The Great Yomotsuikusa, which was covered in the blood of its others and its own blood, bared its fangs and roared before charging towards its new prey with its piercing, bloodshot eyes gleaming.

Its Yomotsushikome and Yomotsuikusa brethren were falling without even having the time for their powerful regenerative abilities to kick in, but it didn't care about that.

"It's just a monster that simply obeys its powerful urge to kill. There's nothing left that resembles a human mind," Amemiya Hiroto murmured, releasing ten magical light-attribute attacks simultaneously at the Great Yomotsuikusa facing him.

The Great Yomotsuikusa roared as it ignored the small, firefly-sized spells and charged straight for Hiroto.

It didn't even feel hunger; it had a powerful instinct that desired combat instead. This instinct had told it that it would be meaningless to avoid the attacks.

The Great Yomotsuikusa had no scales or skin, but it possessed an armor of tough muscle fibers and incredible regenerative properties. Even if the surface muscles were injured a little, they would return to normal within seconds.

However, the weak spells that should have been repelled by the Great Yomotsuikusa's body surface instead pierced through its armor of muscle fibers.

It let out a groan of pain as its muscle fibers and bones were pierced through as if they were made of tofu. They immediately began regenerating, but the damage was enough to cause it to lose its balance and tumble towards the ground.

And then countless sharp metal spikes extended from the ground that it fell onto, easily piercing the Great Yomotsuikusa's flesh.

"It seems that you don't have any vital organs, so I'm sorry, but I've filled your entire body with holes. I'll pray that you don't have a sense of pain," Hiroto told the Great Yomotsuikusa, which was now a writhing pile of mincemeat, as he undid his ability.

"Unrivalled as always, aren't you?" said the 'Avalon' Rikudou Hijiri,

"It's just difficult to use," Hiroto said, referring to his own ability.

In addition to his affinity for all seven attributes, Amemiya Hiroto also possessed seven special abilities. Chant Revocation and Multi-Cast were the easier-to-use abilities among them, but the Ignore Defense ability that he had just used on the Great Yomotsuikusa was difficult to use.

It was a simple, powerful ability that rendered all defenses useless against Hiroto's attacks, but because it was simple, one wrong step would cause disaster.

For example, if he fired a rifle while using Ignore Defense, no matter what the target tried to use as a shield, the bullets would pierce through and find their mark. But the bullets wouldn't stop there; they would keep going, piercing the people and buildings behind the target, until they came to a stop naturally.

If he were to use it along with a spell like Exploding Flame Projectile, he would cause an amount of damage that could only be described as a catastrophe. Everything within the explosion's radius, whether it be reinforced concrete or the ground itself, would fall apart like Styrofoam.

If he was careless in using this, Hiroto himself wouldn't escape unscathed, either.

It wasn't as convenient as attacks in video games that ignored only the enemy's defense.

And since it only ignored defense, this ability had the weakness of not functioning if the enemy fired an offensive spell back as their defense.

"Don't be so modest, Braver. Let's go and avenge everyone," said Hijiri.

'Braver' was Hiroto's codename that had stopped being used after the foundation of the Bravers organization. A wrinkle appeared between Hiroto's brows, though not because his companion had used his codename.

"Avenge, huh..."

"Hiroto, don't tell me you still think we should capture them! Those bastards killed Tendou!"

When his head was cut off by Ghost, Tendou had transferred all of the information he had seen through Clairvoyance to his comrades through the Angel telepathy ability during the few seconds he had before his death. His death greatly shocked all of them.

And then that shock had turned into frustration and anger inside many of the reincarnated individuals. The same had happened when the 'Noah' Mao was killed, but they had realized that the Eighth Guidance were not 'victims,' but 'assailants,' just like Murakami's group.

Even Hijiri said that.

"Hiroto, I think we can't, and shouldn't, hold back against them," said Narumi, agreeing with him. "We've thought of the Eighth Guidance not as a group of religious terrorists, but as ideological ones. Pluto and her companions won't even hesitate to blow themselves up if it's for the sake of killing us. No, it's like they're aiming at us because they want to blow themselves up. It's too dangerous to think of capturing them."

