Minoru gripped the railing strongly with both hands.
That’s when he had the feeling someone was calling him. Taking his eyes off the muddy-brown water, he looked up at the gray sky.
At first he thought it was a bubble. The small grayish thing that looked like a bit of foam gently floated down.
Finally, he realized that there was no way it could be a bubble. That was because there was a powerful southerly wind blowing from in front of Minoru. Whatever it was, it should have been blown apart in an instant if it were something light enough to float in the air.
But the round object descended from above Minoru’s head, completely ignoring the wind. His eyes widening in amazement, Minoru lifted up both hands and cupped the object gently in his palms.
When he brought it to his face, it was something he had never seen before. Shut inside the transparent gray orb was a pitch-black orb one size smaller. It looked similar to a marble, but it drifted lightly on his palms as if it had no weight at all.
Finally, the orb rose up soundlessly, floated quickly through the air, and touched Minoru’s chest.
The moment it slipped through the fabric of his running clothes and touched his skin, he felt a faint warmth. It was just as if someone had touched him gently with their fingertips.
After standing there blankly for a bit, Minoru rushed to pull down the zipper and look at his chest.
The orb wasn’t anywhere there, but the skin above his sternum was a little red. However, this discoloration also disappeared within a few seconds.
What was that just now? Or was I dreaming standing up?
Inclining his head, Minoru started to walk back along the path across the bridge. He had already forgotten the urge that had begun to swallow him earlier.
Those were all the memories he had surrounding his encounter with the Third Eye. Minoru hadn’t seen the Third Eye itself for more than a few dozen seconds directly.
Minoru felt something as he stared close-up at the runaway Biter’s “eye”—in other words, the first Third Eye he had seen in three months. He felt some sort of purpose concealed deep within the orb.
It was something completely different from the malice, murderous desire, rage, and hatred that had dwelt in the Biter when he was human. An absolute logic of a different sort, far out of the reach of Minoru’s comprehension. Not the pitch-black eyes of the great white shark or the compound eyes of an insect with a metallic glitter, but eyes that concealed a much deeper, darker remoteness.
Minoru just went on staring into the eye of the monster that was now truly trying to kill him.
It came closer as mucus dripped from those teeth, which had been able to crush even a thick knife. The hole in the center of its mouth writhed and writhed as if it were starving.
Although he knew he had to escape, had to just save Norie, his body didn’t move. The bottomless pool concealed in the red eye sucked in even fear and uneasiness.
That was when—
The monster’s gaze dropped a tiny bit. Minoru just knew that it had seen Norie in his arms. The inhuman light of the Third Eye flickered ever so slightly.
It was just for an instant, but Minoru had felt something humanlike in the monster’s eye. It was the wavering a person felt simply because they were human during times when they were confused, distressed, or in pain.
The monster stopped moving. A low groan that sounded like “grph” slipped from the depths of its grotesque mouth. It pulled its face back. It put down its hands, the teeth clicking away. The monster backed away little by little.
When it was a few meters away from Minoru, whose eyes were wide with shock, the monster swung around. Then, changing directions completely, it released a savage war cry as it started to run.
It was running toward Yumiko, who had just now finally stood up. She was pressing on her right shoulder with her left hand as if it was still damaged. She no longer had the knife in her right hand and was now unable to pull out the stun baton.
She was powerless in the face of the huge beast that was about to attack her.
And yet the power of the determination that dwelt in her black eyes still hadn’t disappeared. She quickly dropped down, putting one leg behind her and one in front.
“Groff!!”
The monster leaped at Yumiko as its starved howl thundered out.
Right before its arms touched her with their exposed fangs, Yumiko pushed off from the ground with her right foot and accelerated.
But the place where she appeared was a mere three meters away. On top of that, she failed to brake and sunk to one knee.
The monster’s response was quick. Digging into the asphalt with the fangs on its left hand, it used the hand as a fulcrum to change directions, maintaining the power of its charge as it leaped.
Yumiko barely managed to stand up and accelerate again, but she made it an even shorter distance than last time.
Did Yumiko’s ability of amplifying her acceleration require a sufficient initial movement to travel a distance of dozens of meters? Yumiko charged by powerfully pushing off from the ground with the leg strength of someone who possessed the Third Eye, then creating intense acceleration. Was she limited to going only two or three meters if she launched herself with a stagger?
The monster followed Yumiko and charged again. She narrowly slipped past its right arm, which shot out like a snake, but one tooth caught the ribbon on her school uniform, and torn fabric flew through the air like blood.
That was when Minoru made up his mind and began to run. But he wasn’t headed toward the slope. Laying Norie in the shadow of a concrete pillar, he ran all out toward the runaway Biter.
Even though he understood mentally that Norie’s safety was his top priority, he just couldn’t abandon Yumiko and DD to escape. He was never again going to sacrifice someone to survive. No way.
Noticing Minoru’s footsteps, Yumiko spun around. Minoru couldn’t hear what she was trying to shout; she was probably calling him an idiot.
Activating the protective shell, he ran right past Yumiko.
