Chapter 293 Vertical and Horizontal ①
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”Aaaaaah!”
”Noooooo!”
The screams of two girls echoed. One was Alice, a blonde-haired, blue-eyed Majin¹ girl in an apron dress. The other was Sango, a black-haired girl with rabbit ears.
The two of them were in tatters. Alice’s body was covered in slash wounds, and her apron dress was soaked in blood. The fabric was so shredded it barely functioned as clothing, leaving her soft skin exposed. Sango’s clothes were intact, but her life force had been drained; her face was a sickly, deathly pale.
”Alice-dono!” Tatei cried.
”Sango-shi!” Yokoo shouted.
”It’s okay… Ko-chan,” Alice whispered.
”I won’t let them lay a single finger on Ma-kun,” Sango declared.
””I will protect Ko-chan (Ma-kun)!””
Though covered in wounds, the two stepped forward as if to shield Tatei and Yokoo.
”How touching. But really, what kind of man lets himself be protected by girls? Eh, Tatei?” said Hidaka.
The man in white armor provoked Tatei. He was someone Tatei knew only too well.
”Hidaka… Keiji-dono,” Tatei muttered, gnashing his teeth. Recently, he had realized he couldn’t go on like this and had started practicing his sword swings. However, suffering from anorexia and having lost a staggering amount of physical strength, the current Tatei was so weakened that he became winded after just a few swings. (If only I had my body from back then…)
”It’s alright, Ko-chan. I can take these guys out in one hit with my Skill,” Alice said.
”That’s why I’m telling you I won’t let you!” Hidaka roared.
Every time Alice tried to activate her Skill, Hidaka slashed her. She barely managed to avoid fatal wounds by twisting her body, but she was reaching her absolute limit.
”I’ll start with the brat first!” Hidaka shouted.
”Kyah!?” Alice screamed as she was slammed against the wall.
”Aaaaaaaaaagh!”
”It’s a pain when you move around so much. I’ll just make it so you can’t move at all,” Hidaka said.
He drove his blade through Alice’s palm, pinning her to the wall. He then pierced her other hand, leaving her fixed there like some macabre insect specimen. “Haha, this really is the best. Cutting people like this… well, she’s not strictly human, but there’s not much difference, is there?”
”…You are a total psychopath de-gozaru,” Sango said. She was on the verge of death at the hands of three monsters.
”Fufu, how wonderful desuwa. As expected of beings who have transcended death… Queen No-Life, no, in this case, Queen No-Life desuwa,” Tenkouin Reika said. Torimaki Ichigo and Samidare Satsuki stood with her. The two had been used as sacrifices by Samidare’s Skill, gaining their current power as superior evolutions of humanity. However, the master-servant relationship had failed to take hold.
”You’ve misunderstood something. There is no way I would ever serve under the likes of you. Samidare-san’s master has always been me, in the past and in the present, desuwa,” Tenkouin Reika stated.
”More importantly, Sango-san? How much longer do you plan on protecting that pig? That foolish pig who rejected me,” Tenkouin Reika asked. She then forcibly stripped Sango of her bunny suit, ripping the armor-like fabric like paper.
”Kyaaaaaah! What are you doing!”
”Oh, what a cute reaction. But… you’re already wet, aren’t you? Is it because you’re actually looking forward to this?” Tenkouin Reika teased.
”T-This is just because of my race, we’re always in heat…” Sango stammered.
”Fufu, I’ve heard something wonderful. Ichigo, Satsuki, take this girl and break her body until she can’t live without me,” Tenkouin Reika ordered.
”No! Nooooooo! Help! Help me, Ma-kun! Nooooooo!” Sango screamed as she was toyed with. Nearby, Hidaka approached the pinned Alice. He ripped away her tattered dress and sliced her underwear, exposing her. “Haha! I’m not usually into brats, but if I’m stealing her from Tatei… man, that gets me going.”
”Higu… stop… don’t lick the wound!” Alice cried as Hidaka ran his tongue over her lacerations.
