Author’s Note: I really wanted to split this chapter into two, but I forced myself to write it all out into one. The end result was me producing the longest chapter of CNW to date.
The Day Before Part 2
After spending a few hours interacting with Narise, I finally decided to leave.
On my way out, I lamented over how there wasn’t really any way to use the newborn Gilas during the Dungeon boss fight. They were simply too young, with almost zero combat ability. Even their potential as bait or even exp fodder were subpar at best. It really wasn’t worth using them for what little reward will come out of it.
Well, in the near future, they might grow to have some uses, but… right now…
I sighed wistfully before I parted ways with Narise and headed back upstairs to reunite with the others.
The hallway intersection where everyone gathered quickly came to view. After briefly scanning the area, I approached Cielle and Hina, who were idly sitting besides a row of broken lockers. There eyes drooped lazily as there expressions conveyed one of boredom.
“Hey, I’m here,” I lightly greeted as I sat down next to Cielle.
“Nnn..” Cielle nodded in affirmation.
From beside her, Hina turned in my direction before stating, “You got back at the perfect time,” .
Hearing this, I could not help but form a frown on my face. I inwardly hoped that they didn’t intent to make me fight again. I was honestly quite tired after earlier, and rather than diminishing, the fatigue that had formed yesterday seemed to grow more severe.
While concealing these thoughts, I turned towards the open space before me while I lightly asked, “What’s happening?”
Out in the distance, I could see Cher, Kido, and the President. They were standing in the center of the space and were currently warming up with various stretches and sword swings.
“Are they having a free-for-all?” I curiously asked. From my perspective, something like a free-for-all was a good way to imitate the chaos of an actual battle.
In response, Hina curtly shook her head. “No, it’s not a free-for all. It’s 2 vs 1. Hokusei and Kido versus Cher.”
“...” I could not help but frown upon hearing this. “Wait, that doesn’t sound right… Will Cher be okay like that?”
I was worried, after all, Cher was the weakest out of the four of us. Plus, with one of her arms now severed, that practically took away half her fighting strength. The impact of such a loss was readily obvious. While one opponent may be doable, handling two at the same time… I could not help but harbor some doubt and lingering unease.
I turned toward the open space and looked closely at Cher. I focused my eyes on her face, half expecting one of her usual pitiful expressions. Contrary to my expectations though, that was not what I saw. Instead, a steady look of determination filed Cher’s face like a shot of straight vigor.
From besides me, Cielle’s soft voice spoke like a gentle breeze, “... You’re underestimating her… Cher hasn’t been idling by these past 2 weeks… She’s trained just as hard as the others… if not more. Cher, she’s grown strong…” Cielle paused for a minute, and tilted her head slightly to the side. She thought for a moment, and just as she was about to resume speaking, Hina’s voice suddenly interrupted,
“Cher was already strong.” She spoke with a faint smile, “She’s just gotten stronger.”
“...”
****
Before long, the fight between Cher versus the President and Kido started.
The first thing Cher did was raise her new shield up towards her chest, as she cautiously approached the others. Her posture was slightly crouched, with her knees bent and her whole torso fully covered by her circular shield.
As I observed Cher’s movements, I noticed that her right side was more exposed than the rest of her body. The habit of wielding two shields had yet to disappear from Cher’s psyche. Now, in the face of her disability, this habit created a new weakness for her.
Regardless if the others realized this or not, the fight proceeded. Kido and the President immediately took action. In near perfect synchronization, the two separated and slowly began circling around Cher. The moved slowly, taking their careful time to observe Cher’s every movement with scrutinizing gazes.
Soon, both Cher’s left and right sides were surrounded. With her as the epicenter, a distance of two meters separated her from both parties.
A tense moment lulled. Cher remained unmoving, almost afraid as her slightly narrowed eyes swiveled back and forth between Kido to the President and back again. In comparison, the other two slowly began sliding towards Cher, their swords constantly at the ready, while their eyes scanned vigorously for any sort of opening they could abuse.
This silent standoff persisted for an unknown period of time before it was ruthlessly broken by Kido’s guttural battle cry. His primal roar slowly dissipated into the vibrating air before he immediately rushed forward. His night clad long sword sliced through the surrounding space as he fiercely swung it down towards Cher.
In the face of Kido’s sudden attack, Cher’s eyes narrowed as she was forced to respond. She sidestepped slightly while simultaneously bringing her shield close to her chest. She twisted her waist slightly, tilting her shield at an angle in the process. Kido’s blade lightly grazed past the shield’s metal surface, leaving a flurry of yellow sparks in its wake.
In that short span of time, the President also rushed forward, giving Cher absolutely no time to recover. He came running from behind her. Cher, who saw the President’s attack coming from the corner of her eye grimaced as her knees slightly bent in preparation. Before the President could get any closer, she suddenly turned and once again, held her shield up over her chest.
The tip of the President’s weapon struck the base of Cher’s shield, producing a vibrating dull sound in the process. The blow itself, coupled with the Prez’s running start managed to lift Cher slightly off the ground.
Making use of this single opportunity, Kido had long since recovered, and once again pounced towards her. With a savage light glinting in his eyes, his sword sliced came from below and sliced upwards, its dark edge aimed at her exposed abdomen.
Cher immediately twisted her waist and spun her whole body around. She practically hugged the shield to her chest, as it blocked Kido’s incoming slash.
She was once again pushed further back, before she dropped to the floor, sliding a couple of steps in the process.
Although her feet were now firmly pressed to the ground, even before she could regain her balance, without a chance to relax, the President rushed past Kido and continued the assault. Unlike Kido’s bladed weapon, the President’s sword was similar to my Cyclops club. As it struck the base of Cher’s shield it produced a dull trembling sound which seemed to further agitate the vibrating air.
