“Ahh?”
The girls were confused too, but Six was even more confused. After all, he was so sure he’d won just now, yet suddenly, this. As a result, an incomprehensible sound left his lips, and he found himself blinking.
──Just what is going on?──
Save for just one person, that was the prevailing thought in the scene.
The guns that had been pointed at them just a moment ago were for some reason attacking someone from the Snake instead.
It was an all out friendly fire.
Most of the people were unconscious perhaps from the attacks or the fall, but even those that were awake had no idea what was going and so buried their heads with surprise and anguish all over them.
The aerial support and the guard robots that appeared have already been turned into scrap.
The way the girls saw it, the enemy just started shooting at each other, but surely, it couldn’t be something so convenient.
“…Wait a moment! Don’t tell me! Is this—”
The girls were still confused, but Six paled.
“Are you, no, surely not, but there’s no other way to explain it! You’re changing their positions on the fly with teleportation, aren’t you!?”
『Guess who’s behind you. 』
“!!!”
An arm made of black mist tapped him from behind as an indiscernible voice teased him from behind.
Six almost screamed. Or perhaps, he was so shocked that he froze, unable to so much as make an eek. Despite that, he managed to turn around perhaps because of courage or recklessness or purely out of the hope that it wasn’t the Mask. Even though he could see clearly that the person in the arms of the red spear had long vanished, he couldn’t help himself but cling onto that hope as he turned around.
『’Sup! 』
A white mask that floated over darkness and a crescent moon smile.
A bright but casual greeting one would expect from either a friend or a mascot character. A tinge of madness that contrasted its brightness. At the sight of that, even the girls who were only watching shivered.
『…I was actually seriously worried about you for a moment there, you know? 』
Only one person looked at that with disbelief.
『Ha ha, sorry about that. I would have loved to be embraced by you for a moment longer, but alas, duty calls…』
『That’s not what I meant! 』
Myuhi blushed from inside her helmet as Shinichi did his usual to avoid her remarks.
Though for her subordinates, it just sounded like a conversation that didn’t fit the mood or place. They couldn’t keep up with how this supposedly horrifying scene was instead taken by their superior to be something heartwarming. The Mask stood up and returned to the girls, ignoring Six.
“…Why?”
『Hmm? 』
“Why don’t you hear the song!?”
Six asked.
Not a hint of his composure was left as he yelled it out loud.
Myuhi was actually curious about that too.
After all, the song was still playing. The terminal of the soldiers have already been most destroyed, but there were still sounds continuing to play. So why?
“I’m certain this song is your weakness! Yesterday couldn’t have be an act! There was no point in putting on an act like that in the first place! You were definitely weaker! Yesterday, and just now too! So much so that mere bullets were actually able to wound you!”
『Wound? 』
『Ha ha, not bad! 』
The Mask clapped and laughed, while the girls turned to him in confusion.
『Masquerade? 』
『Aren’t you quite the actor? You should consider a career change, Six-kun. You might just win an Oscar. Were I unable to see outside the stage, I might have been fooled too.』
“For once, can you say something that makes sense? Answer my questions!”
『Very well, allow me to enlighten you with this.』
Six yelled in frustration, while the Mask just laughed, but he acquiesced nonetheless and struck his right hand into the air. Six’s face twitched as a light shot out from the Mask’s fingertips into the air. By the time he recognized it for what it was, the tip of it had already shot through the clouds.
『! 』
“Eek!”
The sight of that light illuminating from that Mask was just too horrifying.
It wasn’t just a threat, it was something that has literally threatened the whole world. Moreover, not even half a month has passed since the day that light was first revealed.
So whoever it was that screamed couldn’t be faulted for screaming. However, this band of light wasn’t exactly the same as before. It wasn’t as thick as the light from before, and it cleanly vanished into the sky. Then as though nothing had happened, the Mask brought down his arm.
What happened? What did he do?
