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"Kobeni... Kobeni..."
"You fell for that girl?"
Galli asked me as I muttered weakly to myself.
I grimaced at the question and let out a sigh.
Then I pressed hard against my dizzy, hangover-split head and said,
"Something about it’s bugging me. I’m sure the name Kobeni rings a bell, and something connected to it is coming to mind... wait, who was my last buddy again?"
"Arai. Arai Hirokatsu."
"Right... Arai. ...Arai. Trivia wiki."
A character listed on the trivia wiki... and not just that, a character with his own separate paragraph... If this was the original, he’d be from Division 4...
Ah.
"Hey. Makima said she’s going on a business trip to Kyoto today, right?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"...The day Makima goes to Kyoto on business—"
Bang!
A gunshot. A gunshot rang out behind me.
I drew my sword and spun around. There, I saw two old men I hadn’t even noticed coming, along with two bullets.
Should I deflect them? No, it was already too late.
Then should I die?
Thud! Thud!
While I was still trying to think, Galli moved first and blocked both bullets with his hands. Thanks to that, I wasn’t hit by the round that had been about to punch through my forehead.
Cold sweat ran down my back. My pupils shook.
No. I can’t panic. Fast... I have to move fast.
Squelch— slash!
I stabbed one old man through the heart and cut the other’s throat clean in two, then ran somewhere.
Galli, who knew the manga Chainsaw Man thanks to the Future Devil, ran after me too.
We ran, and ran, and then—
Bang!
"Heeek?! Get out of the way, human!"
We reached the battlefield.
In my field of vision were Himeno, stretching out her arm as if she was about to say something, Power trying to flee, and Aki collapsed on the ground.
"Galli."
"I know."
Galli chopped down on Power’s neck, then ran at Himeno and chopped her neck too.
Unconscious. Both of them were out cold.
So there was no need to worry about Power escaping in some ridiculous way, and no chance of Himeno dying.
"Galli. If I jump in, grab Aki and get the hell out. Denji... yeah. He should be fine."
Galli nodded.
I turned my head. That let me realize Aki and Samurai Sword were staring at me.
"...Hoo."
I took one breath...
Then—
Tap—!
I ran. Straight at him.
He ran at me too.
And before long, we collided.
Clang!!
Our blades met, sending up faint sparks and iron dust.
As I accidentally inhaled the metal dust, I increased the force I put into my sword.
He did the same.
It was a battle of strength against strength, with neither side giving ground. That pointless struggle continued until he pulled one sword free with a hand and aimed for my side.
He was aiming for my left flank! I guarded left and rolled right.
After rolling, I sprang back up and quickly reset my stance. Then I locked eyes on him, trying to predict his next move.
He was kneeling, both arms shoved inward toward his own body in some bizarre posture.
What kind of stance was that? What was he trying to do?
I had no way of knowing what the hell he was planning, but I took a defensive stance anyway.
Then, after closing my eyes for a moment and opening them again, he was gone from my sight.
...For now, the Devil’s power—
"Pathetic. Birds of a feather, I suppose."
As if trying to stop me from using my power, a rough voice spoke to me. It was probably his voice, but the guy who’d been in front of me just now—
Clang— thunk
The blade was smashed to pieces, and an arm fell off.
"What the—"
Thwack!
While I was still reeling in confusion, he laughed, sounding like he’d hit the jackpot, and kicked me in the back with all his strength.
"Guh...!"
That sent me tumbling across the ground with a groan, all the way into a wall.
Blood sprayed like a fountain from the severed arm, so dirt didn’t get into the wound. ...Not sure that was a good thing.
For the record, less than a minute had passed since I’d started fighting him.
"Haah... haah..."
My breathing turned ragged.
My head spun.
Why isn’t the bleeding stopping? What the hell is going on? What kind of technique is that? Shit, did I stick my nose in for nothing?
Seeing me there, lost in confusion and just breathing hard, he slowly walked toward me.
I hurriedly used my remaining hand to brace myself against the wall and push up. Maybe from anemia, maybe from the hangover, my head was so dizzy that even keeping my balance felt dizzying, but I still forced myself up. I had to get up first, whether I was going to counterattack, run, or do anything else.
I didn’t know how much time had passed because my sense of time had gone numb, but eventually I managed to get back on my feet.
Once I was standing, I lifted my head and looked ahead.
Then I saw him, already right in front of me.
"You son of a—"
Squelch!
He shoved one of his swords into the severed stump.
I couldn’t block it. I didn’t have a sword, and I didn’t have an arm...
Stab!
Without stopping there, he drove another sword straight into my right eye.
Blood flowed. Brain matter? Luckily, no brain matter came out. Why not? It hurt like hell. I wish some had come out.
"Haa..! Haa..!"
I wasn’t dead yet, so I grabbed his wrist with all my strength. The wrist attached to the sword he’d shoved into my eye.
There was no way the wrist would move, but I grabbed it anyway. Then I put every ounce of strength I had into it.
As expected... nothing changed at all.
