Chapter 104 Rising Rage
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
The one who got kicked out of the room was a Psionic Power user with the flight ability of a battleship.
The only time I had a strong hug was before I pushed Flatty-chan behind the thin mosquito net.
”Here—stay. Don’t come out. If they find you they’ll kill you,” I told her, my voice low and urgent.
Her ransom had been a promise between me and Himawari. We were the ones who broke it first—no sightseeing, no safe retreat—just killing and running through the alleys of broken levels.
”I’ll try to explain. I’ll try to make her listen.”
This floor was controlled by monsters, but Himawari was one of the few people who kept crossing between the surface and these depths. For some reason she hadn’t turned into a cocooned husk like the others. Even so, whether she was sane or not felt like a gamble.
”I don’t know if she’ll listen,” I added. “But I don’t think she’d take a life from me easily. Stay behind the net.”
The truth about what Himawari really thought never felt solid. If she knew the reality of this layer, she might want all of it to burn—and might even try to kill me. But if she didn’t, if she had been deceived by the monsters, the way forward changed. There was no proof she’d accept reality. All I had was the need to try.
Flatty-chan’s breath was shallow; she could fall apart from a single shove. In that room, I was the only one who could keep her alive.
”No. You don’t need to do that at all. Young Master, please stay behind the net.” Her voice was sharp.
”Wh—why?” I blurted.
”You’re trying to make her listen? That’s unforgivable. No one has the right. She doesn’t understand anything good about you! It’s awful!” Flatty-chan snapped, voice high and small at once.
Her words weren’t meant to hide. Fear sharpened into defiance—she didn’t cower. Instead she glared like a white shadow, standing up to meet the danger.
I could smell dust and the iron of old blood on Himawari before I saw her. Whatever had happened on the second level while we were running had been brutal enough to kill Flatty-chan in a breath, but Himawari came through that fight breathing murder, not fatigue.
”Who do you think you’re looking down on, huh? Kidnapper of the dark-shrouded Kannon!” Flatty-chan spat.
”Huh? Wait—why are you angry!?” I protested.
”Leave it to me. Watch.”
Her anger was unlike anything I’d seen—an older sister’s fierce protectiveness, like someone outraged on behalf of a sibling. She made a kind of decision that filled the room.
”Resolve made. People like her only understand when they feel the same pain,” she murmured.
Even under that pressure—some strange, stabbing mystery that pressed at the skin—Flatty-chan didn’t falter. Strength flowed back into her body as if someone had lit a new fuel.
She grabbed the net and, in one decisive motion, threw the curtain aside. The bedcloths on either side fell like stage curtains, and she stepped out between us, the center bed at her shoulder.
Gently she lifted the sheet and placed her hand at the throat of the man who had been lying there for days.
”If you move, I’ll kill your master,” she said.
Himawari froze. Her eyes widened, and for a moment she couldn’t move.
”Try to step closer even once. If I say I’ll do it, I will,” Flatty-chan said quietly.
”What? Killing a man—what is that?” Himawari breathed.
”I’ll kill him clean, set him like a lotus, send him across the river. He’s already half-dead, isn’t he? Better to die serving Flatty-chan than rot here,” Flatty-chan replied with a cold, ironic smile.
Himawari went slack. The whole room seemed to stop. She had been burning with anger a heartbeat before; now she stared as if someone had punched through the air.
It took her ten seconds to form words. “You’re out of your mind. Wait—no. Stop. I can’t—this doesn’t make sense.”
She stumbled, disbelief turning to panic. “You said those people were like the dead, but to say that about Sugaya-sama and the others—” she choked.
Flatty-chan answered with a cruel cheerfulness. “I’m glad. It’s nice to be useful at the very end. We’re in love, you see.”
”Have you lost your mind!?” Himawari snapped.
”What mind? Look at you—you’ve got maggots in your head. You hurt other people’s masters and now pretend to be good? Don’t act special.” Flatty-chan’s voice was contemptuous.
