It was 10 PM.
Kanzaki was standing on the balcony on the second level of the resort. The night at the seaside was like the night in a desert, as the beach didn't retain heat very well.
Tsuchimikado climbed up the pillar on the balcony. To others, he was a star who was exposed in a scandal, so he couldn't appear normally.
Tsuchimikado was currently staring at Kanzaki, who was letting the night wind stroke her.
"What's up? Your face sure is red. Are you still thinking about what happened just now?"
"…Do you think I would?"
"Sigh…actually, you want to, right? There's a thrill on being seen—I…I was joking! Kanzaki nee-chin, as a swordswoman, can your temper not be that violent?"
"I understand."
Kanzaki answered impatiently.
Then, she sighed gently.
"However, it seems that the boy really has nothing to do with Angel Fall. If he's really a magician, his personality wouldn't be so naïve."
"He has no reason to do this. But if we're to think like that, the people around Kami-yan are like him. These people wouldn't even know what to do with an angel even if they captured one."
Those words weren't implying that they looked down on Kamijou, but that it was a different problem. Even if they got (what was said to be) the incredible power of an angel, it would be useless if they didn't have any knowledge of magic. Though Japan's household appliances were brilliant, they were useless if they were taken overseas only for the plugs to be different. Thus, it wasn't a discussion of superiority.
But if so, there were no other suspicious people.
Nobody knew what they should do.
Both of them couldn't find the crux in their thoughts at all, and they could only focus on other stuff.
"Speaking of which, is it alright to put that child in Kamijou Touma's hands? It's been less than a day…no, just half a day, and that happened. To make the mistake of entering a ladies' bathroom, that's not something that even a third grader would do. Maybe he and that child had something…even worse…"
"Hm…however, Kami-yan should be able to control himself, right? He's not the type who'll attack when girls are sleeping." Tsuchimikado folded his arms in front of his chest and said, "And he's not an expert, you understand? He's not an expert. He's not like us who can get rid of the guilt of killing by a lofty reason. He won't push his own sin to anyone else; he'll always move forward with the guilt. Don't you think that's enough reason to be confident in him?"
"…Well…"
"Besides, Kami-yan was the savior of Index, and we couldn't even thank him enough. How can we pick on his shortcomings?"
"I know, I understand what you're saying."
That's right, when Index was at the brink of death, the one who saved her was Kamijou Touma.
Not Kanzaki Kaori, not Stiyl Magnus, but Kamijou Touma.
Normally, she should be thanking him. No, using such a term would be too light. She should repay him with all she had. Even the crane and the tortoise knew how to do that.
"…But I really can't find a chance to do that."
In truth, ever since what happened during the Index incident, Kanzaki was too busy with her job. Because of that and the circumstances, she never once thanked Kamijou, which made her feel guilty.
"In the end, he actually did such a stupid thing, and it's really awkward for me to thank him now…"
"Aiya, Kanzaki nee-chin, he just saw you naked, is that enough reason for you not to thank him now?"
"Uu…"
Kanzaki was speechless.
"Aiyaya, so Kanzaki nee-chin's level of repayment is just this?"
"Uuu…"
Kanzaki gritted her teeth as she stared at Tsuchimikado.
At that moment, Kamijou Touma was standing alone at the first level of the Wadatsumi resort as he pondered about something.
Though the lights were on, there was nobody else around. The girls could be heard laughing, maybe Index and the rest were playing poker cards or something.
The TV was on and airing the nightly news. The nightly news wasn't any different from the afternoon news, but had some unnecessary descriptions to buffer the load.
"Dear viewers—the criminal Hino Jinsaku who had escaped from the Shinfuchuu prison is still at large. Hino's modus operandi is rather unique. He's called a 'ritual killer', and so there are a lot of people who worship him and even imitate him. This time, the police think that these people may be helping him…"
Through the image displayed on the screen, Kamijou blankly watched Komoe-sensei report the news.
"…Besides that, Hino Jinsaku had a history of being a psychiatric patient in a hospital, and admitted before the trial that he has a split personality, so whether he should be responsible for the murders is still up for debate…"
Hino Jinsaku.
To Kamijou, who had lost his memory, he had no impression on that killer before he was apprehended. However, whenever there was a serious case of homicide, his name would always be mentioned, and even now, there would occasionally be a photo of him on TV programs or weekly magazines. It was known that he was responsible for many infamous murder cases.
