Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume11 Chapter1 (section)

===Part 8===

Apart from the black man, everyone was thunderstruck, or rather, dumbstruck as though time had stopped.

The first person to start moving was, of course&mdash;

"You... What are you doing&mdash;!?"

Face flushed red with anger, Chihaya turned around forcefully, raising her arm with all her strength. "Woah, no way, so fucking amazing! This shrine maiden isn't wearing pan&mdash;" Then she swung her fist and punched the muttering black man in the face directly. Not a slap but a punch. The crashing impact sounded quite terrifying.

"Th-That really hurts&mdash;&mdash;! Seriously, it really hurts, raping butthole!"<!--raping butthole is apparently the words in Japanese that Neto is using to substitute for fucking asshole-->

Bending forward slightly to stroke Chihaya's thigh, the man suffered a direct punch from Chihaya and fell over backwards with a crash, rolling on the ground in pain. Chihaya's face was flaming red from anger and embarrassment.

"H-H-H-Hurting... you is exactly the point! That's obvious, you scum! Pervert, rapist! Die!"

"Arghhh~ ...Ouch, this really hurts. I'm the one in pain, you know? Calling me scum? It's your fault for wearing that kind of high slit outfit. If you dressed properly, I won't go touching you suddenly. Get it? Capish? It's very unfair that I'm in pain but you're not, right? That's very unfair. Is it completely my fault?"

Rolling in pain, the man grumbled and complained, slowly getting up, a massive bruise on his face. Despite coming from a girl's strength, it was a completely merciless straight punch suffered directly head on after all.

"A-Are you trying to pull something again!? I'll kill you, I'm really gonna kill you this time!"

"You'll kill me? Heehaw, what a painful yet funny joke. My mood is reaching a butthole climax! Heehaw!"

The man stroked the painful looking bruise. Just as he described, he was laughing in delight. Haruaki frowned while observing this black man. He was roughly thirty in age, wearing fashionable sunglasses, his hair woven into numerous small braids as dreadlocks. His clothing was baggy and comfortable while an old Polaroid camera was hanging on his neck. A tourist perhaps? However, he was not carrying luggage and his only belongings consisted of a guitar's hardshell case&mdash;But due to Chihaya's punch, it had rolled on the ground. In other words, this man gave off an impression like a reggae musician, touring around while being true to his personal desires. Just at this moment&mdash;

"Neto! I only took my eyes off your for an instant&mdash;What are you doing!?"

A young Caucasian woman in a business suit proceeded to walk out of the forest. Her blonde hair was tied behind her head. Her eyes were sharp and determined. Despite the beauty of her face, her expression seemed stern and commanding rather than cute. If the man named Neto was a musician, then this woman would be a capable manager or boss of some agency&mdash;But no matter which possibility, neither could explain the golf bag she was carrying on her back.

"Asking me what I'm doing? That's really tough to answer~ I asked you if I could take a walk in the forest and you said yes, right? Then I ran into this fated encounter, so thinking it was really a good chance, I wanted to get to know this shrine maiden, butthole deeply."

"I understand. However, what is with this situation? They are&mdash;"

The woman groaned as though realizing something. During this time, Neto had already picked up the camera hanging on his neck.

"Ahhh, ahhhhh, ouch, ouch ouch... Click."

"What!?"

Haruaki could not believe his eyes.

The bruise vanished from the man's cheek, the instant he picked up the camera and photographed the injury on his face.

The camera gave off faint operating sounds and quickly ejected a photo. Neto extracted the photo while kicking open the guitar case on the ground.

"Tsk... Neto! Wait!"

"I know, I know, heehaha! What does it matter? Just lemme do it, because it hurts and I was punched! What does it matter, it's just payback! Otherwise, I won't stand for this!"

While he was speaking&mdash;due to everything happening too suddenly, everyone was caught by surprise.

Using his foot to hook the object, Neto sent something from the guitar case flying into midair.

''A gun''. Not a handgun but a rifle of substantial length. A tool of murder, assembled from wood and metal.

Neto caught the rifle in midair, then in one flowing motion, ''he curled up the newly taken photo into a cylindrical shape and stuffed it into the rifle's magazine''. Then like a gunman from a Western, he spun the rifle several times with one hand before pressing the muzzle on Chihaya's chest while she was rooted to this spot in shock&mdash;

Then he pressed the trigger.

The sound of the hammer striking was followed by the smell of something burnt. Haruaki simply sensed these. That was only natural, because stuffed into the magazine was just a photograph rather than bullets of lead.

Even so&mdash;

"Ah... G-Gah... Ahhhhhh!?"