”Get away from them, now!” Himawari raged.
But something about Flatty-chan’s words slid past any normal cruelty. No real group, no extreme movement, could hurt a man like this. Even those with brain disease or dementia couldn’t do it. The gene for that kind of cruelty had vanished from humanity. Flatty-chan’s statements were beyond mad—beyond what even fanatics could do.
A groan came from the man on the bed. It wasn’t pain so much as the agitation of the maggots stirred by the mint-scented Flatty-chan near his face. The sound was like a monster’s complaint.
”What a noble face,” she whispered, smoothing the closed lashes as if admiring someone’s sleeping beauty.
Himawari’s body seized; white teeth ground. “You—how can a woman take a man hostage? This can’t be right.”
”Don’t be angry. You did the same thing. Were you never special to yourself?” Flatty-chan taunted.
”No. Mine was for everyone. Mine was for the people. I didn’t mean this.” Himawari’s protests unraveled as veins showed at her temples.
From my hiding place, Flatty-chan’s voice dropped to a small whisper: “I think she was deceived by the monsters. Young Master, if you have any strength left, please check the woman behind her and the oni-woman’s true identity.”
”Yeah. Got it.”
I triggered my Psionic Power.
Within the red-black haze of the altered world, Himawari clawed at her own head. Platinum hair scattered as blue maggots writhed beneath it—more than a dozen. Her sharp nails tore through them in frantic, uneven strokes, flinging their split bodies across the floor.
The rest crawled through her hair, trapped under skin that even bullets couldn’t pierce. Some bit down hard, but they couldn’t break through—only squirm and fail. She didn’t seem to feel them at all.
The monsters had no special intelligence; they simply couldn’t parasitize her because her body was too strong. Still, the illusion on this layer was vicious. Without the right psychic resonance, even strength meant nothing.
She had survived the trap by brute will alone, just as she had in the second layer.
”What is this… I don’t understand… what’s happening to me?” she gasped, muttering between breaths. Since the last time I saw her, something inside her mind had cracked.
”I trusted her, that little side-girl—she stole the key. I had to go back and check on the divine child. Damn it, everyone’s still fighting, and no one’s helping. Even the townsfolk ignore orders. So I had to form the suicide squad… gods, it’s infuriating! And now a lunatic who takes men hostage appears—no, no, I’m different. I do it for the town. It’s allowed. I never wanted to.”
Poisonous pressure leaked from her body, thick enough to raise goosebumps on my skin.
Beside her, a girl with a gentle posture leaned close—but her head was a red-black cocoon.
”髯ス闡オ讒倥?謔ェ縺冗┌縺” [distorted]
”I’m sorry,” Himawari whispered to it. “I said terrible things again. I didn’t think about everyone’s feelings.”
The cocoon swayed softly from side to side—and spoke.
It reached out, touching Himawari’s shoulder. When I released the psychic field, the girl’s expression was pure compassion, mirroring Himawari’s sorrow.
”Just a little longer,” she said kindly. “The misunderstanding will clear. Many people will come here again. Until then, please endure.”
She drew Himawari into a light embrace. Gradually, Himawari’s eyes focused again.
”You’re strong, aren’t you?” Himawari murmured. “Sometimes I hate myself for it.”
”It’s for the town,” the girl said. “There are still Chōnin—people—up on the surface. Once it’s calm, everyone can live peacefully again.”
The darkness left Himawari’s face like mist. Watching them, you might think they were old friends comforting each other.
”Townsfolk… yes, that’s right. I’ll keep working. I’ll bring more people, make it a beautiful place.”
”Please do. The three elders wish for that too. I’ll help, Himawari-sama! You can do it!”
”Thank you. I’ve cooled off. Keep this pathetic scene secret, okay?”
”Fufu, of course,” the girl giggled.
Himawari’s eyes watered as the smaller girl held her. It looked like two high-school girls consoling each other after a breakdown.
’Young Master,’ Flatty-chan whispered near me. “That girl—?”
