Chapter 67
Chapter 67
6. The God Who Is There
Everything looked frozen in time.
Kirima, as he fell, pulled the trigger and shot through the arm of the man trying to pick up the gun.
The small woman aimed her gun. A round hole opened in Ueda's forehead, and white hair and blood spurted from the back of her head. The bullet Ueda fired just before death pierced through the woman's left chest and burst.
The gunfire ceased, and the smell of gunpowder filled the air. Red blood and white jelly-like flesh spread across the peeled floorboards.
How many seconds passed before I came to my senses?
"Kirima-san!"
I rushed over to Kirima and lifted him up. My hand slipped, warm and wet, under his jacket.
"Hang in there!"
Kirima let out a muffled groan. He was still alive.
More gunshots rang out.
Warm rain splashed on my cheek, and a man in a lab coat collapsed beside me, spewing blood.
Screams, gunfire, the sound of something shattering, the thud of something heavy falling—one after another. Blood flowed to my feet, and my jeans soaked up the red liquid. Even without gods, hell existed.
Kirima weakly tapped my shoulder.
"Uyuu, over there..."
His bloodied finger pointed to the confessional by the wall. I hoisted Kirima onto my back and took off running.
I pushed open the confessional door with my shoulder and rushed inside. Just before I closed the door, my eyes met Ryoko's.
A small bulb lit the inside of the confessional.
My toe hit something hard. On the floor, where bloody footprints spread in the shape of my sole, there was a small protrusion. A hidden door.
I set Kirima down and pulled the protrusion. A door opened. Stairs continued inside.
I hoisted Kirima onto my back once more.
"Hey, come on, don't die!"
"Shut up, I'm alive..."
His voice was hoarse.
I descended the underground stairs, struggling under his weight. I nearly slipped on the blood.
Kirima's body was cold, but the warmth seeping into my back told me he was still alive. His life was slipping away.
My toe felt a different texture. I planted both feet. The stairs had ended.
In the dim silence, only Kirima's breathing echoed.
"Anyway, an ambulance... I need to find a phone... and stop the bleeding..."
Panic clouded my thoughts. As I searched along the wall, my fingertips touched a switch. With a hum, the lights came on.
"What the hell is this..."
Red pillars like those of a shrine's torii stood at regular intervals. Inside them, things that shouldn't exist were writhing.
The sound of bells echoed. Countless shriveled heads and sharp claws.
"The God of Abundant Fruit...!"
That wasn't all.
Arms glowing in waves, the head of a giant snake, the blazing God in the Fire, the crouching and weeping God of Vestiges, the guardian god of Kuwasu spinning white cocoons.
All of them were Territorial Divine Offenses.
"What is this..."
"The Mottled God..."
Droplets of blood formed on Kirima's lips, and his saliva stretched in threads.
"The countermeasure headquarters used gods to contain many other gods. This is the result..."
"So all of these were captured by the countermeasure headquarters..."
I heard a sound from the stairs.
Ryoko and the others were searching. There was no going back up.
I slumped down. Kirima's body slid off.
"I'm sorry..."
If I had been smarter, I could've done something. If I had been the one shot, it would've been better. Kirima is going to die because of me. There's no god to pray to. We're surrounded by monsters.
Kirima grabbed my wrist. His palm was still warm.
"There's something only you can do..."
"That kind of thing..."
Beyond the red cage, there was a shadow.
A calf the size of a dog, with a wrinkled old man's face.
"The concerned god...?"
The calf lifted its head. I crawled over and reached out, touching its head. A small horn was on its forehead. The taut skin was soft.
"I'm from the Uyuu family... I believed in you... Everyone else was wiped out..."
The concerned god looked at me sadly with red eyes.
"It's frustrating, right? Being discarded like trash. I feel the same. You too, right...?"
The God in the Fire and the guardian god of Kuwasu used their powers for those who believed in them. Gods aren't slaves to humans.
Humans are the same. I want to help those who believed in me.
"I believe in you, so please help me..."
The concerned god trembled. Its whole body swelled like a balloon. I instinctively backed away.
The god's massive body filled the gaps in the cage, and its horns stretched. The pillars shattered.
The concerned god roared, and its howl shook the underground.
"What...?"
The concerned god charged at the cage across from it, swinging its extended horns. The red cage collapsed, and tentacled legs like a giant octopus poured out.
The concerned god broke open cage after cage.
A giant snake, a Buddha statue with seven faces, fish bones, a massive umbrella, a three-eyed cat, white mist, the God of Abundant Fruit, the God of Vestiges, the guardian god of Kuwasu, the God in the Fire.
All the freed gods looked upward. Then, with a thunderous sound, they all rushed up the stairs at once.
The door was destroyed, and vivid screams rang out.
Only the concerned god glanced at me before vanishing into the darkness.