Cher was now under constant pressure. The President’s ruthless attacks did not cease for even a fraction of a second. He repeatedly struck several blows towards Cher, relentless in his pace. Despite that, Cher managed to block every single strike through rapid body movements. Her waist constantly bent and twisted, while her legs furiously moved to react. Her single arm was constantly raised and always in motion, guarding her from every one of the President’s heavy blows.
This exchange lasted for a long time before a slightly uneasy feeling crept up to the back of my mind. Observing the battle, I felt that something was amiss. Instead of aiming for vitals or the open spots in Cher’s defense (like her slightly exposed right side), each of the President’s strikes were solely aimed for her shield. It was as if he had no other intention other than to repeatedly bash on her shield like a frenzied percussionist. Luckily, because of the weapon’s crazy high defense, the President's strikes were negligible at most, but still…
“He’s buying time…” I slightly narrowed my eyes as I came to that sole conclusion.
The President wasn’t truly attacking Cher, he was simply dragging things out and setting up an opening. An opening for… Kido.
I immediately shifted my gaze to Kido. My suspicions were instantly confirmed as I saw Kido slowly circling behind the other two, his eyes sharp and feral like a starved wolf. His back was slightly bent while the sword in his right hand hung loosely besides him. His legs and knees were bent like a spring, ready to pounce at a moment’s notice.
Kido remained motionless for less than a second before he immediately rushed forward. Having found an opening, his whole body surged forward like a dying comment. His sword was pointed directly toward Cher, like a javelin, leading the charge with unwavering determination.
Kido’s attacks were too ruthless, but this next one was even more so. The tip of the sword was aimed directly at Cher’s exposed spinal column. If that hit landed… permanent paralysis would be a very real possibility.
Before I could issue a complaint or interfere, the two had already collided.
Cher’s body was like a blade of grass blowing freely through the wind. She moved a fraction of an inch to the side, and dodged Kido’s sword with frightening accuracy. The blade had nearly come close to fully piercing her back.
Before Kido could retract his sword, Cher immediately took a single step backwards, and with her severed limb, drove her elbow directly into Kido’s exposed sternum. The retaliation had come out so suddenly that it even surprised me, but without a doubt, Kido was the most affected.
His breath caught in his throat as he struggled to sputter out a heaving cough. He took a shaking step backwards, as Cher briefly retracted her elbow. Using this chance to escape from the President’s continued onslaught, she “chased” Kido’s heaving body by taking another step backward before she once again forcibly drove her elbow into his chest. This time Kido completely lost balance and toppled to the floor. Meanwhile, Cher pushed of with her elbow, and using Kido as a backboard, forced her body forward.
Maintaining the momentum, Cher immediately followed up with [Shield Bash], and rushed forward towards the President. The President could not react in time, as the shield’s metal surface collided with his exposed body. The heavy blow sent him reeling backward. His only saving grace was that unlike Kido, the Prez had managed to maintain his footing.
He slid back several feet before his momentum came to a slow stop. Using his sword as a support, the President heaved out stale air, as he glanced up at Cher with cautious eyes.
In that brief exchange, Cher managed to turn the whole situation around.
Without a doubt, Cher had come out advantageous from that barely 10 second interaction… but…
“Hah…. hah…” Cher’s back was drenched in sweat. Her face was flustered red, and despite the steady glint in her eyes, her breath was shallow and rapid.
Cher had the upper hand in terms of combat but she had a fatal weakness that was quickly becoming apparent.
“Even without her right arm, she’s still strong, right?” Cielle’s soft voice floated to my ears. I turned, only to see Cielle’s a small smile decorating her expression.
“....”
After slight some slight hesitation, I nodded, but just as I was about to open my mouth to comment, Hina’s voice suddenly butted in. “Cher’s doing well, but her stamina is taking a heavy toll.” She said with a heavy sigh.
“It wasn’t like this before…” I spoke after some mild consideration. “Cher usually never exhausted herself this fast, even when she was forced onto the front lines.”
Hearing this, Hina slightly bobbed her head forward. She silently thought for a moment before stating, “This… this is probably because of her severed arm.”
Without saying anything I nodded, both in affirmation and as an indication that I had come to the same conclusion.
Seeing my solemn nod, Hina continued with a sigh, “Lately, Cher’s fighting style has… changed. Her movements have become more erratic… more exaggerated. As if to make up for her severed arm, Cher’s been compensating with the rest of her body... That in itself isn’t bad but, she’s overdoing it.”
“A tank with no stamina...” Just thinking about it is enough to solicit a sigh out of me.
As if in response, Hina nodded, before adding, “Cher’s also realized this but… it’s like something’s pushing her from adjusting. Something’s holding her back… like she’s trying to run away from something…”
-Running away? ...Could it have something to do with her fight with Satou? I wasn’t there to see it but…-
Before my mind could fully immerse itself within the bubbling surfaces of my thoughts, I heard another sharp intake of breath coming out from Hina’s slightly parted lips. “In the future, her stamina consumption is something that’ll need to be fixed, but as for this fight…” Her once gloomy expression brightened slightly as she cracked a smile. Her eyes were willfully staring out at the battle that unfolded before us. “Cher still holds that advantage. After all, she still has her new skill, [Fever Burst].”
[Fever Burst]...
Back when I gave Cher the skill book, she learned it shortly afterwards and had explained the gist of it to me. [Fever Burst] was a debuffing skill that lowered a person’s stats by 5% for 5 minutes. That affect stacked for up to 3 times, and with each stack, the 5 minute time limit was refreshed.
It was a convenient skill that held immense potential. The downside of it though, was that as the skill stacks, the mana usage doubles. So stacking the skill twice consumed twice as much mana, while stacking the skill three times consumed 4 times as much mana.
