Corpse March

Chapter 67 Motteke! Sailor Fuku!

They come bursting out from the trees. Large metal transports with segmented armor that makes them resemble pillbugs. A far cry from the train-like things the Monarchs used all those years ago. They speed across the landscape, skimming across the flora of these lands. 

One transport in particular rushes ahead of the others, setting an example that the other transports follow. Atop its roof, stands a green-haired girl shredding her guitar. Heavy rock music, amplified by her sound sorcery, blasts outwards. It’s so loud that the ground almost seems to vibrate as they approach. 

But they find nothing. No patrols. No Deathless anywhere. It reeks of a trap. Tsumugi sticks her head out of the transport she’s in to yell at Haru.

“Stick to the plan!” 

Haru nods and swaps tracks to the one corresponding to the signal for ‘Stick to the Plan’. The transition is nearly seamless. One by one, the transports climb the walls protecting Takakumo like it’s nothing. In the distance, they see it, Takakumo, seemingly completely undefended. 

Curiously, a single pillar of light scrapes the sky in the distance. It comes from the edge of the city, right where the city’s border turns into grassland. It’s almost taunting them to just try and come closer. 

They comply. 

The convoy begins to close in on Takakumo. The deeper they go, the more apparent it becomes that there is no trap. Takakumo really is just ripe for the taking. The only thing that stands between Tsumugi and complete domination is a lone girl, standing in a wide stance, with her sword in her hand. Gleam. 

“Halt!” 

Haru strums one last wicked note before falling silent, the signal for ‘stop’. One by one, the Monarchs exit their transports, toting humongous weapons befitting their size. Guns, knives, halberds, swords, whips, anything goes. Tsumugi and Haru are the last to disembark. 

“What is the meaning of this, Gleam?”

“I invoke Trial By Combat!”

“...I see. So that’s your game.” Tsumugi rests her staff on her shoulders before letting her hands hang limply from it, resembling a scarecrow. “Looking to minimize casualties, huh?” 

“I stake the throne of Takakumo!”

Tsumugi points at Gleam. “I accept your challenge!”

“I select myself as champion.” 

“I too will select myself as champion.” 

A sizable crowd has gathered behind the two. On one side, are the hulking Monarchs, like hounds barely kept on a leash. On the other side, are the Deathless. They’re completely dwarfed by the Monarchs but what they lack in sheer firepower they make up for in both valor and numbers. 

“The duel will continue until one of us is dead.” Gleam’s voice doesn’t tremble in the slightest. Even though she and Tsumugi are standing on a level plain, Tsumugi gets the impression that she’s looking down on her. She clicks her tongue. 

“Very well.” With that, the terms of the duel are set. A silent oath is sworn. The day stands still. The only thing that comes between the former friends is a stray breeze. Their eyes lock. Tsumugi’s eyes are light and playful, like she’s smiling without smiling, like if she pretends that she’s above it all then it can’t hurt her. Gleam’s eyes are hardened and grim, like she’s frowning without frowning. She greets adversity like the problem it is, and like any other problem, it has a solution, so long as she fixates on finding that solution, it can’t hurt her.

Then, the mirage breaks. 

Tsumugi pulls out her radio and whispers into it. “Now.” Immediately, several of the Deathless step forward. No sooner does Gleam turn to meet them when she realizes that she doesn’t recognize these Deathless through their masks. The faux Deathless  raise their guns and unload into Gleam. 

So much happens so quickly. The other Deathless quickly restrain the Disciplinary Committee spies but it’s too late, the bullets have already ripped through Gleam’s body. She managed to cut through a few of them out of the air but there’s just too many. 

She falls to her knees, barely clinging on to life. Her sword falls to the ground. The world goes blurry and distant. There’s the vague sound of grass being crunched as Tsumugi walks towards her to finish her off.

Blood flows freely from her abdomen into the hard earth below.  Is this it? Is this how it all ends? Without her being able to take even a single step towards Tsumugi?

