Mushi:Vol6

These are color illustrations that were included in volume 6

• 

  Front cover
  

• 

  Inner Color Page 1
  

• 

  Inner Color Page 2
  

• 

  Inner Color Page 3
  

• 

  Inner Color Page 4
  

Ragnarok 00: Damaged hair of a place no one knows

It was the beginning of her two-hundred-and-seventy-fifth life.

Her ability was nothing compared to that of cats, who possess innumerable lives and could resurrect endlessly.

However, she kept going in a cycle between life and death. Her life kept going round and round, kept repeating over and over - over and over.

She could feel the pain in this cycle.

And she could also feel the joy.

But now she had forgotten everything.

"..."

After death descended on her for the two-hundred-and-seventy-fourth time, her two-hundred-and-seventy-fifth life had begun.

Her reconstructed body and her regained life were reinstated in this world.

“… Eternal Cycle, initiate.”

It was hard to tell whether the girl was a high schooler or a middle schooler, but she was definitely a teenager, not yet in her twenties. Her beautiful golden hair shone with a light that rivalled the sun, yet her red and insect-like eyes contained no signs of life within them. She gave out a subtle aura of incongruity, making it feel like she did not belong to the mortal world.

Nor was she dressed normally. She wore a tight priest’s robe, which gave her a severe appearance and restricted her physical movements at the same time. She was also wearing a clownish hat made of some hard material, and it looked like it would be painful to wear.

“…”

The girl moved slowly and absent-mindedly, fitting for her otherworldly appearance. She then suddenly lifted her head, and spoke with a hoarse, barking voice.

“… The two-hundred-and-seventy-fifth re-start is complete.”

She was inside the bounds of a school at night.

According to the stone plaque erected next to the school gates, she was in a place called ‘Kannonsakazaki Private High School’.

It was the middle of the night. Neither the stars nor the moon could be seen. The sky was covered in thick clouds and of course, no one was nearby. The enormous, terrifying school building loomed over the empty school grounds. Rows of trees, having shed their leaves in the winter, added a melancholic air to the scene with their barren branches.

The girl was standing there, in the middle of the school grounds, alone.

The ground she stood on was full of blood. No, the place would be better described as an entire swamp of blood. This girl was killed over and over, and she resurrected again and again. But her previous, dead bodies did not disappear into the pool of blood. They remained where they fell, an accurate record of how she was repeatedly killed.

A corpse was lying by the girl's feet. It was a body with a look of despair on its face. It was missing half of its torso.

The girl standing there, and the severed body next to her, were identical - no, rather, it was her own body. This current body was merely a reconstruction after her last death. All these bodies were the same. Even if she kept getting killed over and over, everything - her height, weight, the composition of her flesh, and the duty bestowed onto her flesh - would always be rebuilt perfectly.

That was the girl's special characteristic.

Her two-hundred-and-seventy-fifth life had started.

"How -"

Her emotionless, blank eyes reflected the shape of her own corpse. The girl only slightly tilted her head.

" - did I die?"

She curved into a ball and squatted down, silently reaching out with her hand. Even though this 'thing' was an existence identical to her, it was now a completely immobile corpse. It had become simply a piece of meat. She felt no emotional catharsis or even sympathy. The girl may wear a priest's robe, but she was not part of the clergy, nor did she pray for the bodies or planned to bury them.

She softly held the face of her own dead, immobile body, then rapidly sliced off the corpse's skullcap. Bodily fluids, a mixture of blood and cerebral fluids, poured out as if a raw egg was just punctured. She gazed emotionlessly at the head before her, even as the scene became more grotesque.

"The two-hundred-and-seventy-fourth 'me' suffered severe brain damage."

Even though her body could be reconstructed, it was still impossible to inherit her memories from her previous lives. It was as if a 'reset' button was pressed in a role-playing game. But this role-playing game also didn't allow for any saves. No matter what she wanted to do, what she wanted to obtain, once she hits a game over - death - then everything will be erased.

There was only one way to obtain the memories of her 'previous incarnation'.

Memories were evidently recorded in the brain. In other words, if she made her previous brain a part of her new body -

"I can surmise that I was in a fight, and that I lost."

As the girl muttered to herself, she took out the corpse's brain. Her hand, clothes, and her pale face were all stained scarlet, but she did not seem to mind.

"I didn't expect much more. I just want to regain my memories."

And with that, the girl started to eat the brain of her own corpse.

She gnawed away at the brain held tightly in her hands. Her mouth was full of pieces of broken flesh soaking in blood, and she gulped them all down. The bloody, gooey brain matter slithered down her throat, but she didn't so much as frown as she devored the contents greedily. Pieces of the soft spinal cord spluttered around her. The girl licked everything down, swallowing everything down to the last drop, and gathered them all into her stomach.

"..."

As long as she ate the brain, then the rest of the body no longer served a purpose. The girl licked her lips and slowly stood up. She completely ignored her wracked, brain-less corpse, which now rolled limply at her feet.

“… I definitely took a great amount of damage.”

The activities, recollections, and memories of her previous ‘life’, which lingered in her old brain, were being recognized by the girl’s new brain one after the other. However, such an activity was akin to a worm gnawing away at a book – not only were her previous memories damaged, they were also incomplete. She did not find any meaningful memories.

But there was one puzzling word buried deep within her brain, one word that was kept securely as a treasure.

“Damaged Hair.”

The girl shook her head softly and wiped her lips with the sleeve of her priest’s robe.

“That… seems to be my name.”

She mumbled softly and emotionlessly etched her name into her mind. That was the moment when the nameless girl became someone named Damaged Hair. She stood there and looked about her in silence.

Everything stank.

It was a bestial stench. Even though a thick stench was coming out of the blood her corpse shed, there was still a very unique and foul odor coming from somewhere close. The scent was a mixture of old hair and sweat – it was the scent of completely decomposed leaves, which were buried for a long time in the mud.

“…”

Damaged Hair's insect-like gaze vaguely discerned an existence similar to her somewhere in the school yard. It was no ordinary human. It exuded a thick scent, but ordinary creatures could not see it.

A spear, about as tall as a grown man, was stabbed deep into the earth in the school garden. Spears were no longer useful in modern wars, but it was the equipment of foot soldiers who historically used it for stabbing attacks. Although Damaged Hair did not recall anything sentimental such as any past memories, she naturally remembered knowledge as it was recorded in dictionaries.

"Spear... Weapon... It's... a weapon to kill."

Damaged Hair moved in that direction as if she might like to pull out that spear. Perhaps she thought it would help her.. Compared to being defenceless, it was better to have a weapon in her hand. Though her brain was filled with fighting methods, she predicted that if she has a weapon in her hand, then her skills would undoubtedly become more effective.

Damaged Hair's brain lacked knowledge - rather, she lacked common sense and the capacity to process normal thoughts. She didn't have any doubts - she never considered why there would be a spear stuck in the edge of an ordinary school garden.

If she didn't notice that spear here, or was completely oblivious to it and walked away - then this story of Damaged Hair, an extra story similar to a small ruckus after the curtains fell at the end of a play, would never have happened.

She met this thing in this story, set within in a world that had already met its end and was being gradually forgotten. Damaged Hair, who had no significant relationships with the world, met a weapon. The weapon - no, tool - was a plaything for the Gods in this world of Mushi and Eyeballs, where everlasting peace had already been established.

She stretched out her hand to pull out the spear buried in the earth. As soon as she started to pull, the solid earth around the school started to crack.

"Gah gah gah!"

It was the sound of laughter.

It was a sharp sound, a piercing laugh that sounded like the crazed barking of a wild dog.

"Gah gah gah! Gah gah gah! Gah gah gah gah gah!"

It was a very shocking sound. Damaged Hair was also startled, and she pulled her hand away. She swallowed, and stared at that spear. She definitely felt that the spear was laughing. It was a cunning, venomous laugh, as if its owner regarded everyone else as mere naive fools.

"It... can't be my imagination, right?"

Damaged Hair blinked rapidly and felt along the spear in horror. It was still stuck in the ground, but it was vibrating violently. It was shivering and shaking without a rhythm, as if it was trying to extract itself from the ground.

"Gah gah gah! Gah gah gah gah gah!"

It was defiitely not her imagination. The spear was laughing. And what was even more unbelievable was that it started to talk in that piercing voice, and showed no signs of stopping.

"Gah gah gah! Stupid idiot! Best if you give up! You dare to touch ME? Gah gah gah!"

"...?

Damaged Hair frowned and muttered a simple question.

"It... spoke. Are you... alive? Alive as a spear?"

"Gah gah gah! Gah gah gah! Gah gah gah gah!"

The spear swayed from side to side and kept laughing, as if it encountered something very funny. It was appearing more and more like a living creature... the bestial stench that surrounded the area was most likely also emitted by this thing.

All sorts of questions rose up in Damaged Hair's mind. Meanwhile, the spear started to yell in a condescending way.

“What's wrong with a living spear? Gah gah gah! And I'm not just a spear! I only look like this right now because of some specific reasons. My true form is a demonic god of Greed, and my very name will even terrify crying children! I am Lord Fenrir, the Wolf of Ice!"

"... I still don't understand."

Damaged Hair spoke her thoughts and clutched her hands into fists as she walked up to the spear.

No matter what, this spear seemed to be alive.

It said its name was the God of Greed, Fenrir, the Wolf of Ice... That was a name that will be hard to remember.

She would have to fight someone one day. She needed a weapon for that battle.

Would be it a problem if her weapon was alive? No.

Would it be a problem if her weapon didn't know how to shut up? No.

"..."

Damaged Hair gave some brief thoughts on the situation, then she suddenly reached out and firmly grasped the shaft of the spear, and pulled it out of the ground without hesitation. Surprisingly, only a little bit of the spear was buried in the earth. She could easily pull it out even with the limited strength of her wrists.

She polished the sharp tip of the spear where it was dirtied by the earth, and kept waving it about as if experimenting.

It was the right weight for her, and it fitted easily into her hands - hmm, she picked up something pretty good.

"... This life can be declared as a good life because on this auspicious sign."

Damaged Hair hummed as she nodded, and walked forward while holding onto the spear tip. The shaft of the spear bounced along the ground as she dragged it along. Where were they going? She didn't have a set destination. She didn't even consider what she would do next. Her life, which had repeated itself over and over, had always been like this. She was simply aimlessly wandering around the world. At the end, she always because a silent and passive tool for others. She was always used by others to commit all kinds of actions.

That was the purpose of her existence. That was how it was meant to be. She had always thought that she was not sad, nor empty.

But something changed this time -

She won't stay passive and be used by others this time -

She won't become someone else's tool this time. She must weave a story that only belonged to her -

But the girl named Damaged Hair had not predicted all those things mentioned above at this point in time.

"Ga ga ga! Ga ga ga! I give up! I give up! I'm not something anyone can just casually pick up! I will summon misfortunes! I am the enemy of the entire world! As long as you hold on to me, disasters will continue to fall upon your head like pouring rain for the rest of your life! Ga ga ga ga ga ga ga!"

"... You are very loud."

There were no stars or moon on the sky. The girl dragged the spear and walked along the pitch-black school grounds.

She would feel no hesitation, even if destruction awaited on her path.

She moved forward like she had always done. She will never stop until death.

It kept repeating. It kept repeating. Life kept repeating, going round and round.

Ragnarok 01: 19-year-old Useless Repeat-year-student, Hobby is video gaming

I like old, but outstanding RPGs. The kind of games where you protect the princess and save the world. I mean the kind of games that were often found on the FC… specifically, my first love was the likes of Dragon Quest.

Even though recent games all have animated cutscenes, dazzling 3D CGs, and blinding special effects, they lack a soul and only possess beautiful exteriors. They are so shallow no matter how you look at them. Overall, their stories are more stale than games from the FC era. They are rubbish games full of complicated, difficult, and boring content, and just about as nourishing as carbonated soft drinks.

I hate these things very much.

I’m happier with plainer entertainment.

This is why I don’t buy the latest consoles.

It is definitely not because I don’t have the money. I just don’t want to play those soulless games.

Definitely.

“Ahh… seriously, it’s this time of the day already?”

I confirm the time using the clock on the wall and sigh, stopping my pointless musings. FC games make my head feel sluggish. I save my progress in this RPG, quickly press the restart button, and cut the power. This story about saving the world, unfolding within the ancient TV sitting in the corner of a messy and chaotic room, finally reach a momentary checkpoint.

I have to go to prep school now.

I lift the leather bag next to my bed and open it to check its contents. It is full of the textbooks that will be used in today’s session, my notes, my stationary, and other reference books. These are now my weapons. Even though they can’t save the world, I can go to university if I use them properly for my studies.

I’ve got to pass this year.

Prep school isn’t free.

“… Er.”

What to wear... err, I don’t care. I’m just going to prep school. No need to dress up. The best clothes are those that allow you to move easily. Dressing up in useless ways will only make me feel depressed. I’m happy with just being plain.

I hoist the bag onto my shoulders and peek surreptitiously at my appearance while standing next to the door. I am very repulsed by things like mirrors and hate them very much. But no matter how many times I threw them away, Mom would always buy more of them and put them in my room.

“I grew taller…”

I’m dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. My lean body grew up for no reason, and I look rather lanky. People could mistake me for a boy. But that’s fine. I don’t care.

“My hair grew longer too…”

I felt that cutting my hair would be a bother, so I let it grow out. Now it’s almost reaching my shoulders and it looks thick and heavy. The fringe is also too long; it almost covers my eyes entirely. It’s almost summer, and the weather is getting hot. Hmm, why don’t I just cut it right now.

I take my stationary case out of my bag and grabbed the scissors, ready to cut my hair.

If I don’t do it now, I’m going to be late.

“Kuri-chan, stop!”

I snatch up my fringe and am about to cut it when the door of my room is suddenly kicked open. I’m startled and look over to see my Mom, dressed in an apron, standing there with tears in her eyes.

“Kuri-chan Kuri-chan Kuri-chan! Is there something you are having problems with? Tell Mom! Let Mom help! Aren’t I your mother? How can a woman cut her hair so easily like this? Hair is a woman’s life! But Mom’s life isn’t my hair; it’s Kuri-chan… huh? I don’t even know what I want to say anymore!”

“…”

I’ve always wondered why my parents were so easily excitable.

While Mom and I look at each other, my Dad also appears at the doorway. He obviously just came home from work, and is still wearing his suit.

“Kuriko Kuriko Kuriko!”

Even though he just came back, he sprinted from the porch to this room and is trying to catch his breath.

“What happened here?! What happened with Kuriko?! Ahh! Why are you holding such a sharp object! What is making you so sad, Kuriko?! I’m so sorry that Dad didn’t notice your mood! I’m a failure of a father! … Hino-san.”

“Kio-san!”

My parents feel like the kind of gentle parents you would see in a TV drama. They are holding each other’s hands, but they are not performing at all. Terrifyingly, they are genuinely crying and wailing in despair.

“We are such bad parents!”

“We have committed an irrevocable sin!”

“I’m so sorry Kuri-chan!”

“I’m so sorry Kuriko!”

Urk. They are so annoying.

The papers and magazines often lament the collapse of family relationships, which lead to cases of child abuse or uncaring parents. But my parents have always had an excess of emotions. It wasn’t that I don’t like them, or that I feel I have to stop them, but it is really a bother.

“It’s nothing… I just wanted to cut my hair."

I sighed and put the small scissors back into the stationary case.

My parents, who are hugging each other and bawling their eyes out, looked at me in confusion.

“… You aren’t throwing the towel from being turned down by a date?”

“… And you aren’t trying to use pain to feel that you’re alive, and want to slit your wrist?”

“You two honestly watch way too much TV drama.”

I’m just an ordinary person.

I’m a useless repeat-year student whose hobby is video games, a nineteen-year-old who is trying over and over to get into university. I don’t have money, and I’m as lanky as a boy, and I’m bothered by this every day. I’m such an ordinary girl.

So Hino and Kio don’t need to be this concerned.

"... Guriko is very happy right now."

Almost unconsciously, I speak these words softly. Then I say them again:

"I'm very happy."

My parents should know this without any explanation. I say this quietly as I placed the bag on my shoulders and smile at my parents. They are still hugging each other stupidly as they cried tears of joy and relief. I wave at them and walk towards the door.

I’m not leaving to save the world.

And I’m not heading out to fight anyone in particular.

I’m only trying not to be late for prep school.

"I'm heading out."

I say this softly as I put on shoes and tie my shoelaces on the porch. These things that I could never accomplish before are now very simple tasks.

"Kuri-chan Kuri-chan Kuri-chan!"

My parents run up to me and wave over and over, as if they are sending their child off to the army or the battlefield.

"Stay safe, Kuri-chan! You cut yourself a boyish hairstyle again. Let's go to a hairdresser's after you come back, and we'll make your hair cute and pretty... here, this is a present from Mom."

Mom folds a ten-thousand Yen bill into a plane and throws it towards me. The paper plane wobbles as it makes its way across. Mom is the same as always, not caring about money at all, while I remain as stingy as ever… woah, Fukuzawa Yukichi’s twisted and bent face looks so funny.

“Kuriko, be careful when you are walking back! Don’t get careless when you’re on the road! There are perverts and stray dogs to look out for, and thunder and meteorites can hit you on the head too!”

Dad’s reminders, which are precautions as well as concerns, are somewhat reasonable for the first half, but sound like complete nonsense in the second half. If I were the same as before, I might not get hurt even if I was struck directly by lightning. But now… I’m only an ordinary human.

I casually reply, “I’ll come back safe and sound” and push open the door, scuttling out of the home.

Once I get onto the bicycle, it is a straight line from here to the prep school.

The weather is astonishingly good today as well.

This is a world without God.

However, God also exists within every corner of this world.

God is within my heart, within Dad’s heart, within Mom’s heart, within a puppy’s heart – everything in this world contains a fragment of God. All these existences influence each other, and keep up the eternal cycle. The world is endless, and will keep on going one ordinary day after another, just like right now.

The God whom I liked messed up the entire world. She was a bit terrifying, but She was very gentle. She broke apart the entire world, but at the very end, She re-created and restored the world to its original form.

Rinne.

Thank you so much for not allowing the world to shatter back then.

I feel… very happy.

Itsuwara Kuriko. The probability of her being accepted by her preferred university is 15%. Grade E.

“Urk…”

Since I was thirsty, I bought a packet of coffee milk from the vending machine when I got to prep school, and drank it while waiting for time to pass. There were about five minutes before classes started, so I snuck into the teacher’s office to look at the results of my mock exams, only to sigh.

Studying is such a pain.

My university entrance exam last year was a failure too.

But I can’t help it. I’ve never been educated or went to class before. Even though I had rushed through school once upon a time in a spectacular way, starting my education with the first year of high school, I still didn’t have any kind of fundamental knowledge like reading or simple arithmetic. It was so hard playing catch up with all my classmates.

Japan’s education system is way too advanced.

Even though Sakaki was my private tutor, and I ended up knowing just about as much as your average person, I still didn’t manage to squeeze through the entrance exam last year. Now I had to become this kind of a good-for-nothing repeat-year student. Even though I didn’t consider getting into university a super-hard challenge…it is already summer, and I’m already getting numbers like a 15% chance of acceptance. That is just too much.

I’m probably not gonna make it into university anyways…

I do like school somewhat… I am interested in things like folklore and myths, and these kinds of unorthodox disciplines. I thought it was very fun to study those things a bit before the world was destroyed, and that was the trigger that made me discover my interests – which later became the basis I'm using to choose my university…. Life is full of surprises. How can anyone predict any outcomes? Who knows what kind of changes will happen, once an opportunity presents itself?

All in all, I can’t study at the place I used to attend anymore. Even if I can’t pass the exam this year, I still need to try my best to study. I take out my vocabulary book and leaf through it, the pages making a crisp noise as I do. I start to study in a really unsteady manner, looking really depressed, just as I did back in the classroom. I calm down by putting on an expression that looks like I have given up on a lot of things, and have had my soul taken away.

As I suck on the coffee milk with a straw and memorized English vocabulary with unusual gusto, a girl sits down next to me.

Her name is Echizen Mitsuki. She is nineteen years old, and I usually call her Echi for short. She was my classmate back in high school, but we hardly talked back then. When we caught up in prep school again, the relationship between us improved. Other people always observe that it is very difficult for me to be with people I'm not familiar with. I look very awkward and am always on the edge of my seat. But if I meet friends who are like me... then everything becomes very strange and incredulous. I mean, I would talk and behave in a way that actually expresses my personality.

This girl is very similar to Rinne, be it her expressions, movements, or her slightly metallic voice.

"Morning."

"Morning... I'm gonna start eating now. Omm."

We greet each other casually, then Echi takes out the sandwich she bought at the convenience store and starts to chew on it enthusiastically. For some reason, I feel that I’ve seen her eat like this before.

I continue memorizing my English vocabulary. I look sideways at her, before saying with a displeased tone: "... If you eat too much, you are going to get fat."

"Mmm. I overslept, so I didn't have breakfast."

Echi shrugs awkwardly and grabs the milk from my hands in a natural way, and starts to suck on the straw. Then she smiles angelically.

“Ahaha – this is an indirect kiss, no?”

“…”

She’s such a confusing girl.

She keeps eating with a happy expression. Then, as if she suddenly remembered something, she asks a strange question.

“Right. Right. Kuri-chan, have you heard of the rumors about the man-eating demon?”

“Man-eating demon? Not Long-Armed Demon?”

Echi looks very confused, but it is to be expected.

The world was re-constructed after it was destroyed. But how was it created as a new world…? This is a question that Sakaki Guryū and Nageki Kurukiyo are trying their best to investigate, with the former doing it in secret and the latter conducting searches in the open. However, they still have very few clues.

Just what events are considered as ‘having occurred’, and which ones are treated as ‘having never happened’? What events are left in history and in the memories of mankind, and what events have been forgotten, treated as if they never took place?

What kind of a world was this made into?

We still don’t know anything about that at all.

Therefore, maybe I should always be on my guard. Perhaps I should be investigating this world together with Sakaki and Nageki, and destroy whatever abnormalities I may discover.

But Sakaki said I should live as a normal person.

I’m no longer an immortal monster. My body is that of a normal human. I am registered as a child of my parents, and I was also linked to them through my DNA… probably. I am no longer Gankyū Eguriko, but exist as Itsuwara Kuriko.

I was accepted by this world.

So I just need to live as a normal person.

Sakaki said that I should live as a normal person, too.

Even though I didn’t accept everything Sakaki said – I decided that if I could, I would like to try living like an ordinary person. I had always wanted to live like that. I decided to try that kind of a life style, the life of an ordinary person, which I thought I would never be able to have.

I want to live every day as a human.

I am no longer the Poisoned Apple, which killed Snow White.

I am no longer the enemy of God, or the enemy of the world.

I am no longer an immortal monster, but a useless repeat-year student you can find anywhere.

No matter what…

“What... is that thing then? Man-eating demon? What is that? It’s a pretty disgusting name…”

I begin to feel anxious, and a bad feeling swells up in my chest – but when I look around, Echi is still rambling about demons and monsters as she eats.

“Um, err, I don’t know the details either… it was reported on TV as well. Sounds like some people got eaten. Munch munch.”

Breadcrumbs from the sandwich are stuck all over her face, but she is still talking about these disgusting topics with ease. I don’t understand this young girl’s feelings and emotions at all…

I suddenly feel tired and allow my eyelids to droop. Echi then starts to laugh.

“Kuriko-chan, you don’t know this because you don’t watch TV, right? It’s a big ruckus right now.”

“I just use the TV to game. …Eh? It’s already making a big fuss? Well, that’s to be expected – after all, people got eaten.”

This is very bad.

Echi and I have a similar numbness towards this, even though we probably got that numbness for different reasons. But we understand that this was a horrible business at the very least. I was a monster as well, once upon a time. I once lived as a monster. Perhaps I didn’t have much in the way of feelings back then. Yet, ever since I became human, I naturally feel disturbed when I hear my brethren have been eaten.

A man-eating demon.

That would be a true… monster.

That is impossible. Monsters should have been completely destroyed in this world. Even if one or two of them pop up, Sterilization Disinfection and Unpleasant Counter-Current - the two entities responsible for tidying up monsters - would have destroyed them before they created a mess.

Sterilization Disinfection and Unpleasant Counter-Current…

The Saibara sisters are still the ones who inherited these duties, right?

Or…are they living as normal humans, just like me?

Or maybe…were their very existences erased?

In the end, I don’t want to think about this anymore. I believe that they must have been reconstructed too.

Even though it was a short period of time, they were my weird neighbors who lived in the same apartment as me, and were once my companions.

“But…”

I started to think about irrelevant stuff without intending to, so I try my best to bring the conversation back on track.

“Isn’t this a peaceful era right now? Why are we talking about demons and ghosts…? If you want to regard a ghost as the criminal, it simply can’t be true. It must be a wanted man or something. As for eating humans… that was probably done by a wild animal.”

“But there are no animals that naturally prey on men.” Echi concludes with great confidence.

But those animals exist. Bears would be an example. They probably aren’t any around here, but even a fierce domestic dog can manage to eat a human body.

Mmm. This era is very safe, so people don’t understand the terror of wild animals at all.

“Mm.”

Echi takes a second sandwich from her bag, puts her hands on top of her head, and waves her hands.

“How do I say this… witnesses say that the criminal has a sharp head like this.”

“A sharp head?”

I can’t imagine that clearly.

Echi is still chewing her sandwich with a happy expression. Am I dreaming, or is this reality? I suddenly feel confused, and reply accordingly.

“Maybe they were wearing a hat on their head, like those sharp hats clowns wear during parties. If they had a sharp head, then it should mean they had a horn on their head. Compared to that, isn’t it more believable for them to be wearing a hat? It would have been dark, so the witness could have thought the hat was a horn on the culprit’s head… so if we are trying to find a name for the culprit, I think it would be more accurate to call them a man-eating clown, rather than a man-eating demon.”

“A horrifying man-eating clown does sound more realistic.”

I try to imagine a manically grinning clown covered in blood.

While we are continuing this stupid and meaningless conversation, our teacher for today swaggers arrogantly into the room. There is a very snobby expression on that person’s face.

“Ah, the Ant-Eater is here. I need to hurry up and finish eating.”

Echi begins to wolf down the sandwich, only to have breathing difficulties due to having too much food stuffed into her mouth. I pat her back tenderly and sigh heavily.

I don’t care about things like man-eating demons anymore. Mmm. Now they have little to do with me.

It should be something that Nageki took care of. It should be a normal crime committed by humans. In other words, even if it is a real monster, I have no incentive to try and look for it, or desire to find it or capture it. Those kinds of work should be the duties of those corresponding Greater Fragments. That’s how the world should operate. Those kinds of things have nothing to do with me right now.

And if that demon threatens my daily life… then I would also know what to do.

“Then let us start class! Hey, Echizen, don’t eat in the classroom! The scent of food is gonna end up in this room!”

“Yesh! I’ma sowwy!”

The teacher who we call ‘Ant-Eater’ starts to tell Echi off, and his spit flies everywhere as he went on his tirade. Meanwhile, Echi is respectfully apologizing to him – though she sticks out her tongue at me and secretly laughs the moment he looks away. This is a very ordinary day for me. Man-eating monsters, Greater Fragments, the destiny of the world – all those things are just stories left behind in a distant world.

And the greatest enemy in front of me these days… are trigonometric functions and English grammar (they are so hard!).

The boring class is finally over, and it was about time for dinner when I got home.

My family still carries out the act of ‘gathering together for dinner’, which has long become non-ritualized and an empty slogan in this era. In my family, dinner is only served after everyone has gathered together, and we only eat once Dad, usually the last person to get home, has returned. As always, Mom sends me a text message, reminding me to come home for dinner.

It’s not as if I’m embarrassed to let my friends see such caring texts from my parents, but I still try my best to read messages and reply inconspicuously.

“Then I’ll stroll around and get home after I’ve wasted some time outside – Kuriko”. That’s my reply.

After I leave prep school, I go to the arcade with Echi since it is on the way. I rest a little bit when I get tired of gaming, and take a bit of time to reply to Mom’s message. Just like always, Mom replies in about ten seconds. The message is full of symbols such as emojis. It is impressive that she could type something like this in such a short period of time.

Both my parents are the kind that are a bit…overemotional.

It isn’t bad. I don’t mind.

By the way, Dad will come back really late tonight due to work, so it seems that dinner will only start at around 9pm. Since Mom gave me money in the morning, I don’t have to worry at all and can spend money without concern. But even so, I don’t manage to waste much time.

I close my phone with a click and start to fiddle with the small arcade steel beads in my palm.

The machines in the arcade are very simple. Most games can be conquered easily as long as your reflexes and sight are a bit advanced. If I’m smart about the kind of games I choose, I can play for a long time with just a few hundred Yen. Even though I no longer have an immortal body, my stamina and mental focus still far surpass that of normal humans. Even if I’m exhausted, my experience and capabilities with video games don’t diminish at all. My body can clearly feel that.

Echi, who is drinking oolong tea next to me, can also be considered as a pro gamer. However, I’m better than her at everything that requires puzzles and brain work, except games. Still, even though I’m good at games, I don’t think there’s much to be proud of.

“Huh… Kuriko-chan, your phone is pretty crappy.”

Echi swings her legs in a bored way as she sits on the bench on the corner of the gaming arcade. Looking over, she sees the phone in my hand.

Mmm. Yeah. My phone is a model that was a few years old already. I’m pretty careful with it… but the small scratches and spots of dirt are getting obvious. Other people would have already bought another phone to replace it.

“But this phone is very important to me.”

I hold the phone tightly and smile, as if I’m embracing someone. What kind of expression would Echi wear, if I tell her this phone was once owned by God?

Shock? Anger? Or a simple smile?

But Echi, this really was God’s mobile phone.

Everything was finished after we experienced the final battle that destroyed the world. Since we were temporarily confused, we basically split up Rinne’s possessions. We weren’t saying Rinne was dead; it just felt a little like it.

I got this phone from Sakaki back then. A lot of messages that were passed between Sakaki and Rinne, which were full of their thoughts towards each other, were saved in there. I originally thought it would be better for Sakaki to keep something like this. However, Sakaki said if he held on to it, he would stare at it all day long and wouldn’t be able to do anything else. Using these excuses, he more or less forced this phone onto me.

There probably wasn’t any need to keep the messages in the phone. However, as the current owner of the phone, I didn’t erase them. Holding on to something that contained Rinne’s information made me feel that she was always with me, and was still protecting me.

How can I explain something like this to Echi?

If I tried to explain everything, then it would become very long.

“…?”

My phone suddenly starts to ring.

It is the tone for a text message.

A strange, unsettled feeling suddenly wells up in my chest. I don’t unlock my phone immediately, and look at the sender first.

It’s a name I have never heard of before.

FROM★Yume-chan

TO★Mother

… What is this?

My phone displays the names of the sender and the receiver, but I have never entered such a contact. So who is this ‘Yume-chan’? I have no idea. Do I know anyone with this name?

The receiver information is also puzzling. Mother?

Did someone accidentally put in the wrong number and sent her message to me…?

Or is this a prank? Or one of those very annoying spam callers?

As these thoughts whirl about my mind, I lower my head and start to read the contents of the text message.

“What is this…?”

Subject★Play with Yume-chan

Message Body★Walk forward?

“Forward?”

I move forward unconsciously. I don’t feel any kind of defensive emotion, but reflectively step out. Echi looks at me rather incredulously.

“What’s wrong, Kuriko-chan?”

“…”

I tell her to wait for a bit, before standing up and slowly walking forward. I see it now. This looks a bit familiar… but I don’t remember seeing this before.

This is the game arcade.

Mmm, this is probably the only place where you will appear.

There is a puzzle game in front of me that requires 50 Yen per try. A shining picture is presented on the screen, with incongruously massive arrows.

→

I walk according to the directions.

“→”“↓”“→”

I pay close attention to my surroundings, and am eventually led to a shooting arcade game.

The player sits in a closed space that looks like a car, holds onto the trigger of the gun, looks at the massive images on the screen in front of them, and shoots enemies to kill them. That’s it. It’s a very common enclosed game space. There’s no one inside the curtained carriage, but there’s a very cute voice coming from inside.

“Come in.”

“…”

I lower my head and duck inside the dim interior, then quickly put down the curtains.

I sit down on the seat, then quietly stare at the image in front of me.

“Aha.”

Inside the monitor, with countless eyeballs serving as the background, a girl stands there.

It isn’t the same image as I saw before, the image created by the humanoid Mushi. This girl was controlled by the Mushi back then. Was this her real form?

She is naked and covered by layers and layers of bandages. It is an outfit even more embarrassing than nudity. If I stare closely, I can see that the bandages are entwined with her hair, and that they are spiraling around her body in complex patterns. She would be better off wearing normal clothing.

Her head looks like that of a goat’s… or rather, was horned like a Western devil’s. Her eyes are red and completely devoid of emotions, making them look totally inhuman. She is hugging a ragged teddy bear before her curvaceous bosom, as if she wanted to hide herself behind the toy.

The girl and I gaze at each other silently, before I sigh, deeply.

“Are you… the Dream World Beast?”

“Call me Yume-chan!!”

No! No! Although the girl looks like an adult, she starts to cry and throw a tantrum in a most immature and incongruous way.

“If you don’t call me Yume-chan, then I won’t talk to you anymore, Mother!”

“…”

Is this her actual personality? No… er, the last time we met, she was essentially controlled by others the whole time – this is the first time we actually had a chance to talk properly.

I clasp my hands together as I think about this and feel somewhat at a loss. This thing was manipulated and controlled by that Snake, who pretended to be a Mushi. It was later killed by Melodia NoiseTear Song’s space-crushing abilities, which was camouflaged as incendiary bombs. This world was reconstructed when it ended, and plenty of people who were supposed to be dead were also resurrected. Yet even though I knew that to be true… did this thing get resurrected as well?!

Anyways, I don’t know what is going on. Is this thing an enemy or a friend? According to normal logic, I should definitely regard her as a very dangerous opponent, and be very cautious when interacting with her. However, right now I can’t feel any traces of enmity from this thing.

But – why was this thing calling me Mother?

No. It was Rinne and I who gave this thing nutrients, and that was how she was hatched – she did call me Mother before, once upon a time. But how did this thing remember it?

The world suffered tremendous amounts of damage, and was only re-constructed at the last minute – everyone’s memories of the Apocalypse were erased except for survivors such as me, Sakaki, Nageki Kurukiyo, Breaksun, Tatsue, and Mitaka.

Many people lost their memories regarding the Last Battle, and appeared as brand new characters. However, the functions they shouldered were like before… and they kept living in this world. For example, Kajiri still had the power of Genesis as Single Room. However, when he met Breaksun again, he had forgotten everything about her… Meanwhile, Joker was still Melodia NoiseTear Song, but she had not inserted Breaksun’s siblings into her body, and she appeared unable to exert the same amount of power she showed when we fought.

Just how did Rinne re-construct the world? I had no idea. All I understood was that the only people who remembered events from the world before were the people who survived the Final Battle. The others have more or less forgotten about everything, and the world was re-constructed in a very peaceful setting.

Sakaki Ganhō did not establish the Eternity Institute either. Instead, he is investigating the details regarding the Last Battle and this re-constructed world with Sakaki Guryū. Joker, meanwhile, is also seriously taking on the task of being Tatsue and Sakaki’s mother. Perhaps many others have been recreated somewhere in this world – such as the likes of Ultimate ShieldThe Weakest, Long-Armed Demon, Berobōchō, and the Mushi. They are probably not scheming or slaughtering each other, but living peacefully.

God once desired death. God once swallowed the Poisoned Apple in anguish and faced annihilation.

This world, which was once destroyed, mirrored the moods of that God. The bloody battlefield, with monsters swarming everywhere, once filled the entire world. People died one after the other. It was a depressing world –

But now, God isn’t not dead, and is recovering little by little… She has probably completely recovered by now. The peace this world now experiences is the proof.

Everyone is living warm and peaceful lives with little stress.

It is a world without strife or slaughter. It is a peaceful world.

This is the world right now, a mirror that reflects the mind of God at this moment.

Then, is this Dream World Beast also… a friend? A companion? It isn’t an opponent I need to protect myself from? No, no. What is wrong with this thing? It shouldn’t remember any of those events, but why is it calling me Mother? Maybe I should start investigating there.

“Dream World Beast…”

“…”

"Ah. I mean, um... what's wrong, Yu... Yume-chan?"

"Ahaha."

A very cute smile surfaces on her face as the Dream World Beast hugs the teddy bear in her arms and raises her eyes towards me.

"What's the matter, Mother? Do you want to play with Yume-chan?"

"No... well, I can, but can we put play aside for a bit? Yume-chan, why would you call me Mom? No - was everything reconstructed deliberately, so she can call me that - huh? I don't understand... what was I trying to say, I don't even know myself..."

"?"

The Dream World Beast tilts her head and her eyeballs turn in their sockets. She then starts the conversation with a few terrible words.

"Mmm, actually, Mother, Yume-chan is here to warn you."

"Warn me...?"

"Yes."

The Dream World Beast smiles sweetly and looks at me with her dark red eyes. It’s weird - I haven't experienced something like this for a long time, but since my body has seen this before, my defensive instincts rear up, as if an alarm starts to ring with a loud and shrill sound.