Right now, Cher managed to increase [Fever Burst]’s level to beginner level 6. The skill’s current effects were lowering a target’s stats by 9% for 7 minutes. I wondered whether there would be an increase in stack limit after the skill leveled up to a certain extent but… so far there’s been no indication. Maybe after she’s reached intermediate?
Although Cher’s informed me plenty of times regarding her new skill to the point where it has gotten really annoying, I’ve never actually seen her use it in combat before, so I’m a little curious.
From besides me, Cielle suddenly spoke, “... That elbow strike just now… and that shield bash, they were both infused with her skill.”
I could not help but raise an eyebrow at Cielle’s comment. If she really was able to distinguish that, then either she’s got really good eyes, or there’s something else at play here.
Curiosity bubbling up within me, I could not help but ask, “How can you tell?”
She paused for a moment, before a faint smile slowly floated to her face. “Ever since I’ve begun practicing, I can… sort of tell…”
“Is it a new skill?”
In response, Cielle just simply shook her head. “I don’t think it’s at that point yet. Right now, it’s just a faint feeling… it's hard to describe.”
“I see…” If even the person in question did not know, then there was nothing I could do about it. Instead of further pushing the topic, I decided to change the subject. “Then, if Cher hasn’t used her skill up until now… then… does it need physical contact or something similar for it to work?”
In response, I could see both sisters nodding their heads.
Hina added, “Yeah. It’s a skill that needs direct contact to work, ironic considering the origin of the skill was quite opposite…but considering everything, it's a good thing that skill went to Cher. If either Cielle or I learned it, it would have been a complete waste, but for her- for Cher, it’s perfect.”
Back on the battlefield, I could see the President slightly frowning. At the same time, Kido was roughly coughing as he vigorously rubbed his sternum. He had long since gotten up off the floor and was now cautiously staring at Cher with a grave expression etched onto his face.
He also frowned like the President before his eyes widened in realization. In a biter voice, he groaned, “Damn it. I couldn’t avoid it this time either.”
There was an aggrieved light in his eyes as he cautiously raised his weapon at the ready.
The President who probably came to the same realization also prepared himself, but did not say anything.
At this point in the fight, the situation had completely reversed. Despite the fatigue that Cher felt, with a deep breathe, she psyched herself up before rushing forward, towards the President.
It was obvious at this point that with the situation tilted in her favor, the only thing Cher worried about was her stamina. A quick end to this match was her most favorable option.
Cher’s shield glowed a faint translucent light as [Shield Bash].
The President backed up a step fully anticipating Cher’s approach, but much to his chagrin, Cher did not fully follow up with her [Shield Bash]. Instead, she abruptly stopped a few paces away from him, before she swiped downwards with the bladed portion of her shield.
The President’s expression morphed into panic, as he desperately retreated, but his diminished speed, although not significant, made enough of a difference to matter. The President could not fully avoid in time, and the black saber on Cher’s shield left a deep gash on his dominant arm.
His sword wielding arm trembled as he hastily back stepped. As he took time to recover, the panic stricken expression of his quickly morphed into realization as his eyes widened slightly. He panted in exasperation before groaning, “It’s stacked now..”
He briefly laments just as Cher once again rushed forward.
With a deep sense of unbridled desperation, the President avoids the first incoming attack, but it was quickly followed up with a [Shield Bash]. The President barely blocks this by mitigating the blow with the base of his sword, but the impact alone left his arms numb and tingling.
Cher’s onslaught continued as she willfully moved her body with a sense of unwavering fighting spirit.
Coupled with the stacked effects of [Fever Burst] along with the profusely bleeding cut on his right arm, the President was not in a favorable situation.
Despite that though, the frantic expression on his face coupled by his exaggerated movements, were just a few of the many indications of the concern he had regarding [Fever Burst]. He was doing his utmost to avoid taking a direct hit from Cher, but by doing so, the strain on his injured arm only continued to grow.
Cher had the undisputed advantage, but… Seeing the battle from an outsider’s perspective, I could not help but frown. Going off of a guess, I asked the two besides me, “Cher can’t stack her [Fever Burst] on the President again, can she?”
Without even a pause, Cielle nodded in affirmation, while Hina answered, “... Without interruption, Cher can stack up to three times, but that’s the limit to her mana… Because she already previously used it on Kido, she does not have enough mana to stack the skill for a third time….”
I subconsciously nodded, as my eyes wandered to the battlefield. “If that’s the case… then Cher’s relentless attacks and all of her outward strikes with her shield… those are all bluffs…”
With Cher’s current situation, her seemingly “All Offense” constant bombardment was a ruse. A desperate way to finish the battle hidden under the guise of activating the third stack of [Fever Burst].
It was all desperation, but because of the President’s current state, he completely fell for it.
Just as the President continued his retreat, Kido finally joined the fray. He rushed forward with an attack aimed directly at Cher’s exposed right side.
Cher who saw this coming from the corner of her eye but was in the middle of her own attack, sharply narrowed her eyes. She slightly bent her knees just as the blade arrived. The tip of the sword grazed past her exposed shoulder. It left a rather deep cut, but otherwise Cher was unharmed.
Before Kido could retract his blade, Cher’s shield wielding arm surged forward. The non bladed edge of the shield, hit Kido directly on the elbow. He uttered a sharp cry of pain, before the sword in his arm dropped helplessly to the floor.
Despite the loss of his weapon, Kido was relentless. His expression turned feral as he leapt towards Cher with unhindered bloodlust. Cher who was momentarily caught off guard, immediately brought the shield up over her body in reaction.
Seemingly without a care, Kido practically pounced on top of the shield. His two hands desperately gripping onto its metal surface while he tried to wrestle the weapon away from its owner. Rather than a face of desperation, a primal glint lit up his eyes while his face was twisted into a savage expression.
