Volume 2 - CH 2

It had begun.

It had finally begun.

A fight to the death being broadcast live nationwide. The Bright Cross pitted Archenemies against each other to dispose of them.

Level 4. The Colosseum.

“Ladies and gentlemen! Karen-chan here will be your host tonight!! And for some high-level analysis, we’ve brought in experts in the fields of martial arts, biology, religion, and more!”

The blue bunny girl continued her mic performance.

Even if the start time was 10, that apparently did not meant the actual fight would begin then. It seemed to be like the live broadcast of an international volleyball match. And I wasn’t going to sit there and listen to the lengthy ceremony.

I probably had 15-30 minutes…no, even less.

Whatever the case, I had to make the best of it.

“Itou-san, take this!”

“?”

After an official took the blonde girl from the cage, I handed her a small headset.

“At this point, we just have to do this. So focus on surviving, Itou-san!”

“…”

The small girl tried to say something, but it looked like the words wouldn’t come out. The officials grabbed her on either side and tossed her into the transparent bug cage with her glass wand in hand.

I hated it.

But it wasn’t over yet. We still had a chance.

It was only a thin, thin thread, but we couldn’t give up hope yet!!

“Maxwell. Let’s start by checking both sides’ specs. A witch and a mermaid. That sounds like a combination from a fairy tale, but what can they actually do and how much can they do with it?”

“Sure. First of all, Western and Eastern mermaids are very different, but since they are pitting her against a witch, it should be a fairly safe assumption that this is a Western mermaid.”

Maxwell communicated using a short text SNS, so he could not send much text at once. He instead sent message after message.

“With that in mind, a Western mermaid lures sailors into the ocean with her song. There are a variety of theories as to why they drag the sailors down to the ocean bottom: to eat the human, to gather mates, to eliminate an external enemy, etc. In each case, there is no chance of escape once you have been dragged down. The few known countermeasures are all ways to prevent the mermaid’s song from luring you in, so there is no mention of how to recover after falling into the ocean.”

“Where did you get this data from?”

“Sure. Randomly from the internet.”

Page after page displayed and they were from both personal and corporate sites. Some were even web novel sites and encyclopedia-format game walkthrough sites. Some had a harp and some didn’t and the design of their swimsuit-like outfit changed, but all of them had a woman with a fish tail for legs singing as she sat on a stone jutting up from the ocean surface. And as I looked at it, one thought came to mind.

…Could we really rely on this?

This wasn’t walkthrough information for a game we could retry as many times as it took. This wasn’t a message board post of someone who thought they knew what they were doing and made a fool of themselves.

This was a life.

A human life was riding on this decision and all I had was online information gathered by who even knows who?

“No, I can’t just stop here. I have to make a decision. Maxwell, what about the witch? And is a witch even an Archenemy?”

“Sure. During the age of the witch hunts and the inquisition, witches were already legally known as nonhuman, so they could be subjected to various tortures, executed, or stripped of their property. In other words, their ‘human’ rights were taken from them.”

“Is Itou Helen a medieval witch?”

“No. That was merely an example. If the official announcement was accurate, she is a Circe witch. Circe is spoken of in Greek mythology.”

“Be more specific.”

“Circe mixed a special potion that could remake humans into animals or grotesque monsters. It was identical to the way the Greek gods punished humans. And those who have inherited those techniques are classified as Circe witches.”

…

I see. So that’s why.

It had honestly seemed weird to me that witches were classified as Archenemies alongside vampires and zombies.

“Maxwell. Give me the definition of the undead…of Archenemies.”

“Sure. 1. A life form that has surpassed the limits of known biology and has a lifespan either infinitely or immeasurably long. 2. A life form created from or by a human. 3. A life form that’s individual traits present a risk of spreading to or infecting unrelated people around it. The details can change somewhat depending on the exact conditions, but that is the general definition.”

“They stole the technique of the gods and spread it throughout earth. By transforming humans with a divine potion, they count as a source of infection.”

Looking at it that way, it made sense that they were classified the same as vampires and zombies.

“Then let’s get to the crux of the issue. …Is Itou Helen really a witch? Or did the Bright Cross just make that up?”

“It is hard to say.”

