by Yusuke Kishi
When people start trying to escape, they start shooting camouflaged arrows to herd them into a central area, sowing even more chaos and making it difficult to use cantus. Once everyone was stuck in one place, they could kill us like shooting fish in a barrel.
Yakomaru’s plan had been carried out flawlessly up until now. But two people, with cantus so powerful as to rival the gods themselves, turned the tide of the battle.
The queerats’ attacks had killed over two hundred people. The two thousand or so who still lived were in a state of panic that bordered dangerously on becoming mass mayhem, but calm was restored with a few words written across the sky. Incidentally, no one else has ever figured out how to write glowing words in the sky without the use of fireworks.
Following instructions, the crowd gathered into a circle about sixteen meters across and sealed their cantus to prevent interference. The only reason everyone responded so readily to these commands was that we had absolute faith in Shisei Kaburagi.
Inside the circular formation, everyone was protected from all attacks, much like the magical barriers often described in fairy tales. Be it arrows or bullets, they were all deflected by an invisible field.
As Satoru and I returned to the square, we were astonished at the speed and ease with which Shisei Kaburagi used his powers to defend us.
Their attacks nullified, the queerat army was brought to a standstill. Koufuu Hino sauntered lazily up to them.
“Heeheeheeheeheeheeheehee. Well that’s just too bad. Looks like there’s nothing you can do,” he said in a strange, singsong voice as he tapped his bald head with a folding fan. “Bad little rats, you betrayed us. What should I do? Rip out your tongues, and turn you inside out. String you up, turn you into jerky. Bad little rats that rebelled against humans. How should I punish you? Snap your bones, stretch you out, and pound you into patties.”
People began to clap. They all wished to see this cruel revenge. Koufuu Hino raised a hand to acknowledge the crowd. When he turned back to the queerats, his entire face had changed. His eyes bulged from his head like ping pong balls and he howled in a frightening voice.
“Now then, you eeevil, murderous rats, what shall I do with you?”
Koufuu Hino then began to shriek in queerat language. It appeared he was translating what he had just said. In any other situation, the sight of a fat man squeaking in such a high pitch that his cheeks trembled would have been hilarious.
“Upwind…it can’t be!” Satoru muttered suddenly.
“What?”
“I thought it was weird that they would be traveling upwind. Being downwind should be more advantageous. In that case…this is bad!” he shouted at Koufuu Hino. “Poison gas! Watch out! They’re spreading poison gas in our direction!”
Koufuu Hino turned his bulging eyes in our direction, then nodded complacently.
“I see, I see. Thanks for letting me know, kid. I see, I see. It seems they’re not total idiots after all.”
There was a sudden strange smell. It wasn’t sulfurous like the gas the Ground Spiders used, but something sharp and acrid that made my eyes burn.
This was the real trap. The depth of Yakomaru’s cunning sent chills up my spine. He had a plan within a plan within a plan. The blitz attack was meant to fail from the very beginning.
And no one had thought that he would sacrifice his own troops to the poison gas.
Chapter 3
We watched with bated breath. What would these two cantus masters do about the poison gas?
Nothing. Koufuu Hino’s bulging eyes returned to normal and he fanned himself lazily while Shisei Kaburagi stood motionless with his arms crossed.
“The wind…”
Satoru was the first to notice. The breeze that had been blowing until a moment ago died down. The acrid smell was disappearing.
The breeze started again. A soft, barely perceptible breath of air blowing in the opposite direction.
The wind grew stronger until it felt almost like a gale.
“I can’t believe it. …they reversed the direction of the wind,” I whispered incredulously.
I couldn’t imagine that either of them had the power to do it.
“Seriously. I would never be able to do this.”
Satoru seemed thoroughly impressed as well. He himself had created a tornado to sweep away the poison gas the Ground Spiders used, but the area had been windless at the time, and he had only moved the air in a limited space.
