chapter04 · 118-ep118

Episode 115: A Ray of Light in the Darkness

"So <Euthanasia> failed. Hah. That's what happens when an idiot with no real strength relies on magic equipment and chases glory."

The day after Mikel Kamasen vanished.

A lone woman stood atop a building far from Karin's school.

Like Mikel, she was one of the dangerous elements lured into Japan by the bounty.

She was Baozuk Hachi, an assassin known as <Monster Killer>.

At the failure of the man who had made contact with their target first, Hachi wore a mocking smile as the wind swept between the buildings.

(He was nothing more than a gnat whose only talent was scurrying around in the shadows. Still, Mikel did have a certain level of skill. The way that monster Karin Yamada crushed him immediately suggests she's quite powerful. But that means nothing to me. No matter how strong my opponent, before me, all power is equally meaningless.)

At the end of her gaze.

Hachi licked her lips, eyes overflowing with confidence as she looked toward Karin's school in the distance.

(Because my unique skill is <Strictly Superior Version>! Regardless of distance, I can house the power of anyone I see within my body, then add my original strength on top of it—an ability specialized in killing superior opponents!)

As though already certain of the mission's success, Hachi narrowed her eyes.

(Fufufu. True, even I shuddered at that video of the copy monsters called Double Shadows bursting. But! My power is nothing like those pathetic deep-layer monsters! This trained body and unique skill can copy the opponent's power no matter how vast the gap between us! My vessel is far stronger than that deep-layer copy monster, which possessed only the bare-minimum lower-layer combat ability!)

Hachi thrust out her chest as if the mission were already complete.

But in a sense, her confidence was only natural.

True, this unique skill was not entirely flawless.

If the gulf in power was too great, the duration of the copy shortened, and the interval before she could activate it again grew considerably longer. But the ability to copy even a vastly superior opponent's power and then stack her own on top of it was exceptional. Hachi had once used it to bring down even a monster called a country-toppling explorer. That job remained legendary in the Middle East and had made Hachi's standing as an assassin absolute.

And despite possessing such a unique skill, Hachi was neither careless nor arrogant.

(Fufufu, brace yourself, Karin Yamada. Today is merely reconnaissance: I'll copy you once from a distance where you can't notice me, then carefully confirm the state of your power and the skill's effective duration in advance... But when I return, I won't allow you the slightest counterattack. Using your own power with the underlying strength of my level-2000-plus body added on top, I'll erase you before you can draw any of that ridiculous magic equipment!)

Just as she'd been unable to deploy much new equipment when she fought that woman suspected of being the Dungeon Queen!

"For now, enjoy your carefree school life while you still can—Skill, activate!"

And the instant she spoke and viewed the far-distant Karin, dozing through class, through her binoculars—a change came over Hachi's body. Her appearance transformed into Karin's, and an outrageous power began welling inside her.

"...!? Ohh, I expected it, but I've never felt power like this...! Incredible! What IS this strength!? That monster explorer I copied before doesn't even compare! I can completely suppress its presence, yet it feels as if I could flatten every part of the landscape before me this very instant...! Power keeps overflowing, and overflowing, and overflowing, and overflowing—"

Hm?

"Eh... hold on, why is it still overflowing...!? I-it won't stop!?"

Noticing the anomaly, Hachi panicked for an instant.

No, but this power had copied an opponent with a ridiculous gap in ability before without even approaching overcapacity. There couldn't possibly be a limit—ah, crap.

"Wha!? Eh!? What is this!? Wait! WAAAAAAAAAAAIT! Why!? What IS this!? I've never felt anything like this—hold on, stop, stop! Wait, but how do I stop this unique once it...!? H-hold on! Seriously, wait, wait, wait, wait! No! No more! If I swell any further, I'll die! I'll die, so—wait, wai—"

CHUDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!

In that instant, an impact detonated inside Hachi as though the mana exceeding her body's limits had exploded from within.

Perhaps thanks to her own base strength being far higher than the Double Shadows', she maintained human form—but after housing power beyond her capacity and exploding, Hachi collapsed, smoking from every inch of her body. Though still breathing, she did not move a muscle.

And then—

"All right, recover her."

Public Security members, who had inferred from African Federation intelligence and other information that Hachi would certainly scout the target and conduct a trial run of the copy first, promptly took her into custody. Like Mikel, from that day onward, <Monster Killer> Hachi vanished completely from the underworld.

※

"To think both of them would not merely fail, but become impossible to contact... Karin Yamada truly is no ordinary foe."

