Lie:verse Liars:Chapter 8

Reinforcements appeared. Or rather, the latecomer seems to have finally arrived.

　--Mashira Hiizumi is a woman with beautiful flowing black hair, an artistically shaped face, with large eyes that attract anyone who sees her.

Wearing a white school uniform, her standing posture is majestic and dignified as always.

She is the kind of beautiful girl that everyone would stare at if they passed by her on the street.

But the more beautiful something is, the more terrifying it can actually be, and that is precisely what Mashira Hiizumi is.

"I'm on my way there, so you better have a good excuse for leaving me behind!"

Mashira glared at me from afar with an agitated voice coming from my earpiece, she made a new hatchet in her right hand using her disguise and rushed toward the back of the group of "fake beasts" that blocked our way.

The "fake beasts" notice her presence and turn around to attack Mashira, but they are unable to stop her.

Mashira stabbed the fake beast's outstretched hand with the knife that appeared in her left hand and swung the hatchet in her right down on the fake beast's brain.

The "fake beast" was quickly silenced as it slammed to the ground with a loud thud.

Mashira releases the weapon in her right hand, creates another hatchet, and throws it toward the next "fake beast".

Mashira comes toward us without hesitation. She cuts up the "fake beasts" that swarmed her path non-stop.

　Her appearance is as gorgeous and gruesome as ever.

　Mashira's "disguise" is completely different from that of Tanaka and the other Awakened.

There are two orthodox types of "disguise" that we third-generation Awakened use.

These two types are "giant weapons" and "firearms".

　In the concept of "disguise" which is used as "weapons to fight against monsters called 'fake beasts' in the space called the 'false world or Gisekai'," these two types were the ones that were the most envisioned by the Awakened.

These were the two types of weapons that were most likely to come to mind when thinking about the concept of a "disguise." They were like special weapons held by the main characters in animes, video games, and movies.

But Mashira's image of this is fundamentally different.

What Mashira Hiizumi sought in her "disguise" was to be "a weapon to comfortably slaughter fake beasts," which made her disguise incredibly dangerous to other people.

As a result, Mashira's "disguise" is quite special compared to the image of how other "awakened" create theirs. She can use and abandon multiple types of weapons that exist in reality almost without any limitations.

An automatic pistol appears in her right hand next, and she fires it by screwing its muzzle into the mouth of the "fake beast," then discards it when she runs out of bullets. On the other hand, a knife appears, held upside down, and with the same momentum, she thrusts it at the profile of the "fake beast" coming at her from the opposite side and releases it. She then swings the hatchets that have newly appeared in both her hands several times, and when she feels that they have lost their sharpness, she uses them as a tome and leaves them there.

The "fake beats" that Mashira killed disappear one after another, and a new "disguise" appears in her hands again as she deals with more of the fake beasts lined up in front of her.

"As usual, I still love watching this happen."

Mashira's strength is so overwhelming that she says such a sarcastic remark.

Despite the fact that her "disguise" in itself is not as good as the other "Awakened," the results she gets out of it are much better than the others.

　The reason behind this is obvious.

The precision of Mashira's image of her "disguise" is unmatched compared to other Awakened, and her physical ability embodied by the "disguise" with her skill in handling multiple weapons is incomparable.

More than aptitude and compatibility, she has clear and pure thoughts, feelings, and desires of "what she seeks".

When these match with the image of oneself, the benefit that "Disguise" gives to the "Awakener" improves many times over.

I believe that a "disguise" is not only a weapon for the "Awakened" to defeat the "fake beasts," but also an existence that reveals the true nature of the "Awakened" themselves.

Mashira, who is a prime example of this, took a big leap toward us after she was satisfied with putting away all of the Fake Beasts for a while.

"Well then, Ruusuke my dear? You do have something to say to me first, don't you?"

The girl stared at me with her face so close to mine that my breath almost caught on her face. She was the same beautiful girl who had just shown me an overwhelming display of what a killing spree looks like.

　It was obvious what I had to say to Mashira.

"Thank you for picking me up."

"First of all, you're supposed to say 'Thank you for saving my life!'"

"I'll only thank you if you apologize for being late."

"I'm not late because I got there on time for an important event."

"You should look up the meaning of tardiness in the dictionary. You should buy one."

"I don't have the word "tardy" in my dictionary."

"Your dictionary is just a bunch of crap anyway."

"You're younger than me, use honorifics."

"I'll think about it once Mashira uses it with me, her master."

"How many months ago was that anyway? I'm not going to use honorifics with someone who has no respect for me in the first place."

"Yeah, yeah I agree with that. Whatever you say."

Despite being in a middle of an argument, our hands haven't stopped moving at all.

I break down the fake beasts and roll them over, and Mashira wastes no time in finishing them off.

Sasamiya suddenly intrudes into our argument, who is gasping for breath while holding her victim.

"Ha- Haizo-Haizora-san ......! Who is this person ......?"

"Oh her? I'd like to introduce you to the last member of our team, Mashira Hiizumi."

"Is this child okay? She looks like she's about to die."

"Sasamiya-san is a newcomer to Team T. She's the last member. Her mission this time is to carry the victim and bring them to safety."