At night, the wind came down from the mountains, across the plains and toward the sea. It might feel like just a gentle breeze, but it was part of a much larger pressure system. Reversing it would take an absurd amount of energy, and I couldn’t even begin to imagine what sort of mental image was used to do it.
We still couldn’t see the queerat troop hiding what used to be upwind, but sounds of panic and cries of pain drifted over to us. That was only to be expected. After all, they were suddenly being choked by their own poison gas.
“Ufufufufufufu,” Koufuu Hino chuckled unpleasantly. “Silly fools. No, even fools could do better. Did you actually think you could kill us, the gods among gods, with such a pitiful strategy?”
His bald head turned as red as a boiled octopus and he fanned himself rapidly. A lewd smile played about his thick lips and he licked them incessantly.
“Now then, let’s have some fun. Foolish little rats, what shall I do with you? Eheeheeheeheeheehee. …won’t you come and play?”
The first wave of queerats had numbered four or five thousand. They stood silently in front of Koufuu Hino, then in one mechanical motion, divided neatly into two groups.
For a moment, I thought they were about to attack, but something didn’t seem right. The queerats stood as still as statues. One group turned, not toward us, but toward the second group of queerats, and readied their guns.
“How ’bout it Kaburagi-chan? Pick a side.” Koufuu Hino’s voice had a hysterical edge to it. “You can even choose first.”
Shisei Kaburagi shook his head, arms still crossed. “No thanks.”
“Eeeh, that’s too bad. It’s boring playing by myself, but I guess I don’t have a choice. Well, let’s get started.”
Koufuu Hino took a deep breath and clapped his hands together. The sound echoed loudly around the square.
“Aaaiaiaiaiaiai!”
He clapped to a beat, and his eyes bulged out once again.
“Aaara! Essasaaa!” he yelled thunderously.
All at once, the second group of queerats attacked the first.
“I don’t believe this. How the hell is he doing it…?” Satoru said, sounding dumbstruck.
Using cantus to control a living being was extremely difficult. Simply inducing emotions like fear or anger required considerable skill; making someone perform complex movements required a complete image of the target’s brain. Only someone with an exceptional level of concentration and imagination could pull it off.
Koufuu Hino was controlling upwards of two thousand queerats. To be able to manipulate such a great number of highly intelligent creatures didn’t seem to be humanly possible. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that his powers were almost godlike.
The controlled queerats moved like wind-up toys, attacking with horrific speed. The other group fought desperately, but they seemed unable to recover from the terror of seeing their friends being turned into brainless killing machines.
I suddenly remembered that Satoru had used the same tactic once. He had controlled queerat corpses to frighten the deeply superstitious Ground Spiders. Of course, the actual skill involved in doing that was nowhere near Koufuu Hino’s level, but the end result was probably just as effective.
“Smash, smash, smash your brain. When the soldiers come, slam the door. Once they’re gone, take a breath. Naked mice, scurry, squeak. Squeak, squeak, squeak.”16
He pounded the drum hanging from the tower and sang at the top of his lungs. The queerats slashed with their knives, blood and severed heads flying thro
ugh the air. I could barely look at the ghastly sight.
“Ah…” Satoru said, staring transfixed at the bloody slaughter.
“What?”
“The controlled queerats are all moving the same way…”
Although he was a good distance away, Koufuu Hino heard and stuck out his tongue at us. There was a nasty look in his bulbous eyes.
“Oh ho. I’ve been found out. Fail. My trick’s been revealed.”
I finally saw it. Most of them were indeed doing the same thing. Some were even firing at empty space. There were probably only about ten different movement patterns being used.
“I’d love to show you that I can control each one individually, but with so many of them, it’s a pain in the ass. Plus I’m kinda drunk…”
The queerats continued attacking without pause even as Koufuu Hino rambled on incoherently.
“Uheeheehee. Even if they want to run, my queerats won’t spare them. But even with me controlling them, victory isn’t guaranteed. I’ll be pissed if people think this is all I, Koufuu, am capable of. So let’s kick it up a notch!”
