CHAPTER 5 Cataclysmal Ragnarok A little earlier, before the vampire and dragon’s battle… The assassin fired his gun, and the bullet flew toward Ryuunosuke Dazai, its momentum making the air friction and gravity inconsequential. Ryuunosuke had nothing to shield himself from the bullet, and at that range, he couldn’t dodge it, either. It would take a mere fraction of a second for the deadly piece of lead to hit him. “It’s over…” But the bullet never reached him. The extreme situation flooded Ryuunosuke’s brain with adrenaline, which sharpened his senses and made everything seem to move in slow motion. He saw every detail of the person who flew in among shards of broken glass and wood; she was a beautiful golden-haired girl with spellbinding eyes framed by long eyelashes. Then the flow of time returned to normal. She shouldn’t have been there, yet she was, and she’d just saved his life. “Abara…?” Mari Vlad Abara, dressed in her school uniform, had burst through the window to shield Ryuunosuke from the bullet with her own body. “Ow, you grazed my hand.” She opened her fist, and the bullet tumbled to the floor. “You…caught the bullet with your bare hand…?” Kuroi asked with shocked dread. “What’s so surprising about that?” “You’re a monster…!” “Yeah. So what?” Kuroi fired several shots at her in succession. She flicked each bullet away with just one hand. Guns didn’t work on mythical girls. Neither Rinne nor Mari would suffer meaningful damage from rapid gunfire. Even if the shooter managed to hit an important organ, the mythical girl would only suffer from a temporary decrease in her abilities while she quickly regenerated. “Die!” Mari attacked, instantly closing the distance to Kuroi. Her swift steps ripped the tatami mats off the floor. She kicked the man in the stomach. “Bwargh!” She literally sent him flying out of the living room, through the hallway, and out the front door until he crashed into the garden wall opposite the house, smashing it. There he lay, motionless. Ryuunosuke had been watching in shocked bewilderment. “Is… Is he dead?” “Dunno. I tried to be gentle.” “You told him to die!” “Did I?” she asked indifferently. “Sorry. I should’ve thanked you first.” “I helped you because I wanted to. You don’t need a reason to help people. Isn’t that right?” she repeated what he’d once told her. What goes around, comes around. “Abara…” “It’s my first time visiting your house, and I’d love to just chill, but let’s get away from here for now. People will come nosing around, attracted by the noise, and I don’t think either of us wants to deal with them.” “Yeah, okay. But there was another guy, Mr. Yanagida…” “The big man in a suit? He’s fine. Tough for a human. The bullets didn’t pass through anything major, so don’t worry about leaving him for a bit; he won’t die.” “Oh, if you say so…” Ryuunosuke decided to trust her judgment. He got out his phone and called for an ambulance, describing the emergency with as little detail as he could get away with. Once that was done, he grabbed his shoes from the entrance hall, and he and Mari left through the window in Ranko’s room. The back of his house faced the woods. If they walked for a short while through them, they’d reach a small, rarely visited park. He went there with Mari, and the two of them sat on benches in an gazebo at the center of the park. “Oof…” Ryuunosuke breathed deeply with relief, feeling the tension leave his body. The sun was beginning to set. The lamps on the eastern side of the park were already turning on. “I thought I was going to die, for real.” “There was no danger of that. I’ve been keeping watch over you.” “No way! Since when?!” “Since you were taken home without the dragon girl.” “Really, you’ve been following us the whole time? I know I should be thankful you saved me at all, but why did you have to wait until the last minute? I almost pissed my pants.” “Sorry, but I couldn’t reveal myself too early and alert that thug. Besides, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen. Saving you at the last minute made me look even cooler, no?” “I’d have thought so, if it weren’t for the fact that you deliberately waited until I almost got shot! But why were you keeping watch over me anyway?” “Ranko asked me to.” Ryuunosuke wasn’t expecting Ranko’s name to come up. “We met up one night about two weeks ago. Bold of her to trust me… But then again, I’m too nice to people sometimes.” “You met up with President two weeks ago…?” That rang a bell. Ryuunosuke remembered Ranko going out on the first night of the Dragon Babysitter Project. “She asked me to meet her at Chandelier near the station to talk about you. I considered it might’ve been a trap, but if she gave me any trouble, I’d just slaughter everyone, no problem. I was curious what she wanted, so I went.” Ryuunosuke couldn’t hide his astonishment at Ranko’s secret schemes. “She turned up alone; can you believe it? Without a single bodyguard. She’d stand no chance against me. I thought she was being stupid, but it also convinced me her request was personal.” “So anyway, what did you talk about?” “This and that, nothing too important. Mostly about you.” “…? About me?” “Ranko said that if I got removed from my mission, you might be in danger. ‘What makes you say I’d lose my job?’ I asked her. ‘My general analysis of the situation from various perspectives. Best to play it safe,’ she said. I told her, ‘So it’s just your hunch, is it?!’ Honestly, I don’t know what she’s thinking, that Ranko. But even though she’s my enemy, on a personal level, I trust her.” Mari was tracing a circle on the ground with the tip of her loafer. “And then it happened, just like she said. I got reassigned. That spooked me into thinking you might get killed, so I kept watch over you.” “Okay, I get the picture… But why would anyone want to kill me? My ring would have some value to your organization; I get that, but why kill me?” “It wasn’t the Order trying to kill you. I believe Loki was acting on his own initiative.” “Who or what is that?” “The Order’s spy at the Calamity Research Institute. He goes by the name Sarashina there, I think.” “What?! Mr. Sarashina is a spy…?! Wait, should you be telling me this? Aren’t you going to get in trouble for colluding with the enemy?” “I don’t care anymore. I’ve had enough of being the Order’s pawn or Loki’s pawn. Loki used to be my superior. I have no idea what he’s planning, but it doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the Order’s policies.” In the eyes of Ranko Akeda, a Calamity Research Institute researcher, Ryuunosuke’s murder would be the worst-case scenario. Having him kidnapped by the Order in the case of him and Rinne getting split up wasn’t what she was worried about. Sure, it would be a significant loss to the CRI, but it would be of no consequence to the world as long as Ryuunosuke remained alive. Ranko knew the Order wouldn’t kill him. They might keep him in captivity and experiment on him, but not kill him. Suppose, though, that there was traitor who had their own plans, contradictory to the Order’s, and killing Ryuunosuke was a part of them. Mari would be an inconvenience to this traitor. Ranko had warned Mari about this, just in case her worst fears turned out to be true. She told the vampire girl that if she suddenly got removed from her mission, it would mean someone might try to kill Ryuunosuke. “I didn’t quite believe it at first. The man who tried to shoot you wasn’t working for the Order, by the way. Loki must have recruited him from the CRI.” Ryuunosuke’s phone began ringing. “It’s President!” “Answer,” Mari hurried him. Ryuunosuke put the phone to his ear. “Hello?! President, where are you?!” “You’re alive. Good. I’m at the facility.” There was a lot of noise on the line, and Ryuunosuke could hear a loud alarm in the background. There was clearly an emergency at the research facility. Ranko’s voice sounded weak, without its usual smugness. There was supposed to be no way to contact anyone at the facility, but Ranko must have set up some emergency phone access. “President… Are you okay?” “Yes, I’m fine. You?” “Kuroi tried to kill me, but Abara saved me.” “Good, I knew she’d come to your rescue. So Kuroi was the spy in Section One… Would be good if he was still alive… Well, it’s no longer checkmate. Luck’s on our side.” “What ‘checkmate’…?” “No matter. Listen, Dazai boy,” Ranko said with urgency. “Yes…?” “In brief, Sarashina betrayed us. Rinne has been unlinked from you.” “What?! H-how?!” “Sarashina created a synthetic ring. He’s dead now, but he triggered Rinne’s berserk phase two. She’s a walking time bomb. If we don’t stop her, she’ll destroy the world.” “Rinne’s gone berserk…?!” “The situation—” Ranko was interrupted by a fit of coughing. “What’s wrong?” “Don’t mind me. The situation is as bad as you can imagine. We don’t have much time left, and our chances of stopping Rinne are low. You would be risking your life—” “If you need me to do the saving, I will,” Ryuunosuke interrupted, without making it clear whether he meant saving the world, Rinne, or both. There was no hint of hesitation in his voice. “You’re the man.” “I try to be.” “I wish I could see you now. Should’ve made it a video call. So Rinne is at berserk phase two, but please don’t give up on her. You must believe in her.” “Of course. Where is she?” “In the underground lab, but not for long—” The call abruptly ended, and at the same time, there was an explosion to the west of where Ryuunosuke and Mari were. Ryuunosuke turned in that direction and saw a beam of light shoot upward from the ground and pierce the clouds. The dark-red light spread through the sky like ink in water. It didn’t look like a natural