AN: This is a power fantasy fic. This is a power fantasy fic. This is a power fantasy fic. This is a power fantasy-

Welp, it seems like no matter what I do, I can't stop myself from adding from potential heatbreak in my stories. Goddamn it. Well, that's fine I guess. The monster was loosely based on some leftover facts from Kuroka's old Peerage. Not sure if it's correct or not; not that it matters really. If it isn't, then I'll just consider it my own headcanon.

Anyways, enjoy.

Fool's Journey - 2

In hindsight, perhaps using the skill tablet while she was still standing was a bad idea. She woke up with a ringing headache and a nose that'd been painfully pressed into the floor for the past few hours.

Then again, she'd always been rather dull. At least, before she received this.

[Cosmic Ingenuity (A)]

Your intelligence exceeds even those of the ancients, of the beings that were born at that dawn of the universe. To you, nearly all can be understood. The unseen fabric of reality is but an open book to you. Magic and Science are no different to you. All yours to understand. All yours to mold.

Allows the understanding of -nearly all- physical, magical, and metaphysical laws.

Intelligence is multiplied by an order of -12-

Gains in Progress for Magic is increased -sevenfold-

Gains in Mastery for weapons/spells -created by the user- is increased -ninefold-

-Expand to view requirement for Rank Up-

It was, frankly, insane. Every concept she struggled with back at school suddenly felt so trivially easy. The homework she'd been struggling through was solved with a single look. Even now, as she sat and ate another spoonful of ice cream, she couldn't help but calculate the time it'd take for the heat on her tongue to melt the dessert.

It was maddening. Just minutes earlier, she'd gotten lost in her memories, going frame by frame through her memory of the explosion and predicting just how much force that was.

Her mind just wouldn't stay quiet. Even a dose of ice cream had only served as a small distraction.

And most of all, she wasn't getting tired. At all.

…

She wanted to return to Klavashka.

It was a strange thought. Hadn't she just returned from there? Hadn't she almost died there? Why did she suddenly want to go back?

But her mind wouldn't stay quiet. She'd done her summer homework. There was nothing to take care of at the moment. Taking her time to explore Klavashka further would be far more beneficial. It'd allow her to increase her Masteries over her weapons, and it'd allow her to increase the progress on her parameters. There were no benefits in staying here.

She sighed. It was inevitable it seemed.

But! Before she left, there was something she wanted to do.

…

Several pipes, steel wires, coils, springlocks, screws, and levers later,

[Makeshift Crossbow (F)]

0% Mastery

An simple makeshift crossbow, -created by Hanami- using everyday materials.

?

4 Damage | 1 Blunt Damage

Restoration Interval: 15 Minutes

There was just no reason not to try and make a new weapon for her to use. That +800% was waiting for her to abuse it. And it took her only minutes to make, so that was nice too.

Loading a wooden arrow into her crossbow, she brought back her -Missions- tab, clicked [Yes], and found herself back in that large opening she'd fought the priest in. The pile of shredded white cloth the priest was reduced to had disappeared, and the ruined shrine had magically reassembled itself. The paths forward and back had opened up however.

So she went onwards, her new crossbow making quick work of any Ashen she met on the way. And there certainly were more Ashen this time around, far more. They still came at her on their own, but the tight corridors seemed far more packed with these shambling undeads than before. Which was honestly a good thing, since they were essentially experience for her to gain.

And gain experience she certainly did. The mastery of her [Makeshift Crossbow] shot up like a rocket. She bypassed her [Wooden Bow]'s mastery in minutes, and before long, her crossbow's mastery reached its maximum.

[Mastery of [Makeshift Crossbow] maxed out! Description updated]

[Makeshift Crossbow (F*)]

100% Mastery

An simple makeshift crossbow, -created by the Hanami- using everyday materials.

All arrows fired from this crossbow will linger, before exploding, dealing 50% of the original damage as Explosive Damage

6 Damage | 2 Blunt Damage

Restoration Interval: 12 Minutes

Hanami blinked. Maxing out a weapon's mastery increased their damage as well? A surprise, but a welcome one.

It did make her wish she went through and bought a portable saw however. She could've made her own makeshift arrow to make use of, but alas, that wasn't to be. Oh well, let bygones be bygones. Her new crossbow had done quite impressively already. She could create that makeshift arrow some time in the near future.

