Challenge: The Fool with the Surname Okayamine

Chapter 197 Neighborhood Chapter: Body and Soul

Under that absolute power, feeling an oppressive sensation as if dancing with jackals or wild beasts, Rinpa Sie collapsed to her knees, powerless.

"Huhuhu..."

Because of this terror, the girl kept panting heavily, beads of cold sweat dripping onto the ground, looking up at the man standing beside her with a samurai sword pressed against her neck.

An unknown emotion welled up in my heart, a mixture of fear and awe, and a desire to follow, that arose from seeing a king.

That is—the king!

That gaze was like a flower blooming amidst carnage, atop mountains of corpses and seas of blood—powerful…eternal…and beautiful. Though these words might seem odd to describe a man, they truly resonated with the young girl.

Sherry quietly observed everything from the side. She was also at a loss because of Wuming's decision to cut off his own arm to save her. So when Libo made his move, she did not help either side, but just watched everything.

"I'll ask you one last time: follow... or run away. Both options are ugly ways of living, but I can assure you that the former will give you recognition and a sense of meaning in your life. Choose."

When Wuming spoke last, although he didn't express any extra emotion, he gave the listener a feeling of being controlled.

Rinpa Shige's body trembled slightly, her gaze wavering between fear and determination.

Finally, she slowly raised her head, her eyes filled with even greater reverence. She reached out her hand to the blade pointing at her and knelt down in the most devout manner.

To her, Wuming was a monster, just like she had been called that before. But he was different; he was not only a monster but also—the 'savior'!

To those who have been hurt and lost by others, yet live a despicable life, and to bring them the people they yearn for from the bottom of their hearts—perhaps there's a saying that's quite true.

Perhaps, even the most despicable have their saviors.

"I...I choose to follow."

Although her voice carried admiration and awe, this was also the moment when she didn't need to be wary of anyone and could simply entrust her trust to them.

Wuming sheathed his sword and said coldly:

"Get up, and from now on follow me. The path ahead of you is the one I seek to reach. Step forward and follow me."

Rinpa Sie slowly rose to her feet, her eyes filled with determination. Although her words were obscure and difficult to understand, they carried a strange sense of conviction when spoken by Wuming.

(Note: It's also possible that someone is simply having a fit of chuunibyou.)

Wuming turned to look at Shirley, who hurriedly echoed in agreement:

"Ah...yes, yes, that's what I was thinking too. And thank you for the arm thing...although I was the one who caused your chest injury, I'm so sorry..."

Sherry hurriedly explained, but when her gaze fell on Wuming's severed arm, she realized that the missing parts of his arm and chest had been replaced without her noticing.

"what...!"

Sherry was about to ask a question, but Wuming stopped her instantly with a look that seemed to be telling her not to ask any further questions.

Wuming ignored Shirley and walked towards the warehouse door, stepping out first, followed closely by the two behind him after exchanging a glance.

After stepping outside, Wuming finally let out a long sigh of relief, as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

"Phew...that was close, just a hair's breadth away..."

Without a doubt, when I came in, my body was so badly injured that my spirit was almost completely exhausted.

The confrontation with Kurumi just now was actually a gamble by this gambler. He played all the chips in his hand without revealing his own cards, making his opponent afraid to bet.

There was no battle this time. Judging from his physical condition just now, compared to the girl who called herself an elf, he was just an ordinary person who was relatively resistant to being killed.

As for why I was able to stand up?

It's very simple. When he was admiring Tonami but unable to stop the battle, the words Rinemu had told him that other pseudo-spirits' soul crystals could become stronger after being devoured came to mind.

He held the soul crystal he had obtained from the doll in his hand. After a moment's thought about whether it would have any effect on him, he swallowed it without much hesitation.

I didn't feel stronger, but I felt that my spiritual energy seemed to have been partially replenished, which was enough to maintain my basic abilities and repair my body.

Because of the black crystals, his past memories resurfaced. Although they were blurry, he could try to cut parts of his body into individual elements and then reassemble them to avoid vital points. With these two points, he had laid all his chips on the table.

Without a doubt, he had won his gamble. Neither Kurumi nor Tomi saw through his actions. At this moment, he could finally smile.

"Hahahahahahahahahaha—!"

His deep eyes, accompanied by a steady, low laugh, echoed around the warehouse. It was a laugh that only the victor could utter, making even the long night of the Tenth Domain seem much dimmer.

—And on the other side of the same time~

The streets, a maze of buildings, were desolate like a wilderness, with only a long-haired girl wearing glasses carrying a heavily injured brown-haired girl on her back as she walked.

The girl named Takeshita Ayame walked along, and everything seemed so peaceful, except for the weak, noisy voice of Hijikata Masami on her back echoing in her ears.

"Aaaaaah, Colorful Eyes! Have you found the boss yet? I'm so bored walking around, I feel like killing someone! Hey! Colorful Eyes! Are you listening? Can you walk faster? I'm so bored, say something..."

"Um...can you be quiet? Stop swaying around like that, it's tiring for me to carry you."

Caiyan spoke through gritted teeth, barely suppressing her anger.

"If it weren't for the fact that your body is practically crippled right now, and that you've just finished accumulating spiritual power, and that we're relatively short on combat strength, she would have loved to eliminate you right now to absorb your power and become stronger herself."

"Oh! Cough... I understand, I understand, but you haven't even made a move yet, and if you wanted to make a move, wouldn't you have already done it?"

Zhengmei said with a grin, and although she was weak, she still had the energy to make jokes.

"........."

