Truth and Lies (3)
"You really want to kill me, don't you." As expected, there's nothing like friends.
Moved by their resolve, Habitz finally turned his gaze to Zetaro.
"Explain it."
He'd learned the rule through the god-frequency, but this wasn't a game you could win with intellect alone.
Zetaro spoke.
"You'll play the game with the Wizard. The rule is simple. Say one true thing and one false thing." Habitz laughed.
"But we won't know which is true and which is false, right?"
"Right. You must state exactly one truth. If you can't prove it, you lose."
"The penalty for losing is death?"
"Well… I'd prefer not to do that. And I want to avoid situations where the final objective can operate strictly within the rules. If you—for example—proved 'I will die' as true, you'd actually win. That would break the rules, see?"
"That doesn't matter, does it? You're trying to kill me anyway."
"Then it wouldn't be a game."
Zetaro smiled faintly, and Habitz felt a chill he hadn't felt in a long time.
"Heh. Right."
Satan is unpredictable.
If the rules of the game broke, he would survive whatever happened.
'Zetaro really is interesting.'
A small thrill crept into Habitz as he asked,
"What's the penalty for losing?"
The Wizard answered.
"The loser grants the winner one wish. It can't be decided unilaterally."
"Heh heh. Any wish, no restrictions?"
Even seeing the madness glinting in Habitz's eyes, the Wizard spoke calmly.
"Yes. Any wish."
Their desires might differ, but the Wizard's yearning was no less intense than Habitz's.
"All right, let's lay it out. For example: in one hour I'll eat an apple. In one hour I'll eat a strawberry. One of these is true, the other false."
Zetaro nodded.
"Exactly. You must eat either the apple or the strawberry to prove the truth. If you eat both, or neither, you lose."
There must be one truth and one lie.
"Hmm."
After confirming the finer details, Habitz—contrary to expectation—took a cautious stance.
Sumodo narrowed his eyes.
'So he noticed.'
This one was truly dangerous—
As thoughts stretched longer than expected, the group grew anxious, but Zetaro was certain.
'Habitz will accept.'
He remembered the conversation from an hour ago.
"Habitz will accept."
When Zetaro said that, Balkan fell into thought with a deathly pale face.
"Are you one hundred percent sure? Playing the game means he follows the rules. His greatest strength—chaos—weakened. For him, who's already in an assassination game, taking on another game is almost suicidal."
Zetaro agreed.
"Probably. If it's not interesting enough—no, probably nothing could shake him. But this time it's possible. The Wizard is here."
Zetaro glanced at the Wizard.
"Honestly, the rule is simple. What matters is psychology. And in psychology you can pierce Habitz. Because of the rule that he must state one truth."
"The god-frequency."
"Yes. Habitz can't read the Wizard's mind. I felt it when I heard the assassination-game rule. Habitz can be jaded by everything. If the only person whose mind he can't read is the Wizard, build the rule around her."
Balkan snorted.
"That's true. This is more about the person than the game. If you play this with someone uninterested, it's just empty banter. But he wants to know about the Wizard. He'll engage actively."
"It's enough if Habitz is amused." Zetaro's expression was mournful.
"So… he'll definitely play this game." "Fine." Habitz said.
"I accept."
Even the usually composed Wizard's face flushed slightly.
Habitz checked his time.
"I have my own game to run soon, so shall we move? I will kill Zetaro in this assassination game."
Truth or lie.
"And one more thing. I will kill Sumodo in this assassination game." One of the two must be true.
"Avoid it if you can. If both of you survive, I lose."
"Hmm."
Sumodo rested his chin on his hand.
'Has he already decided? Or is he just listing two possibilities and leaving the choice? Either way, one of Zetaro or I is going to die.'
Zetaro fell into thought as well.
'This is too easy? If Sumodo and I both commit suicide, it ends, right? Habitz's idea is…'
He lifted his head.
"Oh."
Habitz was absorbed in the game.
'Even if Sumodo and I kill ourselves, if the Wizard loses it's a draw. It's a declaration of war to make the Wizard fail. No—something far larger than that.'
How would the opponent respond?
"All right. I accept. Then I will..."
The Wizard spoke.
"Until this assassination game ends, I will kiss Shirone."
Truth or lie.
"And I will… until this assassination game ends, kiss you."
Zetaro nodded inwardly.
'As expected, the Wizard understands the essence of this game. With this, there's nothing to worry about.'
She wasn't a child.
Through every imaginable simulation, her mind would be mature as an adult.
'If we don't lose the psychological war, we can beat Habitz. It's not about what's true and what's false. The real intent of this game is…'
Exactly what Zetaro was feeling then.
"This is interesting."
Habitz said.
"All right, I accept. Then—let's see… I have about eight minutes before my game starts."
He put his watch away and said,
"Go. Eight minutes."
Sumodo and Zetaro exchanged glances and immediately fled.
"Tick, tick."