In the distance, she hears someone yelling. 

“Get up, Gleam!” 

It’s Kuroko’s voice. This is the first time she’s ever heard Kuroko yell. 

“Please get up!” 

She feels her finger twitch. There are people joining her now. More and more Deathless are yelling, desperately pleading for Gleam to get up. 

“TAKAKUMO NEEDS YOU!”

The Deathless are disorganized at first but little by little, their chanting morphs into a single chorus. Everyone’s hopes are riding on Gleam. Every single voice is a person with fears, dreams, and aspirations. Their wills unite into a single-minded desire for Gleam to stand back up. 

So she does. 

Bleeding, bruised, broken, but alive. An uproarious cheer erupts through the Deathless ranks. She props herself up on her sheathed sword. 

Tsumugi stops approaching. “You just don’t know when to quit, do you?” 

“Sorry.” Gleam smiles at Tsumugi. “But I can’t die just yet.”

“You really think you can defeat me in that state?” 

“Can you hear it? The sound of everyone’s hearts beating as one?” 

The pressure in the air shifts. A gale force wind begins to burst from all around Gleam. 

“Everyone’s hopes are riding on me.”

“Wh–what is this power?!” Tsumugi takes a cautious step backwards. 

“Thank you, everyone. For believing in me. For giving me strength.”

“What are you–” 

“I’m going to protect Takakumo. That’s why… I’ll use this power that everyone gave me!” 

“—!” Tsumugi’s expression quickly turns into a scowl when she realizes what’s happening. 

“TRANSFORM!” 

A burning, blinding light flares around Gleam. Tsumugi raises her hand to shield herself from the light. The winds from earlier feel like light breezes compared to the gale swirling around Gleam. The earth rumbles under her feet. 

When Tsumugi lowers her hand back down, Gleam’s completely transformed. Her wounds are gone and her clothing’s been replaced with a surprisingly immodest seifuku, a sailor uniform. Or rather, something that just barely resembles one. Tsumugi’s heard the legends of the magical girls, but they’re even more brilliant than she imagined. 

“Brilliant Blade Gleam, the Magical Girl of Hope!” Gleam draws her sword. Rather than steel, a blade made of pure light emerges from the sheath. It ebbs and flows with barely contained power. “I am the presiding ruler of Takakumo city, the mightiest of the Deathless, and I will prove it this day.” 

She raises her head high and proud. She stands on top of the world and sees none who can match her. A living act of god, a being of pure magic, an apex predator, and a legend in the making; that is what it means to be a magical girl. And yet, in spite of all that, Tsumugi does not flinch. 

“Come now.”  A baleful tailwind begins to blow through Tsumugi. “You’re not the only one who can play this game.”

“...!”

“TRANSFORM!” 

Tsumugi taps her staff on the ground, as she does, a hurricane of miasma erupts and begins to swirl around her. Black winds like hounds’ tongues lap at the Deathless, who balk and stumble backwards. The earth rumbles at her feet. Little by little, the plague winds recede to reveal Tsumugi now clad in a modest black seifuku. Her sclera have turned pitch black and six upside down black wings spread themselves from her back. 

“Spiritualist of the Damned. Tsumugi, the Magical Girl of Fear.” 

“How… how is this possible?!”

“You can feel it, can’t you? The stains on those hearts you cherish so much?” Tsumugi licks her lips. 

There’s a difference between hoping for Gleam to emerge victorious and fearing for Gleam’s defeat. The former feeds Gleam. The latter feeds Tsumugi. It is the fear of their collective consciousness that allows her to unlock the power to become a magical girl. She reaps it by the hundred, and wickedly savors the flavor of their agony. 

“Shall we see which is stronger? My fear or your hope?”

“Gh–!” 

“HERE I COME, GLEAM!”

“LET’S DO THIS, TSUMUGI!” 

“THAUMIIIIIIIEEEEELLLLLL!!!”

“STELLAAAAAAAAAAAR!!!”