Bang!
There was no need to think about the cause of the gunshot.
Japan is one of those places where civilian gun ownership is nearly prohibited. It’s probably similar to Korea.
So, it’s not like I could just pull out a shotgun from my house when a monster pops out in the backyard.
If a gun was fired, then at least someone with a job that could handle that kind of firearm is involved.
It’s probably some government guy or maybe a member of the Self-Defense Forces.
How did they follow us? That’s not really important. The main thing right now is that we need to deal with this situation or we’ll be in big trouble.
Is the sound coming from a bit far away really a sign that we’re safe? This is all Kosuzu’s fault, so it’s not like it’s going to end so easily.
If we don’t take care of this, we might end up causing an accident down below.
I wonder how Satori is doing?
Well, to be honest, in this situation, that thought has already flown out the window. Preserving my own life is more important right now.
“Wait a moment.”
As I staggered a bit, Kagami grabbed my arm.
When I turned my head, Kagami was looking at me.
This might be the most wide-eyed expression I’ve seen from Kagami so far.
It’s probably because her usual expression is that smug smile, so this isn’t exactly an easy expression to adapt to.
“Where are you going?”
“To take care of that.”
As I answered Kagami’s question, her grip tightened on my arm.
“Right now, you need to back off.”
“Back off?”
“Yes. You can’t handle this alone. First, you need to retreat, recover a bit, and find someone to help you.”
“…”
Thud.
I looked at the source of the sound.
There were screams in the distance. I could still hear trees crashing down. Perhaps the locals were peeping out their windows, one by one, after hearing the noise.
“If it’s because of the people…”
“No.”
I cut Kagami off because I had a feeling I already knew how she was going to continue.
Yeah, it’s not like I’m completely unconcerned. Despite how I may appear, I used to be someone who saved people in my previous life.
But right now, it’s not about my profession.
“We can’t leave here.”
Why?
Kagami’s face demanded an explanation. Koko looked the same. She seemed like she wanted to grab me and drag me along.
“…My power was borrowed from that guy watching us.”
After hearing my words, the expression drained from Kagami’s face.
That’s right.
Even if I ran away, my life would still be in danger.
The reason is simple.
The fact that Nirlas lent me power without any specific demands means he wants me to follow through to the end with this power.
I can’t disregard that request without knowing what might happen.
Something bad could happen for sure.
Suddenly dying, my appearance changing grotesquely, experiencing terrible pain, or even not being able to request anything in the future.
No, that’s not the problem.
…Nirlas can use my body.
I don’t know how long that time will last, but it doesn’t take long to cause harm to someone.
No, it doesn’t take long to ruin relationships.
After severely messing with my feelings, who knows what he might do with my body?
“You think too much.”
Even though Nirlas whispered that in my ear, it’s hard to laugh at that when just a moment ago, he was setting a person’s body on fire.
“This is the price. I can’t stop moving until this blood stops. If it doesn’t satisfy, the blood won’t stop either.”
At my words, the people around fell silent.
Koko looked at me with a bewildered expression. Kagami remained quiet, not saying a word.
Even Hagiwara, who had been trying to talk to me, stopped nearby.
“But just going doesn’t mean—”
“…There is a way.”
I replied to Kagami’s words.
Yeah.
If there’s a way, then Nirlas has already ‘shown’ it.
He already dropped a hint.
“…Do you still have the talismans?”
If you have a torch that won’t easily go out, what can you do?
Besides brightening the light, wasn’t there another function of a torch?
Thud.
My head is spinning.
It feels like my body can’t process the information coming in all at once. Blood is flowing from my left wrist, and a chill is spreading across my whole body. Maybe it’s because I’ve lost too much blood, but it feels like my temperature-regulating function is getting worse little by little.
I’m forcing my tired body to move after coming all this way, so my limbs feel like they’re going to cramp up any second, and it feels like my mind is starting to slip away.
Thud.
As I stumbled toward the direction of the thud, someone grabbed my arm.
It was Hagiwara, who had come closer.
“…You.”
She seemed like she was about to say something, but she closed her mouth again.
Did she want to say don’t push yourself? But in the current situation, that’s a pointless thing to say. What would you expect from someone who wants to set their body on fire and burn the enemies when you tell them not to push themselves?
The answer is, no response at all. Right now, I have to take another step with the little strength I have left instead of wasting time talking.
Since hearing my plan, Kagami hasn’t dared to touch me.
