Yuichi and the others had followed the feline Yuri into the depths of the underground tunnels.
There they had found a room locked in by a grate, with three people inside. They were Natsuki, the “Serial God Killer” he’d kicked to the curb over spring vacation, and the “Evil God” man he’d met before.
The moment Yuichi saw what was going on inside, he decided he had to destroy the grate.
“Takeuchi! Move out of the way!” he shouted.
He could tell Natsuki was in a trance-like state. But even so, she moved.
Furukami! In an instant, he unleashed the power that let him exceed human limits. He thrust out with his palm and struck the grate with all his power. Unable to withstand his power, the grate bent and went flying.
Yuichi slipped inside.
He ran to Natsuki and lifted her up. Natsuki was limp in Yuichi’s arms, having gone past her limit.
Yuichi had gone in to save Natsuki on instinct, but he didn’t actually know what was going on.
He looked around.
He was standing in a wide, dome-shaped space with an altar at the center surrounded by braziers. The walls were covered in murals with what looked like letters carved in them. The Serial God Killer was slumped on the floor a little ways away. Her arm was broken, her chest caved in. She still seemed to be alive, but she might not last long without treatment.
And then, there was “Evil God.”
He was standing in front of Yuichi, several meters away, staring at him in confusion. He really did look like a perfectly nice person. It was hard to believe he was an evil god.
“I met you people before, didn’t I?” the evil god asked. “Did you follow me here?”
“Of course not,” Yuichi shot back. “We just came here to save Takeuchi.”
“Do you know each other? That’s right, I was surprised to hear Natsuki was attending a normal school...”
Yuichi looked at Natsuki. She was crying like a child, clinging to Yuichi and trembling.
“You... what did you do to her?” he snarled.
“I’m sorry, did I owe you an explanation?” the man asked nonchalantly.
“You said you were an evil god or something, right? Is this part of your war?”
“Well, since you are a participant, I will answer you there: No, this has nothing to do with the war. Is that enough for you? I just happened to meet a little runaway child while I was in the city, and I wanted to bring her back.”
“Are you guys family or something?” Yuichi demanded. If he was, that wouldn’t make it right, but it would make things more complicated. There were some issues only family could understand.
“You could think of it that way. Incidentally, the girl fallen over there is related in the same way, so you don’t have to worry about her.”
“Like hell I don’t!” Yuichi shouted. “She might be bad, but if she’s dying, then I’m gonna take her to the hospital!”
Yuichi was getting annoyed by the man’s laissez faire way of speaking. It was like he saw through everyone and looked down his nose at everything.
“I doubt that will be enough to kill her, personally,” the man said calmly. “I did hold back, after all. That aside, what is it that you want? As far as I know, you just barged into my territory and started complaining at me for no reason.”
“I’m taking Takeuchi and that woman and I’m going home. You can stay here and do whatever you want.”
“No, I can’t have that,” the man said coolly. “I need Natsuki. Though that woman there... Aki Takizawa, I think? You can take her with you.”
“I didn’t ask for your opinion,” Yuichi snarled. “I’m going to do it, even if I have to do it by force.”
“Hmm, this really is trouble. I’d rather not kill you here, but if you persist, you’re going to leave me no choice.”
“Is that a threat?”
“More like a prediction, I suppose? I’m indifferent on the matter, myself.” It looked like there was room for discussion, but the evil god’s manner was different than it had been back in the alley; he seemed ready to fight if it came to it.
He was strong; Yuichi felt that in his skin. Some people might subconsciously read this as malice, but to Yuichi, it was nothing so vague.
The man’s tone, expression, bearing, posture, gaze, breath, pulse... he evaluated them all, calmly, and his mind’s resultant judgment was that this man was prepared to kill him.
He wasn’t about to declare defeat before he even fought, but he did know that he couldn’t compete while he was protecting Mutsuko and the others.
What should I do? Yuichi wondered.
If he’d been by himself, he’d be fine. He could either put his all into the fight, or he could run away. But in his current situation, that wouldn’t be possible.
If he fought, the others around him might get wrapped up in it. It might not be possible to take them all and run, either.
“I guess there’s no way we can talk this out, huh?” Yuichi asked, despite knowing it was probably a futile attempt from the start.
He knew it was just an image in his mind, but despite this man being labeled “Evil God,” he seemed strangely reasonable. They might be able to negotiate something.
“I doubt it,” the man shrugged. “I have no intention of letting Natsuki go for now, while you want to take Natsuki with you. I can’t see any room for compromise, can you?”
He made it sound impossible, but he was at least open to the attempt. Maybe talking could get through to him after all.
“Hey, you said ‘for now.’ Does that mean you’ll let her go later?” Mutsuko interrupted.
“I’ve already told you a lot, so there’s no point in refusing you now... That’s right. I’m going to conduct a little ritual, and when that’s done, I’ll be happy to free her. But once I do, I’m not sure if she’ll go back to you.”
“What do you mean by that?” Yuichi shot back. There was something about the way he said that that didn’t seem up-and-up.
“I wonder if you know that the serial killer archetype attached to Natsuki right now is Jack the Ripper. It seems he’s grown quite weak recently, so I was thinking of swapping him out for another. It’s a way of bolstering her flagging killer instinct. If I do this, of course, there’s a chance her current personality might not survive it.”