I Would Rather Die Than Kiss You – Part 04
The building looked perfect for a test of courage.
We’d arrived at the place where the reformist Vampire Ninjas were supposed to be. The night sky hung eerily above us, and the crumbling walls paired with the cold wind created the perfect ominous atmosphere.
There was no sound, except that of our footsteps. As we approached the entrance, we spotted a girl in a black cloak collapsed on the ground.
“Ayumu,” Sera whispered.
“Yeah,” I replied simply.
Something was definitely happening here. I regretted not bringing the chainsaw. Then again, walking around with that thing would probably get me arrested on the spot.
“You okay?” I called out to the girl on the ground, but there was no answer. She didn’t look dead, though.
Didn’t they usually check the neck in shows or something to see if someone was alive?
Relying on my sketchy TV knowledge, I carefully touched her neck.
If she were conscious, she’d probably react to someone touching a vital spot like that. Since she didn’t move, I figured she was unconscious. I felt a pulse at my fingertips. She was alive. I gave her cheek a light pat.
“Hey, can you hear me?”
I should’ve raised my voice more, but the silence made it hard to speak up. It was way too quiet.
I hesitated over what to do with her. In the end, I decided to leave her there.
Calling the cops or an ambulance would just cause trouble for the Vampire Ninjas. I’d know. Same goes for me.
“Let’s go inside,” Sera said.
I followed her into the building. We stepped in quietly, silencing our footsteps. But once we entered, I couldn’t stop myself from gasping audibly.
Several Vampire Ninjas were lying on the floor. They weren’t dead, just unconscious.
“This looks like the work of a sleeping gas we Vampire Ninjas use. Ayumu, try not to breathe too deeply.”
That made sense. Taking on this many Vampire Ninjas, some probably stronger than Sera, would be very difficult. Using sleeping gas was much more efficient. But why put them all to sleep?
I picked up my pace but stayed as quiet as possible, passing by collapsed and slumped Vampire Ninjas as I made my way toward the wide space where the device was kept.
And right in front of that room, lying on the floor, was Tomonori.
I almost shouted her name, but barely managed to suppress the urge. I could feel malice coming from behind me, a sensation all too familiar at this point.
“Well, if it isn’t Seraphim. What brings you here?”
When I turned around, I saw a girl from my school, the one who brought me those black-rimmed glasses. Sera’s old friend. She held a sword as clear as flowing water.
“I came to destroy the weather-control device,” Sera said. Her honesty was simultaneously one of her best and worst qualities.
“That would be a problem.”
“And why is that?”
“Because we need it to smoothly carry out the plan to turn all of humanity into Vampire Ninjas.”
“What did you just say?”
The two glared at each other fiercely. Maybe they were just two of a kind.
She’s the agent!
This girl was the one trying to destroy the device that the reformists were planning to use. And she was a conservative. Wait a minute. Was the plan to turn humans into Vampire Ninjas devised by the conservative faction?
“Isn’t she a conservative Vampire Ninja like you?” I asked Sera.
“She is. I never imagined that ridiculous plan came from within our own faction.”
Leaves swirled around Sera as she clenched her teeth. Her jade eyes turned crimson, and her cloak flared.
“Whoa, are you really planning to fight me, a fellow conservative Vampire Ninja?”
“Things we agree on, we discuss over drinks. Things we don’t, we settle them with swords!”
Sera drew her sword. Her green blade clashed against the girl’s blue one.
What now? Should I step in?
“Secret Art: Swallow Reversal!”
Swords collided, producing a sharp melody. Once, twice, three times. There wasn’t a fourth.
Blood spurted from Sera’s chest. She dropped in a single stroke.
That’s it?
If this girl was strong enough to take down Sera so easily, then maybe this mess made sense.
I stayed hidden behind a pillar, too scared to even peek out.
“You’ve grown stronger, Seraphim. I didn’t think you’d survive even three hits.”
“Don’t you ever question any of this?”
“When did you become the kind of idiot who questions their mission?”
Should I destroy the device first, or take her down?
“Turning people into Vampire Ninjas to protect them. How do you not see the contradiction in that?”
“What I think doesn’t matter. This is the mission I was given.”
There was no time to think. I needed to act.
I reached into my pocket and felt a pencil. The pencil-shaped bomb. If I remembered right… yeah.
“It’s still wrong,” Sera said.
“Sera!”
As soon as I leapt from behind the pillar, the girl hurled her blue sword at me. It was too fast to track. It pierced my neck.
What the fuck? The blade was the color of water.
“Hm? You’re still alive after that? How does that work?” The girl narrowed her eyes.
