C³ Vol 8 Chapter 5

"I-Impossible..."

Haruaki groaned. Staring in wide-eyed shock, he could only groan.

Just now, Zenon—What had she said?

"Of course it's true. She carries a Wound on her body. You guys should know that it's proof of members.h.i.+p in the Draconians. Actually, there has always been many of us around you. It's just that you never noticed."

"How, impossible...!"

Kokoro waved her hand impatiently.

"It's actually true, so stop making a fuss. As for how many people were sent to this remote little island, that I'm not too sure. Despite some non-uniformity in quality, I see potential in these two... After engaging them in combat, I can tell that their skills are decent. More importantly, they even expressed their wish to observe a «High Single» in battle up close. Such spirit is commendable. Hence, ever since a few days ago when they came running to me, they've also been helping me with various troublesome ch.o.r.es as payment for their training. Although they failed that night, it was actually they who proposed leaving the job of retrieving the lost item to them. That's why I had them go to your house but didn't expect them to fail."

Haruaki pondered what her words meant—And immediately figured it out. The masked a.s.sailant who had sneaked into Un Izoey's room, she was actually Zenon or Ganon?

Fear's face became distorted to unprecedented levels as she gripped the drill tightly and yelled:

"Y-You two... Hurry up and say this is false...! Otherwise, why were you captured by this girl...!"

"Of course, we were the ones who proposed to Her Excellency Number Four to take part in this charade."

However, Zenon simply replied calmly—using the calm expression they had witnessed countless times in the superintendent's office.

"Besides, don't you find it quite unnatural for us to be helping you in your part-time job? Even if Yachi-sama did not make the suggestion, we would have offered ourselves to help, thereby giving us the chance to search your belongings under the pretext of changing, so as to recover this cube. However, you apparently kept it on your person, so the plan failed as well."

"So tiring... However, failing despite sneaking into your house in the middle of the night was our fault. Hence, left without a choice, we could only come up with the next plan, namely, to become hostages on purpose, thereby retrieving the cube through a hostage exchange. Ahhh, even explaining it is so tiring..."

"Kaha. In actual fact, there was no need to do that. Originally, I was thinking I'd get it done simply by attacking you guys directly. But because you're too weak, I decided to execute the fake hostage plan. In the beginning, these two suggested an exchange on the spot... But the way I saw it, compared to getting the cube back, I prefer seeing you guys mad with rage and bringing out your true power. Seriously, to think I made preparations already. Why couldn't you wait for a night? However, this does mean that you're currently full of fighting spirit, so it's fine anyway."

"We were... deceived...? All this time...!"

Hearing Fear's stunned whispers, Zenon and Ganon remained silent without changing their expressions.

At the same time, Kokoro's scarf was trembling in her delight.

"Kaha, forget about it, just let it go. Although I feel that a Draconians' style should be living every day in life or death situations, I don't reject this method of becoming strong by secretly training yourself every day. This also requires blending into the crowd in society, right? Anyway—you guys please don't forget, they are just the audience. Your opponent is me. At last, things have become fun now. Furthermore, I've retrieved the replenis.h.i.+ng vessel."

"But... Didn't you mention that the materials were being kept somewhere else? I don't think you need to go out of your way to use it, right? Also, I believe that was precisely the reason why you chose to fight in this location."

Ignoring the questions and exclamations from Haruaki's group, Zenon asked Kokoro after hearing what she said. Zenon and Ganon was really not on their side, but on the enemy's—Haruaki felt compelled to confront this fact.

"No, the materials are right here. More accurately, they've been handled already. Continuing to feed them would be too much of a a ha.s.sle, so before making contact with the hunter, I had already made preparations. After all, they will keep for at least two or three days."

"...Is... that so?"

Zenon answered lightly and narrowed her eyes. Haruaki could not tell what she was thinking about.

"You two... What are you talking about...?"

"Kaha. Really? You guys have no idea what this is? You've been carrying it on you without knowing?"

"Of course we know. You mentioned it before! It's a cube for granting mankind's greatest wish—the cube for bringing the dead back to life!"

"Yes, that's true indeed, but that explanation is not enough. This cube is a replenis.h.i.+ng vessel—A crucial component of this sword. It's totally useless on its own. Back when I first fought the hunter, I was too careless and she knocked it out."

"What...?"

Kokoro brought the cube near the guard of the sword in her hand. She plugged it in, clamped it with metal parts then connected it to the tubes dangling on the sword's side—Another mechanical accessory had been added to the weird sword that was already covered in decorations of mad science and death.

"Do you want to know how this thing is used? Kaha, very well, since I've already gone through the trouble of creation, plus the expiry date is fast approaching, this'll serve as a tool to liven up the mood. I'm really looking forward to you guys becoming stronger due to your roused emotions—Come, let's have a lively opening ceremony!"

Kokoro straightened her posture. In the next instant—

She swung the bizarre sword and split open the mountain of sc.r.a.p metal next to her.

As the debris scattered, what lay beneath was composed of various mechanical parts, large and small—A cage. Presumably, it was created using the sword's power beforehand, just like the wreckage sword made from the vending machine.

"This sword is called the «Ritual Sword of Necromancy»... In an attempt to resurrect his wife, a mad scientist combined magic and science to create this demonic sword of life. Naturally, its power was born from being cursed—that was the method the scientist came up with to fulfill his wish. In other words—"

Blown away, the sc.r.a.p metal rattled noisily as they fell on the ground.

Using this metallic clanging noise as her accompaniment, Kokoro continued simply:

"—It possesses the taboo ability to resurrect someone using another's life."

Inside the cage where Haruaki's group was staring at—

Two corpses were currently moving restlessly.

Haruaki stopped breathing. The shock was so immense that he even forgot to breathe.

The corpses were two young women in their underwear. Unblinking eyes. Their bodies were already discolored. Large wounds were found on their chests and abdomens respectively but they had stopped bleeding a long time ago. They were already dead beyond any doubt. Already dead, yet they stood inside the cage, swaying as though trying to seek balance. They were unlike those shown in movies. Neither did they make any moaning noises. Nevertheless, simply stated in the most common terms—They were essentially zombies.

Next, Haruaki noticed. Inside the cage, by the feet of the zombies, bulging from the floor of sc.r.a.p metal, rounded shapes that differed from mechanical parts, lying there powerlessly—

An even greater sense of nausea was forcing its way up his throat. Four of them. There were four people. This number matched that of the missing persons case, which took place before the 'Santa Hunter' appeared, mentioned by the detective when he visited the cake shop to ask for clues. From the very start, Haruaki and his group were already too late to save them?