Spirits high, she continued on her way, mowing down Ashen after Ashen as she searched for the next object of interest.

Her next task was to 'free the Spirits of Arah'. She wasn't quite sure what that meant, but she could make several guesses. It'd maybe be a graveyard, or perhaps some sort of location to trap or imprison souls. One of the two.

Her walk soon turned into a light jog. These caverns were dangerous, but jogging would be far more efficient, and her newly modified mind just couldn't ignore that. She still took down the Ashen just as easily.

Eventually, she found herself entering another opening, this one far more sinister than the Dethroned Shrine. It was a giant graveyard. There were 72 graves, each with a ghastly spirit hovering over them. Standing in the center was a giant Ashen, garbed in what looked to be a priest's outfit, though it was torn and stretched beyond repair.

Most would look at it and move to defeat that giant. Hanami saw it differently.

There was a sinister aura surrounding it, and even from a glance she could tell that she was far too weak. She could defeat it, certainly, but it'd waste too much time.

Instead, her method was far faster.

Her crossbow shattered into shards of light, before being replaced by an ofuda. Narrowing her eyes, she lined herself in front of several hovering spirits, and threw.

A dozen spirits were pierced by the ofuda in a single throw. A ghastly wail left them before they faded away.

She may not have [Throwing], but she now knew the best way to throw a thin, piercing weapon, and she made use of it.

The priest Ashen turned to her, but by then, another dozen spirits had been pierced through. It growled and began approaching, but much like brethren, it was slow. It was strong, certainly, and it was durable, but speed was not something the Ashen had it seemed.

She took down a couple dozen more spirits before the priest Ashen finally caught up to her. It raised its arms, and from it rose powerful flames that warped the air around it. With a growl, it swung its arms at her.

She swiftly swerved past it and kicked it in the groin. The Ashen cried out, despite its lack of genitalia. She made use of the opening and pierced the last dozen spirits with her ofuda. A collective wail echoed before the spirits faded away.

The priest Ashen turned to her, contempt flaring in its beady red eyes, before it crumbled into a small mountain of ash. A white plate could be seen poking out from the pile, glowing a dull green, and Hanami silently absorbed it.

[Glossary updated]

Free the Spirits of Arah [V]

[Flawless bonus achieved. 10 Reqiums have been added into the inventory]

No new weapon this time, which was fine. She was still content on increasing her [Worn Ofuda]'s mastery. Still, she had no idea what this-

-Reqiums-

A universal currency spent during specific actions. This includes: Race Change, Instant Skill Upgrades, Instant Parameter Upgrades, World Travel, Multiverse Modifications, and so on. Reqiums can be gained through: Mission rewards, Boss rewards, and Flawless rewards.

…How nice.

Well, she'd say that went rather well. Task accomplished. Flawless reward received. And no after battle panic! A good finish indeed.

Two things were especially interesting though. World Travel? Multiverse Modifications? The former was fairly straight forward. The latter not so much. She had an idea though, and the thought of it alone made her grin.

But that was an idea for a distant future. She had another task to accomplish.

With that battle over, she continued onwards, jogging further into dark cavernous halls, encountering an even higher number of Ashen on her way. Each were dealt with using an ofuda to the chest. Her crossbow dealt more damage, but some mastery over the [Worn Ofuda] would do her well.

Her Strength and Agility were progressing quite well too. Magic was still locked sadly. She'd need to find some way to force her magic open. A magic item would probably be her best bet.

So she went onwards, leaving more and more ash in her wake as her jog continued. [Throwing] eluded her still, but that was expected. The grafting of [Archery] created months of training in her memories, which probably meant [Throwing] would most likely take the same amount of dedication to be recognized by the system.

The paths began to slope downwards. Hanami slowed slightly, her steps slightly more cautious. Slipping wasn't something she wanted to experience. As mystical as her life had become for the past few hours, her body was still human. A good fall would break her bones, and landing head-first would probably knock her out cold.

Then, the air began to heat up. The already uncomfortable heat turned sweltering, and she was nearly tempted to rip her shirt off. She didn't, of course. As nice as that was, her clothes were her only defense.

