Mushi to Medama

Chapter 24

Symphony 4: The Adventures of Vegetable Juice and Tomato Juice

"Hehe!"

The man with wolf-like eyes laughed in a way quite incongruous to his looks. Indeed, he roared with laughter as he clapped his hands, though he wasn’t congratulating anything – or anyone.

He only laughed and clapped because he couldn"t hold it back.

"It"s starting."

He mumbled this, then roared with laughter once again.

"Aha, ahahaha, ahahahahaha! What is this? I"m way too lucky, aren"t I? It doesn"t matter how good a buddy G.o.d is to me, isn"t this so smooth that it"s almost frightening?"

He was an extraordinary man.

Startlingly tall, but not sinewy at all. His long black hair, which was painstakingly taken care of, moved in the breeze as he looked around, surveying his surroundings.

This man named Zekiguchi Noshinari sn.i.g.g.e.red, shoulders shaking with merriment.

"Where is everyone else?"

He stood atop a tall chimney of an abandoned factory that no longer spewed out smoke. This vantage point was like a sentry tower, from which he could see the entirety of the seash.o.r.e and the industrial district. What’s more, he could see how the town itself was laid out, though of course, it was only due to his eyesight, which rivalled that of a telescope, that he could see such minute details.

But everything, buildings and crowds alike, melted into the darkness with the coming of night.

In the sky above, the moon and the stars sparkled, mirroring the endless lights on Earth, but the place Zekiguchi was at was gradually drowning in an infernal blackness.

"Crybaby – she still hasn"t made a move? She is being cowardly as always. Doesn"t she know that, while she"s muttering "so scary so scary" and hiding herself, the world is gradually getting destroyed?” But Zekiguchi stopped in the middle of mocking a certain someone and turned his sight, which could see in the dark as well as functioning as a telescope, to a certain direction.

“Oh?"

Armored trucks were swarming through the town below, shattering the peace of the evening as they slaughtered everyone in their way and pushed relentlessly forward.

"Ohoho, not bad. The Pale Horses... does she want to destroy this ordinary town in the flames of war? Melodia NoiseTear Song is really putting everything into this – of course, "Love Song" is her lifeline."

Zekiguchi Nashinori muttered to himself and occasionally smacked his lips.

"Tch, why am I mumbling to myself? What a strange habit."

The girl who used to stay next to Zekiguchi would always become excited and smile whenever he said anything. Staying next to him became her ordinary reality, and she loved to go everywhere with him.

"Ume-chan –"

He p.r.o.nounced that name, then shook his head, as his usual cold smile, which dripped with disdain for the entire world, emerged on his face.

"... I"m fine with just being by myself."

Zekiguchi Nashinori opened his arms and declared to the darkness of the night.

"Come, my servants! The final battle is about to begin!"

His low sn.i.g.g.e.r echoed above the city.

 

 


She kept running, running, running, running on as if she had endless stamina. However, though she had a head of green hair like vegetable juice and was an immortal, she soon felt tired and began to say things like "Let"s rest a bit" "Please, I"m dying".

Breaksun was almost crying and talked as if she was about to die.

"Wh, wha, what"s wrong... Why are we running like this, Kajiri? Ack, ack! Can"t... has it got to do with being high-spirited? The spirit to keep going? The spirit to run till we reach the end of the horizon – Ack!"

"That has nothing to do with running. Besides, I"m older than you, Breako."

The red haired boy – the Greater Fragment given the strange name of Nikuyama Kajiri – sighed when he saw how she was almost collapsing.

"Hey, hey hey, feelings of being tired are meaningless. Why do you still have that kind of sensation? Do you even know what our situation is right now? Why are you still so slow?"

"... Situation? Um – Ah!"

Breaksun suddenly lifted her head and looked around her. Her face began to turn pale and she started to shiver as she rested her chin in her hands, looking completely different from her usual demeanor.

Kajiri frowned and asked: "What"s wrong?"

"Where are we?!" She yelled with a fully serious face.

"...Huh?" How did she suddenly get so confused? Kajiri wondered if she... if she... could it be...

Breaksun grabbed Kajiri"s shoulders and shook him all over.

"Where are we? Who am I? Am I Breaksun? No, Kajiri, I was working! Why?! Why did it end up like this?! I was brought here by force! Did I have to call off my job?!"

"... You still haven"t figured out what"s going on?!"

Kajiri looked around in alarm, completely contrary to his usual idiotic expression. He was afraid their argument might be noticed, making the situation worse for them.

They were currently being chased, after all.

However, Breaksun"s "innate ability to conceal oneself" twisted her cause and effect, and this even included Kajiri, which meant no one noticed them at all.

Kajiri shook Breaksun forcibly and took in a deep breath, then began to explain the situation to her.

"Listen, Sterilization Disinfection and Unpleasant Counter-Current – basically, my kindred Fragments – are chasing us in order to use our abilities. I just fought them, but that was a very rough fight and we still don"t know their full capacities. Those two excel in fighting. For them, fighting us is as easy as playing on a Pac.h.i.n.ko machine. That"s why we need to run away quickly. Do you understand?"

"Ok!" Breaksun raised her arms and said happily. Nothing was ok, Kajiri thought to himself.

He had lived with Breaksun for a while now, yet he still did not understand the way she thought – or rather, Kajiri had no idea what was going on in her head.

Breaksun tilted her head and crossed her arms, then began to smile.

"Basically, we have some trouble on our hands, so we need to run away, right? Ok, Ok, no problem. That job was a bit dangerous anyways. I didn"t plan to work there for too long anyways."

According to Breaksun, a woman called Joker spotted her when Breaksun was singing on the roadside during the day. Joker invited her to go to this building every night as a singer to perform. Kajiri couldn"t understand why Breaksun could only be noticed by others when she was singing.

"Joker-san just greeted me, and said things like "you"ve been working hard"..."

Kajiri put his hands on her shoulder and narrowed his eyes towards Breaksun, who was mumbling. "Joker? What a strange name. Was it a fake name?"

"Isn"t Nikuyama Kajiri a worse name?"

"Didn"t you give me that name?"

As they talked about trivial things like this, Breaksun suddenly had a strange expression on her face, as if she suddenly felt something. Following her gaze, Kajiri looked towards his right.

