Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume8 Chapter4 (section)

===Part 4===

There was no time to care about attire or making themselves presentable. After calling for a taxi, they hurried over to the abandoned factory that Kokoro had indicated.

In order not to make the taxi driver suspicious, they got off slightly before their destination, then ran madly at full speed.

Ahead of them was a mechanical factory that had shut down a long time ago. Faint light was cast by a street lamp on the road in the distance. Combined with the fortunate presence of moonlight, it was not too dark to see ahead.

Traversing over a locked gate, Haruaki's group invaded the factory. Within the vast confines, countless pieces of scrap metal were left lying around. Most of these probably did not belong to the original factory but were dumped here illegally later on, resulting in a mountain of junk without any sense of unity. Automobile chassis without tires, rusted refrigerators, structural steel, CRT televisions without outer shells, bathtubs with residues of green water.

As soon as Haruaki's group reached their destination, the first thing they heard was simply a scream.

In other words&mdash;

They were too late.



"Ah... Ahhhhhhh!"

"Good grief&mdash;I was thinking you'd get slightly more serious but you're still no good. The same goes for you... What are you afraid of? Hey, show me some spirit here and put in more force."

Un Izoey was lying face up on the ground with Kokoro stepping on her shoulder and the excessively decorated weird sword piercing through her wrist area.

Spurting incessantly and spattering outside was pain and suffering colored like the heart. Flowing across the dark-colored skin, the liquid also contaminated Un Izoey's hand. That hand was convulsing intensely due to pain as well as an even more compelling reason.

"Gu, ah... Gah...!"

"Where are you looking at, are you that concerned about your hand? Hmm? Your hand has merely been dyed bright red by blood, nothing special, right? ''Or do you have some kind of traumatic memory''?"

Hearing that, Haruaki's group finally understood.

They finally understood why Kokoro could injure Un Izoey despite how powerful she was in the past, why Un Izoey's movements had become so restrained, why she lost balance so easily. Thinking back, she had seemed quite strange all along.

Everything&mdash;All of this dated back to the cultural festival when Kirika sought victory by forcing her to commit taboo; was that incident still affecting her?

"Huff, huff... Guh...!"

"! &mdash;Ohoh, that's right, that's right. Show me your perseverance, hurry...!"

Un Izoey kicked upwards while lying on the ground, controlling the knife that was held on the tip of her foot, stabbing into Kokoro's upper arm as though in retaliation. As Kokoro's arm dangled powerlessly, the knife continued to savor the sensations of flesh and blood by cutting sideways. Opening up the wound then turning back and forth, the wound was further enlarged.

"Kufuoo... Yes, very good, give me more. I want ''più'', ''più'', ''più''! Don't sweat the small stuff, bring it on, bring it on, kahahahahaha! See, you're about to sever it. My arm is about to be cut into two! With that, you could very well win. Hurry up and show your true power!"

Blood gushed out like mad. The arm's flesh was ripped open. The whiteness of bone could be seen faintly. Due to the arm's own weight, the incision was pulled even wider. The interior of the organism known as humans was exposed. Kokoro was not only enjoying this abuse of the flesh but also twisting the weird sword that was stabbed into Un Izoey's wrist whenever the wound in her arm was being stirred. She seemed to be trying to use this pain to stimulate more of Un Izoey's battle instincts. Totally nauseating.

Nevertheless, when Kokoro's arm was roughly severed halfway, the movements of the knife wielded in Un Izoey's foot began to grow sluggish while the twitching of her hand further intensified.

Kokoro frowned and clicked her tongue with boredom from the bottom of her heart.

"A~Ah... So it's no good after all? How boring. Hey, why did you come alone if you're gonna act like this? Are you a moron?"

The gushing blood suddenly stopped. First to disappear were the sleeves of her red uniform, followed by the shoulders then even the fabric in front of her chest vanished&mdash;At the same time, the nearly severed arm's messy wound gradually healed up. Due to the cursed cloth's surface area being consumed to treat the wound, her upper body ended up almost unclothed except for underwear. Perhaps because she did not think it was necessary to stick to a uniform color scheme to that extent, her underwear was white. But due to the blood from her arm seeping to her underwear, it had acquired a slightly red color. On top of one of her well-developed breasts was a tattoo. Similar to Satsuko's tattoo but different, Kokoro's tattoo was carved using a dragon's «Jaws» as a motif.

Kokoro seemed to have completely lost interest in Un Izoey and did not deliver a final blow, simply withdrawing her sword directly. Then finally&mdash;she turned her gaze towards Haruaki's group.

"Hi... Whether this girl or you guys, you're all so impatient. I already picked tomorrow so go ahead and rest properly first. However, this does mean you should be highly motivated now, so it doesn't really matter."

While saying that, she pulled out a Santa costume from the sack on her back and pressed it against her chest. Using this as nourishment, her red uniform silently reappeared.

"Motivation? Of course... If you really want to see it, I'll show it to you! Stand right there and don't move!"

Her clenched fist trembling all this time, Fear kicked the scrap metal by her feet and charged forward.

"&mdash;Mechanism No.20 slashing type, great blade form: «A Hatchet of Lingchi»!"