It wasn't good for the mood to continue watching such news, so Kamijou continued to switch the channel to a variety program that was introducing a diet food that allowed people to slim down fast. While watching the news, Kamijou continued to think of what he saw on the news.
(Split personality…that's right, the summer remedial did mention about espers with split personality…)
Kamijou casually watched the TV as he thought. In this so-called split personality, the line between personality A and personality B wasn't always clear. In some cases, there could be instances of both personalities appearing at the same time, like for example, the left and right hands were respectively commanded by different personalities, or when personality A was thinking, personality B was moving the hands.
—The above knowledge was what Kamijou had learned from the summer remedial a week ago. Komoe-sensei had said that there was a lot of data regarding those with split personalities, because there was a time where it was popular to research on people with split personalities to see whether they could have two different abilities.
"…Ugh…"
Remembering the content of the lessons, Kamijou, who hated studying, lazily laid his head onto the table.
A lot of things had happened today, and Kamijou's mind started to make some adjustments.
A spell called Angel Fall was activated.
It was said that this spell was aimed at controlling an angel with a strong power.
And the side effect was that everyone's personality and appearance got switched.
The effect lasted throughout everywhere in the world.
Angel Fall wasn't complete, so they had to destroy it now.
Once Angel Fall was complete, it would be all over.
If they wanted to destroy Angel Fall, they had to beat the caster or destroy the place of ritual.
Kamijou Touma was located at the center of that phenomenon, so he was seen as the caster.
A few magicians who noticed the phenomenon may come to assassinate Kamijou.
So Kamijou had to find the real culprit before Angel Fall was complete and either beat the caster or destroy the place of ritual.
"…Hm…"
Lonely, Kamijou lay on the table and pondered.
For a person who was about to be assassinated, such an action was way too defenseless.
(There's no tension at all…)
That was right, this time, Kamijou wasn't sneaking into a killer's building like the Misawa Cram School, nor would he be slowed down and let twenty thousand people get killed. Though the world was in a dire situation, to Kamijou, he was feeling that this was somewhat comical and unreal.
(And I have two experts from the magic world this time.)
Though to Kamijou, Tsuchimikado was still just a 'neighbor'. Since those two (seemed to be) experts in this, Kamijou felt somewhat safe now that they were with him.
Actually, Kamijou didn't notice that he was using the reason of being an amateur to push the responsibility to Kanzaki and Tsuchimikado, the experts. Besides, Kamijou was just an ordinary high school student.
—'The owner of the stare' was now staring at the completely defenseless boy.
And this 'owner of the stare' was hiding underneath the Wadatsumi resort. The resort had a seventy centimeter tall space below the floor to prevent sand and moisture from entering. In terms of structure, it was like the platform of a shrine.
'The owner of the stare' was staring at the boy from through the wooden planks.
"…Angel-sama, Angel-sama."
The frail and skinny middle-aged man had a shrill voice like an elementary school student before the voice breaks. The voice echoed throughout the darkness, bringing a sense of madness.
"…Angel-sama, Angel-sama, please listen to me!"
One could slightly hear the sound of something like nails scratching wildly on the floor.
In truth, 'the owner of the stare' had nowhere to go. He didn't come to that place willingly. He wanted to find his comrades, but the police's movements were faster than what he had expected, causing him to be trapped there.
"Angel-sama, please listen to me, Angel-sama!"
However, the 'owner of the stare' didn't have the fearful and anxious look of a fugitive.
His right hand was holding onto a uniquely shaped knife, and his left hand was holding a thoroughly scarred wooden board the size of a notebook.
Krekrekre…the sharp edge of the blade continued to scratch the wooden board. The 'owner of the stare' spoke with a glare.
"Angel-sama, how can I escape the police pursuit and find my other friends?"
Krekrekre...as if responding to his own question, the right hand moved on it own, with a will that was completely unrelated to the 'owner of the stare'. The 'owner of the stare' continued to stare at the sharp edge of the blade. The scars on the wooden board were all carvings made by the knife. These were the instructions of the Angel-sama.
"Angel-sama, do you mean that you'll help me if I again offer sacrifices?"
Krekrekre...the 'owner of the stare' would always follow the directions given by the words. The Angel-sama was always right. As long as he followed the directions the Angel-sama, he wouldn't be wrong. But sometimes, the Angel-sama would give requests that were somewhat uncomfortable. Under the orders of the Angel-sama, the 'owner of the stare' had already killed 28 people.
