Editing Mushi Uta:Volume 5th Episode 17 (section)

=== Part 4 ===
The Mushitsuki was hiding in the remains of a factory on the outskirts of Akamaki City.

Apparently having been the production base of a major manufacturer of electric appliances, its premises were vast. It wasn't just a gathering of the countless factories needed for manufacturing, but there were also a supervising facility and a storage area. Since it was decided they'd move the factory abroad, they were currently selling the grounds.

Arisu and Daisuke were in front of the guardroom near the front gate. Around them several people wearing the white coats of the Central Headquarters members were conducting wireless communication through their goggles.

"How many victims were there?"

Daisuke was wearing his East Central Branch pitch-black long coat and goggles.

"Two people during the chase… another two since we cornered them here… two were healed, but two became Fallen…"

Yomori Neiko, codename Nene, answered in a low voice. Since her Mushi possessed restorative abilities, she served the role of a healer.

"Seems like a troublesome opponent. Do you at least know where they're hiding?"

"It took all of our efforts just to surround this place… at present all we know about the enemy's abilities are what I just told you, but they might be hiding other abilities…"

Neiko glanced toward Arisu.

Noticing her gaze, Arisu strained her face.

The white coat supplied by Central Headquarters was actually much lighter than expected. Since the size of the goggles wasn't right, she hung them from her neck. She hadn't been supplied with any weapon, so she picked up a rusted pipe from the ground.

Apparently a weapon was being manufactured for Arisu’s sake—as she possessed one of the extremely rare Fusion Type Mushi—but that would still take some time. She hadn't been told who was making it and where, though.

The silver Morpho butterfly alighted down along with shining scales.

"Is she also part of the mission…? She hadn't gone through training though…"

"And with that weirdo, too."

"Nervousness scaleee, plus oneee."

A voice unsuitable for the battlefield echoed. Behind Arisu, Uno Noiru still clad in her hoodie was shaking her body.

"If you die I won't be able to heal you, you know…?"

This one calm sentence from Neiko made her heart leap. Completely changed from when she'd first met her, Neiko's face now looked like that of a combatant.

Daisuke wore gloves and checked the gun attached to the holster on his waist.

"Just come with me. I won't let you fight."

"Dissatisfaction scaleee, plus oneee. How will I be able to inspect her like this? Please don't kill me."

"Since we're leaving command to Kakkou… we'll provide support—"

"No need. You're in the way."

Asserting this, Daisuke started walking on the asphalt.

"You don't have to say it like that. Poor Neiko-san—"

Arisu held back her tongue.

A green checkered beetle flew down from above Daisuke. Its body transformed explosively, becoming countless tentacles and fusing with his body.

His pitch-dark long coat flapping as he walked, Daisuke's cheeks were branded with a green, shining pattern. He emitted a strange pressure from his entire body.

There was no trace of Daisuke's usual look as he advanced through the completely silent premises. The cruel and merciless demon was marching through the battlefield.

"…"

On the other hand, the silver Morpho butterfly flying above Arisu as she jogged to catch up with the boy showed no conscious movements. It spread its scales in erratic paths in the air.

Arisu put strength into her hand grabbing the steel pipe. The tension of not knowing when an attack might be directed at her caused sweat to pour from her brow.

"Boredom scaleee, plus oneee."

She jumped at this sudden loud voice.

"P-please don't speak so suddenly like that! You scared me!"

"Calm down. They're not nearby yet."

As if saying he had the intuition as someone who accumulated experience in battle, Daisuke advanced.

The sun was sinking at the other side of the premises. Since there was no power in the factory, the curtain of darkness covered it.

Daisuke stopped his legs in a corridor between two small factories.

The surroundings abruptly turned light.

The silver Morpho butterfly suddenly made its wings shine. It nimbly landed on top of the pipe Arisu was grabbing, transforming its body.

"They're coming."

The steel pipe was transformed into a shining silver lance at the same time as Daisuke's whisper.

The factory's wall nearby exploded.

Crushing the concrete-made wall, a large mass came flying from within.

Arisu stood frozen at this sudden event.

Regardless of her will, however, her kinetic vision clearly captured the full mass.

Arisu could see that this sphere, several times larger than her, had two axles and punctured tires. —The large mass was a balled-up forklift.

This transformed forklift was a moment away from hitting the stunned Arisu.

And then a green afterimage covered her vision.

It was Daisuke.

The fist covered in a green pattern hit the sphere pursuing them in the speed of a bullet.

"…!"

An explosive impact and roar blew around.

Struck by superhuman strength, the sphere was reflected back to the factory with even greater momentum. Destroying the wall, even the roof started crumbling.

