What kind of nonsense did I just hear? Kenji looked at the doll with a gaze full of disbelief. The doll, still smiling, bounced the ball it was riding on and approached Kenji.
[You smell delicious!]
"……This is seriously bullshit."
[You, what's your name?]
The doll abruptly shoved its face forward.
No matter how you looked at it, it was a face like a rat bastard. It had a cute appearance fitting for an amusement park, but it was still a beast. For such a thing to suddenly spout nonsense about mating in human language, it was only natural to be flabbergasted.
'Should I kill it?'
The thought from just a moment ago. If we fight, a limb or two might fly off. But his irritation surged to the point where that didn't matter. To hear such talk from a beast-shaped doll in his life. It was a situation that would make even Pygmalion, if he were standing here now, jump in shock. Kenji wielded the Fear he had withdrawn again and glared at the doll before him with cold eyes.
"Does communication work?"
Maestro asked, looking alternately at Kenji and the doll. Instead of answering, Kenji clenched his fist. Maestro, sensing what he intended to do, clicked his tongue and stepped back. He was about to suggest trying to converse since communication seemed possible, but it seemed futile anyway.
Well, it didn't really matter. The purpose of summoning him in the first place was interaction, not conversation, and there was no reason to stop him since he was showing a violent reaction. Maestro thought so and roughly sat on the motionless merry-go-round. Regardless, Kenji and the doll had no interest in him.
[I'm Shiro! And you?]
"……Maintenance worker."
Kenji contorted the corner of his mouth and spat it out. At that statement, the doll who introduced itself as Shiro tilted its head.
[Maintenance worker isn't a namㅡ]
Before Shiro could finish speaking. Kenji drove his clenched fist squarely into the thing's face.
White Lotus Demonic Art: Thorn Shatter.
[Guehk!?]
-KWA-DDDEUDDEUK!
With a tremendous noise, Shiro's body tumbled backward. The ball it was riding rolled to the side, and mechanical parts popped out from its shattered face. Black ink writhed, squeezing through the cracked gaps. Even amidst this, Shiro didn't realize what had just been done to it. It just blinked blankly and stared down at the gear rolling on the ground.
Several seconds like that. Having grasped the situation, Shiro frowned.
[Wha, what's this suddenㅡ]
-BANG! A surging black snake struck Shiro's body. The snake drove its sharp venomous fangs into the back of Shiro's neck without hesitation. Sparks flew. But the snake failed to deal effective damage to Shiro. It only left small tooth marks before turning to smoke and disappearing. However, it wasn't painless.
Shiro lightly brushed its sparking, crackling neck with a finger, then glared at Kenji and took out a white ball from its chest. Tick tock, tick tock, such sounds echoed faintly from inside the ball. Kenji confirmed the sound and clicked his tongue.
'A bomb.'
Bombs are troublesome to deal with. Partly because the power varies drastically with each bomb, and it's impossible to tell with a glance whether it's impact or time-based. But fortunately, that white ball-shaped bomb didn't seem intent on hiding its nature.
The blatantly audible ticking sound. Kenji twisted the corner of his mouth and stomped the ground. Dust rose thickly, and Kenji charged through it.
[Eek!]
Shiro frantically threw the bomb it was holding. Those placed on the ground tilted slightly sideways, amplifying the ticking sound. Kenji grabbed a few of them and threw them back at Shiro.
-KWAANG!
The bomb exploded with a loud sound. Flames swallowed the space, stealing Shiro's outline from view. It didn't matter. Kenji used the recoil from the bomb that went off behind him and slid across the ground as if running. Then Shiro's exposed flank. He swallowed a breath, heup, and made an ink-black flower bloom from his fist.
White Lotus Demonic Art: Ink Flower.
The blooming flower advanced as if to swallow Shiro whole. Shiro tried to retreat in panic, but the petals shredding its body were faster. Torn and split wounds were carved onto Shiro's body.
The terrible agony felt throughout its entire body. Shiro, tears welling up, took out a bomb from its chest.
[Wh, why are you doing this all of a sudden!?]
The color was different from what it had been throwing before. A slightly larger blue bomb. Kenji instinctively realized that thing was dangerous. The ticking sound coming from inside was fierce, as if about to explode immediately. Tick, tock. As that sound grew louder, Kenji felt an extreme threat to his life.
Kivotos was not kind to outsiders. Getting shot without a bulletproof vest means death. Getting caught in an explosion means death. Getting punched means death. Getting captured means death. Whatever the act. Kenji was the weaker one here, and that had been unchanged since he first fell into this place. So no matter that it was Maestro's creation, Shiro's bomb, being a native of Kivotos from birth, would clearly have ridiculous destructive power.
'And among them, that one is the top.'