"d.a.m.n –" Kajiri made a low cry and grabbed Breaksun"s hand. The two of them began to gallop along the busy street in front of the station. He looked past rows of fast food outlets and karaoke bars, and dived into one – a karaoke bar that looked rather worse for wear. He pressed Breaksun against the wall near the entrance and whispered: "... Be quiet, Breako. Just pray like this."

“… I’m not called Breako. Huh? Ah – Fine.”

Breaksun deliberately covered her mouth and closed her eyes, and started to genuinely pray.

Kajiri held his breath and grabbed the crucifix dangling from his neck.

Some nonsense modern music was being played in the shop. The shopkeeper looked very leisurely where he stood, yawning behind the counter.

There was nothing significant there. The clock on the wall was already pointing at midnight. Another day had pa.s.sed by.

“…”

As he tried to suppress his breathing, a riot broke out in front of the shop. All the pa.s.ser-bys were looking at something in surprise.

Of course – Kajiri thought this as he hid near the entrance of the shop and showed just half of his face, looking out intently.

Those people in long dresses were talking further down the road as if they were the only people there.

Sterilization Disinfection, Unpleasant Counter-Current, and that girl calling herself Gankyū Eguriko had chased after them without even getting a change of clothes, and everyone was looking at them.

He tried to listen carefully and heard their voices.

“… They completely disappeared.”

“You’re the one who said they went this way. We should have turned right at the first intersection; that would be the right choice. But really – I can’t feel them at all…”

“Stop fighting~ Um, Um, should we all split up to find them rather than staying together?”

“No. We still don’t know everything about their battle abilities. It’s dangerous to split ourselves up…”

d.a.m.n it. They were completely fixated on finding Breaksun and Kajiri. However, they did not sense Kajiri and Breaksun at all, and walked past them with the crowds.

“Phew…”

Kajiri finally let go of Breaksun’s hand, which he had kept in his grasp, once the figures of the three women disappeared around the corner.

This ability was truly very convenient when escaping, though not very useful when trying to follow other people. PoisonCatastrophe’s corrosion of cause and effect – the ability to completely erase the relationship between herself and everyone else.

“Kajiri?”

Breaksun looked surprised as she reached out for Kajiri. She put her hand on his chest, and immediately leaned her head against it too.

“Kajiri, did you just grow some b.r.e.a.s.t.s?”

“…Huh?”

What was this idiot talking about at such a tense moment? Kajiri thought as he put his hand on top of his shirt. His chest had indeed gotten bigger despite him being a boy. But how could this be? This was not some boring television show where Kajiri actually turned out to be a female character!

Kajiri took out the thing he was hiding under his shirt.

“… An apple?”

Breaksun tried to bite into it.

“Mmm.”

Kajiri briefly thought that owners must take after their dogs.

Breaksun looked up and took the apple away from her mouth.

“Urk. It’s metallic.”

“It’s not for you to eat. You should know that just by looking. It’s probably made of pure gold. You said that you’re poor, so I thought… it’d probably get you lots of money if you sold it.”

Kajiri puffed up his chest proudly, but Breaksun smiled rather confusedly.

"Stealing is a crime, Kajiri... But thank you."

Breaksun lowered her head and looked seriously at the apple.

"But this is such a pretty apple. Why would it be underneath the floor board? Why is it hidden there?"

"How would I know? It"s probably someone"s secret stash. Rich people back in the days used to hide their treasure, and many would die before they managed to even utilize those treasures. How stupid."

Breaksun laughed heartily at this. Kajiri then suggested: "Should we rest a bit, Breaksun? Those guys are still circling the area. It"s better to hide using your power than to carelessly walk around."

"It would be good to rest. I haven"t walked this much for so long, I can barely move anymore."

She wobbled towards the counter as she said this. She smiled at the sleepy receptionist and wrote down her name in the register.

By writing down their name, they could have ended up leaving a trace for other people to follow –

"Please give us a room."

The employee didn"t answer, as if he didn"t notice Breaksun. He even mumbled sleepily "there are no customers here". He was not deliberately ignoring Breaksun; it was only that he did not notice her. It was the disconnection between cause and effect due to her corrosive power, the curse of being unable to connect with anyone – that was why Breaksun had all sorts of obstacles in daily life. She couldn"t pay when she bought things at the market, and the cashier won"t give her the goods back even after she paid.

"Ah! He can"t detect me after all."

There was a trace of loneliness underneath her smile. She dutifully took out her wallet and paid.

What cancelled the effect of her corrosion of cause and effect? Was it the Lesser Fragment known to her as the Apple, or just the owners of Greater Fragments? Did those things repel and work against the property of her Fragment, which twists causes and effect? Kajiri pondered this. Or perhaps he was wrong, and she simply forgot things quicker?

She had always been alone. She would never be remembered – Breaksun caught Kajiri"s hand and smiled tenderly at him.

"Alright, let"s sing. Kajiri, Kajiri, come here. Let me drown you in my wondrous voice, hehe! I haven"t sung karaoke for so long!"

"... I don"t understand you at all!" Kajiri grabbed hold of her hand despite his muttering.

Why would her ability to corrode cause and effect only disappear when she was singing?

Breaksun pouted without even finishing one song. For some reason, someone tipped orange juice on their deep-fried snack. Breaksun was reminded of how she was ignored by the attendant, and mumbled unhappily.

"People are certainly incapable of living alone. There are definitely people out there who think its fine to live on their own, but that"s a disease."

"...a disease?"

"You"d get lonely."

Clank, clank. Kajiri bit the microphone. Breaksun stopped him gently and sat down on the cheap chair next to him, and murmured while swinging her legs: “It’s not a virus. Loneliness can cause diseases on its own.”

“…”

“But it can be cured by having people beside you.”

Breaksun looked at Kajiri tenderly. Her green hair seemed to melt in the soft light. She gently patted him, as if she was caressing a puppy.

“… Kajiri cured me.”

“Mmm.” Kajiri whined in a low voice and twisted around, and a light blush was creeping up his cheeks. “That’s enough. Stop touching me. You’re hot!”

“Don’t be shy! Come on. Ahh – it’s comfy to feel someone else’s body temperature.”

“Pervert!”

“Pervert?! Why? This is normal interaction between humans.”

She inherited PoisonCatastrophe’s power from her father, the corrosion of cause and effect, this ability that removed all her connections with other people as if it was a curse. Breaksun hadn’t had body contact with other people for over ten years. Now she was feeling attached to other humans, and craved the warmth of someone else.