"Angel-sama, Angel-sama. How about I choose this boy as a sacrifice?"
Krekrekre…the knife carved three letters on the wooden board. YES. The 'owner of the stare's' expression darkened. He was going to kill again. How irritating. He hated it, he really didn't want to kill. But I have to do it. This is the Angel-sama's orders, it's not my fault.
"Angel-sama, I'll believe you again."
The 'owner of the stare' said that as it licked its thick and short tongue on the uniquely shaped knife.
This 'owner of the stare' was the death convict, Hino Jinsaku. He used the knife to cut an extremely thick electric cable.
In a moment, all the lights went out.
"No electricity?"
Kamijou frowned in the darkness. As the entrance to the resort was open, the moonlight shined in from outside, so it wasn't completely dark.
The moment the power went out, people would unconsciously turn to the electric appliances that lost electricity. While Kamijou casually turned to look at the ceiling lamp that had suddenly turned dark—
zzz…
There was a light cutting sound coming from the wooden floor below Kamijou's feet.
Feeling suspicious, Kamijou stood up and looked down at the floor around his feet.
At that moment…
PA! A crescent shaped blade pierced through the floor below his feet.
"…!"
Kamijou felt his throat becoming parched all of a sudden. Just two seconds ago, if Kamijou's consciousness hadn't been attracted by the darkened light, and if he hadn't stood up, he would have been…thinking about this, uncomfortable sweat oozed out every single inch of Kamijou's body.
A short knife blade.
This crescent-shaped thirty-centimeter-long blade was sharp on the inside, and not on the outside. Thus, instead of calling it a dagger, it was more like a sickle or a claw.
Krekrekre, the blade swayed back and forth before gradually sinking into the floor.
He had to get out of there. However, Kamijou couldn't move. His mind was blank, as if there was a mysterious drug in his blood. His heart was about to burst due to the sudden pumping. Kamijou barely glimpsed, the hole in the floor that was left behind by the blade.
Kamijou seemed to see something.
Looking through the hole on the floor and into the darkness, Kamijou saw something bloodshot, like a marsh, something that looked like it was peeking through a keyhole…
A crazy looking eyeball.
"Ee…"
Kamijou inadvertently let out a terrified sound as he took one step backwards. Immediately, the blade that chased Kamijou pierced out near Kamijou's sole. Kamijou lost his balance and tumbled onto the floor. The blade again sunk as it prepared to make another strike.
(Calm down! Calm down!)
Kamijou muttered what sounded like a curse, but that caused his body to freeze up more. With his mind almost completely frozen, Kamijou started to think hard. He definitely mustn't fall onto the floor. That would be too dangerous. Since the enemy was attacking from below the floor, he just needed to jump onto the table. Just as Kamijou thought about that, as he intended to climb up—
PA!
The entire floor split open and a hand reached out from the floor to grab Kamijou's foot.
"UWA…AAAHHHHH!!!"
The sudden shock caused Kamijou's heart to nearly pop out of his mouth.
Kamijou tried to drag his foot away, but he couldn't get rid of the hand that was holding onto it. That wasn't because the hand was particularly forceful, but because Kamijou's foot seemed numb and didn't follow his commands at all.
(Calm down! Don't panic! Don't be scared! I don't know who the enemy is, but it's definitely not a monster I never saw before! Piercing a knife through the floor and punching through the floor with a fist, these are things that humans can do! So if I calm down…)
Thinking about that, Kamijou's eyes suddenly saw something.
The hand that was holding onto his ankle.
Some fingernails were cracked, some were torn out; some were stained with blackish-red blocks. The fingers were bluish-black, and there was a large scar on the back of the hand. The blood spots continued to peel, and the disgusting black pieces of meat flipped out from the wounds.
It looked like a rotten fruit that was excreting some transparent fluid.
Like a corpse's hand that got infected by some mysterious killer virus.
"Ah…ah…ugh…"
Kamijou's breathing started to hasten, and his heart started to beat irregularly.
Every single thing his attacker did wasn't something that a human couldn't do. It was nothing compared to Accelerator or the alchemist. From a passer-by's view, the person may wonder why Kamijou was breathing so hard and his pulse remained extremely messed up.
However, there was an easy to understand reason.