I look at the Dream World Beast and our eyes meet.

“Um, Yume-chan doesn’t understand yet whether I should tell you – but I keep having this bad feeling, and I feel I must tell you, Mother. Um, there is someone who told Yume-chan – and other people – things that happened in the previous world.”

“…”

The previous world.

That world full of slaughter, the world from the legend of Mushi and eyeballs.

This world finally gained its peace, and we got to keep living our lives in such a carefree manner. Someone told her of that world – a world that many would consider to be a previous life.

“Um, Yume-chan heard a lot of things from that person… and that was how I got to know you, Mother. You are my Mother, aren’t you? Yume-chan’s… mother.”

The Dream World Beast is seeking her answers in a fearful way, but a guess surfaced in my mind. That person may have indeed told everything about the previous world to her. However, the goal for doing that wasn’t for her to regain her previous memories, for her to remember how she was created, what she did, or how she died – it wasn’t to allow her to take back these memories.

I once hurt the Dream World Beast. I rejected its existence and killed it. That is an undeniable truth.

But I stretch my hand out towards the image in front of me, even though I knew I cannot erase the past.

Even though I cannot touch her, I still pat the Dream World Beast’s head. The Dream World Beast shows a very happy smile.

“Ahhh, Yume-chan’s Mother…”

Her cheeks flush, and tears well up in her eyes.

“I’m so lonely. I’ve always been by myself. So… I’m so lonely.”

“I’m sorry, Yume-chan.”

You won’t suffer from any misfortunes anymore, my child.

I make this resolve in my mind, and once again gaze at the Dream World Beast.

“Yume-chan… no, other people too – you shouldn’t remember these things. That bastard was instilling the memories of that painful world into your brain… just where did they came from? Not many people still have the memories from that time….”

I’m very concerned about that person’s purpose.

Why would they still want to dig out the memories of that world? Just who would do something so silly? And for what…

“Mm. Yes. Even though I told her to stop chattering to Yume-chan and others, the person who kept talking about the memories of our previous lives – “

She says slowly and in a low voice.

“Is behind you right now, Mother…!”

“_”

I snap my head back. There is no one there. Rather, there is only the back of the seat and the walls of the enclosure. I can’t see anything else. I turn my head back, and the Dream World Beast starts to roll on the floor in laughter while hugging her belly.

She has tears of laughter in her eyes (those tears are completely different to the previous ones – I’m starting to get upset). She puffs and huffs, and provides an annoying answer.

“Nope. I was joking.”

“I’m going to punch you.”

I originally wanted to talk to her properly, but the Dream World Beast doesn’t seem to have any plans for that at all. Mmm, I have her figured out. This thing is still pretty much a child… If I treat everything she said seriously, I’ll become exhausted.

I remain silent for a while, then put a serious expression on my face, while continuing to gaze at her.

“Mmm – err… no, Yume-chan doesn’t understand this very well either. It was my first time seeing that person – but that person could see Yume-chan. My body is hidden in the air. Ordinary people can’t see it. But she was able to keep chatting to me, so she shouldn’t be an ordinary human…”

This explanation didn't explain anything at all. At the very end, she adds.

"That person told me her name. She said she was 'a ravished Queen of Insects'..."

"Queen of... Insects?"

"Her name was 'Damaged Hair'."

" - Damaged... Hair."

As expected, it was a name I have never heard of before.

But - Queen of Insects?

By insects, she must have meant the Mushi... Was there a queen among them? Even though lots of insect colonies, such as ants and bees, have a queen among them, the hoard of Mushi should have little to do with real insects.

The ravished Queen of Insects, Damaged Hair... huh.

I’ll remember this name anyways. For some reason, I have an annoying kind of premonition...

"That's all I wanted to say. I originally wanted to play together with you - "

The Dream World Beast says in a regretful tone. She mutters as she furrows her brows.

"Because of the secret activities of that Queen of Insects, Sterilization Disinfection also seemed to have started reacting to her and sprang into action... Killing Yume-chan is also one of Sterilization Disinfection’s goals, so now I have to escape to somewhere further away."

"Sterilization Disinfection started to act..."

Then I can probably let Sterilization Disinfection handle it. I experienced the power of Sterilization Disinfection firsthand, so I understand what she can do. Even if she fought the Queen of the Mushi, she would not slip up at all.

While I consider those things, the Dream World Beast starts to wave at me cutely.

"Then farewell, Mother. We will meet again once everything is over... you've gotta play with Yume-chan when that happens, okay? We need to play together for a long long time. You will definitely play with me, right?"

"Yes. I promise."

Next time I will definitely meet a Yume-chan who doesn’t wish to kill me and will play with me for a long time.

I smile and wave at her as well. Then she blinks as if she suddenly remembers something.

"Yes, yes. Mother, there is another Mother for me, right?"

"Rinne? Ah, Rinne isn't around anymore... we can't see her any longer."

I thought I already understood what the Dream World Beast wanted to say, so I said it myself first. But she looks confused.

"No. I've already seen my other Mother before I got here to meet you... she asked me to send a message to you."

"... Huh?"

What did you say?

I stare at the Dream World Beast in shock. She smiles sweetly, and speaks the 'message' she was meant to deliver.

"She said 'I'm sorry, Guriko... I'm coming'."

I split up with Echi in front of the arcade building.

She’s very unhappy that I’m dumping her and running off somewhere else, but instantly forgets about it after I promise to treat her to a meal. Even though I don’t mean to increase her weight by getting her to eat more... well, it can’t be helped.

I look up at the sky. Echi is making some bubbling noises and wobbling her head. Then she grasps my hand tightly and says loudly:

"It's okay, Kuriko-chan! Even if your prep exam results are horrible, you shouldn't give up! Something good must happen!"

"No... um, it's not because of that. And... Echi, how did you know my results for the prep exam?"

"Honestly, I can't let you run off on your own for even a second! Show me your exam paper!!"

"No! I won't show it to you!"

The two of us starts yelling 'no' at each other. Indeed, friends are totally worth it. We are holding hands as we yell at each other next to the bicycle rack outside the arcade center. We are two carefree nineteen-year-old repeat-year students. We don't feel embarrassed about that fact, nor do we feel proud.

"Mm, it's okay it's okay! We'll definitely pass! Definitely pass this year!"

"Yep... this year."

Echi nods with a hum, then suddenly starts to sing out loud.

"Lalala~ Test~ Whatever? It can't go on like this! Failed?"

"Fail?"

"Hoy hoy!"

It is a song and lyrics I recognize, and I start to hum with her unconsciously - but I suddenly remember why I recognize it, and mumble in a low voice.

"Isn't this a nursery rhyme for playing Paper, Scissors, Rocks?"

“So now we are playing exams! It’s the new version of playing Paper, Scissors, Rocks! If you do this once every day, you will definitely pass the exam. Mino-san said this on the TV!”

“Mino-san… who? I’ve never heard of someone like that.”

Because I never watch TV.

Anyways, even though this song is very silly, it boosts my courage. After meeting the Dream World Beast again with no forewarning, I was feeling very confused because I heard something very important, but now I’ve calmed down somewhat.

Friends… are definitely worth having.

I wave as I watch Echi head further and further away on her bicycle. The town into which she disappeared is as peaceful as ever, and I’m a bit more settled.

Yes. This is it.

The world has become very peaceful. No one will never experience anything dangerous or spiteful again.

Yes… Rinne, you must have become very happy, right? That is why this world is so peaceful – it will continue into tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and all the way into the future. It will stay peaceful like this forever, right?

We once made a promise to do our best.

Hmm? Or was that a… slightly different promise?

“Er…”

I try to remember just what kind of promise that was. It should be.... 'if she feels painful again, then...'?

"Oh well, it doesn't matter."

I can’t remember it no matter what, and play with the ends of my hair. I think about what I still need to do. There’s a lot of time after dinner. It should be enough for me to cut my hair at the small hairdresser's near my house. If I still have money left... then I should go hang out at Kannonsakazaki. It has been a while since I've been to that place.

The center of the world.

A place full of our memories.

"... Guess who?"

Suddenly, someone covers up my eyes from behind. Together with that, I heard a voice that sounds like falling bells. Everything in my sight becomes black. The touch on my back is so gentle. It is a warm body that I had once felt before.

My heart starts to beat vigorously.

No way.

Can it be?

It would be a lie to say that I was not expecting... no, that I was not hoping for this. I didn't know whether the Dream World Beast was lying, or if she made a mistake. However, since I was told that She indeed existed - then it would be impossible for me not to expect meeting Her or hoping to meet Her.

But - but –

"... You don't remember me anymore? It has been a long while."

There’s a trace of regret in Her voice. Her hands move away from my eyes.

I cannot move my body. My entire being is stiff - I cannot even turn around.

"You grew taller. I almost didn't recognize you there."

It is that slightly metallic voice, which I liked and Sakaki loved. It is a light and tilting kind of chatter. It is a voice that I have been so anxious about, and would have paid anything in the world to hear again. It is the voice of someone very important to me.

"Don't be scared, Guriko. Look here."

She gently takes my hand, and I can finally see clearly what was going on behind me.

It isn't a dream, and it isn't a mirage.

It isn't a false hope, and it’s not a mistake.

"Ahaha, I feel a bit embarrassed..."

The person smiling there is the God of this world - the girl named Usagawa Rinne.

Ragnarok 02: Marionette of blood and flesh and bone

It was deep into the night.

“Yes –”

She was at a corner of a winding path in an abandoned and silent apartment complex.

“I don’t hate bad tastes, but I can’t handle bad tastes without esthetics. One needs to be devoted to having bad tastes, and only then can such products be considered art… bizarre art pieces that embodied bad taste is the true form of bad tastes.”

Streetlights were lined evenly along the road. The lights within the houses, penthouses, and apartments all turned off one after another. The weak light emitted by the automatic vending machines vaguely complemented the scattered stars on the night sky. Hardly any cars passed along the tarmac road – and a woman stood in the middle of the pedestrian crossing.

“I have to go… sterilize and disinfect.”

She mumbled in a low voice, looking very tired. She sighed, and a puffing sound could be heard from her mouth, as if she emitted steam.

The sound was because of the over-the-top mask she wore over her mouth. The mask was obviously to keep off dust and bacteria, not because she had of a cold or hay fever. She would have blended in the crowd well with her casual dress. However, that strange mask gave made her incongruous.

Her hair was pristine white, reaching all the way to her waist in a long braid. She wore a small tank top with angel wings printed on the back, and denim shorts cut off at the knee over her legs.

Her name was Sterilization Disinfection. Sterilization Disinfection – Saibara Mina.

She was one of the seven called the Seven Greater Fragments of God. The seven shared God’s existence equally among them and played their respective roles. She was the Punisher who sought out evil in the world and erased them. She was the monster who destroyed the world in the Great Flood. She was the human possessing Sterilization Disinfection, the Greater Fragment of God that came with many terrifying legends.

Mina had a day job as a nurse at the hospital in town. And when she returned home, she would then have to take care of her very noisy younger sister. Today was just the same. She did her best at work and was already exhausted when she finished her over-time. All she wanted was to head home quickly, drink some alcohol to relax, and go to sleep.

Even if she was an immortal – a massive Fragment that could automatically recover from fatigue – it didn’t mean she would not feel tired. Just like everyone else, he hated endless work. Even though physical fatigue disappeared quickly for her, her exhausted mind won’t recover that easily.

Mina was therefore very annoyed right now.

Compared to the other Greater Fragments of God, the number of manual tasks Sterilization Disinfection had to perform were far greater.

Mina sighed in the middle of the pedestrian crossing in the empty road.

She lifted her gaze slightly. Something was hanging down from the traffic lights, which were working just a moment before.

It was a disgusting and distasteful puppet made up of blood, bone, and meat.

There were many corpses hanging from the traffic lights, corpses of people killed in a pitiful way.

“…”

These corpses were hanging messily on the traffic lights all around her. Someone hung those corpses upside down, using their clothes to hook them onto the traffic lights, as if showing them off for some purpose. Mina felt they looked like The Hanged Man from the Tarot, or the cows and pigs hanging upside down in a butcher’s shop in TV.

The first body looked very fresh.

Blood was dripping from the dead body. It wasn’t even stiff yet. It was swaying ceaselessly in the wind, and many insects and carrion birds have gathered around it. Fortunately, there were no pedestrians on this path in the apartment complex at this time of the night. It would probably cause a big ruckus if ordinary people saw this scene.

The dead included men, women, the elderly, and the young – but there were some things in common among them.

They were all killed in the same way, and the wounds on their bodies were identical.

First of all, the fatal blow was always a wound through the heart. They were all stabbed in the chest by either a spear or a katana – something sharp and thin - and died instantly. The heart was a vital organ even for immortals… if immortals were stabbed through the heart by an opponent’s weapon, even immortals would die.

Mina knew she must not let her guard down if she had the misfortune to fight the culprit who caused this pitiful scene. The enemy seemed to be very aware of the weaknesses on an immortal’s body. Even if it was a monster, it must possess outstanding intellect. Ordinary monsters would not even think. They only knew about attacking physical and tearing away at their enemy’s bodies. Corpses made by ordinary monsters would never look like this.

Certainly, there was also the possibility that a deranged human criminal was at work, and they were only interested in targeting and attacking people’s hearts. No matter what, she needed to be alert. Sterilization Disinfection might be powerful, but her life would also die if her heart was pierced. Based on what Mina had seen of the opponent’s abilities, even she could be in mortal danger. Mina harbored God’s Greater Fragment within her and her physical parameters were augmented, but that didn’t mean Mina suddenly became a martial artist. She simply fought in a unique manner. If Mina were to face someone who actually practiced armed martial arts, she would not necessarily win.

“…”

Moreover, there were other incredulous wounds on these bodies.

There was blood coming out of the victims’ ears.

It might have been blood from these people’s broken eardrums after they were attacked with powerful sonic waves. But in that case, both ears should be bleeding. When she examined the corpses, all of them only had blood coming out of one ear. Some of them were bleeding from their left ear, and some from their right, but none had both ears affected.

Mina was very puzzled. She jumped lightly onto the top of the traffic lights and let a corpse down to the ground. It seemed to be that of a high school boy. He was dressed in very flashy clothes; maybe he was out for a taste of the night life. He was probably attacked when he was returning home late at night. Mina laid the body flat on the ground and touched the bleeding ear, then frowned.

“Could it be…”

In order to test her hypothesis, Mina placed her hand on the body’s forehead and pressed down.

The skull was easily crushed under her hand. The only thing Mina felt was the texture of bones – she could not feel any brain tissue from where it was meant to be.

That meant…

“They sucked out the brain… through the ear canal? That is a disgustingly bad taste.”

There was a sharp and loud bang.

Mina jumped up and turn her head as if she was on a spring. Someone was standing there. Yes, a girl who looked like she was a mirage was standing there – she was standing in the middle of the empty road very far from Mina, and her figure was illuminated by the street light. She was the one who made the disgusting act of hanging these corpses on the traffic light above the pedestrian crossing, as if those corpses were marionettes.

She had blonde hair and dark-red eyes. She was wearing a priest’s garb, looking like it was difficult for her to move in. There was a pointy hat on her head, as if it was the hat of a clown.

She covered from head to toe in blood – especially over her lips.

She clasped a despicable spear in her right hand. The spear was evidently inanimate, and yet it emitted a strong stench as if it was a beast.

“What is… this?”

Mina’s entire body tensed. She stood up after placing the corpse in her arms back on the ground. Now, only the width of one traffic lane separated the two of them on the road. It was only a few meters wide. If Mina jumped a little, she could even touch that girl.

Mina calculated her opportunity to strike. She still couldn’t confirm the real identity of her opponent, who looked both like an ordinary human and a monster. She was a bit confused. What was this girl’s goal? It was hard to believe the girl in front of Mina was the culprit of all the bizarre occurrences, including as the blood covering her whole body and the corpses dangling on the curved traffic lights.

Was this person Mina’s enemy?

Was this person the enemy of the world?

If it was the latter, then it would be Mina’s duty to eliminate her – however, Mina felt her opponent had a lack of presence. She could not detect the girl’s goals or presence at all. If she had to explain it, then it felt like this girl just happened to pass by here… she didn’t feel like this girl was the main culprit. It was almost as if this girl was controlled by someone else…

However, the girl nodded lightly at Mina, and confessed the sins she had committed with her own mouth.

“I have captured… a surprisingly large prey.”

Her tone was completely emotionless, and words popped out of her month flatly one after another.

“It would have been exceptional, even if only one monster appeared.”

“What? Are you saying that you baited me out?”

Mina became more alarmed than ever. Were those disgusting and gory marionettes just bait created to attract those like Mina, beings who lived in the dark side of this world? She could not understand the reason behind such an activity.

The blonde girl stayed still as she looked at Mina, who was prepared for battle. The girl then nodded swiftly.

“It seems… marionettes were enough to bait them.”

“…”

“Hehe… if you feel this is funny, you can laugh.”

No way. Why would Mina feel like this was funny?

What was wrong with this person? She felt very strange, and there was no way Mina could determine her personality.

Mina was still stunned by the scene before her. She didn’t know what to do. She felt lost facing this strange opponent, as if she just stepped into the innocent world of a manga. Mina was completely lost as to whether this girl was a friend or foe, or a powerful adversary who needed to be killed immediately. If her opponent showed any desire for battle, then Mina would certainly rise to the challenge and defeat her. However, the girl in front of her felt barely there.

Mina did not feel any enmity from the girl, nor did she feel any murderous intent.

The girl just stood there, emotionless.

“What… are you? What is your goal?”

This monstrous girl murdered innocent people, ravaged their bodies, and perhaps even sucked out and consumed their brains. She could not figure out what the girl wanted out of it. What was she? Could she be a human? Or was she a monster?

“My name is Damaged Hair, the Ravaged Queen of Insects.”

As expected, the girl gave her name with a calm tone and without any emotions.

“My goal is simple and clear.”

She then declared with a very serious expression:

“I want to conquer the world.”

There was a rush of wind the moment she said this.

Mina was confused by her opponent’s wild words, but she felt a shiver of cold air rushing towards her. She immediately moved sideways out of animalistic reflex. The attack barely missed and brushed past her.

Blood dripped out of her broken skin. Mina jumped away and drew some distance between her and the girl named Damaged Hair.

“Erk…!?”

What was that?

What happened there?

Why did somebody just attack her from behind?

“That was beautiful.”

There were no emotions in the words of praise that Damaged Hair uttered. Even though it seemed like a genuine approval, the empty and weightless voice and actions indicated a lack of concern.

“However, there are certain things you should know.”

“To fight us – would be akin to trying to drink the ocean dry.”

A persistent, identical echo to the voice of the girl could be heard interlaced with Damaged Hair’s voice.

Mina, who stood opposite her, finally understood who just attacked her from behind.

There were two Damaged Hairs.

“My ability is eternal and endless multiplication.”

“I will be resurrected even if I die, and replicate without end…”

They looked identical. The only difference would be whether one held a spear, and where there were bloodstains on one’s clothes and skin – those two were more similar than twins, as if they were in fact copies. That copy was the being who delivered a sneak attack towards Mina.

Like mirror images, the two Damaged Hairs both sniggered.

“To eliminate and solidify existences… the Greater Fragment named Sterilization Disinfection is indeed quite powerful.”

“Nevertheless, if your opponent replicated endlessly, your endurance and stamina would also deplete endlessly.”

“Exhausted. Exhausted. Exhausted. The power of the Fragment of God will also be depleted –”

“Or, you would be surrounded by my endless replicas in all directions, completely destroyed and eventually killed. That would be your fate.”

The two Damaged Hair spoke one after another as they gradually walked towards Mina. Their movements were very slow… however, if they were speaking the truth, then this kind of endless enemies was simply too annoying.

Even if she was defeated over and over, she will still resurrect.

Even if she was not defeated, she would still replicate.

Eternal reincarnation and endless multiplication – those were abilities Mina had never heard of.

“This is violence in numbers!”

Damaged Hair held the spear in a weird pose and declared proudly. Even though Mina’s target should be the one with the spear – the original body – and that defeating her should destroy all other Damaged Hairs, would such a simple solution really work?

For some reason, Mina felt that even if she defeated that blood-drenched Damaged Hair, the remaining Damaged Hair will continue to attack Mina as if nothing had happened.

She met a very tough enemy this time.

But it was okay – Damaged Hair wasn’t a very strong enemy.

The scratch made by the second Damaged Hair when she stabbed at Mina’s back with a short blade had all but healed. That was also when Mina scoped out the enemy’s capacities to a limited degree.

Firstly, Damaged Hair did not have powerful abilities.

She held a weapon and attacked Mina suddenly from behind, trying to kill Mina. Mina felt there were no major differences between the strength of a Damaged Hair clone and that of a normal human. Even though that spear felt repulsive, as long as Mina kept her eye on it, there should be no other problems.

There were two clones now. Even though she said endless multiplication –

“Hey, if you don’t have corpses, then you can’t replicate anymore, right?”

Damaged Hair had attacked Mina from behind her – at the same time, the corpse of the flamboyantly dressed young man, which Mina had assessed, disappeared. Perhaps that corpse morphed into a Damaged Hair… that was the only conclusion Mina could draw regarding the phenomenon.

Yes, it would be abnormal for Damaged Hair to pop out one after another from thin air. Perhaps if materials such as corpses did not exist, then her ability to endlessly multiplicate can’t be activated either.

All these bodies prepared like marionettes were indeed bait to attract Mina and other monsters, but they were also weapons for Damaged Hair. As Mina pondered this, she felt happy as she believed in her impending victory –

“No… that’s not it.”

Damaged Hair tilted her head decisively.

“Even without corpses, I can still multiply.”

As Mina looked on, the blonde girl started to split in half like an amoeba, just like she said. An identical, third Damaged Hair appeared. Indeed, the bloodstains and the spear could not be reproduced –

But if Damaged Hair could multiply even without corpses, then that would be very difficult to deal with her. Even if Mina killed them all, she can’t be sure whether Damaged Hair kept a hidden, back-up body somewhere. Even if she could kill them over and over, it would end up being an endless task, like eradicate a pest.

This was honestly a very troublesome task. Mina didn’t want to admit defeat, but she also had no idea how she could win this fight. The wisest thing would be to escape swiftly –

“Sterilization Disinfection, I absorbed the brains of all these corpses. Isn’t that an incredulous thing?”

Mina was thinking about how to attack, but Damaged Hair took out something like a straw from her clothes and put it in her hand to show it to Mina. Perhaps that was what Damaged Hair used to pierce the victims’ eardrums and suck out their brains. What a disgusting act.

“Of course, I would never do anything without a purpose.”

“I consumed these brains –”

“– to reproduce my existence.”

As those words were uttered, the shape of one of the Damaged Hairs started to change.

She changed into that flamboyantly dressed young man. It was the face of that pitiful victim, who perhaps stayed out at night and was attacked on his way home, and had his chest pierced and his brain sucked out. There were no emotions on his face, making him appear insect-like. A dark red light sparked in his eyes, a light similar to that in Damaged Hair’s eyes. He muttered lowly:

“This is similar to the body modification of Ultimate SheildThe Weakest. Even though I cannot change my form as I wish –”

“I can completely replicate someone from analyzing the structure of this person’s body, as stored in their brains.”

As ‘he’ finished speaking, the young man changed back to Damaged Hair’s appearance. Perhaps, what she expected was being able to freely choose her appearance from the designs she memorized, and shift into that form. The only thing that remained the same was the red eyes –

Mina finally understood the true form of Damaged Hair, the Ravaged Queen of Insects.

Insects. Figured. She told everyone her real name from the beginning.

“You are God Mushi Emperor… no, you are the true body of God Mushi Emperor.”

Damaged Hair didn’t seem to want to waste time explaining the situation in detail. She simply nodded.

“I am the Ravaged Queen of Insects.”

“The name of my Fragment is God Mushi Emperor. Its function is to serve as the Beast of the End, which will destroy the world at Ragnarok…”

“I will drink down the brains of all humans. I will drink down the brains of all of God’s Greater Fragments. I will replicate and replace all things that exist in this world –”

Then, as if she was a cicada or a bell, all the replicas of Damaged Hair began to sing an awful song:

“Everything that exists – all humans, animals, monsters – will be replicated by me.”

“The Greater Fragments of God will be no exception. All will be replicated by me.”

“I will replicate every living being in this world, and create the perfect, harmonious world. Everything is but one person. Everything goes back to the same roots. That would be a world full of peace and calm.”

She looked so self-assured, as if she would be able to eliminate all the uncertainties in this world, as if she was the Divine Truth of this world.

“'Others' won’t exist in that world. It will be different from this world, where everyone was a Fragment of God, but everyone seemed unrelated to others.”

“Everything in existence should be combined together under the name of ‘Damaged Hair’.”

“There… our goals are simple and clear. We will conquer the world –”

The clones of Damaged Hair declared together in pride and confidence:

“This is the name of our venture! This is the ‘Divine Battle’ to achieve our final aim!”

“…”

…

…

That name sounded terrible.

“Um, heh, er –”

Should Mina appear surprised? Scared? Or should she be smiling? Mina can’t decide what kind of an attitude she should have – but she decided not to worry about it too much.

Damaged Hair wanted to absorb the brains of all living creatures and replace everything with herself, so that no ‘others’ will exist in this world… if Damaged Hair fulfilled that goal, then indeed, to some degree, she will usher in a perfectly harmonious world.

However.

“It’s crappy and super boring to have a world where no one else exists. ‘I’ would hate that. It would be really bad to have a world where everything is me. Even though I don’t like other people, and I hate myself and hate the whole world, I am still staying alive day after day in this annoying world…”

Her right hand held the spray can that can destroy everything and eliminate all existences.

Her left hand held the spray can that can solidify everything and freeze all existences.

Sterilization Disinfection – Saibara Mina – didn’t do anything outrageous. She simply grasped her weapons, the tools that could channel the power of her enormous Fragment. She simply said in a self-possessed – and selfish – low voice.

“As long as I still have hope, then someone I like might appear.”

Mina leapt into battle after this heartfelt declaration. She didn’t know whether she could win. She was not fighting for the world, or for humanity, or to protect the world from being conquered. Mina’s reason was simple. She just hated the fake ‘perfect harmony’ that Damaged Hair was seeking to create, and Mina wanted to crush it.

Destroy everyone else? Copy every single other person?

Wouldn’t such a world and such a perfection be similar to a dead world?

Wouldn’t such a world and such a perfection be just like a dead world?

“I didn’t fully expect others to understand.”

The original Damaged Hair, the one with the detestable spear in her hand, narrowed her eyes and lifted the spear as she sighed.

“Mmm, never mind… if everything becomes a replica of me, then there will be no more misunderstandings. Then all conflicts would disappear, and everyone will understand each other.”

“If we can’t understand each other, can’t we just say everything we want to say properly? Didn’t humans progress because we had conflicts –”

Mina felt very angry. She quickly lifted the spray can that could eliminate existences and pressed down on the trigger.

“If no one else exists, then hate would disappear… but so would love – and I definitely don’t want that kind of a world!”

The white mist that had once swallowed everything in the legend of the Flood from Genesis instantly and resolutely blew apart the blood-stained figure of Damaged Hair, which Mina thought was the true body. Only fingers and feet remained as the rest were completely torn up and disappeared… and that was when Mina started to paradoxically feel agitated.

That was too easy.

She won? Damaged Hair was killed just like that, after her body was destroyed?

“… Of course, it would be shallow of you to think that was the end.”

The spear that Damaged Hair threw out without alerting Mina was turning and twisting in the air. This spear, which was held by the Damaged Hair clone covered by blood, fell into the hands of a different Damaged Hair clone, one that didn’t have any blood or dirt on her clothes or hair. This Damaged Hair held the spear in one hand and moved into a battle pose, then snapped her fingers loudly.

All at one, the marionettes that were dangling on the traffic lights instantly turned into Damaged Hair’s appearance and jumped down onto the road. There were about a dozen of them. All of them had emotionless, garnet red eyes, and they stood there blankly, looking at Mina.

It was as if they were a hoard of insects, or a massive crowd of zombies. Mina felt an instinctive repulsion.

The Damaged Hair clone with a spear in her hand said nonchalantly to Mina, who was standing there in a daze.

“Come and become one of me.”

The face devoid of emotions showed some sentiment at last, and Damaged Hair’s tongue snuck out of her mouth and licked her lips.

“I’m taking you in – Sterilization Disinfection.”

“… However, before that…”

As if their competition paused, Damaged Hair slowly lifted the spear she held in her hand. Compared to Damaged Hair’s listless way of acting, Mina put all her strength into her legs, ready to dash up to her opponent at any time.

This was a girl that had a tempo of her own, and Mina could not decipher her at all. Facing her was like facing an unpredictable and volatile cat.

For some reason, Mina was already starting to feel exhausted before she even gave her all for the fight. But Damaged Hair completely ignored Mina. She lowered her head and looked at the spear in her usual blank expression.

“Fenrir, go hide somewhere safe.”

“Gagaga!”

The spear suddenly gave out a barking laugh.

If the sound Damaged Hair made was like the low chirping of insects, then the sound made by the spear named Fenrir was akin to the roaring of beasts, savage like a vicious storm, bursting through the minds of all who heard its voice.

This thing possessed an inhuman voice. The spear then started to talk on and on, as if completely ignoring Mina.

“Gagaga! Gagaga! Gagaga! You haven’t summoned me for a long time, and the only thing you say is ‘run away’! I hear you, my master~!”

“Don’t call me that anymore. It’s very embarrassing. We are companions who share our destiny… we are equals, therefore you can call me Damaged, or Hair-chan.”

“Gaga! Gagaga! That would sound even more disgusting! Say, master, you are not planning to fight with me, the most powerful weapon? You are going to die! Going to die! Gaga! Gagaga!”

“The opponent this time is very powerful.”

Damaged Hair narrowed her eyes towards the cantankerous spear, then shifted her gaze towards Mina, who was standing there confused. Fenrir also noticed Mina’s presence and began to laugh loudly with joy.

“Gagaga! Isn’t this Sterilization Disinfection? How did we get this annoying person as our first opponent? My master… you don’t know her yet, do you? Saibara Mina, the one with the role of Sterilization Disinfection, could be called the most powerful character in the world!”

“… Have I… met you before?”

The spear seemed to know a lot about Mina. Mina tilted her head a little. She should be able to remember someone as weird as this if she had met them before…

However, Fenrir’s reply to Mina’s question was very incredulous.

“Gagaga! Gaga! No, this is the first time we’ve met face to face! It was your previous reincarnation who met me!”

“… Previous reincarnation?”

Fenrir’s repulsive and incomprehensible voice echoed around them.

Fenrir ignored Mina, who was wearing a surprised impression, and changed to a more serious voice and howled.

“Gagaga! Hey, my master! I’m giving you advice out of kindness. Escape! You have encountered a mighty opponent who you cannot defeat! You would have to have absorbed at least one or two Greater Fragments, or use me at my greatest capacity – at least, it’s best not to fight her alone at this stage!”

“…I can’t understand why you are so afraid.”

As if she was being humiliated, Damaged Hair pouted in anger, and rebuked.

“Indeed, Sterilization Disinfection is a terrifying opponent… but the powers of Greater Fragments are equal. The differences are in our affinities and how we fight – God Mushi Emperor is capable of eternal reincarnation and endless multiplication, traits that can suppress Sterilization Disinfection’s power of eliminating and solidifying existences… therefore, I am confident that I can defeat her without your help.”

“That’s not the problem! Hurry and listen to me. Master, you need to escape!”

Fenrir continued to speak some confusing words in a loud voice. Mina didn’t understand what he was saying at all.

“As far as I am aware, only three people can go against Saibara Mina when she was using her full power as Sterilization Disinfection. The first is Gankyū Eguriko when she uses the full abilities of the Poison Apple and metamorphoses into a monster. The second is Melodia NoiselTearsong after she had consumed all one hundred and forty-three children of PoisonCatastrophe and augmented her powers that way. Those are the only two who can actually defeat her. Saibara Mina defeated Ultimate ShieldThe Weakest, the most powerful of all melee fighters, at the cost of her own life, even when the power of the Sterilization Disinfection Fragment was exhausted, and she was also suffering from mental trauma. As God Mushi Emperor, who only specializes in reproduction, it is impossible for you to beat her! Gagaga!”

“…”

What was going on? Mina was still lost.

An unknown emotion was throbbing within her, something that even she could not seem to control.

She felt that she forgot something.

However, some things were better not being remembered.

Especially in this… peaceful world.

“You are being too loud.”

What might count as the greatest emotional turbulence so far appeared on Damaged Hair’s face – the annoyance and stubbornness on her face was as naïve as a child’s – and she did not take in Fenrir’s repeated warnings at all. Instead, it further stimulated her desire for battle, and she looked sideways at Mina with a cold gaze.

“I cannot beat her? Heh, if there weren’t some obstacles or difficulties of that level, then there would be no joy in defeating her. Also – did you happen to forget something, Fenrir?”

Damaged Hair suddenly grasped the spear tightly and lifted it over her head, then started to swing it powerfully.

“I will resurrect countless times even if I fail! I am therefore invincible! Therefore, I am the most powerful existence!”

Then she tossed the spear away.

“All I need from you… is to wait somewhere far away until I defeat this strong foe and became stronger myself!”

“Gagaga - !?”

The speed the spear was thrown out would have been astonishing even for an Olympic javelin thrower. However, another Damaged Hair clone was standing before the flying spear. This clone grabbed the spear and then threw it out again. Another clone further along the trajectory of the spear grabbed it and threw it further still. The same thing happened over and over – and the spear kept going further and further away.

Fenrir’s vengeful curses echoed in the residential streets, and gradually quietened down.

“Gaga! Gagaga! You are ignorant! Ignorant! Without me, all of you will be eliminated at once, ignorant fool! Don’t forget. I. Am. Your. Most powerful weapon! Hold on to me! Hold on to me you piece of shit! Idiot! Gaga! Gagaga!”

The yelling got further and further away until it completely disappeared.

Mina still couldn’t figure out what happened… Damaged Hair was still worried about Fenrir and deliberately looked towards its direction. Even if Mina’s ability – the erasure of existences – hit Damaged Hair, the latter could still resurrect in a different body, but Fenrir would not be able to do that. Damaged Hair did not hide herself before Mina attacked, but she threw away Fenrir, and that was how Mina came to that conclusion.

She didn’t hold on to that strange spear, but let it escape?

These two cares about each other very much, and their communal goal was to conquer the world.

Was she evil, or just?

Could Mina – actually defeat her here?

“… It really had its fun.”

As if Damaged Hair was ready to erase the confusion in Mina’s heart, all expression disappeared on Damaged Hair’s face as she said lowly:

“Then, let’s try this again. I will declare war on you once again. The judge amongst Greater Fragments, the Confusion of God… Sterilization Disinfection, Saibara Mina – Become the stepping stone on my road towards might and power!”

“Road towards might and power… how old is this shōnen manga?”

Things seemed to have become more difficult, and Mina did not relax. She grabbed her weapon, the spray cans, tighter in her hands.

Then, as if to cooperate with her opponent, Mina thought whether she should say words like she was a companion of justice.

“…”

… She couldn’t think of any.

“Hmm, me too – no matter how you look at it, I am still closer to a villain.”

Mina sighed and decided to pay her back – she will fully expand her evil as if she was a villain in a shōnen manga.

“Then come, struggling worms.”

The gluttonous mist of Sterilization Disinfection sprayed towards the two Damaged Hair clones.

Damaged Hair… Mina didn’t know if that was a real or fake name. Her function and name as a Greater Fragment of God seemed to be God Mushi Emperor. All Mina knew was that God Mushi Emperor was the information gatherer, who spread her 666 ‘terminals’ all over the world and supported the other Greater Fragments.

Then, this could be the first time that God Mushi Emperor openly appeared and acted according to her own desires. Mina had never heard of such cases before. All the other Greater Fragments had more or less acted for themselves in the past, whether openly or in secret. But indeed, God Mushi Emperor had never been detected to do so.

It was a strange Fragment that had always passively provided information to the other Greater Fragments when they needed it.

It was content being the assistant for the other Fragments and devoted itself to working behind the scenes.

God Mushi Emperor, Damaged Hair… She wanted to conquer the world to fulfil her goal of replicating everything living by herself, and construct a perfect world. But why did she start this unreachable goal only at this time?

She was denying the way everyone in this world had lived up till now.

She would become the enemy of all the other Greater Fragments – no, of every creature in this world.

What… caused her to start on her so-called ‘road towards might and power’?

“…”

For some reason, Mina began to care about this.

There were too many confusing things here, an unprecedented oddity. The evil ones that Mina had destroyed up to now… the monsters that suddenly emerged and devoured humans… this Damaged Hair was just like those monsters. It was the first time that a Greater Fragment opposed the entire world and aimed to assassinate all the other Fragments.

The entire world seemed to be very strange, twisted, and torn – Mina could faintly tell it was exuding a disharmonious aura, and she detested it. They had finally obtained this peace. They had finally managed to peacefully pass their days.

What was the reason behind this chaos and this confusion?

Why did Damaged Hair begin her operation?

“You are thinking of other things while you’re killing… you are underestimating me.”

