Chapter 6 Part 27
Translator : PolterGlast
The
blood that spurted out spread like a red carpet under Ken's kneeling feet.
"~!"
"A-,
aaaaaaaaaaa!"
Ken's
screams hit Nozomu's ears. Nozomu frowned painfully at the sight that made him
want to look away.
The
wound was so severe that Nozomu could tell at a glance that Ken was in critical
condition. Ken's right arm was almost severed. He was desperately trying to
hold the wound, but blood was spurting regularly from the cut surface.
As
Ken crouched on his knees, Barrozza and the other military police officers
tried to subdue him.
Two
of them pushed Ken down so that he couldn't resist and then tightened his arms.
After that, they tied his almost severed right arm tightly around the wound to
stop the bleeding.
"A,
aa. M-my arms ..."
Ken
kept groaning as he was pushed down to the ground. Nozomu just watched his
former best friend being seized in silence.
At
that moment, Jihad, clad in silver and white armor, emerged through the
military police surrounding him. Behind him were Inda, Shīna, and the others.
It
was not clear whether they got the message from the messenger or they moved
after hearing Camilla's message. Either way, Jihad and his men also seemed to
have been able to find this place.
Jihad
had already heard that the perpetrators had been subdued, and he walked over
with a look of relief on his face, but when he saw Ken being subdued and
bleeding, he had a stern look on his face.
"So
you did take him down ..."
Jihad
silently approached Nozomu and tapped him on the shoulder.
"A……"
Nozomu
finally noticed Jihad and the others and turned around.
His
mouth was tightly closed and his eyes full of sorrow. Jihad could see that
Nozomu was desperately trying to suppress the emotions swirling in his heart.
It
was reasonable. No matter how much he was framed, Nozomu was not so despicable
that he would not feel anything after hurting someone who had once been his
best friend.
But
as soon as Nozomu noticed Jihad and the others, his eyes went back to the
crouching Ken. He bit his lip but did not turn away.
It
was as if he had made it clear to himself that this was his decision.
"Thank
you for your hard work. And I'm sorry I left it to you."
"No,
it's okay……"
Perhaps
understanding Nozomu's inner thoughts, Jihad did not say much. Instead, he put
his hand on Nozomu's shoulder to support him.
Jihad
nodded in a comforting way as he spoke words of encouragement, and then he
walked toward Ken. As if on cue, Irisdina and Shīna rushed over to Nozomu.
"'Nozomu,
are you alright?"
"Let
me see your wound. I'll take care of it."
After
Irisdina and Shīna rushed over to him, Nozomu was receiving medical treatment.
When he glanced to the side, Irisdina had Somia on her side.
"Nozomu-san...
are you okay?"
"Y-yeah.
I'm okay."
Somia's
eyes were filled with concern for Nozomu, despite the danger she had been
through.
Nozomu
tried to reassure Somia, but he couldn't smile through his tense face.
Nozomu's
current appearance was very similar to the time when he had gone out of control
and almost hurt his friends.
At
that time, Nozomu was frightened when he realized that he had been misled by
Tiamat's illusion and almost killed his friends. Irisdina reached out and
gently touched Nozomu's cheek, repeatedly saying that it was alright.
"Nozomu
..."
Irisdina
called out Nozomu's name as if to reassure him.
Perhaps
also aware of Nozomu's condition, Shīna slowly entwined her fingers around his
hand.
"Are
you alright……?"
The
faces of Irisdina and Shīna, who were looking at him anxiously, spread across
Nozomu's field of vision.
Behind
them, he could also see Mars and the others. They didn't speak to him, but he
could see in their eyes that they were all worried about him.
The
warmth of his hands spread slowly. The heat spreading from where they touched
slowly eased the tension from Nozomu's tense face.
(Ah,
I'm alright now.)
Nozomu
nodded as if to say so, and slowly turned his gaze towards Lisa. Her eyes no
longer showed the sadness she had before.
She
was shocked to see Ken looking up at the sky with a blank expression as he was
held down by the military police officers.
"Lisa
..."
"~!"
Lisa's
shoulders jerked. She had turned pale as if blood drained from her face. In the
depths of her trembling eyes, Nozomu could clearly see the color of fear.
The
anger and hatred that she had directed at Nozomu until now had all turned and
dug against her own heart.
