Rebirth From Ordinary Person To The Strongest

"Snap!"

A snapping sound right in front of me made me open my eyes.

"Huh...?"

The stuffed animal that had been right in front of me was gone, completely vanished, as if it had all been a weird dream. But it wasn't just that—suddenly, I felt shorter, like I'd somehow shrunk.

Looking down, I saw that my hands and feet were tiny, like they were three years ago…

"Ta-da!"

As I blinked in surprise on the bench, Dad held out a huge tub of popcorn in front of me.

"So, Nina, did that surprise wake you up?"

"Oh, Dad!"

I hopped down from the bench, a little annoyed. Dad loved surprises like this, but it had been so long since the last one that I couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed as I accepted the popcorn.

While I wondered when Dad had managed to buy it, I noticed something strange: he'd only brought one tub of popcorn.

Because, if it were really Dad…

"Hey, Dad. What about for Itsuki…?"

"Itsuki?"

I'd asked because Dad would never buy just for me alone. But when I said his name, Dad tilted his head as if he didn't know who I was talking about. Turning around, I realized no one was sitting on the bench behind me.

…Wait.

There really was no one else there.

Something felt wrong.

"Come on, Nina! There are still so many rides left. Let's conquer them all before Ilena arrives!"

"Wait, you're actually serious?"

"I'm always serious," he said with a wink, then took my hand.

"So, my princess, where would you like to go next?"

"...Let's just walk a bit."

"Sounds good! I'll escort you."

With the popcorn in hand and no idea what other attractions this amusement park had, I asked Dad to let us wander around. As we walked, I started remembering bits and pieces.

Last Wednesday, Dad had suddenly said, "Let's go to an amusement park!" Mom agreed, but both their jobs came up unexpectedly that week, so we couldn't go. We'd planned to come this weekend, but Mom got called to work again and said she'd join us later.

Though it was disappointing, I'd gotten used to them both getting called away at the last minute. I didn't mind too much—I'd be praised if I was patient.

Still, we were supposed to come together as a family, and I couldn't help feeling sad that Mom couldn't join us again.

"Dad, why is being an exorcist so busy?"

"Well, it's because our job is to protect people."

"…"

Dad always said the same thing.

Because he had to protect people, because there were people who needed help.

He was the only one who could protect them.

I didn't really understand that. If there were people who needed help, someone else could take care of it, right? It didn't have to be Dad.

"You'll understand someday, princess."

"...I'm not a sixth-rank Queen. I'm a fourth-rank Bishop."

Dad was trying to brush off the topic, so I teased him back a little. He ruffled my hair and said,

"You'll always be my princess, Nina."

I told him to stop since he always made my hair all messy, but he never did.

There were only a few rides I could go on because of my height, so there weren't many I could try with Dad. But as long as I got to spend time with him, it didn't matter what ride we went on.

Dad was always busy with work and barely ever home, always saying, "Work, work."

Riding the carousel horse with him, I asked, "Dad, you're not going to get called to work today, right?"

Asking this while we were on a ride together somehow felt safer, like he wouldn't just disappear. Dad just smiled in response.

"Of course not. Today, I'm your knight."

"No, you're just a 'fourth-rank Bishop.'"

"You're only pretending not to understand because you know what I meant, huh? Clever girl—I'm proud of you."

He said that from behind me.

Both my parents were "fourth-rank Bishops," and that's why they were so busy.

People called them "geniuses" because they were among the few who could exorcise monsters that no one else could handle.

"Today's an exception, Nina. You don't have to practice magic if you don't want to."

"No, I want to practice."

"Then we'll practice when we get home?"

"Yes, with you and Mom."

When Dad suggested skipping practice, I shook my head. Because I was a "genius" too. And someday, I'd be an exorcist just like Mom and Dad.

Then, we'd be together.

The music ended, and the carousel stopped spinning. Dad and I headed toward the next attraction.

"Are you hungry yet, princess?" he asked, playfully.

"That popcorn was filling."

"Oh, well, then let's at least get something to drink…"

Right then, Dad suddenly looked up, and I found myself doing the same.

The sky was so clear and blue, and the air was crystal clear, like you could almost see the moon hanging up there.

In the sky, something dangled like a marionette, bound by threads of something almost invisible, stretching straight up.

Its entire body was covered in masks, each one shouting something different.

"Hey! Hey! What a lovely day," some said.

"Kids' smiles are the best," said others.

Only Dad and I could hear those voices.

Because only exorcists could see monsters.

