Bungo Stray Dogs - Volume 5 Chapter 2 Part 2

2—2

Towering high-rise buildings, a giant redbrick warehouse, a historic city hall building, the Bay Bridge stretching into the distance—the city was eerily silent under the fog. Not a soul in sight.
Although it was far past midnight, it seemed odd that there was not a single person in the shopping arcade, on the Ferris wheel in the amusement park, or even in the park by the sea. There was just white fog. Kyouka boldly strode down the misty street while Atsushi timidly followed, their footsteps echoing against the cobblestone paving.
Is it really okay to be walking outside? Shouldn’t we just wait for the others to contact us? Atsushi couldn’t help but wonder, even though he knew there was no way they could have contacted the agency. He couldn’t stop trembling at the thought of mysterious fog driving skill users to suicide, and he instinctively wrapped his arms around his body and leaned forward as he walked. It was hard to believe that Kyouka could be so courageous at a time like this.
“Um… Kyouka?”
Crash! There was a roar the moment Atsushi called out her name. “…!”
It was the sound of something large breaking. Kyouka immediately sprinted in the direction of the crash.
“Kyouka!” yelled Atsushi as he chased after her. Around the corner, they found a car that had collided into a traffic light. The bumper was mangled, and the car was hanging over the guardrail. It must have been going rather fast for this to have happened.
Kyouka ran in front of the car and peeked inside. Atsushi cautiously approached the vehicle as well, wondering if the passengers were all right. There was a crack in the windshield but no blood. In fact, nobody was injured—the car was empty. There was no one in the back, in the passenger’s seat, or even in the driver’s seat. What had happened, then? Who drove this car into the traffic light?
Someone had to be driving the car, so why…?
“What’s going on?”
Atsushi’s thought escaped his lips. This ominous sensation wouldn’t go away. He suddenly looked up and gasped at what he saw.
“Kyouka…,” uttered Atsushi hoarsely. Kyouka followed his gaze, and her eyes opened wide just like his.
“…!”
On the main road up the street from the totaled car were even more wrecked vehicles.
A pileup accident. Multiple collisions. An explosion—numerous possibilities sprang to Atsushi’s mind. Over a dozen cars had collided into one another and were piled up at the end of the street like a bunch of broken toys. Columns of black smoke rose into the air. Atsushi had never seen an accident of such scale, so he sprinted ahead, unable to take it any longer.
What happened? Can we save anyone? He ran over to each beat-up vehicle to check inside…but he didn’t find a single passenger. Both the streets and the cars were empty. Kyouka looked around as well, but her experience was no different. The entire situation was unnatural to begin with. Where were the police? Where were the ambulances?
Atsushi and Kyouka exchanged glances, then started to search the city: the back roads, the police station, inside fast-food joints. Even though the lights were still on, there was nobody in sight. Next to a half-eaten bowl of soba noodles was a phone, as if someone had just been using it a few seconds ago.
Steam was still rising from the coffee at the seat next to it. It was as if all the city’s inhabitants had just vanished into thin air. When Atsushi really thought about it, he realized that he and Kyouka hadn’t seen anyone since they’d left the dormitory. He’d thought it was odd, but he never expected it would be this bad.
A white mist floated softly through the air as if to conceal the abandoned city. An eerie chill crawled up Atsushi’s body. None of this felt real. Was there really such an absurd skill that could make an entire city full of people disappear? He couldn’t completely deny the possibility. After all, he had seen a skill weapon that could instantly wipe out tens of thousands of people in the blink of an eye. Could this be the fog’s—the Collector’s— skill, then? What was happening to this city?
Suddenly, Atsushi felt as if he could hear a small child crying in the distance. But when he listened close, he couldn’t believe his ears.

“Get out, you parasite!”

Atsushi froze when he heard a voice coming from the void. What was happening? The orphanage director couldn’t be there, so why could he hear their voice? Where was it coming from? Atsushi mustered up the courage to scan his surroundings, but he and Kyouka were the only ones present. Of course, the director wasn’t anywhere in sight. But the moment Atsushi wished he was just hearing things, he sensed a presence behind him and spun around.

“You don’t belong in this world.”

The orphanage director emerged from the wavering fog as if Atsushi’s dream had come to life. This…can’t be good, he thought. Sensing danger, Atsushi’s defensive instincts kicked in.
“Kyouka.” He immediately called out to her. She braced herself for battle and whispered sharply, “…I sense bloodlust, and it’s strong.”
She strained her eyes and focused on a single point before sprinting forward.
“…!”
Atsushi cried out her name and chased after her, but he briefly glanced back once more. There was only empty space where he saw the director—a perfectly normal street lined with various buildings.
What was that? he wondered. But thinking would get Atsushi nowhere, so he continued to chase after Kyouka, hoping to clear his head.

There was a car flipped over on its side in the middle of the road with blood splattered across its underside, its wheels, and the pavement beneath where the blood trickled into the gutter. The crimson trail continued down the road into the deep fog as if something had been dragged in that direction. This was where Kyouka’s senses led her.
“Blood…”
Atsushi grimaced at the pungent stench. He felt nauseous. The amount of blood made it clear that the victim was no dog or cat. It was human.
Another skill-assisted suicide? But there’s no body…
While Atsushi stood paralyzed with fear, Kyouka calmly observed the pool of blood. But the moment she noticed the trail it left…
Snap. Crack.

