I'll kill you after I finish this game!

Fujii Ren shook his head in confusion and wariness, looked around and used his senses, but still couldn't find the source of the sound that seemed like a hallucination.

It's strange, why do these weird things always happen when Mary is involved?

P.S.: Sorry for the late update. I had to go to the hospital to pick up my medication today. There were quite a few people at the checkpoint getting nucleic acid tests and checking health codes. The next chapter will begin the altar battle...

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Chapter 59 Hospital Defense Battle: Another Formal Battle with Sakurai

"But I want to thank Cagliostro, who also brought me a lot of joy and introduced me to everyone."

Mary, oblivious to Fujii Ren's puzzled expression, gently touched her heart and spoke from the bottom of her heart.

She is sincerely grateful to those who care about her and to those who have given her everything she has so far.

She reached out and gently grasped Fujii Ren's hand, feeling the warmth and touch that allowed them to touch normally, and everything about the other's inner self.

So this is what happiness is in connecting with others.

Under Fujii Ren's complex gaze, Mary lowered her head shyly or sadly, and whispered to Fujii Ren:

"In the past, my hands never touched anything normally, except blood... But now I have Lian, Titi, Tohka... so many people who give me happiness. Titi said that the feeling of being happy about this kind of thing is called peace of mind."

"...Does Mary also want to enter my world? Or...pull me to your side?" Looking down at the hand holding hers, Fujii Ren's words were somewhat complicated.

Mary's happiness was simpler than her desire for fleeting, ordinary moments.

Just being in contact with someone makes me feel happy and joyful.

“Hmm.” Mary shook her head first, then smiled at Fujii Ren and said, “It is I who should come to Ren’s side, for my own happiness... and for Ren’s happiness.”

Indeed, Fujii Ren also thought it would be great if it were that simple.

Everything should have been so simple; neither she nor Mary's desires were anything far-fetched.

"Can't do it?"

Seeing the complex expression on Fujii Ren's face, Mary cautiously asked in return.

"..."

Fujii Ren was speechless. Shirou's fate was unknown. Kasumi was still the same as before, while Himuro-senpai was over there.

Skadi and Nanami are both preparing for battle with all their might. Even if they can live normal lives, they must be prepared for the battlefield.

In this situation, I don't know what I can do to go back to that time.

"You told me to look forward positively, but Lian..."

Looking at Mary, who was pouting unhappily, Fujii Ren smiled wryly and placed his hand on Mary's head, saying helplessly:

"Being with me, I'm afraid I won't even get the simplest happiness."

In short, what I need to do now is to survive and stop those guys from achieving their goal.

Therefore, Fujii Ren had to cooperate with Mary, who was willing to stay with him, and the girl was very happy and grateful.

For Fujii Ren, who has lost her comrades one after another, only Mary is now the only partner who can fight alongside her.

But Mary said she has grown up now and feels at ease whenever she is near someone.

In other words, she wanted something gentle... but that kind of thing didn't exist on the road she was on.

After overcoming the choices of killing and being killed, perhaps Mary could climb to the roof of her dream. But the reality is that, no matter what, it's impossible without the resolve to shed blood.

"You know perfectly well what I want you to do, so why are you still with me?" Fujii Ren looked into Mary's pure, emerald-green eyes, then raised their clasped hands, the black and red symbol of the relic flashing in their palms.

Rust, the smell of blood, resentment, curses...

This is what Fujii Ren is carrying now, along with Mary's share.

"Doesn't Lian hate this the most?"

When Mary saw the bewilderment in Fujii Ren's concern, she simply raised her other hand and grasped him tightly, smiling as she said, "So let's face it together. It's okay, I'm here. Don't be afraid."

Having said that, she proved herself once again with her actions, still trusting Fujii Ren. As Mary's figure gradually faded, the touch on Fujii Ren's hand also gradually disappeared.

The other party seemed to melt away and return to Fujii Ren's body.

Mary knew that Fujii Ren was blaming herself for losing the last time, which led to her being captured.

However, she doesn't want to always be the one being protected, so she lends her power to Skadi and Fujii Ren without asking any questions.

"..."

Looking down, feeling the familiar heaviness of my entire arm, a sense of heaviness also welled up in my heart.

Fujii Ren didn't care about being injured and bleeding; if he could just bear it, it wouldn't be a problem.

The important thing is to embrace Mary's herd mentality and not ignore...

“This was my decision. Cagliostro said it would make me happy, so I took it upon myself to make the decision.”

The unconscious realm of the mind, like Mary whispering in her ear from behind, soothed Fujii Ren's restless heart.