It was rare for Maxwell to not give a clear yes or no answer.

“Her medical records show she was once hospitalized for a broken bone and the flu. And her recovery was within the average range. But…”

“But?”

“The patients in the same room as her recovered quickly. Or rather, the drugs they were treated with worked too well and with no side effects.”

She was a human herself, but she could change those around her.

That was a witch.

“I can surmise that she escaped notice until now due to that unusual pattern. A video site contains a video of a parrot Itou Helen looked after as the school’s student animal caretaker. Someone secretly filmed her wrapping a bandage around the injured bird only for it to recover at unnatural speed. This may have been when they discovered her.”

…What was she doing?

She had been caught because she was saving the lives of others? That was what did it? How did that make her a monster?

No.

It was possible Itou Helen had been unaware of her power or true nature before she was captured by the Bright Cross.

She may have found it odd how quickly the bird was recovering and merely been delighted by the small miracle.

Was that really an evil that needed eliminating?

I was much more disgusted that someone at our school had secretly filmed the girl, released it without her permission, and then creepily criticized her with their gossiping curiosity hidden by a thin veil of supposed justice. Was that only because I had Archenemies in my family?

“User, the Bright Cross is the world’s largest international organization with a powerful influence on humanitarian and medical fields.” Maxwell calmly interjected. “They are officially registered as a non-profit organization, but they receive considerable donations from pharmaceutical companies and medical equipment producers the world over. That is likely because they have a great impact on rulings concerning pharmaceutical decisions, welfare standards, and health insurance.”

“Get to the point.”

“Sure. From their perspective, the speed of recovery is unimportant. But they need their products to be as effective as the data says they should be. If someone near Itou Helen were to collapse, their product could be criticized. An unstable miracle is only a risk from a business perspective. …Isn’t it possible that this was influenced by those who think like that?”

I couldn’t believe it.

As the data says? A risk from a business perspective? That was only a theory, but it was still too much!

Itou Helen hadn’t done anything herself. The people around her had apparently recovered, but there had been no negative effects to their health. And yet she was being sent to the gallows because of a hypothetical?

“Understood, Maxwell. Whatever the details might be, Itou Helen is definitely an Archenemy, right? These aren’t false accusations and she really can do it?”

“Sure. In all likelihood.”

“Then what can a witch do? You said something about Circe making potions that remake people into animals, but…”

That was when the lights on the ceiling changed direction. The intense light dazzled me. And atop the giant transparent die-shaped bug cage, the blue bunny girl raised her ecstatic voice with microphone in hand.

“Now then, now then! The atmosphere has started to heat up in here, so let’s end the talk and get to the main event. Witch vs. Mermaid! Who will win!? Whether here, in the live viewing theater, or in front of the TV, get those tickets ready!! This is the cutting edge mixed species martial arts tournament: the Colosseum!!”

“Goddammit…!!”

Whatever we were going to do, we had no time.

Itou Helen had some power, but she was not even aware of it. At this rate, she was no different from a normal high school girl who looked after the animals. She would be tormented to death by the mermaid who wrapped her hair around her bare skin and could breathe underwater!

“This would be pointless if both sides couldn’t take advantage of their strengths! To make things fair for Kuroyama Hinoki the Mermaid, the ring will be filled with water to a depth of 1 meter.”

…

“And in exchange, Itou Helen the Witch will be given 42 different chemicals free of charge! Okay, you two! Show off your utterly inhuman and entirely unrealistic powers as Archenemies!!”

To hell with you!

I brought my smartphone to my mouth and shouted into it.

But I was speaking to Itou Helen in the bug cage and not Maxwell.

“Itou-san! Can you think of a way to use those chemicals!?”

“Um, uh, umm…”

The voice reaching my smartphone via the headset on her ear did not sound very hopeful. Of course it didn’t. What were those colorful bottles sitting on a silver cart? Cocktail ingredients and even fluorescent paint would have looked less threatening. And she was surrounded by water up to her waist. If those were powerful chemicals, using them wrong and dropping some around her would be dangerous!

Meanwhile, the situation refused to wait around.

The woman named Karen said more.

“It’s time for the valuable first battle of a new age! This death match has no time limit! I hope you’re excited!!”

