Instant Death-Volume 4, Chapter 16: Huh? And what do you mean, I lost? Why did I lose?

And so she wanted to kill him before anyone else did.

She searched for his location and found it immediately.

He was inside of the wall and on his way out.

And so Mei teleported to the front of the castle gate.

She didn’t have to wait long for Hanakawa to appear in front of her.

For some reason, he was carrying an unconscious man and Takato Yogiri was with him.

“Woah! Mei-tan! It’s Mei-tan! You look like a Saint! Oh, my eyes feel so blessed now!”

She had anticipated that he would be surprised to see her. Still, this predictably creepy way of talking was enough to make her want to vomit.

“I think everyone dresses appropriately for their class.”

Yogiri said in a bored voice as he explained to Hanakawa.

“Ohh! Is that why!? Then that means I will be able to worship the image of Sora as an idol up close!”

“Apparently, she’ll be dressed as an idol when she fights.”

“Woof! Wait! This is no time for celebrating, all right!? This means that those goddesses will come down and bare their poisonous fangs at you, Takato!”

“You’re not listening. And I’m going to ignore them if they don’t attack us. So, did you come to attack us?”

Yogiri asked Mei.

Mei was not amused at how nonchalant they appeared.

Yes, she wanted to see their expressions distort with despair, just like the others had.

“Well, it’s a battle royale. I don’t have a choice.”

In order to make them lose all hope, she had to show her power like she did before.

She didn’t have a grudge against him, but she decided to kill Yogiri first. She wanted to see the look on Hanakawa’s face as he begged for his life.

If she erased him in an instant, Hanakawa wouldn’t know what had happened. So it would be best to get closer and punch him in the face.

“Saint Punch!”

She ran up to Yogiri and flung her right fist. Mei had never done any kind of combat sport, and so the punch was lacking in skill. However, it didn’t matter, as her laziest of punches would still land. And they would kill.

Yogiri’s left hand touched Mei’s wrist.

What a pointless thing to do.

That’s what she thought, but in the next instant, pain shot up through her body.

Before she knew it, she was on her elbows and staring at the ground as she suffocated.

As a girl who had lived a normal life, it was a pain that she had never experienced before.

“Hey! Isn’t that bajiquan?”

“Dannoura called it the ‘Dannoura Elbow.’ I learned it for self-defense.”

Not understanding what was happening, she raised her unsteady head.

But from Yogiri and Hanakawa’s conversation, it sounded like she had gotten an elbow to the stomach.

“Wh-what…”

The power of the gods were supposed to prevent her from taking damage or feeling any pain.

“Aren’t you going to kill her?”

“Well, she hasn’t attacked us with anything lethal, yet.”

Mei used the only power that was her own. She used ‘prayer.’ She prayed to the gods and made a request. In other words, it was an ability that allowed you to talk with them.

In an instant, the space where the god sat appeared in her mind.

As always, the white cat was there. But then Mei froze in shock.

There was no power in the white cat’s limbs. It had collapsed on the ground and wasn’t moving.

‘God! What’s happening!? Where is my power of invincibility! This is a contract breach!’

She cried desperately. However, deep down, she knew what this meant.

The white cat looked like it was dead. It would never reply to her again.

“Hey! I said hey! What am I supposed to do!? I can’t lose my power in a place like this!?’

In the middle of a battle royale in the depths of the demon world.

It was clear what would happen if she lost the protection of the gods.

‘No…this can’t be…’

And then, the black cat appeared. 𝗳𝙧𝐞𝚎w𝗲𝚋n𝚘𝙫𝑒𝘭.𝑐om

It was the other god that sometimes fought with the white cat.

‘I don’t know what happened over there! But you might as well help me then. Do something!’

‘…I understand your situation. I shall lend you my power.’

In the next instant, the power of a god enveloped her body. And she understood that she was once again invincible.

“I won’t hold back anymore! All of you shall be erased from existence!”

She no longer cared about making Hanakawa feel despair.

More than that, she had an overwhelming desire to kill Takato Yogiri, as he had caused her so much pain.

God’s light that erased everything.

Mei decided to unleash it in all directions.

As she remained on her knees, she would annihilate everything so she didn’t have to lock onto any target.

But…

Nothing happened.

The image that appeared in her mind was of the black cat, which was now on the ground with its tongue sticking out.

“It’s a lot easier with people like you, where the source of the power and the user are different.”

Yogiri said cooly.

“…What…what did you do…”

She was trembling. And it was her words that were laced with despair.

Finally, Mei understood that the images she saw in her head were the work of Yogiri.

But she did not know how it was possible.

However, it was a fact that she could no longer use any power. And she knew what that meant for her.

She felt worry and fear envelope her.

Now that she had no power, she was just an ordinary highschool student. And yet she was deep underground and involved in a battle royale.

And so…

Perhaps she should ask for help.

