With the paste-like mixture of blood and what was once its brain pouring out of the hole where its face was, Izanami collapsed.
A deep growl filled the air.
Izanami's body stood up with a creaking noise, rising as an enormous Yomotsuikusa.
With its beast-like roar filling the subway tunnels, the enormous Yomotsuikusa charged at the special forces soldiers that were still resisting, desiring more prey.
-------------------------------------------
A beast was roaring in other passageways as well.
"Lee! Get a hold of yourself, Lee!"
But the beast was Sergeant Lee Jian of the special forces squad sent by an Asian nation, who had been fighting against a member of the Eighth Guidance until just a moment ago.
That member of the Eighth Guidance was a large, fat man wearing the fur of a bear, but he was a fearsome fighter who possessed both the agility of a carnivorous, feline beast and the superhuman strength of a bear.
If he was allowed to close the distance, he would take the limbs, head or organs of the enemy with a single blow.
Normally, he would not be allowed to get close, but the special forces soldiers couldn't prevent him from closing in due to the traitor Bravers, the 'Hecatoncheir' Doug Atlas and the 'Aegis' Melissa J. Sautome, who were supporting the enemy from behind.
And so, ten of the thirty soldiers of the special forces squad had fallen and finally defeated the beast, but for some reason, Sergeant Lee, who had dealt the fatal blow, had begun killing his companions as a new beast.
"GUOH!"
"Lee, it's me, it's Chen! GYAH!"
Lee, who had been a specialist in close-quarters combat with his knife, was using that skill to its fullest as a beast. He cut the throat of the comrade who was sorrowfully calling his name.
"That's no longer Sergeant Lee! Exterminate him along with the enemy!"
Though it was already too late, the soldiers saw this, changed their way of thinking and began a full-blown attack on Sergeant Lee.
Bullets and spells cast with their incantations shortened by portable magical mediums flooded in towards Sergeant Lee.
"Don't let up on your attacks! Think of the enemy as a monster that will continue moving until you completely destroy its arms and legs!" a soldier shouted.
But this also meant that the enemy was a monster that could be stopped if its arms and legs were completely destroyed... if its entire body was turned into mincemeat. The surviving special forces soldiers had the skill and equipment to make that happen.
However, this was only true if their attacks landed.
Sergeant Lee roared, and a white, fog-like shield appeared in front of him, deflecting all of the bullets and spells. Seeing this, the soldiers' faces turned pale.
"That damn Aegis! What are Park and Xiaolee doing?!" shouted the man who appeared to be the commanding officer.
The response to this question came from one of the two people behind Sergeant Lee, a man with an afro. "Do you mean these two that I just crushed with my bare hands?" he said, pointing at a corpse that had become compacted and thin with all of its bones crushed, as if it had been gripped by a giant, and another whose head had been pulverized.
Nobody responded to him.
"They won't hear you if you speak with your normal voice, will they, Atlas?"
"Oi, don't call me Atorasu!*"
TLN*: Here, there are four kanji that are pronounced, "Atorasu" – a Japanese name.
"Ah, yes, yes. Doug, I just have to call you Doug, right? ... Ah, how bothersome."
"Melissa, how can you speak like that when I'm protecting – whoops!"
Behind Melissa, a half-white, half-Asian woman, the harsh sound of bullets being deflected echoed out.
"One more rat!"
The terrible sound of bones being broken and flesh being crushed came from thin air, and then a mass of mincemeat the size of a soldier, covered in an active camouflage robe, appeared there.
"Thank you for your hard work."
"Wow, that's such an unsexy way to say thanks."
"I have my hands full with looking after that beast... Berserk."
The woman's name was Melissa J. Sautome. She was a reincarnated individual with the ability to conjure an 'Aegis,' a shield of ultimate defense. Her Aegis was capable of blocking any physical or magical attacks. However, she could only conjure it around herself or somewhere a short distance away from her, not both at once.
When she conjured the Aegis as she had done earlier to protect the beast... Berserk of the Eighth Guidance, she herself became defenseless.
