Jujutsushi Wa Yuusha Ni Narenai

Chapter 85: Shaman VS Thief ( 2 )

“Twine into hairs, O rotten red, become thread which violates flesh and bone―― Redhair Twine.”

I grabbed stones in both of my hands, attached them to Redhair Twine strands, and flung them forward.

At the same time, Rem drew the sword hung at Masaru’s waist and dashed forward.

We were going with the usual formation. The current Rem had enough battle prowess to be considered a proper vanguard, so I could calmly provide support from the rear.

“Oh, red ones now,” Higuchi exclaimed “Lemme guess, they hurt real bad if they hit?”

It looked like he could easily predict the trajectories of my redhair tentacles. Higuchi only needed to sway his body to the side to dodge the acidic wires coming so straightforwardly at him. Not only that, he even cut one down with his knife.

“The hell, this was one of my good knives, man.” Higuchi complained.

With a hiss of melting metal, that knife now had a small chip on its blade. With that, and obviously from the way Redhair Twine looked, he should’ve figured out its acidic nature.

“GAAA!” Right as Higuchi finished warding off my attack, it was Rem’s turn to strike.

“Heh, this thing’s doing a lot better than that bitch Saitou ever did!”

Rem moved fast, as if she had perfectly assimilated Masaru’s Warrior specs into her new body. But despite that, she failed to cut down Higuchi with that powerful slash just now.

Higuchi held his own against Rem’s expertly flowing series of sword strikes. He almost made it look too easy, he was dodging, parrying and counter-attacking the corpse-doll without any change in his confident expression.

“Tsk, of course a dead body doesn’t feel pain,” Higuchi spat as his butterfly knife lightly carved into Rems side. Some blood spurted out but the injury had done nothing to slow her assault.

He must’ve realized that fighting close range wouldn’t get him anywhere, and he swiftly withdrew a few paces.

“There!” I yelled, taking aim.

“Nah!” Shouted Higuchi, easily dodging.

Taking distance from Rem had only made him more open to my own attacks. My cursed red hairs were easy to reconstruct even if split.

He could sidestep or cut away all he wanted, but my Redhair Twine would only keep coming, relentlessly.

“―― Tch! This is getting nowhere,” Higuchi griped in annoyance.

I felt the same. I wasn’t hitting at all.

Rem would close in again, match her slash with mine, Higuchi would dodge it somehow, take a few steps back, then get attacked by my redhair. The cycle kept repeating.

Were we cornering him? No, judging by his expression, that didn’t seem to be the case. We kept repeating this back and forth but it seemed that Higuchi was losing neither stamina nor concentration. He just looked irritated.

Should I keep at it? Could I wear him down like this? No, that was a bad plan.

He was stat-wise stronger than me, meaning that the longer this fight continued, the more time he’d have to adapt to our two-front attacks and think up a way to strike back. I also couldn’t say with confidence whether my concentration could hold out until then.

It should be… about time.

“Swell, Rotten Bog.”

The strands of Redhair Twine Higuchi had been cutting away were all over the place. In other words, drops of my blood were everywhere, meaning that now, I could manifest Rotten Bogs anywhere of my choosing.

“Huh!? Fuck!!” Higuchi cursed.

Red bog acid bubbled up from under Higuchi’s feet as though he had stepped on a trap. Of course, his danger sense triggered immediately, letting him jump away.

Higuchi’s feet touched the corrosive water only for a moment before he leapt up and away from the bog’s effective radius. The acid had only slightly melted the soles of his shoes so no real damage was done.

“Swell, more!”

I wrung out my mana to expand the bog as wide as possible. Now that he had seen Rotten Bog I had to make use of it before he had the time to adapt.

“Kh!?” Higuchi winced.

The bog had suddenly expanded and that had clearly caught him off guard. That was probably the first time I saw panic rise in Higuchi’s expression.

I did it. I thought as my Rotten Bog grew beyond the spot Higuchi was set on landing.

“Die!!” I yelled.

This time, his shoes weren’t going to protect him. They’d only need to melt away a little more to expose his bare flesh to the acid. For a Thief, having their feet damaged should be devastating. With his agility gone, he would no longer be able to so easily dodge Rem’s powerful slashes that borrowed their might from the Warrior calling.

He had to protect his feet at all cost. He pitched his hands downward.

Of course, sacrificing his hands wasn’t going to be any better. His ability to fight would drop either way.

