Chapter 169 But gods can be killed. ...
What do you mean by that?
Faced with such a shocking and angry question, Tsukino and Chiya inexplicably felt like laughing. If it weren't for his already masterful control of his facial expressions, he probably would have burst out laughing.
The tension that had been building before seeing the doll seemed to have vanished. Sure enough, this one in front of me was the same... It wasn't worth it, nor could it truly stir my emotions.
Come to think of it, even the original tension wasn't actually caused by the puppet in front of me.
Tsukino and Chiya thought that if they were the only ones drawn into the puppet game, no matter how terrifying the puppet became, they probably wouldn't feel anything.
I see……
I feel nervous, not because I'm afraid of the doll, but because I'm worried about that person's safety.
Such a thought flashed through Tsukino and Chiya's minds, but his expression did not soften. He looked at the terrifying and bizarre figure before him, whose expression remained unchanged despite being bound by the doll's body and filled with shock and anger, and calmly replied, "To ask such a question... I think my meaning is quite clear?"
Aurora: "..."
Aurora: "…………"
After the initial shock and anger, the doll suddenly fell silent.
The entire old school building fell into a deathly silence. Even Ouma Kokichi, who usually cracked jokes and said nonsensical things at times like this, was quiet... He was probably still observing the situation, or perhaps there was no need to say anything at this point... Rather than saying anything, he was more focused on Aurora's subsequent performance.
No one can deny that the doll before them is the most terrifying and powerful of all the strange creatures they have encountered. They must concentrate and focus on dealing with it in order to save themselves and their companions.
"...But I still don't understand."
After a long silence, Aurora finally spoke again. This time, the doll's voice sounded much calmer, more like its usual ethereal voice, only with a hint of barely perceptible doubt.
So it remained silent for so long because it was thinking? Thinking about why Tsukino and Chiya chose to suddenly attack at that moment?
"I don't understand, can you tell me? Answer me, why?"
The doll, now taller than before due to the replacement of its legs with fleshy mud, looked down at Tsukino and Chiya from a high vantage point.
The doll's eyes moved, and the last intact eye, which bulged out from the broken and decaying skin, stared intently into Tsukino and Chiya's eyes without blinking.
"Why did you do this? What reason do you have to betray me...? Is it because you don't trust me? No, that's irrelevant. It's just that I should have enough leverage to make you give up on those who want to attack me."
Aurora was originally very confident that no matter how unwilling Tsukino and Chiya were, they would eventually do things for her. But just now... So why?
“Back then, it wasn’t like this at all.” Aurora was genuinely puzzled. “My sister hesitated at the last moment in order to protect the important humans, and then I defeated her.”
"But you, a human, are you going to abandon your companion?" Aurora continued, seemingly finding it increasingly incomprehensible the more she thought about it. "Why? If I die, Ouma Koki will die too, you know? Hmm... Although I know there might be a power in this world that could bring him back to life, have you found someone with that power in such a short time?"
"You really gave up on him? Even in the last moments before I devoured my sister, she was still thinking about the humans who were important to her."
"Moreover, it would be completely unwise to be my enemy."
“I am a monster, I am immortal. You cannot kill me, but betrayal will inevitably provoke my revenge... I really cannot understand it.”
Aurora seemed a bit incoherent, repeatedly saying things like "shouldn't be," "impossible," and "I don't understand," before suddenly falling silent again. However, compared to her previous long periods of contemplation, she now appeared to be waiting for Tsukino and Chiya to provide an answer.
Was this answer important to it? Tsukino and Chiya thought about it and realized that the unknown red-haired doll who had been kind to humans had indeed had some influence on Aurora.
"Because I don't want to be this magic mirror."
Tsukino and Chiya chose to tell the truth. Even though he knew that his attack had failed and he was facing a near-certain death due to the disparity in strength, he remained calm and acted as if he were not facing a strange interrogation, but answering a teacher's question in class.
"If we let you gain power, things will get really bad and complicated. So the best time to resolve everything is now, when you let your guard down... oh, I mean just now?"
"Even if Oma Koki dies?" Aurora immediately pressed.
"he……"
"Ugh—this is so boring! I can't stand watching it!"
Tsukino and Chiya had barely made a sound when they were suddenly interrupted by words coming from behind.