Perhaps she should ask for protection and to be taken with them.

However, Yogiri was the person that should be most feared in this place.

He had easily taken her power that she thought made her invincible. And the gods were dead.

She couldn’t stay around such a monster.

“Are-are you not going to kill her?”

As Mei shook in fear. The annoying Hanakawa opened his mouth.

“It’s not like I want to go around killing everybody. I’m just doing it because we’ll be killed if I don’t.”

“Then why don’t you just take away their power? I think everyone will be happy with that.”

“I just did it this time because it was easy. Usually, the power and the user aren’t separate, so I can’t just kill the source of the power.”

“Oh, well. So, Mei-tan doesn’t have power anymore? Then why don’t we take her with us?”

This unexpected suggestion was a ray of hope.

Of course, she didn’t know what Hanakawa’s intentions were, and his creepy smile was not encouraging. But Mei was less enthusiastic about asking Yogiri for help.

She had hated Hanakawa so much, but now he was like a saviour to her.

He would protect her now that she was powerless, and bring her to a safe place where Yogiri couldn’t reach her.

She didn’t know what would happen after that, but she felt like she would still have a chance.

It was the sage’s gift. The power of god had sealed it, but if she awakened to it now, she may gain power that will allow her to survive the battle royale.

“But Hanamiya can’t seem to walk. Are you going to leave David and carry her?”

“No. I’m terribly sorry!”

That was all it took to make Mei’s plans come crumbling down.

***

Gunshots rang from the castle walls.

Unlike earlier, it wasn’t a rapid succession of bullets being fired. There were pauses and the sounds of huge explosions. It seemed as if a variety of firearms were being used.

However, even those sounds started to grow distant. Apparently, the person was on the move while still fighting.

“Yes, it’s hard to have to stay still in one place the whole time.”

Tomochika was currently hiding in the forest at the top of a tree.

She had completely erased her own presence.

Mokomoko was the only person who could hear her.

‘But, there is nothing you can do. If it was a straight-up battle, then you might be able to get by with your skills and the abilities of the battle suit. But they will use tricks that you won’t be able to deal with.’

Tomochika was wearing a battle suit and was prepared to fight. She had no intention of fighting if it wasn’t necessary, but the suit would make a huge difference if she did. Even if it was just for protection or to run away, it would be useful.

“Well, I wouldn’t want to fight even if I could deal with them.”

Of course, she didn’t want to fight against classmates that were trying to kill her.

What she wanted to do, was to reunite with Yogiri as soon as possible. He was the one person that could get her out of this situation. That is what Tomochika thought.

‘Oh? I thought it was some kind of scouting ability at first. How interesting.’

“Hmm?”

It seemed like Mokomoko had noticed something. And so Tomochika carefully observed her surroundings.

However, she was not able to notice any change.

‘Spirits. Someone is using the spirits of weak enemies and unleashing them in the area.’

Tomochika was able to see Mokomoko, but she was an exception. She didn’t actually have any spiritual abilities.

“Isn’t this really bad? Why don’t you go and eat them?”

‘You idiot! Why do I have to eat stuff like that!’

“Uh, I just thought that ghosts might like to eat other ghosts.”

‘This is no time to talk about such nonsense. There are a lot of them out there. It would be safe to assume that the person controlling them knows about what is happening here. Not only that, but there is an electromagnetic interference as well. We won’t be able to call anyone.’

“Why would ghosts cause an interference…”

‘You know. It’s like how in horror movies, phones suddenly stop working? It’s the spirits that are causing your smartphone’s reception to be unstable! As we don’t have physical bodies, we are more similar to electromagnetic waves and light.’

“What… That’s so stupid… Well, whatever. Did you say that someone was controlling them? I don’t remember there being anyone with such an ability.”

She thought of all the abilities that she knew about. And she couldn’t think of anyone that fitted.

The closest one was the reaper. But that person was already dead.

‘Perhaps the person had the ability from earlier. That is possible. Or someone was lying about their ability. Still, we can’t stay here now that someone knows.’

There was no point in staying in one place now.

And so Tomochika jumped down from the tree.

First, she had to move. It was just as she had decided to do this that she felt someone’s presence.

It was coming towards her and doing nothing to remain undetected.

While Tomochika had great vision, there were limits to what she could see in the dark. And she could not make out the person that was approaching.

“Tomochi!”

It was Romiko’s voice.

However, Tomochika decided to run away.

She would never have run off alone in the first place if she felt that she could trust her friends unconditionally.

Yes, Romiko was her friend.

But she didn’t trust her in the current situation.

‘She may be the one controlling them. It’s very suspicious that she knew who you were when you couldn’t even see her yet.’

Tomochika ran. She needed to get away first. And so she moved in a direction where there were no other presences.

“Ah!”

However, she suddenly had to stop.

Someone had popped out from behind a tree.