A low, deep buzzer rang like when a prison door opened.

That signaled the beginning of the match.

But that was blown away only a moment later.

It was the mermaid.

It was the queen of the sea who had her slender body wrapped in her own long hair.

Irregular ripples ran across the surface of the water filling the die-shaped bug cage and then small white cracks covered every single reinforced glass surface. This was not Itou Helen the Witch who could not move. It was the first attack from Kuroyama Hinoki the Mermaid.

But she was not controlling the water.

Nor was this a power to destroy glass.

It was a song.

It was soundwaves.

It was the pressure from those waves.

Unlike my vampire older sister or zombie younger sister, mermaids did not actually remake their opponent’s body. But their song could break through a stormy night, win over wartime sailors, and manipulate them into falling into the ocean. The sailors offered their own lives. In that way, the mermaid was a source of infection. An Archenemy that controlled people.

“Agwah!?”

There was an explosive sound so dangerously loud that it nearly broke the smartphone speaker only indirectly playing it. And with that smartphone to my ear, I had to cover my ears and double over.

But.

That sound.

It wasn’t coming from Kuroyama Hinoki and her great mermaid’s song!?

The girl with wavy shoulder-length blonde hair was cowering down and trembling like a small animal. But around Itou Helen, a scarlet blast of flames swept in a horizontal crescent moon shape and that explosive blast pushed back the mermaid’s song!?

“Rechecking Itou Helen’s words. There was an unnatural waver in the amplitude of her voice. I estimate she was having trouble breathing due to extreme tension.”

Maxwell sent several messages to the screen.

“When you asked her if she could think of a way to use those chemicals, she grew nervous but not because she did not know how. She likely hesitated because she could instinctually tell how to use them at a glance.”

“…!!”

Knowing that was a type of proof.

Just like a vampire was sensitive to the smell of blood and a zombie to the taste of flesh, that witch could just tell how to use those suspicious-looking chemicals. And she had despaired at that fact.

I was speechless as I watched Itou Helen adjust her grip on the glass wand made of countless transparent tubes and protuberances. She stuck the openings of the colorful bottles into a trumpet or trombone-like collection of pipes and vigorously operated several pistons like she was playing a musical instrument.

The colorful liquids were separated out by color as they passed through the clear tubes like it was a roller coaster and I finally felt like I could see what that glass wand was.

“What…is that? A vertical siphon coffee maker?”

“Sure. Analysis complete. The concept is the same. It provides heating and cooling. It also allows for distillation and fractionation using steam. It contains the burner, reflux condenser, and three neck flask needed for all that. It also supports pressurization and decompression using air compression.”

“And what does that mean!?”

“That one device contains everything found in your high school’s chemistry lab. It should be enough to create a simple chemical weapon. An impressive display by a medical organization like the Bright Cross.”

And an impressive display by Itou Helen for using it so well the first time she touched it.

Computers and smartphones were so convenient that people could be overwhelmed by their many services, but I didn’t see any hesitation of that sort.

Meanwhile, the small witch continued releasing combinations of colorful chemicals from the glass wand. Each time, a mass of flames or a tornado of vacuum blades would sweep across the inside of the bug cage.

How was Itou Helen herself viewing this?

Was she proud that she was someone special?

Her back looked even smaller than before, so I seriously doubted it.

And the mermaid…Kuroyama Hinoki was not just sitting idly by.

Her song was apparently not her only weapon. However, she could not control all of the water to sweep the attacks away with a water gun.

It was something much more unexpected.

The tail fin created from the long hair around her legs slapped the water’s surface, and…

“What!?”

They were rocks.

The bug cage’s floor and the water’s surface were split by several sharp rocks that jutted up in front of the mermaid like a giant shark’s teeth. They acted as a shield and deflected the mass of fire that Itou Helen had summoned.

She could control rocks?

Even though she was a mermaid that lived in the ocean?

No.

“Maxwell, show me the mermaid pictures. Weren’t they all sitting on a rock as they sang?”

“Sure. What about it?”

Needless to say, the mermaids that lured sailors off their ship or dragged them and their boat down were anthropomorphized versions of shipwrecks. They tended to appear in difficult locations such as reefs or straits.