That night, after <Monster Killer> Hachi followed <Euthanasia> Kamasen in disappearing.

A huge bearded man lurked in the darkness at an undisclosed location in Tokyo.

As usual, he was another assassin who had slipped into Japan in pursuit of Karin.

"But perhaps this was only natural. Judging by their reported accomplishments and estimated abilities, those two were beyond reproach. Yet Karin Yamada is simply too powerful. No one but a 'genuine article' like me could possibly kill her."

The man's eyes gleamed suspiciously.

"Yes. Before my unique skill <Thin-Ice Rust Needle>, every champion is no more than dust."

But his opponent was Karin Yamada.

He could not afford carelessness. In addition to the strongest assassination unique, he intended to use every available measure to kill her.

After all, the word "cowardice" did not exist for assassins.

"First, the hunting ground will be Karin Yamada's home. The essence of assassination is preventing the opponent from displaying their strength. According to my information, despite becoming famous, Karin Yamada shows no sign of moving, and she is deeply attached to that detached house. Even if the first blow fails, she will be unable to use her full power without hesitation in such a place. Attack her while she sleeps as well, and it becomes perfect. With those two shackles and my ultimate assassination ability, I shall kill her without fail."

This was the end of Karin Yamada.

After all, the ability of the man known even as the "God of Death" was—

Pfft.

"—Eh."

At that moment.

The instant the faintest dry noise rang out, an impact struck the huge man's head. His eyes rolled back and he lost consciousness.

Before he could understand what had happened, he fell heavily where he stood.

"I think not."

Watching from far away as the huge man collapsed before he could explain his ability was Sharifa Nefertiti—the Dungeon Queen.

Perhaps she had activated some ability.

While munching meat unavailable aboveground, she had transformed one arm into something like a biological rifle and unleashed a long-range magical shot of impossible silence. The queen murmured into empty air.

"I heard a little about it. That house is precious to Karin. Even if she has fortified it enough to repel the likes of you with certainty, I will not easily allow you inside. I forced through all manner of difficulties to intrude here, after all. I must at least clear away this much rubbish and take responsibility for the various consequences."

Public Security personnel were too close to the assassin's strength, risking a conspicuous 'battle' that might involve the surroundings. The queen had taken out that huge man in one silent strike that no one noticed, and now rose quietly into the air.

Quietly crushing an enemy sacrificed magical power and range, but this was still the best method, she thought, returning her biological-rifle arm to normal.

(But what was this one's ability, I wonder...? Well, even the African Federation Intelligence Service, which has spent years gathering vast amounts of assassin information for my sake, has failed to uncover everything. The best approach is for Public Security to share any suspicious movement they detect in Japan, then crush the perpetrator before they can do anything, ja.)

Riding the wind, she retrieved the huge man and delivered him to the police without anyone discovering her.

※

"I TOLD THEM IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE FROM THE STAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAART!"

The core of the Inukai Group: the presidential office on the highest floor of Inukai Industries' headquarters.

Upon receiving the various reports, Yoko Inukai clutched her head and screamed.

And what had her in such a state...? The Karin Yamada assassination plan had ended in complete disaster.

One after another, the assassins who had entered Japan failed without even properly reaching Karin Yamada. Rather than retreating and returning, every last one had vanished without a trace. The scoundrels carefully awakened to weaken the forces of countries around the world were being lost one after another, to the extent that security not merely in Japan but across the entire world looked likely to improve slightly.

Furthermore, the disappearance—not retreat—of so many prominent and capable assassins thoroughly cowed the rest. Despite having undergone the same 'inflated confidence' treatment as Mikel and the others, not one more was willing to go to Japan, and the operation ended after doing nothing but wasting rare fighting strength. All of this happened in less than a week after the assassins first began entering Japan.

Another damaging consequence was that the incident had slightly improved relations between Japan and various other countries.

The assassins who had vanished inside Japan had all been capable figures who'd run rampant around the world.

Naturally, multiple countries had suffered at their hands, and while it was by no means a public matter, they were apparently extremely grateful to Japan for eliminating so many threats.

Consequently, plans were now underway to grant the Public Security personnel involved an unprecedented special allowance and unheard-of extended leave on a rotating schedule. Rumors even claimed believers were growing not only in the Anti-Dungeon Division but Public Security itself, asking, "Could Karin Yamada-sama truly be a zashiki-warashi or the nation's guardian deity?"

They had strengthened the system that made Karin Yamada even harder to eliminate while improving Japan's worldwide image. The final stage of the invasion plan had gained nothing but disadvantages.

