People say that when they get angry, they lose their reason.
But in reality, it is the opposite. Your mind becomes calm, your heart beats as it always does,
Creak
and you eliminate the option called regret.
Crunch!!
I grabbed one of the ones at the front by the head and twisted. It crumpled like plastic.
Wow.
The bastards stopped firing at my advance for a moment, then made the sound of metal mechanisms engaging as if they were about to shoot again.
Before they could attack, I immediately threw a punch at another one, stopping their assault.
Fuck, there are still so many of them.
I shook out my tingling hand for a moment, then went back to issuing one-way tickets to the afterlife, one bastard at a time.
Even so, they came rushing in like a receding tide, completely insane.
Oh, come on.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat
"Aghyagyagyagah!!"
They say nobody can withstand getting ganged up on. At this rate, I really felt like I was going to die.
What do you do at a time like this? Run!!
To get out of this antlion pit, I covered my face with one arm, lowered my stance, bent my knees, and prepared to bolt.
One, two...
Rumble, rumble, rumble...
Threeeee... huh?
RUMBLE, RUMBLE, RUMBLE!!!!
I heard something splitting beneath the ground. Like heavy machinery starting up...
Ah, wait a second.
Rumble, rumble, rumble!!!!
The ground shook, and everything around me—including the Raptures—fell silent. Then—
KABOOOOM!!!
"You fucking—!!"
That thing, Gluttony, emerged from beneath the ground I was standing on.
The one that had nearly wiped out the Human Allied Forces during the first Rapture invasion, the bastard that swallowed everything, NIKKEs and Raptures alike.
Why was something that was supposed to be at the orbital elevator at this point in the story here?
Then, amid a tremendous crashing sound, Raptures and an ash-gray sky entered my view.
Crunch
Gluttony shut its enormous jaws.
.
.
The reason Gluttony had come here was simple.
"Go east and swallow my creations."
Queen’s command.
It was a simple reason that explained this situation, and a kind of curse that could neither be refused nor escaped.
Having completed its mission, Gluttony turned back toward the orbital elevator.
Crrrack
[???!!!!???]
Until a strange sound came from its own throat.
Crack, screech, crrrack!!
[!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]
To the unceasing sound of metal being torn apart like a can, Gluttony let out a monstrous shriek akin to a guardian of hell.
Creak... crrrack!!!
And when the sound ended—
BOOOOM!!!
Gluttony exploded.
Splat
Then a white-haired boy fell to the ground, drenched in white liquid.
"Cough, that was totally an Attack on Titan experience..!"
I spat out the whitish liquid in my mouth. This white liquid was silver water, a kind of digestive fluid the thing produced.
It was a substance that dissolved everything non-organic, but for some reason...
It got caught in the thing’s throat instead of going any deeper. And, desperate to survive, I punched like mad to escape its throat—its body from the inside.
Meanwhile, the Raptures had melted away like marshmallows...
Am I... not a Heretic?
Suddenly suspicious, I slowly raised my arm, but all that greeted me was a mechanical arm, bearing nowhere—not a single trace—of anything human, of anything organic.
.....For now, let’s get out of here.
I got up, and just before heading toward the direction with fewer buildings,
I made a U-turn instead.
Bam!!
"That was fucking awful, and let’s never see each other agaaaain!!"
I kicked Gluttony’s corpse.
Man, that thing really flies well.
.
.
.
.
- Human Allied Base
"Hey, what’s our little girl doing out here?"
"Eek, stop pressing on my head, Red Hood."
Not far away, amid a cluster of rectangular buildings,
a red-haired woman vigorously ruffled the head of a girl sitting down, who was shorter than she was.
"So, what were you doing? That thing I asked you to do last time?"
"It’s... not that... I was just... thinking."
"Thinking about what?"
The girl lowered her gaze as though considering it for a moment, then looked back up.
"When do you think this war will end?"
"Well... probably..."
"Probably?"
The red-haired woman closed her eyes as if pondering it, then opened her mouth.
"Five hundred years?"
"Whaaaat???"
"Heh, it’s a joke, a joke. Snow White, aren’t you taking it way too seriously?"
