Chapter 25 - Trick or Treat? 3

Siren.

A woman with whom he had a brief acquaintance. Yet she looked utterly unfamiliar now. There was no trace of the anxious, somewhat ditzy woman he had met in Halloween Entertainment's lobby.

Standing before Ash was a swordswoman steeped in blood and madness, humming atop a heap of corpses. Even now, a chilling murderous intent poured from her entire body.

Surprisingly, however, it was Ifrit beside him who caught Ash's attention first.

"... Ha."

From the instant she recognized the other woman, she had stood motionless, her face rigid. At first, he wondered whether the appearance of Siren, the number-one-ranked idol, had put her on edge. But something about her made that explanation inadequate.

Her usual frivolity and boisterousness had vanished, replaced by rage. Volcanic rage, ready to erupt at any moment. Ash could tell something was seething inside her.

'Does she bear some personal grudge against her?'

His question was soon answered. Ifrit abruptly rose from her hiding place in the darkness and walked into the chamber.

"I-Ifrit!"

Jack O' Lantern's frantic cry rang out. But consumed by rage, Ifrit did not hear him.

Or perhaps she heard and ignored him.

She strode on, stepping into full view in the chamber.

The three women, each resting in her own way, turned their heads at once. Their reactions varied: one snorted, another immediately lost interest. They treated her like a pebble by the roadside.

Still, Siren, standing in the middle, did at least acknowledge her.

"Hello, senior."

Ifrit returned her greeting.

"Hey, you fucking bitch. I'm pretty sure I told you to take that arm off. Now."

Despite the sudden barrage of profanity, Siren's languid expression never changed. She raised her right arm.

It was pale and slender, seemingly no different from an ordinary biological arm at first glance. A closer look, however, revealed the fine seams characteristic of cyberware beneath the silicone skin.

But something else stood out even more: a wave-patterned tattoo running from shoulder to wrist. Even at a glance, the arm was clearly a luxury piece worth an enormous sum.

"That damn arm again."

Siren's voice was as clear and refreshing as birdsong. Her words were not.

"How long are you going to keep bringing up ancient history? This arm is mine, you know. I paid a fair price for it..."

"What was that, you corpse-peddling bitch?"

Siren closed her mouth.

"What, don't like hearing it? Tough shit. You used to be one of the REST-men, didn't you? Enjoy playing idol with money you made selling corpses?"

"Senior."

"Oh. Were you streaming? Sorry. But everyone who matters already knows, don't they?"

As the vicious exchange continued, Ash questioned Jack O' Lantern beside him.

"What in the world is going on?"

It was Dullahan who answered.

[That arm used to belong to Undine]

"Undine? Surely that was..."

[Yeah. Another member of Elementary Girls. Ifrit's former teammate]

More text scrolled across his visor.

[Undine got badly hurt once. Those REST-men bastards took her away claiming they were rescuing her, then tore her apart alive and stripped all her gear]

"... And that woman is wearing it?"

[Yep]

"Good heavens..."

[Know what's even more fucked up? Siren used to be a REST-man. Yep. Bought Undine's gear with an employee discount, put it on, and now she's playing idol]

Ash asked no further questions. That brief exchange had explained everything: Ifrit's fury, her hatred of the REST-men, and the present confrontation.

"So?"

Siren's voice rang through the chamber.

"To put it bluntly, was I the one who killed Undine? No, was I? If this arm means so much to you, pay the credits and buy it yourself. Stop swearing at me and making things ugly for no reason."

"You little shit, just because you have a mouth...!"

"Oh. You don't have much money anymore, do you? Since you flopped."

Siren's black eyes swept her up and down. The advertising slogans all over Ifrit's body flashed in a dizzying display.

"Does wearing all those ads actually pay much? I hear you'll take any commission or product placement that comes your way."

"You must be pretty interested in me to know all that."

"Would you take an ad for Witchcraft, too? Looks like you've got a spot left on your chest."

"Ha! Sure, if you want. How about, 'Siren used to be a REST-man who picked corpses clean'? Like it?"

The women's argument grew increasingly heated.

"Damn it, let's get out there too!"

Jack O' Lantern dashed out. Dullahan silently followed him toward Ifrit and the confrontation.

The women in the chamber smirked at the two men emerging from the darkness.

"ROA? What kind of lineup is that? A washed-up has-been idol and a couple of chauffeurs? What did you come all this way to accomplish?"

"They said you'd lost your touch. Guess it's true."

ROA did not take the cutting insults lying down.

"Yeah, your mom."

[Lmao look at this bloodbath, you crazy bitches lol. How many people did you kill? Figures a bunch of witches would be this fucked in the head lmaooo]

Before long, it had become a three-on-three standoff. As though deeming the spectacle especially sensational, countless filming drones flew around the six men and women facing off amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Then Ash laid his steel hand on the shoulder of Akina, who was hiding beside him.

"Miss Akina."

The girl turned at his quiet voice.

"I shall be back shortly."

Akina nodded.

"Okay! Go win!"

What exactly he was supposed to win against, or how, he could not say. Nevertheless, Ash nodded.

"I shall."

With that, Ash moved.

Into a standoff stretched so taut it seemed ready to burst stepped a swordsman whose entire body was mechanical. His entrance was quieter than anyone else's, yet his presence was considerable enough to draw every eye.

"Good day."

The low electronic voice elicited mixed reactions. Everyone on this side, including Ifrit, looked triumphant. Those on the other side frowned, not understanding what was going on.

Siren did neither.

Her reaction was... how to put it?

It reminded him of their first meeting.

"M-M-Mr. Ash?! What are you doing here...!"

Siren stammered. Every trace of her earlier mockery was gone. Awkwardly hiding her bloodstained sword behind her back, she wore the expression of a girl who had no idea what to do with herself.

