Chapter 44
The mirror breaks and a sunflower bloom in its place.
The sunflower withers after a moment, and a mirror takes its place again.
After that, it was a repeat of this cycle.
This is a fight between the bosses to dominate the stage.
I was no longer in a position where I had to roll my body to attack Mary one-sidedly.
"Isn't it about time to stop the power struggle?"
"What happened to you, Ella?"
Mary questioned the sudden change in me.
"I just listened to music for a while. Because of that, my body is relaxed and exerting its full strength."
Mary coldly replied.
"Lie."
I said giggling.
"Did I get caught~?"
As soon as Mary attacked using vines, I moved to the mirror behind her.
Mary immediately turned around, but it was too late to avoid my attack.
The ability to inflict physical damage by slashing enemies in sight from inside a mirror is superior when it comes to attack speed.
It's just that it's been difficult to use because I've been unable to create mirrors before.
Clang-!
Mary, who noticed my attack, succeeded in defending by a narrow margin.
However, there were a lot of mirrors around her.
A simple but hard to deal strategy where I move between mirrors to make impossible to determine my position and then slash Mary in her blind spot.
Like the first fight with Slenderman, I corner her.
Ahahahahaha!
A laugh came out at Mary's hurried appearance to block a attack.
She worked hard so far.
Mary was reaching her limit in defending against my attacks and started trying something different.
"Urgh... Help me!"
Tiriririring-!
A beeping sound rang out from the remaining payphone box.
The handset rattled and dropped by itself, and a girl's voice came out.
Is she going to call a monster?
[Hello? I'm Rika! I'm behind-?]
Rika stopped talking as if embarrassed. She had moved behind me, entering the mirror, but she couldn't cut me because I moved to another one.
"Now, what will you do?"
[...!]
Left alone in the mirror, Rika seemed unable to do anything.
Unlike her boss, Mary, Rika did not have the ability to summon her medium, the phone.
A small fry who cannot demonstrate her abilities unless she goes through a public phone box.
"I'm sorry! Now you're stuck in the mirror forever! You will live there forever! It's no longer a phone monster, it's a mirror monster!"
[...]
Oops. I got too excited. I have to stop.
"Excuse me. I got carried away. Wasn't that unlike me?"
Mary looked at me with an annoyed expression.
"No. Ella was always like that."
"Is that so? Well, it doesn't matter. Even that is still me."
Even if I resemble Ella's personality, I am me.
Now that I've separated my identity, I don't have to restrain myself anymore.
Ah, it feels nice.
"Actually, whether it's about adopting monster characteristics or resembling Ella, it was causing me a lot of stress. But you know what? Even if I resemble her, I'm still me, right?"
"Stop talking weird!"
"Ahahaha! It's the first time I've felt so good that my thoughts were wrong!"
A very simple attack. I stepped out of the mirror and lightly dodged it.
"It won't work."
"...Tsk."
The shape of a large phone appeared behind Mary.
This time, it seemed to focus on physical phenomena, not curses. A powerful vibration spread out.
The delicate mirrors around Mary began to crack one by one.
Even though the precious mirrors were broken, I smiled brightly.
"...Shall I show you something fun?"
I created another mirror.
This time it reflected Mary from afar.
The image of her reflection. I pointed my knife at it.
"Are there restrictions on movement because you're using a lot of strength?"
"!!!"
She must have sensed what I was about to do.
Mary, startled by the cold feel of the knife on her neck, canceled the attack and immediately dodged.
"Since long ago, the image reflected in the mirror has been treated as an alter ego. So there were many cases where mirrors were thought of as mysterious or ominous."
It was possible to do this thanks to the widened range of abilities as a mirror monster.
Mary also uses other phone ghost stories, so there's nothing I can't do.
"Pfft."
"Don't play around with Mary-!"
Mary charged at me, clearly mad. Maybe it's because she's a kid, so she gets angry easily.
...Why do I feel pricked?
"I was thinking of ending this soon."
I confronted Mary head-on as well. The blade, filled with as much strength as possible, emitted an unpleasant screech as it clashed.
"Mary. You deal with phones monsters. For example... Like your Satoru-kun or Rika. Stories about mysterious existences beyond phones. You're specially good at dealing with monsters derived from it. In many ways, they're similar to you!"
"Shut up!"
"There are quite a few ghost stories with similar characteristics in mirror ghost stories. In particular, ghost stories about a female ghost appearing in a mirror. Among them, there is a famous one. Wanna guess? I think it would be easy to understand if you imagine Ella."
"...!"
Mary's eyes widened. It was because she felt a powerful aura behind her.
In the created mirror, another girl, not me, swings a terrifying ax at Mary.
Mary couldn't avoid the attack because she was defending against my knife aiming for a gap.
Time is over. The answer is.
"-Bloody Mary. Coincidentally, the names are the same."
Blood gushes and pours from Mary's back.
Mary, who had been floating a little in the air, collapsed to the floor due to gravity.
Bloody Mary is a mysterious girl from a mirror ghost story.
It's portrayed pretty badly in the popular media.
I wonderd if it would be possible for me to summon mirror monsters just like Mary with her phone monsters, and I succeeded wonderfully.
"Go back for now."
Bloody Mary returned in response to my orders.
