Mokushiroku Arisu - Volume 01

by Kagami Takaya

  A high ceiling. With supporting pillars. The width of the remaining grid-like floor is about two meters.

  The diseased girl is standing on that floor.

  With a crying, vacant face.

  Tears flowing.

  Yes.

  The girl has tears flowing.

  The color of her tears from her right eye are red.

  Blue from her left eye.

  Both her left and right eyes are also blue and red respectively.

  Just like my little sister.

  It's the exact same thing as Saki when she came down with the disease.

  Seeing that, I waver a little. I remember Saki. At that time, Saki was clearly conscious of what was happening. Even when she was consumed by the disease, she let me escape. She called me Onii-chan.

  And it is our job to kill that diseased girl who is conscious of what is happening. I narrow my eyes and murmur to myself.

  "........................ a stranger."

  I murmur softly.

  "She's a stranger. A stranger a stranger a stranger a stranger."

  I slid a step to the side to dodge the unleashed lightning. Letting my finger dance in the air, and the cursed song flowing from my 《Headphone Fuzz》 jolting my brain.

  【Sliced, shredded light ♪

  Shredded, ripped-up light ♪

  Abnormal, ruthless, extraordinary light ———】

  "Demon Sword switch ---"

  I take a knife out from my pocket. From the center of the knife, a sword with the color of darkness starts extending. And I then activate the special power that lurks inside the sword.

  "...... Assassination property."

  A red target point appears before my eyes. The diseased girl is captured in that target point. The weakness is the girl. It is not the hand of the devil that is controlling the girl, but the entire body of the girl is the weakness.

  With half-opened eyes, I look hard at the fourteen-year old girl who has black hair and a demure face, Asahi Momoka.

  A girl who was still attending school normally yesterday. A girl who had been smiling everyday in a tranquil, uneventful world made up of her parents, her friends, and a warm school life.

  If that girl's body is destroyed, the world will be saved.

  "Ha, haha...... as usual, what a disgusting sickness, hey."

  As the sound of dry laughter escapes me, I switch my grip on the sword of darkness to a backhand grip.

  3 minutes 30 seconds remaining ---

  Shiro runs. Sundering the lightning with his giant knife. Slicing it apart. Slicing it apart. As he is slicing at them endlessly, a streak of lightning springs up from the ground towards Shiro's head.

  "Uwah, damn......"

  "Are you an idiot! Move aside!"

  Gunjou kicks Shiro from behind.

  "Guah."

  While rolling on the ground, Shiro dodges the lightning. As his knife is disappearing, he starts preparing his next magic.

  Gunjou spreads both her hands.

  "--- Sea Moon Wheel switch!"

  She summons multiple jellyfish.

  However, as they are appearing, this time, it is Gunjou who gets assaulted by the lightning.

  Kiri stands before Gunjou. And sunders the lightning into nothingness with her Japanese sword.

  "I can perfectly defend you just eight more times so, use that opportunity to attack!"

  "Naturally! And this time, I shall once again save the world with my power! Sea Moon Wheel switch!"

  Seven circular discs of jellyfish attack the diseased girl.

  The diseased girl tilts her vacant face a little, and raises both her hands. A curtain of lightning rises before the girl. The jellyfish of Gunjou strike the curtain and disappear.

  "What! Didn't they say that she's weak against water!"

  That kind of intel should have lost its credibility when we found out that this labyrinth is not a school based on the reports from the scouting corps.

  Lightning flies.

  Lightning flies.

  Kiri swings her Japanese sword, defending Gunjou.

  "Hn, kuh. Six more times!"

  The diseased girl then smiles faintly.

  "...... six times? Then how's this?"

  About twenty masses of lightning appear before the girl at the same time.

  "...... you're kidding you're kidding, sorry! I'm taking back my words! I can't defend against this. Help ---"

  At that moment, I step in front of Kiri.

  "Shinnosuke-kun!"

  "Acceleration switch!"

