jdhmnovel Chapter 247: A Dance for Two
Chapter 247: A Dance for Two
Prota’s body locked up as she froze in fear.She didn’t know what to say.
She didn’t know what to do.
All that preparation, all that mental fortitude, down the drain.
In the face of her final goal, it was nothing.
She could only watch as John stood up with a grunt, slowly turning as he pulled his arms up high, letting out a slow breath as he stretched.
“To be honest, I had a feeling it was going to be you,” he said calmly, his tone almost bored. “The hints were all there. I don’t know why I didn’t figure it out earlier, but… oh, well, whatever.”
When he finally faced Prota, her heart sank.
His face was blank. It looked tired. Not as tired as in her last life, perhaps, but there was an incredible feeling of apathy. John was done with this world. If she gave him the option to leave, right now, without returning his memories, he would accept without a second thought.
Even if he knew it would end the world, that wouldn’t even be considered a consequence to someone like him.
“Alright. Let’s not bullshit each other. You know who I am, don’t you?”
For some reason, he wasn’t taking an aggressive stance. There were no weapons in his hands, and neither of his eyes were glowing, so at the very least, Prota would get a warning before his abilities were used. Was he taking it easy because he’d [Reset]? Because he didn’t consider Prota a threat?
Or did he simply not care at all?
“What do you mean?” she managed to squeak out.
John just sighed. “I don’t know why you’re still playing stupid. You went out of your way to find me. Actually, how the fuck did you find- never mind. Look, as soon as you started looking for me, you should’ve given up on the idea of playing dumb. I’m nobody. I have no accomplishments, nothing of note, and so there’s only one reason anybody should be looking for me. Wanna take a guess as to what that is?”
Prota felt a shudder of fear run through her body.
“Anta,” she thought, quivering.
Immediately, the soul took over the body, and it stopped shaking. Anta was nervous, too, but she was able to keep her composure a little better.
“Oh. Hey, there really are two of you in that body,” John commented. “What’s that like?”
“...so you haven’t [Reset] yet, huh?” Anta said carefully.
“You know about that, too?” John grimaced. “What, did you lie when you said you weren’t a regressor?”
“Yeah. I lied. Are you mad?”
John shrugged. “I mean, not really. I had a feeling you were lying. This just confirms it, you know?”
“I see.”
“So. Um. Are we gonna fight already, or what?”
“...you don’t have anything you want to ask?” Anta offered. “I don’t mind chatting a little longer.”
“Hm… well, sure, if you’re offering. What’s your name?”
“I’m Anta. The other one is Prota.”
For a moment, John just stared. A second later, he burst out laughing, doubling over.
“Prota- Anta- you’re shitting me,” he gasped, still laughing. “Really? Do you even understand the implications?”
“Yeah.”
John sobered up instantly. “You do?”
“Yeah.”
“...how do you know?” John frowned, instantly on guard. “Is this world-”
“No. Nobody else knows the truth. It’s just me and you.”
“I see.”
“Oh, you do now, do you?”
“Yeah. I mean, I guess this wasn’t entirely unexpected,” John sighed. “Well… I guess that’s not true? I don’t really get how you regressed without me, but… how do you know me? Was I involved with you somehow?”
Anta barely managed to keep her composure. Once again, even though she was aware of his predictive abilities, it was hard to feel comfortable when seen through so easily.
“You didn’t say no, so I’m going to assume I’m correct. So, what did I do? Was I some sort of villain? Did I kill your family and gloat or something?” He shuddered in disgust. “Actually, don’t answer that one. If I did that, just kill me now.”
“...no,” Anta said quietly. “You didn’t.”
“Oh, good, thank god. Then why are you here? Are you trying to rule the world? Sorry, but I’m not giving you any [Deus Ex Machina].”
“That’s fine. In fact, I’m here to give you your memories back.”
John went from cocky to cautious in an instant.
“...what do you mean by that?”
“Oh, come on! Seriously, just take a free gift for once, will you?”
“Oh, my god, just answer properly for once. Free gifts aren’t real. If you know what I know, then you also know that’s not how things work.”
“And what if I told you people can disobey the [Author]? That we can change the [Plot]?”
John scoffed. “Please. If something like that were possible, I would’ve done it a long time ago.”
“...maybe you can bring your old world back.”
“Hey.” John’s voice was dangerously low. “What?”
“Just take these memories, idiot!” Anta yelled. “Stop being so stubborn!”
She didn’t want to move. This was their best opportunity to resolve things peacefully. If John saw Anta move while brandishing a strange set of powers, he would likely act in self-defense. There were only two ways to resolve this: either to beat him into submission or to get him to accept the memories of his own will.
