The sound of hunting boots treading on the ground.
The violent fluctuations produced by the deity's wrath awoke Ahern from Viola's earlier hypnosis.
When this young Chief Hunter, wielding the Decapitation Throne, swept past the colleagues trying to stop him and arrived at the birth site of the lofty crown with the fastest speed of his life, everything had already ended.
Not early, not late.
Fate, like tightly meshing gears, was operating methodically.
He seemed to want to weep or rage, but Burial Court Secrets-Hunters were mostly accustomed to life and death parting. His ashen face held only bloodless, tearless sorrow.
"...Are you the teacher Viola often secretly mentioned to me?"
Ahern asked, his voice strained, almost dazed.
"Dr. Fran!" Haida's anxious voice also immediately sounded.
Past memories and the present reality; their figures also gradually overlapped at this moment... nearly merging into one.
"Heh..."
Fran actually laughed wantonly and madly, with the purest joy. Having cast aside and then retrieved the madness again, Fran at this moment was utterly unable to control the boiling thoughts in her mind.
She extended a slender index finger, lightly tapping the constantly writhing fungal crown on her head.
"Look at this crown, look at me now, look at this joy and elation that drives one mad..."
"Hunter, do what you must. Halt this endlessly spreading madness..."
These words were said not only to Ahern twenty years ago but also to Haida at this very moment.
"Dear Haida, don't hesitate. The power sword 'Nirvana' might be less effective than that scythe, but it is equally effective."
A long silence.
Amidst a speechless hush, Haida let fall the power sword's blade.
The fierce, clanging metal roar of the past was now like a mournful whimper.
...
The echo from twenty years ago quietly reached Fran's ear.
[The Great Plague 'Lytic Disease' has been cured. December House Call Completed. Completion Level: Apollyon (Abyss). Your next monthly house call will be randomly triggered next month.]
[This visit's consultation fee: Strange Doctor (Talent): Comprehension speed for all biological technologies increased. Parsing Rate gained through bodily modifications increased by 100%. Parsing Rate gained through dissection increased by 100%. You can always maintain absolute calmness as a doctor.]
After everything ended, this "calmness" she once yearned for but no longer needed finally arrived late.
Finally, everything quieted down.
—
Do you know the feeling of being chased in the dark?
Everything before and behind you is darkness. You can only feel ominous things gradually approaching. It's like an unceasing hound, but more like the shadow at your feet; no matter how hard you run, you cannot escape it.
Once, "Time" also chased me like this, wanting to confine me within the shackles called lifespan.
Relying on the Haemonculi and Fabius Bile's genetic research, I then easily shattered the shackles set by Time, touching a realm even so-called long-lived species cannot reach... immortality.
After the mystery was solved, everything was surprisingly simple.
Short-lived species' imagination of immortality always carries longing and fear. Actually obtaining it, one only finds it ordinary, as if nothing has changed.
It's no big deal; if killed, you still die.
...Now, I am being chased by "Madness."
It gnaws and tears at my remaining humanity and reason, pushing me towards extreme fanaticism.
This is absolutely not a painful process; it's more like being infected with an indescribable addiction. I only feel more and more joyful, more and more intoxicated, more and more relishing it, more and more sinking into it.
Life is merely material awaiting deconstruction; the mind is merely a plaything awaiting manipulation. The feeling of controlling everything is fascinating...
Whew, the separation experiment must be accelerated. I can no longer endure this heartfelt craving.
I will personally end this out-of-control madness, even though it is my innate "nature."
...
The city illusion constructed by Silent Hill was undergoing extremely unstable, drastic changes.
Because of this, Haida's profiling talent produced intense psychic resonance, allowing her to briefly glimpse a moment of chaotic emotions from Fran's past.
Back then, Fran wore researcher's attire, writing a diary under the dim, confusing light of Fog Street Clinic. Her handwriting was scribbled, carrying an indescribable urgency.
Haida half-closed her eyes; her breathing and heartbeat became erratic, her arms trembling uncontrollably.
When she let fall the heavy power sword, she only felt her mind go blank; all thoughts seemed to stop out of nowhere. Everything was driven by the hunter's instinct.
Just as Fran had said, "Do what you must."
As a Burial Attendant who had reached supervisor rank, Haida's primary duties were none other than hunting and killing. Even she herself had long grown accustomed to it all.
Facing the doctor with increasingly intense mad fervor, all she could do was what her father did twenty years ago... sever the head of the person before her. After all, this was also her own request and wish; there was no reason whatsoever to refuse.
The blade separated her body and head along the suture lines, smoothly and cleanly, with no blood spraying.
Fran's body slumped limply. Her head, with closed eyes, was gently cradled by Haida and held to her chest.
Even the Chief Hunter's Decapitation Throne could not end Fran's life; Haida certainly also didn't believe her single strike could completely kill her... But the complex emotions transmitted earlier via psychic resonance made her utterly unable to calm her mind.
Grief for Viola, confusion about the future, blazing fervor like burning, and the tranquility after this fervor subsided...
Heavy and jumbled thoughts lingered in Haida's mind, refusing to disperse.
"Stop, Haida."
Just then, Fran's voice sounded from within Haida's arms, sounding weary and calm, as usual.
"Excessive resonance will pollute your spirit. It wouldn't be good if you become more and more like me. Psychic talent being too strong is not a good thing; you'll be taken to fuel the Astronomican."
"Take out the pocket watch from my pocket; it can help you restrain your emotions."
Ah, right... Again, it's the remaining head speaking.
Hearing this, Haida took out the brass pocket watch from her white coat pocket. Listening to the orderly ticking of the hands, the sense of chaos subsided somewhat.
