Ch.150Chapter 23. Blood (4)

When people are backed into a corner, they become uncontrollably depressed. Things they normally do well fail, and things that didn’t work before work even less.

And usually that depression stems from the fact that “there’s nothing I can do.”

“Ugh…”

And when my depression starts eating away at those around me, guilt is added to complete the picture. The depression dragon opens its bleary eyes, drooling as it crouches before me, waiting for me to collapse.

This feeling, it’s been a while.

It’s a feeling I haven’t experienced for quite some time since coming to this world. Yes. It’s been that way since the moment I first arrived.

In this world, I wasn’t the same person I was in my original world, so I could feel somewhat unburdened. I was used to being alone anyway.

Unlike my original world self who lost everything, kept getting depressed, and gradually isolated myself because I hated how that depression affected those around me, I thought I was moving in the opposite direction in this world.

I met wonderful people who were too good for me, who never left me alone.

But there’s nothing I can do for them.

That kept dragging my mood down, lower and lower.

“Here.”

“…Huh?”

I looked up at Kagami’s voice and saw her offering me something.

In her hand was chocolate.

“What’s this?”

“A snack.”

“…”

I looked up at Kagami in disbelief, and her hand moved again.

“You don’t want it?”

After saying nothing for a while, I took the chocolate from Kagami’s hand.

It wasn’t from any fancy brand. Actually, I couldn’t even tell what brand it was. It was just in clear plastic packaging… similar to those famous alphabet chocolates, though the shape was a bit different.

But it tasted good.

The overly sweet taste characteristic of cheap chocolate actually made me feel better.

The depression hadn’t completely gone away.

Kagami took out another identical one from her pocket and gave it to Koko.

“Ugh…”

After looking at the chocolate for a moment, Koko handed it to me.

“You don’t want it?”

“Not hungry. Kotone eat.”

“…”

After considering what to do, I just accepted it and ate it. I didn’t think Koko would eat it even if I refused.

“Don’t slit your wrists just yet.”

Kagami said.

“If you’re already bleeding when the time comes, it’ll cause problems. You can cut after we hear that there’s a problem with the building.”

As she spoke, Kagami picked up the small handbag she had placed at her feet.

Is that mirror from before inside?

I calmed myself while slowly letting the chocolate melt in my mouth.

Yes, even though I couldn’t do anything on the way here, the situation might actually be better than in the original story.

Isn’t that right? I don’t know what situation the original Kotone Kurosawa was in, but the Hyakki Yagyō itself happened throughout Tokyo.

If it was really because of Kotone’s existence, and if this incident was triggered by Kosuzu just to capture Kotone, then having a clearly specified location like now might be better.

Because I can fight too.

Some questions remain. Why didn’t they target my original residence when they knew where it was? Why did they leak information first when they knew the government would act?

…I’ll ask Kosuzu directly after we fight.

“You seem to be feeling a little better.”

“…Yeah.”

“Good.”

Kagami didn’t add anything else after that.

I was grateful for that.

“Ah… Ah…”

After calming down and looking at the situation, I noticed something a bit amusing.

Avben branch, was it? Whether it was harvested from some tree, or just a branch that remained, I couldn’t tell, but it seemed extremely valuable.

Well, if the tree were still alive, there wouldn’t be a reason to be so precious about it. Even the metasequoia tree was once thought to be extinct, but after a grove was discovered in China, it was exported worldwide and planted as street trees everywhere.

Either the tree itself no longer exists, or if it does, it no longer grows.

Naturally, the old man was making such distressed sounds with an extremely regretful expression as he watched the branch being ground up.

“It was all our property, so you don’t really need to feel sorry about it.”

“It’s more regrettable because I couldn’t possess it. Even cultural relics that aren’t mine would be a shame if someone blew them up, right?”

Kagami just shrugged at that remark.

Well, at least the old man didn’t seem brave enough to defy the government alone. In the end, he ground up all the wood Kagami had brought and turned it into talismans.

“I’ll keep these talismans.”

Kagami said as she collected them.

“And I’ll distribute some to the people on the lower floors.”

“…What about me?”

“Didn’t you hear earlier? We’re going to avoid self-immolation.”

“It’s not like I’ll die if my body catches fire.”

“…”

Kagami stared at me after my comment, so I just shrugged.

“So… now we just wait for the enemy to come?”

“That’s right. And even if they come, getting up here is another issue.”

“…True.”

We’re at the very top.

“From now on—”

As Kagami was about to continue.

Flicker.

The lights in the room flickered.

Everyone in the room looked up at the lights.

