The Let's Play Archive

Tsukihime

by Seorin

Part 21

"AAAAAAAAAH!"

I blindly swing my knife.
I force my faltering body and run forward.
If he hasn't moved as he toys with me,
then, he should be standing with his half body ahead of here----

"I am quite the fastidious person. Rest assured, there will not even be one of your cells left."

I hear a voice.
At the same time, a black dome arches over me.

Music: play track 6

Rip. My skin is being ripped.
----Die.
Rip. My flesh is being eaten.
----Die.
Grit. My bones are being scraped.
----Die.

My mind can no longer think of anything.
Only, to frantically use my arms to protect my face.
My right hand tightens, keeping a firm grip on my knife.

----Die.
I'm being eaten.
Strange----being attacked by this many beasts, they should be able to eat me completely in just one minute, yet they take their time.

----Die.
I'm bleeding too much.
My blood and their saliva coat my body.
It feels----terrible.

----Die.
Those countless pairs of eyes say it.
They say it as they truly eat me only bit by bit.
They can't talk, so they speak with their blazing eyes.

----Die.
Hurry up and die.
The black dome of beasts chants in unison.

----No.
I don't want that.
I don't want to die this way.
I don't want to be eaten while being conscious.
I don't want to be killed like this.
Scary. That's scary. Very scary.
Scary, scary, frightening, frightening, frighteningscaryscaryscaryscaryscary----

"I'll--be killed."

Yes, I'll be killed.
There's nowhere to run.

"I'll be killed... like... this."

I'll be torn apart and become a meal for all of them.

There's nothing I can do.
With my eyes painted vermillion, I start at myself emptily.

"You are stubborn. If you break down, it will be easier for you."

Ha, haha, ha.

He laughs in the distance.
Slowly eating me and laughing.

Ah----it's like my whole body... is dissolving.

"--------"

...... Horrible. Too horrible. This is too horrible.
My wounds hurt. They hurt. Hurt a lot.
Death is frightening. It's frightening. Very frightening.
He's laughing in the distance.
Watching me die and laughing.
If I strain my ears,
I can still hear chewing and the smashing of bones coming from within.

Not only did he devour all those people yesterday.
And not only did he eat that unknown person.
He's trying to eat and kill even me----

"Gah----"
Something like claws digs into my chest.
It's where the scar from my old wound is.
A really painful, frightening, only hateful place.

----Eight years ago----that summer day.

Yeah, it really was hateful.
There wasn't any room for pain or fear.

Music: stop

Be killed----be killed?

Who?
By what?

"Haha, ha----------"

I laugh out.

Right, that's exactly how it is.
Running away is absolutely impossible.
Escape is absolutely impossible.
There's only one thing to be done.

Be killed.
Be killed.
Definitely, without a doubt, be killed.

By nothing else,

and by no one else.

Slice. Slice. Slice. Slice. Slice. With each sound, another beast dies.
My brain is in agony.
All throughout my body: my nerves, my blood vessels, my cells, my blood; everything has gone abnormal.

----The black dome disappears.
I just killed about seventy beasts which were eating my body.

"Wh----at?"
I can hear Nrvnqsr's voice.
Alright----I have to stand, or I won't be able to kill any more.

My brain is on fire.
It's similar----just like when I killed Arcueid, I can't even breathe properly.
Along with the headache and heat which almost drives me insane,

almost enough to make me puke,

the world is saturated with death----

"So you want to kill me, monster?"

Then, we have something in common.

No matter how large, fast or brutal they are, they basically cannot kill me unless they touch me.
If they try to touch me,
I slice whatever part that tries.
In the end, it made no difference whether it's a black dog, a lion or a tiger.

"..............."
It's probably not possible.
Still----I can't finish like this.
Arcueid, who was swallowed by the black liquid.
All of those hundreds of people that were killed.

----And, this body being almost killed.

"..................!"
I grit my teeth.
There's no time to speak words of hatred.

Unfortunately, moving takes all of my power. I don't have any extra energy to answer Nrvnqsr.

