A creature with its body covered in layers of yellow straw rushed out of the classroom. Behind it, the strands of straw stretched out and curled together into sharp spears, stabbing toward the figure running rapidly down the hallway at incredible speed.
[The Straw Doll, Lv 5]
Glancing at the information displayed above the straw man's head, the purple-haired girl running down the hallway reacted immediately. Her foot slammed against the floor, using the force from her running momentum to push her body forward and easily dodge the sneak attack. Then, with her physical strength greatly increased thanks to Origin and the Katana she had received as a reward for being the first person to kill a monster in the Kendo Club area, she immediately counterattacked and easily sliced the Straw Doll in half.
Fresh blood splattered everywhere. The Straw Doll that had been cut in half fell backward, and the straw covering its body quickly withered and turned black before scattering away, revealing the corpse of a student underneath.
Without a doubt, the straw covering the Straw Doll's body was only an outer shell. The straw was like a mass of parasites, covering the unfortunate students, absorbing nutrients and controlling their bodies in order to find new hosts.
"Tha...nk... you..."
Saeko raised an eyebrow. She seemed to hear a voice thanking her, even though she was fairly certain that the boy had been dead for a long time. But whatever... it didn't matter. After all, in a crazy place like this, what couldn't happen?
Clatter.
A few more Straw Dolls gradually stepped out from the nearby classrooms. However, they did not immediately rush in to attack. Instead, they stopped some distance away from Saeko, sizing up the creature in front of them that made them feel threatened.
And Saeko, facing as many as ten Straw Dolls in the narrow hallway, was not afraid at all. She only smirked, the excitement and madness in her eyes impossible to hide.
To other people, this world was a terrifying, insane hell, but to her, Saeko Busujima, this place was the most wonderful place of all. Here, she could freely live as her true self without having to fear anything.
Her inherently violent and utterly brutal nature, along with the intense thirst for battle that had awakened on the day she fought off that would-be molester... Here, all of it could finally be satisfied.
"You guys are the 'monsters' of this area, huh? I mean, I can say that killing you is self-defense, that I'm freeing those unfortunate juniors you swallowed up… But the truth is... I enjoy the feeling of cutting through your flesh and the smell of fresh blood lingering in the air... So..."
As she spoke, Saeko charged toward the group of Straw Dolls, a crazed smile on her face.
"Come here...!?"
Before Saeko could finish speaking, the smile on her face froze, as a chilling sensation spread throughout her entire body. The Straw Dolls were no longer probing her. The moment Saeko charged toward them, they immediately reacted as well.
Countless strands of straw stretched out and curled together, forming countless sharp straw spears that stabbed toward the dangerous prey in front of them. But that was not what made Saeko feel a chill run down her spine...
Saeko adjusted her body, then swung her sword, cutting through several straw tentacles before immediately raising her sword to shield her face. Right after that, a heavy pressure pressed down against her Katana. Saeko felt both of her arms tremble. She used all of her strength just to barely deflect that invisible force.
Clang!
The Straw Dolls that had been pierced through by that pressure collapsed onto the ground. As for the remaining three that had luckily avoided being pierced, before they could even counterattack, they were immediately pierced through by something long and slender and white... It seemed to be a spear... made of bone?
Fast! Too fast!
Saeko thought. Countless veins and blood vessels surfaced in her eyes. The skill she had obtained after killing her first monster, "Precise" was activated the very moment she felt that pressure. This was a type of skill that allowed the user to receive and process information faster through enhanced eyes.
In Saeko's opinion, this was an extremely useful skill. But, truthfully speaking, it was not a... good skill. Although the speed at which information was received and processed was faster, if the body could not react quickly enough to keep up with that speed of reception and processing, this skill would cause a mismatch between the brain and the body, directly affecting the user's movements, making them slow down or even become completely immobile. Not to mention the damage it could cause to the eyeballs if used too much.
However, for someone with a purely violent instinct and thirst for battle like Saeko, this skill was strangely suitable... Driven by this craving for violence and battle and through her constant killing, Saeko had caused this skill to reach a completely new level. Based on that, she then created a completely new fighting style, a swordsmanship style of her own: Busujima Kenjutsu.
This is a swordsmanship style with almost no unnecessary movements, countering every attack it sees through and continuously unleashing attack once on the offensive.
A swordsmanship that thoroughly eliminated "waste" with "vision" as its foundation.
Of course, it had not truly reached that level of perfection yet. So far, she could only finish the very basic of the style, but even so, Saeko was still quite confident in her ability to see through attacks when using "Precise"... But just now, she had been completely unable to keep up with that spear...
Saeko took a deep breath, trying to remain calm. At some point, the section of hallway in front of her had been covered in pitch-black darkness. The sound of footsteps came from within the darkness, approaching her position neither quickly nor slowly. The feeling of extreme danger and chill continued to grow. Even so, Saeko did not dare turn around. She had a feeling that if she turned around now, she would die instantly.
"Ara, ara… is that… Senpai ♪ Rei remembers a face like Senpai's… Maybe not? Rei wonders hmmmm… ♪"
A cute voice rang out. From the darkness of the hallway, a girl with chestnut-colored hair and a mischievous smile appeared, wearing the clean Fujimi female student uniform without a speck of dust on it. She friendly waved at Saeko.
Although she looked no different from an ordinary schoolgirl, the extreme sense of danger radiating from that figure, along with the glowing red diamond-shaped icon above her head, clearly stated: this was not a human.
Saeko glanced at the red diamond icon, and a display immediately appeared.
[Pride's Avatar/Miyamoto Rei, Lv???]
One week! She had survived here for a week and encountered countless types of monsters. She had even encountered another Sin Avatar, Gluttony's Avatar... But this was the first time she had ever felt like this.
