A Mosquito's Audacity
"Sparing me...?" I asked back, feigning complete ignorance.
But Murmur had no intention of answering. She simply walked past me, heading in the direction we had just come from. She was going back to the park.
"Wait, stop!" I hurriedly reached out to grab her.
Sparing me? That means she has no intention of sparing anyone else, doesn't it?
I didn't know what Murmur's intentions were in coming here, but the way of the Mains was always to bring ruin to human society. Just like how Astaroth had annihilated the research institute and cornered Class A.
She might look like an innocent ten-year-old child on the outside, but Murmur was still a Main. The pinnacle of the otherworld's monsters, and an enemy of humanity. An out-of-spec monster capable of slaughtering millions, even tens of millions, all on her own. She wouldn't even need to go through the trouble of killing them one by one. Just tearing open a Rift in Space and unleashing monsters would cause catastrophic, uncontrollable damage.
"Ugh...!"
"..."
I grabbed her small, fragile-looking shoulder, but her footsteps didn't even falter. Instead, I was the one being dragged along. No matter how hard I dug my heels into the ground, I was pulled forward helplessly.
"Th-there's still so much delicious food left! Don't you like sweet things? Like cotton candy!"
"..."
"So, won't you play with me a little longer? I'll buy you whatever you want!"
I couldn't let Murmur go back like this. If she did, a massacre would unfold. For her to appear now, of all times, when the park was packed with visitors for the cherry blossom festival... "malicious" didn't even begin to describe it. And Yujin and Aris were over there. They had luckily survived the encounter with Astaroth, but there was no guarantee they would be so fortunate this time. No matter what, I have to protect those two.
"..."
Murmur came to a sudden halt. The white cloud mask stared straight up at me.
I had no way of fighting her. The absolute minimum threshold of power required to fight a Main was Captain-level. In that case, I had to win her favor. Since she liked sweet food, I hoped using it as bait might work. But would it really?
"You," Murmur spoke, but her words were far from what I had hoped to hear. "You know, don't you?"
"Know... what?"
"I'm sparing you."
As if that was all she had to say, Murmur resumed her walk. The strength drained from my fingertips. My hand slipped off her shoulder and fell limp.
It sounded like a non sequitur, but it wasn't hard to understand.
...Ah, I see.
Murmur had known from the very beginning. She knew I had approached her intentionally. She knew I was trying to draw her attention, and that I was trying to lure her to an isolated spot. She had realized everything. Her question, "You know, don't you?" was asking if I knew her true identity.
So, in the end, her offer to spare me meant...
I'm giving you a chance to run away.
If I ran now, she would turn a blind eye. From Murmur's perspective, this was a massive favor. She had enjoyed my clown act, so out of pity for my efforts, she was letting me live.
But that's a completely useless gesture of goodwill to me, you know?
"No." I stepped past Murmur and blocked her path. Spreading my arms wide to bar her way, I spoke firmly. "You can't pass."
"..."
Murmur stopped once more. This was the second time I had halted her.
Let's think about this. If an ant scuttled up and blocked a human's path, what would the human do?
Maybe they'd find it cute the first time. Admiring its sheer audacity, they might just ignore it and walk past, or not care at all. But what if that same ant, spared from being crushed out of sheer mercy, scuttled right back to block their path again?
How would Murmur react?
"..."
Murmur toyed with her white cloud mask. She lightly traced the edge of the mask with her index finger, as if stroking her jawline. She tilted her head. A heavy silence hung in the air, as if she couldn't comprehend the current situation.
"Ah, I get it."
She clapped her right fist into her open left palm. Her movements were incredibly casual, as if she had reached a perfectly logical conclusion.
"I said I'd spare you. I didn't say you could get in my way."
"I still can't move."
"..."
I couldn't see her face behind the white cloud mask, but I could easily guess her expression. She was probably looking at me as if she were staring at some bizarre, inexplicable freak. It must be hard to understand why someone would kick away a perfect chance to escape alive. And Murmur wasn't a patient enough child to try and understand what others were thinking. Children are naturally impatient. Even if she was only a child in appearance. Besides, why would she show consideration to a mere human, who wasn't even a fellow Main?
"Okay."
Murmur nodded. That didn't mean she was giving up on passing. It meant she was going to step on the annoying ant and keep going.
She took short, plodding steps toward me. In just a few strides, the distance between us vanished. Even when she was close enough for our noses to touch, I didn't budge. I just stood there, arms still outstretched, as if nailed to the spot. I heard a faint breath from Murmur. She had probably sighed.
"I don't understand. Sparing your life and not hurting you are two different things, aren't they?"
"...Even so, I can't let you pass." I gave her a clumsy smile. "Can't we just play together? Look. The cherry blossoms are blooming so beautifully. Walking through the falling petals while eating cotton candy wasn't so bad, was it? I'll hang out with you as much as you want, so there's no need to kill other peop—"
Thwack!
The sound of tearing flesh echoed. My vision spun wildly. The surrounding scenery blurred into a messy swirl of colors. The last thing I saw was Murmur raising her tiny hand.
An agonizing pain flared in my abdomen, as if it had been pierced straight through. My body tumbled across the ground. The familiar metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. A sudden surge of nausea rushed up my esophagus, leaving me unable to breathe.
"Kyaaaaaah!"
An ear-piercing shriek rang out. But it didn't come from my mouth. Lucia's screams are much cuter than that, thank you very much. Besides, my abdomen was caved in so deeply that I couldn't even squeeze out a sound.