It was the 'Hecatoncheir,' Doug Atlas, that covered her. This was the role of the man who had been named Shirai Atorasu by his parents on Earth, as they had wanted him to become a man who supported the world.
He possessed three abilities – a powerful 'Telekinesis,' 'Omnidirectional Perception' and 'Force Vision,' an ability that allowed him to switch between infrared, ultraviolet and Mana-detecting vision. He had been given the codename 'Hecatoncheir,' named after the giants that possessed a hundred hands and numerous heads.
Now, he was making mincemeat out of the men who were using active camouflage to try and dispose of Melissa before Berserk, one by one.
"Still, that Berserk guy is enjoying himself on his rampage, isn't he? That failure, isn't he getting carried away?" said Doug.
"There's no such thing as getting carried away when you have the intelligence of a beast, is there?" said Melissa.
As the two of them watched from behind while Berserk killed the soldiers one after another, they heard contact from Murakami.
"Izanami is dead. It's about time."
"Okay," Melissa replied briefly, undoing Aegis from Berserk, who had finished killing the last soldier.
"See you, bear," said Doug, unleashing his telekinesis.
But Berserk leapt sideways, avoiding what was supposed to be a surprise attack of betrayal, an invisible telekinetic one at that.
And then it roared as it demonstrated surprising physical capabilities, gaining speed by launching itself off the walls and leaping at Doug and Melissa.
"It's been a while since that's been avoided. But –"
The knife attack, swung with the strength of a beast and the technique of a human, was deflected by Melissa's broad Aegis.
Berserk roared again in anger.
"And Hecatoncheir's codename isn't just for show," Melissa murmured.
Not letting the momentary opening slip past him, Doug gripped and crushed Berserk's entire body with careful use of his telekinesis.
"Alright, we're done... or not? What a tenacious bear," Doug muttered.
The bear fur, which had been torn to pieces, detached itself from the mincemeat that had once been Sergeant Lee's body. And then it began crawling towards a relatively intact corpse.
This bear fur was Berserk's real body.
It was a byproduct of the numerous animal experiments that had been conducted in order to acquire death-attribute magic. It infested corpses and living humans, adding a beast's power to their battle techniques.
The infested human, if still alive, had a part of their brain destroyed instantly, and they turned into a rampaging berserker as their body's nutrients were absorbed by Berserk.
It had been named 'Berserk' after the berserkers of Norse mythology, and research had been conducted to determine whether it could be used as a biological weapon, but it had been branded as a failed product.
It had been produced by accident, so it was impossible to create new Berserks, and because the only Berserk in existence was a parasitic organism living only inside a fur, it was impossible to reconstruct its brain in order to control it.
They could let it go on indiscriminate rampages in urban areas, but it would be weak in the face of squads of trained soldiers. That was what had been thought.
Soldiers possessed firearms, weapons that would destroy the human bodies taken over by Berserk, and more importantly, unlike the soldiers of Earth, they had command over magic.
Even if Berserk switched infestation targets from one human to the next, it would quickly be seen that the fur was the main body, and be burned by fire or light-attribute magic, or frozen and trapped inside ice conjured by water-attribute magic.
It was better to put large budgets, effort and time into other research than try to find an effective use for Berserk. That was the decision that had been made.
The reason Berserk had been able to defeat special forces soldiers, who had received far more advanced training than average soldiers, was because it obediently followed the instructions of other Eighth Guidance members for some reason, and because of the protection of the Aegis.
"But this is the end. I'll take a piece of that fur, though." Doug tore apart Berserk's glossy fur until it stopped moving.
-----------------------------------------------------
Why were these men, who were equipped with state-of-the-art equipment and first-rate when it came to magic, unarmed fighting and using firearms, being cornered so one-sidedly? They had thoroughly planned their operation to counter the Eighth Guidance's crimes.
So, why?
There were three main reasons. First, the Eighth Guidance had kept Isis and Valkyrie's brave Zombie warriors, Izanami's monsters and Berserk a complete secret up until now. Thus, nobody had information about these, so there had been no way to come up with countermeasures for them.
