The legend of the Crimson Demon clan started from Suqing

#261 - Ship of Theseus

To deal with the Witch Cult, the group needed to decide on a plan and strategy, and the leader was naturally Natsuki Subaru, who organized the White Whale subjugation battle.

But for some reason, Natsuki Subaru, who had been talking eloquently just now, suddenly stopped, staring ahead with a look of horror, as if he had seen something incredible.

"How could this happen... How could this happen... Failure, another failure?"

He supported his forehead with his hand, his body began to tremble, and his face had that collapsed expression of being about to cry, making the unknowing people suspect that he had suffered a mental breakdown.

"—Awoo!"

"Waaah!"

While Natsuki Subaru was distracted, Ferris, like a mischievous devil teasing a pure young boy, giggled and bit his ear. If people didn't know the situation, they would probably be envious and jealous, but everyone present didn't have such thoughts.

"...Is that Ferris?"

"It's little Ferris, nyaa."

He stared blankly at the catboy in front of him, who was smiling seductively.

The living, breathing Ferris caused Natsuki Subaru to hallucinate—being split in two by a violent thunderbolt powerful enough to defeat the White Whale, dying tragically and unbelievably in front of him.

"Ugh!"

As if he could still smell that fishy stench, Natsuki Subaru covered his mouth, his eyes bulging as he pretended to vomit.

ZunZun curiously pressed his shoulder and asked, "What's wrong, Subaru? Your eyes just now were like you were dead. Did something happen...?"

"------------!?"

The following words were impossible to say.

Natsuki Subaru, turning his head, had an extremely distorted face, filled with fear, terror, panic, and a shrinking, resistant expression in his eyes.

ZunZun felt offended.

Because that look wasn't like looking at a friend, but like looking at a hated and feared enemy.

"Who... who are you?"

Natsuki Subaru asked tremblingly.

Veins popped on ZunZun's forehead, and he punched him hard in the stomach.

"Puha!"

Natsuki Subaru spat out saliva, his body staggering, almost falling to the ground after suffering a heavy blow to his soft abdomen.

ZunZun then struck a strange pose and shouted, "I am ZunZun! The strongest Archmage of the Crimson Demons!... So, is your head clear now?"

"Ah ah... I accidentally spaced out just now, sorry," Natsuki Subaru wiped his mouth and muttered, "The save point has been updated."

This wasn't the worst option.

Being brave and good at fighting, but ultimately failing emptily, returning to death, each situation was extremely bad. But the worst was that the respawn point of Return by Death was always fixed, such as returning to before the White Whale subjugation.

But this time, it seemed like he was lucky.

He didn't return to before the White Whale, but came to after the White Whale subjugation battle.

"Subaru-sama, are you alright? You don't look too good."

"I'm fine."

Natsuki Subaru signaled to Wilhelm that he was fine, and at the same time said to ZunZun, "Seriously, your magic is already sharp enough, how are your punches and kicks so powerful too? Speaking of which... you wouldn't be the type to get three times stronger when you turn evil and three times weaker when you turn good, would you? Don't give me that setting."

"...Are you implying that I'm not strong right now?"

"No, it's just that you're even stronger when you're evil."

He said it as if he had seen it before.

There was no time to continue asking.

Natsuki Subaru turned his head again and said to everyone, "Sorry for taking up everyone's time. Well then—while the things we're worried about have been eliminated, let's organize the situation."

First of all, there was their goal this time.

Without a doubt, to defeat the Witch Cultists who invaded the Earl's territory on the border and the Sin Archbishops who led them, and during this time to protect the innocent people and evacuate them safely. For this, they had already asked Anastasia in advance to gather traveling merchants to transport the people.

In short: A Witch Cult hunting operation that even a monkey could understand.

This couldn't be said to be a foolproof plan, but it was the most suitable plan that everyone could think of at the moment, but Natsuki Subaru still had a constipated expression after listening—even though it was the plan he had initially agreed upon.

"What's wrong, Subaru? Your expression is as if you're worried about something."

"Don't try to read other people's faces without permission."

"That's because you can't do a poker face at all."

ZunZun glared at him unhappily, seemingly becoming venomous in retaliation for Natsuki Subaru being a riddle-monger for no reason.

"If you have something to say, say it quickly. You're so wishy-washy, are you a toad?"

"Coming out with the venom right away? But I'm finally convinced now, you're ZunZun himself."

"Are you Duem!?! Also, there's still a chance to change before the plan starts, there won't be a chance to regret it later."

These words woke Natsuki Subaru up.

That's right.

His biggest golden finger was that he could reincarnate several times, although his wisdom wasn't enough to support him in formulating an excellent and meticulous plan, he could tell these strange points to other people and ask them to solve them.

He had been told so many times, corrected and reminded so many times.

Why was it still like this?

"Are you already immersed in sadness?"