Other than the Mask himself, there were only two others who could answer those questions.
『Did you just shoot it from the ground? 』 Myuhi asked.
“You’re right, Crimson. The signal is gone,” Six said.
For some reason, Six suddenly calmed down and said those words calmly.
One of the advantages of attack satellites lay in how difficult it was to shoot or intercept them, but the Mask shot one down just like that. Moreover, the fact that he was able to do that meant that his attack range could go that far.
『It shouldn’t be so surprising, though, no?
The last time I used this, I reached a width of about 1800km,
so if I narrowed it down, it would only make sense that I’d be able to reach even further and shoot down a satellite. 』
『Absurd. But the nastiest part about your personality is how you make it sound so logical. 』Myuhi said.
If he simply narrowed down the width of the energy he’d released before, he’d be able to reach the satellite.
That might sound right, but only for someone with intelligence on the level of a child.
After all, it wasn’t too hard to imagine that the amount of energy required to sustain something grew the further it went. Perhaps, the energy he needed surpassed even the time when he split the ocean.
It also required precise calculations, as the slightest error from the ground would result in a complete misfire up above.
There were a ton of other factors to consider too, so the Mask’s statement couldn’t be anything but absurd, yet he was able to make it work, and Myuhi struggled to accept that reality despite it happening from right before her.
“You are the personification of absurdity,” Six said.
Six spat those words out angrily as he stood up and brushed away the dirt on him. Not a hint of the earlier impatience or anger could be seen on him.
『Too bad, huh. Even though you entrusted the timing to Venom.』the Mask said.
“The harder I try, the more absurd everything becomes.
I think I’ll lose my mind before I give up, and when I think of how you’re aiming precisely for that, it makes my head hurt even more.
…Are you going to answer my earlier question?”
Six might have been acting earlier, but his question was sincere.
『There’s no need to rush. For the mean time, sit. The other one too.』
The Mask said as he sat himself. Chairs and tables appeared out of thin air.
Everything was made out of wood.
The table was about as big as one would expect from a dining table, while the chairs numbered three all in all.
Behind Masquerade was Nameless, while in front of him were two seats. An Englishman with blonde and gray hair and blue eyes was there.
Of course, this man was none other than Venom.
“W-What happened!? Masquerade!?”
His confusion was understandable, given how he was suddenly teleported here.
In fact, so great was his confusion that he belatedly noticed the presence of the Mask, but as pitiful as he seemed, there was no one here who blamed him.
If anything, there was only pity for him.
“Shut up for a bit,” Six said.
The Mask implied for Six to take a sit next to Venom. However…
“Six!? How come nothing happened!? I did exactly as you told me to!” Venom said.
His presence only ended up giving Venom a place to vent.
Six sighed but answered nonetheless, perhaps believing that it would be more troublesome not to do so.
“Masquerade was a step of ahead of us. That’s all.
The card that you were meant to play was destroyed by him.
It’s an absurd story, really. What kind of person is capable of taking out a satellite from ground level?”
“Hah? Satellite? Oh, so that was for the satellite. Wait, he shot it down? From here?”
Venom wanted to refute it, but the stupefied face he wore said everything.
Even he couldn’t deny that Masquerade was that exceptional.
That’s why he ended up seeking confirmation from none other than the Mask himself and even Nameless.
No one responded to him, but no one denied it either, while the Mask merely smiled at him. Of course that in itself was an answer. It was then that he finally realized the state of the environment, and he paled and became speechless.
Six sighed as he sat down, then perhaps out of courtesy or gratitude for sitting down, a cup of coffee suddenly appeared before them.
“I won’t be surprised by something of this level anymore, but the world-famous Masquerade sure is surprisingly cheap.”
Six turned to the log house behind the girls with astonishment.
For some reason, despite everything that has happened, it was completely fine. But of course, what was most noteworthy of all was that the furniture that had appeared seemed like something you’d find from inside it.