Next, the objective of the special forces had been to capture the members of the Eighth Guidance, dead or alive, and take them back to their nations.
Since there was no need to make the effort of capturing them alive, every special forces squad had been aiming to kill them and acquire the Eighth Guidance's corpses, but it still meant that they were unable to use attacks that wouldn't leave corpses behind or put the bodies in a state that it would take too long to retrieve them.
And the base that the Eighth Guidance had chosen was a ruined subway system. The special forces were hesitant to use attacks that might cause the narrow passageways to collapse. If they managed to kill the members of the Eighth Guidance but took too long to retrieve the corpses, it was highly likely that the other special forces squads would obstruct them or the Bravers would intervene.
There were some squads that had collapsed the passageways deliberately, having given up on retrieving Valkyrie, Izanami and Berserk and prioritized the capture of Pluto and the others instead, but they were obstructed by the final reason.
It was the fortunes possessed by Murakami and the other former Bravers.
Pluto and her companions didn't know that the Bravers and the Undead had been reincarnated from another world. Murakami and his followers hadn't given them that much information.
However, the Eighth Guidance had noticed while targeting the Bravers that they had unusually good luck.
Bullets missed their vital areas and they gained information on terrorist organizations through coincidence. They survived in incredibly lucky ways, like protagonists of comics and dramas, and were helped by all kinds of coincidences as they achieved their objectives.
Was it really just good luck?
"At first, I thought what Pluto said was impossible, but it seems I was wrong," said Isis, the beautiful black woman with dreadlocks, speaking to the 'Marionette' Inui Hajime, who was standing right in front of her.
"Really? Isn't it just a coincidence?" Hajime asked, speaking in a sticky tone.
"No," said Isis. "The moment we joined forces with you people, everything started to go well. We managed to dispose of the Calculation and Inspection that were getting in the way of our plans, and even the Oracle. We managed to dispose of Noah, delaying the arrival of the other Bravers. Even now, the special forces of every nation are being overwhelmed by Izanami, Valkyrie and Berserk, none of whom have experience in real battles. It's all because of you people."
The Eighth Guidance had welcomed Murakami and the others into their ranks not only to make the Bravers begin killing each other, but also to make use of their fortunes and destinies.
The reincarnated individuals were protected by the fortunes and destinies given to them by Rodcorte. That was why they could 'luckily' survive and act as they had been acting.
However, when the reincarnated individuals fought each other, those fortunes and destinies did not function well. Pluto hadn't known this, but noticing that Kaitou Kanata had been caught in Shihouin Mari's trap, somehow managed to narrowly escape and then died three days later, she had deduced that this might be the case.
And she had been right.
"That's why we're thankful to you people. I got to give Berserk some good exercise in the end, too. And Jack in particular. Thanks to you, he had a reason to go together with Hitomi." Isis cut her words off there.
Hajime gave a broad smirk. "... Aren't you going to ask why? Why we betrayed you?" he asked Isis, who couldn't move a single finger due to Marionette's ability. But although he asked this question, he continued speaking, as if not interested in an answer. "Well, it seems that you'd predicted that we would betray you, right from the beginning. Indeed, from the moment we joined Murakami-sensei and left that group of good kids, the Bravers, we planned to betray you. To be more precise, we'd become reemployed at the intelligence agency of a federal state. Joining you was part of our work for that agency."
Hajime spoke proudly, smiling. He was like the foolish villain in a comic book, but he had only one opponent, Isis. All of the Undead were with Valkyrie, Berserk had been released somewhere else, and Isis was a woman who couldn't use guns or magic of any attribute.
And because Marionette already had control of her body from the neck down, she couldn't move a single finger.
Hajime's Marionette ability allowed him to take over and control the nerves of anyone he touched. However, direct skin-to-skin contact wasn't necessary.
By 'connecting' himself to his target with a weak electrical current produced by wind-attribute magic for just a moment, the requirements were met.
I've been working on this dirty infiltration mission for over a year, so it's alright for me to enjoy some benefits on the side, isn't it?
Tormenting someone who couldn't resist was an irresistible pleasure. Even more so when that person was a good woman.
