As Hajime looked at Kanako with his eyes shining in hope, she holstered the gun she was holding and held a hand towards him.
"I'll put you to rest now," she said. "Strong Acid Bullets."
She cast a spell that released projectiles of powerful acid that could melt through anything.
"What?! GYAAAAAAH! W-why..."
Hajime screamed, but that scream was cut short and he melted away along with the rubble and railway tracks around him.
Kanako watched this happen, erased the irritating odor with a spell and then used her communications device.
"Murakami-sensei, I've disposed of Marionette as we planned. It looks like he failed to capture Isis after all. He was just a creepy guy who was useless right until the very end."
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Tsuchiya Kanako had disposed of the 'Marionette' Inui Hajime. Having received this news from Murakami, Konoe Miyaji, the Death Scythe, smiled.
He might have considered himself to be one of us 'eight' companions, but we planned to dispose of him right from the beginning.
What Inui Hajime had told Isis was largely true. The difference was that Murakami and the others had been ordered by the federal nation to dispose of Marionette during the mission.
When Murakami had first revealed this, Miyaji had felt quite shaken, but he was convinced by Murakami's persuasion.
Hajime had gone too far.
His ability is too dangerous. Despite that, he showed that power off too much. He got what he deserved for making the important people of the federal nation so scared!
Marionette, the ability to manipulate those the user was in contact with, which had evolved so that momentary contact via a weak electrical current was enough to control the target's body. The important people among Hajime's employers had decided that this ability was too dangerous.
And he had been a dangerous person in terms of personality. He often got carried away, couldn't resist his desires and he was hot-tempered as well. He wasn't trustworthy at all.
And now that they had disposed of Marionette, the rest of them could expect to be treated better for having shown loyalty to their employers.
Now all I have to do is kill the huge woman who's gotten carried away in front of me, and collect her corpse.
Miyaji looked at the chest of Valkyrie, who had almost completely exterminated the special forces that were the enemy, with a sharp glint in his eye as he activated his ability.
"With this, the enemy are almost exterminated! Though less than a third of my brave warriors remain... What is it, Death Scythe? Do you want a hug to celebrate our victory or..."
Valkyrie's speech was cut short unnaturally. Clutching her abundant chest as if she was trying to tear the flesh off, she bent over.
This is my victory!
Miyaji's Death Scythe, technically speaking, was not a power that caused instant death in living creatures. It was a power that stopped the target's 'movement.'
However, he needed to concentrate for a long time to stop large movements, and this consumed a large amount of Mana as well. That was why the 'movements' that Miyaji stopped were limited to heartbeats.
Thus, he could kill his target in an instant as long as his condition of knowing the target's face was fulfilled.
Since I told them that it's a power that causes instant death, I just needed to use magic for rescue work in disasters and accidents, and act as a trump card for finishing off terrorists. And I got to act big in front of my allies. Now, I'll get to act big in front of the federal state!
Now, Miyaji just needed to ignore the Zombies who had lost their commander, pick up Valkyrie's corpse and bring her back to where Murakami and the others were.
"It was a pity to kill a woman like you, but it's all for the big payout. Don't think badly of me," he murmured.
Valkyrie was on her knees, facing down, and she had stopped moving in this position. Miyaji leaned over in front of her to pick her up from the shoulders.
At that moment, Valkyrie, who was supposed to be dead, moved her arm.
"Eh... GAH?!"
Miyaji gave a shout as he was flipped onto his back. He couldn't believe what he was seeing; Valkyrie was getting up, holding a stun gun in her hand.
"You're curious as to why I'm alive, aren't you, Death Scythe? But unfortunately, I don't understand why your Death Scythe doesn't work on me either, so I can't explain it to you. I don't know what principle your ability uses to cause instant death in its targets, you see!" Valkyrie said spiritedly, putting the stun gun into an inside pocket of her coat. "But Hitomi's Gazer apparently saw me 'lying on the ground, being looked down at by you,' so I thought that it probably wouldn't work. I can give a guess as to the reason, too. Isn't it because my heart is already completely non-functional?"
Miyaji inhaled sharply upon learning that Valkyrie's heart didn't beat, even without him using Death Scythe to stop it.
Valkyrie saw his reaction and nodded in satisfaction. "My heart was surgically removed while I was an experimental subject. A Mana-powered pump implanted into a different part of my body circulates my blood instead. They said something about wanting to prove that the Mana itself hadn't been erased, even if the properties of its attributes were removed. Well, I don't care about those details, though." She stopped her explanation short and took out a small-caliber firearm from another pocket.
Miyaji let out a muffled scream.
"It's true that we intend to die in the end. And we don't care about what happens after we die. But we don't want to have even our corpses used as guinea pigs. Judging from your look, it doesn't seem like you can use magic, does it? As you know, I can't use magic, either. Sorry, but I'll shoot you with this unreliable small-caliber gun, which might even be able to pierce your skull, until you're dead!" Valkyrie squeezed the trigger numerous times, just as she said she would.