『There’s no need to be reserved. Drink as much as you want. I just picked it up from there, after all.』
“What a coincidence. I’m pretty sure I left it there too.”
『Coincidences certainly do happen.』
Six snorted and drank the cup in one go.
He might seem bold, but anyone could tell that the one in control here was Masquerade.
If he wanted to kill him, there’s no reason to use poison. There were also no known cases of him killing. Of course, he wasn’t absolutely safe, but it was a decent bet.
『Fu fu, Six-kun.
You’ve shown yourself to be a battle fanatic and a crude person, but really, you are calm and rational.
The reason you’re sitting here too is because you’ve judged resistance to be futile.
Am I right? 』
“Is that something you should be saying as the person responsible for leaving just one way out and cornering us?
How many times have I been led astray by you just tonight alone?”
The Mask praised him, but it just sounded like sarcasm to Six’s ears.
Six made a bitter face as he recalled the things that happened, and the Mask laughed.
『Ha ha, just being able to understand that much is plenty laudable.
It’s precisely because you’re that smart that you prepared these many soldiers and weapons.
It’s very convenient. The more powerful the army, the more brilliant the commander, the easier it will be for me to achieve my goal.』
“Your goal? So you weren’t just protecting the Songstress?”
『I am protecting her. But you misunderstood the method by which I am doing so.
That’s why you ended up becoming witness. Of me shooting down a satellite from all the way down here and single-handedly wiping out an army even while under the sound of this sacrilegious song.』
Witnesses to dread even more that which should be feared.
But how did showing that to the world benefit the Mask?
“…Initially, I thought that Monica’s song being your weak point was wrong.”
While everyone was trying to understand the motive behind the Mask’s actions,
Six started speaking.
“But that couldn’t be. There was no reason to feed us false information at that timing yesterday.
In the first place, a song being your weak point is in itself plenty suspicious. If not for the precedence that was the apostle armaments, we wouldn’t have bought it either.”
It was impossible to believe that the events yesterday were merely an act.
“As for completing a countermeasure in one day, that song takes effect regardless how it’s isolated. Maybe if it’s you you can find an answer to it, but it’s hard to imagine you could do it in just one day. Besides, we were able to hurt you with an attack of that level. You were doing everything you could to protect the Songstress, so it’s unlikely that you would willingly get wounded while on stage. So, it should be safe to presume that you’ve yet to find a countermeasure.”
『Exactly. Look.』
“!”
『What!? 』
The Mask showed his right arm. Then with his left hand, he pulled the night from it. Everyone gulped.
The ends of his fingers were covered, perhaps to protect his fingerprints, but the rest of his hand was laid bare, and what a terrible sight it was.
There were no bleedings, but there were scorch marks reminiscent of attack photons everywhere. Moreover, the skin has been gouged out, as though something spinning fast had hit the arm. Bones could be seen sticking out in various places too. It was in such a terrible state that it would be more believable to say that it was an arm belonging to someone that had been caught in an explosion.
“Horrible. It’s actually a perfect match with our predictions,” Six said.
『I had to leave it like this in order to show you. And now that you’ve seen it, I can finally heal it. I’d like for you to be the one to heal me, do you mind? 』
The Mask nodded then extended his right hand to someone beside him.
『…This side of you is seriously annoying.』
Before anyone knew it, Myuhi was there, sighing, as she put down the fist she’d formed to grab the arm and heal it instead. Despite the voice changer she was using, her irritation could be heard loud and clear. Six found it absurd how she was acting one way prior then obediently healing in the next, but the Mask acted as though he didn’t see that and just continued.
『My body has certainly weakened because of the song, so why isn’t your method working? To answer that, one should of course ask what the difference is when there’s an effect and when there’s no effect. Remember that I only learned about the effect of her song yesterday.』
The Mask said as though giving a quiz, and the people that saw the events yesterday twitched. At the same time, they tilted their head.
