Chapter 83: Friend

Chapter 83: Friend

First, I needed to hold him in place. I cast a full chant, full power Blackhair Bind, and manifested it from within Higuchi’s own shadow as he was walking away with his back to me.

The reason I didn’t use Redhair Twine was because that Curse needed my blood to function, and I’d need to at least raise my arms to shoot the red, acidic wires at him. So instead, I figured that with Blackhair, I could be attacking from closer, ergo faster, coming from right under his feet, in addition to having a guaranteed element of surprise.

“Uoh!?”

Got him!

The worst case scenario, where Higuchi’s intuition would sense my attack coming and thereby dodge the close range tentacles, didn’t happen.

The nimble Blackhair tentacle quickly wrapped itself around Higuchi’s ankles, winding up to his waist so fast that it looked like he was being swallowed whole. His arms had been in his trouser pockets so the tentacle was able to wind around his whole body in a way that made him completely immobile.

The thinning tip of the tentacle spiraled up still more, now squeezing around his throat as if resonating with my antipathy towards him. But I wasn’t about to waste precious time strangling him.

“Go!!”

I commanded as I let go of my spear, in its place, unsheathing the Red Knife and a normal one and launching them straight at Higuchi. I had of course, attached the duo of knives to a pair of Blackhair tentacles, making my chance of landing both hits on him, practically 100%. Higuchi was currently standing stalk still like a scarecrow in an open field. He was a target I couldn’t possibly miss.

As I’d commanded them, Rem and #2 were also charging at my restrained prey, holding their respective weapons.

My dual knife strikes in addition to flanking attacks from both Rem and #2 should leave Higuchi in dire straights no matter how superhuman his current strength was. But even if all that still can’t put him down, I only need to repeatedly stab him until he breathes his last.

“Die!! Higuchiiiiii!!!”

“― ― Wow, takin’ big risks there, Momokawa.”

I felt my knives strike only air. Why, how come I missed?

No, more importantly, why wasn’t Higuchi there anymore?

“And here I thought Thru Bind was gonna be useless. Hehe, the God of Thieves really knows his stuff.”

Thru Bind. Dammit, that’s right, Higuchi had actually escaped through my Blackhair Bind, effortlessly even.

The sheer speed with which he performed this feat was so fast it was practically magic. Even though I’d bound him up so completely, I couldn’t even register him escaping.

And my knives that were dead set on gutting Higuchi only moments before, were now stabbing the space he was supposed to be, but in fact, wasn’t. Even the Blackhair tentacles that had been binding him still maintained the contours of his body.

Higuchi himself was currently standing just one step away from the mishmash of knives and Curses that should’ve guaranteed his death.

What the actual fuck. No way could he have prepared for this. How can there possibly be a specialized Skill that can get him out of any sort of bound state... No, this might just be the sort of Skill that’s unique to the Thief Job.

“Fuuck! Rem!!”

“Hahah, too late!!”

Higuchi raised his leg to make a kick, his hands still stuffed in his pockets. His casual kicking posture didn’t have the elegance the likes of a polished technique delivered by Kenzaki Asuna, but he more than made up for it with his superhuman strength and speed.

The sole of Higuchi’s foot hit squarely on Rem’s abdomen just as she’d come close enough to strike him with her sword. Reinforced with Knight Mantis parts, the current Rem should’ve been as heavy as me, but she was nonetheless, easily sent flying.

“Oof, the hell, that thing’s harder than I thought.”

He must’ve expected to break Rem’s armor with that kick, which fortunately, hadn’t happened. I didn’t see any cracks on Rem’s green body armor while she was still rolling on the ground from the previous impact.

“But this one―― Haha, broke like a sand castle.”

Higuchi had speedily landed a second kick on #2 who reached him at almost the same time as Rem. But unlike her Mantis framed sister body, #2 only had a Skeleton base with a few Mandragoras added in. Her body, far less resilient, had shattered as it was also sent flying by Higuchi’s war-hammer of a kick.

#2 crumbled apart at the stomach, her two halves landing separately... Nope, nothing, I wasn’t getting any more reaction from her. #2 was gone.

“Weak. You’re still weak, Momokawa. And your stupid mud dolls are, heh, junk, that’s what they are. Fitting minions for the weakest Job.”

“Wait. Higuchi, I’m sure you didn’t forget that one special ability I have, right?”

“‘Course, I remember. It’s hard to forget a punch to the gut like that.”