What Narumi had seen from the Eighth Guidance until yesterday were calculated, ideological crimes. After securing a certain number of supporters by saving the lives of seriously ill individuals, they had continued carrying out their crimes while making sure that nobody got directly caught up in them other than their targets.

There were even fans that worshipped Pluto as a goddess.

However, after attacking Mao, the Eighth Guidance's actions had been reckless. It could only be assumed that they were intentionally sacrificing themselves.

It could be interpreted as them being desperate because their base's location had been discovered and they had been betrayed by Murakami's group, but...

"I can only imagine that the person from the Eighth Guidance who killed Tendou-kun didn't care that he would die afterwards, as long as he succeeded in killing Tendou-kun. If we show them any weakness, they'll take us down with them. Think of it like that," Narumi said.

"Alright. I'll treat them as any other terrorists from now on," Hiroto said.

"That's right, Hiroto. It's just as Narumi said, so it's fine that way," said Minami Asagi's voice through the Angel network. "You guys keep going and head for Pluto ahead of us. We'll catch up with you after we secure Baba Yaga, who's apparently just ahead of us."

"You guys shouldn't let your guard down, either," Hiroto said.

The reason Hiroto's expression was constantly clouded was because the 'Oracle' Endou Kouya had said that this plan would "cause the least number of casualties, both among our enemies and our allies."

However, both the enemy and Hiroto's own allies had suffered so many casualties that he found this impossible to believe now.

Was the Oracle wrong? Or did Kouya lie to me? Is that possible? If it is, then why?

----------------------------------------------

"Ah, the biggest Yomotsuikusa has been killed," said Enma, the boy with the ability of knowing people's names and faces the moment they died.

"Then I suppose it's time for me to get going," said the woman named Ereshkigal as she stood up, as if Enma's words were a signal.

With her stolen military uniform, the hand grenades and assault rifle she was equipped with and the cloth covering her mouth, she looked like an ordinary female terrorist, unlike the strange appearance of the Eighth Guidance's other members.

"I'll do my best to take as many as them with me as I can, but don't expect too much," she said.

"Isn't this the part where you're supposed to put on a strong front and say you'll slaughter them all?"

"Are you trying to pressure me to death?" Ereshkigal said with a bitter smile, and then she left the room.

There were only a few Yomotsushikome lurking around between her and Amemiya Hiroto'sgroup; there weren't many obstacles in her way.

In a few minutes, the enemy would make contact with Ereshkigal, kill her within perhaps a minute at most, and then enter this room.

"Well then, I'm counting on you, Enma," said Pluto.

"I'm kind of reluctant about this," Enma said.

He stood up, curled his bony fingers into a fist and approached Pluto.

"I'll say this beforehand. I'm sorry, okay?" Pluto said.

"Even if it's part of the plan, that's not what someone who's about to be punched is supposed to say, Pluto."

--------------------------------------------------

Minami Asagi's group, who were proceeding along the rusty railway tracks, were now several dozen meters from where Baba Yaga was hiding. At that moment, there was an explosion and their surroundings were filled with red flames.

"It's Baba Yaga!"

"Leave it to me!" shouted Akaki. Due to her Ifrit ability, the flames gathered to form spheres in her hands.

Among the Eighth Guidance's members, Baba Yaga was the only one whose abilities were clearly known.

She had what was known as an 'igniting' ability; she caused spontaneous human combustion in those she touched, and she could even burn organic matter, including corpses, from distances of up to a hundred meters away.

Baba Yaga had used that ability to fulfil her role as the Eighth Guidance's only combat personnel.

That was why Asagi's group had thought that they would be able to deal with her as long as they knew where she was hiding.

"There she is!"

"I'll stop her movements!"

In fact, Asagi's group had noticed Baba Yaga's hiding spot immediately; Iwao used his Titan's gravity manipulation to strengthen gravity around her, just enough so that the passageway didn't collapse.

"Shit! They brought Ifrit here?!" Baba Yaga cursed.

