Chapter 126 – Access (6)

The tentacles twitch, firing bizarre invisible signals into the distance.
When I felt that a signal was being sent to a place far away, where the concept of distance did not work, the signal disappeared.
And almost at the same time, a violent aura emanated from Grape’s body.

“This… This… This… !”

A high concentration of negative emotions that can be said to be pure boils up from the inside of Grape and warms my body.
As a magical girl, the will to kill anything in front of her rather than to protect someone appears as a blade of magic at the tip of Grape’s sword.
The swinging mana from the tip of the sword, which was swung at an invisible speed, tore the tentacle monsters in front of me.

“Haha! Mandible… ! Mandible… !”

I was embraced by the gasping Grape, wide-eyed in amazement at the sight unfolding before my eyes.
As if Grape suddenly became stronger, he got rid of the tentacle monsters at once.
Just a moment ago, they were having a hard time because there were too many of them, but as if they were playing a joke, they were all cut down and killed in an instant.
Something is wrong with this.

As much as I am confident that I know a lot about magical girls, I feel that this is not the level of power that Grape would have.
Only Ash was this strong.
No, not to the extent of Ash, but… It was a sight that somehow reminded me of Ash.

“Why, why didn’t you go! It was dangerous!”

Grape hugged me, who was about to get hurt by her blade tentacles, and gave an angry expression with an expression about to cry.
It seems that she doesn’t understand why she didn’t board the escape port, where Rosé went, or why I stayed.

“… It looks like the tentacle monster came from above.”
“From above… Then! Then, if you leave another magical girl behind… !”

Grape, who understands what it means with just a few words, says the same thing as Rosé.
I feel the will to somehow not want to put me in a dangerous place.
I look around and somehow find a way to get me somewhere else.
But I was already convinced by the sight Grape showed me that it would be safer to be next to Grape than to go up to the ground.

“If I go up, who will protect the other magical girls?”
“Oh… !”

I looked clearly into Grape’s quivering eyes and said with firm conviction.
This is a thought I had even before the magical girl appeared.
I don’t want to see someone who has to sacrifice for someone else die.

“I hate magical girls dying.”
“Oh, I’m not dying… I’m just struggling a little… Anger is in danger here!”
“Are you going to protect me?”
“If I make a mistake again… Hey, Anger always makes mistakes…”
“I came next to Grape because I thought it was safest.”

Grape’s arms, which were holding me still, were strained, and her face turned red.
My heart beats fast, and I hear a pounding sound through my body.
Grape’s eyes are fixed on me, and I can see his melancholy eyes shining hotly with complex emotions.
As if tears would flow out at any moment, the wet eyes burn with heat and blow away the tears.

“It’s too much… Something like this, Anger, every time, every time… !”

The thoughts that I had since watching magical girls and heroes appeared in childhood continued even after this world changed like this.
I don’t want to see magical girls die.
After learning about Rapid… That thought…

… Wait for a sec.
Weird.
Why… I like you, but do you want to hurt me?

Because I like Rapid, I don’t want to see him get hurt.
Grape is also a magical girl… Good… To do?
Steal the maiden of Rapid, the power…
If her virginity is taken away, will she not be able to grow stronger as a magical girl?

“Ugh…”
“… Why, why? Are you sick again?”
“No, her hair continues… What was it?”

That… That… It’s so cruel and so nonsensical.
I will leave an unforgettable scar on Rapid with my own hands.
That… The best.
I will never be forgotten by Rapid, and I will claim the most precious thing of Rapid.

… Why do I keep doing this?
The headache intensifies, then subsides, and the question disappears.
Grape’s worried gaze is directed at my face through the blurry, out-of-focus vision.

“I need to get tested quickly! Get out of here… !”
“No, it’s nothing… Nothing strange.”
“What if I’m infected with something!”
“I’ve never seen a mental attack monster or an infected monster…”

Just as she was refuting Grape’s words, an unpleasant looking monster came into view in front of her.
It is a tentacle dog, a monster in the form of a monster dog with tentacles on its back.
He was trying to attack Grape, who was turning his back on him, from a close range.

“Back!”
“Oops!”

Grape immediately swung his sword without looking back, standing forward and cutting off the flying tentacles.
Even if the sharp tentacle is cut off by the sword, it does not lose its momentum and flies, and it is hit by the shield wielded by Grape.
It was a position that could have been avoided if you wanted to avoid it, but I was afraid that it would touch me, so I was knocking it off one by one with my shield.

“Hey?!”

Holding the shield, Grape immediately tried to attack the main body of the tentacle that attacked him, but swallowed his breath when he saw the form.
His whole body trembles, and he looks unsuitably stiff.
I’m scared.

No matter how strong the tentacle dog was, it was only slightly stronger than a middle-ranking magical girl.
Grape wasn’t someone to be scared of so much.
But I know why Grape reacts this way.

“Dog, dog, dog… !”

Grape can no longer swing her sword at her tentacle dog and she continues to flinch.
Her blade tentacles hit Grape’s body relentlessly as she can’t even bring her shield in place.
Although she could not harm Grape, who boasts exceptional defensive power among high-ranking magical girls, she is only slightly stronger than middle-ranking magical girls, and a tentacle dog is pressing Grape one-sidedly.

“Wake!”
“Oh… ! Ugh… ! Ugh… !”

She knew about Grape’s dog phobia, but she never imagined it would be to this extent.
This is a bit harsh.
She’s talking nonsense, but she’s so withdrawn that she might even lose to a demon dog.

Grape, who can be said to be at the top of the top ranks for tentacle dogs that she can deal with even Rose, is doing nothing.
Her whole body is toyed with by her bladed tentacles, and she twists in startle each time her tentacle dog snarls.
Even so, fearing that I might get hurt, she doesn’t run away or stand aside, but instead of crying, she blocks it with her whole body.