"Y-You... You b.a.s.t.a.r.d! How could you kill... completely uninvolved... h-humans...!"

"There's no need to get so worked up that you can't even speak, Fear-in-Cube. Haven't you killed hundreds, thousands of people in the past? In this regard, compared to me who only killed a necessary number of people, you're far more experienced, right?"

"S-Shut up, shut up...! What necessary number of people!? Are you saying that killing them is necessary!?"

"Yes, it counts as necessary... I guess? Although not to the point of being obligatory. This was simply insurance prepared in advance, also serving as a way to kill time. Too much preparation would make things very boring as well, so I was thinking roughly two people should be right. Then afterwards, all I did was restock red cloth. After discovering that it was actually the Christmas season right now, I quickly decided to target people in Santa suits... Since committing too many crimes would draw excessive attention, creating obstacles instead, so I decided to stop killing people. How about that, very humane, right?"

The case of people wearing red gone missing followed by the 'Santa Hunter' incident starting—Haruaki's group finally understood why the case had evolved like that. But right now, that was no longer important. Fear roared with greater anger:

"Stop s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g around, humane my a.s.s! Also... You said two people? Stop lying! Over there... Over there... Aren't there four...!?"

"Oh~ You're quite right. Okay, lemme explain this a bit as well. Like I said before, this ceremonial sword's powers are related to "life." Just as the mad scientist wanted to resurrect his wife in a crazy manner, this sword can use other people's lives to bring someone back to life. One person's amount of life can be used to resurrect one person."

Haruaki desperately suppressed his urge to vomit. So that explained... this? There used to be four people but now there are two. Using two people's lives, two other people were resurrected. What an utterly deplorable curse.

"Kaha, so... Given the recent incessant conflicts in the Middle East, I was raising a ruckus over there before coming over. But those guerillas and proper armies made a big deal over it and started calling me «Fifty Percentage», how vexing. All I did was annihilate one unit of troops and used half the corpses to attack the commanding officer. Of course, the ones who died directly to serve as fuel, rather than getting turned into moving corpses, were the lucky fifty percent."

"Guh... The brain of someone able to brag in this manner is truly impossible to understand...! So that cursed sword's ability is creating zombies through this kind of method!?"

"It's not limited to zombies. There are all kinds settings like 'resurrection extent' for example. If I put in a bit effort, I can even create products that retain their will and memories, virtually indistinguishable from when they were alive, but that shortens the lifespan and requires new life to be refilled every few hours... So basically, I always adjust them to the level of these zombies, which allows them to stay fresh for a while."

Kokoro spoke while swinging her sword. After the cage was destroyed, the moving corpses shambled out.

"Also, in order to convert other people's life force—or rather, I should say blood—this component is required... I just have to pour fresh blood into here and stir the corpse, oh dear, how incredible—That's the kind of feeling. Luckily, I already created these things before the component was taken away, so I wasn't in any hurry to retrieve it. However, having it on hand is better than not—So there, it's time to let them fulfill their job of livening up the mood. Go!"

The corpses slowly approached Haruaki's group. Haruaki covered his mouth while Konoha and the others grabbed him and forced him to retreat. However, Fear remained motionless.

"Ooh... d.a.m.n it... This..."

Fear groaned and closed her eyes tight. The corpses approached her even more.

"Fear! What are you doing, hurry and back away—!"

As Haruaki yelled at Fear, a corpse's arm was reaching towards her. Shoulders trembling, Fear opened her eyes wide in that instant, turning the drill in her hand into a hatchet.

"Guh... Ahhhhhh!"

Raising the ma.s.sive blade, she severed the corpse's outstretched arm at the shoulder. There was almost no bleeding. Thud, the corpse's arm fell to the ground directly as inanimate objects. Next, the other corpse also reached out. Cutting the arm off in the same manner, Fear panted and murmured:

"d.a.m.n it... This is so... sad. I've seen all sorts of corpses to this date. I've seen hundreds and thousands of corpses. But looking like this... Being forced to move even after death, I've never seen that kind of corpse before! They should be allowed... to rest in peace properly...!"

"Kaha. Then you should chop off their heads. Decapitate them viciously. Why don't you do that?"

"Th-That's... That's... because... Oooo... Oooooo.. Ooooooooooh...!"

Come back—Kokoro whispered. Having lost an arm each, the corpses slowly shuffled their way back to her side. Next, Kokoro saw Fear's pallid face.

"Oh...? You're really afraid, is that it? Even if your opponents are corpses, you don't want to recall the sensations of killing? As much as I'd like to say you must be kidding, I've changed my mind slightly. In other words, you can't stand this because you're afraid of turning back into your old self once you recall those sensations, right? In that case, you should become even more afraid. Be more scared of the past, push yourself beyond your limits of toleration! Your attacks in the beginning, filled with rage, already displayed your natural abilities as a tool, making me feel so happy. If you can turn back into that genocidal tool completely, I'm sure I'll be treated to the greatest level of fun?"

"What...!"

I absolutely cannot allow her to do that, Haruaki thought. Absolutely.

Hence, Haruaki tried his best to suppress his urge to vomit. There was no time for nausea right now, with many things he needed to do. In order to protect what was precious, there was still things he must do no matter what—

He confirmed the situation. Fear was shaking, trying to suppress something just like last time when Bivorio had forced her to taste the feeling of death. Un Izoey was still lying on the ground panting, her wrist still bleeding. Zenon and Ganon were observing expressionlessly without any signs of offering a.s.sistance.

Himself, Konoha, Kuroe and Kirika. They were the only four who could still move freely.

"Konoha...!"

"A cursed sword... Sending it on its way to the afterlife is my responsibility, I suppose..."

Konoha transformed into a j.a.panese sword as her whispers of suppressed rage were heard. The sword's weight brought Haruaki a sense of comfort.

"I... cannot leave that dark-skinned girl unattended. I must give her treatment."

"Then I'll leave that to you. Also, it'd be nice if you could give her a punch on my behalf."

"After all, that girl is the start of everything. I'll leave my share to you as well... So, let me take care of the poor corpses, okay? It's not like we can't let Fear-kun face them. Besides, all they can do now is bite, right? Immobilizing them should be fairly simple."

