Die – Part 06

“Let’s go.”

Sniffing audibly, I took off. The other two did the same, launching forward to strike the Magiclad Girl head-on.

First came the leaf shuriken. Kyouko let herself get hit by them, narrowing her eyes and watching our movements closely.

“Take this!”

Haruna swung down in a diagonal slash, but Kyouko ducked and dodged it. Sera, who could only use one leg, kicked at the drifting hard leaves, using them as foothold to change direction midair and launch a strike. Kyouko swept it all away with a single swing of her sword.

While she was winding up for the heavy strike, my fist closed in on her face. But she narrowly dodged, and I took a kick that sent me flying.

“Not bad at all.”

Kyouko closed in on Sera with blinding speed. After a few sharp clangs, Sera was slashed clean from chest to stomach, and blood sprayed through the air like a swarm of delicate butterflies.

While Kyouko was open from that attack, Haruna tried to stab her with the green sword, but got blown away by a whirlwind.

No good. Just like the dog said, we were no match for her. She was way too strong.

Leaves still danced through the air. Sera was still conscious. Haruna had taken a good hit too, but she was glaring at Kyouko with fire in her eyes.

These two are pretty strong too.

“Haruna, Sera! One more time!”

“You got it!”

“Let’s go!”

Sera rushed in first again. A thoughtless, headlong charge.

Kyouko sliced upward in a crescent arc, cleaving Sera in half. Or at least, that’s what it looked like.

It was, in fact, just a substitution technique. Classic ninja misdirection. I had to admire how flawlessly she pulled it off. Sera was damn good at creating openings.

But Kyouko had seen right through it. She knew there was no way Sera would attack head-on without some kind of plan. That fake opening was to draw someone in. Me.

My plan was to drive a downward kick from her blind spot. I’d never regretted not going with a punch more than I did in that moment. You can’t adjust mid-air when you attack with your leg.

Kyouko smiled sweetly, even tilted her head a little, and then casually drove her sword into me. When the difference in power was this obvious, a strike from a complete blind spot was the only logical move. And Kyouko understood that perfectly.

In other words, she could predict exactly where and when we’d try to attack.

She swept my legs, and I floated for a split second. The next moment, a twister flung me across the battlefield, right into Sera, who was midair and about to unleash a Swallow Reversal. It happened too fast for her to react. Her sword ran me through.

“A-Ayumu.”

“Don’t worry about it. It doesn’t even hurt.”

We couldn’t hit her from the front. Surprise attacks were being read like an open book. We were completely out of options.

What the hell could we do?

Nothing. We had no chance. Yeah. No choice but to give up.

Maybe one more shot. Just one more. I’d let her knock me flat on my back and stare up at the stars. Then I’d give up for real.

But first, I needed to land one full-powered hit. Just one. Or I wouldn’t be satisfied.

As Haruna and Sera made another charge and got wiped out again, I dragged my useless legs, slammed my tightly clenched fist into the gravel, and slowly crawled forward. Toward the chainsaw.

I picked it up and recited the incantation. “Htaed fo regnibrah a tub gnimrahc dna ylevol!”

The outfit I’d always hated enveloped me. The chainsaw glowed ruby-red and screamed to life. I rose slowly and dug my boots into the gravel.

“I almost forgot,” Kyouko said. “You’re a Magiclad Girl too.”

Kyouko yanked her sword out of Sera and kicked Haruna aside, turning her full attention toward me.

She slashed down at me without hesitation, and I swung my chainsaw right back at her.

“What?” Kyouko’s eyes widened. She hadn’t expected me to fight back.

Her wounds healed in an instant. She must’ve died and come back again.

“You damn monster!”

And there it was. Magic. It hit like a cannon blast, and I dropped to the ground.

No. Not yet. I couldn’t fall just yet.

I took a step back, barely keeping myself on my feet. My arm was probably broken. But whatever. As long as my right hand still worked, I could throw a punch.

Gravel crunched as I slid my foot forward. No matter what she hit me with, no matter how many times I took it, I kept sliding forward, one step at a time.