Hopefully, it would be the first option that worked out.
But realistically, it was starting to look a lot like combat was a must.
“You goddamn [Author],” Anta muttered. “Never letting me take the easy way out, huh?”
John laughed. “You too, huh? Guess we’re similar in at least one way.”
“I’m genuinely trying to help you, idiot!” Anta yelled. “Will you just let me help you?!”
“Yeah? Prove it. Why? For what reason are you trying to help me? There’s no way anybody would just do something like-”
“Because you saved us!”
John went dead silent. For a moment, the only noise was the sound of Anta panting.
“...what?”
“You saved me and Prota. You took us off the street and taught us how to live. We were meant to be a creation born to kill you, but you found us before that purpose was realized. You taught us, trained us, showed us [Resets] and the truth, gave us your system, everything!”
She saw John clench his fists. Maybe. Just maybe, this would work.
“Yeah? Alright. Let’s say I believe you. Then tell me why?”
“...I don’t know. You didn’t know either. If I had to guess… it’s because you wanted a companion.”
John froze. It was working. Well, it had to work. After all, Anta was only telling the truth. Maybe the [Reset] made it so the consequences of their actions failed to remain. But as long as somebody remembered that life. As long as she was able to keep those memories close to her heart.
Then it was real.
A [Story] was simply one’s perspective into a world. If, in this world, fiction and reality couldn’t be differentiated from each other, then who was to say that a [Reset] completely erased a [Story’s] existence?
No.
As long as there was somebody to tell that [Story], it was real.
Fiction in a world of fiction.
That was all it was.
“Then why?” John’s voice was hollow. “Let’s assume everything you’re telling me is true. Why don’t I remember any of it? No, forget that. How the fuck would I forget in the first place? It doesn’t make sense. There are still holes in your story. Sure, it sounds like something I would say, but it doesn’t add up.”
Anta clenched her teeth. She was so close to making this work.
“...because it wouldn’t work out.”
“What?”
“Because, in order to leave this world and go to the next, you had to abandon it. Do you… do you understand?”
She couldn’t hide the truth. If she wanted to give John his memories back, he would find out anyway. All she could do was hope.
“Ah. I see. So you’re telling me that in this last life, I made friends, had fun, only to realize that I’d have to leave a world behind again, huh? And so, what? Did I erase my own memories in order to attempt a better run?”
“...that’s exactly what happened.”
John let out a snort of amusement. In his right hand, a familiar red sword appeared, and a new pistol fell into his left.
“Seriously, no clean answers from anyone… this is getting to be a pain,” John muttered.
Anta tensed up.
It hadn’t worked.
“So you’re here to do what? Convince me to stay?” John asked.
“You can change the [Story]!” Anta yelled desperately, conveying Prota’s ocean of emotions. “You can defy the [Author]! We just have to try!”
“Oh, please. If that was possible, I would’ve done it already.”
“You did! You just have to-”
“Alright, time’s up. Fight me or leave.”
“...you’re not going to kill me?”
John shrugged. “No. Not worth the effort.”
“I could tell the world-”
“I would just [Reset]. Look, if you’re not going to do anything, then just-”
Anta didn’t give him any time to relax. She immediately leapt forward, a sword of ice forming in her hands as she integrated with Prota instantly. John’s eyes widened, his hand turning back as he swiped forward.
“Shit! You’re not gonna let me know you’re attacking?!” he yelled.
“I’m not stupid.”
“You’re a [Character]! That’s what you’re supposed to do!”
“...then that’s your fault.”
Time slowed down. They’d have to go all out, from the start. [Deus Ex Machina] would be something they’d hold onto in case of emergency, but otherwise, there was no need to go even remotely light.
The goal here wasn’t to kill immediately. No, with [Zero] active, that wasn’t possible to begin with. If they could just exhaust him to the point of no recovery, then that was all they needed.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
Things were going well. The fact that he had yet to [Reset] meant that they hadn’t beaten him up badly enough that he’d felt the need to use it as a resort. The more he [Reset], the more he’d be prepared for their attacks…
And yet, it felt like he was prepared anyway.
“Kh- you shouldn’t be this strong!” Anta exclaimed as a bullet grazed her arm. “What’s going on?”
“Ah, so you know how my abilities work. Well. Yeah, I guess.”
Prota just clenched her teeth. “...idiot.”