The sudden, shocking transformation left everyone in the chamber frozen and speechless.

"... What the fuck? Is she lagging? What's wrong with her all of a sudden?" Jack O' Lantern muttered.

Ifrit looked equally incredulous, glancing back and forth between Siren and Ash with a face full of bewilderment. Dozens of question marks repeatedly appeared and vanished on Dullahan's visor.

Witchcraft's members were no different.

"Hey. What's wrong with you?"

"Siren!"

The two women whispered urgently, but Siren did not seem to hear them. Her eyes were fixed on Ash alone.

Even then, she stole sidelong glances, as though too embarrassed to look directly at him.

Yet Ash remained unmoved by her discomfiting gaze. From the beginning, only one thing had mattered to him.

"The state of this chamber..."

Ash spoke quietly. At last, his optical sensors turned toward the bashful Siren.

"Is it your doing?"

There was no emotion in the question. No anger, no contempt. It was meant solely to establish the situation before him and take the measure of the other party.

Ifrit and Siren's relationship? Interesting, but nothing more. Their emotional quarrel meant nothing to Ash.

All that mattered was the most fundamental question: whether those three women posed a threat.

Siren hurried to answer his dispassionate question.

"Yes! I killed most of them!"

She pointed proudly at one corpse.

"Look at that cut over there. Pretty clean, isn't it? He probably didn't even feel any pain. Actually, I used your video as a reference when I cut him down, Mr. Ash. You know, the part at one minute seventeen seconds, where you twist your body and make that big horizontal slash! Of course, I couldn't quite replicate it... But what do you think? It still came off pretty cleanly, right?"

Like a disciple seeking praise from a revered master, she uttered those chilling words with a radiant smile.

Ash, however, was not disturbed in the slightest.

"Let me rephrase the question."

"Oh, yes, yes! Please do!"

"Never mind 'how.' 'Why' did you kill them?"

"Oh, that...!"

Witchcraft's two other women moved to cover Siren's mouth, but she was faster.

"The information leaked!"

"... Information?"

"Yes! About the Nexus Port! We were supposed to be the only ones told separately, but some bastards... Oh! Them! Those corpses over there aren't actually from Halloween Entertainment. They're from another Society, but I don't know which one... So, you could call this cleaning up. No, counterintelligence?"

Siren rambled on, watching Ash's reactions as though she had no idea what she herself was saying.

Yet something concrete had come of it. Indeed, it was extraordinary information.

"Wait. So you're saying all those corpses are industrial spies?"

Industrial spies.

The words Jack O' Lantern inadvertently blurted out shocked everyone. Competition within Halloween and a struggle to steal technology involving other Societies were entirely different matters.

It was now clear that the area would soon become a conflict zone overrun by agents of the megacorporations.

"... So that's why Baba Yaga isn't here."

Ifrit glared at Siren, her heart-shaped eyes shining.

Witchcraft had four members, but only three were gathered here. They had anticipated a bloody battlefield from the outset and left their Technomancer behind.

"In that case."

Ash's low electronic voice drew everyone's attention.

"You have no reason to bar our way, do you?"

The woman in white who had been tending her nails answered.

"Right. We have no reason to stop anyone from Halloween. But that senior of ours started picking a fight out of nowhere..."

"That is all I needed to hear."

With that brief reply, Ash turned and went back into the dark passage he had come from.

A short while later, he reappeared, this time with a small girl.

"I understand the situation well enough. We shall be on our way. I do not think these are fitting words for the business of identifying and killing spies... but regardless, good luck with your work, my ladies."

Holding Akina's hand, Ash crossed the chamber without a care, as though strolling through his own yard. Amusingly, Akina looked thoroughly confused, constantly glancing around and even greeting Siren when she saw her.

As he passed Ifrit, Ash said casually,

"Are you not coming?"

There was no emotion in his words, but there was a barb.

They carried an unspoken pressure: he had no intention of being swayed by her personal grudge, and she should remember their original objective.

She understood his meaning. That was why she bit her lip.

Forcing down her blazing rage, Ifrit gave Siren one final glare and shouted,

"Let's go!"

The tension that had seemed ready to explode scattered and vanished in an instant. Dullahan and Jack O' Lantern each shrugged and crossed the chamber as well.

That was when Siren, who had been standing in a daze, called to Ash.

"Wait! Mr. Ash!"

For some reason, her cry sounded desperate.

"Are you just... just going to leave?"

And, somehow, plaintive.

"Surely meeting again like this means something!"

Ash stopped. Not because he agreed, but because she seemed mentally unstable enough that simply ignoring her felt unwise.

"Have you something more to say?"

At his words, Siren clasped her hands, fidgeting with her fingers as her cheeks flushed. Beautiful as she was, she might at first glance have looked like a woman in love.

But with the corpses strewn at her feet and the blood covering her body, she looked more like a madwoman.

Which she was.

At last, Siren gathered her courage and spoke.

"If you wouldn't mind... could you cross swords with me? Even just once."

The two other women of Witchcraft pressed their hands to their foreheads. Ifrit and ROA stood blankly, unable to comprehend what was happening.

Ash, however, understood.

As he had observed before, she did indeed seem to love the sword. Judging by her appearance, she seemed to love killing things with it even more, but regardless.

Ash studied her intently for a moment.

Then his low electronic voice rang through the chamber.

"Your proposal is most intriguing."

Just as Siren's face began to brighten at the unexpectedly favorable response, he continued.

"But a fight with nothing at stake is meaningless. Mere wasteful amusement. And I have no intention of indulging in your amusement, my lady."

He paused, then spoke quietly, as though an interesting idea had occurred to him.

"So, how about a wager? One that could benefit us both."

By then, Ash's gaze had settled on Siren's arm. Her right arm, with its striking wave pattern.