  My body accelerates. Accelerates. Accelerates. In a flash. In an instant. For just a second. My speed is even faster than that of God.

  The girl unleashes her twenty lumps of lightning.

  As if they were convulsing from an illness, my eyeballs are vibrating. My eyes are capturing the weak points indicated by the red targets displayed before them, that show where I should cut for each cluster of lightning.

  Then, I cut those weaknesses with my sword of darkness. Cut. Cut. Cut, cut, cut cut cut cut cut cut.

  "Uwaoooooooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaah!"

  In one second, I sundered seventeen masses of lightning and my acceleration comes to an end.

  "Damn."

  "Duck Shinnosuke!"

  Shiro shouts from behind. I roll my body to the front. Shiro says from behind.

  "--- Thousand Deities Flash Of Light switch."

  It was the magic that gave birth to the spear that has a drill-like tip from before. The spear passes over my head. It tangles up with the three lightning masses and pierces through them. It might just reach the girl --- I thought, but before the spear, the girl is no where to be seen.

  The girl is right beside me. Electricity runs through her body. She is so fast that I could not see her move. She grabs the chest of Shiro with her right arm. And pierces through his chest with her finger. Tosses over Shiro's body. And it flies to the ceiling and crashes into it.

  "Gahah."

  He falls down, with half of his body falling through one of the trap holes. He clings to the floor with one hand, but after receiving so much damage, he cannot pull himself up.

  "Guh...... uuh......"

  1 minute 40 seconds remaining ---

  No good.

  It's over.

  It's not just a matter of insufficient time. The opponent is someone we should not have trifled with.

  "Everyone, Escape!"

  I holler.

  From behind me, Shiro activates his 《Headphone Fuzz》.

  I can also see Kiri and Gunjou behind her activating their 《Headphone Fuzz》 Everyone understood from those movements just now. It's impossible to clear this. It's a hopeless situation.

  I start preparing my Escape as well.

  1 minute 15 seconds remaining ---

  The girl looks at Kiri who is facing her.

  "Ah-haa, I won't let you escape."

  She unleashes her lightning. Unleashes. Unleashes.

  "Damn......"

  Kiri receives them with her Japanese sword. Receives. Receives. She can only receive two more attacks.

  Taking action, I swing my sword towards the girl. As if she had eyes behind her, the girl dodges it easily. The girl then turns around.

  "Shinnosuke-kun!"

  Kiri cries out in alarm, and as she is about to come help me, I yell out.

  "Don't come Kiri! Stand back!"

  The girl's lightning-coated fist approaches me. If that hits me, I might just die. However, it does not hit me.

  "--- Acceleration switch!"

  I kick the chest of the girl and accelerate backwards, retreating.

  A little faster than the girl, I put some distance away from her.

  Kiri looks at me and makes a surprised face.

  "What, don't tell me you haven't started using Escape magic!?"

  Of course I was going to use it. However, in case of emergency, I was going to finish listening to the Acceleration switch, then start listening to the c
ursed song of Escape switch. Therefore, I will be leaving this area slightly later than the rest, I suppose.

  But it's not a problem. If I retreat backwards while accelerating --- I will make enough time for me to escape.

  The cursed song fills up my brain. The curse for the purpose of getting away. The curse for the purpose of escaping.

  If my Escape magic is already proceeding at this rate, the other three should have completed theirs by now.

  "I'll be done in a moment! Let's leave this place!"

  I yell.

  Shiro then says in a pained voice.

  "...... Escape switch."

  Kiri looks at me worriedly and says.

  "It's a promise Shinnosuke-kun! You must escape no matter what! Escape switch."

  42 seconds remaining ---

  Gunjou shouts.

  "Escape ---"

  But her words stopped there. The girl has fired a bolt of lightning. This bolt of lightning strikes Gunjou's 《Headphone Fuzz》. Her headphone breaks.

  "Ah......"

  Was what Gunjou could only utter.