The President tried to monopolize on this current situation by rushing forward to attack, but his desperate ploy was abruptly halted as Cher forcibly rotated her body, bringing her shield along with it. Kido’s whose grip remained steadfast, had his feet briefly lifted off the ground before he came crashing down onto the President.
The President toppled down before he slid back a couple of meters away. Meanwhile, Kido’s hands remained locked onto the shield, his expression turning more and more feral as the battle stalled.
With a desperate surge of energy, Cher took a step forward, and activated [Fever Burst]. Her current limit was apparently 2 twice stacked [Fever Bursts], and she had decided to use the last one on Kido.
A resounding thud resonated through the air as the base of Cher’s shield hit Kido square on his chest. Kido’s primal expression faltered as the light of pain illuminated his face. Going by Kido’s current expression, I could tell that his strength had lessened and that his grip, while it did still maintain its hold on her shield, did weaken.
Cher, who was not satisfied with just one hit, immediately took another step forward and this time, activated [Shield Bash]. That single step was filled with all the energy circulating within her body. With a heavy heave, She crashed into Kido.
The hit itself forced Kido to break his grip on the shield. His body was sent flying backwards by a couple of feet, before he crashed down on the floor, falling flatly on his butt.
For a less than a minute, Cher stood there motionless, heavily panting as her lungs widened to take in greedy gulps of oxygen. She was obviously tired. Her stamina was nearing its end, and her mana had all been used up. That last hit itself had almost fully drained any remaining energy she had left, and all she could do was maintain her steadfast standing position without toppling down.
Although her body was overtaken by fatigue, it was not like she was the only one. The President hadn’t gotten up ever since that last hit, while Kido’s arm slightly twitched and his chest heaved heavily with a sense of urgent desperation.
With neither opponent getting up, Cher’s body lost any of its remaining strength as she toppled helplessly to the floor. On her face, was a look of jovial happiness.
The match had ended with both sides unable to move, but without a doubt, today’s victor was Cher.
*****
After Cher’s battle ended, while there really wasn’t anything as exciting, the training did not stop just yet. It went on for a good while longer, with the other combatants taking the stage as Cher, Kido, and the President rested.
I never did got back up to fight, so for the rest of the time, I simply sat back and watched as the day progressed.
By the time the last fight took place, the sun had started to set, giving the building a sort of mesmerizing orange glow. The last fight was between one of Kido’s girls versus the teacher from the President’s class.
Afterwards, it was decided that everyone would turn in early in order to recover in time for the fight tomorrow.
By the time the sun had set, everyone had dispersed from the training ground, and I was no different.
As I prepared to leave, a sudden voice called out from behind me. Half turning my head, I saw Kido, standing a couple of feet away from me. His face was turned in my direction but it was hung low. The shadows created by the setting sun completely masked whatever expression it was he was making.
Aside from the dried blood stains on his shirt, not a single scratch was on him. This was primarily due to Cielle, who had healed pretty much all of his injuries.
I opened my mouth to respond, but even before I could say anything, Kido began speaking. His voice was purposely low, as if he did not want any of the others who were currently leaving to hear him speak.
“I… I want to talk, about the battle tomorrow.”
After some slight hesitation, I replied, “...Let’s talk somewhere else.”
We walked to the other side of the building, before we found an abandoned science classroom that was suitable for our needs. Entering the room, I discovered that the majority of its contents had been destroyed. This was not all that surprising, considering the majority of all the rooms within this building were ransacked beyond recognition.
“What did you want to talk about?” I asked the moment Kido shut the door behind him.
“... I…” He hesitated, for a long time, as if unsure how to formulate out his thoughts. Finally, after almost half a minute passed, he spoke, “I know you’ve said this before, but let me ask, How confident are you about tomorrow's plan?”
“...A rough estimate of 40% success rate.” I made up some bullshit number. In actuality, my confidence was drastically lower than that.
Hearing this, his face physically morphed into a grimace. Kido went silent, but his mouth was constantly opening and closing, as if he wanted to say something but ultimately did not know what to say. He hesitated for a long time, but ultimately managed to state, “Is… is there any way we can improve those odds?”
His face was making an almost painful smile, as if he was forcing himself to think positive.
By this point, I did not question his motives for asking me to come talk to him. A person’s survival was important to them, and Kido had an abnormally large obsession with survival.
After thinking for a while, I shrugged, and stated, “I don’t have any ideas regarding tomorrow.”
“Then will you listen to mine?”
“...”
I did not say anything, but Kido took my silence as an affirmation, as he continued to speak. “The Cafeteria group. We can use them.”
I slightly raised my eyebrows. From my perspective, the cafeteria group was too weak to actually contribute to the fight tomorrow. At most, arming them with a few weapons and making them fight tomorrow would be more detrimental than anything else.
Regardless, I did not voice out this opinion and simply allowed Kido to talk.
“Their generally useless and don’t really have a lot of fighting potential… even I realize that. But they have other… other uses.” He stated, his bitter expression slowly cooling with every word he spoke. An unnaturally cold glint in his eyes had long formed before I even noticed. “Be it as meat shields or as bait, if we use them properly, then our own chances of survival will increase. Infact, there might even be a way to use them combat wise. I don’t know if we can do something like set up explosives on their bodies, but at the very least… if Cielle can use her acid skill on them, then they can basically become living acid bombs. Or maybe…”
As he continued to speak, his voice grew more and more casual, as if the mere thought of sacrificing people was as commonplace as eating a slice of toast.
I was a bit caught off guard by his declaration.
Sporadic thoughts filled my head as he prattled on. The first thing I thought of was whether or not Kido bore some kind of grudge towards the group. Maybe some deep long seated resentment… but no. That wasn’t the case. Kido’s pensive face was indifferent, almost relaxed even.