Having decided that it was impossible to escape now that her body weighed several times more than usual, even though her special ability had been sealed off, she had no choice but to leave her hiding spot.

However, she had been trying to jump out with all of her strength, but the Titan's gravity caused her to simply collapse dully onto the ground, so her body suit was pierced by the bullets of the waiting Asagi and his companions.

Baba Yaga gasped as she rolled on top of the railway tracks, covered in blood. Asagi and his companions went to shower her in even more bullets.

"Wait! Alright, I surrender! I surrender, so don't shoot!" she shouted before the bullets came, spitting blood from her mouth.

"What?!"

Asagi's group had changed their view of the Eighth Guidance from ideological criminals to fanatics, so they were discomposed because they hadn't expected Baba Yaga to surrender.

"W-what do we do?"

"What do we do... we have no choice but to take her captive," Asagi spat.

The Bravers were an organization recognized by other international organizations, and in the present day, the flow of information wasn't limited like it might have been in the Middle Ages.

It was difficult to imagine that Baba Yaga was really surrendering, but with that said, they couldn't simply ignore her words and finish her off.

It was possible that hidden cameras were recording this scene and footage of "Bravers making an independent decision to execute a criminal who has surrendered" would leak onto the internet.

And excuses could be made if it were other terrorists in question, and the public would eventually agree. However, the terrorists in question were those of the Eighth Guidance.

No matter how badly each nation's press secretary and mass media portrayed them, the only ones they actually wanted to kill were those in organizations conducting research into the death attribute, so their victims were limited.

In addition, there were numerous people in every nation, both the rich and the poor, who insisted that their lives had been saved by the Eighth Guidance's leader, Pluto.

And the Bravers had their enemies as well. There were plenty of influential people who wanted to make use of the Bravers' abilities, but would be troubled if they were to go too far.

Even Asagi, who was poorly informed when it came to political matters, knew that it would be troublesome if these two different groups of people were to join forces.

"Iwao, undo your Titan. She'll bleed to death at this rate," Asagi said.

"B-but..."

"I'll use Mage Masher to capture her. Everyone else, back me up. Is that alright with you, Hiroto?"

"Thanks. But be careful," said Hiroto's voice.

Activating the Mage Masher ability that nullified all attributes, Asagi approached Baba Yaga.

Baba Yaga gave a small laugh as she looked up at him. She was drenched in her own red blood that had poured out of her body. Her head was undamaged, but her limbs and torso had been hit by the bullets.

It looked like there wasn't even a ten percent chance of saving her, even if she were to be brought to a hospital with top-of-the-line equipment right this moment.

But Asagi first checked whether Baba Yaga was concealing any weapons, not showing her any sympathy.

"What is this... you pervert..." she groaned.

"I'm doing a body check. It'd be bad if you were holding a bomb, after all."

Once Asagi confirmed that there were no weapons, he set about administering first aid. He made Baba Yaga hold a life-support Magic Item, and put a needle in her thigh, injecting a medicine that would increase the effects of healing magic.

But it was all ineffective; it was as fruitless as trying to pour water into a bucket with a hole in the bottom.

"Asagi-kun, should I head over there?" asked Narumi, who was proficient in healing magic.

"Should I take her somewhere with space-attribute magic?" asked the voice of another Braver through Angel, who was proficient in space-attribute magic.

Asagi shook his head. "I'll secure this one. Narumi, you support Hiroto and the others, and the backup team, make sure you concentrate on looking at the surroundings. There might be more like that knife guy who killed Tendou."

"Knife guy? Ah, you mean Ghost –" Baba Yaga stopped speaking and let out a dull scream at the intense pain she felt.

"Stay quiet; I'm going to touch your wounds now," Asagi said, but it was obvious that he had deliberately caused her pain to shut her up. "Akaki, you guys go on ahead and meet up withHiroto's group. There are no more Zombies or monsters, and it seems that Venus isn't moving, so I'll be fine on my own."

"Whether at the front or the back, I think acting on your own is dangerous, but... we have no choice, huh," Akaki said.

"Leave me behind. That Ghost guy? If there's more like him around, you're in danger as well, right?"