At the sound, Dad snapped his heel sharply, signaling for his fairy magic.

"Erase it."

The Pixies he summoned shot toward the monster in the sky—and with a loud

pop

, every single one of them burst.

"Look! It's an exorcist!"

"We're here to bring smiles to kids!"

"Spread the joy!"

With the monsters' piercing voices in the air, Dad snapped his heel once more.

"Swallow it."

A massive whale materialized and swallowed the marionette monster whole—but then the whale's belly bulged and exploded with a loud pop.

"...!"

Dad gasped.

The monster, emerging from the burst whale, was trembling with laughter.

"Step right up! Step right up! Is everyone ready?"

Laughing as if Dad's magic didn't matter, the marionette monster's strings unraveled.

Its body stretched out like a sheet, scattering a torrent of stuffed animals.

"Come, all actors! Let's have fun!"

Dad's face tightened at the words.

I was too stunned to breathe.

A monster that could create other monsters had to be fifth-rank or higher…

"Nina! Run! I'll handle this!"

Dad's shout faded as I saw the sky above us darken. It looked as if our entire world was getting sealed off.

"A… barrier?"

Dad's face twisted in frustration.

"Dad, is this…?"

"We've been sealed in. We won't get out unless the barrier's broken from the outside."

Would a fifth-rank monster really be able to create a barrier and summon monsters like this?

Right then, a scream echoed from the carousel.

I looked over and saw stuffed animals playing soccer with a man's severed head, their bodies soaked in blood.

"Hey there, come play with us!"

"It's fun!"

The boy they were calling out to stood frozen, not understanding what was happening.

"Don't worry! Only adults die!"

The stuffed animals, in garish colors, chattered with high-pitched voices.

One stuffed animal beckoned to the boy.

"Sink it."

With a sharp stomp, Dad banished the stuffed animals and the severed head into shadows.

"Oh no! Shadow Send!"

"They'll kill us!"

The voices rang out as they were banished.

Dad let out a sigh, but the moment he turned to check on me, a woman beside me was split in half.

"Mom! Mom!!"

A girl screamed as she was sprayed with blood from the bisected woman.

"Marvelous!"

"Ha ha ha!"

The stuffed animals raced past the screaming girl, tearing through anyone nearby.

Adults around the amusement park fell to the monsters, their bodies ripped apart in seconds.

Blood sprayed everywhere. People were dying, screaming, and the stuffed animals' laughter echoed louder than all the rest.

"Run! Get away from the stuffed animals!" Dad yelled.

But his voice was drowned out by the terror and chaos around us, his call buried under the nightmare's cacophony.

"Nina! Stay close to me…!"

"Okay…"

I clutched his clothes tightly, but just then, I caught sight of the bisected woman twitching. My voice caught in my throat.

Her body, split in two, started moving, like a grotesque insect.

"Children are the most perfect beings," the marionette monster declared, "but their growth requires adults."

The woman's mouth opened, forming slow words.

"P…lay…"

"Mom…?"

The girl watched, tears streaming down her face, as the dead woman's body moved.

"Burn it!" Dad shouted, jolting me back to my senses.

From his feet rose a massive dragon, a creature I'd seen only once before—Ifrit, the greatest fairy in Dad's arsenal.

Blue flames consumed the woman's body, erasing her entirely, not even ashes left behind.

"Mom…?"

A faint voice escaped the girl's lips. Trying to drown out the girl's horror, Dad raised his voice.

"Burn every dead body, every stuffed body—Ifrit! Before this carnival of the dead spreads further!"

The "Carnival of the Dead."

A catastrophe where the people killed by monsters become possessed by dark magic, turning them into monsters themselves. When monsters multiply uncontrollably, that's when it becomes a disaster.

"That'd be quite troublesome!"

"Interference is unacceptable!"

"This is a party!"

As the marionette monster's shrill voices rang out, it reappeared directly in front of Dad.

"You're not invited."

"Take it!" Dad yelled.

He summoned more Pixies, which grabbed hold of the monster's body, wrapping around it. But as soon as they touched it, the Pixies inflated, ballooning until they burst, leaving behind nothing but dolls that scurried away.

"Haha! Such weak magic!"

"A fourth-rank Bishop? Or maybe a third-rank Knight?"

"…!"

Dad grimaced, opening his mouth to cast, but his voice faltered mid-spell.

"Dad?"

I looked up, and there was…nothing left.

Dad's left side was completely gone.

"D-Dad…?"

"Hmm. Are modern exorcists really this feeble?"

The monster's jeers echoed, mocking and taunting.

