He's taken a real turn for the worse since this morning.
I've taken him to a number of doctors, but the cause is still unknown.
As someone from a caravan fleet that makes stops at countries around the world,
I was thinking perhaps you'd know a good way to treat him.
Be that as it may... I am just a pharmacist.
In any case, let's get him to the caravan's medical ship.
First of all, we need to get his fever down,
or else his body will be permanently damaged even if he does survive.
How's Kiyui doing?
We're going to head to the caravan fleet for now.
Take care of things here for me.
Kiyui...
He was so very much looking forward to his birthday celebration today...
No way... He can't possibly...
Huh?
The "Birthday-Death Disease"?
Yes.
Lately, an awful lot of people have died on the same day of the year they were born...
And there's a rumor going around that it's the work of some disease.
Please take a look.
A funeral?
Yes...
The deceased's ashes are returned to the Abyss together with Eternal Fortune flowers.
That funeral is for someone who passed away from this same thing...
Huh?
In fact, before this child got sick,
two others at the orphanage died due to some unknown medical condition.
Counting suspicious deaths alone, the total is five now.
All of them were orphans whose birthdays were unknown...
Something as absurd as all this...
I'd like to think it's just a stupid made-up story, but...
Hey, you alright now?
Yeah...
Where... am I?
I didn't even do anything.
What could this possibly mean?
This boy is so healthy it's hard to believe he even had a fever.
At this point, I suppose it is some kind of curse or spell...
Which reminds me, there's been something like it before - something completely absurd...
The mysterious "Great Pit of the Netherworld," which is itself referred to as a curse...
Longing seizes people more powerfully than poison and more deeply than illness.
Once it catches hold of you, there is absolutely no escape.
That is quite a "curse," and yet the adventurers all willingly devote themselves to its pursuit.
For them, a life without longing is more terrifying than death itself.
Daremo ga sakaraezu ni mogutteiku
Sono me o tomoshibi yori kagayakasete
Mezasu saki wa fukaku
Massugu ni mayoikomu
Kuchiaketa naraku no wana
Shinjitsu no ato o oikakeyou
Ima kotae ga mitsukaru nara zenbu nakushitemo ii
Sono koe o hanasanai youni kodama ga mada hibiiteru
Rashinban wa zutto
Yami o sashita mama
Nigeba no nai
Hou e
Sore ga noroi demo
Kodou wa honmono
Nidoto akogare wa tomaranai
It wasn't this place...
Was it the scenery of somewhere similar?
Also, that voice...
If I'm not mistaken...
that was one of my own...
my own memories...
wasn't it?
In that case, the one who was mourning for Lyza was...
Did I bury her?
No, Ozen said, "No one was buried there."
What does it all mean...?
S-stop it!
Get away from Riko!
I said stop it! You little...
Just relax.
Mitty won't attack humans.
Normally Mitty doesn't get emotionally attached to visitors, though.
They're close in age, so maybe Mitty took a liking to her.
Before becoming like this, Mitty was also a girl, you see.
Huh?!
M-Mitty...?
Just please don't eat the mushrooms, okay?
She's not one to treat others so cruelly.
It was thanks to Mitty, after all, that we got the poison out.
Huh?
What do you mean?
That medicine was made by injecting Mitty with an orbed-piercer's poison.
What?!
Why'd you do such a thing?
Mitty has the ability to neutralize poisons all on her own.
Amazing, huh?
So I then used her blood to produce the medicine, you see.
Nanachi, who exactly were you two before you became Hollows?
Oh... You really wanna ask that?
It's best you don't.
If you do, you're gonna end up wanting to help us.
Wh-what?!
You saved us, didn't you?!
Of course I'll try to help-
Alright!
Look, it's done!
My special Netherworld Stew!
Go on and try some.
Here!
It looks like sticky... mud...
This... was made with the ingredients I collected, correct?
Don't worry about, um, how it looks.
It has an oddly fishy scent...
What the heck kinda smell is that anyway?
I'm going to take some for you too, Mitty, so you can munch on it later.
Some kind of discharge?!
What the heck is this?
Was this truly made using those ingredients?
Huh?
You... think it's bad?
Nanachi, you normally eat this stuff?
W-well...
Come on, don't look at me like that...
I... Look, I've never even gotten to eat tasty food before...
If Riko wakes up and eats this...
this time she's really going to die.
I've got no choice! I have to cook myself!
Well... if you don't like it, don't eat it.
Oh, I see...
So she's looking for her mother who descended to the bottom of the netherworld, huh?
Still, we're talking about a girl with an insatiable curiosity
and a piece of junk who can't regain even one of his important memories...
You did well just making it this far.
Or should I say, it was actually quite hopeless...
Nanachi, please tell me...
You...
You know of a way to evade the Curse of the Abyss, don't you?
Well...
even if I was to explain it to someone like you who can't "see" it...
Besides, it's also my personal secret.
I beg you! We need to know!
Even so...
If it's in my power, I'll do whatever you want in return!
So, please!
Hey, don't get so close!
Alright then...
let's give it a shot.
If you insist...
I'll make an exception and let you experience it yourself.
Alright...
Hey, you get under here, too.
What is this thing?
"Fog Weave," a grade-3 Relic.
Well, it's basically a super thin piece of cloth.
It's just like this, I suppose.
What is?
The true nature of the Curse of the Abyss.
What?!
It's floaty in the same kind of way.
With layer piled upon layer, it blankets us!
Even if you touch it, you won't feel it, nor can you see it...
When we move, it moves along with us.
Simply breathing is enough to alter its flow.
S-so when you touch it, that's when you're hit by the Curse of the Abyss?
It's not like that.
Huh?
When you touch it, it simply warps...
Just like this cloth.
So then...