----No.
If I do have that sort of energy, as quickly as possible----

"----Very well. I now recognize you as an obstacle to me."

----killing this beast-smelling monster would be far better.

Is it because I said "kill"?
The pulsing of my blood is painful.
My nerves are grinding together.
Everything in my body links together to remove that which gets in my way.

I slice in half the horned horse along with its horn.
I slice the lizard from its back to its lower-right abdomen.

"----Impossible."
I hear that obstacle's voice.
Unfortunately, I can't even see properly now.
All I can see are those black points and lines.
"Scum----why must I attack a mere human with my full force----!?"

His arms tear into his own chest.
As if ripping apart darkness,
he rips into his own chest.
From the hole in Nrvnqsr,
something bizarre emerges----

My fingers are cold.
Maybe I've lost too much blood. My whole body is frigid.
But still----my body isn't screaming.
It orders me forward, saying that if I have enough strength to scream, use that energy to kill Nrvnqsr even faster.

----My spine hurts.
My body is cold.
My fingers are frozen.
Yet, my brain burns with fire.

These crab-spider beasts keep crawling out from Nrvnqsr.
Nrvnqsr is only a little bit away.
These things are in the way of me getting to him.

For now, these three.
I completely kill those emerged obstacles.

"----Unsightly."
His previously machine-like eyes finally start to burn with crimson hatred.

I understand how he feels.
----Probably,
the killer in Nrvnqsr is ordering himself to retreat.
But, the vampire in him does not allow defeat from a mere human.
He doesn't understand.
He doesn't even let himself withdraw.
So, he does not allow himself to even take a single step back.
His mind stubbornly doesn't allow him to realize his powerlessness.

Another step forward.
From here, I can jump and slice his body with my knife.

"----No, never----!
My name is Nrvnqsr, the immortal called Chaos of the undecaying vampire race! It is not possible for me to look this unsightly......!"

----His body starts to form a shape.
The body which was only darkness begins to transform.

"This body is immortal.
I have surpassed death long ago----!"
His body leaps forward.
Not his beasts.
Condensing all his remaining beasts to the limit, he transforms himself into the best Beast and moves in to kill me.

As if unable to control his speed, he rushes past me without stopping.

---The distance between us grows once again.

---I feel dizzy.
I can't stop shaking.

"You----!"
With bloodshot eyes, Nrvnqsr stares at Arcueid standing elegantly to the side.

----Oh, I see.
When he ceased being only half a body, she became free.

Arcueid doesn't go near him.
Nrvnqsr is only looking at me.

----He's coming.

I brace my right hand with my left as I grip my knife.

Nrvnqsr crouches.
It's the action of a predator preparing to pounce on his prey.

"Oh, I forget to tell you one more thing, Nrvnqsr."
Her voice flows like the wind before that.
"It may be a little late, but he's killed me once before."
"Wh----at?"
This time, it's for real.
In his astonishment, Nrvnqsr loses sight of his identity.

For a moment,
his entranced thoughts flow into my mind like a curse.

"Exactly. It seems the pretentious one is you, Nrvnqsr Chaos."

"Ku----huhu, hahahahahahaha!"

At the end of hatred and chaos.
Nrvnqsr laughs with pleasure from the bottom of his heart.

----I can't wait any longer.
I start running towards my unmoving target.

"I see. You are going to kill me, human----!"

----The Beast roars.
With one arm,
he dashes forth to pierce my heart.

"------"
I slice his outstretched arm.
Hundreds of "points of death" are on his body.
But, more than that,
deep inside of him, in his very center, I can see his "Ultimate Point".

----It doesn't matter how many lives he has.
I am only going to kill the "existence" of Nrvnqsr Chaos.
So, it isn't killing Nrvnqsr,
but the chaos which is him.
I am going to kill one world-------

I attack him head-on.

A light sound of impact.

----The knife pierces into his center.

Twisting his lips in a grin, the vampire laughs voicelessly.

Numbly,
The Black Beast starts to crumble from his fingertips.

"------You... are my death?"