Caiyan didn't speak. She and Zhengmei were the only survivors in countless battles against each other, and they knew each other too well.

There was even a strange sense of mutual appreciation between them, so perhaps the noise wasn't so bad for her.

Caiyan also thought that perhaps in the next life, they would stand together instead of being rivals. This might be the bond between sworn enemies.

—Kurumi had already escaped to an apartment building.

"Ah! Are you alright, Kurumi?"

"Don't worry, I've barely taken any damage since the battle just started."

Kurumi and Kuumu chatted after arriving at an apartment building.

Kurumi leaned against the door in the entryway. Although she wasn't seriously injured, her body seemed to have a certain rejection reaction as if it had touched something.

"Um... is this alright for you?"

"It's okay, it's just... just a little headache. Let me lie down in bed... rest for a while... don't worry about me."

Kurumi inexplicably closed her eyes.

Although Kurumi didn't seem to be injured at all, Kurumi's current appearance seemed a bit off, and out of concern, she was holding Kurumi's left hand tightly.

Seeing this, Kurumi chuckled softly, but it was a lonely sound, and she murmured something unintelligible:

"Personality is something... it becomes similar as long as the container changes."

"what?"

Kurumi still wore a forlorn smile, her left hand stroking the empty head. But perhaps due to her unclear consciousness, her gaze towards the empty head was strange, as if she wasn't looking at him at all.

"The 'me' of the past, the 'you' of the past. Even with memories, as long as the container is different, one can become another. What's more, even if the memories are lost, the container is still the same as before—you really are the same as before, unchanged."

Right here, Sora witnessed Kurumi shedding tears for the second time.

"What a random existence, what a distorted concept, how pathetic... 'I' am."

Even though Sora wanted to tell her, "What are you talking about?" Kurumi continued speaking as if to stop her:

"You... are not you; I am not me either. If that's the case, then what is my value and meaning of existence? That passion... that determination, everything I have... perhaps it's all just a bubble."

He uttered this chilling statement.

"I'm so tired...really...so tired..."

Kurumi sighed, feeling like she was becoming increasingly listless.

"Kurumi!"

The girl hurriedly called out to Kurumi, who suddenly looked like she was on the verge of death, and grabbed her shoulders and shook her.

"Kurumi! No! You'll disappear if you do that! Get up! Kurumi!! Kurumi~!"

"...You've been so noisy since just now...Don't call me Kurumi anymore...Kuu..."

Kong Wu's eyes were wide open, his expression grave. Even Kurumi's silky black hair had become dull and lifeless without him noticing. An ominous premonition welled up in his heart, as if something extremely serious was about to happen.

"Wake up! Get a grip! You still have things to get done!"

"Things that should be done...?"

"Yes! To win this war, isn't it! After the victory, there must be things you still want to do! Although I don't know what you want to do, or whether it's the right thing to do, one thing I'm sure of is that I don't want you to die!"

In a cruel world full of unknowns, what gives the smallest of people a direction for survival is—

"Ah...I see. You really don't want me to die?"

"I really don't want that!"

Even if I bully you terribly and use you as bait, and who knows... I might even finish you off in the end, you still wouldn't want me to die, right?

"...If you wanted to punish me, you would have done it long ago. Even though I really was used as bait, and even though it hurt like hell!"

"Really... really!"

Kurumi forced herself to stand up, barely managing to suppress the mental aversion, but healing would still take time.

"If left unattended, it can be restored by the power of the soul crystal. It will just take some time."

"Um, do you want to take a shower...?"

"No need. Don't worry, I won't disappear. Because I've remembered why I can't disappear yet."

The girl turned around and smiled gently. This time, it wasn't a lonely smile, but a warm smile that evoked feelings of kindness.

"Tomorrow might be the last day. Although only three people have left so far, one of them, either 'she' or 'he,' will eventually be unable to hold back."

Upon hearing this, Kong Wu tilted his head.

"Huh? Why? It's still early..."

"It's very simple. Although you may not understand now, the 'Puppet Master' hates losing subordinates. Although she has been testing with puppets, the testing is useless now, and she will lose subordinates for nothing. Putting aside whether she knows that guy wants to get rid of him, just based on the threat to the 'Puppet Master', tomorrow will only be a bloody battle."

"what?"

"However, it's not impossible. Let's deal with the 'Puppet Master' first and eliminate the possibility of variables."

After saying that, Kurumi staggered toward the bedroom.

"It doesn't matter who it is, as long as the scene becomes more chaotic, so that the 'puppet master' can start taking concrete action..."

Kurumi whispered this before going in.

Kongwu immediately went to the bathroom to shower, and also took off the clothes he bought at the shopping center that morning to wash off the dirt.

The girl bathes in the water droplets, contemplating the ending.

Kurumi was right; everything will be settled tomorrow. Even though she was implicated and almost died, she still survives.

Why kill each other? Even when asked the most fundamental question, they would only answer, "That's just how it is." For them, survival equals fighting.

...However, during their conversation, Tomi revealed her longing for love, and she and Sherry also yearned for romance.

Her heart, which should have been empty, was deeply etched with his words and appearance. "That man."

At this moment, a thought suddenly flashed through Kong Wu's mind: the boy from another world who supposedly made all the quasi-elves fall deeply in love.

"All the quasi-spirits"—so, what about Kurumi Tokisaki?

Her attitude was so aloof that she hadn't even considered it. Did Kurumi know anything about that person?

Does she know whether he has a lover, someone he's interested in, or someone he's currently dating?

She had thought about it a lot, so she decided to bother Kurumi after taking a shower to find out the answer to her question.