That absolutely violent and brutally savage instinct, that desire that was always pushing her toward bloodshed and her craving for killing, was... afraid.
Her blood flowed faster, her heart beat more rapidly, like humanity's primitive fear of darkness and the unknown... Every cell in her body was screaming that... the thing in front of her was extremely dangerous. Be afraid of it.
"Either way… Rei must say… Senpai is very brave ♪ And to reward that bravery, Rei will play with Senpai for a little while ♪"
"Rei" continued speaking in that cute, mischievous voice, then waved her hand. A long, slender white spear made from the bones of some unknown creature suddenly appeared in "its" hand.
Dangerous!
In that moment, in the blink of an eye, even though "Rei" was still sixty steps away from Saeko, that spear had already reached right in front of her face.
Even with "Precise" activated, Saeko's eyes could not possibly follow the trajectory of this thrust. She only managed to raise her sword to block it thanks to all that Perception- type Origin she had absorbed and the fighting instincts that had been continuously honed in this hell.
Clang!
She blocked one attack! It was incredibly fast, but its force was not very strong... At least, Saeko felt that she could still somewhat withstand it... Still, getting stabbed just once would very much mean Game Over.
"Hey now ♪ Senpai pretty good ♪" Rei put on an expression of surprise as she spoke, then let out a delighted laugh.
"Even though 'it' is just playing around, the speed is still far too fast. My eyes can't keep up with it at all... I need to predict the direction of the thrust from the movement of its hand..." Saeko thought. She gritted her teeth and prepared herself for the attacks to come.
Incoming!!!
The only thing reflected in Saeko's eyes was the afterimage of its spear-wielding hand. It's hard to follow, but with the increased information-processing speed from "Precise" and the enhanced senses, she could still predict the trajectory of its thrust to some extent.
Saeko shifted her center of gravity. She twisted her body aside, then used her katana to knock away the white spear aimed at her right arm.
But the spear did not stop. It swept onward in an almost imperceptible arc, curving toward her collarbone. Saeko diverted it with the tip of her katana hilt.
The spearhead reversed direction in midair and shot toward Saeko's groin, she barely managed to sidestep to the left in time. Even so, a thin line of red appeared across her left thigh, not from the spear piercing her, but from the sheer pressure of the wind trailing behind its tip.
Instinct and experience. Saeko tried to use battle logic, with an almost nigh-precognitive accuracy, to see through her opponent's next move.
Left femoral artery. Heart. Right ear.
The sharp sounds of impacts rang out one after another. The sounds completely overlapped with no pause at all, and then, on the seventh exchange, "Rei" laughed once again.
"Oops, sorry senpai ♪ That last one was a little too fast, wasn't it ♪"
"...!"
Only then did Saeko realize that she had been cut. A gash had opened on her shoulder, and it not even have enough time to spray blood.
Saeko's parrys were gradually unable to keep up. Meanwhile, "Rei" leisurely continued increasing her speed, while continuing stepping forward.
Upper arm. Left flank.
Fresh blood flowed from Saeko's eyes. She could no longer keep up. She had reached her limit. At this point, even predicting her attacks had become impossible. By the time Saeko noticed a sign in the movement or motion of "Rei's" main spear-wielding hand, it was already too late to react.
The air exploded.
The spear thrust toward her head, perhaps just to toy with her, but the speed of this thrust had slowed down slightly. Not by much, but enough for Saeko to use the last bit of strength she had left to tilt her head to the side.
The spear grazed Saeko's left eye... It only grazed it, and yet the explosive air pressure was still enough to completely destroy her left eye.
"Too bad, it looks like senpai has reached her limit ♪"
"Rei" stopped and said with a playful smile.
"But... senpai fought really well, so Rei will give senpai a chance to say her last words ♪ Is there anything senpai wants to say ♪"
"..." Saeko opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but suddenly, an explosion rang out from beneath the school grounds, drawing "Rei's" attention.
"Ara ara, is that Saya-chan? ♪ It's Saya-chan ♪ It really is Saya-chan ♪♪♪♪"
Saeko had absolutely no idea what was happening, but whatever it was, this was still an opportunity. "Its" attention had been completely drawn to the sound coming from beneath the school grounds. This was her chance...
Run! Run! Run!
Exhausted and in pain, her body had already reached its limit, but... Saeko bit the tip of her tongue, forcing her body to regain consciousness, then turned and ran, getting as far away from that thing as possible.
"Huff, huff..." Only after reaching the end of the hallway did Saeko turn her head back. With difficulty, she looked at the figure that was still standing there, looking down at the school grounds, in front of the curtain of darkness covering the other end of the hallway.
"Someday... Someday..." Saeko whispered.
Saeko's figure disappeared around the long hallway, but "Rei" did not care at all. She only stared out through the window. Her gaze pierced through the window and the slimy layer of blood in Area A, reaching all the way to the parking lot at the dormitory area behind Building A.
"Saya-chan has grown up now ♪ Amazing, Saya-chan is amazing ♪ But Saya-chan has become too reckless ♪"
"Rei" whispered, then shifted her gaze toward the third floor of Building A. The ruler of Area A, Envy, began to move. She continued moving her gaze, sweeping across the other areas of the school. In Area B, an angry roar rang out. In Area C, several strange laughs echoed. Even the Kendo Club, which Saeko had been forced to leave when it was occupied by Gluttony's Avatar, began to stir.
They had all been drawn to the sound of the explosion...
"Too reckless Saya-chan, too reckless ♪ But that's Saya-chan for ya ♪ Saya-chan can do it right... Saya-chan'll make it out ♪ Saya-chan, don't disappoint Rei, okay ♪"