“Gh, goddaammiiiit!!” Higuchi roared, managing to save his hands.

He had to sacrifice something else though. Namely, the long knife in his left hand.

He had stabbed the blade into the bog acid, causing it to vigorously start melting. But the few seconds that knife took to submerge had given Higuchi all the time he needed to make his escape.

He put strength into his left arm, supporting the weight of his whole body on the single limb, and then jumped once again. I was amazed at how smooth and acrobatic his each movement was during that whole process, but figured that he could only do this by drawing out the full potential of his Thief calling. No, this is not the time to get impressed.

“Tsk,” I clicked my tongue, “that didn’t go as planned…”

“You sure pullin’ all the stops, eh Momokawaa!”

He only had to throw away one of his knives to escape Rotten Bog.

Dammit, if only I’d made it deeper. But no, I didn’t have enough focus to both expand and deepen it at the same time. I didn’t have a hexagram either. Forcefully broadening it had made the bog shallower than normal.

No matter, I could think about this later. I had hoped to end it with Rotten Bog, but now I should prioritize thinking up a new――

“Yeah, shouldn’t take it easy just cause he’s a mage,” Higuchi voiced as if coming to a decision. “I’ll finish it quick.”

That was when Higuchi’s eyes changed. He had been underestimating me, and had almost paid dearly for it, so he was now going to get serious.

I may not have his danger sensing intuition but I could sense that clear change in his mindset. With no time to think up a plan B, I sent in redhair to somehow try to delay him.

“Shit!” He was fast.

He once again effortlessly snaked clear of the acidic strands as he made his move, much faster than before.

He had used his empty left hand, grabbing another knife from his waist he threw it―― at least, that was how it looked.

“GAGA!?”

Rem, who had been closing in, collapsed on the spot.

Rem didn’t feel pain. Even if her body got stabbed, it shouldn’t prevent her from moving. One knife wound from Higuchi shouldn't have been enough to stop her.

Which meant, Rem’s sudden fall wasn’t caused by the knife.

“Huh, wires!?”

“Hehe!” Higuchi snickered before making another knife throwing motion. “Yer not the only one with a binding skill!”

That was when I realized: he was not throwing one knife, but two, and at the same time.

And in between those two knives was thin metallic wire. These knives, connected to each other, were not meant to stab directly, but only have the wire in between connect. Once caught, the knives themselves would wrap around the target via centrifugal force.

Higuchi had used his first throw of wired knives to bind Rem’s legs, and used the second one just now to restrain her arms and torso.

“Rem! Use your Mantis blades――”

“Nope!” Higuchi yelled, moving to Rem’s position in the blink of an eye. He then struck a powerful kick on the immobile corpse doll.

“GA!!”

What in the… His kick had actually managed to lift Masaru’s overweight body, blowing it away. If I had been hit by that, there was no telling how many bones would be shattered, not to mention how my internal organs would undoubtedly be paste.

“Aaaaaaaah!!” I panicked. With Rem out of the picture, there was nothing to stop Higuchi from coming right for me. Which was exactly what he was doing.

I could only keep piling on the redhair, while also adding in Blackhair Bind from his own shadow. I knew he had the Thru Bind skill, but it might still serve to slow him down.

“Heh, Can’t, catch me――”

Fuuuck, why don’t they hit! He’s this close, and I’m sending in so many tentacles, but they just don’t hit!

My black tentacles were jetting out of Higuchi’s shadow, sure, but once they did, it wasn’t like they could move with the shadow; the shadow was simply a base to grow from, and at the speed he was going at, by the time blackhair bind was out, he wasn’t even there anymore. Every new tentacle turned out useless, but despite that, I kept creating more, left foot, right foot, in his every step, not forgetting to pour in the redhair, but in no time―― Crap, he’s here!

“――Can ya!”

“Ahh!?” I yelped. Higuchi made his move. He, of course, wasn’t going to stab me. But he was too close, what, what was he planning? He was moving too fast, I couldn’t see what he did, no, I couldn’t see anything.

“Ah, huh! My eyes――”

“Oraa!!”

While I was still confused at suddenly being blinded, I felt a sharp blow on my back. Ugh, w-wh… I groaned, feeling crushed like a frog under a boot. I found myself knocked down and splayed on the floor.

“Akh, fuck, that hurt.” Higuchi groaned in pain, “Should’a gone easier on that kick.”