Still, that meant she was close.

The slope steadily grew steeper. Her steps grew slower in response. The slope became steeper. The heat grew with it. She found herself panting as she braved the rising heat, her walk turning into a descent as the slope turned nearly vertical. The sweat on her palms made her grip slippery, but she managed.

Eventually, her feet touched solid ground, and she let out a soft sigh. She'd safely made it. That was good.

Taking a deep breath, she brought out her crossbow, loaded an arrow, and walked forth.

And out she came into another opening, this one larger than all the previous openings she'd come into. The surrounding walls glowed a dull red, and the ceiling was high above, covered in glinting blue crystals.

Standing in the center was a dragon. It was entirely made of ash, swirling and shifting, thin disks of soot spinning around it. It was large, as large as a modern suburban house, and though she was without magic, she could clearly make out the sheer magic that permeated from it, warping and twisting the surrounding air. It turned to her, red eyes glowing as it growled,

And a wooden arrow stuck itself on its nose. An inky purple liquid fell from it, and it snarled in anger.

The arrow exploded seconds later, and it flinched back, clearly surprised.

It shook its head, but before it could get its bearing, Hanami let loose another arrow. This one stuck right into its left eye, and it snarled, before it cried out as that arrow exploded as well. Its head snapped back, and it cried again as an arrow stabbed into its injured eye.

Hanami loaded another arrow in silence.

It was a rather anticlimactic start, she supposed. But that was fine. Despite their speeds, the Ashen seemed rather slow to react. Or perhaps it was her reactions that were swift? Well, no matter the case, she made full use of the opportunity that presented, and she fired her arrows to stagger the beast as much as she could.

Her needling continued for over four minutes. Which was honestly rather surprising, and somewhat saddening.

Then, it stopped staggering entirely, its red eyes glowing menacingly even as she fired another arrow into its head. She loaded another arrow and smiled. It snarled at her. Her smile grew.

She fired another arrow. The Ashen Lord roared, sending out powerful winds that blew the arrow away. Purple flames began to build inside its mouth when a sharp pain suddenly shot into it. The dragon could feel its strength seeping away, poisoned as decaying from a familiar pain, and it let its flames loose.

But Hanami was no longer there.

Its eyes went wide, before it cried when an arrow stabbed into the back of its head. It cried again when the arrow exploded, and it shrieked when an ofuda stabbed into its back. She quickly followed it up with another arrow to the head, which was then followed by an ofuda to the wing.

The [Word Ofuda] were throwing weapons after all. There was no reason why she couldn't use them in conjunction with her crossbow.

Truthfully, she doubted this battle would've been this easy if she didn't have [Cosmic Ingenuity]. The boost in intelligence helped her skill in battle as well it seemed. It made her reactions faster, her head calm and collected, and her senses incredibly sharp.

The Ashen Lord was going to die, it realized, and something within it burnt.

In a desperate rage, it roared and began spinning, kicking up dust and sending out powerful blades of ash. It knew a single hit would kill the human. A single strike would end it.

But none of its blades hit, and it could only gape.

"It looks cool and all," It heard her say, and a coldness it hadn't felt in decades shot up its spine. "But it doesn't do much. I can just duck and hop over the blades, you know."

An ofuda stabbed into its head, and it weakly cried as it fell onto the floor. Slowly, it turned to her, and it let out a growl. The human was still uninjured, her face empty of any emotion. The crossbow in her hands was loaded, and aimed straight at its skull.

The springlock released, the arrow fired, and the Ashen Lord knew no more.

Defeat the Ashen Lord [V]

[Flawless bonus achieved. [Mana Star] has been added into the inventory]

Oh? A [Mana Star], was it? A clump of cosmic nebula, condensed into a powerful miniature star, one that burnt with waves of mana. Certainly rare, though not impossibly difficult to create with the right materials. Although she'd need to gather enough cosmic nebula for that, and that just wasn't something she could do for the moment.

She smiled. It'd been a while since she last saw one.

No, she certainly hadn't seen it before. More fabricated memories. More fakes. Fake. Fake.

She could probably use it to forcefully unlock what magic she had. It'd be painful, and terribly inefficient, but she didn't have much of a choice. She could become a mage, or perhaps sell her soul to the devils, but both weren't options she was keen on.