“No… ! I hate dogs! No!”

It shouldn’t be like this.
She chose Grape, a stronger magical girl who seemed safer, but was only beaten by a tentacle dog because of her dog phobia.
I don’t know what will happen if tentacle dogs and demon dogs flock to me.
I have to do it somehow.

“Grape, open your eyes!”
“Oh… ! Whoa… ! Eww…”

I ran the hypnosis application while Grape responded to my voice and opened my eyes for a moment.
In a moment, Grape’s panicked expression softens slightly, and the blade tentacle strikes Grape’s back and pulls him.
Even in an unconscious state, she doesn’t move as if she doesn’t want to get out of my way, but it’s not a situation where I can be so relieved.

“You are no longer afraid of dogs.”
“I hate it! I’m scared!”

Immediately trying to get rid of Grape’s dog phobia with hypnosis, I was startled by a fierce rejection reaction I’d never seen before.
The resistance of the ring floating above the head did not occur.
This is a complete refusal to the point where no resistance is necessary.

Negative emotions pour out of Grape, and a story he told him at his drinking party comes to mind.
When I was young, a large dog bit my hand and ran without letting go, dragging me around as if I was being hunted.
The back of my hand and the palm of my hand were left with large wounds, so I couldn’t move my hands for a while.
As much as I liked physical education, gymnastics, and ballet, the frustration at that time became a fear of dogs.
A shadow or silhouette of a dog is fine, but if a dog is in front of you, the pain and fear of being bitten and dragged will haunt you.

Then what kind of hypnosis should I use?
The simple hypnosis to not be afraid of dogs failed.
Is it the problem of being too direct with the trauma?
If you think of pain and fear and are afraid, can you hypnotize yourself so that you don’t feel it?

“Whoa whoa!”

The tentacle dogs wrapped around Grape’s limbs pulled Grape with all their might.
Then, as if he thought it was impossible to do it alone, he called his colleagues with a cry that made him feel afraid.
Other tentacle dogs, demon dogs came rushing in.
There is no time.

“When I hold my hand, I feel no pain or fear for a while, and I feel euphoric.”

First of all, it makes it impossible to recall bad memories.
I set a limit so that hypnosis is not always activated by setting appropriate conditions.

“The dog is a shadow, and the whole body is black and blurry.”

By limiting the senses, the value input to Grape when he sees the dog is changed so that Grape appears in an acceptable form.

“Watch me.”

The last hypnosis is like a simple incantation.
If you hypnotize yourself to protect yourself, the hypnosis to protect you will take precedence, so you may act even if you are afraid of a dog-shaped infection or monster.
After all the hypnosis that came to my mind right now, I immediately closed the hypnosis application.

“Eww… No… ! No!”

Grape, regaining his sanity, confirmed that the tentacle dog’s tentacles were wrapped around his limbs, glanced behind him, and shook his head as he closed his eyes.
They are trembling and drenched in fear, unable to escape from the panic.
He is so frightened and embarrassed that he does not even realize that he was hypnotized and lost consciousness for a while.

“Grape, calm down.”

I immediately took Grape’s hand and calmed him down.
It doesn’t bring up scary memories, and it makes you forget the pain for a while.
Coincidentally, the hand I was holding was the one with the clear scar from Grape’s dog bite.

“Ha… Ha… Uh… ? Uh… ?”

The focus returns to Grape’s eyes, which have gradually calmed down, and Grape, who has regained his sanity, pulls his arm in panic.
The arm that had been gripped by the tentacles just a moment ago burned with magic power, and the tentacles exploded.
Grape stood still, quickly calming down, unable to take his eyes off my hand.

“It’s okay, I’m not afraid.”
“Hey, Anger… ? Uh?”
“Grape.”
“Oh… Ugh… !”

Grape, who gradually calmed down and then became confused in a different way from dog phobia, gulped down his saliva.
Close your eyes to me, who calms you down, and catch your breath.
The pulse you feel in your wrist is beating fast.

“Don’t be afraid.”

The pounding, pounding sound gets louder and louder.
The eyes that are still fixed on me shine hotly and get wet.
The eyes fixed on me do not budge to the extent that it is appropriate to say that I am deeply immersed.

“Aaaaa… Really!”

Grape’s sword suddenly turned away from me and cut through the tentacle dog with one stroke.
After dealing with the tentacle dogs with unrecognizable movements, demon dogs and tentacle dogs appear in groups.
Demon dogs pour in through the door that connects to the railroad track that Grape opened.

With a light movement, as if slashing an insect, the Demon Dog, which was split in two, poured out black blood, and the tentacles of the Tentacle Dog, which had been torn vertically and could not move, wriggled.
Fortunately, the hypnosis went well, so he doesn’t look frightened anymore.
For Grape, who was fighting properly, the demon dog and the tentacle dog were no match.
The corpses of demon dogs and tentacle dogs piled up in an instant.

“Ha… Ha… Ha…”

In an instant, Grape, who cut down all the dog-shaped infected and monsters with his sword, lowered his head quietly and gasped for breath, then squeezed the handle so that the hand holding his sword trembled.
It’s embarrassing, yet happy, and yet absurd.
Complex emotions flow from the body, creating subtle flavors.

“No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t even work hard… I’ve been scared all my life…”

Grape, who had been standing still, muttered his strange words, then closed his mouth again.
The taste of emotions coming out of Grape, who doesn’t say anything, gradually changes into something strange.

“To protect… Just by doing… To this extent, to this extent… What is this…”

If it’s positive, it’s positive, if it’s negative, it’s a negative confused emotion.
It’s hard to say, but strangely, I can feel the temperature.
It is so hot that I wonder if this bizarre sense of feeling emotions as taste is burning.

“What should I do…”