Chapter 146 Betrayal
Why?
This was the only thought in Kazumi’s mind at the moment.
The world in the young girl’s eyes came to a standstill for reasons unknown. It seemed as if the acceleration of her thoughts had caused a relative time freeze, making the entire world appear to slow down.
But it was precisely because of this that Kazumi could see the incredibly fierce expression on the young boy’s face more clearly. This demeanor, which did not belong to this boy at all, was like a cheap mask covering his face, making it impossible to see his true inner self at this moment.
It was as if he had done something uncontrollable and could only use such a vicious expression to cover up the guilt in his heart.
[Is… is that how it is?]
With a self-deprecating smile in her mental world, Kazumi didn’t know how to describe the feelings in her heart.
Kazumi was very smart. The moment the incident happened, she roughly understood what had happened.
She had been personally pushed down the hill by Sato Shinichi, whom she had always trusted. And the direction of her fall was exactly where the terrifying enemy disguised as ‘Kimori Kage’ had come from.
The irony was that she had previously thought of him as someone who didn’t understand anything and only cared about his girlfriend’s safety. She had even felt touched enough to make the decision to reveal her abilities.
As a result, this cold reality told Kazumi that all of this was just her own wishful thinking.
No one is a fool; he just shows you what you want to see, just like what she did.
This is very realistic, isn’t it?
Perhaps in their past interactions, Sato Shinichi was not that kind of person. But when faced with life and death, who can say for sure?
Survival is simply an instinct imprinted in everyone’s DNA.
Kazumi’s mind was in chaos right now, as if the soft part of herself that had been exposed had been stabbed fiercely. The more she cherished her emotions in the past, the more painful the released feeling would be when she was truly hurt.
She was only one step away from escaping this damn place. He had been willing to risk his life to save her. Even in that situation, he had not made the worst decision.
She had already decided to trust him…
But now, why did it turn out like this?
The emotions belonging to the original body in her mind seemed to still be making the final defense for the boy, but all of this seemed so pale and powerless in the face of what had already happened.
A special ability drove the girl’s mind to think rapidly, and in an instant, every event seemed to have a very reasonable explanation.
The reason he came to find her was just a chance encounter while being chased by the enemy. Taking her away was just to have bait to lead the enemy away at any time, and now was just the time for her, as bait, to fulfill her role.
[From the beginning, he never trusted me…]
The boy’s extremely serious face as he held her hand reappeared in her mind, as if he were making some kind of vow.
But the next moment, the expression on that face changed drastically, turning into that vicious expression that caused her immense heartache.
The clear golden light in her sea of consciousness struggled incessantly, as if trying to let out its final cry. But the black mist clung to it like a persistent gangrene, devouring the remaining golden light bit by bit.
“Bang—”
“Crack—”
A dull sound accompanied by a cracking sound like bone breaking emanated from the girl’s body, interrupting Kazumi’s thoughts.
The world, which had stopped, resumed its normal speed at this moment. A burning pain spread from all parts of her body, wave after wave, striking her already chaotic brain.
But what confused Kazumi was that she had fallen on her back. Even if she were injured, it would be her spine, or other internal organs damaged by the impact. There was no way she would have injured her chest, which she had instinctively protected.
But what kind of injury could cause the feeling of a knife churning inside her chest?
“Hoh hoh hoh, it seems your little boyfriend has made his correct choice!”
A pale green shoe stomped heavily on the girl’s abdomen. The sharp, hoarse voice carried an incredibly joyful tone, as if witnessing a movie he had always desired.
“Ah, that look in your eyes is truly delicious, the taste of being betrayed by the one you love.”
Kimori Kage spoke to himself, but his wooden spikes did not stay idle. One by one, they pierced into the girl’s body, as if she were a specimen pinned to a wall. Using the wooden spikes as fixings, he carefully pinned the girl into the loose soil.
The sharp stinging pain caused Kazumi’s somewhat unfocused eyes to regain clarity. Whether by coincidence or not, the girl’s head was now stuck at a certain angle.
From her slightly open eyes, she could just see the boy’s stumbling, madly fleeing figure, without looking back.
“Hey, hey, hey, why did your eyes suddenly become dispirited again? This way, it’s not a perfect work of art!”
Holding a sharp wooden spike, “Kimori Kage” meticulously fiddled with something on the girl’s body. However, seeing the change in the girl’s eyes, his originally joyous tone turned into a complaining one.
“How should I put it? I don’t like my collectibles to degrade in quality. Damn it, I should have killed you at that moment! No, no, that way, she wouldn’t be a living sacrifice. If I killed her directly, the despair wouldn’t last long enough.”
“Kimori Kage” rambled on with strange but spine-chilling words.
But Kazumi had no time to listen anymore. The eerie black mist lingered in her mind for a long time, and the image of the boy pushing her down the hill replayed in her mind like a slideshow.
“Then, for the sake of your beautiful eyes, I’ll tell you one more piece of news, as thanks for being fortunate enough to become my sacrifice.”
The pain in her body continued, but the sensation that truly reached her brain was almost gone. What remained was the black mist swirling before her eyes and the seductive sounds in her ears.
“That kid should be able to escape smoothly. As for the reason, it’s because of the hero [Warhammer] who adopted him. Even we don’t want to get into unnecessary trouble during our leisure time outside of our missions. After all, he put on such a delightful performance for me, didn’t he?”
“Isn’t it very interesting? Even in the face of life and death, that guy’s status can give him a chance to survive.”
“As for feelings and such, the extent to which he went in his previous choice shows that he really liked you. Tsk tsk tsk tsk, such enviable, beautiful feelings!”
“What a pity…”
The voices in her ears grew fainter and fainter, as if she were falling into the dark depths of the sea. As she moved further away from the light source, the surrounding noisy sounds were finally replaced by a dead silence.
[Is it over?]
Perhaps compared to that agonizing torment, death that provided a permanent solution was a better outcome. After all, in the area she thought she excelled in, she seemed to have lost quite miserably.
Feeling the power within her body gradually leaving, Kazumi finally lost the strength to keep her eyes open.
The dim, dizzying scene slowly disappeared, as if she had reached the bottom of an abyss. With the slow closing of her eyelids, the final door was shut.
But finally, a faint blast of air came from all around her, as if someone were shouting her name forcefully. Then, a blinding golden light poured in through the gap.