The white bombs thrown until now. Honestly, they were dangerous too, but they were at a level to scoff at and brush off. But not that one. The risk is too great to kick. And there's no leeway to run away.
Then what should be done.
Accelerated thought reached a judgment. Kenji twisted the corner of his mouth and laughed.
[Ah!]
Kenji's hand touched the bomb Shiro was holding. The Fear condensed on his fingertips began to envelop the bomb. One layer, two layers. The Fear that instantly wrapped the bomb seeped into its interior. Altering it like that.
-Eujijik.
The bomb compressed with a terrible noise. The bomb, once the size of a human head, instantly shrank to the size of an eyeball, and Kenji's eyes widened as he snatched the bomb. Then he forcibly shoved it into Shiro's gaping maw while extending his other hand.
Shiro's captured jaw. Kenji retrieved the hand buried deep into Shiro's throat and forcibly closed Shiro's mouth.
[Ah, no, eugeuk!?]
Shiro's body swelled at the neck. Confirming it immediately, Kenji leaped backward greatly.
The deafening roar that erupted right after.
-KWAAAAAAANG!
The bomb exploded from within Shiro's body. Blue flames shot out from its eye sockets, nose, and mouth, then grey smoke crawled out. Kenji watched the spectacle after safely landing on the ground. But his condition wasn't perfectly fine either.
The explosion's range. He narrowly avoided it, but he couldn't ignore the recoil. Seems like his ankle bone is cracked, and a few ribs are broken.
Still, this much is a minor injury. It doesn't even fall under the serious injuries he anticipated when first starting the fight.
Kenji let out a short sigh and stared at the devastation of the explosion. Then, beyond the thick smoke, a blue light flashed. Kenji adjusted the position of his slightly twisted ankle and looked at the owner of that light.
Shiro's appearance wasn't unscathed either. Its right eyeball was crushed with various parts popping out, and its neck was half torn off, dangling. Everything below the right shoulder had cleanly vanished, and judging by its tilting body, the part responsible for balance seemed broken too.
It was only natural. While the bomb Shiro made might not deal significant damage to itself, it's a different story if it's coated with Kenji's Fear. Look at the evidence. Its body, which wouldn't get a scratch from ordinary attacks, shattered directly from Kenji's attacks. Though it didn't inflict a fatal wound, the impact had definitely accumulated.
Moreover, the Thorn Shatter, the first technique used, is a move that crushes the inside, not the outside. So, Shiro's head is probably not normal right now. The reason it frantically threw bombs at the start and couldn't shake off the clinging Kenji was because its head wasn't functioning properly.
'But perhaps because it lacks a brain, I couldn't turn it into a complete idiot.'
It's regrettable, but there's no great need to pay attention. Unbalancing its sense of equilibrium and burdening its thought process is enough. Kenji felt the burden gradually accumulating on his body and glared at Shiro with a cold gaze.
Just before he was about to kick off the ground, Shiro raised its one remaining arm and shouted.
[St, stop!!]
"……?"
Kenji's face slightly crumpled. Seeing that, Shiro shouted with an even louder voice.
[I don't want to fight! Spare me!]
"……."
[I don't know what I did wrong, but anyway, it's my fault! I'm sooorrryyy!]
Shiro kept apologizing, flailing its one arm and two legs.
Kenji stared at that sight for a good while longer, then let out a deep sigh and withdrew his fist.
"So."
Kenji asked while sitting on the back of Shiro, who was lying face down with its head pressed to the ground.
"Why did you say such a thing?"
[I, I think I just said anything since I haven't been awake for long……. I'm sorry…….]
"Do you remember what you said?"
[No.]
"Ugh, this damn rat bastard."
Kenji muttered so and slapped Shiro's back. Shiro let out an auwu groan and then began to shed tears.
The sound of sniffling could be heard, but Kenji felt no particular guilt towards Shiro. He just looked at Maestro approaching from afar with a bored expression.
"The experiment was a success."
Maestro said. His voice was more excited than usual.
"The reaction of Fear and Fear. You might not have felt it, but I clearly detected it. Thanks to you. I am grateful."
"……."
"With this data as a basis, I should be able to further reinforce the experiment. It seems possible to replicate not only that doll but also other black-colored entities. Moreover, other entities should be possible as well."
Kenji looked down at Maestro without saying a word. Towards him, Maestro asked as if he had suddenly remembered something.
"But what conversation did you have with that doll that made you so angry?"
"It said it wants to mate with me."
Kenji spat out flatly, tuk*.
Maestro's movement stopped.
"……What did you say?"
"Mate."
"……."
"Nothing to say?"
Kenji asked, contorting the corner of his mouth. Maestro maintained his silence for a good while longer, then answered in a sincere voice.
"I'm sorry……."
Comments (0)
Please log in to leave a comment. Login or Register