Check and Coco, Hero Rescue Operation (5)
'Uh... what...?'
'Why won't my body move...?'
What she saw before her eyes was a doll. Just hearing a certain phrase while looking at that doll—that alone had completely frozen Coco solid. She couldn't twitch a single finger. She felt the sensation of a bead of sweat trickling down her cheek with excruciating clarity.
"Coco, Master? Can't move anymore? Is Master's soul properly trapped in this doll?"
Coco tried to protest something to Club, but as expected, she couldn't even make a sound. She could only stare unblinkingly at the doll in front of her. She couldn't do anything, anything at all. It was as if her very soul and will had been locked away inside that doll.
"Master. Keeping your eyes open must be uncomfortable. I'll close them for you."
With those words, Club covered the doll's eyes. At the same moment, Coco's eyelids shut as well. Her vision was blocked now, and she no longer had to look at the doll, but her body still wouldn't move.
"Alright, Master. Doll here says it's bedtime now. Eyes closed, so you'll fall asleep soon."
"Master, whose soul is trapped inside Doll, will fall asleep together with it."
Club's voice rang out. With her vision cut off, somehow the voice sounded even clearer.
"Now, I'll count to ten, and when I finish, you fall asleep."
And so Club's countdown began. Coco tried desperately to resist, but it was as if her body no longer belonged to her—she couldn't move a finger.
One... two... three... four...
The count climbed. Her body still wouldn't budge. In this utterly helpless state where she couldn't do a thing, the countdown raced faster than she could think.
Seven... eight...
"Nine... Alright, Master, time to sleep... Ten."
With that, as Club finished the final count, the strength drained from Coco's body. She slowly tilted over and collapsed sideways onto the floor. Her fallen form, now sleeping soundly, showed no movement whatsoever except for the steady rise and fall of her chest with each breath.
Club pulled a new set of restraints from the toolbox No. 13 had prepared in the corner and bound Coco tightly. Then she searched Coco's body, found the antidote to the paralytic, and fed it to No. 13, freeing his restrained form.
The paralytic poison she'd stabbed him with was fast-acting, but fortunately, its effects didn't last long. Even without the antidote, it probably would've worn off in about ten minutes. Anyway, there was a slight stiffness, but he could move.
"I figured the Revival ability hadn't been exposed, but to think you'd use something like paralytic poison. Were you planning to interrogate me?"
A while back at the department store, No. 13 had shown Spade and Club the scene of him reviving even after dying. But Club had been kidnapped right after, and in Spade's case, Apple had neatly altered those memories. So his ability shouldn't have been known, and he'd assumed anyone targeting him would go for an instant kill. But poison. Paralytic poison, no less. He hadn't seen that coming.
If Coco had been left to her own devices, he might not have even thought of it.
'Dying on purpose and reviving unexpectedly to catch them off-guard... I did consider that scenario.'
'But nah, that won't work. Anyone with real skill would try to capture first rather than kill outright.'
Getting knocked out and dragged away would be game over. Trying to use brainwashing keywords might get mistaken for a spell, leading to a gag or even his tongue getting pulled out. Just learning that much was a win. And the contingency he'd instructed Club on had worked perfectly too.
"...Club, let's go. We need to hurry."
"Yes, No. 13."
No. 13 seated the sleeping, bound Coco in a chair and headed out with Club. They'd taken down one of the two intruders—Coco. Next target: Check, who was mid-battle with Spade. He had to arrive before anything happened to Spade, and not a moment too late...!
"Damn, ya really got a lot stronger, Spade? I'm impressed?"
"Guh, urgh...!!"
Check spoke in admiration. But the recipient of that praise, Spade, was a total wreck—down on one knee, collapsed on the floor. The batons she clutched one in each hand lay discarded, one snapped in two. Her body was covered in bruises from the batons and dirt from tumbling across the ground; not a single spot was unscathed. Check had been toying with her completely.