Shaking her head, she walked over to the slowly crumbling corpse and pulled out a white ceramic plate. It was glowing blue this time, and she silently absorbed it into herself.

[Glossary updated]

[The set [Ashen Domain] has been completed. Rewards available]

She blinked. She'd honestly forgotten that glossary sets were even a thing. That was a nice bonus. She'd look over it later, though. She still had other things to look over.

[The Mission -Trial by Crimson- has been completed!]

[[Botany (E)] Skill Tablet] and 40 Reqiums have been added into the inventory]

[Botany], was it? That wasn't too bad, she supposed. Growing plants could be pretty useful, and she knew that mana could change how plants grew and developed. Maybe she could grow herself some enchanted wood? That'd be nice.

She should probably return first.

[Return?]

-Warning! Corresponding Mission has ended. Area will be inaccessible after returning-

Hanami ignored the warning and pressed [Yes]. It wasn't as if there was anything left to gain here anyway.

And just like that, she was back in her apartment room, with clothes covered in ash and a dragon added into her kill count. She huffed. It was definitely a productive day.

Storing her [Makeshift Crossbow] back into her -Inventory-, she brought out her new skill tablet and immediately used it.

[Beginning grafting…]

…

[Grafting successful]

She blinked. She hadn't expected it to be that fast, and painless. She could feel a sea of new memories in her head, yet she felt nothing. Why wasn't she feeling any headaches?

No, wait, it was [Cosmic Ingenuity], wasn't it?

Allows the understanding of -nearly all- physical, magical, and metaphysical laws.

Yep. Certainly was that.

Ah, [Cosmic Ingenuity] really was broken.

[Botany (E)]

Grants the user basic experience and knowledge over general flora.

Plants nurtured by the user grow -twice- as fast.

-Expand to view requirement for Rank Up-

Nothing groundbreaking, but that was to be expected of an E Rank skill. Having plants grow twice as fast was already good enough, and she had no doubts that more effects would be tacked on when it ranked up.

But that could all be left for the future.

Right now, she was sweaty, sticky, and she had ash everywhere. A shower was in order.

The next day came, and with it, school.

She withheld her sixth sigh of the day as the teacher continued to drone on over materials she already knew. A seed of annoyance formed inside her, and she swiftly crushed it. It wasn't fair to the teachers. They were teaching highschool students. Not anyone could understand the universe as well as she suddenly could.

That wasn't the only reason she wanted to sigh however. Subtly, she glanced at a certain boy sitting at the forefront of the class.

Kiba Yuuto. An upstanding student, a prince in the eyes of girls, an object of envy for other boys, and certainly a devil.

Oh, he was hiding it well. The control he had over his magic was commendable, but it was incredibly crude in her eyes. It far eclipsed the rest of the students around him, and she could feel the hints of a writhing darkness oozing from his skin.

Not that she needed to evaluate his magic. His physical body alone told enough. His posture were unnaturally steady, he was generating too much heat to be normal, and his eyes moved far faster than naturally possible.

How had she known that? She didn't know.

Ah, she should stop staring. She had no desire to be associated with the rest of his so-called 'fans'.

…

She winced. That was rather rude of her.

[Cosmic Ingenuity] granted her incredible intelligence, but it too came at a price it seemed. She was still Tsunaka Hanami. But her thoughts had changed. Understanding brought with it cynicism, and her thoughts turned colder. She could still see why her fellow students liked the boy so much, but her mind couldn't help but wonder if that popularity was brought on by his charm or through the pull of his mana.

There was a reason why those with mana were more attractive, after all.

She held in her seventh sigh. She didn't know how [Cosmic Ingenuity] had supplied her knowledge, nor where they came from, but it didn't matter. It helped to keep her alive, and that was what mattered for the moment.

Bottom line, it'd do her well to avoid him.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

"That's class for today." The teacher said, his eyes filled with slight exhaustion. "Dismissed!"

The students moved. Some packed their bags and left immediately. Others lingered for some more, talking and laughing with their friends.

Hanami remained in her seat, her eyes set on the magical panels only she could see.

-Ashen Kind-

A group of monsters created by the cursed ashes of a world long decayed. Time had forgotten them, and alone they remain, animated by the malice of what they had once been.

