The Otherworld Was Way Too Brutal – After I Healed the Mutilated Girl, She Turned Into a Completely Obsessed Yandere Guard Dog - Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Right before dawn.

The four of us were hiding near the back gate of the Sumeragi family mansion.

“…How many guards?”

“Fewer than usual. A bunch got pulled to deal with the mess in the slum area. But there’s a good chance the elite ones are still here.”

Cattleya answered in a low voice.

She already had her helmet on and had ditched the cloak with the Sumeragi family crest.

That was her way of showing she was done with them—for good.

“Let’s go. I’ll take the lead.”

Cattleya took off silently.

We followed right behind her.

There were two guards at the back gate.

The second they tried to stifle a yawn, Tsugumi and Ray burst out of the darkness and hit them at the same time.

“Guh…!?”

Ray’s sword pommel smashed into the back of one Black Knight’s head, while Tsugumi’s dagger pressed perfectly against the gap in the armor—right at the throat.

They didn’t even get a chance to make a sound. Instant takedown.

“…Kill them?”

Tsugumi looked at me with cold, steady eyes, waiting for my call.

One guy was out cold. The other was trembling under Tsugumi’s hold.

“Nah, just knock ’em out. No pointless killing.”

“Mm, got it.”

Tsugumi neatly cracked the guy’s jaw with the hilt of her dagger and dropped him.

No hesitation at all.

I felt this weird mix of a tiny bit of fear and a whole lot of trust watching how fast she’d changed, but I hurried forward anyway.

Inside the mansion, it was dead quiet.

But it wasn’t a peaceful quiet—it was the tense, strung-tight kind, like a thread about to snap.

Following Cattleya’s lead, we moved through the servants’ corridors.

Our target was the top floor.

Genzou’s office.

“Stop.”

At a corner in the hallway, Cattleya raised her hand.

Footsteps were coming closer from ahead.

Not the heavy clank of metal armor.

Lighter, more disciplined steps.

“…The royal guard. Lord’s personal unit—they call them the Shadows.”

“Are they strong?”

“There are a few who can match me blow for blow. Breaking through head-on is gonna be rough.”

Cattleya put her hand on her sword hilt.

But I locked eyes with Ray.

“Ray, you good?”

“Yeah. The me right now? Doesn’t matter how many people are on her level.”

Ray hefted his greatsword and grinned wide.

“I’ll handle this spot. You guys go on ahead.”

“Ray, by yourself?”

“Even alone, I’ve still got both arms, y’know.”

Ray lightly smacked his right arm.

He wasn’t bluffing.

The guy was overflowing with confidence and power he’d never had before.

“…Alright. We’re counting on you.”

“You got it—leave it to me!”

The moment Ray charged out, the rest of us bolted down the opposite hallway.

Right after, the sound of insane sword clashes and shocked yells from the men exploded behind us.

“What the hell is this power!?”

“I heard he was a one-armed mercenary… but he’s got an arm!?”

Ray’s loud, wild laugh shattered the mansion’s silence.

That was our signal.

Don’t stop. Keep moving.

We raced up the stairs to the third floor.

There were guards here too, but this time Tsugumi moved.

She accelerated like a gust of wind.

Kicked off the wall, ran along the ceiling, weaving in three dimensions to mess with the enemies.

With her right leg regenerated, her body was finally completely unleashed.

“Outta my way…!”

The instant their paths crossed, the guards’ weapons got knocked flying and they dropped to their knees.

She’d precisely sliced their tendons in one clean motion.

“Jin, go!”

“Tsugumi!?”

“I can feel backup coming. I’ll hold them here!”

Tsugumi spun around on the landing and shouted firmly at me.

“But…!”

“It’s okay. I’m strong. This body you healed for me, Jin—I’m never gonna lose.”

Her eyes were shining bright.

As a shield to protect me, and as a sword to cut down enemies.

She was ready to do her part.

“…Got it. Don’t you dare die, you hear me!”

“Yeah. Promise. …I love you, Jin.”

With Tsugumi’s smile behind us, Cattleya and I shoved open the last door leading to the top floor.

The hallway up there was empty.

But an insanely thick wave of magic power hung in the air.

At the far end was a huge double door that opened outward.

The second we stood in front of it, my heart started hammering like crazy.

Everything—the root of it all—was right behind that door.

“…You ready, Jin?”

“Yeah. Let’s finish this.”

Cattleya kicked the door open.

BOOM!!

The massive door groaned as it flew inward.

Inside the room, the stench of rot and chemicals hit us again—no, wait, it was different.