With a grave expression, Kirika slowly extended the «Tragic Black River». Perhaps due to hearing her words, Kokoro deliberately spread her arms in a pose of exasperation.

"Is that so? You guys should remember... This sword has other secondary powers you've seen before. Do note that a scientist came up with this thing. This could be thought up only because he was a scientist. From his standpoint, compared to raising the dead, reviving broken machinery would be even easier. Conversely speaking—since the sword can manipulate "human life," of course it can manipulate "mechanical life" as well! So this thing can also revive broken machinery. It's even easier than resurrecting a human, and of course, it doesn't require injecting a person's life through the refilling vessel."

While speaking, Kokoro slashed at the sc.r.a.p metal at the corpses' feet. Just like the time when she crafted a sword using the vending machine, the numerous mechanical parts dismantled by the sword were reborn in a new form—

"«Ceremony Dedicated to Mary, Compound Trials No.2793 and No.2794»!"

After a series of unpleasant clattering, the mechanical parts gathered on the corpses where Fear had severed the arms. Slender, twisted, inauspicious.

Finally taking form were prosthetic arms made from abandoned sc.r.a.p, with neither fists to hold things nor fingers to grip objects. Instead, the arms' front ends were made of sharp mechanical parts, resembling spears in shape. A melding of human death and mechanical death.

"How far are you... going to desecrate human... dignity...!"

"Stop sweating the small stuff. Since it makes them stronger, I'm sure they're very satisfied. Kaha, monsters born from the revival of corpses and the handling of machinery. Hence, this sword has another name—«Frankenstein's Heart». Okay, come, I want to make you understand that I'm a super monster with Frankenstein-level monsters as flunkies!"

The red scarf fluttering behind her, Kokoro rushed down the mountain of sc.r.a.p metal.

Naturally, the two monsters followed closely behind her.

—The two of them kept watching. Simply standing there together, watching.

...The Draconian's Number Four as she swung the ceremonial sword, her red scarf fluttering behind her.

...The boy wielding the j.a.panese sword, fighting desperately.

...The girl extending her leather belt towards the corpses with the mechanical arms.

...The girl lying collapsed on the ground, her wrist all b.l.o.o.d.y.

...Kneeling beside her, the j.a.panese doll using her own hair to heal the girl.

...The silver-haired girl, holding a tool of torture while breathing irregularly—

"—Which side will win?"

"Who knows?"

The elder sister replied concisely. Indeed, no idea—Houjyou Zenon thought. At the same time, only now did she realize she was clenching her fist tight. So was her sister. No idea. However, there was currently no need to ponder that question. This was nothing more than a completely meaningless wish.

What they needed to do was prepare. In order not to miss the opportunity, they had to prepare as much as possible to take the appropriate action when the right time arrived.

In other words, sure enough—

All they could do was continue observing this scene.

Nevertheless, an even more meaningless wish compelled Zenon to move her lips. Just as before, she asked her sister beside her.

"That boy... Those girls... Will they forgive us?"

The sister's answer was, sure enough—

"...Who knows?"

...Still exactly the same as just now.

Bold.

Kokoro Pentangeli's fighting style was captured completely by that one word. Advancing boldly. Thrusting boldly. Slas.h.i.+ng boldly. With Konoha's a.s.sistance, Haruaki desperately blocked these attacks. Naturally, he would also counterattack whenever there was a chance. Despite remaining in its scabbard, a sword was still a sword. Given sufficient force, lacerations beyond bruises could be inflicted. However—

Kokoro's boldness was not without reason. She was neither concerned about minor openings nor minor counterattacks. This was all because of the red curse she was wearing.

The black scabbard struck her flank, producing a sensation of bones cracking. Were the bones simply cracked? Or did they fracture? The wound inflicted at that location could not be confirmed, not because it was situated beneath clothing, but actually because of the opposite.

"Guh... How annoying. Every time you're attacked, your body becomes more exposed. This is utterly terrible in terms of moral education...!"

"Kaha, don't sweat the small stuff! I will repair it as appropriate!"

A portion of Kokoro's red uniform suddenly vanished, exposing unharmed skin—This abnormal phenomenon had occurred many times already. Of course, Haruaki would always try his best to avert his gaze.

Several clashes and then several counterattacks later, her clothing disappeared successively from various parts of her body. While Kokoro was swinging her sword boldly from some distance away, in that instant—

"Sword-Kill—!"

"Woah!"

Just as Haruaki entered a sword drawing stance at Konoha's instruction, Kokoro stopped swinging her sword and retreated backwards. Based on the apparent situation, it was not supposed to be the right timing for withdrawing her sword... Did she possess beast-like instincts? Or was it a deduction? The right answer seemed to be both. Kokoro grinned fearlessly.

"I was thinking it's about time for you to make your move... Then lemme switch my weapon!"

Raising the ceremonial sword, she chopped at the sc.r.a.p metal by her feet, rea.s.sembling in the same manner as the vending machine last time. A wreckage sword built from mechanical components stood upright from the mountain of junk. Sheathing the «Necromancy» sword, Kokoro gripped the new sword in both hands. This ma.s.sive two-hander was even more enormous than the one made from the vending machine parts, almost as tall as a human. Sharpness aside, its ma.s.s alone could cause broken bones simply in the act of blocking direct attacks from it... By the way, swinging that thing was in itself quite unbelievable.

As Kokoro swung the two-hander forcefully, Konoha managed to parry it with great difficulty. The tip of the sword, apparently a reused s.h.i.+p's propeller blade, struck the ground underfoot, causing an engine's remains to fly apart like splas.h.i.+ng water. Having twisted the iron core into structural steel in the shape of spider legs, the sword then rushed up diagonally from below. Evade. Block. Evade. Block. Block. Block—

"—Counter!"

Konoha had discreetly raised her concentration. The suddenly unleashed Sword-Kill Counter destroyed the great sword of wreckage with a single hit. However, Kokoro swiftly threw the remaining hilt towards Haruaki. Using the opportunity of the sword's destruction, Konoha pulled back to create distance between Kokoro and Haruaki. As though to show off the speed of her own sword drawing in retaliation, Kokoro unsheathed the ceremonial sword at her waist and slashed the mountain of sc.r.a.p metal at their feet. By the time she re-sheathed her sword again, two new wreckage swords were already born from the rubble. This time, these longswords were of a more manageable size to control.

"Next comes dual-wielding...!"