I shared the sentiment, literally. But it didn’t feel like he’d broken any bones or hit any vital organs, so he sort of was able to hold back.

It was then that I understood just how he was able to blind me so quickly.

Basically, he just used a blindfold. It felt like a cloth was covering my face, maybe a handkerchief. The strip of fabric had enclosed in on my eyes and was held in place using wires.

The way he was able to insta-blindfold me could be one of his Thief skills, or a technique he himself made utilizing his original cleverness alongside his newfound superhuman dexterity. That didn’t matter though. I couldn’t even imagine putting up a fight in this condition. I wasn’t the warrior type so I had no skill or ability to sense stuff like his presence or bloodlust and react to it instinctively. I honestly believed that a Shaman would never get any skill of that sort.

I had to get it off, but once I thought that far, I’d realized that I couldn’t move my arms.

He’d gotten my arms.

“Don’t even try to move, Momokawa. These wires are pretty sharp.”

Higuchi had had the time to tie up my arms even before I could think clearly after receiving his ‘weak’ kick. We may have suffered the same damage, but him being a vanguard type meant that he was far more resistant to pain then me. It’s the same concept as when Kenzaki-san gut-punched me.

The sort of pain that made me want to cry and scream, he could brush off with a ‘Fuck, that hurt bad’ and be done with it. And while I writhed defenselessly on the ground, he had taken the opportunity to come up with and execute a method to incapacitate me.

I felt the thin wires digging into my skin. I felt stinging pain in my arms, and not just that, it felt like even my fingers had been wired up. I couldn’t even imagine how he had tied me up so thoroughly as it felt like my fingers would slice off if I so much as attempted to unclench my fist.

“A’ight, good enough. Now you can’t use those stupid curses anymore.”

He clearly had no idea what he was talking about. Did he think I couldn’t use curses just because he had sealed my arms――

“I’m talking about that creepy black hair shit. It looks like you can make ‘em anywhere but I know how you have to look to make it work. It’s plain obvious with how your eyes follow them around every time. You mage types can’t really help that though, can ya?”

Oh right. Every one of the Curses I used relied on me having a visual grasp of the situation. Blackhair and Redhair, while I could technically use them without looking, they’d be useless since I couldn’t see where to direct them. Rotten Bog, Contrabeat Butterfly and even the all but useless Red Fever were the same, they all greatly relied on sight.

And with my sight gone, I was made powerless.

“It’s all over, Momokawa.”

“Wait!? Ahh! No no noo!!” I cried out.

I was left without even a moment to struggle before he bound up my legs too. My ankles now wired up, Higuchi turned my body so that I was now laid face up. And then, he began dragging.

Was he planning to throw me down the hole? No, he was certain to get Pain Return’ed if he did. Then, it had to be the, the Boss Room!

“Dammit, let, go!”

“Haha,” Higuchi cackled, “ya sure can scream. You sound more like a girl than some of the ones I know.”

Shit, shit, no no no, this is all sorts of bad, actually crying and screaming isn’t helping this situation. Think, man, think. How do I get out of――

“Oi, settle down. I don’t need any more damage from your stupid curse.”

Ahhh, it hurt. I got too reckless and ended up struggling against the wires too much.

But that was all I could do. Higuchi’s wires hadn’t loosened at all. Compared to him, I had the relative strength of an infant. No struggling on my part would so much as slow his steady march.

Time was running out. The Boss Room had to be only a few steps away. Rem was still down. And even if she wasn’t, and had attempted to release me from Higuchi, she wouldn’t make it. I was on my own, I had to do something on my own.

But I had no physical means of worming out of this. I was weak. I had my curses, and nothing more.

If I could fight back with my tentacle curses, I would’ve done so already. But I couldn’t; Higuchi had seen how I used Redhair Twine by releasing them from my palms so he had sealed those hands with razor edge wires. He had made the smart move. My tentacles weren’t so thin so as to allow me to cast them from a closed fist, and if I tried to open them, I’d lose my fingers.

Sure, I could make them thinner. I could make them as thin as hair and slither them out from a gap, but then they would be too thin to do any real damage. Wait, maybe I could make thin Redhair and melt the wires… No, I wasn’t sure I could manage that without him noticing. Shit. If Higuchi notices me trying anything, I was sure to receive another kick that would leave me wheezing in pain.

No, if I wanted to get out of this, I needed to use as many tentacles as I normally would. Using an overwhelming amount should allow me to distract Higuchi.