Kyouko shook her head wildly, her big eyes wide with terror. Like she was staring at a zombie, completely sure she was about to die.

“Stop! Die already!”

Like hell I was stopping. Like hell I was dying.

I haven’t decked you yet.

Those two damn twisters came at me, ready to tear my body to shreds. If I got caught between them, I’d be smashed to bits and that’d be the end of it. I guess it was hopeless, after all.

Then I saw it. Haruna’s last barrier was holding one of them back. But the other twister still shredded me, tearing at me like I was paper.

But that wasn’t enough. Getting minced slowly wasn’t nearly enough to make me quit.

“Fall! Kneel! Get lost!”

Kyouko gripped her wooden sword and unleashed a full-powered strike.

“You’re strong. Stronger than anyone I’ve ever faced. Ridiculously strong.”

I caught her sword with my hand and crushed it.

“No way! You just… crushed a Magigear… with your bare hand?”

“Sorry. Truth is, I’m ridiculously strong too.”

“A mere human… a human could never—”

“Did I forget to mention it? Believe it or not, I’m not human. I’m a zombie, and a Magiclad Girl. So, how many more times do I have to do this? Ten more? Doesn’t matter to me.”

The costume under her black cloak vanished.

Kyouko screamed. She shook her head, and the tears welling at the corners of her eyes slid down her cheeks.

Oh, right. There was something I’d wanted to say to the person who killed me.

“You know what they say: once an idiot, always an idiot. And I was one. Boredom is a luxury, but it’s not fun. Solitude is peaceful, but there’s no one to share joy with. Thanks. Getting killed by you changed my life.”

Kyouko hadn’t expected a word of what I just said. She was so stunned she couldn’t even scream.

I tossed the chainsaw to the ground, brushed the shards of her weapon from my hand, crouched low, took a deep breath, and gathered every bit of strength I had.

“So now,” I growled, “I’m gonna change your life.”

I stepped forward, driving up all the power from my core, twisting my hips to carry it through to my right arm. I tightened my fist, clenched my teeth, and focused everything into a single point. With all the force I could muster, I slammed it into her infuriatingly pretty face.

Kyouko went flying, kicking up all sorts of debris as she was hurled away. Then finally, she stopped moving. Her body was just that of a girl—soft, delicate, like Haruna’s.

“It’s over,” Sera said, dragging her leg forward. She had a hand pressed against her bloody chest.

“You’re a mess,” I said, letting out a chuckle.

She gave a laugh of her own. “You’re gross. Honestly, if you were that strong, you could have just fought like that from the beginning. You look gross, but still.”

There wasn’t any repugnance in her voice, just her usual dry bite.

“Haruna, you alive?”

“O-Of course! Who do you think… I am?”

Her legs were wobbly, but her bratty attitude was still perfectly intact.

I lent my shoulders to both of them and headed toward Eu.

“Eu.”

“Miss Hellscythe.”

“Hey, negamancer.”

The silver-haired, pretty girl opened her eyes slightly.

“Well, look at that. You’re alive after all.” Haruna sounded almost disappointed, though her cowlick twitched happily.

Eu sat up, pressing a gauntleted hand to her head. Letters etched themselves into the gravel beside her.

“Is it over?”

“Yes,” Sera answered. “Ayumu took care of it.”

Eu’s expression, normally blank, seemed faintly satisfied.

Sera handed her black cloak to Eu. Once that was done, I turned to the naked Kyouko lying nearby. Her eyes still glowed faintly red. She hadn’t given up just yet.

I grabbed her cloak and raised my fist. “Better make sure she stays down, permanently.”

I proceeded to strike her with everything I had, only for my right hand to be caught in a firm grip. It was so strong that even in my transformed Magiclad Girl state, I couldn’t move it at all.

“Don’t stop me,” I said. “We can’t let her live.”

When I turned around, I saw a pretty girl I had never seen before. She wore a white coat lined with lace, her long hair tied into pigtails that reached down to her waist. I could see a blouse, pleated skirt, and tie underneath.