Instantly, Chihaya collapsed on the ground, holding her chest. Staring wide-eyed, she screamed as though forcing all the air out of her lungs while cold sweat instantly broke out all over her body. She scratched at that "something" which had struck the chest of her t-shirt. Tugging at the fabric, the mounds beneath were almost spilling out of her collar.

"Hee~haw! Now that's truly delightful! How does it feel to get raped in the butthole by me!?"

Neto's body was trembling, evidently extremely excited. Without doing anything more to Chihaya, he knelt down in front of the guitar case.

"Hey, don't worry, that level of 'pain' won't kill anyone. It's lucky that you only used your fist to punch me just now. If it was a knife, then you'd have become a butthole that could never speak again. By the way, I normally use this thing to stab people for pleasure. Because firing a gun only takes an instant! Fun and pleasurable things should be enjoyed for as long as possible, of course!"

Saying that, Neto attached a blade under the rifle. In other words, it was a bayonet. Had that blade been attached just now&mdash;Thinking that, Haruaki could not help but shudder.

In any case, the instant Chihaya collapsed, everyone entered a complete state of battle readiness. Fear took out the Rubik's cube from under her shrine maiden outfit and said:

"That camera and rifle... They're both cursed tools, right!?"

"Heehaw, you're only half right! «The Paingrapher» right here is indeed a damned Wathe. Using this to photograph an injured spot will eliminate the injury from the body. The photo then becomes 'the information of pain itself.' Then by pressing the 'pain' photo against someone's body and ripping it, the other person will feel several times the original 'pain.' The effect is especially potent if used against the one who inflicted the injury in the first place. However, fixing photos onto the enemy and then ripping it would be too much of a hassle in battle. That's why I made this."

Neto turned the rifle while continuing nonchalantly:

"Of course, this gun cannot shoot several meters away, but it's so convenient. All it takes is a press of the trigger to shoot out the 'pain' from the photo ammunition. If the photo is placed in the magazine, that 'pain' will transmit to the bayonet. Quite a great function as well. In other words, this is a bayonet for making «The Paingrapher» easier to use&mdash;It's just a tool. Not some kind of rotten butthole Wathe."

"You sure like to flap your gums. But thanks to that, I understand something now."

"Indeed. Simply judging from your attitude... It's sufficient to guess who you are."

Kirika slowly extended the «Tragic Black River» from the sleeve of her shrine maiden outfit, adding anomalous black to the colors of red and white.

"Heehee, then who exactly are we?"

Just as Neto spoke while cocking his head disrespectfully&mdash;

"Like the way mountains can be cleared of lush vegetation by means of incineration and through the work of sharpened sickles, all sins will be gone, purely purified, and cleanly cleaned!"

"Ohoh&mdash;!?"

The wind was astounding. The air could be seen distorting, turning into formless vacuum blades carrying the sharpness of knives. Fallen on the ground, the cherry blossom petals all fluttered upwards. The raging wind proceeded to mercilessly tear off petals from the blooming branches, causing a rain of petals to dance rapidly in the air. The world was instantly shrouded in the color of light pink, instantly obscuring Neto's figure from Haruaki's view.

"Please allow me to say in fear and trepidation, who you are is irrelevant to me. Anyone who harms Chihaya-sama is our enemy. A divine oracle informed me that a certain unpleasant and harmful someone was about to arrive. All was fine up until after the uninvolved Yume-sama was led away. However, I am filled with regret that the voice did not speak of your destination. Had I known your destination, as soon as I saw your face, Isuzu would have done this."

Naturally, Isuzu was the one releasing the invisible sickles. The smile disappeared from her face, she kept her arm outstretched to release vacuum blades, staring intently at where the flower petals were flying. Haruaki could see behind her that Chihaya was trying to stand up while groaning weakly. She looked like she was okay. Haruaki breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Following Isuzu's gaze, Haruaki looked towards Neto's location. No matter what, that rifle should not be able to defend against the current violent storm of sharp sickles. He must have suffered quite some damage&mdash;

"Hehahaha, that really scared me! My butthole contracted!"

"What a surprising development. How should this be corrected?"

The blonde woman stood in front of Neto. Kneeling on one knee, she had reached into her golf bag and held a certain object in both hands, raising it up high. This must be how she blocked Isuzu's attack of vacuum blades. The golf bag's tattered remains were wrapped over the object, a giant mass of metal in a long and shape&mdash;A massive sword. Nevertheless, this sword's shape was very unusual. One edge was a sharp and straight while the other side resembled a comb, exhibiting saw teeth or sharp protrusions like inverse triangles.

