What am I...?
That was practically admitting my identity, wasn't it?
Really... that part hadn't changed at all.
Looking at Chiba before him, whose face was so dark it seemed ready to drip ink, "Chiba's" expression did not change at all. Only such a thought flashed through his mind, though it seemed to displease him somewhat.
"I am you."
After that thought crossed his mind, "Chiba" spoke.
"I know. You are me."
In response, Chiba looked at the "Chiba" before him, whose expression had not changed yet somehow seemed different, appearing even more gloomy than before. He did not deny it as vehemently as he had earlier, merely speaking calmly.
"Then what else do you need to ask?"
Hearing this, "Chiba" spoke as if it were only natural. Yet as he spoke, his brows knit slightly.
"Which part of me are you?"
At "Chiba's" matter-of-fact words, the corner of Chiba's eye twitched lightly. Looking at him, he spoke.
"Which part? Does that matter?"
"Chiba" responded indifferently.
"It matters. It determines whether I'll accept you."
Chiba's answer was equally blunt, as though all hesitation and denial had vanished from his heart, leaving only a goal that had to be achieved—or rather, an unavoidable matter that he could only face.
It should be him! That voice from behind the sealing gate... it should have been his voice...
The voice of another me...
The voice that declared it would destroy the world.
At that moment, such a thought inexplicably arose in Chiba's heart.
At that instant, memories surfaced from the first time he had entered the Sealed Space, and another time afterward, when he had heard that voice identical to his own from within the sealing gate—the voice that had once baffled him, speaking of destroying the world.
Obviously, that voice identical to