There was something at the end of the trail, hidden within the fog.

The hairs on Atsushi’s body stood on end. Whatever it was, it was breaking apart something hard and stiff…as if it were snapping and shattering bones. Snap. Crack. He felt an ominous presence coming from the depths of the fog. Surely encountering whatever that something was would not end well. Atsushi felt weak in the knees. Kyouka, however, started to walk ahead without so much as a moment’s hesitation, following the trail of blood. Atsushi, while a few steps behind, soon followed in a fluster. There was no time to waste. The trail cut through the road, leading to the entrance of an office building. The building was completely dark, perhaps due to the lights not being on, but they could still hear the snapping and cracking.
Something was inside the building, but there was no telling what it was. If this thing was responsible for all the blood like the two of them imagined
—if it was still feasting on the victim’s bones, then whatever this something was had to be considerably powerful. The remains of the violent massacre were further proof that they had to be careful. Was this a skill user? Or was it something different completely? Although nervous, Atsushi tailed Kyouka as she boldly pushed forward.
Atsushi was well aware he had been keeping behind Kyouka ever since they left the dormitory. But the nightmare, the ominous fog, the unknown killer—it was all terrifying. He couldn’t help but be frightened. Aware of his cowardice but lacking the means to keep it in check, Atsushi fearfully continued ahead. Nevertheless, right as they started getting closer to the building, that something turned its murderous sights at them. It roared like a beast.
“…!”
Atsushi and Kyouka braced themselves for combat. The beast’s eyes glowed amid the darkness as it lunged with a ferocious roar and jumped from building to building. It was so fast that only its shadow could be seen. All Atsushi knew was that it was massive.
“…!”
It threw itself at Atsushi with extraordinary speed. Atsushi dodged the attack, albeit just barely. Sheer dumb luck. He wasn’t confident he’d be able to evade another.
Crap, this is bad. A cold sweat drenched Atsushi’s back.
The beast had flown by Atsushi in the blink of an eye, and he didn’t get a good look at it. By the time he realized the beast was there, it had already passed him by. There was no way to visually keep up with it. After Atsushi dodged its attack, the beast leaped back onto the building wall, then launched itself at Kyouka and Atsushi once again. They were going to be killed at this rate.
Atsushi practically started trembling before the formidable foe, but he fought through the fear and prepared for battle. He couldn’t show any openings, for any careless mistake would land him the same fate of the person bleeding out on the street. Without even glancing at his side, he knew that Kyouka was thinking the same thing.
“Let’s do this!” he said to her.
The two of them called upon their weapons to defeat the mysterious black beast.
“Skill: Beast Beneath the Moonlight!” “Skill: Demon Snow!”
Atsushi’s skill could transform him into a tiger. Kyouka’s allowed her to manifest an ominous phantom wielding a sword. Both were powerful enough for them to annihilate their foe. However…
…nothing happened.

Atsushi didn’t turn into a tiger, nor did Kyouka’s phantom ever appear.
No reaction at all.
“What the…?!”
Atsushi was at a loss for words, and Kyouka’s eyes opened wide in astonishment. This had never happened before. Amid their shock, the mysterious beast roared, then lunged at them.
“…!”
Kyouka stiffly grabbed Atsushi by the arm and instantly took off. He ran as she dragged him through the city with its inorganic facades made of concrete, iron, and stone. It was as if Yokohama had been frozen in time. Explosions could be heard in the background as white smoke billowed up into the sky. It was obvious that the beast was barreling through cars or whatever got into its way as it chased them. Each impact smashed in the asphalt, sending dust storms into the air.
They could feel small pieces of gravel pelt their backs as they fled. Using cars as barricades, sprinting through narrow alleys, or even suddenly changing directions made little difference. The beast simply knocked the cars out of the way, blew down the buildings, and swiftly kept up with them before cutting them off. Vehicles soared through the air before crashing and burning while buildings collapsed, leaving clouds of dust. No matter where they ran, the beast didn’t give up. It relentlessly chased them, but they had no means of dealing with its overpowering strength and speed, for neither of them could use their skill.
Pant! Pant! Pant! Pant! Atsushi was gasping for air as he ran. He couldn’t let the beast catch him if he wanted to live. Even if it hurt to breathe—even if his heart and lungs felt like they were going to explode— even if his leg muscles felt like they were going to rupture, he couldn’t stop. Atsushi wasn’t getting enough oxygen to his brain; he thought he was going to faint. How much farther would he have to run? He felt as if he could hear the beast breathing right down his neck, and a cold sweat trickled down his skin. Like the footsteps of the grim reaper, the sounds of destruction seemed to be rapidly approaching. He was scared. He was afraid to die—afraid to be killed. Sheer terror gripped Atsushi’s entire being. The beast roared, and the force of its breath alone whipped their hair around. They had to be quicker. They had to run farther.
“…!”
But when Atsushi raced around the corner, he tripped over something. “Augh…!”
His foolish scream echoed across the intersection.