"Hmm... She must have picked this location expecting things to turn out this way. A sword that is even able to manipulate the life of machines—So long as she carries that sword in her hand, she can create replacement weapons endlessly."

"In other words, unless that source of a sword is destroyed, we'll just be stuck in this battle of attrition..."

If only someone could come to help them—Haruaki could not help but think. But he instantly rejected this idea. He could not force Fear in her current state. Kuroe was busy healing Un Izoey. Kirika was handling the corpses while protecting those two. There were no other allies, none—

"..."

In the corner of his view, Haruaki saw the pair of sisters who were still observing expressionlessly.

But Haruaki pretended not to see them, tried not to think of them as he rushed towards Kokoro again.

Humans who can't die. Resurrected humans.

That makes them just like me—Kirika thought while watching the corpses approach slowly with their mechanical arms.

"Therefore, I understand your wish... Although it really is absolutely ridiculous, I've already found my reason for staying here and I will stay here for that reason. But I won't be like you two who are serving as someone's tool, forced to exist without choice... Just like my past self."

In that case, their wish should be the same. Kirika knew that she was simply fantasizing pretentiously and understood that she might not be right, but even so, she still decided their wish for them mercilessly.

Indeed—An end to all this.

"One more time. Hey, I said don't move. I will wrap it up with my hair and bandages. Be patient."

Kirika checked out the situation behind her. Un Izoey was still lying on the ground with her bleeding wrist while her wavering gaze stared at her convulsing hand, all covered in blood. Once the wound was treated, will she be able to stand up? Can she still fight? —Who knows. Kirika only knew that she was part of the reason why Un Izoey could not stand.

(I don't regret what I did back then, but... I never expected it to end up plunging everyone into a crisis. How troubling, absolutely ridiculous...)

Kirika exhaled. In any case, now was not the time to be distracted from battle.

"The «Tragic Black River»!"

The belt of a.s.sa.s.sination extended and flew out. The method to stop the corpses could only be confirmed by testing. In any case, let's try strangling their necks—Obviously, it doesn't kill them. Crunch. The sound of bones breaking was heard from the corpses as they continued advancing. Well then, let's try stopping their footsteps. However, the corpses severed the belt using their sharp, mechanical arms.

"Tsk...!"

"Okay, basically... It's done... I'm supporting you, Kiririn! Mode: «Killing Machine Masakado»!"

Acting as ropes, Kuroe's hair tied up the corpses' bodies. However, they continued to move forward. Creak creak, they contorted their bodies forcibly, going as far as angles that no living person could duplicate, finally using their prosthetic arms to sever the hair.

"Even Kuroe-kun's hair won't work huh."

"Perhaps it's similar to the objects that Fourteen took out, strengthened in the process... But we can't give up because of that."

"Indeed. We must find a way to stop them... Let's go!"

We must deal with these corpses as quickly as possible to go support Haruaki and the others. Kirika and Kuroe worked with perfect coordination and extended their respective weapons towards the approaching corpses again.

Kirika was greatly anxious. Hurry up and stop them. I must be faster. Right now, he is fighting by himself. Even wielding the j.a.panese sword, who knows how long he can last—

However, Kirika did not know how to kill corpses. Despite broken necks, broken legs and being pierced by Kuroe's spears of hair, the two corpses, which Kirika found similar to herself, still did not halt. No good. We can't continue to step back. Un Izoey was still lying on the ground and Kirika did not want to get too far away from Haruaki and the others.

In the end, Kirika and Kuroe's weapons alone were lacking in destructive power. What should be done? What should be done?

While agonizing over the situation, Kirika performed another meaningless attack as though trying to stall for time. At this moment, she heard a sound. Looking over in that direction—Her heart skipped a beat.

Locked in desperate struggle against Kokoro, Haruaki was sent flying in the air, cras.h.i.+ng into the mountain of sc.r.a.p metal.

A loud sound was heard, but it seemed as though it had happened faraway in a distant world. It sounded like random noise completely devoid of any meaning. Currently, there was only one sensation that was meaningful.

Her hand felt burning hot.

Seeing the night sky, Un Izoey finally realized she was lying on ground. Lifting her burning hand, her wrist was in so much pain it felt as though it had suffered thousands of cuts. Whatever. Somehow, cloth resembling bandages were already wrapped over it. Whatever.

All she looked at was her hand.

Defiled by the red of fresh blood, a state that used to be absolutely forbidden for this hand.

Faced with that unpleasant sensation, that taboo, she shuddered. Nauseating. Her heart was beating violent and her body felt like exploding. Unable to breathe. Just like a few days ago, even more than before, the unpleasant feeling in the depths of her mind was trembling.

The enemy had reproduced the curse.

She was cursed. She had committed taboo. Recalled. She recalled the curse, hence the trembling. Once cursed, was she herself any longer? Unclear. Hence, she could not move her body. This body, which did not belong to her perhaps, did not move. Unwilling to move.

Hence she lost.

She shut her eyes but the curse could not be lifted. Her twitching hand seemed like another organism. Contemptible. Bathed in fresh blood, the convulsing flesh was like a hunted beast. Hunted beasts were going to die and get eaten.

How should she escape from here? What should she do to return to being a hunter instead of a wild beast?

She did not know the answers.

Without even the strength to open her eyes, without even the strength to stand up—She thought.

Ahhh.

Within this world—There really are too many unknowns, Lab Chief.

In the instant Haruaki blocked the wreckage sword, trying to parry it, his legs convulsed ominously, his muscles having reached their limits already. Keenly discerning this fact, Konoha moved Haruaki's body forcibly. Fearing that a severe injury could result from blocking the attack recklessly, she took initiative in abandoning the contest of strength, choosing to jump away instead. Absorbing the entire impact, Haruaki's body was blown away several meters away, cras.h.i.+ng violently into the mountain of sc.r.a.p metal with his shoulder.

"H-Haruaki-kun, are you okay!?"

"Woah... Ouch ouch... I-I'm okay."

Haruaki checked out his condition. Sc.r.a.pes, bruises, minor cuts. Nothing serious. However, upon finding the sharp end of a metal pipe mere inches from his head, he could not help but shudder.

Then even more terrifying was—

Kokoro had approached Fear.

"...Ooh... H-Huff..."

"I'm back. What's the matter, you still feel like puking? So afraid you're about to wet yourself? No problem, I don't sweat the small stuff. Therefore, yes... It's about time to start the surgical operation!