That’s strange.
At first, I thought she was an inhuman who didn’t care about shame or anything, and even when I wasn’t sure whether she was human or not, I thought of her as some ruthless cult leader.
But the more time I spend facing her, the more she feels human.
No, she’s just a human being. The younger sister who followed after the older sister who abruptly left because she couldn’t stand the radical deeds done in the cult anymore.
I don’t know the details, but it might be that Kagami felt something similar. After spending time meeting and talking to me a couple of times, maybe she started to think I’m something close to human?
The difference between a relationship that’s purely business and one that has personal conversations over time is entirely different.
Koko had already been holding onto my arm from the other side, trying to support me, but to be honest, it wasn’t a big help.
It was a careful gesture, as if she was holding something that seemed like it could break at any moment.
…Is there a reason they’re so cautious even while they could move faster?
I just feel bad for doing something so terrible to Koko.
“…Senpai.”
“Yeah.”
“Use my blood. Like last time.”
“…What?”
“Surely you won’t refuse to use the power of the cult at this point? If you don’t want to see those coming behind die, you have to do it.”
“…This time I actually brought holy water.”
“You saw that it wasn’t perfect just with the holy water, right?”
There were still countless bodies sprawled out where we were. Things like slimes belong to the category of Yōkai, so they’ll likely vanish without a trace after some time. But someone has to clean up the human corpses.
Even though it was dark and far away, it must be a gruesome sight as well.
“…”
Hagiwara didn’t shake her head, but she didn’t refute me either. She probably couldn’t.
“Well then—”
Bang!
The loud thudding that had been ringing now turned into almost an explosion. For a brief moment, I thought my feet were leaving the ground.
As I staggered, Koko, who had just been lightly holding my arm until now, finally secured my body.
“…Alright.”
I sensed the time had come and spoke.
“Kosuzu probably hasn’t been able to see Whitley fighting. The distance is just too far.”
Of course, being from the same cult, she might have predicted some countermeasures. Although they said it was the result of research from a nearby guy, there’s no guarantee that Kosuzu didn’t research something similar.
She probably prepared some countermeasures for the talismans.
But still, she wouldn’t have been able to see how I fought. Just thinking about which side is more difficult to control gives you an answer.
I’m aware that either I or Koko would be weak against that talisman, but they wouldn’t be able to guess what I was trying to do.
There’s probably a reason why Nirlas went out of his way to give an ‘example.’
“You feeling good about being trusted so much?”
“…”
Just when I spoke, Bang!
I heard the sound of something collapsing and then an explosion. I could see something shiny over there. Was a car exploding, or was someone trying to use some explosives to stop it?
I pulled my hands away from those who were supporting me.
Then I reached out to Hagiwara.
Hagiwara hesitated for a moment but ultimately handed me her knife.
The blade of that knife grazed my wrist. A light red blood stained the tip. A few swings wouldn’t leave a mark visible to the naked eye, but I confirmed that it has some effect, at least from last summer’s camp.
“Then, let’s move as we discussed.”
At my words, Hagiwara nodded as if she had finally calmed down.
“Don’t die.”
Why? Because when I die, I’ll have to face divine judgment?
Well, even someone as dense as I am knows that it’s not the time for jokes like that.
“I won’t die here.”
I answered cleanly and started walking.
“…Koto Ne…”
“Koko. I’m counting on you.”
I said in a serious voice.
“If this doesn’t succeed, we won’t even get to celebrate Christmas.”
“Uu…”
I stopped for a moment to look at Koko.
Then I patted her head and said, “I promise. Since this involves saving many people, Santa Claus will definitely come.”
But Koko didn’t look happy with that.
That was only natural, but—
She reached out and grabbed my sleeve, saying, “…Koto Ne is more important.”
“…”
“It’s fine if I don’t receive a present. But if Koto Ne disappears, she won’t come back.”
…
For a brief moment, it was awkward to respond to that.
I thought for a moment on how to answer, and finally came up with a response.
“I’ll come back, for sure.”
It was a terrible answer.
Koko looked up at me without saying anything for a while, but eventually, while making a sound of uu…, she nodded.
What a good child. Truly.
She was too good to be my little sister.
…Well, that was the same for my little sisters in my previous life too.
“…Please take care of Koko.”
“…Yes.”
Kagami answered me.
We quickened our steps again.
*
A complete mess.
All I could say upon seeing that scene was just that.
