It reminds me of a burning tank.
On the battlefield where the fighting had ended, the smoke of gunpowder lingered for a long time. A cold wind howled through the ruins, fires flickered on the bricks, and tanks burned in the middle of the streets.
The wide-open hatch suggested its final moments.
Someone probably threw a Molotov cocktail at it.
Of course, no one moved the abandoned tank, making it a useless relic, but it still continued to burn.
Whether exposed to the biting wind or enveloped in rain and mist.
Only the burnt armor was making a sound.
Sizzle, sizzle. As if resisting the cold air of the raindrops.
He kept staring at it.
"...rain"
It was still raining.
Looking up, I see thick, dark gray clouds stretching across the sky. Raindrops fall silently.
For Bomb, a weaponized human, this was a serious situation.
If your body gets wet, the bomb's power will decrease.
But standing right beside me was a demon in a far more serious condition than my own.
Anastasia was evaporating the rainwater that touched her skin with a sizzling sound, causing white smoke to rise from her entire body.
"What was that guy just now...?"
"A shapeshifter. I think they're an assassin from some country."
"Transformation... So, Reze, you were transforming into me?"
"Yeah"
"I see. So that's how he was able to use Bomb's ability."
Because of that shapeshifter, my large warhead detonated, and the bridge collapsed.
We almost fell into the ravine, but... Denji, Anastasia, and Polina are all used to emergencies. We somehow managed to escape down the path behind us. Nayuta ended up being carried by Denji.
...I was worried about the two ordinary girls. I hope they're still alive somehow...but I don't have the time to go look for them right now.
"By the way, is that okay?"
"What"
"Rain... That's the fire demon's weakness, isn't it?"
Anastasia's body was like a hot iron plate. Steam continued to rise from her skin indefinitely.
It looked as if the coldness of the rainwater had drained away the warmth of its life force.
"...It hurts at first. The cold slowly seeps into the core of your body. Now I don't even know how I'm moving my body. In short, it's just like winter swimming training. "
нет проблем(There is no problem.)
He looks normal.
But even I, a Bomb Girl who shares the same weakness to water, am feeling my body heavy in this situation... I wonder how the Fire Demon feels about it?
"...in particular?"
"I said there was no problem."
"Report accurately to the commander."
"...He's an inflexible guy."
"Are you saying that?"
"Hmph. Oh well. ...I can't use my fire-starting ability then."
"Anything else?"
"I'm fine. Really. I'm fine."
"Okay."
Anastasia and I are standing side by side in the middle of the road.
They were all looking in the direction of a collapsed bridge, and on the opposite bank, a gigantic demon was staring at them with the look of a predator stalking its prey.
A ten-armed demon summoned by Santa Claus.
Anastasia and I were waiting to repel them.
Denji, Nayuta, and Polina are heading towards the edge of a tree-covered cliff to confront the puppet soldiers crawling up from the valley.
...Polina is also a fire demon. I wonder if she'll be able to withstand this rain as a fighting force. I hope she'll be able to stay relatively dry under the umbrella of branches and leaves.
"a"
Suddenly, I remembered.
"what up"
"That demon. It's probably a demon that hunts humans."
"How do you know that?"
His face seemed to ask, "Is this an enemy you've never encountered before?"
I couldn't help but stare at it intently.
"Don't you remember?"
"What?"
"The devil's list. The one Polina submitted a long time ago."
"??"
"...You know that present for National Foundation Day? We didn't get any material things, but we got the right to access any information we wanted. Polina got a list of demons, I got a list of devil hunters from each country, you got a psychology book, and Veronica got... ah, well, yeah..."
"Oh, I remember that. I've forgotten the details, though."
"Really? Well, I'll give you a brief explanation. It's a 'human-hunting demon'—extremely warlike towards humans, prioritizing women and children. It's very strong and can turn invisible. It has no weaknesses."
