Chapter 41 — Siren

Editor: GREETER (and a small amount of PROCRASTINATOR)

 

[Ei’s POV]

 

We began moving down the hallway. 

 

“So you’re the invader, eh? You look tasty~ in more ways than one. I’ll make sure not to kill you.” (Vampire)

 

“Die.” (Ei)

 

A chantless firebolt works wonders on lackeys. I’ve already vaporized at least twenty.

 

“Oh? Look who it is~ A little Vampire and the Shogun have walked into my base~” (???)

 

That voice sounds familiar…

 

“Fufufu~ You look surprised~ It’s me, Thel, you know~?” (Siren/Thel)

 

“Oh. It’s you. Of course the Cult has to be behind this.” (Flandre)

 

“Oh~ You remember me~~ I’m touched. Even if I changed my appearance! You must really like me~ Why don’t we spend the night together some time~” (Siren/Thel)

 

“Eh? What? Isn’t Thel just a normal person? Well, you’re in my way, so leave.” (Ei)

 

“No~~!” (Thel/Siren)

 

“I doubt you’ve had encounters with them before, but-” (Flandre)

 

“Hey~ Don’t go stealing my thunder~ Let me introduce myself! I am Aphro, codenamed ‘Siren’! Sixth Cardinal of the Cult of NULL. Or maybe 5th since one idiot got himself killed. The rankings haven’t been updated yet.” (Siren)

 

…

 

“I changed my mind. You’re dead.” (Ei)

 

“Oh~ You wanna kill me? I’m touched~ Just don’t be too rough~” (Siren)

 

Siren turns to grey goop and slides along the floor and forms into a humanoid shape.

 

“Hey look~ it’s me Luna~” (Siren)

 

“Don’t impersonate my friends, you sick bastard.” (Ei)

 

“OOoo~ Found a weak spot, huh? I’ll make sure to tease you lots~” (Siren)

 

Her arms turn into tendrils of water. They come swinging at me but I dodge underneath them. Continuing sliding after my dodge, I reach up towards her face with a dagger. I made it in class.

 

“Ohoho~ That was a close one. Ya should be more careful with your friends, ya know?” (Siren)

 

Siren is grabbing me from behind. They sound like Kurui now…

 

“Wanna have some fun?” (Siren)

 

“Get your hands off. [Explosion]” (Ei)

 

I create a massive explosion of fire around me. The ruined stones begin to crumble, revealing the sky above.

 

“Hmmm… Your reactions are very peculiar.” (Siren)

 

A humanoid creature with blue-gray skin and a spider-like head looks at me. There are eight eyes and huge fangs poking out of their mouth. Hanging off their back are two weird flaps, the bottoms of them lined with spikes.

 

The change form again, taking their original form I met them in. Long orange hair tied up in a ponytail in a blue and red dress.

 

“Well… You go to the Academy. I was told someone died there. Did you know them~?” (Siren)

 

“SHUT UP!” (Ei)

 

“Oooo found another weak spot~~” (Siren)

 

I summon up six fireballs and send them hurdling at Siren. Moving to the side, they dodge the first, second, and third. That’s not enough though. I summon another volley halfway through the previous and add them to the mix.

 

“Hehe~~ Someone’s mad~~~” (Siren)

 

“Need some help, Ei?” (Flandre)

 

“No. I’ll kill this bastard with my own two hands.” (Ei)

 

They turn back into gloop again and slide across the floor.

 

“Oh right~ I remember what happened now.” (Siren)

 

“SHUT IT!” (Ei)

 

I turn towards the voice and draw my glaive, then-

 

“Why’d you let me die, Ei?” (Siren)

 

Sylventris is standing there.

 

“Why? Why would you let me die?” (Siren)

 

I-I can’t.

 

It’s an illu-lusion but… I c-can’t…

 

“I thought we were friends, Ei.” (Siren)

 

“Y-you’re not Sylventris.” (Ei)

 

“First you fail to save me, and then you try to push me away? You really are a horrible person.” (Siren)

 

I-I’m not a horrible p-person…

 

I-it’s not my fault…

 

But is it?

 

I-t’s all my f-fault isn’t it?

 

I-I wasn’t f-fast enough…

 

B-but now… S-sylventris is… dead…

 

And i-it is all my f-fault…

 

“Look at you, crying on the floor. What a pathetic piece of trash. How did I ever think I was friends with you?” (Siren)

 

…That’s right… I-I am a pathetic piece of t-trash…

 

“Ei, do you need some help there?” (Flandre)

 

A-ah… hahahaha… I’m so useless a-aren’t I? I can’t e-even save a single pers-son I care about…

 

“Gah!” (Ei)

 

What’s this feeling?

