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CHAPTER 274 – THE GRAND THEATRE OF MAD ELEGANCE AND COUNTLESS SINS ~ FIRST ACT ~

 

The moment I swung my fist at Zoa—without realizing it, I had already triggered a triple buff. Naturally, 【Matsuribayashi】was also active.

Which meant that in ten minutes, the backlash would cut my stats in half. Still, I had no regrets. I wanted my first move against Zoa to be an all-out strike. But… holding back from here on would be nothing but a mistake.

Alright then!

「From the start—full throttle!!」

Four 【Black Thunder Spear】 spread out around me and shot toward the four clowns, each wearing an expression of joy, anger, sorrow, or pleasure.

With triple buffs in effect, my INT was doubled, and the spell combined both darkness and lightning attributes. Each spear was fired with the intent of blowing off at least an arm. …Yet they all vanished before impact, erased as though nothing had happened. Not a trace of damage.

The clowns didn’t move an inch. …So magic attacks are nullified?

Then…

「【Thunder Step】!!」

I seared my nerves with lightning, cutting forward in a single flash. Among all my physical attack methods, the instant slash born from 【Thunder Step】 was one of the strongest in raw power.

Even SS-ranked monsters had taken heavy damage from this technique. I would have liked to save it as a trump card, but with Zoa still ahead and the time limit looming, there was no room for restraint.

――And yet, even that desperate strike passed clean through the clown wearing a joyful grin, without the slightest resistance.

「Ufufu… Such flashy action, not bad at all.」
「But that sort of thing—wasn’t written into the ‘script’!」
「Surprised? But the real shock is only just beginning!」
「Sad, isn’t it, so very sad… You still don’t know what the true opening act is.」

Somehow, these four nullify both magic and physical attacks alike. Right now, I need to save every second, but after this exchange, I have no clue how to fight them.

What’s worse, my opening after the unsheathed slash had been enormous. The instant my blade passed through their body, the opening was so fatal that I’d even braced myself for death.

And still—not one of the four made any move to attack.

「…What the hell are you playing at?」

「Ahaha!! You’re impatient, aren’t you!! Then let’s not delay—let’s begin at once!」
「This is your theater. You’re the star of the show.」
「Tonight’s performance is… ‘Loss’!」
「Sad, isn’t it. Painful, isn’t it. Agonizing, isn’t it…」

From nowhere, the sound of a pipe organ filled the hall. Its sorrowful tones set the stage, and in sync with it, all four clowns’ expressions twisted into ‘sorrow’.

Dancing in circles, they spun words into the music.

「You have so many precious things, don’t you?」
「You have wonderful companions.」
「So many memories, so many dreams.」
「But if all of that were lost… what would become of you?」

A surge of emotion rocked me, making me feel like I was no longer myself.

Some kind of mental attack…? But checking my status, no abnormal conditions were listed.

「「Show us—your true self.」」
「「Show us—your true heart.」」

The next instant, all four clowns vanished. From the stage floor, someone was slowly raised up, chained and bound to a cross.

「――!!」

Kinu.

Drake.

Shinku.

Nelfie.

There was no mistaking them. My companions.

Their heads hung limp, each of them shackled with crude, executioner-like collars.

The pipe organ’s tempo quickened, its violent echoes shaking the hall. In rhythm with it, countless shadows in the audience clapped their hands, a macabre applause resounding through the theater.

And then—Zoa’s voice rang out, like a narrator.

「Of course, it’s only an illusion. But to your eyes, it looks real, doesn’t it? Your heart cannot completely deny the possibility. And no matter what you do now… every attack will be meaningless.」

His voice carried the tone of one explaining a mere stage trick, a bit of theater.

And he went on, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

「Everything you’ve loved, everything you’ve held dear—I will shatter it all before your eyes. So you may remember once more… what it truly means to be ‘robbed’.

Now then… what will you do?」

「!? …You bastard—」

「And so—「The second Act: Loss and Prayer」. The curtain rises, Doumeki Aun.」

From the audience, countless shadows shrieked with voices like cheers, like madness.

Pillars for a stake were raised high, and fire bloomed at the feet of Kinu and the others’ phantom figures.

The flames slowly crept upward, swallowing their legs.

――Something tore out of my throat, became a voice—
and turned into a scream.

「Stop it… stop it!! STOP ITTTTTTTTTTT!!!」

A voice mixed of sobs and fury was drowned beneath the merciless crackle of burning flames and the roar of shadowy applause.