How many Damaged Hair clones had she killed? Mina couldn’t be bothered to count, so she didn’t. She just kept killing and Damaged Hair kept multiplying, and the process repeated itself over and over – Mina started to feel irritated in this meaningless battle, with her enemies arriving one after another like invading waves.

Damaged Hair deserved her title of endless multiplication.

Even though the Damaged Hair clones were being defeated one after another, more kept appearing from every direction. No matter how much of the white fog that erased existence was sprayed out, another Damaged Hair would appear when one disappeared. Mina’s opponent couldn’t truly replicate in an endless manner. When the power of the Greater Fragment was exhausted, Damaged Hair wouldn’t be able to replicate anymore… it was the same for Mina. It was impossible for them to fight endlessly.

If they kept fighting and kept up this war of attrition, it would be dawn soon.

Mina couldn’t think of any decisive solutions. She could only spend her stamina and the power of her Fragment until she becomes completely spent.

“Huhuhu… do you understand now?”

Countless Damaged Hair clones, now nothing but broken corpses, piled up at Mina’s feet. Another Damaged Hair clone then appeared and looked at Mina expressionlessly.

“I won’t be killed by anyone. No, I will resurrect no matter how many times I am killed. It’s not so easy to beat me…”

The bodies piled up like a small mountain, while rivulets of blood ran down the street.

A thick stench of blood permeated the silent residential road at night. Moonlight shone through gaps in the clouds. A new, spotless Damaged Hair emerged, while Mina panted in exhaustion. Since Mina’s enemy kept multiplying, it wasn’t long before the situation changed and there were no longer just the two of them facing each other. Soon, the number of Mina’s opponents rapidly multiplied, and they surrounded Mina.

Damaged Hair’s corpses would not disappear even if they were killed. Damaged Hair stared blankly at her own bodies and nodded.

“… It seems you are feeling bored, and I have had enough too – now we are going to get things to be more fun.”

“…?”

What was she suddenly talking about? Mina made her battle pose and was still a little confused. It was the same as before. Mina still couldn’t understand Damaged Hair at all.

“From now on, the battle will decisively turn in my favor… this is it. The battle will become a one-sided affair – just understand that you won’t even be allowed to fight back. Your performance is over.”

A red light briefly flashed past Damaged Hair’s eyes, and she swiftly spread her arms.

“Try taking this, Sterilization Disinfection… my ultimate move, ‘Battle God Mode’!”

“…”

Why did everything this person do sound like something from a shōnen manga?

She sucked even at making names. Nothing had changed at all.

Damaged Hair completely ignored Mina, who was looking depressed. Damaged Hair raised both of her arms and yelled loudly:

“Battle God Mode – Asura!”

As soon as she finished speaking, a huge bump suddenly appeared on her back, and numerous new arms emerged from it. There were – eight arms in total, taking into account her initial arms. The eight arms wobbled in an uncoordinated manner, as if she was a multi-segmented insect, and looked repulsive.

“Woah…”

Mina couldn’t help but want to retreat when she saw this scene. Damaged Hair started to talk with pride.

“See! This is Battle God Mode Asura! I detest others saying that I am not as good as Ultimate ShieldThe Weakest’s metamorphosis of the flesh… the limit of my ability is to subtly change the blueprint of humans. I cannot conduct any changes outside of normal development, such as adding wheels on a human body or changing the body into a flame thrower, which Ultimate ShieldThe Weakest dabbles in!”

Mina did not know a lot about the person known as Ultimate ShieldThe Weakest. However, for someone to be capable of doing stuff similar to the enemy in front of her – such as adding wheels on the human body – it was disgusting enough just hearing about it. Mina thought it would be better if she never meets that person.

Mina kept thinking about these irrelevant things, but Damaged Hair fixed her gaze solely at Mina. Perhaps she was confident enough and became arrogant from thinking that her Battle God Mode was an unbeatable trump card.

“This is no exaggerated metamorphosis… however, I can change into different forms of myself according to my imagination! Even though this Battle God Mode Asura only added the number of my arms – but after some simple estimation, wouldn’t you understand it increased the power of my attacks eight-fold? Could you handle all these dexterous hand movements –”

“So, it means I just shouldn’t allow it to attack, right?”

With a puff, a white mist sprayed out, and the Damaged Hair clone with the eight arms instantly exploded.

Then, next to Mina – a few meters from the previous clone – a different Damaged Hair appeared.

“Hey! What are you thinking of now that you are a human? Are you just going to attack silently while your opponent is still talking?”

“Isn’t it common strategy to destroy your opponent before they use their abilities…?”

If the clone with the eight arms was capable of terrifying attacks, then Mina should stop it from approaching her, and defeat it as soon as possible. That would be the easier way. There were no problems with that approach.

“Urk…”

Despite the cruel methods Damaged Hair used, she evidently didn’t have enough experience with the battle field. She thought over Mina’s silently, twisted her body a little in confusion, then boosted her own spirits and cast her eyes towards Mina’s direction.

“Indeed… what you said makes a lot of sense.”

Damaged Hair nodded decisively and stretched out her arms in front of her.

“But you are equally unforgivable for insulting me. My Battle God Mode isn’t limited to ‘Asura’ – by using the blueprint of humanity, I can perform at an extraordinary level… I will show you my Battle God Mode!”

Mina thought Damaged Hair really didn’t need to give a name to everything, or to yell those names out like a killing blow. However, Damaged Hair once again loudly declared:

“Battle God Mode – ‘Thousand-hand Guanyin’!”

“So, you just increased the number of arms!”

Thousands of arms suddenly sprang out of Damage Hair’s body, forming a truly disgusting sight. Just like before, Mina released her mist and immediately defeated it.

Damaged Hair’s body was blown up into pieces. Before the pieces of meat landed on the ground, they came together to form an upside-down, furiously, and agitated Damaged Hair.

“I won’t… won’t… hold back anymore.”

With a sound of something moving rapidly, Damaged Hair waved her fingers as if she was a conductor. At the same time, the number of Damaged Hairs in Mina’s sight started to multiply endlessly. The number of Damaged Hair clones increased at a terrifying rate and surrounded Mina. Their dark-red eyes looked at Mina as their bodies started to undergo all sorts of changes.

Some of the clones had an increase in the number arms, some had a reduction. Some had two heads, some had deformed arms, some gained massively thick thighs – the countless number of Damaged Hair clones started to show all sorts of changes. However, just like Damaged Hair said before, wildly imaginative changes such as having wheels or wings did not happen.

Mina started to get serious, contrary to her previously slightly joking attitude. Her gaze became very serious, and she made a ready pose.

Even though the name ‘Damaged Hair’ sounded like a fun name, she was definitely not an opponent who can easily be defeated. Mina couldn’t think of any ways to completely defeat her for now. Should Mina run away and think up a plan elsewhere? But if Mina were to escape, it would be very hard to run away from these layers of creatures surrounding Mina.

Then, what should Mina do?

Mina looked intently at the overwhelming number of enemies who gathered before her, which were akin to a massive collection of insects.

Where could she break through…

All the Damaged Hair scattered around Mina were saying something in a low voice, while wearing expressionless faces.

“… You’re fighting alone at high spirits. How magnificent. I understood why Fenrir was so afraid of you.”

“But this will be your grave. ‘Asura’, ‘Thousand-hand Guanyin’, ‘Seven Gods of Fortune’, and ‘Vairocana Buddha’… and many other modes besides.”

“After augmentation, ‘we’ are gathered here as a battalion… ‘we’ cannot be defeated by anyone on earth.”

“Let us begin! The epitome of Battle God Modes – ‘The Eight Million’!”

…

…

“… Eh, um…”

All the Damage Hair clones appeared powerful and a bit cute. Mina slowly raised her hand.

“’The Eight Million Gods’ is a concept in nature worship religions such as Shintoism and Pantheism… doesn’t it conflict with the idea of a ‘Battle God Mode’?

“…”

“…”

Every single Damaged Hair opened her eyes and mouth wide. They then started to chat amongst each other, narrowed their eyes and looked Mina from head to toe, and pointed at her. The countless Damaged Hair clones chattered continuously in a low voice.

“…Ah, so annoying, so annoying.”

“She only knows how to pick on others. That’s the extent of humans.”

“She doesn’t know how to do anything else…”

“She seemed to be very proud of picking up on others’ mistakes. I can’t understand this.”

“Really”. ”This is the end of the world”. “She is a demonic woman”. “She is so nasty”. “She’s a horrible person”.

There were many more comments like these.

These people seemed to be the same person, and their level of synchronicity was also surprisingly high. Every one of them was degrading Mina, insulting her, complaining as they looked coldly at her. This was truly a bad situation.

“This is the violence of numbers!”

Then all the Damaged Hair clones started to echo her. It was the first time Mina had met someone as annoying as Damaged Hair.

“What is this…”

Mina sighed deeply, feeling an incomparable spite for these creatures – and at the same time –

Something impacted heavily into her stomach. There was a thick thud and a dull pain.

“- !?”

The impact was sudden, but also made sense when she thought about it. After all, there were so many enemies around her… while some of them were complaining and cursing Mina, one of the remaining ones prepared to attack Mina. That was not surprising.

She was alone, but her enemies were legion.

This violence in numbers -

Mina finally felt the true meaning and terror within that statement in her heart.

“…?”

Mina finally realized what just hit her. It was heavy… yes, as if someone threw a rock at her back… but it was a slightly different feeling.

The thing that slammed into Mina’s body and then rolled along the ground – was the head of Damaged Hair.

That head lifted the ends of her lips and smiled without humor as she spoke:

“The thickness and weight of the skin and the skull were adjusted to reach its limits for this head. It is as powerful as a cannonball… if we fired these at you from all directions, can you really dodge them all?”

Looking around, Mina saw that every Damaged Hair around her had the same pose… they had all decapitated themselves and were holding their heads in their hands and aiming those towards Mina, as if they were all about the throw their projectile.

The chill that rose up along Mina’s spine almost froze her. This was insane.

“This is Battle God Mode – ‘Jizo Buddha’.”

Endless mouths spoke the same words.

“Jizo Buddha is also known as Yama, Lord of Hell… what a fitting name for the creature what will lead you to Hell.”

Then the main assault started.

It was senseless, almost shameless – a true final assault made of overwhelming numbers.

Mina gritted her teeth in agony.

It was her mistake.

Or rather – Damaged Hair won with a low and despicable plan.

“…”

All in all, events were unfolding in an uncomfortable way. At least, Mina managed to protect her body from the hail of head canon balls… but there were still a few that she couldn’t dodge and hit her. Her wounds would recover after some time –

But this situation posed a problem.

This was definitely not good. Mina was only delaying her death for a little while.

“TYPE-B – Jack JewelFixation Mist.”

The semi-liquid substance that Mina held in her right hand, which worked to solidify existences, constructed a defensive wall around her. The flying heads were frozen there… therefore, their impact and damage did not descend upon Mina. That was the defensive tactics Mina chose against Damaged Hair’s Battle God Mode – ‘Jizo Buddha’.

The heads were thrown at Mina rapidly. She responded a bit slowly towards this odd situation, and a few heads landed on Mina’s chest and legs. Even though they didn’t break skin, it seems they did break her bones. Mina could still feel the sensation of pain, a feeling that felt worse than death.

Cold sweat seeped out of Mina’s forehead, and she started to think about ways to deal with the situation regardless of her life.

Her ‘Jack JewelFixation Mist’ was colorless and transparent, and simply froze every existence. In other words, Mina would get buried by the heads, which flew here one after another and got frozen around her in turn… that felt disgusting. Moreover, for some unknown reason, Mina felt disgusted towards things like ‘heads’. She had no reasons she could recall, but only hated it instinctively.

Mina could use ‘‘Jack JewelFixation Mist’ to defend an area with a radius of one meter. Hindered by the invisible wall Mina made, the heads of Damaged Hair that flew in one after another were all frozen there. It was getting hard to see beyond this wall of heads. The moment Mina released the effect of her Mist, all these heads would fall down at the same time. Mina, who would be at the center of it all, would instantly be crushed to death.

Looking up, Mina saw endless heads were still flying at her. These would also be frozen by the ‘Jack JewelFixation Mist’that Mina was spraying out. Then, Mina’s body would slowly get buried by the heads, forming a disgusting sealed room with her inside. Moreover, once she removed the fixation, the frozen heads would simultaneously regain their momentum, fall inward and crush Mina to death.

The solution that surfaced in Mina’s mind was another one of her abilities – the ability to erase existence, ‘Genocide JusticeAnnihilation Mist’.

She could burrow into the ground and form a cave and dig a tunnel for her to escape to somewhere safe. Or she could stay underground in the cave, get rid of the fixation effect around the heads, then escape at a later time.

But even if she succeeded would such a perfect escape – she was afraid Damaged Hair would still chase her down and attack using the same tactics. Then it would be inevitable for Mina to get hit, and her body would gradually become full of wounds and agony, and she won’t be able to win even if she continuously defended and kept running away from her enemy.

“Then, what should I do…”

Mina also had a final solution. An ability that had a fitting name to be used against this enemy, God Mushi Emperor, who was considered the Beast of the End.

TYPE-C – ‘JudgmentThe End’.

It was Sterilization Disinfection’s killing blow, a technique that ascended and combined her original powers of eliminating and freezing existences. It solidified everything that was annihilated and annihilated everything that was solidified, a flood of nothingness that enveloped all contradictions within itself. The moment she activated this ability, Mina’s entire body would start to devour everything around her and continue to expand with every engorgement until she became the personification of destruction.

However, that ability did not use tools such as spray cans, which controlled the rate of release of her Fragment’s power. It was simply pushing her power beyond its boundaries and releasing all the capabilities of the Fragment. Once used, her life would inevitably be shortened. Its effect was also restricted by how much of the Fragment’s power was left within her body. Once it was exhausted, even her own existence would disappear.

Her opponent was God Mushi Emperor, who had the ability to multiply endlessly.

Even if Mina killed all the Damaged Hair clones present using ‘JudgmentThe End’ and destroyed herself in the process, would that count as a victory? Perhaps the other had already prepared a back-up body somewhere else and can replicate herself endlessly at a different location. That way, what Mina did would become meaningless, and it would not be a victory.

Mina felt once again –

– That the traits of Sterilization Disinfection were significantly suppressed when facing the Greater Fragment known as God Mushi Emperor. The latter can multiply even if all of its copies were destroyed… well, that just sounded like cheating. In this situation, Single Room, who can re-write the traits of the opponent, or Melodia NoiseTearsong, who can control all of its opponents via space manipulation and destroy them all, might be at a better advantage –

“…”

Mina shook her head. It was pointless to think about the other Fragments right now.

She didn’t have reliable friends, or the assistance of other Greater Fragments…

No.

Wait. Did she forget something? Reliable friends? The assistance of other Greater Fragments?

Mina vaguely acknowledged something.

“No. No. No.”

She then started to shake her head. It would be a joke. Even though that was a Greater Fragment, even if that appeared here, it won’t completely overturn the present –

“Chu~★”

It would be impossible… to… completely overturn this. It would be impossible. She can’t help… at all… rather, she would be a hinderance… don’t participate in these kinds of jobs… no matter what happens, she should wait at home for Mina to return… after all, Mina had told her over and over again…

“That… idiot…”

Mina looked towards the street corner where that sound was coming from, even when all the space around her was covered by heads – and all the heads, as well as all the Damaged Hair clones, looked that way too.

Even though there was such a chaos, the general atmosphere around them was still quiet and very relaxing.

A girl was standing there.

“Idiot… why – are you here…?”

Mina completely forgot to defend her opponent’s attacks and stood there in a daze.

“… Who is it?”

Facing this simple question, the short figure proudly puffed out her chest, and answered with a crystal-clear voice.

“I am the high school girl – with seven faces★.”

“…………”

It was very confusing.

Her figure was very vaguely defined. As if she was about to initiate some performance, her entire body was covered with a cloak as dark as the night. A little bit of her face was showing, looking very silly indeed.

But she herself did not realize how silly she looked, and she was completely oblivious to the subtle reactions given out by Mina and Damaged Hair. She made a pose that she thought was trendy, cool, and sexy, and declared with a loud voice:

“Sometimes I’m a high school girl with only one eye? Sometimes I’m a high school girl who is a jockey ★ Sometimes I’m a high school girl who is a private detective? Sometimes I’m a high school girl who is a painter ★ Sometimes I’m a high school girl who is a magician? Sometimes I’m a high school girl who is an experienced police officer ★”

“This sounds like Bannai Tarao's Seven Faces… aren’t you just a high school girl experienced with working in different part-time jobs? But since you’re a high school girl, how did you become an experienced police officer…?”

“Then what is her true identity?!”

“Is she going to completely ignore my complaints?!”

This new person was completely oblivious to Damaged Hair, whose faces were full of confusion, and Mina, who was being silent. This mysterious girl took off her splendid cloak and made a magnificent pose in the night town.

Her hair was split in three parts. She was short, and was wearing a high school uniform that showed a little of her chest.

Two big round ears were on the hat she wore on her head, and she also wore a curvy tail decoration.

She wove around some big gloves that she was wearing, which seemed to be in her way – then that girl roared in apparently joy.

“I am the messenger of justice and truth… I am the undefeatable Unpleasant Counter-Current – Saibara Mitsuki★!”

Ta-da~ she made a pose and danced up and down on top of the lamp post like an idiot – Mina looked at her sister while she pushed down an emerging headache. She couldn’t help but mumble in this difficult situation:

“Hey, Ki-chan, young people these days won’t know someone like Bannai Tarao…”

“I’m punishing you as the Moon★?”

“That one’s a bit old too…”

“Pretty CURE CURE~★? Double spirit power – ★?”

“I don’t even know what you’re talking about anymore.”

The girl’s idiotic appearance made the tense atmosphere completely disappear. Mina was exhausted. She put her hands to her face and thought of death inside the transparent walls inlaid with countless heads.

Like what this strange creature said herself, she was named Saibara Mitsuki, and was Mina’s younger sister. She was the host of the Greater Fragment named Unpleasant Counter-Current. Even though she looked like a stupid cosplayer, she was also one-seventh of God… an abnormal existence at the same level as Mina and Damaged Hair.

The role Unpleasant Counter-Current shouldered was ‘angel’. The ability made her possess the dual appearances and personalities of angels and fallen angels. When she was in this very innocent appearance, she was in the form of the angel. She could use the power of retribution to bounce back the opponent’s aggressive attacks.

Rarely, her innocent and naïve self would become evil – she would be enveloped by hatred and anxiety, and her entire being would become a fallen angel of destruction. Everything would be completely destroyed with voracious fire, like Sodom and Gomorrah of legend.

She was a problematic person no matter what. Even if she was an ally, it would be impossible to cooperate with her. She was like a walking bomb. Her abilities were unstable, and her method of fighting was unpredictable. It would be impossible to control her if she goes berserk, and that was why Mina always told her to stay home and don’t go outside –

Mitsuki’s eyebrows raised in a cute way and she put her hands on her side as she looked sideways at the situation.

“Seriously-! I was so worried when my older sister didn’t come home at this late hour ★ I looked for you at sooooo many places… You have a phone, but you never answered my calls. When I found you, you were covered by so many heads… Chu?”

It seemed she finally realised the abnormality of the scene before her. What a slow response. Mitsuki jumped down from the pole and her face was full of surprise.

“Chu? Chu?! Sis, why does this look so bizarre and M-15? Do adults and their friends prefer things like this★?”

“That’s enough. You either run away or come save me. I wasted so much stuff because of you, so choose an option.”

Mina mumbled. She curled up in the middle of the disgusting pile of heads and wanted to stay here forever, thinking this family member was the most embarrassing thing ever.

“Chu… Mmm, then I’ll come help you!”

As Mitsuki made this light declaration, her body instantly disappeared from the top of the pole.

She ran quickly and light-footedly on top of the electrical wires like a mouse. She dashed between the crowd of Damaged Hairs with ease and ran straight towards Mina. It looked like a completely thoughtless move, but she was running faster than a car.

“Hey – "

Even though Mitsuki was called Unpleasant Counter-Current, Damaged Hair didn’t think she would be an enemy worthy of defending against due to her naïve speech and actions. Damaged Hair also couldn’t react on time to Mitsuki’s abnormal movement patterns. Even though she multiplied greatly, all the Damaged Hairs were replicated from the original, and her reflexes were about the same as a human. If one of them don’t get to react, then the rest of the clones won’t respond either.

Mitsuki ran towards Mina like a gale a wind, clenching her fists inside with their giant gloves.

“Then, sis, work with me to get rid of your solidification, okay?”

At the end, they were still sisters. Mina understood the situation simply by observing Mitsuki’s actions and the look in her eyes – Mina soon realized what her sister was thinking without either of them needing to speak. She nodded and sat down on the ground, then started to shake the spray cans in both of her hands.

“Don’t embarrass me anymore… Ki-chan, show me what you can do.”

“Leave it to me★”

Mitsuki smiled sweetly and blinked, then punched viciously towards the head closest to her.

“Little pinball? Little pinball ★ big reward? ★”

The gloves Mitsuki wore were tools just like Mina’s spray cans. They were to control the power of the Greater Fragment that was attached to the user’s life and flowed through the tools. These tools could control the Fragment’s power like one could control water flow using a tap. Most of the Greater Fragments use such tools to exert their abilities.

“The pinball reward is released ★ Aha?”

Mitsuki’s fist swung as she yelled – at the same time, Mina removed the fixation that she applied to the heads around her. These heads, which were about to start moving, were softly pushed along and rotated by Mitsuki. They moved in different directions, bouncing against each other like balls in a pinball machine. The heads fixed around Mina were punched away.

“What…?!”

Mitsuki was actually much better at sports than Mina. She swung so many continuous punches that the human eye could not catch and, in about ten seconds, flung away all the heads that had built up around Mina.

“You, you – Heh, Unpleasant Counter-Current… stop looking down on others.”

Damaged Hair finally reverted to her previous, more serious mode. As if she was throwing a bowling ball, she swiftly threw the heavy and solid head in her hand.

“Why don’t you have a taste of Battle God Mode – ‘Jizo Buddha’ too!”

Facing such an attack, Mina could only stay on the defensive. In fact, if Mitsuki hadn’t appeared, the situation could have become direr – Sterilization Disinfection was suppressed by the characteristics of God Mushi Emperor in every way.

But as Unpleasant Counter-Current, Mitsuki’s traits were an exact match for God Mushi Emperor.

The duty of Unpleasant Counter-Current was the Angel. The Beast of the End was exiled by the Angel.

Of course… there are stories that describe the opposite, and that the Beast of the End killed the Angel. Therefore, the power and traits between them should be very similar.

Either way –

“Woah, the heads are flying my way. It’s just like a movie. It’s scary… d-don?”

Despite her cute words, Mitsuki’s fist could only defend against her enemy’s attacks. Even with her ability, she still could not defeat God Mushi Emperor, who was reproducing endlessly…

“… I am not prepared to face and fight two Greater Fragments.”

Damaged Hair turned away with those surprisingly brief words, and all the other Damaged Hairs also turned away. It was almost like they were a part of the same body and would not interfere with each other.

One of those clones turned back a little and nodded as she said:

“I’m temporarily retreating for today… But I will appear before you again, Sterilization Disinfection, Unpleasant Counter-Current… Even if I were defeated and destroyed, there will always be Damaged Hairs who will appear before you…”

Even in the end, she sounded like one of those rotten villains in old shōnen mangas.

Mina was still stunned. She still couldn’t understand that woman’s behavior. They couldn’t understand each other’s words or characteristics. Mina then spoke in a careful, quiet way.

It was the personal opinion of Saibara Mina, not of Sterilization Disinfection.

“Damaged Hair, I can’t forgive your goals. If no one else existed anymore, then perhaps we will have a peaceful and stable world – but that would be too boring. If that was your sole purpose, and the only reason you are fighting, isn’t that the opposite of what you’re trying to achieve? You’re fighting to achieve peace? Killing to achieve peace? That’s… so stupid.”

“…”

One of the terminals of Damaged Hair mumbled:

“I knew that… even if you didn’t say it.”

At that moment, that blonde girl was undoubtedly and utterly the enemy of the world – God Mushi Emperor, the Beast of the End.

“However, even if this is stupid, even if I must fight against God… I must fight with all my strength.”

As if indicating Mina should simply come after her to resolve their grudge, Damaged Hair left a line that sounded like it came from a shōnen manga. Her clones, these incredible ‘girls’, then walked slowly away.

Ragnarok 03: Peaceful, Everyday Heaven

From    ★ Usarin (This is such an embarrassing nickname at my age)
To      ★ Sensei (Are you still a teacher?)
Subject ★ Edict (how nostalgic)
Body    ★ Hello. Hello. This is Milady Usarin. Um, it’s been a long time since we last met… I’m not very used to this. Where I should start? My personality had changed quite a bit. Maybe you won’t even recognize me. Sensei, I’m here in this world again because of… reasons. I’m sending text messages right now, but I want to meet and speak with you. When would be a good time for you? I’m at Guriko-chan’s place right now. Guriko-chan grew taller. How many years had it been here? Well, there’s so much I want to tell you. That’s all for now.

FROM    ★ Sakaki Guryū
TO      ★ You ungrateful Student!
Subject ★This is not the time for pranks
Body    ★ Guriko, you bastard. Do you know that there are certain limits to jokes? I didn’t leave Milady’s phone with you so you can conduct these repulsive pranks on me. You are such a disappointment that it’s torture for your teacher. I’m telling you right now: you can go die if you think this is funny. You look like you are always doing nothing at all, and you are a useless repeat student whose grades never improved. You really are a shame to our school.

FROM    ★ Usarin
TO      ★ Sensei
Subject ★ I can understand why you won’t believe me…
Body    ★ It’s really me. I’m sorry. And… Sensei, your attitude towards Guriko-chan is really awful. Ahh, this is so awkward. We haven’t contacted each other for so long. Of course, anyone would have issues with adjusted if their old acquaintance popped up like this. Then… should I mention some embarrassing memories that only you and I would know? Like what happened in the karaoke room when we first met…? And the first swimming class in high school…?

FROM    ★ Sakaki Guryū
TO      ★ …
Subject ★ …
Body    ★ Are you… really Milady? You are back?

FROM    ★ Usarin
TO      ★ Sensei
Subject ★ …
Body    ★ Yes. I’m sorry for the suddenness, Sensei. It is more like I’m here to bother you again. This world doesn’t really need me anymore.

FROM    ★ Sakaki Guryū
TO      ★ Usagawa Rinne
Subject ★ I’m heading over right now
Body    ★ … Can we hold off the texting for a minute? I want to listen to your voice, on the phone, not through texts. I still can’t really believe it. I just don’t want it to be a dream!

That was when they stopped texting. Then Rinne’s phone rang loudly, and she pressed the receive button, took a deep breath, and smiled.

“… I’m back, Sensei.”

“… Welcome back, Rinne.”

That was when I walked out of the room, afraid to interfere with their conversation. I haven’t told Mom and Dad yet that Rinne will stay over tonight.

Was I also crying? My heart was calling out to Rinne silently as I watched her body quivering with emotions.

Welcome back, Rinne.

“I have the most shocking rumor of the week! I, with my cute smile, will now be your narrator!”

“… Wow, Miku hasn’t changed at all. You’re still bright as usual.”

“… I like this clever part about Miku.”

“Ahaha – thank you. But even if you treated me as an idiot, I can still tell the difference between sarcasm and actually praise.”

“Hahaha, hehehe.”

“Hmm, I’ll get you back for this later. Did you guys hear those rumors? It’s about that Man-Eating Demon the TV kept talking about. They looked like this – with a sharp head – and kept killing people. When they found the bodies, the victims’ hearts were pierced through, and their brains were sucked out. It’s really mysterious!”

“No, no, to be honest, that’s just plain scary. But, um, those man-eating rumors… aren’t they just made up fake news?”

“… Huh? Really? What’s that about, Kae?”

“Ah. You didn’t know, nee-san? Isn’t being a rumor mill the only talent you’ve got?”

“You talk too much, Megumi-chan. Seriously, I’ve been having trouble sleeping recently. Where am I supposed to get the energy to gather rumors? See, somebody was making a huge ruckus next to my place at night… when I got up in the morning, the whole area was full of blood – it was stinky and ugly. I won’t be able to sleep properly these days.”

“Isn’t that scarier than the Man-Eating Demon?”

“But the police already came by and said there was nothing to worry about… I had a quick look at the… corpses? All those corpses had the same face. Maybe they were actually marionettes.”

“Hehe.”

“But what about this idea of the rumor being fake? Do you know anything about this, Kaze-chan?”

“Mmm… ah, my Mom works in the hospital. She said there were lots of weird patients these days. They would come to the hospital, but there was nothing wrong with them. However, their families keep asking for them to be examined. It’s really annoying.”

“What does that mean?”

“I don’t get it. But there was something in common amongst all these ‘patients’ – they were all victims of the Man-Eating Demon.”

“… What do you mean?”

“Miku, you’re such an idiot.”

“… Am I an idiot, Rai-sensei?”

“Miku, I don’t believe people should lie.”

“Hehe.”

“I’m saying the claims about people being killed by the Man-Eating Demon were all fake, because those people were still alive. That’s why even the police said the Man-Eating Demon’s victims were all dumb fakers. They probably didn’t mean anything bad and just wanted the attention. Those ‘victims’ should all be dead, not alive in the hospital, so they were obviously lying.”

“Mmm… yeah. You are right. Man, that’s lame. I was hoping for something crazy to happen in our town. The kind of stuff from stories, you know?”

“Don’t think like that. Those kinds of scary stuff should only happen somewhere else. Our lives should be peaceful all the way to the end.”

“That’s so boring.”

“But Kaze-chan… I’m a bit worried. Why were those fake ‘victims’ sent to the hospital and not the police station? If those people who were ‘killed’ were still alive, their families should be at fault too. If it was clear that the victims were making things up, their families should have taken them to the police, right?”

“Um, Rai-sensei, that’s my concern as well… The families all said this ‘person’ was someone else. They said this person was fake. The family members asked the hospital to prove this person to be fake, or they asked the original family member to be returned to them…”

“…”

“…”

“… What is all this mess?”

“Who knows. It stinks. Miku, don’t get too involved in this. You might actually end up being an idiot if you get too curious, you know? We are happy and optimistic university students. We should pass our time in a more relaxing way.”

“Yeah… huh, this does sound really scary. Speaking of scary stuff, I’m not even young enough to talk about silly rumors anymore… I’m almost twenty. Wow, I’m almost a responsible adult, right?”

“Hehe… Aha, ahahaha!”

“Ume-chan, why are you laughing so loud like that?! Did I say something THAT funny?! And all of you, why are you all laughing your asses off?! This is RUDE! Bastards! Stop laughing! I’m not an idiot! Not an idiot! Seriously! Stop laughing!!”

It was early morning when we arrived at our destination.

We were flown here via a helicopter that Sakaki Ganhō forcibly borrowed from the Japanese Self-Defense Force. In his eyes, this country had as much value as a vending machine. I was very excited to fly, so I was happy, but Rinne looked rather depressed. I knew exactly why, but I couldn’t help her.

“…”

We had to endure this heavy mood for three hours. Our destination was an industrial plant already familiar to me. There was an evil facility hidden underneath this sprawl of grey factories before the destruction of the world, previously named the Eternal Institute, where all sorts of foul research were conducted.

The current world was completely changed, moving along a peaceful trajectory. However, the secret underground institute was still there. It was now the place where the Sakaki Organization – with Sakaki Ganhō as its head – researched the bygone old world and the state of the new world. Personally, I have very little interest about the structure of the world. Besides, the current world didn’t seem to have much to do with me –

But I can’t say this for the current situation.

“Ah, this is it, Rinne.”

I lowered my head, took Rinne’s hand, and walked with her to the entrance of the institute. I briefly turned my head to look behind me and sighed when I saw Sakaki’s pallid and wane face.

Sakaki had been like this ever since last night, when he rushed here to meet Rinne. I didn’t really understand what he was feeling, but I wished he wouldn’t act so gloomily in this already tense situation.

And Rinne was somehow also gloomy. Seriously, I was going to become depressed at this rate.

“… This is so depressing. If you two don’t get on well together, then I’m gonna dig out your eyeballs.”

I haven’t said that catch phrase in a long time.

Sakaki Ganhō was a man of indeterminable age, but he looked young. His hair was swept back on his head, and he wore an expensive shirt and leather shoes. He was the leader of a wealthy and vast organization, with a fair share of its money obtained through illegal means.

He was Sakaki Guryū’s father and the leader the Sakaki Organization, the largest super conglomerate in the world. Before the final battle that destroyed the old world, He had possessed a particular interest towards Apples and Greater Fragments and repeated cruel experiments in the Eternal Institute until he was ultimately killed – that was his backstory.

I had never met him face to face (though I seemed to have met him when I was unconscious?). I knew nothing about who he was, how he died, and why he was killed. Of course, he didn’t remember any of that himself, either. The current world was completely reset, and his evil deeds were all erased.

There was no right or wrong in this world. Everyone believed they were right, and just called whatever was blocking their way ‘wrong’. Our God and monsters were the same. Were we in the right, or were we wrong? It was a problem we often faced. I personally wouldn’t call the final battle justified.

I had once casually crushed people’s dreams and destroyed human lives. It must have made sense for other people to regard me as evil.

Sakaki Ganhō was the same.

He was a bona fide villain in his “previous reincarnation”, but his evil was understandable. If the world changed, then his views would also have changed. Sakaki Ganhō still had that bizarre and fervent aura of harboring an unquenchably desire within, but at least he was a trustworthy ally on the surface.

This underground facility was called The Eternal Institute in the previous world. Now, the research facility housed ‘The World Institute’, a facility with an equally strange name. Sakaki Ganhō was there to greet us when we got out of the lift. As soon as he saw Rinne and I, he became as talkative as he was before.

“Ohoho, welcome to my Institute. You are very welcome here. Please accept my sincerest apologies about the crudeness of the facilities and the lack of refreshments. But do feel at home! Ohoho, God Herself and the Original Poison Apple are both here. What a sight! I, Sakaki Ganhō, will ensure that my descendants remember this meeting for all eternity.”

What an extrovert. He was so happy to meet God – I mean, Rinne. Dressed in that pristine shirt, he looked like an idiot. His only hobby was staying in the institute and working tirelessly while also managing the entire Sakaki Organization. What an idiot and an energized workaholic.

Ganhō’s passion and energy made Rinne hesitant. I had to do my best to keep her engaged. I glanced around alertly while observing Ganhō. There were countless monitors in this room, observing every corner of the Institute. The multitude of screens displayed researchers in lab coats busy at work. They were definitely not conducting bloody experiments like before, though.

The plasma screens kept flickering, making my eyes hurt a little. I would honestly crazy if I stayed here for even a few hours.

I couldn’t see anyone else here. It seems that no one except Sakaki Ganhō liked to stay here. Ganhō was locked in here almost 24/7, managing the entire corporation with the help of digital equipment. His hobby was to stay inside the World Institute and investigate the brand-new world, after all.

The old world was destroyed – the world full of monsters, where the Final Battle erupted with multiple fatalities, was gone.

And then… there was this current world, this brand-new peaceful world.

Ganhō was trying to find out the differences between these two worlds. He conducted experiments and investigated the world’s composition. That was how he spent all his free time. That was the kind of man Sakaki Ganhō was.

“Ah… Thank you. I’m really being a bother to everyone.”

Rinne lifted her eyes to look at Ganhō. She was the God of this world, but she was very humble, and greeted him with a bow.

“How should I introduce myself? Um, Err… I’m Usagawa Rinne.”

“Ahh, you’re so approachable! You are God, yet you bow to me! This is an incomparable honor!”

Rinne didn’t use honorifics towards him, and he didn’t use honorifics in return. Sakaki Ganhō was surprisingly blunt in his speech despite being the head of an enormous conglomerate. He was watching Rinne with an odd look. Rinne’s appearance did not change much from when they separated after the Final Battle - she was still wearing a high school uniform, and her light-pink hair had ribbons tied to it. The God of this world was unchanged.

Sakaki’s eyes were dark and bottomless as he looked at Rinne, and nodded with intense interest.

“Ahh… I still find it hard to understand the whole situation, even though I saw it with my own eyes. An ordinary girl like you is in fact the Supreme Being, the God of this world, Snow White.”

“No… um… I’m very sorry. I’m a failure of a God.”

Rinne kept speaking humbly and it made Ganhō laugh.

“Hahaha, I don’t think you are a failure. Thankfully, you are not an old man with stubbles. Great! I am relieved! If you were actually like the God we had imagined, then I would kill Him without mercy. But if you are our God, then perhaps this world can still be saved. Ah, Jesus Christ, let us drink to our cute God.”

He made a pretentious pose and kept up his weird soliloquy. Was this a tradition in the Sakaki family? I was still thinking about this when the automatic doors opened soundlessly behind me and a woman emerged from it.

“Don’t act so intimate with God. You will be punished for that.”

Someone we have yet to see suddenly appeared.

Her carefully brushed long blonde hair reached her waist. The long white dress and the gloves she wore were both baggy and pristine. Her bottomless green eyes were full of a calm and divine light. She held a pure white parasol in her hands, and looked as if she was a beautiful lady leisurely drinking tea in an aristocrat’s garden –

“Ah, could you be Joker-san?”

