Hagakure Sakura Does Not Lament

Chapter 118

Trapped

Translated by LyraDhani

Edited by LyraDhani

Rebuilding the mirrored barrier, Tsugumi landed in a place where there were relatively few grasshoppers. Then, looking around warily, he immediately created a wall of thread.

The grasshoppers flew around in the sky, whipping up wind and creating a tornado of sandstorms that contained lightning. It seemed its abilities were scaled down from when it was in dragon form.

–However, in return, it became considerably more difficult to kill this Demonic Beast.

When it was first disguised in dragon form, it seemed to be distributing more of its magic nucleus to some of the grasshoppers, but now that sign had completely disappeared. Perhaps the ratio of nuclei was redistributed when the dragon’s form was broken. In other words, he couldn’t use the strategy of targeting a small number of them and cutting down the magic nucleus.

Even so, if he could destroy more than a certain amount – about 80% of the demon core – the remaining grasshoppers should also lose their lives in a chain reaction. It was a troublesome task for Tsugumi who didn’t have firepower, but he still had to do it.

“Hmmm, it looks like a moving mosaic. …I’m horrified that these are all grasshoppers.”

But even while looking at such a hideous spectacle, Tsugumi was surprisingly calm. He was a little bit shaken that a Magical Girl was killed, but it wasn’t enough to disturb his spirit. –As far as he could remember, that was the first time in his life that he had ever seen a person die.

Putting aside the fact that Magical Girl battle scenes could be watched in real-time with mirrors everywhere, if it was recorded as a video, the government would enforce censorship.

In the case of real-time videos posted on the Internet, the moment the death scene was shown, the video would be deleted and processed so that it couldn’t be viewed. And such direct scenes were prohibited to be shown on TV by law.

But even in the face of ‘real death’, Tsugumi’s spirit was still unshaken. …It might be the right thing to do as a backup Magical Girl, but as a human being, he could only think that there was something flawed about him.

Thinking that far, he shook his head. He didn’t have time for that kind of question and answer right now. Above all else, he had to give top priority to defeating this Locust.

“A single one of them is about as strong as a plastic… It’s not a problem to cut them down, but it will be dangerous if they stick together and rush in. The wind could increase their speed and make them as powerful as bullets.”

While cutting up grasshoppers that noticed his presence, Tsugumi checked the strength of the Demonic Beast. As expected of an A-class Demonic Beast, it seemed to be different from ordinary grasshoppers in terms of body structure.

While analyzing the grasshoppers, he used the scattered threads to chop them up, while avoiding the storm. The target was small, but the number of grasshoppers was large, so the hit was significant. He calmly hunted the grasshoppers, but then he suddenly noticed something strange.

“I’m sure I’ve killed quite a few, but the numbers aren’t decreasing much. Rather, they are increasing? Why is that, hmm, that’s… that’s how it is!”

Grasshoppers that had been cut up and scattered on the ground were being eaten by other grasshoppers. At the same time, the grasshoppers that ate the carcasses laid large eggs, which quickly hatched.

…These guys are eating everything in sight and multiplying. Tsugumi frowned as he muttered this in his mind.

The number of grasshoppers slowly increased as they fed on the growing plants, eating their dead relatives, and using them as nourishment to create their clones. It was truly a natural disaster worthy of the name.

“Really, it’s a shame I don’t have more firepower. …Now, what should I do, I wonder.”

The lack of firepower was the biggest challenge for Tsugumi–Hagakure Sakura. Now that he had gained more power, he could probably drop a meteor in the Radon battle–a simple large-scale attack of dropping something carried in the sky by transportation, but that wouldn’t be very effective in this case. –The target was too small.

Even if a part of the ground were gouged out and dropped from the sky, it probably wouldn’t be enough to kill 80% of them. Moreover, the worst-case scenario would be for them to be encased in the ground. If they ate the corpses and increased their numbers again, the attack would be meaningless.

Then what should I do? –He had no choice but to make a new decision.

He had to devise a strategy combining what he could do now, what he couldn’t do, and what he could do if he tried hard enough. Fortunately, some of the techniques had been tested in the simulator, and if he pushed himself to some extent, he should be able to use them in practice without any problems.

Among the candidates for the technique, he would choose the most suitable one for this situation. …It was a little risky, but it was probably the best he had.

“–Alright. Let’s do it.”

Tsugumi took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Then he slowly opened his eyes, dropped his stance, and began to run toward the group of grasshoppers.

◆ ◆ ◆

–The grasshoppers had no will to be individuals, only the instinct to [eat]. That’s why anyone who interfered with that instinct–the Magical Girl–was an enemy to be eliminated and an important source of nutrition.

The first Magical Girl seemed to know a little about fighting, but she was unable to see their true nature and quickly became food for their kind. By now, even a strand of her hair had long since been placed in their stomach, and she had become a source of nourishment for the creation of new brethren.

And the other one – the newly appeared Magical Girl in black, who seemed to be killing their compatriots in a nonchalant manner, stopped moving when she looked under their feet. Then, with a bitter expression, she moved away and put her hand over her mouth as if in thought.