In front of Arisu's eyes, an entire factory cluttered loudly as it collapsed.

"Tch… I missed?"

Daisuke clicked his tongue as if in boredom.

Lost inside the storm of dust, they could see a running human figure. It was probably the attacking Mushitsuki.

A calm voice echoed from behind the frozen Arisu.

"Sensing ability confirmeddd. Rarity scaleee, plus tennn. Reaction speed scaleee, minus twooo. Reaction to situation abilityyy, minus twooo. Tentatively, Blaze Class Rank Six."

Uno Noiru swayed her body. She was apparently inspecting Arisu's Mushi.

"Don't just stand there. Let's hide."

"…!"

Piercing the dust, more and more mysterious spheres were being sent flying toward Arisu and the rest.

Spheres of various sizes—those with the color of concrete, balled-up conveyor belts, twisted steel frames that looked like they were part of the roof and so on—any and all kinds of material distorted to the shape of a sphere were launched successively at them.

"Eeeek…!"

Arisu couldn't respond to the situation, but Daisuke stood in front of her to guard. He struck down the shells flying at them from afar like missiles using both fists.

The enemy's attack repeated without stop.

Countless big holes opened in the ground and large amounts of water were sprayed from ruptured water pipes.

The curtain of dust and water blocked Arisu's vision. The rumbling ground and the sensation of cold water robbed her of the ability to think calmly.

"Uuh…!"

Seeing an especially large shell thrown at them, Arisu recklessly swung her spear.

The silver scales pulverized the large shell. The excess momentum of the spear split the ground, destroying their footing.

The scales remaining after destroying the shell filled the surroundings. Visibility turned even worse.

"Calm down, Arisu!"

"'Scales attack', 'physical attack', and even 'domain control' confirmeddd. Rarity scaleee, plus eighttt. Destructive powerrr, plus tennn. Calmness scaleee, minus fourrr. Ability control scaleee, minus fiveee. Assessment abilityyy, minus fiveee. Tentatively, Blaze Class Rank 5."

"Just move already! At this rate we'll be hit by the enemy!"

Devoting himself to defense in front of Arisu, Daisuke shouted. Repelling the enemy's attack took everything he had, so he couldn't even pull the gun out of his waist.

However, Arisu's legs were frozen and she couldn't move.

"Ah… ah…"

This was different from what she'd faced until now.

Merciless attacks full with the intent to kill aimed for Arisu. She couldn't even talk to the other party.

"If you can't move, then at least cancel your domain! Staying here cancels even my own power…!"

Although she was told to absolve her ability, Arisu did nothing but hold the spear transformed by the Morpho butterfly. She knew nothing about either activating or cancelling that ability.

''—Arisu…''

She felt like she heard a whisper in her ears.

''—Switch with me…''

The spear in her hand shone even brighter. The silver scales were blown away.

"Guh!"

The green glow surrounding Daisuke weakened as if being erased by the scales. His fist that failed hitting the shell was blown back.

Arisu's head blanked out.

The whispering voice she heard from somewhere was eroding her mind. Succumbing to that voice, she was engulfed by a mysterious sensation.

"Risk aversion abilityyy, minus threee."

Unheeding that the rain of shells nearly grazed her nose, Uno Noiru swayed her body. She didn't appear willing to lend a hand to Daisuke at all.

''—Arisu…''

This familiar voice echoed in her head.

Arisu's mouth moved on its own.

"I would be able to—"

The silver spear rippled.

"Protect Arisu—"

"''You'' stay out of it!"

Daisuke's roar shook Arisu's back. She suddenly raised her face.

It was as if she was mumbling something just now. But she couldn't remember what she said.

"Daisuke…?"

"Arisu! You're the one who chose to come here! Don't run away at this stage!"

A red droplet flew to Arisu's cheek as she absentmindedly raised her face. Fresh blood was deflected from Daisuke's swung fist.

"Hold on! If you don't… Hanashiro Mari's Mushi will take control of you!"

Arisu gulped. She lowered her spear.

"The Mushi will…?"

Daisuke grabbed Arisu's arm. He threw her forcibly to the side.

"Eeek!"

Arisu rolled after being thrown to the ground. Her ears caught Daisuke's anguished voice.

"Gwah!"

He probably judged that he couldn't fully defend against the sphere. Throwing Arisu away, he also tried himself escaping from the dangerous zone. Yet he was unable to fully dodge the sphere, and one of his legs got hurt.

"Daisuke!"

"Run! Go back to the front gate!"

Putting one leg on the ground, Daisuke shouted to Arisu.

That was a moment of carelessness.