After calming her mind, she looked at Fran, who was again just a head, with slight worry.
"Dr. Fran, you... are you really alright?"
Hearing this, Fran curled her lip in annoyance.
"Do I look alright?"
"...After all, that was twenty years ago. I was still young then, with only a superficial understanding of many things... Now, I have overcome and accepted 'Madness.'"
Relying on the talent [Strange Doctor] obtained after the Great Plague, she was now able to find a balance between her ever-growing scientific fervor and her own humanity, no longer needing the crude method of personality splitting to prevent loss of control.
And the essence of this talent is actually a certain kind of anchor point towards mental ascension.
Haida slightly narrowed her gray-chestnut eyes.
She actually also felt her earlier worry was somewhat unnecessary. Even her father's scythe blade could not kill Dr. Fran; did she actually think her one strike would threaten her?
But... At that time, Fran's body was indeed surging with some intense emotion, like a person longing for death finally receiving the long-awaited release.
This was also why Haida worried she might close her eyes forever like this.
"Since Dr. Fran will not descend into madness like back then again, why did you still need me to deliver that strike?"
Fran blinked, her gaze carrying a hint of apology.
"After I retrieved 'Madness,' it accumulated in my mind. Though I can balance and control it, it ultimately needs a complete release... Just now was the best opportunity."
"If being the executioner has created a psychological burden for Haida, I can compensate you, you know?"
Haida gave a slight nod, her expression returning to calmness, seemingly having recovered from the earlier shock.
"No need, Dr. Fran. Since I chose to help you... this is what I should do. I should not ask for extra payment."
After saying this, she seemed to let out a sigh of relief. Then she looked towards the slender, headless body on the ground.
"Then, should I now reattach your head?"
"Wait a moment."
Fran didn't seem in a hurry about this.
"Actually, the feeling of being just a head held in someone's arms is quite nice; very stress-relieving. Haida, you should try it sometime when you have time."
"..."
Haida wisely did not respond.
She did not say things like "I'm not you," because Dr. Fran could truly perfectly replicate the technology applied to herself onto her... refer to that "Haida" in future Norlington.
Just then, a kaleidoscopic, illusory, starry sky color began appearing at the neck stump of Fran's body.
These star cluster-like substances, like a fluid, slowly flowed and dripped from the stump, spreading into a boundless deep-space-like liquid pool on the ground.
A constantly writhing fungal crown floated quietly within the liquid pool, entangled with chaotic mad flame marks.
"Dr. Fran... that, what is flowing out?"
Looking at the increasingly vast, deep liquid pool, Haida couldn't help but squint her eyes.
The sister had witnessed the starry sky "paint job" beneath her skin when installing the chimera spine "Sphinx" and was already skeptical then. Now seeing this colorful liquid substance flowing all over the ground further deepened the confusion in her heart.
"Haida, this is why I asked you to wait..."
Fran seemed to have anticipated this, her expression showing no surprise at all.
"Since I stole that crown, I must have a corresponding 'box' to hide it well. A deity coming from the void is naturally best contained by void."
"I once spent much time, refining a 'door' connecting to the void within my body through [Forbidden Alchemy]."
Hiding the crown within her body... is this why Dr. Fran worried about polluting the environment when losing her body in future Norlington?... Though that place was already utterly desolate, there was indeed still a possibility of being infected by the lytic fungus.
Thinking this far, Haida inexplicably felt a trace of surprise.
She realized she now seemed to be able to understand her train of thought with a fair degree of tacit understanding…
"Then why discard it now?" She was still somewhat puzzled.
Fran gave a light laugh, seeming to have planned this all along.
"This piece of 'void' has been contaminated by the mad flames and too much mad thought; it has long ceased to be pure. I should also give this stolen crown a new container. By the way, I'll take this opportunity to no longer be bound by that memory..."
Her tone was clever and light, carrying a faint, elusive smile.
When the starry sky-like liquid pool completely dissipated into faint light, Fran finally reattached her head to her neck.
At this point, the many things accumulated within her body were finally purified and removed... like a hamster whose cheek pouches have been completely emptied of all stored food.
"Truly worthy of treatment targeted at 'me'; indeed very effective."
"Also thanks to the recuperation environment; Silent Hill really is a feng shui treasure..."
Fran moved her neck a bit, feeling the long-lost sense of clarity, and was momentarily filled with emotion.
Somehow, a gauzy veil of dreams quietly appeared above Norlington. The colors were pale yet gorgeous, like an aurora floating across the sky.
The overlapping first-category rituals performed by Grantham had to some degree awakened the deeply slumbering White Cup.
Though He had not truly awoken, He was now able to briefly touch the dreams of all people in the city, thereby touching the memories beneath dreams...
The White Cup erased the names "Lytic Disease" and "Viola."
After this, He softened the shadow of death left by the plague... No one knew the reason for His sudden appearance. And the Great Pioneer who had already ascended to godhood could also not explain it.
"Whew..."
Haida's long-tense spirit finally got to rest for a moment.
Though modification surgeries granted the sister a physique far surpassing humans, the immense mental pressure along the way still left her feeling somewhat weary.
Now that this difficult house call had finally ended, she also felt a sense of relief.
"Haida." Fran maintained an intriguing smile, slowly approaching her.
"Do you think everything has ended?"
+++
T/N: Hey readers~! New Translator here! Before I say anything, I'd first like to thank the original author for creating this wonderful story. Without them, I wouldn't have the chance to share this adventure with you. I hope my translation does justice to their work, and that together, we can enjoy this story.
With that said, I'm happy to let you know I'll be uploading daily chapters. And for those who wish to support my work and gain early access, I've set up a Patreon where advanced chapters will be available.
[email protected]/PeakTL