I'll Spare You Specially!!

Finally, he's here!

The bastard who'd fired back a reply to every last comment without conceding a single word!

WhiteTiger!!

I rubbed my hands together and headed into an alley drowned in shadow.

"Kyshishishit! I do wonder whether you'll be quite so bold standing before me."

Oops.

Look at me. Spend enough time around Hongryeon and the Messat voice just slips out.

"Ahem."

It wasn't time to reveal that I was Messat. Not yet. First I'd try persuasion — and Morse code. If he still refused to believe me after that, then I'd drop the mask and shore up my credibility.

When Messat himself takes the stand, where's the lie?

Kyshishishishit!

......

No. No.

Heh heh heh heh...

But the deeper I walked into the alley, the stranger the smell became. That raw, iron-thick stink of a butcher's shop. I'd smelled it somewhere before. I just couldn't place it.

I turned the corner and stopped dead.

Fuck.

What the hell is this......

The entire alley was painted in blood. Arms and legs chopped down to the finger joints. Corpses shredded so thoroughly there was no telling who they'd been. Guts lay spilled in a slick across the ground, and ragged scraps of flesh were splattered over every wall.

So that's where I knew it from....

It was the same smell as when Hongryeon had driven her blade through Ultimate's heart.

Goddammit. It was the scent of blood.

At the center of that spray of meat and viscera stood a man. A shabby gray padded jacket. Baggy pants. At a glance, he looked like a homeless drifter.

Hongryeon tilted her head and whispered.

"Is that gentleman the WhiteTiger of whom Master Lee Dogwang spoke?"

I hid my shock behind a sunny smile. There was no way I could have held a poker face with a clear head.

"It would appear so. Kyshishishit!"

Fuck. I came here for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a street fight and walked into a murder scene!

I'd seen this kind of thing on the news now and then — but that kind of psycho actually existed?!

The man slowly turned a face rough with stubble.

"...A female and a male. Off to mate, were you? Heh heh heh... How unfortunate. Destined to die here without even spreading your genes."

Haaah? Mate?

Is this guy an actual lunatic?

How exactly was I supposed to do that with a virgin ghost?! I'd get my vitality sucked out and drop dead!

Hongryeon's back filled my vision. The checkered skirt hanging from her slender waist swayed just above her thighs. Her navy crop top had ridden up a fraction, baring a pale hip and the white line of her waist......

......

Well. I mean....

If Hongryeon really insisted, I supposed I could let her drain my vitality. Just the once......

She, however, narrowed her eyes and fixed the man with a glare.

"Such a thing could never come to pass — not even as the faintest possibility. Moreover, such insolent words toward Lord Messat... this maiden cannot possibly tolerate them."

Right. Figured as much.

Sheesh!

Hongryeon puts on street clothes and I nearly get bewitched. Typical virgin ghost. I really couldn't afford to let my guard down.

The camera-lenses of Hongryeon's eyes tracked across the man as if scanning him.

Vreeeee—

Then she drew the blades hidden between the radius and ulna of each forearm, sliding them out through her palms.

Shing!

A pair of hwando sabers settled into Hongryeon's hands.

"Insect-type Main confirmed. Hostile intent verified. This maiden shall now execute him."

A Main...? Looking at what, exactly?

Krack!

Shraaaak!

The man's arms split open, and bladed forelegs like a praying mantis's burst out of them.

Ah... okay. He was a Main.

Wait a second!

Then WhiteTiger had been a Main all along?!

No wonder this psycho had been running his mouth with all those hate comments about Messat. He was one of the insect-type Mains I'd declared war on in the name of the Mausoleum Temple.

I hadn't expected a response this fast. He moved quicker than I'd given him credit for.

Kihihihihit!

"Messat...? Did you just say Messat?"

The Main blinked — and in the same instant, his eyes became compound orbs.

"So it's you. I've heard the rumors. They say Cucaracha ran into some trouble in Seoul."

I cocked my head.

"Cucaracha?"

"The cockroach Main. He's one of the weaker ones, bottom-rung in The Swarm. No need to remember him."