When the monster’s eye caught Minoru’s approach, it didn’t waver in the least.
The Ruby Eye glinted, containing only an inhuman determination to eliminate. It came at him from the left and right with palms that had sprouted fangs.
Both hands bit into him from above the shell, but Minoru shoved down his fear and pushed off fiercely from the floor. He slammed his head into the Biter’s chest.
The huge body lifted up. At the same time, Minoru shouted.
“Whoooooooh—!!”
Wrapping both hands tightly around the Biter’s torso, he gathered all his remaining strength into his legs and pressed forward.
Run. He was going to run.
Maybe all that running I did was for this moment right here.
As he thought this, Minoru ran. Still lifting the Biter up, he dashed through the vast underground parking lot in a straight line.
Finally, he could see one car in front of him. A large dark blue sports car. The car the Biter had probably prepared for his getaway when he was still human.
“Come…oooon!” Minoru screamed as he slammed himself and the Biter’s body into it.
The elegant line of the rear fender crunched in. The rear window shattered everywhere, and the trunk sprang open.
Blood erupted from the Biter’s strangely formed mouth and the wounds made by Yumiko’s knife, raining down on the protective shell. But the monster didn’t stop moving. It tried to bite Minoru to death with the huge jaws on its head as it waved its arms around wildly.
Minoru gritted his teeth and stared at the line of fangs gnashing over and over a mere three centimeters from his face.
Judging by the size of the jaws, he wondered how much pressure was being put on the protective shell. This occlusion strength could be several times that of the human Biter as a Megalodon.
The circles upon circles of innumerable teeth writhed as if they had minds of their own, trying to break the shell
. Even if a tooth happened to break under the pressure, another one would immediately come up from inside to fill the hole.
Minoru’s whole body was numb with a fear as cold as ice. His heart pounded so hard it was painful, and his breathing grew shallow. But Minoru did his best to endure it. He could endure it because of the heat of the small life in the center of his chest.
The crimson Third Eye glowing right in front of Minoru had chosen the man called the Biter to kill people. In that case, why had the jet-black Third Eye sheltered in Minoru’s chest chosen him?
Right now, he still didn’t know. That was probably something he would never be able to know.
But just for the moment, he was going to trust it. To trust his own intentions, his wish to save someone besides himself.
Gritting his teeth, Minoru balled up his cold, numb right hand into a fist—and threw a punch with all he had.
The shell-covered fist plunged into the monster’s left side. He hadn’t really been aiming for it, but that’s where Yumiko had stuck her knife in deep.
The runaway Biter leaned its massive body back, flailing both its arms wildly. Its fanged left arm sliced easily down the back of the sports car.
In the next instant—
A huge amount of transparent liquid gushed out from inside the car, soaking Minoru’s shell and the Biter’s body.
Water? Did that guy have a bunch of mineral water piled up in his trunk or something?
After thinking this, Minoru dispelled the thought right away. He couldn’t smell anything, but this wasn’t water. It was gasoline.
“…!!”
The idea that suddenly sprang to his mind took his breath away.
The fear came first, telling him it was impossible, but then he shook that fear off, knowing he had to do it.
But gasoline alone wasn’t enough. There was one more thing he needed.
He raised his face. The Biter had released Minoru’s head from his mouth and struggled in anguish, as if maybe the gasoline had gone down its trachea. This was his only chance.
Enduring the fear, he took a big breath and—deactivated the shell.
Taking care not to breathe in any of the fuel that was probably evaporating in the air, he shouted one short, loud phrase.
“Light it up!!”
Having heard his voice, the Biter immediately made a fierce move to sink its teeth into Minoru. If Minoru had been just a tenth of a second later in putting on the shell again, he probably would have lost his head. Shuddering at the sight of the fangs that stopped with a bang right in front of him, he waited for that moment.
Finally—
Long hair flew into view on his right side.
He looked over. Yumiko had teleported there and was standing about five meters away. The stun baton was in her right hand. But there was a hint of hesitation in her eyes.
As he pinned down the runaway Biter with the strength of desperation, Minoru yelled, aware that she couldn’t hear him.
“I’m fine, so just throw it!!”
As if his words had reached her—
With a nod, Yumiko turned on the stun baton and hurled it at Minoru and the Biter. Trailing an afterimage of sparks through the air, the stun baton slowly approached and—
Minoru’s vision was dyed a bright orange.
Rather than saying it caught fire, it was closer to an explosion. Minoru reflexively turned his face away from the flames that spread instantly with a roar.
But the invisible protective shell perfectly blocked that intense heat given off by the blaze—and the radiant heat from the resulting electromagnetic waves. He unconsciously inhaled at the sight of the rampaging crimson brightness a mere three centimeters away.
The runaway Biter’s body was also enveloped in bright red as Minoru pinned it down.
The tatters of the Biter’s suit fabric burned up instantly. The bluish-black discolored skin was burned to a blackened crisp as he watched, too. Flames swallowed up the sports car, small explosions going off in succession.