But that meant mermaids weren’t symbols of the ocean or water.

They were rocks.

They were reefs.

They hid below the surface, struck the ship before they were noticed, opened a hole in the hull, and mercilessly took the lives of the crew. They were the anthropomorphized version of those sharp rocks.

In that case, this was bad.

One of them might “jut up” directly below Itou Helen.

No.

There was another issue.

“Where did the mermaid herself go!?”

She was gone.

She must have sensed that her song would just be pushed back, but if she had run away, where had she gone?

That was obvious.

Kuroyama Hinoki was a mermaid.

Her slender body was wrapped in her long hair to form the tail fin needed to swim freely through the water. And the bug cage was filled with a meter of water.

Worst of all, the mermaid sending the sailor into the ocean and sinking the ship with her song and reef were only the beginning. The preparation. Hadn’t it been said that the real threat was when she bared their fangs and preyed on the fallen humans?

I didn’t have time to yell a warning into my smartphone.

Her small body suddenly vanished. Into the water. It was as unnatural as someone being dragged from a car by a rope around their ankle.

The blue bunny girl rejoiced.

“What’s this!? Has this battle between girls super-evolved into a watery swimming tournament!? Then here’s hoping for some wardrobe malfunctions!! That’s bound to do wonders for our ratings!!”

Shut the hell up.

Why did she have to be so hot? If I wasn’t careful, I felt like my soul would be taken away by her cleavage and the curves of her hips.

I sent a mental curse her way and shouted into my smartphone.

“Itou-san! She eats people after dragging them underwater. That means you’re safe if you leave the water. Use wind or something. Yes, can’t you make a potion that lets you fly!?”

“No. If Itou Helen is a Circe witch, then that is the wrong method.” Maxwell calmly rejected my idea. “As Circe is from Greek mythology, she can likely use the concept that all things are made from the four great elements of fire, water, wind, and earth. This has nothing to do with the laws of physics or chemical formulas. I can only call it the occult. That is how Archenemies work.”

“And? We don’t have time here, Maxwell!”

“Sure. Directly using fire, water, wind, and earth is the same as directly eating sugar or flour. The flavor and nutrition absorption is more efficient when it is reworked into bread or cake. Is that a simple enough explanation?”

“But what’s your point? What is the equivalent of ‘cooking’ for a Circe witch…for Itou Helen!?”

“Needless to say, that is a potion that remakes humans into an animal or monster.”

In other words, a reproduction of the gods’ punishment for humans.

“There is a monster known as the Scylla. It was originally a beautiful girl, but she was given a grotesque form by one of Circe’s potions and she ultimately ruled the sea and killed 6 heroes. It would likely be more efficient to have Itou Helen herself take the potion than to use it against the mermaid.”

We weren’t talking about a tiger’s claws or a shark’s teeth here. We would be turning her into a great demon lord that had sent a whole group of legendary heroes to their graves.

If so…

“Itou Helen should know how to use the chemicals. Check encyclopedias of animals, dinosaurs, or whatever else. Just search all the archives that might provide her inspiration!”

“Sure.”

We had no time.

A human could only survive a few minutes underwater. But that was when a trained professional attempted it with a stopwatch in one hand. If an amateur was pulled underwater without warning, they might breathe water into their lungs right off the bat.

I just hoped the headset still worked.

I recalled what I had watched on the living room TV with Erika and Ayumi. We had debated it with a snack in one hand. What was the strongest animal? Ayumi went for the large herbivores like hippos and elephants and Erika went for the oceanic carnivores like sharks and killer whales, but what had I said?

“Anyway, getting that mermaid off of her comes first.”

“This is an underwater battle, so would a shark be best?”

“No, an octopus or squid would be more efficient for getting the mermaid off. Itou-san! Can you hear me, Itou-san!?”

There was no response.

And I doubted it was just that she couldn’t open her mouth underwater. If all she had to do was send a sign, she only had to tap at the headset with her fingertip.

“She seems to be refusing to respond.”

Why?

Could she not trust us?

No, even then it was odd. She had been dragged underwater and would not live another 100 seconds at this rate. Whether she trusted us or not, she would want any information she could get. Like a drowning man grasping at straws.