Rinne called out at her even faster I did, and instantly blushed after that. Rinne then walked towards the blonde beauty, grasped the other woman’s hand, and smiled.

“I’m so honored to be able to meet you! Wow… I was a Meat Doll and barely responsive the last time I met Joker-san. This is the first time I’ve looked at you closely. Wow, you are so beautiful… your skin is pristine white, your eyes are so deep, and your long blonde hair… Guriko-chan! Look! Look! It’s Joker-san! Joker-san!”

“… Um. God, I am not some scenery. I’m very uncomfortable with your intense response right now.”

Joker stood still and allowed Rinne to play with her long blonde hair. The decorative bells on her clothes and her jewelry made chiming sounds.

Joker mumbled with a pitiable look.

“Hold on… You are nothing like what I had imagined. God should be more holy… purer… ehh, but someone as energetic as you aren’t bad either… in other words, eh, God, please don’t drag me around just because I’m a timid person…”

“Ahahaha. Joker, should we cut off your messy hair and offer them to God? How does that sound? Ahaha!”

Sakaki Ganhō laughed happily. Joker glared at him and yelled with a blush.

“Shut up, useless man! I’d rather have anyone but you laugh at me! You make me so angry, Ganhō! I hate this about you the most!”

“Really? But I love everything about you from the bottom of my heart, Joker!”

“You’re so annoying! Go die!”

“Seriously, Joker, your personality is so cold on the outside but so passionate on the inside!”

“Don’t just put me into those infuriating categories!”

As Rinne looked at this couple from the sidelines, she started to nod emphatically. Despite the loud bickering, this couple in fact loved each other very much. Rinne then pointed at Ganhō.

“Ah! I finally got it. You are Sakaki Ganhō-san?”

“…?”

Sakaki Ganhō lowered his head at this sudden question. Together with Joker, the two of them bowed reverently to Rinne.

“Yes, God, that would be me. I am the current head of the Sakaki Organization – Sakaki Ganhō.”

“Ah. Hello. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

Rinne returned the bow with uttermost reverence and smiled demurely.

“Ah, it is really the same as Guriko-chan had said. The dead were restructured under a setting of peace. It’s the same for Ganhō-san and Joker-san… Mmm, I’m so happy to see this. People who opposed each other can now become friends.”

Rinne held onto her own hands and gave a huffing laugh reminiscent of an old woman, completely incongruous to her petite appearance.

“This is great. This setting is so touching. To think that I can personally experience this after the end of the story… it’s a supreme joy. Mmm, everything is finished, no conspiracies are left, and nothing weird happens anymore… this would be the ‘Specials Disk’ for a game, right? Then, this would be a special service for the readers. I’ll use this as my inspiration. Novels like this would be very rare…”

Those words made no sense. Rinne just looked very excited and pointed towards Joker and Sakaki Ganhō.

“For example, Joker-san, you were an enemy in the Last Battle and was a tragic character to the very end. However, now you are getting on along so well with the others… Displaying the hidden facets of a character’s personality… Having two former rivals fight shoulder to shoulder… Woah, that is so exciting. I should be able to use this… I really want to write all this down! But I can’t take notes now… I’ll need to remember all this!”

“…? I don’t understand this at all.”

Rinne was jumping up and down and Joker was looking at her in shock. The older women tidied up her messy hair and asked.

“God! God! Do you have a full understanding of the Last Battle? Is that why you made such a guess?”

“Oh? Mm, pretty much. I am God, after all.”

Rinne laughed happily. She scratched her head in a way that seemed she was irritated and shy at the same time. Rinne had grown stronger while she was away. For better or worse, she was also now in a better mood and became more steadfast and more extroverted, compared to her purer and milder personality before.

The girl who was the center of the world and its God said slowly, with a very friendly tone:

“'I' – 'Usagawa Rinne'- became a Meat Doll, a living zombie, halfway through the story. I ignored everyone else. But at the very end, when I realized that I was God, I understood the entire situation and grasped every story within my hands.”

She spoke quietly in a gentle and even tone, just like how she used to.

“I remember everything. How everyone lived and how they died - everyone was a part of me. Everyone’s happiness was my happiness. If anyone suffered from misfortune, then I would be equally unhappy. Joy, sorrow, pain, anguish, fortune… I remember them all. I can’t forget any of it.”

She then ran her gaze over all of us and smiled.

“It’s the same this time… I always wanted everyone to be happy in his new, re-made world. There were so many people who tried their best and were not rewarded, people who were always in pain… that can’t be right. All of that was my responsibility. I drank poison and caused all sorts of monsters to emerge. I got the entire world covered in darkness and pain. So, this time – everyone needs to be happy.”

“…”

Everyone stayed silent when faced with God’s declaration and creed and Her extremely innocent wishes. However, I was rather happy. Rinne was still the same. She was still the person I loved the most.

Ganhō didn’t seem surprised, either. He only shrugged and said in an exaggerated way:

“Mmm, we will watch how you strive to achieve that, O Mighty Lord. As for me, my evil and despicable acts were not out of my own volition. In the previous world, I was always mysteriously appearing out of nowhere, and then immediately disappearing from the pages. What a pitiable character. I will definitely be more pronounced this time. I’ll have an aura that will supplant my stupid son and become the male protagonist, especially as he’s standing there with his head down!”

“… Yes, why is Guryū so gloomy?”

As if she was looking at some odd creature, Joker stared at her son. Sakaki looked as if he was completely distracted and didn’t appear to hear anything that was said.

Rinne appeared very troubled as well. She gave a bitter smile.

“Well, I’m not sure what happened with Sensei… Yesterday I lit up a cigarette like I always did, and he just became like that –”

“… Milady… my cute Milady had fallen… she’s a delinquent, a delinquent now…”

Sakaki Guryū was reduced to an idiot mumbling to himself. He looked like a bona fide idiot, but he was depressed. Yes, the Rinne we knew was an innocent girl who never drank or smoked. But even if she smoked, he shouldn’t look like all his dreams were shattered.

Rinne put her hand on her cheek and gave a crystal-clear laugh.

“I’m sorry, the flow of time in this world is a bit different from mine – Even though it’s not as bad as Urashima Tarō and the Dragon Palace. I’ve been away from here for about… three years? That seemed to be right. But it has been almost ten years in my world. I have therefore changed from a sixteen-years-old tender fruit to a mature twenty-six-year-old –”

“Don’t say your age! Don’t say your actual age while looking just like you did before! You liar!”

“What do you mean ‘liar’? You’re horrible! Even if I’m older, I’m still the same person, Guryū-chan!”

“Don’t call me Guryū-chan! But yes, I am younger than you now!”

I looked on while this pair of stupid lovers argued with each other. Sakaki was depressed because Rinne was nothing like how she was before. But Rinne was still Rinne. Sakaki will accept her and fall in love with her again one day, even though right now he was being gloomy and annoying. Aaah, seriously, no matter how they treated each other, they were still so annoying!

“Ah, hahaha!”

Ganhō already figure it out and laughed.

“So that’s why. Guryū was always afraid of getting close to girls when he was a kid. It was as if girls were bugs to him… were you having some unrealistic fantasies about girls? Seriously, flipping out so badly just because of one cigarette? Which era did you come from? Poor Guryū… but somehow you look funny, so that’s fine. Ahaha!”

“You are the worst father ever. Poor Guryū – Mmm, I have no right to criticize Ganhō either, since I left him behind as soon as I gave birth and surrendered the opportunity to bring him up. This is so sad…”

Basically, they were both horrible parents. I fixed my cold glare on them for a long time, ignoring Sakaki and Rinne yelling at each other. Then I put up my hand.

“Ganhō.”

I asked with complete seriousness. After all, this man understood things hiding in the deepest level of the world, such as the Greater Fragments, monsters, the previous world, and the structure of the current world.

“We are not here for you to mock your stupid son. We have other businesses… you know this, right?”

“Of course. Who did you think I am?”

The man made a pretentious pose and a boisterous laugh.

“Ah, by the way, I was about to say this this. I am the protagonist this time!”

“The men in my family are all idiots… Hey, Ganhō, you can either die or shut up. Choose one.”

Joker lifted her fist and threatened Ganhō, getting him to shut up at long last. As the only person who could converse properly, she turned her eyes to me.

"I know what you are looking for. It’s about the incomprehensible, incredible, outright impossible phenomenon happening in this peaceful world, right?”

Guryū and Usagawa Rinne were still arguing in front of her.

“In other words, why did God re-appear in this world?”

God, the center of this world, Snow White, Usagawa Rinne – otherwise known as Akutagawa Shirayuki.

This current world was only a world she saw in her dream. Every element, everything that had happened, were only mirrors that reflected her mind and well-being. God was the center of the world, and her dream was the world itself.

Once upon a time, God hated the real world. She came to this world to escape and forget everything, living in the guise of Usagawa Rinne. Everything was just a beautiful dream, a happy illusion that occurred between the time she ingested the poison and her death.

Usagawa Rinne wished to escape from the real world. She wanted to create a world that suited her, one that centered around her, and live happily in it. She wanted to become the protagonist of the entire story and the avatar of the girl named Akutagawa Shirayuki. However, she didn’t choose to be destroyed together with this world. She chose to keep living and had returned to reality.

She overcame the poison within, returned to her real life, and managed to live peacefully until now.

The current world was very peaceful. That should be enough evidence to show she was living contently.

But why did Usagawa Rinne return to this world of Mushi and Eyeballs? Why? For what reason? For what purpose?

“A different seed of melancholy had appeared. I’ll show you.”

Joker started to work on the computer terminal. One of the countless plasma screens behind her – a particularly big monitor – showed a new picture.

I couldn’t tell whether it was a satellite image or a picture from a surveillance camera. It was just a very fuzzy and blurry picture. It was at night– it was dark, the lighting was bad, and visibility was very low.

A girl appeared in that disturbing scene.

I could only see her vague outline, and she didn’t look human.

Her head was very sharp, and the shape of her body was bizarre. She was holding either a spear or a long stick, which was very noticeable. She seemed to be deliberately avoiding the streetlights. With only the faint moonlight to go on, it was hard to see her clearly.

The only thing I could be sure of was that she was female.

Her dark red eyes shone brightly even in the darkness. She had a childish face, as if she was a prepubescent girl.

The girl wore a sharp hat and was lots of clothes. She was definitely holding a spear – a long and heavy spear with one of its ends dragging on the ground as she walked.

I didn’t understand the meaning of this image at all and furrowed my brows.

“… What is this?”

“I’m sorry. I don’t really know the details myself.”

The skin on Joker’s Caucasian nose creased in a frown, and a look of regret appeared on her face. At the same time, Ganhō put on a serious expression and followed up with complementary information.

“This person was nicknamed the Man-Eating Demon in town. She is the root of the rumors that have been terrorized everyone. You should have heard of her too, right?”

“Ahh…”

Now that she mentioned it, Echi did talk about this at cram school yesterday.

Man-Eating Demon… huh. Rather than a demon, it was a bit more like what Echi said about a clown…

But I have no memories about this person. This person seemed to be… separated from the world of humans. She was not a monster, but she was also not a human…

These red eyes… It was as if she was…

I was recalling something. I was diving deep into my memories and remembering something when Ganhō interrupted me.

“Well, we couldn’t control how the public perceived her. There were so many rumors. This person – this Man-Eating Demon – was seen wandering around the town, attacking people, and then eating them.”

“So, this is really a ‘man-eating’ demon…”

Joker said casually and carelessly.

“To be precise, she only ate the heart and the brain. The rest of the body was left alone. In that case, the name ‘Man-Eating Demon’ was not quite accurate…”

“The heart… and the brain?”

Maybe the heart made sense, but I couldn’t understand why she would devour the brain. The heart was the foundation of our existence. Those who possessed a Fragment would use their heart as the vessel for the Fragment. It made sense for her to hunt down others with Fragments and eat the Fragment to obtain power. It made sense for beings different from normal humans to aim for the heart when attacking monsters and Greater Fragments.

But the brain part was really puzzling.

Eating the brain… that wouldn’t achieve anything.

“Why the brain?”

Ganhō shook his head.

“I don’t understand it myself. I probably won’t understand it unless I question the culprit directly. There might be some special significance, but I don’t have much to go on for a hypothesis. I just don’t get it. Maybe it’s just her fetish… like how you always dug out eyeballs?”

“I’m not a pervert like that. And I haven’t dug out human eyeballs for a long time.”

I fixed my glare at Ganhō while Joker tried to calm us down. Mmm, I can’t help myself when it comes to having arguments about this… I have already become a normal human and I really prefer not remembering how I used to be. I don’t like it when others mock me for who I was.

I was no longer a monster that dug out eyeballs.

I’m just Itsuwara Kuriko, a useless 19 years old repeat-year-student one could find in any high school.

“The problem is –”

Joker dragged the conversation back on track with a loud voice.

“This Man-Eating Demon seemed to constantly target those with a Greater Fragment.”

“… Like you guys?”

The Greater Fragments.

The seven supreme beings who split the responsibilities of God into seven equal parts.

Single Room, of Genesis.

Sterilization Disinfection, of Noah’s Flood.

PoisonCatastrophe, of the Tower of Babel.

Unpleasant Counter-Current, of the Angels.

Melodia NoiseTear Song, of the Messiah.

Ultimate ShieldThe Weakest, of the Devil.

And the Beast of the End – God Mushi Emperor.

The only ones whose location I knew for certain were Single Room – Nikuyama Kajiri, PoisonCatastrophe – Breaksun Hanselmine, and Melodia NoiseTear Song – Sakaki Joker. Well, PoisonCatastrophe went a bit funny. Strictly speaking, Breaksun may not even count as a Greater Fragment. And to make things worse, Kuroki Tatsue inherited the power of Melodia NoiseTear Song even when she didn’t have a Greater Fragment inside her. Without a Fragment to provide her with energy, Tatsue’s abilities were limited. So… she might be on the same power level as Breaksun? The relationships between these Greater Fragments folks were really complicated.

“The Man-Eating Demon seemed to have fought both Sterilization Disinfection and Unpleasant Counter-Current a few days ago.”

Joker smoothly stated as she pointed to the image in front of her.

“The surveillance cameras didn’t capture all of the fight, unfortunately. This is only a part of it. At the very least, we managed to capture Sterilization Disinfection and Unpleasant Counter-Current facing off the Man-Eating Demon. It was accidentally captured by a military satellite passing in orbit.”

I couldn’t understand how she could easily access and examine images captured by military satellites, but it was probably an everyday occurrence for people like her. After all, the Sakaki Organization was a super conglomerate that could control all the army in the world if it wanted and instantly trigger a Third World War.

Something bizarre happened on the screen as I thought about this.

There was a woman with long white hair tied into a braid. She was kneeling on the ground with her arms wrapped around her stomach, as if she was injured.

A girl wearing a hat with big round years was standing next to the white-haired woman, seemingly protecting her.

Gazing at the two from a far distance was the Man-Eating Demon with its pointy hat.

“Oh!”

Impulsively, I yelled at the monitor.

“Mina! Mitsuki! You…”

They couldn’t hear me. This was just a picture. But I was very happy. They were my companions who once fought together with me and supported me in the Final Battle.

Sterilization Disinfection – Saibara Mina.

Unpleasant Counter-Current – Saibara Misuki.

The Saibara sisters were still in this world as Greater Fragments. I didn’t know whether them retaining their roles were a strike of good luck or misfortune, but I was just happy to see them alive and unchanged.

I quickly turned to Joker with concern.

“Where were they? Were they really Sterilization Disinfection and Unpleasant Counter-Current? Why were they with the Man-Eating Demon….”

“Now now. Calm down. I understand what you must be feeling.”

Joker gave a bitter smile and explained calmly.

“We are quite sure that the white-haired woman and girl in a high school uniform were the Saibara sisters. However, I’m not sure if they were still playing the roles of Sterilization Disinfection and Unpleasant Counter-Currently, despite the police finding dents on the road that only Sterilization Disinfection should be able to create. Mmm, it might be reasonable to assume though…”

Her words were careful, but I felt her assumptions was correct. Mina was still Sterilization Disinfection, and Mitsuki was Unpleasant Counter-Current. They didn’t change, but they would have lost their memories before the world was re-made. Even if we met, they would only be apprehensive of us… anyways, I was still quite happy to learn that they were around and remained unchanged.

“And yesterday…”

As Joker’s voice sank, my mood also plummeted.

“… the Man-Eating Demon attacked this Institute.”

“…!”

I couldn’t help but look at Ganhō. He nodded with a nonchalant and calm expression, making me feel that no damage was done –

“Mmm. This is, after all, an Institute established by the Sakaki Organization, the greatest business conglomerate in the world. I defeated her without having to show my face… The Man-Eating Demon had demanded Melodia NoiseTear Song to appear and stated she had something to say. Perhaps that was also why she contacted Sterilization Disinfection. I presume she was here because of my Greater Fragment. That would be the most likely reason.”

She then looked towards God, who was still chattering loudly and comfortable with Sakaki Guryū, and said:

“We don’t fully understand Man-Eating Demon’s goal yet, but it’s best to be careful. If she noticed God is here, then there is a high chance God would become a priority target for her. After all, God is more important to this world than the Greater Fragments. We can protect Rinne if you need it, though we can’t guarantee her absolute safety even within this facility. Or should we seek the assistance of PoisonCatastrophe and Single Room?”

Melodia NoiseTear Song – Sakaki Joker – then looked at me and spoke in a low voice.

“Perhaps you, too, can’t remain completely detached from the battles that will descend upon us. I won’t force you to do anything, but I hope you are prepared. This world as it is now is rather strange, with the return of God and the presence of the Man-Eating Demon… No one knows what will happen.”

“…”

Yeah, I know all this.

I know this even if you didn’t mention it.

But – what can I do?

I’m not an immortal anymore, and I’m not much stronger than a human in a fight. Can I still protect Rinne as I am now?

Even though the World Institute tried its best to search for the reason behind Rinne’s re-appearance, they still came up empty-handed. But the danger that had already presented itself – the fearsome enemy, the Man-Eating Demon – was a different story. After some discussion with Joker, I decided to temporarily leave Rinne in the Institute to protect her.

We didn’t know whether the Man-Eating Demon could sense Rinne. Melodia NoiseTear Song never wrote her name on any of Sakaki Organization’s promotional material, but the Man-Eating Demon still found out about her and came to the Institute. We had no means of knowing when or whether this enemy might detect Rinne and try to get close to her.

Rinne appeared to simple be a tourist in this world, but her return should be in no ways as trivial as that. It was sad, but I still had to tell her that she must not do anything rash before we made sure of the reason behind her reappearance and the true aim of the Man-Eating Demon.

Even though Rinne got a bad mood from that and complained, she understood it was because we were worried about her. She agreed to this after voicing her displeasure.

“Guriko-chan, you need to take me everywhere to sightsee after things blow over, okay?” Rinne’s face was taunt and looking downwards as she mumbled. I nodded and looked at her.

Mmm, I’ll definitely take you to sightseeing, Rinne – God.

I’ll show you this world, a world that you didn’t allow to fall.

And that was the situation. We still needed the assistance of PoisonCatastrophe and Single Room. However, it was too dangerous for Rinne to leave the World Institute, and where those two lived didn’t have telephone lines. No, they might have a phone, but it wouldn’t be connected. The Sakaki Organization could probably find these two if it really tried, but if I could get it done faster and in a more reliable way from a personal visit. That was why I ended up visiting them.

Sakaki said he wanted to stay in the Institute to protect Rinne. He also said Ganhō and Joker wouldn’t completely trust him, since those two were the antagonists in the previous Final Battle. He was using his own parents and said a lot of extreme stuff about them. But never mind. He could do whatever he wanted.

Anyways, he had a bunch of reasons for not coming with me. He was the one who wanted to protect Rinne more than anyone else. This made me happy, but also a bit lonely.

“… Lonely? Hmm.”

I snorted at my own thoughts and walked towards the Institute’s exit. It was then that I heard hurried footsteps coming from in front of me out of the depth of the corridor.

Pitter patter. Pitter patter.

“H-Help! Help! Someone! help me!”

“…………”

The girl running towards me was dressed completely in black. She wore a black frock, had black gloves on, and even her hairband was black. The entire outfit was so austere that it bordered on funeral attire. However, there was nothing ominous about the outfit. She was very cute, almost like a doll, and the clothes suited her. Her face looked very young.

This girl running loudly towards me was Sakaki Guryū’s adopted younger sister. Wait. No. She was his actual sister… she was Sakaki Ganhō and Joker’s daughter. She was Kuroki Tatsue, one of the few people who retained the memories of the ‘previous world’ in this re-structured reality.

I was rather concerned. I didn’t speak up, but nor did I ignore the girl screaming for help. I stretched out my hand and grabbed her neck.

“What’s wrong? Don’t run indoors… seriously, young people these days…”

“Huh?! Have you ever seen someone like you, grabbing a person by the neck when they were running away and screaming for help?! Also, the gap between our ages shrank by a good amount when the world was re-constructed! So, stop talking about ‘young people’!”

Tatsue kicked and thrashed as if she was a puppy. I have heard that sons take after their mothers and daughters take after their fathers, and that was indeed true for the Sakaki family. Tatsue was as annoying as Ganhō.

“What happened, Tatsue-chan? Calm down and tell me.”

I lifted Tatsue using my height advantage and narrowed my eyes at her. If the Man-Eating Demon was launching an attack, then I must be prepared.

But when I heard the sounds behind Tatsue, I knew immediately it wasn’t anything as dire as that.

“Tatsue! I found you! I see you over there, Tatsue!”

“I won’t let you go outside, so you ran away from me... It’s a matter of time before I catch you, Tatsue. Even your family heirloom, the ultimate ability to control Melodia NoiseTear Song’s power, won’t be able to help you.”

Two young men appeared in the corridor as they mumbled to themselves.

I remembered them both and I also understood why Tatsue was running away.

“…Tatsue-chan.”

“What?”

“… Being popular is tough, isn’t it?”

“Are you mocking me? You are mocking me! You wanna fight?! I won’t lose to you now! I’m gonna give you a good taste of my ability!”

As Tatsue screamed, the two boys came up to her (and me, who was holding her up) and moaned as if they were zombies.

“Ta-tsu-e…”

“Tatsue--…”

“Ah! Ah! Please don’t come near me! You are dead! This isn’t where you are supposed to be! Save me, Buddha-sama! Save me, priest-sama!”

It seemed these two boys took delight in watching Tatsue’s desperate struggles and were very devoted to playing these tricks on her. It was very fun to see Tatsue-chan being teased.

I sighed and stated honestly.

“… Tatsue-chan, you brought this upon yourself. You’re at fault for dating both of them.”

“I’m not dating both of them. I’m not dating them both. I… I’m not that kind of girl. I – I –”

It was very fun to see Tatsue-chan puffing her cheeks out and almost crying.

Then I turned my gaze towards the boys standing in front of her.

One of them was Takamikado Mitaka, a slender boy with very pale skin and very myopic glasses. He didn’t look fashionable at all with his very lame hair and clothes.

He was Tatsue’s childhood friend in the previous world. He was later killed and diced up by the monster named Berōbuchō, and re-awakened when the world was re-made. Therefore, he was no longer dead, but alive and full of energy.

And the other guy…

At first glance, one could mistake him for a girl. He had a kind of slender body completely different from Mitaka. While Mitaka simply looked frail, this boy had an inborn, natural aura of beauty. He had pale hair that reached his shoulders. His skin was very smooth, as if he was a reptile and not human. He had a pair of golden irises and wore a heavy frock, completely ignoring the hot weather.

I turned my gaze and addressed the second boy, an old good friend with whom I had spent a long time.

“Yo, Snake. You’re using the previous version of you? Huh.”

“What do you mean ‘previous version’? Wouldn’t it be disgusting to have two people using the same face?”

The boy with the longer hair smiled lightly as he replied in a relaxed tone – he was the last member of the clan of Snakes, whose ancestor tricked both God and men and was expelled from Eden.

“Mmm, even this body is temporary for me. This person fears my original form as a snake. Are you very repulsed by reptiles, Takamikado Mitaka?”

“You are being too loud, demon! Taste my crucifix!”

Mitaka pushed up his glasses and shakily took out a crucifix from his pocket. Snake looked at him with mockery written all over his face and smiled as he brushed his hand through his hair.

“Hahaha… Mitaka is very fun. You are not a Christian, but you are waving a crucifix at your opponent… there’s no way it would have any value or use in your hands.”

“Shut up! This is what I came up with after a thorough investigation! You are the original traitor who committed the original sin in the Garden of Eden, and your expulsion was recorded in the Bible! The Snake feared God’s power and should also fear the crucifix! That’s also why Christians use these kinds of symbols!”

“You are such an otaku and you’re so annoying. It was my ancestor who was expelled by God, so there’s no way these things can harm me. And stuff like the crucifix belong to Jesus Christ, not Jehovah. Why should I be afraid of a dude born in a barn and had a full beard? The idea that the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost are the same Trinity was only glued together by humans at a later time.”

“… You two seem to be getting along well.”

Tatsue was hugging me tightly. I felt rather annoyed that I got dragged into a mess again. I sighed. I should have left the Institute earlier. Besides, these kids should be going school. Why were they wandering around here, not even staying at home?

Snake shrugged and narrowed his eyes as he chuckled.

“You call this ‘get along well’? If we are really getting along, then I would be eating Takamikado Mitaka’s flesh and fusing into him. We didn’t exactly have a tearful goodbye. That’s why I think Mitaka is cute. I’m very interested in him.”

“That’s disgusting. Terrible demon! Have some garlic!”

“Ah, that sucks. That’s really terrible. Snakes have a very sensitive sense of smell, you know?”

Mitaka threw garlic everywhere, then chased Snake as the later ran away. Are they like this every day…? I have heard rumors about how boring these people are…

“Tatsue-chan… are you okay?”

Tatsue had climbed up my body and was straddling my neck. I looked at the dark-clad girl, who was the center of this chaos. She hung her head and looked very tired.

The entire world was re-constructed. All the dead were resurrected. The world was re-structured in a brand-new and peaceful ‘setting’. That was how it had continued to operate up to now.

The only ones who did not go through a ‘reset’ were those who lived past the final battle. I was an exception, as I became a normal human after the Poisoned Apple was removed from me. I was the only one who was given a new ‘setting’ while retaining the memories of my ‘previous life’-

However, this re-construction was full of unexpected ‘bugs’. There were all sorts of awkward, contradictory, and incomprehensible events. Ganhō was investigating this in the World Institute, yet there were still more puzzles than solutions.

This was one of the most severe situations.

Takamikado Mitaka was dead in the previous world. He was cut up and killed by Berōbuchō, and Snake took over Takamikado Mitaka’s body and identity after eating Mitaka’s flesh. Tatsue then fell in love with Snake in this form.

There was always the question of who Tatsue actually liked. Even though I am very new to the emotion of love, I can still comprehend this.

Kuroki Tatsue liked ‘Takamikado Mitaka’.

But was this ‘Takamikado Mitaka’ the boy she grew up with, or the Snake who borrowed Mitaka’s appearance? The question was whether she liked his body or his mind.

For Mitaka, it was as if his childhood friend, the girl whom he liked and liked him back, was taken away from him by a wayward demon. There was no way he wouldn’t accept or forgive this. Even I would feel jealous and angry if someone took over my identity and became happy without my knowledge.

Snake also wanted to become Tatsue’s lover. However, Tatsue liked “Takamikado Mitaka”. He was only borrowing that man’s appearance and identity, and he was doomed to fail.

It was so troublesome. In some ways, it was the troubles of idiots.

If Tatsue sided with one man, then she couldn’t side with the other. However, both boys were “Takamikado Mitaka”. If I had to describe it, it was like her lover had split into two. Tatsue must be very anxious, so I understand why she would be running away like this.

Hmm, but I won’t interfere with these problems. These problems should solve on their own with time. I stood aside and watched the three of them crying and angrily yelling all at the same time. Suddenly, I thought of something and asked Tatsue:

“Why are you guys here in the Institute? Why aren’t you at school?”

“… Father and Mother called us here.”

Tatuse looked happy as she spoke of her parents. A smile surfaced on her face for the first time today.

“There were rumors about things that ate humans. A monster was going around attacking strong people, wasn’t it? Snake and I aren’t normal humans… we would be in danger if we were attacked. We are going to stay here and remain out of trouble until the whole thing blows over. By the way, I didn’t ask Mitaka to come. He followed us here.”

Mitaka had a sharp ear and heard everything, even though he was arguing with Snake. He instantly blushed red.

“I’m Tatsue’s servant! Why shouldn’t I follow her here? Besides, how can I bear leaving Tastue alone with this strange thing in such a weird place!”

“… That might be true.”

Tatsue lowered her head in confusion, then said brokenly:

“But – but if I was attacked by someone stronger than me, then Mina-san and Mitsuki-sama should have warned me. Or maybe I am just that much weaker than the Greater Fragments? I’m the incomplete vessel of Melodia NoiseTear Song, and Snake is a very weak monster, so maybe...”

“Hold on.”

I looked at Tatsue in shock and asked:

“Did you just say Mina-san?”

“Mm? Yes… Saibara Mina-san, and Mitsuki-sama – Mi-chan. They should be fine even if I went into hiding, right? Those two are very powerful… If we end up fighting that man-eating whatever, it’s best to stay together, no?’

Ahh, I finally remembered those distant memories.

I was tricked by Melodia NoiseTear Song and opposed Tatsue… then, even in this world, Tatsue and Snake were together with Mitsuki and Mina. They had been helping each other as close companions no matter what. They were always connected in the ‘previous world’, and their connections in the previous world would ensure they will meet again. There were contact points even in this re-constructed world.

I can’t remember. Or rather, I had already forgotten… I haven’t met Mina or Mitsuki in this world yet.

Tatuse tilted her head, then frowned. She then took out her black mobile phone.

“Ahh, there’s no signal… Right, we are underground.”

She then lowered her head. Looking up at me, she nodded with a serious expression.

“Even though I haven’t seen or spoken with Mina-san yet, I’m still a student at Kannonsakazaki High School just like Mitsuki-sama. So, we are physically close and are friends. Since Mitsuki lost her memories of the ‘previous world’, she won’t lie about it at all. If you asked her one question about the Greater Fragments and other things, she will just tell you a bunch of stuff.”

“Ahh, you two are in the same school huh.”

I already graduated, and I’m a useless repeat-year-student who no longer went to school. I didn’t know many students from the other years even when I was at school. It was the first time I heard about Tatsue and the other students in my school.

Anyways, communicating with Mitsuki must be fun. As Tatsue remained sitting on my shoulders, I let her in on a secret.

“Then, Tatsue-chan… Could I please as you explain things to Mitsuki and Mina and ask them to come hide in this Institute too? They don’t have the memories from the previous world anymore, and it would be especially hard to convince Mina. Please, Tatsue. Your older brother is deeper within the complex, and you should go ask him about how to ensure our victory. This is perhaps the greatest disturbance since the Last Battle… we need to gather all the friends we can find.”

“I don’t understand this at all.”

Tatsue smiled and said in a low and very gentle voice.

“But it is my earnest wish to work with Mitsuki-sama again. If this doesn’t turn out to be anything bloody and is only a beautiful adventure instead…”

“Nothing bloody will happen. We will do things slowly and do them well… Is that okay, Tatsue-chan?”

Tatsue finally climbed down from my shoulders and ignored the two boys fighting like two bloodthirsty beasts.

As Tatsue – who had recommenced yelling and calling out for help – ran further away from me, I waved at her and walked away. I should at least say a few encouraging words to her.

“Well, do your best!”

“It’s not about doing my best! W-wait… I don’t understand anything about that man-eating mess. Tell me what is going to happen! Guriko?! Guriko!? I can’t act just on this information! Urk, I hate you! I won’t leave you alone even if I become a ghost. Guriko, you unsympathetic brat!”

The Sakaki gene probably meant the family was doomed to be troubled with romantic problems for their whole lives. Please, God, don’t let me get involved in these things. Even though they look fun, it will only stay that way if I remain looking from afar and doesn’t get involved.

Even though it was lonely –

This was the right place for me.

“This is POISON valley. All who have no business here are forbidden from entering.”

…

This was a building that looked like a newly built retirement home. The soft colors of its exterior gave out a very modern feeling, as if aliens lived there. Contrary to its design style, this building was called ‘POISON’ and it was abnormally grandiose and tall. You can’t grasp its entire form without standing back a little from it.

I had gotten off the car with the Sakaki Organization staff about 30 minutes ago and walked the rest of the way here. Cars cannot drive up close to this building due to its special characteristics. In some way, this was the most abnormal place on earth. Single Room – Nikuyama Kajiri – and PoisonCatastrophe – Breaksun Hanselmine – were the ones living in this strange place.

“… I’ve always wondered why it was called ‘Poison Valley’. ‘Poison’ is the name of its owner, so that makes sense. But ‘Valley’…”

I pondered during the short respite after I pressed the doorbell.

“I’m coming! Who is it?”

The porch was rather delicate compared with the gigantic building. A muttering figure appeared when the rather heavy doors opened.

“There are entry and exit points everywhere in Poison Valley. This kind of architecture is extremely confusing. I never know where I am. Is this the actual front door? Or is this a random exit? I don’t get it. Mmm, it doesn’t matter anymore. Ah, it’s you. What a rare guest.”

A thin boy, shorter than me, appeared at the doorway.

His dark crimson hair and eyes were unbelievably beautiful. He was wearing very fitting shirt and jeans and an apron – maybe he was cooking. He wore a crucifix as a necklace, and it dangled over his chest. This boy was Single Room, the existence considered to be the closest to God.

But that didn’t matter anymore.

“You really look like a girl with an apron like this. Man, you really are disgusting. Do you want an older woman to say you are ‘super cute’?”

“Why are you invalidating everything about me just because of my apron?”

The boy called Nikuyama Kajiri gave a bitter grin as he tackled my sarcasm head-on. He looked at me with some jealousy.

“But you are still super tall like before. Just want did you eat to grow so tall?”

“Who knows. I want to know that too.”

He overused his powers during the Final Battle, causing his own existence to crumble and ultimately died. That was why he didn’t remember things from the previous world. However, Breaksun, the foreign women who lived with him, survived the previous battle. She explained the situation to Kajiri, and he therefore knew a fair bit about the issue at hand. In fact, Kajiri was initially still isolated deep within a forest in the rebuilt world. Breaksun went and brought him out of the forest at a later time. Everyone should have been resurrected under a peaceful ‘setting’, and I didn’t know why he alone was subjected to such bad treatment. As Single Room, with the power to change the ‘setting’ of the world, he was affected quite negatively when God reconstructed the world. Did he awaken to an unfortunate situation? I didn’t know.

Regardless, Breaksun brought him back in one piece. The two of them had lived peacefully in Poison Valley since then. Perhaps it was God’s plan for Breaksun to meet him again. They had a thread of destiny that went all the way back to their previous lives. They were lovers destined for each other… hahaha, it was really embarrassing to say this.

Kajiri smiled. He tilted his head and waved at me:

“Hmm, I don’t know what’s the point of this, but let’s sit down and have some tea. Today is a rare holiday for us, but Breako should have left already… because of something… Oh. Oh.”

His body suddenly started to twist and twirl in a strange way as he spoke, as if he was dancing.

What was going on? Just as I furrowed my brows, a number of children literally popped into existence in the room, filling the place with laughter.

“Ahh –" "Kuriko-chan, Kuriko-chan –" "Yay –!" "It’s been so long since I saw you!”

These sharp and chaotic sounds hurt my ears.

Lots of young kids appeared out of thin air. They were of various ages, but their faces all looked incredibly similar. They were all dressed messily in various colors and were the strangest phenomenon inside Poison Valley.

These children were emerging like bubbles. I tried my best to recognize some of them. Even though they kept popping up, I wasn’t really surprised… but I couldn’t feel their presence up till the moment they appeared.

My entire body was suddenly constricted by hugs. Someone was even hugging my face. I could only hug these kids back, ignoring the risk of having my body crushed. Wow, they are heavy. They are warm too. But this… hurts… so much… These little ones laughed loudly and seemed very happy. They huddled around me and chirped like birds.

“Aaaahhhh – !” “Kuriko-chan, Kuriko-chan!” “You grew taller, taller! You’re so tall!” “Hey! Hey! It’s my birthday today!” “Kuriko-chan, will you have lunch in my house today? Will you? Will you?” “Kuriko-chan!” “Ahh! Long time no see! Long time no see!”

What an unbearable noise. This should be classified as an attack.

Right. Who were these kids? They were the children of the previous PoisonCatastrophe. They were buried within Melodia NoiseTear Song’s body in the previous world as Fragment vessels. Since the entire world was re-built, these one hundred and forty-three children – Breaksun’s siblings – were all revived. They were all living in Poison Valley and formed a mighty force.

They weren’t considered Fragments, but since they inherited the power of the Great Fragment and were potential vessels of Fragments, they all maintained PoisonCatastrophe’s capabilities to a certain extent. Most of them were old enough to understand what was going on. However, while some of the older siblings already mastered this reality-bending power, a lot of the younger ones couldn’t control their powers well and used it haphazardly. What a pain.

