The Dominating Play
The pain of skin tearing and bones shattering. The dust of debris flooding into my lungs. Those were the only things I could feel in this moment when I could no longer see anything ahead. Concrete and wooden rubble poured down over me, but it brought no pain. My body had lost all sensation long ago. After all, I was dying.
"Aigoo, seriously... Harumu? Can you still hear me? Put the knife away now~ Just tell us where the mask is and you can become Mother's daughter too! You'll receive the highest honor, just like us!"
"Enough, Noa. This woman is a pitiful girl brainwashed by Yumekawa Kaede. There's no way a blind little fox could understand Mother's love and will."
"........"
Two sets of footsteps landed softly in front of me where I lay covered in blood. Soft feathers drifting down from above brushed my cheek before settling on the floor. Isabel and Agent Kwon Noa—the woman who had once relied on me back in Korea—had both become Saintesses and turned their blades against me.
I had no idea what was happening or why the mansion was under attack... But one thing was certain. The mastermind behind all of it was 'something that had taken possession of a single body.' These women had their souls stolen by that entity and turned into fallen slaves.
They spoke of their filthy hearts as "honor" and called it "Mother's love."
Mother had been right. How truly pitiful Saintesses were—
.............
What?
"...No..."
"Um, sister? Harumu is still moving... Should we stop now?"
"...She's already half-dead. We'll take her to Mother, turn her into a Saintess, extract the mask's location, and forge her into Mother's blade. That should prove useful. Her movements were quite decent until—"
"No, no... I—Harumu—am loved by Mother and Oppa... Harumu loves everyone... I am loved...! I, I...!"
The familiar sound echoing inside my skull, that vibrating mimicry of a voice, tore a groan of agony from my throat.
"Am I—does Harumu—receive love... and give love?"
My ancestor was one of Japan's most renowned physicians and pharmacists. A genius who held wealth, fame, countless women, and legions of disciples—an immortal sage of medicine. My great-great-grandfather, a man who lacked nothing and savored every pleasure life offered, encountered them. A monster in the shape of a woman, draining the life essence from a shriveled, emaciated man.
My ancestor abandoned his usual dignified bearing and fled in blind panic, yet escaping creatures that had long since stepped outside the bounds of humanity was impossible. He resigned himself to the same dried-up, twisted end as that man. But then a swordsman appeared, moonlight at his back, wielding even a rare flintlock pistol to slay the monster and save my ancestor.
My ancestor embraced the swordsman in gratitude and soon learned his true identity. Though dressed as a man and stronger than any male, the swordsman was a woman. She told him—
We are those who hunt the ones corrupted by greed and transformed into monsters. This duty can only be performed by women. If a man were to take up the sword, all would be endangered. It was a necessary choice.
My ancestor fell for her strength, her beauty, and her noble spirit. With his fortune he supported both the swordswoman and her organization. In the end he won her heart, married her, and lived happily with her for many years...
Yet the women born with my ancestor's blood could never know happiness.
What my ancestor had promised the organization was supplies, medicine, the support of physicians—and 'the training of hunters.' He forced countless concubines to bear his children, then claimed the daughters who showed exceptional talent. He shackled them with the duty of the sword and raised them as puppets to fight in place of the woman he loved.
Every child born to that duty died young. They were pitiful creatures who never received true love. The same was true of Yumekawa Kaede. And the same words apply to you, Yumekawa Harumu.
The pitiful child who mistook all the contempt and oppression she received for love. The pitiful child who, in too much pain, split her own mind in two and locked half of herself away in a happy childhood. Ah, yes—your eyes were taken by the very mother you loved so much.
A mother who, in order to create the ultimate swordswoman, abused a mask that should have remained sealed and implanted monstrous power into her own daughter. A mother who feared her daughter might one day become a Saintess while fighting countless enemies and thereby tarnish her reputation. The daughter who mistook the hideous poison brewed by her aged, ugly mother for love and drank it, losing her sight.
What a foolish mother and daughter. Humans possess this amusing tendency to become so utterly stupid in the face of desire.
The brother who now possesses me is likewise obsessed with that thing called 'love' and keeps doing childish things—it is most entertaining.
"Aigoo~ You should've gone a little easier... Isn't this one dead?"
Who is this woman kicking Harumu's shoulder with her foot?
I want to lift my head, but I can't. It hurts, Mom? Hana? It hurts... It hurts so much. Why won't anyone help me?
........ Now I understand. I was born into a life that could never be loved.