I folded my hands behind my back with an air of supreme arrogance.

"Hoh? In other words, you are saying you yourself are no weakling! Kyshishishishi!!"

The man scowled and drove a bladed foreleg into the brick pavement.

Boom!

"Insolent whelp. This body's name is Mantis. I am one of the Four Predators of The Swarm. And you... are nothing but a human. Mere prey."

What?

"I beg your pardon — what did you just say?"

"I am one of the Four Predators of The Swar—"

"No! After that!! Say it again, quickly!!"

Mantis's shoulders flinched.

"A human. Mere prey..."

"A human?!"

Ohhh!

Is this real?!

He didn't call me a Main!

He looked at me and saw a human!!

"Ksssss... Kyshishishit! Kihihihihihihihihihit!!"

Every last person I'd met had called me a Main on sight!

I was genuinely moved!

I threw both arms wide, veins standing out on my neck, and bellowed.

"You! I like you very much!!"

Mantis took a startled step back.

I couldn't just kill a talent like this!

Mantis bristled on the spot.

"Spare me...? Ha! Laughable! The right to choose who lives and who dies belongs to the predator! I'll dice that arrogant corpse of yours into pieces and send it to the Netherworld Lord as a gift!!"

Dice the corpse?

Ah...?

So all those serial killings until now had been a provocation aimed at the Mausoleum Temple.

I hadn't had a clue.

"Kyshishit! One cannot evaluate one's own strength, you know!"

I jabbed a finger at Mantis.

"Hongryeon! Test whether he has the qualifications of a predator!"

Hongryeon ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠turned her head toward me, just slightly.

"This maiden receives your command."

The words had barely left her mouth before she launched herself forward. Mantis charged to meet her, his grin splitting so wide it threatened to tear his cheeks.

"Hyahat!! This boiling blood! It has been far too long since I last stood on a battlefield like this!!"

In the space of a single blink, the sound of dozens of blade-strokes stacked on top of one another.

Shing!

Sh-sh-sh-shing!

Steel rang against steel in a furious exchange. There was no following it with the naked eye.

Incredible. And I'd sparred with Hongryeon.

I really had been trying to get myself killed, hadn't I?

Hahat!

I pulled a reagent flask from my pocket and hurled it at the ground.

Crash.

It wasn't a finished product yet, but... a deep-blue nanocore began harvesting material from the asphalt and the cars nearby, spinning it into nanomachines. A glittering powder of light came swirling toward me.

Nanomachines flooded in around the lithium reactor at my sternum, assembling a mechanical exoskeleton. A pair of coil-springs erupted from my back, built to discharge raw current. And the most important piece of all — the face. The gas mask. A scent of lavender drifted out of it, settling my mind and body at once.

Through the goggles of the mask, I watched Hongryeon and Mantis fight. Alpha captured the highlights and played them back in slow motion.

Whoa... this is more fun than mixed martial arts. If I just had some popcorn, it'd be perfect.

Shame.

Mantis gave a step and his eyes flew wide.

"Not bad — for a corpse! Then let's see you stop this!"

He hoisted both blades high overhead.

A vicious chain of downward strikes came hammering from above.

Whoooooosh!

Hongryeon twisted her wrists, parrying in a rapid flurry as she gave ground.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Then she rammed a saber through the door of a parked compact car and hurled the whole thing at Mantis with everything she had.

Crunch!

Screeeech!

The car came apart in Mantis's blades like it had been fed through a blender.

KRA-KA-KA-KA-KABOOM!

"Foolish! These old forelegs of mine can tear through steel itself! Kwahahahahahat!!"

Hongryeon narrowed her eyes, defending with visible strain.

Something was off.

"Why are you holding back, Hongryeon?"

She hadn't shown me an ounce of mercy when we sparred.

Hongryeon deflected another descending blade and answered, perfectly calm.

"This maiden has been endeavoring to correct the habit of wasting human resources. Were this maiden to counterattack, the resource might sustain damage..."

Ah....

Come to think of it, I had said something like that.

The instant Mantis heard her, his eyes flashed.

