Tokyo: Magical Girl Shatters My Dream of Going Public

Just as the twin blades were about to strike the old woman's neck...

The entire B2 level, this space completely enveloped in scarlet flesh and blood, began to tremble violently without warning!

It wasn't an earthquake.

It's more like... a sleeping behemoth, disturbed by fierce fighting in the outside world, turned over in its slumber.

Rumble...!!!

It sounded like the muffled thuds of countless internal organs and bones rubbing and squeezing, coming from deep within the walls of flesh and blood.

Immediately afterwards, the surrounding blood-red flesh membrane began to spasm and convulse wildly!

The structure of the passage began to visibly twist and deform!

The once barely discernible corridor layout is now being kneaded like clay by an invisible hand, with the walls being squeezed inward, the ground undulating, and the forks in the road mysteriously disappearing or appearing.

Even more frightening is-

"Gurgle... gurgle gurgle..."

The sound of a viscous liquid flowing and converging at high speed came from deep within the flesh, from underfoot, from above… from every direction.

Then, to everyone's astonishment...

Those lumps of flesh crushed by the aftershocks of the battle between Kurokawa and Granny Kagoshi.

As if imbued with life, everything transformed into viscous, scarlet streams, rushing rapidly towards a certain direction deep within the cavity!

It was as if there was an invisible vortex there, greedily devouring and reclaiming all the scattered flesh and energy.

With the return of these "nutrients", the sweet, fishy, ​​and putrid smell that permeated the entire cavity suddenly surged!

A chaotic will, seemingly formed from countless painful cries, slowly washed over everyone's consciousness like an awakening tide.

Everyone couldn't help but shudder.

That will was cold and viscous.

It is filled with the most primal desires to devour and multiply.

In this sudden onslaught of terror and dramatic environmental change.

A flicker of fear, seemingly stemming from instinct, flashed in the old woman's eyes, which were filled with resentment and malice!

She didn't even care about the crimson blade that was right in front of her. She let out a shrill, distorted cry and tried to escape in a certain direction without a care in the world.

Kurokawa's deadly strike was slightly deflected due to the violent tremors and structural distortions that affected the entire space.

The blade grazed the old woman's neck, severing a few strands of her dry, gray hair and leaving a deeper burn mark on her side, but it failed to sever her head.

Kurokawa swayed slightly, forcibly stabilizing his center of gravity under overload conditions.

He quickly scanned the drastically changed environment around him, his sense of alarm rising to its peak.

This commotion...

This strange phenomenon of devouring and recycling...

This terrifying will that spread...

Class D...?

Do not!

This scale, this vitality that seems to blend seamlessly into the entire underground space, this oppressive feeling that sends shivers down your spine…

The creatures contained and secretly studied in the laboratory... are not F-class or E-class at all!

This place... has nurtured a monster nest that is close to, or even possibly is, a C-rank monster?!

Kanzaki's information was wildly wrong!

Or rather, all of them, including those who gave the orders, were completely blinded by what this laboratory was truly hiding!

"President—!"

Chika's exclamation rang out.

Kurokawa suddenly turned around.

Suddenly, the ground where Chika was standing arched and cracked open as if it were alive, and a giant fleshy mouth covered with layers of spiraling sharp teeth suddenly emerged from the ground and devoured her!

Meanwhile, the fleshy walls on Kanzaki's team's side suddenly closed, like the closed mouth of a giant beast, trying to completely seal the three of them inside!

Kurokawa had no time to confirm whether "Grandma Highway" was dead or had escaped.

The crimson flames flickered rapidly, the overload state frantically draining his physical strength and magic battery reserves.

Every second is a luxury.

He flashed again, appearing beside Chika as if by teleportation. With a swift movement of his left arm, he scooped Chika, who had just managed to prop herself up halfway, under his ribs.

At the same time, the twin swords in his right hand transformed into a crimson strangling storm, sweeping towards the center of the mass of flesh surrounding Kanzaki's squad!

Where the blade flashed, tentacles snapped, chunks of flesh disintegrated, and wherever the crimson energy tail reached, charred blackness spread.

"Walk!"

Kurokawa's low growl rang in Kanzaki's ears.

Kanzaki didn't even have time to say "thank you." His survival instinct and clear understanding of the situation made him immediately yell, "Keep up! Don't fall behind!"

He pulled up a teammate who was almost exhausted, while another teammate who was still able to move helped up his most seriously injured comrade.

With Chinatsu in tow, Kurokawa had transformed into a crimson vanguard, wielding his twin swords left and right, forcefully cleaving a narrow passage, scorched black by fire, through the dense sea of ​​flesh!

All around, the fleshy tissues that had been temporarily forced back were writhing and closing at an unprecedented speed, trying to devour them again.

The passage narrowed and closed off to the naked eye.

We must find a way out immediately!

At this critical moment—

Clang... Clang clang...