But even after having control over her body taken from her and hearing Hajime's confession, the calm smile didn't disappear from Isis's face.
"Composed, aren't you? ... I'll let you in on something good," Hajime continued. "Murakami-sensei and the others are going to retrieve your corpses. They're not going to capture you alive; other than you, it's difficult to capture you guys alive. What about the ones that have already died? Izanami has probably turned his corpse into a monster, and Shade had no body to begin with. Jack might have helped you guys escape, so it was better to have him die first."
Everything was in the palm of their hands. Hajime seemed elated as he spoke, but there was no change to Isis's smile.
Feeling irritated by that, Hajime began ridiculing her companions in an even louder voice.
"What about Gazer? It's fine, she was never one of our allies anyway. We just kidnapped her under Murakami-sensei's orders so that she could be used on this mission; she was just a disposable tool. But I didn't think that she'd get along so well with you guys. She got so close to that creepy pumpkin-head, she did quite well for herself, didn't she, that slut!" Hajime spat.
Finally, Isis frowned. "Could you keep your voice down a little? Your voice is glossy and unpleasant to listen to."
"I don't care about that, you shitty woman! Stop pretending to be calm!" Hajime was enraged by the fact that he was getting a completely different reaction from the one he desired. "Do you understand the position you're in?! If I wanted to, I could make you strip and behave like a dog! By being captured alive by me, you've become a guinea pig again! If you don't like that, how about you try crying and sucking up to me?!" he shouted.
Isis's frowned turned back into a smile as she spoke in a tone that sounded as if she was pitying Hajime. "You can't do anything without threatening a woman whose body you've taken control over. Maybe you haven't even held a girl's hand before?"
Hajime could almost hear the blood draining from his face. "Enough, shut up."
Having snapped, he extended Marionette's effects to Isis's brain. With that, she was no different from a wooden puppet, and he couldn't enjoy her reactions, but she was no longer something for him to enjoy.
"Hmph, with the money I get from selling you to the federal state, I'll find a better woman... how can you still be smiling?!"
When Hajime controlled someone's brain, he controlled their expression and even their eyeballs. However, Isis continued smiling, against Hajime's will.
Impossible, Hajime thought in surprise.
Isis's smile grew wider. "Your Marionette is an ability that takes over a person's nerves, isn't it? Then it's simple. Medically speaking, I've undergone brain death. The researchers kept me alive in that state, and then the Undead made me so that I am able to control my body directly with my soul."
It was a miracle performed by the Undead, Vandalieu, for a reason as simple as, "It's troublesome if you don't move on your own."
"Brain death?! Impossible, no human can be alive when their brain isn't functioning...!"
"Before you act surprised, you should think about this first. What is inside my skull instead of a brain that doesn't function? I wonder what it is that Izanami gave me?" Isis said.
"Eh?" Hajime gave a scream and tried to turn his body aside.
Isis gazed at his back and pressed the switch implanted inside her mouth. "I'm truly grateful to you. That's why I'll take you along with me. You're so fortunate that you are able to die with a good woman like me," she said.
---------------------------------------------------
A thunderous explosion sent Inui Hajime flying, and he fell onto the railway tracks of the subway system, along with a broken fragment of the operating room's door. He bounced multiple times as he rolled across the tracks.
Hajime gasped in pain. He was barely alive. Perhaps because the bomb implanted inside Isis's skull was weak, or perhaps because he had managed to put a little distance between them, he had just managed to use the door as a shield.
And thanks to the portable staff... the miniature, internalized magical medium that he was equipped with, he had been able to shorten the incantation for a basic defensive spell, managing to cast it in time.
Thanks to all of these, Hajime had managed to 'luckily' survive.
However, at this rate, he would die in less than ten minutes. With the pain he felt all over his body and the blood drenching his clothes, he couldn't help but be aware of that. "Help...?!"
As Hajime tried to crawl in search of help, he saw a woman holding a gun. For a moment, he held his breath, and then he exhaled in relief when he saw that it was an ally.
"Kana... ko... help..."
Tsuchiya Kanako. Unlike Hajime, who
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