Volume 2 – The World Sneered
Ox got blown away.
Mary jumped after growing bones from her heels, and went ahead faster than him before smashing him into the rock again.
His giant body got blown away again.
Mary hit him again.
He was hit over and over again like a pinball and kept flying around.
“Hnggh!”
His legs and arms broke and bent into impossible angles.
“Hnggg!”
His internal organs got crushed and his guts spilled out of his torn skin.
“Gugggh!”
His eyes lost their shape and swelled up as blood gushed out of them.
“Now it’s time!”
For the finishing blow, Mary hammered a big hit into the crown of his head with a wide swing.
Ox broke a few trees and finally crashed into a thick trunk, sinking into it and coming to a halt.
Bubbling blood mixed with saliva came out of his mouth.
“Not, not yeeet, my love…… my love fills my body uuuup!”
“If you call that love, let me show you what real love for my sister looks like!”
Mary was not going to quietly wait for him to recover.
She was waiting on her bone bike ready with two gatling guns on the sides, one on the body, and four on the back.
She went full throttle and charged towards Ox at full speed, who only just stood up.
She used a boulder on the way to fly up and crashed head on into Ox’s abdomen.
“Oh…… Ooooh! Bgggoooh!”
He tried to stop her with both arms, but he could not kill her momentum.
“Just let it end already! Along with your inconvenient delusions!”
His abdomen got crushed by the revolving tire and a massive number of bullets hit him from zero distance.
Even his muscles were not enough to stop the bullets from this distance.
Red meat scattered around and dirtied the forest.
“Lady Francis…… Please, give me strength……!”
“Don’t you get it already? My sister would never protect someone like you!”
Mary shouted and jumped down from her bike.
The vehicle continued moving forward to keep pushing Ox and then started to transform.
It twisted, sharpened, and turned into a big stake.
Mary distanced herself a little, then transformed her own right arm into a giant bone arm.
She clenched her fist and fiercely kicked the ground.
“Myriad of Corpses Burial Fiiiist!”
Her target was the ‘stake’, of course.
“Oooh, Lady Fraaanciiis!”
Ox shouted in vain as his body got pierced by the bones.
He got crucified on the tree and struggled a little, but he gradually ran out of strength.
He had finally used up all his mana.
His body also started returning to its original size.
“I-It…… it shouldn’t…… have been…… like this!……”
So much blood was discharged out of him that it was ‘wondrous’ he was still alive.
His wounds were still wriggling, trying to heal.
“You understand now, yes? Your love is nothing but self-satisfaction.”
“Uuh…… Uuuuh…… Lies…… Liees…… I don’t want to admit iiit……!”
“You’re a bad loser.”
Mary was tired of his delusions now.
She created a scythe with her own bones, swung down, and split Ox in two along with the tree behind him.
Two red lumps of flesh dropped to the ground.
They started pounding and fleeing from Mary, as if running from reality.
“You can still move……? I can’t say you’re still alive as General Ox, though.”
Ox’s mind was no longer there.
But it was still uncomfortable to see him move.
Mary stepped ahead to finish him off, but stopped when she felt someone’s presence.
“Who are you!?”
She cautiously readied her scythe.
She could not notice the presence until the last moment.
A red face slowly emerged from the darkness.
Its height was a little shorter than Ox’s. Around 2 meters 50 centimeters.
It had no eyes.
Its nose and mouth only remained as shapes.
Not just its face, but its entire body was red.
Its hair, ears, body, it all looked like it was formed from a red bundle of entrails.
Mary instinctively backed off.
“Wha!?…… An angel!?”
It was not a
mix
like Ox.
World
’s vanguard, who had transformed into a perfect monster, was standing there.
(I’m a little tired, but I can still fight. But maybe I should go back to the village and ask for help rather than fight alone……)
She checked its Sorcery Rating first.
The number was 1245.
It was surprisingly low for an angel.
This only made things stranger.
Disguised ratings had been nothing more than an idea so far.
Strangely however, Mary sensed no hostility from the angel standing in front of her.
The angel crouched down, and grabbed the ruin of what Ox once was.
(What is it doing?)
As Mary watched with suspicion, the angel crushed Ox’s remains.
Then, it smashed the remains into a tree nearby.
Over and over again, with a persistence that emanated hatred.
Then, it threw the pieces of meat to Mary.
“Uh…… Why did you……”
There was no answer to her question.
The angel glared at Ox’s body for a while, then slowly moved its gaze and looked at its own hands stained with blood.
It moved in a calm manner, unlike a monster.