Holding down the incoherently raging monster with the power of desperation, Minoru shouted.
“Just…stop already—!!”
The mucous membrane inside of the enormous mouth started to grow inflamed. The hole of the trachea was probably shaking violently because the monster was screaming, but the sound didn’t reach Minoru’s ears. The Third Eye burrowed into the mucous membrane as if to escape the intense heat, but the blaze relentlessly scorched the flesh and turned it to ash.
Originally, human bodies contained a large amount of water and shouldn’t burn easily even when doused in gasoline. However, possibly because of the transformations forced through by the Third Eye, the monster’s body burned intensely in a fierce column of flame as if the body itself were flammable material.
Minoru could feel the sturdy flesh rapidly shriveling through the protective shell. The limbs burned up first, the exposed bone separating from the joints and tumbling to the floor.
Suddenly, the almost entirely burned torso shrank drastically, and a tiny amount of mucus was expelled from the small hole in the place where the mouth had been.
That was the final act of the monster’s life. All strength suddenly drained from the weakly moving body.
Then Minoru saw it.
No longer bright, the Third Eye broke like a piece of glass art.
From inside it, a red ball of light flew up at tremendous speed.
When the light hit the ceiling of the parking lot, it made a large hole with a diameter of about two centimeters and passed through it. It pierced through the floor above, and the floor above that—through every floor of Saitama Super Arena and through the steel roof, the red light climbed and climbed.
…Is this…a Third Eye disengaging…?
At almost the same time as he thought this blankly…
Underneath him, a thousand black scraps of the flesh of a man who had been human just like Minoru were crushed and scattered.
Just as if they had been waiting for this, the ceiling sprinklers turned on and water rained down hard, washing away without a trace the soot and ash piled up on the protective shell.
9
Raising his face at the faint sound of soles rubbing against the linoleum flooring, Minoru saw Yumiko walking toward him, her long black hair swaying.
Minoru began to rise from the bench where he was sitting, but Yumiko held up her right hand to stop him.
“…How is your sister feeling?” she asked quietly.
“She woke up a little while ago and was able to talk. She’s sleeping again now…,” he answered in the same hushed tone.
“I see. That’s a relief.”
Nodding slowly, Yumiko arranged the hem of her skirt as she took a seat next to Minoru. He straightened his back unconsciously and continued to explain.
“As far as external injuries, she apparently just has some light scratches. She didn’t see the Biter, either… That is to say, she doesn’t really remember what happened. I explained things to her like DD told me to… That a burglar broke into the house and started to attack her, but I came home right then and he ran off…”
“Oh.”
As she touched the fingertips of her right hand to her mouth, Yumiko said with a preoccupied expression, “In that case, we might not have to go so far as to do a memory block. That’s up to the chief to decide, though. He’ll be here really soon. You weren’t hurt?”
“No, I wasn’t… Are you okay, Yumiko? You should probably get someone to take a look at your wounds quickly.”
On Yumiko’s blazer, the fabric on the right arm, where the runaway Biter had raked her, and on the back, where she’d collided with the pillar, was shredded. At best, it would’ve been no surprise if she’d gotten some bumps or broken a bone—that’s what Minoru had been thinking when he said that, but for some reason Yumiko stayed silent, her mouth locked in a frown.
“Um, did I… say something…?”
“No, not really. Just wondering what you sho
uld call me…,” she said in a curt tone.
Hearing that, he finally realized that he’d casually called her by her first name, but even so, there was no helping it, since he didn’t know her last name.
After a sidelong glance at Minoru, who was worrying over whether to apologize or get irritated himself, Yumiko gave a little shrug and answered again.
“I’m fine, just some light internal bleeding where I got hit. This level of damage is usual.”
“Usual…?”
Minoru inadvertently turned his eyes away, but Yumiko went on speaking calmly.
“DD doesn’t have anything wrong with his bones or organs, but he hit his head so he’s being examined just in case. God, he’s always making some excuse or other to skip practice, so he doesn’t know even a single way to take a hit. Starting tomorrow, I’m going to have to get tough on him…”
Yumiko was talking about DD, who was probably the older of the two, like a big sister with a useless little brother. Minoru’s mouth relaxed unconsciously. He’d thought she might be mad, but Yumiko only snorted.
After clearing his throat, he asked one more thing he was curious about.
“Um…So with the car on fire and the Third Eye making holes all the way up to the top floor, a lot of problematic things happened at the arena parking lot. How are you going to cover all that up…?”
“Easy. We say a meteor came down, cut through the building, and hit a car in the underground parking lot, which exploded and caught fire,” Yumiko answered with a serious expression.
Minoru stared at her without meaning to.
“…B-but that’s crazy…”
“The Third Eye came from space anyway. The only difference is whether it fell down or went back up.”
“…O-oh, is that it…”
Three hours had passed since the fierce battle with the Biter.
The two of them were now on the top floor of a university medical hospital on the eastern side of the Omiya district in Saitama. Possibly because it was five o’clock in the morning, no other people could be seen on the dimly lit floor.