Volume 1 – Following the Maze Drawn With Lines of Blood
Mary and the others ran into a factory instead of the main building.
They headed for the medical office and started treating Cutie.
“But I only just recovered…… Damn it……”
She muttered and received the healing spell in pain.
Calaria was outside the room, and bit her hamburger while watching Cutie through a window.
It was an emergency meal she received because she did not have enough blood.
Mary and Ami stood by a window through which they could see outside and ate bread.
“This bread is delicious, sis.”
“Hehe, I’m glad.”
Mary was not used to eating while standing up, but Ami ate quickly.
Then, before long, they went to take the next ones after eating them.
“You’re pretty carefree. How many did you eat?”
“I get strangely hungry.”
“……Because of your body?”
“That body is not of a human being. Maybe she’s consuming too much energy.”
“It’s hard to tell from the outside what kind of damage is happening to her body. I think she should be given frequent checkups, but not with the medical office in the state it’s in.”
“There are also quite a few heavily injured people……”
“They’re lucky to have escaped.”
“Mngg, mngg, hnnh, hnnnnph, hnph.”
“Ami, talk after you eat.”
“Nggh…… They’d die if they were caught. We would too, I think.”
Ami spoke while looking at the monster walking around outside.
Dugan had taken position in Captis and was wandering around.
He was probably searching for Mary.
Slava’s soldiers were shooting at him from around his feet, but it was not affecting him at all.
“I don’t want to fight a monster like that, if possible. How’s Noted, by the way? He returned with you, right Mary?”
“He’s in the main office instructing the army. He said they’ll keep Dugan busy for a while, and that we should wait.”
“I’m happy we can rest, but for how long?”
“The aristocrats who could be of some use in a fight were the first ones to run. We have to think about defeating him by ourselves.”
“His body should be soft if he’s like the other angels, so maybe he can be defeated if everyone shot him at once?”
“His constitution is too different. It looks like his wounds close up right away even after being shot by sorcery rifles.”
“Hmmm, that’s annoying. Maybe he’ll randomly self-destruct if we just ignore him……?”
Ami knew that would not happen, and she opened the medical office’s door.
“Platy said that an angel’s body doesn’t last more than three days. I think that after a day, the body of an angel collapses under its own weight.”
“Miss. Cutie, are you alright now?”
“N-No, well……”
“You’re healing very quickly. Did a skilled sorcerer come here or something?”
“……”
“Cutie, why is your face red?”
“……Umm, I hugged myself, and that healed me. With my powers.”
Cutie spoke awkwardly.
The ability of the arcana Empress, the symbol of motherhood, had the effect of healing wounds by hugging the target.
So, she had a preconceived notion that it could only be used on other people.
“Hey, Cutie, if you became an arcana user, shouldn’t you have at least tried that already?”
“I don’t have a choice! I haven’t been able to use it much since my father got mad at me! And I didn’t have any chances to use it at work, so……”
“Come to think of it, you were also surprised when you beat those soldiers outside. I guess that’s how it is.”
“Things turned out well, didn’t they? When you change your body, it causes a wound when it goes back to normal, but you have nothing to fear any more if you can heal yourself.”
“Mary, you……”
“You should take better care of yourself.”
“I’m worried that my sister will be reckless since taking in Hanged Man.”
“Ah, ahaha…… I stirred up the hornet’s nest.”
Mary was trying to give advice, but ended up getting scowled at instead.
She had no chance to win a one versus three.
She maturely admitted defeat, but she was not going to change her fighting style until she finished taking her revenge.
If that was the way to draw more strength, she would use any means necessary.
Cutie suddenly looked out the window as Calaria and Ami stared at Mary.
“Oh, it’s starting.”
Calaria also looked out the window.
“A huge turret got deployed at the base.”
The long, large, illuminated cannon slowly pointed at Dugan.
“There are tanks out there too.”
“Wooow! How many of those tanks are there?”
“There are a lot of tanks coming back from the national border and the territorial boundary, so there must be close to a hundred of them. I’m not sure if they can move them all at the same time, though.”