Should I risk losing my fingers? Or maybe use Redhair to free my hands first―― wait, wasn’t there something else? A way for me to create a large number of tentacles even if I couldn’t see or use my hands? Yes, yes there was!

“… Blackhair Bind”

Right as I said that, my head felt ever so slightly heavy. This wasn’t because I was concentrating hard, nor was it due to a fast depletion of mana. The top of my head felt physically heavier.

The reason for it was simple: I was creating Blackhair Bind from my own hair. I had even tried this once before so I felt exceedingly stupid for completely forgetting about it until just now.

“Wha!?” Higuchi voiced in surprise.

It had worked. I only had to reach for the hand that was dragging me along from the leg. I couldn’t see, yes, but I could still normally make out where the parts of my body were. And right now, my numerous Blackhair tentacles had bound themselves around Higuchi’s arms.

“Tch!!” Higuchi spat.

It was a strange, slippery feeling. I could no longer feel anything around the Blackhair. He had used Thru Bind, no doubt.

Higuchi had been forced to let go of me to escape being caught, and this gave me ample time to melt off the wires immobilizing me.

I roughly wiggled my now extended front bangs to un-blindfold myself. The handkerchief was now off, and I could finally see my current condition.

The bastard had wired me up really elaborately. I immediately cast Redhair from my closed palms and with the Rotten Bog level acidity possessed by these red tentacles, they quickly began dissolving the steel-like wiring entangling my fingers and arms.

I suddenly felt really glad I wasn’t affected by my own curses. I’d be in a bad place right now if that powerful acid melted everything without distinction.

My fingers were freed. I opened my fist to let out more Redhairs and started working on the wires on the rest of my limbs.

“Almost,”

There. I was free, unbound, liberated. But Higuchi wasn’t about to let that last.

“No you don’t!”

He was already holding a pair of wired knives and within spitting distance of me.

“Cover!” I yelled.

I quickly swished my head, spreading my Black(head of)hair in front of me like a shield. Higuchi’s wired knives were, in the end, ordinary knives. They’d at least get obstructed with a thick layer of tentacle hair blocking the way.

I didn’t have the visual prowess to see Higuchi actually throwing the knife with the level of agility he boasted, but this time, I knew where he was going to aim, and so, could put up a defensive.

“Shit, you and your goddamn curses!”

And as I’d expected, my Blackhair tentacles had managed to catch the knives without issue. Higuchi’s sharp throwing knives did cut off some of the hair, but against the sheer density of tentacles, they had lost all momentum.

Higuchi quickly changed tactics. He surmised that thrown knives weren’t going to be of use so he endeavored to close in on his own, his butterfly knife in hand.

Which was not at all good for me, since he could easily escape any binding.

“GAGAAAAAAAA!!”

And that’s when Rem rushed in from the side, roaring.

Great, she’d made it. And it looked like it definitely took some effort. I could see many thin cuts all over Masaru’s body.

But wounds meant nothing for an unfeeling corpse-doll. Her sword ready to kill, Rem leapt at Higuchi.

“Outta my way, fataaass!!”

Reacting incredibly fast, Higuchi switched target from me to Rem, stopping her powerful slash with his single knife.

At this rate, we’d likely return to the previous back and forth. Rem alone was unable to overpower him, and me using my Redhair from a distance meant that he could dodge or cut them away.

To kill him, I needed something more.

“Ooooooooooooh!!!” I bellowed.

I didn’t try to think on it. While Rem and Higuchi were in the middle of their melee, I charged in, tentacles and all.

I figured I needed to put my own body on the line if I wanted to stop that overpowered Thief.

“Youu little――” Higuchi sensed I was about to do something.

But Rem, implicitly understanding my plan, closed in further to prevent Higuchi from backstepping away.

“Gotchaa!!”

And thanks to that single moment his feet were stopped, I succeeded in pouncing on to his back.

I used all my Blackhair to bind Higuchi along with myself. It didn’t matter how, I had to be willing to use any means possible to slow down this psychopath, just enough to make this work.

“Don’t let up, Rem!”

“Motherfuckeeeer!!”

Higushi would, of course, try to shake me off, but he also had Rem and her sword to deal with, and that posed the more immediate danger. I clung on to Higuchi’s back as if for dear life.

Even while supporting my weight, Higuchi was managing to cope with Rem’s sword stroke after stroke. Not enough. So why don’t I attack too!