‘It’s a spirit! But, how are you able to see it!?’

Mokomoko struck down the slowly moving shape. As you’d expect from a spirit, it easily faded into nothing.

However, it was quickly replaced by another one.

They kept appearing.

“Hey. Would it be bad if I touched them?”

‘You’ll take a little damage. It’s like a curse. If it’s only a little over a short time, then it will be fine. Otherwise, it can be dangerous. It can even kill you.’

“Oh, okay. I get that impression.”

It felt like it stuck to her and she was being damaged repeatedly.

She could get passed one or two, but it would hurt her if they all came at once.

As she thought about this, she heard the sounds of footsteps slowly approaching.

“Tomochi. Don’t run away.”

Romiko jumped out from the shadow of a tree. And then she talked in her usual lazy voice.

“Are you doing this, Mikochi?”

She asked cautiously. She didn’t know what Romiko’s intentions were. Why had she come all of this way to meet her?

“Yes. You were running away, so I thought that if I let you see them, you would be so surprised that you would stop.”

Romiko’s ability was supposed to be about counting numbers.

However, if she was actually capable of doing such things as this, Tomochika would have to alter her perception.

“Why are you here? You do know that everyone is killing each other?”

“Yes, even I understand the situation that we are in. But I don’t think it will come to that. After all, you can’t kill people, Tomochi.”

‘No, this person carved out her grandfather’s eye when she was ten. She’s a dangerous beast.’

“As if!”

“I see. That poor old man.”

“I didn’t do anything of the sort! Also, didn’t you saying something about it being father’s eye before!?”

‘Oh, so then you did it to both of them…’

“Am I some kind of eyeball collector now!”

While she said this, Tomochika realized something.

Romiko could hear Mokomoko’s words.

So she did have an ability to control spirits.

“So, I’m going to ask you again. Why are you here?”

If it was to kill her, she could have just continued to attack from long distance with her spirits.

And yet she had come all of this way to talk to her in person. Tomochika could not understand the reason for it.

“I’m just like you, Tomochi. I have a guardian ghost.”

“What?”

Just as Romiko said this, a figure appeared behind her.

“What’s that!? I prefer that one!”

Tomochika compared it with Mokomoko without thinking.

Mokomoko was round and big. She wore an old-looking kimono and had a dazed expression on her face. Her age was unknown.

On the other hand, the spirit behind Romiko was pretty and glamourous. She wore a beautiful dress and had golden hair and fair skin. A pretty girl with clear eyes and pointed nose.

On top of that, her body was glowing in a way that showed off all of her beauty.

‘Hey!’

Mokomoko must have thought she was being serious because her face turned pale.

“She’s an ancient princess. Her name is Tienne.”

“Mine has a stupid name. Mokoko! This is so unfair!”

‘Bu-but I’ve been called a princess at one point too! In fact, I was part of the great Dannoura clan. I was their princess! Besides, what’s wrong with the name Mokomoko!’

“I lost. We haven’t even fought and I lost. Mokomoko said she is a divine spirit, but that one looks much more divine. See, she’s even shining! Oh, she’s like an angel!”

Tomochika was feeling rather depressed over this.

She had assumed that all guardian spirits were alike. She had told herself that she wasn’t the only one with a strange and creepy spirit that muttered a lot. She did not even consider that others would have spirits that were so beautiful.

‘I-I wouldn’t lose in a fist fight!’

“Huh? So, you want to beat her up just because you lost in terms of looks? Don’t you think that’s horrible?”

‘Huh? And what do you mean, I lost? Why did I lose?’

“Tomochi? Do you mind if I continue?”

“Oh, right. We were talking about something. What was it?”

Tomochika had gotten distracted by Mokomoko for a minute. As for Romiko, she had taken a few steps closer but had not done anything else.

However, the spirits were still surrounding them.

“Tienne. She looks really cute, but she can’t do anything but count. And she isn’t very strong. I think she would lose in a fight against your one, Tomochi.”

‘S-see! Even she admits it!’

“Hey, why don’t we trade then?”

‘Grr!’

And with that, Mokomoko suddenly flew towards Romiko.

“Huh?”

As Tomochika stood there in shock, Momomoko went into Romiko and then disappeared.

“Oh, uh, sorry. I’ve possessed her.”

Romiko said with Mokomoko’s voice.

*****

Romiko was one of the people who had made their decision.

It was too troublesome. She didn’t want to stick out. Those were things she could only say if she was alive.

She couldn’t laze around now that the situation had changed.

After leaving the fortress, Romiko considered what it was that she could do.

She was able to control spirits.

She could find out what they had seen and heard.

She could make them visible.

She could make them possess her so that she could use some of their abilities.

Those kinds of things.

It would be easy enough to kill someone by using these abilities.

She just needed to do it with a spirit that she was controlling.