Then, it looked at Mary with its eyeless face.
Its gaze changed as if it was a human being with emotions.
This abnormality made Mary feel more nervous.
Her hands holding the scythe started to sweat.
Then, the angel opened its mouth, rather, a mouth-like organ.
“Maa, ry, chhg!”
It said Mary’s name, then its throat burst open.
Some of the blood that spurted out hit Mary, and she wiped her face with her hand while frowning.
“Guh, gah, aagh……”
The angel writhed in pain for a while, but its throat gradually restored itself.
Then, it spoke again.
“Aaah, Maa, ry…… Mhm, this, was, allowed.”
“You’re…… trying to talk to me……?”
“I sneaked, out, for a while. I was sad. I’m, sorry. For, crushing Ox. I could not, forgive him.”
“What couldn’t you forgive……?”
The tall angel tried to raise its shaking arms.
But its arms suddenly broke and it lost strength.
It looked down, shook its head, and spoke apologetically.
“I’m, sorry.”
“Don’t just apologize. What did you come here for!?”
The angel took a step forward.
Mary backed off.
The angel closed in further.
Mary backed off the same number of steps, but the distance between them quickly closed due to the difference in their strides.
The angel reached out to Mary’s cheek.
“Uh……”
Blood, not that of Ox, but the lukewarm blood shed from the angel, stuck to Mary’s cheek.
“You, really, resemble-”
Its throat exploded again.
“Ah, uh.”
It tilted its head in pain.
(Is something stopping it from talking……?)
Seemingly, this was not happening by the angel’s own accord.
“I’m, sorry. I can’t, tell, you, much.”
“……You’re not my enemy, are you?”
The angel slowly nodded.
But it could not reveal its identity.
(It has to hide itself. In other words, this is someone I know.)
Further, considering this persistent obstruction, it was probably someone Mary could guess if she just had a small hint.
A stern expression appeared on the angel’s face and it started speaking with sorrow.
“I, couldn’t, stop, it.”
“Are you talking about
World
?”
Its red face swayed up and down.
In other words, this angel was an embodiment of the will of someone connected with
World
.
Perhaps it emerged in this forest because of some kind of ‘trigger’ that happened during Mary’s fight with Ox.
“Since two years, ago. Always. I, lost, myself. Those, kids, too. Everyone, was, broken.”
“Those kids……?”
“Please, forgive. Me. Everyone. You’re all, good kids. So kind, despite all, the pain. I really, missed you. Mary, you’re our, youngest sister. Everyone, rooted for you.”
“Are you talking about…… the homunculi? Are you saying they supported me?”
“Mhm…… If it wasn’t for
World
, no one would have to, get hurt.”
“What am I supposed to do with that after all this time……? I already killed so many people!”
“I just, want you, to not, hate me. Ah, but, maybe…… it’s too late.”
The angel looked down and its voice trembled.
“If I really, care about you. Maybe I should, kill you myself, right here.”
Then, she said the same thing Digi did.
Mary’s facial expression stiffened and she took some distance by jumping back.
She readied herself for battle and turned the sharp blade of her scythe towards the angel.
“Please stop. Digi said the same thing too, but I have no such intentions. I’m going to fight through this with everyone until the end!”
“……Yes, you’re right.”
“That’s surprising…… you actually understand me.”
Mary expected the angel to reply with messy reasoning, but that did not happen.
“Mary, good, luck.”
Then, of all things, the angel wished Mary luck.
(I don’t understand……)
Why was the angel supporting her?
Who was this?
It spoke as if it knew Mary from before.
“Good luck. Don’t, give up. Just don’t, give up. And just, maybe.”
The angel’s face suddenly melted.
This spread throughout its entire body, and it lost its humanoid shape.
“P-Please wait! Who are you!? If my father is the arcana user of
World
, then there’s no need to do something like this, right!?”
“Good…… luck. Don’t…… give up.”
It became difficult for the angel to stand on two feet, and it started to stagger.
It crashed into a tree, and completely melted before soaking into the ground and disappearing.
Mary approached the spot.
“There’s letters on the tree……?”
It was the spot the angel crashed into.
The letters were shoddy and decrepit, but they said
REBIRTH
.
“Rebirth? But…… the letters are upside down. Is it just a mistake, or some kind of a message……? I don’t understand. I don’t even know who or what that was.”
The angel’s intentions could not be guessed.
Perhaps Mary would understand everything after the fight against her father was over.
But would that even make Mary happy?
Mary traced the engraved letters with her fingers and stood still on the spot.