to have done much damage to the massive machine. But having decided to destroy us before pursuing Kotoyorozu-kun and the others, its turrets were now fully trained on us.

"Now, Mef! Let us continue the execution of justice! Justice—always—wins!"

Those childlike words made me laugh.

But yes, that's right.

"Let's go, Sleipnir. —We'll keep reaching out. To that starry sky!"

I raised both rifles. My wings sliced through the air.

* * *

Thunderous booms continued from above.

(...Mef. I hope she's okay.)

No—I had to focus on my own task. I couldn't waste a single second of the time Mef was buying for us. Clinging to Luna-san, I continued descending through the black vertical shaft.

"There's someone deeper in. Four, maybe five of them. About a hundred meters down."

"Got it. Your Apocalypse really is convenient."

We reached the bottom of the hole. Several mechanical torches provided dim illumination.

"Is this... a temple?"

Abstract patterns and godlike creatures were carved into the murals on the walls. We entered the temple through gaps in the crumbling walls.

"...Someone put a lot of work into building this. And yet it's been left to fall apart."

Luna-san looked around the dark corridor.

"In my experience?"

She continued in a bored tone.

"Places like this hold weak points. The kind you'd rather not look at yourself."

What was Luna-san, exactly? She seemed experienced in combat. She certainly didn't look like an ordinary maid.

"Someone's deeper in. They're... lined up? Crying? I can't tell, but—"

Beyond the corridor lay a large chamber. It was spherical overall, decorated with oasis-like motifs.

"...Careful."

Luna-san grabbed my shoulder as I tried to enter. She stepped ahead of me and cautiously entered the chamber.

"What the... Are you serious...?"

I could tell Luna-san's breath caught in her throat.

...Thank you for coming. New generation.

There were indeed five people there.

Their height ranged from two to three meters. They were taller than us, with small hands that had mop-like tentacles instead of fingers. Their eyes were enormous, taking up nearly half of their elongated faces. They had no hair on their bodies, and their exposed shoulders had large holes in them.

All of them had been flayed and stretched across tall rectangular frames.

"Wha—"

Like animal hides being stretched to dry, their skin was pulled taut against wooden frames, with only fragments—the skin of their faces, the skin of their chests—still fused to the flesh beneath.

Looking closer, their entire bodies were fixed to the walls with something like metal bolts. Not only that, but wires descending from above were pulling continuously on their arm and leg joints.

"New generation? So you're from before..."

When I murmured, Luna-san looked at me quizzically. She couldn't hear their voices.

That is correct. We are what were once called humans. Those who lost to the Apocalypse and ended.

The tallest of the five, a man with gentle eyes, answered.

Please. End this story. Ours, and the 'Guardians'.

"The Guardian... what is that? That huge machine up there?"

Machine? We never used such a derogatory term...

The man in the center, fighting desperately against pain and suffering and madness, continued his explanation.

It remains faithful to its mission even after the world ended. Namely—to protect humans.

However, continued the small figure beside the tall man. ...No, perhaps the genders were reversed. Or perhaps they had no gender at all.

That child cannot move without orders. That is the Guardian's nature.

That is why we are crucified here. To make us give orders forever.

Made to give orders? What did that mean? When I tilted my head in confusion, the man continued.

Please touch that ×××× .

Since the word didn't exist in our language, I couldn't tell exactly what ×××× referred to. But I noticed the vector of his consciousness was directed toward a pedestal in the center of the chamber.

Stop!!

When I touched the pedestal, the man in the far left corner—who had remained silent until now—screamed.

♪ ♪ ♪

What began was music. Or... probably music.

It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!

Stop! Stop making us sing!

Behind the wall where they hung, countless wires and metal rods began to move. They stabbed through their backs to stir their organs, forcibly manipulating their throats and lungs to produce sound.

(This is... an instrument made of humans.)

A scream-like song echoed through the temple's great hall. It was probably a hymn to life. A poem of dreams and hope about how beautiful living was. How grateful they were for each day.

...Please, end this. We cannot endure any more.

When the performance—or perhaps the command—ended, the Old Humanity spoke in ragged gasps. With bodies so wretched they could no longer even shed tears, no matter how much they wanted to.

"What should we do? If we kill you, will the Guardian stop?"

There are countless replacements for us. And for that Guardian as well.

Then what should we do? The Old Humanity's consciousness turned toward a door at the back of the chamber.

Beyond that door is a Guardian called the Mother Case. It is the Directionality core of this world. If it is destroyed, no existence in this space can be maintained.

How convenient. Destroy the source of everything, and it all ends happily.

I explained to Luna-san and started walking quickly.

Wait. Just one thing. Please tell us.

I turned around. The crucified man was looking at me with an expression like he might cry.

What is our god doing?

When we die, we will go to our god, won't we?

Hearing those words, I understood. In their world, gods really had existed, watching over them. If you lived righteous days, you could live happily near god even after death.

Ah. There really was no such thing as eternity in this world. Truly.

I couldn't answer his question. I just turned away in silence.