Kore wa Zombie desu ka?:Volume 1 Chapter 4

Chapter 4 – Die

June Twenty-Sixth (Monday), 5AM. There was no variety show showing on the television this time, but rather a mail-order program hosted by Japanets Takahata[1] or something. Like always, Yuu was watching the program. Seeing that her hair seemed wet, I gathered that she had at some point taken a bath. Sera was also there, kneeling and staring fixedly at the same television program.

“Ayumu. I’ve been thinking about something quite a lot lately…”

As always, I was seized by those beautiful, frank jade-colored eyes. She looked at me without breaking her serious expression, and my nerves began to attack me.

“About what?”

“In the end, all things need names, right?”

“Eh? Well, it wouldn’t be good to not have a name, I guess.”

“So things really do need names, right? In truth, I thought of a new technique. I want to attach a name to the technique, but I can’t think of any words that end in ‘kaeshi’… won’t you help me think of some?”

What, it was just that? Now I really felt silly for having gotten nervous…

“Do you really have to attach ‘kaeshi’ to the name?”

“If at all possible. Because it’s a Hiken (Secret Sword Technique) technique.”

So, all the Hiken techniques had to be “something kaeshi”?

Ah, right. It’s probably just because she loves her Tsubame Gaeshi. That’s probably the only reason.

“Hm, but I’ve never really seen what the technique looks like…”

“Well, first I glide down like this…”

She gestured with her hands in an attempt to show me, but I honestly had no idea. But I have to admit that she was pretty cute, sitting there and thinking seriously like that.

“Hiken, Tsuru no Ongaeshi. How about that?”

Wouldn’t that be repaying someone through injury?

“That’s no good, I think.”

I smiled wryly and rejected her suggestion, upon which she gave me an “I see…” in a somewhat disappointed voice.

“Well, how about Ether Chabudaigaeshi?

“Eh? There are names you can rip off and names you can’t. That’s one of the latter.”

“But, nobody would understand the reference, would they? Only people who know the reference would understand.”

“No, that’s no good. Also, that’s not a sword technique. It’s a magic technique.”

I held my head and rejected her suggestion, upon which she gave me an “I see…” in a somewhat disappointed voice.

“Just show it to me next time. After I see what kind of technique it is, I’ll think about it more.”

“I understand.”

Well now, shall I prepare to head off for school? If I don’t go while the sun is down, I won’t even be able to make it there.

When I stood up, Yuu looked up at me. She tap tapped her ballpoint pen on the table.

Stay here today. = “Oniichan! Please don’t go!”

Her pretty eyes focused on me. Was something up? I asked, but she seemed resolved to stay silent.

But even if you tell me to stay here… if an enemy shows up, I’m sure Sera would be able to do something about it, right? I’m a zombie, but I’m also a high school student. Unfortunately, I have a duty to go to school.

“I’ll try to be back as soon as possible then.”

Absorbing my words for a short moment, Yuu gave me a slight nod of consent.

I rapidly ascended the stairs and passed by Haruna. Today, she was wearing a no-sleeve polo shirt along with a pair of short pants with the pant legs folded up. It definitely suited her.

“Ah, Haruna.”

“Hm? What? Something wrong?”

Her big eyes blinked twice in surprise, and I told her everything I had talked about with Dai-sensei. I also told her about how her errand to find the artifact had been completed.

“You talked with Dai-sensei?! Dai-sensei is not someone you can just talk with so freely like that! She’s amazing, you know! Dai-sensei is!”

For some reason, as she yelled at me, Haruna grabbed my arms, swept my legs from under me, and simultaneously backhand chopped me in the head, throwing me down repeatedly like that over and over. When I asked her how Dai-sensei was amazing…

“Dai-sensei is a hero, a martial arts expert, a warrior, a priest, a magician, a merchant, a thief, and what’s more, a complete hedonist!”

Those last few were bad, weren’t they? A merchant, a thief, a hedonist… what a crazy life that must be.

“Anyways, she said that you should focus on recovering your magic. You can’t go back like you are now, right?”

“That’s true, but… I guess I was thinking that things are fine the way they are… at any rate, I would have to come to this world to exterminate Megalo, and it’s not like there’s anybody waiting for me back there…”

For just a moment, Haruna had on a sad expression that didn’t fit her at all. I placed my hand on Haruna’s head.

“If you stay here, you’ll have to make lunch for me, you know?”

“Well, ‘s no helping that. Oh right! I made something incredible today! I’m sure it’ll be great!”

She banged on her petite chest and showed me a smile. It was the same refreshing smile she showed at mealtimes.

As I watched Haruna bounce down the rest of the stairs, I returned to my room. I changed into my uniform and took up my backpack. There was nothing in it. All of my textbooks and notes had been left in my locker at school.

Oh right, there was PE class today. I need to pack my jersey. And then I need to get my lunch from Haruna.

I hope that today will be a boring, uneventful day.

Of all the zombies in the world, I was probably the only one who wished so much for peace.

***

On Mondays, from first period I was subject to the torture that was PE. Why was it torture, you ask? Do you really think I can exercise under the blazing sun like that? Zombies couldn’t do anything when it wasn’t nighttime.

If we were exercising in the gym, I could show off my physical strength to my heart’s content, but unfortunately we were playing volleyball today on the field. Set up volleyball in the gym, dammit.

As a result, I collapsed before the match had even begun, and was carried to the infirmary. And I lay there in bed until noon. It was a normal school day, without anything really worth mentioning.

Well, if there was one thing worth mentioning… it was lunch!

Alright, Haruna! Battle start!

I ripped the top off the box, and in it were… stewed bear claw, spiny lobster, what looked to be shark fin stew, what looked to be fried suckling pig, something that looked like scraps of abalone steak… a small feast fit for a Chinese emperor was crammed into that box. I see, this is what she meant by “I made something incredible today!” That was certainly true.

There must have been nearly a hundred and fifty things in this box. Each and every one of them were super tiny. What a jumbled up mess. But pretty amazing. Where the hell did she find all these ingredients?

“Wow… sort of disgusting… who made this? Sera-san?”

Orito stared at my food, dumbfounded. I mercilessly fended off his chopsticks as he reached for my food.

“It was Haruna. To tell you the truth, the ultimate fried egg I had last time was also made by her. I won’t let Sera cook. As long as my heart continues to beat, I will never let her cook.”

“Dammit, I’m so jealous!”

Orito even started attacking my face with his chopsticks. Hmph… as if I’d let you hit me!

As we crossed chopsticks with each other, Orito underhandedly grabbed the spiny lobster with his free hand. He knows I like lobster too…

“You know, you really have to share things as delicious as this with everyone.”

The corners of his mouth turned upwards into a smile. What a spiteful little four-eyes… how dare he take my lobster…

“Well, is it good?”

I asked him with tears pooling in my eyes, and he gave me a huge affirmative nod. Oh, is that so? The fried eggs were already shockingly delicious. With these types of ingredients, I’m sure the food was extravagantly tasty. Well, if I could be allowed to speak selfishly for a moment, it would have been nicer if I could have gotten this meal straight out of the oven though…

***

“Yahoo~!”

It was Orito who said that, not me. We were in room 305. After school ended, I came to visit Kyouko-chan in the hospital together with Orito. Of course, it was in order to get the Kyoudoufu.

“I brought you a Masked Burger Set as a gift today. Kyouko, you haven’t eaten something like this in a while, right?”

Orito chuckled and passed over the plastic bag. With a somewhat troubled expression, Kyouko-chan received the bag from Orito.

Well, that’s no wonder. Is it seriously normal to give sick people fast food? Looking at the piles of cake boxes and fruit around Kyouko, it really seemed that everyone brought food as a visitation present, and that it would be utterly impossible to get through it all. Oh and by the way, I had brought a random romance novel for her to kill time with.

