Chapter 35: The Fallen Angel Descends Again (Two-in-One)

Three days later.

After breakfast, Yoshino strolled aimlessly through the general's mansion garden, accompanied by her two personal maids.

The general's mansion was indeed quite boring without Esdeath and Tatsumi.

Usually, at least those two were around to keep her company. Now that they were both gone, leaving her alone in the mansion, she didn't know what to do to pass the time.

The cultural development of this world was roughly equivalent to the Middle Ages, with very few forms of entertainment—even among the nobility.

She could now somewhat understand why the nobles of the imperial capital tended to develop certain perverse hobbies.

They were simply too idle.

While Yoshino was wandering around aimlessly, a gatekeeping attendant approached and came to her side.

"Miss, His Majesty the Emperor has sent an envoy to ask if you are free this evening," the attendant inquired. "Lord Syura, son of Minister Honest, has just returned to the capital not long ago. A grand welcome banquet will be held at the Minister's residence tonight. His Majesty said that if you're interested, he would be happy to accompany you."

Upon hearing the news, a flicker of surprise and delight appeared in Yoshino eyes.

She wasn't particularly interested in the welcome banquet itself.

And given her established persona as a socially anxious and introverted individual, there was no way she would actively want to attend a banquet.

However, the return of Syura to the capital—that was valuable information.

"Hmm... Yoshino doesn't really like banquets, and Miss Esdeath also doesn't want Yoshino to associate with the capital's nobles," she said casually. "Tell His Majesty's messenger that I'll pass this time. But, if His Majesty still wants to explore the outer city, Yoshino is always available."

"Yes, I will relay your words exactly," the attendant replied.

Having received her answer, he bowed respectfully and turned to leave.

Yoshino withdrew her gaze and continued strolling nonchalantly through the garden, as if she hadn't taken the earlier message to heart at all.

But in her mind, plans for the night had already begun to take shape.

Syura—Honest only publicly acknowledged son and his designated heir.

A graduate of the Empire's top martial arts academy, the Royal Fist Temple, his martial skills were undoubtedly first-class. He was also the wielder of the Teigu "Dimensional Formation: Champbhala," and ranked among the top five most powerful individuals in the Empire.

During his years of traveling abroad, he had been carrying out tasks assigned by Honest—recruiting and collecting Teigu users and Teigu from foreign lands.

Syura had performed this mission exceptionally well.

In the original story, he recruited five Teigu users from other countries and formed his own team—the Wild Hunt.

Although Yoshino had no particular interest in Syura or Wild Hunt, she was very interested in the Teigu they possessed.

If she could obtain all the Teigu held by the members of Wild Hunt, along with the ones Syura had collected, that would be at least six additional Teigu—significantly progressing the long-stalled Side Mission 2.

Originally, Yoshino plan was to either join Night Raid or the Empire, then exploit the clashes between them to fish in troubled waters and snatch the Teigu during the chaos.

But due to a change in strategy midway, she had ended up staying in the capital and interacting mostly with Esdeath, which severely limited her contact with Teigu and their users.

As a result, even though she had been in this world for two months, she hadn't collected any new Teigu other than the first one she stole from the Imperial Guards when she arrived in the capital—[Cutter of Creation: Extase].

Now that Syura had returned to the capital, if she could acquire the Teigu from him and his subordinates, she could easily add six more Teigu to her collection.

"But as Yoshino... how exactly can I get my hands on those guys' Teigu?"

Though she had made up her mind to act, she still had no concrete plan.

Stealing them outright? Definitely not an option.

Last time, she had only managed to steal the Soul Reaver due to her high mobility and because the guards were dead drunk—an opportunity she couldn't count on happening again.

This time, the banquet would be held at the Minister's mansion, a place as heavily guarded as the royal palace. Trying to sneak in and steal the Teigu without being noticed would be far too risky.

If she got caught, how would she even explain why she was trying to steal a Teigu?

She couldn't very well say it was because her system told her to.

As for simply robbing them by force, that was even less feasible.

Never mind whether such an action would suit her Yoshino persona—in the unlikely case she did go for a disguise and attempt a robbery, there was no guarantee of success.

Syura's Teigu, Champbhala, was a spatial-type artifact capable of manipulating space. It allowed him to teleport at will between various marked locations, and even trap enemies in an unknown dimension, effectively imprisoning them alive.