"That's useless information. And what's this about human hunting? What era are you talking about? Why are such demons still feared?"
"There are still people who hunt humans."
Historically, the hunting of Native Americans by immigrants to America is well-known, and in modern times, Australians hunt Native Americans. Of course, this is not legal. However, it falls into a gray area legally in the countries in question, because the targets are not recognized as human beings.
They all said the same thing:
Should you shoot the child, then shoot the mother who rushes to his side?
Would you shoot the mother, and then shoot the infant clinging to her fallen body?
Australia was a country that was seriously debating which method was superior.
"Ahhhhhhh...!"
Far across the river—the man-hunting demon—crouched its massive body and leaped with explosive force.
It leaps over a valley dozens of meters wide and lands with a roar. The impact sends pebbles flying and cracks appear in the sturdy asphalt.
huge.
Its massive body, nearly four meters tall, looked like a towering building up close.
If you didn't lift your head, all you could see were its legs, and following those legs upwards, you first saw its impressively sculpted abdominal muscles, followed by magnificent pectoral muscles that looked as if they were filled with taut rubber. Both were in human form, yet nearly ten times the size. And yet, it had ten arms from the shoulders down, which made no sense. Five pairs of vicious claws, reminiscent of a grizzly bear, were spread wide on each side and raised in a menacing display.
It's an almost comically intimidating presence. I imagine this is what it would feel like if there were a monster.
It let out a roar.
"A-B-O-R-I-J-N-I!!!"
I could feel the vibrations all the way through my skin.
But Anastasia doesn't flinch.
"I know. People like you are what we call 'bad guys,' right?"
I wasn't intimidated either.
It was a nostalgic feeling, as if some part of my emotions was numb.
During my time as a guinea pig, I was forced to fight demons like this many times. Sometimes alone, and sometimes with others if the opponent was strong.
Whenever I got to work with Anastasia, it was a "lucky" experience.
No matter what kind of demon it was, they would defeat it. They had absolute confidence that they would dodge, parry, and counterattack every single attack.
"Stuff it! Stuff it! It's going to be displayed in a museum!!"
Anastasia inhaled the suffocating smell of blood. She indulged in nostalgia, as if smelling the rich aroma of wine. Her thoughts drifted to her only home on this earth—to the battlefield she cherished.
Open your eyes wide.
"Come on, you amateurs from the Southern Hemisphere. I'll show you how the Soviets did things."
The sideways blow narrowly missed catching Anastasia's cheek by a hair's breadth.
Before the right arm that had cut through the air could be pulled back, other right arms were unleashed in a torrent, but all of them cut through the air. The woman had already slipped through the five fully extended giant arms. She flashed the knife she had laid to the side and slid it through the gaps in the ribs.
The sound of a blade snapping.
The devil's sit-ups were stopped midway.
The giant left arm scraped the ground as it attacked the fire demon, but my right fist intervened.
Bang!
White smoke rises.
It enveloped the entire area... and I had a bad feeling about it.
It was tough. Taking into account that the rain had weakened the explosion's power, this demon still had a long way to go—
Boom
An ominous sound from above.
The devil's downward swing cuts through the white smoke and approaches.
In that instant, I decided to accept the challenge.
Raising one arm and concentrating for a split second, at the moment of contact, I become a channel to deflect the damage.
The kinetic energy from the receiving right arm is transferred to the deltoid muscle and spine, and the leg is brought straight through to press the impact force into the asphalt.
Dot
The ground beneath my feet cracked, but I myself suffered almost no damage. Just as I had once blocked the heel drop of the violent demon, I managed to withstand the gigantic downward swing of the devil in the form of a frail human.
Yes, I can do this too.
Because human bones are arranged vertically, attacks from directly above are the most effective at penetrating the human body.
However, Anastasia can also deflect attacks from the side.
He withstood the devil's sweeping attack, which possessed destructive power comparable to a collision between large trucks, and once again absorbed the impact through the soles of his feet into the ground.
