บท 56: Chapter 91&92
Chapter 91: Luoisa: "You Are Surrounded"
On the white whale, Tokisaki Kurumi hung up the phone.
As she had anticipated, Fitzgerald, who initially intended to ally with Yokohama's three major organizations, changed his mind after a single call from her, opting to cooperate with her instead.
The price of this partnership, however, was abandoning his fellow members.
As a leader, selling out his subordinates before they had a chance to betray him was certainly unbecoming, inevitably leading to a future of isolation and loss of loyalty. But, for Fitzgerald, there was no other choice to achieve his goals.
After all, the reason he had gathered manpower in Yokohama was solely to capture Atsushi Nakajima and acquire information about the "Book" from him. He didn't care about the lives of his mercenaries.
By working with Tokisaki Kurumi, Fitzgerald not only received the assistance of numerous clones, allowing him to escape the assault from Yokohama's three organizations, but he also ensured Louisa's survival.
For Tokisaki Kurumi, this partnership would mean that Fitzgerald would distract the elite ability users from Yokohama's organizations, allowing her to capture John Steinbeck for her next step.
On the surface, it appeared to be a win win alliance.
But in reality, it was simply a case of Kurumi winning twice.
"Dazai and the others already know that I intend to capture John from the Guild. That's the only information they're interested in from Fitzgerald, so there's no reason for them to keep cooperating with him. Under attack, they'll inevitably choose to retreat," she mused as she put the phone down. "Once they retreat, my partnership with Fitzgerald will be over. Then, I'll have my clones defeat him, bringing me one step closer to completing Side Mission One."
Though she had agreed to cooperate with Fitzgerald, it was only a verbal agreement.
Of course, Tokisaki Kurumi had no plans to break her promise. While she was cunning and full of schemes, she did keep her word.
Their alliance would end the moment Fitzgerald could no longer hold off Dazai and the others.
"Now, I just need my clones to capture John, and I can move on to the next step," she thought contentedly, sitting on Louisa's bed.
Having clones was fantastic. Though they were weaker in battle, they made up for it with numbers. So far, the only Guild member Kurumi had defeated personally was James; the rest were taken down by her clones.
"I don't need to worry too much about Fitzgerald. Now, I just have to deal with the last three Guild members hiding in Yokohama Port," she thought confidently. "Lovecraft may be tough, but Clone Number Three brought a hundred clones. Capturing Anne and John shouldn't be a problem, right?"
At this point, the only Guild members left unbeaten were Fitzgerald and the three ability users assigned to the Armed Detective Agency.
Defeating Fitzgerald was a sure thing. After many intense battles, his assets were severely depleted, so fifty clones should be able to take him down.
As for the last three ability users from the Guild, she wasn't too concerned. After all, Clone Number Three had brought a full hundred clones. If they failed to complete the mission with that many, it would be disgraceful.
A hundred clones versus three ability users advantage: me!
"Ding, ding, ding—!"
As expected, Clone Number Three, who was in charge of the hundred-strong team, soon called her.
Kurumi answered the phone.
But before she could say anything, Clone Number Three's panicked voice came through.
"Help! We're about to be wiped out!!!"
Kurumi's ears nearly went numb from the shrill cry, and she instinctively pulled the phone away. Realizing that Clone Number Three might be in serious trouble, she quickly brought the phone back to her ear.
"What happened? Explain!"
"It's Lovecraft! His fighting power is far beyond what we anticipated!"
Howard Phillips Lovecraft.
He was the Guild's most troublesome ability user, even more formidable than the now financially-drained Fitzgerald.
In the original work, even Nakahara Chuuya couldn't kill this guy when in his Corruption mode.
His ability, The Great Old Ones, was undoubtedly one of the most powerful in this world. If not for the fact that both his parents were ordinary people, Kurumi might have suspected he was some inhuman monster like Chuuya.
Human or not, he was a monster, plain and simple.
The Great Old Ones granted Lovecraft an almost immortal body. No matter what damage he took, he could recover almost instantly, as his body had evolved over years of his ability's influence, becoming something similar to a supernatural entity.
In full power release, his body would transform completely, taking on the form of an indescribable deep-sea monster, with both his defense and attack power multiplying.
Kurumi knew this, which was why she never considered Lovecraft a winnable opponent. In truth, even she had no way of defeating him.
It was regrettable that she couldn't fully complete Side Mission One, but nothing is ever perfect. As long as she could defeat Anne and capture John, the plan would still be a success.
Yet despite all her compromises, she was still facing an unexpected situation.
"I didn't ask you to take down Lovecraft. Just focus on the two people next to him. Why provoke him?"
"With him around, we can't even get close to John, let alone capture him!"
"I gave you a hundred clones! Don't tell me you can't hold him off with sheer numbers."
"That monster has dozens of tentacles! He's smashing us like playing whack-a-mole! The moment we pop out of the shadows, we're dead! A hundred clones aren't enough!"
"How many clones are still alive? Try to hold them off; I'm on my way."
"About forty two left AAAHHH!"
Clone Number Three's scream echoed, growing distant before cutting off entirely.
"Clone Number Three? Number Three?"
"Hello, main body."
"Report the situation. How many clones are still alive, Clone Number Three?"
"Main body, this is Loli Three answering on her behalf. Forty-one clones remain. Three just got grabbed by tentacles... and heroically sacrificed."
"Then, you'll take over her position. Organize the other clones to hold them off. Don't let them escape I'm coming."
"Yes."
With a somewhat grim expression, Kurumi hung up and approached Louisa.