Akaki sighed as she walked away, but the 'Titan' Iwao tried to stay behind.

"I'm fine," Asagi said, shaking his head. "My Mage Masher erases death-attribute magic as well. Relax."

"Alright. I'm not sure whether I'm supposed to be an optimistic person or a worrisome one," Iwao said as he shrugged and left.

Once he was sure that his companions were out of earshot, Asagi consciously created a wall between himself and Angel.

Tsuchiya wasn't the only one who had received training to prevent thoughts that she didn't want to share from leaking into the Angel network.

"Oi, I have a question," he said to Baba Yaga.

"... What is it?"

Surprisingly, it seemed that Baba Yaga intended to reply honestly. Asagi did find it a little suspicious, but he asked her the question that had been on his mind for a long time.

"How can you guys do something like this?"

"Huh? That's because those important researchers messed around with our bodies and used the Mana from the Undead to –"

"No, not that. I understand why you hate us. But still, how can you go so far as to sacrifice your companions and yourselves... no, fight as if you intended to sacrifice yourselves from the beginning?!"

Baba Yaga looked up into Asagi's eyes and saw that they were filled with great bewilderment, as well as frustration and anger at his unfathomable enemy.

"I know that you guys helped sick and injured people all over the place! And until now, you've only killed us, death-attribute researchers and those involved with them! Not only that; you spared a lot of guards as well, didn't you? They were guys who begged for their lives, saying that their fiancés were pregnant, and guys with photographs of their families in lockets around their necks!"

"... You've investigated pretty thoroughly, haven't you? They were just hired guards, so it's fine if we spared them, right? It's my choice whether to get swept away by my emotions or not. Or would it have been better if I'd killed them?" Baba Yaga said.

"That's not why I'm saying. I'm asking how you can do things like this, when you clearly have emotions that you can get swept away by!" Asagi shouted, spit flying from his mouth.

Baba Yaga could see his lips trembling.

"Don't make me laugh when my body's full of holes," she said. "It's because we have emotions that we can do things like this. If we didn't have emotions, we wouldn't be able to take the guys we hate more than anyone else in the world with us before going back to hell, would we?"

"That's what I'm talking about; why does it have to be that way?!" Asagi's irritation had grown to the point that it looked as if he were on the verge of ending this conversation.

Baba Yaga asked him a question in turn. "Could it be that you're the type who thinks that good things will definitely happen as long as you keep on living?"

"Are you trying to say that that's wrong?" Asagi said.

"No, it isn't wrong. Even we've had countless good things happen to us after we escaped from the laboratory."

Asagi fell into silence at this unexpected answer.

Baba Yaga smiled at his pale face as she continued. "The bread I had for breakfast was delicious; the wind felt nice; the alcohol we had after one of our jobs was good; and Pluto turned into a drunkard after a single mouthful, so I laughed so hard I was holding my stomach. A month ago, I finally beat Enma at cards; I tried talking to Hitomi and found that she was a nicer person than I'd thought; I laughed hard at the comics that I picked up at one of the research facilities we attacked; the onigiri that we had in the end contained my favorite, salmon... See, if I just think back a little, there are so many good things that happened."

All of them were small things. Almost too small to be called memories. However, there was no mistake that all of them were pleasant things.

"So then –" Asagi began.

"So then, we should have hidden quietly and lived in peace without becoming terrorists... without taking revenge? Is that what you want to say? But you know, we have no future ahead of us. If we'd tried to live long lives, relying on the small good things that happened to us, the only things waiting for us would have been pain and despair that would erase everything else. I mean, after we escaped from the research laboratory on our own, the whole world started looking for us with crazed, bloodshot eyes, didn't they?"

Asagi was startled. For the first time, he'd noticed that there was a deep emptiness in Baba Yaga's eyes.

She and the other members of the Eighth Guidance all possessed death-attribute Mana. The death-attribute Mana that the entire world desired right now.

Magic Items that had circulated in large volumes around the world until about ten years ago. Things ranging from hair regrowth treatments, omnipotent medicines that could cure previously untreatable diseases,