I pulled the sword free and massaged my neck. “Raining tonkotsu broth, turning humanity into Vampire Ninjas, killing Eu. Why are you people always so disorganized?”
“If you’ve thought that far, then the answer’s obvious. Right now, the Vampire Ninjas don’t have a true leader. No one has the authority to make final decisions.”
The girl flicked her hand. I dodged on instinct, and a bullet-sized hole punched through the wall beside me. Her hand was wet. She must’ve launched a droplet.
“I see. So that’s why you want Eu to resurrect your chief.”
“Ayumu, run! You can’t beat her!”
Like a baseball pitcher, I wound up and hurled the pencil with all my might.
“You really think that’s going to hit?”
The girl tilted her head, and the pencil sailed past her.
“It did hit.” I smirked.
I wasn’t aiming for you. I was aiming behind you.
The girl turned. A deafening blast shook the room. A hole had opened… in the wall.
Damn it! I could’ve sworn I hit it.
I was aiming for the device, but something batted it away before it reached it.
How the hell did she manage that in time? Ugh. Now I just felt stupid for trying to look cool.
“Unfortunate. I’m not letting you destroy that device. I’m taking it.”
In her hand was a ball of water, about the size of a volleyball. She hurled it, and it burst apart midair.
“Have a taste. Flying Sword: Demon Horde’s Insidious Slaughter.”
The water spray scattered like a sprinkler, every drop rushing straight at me. A downpour of blades. I stepped back, only to realize I was against a wall.
Is this the same move as Sera’s?
There was no way to dodge rain. I was screwed. She was going to shred me.
No. Even if I got torn apart, I’d avenge Tomonori. I really should’ve brought the damn chainsaw.
Water blades pierced my shoulder, my thigh. I pushed forward anyway.
“Final incantation confirmed. Adjusting target zone gravity to ten Gs.”
A deep but clear male voice spoke, and every droplet slammed into the floor, me included.
Standing before me was a boy—or rather, a girl—in our school’s skirt, staring ahead with glassy eyes.
Tomonori?
“Oh? Someone’s still awake? You’re a real nuisance.”
We were right. The Vampire Ninjas lying around weren’t dead. They’d just been put to sleep.
Tomonori reached out her right hand, and a strange man appeared in front of her.
His right half was human, a muscular man nearly two meters tall. His left half flickered like flames. That voice from earlier must’ve been his.
The man lunged, leaving a trail of white fire like a contrail, and swung at the girl.
She swung her blue sword, but it passed clean through him with zero resistance. She was sent flying by a tightly clenched right hook.
The flaming man flickered out of sight.
“Lo, the crossroads of life.”
“First incantation confirmed. Spell unlocked.”
Flat, quiet, clear words came from Tomonori’s lips like an incantation. In response, heat-haze shimmered and took on a vaguely human shape.
The girl with the blue sword closed in.
“I shall walk the path of life, you shall walk the path of death.”
“Second incantation confirmed. Shockwave, primed and ready.”
Tomonori was cut from shoulder to side, but she didn’t flinch. The man slipped through her body and drove a fist deep into the girl’s gut.
“Gnash, Masticore.”
“Final incantation confirmed. Firing shockwave forward.”
There was a humming sound, and the outer wall blew apart.
Sera had ducked behind the device for cover, but the girl staggered, then collapsed.
What the hell was that?
Moonlight poured in through the destroyed wall. In an instant, the room had gone from a closed box to an open C-shape. She’d blown out the wall in a single attack.
“Ayumu… Aikawa.” Tomonori’s cold eyes fixed on me.
“Tomonori? What’s going on with you?”
She didn’t answer. She just stood there like a puppet, then slowly turned to face the device that rained pork bone broth.
She raised her left hand to her chest, and another phantom perched on her arm. Sera instantly dove sideways, putting distance between herself and the device.
An object about the size of a baseball—like a wad of tissue set on fire—spiraled through the air toward the device.
The device exploded. No, that wasn’t it. The fireball itself had exploded, white flames engulfing the machine.
“Destruction of target successful. Commencing elimination of remaining hostiles,” rumbled the man standing behind Tomonori, flat and devoid of emotion.
Next, Tomonori turned her arm toward me. The phantom faced me, and in that moment, I knew exactly what was coming. I dove sideways.
The man glided toward me without making a sound. I swung for his face, but my fist cut nothing but air. He wasn’t hot to the touch. I guess he was like smoke or something.
His translucent, bodybuilder-sized right arm slammed into my cheek. It didn’t hurt, but the impact was enough to make me want to yelp in pain. Still, it wasn’t lethal.
I went to counterattack, but froze. I couldn’t help it.
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