Kokoro started walking again, holding up a wreckage sword she had created earlier. Fear's silver hair quivered.

"Ooh—Ahhhhhh!"

Perhaps driven by survival instincts, Fear swung her hatchet in a haphazard manner.

Kokoro neither dodged nor blocked.

Thud! An unfamiliar sound was heard. The blade buried itself into Kokoro's shoulder. Judging from the depth—the collarbone was completely sliced through, wasn't it?

"Wha..."

"Cough... Kaha, this is special service. You're just a step away, right? See, the wound will heal so I won't die. Don't worry, so just enjoy yourself as much as you want..."

Kokoro spoke as sweat appeared on her brow. Given such a wound, it must still hurt quite severely. In contrast to her calm expression, her clothing's area of fabric was gradually decreasing. Even so, she did not budge. Not only that, but she also reached out with her free hand. Placing it on the back of the axe blade that was buried in her shoulder, she pressed down, moving the hatchet as though it were a saw.

"Uwaha, kahahaha, ouch! Ouch ouch ouch! How's that? Hurry up and recall your past, then become strong enough to let me enjoy myself even more!"

"S-Stop it... Stop it... Stop it—!"

"No I won't! Look look, this is fles.h.!.+ This is bone! This is the inside of the enemy's body, a human body you can toy with as you please! You used to toy with humans in this manner all the time, right? Hurry up and recall it, look, hurry!"

She's mad—Haruaki thought. In the past, Bivorio had also done absolutely terrible things. However, that was because she believed that Fear would only be truly happy by returning to her past self. But this girl here was even worse, doing it only for herself. If Fear could return to her former self and become strong, she would rejoice—That was it, nothing more than selfish pleasure in sadism.

Haruaki looked at Fear. This was a selfish and willful wish, but he could not help but pray. Don't lose, Fear, I beg you, please don't lose—!

Fear also looked at Haruaki. Instead of the hurtful behavior she was forced to engage in or Kokoro who was the one forcing her, she only looked towards Haruaki in the distance.

The hatchet, which had dismembered countless humans in the past, shook greatly. Not out of delight but surely because of the fear from recalling past screams.

Her lips, which had laughed for the blood and screams of victims in the past, opened slightly. Not out of pleasure but surely because she needed to exhale in order to suppress the urge to vomit.

Indeed. Fear was no longer her past self. Compared to her past as a tool people used for torture and execution, compared to when she first arrived, compared to times when she had lost herself to past memories, she was clearly different.

Putting in all her strength, suppressing the impulse with her entire mind and body, this was her battle.

In order to win this battle that absolutely must not be lost, Fear—

First she closed her eyes tightly—

Then she transformed the torture tool in her hand back to a Rubik's cube.

The toy cube rolled and fell from Kokoro's shoulder. Finally, Fear looked at Kokoro and in a trembling voice—

She laughed.

"Moron... You seem to be having loads of fun, but I'm not happy at all. Instead of playing with you—I'd rather play with this by myself."

Haruaki knew a long time ago. Fear definitely was not going to return to the past. Hence she even went as far as to let go of the torture tool that represented herself. However—This also meant losing all the weapons with which she could use to defend herself. In order to safeguard her will, she had abandoned the protection of her body. Perhaps this was the only method remaining, but this action, in this situation with Kokoro approaching up close, was extremely dangerous—!

Kokoro stared with her eyes wide open for quite a while. Then she clicked her tongue disapprovingly with a "Tsk!"

"You must be kidding me... This is the result? Ahhh~ How utterly boring... Why did I deliberately come all the way to this remote and backward island? Had I known, I should have enjoyed myself suitably back at headquarters on Dragon Island instead, being an island as well."

Kokoro lifted up the wreckage sword. No matter how you looked at it, this was a distance too close for Fear to dodge.

Then without any hesitation at all, she thrust the sword towards Fear's chest—

Nevertheless, the sword did not manage to stab into Fear's chest.

Still lying in the same posture as when he first crashed into the mountain of sc.r.a.p, Haruaki watched the scene in surprise. Blocking Kokoro's attack was neither Kirika nor Kuroe who were busy with the corpses and unable to approach, nor Un Izoey who still remained lying on the ground, looking up at the night sky.

It was someone else on scene.

The instant she rushed forward, Houjyou Zenon realized her mistake.

Too early. She should have taken action at a more decisive moment. Absolute proof that a.s.sured Kokoro would be defeated had not appeared yet. She should have waited.

But she could not wait anymore.

Of course.

Even though she had deceived them for her own goals, to her, they were still precious friends—

Acting for the sake of protecting them, Zenon whispered softly: "Will they be angry?"

Springing into action at the same time, Ganon replied in her usual tone of voice: "Who knows~?"

In that instant, Haruaki watched as Kokoro twisted her body and swung her wreckage sword in the opposite direction. After deflecting quite a number of throwing knives, she frowned in surprise.

While blocking the throwing knives, she evaded the hand that was reaching towards the scabbard at her waist and struck back with a sword swing. The opponent swiftly drew a dagger from a thigh holster and in an incomprehensibly feeble manner, proceeded to block and parry Kokoro's bold sword unsteadily—Nevertheless, she was unable to dodge Kokoro's forward kick. Striking her in the chest, the impact of the flying kick sent the person flying backwards.

"W-What is going... on...?"

What actually happened? The throwing knives had come from Zenon while the one rus.h.i.+ng forward to attack Kokoro was Ganon. Those unsteady movements were quite familiar... Was she the home intruder the previous night? Then the one who threw the knives to help her escape was Zenon? In other words, those two really were the home intruders last night. But why, right now—Why did they rush out at this point in time as though to help Fear?

In fact, while Zenon and Ganon were attacking Kokoro, Fear had desperately mobilized her trembling legs and retreated. At least, she succeeded in escaping from the sword's attack range.

Kokoro stared quizzically at the sisters while voicing the same doubts as Haruaki.

"What's going on? Going as far as to obstruct me... Say, was there another purpose in that action just now? You were trying to steal this ceremonial sword. Why did you do that?"

"That is because—From the very start, it was our target all along. Kokoro Pentangeli."

"c.r.a.p, I failed... However, it can't be helped. In that case, we can only try our best... Even though it's so tiring."