Shit, shit, shit... Think, Momokawa Kotarou, think. With things as they are, I should give up on killing Higuchi and just focus on running away.

I could imagine Higuchi being completely furious right about now, and even if he wasn’t, he had surely labeled me as a hostile enemy. But as long as I had Pain Return, he wouldn’t try to kill me directly. for new novels

“Don’t you dare think of killing me, Higuchi. Spare me from going down to hell with you.”

“Heheh, ya don’t hafta tell me twice, Momokawa.”

“I promise I’ll never get involved with you ever again, so let me leave from here right now. Peacefully.”

Your move, Higuchi. Even if you try to kill me here, I’m not as weak as I was back then. I won’t let you beat me to a pulp like that, ever again.

True, my surprise attack ended in failure, but I was far from powerless. If he sent Masaru, who still couldn’t harness his Warrior abilities, to beat me up, I could think up a few ways to deal with him with Blackhair Bind and Rotten Bog. He should realize that, like a cornered rat, my bite wasn’t going to leave him with just scratches.

“Chill out Momokawa. Honestly, I’m not even that mad at you.”

Higuchi shrugged as he sneered out those words. What kind of bullshit was it this time? He obviously wasn’t still planning on making me join his party, that I knew for sure.

“Momokawa, you got balls, I’ll give you that. I didn’t think you’d try to kill me this early. This kind of thing is literally impossible for a loser like Saitou. Heck, you might just be better at this than anyone else.”

Thanks, I’m putting my life on the line here, so I’ll take that as a complement.

“You don’t feel like you killed anyone yet... but I can tell, you’re dead serious.”

He was able to tell stuff with his Thief intuition, which likely also clued him in on the fact that I was up to something. There was also the possibility that he only let himself get caught in the tentacle bind because he knew he could get out of it with Thru Bind.

“... What are you trying to say?”

“I’m saying that I’ll admit it. I’ll admit that you’re a worthy enemy. It takes some serious balls to try and kill me with your shitty excuse for a Job, but you’re the sort that might just pull it off. That’s why you’re a threat, an enemy.”

His tone remained casual in spite of his serious words, which could only mean...

“So I did some thinking too. And I came up with a good way to kill you.”

Dammit, Higuchi had already thought up a way to kill me!

“Blackhair――”

“Hahah!! Too slow, Momokawaa!!”

I had attempted to bind him from his own shadow once again, but he nimbly jumped away, evading the tentacle. Shit, so he was able to dodge just fine if he could see me do it. A Thief’s agility was not to be underestimated.

Wait a second, Higuchi didn’t only dodge just now. Didn’t I see him do something else?

“Akh!?”

I heard the clink of metal hitting stone, probably the monolith, behind me. At the same time, I felt a sting on my cheek. Wait what? A knife? Goddammit, I didn’t even see him getting ready to throw that. This might also be one of his Thief Skills.

He would. Higuchi Kyouya was just that sort of person.

“So fuck off with your friendship crap, Saitou! Since you’re here, just stand there and watch, watch as your friend falls to his death!”

Then, Higuchi pushed Rem off. In fact, he kicked her off, and Rem was helpless to do anything about it. She was using all her strength and balance to keep me from falling and that had left her completely defenseless. And now she was falling, falling with me into the pits of a dark hell.

My eyes met those of Higuchi beyond my reached out hand. His eyes showed crazed delight. He kept watching, despite his certain victory he kept watching to see if I made any move with my Blackhair tentacles. He had also taken out his butterfly knife that glinted as if to tell me any struggling would be futile.

Despite knowing that he would just cut it off, I had no choice, I had to try!

“Uaaaaaaaaaah, Kotaroou!!”

My body jolted a second time as it stopped falling. Wait, why? I hadn’t shot out any new tentacles so why?

“Tsk, Saitou, you bitch...”

“You’ll be fine, Kotarou! I’ll pull you up, I won’t let you die!”

Masaru had barely managed to grab a hold of Rem’s ankle. He was on his stomach with his arm reaching into the hole.

“Why... why are you trying to save me now, you traitor!”

Masaru had betrayed me. I wasn’t expecting anything from him. Our so called friendship was something that could only happen because we were living peaceful lives in Japan. It was a flimsy bond that held no weight here.

“It’s ‘cause we’re friends!”

“Fuck you, you betrayed me and sided with Higuchi!”

“You’re right! I betrayed you once! But not again, I can’t betray you again!”