[Ashen], [Decrepit Priest], [Keeper of the Wastes], [Ashen Lord]

-Completion Reward Available-

Idly, she wondered where those Ashen monsters came from. The -Glossary- told her that they came from a different world, reanimated from the lingering hatred of the living beings that once lived in that world. How had she accessed that world then? Had she come upon it by luck? Had the A.I.M. system created a portal for her to enter it? Had it been anchored to this world?

Questions she couldn't quite answer just yet. Which was fine. She didn't need to know yet.

[Accept reward?]

[Yes]

The screen flashed for a moment, before all the world blended into one, forming a spinning vortex of white upon a blue background. It looked rather pretty.

[[Ashen Lament] has been added into the inventory]

She blinked. A new weapon?

[Ashen Lament (E)]

0% Mastery

A spell crafted by the ancient keeper. Fires bolts of malice at a cost of 10 Mana.

?

16 Curse Damage

Spell Interval: 8 Seconds

It wasn't a weapon, but a spell! She hadn't expected to gain one so soon. But,

She grinned.

This meant that she could finally open up her mana. She had a [Mana Star], sure, but injecting that directly into her body was plain idiocy. She'd have a higher chance of winning the lottery than her surviving the process.

But now? Now that she had something to channel that mana through, she could place herself as an intermediate and reap the benefit without fatally injuring herself. All she needed was a safe place for her to execute her plan, an area where she could hide the blast of magic she was about to unleash.

-Missions-

The user will occasionally encounter opportunities to engage in missions. Missions encompass all manners of tasks, and allows the user to occasionally access entirely different worlds. Missions can be gained by: Doing a specific action; or going to a specific location.

And if she could get lucky and find a mission like her first one, then she'd be able to do so. Emphasis on lucky however, considering finding such a mission would be down to chance.

Well, she had half an entire day to explore Kuoh. She had time to spare.

With a small smile, she packed her bag and rose from her seat.

She didn't manage to find anything for the rest of the day, and Hanami had a sinking suspicion that Missions were far rarer than she initially expected.

It wasn't all that surprising really. Her sample size was extremely minute. She gained two missions in a day, and one of them was presented by the system as a tutorial. The results had been biased, and she allowed herself to think that missions were fairly common.

They were not. She searched for a couple more days, and she couldn't find any missions.

Not surprising, but certainly frustrating.

So she discarded the idea entirely and focused on increasing what she could. She spent what time she had in the forests around Kuoh, firing arrows and throwing ofudas at the trees and rocks. Their masteries increased with use, and her Strength and Agility grew along with them.

And after a couple days of repetitive use, one of her weapons reached a breakthrough.

[Wooden Arrow (F*)]

100% Mastery

A crude, wooden arrow.

Increases dealt damage by 10%

4 Pierce Damage

Restoration Interval: 2 Seconds

A mediocre upgrade, but that was to be expected. It was just a wooden arrow after all. The reduction in interval was appreciated however. Less time meant more arrows, and that meant more damage.

Her bow followed just hours later.

[Trainee Bow (F*)]

100% Mastery

A simple, wooden bow.

Each second the arrow is held, damage will be increased by 5%. Maxes out at 25%.

7 Damage | 3 Blunt Contact Damage

Restoration Interval: 12 Minutes

Better, but not enough to make her want to use it over her [Makeshift Crossbow]. The arrow explosion her crossbow had was far better in comparison. It also asked her to hold her bow for five seconds for maximum damage, which meant three wasted seconds. Inefficient. Unacceptable.

…

Her [Worn Ofuda] needed another day of use, and that was fine. She'd trained enough for today.

But just as she was about to leave, a wave of hungermaliceglee swept through the air, the emotions drenched in darkness and madness. An overpowering presence that drowned out even the tranquility of the forest around her. An explosion of intent that was barely kept together, held by the barest of consciousness.

Hanami ran towards it. She loaded her [Makeshift Crossbow] as she ran, frost forming in her gut.

She soon came upon a small clearing, filled with rusting pipes and chipped ceramic blocks. An empty plot that was once planned to be filled.

Standing in the middle was a monster. It was an arachnid-like beast, each sharp leg as thick as a human arm and covered in a slimy purple goo. Its body was obscenely large, larger than even cars.

