The real fight
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I sighed, looking at my computer monitor. The area of the cult that Six belongs to will be closed to the public for the next month. Most likely, she'd figured out that the murders of such personages as the dog breeder, the shelter owner, and the police officer were clearly not random. Why? Simple. She knows there are diaries that allow you to watch the future through the eyes of multiple other beings, and this trio had just such a thing.
Stupid theory. Very illogical. But I can't see any other explanation for the abrupt closure. Nearly a week of sitting still, and then, bollocks to that. Anyway, tomorrow, we'll go there. There are only four opponents left, three of whom will probably be at the event the day after tomorrow.
Nearby, Akemi was lying on the bed, watching me with interest. No, not my actions, but me specifically. Drilling her gaze into my face, which made it hard to concentrate.
- What?" I asked after another five minutes.
- Nothing. - Akemi smiled sweetly, not even averting her gaze.
- Can you go pour me a coffee please?
- Mm-hmm.
Nevertheless, Akemi remained lying down. Half a minute later, the door to the room opened by itself, and a mug of hot coffee flew in, which neatly stood on the table in front of me.
- Telekinesis... I'd forgotten that you like to use magic so much in domestic matters. - I sighed again.
- K-K-K-K-K-Kaneki... - I heard Minene's dazed voice peeking into the room. - And here... coffee... didn't fly?
- It did. - I answered without turning round. - Meet Akemi Blutege. A vampire, a beauty, and a very powerful mage. I mentioned that when I introduced her.
The conversation between the girls didn't interest me much. Minene had been sceptical about the concept of magic, but now that Akemi was demonstrating it for the first time... well, somehow, Minene's questions about Destruction magic didn't surprise me too much.
***
- So, Sixth? - Minene asked the next morning.
- Mm-hmm. It's more complicated than that, it's a closed off area, which itself is in a not too remote area of the city. Climbing over the walls shouldn't be too difficult, but...
- But what?
- I don't like it. It's unsettling. I don't want to go there. But you have to. For after there are only three players left, you...
Suddenly, a white rift opened up beneath me. The exact same one was under Minene and Yuno, causing me to calm down slightly. Just a while ago, I thought that there seemed to be some sort of gathering of all the players in canon and why there weren't any here. Apparently because too little time had passed.
And true enough, when I opened my eyes again, we were all in the same environment in which the survival game was first announced to us. Floating in the air were platforms, some of which were empty and some of which had human figures standing on them. And there were only half of them, namely six people, occupying five platforms, for on the seventh, there were two figures, a male and a female.
- Greetings, players! - rumbled Deus. - Today, I've called you to the first player meeting, where we summarise the past few days and you get a chance to talk to other players. As I see, your numbers have dwindled quite a bit....
- Let's thank fucking Thirteen. - Seven said grimly. Hate... what a familiar feeling I hear in this guy's voice.
The players' eyes turned to me, standing on a platform that was higher than the others.
- I only killed two. - I shrugged. - The others were just in an uncomfortable situation that allowed the other players to kill them. You're angry about Eighth, I assume? About her, I wasn't even mad about that. Fourth personally put her next to me, and then she just got caught in the act.
- Caught in the act?! - roared Seven.
- That's an interesting ability you have. - intervened Eleven, whose face I'd seen on the news more than once. - Controlled tentacles growing out of your back... total invulnerability to bullets... can you tell us if you have any other abilities, Kaneki Amano?
I swallowed the words I was about to say. How... How did he know?
Meanwhile, the other players were interested, starting to talk about something. I, on the other hand, was quickly pondering how he did it.
- Oh, how did I know his name? Simple. I don't think there's nothing more to hide, because everyone here already knows what side Thirteen is on. Second and Ninth, right?
How... How... it's not funny anymore, how did he know all this! Or was it Deus? They wanted to complicate the game again and...
- It's very simple. I have a diary that allows me to see other diaries. And in Tenth's diary, in his last moments, it says the name "Kaneki Ken". Later, I learnt that there are only three people with the name "Kaneki" in this town. At first, I thought that maybe he just wouldn't be on the lists, or maybe he wasn't registered in this town... But, in Tenth's diary, it said white hair, and one of those three people was white-haired. In the attack on Eighth and Fourth, the latter's diary also indicated that Thirteen's voice was young, just right for a sixteen year old. Also, it turns out that Kaneki Amano has a mother who is very often on long journeys, and a father who is somewhere unknown. Perfect for activities. Well, then, the Sixth, who had kindly allied with me, gave me surveillance footage that clearly showed the three of you entering her compound, where the Fifth also lived. Incidentally, it was in the time between your entrance and exit that his diary appeared to be crossed off the list of those available to me. Well, about the Second and Ninth... it's quite simple. All the other players, are now in alliance with me! Plus, your reaction confirms everything I've been thinking!!!!