W-what was wrong with him... what was he trying to achieve with this. He was just being an idiot. Now was not the time to play hero. He wasn’t Souma Yuuto, and he couldn’t be a hero like that no matter how hard he tries.

Shit man, don’t risk your life for this.

“I’m sorry, Kotarou... I’m sorry I punched you... I was too weak, I’m supposed to be a Warrior, but I’m just weak, and scared and...”

Stop. Stop it already. I don’t want to hear your regrets.

I hate you. Because you betrayed me. You’re the one I hate the most, right under Higuchi. I wanted to curse you.

“I beat you up, and just left you there... I knew that you wouldn’t be fine, and I was scared, what if Kotarou d-dies, I kept thinking that... I just kept thinking that I had to say sorry, I’m sorry!”

Stop, shut up. Stop confessing, I don’t want to hear it.

I’m supposed to begrudge you, curse you... ahh, dammit, I fail as a Shaman. I can’t stop the tears.

“I know this isn’t something I can just say sorry for! So I’ll pull you up, I’ll save you Kotarou!”

“Masaru!!”

“―― Haah, these guys are trying to bore me to death.”

All the while Masaru was desperately crying out his heartfelt apology and reaffirming his resolve, the heartless Thief sent his merciless gaze down at the two of us.

And the gleaming knife in his hand had already swung down.

“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

“Hope you had a nice chat there, Saitou. But playtime is over.”

The knife stabbed into Masaru’s shoulder. It had gone very deep. Deep red blood flowed down his arm, streamed across Rem, and dripped on my face.

“You can let him die now. Don’t worry, just letting go probably won’t count as you killing him, probably.”

“Urgh, u-gh... no. I won’t... please, Higuchi, don’t...”

“Oi oi, what’s with this piece of trash. Where’s all that courage coming from, bitch.”

Masaru screamed, once again Masaru screamed in pain. Higuchi had grabbed the deeply lodged knife handle and twisted it further into Masaru’s shoulder.

“It’s fine, Masaru! Let go already! I can handle it, don’t worry!”

“W-what do you mean, you can handle it... Kotarou, I got this, don’t worry, I’m not letting go...”

How was he even doing this? He was being subjected to pain he shouldn’t be able to handle. It shouldn’t be possible for him to act like it was nothing.

“Let go, dammit, come on!”

“No... If I let go now, I can never, be your friend, anymore... I won’t do it. I won’t be a worthless piece of trash like that... again! I won’t let go, even if I die, I won’t let go!”

“A’ight, then die.”

Higuchi instantly pulled out his butterfly knife, as if to trample down that courage, as if to crush that wish, as if to silence that scream, as if to laugh as he burned it all down. Blood spurt out from Masaru’s shoulder , scattering everywhere as Higuchi flicked his knife and aimed once again.

“Ah, kh, hhh...”

A raspy noise leaked from Masaru’s throat as blood flowed out. Sprayed out. Higuchi had aimed precisely at his carotid artery.

“No, Masaru... Masaru, say something...”

He couldn’t. Blood was overflowing from Masaru’s mouth, so much that he couldn’t even breathe let alone answer.

“Ah well. That’s another idiot gone. He only had to be my slave and he would’ve lived a while longer. Courage don’t work for idiots. Once he disobeyed me, he was as good as dead already.”

Rambling on like he was annoyed, Higuchi stabbed Masaru on his back. This wasn’t to deal any fatal damage but just because he felt like doing some extra violence. He kept stabbing his weapon on the back of another human being, of a classmate, needlessly, callously, endlessly.

“M-Masaru...”

“Woah, is this legit? He didn’t let go even after he died.”

I’ve killed lots of monsters, and I’ve seen people die. So I could tell immediately. I could tell that Masaru was dead. His life had been exhausted and he was gone. My ointments wouldn’t do shit at this point. Masaru would never open his eyes again.

But He still held on. He still held on to Rem’s leg, he still held on to me so that I wouldn’t fall into the hell below.

“Haha, this is rich. This his pride or something? Even a loser like him got to show off in the end. Good for you, Momokawa――”

Laughed Higuchi as he kicked Masaru’s corpse off the edge.

“―― You got to be friends again before you died. Have fun in hell together.”

“Higuchiiii!! youuu, bastaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrddddddd!!”

And then, for the third time, I was falling. Together with Masaru’s dead body, I fell into the depths of the sacrificial pitfall.

This chapter was sponsored by Nolan N. There are 3 more.