If what Check wielded had been a bladed weapon like a spear instead of a blunt baton, Spade's arms and legs would've been sliced off by now. Even without blades, the damage from those batons was no joke. Infused with delicately controlled, violently surging mana, each strike could punch holes through steel.
The only reason Spade's body was still intact was because she'd barely dodged by a hair's breadth or poured mana into strengthening her body for defense. But even so, the damage had steadily accumulated...
'What... am I... doing...?'
Her vision flickered. The taste of blood filled her mouth. Spade had come here after receiving a call. Her opponent was Villain No. 13. He should be the enemy, but oddly, he didn't feel like one.
That man had said someone was trying to kill him. So he'd asked Spade to protect him.
'Yeah... right, that's what happened.'
The opponent is Villain No. 13. The opponent is a villain. And the target he'd asked her to fend off was Check. Why, she wondered. She was a hero—why was she protecting a villain? And why was she baring her fangs at Check, her fellow hero and senior?
"Alright then, Spade. Ya seem a bit calmer now, so wanna explain? What the hell're ya thinkin'?"
Check approached and jabbed the end of her baton under Spade's chin, forcing her to look up.
"I thought about it while we fought. I know yer not the type to betray us, Spade."
"If ya were some dumbass with obvious ulterior motives, I wouldn'ta taken ya as my disciple or taught ya jack."
So what was it? Why was Spade doing something she'd never do? What did this bizarre behavior mean?
"Yer bein' controlled, ain'tcha."
That was the only explanation. It wasn't the first case like this. The world was pretty peaceful and boring now, but back during the era when the Great Catastrophe's aftermath still lingered, sparking crimes and conflicts everywhere, there'd been plenty of similar incidents. Necromancers puppeteering corpses, creeps turning living people into jiangshi—it happened all the time.
Check had even fought those kinds of villains herself. Not fond memories.
'The culprit's gotta be that trash, Villain No. 13.'
'...Guess I gotta knock Spade out, grab that guy, and interrogate him.'
She'd signaled Coco, who'd been on search duty, and gotten word back just moments ago that they'd spotted him. Good—she could grab him soon and get answers.
"...?"
As she gathered mana into her baton to knock Spade out, Spade's hand suddenly grabbed the end touching her chin. She yanked it away forcefully and held on tight, refusing to let go.
"Lemme go. I ain't gonna kill ya. Just sleep a bit. Ya might not realize it, but yer not in yer right mind. Take a quick nap, and I'll snap ya outta it, so give it up."
"......He asked."
"? What'd ya say?"
Mana pooled at the baton's tip, burning Spade's hand like fire, but she wouldn't release it. She looked up at Check with those red eyes.
"He asked for help. That man."
"...Huh?"
"He asked me to protect him. ...When someone's asking for help, a hero saves them."
He'd said it was okay to run if things got bad. But that meant failing to protect him. He'd asked her to. So she couldn't run. She had to protect him. Because she was a hero. Standing with the weak against the strong—that was a hero's essence.
Crackle...
"Sorry, Check."
"I don't know what this control thing is."
"But I can't stop here. I won't stop."
"I can't run away either."
Spade's red mana clashed with the blue mana infused in the baton's tip, colliding violently. Moments later, unable to withstand the impact, the tip shattered with a sharp crack.
Spade tossed the half-pulverized baton fragment from her hand and scooped up one of the fallen batons from the floor.
"I have to fight...! Even if it's you, Check...! I...!!"
"I'm a hero! I have to fight!! I can't run!!"
Red mana flared up. Spade leaped back, instantly creating distance. Check didn't pursue. She glanced at the broken tip that had held her mana, discarded it, and conjured a new baton to equip.
"Last chance, Spade. Stop now, and maybe. Keep goin', and I might really kill ya."
"......."
"Damn, ya really don't listen. Who the hell's disciple are ya, anyway."
In response, Spade gripped her baton and let red mana blaze from her entire body. Check met her gaze, pouring mana into her own baton. A blue verging on white—not the playful level from before, but mana at a level that could kill.
And so the two heroes faced off.