“Thank you very much.”

As if we were exchanging business cards, I gave her a bow and presented it to her with both hands, upon which she gave me a heavenly smile. Drawn in, I also ended up smiling in return. It was one of those smiles.

“Ah, Aikawa-san, this…”

She handed me a plastic bag, in which was none other than what I had come for. I’m seriously grateful she went through so much trouble.

“What’s that? Food?”

At Orito’s puzzled look, Kyouko-chan sent him a teasing grin. “It’s a secret.”

“Sorry about making you go through all the trouble.”

I took out the money to pay for the tofu from my wallet, but Kyouko-chan pushed back the money with her hands.

“Don’t worry about the money! I also got this too.”

She hugged the romantic novel to her chest and smiled. Soon, I ended up joining her, smiling as well.

“Thanks, I’ll take it then. There’s someone who would go through heaven and hell to eat it.”

“Ahh, so Aikawa-san isn’t the one who would be eating it?”

She pouted and looked downwards.

“Is Aikawa eating Kyouko?”

At Orito’s sexual harassment, Kyouko-chan became as red as an apple.

After that, we enjoyed some normal small talk for a while. I suddenly remembered that Yuu had told me to come back home quickly, and stood up with an “I think I should be going soon.”

“Ahh, then let me see you out.”

Kyouko-chan cheerfully came down from the bed.

Orito suddenly excused himself, saying he had to go to the bathroom. Ugh, do that after I leave, dammit. Together with the ceaselessly smiling Kyouko-chan, I went as far as the hospital entrance.

How exactly am I supposed to get this tofu to the person who asked for it? As I waved to Kyouko with a “Thanks. I’ll come again,” I took out my cell phone and called Dai-sensei.

Riiiinnngggggg…. Riiiinnnnggggggg…

“Hello~. This is the Matelis Magical Academyyy~.”

The gentle, laid-back voice put my heart at ease. I knew exactly who it was just from how she spoke.

“Ah, is this Dai-sensei? It’s me. Aikawa Ayumu.”

“Oh? You’re still calling me that~?”

Dai-sensei chuckled. I mean, Haruna had always called her that, so I ended up calling her that too.

“I got the thing you asked for, but what exactly should I do with it?”

“Oh? It was handed over to you already~?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll come to get it. Let’s see… I’ll be there when it’s nine in your world, alright~?”

“Nine? Wait, Dai-sensei is coming personally?”

“Yes. Haruna hasn’t been able to return to being a masou shoujo yet, right~?”

“Could you take her back to Virie with you when you return?”

“I really doubt Haruna would agree to that~. She might look like that, but she is a really proud person, you know~? She would definitely say ‘Shut up! Desu! Don’t worry about me! Desu!’ or something like that ~~.”

Even when she’s angry, she still managed to think as far as to add “desu” to the end of things to show respect, hm?

“So, let’s meet somewhere. Somewhere without too many people is probably the best~. I’ll definitely stand out~.”

I recalled the time I had met Haruna. She fell down from the sky like a meteorite, and it would definitely be a bother if Dai-sensei made a similar entrance.

“In that case, how about the graveyard where Haruna first dropped in?”

“Where… is that? Could you please give me the address~~?”

It seemed that she had no idea where Haruna had first dropped in on this world. Well, granted, she had assumed that Haruna had been in Kyoto until recently. I didn’t know the address of the graveyard, but I did give her the addresses of a few places near the graveyard, to which she responded with an “I understand~~.”

I then ended the phone call, and when I looked over my shoulder, I saw that Kyouko-chan was still waving to me. Was she seriously planning on continuing to wave until she couldn’t see me anymore?

As I thought, she was seriously, lovably cute.

***

Well then, I had come home quickly just as Yuu had requested, but… was there something special about today?

Ah. It’s been exactly a month! Exactly a month since I met Yuu… or rather, since I became a zombie.

Anything strange happen? = “Oniichan. Did something happen~?”

The minute I went into the house, I heard a tapping, and when I went into the living room I found those words waiting for me. She was glancing at me, so I shook my head to signal that nothing had happened. As if saying “Then that’s fine,” she silently returned her gaze to the television, and continued to sip her tea.

For the moment, I returned back to my room, and changed into my casual clothes. I went back downstairs carrying my uniform and my jersey, and tossed them into the wash hamper in the bathroom. Sera did the laundry, which was convenient. Sorry, but I don’t think I should be washing Haruna and Yuu’s undergarments…

I walked towards the kitchen with my bento box and the Kyoudoufu, when I saw Haruna in the living room.

“Ah, welcome back. I’m hungry.”

“Can’t you make anything other than bento lunches?”

“I don’t want to make food for myself. Doesn’t that feel pretty lonely?”

Haruna stared at the television, looking as if she was lost in thought. Now that I think about it, she was always alone in her own world, wasn’t she?

Preparing meals for other people, and having meals prepared for herself. Like that, she probably wouldn’t feel as alone.

“Oh right… the bento was great. Thanks.”

I gave her the brightest zombie smile I could muster, but Haruna didn’t even face me, instead just muttering “No kidding.” She wasn’t facing me because she was blushing, right? Your ahoge is sure jumping around a lot. You’re really happy about this, aren’t you? To be thanked like that.

Grinning at Haruna’s cute response, I entered the kitchen, and then I couldn’t stop the corners of my lips from turning upwards into a smile.

There were an absurd number of ingredients scattered around the kitchen. The leftovers from the Chinese Emperor’s banquet. Did she just leave them lying around like this through the day? This was something Sera should have at least tried to clean up, but…

When I opened the refrigerator, I saw that it was packed to the brim with seafood and other things that would spoil easily. Ah, so she did try to clean things up at least a bit. But as expected, you couldn’t fit 150 things into a refrigerator… also, there was no place to put the tofu.

In other words, today we would just be having these leftovers. There were 150 things here, so it’s not like I was going to get tired of eating these things.

It’s just, it was still a huge amount of work.

“Haruna, after this I’m going to the graveyard to meet Dai-sensei…”

“Hmph. I’m… not going.”

“I see.”

The clock had passed nine, so I took out the tofu from the refrigerator and left the house. As I was walking, at some point Haruna appeared at my side. I didn’t even bother asking her why she was there when she had said she wasn’t coming. But even then…

“I-I’m just going to the convenience store.”

She came up with that excuse. We separated midway, but she would probably come later.

***

As usual, the graveyard was quiet. The shiny polished gravestones almost seemed to suck the heat out of the summer air around them, and the tree branches elegantly waved in the gentle breeze.

Ahhh, this really was a place that could calm me down.

In the shadow of a wooden grave marker, I could see the form of a twin-tailed girl with chest-length hair, even though I couldn’t see her face in the dim light. She looked around the age of a junior high school student? She was taller than Haruna. Crap. I’m really into twin-tails, you know.

Well, it’s not like anybody other than a zombie or a masou shoujo would be here at the graveyard like this, so that was probably Dai-sensei herself, but I should probably check just to make sure.

“Dai-sensei?”

She chuckled with a hand on her mouth, and responded with a “Yes it iiis~~”… rather, that was what I expected to happen.

Instead, in place of a response, what the girl did instead was…

She ran me right through with a sword.

“Wh… Why…?”

I had no idea what she was talking about. Did I do something?

Crash. The Kyoudoufu in the plastic bag I was carrying dropped onto the floor.

“Good evening. Aikawa-san.”

The grinning girl was not Dai-sensei.

How did I know that this wasn’t Dai-sensei? Well, because this was someone I knew… it was Kyouko-chan.

“… How many times do I have to kill you for you to die?”

Her eyes thinned. In contrast, my eyes opened wide.

It was you?!

It seriously was you?!

-

The one who killed me was you?!