It's a rout... I... thought of them as stupid people... made so many mistakes... But that's not what's important right now!
- We're leaving. - I said clearly to Juno and Minena.
- We'll continue the meeting later. - Deus nodded.
A second later, we were back in the house, next to a worried and angry Akemi, looking somewhere towards the exit. And then, the sounds coming from the street reached me.
- Fuck..." was all I could say.
And the next second, we were hit by an explosion.
***
A few seconds later, I woke up, looking around. Half the house was blown to hell, and there were three tanks coming from the side of the house. Three fucking tanks. But looking round, it was Minene who caught my eye. There was a very large splinter of wood sticking out of her chest. There was no sound of a heartbeat, simply because there was nothing left to beat.
A rage descended upon the mind. An animal rage I hadn't felt in a very long time. Yuno began to move, covered in small pieces of concrete that didn't do her much harm.
- Akemi. - I said quietly.
- Understood. - The girl nodded, gloomily looking at the dead girl she had just recently spoken to.
I was careless... I relied too much on my unkillability, forgetting that those around me were not like that at all. But... deep down, I felt a sliver of... relief? Relief of choice. And that drove me even more out of my mind.
The kakuja veil appeared in a matter of seconds. The RC mask lay on my face, and the kagune burst out of my back. Meanwhile, Akemi had already created a ball of black flame in one hand, with the other, she pulled Ashuramaru from its sheath.
- Drink my blood, Ashuramaru! - she said. At the same moment, the blade took on a familiar, scarlet hue.
- Yuno. - I said, turning round slightly. - Hide and when you get a chance, get in the car and leave, understand?
The dumbfounded girl, looking at my changed appearance, nodded slightly.
- Akemi, attack. - I commanded.
A black fireball flew into one of the tanks, exploding. The vehicle was thrown into the air, spun around, and landed on the roof, badly bruised and burning. Next, Akemi followed up with a blast of pure Darkness energy from her blade, slicing off a dozen soldiers just as they wrapped around us.
- They're coming around the back. Deal with it. - I said, rushing at full speed to attack.
Alas, my kagune was not sharp enough to pierce the armour of modern tanks in one blow, but gradually, in half a minute, it would have been possible to break through it.
But, I decided to take a simpler route. Jumping onto one of the tanks, I grabbed the hatch and with little difficulty tore it off. My rinkaku penetrated inside, pulling out a four-man crew.
Immediately, I was covered in a hail of bullets from the two remaining tanks. Grinning, I flung the corpses away on my tentacles. The bullets bounced off my armour, not hurting me in the slightest.
Two more squads of soldiers, two dozen each, showed up next to the tanks. Shit, did they call all the forces of the city here? I don't care, though. The relentless stream of lead couldn't do anything to me anyway.
For about thirty seconds, I was under fire. Funny thing was, it all consisted of... recoil. Yes, the armour won't miss a single bullet, but the momentum of force from the impact, doesn't go anywhere. I just can't get near them while that stream of bullets exists. Sure, I could simply move away at full speed, after which close the distance and rip them apart... but no. I want to see the terror and fear in their eyes.
The finale was two, almost simultaneous shots from the tanks. The shells hit me powerfully, and if I hadn't caught on the tank below me, I would have definitely gone flying a couple of dozen metres. Oh... by the way, the dents were left on my armour. Indeed, it was foolish to hope that a whole shot from the tank, almost at point-blank range, would not cause any damage to the armour. However, those dents were already starting to fade.
It must have looked really creepy. From the smoke raised by the shots, a terrible creature jumps out of the smoke, having stood for half a minute under the incessant fire, where even the bullets had little room. And yes, I saw the terror in their eyes, which made me happy.
In an instant, I blew off the heads of a dozen men, taking away one of them with my rifle, and then finished off the remaining three dozen even faster.
I didn't bother with the tank, just flipped it over with my kagune. But the second one, flew off and exploded already from Akemi's spell, who finished with the opponents on the other side of the house.
