26. The Electric Eel of the Sea of Fire (2)
The voice of Headless Girl—who I'd supposedly muted—scrambled my CPU again.
"He's furious, that thing!"
She wasn't wrong.
I didn't know whether the eel could produce a voice, but it was clear that, true to its name, it radiated electricity from every inch of its body.That kilometer-long monstrosity whipped itself through the fire like a raging storm, expressing its wrath through motion alone.
Bolts of lightning exploded across its hide, flashes brighter than the red glow of the sea itself—so intense that, for an instant, they could've outshone the sun.
Crackling, popping—streaks of current running erratically across its body.
No, not current—lightning.
Countless bolts arced out, filling the air with a shrieking static noise, an electromagnetic roar so loud it drowned even the thunder of the burning sea.Then the giant swung its tail.
With the precision and cruelty of an ancient Egyptian overseer striking a slave, the eel's tail slammed straight into me.
The impact was catastrophic—my vision was consumed by blinding white.
For three seconds—an eternity—I completely shut down.
My CPU overloaded, teetering on the edge of meltdown.
It felt like a meteor had smashed into my head.
Then, nothing.Reboot.
The bootloader flickered faintly to life, my sensors reinitializing one by one.
Sight returned.
Sound returned.
The world slowly reconstructed itself.First thing I checked, of course, was Oto.
But—she wasn't there.
The sensation that had been in my hand, welded to me like fused metal—gone.
Panicking, I scanned my surroundings.
Every detection sensor, every recognition module, pushed to maximum.
If I were human, it would've been like activating not five senses, but six, seven, eight—all at once.
But she was nowhere."Oto!"
I screamed from the depths of despair.
"Oto! Where are you?!"
My voice scattered into the void like static.And then, the reply—of course—came from Headless Girl.
"Shut up! No matter how loud you yell, Oto's auditory sensors can't pick you up anymore!"
"Why not?! We're just separated! If I boost my signal, it should reach her!"
"No, you idiot."
She clicked her tongue—tsk, tsk, tsk—and started explaining."A lot happened in those three seconds you were knocked out. Remember when the eel hit you? That's when your and Oto's hands separated. Even though you two were fused—like, 'never-to-be-parted-ever-again' fused."
She went on.
"But that tail strike—snapped it. Just like your fading love."
"I haven't faded!"
"Shut up!"I tried to protest, but she ignored me, continuing in her usual drawn-out, exasperating tone.
"So, yeah. After that—snap—your precious little bond broke. Physically separated. Distance growing, in meters and in signal strength. And remember, right before the eel hit, you shielded her, didn't you? You took the blow, went into temporary sleep mode. Oto survived. Barely. And then she tried to swim back to you—desperately."
Her voice was theatrical, but what she said was pure nightmare."But right as she reached for you, just as she tried to fuse again—the eel came back. Not with its tail this time—with its mouth. That cursed mouth. It lunged, rammed her, and… swallowed her whole.""So…"
I summarized in a low voice.
"Oto's inside the Electric Eel of the Sea of Fire right now."
"Exactly."
"Then I have to let it swallow me too."
"You absolute idiot!"Headless Girl's shout was like a furious mother scolding a child throwing a tantrum.
"If you get swallowed too, what then?! That's it! Game over! There'll be no point! No you, no me—no Headless Girl either!"
"Then what do you expect me to do?!"
I yelled back.
"I can't just sit here and do nothing! That thing's enormous—I can't fight it head-on! The only way is to get inside, find Oto, and somehow escape together! That's the only option!""You're so naïve,"
she sighed, her voice now as cold and flat as a tax auditor correcting a decimal error.
"That Electric Eel of the Sea of Fire has been here since practically the Big Bang. Think of it like that. This place—this inferno—is its sweet home. You're right in the center of its home ground. You think you can escape? Impossible. Probability zero. Normally I'd say 'there's no such thing as absolute zero' in the real world—but this time's the exception. A perfect, flawless zero percent.""Then what am I supposed to do?! Is there another way?!"Headless Girl went silent.
The first silence since we met.
It lasted only 0.000000001 seconds—but it felt eternal.Then, without a head, she still somehow made the gesture of stroking an invisible chin, as if thinking carefully.
Her tiny yukata-clad child's body made the motion oddly comical.Finally, she spoke—calmly, decisively.
"…All right."
She paused.
"Use me."