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Volume 11 Chapter 317

The Curse of the Circle of Life

　

「W-Where am I!?」

　I was this close to punching the evil god, but then was transported elsewhere.

　It was pitch black all around and I couldn’t see anything, nor could I tell where this was.

　In addition──

「Are you serious……I can’t use teleportation magic」

　I wasn’t able to draw the magic circle for teleporting.

　In fact, I couldn’t even emit any mana.

　What in the world is going on？

「──Damn it」

　I was in a hurry.

　My instincts had told me to stop right there, but I ignored it and now look what that led to.

　Are Tine and the others safe？

　I prepared as much as I could for this situation so that the girls could return to the estate even if I vanish. The estate has the sea god there, so there shouldn’t be any way for the evil god to reach them.

　If something happens to me, I told them to run away without hesitation. I hope they listened to me and ran by now……

　Even if they did run away safely, I’m sure they’re worried about me, so I have to get back as soon as possible.

　First, let’s assess the situation.

　My inability to emit mana wasn’t the only weird thing.

　I can at least tell from my senses that I am standing somewhere──

　My body feels somewhat rugged somehow.

　There’s no way it could be this, but, well……

　It’s almost like I’ve become some kind of dragon──

「I celebrate your birth」

　Suddenly I heard a voice from somewhere.

　Birth? What on earth does that mean？

　And where is this voice even coming from？

　I do feel as if I’ve heard this voice before though.

「What’s wrong? Your eyes should be seeing everything now」

　Even if you tell me that, I still can’t see, buddy.

「That is because you do not wish to see what is around you. As long as you wish strongly, you can indeed see」

　Wish strongly……Is that really all?

　I don’t really get it, but there was nothing else to be done, so I did as the voice said.

　I want to see what’s around me, I really really really want to.

　──Ohhh!! I can vaguely make out my surroundings now.

　In front of me was a giant dragon, the Ancestral Dragon.

「Now, again. I celebrate your birth」

「S-Soryu-sama？」

「Ahh, yes I──am？　Oh, what, you were a reincarnated person」

　Well yes, I am reincarnated, but……I feel like the Ancestral Dragon is acting a bit different from when I last met him.

「Umm！　What in the world has happened to me？」

　I probably stepped on another one of the evil god’s curses.

　And so as the effect of that curse, I was transported all the way over here.

　But……that’s not actually what happened.

「It seems that ye do not understand your own predicament, son」

　The elder dragon said as he moved his face closer to me.

　I could see my reflection in those gigantic eyes of his.

　Reflected in those eyes was not me, but a pale blue dragon.

　When I moved my right hand upward, the blue dragon in the reflection also moved its hand upward.

　I guess now I am taking the form of this dragon.

「……Eh」

　B-But why！！？

「Reincarnator, ye appear to be confused. Well, it’s no wonder. Ye did become a dragon after all. If I may be of service, please ask any questions ye might have」

　The elder dragon spoke to me kindly.

　But why, though? I’m wondering why he would behave differently with me than the first time we met.

「Soryu-sama. This is the second time meeting you, right？」

　I had visited the elder dragon before in order to obtain his claws so that I could make katara drops.

　It hasn’t been that much time since, but did he forget or something？

「What？　But I do not possess such memories……Wait. Could it be that ye──」

　The giant dragon stared at me.

　It was as if he was staring through the entirety of my being.

「Haruto……Oh. Your name is Haruto」

「Y-Yes! That’s right, I’m Haruto!!」

　It seems like he finally recalled my name.

　──Or that’s what I thought, but that was not the case.

「So ye have come from ten thousand years in the future due to the evil god’s curse」

「……Eh？」

　I didn’t understand the meaning of what the elder dragon was saying.

「This is my first time meeting you」

「Pardon？」

「Yes, the me whom you met is myself ten thousand years from now」

「H-How exactly is that possible？」

「You had a curse cast on you from the evil god in this world. From there, you headed back in time ten thousand years, and then made it here. I know this because I have the power to see the future」

　I think I read in some documents before that the elder dragon has the ability of future sight.