“I see that mobile artillery has been launched from Majoram’s site as well.”
“That weapon……”
Calaria squinted her eyes as she recalled her battle with Aoi.
“A prototype…… Using that is a complete disregard for safety. They don’t care at all.”
“The big cannon is glowing!”
“You better not directly look at it.”
The muzzle of the cannon emitted a blinding light that illuminated the entire city and shot a projectile.
After a slight delay, a violent explosion rang out, making the window panes shake.
It was a normal projectile, but its power was amplified by mana, and it landed in Dugan’s upper body almost as soon as it fired.
Although it did not penetrate him, the creature staggered back after his flesh splattered.
“It’s working!”
“Still inferior in terms of durability, I see. But……”
The larger the body, the faster the regeneration rate.
Dugan’s gouged out flesh quickly began to squirm and swell, then closed up.
However, bombardment from all sides came down on him, trying to obstruct his healing.
Although not as heavy as the giant artillery, the projectiles fired from the tanks and mobile artillery certainly slowed Dugan down.
“Violence in numbers. I think they can stop his legs with such a concentrated attack.”
“Can’t they attack his legs and make him fall or something?”
“The military seems to be aware of that too, but……”
“They still don’t have enough firepower.”
Dugan stopped and looked at the base, as if he was impressed.
The giant cannon got ready to fire its second round.
Normally, it would take more time to cool down and load the next round, but the process was recklessly rushed.
Dugan then extended his right hand in a leisurely fashion.
His fingertip blossomed, and a dazzling flash of light emanated from it.
The city, shrouded in night, was illuminated by a light more bright than the bombardment, and the barrel of the giant cannon was cut from the middle like butter.
Dugan slid his hand to the side and mowed down the cityscape.
Many weapons were caught in the light and destroyed.
Further, several pillars of fire stretched skyward along its trajectory, making violent explosion sounds that instilled fear in the people.
Cutie froze up.
Ami stared blankly, while Mary and Calaria angrily glared at the scene.
“Ugh, you gotta be kidding me……”
“I knew this was coming.”
“It’s not going to be easy, is it?”
Dugan’s attack continued.
His neck turned up with a jerk as if it was broken and his stamens shook.
The flower’s filament extended, and the giant Dugan’s face came in close proximity to the surviving soldiers and the tanks that were still operational.
It then swelled before the soldiers’ fearful eyes, and exploded.
The explosion, which occurred in multiple locations, shook not only the air but also the ground like an earthquake.
Cries could be heard from the medical office.
The soldiers on the frontlines were probably fleeing in a state of delirium.
“Come on, it’s our turn.”
“Give me a break……”
“If you’re going to hold a grudge, hold it against the god who made you an arcana user.”
“I’ll follow you wherever you go, sis!”
“Ugh, I know! Everyone in the headquarters is dead if we don’t beat him, anyway! Let’s do it! We’ll do it!”
Mary smiled as Cutie spoke frantically.
And the four of them left the factory.
Dugan had not spotted Mary yet, but now that the military base was destroyed, it was only natural that she would be in Majoram’s headquarters.
Mary moved away from the headquarters, and climbed up to the roof of a building and shot a bone projectile when she was far enough away.
“I’m here Dugan! Myriad of Souls Burial Cannon!”
The shot, which she unleashed as her right arm blew off due to the recoil, landed in Dugan’s thigh.
He slightly staggered after the flesh of his leg was blown off with the same force as the giant cannon.
At the same time, upon noticing Mary, Dugan’s face squealed in an eerie unison, ‘Uooooohhhhn’.
“Yeah, come here, Dugan!”
“We’ll kill you!”
“Don’t spoil our evening any more than you have, mister.”
The three continued attacking the same spot.
Calaria with her rifle, Ami hitting a stack of wheels, and Cutie releasing a medium sized animal – a hawk transformed from rubble.
Dugan’s flesh was gouged out by the gunfire, burst from the punch amplified by wheels, and the medium sized animal pecked at the rest of his skin, which was barely hanging on his body.
