"No harvest."
Since it cleared up for the first time in a while today, I went on an expedition exploring the wilderness, doubling as jogging. The Main Body is on top of my head. This adds quite a bit of weight, and if I don't run maintaining balance, I feel like I'll stagger. I ran at considerable speed using Ten, but the wilderness was wilderness no matter how far I went. It is too vast. And there is nothing. Probably, unless I go on a serious expedition with the mindset of leaving the red forest for good, I won't see an exit.
Just in case, even if I go far enough that the red forest is out of sight, there is a means to return without getting lost. I am an ant. Even far from the nest, I can trace the location using guide pheromones. Still, considering a worst-case scenario, I explored a range centered on the red forest that allows for a day trip, but I needed to expand that range more in the future.
Quinn re-examined her delicate body. Am I really becoming strong? Have I gained enough strength to cross this wilderness?
The place of origin of Chimera Ants is said to be the Dark Continent. Apparently, it is an incredibly dangerous place, but I don't know the specifics. There were no memories of what lies beyond inside me. It feels like the story ended halfway through.
If this place is located on the Dark Continent, this wilderness is likely a relatively safe place. Against the threats that might be waiting ahead, how well can I fight?
I know I have become much stronger than my old self, but there was an impatience where things didn't go as I wished. 'Mental Synchronization' isn't being utilized as much as I thought, and I used up my Memory on 'Idolatry'. Neither is a Hatsu that becomes a direct attack in combat.
I know I'm asking for the moon, and I don't regret creating these two abilities. Still, there was anxiety I couldn't wipe away.
One more. For the last struggle, I want to create a new Hatsu. The maximum value of Memory changes greatly depending on individual talent, but generally, one person can learn about one to two abilities. Three would be the limit at most.
There were some who learned about six, and anomalies who stole and used others' Hatsu. I don't desire power to that extent, but I think I have decent talent. I was thinking of an ability I wanted to try last.
The ability name is 'Sacrificial Cradle (Rotten Egg)'. The effect is a Nen bullet. This is an Emission Hatsu. A long-range attack firing aura bullets; it is a basic and common ability for Emitters.
Being able to secure long range is a strength in itself, but since a certain level of user can defend against bullet-level power completely, I feel like ability users who can't fight without relying on long-range attacks are often brought into close combat and defeated.
But that ultimately depends on individual capability. If the power put into one shot is high, one transforms into a cannon, and if rapid-fire is mastered, one can suppress with a barrage like a machine gun. There are also uses like infusing real bullets with Nen to further amplify power, or using conjured bullets (since Emission has the worst compatibility with Conjuration, cooperative systems where one uses bullets made by another Conjurer are also adopted).
If it's me, who has good compatibility with Emission, I should be able to handle Nen bullets with reasonably high precision. By adding a Vow there, I will further strengthen the power. A Vow that says "If I use it, I die."
It becomes an ability that a normal human wouldn't make first of all, and couldn't make. Fighting means protecting something, and normally one's own life would be included in what should be protected. A situation where one must attack even by sacrificing that should not be assumed. That is exactly why this ability should gain commensurate power.
Just a Nen bullet with no special ability. If I can't even use a Hatsu of this level, I can give up cleanly assuming there is no empty Memory. If I can learn it, then I have truly used up my Memory, and I won't have to worry "Maybe I can still learn an ability?"
Quinn holds the Main Body with both hands and takes a firing stance.
"..."
There have been countless times when eggs died as a result, but this is the first time I intentionally "kill" one. As I thought when trying to use 'Unnecessary Death Makeup' or 'Substitute Doll', is the concept of death provided by the Vow really satisfied by just that small sacrifice? For a moment, I hesitate.
Still, in the end, the answer didn't change. I want to travel the Dark Continent and someday go to the world where humans live. I wanted to meet humans. I wanted to know what humans are. In that process, the time will likely come when I confront threats far beyond my imagination.
To overcome them, I need power. And power that fits within the scope of common sense is not enough. I need a means to defeat those stronger than me, far more gigantic enemies.
One hit, certain kill. If the price is paying my life, I will accept it. And upon that, I will survive. The resolve to carry through this broken logic is exactly the strength I possess.
"'Sacrificial Cradle (Rotten Egg)'"
A flash burned my vision.
It was not a bullet. A single pillar of light extends straight endlessly. A tremendous release of energy. Simultaneously, the presence of death spread within me.