”I checked. Himawari’s human. The girl’s a monster,” I answered.
”I see. Thank you.”
So that was how they lured people down here—through comfort and kindness. How much of the larval girl’s speech came from borrowed human memory, and how much from illusion, I couldn’t tell. To anyone unaware, it looked like pure friendship.
But the truth was simple: monsters needed food, and they required human cooperation to transport it. Likely every one of Himawari’s fellow Imperial Guards was already gone.
Only she remained sane—or rather, sane enough to become a daylight madwoman.
”You were here too,” Himawari said suddenly.
She had noticed me.
Her pale eyes turned toward me, shining like cut crystal, tears reflecting the dull red light. The white demon’s beauty had an unreal gravity.
I steadied myself and said, “Yeah. I’m sorry it came to this. We have to leave soon.”
”Please,” she begged. “Tell her to release the elders. That Imperial Guard’s lost her mind.”
”You mean Flatty-chan?”
Himawari’s tone softened, reasoning with me. Maybe she thought she could reach me. “Of course. Taking a man hostage is impossible. She killed townspeople too, didn’t she? Maybe it’s the head injury… anyway, she even abducted you. As her master, order her to stop before she hurts someone.”
Her concern was sincere—and tinged with accusation toward me for not stopping Flatty-chan.
Then her anger subsided. “You’re kind. She must’ve tricked you, dragged you around, got you hurt… poor thing.”
Her eyes moved over me with genuine pity. “Come here. It’s dangerous near her.”
She truly believed I’d been kidnapped by a deranged girl. Maybe she needed to. And yet, beneath it all, there was a glimmer of real worry.
I shook my head.
”You’re wrong,” she said sharply. “She’s deceiving you. Staying near her will only harm you.”
”To harm a man…” I murmured.
”Yes. Using one as a shield is unforgivable. Even if you think it’s wasteful to let that power go unused, we have to treat her. Otherwise you’ll be in danger yourself.”
She meant to kill Flatty-chan. No woman could stand by while another claimed she’d kill a man. That rule was deeper than species or faith—something built into humanity itself.
But this situation was stranger. In any normal negotiation, a man would never be a hostage; no one would believe such a threat. No woman could harm a man, so it made no sense as leverage.
Yet Himawari’s sense of reason was already broken. She herself had taken men as living relics, used them for her “suicide squads.” She had undone the taboo with her own hands.
Her past sins were crushing her now.
”Please understand,” she said quietly. “I’m worried for you.”
Dark circles hollowed her eyes; shredded strands of white hair lay at her feet. She looked worn thin, half-haunted.
I refused again. “If you care about me, send me back to the town.”
”I told you I can’t! I’ve explained that again and again!” she shouted, frustration cracking her voice.
When I still didn’t move, suspicion replaced anger. “Don’t tell me—this is on your orders? Why? I promised to return you home safely! What are you dissatisfied with?”
”My home is with the Imperial Guards,” I said. “That’s why I came here.”
She blinked, uncomprehending.
”And this layer—it’s all lies. It’s not a paradise, Himawari. You’ve been deceived.”
”…I don’t— I don’t understand,” Himawari stammered.
”Everyone’s been replaced by monsters,” I said quietly. “They’re all dead. The townsfolk. Your friends. All of them.”
She flinched, stunned by the words. She still didn’t see it—the true nature of this place.
”I’m leaving,” I continued. “Guide me to the dungeon gate.”
”I can’t. Your townspeople are attacking from outside. We can barely hold them back. Going out would be suicide.”
”So I’m a hostage, then? You’ll use me to threaten them?”
”No! I’d never—” Her voice cracked. She slammed her fist into a wooden screen, splinters flying. The air shuddered with the force.
”That’s not it. My comrades, the townsfolk—they refused to fight while Kujukuri’s army pushed into the ruins. I had no choice…” Her voice faded, trembling into silence.
