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V12 Story IV – Part 03

Lovely legs strode gracefully, mockingly. She didn’t spare a glance at the tormented lumps at her feet. Adjusting the hem of her lavish, scanty kimono, she walked confidently.

She was incredibly beautiful. Ignoring the lumps of flesh, she fixed her gaze solely on Mayuzumi, delighted by the unexpected guests. The queen of the spirit world curled her scarlet lips into a benevolent and enchanting smile.

Her red smile was both sinister and beautiful. The phrase “supreme ruler” came to mind.

“I never expected you to open the door from your side. I wonder what kind of dream you had. Very well. This should make for quite the spectacle. I’ll allow a counterattack.”

Mayuzumi and the scarlet woman faced each other. Mayuzumi said nothing. Both of their lips were twisted into the same shape.

A black umbrella spun.

A red parasol twirled.

A foul, dry, blood-soaked blew. The sky was stained black and red. Everything within my field of view was stained with blood, yet the road remained dry. Vivid red flowers withered at our feet.

“Fight back, humans. Dance, mortals.”

There was genuine admiration in the voice of the scarlet woman. She delivered sweet words dripping with arrogance and disdain from a lofty perch.

“Entertain me, and I will reward you with my laughter.”

The scarlet woman extended her arm towards Mayuzumi. In response, the grotesque masses of flesh writhed violently.

Maihime raised her arm high and snapped her fingers. The truck’s cargo bed was punctured.

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!

I whirled around and saw countless arms protruding from the truck. In the next moment, the cargo bed exploded. Metal doors and walls flew like paper, and countless silhouettes danced in the air like jesters.

It was like the beginning of a circus show. Or as if an egg had cracked open, and grotesque spiders emerged.

Countless puppets, their limbs spinning at impossible angles, emerged from the wreckage of the truck.

Hairless heads gleamed, their dry skin unpainted, their eyeless sockets all black. In unison, these insect-like puppets rushed into the spirit world. Black beasts drawn to life by Shirayuki weaved through them.

The men in black, realizing they would only be in the way, remained still. Yukihito was paralyzed in fear.

Yusuke and Kugutsu remained on guard. Only the puppets created by a powerful esper and the black beasts with flesh and blood tore through the night like a storm.

The sight brought home the fact that numbers equate to power. War is fundamentally the tyranny of the majority. There would be no escaping this wave.

The turbid streams of black and white passed by Mayuzumi and me, surging toward the entrance to the spirit world. The scarlet woman’s eyes widened a little. Inanimate objects launched a silent onslaught.

“Those who wish to clap, clap. Those who wish to laugh, laugh. If you can sneer, then sneer to your heart’s content.”

And then, the horde of puppets and beasts swallowed the scarlet woman and the masses of flesh.

---

The massacre began.

To protect their master, the masses of flesh sprang from the hole. The puppets latched onto them one by one.

Like children clutching plushies, the puppets hugged the masses of flesh. The gears in their joints spun rapidly, and their arms tightened like vices, severing the masses.

Plop, plop, plop. Chunks of flesh fell onto the road, convulsing.

The beasts also pounced on the masses of flesh, mercilessly devouring the sluggish prey.

I watched, transfixed. Suddenly, I heard the swish of a bat near my ear. Yusuke had smashed a piece of flesh that rolled toward him. He wiped the blood off his cheek and sighed.

He was unharmed. I turned my gaze to the center of the chaos. Countless puppets already clung to the scarlet woman.

They stuck to her like children to their mother. It reminded me of something I had heard before: how the young of certain kinds of spiders consumed their mother’s body.

The woman, covered in puppets, looked like a giant spider being devoured by her young. Each time the gears spun, her body creaked. But she did not fall. She lifted her head and stared at the two espers.

Standing side by side were two figures in white—one in western attire, the other Japanese—vigilantly watching the battlefield.

Shirayuki and Maihime stared back at the scarlet woman without fear.

