The Demon with Red Horns (2)
“What the hell is this.”
Jeon Chayeon said, staring at the stairs in front of her.
“Hah, you don’t even know this? This is some kind of barrier someone set up.”
Kawada Arena spoke with swagger, but by now Jeon Chayeon had been at the academy for a full month and knew enough to recognize that much.
The question that actually bothered her was why a barrier existed in a place like this.
The third floor of the Old Building had strange structural features.
When ascending from the second floor, the corridor ran along the outer windows. Coincidentally, among the classrooms inside the building, she had discovered a passage connecting from the anatomy lab toward the center.
Stepping inside revealed another corridor that spiraled inward in a dizzying whirlpool pattern. Reaching the center, a staircase leading upward appeared, and the barrier hung right at the entrance.
Chayeon reached out again, but just like before she encountered only a transparent wall and could go no further.
“Why is there a barrier in an abandoned building.”
“…! Ah, I know! I was just asking out of curiosity, right!”
Leaving the bouncing Arena behind, Chayeon poked and prodded the barrier with her hands, but no gap appeared.
“There must be some reason. Let’s go back.”
Jeon Chayeon hesitated only a moment before turning on her heel.
Thinking here wouldn’t produce an answer anyway, and she wasn’t even curious enough to push further.
“Eh? Already leaving?”
She had barely filled Arena’s curiosity, yet the half-Japanese girl wore a faintly disappointed expression.
But for Chayeon, she had no intention of staying longer to play with her.
Even though quite a while had passed since the call, it seemed Jeong Seohee had simply forgotten the appointment.
It was a wasted trip, but she could understand; having so many favors owed to Seohee, Chayeon had grown lenient toward her.
“Let’s go together!”
The moment Chayeon turned to leave alone, Arena darted after her with a trembling voice.
She was terrified of falling and yet had followed her in here.
They spiraled backward along the corridor, emerging once more into the outer hallway.
“Huh?”
Arena made the same discovery and let out a stunned voice.
Outside the window in the outer corridor, the world had turned dark.
She had forgotten how the Old Building remained dim inside, but it was now midday.
Chayeon pulled out her smartphone and checked the time.
16:11.
More time had passed than she expected, but the gloom was far deeper than anticipated.
And astonishingly, the sky held a moon instead of the sun.
“What the hell is going on here.”
“Well… I don’t know.”
Arena beside her shivered and pressed closer.
It seemed the growing darkness had only made her more scared.
The real coward.
“Let’s head outside first.”
Just as Chayeon moved to investigate, a voice echoed from the black fox.
<>
At those words, Chayeon quickly grabbed Arena’s arm and pulled them both behind a wall.
“Kyaaak! Wh-what are you— mmph!”
Jeon Chayeon stuffed her own handkerchief into Arena’s screaming mouth, then pressed her ear to the wall and cautiously peeked out.
Clang! Clang!
From a distance, sharp metallic sounds like metal striking the floor grew steadily louder.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Arena, who had wanted to shout and protest, had heard the noise too and watched cautiously from behind the wall, suppressing her breath.
At the far end of the dark corridor, bathed in moonlight, a woman emerged.
She wore only a full-body catsuit, red hair swaying as she approached.
While the outfit itself was bizarre, the horns were what truly caught the eye.
From her right forehead sprouted what looked like a crimson horn.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The sharp metallic clangs came from her heels.
Each time the blade-like high-heel edge struck the floor, the sound echoed sharply.
“Hee~♪ Heehee~♪”
The woman hummed a creepy tune as she walked the corridor.
“W-who is that?! That’s…”
“I don’t know.”
Arena whispered, but neither of them could identify her.
The vibration of her trembling body traveled through Arena’s arm to Chayeon.
“She looks dangerous. Let’s retreat.”
At Chayeon’s words, Arena nodded and turned to leave.
Just then the woman, who had been walking the corridor, called out.
“Where are you two going~?”
Her four eyes, white sclerae showing fully, gazed straight at them.
“Kyaaak!”
“Shit!”
Jeon Chayeon, unable to hold back, let out a startled cry and reflexively kicked out.
The woman’s face crumpled from Chayeon’s strike and she flew backward. Chayeon herself staggered from the counterforce and tumbled back.