When he left her, her father said this –

Find Single Room in the depth of the forest if it gets unbearable.

Her father was perhaps concerned and worried about his daughter, who could not control her power.

Therefore, he told her that Single Room should be able to remove PoisonCatastrophe’s power.

But Breaksun felt it didn’t matter whether her power was removed.

On the one hand, it was very convenient to live with this power. On the other hand, she was very satisfied as long as Kajiri stayed next to her. She never thought about removing this lack of freedom, nor did she wish Kajiri to suffer because of her wish.

“Because Kajiri…”

They had deep-fried snakes and there were oil stains on their mouths. Kajiri kept picking up tissue and wiped Breaksun’s mouth.

How convenient.

“You’ve always stayed in that forest on your own, right? You didn’t have a single companion, just like me. You were very very lonely, and pa.s.sed all your days on your own, right? Did you ever wonder – how good it must be to stop being lonely? How good would it be if only humans can live while being alone?”

“Mmm…”

But Kajiri didn’t answer either yes or no.

Don’t worry, Breaksun’s gentle look seemed to say to the boy who was even shorter than her.

“If humans never experienced loneliness, then we wouldn’t feel happy to meet other people, right? We wouldn’t feel the joy of spending time with others, and we wouldn’t feel the contentment of making good friends. Sometimes, I think it’s better if humans don’t seek perfection.”

“What kind of nonsense are you talking about?” Kajiri looked rather upset and sat cross-legged on the chair.

He looked savage, and yet quite cute. Breaksun smiled when she saw the sharp canine teeth peeking out of his mouth.

“Just try to think of this as a human. There are many people who kept crying that they were lonely, that they were confused, and they died without any sense of satisfaction. That was very sad!”

“So their lives were boring?”

“I don’t like this about Kajiri at all… it’s not cute at all. Why are you looking so spiteful? I do have to think about humans once in a while. I’m a poet!”

Breaksun got rather emotional all of a sudden and held up an unusual song list in her hand, and said in a low voice: “But it’s unnecessary for Kajiri to discard your life to get rid of people’s loneliness. We want to love others because of our loneliness. I like humans who need such attachments.”

“Hmm?”

Kajiri didn"t seem to be listening to her. Breaksun suddenly start to sing a mysterious song: "Have nothing~ Have nothing~ Have nothing~."

"But it"s very unhappy to not sing in a karaoke. I come here rarely enough as it is already."

"You meant "tragic", right?"

"Ah, that"s right, tragic, not unhappy. j.a.panese is such a difficult language!"

"Which language have you been speaking all this time?"

"Erk, you"re not cute at all, Kajiri. How come you know more than me even though you"ve been locked up for hundreds of years?!"

"I learnt the necessary knowledge from the Mushi."

Kajiri said those incomprehensible words and muttered to himself in a daze.

"So why do you not feel tense at all, Breako? We"re currently being chased! Those guys will kill Breako until not even a finger of yours is left in this world. Why are you still in a mood to sing in this situation? Could you start thinking with your brain?!"

"Don"t call me Breako. And my brain is very energized right now."

Breako waved her hands above her head enthusiastically and made strange hand gestures while smiling.

"Alright alright. Kajiri already lived for centuries, right? You don"t have a lot of memories, do you? Are you feeling relaxed, because you feel it won"t matter anymore even if you"re killed?"

"How can I possibly give up that quickly? I have lots of things left to do. I need to kill those who locked me up in the forest - Ultimate ShieldThe Weakest, Melodia NoiseTear Song, PoisonCatastrophe. I need to kill them all."

"Revenge? What an empty wish. By the way, I am PoisonCatastrophe. Are you going to kill me too?" Breaksun crossed her hands above her head, making enigmatic gestures in such a tense moment.

At the sight of that, Kajiri slumped down and looked hopelessly at her, who was still smiling.

"There are more fun things than that, Kajiri. Things like reading a manga or watching movies; those are very fun. Didn"t Christ also preach to love your enemies?"

Christ did say that when he was being hotly pursued by his mortal enemy, the Devil.

But that had nothing to do with the current situation. His revenge would be pointless, and wouldn"t it be such a waste to spend his important and precious life on such a tiresome and painful affair? That was what Breaksun thought about Kajiri.

Breaksun hugged Kajiri, who was pouting, in her arms. She gave him a relaxed smile.

"Yep, we escaped from those guys who are chasing us. So let"s go see a movie right now, ok? That"s definitely better than revenge. Let"s go do something fun. I heard that movie is a new work made by a famous director after four years, and it"s very popular in America."

Faced with Kajiri, who was completely disinterested in these things, Breaksun started to bring up one irrelevant topic after another. If they didn"t know when their life would end, then they should just spend it little by little in happiness. That was Breaksun"s belief.

She was really feeling superbly happy right now. There were no ulterior motives between them, and they were only conversing in an ordinary manner. This was a precious moment that Breaksun has almost never had in her life up until now.

Breaksun Henselmine had seventy-seven younger sisters, sixty-six younger brothers, but no elder brothers or sisters. There were fifty-five women she called "mother", but only one father. She did not have a single friend, and of course never had a lover. However, she had recently had someone who stayed beside her.

"---"

Kajiri suddenly lifted his head, and looked around rapidly. That alarmed gesture, like that of a feral animal, made Breaksun"s smile disappear and she looked concerned.

"Kajiri..."

"I hear a strange sound."

He stood up quickly and spoke in a low voice.

"What is this - is this an earthquake? What"s this, is this... wailing?"

In the blink of an eye, the ordinary karaoke room suffered an unprecedented sh.e.l.ling.

That’s right, sh.e.l.ling.

The cheap walls were blasted apart, and debris flew everywhere. The ceiling made a huge sound and the lights on the ceiling came crashing down. As if they were in a capsized boat, everything in the room suddenly was flipped upside down, and bowls and furniture miraculously started to fly in the air.

"--!"

Debris flew everywhere. There were pieces of the building all about them.

More danger ahead - his instincts reacted faster than the warning.

Bam!

A second bomb flew towards them, together with the shocking sound of its launch and the impact waves that shook the entire world.

"Ahhhh--!"

Breaksun screamed in horror. What was happening? Just what was going on?

The initial attack had already all but destroyed the building the karaoke bar was in. Dust clouds were all she could see. She could sense nothing else. Her entire body was enveloped by terror.

