Hizumi and I froze, turned around, and saw Ophelia and others come up onto the deck and get into a lifeboat.
The evil spirit was standing with her back to the moon, feeling the night breeze with her trench coat. And she grinned.
Then—she disappeared.
Less than a fraction of a second later, she was blocking the lifeboat’s path.
“Hey, hey, hey, it’s a gorgeous evening. A beautiful night like this makes me grateful for the once-in-a-lifetime chance encounter I’ve been blessed with.”
With a pompous gesture, the evil spirit bowed gracefully.
“To stomp out this wonderful encounter, I’d like to kill you…but first, here’s a question. How many pieces do you think there are to a dog?”
The inhuman being, in the form of a beautiful woman, hummed to herself as she smelled the fear that permeated the air.
“I know it’s a tough question. Not many humans have had the opportunity to take apart their pet dogs. Shall I give you a quick list? The pharynx, trachea, esophagus, bronchi, heart, lungs, liver, stomach, spleen, kidneys, pancreas, large intestine, small intestine, ureter, penis, bladder, urethra, rectum, anus, prostate, testicles, seminiferous duct—and that’s only the organs. Make clean slices to the bones and the muscles, and you’ll get more. Now, enough of my quiz. I have a proposal for you.”
Smiling, the evil spirit raised her index finger and waved it left and right.
“Only one. I will kill only one of you. But I shall kill that human through painstaking disassembly. There are twelve parts to a frog, eighteen to a pig, twenty-two to a dog, and to answer your question of how many parts a human has, I will show you through a demonstration. I’d like you to choose someone in ten seconds since I’m a busy individual.”
I was about to run toward her—and was restrained from behind. It was Hizumi.
She locked my limbs and joints in place, and I couldn’t move. I tried desperately to stretch out my fingers, but I couldn’t reach my trigger.
“Hizumi…!”
“Sorry, Hiiro Sanjo. When someone saves my life, I have to return the favor. So please be quiet.”
Locked in a full nelson, I looked at the girls as they panicked.
“N-no! Not me! You die!”
“Huh?! Why should I have to die?! You can die!!!”
“Y-you’re the one who’s always dragging us down!”
Alsuhariya smirked as she watched the girls argue.
“Five more seconds—”
“I’ll die.”
Perhaps Alsuhariya hadn’t expected it.
Her eyes were wide open as she stared at Ophelia, who stepped forward.
A whoosh sounded, and a drop of blood dripped down Ophelia’s cheek. Even with a flash to threaten her, she took another step forward as if to protect the others.
“Wh-what’s the matter…?”
Trembling, she took yet another step forward.
“W-we’ve already chosen who you can kill… Me… S-so please, go ahead…”
The evil spirit turned her eyeballs to the sky and sighed, indicating that she’d been turned off.
“Let me ask you a question. Why are you volunteering?”
“I…”
Clutching her precious necklace, Ophelia flashed a brave smile.
“I’m a lady of House Margeline.”
“I see. The type of human that I hate the most,” Alsuhariya said, then grinned in amusement. “But that’s also the type of human whose smile I most enjoy distorting.”
“Oh!!!”
Alsuhariya suddenly took her necklace, and Ophelia’s smile crumpled.
“Ah. This is quite an old item. Which garbage dump did you find it in?”
Alsuhariya held the necklace high in the air and grinned.
“It’s a gift from a lover or someone you love just as much… Isn’t that so?”
“G-give that back!!!”
“Among us demons, I’m the kind who’s kindest to humans. I prefer ruining people to killing them. I have always enjoyed breaking up couples and tossing in a male between women in love. Now, that’s fun. It makes my brain tremble with pleasure.”
Alsuhariya tightened her hold of the necklace, and tears spilled from Ophelia’s eyes.
“S-stop it… Please… Th-that’s…my precious…one and only treasure… Without it, I will never see her again…”
“Thank you for the wonderful seasoning. You’ve just increased the richness of the pleasure I’m enjoying on my tongue!”
As Alsuhariya held her down with a hand, Ophelia sobbed and struggled, fighting to reach the necklace.
“Please…stop it…!!!”
The necklace made a jittery sound in Alsuhariya’s palm as the evil spirit laughed—and her whole arm was blown off.
“Huh?”
Pointing the tip of my sword to the air, I glared at Alsuhariya after slashing her right arm.
“…Don’t touch that yuri girl with your filthy hands.”
I grabbed the necklace from the arm that came spinning to the floor. I gave it to Ophelia as she cried and tapped her on her back.
“Go. It’s okay. You’ll see her again someday. I guarantee it.”
“B-but…wh-what about…you…? What are you going to do…?”
Instead of answering, I adjusted my shoulder after working my way out of Hizumi’s hold. Snapping out of the horror, the other students pulled Ophelia into a death grip and dragged her to the lifeboat.
“Give her VIP treatment, huh?” I said, smiling at them. “She is Ophelia von Margeline.”
The students nodded. Ophelia’s mouth was hanging as the boat quickly sailed away.
The arm I had cut off had already grown back, and Alsuhariya was grinning like she had all the time in the world.
“Hiiro Sanjo, I’ve been waiting for you. First, I’ll introduce myself to you. I am Alsuhariya—”
“Die!!! (Whack! Whack! Whack!)”
“You’ve got to be kidding. I was introducing myself.”
Over and over, I kept twisting the tip of my blade into Alsuhariya’s chest.
My head was filled with the words, I’m going to beat this monster.
“Hey, relax.”
Backing up, Alsuhariya smiled, put a hand to her chest, and bowed.
“How do you do? My name is Alsuhariya—”
Thud! I threw Masamune Kuki at her, which pierced through her brain, and she fell backward.
She got up and pulled the blade out of her head.