So then what makes you get hit with the Curse?
That would be... doing this...
Kinda like... this.
Once you break through, the symptoms hit you all at once.
If it's just something like your fingertips, you'll hardly be affected...
But when it comes to your head or chest...
If any part of you that's vital to life passes through, then...
Well, as you've seen, something seriously not good will end up happening...
Wh-what happens when you descend?
Well, passing on through from above is nice and smooth.
It's got a flow to it similar to "inverted thorns," making it so you can't get out once you've entered.
Look. It's something like this.
It's just like a trap for catching prey.
What exactly is it?
That malice-filled floaty thing, I mean.
Still don't get it?
It's the force field.
The one that carries light to the subterranean world while at the same time obstructing observation of it...
The one that continues to stubbornly guard the netherworld's true nature and the order within it...
That's the mysterious force field I speak of.
Filling every corner of this pit, it's the very blood of the Abyss, so to speak.
And that is the true nature of the Curse of the Abyss...
There's nowhere to escape from it.
B-but, Nanachi, didn't you say the Curse wasn't present around your hideout?!
Well...
I took great pains to find this place.
The force field gets weaker the farther away you get from the vertical shaft.
I-is that so?
After descending this far, don't you have somewhat of a feel for it?
Well, I suppose there aren't many places as stable as this one.
That area around the Seeker Camp also...
I get it now...
Also, the force field is sensitive to the movements of living things.
It even responds to their very consciousnesses and alters its flow.
Do you get it?
If you can read something's consciousness, you can anticipate its movements.
Orbed-piercers don't have great intuition...
They can actually predict the future.
The deeper you go, the denser and stronger the force field becomes.
So challenging the netherworld's bottom means continuing on a path brimming with a deadly curse,
while also going up against predators that can predict the future.
Sounds positively delightful, right?
H-how in the world do cave raiders manage to still press on?
Who knows? They aren't even able to see it, so I wonder myself...
Seriously?!
But, there is one thing I know.
That's just the way it is. There's no way to stop their longing.
Oh, I know. Hand me your helmet.
Uh, okay...
What's that thing?
Didn't I tell you that I'd let you experience it?
That said, you have to promise me!
You need to do exactly as I say!
Can you hear me?
This is kinda unsettling...
Nanachi, it feels like you're right next to my ear.
Pretty cool, huh? It's just something I happened to pick up.
I can hear your voice, but where exactly are you, Nanachi?
Don't worry about it. I can see you fine from here.
Continue going straight.
Understood.
What?!
Hey! Don't needlessly rush in!
Wha-? A child?!
Ridiculous!
You mustn't come any closer!
Don't do it!
That's a Black Whistle.
Judging by the stuff he was carrying, he was headed back on his own when he got ambushed.
This is perfect.
Wanna try rescuing our new visitor?
O-of course!
Alright, very well, then.
What are you doing?!
Listen, don't forget...
No matter happens, you do exactly as I say.
That way you'll be able to dispose of Orby and the man will be saved.
Where's your reply?
Understood!
Alright!
Then I'll show it to you now: the world as I see it!
Okay, to start, look up and completely commit to it.
Are you serious?!
Yep.
Now listen, really commit to it.
B-but...
H-hurry and get outta here!
Don't worry about that guy.
Also, stop questioning me!
My orders are...
...absolute!
Now jump to the right!
Irredeemable!
You grabbed onto it, I see. Absolutely do not let go.
That thing you've grabbed onto is the organ it uses to sense the force field.
That's its lifeline, and without uncoupling your actions from your conscious mind,
you'd never be able to even touch it.
Now that it's confused, it'll go for the kill without any thought of looking graceful.
Now! Tie it up!
Its fate is sealed now.
Beat it to a pulp!
How dare you do that to Riko!
Huh?
It shed its spines?!
Damn!
This steam is...!
D-did it escape?!
Well done.
It was forced to eject a full 80 percent of its spines. It won't be able to hunt here anymore.
More importantly, hurry up and get back here.
H-hey! Don't get too close to him!
Now that Orby is gone, it's cave raiders that present the most danger to us!
Hey now!
What are you...?
Could you relay a message for me?
Huh?
It's intended for a guy at Belchero Orphanage named Jiruo.
Jiruo... at Belchero...
Tell him that... "We are still continuing our adventure."
O-okay, got it.
I'm counting on you.
I'm sorry.
Well, you didn't tell him about me, so I don't really mind...
But you sure it'll be alright?
That, uh, guy at Belchero Orphanage...
If people find out he's connected to you somehow, it could spell trouble.
It'll be fine.
He's the most dependable guy I know, after all.
In any case, that was pretty amazing, Nanachi!
Using the opponent's own special ability against it like that was a brilliant strategy!
I wish you'd come with us to the bottom of the netherworld!
W-well, actually...
I have something to ask of you...
Oh! What is it?!
You can ask anything of me!
Well...
I knew it would be, but it truly is a hard thing to ask...
Don't hold back!
Alright, here it goes.
'Kay.
Please kill Mitty for me.
Huh?
Mitty...
Mitty, I'm sorry for running away like this.
I won't just let him...
keep doing as he pleases.
I... I'll figure something out...
Sora ni ukanderu hikaru nami o
Tabanete niji no hashi o kakeyou
Ayaui ashiba, suberu slope
Kako to mirai no michishirube
Kimi no hidarite, boku no migite o
Tsunaide tsunagete hajimeyou
Itsumo soba ni iru yo
Kako mo ima mo mirai mo
Dakara mayowazu ni aruiteikou
Irotoridori no yume kasanete
Ashita wa doko ni mukau
Kimi to issho ni iretara, sekai wa kagayakidasu yo
Saihate no chi ni saku hana o sagasou