It was her own decision to leave the singularity, and Mary has never regretted leaving her own domain. No matter how many times she repeats it, she still wants to continue to meet Skadi and the current Fujii Ren and the others.

Cagliostro said he was tired, but Mary would never tire of endless reunions with those who mattered.

"..."

Having regained his senses, Fujii Ren stood on the empty rooftop, looking at his right arm and lost in thought.

That was the first time Mary had returned to this state since being defeated by Reinhardt.

This creates a sense of unease; the figure of her, who has been by his side recently, has vanished from Fujii Ren's sight.

In terms of distance, we are now closer, but a feeling of almost physical disorientation wells up in my heart.

“Mary…”

Mary's hesitant manner before was always memorable; even though there was no argument or tears, I felt a little guilty.

No, perhaps it's her own fault for neglecting her duties.

"Even though you comforted me like this, I, who borrowed your strength, should have taken good care of you, but I failed to do so."

Fujii Ren stared at his right hand as he apologized. He didn't know if Mary had heard him, but as he had just said, he had to have a positive and uplifting spirit.

We can no longer let Mary take care of and worry about her.

What happened just now was less about worrying about Mary and more about her own foolishness.

Even if Mary said she didn't want to fight alongside her, she couldn't just say, "Let's all give up and run away together."

If that's the case, then asking such questions is meaningless; in the end, it's just about getting a reprieve from being asked for opinions and making oneself feel better.

That wasn't gentleness; it was a threat designed to force my consent.

In fact, even now, Fujii Ren realizes that his situation is not optimistic.

"Ha, the result of positive thinking, huh?"

Fujii Ren chuckled to himself as he looked around at the rooftop and the surrounding scenery.

While it can't be described as a panoramic view of the city, you can see most of the prominent areas.

I can't stay depressed forever. Since the incident at the club, I've been communicating with Skadi, and she has also done her own investigation and reasoning.

The city had prepared eight battlefields, and the senior student had told her all of them from the very beginning.

All of these are places with very high and dense crowds, and there are many eye-catching facilities.

The remaining places include churches, Suwahara Tower, amusement parks, hospitals, and schools.

In order to prepare for the enemy, the senior student was doing things elsewhere, while she needed to wait here.

After all, Xiangchun was still here; she couldn't abandon her opponent to fight.

Although the school is also worried, the most serious place is probably where hundreds of people work day and night.

The hospital is one such place, mostly filled with patients or injured people, making it an ideal hunting ground.

Fujii Ren tried everything to get the doctors and inpatients to leave, but without any effective means.

She's just a kid; no matter how much the girl yells, no one will listen.

Furthermore, the use of force is not within the scope of this discussion.

Forget about getting rid of them; we might just attract the police and media for nothing.

If Erii Honjo were still alive, the other side might have prepared some kind of trump card, but that's impossible now.

Although Xiangchun was also worried, under these circumstances, if an important witness were caught, things would get really serious.

Fujii Ren will definitely be suspected and will be unable to take normal actions in the future.

Therefore, the best thing we can do now is to defend this land to the death.

If any of them come, Fujii Ren will fight desperately to defend them. With Mary's help, Fujii Ren has the confidence to contend with a [Creation]-level demon.

She will not let this place repeat the mistakes of the club.

However, despite thinking so optimistically, about an hour later, Fujii Ren happened to run into someone she absolutely did not want to see.

"It just so happens to be this worst kind of development."

It wasn't that the opponent was so strong that Fujii Ren couldn't fight back, but rather that the connection between those around her and the opponent made it difficult for her to kill them.

Before the eyes of countless viewers, Lisa Brenner, dressed in a black round table military uniform, walked slowly toward the hospital in the silent, deserted night.

She arrived outside the hospital grounds, then raised her head expressionlessly, looking at Fujii Ren, who was staring at her from the rooftop with a complicated and unpleasant expression.

Gazing at Lisa Brenner's current figure, and recalling how Rei Himuro had mentioned her on the school rooftop, Ren Fujii stared at Lisa below with a dark expression, and said:

"...That outfit really doesn't suit you."

In a scenario that was foreseeable and already considered the worst-case scenario, it still struck her mercilessly. Is this what they call the everyday plot twist?

"Only you, Fujii, would say that."

Lisa Brenner responded calmly, her demonic aura emanating from her without any attempt to conceal it.

Looking down from the rooftop, a corner of the SS heavy armor seemed to blend into the darkness of the night. It was so different from the woman Fujii Ren knew—the nun… Lisa Brenner was right there.