Someone pulled her up with an enormous strength.

"Breaksun! Don"t open your eyes. Close your mouth. Relax your body. Trust me!"

"Ah -- Ah, O, OK--!"

Breaksun relaxed upon Kajiri"s urging, and allowed her body to go limp as if she was dead. She could not see anything. All she knew was that some bad guys were firing towards them. The chaos was terrifying. She could not even move her fingers, and could only move according to Kajiri"s instructions.

She trusted Kajiri ---

Bam!

"---"

Another bomb flew by right in front of them, stirring up a roaring wind in the spreading dust storm and tussled their hair. The searing wave of heat immediately followed.

"Erk--"

This wouldn"t do.

Their aim was getting more and more accurate.

Do they already know where we are?

No.

This is very dangerous. We are going to be killed.

Although Breaksun jokingly said those relaxing words to calm Kajiri down, she didn"t want to die either.

She didn"t want to die in such a ridiculous circ.u.mstance, didn"t want to be killed by people she didn"t even know about.

She had never had any relationships with others since she was a child.

She had finally found someone she could talk with, who understood her. Although he did have a sharp tongue, his heart was very gentle. He was a good housemate, and a good friend.

She didn"t want to die.

"Uwah!"

It could have been a hundredth of a second or a thousandth of a second. She didn’t know which, but Breaksun felt the aura of that approaching bomb in that split second. The bomb that flew towards them kept approaching and changed its path in the dust. It was going to completely destroy Kajiri and her existences.

She understood these things without thinking.

“Ah –”

Breaksun’s body instinctively triggered a defensive reaction.

“Aaaaahhhhh! No!”

At that time –

The Greater Fragment named PoisonCatastrophe rejected the cause and effect of the approaching bomb.

 

 


Humans are not machines manufactured from factories. Therefore, every individual is different, with each having their own body and their unique ways of thinking.

This was an indispensable and absolutely necessary destiny. In order to maintain a diverse group of individuals and their genetic materials, humans reproduced and created different offspring by combining genetic materials from two unique organism into a new whole.

This created ordinary children, ingenious children, and also children of an inferior quality, though the common, streamlined mode of education usually produce people within the range of normalcy.

However, there are always exceptions, with a number of children growing up knowing they are abnormalities.

Statistically, one percent of humans think in ways completely different from others of their species.

Seven percent within that group do not regard killing other humans as taboo.

They are not afraid of blood. They cannot imagine pain experienced by other people, nor can they comprehend the idea of death.

They are abnormal killers, who became so either due to their genes or their upbringing.

They will not feel confusion, nor will they need a command to kill.

“The path of the third shot curved unnaturally.”

These people would usually be oblivious to their mental differences and lead ordinary lives like other normal humans – at least in places like j.a.pan, which did not have an army.

In the countries that did, they joined the armed forces during times of war, and would realize the abnormalities of their mentality in the maddening slaughter of a battlefield.

“According to data point 003, this kind of abnormality necessitates a quicker pace of attack.”

In these places, they were treasured as outstanding warriors on the battlefield. After the war, however, they would become very confused after knowing the fact that they did not fear killing other humans. As they were incapable of going back to living as ordinary humans, they would usually volunteer to join the army again when the next war arose, joining the vanguard to fight in the frontlines, over and over until their eventual deaths.

This army was a collection of such people.

Called the Pale Horses, they were the private army of the Sakaki Organization, the largest conglomerate on Earth.

According to the Bible, this is the name of the devil that brought the Apocalypse upon the world. As such, the people crowned with this t.i.tle were an army of killers that could not live outside of the battlefield –

“Continue the sh.e.l.ling until we can confirm the target’s death. We have permission from the Sakaki Organization. We have an infinite supply of bombs and weapons, and we will not be charged no matter how many civilians die in the process.”

There was no joy, no happiness, no fear, and no guilt a.s.sociated with such slaughter.

After all, causing death and devastation was as ordinary as throwing away garbage for these people, so why should they have any feelings towards it? As a group, the Pale Horses knew only how to kill.

 

 


Guriko had lived for a long time, and she had seen many incomprehensible things.

There had been unpleasant monsters, the Mushi, and Greater Fragments with miraculous abilities. Those could be deemed as supernatural with a single glance. However, what she saw right now was incomparably more surprising, even bordering on ridiculous.

Tanks appeared on the busy street.

“Huh –?”

Tanks roared through the town on this ordinary night, silhouetted by the lights in the shops.

There were tanks, actual tanks.

She couldn’t see anything else.

Crude turrets and machine guns protruded from the heavily armored navy body of the armored vehicle.

A man with a military air was standing on top of the protruding control tower and had a radio in his hand, seemingly giving out all sorts of commands.

The treads of the tank kept rolling forward, making creaking sounds as it drove along the road among dense crowds of people.

Bam. A thick and dull sound of bombs being let off came from inside the tank, and a wave of destruction was released with it.

“…”

Guriko was hiding in the shadow of buildings a little away from the tanks. She frowned as she heard the sound of the bombing and looked towards Mitsuki and Mina standing beside her, who were similarly shocked.

“What is this about?”

“How am I supposed to know?

“Ah! What’s this? Is this for real? Why are there tanks?!”

Guriko and the others had been running along the night streets in pursuit of PoisonCatastrophe and Single Room.

However, their long and elegant dresses stood out way too much. After realizing this, they bought a change of clothing in the shops along the road – that basically summed up what they did.

When they left the shops due to the deafening sound outside, they saw actual tanks rolling down the streets in the middle of the town.

One, two, three – there were ten tanks in total.

“No matter how you look at this… This is pretty awful.”

Mina took out her spray cans again seemingly from nowhere. With the power of the Sterilization Disinfection Greater Fragment, she channeled the power of Sterilization Disinfection gradually through the nozzle of this tool.

“Single Room and PoisonCatastrophe already escaped, and now we have this riot – this doesn’t seem to be completely unrelated. Seriously, tanks? Aren’t those things only seen on TV these days? Aren’t they very powerful? They are usually shown to be crushed by monsters, but they are so big in reality – they can at least crush me.”

Though she said this, she kept walking sedately towards the crowd of tanks. Mitsuki hurriedly waved towards Mina.

“Shh~ Sis, sister, what are you doing? Don’t go over there. It’s dangerous~”

It wasn’t daytime, so there were not many pedestrians around.