What drifted through the air was the sweet scent of flowers and this suffocating, overflowing life force.

“You’re late. I was getting bored waiting.”

In the center of the room.

A man sat in a luxurious chair, tilting a wine glass.

Genzou Sumeragi.

But he wasn’t the old man from before.

His white hair had turned glossy black again, his skin was tight and firm, and his muscles were bulging against his clothes.

He looked forty, maybe late thirties at most.

A monster who’d reclaimed his prime body was sitting right there.

“You’ve gotten way younger, Genzou.”

“Thanks to you, Jin. Incredible technique. My body’s been aching nonstop because of it.”

Genzou stood up.

He was a full head taller than me.

An overwhelming pressure rolled off him, making the air in the room shake.

“Cattleya. Never thought you’d betray me. Getting bitten by your own guard dog, huh?”

“I’m not a dog. I’m a knight. I don’t carry a sword for scum who oppress the people and toy with lives!”

Cattleya drew her sword and pointed the tip at him.

“Scum, is it? Heh heh heh, call me whatever you want. Justice without power is just childish nonsense. With this strength, I’m going to take my place at the top of the Guardian House again.”

Genzou raised his right hand.

Embedded in his palm was the same purple crystal we’d seen in the one-horned rabbit and that giant guy.

“…You implanted that thing in yourself too!?”

“Of course. The completed form of the Chimera Project—that’s me. This body you rejuvenated with your healing magic, plus this core that generates infinite magic power. This is true evolution!”

A pitch-black purple aura erupted from Genzou’s body.

It was way more sinister and powerful than any magic beast we’d fought so far.

“He’s coming, Jin!”

The moment Cattleya yelled, Genzou’s figure vanished.

Fast.

Too fast to track with the eyes.

CLANG!!

Sparks flew.

Cattleya blocked on instinct with her sword, but the impact sent her flying and she slammed into the wall.

“Guh… ah!”

“Cattleya!”

I raised my knife, but Genzou was already right in front of me.

“Level 4, was it? I’ll have you use that power for me.”

A thick arm grabbed me by the throat and lifted.

I couldn’t breathe.

My feet dangled.

“First I’ll take your arms and legs, strip away your freedom, then raise you nice and slow.”

Genzou’s eyes twisted with madness.

I struggled desperately, trying to stab him with my knife, but his skin was hard as steel—the blade wouldn’t go in.

Overwhelming difference in strength.

So this was the power of the head of the Guardian House.

As my vision started fading, I braced myself for death.

Tsugumi, Ray, Cattleya… sorry.

That’s when it happened.

WHOOOOOOSH——!!

Suddenly every window in the room shattered.

A freezing night wind rushed in, and a pale blue flash streaked through the room.

“Hm?”

Genzou frowned, still holding me, and backstepped to gain distance.

Right where he’d been standing, a single shaft was now stuck in the floor.

Not an arrow.

It was a massive stake made of ice.

Freezing air exploded outward from the impact point, and the floor started icing over.

“Who’s there?”

Genzou glared toward the window in annoyance.

I got thrown to the floor, coughing hard, and looked up.

Standing in the broken window frame was a single figure.

Backlit by moonlight, face hidden in shadow.

But the aura around him was the complete opposite of Genzou’s sinister heat—it was the absolute-zero silence of extreme cold.

“Quite the noisy night, isn’t it, retired Sumeragi.”

A crisp, somewhat mocking, almost playful man’s voice.

The man leaped down into the room.

White-based hunting clothes.

In his hands was a huge ice bow almost as tall as he was.

Long silver hair flowing, the man gave an elegant smile.

“That voice… it can’t be.”

For the first time, caution colored Genzou’s face.

“Why are you here? What business does the Western Guardian have in a city outside his jurisdiction?”

Western Guardian.

Cattleya sucked in a sharp breath at the words.

“No way… that’s…”

The man toyed with his bow, gave me a quick glance, then turned back to Genzou.

“Well, y’see, my spies brought me some very interesting reports. A dying old man suddenly rejuvenated. A body experiment that was supposed to be dead suddenly restarted. …It was so disgustingly twisted I just had to come check it out myself.”

The man’s eyes narrowed, cold as ice.

“According to family tradition: anyone who disrupts the balance of the Guardian Houses must be eliminated.”

Genzou spat the name like it tasted foul.

“——Saijo family head, Saijo Minato. You dare draw your bow against me?”

One of the five Guardian Houses.

The head of the Saijo family, masters of bows and ice, stood right there.