I observed the fallen Mary.
An ordinary person would have died instantly, but she was still barely breathing.
'She's even slowly recovering. If I want to kill her, it has to be now.'
As I approached Mary, all the vines and sunflowers that ate the school had rotted away.
Even the giant sunflower stalks in the playground.
"If the stage is disappearing while the boss is alive... Looks like James succeeded in installing the artifact. That also means you can't beat me anymore."
"...Haa... Haa..."
Mary crawled miserably on the ground. She shifted her body as she laboredly reached her hand opposite from me.
It may look like she's running away, but to me it seems like Mary is looking for someone.
"Ella!"
After being released from the vines, Kyeong-min, Suho, and Eun-jeong came running to me.
They weren't hurt. I was proud and thankful that they worked so hard while fighting Mary.
"..."
I silently hugged the three of them. The kids hesitated at my awkward action.
In particular, Kyeong-min didn't know what to do.
I know it's embarrassing, but sometimes, things like this are necessary.
...Maybe.
"Soft and soft~"
"Eun-jeong..."
Why are you burying your face in my chest in this situation...
"You don't know restraint..."
The atmosphere was broken.
Now that it's turned out this way, I guess it's time to wrap things up.
I turned around and walked towards Mary.
Holding my knife in my hand.
If I leave her be, she will recover, so I can't just let her go.
"Mary needs to find... Mary... Still... Couldn't find... It's okay if it's just once..."
She muttered pitifully. What the hell is a wish?
The original Ella also had one. Somehow, I seem to have one too.
"Why... No matter how much Mary searches, she can't find it? Why should only Mary be frustrated and sad?"
Mary tried to kill us.
Now, her wishes don't matter.
I don't think wishing is such an important factor in the first place.
There was no mention of a wish in the game... Could it be that each boss has a wish? Ms. Spider and Pierrot too?
"...I hate you... I hate everything! No matter how many times I call, they don't answer! Who are you? Why aren't you coming to find Mary?! Answer me!"
Mary began to tremble.
"Mary can't die yet..."
The obsession with life is strong.
This is the part the differentiates her from other monsters.
If it was another monster, even if their leg was cut off, they would have rushed to kill me.
"Um..."
"Somehow... Feels wrong."
The children seemed puzzled, perhaps because it was the first time the enemy acted in this way.
"Pitiful."
The mood is low. As if it would be awkward to kill Mary heartlessly.
...But we have to kill Mary. Otherwise she'll target us again.
Because the way for Mary to find out who she is looking for is to kill them.
It is my judgement that this kid cannot live while suppressing her bloodlust.
However, separate from that, my intuition is screaming.
Not to kill Mary in this manner.
...There must be another way.
But the fact that she must be killed doesn't change.
I put strength into my hand to cut Mary's throat.
"Goodbye Mary."
"Ella wait!"
I stopped my hand.
"I got a call from Ha-rim."
At this timing? Could it be a coincidence? Probably not...
"Take it."
Ha-rim's voice is heard over Kyeong-min's cell phone.
"Hello? Ella! Seeing as all the plants are gone, it's almost over."
It must have been difficult to attack the stage that was eroding the school, but her voice was relaxed.
I felt better and the tone of my voice slightly rose.
"Yes. Now I only need to kill Mary who is lying on the ground."
"...Before that, there is one oddity."
"?"
"There is still one glowing white phone booth left."
"A white phone booth?"
The objects that appeared in the school were all from Mary's stage.
But a white phone booth? I've never seen anything like that.
Is it another variable?
What gimmick is it?
A white phone booth appeared when Mary was defeated. Usually in games, this kind of situation happens when suggesting alternative strategies.
"..."
Another strategy... It feels a little late for that.
It is also unclear whether the white phone booth actually plays such a role.
Even if that was the case, what would be the point of not brutally killing Mary now and using a different strategy?
From a game perspective, taking a different route would be more interesting and fun.
'This is reality for the kids. Even if it's cruel, wouldn't be the right choice to kill her?'
Time is ticking. What should I do?
-I will give you all my strength, so show the children an adventure. Make this strange world not just scary but full of encounters, farewells, emotions like excitement, sadness, and joy. I want them to know.
I made my decision.
"Ha-rim, try using that phone booth. If it's you, you can use it somehow."
The strategy should be entrusted to the protagonist.
"Okay! I'll try!"
POV Switch - 3rd person
Shin Ha-rim entered the phone booth. A phone booth is a place made for making calls with other people.
Shin Ha-rim thought. Who am I calling?
There was only one person that came to mind at this time. It was Mary.
What should Shin Ha-rim do to call Mary? She was troubled.
The result of simply thinking as if solving a riddle.
She dialed a phone number.
(666-6666-6666)
...The phone calls.
Tiririring... Tiririring...
Mary, who was crawling on the floor, was startled. Mary is the one who makes calls. It was the first time she had received one.
Mary's vague anticipation welled up. She somehow had the idea that when she answered the phone, she might be able to meet the person she was looking for.
Mary hurriedly answered the phone before it rang three times.
She got up despite her scars to properly answer it. Ella was wary of Mary, but Mary didn't care about her.
"...Hello. Who is it? Is it the person Mary was looking for?"
"...Uh... Um... Hello?"
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