Although Yoshino wasn't afraid of Wild Hunt even in a direct fight—not even if all six attacked her at once—some Teigu had such unique and troublesome abilities that not even a Spirit could afford to underestimate them.

With a thought, Yoshino opened her space backpack—visible only to her.

There was a way, of course.

If Yoshino wasn't suited for action, then she simply had to become another Spirit and let them act in her place.

By now, she had stockpiled quite a few survival trump cards, and using one experience voucher to progress a side mission was well worth it.

Besides, this was already the eighth world she'd traveled through. Once she completed the role of Yoshino, she would only need to finish playing two more Spirit girls before she could finally go home.

If she finished everything and still had a huge pile of unused item cards in her inventory, wouldn't that be a complete waste?

Thinking that way, she decided it really was best to use one now.

Currently, she had three Spirit Experience Vouchers in her backpack—for Kurumi Tokisaki, Yatogami Tohka (Beast Form), and the one she obtained in the previous world, Yamai Sister.

All three were undeniably powerful fighters.

Especially the latter two—if unleashed, they could probably flatten the Empire entirely.

Using them against Syura and Wild Hunt would be like hunting rabbits with a warhammer.

Kurumi Tokisaki, though slightly overqualified, was perfect for an infiltration mission like this.

Just as Yoshino decided to use the Kurumi Tokisaki voucher tonight, her peripheral vision caught sight of another item card lying in her backpack. Her brows twitched slightly, and she changed her mind.

It was the Random Spirit Projection Generator she had received after perfectly completing a side mission in the Chainsaw Man world.

Its effect was exactly what the name suggested: it generated a projection of a random Spirit girl, essentially a second body for her to control.

If she used this card, Yoshino could stay safe in the general's mansion and control the projection to carry out the mission at the Minister's residence.

This was even more convenient and safer than transforming into Kurumi Tokisaki.

"After being idle for so long, I finally have something interesting to do."

Having settled her plans for the evening, Yoshino lips curled into a faint smile.

"Night raid on the Minister's mansion—it's decided."

———

Nighttime. The Imperial Capital. The Minister's Residence.

Drunk and swaying, Izou staggered through the corridor. Although he looked like he might collapse at any moment, he held the wine bottle in his hand with surprising steadiness.

The coarse samurai robes he wore were also stained with alcohol; due to his wild way of drinking, the front of his clothes were completely soaked.

But he didn't care in the slightest, showing no signs of discomfort.

After all, whether it was wine or blood—he was already used to both.

"Joining Lord Syura's faction was definitely the right choice."

Gulping down half a bottle of fine liquor, Izou let out a burp and said in admiration, "This kind of fine wine is a luxury back in my homeland. But here, I can drink to my heart's content. The Imperial Capital is really a wonderful place. One of the two great wishes of my life has already come true so quickly."

Izou—

A wandering swordsman from the Eastern archipelago.

Due to having killed too many innocent civilians in his homeland, he became a nationally wanted criminal and was forced to flee to other countries.

During his travels, he encountered Syura. After a long conversation, these two lawless individuals quickly found common ground.

Syura promised to grant him two wishes. In return, Izou would obey his orders and join his ranks.

"Ah, Kōsetsu... Are you thirsty too?"

Feeling the tremble coming from the sword-shaped Teigu at his waist, Izou gently stroked the blade, as if speaking to it: "Hold on a little longer. Before long, Lord Syura will begin his operations in the capital. When that time comes, you'll be able to drink as much blood as you want."

The Teigu: [Blood for Blood: Kōsetsu]

Its ability allowed the user to gain special vision through blood sacrifices, revealing the weaknesses of all living creatures during the effect's duration.

The downside was also clear: to maintain this special vision, the Teigu user had to continuously kill and offer blood sacrifices.

However, for Izou, this wasn't a drawback—it was more like a convenient justification for his killing.

"Let's make do with this for now."

Pouring the remaining wine over the blade, the drunken Izou stumbled his way back to his residence in the Minister's estate.

The Minister's estate was enormous, several times larger than the General's mansion. The lavishness was excessive—as if Honest, in his greed, wished to cram all the world's luxury into one place. Even members of Wild Hound were granted entire buildings as residences.

Other than Syura, the rest of Wild Hound's members lived here.

Tonight was Syura's welcome-back banquet. Countless nobles from the capital were in attendance, and the members of Wild Hound were also out enjoying the festivities.

