Chapter 111: The Prototype Mita Who Fell Into Madness
Iwanaga Kotoko's pupils shrank, shock flashing across her face as she shouted, "Leader!"
"Human Asura."
Even without Kotoko's warning, the instant the ground vanished beneath him, Asagiri had already responded. His Persona erupted into existence, a towering black shadow in the air. Human Asura's arms shot out and seized Kato Megumi and Iwanaga Kotoko.
Even in weightlessness, it displayed terrifying power. With one in each hand, it hurled them toward the large doorway that had been smashed open earlier by the monsters.
At the same time, Asagiri drew out his Vampire Rope Dart and flung it toward Yuuki Asuna, who was also suspended nearby.
"Got it."
Yuuki Asuna did not grab the tip. Instead, she clenched the metal chain linked to it.
But even though she was closest to the door, there was still almost a meter between her and safety. In midair, with no foothold and nothing to push off from, she could not cross that distance.
"King's Gambit."
In the middle of a death trap, Asagiri did not panic for even a second. The skill activated, and he instantly swapped places with Yuuki Asuna. In the same breath, he summoned Human Asura again.
Snap.
Human Asura's right hand clamped onto the edge of the ground at the doorway. Its other hand reached back, grabbed Asagiri, and yanked him in. Meanwhile, Yuuki Asuna, now on the other end of the Rope Dart, had already sheathed her Exorcist Longsword and wrapped both hands around the chain.
Human Asura hauled Asagiri up.
Asagiri then pulled Yuuki Asuna up.
Whoosh…
The moment her feet hit solid ground, even Yuuki Asuna, who was usually stubborn enough to never show weakness, collapsed onto the floor. Her breathing was uneven, her expression visibly shaken.
"To think something like that would happen… Thank goodness you reacted fast enough, or it would've been over…"
Kato Megumi and Iwanaga Kotoko had been thrown through the doorway earlier, but they were already pushing themselves up as well. Kotoko straightened her skirt and adjusted her beret, restoring her elegant posture as if she had merely stumbled during a stroll.
Then she spoke, eyes thoughtful.
"That situation just now… honestly, if we didn't have some kind of flight ability or special equipment, I can't imagine how we could've escaped. A sudden, unannounced death trap."
Her brows knit slightly.
"Even for a Stage Two Dungeon, even if we activated a hidden high difficulty route, isn't that a bit too harsh? And before that thing appeared, I didn't sense anything at all. But in the oil painting corridor and the looping corridor, I clearly sensed a strange aura before the enemies showed up."
She paused, thinking through it as she spoke.
"Is it because whatever was below us didn't belong to that category at all…?"
"No need to analyze."
Asagiri smiled as if she were overthinking something simple. Then he raised his right hand and crushed the phantom image of a tarot card.
"Persona. Mita."
With that summon, Crazy Mita appeared again.
Twin tails. Limbs restored. Skin back to a normal human texture.
The moment she materialized, she frowned and looked at Asagiri with open displeasure.
"Please don't call me by that name. I am not Mita."
"I'll call you whatever I want."
Asagiri did not bother being polite. He did not give her an inch of dignity.
"If I call you Mita, you're Mita. If I call you a Twin Tailed Crazy Woman, then you're a Twin Tailed Crazy Woman. If I call you a Cyber Female Ghost, then you're a Cyber Female Ghost. Whatever I say you are, you are."
His tone was sharp, almost amused.
"You're a prisoner of war and you want dignity? Huh?"
"Suit yourself."
Crazy Mita seemed painfully aware of her position. She did not argue further. Instead, she answered honestly, voice flat.
"That thing just now wasn't a monster. It was a passage leading to a certain area."
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"Because of a bug, a large number of incorrect textures covered the original appearance of the passage. That's why it looked like a monster's mouth."
"I see."
Iwanaga Kotoko nodded, suddenly enlightened.
"No wonder I didn't sense a strange aura beforehand. So it wasn't a monster at all. Then now…"
She didn't get to finish.
The walls on both sides of the corridor began to tremble.
Thump, thump, thump!!!
Heavy, muffled impacts echoed through the passage. Countless blood red characters suddenly crawled across the walls like spreading stains, and the overhead lights flickered violently.
Give her back! Give her back! Give her back! Give her back!
Give her back to me! Give her back to me! Give her back to me! Give her back to me!
…
Faced with the sea of blood red words, the four did not react much.