Before Louisa could say a word, Kurumi knocked her unconscious with a single chop.
Throwing Louisa into her shadow space like the others, Tokisaki Kurumi left the white whale, heading for Yokohama Port.
This time, she intended to take matters into her own hands.
Chapter 92: The Final Link in Yokohama's Destruction
At the Yokohama harbor, the usually bustling port was now eerily quiet. No workers were in sight, and the distant sounds of ships' horns were absent, replaced instead by endless gunfire and the thunderous sounds of collapsing structures. Inside the port, warehouses and their contents were reduced to rubble, with little left to indicate they'd ever existed.
In the middle of this flattened landscape loomed a towering, twenty-meter-tall monstrosity. Its hollow black eyes betrayed no emotion, its head encased by four human-like arms, with bat-like wings emerging from the back of its skull. The creature's slick, bluish-green skin glistened ominously, and numerous tentacles writhed from all over its body. Its presence alone was enough to chill anyone who dared to gaze upon it.
Around it, Kurumi's clones attempted to shoot at the creature, relying on shadow dives and flight to dodge its relentless strikes. But their attacks had no effect. Even as their spirit bullets pierced its flesh, the wounds healed instantly, rendering their efforts futile.
The clones' offensive was almost laughable, as they barely managed to chip away at the creature's hide. In contrast, their numbers had been halved; clones were swatted out of the sky like flies, and those hiding in the shadows were crushed as if playing a game of whack-a-mole. The creature's tentacles were relentless, with no clone capable of surviving a single blow.
Perched atop the creature's head were two figures: a blonde boy dressed in cowboy attire and a red-haired girl in a puffy dress, clutching the monster's writhing tentacles for stability as they surveyed the chaotic battlefield below.
"Thank goodness for Mr. Lovecraft," the girl remarked. "Without him, we'd be toast with these clones swarming us."
The boy, John, replied with a sigh. "If it weren't for your quick thinking and your plants warning us, we'd have been caught off guard and overwhelmed."
Only twenty minutes earlier, they had received a message from Louisa, the strategist for the Guild, who instructed them to relocate to Yokohama East Port. But just as they settled in, they were ambushed by a legion of clones led by Kurumi's Clone No. 3. Had it not been for John's ability, which sensed the approaching clones, and Lovecraft's immediate transformation, they would likely already have been captured.
"How did they find us?" Lucy wondered aloud, her tone grim. "Did someone infiltrate the Moby Dick and take down our remaining members?"
"That would be a disaster," John replied, exasperated. "After all, I need my payment to fund my siblings' education. Schooling in the U.S. is as expensive as it gets." His phone buzzed suddenly, interrupting his thoughts. Seeing Fitzgerald's name on the screen, he exhaled in relief.
"Hello, sir?" John answered.
"...Report your situation." Fitzgerald's voice on the other end sounded strained and breathless, as though he were struggling.
"Twenty minutes ago, we received a message from Louisa to relocate to Yokohama East Port. But we were ambushed as soon as we arrived. Lovecraft's in his final form, and Lucy and I are holding out," John explained.
"The Moby Dick has been compromised, and Louisa has been taken hostage. Your hideout is exposed," Fitzgerald informed them, his tone urgent. "Kurumi herself is likely on her way to you. John, her target is you."
"Me?!" John gasped in shock. "But why?"
"Because she needs your ability."
John Steinbeck, ability name: The Grapes of Wrath. He could grow grapevines from his blood, control them, and graft them onto other plants or even people. Once grafted onto another, his vines allowed him to sense and see through the grafted plants as if they were his own body. Most critically, the ability allowed him to inherit the abilities of any ability-user he grafted onto, so long as they were alive.
For Kurumi, John was invaluable. If he grafted onto her, he could act as a transmitter, allowing her to expand the reach of Zafkiel's City of Devouring Time over all of Yokohama. With him, she could engulf the entire city.
"I can't help you, John," Fitzgerald warned. "I'm still fighting her clones, and the other Guild members are defeated. You're on your own. If you get a chance, you and Lucy must flee. Leave Lovecraft to face her. Do not let her capture you."
"Yes, sir," John replied, swallowing nervously. Being targeted by a powerful spirit like Kurumi was terrifying. But with Lovecraft here, he felt somewhat secure. Kurumi would have to defeat this near-invincible ally before getting to him.
Unbeknownst to John, Kurumi was already on the scene. Hidden in the shadows, she watched, waiting for the right moment.
She knew better than to engage Lovecraft head-on. This creature was an inhuman monster with no vital organs and an endless lifespan. Even if she herself fought him, she had no means to bring him down.
But while Lovecraft might be beyond her reach, John and Lucy certainly weren't.
"Now's my chance… Zafkiel... Seventh Bullet!"
Emerging from the shadows while Lovecraft was focused on crushing her clones, Kurumi's clock face appeared, charging up her Seventh Bullet and firing it ten times in quick succession.
Distracted by other clones' attacks, neither Lucy nor John noticed her. All ten shots hit the gigantic Lovecraft directly.
To John's horror, the colossal creature abruptly froze, his massive tentacles stiffening in mid-air. Realizing his ally was immobilized, he was too stunned to react as Kurumi leaped onto Lovecraft's head. Before he knew it, Lucy had been kicked off, left to be dealt with by the clones below.
Everything happened in an instant. John barely had time to process what was happening before the muzzle of a flintlock pistol was pressed against his forehead.
"Apologies, but we'll skip introductions for now," Kurumi said with a smile, grabbing him by the collar and pulling him into the shadows. "Mr. John, won't you join me for a while?"
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