Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: Frenzy of Derailment - 3
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[...I just don't get it, but what the hell was that monster... no, that freak earlier? There weren't any demonic beasts like that back in my era.]
Ragged and torn, Leo ignored the question as he searched for his lady, slashing down yet another freak instead.
"It's only natural there weren't any. These freaks were originally innocent people with no connection to this."
Most of these modified humans were probably victims caught up in this terrorist attack, along with the murdered missing persons.
[...No way, you mean they were modified? Who the hell would do something like...]
"I have to get to the lady before that bastard does."
Leo spoke as he dropped the freak's severed head.
"They're all polymorphed."
[...Polymorphed?]
To be precise, it was a black magic polymorph remodeled using unique magic.
"They completely overhauled mimicry magic into true transformation magic."
Alias: Clay Doll.
A black mage who possessed a unique magic capable of transforming humans or any living creature into anything.
The reason Jehard's appearance had seemed so natural was largely due to the Clay Doll's power.
[Then those terrorists back then... that guy...]
[Probably the black mages on the train at that time were just bait.]
It was a common strategy for the Clay Doll.
They would cast a basic polymorph on purpose. Then, for an extra fee, if the client succeeded, they'd kill additional people to use as materials.
Even if the client failed, it would reduce suspicion on themselves, allowing them to safely relocate to another area.
[But Aria knows how to distinguish polymorphs. So then...]
[Do you know why those freaks have such insane physical abilities?]
The Clay Doll's polymorph didn't just alter appearances.
It was a true 'transformation' that reworked bones, muscles, and even blood vessels. That's why ordinary people or low-level mages could become such superhuman freaks.
[Then even their own faces...]
Normal polymorphs were merely mimicry abilities, so they could be identified that way.
But the Clay Doll's version transformed the flesh itself, making it impossible to distinguish using the method Leo mentioned.
"I have to get there first...!"
He was so close now, but he couldn't just stand by and do nothing.
His ribs cracked further with every movement, stabbing into his lungs, but his legs didn't stop.
He couldn't lose Aria ever again.
Even now, he was running.
A few hours before the incident erupted.
In the midst of Leo and Irina pretending to go on a date, a girl and a graduate student trailed behind.
"Um... Miss Ariasfil, this really seems like a matter of personal privacy..."
"Could you please be quiet?"
At that moment, Ameri saw it.
The eyes of a killer. The shadow in those eyes carried the meaning of someone who could coldly discard their humanity.
And she realized that if she tried to interfere any further, she might actually die.
"Y-Yes... Understood..."
Ameri meekly submitted to Ariasfil.
'...But with Leonardo-kun, he'll probably just play along a bit and then leave.'
Ameri comforted herself with that thought. It had been common knowledge for a while that Leo had rejected the Temperius family's proposal, aside from the library incident.
Such a Leo wouldn't so easily change his mind...
-You're leaning in too close, Irina. Are you feeling cold, by any chance?
That reassurance crumbled like a sandcastle at Leo's direct attempt at skinship.
Leo had only used it as a means to converse via aura for rational purposes, but of course...
"His hand... Leo's hand holding mine directly..."
There was no way Ariasfil or Ameri could tell. The goal had been a conversation inaudible to outsiders from the start, so it was impossible to detect.
"Miss... Ariasfil...?"
Shing.
Ariasfil drew her sword from its sheath.
"P-Please... calm down...!! Miss Ariasfil!?"
"It's fine. I'll just cut off that filthy wrist that Leo's pure touch defiled. No problem at all."
It was entirely problematic. Ameri panicked and tried her utmost to stop the slaughter.
"Just...! Please calm down!! Even Leonardo-kun didn't mean it that way...!"
In the meantime—
-Shall I drape my coat over you? Your hands feel quite cold.
Leo amplified Ariasfil's murderous urge by covering her with his coat.
"...Miss... Ariasfil...? I-I want to live..."
"Ameri."