Zenon and Ganon rushed towards Kokoro again. Zenon thew knives while Ganon brandished her gentle swordsmans.h.i.+p. But ultimately, a difference in inborn strength proved decisive. As Ganon was sent flying again and caught by Zenon, the two of them rolled along the ground a certain distance.

"...I knew it already, but she really is tough to handle."

"So tiring~ I really want to relax, rest and eat Pocky right now~"

Kirika and Kuroe showed worry in their eyes as they watched, but they could not disengage from their battle with the corpses. Feeling their gazes, Haruaki asked:

"Zenon-san, Ganon-san... What is actually going on?"

"Our goal was stealing the ceremonial sword in her possession. Simply that. For this end, we lied. Although I don't think you will forgive us, please allow us to apologize to all of you... We are truly sorry."

"Our plan was pretending to be her allies to make her lower her guard, so that we can steal the sword at the best opportunity—But I guess we misjudged the best opportunity. Sigh, can't be helped. If precious students got injured, the school physician's work will get busy and that would be so tiring..."

The two of them spoke calmly while watching Kokoro warily. They did not sound like they were lying. Despite their serious demeanor, the impression they gave off was completely different from before. There was no feeling that they were forcing themselves to remain expressionless. Before Haruaki's eyes were simply their original serious looks as usual in the superintendent's office, as usual in the infirmary.

"Why? Why do you want the sword? Which ones were lies actually? Are the tattoos real? You are indeed members of the Draconians, right? There are so many other things I want to ask you two—"

The j.a.panese sword in Haruaki's hand shook, asking in a slightly stiff voice. Konoha probably still could not trust them completely.

"We are truly sorry. We do not intend to hide anything from you anymore and would like to explain everything... But very unfortunately, there is no time for that right now. Once everything ends, please allow us to explain to you all? As for the consequences of deceiving you—We will gladly accept everything afterwards."

"Konoha... I think what Zenon-san and Ganon-san are saying is the truth. After all, they did save Fear. Naturally, I also have many questions for them but now is not the time."

"...Hoo~ Seriously, it can't be helped."

So the result was that the Houjyou sisters were not their enemy. Haruaki did not know why they were compelled to deceive his side, but he was slightly relieved to know that they were still themselves. However—

"How troubling... Are you done with the talking?"

At this moment came Kokoro's voice, still as bored as ever. Stabbing the wreckage sword into the ground by her feet, she drew the ceremonial sword again.

"Jeez, wonders never cease. I don't think your dragon Wounds are fake and neither did you fail any of the Draconian's secret code phrases... Wanting to steal the «Necromancy» sword is possible, but I would never imagine in my wildest dreams that two ordinary members would think they could defeat a «High Single» such as me, no matter how much you desired it... Too suspicious. But no matter, let's not sweat the small stuff. As much as I'm puzzled, since you tried to obstruct me, I'll simply have to kill you all. Sorry, because of all these inane things, I'm in a very bad mood now!"

With that, Kokoro swung the ceremonial sword towards the sc.r.a.p metal by her side as though venting her anger. Many times, many dozens of times. As though in defiance of gravity, a shower of mechanical parts flew upwards. Just as the sound of the destructive rain ended—numerous wreckage swords appeared around her like tombstones embedded in the ground. As many as a few dozen of these Frankensteins had been created by combining dead machinery.

"Defeating weak enemies one by one is too troublesome... Let's just make this target practice!"

Clang! Kokoro reached out and grabbed the impromptu wreckage swords one after another. Violently, mustering all her strength, yet aiming accurately at her target, she threw them. The swords flew and approached with lightning speed.

"Haruaki-kun!"

Konoha instantly reacted and struck down the swords. More accurately, the scabbard was used to parry and make them deviate slightly from their course. Simply deflecting the attacks were making Haruaki's arms numb. What astounding arm strength.

Next, Kokoro picked up other wreckage swords by her feet and casually threw them. Zenon dodged with great alarm on her face. Ganon simply bit her lip and evaded using her gentle yet unerring movements while deflecting the swords' trajectories like Konoha did. Kokoro continued to throw swords continually.

"Ugh... With this... There's no way to get near her...!"

"Not good, my hand is starting to hurt... I can't carry this on for long."

"Yes, hoping for her to run out of ammunition would be foolish indeed. This location really presents her with a great advantage... This is bad!"

Without warning, Kokoro threw a wreckage sword in a completely different direction. Her target was currently displaying a shocked expression at the sight of Zenon and Ganon's entry into the fray—meanwhile, she had exhausted her energy and stamina to resist bloodl.u.s.t—Fear, sitting helplessly on the ground currently.

She had proudly adhered to her resolution to avoid getting devoured by her past again. However, this was definitely no easy task. Fear's eyes showed the intent to stand up but she could not enter the battle in her current state—The Rubik's cube remained in its original form as it rolled by her feet. All she needed to block Kokoro's incoming sword was pick up the cube and transform it into a torture tool, but was Fear able to do that in her current condition?

Fear looked up and reached for the Rubik's cube. However, before it could transform into a tool of torture and execution, the deadly wreckage sword with its irregularly shaped blade had already arrived right before her eyes—

Then—

It collided in midair with a steel pipe that had flown from the opposite direction.

Flying parallel to the ground, the sword seemed frozen in time for an instant. But in the next second, it spun and flew straight up. This meant that the pipe had struck the wreckage sword's very tip in a violent collision with equal speed and power.

Currently in a desperate struggle to pin down the corpses, Kirika and Kuroe whispered in surprise.

"...What happened?"

"Oh dear, what should I say... Today is really full of surprises."

Haruaki agreed. What on earth was going on? Today was truly abnormal. All these unprecedented events, with Zenon and Ganon's matter most prominent of all.

Ahhh, but on further thought, this was perhaps only natural.

"I didn't intend to show myself originally... But that would ultimately be too selfish of me. After all, I am responsible. Responsible without a shred of doubt. Since I cannot stand aside and do nothing—Consider this the arrival of right timing."

Zenon and Ganon had acted for a certain purpose.

Their loyalties remained the same as usual, yet they were acting due to some unknown secret motive.

Their usual selves, in that case—Haruaki was certain that they were not the only two privy to their goal. Naturally, one more person should be in the know. Obviously, that would be—

"Everyone, I am truly sorry... My willfulness has caused trouble to you all. Once this is over, I will explain everything. So first of all, let me end everything here—And shut the dragon's «Jaws» firmly."