"Dai—"

The boy's body was directly hit by the large sphere. As it held enough force to smash the asphalt to pieces, it instantly blew Daisuke away from her sight.

Arisu's entire body got goosebumps.

"Daisukeee!"

Rebounding on the ground several times, he rolled away.

The enemy's attacks did not stop.

Simultaneous attacks assaulted the collapsed boy, aiming to finish him off.

"…!"

Her body moved faster than she could think. She rose up with great vigor, slashing her spear toward the shells launched at Daisuke.

Silver scales swallowed the bombardments.

Spheres of various sizes and shapes were blown to smithereens.

"How dare you hurt Daisuke—"

Arisu's wide-open eyes glared at the direction the shell was launched from.

The attack just now apparently changed its target to Arisu. There was a rain of shells.

Kicking the ground vigorously, she rushed directly toward the shell. Even the curtain of dust and water was sliced along with the shells in a single stroke of the lance.

The shells' fragments hit her temple. Even so, she pushed through the rain of bombardment without minding it.

The enemy seemed to be taking their distance while attacking. Shells were being fired, but she knew they came from a certain factory in the distance.

Arisu ran directly toward the launch scene.

The shells assaulting her were cut off by a single swing. Although the spear had fierce power, Arisu's thin hands controlled it. The power pressing on her was too much, and she collapsed.

She soon leapt back on her legs and was running again as another round of bombardment rained on her.

"Found you…!"

In her vision, she spotted a squirming figure behind the open shutter of a factory.

It was such a large Mushi that its figure was visible even from afar. On its head that was as big as Arisu's body there were glowing red compound eyes and countless antennas, and its chest was covered by yellow cilia. Its abdomen, as big as a truck, had a striped yellow and black pattern, and its edge was a gaping hole.

That Mushi, resembling a striped bumblebee, assumed a position of pointing its abdomen toward Arisu. The figure standing nearby was probably the Mushi's host. She could see their thin limbs and long hair illuminated by the moonlight.

The monstrous striped bumblebee opened its mouthpart wide. It used its eight legs to drag a metal-made barrel to its mouth, swallowed it in one gulp and sent it to its thorax. The thorax squirmed as if it was made of rubber and appeared to be compressing the metal barrel. The compressed object was then sent to the abdomen.

The bee-like abdomen was swelling in front of her eyes. The Mushi pushed out of the edge of its abdomen a large needle made of the compressed barrel. —No, unlike the shells until now, it was a sharp, shining arrow.

The sharp arrow was fired from the bee's swollen abdomen.

Arisu wouldn't be able to fully defend against this—since she had this intuition, she hurriedly swung the spear.

"…!"

It was thrown directly toward the bee, scattering scales about.

The silver spear and the bee's arrow.

Two incredibly destructive attacks clashed. The air exploded and caused a tremor.

The winner was Arisu's spear.

Having blown away the large arrow without trace, the silver spear stabbed into the Mushi's legs.

The shockwave generated by this threw the bee’s host. The factory's exterior was blown by the explosive wind, and the broken roof flew into the night sky.

"Hah… Hah…"

Breathing heavily, Arisu approached the destroyed factory.

From within the mountain of rubble, she pulled out the Morpho butterfly's spear stabbed into the ground.

Her attack had opened a large wound in the striped bumblebee's abdomen. Since a few of its legs were pulverized, it couldn't even stand.

"Uh…"

The long-haired girl buried in the rubble of concrete raised an anguished voice. Slowly opening her eyes, she looked up at Arisu.

The girl was staring at Arisu. Looking at her more closely, she had traces of dried blood on her body. She'd probably gone through a difficult battle until she came here. The girl's expression looked tired both physically and mentally.

Arisu just held the spear, unmoving.

No. She ''couldn't'' move.

The spear's tip slightly shook.

"Will you not finish me off?"

The wounded girl narrowed her eyes.

"If so, then I'll attack."

Still collapsed on the ground, the bumblebee's abdomen swelled. Apparently using the last remaining dregs in its body, it produced the tip of a small arrow.

Her hesitation, once blown away by the rage of seeing Daisuke get hurt, now returned.

The figure of this resolved girl overlapped with the Mushitsuki she'd met so far.

If Arisu captured this girl here, would she become an SEPB member and return to the battlefield? Just like Yomori Neiko, who she'd met just now. Had Neiko truly wished for that?

She met with yet another Mushitsuki.

She didn't hate the girl in front of her. She was simply angry since she saw her friend getting hurt.

Although they had no reason to fight, they met and hurt each other. —That pain was so strong Arisu couldn't bear it any longer.

But because they've met, Arisu had to ask it.

"What is… being a Mushitsuki?"