Perhaps she had realized that no matter how many she killed, their numbers wouldn’t decrease.

The number of compatriots was increasing as they ate various things in the barrier. As their numbers increased, their individual strength decreased, but this was a trivial matter.

As long as they had the overwhelming advantage in numbers, she couldn’t eliminate them with small thread-like attacks. It was only a matter of time before that Magical Girl became the new food.

However, the Magical Girl slowly raised her head while brushing aside the attacking grasshoppers. –Her steeple-colored eyes showed no sign of resignation.

The girl suddenly crouched down and ran in the direction where a lot of grasshoppers were gathering–toward the tornado that contained the thunderbolt. …She probably had gone crazy and tried to commit suicide.

The Magical Girl seemed to be dealing with the tornado for a while, and then she slipped away and ran toward the next large army. They didn’t know what she was trying to do, but from the looks of it, killing all of their compatriots was just a dream. –Still, it didn’t change the fact that she was being a hindrance.

Thinking so, the grasshoppers moved a large army and closed in on the Magical Girl. Even if she tried to block the attacks of their compatriots, it didn’t matter because she would get crushed by the sheer volume of their mass. Once she was driven into a space where she couldn’t wield the threads that made up that defensive wall, all they had to do was eat her up slowly.

The grasshoppers that had been flying around filling the sky flew one after another toward the dome-shaped wall of threads that the Magical Girl had created. The grasshoppers piled up like a big mountain, wriggling around as if crushing the things inside.

Once this happened, the wall of threads meant nothing. If there was no way to escape, it was only a matter of time before the Magical Girl inside died.

The grasshoppers, thinking of this, let out a distorted cry of joy. A high-pitched cacophony of sound echoed around the area.

–Without knowing that they were on Hagakure Sakura’s palm.

◆ ◆ ◆

Shortly before Tsugumi was crushed by the grasshopper. He was frantically running around on the ground.

He manipulated the threads as he ran on the ground like a dancer. The threads were made of rubber to prevent electric shocks, but even so, they couldn’t protect against the impact of the attack. Even with small burns and cuts on his limbs, Tsugumi ran through the swarm of grasshoppers.

He intentionally didn’t use teleport at the time. Because, in this case, the strategy was more likely to work if he didn’t expose his cards.

–These grasshoppers still didn’t know all of Hagakure Sakura’s abilities. In the first place, Demonic Beasts descended to the ground without any prior knowledge. This was clear from the battle record up until now.

No matter how powerful the Demonic Beasts were, they were often unable to deal with tricky attacks at first sight. Some Magical Girls mainly used attack methods for killing at first sight.

…Maybe, these grasshoppers – the Locust – were a regular A-class and not an Irregular this time. It was hard to believe that they knew in advance about Hagakure Sakura’s abilities. That’s why there was a chance of winning.

While ramming into the hordes of grasshoppers and reducing their numbers, he let transparent tiny threads drift along the flow of the storm. Far thinner than spider silk, these threads entwined with the limbs of the grasshoppers without any sense of incongruity.

When he confirmed that enough grasshoppers had been entangled with the threads, he moved on to another large army of grasshoppers. This was repeated over and over again. Although the absolute number of grasshoppers hadn’t been reduced, the increased number of grasshoppers was definitely taken care of.

The grasshoppers, on the other hand, must have felt threatened by Tsugumi who didn’t stop even if he was cut open or bombarded with electric shocks. While unraveling the tornado, a large army of grasshoppers moved toward Tsugumi.

Their wings made a roaring sound. The threatening sound echoed. The sky, once bright, was now darkened by the shadows of the grasshoppers, a 360-degree swarm of tiny soldiers that quickly surrounded Tsugumi.

The gaze of malevolent grasshoppers that only thought of eating people pierced Tsugumi. …Some people might faint at the sight alone.

Seeing such a hideous spectacle, Tsugumi covered his mouth with one hand and turned up the corner of his mouth in a smirk.

–Yes, that’s right. Come over here more. I’ll show you which one of us is going to get eaten.

Confirming that the grasshoppers were covered up, Tsugumi teleported into the sky. The wall of threads left on the ground was minimally maintained by the threads that were instantly reconnected. He then applied the invisibility skill to himself and stayed in the air while repeating the transportation.

“I’ve been thinking about what kind of things the threads can reproduce.”

Muttering this, he sent down an invisible web of threads to cover the sky from a place much higher than the grasshoppers.

“Cotton, nylon, wire, strong carbon thread. I can reproduce almost anything that could be called thread. –Except one.”

He spun his words while moving his fingers. As if he was weaving.

Invisible threads that landed on the ground tied themselves to the threads entangled in the grasshopper, gradually altering its form. –The carefully laid trap finally sprouted.

The grasshoppers slowed down like toys that had lost their screws. Grasshoppers flying in the sky failed to flap their wings and fell to the ground, struggling miserably. Every time their body moved, their body was entangled by something and stuck to the next grasshoppers as if they had been sprinkled with glue. The more they struggled, the less freedom they had, and the more they became entangled.

As if they were caught in a spider’s web.

“The last one is the spider’s thread. –Now, which one of us will be the bait?”