Chapter 25: Entering the Special Zone

After several rounds of training, the day had finally come to carry out the Yagami Subjugation Plan.

A mission to eliminate the enemy that had killed more people than any other since the appearance of the "Fictional Invaders."

Even within Fox Squad, a unique sense of tension hung in the air.

...Somehow, I felt uncomfortable. If I were still living the ordinary life of a student, this was an atmosphere I would never have experienced.

The tension of knowing that we might die. The taut atmosphere, so tense that even breathing felt inappropriate.

Feeling uneasy, I spoke to the childhood friend standing beside me to distract myself.

"Mana, your expression hasn't changed as usual. Don't you get nervous?"

She turned toward me with her usual expressionless face. After appearing to think about something for a moment, she opened her mouth.

"That's not true. I am a coward, after all. Look, my hand is trembling."

For some reason, Mana casually waved her limp hand back and forth.

"That's not trembling... You're just waving it, aren't you?"

Was this another one of her strange jokes?

I gave her an exasperated look, but Mana's expression remained completely serious.

"No. This is trembling. Generally speaking, hands that tremble due to nervousness can be expected to recover when wrapped in another person's warm hand."

"Uh, yeah?"

I couldn't see where this conversation was going.

When I looked into Mana's eyes, she slightly averted her gaze as she continued speaking.

"In other words, Shota. For the sake of treatment, would you hold my hand?"

"...?"

I tilted my head at Mana, who was calmly saying something I couldn't make sense of.

I didn't understand what she was talking about, but perhaps she was anxious too.

"Um, sure."

Squeeze. I wrapped my hand around hers. The sensation of her soft palm against mine made me inwardly flustered.

Mana's expression remained as unreadable as ever.

What had she actually wanted to accomplish with this...?

"Thank you. My state of tension has now recovered. I appreciate your cooperation, Shota."

"Ah, yeah...?"

I had absolutely no idea what was going on, but I nodded anyway.

I'd known Mana for nearly ten years now, yet I still couldn't understand her.

I heard a voice from somewhere behind me.

"Ugh... What's with that guy? Is he some kind of dense protagonist? Damn him. Just get together already, you idiot."

When I turned around, Raika was muttering something rapidly under her breath.

Our eyes met for a moment, but she immediately turned her gaze away with a huff.

What's with that reaction? Now I'm curious what she was saying.

Reassured by Mana's usual laid-back demeanor, I then checked on Hibari and Victoria.

The two of them had lost their hometowns to the Yagami.

They stood there with stiff expressions, not speaking to anyone.

Normally, Victoria would have been the type to enthusiastically give some kind of opening speech, but she wasn't doing that either.

As expected, when it came to subjugating the Yagami, there seemed to be deep feelings that outsiders like us could never fully comprehend.

"...Hibari. How are you holding up?"

I called out to her with words that didn't sound like me at all.

I was worried about Victoria too, but Hibari was the one I felt I couldn't leave alone.

Her bright smile—the shell she always talked about—had disappeared somewhere, leaving behind hollow eyes that stared into nothingness.

When those dark eyes turned toward me, a forced smile appeared.

"Ah, Shota-kun. ...Sorry, I don't really feel like talking right now. I'm sorry!"

Her tone was cheerful, but there was an unmistakable sense of rejection in her words.

For a while, she had acted cheerfully, as though she had finally come to terms with everything. But as the day of the operation approached, she had gradually become quieter.

Did I even have the right to say anything to her now?

What could an ordinary person like me possibly say to a girl who had been driven from her homeland, persecuted, and had come to define herself as an "Utsusemi"?

Just as I hesitated, I suddenly remembered the sharp smell of cigarette smoke that had once pricked my nose.

"──Would putting it this way make things a little easier? You're more than worthy of being by their side. They're chosen, special people, but mentally, they're still teenage girls. That's why you're the right person for this. If you've got the complicated heart of a teenager and enough kindness to care about other people, that's all you need."

Ah... Was that the first time Raika had ever saved me?

Just as she had said, just as she had saved me back then, could I perhaps be of help to her too?

"──Hibari. I'm not going to ask you to talk if you don't want to. But I'll be by your side. I want you to remember that."

For just a moment, she looked into my eyes.

A spark of light appeared in her vacant eyes for an instant, then disappeared.

"...Thank you."

"──Then, we will now begin the operation."

Raika declared this with a more serious expression than usual. The members of Fox Squad and Sugar Squad nodded with solemn expressions.

"Before this operation, the other squads reduced the number of enemies along our route. Thanks to their all-night efforts, there are almost no enemies between here and the 'Special Zone.'"

The number of "Fictional Invaders" throughout Tokyo was enormous, and completely exterminating them in a single night was obviously impossible.

However, temporarily clearing a path was possible.

The Bluffer from Gensou High School had carved out a path to the Special Zone, entrusting their hopes to Fox Squad and Sugar Squad.

"The eleven of us here will break through Tokyo all at once. Then we'll race straight through the Special Zone and charge directly at the Yagami."

We nodded at Raika's forceful declaration.

"Let's go. ...Hope has been entrusted to us."

Just as Raika had explained, there were hardly any enemies along the way.

It was probably thanks to the efforts of the other Bluffer since yesterday.

Tokyo, stripped of both humans and monsters, was eerily silent.

After defeating only a few enemies we encountered along the way, we were able to reach that "Special Zone."

"This is..."

A massive wall towered before us.