-

“Nomobuyo, woshi, hashitawa, dokeda, gunmiicha, dei, ribura.”

Kyouko sent forth words that I recognized. Before my eyes, her clothes changed into what looked like a cosplay costume. The cast around her left hand also disappeared, and although she grasped a sword in her right hand, she had a wooden sword in her left. A training sword or something?

A masou shoujo. The serial murderer was not a vampire ninja or a Megalo, but rather a masou shoujo.

That’s why nobody remembered what had happened. Everyone in the neighborhood had their memories manipulated, and the incident erased from their minds.

And the reason why I still remembered was probably this:

Even though I was in the memory manipulation range, there was one type of people who were immune from its effects. Those people were precisely the people who could perform the memory manipulation. Namely, masou shoujo.

In other words, memory manipulation wouldn’t work on someone like me who had become a masou shoujo. Well, what about the time I was killed? To perform the memory manipulation, you needed to specify an area of effect. At that time, I was in this graveyard. I was probably outside that area.

Haruna wasn’t supposed to have come to Tokyo. In that case, who was the masou shoujo who was put in charge of Tokyo?

Both Haruna and Kyouko had the appearance of a junior high school student. Did all masou shoujo look like that?

“What’s wrong? Your face is red… don’t tell me you have a fever…”

Now that I think about it, Kyouko was acting pretty suspicious back then. She was probably trying to manipulate my memories by putting a hand to my forehead, right? Just like Haruna had done to Orito. However, because I was a masou shoujo, it had no effect.

In retrospect, her desire to meet me as soon as possible was pretty suspicious in the first place. Dammit, although I had said that I was looking for the criminal, I had completely let down my guard. This is what happened when you took it too easy, wasn’t it? I’m such an unbelievable idiot.

I couldn’t move my body.

Like that time… like the time I was with that dog. Like the time I was killed.

“Do you actually think you can fight with me with that small an amount of magical power? … Laughable. Only one barrier and you can’t move, can you?”

So, this was like that time with Shironaga, when Haruna tried to seal Shironaga’s movements with a barrier…?

Kyouko still was showing me her well-mannered smile. And then…

“Ariel-sensei is not coming. I asked her to do something. Quite unfortunate, isn’t it?”

Her round cat-like eyes thinned.

“… And once I take care of you, everything will be settled.”

Before she could run a sword through my heart, I found myself on the receiving end of a rugby-like tackle. It sent my head spinning. The person clinging to my chest was none other than a frantic looking Haruna.

“Ayumu! Ayumu!”

Was she worried about my not being able to move? I would love to thank you, but I can’t move my tongue.

“Haruna… I see. This is why memory manipulation didn’t work on Aikawa-san.”

Haruna completely ignored Kyouko’s threatening words.

“A barrier, is it? … Hyah.”

Haruna chopped me with her hand, and I could move again.

“Hm? Where did you learn how to dispel barriers? You can’t even keep up in school.”

“I understand the theory behind constructing barriers, so I can figure out the theory behind dispelling them. I’m a genius, after all.”

At those words, Kyouko’s expression stiffened a bit.

“You’re as obnoxious as ever…”

“Hey, Ayumu. Who’s this?”

You don’t know her? She knows your name though.

Kyouko seemed unconcerned, and approached us with her sword-carrying hand casually swaying side to side like a student would swing her bookbag side to side while leaving school.

“The masou shoujo who killed me.”

“Ayumu’s enemy, then? … In that case, she’s my enemy as well, hmm…”

As I readied my fists, Haruna stood in between Kyouko and me. She opened her arms wide and glared at Kyouko.

“Heh, interesting. What happened to Mystletainn? Are you planning to fight unarmed?”

Her angelic smile had yet to change.

Krchh. Kyouko readied her sword.

“Don’t overdo it!”

Thump. I kicked off the gravel floor. Holding Haruna to me, I began to jump away from that place.

“I won’t let you run away.”

Her laid-back voice resounded next to me, and she sent the thin, long sword she carried in her right hand into my flank with amazing speed. The wounds on my body steadily increased. She sent the wooden sword gripped underhand in her left hand pummeling into me and pulverized my ribcage.

I knew how powerful a masou shoujo could be all too well. When it came to speed and power and everything, I wasn’t even nearly a match for them.

I remembered the dog’s words at that time. This was just a guess, but what he probably wanted to say was…

“Please hurry up and run away! With your level of magical energy, this is out of the question! This person…”

”… is not of this world.”

If that’s what he wanted to say, I could agree with him. I could also agree that this was out of the question.

“Please… just die already!”

She rushed me and plunged her sword right through my heart. Of course, before then, I had let go of Haruna.

This was my only chance. This one moment where my opponent thought she had won and let down her guard. I would drive a full-strength attack right into her.

The minute I tried to move my right hand, it was cut off.

What the hell was up with her impossible speed?!

She sent me flying with a kick, and I collided with a gravestone. Haruna ran towards me while calling my name.

“Oh, you can still move? Hmm… what exactly can I do that will kill you? … What if I burned you to cinders?”

The end of the sword glowed red, and a fireball appeared. The fireball steadily grew in size. A fireball made of magical energy.

I heard the sound of an explosion, and the fireball was shot at me with incredible speed. Right in front of me, it seemed to have struck some kind of wall, and vanished, sending ripples along the wall. I recognized that wall. It was Haruna’s barrier.

In order to collect my severed hand, I began to run, flying over the gravestones. Kyouko immediately gave chase. Her two cutely waving pigtails gradually closed in on me.

Having no other choice, I shifted into attack mode.

“346!”

She dodged my roundhouse kick with a crouch. I firmly grabbed the sword that came up at me, and blood dripped down from the palm of my hand. At that moment, Kyouko stopped moving for just a second. If I still had my right hand right now, I would be able to send a full-powered attack her way. Dammit.

I tried to send a strong kick into her flank, but she guarded against it with her other sword.

But, this can work. With this flow of battle, I think I can get in one satisfactory attack… but it was hopeless. A ball of flame slammed into me, and sent me tumbling right into another gravestone.

“Ayumu!”

Haruna ran over. Kyouko began to give chase, but a ruby light emitted from both Haruna’s hands and Kyouko stopped in her tracks… it looked like another barrier.

“Listen, Ayumu. With how I am now, I can only set up one more barrier, so plan accordingly.”

Only one more barrier. That’s not good. I’m a zombie, so I heal especially slowly when it comes to fire attacks. So I had to rely on Haruna to protect me from the magical attacks.

“Haruna, why are you fighting with me? Aren’t you on her side?”

“P-Pretty much…”

For some reason, Haruna blushed. It was exceedingly cute, and my jaws slackened in response.

“Pretty much? Aren’t you pushing yourself a bit hard here?”

“Shut up! Look, if you have time to talk to me then go get your arm instead! I’m… definitely not going to touch something as gross as that!”

That’s true. She probably wouldn’t want to touch something like a severed arm. Not just because she’s a girl… anybody would think the same.

While Kyouko was held at a distance, I ran to collect my arm. It seemed I was going to make it in time.

Haruna had her hands thrust out in front of her, readying herself to be able to erect a barrier at any time. I also began to gather my strength, prepared to bet everything on my next attack.

In a moment… and I seriously mean in an instant… Kyouko closed the distance between us.

Her sword danced. I immediately flew backwards, but I was firmly sliced diagonally from my chest to my flank.

The attacks continued. I desperately tried to avoid them while counterattacking. Her movement speed was very fast. But on countless occasions, I had fought with opponents that were fast like this. She was just a bit faster than they were. Once I got used to it, it wasn’t impossible to dodge her attacks.

That’s what I thought, but it was hopeless. The lower half of my body was cut through and fell off.

And then, Kyouko aimed for my neck as my head fell to the ground, and brought her sword down.