Flicker, flicker.

The lights flickered again, then went out completely.

The room wasn’t completely engulfed in darkness. Light from the city still seeped in through the small windows.

But that doesn’t mean we’re safe.

“The power was probably cut by the government.”

Kagami said, still looking up at the extinguished lights.

“They can’t let the enemy use the elevators.”

After that, a brief silence.

This building is a hotel. Clean on the outside. The interior, except for this top floor, was that of a luxurious hotel.

So even if fighting broke out on the lower floors, the sound wouldn’t reach where we are.

“Let’s get ready.”

Kagami picked up her bag.

Koko also stood up.

“Excuse me, what exactly is happening right now…?”

The old man said that, but unfortunately, no one answered him.

Everyone was just staring at the door, listening intently.

…I still can’t hear Nirlas’s voice. I haven’t cut my wrist yet.

Would I hear him if I did cut my wrist?

Somehow, if it’s Nirlas—

*

“Ah, over there…!”

Yuka, sitting in the passenger seat, shouted while pointing out the window.

It’s just a week after the new year. It’s only been ten days since Christmas.

Tokyo was still fully immersed in the festive atmosphere of the year-end and new year.

But among all those places, only one building had all its lights go out. If the lights had never been on in the first place, it wouldn’t have caught anyone’s attention unless they looked carefully, but the sudden blackout of previously lit lights looked ominous.

Additionally, people were cordoning off the area around the building. A few onlookers seemed to have gathered, but heavily armed individuals were controlling the streets.

Something had already happened.

Making that judgment, Yuka shouted.

“Grandfather!”

“Yes.”

As Yuka unbuckled her seatbelt and unwrapped the cloth covering her sword, her grandfather nodded and stepped on the accelerator.

Screech.

The car jolted once, and she felt her body lift slightly.

Some of the people forming the blockade jumped aside in panic. The van pushed through one of the barricades and entered the scene halfway.

Thud. Yuka, who had been supporting herself with one hand on the glove compartment, jumped out as soon as the car stopped.

“Hey!”

Someone shouted at the back of Yuka’s head, but she didn’t look back.

Inside, at the very top, was Kotone. And for whatever reason, forces targeting Kotone were heading upward.

Shing.

She drew her sword from its scabbard. The street lights reflected off the blade of Yuka’s nameless sword.

The first thing Yuka noticed upon getting out of the car was a faint smell of iron.

And following that, a slight stench.

A smell that was impossible to get used to, one she had given up trying to get used to.

Bang.

She heard a car door closing, and the sound of her grandfather walking up behind her.

Click.

Yuka turned on the flashlight tucked in her left breast pocket of her coat.

As Yuka approached, the light from the flashlight in her breast pocket illuminated what was ahead.

It was red.

There were also some slightly lighter shades.

Something was crawling inside.

There was a rustling sound from behind. Her grandfather was probably taking out talismans.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes.”

Her grandfather muttered, and Yuka ran forward.

The entrance itself was actually blocked by barricades. Apart from the police blockade outside, someone had haphazardly piled up chairs and such from the inside as if trying to prevent something from entering. …But since the glass door and the wall next to it were all made of regular glass, the attempt to block had failed miserably.

Did they not expect someone to come straight through the main entrance? Or was it a civilian working at the hotel who had piled them up in fear? Whatever the reason, it was meaningless now since they had just pushed through with the van.

A person in red clothes was lying there. It seemed to be a hotel uniform. Their stomach was split open, but their face was relatively intact, preserving the expression of despair they had in their final moments.

“…The government.”

At her grandfather’s words,

“Grrrr…?”

The thing that had been eating the stomach stood up.

Slash.

Without waiting for the grotesquely twisted mass of flesh to turn toward her, Yuka swung her sword.

A yellowish fluid similar to pus and a dark red liquid resembling human blood splattered together. There was a disgusting smell.

Starting with that, slowly, things that had been melting into the darkness began to rise.

“…Aha.”

Yuka muttered.

“When I saw them last time, I only thought they were made using humans.”

“It seems they’re imitating humans.”

The amorphous creature, which had been like a translucent slug made of melted human flesh, slowly rose and took form.

That’s not to say it actually looked like a person. The eye parts still protruded like a slug’s, and the skin itself was translucent, showing the bones inside. Were they the victim’s bones?

Goosebumps ran down her back. Two kinds of goosebumps. One from her bloodline, the other from physiological revulsion.

Thwack.

Then an arrow pierced the head of one of those things.

Whoosh.

Blue flames erupted.

“…!”