I sat down in a daze.
"What's happening..."
Kirima let out a voice like he was foaming at the mouth.
"We've incurred the wrath of the gods... The countermeasure headquarters is finished... You did it, Uyuu..."
Blood dripped from his mouth, and Kirima was smiling.
"Did it? What the hell am I supposed to do now..."
What Kirima held out was a handgun.
"Go. There should still be some left."
"You mean kill them...?"
"No, it's for self-defense."
Kirima exhaled roughly.
"Listen, wish upon the Unseen God. Erase everyone in the countermeasure headquarters."
"Everyone...?"
"Including me."
I shook my head like a child.
"No way... There's still the God Who Is There! We can wish on that one! We can make it all go away!"
"It can't be used today. You saw it during the experiment."
That's right. The date had just changed. Kirima wouldn't last until tomorrow.
I heard the sound of bells, and a wave of blood surged down the stairs.
"There's no other way...?"
"As long as the countermeasure headquarters exists, people will keep using gods. We have to erase them all..."
"Why does Kirima-san have to die..."
"I won't. Those erased by the Unseen God go to a paradise-like place, right? That's what the Uyuu family said. It's reliable..."
"...What about Rei-chan and your wife?"
Kirima searched his jacket with trembling hands. A bloodied business card and a sepia-toned photo fell out.
"I couldn't get them registered, but this will do... With this, you can manage. You won't be a nameless ghost anymore. So... take care of my daughter and wife..."
Kirima's voice grew fainter and fainter.
I steadied my breathing and stood up.
"Got it. But it's not just the two of them. I'll come back for you too, no matter what."
Kirima let out his usual exasperated sigh and kicked my shin.
"Even now?!"
I shouted with forced cheer, and Kirima raised the corners of his mouth. It was a clumsy, overly earnest smile.
I picked up the gun and climbed the stairs.
I felt like I wouldn't be able to walk if I looked back. Even as I ascended, I could still hear Kirima's breathing.
I opened the door to the confessional.
It was a hellscape. Blood covered the floor, walls, and even the ceiling.
Scattered limbs were the least of it. There were charred lumps, human-shaped shadows stuck to the walls, and even flesh-colored cubes.
The guardian god of Kuwasu had entangled the God of Abundant Fruit in threads. The cocoon contracted, and the God of Abundant Fruit vanished. I spoke toward the white cocoon.
"I'm sorry for bringing you here. Please return to your village. Thank you for saving me so many times."
The white threads trembled, and the guardian god of Kuwasu ran off.
In the pool of blood, there were still humans writhing, barely alive.
Ryoko was leaning against the God Who Is There. Blood poured from her chest, and her broken glasses had fallen.
"Revenge...?"
"Not mine. It's the gods you all toyed with who want it."
"That's the worst..."
"You hate the gods, don't you?"
For the first time, Ryoko let go of her smile and spoke with a blank expression.
"Yeah, what I said about my husband is true... He lost his mind because of the god from my hometown..."
"I believe you."
Ryoko forced another artificial smile.
"What if you shot me...?"
"Like hell I would. Go get punched by the ones you erased."
I threw away the handgun and left the chapel.
When I opened the door, the thick smell of blood was washed away by the night breeze.
In the moonless night sky, only a crude white statue stood out. I prayed silently.
Erase everything. Everyone who laid hands on the gods. Erase all our mistakes.
The veil of the white statue seemed to flutter in the wind.
The surroundings remained silent, with only the cold night wind blowing. No scent of blood, no groans.
I pushed open the heavy door and returned to the chapel.
The sea of blood was gone.
No flesh, no limbs, no corpses. Not a single survivor.
The traces of divine destruction remained, and the scattered benches and desks made it look like a ruin from the start.
The documents on the wall fluttered in the wind blowing through the broken stained glass. Deeper inside, the God Who Is There sat in silence.
I walked through the empty chapel and ran down the stairs from the confessional.
There was nothing at the destination. In the hollow, dark basement, Kirima was nowhere to be seen. The relief at not finding a corpse overwhelmed me with helplessness.
Two sheets of paper were stuck to the floor. I picked them up and quickly left the basement.
I told myself not to think about anything as I left the building.
I sat on the stairs damp with night dew. I could hear the wind brushing against the trees.
I took out Reizei's cigarette and lit it with Kirima's matches.
Summer is ending. The time I spent with them—this is all that remains.
The smoke melted into the darkness, and sparks scattered.
I took out the two sheets of paper I had picked up. One was Kirima's business card, the other a photo of the countermeasure headquarters.
"Did you take the family photo with you, Kirima-san...?"
Even though it wasn't raining, a transparent droplet fell onto the photo.
We got everything wrong. The gods are beyond human control. Still, the world and life aren't over yet.
I hadn't cried since my brother's funeral.