For some reason, he still didn’t finish me off. Instead, he drove the sword in my severed arm deeper and said,
"...Hah. Impressive. You lost an eye and an arm, and yet instead of giving up, you’re still looking for a way to live. ...Just like those trash debtors. If I turned you into a zombie, you’d be useful."
He left the blade in my eye alone and only moved the sword in my arm. He seemed to be enjoying himself.
While he was dragging things out, the woman—was her name Sawatari? Anyway, she shouted,
"Hey! Quit fooling around and finish him!"
Then he clicked his tongue and tried to push the sword deeper into my eye.
That was when—
"Kehahaha!! Your opponent is me!"
Denji suddenly charged in and cut off both of the bastard’s wrists.
I looked around with my now badly blurred vision. Then I saw Galli in the back, gesturing for me to come out.
"...Now I get why Aki said he thought he’d start liking Makima."
I used the wall to barely haul myself upright. Denji had fought a little farther away, which gave me the opening.
Of course, he’d probably just gotten that far by swinging his chainsaw around without thinking, but still.
I leaned my back against the wall and straightened my legs the rest of the way. My whole body was trembling, but thankfully it still moved according to my will.
"Haa..... haa....."
I couldn’t breathe properly.
My head was insanely dizzy.
My vision was half gone... ah, right, that was obvious.
I should run now.
But,
the severed arm was in my sight.
I don’t want to.
This is fucked. That bastard chopped off my arm, and I’m supposed to just get beaten and run? Are you kidding me?
-So what can you do?
...Yeah.
"...No, wait. There is something I can do."
-... ...No way!
Future, apparently catching on to what I was thinking, shouted in excitement.
"Yeah. That’s it."
I pulled out the hand-or-sword stuck in my eye. Then I took my stance and—
"Kaaah! You bastard!!"
I ran, using Denji, who was getting completely overwhelmed, as bait so I could land one good hit on him.
Everyone around me looked stunned by what I was doing.
I ignored them.
Running less than 100 meters felt like my lungs were about to burst and my skull was about to crack open. I’d lost so much blood my hand had even gone pale.
I could tell without much trouble that if I pushed a little more, I’d die.
But that was fine.
Because I had the best future of allll.
At last I reached him, grabbed his severed hand in an overhand grip, and drove it into his throat.
I dodged the arm he swung at me in a hurry, of course.
As I avoided the attack, a huge opening appeared against his intentions, and Denji shoved a heavy strike into that gap.
"Guh... guhh!"
Having taken two decisive hits in an instant, he staggered and coughed up blood.
"Puhahaha! You okay?!"
Denji laughed at him.
Now that he’d been hit with two fatal blows in quick succession, this was the first and only time he’d been given a chance.
To make the most of it, I squeezed out every last drop of strength I had and ran.
Toward the place where Aki had dropped the [Curse Devil].
Maybe because my legs were still intact, or maybe because the sword I’d driven into him hurt that much, he didn’t stop me even though my goal was obvious.
The distance to the sword was close. Good. That meant I could grab it.
"Snake, stop him."
If only that bitch weren’t there.
Before I knew it, the snake Sawatari had summoned appeared in front of me, her face drained white.
Thwack!
And that snake started getting beaten by Galli.
"What are you doing?! Why aren’t you running?!"
I ignored Galli’s shout and kept running straight for the sword.
And at last, I got my hands on it.
I lifted the sword and shouted,
"Curse!! Let’s make a contract!!!"
So it would reach the Curse Devil.
-The price...
"Half my lifespan, and I’ll pay a separate usage fee."
-......Contract accepted.
Done. I’d thought there was a chance it might refuse, but it took it.
I calmed my wildly pounding heart just a little, then glared at Sawatari.
And I started running at that bitch.
Sawatari went pale and started running away. ...That wasn’t the image I remembered from the original.
Anyway, I chased her. ...But there was no way I could catch her.
"Shit... half my lifespan gone... huh?"
Just as I was about to give up, a red spear suddenly pierced Sawatari’s abdomen.
"What the hell..."
...No idea. No time to think.
Just using the chance I’d been given was hard enough.
Grinding my teeth, I ran.
And before long, I reached Sawatari.
"You deserve divine punishment, you bitch."
I started driving Curse into her.
Thud! "Drive it in."
Three.
Thud! "Drive it in."
Two.
Crunch!!
"You... son of a bitch!!"
The snake devoured my side.
It’s fine. I can take it.
Thud! "...Drive it in."
One.
"...It’s over. You bitch. Curse, finish it."
Sawatari, who had kept making those strange hand signs at me, finally collapsed in a white-faced heap and said,
"Just what are you..."
A grotesque prison made of bone wrapped around Sawatari.
"What kind of guy are you?"
Until she was completely crushed.
Crunch!!
Sawatari’s entire body skeleton shattered, and she slumped there on the spot.
I checked Sawatari’s body, or rather her corpse.
"...She’s dead."
That let me know she was completely finished.
"Hoo..."
I looked around.
Denji had been cut in two, and Samurai Sword was hauling his body off and running. ...No, why the hell did he lose?? Is he an idiot?
And, and the people charging at me.
...I don’t know what this is, but I can at least tell this is the time to collapse.
Thud—
Let me rest now.
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