She turned her face away like a little girl searching for excuses after breaking a plate—or someone crushed under guilt and responsibility, mind slipping from the strain.
But it didn’t feel like brainwashing. Not the puppetry of the parasites. It felt like she had locked herself inside a cage called happiness. Even worse, she had the kind of Psionic Power that could reset such illusions—if she chose to. Maybe she felt the wrongness but couldn’t face the cost of undoing it. Too much blood had been spilled already. It was too late for many things.
Still, I tried one last time. “They can’t leave, Himawari. The people here aren’t human anymore. They’re monsters. Monsters can’t pass through the dungeon gates.”
She froze, eyes wide. “What? What are you even saying?”
”The ones around you—they’ve turned. Most settlers have. That’s why they can’t reach the second layer.”
”That makes no sense! None of this does!”
The cocooned people she saw as comrades didn’t fight for her. No matter how much they mimicked life, how kindly they smiled, they were illusions—parasites pretending to be her friends.
She thought a defense against Kujukuri Town would work because this layer had thousands of local townsfolk and psychic soldiers. But now, if they were useless, she couldn’t let me go.
”If you don’t believe me,” I said softly, “hit the girl beside you. Her head will burst. She’s a monster. Even I could do it—your strength will make it easy.”
”I—no. I can’t. You know I hate hurting people. You know how hard I tried to control it. Why are you saying something so cruel?”
Her hand rose to her mouth, eyes glistening. She looked ready to shatter.
She would never let me go. For her, duty meant sacrifice. For her town, she would do anything—and I was nothing more than feed for the maggots.
If she wouldn’t release me or understand, I’d have to force it. The stalemate couldn’t last. If Flatty-chan moved even a step from the comatose men, Himawari would strike. And soon, the other cocooned humans might gather.
”I see,” Himawari said finally, sulking, voice bitter. “So that’s it. You just hate everything I’ve done.”
She squared her shoulders, forgetting she stood in a room meant for men, eyes trembling. “Why? Isn’t this a good place? We tried so hard to make you happy! Everyone wanted to please you!”
Her voice rasped. Tears welled again. “We planned everything together, all of us. Why? Why can’t men ever understand?”
Her fists clenched, claws digging into her palms until white blood dripped to the floor. The sight tore at me.
She was hurt by every word I spoke. Even without understanding, she knew I rejected what she loved. Her hopes collapsed under it.
Flatty-chan kept her grip on the hostage’s neck, pulling me closer to the bed, shielding me.
Himawari trembled, emotions boiling over. “Do you know how many died just moving here? We worked so hard, and all we get is disgust. I found this perfect layer, and still—it’s never enough!”
I had betrayed her faith in the worst way. Killing residents, running from her dream. She had never believed I’d go this far.
”Why?” she whispered, voice breaking. “Why won’t men recognize how hard we try? What are we supposed to do anymore?”
Her composure fell away completely. The proud guard now looked like a lost child. No matter what she’d said about hating or dominating men, in front of me she was defenseless, wounded by every syllable.
No amount of effort could close that ancient divide between women and men.
Flatty-chan’s eyes were cold as she watched. “Pathetic,” she muttered. “Crying in front of a man like that.”
Her contempt only sharpened. “You’re ridiculous. Stop whining to him.”
”Shut up!” Himawari shrieked, shaking her head. “Let go of my master! Stop using him as a hostage!”
Flatty-chan tilted her head. “Ever seen a mirror?”
”Shut up!”
Himawari’s hair whipped around her like white fire. The demon women of Isumi rarely looked into mirrors—most couldn’t stand their own faces.
”You’re an Imperial Guard,” she shouted. “Don’t you understand what it means to love your master? How could you take a man hostage?”
”That’s my line,” Flatty-chan replied coolly.
She was done arguing. Himawari was barely coherent now.
”I can’t help it,” Himawari sobbed. “No matter how much I hate him, I love him even more. I revere him. So please, don’t hurt him.”
”That depends on your behavior,” Flatty-chan said flatly.