This was bad. Very bad. Don’t chop my head off. I won’t be able to do anything anymore.

Clang! The sword didn’t cut through me, but instead I heard the sound of clashing metal.

Finding herself attacked by green swords, Kyouko ran from that place.

Nice timing. I felt like I’ve said the same thing before… but in any case, I gave out a sigh of relief.

Right in front of me stood a crimson-eyed Sera. She was carrying both a sword made of leaves and a chainsaw.

“Hmm… I was told by Hellscythe-dono to come and assist… but the enemy is… a human?”

Sera watched Kyouko with a somewhat uncomfortable expression. Oh right, vampire ninjas couldn’t kill humans.

“Don’t worry. That’s a monster who’s just put on a human disguise.”

“Is that so… things are pretty hard on you, aren’t they? There are more fights to the death in this city than even the village I lived in.”

I reattached my body, and took the chainsaw from Sera. For some reason, I could see a hint of happiness on Sera’s usually stern face.

“Hm? Those eyes…” Kyouko pointed at Sera with her sword. Did she know about vampire ninjas?

“You’re the same as me, aren’t you?”

Along with those words, Kyouko’s child-like large eyes bled crimson. As she turned to one side, I could see a black cloak behind her.

“Sera…”

“I don’t know her. I can feel another, different power in her.”

I had asked Sera because I thought she might know this person if she was also a vampire ninja, but Sera immediately responded in the negative.

And then, I saw this “different power” with my own eyes.

Right where Kyouko was standing blew gusts of wind. Yes, it was the same unpleasant, purple wind that signaled a Megalo was preparing to fight.

When I glanced at Haruna, I saw that she had shut her eyes tight, and was shaking in the shadow of a gravestone.

She was a vampire ninja, a masou shoujo, and also a Megalo? What the hell.

“Why… why does she have the same magical power as a Megalo…?”

Haruna mumbled as if possessed by something. It seemed that Haruna had already withdrawn from the battle.

“Here I go.”

Sera brandished her black cloak, and gripped her sword made of leaves. She attacked directly from the front, sending forth what almost looked like a shoulder tackle, and sent up a whirlwind of purple wind.

The two crimson-eyed girls clashed swords. Sera, who was firmly gritting her teeth, and Kyouko, who had a light smile on her face. As the sound of weapons clashing rang through the air, the purple wind whirling behind Sera began to take the form of a long, thin tornado.

Kyouko tried sink the wooden sword she was gripping underhand into Sera’s flank, but Sera jumped backwards. Right then, she was swallowed up by the tornado and sent flying out. I dropped the chainsaw, running to catch Sera.

“Sera! Are you alright?!”

She came flying into my chest, sending me on my back and sliding along the gravel with incredible force. The impact had enough force to almost make me faint. Sera’s hair had been dirtied by sand and pebbles, but the determination had not faded from her eyes. Thankfully, she seemed to be alright.

I supported Sera by the shoulder while glaring at Kyouko.

“Hey, this is something I really wanted to ask, but why are you killing people?”

“Aikawa-san, if you knew you could live forever if you killed people… you surely would do it too, no?”

“Don’t screw with me… I don’t want anything like that.”

“That’s a lie. After all, Aikawa-san has an immortal body, doesn’t he?”

She made another tornado. The tornados flattened out like an empty can being crushed, and then expanded until they looked like volleyball sized spinning tops.

As they revolved at high speeds, the tornadoes orbited Kyouko like a satellite.

“What the hell is that…? I’ve… never seen that before.”

Haruna’s eyes had widened. It seemed that this wasn’t a type of magic… it was probably one of Kyouko’s abilities as a vampire ninja. Just like Sera could summon tree leaves and manipulate them, she seemed to be able to summon tornadoes.

“Now then, I’m going to start being serious, alright?”

Accompanied by the two tornadoes, Kyouko rushed forward and attacked me directly from the front.

Kyouko swung her sword downwards, and I took her attack without dodging. The tornadoes were being a hindrance, so I couldn’t dodge. A spray of blood painted the air red.

As if I was in a carwash, the two tornadoes closed in on me from left and right. The spinning top tornadoes stretched out like a pair of loose socks. If they sandwiched me between them, what would I do? As I thought about the situation, I was hit by something from behind. I pitched forward, headed right for Kyouko, but she suddenly fell back, so I crashed right into the ground. I heard the grinding of the two tornadoes right behind me.

“Sera, what the hell are you doing?!”

“Those tornadoes are dangerous. You were just about to be pulverized by them.”

Even so, you didn’t have to kick me… Sera and I stood side by side, and simultaneously launched our attacks.

I attacked from the front, and Sera the side. The tornadoes weren’t particularly fast, so while dodging them I raised my fist high above my head and brought it down. I was making such an exaggerated motion on purpose, to draw an attack. If you showed such a huge gap in your defense to a fighter, they wouldn’t be able to help wanting to counterattack, right?

As expected, Kyouko launched her wooden sword up at me.

“Hiken, Tsubame Gaeshi!”

Sera’s blow connected. I was certain that the fight was over, but she managed to avoid Sera’s follow-up slice just barely. Scraps of her black cloak and fresh blood danced in the air. Kyouko next went after Sera, brandishing her sword.

Clicking her tongue after seeing that her attack hadn’t connected, Sera now had to deal with the new attack. Kyouko’s sword attack, like the time Sera had killed the anteater, was so fast that I couldn’t even see the flash of the sword.

Once again, blood was sent into the air. This time, it was Sera’s leg that had been cut.

She had probably quickly pulled her leg back to dodge. Her leg hadn’t been sliced off, but a gaping wound had opened up.

This was the timing I was looking for. I brought my heel down on the top of her head.

From midair, like an axe splitting firewood, my kick came flying down. This attack was my strongest attack, filled with the 600% power I had stored up. It would be ridiculous if she didn’t die from this.

My timing was right on the mark. It would definitely hit… I thought, but while Kyouko attacked Sera with her sword, she threw her body to the side.

Yes, she was expecting my attack. Dammit, I probably had jumped too high. My full-powered heel drop managed just to graze one of her pigtails, and otherwise ended in failure. What’s more, after Kyouko fell to the floor, she sent a counterattack my way.

Normally, when you fall onto the ground, you put your hands on the ground, right? Don’t push yourself too hard from that position, dammit!

Her wooden sword slammed into my leg, and I heard the sound of breaking bone.

I took a step back to put some distance between us. I had completely forgotten that the tornadoes were still there.

I felt a sensation, as if my back was being polished by a giant nail file. What the hell, were the tornadoes made of swords or something?

Kyouko came chasing after me, so for now I tried to get away from her… no, here, I should…

As my back continued to be shaved by the tornadoes, I found myself on the receiving end of Kyouko’s attack.

Her sharp, thin sword thrust deep within me. The heavenly smile that she was showing me was actually the smile of a demon.

“I’ll grind your body to pieces like this.”

“That would certainly be a bother.”

I firmly grabbed onto Kyouko’s body. I didn’t try to run, and I didn’t try to struggle. Instead, all I did was take her into a deep lover’s embrace.

To stop her from moving.

Sera thrust a sword right through Kyouko, and straight through me as well. Kyouko opened her mouth wide, letting out a small shriek.

When Sera withdrew her sword, the tornadoes stopped turning, and Kyouko’s body collapsed onto the ground.

I let out a sigh, and stroked my chest in relief.

Was it over?

… She was damn strong. I couldn’t think of any other way we could have won.

“It seems like it’s over.”

Sera offered me a hand, so I took it and stood up. And then, Sera flew into my chest.

“Hey hey, what…”

I felt my face heating up in embarrassment for a moment, but my carefree attitude was soon knocked out of me.

A sword had pierced through Sera’s back.

