Chapter 80: The Powerless Butterfly
Near the city gate, an eerie silence fell. Only the creaking of the severed chains from the drawbridge could be heard.
Those terrifying, oppressive golden-red eyes finally closed as Mumei stumbled and fell to her knees.
The world before her was stained red, but this time, there was no one left to catch her. The flowing blood seemed to evaporate, her throat dry and burning, as if a furnace blazed within her.
Even direct combat wouldn't have left her with such severe aftereffects, but Mumei had exerted control over every Kabane in the area.
I'm so sorry... Kurumi...
I wish I could embrace you once more.
As butterflies of ethereal light danced before her eyes, Mumei lost consciousness.
——
The Hunters of the Kabaneri hesitated before preparing to return toward the tower.
Among their numerous tasks, one was to "retrieve" Mumei.
The bizarre phenomenon they had just witnessed had left them shivering. Even though they could no longer see the small figure of the girl, they still felt as if their hearts were tightly gripped by an invisible hand.
Everything would probably be fine, they thought. After all, Mumei-sama was still better than the Kabane.
They tossed chains at one another, forming a large net, and slowly approached, intending to capture Mumei.
Just then, a soft yet playful voice called out from behind them.
"Ara, Ara, if I were you, I wouldn't do that."
The Hunters of the Kabaneri quickly reacted, turning in unison. One row knelt, the other stood, rifles raised and aimed at the source of the voice.
Walking toward them along the train tracks was an enchanting young woman, not particularly tall but undeniably alluring.
She wore a peculiar black and red, tight-fitting outfit, held up by only two delicate straps. Her smooth, rounded shoulders were bare, exposing an exquisite collarbone and a large expanse of fair skin.
Her dress, flared by its hoop skirt, layered in black and red frills, accentuated her perfect slender legs, making her both seductive and graceful.
However, the most striking feature was her doll-like face and her mismatched eyes—especially the crimson right eye, glowing ominously amidst the dust as if radiating an eerie light.
Her dress swayed lightly in the wind, resembling the blooming red spider lilies of the underworld.
The Hunters had no intention of holding back just because the girl was beautiful. In fact, they feared beautiful women all the more, knowing that only female Kabaneri could become a Nue—the mutated Kabane monster. The Hunters had encountered their share of "she-devils" before.
The two lines of Hunters fired alternately, crouching and rising in seamless rotation. Their well-practiced volleys created a dense, continuous barrage of fire, steam rifles puffing out clouds of gray smoke.
Although not as powerful as explosive rounds, the special ammunition used by the Hunters could still pierce the Kabane's heart membrane.
Yet, despite the intense barrage, Kurumi continued her slow, unhurried advance.
As bullets struck the air around her, black and red shadows rippled before her, absorbing the impacts like blood-stained lead.
"Monster... she's a monster!" some of the Hunters cried out in panic. No matter how strong a Kabane might be, repeated hits would normally elicit some kind of reaction.
Even the Black Smoke, a Nue formed of Kabane, would lose a few of its bodies after being struck. But they had never seen anything like this.
"How rude... to call a lady a monster." Kurumi tilted her head, softly licking her lips.
"I'm a spirit, you know."
What followed was a scene so twisted that the survivors would never forget it for the rest of their lives. Black and red shadows spread across the ground, and from those shadows emerged slender arms. These arms reached out, grabbing the Hunters with their goggles and dragging them into the depths of the shadows.
They... were eaten.
In an instant, the area around the tower was left with only the sound of motorcycles idling.
Sometimes, Kurumi felt like a monster. Despite the countless thoughts and feelings hidden deep within her, her heart was a labyrinth—complex, dark, and endless.
Within that labyrinth were countless paths, each one possibly right, possibly wrong.
Versions of herself from different timelines stood guard over those paths.
She could only feed on time, burying all the sorrow, pain, and regret within herself, quietly chewing on it all. After all, who would want to face such a seductive yet sinful spirit and venture into that maze?
Another version of Kurumi appeared beside the unconscious Mumei, smiling as she scooped the girl into her arms. Gently, she poked the little girl's cheek, her face filled with contentment.
Despite her self-perception as a twisted being, Kurumi's heart still held softness. She adored cats, and she cherished this cute little girl.