There was no one who dared to casually face a tank like this.

People were either running for their lives or screaming pitifully from their wounds. The streets were enveloped in a feeling of terror.

But the horrifying tanks were not stopping because they faced civilians. No, they opened fire on everything that was in their way, then callously ran over the wounded and the dead. It was veritably a scene from h.e.l.l. The houses along the street roared with flames, painting the night sky a b.l.o.o.d.y red.

“According to G.o.d Mushi Emperor…” As Unpleasant Counter-Current, who shouldered people’s negative emotions, horrors, and screams, Mitsuki showed a scared expression on her face and whispered to Mina. “PoisonCatastrophe’s ability is to twist and corrode cause and effect. I remember that now. But I can’t imagine what kind of ability that would be…”

Guriko, who was as confused as Mitsuki, also turned to speak to Mina: “Maybe she just twisted the laws of this world?”

Guriko pointed toward a direction, where a bomb flying through the sky suddenly turned and changed its direction, creating a curve like a ball thrown by a skilled baseball pitcher.

It exploded harmlessly out of the way, destroying itself.

The tanks did not stop firing, but they could not breach the area where cause and effect were twisted, as if it was protected by a bounded field, isolated from all the laws of the world. Destruction cannot reach within it.

“This so-called ‘cause and effect’ is really just the relationship between one thing and another, right?”

Bombs flew everywhere. Mina, who detested the smell of gunpowder, covered her nose with her hand, then said in a calm and low voice: “If cause and effect applies to the destruction caused by the bombs – or rather, cutting up the relationship between the bomb and everything around it – if this counts as twisting cause and effect, then the bombs will never hit their intended destination. What a powerful ability.”

She sighed.

“PoisonCatastrophe is right over there. Firstly, we’ll get rid of these rude tanks for them and do them a favor with this opportunity. Then we will negotiate with Single Room. Got it?”

Holding the spray cans that could either annihilate everything with Genocide JusticeAnnihilation Mist, or fix everything in place with Jack JewelFixation Mist, Mina made a small smile.

“Well, which one is more powerful? Tanks or a monster? Hmm – no matter what, ordinary humans shouldn’t be able to defeat one of the seven split roles of G.o.d, right?”

Mina leapt forward and galloped into the battlefield with Guriko and Mitsuki, where the maddening flames of chaos already enveloped everything. They would help PoisonCatastrophe, negotiate with Single Room, and return Rinne to her original state –

“… Ahh.” Guriko eagerly antic.i.p.ated returning to the battlefield and reverting to a demon. Her head shivered as she returned to how she was before, the time when she lived as a cruel monster. Guriko took out her weapon – her spoon – and grasped it tightly in her hand.

 

 


The bomb was repelled, but where they were remained the same. The bombardment paused for a while – Kajiri pushed aside the debris that had piled up on top of him and spat out dust carelessly.

“Cough – spit, spit. d.a.m.n it. This is such a mess!”

Breaksun was also buried by the piles of debris that resulted from the ceiling caving in. While continuing to curse, Kajiri helped her to climb out. Although the bombs were repelled away due to the twisted cause and effect, they still couldn’t avoid the broken concrete and building materials that flew everywhere.

“Woah! Ahh – I can’t hear anything.”

Breaksun moved her eyes all around as she put her finger into her ears. The surroundings were pitch black from the gunpowder and fire, and they could not see anything, as if they were isolated from the world. Yet they still could not relax. “My eardrums feel funny from the sound of the sh.e.l.ling…”

The both of them looked very untidy, but at least they remained uninjured.

It was veritably a miracle to stay like this when tanks were aiming at them personally and continuously fired at them.

A miracle.

Yes – a miracle.

Twisting the cause and effect of the world – that is PoisonCatastrophe’s power, one seventh of G.o.d’s strength. As if she had no relationship to the bombs, she remained uninjured from a bombardment of that degree.

Breaksun still could not control this power. Therefore, her previous defensive reaction had activated quite unconsciously, a result of her survival instinct.

Kajiri didn’t know if she would be able to repel such a ferocious attack next time.

His ability was not designed for combat. They had no choice. They could only run.

“Ka, Kajiri, where are you – Kajiri?”

Breaksun seemed afraid in the dust cloud. Her hands were shaking. She had her back to Kajiri, but she did not turn around. Could it be she temporarily went blind due to blood loss?

"... Mmm? I"m not going anywhere without you."

He took her hand and firmly pulled her onto his back to carry her.

Although Kajiri still looked like a child, he was an immortal with an enormous Fragment inside him.

He used the power of the Fragment and increased his own upper body strength, then he easily carried her on his back despite the difference in their heights.

"Are you okay, Breako?"

He thought she would say something like "I"m not called Breako!" as per usual, but she only shivered and did not reply. Maybe her hearing still hadn’t recovered. Anyone would feel terrified when they were suddenly faced with a sh.e.l.ling, not to mention that her personality was very ill-attuned to violence.

She did not have a relationship with anyone and just lived in an ordinary and simple way. The only wishes she had, she fulfilled through singing. She was a girl who lived in loneliness.

If fate dictated that such a girl must stand upon this cruel battlefield, then Kajiri detested this fate. If Single Room was the one who caused this situation, then Kajiri would even hate himself as well.

“…d.a.m.n it!”

Kajiri swore viciously. At that moment, Breaksun put her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, her arms tightly enveloping him. Kajiri looked at her. She must be feeling very anxious, but it would be difficult for him to walk while being hugged like this.

After a brief moment of thought, he reached for the crucifix hanging off his neck, and his finger was instantly wounded by the sharp decoration.

Drops of red blood seeped out of his skin.

That blood glowed like fireflies, and wriggled as if it was alive.

Together with the sound of his wobbling, Kajiri touched Breaksun’s forehead.

Then, as if she was startled – she blinked.

To confirm that she was alright, Kajiri pretended to be nonchalant as he asked: “Are you ok, Breako?”

“… I’m not called Breako!”

She tilted her head.

“Huh? I – My ears can hear again, and my eyes can see.”

“That’s good to hear. Seriously, you are an immortal. You should be able to heal yourself from those kinds of wounds.”

As he complained, Kajiri carried Breaksun, hopping along on top of the pile of debris.

