Chapter 186: The Mermaid and the Kudan
"You..."
When Asagiri suddenly called out her name, Sakuragawa Rikka, who had maintained a calm expression the entire time, finally showed a change in emotion. Her slender brows drew together slightly. It was only a subtle shift, but at that moment, Yuuki Asuna and the others felt as if the temperature in the room had dropped several degrees.
A cluster of Black Particles had already condensed beside Iwanaga Kotoko, crackling faintly in the air. Gleaming Light in Yuuki Asuna's hand gave off a dim glow, while Kato Megumi had quietly drawn her battle axe, her slender fingers gripping the handle tightly, ready to activate [Throw] at any moment.
In an instant, a suffocating tension filled the small office.
Faced with Yuuki Asuna and the others, who were ready to attack at any second, Sakuragawa Rikka showed no special reaction and made no suspicious movement. She only looked at Asagiri and asked calmly,
"Have we met before?"
"No."
"Oh, really?"
Sakuragawa Rikka nodded without comment. Then her gaze shifted to Iwanaga Kotoko, and a trace of chill appeared in her eyes.
"Even if I don't know the other three, how could I fail to recognize the famous 'Princess'?"
The moment Sakuragawa Rikka called Iwanaga Kotoko "Princess," both Yuuki Asuna and Kato Megumi's expressions changed.
[Princess of the Yokai], [God of Wisdom of the Strange], [The One Eyed, One Legged God]. These were all titles the yokai had given Kotoko. Of course, the third one no longer quite fit.
For Sakuragawa Rikka to call her Princess meant...
She knew Kotoko's true identity.
"Ah, so that's what it is."
At such a tense moment, Asagiri suddenly smiled.
"No wonder. So you're one of her fans."
"Huh?"
Sakuragawa Rikka clearly hadn't expected that reaction. For a moment, even she seemed at a loss. All she could do was instinctively deny it.
"No, I'm not..."
"Don't be shy."
Asagiri looked at Iwanaga Kotoko and said lightly,
"Go on. You finally met one of your admirers. Hurry and give her an autograph."
"Oh, so you want an autograph."
Kotoko's abstractness was no less than Asagiri's, and she instantly followed up with a smile.
"Oh my, this is the first time I've ever met a human fan. You should have said so earlier. Don't be embarrassed. Where do you want my signature? Your clothes? Your chest? Or your butt?"
Sakuragawa Rikka, who had seemed calm and emotionless up until now, looked slightly flustered for the first time.
"I... I'm not a fan..."
"Human Asura."
Just as Sakuragawa Rikka was trying to explain herself, the smile vanished from Asagiri's face. The tall Human Asura instantly appeared and blocked the office door, while Kotoko reacted just as quickly, summoning Black Particles to completely seal the narrow gap under the door where the black mist had entered earlier.
"You..."
Only then did Sakuragawa Rikka realize what had happened.
Asagiri and Kotoko had not been acting abstract just for the sake of it. They had used that absurd banter to distract her while quietly cutting off her escape route.
Logically, she shouldn't have fallen for something so simple.
The problem was, it had been too abstract. So absurd that Sakuragawa Rikka's thoughts had never even gone in that direction.
"There is a road to heaven, yet you refuse to take it. There is no gate to hell, yet you barged right in. We're the only ones allowed to peek into other people's boxes, and you thought you could peek into ours? I think you're asking to get shot with the Supreme Magic Bullet."
Asagiri looked at Sakuragawa Rikka and said flatly,
"Even if this isn't your real body, a clone created through remote manipulation can't possibly be free. I don't know whether you're using an item, your exclusive talent, or some special skill. But I do know one thing. If this black mist clone dies here, it won't be easy for you to get out of Kyozan Mental Hospital, will it?"
"You..."
Sakuragawa Rikka frowned, but quickly calmed herself.
"Since you've already seen through it, there's no point in hiding it. That's right. If this clone dies here, it will be very troublesome for me. But I have to make one thing clear. I truly bear no hostility toward you, and the transaction just now was genuine. I just..."
Her complicated gaze shifted to Iwanaga Kotoko.
"I simply didn't expect to meet her here."
There was one thought Sakuragawa Rikka did not voice aloud.
What shocked her most was not merely that Iwanaga Kotoko, revered by the yokai as the Princess and regarded as a god in the supernatural world, had become a Player.
It was that Kotoko seemed willing to follow the lead of this young man in black.
What kind of person could make the God of Wisdom willingly take orders from him?