Surprisingly, Ariasfil's expression was impassive. Seeing that serene face allowed Ameri to relax just a little.
"Could you move? I can't kill that bitch with you standing there."
It wasn't serene at all. Ameri finally realized that sometimes, when human anger overflows its limits, the mind achieves a strange detachment.
"Please calm down!! I beg you!! If you kill her, it'll really be irreversible...!!"
As love, or as a crime, it would be utterly irreversible.
Ameri clung to Ariasfil with her slender arms, knowing that. In response, Ariasfil flashed a bright smile and said,
"Come to think of it, you were in the women's restroom with Leo at night too, weren't you, Ameri?"
"P-Pardon...? That was..."
It had certainly been explained. Logically speaking, Ariasfil knew there was 'no such thing'.
But right now, Ariasfil was in a berserk rage from her mental detachment. Logic meant nothing to her at all.
"...Ah...! I just got a call from the Magic Tower...! I'll head over...!!"
To escape this slaughter, Ameri unfurled a teleportation map and fled. Stopping the situation was important, but nothing was worth more than her own life.
"Where... is that bitch I'll kill...!"
With the obstacle gone, Ariasfil drew her sword without hesitation. Fortunately—or perhaps not—Leo's group had ducked into an alley while running.
Distracted by Ameri, Ariasfil hadn't seen where Leo's group had gone.
"Spirits."
But that was no issue for Ariasfil, who had mastered spirit arts. She could simply track them using the spirits' vision and power, just like last time.
[You have to run...]
[People are in danger...]
[You'll be in danger too...]
"...In danger? What do you..."
Kwaaaang!!
A thunderous explosion rang out.
"Kyaaak!!"
Followed by a bloodcurdling scream.
Ariasfil startled at the sound and looked in that direction.
"Kieeeek!!"
An unidentified monster charged at her, its grotesque maw gaping wide to bite.
Shing... Thunk.
To the enraged Ariasfil, it was merely a good stress relief. In an instant, the monster's head was severed and hit the ground.
"...What is this? I've never seen a demonic beast like..."
"Help me...!!"
A human voice rang out again—a desperate plea for aid. Suppressing her anger, Ariasfil first rushed toward the one calling for help.
Her family blood and knightly code she had learned subdued the rage temporarily. Of course, later, her inner Leo—who had wounded her trust—would definitely need some education.
"Onii-chan!! Onii-chan...!!"
The one under attack was a young girl.
The attacker was the same kind of freak as before.
From the situation, it seemed the 'older brother' had already fallen to the freak, and now it was going after the little sister.
The freak had already pinned the girl's arms and was ready to rip into her head. Any delay, and that person was surely dead.
Slash.
The optimal strike, considering angle and power, was unleashed by Ariasfil's sword.
The freak's head was severed in a single draw, and she took care not to let the blade reach the girl.
[Well done?]
[Yeah, thanks.]
And just in case, she had wind spirits erect a protective barrier around the girl, preventing the worst outcome.
"Are you okay? Any injuries...?"
"Onii-chan!!"
Ariasfil looked at the girl with a hint of confusion. Having mastered spirit arts, she had grown adept at intuitively sensing others' emotions.
She could feel unfiltered what the girl was feeling right now.
Confusion, despair, pain, fear.
And hatred directed at her.
As Ariasfil faltered at that hatred, the girl grabbed the headless freak and began wailing in grief.
"Onii-chan...! Wake up...!! Onii-chan...!"
Ariasfil's mind raced to an inference she didn't want to consider. A guess about the freak's origins and how the girl's brother had died.
Nausea surged in her throat like vomit, and her thoughts grew clearer as rationality slipped away.
She had no choice but to recognize what her sword had cut and whom it had killed.
[Aria! Danger!]
Ariasfil hastily pulled herself together at the nearby spirit's words. She couldn't lose her composure over uncertain facts.
She had to judge the next situation calmly and coldly, like Leonardo always did.
"Kreeeek!!"
