Chapter 34

Chapter 34 is the thirty-fourth chapter of the Dead Mount Death Play manga.

Synopsis
In a flashback to the Corpse God's childhood, a young Corpse God—wearing a skull mask—receives a basic necromancy lesson from Easlies Swordfrail on "netherworld overflow" and constructing a temple: a process of calling forth air from "the other side" to recreate an invisible, tangible 'presence' that even those without the Evil Eye can sense; if a necromancer devotes enough time to the ritual, they can even use this process over a magic spell to disorient others.

The Corpse God calls forth as much air as he can and appears disappointed that he could not produce more, but his master assures him there is no need to rush: if he continues honing his skills, he should someday be able to envelop an entire castle with this ability.

In Shinjuku, Danjō Tozawa and Ranmaru Yatsu feel the hot, humid air turn cold and stare up at the torture building as one. Tozawa, his smiling eyes turned serious, agrees with Yatsu that he is picking up on "bad vibes."

Carrying the real Polka Shinoyama in his hoodie, the Corpse God ascends the stairs inside the torture building and plots what to do. While he does not want to directly confront Lemmings, he does intend to prevent the two people who asked him about the royal emblem from escaping the area; as a first step, he will assist Xiaoyu Lei. When the Real Polka worries doing so would cause everyone around the building to see Corpse God, the Corpse God replies that he will employ an invisibility trick.

On the rooftop, Xiaoyu, Lemmings, and Tena Sorimura have all come to a temporary halt at the sudden chill in the air—but Sorimura, who has concluded the feeling is simply a bad feeling rather than some physical phenomenon, decides it would be wise to leave and tosses a card at Lemmings. The card crumples mid-air and drops to the ground. Both Xiaoyu and Lemmings deny responsibility when Sorimura asks, though Lemmings is quick to stop shaking his head and take a step foward—only for an invisible force to yank at his hoodie and hold tight.

Xiaoyu reacts with bewilderment at the strange sight, but Lemmings strains hard enough to break free—his hoodie ripping in the process—and dashes for Sorimura once more. Something invisible whacks at Sorimura's ankle; as he falls backward, he manages to toss a jack-in-the-box from which a boxing glove springs at Lemmings. In order to block or deflect the box, Lemmings raises his left arm—which is then snatched and wrenched behind his back by an unseen force.

Again Lemmings is able to yank himself free, and again his clothing tears. Sorimura—feeling like something has been obstructing him for some time—realizes that since Xiaoyu has been unaffected, the 'something' is targeting just him and Lemmings.

Meanwhile, the Corpse God is pleased with how well events have proceeded thus far; by expanding the boundaries of the netherworld overflow, and by easily sympathizing with the dead and sharing his sense of touch with them, he has been able to exert precise control within his 'temple' ('sanctuary'). With the situation in his favor, he decides to "take things a little further."

No matter how fascinated Sorimura is with what is taking place, he still nevertheless wants to "call it a night." After setting off a smokescreen and releasing various balloons, he uses a miniature hot-air balloon to make his escape from the rooftop.

Watching the smoke and balloons from the street below are Yatsu and Tozawa, the former of whom begins dialing Tsubaki Iwanome's number so that he can report what is happening. Tozawa asks how much the report will cover, and Yatsu looks up once more; pushing his sunglasses upward at a certain sight, he grins and remarks Solitaire appears to be "putting on another show."

Sorimura, having cleared the smokescreen, laughs in the wake of his success—and his mirth fades into astonishment at the sight of something within the billowing smoke.

On a nearby rooftop, the man who works for Takeru Shinoyama calls Takeru and says he is sending him a video clip of the situation and asks him to take a look as soon as possible, as the man cannot make "heads or tails" of what he is seeing. Without ending the call, Takeru opens the video on his laptop and murmurs, "What in the..." at the clip's contents.

As Sorimura soars higher into the air, he spots the raincoat-wearing teenager walking away with her father and remarks on how 'kind' it was for the Fire-Breathing Bug to use him (Sorimura) as a distraction. He is quick to forgive them, far too ecstatic at the sight of large black arms reaching for him from the smoky rooftop.

In another flashback to the Other World, Easlies explains to the Corpse God that "sympathizing with the dead" means "sharing one's senses" with the dead, and says he can use crystal balls like the one between them to experience the senses of far-away spirits. The Corpse God responds that he can see and smell a field of wheat and hear a breeze (the crystal ball shows a rural village).

After checking to make sure his soul has not eroded, Easlies mulls this over and says that a proper master would warn her pupil to not do something as dangerous as directly sympathize with dead spirits; however, as neither she nor the Corpse God are 'proper', she decides she will thoroughly train the Corpse God in how to protect his soul. As a result, he should someday be able to use his sympathy as a weapon and share all of his senses with spirits—though she notes the application of the technique itself can be difficult: while one can drain an area's magical essence to their limit within the confines of a magical barrier, in normal conditions one will usually be blocked by the density of magical essence in the air.

The narration explains that, in the Other World, the hands of spirits with whom the Corpse God shared his sense of touch would often be hampered by "an atmosphere" rich with magical essence. However, he can employ the technique without the same limits in this new world, where the magical essence in the air is far more diluted. Thus, his new environment has allowed him to develop a new necromancy which uses Earth's environment against itself: "spirit-of-the-dead threads" which allow the hands of spirits to interact with physical things at a low magic expenditure.

A swarm of invisible hands—though perhaps no longer invisible—chase after Lemmings but cannot capture him, so the Corpse God elects to focus on "the other one." This would be Sorimura, busy bouncing across his own balloons in a bid to evade the pursuing arms. Upon wondering whether the arms are one and the same with the bones from the Shakuzawa Building fire, he concludes that "deception has no place in your name" and swears to Corpse God that he will "get to the bottom of this" as he sets off a second smokescreen...

...from which Lemmings' hand shoots upward in a bid to seize him. The bid fails, and Lemmings has no choice but to plummet alone; as he falls, Sorimura grimly informs him he never wants to see him again.

The Corpse God sighs, his spells disappearing, and informs the real Polka that while the "one on the roof" escaped, he has managed to capture the one below; on a street nearby, the spirit of the Shinoyama maid whom Know killed holds the raincoat-wearing girl in place.

Elsewhere, an unidentified figure reads the online reactions of his comrades to the 'incredible' sight of the arms emerging from the smoke. The group is sure that the arms are related to the bones from the Shakuzawa Building fire, and sure that they are the product of necromancy, a lost power alongside other secret arts of spirit channeling and divine arts which belong to an "ancient country far, far away." A power which not even their ancestors could handle; a power which can guide them to the next level. From all the online chatter emerges a swift, loud consensus: "We must have it."

The unseen individual promises the group that he will use the "full extent of his resources" for this task, and that all of their problems might be solved in one swoop should the situation be properly handled. He then remarks on the irony that those who are carrying out Miyabi Hosorogi's will are gathering at the very same building where he was disposed.

Iwanome, sitting on a sofa with thick stacks of paper and some photographs on the table in front of him, tells Yatsu over the phone that he can give the full report later on; for now, Yatsu should "try to catch him in the act."

Elsewhere, one of Lisa Kuraki's informants returns with news that the police appear to be on the move. Clarissa muses that their already rowdy town appears poised to become all the rowdier.

Referbacks

 * To Chapter 26, in which:
 * Sorimura reads a manga and decides to borrow the idea of a "hot air balloon where the basket's a person" for himself;
 * and in which an online forum or discussion group was filled with angry messages following the 'leak' of the symbol and the death of another Bug associate, with many in the group blaming Sorimura and calling for his death. An unseen individual reminds them of "what happened five years ago."