章節 353: 'Kind' Saviour

Even after all the action was finished, Rei was punching and banging on the block of ice that'd encased Takashi in, terrified that he'd suffocate or freeze to death in there.

To the surprise of everyone though, it suddenly shatters into a million pieces that instantly liquefy, leaving Takashi's body completely unharmed... Not to mention...

"Ugh, did I just get shot?" he mumbles, having Rei help him get to his feet as a flattened bullet drops from under his jacket.

"TAKASHI!" Rei lets out a cry as she hugs him, afterwards pulling his jacket open to inspect his wound, finding not even the slightest scar. "I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!"

Takashi shakes his head, "I thought so too, but..." he trails off as he looks around the scene before him.

Takashi and the others can only stare dumbly at the massacre that'd just occurred in front of them, the only one of their attackers surviving behind Tsunoda who was 'hanging' around by his leg.

*BLLLAARGH!*

Saya vomits onto the floor, unable to hold back her nausea from seeing humans get torn apart so brutally. Sure, they'd lived in the apocalypse for days not, but this was something else!

"P-P-PLEASE! I'M SORRY! S-SAVE ME!" Tsunoda begs, looking down, or up in his case, towards the group.

His words bring Takashi back to reality as he squints at his former classmate in anger, "You just tried to rob and kill us! As far as I'm concerned, you can die with your friends." he growls, contemplating the benefits of shooting the guy as he hangs.

"N-NO! WE'RE ALL HUMAN! SAVE ME FROM THESE THINGS! I'LL DO ANYTHING!"

Takashi glances over his shoulders at his steadily recovering friends, "Thoughts on this scum?"

"L-Let him hang, metaphorically and literally." Saya remarks before she and Saeko begin glancing around, "Plus, I doubt the person responsible is going to let him live anyway. Michael didn't seem like the forgiving sort."

"Michael?" Takashi parrots, causing Saya to give him a dull stare.

"Who else would use blatant magic like this? You dunce! Who do you think healed your sorry ass after you got shot!?"

Saeko nods, "I remember seeing similar creatures hunting zombies... Plus, that shadow thing he summoned to scare Saya-san looks almost identical."

"She's right you know." a familiar voice asks from above them, the group looking towards it and finding Michael sitting atop a light post.

"Michael! You really saved our asses here!" Kohta says thankfully.

Saya shakes her head, instantly feeling safer with Michael's presence but not willing to say so, "Why're you sitting up there like some sort of anime protagonist, cosplayer! Get down here and talk like a normal person!"

Michael snorts, stands, and holds his arms out, "No! I have the high ground, Anakin!... You guys don't know Starwars then? Fine..." he trails off, Blinking to the ground underneath where Tsunoda was hanging. "I'm actually more interested in talking to this chap, groups similar to these fucks have been going around kidnapping people all over." he states, causing a few of Takashi's group to pale.

Tsunoda would have gone pale too, if all of his blood weren't rushing to his head due to being upside down, "N-no! You've got the wrong guy! We only wanted the car!"

"That's still damning us to die you bastard! Leaving us stranded here surrounded by zombies!" Takashi angrily retorts.

Saya crooks a brow, "Come to think of it, weren't there zombies around here? The gunfire should have attracted them."

Micael shrugs, "I lent a 'hand' in dealing with them." he chuckles before refocussing on his target, "Now, you gonna tell me why you and your friends have been kidnapping people? Or women specifically, don't think I don't know about you cannibalizing the men." he remarks, causing everyone present to tense and glare harder at the hanging teen.

"Y-you did what!?" Saeko asks, tone low as she looks absolutely murderous.

"P-lease! WE DIDN'T HAVE A CHOICE! THERE WAS NO FOOD LEFT IN THE CITY! SOMEONE STOLE ALL OF IT!"

...

Michael feels a couple eyes lock onto him but he just coughs into his fist awkwardly, "Right, but that doesn't make it okay to eat people you stupid cunt! And what about the women? What do you do with them?" he asks, knowing exactly what fate awaited them, but wanting to hear it from the teen's mouth.

Tsunoda grits his teeth and looks away, not in shame at his actions, but in fear at having been caught. "Y-you know that, already..."

"YOU SICK BASTARD!" Rei shouts, "IS THAT PIECE OF SHIT SHIDO LEADING ALL OF THIS!?"

"I-if I tell you, will you let me go?" he asks, begging for his life.

"No, shoot him already!" Rei growls, everyone else thinking along similar lines.

"No, we need him to tell us where they took everyone..." he looks to Michael, "You said they were taking people from the area, does that include the area ten miles West of here?"

Michael shrugs, "Probably? I haven't been there yet but it's pretty extensive." he replies.

Takashi's expression morphs from an angry calm to one of utter rage, "That's where my home is... Where my parents might be."

Rei pales, "M-my mother, they might have taken her too..."

Michael looks toward Tsunoda, "So, you gonna tell us where your buddies are? Or am I going to have to 'persuade' you harder?" he asks, as the shadow hand gripping the teen's leg lowers him to be face to face.

...

Tsunoda grits his teeth and trembles, but doesn't say anything. "Silent eh? Good, I think my 'persuasion' skills have been getting rusty... Oh, speaking of rusty." he mutters, summoning the Book of Legends which evolved to look, far, far more magical than before, with an eery black mist hovering around it and the gold accents glowing faintly. He pulls a rusty hook knife from his inventory. "This should do... If not, I'll pull out the big gu-"

"N-NO! I'LL TALK! J-JUST... DON'T!"

...

"Huh, that was easy..." he mutters, having forgotten that this was just a mentally deranged teenager, not a veteran warrior like he's used to dealing with.