Cooperate…?
She wanted to… work together with him?
Hearing her words, countless question marks popped up in Izaya's mind. His mental guard and his high-speed thoughts both seemed to halt for an instant, and he even felt that this woman's behavior was a little strange.
She is a Beast. Beasts, by nature, are highly hostile toward humans and reject human civilization. Not long ago, she'd personally reached out and tried to kill him…
And now she was inviting a human to cooperate with her?
"What do you want me to do?"
Izaya didn't answer her directly. Instead, he asked the question he cared about most.
The Dark Koyanskaya looked right into the boy's eyes and said slowly:
"Use your empathy magecraft and purify my resentment."
In reality, when she first became aware of Izaya's existence, she'd held enormous hostility and deeply ingrained prejudice towards him.
But over this period, with Izaya's help, Koyanskaya's power had grown explosively. The Dark Koyanskaya had faintly realized that her Light counterpart was beginning to suppress her.
If this continued, the future situation would inevitably turn one-sided.
After all, Izaya was a human—yet his existence in this land was so special that he could no longer be generalized as merely human in the normal sense.
Sometimes, a flexible profit sharing approach was necessary…
This was the conclusion the Dark Koyanskaya finally reached after a period of internal struggle.
Izaya hesitated for a moment.
"I'll have to think it over."
The Dark Koyanskaya frowned subtly, clearly not having expected such an answer.
But because of how special Izaya was, she ultimately suppressed any urge to lash out.
"If you change your mind, you can come to me anytime."
With that, she turned; her body dissolved into a cloud of black mist and quietly faded away.
[That night, after weighing the pros and cons, you explained to Light Koyanskaya the reason the Dark Koyanskaya had 'invited' you, and asked why the other woman's attitude had changed 180 degrees.]
[When she heard you out, Light Koyanskaya seemed to realize something.]
"If I'm not mistaken…"
Koyanskaya slumped lazily on the sofa, narrowing her eyes as she gazed out at the endless scorched earth beyond the tent.
"She should be trying to fight for the right to use this body… More precisely, to compete for the Tunguska Sanctuary itself."
Hearing this, Izaya was dumbfounded for a moment.
"Compete for the right to use a body? As in… sharing one body?"
"The Tunguska Sanctuary—or more precisely, the land you're standing on right now—is a 'life' shaped by magecraft. This land itself is our soul."
Koyanskaya said quietly.
"Whether it's me or that other me, if we want to evolve into a complete Beast, we both need a limitless supply of magecraft energy as fuel—i.e., resentment. You understand that much, right?"
Izaya nodded slightly. After this period of time, he had indeed grasped the basics.
Be it "Light" or "Dark," both of them needed grudges to grow.
"But three months ago, when the explosion happened in Tunguska, someone who shouldn't have been here appeared at the scene…"
"You, Sajyou Izaya."
Under the power of empathy magecraft, Light Koyanskaya had discovered that the resentment Izaya purified would transform into a far purer form of fuel, dramatically accelerating her growth.
If this trend continued, she would inevitably seize the initiative in their evolution and become a complete monster.
The Dark Koyanskaya had likely sensed this, which was why she'd personally come to him today.
At this point, Light Koyanskaya gave a cold little laugh.
"Even if you did cooperate with her, she wouldn't be able to absorb the purified energy you generate."
She lifted her skirt slightly and elegantly crossed her left leg over her right. The delicate tip of her small foot toyed idly with her high heel.
"How could some barbaric creature who doesn't recognize human civilization possibly absorb grudges that have been purified by you humans?"
The reason Light Koyanskaya could absorb resentment after Izaya purified it was that she was the Imitation of Civilization—an existence who could imitate to the extreme the most charming and luxurious aspects of human civilization.
And the secret lay with Koyanskaya of Light…
She was nature's own essence. She did not recognize all that is human. And without recognizing humanity, it was impossible for nature to absorb the pure energy cleansed by human hands.
"Still, I never thought he would take such an interest in you… For a human, you're quite the popular one."
She flashed the boy a smile, her golden eyes suddenly filled with a teasing playfulness.
Izaya didn't catch the nuance in her words. He mulled it over for a bit, then suddenly said:
"If what you said is true, then this land beneath our feet—the Tunguska Sanctuary itself—has self-awareness, right?"
Koyanskaya nodded lightly.
"Then if it ever feels that you intend to devour all of it, won't it fight back?"
"It's possible. But don't worry, I'll wait until I have absolute confidence before I do that… And, just in case—"
She paused, then said with a serious expression:
"If, in the future, you come across that destruction-driven Beast, tell me at once."
"Don't assume that just because she did nothing today, she won't suddenly snap one day… Not everyone is as talkative as I am."
While belittling the other Beast, she also elevated herself and warned him not to get close to the Dark Koyanskaya.
He hadn't expected her to have such a domineering side…
Izaya smiled wryly.
"Don't worry. I've been on guard against her this whole time… But there's something very important I want to discuss with you."
As he spoke, he lifted his gaze to meet Koyanskaya's.
Perceiving the boy's extremely serious look, Light Koyanskaya's heartbeat suddenly skipped half a beat.
Wait… wait a second…
Why does his expression suddenly look so solemn?
He… what is he planning to do?
Could he be about to confess to her?
After all, even when faced with the Dark Koyanskaya's overtures today, he'd chosen her without any hesitation…
That was enough to show the sincerity of a teenage boy.
But… was that really a good thing?
She was a Beast. Could a human and a Beast truly be together?
Moreover, he was still so young…
Human laws didn't mean much to her, but it still felt a little… improper, didn't it?
Still, if she went by human rules, then after she accepted his confession…
Those things would be allowed, right?
Once they became lovers, neither this nor that would be an issue…
It's not like he had any particularly weird preferences, after all.
As long as they were lovers, anything legitimate would be fine…
Izaya looked steadily at Koyanskaya's beautiful, delicate face, then slowly opened his mouth.
"I want you to meet with her."
"Really, you… For your efforts over this period, I suppose I can reluctantly allow you to keep watch over me—"
She lifted her face, the corners of her lips curving up. A radiant, moving smile bloomed on her lips.
But before the words were finished, her expression froze.
Her golden pupils slowly widened, clearly reflecting the boy's extremely solemn face.
"Eh?"
…