"Ugh, Red Hood, can’t you think about it seriously for once?"
"Haha, I’m still too young to turn into some old fart who takes everything so seriously, you know?"
All right, let’s head in. It’s getting dark.
Red Hood held out a hand to help Snow White up.
"...Snow White?"
But Snow White’s pupils shrank, and her eyes steadily widened like a cat that had spotted something.
"Red Hood, do you see that?"
"What? Where?"
I can’t see anything. She turned her head this way and that with a swishing sound, but all she could see was barren land.
Snow White pointed with her finger.
A... dark-colored... lump?
"Isn’t that Gluttony’s corpse??!!"
"What??!"
The base was thrown into an uproar afterward.
.
.
.
.
.
Thud
"Khegahk!"
I wondered whether my legs had been enhanced too, so I put some strength into them and jumped once. In an instant, I was high enough to high-five the clouds.
And now, dragging my buzzing legs along, I was walking through a field of reeds.
With a reed field being dyed by the sunset as his backdrop, the boy simply pressed onward in silence.
As an aside, the sight before me right now was truly spectacular.
The reeds changed from orange to red to yellow with the light, like a single coral reef. The sunset made up the clouds and sky, turning the horizon into a painting.
Would it look like this if you mixed pastels and paint?
As I continued wordlessly forward, a building came into sight far ahead.
I put strength into my feet and dashed toward it.
Wait, I still haven’t mastered controlling this—
Crash, bang, tumble
"Urk."
.
.
The building was an ordinary church. It did not seem terribly damaged; there was only dust piled upon the pews and floor, with no bullet holes or cracks indicating the aftermath of a battle.
"Is anyone here... No, of course not."
Further inside, there was a bed and neatly arranged clothes, perhaps a room used by the priest.
Oh, clothes. Then, Father, I’ll make good use of them.
Worried that I might bring bad luck upon myself, I prayed to the cross before taking down the clothes hanging on the wall and putting them on.
Ugh, they’re a little uncomfortable.
Once I had dressed and looked in the mirror, the mechanical parts were mostly hidden, making me look better than before. All that remained was... my eyes.
But there was nothing anywhere that could cover my eyes.
Fine. Tomorrow... I’ll find something tomorrow...
Today was just too... exhausting.
I lay down on the bed, and the film cut out right there.
.
.
.
.
.
?? Years Ago
"How... to fight well?"
"Yeah."
The boy looked up at the hooded woman standing before him with eyes full of curiosity and awe.
Voices rang out everywhere as though they were in a shop, while car horns blared outside.
"Why are you asking me that? Why not ask the adults instead..."
"You’re a gangster, aren’t you?"
"You little shit?!"
As though the boy’s words had lit the fuse, the woman immediately smacked him on the head.
"Ow! Why’d you hit me?!"
"Hey, who are you calling a gangster?"
"W-wait... urgh, ah, oof!"
Thud thud thud
After throwing punches for quite a while, the woman finally seemed satisfied. She grinned, pulled back her fist, and said,
"Want to know how to fight well? There’s just one thing. Don’t be scared. That’s all it takes for no one to mess with you, got it?"
.
.
.
.
What was that...
A midsummer night’s... no, no, I had some weird dream.
Or should I call it a memory?
It was as if I had experienced a memory from the past—yes, something forgotten—flashing past like a panorama of life.
Could it be... the original owner of this body?
"Yeees, that’s right. One sealed memory has been unlocked, hasn’t it?"
"I see... Wait, who the hell was that??!!"
At the sudden sound of a voice I had never heard before, I hurriedly looked around.
"Huh?"
There was not a single person to be found anywhere.
"Oh dear, I forgot to turn off stealth mode?"
That voice came again, and something began appearing directly in front of me.
At first, fragments of light appeared one by one.
Tzzzt
Then they merged into one.
Right. It became a person.
"Hey, what do you mean, a person? I’m the ultra-genius AI beautiful-girl secretary bestowed upon you by Queen, that fucking bitch of bitches and irrecyclable piece of garbage you serve!"
"My name is Onyx! Wow~" The woman clapped for herself.
"...Have I lost my mind?"
Also, I heard something weird... during that explanation, didn’t I?
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