But most disturbing was its face. Its face was human, a girl, now rotting. Its lips were perpetually stretched in a wide smile, one wide enough to tear the skin around its cheek.

Lying below it was a young boy, covered in large tears and bleeding. The boy was dead.

And Hanami felt nothing.

No-, perhaps not nothing. She felt herself tense as she laid her eyes upon the boy's bloodied corpse, felt some part of her heart clench at the loss. He's so young, some part of her whispered, but another part, a larger part, told her that it didn't matter, that the loss of one human child was insignificant against the scale of the universe.

She knew it was true. She hated how true it was.

But she pushed those thoughts away. That wasn't important for now.

"Oh? Another human?" It said cheerfully, its bloodshot eyes growing wider. "Oh why, how lucky-" Before it could get another word out, an arrow was fired right into its throat, and the monster stepped back. "How rude of you! I was just-" Another burst of pain shot through it as the arrow in its throat exploded.

It growled. "You-!" A click sounded, and an arrow impaled its right eye. It grit its teeth, before a sharp pain shot through one of its legs. It looked around to see an old ofuda stuck into it, what little blessings it had left seeping into its body. The arrow then exploded. Pain shot through it. Then another arrow stabbed into its other eye. More pain.

A human was injuring it?! Defiling it!?

Denial

"ENOUGH!" It shouted, and the ground around her exploded as hundreds of pikes shot up from the earth, each created from corrupted magic. "You damned insect!" It growled, injured flesh reknitting itself, restoring Its eyesight. Its legs remained injured however, the blessings of the ofuda stopping her healing. "How dare you hurt me?!"

Anger

No response came, and it took it a second to realize that the human had disappeared.

"Wha-" Its words were cut by a sharp pain in another leg, and it looked aside to see an ofuda and an arrow stuck into it. Its eyes went wide, that arrow-!

Crack!

The arrow exploded, spreading the blessings of the worn ofuda and blasting the leg apart. It cried out in agony, bloodshot eyes wide as it glared at the human.

Hanami stared back silently, a thoughtful frown set on her lips as she loaded another arrow onto her crossbow. She fired it at its injured leg, and it struck right into the wound. The monster cried, and then shrieked as the arrow exploded, breaking the leg as it did.

All her predictions were so far. It needed eyes to see. It could feel pain. It was a stray devil. It could use its corrupted magic to attack and heal. Her [Worn Ofuda] dealt holy damage, and that halted its healing. Its legs weren't made of flesh, and were thus susceptible to cracking.

Those pikes had been somewhat surprising, but she'd felt the tremors it caused far before it rose from the ground, and so she could easily run a distance away, make her way behind the monster, and shoot off two of its legs.

A quarter of the way done.

"YOU!" It cocked its head back, before it let loose a concentrated beam of magic from its mouth. It zoomed across the field, and Hanami just managed to tilt her to the side. Her neck burnt slightly from the heat, but she was uninjured.

She fired an arrow at the monster's eye, threw her ofuda at one of its legs, reloaded her crossbow, and fired her arrow right into the wound.

Another leg broke. The monster wobbled, its balance shifting.

A small tremor ran up her legs, and Hanami quickly ran back. The ground she stood on exploded with pikes just seconds later. The monster shouted something, but Hanami ignored it, reloading her crossbow and bringing out another ofuda instead.

The moment the pikes fell, she threw her ofuda and fired her crossbow at another leg.

Snap!

The leg broke. The entire front side of its body had no legs now. The monster shrieked as it nearly tripped, just managing to keep itself upright. It turned and growled at her, but the malice in its eyes was smaller now, replaced by a building fear.

She fired her crossbow. The monster shot it away with a beam from its mouth, before it clamped its jaws close as another arrow dug into its recently healed eye. Quickly reloading her crossbow, she fired at another leg.

It broke. Its one eye stared at her with mounting fear. Growling, it formed another beam in its mouth.

"WHY." It fired. Hanami swerved to the left. "WON'T." It fired again. She ducked under it. "YOU." Hundreds of pikes shot up from the ground. Hanami jumped back just as they burst up. "DIE!?" The pikes fell. It fired. Hanami easily tilted her head aside.