A twin-tailed girl was gripping the sword. It was the girl we had just killed.

“I seem to have died once… but, too bad.”

“What’s the meaning of this?!”

“I still have around ten lives left in me.”

Huh? What the hell? That’s completely below the belt!

I was rooted to the spot, dumbfounded, but I soon tried to distance myself from her with Sera in my arms, and ran to where Haruna was.

Haruna had the chainsaw, so I had to retrieve it.

Perhaps because of that one attack, Sera was limp and motionless. The leaves that had once filled the air around us were also gone. She didn’t seem to have died… dammit, was it just from how much blood she had lost?

“Haruna, you learned about the Gem of Life, haven’t you? Please go ahead and tell Ayumu-san about it.”

Slowly walking towards us, Kyouko chuckled. Just like how she looked when I first met her, her face was cute. Could it be that it was time for things to be explained?

“Explain yourself.”

“The Gem of Life is an artifact that can revive the dead. If you use it on the living, you can render death ineffective just once.”

Sounded like something that I would often see in RPGs, but you could seriously make things like that?

“But, to make one of those, you need an incredible amount of magical energy, so a normal masou shoujo shouldn’t be able to possess ten.”

“I see, so that’s where the sacrifices come in.”

Kyouko seemed shocked at my words.

“Sacrifices?”

Haruna’s ahoge waved from side to side, and she asked me with a voice filled with bewilderment.

“In short, if she has a large amount of magical energy, she can make one right? So if she kills humans from this world, and changes them into magical energy, she can make these Gems of Life or whatever. Right?”

At my question, Kyouko grinned.

“Correct.”

“But, the humans in this world shouldn’t have that much magical energy!”

Haruna’s ahoge jumped from side to side and she shouted. “Impossible!” her ahoge seemed to be saying.

“But what if you sacrificed them? Then they would become large amounts of magical energy.”

This was something the dog had told me. I didn’t really remember too many of the specifics, though.

“Aikawa-san is surprisingly well-informed, isn’t he? I never thought you would also know about that person.”

That person, huh? He was probably the one who had given Kyouko the power of a vampire ninja and the magical energy of a Megalo. What a bother.

Kschh. Kyouko’s body blurred for a moment, and she was standing right in front of me.

I stepped back in an attempt to dodge, but the point of her sword stopped right in front of my face, and a huge fireball formed.

I kicked the sword up. However, the fireball did not disappear, and fired at me. There wasn’t even a smidgen of time for me to dodge. But, almost as if mocking my worry, the fireball suddenly disappeared.

“Aha, so you’ve finally come. I was waiting for you.”

Kyouko fell back half a step, and once again readied her sword.

I saw a familiar set of plate armor and pair of gauntlets in front of me. Long, straight silver hair that swayed in the wind. She stood there without an expression, staring blankly out into space.

She had never come to watch my battles before. Did she realize that I was in a pinch?

In any case, Yuu was standing right there.

This was a reinforcement I wasn’t expecting. Yuu had the power to turn me into a zombie. If she fought on my side, we should easily be able to beat Kyouko.

Flames arced in a semicircle and attacked Yuu, but she dismissed the flames with just a wave of her hand.

Yeah. As I thought, Yuu was really strong.

At that point, with my confidence in Yuu, I pretty much decided to leave the rest of the fight to her.

Kyouko continued to chuckle, and suicide rushed Yuu while creating more tornadoes. Yuu stood stock still, and just like before, waved her hands.

As Yuu’s silver hair was violently tossed around by the winds, Kyouko brought her sword down on Yuu. Alright, it was a huge attack this time. An ideal opening for a counterattack.

However, Yuu blocked the attack with her gauntlets. Not being able to withstand the force of the attack, her knees gave way.

“Hm?”

A puzzled expression came up on Kyouko’s face, and she cocked her head to the side. She kicked Yuu’s plate armor when she stood up, and Yuu wobbled backwards while clutching the place she was kicked.

Hey hey, those were both attacks you could have easily avoided, you know. I mean, Kyouko had probably planned for you to evade them, but you don’t have to deliberately take them straight on.

“… I see. Those gauntlets hold the power to negate magical energy. What an amazing piece of armor. However, the one using them is too weak… how unfortunate. What a waste of such a huge amount of magical energy.”

Kyouko sighed, shaking her head slightly from side to side.

Could it be that Yuu couldn’t fight very well? Could it be that her leaving the fighting to me was not because she didn’t see the need to interfere, but rather that she knew that she was weak?

Yuu snatched the chainsaw away from Haruna, and muttered something.

-

There’s no way she couldn’t be transforming into a masou shoujo, right?

-

Completely contrary to my words, Yuu’s clothes changed from the cosplay outfit I was familiar with to a different familiar cosplay outfit. However, her gauntlets and armor remained a constant.

When Haruna wore that outfit it was cute, when I wore that outfit it was disgusting, but when you put a suit of armor over it I admit it looked pretty cool.

At that moment, a number of memories began flowing out into my head.

“… Well, that’s alright, I’m picking up quite a few signals in this area. I’ll go look somewhere else.”

The crayfish had said that he could feel the energy of a masou shoujo somewhere else.

”Who are you? It’s rare to see a male masou shoujo. And also, your magical power is so weak. You, are you really a masou shoujo?”

“Please hurry up and run away! With your level of magical energy, this is out of the question! This person, this world…”

“Do you actually think you can fight with me with that small an amount of magical power? … Laughable. Only one barrier and you can’t move, can you?”

Lobster. The dog. Kyouko. Every single person I’ve met who could sense magical energy had said that my level of magical energy was tiny.

But…

“Who exactly are you? Dai-sensei told me that you’d have to have an impossible amount of magical power to be able to steal the magical power from me, the genius bishoujo demon baroness Haruna-chan!”

That’s what Haruna had said when I was made into a masou shoujo. I had thought beyond a doubt that I was the one who had stolen Haruna’s magical energy. Haruna also thought so. But, that was not true.

-

The one who had stolen Haruna’s magical energy was Eucliwood Hellscythe.

-

Yuu was probably also the reason I could become a masou shoujo.

I heard the cling and clang of weapon on weapon, and Yuu was blown in my direction.

“You’re still that weak even after becoming a masou shoujo?”

Kyouko sighed and shook her head, seeming disappointed… as I had suspected, Yuu’s battle ability was low. Even so, there was no questioning that her firepower had increased with the transformation. Should I join the battle here?

“Alright, Yuu. Together-“

Yuu briskly pointed at the floor. Now that I looked at it, there were words carved into the gravel.

Run away. You’re a hindrance.

Her cobalt-blue eyes that almost seemed to suck me in were focused right at me. Just like they were when we had first met.

I can’t run away here. I have to beat her, no matter what.

If we work together… and mix in Sera and Haruna as well, we can win this.

At least, don’t move. Definitely don’t move.

“You have to kill her ten times, you know? Let me join in.”

Yuu slapped me. What the hell. “Look again at what I wrote,” she seemed to be telling me.

Faced with those gleaming, gem-like eyes, I nodded once.

Faced with an almost Sera-like, coolly determined look like that, I found myself at a loss for words.

***

I didn’t know what to do.

Crossing swords with each other, Yuu and Kyouko had moved their battle in the direction of the big tree. I couldn’t forget the look Yuu had given me with those blue eyes. In the darkness, I was at a loss as to whether I should wait here or go over to where the battle was taking place.

“Ayumu…”

Sera seemed to have regained consciousness, but her face was ghastly pale.

This was probably similar to what had happened before. She needed more blood.

“Haruna, give Sera some blood.”

“Fine… just this one time, alright?”

After seeing Sera lock lips with Haruna, I stood up. In the end, I really couldn’t just let Yuu fight alone. I didn’t know what her chances of victory were, but seeing how the battle had unfolded up to now, I couldn’t help but be worried.