It wasn’t a matter of hatred, but rather pragmatism… and that sort of calm, calculating pragmatism was…
“There’s no way we can do that!” I couldn’t help but shout out in the midst of his rambling. “That’s the same as sending them off to their deaths.”
“...” Kido abruptly stopped talking and stared at me. His eyes were hollow yet cold at the same time. “I’m ashamed Hide… out of everyone here… I thought you’d best understand my sentiment.”
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He sighed deeply before stating, “You know… if we fail tomorrow, those useless people you’re trying so hard to protect are as good as dead. If that were the case, then they might as well be of some use to the ones actually trying to survive instead of freeloading like the scum they are.”
His face morphed into one of scorn. It was as if he truly hated those people whom he smiled at earlier today.
“There’s no need to go that far.” I responded while I maintained my usual poker face. “All we have to do tomorrow is succeed.”
“...You said that our chances are less than 40%...”
“I lied.”
“...”
Kido once again sighed exaggeratedly as he whimsically extended his arms out, as if to indicate at the space around him. “This is all for survival Hide. You should have realized by now haven’t you? Having been exposed to this type of world, you should know full well that this is a world where only the strong survive.
Those that can’t fight, die, and there’s no point keeping them alive for this long if you’re not even going to use them in the end! You should have realized this yet why? Why don’t you agree with me? Why are you trying so hard for these people?”
“...”
“Dying in a place like this… is that really what you want?”
“We won’t die…”
“Hah-” Kido scoffed as he looked at me with almost mocking eyes. “Even though you say that, you know full well that tomorrow… people will die. You, me, the President, Saya, Minezawa, even those girls, Cielle and Hina, tomorrow, we’re all at risk of dying. Every last one of us is struggling for even the tiniest sliver of a possibility of surviving...yet… yet…” Kido’s face grew increasingly red as a sort of pent up rage glistened from deep within his eye. “ Ye you’re keeping the useless ones alive while people like us go risk our lives for that tiny sliver!
That’s illogical, that’s stupid, that’s completely fucking stupid!
…. Even though you want to keep the others from risking their lives, all you're doing is sending another group of people out to risk theirs… that isn’t some bullshit heroics you’re trying to pull… at the end of the day, we both know you’re not cut out to be the hero, Hide… you’re just a hypocrite.”
“....”
In the face of it all, I could not say anything. The issue regarding the cafeteria groups… that was something I’ve longed thought over since the very start. I’ve been making excuses for myself, reasoning to myself that they have their uses aside from fighting in the front lines but…
Doing something as casual as sending people of to their deaths... even though I've talked about sacrificing people before... in the end, when push comes to shove, I just don't have it in me. From the very start, I've always been like this...
I could not say anything because in the end, Kido was not entirely wrong. Although his screwed up view of survival was worrisome, the ideals he’s created for himself… they aren’t wrong.
As if he’s made his peace, Kido sighs tiredly as he turns to face the door. He began walking, all the while stating, “There’s still time until tomorrow. Think about it Hide.
Decide what you want to place importance in. It's time you started differentiating those you want to protect, from those worth sacrificing.”
With his back turned towards me, he reached for the handle of the door. But before he could grasp onto that flimsy metal knob, “Oi,” I abruptly called out, while Kido’s hand stopped in response. He slightly turned my way and with the corner of his eye, he stared, waiting for me to speak.
I did not know how to respond to his earlier remarks… rather, I could not respond. Instead, as if to push away those thoughts, as if to mask the worries that bubbled up on my mind, I asked, “Our classmates… back when this all first started… Kido, did you kill our classmates?”
Kido’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second before they immediately narrowed. A cold, apathetic smile formed on his face as he simply stated, “I did.”
“You… did you do it for the experience?”
Hearing this, Kido could not help but utter out a short, derisive laugh. “I guess that might be partly the reason why but…” His eyes grew cloudy before he abruptly turned back to face the closed door in front of him. “... Everything I’ve done up until now was for survival… For my own and for the others around me. That driving force still hasn’t changed. I’m willing to do almost anything in order to survive.
Back then… it was the same. I did it simply because I needed to.”
Kido’s attachment to the notion of survival… for him, it wasn’t just a simple idea. He used it to drive him forward, to justify his actions, both past and present. For Kido, survival wasn’t a means to an end… for him survival was nothing more than a simple excuse.
That time of reasoning… that wasn’t something I could wrap my head around. Survival… no, to live in this changed world… you needed something more… What exactly that something was, I haven’t quite figured that out just yet.
With a solemn voice that carried a tone of finality, I stated, “We won’t use the people as bait tomorrow.”
“....” Kido went silent for a fraction of second before his head bobbed slightly downward in a quick nod. “That’s fine. Do what you want.”
He opened the door and took a step outside into the hallway, but just before he completely left, I stopped him.
My solemn voice resonated throughout the stale, deathly silent air around us. “Kido… If you try to pull anything that will jeopardize everyone’s lives tomorrow… I will personally kill you.”
Hearing this, Kido slightly tilted his head my way before an ambiguous smile blossoms onto his face. “Don’t worry, if anything, my actions tomorrow will increase the chances of surviving… for both you and I.”
After leaving behind those placid words, he turned back around and quickly left, leaving me behind to ponder the numerous thoughts that swirled around in my head.
****
It was late into the night. The moon was barely a sliver of its full radiance, yet faint traces of moon light still illuminated the room around me. The girls who slept soundly at the other side of the classroom did not utter so much as a sound, creating an almost deathly silent atmosphere.
It was probably 2 at night and I could not sleep.
My body had long since recovered, and now, it felt as if I had too much enthusiasm. Before I even realized my leg was constantly tapping onto the cold wooden floor beneath me.
I was restless. I could not sleep.
