Chapter 75: Fragments of Memory
Under the tangerine-colored dusk.
The White Spirit Mountain, seemingly buried within a sea of clouds, is shrouded in thick white fog.
People lost in this mist find it difficult to discern direction.
The small figure of DD-chan weaves between tree trunks.
It releases the greatest amount of magical power it has ever produced.
All to lure the enemy behind.
As they are both “descendants of the White Spirit,” the enemy can sense DD-chan’s magical response just as DD-chan can sense theirs.
By gauging the rapidly diminishing distance between their magical responses, DD-chan determines that the enemy is faster than itself.
It will be caught sooner or later.
However, DD-chan never intended to successfully escape from the beginning.
It simply wants to buy as much time as possible for the children, even if it’s just a second—
Dark spikes surge from behind.
They pierce through DD-chan’s right leg.
The massive impact sends it tumbling to the ground.
It buries itself into the moist soil.
“How come only you are here…” The voice of the doppelgänger, Futomi, drifts vaguely from the fog behind.
“I see, bait? What a foolish tactic.”
—It can’t fall here, not yet.
DD-chan struggles to rise from the ground, clawing at the earth to pull itself forward.
“Do you really think they stand a chance of escaping?”
Futomi’s figure approaches, his dark torso and long limbs emerging slowly from the thick fog like a stick figure.
His arms transform again into sharp spikes, piercing DD-chan’s crawling left hand.
“And you call yourself a fantasy monster?” Futomi lifts DD-chan’s body, chuckling at its palm-sized form.
Then, as if tossing away garbage, he flings DD-chan aside.
DD-chan’s body crashes hard against a tree trunk, leaving a dent.
The impact temporarily sends DD-chan into a daze.
Fleeting fragments of vague memories flash through its mind, memories that do not belong to this body.
In the memories.
A young girl at a lost children’s center, tears streaming down her face.
“Self” hands her a shopping mall mascot doll to make her happy.
Receiving the doll, the girl stops crying and notices a figure in the distance, shifting from tears to laughter.
It’s a tall man in a suit, with a handsome and striking appearance that stands out in the crowd.
He walks over, scratching his head.
“Brother Guang~ I’m sorry~” The girl rushes forward, taking two steps for every one of his.
She can only barely reach his knees.
“Yui, how could you get lost in such a small place?” The man sighs deeply.
“Self” speculates on their relationship; if they were father and daughter, he seems too young; if siblings, the age gap is too wide.
If they’re a couple, he should report it immediately.
The man seems to notice “self’s” gaze, but as he looks over, he can’t help but frown as if taken aback by something shocking.
“What’s wrong, sir?”
“Ah no, I’m sorry, I mean no harm, but your mascot costume… resembles someone I used to know…”
“Mascot costume?”
It’s working hours, and “self” is indeed wearing the shopping mall mascot DD-chan’s costume.
This character is popular among parents and children, but it seems this man does not belong to that group.
For some reason, “self” suddenly feels a bit angry; after all, “DD-chan” is so cute.
So “self” leans towards the man.
“Don’t say that, big brother~! Look how cute DD-chan is!”
“B-Big brother?!”
“As long as you purchase something in the mall, you can register to receive a cute DD-chan~”
“Self” points at the doll the girl is holding.
“DD-chan~! DD-chan~!” The adorable girl seems to love the name, shouting it excitedly.
“No, no, that’s not necessary—Yui, why are you joining in? We have work to do! Put it back!”
“Wah…” The girl obediently returns the doll to “self.”
Then she follows the man and leaves.
“What a strange customer~”
“Self” regards the doll in hand.
“If I have a chance to see them again, I’ll give that girl the doll as a gift~”
Just as “self” plans to put the doll back on the shelf.
A piercing alarm sounds.
The doll slips from “self’s” hands and falls to the ground—
…
“Useless, within mother’s fog, they have no way to escape this forest.”
Futomi’s voice draws DD-chan’s consciousness back to reality.
He doesn’t seem at all anxious about catching up to the others.
“And mother has already taken back the power they had; in no time, they will be as weak as ordinary people.”
“The only end awaiting them is to lose their way in this forest and perish—”
“—No.” DD-chan’s weak but determined voice interrupts Futomi.
“Those children are far stronger than you think.”
DD-chan struggles to open its eyes, gazing through the white fog and dense foliage up at the sky.
A dazzling starlight pierces through the mist.
Like the North Star, eternally hanging in the sky.
“The starlight will guide them—”
“Naive—!” Futomi interrupts, irritation surfacing as his dark right hand transforms into a blade, aiming at DD-chan’s head.
“Don’t you understand that everything you do is futile? Neither those children nor that loli hag will ever walk out of here alive—”
“The supreme mother and the miracle of dusk stand by our side!”
“No, what you don’t understand is—” DD-chan speaks weakly.
In its final moments, a fierce smile appears on DD-chan’s face.
“On our side, we have—”
“The cutest girl in the world.”
Starry eyes shine.
The dark blade cuts through the air, plunging into the damp earth.
“Oh, wow~ You’re really praising me~ I’m getting shy~”
A youthful, melodious voice resonates behind Futomi.
He suddenly turns, realizing his position has changed.
Where he just stood now stands a girl in a red and white shrine maiden outfit.
Her long, dark hair flows like the night sky, and her tall, slender figure appears ethereal and dreamlike in the mist.
“DD-chan finally admits I’m a beautiful girl?”
“…It’s probably just a delusion before dying.”
The surviving DD-chan weakly retorts at Nagino.
“Sorry, but if you want to retire, it’s still too early.” Nagino smiles.
“However, thank you for protecting Kanade-kun.”
With that, she gently lifts DD-chan and places it onto a flat stone nearby.
“Y-You’re Seimiya… no, you’re not her. Who are you really?”
Futomi gazes in terror at the black-haired shrine maiden before him.
On the surface, she clearly resembles the one he despises most, Seimiya Nagino, yet she emits a distinctly different aura.
“You are… what was it again? Futomi? How did you end up here?” Nagino tilts her head.
“Have the little minions gotten so much screen time? Weren’t you supposed to have exited long ago?”
“M-Minions?!” Futomi’s eyes widen in anger.
“I’m the protagonist! The true protagonist! My revenge is just beginning—”
Futomi doesn’t finish his sentence.
An invisible wind seeps into every inch of his body.
His form begins to twist, disintegrate, turning into long, thin strands like willow branches being unraveled.
Finally, he is entirely consumed by purple-black starlight.
Not a trace of him remains.
“Sorry, this isn’t a circus performance; you’re not the protagonist here.”
Nagino states flatly.
“Truly impressive…” DD-chan whispers, but for a moment.
The figure of Nagino before it overlaps with the figure in its memories.
“Guang…?” It calls out the name from its memories involuntarily.
“…” Nagino remains silent, maintaining her back to DD-chan, not responding.
“…We’ve met before, haven’t we?” DD-chan disregards Nagino’s silence and continues.
“That day we went to the White Spirit Shrine, you said… that wasn’t a delusion.”
“…You should rest; once I resolve everything, I’ll come back to take you down the mountain.”
Nagino turns around, her long bangs covering her eyes, obscuring her expression.
“No, I’ve reached my limit—”
“With injuries like yours, you’re far from retirement. Get back to work.”
“But I’m a descendant of the White Spirit; if the White Spirit dies, I will also vanish, right?” DD-chan gazes up at the sky, speaking calmly.
“…” Nagino’s silence seems to confirm DD-chan’s assumption.
“If that moment really comes, for the sake of those children, I’m counting on you, Guang… no, Nagino.”