Pain shot up its head as another leg was broken. It fell face first into the dirt, and it couldn't get up. Fear was overwhelming it now, and it slowly rose its face to meet its enemy. A slow, shaky smile formed on its face, and it began to speak.

Bargaining

"H-Hey! W-We can-"

A click sounded. An arrow and an ofuda struck one of its legs, before the arrow exploded. It cried in pain as another leg was snapped apart.

"W-Wait! I can-"

Another click. More pain. It let out a feeble cry as its last leg fell away. It could no longer move now. It could still attack, but just as she'd seen again and again, the human could avoid them. There was no point in trying to attack her.

And it was then that something dawned on it.

It was going to die.

Depression

It seemed she knew it too, and she pressed its crossbow right into its head, an ofuda held up in her other hand.

It was going to die.

It'd killed many. Men. Women. Children. Elderly. Priests. Nuns. Exorcists. It'd fell them all, and it'd feasted on their corpses, hoping to quell this insatiable hunger that tore through its soul.

And yet, this human, this girl who had not an ounce of magic, had brought her down. How? How had she done what many had failed to do? Was she hiding her magic? Were her weapons that powerful? Was she that skilled? Or had it became weaker? Became sloppier?

Something sparked in its mind. It was a memory, an image of a woman. Sultry. Prideful. Powerful.

What had happened to her?

More came to her. A dark corridor. Metallic walls. Lab coats. Dim lights. Fluorescent blue. Laughter. Dark red. Blood. Blood. Blood. Blood.

And then it wouldn't stop. Fear. Anger. Dwindling hope. Putrid smells. Demented laughter. Injections. Infusions. Confusion.

New girls. Cats. Black. White. Hope. Love. Fear. Fear. Grim determination. Darkness. Whispers. Small laughters. Warmth. Static. Spinning. Spinning. Spinning. Spinning. Spinning. Spinning-

Deathdeathdeathdeathdeathdeathdeathdeathdeathdeathdeathdeathdeathdeathdeath

Weak, wet laughter came from her.

Oh, what had she become?

Acceptance

"May I…ask your name…girl?"

The girl blinked, surprised for the first time, before she slowly frowned. "...Tsunaka Hanami." She said, her crossbow still placed right on her forehead. The monster hummed softly. Hanami, was it? What a delicate name for such a girl.

"My name…doesn't matter." She said, flashing back to those dark days. "...not anymore."

Hanami didn't ask anything. She didn't ask about what she meant, nor about what'd brought this sudden clarity in her. The girl simply lowered her head. She appreciated that.

"Can…I ask…of something?" The girl nodded. She weakly smiled. "There…is a girl. Shirone is…her name." She coughed and tasted inky blood. "She…is hurting." The crossbow upon her head shook slightly. "Please…I…I beg…" She looked up to those green eyes and begged. "Please…keep her…safe."

She would've said more, but everything was fading now. Her vision, her life, her memories. The clarity she gained, all she'd regained, they were slipping away now. Two names remained however. Two girls she could no longer remember.

Hanami silently nodded.

Ah, how cruel life was, to have turned her into this, to have made this girl her killer.

She heard the girl take a deep breath, and the shaking of the crossbow vanished. She smiled sadly. Her time was up it seemed. That was fine. She'd done many sins, and though they were done by this corruption within her, they were still hers to bear. The time of her reckoning had come.

"I hope you find peace."

She smiled, and then all went dark.

…

…

…

[Flawless bonus achieved. [Crimson Shard] has been added into the inventory]

Silently, Hanami placed her crossbow back into her -Inventory-, watching as the monster's corpse degraded before her eyes. It broke piece by piece, turning into dust, before the wind blew it all away. Nothing was left behind.

Her heart thundered within her ribcage. Something inside her was shouting, and heat was boiling in her guts. You just killed, it told her, and her throat tightened. It was as if someone was crushing her neck. You just killed. Why aren't you doing anything?

Hanami said nothing back. She simply turned and left. It wouldn't be long until someone arrived at the scene. She needed to make her escape.

What a monster you are.

…

Hanami frowned. "We are all monsters." She whispered to herself, moving as she watched the clouds above. "It's up to us to decide what that means."

The voice went quiet after that.