In the end, out of fear of waking up the others, I decided to leave and head to the workshop. With nothing to do there, I absentmindedly began sharpening my weapon’s using the workshop’s whetstone.
I don’t know what compelled me to do this, but… I just felt as if I needed to move my body. As if I needed a distraction. It was just mindless work for me as I waited out the night.
The sound of blade against stone filled the room. With it, my thoughts began to wander. As if for the first time, the jumble of thoughts and ideas that have filled my head for the past few weeks finally aligned themselves, as if in order from trivial to most pressing.
In the end, out of all my worries, and out of all my concerns, it all ultimately came down to one thing, or rather, one person- Kido.
Without a doubt Kido was dangerous. He was dangerous, but what made him scary, what made him scarier from Satou whose main driving force was killing, and what made him scarier than the mindless Monster elites I’ve fought up until now, was that, Kido was unpredictable.
For the past few weeks, Kido’s acted normal, well, with the exception of his crazy fervor to get stronger. But lately, as our final fight grew ever closer, he’s gotten a bit more… unhinged. His ruthlessness during sparring, his insistence on sacrificing the cafeteria group…
What’s more, there were other instance aside from Kido’s fluctuating mental state, like his abnormal growth, or the title he may or may not have. That’s not even to mention the fact that he openly admitted to killing our classmates...
With such a track record, it's worrying what he might end up doing.
“...” As I mulled over my remaining options, I could not help but let out an exasperated sigh.
In the end, at the very least I firmly believe that Kido will work with everyone in order to reach a common goal, but how exactly he achieves that goal is the problem. It honestly wouldn’t be all that surprising if he pulled something like a Satou near the end of the fight.
He was unpredictable, and his own motives, his obsession with survival only added to that. Just having him around was enough to make me feel uneasy about the coming day.
...Yet, despite that, I could not just toss him aside. I couldn’t just simply kill kill him or exile Kido. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t. Even when thoughts like this filled my head for the better part of the week, I couldn’t act upon it.
This wasn’t because of some humane reason, nor was it due to compassion, but rather, I couldn’t kill Kido because of his importance.
Honestly speaking Kido’s crazy fast growth, or his steadily improving battle ability, none of these were truly important. While not having him around for the final Dungeon Boss fight might worsen the situation, it was not entirely unsalvageable.
Kido’s importance laid in his relationships. More specifically, it was Kido’s ties with the girl in the wizard hat that stopped me from taking direct action towards him.
The Wizard hat girl, she was someone vital, someone integral for our plans tomorrow. Her skill was one of the pivoting factors in our battle tomorrow, and despite being so important, it really didn’t help that she held so much fondness for Kido.
If something were to happen to him, or if I were to openly antagonize him, then the risk of losing Wizard Hat’s cooperation was high. If I exiled Kido, then the Wizard Hat might just leave with him. If I killed Kido, then she might pull something like a double suicide… that type of action wasn’t that uncommon, especially considering the mental stress and her almost parasitic attachment to Kido.
What’s worse, openly antagonizing Kido might earn the ire of the Wizard hat. She might retaliate in a fit of rage or she might just purposely sabotage the whole operation…
Even with my worries taken into consideration, it was just too great a risk to action upon.
Of course there was always the option of killing both Kido and the explosion girl together, and hope that with her death, her explosion skill will drop, but… even with this, there’s still a risk. The possibility of the skill not dropping existed and that was a risk I simply could not take.
Afterall, not every kill drops a skill, and the exact requirements to make a skill drop from a person were still up for question. The matter with Satou and his [Acid Clad] skill… for all I know, that happened by pure coincidence.
Even with that risk holding me back, there was also another reason why I could not go through with this plan…
It did not sit right with me, killing someone innocent like that. In a sense, that naivety is a part of the reason why I haven’t taking action against Kido just yet. Without any prior trigger, and with pure speculation as my driving force… I could not bring myself to kill him. And if I couldn’t bring myself to kill him, then there was no way I could take action against Wizard hat. She might be annoying, but she wasn’t a killer like Satou.
As the night passed, these thoughts continually swirled in my head. What I wanted to do, what was the best action to take, What the outcome of tomorrow will be… I thought about these things countless of times.
In the end, with a solemn heart, I ultimately came to a decision.
In the brief span of time after the Explosion Girl finished what she needed to do, and before we confronted the Boss… I had decided to kill Kido. To kill him and destroy any possibility of a situation from occurring.
I’d like to say I’ve steeled myself for such a decision but in the end, I still had lingering doubt whether or not I had it in me to pull of such an action. Killing someone based purely on my own instincts and suspicion… the fact of the matter was, I did not know whether that was the right thing to do or not.
The act of killing was easy, the decision to kill or not wasn’t.
****
(Pov Change)
A memory.
A memory in the guise of a nightmare.
The setting sun bloomed over the horizon. A youth absentmindedly stared out at the window. His eyes were hazy, and his face was turned away from the commotion around him. It was as if the sounds, people, and actions around him were completely separate from the youth. He was lost. Lost in thoughts he had no business having.
Around the youth were three girls, all playfully bickering amongst themselves. There was a tiny girl who looked on the verge of tears, yet strangely enough the atmosphere she gave off was positive, friendly even. Besides that girl, was another female, this one with jet black hair that swayed listfully down her waist. Her face was morphed into a playful smirk as she continually teased the tiny girl besides her.
And lastly, there was another girl. A girl with gente, almost motherly eyes, with an appearance to match. She ignored the other two besides her, as her eyes focused solely on the youth in front of her. Her eyes were hazy with a sort of nostalgic hue while her lips curved into a thin, satisfied smile.
The youth did not particularly notice her stare, nor did he notice the bickering behind him.