The man who had thrown the steel pipe—

The man, whose face was hidden behind a gas mask, had never spoken in such a serious tone of voice before.

What happened? Fear could not understand. A familiar man's voice, a familiar man's appearance. Why was he here? What was he doing? Due to the bizarreness of it all, she almost felt like throwing an ashtray. Having sat down to tea countless times in that room, this was the figure who made strange laughing noises through his gas mask while happily listening to them chat.

That man and the one standing here were supposed to be the same person, but somehow she could not connect them at all. Hence, everything was total chaos.

Fear only knew one thing. Namely, what had happened to her just now.

She had been saved. Continuously resisting those shocking and ominous memories of the past had exhausted her body and mind to their limits. Taking advantage of the situation, the enemy had attacked. If that man had not thrown the pipe, the sword would have struck her directly.

However, she was currently thinking that she could not accept that rescue from the bottom of her heart. Neither could she thank him purely.

First of all, most importantly, she wanted to confirm. She wanted to confirm the answer to an important matter.

What should she do to accomplish that? Obviously—Since the answer was not in her heart, she must go out to search for it.

Fear breathed out slowly and softly, gradually regaining strength in her limbs.

She questioned his true motives. She wanted to know if he was trustworthy from her side's perspective—

Standing up, she gazed ahead to have a good and clear look.

"Th-The superintendent...?"

There was definitely no mistake. Approaching step by step was the weird man in the gas mask—Sekaibas.h.i.+ Gabriel. Most likely wary because her wreckage sword had been deflected, Kokoro frowned while she watched the new enemy.

As though trying to calm Haruaki's mental turmoil that was making him speechless, the superintendent raised his hand lightly.

"Oh dear, I understand. You all must have many questions for me? But we do have our own extenuating circ.u.mstances that are impossible to explain in few words... If anything, there's only one thing I currently hope for you to understand, namely, that we are still your friends and absolutely not your enemies. Being forced to deceive you actually weighs heavily on our consciences."

"...Yes..."

"Hmm, this looks like a chaotic situation. Anyway, let's regroup first. Zenon-kun, Ganon-kun, go over and a.s.sist them."

"Understood."

Zenon's throwing knife pierced the head of one of the corpses that was facing off against Kirika, instantly stopping its motions. With unsteady footsteps, Ganon slashed at the other corpse in front of Kuroe, severing its non-mechanical arm while flooring the corpse with a kick at the same time. Although the two corpses were not dead yet, at least this bought time.

Using this opportunity, Kirika and Kuroe rushed forward. Using her hair like a hammock to lift up the collapsed Un Izoey, Kuroe moved her away.

"Since your two subordinates seem to be deeply involved with cursed tools, you can't possibly be uninvolved either? Hmph, what an absolutely ridiculous truth."

"Mmm-hmm~ Due to that overly bizarre appearance, I suspected from the very beginning that you might have some kind of secret. I saw through it early on! ...Honest."

"Such unconvincing words are quite rare too. Anyway, thank goodness the two of you are okay."

"On ther other hand, you guys seem to be in trouble. Ficchi, are you okay?"

"Yeah... First of all, lemme confirm something."

As Kirika and Kuroe ran back to the group, Fear also stood up with the Rubik's cube in her hand. Although her steps were not very steady, she still glared at the superintendent sharply.

"I have only one question. You guys—Are you allies?"

"We're allies."

The superintendent answered swiftly.

"But you tricked us."

"That's due to extenuating circ.u.mstances. As for what the circ.u.mstances are, I hope you'll allow us to explain later. But in summary, it's related to our past. Honatsu-san also knows our past. Since I believed that these things should not be revealed to you guys, I never explained them all this time... Although I did hesitate over the decision a number of times. Indeed, we lied and deceived you, withholding certain matters. But even so, I can swear to the heavens that we are your allies. You are our precious friends and I owe a huge favor to Honatsu-san."

At this point, Fear gazed at the superintendent face to face. Incomparably seriously, her eyes seemed to be vigilantly searching for signs of lying. There was neither doubt nor calculation. She simply stared straight at the superintendent. Without avoiding her gaze, the superintendent kept his gas mask facing her, accepting her judgment head on. After several seconds of silence—

"Since only Honatsu knows, it feels a bit unfair, but... Really? You guys are still yourselves, right... Right? In that case... Very good..."

Fear exhaled. That was definitely a sigh of relief. Although they had been deceived, they were not betrayed. Spontaneously, Haruaki thought the same thing and a sense of a.s.surance surfaced at the same time.

Speaking of which, that Pops even hid things from his own son, what on earth was he thinking? His father had first introduced the superintendent to him back in elementary school. The only impression he retained was how scary the strange man looked in the gas mask. Since then, many years had pa.s.sed... It would've been fine to tell me "that guy is actually this kind of person" at least, right?

Once Pops gets back, this adds another thing for me to complain to him about—Haruaki thought. Sighing in exasperation, Konoha spoke as though trying to lift her spirits:

"Anyway, the current situation certainly does not allow for us to inquire about the details. So, allow me to confirm our combat potential."

"My skill is knife throwing. I don't have many knives remaining, so at most, all I can do is help provide cover."

"I probably can only manage a role of providing cover~ Because I haven't been keeping up with my sword training for the past few years. That said, I almost got decapitated by a weird oar-wielding woman not too long ago, it made me realize 'Oh dear, I've grown sluggish" so I started training again... But sure enough, it's really tiring~"

"I'm quite interested in that gentle sword style of hers. Would the superintendent happen to be her master?"

"No no no, Ganon-kun is virtually self-taught in a style of her own. On the other hand, I have instructed Zenon-kun a bit. Basically directing her with some key insight while I'm not too rusty yet."

Speaking of which, Haruaki recalled witnessing the superintendent's amazing accuracy with darts in the office. Considering that along with the thrown pipe just now, he was probably a master in some kind of "throwing" skill? Then could they count the superintendent as one of their combatants? As Haruaki cast this sort of questioning gaze—

"I know what you're trying to say—But because I've suffered a major injury in the past, there's a whole load of problems with my health. Due to throwing that steel pipe by using my full strength which I haven't used for so long, my hand already ended up like this."

The superintendent extended his mildly convulsing hand, which looked so feeble it was hard to imagine the hand holding anything.

"I don't think I can throw accurate at the target the next time. It'd be terrible if I hit one of you in front, so I'm sorry, it's better if you don't count me as one of the fighters."

