OTO Chapter 124

I got the schedule wrong. Today I was supposed to be translating MSM but I translated OTO instead… So here it is!

And no worries, MSM will be up tomorrow!

Huge thanks to Peter for becoming my patron!

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[Collapse of Severance]

Having passed through the forest and returned to the village, I stand stock still on the spot.

“Hah… hah…”

Most of the houses have been crushed due to the battle and turned into rubbles.

My gaze is toward Boss standing in front of the wall of a house beyond the square.

Boss has his back turn to me and is pressing Tameiki-san against the wall, but then he let go of his hand and turns around.

“To think you would come back. I’m surprised,” Boss says. Boss and I are facing each other across the crater made by Shido-san.

Sliding down the wall, Tameiki-san… collapses on the spot.

She is not breathing anymore, and her heart have stopped beating.

“…She is dead.”

“Yeah,” Boss reply to my muttered words.

Tameiki-san was… killed. I didn’t make it in time.

No… not yet.

Although she is in cardiopulmonary arrest, life-saving measures may still be able to save her.

But I don’t think Boss will let me do that.

The grace period is a few minutes. In that case…

I have no choice but to kill him first——

When I thought so and took a step forward, Boss takes a knife out of his pocket and throws it to Tameiki-san’s neck.

“…!”

The knife pierces her neck deeply, and her blood flows, forming a small blood pool.

She is… without a doubt, dead.

“This will be a good medal,” Boss holds his crushed arm and says so. Blood drips from his fingertips one after another.

Dizziness attacks me. I hold down half of my face and manage to get my staggering body upright somehow.

…If things would turn out this way, what the hell did I come back here for?

“Tameiki-san… had been working for the organization all these times,” It’s no use. There is no point in saying such a thing.

I glare at Boss while enduring headaches and nausea.

“I know that best.”

Right, of course Boss knew that as well.

Ah… dammit. In that case, Tameiki-san was too pitiful, whatever the circumstances might be.

But… why do I feel sympathy rather than sadness or anger?

Is it because I knew that Tameiki-san couldn’t beat Boss?

No, that’s not it. It’s because at this point I… prioritize my own life.

However, for that reason, I can stay calmer than usual.

“You sure are heartless, even if I say so myself,” Boss says.

I slowly take a deep breath.

My headache and dizziness have subsided.

It’s still unknown whether or not Tameiki-san is alive, but I wouldn’t be able to beat Boss if I challenge him head on.

Then, what to do?

To bring him into a conversation, or to hide at once.

The latter is the one I want to choose, but there is no place to hide because the area is completely flat.

To deliberately show myself, that was too thoughtless.

“If you still want to confess, I’ll gladly listen, you know.”

Was the reason I spat out such provocative line because I had gone crazy?

If it turns into a battle, then it can’t be helped. I just have to do it.

Looking at his tendency so far, Boss kills by melee attack.

Even Tameiki-san seemed to be strangled to death after all; I better be cautious about throwing knives and such, but as long as I spread Distortion Sound to the surroundings, I can crush the activation of his ability when he approaches.

“It seems the battle on that side is over,” Boss looks at another direction. That direction was where Utsusemi-san and Chiyaku-san were heading.

The sound of their battle has stopped before I notice; it seems that the victor has been decided.

“You said ‘confession’ right, Shion?”

After bending down and pulling out the knife from Tameiki-san’s neck, Boss looks back at me.

“Yes.”

“That’s quite accurate. Shion, don’t you want to ask someone for forgiveness every time you think of your guilt?”

“Not anymore, I’m over that now.”

Boss, and Anonymous turned me like this.

They taught me that I can’t live unless I’m evil.

“Right, normally, you’d want to blame someone at first. But as you continue to live, there comes a time when you get used to it.”

“Are you still not over it, Boss?”

“Ahh. Is it laughable?”

It’s not.

“Such a thing is not laughable, you know.”

If Boss is like that, the member who shook off their guilt and devoted themselves to evil would be too irredeemable.

“That’s not what I want to hear though.”

Having said that, Boss laughs, closes his eyes, and slowly walk toward me.

I exhale and forcibly paste a smile on my face. Putting my hand on my knife in the holder, I look at Boss quietly.

When it comes to fighting against Boss, it doesn’t matter whether you make the first move or the second move.

However, Distortion Sound is a technique that can surprise the enemy. Thus, I’ll make the first move.

——Silent World

I just need a moment.

Endure… endure it somehow, me.

The disappearance of sound gives me the illusion that the world has stopped.

However, that is merely for a moment.

Boss is quietly holding his knife. He’s still far away.

However, he is within the range of the Silent World.

——Distortion Sound

Suddenly, Boss stops his feet and opens his eyes wide.

At that moment, I start running.

*Throb* My head hurts.

Not good, just a little more. I just need a little more to reach Boss.

Until then, the Silent World can’t be undone.

I close the distance of several tens of meters in a few seconds. As I approach, Boss kicks the ground.

At this distance, Distortion Sound should be able to reach him even without the Silent World, so I cancel it.

Sounds returns to the world.

I swing my knife at Boss’ crushed arm.

Blood sprays out, and I follow up with another swing, aiming for his neck.

He’s completely open.

In the next moment, sparks scatters.

The knife I swung was repelled by Boss’ knife.

“…ngh!”

Dangerous…!

I step back and keep a distance in preparation for a counterattack. However, Boss’ follow up attack is extremely fast.

Last-minute reaction. I let go of my knife and reach out my hand toward the grappling gun.

At the same time, Boss’s body blurs.

When I notice it, Boss has already retreated far back.

“Cra-…!”

Boss came out of the range of the Distortion Sound in an instant.

It was clearly not the movement of someone whose ability was sealed. It was too fast.

And a strange feeling of emptiness attacks me.

Intuitively, I know that my time was stolen.

Ability to infringe the only right given equally to all humankind, namely time.

…I can’t beat this person.

It feels like I’m having a blackout. No, it’s not a blackout. Suddenly, Boss appears before me.

I can’t recover from the gap of that lag-like feeling in time. While being thrown off balance, I stretch my hand forward, and the knife that Boss thrusted pierce into my right hand.

“Gh…!”

I fall to the back just like that. Then, I hit a wall that shouldn’t have been behind me, and my hand is fixed to the wall with the knife as is.

Letting go of the knife, Boss puts his hand on my neck.

There, he suddenly stops moving.

“That’s strange,” Saying that, Boss’ eyes turn to the left.

I, who is restrained, also turn my eyes that way.

There is a man standing there.

He has a gaunt face and is wearing an awfully tattered attire. His hair is a mess and his skin is a bit sunburnt, but I know who he is in a glance.

“I don’t remember inviting you, Midou Tsurugi.”

“I invited him, Hyde.”

It was a woman’s voice.

Boss’s line of sight now shifts to the right.

“I see,” He sneers with a ‘hah’.

Boss separates from me and turns around.

I’m familiar with the person who appeared from the other side.

Pure white hair…

She is… the girl who appeared in the Observer’s room.

“We finally met, Hyde.”

“It’s much earlier than I expected though… only your appearance that is according to my plan. Yumesaki Aika… No, Observer.

Do you come to obstruct me again?”

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Haaaah… That feeling when your fav character dies is just… Haaah

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