The wall was perhaps ten times our height. Its cold, featureless concrete surface looked as though it were adamantly refusing entry to anyone who approached.

I remembered something called the Berlin Wall from my history textbook.

However, upon closer inspection, I noticed that doors had been installed at regular intervals along the wall.

"...It's a strange wall."

"It's something like an isolation ward. It doesn't refuse anything coming in from outside, but nothing inside is ever allowed out. You could call it a prison, too."

Raika answered unhappily, but quickly composed herself and turned toward everyone, raising her voice.

"Now then, we will begin our entry into the Special Zone! Kanon, please activate your ability."

"Yes. ──Let us extend a hand of salvation. Kannon of Salvation."

Kanon nodded, and a Buddhist statue manifested behind her amid a divine radiance.

The atmosphere around her had changed. She now possessed the aura of an untouchable transcendent being.

Carrying the Buddhist statue behind her, she smiled and gave Raika a small nod.

"──Then, let's charge in!"

Without hesitation, Raika threw open one of the doors surrounding the Special Zone.

Following Raika, who entered first, we stepped into the enemy's territory.

The first thing that appeared before our eyes after entering the "Special Zone" was a dense fog.

The thick white fog obscured our vision, making it impossible to see even a few dozen meters ahead.

Mana warned us in a voice even more tense than usual.

"...Raika, we should be on guard. I've never heard of any report saying that the Yagami could produce fog."

"This is already its territory. Anything could happen."

Even as she answered, there was something about Raika's tone that made it sound as though she had already reached some kind of conclusion.

Every now and then, she would act as though she knew things she shouldn't have known.

And Raika wasn't the only one to reach a conclusion about the true nature of the fog.

"──London Smog."

Kanon quietly muttered the words. Carrying the Kannon statue behind her, she calmly analyzed the situation with the same solemn air.

"Most likely, its basis is the 'fog of death' that once covered London. It is said that toxic substances produced by industrial development mixed with the fog and descended upon London."

Raika seemed to quietly nod at her explanation.

"The Yagami deals with diseases and kegare. It is entirely conceivable that it would also be capable of dealing with environmental illnesses caused by pollution."

There are countless examples in Japan of people developing illnesses due to air pollution.

Naturally, the prejudice surrounding them—in other words, the falsehoods people believed about them—had accumulated as well.

"Please do not stray too far from my Kannon statue. In this fog, I cannot guarantee the safety of even the Bluffers."

This wasn't simply miasma being emitted from the Yagami's body. It was a clear, deliberate attack.

The safe time limit we had established based on the assumption of miasma was now practically meaningless.

The enemy's attack had already begun.

As everyone heightened their vigilance, Hazuki suddenly called out in a sharp voice.

"Up ahead! Something's coming!"

All we could see ahead was the pure white fog. There was no sign of anything unusual.

Nevertheless, everyone immediately took a defensive stance.

Hazuki's sharpened senses had definitely detected the presence of an enemy we couldn't see.

"...Stray dogs?"

Eventually, what emerged from the fog was a large dog with bloodshot eyes.

We could sense murderous intent coming from every direction.

There were around twenty of them. The stray dogs moving through the fog seemed to have already surrounded us.

The fact that they had appeared at this exact moment meant they were probably vanguard troops sent to eliminate the Bluffers who had infiltrated the area.

Hazuki reacted first. She drew her Japanese sword and slashed at a stray dog that had positioned itself toward the rear.

"──Sugar Squad, deal with the attacks from the sides! Mana and I will back up Hazuki. Victoria, Hibari, and Shota, handle the front!"

Raika's sharp voice rang out, and everyone immediately sprang into action.

I didn't even have time to dwell on my surprise at hearing her call my name.

I focused my eyes on the stray dogs charging toward us from the front.

Victoria was the first to attack.

"Lightning, race forth!"

With her incantation, a bolt of electricity streaked forward.

The fastest and most direct attack reached the stray dogs in an instant, piercing through their bodies.

Several of them collapsed with mournful death cries.

However, the survivors rushed toward Victoria, who had just unleashed her magic, aiming to tear out her throat with their teeth.

"──Blade output, maximum!"

Hibari stepped in front of Victoria, who was left defenseless after casting her spell.

The blade that extended from her wand intercepted the attacking stray dog.

The dog's corpse rolled across the concrete, spraying blood everywhere.

"Hibari, there's another one!"

From where I was watching the situation from behind, I could see it.

Another shadow appeared behind her as she finished her swing.

A rabid dog that had emerged under cover of the fog leaped forward, its fangs ready to sink into her.

At this rate, Hibari would have her throat torn out and die.

"RAAAAAAH!"

I instantly borrowed Hazuki's power and manifested a Japanese sword in my hand.

As the stray dog leaped toward us, I thrust forward with all my strength.

The tip of the blade pierced straight through its small body.

After confirming that the stray dog was dead, I let out a relieved sigh.

"Th-thank..."

"──Everyone, get beneath my Kannon statue!"

Kanon shouted loudly, cutting off Hibari just as she was about to thank me.

Immediately afterward, we all came to understand what she meant.

What appeared was a pitch-black fog, completely different from the white fog that had surrounded us until then.

"What is this?!"

The three of us who had moved forward to intercept the rabid dogs—Hibari, Victoria, and I—were engulfed by the black fog.

"Ugh...!"

The moment the black fog enveloped me, breathing became difficult.

As my brain was deprived of oxygen, my ability to think gradually deteriorated.

Eventually, my consciousness faded into darkness.