Another freak emerged predictably from the alley, launching its claws in an instant.
'I can counter.'
Ariasfil gripped her sword to swing in retaliation.
"Save me..."
In that instant, such a voice rang out. It came from neither the girl nor the spirits.
She didn't want to imagine who had spoken. But her sharp hearing had already discerned it.
"Don't... kill..."
[Got it, Aria.]
In that moment, a jet of water pressure shot toward the nearby freak, instantly freezing solid. The water and ice spirits had read Ariasfil's heart and subdued it on their own.
"...Grrr..."
Even with most of its body frozen, the freak let out a low growl. She wanted to believe it was just for intimidation.
Imagining anything more would be unbearable even for Ariasfil.
"Milady!!"
At that moment, a familiar voice called out.
If only that boy were here, she could endure this situation.
"Are you alright? What the hell is going on...?"
"Leonardo!"
It was Leonardo. Fortunately, he seemed to have held out safely.
"This monster... did you do this, milady?"
Leonardo asked worriedly, glancing at the frozen freak.
"...These things... it seems..."
As she tried to voice her situation and anguish, another voice rang out.
[Danger... that guy's...]
[Definitely looks like Leo, but something's off...]
It was the water and ice spirits who had helped earlier. At their words, Ariasfil began judging coldly once more.
"...Leo."
"Milady, are you okay? Any wounds...?"
Ariasfil took a slight step back, eyeing the thing that resembled Leo.
"Leo, I'm sorry to suspect you, but could you roll up your sleeve and make a cut?"
"Ah... Aah. Yeah, it's understandable to be suspicious. Situations like last time could happen again."
He agreed to the request and rolled up his sleeve. He lightly cut his scar-covered arm with a knife, and blood flowed out.
"You know, right? Polymorphs don't bleed even if you cut their skin..."
Slash.
Ariasfil lunged and unleashed an iaijutsu strike. The wounded arm was severed under her blade.
"Argh...! Graaaah!! What the hell are you...!"
"Who are you? Where's the real Leo?"
"What the... from earlier...!!"
Ariasfil continued swinging her sword. This time, it sliced the abdomen. The impostor dodged hastily but took the full hit.
"The blood on your clothes looks wrong."
There was a decent amount of blood, but the pattern was off. It didn't look like it had splattered diagonally—it seemed deliberately smeared.
Then she recalled something Leo had once told her.
-When tracking or hunting, bloodstains are great clues. You can figure out the situation from the shape.
"And I didn't ask to see your arm to check the blood from the wound."
What Ariasfil wanted to see were the scars on the arm. There were scars galore, like it had been mangled, but she could tell.
"The scars on your arm are different. Shape and position."
Even reexamining the severed arm, the shape and position were definitely different.
"...You remember that?"
She remembered. Because it was Leo.
"Above all."
She assumed a finishing stance.
"The real Leo would've dodged. An attack like that."
Because he was her Leonardo.
"...Cold-blooded or just heartless?"
The speech pattern had already changed.
Like an actor who played a virtuous role shedding the act, lighting a cigarette, and hurling curses at the troupe staff— an extreme shift that felt biting.
The fake raised both hands, severed arm and all. The bleeding from the wound had stopped at some point, and a new arm sprouted.
"I thought you were an airhead, but 'genius' isn't just empty words, huh."
The abdomen was the same. Less regeneration, more restoration.
"I've been through something similar once before."
The experience from her dream had been a major stepping stone in Ariasfil's growth.
"Oh? Wonder if you've been through this too."
The Clay Doll lunged at the panicked girl.
"Wha...?! Aaaah...!! Help... me...!"
"Quite artistic. A brother-sister pair dying the same way."
The girl's body melted like clay saturated with water. Soon, the screams faded, and skin, muscles, even bones reformed into a new doll.
The grotesque chasm between slaughter and life painfully fused into the girl's corpse.
"With this, the audience's reaction matters. What do you think, milady?"
It had all happened in a mere three seconds.