Whitley, with her invisible body, created a grotesque sight as it moved. Just the fact that the appearance of something that simply tramples and destroys things is unseen made it look like the objects themselves were breaking and crumpling on their own.
And if that self-crumpling thing is a person, then it’s even more so.
“Gah!”
I ran toward a man screaming as he crushed his own legs, randomly waving my sword.
The sword that cuts through the things of this world sliced through the air. Yellow blood splattered. It was just like the blood that Whitley was shedding.
Right after that, my body was sent flying back.
It wasn’t because I was hit.
Instead, I was gently placed down a few steps back. From the feeling of wind brushing over my face right after, it looked like they were trying to save me rather than attack.
Glancing over, I could see Koko. Her hair was reverting back from being excessively shortened.
Got it.
At least I’m grateful that I’m not alone.
Thud.
There was a loud thump nearby. Thanks to that, it felt like I could get crushed at any moment… No, the soldier whose leg was crushed was pulled away by others trying to get him out.
Regrettably, the remnants of his leg only remained in the spot.
Rat-a-tat, the sound of gunfire ripped through the sky.
But no effective attack.
Small bullets embedded themselves in whatever was filling the air, but unlike when I sliced through it, blood didn’t spray out, and it merely halted for a moment before slumping down and falling.
I shook my left hand.
Blood splattered and a few teeth fell down.
Some of them got caught in my hand before they fell.
I ran forward with all my might, throwing the ones I had.
Thud!
The blood burst like a water balloon, splattering like I was hit by a paintball in a survival game, just coloring that existence ever so slightly.
However, that little bit of coloring seemed to immensely disturb Your Honor.
Whoosh.
Had I not heard the sound of something slicing through the air, I would have been flattened by then.
Maybe I was moving at almost the same speed as Koko.
The only good part is that the enemy is massive.
Just because it’s gigantic doesn’t mean it’s slow. The distance traveled is just longer. Dodging something falling from five meters above is certainly easier than avoiding something swinging five centimeters in front of you.
Whoosh.
I heard the crackling of flames and then saw a blue light flickering at the edge of my vision.
The sound of whips snapping wasn’t only coming from giant Whitley.
If what I threw was a water balloon, then Koko’s swinging hair was like the tool of a plow across a field. That field is so massive that it doesn’t seem like a simple hand-held plowing would have much of an effect, but still, it becomes visible thanks to her transparent body.
Moreover, those slimes that popped up nearby were also ones I had seen before. I’m glad I didn’t come alone. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be any survivors here. Instead, it would just be corpses melting away while mixed with slimes.
Koko’s hair, and Kagami’s blue flames burned the slimes, and in the process, it lit a little fire on the body of the monster.
Indeed, it’s not enough to just stick it on from the outside.
I shook my left hand again. I created a tentacle to grab a tree and yanked myself.
“Gah!?”
The soldiers carrying the wounded were shocked at the sight of me coming toward them.
I sliced through a few slimes coming toward them and approached closely.
Then, I extended my hand to the soldiers.
Ugh. It wasn’t a pretty sight at all.
The sight of a massive tentacle writhing across and then little worms springing out from it was grotesque.
“…Put this in the barrel and shoot.”
“What?”
The soldier mumbled dazedly.
“You’ve come this far, so you must know the situation. You’ve seen that simple bullets won’t work on it. There’s no time.”
“Geh…”
Maybe they were jolted back to reality by the groans of the soldier whose leg was in tatters, the military personnel? the Self-Defense Forces? Whatever they were, they seemed to regain their senses.
Ultimately, those who hesitated to extend their hands were met with my words again.
“Pass it to Miura. Distribute it to the people.
To be honest, I’m not sure if it’ll be effective.
The things that were coated were effective, but just striking it with a place covered in my blood hasn’t shown that much effect. If that were the case, every attack against that small Whitley back then should have worked after being hit by my blood.
But it’s still better than having nothing.
To grab their attention as much as possible, while being the most chaotic existence among them.
I casually brought up Miura’s name, but it seems to have led them to react surprisingly well.
The soldiers looked at each other and eventually took the squirming mass from my hand.
I didn’t have time to confirm whether they checked properly. If I don’t move, those people working hard over there are in danger.
I turned back and ran again.
Then I faced the wildly thrashing Whitley.
Several cars had been reduced to complete flatness. All the nearby trees had fallen over, barely leaving room to step.