Suddenly, a car driven by Yuno came from behind the house.
- Akemi, let's go! - I shouted, looking at two more tanks coming out from behind the corner.
Quickly closing the distance, I stuck the kagune into the muzzles of the vehicles, and with an effort, bent them down, knocking off the tracks and ripping off the machine gun barrels. Meanwhile, the vehicle was already on the road, sprinting towards me.
Quickly getting in, I demanded that Akemi put a protective barrier on the car, while Yuno asked me to drive not too fast, but not slow either. We need to figure out if they were able to see our transport or not.
That question was resolved quickly. The approaching noise of the two helicopters explained everything perfectly. A glance out the rear window showed that they were coming straight at us.
- Juno, drive as fast as you can. - I warned him. I still had my armour on, but I had removed the mask so that my voice would be clearer. I struck the roof sharply with a straight palm and pierced it as if it were a sword, making a small hole. It seems that the Chinese have this style of striking. They use the fingers of the straight palm to make a kind of stabbing blow.
- Akemi, two lightning bolts, please.
The vampiress nodded and the next second she was out through the roof, sending two ball lightning bolts at the helicopters. Unfortunately, one of them managed to dodge, while the other was hit by the electricity. The blades stopped spinning and the helicopter instantly crashed to the ground.
Eh... had I been the same, I would have easily dealt with them with the help of the ukaku. But, what I don't have, I don't have. But Akemi is. Seeing that the task was not complete, she peeked out again and sent two regular lightning bolts at the helicopter. They were much weaker than ball lightning, but even that was enough for the chopper's electronics to burn out.
- Well... I guess we're out of the woods. Juno, pull into an alley, we need to attract as little attention as possible.
- I got it!" she said cheerfully, which upset me a little. She's rejoicing... rejoicing at Minene's death. I wouldn't say that's too bad, but... still, it's very unpleasant. Just when I was beginning to realise who I was going to choose, life freed me from that choice.
When we got out of the car, I was already without my kakuja veil. I took it off to remove the kakugans, because walking around with black eyes doesn't really appeal to me, and bullets aren't likely to penetrate ordinary skin.
- Let's go. - I said glumly, kicking the back door with my foot.
Once inside, we went up to the first floor of this high-rise building and, choosing a random flat, piled into it. There was only one guy inside, who from the looks of it was a student. Having stunned him, I made a note to have lunch as soon as things calmed down a bit.
Thinking. What do we do now? How to find this foursome who will surely be hiding in the most guarded place. Hmm... I wish I knew where it was... I could of course ask Akemi to set up Armageddon here, thankfully she has the right spells... but I'm not sure if her reserve will be enough. It's too powerful a spell. And killing so many people... no, I don't give a shit about them, but still... something inside doesn't agree with that decision. Maybe it's the thought of wasting so much food.
There is a way out, though. I just need to check with Deus... Deus!
I found myself back in this hall. I've begun to frequent it often.
- Another question? - The giant grinned, but I smiled too. A crack. A small, very small, but visible to the Ghoul's eye, it was on his mask.
- Yes. When you set up meetings, how do the players arise on the platforms? Bodily or spiritually?
- Spiritual. The bodies remain in the outside world, but their spirits are transferred here. Why would that be a question?
- Hm... - I missed the last sentence. - You mean they don't smell?
- Ah, that's the thing..." the giant smirked. - Well, I think that if you reveal the players' identities to the others, you'll be able to smell it.
- That's how it is. Well, thank you. When do we continue the meeting?
- Tonight. Midnight.
- Yeah, see you then. - I waved goodbye to the giant and was about to leave when I suddenly...
- Ninth's death didn't affect you much. - Deus said. - You were a little angry, but I don't see any grief in you.
- Indeed... perhaps because grief has long since atrophied in me, like so many other human emotions. - I nodded, still slightly saddened.
- М? I suppose those were very painful events for you. - The machine god spoke with interest.
- Hmm... Yes, I suppose so. The loss of my body, or rather, the complete transformation of it into mere blood, followed by regeneration back to its original state... it affected me very much. However, I think it all started while I was still walking around Fiora, slowly becoming insane.
- Oh, I see. Well, I won't keep you any longer.
- Thank you sincerely. - I replied sarcastically, returning to the outside world.
- And yet, where has Muru-Muru gone again? - Deus said as his guest left.