No matter how secluded a spot I had chosen to lure Murmur, this was still a park in the middle of a cherry blossom festival. It was the weekend, not a weekday. On top of that, it was peak hours when the crowd was at its thickest. Even the outer edges of the park saw foot traffic. People taking a stroll, couples looking for a quiet spot to tryst... the reasons varied, but the conclusion was the same: there were people here to see the flowers.
As I was sent flying several meters and crashed onto the ground, shrill screams erupted around me. I wish they'd run away instead of wasting time screaming.
I nudged my limp arms. The flesh covering my abdomen was completely torn open, spilling my internal organs. She said she wouldn't kill me, but her holding back was terrible. Normal humans die from this, you know. Though, if she had genuinely tried to kill me, I probably would have been snapped in half.
Cough.
Spitting out blood, I forced my body up. I activated my Super Regeneration to repair my peritoneum before my guts could spill out. I watched Murmur as she plodded toward me.
"..."
She probably thought I wouldn't block her path anymore after taking such a heavy blow. Murmur naturally tried to brush past me. It would have been much easier for her to just kill me, but since she had declared she wouldn't, was she sticking to her word?
That was fortunate for me. Even with Super Regeneration, I wasn't immortal. If a Main resolved to kill me, I would be slaughtered without a prayer.
"You can't... pass..."
"..."
I reached out my arms, blocking Murmur's path once again.
There was no visible reaction from Murmur. She silently raised her hand. Tensing up, I braced myself for the incoming attack. Since I couldn't dodge or block it anyway, I might as well enjoy the exquisite pain.
Murmur slapped my cheek with an annoyed flick of her wrist. She had to stand on her tiptoes because of her short height, which looked cute, but the result was anything but.
Smack!
She must have hit my jaw at a bad angle. My waist and legs gave out instantly. I collapsed like a doll with its strings cut. My head slammed into the ground, and I coughed up blood through my torn lips. White, hard fragments were mixed in with the thick, crimson blood.
Eu-he. This reminds me of Frey. I miss her...
"Sigh..."
Murmur shook her hand. Barely managing to lift my head, I saw her white cloud mask. She stared at me for a moment, then quickly lost interest. As she tried to walk past me this time, I grabbed her leg with all my might.
"You can't... go..."
"...You are really annoying."
Ah, irritation had crept into her voice. If her attitude before was like dealing with an ant crawling on the ground, now she looked at me like a mosquito buzzing in her ear.
The murmuring of the crowd grew louder. Panting for breath, I looked around. What... why are there even more people now? Aren't you going to run? If a ten-year-old child is sending someone flying, shouldn't you normally assume they're a supernatural ability user? If there's a supernatural ability user swinging their power around recklessly, your first instinct should be to run. Does everyone here suffer from a total lack of safety awareness?
I get the urge to stop and watch when a fight breaks out on the street, but... this isn't a show, you know. Go away, quickly. Stop whispering and watching.
No, seriously, get out of here. Run.
I wanted to scream at them to run, but my voice wouldn't come out properly. At least some citizens had their heads screwed on straight and were holding up their phones to call the police. Not that it would help. Unless a Captain-level arrived in person, it would only result in meaningless casualties.
"Whoa, holy crap. Did you see her fly just now?"
"Wait, isn't this actually dangerous...?"
Ah, they weren't calling for help; they were recording videos. Filming someone getting beaten up is a violation of portrait rights, you know. If they upload this video to the internet, will everyone see Lucia getting thrashed?
...Heh.
Come to think of it, the situation was so urgent that I hadn't fully processed it. Am I getting beaten up in front of a bunch of total strangers right now?
"..."
I suddenly remembered that I hadn't been able to satisfy my desires lately because of Aris. Wiping the blood from my mouth with my sleeve, I glared at Murmur.
"You can't pass. Absolutely not. You won't take a single step unless you kill me."
"...I won't kill you. Once I give my word, I always keep it."
Murmur didn't pay the slightest attention to the eyes around her. I suppose that made sense. Humans don't care if bugs are watching them, do they?
"Ignoring you and walking past is an option, but..."
A petite hand gripped my hair. Murmur spoke flatly.
"I've gotten stubborn. You, what's your name?"
"...Lucia."
"I am Murmur. Lucia, let me ask you something."
"Ask... what?"
"Left arm. Left leg. Right arm. Right hand. Left eye. Right eye. Nose. Ear. Teeth. Spine. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Muscles. Tendons. Blood vessels."
"..."
"How many of those need to disappear before you give up?"
...Success. I had ignited Murmur's competitive streak. It wasn't actually that hard. All Mains had intense desires. In particular, they absolutely hated losing. Especially Murmur, who possessed the temperament of a child. If a nobody clung to her tenaciously, she would want to break them out of sheer annoyance.
Now, I just had to hold out until her "active time" ran out. The ultimate penalty of the Mains: they had a limit on how long they could manifest in this world.
I deliberately spoke with a mocking sneer.
"Blehh! I have Super Regeneration, you know! Even if I lose all of them, I'll never give up!"
"...Is that so? Then I don't need to hold back anymore."
Murmur spoke indifferently.
Fortunately, putting on a provocative smile wasn't hard at all. A delicious shiver was running down my spine, making it impossible to stop grinning.
I'm doing this to protect people. As an academy student. Surely there's nothing wrong with satisfying a tiny bit of my own greed in the process, right?