"Say, Squad Leader Lilyhowell! Let me suffer the attacks! If you block them, I can't get any pleasure out of them! What does it matter? Hey, we're up!"

"Neto, calm down. This is still too early. Do not forget the mission."

The blonde woman swung the strangely shaped giant sword, stabbing it into the ground before her. Then with both hands on the sword's hilt, standing legs apart at shoulder width, head raised, chest out&mdash;Her entire person seemed so dignified and imposing.

"Hmph, of course you must be that guy's companion. Very well. Do you really think the two of you can defeat us...!?"

"Hold your position, Fear-in-Cube!"

The blonde woman maintained her stance and shouted sonorously. Perhaps surprised by the volume of her voice or noticing something in her attitude of not taking any defensive measures, Fear stopped herself just as she was about to charge, Rubik's cube in hand. Konoha and the others also seemed to have decided to observe what the other side was up to first.

Who knew if the blonde woman was aware or not, but Neto was currently shrugging behind her back.

With candid fearlessness... Even candid to the point of excess, she glared at everyone&mdash;

Then as though she were a true knight, she declared in a tone of voice completely devoid of pretense or feigned kindness:

"I am a First-Class Orthodox Knight of the Frontline Gathering Knights Dominion&mdash;Lilyhowell Kilmister! I hereby declare&mdash;We have no intention of fighting!"



For quite a while...

All that could be heard was the rustling sounds of cherry blossom petals.

"...?" She&mdash;Lilyhowell&mdash;tilted her head slightly in puzzlement towards this silence. Then recalling something as though going "oh, I see now," she nodded and added:

"Also, this man is a First-Class Revenge Knight, Neto the Avenger. We are currently the only ones here."

This sort of thing was obvious. That was not the issue.

"N-No no, what you declared just now is a bit weird."

"Th-That's right. As an organization, you guys of the Knights Dominion are supposed to reject the existence of cursed tools like us. Even if you say you have no intention of fighting, how could we possibly believe you so easily!?"

"Precisely. One, we are an organization for destroying Wathes. Two, you are Wathes. In that case, one can conclude that we will eventually cross swords one day. However, we currently have no intention of engaging you in combat."

Lilyhowell repeated herself again, causing Konoha to frown.

"What are you talking about? Clearly you suddenly attacked Chihaya-san just now."

"&mdash;That was this man's joke. On further examination, although this girl is an owner of a Wathe, she is human. All things considered, we are at fault for this incident. I hereby apologize to everyone."

With her hand on the sword's hilt, chest raised, Lilyhowell bowed her head towards them to express her apologies. She felt very serious, but too serious, instead giving off a kind of airheaded impression.

"Please allow me to say in fear and trepidation, even if you apologize, whether or not we forgive you is a separate matter."

"How rare, my flunkie actually spoke out perfectly what the master wanted to say...!"

Chihaya stood up while brushing away Isuzu's hand that had just been supporting her shoulder. Although her footsteps were still a little unsteady, her eyes were burning with raging flames.

"Hmm~ ...I don't quite get it. In the end, why are you guys here?"

"If you ask why, my answer is coincidence. We are simply visiting the shrine's festival."

"How absolutely ridiculous. Then let me rephrase the question. Why did you come to this country?"

Kirika's question prompted Lilyhowell to glance at Neto behind her. He was originally just tapping the rifle against his shoulder. Instantly, for some unknown reason, the atmosphere suddenly changed dramatically. The madman's smile disappeared, leaving an expressionless face that carried airs of cruelty. In a deep voice, sounding like it was forced out, he said:

"...Not funny at all. But looks like we have no choice but to tell them about that woman."

"Then I shall speak. Our goal as the 87th Knights Squadron is to exterminate the «Knight Killer»."

"The Knight Killer...? What's that?"

"Literally what the name says, a person who kills knights. To this date, a single human has killed dozens of knights belonging to the Frontline Gathering Knights Dominion. Although the purpose of our organization's existence is to destroy Wathes, we are also obliged to avenge our murdered comrades."

"Just a single person...? Sounds like someone really strong."

"Precisely. But regarding the enemy, we only know two facts. One, she calls herself Nirushaaki. Two, this «Battle Demon Nirushaaki» is ranked second in the Draconians. That is all. Not much."

Haruaki's group gasped. The Draconians. An organization devoted to the singleminded pursuit of strength. Ranked second would naturally imply being second strongest in the organization. Even stronger than that Kokoro Pentangeli.

"...I see. Then stop wasting your time in this kind of place and eliminate that Nirushaaki person. You are our enemies. The Draconians are also enemies. We're not going to stop you."

