Blossoms of the Dark

CLXX Selene: Examination

Trigger Warning:

- gore

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Re-Destro gave us one hour time.

Well, we just wasted fifteen minutes pondering on what to do.

Twice insists that we go save Giran.

Toga entertains the likelihood that Giran is already dead.

Mr. Compress groans at Twice's quick attachment to others.

I imagine a thousand scenarios to get out this situation, each one a bigger failure than the last. Personally, I do not care much for Giran, but this problem arose because he got captured. And now everyone is being dragged with him.

When Twice protests, Shigaraki pulls off his face mask with one swipe, and grins, "I've got an idea." He presses the button of his earpiece. "Doctor, you were listening, weren't you?" Daruma-san was. He seems excited at the prospect of a potential war.

Mr. Compress wonders if the high-end noumu are available to use, but Daruma-san insists that they are not.

Though Mr. Compress is disappointed by the response, Shigaraki is not so crestfallen. His smirk persists, and I try to comprehend what his strategy is. "How many hours do we have until that fatass gorilla wakes up?"

"If nothing interrupts him, he'll wake up in two hours and thirty minutes," replies Mr. Compress.

"Doctor, where's Dabi now?"

Daruma-san says that he is at the border of the Mie and Shiga prefectures.

"How convenient," Shigaraki gloats. "Let's go. Warp us, Doc." Understandably, Spinner dissents the idea. His logic makes sense: we don't know what we are up against, except an army of more than 110,000 soldiers. Even I want to know Shigaraki is thinking.

Shigaraki raises a fist in the air. He explains, "If there's one thing I've learned after fighting it for a month, that thing isn't invincible. It just has stupidly high HP." I try to recall what the word HP means from the occasional nights I spent video gaming with him. Isn't it a unit of health? Each player has one? The greater the HP, the more damage must be dealt to defeat the opponent. Oh, I have no clue! I lost to Shigaraki every time I played his games, anyway. Giving up, I catch Shigaraki slamming his fist into the palm of his other hand. "We'll through Gigantomachia at them and make them fight. That should tire the fatass out a bit." He covers up Twice's face with the mask and repeats his promise to destroy everything.

Suddenly, his plan makes sense. Gigantomachia's heightened senses allows him to locate Shigaraki anywhere in Japan. So if we go to Deika City, Gigantomachia is bound to follow. In other words, Gigantomachia is our trump card. Clever, indeed. But there is still something nagging at me.

I don't voice my doubts. Instead, we contact Dabi, set up a rendezvous point, and Daruma-san transports us there. Now I understand why no one was willing to talk much about the teleportation experience. Black sludge emits from my mouth, coating me into slimy darkness. When light appears, the sludge falls off me into a puddle at my feet and vanishes. Still, the feeling that I technically vomited all over myself makes me nauseous. No sooner than I think it, I dash to the nearest bush and release all that milk from my stomach.

I spare a moment to wash my mouth before regrouping with everyone else. We travel the rest of the way by foot. Toga, Twice, and Mr. Compress strike up a vivacious conversation, and Spinner and Dabi share the occasional word. It is only Shigaraki and I who are astutely mute.

Perhaps it is a bad thing. Because this gives me the chance to delve into my anxiety and paranoia.

Gigantomachia is the ace up our sleeves, but to even bring out the ace, the game has to be played. Re-Destro asked for a war, and a war we will give. But can I? Since I was recruited by the League, I have gathered intel, reported it, all without getting caught. In exchange, I have murdered all those who hurt me. I have killed innocents, too. I am about to murder my family. Every attack executed by the League had my planning and information. I can create solid battle strategies, but can I actually fight?