That fondness transcended all time.
——
But just then, a low, feral growl echoed from the tower.
The tall woman, Horobi, fell from the tower, crashing heavily to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
She lay spread-eagle on the ground, gazing up at the figure looming over her from the tower with a gaze full of tenderness.
Unlike Mumei, who was kept in the dark, Horobi, as Biba Amatori's right-hand woman, had always understood the cruel and cold world that Biba sought to create. But that had never mattered to her.
As long as Biba was satisfied, nothing else mattered. She would give anything for him.
She couldn't even tell how many of her bones were broken, but the pain of falling was nothing to her.
The deeper, more profound pain that washed over her in waves had long drowned out any other sensation.
It radiated from her chest, from the place where the injection had been made—the Kabane heart—glowing with a sinister, blood-red light.
Horobi's body jerked as if controlled by strings, her limbs dangling limply as she was lifted into the air.
The crimson glow in her chest grew stronger, and from the surrounding Kabane corpses, tiny blood-red particles began to drift toward her, coalescing into a pair of laser-like blood-red wings behind her.
A strange blood-colored armor spread from her heart, enveloping the left half of her body, even covering her eye. Her left hand was encased in a sharp, spike-like claw.
The armor extended over her back, and Horobi grasped a strange blade in her right hand, even longer than the claw on her left.
The world before her turned into a murky haze of blood. Her right eye, exposed and dilated from the pain, contracted to a pinprick.
"Horobi, destroy the gate," Biba commanded.
The effect of this version of the drug clearly did not meet his expectations. It fell far short of the majesty Mumei had displayed, resembling a mere hybrid of the Nue.
Horobi twisted her body to face the city wall. Raising her right arm high, she brought it down with a mighty swing toward the wall.
The wings behind her pulsed, and blood-colored electricity surged around the blade in her hand. She slashed out, releasing a terrifying crimson arc.
Boom—
The gate of Iwato Station, which had stood for nearly a decade, shattered.
The wall of Iwato Station, nearly twenty meters wide, was slashed open by that fearsome crescent-shaped blade strike.
Boom—
A section of the wall crumbled completely.
Debris scattered, wood splintered, and thick dust filled the air.
Blood-colored wings of light dispersed the smoke. The tall figure, now wrapped in blood-red scales, emerged. Her crimson heart radiated an ominous glow.
Horobi's eyes, like those of a beautiful yet wary deer, reflected pain. Her entire body ached from that powerful slash, and she gasped softly, turning her body toward Kurumi.
Her vision was completely tainted by a murky red, with everything appearing as if through layers of distortion. Yet the bewitching young woman before her remained clear, alluring, and captivating.
Horobi's mind grew increasingly muddled. Only an intense craving for the girl's blood—the seductive aroma more intoxicating than any poison—remained awake within her.
Mumei felt as light as a feather, every vein burning with a painful dryness.
I'm going to die... I'll really die this time...
She longed to watch the Tanabata fireworks again with Kurumi.
In a daze, she smelled that familiar intoxicating fragrance once more. With great effort, she opened her eyes to see the familiar, stunning red eye.
"Is that... Horobi?" Nestled in Kurumi's arms, Mumei could barely believe what she was seeing as she looked at the tall figure emerging from the dust.
But soon, something even more shocking dawned on her.
"Kurumi... there are two of you?"
Aside from the Kurumi in the revealing Oiran outfit (Kurumi Tokisaki: Oiran Ver.) holding her, there was another standing proudly in front of them, dressed in a bewitching black-and-red spirit outfit, her snow-white back turned toward them.
Even without seeing clearly, Mumei could tell from the scent that both of them were Kurumi.
"Be good, Hozumi..." Hearing the commotion in her arms, Kurumi gently pinched Mumei's little nose, gazing with some pity at her pale face, and offered her wrist.
The scent of blood.
Horobi tilted her head, staring at Kurumi as she fed Mumei. The fragrance was so tempting, so irresistible.
Her body swayed, and with the sound of cracking stones, Horobi's figure vanished from her original position. The ground where she had stood was left webbed with cracks.
Dust was blown away by a gust of wind.