Julius pretended to be frivolous and offered a way out, and Natsuki Subaru gratefully glanced at him, causing the elegant knight, who had just said that he wouldn't get along well, to look completely bewildered.

"Sorry for having strange words and actions all along just now. Actually, regarding the explanation of the Witch Cult, there are things to add... no, it's a few things I just observed. Regarding this point, I want to discuss it with everyone again."

Natsuki Subaru slowly raised his right hand.

Under the puzzled gazes of everyone, he looked deeply at ZunZun and asked a strange question.

"Does anyone know about that... the ability of someone else's consciousness to override one's own consciousness, like occupying the mind? Or what kind of magic can do this?"

"Someone else's mind overriding your own? That's an incredibly idiotic idea, nyaa."

"...Give me back my strongest weapon."

"What are you talking about, nyaa?"

Not only Ferris felt strange, but everyone else also looked puzzled, not knowing what this meant.

Natsuki Subaru's Return by Death was, to some extent, the same as Petelgeuse Romanee-Conti's ability, but one was to overwrite the present of others, and the other was to overwrite the past of oneself.

Julius said after pondering, "You're asking this question, do you think the Sin Archbishop is likely to use this kind of ability, right?"

"That's right, that's right. I call it possession. That guy relies on this ability to steal other people's bodies to survive. You can tell from his name being seen everywhere, right?"

This wasn't a delusion.

It was an undeniable fact.

Natsuki Subaru, who had seen it with his own eyes, could be so certain.

"—Soul Replication Technology."

Julius said with a solemn expression, "The phenomenon is a very simple technique. It gathers the caster's memories, experiences, qualities, and destiny, collects them into a soul, and then directly imprints it on the souls of others."

"In that case, it can create a human whose memories and consciousness have been replicated... In that case, can it still be considered the person themselves?" Natsuki Subaru frowned.

"A typical Ship of Theseus theory."

"...ZunZun?"

Meeting his surprised gaze, ZunZun slowly said, "If a ship is replaced with all its parts, is it still the original ship? This theory can also be applied to the human body. After all, according to medical evidence, human beings replace all the cells in their bodies every 7 years. Are you still yourself like this? In fact, the you when you were a child and the you when you grow up, whether it's height, weight, appearance, etc., are completely different people."

"Hmm, an interesting theory."

Julius fell into deep thought.

Ferris was even more surprised and said, "Humans replace their cells once every 7 years!?... How did you get this proof?"

"That's not important," ZunZun pressed the catboy's face that was coming up and explained, "What's important is the meaning that wants to be expressed in this—the only thing that hasn't changed in human beings is memory and consciousness. If these are also overwritten..."

"It means it will completely become another person."

"That's right."

He affirmed Wilhelm's guess.

"But that's an unrealistic situation," Julius said, "Magic has been lost, and the spell is theoretically so complex that it's unprecedented. To reproduce it, you must have magic and obsession beyond the realm of ordinary people. I don't think the Sin Archbishop would have such knowledge and technology."

The elegant knight thought he was worrying too much.

And others also said that this kind of thing was too difficult, and even if it could really be done, it would require extremely harsh conditions, and coincidentally, Natsuki Subaru knew this condition.

"—Fingers."

The words he said made Ferris and Julius's eyes light up, like that death god elementary school student seeing the truth of the matter.

"I see, it can be inferred that even the Witch Cultists can't use such tricks."

"Maybe it's referring to the fingers?"

"Preparing your own spare body in advance, what a disgusting plan."

"Should I say it's really something the Sin Archbishop would do?"

The two of them peeled away the layers of the opponent's possession trick and came up with an answer. In terms of brains, they were the top of the knights.

So the plan was revised again.

Before eliminating the Sin Archbishop, the fingers must be eliminated first, so that the soul loses the body it can possess. At that time, it can be said to be the death of the Sin Archbishop.

Reaching this conclusion, everyone showed determination and determination. With a fighting spirit that didn't lose to the White Whale battle, the subjugation team once again united and stood up together.

And just when everyone's fighting spirit was high, there was another guy who jumped out inappropriately to pour cold water.

"Everyone, there's one more thing I have to say."

Everyone focused their gazes on him.

Being stared at so seriously, Natsuki Subaru couldn't help but shiver, and the expression on his face turned to embarrassment and apology.

"Sorry, it's not just the fingers, I'm probably also a target of the Sin Archbishop's transfer."

"Huh?" xN

"And ZunZun, in fact, he's the Sin Archbishop's number one target. He'd even be willing to abandon all the fingers to occupy his body... I really don't know why this guy has such a strong attraction to the Sin Archbishop."

"Ah!!!!?" xN

An even more surprised shout than just now.

Everyone looked at ZunZun, and he himself pointed at himself in a daze, with a stunned expression.

"Ah, me?"