The minute I stepped firmly onto the gravel, Sera caught me by my clothes.

“Wait.” With a grim expression, she wiped her mouth with her hands.

“Wait for what?!”

I shook off Sera’s hand and took a step forward. This time, Sera grabbed me by the shoulder.

“You would only become a hindrance. Hellscythe-dono’s words carry incredibly strong power in them.”

“I’ve heard about that ability.”

People who heard her words would become as just as she said. She carried that kind of frightening power, and when she used it her head would ache.

Hm?

“People who hear her words… so, she can’t choose the target herself?”

“Precisely. Just watch.”

Sera said that to me, and I glanced in the direction of the large tree, where I saw Kyouko crumbling to the ground from her knees. She soon stood back up, but once again crumbled down. In response to that, Yuu dropped the chainsaw from her hands, and held her head in her gauntleted hands.

“Right now, Hellscythe-dono is saying the following.”

-

“Die.”

-

With just that one word, people would die?!

If I had gone to help her, and then had heard those words, what would become of me? I was being kept alive by Yuu’s power. If she then tried to kill me with the same power, I wonder which would take precedence…

That was why Yuu had not allowed me to fight with her.

If the people around her heard her say “Die,” they would all end up dying.

Her words were heavier than I had imagined…

“What are you laughing about? Gross… die! Idiot!”

Don’t use those words lightly. = “Geez! Don’t say bad things about oniichan!”

“Yuu, while I appreciate the sentiment, it’s not like Haruna was saying that seriously either.”

“No, seriously die. Die with that gloomy necromancer over there!”

Death is painful.

Her tears that time… her words that time… were filled with many emotions.

A strong light sparked for a moment in the graveyard. It was so bright that I had to close my eyes, and I felt the power drain from my body. As expected from a body that’s weak against light.

Something fell from the sky. It was a girl wearing a tattered-looking pair of gauntlets and a set of plate armor. Her beautiful, silver hair spread out in all directions, and she fell down to where I was.

I caught her, and saw that she had her eyes closed, as if she was sleeping. Her body was limp, and her head hung gently down. Her clothes dissolved into a faint light. The only things left were her plate armor and gauntlets.

“Are you alright?! Yuu! Hey! Yuu!”

Although I was bewildered at the sight of her exposed, almost transparently white skin, I continued to call out to her.

“I haven’t died yet… in order to obtain that person’s magical energy, I’ve been fighting in this form on purpose to lure her out…”

A certain twin-tailed girl with blood flowing from her ears readied her wooden sword and walked in our direction. Her eyes were filled with madness.

Could she seriously have poked out both her ears to get away from Yuu’s power? That’s going way too far!

Kyouko impaled herself with a sword. She probably wanted to heal her body that had been wounded during her fight with Yuu.

The blood streaming from her ears disappeared as if having been acted on by a rubber eraser, and her footsteps lightened.

“Well then, let’s continue this party.”

I lay Yuu’s body on top of the gravel, and tightened my fists as they shivered in fury.

Pooling all my hatred into my eyes, I glared at that bitch.

Her light smile pissed me off a lot. Suddenly, something else flew into my line of vision.

Haruna had appeared, holding a green sword.

“Haruna?”

Hearing my call, she turned her cute face in my direction. The ahoge coming out of the top of her head jumped from side to side.

“Hey, Ayumu. What’s this I’m feeling? It’s the first time I’ve felt this way. Even though I don’t care about the people in this world, seeing that gloomy necromancer being done in like that… it’s enough to make my chest burn… I really want to punch that girl’s face in!”

“It’s probably because you actually do care a bit about Yuu.”

“… That… might be true. We never really talked that much though…”

“Otherwise, you want to do your best for my sake.”

At that suggestion, Haruna flushed apple red, and denied my statement vehemently. “I-It’s not like I’m doing this for you!” she spat out desperately.

“Ayumu, to be honest, the wound in my leg hasn’t healed yet. But, I thought of a new technique.”

Sera was standing by my side. Her composed, elegant face pointed straight forwards. She glanced for a moment in my direction,

“When we get home, won’t you help me think of a name for it?”

She gave me a small smile.

What is it with my life? Lately, the number of things I don’t want to lose just keeps increasing.

“Let’s go.”

Laughing once out of my nose, I kicked off the floor. In the same way, the two next to me kicked off the floor, and we all simultaneously aimed for the masou shoujo in front of us.

First was a shuriken made of tree leaves. Kyouko took that straight on, and thinned her eyes, concentrating on our movements.

“Kyaaah!!”

Kyouko crouched and avoided Haruna’s diagonal sword swipe. Sera, not being able to use one leg, kicked off a wall made from leaves with her usable leg, changed direction in midair, and headed straight for Kyouko. Kyouko put an end to that attack with a single swipe from her sword.

While she made a big swing with her sword, I went in for a punch and tried to catch her right in the face. But, she barely managed to dodge me, and I was blown away by a kick.

“Not bad.”

With incredible speed, Kyouko almost seemed to vanish and closed in on Sera. A clang! sound reverberated through the air several times, after which Sera had been cut from her chest to her stomach, and fresh blood flew from her wounds. She almost looked like a poor butterfly.

In the space of that attack, Haruna tried to impale Kyouko with her green sword, but she was thrown back by a tornado.

This wasn’t working. Like the dog had said, this was almost out of the question… she was just way too strong.

Leaves continued to fly around us. It seemed that Sera was still conscious. Haruna also seemed to have taken some serious damage, but she was scowling at me… pretty strong, these two were.

“Haruna, Sera, one more time!”

“OK!” “Here I go.”

This time as well, Sera took the lead and attacked. A poorly-planned, reckless attack.

Kyouko swiped her sword from low to high in a crescent arc, and cut Sera’s body into two… or so it seemed.

A body switching technique. Sera’s specialty ninjutsu, in which she replaced her body with a fake. I was astonished at her skillful deceit. Sera was really good at creating openings.

However, Kyouko had realized what was going on. There was no way Sera would just attack her straight on like that. She was just opening herself up and luring us in. Luring me in.

From a blind spot, I came throttling out with the intent to bring a kick down on her head. There was no other time which I wished as strongly as I did this moment that I had tried a punch instead. Because, if I attacked with my legs, I couldn’t dodge.

Kyouko went so far as to smile and cock her head to the side before deeply impaling me through. I had come out from a perfect blind spot. In situations like this where the difference in strength was so apparent, it was natural that we had no choice but to resort to those strategies. Of course, that’s precisely what we were doing. There was no other way. And Kyouko understood that too well.

In other words… Kyouko could anticipate from where and when we would try to attack her.

My legs were swept from under me, and my body was thrown into the air for a moment. The next moment, I was blown away by the tornado. Sera stood in the direction I was flying, looking like she was preparing to attack with a Tsubame Gaeshi. She couldn’t respond fast enough to my sudden appearance. I was impaled by Sera’s sword.

“A…. Ayumu…”

“Don’t worry about it. It doesn’t hurt at all.”

We couldn’t attack her straight on. And when you took into account the fact that she could read almost all of our surprise attacks, we really were in a hopeless situation.

What should we do?

… This was hopeless.

We couldn’t do anything but give up.

Yes. We had to give up.

Just one more time. That’s right, yeah. If we’re completely blown away and left on the ground looking up at the sky just one more time, let’s give up.

… And because of that, I wouldn’t be satisfied unless we put our absolute all into this attack.

I gave a backwards glance to Sera and Haruna, seeing them rush once more at Kyouko just to be swept away. Dragging my immobile leg along the ground and pounding my tightly closed fist on the ground, I slowly dragged myself forwards. In front of me was the chainsaw. I picked that up and began to chant.