　That’s one thing.

　The problem here is the curse in question that launched me here.

「I don’t know what you mean. What kind of curse could it be!?」

　In the first place, my status is〘Fixed〙.

　I wasn’t even able to dissolve this fixed status curse with a katara drop.

　Despite that, here I was, with my appearance like a dragon and transported all the way back 10,000 years.

　In other words, the curse that I had activated by stepping on it was powerful enough of a curse that it was able to overwrite my fixed status curse?

　I don’t get why I’m now a dragon or why I’m back 10,000 years though.

「Ye have had the『Cycle of Rebirth』curse cast upon ye」

「C-Cycle of rebirth？」

「Aye. Ye see, this curse is a mite special. It is a curse that specifically transports a human’s consciousness elsewhere」

「My consciousness……so that means right now, it’s just my consciousness that’s inside the dragon？」

「That is indeed the case. Normally, consciousness and soul do not separate. However, the curse that was cast on ye is one that forcibly splits your consciousness from your soul under specific conditions」

　The humans in this world are composed of『Flesh』,『Soul』, and『Consciousness』.

　The soul has a record of the shape of the flesh, so even if one’s body were destroyed, you could have them revived with Resurrection.

　Even if your flesh goes away, it’s not a big deal as long as your soul is safe. However, that means that conversely, if your soul gets hurt then at worst you could potentially die.

　And the elder dragon told me that it is 『Consciousness』 that controls the soul and the flesh.

「Haruto. Ye had the fixed status curse inflicted on ye by the evil god, didn’t ye?」

「Yes, that’s correct」

「That is a very strong curse. The evil god probably inflicted it on your soul, Haruto Nishijou, when he had ye reincarnate. The curse is〘fixed〙on your soul, so as long as your soul does not vanish, this curse will not be lifted」

　Incidentally, my soul itself is〘Fixed〙, so apparently that won’t be disappearing.

「But if that’s the case, then I’m even less sure as to why I’m here」

「That is because the Curse of the Circle of Life affects neither the flesh nor the soul」

　Mmm, so what exactly is going on then?

「As it does not affect the soul, the『Fixed Status Curse』will not negate『Curse of the Circle of Life』」

　Apparently my consciousness was the only thing launched over here, and I was now in a state that was a bit different from reincarnation.

　Which means that my body with my consciousness absent has been sprawled on the floor in front of the evil god！

　I had assumed that the entire surrounding area of the trap had been teleported elsewhere, but the situation might be worse than I thought.

　Because now, right in front of the evil god, was my defenseless body lying on the ground.

　……Hm？

　Hold up.

「The fact that my consciousness is the only thing that arrived here means that since the flesh and the soul are a set, my body is still left there in front of the evil god, right？」

「That is likely so」

　──Which means that since that body’s status is〘Fixed〙, even the evil god probably wouldn’t be able to do anything about that.

「Well, that is assuming the evil god did not teleport your body elsewhere……」

　Well, that’s probably nothing to worry about.

　As long as I’m in the same world, I can just teleport for my mode of transportation, after all.

　Now I can relax a bit.

　I just need to find a way to return to my flesh.

「Soryu-sama. How might I be able to return to my original body？」

　The ancestral dragon understands all things in nature.

　He even knows the future.

　So I imagined he would know the way to get rid of the Curse of the Circle of Life as well.

　And that assumption turned out to be true, but──

「That’s easy. All ye need to do is to master the Six Paths and escape from the cycle of death and rebirth──In other words, ye・ just・ need・ to・ die・ six・ times」

「Eh……？」

　Dying even one time was scary enough.

　And it was so bad that I had always wanted to punch the god who had caused that death……

　But it would seem that in order to return to my former body, I will need to die six times.