Reincarnated Into A Dead Woman's Body In Another World-Chapter 122: Arc 3, - 32: All Up to You
The clouds drummed in a rhythm, the dark night sky darker than before. The gunshots ran in the same rhythm from afar. Her brilliant blue eyes flinched close and opened to a grenade going off.
Puffy eyed, she looked right and left—the sand, tents and more and more platoons of Hartamat soldiers going forward. Though another thing caught her view as she wiped her face with her hands.
"Meko," she smiled, re-twirling her bluish sleeves around her arms.
"Why were you crying?"
"I-I wasn’t crying, just, sand and dust in my eye."
"Uh huh... Listen, I’ve been watching you cry for the past thirty minutes after you ran after Jotou, so spill it."
"I, ugh," the redhead sighed, "Jotou just said something hurtful, don’t worry about it."
"I should be worrying about it," Fumeko crossed her arms, looking past her to find the blonde. Nowhere in sight. "Something was off about her since yesterday morning."
"So, you believe her story then?"
"It makes sense for her behaviour and it does add up with everything she’s done yesterday and today. I think her story’s true; I mean, her coming from another world is true too.
It doesn’t make any sense for her to lie about something like this. Why? Don’t you believe it?"
"I do; and that’s the worst part. It means she’s actually seen us dead several times and she’s clearly hurting."
"Yeah, but she doesn’t have to be a bitter bitch about it."
"Meko... She’s seen us dead several times. I can understand her need to save us, but pushing us away, bottling up everything—it’s not good for her." 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺
"I guess you’re right. Still, she killed all those people for what? I don’t think they were really a threat to any of you. If she wanted to ’change’ this outcome, what did that accomplish?"
"I’m not saying you’re wrong..."
"But?"
"It just further shows she’s hurting; and I don’t know what’s going on in her head if she thought that was the right decision. She’s clever, thoughtful and compassionate...
I don’t think I’ve seen any part of her that were those things in the past two days. I tried to look past it, hoping I was wrong.
She’s been sadistic, ruthless and unprepared. It’s like, she doesn’t trust us and I don’t know how to help her if she doesn’t talk to me," sorrowed eyes stared into the void.
_
Stood faraway, she observed the artificial covers, staring blankly into the void. Her eyelashes fluttered—no longer wrinkled in thought—to a drop of something, then another.
Jotou faced up; little drops of water fell from the sky, purple lightning spread with a light thunder to echo. "It didn’t... rain the last three times..." her brows knitted.
’Then again, there weren’t four hundred soldiers either... How did it change?
I’ll just have to be more vigilant in protecting them. Protecting them... Ugh... Why did I say that to her? Why would I open my stupid mouth and say something like that?
She’ll never forgive me... Fumeko probably hates me too and Asobi’s been quiet—too quiet. She usually talks to her illusions, but I don’t think she’s been doing that either.
What have I done this time? Did I, screw up...?’ Jotou rubbed her cheek where Hotaru had slapped her. ’I’m sorry Aru... Then why can’t I walk up to her and say it?
What’s wrong with me? Why is this happening, over and over? It’s something Frye’s doing, but why do they have to die every time?
I have to protect them, this time too. If this is how I can guarantee that they survive, then I don’t care how many people I’ll have to kill or how long I need to sit in court. At least I can sit in court with them still breathing.
I’ll apologize to all of them later. That’s right. I can think about all of this later. First order of business, is ending this damn battle and stopping Frye from resetting everything again.’
"Thundering Blade! We need you on the left to defend!" a voice ordered from the many soldiers around her till her eyes stopped at a panting soldier running towards her.
"Defend? Do you mean go on the offensive? I see the covers-"
"No! No! They’ve broken through the lines on the left and are pushing in on an assault! It’s an order from the lieutenant! Hurry!"
Jotou’s eyes widened, the rest of the soldiers around her looking around, unsure if they should assist or keep guarding the right in case of an ambush. The major gave a look to Jotou to follow orders.
"Right!" Jotou unsheathed her blade, glowing in sparks. She ran as fast as her legs would carry her. The sound of bullets firing only grew louder with each step forward.
_
"Blast!" The musket round fired into a Hartamat soldier. The Trailon soldier began to reload his musket before- "SLASH!" His head no longer rested on his head.
Jotou panted, looking forward; only more gunshots in the direction- ’No... NO! I need to save them! I’M GONNA KILL EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THESE BASTARDS IF I SEE THEM DEAD AGAIN!’
"Blast! Blast! Blast!" Every gunshot against Hartamat soldiers she ignored. Bodies falling left and right of her, the scent of black powder in the air.
"Blast!" "Guh!" Jotou held her shoulder as the bullet fell into the sand. A little piece of yellow fabric drifting off as she glared to the direction of the shot.
"You’re dead!" she strayed right as the soldier aimed his musket once more. "Shink!" Jotou stabbed him in the chest, drawing the blade up—blood cauterizing, searing slowly.