“Redhair Twine!!”

I let out as much as I could. I was already clinging on him and he was doing his part to shake me off. I didn’t exactly have the accuracy to aim for a weak spot like his neck, and so just lashed out randomly. Anywhere the redhair struck was sure to add damage.

“Akh, fuuuuck―― Guard Skin!!” Higuchi cried.

By the time my redhairs snaked themselves around Higuchi’s arms, legs and body, he had surrounded himself with a dim, blue glow. The redhair still hissed all around him, which usually indicated to something melting, but his clothes looked fine.

What, is this aura thing protecting his whole body? What the hell! Thieves even get full body defensive skills, this is so unfair!

“GA, GAA!!”

“Ghh, kh, fukh――” Higuchi leaked. It seemed using that omnidirectional barrier spell was taking a toll on him too. He must’ve needed a lot of mana and concentration to maintain it, and this had markedly dulled his movements. This must’ve been his trump card for when he really needed an out.

Good. It’s going well, one more push and―― But then again, I was plenty worn down myself.

“Oraaa!!”

In a momentary pause between their locking blades, Higuchi used Thru Bind. Suddenly, all the red and black tentacles got repelled from his body, and I found myself clinging on to his back with no tentacle support. One twist of his body, and I was quickly thrown off.

“Whoa!?” I yelped, fell, and doing my best to ignore the falling damage, stood back up. Not good. I needed to get back on there, deal the finisher―― but, blackhair bind wasn’t coming out.

“Urp, th-this feels like… shit, I’m out of mana…”

Of course I could still push out a tentacle or two, but my hair had return to normal and the massive amount from before was gone. One thing I was sure of was that if I even tried to pull off that stunt again, I’d instantly fall unconscious.

Blackhair Bind, Redhair Twine, and one XL sized Rotten Bog shouldn’t have drained me so much… It might’ve mostly gone to Rem when I used Corpse Doll on Masaru’s body and practically created a new curse spell.

Goddammit, this clearly wasn’t the time to run out of gas.

“GUGAAAAAA!!” Roared Rem.

“Ooooh!” Higuchi roared back, “Die, diee! I’ll make sure you die this time, biiitch!!”

Rem was close to losing. Higuchi still had his butterfly knife in one hand, and at some point, had brought out another one. Dual wielding knives, Higuchi was carving away at Rem.

Rem was being sliced up everywhere but maybe because his blades were shorter, she wasn’t being dealt any fatal wounds. But despite being slowly brought to the brink, Rem only kept fighting on.

“I’ll fucking kill you! I’ll make sure you die, Saitou, no matter how many times it takes! You think you can beat me, fag! You think a coward like you can kill me, huh bitch!!”

Higuchi was close to his limit too. He hadn’t suffered as many wounds, but he must’ve been running on fumes already. So he yelled. The fact that I, having the weakest calling of Shaman, and Masaru, his cowardly, obese slave, had driven him to a corner like this enraged him to no end.

“GAAA!?”

Finally, Higuchi had achieved a disarming double slash on Rem’s wrist, causing her sword to drop.

“Haha! And here’s ―― the finisher!”

One more double, no, it was so fast that I could only see the result, but he instantly made another 4 slashes across Masaru’s neck.

The knives had reaped apart meat and bone, causing Masaru’s neck to drop. No, it hadn’t dropped, it had fallen backwards, still caught by a flimsy thread of skin while exposing the insides leading above and below.

“Hah! See that. That’s your place, on the fucking ground where you bel―― oaaahh!?”

Instantly. Rem, who was pitching forward, having been seemingly eliminated, suddenly raised her right arm. She had no sword of course, but what she did had was a Knight Mantis blade, one that I’d obtained after a grueling battle. With a crunch, she operated the joint in her wrist to flip the blade into position. And his newly obtained sword had struck Higuchi right as his guard was down thinking the beheaded zombie was out of the picture.

“Graaaaaaaaah!!” Higuchi wailed, his left arm chopped off. This was the result of him desperately trying to avoid an otherwise fatal wound from an attack he had noticed too late. From the panic brought about by exhaustion close to the point of collapse, to the relief of having thought the fight had been won, everything played in dulling his Thief’s intuition.

For the first time, Higuchi had suffered a major wound.

“Aaaaaaaaah!!” I bellowed, charging straight at him. My one chance had come. I had saved this trump card, waiting patiently for the right moment. My own knife, my Red Knife.