It thrashed around, making a sound that couldn’t be called human, a sound that wasn’t language.

“If we leave them be, we might not be able to distinguish them from humans later.”

Her father’s voice came from behind. Along with the sound of an arrow being nocked and the string being drawn taut.

“Then I’ll have to cut them down in advance.”

Yuka replied.

Whoosh.

This time, blue flames rose from the direction of the stairs leading to the upper floors. The color was slightly different. The flames over there were much paler. As if they weren’t of this world.

Following that, gunshots were heard, and human screams.

“Let’s go.”

Yuka said as she shot forward.

Darkness was no longer an issue. Blue flames were rising everywhere.

If they could sweep away all the enemies like this.

Yuka thought as she cut down an approaching enemy.

Then—would Kotone be okay too? Could she live a normal life without being threatened anymore?

From a corner of her mind came the answer: probably not.

…As long as their leader lives, these monsters will appear again and again.

She was just cutting down as many as possible to make it harder for them to harass Kotone.

The government seems to think that everything might end if Kotone dies, that there’s such a possibility.

“No.”

Yuka could answer firmly.

Rather than sacrificing a child who wants to live to achieve peace, it’s right to fight again and again.

…

She knew it was a selfish judgment.

If the person in question wasn’t “Kotone,” a friend she already held dear.

Yuka would have been swayed by the sight of the person who had died on the first floor earlier.

*

—Nirlas said nothing.

I didn’t ask anything either. I didn’t think I’d get a proper answer even if I did.

Above all, I felt that if I asked anything here, Nirlas would try to break my resolve. He enjoys that sort of thing.

But it was still strange.

Nirlas is the type to talk about various things even when I don’t ask, if he’s excited. Is the current situation not exciting for Nirlas?

My heart was pounding hard. Not knowing what’s ahead is terrifying. Even if I safely get through this situation, I have no idea what happens afterward.

…My precious ones could disappear without my knowledge, in places I don’t know about.

Having experienced that in my previous life, I thought everyone would be safe up to the point I had read, but—

Bang. Bang.

The gunshots were much louder than I expected.

Actually, I knew this fact. I had served in the military, after all. The sound of gunfire during training was much louder than I had imagined before.

But all the guns people were holding now had silencers attached. Perhaps because we were in the heart of the city, they had come prepared.

Even so, they didn’t completely mask the gradually approaching gunfire. It wasn’t the “phew” sound you hear in movies, just the gunshot sound I knew, slightly less sharp, but with little change in its “loudness.”

My wrist stung needlessly more.

Perhaps because my heart was beating fast, it seemed like more blood was flowing out of my wrist.

“Shoot, shoot!”

I could hear someone shouting just beyond the door, followed by more gunfire. Whoosh, also the sound of something burning intensely.

I picked up my sword.

Bang!

The door opened, and people poured in. Then the door closed again.

“The enemy?”

“There are far more of them than we expected!”

“Damn. I thought we had dealt with many of them last time.”

“…”

Mr. Miura glanced toward Kagami.

“Could those corpses have been sacrificed for a ritual, do you think?”

“Even if it was because of a ritual, at least it wasn’t ‘that kind’ of ritual. …You said the women among the corpses seemed to have experience with childbirth, right?”

Mr. Miura nodded.

And then no one spoke.

There was too much meaning in Kagami’s question.

“…Religion has various ways to make death less frightening. Kosuzu’s sect even more so. They show phenomena not of this world, give power. Then they persuade you that ‘even if you die, I will call you back.'”

“When everything ends, when the boundary between life and death collapses, then the dead will return too.”

Mr. Miura muttered as if he knew something.

“…And at the pinnacle of that would be the head of the Kurosawa family.”

Kosuzu.

“The eternal ruler of a world without death. And those who have risen to high places following that ruler.”

“…”

And Kotone Kurosawa was probably a necessary existence in that process. An existence needed for a being ‘from the other world’ to fully use their power in this world.

Like an instrument in the hands of a musician, able to produce the desired sound.

“Don’t you agree with that?”

Kagami glanced at me.

“Don’t you think it’s unrealistic? Religion is useful because it has goals that cannot be achieved.”

“…”

It was such a Kagami-like answer that everyone in the room forgot their tension and looked this way.

“…At least thank you for the information.”

Mr. Miura accepted Kagami’s words with that response.

As I listened to their conversation, I suddenly realized that the gunfire had stopped.

Monstrous howls could still be heard. As well as the sound of something burning vigorously.

But there was one sound that had been added in the meantime.

The sound of something being sliced with a rustling noise. The sound of someone breathing heavily.

