Manipulators control their subjects through some kind of medium. He had an idea about that as well. It was the scent wafting from the girl's body.
From the first moment they met, he had sensed a scent similar to fresh flowers. He thought she might be wearing perfume, but it was hard to imagine she would be wearing perfume in a situation where she was even struggling for clothes.
It was an indescribably alluring fragrance that strangely drew one in. It was one of the factors making her atmosphere mysterious. One's eyes were naturally drawn toward her. This likely acted as a medium for her Manipulator ability, affecting the birds and insects.
Even so, before the battle started, the scent wasn't that noticeable, but from around the time Mock launched his attack, the smell grew rapidly stronger. Now, it was so thick it was choking. Even a good fragrance is no different from a stench if it's too much. Mock was frowning at the powerful odor.
He suspected she was transforming the aura coming from her body into scent components. If this were an application of Transmutation, it would be an ability that required a high level of difficulty just to use alongside Manipulation. It wasn't clear how she had come to master such an ability, but including her regenerative power, she had an abnormal constitution.
Mock himself was a Manipulator and had seen several users who controlled animals as their subjects. He had heard of cases similar to hers, such as a user who controlled ferocious animals using a special incense. However, he felt nothing but loathing for them.
He particularly felt like vomiting at those who forced wild animals to obey for their own convenience without considering their ecology at all. He believed they should be respected as they are, in nature, along with their way of life and environment. In that sense, this girl was the type of person Mock hated most.
Naturally, the violence he inflicted on the girl increased. He continued to strike the girl, who was curled up like a turtle, one-sidedly and without mercy.
"Wait, Professor! Don't start the fun without me!"
He snapped back to his senses at the sound of Pejjo's voice. The girl had been enduring attacks of a power that wouldn't have been strange if her internal organs had ruptured and she had died. Yet, she was still stubbornly alive.
Mock realized his mind was in disarray. His control over his aura and his attention were both becoming scattered. Usually, no matter how much he hated someone, he wouldn't let such immaturity—losing himself to anger and being driven to violence—show on the surface.
The girl's fragrance, filling the air instead of the smell of blood, got on his nerves terribly. He felt as if the evil heart he usually kept tucked away was being dragged out from the depths of his soul. Not just ferocity, but various desires were quietly welling up.
The ability the girl possessed was valuable beyond comparison. Excellent appearance, a scent that charmed people, regenerative power that healed wounds in an instant, and the ability to control small animals like familiars—if she were to suck human blood, she would truly be a vampire. If she were put up for a dark auction with such a pitch, an immense amount of wealth would change hands.
He didn't particularly want money, but handing this over to the organization would be a great achievement. It would surely shut up the people in the organization who were always making annoying demands. Peaceful days, where no one would interfere, were waiting for him.
He began to think it would be a waste to kill the girl here.
---
I've run out of options. There is no longer anything I can do.
The girl's body, battered like a worn-out rag, does heal, but it requires my life force. The girl consumed life force like a bucket with a hole in the bottom.
The main body of the insect had been caught in the net. Even if it tried to bite its way out, its fangs couldn't reach the spots where its legs were entangled. The more it struggled, the more it got tangled, and it became unable to move. Soon, however, it lost even the strength to struggle.
My life force had decreased too much. I already felt as if I had reached the bottom, yet it was being sucked out toward the girl beyond my limits. It was all I could do just to remain conscious. If I let my guard down, I would likely faint at any moment.
As the consumption grew, the girl's recovery rate also dropped. The men began to ease up on the torture in response, but I couldn't rejoice. It was nothing more than prolonging the time until death.
They asked me questions. Where, how, and for what purpose did I come to this island, about the abilities, and where did I get the red insect? Most were questions I couldn't answer. Even if I answered honestly that I didn't know, I was attacked. Perhaps suspecting I was still hiding a weapon, I was told to take off my clothes. I was told to crawl and beg for forgiveness, to beg for my life in a pathetic way. Even if I quietly obeyed those demands, the treatment didn't change at all.
Eventually, the questions stopped. In their place, only one thing was demanded.