The controlled queerats began to attack with such speed that their wild, flailing movements ripped their own joints from their sockets.
“Eehheeheeheeheeheeheehee….!”
Koufuu Hino’s high, hysterical laughter rose above the stinking mist of blood spreading throughout the square.
We were so spellbound by the sight of the bloody massacre that we completely let our guard down. The combination of intense anger and hatred toward the queerats, and exaltation of being freed from our fear, was undoubtedly one of the reasons for our abnormal state of mind.
It might sound ridiculous, but it’s possible that even this was part of Yakomaru’s plan. If it wasn’t, then what happened next would have to be the result of unbelievably good timing.
With only a third of the two thousand queerat soldiers left, it seemed victory was at hand. Then came a sudden, deafening blast.
Ten more blasts followed. Then one final explosion so powerful it made the ground shake.
I couldn’t understand what was going on. Neither could anyone else, I suspect.
Later, testimonies by survivors painted a hazy picture of what had happened.
As we had been busy watching the slaughter, a couple of queerats that had been waiting for just this moment let off a volley of shots simultaneously. They had two targets. Koufuu Hino and Shisei Kaburagi.
We had all vaguely assumed that the queerats wanted to kill as many humans as possible. We thought their attacks were nothing more than the desperate struggles of a cornered animal hoping to wound its predator even as it died. But Yakomaru had plotted for victory from the very beginning. And the crux of his strategy was to take the lives of Koufuu Hino and Shisei Kaburagi.
Three of the shots had hit Koufuu Hino. One had gone straight through his thick chest. He slowly sank to the ground.
At the same time, four soldiers quickly surrounded Shisei Kaburagi and blasted him with shots. The smoke from the gunpowder was so thick, he was completely obscured. Two queerats took the opportunity to rush in close. They were wrapped in bombs and caltrops, and once they were in point-blank range, blew themselves up.
How did they manage to get so close so quickly? Everyone wondered the same thing. The answer was simple. They were nearby all along. Inside the circular area protected by Shisei Kaburagi.
Everyone must have been dumbstruck at the sight of gun-wielding queerats appearing in their midst. Because at first glance, they appeared totally human.
But if you looked closely, there were visible differences. Their faces had no hair, eyebrows, or eyelashes, and their bleached skin were as wrinkled as a hundred year-old man’s. You could even see a glimpse of their yellow front teeth under their lips.
If the Ground Spider queen could control the types of offspring she had to create mutants like blowdogs and leaf-fighters, then it wasn’t out of the question to give birth to queerats that could pass for humans.
The false humans’ camouflage had two effects. The first was the ability to blend into a crowd. In normal situations, their appearances were strange enough that they might be noticed. But during a surprise attack, no one was going to be paying close attention.
The second effect could be seen in the queerat snipers. Any figure that resembled a queerat would be instantly killed with cantus. But in the dark, at a distance, the false humans triggered our attack control mechanism, making it impossible to use our powers. Even Shisei Kaburagi was no exception. They must have thought that with the combination of false human suicide bombers and snipers, even the most god-like human would not survive.
And yet, the explosion was cut off. When the smoke cleared, there stood Shisei Kaburagi.
On either side of him were two strange spheres, two or three meters across, and clear like a soap bubble. Smoke and fire whirled inside of them.
He had managed to contain both blasts. It was like the time Satoru had suppressed the blowdog explosion, except this was perfectly sealed.
Shisei Kaburagi’s gaze traveled over the fallen Koufuu Hino. His expression didn’t change, but a aura of burning rage radiated from him.
“I will deal with this. Everyone, please suppress your cantus,” he said calmly, though the terrible force of his anger was still palpable.
He removed his sunglasses.
A silent stir rippled through the crowd. Very few people had ever seen Shisei Kaburagi’s face.
He had large, almond-shaped eyes that shone with a clear light. Now that his entire face was revealed, he looked almost handsome. Except for his strange irises.