phenomenon. Awe-inspiring and beautiful, yet sinister and supernatural. It made Ryuunosuke gasp. “A dark crimson twilight… It’s the Ragnarok phenomenon, caused by the second stage of a mythical girl going berserk…,” Mari muttered, staring up at the sky blankly. “It means the dragon girl doesn’t have much time left…” Mythical girls would lose their sanity at berserk phase two. Ryuunosuke declared he’d save the world, or Rinne, or both, but he didn’t really have a plan. It was up to him to do something, that much was certain, but alone, he couldn’t hope to stop the berserk Rinne. The answer to his dilemma was right in front of him. “Abara…” “Right, right. I heard everything—my hearing’s pretty sharp. So let me guess, you want me to help you save the girl, and the world while we’re at it?” “Um, yeah.” “Preventing a class-one cataclysm is part of my duties, and I’m not against teaming up with you for that cause. And since it’s you asking, I’d be happy to help…” “So let’s do thi—” Mari silenced him, pressing a finger to his lips. “That’s what I should do as the Order’s Ritter, but I have my personal opinion. I don’t like volunteering to do extra work, and I don’t want to take you somewhere you will most likely die, either. I don’t want you to die, Ryuunosuke Dazai.” She knelt on the ground and looked up into his eyes, holding his hands. “I have a better idea. Will you please listen?” she said. Ryuunosuke held the gaze of her beautiful eyes. “Why don’t we run away together?” the vampire proposed. “Forget about trying to save the world—that’s just stupid. Let’s drop it all and escape somewhere we can enjoy our last moments together. I don’t mind dying if I get to be together with you. Thinking about it now, the only way I want to die is with you.” “Abara…” “Don’t try to save her—it’s impossible. She’s already gone berserk; no one can stop her from self-destructing. She’s lost her sanity, turning into a beast. She’s unable to consent to soul linking, so you can’t link with her. It’s a checkmate situation, no matter what Ranko said on the phone. Don’t go—you can’t save anyone, and you’ll just end up getting killed.” Ryuunosuke thought that Mari didn’t sound as confident as usual. At that moment, she wasn’t a mythical vampire girl; she was just a regular girl, a high schooler one year his junior. “Look at the sky,” she said. Ryuunosuke did as she asked. The dark-red sky really looked apocalyptic. “It’s the end of the world. It’s unique scenery caused by a mythical girl. We are monsters who should never have been born, who everyone wants dead. But I’m asking you as a human…” Under that ominous sky, the girl pleaded with the boy with all her heart. “…let’s run away as far as we can. It might be too late, and we might die while running, but it’s still better that way. It’s a choice you can make. It might be a bad choice to make, running away when the world is ending, and some people may blame us, but so what? This world isn’t worth saving anyway. Sooner or later, I’d be executed, or I’d go berserk and self-destruct. I have only one wish… Let’s throw it all to hell and enjoy each other,” she tempted. Ryuunosuke imagined spending the last days, or minutes maybe, of the dying world with Mari. Letting go of all obligations and feigning ignorance as everything died—Rinne and the world. Mari might be right about the chances of saving the world at that stage being zero. If it was too late anyway, they might as well make a run for it, and nobody would point a finger at them. He could accept the end of the world as a fact instead of struggling in vain. It was an option. It certainly was… “Sorry, Abara.” …but it wasn’t an option Ryuunosuke would ever consider. Mari must have known this. “I can’t. I don’t care if I die. Not to say I want to die…but I can’t leave Rinne like that and run away. I don’t know if it’s possible to save her or not; maybe it’s not, like you say, but it’s impossible for me to just give up on her. You understand this about me, no?” “…” Ryuunosuke stood from the bench and looked Mari in the eyes. “You said you don’t want me to die, so help me. Let’s do this together and survive. You don’t seem to value your own life, but I do. I want you to live on. If you care about me, then live, fight to stay alive, and if it turns out to be no use, then we’ll die together. Can you do that for me, Marie?” He called her by her preferred name to show that he was sincere. He was entirely reliant on her help, so he tried everything to get her on board. “…Tee-hee.” Mari’s giggle conveyed a mixture of emotions: resignation, sadness, envy, joy, respect, pessimism, yearning, and a tiny bit of jealousy. She didn’t tell him, “It’s because you’re like this that you stole my heart,” biting her tongue before the words were out. “I was only joking earlier. You know that, right? If you said yes, I’d have punched you