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V9 Story I – Part 05

“I can’t say anything about the anger you feel from your loved one getting hurt. But…”

“Stop, stop, stop, stop, I’m telling you to stop!”

Kugutsu raised his arm and swung his left hand high, like a conductor. Sharp pain coursed through me.

Squeak, squeak, squeak.

The puppets pressed down on my body. Their frail arms clung to me like a vice. My throat constricted, and my bones groaned.

“Kugutsu!” I cried.

“Enough, sir. I’ve had enough. I don’t need you anymore.”

Kugutsu flashed a toothy smile. But his eyes were brimming with tears.

He shook his head frantically. “I don’t need you,” he said deliriously. “I’ll find that brat on my own. I won’t ask for your help anymore. Goodbye… Goodbye, sir. Thank you for everything.”

My throat tightened. I couldn’t breathe. Through my blurry vision, I saw Kugutsu crying.

“I… I can’t possibly love the Princess,” he said, tears streaming down his face.

What was the point of denying it?!

I tried to shout at him, but I couldn’t muster my voice. My whole body groaned in pain.

I didn’t know whether my throat or bones would give out first. Uka didn’t appear, likely because no arm was touching my belly. There was no way to survive without calling her. But Kugutsu might get devoured.

“Papa? Are you okay?”

Suddenly, I heard her voice. But I didn’t call her.

Kugutsu’s face stiffened. He hid his right hand and took a step back. He was traumatized from having his right hand eaten by a demon.

“The demon… So you’re summoning it. I understand, sir. I’m leaving. And I swear I will kill that boy. And then, everything will be over.”

He closed his mouth and took a deep breath. He muttered something quickly to the puppets, clapping his hands in an intricate rhythm. The next moment, he rushed off. I heard the door open, close, and being locked.

The moment he disappeared, my belly split open, like a cicada’s shell breaking. A baby’s face emerged from my abdomen. The naked body, dyed in crimson, fell to the floor.

Hands and feet extended like dough rising. Lustrous black hair formed. Uka was growing. She grinned. The next moment, her body vanished.

The puppet’s necks twisted, and several heads simultaneously fell. Metal parts were scattered on the floor. I couldn’t immediately grasp what was happening.

Suddenly, a naked red figure was standing in front of me. The puppet’s limbs detached from me all at once. Broken remains lay on the floor. Stepping through one of those bellies, a child of about nine laughed.

“Papa!”

Her voice was clear. My hair bristled. Uka had undergone remarkable growth.

A fear I hadn’t felt for a long time crawled up my spine. This child was mine, but not human.

I stroked her head as she leaned toward me. Uka laughed happily.

As I listened to her voice, I felt an indescribable fear wash over me.

---

“Uka, can you cut the ropes? Hold it here and here and pull.”

“Like this?” she said in a spirited voice.

The ropes tore off. The back of the chair was partially destroyed, bearing finger marks.

Uka joyfully nuzzled her cheek against me, but I couldn’t embrace her. While I wanted to put my arms back in their sockets, I couldn’t ask Uka for help. She would break my bones.

The metal dog, still clinging to my leg, had also been destroyed. Its head remained intact. It would require delicate work to remove the twisted teeth, and it was impossible for Uka.

I couldn’t stand up. Uka playfully pulled my hair.

“Papa, papa, are you okay? Are you okay? Feeling good?”

“Yeah, I’m… fine. Thanks, Uka… Ugh.”

I pretended to be fine, but I wasn’t. I was bleeding heavily from my stomach.

It was the worst-case scenario. At this rate, I might die. If I asked Uka to destroy the walls, would the neighbors notice? But there was a high likelihood of any noise coming from this mansion being ignored.

There was no time to think thoroughly. The darkness stirred. I grimaced upon seeing it.

When Kugutsu left the mansion, he locked the door. Locking it from the outside wouldn’t prevent the escape of those inside. It was likely meant to delay the discovery of a dead body.

Kugutsu was clapping his hands in a complex rhythm at the end. It was probably some kind of signal. Countless naked bodies were approaching in the darkness. The puppets looked down on me with vacant eyes.

Clack, clack, clack, clack, clack.

A distinct sound came from the distance. It sounded like the rhythmic footsteps of a wind-up toy.

Puppets from the upper floors showed themselves. Humanoid figures with upright postures descended, swinging their arms. Puppets with only arms crawled down the stairs. Smaller ones formed a line, and giants opened their mouths.

The actors in costume from the fourth floor followed the puppets from the second and third floors.

A nightmarish parade unfolded in the dimness. Uka turned around with a smile and looked up at me cheerfully. She didn’t see the puppets as threats.

Countless puppets surrounded me, lining up. They resembled a wall made of human bodies. These puppets had no will or emotions, but there was something akin to collective malice in the air.

One of them raised an arm and brought down their fingers like a conductor.

“Uka, eat them,” I said.

“Okay!” Uka replied with a beaming smile.

She jumped explosively. A red cannonball hit the ceiling and fell at a steep angle, decapitating the puppet on its path. Metal components scattered like rain. Her tiny fists struck the gears floating in the air, embedding them into the forehead of the adjacent puppet, which then toppled to the floor. Her playful arms pierced its abdomen.

A massacre unfolded.

Puppets broke one after another and piled up on the floor. Detached limbs bounced all over the room. With every graceful leap by Uka, metallic screams echoed. My heart ached as the humanoid figures were destroyed one by one. But the pity quickly faded. There were too many of them.

Gears and springs stacked up all around me. Even as they buried my feet, more puppets kept coming down from the upper floors. I couldn’t follow Uka’s movements with my eyes. It was as if countless red spheres were zipping in the air. Uka slowed down briefly. Hugging her knees, she twirled a couple of times, then landed on all fours. She stretched like a cat and leaped once more.

It would take time, but Uka would definitely exterminate the puppets.

However, I wouldn’t make it. I was bleeding heavily.

“Can… I stand up?”

I put extra pressure on my leg while trying to avoid putting weight on the right foot, but it was impossible. Not being able to support myself with my arms made a significant difference. Watching Uka’s dance, I struggled to stay conscious.

I couldn’t die here. I had finally figured out Yusuke’s location.

After securing him, I needed to meet Kugutsu. I wanted to believe that Yusuke was still alive. It was uncertain if he could return to a normal life. It was also unclear if Kugutsu could live as a human.

Still, I had to move. Dying here would be pointless.

“Come on…!”

The moment I stood up, I staggered, and the chair fell over with me. I tried to force my arms to move.

Crash!

Glass shattered. Countless shards sparkled as they fell through the air. A cold wind blew in, and a band of black darkness rushed in through the window.

It was as if the night had acquired a will and come to life. My eyes widened. Velvety darkness descended on the puppets, and sharp beaks buried themselves in vacant eyeballs.

Uka fell as well, wrapped in the blackness. Confused, she grabbed something.

“Ugh, ugh, ugh!”

Uka, annoyed, plucked off the crow’s feathers, and it turned into ink, staining her small hands. My breath caught. My heartbeat raced. My confused mind conjured the image of a particular person.

Impossible. There was no way she would be here.

I stared intently at the window. Around me, the crows exterminated the puppets, sending them toppling one after another. After completing their task, the crows closed their wings and landed on the debris.

Then, from the window, something white appeared.

Long sleeves fluttered. Her black hair tossed as she looked at me. Dressed in pure white kimono, her eyes widened.

It felt like a dream.

Shirayuki Minase burst right in.