The blade in Horobi's hand crackled with blood-red lightning as she appeared before Kurumi in an instant, swinging the blade down with full force.
Half of her body was slender and beautiful, her skin delicate and dazzling. But the other half resembled a demon from hell, wrapped in blood-red armor.
Kurumi knew all about this pitiful creature from the information gathered on the Kokujou and Horobi's past. This world, filled with manipulation, hatred, and helpless resentment, was as loathsome as ever.
The shell-like blade nearly grazed Kurumi's bangs, revealing the heavy clock-like left eye beneath.
Blood-red lightning surged toward her, the air heavy with the scent of damp, metallic blood.
But Kurumi remained calm. She twisted her body and lashed out with her leg, her movements swift as a whip.
—Piercing Kick.
Her kick landed squarely on Horobi's abdomen, just as the blade was about to cut into Kurumi's tender skin. In the next moment, Horobi's body was sent flying backward.
The blood-red armor shattered without resistance. Horobi's spine bent at an unnatural, grotesque angle as her body was thrown back.
Kurumi had held back. But even so, as a mere clone, Kurumi still held absolute power in this world.
Horobi crashed into the pile of rubble, sending up a cloud of dust.
It was a near-fatal injury, but for a Kabaneri—or rather, a Kabane—it was not something impossible to recover from.
The sound of bones cracking and shifting echoed through the air as Horobi's body healed at a visible rate, the blood-red armor spreading further across her body.
She rose from the dust like a marionette pulled up by invisible strings.
Horobi stood back up, her right foot pivoting as she kicked a massive boulder beside her.
The heavy stone was hurled through the smoke toward Kurumi, casting a massive shadow over her.
Clang—
Kurumi's gunblade swung down, slicing through the stone with ease. The boulder split cleanly in two, each half falling to the sides.
There were no flashy lightning strikes or energy waves, just a simple, precise cut—straight through.
But that stone was merely Horobi's opening move. This woman, willing to sacrifice everything for Biba Amatori's goals, let out a low growl as blood-red lightning flickered across her body.
She dropped to her knees, plunging her blade-like arms into the ground, then opened her mouth wide.
"Raaaaaah—!"
A beam of crimson energy erupted from her mouth, cutting through everything in its path. This was far more dangerous than her earlier crescent slash, a deadly energy blast aimed directly at Kurumi.
The already shattered boulders turned to dust in an instant, and the Kurumi dressed in her spirit outfit was completely engulfed by the red beam. The blinding light swallowed up her slender figure.
A massive explosion echoed throughout Iwato Station.
"Kurumi-nee!!!"
Mumei struggled in panic, only to be gently restrained by Kurumi.
Kurumi, unbothered, held Mumei still. The cut on her smooth wrist healed before Mumei's eyes. She tugged playfully at Mumei's cheek.
"Don't move."
Her fingertip wiped away a trace of blood from Mumei's lips, and she brought it to her own mouth, licking it delicately.
Her own blood... does it really taste that good?
But Kurumi didn't seem to notice the way Mumei, staring up at her, suddenly froze.
The energy blast subsided, and Horobi knelt, gasping for air. Her body seemed on the verge of burning away from within.
But what filled her with utter despair was the sight of the unscathed girl standing before her.
That powerful blast hadn't even been enough to lift the hem of the girl's dress.
For Kurumi, there had been no need to dodge—because there was no need to.
The gap between them was simply too great, like a newbie player facing a fully equipped veteran in a game. Horobi couldn't even break through Kurumi's defenses, let alone deal a sliver of damage.
Kneeling there, Horobi was overwhelmed by the alluring scent emanating from Kurumi. It was intoxicating, overwhelming.
Under the influence of the incomplete drug, Horobi could no longer hear anything. The world around her was filled with a constant sound like pouring rain, drowning out Biba Amatori's orders.
Horobi kicked off the ground, charging toward Kurumi—the Kurumi who was gently licking her own blood and holding Mumei in her arms.
Kurumi's gunblade slashed toward Horobi, but she had already lost the will to block. Her right arm, along with the blade she wielded, was severed cleanly.
Her body twisted as she stumbled forward, stopping right before the Kurumi in the Oiran.
The blade rose again but froze in midair in front of Mumei.
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