'Show me a face filled with despair.'
I thought I would be toyed with and killed just like this. I thought the goal was to hurt me and kill me after making me suffer, but gradually, I saw points that were hard to understand. They weren't particularly enjoying the torture. If anything, I caught glimpses of them wanting to get it over with quickly. I felt as if the demand to 'despair' was more than just a matter of personal taste; it seemed to have a deeper meaning.
"Enough already!"
Mock shouted. But that voice wasn't directed at me. He struck the man who was framing the camera and taking photos with the metal rod he was holding.
"Ouch! Hey, Professor, why..."
"Why aren't you activating the ability? How long do you plan to make me go along with this pointless farce!"
They didn't seem particularly close to begin with, but they had finally started fighting among themselves. If I were to launch a counterattack, there would be no better opportunity than this. However, my body no longer had the strength to even move a single finger.
"I want to take the 'Best Shot' too! But I have my pride as a photographer! This girl is undoubtedly the best subject. Just looking through the viewfinder makes inspiration well up! To leave this incredible passion as a work of art, I can't allow any compromise! Understand me, Professor..."
"I can't deal with this... Do whatever you want on your own."
Saying that, Mock left the spot. To me, he was a superhuman. He possessed an incredible power that transcended the physical difference between an adult and a child—a power that was impossible for a human being. This girl's body was beyond common sense, but his power was also out of the ordinary.
Still, the sight of the man sitting deep in a chair and resting his body made him look like an old man of his age. Beaded sweat was on his forehead, and he was breathing with his shoulders moving up and down. It seemed he wasn't someone who possessed physical strength that was completely removed from a normal person's.
Even so, he showed no sign of letting go of his watchful gaze and the crossbow with an arrow notched. I was made to realize, to a painful degree, that anything I did was useless.
"Hey, little girl. I just want to take a photo of you. Truly, I don't want to do this, you know? This is the first time even for me to have such a hard shoot. Listen, there are pains that humans can't endure. Mental violation isn't actually that big of a deal. Being raped, or being made to kill each other in a family... that stuff actually hits surprisingly hard, I guess. It probably does great damage in the long run, but people close their hearts, you know? They shut down their minds and cancel out the shock. In the end, 'pain' is the best. Pain carved into your own flesh. There aren't many people who can endure that."
The man began to talk rapidly. I couldn't understand even ten percent of the content. My consciousness was already hazy. I should have been lying on the floor, but I had the illusion that only my senses were detaching and sinking into the mud. The man thrust the metal rod into the girl's abdomen and moved it around as if stirring a stew pot. The pot bubbled, and the ingredients spilled out. No matter how much my consciousness was clouded, the pain alone burned my brain vividly and snatched away my life force.
"How do you feel right now? It's hard, isn't it? It hurts... Express that emotion! You don't have to think about difficult things! Just pure agony! The radiance of life shown at the moment of death! Put your raw emotions into your expression! Please! I can't let you die just like this! Please, please, please..."
The man pleaded with a voice that sounded like it was about to break into tears. If it was despair, I had already felt it. No matter what was demanded of me beyond this, there was nothing left to give. I couldn't understand what the man wanted me to do.
"You don't understand? I see... then, let's do this!"
The man was mumbling to himself while scratching his head. Eventually, he took out a single photograph from somewhere.
"Pop the Art."
Something slid out from the photo. An object of a size that clearly wouldn't fit in the frame of the photo appeared. It was a human. It was a man with his limbs tied by restraints and wearing a gag.
"This one was quite a wonderful subject... In the middle of the torture, his micropores accidentally opened. Well, it happens often, but he must have had talent for Nen because he learned 'Ten' before he died. Nen users have sturdy bodies, so they're worth torturing. So! I came up with a nice idea. I ordered a special poison. It's powder from a plant called Gimpi Gimpi; I don't know what kind of poison it is, but it's apparently very painful. I rubbed this into the skin of his entire body several times and let it sit overnight, and it's done!"