Her head cast down, she wrung out her voice.

''All Mushitsuki fight against something—''

When had Arisu heard these words?

She came to learn that during the time she was alive, Hanashiro Mari had fought under the alias of "Hunter".

"Why are you all doing nothing but fight…?"

After the death of her best friend, she met Kusuriya Daisuke. Following that opportunity, she met many Mushitsuki, and all of them were fighting against something.

"You're the ones who came attacking me in order to capture me. Until yesterday I was just living normally, so I can't let you do that just because you've figured out I'm a Mushitsuki."

The girl cackled.

''No—''

Arisu wordlessly shook her head to the sides.

"…?"

The girl craned her head.

Some Mushitsuki have indeed fought against the agency known as the SEPB.

But was that the only reason?

The Kind Magician she met before didn't even think about the SEPB. Since Arisu had glanced at her memories, she knew that well.

Even the meddling Harukiyo was the same. He sneered at that organization, and was searching for Mari.

Even Daisuke who was an SEPB member seemed like he was fighting for something. He also said that he was waiting for someone's return.

What about Mari, then?

What was Arisu's friend fighting for? Why had she left her Mushi to Arisu and was whispering to her even now?

"Tell me… please…"

Still glancing down, Arisu bit her lips.

The bee's host snorted. As if she was sneering at all Mushitsuki.

"If I need to have another reason, then… isn't it because all of us Mushitsuki can't give up our dreams no matter what happens to us?"

"Can't give up… your dream…"

In the end this was it.

Mari had left behind such strong emotions that she was able to die and bequeath her Mushi.

Would this keep happening as long as Arisu didn't know Mari's goal? Did she have to throw away her peaceful life, fight enemies she didn't hate and keep hurting them and being hurt in turn?

As long as she didn't find out Mari's wish, Arisu would never be released.

The thing she searched out of her own volition became heavy pressure for Arisu.

Arisu had it tough every time she met Mushitsuki.

Was there value in throwing away her peaceful life for this?

If she ended up going through such suffering, perhaps she should just forget about her friend—

—The moment she wished for this, Arisu's sight was covered in a silver glow.

"…!"

The silver lance grasped in her hand emitted a blinding light. The tip transformed to a wing rampaged, blowing away the rubble around.

"W-what is happe—kwah!"

Unable to support the spear, Arisu's arm was pounded against the ground. The remaining destructive power of the spear crushed the earth, assaulting the area with a tremor.

She grimaced at the pain. She immediately tried letting go of the spear, but for some reason her hand wouldn't move.

The spear raging to all sides crushed the rubble even further. The striped bumblebee was blown away and the host girl flew backwards.

Looking down her arm, Arisu widened her eyes. She raised a shriek without thinking.

"Eeeek!"

Silver-colored tentacles spread from the spear and dug into her right arm. The tentacles emitted a silver light pattern and started permeating Arisu's body from her shoulder.

At the same time her arm was assaulted by sharp pain.

It was probably the recoil from fusing with a Fusion Type Mushi despite not being a Mushitsuki. Her arm fusing with the tentacles was about to get ripped.

''—How horrible…''

Near her ears, a familiar voice whispered.

''—Even though I chose the devil's medicine…''

It was her first time to recall the owner of that voice with fear.

"Ma-Mari…?"

A chill ran her back.

The voice she heard belonged to none other than her dead friend.

The tentacles passed her back and pursued her neck. Indescribable fear welled up inside her.

"Ku…AAHHHH!"

It happened just as she raised a voice of anguish, a moment before Arisu's consciousness was dulled.

A shrill sound echoed in the desolate ruins of the factory.

Arisu remembered hearing that sound. Was it during music class? She heard it when some instrument was being tuned—the sound of a tuning fork.

The tuning fork's tone echoed and at the same time the silver scales engulfing Arisu were blown off. Space was distorted and ripples were caused in her vision.

"Inspection suspendeddd. Spear-Form's rampage confirmed."

On the summit of the mountain of rubble was Noiru, having appeared at some point.

Intersecting her arms in front of her chest, she swayed her body to the right and left like scales.

"Danger scaleee—"

A grin rose to Noiru's mouth.

"Plus, one hundred thousanddd."

The tuning fork's tone echoed. Space rippled with Noiru in the center, and momentarily there was afterimage of an insect resembling an evening cicada.

The girl had taken off her hoodie and turned it inside out. Wearing this reversible hoodie, she also equipped a black cloth mask and goggles that she brought out from somewhere. 

"Kanakana has determined the Spear-Form's Mushi is dangerous, and will henceforth commence its annihilation."

The girl's clear voice overlapped with the tuning fork's sound.