Chapter 9

Dead Mount Death Play #09 is the ninth chapter of the Dead Mount Death Play manga.

Summary
Kozaburo Arase identifies Lemmings by name as he, Tsubaki Iwanome, Clarissa Kuraki, and her second bartender look on. "Polka Shinoyama" - the Corpse God - stands frozen in the back, transfixed by what he sees with his Evil Eye: surrounding Lemmings numerous undead souls, warped and terrible.

Clarissa orders her belligerent blonde and brunette 'bunnies' to not wield their weapons and stand down, pointing out that Lemmings would have already murdered someone if murder were his primary goal. However, she supposes that he may decide to commit murder later on.

Meanwhile, Iwanome forcibly attempts to calm down and think through possibilities. Both Lemmings and Misaki Sakimiya's footprints were found at the "human knots" crime scene, so Lemmings could potentially be working for Clarissa - except not, since there would be no reason for Lemmings to reveal himself as he has done now. Iwanome concludes that Clarissa is Lemmings' target as Lemmings 'looks' at her - only for Lemmings to turn his head away not a moment later.

Arase says Iwanome should give up trying to read Lemmings and just try to arrest him here and now, since Comps-3 already wants him for property damage among other things. Iwanome reminds him they are in a public space, but Arase nods to two of his policemen and replies that protecting civilians is also a part of their job.

Behind the half wall, Misaki asks "Polka' if he thinks Lemming might be "even scarier" than the cop Arase. "Polka" idly agrees, still preoccupied by the souls undulating around Lemmings; he wonders if they were all killed by Lemmings, and whether their warped, eldritch appearance is the result of their fear and loathing competing with each other.

As Arase orders Lemmings to come quietly, Iwanome reflects that Arase's yakuza background and experience doing illegal deep cover operations make him one one of the department's best in terms of courage and skill. Still - this is Lemmings, and Lemmings dispatches the first couple men who approach him with superhuman strength. Araase kicks a broken bottle at Lemmings' chest, following it up with a direct kick, but the glass eventually crumbles and Lemmings remains unfazed...

...So Arase whips out a baton and drives it at his neck. Lemmings catches it with his right hand; Arase breaks out a pair of handcuffs, only for Lemmings to hurl him at a nearby set of table-and-chairs. Iwanome shouts Arase's name; with a cough, Arase - a cut on his left cheek, aches to his gut and back - gets to his feet and rushes Lemmings concurrently with several other officers.

"Polka," watching from the sidelines, tries to puzzle Lemmings out. In comparing Arase to a carnivore, he compares Lemmings to a plant or a stone. For all intents and purposes Lemmings appears human, but he feels like a "colony of ants taking human form" - and "Polka" resolves not to become involved and avoid garnering attention.

And then Lemmings looks in his direction. Hurtling around Arase and the other police officers, he comes to a stop in front of Misaki, bows, and snatches her up. With a start, Iwanome realizes that she was the target.

Using some sort of mechanical rope or pulley system attached to the ceiling, Lemmings begins ascending toward the ceiling with Misaki over his shoulder. "Polka" instinctively raises his hands to use magic, but caution freezes him in place. His thoughts go into overdrive, reminding him of the consequences of using a spell: using magic in front of [military] police would likely ruin his chances of having a peaceful life; a wrong move could potentially be catastrophic; and batting Lemmings - who reminds him of Shagrua - will not end well.

He asks himself whether it is worth saving Misaki, someone who is neither not exactly a family, friend or lover, and someone who should be prepared to die as an assassin. In order to achieve his desired peaceful life, the logical thing to do would be to abandon her and run away.

Instead of running, "Polka' summons serrated bone blades out of the thin air and slashes them at Lemmings. Lemmings dodges them and flips safely onto the chandelier, still holding Misaki; with magic spells whirring at his fingertips, "Polka' concludes that he has reincarnated into "quite the proper fool."