He still could not see much, but that should apply for the enemy as well. They must leave very soon, otherwise –

Kajiri was feeling very anxious, while Breaksun was still rather confused. She asked: “Ka, Kajiri – that, back then, what was that? Bam – it just exploded. Do I, do I also have some strange abilities?”

“Eh, I don’t know. Anyways, let’s run away first.”

“Oh, oh, OK… I won’t bother Kajiri. I won’t talk.”

It would be a great help if she understood the situation. They didn’t have the time to talk in such a leisurely manner – they needed to ascertain the current situation. For all he knew, they could be shot at any time. Just as he thought this, he heard a chirping sound, as if a bird was calling out.

“– Oh?!”

No. It was the sound of gunfire. The sparks of bullets being fired could be seen through the smoke. Just then, a bullet whizzed by next to Kajiri, together with the sound of something being broken as if it hit something.

“… It’s guns this time? We’re being targeted again. d.a.m.n it. Aren’t they satisfied with bombs yet – it seems they really want to kill us. Well, come at us directly then!”

“Huh? Huh – what? What’s going on?” Breaksun looked very awful, but Kajiri had no time for her. He didn’t even know who his enemy was anymore. It seemed to be someone apart from Sterilization Disinfection –

Bam.

This time, the bullet seemed to have almost grazed his ear.

Despite not being able to see anything, the opponent’s fire was extraordinarily accurate. They were probably facing an experienced army. Meanwhile, here they were, a boy who was not proficient at fighting, carrying someone who couldn’t even freely use her own powers.

The odds were quite against them. The imbalance in power was too great between them, and he didn’t even know if they could manage to escape.

As he thought this, a bullet grazed Kajiri’s feet, bringing blood to the skin over his ankles. He stumbled and fell, and cold sweat seeped out of his forehead as he moaned in pain.

“d.a.m.n it. It has only been a few hundred years, and human weapons have already developed to such a stage – hey, Breako, hold on to me! You don’t have regenerative powers. If you get hit by even one bullet, you’ll be off to meet the Maker.”

Bullets flew towards them like rain drops as he yelled. Kajiri kept running at the risk of his life until he finally escaped from the smoky battleground. His field of view suddenly widened.

“---“

The city had already been reduced to a battlefield.

The flames shone with a maddening light and tore through the darkness, dying the entire world a shade of red. Smoke and sparks flew everywhere, and crackling sounds could be heard continuously from the burning ruins.

Buildings had collapsed into piles of rubble. Shops burned, roared with flames. There were corpses lying on the ground, and the few survivors ran around in a panic everywhere.

Kajiri stood, sh.e.l.l-shocked at this scene of utter despair.

Suddenly –

He felt a killing aura approaching them, but he responded too late.

“Urk!”

With a bam, his right foot twitched as it if was. .h.i.t by a bullet – no, he was. .h.i.t. The attacks were coming from behind them – d.a.m.n it, he was carrying Breaksun on his back. She was in danger.

Kajiri realized this and immediately turned around. They were standing in a wide open s.p.a.ce with a clear field of view. Their enemy’s aim became more accurate, and began to fire together with a rapid speed.

“d.a.m.n it, what is this! They’re all firing from places I can’t see!”

Kajiri couldn’t help but roar in anger, but this only made the situation worse.

The firing did not stop, but became fiercer, the volume of fire heavier with each pa.s.sing moment. The situation was getting worse and worse. Breaksun was being carried by Kajiri, and she had also just gotten out of her panicked state, therefore she could not feel a sense of crisis like before. Therefore, PoisonCatastrophe’s power – the alteration of cause and effect – could not be activated either.

What was worse was that they were in the most horrible situation imaginable. A group of soldiers, armed to the teeth, was walking out from the shadows on the other side. They took cover as soon as they realized Kajiri had found them.

Kajiri walked at the end of the shopping street, which had been reduced to rubble, as if it had just gone through a major earthquake.

He tried aimlessly to think of a solution.

But just thinking achieved nothing.

His opponent was a group of professional soldiers. No matter how many inhuman abilities Kajiri had, he was far from matching an army skilled in killing and trained in all sorts of weapons.

“Tch… we’re not even on the same level. The difference is too big! Breaksun, close your eyes –”

“Mmm – Mmm, yes, will I go crazy if I see?”

There were people seeking help as they lay dying in a sea of blood. There were people burnt to a crisp by the fire. There were people crushed to a pulp by the collapsing buildings. This was a fiery h.e.l.l full of death, misery, and anguish of humans. It was truly repulsive.

“… Urk?”

Kajiri suddenly felt bile rising in his throat, and did his best to push it back down.

“Chirp – let Mitsuki-chan teach you a thing or two~”

A sound suddenly came from the distance.

Kajiri was slightly confused, as if he heard this sound somewhere before – beside that, how could such a leisurely voice exist in this destructive and miserable h.e.l.l on earth?

Then something incredible happened.

“Take this. Malicious ability – Killing Blow: Dining Table Throwback is here~”

A tank was thrown up in the air.

A tank, which was at least ten tons in weight, started to roll in midair as if it was merely a toy tank.

This was like some fake joke, and Kajiri’s jaw dropped, unable to close his mouth for ages.

Then more and more incredible things happened.

“Do you want to eat this as well~ Do you want to eat this~? Hehehe hahaha. Look big sis, my super Killing Blow: Dining Table Throwback completely ignores physical laws~”

Three tanks spun through the air and smashed into each other, then bounced off, flying off far into the night sky.

It was like a series of magical moves. What was more incredible was that the person who lifted up tanks like chopsticks was a slender little girl.

She had a hat with round ears on her head, and a curly tail decoration was attached to her b.u.t.t. She wore rather childlike clothing, her hair was tied into braids, and the ears on her hat and her tail were both wobbling cutely.

She looked like the girl whom Kajiri released from eternal stasis. He had been looking for Breaksun one afternoon, who had left the house and disappeared from his radar due to her corruption of cause and effect. He accidentally ran into Unpleasant Counter-Current – one of the Greater Fragments.

He couldn’t remember why they met. What he was sure of was that she had been completely frozen, just like how he was before – just like how he had been when he was isolated in that forest. Kajiri pitied her, and had thus removed her seals.

That girl was currently fighting against the tanks. She looked as if she was very happy, and she waved her hands everywhere.

With a bam, one of the tanks currently flying through the sky fired a sh.e.l.l towards the girl. Even though it was fired while the vehicle was spinning, the projectile flew true, speeding towards the girl with deadly accuracy.