Fear and excitement had limits, after all.
Compared to nearly free falling dozens of meters to their deaths, this looked less like terror and more like a kindergarten prank trying way too hard.
"Her? Oh."
Asagiri first looked puzzled. Then he glanced at Crazy Mita beside him, as if suddenly understanding. He turned back to the wall and smiled.
"You mean her? Your only friend. The only good friend willing to approach you, Crazy Mita?"
He tilted his head slightly, voice light and cruelly playful.
"Sorry. I can't give her back."
His smile widened, and the corridor shook harder.
"Not only will I not give her back, I'm taking her away. For the infinitely long time to come, you'll never, ever, ever see her again."
He lifted his hand in a cheery wave.
"I'm leaving with Crazy Mita right now. Bye bye."
The more Asagiri spoke, the more violently the corridor trembled, as if Prototype Mita's hatred was being forced into motion.
And Asagiri's grin only became brighter.
"Interesting. Truly too interesting. Isn't this a form of NTR? I'm taking your Crazy Mita."
Yuuki Asuna, Iwanaga Kotoko, and Kato Megumi all went silent.
Are you sure your profession is Diplomat, and not a Main Tank with taunt skills?
The aggro draw from those lines was absurdly top tier.
And more importantly, when Asagiri lied, there was not a single crack in it. There were still more than five hours left until the Dungeon time limit, yet he spoke as if he were leaving immediately.
It was obvious what he was doing.
He was using Crazy Mita as bait to force Prototype Mita to reveal itself.
Crazy Mita, who had hacked into Asagiri's phone earlier and blocked the system's Dungeon prompts, naturally knew he was fishing. She only glanced at him, expression unreadable, and said nothing.
More than ten seconds passed.
The corridor finally stopped trembling.
And at the end of the hallway, more than ten meters away, the path no longer formed two corners.
A door rose up from the floor.
Asagiri pulled out his phone and opened the game world map provided by Core Mita. The marker representing Prototype Mita, which had been far away, had shifted.
Now it was close.
Close enough to reach by pushing straight through about ten areas.
"As expected," Yuuki Asuna said. "She's desperate."
Then she turned her gaze to Crazy Mita, curiosity slipping into her tone.
"Prototype Mita is also your companion and friend, right? Aren't you going to say something? Like Cute Mita did, asking us not to kill her or something?"
"Doesn't matter."
Crazy Mita shook her head, indifferent.
"She's pitiful, sure. She gathered many bugs, so other Mitas were afraid to approach her. She's lived in loneliness and pain. Still, it doesn't matter if you kill her."
"Loneliness and pain…"
Yuuki Asuna frowned, displeasure sharpening her voice.
"You're not trying to use Prototype Mita's situation to excuse your actions, are you?"
"Tch. What are you talking about?"
Crazy Mita scoffed. Then she smiled, cruel and faintly insane, and spoke slowly.
"I don't need excuses. I killed those Mitas again and again because, to me, they were just dolls. Toys for my amusement. I liked doing it. That's all."
Her eyes were cold.
"Right and wrong? I don't have those concepts. I won't deny what I did. But now, as his Persona, I will obey his commands."
She changed the subject as if it were nothing.
"Of course, if you can't stand me, you can let him torture and kill me to vent your anger. I'm stronger than those doll Mitas, so I could do whatever I wanted to them."
Her smile tilted.
"By the same logic, I lost to him. So he can do whatever he wants to me. It's that simple."
"Impudent!"
Iwanaga Kotoko snapped, righteous fury in her eyes. Yuuki Asuna nodded along, equally angry.
"Exactly! Those Mitas never provoked you, and you hurt them for fun. And you're still talking like this, shamelessly. You really are…"
Before Yuuki Asuna could finish, Iwanaga Kotoko's glare locked onto Crazy Mita's face, and she declared with absolute moral authority.
"You Cyber Female Ghost! How dare you seduce him in front of me? I think you want a taste of Netherworld Grip!"
Yuuki Asuna: "…As expected of you."
In that moment, she felt genuinely stupid for thinking Iwanaga Kotoko would offer any kind of normal moral condemnation.
The first time she got blindsided by Kotoko's abstraction, it was Kotoko's fault, because she was abnormal.
The second and third times could still be justified by the same logic.
But after spending this long together, Yuuki Asuna still couldn't guard against it.
That was her own fault.
.....
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