"This smell is..."

As Izou passed by the residence of one of the members—Cosmina—he stopped and sniffed the air with his nose.

The smell of blood.

Someone like him, who had long bathed in blood, could never mistake it.

"Tsk, it was one thing to kill civilians now and then, but even the nobles of the capital aren't spared?" Izou muttered to himself. "Well, let's just hope the man she brought home tonight wasn't anyone important—otherwise, Lord Syura might have a headache on his hands."

Cosmina—The Songstress Witch from the Western Nation.

Because of her naturally alluring voice that could enchant men, she was labeled a witch by her country. Her entire family was executed.

However, her voice wasn't the only reason. She often used her ability to seduce men, luring them to her home, toying with them, and ultimately killing them.

During her trial, her entire family was killed, yet Cosmina—the one who most deserved death—survived by a stroke of luck.

While on the run, she met Syura, who saw her potential and gifted her a Teigu he had found during his travels.

The Microphone-shaped Teigu: [Great Tremor: Heavy Pressure]

Its ability transformed her voice into ultrasonic waves that could shatter everything in front of her—even bones were easily pulverized.

Knowing her true nature, Izou wasn't surprised in the slightest to smell thick blood coming from her room.

After passing Cosmina's room, he came upon Dorothea's.

Her door was also slightly ajar, and the scent of fresh blood wafted out as well.

Even more so, Izou didn't find this odd.

Dorothea—The top alchemist of the Western Nation, and a Teigu user.

She joined Syura's forces because the Empire could offer better resources and research conditions. She was especially fascinated by Dr. Stylish, who specialized in body modification, and wanted to come to the Empire to study with him—thus joining Wild Hound.

Her Teigu: [Blood Collection: Absordex]

A fang-shaped Teigu that could absorb others' blood to enhance her strength and heal her injuries. If enough blood was consumed, she could even maintain eternal youth.

Though she appeared to be a girl of only ten-something years old, who knew how old she truly was?

Because she frequently drank blood, she was perpetually steeped in its stench. So, Izou didn't find the smell from her home out of the ordinary.

Next, he arrived at Enshin residence.

This member of Wild Hound was a pirate from the southern islands—lawless and domineering. He had grown tired of the women and life there, and after meeting Syura by chance, he joined Wild Hound to experience life and women on land.

His Teigu: [Moonlight Sword Dance: Champshir]

A scimitar-shaped Teigu that unleashed vacuum blades when swung. It reached its full power during a full moon.

At this moment, Enshin door was also slightly open, and from inside came faint whimpering—like someone was in great pain.

Even this didn't surprise Izou.

Enshin and Syura both had a fondness for toying with women. Any woman they played with usually ended up either dead or severely injured.

To a wandering swordsman obsessed with blades and liquor like Izou, women only got in the way of his swordplay—he couldn't understand the preferences of the other two.

Even if he didn't understand, he wouldn't interfere.

After all, he had likely killed more people than all of Wild Hound combined. A blood-soaked killer like him wasn't going to play the righteous hero to stop his comrades' atrocities.

"Hm?"

However, just as he was walking past, he suddenly halted.

He listened closely—the faint sobbing inside didn't sound like a woman's.

The more he listened, the more it sounded like Enshin own voice.

Izou hand moved to the hilt of Kōsetsu. His dazed gaze sharpened instantly. His drunken steps turned silent.

He entered Enshin house, walking step by step toward the room from where the sound came.

Carefully pushing open the door, the scene before his eyes made him grip his beloved sword tightly.

The usually arrogant and domineering Enshin was now nailed to the wall. Blood slowly flowed from his wounds, soaking the bed.

His face was twisted in pain, his head hung low. He had fallen unconscious, muttering unintelligibly.

And standing before him was a woman with an indifferent expression.

Her lower body was shrouded in black, wing-like fabric. Her neck was encircled by a spiked collar. Around her floated a sinister grimoire and a thorny pen, writing something as if recording sins to pass judgment—like an inquisitor from hell.

Izou instincts screamed in alarm.

His intuition, along with his rapidly pounding heart, told him this woman was the most dangerous enemy he had ever encountered.

But a twisted smile crept onto his face.

"Ah, Kōsetsu... The capital really is a good place."

The wanderer slowly drew his bloodthirsty demon blade, his voice trembling with excitement.

"Tonight, let us use this one's blood as your sacrifice."