The power of PoisonCatastrophe was to corrupt cause and effect, and to twist causality. It could twist this world at will and could even control destiny itself. If this power multiplied on top of itself, it could well explode and ruin the physical reality within Poison Valley. It would be a world where the same door can lead to difference rooms every time one opened it, a world where water could spurt out if one turned on the stove. All sorts of incomprehensible things could happen here. Therefore, the only ones living here were those with the power of PoisonCatastrophe and the one person who could rewrite the world, Single Room. Even if the Man-Eating Demon invaded Poison Valley, it wouldn’t be able to achieve a single thing in this unpredictable place.

Anyways.

The power of PoisonCatastrophe was tightly connected with song and sound. Its power laid within in the sound waves the owner of the Fragment they emitted. Humans not used to this sound could faint just from hearing it. Therefore, as these children of PoisonCatastrophe kept laughing and running around me, my body sensed danger –

“Hey… kiddos, don’t mess with the guest.”

Kajiri gave a sign, and the kids surrounding me immediately scattered. Of course, this annoyed some of the kids who wanted to keep playing with me. They started to curse Kajiri.

“Tch – !” “Kajiri is so unreasonable!” “What a dictator!” “Seriously – ??“ “I want to play with Kuriko-chan! I want to play!” ‘Don’t interrupt us, Kajiri you idiot!” “You are a midget too!” “Midget midget!” “Bean-sized!” “We still have a future! Kajiri looks like he’s old enough to drop dead!” “Kajiri you midget!” “Dwarf – !”

“…”

The whole room filled up with chaotic chatter.

Kajiri grabbed a raw egg and threw it at the children. He was already an adult, but he roared at the kids with a terrifying expression.

“You bastards… The thing I hate the most in the world was to be called a midget! That is unforgivable! You midgets stay where you are! Bastards, I’m gonna make sure you taste these raw eggs!”

Then he completely lost his temper. To be fair, since he looked so much younger than his age, I originally thought he was a midget, too.

The children were used to this. They all ran away from Kajiri and disappeared into empty space one after the other, jumping and laughing in joy as Kajiri threw eggs around.

“Tch –! Tch –!” “Kajiri is angry!” “Full retreat!” “We are fighting, Kajiri is fighting! Breaksun-nee told us about this!” “Run away! Run away!” “Aha –!” “Kajiri would get angry over nothing!” “Bye Kuriko-chan! Come play with me afterwards!” “Hahaha!”

They scuttled away, quick as little spiders. Kajiri’s hair was standing on their ends in rage. He was going to thoroughly punish the children while looking like his hair was on fire. I looked at them and genuinely felt that, as always, this place was the very semblance of peace. I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Ah! Kajiri, and Kuriko is here too. Good morning?”

One of the seven equal parts of God, one of the Greater Fragments, the manifestation of the Tower of Babel, PoisonCatastrophe, was here. She was the only superior existence who could control causality at will. She looked friendly as she waved, but also looked like she just woke up.

She was a woman of uncertain ethnicity. Her green hair was as thick as vegetable juice. Since she never slept in a reasonable way, her long hair was a mess. She was wearing childish pajamas that looked like a frog. She half-laughed, as if she was not really awake. Even though her messy attire made her hard to recognize, it was still difficult to hide the charm and beauty of her tall figure.

Her name was Breaksun Hanselmine.

In the previous world, her heart was taken away and she lost the power of PoisonCatastrophe. She was also one of the only survivors of the final battle and therefore retained the grim memories of that world. When the world was re-made, she obtained the Fragment of PoisonCatastrophe again and created Poison Valley to bring up her numerous siblings. These children were modified into Fragment vessels in the previous world due to Ultimate ShieldThe Weakest’s ‘modification of the flesh’ skill and could not control their powers. However, they gradually learnt to better control the Fragment of PoisonCatastrophe after some training.

Mmm, she didn’t look like a great celebrity at all. Just a silly older sister for her siblings.

She lived in one of the countless bedrooms in the deepest bowels of Poison Valley. Her room was the one covered in music posters and anime stickers, and the floor was littered with music equipment and instruments. There wasn’t even a spot to stand. The owner of the room also had to curl up in the corner and sleep in a sleeping bag. It really didn’t look like a bedroom.

I froze when Kajiri showed me this room, heaving a deep sigh as I looked into the doorway.

“Seriously… look at the time. This really isn’t the time for an employed person to wake up. Never mind. Just… please tidy this room a bit. Seriously, how are you able to sleep in a place like this…”

Since I had no ways of entering this room, I could only talk while standing at the door. I don’t remember ever seeing any place as messy as this. She probably had a reason to keep these things, but still…

“Yawn…”

Breaksun made a big yawn and stood up slowly. She was limpid as she walked towards us, as if all her bones were removed. How did she not trip over when traversing this messy room? Maybe it was because of PoisonCatastrophe’s ability? She twisted all causality and refused to connect the mess at her feet with herself. She really wasn’t wasting her abilities.

Breaksun quickly walked up to us and leaned against me tiredly. We were about the same height and her hair kept rubbing against my eyes and cheek. It was very annoying.

She smelled sweet and warm, like people who just woke up.

I closed my eyes and softly mumbled.

“Hey, Breaksun, how did you get fatter? You’re really heavy.”

“Cos walking is a pain… Kuriko, I wanna go eat breakfast. Please carry me to the dining room…”

“…”

This useless bastard… anyone older than kindergarten age would not claim walking was a pain. Even a primary school student won’t be so stubborn.

“Please, Kajiri.”

Kajiri, standing next to me, helped this annoying foreigner onto my back. Then, he swiftly wiped away the drool around her mouth and tied her hair into a proper braid. That was very impressive. No, Breaksun became so useless because he looked after her so attentively. I smiled.

“Seriously… Breako is always like a child.”

“Ba~ba~ bu~ bu~.”

They seemed to be conversing somehow. They really have a very close relationship.

…

Anyways, we then walked to Poison Valley’s dining room.

We ran into a few of Breaksun’s siblings. They either talked endlessly or ran circles around me. Nothing major happened.

Breaksun was already working as a signed singer and earned the most money in this family. She was an adult, and she used her job to maintain the expenses in Poison Valley to allow everyone to live peacefully. Everyone got on well with each other here, as if it was a multi-cultural country.

Breaksun’s voice was called ‘the voice of the witch’ and was loved by people all over the world. She was therefore pretty successful as far as singers go. I would hear her songs even if I was just walking around town.

Her tunes and lyrics felt very strange for me. I feel tired every time I heard it. However, people reacted to it very positively. I don’t understand this world at all.

I don’t watch TV, so I don’t really know about these things. But Echi was very jealous of the fact that I am Breaksun’s friend. This useless and strange foreigner was really nobody special. Even if Breaksun’s situation had changed, her personality didn’t change at all. She always seemed nonchalant and careless. That was the only trait she shared with other celebrities.

I sat down on a chair in the dining area as I thought about these unrelated things.

It was almost lunchtime, and I was going to have lunch with Breaksun. Lunch… lunch should be eaten at around noon. Even though Breaksun insisted it was breakfast, it should be lunch for a normal person.

Kajiri put on an apron and was about to go cook. He asked Breaksun and I to wait, then disappeared into the kitchen. The person closest to God was now a chef and manservant… well, it didn’t matter. It just felt so peaceful.

For some reason, whenever I sat here, I would always get a throbbing headache. I endured this as I explained to Breaksun the purpose of my visit as well as everything that had happened recently. Yes, I was not here to relax. I came here to specifically seek the assistance of PoisonCatastrophe and Single Room so that the tragedy of the Last Battle would not be repeated. I can’t forget such an important task.

“… But, in that case… is it because…?”

Breaksun put a straw in her mouth and sipped her coffee, then tilted her head. You won’t see something like this on an ordinary person. Even though she was an immortal, her senses did not completely disappear, and she could still taste coffee. Her face also became red because of the heat.

“Is it because Ring-bell appeared in this world again? Um, did that child return because she was once again running away from reality?”

“Ring-b… Ahh, you meant Rinne.”

For a brief moment, I didn’t realize who she meant. Breaksun was referring to Rinne using the latter’s nickname, just like she had done in the previous world. Breaksun was Usagawa Rinne’s neighbor when they both stayed in the same apartment building in the previous world. She knew Rinne and interacted with her. It was normal that Breaksun had a nickname for Rinne.

Whatever. I shrugged and asked Breaksun.

“We are not sure why Rinne appeared again. She didn’t mention it herself, either. If she came here to escape her reality, the she looks a bit too relaxed… I feel that she didn’t return here out of her own volition. She’s here for a reason.”

There weren’t monsters appearing, and she definitely didn’t ingest poison. The entire world was calm. The appearance of the Man-Eating Demon was making many people concerned, but it wasn’t anything big enough to break the world. However, I still have questions, but I wasn’t desperate. Rinne’s reappearance just felt like an accident, or rather, an incident…

“Is there a – a special reason for it?”

I tried my hardest to think and looked up blankly. Breaksun scratched her face.

“Could she be… on a holiday?”

“If she’s after a holiday, then she would have come back countless times already –”

Even as I said this, the proposition felt right.

Rinne would have told me if she was just here for a holiday. Rinne would never allow all of us to worry so much about her if she was only here for pleasure. Even though Rinne was a very different person now, deep down she was still the same – she was still the gentle Rinne whom I liked. Therefore, even if others doubted her, I would believe in her. Rinne was just like who she was before.

In that case… why did Rinne come back?

The question appeared simple to my mind.

The world gained peace after the Final Battle and all conspiracies were shattered… it was worthy of celebration. Then why did these troubles arise again? Didn’t we resolve everything with Rinne? Didn’t she decide to keep living in the real world?

This world was a mirror that reflected the heart and body of God – in other words, Rinne’s wellbeing.

Then, what kind of internal mindset was projected through our current events?

“… Mmm, I can’t think of anything right now. I’m better off resting. Well, I’m pretty lazy, so I’m gonna go sleep.”

Breaksun slammed her face on the dining table and started to laugh.

“We’re here thinking so hard for that idiot, but there’s no point. I was involved in so many things in the previous world, but I had no idea what was happening around me…”

Breaksun waved her fingers and looked a bit lonely.

“So, Kuriko, stop thinking about those difficult stuff. Eat well and rest well, then go see Ring-bell. Let Kajiri analyze her ‘setting’ and we can figure everything out. If it’s still confusing afterwards, we’ll put out heads together and talk it through.”

Breaksun said softly as if she was singing.

“Kuriko, remember that we are not God, so we are not omnipotent. Since we are not omniscient or omnipotent, it’s impossible for us to understand everything or protect everyone. We just want to stay with our loved ones and hug tight the people we want to protect in these really difficult situations. We will do anything for them – that is what we mean by loving other people.”

She then smiled gently with a soft hint of sorrow. It was probably a rare expression for her – her solemn face was very beautiful.

“I couldn’t protect Kajiri in the previous world. I led him into my life without thinking. I treated him badly and caused him to die. I don’t want it to happen again… I’m really clumsy, and I’m not clever, so maybe I do look like a loser. But I will protect him this time. I am going to work hard for that. You are the same, Kuriko…”

Breaksun lifted her head. She had a full smile and made a feeble victory sign.

“So, don’t carry too much on your own shoulders! Be happy and work hard. Don’t worry. Me, Kajiri, Joker-san, and everyone else will be your friend. Kuriko, don’t show me that annoying face. Smile, smile~”

Breaksun reached out and pulled at my face, pulling my cheeks upwards to resemble a smile.

“Urrkk…”

My hard face and heart had softened a little thanks to Breaksun before I even realized it.

Mmm.

Yes, I shouldn’t think so hard on my own. I should be a bit happier too…

Ragnarok 04: 29 year old bachelorette, bored every day

Having finally gotten a few days of leave out of his busy workload, Nageki Kurokiyo took his girlfriend to town.

This fellow looked really gross with the long fringe covering his eyes. His face could pass off as ‘cool’, but this man always just looked unclean. He was going to town on an off day, but he was dressed in ridiculous and drab clothes. Anyways, his first impression on most people was quite bad. He hadn’t shaved for days and his beard was growing out, while an unlit cigarette dangled between his lips.

His expression was gloomy and completely incongruous with the sunny weather, and he had been sighing for no apparent purpose since morning.

“Cough…”

Nageki was a policeman. Free days were as rare for policemen as they were for doctors and firefighters, but he did not seem relaxed at all. No, he was not complaining about having a few days of rest. Rather, he had worked too hard in the past few days and should slow down a little and rest.

Nageki just could not understand the case that he had been personally handling until yesterday.

The Man-Eating Demon case.

The scale and cruelty of the case were unprecedented, and the bureau had launched a massive investigation in response. Nageki was working 24/7 to chase down this unheard-of criminal.

This unusual criminal was stabbing the victim through their hearts, then sucked out and consumed their brains. Victims were appearing one after another despite the police’s meticulous investigation. This was a large-scale, inhuman villainy guaranteed to be recorded in the history of the modern world, let alone the history of this small town.

Nageki did his best to chase down the criminal to protect the peace of the town and the safety of the residents. However –

His superiors suddenly declared yesterday that the investigation was over.

The reason given was that they had found out the truth behind the case.

The Man-Eating Demon case was apparently all a farce, fabricated by the victims themselves. In other words, the cruel methods and the characteristics of the murders were all non-existent. Most of the victims were alive and living as normal people, so this could not be a murder case at all. And since they had severely impacted public order, these victims will be punished accordingly –

Huh? Nageki was speechless at this explanation.

Fabricated by the victims?

The characteristics of the murders were fake?

Nageki felt this was all a joke. He waited for the investigation chief to admit that it was all a joke, but the man maintained a serious expression. The investigation was truly over. Reports wrapping up the investigation will be sent into the division in a few days’ time, and that was how Nageki received a temporary holiday.

This made no sense.

The chief never saw the bodies killed by the Man-Eating Demon, yet he believed that bullshit about it being made up. No matter what, those were dead, real corpses! There was nothing fake about it. All those people were dead. It was tragic – the fresh signs of fighting, the blood that stained every surface of the crime scene, the bodies of the victims slowly losing their warmth, the family of the decreased crying all around them – no matter how you looked at it, it was an irreversible tragedy. The Man-Eating Demon really killed people.

No. This criminal was perhaps defying the law even now –

“Kiyo-kun. Kiyo-kun, what’s wrong?”

Nageki Kurukiyo was starting to stare at the people around him like a hunting hound without realizing it. The voice of his lover, Sunohara Ume – sitting in the wheelchair that he was pushing along – snapped him back into reality. She was looking straight at him.

Ume was a plain, ordinary, rather unnoticeable women. Her face lacked expressions, but she had a pair of remarkable eyes. Her eyes were innocent and clear, as if she could instantly look through someone or see into the deepest part of their hearts. Her gaze was bottomless, pure, angelic, and similar to that of a small animal.

The problem with her feet meant she was sitting in a wheelchair, wearing a white hat the prevented the sun from burning her skin. She pressed her hat down on her head as she gazed at Nageki Kurukiyo.

“This is a rare holiday, and we haven’t had a date since forever… But you are not listening to a word I said and was just dumbly staring at other people. This is rather dreary.”

“Ah, aaah – I’m sorry.”

Ume was older than Nageki and he always spoke to her with deference. When it came to addressing each other, Ume had always called him ‘Kiyo-kun’ in an intimate way while Nageki called her ‘Ume-san.” Hmm, but Ume didn’t care about such details. Rather, it was her nature not to think too hard about anything. That was how she managed to have no major problems all her life. Nageki always felt she should be more straightforward and talk more.

Nageki inherited an old apartment from his father. Close to the apartment, there was a bathhouse that the locals frequented. Ume was the daughter of the bathhouse’s owner. She was hurt during an incident that Nageki was investigating and her feet were disabled. Even though she did not appear to care too much about it, it was still Nageki’s fault for not protecting Ume and allowing her to be hurt by the culprit. Ever since then, Nageki had vowed to become Ume’s legs for as long as he lives and to help her walk, as a means to redeem his sins.

That was the ‘default setting’ up till this point.

Ume and most people in this world were oblivious to this, but the world had been broken once.

Very few people remember that other world. It was a world full of gloom and blood – the world of Mushi and eyeballs.

The survivors of that Last Battle – including Nageki – were all sheltering in a certain apartment building. It was a location involved in the destruction of the world, a veritable Noah’s Ark. Some of those survivors retained their memories of the previous world, becoming the final few proofs of its existence.

In this world, Ume was not stamped upon by a massive monster.

Nageki was also not obsessed with killing monsters. In this world, he was just a very ordinary cop.

That was how it should have been –

But the entire Man-Eating Demon case stank of a familiar, bizarre stench. Nageki felt, on pure instinct, that it was incongruous with this peaceful world. It felt closer to the world before the re-construction.

Should he obey his superior’s decisions, surrender his own powers of judgement, and forget it all?

This was already a peaceful world and Nageki was living in happiness. If he went against all this, discarded everything, returned to how he was before and continued to investigate this case –

then he might foolishly once again lose the person most important to him.

“… Kiyo-kun. This is enough.”

He was pulling on Ume’s hair without realizing it.

She didn’t look or sound upset, but she was probably upset.

“Ume-san.”

Nageki furrowed his brows in a pitiable expression. Ume sighed softly.

“Kiyo-kun… just… don’t think about your job when you are off work. Don’t think about those stuff with a depressed face when it’s your holiday. Otherwise, there’s no point in having holidays. Mmm, don’t get me wrong. I’m not upset because of how cold Kiyo-kun is towards me. I’m just worried about your health, Kiyo-kun.”

“I’m sorry, Ume-san.”

She calmly but firmly stated the right thing to do. Nageki lowered his head in genuine guilt.

Yes. He was no longer the melancholic cop full of sorrow who only wanted to kill monsters. He was just an ordinary cop, currently spending time with the woman he loved.

Were there other things he should desire?

However, he was still worried. Perhaps he should ask Guriko and Breaksun about the Man-Eating Demon after today’s date was over. He was still in contact with them.

“Seriously, it’s noon already. That person in the middle of the plaza seems to be a magician. I think I’ve seen that person on TV before. Why did he come to a faraway country like Japan? I don’t get it. Maybe we won’t get to see him next time we’re here. Let’s get closer! But there are so many people there… Ahh, Kiyo-kun, it’s that travelling husker from before! But with that many people, maybe we should give up… um, no, I’ll endure the crowd for that person’s tricks!”

“Alright alright. Sorry, Ume-san.”

Nageki gazed at Ume’s innocent smile as he walked on, pushing her wheelchair.

He had once again returned to his ordinary life. A happy life that he had glimpsed in his dreams.

He was home. This was Nageki’s favorite place, a place that will always be on his mind.

And yet, he was still thinking about monsters. Was it because of an endless karma, or was it a trait that had been etched into his body? It was painful.

Even though this world was completely replaced and changed, there were still seeds of melancholy in many places. In a way, compared with what he had to do in the future to track down monsters, the task of appeasing his completely enraged lover was a lot harder for Nageki.

Ahh, there were so many melancholic things in this world.

Aizawa Ume felt a bit down today.

Ume-chan was slow and clumsy compared to other people, and she would get confused at crowded places. Her parents brought her here to see that magician she had no interest in. But there were so many people here. She was short, and she couldn’t see anything. She got moved with the crowd and got separated from her parents.

She was on the verge of tears.

How did it end up like this? Why was she always messing everything up?

Was it because of her bad luck? That shouldn’t be it. Did she do bad stuff in her previous life, so something was stalking her? That shouldn’t be it. Ume was naturally a bit slow and she was unhappy on a daily basis.

Why was there nothing fun? No? It’s so boring.

Ume pouted. She could never be bothered to think about these difficult things. But there were too many exciting things in town. She lingered here and hurried there, and she was soon lost as she wandered around.

She didn’t know what to do anymore.

It was impossible for her to reunite with her parents, so she gave up. She just has to wait for the missing children broadcast to come on. Ume often got lost in the crowds and her parents were probably used to it. It was upsetting, as they were at fault for allowing Ume to be swept away by the crowds.

Ume walked into one of the shops along the shopping street just to waste some time. The shop sold all sorts of children’s small toys and was cheap enough that kids could to afford it. While the shop was very pretty, it was a bit deserted.

Ume liked a very cute ring with an apple on it. It was only a few hundred Yen. She fell in love with it at first sight and wanted to buy it immediately. Yes, children were not allowed to buy things themselves, but Ume was already a junior high student. Ume believed she was a qualified adult, so she should be allowed to buy stuff. She didn’t consider whether a qualified adult would get lost.

Ume’s clutched the ring in her little hand. There was the sound of the apparently unoccupied shopkeeper walking out from behind the counter in the deepest part of the small, empty shop. He was a young man who kept to the shadows and had spiky hair. He looked rather scary, but shopkeepers should be gentle towards kids, right?

He was wearing the uniform of the shop and looked very unfashionable. He wore a pin with the name “Shigure Benimaru” on his chest. He was reading the newspaper and looked up when he heard Ume’s voice. His gaze was terrifying, as it he was going to stab through her. Ume started to shiver without knowing why. She asked with a voice shaking in fear.

“Um, this one… thank you.”

She stood on tiptoes as steady as she could and placed the ring on the counter. That should be the right thing to do. Then the shopkeeper should scan the barcode with a ‘ding’ sound using the automated cashier machine, then tell her how much this thing costs. Then she should take out her wallet and take out the money…

Ume kept repeating these steps in her head. Suddenly, the man grabbed her outstretched hand.

“… Huh?”

Why is he grabbing my hand? This hurts. Huh? This is different from the steps I know.

“Um, uh, um, um…”

Ume’s head went blank and she tried her best to pull her hand back. However, her wrist was held very tightly, and she couldn’t move it at all. She was terrified and tears swelled up in her eyes. But that man did not care at all. He only glared at her ferociously.

It was a scorching, gloomy, and deplorable gaze.

“Little girl.”

His tune was laconic as he mumbled to Ume, whose gaze was locked on him.

“We don’t allow elementary school students to buy things from this shop.”

“Huh? Huh?”

“Are your Papa and Mama close by? No? They are not? Heh, hehehe.”

Ume became more and more unsettled. She was very flustered as she faced the shopkeeper who was snickering to himself. She had scanned around the shop, but there was no one to help her. School taught her that she should call loudly for help in moments like this. But Ume was so terrified that she couldn’t even make a sound.

A despicable kind of heat started to emanate from the shopkeeper. He gazed at Ume as if she were a dish to be savoured, and said in a low voice:

“Ahh… so cute. I’ve always wanted a cute little girl like this…”

“Li, little girl huh? I, I, I’m not a cute little girl?!”

“Your head is getting all confused, and your words are not making sense… Mmm, that’s cute as well. So cute… I need to give such a cute little girl a special service. This ring really can’t be sold to an elementary student – but if you listen to me, then I can sell it to you.”

As Ume paled, the shopkeeper said bluntly:

“Will you take off your clothes?”

“Ah? Huh?”

“Take it off!”

“Aaaah - !?”

Ume’s face went completely pale as tears rolled down her cheek. She struggled as hard as she could. But even then, the shopkeeper grabbed her tightly and she couldn’t escape. It only made him upset and grabbed her even tighter.

His expression became more and more vicious. He used one hand to hold down Ume and took out a terrifying dagger from underneath the counter with his other hand.

Then his expression changed. He seemed to feel hatred and sadness at the same time. He started to mumble as reason slowly left his eyes.

“Yes… yes, even an elementary student wouldn’t listen to me. That will do. That will do! If you don’t listen to me, then I will cut off your hands and legs and make you into a tumbler toy! That way, it won’t matter if you don’t listen to me. Everything is like this… everyone everyone everyone…”

Aah, she should have listened to her parents.

They said she shouldn’t go buy things on her own. Did they mean something like this would happen?

There was danger everywhere in town.

Ume still didn’t really understand.

As the dagger was stabbing down and was about to enter Ume’s wrist…

“… What an idiot.”

The blade of the dagger snapped and broke off together with that very annoyed voice.

Ume had no idea what had happened. She could only see something like a whip hit the dagger with lightning speed. It was so fast that Ume couldn’t tell what it was.

“What – ”

The shopkeeper was stunned and stared at the dagger, which only had the hilt left. Ume’s eyes were wide in shock. A woman was standing very very close to them without either of them noticing.

She was wearing a very beautiful purple set of clothes, and even her hair was purple. She wore jeans over her legs and a low-cut dress shirt without a tie. It was an outfit that fitted her very well. She was covered in the soft purple color of lavenders from head to toe, and her socks and boots were of a similar shade.

It was hard to tell her age.

Even though she was a woman, one could only figure that out from her figure. Her face was covered by a mask.

A mask. She was wearing a mask. It was not the kind of masks sold at carnivals, but a black-and-white mask with no decoration. There was an emotionless pair of purple eyes behind the mask.

The shopkeeper reacted violently when he saw the masked woman. He looked very shocked.

“What the hell?! Where – where did you come from?!”

The women took out two hand puppets before the shopkeeper or Ume noticed, then started to perform a realistic pantomime with expert ventriloquy.

“Ah, this is scary… Kirigirisu.”

“Yes, Kudan, this is really dangerous. However, if the elementary girl’s clothes were actually taken off, then he won’t be yelling so loudly anymore.”

The shopkeeper was dazed at this impromptu pantomime show, but Ume was excited. No matter how many times the world repeated, she still won’t think too hard about anything. That part of her personally was probably not going to change any time soon.

“Wow, it’s awesome! The puppets are talking!”

The female puppet with three eyes tilted its head and moved as if it never heard Ume.

“Instead of ‘rare’, this is a rather ‘nostalgic’ reaction. Whenever people in this country saw a magic show, they always tried their best to investigate the means and tricks behind it. They don’t have any capacity to simply enjoy art.”

“Mmm, it’s a national characteristic to consider magic as trickery and wanting to solve it.”

As if it was really alive, the male puppet wearing green clothes continued in a lively manner.

“’Tricks. These are just cheap tricks. Don’t take me for an idiot!’ They always say that, don’t they? It’s a magic show time! This is the most amazing magic trick!”

“Wh… what the hell? What are you? What the heck are all these things?!”

The shopkeeper seemed half frenzied as he moved to stop the puppets. The woman using ventriloquy had no changes in her expression – rather, this purple woman seemed quite bored. The shopkeeper still had no idea how she cut up his dagger. He clutched both of his hands into fists, looking terrified and about ready to bolt out of the store.

But the woman wearing a mask did not react at all, and simply continued her pantomime show with ease.

“… Mmm, it’s laughable, Kirigirisu.”

“Indeed, Kudan. People of this country are stupid no matter where they are, no?”

“I have never seen an idiot who swore at a magician in my country.”

“Yes, neither the lowest young thug nor the most advanced martial art master provoked the magicians.”

“Was it because those who use magic are rather scary?”

“Non-nonsense! What the heck are these things…?!”

The shopkeeper didn’t care about appearances anymore and swung his fist towards the woman.

The woman’s fingers, which were moving as agile as a snake within the hand puppet – suddenly became a sharp blade and stabbed into the shopkeeper’s jaw.

“Wh… at…?”

It was unbelievable. Disobeying all laws of physics, the man’s skin was cut open where the woman’s finger touched him. Blood was dripping out of his flesh. It was not an illusion, nor was it a trick. It was a genuine blade. Did the woman’s fingers metamorphose into a lethal weapon? What could it be? Was this really magic? Ume was busy thinking about this as she watched.

“What… You bitch!”

But that ignorant man glared viciously at the woman, as if he saw through her tactics. He mumbled, as if talking to himself:

“What is this… what is this… what is this cheap trick?!”

Those words seemed to have offended the woman. All emotions disappeared in her eyes. There was no intent to kill. No rage or sorrow. The only thing left was a gloomy, cruel, and cold nothingness…

“… There’s no theory and no tricks!”

As soon as her words ended, fresh blood sprayed onto Ume’s face.

Incredibly, it was an incredibly warm and rather nostalgic feeling.

Every day was very boring.

Boring, boring, boring.

Those days were boring and slow and absolutely meaningless. It was the worst.

The shopkeeper of this antique shop, who gave a perverted request of a sexual nature to an elementary student, finally calmed down after she cut open his face. Once a Japanese person saw blood, they either became unnaturally excited or immediately pale in fear. Both reactions were national characteristics that only emerge during agony. It was so stupid.

The fundamental education about crime and punishment was absent in this country. Everyone was spoiled and had no concept that they will be punished if they conducted evil deeds. This country was truly blessed by the world. It made her very upset.

She obtained and recorded the address and phone number of this shopkeeper named Shigure. She wasn’t planning to report this to the police (it’s too bothersome to be tied down by a case). She was only planning to use it as leverage if she got into trouble with him again. This country was full of self-centered people. It helps to have such information in her hands.

When she walked out of the shop, that elementary girl was docilely waiting for her.

The girl’s hair was parted into pigtails, and there was a hint of arrogance in her expression. This child appeared very cute, but her mannerism was full of timidity and fear. She didn’t like her.

“Um… Th-thank you very much!”

The girl gave a very deep bow.

Whatever. She didn’t need to courtesy. She was just a kid who barely started the journey of life. It’s the adults’ duty to stand aside and look after these kids when they are trying to walk their own road. The people in this country are all selfish trash – ah, better stop these pointless complaints.

Not wanting to scare the child, the woman knelt while look at the girl in the eye. She then wrote down Shigure Benimaru’s details on the back of her own business card and handed it to the girl.

“This is the address and phone number of that man just now. Explain what happened to your Mama and Papa when you meet up with them again. If Mama and Papa feel they want to report this as a case to the police, show this to them. You are a victim, and that man was a criminal, so there is no need to hide what happened to you. If you really want to punish the criminal, then don’t hesitate. Don’t think about how he would get into a lot of trouble. You need to clearly and thoroughly destroy him.”

“Oh… Mmm.”

The girl didn’t seem to fully understand. She just nodded very hard. Where were this child’s parents? She didn’t quite get the age of a Japanese person, but this girl should be an elementary student. It was very dangerous for someone so young to wander around alone.

Mmm, probably because Japan was relatively safe. Everyone has a very low sense of danger.

“The front of this card has my name and address. Mmm, it probably won’t be useful – if there are any issues with this incident, contact me. Seriously, an elementary schooler going out on her own can get mixed up into these dangerous things very easily.”

“Huh? I’m in junior high!”

“No way. Really? You’re tiny!”

“It’s true! I’m fourteen years old, but I’m the shortest in the whole class.”

The woman only sighed when Ume started to laugh nervously. If she was a junior high student, she should already know how to defend herself. When the woman was fourteen years old, she was already working to feed herself.

While the woman was silent, the girl looked at the business card and her eyes sparkled with excitement.

“Wow… magician. You’re a magician? Are you the person who performed in the plaza at noon? I went there with my parents, but there were too many people and I couldn’t see. It’s awesome. You’re such an awesome person. The thing you just did, when you poked out your finger – that’s magic too, right?”

That magic was different.

Mmm, she probably can’t explain it well to the girl. The woman only nodded in silence. Since the girl was so amazed and shocked, her next question should be about how the trick was performed, right? That was it. This was the petty characteristic of this country, where the citizens want to rip apart all the illusions and won’t rest until they learnt the truth behind every trick.

“It’s awesome.”

The girl blushed and stuttered in a small voice:

“Can I… do that too?”

“…”

“Ahaha, no way. I’m too clumsy.”

What had this girl been hearing in her everyday life? She was mumbling as if afraid of anyone hearing her. Maybe she kept hearing other people talking about her being stupid and slow. Even though that appeared to be the truth, those are such miniscule problems.

“God created all men to be equal.”

The women took out a Baguenaudier, grabbed the girl’s hand, and pressed it firmly into her hand.

“Everyone can become Jesus Christ as long as they try hard enough.”

The incredible baguenaudier and the clear gaze the little girl levelled at her made the woman remember who she used to be. She smiled bitterly. People used to laugh at those words of hers.

But that was fine. Her words were true. Everyone was equal. If you worked hard, you could definitely accomplish something. If she did not believe in that, she would not be able to save anyone at all.

She patted the girl on the head and softly spoke words incongruous to her appearance.

“Start to work hard from now and don’t give up. This tool is your first step. Try to solve it. This is different from life. If you grasp the methods behind it, you’ll definitely manage to solve it. This was made for beginners, after all. If you master this kind of tasks, your life will become brighter, too.”

“Wow, are you giving this to me? Thank you!”

She was already a junior high student, but she wore a smile as bright as an elementary student. The little girl mumbled bluntly.

“Then I’ll work hard. If I work hard… will I become a magician like you?”

“…”

The woman patted the girl’s head, then took off her mask and revealed her face. This despicable woman, the only one who called herself ‘magician’ in this country, usually terrified others when she took off her mask. Her face was burnt and looked horrid. She has had some surgery to patch it up, and it was somewhat better than before.

“Woah…”

For some reason, the woman became a bit clumsy as she faced the little girl, even though she was already 29 years old. She looked at the little girl’s feet and showed a silly smile. She mumbled:

“Mmm, do your best.”

Then the woman left the girl alone and thought about solutions on her own. This was not how she used to do things, and she used to dislike children too.

“Cell phone… you should have one, right? No one would call anyways. It’s quite dangerous for you to run around alone like this – this isn’t a fairy tale where a magician will always appear to help you when you are in need. That’s not possible.”

“Ahh… cell phone? I couldn’t get a signal from here! I forgot about it!”

When the little girl opened her eyes wide and dug out her phone, the rumbustious noise of the people who came to watch the street performers also disappeared. Mmm, not exactly disappeared, but there were less people than before. The clothes of the people walking past her was also different to how they were a moment ago.

The little girl tried her best to look upwards. She jumped and looked all around her in surprise.

“Huh. She disappeared… Woah. It’s so awesome. She really was a magician!”

No, that woman was just a single 29-years-old. She was just a boring woman who messed up in the middle of a travelling show and left the company to find a job on her own.

Mmm, sometimes she will dress up for her profession.

If she didn’t perform, every day of her life would truly become extremely boring.

She came to Japan because of a naïve wish that she might be able to change something.

The little girl thought she was very awesome, but she was just a magician with no stable income. She became very famous a few years ago due to her magic, but she had a fight with her colleague. The other woman poured acid on her face. Her face got disfigured and bad luck stuck with her ever since.

She wandered the world as if she were escaping something. She finally came to this country, which everyone praised as an utopia. It was safe, the food was delicious, and it did seem like Paradise. However – it was still humans who inhabited this land.

She hated humans. She wanted to vomit whenever she thought about it. She just wanted to die whenever she remembered she belonged to the same race as these disgusting creatures.

Despicable humans.

A despicable world.

A despicable daily life.

“What is this… this suck.”

She walked out of the shopping street and got to the corner of a quieter residential block. She sat down on the edge of a flowerbed and started to smoke. She put the mask aside and allowed the wind to caress her face. It felt great.

A world-famous genius magician was now a laborer who performed on the streets every day, and even then, she was barely managing to feed herself. She could recall her previous praises and glory, but it only made her feel even sadder.

A full house theater, bright stage lights, solemn background music, the never-ending applause – ahh, all of that were long-gone memories. Magicians fell because of those idiots who wanted to explore their skills and reduce them to ‘tricksters’. Magic and miracles were all impossible dreams. It was all wrong – that was the entire truth.

It was pitiful.

Pitiful, and yet there was nothing she could do about it.

She could barely remember why she became a magician and what she was seeking out of this profession. If it was just about earning money, there were plenty of other professions. But why did some people choose to become street performers, who sought to perfect their performing skills and devoted their entire lives for the stage?

Perhaps it was to show those expressionless kids something. That girl who looked nothing like a junior high student and the kids who were never happy just like how she was – these children should see the possibility of dreams, of hope, of magic. Even if she could only show them a sliver of those things – it was all for them.

But why…

Why… couldn’t she even achieve such a small wish in this world?

“What’s the point of all this…”

She repeated those helpless words over and over unconsciously. Suddenly -

“– Are you Moon Rainbow, the magician?”

– There was a sound.

The woman didn’t move from her seat. She lifted her head and exhaled purple smoke as she assessed the scene before her. An ominous, almost demonic girl stood under the bright midday sun.

She had golden hair and dark red eyes, and wore a thick frock under a sharp hat. She held a spear that sparkled with a golden light, but it somehow felt repulsive. The spear didn’t fit her at all.

“… Huh? What? Who are you?”

The unfortunate magician named Moon Rainbow opened her mouth incredulously and tapped her cigarette ashes onto the ground. At this moment, an extraordinary and indescribable silence filled this place.

The strange girl had appeared so silently as if she seeped into this place. She then spoke in a low, expressionless voice, as if she was an insect.

“My name is Broken Hair, the Ravaged Queen of Insects.”

“Huh? You are in the same trade as me? I don’t remember seeing you before…”

This unique appearance and way of speaking made her think the other woman was a performing artist too. Moon put on a look of spite as if she was a tourist, as if she was ready to dump the magic show and run away, as if someone was chasing her down to take her back.

But the other only shook her head slowly and refuted her question.

“It is incorrect to say we are in the same trade. I am God Mushi Emperor, and you are The Weakest… our tasks and responsibilities are different. We are both Greater Fragments that exist to uphold this world. On that point, perhaps we are indeed of the same trade – suffice to say we are existences that share the same origin?”