Even as Himawari begged, Flatty-chan’s eyes stayed distant—no pity, only disdain.
”You’re a liar,” she said softly. “Every part of you is built on lies. Worst of all, you lied to yourself. You told yourself your love was duty, that you fought for everyone. But deep down—you just wanted to be loved.”
”Don’t act like you know me!” Himawari screamed. “I’m not wrong! I worked for everyone’s dream—!”
Their shouting filled the room, yet the three comatose men never stirred. Their faces above the nose were already eaten away. Blue maggots wriggled in what was left of their brains, indifferent to our fight.
Men were living bait now—their faint vitality luring women in, drawing tragedy after tragedy.
Himawari had walked straight into that trap.
”That’s enough,” I said quietly. “I’ll go.”
I touched Flatty-chan’s shoulder. “She’s too far gone. It’s cruel to keep her like this.”
Flatty-chan frowned. “If we hold the hostage, she’ll build us shelter. We could survive, wait for rescue.”
”I want to end it,” I told her. “I’ve always been afraid, always running. But this monster—I can’t forgive it. No more victims.”
”…I see.” Her voice softened. “Then go. But promise me you’ll come back.”
She masked her worry with a small smile. Her face said, I understand. Be careful.
”You too, Flatty-chan,” I said.
And I stepped forward into the red-tinged quiet, toward the end of our illusions.
”Not to brag,” Flatty-chan said with a thin smile, “but I’m good at provoking people when I need to. I can hold her attention.”
She was telling the truth—she’d always teased Trash-san and Cult Slut-san for sport, but never crossed the line. She knew exactly where to stop. It wasn’t something worth boasting about, but it was who she was.
I took the last of the mint oil and doused myself with it, the sharp scent burning in my throat. Then I stepped past Himawari.
Her small, graceful frame radiated heat like a furnace. Passing beside her felt like brushing too close to an open fire. Our eyes met, but she didn’t reach for me.
”Wait,” she said, voice trembling. “At least… order them released before you go.”
She didn’t know where I was heading. To her, I was still a master to be protected, even if she couldn’t understand why. To an Imperial Guard, her master’s safety meant more than her life. And to her, Flatty-chan was a monster.
”Himawari,” I said softly, “you’re in the way.”
”If you go, I’ll use the summoner. I’ll call you back.”
”That speaker? That mystical device?” I met her gaze. “You can take me hostage again if you like.”
”No, it’s not like that! Please—wait. I’m sorry for what I said.”
I ignored her.
Her claws flashed as she reached out, almost grazing my skin.
”Don’t touch me.”
The words froze her. Her face twisted, wounded beyond reason, as if I had shattered the one truth she clung to. She looked betrayed—like someone cut off by the only person she’d ever trusted.
”I was joking,” she said quickly, her voice cracking. “I’d never really use that thing on you. You know that.”
”Step aside.”
”I’m not— I’m not a monster. I’d never hurt you! You misunderstood. Everything I said before, it was a lie!”
”Interference,” I repeated, more firmly.
She had the strength to tear me apart, but when she saw her own clawed hand—inhuman, deadly—she faltered and drew it back.
”You’re not afraid of me,” she whispered. “You’re different. You always were…”
Her voice trembled, and for the first time, she looked at herself as if seeing a stranger.
”Let him go,” Flatty-chan said from behind the veil.
The mosquito net flared open with a sharp *whump*, and a headless corpse rolled out.
Himawari gasped. “What—what did you do to Enme?”
”Stay calm,” Flatty-chan warned. “Keep the girl here if you want to stay alive. You don’t want this to happen to you.”
The body on the floor was the telepath who had once read minds for the Guard—now nothing but a puppet hollowed by a monster.
”No,” Himawari whispered. “No, stop. She was my friend. Don’t hurt her. Without Enme, how will we talk to the masters?”
Even staring at the corpse, her mind refused to register death. She’d seen countless deaths in battle, but not like this—not someone she’d trusted.