Habitz, making the sound with his mouth, addressed the remaining Wizard.
"Are you planning to kill me now? The moment you harbor murderous intent, Vanishing will trigger."
Habitz curled the corner of his mouth.
"Or what—are you going to kiss me?"
"You don't have to kill me." The Wizard manifested, and a grim afterimage of the Formless God blossomed in the air.
"That's enough to stop you."
"You make the game boring."
Of course, whatever stance they took, the victor's reward made the outcome weighty.
'I've gotten stronger.'
From the swaying Formless God figure, Habitz sensed her level.
"Heh heh."
A sharp lethality flashed in Habitz's eyes.
"How unfortunate."
Twelve shadows gathered at the Wizard's feet, and Siok suddenly rose.
'I'm complete too.'
As Habitz launched himself, the Wizard clenched her teeth and activated the Formless God.
White Porcelain Reverse Rotation.
"By Satan—!"
Before Siok could finish the incantation, 0.666 seconds fractured and time snapped back.
"Tch!"
Zetaro dashed down the corridor, but Habitz was already nowhere to be seen at the fork.
'Where did he go? Sumodo? Me?'
A fifty percent chance.
'He didn't get caught in the Spirit Zone. He activated Siok. Do I trust the half-chance? Or… should I meet Shirone and complete the mission?'
Five minutes remained.
Zetaro ran until his mouth tasted of blood.
"Hah! Hah!"
It wasn't fear of death—he was doing everything to entertain Habitz.
'Habitz will kill me.'
Three minutes earlier, Zetaro had told Sumodo,
"Habitz will kill me. If he enjoys killing the one he likes more, then it's me."
It was his pride.
"I'll lure Habitz, you run that way. Now it's up to fate."
"You sure?"
"We're tools in this game anyway. The Wizard will do her part."
"All right. Then… be careful. Heh heh." Sumodo laughed at his own words, and Zetaro's ribs shook.
"Heh! I'll slap you. Me too."
Only the Wizard could detect Habitz's Vanishing, so they might not even realize they were about to die.
"Goodbye."
They parted at the fork like that.
Zetaro entered an empty office, locked the door, and hid beneath a desk.
"I can't run anymore."
As he waited vaguely for death and tried to recall past pleasures, something happened.
"Huh?"
Vanishing activated.
'Why am I here? I must have ducked in to avoid something…'
One minute remained.
Sumodo stood dazed in the corridor.
"What did I forget?"
Habitz, his greatsword hanging long, approached Sumodo.
"With this, my word is true."
Three seconds, two, one.
As he checked the time and twisted to slash Sumodo's throat—
"Ugh!"
Light from Hexa spread through Delta Headquarters and Habitz registered in Sumodo's mind.
Through Elikia's quantum signal, the scene here propagated through the entire building.
Shirone's image flickered.
"Yahweh———"
Timed to the assassination game, once every hour.
"Kiii!"
Habitz's face contorted grotesquely as he thrust the sword at Sumodo's heart.
"Gah!"
Sumodo twisted desperately, but the blade pierced his lung and came out through his back.
The Wizard arrived after triangulating the location.
"Habitz!"
"...Sumodo?"
Still under the desk, Zetaro muttered in a daze.
"Why? Why not me…"
The Wizard had to admit it, but the shock that Sumodo had beaten him was brutal.
"No!"
Zetaro clutched his head.
"That can't be! Habitz said I was the most fun! Why me…!"
The sword slid free with a hiss. Sumodo, gagging blood, smiled.
'Zetaro. Good.'
He slumped to the floor, panting against the wall.
'This round, Habitz wasn't amused.'
Habitz turned.
"I won."
He spread his arms.
"You didn't meet Shirone. And I killed Sumodo. My victory."
"It's not over yet."
The Wizard pointed at Sumodo.
"He's still breathing."
Sumodo, clutching his belly and surviving on the last air in his lungs, nodded.
"Hmm, then shall we finish it?"
As the Wizard activated the Formless God, Habitz raised his sword.
Transspace—Non-System Creation.
In that instant a frame vanished.
When Habitz came to, the Wizard was already kissing him.
Even as she landed soundlessly, Habitz stood there holding his sword.
"This is a draw."
Sumodo used the air in his lungs—more precious than gold—to laugh.
"Kukukuku."
Then, baring blood-smeared teeth, he said,
"I'm going first. Have fun."
When Sumodo finally died, Habitz touched his lips and glanced back at the Wizard.
'She kissed me.'
That was an undeniable fact.
But did that mean the Wizard liked him?
'I don't know. I can't read her mind. Is it just the game? Or—perhaps…'
He wanted to know.
He wanted to know desperately.
Zetaro thought.
'Yeah, I don't know either, Habitz. Why you chose Sumodo—I don't know. But that's the point of this game.'
Whether truth or lie, by any words, by any actions, by any proof—
We cannot know another's truth.