No mana? No curses? Who cares, I could still move, couldn’t I? I still had the magic weapon enchanted by fire. I at least had the strength to stab, burn, sear, kill, a weakened beast.

“Gh, gah, aa… Mo mokawaaaa!!”

Higuchi faced me, his left arm gone, his right, still tightly holding his butterfly knife, the one and only weapon he originally had.

“Akh, ahhhhhhhh!” I screamed in pain.

“Guaaaah, daammmiiitt!” Higuchi did the same.

Higuchi’s knife landed, along with the double ended pain. He was no doubt unable to process the risk of Pain Return any more, and simply wanted to kill the approaching Enemy.

My Red Knife was easily dodged, but in contrast, Higuchi’s butterfly knife stabbed deeply into my right shoulder.

Pain pain pain. Both of us screamed in pain.

“K-kill you… Momokawaa, I’ll, kill… ”

“Ukh, a ahh… shit, ahh…”

But Higuchi could still manage the excruciating pain assaulting both our bodies. It was as if he was drugged up to the point that he didn’t feel anything.

I had even let go of the Red Knife from all that pain and had barely managed to push myself and lift it back up with my left hand. But Higuchi on the other hand looked as if getting stabbed in the shoulder meant nothing. He still held on to his knife absolutely bent on ending my life.

“You’re, fucking, dead!”

Higuchi took a step forward, swaying like a zombie. Fucking great, he doesn’t even care anymore! But I do! I didn’t work this hard just to die alongside him!

“GUGAAAAAAA!!”

At that moment, Rem revived. Well technically, she simply hadn’t stopped operating. Rem wasn’t a living creature. Her sheer tenacity was only possible due to her nature as a mana powered corpse-doll.

It didn’t matter whether her neck was connected by only skin. Her face, Masaru’s face, carried an expression of pure and unbridled rage as she bit down on Higuchi’s leg.

“Akkhh, Nnnhhhaaaaaaaah!?” Higuchi howled, and then, fell over. Rem had bitten and torn his Achilles tendon.

That attack ended up being her final contribution. I lost Rem’s connection to me. What remained was the head that still carried that face of wrath, and now, a chunk of meat between its teeth.

Thanks Masaru. You really did end up saving me at the very end.

“Dieeeeee, Hiiguchiiiiiiiiiii!!” I cried as I bore through the pain, positioned the Red Knife and charged into Higuchi. I didn’t bother aiming, I just needed it to stab into him, and I pushed with my whole body to achieve this.

“Urrrgh!! Okh, gh, agh, ahh…”

The red knife plunged into his stomach. Higuchi groaned. It wasn’t so much a scream but a whimper―― but he still managed to knock me away with his explosive strength.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

The red knife, being what it is, let out its fire. Higuchi was getting grilled from the inside centering around his stomach.

The smell of cooked human flesh permeated the room, but Higuchi had yet to give in. His seemingly endless vitality refused to accept his coming death.

Higuchi grabbed the handle sticking out from his stomach, and pulled. Blood gushed out from his mouth and his eyes rolled back exposing their whites, but he pulled. He pulled out the red knife and threw it to the side.

“Heeh… heeh…” Higuchi panted slowly.

And with that, all my weapons had been used and exhausted. No wait, I still had my box cutter… though, I wouldn’t need it, not anymore.

“Gh, ahh… Momokawa, hey… lis ten…”

I reached into my pocket and took out some Ointment A to rub on my shoulder. It was good enough first aid for now.

“Don’t, kill me.”

“Pft… huhu, ahahahahaha!!”

I could only laugh. A dry, guttural laugh.

I walked to Higuchi. I was dizzy from the pain in my shoulder and from my almost empty tank of mana, but I got closer―― and I gave him a kick.

“Grhhh!! Gh, uhh… Come on, Momokawa, don’t… do this.”

“Haha, and here I thought I’d never get to you hear you begging for your life. Guess I was wrong, Higuchi!”

Once again, as Higuchi lay on the white stone floor on his back, I kicked him, pushing forward.

I can, do it. This should, still work.

“Stop, it… don’t do this.”

“I can, and I will. Higuchi, just so we’re clear, I will be killing you… also, I’ll be sure to make full use of your death!”

I continued pushing with my arms. He was surprisingly heavy, must be all the muscle. My shoulder hurt. But I could move it if I just bore the pain.