  Since without a 《Headphone Fuzz》, she will not be able to escape from this labyrinth.

  Of course, anyone else who uses the 《Headphone Fuzz》 can bring another person out together at the same time but --- for that to happen, in order to bring another person out, one has to restart the cursed song. And in our current situation, there is no time for that. To top that, Gunjou and my relative positions are in the worst possible places.

  With the diseased girl in between us, we are directly opposite of each other.

  And in the meantime, my Escape magic has also been completed.

  33 seconds remaining ---

  "This must be...... a joke."

  Said Gunjou with a dazed look. With a jerk, her knees give way and she falls to the ground. Her face contorts with fear and tears fill her eyes.

  "N-No way...... I...... I......"

  I look hard at Gunjou with half-opened eyes. The usually arrogant, high-and-mighty, domineering Gunjou has a face filled with fear.

  The diseased girl closes in on Gunjou. Slowly, slowly, as if cornering an injured, immobilized prey, she closes in.

  I have no obligation to save her. Nor is it my duty to do so. More like, in this situation, the choice of helping her does not exist. In a place like this, anyone who talks about helping a girl or saving the world is just a fool. A hypocrite. A fake Mother Theresa. A piece of trash that has no purpose, no reason to live, and one who does not think about the future.

  Thus, the only choice is to Escape.

  I activate my magic.

  Gunjou notices me.

  She notices my smirking face.

  With her contorted face, Gunjou says.

  "...... damn transfer student...... what're you laughing about!"

  With her face contorted in chagrin, Gunjou says.

  "You're pissing me off! Even till the end, you're smirking, that foolish grin of yours...... mocking me, mocking everyone!"

  With her face on the verge of tears, Gunjou says.

  "Don't screw with me! You're laughing at my failure right! You must be thinking, 'this is all you've got after always acting like you're better than everyone else!?'. You must be celebrating at the prospect of one less rival, piece of trash of a guy!"

  And finally, with a quavering voice, a voice that seems to indicate a resigned realization that everything is over for her, Gunjou says,

  "...... hurry up and disappear from here! It's all...... over for me, so! So, at the very least...... I'll bear the rest of it here, so, hurry up and escap......"

  But, I interrupt her and say.

  "Shut up, vomit-girl."

  And I smile again.

  Smirking.

  Smirking, smirking, while laughing at my own foolishness with a feeling of being vexed with myself,

  "--- Holy Sword switch."

  I murmur the name of an offensive magic. A silver sword appears in my right hand. A shining sword clad in light. As if it were something wielded by a hero or a knight, a sword of hypocrisy.

  "...... what."

  Gunjou's words stop. As if she has just seen something unbelievable, her eyes widen.

  "Y-You idiot! What're you doing!? What about your Escape!?"

  I have already dispelled my Escape magic. I can no longer escape. In order to escape now, I have to save Gunjou, and kill the diseased girl.

  Perhaps, as a result of comprehending what is going on, Gunjou looks at me with a red face.

  "I-Idiot! Dummy dummy dummy dummy! Why're you doing this!? Y-You ---"

  The tears of fear and despair that have been accumulating in her large eyes --- now overflow from them. Gunjou is sobbing like a frail, lovely girl,

  "...... Y-you're such a big idiot, aren't you!?"

  While getting berated by her, I smirk.

  "Yeah, you're right. I won't deny it. This is the lowest and worst form of hypocrisy. I'm well aware of that."

  I raise my sword, and dash towards the diseased girl like a fool.

  8 seconds remaining ---

  The diseased girl turns towards me. And looks at me in wonder. Then waves her hand. Lightning springs out. I dodge the first one. Somehow, I manage to dodge the second one as well, with my shoulder grazed.

  "Guh-ah."

  I can tell that a gash has been made in my flesh.

  And that I will not be able to deal with the next attack. Besides, there is no time for me to set up my Acceleration magic, and also in the first place, Holy Sword switch consumes too much resources from the brain, and I cannot activate another magic at the same time. That was why I did not really want to use this magic. In the first place, I will not be able to hit the opponent with such a sluggish sword and to top that, this magic is incomplete.

