Translator: Kurehas.h.i.+ Aiko

PART 2

"Kuh……!?"

They were all devouring Takeru with their eyes, their cheeks blus.h.i.+ng deep crimson.

The girls all kneel on the ground, forming a line and waiting like a dog who was doing a specific command and was now awaiting their rewards in the form of a treat. They don"t stop ogling her whole body with their l.u.s.t-filled eyes, not even for a second.

That gesture alone was beyond scary.

Not wanting to see the girls who were growing even more restless by the minute, Takeru looks towards Masumi, who stands alone at the side of the room.

"W, what…… What is, this!?"

"A Black Ma.s.s. Here, in this sacred Academy blessed by the G.o.d Almighty, a woman shall a.s.sault another woman…… The ritual of paradox, the paradox of madness. May G.o.d forgive me for this."

She said that in a lovely voice, putting her hands together in front of her chest. Hearaing the words "Black Ma.s.s" something inside of Takeru"s head begins to work full throttle.

(I, see……)

A respectful Christian girl who loves other girls.

Youmas who peep on girls and steal their underwear.

Giving them false leads to possibly derail their investigation.

With the arrival of the Black Ma.s.s frame, every piece of the puzzle that was scattered until now begins to fall into its rightful place.

The distorted l.u.s.t of those girls must have been the part of the ritual, and the ones who reported the crimes must have been already brainwashed by the enemy. The culprit was satisfied with the current status quo going on and didn"t want to see it broken -- everything was going exactly like the mastermind, Fujisawa Masumi, wanted it to. Even if they wanted to reach the truth by collecting information, it would be impossible thanks to deliberate lies set on their path.

Takeru thinks even further.

Why is it that the mastermind here was using girls to do her bidding instead of using youmas, the perfect tools? The reason why she only resulted to simple cases of s.e.xual hara.s.sment……

"The ent.i.ty you wors.h.i.+p…… Is yet to be born here!?"

"Ara? It looks like that unlike your older sister, you are quite smart. And here I was, thinking that by using youmas as my minions my main goal would remain undiscovered."

Masumi brings her hand to her lips and summons a shocked expression onto her face, and then proceeds to laugh.

There was no evil to be seen on her face. Just a lovely, innocent smile.

Paradox ritual, paradox orgy of l.u.s.t of women consumed by their desires. The more malicious her intents were, the more innocent she seemed to become. Consumed with fever, Takeru"s brain was doing its best to connect the dots that were seemingly trying to escape her.

(Does Mikoto knows about this?)

Masumi said that Mikoto went to defeat the demon who was behind all of this. So that must mean……

"In the name of s.h.i.+ratori Takeru, hear my voi……Kuh!?"

Takeru was trying to cast a spell, but one of the girls who was close to her inserted her finger into her mouth, preventing her from speaking further. She tried to bite her finger, but the girl kept on smiling nonetheless. This must have also been the influence of Masumi"s hypnosis.

"Kuh, uuh…… Uaah!? Nnnh……!"

The girl inserted her fist into Takeru"s mouth and held Takeru"s tongue in between her fingers. Forget the spellcasting, she had trouble breathing in this situation.

"I have no idea what you are trying to say."

Looking down at Takeru"s pain-ridden face, Masumi bows down apologecticaly.

"The time is nigh. Let us start the ceremony."

The time was now three minutes after midnight.

"Ah……"

The five yen coin in Mikoto hand began to shake slightly.

When Mikoto looked around, she saw that the railing on the balcony was now gone, and what appeared in its place was the staircase leading onto the roof.

"So there really was one……"

Even though she was expecting something like that, she still held her breath.

At the same time, she also confirmed the presence of the one who cast the spell.

There was no way that simple youmas, creatures driven mostly by instincts, would be able to create such an elaborate thing. Even some of the more powerful demons wouldn"t be able to accomplish something like that. In other words, it could only be the work of the one who used the ghost story of the thirteenth stair and the Seven Mysteries as a cover up for his deeds.

