Dakara, Anata o Koko de Koroshimasu - Chapter 35 – ‘Critical Point’

Tightly.

Gillian, with strong hatred, murderous intent, and madness in her eyes, was strangling me.

“Die, die, if Senior wasn’t here, everyone wouldn’t have been killed!”

With a smile.

“Riko” was crouching next to me with a smile on her face as she watched.

『Hey, Serra. If you don’t kill Gillian soon, you’ll still be suffering, right? You don’t want to be blamed any more, right? Then you have to kill this fellow soon.』

“Uooooooooooh, no, no more!!”

“Riko” affirmed Gillian while denying herself.

But both see me as a “killer” rather than as “Serra”.

It was so heart-breaking to be rejected by two people precious to me.

I cover my ears to keep them from hearing their voices any more.

Serra is not a killer, is she? Then I’ll show you a better way? 』

However, the voice of “Riko” easily reached my ear.

When I opened my eyes, I saw Gillian strangling my neck, her face distorted with anger, and next to her, Riko gently smiled at me.

『Kill. All you have to do is kill everyone who calls Serra a killer. If you do that, there will be no one to call Serra a killer, right? You can prove that Serra is not a killer, right? 』

“――――tse”

The words of “Riko” gave my head a swaying sensation.

An idea that had not existed before, the urge to cry in the depths of my heart, was awakened by the voice of Riko.

『Hey, let’s kill. Kill all the bad people who deny Serra’s existence. And if you kill them, you’ll feel better, right. 』

The words of “Riko” made me feel zeal and delirium as if my mood was uplifted.

Not only that, my breathing as I was being strangled and strained became even shallower.

―――― Oh, that’s right.

Riko was right.

I’m not a murderer. I’m not a killer at all. Riko must have said that then, didn’t she? No matter how much I go astray, she’ll definitely set me right.

So, there is nothing wrong with what “Riko” was saying.

“………… haha.”

If so, it’s an easy decision.

Same as when I fought Alice. If you don’t care about all the pain and suffering, you can easily unfasten such an arm.

Holding my breath, I reached for Gillian’s arm, which was strangling with all her might.

“—Kuhi”

Gah.

A piano wire flew out of nowhere, and it pierced Gillian’s right arm.

The flesh from the elbow to the upper arm was torn and danced in the air.

“Iyh, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!!!!!!??????”

Gillian screamed as a black liquid endlessly dripped from her.

I could see the grotesque flesh from her messily torn arm, but it was only black and white, so I could not feel the reality.

Finally, released from the stranglehold, I stood up trying to see what had happened while coughing.

After I got up, I noticed it too late.

That the piano wire was still strung up.

Gichi, a snapping sound.

My left arm had been cut off.

“Kuhi, Kuhihihihihihihi!! Oh, oh! It’s nice to finally meet you, Celestia Valentine!!”

A grating sneer was echoing from behind.

Looking back, a nun with purple eyes and green hair, no, the ‘Fanatic’ Cecilia Waitley, was twisting her body and laughing.

“Yes, yes, that’s right!! You, you, you, you, youyouyouyouYOOUUU!!!! I’ve been longing to see you so much, I’m almost burning myself up, hee hee hee hee!”

“…………”

Cecilia’s eyes widened.

Her mouth spread out in the shape of a crescent moon, her tongue was stuck out, and her smile was so vulgar, crazy, indecent and obscene that it’s hard to believe she’s an obedient nun.

“Kuhi, kuhihihihi, kuhe. I’ve never forgotten you since I had a fight with you, you too are among the ones chosen by God. The same existence as IMe, a great apostle, given the mission to save the world together, to drive out heretics valued as unnecessary under the strict judgment of “God” and to balance the world. In other words you and IMe are part of a fateful community that transcends relationships between family, friends and lover, which of course includes Hazel and Rinka, but back to the story, in friendship and affection, it is a deep and deep relationship that can be expressed. Because we are connected, IMe would like to express my heartfelt joy and gratitude to the fact that I met you again, and exchange a fierce battle that washes away blood again with blood, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for our “God” and applaud and cheers to our “God”. An absolute ruler that no one is allowed to oppose. Yes, I love you, Lady Sakura, so very wonderful. I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love Lady Sakura, I love my “God” Wonderfully great, nice and splendid, KuhihihihihihihihihihihihihiHihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihi”

She’s broken.

A complete breakdown of the way we should think as human beings.

Is this the result of exceeding the Critical Point?

A line where the soul can no longer bear the accelerating madness. The end point of madness. The last bastion for human beings to be human.

When Meena also exceeded the critical point, she was out of tune like a broken radio. Because Meena died immediately after that, I had mistakenly thought that the person who exceeded the ‘critical point’ would become like a broken machine.

However, it was actually different. The Undying are essentially invalids, and the fact that madness reached its highest point means that only dehumanized creatures remain.

A creature covered with human skin. A living creature who thinks and acts according to the madness that overflows from itself, while realizing that it is different from others. It is not instinct that is in the brain. Rather, the opposite. A creature that makes decisions and carries them out based on reason alone. It had already sublimated into existence worthy of being called a “monster”.

