Chapter 115: Power is Back
Prototype Mita didn't even have time to react before the sniper round slammed into its right leg.
Kato Megumi might not have been a firearms specialist, but at this distance, missing was impossible. The bullet's terrifying spin tore straight through flesh and bone, shredding the limb and even blasting the severed leg away.
"Sizzle… sizzle… sizzle…"
Blood poured from the stump, but at the same time, electric sparks crackled across the torn edges.
Prototype Mita's head twisted like a puppet on a broken string, rotating a full one hundred and eighty degrees to stare at Kato Megumi in a posture so wrong it made the air feel dirty.
Then its neck stretched.
It extended unnaturally, connected by little more than a section of spinal bone, like the yokai Rokurokubi. Its jaw opened wide as it shot forward at Kato Megumi, fast enough to blur.
Kato Megumi didn't even have time to retract the sniper rifle and switch to her dagger and longsword. Yet her expression remained eerily calm, as if she had already decided she would not be harmed.
"King's Gambit."
Just before Prototype Mita's teeth could clamp down on her neck, Kato Megumi vanished.
In her place appeared Asagiri, already wearing the gray mask again. Simply standing there, he radiated crushing pressure.
"Switch."
Bang!
The moment the swap completed, Asagiri drove a simple downward punch into Prototype Mita's head, smashing it into the hard lava ground.
If a normal human took that strike, their skull would burst.
But Prototype Mita was not built like Hat Mita or Kind Mita. Compared to a virtual girlfriend from a dating game, this thing was closer to a horror monster.
Even after that blow, its chin only cracked. Shards and debris scattered.
"Oh? The legendary tough king." Asagiri tilted his head slightly. "You're pretty durable."
He hadn't intended to kill it anyway. If he wanted it dead, he wouldn't have used his fist. He would have driven the Cursed Rope Dart through its head. And earlier, Kato Megumi would have aimed for its skull, not its leg.
Crazy Mita still hadn't finished purging the bugs from Mira and the two dimensional Meta. If Prototype Mita died too early, Mira and that two dimensional Meta could be dragged into the void layer of this world's base code, sinking into endless despair and torment.
In that case, everything they had done would become meaningless.
"You…"
Prototype Mita looked at Asagiri.
He was covered in wounds, blood dripping from his shredded clothes. Yet his eyes were still calm, still unmoved, and not even slightly timid.
Its puppet jaw creaked open.
"Why… aren't you afraid of me…?"
"You should be the one who's afraid."
Asagiri stared straight into its twisted, eerie face. The chain of his Rope Dart hung loosely from his hand as he spoke in a flat, merciless tone.
"Wherever you appear, bugs are born. Because of that, no Mita dares approach you. Only Crazy Mita stayed near you, which is why you value her so much."
His voice didn't soften.
"You've been lonely, haven't you?"
"I…"
Prototype Mita looked like it wanted to respond.
Asagiri didn't let it.
He suddenly changed the subject and flicked his wrist. The Rope Dart shot out like a viper, striking Prototype Mita's only remaining left leg.
The sharp, cursed tip pierced cleanly through.
Prototype Mita had no time to dodge. Its last support collapsed, and its body pitched forward, crashing to the ground.
"I want to save Mira," Asagiri said, stepping in. "Hat. Kind Mita. I want to save all of them."
He grabbed Prototype Mita's left ankle with his left hand. With his right, he jerked the Rope Dart's chain like a blade and severed the left leg.
Then he stomped down on Prototype Mita's back, seized its wrists with both hands, and tore.
Crack.
Like splitting rotten wood, he ripped both arms off. He tossed the severed limbs into the flowing magma without a hint of hesitation.
His voice turned colder, stripped of all emotion.
"And you."
He leaned down slightly.
"You're in the way."
"Die… die!"
Even without limbs, Prototype Mita's head spun another one hundred and eighty degrees. Then it launched forward like a cannonball, slamming straight into Asagiri's chest.
Bang!
Asagiri raised his left arm to block.
The impact blasted him backward. He crashed onto the ground, and a clear sound of bone snapping rang out.
"Leader!"
Iwanaga Kotoko's face finally changed. The woman who always seemed unshakable was truly anxious now.