The coordinated attack shredded Dugan’s leg.
“Yay! He’s going to fall over-”
“……He won’t.”
The giant was still there in a very unnatural condition, with only one leg left.
“It’s as if he read our plan to destroy his leg in advance.”
“Whoever made that thing must be pretty sick.”
“The ‘face’ is coming, everyone please get out of the way!”
Dugan stretched out his slimy face.
Despite his crooked movements, he was fast enough to fill several hundred meters in an instant.
Mary, Calaria and Ami jumped as fast as they could, and Cutie grew wings on her back and flew high into the air.
They were exposed to the blast, but not burned.
They thought Dugan would continue to attack, but his hand suddenly stopped, and he started heading towards Majoram’s headquarters without using his legs.
“Hey, uncle! Why are you going that way!?”
Cutie shouted from above.
Calaria landed on the ground and mumbled.
“It’s probably because he has a bad personality.”
“He seems to be of low intelligence, but I noticed that he was trying to pull us away from the headquarters…….”
“Is someone giving him orders?”
“Maybe. I don’t think people who created such a massive monster would leave it alone. But how do we stop him?”
“He seems to move using a different force even if we destroy his legs.”
“Should we build a wall to confine it? No, it would be destroyed immediately and that would be the end of it.”
“I wish we could be giants too.”
“That’s absurd……”
“……Giants.”
Mary put her hand to her chin and pondered.
“Mary?”
“Maybe I can do it.”
“Are you crazy? Calm down!”
“I’m calm. If I join bones together to form a giant, I can at least wrestle with it. That’ll buy us more time than a wall!”
“Sis…… I think that’s a good idea! That’s super cool!”
Ami’s eyes sparkled.
Calaria looked at her with a complex expression on her face, but she was not sure if she could find a better idea.
“It’s worth a try, I guess?”
“If it fails, then that’s that. Right now, let’s just do what we can.”
“I can help too! Hey, Calaria!”
“……Yeah, I understand. I’ll do my best to follow up. Will you do it, Mary?”
“Yes, I’ll do it!”
Mary moved away from the two and approached Dugan.
Just then, Cutie came down from the air.
“Where did Mary go?”
“She went to execute her next tactic. Cutie, can you fly while holding me?”
“I can, but……”
“Do it then, please. What will you do, Ami?”
“I’ve got a good idea too. Let’s split up!”
“Okay, good luck.”
“You too, Calaria and Cutie!”
Ami also left, leaving only Calaria and Cutie behind.
“……I’m the only one left behind.”
“We’ll talk while we move. Thanks.”
Cutie was confused, unable to grasp the situation.
For now, she just took Calaria on her back and flew up.
◇◇◇
Noted left the president’s office at the headquarters building.
There was no need to communicate with the military any longer.
He ordered the entire army to retreat.
He could see through a window that the town was in a terrible state of destruction and fire.
The only thing left standing was Romeo’s tower, in the center of the city, and he felt that this was intentional by Dugan.
“He’s destroying the dream he built up himself…… Hey, Dugan, it seems that everyone who plotted this has a tremendous grudge against you.”
The avenger who manipulated Dugan.
The avenger who wants to kill Dugan.
The clash between the two.
Their mutual hatred was certainly directed at Dugan; it was a strange story.
“16 years ago, huh……? It’s always this kind of evil when you do things without telling me. I thought you kept me around to compensate for that. You’re a total, irredeemable villain, aren’t you?”
Noted shouted out to the approaching monster with his hand on the window.
The giant had already entered the grounds of Majoram’s headquarters.
Employees were frantically attacking his feet, but they could not stop him.
“But…… After Platy and Defale’s deaths, I can’t be the only one uninvolved in this. I’m sorry Cutie, I suppose my fate was already sealed when things came to this.”
Dugan reached out to drag his former friend into hell.
Noted closed his eyes and accepted death.
But the giant’s head did not reach the building.
Mary shouted at his feet.
“Myriad Corpse, Burial Geist!”
Then, a great quantity of bones gushed out from within her body.