As I swung my arm, blood splattered over Whitley’s body. Even so, blood began to rise from the surface. Although it was dark, there was light illuminating from all around.
On the soldiers’ side, searchlights, on the side of the church people, holy water, and on Kagami’s side, blue flames.
Good. That’s enough.
I stretched out my left arm.
Then I grabbed the most visible tentacle and pulled it.
My body was thrown into the sky. It felt like a slingshot! To be honest, if it weren’t for the situation, it would’ve felt good. The cold night air forced into my lungs made my head feel a bit clearer.
I severed the tentacle.
I made another tentacle this time, wrapping it around my body.
Thud!
Blood spurted out. If someone had seen it from the side, it would have looked like the blood gushed into the air and burst like it was tangled up for a brief moment.
However, what burst was merely the airbag that briefly wrapped my body.
Although my body was thrown, the impact was bearable. I probably only ended up with a bruise somewhere.
Creating another tentacle, I aimed at the writhing one.
With the blood from the burst airbag sticking onto me, the tentacles became slightly more visible. Perhaps it was because I was looking down from above.
Wrapped a tentacle around a tentacle, my perspective suddenly flipped. Just moments ago, I felt like I was soaring through the air, but now I felt like my body was becoming a centrifuge.
Thud!
The tentacle burst.
As blood rained down, it struck the body of the monster. Like it was painting in blood, a line appeared on its face.
And thanks to that, I was able to see it.
The mouth.
I couldn’t see the overall silhouette, and I didn’t even know why a human head was attached there. That giant head was big enough to swallow me whole.
Those big eyes were staring up at me.
Rat-a-tat-tat!
Gunshots rang out, and yellow blood burst everywhere, but it didn’t deal any significant damage.
Of course. That would be expected. It’s the same as in “Dunwich Horror.” If something ordinary could damage it, it wouldn’t be a source of horror in the first place.
I swung my arm, shaking off the little teeth I had created and scattered them out. Splat, blood flicked everywhere as the silhouette of the creature appeared slightly.
What to say?
It was like a giant cupcake with a human head dangling off the top, and dozens of worms writhing in that cupcake.
Well, I’m not sure if it was really dozens. It could have actually just been about six. Just saying that it’s more than what I could see with my eyes.
Some of those tentacles came up towards me.
While some were writhing on the ground, a few supported the giant… that biological battleship was constantly being moved up the hill.
I don’t know the purpose.
I guess it’s enough to know after killing it.
I swung my left arm again, winding the tentacle around my body before spinning it and shooting myself upwards.
Then, I threw my sword.
Thud.
For a split second, it felt like my body was falling slower. Instead, it seemed like my eardrums would burst. My clothes trembled from the howl of the monster below.
The sword lodged itself into the monster’s left eye.
“Nirlas.”
As I muttered his name, Nirlas chuckled.
Bang!
The sword exploded, alongside the monster’s left eyelid.
The monster’s mouth hung wide open.
It seemed like it didn’t even think of grabbing me with the tentacles. It was so furious that it looked ready to chew me up alive.
For me, that was fantastic news.
Honestly, if Nirlas hadn’t told me, I would’ve thought this operation was pretty useless.
If the blue flames can’t burn through the skin, there’s no way a fire inside could last.
After all, usually every living thing is more moist on the inside than out.
But, I am a torch after all.
I twisted my body mid-air, aiming my head forward.
Just in case, if the timing is bad and its mouth closes, at least I wanted to keep my mind intact.
And I fell just like that.
Ah, actually, saying “fell just like that” may not be accurate.
My left hand shed some blood. I tried to fall as fast as I could.
Whether it worked or not, thanks to that, my field of vision was suddenly stained black.
And what I felt was the smell of decay.
I succeeded in entering its mouth.
“…Ugh.”
Holding back the urge to puke, I dropped onto what might have been its tongue. Thud. The tongue moved and stuck to the roof of its mouth.
“Ugh.”
Fortunately, nothing came out.
As I twisted my left arm, bringing the blood to its tongue, it convulsed, moving again. Yes, it tastes bad, right? Everyone says that.
My body was very briefly freed, but it looked like the path into its stomach would drop right down.
Before my arm was pressed again by its throat, I hastily put my hand into my clothes.
And I pulled out a talisman.
“Phew.”
After preparing myself, I tore the talisman right away.
Although it’s a bit much to say this is a comfort, at least this time I didn’t have to hold back from screaming.
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