Then the mass of Alberta’s hair began to swell, as if a powerful pressure was being exerted from within. The hair couldn’t stand against it.
Bam! In a deafening burst, Alberta’s hair went flying, torn to shreds.
“What in the world...?” Yuichi murmured in disbelief as he watched Ryoma emerge from within.
His entire body had begun to shine.
Ryoma raised his right hand, still holding Alberta’s head in it.
“Huh? Wait, wait, I’m feeling a creak... stop it! I can’t afford to lose any more of myself!” Alberta screamed.
Ryoma, consumed by rage, had begun squeezing Alberta’s head. The light subsuming his body began to focus in the lone hand holding Alberta.
“Natsuki dear, save me!”
But of course, Natsuki was under no obligation to save her, and Alberta’s head ended up crushed.
Perhaps because she had been using necromancy to prolong her life, the crushed head released no splatter of blood. It just turned to dust, which scattered across the floor. Alberta’s and Sakiyama’s bodies both turned to dust and crumbled, too.
Silence fell.
“Well, it looks like it’s all over now... do you think we can go home?” Yuichi whispered.
“I suppose,” Natsuki said. “But didn’t you call me out here because you wanted to find Maruyama?”
If he did just go home, it would mean that Natsuki had wasted her time coming here. Yuichi was just thinking about how he didn’t want to do that, when Ende moved into action.
“Yuichi Sakaki! Have a look at this, would you?” Ende walked towards Alberta’s remains and pointed. There was a strikingly white rib buried deep in her remains.
“Is that... a Divine Vessel?” he asked.
“Yes. A Divine Vessel, reverted to its initial state without you needing to dirty your hands to get it. Now you can take it as a host. You can gain its divine power, and use its resonance to find the other parts.”
“Hey... did you plan it all so things would turn out this way?” he demanded. It was certainly sounding that way, but Ende’s only response was a cryptic smile.
Just then, the previously silent Ryoma howled out. “Don’t you dare! That’s Kotori’s body! I won’t let you people have it!”
Ryoma’s body began to glow even brighter. The light erupted powerfully in time with Ryoma’s release of anger. It was now as if his entire body was wreathed in flame. He’d gone completely berserk.
Yuichi was feeling a creeping realization that he wasn’t going to be able to talk his way out of this.
“Okay! Awakening event complete!”
But Ryoma’s manner changed on a dime. In an instant, any trace of the tragic protagonist seeking to avenge his little sister was gone.
“The ‘Do you want power?’ trigger is a little meh these days, but the other options weren’t exactly great, either,” he said flatly. “So, who are you anyway? Some ordinary person who just got mixed up in this?” Ryoma asked, looking down his nose at them.
“Huh? What? When did you start acting this way?” Even Yurika was shocked by the sudden change.
“Let’s see... What’ll our next event be?”
Ryoma was suddenly holding five cards in his right hand. Yuichi had no idea where he’d plucked them from.
The young man inspected each of them closely. “Oh, so this is Yuichi Sakaki. I was told I was supposed to beat him, so I guess I’d better kill him now,” he said without hesitation, glancing at Yuichi.
“But why? That doesn’t make any sense!” Yuichi protested.
“I was told you’d be my biggest obstacle in the Divine Vessels War. So I’d better just kill you while I have the chance, right?”
“You need to think this over a little more,” Yuichi said. “You can’t just talk about killing people like this. Is your wish really so important you’re willing to kill for it?”
He knew that he was unlikely to talk Ryoma down, but he at least needed to try to find a way to a ceasefire. Even if it was all just lip service, it was important to Yuichi to try. It might still turn out that fighting was the only way, but he wouldn’t be able to get serious unless he’d positively exhausted all other options.
“My wish?” Ryoma asked. “It’s to live a peaceful, ordinary life.”
“Come on, then!” Yuichi shouted.
It seemed self-evident to Yuichi that you could never live a peaceful life after killing people, but Ryoma kept talking nevertheless. “They say the Evil God can grant any wish. Which means that no matter what I do, I’ll get my peaceful life in the end, right? So what does it matter if I kill people? Once I get my wish, the rest will sort itself out. So logically speaking, it makes sense to resort to absolutely anything as long as it means I win. Right?”
Not only was this guy weird, he seemed to have an utterly bizarre take on the world. Yuichi determined there was no way to avoid a fight.
“I’d heard you were a ‘Protagonist,’ but ‘I’ll kill anyone who stands in my way’ is a pretty dime-a-dozen villain speech, don’t you think?” Yuichi asked.
“Hmm? Oh, I see, Ende’s here too,” Ryoma said. “Did she tell you about that? Don’t worry, a protagonist will always angst a little bit about killing people, but give him a few words of comfort, and he’s right back on his feet. Besides, you guys were working with the killer, so I’m totally justified.”
Yuichi had no idea what Ryoma was talking about, but he decided it might be best to ignore it. It was all nonsense anyway; listening to it would just confuse him.
Ryoma made a move. He threw one of the cards he was holding into the air.
Yuichi braced for an attack, but the card merely flew upwards, then vanished into light.
“Event: Someone precious to Ryoma was killed by Alberta and Yuichi Sakaki. Ryoma fights Yuichi, wins, and gains even greater power.”
The voice that spoke those words seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once.
It didn’t seem to be an attack, and what the voice had said had seemed like total nonsense. Yet Yuichi felt a sinking feeling in his gut.
It reminded him too much of the words of power that Makina Shikitani had used.
“Stay right where you are. Or do you want me to kill her?” At some point, Natsuki had gotten around behind Yurika, and was holding a medical scalpel to her neck.
Yurika looked startled. “Huh? What? Aren’t we friends?”
“Yes, and it pains me to have to do this to a friend, but you’ve left me no choice.” Natsuki let out a theatrical sigh.
“You do have a choice! And that blade is digging into my neck!”
“Whenever I see a TV show with a scene like this, I think... if the blade isn’t making contact, you can’t slice their throat right away, so it’s not much of a threat. Don’t worry. It’s buried five millimeters into your skin, and my skill at decapitating people is among the best in Japan.”
“None of that is at all reassuring!”
Suddenly, Ryoma began to chuckle. After laughing for some time, he turned his eyes contemptuously to Yurika. “Actually, I’m done with you. I thought a Hero love interest might be interesting, but you’re a total idiot. Nothing moe about you at all.”
Ryoma turned his left hand to Yurika. The light that encompassed his body began to concentrate in his left hand, then he fired off a shot of light.
“Get out of the way!”