Click.

The doorknob turned.

As everyone tensed, the locked door opened far too easily.

And.

“…If you’re going to hide someone at the top of a building.”

Yuka, covered in sweat, said as she opened the door.

“…At least keep the elevator running.”

Yuka, whose eyes met mine, grinned.

“…”

I felt my strength drain away.

I wasn’t the only one who felt a similar sensation. Everyone relaxed the tension in their bodies a little.

“The things outside?”

“They’re not all dealt with, of course. We took the fastest route here.”

Yuka said, shaking the blood off her sword.

Phew. Yuka exhaled lightly once and said.

“But we’ve cut them down enough that we can call more people, strengthen our defenses, and clean up slowly. The monsters seemed to be thinking the same as us.”

And she smiled at me again. Despite her hair sticking to her forehead due to sweat and various parts of her body being covered in blood and pus-like substances, she didn’t look shabby at all.

“Then, today’s business is concluded—”

Beep beep beep beep.

As Yuka was speaking, suddenly someone’s mobile phone rang.

“…I’m sorry.”

Kagami apologized as if she was sorry for disrupting the atmosphere and took out her phone.

I could see the screen slightly from my side.

The name was ‘Yamashita Ryohei’.

“…Yes.”

Kagami’s eyes soon widened after answering the phone.

“At the mansion?”

“What?”

I asked involuntarily.

“What’s happening?”

“…I understand. First, find a safe place. If you can get out of the mansion— I see. In that case, please secure at least the item I left with you last time. Yes.”

“Kagami?”

Kagami’s eyes turned toward me.

Her expression was somewhat bewildered, but her voice remained calm.

Kagami, gripping her handbag tightly, said,

“Inside that cloth, there should be a mirror. Please… give it to Yuu.”

“…”

So what was in the handbag wasn’t the mirror?

“…Yes. No. I’m sure you can do it.”

Kagami’s eyes sharpened a bit.

“Considering who Yuu’s mother is, it should be quite possible. Buy us some time. We’ll be there.”

Kagami closed her eyes briefly, then opened them.

And with eyes shining in the darkness, she said,

“I’ll explain the method to you now.”

*

There’s an expression that says blood boils.

Of course, as human blood is a liquid, it cannot “boil” from body temperature alone. If body temperature exceeds 40 degrees, cells would cook and die before blood could boil.

So it should be considered a figure of speech. A metaphor meaning one is so angry that their blood feels like it’s boiling.

But what happened at the mansion that evening was a different story.

Those traces that couldn’t be erased even after cleaning, so they were covered with paint and wallpaper. The blood droplets that had once been splattered throughout the house suddenly glowed red as if returning to that time and flowed down.

And soon they began to boil.

The boiling blood somehow expanded and grew.

And by the time people noticed, it was already too late.

“Damn it, what is this! What the hell is this…!”

“Everyone, get a grip! Protect the young lady!”

Bizarre entities swarming from all directions.

They looked like beings from old tales or fairy tales twisted in a nightmare.

“I, I need to survive—!”

The guy who shouted that and tried to flee was suddenly pierced by needle-like objects that shot up from the ground.

Or should I say pierced?

To be precise, it was “butchery.” He was torn apart in an instant, barely leaving a recognizable form. It was so bad that one could only pray he didn’t feel the pain.

Run and die.

Stay here and die.

The men gathered at the corner of the mansion, at the entrance to the storage room, felt like they were going insane.

And inside that storage room—

“D-Dad. I…”

“…Yuu. Don’t worry too much.”

“But what am I supposed to do with this mirror right now?”

“I’ll explain everything when this is over. Kurosawa is on her way too.”

“Kotone? Why?”

“…”

Ryohei was silent for a moment with a troubled expression, unsure how to explain.

That Yuu’s mother was the leader of a cult faction that killed people without hesitation.

And that the child Yuu considered a friend, Kotone, was Yuu’s cousin.

Therefore, both of them—had talent for the abilities needed by that cult.

There was too little time to explain all of this concisely and make her understand.

“…”

Yuu looked at her father and the mirror alternately with a confused expression.

Then, gripping the mirror tightly, she said,

“Can this… save us?”

“…”

Ryohei was silent for a moment before answering.

“Probably.”

“…Alright. I’ll die whether I do it or not. And Kotone… she didn’t just visit and leave that time, did she?”

“That’s right.”

“Okay. I’ll trust you for now. The things outside are already hard to believe anyway.”

Taking a deep breath, Yuu said,

“I’ll do it.”

Ryohei nodded and held the phone to Yuu’s ear.