"You miserable bitch! What? Holding back? Kh! You dare mock this old man?!"

His Praying Mantis Fist came crashing down even harder.

Yeah... he was getting the wrong idea here.

I clenched a fist and thrust it into the air.

"No, no! Hongryeon! Now you're the one wasting a resource — namely, time!"

He was a Main who'd committed murder. No need to show him ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠any mercy.

"A human resource is perfectly adequate so long as the head and torso remain! Everything else can simply be repaired! Kihihihihihit!!"

Hongryeon flicked a glance at me.

"This maiden begs your pardon. He shall be dealt with within five seconds."

Mantis ground his teeth.

"You bitch! Putting on airs to the bitter end! I'll rip you to shreds, I'll—"

Shhk!

"...Huh?"

Mantis's bladed foreleg went spinning into the air. It twirled once, twice, and landed on the ground with a pathetic little flop.

Thud—

A beat later, green blood fountained from his emptied shoulder.

Shraaaaaaaaaak!

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!"

Mantis scrambled backward, staring at Hongryeon hard enough to pop his eyes from their sockets.

In both of Hongryeon's hands, beam sabers hummed with a fine, vicious vibration.

"Hiyohohohohohot! The Hyper-Vibration Plasma Cutter! At last, a chance to field-test it!"

The effect was unmistakable. Superheated plasma ran along the edge, and the blade itself vibrated a million times a second. A cutting tool from the future!

Heh heh heh!

Hongryeon took a single step forward, and Mantis's back split open as a pair of wings began to beat.

"Eek! S-stay back!!"

Hongryeon sprang once, planted a foot on the rising Mantis's back, and severed both wings.

Shhk!

"GYAAAAH!!"

Thud!

She took his thrashing legs next, the cutters snipping them clean off.

"Ghhhk!"

All four limbs gone in an instant. He was so terrified that even his human-shaped flank tore open, and an insect's hind legs burst out. He tried to crawl away.

Not a chance.

"GYAAAH!"

Hongryeon snipped those off too, as easily as clipping a thread.

"H-how... that's impossible! How can a mere corpse... a servant of the Mausoleum Temple — the weakest of all dungeons — how can you have this kind of power......!!"

She set a high heel on the writhing Mantis's back and pressed down.

"Khuhk...!!"

"Capture complete."

I clapped as I strolled over, nice and easy.

Clap, clap, clap!

"Magnificent work, Hongryeon! Kyshishishishishit!"

Mantis's forehead split; antennae fluttered as he screamed.

"W-wait! You there, servant of the Mausoleum Temple! Hold on! Listen to me!!"

Hongryeon seized an antenna and ripped it out.

Crunch!

"How insolent."

"KYAAAAH! M-my antenna!!"

"Lord Messat is the master of the Super-science Dungeon. Mind your words."

Mantis cranked his neck around at a grotesque angle and stared up at me.

"P-please! Spare me, Lord of the Super-science Dungeon! This humble one was only following the orders of Insect Lord Mandarinia!!"

He thrashed and wailed with his whole body.

"......I'll do anything if you just let me live! So please! My life, at least!!"

Aigoo... why so grim?

I'm a law-abiding citizen, you know.

I crouched down to meet his eye level.

"Kyshishit! Why all the shouting? Someone might think I was going to chop you into pieces and kill you!"

Mantis's face went paper-white.

I stroked his cheek, smiling, so he wouldn't be so tense.

"Don't you worry. Do you really think I would waste a resource as fine as you?"

I swallowed, then grabbed him by the hair.

"I've never dissected an insect-type Main before, but you needn't be concerned. I'll bring you back again and again, no matter how many times you die! Kihihihihihihihihihit!!"

I'd clearly said I would spare him, and yet Mantis began to shake his head, slowly.

"N-no. I-I'd rather you kill me! Kill me right now!!"

What on earth is his problem?

I said I'd spare him.

What a strange person....

No — a strange Main.

"Well then, shall we collect our resource and withdraw? Ksssssss..."

I was just getting to my feet when a voice ringing with righteous fury thundered from around the corner of the alley.

Huh?

That voice...?