Then what was this?

I had to read the thoughts in Itou Helen’s heart.

On the verge of death, she wouldn’t have it in her to take a detour on a whim. This had to be something worth risking her life over. And unless I figured that out, our words would never each her.

…

Wait, could it be…?

“Maxwell.”

“Sure.”

“Give me this data. That will probably work.”

I remembered what I had proposed as the strongest animal when discussing it with my sisters.

I took in a deep breath and released it to drive out as much of the tension in my chest as I could.

And I spoke.

“Itou-san, please listen.”

It didn’t matter whether she responded or not.

I only had to know that she was listening.

“I was only thinking about saving you before. To be honest, that hasn’t changed. But if this is what you want, I can point you to a different way.”

It could be a single second or a single instant.

It just had to reach her in time.

Before the final moment.

“So even if you feel like I’m deceiving you, please hear me out. I can only submit one option to you and it isn’t a tiger or a lion. It’s…”

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

I heard the water splitting.

It came from the smartphone and the headset it was connected to, so that meant Itou Helen had brought her head above water.

And if someone had won, that meant someone had lost.

“Ohhh? What could this be?”

As the distant camera zoomed in toward her, the blue bunny girl voiced her confusion while pointlessly leaning in toward the camera, tilting her head, and emphasizing her cleavage.

The answer soon arrived.

Someone else silently and shockingly calmly floated up to the surface.

It was the mermaid.

Kuroyama Hinoki.

Now that she had lost consciousness, she must have lost control of the long, long hair wrapped around her because it gradually came undone as it floated in the water.

“Would you look at that! She’s floating there just like a dead fish! But what could have happened in the water there? Surely the mermaid didn’t drown!!”

The sound of something whizzing through the air provided the answer.

It came from Itou Helen, the witch with a glass wand.

Several long, thick, and transparent tails rose from around her small butt like a nine-tailed fox.

They were jellyfish tentacles.

“I really think a venomous animal can’t be beat.”

That was what I had said in the living room.

Ayumi suggested a hippo or an elephant while Erika suggested a shark or a killer whale. But as I watched the TV program, I suggested a different candidate for the strongest animal.

“It can be a hornet, a scorpion, a pit viper, or a habu, but they can kill a human several dozen times their size, right?”

“But, but. A bear will dig up hornet’s nests to get at the honey. It’ll writhe around after being stung all over, but the cute thing won’t stop lapping up the honey.”

“No, hornets don’t gather honey, so isn’t the bear eating the larvae? Hornet babies look disgusting, but they’re really nutritious.”

“Eh, ehhh!? No…no, that can’t be. Don’t destroy my vision of the cute bearrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!”

“Anyway…”

A great variety of animals were venomous, but there was generally another animal that their venom was useless against. Like the bear that attacked the hornet’s nest through brute force or the small clownfish that lived symbiotically with the anemone.

But.

There was just one animal with the ultimate venom that lacked any such exceptions.

“The Irukandji jellyfish. A deadly jellyfish found in the ocean near Australia. They’re less than 2cm long and can slip through the shark nets set up around swimming areas, but they’re covered in venomous stingers that can kill a human with a single prick. There is no chance of survival like with a habu serum. They’re transparent, so they can’t be seen. And the young ones are less than a tenth the size of a grain of rice, so they can slip through any net. I think they’re the strongest. I want to meet one them even less than a tiger or shark.”

Everyone was shocked.

But that did not matter.

Everyone was more worried about the ticket clutched in their hand than seeing an exciting battle. And the result was now known. No matter how it had happened, their bets would now pay off (or not).

An earth-shaking cheer arrived a moment later.

Even if they couldn’t follow what had happened, they could not call the match off now. The blue bunny girl atop the bug cage went along with it.

She hopped up and down on the spot, allowing her ample breasts to bounce on her slender frame to a needless extent.

“What’s this, what’s this!? We just had an upset that entirely ignored the odds! This match was conquered by Itou Helen, the small animal of a girl who looks like she couldn’t hurt a fly! From the looks of that, did she use a venomous stinger on a jellyfish tentacle? That’s far crueler than it looks, but that’s why it fooled everyone! The electrode attached to her opponent has already confirmed cardiac arrest!! She ended this perfectly!!”