 

Ah… I’ve been stabbed… straight through the heart…

 

I guess I’ll just die then… it’s just karma, isn’t it?

 

“Alright. Clearly you can’t do this, I’m taking over.” (Flandre)

 

☆★☆★☆★☆★☆

 

[Flandre’s POV]

 

I thought that maybe Ei could get through her trauma, but I guess not. Well… now it’s my turn~

 

“Say, Siren, are you done playing around?” (Flandre)

 

“Awww~ Can’t you see I’m busy here? I mean you’re Elf friend is dead, but I can still sleep with her now~~~” (Siren)

 

“You’re still just as mentally ill as I remember. Well, time for you to die~” (Flandre)

 

This person disgusts me.

 

They pull their hand out from Ei’s chest, pulling her heart out too. That’s fine though, she’ll regenerate.

 

“Now let me explain the mistakes you made~ First, you forgot that Ei is a Vampire~” (Flandre)

 

“Eh? Damn it!” (Siren)

 

“Hey, you interrupted me. That’s rude, you know~? Bad girls should be punished, you know~” (Flandre)

 

I snap my fingers and their leg starts to bubble.

 

“Don’t you just love when your blood starts to flow in reverse? I’m sure your screams will be de~li~cious~~” (Flandre)

 

I can’t kill them yet though… 

 

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA” (Siren)

 

“Anyways~~ Your second mistake was to challenge me~ Last time we met I was almost 10,000 times stronger than you~” (Flandre)

 

Time to make their blood flow in reverse in one of their arms too~

 

“And now… I’m going to have fun tearing you to pieces~! I’m sure we’ll both have lots of fuuunnn~~!” (Flandre)

 

I walk towards the practically writhing corpse known as Siren.

 

For the next part, I’ll use some magic~

 

“{Growth Acceleration}! There! Now you’ll grow in a weird way~~” (Flandre)

 

I can see bubbles forming all over their skin already~ It’s a wonderful sight.

 

“Oh well~ It seems that our time together has been attracting too much attention~ I guess I won’t get to play with you any more…” (Flandre)

 

Well… If I have to end this, might as well do so spectacularly~

 

“I’ll just tear you to bloody pieces~~~!” (Flandre)

 

Taking control of the blood inside their body, I start by ripping off a few fingers~ Then a few toes… I guess we need to go a bit faster so I pulled out a few ribs and the intestines~~

 

“Oh… Look at you poor thing~ You can’t even scream you’re in so much pain~~” (Flandre)

 

Next up is a whole arm! I won’t do it all at once though~ I’ll slice off little bits and rip them away~ I’ll start on the legs as well~

 

“Hehehe~ Don’t worry. It’s almost over~” (Flandre)

 

For the final act, I draw out strings of blood from hundreds of places along their body. Then, I pull them apart~

 

“Ahh… It’s raining blood. It’s pretty~” (Flandre)

 

Awww… I don’t have anyone else to play with… At least the blood tastes pretty good~

 

☆★☆★☆★☆★☆

 

[Ei’s POV]

 

I woke up lying on the floor… Flandre is staring off into the canopy above covered in blood and licking it off of her fingers.

 

“Oh~ You’re awake~~ I played with Siren a bit while you were asleep~~ They’re dead now…” (Flandre)

 

…What the hell happened while I was asleep for blood to be splattered across all the walls and for there to be a massive hole in the ceiling… That last bit might have been me though…

 

What happened again? Right… Siren became Sylventris…

 

Ah… I’m starting to cry again, aren’t I?

 

“Hey~~ Why’re you crying? Did you want to play with Siren too~?” (Flandre)

 

“I-it’s fine…” (Ei)

 

Is it actually fine though? Sylventris’ death was my fault…

 

“Oh right~ You were being taunted by Siren as your friend. Her death wasn’t your fault okay~~? I’ll tear whoever killed her apart for you if you want~” (Flandre)

 

Flandre moves in right in front of my face.

 

But… Maybe it wasn’t my fault?

 

Either way,... now isn’t the time for crying. To start, let’s clean up this mess.

 

“[Clean Room]” (Ei)

 

Water envelopes the entire room, me, and Flandre. Then it spins around a bunch and disappears. The room is certainly clean now…

 

“Gah!” (Flandre)

 

Flandre moves away from me so fast she breaks the sound barrier.

 

“Sorry! Ei, I’m very sorry! I get a little crazy when I start to fight! Especially if there’s blood…” (Flandre)

 

“I-it’s fine… I can be like that when my friends are in danger…” (Ei)

 

“Well, let’s keep moving~ We have more castle to explore still. And if you need to talk to someone, you can talk to me. I’m no therapist though…” (Flandre)

 

This adventure is turning out to be much more exciting than I had anticipated…