A faint yet exceptionally clear string sound pierced through the rustling of flesh, the heavy breathing of the crowd, and the buzzing of burning energy, penetrating Kurokawa's senses, which were heightened to the extreme under his overloaded state.

That's the sound of musical instruments!

It's a shamisen!

It's a [Maiko doll]!

There was no time to ponder why the music was playing at this moment, or what it meant.

This is very likely the only directional indicator!

"Over here!"

Kurokawa roared hoarsely, changing his charge and rushing towards the direction from which the music was coming!

He sheathed his knife temporarily in his right hand, and with his free arm, he scooped up a special forces soldier who was almost unable to walk due to a leg injury and slung him over his shoulder.

Chinatsu immediately understood, and despite her pain and weakness, she struggled to slide down from Kurokawa's arms and gritted her teeth to carry another wounded soldier.

Kanzaki and the last remaining team member who could still move supported each other, desperately trying to keep up with Kurokawa's crimson trail that kept tearing through the flesh.

run!

Run without regard for anything else!

Kurokawa poured almost all of his remaining energy into his legs and the sword in his hand.

Each slash left a burning crack in the thick flesh.

The passage behind them was closing rapidly, and further behind, the suffocating crimson "tide" of countless fleshy lumps was rumbling after them at an incredible speed!

The only consolation is...

As they ran wildly toward the sound of music, the living flesh covering the surrounding walls was rapidly thinning and diminishing.

The crimson faded, and large sections of the building's original silver-gray metal walls began to be exposed.

This means they are fleeing the core area of ​​that "living realm"!

"It's just ahead!"

Kurokawa shouted hoarsely.

At the end of the passage, above a tightly closed metal door, hangs a crooked "Staff Cafeteria" sign.

The faint but persistent sound of the shamisen was coming from behind the door.

But the "tide of flesh" behind them was already less than twenty meters away!

The churning, writhing crimson flesh almost filled the entire cross-section of the passage, like a river of blood bursting its banks, about to completely engulf them in the next moment!

"Cover!" Kanzaki's eyes flashed with determination as he abruptly pulled the last three high-explosive incendiary grenades from his waist!

Without the slightest hesitation, he used his last bit of strength to throw the three incendiary bombs with all his might toward the passage behind him!

Three incendiary bombs arced through the air and landed at the forefront of the surging tide of flesh.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Three consecutive, dazzling white walls of fire suddenly exploded and connected, transforming into a brief but intense death zone!

The high-temperature flames frantically licked at the flesh and blood, emitting dense "sizzling" sounds and countless tiny cracking sounds, and a strong stench of burning instantly filled the air.

The momentum of the flesh tide was abruptly halted by the sudden burst of flames, and the leading part convulsed, curled up, and charred violently in the sea of ​​fire.

"Go inside now!" Kanzaki roared as he turned around.

Kurokawa kicked open the restaurant door, which wasn't locked, and rushed in first, carrying the wounded man.

Chika followed closely behind.

Kanzaki and another team member stumbled into the restaurant, turned around and slammed the heavy metal door shut with all their might!

"Block the door! Find something to block it!" Kanzaki yelled.

The few people who were still able to move immediately sprang into action. Without bothering to observe their surroundings, they overturned all the heavy metal dining tables, carts, and even a large sterilizer near the door and piled them up behind the door!

Boom! ! !

Almost the instant they finished blocking the door, a dull thud that shook the entire restaurant slammed into the metal door!

Dust settled on the walls around the door frame.

Then came the second, the third... The impacts became more frequent and heavier!

The door panels and the obstacles piled up behind them groaned under the weight.

But this door and those odds and ends did, for the time being, block out the madness outside.

For now, we're safe.

His nerves, which had been stretched to the limit, suddenly relaxed. Kurokawa groaned, and the boiling crimson flames around his body suddenly went out like embers after they had burned out.

The defensive midfielder's magic battery completely depleted, and he subsequently went into complete silence.

The consequences of overloading came back instantly!

The excruciating pain swept over me like a tsunami, making every cell seem to wail. My muscles spasmed, and a nauseating feeling, as if my internal organs were shifting, surged up my throat.

His legs buckled, and he stumbled forward several steps before falling heavily to one knee. He barely managed to keep from collapsing completely by using the scabbard to support himself. From beneath his mask came suppressed, painful gasps.

Chika helplessly released the wounded man she was carrying, slumped to the ground, panting heavily, her face deathly pale.

Kanzaki slid down against the barrier blocking the door, his chest heaving violently, and the wound in his left eye reopened, blood mixed with sweat flowing down.

Everyone has reached their limit.

However, before they could even catch their breath—

Clang... Clang... Clang...

The faint yet clear sound of the shamisen once again echoed softly in the quiet restaurant.

This time, it's right in front of us.

Everyone froze, their exhausted bodies tensing up as they looked in the direction of the sound.