“Nomobuyo, woshi, hashitawa, dokeda, gunmiicha, dei, ribura.”

The clothes I usually desperately tried to avoid wearing coordinated around me. The chainsaw emitted a ruby-colored light, as well as a shrill shriek. I unsteadily rose up, and stepped down hard on the gravel.

“Ah right, I forgot, but Aikawa-san is also a masou shoujo, isn’t he?”

Pulling out the sword with which she had just impaled Sera and kicking Haruna away, Kyouko faced this way.

I was suddenly slashed diagonally. But in return, I cut her down with the chainsaw.

“Eh?” Kyouko’s eyes opened wide. She probably wasn’t expecting me to be able to counterattack.

Kyouko’s wound closed right away. She had probably died once and then was revived.

“You monster!!”

Here it comes. A magic attack. Feeling as if I had been shot by a cannon, I shook violently and began to collapse.

No… not yet. I won’t collapse just from this.

I took a step back, and somehow managed to hold my ground. Ah, but it seemed she had broken my arm… well, whatever. If I still had my right hand, I could still punch her face in.

The sound of chaffed gravel filled the air, and I slowly advanced on sliding feet.

No matter what kind of attack she sent at me, no matter how many times she attacked me, I would slowly shuffle forwards.

Kyouko vehemently shook her head, and those large eyes shook in fear. It was almost as if she had seen a zombie and feared for her life.

“Stop! Die!”

No, I can’t stop. And no, I can’t die.

-

I still haven’t punched your face in.

-

Those annoying tornadoes came around again and tried to break my body into tiny pieces. Ah, if I get wedged between these two things, then it’s all over. I guess it really is hopeless.

That’s what I thought, but Haruna’s final barrier immobilized one of the tornadoes. However, the other tornado carved into me. If I just let things be, I would be ground into minced meat.

But, you know, that wasn’t enough.

Just because I was slowly being ground into minced beef was not a reason to give up.

“Fall! Kneel! Disappear!”

Kyouko gripped her wooden sword tight, and sent forth an attack with all her might.

“You… were strong. The strongest I’ve ever encountered. Freakishly strong.”

I grabbed her wooden sword with my hand, and crushed it in my grip.

“That’s…!! Breaking my masou renki… with your bare hands…”

“Sorry. Truth is, I’m also freakishly strong.”

“A human… by a mere human…”

“Haven’t I said it before? I might look like this, but I’m no human. I’m a zombie, and what’s more, a masou shoujo… well then, how many more times do I have to kill you? Although, I wouldn’t mind killing you ten times more.”

The masou shoujo costume under her black cloak vanished.

“A… Ahh… Uwaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!”

She shook her head from side to side, and the tears stored up in the corners of her eyes flowed out towards her cheeks.

Ahh, right. There was something I had wanted to tell the person who had killed me.

“They say that idiocy can only be cured by death. I was an idiot. Boredom might be a luxury, but it’s no fun. Loneliness might be peace, but then you cannot share your joy with others… thank you. My life changed because you killed me.”

My words probably took her completely by surprise. Kyouko even stopped shrieking.

I dropped the chainsaw on the ground, cleared the broken shards of her masou renki from my hands, crouched down, took a few deep breaths, and gathered my power. And then, I continued my words in a low voice.

“So, let me change your life this time.”

I took one step into my attack, forcing up all the power I had stored in my entire body, rolling that power up through my body’s rotation and sending it to my right arm. My fist tightened, my teeth clenched, and I concentrated that power into one spot. Trying to push all this power into a single attack, my fist drove full strength into that lovely face filled with so much hate.

Taking dirt and various things with her, Kyouko was completely blown away.

And then, at last, Kyouko stopped moving. She lay there, looking, as Haruna did, like a gentle young girl.

“It’s finally over…”

Sera dragged her leg, and spoke while holding her chest dyed in red.

“You’re full of holes.”

I gave her a quick laugh, and she returned with a laugh as well.

“You’re disgusting. Seriously, if you were that strong, you should have fought in that form from the beginning. Even though it’s disgusting.”

Sarcasm filled her every word. There was no ill will in her words at all.

“Haruna, are you alive?”

“O-Of course… who the hell do you think I am?”

She didn’t seem to be able to move her legs, but Haruna was as cheeky as ever.

I gave both Haruna and Sera one of my shoulders, and with these two maidens on both sides of me, I walked towards Yuu.

“Yuu.”

“Hellscythe-dono.”

“Hey, gloomy necromancer!”

At our calls, the silver-haired bishoujo hazily opened her eyes.

“Oh what, so you were alive?”

Haruna’s words almost seemed disappointed.

But, her ahoge seemed very happy as it jumped from side to side.

Yuu pressed on her head with one of her gauntleted hands, and sat up. She carved words in the gravel.

Is it over?

Sera answered Yuu’s question.

“Yes, Ayumu did it.”

Hearing those words, even though she was expressionless, Yuu seemed fully satisfied to me.

After seeing Sera pass Yuu her black cloak, I looked down on Kyouko’s naked body laying there. Her eyes were still lit scarlet. It seemed that she still hadn’t given up…

I tugged her up by her cloak, and raised my fist overhead.

“I have to make sure she’s dead.”

I began to send out another full-powered attack, but my right hand was firmly grasped. Even though I had become a masou shoujo and was using my full strength, my hand had been so firmly grasped that I couldn’t move.

“Hey, don’t stop me. There’s no way we can let this person li-“

When I turned around, a bishoujo I had never seen before was there. Her waist-length hair was tied into twin tails, and she was wearing a loose white lab coat. I could also see a blouse, a pleated skirt, and a necktie.

“You’re Ayumu-san, aren’t you~? What are you doing to one of my students?”

The girl gave me a smile. However, the hand that was grasping my right hand increased its strength.

“Dai-sensei! Um, you’re making a mistake! Ayumu might be an idiot, but you’re making a mistake!”

Haruna was more shaken than I had ever seen her before. Ahh, this was Dai-sensei.

“Ariel-sensei… help me…”

Kyouko shamelessly let out a feeble cry. Her eye color had also returned to normal.

“Dai-sensei, this person did something in this world that you can’t do. Let me go.”

“That’s a lie! I wouldn’t do something like that…”

Kyouko took advantage of the situation and huge tears fell from her eyes, making me want to punch her face in all the more.

“What are you trying-“

“I tried reasoning with them so many times… but they ganged up on me… Haruna too.”

She sobbed, speaking intermittently through her cries. What a brilliant actor she is.

“Dai-sensei, please believe us.”

“Even if you say that, this girl is a good girl, so above all… at the very least, what you were trying to do now was something you can’t do, wasn’t it~?”

While she said that, Dai-sensei flung me away. My skirt flapped in the wind, and I rolled heavily on the gravel. Dai-sensei helped Kyouko up, and put her hands in the pockets of her long white coat.

“Dai-sensei! Why won’t you believe Ayumu?! Ayumu… these people… they’re super good people!”

Dai-sensei did not lend an ear to Haruna’s desperate words.

“Hmm, there just aren’t enough ingredients for me to believe them~.”

When she took her hands out of her pockets, she was grasping onto what looked awfully like Japanese katanas.

Talking this over was hopeless. If that’s the case, the only choice we had was to settle this with our fists.

I was hesitant to fight with Dai-sensei. Was it really alright to fight just because my words weren’t getting through? Well, but… I would definitely not forgive Kyouko, so if she wanted to fight, I should fight her… before she transforms.

“Haruna, Sera, Yuu. Fall back.”

“Huh? You want to fight with Dai-sensei? You’re an idiot!”

Haruna expectedly objected to my idea, but Yuu tossed me the chainsaw, and Sera stood next to me, not heeding my words.

“Haruna, has she transformed yet?”

