Chapter 79
"―――Get away from her, Rikka!"
It was Nishino-kun who shouted that.
Rikka reflexively leaped backward.
The spot where she had been a moment earlier was covered in 'Darkness.'
It had been a close call.
The 'Darkness' began to seep across the cafeteria.
The other students backed away as well, staring at the spreading darkness with expressions of disbelief.
"......Oh, come on. How did things end up like this...?"
The source of it all.
At the center of the darkness, the girl who had been lying there moments before―――no, the Monster Tamer―――rose to her feet.
There was no sign of the 'wound' where she had been shot.
A small patch of 'Darkness,' only a few centimeters across, spread across her forehead before swirling away with a soft hiss.
Then the bullet was spit out and dropped into her hand.
She stared at it with interest.
"......I wonder who fired this? As far as I know, nobody at this school had the 'Sniping' Skill..."
She glared around her.
There was no trace left of the timid, unreliable-looking athletic girl she'd been moments earlier.
The intimidation radiating from her was so intense that I felt as if I were facing a monster.
"Well, whatever. It doesn't matter. I was planning to kill everyone anyway... Heehee, ah-hya-hya-hya-hya..."
Her mouth split into a crescent as she clutched her forehead and laughed with chilling madness.
It was impossible to believe she was the same person.
The change in her was so extreme that it seemed as though her entire personality had been replaced.
"W-what are you talking about, Katsuragi-kun...? What happened to you?!"
The bespectacled Miyamoto-kun shouted from a short distance away.
Apparently, he still hadn't grasped what was happening.
More accurately, almost none of the students understood what was going on.
They could only stare blankly at the scene unfolding before them.
Only we... and Nishino-kun, perhaps, understood.
He, too, stared at the Monster Tamer without letting his guard down.
Though Rikka-chan, standing beside him, still didn't seem to have grasped the situation.
"Huh? What is it, Vice President Miyamoto?"
The Monster Tamer glared at Miyamoto.
That alone was enough to make Miyamoto fall on his backside.
"Eek..."
"Wow, what a loser. What, you get scared just because someone glared at you? What happened to that usual arrogant attitude?"
Her tone was openly mocking.
Walking casually across the darkness, she sauntered toward the bespectacled nerd.
She made no attempt to assume a stance and looked completely defenseless.
That was precisely what made her so unnerving.
Each time she took a step, the 'Darkness' beneath her feet spread along with her.
"D-don't come any closer!"
"Honestly, I expected a little more from you. You're President Igarashi's right-hand man, after all. I thought you'd be a little smarter... But you're just a sycophant, huh?"
Looking disappointed, she turned her gaze away from Miyamoto.
Next, she looked toward Nishino-kun.
"You seem like more trouble, though. Don't you, Nishino-kun?"
"...Is that your true nature, Katsuragi-san?"
"My true nature? This is who I really am. It's just that pretending to be like that was more convenient, y'know? Come on, guys are weak to the meek, fragile type of girl they want to protect. The whole 'I'll work hard to level up for everyone's sake' routine. Ah-hya-hya-hya!"
She covered her mouth and laughed, apparently finding it hilarious.
But then the smile abruptly vanished from her face.
"...I intended to keep hiding it and live that way forever. I thought I was supposed to endure it, keep enduring it, suppress myself forever, and live like that..."
"But..." she said.
She spread both arms and put on a smile so wide it looked ready to split her face.
"But the world has changed! Look, Nishino! Look at this world! It's overflowing with monsters and death, and it even has game-like concepts such as levels and Skills! How can I possibly remain the same person I was before? Why should I keep holding myself back? I can live however I want! I can live the way I want to live! There's no reason to pretend anymore! Nothing can bind me! The old ties and authorities don't matter anymore! I don't care what happens to anyone else! Isn't it all about who gets to live selfishly and do whatever they want? Right? Ah-hya-hya-hya-hya!"
She said it with genuine delight.
The one who answered her was not Nishino-kun, but Miyamoto-kun, who stood some distance away.