There were two pupils in each eye, each surrounded by a golden iris that glittered in the darkness. This was a genetic trait passed down through the Kaburagi bloodline, and was said to be proof of the family’s extraordinary powers.
Speaking of names, Shisei’s true name was四星 [Four Stars]. 肆 was an alternate form of 四, and it had the added meaning of ‘to kill’.
“Filth,” Shisei Kaburagi said in a low voice.
Two holes appeared in the bubbles holding the pent-up explosion. The suppressed energy shot directly at the two remaining false human queerats.
The caltrops tore through them at such high speed that their torsos were instantly vaporized. The remnants of their bodies hit the ground with a thud.
Shisei Kaburagi turned his terrible gaze upon the crowd. Everyone stood rooted to the spot, not even daring to breathe.
Suddenly, about a dozen people were lifted into the air. Looking at the suspended, struggling forms, I realized that they were all false humans.
“Did you think you could deceive me?”
The queerats were catapulted out into the darkness at supersonic speeds like ricocheting pachinko balls.
“Watch out!” I shouted.
The few soldiers that had survived Koufuu Hino’s slaughter had gathered up their remaining ammunition and were sneaking up behind Shisei Kaburagi to launch one final attack.
Shisei Kaburagi didn’t even bother to turn around.
The air seemed to thicken as the arrows and bullets flew toward him, and they slowly came to a stop.
He turned, almost lazily, and looked at the queerats with his four-pupiled eyes.
In a flash so bright I thought my retinas would burn off, the remaining six hundred or so soldiers evaporated. All that remained was a thick mist. A second later a burning wind swept over us. If I hadn’t used my cantus to protect my face just in time, I would’ve been blistered by the heat.
Shisei Kaburagi walked slowly toward Koufuu Hino. The arrows and bullets clattered to the ground behind him.
“Koufuu. Hold on.”
As Shisei Kaburagi lifted him up, Koufuu Hino opened his eyes and coughed up a lungful of blood.
“I can’t believe it. Those l-little rats actually got me…”
“I’m sorry. I was careless.”
Koufuu Hino didn’t seem to hear him.
�
�Why were the children of god given such…frail bodies…”
Satoru and I began to run toward him to help, but Shisei Kaburagi shook his head slowly.
“The artist in me…is losing its flame…what a waste,” he continued to whisper incoherently. “May I leave beauty in my wake…”
Those were his last words. A faint glowing image lit the darkness. It was a young woman. I watched with bated breath. She stood naked in a field bathed in the light of a setting sun, smiling gently at us. Even now, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything more beautiful.
Just as I was wondering who she was, the image slowly faded away into the darkness.
Koufuu Hino, wielder of the most powerful cantus, had passed from this world.
Shisei Kaburagi put on his sunglasses and stood up.
“Everyone, please stay calm. The immediate danger has passed. Are members of the Security Council present?”
There was movement in the crowd. First to stumble forward was Mr. Kaneko. His face was deathly pale and shock seemed to have rendered him speechless. Next came my parents, and a wave of relief washed over me. I was certain they had survived, but seeing it for myself brought tears to my eyes. I ran forward and embraced them.
Behind them, I saw Tomiko walking calmly toward us.
“How’s Koufuu?”
“He’s gone,” Shisei Kaburagi said.
“I see… Every queerat that was even marginally involved with this will be exterminated. All others are considered suspects until further notice.”
“Of course.”
“I never thought this would actually happen,” Tomiko said in a harsh voice.
“That Yakomaru. Do not underestimate his intelligence or the extent of his plans. Doing so was what killed Koufuu, powerful as he was. Do you understand?”
“Yes. Please don’t worry. Attacks are useless against me.”
“True. You have a 360 degree field of vision with no blind spots, and can even see through objects used for cover. Your reflexes surpass the highest limits of normal nerve cells. Even I can’t think of a way to bring you down. …still, I can’t help but feel uneasy.”