“Isn’t that obvious just from looking?! She hasn’t transformed yet. Could it be… you’re actually trying to win?”

That would be correct. I showed Haruna my determination, and her Ahoge waved around, almost as if calling me an idiot.

“That black-cloaked girl over there, you’re very strong, aren’t you~? Won’t you fight with me?”

I was surprised at her sudden proposal. What the hell was she saying all of a sudden…?

Clang. I had never heard such a strong sound of metal on metal before. Sera was gone from my side.

“Meet words you like with drinks, and words you don’t with swords… that is who we are, the vampire ninjas.”

More sounds rang out. Dai-sensei continued to guard against the dancing sword strikes.

“How wonderful~. To think that there would be people like this in this world.”

Sounding delighted, Dai-sensei waved her sword. Rather than say she guarded against the attack, Sera managed to dislodge the sword from its current course and dodged it.

I need to get into this fight too. I readied my chainsaw and crouched.

Right then, Sera was knocked away in my direction. I suddenly took my hands off the chainsaw and caught Sera. The considerable force she hurtled into me with also knocked me back. The chainsaw flew somewhere off from the impact.

“Are you alright?”

“… This is frustrating.”

Her red eyes stared straight forwards. She clenched her teeth.

“I wanted to beat her with speed… but she’s faster than I am.”

What’s more, she doesn’t seem to be fighting with her full strength either.

I wanted to say that, but I had no time. Because Dai-sensei came in with a slash. Sera and I flew off in different directions. Dai-sensei came attacking in my direction. I kicked off a gravestone, and sent out my fist.

My attack was dodged, and my arm was cut. Blood sprayed out and dyed the air red.

After that, the sky was covered in green.

“The secret of my blade lay not in the blade that is hidden. Blades that fly as leaves on a tree, that is… Flying Sword, Hyakkizensatsu!”

Large numbers of blades covered the air like grass, and all fell towards Dai-sensei. But somehow, she managed to hit them all down.

You’ve got to be kidding. I was dumbfounded. I’ve never seen a person who could avoid every bit of rain in a downpour.

“Here I go.”

“Not good enough!”

Sera rushed at Dai-sensei but was kicked away, and my leg was chopped off. She hadn’t even transformed, but she was this fast? She was a complete monster. A twin-tailed monster.

Falling onto the ground, I reached out for my leg nearby to reattach it, and slid towards it.

Krchh. The sound of chaffed gravel rose up, and a sword pushed its way through my hand. Before I could grab my leg, I had been pierced. Like some sort of biological specimen.

“You lot are quite interesting~. It really would be nice to study you~.”

The eyes that looked down on me were those of an innocent young girl. Dai-sensei raised her sword up to face-level. I couldn’t feel any intent from her to attack me.

In an instant, Sera’s flying kick ran into the sword. She had been able to sense Sera’s movements and guarded against them. From Dai-sensei’s standpoint, did Sera seem slow?

She was way too strong.

My palm seemed to be broken, but I didn’t mind and drew my hand back, reattaching my leg and launched a low kick. Of course, that was also avoided. Dai-sensei’s katana glowed red, and blew Sera and I away like scraps of paper.

“What did she just do?”

“I don’t know.”

Sera and I looked at each other.

“She just used something called ‘Air’ or something. It’s wind magic.”

Haruna explained the situation.

I took the chainsaw in my hands, and gathered my power.

If it came to this, I would store as much power as I could and use it all in an attack.

… 602… 703… 810.

At that point, Dai-sensei came charging at me, so I kicked off the gravel.

I felt like yelling out, but at the speed I was going at I felt like I was on a roller coaster and couldn’t let out a sound, so I silently crossed weapons with Dai-sensei.

Screeeeeeeech!! The chainsaw emitted a ruby-colored light and cut down on Dai-sensei’s katana. Or rather, it was cutting into the deep crimson light surrounding her sword.

“Fwah, amazing! Such power in a masou shoujo is incredibly rare!”

In the midst of battle, Dai-sensei gave me high praise and showed me a smile.

My chainsaw suddenly cut through thin air, and I found Dai-sensei’s katana at my throat.

“Ayumu-san, if you came and properly listened in my class, you could definitely become a top-class masou shoujo~.”

Seeming satisfied, she chuckled. Well I’m beat… there’s no way I could win against someone like this.

If it came to this, let me ignore Dai-sensei and go straight for Kyouko.

I gave the chainsaw a huge swing, and when I made Dai-sensei distance herself from me, I ran towards Kyouko. Having read my intentions, in the time it took me to make two steps towards Kyouko, Dai-sensei stood in front of her.

Fast. Way too fast. I couldn’t do anything against that speed.

I brought the chainsaw I held in both hands down from up high, aiming to crush her. It was a swing that I had put all my strength into. If she dodged… well, I would actually prefer that.

Dai-sensei’s smiling face vanished, replaced by the serious face of a warrior, and she caught my full-strength attack with her swords. The two katana surrounded by crimson light enveloped Dai-sensei, and waves reminiscent of the times when Haruna erected her barriers rippled in front of me.

Even so, my attack was heavier.

I could do this. I could beat her…. That’s what I thought as I gathered even more power into my attack, but all the strength suddenly went out from my shoulders.

Kyouko had skewered both Dai-sensei and myself.

“That was quite a fun dance.”

Kyouko’s eyes were cold and thinned, and her voice sounded like it belonged to a man. Her eyes, which had lost their previous light and all their focus, gazed past myself and Dai-sensei, looking somewhere behind us.

“That’s… how…”

The one who had spoken up was Yuu. The changed Kyouko was looking straight at Yuu.

Sera, Haruna, and I all looked at Yuu. Yuu, who usually kept her silent, emotionless mask up no matter what, was grasping her head with a frightened expression.

“Ahh, but it’s good to see you’re healthy. Don’t look so frightened, Eucliwood. I don’t intend to do anything.”

The young man seemed to be enjoying himself, and his voice seemed to make the air around him tremble, causing a dark blue mist to settle in. When the mist touched me, my hairs stood on end and my body shivered at the disgusting feeling.

This person… was different. This wasn’t Kyouko.

Was the person we were talking to now the that person who had given Kyouko the power of a vampire ninja and a Megalo?

The mist gently wrapped around Kyouko’s body and lifted her up into the air.

“Well, then everyone. I look forward to our next meeting.”

“… Ayumu-san was telling the truth, wasn’t he? Tricking me is not allowed!”

Dai-sensei raised her voice while pressing on the part of her abdomen that had been impaled, but Kyouko didn’t even give her a glance. Wrapped in the dark mist, she vanished almost like a Megalo would vanish into the wind after they died.

“I won’t let you run away! Wait, please!”

Dai-sensei went chasing after Kyouko. I began to chase after them too, but Yuu had wrapped her arms around my waist, so I couldn’t move.

As if I could let them run away! But when I tried to shake her off, I touched one of her gauntlets.

Yuu’s hands were shaking.

And what’s more, Haruna elbowed me in the back of the head.

“Aren’t you amazing?! To think you could fight with Dai-sensei like that! This is good progress!”

She gave me a full-faced smile, almost as if she was talking about herself. I wasn’t even a match for her though…

And then… Sera wrapped her arms around my neck. I felt a happy sensation on my cheeks. They were pressed up right against me!

“I can’t walk very well right now. So I’ll be using you for crutches.”

Whatever happened to asking me first?

All in one go, I lost my will to chase after them. But for now…

“Yuu, what was that stuff earlier?”

How Yuu had reacted was weighing on my mind. I didn’t try to shake her off, but gently placed a hand on one of her gauntlets.

She opened her eyes wide, and while she covered her mouth with both hands, she carved words into the gravel.

That was, that mist was, something I should have already extinguished.

-

The power of a zombie.