I twisted the energy I received inside my body, shifting it from a horizontal to a diagonal direction. I understood the theory, but it was too difficult to time it correctly in actual combat. Even a split-second misstep would cause the impact force to explode inside my shoulder, and considering the cost, it was far better to just guard normally.
But if you do that, you'll never be able to deflect damage from the side—
"As always, it's just so incomprehensible!"
"What the hell?!"
"I'm saying it's amazing!"
"Oh really? That's amazing, isn't it? ...Right? I'm amazing!"
Anastasia and I positioned ourselves in front of and to the side of the demon, respectively, and continued to unleash a crossfire, or rather, a cross-shaped barrage of attacks. The main attack came from the fire demon's chaotic flurry of blows, while at key moments, I, as the bomb girl, would unleash my full firepower.
Bogaa
"...He's tough!"
This demon is tough, fast, and strong.
If we were real human beings, even if we had ten lives, it wouldn't have been enough.
I slowly approached, provoking an attack, and while dodging its powerful claws, I destroyed one of its elbow joints.
"We're so glad it was us who had to be their opponents!"
"What did you say?"
"If this were the Public Security Bureau, a lot of people would be dead!"
I'm not trying to belittle the people in public security or anything. But without the skills I've cultivated over half my life and the physical abilities of a demon, I wouldn't have been able to stand a chance against them. The right person for the right job... people like us should be assigned to terrifying threats.
"shu"
A powerful kick. She transferred the recoil from the ground to her pelvis and connected it to her fist. With the explosion, the human hunter's stance was thrown to the ground, and this time Anastasia's full-force palm strike pierced him. The massive body was lifted into the air and sent flying, its hands and feet scraping against the ground.
"Phew"
It was a good opportunity to pursue them, but... I was soaked and exhausted.
I sip the blood pack to replenish the energy needed to deliver the final blow.
--I'll finish him off next.
"What does it matter what other people think...?"
Anastasia also swallowed the liquid from the flask. Steam rose from her entire body, and with her gaze fixed on the demon lying prostrate in front of her, she slowly moved her mouth.
"The most important thing is to achieve the mission objectives. Nothing else should be considered."
"A devil hunter's job isn't just about defeating demons."
"...I don't know."
The human hunters slowly rise up.
Of its ten arms, two had exploded and three were broken. Yet, its fighting spirit remained so strong that it gave the illusion of reaching us.
...A demon whose sole purpose is to kill people.
They seemed similar to us guinea pigs, but I immediately dismissed that idea.
"We are human weapons. We are not murderers."
"..."
The results of the battle will vary greatly depending on who is in charge.
For example... even Anastasia, who has absolutely no sense of ethics, might have become an impenetrable guardian if she had been raised and deployed in Japan. It's a meaningless hypothesis, but... I couldn't help but imagine it. Even if it's a form of deception, self-affirmation is necessary for humans.
That human weapon asks a question.
"Hey. What do you think about life?"
"yes?"
"I'm asking you because you seem to be doing well."
He threw the flask away, his eyes distant.
"The world is just... so hard to live in. Normality, common sense, the atmosphere... I can't understand those things. I feel like I don't belong anywhere. That's why in my previous life, I just stayed hidden like a shadow, getting through each day."
"...It was quite a dangerous shadow."
"But having been given a second life... I've come to think it would be a waste to die empty-handed. I want to gain something. That's what I think."
The demon, with little time left to live, calmly uttered his words.
"I'm a warrior. I don't know any other way of life. But I know that dying like this is bad... What should I do?"
"Even if you say that..."
"Reze. Have you ever thought about living your life seriously? Have you ever seriously considered how you should die?"
"I..."
My will is—
To live an honest life.
For the sake of my friends who once couldn't even choose this path, I must live with my head held high and move forward positively.
—That's what I think.
But, if you think about it carefully, it's a strange story.
