Dusttale 05

"First, let's take care of your business."

Taking Murder along, Killer used a shortcut to reach Snowdin.

"Is this... the human's body?! Shouldn't he be using that... ability to go back to the past right now?"

Murder was stunned.

"Normally, yes."

Killer's lips curled at an eerie angle, forming a sinister smile.

"Unfortunately... my determination is stronger than his."

"I see...? Huh?? No, wait."

His expression changed abruptly as Murder realized just how frightening a thing Killer had said.

"You said... your determination is stronger than a human's."

"That's right."

Killer suddenly pulled Murder's head down to her own height and addressed him in a lecturing tone.

"Look... buddy, isn't your perspective a little too narrow? Nothing stays the same forever, and that includes my capacity to withstand determination."

Releasing Murder's head, Killer gazed at the sky with world-weary eyes.

"That extraordinary determination drove me to commit one atrocity after another... Sometimes, I can't even tell when I became like this anymore..."

Even after hearing Killer out, Murder still found it hard to understand.

As far as he knew, determination was hardly compatible with monsters. The only monster capable of unleashing determination's power to its fullest was that armored captain of the Royal Guard. Even she had been unable to escape the fate of melting.

Just what kind of monster was this girl...?! If I hadn't clearly seen her monster-shaped soul with my own eyes, I probably wouldn't have thought she was a monster.

She was actually this perfectly compatible with determination... And from what she said, even that murderous, slaughter-loving kid's overwhelmingly powerful determination was like an ant trying to shake a tree compared to hers?!

"This is just... unbelievable."

Murder poked the human's corpse with a bone. Once he was certain there would be no second or third phase, he casually conjured flames and burned the body.

Mimicking Toriel's magical circuits allowed him to use fire attacks, but that kind of imitation actually consumed far more magic and stamina than using bones, so he normally avoided this move.

This time, he used it to celebrate.

"Next, I'll help you reset your universe."

Killer brought up the button and was about to press it when Murder stopped her.

"Wait. Don't reset yet."

"Huh?"

Murder led Killer back to his room.

"Huh? You want to turn off your TV before resetting? That's taking energy conservation a little too far."

Feeling that she had misunderstood him, Murder explained.

"No, I think you've misunderstood something."

"I came back to my room because it has an anti-reset field."

"?"

"That's right. After discovering that a trace of determination could stop resets from erasing my memories, I started secretly researching the subject. I finally succeeded sometime after the two-hundredth reset."

Murder patted the television beside him.

"This is the result of my research. I call it the Determination TV Amphibian Model 1000."

Without commenting on Murder's bizarre naming sense, Killer stepped outside and immediately performed a reset.

An immense light appeared in the desolate Underground, swallowing absolutely everything except... the room Murder was in.

After a while, Dusttale once again became a tale of birdsong and fragrant flowers. The birds no longer wailed, the flowers no longer withered. Everything was as it had originally been, everything as it had been at the beginning.

"Sans? Sans??"

Papyrus's energetic, girlish voice echoed through Snowdin. That lazybones usually stayed in bed, but today he had disappeared early in the morning, and she couldn't find him anywhere. Honestly, my brother is such a handful, Papyrus couldn't help thinking.

After searching for ages, Papyrus finally found a small note beneath the table at home.

"Papyrus, by the time you read this note, I'll already have left."

"I've put all my socks away, so I won't be causing you any more bone-headed trouble."

"There's enough money in my room to last you a few more years. Pay the rent and whatever else as you see fit."

"Make sure you take good care of yourself while I'm away."

"I'll come back to visit if I get the chance."

"Also, remember to look after my Pet Rock."

"It isn't picky at all. You can feed it anything."

"Love, sans"

"Boohoo... are you trying to bleed me dry...?"

As it turned out, Murder had considered the matter of his little sister before leaving. What will my sister do once I'm gone? Without me holding things together, who'll pay her rent? Who'll tell her bedtime stories?

That left Killer, who had a modest amount of savings, to help cover the expense.

"But... where did your money even come from? You don't look like the type to work a job."

The moment he asked that question, Killer turned her head away, a few drops of cold sweat appearing on her forehead.

"Hmm... should I mention... that when I worked under Octopus, I also moonlighted as an interstellar pirate?"

Murder was instantly speechless.

"Anyway, since you're planning to come along with me from now on, we should properly introduce ourselves."

Killer held out her hand.

"I'm Killer. My real name... I've forgotten that too, but it should be the same as yours. I'll be counting on you from here on out."

"I'm Murder. My real name is Sans."

They clasped hands firmly. Across the vast multiverse, events like this were far from uncommon. The partnership they formed was merely a drop in the ocean of teams coming together throughout the cosmos.

But this was their story. On the stage of the multiverse, even a tiny spark could set a prairie ablaze.