Damn it! How could her heart have been stopped from the beginning; this isn't how it was supposed to be!
Miyaji desperately unleashed his Death Scythe, trying to stop the pump that was maintaining Valkyrie's life. But since he didn't know where it was, he was completely relying on luck.
Fortunately, it seemed that Valkyrie wasn't skilled at shooting. She was aiming for Miyaji's head, grazing his scalp, ears and shoulders, but she hadn't landed a direct hit yet.
But at this rate, eventually –
At that moment, something rolled out from between Valkyrie's legs.
In the next, there was a small explosion, and Miyaji was blinded by a violent light that burned his retinas.
There was a scream. And then, after a few gunshots, there was the sound of something collapsing.
"Don't let your guard down. Your over-reliance on your ability caused more work for me," said Murakami's voice.
Miyaji let out a triumphant cheer in his mind. I'm saved. As expected of Sensei.
But then, he suddenly had a bad feeling.
Why did he use a flashbang? Firing a gun would have been enough to kill Valkyrie while she was separated from her Zombies, and even if there were Zombies nearby, flashbangs are useless against them... Could it be?!
Miyaji was startled as he realized this, but his body was still paralyzed by the stun gun, and he was unable to do anything.
"It doesn't look like it's that much effort, though," Murakami sighed as he fired the assault rifle that he had picked up at Miyaji. A poor former student, he thought. "Disposing of you was part of the plan from the beginning, too. By blinding you with the flashbang I just used, in order to remove the threat of Death Scythe while you were carrying Valkyrie's corpse. It's the same reason as Marionette. There's no way we can let someone with such a dangerous ability as causing instant death by looking at someone's face live, right?"
Throwing aside the empty assault rifle, Murakami Junpei looked not at Konoe Miyaji, who was now riddled with bullet holes, but at the corpse of Valkyrie, who had blood flowing from her head.
"This is Murakami," he said into his communications device. "The rest of the work is up to us seven. Tsuchiya, secure Isis's fragments. If it's impossible, head around towards the others. I'm going to move Valkyrie's corpse. The other five of you, avoid Baba Yaga and Izanami, who has become a monster, and aim for the others. Don't touch Ereshkigal; Pluto is the top priority."
Outside of a few unexpected events, Murakami's plan was generally going as planned. It seemed that the Eighth Guidance had noticed the betrayal of Murakami and his companions, but in the end, they were just a group of individuals each capable of using only a single death-attribute spell each. It seemed that they weren't worthy of being on guard against.
Amemiya Hiroto was too foolish, having his companions killed by these people.
As Murakami thought this, he heard his companions' voices through his communications device.
"Murakami-sensei, Sylphid's been done in by Baba Yaga! I'm running; send someone to back me up!"
"S-sensei, this is Gotouta! There's a member of the Eighth Guidance that we didn't know about! For even my Super Sense to not be able to perceive them, it's like they're a Ghos... HYIH! H-HEEELP –"
"Huh?! Why are you suddenly dying?!" Murakami demanded.
Despite Sylphid having been ordered, "Don't go near Baba Yaga at any costs; it's too dangerous for you in particular," he had been killed by Baba Yaga, and the 'Super Sense' Gotouta was now unresponsive after the scream on the communications device was cut off unnaturally.
The seven companions had become five the moment their real work was about to begin.
What did this mean? Had their luck suddenly turned on them?
"Sensei, I heard on the enemy's communications devices... It seems that the Bravers have reached the ground now. Ah, it seems impossible to retrieve the fragments of Isis's corpse," Kanako reported.
Hearing this, Murakami understood what was happening.
The arrival of Amemiya Hiroto, who wanted to save the Eighth Guidance, as well as Minami Asagi and the others who wanted to capture Murakami and his companions, had changed the flow of events.
Murakami clicked his tongue. "These 'fortunes' and 'destinies' are really troublesome. Those of you who are safe except for Tsuchiya, regroup with the Aegis! The Bravers have the 'Clairvoyance' Tendou! If you're outside of Aegis's area of effect, they'll know where you are! Tsuchiya, move as we planned!"
Murakami felt his words stabbing back into him like a boomerang as he spoke them, and his face twisted in hatred. Deciding that he didn't have time to recover Valkyrie's corpse, he collected a little of her blood that was flowing out, and then he hastily started running.
"Lead the brave warriors and kill everyone except for my comrades... me," Valkyrie whispered hoarsely. Murakami was unaware that she had begun moving, though her breathing had really stopped this time.
Special forces: Almost annihilated.
Eighth Guidance: Izanami, Berserk, Isis, Valkyrie, deceased.
Murakami's group: The 'Marionette' Inui Hajime, the 'Death Scythe' Konoe Miyaji, 'Sylphid,' deceased. The 'Super Sense' Gotouta, status unknown. Five surviving members.
Bravers: Have landed on the ground surface.
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