"I see—Anyway, I'm very thankful for just now. In other words, we have a total of six people able to fight on our side? Obviously, I'm not counting that country girl. What poor endurance."

"Clearly you were in a similar state until just now... Anyway, what about that girl on the enemy side?"

Moving the tip of her sword slightly, Kokoro remained on high alert, staring intently at the superintendent.

"...Who are you people? To strike down my sword with such disgusting accuracy... I don't think even those guys among the «High Singles» can necessarily manage that level of skill."

"Don't worry about that, it was an exceptional case. I'll be an observer from now on. How regrettable."

"It does bother me... But whatever, I won't sweat the small stuff. Even if two or three more flunkies have appeared, it's no big deal. What I need to do remains the same."

Most likely summoned by Kokoro, the corpses had returned to her side, one of them convulsing all over with Zenon's knife in its head while the other had its arm severed by Ganon's dagger. These two corpses were her subordinates. Although the numbers stood as six versus three, it did not mean they could afford to be careless—

"They're a bit damaged. Well then, let's add more to them!"

Kokoro swung the ceremonial sword towards the corpse with the knife in its head. The head went flying. Fear groaned again but Kokoro remained unfazed. Through the sword's power, nearby mechanical parts began to clang and gather noisily on the neck where the severed head had been. Finally, a head made of wreckage took form, without eyes or a nose, with only a bird-like beak for a mouth. Very considerate of her, there was even a rows of teeth inside the mouth. Next, she used her sword to touch the corpse that had lost an arm, creating another prosthesis out of wreckage—branching out, it looked like some kind of weird spider alien. Hating spiders, Fear frowned at the sight.

"You might consider this an excuse... But I did give orders for Zenon-kun and Ganon-kun to find out the whereabouts of the abductees while pretending to be her allies. I never expected them to have died from the get-go. How utterly abhorring."

The superintendent muttered in a mournful voice as he looked at the two corpses, one with a bird's head while the other was equipped with spider-like and spear-like mechanical arms. Haruaki recalled how before the battle started, Zenon had advised Kokoro that "the sword's power is not needed." She was inconspicuously trying to prevent Kokoro's atrocities. Nevertheless, Kokoro's depravity had already far surpa.s.sed their expectations.

They absolutely must not lose to her.

"Fear, are you okay?"

"...Anyway, I must step up."

Fear clutched the toy cube and took a step forward in front of Haruaki. Ahead of her was death which had been toyed with, as well as the s.a.d.i.s.t who had toyed with death.

This was a scene she had been watching all along, as well as a scene she hoped to never see again. A scene very close to her yet very far away at the same time. Hence, that was why her heart was wavering so unpleasantly.

"Indeed... I must fight. She cannot be forgiven and I'm very angry. Now that we've cleared up the fact that Zenon and the others are allies, there's nothing left to make me afraid. Nothing at all—"

She halted at this point and only took one step.

However—She whispered. With the back of her silver-haired head still facing Haruaki, she murmured to herself:

"However—I still want to obtain some power. If something could ease the terror of this pair of bloodstained hands and prevent this throat from swallowing bait on its own... I think it'd make things better. Hey, Haruaki, do you really not have it? A certain power that could let me, cursed as I am, forget that curse temporarily?"

Haruaki did not have that kind of power.

However, he noticed it. Fear's tiny hand was subtly reaching out to him. That hand seemed to be hesitating, clenching tightly and opening repeatedly.

Hence—

Haruaki held the hand.

"You... will definitely be okay."

These words were so ambiguous and unclear. Fear remained silent. She simply gripped his hand firmly, firmly, twice, thrice.

"Hmph... Completely useless. I did read on the news that a shameless man was arrested by the police on the train simply for holding a high school girl's hand. In other words, this action of yours is indecent enough to be arrested and in perfect accordance with your style as the shameless brat. Ahhh, c.r.a.p, truly too shameless, it makes me completely furious—"

Fear kept facing forward all along. Her silver hair shook slightly.

"All because of this, whether the urge to vomit or anything else, everything is suppressed... It can't be helped, I'll endure using this anger for now."

Then Fear's halted footsteps started moving again.

There was neither hesitation nor unsteadiness.

It was as though she had obtained the power to move forward again.

"M-Muuuu... Haruaki-kun! Although I've never mentioned all this time, in actual fact, you'll really help me a lot if you could grip this scabbard tightly! How should I say this? Umm—Right, it's the breathing! By feeling your pulse strongly, Haruaki-kun, breathing can be synchronized easily, which may then increase combat power probably, no wait, it will surely increase!"

"O-Oh? S-Seriously? Well then... I'll grip tighter..."

"Huwahiya!? S-Should I say that being gripped there troubles me greatly? Ahh, no good... If you use... that much force... Ah... Huff~ I-I'm energized a hundredfold...!"

For some reason, Konoha gave off an ecstatic-sounding moan and the tip of the blade quivered. Despite Haruaki's puzzlement, he really hoped it was true that Konoha would become energized a hundredfold. After all, Konoha had likewise gone hazy from Kokoro's ma.s.sive bleeding earlier.

"A chance! Let me hold hands too. Wow~ It's Haru's smell~ ...Sniff sniff, muu, this smell alone is enough to go down with three bowls of rice! Hurry and summon the chef now~"

"Stop smelling me while saying such weird things! Eh, ouch! Cla.s.s Rep, why did you slap my hand?"

"I-It's like a high-five or something. Nothing more, it's just to help you pull yourself together and to help me muster my courage. H-How absolutely ridiculous... Hmph!"

For some reason, Kuroe also reached out and gripped Haruaki's hand lightly a couple times before walking forward, while Kirika slapped his palm while pa.s.sing by him.

"Hahaha! Haruaki-kun sure has a happy life."

"Superintendent, what are you talking about...?"

"Secret, secret. Zenon-kun and Ganon-kun, why don't you do the same as those girls?"

"Most regrettably, I have no wish to suffer those girls' resentment."

"Nyaha, what she said. Immoral love between teachers and students... I'll be arrested if it got exposed, that would be way too tiring~"

Zenon and Ganon also moved forward, following Fear and the others. Hence the war was about to begin.

Fear readied her torture tool while Kokoro started throwing wreckage swords again. Kuroe extended her hair while Kirika curled her leather belt. One of the corpses opened its mechanical jaws while the other waved its two mechanical prosthetic arms. Zenon took out knives while Ganon staggered