“… I don’t quite understand what you are saying.”

The girl calling herself Broken Hair expressionlessly blew away the cigarette smoke heading towards her face. Moon frowned.

“What is it? Are you a preacher? A salesperson? Sorry, I haven’t got any money. That’s why I’m sitting here.”

“…”

Broken Hair completely ignored Moon’s answer. Instead, she gazed directly at Moon’s face.

That pair of dark red eyes felt inorganic and inhumane.

“I have something to entrust to you.”

“…?”

Moon snuffed out her cigarette on the flowerbed and put on a surprised expression.

“Huh? Whatever… If you want to give me a job, go to my agent. But hmm, if I ignore my job, I might get fired by the agency.”

“Ahaha, then there is ample reason.”

Broken Hair’s reply made Moon upset, but the strange girl started to laugh. Then, she slowly took out bundles of money from under her clothes and dumped them into Moon’s lap.

“…”

There were bundles of money. Every bill was ten thousand Yen. Upon first inspection, every bundle seemed genuine. But it didn’t look like it was withdrawn from a bank. It felt like a stockpile taken from a stash and felt very bizarre. For Moon, this seemed ten times – no, a million times too easy. She was covered with money from her neck to her knees.

“If you don’t have a job, that fits my purposes. I… am hiring you.”

“This is really strange, right? Is this legal?”

Moon felt rather scared when she touched the bills. Broken Hair only looked at her silently form the side. This girl had prepared so much cash in this town and entrusted it to a person she barely knew – it made no sense. Even Moon would instinctively avoid this kind of a dangerous situation. There was something wrong with this affair. There was something wrong with this person. Moon couldn’t help but feel that.

“What’s wrong? There is no need to be so afraid.”

Broken Hair took out more bundles of money from underneath her clothes and placed it on Moon expressionlessly. Then, she said evenly:

“Didn’t you repeat many times that everything was boring? Then, if I overlay these things… These are some fun things I have created. Take it. Enjoy it. Or give it to your friends. You dislike this world, no? You looked extremely bored… then, why don’t you overturn everything? We will change the world using our own hands. The Weakest, of the Devil – I need your power.”

Um.

It was so weird. It just sounded like some complaints she couldn’t understand.

But somehow this made Moon happy and feel like she had a purpose. Completely destroy this boring everyday life – what a tempting thought. But this wasn’t enough. Of course she liked things that would bring her pleasure, but this was not enough. The words spoken by this girl calling herself Broken Hair seemed to have included more fun things. Moon just need to press softly on it, and mix something fun into it –

“This money is just the pre-payment. It has no value to me – if you like it, take it. Of course, since this was a pre-payment, there will certainly a full, official payment later. That would be the reward given after you succeed… it will be paid to you if you complete the job perfectly.”

“… Reward after my success?”

Moon was silently listening to the other talk up until now, and she intended to remain silent. However, this dreamy talk spoken by the strange girl made Moon open her mouth to respond. This would give her a job. She couldn’t waste her days loitering around like this. This was such a boring life – but even so, Moon didn’t hate it enough to discard everything.

However …

“Upon the completion of our goal…”

Broken Hair said these shocking words matter-of-factly:

“I will give you one half of the world.”

This was the talk of a mad woman. These words suddenly became very despicable, absolutely meaningless, and completely pointless.

“… Haha.”

But Moon found it very funny for some reason. Even she was surprised with how she nodded without hesitation.

“– This seems fun?”

It was the villain who destroyed the world. One of the Greater Fragment that acted as the enemy of the world in the conspiracy of the Last Battle had surfaced, together with her hateful smile.

She emitted a giggling laugh. An unbearable laugh that echoed in the emptiness –

Just like that, the Devil and the Beast of the End linked their hands together at a corner of the re-constructed world.

Ragnarok 05: Production-oriented Loner

She was born amidst an ocean of blood. In an endless, desolate plain.

A shadow suddenly twitched in a battlefield littered with corpses.

“Eternal Cycle… Initiation, normal.”

The girl wore a sharp, clown-like hat. She wore a frock similar to a Christian priest. Her hair was golden like the sunlight, and her eyes were those of a Mushi. As for her name – she didn’t have a name yet.

“The sixth reboot, start.”

Her body had become a void.

Her heart gradually became empty.

She couldn’t analyze her memories, personality, or individuality. She was alone.

“Why?”

She felt a wetness was silently dripping down her cheeks. The nameless girl shook her head.

“Is this… crying?”

She was the ravished Queen of Insects.

The memories of this sixth life would immediately disappear and decay, as if they were foams upon the ocean waves.

She was born on a street of death.

Nameless corpses were being continuously thrown on the ground.

Did they die because of disease or hunger? Why were people getting killed? She could not understand any of it.

“Eternal Cycle… Initiation, normal.”

The girl wore a sharp, clown-like hat. She wore a frock similar to a Christian priest. Her hair was golden like the sunlight, and her eyes were those of a Mushi. As for her name – she didn’t have a name yet.

“The seventeenth reboot, start.”

She began at a silent, empty place, and started to march forward without a destination.

The ‘selves’ that she had lived as had all pitifully died, like the bones scattered upon this path.

But why did she not die?

Why would she return to life even after she had died?

Why was it her fate to bear this tale of continuous re-initiation, this endless anguish of hell?

She began to think about her life.

She started to think about her duty and her personality traits.

This accidental thought was recorded in the depths of her soul as a very very precious treasure.

She was born in a country of hatred.

Everyone had red, bloodshot eyes.

People were being reduced to animals amongst poverty, warfare, and all the other problems they had no power over.

“Eternal Cycle. Ini… tiation, normal.”

People crowded together as they ran, pushing and shoving the other frenzied bodies around them. Powerless, she was shoved around in the crowd. These people paid no attention to her. They swore profanely as they kept running, as if they were a pack of buffaloes driven to madness with rage.

This was a country where a revolution or some other movement was happening. She had no idea whether it was the Jacobin Club or another political party that held power. She only felt the abnormal heat and the stench of blood filling the air around her. For someone who hadn’t fully grasped the idea of emotions, it was particularly terrifying.

“The forty-second reboot, start.”

Lying face-up in the mud, she muttered out of pure instinct.

“Are you alright?”

There was a soft and very gentle sound.

She had kept reincarnating, and therefore had hardly spoken to anyone. She was confused and looked at that person with reservation.

It was a man. He was startlingly tall and had shoulder length black hair. He was dressed as a priest, but he had the eyes of wolves.

“Seriously. What a great commotion. They even pushed a fellow member of the clergy into the mud. A country like this won’t last. You too. Are you just going to allow others to push you over, step on you, or even kill you? Come on… hurry up and escape before these rioters notice us. These agitated people were fighting everyone else. If they found us, they’ll definitely beat us into an unrecognizable pulp.”

He took her hand and quickly leapt forward as he said those terrifying words. Perhaps he had mistaken the girl as a member of a religious order due to her dress – then, was he a priest himself? He was very friendly and easy-going. Comparing to the others, he seemed completely out of this world.

The man in front of her had the eyes of wolves. Though he had seen his share of the world, he still appeared unspoiled by it.

“… who are you?”

She had no interest in the man, but she uttered this question at him.

Who was this person?

What was he?

“I’m your friend.”

He laughed softly as he replied, as if she was a little fool.

“I am the devil, little lady who calls herself the Beast of the End.”

He called himself Zekiguchi Nashinori.

It was originally a name he borrowed from someone living in a distant, Oriental country. It seemed even he himself had forgotten his own name. As a long-lived immortal, he had wandered all over the world. The nameless girl embarked on a journey with him, a journey that was no longer lonely.

He taught her many things.

He taught her knowledge of places all over the world. He taught her the daily lives of people living there and their various traditions and cultures.

She was as pure as the air itself. Up until now, she had seen nothing, heard of nothing, and recorded nothing. She was feeling the world that Zekiguchi Nashinori narrated to her directly.

She was born amidst an ocean of blood.

She was born on a street of death.

She was born in a country of hatred.

Her life had repeated dozens of times like this. However, what had she experienced? Was she wandering aimlessly like a simple wraith? Somehow, that felt rather lonely.

She decided to continue to study.

Her goal was to accumulate memories.

She will continue to seek all knowledge and pass them on to others.

That must be her ‘duty’.

Zekiguchi Nashinori had taught her many things concerning the Greater Fragments. She was called God Mushi Emperor, and her original ‘duty’was the Beast of the End.

The manifestation of the End that will one day destroy the world.

However, to spend the maddening, endless life that repeated itself over and over before the End arrived, she volunteered to assist the other Greater Fragments. She regarded collecting and providing intel as her duty. If this made her useful, then she was needed by others. To be needed by others was an incomparable joy to her.

She perfected a specific ability to better gather intel and cope with her eternal cycle. She split her body into 666 parts using endless manipulation and scattered them all over the world.

These split selves collected experiences on their own, creating bodies and personalities and forms completely different from herself. She mastered a wonderous skill. She could copy someone else’s body by consuming their brain. No matter who her split selves attacked, they were able to take on the victim’s form and keep living as that person.

Rather than copies, it was more appropriate to say all her split selves became a part of her ultimate self. Though she would eventually become the only one left, her separated selves would eventually become existences completely different to her and meet her again. She felt happy even just thinking about that. They would chat with her endlessly. They would talk all night until the sky turned bright. Then, she would surely live happily ever after.

She would become the source of all separations, the Queen of Insects.

She became the root and originator of all her ‘children’, her Mushi, the progenitor Queen of Insects.

The nameless girl might have felt a bit lonely.

She wanted someone to remember her, even if they were her own copies. Even if her existence was as invisible as the air, she wanted to have at least a tiny bit of purpose. She wanted to meet someone, to have someone call her name, to have someone prove that she indeed existed. That was the only thing she wanted. That was all because she was lonely.

She couldn’t forget.

She always remembered…

Someone. Someone.

She existed here. She was living here -

The name ‘Broken Hair’ was given to her by the man with wolf-like eyes.

Zekiguchi had suddenly disappeared at the end of the journey. However, that name – and his reasons behind giving her that name – were left within her memories.

Things unknown to her were gradually growing.

Things unknown to her were gradually moving.

Things unknown to her were gradually crumbling.

That was who she was as Broken Hair.

…

Someone annoying was here. Nagumo Ame couldn’t help but frown.

She spent entire days during the university holidays playing with friends from high school till they separated after lunch. The other girls would go to part-time jobs or do other things. Ame-chan didn’t have any of these in her schedule, so she suddenly became very bored.

That was when Ame-chan usually went to the café she liked.

Ame-chan was not very good at dealing with other people. When she was in high school, there was a café on the road to school that she visited almost every day. When she felt weaker and weaker as she walked on the road to school, she might go past that shop. After school, when she felt exhausted but didn’t want to go home, she would also push open the door of that shop. Even during an off day, she would go there for no reason… the decor in the shop was not very fashionable, but Ame-wan was a regular among regulars there.

The owner of the shop was named Minazuki Natsuko, a woman that had an incredible aura around her. Even Ame-chan, who was not very good with other people, could easily talk with her. She had never said anything that might be distasteful, and always listened to Ame-chan’s awkward conversations with a smile on her face. That was the kind of person she was. Ame-chan liked Natsuko even though there was a large age gap between them and they were not similar people. However, if it weren’t for Natsuko, Ame-chan would definitely have become depressed due to some setbacks she encountered somewhere along her life.

Even though she was a university student now, Ame-chan still had the same personality as before. Normal people might be close to their childhood friends, but Ame-chan had been visiting this café without a break. This was the place that made her more secure than anywhere else on earth.

But even so, there were exceptions to this security.

“Ah, isn’t this Ame-chan?”

Sitting at the bar opposite Natsuko in the dimly lit café called Indian Bar was a girl talking casually at Ame.

She had incredibly dark long hair. Her eyes sparkled with intelligence and her eyebrows were on the thick side.

“We meet all the time, but we don’t seem to be good friends. I’m just a bit lonely.”

“… Why are you here?”

Ame-chan mumbled. She stomped without meaning to and walked up to the girl to sit next to her. The shop’s owner, Minazuki Natsuko, was talking softly, but she nodded and greeted Ame with the same voice as always.

“Welcome.”

She then quickly poured a latte, while Ame-chan looked sideways at the person next to her as if they were nemesis over a few lifetimes.

Her name was Katou Katsumi, Ame-chan’s classmate in high school. She was also a regular customer of Indian Bar and they met all the time. However, she was never as repulsed by interacting with other people as Ame-chan was, and she never treated this place as a place to escape human relationships. She only felt it was easier to calm down in this shop, and she came regularly because she liked the décor and atmosphere here. She had never paid particular attention to Ame-chan’s existence and only looked at her a few times because they were of similar ages.

“Why… would you come here?”

Katsumi pointed at the concentrated coffee in her hands and retained a soft smile on her face.

“I should ask you that question. It’s a weekend, but you’ve been here since morning. Are you having lots of free time on your hands?”

“I don’t want you to le-le-lecture me! You are the one who seems to be coming here all the time these days.”

Ame waved her hand and began to play with her hair with annoyance. This person seemed to come here even more frequently than me. Was she this kind of a person? Ame-chan snorted. She didn’t like Katsumi at all. Even so, the café wasn’t the only place they could meet. They might have become acquaintances over time and start to talk normally. However, it still feels annoying.

Katsumi gazed at her with a happy smile.

“Why is Ame-chan so aloof? I’m a bit lonely too, and I rather like Ame-chan. I want to be friends with you.”

“Huh? You’ve gotta be joking. I don’t want that.”

“But I feel we shouldn’t be upset when we meet in a café. Why don’t we form a group of three with Natsuko at the center? I want to meet at a place better than this café…”

Ame-chan thought “you shouldn’t get rid of the ‘san’ honorific when addressing Natsuko-san”! Her coffee was gradually going cold. Is this supposed to be fun? Katsumi started to laugh. She’s so annoying. I really want to kill her.

Ame-chan looked sideways at Katsumi with a challenging gaze, then smiled for the first time today.

“Then… what? Should we do that again? I won’t lose.”

“Mmm, I’ll accept it. If I get defeated again… well, I’m getting used to it, so I won’t lose to Ame-chan… probably. In that case, the person who ate the most of that thing would be the winner.”

This conversation was hard to understand. In this quiet atmosphere, Katsumi gave a declaration of war.

“If I win, then you need to be my friend, Ame-chan.”

“Hmph.”

Natsuko smiled as she listened to the conversation from the side. Ame-chan and Katsumi then simultaneously called out:

“A chocolate sundae please!”

…

Mmm, their stupid but endearing battle had nothing to do with the main plot of this story.

No matter who won there, the world would not change.

The root of all the problems here wasn’t the minor competition taking place between the two girls sitting at the bar – it was between the inhuman beings sitting in a private room and planning out how to destroy the world.

“Woah… it’s so sweet, so sweet. I had gathered so much experience and my tongue should have tasted countless substances – but I want to say this is the first time I had tasted something so thick and sweet. It’s so, so, sooooo disgusting… Ahhh, I can’t take this anymore… Urk, I’m done. I’m done.”

“… the Beast of the End shouldn’t lose to chocolate sundae.”

“Hehe! Hehehe! So useless! And you call yourself the companion of the Demonic God of Greed?”

What a strange group of three.

No. even though there were three voices, there were only two people sitting here. The two of them were continuously devouring the famous dessert of this café, the extra-large chocolate sundae. No one could tell if it was delicious or disgusting. One of the two was a girl who wore a sharp hat and a frock and kept writhing in her seat. Another was a woman with a mask who wore purple all over and seemed a bit unresponsive. The last voice came from the golden spear leaning next to the first girl. Fortunately, only the shop owner noted these two competitive people, and she did not respond to this small ruckus.

The girl’s lips were already painted brown from the chocolate. She clutched her spoon tightly and glared at the spear next to her with a terrifying gaze. There were almost no emotions in her eyes, but it was definitely a gaze full of hatred.

“… I don’t want to be compared with someone who can eat fire, lightning, or even buildings. I am probably physically the weakest out of the Greater Fragments. Also, since I lack life experience, I even lost the sense of taste. I am only a weak and slender little girl. I really can’t bear this freezing chocolate sundae anymore.”

“Even those two mortal girls over there are eating the sundae in large spoonful…”

The magician Moon Rainbow, dressed all in purple, mumbled. She put her mask on the table and drank a mouthful of coffee and held it in her mouth. She looked very out of it.

“What’s the problem here? If that spear always whined like that, it’d definitely be considered abnormal. Does it have any special abilities? Or is it the medium and tool to channel the power of God Mushi Emperor?”

The Greater Fragments usually used tools to regulate how fast they spent the power of their Fragments. Like the water taps on piping, they used these tools to freely manage and halt their powers. There were a few Greater Fragments like this. Saibara Mina, Sterlization Disinfection, had spray cans. Saibara Mitsuki, Unpleasant Counter-Current, had gloves. Nikuyama Kajiri, Single Room, had a crucifix-shaped dagger. Sakaki Joker, Tearsong, had bells at the ends of her hair. Those all conducted such functions.

“No…”

The girl instantly creased here face together. She gulped down some water to slightly diluted the sweetness in her mouth. Then, Broken Hair, the girl wearing the pointy hat, said evenly:

“Like you, my power is also practically overflowing. There was no need for a specific tool to restrain myself. Compared to the others, my abilities consume very little of my Fragment’s power… you are the same, no?”

“It could be said my abilities do not consume the power of the Fragment at all.”

Japanese coffee seemed to be rather delicious. Moon held it in her mouth and didn’t want to swallow, and she answered with a mumble.

“The Weakest’s powers are modification and alteration of the flesh. Apart from changing my own body, I can also change other people’s body. I change a body using the Fragment or soul residing within it as the medium, affecting the body from the inside… do you understand? As the power of the Fragment is constrained within the body, this action barely consume my own Fragment at all.”

The abilities of the Fragments don’t act like electronics, where they need to consume a certain amount of energy to conduct the required function. It was something much vaguer. Even so, there were some rules surrounding it.

“Of course, when I am changing my own or my opponent’s body, some power will certainly be consumed. However, compared with the huge amount of power that Disinfection Sterilization or Tearsong can let out in one burst, it is almost nothing.”

“I see. That would be overlap… however, we mustn’t let our guard down. The Fragments are our lifelines. There are far fewer of us compared to our enemies, therefore we must reduce energy consumption as much as we can.”

Broken Hair, who was almost crying from the sweetness, finally calmed down after pouring the coffee in her cup down her throat. Moon started to think about unrelated stuff, like how this shop must have prepared a lot of drinks if eating the chocolate sundae required drinking so much liquid.

She took out a packet of cigarettes from her pocket and pulled the ash tray on the table closer to her.

“The topic went off tangent quite a bit. So, what exactly is the purpose of that spear? If it’s not a tool to channel your ability –”

“Mmm…”

As if she really liked the bitter taste, Broken Hair sipped her coffee indulgently and tilted her head.

“I am not quite sure on that, either.”

Moon’s shoulders sagged. She was genuinely surprised and mumbled:

“… You don’t know what it is, and yet you are strolling around with it?”

“I don’t understand what you mean. This thing is like a monster. It is also very intelligent and won’t disappear into the air like other monsters…”

Broken Hair narrowed her eyes and said in a low voice that was only half joking.

“Mmm. It is rather easy to use it as a tool. That’s why I’ve brought it with me all this time.”

“That makes me sound very pitiful…”

“Men are just tools! Address me as queen! I am the Queen of Mushi!”

“So annoying… right, I don’t know your role yet…”

Moon smoked non-stop as she assessed the spear that was emitting an animalistic stench. No matter how she looked at it, she felt spite and unease swell up within her. It was a bizarre spear that made her chest tighten up just from looking at it.

“Gaga?”

The spear also realized someone was looking at it. It reacted quickly and yelled loudly:

“Gaga! Gagaga! What? What, The Weakest!? What do you want from me? You want to know things about me? Gaga! Gagaga! It’s better if you don’t know! Everyone who gets involved with me will have bad luck, especially you Greater Fragments!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but you… you seem to understand this Fragment business a lot?”

When they were discussing things in the café before, Broken Hair had mostly been the one to speak while occasionally asking for the spear’s opinion. The spear didn’t seem to be familiar with Broken Hair and couldn’t grasp the situation very accurately. However, he knew many important facts about this world. There didn’t seem to be anything he didn’t know… therefore Broken Hair often acted according to his advice. That was how their relationship looked like.

What did this spear know?

Why was Broken Hair listening to him?

“The name of this spear is the demon god of greed, Fenrir.”

Just as Moon started to speculate, Broken Hair interrupted her and started to explain:

“This is a spear that cannot physically move on its own… however, for some reason, anyone who touches this thing’s blade edge will have their existence carved out.”

“Carved out?”

Moon thought over these words and couldn’t understand it. However, Broken Hair didn’t seem to want to continue explaining. She casually diverted the topic.

“Mmm, I feel this spear has a great significance in our plan. That was why I already brought him with me. It’s not a weapon that just enhances my ability to fight. Besides, it knows about the previous world.”

“Previous world?”

This was such a bizarre term. Previous world, destiny, God… all these made no sense. Moon gradually felt like she didn’t want to listen anymore, but Broken Hair was very serious.

“The world was once destroyed.”

It was hard to believe this was the same person as the one going mad from the chocolate sundae just a few minutes ago. Her very solemn expression was fitting as one of the seven Greater Fragments.

“It was originally my responsibility to completely destroy the world. I am the lifespan of the entire world, because I am the Beast of the End. However, God committed suicide by ingesting poison. God didn’t wait for me to perform my role and decided to destroy the world Herself – I will not allow that to happen.”

This was the first time that Broken Hair clearly showed her emotions.

There was no spite, not even hatred, but seemingly only simple unwillingness…

“I endured my life day after day because it was the duty that I am destined to bear. I kept reincarnating, kept reincarnating kept reincarnating kept reincarnating in this maddening eternity! And yet, God forgot all the pains I had to suffer through and destroyed the world on Her own as a whim! I will never allow a God like that to exit! If the poison killed Her, then for what purpose had I existed for so long?! For what purpose…”

Broken Hair cursed in a low voice as flames burned in her dark red eyes.

She looked like a beast.

“I don’t need such a weak, stupid, pitiful God! I don’t need a God who completely forgot about me and ravaged my existence! Instead of bearing that pain and destroying a similar world in a distant future… I’ll rather completely deny this God right here!”

Broken Hair stood up in her excitement. Unable to control herself, her cape flattered in her rage. She grasped the spear tightly. The Beast of the End began to roar.

“God! You despised your own existence and looked down upon all the lives in this world when you ingested your poison! You have sinned gravely! You have no more right to be God! I… I will judge you! And I will complete the duty of God Mushi Emperor, and destroy this world!”

Her eyebrows furrowed sternly… then she put her hand into her robe and felt around anxiously.

“Hmm? Contact from my split bodies… Hi. Yes. I’m doing well… Yes, hello?”

“A cellphone?!”

Yes, a cellphone. The six hundred and sixty-six people that the Greater Fragment God Mushi Emperor had separated into were all Broken Hair’s split bodies. They had no power of telepathy between them, so it made sense for them to communicate in this way. However, Moon was still not impressed and felt it was tasteless for a Greater Fragment to communicate with cellphones.

After chatting for a bit, Broken Hair put her phone back into her pockets and said while looking at Moon:

“I’m sorry, there is no time to gradually explain… We need to assault the World Institute and forcibly take God before our enemies finished collecting their forces. We will need to rely on your power… The Weakest, the Devil, kill all my enemies before me! There is no need for consideration or hesitation. This is our duty! God, if you wish to stop the Devil and the Beast of the End, then come and try stopping us!”

Broken Hair turned around with a flourish, then reached into her coat. Then, a look of confusion surfaced on her face. After a brief silence, she looked at Moon with an expression close to crying.

“Um… Err, I’m very sorry. I just gave you my entire fortune – I don’t have any more money. Could you please pay for the drinks I ordered? Um … I’m so sorry about this.”

“…”

Is she going to be okay?

Ragnarok 06: Final God Mode: 3000 Worlds

… Those who had investigated or researched on myths might agree with this query… Don’t we have a significant lack of explanations regarding ‘The End’ in mythologies?

The End. The End of the World. It was often the final chapter in mythologies, recounting vague and unclear events. Amongst the countless myths in this world, perhaps not a single chapter of the End precisely explained that final moment.

For example, the Bible described that God gave the Last Judgment to Humanity after the Earth and mankind speedily faced annihilation and slaughter. At the end, the kind amongst the dead went to Heaven, and the evil men were exiled to Hell. However, there were no records regarding these ‘everafter worlds’ such as Heaven and Hell. We remain unaware of what kind of world the dead would be entering, and what kind of lives they would be leading.

Moreover, the famous mythology that described the end – the” Ragnarök” in Norse mythologies – described an extremely vicious battle that took place between gods. At its conclusion, all of humanity became embroiled in the flames of war and was totally annihilated, and the earth was flooded and destroyed. After that, the world silently prepared for the birth of a peaceful, brand-new world. However, just as we expected, there were no records of that ‘brand-new world’.

Either way, the world would apparently generate a new world after the end of humanity. However, that ‘new world’ would only exist in our imagination while we were still alive. Similar to the world after death, it was something nebulous. Its real form was something we could never ascertain and can only glimpse from conjecture.

Based on the unified existence between God and I, the end of a mythological cycle would be when I die. After that – I can’t claim anything with certainty regarding the worlds after death, those Heavens or Hells. No matter what, a living person could not have seen Heaven and Hell. No human living in this world would have been to the Land of Dead. We cannot change that…

Mmm, this seems like a pointless venture. I am about to give up on this line of thought. However, I’m trying to change the way I’m thinking.

Numerous myths had shown ‘An End of the World when the story was not finished’ and tried to focus on such events. This kind of story is dominated by stories of the world temporarily ‘ending’ early in the myth cycle, exemplified by the story of the Flood of Noah, which I had named ‘God becoming Lost’. In Greek myths, we even have records of the world being destroyed three or four times for unknown reasons. God had been lost for a long time.

An End of the World in that manner was more of a ‘Destruction of the World’ rather than the End. We are only using that destroyed world as a learning experience, and a new world would soon start to operate again. It is comparable to hitting the Reset key in a role-playing game. But a true ‘End of the World’ would mean all the records in the role-playing game were completely wiped clean. In those situations, there would be no further developments, and all would end.

However… this is merely my speculation, but if a game’s records were completely wiped, then were would be no possibility of having a sequel. A sequel that we could not see would be the world after the End of the World in myth cycles. It may be Heaven, or Hell, or a new world that we could not imagine.

It is fun imagining ‘Bible 2’ or ‘Norse Saga 2’. For a myth cycle, their absolute ‘End’ might be no different to the instances of ‘God becoming Lost’ – it might merely be one among the thousands of brief destructions. After this ‘End’, a brand new myth would start once again till the end of time – while it is fun to think about this, a part of my brain also feels weird. However, no matter what, I want to see the myth after the end of myths.

It is as ludicrous as wanting to see Heaven while still alive, but…

… Urk. This is basically a record of my thoughts rather than a proper argument. I was seriously spending every moment of my days researching and presenting this argument, but who is going to take this seriously? This isn’t the kind of research I did in my free time as an elementary student anymore. I have no motivation… well, I’ll wrap up here. I’ll try to keep thinking until I come to a conclusion.

That moment when the unified existence of God and I meet its end… Death is the End. Life will probably be as boring as this till I die. I’ll have to write boring essays like this one to waste time…

“The Unified Structure Between God and Me” by Akutagawa Shirayuki, Class 1-D in Municipal Kanayagi High School

If the Destruction of the World is a myth or a story, then I am definitely not its protagonist.

A protagonist represents justice in their story. The story existed around them and because of them, even if the story itself was full of plot holes – however, in this story, there were no protagonists.

The focus of the story kept changing around. Depending on time and occasion, Our enemies from yesterday might become our friends tomorrow. Even good and evil changed all the time, twisting and turning for all sorts of reasons. It was all chaos, and we had no idea why.

Fundamentally, the protagonist was Rinne… God was the center of this world.

All the characters who showed up were Rinne’s fragments. As the protagonist in this myth about the end of the world, she simplified everything due to the sole reason of delaying the poison’s effects. This world was nothing but the story of a war between God and the Poison.

And I was the Poison.

I was the only exception in this world. I defied the will of God. I was the Poisoned Apple who became a monster.

I had the role of the antagonist. Perhaps I was the manifestation of the poison that was going to kill God in the real world.

But that person –

Rinne had never hated me.

Now that I think about it, I felt she was a weirdo when I first met her.

She was God, but she didn’t realize it at all. She was only stumbling along and trying to escape, but she put up a façade of strength.

I… was confused about everything regarding Rinne.

What was wrong with her? What a weirdo. That was what I thought.

Initially, I had no expectations about her.

For me to behave like a normal person, to have friends and a family, to live peacefully with others – I had laughed as such possibilities back then.

But Rinne called me a friend, even family.

She had hugged me tightly.

“Could I call Guriko my ‘most important person’?”

“Even God and the Monster became such good friends! It’s a miracle that you won’t find in any myth!”

Even if everything else in this world were lies, dreams, or illusions.

The warmth that Rinne gave me must have been real. I started to change because of Rinne. That slightly annoying God had completely taken the role of the Poisoned Apple away from me and turned me into an ordinary girl. I am… no longer powerful, no longer immortal, and I no longer had power to protect her. Perhaps I am only a weak normal human now – but I definitely still want to do something more for Rinne.

For this sole miracle in this world.

The miracle that you won’t find in any myth, where she and I became close friends.

Let’s prove this to them all, Rinne.

Rinne and I became very close. Rinne was the most important person for me, and I want to keep this going for as long as I could. I want to keep this small miracle going and try my best to prevent the world from sinking into another destruction. Just this time, I want to keep this world the same as before.

I want to hurry and end everything, to destroy all the enemies and plots.

I want to show this peaceful world to Rinne.

I also have so much to tell Rinne. Things about my family, my friends, my recent hobbies, my grades at cram school. I want to tell all those boring and mundane things to Rinne.

I will fight once again to achieve that.

Even though I no longer had a spoon in my hand, Gankyū Eguriko – no, now I’m called Itsuwara Kuriko – was heading out to fight now.

I explained the situation to PoisonCatastrophe, Breaksun Hanselmine and Single Room, Nikuyama Kajiri. I quickly got them to promise me their aid and arranged to return the World Institute with them. While on the road, I… I was utterly exhausted, almost ready to faint. I really felt just how powerless I was.

My body was full of a despicable feeling that made me want to vomit.

That feeling corroded my body and completely defeated me. It was painful and bitter at the same time. I was displaying a despicable state to these people where I was in so much pain, I couldn’t even make a sound.

I was kneeling on the ground, and my face was probably a shade of deadly paleness. I can’t even stand up.

Screw fighting again!

Screw destroying all enemies and plots!

I’m already, already –

“… Uwaahhhhh…”

I’m already extremely carsick.

I put my hands on the ground to hold myself up, and forced down the horrible feeling swelling up from my throat. My body started to shake violently, as if it was feeling a strong chill or had a massive urge to vomit.

I had completely collapsed without even fighting anything, and I was making people worry. Breaksun, our leader, looked at me with a careless expression and tilted her head.

“Huh?”

“What do you mean ‘huh’? Idiot, idiot Breako! Kuriko is no longer an immortal like us. She can’t handle your crazy driving… seriously, even I’m feeling a bit sick.”

Kajiri said as he wobbled, as if he was dizzy. He tightly gripped Breaksun’s long green hair.

I just want to mention that Kajiri wasn’t wearing the apron anymore and had put on a set of simple modern clothes. Of course, Breaksun also removed her frog onesie pajamas and put on a set of performing clothes with clashing colours. She even still carried a guitar on her back for some reason.

Also, in order to go to Poison Valley, I didn’t use the car that the Sakaki Organization prepared for me. To save some time, I trusted Breaksun with drive us back when she confidently asked me to rely on her. But… this is so nasty. I don’t have a single word to describe her driving skills except ‘nasty’.

The car was bouncing up and down as if it was alive. It roared like a beast and flew like a bird, essentially ignoring the traffic lights and the opposing traffic. It was really a miracle that such crazy driving didn’t get her into any accidents. Perhaps it was a miracle of God due to PoisonCatastrophe’s ability to twist cause and effect. If an ordinary person drove like this to the World Institute, they would have died countless times.

This unbelievable method was how we successfully and speedily returned to the Institute… but my body was at its limit. I was so weak and carsick that I felt all the blood and organs in my body were wobbling, and I was about to vomit them all out. I couldn’t move a single bone in my body. The human body was certainly unable to ride such a bouncy object.

“Urk – “

I must look very pitiful right now with the way I stumbled and my expression. Even Breaksun couldn’t take it anymore and started to apologize to me with embarrassment.

“I’m sorry… Kuriko, are you okay? Now that I think about it, when my siblings rode my car, they spent some time unable to even laugh – is my car really that bad? Should I buy another one? But I really like its design. It’s got an awesome 70s’ style…”

“No no no. The car isn’t the problem. It’s your driving skills, Breako. Seriously, how bad is your driving that even your innocent kid siblings are unable to even laugh? Hey, Kuriko… don’t move.”

Kajiri gave Breaksun an earful, then he took the crucifix he wore around its neck and stabbed the sharp, knife-like end of it towards his own fingers.

Then, droplets of blood seeped out of his broken skin, glistening with a mysterious light as if it reflected the sunlight.

“Mmm, Welcome to My Room.”

Kajiri evenly spread his blood on my forehead and easily deployed his powers of Genesis Immediately, the anguish I was feeling from the carsickness completely disappeared, as if it was a miracle.

The power of Genesis from Single Room.

If this world was a game, then this was the ability that could change its settings, an ability closest to God. Just like he had said before, nothing was impossible if he willed it. God – Rinne – had also used the power of Single Room to remove my ‘function’ of ‘Poisoned Apple’.

“Huh, so you really became an ordinary human.”

Single Room’s other ability, World Analysis… he could interpret the settings of this particular game and use that information. Kajiri placed his finger on my forehead and looked quite interested.

“Your physique is excellent and have an amazing reflex – but you are still within the parameters of a normal human.”

“Don’t just read other people’s stats like that.”

I didn’t feel any better. Now that my powers were reduced, would I be dragging everyone back in future operations? I’ve been worried about that for a long time. I was pained by this thought, and that was why I was speaking to him rather rudely.

Kajiri shrugged, then he asked with a very serious expression:

“So, now what? If you want, I can increase your battle prowess by magnitudes. Even if you want to become an immortal again… mmm, that’s not impossible either. Frankly, out of all of us, even including Sakaki Ganhō, you are the one person whose strength was expected to be the lowest. I’ve been thinking whether it’d be a bad idea to use the power of Single Room to boost your individual power.”

“Ahh, then, can we make her spew fire when she sneezes? Or emit light streams from her eyes? It’s a girl’s dream to have laser beams coming out of her eyes!”

Breaksun lifted her hand and yelled, as if she thought of a good idea. But I still find such ridiculous people to be annoying.

No matter what, I shook my head and refused Kajiri’s suggestion.

“No… I, I’m fine as it is. If we get into a bad situation, I’m okay with being messed up by the enemy – just treat me as an ordinary human now.”

It sounded a bit wistful, but Rinne gave me this body. This was a body that Rinne had set up to live as a normal human. If I go back to being inhuman again… I don’t think I like that.

“Right, doesn’t your ability require you to spend blood? You’ll get weak when you use your power. Since that’s your weakness, please don’t use your blood on me. You are the omnipotent final weapon. You gotta carefully consider where you want to use your ability.”

“… It’s okay as long as Kuriko feels it’s fine.”

Kajiri waved his hand dismissively and licked his finger to stop the bleeding. This dude was like a puppy. In a way of speaking, he had got a strong self-sacrificing thing going on. Maybe that was why Breaksun adored him so much.

“Then –”

Originally, I had no idea what was going on because of carsickness. However, this wasn’t the problem anymore.

The three of us stayed next to Breaksun’s antique car and stood at the entrance of the grey industrial area. It was the first time Breaksun and Kajiri had come here. They were not sure where the subterranean World Institute was – both of them were looking at me.

“Then, please take us to Ring-bell.”

Breaksun had known Rinne before. She smiled sweetly, as if she was delighted.

“It really has been so long since we last met. But it was fine. People tend to forget my name if we didn’t catch up often. That’s the kind of person I am… Ring-bell probably already forgot about me too.”

She looked rather sad. Kajiri was a bit concerned, and he cut in abruptly:

“Don’t worry about that! People were always forgetting about you because of your ability to corrupt cause and effect, no? Now you are someone nobody can forget, even if they only met you once! Seriously, your piled up hair looks like vegetable soup! Your clothes are disgusting, and that guitar case was the worst! When did you become a hero in a comic book?”

“If I fell in love with you, you would get scorched! Physically scorched!”

“Physically? That’s scary!”

“… You guys get along so well.”

Looking at these carefree people bickering between them, I couldn’t help but feel jealous. Then I cast my eyes forward. Now was not the time to bicker like this. If we don’t meet up with Rinne and the others soon and decide our way onwards –

I was thinking relaxedly.