What does that mean? Harumu... Harumu loves Mom, Dad, and all her Oppas?
No. That is incorrect. I was never meant to love, nor to be loved. That is greed.
No! Adult Harumu is wrong! The nice uncle in the dream said so!
...Yes. That dream where a gentleman read me a fairy tale... Hehe... It was so warm... It was the first play I had ever seen—a wonderful prince descending from the sky to rescue the princess.
Yes. Just like that play, someday a prince would come to save Harumu... That's what the uncle told me!
A prince and princess fall in love, get married, and live happily ever after, right? Harumu wants to meet a kind prince soon too!
That's right... So I want to get married, have a beautiful daughter, and raise her with all the love in the world. It would be so happy, wouldn't it?
Yes. It would have been incredibly happy.
"What are you smirking about so disgustingly...? Isabel, Noa—restrain Harumu. She's too filthy to become my daughter... Just suck out her memories along with her soul and kill her."
"As you command."
"Yes~ Mother!"
Rough hands seized my completely shattered, dangling arm and hauled it upward. The being that spoke with a single voice placed its palm on my head.
This really is the end. Harumu, did I manage to help the people? While I fought, nearly everyone in the mansion should have evacuated. We saved them. That's a relief.
"Then now... Once we learn the mask's location, we'll gain the authority to create a physical body...!"
I closed my eyes that had already rolled halfway back and prepared to slip away into the land of dreams—
CRASH—BOOM—!!
"Uaaack, fuck!!"
"...No... way..."
A tremendous roar, wind blasting in from the right, and... the voice of a man shouting something like "Shibaru"... It sounded as if the ceiling had collapsed and someone standing on it had fallen...!
Was there still someone who hadn't evacuated...! My body was already at its limit—what could I possibly do now...
"...How are you..."
"Aaaagh, ah... Hiss...! Wait, I slammed my waist on the edge...!!"
....?
The strength drained from the Saintesses' hands where they gripped my arm. The being in front of me lowered the hand that had been on my head and turned toward the man's voice.
"...Isabel!!"
"Yes, Mother!!"
"I told you to wait a damn second. Your temper really is fucking short, huh? Well, that's why you stabbed me in the back, isn't it?"
The entity shrieked with a voice thick with rage, terror, and wariness. The instant it cried out, Isabel charged toward the man's voice. No—!
"Sleep."
"S l e e p ."
WHOOSH—
"Ugh?!"
"Kyaa?!"
"Huu...?"
An overwhelming pressure erupted from the direction of the man's voice. No—this was... the same feeling I had sensed from Mother... Dominance. The power to forcibly compel obedience... Something that followed the man's words exactly and turned his desires into reality.
That immense power was held in the man's hand.
".....Ah, ugh..........."
Thud—
Isabel's voice and footsteps, having heard the 'command' right in front of her, vanished.
"...First Isabel, then Noa... Who else have you stolen?"
"...Ha, haha...! To think you'd grow so arrogant after merely picking up a new mask and forming a contract! As expected, that grand desire doesn't suit you at all...! I will definitely make that desire my own—"
"Answer."
"A n s w e r ."
BOOOONG—!!
"T-the women I turned into Saintesses with my own power are already completely mine...!"
"Ha... Of course they are. Overwriting control isn't particularly difficult... When exactly did you take Haemi-noona, Yunsol, Mother, Isabel, Luna, and... Ah, Kwon Noa, you stay right there."
"Hiiik?!"
What on earth was happening? The man who had fallen from the ceiling was toying with the monster...?
"Isabel and you are both going to be in serious trouble this time. Abandoning your true owner and falling head over heels for a non-human, inanimate object?"
"Y-you're not my owner anymore! I am Mother's daughter! How dare a discarded pawn like you insult Mother by calling her an inanimate object—!"
"Personality temporarily erased."
"P e r s o n a l i t y . T e m p o r a r i l y . E r a s e d ."
"Judgme——— ............................."
"Ah—— ..................."
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"They all collapsed. Targeting still isn't perfect. Let's work on syncing our breathing, shall we?"
"T h a t . I s . W o o j u ' s . J o b ."
"This bastard's already speaking casually... Huh?"
"W o o j u . T h i s . W o m a n . I s . D y i n g ."
"No, she's not dying. I said some things to this girl once... Since I said them, I have to take responsibility."
"W h a t . Y o u . S a i d ? W h e n ? W h e r e ?"
"A long time ago. Inside a dream."
"Y o u ' r e . C r a z y ."
"Fuck you."