Eggs are dying. Not one or two. Centered on the sacrificed egg, death transmits as if infecting. I immediately cut off the dead consciousness from the collective, but it still doesn't stop. Isolation and leakage repeat.
I created an ability premised on dying as a Vow, but I hadn't decided on the specific method of how I would die. Consequently, that price is atoned for as aura. To activate the technique, aura enough to extinguish life is consumed.
That time, lasting less than a few seconds, was compressed to the limit. I am terrified by the blank zone growing inside me. And now, I understood what I must do.
I must not isolate. I must not reject. Instead of cutting off the dead self, I must acknowledge that I have died.
You are me.
The beam converged thinly and ceased as if cutting off. The moisture remaining on the ground after the rain evaporated, rising as mist. Having used up all energy and spirit, Quinn fell to her knees.
About half of the eggs died in an instant. If I hadn't increased the precision of 'Mental Synchronization' through meditation, the damage would have been much greater. My entirety might have died here. Although I was prepared, it was a terrifying experience.
The mist is swept away by the wind, clearing the view. I intended to shoot straight ahead, but perhaps my hand moved, pushed by the force of the emission. A line dividing the earth in two ran through.
A deeply carved, gigantic trench continues so far it cannot be seen visually. There were no traces of wasteful destruction like craters at all; it was gouged out as if the obstacles on the path had been erased.
This is the power gained by sacrificing hundreds of lives. The loss is great, but certainly, there was power commensurate with it. I shudder at the enormity of the power obtained.
Quinn tries to stand up, but her movements are awkward. Not just the sacrifice of eggs, but I used up almost all the aura I had stockpiled. A full-power blow that is inflexible for better or worse. It is an ability I cannot use lightly.
"...?"
When I was striving to recover aura using Zetsu, I noticed an abnormality in the scene before me. Liquid began to accumulate in the trench created earlier by the Nen bullet.
I don't remember attaching such an effect to 'Sacrificial Cradle'. The mysterious liquid accumulates rapidly as if oozing from the ground. Its color was a vivid red. And, a strong raw smell drifting over.
Immediately after, the earth shook as if interrupting my thoughts. A tremor so strong I couldn't remain standing. There had never been an earthquake in this wilderness before. I cannot think it is unrelated to the Nen bullet I fired.
Something is underground. This red liquid, judging by the smell, is unmistakably blood. A living creature was lurking beneath the ground I am standing on. If this is the Dark Continent, it is not strange.
Of all things, to wake up a feared giant creature at this worst timing. This is bad. I only have enough aura remaining to barely maintain Quinn's conjuration. If full-scale combat begins, I will run dry immediately.
If I can no longer fully conjure Quinn, death by Vow awaits. It's a repetition of earlier. Now that the stock of eggs has decreased, I don't have the confidence to survive if I receive that penalty again.
Whipping the body that won't listen, I made Quinn run. I have no choice but to flee. There is a possibility the enemy hasn't noticed our existence yet. If I cut off my presence using Zetsu, I might manage somehow.
However, soon after starting to run, I notice the next abnormality.
"The mountain is...!"
It is stretching. That is the only way to express it.
The only mountain visible beyond the horizon in this wilderness. The setting sun always sinks beyond that mountain. I called it the 'West Mountain'. That mountain, which had stood majestically unchanged since I was born, is stretching up as if to pierce the heavens.
I cannot understand what is happening. Mountains don't suddenly increase in elevation. Was the common sense within me wrong? Are you saying this is also the effect of the Nen bullet I fired? To grasp the situation, I look around desperately.
And then, I saw it. My feet stopped. Beyond the wilderness I had not yet reached, at the eastern end, it was there.
A snake's head. No, is it a turtle? It is looking this way as if looking back. I thought my eyes had gone crazy. I can only think my sense of perspective has gone mad. Because, looking at that size from here, it would be as gigantic as the West Mountain.
A snake with a head at the eastern end and a tail at the western end. If so, this wilderness is...
"Ah, aah..."
The sky darkened. The tail mountain is stretching up high enough to block the noon sun. It slowly toppled over. The shadow covered the sky completely, darker than night, without even the afterglow of stars; a compacted darkness.
The heavens fell. That day, I lost my hometown.
'Sacrificial Cradle (Rotten Egg)'
Emission Ability. Nen Bullet.
[Restriction]
None
[Vow]
The user dies.