right in the face!” She stood up, still holding his hands. And on one of his hands was the ray of hope. She’d do anything for him. “Okay, let’s save that idiot, and the world while we’re at it!” “Thanks, Marie!” Mari nodded. “Ryuunosuke…” She let go of his hands and took one step back. Her face flushed red. “Before we go, though…I…I have a request…” “What is it this time?” Mari fidgeted, suddenly acting coy. “Would you…w-wed me, too?” she asked, looking up at him with a pout as if she was upset that she had to ask. “It—it doesn’t mean anything special to me; there’s no deeper meaning to it, obviously, but I just thought it might help us in the upcoming battle. It’s just to boost my factor powers, giving us slightly better odds of saving that reptilian dumbass. I don’t particularly care either way, but it would give us an edge… No, you know what, forget I asked. No need to wed…um, soul link with me—we’ll be fine without it, I’m sure,” Mari said hurriedly, embarrassed. “No, let’s do it.” “Huh…? You’re really casual about this, aren’t you?” Mari looked at Ryuunosuke with dissatisfaction. “Casual? I just think it’s a good idea. It’s going to make you stronger, right? I’ve been thinking for some time that I should link with you, and I really wish now I’d done it earlier. I was told to hold off on it, but we’ve got an emergency on our hands.” “Argh, you! How can you be so insensitive, you jerk?!” “What…? Do you not want to link with me after all?” “I do!!!” Mari turned her face away from him and began to unfasten the buttons of her uniform shirt. She had to do that to give him access to the Stigma on her chest, of course, so her intentions weren’t inappropriate. But still, Ryuunosuke got nervous and didn’t know where to look. Mari opened up the top of her shirt. Her bra was showing. Ryuunosuke wasn’t making any move toward Mari, staying rooted to the spot as the poor girl waited. “So, um… Are you sure this is going to work without you being even a little bit berserk?” “What? Oh, I…don’t know… We’ll just have to try…” “It really is a shotgun soul wedding. Neither of us came prepared,” Ryuunosuke joked, and they both laughed, their moods lifting. Mari’s Stigma appeared on her chest, and simultaneously, Ryuunosuke’s ring lit up. It was generating heat, expanding and spreading over his entire arm. “Ryuunosuke,” Mari said resolutely, but with affection. “Touch me.” He nodded and reached toward her chest. His fingers touched the mark. “In sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, for richer and for poorer…” She began reciting the pledge in a clear, sonorous voice. “…do you vow to stand behind me, to be my support, my companion…” She knew the sacred formula for binding souls together. “…to be mine from now until the world ends?” “I do.” As she spoke, the light of her Stigma faded, while the light of Ryuunosuke’s ring burst into glittering speckles that surrounded both of them. The speckles were floating toward Mari’s mark, as if it was pulling them toward it. “Nngh!” Mari fidgeted. Her Stigma disappeared, and a ring of light formed around her ring finger. A tiara woven of light briefly appeared on her head before dispersing into darkness. Their soul linking was complete. Mari traced her new ring with the index finger of her right hand. She lifted her hand to gaze elatedly at this symbol of her bond with Ryuunosuke. “…You put a ring on my finger, Ryuunosuke.” She giggled. “Huh? Ah, yep.” “Not the least excited, are you?” “Well, it’s my second time around.” “Urgh, you!” Mari face-palmed, but then she extended her hand to Ryuunosuke. “Okay, let’s fly right over to that idiot. Can’t keep her waiting forever.” “Sure.” Ryuunosuke took Mari’s hand in his. “Oh, by the way, there’s something I want to do in front of her.” “Yeah? What is it?” A mischievous but still beautiful smile appeared on Mari’s lips. “Can’t you guess? Let me suck you right in front of her.” Back to the present moment. After some bloodsucking, Mari the vampire was ready to battle the dragon. The vampire landed on the asphalt parking lot of the research facility in the middle of a forest. She set down Ryuunosuke behind her and turned toward the dragon. The sky above them was an apocalyptic mix of red and black. Mari wasn’t going to kill the dragon, nor beat her in battle, nor capture her. She was going to save her. “Marie,” Ryuunosuke called. “Yes?” “You can do this.” “Sure. Don’t move an inch and leave it all to me!” She sensed him nodding his head behind her. Mari remembered something Rinne had said to her. “You are strong…but I have Ryuunosuke.” She could understand now exactly how Rinne had felt back then. It wasn’t just that the soul linking had made her stronger. Having Ryuunosuke standing behind her, cheering her on, gave her so much confidence, she believed there was no way she’d lose.
Chapter 12
18 min read