I was thinking very relaxedly, and then…

There was the sound of an explosion.

“ –“

I was still too naïve.

Should I say I was a peaceful idiot, or I had too little sense of danger? – I was too slow, too naïve.

Things were moving forward much faster than I had thought. Before I realized it… seriously, before I realized it, those despicable people were already moving forward with their plots.

Indeed.

Just a momentary lapse of judgment would lead to death. Even a tiny failure meant something important to me could be taken away mercilessly.

I had understood this better than anyone in the previous world.

However, I had gotten used to this world full of peace. I had forgotten and ignored these previous lessons – those facts that I took for granted in the destroyed world, facts that I hated but had also experienced firsthand.

“… Kuriko, come here.”

Breaksun still looked relaxed. She waved and called me over. I ran up next to her and really felt how exhausted I was and stood behind here.

Breaksun looked around us in a dazed away. As if she detected something, she frowned and put down her guitar case. Then she took out something out of the case and said in a low voice:

“Kajiri, you protect Kuriko. Single Room is a weak Greater Fragment when it comes to physical combat, and your skills aren’t suited for fighting. But at least you are better at dealing with the situation than Kuriko is right now.”

Could it be that Breaksun, who was not involved in the Final Battle, was the most reliable in this chaos? This was really different from the previous world.

Breaksun posed with the guitar, and had an excited and lively expression as if she was going to start singing here. Then, she said with a calm and low voice:

“Hmm, just leave the fighting to me. Kajiri, you should take it easy. Maybe my defence is actually the highest. You should be relatively safe next to me… Sure, I’m worse than Ultimate ShieldThe Weakest in physical defence. I’m also not as agile as Melodia NoiseTear Song in manipulating space and evasion. Of course, I also don’t have convenience powers like Unpleasant Counter-Current, who can twist the direction of an incoming attack –”

Something was suddenly thrown towards us.

My dynamic wasn’t very good anymore and I couldn’t tell what it was… but I soon realized what it could be. If we were not in a battlefield, then we would not see grenades. If it wasn’t a primitive era, then we would not see rocks.

It was probably something dangerous.

“But PoisonCatastrophe’s twist of cause and effect would ultimately divert everything that could harm us – it’s basically an all-powerful and extremely simple ultimate shield.”

There were countless knives.

Sharp kitchen knives.

Those were the most commonly used knife in Japan, the ones used to chop up vegetable and fish and were mass manufactured in factories. Endless sharp knifes flew towards us like rain. I probably won’t get hurt if these knifes were thrown one after the other. However, when so many of them were heading towards me at the same time, that was a different story.

If I was still the person I was before…

… then I would be able to easily dodge this rain of knives, then beat up the idiots who threw those. But the person I am right now… right now…

“Kuriko.”

Breaksun shook her fingers at me and said nonchalantly:

“You tried a little too hard in the previous world. I felt bad watching you from the sidelines… At the very end, you went to fight alone for God and for the entire world. I was so weak, and I couldn’t go after you. I was always remembering this memory. So, this time, I hope you can rest on the sidelines.”

She snickered as if she was trolling. Then she plucked the strings of her guitar and started to sing.

“Trust me with everything!”

Instantly –

The guitar pluck in her hands played at the strings. The sound of her guitar merged with her own song… that was the power that had once twisted all cause and effect, ruined all the languages of the world, and created the tragedy of the Tower of Babel.

The countless sharp knifes flying this way suddenly started to wobble as if they were made of some soft material. They ignored gravity and started to go off in strange trajectories. Then, they flew past Breaksun, Kajiri, and I, not causing any damage. They brushed past the three of us as if we didn’t even exist –

“Hmm – I just gave that a try.”

As if she remembered something, Breaksun made that sing-song sound again.

“Seems like I’m copying Unpleasant Counter-Current… hallelujah?”

The singing she made was like she controlled the magic of witches. The sharp blades that came from different directions changed directions mid-air, then turned and flew back to where they each came from.

Twisting cause and effect… true to its name, it twisted the concept of consequence. The so-called ‘cause and effect’ was an expression of fate that connected events with their future consequences… Perhaps Breaksun had re-written the target of the sharp knifes from ‘us’ to ‘the enemies who threw the knives”. She ignored the process and forcibly changed the consequences of an action. When used this way, it seemed to be a very scary ability.

Shrieks and moans came from all directions around us, but we still didn’t see who threw those knives. Perhaps they were hiding in the depths of the warehouse –

“You noticed that now, didn’t you?”

She didn’t seem interested in unveiling the enemy. Breaksun spoke in a carefree manner, as if she had just performed a miracle with her magical voice.

“PoisonCatastrophe and Single Room lack the terrifying power that can deliver a killing blow, and maybe we don’t even have any means to attack. What should we do then? My ability is basically a reactive defence ability. I can’t initiate any attacks towards others. However, using the ability of the corruption of cause and effect, we can even evade the surveillance of enemies that we are not able to detect. Now, let’s head to the Institute.”

“…”

I was still concerned about who threw those knives at us –

Hmm, Rinne’s safety was of paramount concern. I don’t need to worry about those unknown enemies and should just get rid of them when I can. I don’t know what’s happening, but since we suddenly got attacked, this might be an emergency situation. Joker was there, so there shouldn’t be any major issues, but it was highly likely that fighting had occurred inside the Institute. Now was not the time to stop.

“Guriko!”

As I considered the situation, a familiar voice rang out.

I lifted my head towards the voice and saw something bizarre.

Kajiri, Breaksun, and I all opened our mouths in shock and stared at that thing.

“What is that…”

“Woah…”

“A flying car…? How imaginative… are we inside a sci-fi novel?”

As Breaksun muttered, the mysterious contraption was flying towards us.

A flying car. It was a flying car.

It looked very expensive, painted from head to toe in black. It should be a foreign car owned by the Sakaki Conglomerate. It had no wings, and no jet propeller, and the wheels were not turning. It just levitated in the air. It plummeted to the ground when it reached us.

“Woah…!?”

I hastily turned and was completely shocked by this scene of having a car descend upon us. There was a voice calling out to us. Who was it?

“Guriko!”

The door opened and the person emerging from it were waving at us. It was Rinne. When I looked closely, the driver was Ganhō and Joker was riding shotgun. The first row of the backseats was Sakaki Guryū and Rinne, and the second row had Tatsue, Mitaka, and the Snake.

“Rinne! Thank goodness. Are you alright?!”

I ignored everyone else and ran straight to Rinne and held her hands. She smiled and nodded demurely. Then she suddenly noticed the two people behind me and stared.

“Woah, Breaksun-san! Kajiri-san!”

“……Ring-bell?”

An incredibly brilliant smile suddenly bloomed on Breaksun’s face and she skipped a little as if she was a young child.

“Woah woah, it’s really Ring-bell! Long time no see… woah, I really didn’t think we’d get to see each other again. I’m so happy! Hey, Kajiri… Kajiri, come and say hello too. This is God.”

Breaksun became uncharacteristically excited and waved at Kajiri. Then she suddenly remembered something – she said in a low voice and an excited expression as she posed with a pointed finger as if she was an older sister.

“Ah, Ring-bell… didn’t we go over this before? It’s very weird to call me Breaksun-san.”

“Then, could you please stop calling me God, too?”

These neighbors from the previous world were gently smiling at each other. What a consoling scene – however, I almost forgot now was not the time to leisurely recall past memories.

“Sorry for the interruption… now is not the time to happily chat. The situation is a bit urgent – we need to leave here quickly. Let’s catch up later.”

For some reason, Joker sounded very humble as she talked to Rinne. I asked my questions directly at her.

“Joker, what happened here? Also, I almost forgot, but why is this car flying? Am I hallucinating? There are no mechanisms to make it fly?”

“I was just levitating it using my ability. Don’t be surprised… anyways, it’s a good thing that we met up with PoisonCatastrophe and Single Room. We can recuperate and launch our counter-attack once we hurry and find somewhere safe… someone seems to be preparing to attack Rinne. I’m not clear on who our enemy is, but we won’t let them attack us so easily.

Joker was as confident as ever. Then, she told me something rather cruel…

“Can the three of you keep using our car? My car is almost full. If the three of you go back to your car…”

Of course, I did my uttermost to completely refuse that suggestion.

I’d rather DIE than go back to Breaksun’s driving! I’d rather die RIGHT NOW!!!

“… We should be safe here, right?”

I got out of the car and bought a can of juice from the vending machine nearby and had a rest. We were driving as fast as we could, and now we no longer felt anyone pursuing us. I had lost the capacity to sense foreign presences, so my instincts were no longer as reliable.

Joker was leaning against the car like a true American and saying these words with a loud voice as she drank from her can of Coke. The people milling about in this ordinary small town were looking at us. Thinking that it is safer to be around people than to stay somewhere desolate, we started our war plans in the middle of the road.

“I just searched our surrounding with Melodia NoiseTear Song’s ability… there is nothing suspicious around us. We can settle down and start planning. Hmm, Tatsue and I will be responsible for keeping watch around us – let’s inform each other what we know and plan our next steps.”

“Huh. Am I helping too, Mother?”

Tatsue, who was tasting some premium coffee (even her taste in coffee is a long black… she’s completely unified with the color black), opened her eyes wide.

“But, um, I barely have any Fragments inside me. If I used my abilities too much, I might put myself in danger… um, no, if that’s what Mother wishes, I will do my best.”

“Calm down. Just help me when you can. I’m not planning for you to go all out.”

Joker emptied the Coke can’s contents into her throat and grasped the can tightly, with a smile surfacing on her face. She was dressed in a suit, gloves, and sunglasses, looking very handsome. She seemed to have dressed up deliberately as she knew Rinne was coming. A long skirt and a suit were equally restraining when it comes to physical activities, but this outfit she was wearing now seemed to be her standard battle attire.

A breeze blew past, and the bells tied to the tips of Joker’s hair chimed. She ran her fingers through her hair and narrowed her eyes.

“However, in a way of speaking, this could be the last time for us to use our abilities. Don’t save your abilities for later, Tatsue. How should I say it… it might be instinct, but I feel this really is a bad situation here. Something completely incongruous to this peaceful world, something that gave out a strange feeling, had appeared.”

After some serious consideration, she gave her directions:

“Guryū is my son, so he should have inherited Melodia NoiseTear Song’s power… However, he doesn’t seem to have manifested it yet. We can’t entrust everything to him. Just do your best to defend God against harm. You already got your weapons from Ganhō, haven’t you?”

“Understood, Mother.”

They seemed to be getting along well now. Gradually, Rinne squeezed Sakaki’s hand back as they linked hands. Hmm, please protect Rinne well this time too, Sakaki.

By the way, they were getting along so well that they were drinking the same kind of drinks. They were really made for each other. Just having Rinne and Sakaki together was already the best.

As Joker gave directions to everyone in a brisk manner, Ganhō was busy holding a machine gun under his arm. He looked like he couldn’t wait to start up the gun and spray bullets everywhere as he loudly proclaimed:

“Then, let’s spray our bullets all over our concentrated enemies!”

“Why must you attract attention like this? Idiot. We don’t even know who our enemies are. Who are you going to fire at?”

As Joker coldly told him off, Ganhō nudged her dejectedly as if he was a little kid.

“Alright alright. I always felt that Joker is nastier towards me than other people. Is this an expression of your twisted love? Do you love me? I’m so happy, Joker. I love the most I the world as well!”

“Really. Then go die. I hate this kind of logic of yours the most.”

“… Are you a tsundere?”

“Oh? Do you want to make me a widow? If you’re so keen to lie underneath a tombstone, then I will help you. I will do my best.”

The two of them seemed to be doing a couple’s comedy. Breaksun raised her hand timidly from the sidelines:

“Um, what should we do? We spend a lot of effort to get here as helpers. If there’s something we can do, we will try our best.”

“Hmm, thank you very much.”

Joker replied with Japanese, which she spoke with an accent. She turned her gaze to Breaksun and Kajiri.

“PoisonCatastrophe and Single Room are on standby, preparing for unforeseen circumstances. Ahh, PoisonCatastrophe, since there might be enemy snipers, you can help me keep vigilance as well. I can manage normal attacks with manipulation of space, but if I had no idea an attack was coming –”

“Got it. Then let’s do it. Did you get it, Kajiri?”

“I got it. Stop treating me as a child!”

The two of them were drinking juice together, looking sweet. Joker looked away from them and turned to Mitaka and the Snake.

“To be honest, I have no work for you. You too, Kuriko.”

Her gaze looked at me clearly through her sunglasses, then she spoke kindly and carefully:

“You are no longer immortals. You all need to prioritize your own safety. I heard that the Snake is better at sensing others as he is essentially a ‘monster’, so please let me know if you feel something odd, Snake. Kuriko and Mitaka don’t need to worry. I am protecting us all using my manipulation of space ability. Just help me spot any places where there might be gaps in the defence. But if any fighting breaks out, you need to seek shelter next to PoisonCatastrophe immediately. You aren’t suited to fighting.”

“I’m also not an immortal! I’m so worried, darling.” Ganhō hugged Joker from behind her and yelled. Joker immediately silenced him with a punch.

“… Bastard, you just go off and die somewhere. I would be very happy. Stop coming to annoy me – just stand aside and die.”

“Even if you say that, you would be the first to come and rescue me when I’m in trouble, right?”

“I would be the first to rejoice.”

“I love you, Joker.”

“You wannna die? Shut up.”

“…………”

They get along so well together.

I couldn’t help but think that as I looked around us. It was a quiet suburban street with the occasional passing car and pedestrian. There was nothing suspicious. Just the scenes of an ordinary afternoon. We were probably the most suspicious people in town right now.

Joker’s face was full of spite as she did her best to struggle free of Ganhō’s hold. Then she took off her sunglasses and continued to explain:

“But we are still not clear on the enemy’s identity. Previously, the people who tried to abduct or assassinate Rinne were all employees of the World Institute.”

“… How?”

Employees from the Institution should be Ganhō and Joker’s staff. They should have been friendly – Ganhō soon noticed my confusion and interjected.

“Mmm, honestly, that was a rather bizarre event. All the staff at the World Institute were trained by me from scratch and they were all trustworthy. Even if the world was overturned, they shouldn’t commit acts that would betray me, or go against my orders to attack Rinne. Besides, no one else should have known about Rinne being here.”

“This guy’s so-called concept of ‘trustworthy’ is basically him knowing all the employees’ weaknesses.”

Joker frowned and looked sideways at Ganhō, then sighed heavily.

“Either way, the employees won’t defy Ganhō. He’s the leader of a great conglomerate no matter how you look at it. He is almost above the law. If anyone betrayed us, Ganhō could grind them into dust with just the tip of his fingers. The employees should understand this better than anyone.”

“But they still betrayed us.”

Ganhō naturally reinstated this shocking truth.

“All the employees betrayed us at the same time.”

“…………？”

I didn’t understand what that meant for a second.

I blinked and repeated his words just to make sure.

“Do you mean exactly what you said?”

“Yes. I don’t know how they did it, maybe mass hypnosis or something else. But every staff started to attack Rinne at the same time.”

Joker crossed her arms with a hint of doubt was in her gaze.

“I did my best and defeated them, but the way they moved was not human… were they manipulated, or outright possessed? They were not behaving like usual at all. They felt like they were simply carrying out someone else’s will. I’m afraid someone else is behind the whole plan.”

“We still don’t know who’s behind the attacks, huh.”

Kajiri tossed the empty can into the rubbish bin and scratched his red hair.

“I don’t understand this conversation at all. The people who threw knives at us before also didn’t show themselves… we never seem to be able to see the enemy. The enemy just does not want to face us.”

He said this in a low voice full of spite. Then…

… I saw it.

No one else had sensed it.

Joker and Tatsue were surveying the surrounding area using their ability to manipulate space, trying to spot anyone suspicious. There were also others responsible for our defence. None of them noticed it. I just happened to shift my gaze in that direction – and I happened to see it.

It was an ordinary-looking pedestrian.

It was someone that had passed us a few times and was walking very naturally.

There was nothing odd about him. He looked composed as he walked up to us on his own –

Then, very composedly, he took out a folding knife from his pocket.

Then, very composedly, he stabbed the knife towards Sakaki, who was standing next to Rinne –

“……”

I responded instinctively when I realized what was happening.

I immediately threw the can in my hands towards the person!

Right now, I was not an immortal, a monster, or the Poisoned Apple.

My strength was not too different from that of a normal human, and the can was flying at a normal speed. It just happened to hit the man with the knife. The man toppled backwards from the sudden attack and dropped the dagger in his hands. Sakaki immediately responded and hugged Rinne tightly in his arms, then turn his head to survey the area fearfully.

“——”

Our companions also noticed the man. Some of them became nervous, and some started to respond – but the true horror had only just started.

The housewives who were chatting casually at the roadside started to rush towards us, brandishing kitchen knives. The primary students who were kicking a soccer ball on the street approached us with baseball bats and knifes in their hands. The cars on the road ignored the street signs and sped towards us. The door of every house opened, and the residents walked out of them armed with farming scythes.

What a nightmarish scene.

No way.

No way – that was what I had thought.

As if we were hated by the entire world, everyone had become our enemy. The populace of the entire town was approaching us… I feel a sheen of cold sweat on my skin as I faced this terrifying scene.

“Did everyone in town become our enemy?”

Did they respond to my words? For a brief second, a dark crimson light shone out of the eyes of these people. It was the familiar red eyes that I had seen so many times…

“So, that’s why.”

In a way of speaking, this was an enemy I have known for a long time.

In the previous world, in my fake memories, in my long long lifetime…. I kept battling these creatures in my millennium-long life.

Yes, the enemy this time – were you people.

“Mushi…”

As I murmured, I saw before me a regal girl, standing behind the hoard of Mushi and looking down upon this city coldly as if she was its ruler.

She wore the sharp hat of a clown, donned a thick and luxurious priest’s robe, and held a gold spear that I hated on an instinctive level. She stood there expressionlessly and seemed to be speaking to herself. The strange girl’s eyes sparkled with a crimson light, and she spoke in a low voice as she looked at us.

“This is… Final God Mode: Three Thousand Worlds. Everything in this world will become my servant. Everything in this world will become your enemies – everything around you will try to hunt and kill you. How does it taste to be in such a terrifying world?”

I couldn’t understand those words at all, but she looked like the final boss of a game.

Mmm, perhaps this was the boss of our enemies. Anyways, that much was clear.

It had been a long time since I experienced a real battle. After the world was rebuilt, I haven’t smelt the stench of blood for such a long time. Nor have I often heard those frequent screams, the sound of someone’s life being taken away.

Of course, I was just an ordinary human. I was just peeking at the battlefield under Breaksun’s protection. However, I didn’t feel any distress. In fact, I actually felt refreshing.

From the point of view of a human, I felt just how extraordinary my friends around me were.

Ahh, these people… seriously, seriously.

“This is such a mess –”

Someone threw a pair of large garden scissors at us. Under Breaksun’s voice and the music of her guitar, it instantly lost its aim and plunged into the ground. It was similar to the ability of reflecting attacks owned by Unpleasant Counter-current. It was rather bothersome, and was solely a defensive ability.

Perhaps her guitar was the tool used to control her ability, much like the spray cans Mina had used. Breaksun could now control her power almost perfectly. She was unable to protect the one she loved in the previous world. Now she looked completely nonchalant, but her emotional stress must be worse than she was letting on. This kind of control over her abilities could only have been gained after endless training. And right now, it became a power to protect someone.

Just like the numerous sharp knives tossed at us before, now this enemy had released countless Mushi. Who knows what else she would let out? Those could be completely countered by Breaksun and Tatsue’s manipulation of space, but those were still very intense attacks. My eyes could barely capture the entirety of this hoard.

“Hahaha! This is what it feels like for a couple to fight together! I’m so happy, Joker!”

“… You’re so annoying. Just shut up and fight properly.”

The machinegun in Ganhō’s hands spit out mad strands of fire, while Joker used her manipulation of space to its absolute limit, crushing the hordes of Mushi completely. What a terrifying couple. The attack power exhibited by the combination of PoisonCatastrophe and Single Room was nothing compared to this. If these two could fix some of their own problems, they would be perfect.

However, just that unbelievable conversation they had would be impossible to fix.

Joker destroyed almost all the enemies that appeared before her. The vast army of humans gathered together, as if it was a scene out of the Warring States Period, was terrifying. Joker gritted her teeth as she glared at the enemies with spite. She said in a low voice.

“Seriously. This so loud. Could you be a little bit more quiet right now… I’m trying to think. If you make so much noise, then I can’t concentrate.”

“Like you’re missing someone you love and having trouble sleeping at night, right?”

“Urk. How can I possibly love someone like you? How can a bastard like you have such a high opinion of yourself?”

“Oh? Your tone is always so fierce. Is it because you care about me? Ahahaha, the fighting will be very bad from now on! You’re so cute! You can cry in my arms if you want!”

“…………”

“Ahh, I didn’t really feel you using your manipulation of space, huh? You are wasting your powers… well, then I will demonstrate with my actions! Joker, I love you!”

Ganhō suddenly left the fighting and spread his arms out to hug Joker. Joker elbowed him to calm him down. Seriously, was he a completely hedonistic person, or is he just the kind of carefree person who could still poke a joke under stress? Thanks to him, everyone else’s nerves also calmed down a bit.

“Anyways, this is not a good situation.”

Joker declared loudly with a voice that everyone could hear.

“Frankly, us Greater Fragments are very disadvantaged in a long fight. Our Fragments are expended as we use our abilities, and eventually we will exhaust our own reserves. PoisonCatastrophe and I might be able to bear this and keep going… but if any of us fell, we would be defeated completely.”

I agreed with this assessment.

The Mushi that appeared one after another never stopped. They were still crawling forward even if they lost a leg. They were approaching here no matter what, stretching their hands towards us stubbornly. I couldn’t help but try to think of a way to break out of this – there was no way we could shrink our defensive circle any further.

“Anyways, we need to calm down.”

I lowered by voice and tried to talk with a calm tone.

“The girl over there said everything in this world became her servant. That can’t possibly be true. Even our enemy can’t have a limitless power… she probably meant all the employees in the World Institute and all the residents in this town. Now we need to either run further away, or we need to kill them all. We have to get through this.”

“I refuse to run away.”

Joker narrowed her eyes as she answered.

“It will be problematic not to clean them all up. The enemy had involved normal people as well, making it very problematic… even if we escaped safely this time, we can’t stay on our guard 24 hours a day. Therefore, it’s safer to clean them all up here. I understood what might be happening with the employees at the Institute – perhaps the staff will bring us further trouble even if we kill them.”

“People in the Institute are all my colleagues and friends. But if they became my enemies, I would kill them without hesitation.”

Ganhō lifted the machinegun and sprayed bullets with no hesitation. The Mushis were completely pierced through and turned into a mist of blood. Perhaps, even if it were his children before him, Genhō would still fire without hesitation. Actually, Sakaki usually likes to fire with a gun – was it his father’s influence?

Anyways.

We have roughly understood how the enemy likes to fight.

She could change the psyche of ordinary humans without anyone noticing, then sneaking in attacks from behind our backs. Or, it would be like right now, using sheer strength in numbers to completely crush the enemy. It was a sneaky and nasty way of fighting that held no honor. However, it was an effective way to fight against Greater Fragments.

Since the Greater Fragments lack endurance, they would collapse by themselves if we kept dragging this out.

Then, what should we do…

“Doing this, doing that. So annoying.”

Ganhō lifted his head as if nothing happening and looked at the girl standing on top of the telephone pole, who was completely different from other Mushi.

“That person seems like the leader, right? We’ll capture her and let Kajiri to analyse her, then we immediately kill her, right? If we don’t hurry up, things could change.”

I thought so too, but Joker was completely against it.

“If it were so easy, then she wouldn’t have appeared before us so casually… I keep feeling this is a trap. If this isn’t a trap, then she’s far too stupid. Standing at such an obvious place is asking for others to target her. She should know this.”

Even so, what should we do?

I too understood she was evidently a different species from other Mushi, with evident irregularities. No, it was the spear in her hand – that spear gave off a very strange feeling. At least, we need to separate the girl from the spear. Compared to being backed into a corner, it was better to finish off some enemies.

“Mmm…”

Ganhō had already given up thinking and levelled his gun at the girl.

“She’s such a bother. Why don’t I give her a few shots.”

As he spoke, he pressed on the trigger and bullets poured out.

I don’t know if he was stupid or strange. The man who led the greatest company in the world was also a great shot. The bullet flew directly towards the girl – however, despite its speed, the result was not too far from what Joker had predicted or feared.

The bullet couldn’t hit the girl.

“Um.”

The girl herself only gave out this dumb sound as her body became stiff.

“Gaga!”

But in that instant, the spear completely defied its master’s intention – rather, it was guiding the girl’s wrist to move. Perhaps that was how the bullet was deflected back. It was a bizarre movement. I couldn’t tell if it was the spear moving on its own, or that the girl was manipulating it.

As the sharp metallic sounds echoed back, Ganhō opened his eyes stupidly wide as he kept holding the machinegun.

“She bounced the bullet back? What’s wrong with that spear…?”

Rather than fear, Ganhō’s curiosity was roused. As he looked at the girl, the spear kept moving rapidly. The girl did not have a secure footing from the start and finally lost her balance, falling down from the telephone pole with a long scream.

“Waaah, aaaah, aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh, aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh – !?”

Then, there was a thump.

The spear finally managed to deflect all the bullets, but the girl fell from the pole and suffered a heavy wound. She was lying unmoving in a pool of blood. The spear made ‘ga’ noises as if it were worried for her, but she did not appear to hear it.

Ah, we… won? The enemy’s leader fell?

Maybe people without a good sense of balance should not climb that high…

“…”

Everything briefly fell into silence. Finally, the girl stood up, all wobbly. The thick clothes she wore happened to break her fall well. As an Immortal, she had no obvious wounds on her body, with only a few scratches on her skin to show for it. Her sharp hat also bent down and was looking rather pitiful.

The Mushi looked confused and stopped their attacks. Behind them, the girl picked up the spear from the ground. She coughed as she said in a low voice.

“You don’t seem too bad… You can manage to beat me into this state. Is this your first time… Mmm, doesn’t seem like it. But it’s still commendable. It hurts… ahh, not to the extent of restarting, but it hurts…”

Facing this girl who looked to be in such pain that she was about to cry, Joker asked as the representative of our group:

“What do you want?”

That was something everyone present had wanted to ask. What was she after? She suddenly appeared and acted as if she led the Mushi, but now she fell and injured herself greatly as if she was trying to kill herself.

Joker kept her guard as she assessed her, suddenly seeming to remember something.

“This outfit… you are the Man-Eating Demon, aren’t you? What do you want from this peaceful world? Do you want to kill God?”

“…”

The girl was quiet and did not reply. Now she mentioned it, this sharp and unique hat, as if it was a horn, was very similar to the person we saw in the images in the World Institute this morning. The footage was dark, so it was not very clear. But it was very evident under the daylight.

“That is not my name. I don’t know how others have called me –”

Her voice was emotionless, as if she was a newborn baby.

“My name is Broken Hair, the ravaged Queen of Insects.”

“Queen of… Insects.”

I suddenly figured it out fixed my eyes on her. Queen of Insects. Broken Hair. It was a name I learnt during the chaos created by the Dream-0World Beast. She still looked as she did then. She led the hoard of Mushi and faced her enemies. She had red eyes darker than the other Mushi and an austere expression. Even though she acted like an idiot, she was not someone for us scoff at.

“I ask of you, God –”

The girl calling herself the Queen of Insects ignored everyone else and stared straight at Rinne as she said:

“Why did you appear in this world again? Why did you become related to this world again? If you want to ingest poison and commit suicide again, then I will not forgive you.”

Broken Hair raised her spear threateningly and looked very charismatic. She said in a low voice:

“I am the Beast of the End. The name of my duty is the God Mushi Emperor. I am the queen and progenitor of all Mushi, the Greater Fragment that serves as the priest of the End. Even if you are God, I will never allow you to destroy yourself and disregard my duty.”

Broken Hair walked towards us step by step. As someone who regarded God Mushi Emperor as her duty, she repeated her words softly. Rinne offered no responses. If Rinne didn’t drink poison this time, then she should refute Broken Hair. But somehow, Rinne stayed silent.

Why did Rinne reappear in this world?

After countless iterations, the query once again surfaced in my mind.

“… My duties were taken away. I was the final Fragment that was ravaged by the world and killed in silence. All my rage, sorrow, emptiness – it was all your fault. You are not worthy of being God. You did not wait for the End to arrive – you are a great sinner that betrayed this entire world and destroyed everything.”

Broken Hair reproached Rinne harshly, but Rinne said nothing. She wore a painful expression, but she grasped Sakaki’s hand tightly and took a step forward.

Rinne then smiled. It wasn’t an expression of mockery, but a rather lonely smile.

“I did once give up on my body and drank poison to seek death.”

Rinne pressed down on her own chest with a pained expression. However, she still looked directly at Broken Hair with a genuine gaze.

“I didn’t know… I didn’t know who I am. No, I knew, but I had forgotten. I forgot who I was in this world. I was the God of this world, but I forgot all about it. My body was still alive. Even today, all the cells in my body are still alive. It was such a miracle, but I despised it all. I didn’t want to live anymore. I just wanted to die.”

The God of this world showed a deep remorse to Broken Hair – no, to the entire world. She lowered her head.

“I’m so sorry.”

Tears glimmered in her eyes when she said this. But it was still the sound of Rinne that I loved, and she was still remarkably strong. Even Broken Hair took a few steps back.

Rinne raised her head and repeated softly.

“… I’m so sorry.”

Then, she declared sincerely while gazing at the Queen of Insects:

“But I won’t – I won’t kill myself again. I have already decided. I have made a promise… I’ve made a promise with the most important people I have met in this world.”

“…”

As if Broken Hair was looking for something, she gazed at Rinne then started to smile.

Smile?

What was going on?

“Mm.”

But her smile disappeared in the blink of an eye. The final Fragment, who considered the Apocalypse as her duty, said with a cold tone.

“But you have once again escaped into this world from your reality. That is your cowardice and your sin. This world no longer needs a God.”

Broken Hair raised her spear with an effort and declared:

“You are too weak.”

“Yes.”

Rinne laughed apologetically.

Broken Hair looked at Rinne’s rather scared expression, then yelled rudely with an unsteady voice.

“You are completely unworthy of the title of God.”

“That’s right.”

“The world suffered an annihilated that could have been avoided, all because of you.”

“That’s right.”

“It was all because of you… I didn’t follow through with my duties because of you…!”

She made a painful sound and started to shake her head.

It was a sad movement, as if she wanted to shake something off. Broken Hair had to endure the pain because of Rinne. All this was Rinne’s sin. The God who drank poison on her own without waiting for the End. But now – was Rinne now living happily?

She didn’t manage to say “please forgive me”.

But I – I was the only one who had continued to support Rinne. God was not omnipotent. God had suffered countless defeats even in myths. This was also one of those defeats. However, even God will grow up after endless defeats. She will grow up, become an adult, until the End catched up to her –

She treasured this world.

I always believed in her. I had made a promise with Rinne to keep living. So…

“… this is enough.”

Broken Hair said with a tough but low voice. As if she was a general controlling an army, the Queen waved her arm and declared:

“This world does not need a God like you. I will suck out your brains and simulate everything in it, then become the God of this world. Just like how the Jimmu Emperor conquered the kingdom of Yamato back in the age of myths, destroyed the god of that land, and became the new god. I, God Mushi Emperor, will conquer you. Then, when the End arrives, I will become the new God.”

At that time, all the Mushi posed and prepared to start attacking.

“All your repentance and crafty arguments are useless. God, simply cower before my ambition…”

Then, she uttered an unexpected name.

“Ultimate ShieldThe Weakest, it’s time for you to show up. Wash yourself clean of the dishonor you obtained in the Final Battle.”

Then, the Last Battle begun.

The forgotten girl, the peaceful world, the final battle we experienced.

“Final God Mode, Three Thousand Worlds – I will let you witness its true form.”

But this person… all her words sound like a villain from a B-grade film …

Was she born this way, or was this a show?

That expression was completely incongruous to her movements. She was full of sorrow and very genuine.

It was almost like the Final Battle was here again.

“The infinite multiplication of God Mushi Emperor, and the flesh modification of Ultimate ShieldThe Weakest …”

Broken Hair looked very peaceful and said evenly:

“If our abilities were combined, then there is nothing for us to fear – fitting for the title of ‘The End’, the army of monsters will devor everything, including the Fragments of God.”

“Army of monsters…”

What a despicable name to be mentioned here. The situation had also reached its worst stage. All the normal humans around us instantly turned into disgusting and horrible monsters under Broken Hair’s command. Every one of them looked different. Some looked like beasts, some looked like worms. Some were birds, and some were insects. Confusingly, there were piles of flesh on them.

Amid these monsters, Broken Hair puffed out her chest due to the victory in sight.

“Hehe… the combination between Ultimate ShieldThe Weakest and God Mushi Emperor is the strongest. The Devil and the Beast of the End – you just stay still and turn into ash before the host of performing to its best ability! After you had endured absolute agony, I will suck out your brain stems and fulfilled your respective duties!”

There was a reason why she could strike such a leisurely pose. We were in the worst possible situation right now. The Mushi possessed powers more than just that of the ordinary person, and they would become very difficult to deal with once gathered. It was all because they received the modification of the flesh from Ultimate ShieldThe Weakest. They became monsters with astounding fighting prowess. Overall, we were at an overwhelming disadvantage.

However… Ultimate ShieldThe Weakest …

We completely did not expect that devil to become Broken Hair’s partner. Ultimate ShieldThe Weakest was such a cunning, evil, and untrustworthy person. How did Broken Hair manage to subdue her –

No.

In the next second, I immediately realized the fundamental error in my thinking, and how Broken Hair had made a mistake.

“Erm…?”

Suddenly, Broken Hair’s body, which was clad in a luxurious priestly robe, started to swell up. Pieces of clothes tore apart as her own body started to mutate.

“Wha… what…”

The strange scene made everyone open their eyes wide in shock. Broken Hair stared to roar with a crazed voice.

“Wait – Ultimate ShieldThe Weakest! I don’t need this! My body can reincarnate eternally, and I won’t die! You should know this! I don’t need to change into a monster! Wait… Ah, stop, stop! I… I…”

“…?”

For some reason, the opponent facing us seem to have been dragged into problems we were previously completely unaware of. I wanted to ask her just what happened. The crowds of monsters both close and far were disappearing – but I felt the figure of a woman flash past me.

She was dressed in purple from head to toe and wore a strange mask.

That was –

“Although you said you’ll give me one half of the world…”

Hehehe. That person made out a disgusting laugh.

“The world you promised was one where every single human, every actor in this play, was replaced by God Mushi Emperor, right? Even if I obtained one half of such a world, that would still disgust me.”

As if nothing had happened, that evil person declared without reservation:

“I will control ALL of the world.”

“… what…?”

Broken Hair no longer maintained her previous form, instead turning into a giant monster. The purple-clad woman – probably Ultimate ShieldThe Weakest – waved her hand casually and said:

“You aren’t the only one who can replace God. It’s also possible to get there using my Modification of the Flesh. Even if it’s not viable, I should be able to do it after obtaining Single Room’s power, no? Anyways – all of you just need to die nicely, okay? Then I can manipulate your corpses as I wish. This way, it won’t be God Mushi Emperor who turned into the entire world. It will be me, Ultimate ShieldThe Weakest. I will become the God of this world, okay?”

“Are you going to betray me, Ultimate ShieldThe Weakest!?”

Facing Broken Hair’s angry roar, Ultimate ShieldThe Weakest wore a mocking smile and answered:

“Betray? What? Are you crazy? … I have never trusted anyone. We were never friends, so we won’t have things like betrayal or mockery – hahaha.”

Then she turned around and spread her arms as if she was an actress on a stage.

“You really are like a clown, just like your appearance. Jumping around everywhere… hmm, enjoy yourself while you can still move. I will clap for you when everything is over.”

“… You devil!”

With a desperate scream, Broken Hair tossed the spear in her hands towards Ultimate ShieldThe Weakest.Broken Hair had already lost her human form, and her aim was very off.

The attack didn’t even need to be dodged. Ultimate ShieldThe Weakest snickered, then said something incomprehensible in a low voice.

“… So annoying. This person – she really isn’t my type. Anyways, ladies and gentlemen, please dance with those forgotten children. But I can’t be bothered with this, so please excuse me.”

She then gave one last look at Broken Hair, as if her job was finally over – as if everything she did before was just to appease Broken Hair and do her job and were not out of Ultimate ShieldThe Weakest’s own volition. It was as if she was working hard to achieve Broken Hair’s dreams.

After a small bow, the magician of the devil disappeared with just one sentence.

“You’ve worked hard.”

According to myths, the final enemy were mostly pestilence, beasts, or some catastrophe – all the phenomena that appeared one after the other in the previous world, things that consumed and destroyed humans in a terrifying blood-red light, were mostly diseases and cataclysms.

No one was investigating myths, so we could not be certain of such phenomena, nor could we understand its meaning. We also could not say whether this ‘final enemy’ was one of these three types.