What does "honest" mean?
What does it mean to be positive?
The crucial content is completely empty.
The guidelines I carefully chose don't reflect reality. What exactly should I aim for, and how should I live my life?
"I..."
I still don't know.
But I also felt it was cowardly to keep putting it off like that.
Anastasia and Polina are apparently going to die soon. They're desperately struggling to stay alive. Thinking about that, shouldn't I also be desperately searching for my own path, making a decision, and starting to move forward?
"Hey Reze. People often say I'm like the Terminator...but even I feel like unnecessary thoughts are peeling away as my death approaches. Succeeding in missions, eliminating traitors...it's all just imitation, and it doesn't feel right..."
The rain continues to fall.
Anastasia was letting the rainwater pouring down on her body evaporate with a sizzling sound, and although she was exposed to the cold wind and her life force was being drained away, she was still alive.
The flame of life is burning.
"In the end, all that's left is a truly simple desire..."
Lower your center of gravity.
The moment I assumed my stance, the man-hunting demon also bent its massive body. It charged forward with the force of a cannonball.
Anastasia's lips curled into a sinister grin.
"I'm strong! Tell me I'm cool more often!!"
@
"Uraa!"
Chainsaw Man's prey, the centipede devil, is sliced in two with a single stroke.
He slashes and cuts down the four-legged creatures that fly in at high speed in response to the sound of the engine.
"Hi, Chainsaw Man. Do you need a balloon?"
I even cut down the mysterious clown-demon.
However, the body, split in two, flanked perfectly still in mid-air. Each part then began to scream and run around.
"Hahaha! This is a human body cutting magic show! There are no tricks or gimmicks!"
"Ugh, they're so annoying! How many of them are there?!"
--The demons summoned by Santa Claus.
As Denji, Polina, and I headed towards the edge of a cliff overgrown with trees, we encountered not puppet soldiers, but a horde of devils.
Denji mercilessly slashes and cuts, while Polina engulfs anyone who gets too close in flames.
Most of the enemies gathered around Chainsaw Man.
Rather, it was the enemies who avoided Polina. The moment she was revealed to be the Fire Demon, she became a source of fear. ...As expected of a transcendent being from hell, the Fire Demon—even the demons who possess her flesh seem to inspire fear.
As a weakened demon of domination, it would be a lie to say I'm not envious.
"Giiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"
"Haha! Hahahaha!"
The creature's corpse is attached to the severed end of the centipede, crawling around on the decaying leaves, while the two halves of the clown bounce like rubber balls.
Furthermore, new types of four-legged creatures began to emerge one after another from the shadows of the trees.
A perfectly square hole, framed by a wooden frame, was gaping open in the ground, and an eerie voice was leaking from the darkness inside, saying, "Help meeeee..."
"Chainsaw Man... Earth's greatest enemy, Chainsaw Man...!"
"Ahh?! Who the hell are you this time?!"
"The Devil of the Forest... Listen, Chainsaw Man... Nature has a heart...! The forest is not a resource for humans...!"
"How should I know!"
"What?! You bastard! You've cut down the trees!!"
Slash, slash, and keep slashing.
I cut it in half, but...it's not dead.
The centipede demon grows longer and longer by connecting with other corpses, the clown is resurrected as its left and right sides fuse together, and the forest demon... oh, it's dead.
The four-legged creature seemed to react to sound and was being drawn to Denji's chainsaw. From the hole in the wooden frame in the ground, the strange cry of "Is anyone there...?" continued to leak out.
"Denji... Cutter!"
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!"
The enemy isn't weak, but Chainsaw Man is superior. He's cut a centipede into 17 pieces, sliced a clown into pieces, and minced up swarms of creatures. Now he's fighting the Press Devil.
"Woof woof woof woof woof woof woof"
"Shut up!"
I looked down at the ground.
A square hole in the decaying leaves. A ladder descends into the darkness, and a relaxed voice calls out from the back, "Come on over..."