Most people were unable to detect spirits. And so she could weaken them by touching them until they died.

However, that method took time. Those with a lot of strength would take a long time to kill. It might be more than an hour.

In that case, she would have to consider depending on the powers of spirits. But the spirit Romiko was currently using was not very powerful.

Of course, the other spirits that drifted around were even worse. Tienne was an exception because she had power and maintained a will of her own. Romiko had been lucky to bump into her and be able to control her.

In that case, maybe she could use her dead classmates in order to gain greater power. However, this had not gone very well for her.

Apparently, not everyone turned into a roaming ghost after they died. Most would just evaporate into the atmosphere. She had learned this from Tienne.

That meant it would be very difficult for her to get a spirit that would suit her. However, Romiko had an idea regarding how she might get one.

Tomochika’s guardian spirit.

From the moment she saw her, she fixated on that great power.

If she could acquire it, Romiko herself would become several times stronger. Her chances of winning would increase significantly.

Up until now, she wanted to avoid doing anything that would draw attention. That’s why she didn’t touch Tomochika’s guardian spirit. But now, circumstances were forcing her hand.

So, how would she do it?

You needed to get close to the spirit if you wanted to control them.

On top of that, she would not be able to kill Tomochika in advance. The guardian spirits were generally bound to their master. If Tomochika died, then the spirit would be freed. She would lose her opportunity to acquire the spirit.

And so she had used the surrounding spirits to find Tomochika, and then she got close.

Romiko trusted that Tomochika would remain naive. She was sure that Tomochika would not attack first.

And so she talked of insignificant things as she approached. After that, she succeeded in gaining control over the spirit.

‘You! How dare you bind me like this!’

‘Huh. You can still resist? That’s impressive.’

She was controlling it. However, she was not able to make the will of the spirit yield completely.

However, that was likely just a matter of time.

Romiko was beginning to understand Mokomoko’s power.

*****

“What do you mean, ‘possess’? What’s happening here?”

“Hmm. It seems that I can still talk to you like this, but most of my power was stolen by her.”

Just after she finished saying this, Romiko was suddenly standing right in front of Tomochika.

The Dannoura walk.

It was a way to bridge a distance immediately. You just thought of herself as an arrow and then unleashed it towards the enemy.

However, Tomochika was able to see what would happen in an instant.

She would step on her foot or knee. At the same time, a blade would come to her throat. Or maybe a fist to the jaw. She couldn’t back down. Romiko would catch up to her in an instant.

And so she dodged. Her foot went back and turned as she slid to the side.

However, she felt something nearing her face and so she bent backward.

It was gravel.

She didn’t understand how, but Romiko had flung rocks towards her as she ran.

As she bent, her hands touched the ground and she did a backflip.

Unable to stop her momentum, Romiko shot forward passed her and hit a tree with her hands.

The trunk shook violently.

Then it started to fall. It crashed to the ground loudly.

“What the hell!? I’m wearing a battle suit and I still can’t keep up with you!”

She had only barely dodged the last attack. And it had only been possible because of the boost to her muscles that the suit provided.

“Well, this is the difference in strength between you and me. Actually, combing an attack with a projectile is the most basic part of the Dannoura style. You shouldn’t be so shocked. You should be able to handle something like this.”

“Uh, why are you even attacking me!?”

“Hey, I don’t want to do it. But this Romiko person is using my powers without permission!”

“That’s not very convincing!”

She couldn’t fight something like this. Besides, it was Romiko’s body, and she couldn’t help but hesitate when it came to hurting it.

And so Tomochika decided to run instead.

If she used the full ability of the battle suit, she might be able to get away.

“Oh, sorry. I really am. But I’m the one managing the battle suit. Purge!”

She stopped.

Several lines ran through the battle suit.

And then all at once, the suit fell apart until Tomochika was just standing there in her underwear.

“Uhh… I’ll remember this, you bastard!”

She was too shocked over losing her clothes that she couldn’t think of a better insult.

“Good job, Mokomoko.”

“My eyes. My eyes!”

Tomochika turned around when she heard the voices.

Yogiri was standing there with David on the ground. And Hanakawa was rolling around and pressing his eyes for some reason.

“Takato!? You have the worst timing! No, you did save me! And what do you mean, ‘good job’?”

Tomochika was so confused that she could barely make sense of what she was saying.

As she tried to think, Yogiri approached her.

He took off his blazer and handed it to her. Tomochika put it on.

“That’s Mokomoko, isn’t it?”

“How did you know?”

“By the way she talks, I guess. I’m not sure what’s happening here, but I’ll have to kill her if she’s attacking.”

Tomochika looked at Romiko. 𝘧𝔯e𝗲𝙬ℯ𝙗𝓷o𝘷e𝗹.𝐜𝑜𝒎

Romiko was frozen.

Actually, she was shaking.

It was from fear.