(The me who can’t save them is pathetic. To only be able to stare while they are stolen from me… If only I had my old body, not this weak, pathetic shell.)
Tatei and Yokoo wished for it with every fiber of their being. Then, their hearts gave a heavy, violent thump.
”My body… is…”
”It’s hot… nana…”
””What is happening… aaaaaaaaaagh!””
The screams of Tatei and Yokoo echoed through the air.
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Summary:
A harrowing chapter where the protagonists are forced to witness the brutalization and humiliation of Alice and Sango. The antagonists, led by Hidaka and Tenkouin, use the heroes’ physical weakness against them. The chapter culminates in a desperate mental plea for strength, triggering a violent physical transformation in both Tatei and Yokoo.
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Trivia:
- The mention of Tatei’s ‘old body’ suggests a previous state of power or a specific physical condition that will likely be reclaimed.
- Tenkouin’s immunity to Samidare’s master-servant skill hints at her Unique Skill being superior or defensive in nature.
- Sango’s biological ‘heat’ state is established as a constant racial trait, which the villains exploit
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Character Insight:
The bond between the pairs (Alice/Tatei and Sango/Yokoo) is tested through extreme trauma. The shift moves from the girls protecting the ‘weak’ boys to the boys undergoing a metamorphosis to reclaim their roles as protectors.
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Lore And Worldbuilding Context:
The concept of ‘No-Life Queens’ as superior evolutions of humans via sacrifice is introduced. The power system seems tied to intense emotional triggers and the manifestation of ‘Skills’.
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TL Notes:
The author uses specific wordplay with ‘Vertical’ (Tate) and ‘Horizontal’ (Yoko) throughout the series; this chapter marks a literal ‘reawakening’ of these axes.
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TL Notes:
Notes:
• Alice – A small, adorable girl summoned by Yokoo. Based on the ‘Red’ and ‘Black’ Majin versions. Stronger than Tate or Yokoo. Celadon Rank Monster Hunter.
• Sango – A bunny-girl with long white hair and red eyes; younger sister of Torimaki Ichigo.
• Tatei – Tatei Kozoo, 186 cm tall and now gaunt at 52 kg, once a solid otaku friend of Natsumi and a bully alongside the narrator and Yokoo. He uses Materialization Alchemy to forge class gear—most notoriously the X‑shaped restraint used in Sugita’s execution. Former best friend of Natsu, he now speaks in a stilted, samurai‑like warrior style, no longer recognizing her as a brother‑in‑arms, and serves as Sasaki’s loyal retainer.
• Tate – Male Otaku friend of Reese. Gaunt and thin, wears glasses. Possesses Materialization Alchemy skill.
• Yokoo – Natsuki Sasaki’s former best friend, modeled after Yoko from Comic Party, now addresses him with cold formality using “-shi,” viewing him as a traitor for his role in the class’s sacrificial bullying pact. Encased in Living Armor and wielding Materialization Summoning, he appears alongside Tatei in the rescue party, his once-familiar demeanor replaced by distant formality, yet still tied to Natsuki by shared trauma and unresolved loyalty.
• Hidaka – 182 cm, 79 kg muscular man—ex-Sugita gang member and Kendo club alum, now Hero-class wielding Holy Sword Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi and Unique Skill
• Keiji – Height 182 cm, weight 79 kg (Male). A muscular member of the Sugita gang and the Kendo club. While better than the other two, he still used Natsumi as a punching bag and joined in the sexual assault of Lieselotte Himesaki.
• Satsuki – Large chest (noted as ‘milk woman’ or ‘cow’ by Reika), indoor type, former bullying victim turned perpetrator.
• Ichigo – Obese/plump girl, lackey of Reika.
• Reika – Wealthy half-foreign heiress with drill blonde hair and blue eyes, flat-chested. Leader of the bullying group.
• Rei – Eldest Kijima twin, an undead girl with corpse‑like visage, fights as a frontline tank wielding a cross‑shaped spear, calm in death yet razor‑sharp in combat, perfectly synced with her sister Mei. Younger sister, the Apostle of Envy, envies Mei but shares tight battle coordination with her.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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