Immediately, Prota cast her new ice domain, creating a flurry of Frozen Blossoms. In response, John immediately leapt up into the air, pulling out a strange device. With all his might, he threw it down, and it collided with the spells, creating a massive explosion that incinerated most of them. The rest converged on his body, but in the nick of time, his body turned black, [Zero] activating and sparing his life.
“Shoot,” Anta cursed. “He knows.
“He was expecting us. That’s why he was so calm. He knew were were coming. But why is he fighting so hard? If he planned to run, he would have ran…”
Realization.
“He can’t run. We must’ve chased him down. That’s why he was asking us to leave, he doesn’t want to fight…”
It was good to know that she’d overpowered him, but that wasn’t enough. That wasn’t the goal. She needed to distract him. The problem was trying to guess just how much she’d revealed in the past. Had she used everything? Had she killed John with relatively little? He’d reacted to her Frozen Moon, so she’d used spells up to that calibre at the very least.
If that was the case, then he should react to this as well.
“Desolate Sun.”
Immediately, the trees surrounding the area were reduced to ash. John himself winced, but somehow, he wasn’t dead. Not yet.
“This one is annoying,” he grunted. “Damn. Should I just-”
Immediately, the domain was removed from the battlefield. In that instant, Prota and Anta split, with Prota being the one in control of the body.
“Anta-” she started, but her thoughts were cut short as she barely dodged another attack.
“I need to think!” Anta exclaimed. “Just survive!”
And think she did.
It was a headache trying to figure things out. The existence of [Resets] was messing with her perception of reality.
If she was conscious, it meant they were on John’s most recent attempt. Because they weren’t connected to him using [Destiny Bond], they would have no memory of prior attempts. The logic of [Reset] implied that they could not kill him. Not because it was impossible to do so, but because doing so would mean he would [Reset], and they would be unaware of this world’s state.
Thus, any spell they used would fail to actually take his life, because doing so would mean they wouldn’t be aware of the fact.
Or was it?
Anta wasn’t sure. But she had to gamble on it. She had to gamble on the idea that [Resets] didn’t create alternate timelines, and that they only gave John another chance.
But why was he so strong now? How was he holding on so well?
And why was he so strong?
“Wait,” Anta muttered. “Prota! Check his core, now!”
Prota’s eyes flashed as she used a barrier of ice to deflect yet another slash. In that strange vision, she could see it.
[Deus Ex Machina]
John was already using his powers. He was weak. Incredibly weak. Without the usage of [Zero], he was a regular human. Of course. But what was [Deus Ex Machina] doing?
Suddenly, Prota saw John’s eyes widen.
An expression of surprise.
They’d just done something new.
“Shit,” he cursed. “You figured it out… this is why I hate messing with these types of enemies. They keep fucking figuring things out.”
He backed off, panting heavily. His sword was raised in a defensive stance, his eyes narrowed, locked onto Prota’s figure.
In a similar vein, Prota was growing tired. She’d cast a lot of spells, but none of them were actually aimed to directly kill. They were always aimed to maim or disable in an attempt to force John to either use [Zero] or back off. Although they weren’t integrated, she could still vaguely understand Anta’s thoughts, and the intent was carrying through.
John and Prota paused, sizing each other up, looking for a new opening. John was clearly holding back. So was Prota.
One had a resource that couldn’t be replenished.
The other couldn’t afford to show her cards.
They were almost at a stalemate.
Almost.
“Prota,” Anta suddenly said.
She still had yet to reveal her revelation.
“...what?”
“Think. Think, think. If we kill him, he [Resets], and we don’t remember anything. We are always on John’s most recent attempt, at least from our perspective. We shouldn’t be surprised that he’s surprised, because we’ll always pull out something new. That’s the nature of [Resets].”
“But why… why does that mean we win?”
“Because we either win, or we die. Sorry, I should clarify. As long as you don’t die. We’re doing things right. Because our existence is proof of that. [Resets] go both ways. Yes, he can’t die. But we know he can’t die. And so as long as we are alive, we are winning. Do you understand?”
Prota’s eyes widened. Right. She could try to kill John. She didn’t need to hold back anymore.
Because if she killed him, she wouldn’t be aware of the fact. It was messing with her mind a lot, but that was alright.
As long as the premise was there, she could act.
Instantly, she unleashed a flurry of attacks, doing her best to overwhelm the opponent before her. She couldn’t give him a moment to rest. Going all out was fine now, because this was the last battle.
To John, it might be his first. His fifth. This tenth, hundredth, even thousandth life.
But to Prota, she only had this one.
“John. You chose not to leave,” Prota gasped, almost pleading with her brother. “You chose to remove your memories. Because you cared.”