”If no one listens anymore,” she said frantically, “how can I comfort them? They’ll relapse, get worse again!”
Her words spilled like fever. She couldn’t touch Flatty-chan, not while the hostage remained. That hesitation gave me time. I slipped through the doorway.
By now, she’d use the summoner if she could—but Flatty-chan had already rendered it powerless.
And this, I thought, was hurting Flatty-chan too. Even she couldn’t truly harm a man, not even in pretense. Threatening the dying with their own suffering was the cruelest thing possible in this world.
Seeing three men nearly devoured by monsters would drive any normal townsfolk mad. Only Himawari’s soldier’s discipline kept her from breaking completely.
”Stop crying,” Flatty-chan’s voice snapped behind me. “Bring what I told you—five boards, six panels of cloth, same length—move!”
She was forcing them to act, giving orders to the remaining cocooned girls. Because I existed, she could stay strong. Now it was my turn.
The forest swallowed me in silence. Within a minute, I reached the clearing.
There, at the deepest point of the grove, stood a rusted container. Before it lay the contorted body of a black ogre—its limbs twisted into the shape of a key. The thing must have tried to open it by force, punished for using the wrong key. Another mystical trap.
I took the real key from my pocket, slid it into the padlock, and turned. It clicked open easily. The metal door shrieked as it swung wide.
”Good,” I whispered. “It’s still here.”
Inside, silk piled like snow. On the wooden bed lay a sleeping infant boy, his face serene, breathing softly.
The key left by Attendant-san had worked. She had called it her last prayer—the meaning she’d died to protect. She’d stolen the key, given it to me, and vanished.
She hadn’t known the full truth at first. If she had, she would’ve stopped the migration. Like those who remained above, she must have sensed corruption but not understood the system. Her habit of clearing maggots from corpses might have led her to the truth. Somewhere along this cursed road, she’d realized, and left her silent plea in my hands.
Her devotion to her master had found the truth before I ever did.
”Let’s finish this,” I whispered. “We don’t have much time.”
I was about to clear the layer.
Each dungeon’s core is guarded differently. Some by beasts, some by traps, some by riddles of the heart. This one demanded something worse—a test not of strength, but of will.
As I stepped closer, the baby stirred and began to cry. The sound was shrill, human—almost.
”Yeah,” I said softly. “You cried last time too. The mint smell bothers you, doesn’t it?”
I had suspected from the start. When Himawari introduced him, she hadn’t known his mother, or when he’d been born. Later she claimed a townswoman had given birth—but I’d seen inside his mouth.
”The reconstruction wasn’t perfect,” I murmured. “Baby teeth don’t grow in that order. You’re good at imitation, but not good enough.”
Even his proportions were wrong for his supposed age.
I let an empty dish slip from my hand. It shattered on the floor. I picked up one of the shards, its edge glinting cold.
By the third layer, the dungeon always tests resolve. It forces you to do what no one wants to do.
”…Like killing a baby boy,” I said.
My hand shook. Sweat slicked my palm. The act itself was impossible to justify, yet that impossibility was the point—the lock only opened to those who could face it.
Attendant-san’s master would never be known—one of the suicide squad, one of the comatose men, or someone long gone. It didn’t matter anymore.
I took a breath, and stopped thinking altogether.
The truth, at last, waited beyond mercy.
Notes:
• Psionic Power – Mental energy concept in Chapter 35’s lecture. Trash-san teaches it to strengthen the protagonist’s mind after dungeon ordeals.
• Himawari – A one-eyed black oni girl/aberration-type psionic; town leader/face; asks for promotion help; apologizes for killings; sets 2‑day deadline.
• Sugaya – A branch-family noble in his twenties living in the forest sanctuary, he is physically weak and bedridden, loves this floor, and brightens when speaking with another male.
• Enme – A calm attendant with psionic heart-reading used to care for males, she relays their thoughts, feels avoided for her power, and works hard to support the Three.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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