人は皆、暗がりを畏れる。昼行性に生まれた者の本能として、光が届かぬ領域を異界であると認識するのだ。瞬間、密度を増した闇の圧力を世界の半数が体感した。ヴィルヘルムがそうであるように、夜を愛する者たちでさえ根本的には変わらない。恐るべき概念だからこそ畏敬を捧げ、讃えることでその力を取り込もうとしているだけ。All humans fear the dark. As an instinct of those born diurnal, they perceive the regions where light does not reach as an otherworldly realm. In that instant, half of the world felt the pressure of the darkness as its density increased. Even those who love the night, like Wilhelm, are fundamentally no different. It is precisely because it is a terrifying concept that they offer it reverence, merely trying to incorporate its power by praising it.
メトシェラは動じない。貫通した胸の穴すら、瞬きの内に復元していく。いいやそもそも、この存在には実体という概念さえないのだろう。Methuselah remains unmoved. Even the hole pierced through his chest is restored within the blink of an eye. No—to begin with, the very concept of a physical body likely does not even apply to this existence.
映像は消え去り、目の前には暗黒があるだけだったが、しかし状況は最初から何も変わっていなかったのだと理解する。The images faded away, and although there was nothing but darkness before my eyes, I understood that the situation had not changed at all from the beginning.
ここは終始一貫して闇のままだ。心の、魂の、人間が持つ暗い部分。その概念が具現化されているのだろう。This place has remained consistently dark from beginning to end. It is the dark part of the human heart and soul. Perhaps that concept has been materialized here.
「闇、だと?」「左様、御身は闇だメトシェラよ。そして無論、これは例え話でもない。事実をありのままに言っている。陰鬱な人物や非道徳な輩を指して、彼は闇のようであるとか、心に闇を抱えているとか、そういった意味ではないのだよ。だいたいからして、闇と悪性を同義語のように語ること自体が間違っている」"Darkness, you say?""Indeed, you are darkness itself, Methuselah. And of course, this is no metaphor. I am stating the facts exactly as they are. It is not meant in the way one might point to a gloomy person or a degenerate and say they are like darkness, or that they harbor darkness in their heart. To begin with, it is a mistake to speak of darkness and malice as if they were synonyms. "
「当時は神々の時代だった。いや正確には、神の眷族と言うべきか。稲妻が、暴風が、大地が、そして火が水が—それぞれ神として擬人化され、 信仰されていたはずだ。御身はその時代に生まれた一柱にすぎない。闇の神聖視、何も破綻した道理ではないだろう。人は恐ろしきものにも傅いて敬いを示す。原始からある、暗闇という概念に対する畏敬の念。それが御身を生んだのだよ。ああ、私は覚えている。否、思い出した」"It was the Age of the Gods. Or more accurately, one should say the age of the kin of Gods.Lightning, storms, the earth, fire, and water—each was personified as a God and surely must have been worshipped. You are merely one pillar born in that era.There is no flaw in the logic of deifying darkness, is there? Humans feel awe toward that which is terrifying and show it reverence. The sense of awe towards the concept of darkness, which has existed since the primordial dawn... that is what gave birth to you. Ah, I remember. No, I have just recalled it."
言って首(こうべ)を巡らすと、定めた地を目指し飛び始めた。腕のクラウディアを気遣っているのか、速度自体はさほどでもない。だが俯瞰的に見た場合、彼を中心に極限の異常が発生していた。飛翔するルートヴィヒに合わせる形で、世界の夜が移動している。天体の自転に狂いが生じたわけではない。むしろさらに荒唐無稽で、戦慄を促す現象だった。影の領域それ自体が、生物であるかのごとくルートヴィヒに付き従っているのだから。Having said that, he turned his head and began to fly toward the intended destination. Perhaps out of consideration for Claudia in his arms, his speed itself was not that great. However, when viewed from a bird's-eye perspective, an extreme abnormality was occurring centered around him. In a way that synchronized with the flying Ludwig, the night of the world was moving. It was not that a madness had occurred in the rotation of the celestial bodies. Rather, it was an even more absurd phenomenon that incited a shudder. For the domain of shadow itself was following Ludwig as if it were a living creature
いや、その表現も正確ではないだろう。なぜならば、彼こそが闇である。開闢以来、世界の半分を版図に持つ王であり、それすらも夜という概念を適応した場合にすぎない。当然だろう。暗闇とは、何処であろうと発生するもの。たとえ日中でも、人工の照明下でも、光を遮る物さえあればそこはメトシェラの領土と化すのだ。洞窟の中、深い森、建造物の裏はもちろん、人間を含む全生物の足元に這う影さえも。No, that expression is likely inaccurate as well.For he himself is the darkness. Since the dawn of creation, he has been the king who holds half the world within his domain, and even then, that is merely the result of applying the concept of ‘night’. It is only natural. Darkness is something that arises anywhere and everywhere. Even in the middle of the day, or under artificial lighting—if there is simply something to block the light, that place transforms into the territory of Methuselah. Inside caves, deep forests, behind buildings, and of course, even the shadows cast at the feet of all living beings, including humans.
ゆえに移動を始めた黒色の王国は、その度外れた規模をもってルートヴィヒの肉体である。神代の昔、闇なるものを信仰する人々によって生み出された自然の擬人化。神の眷族。世界を斯くあらしめるため、既知法則のバランスを担ってきた一柱に他ならない。かつては数多いた同類たちも、大元の死期が近づくにつれ神秘が薄れ、自然の中に還っていった。しかし、彼だけは残っている。 おや神と一番似ていたから。諦めの悪い男だから。彼はメトシェラとなり、未だ自律した意志を有しているのだ。Therefore, the black kingdom that began to move is Ludwig's physical body, possessing an extraordinary scale. In the ancient Age of Gods, he was a personification of nature created by people who worshipped that which is dark. A kin of the Gods. He is none other than one of the pillars who bore the responsibility for the balance of established laws in order to keep the world as it is. While his once numerous peers faded away into nature as their mysteries thinned with the approaching death of the great source, he alone remains. Because he resembled God the most. Because he is a man who doesn't know when to give up. He became Methuselah and still possesses an autonomous will to this day.
結果、ルートヴィヒが意図して力を揮いつつ、自儘な移動を続ければどうなるか。答えは至極簡単だった。本来、まだ朝が来るべきではない領域から、闇のすべてが剥ぎ取られる。そこは陰陽どちらでもない虚無と化し、すなわち消滅してしまうのだ。ゆえに彼が、東へ西へ—もしも野放図に全球を一周すれば、それだけで世界は滅びる。無論、ルートヴィヒにそのような真似をする気はないものの、可能な力を持った存在なのは確かだろう。As a result, what would happen if Ludwig continued to move aimlessly while exerting his power intentionally? The answer was extremely simple. All darkness would be stripped away from regions where morning is not yet supposed to come. Those places would turn into a void that is neither Yin nor Yang—in other words, they would simply vanish. Therefore, if he were to traverse the entire globe at will—from east to west—the world would perish from that alone. Of course, Ludwig has no intention of doing such a thing, but there is no doubt that he is an existence possessing the power to make it possible.