Pejjo grabbed the hair of the man who came out of the photo and pulled it up as if to show it to me. The man's eyes were wide open without blinking. But his gaze wasn't focused. He only moved his bloodshot eyes around. His face, which was covered in sweat, was flushed, and his veins were bulging. He was making a raspy sound like a millstone turning from behind the gag.
"Look at this face! A masterpiece! This is it, this is it! I'm asking for something like this! Oh, and please don't give me any fake acting! Use this as a reference and show me your own kind of despair!"
I could only think he was insane. I couldn't understand this man, the old researcher, this space itself where phenomena beyond human understanding were flying around—nothing. Or was this what "the appearance of a human" was naturally like?
Even if I were to make an expression that this man named Pejjo would be satisfied with, I couldn't believe at all that the future beyond that would be a bright one. Surely, I would end up with the same fate as the man who came out of the photo.
In that case, wouldn't it be better to die here? They seemingly want to make me despair while keeping me alive no matter what. Then, I will shatter that expectation and die with a blank expression. Isn't that the last resistance I can offer?
"What are you doing?"
While I was making my decision, Mock, who had been watching quietly until then, interjected. He was glaring at me. Had he seen through my inner thoughts? He was a man with incredibly sharp intuition.
"What's with that hand? What did you just do?"
But something seemed strange. I didn't understand the meaning of that point. Was something wrong with my hand?
"Pejjo, look at that thing's right hand. There was a suspicious movement."
"Eh? Right hand?"
Right hand or otherwise, my body was so exhausted that I couldn't even make a slight stir. There was no strength left even for a tiny action.
"Ah, it looks like she's writing something with blood. Let's see... 'Save'?"
"I don't think she's asking for help from an ally, though."
I desperately held onto my fading consciousness. I felt that something important was happening right now.
According to them, I wrote a message in blood on the floor with my right hand. It wasn't something I had written consciously. And the word was 'Save'.
"Are you asking God for salvation? Give up, this is reality."
It wasn't an action I took of my own will. I could only think that my body had moved on its own. This body must have sent out some kind of message.
There were many things I didn't understand about this girl. I had treated her like my own body, but I couldn't assert that she was a mindless doll.
What did 'Save' mean? Was she herself appealing to me? I am the one responsible for falling into such a situation. I can understand if she wants to blame me, but there's nothing I can do anymore.
But I couldn't give up there. It was a tiny change, but there was a sensation that something was definitely moving. My heart, which had been only waiting for death, wavered.
'Save' was likely a message directed at me. But who was the target? I must not stop thinking. I listed the people in this place.
Me, the girl, Mock, Pejjo, the man in the photo...
My finger twitched. This time, I could recognize it as well. As if pointing out the correct answer, the finger reacted slightly.
The target to save was the 'man in the photo'. Of course, I didn't know the reason. In this situation where I myself was about to die, why did I have to help a stranger?
But right now, there was no time to pursue that reasoning. It was a situation where I could only die anyway. Then, let's leave myself to this change.
I decided to save the man. As if responding to that thought, my hand moved. Life force began to seep out from the bottom of my abdomen little by little. It wasn't power I had sent in. Life force was being born from the girl's own body. It was a reaction that hadn't existed before.
"...You can still move... What tenacity. Are you a monster?"
I put my hands on the floor and raised my body. But I couldn't stand up yet. I didn't have enough strength. I needed more life force.
If saving someone is what the girl wants, I have no intention of denying it. She is my other half. The only thing I can do right now is to follow that wish. If that's enough, I'll think it as much as she wants.
"Save...!"
At that moment, something occurred inside my abdomen.
A foreign object entered my lower abdomen. Someone who was not myself was born there.
I became unable to think of anything. My ego was cut into pieces, melted into a slurry, and became one with someone else.
"Aga... gak...!"
If this is what pain is, then the agony I have felt until now was nothing. Black steam erupted from my body. Everything before my eyes was being painted pitch black.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaa...!!"
I am swallowed by evil.
"Best Shot!!"
Light flashed. My body, illuminated by the flash, was cut away from the background as if by scissors and vanished into the camera lens as if being sucked in.