What was the difference? The Ladies have heard of the details but never seen it for themselves. In the first place, they couldn’t imagine the Mask collapsing, while the people that did manage to see, couldn’t comprehend why the Mask would emphasize on him learning about the effects of the song yesterday.
“Huh? Is that possible?”
『What’s the matter? Did you figure out something? 』
But perhaps it was precisely because of that that one of Myuhi’s subordinates were able to realize something.
Myuhi was quick to pick up on the quiet mumble of her subordinates and so beckoned her to speak.
“Oh, it’s nothing, I was just wondering how it’s possible for one to live his whole life without hearing Monica.”
『Huh? Oh! 』
“Damn it! We’ve been had!”
That simple question was enough for Six and Myuhi, who lacked knowledge and understanding in that department, to guess at the truth of the matter.
Monica’s song was everywhere. After all, she was a one in a million Songstress, and she had the skills to back it up too. So long as one turned on the Television, one was bound to hear her, whether it was on one of the music programs, in a commercial, or even just as a BGM. Her songs would also regularly be played in street corners and various stores, and people also listened to her frequently, so one could overhear her from that. One would have to intentionally go out of their way not to listen to her to avoid her, and even then, it wouldn’t be easy. Perhaps the only way was to leave civilization or abandon modern conveniences.
『…Monica’s raw voice is the best, after all. If even an amateur can feel that way, then those sensitive to her would even more so. In other words.』
“You are only affected by her raw singing voice!”
Unlike Myuhi, who was glad to finally understand, the grave revelation that truth brought with it made the ever calm Six to flare in anger and slam the desk. Venom, who was next to him, flinched, but as though Six couldn’t see him, he glared only at the Mask.
“You’ve played us alright! So yesterday really was a scheme! You purposely allowed us to escape!
The moment you noticed the difference between you and the Apostle Armaments, you decided to take advantage of it and play us for the fool!
Ah, it’s exactly as you’ve said, we played right into your hands to become your witnesses!”
A crescent moon smile surfaced on the Mask as though to echo their statements.
Normally, that smile would give one the chills, but all it brought Six now was humiliation.
After all, since yesterday, they have been dancing blindly on the palm of the Mask. To think that clowns such as themselves would challenge the Mask with full power. They were indeed a joke.
“What’s going on, Six? So what if he only grows weaker when listening to her raw voice?”
“Are you fucking retarded!? Of course, there’s something wrong with it! Everything is wrong with it! Our apostle armaments not working, or Masquerade having a weak point. Tell me which one of these two scenarios benefits our organization more!? Can’t you use that lacking brain of yours after seeing this one-sided situation a bit more!?”
Upon realizing that he’d been used, shame filled Six, and he found himself seriously yelling angrily at Venom, leading to the Englishman to droop his head.
Monica Chantal was an unexpected obstacle to the new weapon of the Snake.
But that was all. Unless they used the Apostle Armaments, her existence was neither harmful nor beneficial to them.
Until now, that is. Because in this moment, they have proven it. That her raw voice was the only weakness of the Mask.
The being that could split the seas, threaten the world, appear anywhere whenever he pleased, grasp all information, an absolutely sinister fighting force on his own,
while also being able to bestow unto others a barrier that rendered their apostle armaments useless, erect a cursed barrier, has relations with Nameless, has the wealth that can fully mobilize them, able to shoot down satellites from the ground, and be able to single-handedly make an army kill itself.
And she was the sole weakness to that Masquerade.
“Oh no! We can’t kill Monica Chantal!” Venom said in a moment of epiphany.
“Worse, if we lay a hand on her, it will turn into an all out war.
Though I’m not sure if you can call a one-sided battle where you can’t take advantage of the enemy’s weakness a war!”
When Venom too understood what was happening, blood left his face and surprise surfaced on it as he screamed for a different reason than earlier. They needed to take advantage of her song in some way. Losing her now would be just too unprofitable.