The corners of the woman’s mouth quirked up. “I see, souls different from humans. Not quite as much as mine, but your abilities are almost godlike. Impressive. But still, it’s you I want, Mayuzumi Azaka. Come here, you heartless girl,” she said in a soothing voice.

As she reached out her hand, her left arm snapped with a sickening sound. The compressed flesh on her shoulder was crushed, and blood spurted out. Her legs, held by different puppets, were lifted and pulled in opposite directions. Her waist, embraced by a smaller puppet, began to crush like a fruit.

I swallowed at the horrific sight. I had heard that a puppeteer’s strength lies in mass production. This scene embodied those words. Given enough time and preparation, was a puppeteer this powerful? Karakuri Maihime waved her fingers like a conductor, and the gears spun faster.

The scarlet woman extended her trembling fingers. Mayuzumi did not move. Sharp nails grazed her nose, staining her fair skin with crimson blood. Then, a puppet grasped the woman’s right arm.

Crunch.

The broken wrist twisted off with the flesh, dropping to the ground. Before it hit the road, a beast snatched it up and swallowed it. Legs were torn, twisting around like tentacles. The sound made me want to cover my ears. The remaining torso was swarmed by puppets.

Like children clinging to their mother, the puppets used not only their arms but also their legs to embrace the woman.

Covered by countless puppets, her body disappeared from the neck down. Only her head stuck out from a ball of flesh formed by the puppets. And the ball began to shrink with creaking sounds. Still, the scarlet woman’s smile remained. She continued to stare at Mayuzumi.

Mayuzumi said nothing. She did not even return the smile.

“Oh, what a pity. Such a pity,” the scarlet woman said, blood dripping from her lips.

A puppet’s arm dug into her neck. Thick arm crushed flesh, spilling a torrent of blood.

The woman smiled as if she felt no pain. Her head was slowly severed by what felt like a guillotine. The arm sank into her bones.

Using her crushed vocal cords, she said, “Truly, a pity.”

Thud.

The woman’s head fell. A black wolf opened its mouth wide to catch it. But the head hit the wolf’s nose instead, bouncing up into the air. As if seeking a kiss, it floated towards Mayuzumi.

Eyes filled with hunger stared at her.

“Odagiri-kun,” Mayuzumi said.

She didn’t have to call my name. My abdomen had already opened in response to the spirit world’s atmosphere. Before Mayuzumi could call for Uka, she was already staring at the woman’s head. She extended her hand from the tear. The strange flesh had piqued her curiosity.

“Uka.”

Okay!

Uka responded cheerfully to my call, leaping out of my abdomen without hesitation. She shot through the air like a bullet. Her limbs extended mid-flight to form the appearance of a fourteen-year-old girl.

She darted from Mayuzumi’s side to bite into the head.

Crunch.

Uka closed her mouth as if biting into candy. A trickle of blood dripped from the corner of her lips.

Hehe!

She slurped up the hair sticking out of her mouth and laughed gleefully. Her body underwent a slight change, her hair growing longer, and her appearance maturing by a year or two. She raised a hand, waving at me with joy.

With the target gone, the puppets ceased their movements. The beasts sniffed the air, then lay down. The tense atmosphere relaxed. Shirayuki sighed in relief and looked at me, but I couldn’t respond. Sweat poured out of me like a waterfall. My chest felt cold, and my throat tightened.

Something was wrong. The effect on Uka was minimal, almost too minimal.

It was better than a severe reaction, but having no reaction at all was equally concerning. I stared at Uka’s abdomen. It had returned to its flat state, showing no signs of having just swallowed a demon’s head. I quickly looked around. The woman’s limbs had melted into a red, fleshy mass. Like the other flesh lumps, they had turned into mere chunks of meat. A chill ran down my spine.

The scarlet woman’s arrogant words rang in my mind.

“Entertain me, and I will reward you with my laughter.”

The woman had smiled but had not laughed.

“Truly, a pity.”

Her sorrowful voice lingered in my ears.

Mayuzumi remained facing forward. She hadn’t spoken or changed her expression. She continued to stare beyond the door, into the depths of the spirit world, as if waiting for something to come.

“No way.”