Dark Forest 2
In the dark forest.
"From this moment on, whether our hearts stop or keep beating depends entirely on where your gaze falls."
What is that supposed to mean...
"We're counting on you."
Before he quite knew what was happening, Dante found himself bound by something resembling a strange contract of life with a group of complete strangers. He had barely begun to process the situation when people came pouring out of the bus.
"Is this... really all it takes?"
Ishmael.
"An apple has fallen."
Yi Sang, who opened with a completely random remark the instant he appeared.
"Ugh... I'm all stiff. Can we move now?"
Rodion, stretching with a groan.
"Well, loosening up a bit wouldn't hurt."
Gregor, following right behind her.
"And what is that pitiful thing sprawled on the ground? Is that supposed to be our final member?"
Outis, who started insulting Dante the moment she laid eyes on him. After that, every last Sinner filed out. Still reeling, Dante asked who they were and what the bus was supposed to be. Faust answered,
"We are agents of justice who have come to aid you, and this is a magic bus that can take us anywhere we wish."
"A magic bus... Hmm... I feel like I saw something like that in a cartoon when I was little. It could fly through the sky, I'm pretty sure..."
Hinata dredged up a childhood memory. Ui vaguely recalled it as well.
According to Faust's explanation, these people—including herself—are here to fight in my place. Since my combat ability is basically nonexistent, I stay in the back and give orders.
That sounds a lot like us! Sensei is our commander too, but he's not much of a fighter either.
Oh, really? What a coincidence.
They had discovered yet another parallel between Kivotos and the City—strictly speaking, limited to Limbus Company, but still.
And so we fought our first battle against the enemy. There were twelve of us and only three of them. Numerically, we had the advantage.
So with Dante's brilliant command, the Sinners crushed those wicked villains, right? In Sensei's first operation he retook the Sanctum Tower from the enemy with just four people—Yuuka, Hasumi, Suzumi, and Chinatsu. I'm sure Dante must have—
No. We lost spectacularly.
Huh?
The enemy was simply too strong. And I was nowhere near as impressive as that teacher of yours.
"..."
Hinata's eyes, which had been sparkling as she fired off messages, turned into flat dots. Yes, this was the realistic outcome, Ui thought. Sensei might be hopeless in a fight, but his talent for command was so extraordinary it bordered on the unreal. Dante, it seemed, had not quite reached that level.
There was another difference they had already heard about several times: durability. In Kivotos, getting shot just hurt a little. Over there, bodies were fundamentally fragile. Yet the techniques for killing people had been refined to an extreme, so even a modest gap in basic combat skill meant that charging in with numbers could still get you cut down in a single stroke.
The next scene showed exactly that. The Sinners were slaughtered outright—run through, carved apart, the ground soaked in blood. Confronted for the first time with the cruelty of the City they had only heard about, the girls' faces went pale. This was a concept utterly foreign to them: death.
"Th-the Sinners... they d-died..."
"Ugh... hhk—"
Hinata began to stammer. Ui felt her stomach turn. Yet one question rose through the nausea. If they had all died then, how were they speaking with the girls now?
In the end only Faust remained, and Dante of that moment was panicking, completely at a loss.
W-what? You said you'd fight for me!
"I never said we would win."
"...Ha."
That ranked among the most absurd lines Ui had ever heard. Dante seemed to feel the same way.
What kind of nonsense is that?! Th-then... you've still got some trump card left, right? Someone as brainy as you must have—
There was no such thing. Faust was run through by the leopard's halberd and left a final remark about following the star.
What the hell am I supposed to do? They show up all full of themselves and then just die one after another... Ugh, ever since I repeated that guy's words, I can't remember anything from before...
Whatever means Dante had possessed before losing his memories seemed to have vanished with them.
The scene ended there, and the book turned to the next page.
Hinata snatched up the pen in a hurry.
D-D-D-Dante, after going through something like that, how are you perfectly fine right now? A-and the Sinners clearly d-d-di...
Her hand was shaking so badly she could barely form the letters. Ui was a little calmer, though she suspected she would have written much the same if she had been the one holding the pen. Dante replied at once.
Yeah... of course it was a huge shock for you. But don't worry. You'll understand later.
Anyway, back then I was sure I was about to die. Right as I was waiting for the end, he appeared.
The paper unfolded again, forming a miniature screen. The scene opened on the lion seizing Dante by the collar. And then—
"Tell the snake this, false lion. This is a current that cannot be stopped."
A voice low and rough enough to make the skin crawl rang out, followed by a flash of crimson light. In an instant the lion's arms and legs were severed and sent tumbling across the ground; she collapsed, screaming in agony.
"Ghh... Aaaaaagh!"
"Red...? Why... ugh!"
Moments later the wolf's limbs were cut away as well. The owner of the voice was Vergilius, holding a vermilion blade, his eyes glowing a vivid scarlet that lived up to the moniker Red Gaze.
"Do you know why I only took the limbs? So that you, still whole, would grab the others and scramble away in a panic. You're the only one left who can replace those lost arms and legs."
"...Red Gaze."
The leopard glared at Vergilius, yet made no further move. It was hard to believe this was the same being who had just slaughtered the Sinners with such ease; she had become utterly passive.
"Is that... what they call a Color?"
"...Seems so. It's beyond anything I imagined. I couldn't even see him move. And this pressure..."
Even though it was only a recording, Vergilius radiated an overwhelming aura. Ui caught herself wondering, for a moment, who would win if he fought Mika.
"With injuries like those, the ones above will consider your work finished. Wear them like medals. Or...
Would you rather finish your life here?"
"..."
The leopard could say nothing. Dante, who had been watching in silence, began to tick.
W-what, are you with the ones who went down? But it's already...
"Nothing is too late, Dante."
Vergilius did not so much as blink at the corpses strewn across the ground.
"All we need is time to turn back."
...!
In that instant Dante began to thrash in pain. At first it was hard to tell exactly why, but the sound of bones and organs shattering and then knitting themselves back together made the girls understand at once what he was feeling. And at the same time—
"Ah, the Sinners' bodies...!"
"...!"
Just as Hinata said, the Sinners' ruined corpses began to mend, automatically restoring themselves. Before long they opened their eyes again, returned to a state without a single wound.
"R-resurrection? How in the world..."
"...This seems to go beyond ordinary science."
The girls murmured, unable to believe what they had just witnessed. The paper screen darkened once more, and the last thing they heard was Vergilius's voice.
"It's going to keep being exquisitely painful from here on, Dante."