The battle tonight has made them acknowledge that truth fully.
They had no choice to. Because they witnessed it themselves.
『Were you calm, you might have noticed it yesterday.
But you weren’t. Having experienced for yourself how helpless you were in the face of someone so powerful despite already being weakened, you tunnel visioned into trying to eliminate me.
The opportunity being immediately the day after might have also been a factor. 』
“So everything after you fell was in preparation for this.
You weren’t acting, but you allowed it to happen right in front of us anyway to deceive us. You swindler!
What realize? You knew I had no choice but to go through with this even if I did suspect it!”
『In that regard, I do sympathize with you.
Especially since you have Venom-kun over here who is likely to attack Monica on his own.
Moreover, conjectures are nothing more than conjectures in the end. You need proof to act, and there’s a chance that I’ll find a solution to her song given enough time. 』
So either way, they had no choice but to attack today.
The humiliation from that, from being used, and from being surpassed in steps read led to Six to glare at the Mask with open hostility.
Six was so visibly angry that it was actually curious how he was able to keep himself from attacking.
“You pest!”
『Ku ku, I like smart guys like you. Explaining is so easy. I appreciate it, you know. You being smart. 』
His words might have been full of praise, but there was no one hear who took those words at face value. Basically, he was saying this.
‘People with a good head on their shoulders are easy to read, so it’s easy to control them.’
The sound of molars grinding resounded, but the Mask just smiled.
It was already checkmate.
The Snake had gained nothing in this battle but losses, and in the first place, they were merely being used in order to protect Monica Chantal.
Six understood that. That’s why he just ground his teeth and endured his emotions. Unlike his scary face, he knew not to lose his composure. He was indeed as brilliant as the rumors said. Though that was also proof that the emotions stirred within him were merely those that could be suppressed.
Originally, he was just supposed to eliminate his runaway comrade.
But then he saw a fake path leading to the demise of the Mask and went astray.
It was humiliating, but at the same time, it wasn’t enough for him to lose his mind.
However, that wasn’t true for his comrade.
“No! It’s not over yet! The Snake haven’t lost!
The forces that lost were just hastily put together! We have more satellites too!
The only one the Apostle Armament doesn’t work against is this guy!
And he’s already weak from the concert!”
So, just kill him now, is what he was saying.
But Six just looked at him coldly.
The fact that he couldn’t understand even after seeing their defeat here showed that he was incapable of understanding anything but the results. His suggestions were far too removed from reality.
No one laughed at him because no one could comprehend his recklessness. There was also pity at play.
『You’re not wrong. Despite how I might seem, I am weakened.
In fact, I’m so exhausted that I can’t be bothered to stand up.』
“Six, I’m going for it!”
“Damn you!”
The Mask was vicious to spur him on.
But no one reacted even as Venom stood up to take out a gun from his terminal.
Even Six just glared at the Mask, not deigning to stop Venom.
The gun in Venom’s hands was certainly strong enough to get through even an exoskeleton, but of course, it was nothing more than a loud toy before the Mask.
Only someone as emotional as Venom would gamble on the one in a million chance that he might actually be able to kill the Mask.
As expected, not even the Mask gave Venom any attention.
『But you sure said something interesting earlier, Six.』
“Interesting?”
Six tilted his head, while the Mask laughed.
However, the lively atmosphere between them lasted only midway through his words.
『It would become an all out war if you laid your hands on her? Don’t fuck with me. 』
“Eek!”
“!?”
Pressure bore down on them even though the Mask was just talking.
It was such that one had to doubt his claims of having been weakened.
The air shook. Chills crawled up their back. Goosebumps broke out. Venom’s excitement and Six’s humiliation immediately died down.
『If you still haven’t given up on her, then consider this my declaration of war. 』
Tl Note: This release is for May. Thank you to all the Patrons for their continued support for this series.
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