"Pathetic."

Dad's body tilted forward, and I grabbed the back of his clothes, trying to hold him up, pulling as hard as I could, but he kept falling.

"Please, no…! Dad! No, please…!"

"Aha," sneered the marionette. "I almost forgot—we haven't introduced ourselves."

It raised its multiple faces in a mockery of a formal bow.

"Let me introduce myself."

"The sixth-rank Queen," the marionette said, each mask singing out a name:

"Puppet-Lappet-Marionette."

The voices chanted, hailing this creature as a "Queen." But I couldn't cover my ears; if I did, Dad might slip from my grasp.

Just then, Dad extended his remaining arm.

"You," he whispered hoarsely, his blood pouring out.

"Dad…?"

"There's…no such thing…as a sixth-rank Queen…"

With his remaining strength, Dad whispered one final command.

"Ifrit…"

As Ifrit returned to Dad, it licked the blood from his arm, then launched itself toward the monster, breathing flames so bright I had to close my eyes.

Desperate, I clung to Dad's clothes, hoping that holding on would keep him from leaving me.

"Listen to me, Nina," he said, his voice warm even as his body was consumed by flames.

"I'll always be with you."

Before I could even process it, Ifrit devoured Dad's remaining arm.

"W-What?"

"To exchange one's body for heightened power?"

"A rather old-fashioned method," muttered the monster.

Ifrit roared, its flames intensifying, turning a brilliant violet as they spread across the park, scorching everything.

But I wasn't burned, not even warm, because Dad's flames didn't hurt people.

"No, stop!" I yelled, panic flooding my heart as I realized what Dad was doing.

Dad planned to sacrifice himself to destroy the monster.

"Dad, I don't want you to die!"

"Thank you," he said softly. "But I'm an exorcist, Nina."

He whispered, "Take me, Ifrit."

With a final stomp, Dad summoned Ifrit, who engulfed him in purple flames, swallowing Dad's words and leaving only a fading whisper of his presence.

"A-Are you kidding me?"

"Is this a joke?" The monster's voices sneered.

"Yes. This is reality," they mocked, as Dad's head dropped to the ground with a heavy

thud

.

"No… This can't be… No…"

But this was real. Dad's face was covered in blood, his head lying still on the ground, illuminated by the flames that had once been his strength.

"Stop…no…Dad! DAD!"

Tears poured down my face, and I ran toward him, but my legs froze, my body refusing to move.

I was forced to face the monster, helpless.

The marionette drew closer.

"You should be smiling."

"Children look best with a smile," it said.

"Let's smile together," it urged, and despite my anguish, my mouth stretched into a smile.

Laughter escaped me, against my will. Tears streamed down my face as laughter burst from my lips, my voice warped, mocking, forced to smile when all I wanted to do was scream.

"Wonderful!"

"What a joyful world!"

The laughter wouldn't stop. Even as tears choked me, even as I struggled to breathe, the forced laughter continued.

The park burned around me, yet my own sadness and terror only grew, my body beginning to transform as my limbs turned soft and plush.

I was turning into…a doll.

"Dad died…they killed him…"

Even though I was devastated, I laughed. Even as grief consumed me, my voice was a cruel echo of joy.

My laughter felt like it was mocking Dad. It was as if I were laughing at his helplessness, his failure to save anyone, even himself.

"Now then."

"Are you ready?"

"Come with me—into my world."

The marionette's taunts faded as every doll in the park exploded, one after another.

"What? So soon? Did the barrier break?"

A new voice broke through the void.

"What's so funny?"

The monster's gaze lifted to the sky, as did mine.

"Why are you laughing when people are dying?"

The gray sky cracked, revealing a boy who dropped down from the split sky.

"This is her memory, isn't it?"

The scene shattered around me as Itsuki descended, reaching out to break the monster's hold.

His spell returned my body to normal, restoring my movements and halting the forced laughter. I choked, coughing as I felt the weight of his healing magic settle over me, even the last traces of the plush transformation vanishing.

By the time I'd fully grasped my own freedom, Itsuki was already standing before me, shielding me from the monster.

"I used a Purification Tag to enter," he said quietly.

He had come for me.

"I'm sorry, Nina. I'm sorry I'm late."

Itsuki had come to save me.

"I'll take care of everything now."

Around us, the burning amusement park faded, revealing the marionette monster, floating ominously in the sky.

As I looked up at the sky, I remembered everything.

Why Dad had died.

Why I was here.

And why Itsuki had come to help.

"I'll end this—once and for all."