The black-haired boy tilted his head slightly and looked over. He saw the purple-haired boy squinting his eyes, looking bored. After noticing the gazes cast by Tsukino, Chiya, and Aurora, he just pursed his lips and continued talking casually.
"Seriously, I'm completely defeated by you two. I was determined to immerse myself in the horror movie atmosphere today so I didn't say much, but in the end it still turned out like this..."
Wang Ma Xiaoji first complained for a while before getting the conversation back on track.
"You really are fixated on this question. After being an anomaly for so long, you must have seen all sorts of humans, right? It's rather pathetic that you still have this doubt. But whatever, on the last day of my life, let me, the Ultimate Leader, enlighten this poor little brain of your idiot doll!"
"In your heart, Kazuki Kazu is probably a good person. After all, only good people can be so easily threatened with someone else's life~ If the positions were reversed, I would betray Kazuki Kazu immediately too. However, you threatened him with my life... and then what? Then, as a god, you would have to harm even more people. Do you think the kind-hearted Kazuki Kazu would allow such a thing to happen?"
“But I think,” Aurora said, “that Qianye isn’t that kind of person. In his heart, you are probably more important.”
Tsukino and Chiya: "..." What is this guy saying with such seriousness?
Wang Ma Xiaoji: "Hehe, that's why I said you're an idiot."
As if he had expected the doll to say such a thing, Ouma Kokichi showed no surprise on his face. Instead, he smiled smugly and mischievously: "You didn't really think that my relationship with Kozuki was that good, did you? You didn't fall for my tricks yesterday, did you? What a pity~ Putting aside Kozuki, I'm a liar, so all that before..."
"—It was all a lie!"
"..."
Despite being the most imposing figure present, the doll seemed stunned, as if it had been intimidated.
A few seconds later, Aurora came to her senses: "But, it shouldn't be like this, after all, you're definitely going to... no, never mind, maybe it's pointless to care about you liars."
The next second, Tsukino and Chiya suddenly felt an impact coming towards them.
Having anticipated this, he immediately dodged, glancing at Ouma Kokichi and the others out of the corner of his eye. Without him saying anything, Higashigo Mimi grabbed Ouma Kokichi and pulled him away, preparing to leave... Aurora had obviously noticed this as well, but simply let the two of them leave, focusing solely on attacking Tsukino and Chiya.
It didn't care. Wang Ma Xiao Ji's life was in its hands anyway. So what if he thought he could escape? It would be better to teach this troublemaker a lesson first.
“You’re really stupid.” Aurora still had time to speak while continuing her attacks. “You know you can’t kill me, yet you still do this.”
"...Is it really impossible to kill you? Even though you can be resurrected, you will ultimately die, won't you?" In contrast, Tsukino and Chiya seemed less relaxed, only managing to reply during a brief moment of respite, "In that case, I can keep killing you. I'll kill you every time you're resurrected, won't I?"
"Foolish. Can you even do it?"
Tsukino and Chiya jerked their heads to the side, but a bloody gash still appeared on their cheeks. He had dodged quickly, but still suffered numerous small wounds. However, it was astonishing that he had only sustained this level of injury under such an intense attack.
There was absolutely no chance of getting close. Tsukino and Chiya were still holding daggers... He always used all sorts of daggers, and Aurora, who had been watching him the whole way, knew this, completely disregarding such melee weapons. Of course, the same went for firearms. Before, Tsukino and Chiya had magically produced that gun, but in the end, didn't it serve no purpose other than revealing their intentions?
The bullets caused absolutely no harm. Even if they did, it would be instantly healed. So when the black-haired boy aimed at Aurora again, shooting her in the chest, the doll didn't even flinch. It wanted to demonstrate its power and terror to this human; it hadn't yet tasted his fear and regret. It…
"…………What?"
Aurora's movements suddenly stopped the instant the bullet hit her.
It froze in place, as if stuck, while the fleshy parts on its body writhed wildly as if in excruciating pain. At that moment, Tsukino and Chiya seized the opportunity to swiftly approach it and deliver a final blow to the immobilized doll's chest.
The seemingly ordinary dagger, which Aurora didn't even notice, plunged into the doll's heart... if it truly had a heart.
"You're right, puppets can't be killed."
Tsukino and Chiya said calmly.
"But gods can be killed."
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