A titillating tale of the lost lighthouse, part 3

There were other people besides the warlock. Shin recognized his cowering figure, but he had no idea who the other six thugs were. They didn't explain themselves.

The enemies shot as soon as Shin became visible in the doorway. Six shots blended into one deafening sound.

'Boss!'

Shin flinched away and almost stepped into a trap he had just bypassed. He caught himself at the last moment, knowing that he wasn't unprotected.

Tetsu didn't let him down. Lightning-fast, she emerged from his body, taking all six shots on her armor. Instead of holes, the bullets left only bruises, each of which Shin felt almost like his own.

"Don't you dare to shoot my partner with those disgusting things!" Tetsu shouted, making a grabbing movement at the empty air.

The enemies gasped in shock as their guns lurched out of their hands. The steel they were made of bent into unrecognizable, broken shapes before falling to the floor. Tetsu sneered domineeringly.

Shin stepped from behind her, staring at the unexpected company.

These people must've killed Origami. He inhaled, trying to guess if any of them were a transmigrator, but couldn't smell anything that could be a demon—only the sweet smell of incense.

That must've been purposeful, too.

The men themselves looked like typical thugs. Almost all of them had visible tattoos and were likely a part of the yakuza. They stared at Tetsu and Shin with speechless and pale expressions.

The warlock looked less shocked, but just as frightened. The frail-looking older man in ratty dark clothes was easy to recognize. In his hands, he was clutching a misty glass orb.

Shin's eyes lit up. This was what he needed—a part of it, at least. The orb helped to focus magic power—the warlock probably was planning to use a spell.

But why wasn't he alone? The warlock was too paranoid to work together with anyone.

Finally, Shin's eyes fell on the only other person who wasn't on the verge of freaking out. The man in question was fairly young and had no visible tattoos.

"D-damn…" the man muttered, taking a step back. "I wasn't warned that you can just break weapons! Alright, guys, we still have the numbers on our side. Sorcerer, stop being lazy and bind his demon before she tears us a new one!"

Shin frowned. "You must be another transmigrator sent to kill me. Fine. You'd die either way."

That assassination attempt was more thought-through than the previous one, but in the end, it didn't matter next to superior power.

'Tetsu, kill the warlock, but don't break his things—and keep the transmigrator alive! I will clean the rest of the trash.'

He raised his crowbar, and Tetsu brandished her claws.

'Got it, boss! It will be done!'

The yakuza thugs pulled other weapons out of their jackets: knives and brass knuckles. The transmigrator summoned his own demon—a frail-looking and pale insect-like thing with huge and pitiful black eyes.

This time, Shin and Tetsu fought side by side, but they still fought as one.

When the thugs tried to surround Shin, Tetsu pulled their weapons out of their hands again with an effortless swipe of her hand. With that opening, Shin could beat down the thugs as easily as pinatas full of marrow, blood and screams.

The enemy demon used Tetsu's distraction to attack her with its mandibles, but Shin kicked one of the half-dead thugs at it like a projectile with flailing limbs, making the demon stumble right into Tetsu's claws.

It and the transmigrator cried out in unison, but behind them, the warlock was preparing his spell. Only for a moment—until Shin launched his knife at him.

The knife hit the man handle-first hard enough to break his nose and knock him out. The crystal orb fell out of the warlock's hands, but Tetsu was already there to catch him.

She lifted it up and beamed at Shin. Her other hand gestured at the enemy demon and transmigrator.

The transmigrator was unharmed, but several discarded knives and guns pinned his limbs to the ground like shackles. The demon fared much worse—its chest was torn open, and knives pinned it to the floor like a bug it was.

"All done, and so quickly, too!" Tetsu chirped. "Those arrogant fools should've known better than to cross your path, boss!"

"'Cross your path', damn it… As if you weren't about to kill me, anyway!" the transmigrator shouted, straining against his shackles.

"Why do you think so? You attacked me first." Shin raised his eyebrows and walked to the man to look down on him.

He didn't have any notable features that would've told Shin whose body this transmigrator inhabited. His intuition, though, told him that this must've been the same man who supposedly refused to enter this lighthouse four days ago.

Despite his position, the transmigrator smirked. "It's in your eyes, Shin-kun. You look like a teenager, but your blank eyes didn't change the slightest bit. Those are the eyes of a killer… Maybe not yet a killer, but a future one. Though I know you killed already."

Shin tensed, forcing himself to stay calm. What was this man talking about? Change? They had never met before!

"Boss?" Tetsu asked, standing next to Shin. "Why are you still talking to this cockroach? We should eat him. Oh! We should do it together. He would be so delicious, after all. I can tell already…" she licked her lips dreamily. "I really want to share this experience with you."

The man paled at her words. "H-hey… Shin-kun, you wouldn't let your girlfriend EAT me, right? After all… After all, we go way back. That's right! It's me, Tanabe Koto! Remember me?"

It took a moment to recognize the name. Shin's eyes widened. The coincidence seemed near impossible.

"We went to the same class in high school…" he muttered.

"That's right! You might be a killer, but you wouldn't kill a classmate, would you?"