“So what? I don’t get it. What’s your point?!”
“...if you make a choice. Is that really you making the choice?”
John flinched. Visibly so. Not just a moment of hesitation, but a striking revelation had caused him to pause in his actions.
“You’re just running away,” Prota pushed on, encouraged. “From me. From your friends. From you.”
“Shut up!”
“You don’t have to save the world. I don’t care. You don’t care. But at least… make a choice. Don’t run away.”
“Why? Why are you trying this hard?!” John yelled. “You have [Deus Ex Machina], I can tell! You have the power to rule the world! You could’ve just hid away, refusing to meet with me. So what is your goal here? What is your objective? Why do you keep chasing me?!”
“...I made a promise,” Prota said quietly. “And someone said he doesn’t break promises.”
“Oh yeah? And what was your promise? Isn’t it null and void in this new life?”
“No.” Prota shook her head. “I promised to protect John. I promised to keep chasing you. No matter what. So either I die. Or you choose.”
“You-”
“I chose. Many times. John keeps putting all the work on me. Not fair. John is too lazy. Your turn now.”
With that, Prota closed her eyes. There was no more holding back. No more hiding, no more beating around the push.
John wouldn’t die from this.
“A Dance of Ice.”
Twelve orbs appeared, hovering before her, frost falling off the sides, emanating pure cold, glowing a pale blue. The same spell that had nearly brought John to his knees. The same spell that had finished things in her previous life.
The accumulation of her pain. Her loneliness.
Cold was feeling the rain pelting down on your skin, unprotected, the wind howling as it nearly froze your flesh off. Cold was the knowledge that the world hated you, and that it would never come to accept you. Cold was numbly accepting that death would come, and that there was nothing you could do about it. Cold was realizing that no matter what happened, people would beat you down, and that slowly, you would adjust to the pain, not out of choice, but necessity.
Prota understood the cold.
Then, those twelve orbs merged. Collecting, gathering, forming into one. The pale blue slowly turned into a solid, exact blue, neither pale nor dark.
As if the concept of “blue” had been formed.
“A Dance of Fire.”
Another twelve orbs formed. These radiated heat, sparking the air around them, glowing a fiery blue.
The accumulation of rage. Her passion.
Heat was the stinging pain of the strangers who beat you down with sticks, leaving welts, cuts and bruises. Heat was the warmth of blood, dripping down your skin. Heat was knowing that, no matter what you did, you would never be strong enough, and raging at that fact. Heat was watching your loved ones die in front of you, knowing that it was your fault you couldn’t save them. Heat was realizing that, no matter what you did, there would always be something to fight.
Prota understood the heat.
The twelve orbs merged. Melting, blazing, forming into one. They turned white with heat, then slowly turned red. A pure red, neither light nor dark.
As if the concept of “red” had been formed.
The two orbs hovered, kept in check by each other, slowly twirling around Prota.
“...that’s stupid,” John muttered, getting up.
“Nn. Fight. Or are you scared?”
Immediately, she integrated with Anta, but this time, no weapons were formed. Instead, the orbs began to swirl even faster, dancing around them, back and forth, up and down, threatening to both devour and protect.
The cold had been a barrier for Prota. A way for her to hide, a way for her to protect herself from those who abused her.
The heat had been a weapon for Prota. Motivation, a means for her to fight, a reason for her to push on and continue.
The two elements she’d started with would be the two concepts she finished with.
A beautiful dance.
“A Dance of Fire and Ice.”
Immediately, she leapt forward, pointing at John, the orb of fire shooting forward with it, like an extension of her body. He immediately dodged, his arm turning black as he swung, erasing the space before him in order to teleport forward.
But even while his life was on the line, he stared intently.
He was trying to learn.
They brought the orb back, clashing it with the one of ice, creating a massive explosion that flattened the trees for miles around. The light had to have blinded John, but the twins could see even without vision.
John’s soul. They could sense it.
The orb of ice shot forward, threatening to engulf him. For a brief moment, he used [Zero], allowing it to phase over him, but the amount of [Zero] he used wasn’t enough to erase the spell. It only protected him.
He was weakening. But he wasn’t weak. The fact that he was surviving was proof of that.
The power of twelve Tenth Sedas in one orb, and two orbs were being wielded. They could act as both melee attacks as well as ranged spells, and with Anta’s combat skills, it made them nearly invincible.
Just a little more.
Just one more push.
“Just! Give! Up!” Prota yelled, tears streaming down her face.
She raised her hands, both orbs hovering over her like the sun and the moon, ready to crash down.
One more hit.
She could feel it.