For example, if there was a live cockroach in a plastic bag; even if one knew that there was a plastic bag, they wouldn't dare touch the cockroach directly, let alone bite it to death.
It was the same logic.
Thus, even though logic told us that it was nothing, the fear and trembling wouldn't stop.
That attacker specialized in using psychological fear and irritation to cause the prey to be immobile.
"Ah…ahh…ugh…UGH…!"
Kamijou continued to tug at his leg, trying to shake off the hand that was grabbing onto his ankle. However, his body felt like it got hit with anesthetic. Kamijou couldn't get rid of the black-colored fear rooted deep within his heart.
Kamijou tumbled onto the floor as a foot of his was grabbed. The sound of wood being cut by a blade could be heard near his chest.
On the other hand.
The owner of another stare was lying in ambush 150 meters away on the dim beach, looking at what was going on in the Wadatsumi resort.
It was a red nun.
She was about thirteen years old, with wavy blond hair. Her white skin seemed to reflect the bright moonlight. Though the girl looked cute, her attire was rather weird. She was only wearing a shirt underneath her haori. Actually, the shirt wasn't any different from formfitting underwear, as it revealed the girl's pretty figure fully. Also, the girl was bound by black straps and metal braces, and they seemed to form a bondage outfit. There was an extremely thick ring around her neck, with a rein around it. The leather strap on her waist was full of tools like pincers, hammers, an L-shaped crowbar, and saws.
Those tools weren't used for carpentry, they were witch tribunal tools that specialized in cutting flesh, scraping bones and breaking bodies. Looking closer, these tools were slightly modified to be different from ordinary carpentry tools.
The girl with interrogation tools all over her remained expressionless.
She lowered her head. Her hair covered most of her face, only revealing her small lips showing a slight sigh.
The girl was listening closely.
There seemed to be quite a few people on the second floor of the Wadatsumi resort. They seemed to feel that something was not right, but it would take them about six seconds to get down to the first floor.
Six seconds. The blade of the attacker from below the floor would have pierced through the victim's heart.
The girl, her expression hidden behind her hair, again sighed.
She then got up.
Without any preparatory moves, the girl's little body quickly moved forward, reducing the distance of 150 meters to 0; the time taken was far less than six seconds.
Fifty meters per second.
It was about as fast as a crossbow. No, maybe even faster.
At that moment…
The red nun entered Kamijou's vision at an alarming rate.
As it was too fast, Kamijou didn't even realize that it was a girl.
The red girl lowered her body, almost sticking onto the ground as she continued to run. She drew the L-shaped crowbar and aimed at the hand that was grabbing onto Kamijou's foot and swung hard at it like a baseball bat.
The bone, and the entire wrist got fractured.
"Uo…ah…GYAAHHH!!"
A cry of agony could be heard from below the floor. The hand that was grabbing onto Kamijou's ankle snuck down and escaped. From the sound of a body rubbing against the floor, the attacker seemed like he was trying to get some distance.
"…"
The red nun threw the crowbar away and pulled out the hammer. She then raised the hammer and slammed it hard onto the floor, forming a seventy centimeter wide hole.
Her blond hair fluttered about as the girl threw the hammer away and pulled out a pincer as she jumped into the hole.
After a second of silence…
BAM! A terrifying sound could be heard from underneath the floor. Something seemed to have been knocked hard, and it was followed by a sound like a beast trying to break out of a sturdy cage.
Kamijou could roughly hear the battle going on below.
BOOM! A hole suddenly opened on the floor five meters in front of him. A black figure leaps out of the floor like a dolphin.
That black figure wasn't that of the red nun.
A skinny and bony middle-aged man tumbled around on the floor and hurriedly stood up.
His skin color was extremely unhealthy looking; it was obvious at first glance that his insides were damaged. The rice-colored workclothes were stained with sweat, dirt, blood and fats. His right hand was holding onto a sickle that looked like a metal claw; and his left wrist was fractured, with bluish-black clotting underneath it. A red liquid flowed down his lips, and an incisor and canine of his were already forcefully pulled out.
"Guu—AAHHHHHH!!"
The middle-aged man was like a wounded beast and he raised the curved knife to hack at Kamijou.
(Ugh...!)
Kamijou reflexively looked around for a weapon that could be used to block the curved knife. He frantically reached into his pockets and searched around, and his fingers felt something hard. Pulling it out to look, it was just a cell phone. This thing couldn't possibly block a knife, Kamijou cursed. Suddenly, he thought of something. He flicked the foldable phone open and shined the screen at the face of that person who was attacking.