Her vision caught the soldier’s finger... Already on the trigger within moments of his incoming death... "Blast!" Jotou moved her head.
"GAH!" crimson dripped down her lashes as she blinked a hundred times; a long cut went from the side of her left eye till it met her blonde strands—nearly losing an eye.
Jotou shook her head as she let the body fall with a thud in front of her. More gunshots rang, more soldiers incoming with muskets aimed.
Jotou groaned frothing at the mouth—the burning blood she wiped off. She glared to them, before turning back. ’Focus. None of this matters if they aren’t...’
The loose sand began to clump, all the gunshots muffled, drizzles of rain went past her in her dash. Her heart stopped for a second; she blinked, then blinked again.
The enemy had moved in towards the tents; Asobi hid in one, wand gripped whilst rainbow tears went down her cheeks; though, she was not frozen, rather... sobbing.
Outside on her knees was a redhead, nursing a fallen Fumeko on her lap as water and sanguine fluid went down her skull. The brunette wore a gasp on her face—a bullet wound through the side of her head.
Hotaru’s hands rubbed and rubbed over the bullet wound as water only dampened her dark brown hair. Tears could barely form in the corners of her eyes, but her wriggling frown and fangs told much.
"FUMEKO!" Jotou screamed as the soldiers advanced; the Hartamat soldiers were dropping like flies, taking out a few of the enemy soldiers along with them.
Hotaru gasped up, gazing at the blonde before her lips faltered again to whimper. "Jotou..." she whispered- "Blast!" Another gunshot went right through her neck...
Jotou watched... as a round, pierced right through her, ripping her vocal chords till her throat. The redhead fell to the ground, her hands reaching for her neck in an instinct.
Water glowed blue in her palms as she reached for her neck- "Blast! Blast!" More musket fire finished off her corpse. Tears formed under the blonde’s eyes- "Blast!" A gunshot came.
Electricity arced over her hair, warning her of the bullet coming right for her—"TING!"—sword that she brought up to her head.
Nothing but her heartbeat; nothing but her heartbeat. Her arms quivered, seeing the soldiers move forward to the tents. "ASOBI!"
Jotou dashed forward, "YOU BASTARDS! I’LL KILL ALL OF YOU. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!"
’Like it’s gonna bring them back...’
’SHUT UP!’
"Zap!" Jotou pierced straight through a skull, the enchanted blade going through bone like butter as she sliced out the brain in a whip to—"Slash!"—against another.
’Protect her. Protect her. I can’t see her die too. Not again!’
"Blast! Blast! Blast!" Dozens upon dozens moved in with muskets aimed. Each one, she put the sword to block her face whilst the bullets bruised the skin under her clothes.
’I can change this. I just need to get to him and make him reset all of this again!’
She ran forward, away from the weeping Asobi, "Thundering Strike!" the soldier closest, reloading her musket, barely saw a flash of her life.
Yellow light flashed forward, frying the woman inside out, spreading forward like the poison webbing across the veins of Jotou’s friends.
The dozens watched as that light came for them, but they were much too slow to run; faster than a bullet, they saw before they heard their own demise. "BOOM!" It thundered across the battlefield.
Jotou ran through the booming sound, finding her next target a sprint away, "WHERE’S FRYE!?" the man trying to glean what was coming did not even get a chance to answer as-
"THUNDERING STRIKE!" crimson dripped from her eyes first, then a flash of yellow took over, hitting the metal of the musket with a ting.
The lightning—"BOOM!"—blasted forward frying everything and everyone again. The dozens now turned to fives or sixes. Her lips curled up—tears of blood she took a lick of.
"Thundering Strike! Hehe... hahaHAHAHA!-" "SLAP!" Jotou hit herself to stop.
And that was it... all she could muster. Everyone in the vicinity had perished in a flash of lightning. Even the Hartamat soldiers who were alive and kicking on the ground.
The dust kicked up, her knees fell to the ground, her sword faltered from her fingers. Her vision was clouded by white as she searched, desperately, for the one man who could reset all of this.
She giggled once more... "Stop, laughing, YOU IDIOT! ALL YOUR FRIENDS KEEP DYING BECAUSE YOU CAN’T FIGURE IT OUT!"
She laughed louder—the corpses in charred blood around her, sand crystalized like veins from her lightning, tents collapsed and even some barricades blown apart.
"Is that why I’m laughing...? Because I can’t do it...? Because every time I have something, life HAS to take it away!? I’M STILL LAUGHING HAPPILY AREN’T I!?" she shouted to the skies.
Too far from Frye—all her strength sapped... Tears fell, one drop then two. She laughed, then giggled, then whimpered and panted.
Her eyes shut, her gut wrenched. The skies mimicked her pain, the drizzle turning to rain. The laughter broke into crying, hunched over the sand.
