kscans

Chapter 188 - The Main Event

"Money. Money. Moneyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!"

"Every time you open your mouth, it’s about money! Have you no shame!? Nonnnnnne at allllll!!"

It was 11:44 PM. The subjugation event was nearing its end. The excitement of those who had joined for the money was reaching its peak.

"Hahahaha! They’re ten-thousand-yen bills! They’re like walking, talking ten-thousand-yen bills!"

"I wonder how much I’ve made already!? I don’t know! I have no idea! But I’m so happyyy!!"

The point of Halloween costumes is to hide one’s identity from demonic beings. But looking at this scene, you had to wonder if costumes were even necessary. You could not blame someone for calling them monsters driven mad by greed. That said, not everyone was losing themselves to avarice.

"Phew... Shall we call it a day around here?"

Having finished annihilating the Aberrations infesting the ruins, Hikaru made the suggestion, and the other three agreed.

"We still have some strength left, but we’re also still inexperienced. I think it’s best to be extra cautious."

"I feel a little bad since there are probably still monsters running wild all over the place... but hey, it can’t be helped!"

"It would be utterly foolish to bring about our own ruin by overreaching."

Besides, they were not the only ones taking part in the subjugation. Sarna added that the other participants were surely doing their best.

"Yeah, that’s true. By the way, Sarna-chan, you sound like you’re speaking from experience."

"You must be imagining things. More importantly, I’m tired. Why don’t we rest a little before heading back?"

"Good idea. We’re in the middle of nowhere, so no one will see us."

They sat down on the ground of the ruins and began to relax in their own ways.

"Still, we defeated quite a lot. I wonder how much our reward will be?"

"...!"

Hikaru’s hand, which had been about to open a sports drink he had pulled from his spatially manipulated pouch, froze. The three girls tilted their heads as he suddenly went rigid.

"What’s wrong, Hikaru-kun?"

"...N, no... I was trying not to think about it... but how much money we made... just today..."

Rika, it went without saying, was the daughter of a company president. Sakuya was not from a particularly wealthy family, but with both parents working, she grew up in a household with some financial leeway. Sarna, too, had never experienced any monetary hardship. Unlike the three of them, Hikaru had grown up in a struggling family, so a large sum of money was both a joy and a terror to him.

"We’ve been at it since seven... so about five hours? And in that time... even with a very low estimate, that’s at least five million yen per person..."

As Hikaru trembled, saying his sense of money was getting warped, Rika spoke up.

"Hikaru-kun, try to look at the bright side, okay? For now, just think, ‘Yay, we made a lot of money!’ That’s good enough, right?"

"Yeah, but..."

"If you feel like you’re going off the rails, you have people who will scold you, don’t you? So it’s fine."

What they should be thinking about now, Rika continued, was how to use that money.

"Even if we put most of it into savings and expenses for the Supernatural World, we still earned all that. Let’s use some of it on things we like. You know, you could take your little sisters and your mother out for a slightly fancy dinner!"

Sakuya and Sarna jumped on that idea.

"That’s a great idea. Maybe I’ll get something for Hero Uncle to thank him for everything."

"As for me... perhaps I will use it to treat myself for all my hard work. Ah, going on a dessert tour sounds fun."

At that, Hikaru finally seemed to relax. The tension left his face. He leaned back on his hands, looked up at the ceiling, and let out a breath.

"I’d want to eat sushi... but Ai and Midori would probably say they’d prefer Western food."

"Don’t you think it’s okay for the big brother to be a little selfish once in a while?"

And with that, they fell into cheerful, idle chatter. The atmosphere was truly pleasant. However, an "abnormality" shattered it all. Just a few minutes before midnight, the badges they had been issued suddenly began to flash.

"Huh, what’s this, it’s glowing? And in a really creepy way!!"

"Damn it...! It won’t come off!? What is this thing!?"

"...Since the Mutual Aid Society provided it, I doubt it’s meant to cause us harm, but..."

"! There’s a flash of light...!!"

The moment the clock struck midnight, their vision was flooded with crimson light. A short while later, their sight returned, but...

"Where the hell are we!?"

Spread before them was a land of withered trees and towering gravestones. In the distance stood an unnervingly spooky old castle. The sky above held a red moon. All those who had been forcibly teleported to this deeply unsettling landscape screamed in unison.

"...Is everyone here one of the people who took the subjugation request?"

"Seems like it. The badges were glowing like crazy before we were teleported."

"Well, our lives don’t seem to be in immediate danger, so everyone calm down!"

Those who had recovered their composure the fastest began to assess the situation while calling out to the others. While there were inexperienced people like Hikaru and his friends, there were also seasoned veterans among the crowd. Thanks to their proactive calls for calm, the others gradually began to settle down.

"Hey, so. We were all brought here by teleportation, right?"

"I don’t see any portals around."

"For what it’s worth, I really tried to resist the teleportation, but it was no use."

"............Isn’t there only one person from the Mutual Aid Society who could pull off something this absurd?"

Just as a single face surfaced in everyone’s mind, a clap of thunder echoed. They looked up at the sky in unison to see black clouds writhing, morphing into a sinister silhouette.

"I am that which emerges from the darkness in human hearts, and to that darkness I shall return..."

A ghastly voice boomed.

"...My name is Satou... Demon King Satou!!"

"It really is Satou!!!!"

Everyone reflexively shouted the retort.

"Huh? Hey, who do you punks think you’re talkin’ to so casually? Hah? There might be some of ya older than me, but there ain’t no seniority in the Supernatural World, ya get me? Power is everything. So, with that in mind, I’ll ask again. Who d’you think you’re talkin’ to? Hey, come on, say it."

His sudden shift into a punk persona sent words laden with a physical pressure raining down upon them unreasonably.

"Just kiddin’! It’s a joke, a joke! More importantly, I gotta explain. See, I got a request from the chairman a little while back. Asked me to put on a finale for the Halloween subjugation event, like an overtime round. We haven’t had any huge, all-out battles that drag everyone in for years, right? That’s what’s got the chairman worried."

Taking on requests suited to one’s abilities. That was important. But sometimes, one had no choice but to throw oneself into a battle with no clear path to victory. Huge periods of turmoil naturally provided such opportunities, but there had been none. Any worldwide crises or chaos had been stamped out by Satou before they could become major conflagrations.

"So basically, uh, you know."

The evil silhouette grinned bashfully.

"...Let’s have a raid battle! I’ll be the boss!!"