PA! The strong light instantly lit up the surrounding darkness.
"GYAAHHH!!"
Having lost his sight, the middle-aged man stopped what he was doing. Kamijou tried to escape, but his feet weren't listening. He could only roll on the floor and get the distance from the attacker.
The middle-aged man raised the curved knife, yet he didn't come pursuing.
His body wavered about, muttering in his mouth.
"Angel-sama…Angel-sama…"
On the workclothes, near the chest, there seemed to be something reflecting the moonlight.
Looking closely, it was a nametag.
"ANGEL-SAMA! ANGEL-SAMA! ANGEL-SAMA!!"
On the plastic nametag that was sewn onto the clothes, there were a few words on it.
Prisoner number 710687 Hino Jinsaku.
"Angel-sama, what's going on? Angel-sama, I followed your orders, why did I get this outcome!? Angel-sama, I gave up 28 lives for you!!"
The man in prisoner clothes let out a confused, maniacal cry of despair.
At that moment, Kamijou suddenly remembered the news content he saw on the TV the entire day.
"—Dear viewers, I'm the live reporter Komori. The death row convict that escaped from the Shinfuchuu Prison at midnight this morning is still not found. The nearby middle schools have suspended all club activities. Right now, the atmosphere is very tense…"
(However...)
Kamijou saw this psychotic person that was shouting and rambling about. That person was definitely the criminal. It was not hard to tell from his clothes that he was the Hino Jinsaku that had escaped from jail.
However, why didn't Hino Jinsaku switch his appearance with others?
—Under the effects of Angel Fall, wouldn't everyone's appearance be switched?
And who was that 'Angel-sama' that Hino Jinsaku was shouting about?
—What was the final goal of the Angel Fall spell?
(Don't tell me…this guy…)
Kamijou wanted to open his mouth and ask, but at that moment, Hino Jinsaku suddenly raised the knife.
"ANSWER ME, ANGEL-SAMA! WHAT SHOULD I DO? WHAT SHOULD I DO NEXT? ANGEL-SAMA! YOU HAVE TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY, TELL ME THE TRUTH!!"
The knife landed.
But not at Kamijou. Hino swung the knife at his own body. The blade violently moved about, creating a sound of things being ripped apart. The workclothes were torn by this blade that was swaying about, and the shirt was stained in sweat got shredded as well, instantly becoming red.
The large number of wounds seemed erratic, but they lined up in words like a child using a knife to carve a table wildly.
GO ESCAPE
There was no other way to express it, just a line of letters. However, on seeing that 'instruction', Hino Jinsaku's bloody face showed a smile of despair.
Then, the floor between Kamijou and Hino was shattered. The red nun jumped up, holding a pincer that had something white between it; it looked like a human incisor. The red nun gripped the pincer forcefully, causing the white thing to shatter.
On seeing the red nun, Hino Jinsaku, who lost an incisor unnaturally was terrified as he backed away. He then pulled a wet cloth out as he wiped the blood stains of the curved knife, before throwing it at the girl.
The red nun swayed her head slightly, easily dodging the curved knife.
Having lost its target, the knife flew at Kamijou's face.
"Eh?"
After letting out a puzzled sound, Kamijou suddenly realized how foolish he was. At that moment, the knife was still approaching Kamijou quickly, and the speed could be compared to a hammer swinging down on a nail.
"WAHH!"
Kamijou frantically rolled away and dodged it, but the knife still grazed his face.
Just a light cut.
But at that moment, Kamijou lost his balance. He collapsed onto the ground, unable to get up. He was sweating profusely, and felt like vomiting.
(Poi…son? Damn it…what did he apply on that…?)
The action of rubbing the knife with the cloth was to apply poison.
It was said that among some minority tribes in Africa, they would apply poisonous caterpillar fluids on the tips of the spears before hunting. Maybe this was a similar poison. Kamijou's body had developed a rather decent resistance due to Academy City's training, but he couldn't prevent the power of the poison from taking effect.
Kamijou's vision became blurry, and then darker.
With an unbelievable laughter, Kamijou felt that Hino Jinsaku had already escaped the seaside resort.
The red nun wanted to give chase, but after hesitating, she decided to dash towards Kamijou.
At that moment, Kamijou lost consciousness.