Using the momentum from her rapid dash, Fear swung the giant hatchet. Kokoro evaded by jumping back lightly and landing on a small mountain of scrap metal behind her. Fear did not stop running and continued to chase her up the small mountain, swinging the hatchet&mdash;No, the weapon was no longer a hatchet.

"Mechanism No.22 bludgeoning type, spike-ball form: «Morgenstern», Curse Calling!"

"Kaha! So many variations, hey!"

Kokoro twisted her body while raising her sword up high as a shield, swinging it down to parry the spiked metal club's destructive force. Instantly, she frowned, most likely due to the strange sensation she felt through her hand. In the next second, after the spiked club was deflected, the scrap metal flew apart like an explosion where the morningstar had struck&mdash;Very likely, Fear's intended target was not Kokoro's body but the scrap metal underfoot.

All sorts of objects flew into the air. Broken CD players, air conditioner filters, bicycle tires. Then Fear acted even faster than those objects could fall&mdash;

"Mechanism No.21 hanging type, hook-claw form: «Spanish Spiders»!"

"Oh...?"

The countless scattered objects partially obscured Kokoro's line of sight. Making use of this instant of distraction, from the shadows of the stream of falling scrap metal, Fear extended several ensnaring hooks that were connected to chains. One of the hooks caught Kokoro's chest. Accompanied by the sound of ripping cloth, Kokoro's body was pulled forward at the same time. Victorious so far, Fear hastily transformed the torture tool again.

"&mdash;«Human-Perforator»!"

"...Woah!"

Seeing the drill hurtling straight at her, Kokoro swung her sword using pure arm strength alone and deflected the drill's tip by a hair's breadth. Fear clicked her tongue.

"Guh... Fufu, hahaha. Not bad..."

"What's not bad at all? Although only your clothes were damaged, you seem to be in quite some pain, right?"

"I've mentioned before, right? This «Bloodstained Reginetta» is another me. Our senses are shared. If the clothing is damaged, of course I'll feel pain... But more importantly, haha, you're really not bad. Compared to earlier, much better. ''Que splendida''!  I knew that angering you was a very effective move!"

"Angering us to make us serious is your goal, right? Then your goal is already accomplished! Until you're defeated, our wrath will not subside&mdash;So hurry up and release Zenon and Ganon!"

"Kaha. Yes~ I see... If you'll use that cube in your possession to trade with me, it's doable. Don't worry, I don't lie."

They already understood Kokoro's goal, perhaps understanding all too well. Basically, she wanted to fight strong enemies and make Fear and the others go all out. Zenon and Ganon should not have any further residual value for her.

Seeing Fear's gaze cast towards him, Haruaki nodded lightly. Konoha, Kuroe and Kirika did the same. If they truly believed that Aiko was still alive, there was no need for that "cube" at all. Furthermore, since it was a cursed tool, who knew what horrific tragedies would be caused by its use. Even though Haruaki himself was immune to curses, the more powerful the tool's effects, the greater the chance of the curse being invoked as the price for its power.

Yeah, that "cube" was not needed in the first place. There was even no need to find out how it was used. However, it was true that the desire to know existed somewhere deep in his heart, just like Fear who had involuntarily asked the attacker that night. Why was that? Because he was unable to believe with conviction, he wanted to find out about that cube's details? No, it was the opposite. Precisely because they were holding that cube in their possession, their conviction began to waver&mdash;Only because of that, they realized their conviction was not as firm as they believed, right?

Haruaki concluded it was the latter. What they believed was ultimately right. Aiko was simply sleeping. She was still alive. Perhaps this was self-deception, but presently that was the only thought permissible.

"No matter how special its power, I don't want to use a cursed tool at all. Furthermore, she's not dead. That girl... she's definitely... still alive..."

"Hmm? What's that?"

"...I-I'll give it to you... Keep your word!"

Fear took out the other cube from her pocket. This was the metallic "cube" that was slightly filthy. She tossed it towards Kokoro who gleefully caught it.

"I've returned it to you... Where are Zenon and Ganon? Hurry and release them!"

"I said I don't lie. I will release them... However, I've no idea if they will return or not."

Holding the cube in one hand, she turned around.

This space was illuminated only by the moonlight and the faint glow from the street lamp far out in the road outside the factory. The sound of someone stepping on scrap metal was head from there.

Next to appear were Zenon and Ganon. They were not tied up. Unlike their earlier appearance, they were no longer in their underwear but clothed sloppily instead. The two of them were standing there expressionlessly.

Haruaki felt strange. Why didn't they escape? Why did Kokoro say that she had no idea if they will return or not&mdash;

Kokoro waved the cube lightly in her hand towards them and said:

"Yo... Hmm, so this is what's known as 'just as planned,' right?"

Zenon answered: "Looks like things are progressing smoothly, how wonderful."

Ganon answered: "After doing something so tiring, some returns at last."

The two of them remained expressionless respectively.

What was going on? What were they talking about? The two of them, what, why, how&mdash;Impossible&mdash;

Impossible to believe. Haruaki did not want to believe. However, Zenon bowed her head apologetically and spoke as usual:

"My utmost apologies, Yachi-sama. Having deceived you all along..."

Then lightly pulling her collar open&mdash;

She spoke each and every word clearly and distinctly:


"''We are members of the Draconians''."


On her chest was something identical to the emblem carved on Satsuko's body&mdash;

A tattoo imitating a dragon's scales.

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