This was all it would take.
And they’d be done. Done with this stupid adventure. Done with this stupid journey. Done with this stupid [Story]. They could finally give John back his memories. And now that they’d come this far, surely the [Author] would manage. Surely they’d be given some kind of slack. A treat of sorts, a reward for suffering so much.
It had to work—
“Kh!”
The spells vanished as a hand shot forward, grabbing Prota by the throat. The damage knocked Anta out of the integration, and Prota felt all her energy vanish. She gasped, trying to breathe, but the hold on her was too tight. She could feel her consciousness fading, her brain craving oxygen.
“That… was a little close.”
Prota squinted, and she saw John, his body pale, like a shadow. His body had nearly faded out of existence. She looked at the hand on her throat, and she noticed that it was almost gone. He had gone all in, trying to actively kill her, not just in this life, but across every life.
“He… he only erased our mana,” Anta gasped, also feeling the pain of being choked. “But… what do we do now…”
“Oh, my god,” John grumbled, looking a little upset. “Do you know how many times you guys killed me? Seriously, I didn’t think I’d have to use all this here, but it’s just not worth it anymore. I’m getting sick of this.”
That was it. Prota had been hoping to save her [Deus Ex Machina], because she knew Diaboli would be coming, but if she had to use it against John, then she would. Even if both of them exhausted their powers, she’d figure out something.
This was it. No looking back—
“Hands off!”
A shining golden blade crashed down, forcing John to let go of Prota. Perhaps, if he had [Zero], he might have been able to negate it, but without the strange power he was forced to let go.
“Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” he grumbled.
Immediately, a pink figure rushed forward, knocking John into the air. He barely managed to block, but he was sent flying out of sight.
Prota coughed, choking twice on nothing before finally managing to recover. When she saw who it was that had come to her rescue, though, she couldn’t believe her eyes.
“...Destiny?”
It wasn’t just the hero. Everyone she’d met. Everyone she’d befriended. They were all here.
Destiny. Kit. Danjo, Briar, Arthur, Aurora, Celestia. Albert, Bren, Elfin, Breaker, Olivia, the townspeople. Lilith and Ryan. Jinae and Henry. Lupin, Leora, Sofya. Haze, Hart and Alan Windwalker.
“H-how?” Prota gasped.
Celestia immediately began to heal her as Arthur gave her a mana potion. Immediately, her reserves were filled back up, and she could feel her injuries recovering.
“Check your pockets,” Danjo said with a smile.
Prota’s eyes widened.
Inside was a little device, bearing a familiar insignia. It was one of Danjo’s creations.
“...what?”
“See, when you vanished, I knew something was up,” Destiny grinned. “So I told everyone. I figured out approximately when you’d act after talking to Madam Vespera, the prophet, and put a plan into motion. Danjo made a device that would track your health and location. Aurora put a magic circle on you so we could all teleport to your location.”
She thought back. Now that she thought about it, wasn’t there something strange about how she’d met her friends?
He hadn’t just been fumbling around. He had been pretending, trying to make sure Prota didn’t notice. The device… it must’ve been then. They’d actively directed her to Arthur and Aurora. The reason for their place in the capital… that, too.
She’d been played.
“It’s our world, too,” Destiny said confidently. “Even if you don’t care to save the world, we do. So don’t feel indebted. This is our choice.”
There was a loud roar of approval.
Just then, something came crashing back down. From the dust came a strange shadow, as if something were actively absorbing the light around it.
“Seriously… Am I the [Antagonist] or something?” John muttered. “The whole cast showing up to defeat me makes me some kind of cliche Demon King. Today’s just been one pain in the ass after another… kill me already. Making me do all this work…”
When the dust settled, Prota could see him. He looked a lot like Zero: monochrome, pale and dark. The only thing that differentiated the two was the absolute look of apathy on John’s face.
“Alright. I can’t believe I had to use [Deus Ex Machina] for this,” he muttered.
Nobody knew what that meant.
But instinctively, they all prepared for battle. The feeling they got was a natural one, a primal urge for survival.
If they relaxed for even a second, their lives were forfeit.
“Alright. Well, it’s not that much anyway,” he grunted. “How far can I go… that far? Really? Cool, cool.”
The battlefield was barren. The dirt was dry and hard from Prota’s prior attacks, leaving a perfectly flat land.
A [Hero] was here, leading an army of [Characters] who were of utmost importance to this [Story].
In a sense, the pillars of this world had all come together.
Here to defy a being on the same level as their creator.
“Alright.” John rolled his neck lazily, his expression still bored. “First try. Here we go.”