"After they gave me all those smug orders, THIS is the result!? Give me back my money! Say something, damn you!"

Yoko Inukai screamed through the device at the executives around the world, but naturally received no answer.

(Ahh, damn it. I thought there might be a chance, but... even before Karin Yamada, Japan's Public Security was far more competent than expected...!)

Having watched them remain helpless against Black Tiger and the corrupt officials connected to it for years, Yoko Inukai had unknowingly underestimated them. But perhaps Kuroi's danger-sensing skill, so close to future sight, had simply been that impossibly powerful. In addition, thanks to the Karin Yamada effect, the police now had more freedom to operate, which had presumably led to this disastrous defeat. Though they were still nowhere near uncovering Inukai's faction with its multiple layers of techniques, Japan's police were apparently quite competent by global standards after all. The intelligence sharing from the African Federation—which had monitored assassins worldwide for many years as a countermeasure against threats to its Queen—had been far too significant as well.

And beyond the work of those intelligence units, the other source of trouble was the Dungeon Queen herself, Sharifa Nefertiti. With that queen directly hunting assassins using the information Public Security had gathered, everything ended without reducing either Karin Yamada's strength or even Japan's Public Security forces.

"Should we have targeted the Dungeon Queen before Karin Yamada...?"

For an instant, Yoko Inukai considered the possibility, then immediately rejected it with, "No..."

Karin Yamada's combat power might be higher, but when it came to covert warfare between humans, the queen was undoubtedly far more 'experienced.' If they couldn't crush Karin Yamada, the queen was just as impossible.

The moment those two joined forces, everything had already reached checkmate.

"But giving up was never an option... What can I do...?"

Yoko Inukai continued agonizing over how to eliminate Karin Yamada when—

"President! We need to speak with you!"

"...What?"

Several subordinates entered after knocking, and Yoko Inukai answered irritably.

For a moment, she almost chased them off, thinking she was in no mood to hear any report.

But... they were members of the preliminary invasion sabotage force like Yoko Inukai and should have known about the various events stemming from Karin Yamada, yet their faces were strangely confident. What's more, their particular lineup made Yoko Inukai twitch an eyebrow upward.

Then the man at the front spoke excitedly, as though desperate to deliver the news even one moment sooner.

"Excellent news...! That is usable again!"

"What did you say...!?"

Yoko Inukai sprang to her feet hard enough to knock away her chair.

When she hurriedly confirmed it, that truly had returned to a usable state...

And for the first time in who knew how many weeks, a full smile blossomed across Yoko Inukai's face.

"...Aha. Ah hah hah hah hah hah! Excellent work, all of you! It was a product of coincidence, and nothing we tried allowed us to use it again, so I had begun to fear it would never work twice... But we can do this! If that can be used, eliminating Karin Yamada is entirely possible!"

From hell to heaven.

At the powerful light shining into a darkness from which she'd seen no path forward, Yoko Inukai's high-pitched laughter rang out.

There was one effective way to deal with an opponent too strong to defeat.

Seal them away.

Moreover, the effect produced by that—which could perfectly shut down even spatial skills—would not stop at sealing away and eliminating Karin Yamada.

"Kufufu. A blessing in disguise, as they say. I'll make use of the strength and fame you've earned through streaming, Karin Yamada. If I activate that during a dungeon stream, I won't merely eliminate you. I can plant fear of dungeons into the entire world and crush the momentum of the explorer community itself...!"

Then they could further reduce not only Japan's forces but those of the whole world in preparation for the plan's final stage.

With such an incredible achievement to her name, Yoko Inukai's future would shine all the brighter.

"Karin Yamada, your absurd streak of triumphs ends with your next dungeon stream. With your despair, the glory of my homeland shall become certain."

Yoko Inukai declared it.

As if intoxicated by the pleasure of crisis transforming into opportunity, she began moving to eliminate Karin Yamada.

―――――――――――――――――――――――――

I wonder how many people understood the joke about Katanagatari cutting away the strongest swordsman's entire fight scene...

Incidentally, Mikel Kamasen specializes so heavily in stealth that he manifested a unique like that, so his baseline combat ability is on the low side. Baozuk Hachi-san's copy ability also carries the restriction of drastically reducing experience gained in battles fought while it is active, desu wa.

※Inukai-sama has finally regained the smile she used to wear!!

And this is an awkward place to do it, but next time is a short side story. As I wrote in the recent-news post, Melonbooks will offer a Karin ojou-sama acrylic stand as a paid bonus with Ojou-sama Buzz volume two, so I'll update with a commemorative and promotional short story, desu no!