"Y-you fool! What are you talking about, Katsuragi-kun?! Do you realize how dire our situation is right now?! I never imagined you could hold such a ridiculous view...!"
He lamented as though deeply disappointed.
She stared at him with an expression of utter boredom.
"Oh, whatever. Go ahead and be disappointed, sycophant."
A sharp crack.
She snapped her fingers.
The darkness rippled with a deep rumble.
Monsters emerged from the darkness as though crawling out of it.
"Gii..."
It was a hollow-eyed goblin.
"You got it right as far as there being a Monster Tamer controlling monsters―――but..."
She grinned viciously.
The 'Darkness' spread even farther, and something stirred within it.
A second goblin crawled out of the darkness.
An orc, a zombie, and then more monsters emerged from beside it, one after another.
"You didn't anticipate how many there would be, though."
The students' faces filled with shock.
I, too, was captivated by the sight before me.
I'd expected that the Monster Tamer might be controlling multiple monsters.
But... this went far beyond anything I had imagined.
Even at a quick glance, there were at least fifty monsters.
There were all kinds of different species among them.
Hobgoblins and Shadow Wolves were mixed in among them, too.
Laughing ferociously, she raised a hand.
"―――Kill them, monsters. Slaughter every last one of them. Turn every single one into experience points!"
At her command, the monsters began their march.
With weapons raised and fangs bared, they charged at the students.
"Uwaaah!" "Run!"
"There's no way we can beat this many!" "Help me, somebody, pleeeeease!"
"What are you doing?! Fight! You have to fight!"
Miyamoto desperately tried to stop everyone from fleeing, but it had little effect.
The students had fallen into a state of mild panic.
An overwhelming monster horde.
That sight had already swallowed their hearts.
The monsters attacked them without mercy.
"Tch! Rikka, break a window!"
"Got it!"
Rikka-chan smashed a nearby window with the hatchet she was carrying.
Apparently, Nishino-kun realized that even he could do nothing against a horde this large and immediately chose to flee.
"What, you're running? Stick around a little longer!"
She flung up her hand.
At that moment, the 'Darkness' at her feet raced across the windows, covering them in a web-like pattern.
"What?!"
At the last possible moment, the two twisted their bodies and escaped the 'Darkness.'
But one of the male students trying to escape through a window was caught by the 'Darkness.'
"W-what is this? I can't move...?!"
He desperately struggled to escape, but the more he moved, the more strands of darkness as thin as spider silk coiled around his body.
An orc approached him.
"S-stop―――Aaaaaah!"
Entangled in the darkness and deprived of his freedom, the male student was helpless.
A dull thud sounded, and he collapsed, covered in blood.
The Monster Tamer watched him with delight.
"I told you, didn't I? I'm not letting anyone escape."
"Katsuragi...!"
Nishino-kun and Rikka-chan readied their weapons and glared at her.
Even so, her expression did not change.
"Nice. That look on your faces gives me chills...! But I'm not your opponent."
The 'Darkness' spread from her feet again with a rumble, and three orcs emerged.
There were still more...?
"Rikka..."
"I know!"
As the orcs charged, Nishino-kun and Rikka-chan moved as well.
The battle began.
"Well, then―――"
It was about time for us to move, too.
It was a chaotic melee, with battles breaking out everywhere.
That should let us move around without being noticed, even if we did a little something ourselves.
Either way, unless we did something about the 'Darkness' spreading like a spiderweb, we wouldn't be able to escape from here either.
"Aka, I'm counting on you."
"......(shakes its head)"
When I asked, part of Aka, disguised as my clothes, split off and transformed into an orc cleaver.
"Ichinose-san, provide covering fire from here."
Ichinose-san nodded and readied the gun.
"All right, Momo... Let's go."
"Woof!"
With this many monsters...
If that's how you want to play it, then we'll have you help us rack up a mountain of experience, too.
Pulling my hood low, Momo and I dashed into the monster horde.