But she showed no signs of wanting to run away either.

“Hehehe. Those things can’t kill me~”

The girl gazed at the superheated sh.e.l.l that was plummeting towards her and lifted up her right hand, which until then had been hidden in her giant gloves.

“Hiya! Let’s go~”

She caught the sh.e.l.l with her hand – and put it next to her belly.

A terrifying giant mouth with teeth suddenly appeared on the girl’s abdomen, and the sharp sound of chewing could be heard as it swallowed the sh.e.l.l. Then, at the end –

“An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth – this is retribution~”

A sh.e.l.l fired from the abdomen of the girl. It landed squarely on the tank that was still flying through the air and ripped the armored vehicle to pieces, creating a fiery red glare as it exploded.

Its attack been rebounded upon it.

As if she was very satisfied with this result, the girl puffed out her chest and laughed out loud. “Aren’t I awesome? I’ve practiced fighting many times~ Your hatred isn’t strong enough. I’ve absorbed the damage you did to the surroundings and returned them all to you as retribution! This is Unpleasant Counter-Current, who gets stronger the longer the battle goes on~~”

“… That’s enough, Ki-chan.”

At a distance from the girl, a woman was releasing white mist from spray cans that silently annihilated tanks into nothing. Sterilization Disinfection was mumbling with a tone that carried some spite: “Why are you tossing these tanks everywhere?”

“Oh? You don’t like it? I can’t just let hatred lay around like this. I need to make it into energy and use it up~ I tossed those tanks right up~~”

“Yes, they flew… but isn’t there something called gravity on this earth? Stuff that were tossed up all come down eventually.”

Faced with Sterilization Disinfection’s cold tone, the girl tilted her head with an incredulous squeak.

Roll roll roll.

“Huh – ?!” Faced with the weighty tank that was falling down towards her, the girl ran around in a panic as she tried to dodge. She didn’t even consider that the tanks she tossed vertically upwards would come down. She was still too young.

“… And here I thought you grew up a little. Ki-chan is really still a little kid.”

Sterilization Disinfection did not say this with any hint of mockery, but with a soft tone and a smile. At the same time, the other tanks were still firing furiously at her.

“Indeed –”

The smile on her face suddenly disappeared. Sterilization Disinfection’s pristine white hair swayed as she stretched out her hand. Her fingers held two plain and undecorated spray cans.

“If this is all you’re capable of, then my silly Ki-chan would be able to sort you out all by herself.”

A sticky, languid white mist started to seep out from the spray can.

“Well, I’ll play with you for a bit – just you try to get away from it.”

In front of her, who was still mumbling, the sh.e.l.l touched by the white mist stopped incredibly in mid-air.

“Type B - Jack JewelFixation Mist.”

Sterilization Disinfection jumped up lightly and stood on the sh.e.l.l that was frozen in air. As sh.e.l.ls were continuously fired at her, she calmly used the mist to freeze them all.

“Oh, thanks, you even provided places for me to stand on.”

One leap after another, as if she was a rabbit, she jumped along the bridge made up of consecutive sh.e.l.ls and slowly approached the crowd of tanks. Then – she took out a different spray can from before.

“Oh right – this is my reply to your presents. I will sterilize and disinfect you.”

With a whiff, the white mist that tore out of the spray can blew away the tanks’ existence.

Sterilization Disinfection, G.o.d’s Judgment, the Digestive Organ – she was the terrifying ability that had destroyed the world until only Noah’s Ark was left. She was more terrifying than Kajiri had imagined.

“--- are you ok?” A sound suddenly came from behind him.

Kajiri’s heart almost jumped out of his chest. He immediately turned to check the situation. Breaksun was also startled.

“You are – Guriko!”

“…”

Guriko. She was the girl he met a while ago, who called herself Gankyū Eguriko. She was wearing an extremely cute outfit, and it was a very short and breezy one too. It looked like someone forced her to dress like this.

“You’ll be killed if you’re standing in such an obvious position, Single Room. At least go hide somewhere.”

Her voice was innocent and devoid of any emotions, yet it seemed to include a sense of tenderness and kindness he has never before experienced.

“Ah---“

Kajiri froze on the spot and didn’t know how to reply. He could only remain silent, feeling confused. Breaksun, who stood next to him, pointed at Guriko and asked:

“You, you, um – why are you here?”

“… Who are you?”

Guriko looked at Breaksun for the first time after she spoke. She looked shocked and stared at Breaksun, her eyes dark and bottomless like that of gun barrels. Breaksun sighed in defeat after she saw Guriko’s expression and mumbled sadly.

“Ah, you forgot me again. No matter who it is, everyone forgets me as soon as they got to know me. Kajiri, is that due to my corrosion of cause and effect?”

Guriko narrowed her eyes and looked her from head to toe, then she clapped her hands suddenly and nodded as if she just understood something.

"I got it. You"re that woman who sang at the party. Your dress is all dirty now; I thought you were someone else. Of course I can"t remember you if you"re like this. Oh? The party back then? You should have seen me in the party just then. It"s probably because you were under the spotlight and can"t see the face of the customers under the stage."

Guriko suddenly frowned as she chatted with Breaksun. She knelt down and touched Kajiri"s right leg. "You"re wounded."

"Oh? Ah, I got hit just then." Kajiri replied.

Guriko casually dug out the bullets in his leg after asking him a few more questions.

Blood spurted from the wound and she got stained from head to toe. The army chasing them had also disappeared without him noticing it. Did she take care of them too?

"Then -"

Guriko, this girl covered with blood, looked straight at Kajiri. They were of the same height, and their eyes were about the same level too.

She had a rugged haircut, as if she cut it herself. The spoon in her hand was dripping with blood. Kajiri thought she looked like a broken doll.

"Firstly, I want to clear up our misunderstanding..." Guriko chose her words carefully and said slowly.

"We don"t want to be your enemies. That was an unfortunate accident back then. We just want to borrow your abilities, just that..." After saying this, Guriko showed an expression that indicated she had exhausted her words and couldn"t think of anything else to say, but Kajiri still didn"t answer.

Breaksun slipped down from Kajiri"s back and stood up, and tilted her head with confusion. Then, just like before, she walked to stand between Guriko and Kajiri as if she wanted to protect Kajiri.