  But, for me to be able to somehow do something to the diseased girl, this is my only option.

  Thus, I swing my sword with all my might. Aiming at the diseased girl who has monster-like strength and is standing clearly on the grid, I swing my brilliantly shining sword at her.

  However, obviously, the diseased girl's movement is faster. With a hand-chop, the diseased girl aim for my heart.

  "Shi-Shinnosuke!?"

  Gunjou clings to the girl from behind. The girl's movement slows down a little. No, her aim deviates a little. Her hand-chop pierces into my side. Gouging into my organs. I do not know how much damage I have taken from that.

  Gunjou looks at me,

  "Nnnoooooooooooooooooooooo!"

  She shrieks, but unconcerned, I ignore her, and unleash my sword of light.

  "Sun-ddeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrr!"

  The sword touches the back of the neck of the girl. It stops right there. It did not cut through her skin. With her other hand, the girl has stopped the sword.

  The girl laughs.

  "Haha, it's over for you ---"

  3 seconds remaining ---

  But, I too laugh.

  "No, it's over for YOU. Since what you stopped was just my hypocrisy."

  The blade of the Holy Sword that the girl has blocked with her hand shines with an excessive brilliance and disappears. The blade, which is a fake portion of the sword that holds no power at all vanished.

  What remains is the real form of the sword.

  Something shorter than the blade of a knife, the part that resembles a paper knife pierces through the chest of the girl.

  "Huh......"

  The girl says, but it is already too late.

  After that, my consciousness enters the diseased girl. The power of the Holy Sword switch is to show an illusion to the opponent who is stabbed by it, and performs brainwashing on the opponent.

  It is a magic that is specially made to deal with diseased girls, developed for the sake of saving my little sister, Saki.

  It is a magic that forcibly brainwashes the diseased girl. To cut her heart away from the illness and save the girl as a result.

  "...... ah."

  I forcib
ly enter with my consciousness.

  "...... ah, ah."

  Forcibly, forcibly, entering the girl.

  "...... ah, ah, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh."

  With the power of the Holy Sword, the power of hypocrisy, the power of deceit, in order to forcibly violate the heart of the girl, I force my way into the girl.

  "............"

  What's inside is darkness.

  It is darkness.

  In the corner of the darkness, a girl sits by herself. Hugging her knees to herself, a fourteen year old girl sits alone.

  I call out to her.

  "...... are you, Asahi Momoka?"

  "............"

  The girl looks up at me. She has a lovely face. Her expression ever changing, she looks like a gentle kid.

  "Who are you, Onii-chan?"

  "I'm just a passerby, a hypocrite."

  "Hmmmh. So, why're you here?"

  "...... to kill you."

  On hearing that, the girl smiles.

  "Aah, I see. It's because I came down with the disease."

  "That's right."

  "Thank goodness. It was really painful. I was suddenly hijacked by something that looked like a devil, and could no longer control myself."

  "Yeah."

  "My family was also swallowed by the labyrinth...... so I've been waiting for someone to come save me. I really don't want to kill everyone."

  "I understand."

  "I really love Papa, Mama, and my little sister Sakura......"

  "Yeah."

  "So, I really don't want to kill everyone."

  "Yeah."

  "So...... please kill me, Onii-chan. There's no more time."

  Asahi Momoka stands up and spreads both her hands. Facing her, I raise my hand. In my hand, I hold a knife. A black knife. A knife for killing the girl.

  She smiles and says.

  "Hey Onii-chan. It's really great that I get to meet a kind person like you at the end, Onii-chan."

  I smile.

  "Hah, what's with that? How am I a kind person?"

  The girl smiles again. Smiling at me gently, she looks up at me,

  "How, you say...... Onii-chan, since just now, haven't you been crying for my sake?"

  "............"