"As much as we would like to do so, there are difficulties in circumstance."

"That's right, it's not funny at all. We woulda done it if we could. But that bitch keeps a mask on at all times so no one has seen her real face. Almost no one has heard her voice either. All that can be deduced from body shape is that she's a young woman. Apart from that, you can say there's no other information."

Neto was muttering in a terrifying and ice-cold tone of voice. Beneath those sunglasses, it was impossible to see where his eyes were directed and only cold, murderous intent passed through.

After Neto finished, suddenly changed in atmosphere, Lilyhowell went "There is one more problem" and continued:

"The problem is that she is rumored to have deserted the Draconians."

"...What did you say?"

"She deserted the organization. Her movements were erratic to begin with, strong and fierce, simply appearing and vanishing elusively but meaninglessly, a battle demon akin to a natural disaster&mdash;This is the existence known as Nirushaaki. Hence, I consider a sudden withdrawal from the Draconians not entirely impossible. That said, these thoughts are accompanied by doubts of 'why?'"

"She deserted the Draconians huh... Then you people appeared here... No way?"

Kirika had apparently realized something, frowning suddenly. Lilyhowell nodded.

"Your deductions are most likely correct. One deserter of the Draconians might have already approached another deserter of the Draconians. In other words, rumor has it that she has entered Taishyuu High where you attend."

"Hey... Hold on! If that really happened, the superintendent can't possibly have kept us in the dark!"

"No, Yachi. The superintendent himself could be unaware of this woman's existence. If she considered the current situation of the superintendent's faction and treated them as backup reinforcements, only to lend their strength when really necessary, it is very possible for her to hide in school as an ordinary new student for now."

"Muu... In other words, what the heck is going on...?"

"Your brain is a little slow, Wathe. Totally not funny&mdash;Oh crap, as soon as I recall that rotten bitch, I start getting serious. Listen up, that «Knight Killer»... is to this date the only butthole bastard who has injured my body but still evaded my revenge! Because I wanna kill and rape her so much, simply remembering that bastard fills up my mind with this matter, I even forget how to laugh! Like an inexperienced brat who can't stop thinking about the first night he slept with a woman, what a bad habit!"

Halfway through, Neto suddenly recovered his beginning tone of voice. Patting himself on the forehead, he laughed out loud&mdash;What a bipolar man. It looked like his hatred and resentment towards that «Knight Killer» was truly as extraordinary as he claimed. Resuming his original, manic tone of voice, Neto said:

"Anyway, I am dedicating everything towards revenge so that I can give butthole climax to the butthole bastard in your school. Although I don't know what she looks or sounds like, raping that bitch's butthole is my goal! Heehaw, isn't that very simple?"

"I repeat. Our goal is to exterminate the «Knight Killer». But of course, our superiors have not forbidden us to destroy you. You are simply not our primary objective. Should you hinder us, we will fight you without objection... Considering this possibility, please do not underestimate the combat strength of our squad, numbering a total of sixteen."

To be honest, Haruaki felt very troubled by what they said. Let alone hindering them, he still had no idea how his group should act. Neither did he know what the other side intended to do specifically.

"Hey, umm... I understand that our school might be where your target for vengeance is lurking. But you guys don't know what she looks like, right? So how do you plan on finding her?"

"That's a great question! I have a way. The 'pain' that bitch caused me in the previous battle&mdash;in other words, the photo taken using «The Paingrapher»&mdash;I've been keeping it safely. So, remember what I just said? If the 'pain' on the photo is returned to the one who inflicted it, the resulting 'pain' will be multiplied. When that happens, the pleasure I feel is also multiplied, in other words, there's an added effect! Because I only have one photo where that bitch made a butthole out of me, I can only put it into the magazine and stab using the bayonet. I'll just have to try each and every high school girl at your school, one at a time! So that's the plan, the bitch who causes me the most excitement will be that lovable butthole bastard!"

"Y-You bastard...! In other words...!"

"Using a bayonet to stab every student then deciding based on pleasure? How absolutely ridiculous a method!"

"Heehaha, an absolutely ridiculous method huh...? I agree. If I had to ambush kids on the way home from school, making buttholes on these barely weaned high school girls one by one, that'd be an utter pain in the ass&mdash;"

The blade pressed against Neto's neck forced him to stop speaking. But it was not Fear's torture tool nor Konoha's knife hand. Most likely having received orders to remain neutral towards the Knights Dominion, Un Izoey simply stood where she was without moving, so it was not her knife either.

Instead, it was the giant sword belonging to Lilyhowell who was supposed to be his teammate.

