“Ha… ha, ha.”
Merka cupped Turing’s pale thighs in both hands and carried the feather-light girl tightly against his back.
He ran with all his might, but the killer bees stayed hot on his heels, clinging to him like shadows.
The killer bee’s raspy buzz sounded like a chainsaw starting up, and it clung to Merka’s ears, refusing to let go.
An indescribable pressure threatened to crush Merka flat.
He could feel the killer bee behind him pounding its feet into the ground, kicking up one crater after another—as if a giant tall enough to reach the heavens were lifting its feet and relentlessly chasing him.
Merka had no doubt that if he slowed down even a little, that terrifying pressure would grind him to pieces.
It was different from the terror he’d felt when facing the Owl God. The killer bee’s sheer violence was like a meat grinder that didn’t care who got in its way.
If it so much as touched your skin—or even the hem of your clothes—it would latch on tight and drag you into the machine, stopping only once it had ground you into mince.
The killer bee raised its enormous mace and barreled forward. Luckily, the corridor on level β was narrow, leaving it little room to swing the weapon. Otherwise, Merka might have been caught already.
Behind Merka, Turing’s brows twitched faintly.
She clung to Merka’s shoulders with both hands, like a cluster of tender, crimson grapes on a vine trellis, and nestled against his back without realizing it.
The wind shuddered. The ice lurched.
The ice-sealed corridor seemed like an endless ice cellar.
No matter how fast Merka ran, he couldn’t reach the end.
“Turing… wake up. Come on, wake up.”
“Damn these lozenges… Why aren’t they working yet…?”
“I gave Turing a lozenge, and it’s been three minutes… Could they really have no effect on angels?”
“But… Turing has human blood, too. Why wouldn’t they work?”
Merka kept running, but his breathing was growing ragged.
The freezing air stabbed into Merka’s lungs, churning through the flesh inside his chest.
At last, he was starting to run out of steam.
Worse still, a horrifying figure appeared around the bend in the corridor ahead.
Another killer bee.
Together with the killer bee behind Merka—the one that had nearly been torn in half—it formed a pincer around him.
The mouthparts on the bee’s head writhed disgustingly.
As if the Grim Reaper were proclaiming its judgment.
“…Ugh.”
Fortunately, Turing finally stirred on Merka’s back.
She rubbed her sleepy eyes. The first thing she saw was the sinister half-angel standing not far away.
“Thank goodness, Turing…”
“I was worried the lozenge wouldn’t work…”
Merka saw the adorable girl on his back finally open her eyes, and relief flooded him.
He turned around and set Turing down, his joy plain on his face.
But before he could say another word to her, he suddenly saw that Turing looked on the verge of tears.
Glittering tears rolled down Turing’s delicate, bud-soft cheeks.
Merka froze for a moment, then swallowed the loving words of concern that had already risen to his throat.
He rarely saw Turing like this.
“Ssssss!!!”
“Gaaah!!!”
Before Merka could ask what was wrong, the angels on either side of him and Turing charged in, completely oblivious to the moment.
They attacked from both sides.
The two enormous maces slammed into the walls, throwing off sparks as they gouged deep trenches into both sides.
They came in fierce, but it was obvious they were finished.
They’d run into Turing—their worst nightmare.
Turing reached tearfully into the air, as if trying to catch something, and closed her fingers around empty space.
A headless angel wreathed in endless flames appeared behind Turing, spreading its terrifying six arms and tendrils.
It stomped down hard on the dying angel, twisted its foot against the ground, and tore it apart into scattered pieces on the spot.
Then it raised a hand and summoned an enormous bow.
It drew the bow, nocked an arrow, and aimed behind Merka. The explosive force packed into the flaming arrow sent it straight toward the charging killer bee.
The fire that devoured heaven and earth skimmed Merka’s cheek and hurtled toward the angel. In an instant, it burned a gaping hole through the killer bee’s upper body.
The flaming arrow didn’t lose momentum. It punched through the wall and flew off into the distance.
In just a few seconds, Shabai had burned both killer bees to nothing.
This godlike power to move mountains and fill seas was enough to make any mortal tremble.
But Merka wasn’t afraid.
He only looked calmly at Turing’s tear-streaked, grief-stricken face and said nothing—as if nothing else mattered. He didn’t even notice the flames passing right by him.
He gently rested both hands on Turing’s shoulders. Wild firelight shone from behind him, reflected in his pale, lake-clear cheeks.
It made Merka look especially tender.
“Turing… What’s wrong?”
“Did you have a nightmare that scared you…?”
“Tell me, okay?”
【Merka… That’s not it, Merka.】
【Maybe I shouldn’t be afraid…】
【I should be grateful… grateful for this nightmare.】
【Because of it, I saw my whole life clearly for the first time.】
Merka reached to wipe the tears from the corner of Turing’s eye.
But Turing shook her head wildly and pushed his hand away.
“No… Oh, no…”
“Waaah…”
She covered her face with both hands, but the tears flowed even harder through the gaps between her fingers.
The thoughts she’d repressed crawled out of the depths of the nightmare, intent on claiming Turing’s soul.
【Do I really love Merka?】
【Or do I love the love Merka gives me?】
【Or… have I made him a substitute for my father?】
【Could it be that, deep down… I’ve always thought this way?】
【Otherwise… why would I keep secrets from him…】
【Why wouldn’t I honestly tell him that I used to be a boy!?】
【What if he doesn’t like that?】
【What if he doesn’t want to marry a flawed wife?】
【I keep my mouth shut.】
【Isn’t it because I love myself more?】