She sprinted to the doorway and saw more than a dozen monsters swarming Asagiri's fallen body. She raised her right hand, forced a charge for nearly two seconds, then clenched her fingers.
"Netherworld Grip!"
A pale ghost hand erupted from the void and swatted the monsters away like insects.
"My head… hurts…"
Kotoko pressed a hand to her temple. Her vision blurred at the edges.
Netherworld Grip consumed an enormous amount of mental power. It was never meant to be used casually. Kotoko had already used it four times in this Dungeon, and she had used it once earlier to support Yuuki Asuna.
Using it twice in such a short window, even for her, was almost unbearable.
And the two monsters nearest the doorway seized the opening and lunged at Kotoko.
But in the next second, Kato Megumi rose from the shadows.
Her sniper rifle was gone. In its place, she held a rapier and dagger.
Two clean flashes.
Both monsters dropped.
"Necro," Kato Megumi said quietly, "don't push yourself."
Kotoko wanted to protest, but she still nodded and retreated behind Kato Megumi.
If she used Netherworld Grip one more time, her mind would empty out completely and she would collapse into a coma. If that happened, Kato Megumi, who wasn't built for prolonged front line brawling, would have to protect her too.
Now was not the time to gamble like that.
Still, Kotoko's last Netherworld Grip, thrown out with everything she had, bought Asagiri a precious moment to breathe.
"The bone in my left forearm is broken."
Asagiri muttered it like an observation, not a complaint.
"It's not my dominant hand, but it'll still drag my combat power down."
His eyes sharpened.
"So I can only use that."
He put away the Cursed Rope Dart.
A syringe filled with liquid appeared in his hand.
Without hesitation, Asagiri used the disposable item he had obtained in the previous Dungeon.
Special Adrenaline.
Thump… thump… thump…
The moment it entered his body, the pain vanished. His vision cleared. The world seemed to quiet instantly until all that remained was the heavy rhythm of his own heartbeat.
A monster rushed from behind, claws reaching to stab into his back.
Asagiri caught its arm.
Then, with a perfect over the shoulder throw, he slammed it into the hard lava ground.
Bang!
The impact detonated the monster like a burst of meat and blood, splashing outward in a grotesque flower.
Seeing Asagiri rise back into motion, Prototype Mita's fear finally surfaced, even if its face couldn't express it.
It crawled away, dragging itself using the extension of its head, trying to escape.
But more monsters erupted in front of Asagiri.
Several.
Dozens.
Then hundreds.
A writhing wall of dark red bodies rose, sealing off his path.
Inside the bedroom, Iwanaga Kotoko saw the monsters piling up, layer upon layer, until Asagiri was swallowed completely.
She spun toward Crazy Mita, voice tight with urgency.
"How much longer? It's already been ten minutes. Can't it be faster?!"
Crazy Mita's hands flew across the virtual panel. Urgency showed in her eyes, but her voice stayed steady.
"Fifteen seconds."
"Fifteen… fourteen… thirteen… twelve… eleven…"
Hearing the countdown while watching the monster wave thicken, Kotoko's hands clenched.
She had kept saying she trusted Leader. She had tried to look calm.
But this was far more dangerous than she had imagined, and her heart pounded hard enough to hurt.
"Five… four… three… two… one…"
Finally, Crazy Mita finished the countdown.
A smear of black smoke appeared on Mira's right forearm as she fought beside Yuuki Asuna against the failures. A roaring electronic screech burst from the smoke, then it dissipated in mid air.
"Done!"
The moment Crazy Mita spoke, Iwanaga Kotoko bolted to the doorway and shouted into the distance.
"Leader, it's done!"
As her voice fell, Crazy Mita vanished from the room.
Within the heavy encirclement of hundreds of monsters outside, a phantom tarot card drifted down slowly through the heat and blood.
A hand reached up.
And crushed it.
"Power is back."
"Persona, Alice."
The instant the card shattered, Alice appeared in midair, wearing a dress and holding a teddy bear.
She looked down at the monster sea below. A simple, cute smile rested on her face.
Then she spoke, sweet as a lullaby.
"Please die for me."
.....
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