On the opposite corner of the square bug cage, I saw a young man scream as he fell to his knees. What was he to that mermaid named Kuroyama Hinoki? Her family, her friend, or her lover? I didn’t know. I only knew that Archenemy also had someone willing to weep for her.

Was he experiencing what I would if I watched Erika or Ayumi breathe their last for some show business?

He might kill me.

I didn’t even know his name, but I was somehow certain of that.

And there was no stopping now.

I had to “settle” this before the passion of payback cooled.

On the ground, I shouted up at the rainforest butterfly blue bunny girl who looked down at us all from above the bug cage.

“Hey!”

“Yes, yes. You’re the witch’s second, aren’t you? What’s the matter? You got the first win you wanted so badly, so you need to smile! Smile!!”

I entirely ignored her big round eyes and the lightly clenched fists in front of her cheeks.

“I want to confirm our reward.”

“This was her first win, so Itou Helen will be awarded 10 million yen. That’s the base amount and it doubles with each consecutive win. We can discuss the details of the payment method off camera, can’t we?”

“That isn’t all.”

I breathed in and out.

And I made myself a monster to achieve my goal.

“The winner is given the body of the loser. And we’re free to use it however we want: eat it, use it as an ingredient, or whatever else. That’s what you said, so don’t forget it.”

“Ah ha ha! Of course. Archenemies aren’t human, so abandoning and damaging their corpses aren’t crimes. And the Bright Cross keeps its promises. But, but. Eating a Western mermaid won’t make you immortal, you know?”

“How we’re going to use it is none of your concern.”

That was all.

Our conversation was interrupted by a great indescribable cry that could not be expressed with any known emotion. Needless to say, it came from the young man who was our opponent’s second.

We were desecrating the mermaid’s corpse.

But I’m sorry. You lost, so you have no right to do anything here. So just shut up and watch.

Under the bright spotlight, the blue bunny girl wiped sweat from her brow (showing off her armpit as she did) and cackled.

“Well, I’m sure the witch can use it for something. Or is this for your…interests, boy? Come to think of it, she does have a pretty tempting body☆ Well, we won’t look into it. That’s the right of the victor! You can just chuck her in a dumpster for all we care!!”

The blue bunny girl brought it to an end and her every word rubbed me the wrong way.

“Now then, now then. That brings this match to an end! Whether you won or lost money tonight, let’s enjoy another exciting night at the Colosseum next time!! Okay, everyone! Have a good night. Adieu!!”

In a cold room, “that” was delivered on a rolling stretcher like it was hotel room service.

The pale delivery lay motionless on its back with a white sheet covering it up to the chest.

It was the mermaid.

Kuroyama Hinoki.

“R-really?”

In her witch costume and holding her glass wand, Itou Helen spoke weakly as she trembled nervously.

“She’s really…ours now…?”

“Yeah, I made sure that bunny girl said so. And on a national broadcast. They can’t overturn that decision now no matter what happens.”

There was no one else here.

When I told them not to bother me because I wanted to have some fun, the officials all gave me sleazy smiles and left.

I seriously hoped they all died.

And then we faced the loser.

The corpse spoke.

“Kah…hah! Ugweh!? Cough, cough cough!!”

She started coughing right on schedule, like an alarm clock had woken her.

This had been Itou Helen’s “request”.

A tiger or lion wouldn’t work. She refused to use a shark or killer whale. She hadn’t wanted to fight at all. She hadn’t wanted to kill. So even after being dragged underwater by the mermaid with only a few dozen seconds of life left, she had refused to kill for her own survival.

Even after I realized that, it hadn’t been easy.

We had needed to end the match without killing Kuroyama Hinoki the Mermaid. We couldn’t have them declaring a no contest and then starting a rematch. We had to definitively end it while also freeing the loser from that bug cage.

And this was the result.

Venom could put someone in a state of apparent death.

And the winner had the right to retrieve the loser’s body.

Put those two together and we could save her.

We could help a life escape that cruel Colosseum.

And I was glad it had worked.

Since it was based on that killer jellyfish, there had been a chance we could not revive her.