(Absurd…… This is such an absurd……)

Anger began to boil deep inside of Mikoto"s chest. Mikoto brought out [Raiko] into her hands and began to slowly climb up the stairs, making sure that her trusty sword was ready to strike at any minute.

As Mikoto moved up, she soon saw a huge door that looked as if they were covered in stains of dried blood. When she reached her hand to the handle, they slowly began to open with a loud noise, volumes of purple mist oozing out from the other side.

(What incredibly thick miasma……)

Even if you couldn"t see well in the darkness, it was so thick that you could see it without problems. Mikoto clenches her fist on the sword"s handle, and the bright light that starts to emanate from it keeps the miasma at bay.

---- But still, even with all of those miasma, nothing else was coming out from behind the door. Was that supposed to be an invitation?

(Fuhn, now look at those filthy youmas! Someone"s getting awfully full of himself!)

Mikoto puts her hand on the doork.n.o.b and pulls the door with all of her might, swinging them open with a one, swift motion.

"…… What the h.e.l.l… is this……?"

On the other side of the door there was no roof, but a dimly lit, strangely reddish cave. Was this a barrier of some kind? Or maybe the door were connected to some other s.p.a.ce somewhere else?

If it was indded like that, then the enemy must have been either a powerful demon or a highly skill sorcerer. When Mikoto took a step inside, her foot sunk into the floor just a little bit. Although it looked like rock, this reddish substance was surprisingly elastic.

The air was also weird in here, so dense and warm, with that mysterious smell penetrating the nostrils. The miasma seemed to originate from further inside of the cave, as there was more of it there and it was so thick that Mikoto couldn"t see anything.

Mikoto thought that this elasticity, smell and color reminded her of internal organs, but she quickly dismissed that thought. There was just no way, was there?

(Must be miasma"s fault.)

She tried to poke the floor with [Raikou"s] tip, but nothing happened. It was certainly weird that it was so moist and elastic, but it must have been like that because of the miasma. She took a step back, readied her sword and proceeded inside.

The cave depths took a slight turn to the right, while the floor was constantly raising or going down, only to turn slightly left after a while more. The further Mikoto went, the more the cave was growing similar to internal organs. The only real salvation was that there was no branching paths here. If it was like that, she would have certainly lost her way.

(…… Hm? I think that I heard something just now……)

Was that a wind? Or was that an echo of some distant cry?

She stopped and tried to listen for a bit.

…… Oooooooooohhhhhnnnnnn…… Aaahhh…… Ooooooooohhhhhhnnnnnn……

Certainly, she could faintly hear something coming from the distance.

Mikoto felt as though she have heard that sound somewhere before, and it made her chest feel tight and unpleasant. When she resumed walking and went even further inside, the sounds turned into cries of human voices.

"Aaaaaahhhhhh, nnnhhh! Annh, annnggghhhh, nnnhhh!"

"Fuah, fuaaahhh! Good, shoo goooood!"

The cries really sounded familiar.

It was the same kind of cries that Takeru let out of her mouth when she was being a.s.saulted by youmas.

(It cannot be!? The rumors only said that there were the cases of peeping and underwear theft being committed here!)

Takeru didn"t mention any student being a.s.saulted before, Mikoto was sure of it. Does that mean the teachers were unaware of something like that happening right under their noses!?

Anyways, there was no way that she was going to leave that alone.

Mikoto readied [Raikou] to strike and began to gather her ki inside of the blade. She was ready to strike anytime, with the blade glowing with pale white light, and small currents of lightning dancing across the blade"s whole length.

Under [Raikou"s] pressure the miasma backs away to the sides, creating a path that Mikoto could use to push forward. The miasma may have been strong here, but against [Raikou"s] purifying energy it stood no chance. Sensing the waves of confidence filling her, Mikoto runs forward through the cave, until eventually she emerged into a room that looked like a small open s.p.a.ce