I'm on the terrace of a two-story house, looking down at the area from above.
I've been talking with Mirumo from up here for a while now, while at the same time maintaining control over the structures of that entire tunnel with my mental frequency. That last part is what takes up most of my concentration.
Well, since we're here, I suppose I should explain this ability.
At first the only thing I could do was cause eyes and mouths to appear on an enemy's body, opening up their flesh so eyes and mouths would emerge and chew on that same flesh until there was nothing left.
—Flesh dreams of biting itself, and every eye aches for a sibling.
That's the activation phrase for that ability.
Once activated, the limit was how much mental frequency I could sustain. Against a normal human it was instant and didn't take much mental frequency, but against a trained ghoul it cost a bit more, because the more developed the target's body was, or the more resistant their mind, the harder it became.
Even though it can be seen as an unpleasant ability, I actually like it quite a lot.
However, after eating my own heart and unlocking the Overclock of my Vampire mode, the ability developed a new branch.
Now, if I spend a really large amount of mental frequency, I can alter solid structures. From a simple stone to hard metal, everything solid temporarily becomes organic masses made of flesh, eyes and mouths. And those tissues move on their own, and can even camouflage themselves by imitating the original surface until I decide otherwise.
Very useful. Thanks to this ability the recruitment is going so well without me having to appear in front of them. You could say that this way, I can inflict more terror on someone.
But...
When my soul can't handle the amount of power I carry inside, I start seeing things. And what I see is exactly this. Walls of flesh, eyes opening and toothed mouths on the surfaces.
With this ability I can make the real world look like that.
The obvious question would be what happens if one day I lose control completely. If one day the line between what I see and what I do stopped existing.
I don't have an answer. So let's leave it there and think about something else.
"Mm?"
In my mind I have multiple windows transmitting from the All-Seeing Eyes scattered across different parts of the world.
In one of them, the one hidden among the branches of the tree in Touka's yard, I see sewer rats approaching.
There are thirteen silhouettes moving across the neighboring rooftops. The reason I call them sewer rats is because they're wearing the hoods and masks of Aogiri Tree.
At first I only watch, because I think maybe they're just passing through. There's nothing wrong with watching to see whether they have any intention of getting close to the people I love-
—Thumb!
A heavy beat echoes in my ear.
They're heading toward Touka's house.
Rage rises from my stomach up to my head. Along with the rage comes a possessive feeling toward the girls, and pure irritation, and the fear of losing someone, and paranoia, and the urge to erase from the world the things that are approaching my people.
All of that at once is clouding my mind.
The mental frequency around me starts to increase, overflowing without me being able to stop it.
The air above the terrace warps, bending the lines of the buildings below, as if someone were pushing against reality from the other side. And out of that distorted space, murmurs begin to arrive, some loud and some faint, all at once, mixed with shrill laughter that comes from nowhere because there's nobody laughing.
It's in that moment, while all of that is tangling together, that I speak to the Tsukiyama family.
"None of you go near my people. And when I say my people, I mean everyone who matters to me. You don't need to know their names or their faces, because you're never going to get close enough to see them. If anyone looks at them wrong, if anyone follows them, if anyone mentions them in a conversation with the wrong intent, I'm not going to ask who it was, or investigate, or punish that person."
The walls of the house below start to move, soon spreading to the neighboring houses.
"I will erase the Tsukiyama family from the world. Every single one of you."
The murmurs get louder.
"And whoever breaks the rules won't find peace even in death."
Ah...
Stop.
I close my eyes and push my own mental frequency inward.
As expected, the sensation of attacking my own mind is horrible. Like someone scraping my brain with metal from inside my skull, and on top of that it's deeply unnatural to use yourself as a target, because part of me registers the attack as an enemy attacking me and tries to defend itself.
Little by little, the dark emotions get torn away by force. Layer by layer, until what's left is the possessiveness and the thought of killing the ones heading toward Touka's house.
I don't try to eliminate those emotions, and I couldn't eliminate them anyway because they're deeply rooted inside my being.
Well, besides that, they seem perfectly reasonable to me.
With the air no longer warping and the murmurs dying down, I open my eyes and let out a large breath.
"That was close..."
While I resume communicating with Mirumo, I limit myself to observing the rats.
Now that my head is cold, I can run some calculations. The amount of frequency the intruders give off is low. From what I can tell, they're all in the range of a B-class ghoul, with a couple who would reach A if they use some kind of trained attack formation.
So the conclusion I reach is that they don't represent any problem.
Rize and Touka have fed exclusively on my blood all these years, which has made their strength evolve enormously. Not to mention that Mrs. Kiriko trains them personally whenever she comes to Japan.
Rize alone could handle all of them. Touka alone could handle all of them. The two of them together is flat-out a waste of resources.
Although...
I take a closer look at the one in front. Even though his face is covered, the emotional frequency he gives off as it hits the All-Seeing Eye is very familiar.
It's a lot like the one belonging to a man I killed some time ago.
The monster that Touka's father turned into.
Arata Kirishima.
Ah. So it's Ayato?
Heh...
That idiot, in the manga, hit Touka.
"I'm going to kill him..."
Calm down, Arata. That Touka isn't the real Touka I know.
Well. I suppose some things changed, didn't they?
Because the one getting hit this time is someone else.
Besides, now that I think about it, I don't need to deal with Ayato myself. Since Touka and that rat are siblings, it's better for the older sister to educate her younger brother with her fists.
Umu.
Once I've calmed down significantly, I make an All-Seeing Eye appear near Rize's shoulder.
Many years ago, I used it to spy on Rize, who back then was still at the Sunlit Garden. She named that Eye Yuki-chan, and ever since then she treats it like a pet.
I make Yuki-chan blink twice to get her attention.
"Ara? Yuki-chan, what is it?"
"Rize. There are sewer rats approaching the house."
"Fufu~ Rats?"
"Thirteen of them. I'd say they're coming for you."
It's the only reason that comes to mind. Maybe that bastard Kichimura Washuu, also known as Furuta Nimura, survived when Touka's father attacked the Sunlit Garden.
"For me? My, I didn't know I was so popular."
"They're weak. Not one of them is worth anything, so the two of you can handle it without trouble. Use everything you have, don't hold back for the house or anything else."
"Mm~ Everything we have?"
"Everything."
"Understood, darling~"
Accompanied by a Fufu~, Rize gives off a very sweet aura as she calls me darling.
I cut the communication there, but before shutting Yuki-chan off, I move the eye to one side for a moment and take a second to look at Meiko and Rei.
"..."
I sigh and slowly shake my head.
I make Yuki-chan disappear.
After tonight, those two are going to know everything. After all, there's no way Touka and Rize fight in front of them and the two of them keep believing those two are normal humans.
It's time, and I knew this day was coming. I just kept pushing it forward like someone leaving the dirty dishes for tomorrow.
Meiko doesn't worry me too much. She'll probably try to hit me with a whip when she sees me as a form of "punishment," but that would be it.
Rei, on the other hand, will probably feel betrayed. And not only by me, but also by the girls who have been by her side for years.
And that's my fault.
I should have told her years ago, and I didn't.
If I'm being honest with myself, it was because I was afraid.
What would change once she knew? How would she look at me afterward? That way she has of treating me, with that stupid trust she has in me? Would that still exist afterward?
Hah... I suppose I can't keep putting it off anymore.
Once I finish talking with Mirumo and make sure they're integrated into Doom, I take a step toward the edge of the terrace.
My body starts coming apart into a red mist.
The mist rises and slides across the sky.
×××
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