Using the momentum, Chayeon bolted in the opposite direction.
“Come this way!”
Chayeon shouted, and Arena, frozen in the sudden chaos, hurriedly followed.
They ran full speed straight for the staircase.
“W-what is that?! A ghost?! It’s a ghost?!”
“Snap out of it and just run!”
Clang! Clang!
The sharp sound of the blade-heel echoed down the corridor behind them.
They hurriedly descended the stairs to the second floor.
“Why is this building so messed up structurally.”
Chayeon complained as they reached the second floor.
The staircase connecting all three floors was not one straight path. Separate stairs led from the first to the second, the second to the third, and a hidden one from the third to the fourth, all located in different places.
To reach the first floor again, they had to return to the opposite side of the corridor.
Despite exerting every ounce of strength, faint sounds drifted from the stairs they had come down.
Clang! Clang!
“Hee~♪ Heehee~♪”
Shit, the stairs are too far!
From the earlier appearance, the unidentified woman could close the distance in an instant and appear before them.
Therefore, rather than fleeing immediately, it was smarter to keep hidden.
Chayeon had decided to suggest hiding when Arena suddenly spoke in a calmer voice.
“Classroom! Let’s hide inside the classroom!”
Compared to before, her tone had steadied. Chayeon silently entered the adjacent classroom, and Arena quickly followed.
Inside, both ducked behind the large stage at the front of the classroom and held their breath.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
Metal sounds grew closer from beyond the classroom door.
Clang. Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang. Clang. Clang—
The rattling noise finally reached just outside the door, then gradually faded and moved away.
“She’s gone.”
Relieved, Chayeon relaxed—only for the metallic clangs to return.
The sound approached once more, then retreated, looping again and again.
“She seems to be wandering around the second floor.”
“Did we get caught?”
“Who knows.”
Since she hadn’t descended, it seemed she was still on the second floor.
At the same time, that meant she was likely searching for them.
“That… is a demon, right?”
With far greater calm, Arena asked.
Chayeon shared the same thought.
The crimson horn on the right forehead and the aura.
Although she had never seen one before, somewhere deep inside Chayeon felt certain.
This was one of the demons she had only heard about in stories.
<>
The black fox’s voice rang in her mind.
Hey, black fox. You said demons are nothing to you.
<>
Then why hide? With your ridiculous power, you could just—
<>
However?
<>
Even a casual listener would hear it as an excuse.
This bastard is just in the middle of one of those late middle-school complex phases where they boast about being cool but can’t do anything.
“Jeon Chayeon…?”
Jeon Chayeon had stayed silent for so long that Arena called out with worried eyes.
“Ah, yeah. I think so. She’s a rank-2 threat.”
Rank-2 threat?!
Arena’s eyes widened in shock at Chayeon’s words.
A rank-2 demon means she has a unique name! Why is she here at the academy?!
Name? Of course she’s dangerous!
What class were you in when you took those lessons!
Arena whispered in disbelief.
The atmosphere was terrifying, but the being herself was truly dangerous.
How could they escape without being seen?
Chayeon frantically racked her brain when Arena suddenly grabbed her broom, stood up, and spoke with firm resolve.
“Arena?”
Take her down!
Arena said with burning eyes, then pulled the blade from the broom handle.
A pure white blade emerged from the broom pole that had been her weapon.
Take her down? Was that a sword?
Chayeon, seeing the broom blade for the first time, forgot what she was about to say and muttered in confusion.
Regardless, Arena walked straight toward the classroom door.
“Hey, hey, wait a second.”
Chayeon hurried over and grabbed her shoulder.
The trembling girl from moments ago had vanished, replaced by a resolute one.
That’s dangerous. How are we supposed to catch it?
Then what? Leave it here to roam freely around the academy?!
Arena’s eyes blazed with justice.
The sudden change left Chayeon unable to follow.
Jeon Chayeon, you’re stronger than me! But you’re always so unmotivated, lacking any sense of duty…! Hah, I guess that’s just how you are!
Arena ground her teeth, shook off the hand on her shoulder.
Watch from here! I’ll handle it and come back!
Then, broom blade in hand, she strode proudly to the classroom door and flung it open.
Come out! I, Kawada Arena, will face you!