And as the mermaid gathered the sheets in front of her chest, I noticed how good looking she was. I had been too distracted during the battle, but the bulges below that sheet suggested she could give my older sister a run for her money.

I was glad we hadn’t killed her.

“I’m…cough!? What happened…to the match…?

“It’s fine.”

Whatever the case, I was glad I had time for those more unnecessary thoughts. It meant I had escaped that insane life-or-death situation.

So I didn’t have to say much.

I wasn’t going to ask for anything in return.

“It’s over. All of it is. You can go back home. That’s all you need to know.”

The mermaid clearly did not understand, but I still turned to face the small witch instead.

“We won’t be able to do this every time. Once the Bright Cross catches on, they’ll figure out a countermeasure.”

“I…know that…”

Also, there was no exit from the Colosseum. There was no rule releasing you after winning a certain number of battles.

If you didn’t die, you had to keep fighting until you did.

Again and again, you would be thrown into a cage with another Archenemy and made to fight them to the death. That system made sure no one survived for long.

It was an execution system.

The sports tournament format was nothing more than camouflage.

So following the rules wasn’t enough. We were only buying time here. I could walk freely outside, so there was something I had to do while Itou Helen’s life was temporarily saved.

This insane Colosseum was being boldly presented to the public. But to pull off something like this, they had to have a systems to distort information and people’s impressions of the event. If I found and destroyed that, everyone would realize what should have been obvious: that this was wrong. And their voices would become a great pressure that truly freed Itou Helen and the other Archenemies.

I heard a knock on the door.

Was it a Colosseum official or security?

Whatever the case, it would be difficult to kick down the door and break through. Even if I had a justification for Kuroyama Hinoki, I couldn’t bring Itou Helen out with me.

And if I struggled here and they had to suppress me, I would lose the thin, thin thread of connection provided by my position as her second.

“…”

I had to destroy them.

I had to have known that from the beginning. Even if I did manage to get Itou Helen out of here, what would that accomplish? Even if she gave up her home and went into hiding, the Bright Cross’s influence spread to more than 100 countries. Even abandoning everything in her life and living life on the run was not enough.

Running away wouldn’t cut it.

If we didn’t stand up to them, we would end up cornered.

We had no time.

We wouldn’t be able to talk freely for much longer.

And so I briefly asked what mattered most.

“Even so, I’d like to know what you think. Am I a worthy partner? Can you trust me?”

Her answer was simple.

Itou Helen and I exchanged a handshake.

It’s awful.

Oh, honestly. It’s just awful.

What’s wrong? Why are you looking so gloomy on such a cheerful night? Hah hah! Oh, is that what happened? You lost!? You should have listened to what this tipster told you and bet everything you had on the witch.

Listen, there are a lot of different Archenemies.

For example, mermaids are a symbol of shipwrecks, death at sea, and things like that. They swallow up groups of humans by dragging the living into the dark sea.

But a Circe witch is a little different.

Potions that turn humans into monsters? A genius woman that stole the gods’ punishments and recreated them with secret potions? That’s honestly all extra. It doesn’t matter. There’s more to the legends of Circe than just the animal potions.

It’s said that Circe took the souls of heroes to the island of the blissful.

Well, you could say it’s like heaven. Heaven in Greek mythology is full of Zeus, Hera, and all those pain-in-the-ass gods, so it’d probably be pretty uncomfortable for a human, but the island if the blissful is a true paradise where not even Zeus can reach you. I think it was ruled by Cronus.

In other words, this was a mermaid that kills you by dragging you into the sea and a witch that takes you to heaven.

It’s obvious which one was of a higher grade. The mermaid never stood a chance.

Her name was Itou Helen, right? If she really is a Circe witch, then she’s going to make a mess of this Colosseum some more. After all, Circe fished up the heroes – those who fought hard on the battlefield – to reward them. She’s perfect for a Colosseum, right?

You say none of this helps now that it’s over?

Yeah, you’re right. But the next match awaits you! Now, that’s all for tonight!! Whether you listened to me and won big or ignored me and regret it, don’t forget this night! If you want to make money the smart way, make sure you listen to what this tipster has to tell you!!