To the youth who absentmindedly stared out the window, this was an ordinary day. These friends were his ordinary companions, and he was simply killing time in an ordinary fashion. For this brief instance, he was truly a youth with absolutely no worries in the world. Without even realizing, his lips had long since curved into a content smile.
The youth who continued to stare out at the window was the first to notice something odd had happened. It was such a drastic change that it would take an idiot to not notice, and this drastic change filled the youth with an uneasy sense of worry.
The sky was a menacing shade of red, completely different from its usual hue of brilliant orange. What’s more the gentle clouds that had formed above, had undergone a drastic change. They were vivid black, like splotches of ink that dotted the red canvas above the youth’s head.
What’s more as the youth continued to stare, he slowly noticed white lines beginning to form. These lines were like cracks. Cracks that disfigured the red sky and gave of a heavy sense of dread. A little further away, the clouds began to dissipate. They slowly circled around an epicenter that glowed a faint translucent green. This cyclone of darkness was enough to send shivers running down the youth’s spine.
He did not know why, but he did not want to look at that glowing green dot in the sky. Yet, at the same time , he could not look away. His eyes glazed over as a blank expression filled his face. The others around him sported similar expressions as they all absentmindedly stared up at the sky like empty puppets.
Even when a ding resonated within his skull and a weird blue panel popped up in front of him, the youth continued to stare, lost in the glowing green dot’s hypnotizing vibrance.
The sudden noise that originated from behind him was muffled out as he continued to stare. Even when chairs, desks, and people began flying throughout the room, he could do nothing but stare. The primal roar, the ghastly screaming, the pain filled wails, none of this registered in his mind. To the youth, nothing existed but the green dot and him.
It was only after his vision filled with red and he felt a heavy impact knock the wind out of his entire body did his blank stare finally separate from the green dot.
And like a fleeting dream the youth drifted off into unconsciousness.
****
“Uuuu…” A groan escaped from his parched dry throat. It took the youth a few seconds to realize that the groan originated from his own body.
As he opened his eyes, he noticed that besides him, sprawled on the floor were his three friends. They all lay unconscious with hardly a scratch on them. He glanced around, and discovered that the teacher’s desk had been tossed aside, and created a sort of cover that blocked their bodies from the rest of the room.
He did not know how this happened, or why exactly the sturdy wooden desk had been knocked onto its side. Only, that he briefly recalled that one of the girls had teasingly chased another all the way to the empty teacher’s desk. In an act of friendship, the youth and the remaining girl had followed them.
He briefly pushed aside this memory and began looking around him. The gears in his mind turned as he tried to recall what had happened immediately afterwards. As he thought, a throbbing pain briefly pulsated in his mind before splintered images bubbled up into his thoughts.
Visions from before filled his head.
Of his classmates being tossed around like mere ragdolls. Of a giant, hulking beast rampaging and destroying almost everything in sight. Of his own body being flung aside like some piece of decayed meat.
Kido fully recalled what had happened. A monster had come in like a raging storm and wrecked havoc within his familiar classroom. It rampaged through the sea of students, knocked the teacher's desk aside with its otherworldly strength, before it continued its rampage.
The cries for help, the deathly screams from his classmates… the youth recalled the feeling of powerlessness as he drifted off into unconsciousness.
Now he was awake, and his vision, that had once been blurry slowly started to focus. With it, his senses came back. The dull feeling that perpetuated throughout his body slowly dissipated, only to be replaced by a throbbing pain. He looked down at where the pain had been strongest, and discovered that on his arm, as a giant black bruise.
His face crinkled in agony at the mere sight of it.
Along with his sense of sight and sense of pain, the ringing in his ears also slowly disappeared, as his sense of hearing came back to him. With its emergence, he noticed that for the first time, the room around him was not silent. Rather, it was unexpectedly loud.
Cries of agony and endless wailing. Sounds that seemingly only the dead could produce were currently resonating throughout the room, vibrating the stale air with a deep sense of tragedy.
The youth who had just woken up was filled with a deep sense of compassion. He quickly stood up on shaking legs before he left the small concave formed by the half destroyed teacher’s desk and observed the room around him.
The sight before him made him nauseous and lightheaded. It was a fleeting feeling of weightlessness that allowed him to temporarily escape the bitter reality around him.
The classroom had been destroyed. Desks and chairs lay scattered around the room while bodies littered the floor. A vibrant red carpeted the surroundings while the wails of some of the bodies echoed helplessly through this scene from hell.
Survivors. Yes, there were survivors. Their bodies were mangled, and their blood was splattered sporadically throughout the room, but they had lived the onslaught from earlier.
Recalling the memory again, the youth could physically feel the bile and vomit rise from his stomach and into his throat. He forcibly swallowed it down along with the rising sense of panic that was quickly beginning to dot his mind.
The Monster from earlier, it did not do a thorough job of destroying. The youth remembered its haphazard destruction. It was chaos that was aimed purely at causing havoc, not one that focused on absolute massacre.
In its wake, it had left no small amount of corpses, but just the same, some had survived.
For the first time, the youth realized just how lucky he had been. Him and his friends, they had been knocked unconscious purely by the teacher’s desk, and as a result, they had survived the Minotaur’s rampage with only a mild concussion. They had avoided confrontation with the emissary of death that had killed and maimed all their classmates.
The youth moved unsteadily to the center of the classroom. His eyes morbidly scanned the floor for survivors. From a distance though, the survivors did not look any different from the ones who had died. The only thing that set them apart was the constant wails that escaped their throats.
Most of these survivors were bloody and almost nigh indistinguishable. With the vivid stench of blood as their backdrop, their legs arms, and bodies had all been thoroughly broken while red liquid constantly oozed out from their mangled bodies.
Once again, Kido relied not on sight nor smell to differentiate the survivors, but rather on the noise they were making.
