Philosophy

The blood in the river grew ever thicker, corpse blood mingling with fish blood. Even fishermen who made their living on the water year-round probably wouldn't be able to stand the stench.

On the bridge, everyone had gathered together, while the bodies around them piled higher and higher.

The others were already somewhat out of breath. Their arms, having swung weapons nonstop, were sore and stiff. If they rested for the night, their muscles would probably ache for days afterward.

They had exercised far too much this afternoon. Komuro Takashi and Miyamoto Rei, in particular, had put their full strength into every strike.

Even with the night wind blowing continuously, the hair on their heads had long been soaked with sweat. Their bangs clung together over their foreheads, sweat still dripping from them.

Only Kurumi showed no sign of exhaustion. She kept taking down one Dead Body after another as they surged forward. Her initial excitement had already turned into boredom, and the expressionless look on her face was truly rare.

Her nearly perfect pretty face could carry even an expressionless look with ease, lending her a different sort of charm.

If someone took a picture of her and a man fond of icy Goddess types saw it, he would probably treasure it like a priceless possession and look at it several times before and after sleeping every day...

The nails in Hirono Toda's Nail Gun had long since run out, but one nail per corpse was still an impressive record.

When he saw Kurumi continuously hunting Dead Bodies, even yawning with an utterly bored, completely uninterested look, the flesh on his fat face twitched.

Looking at the dwindling Dead Bodies before them, Hirono Toda felt that his earlier thoughts had been a joke. Fortunately, he hadn't said them aloud, or he would have been too embarrassed to face anyone now.

He casually picked up a bumper that had apparently fallen off some car. It was thick and long, and even his large hands could not fully grip it, making it especially awkward to use. Still, he took this "new weapon" and charged into battle with the Dead Bodies.

Using the weapon's length, he jabbed it straight into a Dead Body's abdomen and shoved it hard toward Komuro Takashi.

The strength brought by his fat build was not to be underestimated. He sent the Dead Body stumbling, and Komuro Takashi seized the chance, swinging his baseball bat again and smashing it viciously into the Dead Body's head!

Bang!

Like a watermelon exploding, the two seemed to have reached some unspeakable agreement and became increasingly coordinated. Their eyes met, and seeing the blood splattered across each other's faces, they could not help laughing out loud, making Miyamoto Rei roll her eyes beside them.

If she hadn't grown up with Komuro Takashi, she might have thought he was gay just now.

But imagining Hirono Toda x Komuro Takashi... tsk tsk, better not. It was simply eye-searing.

No longer thinking about such philosophical questions, she forced herself to focus again and thrust her homemade spear forward!

The "spearhead" was fairly sharp. At least against these Dead Bodies transformed from ordinary humans, it was quite easy to find a soft spot in the flesh and pierce through it.

Such as... the eye socket!

Squelch!

The spearhead plunged precisely through the Dead Body's eye. It was somewhat short and could not pierce through the back of its skull for a lethal blow, but scrambling the Dead Body's brain was more than enough!

As long as it died, why worry about anything else?

There was no need to worry about Busujima Saeko at all. With the Steel Katana in hand, even if she could not kill all these Dead Bodies by herself, she could still move among them freely.

Every slash of her sword appeared unremarkable, but upon closer inspection, the angles at which her blade entered their bodies were often exceptionally tricky. With one strike, taking out two Dead Bodies in succession was no problem.

Having good equipment that suited her really made a difference. Her strength rose in a straight line, and even the bored Kurumi could not help glancing at her a few more times.

If she were still using that Oak Sword, then no matter how well she controlled her strength, it would probably have shattered long ago.

It was hard to imagine that at Busujima Saeko's age, the path of swordsmanship had already opened before her. Even swordsmanship mastery, placed upon her, would likely only add to the foundation of her own strength.

If the Main God Space still existed, then after just a few more reincarnations, another swordsmanship prodigy would probably rise to prominence. The environment of this low-level plane had limited her growth!

That was simply how the protagonist group was set up. Watching the anime, one had never really sensed any swordsmanship or artistic conception.

But when it was treated as a complete plane, a complete world, all its splendor would be revealed.

Including Busujima Saeko's swordsmanship and the techniques she used, Kurumi could see eighty or ninety percent of it. The next time she used a katana, she would probably make great progress.

Even in the Main God Space, where mastery of all kinds of techniques could be exchanged for and deeply imprinted upon one's soul, where Reincarnation Points meant one could simply keep upgrading, which of those big shots had not been tempered by the passage of time, gradually refining what suited them best?

But those were not things Kurumi, still a newbie, needed to consider right now. No matter how formidable those big shots were, hadn't they still been wiped out by someone else's punch? She should just be honest and steady, moving forward step by step.

Besides, the Main God was badly injured now, and there was no so-called time limit. Other than completing a few missions, couldn't she play however she wanted?

The Dead Bodies surrounding them grew fewer and fewer, until they were the ones surrounding the last few Dead Bodies. Corpses carpeted the bridge, which had long since been dyed red with blood.

Bang!

After Kurumi crushed the final Dead Body's head in her hand, the corners of her mouth finally lifted into a smile. She seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood as she looked up at the others. "They're finally all dealt with. What should we do next?"

Moonlight spilled over Kurumi. The blood splattered across the half of her exquisite face not hidden by her bangs looked especially eerie.

Combined with that sickly smile and the countless headless corpses behind her, it sent chills down Komuro Takashi and the others' backs. They were terrified that Tokisaki Senpai might blow their heads apart too if she got upset!

"The road ahead is almost completely blocked, and there must be plenty of Dead Bodies there. We could go down below and see if there's any way to cross the river." Seeing that everyone had fallen somewhat silent, Takagi Saya, who had not been able to help at all, spoke to Kurumi.

She still felt very guilty. From the time they gathered at the school and then escaped, other than pointing out the Dead Bodies' weakness—which anyone could discover with careful observation—she had contributed almost nothing.

Moreover, she had kept the deaths of that couple at the school on her mind. Though she was a young lady herself, watching everyone struggle with all their strength to survive while she alone had been protected...

Teacher Marikawa might be somewhat airheaded, but in the critical moment, hadn't she driven the survivors out of the campus?

Even Hirono Toda, the "fat deadbeat otaku" she had always despised, had played no lesser a role than Komuro Takashi...

Not to mention Miyamoto Rei, whom she saw as a romantic rival. She had once looked down on a girl joining the marksmanship club to practice shooting.

But now, seeing Komuro Takashi and her talking in low voices with smiles on their faces nearby, Takagi Saya felt utterly powerless.

Her father might command military forces, but distant water could not put out a nearby fire. Perhaps her only advantage was her genius-level brain.

"Sure, then let's hurry down and take a look. If there really is a way to get across, we won't have to endure the endless harassment of Dead Bodies on this side."

Hearing his Goddess speak, Hirono Toda immediately chimed in, hoping she would pay more attention to him.

But when he saw everyone ignoring him, he awkwardly scratched his head and gave a few dry laughs.

Kurumi looked at the moon overhead, radiating a soft silver glow. "Then we'll listen to Takagi. Let's go down and see if we can find a way to cross the river."

She suddenly turned to Takagi again and gave her a radiant smile. "Does that sound good, little Saya?"