A hole that only makes seductive sounds.
Denji is completely unaware of this.
I'm keeping my eyes on the other demons who are rampaging around in a spectacular fashion.
"Here we gooooo!"
"Help meeeee..."
"Here we gooooo!"
"Help..."
"Sooo!"
"Help... help... I said help, damn it!"
The hole is torn.
"Every single one of them has fallen for a monster that's easy to spot! That's not how it works, is it?! Fear increases because you have to go through the steps involved!"
"...What kind of demon are you?"
"Whoa?! A, a, a human...? Oh... a demon... Let's see, who was it again, was there someone like you...?"
"I am the demon of domination."
"Whaaat!? Domination!?"
"I wonder what's wrong."
"Ah! Ah! No! Wait! Wait! ...Uuuu!"
"What kind of demon?"
"I-I'm Aqua from the basement!"
"Aqua?"
"It's a demon!"
The hole is trembling. It's a visually impossible idea, but that's what I thought.
"It's a basement! It's a forbidden zone! There might be a murderer in there! If you go down, you might never be able to return to the surface! Maybe! Isn't that scary?!"
"Not really"
"Aaaah!? You're making fun of meeeee!"
"What do you want to do?"
I crouched down and stared intently into the depths of the hole.
The hole seemed to flinch. Or so it seemed.
"I...I'm going to kill you! I'm going to kill you and become the return of traditional horror!"
"I don't really understand."
"That's why! That's why! Th-fear is the manifestation! Attack! Possession! By following these steps, goodness is desecrated!"
"Such a manual does not exist."
"Fuguh
"You pathetic devil. Nobody fears you. But it's not your fault. You're just immature."
"W-w-what are you..."
"Come here"
I opened my eyes wide and peered in.
I made eye contact with the hole. I was certain.
"I will grant your wish."
I focused my gaze on his wavering resolve.
" Say you'll give everything to me ."
"I offer everything...to the demon of domination..."
You're mine now. My devil.
Body, mind, and soul—I will dye every last bit of them with my own colors.
"Good girl"
That's one for now.
My heart leaped with excitement at having a servant again after so long. The exhilaration of satisfying my instinct for dominance was more pleasant than I had expected, and pleasure seemed to course through my entire body.
Just a few months of patience being released has brought me this much joy. I need to deeply engrave in my mind that I must consciously exercise self-control.
Because the number of servants will only continue to increase.
The sound of wings flapping.
Looking up, I saw a creature with wings made from the arms of an adult man, descending against the now completely dark sky.
"Someday I'll die cutting through the wind! ...Yeehaw! The bird demon is the best!"
They greet you with a big smile.
"Good evening, bird demon."
"Hahaha! All birds are my servants! Can you escape?! Now, let the fun sky burial show begin... oh wait, what?! Ow, birds?! Why are you attacking me?!"
"I have already taken control of the wild birds in this area."
"What?! It's against the rules for anyone other than me to control the birds! Ouch!"
It was exactly like a hornet being swarmed by honeybees; the bird demon, its body pecked by countless wild birds, fell to the ground with a scream.
"Ugh!"
" Don't move ."
"Guh!? Grrr...damn you, demon of domination...!"
The forest, covered in the branches and leaves of the trees, was dimly lit. As the night grew denser, I crouched down before the crawling demon.
"You homeless, unemployed little demon. The human world isn't so kind that you can survive all alone. You'd better choose your path from here... A harsh life, or a new beginning with me."
"Guh, guh, guh... Hmph."
"?"
"Don't fall in love with me, okay?"
".... Say you will give everything to me ."
"I offer everything to the demon of control..."
Phew. Second one.
Things are going smoothly.
Another task has been completed on the life roadmap I've kept hidden in my heart. The feeling of moving forward brought a sense of exhilaration, as if I were being guided by fate.
"Life is fun."