"&mdash;Neto, I will not permit unnecessary violence."

Staring at the giant sword blade, Neto giggled lewdly.

"But our dear Squad Leader Lilyhowell doesn't like this butthole-like method. So what shall we do?"

"...I am truly ashamed to say this, but my hand is forced. Hence, I have decided to negotiate with your group."

Looking clearly displeased, Lilyhowell stabbed the giant sword into the ground again. Then she turned towards Haruaki's group.

"One, find the «Knight Killer» by any means necessary. Two, kill her as soon as possible. These are our objectives. However, due to personal principles, I wish for the process to reduce the involvement of the ordinary populace as much as possible."

"Don't be absurd. Didn't that man just say that the only plan you guys came up with must involve ordinary people, checking them one by one!?"

"Precisely, but that applies to us only."

Lilyhowell continued to frown slightly and narrowed her eyes as though suppressing her displeasure deep into her heart, then said:

"But being students in the same school, you are in a better position to gather far more information than we could, hence there might be other methods. So I propose a deal&mdash;If your side can locate «Knight Killer» Nirushaaki and hand her over to us, we will return to the Knights Dominion without harming any other people."

"Let me ask this first... Does that include Fear and the others?"

"Indeed. One day, we will likely destroy Fear-in-Cube, but not now. Currently, our first priority is to avenge those who fell victim to the «Knight Killer». Your group can be ignored for now."

"Heehahaha! Oh dear, what a great idea. In other words, shoving the troublesome part onto others to handle. Say yes now, say yes now. If you say yes, we can relax for a while until the target is captured. If you don't, I'll have to undertake the pain in the butthole task of testing&mdash;Trying my blade on female students. Also if you guys come running to get in my way, I'll have to fight pointlessly before the prey is caught. Heehaw, really troublesome to the extreme. Yes, simply destroying Wathes is already a butthole game that brings out my best mood!"

Neto burst out laughing. Lilyhowell's eyes looked sincere. The members of Haruaki's group exchanged glances.

"What an absolutely ridiculous deal. However..."

"If we agree to it, the ordinary students will be spared. If we reject it, perhaps people will get hurt."

"How troubling, this is totally not a deal at all. It is almost a threat... How infuriating."

What about after agreeing? How exactly should they proceed? Of course, Haruaki's group had no idea at all. Nevertheless, they understood one thing&mdash;namely, in order to protect the safety of innocent students for now, they must agree to the other side's terms.

"Does this attitude imply understanding? Excellent judgment. So, the deadline is one week from today."

"Please wait. That's a bit too short...! We still have no idea how to find her!"

"Hee~ Ha~ Ha! That's none of our concern!"

"I know the address of the Yachi residence. We will be paying a visit one week later at midnight on Sunday. Before that, please locate Nirushaaki. Do not worry, I shall not allow fresh blood to stain your front door immediately."

Mixed with cherry blossom petals, soil flew lightly into the air. Lilyhowell had drawn her giant sword from the ground and rested it against her shoulder. Then she turned and walked back in the direction where she came from. Neto also threw his rifle into the guitar case as though tossing it away, then picked up the case and chased after Lilyhowell.

Several seconds after the two of them disappeared into the forest, noises were heard from behind. The group looked back in surprise.

"Ding ding ding~! The leaves gathering expert has returned~! Yes~ Although it only felt troublesome in the beginning, after gathering so many leaves, I still end up with a sort of explosively fulfilled sense of accomplishment!"

Before their eyes were two shrine maidens accompanied by Yume who was carrying a large pile of leaves in her arms. Speaking of which, in order to keep Yume the ordinary human uninvolved, Isuzu's sisters had attentively taken her away from the scene.

In any case, at least that goal was achieved&mdash;Isuzu exhaled as though saying that.

"Please allow me to say in fear and trepidation, you must be exhausted, oh my oh my, to think you picked up so many~"

"Mufufu, I don't mind at all if you praise me more~ Say, I'm really hoping for praise from Fear-senpai! So, although it's a bit late for me to ask now, what's the point of collecting these leaves? Could it be that you'll act like a mysterious shrine maiden and pour it into a pot to cook ancient secret remedies?"

"Ah, well~ Uh~ Umm... Umm~"

Isuzu's gaze wandered until she finally clapped her hands together as though coming up with an idea.

"These leaves have sharp ends, right~?"

"Yeah, it's a little prickly! Could there be some kind of mysterious power inside?"

"Actually, a leaf pricked my finger just now, ouch, so to vent my anger, I intend to burn all of them~"

"Eh?"