The restaurant was spacious inside, with most of the tables and chairs pushed out to the entrance.

And at the very back of the restaurant, near the ceiling vents on the inner wall—

A fleshy "vine" or "tumor" about the thickness of a bucket, dark red to almost black, hangs down from the vent, its end drooping limply in mid-air.

Unlike the active, constantly wriggling tissues outside, this tumor was dry and dull in color, covered with charred burn marks and countless fine wounds, as if cut by a sharp instrument. It showed no signs of wriggling and had clearly lost all activity.

And directly below that drooping tumor, on the floor—

A figure lay there quietly.

It was a doll shaped like a classical geisha, about half a person's height.

Its once magnificent and exquisite kimono is now tattered, covered with scorch marks and tears, revealing the broken ceramic body beneath.

Her delicate hair was disheveled, her makeup was faded and peeling, one arm was bent at an unnatural angle, and the other hand remained in a loose clenching position, as if it had once held something.

The doll's body was also covered with holes and marks similar to the tumor above, as if it had been pierced and bound by countless tiny tentacles.

It lay there quietly, without a sound, with only the faint but persistent sound of the shamisen flowing out from somewhere within it, intermittently and softly.

The scene before us silently tells a story:

Before their arrival, in this relatively "clean" restaurant, the [Maiko Doll] and a portion of that terrifying "domain" had already engaged in an extremely fierce battle.

The final result seems to be a lose-lose situation.

One side loses its vitality and dries up.

On the other side, everything was in ruins, and the music was about to end.

"So beautiful..." Chika looked at the broken doll in front of her, still admiring its beauty.

The musume doll's broken body trembled slightly on the ground.

The movement was small, but it made everyone in the restaurant's heart skip a beat.

Under the astonished and uncertain gazes of the crowd, it struggled to support itself on the ground with its only remaining, still functional arm.

Click... Click...

Little by little, extremely slowly, it lifted its broken body off the ground.

His movements were stiff, like a rusty marionette, each exertion of force felt like it was about to fall apart.

Finally, it stood up.

If that can still be called standing.

The body was severely tilted, supported only by its intact arm and deformed leg. Broken pottery shards rubbed against each other inside, making a continuous, faint cracking sound.

It slowly raised its face, its makeup faded and its original features almost unrecognizable.

There are no eyes, or rather, where the eyes should have been, there are only two empty holes.

But it "looked" at everyone.

Immediately afterwards, a faint, almost lifeless shamisen melody, as if it were about to die, began to emanate from somewhere within its body once more.

This time, it was no longer the intermittent elegy as before.

The tone began to rise and fall, and develop a rhythm.

Slow and mournful, yet possessing an undeniable, gradually increasing penetrating power.

As the music played, the geisha puppets began to move.

It raised its loosely clenched hand, its wrist twisting at an eerie angle, its five fingers mimicking the gesture of pinching an invisible fan.

The other broken arm also swayed limply as the body moved.

It started "dancing".

The movements were extremely slow, not even smooth, and every change in posture was accompanied by the "rustling" sound of ceramic shards rubbing together and a sense of instability as if the pieces were about to completely collapse at any moment.

But it is indeed dancing.

It conveys a sense of brokenness and distortion.

Yet it strangely retains a certain classical charm, dancing alone in this space interwoven with deathly silence and broken ruin.

The music echoed in the enclosed space, becoming clearer and clearer, and more and more... possessing a certain indescribable "attraction".

"It...it's alive!" A special forces soldier instinctively took a half step back, raising his gun slightly.

Chika held her breath, watching the broken doll's eerie and stubborn dance, a chill creeping up her spine.

Having just escaped the encirclement of that bloody hell outside, could this be the real trap?

Cold sweat beaded on Kanzaki's forehead as his gaze darted rapidly between the dancing puppet and the door behind him, which was pounding incessantly. He was caught in a dilemma and didn't know what to do.

Just as despair and chaos were about to spread once again—

Kurokawa whispered a hint:

"Everyone! Keep your eyes on it! Don't look away!"

"Once the line of sight is interrupted, even for just a moment, its 'rules' may take effect! It can be directly manipulated!"

Everyone felt a chill run down their spines!

Kanzaki almost instinctively forced himself to widen his eyes and fix his gaze on the broken figure that was slowly dancing, even though the sight made his scalp tingle.

Chika forcefully shook off the momentary daze, her amber pupils focusing firmly.

Several special forces members gritted their teeth, forcing themselves to overcome the physical discomfort and subtle mental pull, and focused all their attention on the target.

The music was melodious, and the dance was enigmatic.

The broken doll slowly rotated in the dim light, the tattered hem of its kimono rising and falling with its stiff movements.

Inside the restaurant, only the increasingly clear music and the incessant, agonizing thuds of impact outside the door could be heard.

When exactly do we have to wait and see?