Editing Mushi Uta:Volume 7th Episode 25 (section)

=== Part 2 ===

“Hah, hah…!”

Grasping the Morpho butterfly spear, Arisu leapt backwards. Her uniform had been dirtied and there were lacerations on her hands and legs.

“…!”

There was a flash of light. An impact created massive cracks along the floor at Arisu’s feet the moment after she leapt aside.

Not even an instant after she dodged the attack, the white object gouging the ground moved like a living being, wrapping itself around Arisu’s legs.

“Eeek!”

Being pulled with incredible force, Arisu’s body floated in air.

“Kh…!”

The moment before she was pounded against the pillar, the object constricting her legs—a white string that resembled a rhythmic gymnast’s ribbon—was cut by the silver spear. Spinning her body in air, she used her right leg clad in a silver pattern to kick the pillar and protected against the violent assault.

Other than the silver rod, the Morpho butterfly fused on with Arisu’s right leg. If her leg hadn’t been strengthened, she wouldn’t be able to avoid damage if she fell from the pillar to the ground.

“You just activated my trap card. It allows me to reduce your mobility.”

A boy’s light voice echoed.

Immediately following this, the ground Arisu had been standing on glowed in crimson. Both of her legs were suddenly equipped with shackles with iron balls that appeared out of nowhere. The surface of the iron ball was digital, and the number 60 showed on it, starting a countdown to 0.

“H-heavy—“

Another white flash pursued her.

As Arisu had her movements sealed, she swung her spear, blowing the ribbon away. However, she lost her balance and the second strike came to her.

She barely stopped it with the spear’s handle, but couldn’t fully cancel the impact. Enough power to make her feel as though her stomach was pierced stabbed her solar plexus.

“Cough, cough…!”

Grimacing, Arisu collapsed to her knees.

“Got some great power but your attacks are too dull, hon. Didn’t fight much, now did she?”

The freckled girl put a hand to her hip, calmly looking at Arisu. Her Mushi transformed into creepy arm bracelets was on both her arms, with each one having a white ribbon extending from it.

“She might be hiding some kind of ability. As long as we don’t lower our guards, though, this should be an easy win.”

Next to the bespectacled boy was a strangely-structured table. It was his Mushi, and he was piling up cards on top of it.

“Don’t go easy on her.”

Waiting at the back, Harukiyo wore a face of rage.

“You can kill her in one shot. No holdin’ back.”

“Eh, poor girl. Harukiyo, bro, arent’cha a bit too angry today?”

“We can’t go against him when he gets really mad. That’s an iron law. He tricked us thinking this’ll be an amusing opponent, but we’ll pay him back later.”

While fixing the position of his glasses, he mumbled “So you pass on your turn,” and placed another card on the table.

“Cough…”

Grimacing in pain, Arisu rose up. The iron balls attached to her legs reached 0 and burst and vanished.

The ground before her glowed and a soldier readying a bow appeared. He shot an arrow toward Arisu.

Arisu promptly protected herself with silver scales, repelling the arrow. However, the two ribbons attacking her from the side blew her back along with her scales.

“Weren’t you stronger than me?”

Folding his arms, Harukiyo spoke coldly. He hadn’t moved even a single step since the start of the battle.

“Kh… Ugh…!”

On the other hand, it took everything Arisu had just to protect herself. As she had to dodge the ever-changing ribbons and defend against the bespectacled boy’s incomprehensible ability, she couldn’t attack actively even once. Never mind defeating these two Mushitsuki, she couldn’t even come close to Harukiyo.

How on earth could she—

While dancing between the sequence of attacks, Arisu thought desperately.

Just like Harukiyo said, the two people standing in her way were definitely not weak. And even if she beat them, if she then fought the flame devil—

“You’re always half-assed.”

Glaring at Arisu being played with the two Mushitsuki, Harukiyo spat.

“Everyone’s just talk. No matter how serious they say they are, they always think this in the very last moment.”

Unable to fully defend against an attack, Arisu’s back smashed into a pillar.

“’I didn’t really want to give up, but I can’t do anything anymore’—”

Another trap card or whatever was activated. Arisu’s entire body was ensnared by thorns.

“What’s the reason for thinking that? A strong enemy? The limits of one’s ability? Death? —The fuck you think all those are? You lookin’ for a fight? Whether you give up or not depends on you. How dare they slack off at the very last moment, looking relieved!”

Silver scales blew around Arisu.

“But Hanashiro Mari was different. Since she couldn’t give up on her dream even after death, the Morpho butterfly’s still here.”

She made the bespectacled boy’s ability sleep and the thorns let go. Arisu grabbed it, bare-handed, and ripped it apart.

“—Or so I thought.”

She then received the white ribbon attack from the side, however. The impact blew her body away, and the scales nullifying the boy’s ability were scattered.

“In the end, she was the same.”

Even while rolling on the ground, Arisu immediately rose up. She tried thrusting at her opponents, but the ribbon’s mad attacks struck her back.

“The devil’s potion and the angel’s potion—I’ve realized which on Hanashiro Mari chose.”

Harukiyo’s voice was shaking. As if on the very limits of holding back his anger, he grimaced.

The devil’s potion and the angel’s potion.

These were familiar terms.

Oh, right, they were part of the picture book left in Mari’s sickroom. The title should be ''The Magic Potion''. And the story was—

Harukiyo howled.

“Pieces of shit! Fuck! Everyone’s a fucking crook! Hanashiro Mari! Sensei! The Undying! Even that Morpho butterfly!”

As Patricia succumbed to her sickness, a witch came to visit her.

The witch told her,

''Here is a potion received from an angel, and here is a potion received from a devil.

