"This is… past the gate we couldn't reach. No escape, Margaret!"
"Like moths to a flame, you hag!"
Chasing Margaret, she crashes through the building's wall. Mia and I follow into a structure where the first-floor ceiling and second-floor floor are smashed, creating a vast space.
"I've been waiting! Here, I can go wild. My altar and entrusted treasure are up there!"
Margaret, spider-like, clings to the wall, her head swiveling to glare. Bugs pour from her nest-like abdomen. I torch them with the burner; Mia swings her bat.
"Useless! That won't work anymore!"
"Straight at me? Perfect for batting practice!"
"Is Mia treating this like a batting cage?"
"Then try this!"
Margaret grips the wall with her lower four legs, spits thread, weaves it with her upper four into a club, and swings hard.
"Mia, watch out!"
"Ethan!?"
I shove Mia aside. Next thing, I'm airborne. I see Mia and Evelyn, stunned, and my headless body.
"Oh."
My head's severed. I roll on the floor. I'm dead.
"Try a hundred, a thousand times, I'll redo it!!"
Evelyn's voice snaps me back. I was spacing out before the showdown with Margaret.
"What's wrong, Ethan? Zoned out?"
"No, let's go!"
"Watch for new attacks, Ethan! Seriously!"
"Got it!"
Nodding at Evelyn's serious face, I charge in with the burner. Margaret's perched on the wall of the blown-out space. I draw my handgun and fire. She skitters, dodging, as I keep shooting.
"Pea shooter? Think that'll hit domesticate me? Scared, huh? Pathetic for a man!"
"She's the one scared of you."
She scatters bugs and fires white bullets from holes in her fluid body. Mia bats them away; I dodge, shooting, trying to close in. A white bullet hits my torso, spreading into a spiderweb net, binding me. Margaret's thread links to me, pulling me up.
"Caught you. No need to be scared… What's your plan?"
"Damn it!?"
It's bad! A long arm pierces my torso. Pain screams, but the thread snaps, freeing me. I fire the burner point-blank.
"GYAAAAH!?"
"Serves you right, hag…"
Margaret screams, flinging me. I crash through the brittle floor, falling below. A hole in my gut—will first aid fix this?
"You hurt Ethan!"
"You'll pay!"
Mia swings her bat as Margaret crawls, burning. The fluid body absorbs the blow, spins under Mia's legs, and wraps a thread around her neck, choking her.
"Guh!?"
"I spared you because you were favored as a mother. Evelyn will be so sad!"
"Stop, I'm sad enough!"
Again, Evelyn's name. Why? No time—! Ignoring the slow-healing gut pain, I leap. I won't let Mia die!
"Haaa!"
"No worries. I'll send you both to hell together."
I cut the thread, freeing Mia, and swing my knife to keep Margaret at bay. She taunts as I pull Mia back, swapping knife for handgun.
"I'll go to hell alone!"
"Ethan, that's reckless!"
"Don't mess around, get off!"
I jam the handgun's muzzle into her nest-hole and fire wildly. Her eight legs stab my back and gut, but I hold on, shoving my left hand into her fluid torso, grabbing the lantern.
"If you push the impossible, reason gives way!"
I yank the lantern, toss it into my backpack, and throw it to Mia, coughing blood.
"Mia! Take it to the yard! Zoe can cure you and escape!"
"No, Ethan! You…!"
"Enough, Ethan. Get off!"
"GUAAAAH!?"
Margaret's leg pierces my chest, crushing my heart. I die.
Repeat, repeat. Triple digits now, maybe? Ethan's deaths far surpass the chainsaw duel with Jack. Facing a Dimitrescu-level monster with underpowered weapons, a psyche set on protecting Mia, overconfidence from cornering her, no terrain knowledge, fighting on her home ground, unknown attacks. Every disadvantage stacks up, unbeatable. Worse, Ethan's starting to doubt me, half-ignoring my warnings.
It's like before. Teamed with Madao, overwhelming force, yet Miranda's unknown power crushed us, letting Ethan die. Same now.
Mia's no burden, but her bat's short-range against Margaret's long-range is a terrible matchup.
To win: more firepower, keep Mia safe, fight solo, stay sharp, learn the terrain, avoid her home ground, predict all attacks, earn Ethan's trust, and get him to follow my lead—all at once.
"…Impossible, right?"
Weakness slips out. Even bodiless, crossing time and oceans repeatedly exhausts me.
"What am I doing…?"
This is suicide. I'm doing this insane task to die. To change history's fate, give my beloved father and sister—Ethan and Rose—time together, and vanish without regret. Four years, a fleeting miracle before the explosion. Less than a year in, I can't falter now.
"I'm the big sister! No running, coward! No whining—fight for Rose's smile! I endured as the eldest; a second daughter wouldn't. Fulfill your duty! As long as Rose's happy future shines, I'll never break!!"
I resolve, racing through the mycelium network. The village's sky, seen too many times, blurs past. I turn west, flying to Louisiana, USA. This time, I'll save Ethan! …Wait, think straight. I'm not dumb—my weaponized knowledge, though dulled by happy memories, must find a way.
Continue till we clear it! Evelyn's situation is clearer now. Her lines echo Demon Slayer's big brother, sister-style. Ethan's growing suspicious, their trust shaky. Mia's presence pushes him to reckless attacks. They need firepower and a new battlefield. Can Evelyn figure it out?
Hope you enjoy the next part! Feedback, typos, or ratings super appreciated—more feedback, faster I write!