“U, Gu-an…” Senior, what is she…”

Gillian asked while crying out in pain.

Before I knew it, Gillian’s eyes had lost their fury and madness, and it seemed that she had returned to her senses.

Then now there’s no reason to kill her. If she’ll help me rescue Riko, I’ll help her.

The figure of ‘Riko‘, which had been circling around me until a while ago, had disappeared. Perhaps it was a hallucination. Riko might have been captured yet she showed me how to calm me down even a little when I was panicking.

“…… Fufu”

“Senior?”

“No, this is Cecilia. She’s an Undying.”

“!? That’s the enemy, then …”

“Kuhihihihihihihi, that’s right. Yes!! We are chosen by God, apostles, and therefore destined to be hostile and fight each other. The last survivor can receive love from God, love from Lady Sakura, affection, charity, mercy, fraternity, dearness!!!!”

Cried Cecilia, embracing her limbs and dyeing her cheeks with an ecstatic expression.

Of course, even if Cecilia kills all the Undying, Sakura wouldn’t give such a reward. She must have noticed that Sakura was such a person.

However, she was so frightened of such mysticism that she abandoned all inconvenient memories, and equated the figure with “God” and worshiped it enthusiastically, the very definition of a “fanatic”. Except for the evils she had committed so far and the object of her faith, few Nuns could believe in “God” so purely.

She seemed very happy to see me, but I didn’t want to come across her again. Even though I am accompanied by tremendous mental exhaustion from dealing with one lunatic to another, she was more likely far more unhinged than the other Undying.

Besides, Riko was still in captivity. I have to help her as soon as possible. I didn’t even have time to deal with someone like this.

Before I knew it, my left arm, which had been cut off, had regenerated. Then, there was no longer any need to hesitate.

“Kuhi, hihihihihi, now let’s kill you here, in the name of “God”. Let Celesta be the Iron Hammer of God, and the pathetic girl there will be an offering to God. Oh, oh! I can see the face of “God”, Lady Sakura is pleased, IMeam loved by ‘God’, right, Hazel?! Kuhi, Kuhihihihihihihihi— “

Cecilia was muttering something, but ignoring it, I pulled the sword out of the scabbard.

And for a moment my vision was covered with darkness.

Shortly after my vision cleared up, I was close to Cecilia.

“―――― huh?”

Cecilia raised a stunned voice.

Before her thoughts could catch up with her understanding.

I pierced her heart.

※※※※

“Now, here’s the question for Riko, what happens to humans when they exercise ‘Dominion’?”

“Oh, eh… fuh, fuh………”

Riko was restrained by a chain and seated in a chair.

Sweat flowed endlessly from her whole body, the face turned pale, and her whole body trembled.

She was released by Rinka only to be beaten with a chain while being given merciless words. However, it was a hallucination created by Rinka, and Riko’s body was actually unharmed, and it had never been released at such high speed.

However, the hallucinations she saw there were so real that they were engraved as a trauma in Riko’s memory.

“Hey, Riko? Can you answer the question?”

“Uh, fu, se, ra…. Serra’s “Dominion”, yes, that instantaneous movement …?”

When we fought against Rinka.

In an instant, Serra narrowed the distance to Rinka and cut off her head.

At that time, Sera didn’t show any signs of running. As soon as Riko grabbed her back with her sword in her hand, she moved to the same position as Rinka.

“I guess it’s half the correct. Strictly speaking, Serra’s “Dominion” is “Shadow Body”. It’s the power to turn your body into a shadow and close the distance to an opponent in an instant. There is no condition to turning into a shadow. Whether day or night, if she wants to get close to someone, she gets close to them.”

“What’s wrong with that… is there something wrong with using it in succession—”

At Riko’s words, Sakura gave a grinning smile.

Riko knew that smile.

It is a smile that comes to mind when looking down on others.

“The more you use ‘Dominion’, the more insane you become. The closer you get to the critical point.”

Sakura said, as she made the video appear in front of Riko.

There was a figure of Serra who pierced Cecilia’s chest with a sword.

“Serra’s murderous intent is getting more and more uncontrollable. In proportion to that, her memory and emotions are gradually being lost. Maybe now, I think one more of Serra’s emotions is gone.”

“………… Wait, that’s like sister.”

“Fufu, that’s right.”

Riko realized what Sakura is trying to say, and her face was dyed with despair.

At this rate, if Serra continued to fight.

“Fufu, I wonder if Serra will be able to remember Riko in the end. Maybe she’ll just become a killer, forgetting everything like dear Rinka.”

“… I won’t let you do that! I promised not to make Serra a killer! I’ll definitely get Serra back!!”

She expected that Riko would despair at Sakura’s words, but she defied her with an expression of anger on her face.

After Sakura’s surprised expression at her unexpected behavior, she struck her tongue.

“…… You know, it pisses me off that you believe like that, like you’re one of the idiots.”

“Wh, at…”

“Nothing, you say so as much as you want. I don’t think the facts will change no matter what.”

Saying that, Sakura turned her heels and left the room.

Left behind, Riko had no choice but to stare at Serra in the video and pray.

“Serra, please… I’ll take care of it, so please don’t become a killer.”