“But – Guriko, Kajiri…”

“It’s fine, Breako. Hey, Ganko.”

Kajiri caught hold of Breaksun’s wrist and stopped her from waving her hand around. At the same time, Breaksun and Guriko yelled simultaneously: “I’m not called Breako!” “I’m not Ganko!”

Kajiri completely ignored the stray bullets that flew all around them. He caught the hand of both of them and turned around.

The situation didn’t seem to be fitting for a casual and slow conversation. Although Sterilization Disinfection and Unpleasant Counter Current gradually changed the situation to their favor due to their overwhelming powers, it was about time for backup to arrive for the tanks and the army units here.

“Anyways, I get it. It’s too dangerous here – let’s go hide somewhere first. I will hear you out. You will chase me even if I refuse, anyways. But make no mistake – I am not G.o.d, and I am not omnipotent.”

“Mmm. That’s fine. No matter how little hope there is, I can only rely on it now.”

Guriko lowered her head and muttered. Then, as if having made up her mind, she lifted up her head and said: “Please, Single Room, please save Rinne.”

Hehehe. There was a sound of someone laughing.

“---“

Bam. Bam. The battalion of tanks fired their sh.e.l.ls simultaneously with an unprecedented savagery. As if it was the final moment before the light of a candle went out, pillars of fire erupted all around them, killing innumerable people.

Amidst the destruction, a man in black stood unperturbed on the battlefield.

The existence of the man in black was like a shadow in this red world full of the light of the fire. He narrowed his eyes malevolently and the ends of his mouth lifted up in a half smile. He was altogether very eye-catching. His eyes were like those of a wolf, and mirrored back the long fringe that he evidently cared for meticulously. His outer appearance looked like a priest, but he gave out an unnamed feeling that made people dislike him.

“Zekiguchi – Nashinori?!”

Guriko called out a name and held up the blood-stained spoon in her hand.

“p.i.s.s off! What are you doing! Who gave you permission to hinder me?” Guriko roared at the man named Zekiguchi, not hiding her anger at all. Kajiri looked as if he recalled some bad memories as he looked that way.

Sterilization Disinfection and Unpleasant Counter-Current had all but destroyed the tanks. Zekiguchi Nashinori, who stood unmoving, slowly smiled as if he put on a mask.

“He is…?” Kajiri grasped his crucifix-shaped knife tightly and kept up his guard. Because of that – he became negligent of what was happening behind him.

“What a pity. You’ve missed your mark.”

A sound suddenly came out very closely behind them – Guriko opened her eyes wide and turned around, while Kajiri turned in a panic.

“Huh…?”

But it was too late. Breaksun, who was unaware of anything, was already in Zekiguchi Nashinori’s arms.

Zekiguchi pointed after Guriko and sn.i.g.g.e.red.

“Ahh, I’ll have you know that he was not my twin, but created from my ability. I modified the body of someone who no longer cared about his life to look exactly the same as mine. That laugh was only my trap.”

“You b.a.s.t.a.r.d – !”

Guriko raised her hand and prepared to throw a spoon. But Zekiguchi lifted up Breaksun as his shield, and used her to hinder his opponent’s attacks while he leapt away to his escape.

He only left some incredulous words after him.

“Now Love Song belongs to me. Thank you very much. This is finally beginning.”

“Hold on! What are you going to do with PoisonCatastrophe?!”

Guriko yelled loudly. Kajiri, meanwhile, left her and started to chase. He stepped on the few power poles and buildings that remained standing, and chased after Zekiguchi Nashinori as if he was in flight.

“Kajiri!”

“Breaksun!”

Breaksun stretched out her hand and cried out pitifully. Kajiri chased her anxiously, using everything he could think of.

But he couldn’t catch them. Even though his foe carried someone in his arms, Kajiri still couldn’t catch up to the man.

Judging from the movements of this man named Zekiguchi, it was very possible that he was the despicable Ultimate ShieldThe Weakest – his ability was to alter his own flesh to the maximum extent possible. He could thus obtain the fastest running speed possible in this world, and it would be impossible to catch up to him.

“d.a.m.n it –” Kajiri yelled in anger and kept trying. Zekiguchi looked at him, and smiled pleasantly.

“Oho, what a loyal puppy. But Single Room, it’s best for you to give up. Even though you hold the ultimate power, you are not the strongest of us, or even undefeatable – or do you want to be isolated and locked up in the forest again?”

“ – ”

Kajiri’s heart ached when he heard this. Those malicious words suddenly froze him from head to toe – with Zekiguchi Nashinori taking this opportunity to accelerate, escaping away for good.

“Hehehehe!” His despicable laughter floated through the night sky over the battlefield.

 

 


Aizawa Ume died back then, and the Long-Armed Demon was born.

Her memories were so very distant.

“…”

It was a fuzzy memory of the past. It was Aizawa Ume’s final memory, and the Long-Armed Demon’s very first memory.

She was killed by a robber. She thought she would never live again. She would never live in the world as Ume again.

She always thought that Ume-chan was such a useless kid.

Her hands were not dexterous. Her memory was bad, and she wasn’t good at sports either. She was never praised by teachers at school. Those whom she considered good friends eventually also stopped talking to her and regarded her as an idiot. No one had ever taught her that she had something important worth keeping. Even though her parents would comfort her at home and say that she was good as she was – Ume was still very uneasy. She was uneasy and terrified. She was useless, she had no good points that others could praise her about. A kid like this would be discarded by her parents and friends at the end and be returned to G.o.d.

That was what Ume-chan thought when she was attacked by the robber, saw her parents’ heads pierced through, and her own arms chopped off with a cracking sound.

It was all because of her. She never managed to be strong in her life, so G.o.d sent her a punishment. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. There was actually someone who extended a hand to someone like her, gave her an ability, and guided her.

She became confident. Her ability to form relationships with people started to bud. She was no longer that failure, that useless Aizawa Ume, but Long-Armed Demon. Someone made her so.

Zekiguchi Nashinori.

But he always appeared so lonely. Although his face occasionally smiled, it hurt for her look at him like that.

Long-Armed Demon always acted according to his wishes. She wanted him to laugh wholeheartedly. She always tried her best, always gave everything she could to make him happy.

Others did not know what he was like when they looked upon him.

He spread misfortune and destruction over the world, perhaps just like the works of the Devil.

But he was Ume’s true benefactor.

What was he seeking, and where did he want t
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