It was the noise. Horrible, brutal, pitiful, agonizing wails. Cries for help muffled by pain, please for assistance drowned by the gurgling blood that had pooled in some of their throats. It wa an unbearable, heart wrenching orchestra that reverberated loudly throughout the room.
They were loud, insufferably so,a dn when they all saw the youth approach, their cries only intensified. Like constantly chirping birds, they pleaded for help. With all their bodies broken and dying, all they could do was cry for help.
Hearing all this, the youth’s body shook in a terrible mixture of fright and disgust. His own ears began ringing as he involuntarily took a step backwards before he doubled over and barfed all over the floor. It took him a moment to realize that he had vomited directly onto a person.
Once again, the youth’s body shook. He looked down at the disgusting congregation of blood and vomit that had formed below his feet. The person he had vomited on was dead. His lifeless eyes seemingly stared hollowly at the youth’s own fright filled expression.
Urged by a sense of deep mourn and regret, the youth immediately apologized. Not caring whether the body was dead or alive, he profusely apologized in desperation. He continually apologized. Even when he shakily moved back towards the teacher’s desk, the stream of constant apologies never once let up.
When he finally reached the desk though, something caught his ear. He abruptly stopped talking,and amidst all the pain filled wails, he struggled to listen.
It was a distant sound. It was both forceful yet soft at the same time. It was a sound that felt awfully familiar, and at the same time, it filled the youth with a heavy sense of dread and fear. Rather than hearing it, the youth “felt” it. The floor shook ever so slightly as the sound slowly intensified.
It was the sound of thundering footsteps.
Instantaneously, the image of the monster passed through his mind. A hulking beast with the lower body of a cow, and the upper body of a lumberjack. Just recalling its grizzly, bovian expression and the horns that stuck out from its head was enough to cause the youth’s breath to quicken and his back to sweat.
The youth was afraid. He was very afraid. His mind was bogged down by fear, worry, and anxiety. His thoughts were racing and his heart was palpitating.
What was that thing? Where did it come from? Was it coming back to finish the job it had left uncompleted?
The youth’s shoulders began trembling and without him knowing why, tears had begun to leak out from his eyes. Through a haze of tears and snot, he glanced down at his half-dead classmates before turning around to look at his friend behind the teacher’s desk.
His gaze continually shifted between both parties, before an unexpected negative emotion welled up from deep within him. He looked down at his wailing classmates and could not hide the spiteful expression that had formed on his face.
They were noisy. These people were noisy and without a doubt, they were bound to attract the monster’s attention. Because of them, the monster was going to come back and finish the job. Because of their constant screeching, the monster was going to kill him and his friends.
Even if they had been classmates in the past, all the same, he didn’t want his friends to die because of these noisy people. He, himself didn’t want to die because of these noisy people.
The youth’s face twisted into an ugly scowl as he inwardly thought the word “shut up”. His voice did not project into the room though, both from shock and fear that the monster might hear him.
“I’m sorry you ended up like this, but please shut up.” He inwardly thought. “I’m sorry to see you like that, but please… shut up. I’m sorry, but shut up. Sorry, shut up, sorry …. Shut up… shut up... shut...UP!”
The feeling of fear and the desire to survive was quickly overtaking his damaged psyche. “Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up…”
The youth’s expression had gone hollow. Although his mouth was constantly mouthing something out, no sound ever came out. In an almost dream like state, the youth continued to repeat that single phrase as he reached out for a box cutter that had been on the floor, one that had been knocked off from the teacher’s desk during the initial arrival of the monster.
“Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up….”
He continually repeated even as he approached the nearest classmate.
“Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut-”
Even as the box cutter sliced through skin and flesh, the youth still incessantly repeated. Even as his hands stained with red, and even as the first person who died before his hands stopped wailing, he still continually repeated. Like an ominous chant, that singular phrase reverberated in his skull with the intensity of a jackhammer.
The youth’s body moved around the room, the box cutter in his hand only continued to grow redder and redder as more and more people lost their lives. The constant wailing from before slowly began to quiet down as each throat was snipped like the bud of a flower.
Soon the youth’s last classmate had been “silenced” and the room entered an almost deathly quiet.
The youth’s body trembled as he dropped to his knees. His mouth still continued to move but this time, instead of repeating “shut up”, his silent prayer had changed.
“Sorry… sorry… sorry…” He inwardly repented as he grieved in total silence.
His hands were shaking. They were covered in an absolute layer of blood, while tears continually fell from his eyes. “Sorry… sorry… sorry… sorry…”
As more and more tears blurred his vision, his mind grew cloudier and cloudier from remorse. His vision blurred, his ears ringing, and his body numb from anguish, the youth continued to silently grieved before-
DING!
A reverberating noise resounded through his skull as Kido abruptly woke up.
He sat up from his makeshift bed, unloosening the emergency blanket that had once been draped over his body in the process. His back was wet with sweat while, unknowingly, faint traces of tears had wettened his cheek.
It was the middle of the night, and the moon was barely a sliver of its full radiance. Faint traces of moonlight dully illuminated the room around him.
Kido stared out over the room and glanced at the girls around him. A faint, sardonic smile floated to the surface of his face.
“I did the right thing…” He softly whispered to himself. “I definitely did the right thing…”
Kido lamented over the dream. Back then, what he had done, the actions he did… they were completely justified. They were already dying anyways, and by killing them he saved not only himself, but also the lives of his friends.
“They were a necessary sacrifice… a sacrifice so that others could survive.” He continually spoke as if he were attempting to brainwash his own mind. “Yeah… Survival comes first and foremost. And tomorrow… I’ll do the same thing… I’ll survive.
I’ll do anything to survive.”
*****
Author's Note: We're nearing the end guys. Final fight imminent. Not even I can extend it out any longer than it already is.
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