I started fighting the monster without hesitation.

This was the Beast of the End, something akin to the Pale Horse or the Serpent that Consumed the World.

It had a tall body that almost touched the sky. To see its entirety required some time – it was too bizarre, too super-sized. It was much larger than the Dream-World Beast that I had once fought in the previous world, the creature that grew out of sucking on the nutrients of the Apples. It was a giant beast that looked like a quadrupedal wolf. However, there were compound insect eyes protruding out of every inch of its body. A pair of dragon-like wings were on its back, but I didn’t know whether it could fly.

It was like a chimera from multiple animals, something imagined by primordial humans in the darkness of night and of death. It was a monster, a Beast. That was what Broken Hair looked like right now.

She had completely lost herself. She became as savage as the monsters around her, and completely ignored the double boundaries desperately set up by Joker and Breaksun. The front limbs she stretched out easily broke through our defences and crushed everything. It was even easily breaking and rejecting the powers of the barrier of air, and even the denial of cause and effect –

“The situation is very bad.”

Cold sweat seeped out of Joker’s forehead as she muttered in a bitter tone. The bells on the tips of her hair were ringing incessantly, and she was using her manipulation of space to its maximum capacity.

“I’m not clear on the enemy’s situation and I’m not interested… but for God Mushi Emperor and Ultimate ShieldThe Weakest to group up was the worst scenario for us. Endless monsters – we are forced to be on the defence and are already doing our best. All these have been physically modified, and we won’t stop them even if we kill Ultimate ShieldThe Weakest. Nor do we have the power to destroy all of them… this is really troublesome!”

I could only grit my teeth when I heard Joker. I could do nothing. If I were the person I was before, then I could be more useful. But now I was already a normal person. I can’t go back to how I was before.

What should I do? What should I do?

The world had finally become so peaceful. But I couldn’t bring Rinne with me to enjoy such a world – were we going to finish here?”

“Guriko-chan. Guriko-chan?”

I was enveloped by a sense of guilt and felt my body becoming stiff. Rinne reached out next to me and took my hand. She looked very sad, as if she was apologetic.

“I’m sorry.”

“… why are you apologizing, Rinne?”

I asked straightforwardly, and Rinne looked like she was almost crying.

“I really… I brought so much trouble for everyone in this world. That person named Broken Hair was definitely angry because of me. I could tell just from her words. She represented the lives in this world, and that was why she has such a bizarre body… she represented the death that will one day come to us all. It makes sense for her to be upset at my arrival.”

Just like before, Rinne put her head on my chest. Her body seemed particularly small. Then she started to confess even though she was God.

“This time… Mmm, yes. I was facing some problems in real life. It was not as bad as making me want to drink poison, but I just wanted to run away. I’m really a coward now I think about it. I always, always, wanted to run away. I’m always wishing bad things would just disappear, and then I’d run away into the far corners of the world. I’ve already promised you to live properly. However, I’ve ran away to this world again.”

Rinne cried as she spoke, as she was ranting and apologizing at the same time. She was facing this monstrous beast that could almost swallow the entire earth.

“I am so sorry that I am such a God. I am so sorry that I am so weak and want to run away all the time– If I am not worthy of being God, then I will give it to you if that can stop the fighting… everyone is equal. Everyone is a fragment of the world. Please don’t fight anymore…”

God knelt like an ordinary girl and mumbled clumsily:

“Please don’t be so sad –”

I won’ t call it a prayer. It was just a sigh. It was a powerless lament with no means to change the world. However, that was God’s true wish. Even if it was just a soft feeling, that was the gentleness with which I fell in love. Those words displayed her true heart and her care towards this peaceful world.

I was 19 years old and failed my university entrance exam, and my only hobby was playing computer games.

My worst subjects were trigonometry and English grammar, and I like to go play with friends.

I could only laugh helplessly at the parents who spoiled me senseless at home. Even if I just wanted to cut my hair, it would cause a massive catastrophe.

I like this world. No matter what, I want to live normally – I love this current world.

Therefore, no matter how much hatred was harbored inside the heart of my enemy, I will definitely affirm everything. Even if God genuflected and confessed Her sins, I will not agree with that weakness.

Even God was someone who was alive.

She would also feel tired, unhappy, and have thoughts of running away.

If we were to allow her to run away like this – Sakaki, we really should have done this according to our agreement. We should send her back to reality on her own, just as we had agreed.

So, the words of farewell would be – see you later!

She came to this world after suffering from issues. We will welcome her and help her no matter how many times it takes.

Therefore, therefore… no matter what, even in this present situation, it would be alright. It was not a situation that needed us to give up and beg for forgiveness. Rinne didn’t need to cry here.

I will completely destroy Rinne’s enemies in the past and in the present.

No matter how badly others treated her, I will support her till the very end.

Usagawa Rinne had treated me, who was living like a monster, with infinite gentleness.

I will repay her right now.

But… I no longer have my powers.

At least grant me the same amount of power compared to before, or at least half of it. If that was possible –

“Oi.”

There was a sudden sound.

I looked around and my eyes opened wide when I realized a shocking fact.

“Ah….”

It was the golden spear that Broken Hair had thrown impaled on the ground. It was a repulsive thing that emitted an animalistic stench – that thing was calling out to me at a position about twenty meters out of the small circle of safety tightly guarded by Joker and Breaksun.

“Oi.”

It didn’t say anything else, but that was enough for me.

“Guriko?”

Rinne raised her head and called out to me, but by then I was already running outside of the bounded field. Joker and the others didn’t have the time to react, either, so my surprise move wasn’t stopped.

Of course, that was not a good thing. My movement capacities were now just ordinary – I ran as fast as I could, as if I was running for my life, and headed towards the spear.

Of course, with this sudden and stupid bait, the monsters instantly started to gather up and attack me – but I was completely oblivious to it. My life hang on the line and I had already managed to evade countless monsters’ attacks before. Even if those things happened in the previous life, I believe those feelings still remained inside my body.

A strong sense of fear, like that towards a roaring flame, surfaced within me. The claws and tails of the monsters that swept past everything had a horrifying destructive power that could kill me with one hit. Previously, I had treated them like bugs and grinded them to dust and defeated them easily.

But right now, I no longer have the battle prowess of a monster – I don’t need that in this peaceful world. However, in that brief moment, I had wanted that power.

Itsuwara Kuriko. 19 years old.

I had always tried my best. I kept trying in those countless moments because I believed in miracles.

Evading countless attacks and barely managing to evade lightning strikes and some strange fluids flung my way, I continued to run towards the spear even though there were wounds and broken skin everywhere on my body.

My own stamina was almost exhausted, but I did not expect that distant circle of safety to protect me – I was in the middle of monsters and had no help. If this was in the past, I would have destroyed them without hesitation.

But I still believed in some things. I pulled out that spear, then used it to cut down the limbs of those big monsters. I didn’t know how to use the spear, but it came to me with great ease as if it was an extension of my limbs, carving a smooth curve through the air.

The enemy’s wrist immediately evaporated, disappearing mid-air without any signs.

The power that consumed the enemy’s hand was the enemy of all existences in this world.

I was very familiar with the destructive power of that emptiness. As familiar as I was with my own body, in fact.

“You…”

I grabbed the spear and said to it softly:

“Are you the Poisoned Apple this time?”

“…”

The spear was silent for a moment – then it started to mock my words with joy.

“Gaga! Gagaga! Gaga! What a pity! Sorry! You’ve got good leads! But it’s not a-hundred percent correct. Wrong answer!”

A sharp, loud, roaring sound erupted from within his (his?) body.

“I’m the remains of the previous Poisoned Apple! Yes, the function of the Poisoned Apple moved from you to that butterfly – but at the very end, the butterfly squashed in God’s hand still left pieces of its body behind. That residue Poisoned Apple became hosted within me as time went on, and it was re-constructed just like that! This power won’t be enough to destroy the world, but my identity as the Poisoned Apple is the irrefutable truth! Hey… should I say, ‘welcome back’, former Poisoned Apple?”

“…”

The role within my body was removed at the last minute before the end of Ragnarök. The Poisoned Apple, the parable for the poison that God drank to commit suicide, did not disappear at that time. It was re-constructed with the flow of time.

Then, this must have been pre-arranged according to the will of God.

The poison that did not disappear completely at that time – She should have been prepared for it. She would only rest easy when the poison had completely disappeared. It was my mistake for not double checking afterwards. After all, it was the Poisoned Apple that could destroy the world. It shouldn’t have completely disappeared so easily.

That was when I understood the origins of this incident.

The Poisoned Apple, which remained behind after the world was re-constructed, met the ravished Queen of Insects. I don’t know where they met or when they started working together. However, when this coincidental, unfortunate, and unavoidable event suddenly occurred, this story started to move forward once again.

The forgotten girl hating God, and the weapon that could kill God…

Once those two met, the rebellion against God would inevitably occur. Rinne’s reappearance was probably also a consequence of this. As Rinne had already experienced too many painful things, she probably wanted to escape from reality very much, and this escape was to be expected. It was probably just the start of a string of stories, the story of Broken Hair and Poisoned Apple.

Ahh, there was no time to leisurely think about these wild things.

Although I was feeling a bit more used to this after absorbing the power of the Poisoned Apple, I didn’t have the greatest confidence in escaping from the encircling horde of monsters without a scratch. My body was now the same as an ordinary human, and I was not immortal. I only gained more attack power because of the spear. Nothing else had changed in the present situation.

Then, what should I do?

I narrowed my eyes and scanned the surroundings nervously – and then.

“Chu~”

It was like the gospels of hope brought by the angels. The moment I heard this sound, I felt so happy as if I would go mad.

Or should I say… you people are too slow!

It was your duty to protect the world and fight evil!

Maybe there was some special meaning to it? These two also appeared from a tall place just like Broken Hair.

“As long as the Saibara sisters are around, the evils in this world won’t be able to do whatever they want!”

“…”

“This week’s super scary…. Woah!? Sis, I don’t think we have special gear! What should we do? Should we re-do the entrance? Mmm, the duo friends of justice are the Sailor Moons of light…. But why is it a five-person team this time…”

“… Um, could you please communicate with me using words I can understand. Ki-chan, please don’t make me cringe…”

“Huh? Sis is crying… Sis.”

The two people having a weird and loud stand-up comedy skit while standing on empty space (probably made by solidifying space) were none other than the Saibara sisters, Mina and Mitsuki, Sterilization Disinfection and Unpleasant Counter-current. They were the monster from the legend of Noah’s Ark and the angle of retribution mentioned in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. In a way of speaking, they were the strongest sisters on Earth.

They were conversing rapidly as they effortlessly jumped down from a great height. They came straight towards my – huh? Why my direction?

Inside the circle of safety, Tatsue waved her arms as hard as she could and shouted.

“Ki-chan! Mina! That black-haired girl is our friend!”

“… Huh?”

Mina was the first to land and casually blew apart the monsters around her with her spray can. She was still so powerful. She was the merciless destroyer of existences, Sterlization Disinfection – Saibara Mina.

Mitsuki landed in a move far too fast for humans and waved at Mina, who was advancing towards me.

“Mmm, Sis… she has that spear, but it’s different from the Queen of Insects from last time. I can’t feel any malevolence… Ahh, pleased to meet you.”

I had to accept a handshake through her thick gloves. It wasn’t even a proper greeting, but I didn’t know how to manage this.

Broken Hair was the evil existence called a Man-Eating Demon in town, wasn’t she? She also fought the Saibara sisters once. Right now, I am holding her spear. Broken Hair herself had become a huge monster… it can’t be helped that they misunderstood this… right?”

“Broken Hair –”

Since the Saibara sisters met up with us, I was feeling extremely secure. Though their speech and behaviour were eccentric, the sisters’ powers were bona fide incredible.

I was guided back to the circle of safety by Mina and Mitsuki. Sakaki and Rinne ran up to me worriedly.

I was apologetic. I acted rashly, but I needed the power to protect Rinne, so I must obtain this spear no matter what.

But we had finished gathering our troops.

Final God Mode. Three Thousand Worlds. The Beast of the End…

Those were just a pile of monsters. We have beaten back countless such things.

I can understand what Broken Hair had felt. She hated the God who chose to destroy Herself and then who took away Broken Hair’s duty – however, the path Broken Hair chose was to become the God of this world. It was equivalent to killing Rinne. It was a future I cannot accept.

So, I must defeat Broken Hair. I will end everything here, defeat all ambitious, conspiracy, all of it.

How could I allow today to become the Apocalypse?

I still want to live. I still have so much I want to do. I love this world and I love God, so I don’t want to be destroyed yet.

Broken Hair, the Ravaged Queen of Insects.

“…”

Suddenly, for a brief moment, I remembered the sliver of a smile that Broken Hair had shown when she talked with Rinne. Should the enemy of this current world, who used hatred as her reason and vengeance as her motivation, have such an expression?

I kept feeling something repulsive throbbing in my chest.

The expression Broken Hair made at that time felt rather familiar to me.

But I don’t understand. I can’t remember. Those eyes… the emotions in those eyes were…

“Oi, Lost One.”

“… are you talking to me, Poisoned Apple?”

I replied in a small voice to the spear that was trying to chat. Joker and everyone else were immersed in discussing tactics that can break us through the current deadlock and didn’t seem to pay any attention to me.

“Yes, the Lost One of the Poison Apple – the happiest person on earth! Since we had once shared a body, could you please help me with something? Ehehehe!”

The small remnant of the Poison Apple that used to reside within me whispered into my ear.

“I just feel that I know what Broken Hair was really trying to do. I may look like this, but I had spent more time with her than you can imagine! I was with her from her 275th to 317th life – hehe! I got to know plenty of things during that time…”

It was a sad voice that sounded similar to how I had sounded before.

“Say, Lost One, perhaps that person – Broken Hair – didn’t really want to replace God. The reason she positioned herself against the world and made herself an antagonist was –”

PoisonCatastrophe, Single Room, Melodia NoiseTear Song, Sterilization Disinfection, Unpleasant Counter-Current.

There were five Greater Fragments on our side.

In contrast, our enemies were –

Ultimate ShieldThe Weakest and God Mushi Emperor.

However, Ultimate ShieldThe Weakest had disappeared due to her modification of the flesh, and God Mushi Emperor had turned into a monster. We might have been slaughtered by the continued assault of these monsters if it were not for the Saibara sisters, but now the outcome of the battle was clear.

Five Fragments versus two…

The number of Fragments did not always decide everything, but the difference here was indeed decisive.

Almost despicable.

“Then, please bear with me for a bit.”

Kajiri put his crucifix-shaped dagger against his palm and said to Mitsuki, who was next to him.

We were still within the circle of safety created by Joker and Breaksun. Being squashed into such a small space was awkward, but we were safe as long as we stayed inside.

Mitsuki and Kajiri’s memories were also reset during the re-construction of the world. Therefore, this was the first time they had met each other in this world. After some simple greetings, they got together rather well without much trouble. However…

“Eh? What? What? What are you doing?”

Mitsuki’s curly tail decoration shivered in surprise. Kajiri had just flung the drops of blood dripping from his palm onto her innocent and expectant face.

Drip.

“…”

Mitsuki’s eyes opened wide in disbelief. Her fingers reached up and touched the dark red liquid sprayed onto her face and slowly tilted her head. Then, Mitsuki slumped against Mina and started to cry in earnest.

“S-S-Sis! This person is sooooo mean! He suddenly threw dirty stuff on me…”

“Dirty stuff? Sorry… that’s just how this ability works.”

Kajiri smiled, all teeth. He looked at Joker, the one who had started this battle. There was a mischievous smile on her face, but it was not enough to reassure him.

“But… are we really going for it? It’s very dangerous. We’re all gonna die if we don’t coordinate well. After all, I don’t want to lose either –”

“Then pray to God.”

Joker looked like she had made up her mind. She said in a low and calm voice.

“God is on our side, so Her protection should be with us as well. Besides, we are out of options – Sterilization Disinfection, PoisonCatastrophe, are you ready?”

“Yes.”

“Is it really going to be okay?”

Compared to Breaksun’s calm, Mina looked like she was not convinced. Mina had not seen Single Room since the world was reconstructed, and it was difficult to convince her of his capacities on such short notice. However, we were indeed running out of time, and there wasn’t a better option.

We could only bet everything on this battle.

Five Greater Fragments will combine their powers and end the Great Reckoning descending upon this peaceful world.

“Then, relax a bit. We need to coordinate.”

Kajiri said casually as he cut open the skin on his arm with his knife, letting out copious amounts of blood. The blood flew towards Mitsuki as if it was alive, and drenched her from head to toe.

“Chi-!? Dirty stuff is here again! Dir… Ah.”

Mitsuki tottered and collapsed on the spot. I immediately held Mina back as she tried to rush over to help.

Honestly, I don’t want to rely on Mitsuki’s power. Her power put us through a lot of trouble when she lost control in the previous world. However, we were running out of options, and we have a safety switch in the form of Single Room – so maybe we could control her power.

“Urk… Uh, ahhhh. Wah.”

Mitsuki put her hands on her tummy and writhed on the ground. Her body was actually spasming.

“What – what is this. It feels so, so disgusting… Uh, oh, ugh, urrrrrgh – ”

Her affinity was changing from the angel to the fallen angel – she was being forcibly converted by Single Room’s blood. Single Room’s ability was to re-write the ‘setting’ for any object. It would be a piece of cake for him to change Mitsuki into a fallen angel.

“Urghhhhhhhhahhhhhhh!?”

This was the mixture of flame and sulfur that had once destroyed the two cities of corruption. The only way to control that power, which could pursue and slaughter and destroy everything, was –

“It has finally started. If that little girl can manage it, then I should go all out too.”

Joker lightly tapped the bells tied to the ends of her hair.

Ding… the bell made a clear sound. The air itself was now the medium to channel Melodia NoiseTear Song’s ability.

Melodia NoiseTear Song controlled the overflowing, splattering liquid of destruction that Unpleasant Counter-Current had become, and used her manipulation of space to make the torrent rush towards where she wished. The gathered monsters were all instantly swallowed up and torn apart.

This was veritably a cannon made from the Unpleasant Count-Current.

I felt a bit… sorry for Mitsuki, but she just needed to endure it for a bit longer. Single Room would change her back when all the enemies were dead.

“Then, let me do my thing.”

Mina said in a small voice as she hunched her shoulders and watched her sister’s pitiful state with displeasure.

“Seems like us two sisters are the only ones doing the dirty work… you better pay us well when you’re done. Anyways – I don’t feel good for letting other people aim for me, but it’s time to end this.”

Mina unscrewed the tops of both her spray cans, removed her gas mask, and swallowed the contents. She then said in a small voice:

“TYPE-C – The End.”

Her body immediately became highly concentrated miasma, breaking down everything it touched while swelling up in size… This was the final weapon spoken of in the tales of the Great Flood, Sterilization Disinfection.

“Alright, let’s go.”

Breaksun was still casually plucking the strings on her guitar.

As she played, PoisonCatastrophe altered the the cause and effect of the gluttonous mist that could even break through Melodia NoiseTear Song’s manipulation of space. Travelling along a perfect path that avoided the black torrent of Unpleasant Counter-Current, this white stream was also conducting a one-sided ravage upon the monsters.

This was veritably a cannon made from Sterilization Disinfection.

Seriously, the Saibara sisters were showing all their trump cards. We should all chip in to reward them. When everything was over, we should celebrate and drink with God.

But until then…

There was something else I needed to do.

I smiled softly towards my companions, who were doing their best. Then, I whispered to the spear in my hand:

“Should we get going, Poisoned Apple?’

“Ready when you are, Lost One.”

Once again, I left everyone’s side and ran outside of the circle of safety. I would probably get told off again later. In fact, I had resigned myself to the fate of having to act out of turn all the time.

However, this was something only I could do.

No. No.

It didn’t have to be me.

I was just an ordinary 19-year-old girl. I was not the Poisoned Apple or an immortal, and I just liked playing video games. However, my previous reincarnation was the Poisoned Apple that would kill the world. That was why I had to clean up the remnants of the Poisoned Apple and end my affairs from the previous life.

So, I started to run.

Amidst this apocalyptic scene, where monsters were being tossed left and right in Unpleasant Counter-Current and Sterilization Disinfection’s chaotic attacks, I ran straight towards Broken Hair,

I heard Rinne and Sakaki’s concerned cries.

I’m sorry. An easy Happy End where we just defeat the bad guys and live happily ever after just won’t do.

If we end everything here, then there would still be someone facing an unhappy end.

In this world full of peace and happiness, there were still people who were never blessed.

I just… disliked such circumstances.

Therefore, if I could help her, then I want to help her. I grasped the spear tightly in both hands and once again ran towards the battlefield. I ran towards the Beast of the End, who was shivering on the ground in lament as she was corroded by the black and white currents of destruction.

She was covered in blood and could barely move. However, Broken Hair seemed to have recovered some semblance of consciousness – perhaps it was because of the pain? With that familiar yet unique tone, she muttered:

“I… had lived… for too long.”

It was a soft and twisted sound, like the sound made by a newborn baby.

“Over and over, useless lifetimes – going round and round, repeating over and over. Even so, I didn’t go mad, and I tried my best to survive. Still, I couldn’t complete my duty when the World was on the verge of destruction. My endless lives were meaningless. The eternity I had endured were meaningless. I became an existence that was judged by the world and by God.”

Then, the forgotten Beast of the End made a small sound amidst blood gurgling from her mouth.

“I’m… so tired. I’m… tired of this. I… don’t want to repeat this anymore. I thought… it would be better if I can become God. If there was a world where everything was made from me, a world that could truly face a slow and quiet end, then I would turn myself crazy with no hesitation… Then, I would be able to end the world whenever I wanted to.”

The endless compound eyes of insects looked towards me.

“But if I can’t even achieve that wish…”

Sanguine tears fell from all of her compound eyes.

“Oh, Poisoned Apple, kill me.”

That was –

That was the goal Broken Hair had sought. She was immortal. She kept living and grew tired of everything. How do I say this… this was very very sad, and I can’t feel happy about it at all. These lines sounded like they came from a third-rate villain at the end of a story, yet it was spoken with such sorrow.

She turned herself into a demon and was prepared to be killed. Maybe she even threw the spear of the Poisoned Apple, which could kill her, to a place within our reach – This was a planned, foolish story of attempted suicide, with her being killed by herself.

The ravaged, forgotten, tired Queen of Insects.

Her goal had always been this.

Perhaps Ultimate ShieldThe Weakest had understood this. Perhaps that was why she modified Broken Hair into an evidently villainous and monstrous form, so it would be easier for her to get killed. I might be overthinking this, but I still couldn’t stop this thought. After all, Ultimate ShieldThe Weakest should have been reconstructed as a peaceful personality in this peaceful world. Now that I thought about it, the final words Ultimate ShieldThe Weakest spoke when she left also contained some insinuations.

“The poison that could even kill God should be able to completely destroy me, right?”

Broken Hair was still whispering as I walked towards her along the soaked, blood-covered tarmac road. Yes, I answered her in my heart. This was such a boring wish, but – I understand what you’re feeling. If we live for too long, we will grow tired towards the very act of existence.

Yes, you were just like me before I met Rinne.

In that case.

In that case –

I can’t fulfill your wish just like this.

Once upon a time, I had only wanted to die. I was tired of everything. I was sick of everything. But even such an empty soul could be saved. I was saved, and now I’m living happily.

God exists.

Miracles exist.

This is the world we live in.

So, don’t despair, Broken Hair.

“Guriko is going to gouge your eyes out – but.”

The tip of the spear pointed towards the crying eyes of my opponent, but I won’t go any further.

“If I defeat you, this villain, right here, then we can welcome a Happy End… but I can’t do it.”

A soul in despair was always looking for death, but – that was not true.

In fact, death was not the release.

Just like what Rinne did for me –

“I am no longer Gankyū Eguriko, so I can’t gorge out your eyeballs. I can’t kill you.”

– Instead, I hugged Broken Hair tightly.

Rinne was just an ordinary girl. She was not good in sports, and she didn’t achieve anything special. But when she hugged Gankyū Eguriko, the blood-drenched monster, she brought it salvation. It was a miracle that didn’t sound real, but it did happen.

Since such miracles had already happened once, then it could happen again, and I want to believe in miracles.

Broken Hair shivered weakly as I hugged her tightly.

From now on, I will start searching for a way to stop her tears.

It wasn’t a wish from Gankyū Eguriko –

– but the genuine wish of Itsuwara Guriko.

Ragnarok xx: The twilight of the aftermath...

Hahaha.

With a disdainful smile, the magician Moon Rainbow clapped her hands a few times and silently turned her back to the end of a story.

She had thought it was going to be a big drama. Little did she know it would end in the most naïve way possible.

Whatever. I don’t mind comedies. I already finished the job Broken Hair gave me, so it made sense to depart immediately.

The job Broken Hair gave me was to modify her flesh according to her commands, and to make the split bodies she made using her infinite reproduction into monsters. I did that job. I don’t see any issues with it.

I had mostly guessed her true goal. She was so narrowly focused on the present and had zero concerns for herself. It felt like she was on a path of self-destruction. Also, the way she challenged the entire world? It felt like she was seeking death from the start.

That was why I gave her a push… but our opponents seemed more naïve than Broken Hair had expected. They forgave her despite how much of a mess she made, pointed out how she could live her life, and dissipated her despair.

Broken Hair would probably need a long time to adjust before she can live normally.

She got to know such powerful immortals, and even God Herself. There is nothing truly impossible in this world – even her loneliness would be soothed after some time.

Congratulations. How wonderful.

I was getting tired of my life at the end of many years of wandering. I was a bit jealous of the ravaged Queen of Insects, since she got her release from her endlessly repeating life.

Sigh. Moon rode her precious motorbike that she used as a convenient mode of transport in this country and left Broken Hair as soon as she could. I was just helping. I won’t be able to handle it if they thought I was the actual enemy and start to chase me down. Sure, I can’t get one half of the world now, but I had never been interested in such things from the start.

Praises only count if they are given spontaneously by other people, not when they were forced to sing your tributes. What’s the point in having your split bodies clap for you? Fenrir, the spear that Broken Hair carried, said that I had died pathetically in my previous reincarnation because I had wanted to become God.

I don’t care about that anymore. Seriously.

I’m just a has-been magician who skipped out on her performance, so I don’t know when I’ll get my next job. Financially, Broken Hair gave me a huge sum of money, so I can manage even if I just loiter around in this town.

Then, what should I do?

Honestly, I think this is becoming my catchphrase.

“Feels like there’s nothing fun here…”

Feeling empty inside, Moon passed through a few towns. That was when something happened. She was resting on the side of the road and smoking a cigarette when she heard that voice.

“Ah, the lady magician!”

Moon turned to the familiar sound. Ume-chan, the silly little girl, was standing there. She still didn’t look like a middle-schooler. She was very short, and her behavior and appearances were rather childish.

When Moon saw the Baguenaudier in Ume’s hands and how she had already solved a little bit of it, Moon felt genuinely happy.

She snuffed out the cigarette and smiled gently at the girl. She always felt such an expression didn’t fit her face, and she probably never smiled like this for even once in her previous life.

Ume smiled sweetly in return and lifted the Baguenaudier with both hands.

“This is the thing you gave me. It’s so hard. I tried my best, but I’ve only managed to solve this much.”

“How much? Let me see.”

Here she was, instructing a clumsy girl on how to solve puzzles in the corner of some small town. It was such a small moment of peace, but this failure of a magician still felt rather happy.

Probably.

I think – this feels just right.

-\-\-\-\-\-

As promised, I took Rinne sightseeing in this world once everything was over. She seemed rushed for time, and we only had a few days in our disposal.

We visited Breaksun and Single Room in Poison Valley. We visited the Sakaki family and Tatsue at the World Institute. We also met up with the Saibara sisters and Nageki in the nostalgic town of Kannonsakazaki. Sakaki was still a high school teacher, so he let us into the campus. Rinne smiled nostalgically when she touched the desks of her classroom. The graffiti on the wood were full of reminiscences.

This dream-like experience was almost over. Rinne didn’t want to leave, but she still made the decision to go back. I don’t know what methods she could use to go back. She said this time her visit wasn’t because she was near death’s door. This time she was just trying to escape reality, which meant she could go back whenever she wanted.

I had questioned her while we were in the Kannonsakazaki High School classroom. “Why are you running away, then? I don’t get it…what are you escaping from? Is someone bullying you again? Or are your parents abusing you?”

“No. Those things don’t happen anymore. I’m actually pretty happy these days.”

Rinne smiled contently and took out a few books.

Those books had green covers with portraits of familiar-looking people. The author had a strange name and odd titles. It was a series of 5 books.

“What’s this?”

I took a volume and skimmed through the pages. Dense novels full of words put me asleep, so I never read those. But the illustrations of this novel read like a manga. How odd. Sakaki was looking at these books in shock as well.

Right, Sakaki and Rinne had resumed being a disgusting couple in just a few days. It really pissed me off, so I decided to ban Sakaki from appearing within my sight. I just felt annoyed whenever I see them being lovey-dovey together…No, I just feel annoyed. I’m not jealous. At all.

“Um, actually…” Rinne blushed in embarrassment, making me wonder if something had happened. She indicated towards the books and said: “I wrote these. It’s a story about us.”

Maybe she was really embarrassed. She was mumbling in such a small voice that I could barely hear her.

“I want you, Guriko, to read it. More than anyone else, I want you to read it. I will stay in this world till the end of tonight. Let’s use this book to talk about our past. Let’s talk about the stories in this world where Sensei, Guriko, and everyone else had lived with me.”

After that…

We spent the entire night in the school, chatting about trivial stuff, complaining about Rinne’s novel, making a mess, and having a happy time that made me feel sad.

Happy times passed so quickly.

How I wished I could spend just one more second with her…but I was so tired that I started to fall asleep…Rinne got up from next to me and muttered: “Guriko, Sensei…”

Just like how she had promised a second meeting, she used those same words when she bid us farewell.

“Goodbye.”

The God of this world disappeared after a contented smile.

After the long night, at the moment the sun rose above the horizon –

My most important person returned to her reality.

The same goes for me. Though I now slumbered while reminiscing my time with Rinne, I need to get up early tomorrow, go cut my hair, then head to prep school, and try my best to make it into university this year.

I will conquer this bloodless, but vitally important battlefield.

I will be able to raise my head just a little more the next time she visited this world.

-\-\-\-\-\-

The girl walked in this world towards the dawn, dragging a long shadow behind her.

She wore a pointed hat, like a clown, and donned a frock like a priest.

Her crimson, Mushi-like eyes were full of energy and spirit.

“Oh time, stop thy steps. You are so beautiful. I had thought I had grown tired of seeing the dawn… I feel today is especially beautiful.”

This was a lonely journey of exploration, without a goal or a destination.

No…

“Gah gah! Gagaga - !”

The spear that emitted an animalistic stench laughed loudly in her hands, as if stressing his presence as a noisy companion. The girl did not show any displeasure. Instead, she clutched it tightly with an indulgent smile.

She was still wandering the world as she crossed towns, mountains, plains, and rivers that were just waking up to the sun.

She was wasting time before the coming of the End, but somehow, she no longer considered it a form of suffering.

She had friends around Kannonsakazaki who were still alive, friends who were immortals. If she missed them, she could just go see them. She could talk about the things she saw on her journey. Then, when she was tired of her friends, she could restart her travels. The world was still changing all the time.

She had always thought that she achieved nothing.

She had always thought her life was a boring and repetitive cycle.

She thought her life was as boring as an endlessly growing sedimentary rock layer below her feet.

But I was wrong.

“Fenrir…” The girl – Broken Hair – asked the spear in her hands with trepidation: “Are you sure you want to follow me? I do not know where I am heading to, and I embark on a spontaneous yet boring journey… you must grow tired of it eventually, right? Spending time with someone like me will be joyless…”

“No such thing, Master.”

The spear named Fenrir guffawed loudly with its crackling laughter.

“You are the one who found me, so you are now my owner. I will follow you till the ends of the earth… and always act as your travel companion! Gagaga! After all, I’m the Poisoned Apple destined to kill God! Even if the world was nearly destroyed – no, even if it was completely destroyed – I will last till the end of time, and remember everything about Broken Hair!”

My life was a cycle that never stopped, over and over.

I always thought there was no meaning to anything, and it was just a pointless accumulation.

But I was wrong. All that time I spent living and reincarnating was not wasted. Dusk is always followed by night, but soon the brilliant morning will arrive. Every dawn was different in this apparently monotonous cycle – moreover, it was always beautiful no matter how many times I looked at it.

If this endless cycle of a life could become as brilliant as this golden spear, then it was enough. I could endure – no, I could enjoy this endlessly circling life.

Even if Broken Hair dies and forgot everything when she restarted, this spear would tell her everything she had experienced in her life so far. She had always thought her life was as meaningless as evaporating mist, but it was not true. It would no longer disappear, and will genuinely build on it and remain in this world.

If this was true, then this journey – this endless wandering – would no longer be meaningless.

If this was not pointless, then she could endure this – no, enjoy this!

“Let’s go, Fenrir. Let’s start walking, go wherever we want, and reach the end of the horizon… The world is vast, and we have a lot to see.”

The Queen of Insects smiled naturally as she confidently walked towards the horizon.

The annoying servant in her hands was also accompanying her without complaints.

“Gaga! Gagaga--! Understood. Understood, Master! Gagaga! Tell me whatever you want me to do! No matter what, I’m your best tool, and your best friend! Gagagag - !”

“Also, this may sound very stubborn…” Broken Hair said something that she would probably have to repeat later.

“Don’t call me Master.”

The two of them walked forward together.

It will be a happy and free journey until the End.

Afterword

Hi Everyone. Akira here. I present to you Mushi, Eyeballs and Damaged Hair.

Well, though this sounds like the opening of an ordinary epilogue, I feel I need to add some explanations this time because people are definitely going to think “Wasn’t Mushi, Eyeball and Snow White meant to be the final book?”.

Yep – This Damaged Hair book can be considered as the extras, post-mortem, theatrical version, or a sixth and final forbidden book that nobody had expected (including myself). On a certain level, it is extraneous information. Readers who feel the end of Snow White had already covered everything might not find this book to be much fun. Damaged Hair is a happy end dedicated to specific readers who felt unhappy, displeased, or sad after seeing their favorite character die at the end of Snow White.

The reason I wrote this book included a lot of very mature considerations, but the most important reason is the unexpected feedback I got from the readers. I really feel rather odd. The Mushi series is a rather dark and ominous entry amongst works published by MF Bunko J. This series spends too much time on internal monologues, is full of vivid and cruel imagery, and isn’t meant to be a best seller.

However, we managed to get a manga going, and a drama CD is gonna get released. Not only did the work escape being terminated early and was serialized till the end, but I also even got this chance to write a post-mortem. I thought the story was going to end with Snow White, so I struggled to decide what to write for this book… I had to decide why Akutagawa Shirayuki was escaping from the real world. I only managed to draft up this current story after we decided to publish (what a bad idea).

So, I read the entire series all over again while moaning, and finally discovered the existence that I forgot. I’m sorry. I really did forget that person… sorry, Damaged Hair. Those of you who read the story should already know who Damaged Hair really is, but some people do like to read from the back of the book, so I’m going to keep that a secret for now.

Anyways, I wrote with this forgotten woman at the center of the story and allowed Guriko and the others living happily ever after to weave a new tale. At the end, I do feel it is best to let everyone enjoy the fun of imagining their own end. Please excuse me from being so obtuse. However, since the end of Snow White virtually left no clues about the New World, readers couldn’t really enjoy imaging an ending on their own, so it should work out.

Honestly, there were lots of people who wanted to see an extra chapter after Snow White was published. There were so many opinions – criticisms about how they didn’t like this ending, questions about what happened to certain people, and how they wanted to read more – which made me roll up my sleeves and write more, ending up with this Mushi, Eyeballs and Damaged Hair. The combination of all the readers’ opinions bore fruit in this fashion, so please, keep providing me with requests and feedback!

By the way, this is a pointless little piece of information, but I tried to squeeze in every character who had ever appeared in this series into Damaged Hair. If you can recognize every character, then you are an expert on Mushi to Medama. If you can instantly recognize Katō Katsumi, Shigure Benimaru, and Echizen Kurage, then you should be proud. Oh yeah, Echizen Kurage is an original character in the Mushi, Eyeballs, and Teddy Bear manga. A big thanks to Asami Yuriko-san for allowing me to use him! As for monsters such as Legion Bandanna, please consider them as having turned up as a member of the Final God Mode: 3000 Worlds (huh-?). As for the “me” and “teacher” who appeared at the end, those are the personifications of the readers and me. They would exist in the story regardless of my writing.

After breaking all this news, the following are my acknowledgements.

Thank you, executive editor Satou-san, for accidentally pitching the idea of writing a post-mortem and then helped me through a hellish journey of editing while he regretted his decision. Thank you, Mouse-sensei, for warming the world of Mushi and Eyeballs with your gentle illustrations despite me dragging you down with my slow progress. I’d also like to thank former executive producer Kindaichi-san, and the integrated media team lead by Asami Yuriko-san who managed the manga.

And lastly, thank you so much, readers.

Goodbye!

Akira

Return to Volume 4 Full Text

Back to Main Page