“Listen Momokawa, you, you’ve never killed before right?”

“No, I haven’t, you’ll be my first.”

Right, this was supposed to be my first time killing another human being. I was slowly pushing Higuchi, offering him―― to the pitfall, still wide open as if demanding its promised sacrifice.

“All the more reason to stop… don’t be a murderer, you’ll regret it, for the rest of your life.”

“What about you? You’ve never once regretted killing, have you!”

“Gh, heh… haha… Ya got me there, I’m just like that. I don’t feel much killing someone.”

“Hah, then I’m the same.”

“No, you’re not… you’re not like me, you’re a good person… so stop, while you can.”

Me, a good person? Well, if you compare me to yourself, I’d be pretty upstanding I guess.

“You’re the type, who’s sure to regret becoming a killer… So don’t kill me. Just leave me here, and go.”

“Regret, huh…”

Regrets? Like I give a―― well, I couldn’t say that for certain. I didn’t consider myself to be a psychopath like Higuchi, so I might start to regret killing him, someone I’ve considered my worst enemy, somewhere down the line. I might start seeing nightmares about it, and I might sometimes think back, mull over whether killing him really was the right decision.

I was weak. I was physically weak. I had a weak calling. I even had a weak heart.

“Just, go, leave me and go, you win… I promise, not to mess with you, ever again. I swear.”

“You think I was born yesterday… yeah no, fuck off with that!”

Actually, I should really set aside my mental complexes for now. Thinking logically, letting Higuchi live was sure to be more harmful than not.

“Whatever, you killed Masaru… you killed, my best friend… so this is payback.”

“I’m telling you… don’t. Y’know how they say, revenge isn’t worth it… ”

“Shut up, you just shut up already!”

“Stop, try and calm down… then you’ll realize, this isn’t something you want to do.”

“Listen to me, Higuchi… I want to kill you. And I know that I won’t regret doing it one bit!”

Of course I won’t. I had no intention of suffering because I killed a piece of trash like him.

“You might… and it’ll stay with you, I’m not kidding.”

“I said I won't! Heck, I’ll tell my future grandkids about it, that once upon a time, their grandpa killed the big baddy. I’ll brag about it, and proudly!”

I was right in killing him. There was nothing wrong with this. I had justice on my side―― to kill a killer, thus enacting justice. It was the ultimate contradiction. But I had nothing else to go on. I could only believe it.

“Momokawa… please just,”

“What is it now!? Stay quiet so I can end this!”

“No, please just… do me this, one favor…”

Was this some sort of joke? Did he really think I was going to do him a――

“My knife… please, give it to Yukiko.”

“… What?”

Knife? Oh, he meant his butterfly knife. He’d let it go when he was pulling out the red knife. It was his most noteworthy and deadliest weapon. It was currently on the floor, the blade soaked in blood.

“I just, want her to remember me… we, me and Yukiko, we’re going out, y’see…”

“Wh!? You, and Nagae-san?”

“Yeah… I, really love her… was even thinking, I’d marry her, once I knocked her up.”

What the, now that was a surprise. I could’ve sworn he was going out with Randou-san seeing how they interacted in class. On the other hand, I’d never even seen him looking at Yukiko-san.

“Just do me, this one thing… Oh, and when you do… tell her that I lost my life… fighting the boss, with all I had…”

An idiot. He was an idiot. Not because he was trying to show off to his girlfriend this late, no, it was because,

“… Sorry, I can’t.”

“Oi, fuck your attitude… just do it… ”

“I really can’t… Nagae-san’s already dead.”

Nagae Yukiko was gone. She’d been eaten by the Cannibalizer, by Yokomichi Hajime.

Maybe I shouldn’t tell him that. I was an idiot too. I was trying to be considerate towards someone I was about to kill.

“… Huh… heh, hehe, so… Yukiko, she’s dead too… ”

Of course, I didn’t plan on stopping. I’d do this without regrets.

I’d kill him. I’d kill Higuchi. He targeted my life, he killed my best friend, this delinquent, this DQN, I’d kill him, once and for all―― So what if he was grieving the loss of his loved one, I’d kill him.

“A’ight… do it already, Momokawa.”

“Sure… goodbye, Higuchi.”

I’d expected him to pull a fast one at the end―― but he hadn’t. He had completely accepted his loss, and his death. So Higuchi fell, with no resistance whatsoever, into the dark pit of sacrifice.