Sakuragawa Rikka could not help feeling curious.
"Who exactly are you? I have no memory of you at all."
At Iwanaga Kotoko's question, Sakuragawa Rikka pressed her lips together. There was a strange kind of danger in her otherwise pitiful, elegant beauty.
"Like you... I am no longer an ordinary human."
She spoke quietly.
"I once ate the flesh of a mermaid and a Kudan. Because of that, I gained immortality, as well as the ability to foresee possible futures through each death."
"The flesh of a mermaid and a Kudan?"
Hearing that, Kotoko's expression changed immediately. Her deep purple eyes locked onto Sakuragawa Rikka's face. The usual sweet, smiling look on her face vanished, replaced by seriousness and even a trace of coldness.
"The flesh of those two yokai is highly poisonous. Not just to humans. Even yokai can't endure it. You're saying you ate it and still survived? And not only that, you obtained the mermaid's immortality and the Kudan's future sight?"
Facing Kotoko's disbelief, Sakuragawa Rikka sighed softly.
"That's right. Their flesh is highly poisonous to humans. Which is why... out of the hundreds of children back then, I was the only one who survived."
"The only one? What about your cousin, Sakuragawa Kurou?"
"Huh?"
The moment Asagiri said Sakuragawa Kurou's name, Sakuragawa Rikka's expression changed again.
"How do you know that...? But if you know that name, then shouldn't you also know that Kurou, like the rest of those children, failed to endure the power of the yokai flesh and died more than ten years ago?"
"Oh, he died."
Asagiri merely nodded.
Sakuragawa Rikka stared at him, trying to read something from his face. But Asagiri's expression remained calm, not even the slightest ripple in his eyes.
[So the world line changed.]
Asagiri wasn't surprised.
After all, this was already a completely different world. Just like how there was no Sword Art Online here, only an infinite death game, it was perfectly normal for Sakuragawa Kurou to have died during that experiment.
"You... really are this kind of monster..."
Kotoko stared at Sakuragawa Rikka, and the hostility in her dark purple eyes was no longer concealed.
"Humans who devour yokai flesh for power and turn themselves into abominations like this. Your existence has broken the boundary between the supernatural and the ordinary. You've violated the order of the world."
Hearing those words, Yuuki Asuna immediately remembered something similar Kotoko had once said during a yokai request at Private Toyonosaki Academy, when they faced the Minotaur Banshee.
The world of humans and the world of yokai had to maintain a basic order, and Kotoko was the god who protected that order.
Yokai were not allowed to freely harm humans. Likewise, for humans to devour yokai flesh and obtain power was also an act that shattered that balance.
In that sense, Iwanaga Kotoko and Sakuragawa Rikka...
Were natural enemies.
"Please don't misunderstand."
Faced with Kotoko's open hostility, Sakuragawa Rikka lowered her eyelids and said lightly,
"I did not choose to become this kind of monster. I've also been searching for a way to become human again. And..."
She looked toward Asagiri.
"You should have already guessed it. Inside this 'game,' my abilities are limited. Compared with ordinary Players, I may have some advantages, but I'm nowhere near strong enough to clear everything without worry."
Asagiri nodded slightly.
"Yes. Otherwise, you wouldn't have needed to come bargain with us."
On the surface, immortality and future sight through death sounded absurdly powerful. Sakuragawa Rikka's immortality was even more complete than Sato's Ajin physique, which could automatically regenerate from fatal wounds.
However, the exclusive talent Kotoko had gained earlier had already proven one thing. This game imposed restrictions on Players who originally possessed supernatural abilities.
Before regaining her body, Kotoko had been unable to learn skills outside the Supernatural type, unable to equip most weapons and armor, and burdened by all sorts of negative effects. Since that was true for her, then Sakuragawa Rikka's power as a mermaid and Kudan hybrid was almost certainly burdened with its own disadvantages as well.
More importantly, the mermaid and the Kudan were yokai from that world.
Just as the Ajin world had no means of permanently killing Ajin, while Asagiri's world now did, Sakuragawa Rikka's immortality might be absolute in the real world, but that did not mean it was unbreakable in every world.
And Asagiri happened to possess a terrifying ability specifically designed to erase that kind of [immortality] from the root.
[Supreme Magic Bullet.]
"In that case, then you..."
Before Asagiri could finish, the floor of the office suddenly began to tremble.
Heavy footsteps rang out from the corridor outside.
Kato Megumi's pupils shrank.
"That thing... is coming…"
.....
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