“I found out which potion Hanashiro Mari chose… thinkin’ carefully, I was an idiot too for not realizing this. I asked Sensei about all sort of things. About the Mushitsuki called Hanashiro Mari.”

''If you drink the angel’s potion, you will lose the people most important to you, and in exchange heal from your illness, living forevermore.

''If you drink the devil’s potion, you will die. However, the people most important to you will always console you at your side.

''Now then.

''Which will you choose?

“In the end, Hanashiro Mari—gave up at the very last moment. On her dream, that is.”

He was probably no longer even speaking to Arisu. She couldn’t understand what Harukiyo was saying.

“The question then becomes why the Morpho butterfly’s still alive and kicking. I got it, I understood everything. I now remember what Sensei said. That crook bastard, he knew everything. Looked so kind but he was actually a son of a bitch. Never seen anyone as savage.”

Harukiyo’s indignation did not calm down. Arisu had no idea why he was so mad.

In order to understand why—

Was there no other way of hearing the real state of affairs from him?

Therefore, she couldn’t let him leave, no matter what—

“The cruelest thing in this world is half-assed kindness. Sensei—Sanbikime, more like—was the incarnation of that. As are the Mushi he produces. I wish they’d all die.”

Harukiyo’s voice became even lower.

That was because he saw Arisu turn her body around and start running away from him.

She stepped to the side to dodge the attack coming from behind. Arisu dashed toward the exit like a rabbit.

“—Aah, shit. Shit. Shiiit! I’m so pissed off!”

However, unable to fully evade it, Arisu received the impact. Her petite body was thrown onto the ground.

Raising her sand-covered face, Arisu soon got on her legs.

“What the fuck do you mean, ‘I’m serious’? Everyone’s the same. In the end, they all just run away.”

Ignoring Harukiyo’s moans, Arisu ran at full speed toward the entrance.

“—Kill her properly. I don’t want even the slightest chance of seeing her ever again.”

“Whoa. I get the feeling he’ll burn us to a crisp if we don’t do what he says.”

“It’s gonna leave a bad aftertaste. Oh well, I’ll do it though.”

Even while covered in wounds, Arisu finally reached the exit.

There, she rotated her body.

“…!”

The two Mushitsuki’s mad attacks assaulted Arisu. Ground caved in and the surrounding walls were destroyed.

“Mari—”

Even while covered by a cloud of dust, Arisu stopped in place. The right leg fused with the Morpho butterfly stabbed into the ground, supporting her body.

“Please—”

Even as her mind started growing hazy from the damage, she faced ahead.

“Just for now, give me all of your power—”

Scales gushing out of the spear covered Arisu. She took a step.

Her left leg stepping forward had a silver pattern appearing on it.

''—Arisu.

She heard the voice of her dead friend at her ears.

“You don’t need to think about my body, so—”

Another step.

She took another step forward.

Readying her spear, Arisu’s right arm glowed in silver.

Her fully open eyes glared at the enemy ahead.

“Uh—”

The freckled girl and the bespectacled boy changed their expressions. But they were pressured only for a moment, and then repeated their fierce attacks toward Arisu.

Engulfed in scales, Arisu was pushed back by the Mushitsuki’s attacks.

“In order to keep advancing forward—”

Arisu took another step ahead.

Her left arm was encroached by a glowing, silver pattern.

While protecting against the enemy’s attacks with scales, she took another step ahead.

The silver pattern crawled up half of Arisu’s face. A half of her lips distorted in the shape of a smile, moving on their own.

“—Yes, I understand.”

[[File:Mushi_Uta_Bug_7th_p055.jpg|thumb]]

This time she could clearly hear her best friend’s voice. Her throat trembled because none other than herself uttered those words.

One eye glowed in silver, the other eye contained a strong will.

The two eyes looked only at Harukiyo, and Arisu started walking ahead.

“Eh, no freaking way. No way—”

“No way, this girl—”

The two Mushitsuki paled and kept increasing their attacks on Arisu.

However, she repelled these using the scales, getting ahead step by step.

Her walking turned to a canter, then slowly became running. The more she accelerated, the more the silver glow enveloping Arisu strengthened—

“Ran away so far just to get a run-up…?”

Arisu was accelerating in a straight line.

She entirely repelled all the pursuing ribbons.

Every few meters she advanced, the bespectacled boy activated his ability. Shackles came to restraint her four limbs and all sorts of attacks rained down on her.

However, as Arisu gradually increased her glow, she shrugged it all off. The restraints were blown off and scattered.

As she ran surrounded by scales, Arisu herself was transforming into a silver, glowing spear—

“I-I’m sorry, Harukiyo bro!”

The two Mushitsuki acted fast.

They leapt away from the course of Arisu who rushed toward Harukiyo as if possessed.

“This is too much for us to handle.”

“Good luck, Harukiyo.”

Harukiyo did not reproach the two Mushitsuki. He wordlessly detached himself from the pillar and stopped folding his arms.

“Haha, so you can do nothing but brute-force it.”

It certainly was brute-forcing it.

However, this was the only way Arisu could do it right now.

To stand against the devil of flames, she couldn’t spare any time to look to the sides.

“No way you’re thinkin’ I wouldn’t be dodging this, right? I will use everything at my disposal—”

Harukiyo wore a confident smile. But for a split second, his expression froze.

He seemed to have found something behind Arisu’s fierce pursuit. He turned a bold gaze toward someone who wasn’t Arisu.

“I see… so he’s your ‘strength’.”

Returning his gaze to Arisu, Harukiyo wore a delightful sneer. —It was the smile of a devil, one that could burn everything reflected in his eyes.

Arisu’s sight was filled by scorching hellfire.

The fire pillar with Harukiyo in its center created the form of a Great Yama tiger beetle in the air.

“Alright, come at me. —Ichinokuro Arisu.”