Being sufficiently wounded, I felt the world blurring around me while I ran. Now focused on but a single task, I no longer worried about my pursuer.
All I carried about was moving further and further.
Over all the ashen ruins.
Over all the dead people whose vengeful spirits saturated the atmosphere.
I left the spider far behind. I was alive.
I survived.
More importantly.
"I'm free."
But I could not stop running. I had to keep going until the horizon resets.
I had to run as far as I could and buy myself some time. Enough time that I could familiarize myself with being free.
Eventually, I ran beyond the ashen ruins, and my shoes crunched against the barren wasteland. It was Eve's memories that allowed me to figure out the direction of escape, returning through his earlier footsteps.
All of the other captives I possessed bore no recollection of how they were brought to the facility. They weren't of as much help as Eve.
Navigating based on Eve's memories, I made it out of the facility and began exploring the world beyond its walls.
Until.
"You really aren't that scum of a reincarnator."
A voice jolted me awake and I scampered away like a frightened kitten.
"W-Who!? Where?!"
I demanded.
"Do you really think you could escape me? Look at your shoulder."
A sudden frostiness nearly froze the skin on my neck. I finally realized that eight razor-sharp appendages were resting on my neck and shoulder.
How the hell did I not notice the spider on my shoulder?
I did not have the courage to look.
"Come on, I've been hiding on your shoulder since you left the Research Ward and you're still alive. Don't you think that amounts to something? Vengeful soul."
Vengeful soul?
"What do you mean?"
I asked, calming down.
"I could've killed you a thousand times in the past several minutes. In the first place, dodging my attacks should have been impossible for you. That body you possess is much, much weaker than me."
Suddenly I understood.
I could never see the trajectories of the spider's legs, and yet somehow I could dodge each time… and even parry once. I should have known that something was off when that discrepancy existed.
My mood turned somber.
"Oh! Come on now. You're alive, right? I'm keeping you alive because I need your help to cross those human strongholds. Those priests aren't the best match for me."
—Gulp.
I swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
"…Sure,"
Like hell.
It knew my origin as a Vengeful Soul. My mutations were due to those priests failing at resurrection magic. All that pain and rage… I have forgotten my original self, forced only to mimic what I once was using the memories of others.
I wish I knew myself… But alas, all I had was a single name that could truly be called mine.
Zöe.
Still, the spider knew and didn't seem to care.
"Great. Now, get moving. In the meantime, I'll stay on your shoulder. The aura of the reincarnator you possess is peculiar enough that it's easier for me to hide."
Understood.
Eve was a wacko crazy man.
Honestly? I agreed.
What was he even trying to achieve by attacking the research facility? Even with his memories in hand, I couldn't fathom what made him so confident.
Other than the presence of a boon that could heighten his regeneration, there wasn't anything else that justified the risk.
His greed was overwhelming.
Just because he travelled back in time once did not correspond to success in all things.
What a disappointing end.
***
After running for several more minutes, I watched the sun begin to set. The barren wasteland was just that.
A wasteland.
Endless, filled with ruins, and completely lifeless.
Nothing was allowed to survive here, and if not for Eve's inhuman body, I wouldn't have made the trip. The only other beings to survive here were priests who walked with gold domes surrounding them as well as the spider on his shoulder.
The former, I had encountered fleetingly, spotting them beyond the horizon and being forced to hide. It was clear that they were heading for the research facility, likely having received news of its destruction.
Though I could not be completely sure.
In the same way I couldn't be completely sure that the spider was capable of hiding on my shoulder. There was a large chance that it grossly misunderstood human civilization.
Therefore.
Before I entered the nearest human settlement, I had to get ride of this guy. Otherwise, I had a feeling that I would become a scapegoat.
Furthermore…
It knew too much about me.
It was the only loose end with regards to my existence.
For the sake of my survival, I had to get rid of it.
So, I began to scheme.
***
Zöe was not aware of what exactly made his position so precarious. All he knew was that… the spider on his shoulder was both a liability and a threat.
Just from Eve's memories and the fact that the spider had been trapped in a facility meant that humanity was aware of its existence. This meant that countermeasures were already in place.
Zöe just did not know where and when it could come into play.
Trudging silently across the wasteland, starving and thirsty, he continued to plot. Luckily, this trip allowed him to sort through the memories he had access to.
All of the memories of the humans he possessed in the past, as well as the memories of the unique Eve.
Judging from how Eve was the only human with an inhuman physique on par with those priests' holy magic, Zöe deduced that not every human was capable of these feats.
This was the first fact that he came across without simply trusting in the memories he obtained.
In his opinion, this was a step in the right direction.
Just as he was about to continue on his journey, plotting the spider's death… Something changed.
[The Law of Ascension states that all beings in flux must ascend.]
[Fail to do so and you will fall into hell.]
[The Tower of Thorns offers you a chance.]
[Will you accept?]
[Y/N]
Zöe's gaze shook.
However, just as he was about to agree.
"Hm?"
The spider on his shoulder responded.
And so did the Tower of Thorns.
[Detected an entity from the Tower of Hells.]
[The Tower of Thorns offers you an opportunity.]
[Will you accept?]
[Y/N]
This time, Zöe moved even faster than his thoughts.
—Smack!
Four of his fingers disappeared, flung into the air with trails of blood spurting out. However, the spider had been flung away but his surprise attack.
"Accept!"
He roared as his strength skyrocketed. Losing four fingers was enough to double his power.
Stomping down, he felt the spider's carapace crack under his weight.
However…
—Swish!
From the knee down, his leg vanished. Severed in an instant.
Luckily, his gamble had proven correct.
[Opportunity accepted.]
[Task: Kill the Suiroican Spider!]
[Reward: Final Spark of the Suiroi Civilization.]
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Polls will release after Chapter 6. The novel will be meaty enough for sufficient context by then.
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