Volume 8 Chapter 17 Redcap
"M-Magician."
"Magician! Magician!! Woman!!"
The goblins twisted their ugly faces and grinned even more.
The reasoning behind their "mystery" is not known," but when it comes to goblins, their behavior is already predetermined. They kidnap, r**e and kill women.
If it were an ordinary girl, just being subjected to their vulgar gaze would freeze her in physiological fear.
But Kishijou Saki was unfortunately not an ordinary girl.
From the directional speakers held in both hands, loud music began to play. Heavy metal that struck at the bottom of the stomach with deep bass.
With the force to strike back at the gazes aimed at her, Saki's throat trembled.
"'You disgusting! Filthy! Scum! 3K piece of shit goblins!!'"
In response to her scream, black cracks started spreading in the space with accelerating intensity.
The sound and pressure of magic power crush the goblins trying to run.
"'You guys are out of your league, squeak and die!!'"
The cracks turn into spears and rush towards the goblins.
The magic used by Kishijou Saki is called "Senshu Kagura (Thousand Verses Kagura Dance)." It combines sound and magic power, forms an incantation with words, and pierces through enemies.
Originally, it is a technique that is sung gracefully to traditional court music, but Saki, with her genius sense, is able to convey her emotions through any musical composition.
The cracks, filled with intense emotions, pierce through one goblin after another.
"Gyaack?!"
"Igyaaa!"
The goblins try desperately to escape, but within the range where they can hear, there is no way to escape from the "Senshu Kagura."
While watching the goblins fall, Saki noticed something. The HP bars of the pierced goblins were rapidly decreasing.
When it reached zero, the goblins turned into particles of light and disappeared.
It didn't take even a minute for all the goblins to disappear.
"What was that just now..."
Saki tried to process the scene she had just witnessed. But no matter how much she thought about it, there was only one conclusion.
The HP bars floating in her mind truly represented the life of those creatures.
The goblins disappeared because their HP - their health - was blown away by the "Senshu Kagura."
"..."
Saki instinctively looked up at her own HP bar.
If she took damage, if she sustained injuries, she would eventually die. That was only natural. Nothing had changed from before.
However, the fact that the most precious thing, life, was represented by a game-like gauge, felt chillingly cold and impersonal.
Whoever did this, she doesn't know, but it's incredibly tasteless.
Anyway, she exorcised the "Mystery" here. When she tried to use the communicator to get the next instructions, Saki heard the sound of the wind.
"What!?"
Being able to twist her body was fortunate.
Thunk! A dull sound ran through her whole body, and pain and heat spread through her arm.
"Ouch!"
Involuntarily shouting, she still rolled on the ground without stopping. From the side, a series of hard sounds like clattering echoed.
Without time to confirm what it was, Saki rolled into some shop.
"...What, out of nowhere."
Looking at her throbbing left arm, there was a short arrow stuck there. Blood seeped from the wound, dripping down her fingertips.
She had been sniped.
"This is seriously the worst!"
As Saki looked around, the shop seemed to be a second-hand clothing store. She grabbed a random shirt, tightly binding above the wound with her hands and mouth.
Ideally, she would want to pull out the arrow and use a hemostatic sheet, but there was probably a return on the arrowhead. Forcibly pulling it out would widen the wound, and besides, it was impossible for Saki to endure pulling it out while enduring intense pain.
Glancing upwards, she noticed that the HP bar had decreased by almost a tenth, steadily decreasing. It must be due to bleeding.
"These are the only places that don't conform to reality."
Saki muttered. She then approached the entrance of the store and took out her smartphone from her pocket, capturing the outside of the store in camera mode.
"...It's that guy."
On the rooftop across the street, something was sitting there. Using the zoom function, she could see a more detailed figure.
It had a rough appearance similar to the goblin from earlier. However, it was wearing a bright red hat, reminiscent of Santa Claus.
Like the goblin, it was a well-known monster in the Western world, called the Redcap.
Wearing iron boots and staining its hat with the fresh blood of its prey, this youkai spirit, more ruthless than a goblin, was said to wield a crossbow-like weapon and was targeting Saki.
"How annoying..."
She muttered as she rolled away, accidentally dropping her speaker. Since she can play music on her phone, she can activate the magic itself, but due to the nature of "Senshu Kagura", there is a lag before it is activated.
It will be very painful if she get stuck and get shot with a bowgun by the time she attacks.
But there was no time to worry about what to do. After all, a loud bang suddenly echoed, and three shadows appeared on the camera.
Three redcaps jumped down from the roof, hatchets in their hands.
Red Cap with a bowgun was still aiming at her on the roof.
“Four to one is too cowardly, isn’t it?”
Sweat poured down her face, and her legs trembled with fear.
In games, even if player's HP bar is completely destroyed, they can still come back to life.
But in this world where reality and the game intertwined, what would happen?
Now, her HP bar slowly dwindled, and the sound of clanging iron boots filled her mind.
"Haa... haa..."
With a quiet exhale and inhale, she tried to steady herself, hoping that her opponent wouldn't hear.
There was only one thing to do. All that was needed was the resolve to do it.
Saki waited, suppressing the trembling in her body with her arms.
Her magic power surged like magma, heat racing from her heart.
――Thud!
The sound of footsteps echoed close by.
Yes, the entrance to the store was narrow. If she tried to enter as usual, there would be no choice but to overlap.
Saki brushed aside the hidden clothes and let out all her magic power from her throat.
"'Aaaaaaa'!!"
The black cracks released with a sharp cry pierced through the Redcaps.
The shockwave blew the walls of the store away, and clothes fluttered in the air.
Amidst it all, Saki realized her mistake.
(Darn it――)
By focusing too much on power, she hadn't thought about what would come next. The store with its blown-off front was completely exposed from the outside.
In other words, there was a Red Cap on the roof, aiming a crossbow.
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