"A,
uu……"
Lisa
backed away from Nozomu as he walked toward her. But her legs, which were stiff
as rocks, could only take one step back and could not move any further.
Lisa's
heart was pounding wildly every time Nozomu slowly moved his legs forward. And
she felt a searing pain in her chest.
As
if to endure the pain, Lisa tightened her own chest with both hands.
Lisa's
body was extremely tense. Her breath became ragged, her shoulders stiffened,
and her eyes blurred as if a sandstorm was dancing in front of her. Her stiff
body trembled and she felt as if she would fall to the ground at any moment.
And
finally, Nozomu stood in front of her.
"Lisa
..."
"..."
An
unavoidable reality and truth. In the face of this, Lisa could only look down.
Nozomu's
low voice struck Lisa's ear. His voice was somewhat weak, but they were still
clear in her ears.
She
bit her lip in anticipation of the word "traitor" that would be
directed at her next.
Nozomu
slowly opened his mouth in front of Lisa, who continued to look down.
Lisa
could not say anything. It was she who had been foolish, and she was the one
who betrayed Nozomu. So she had no choice but to endure. That was the only
thing she could allow herself to do.
With
that in mind, she closed her eyes tightly and prepared herself for abusive
words from Nozomu that were sure to come.
"I
am……"
Nozomu
opened his mouth again. But then, a strange sensation ran through Nozomu's
entire body.
"……What
the."
Nozomu
felt a tingling sensation as if a candle was being shone on his back. When
Nozomu turned around, he saw the young military police officer he had been
talking to just a moment ago.
"Jibin
... -san?"
Outside
of Nozomu's line of sight, Barozza noticed Jibin's appearance and said
something to him.
"That
is……~!"
Shīna,
who was behind Nozomu, opened her eyes in surprise.
Among
those present, she had an extremely high ability to sense spirits, and she
sensed that the spirits were suddenly moving in a panic.
Her
memory of an unforgettable enemy came back to her mind. It was clothed in a
skin as black as sludge, with a vitality that allowed it to transform in a way
that no ordinary demon beast could.
"Everyone
be careful! That is ...!"
Before
Sheena could say a word, Jibin rushed towards Ken, who was pinned down by the
military police officers.
=======================================
As he was being held
down by the Military Police Officers, Ken looked at Nozomu and the others in
front of his eye, as if he were looking at something far away.
"Lisa ..."
"Be quiet!"
He didn't hear the
military police officer yelling at him at all. He couldn't even feel the pain
in his arm now. He tried to reach out, but being completely pinned down, Ken
couldn't even move his arm.
"Lisa, Lisa
..."
The only thing that
kept coming out of Ken's mouth was his incessant need for her.
Barozza, who had been
watching Ken from afar, exhaled heavily as if he couldn't stand it.
"Such a pity, if
you ask me. I'm sorry, but I can't let you do what you want anymore. I have to
put you in jail quietly..."
Barozza frowned at the
sight of Ken who just repeated the name of the woman he was longing for like a
puppet.
There was not a single
thing that made him feel good in this incident. All he could see was the
darkness that lurked inside people and its cruel consequences. But it was
something he had to do.
He had already given
first aid to the arm that Nozomu had sliced open. The wound on his chest was
not that deep. However, his arm was cut so deeply, even if he could
miraculously connect his arm, he would probably have some kind of aftereffects.
He will be taken to
the headquarters for interrogation. After that, it would be up to the
higher-ups to decide what to do with him.
"Come on, get
up!"
After the military
police officers finished tying up Ken's arm completely, Barozza pulled his arm
to make him stand up.
As he did so, he heard
the sound of footsteps coming from behind him.
He turned his head and
looks behind him to see a shadow approaching from the back of the street.
A young man wearing
the same armor worn by military police as himself. The figure was that of a
younger colleague whom Barozza knew well, though he could not see his face
because he was facing his head down.
"Jibin, you're
late. Thank you for contacting the others."
“…………”
Jibin walked towards
Barozza.
Barozza had left Ken
in the hands of the other military police officers and had gone to contact the
investigation headquarters, but Barozza tilted his head at Jibin who walked up
to him.
"Oi, are you
okay? You're not going to tell me that you're exhausted from running to the
investigation headquarters, are you?"
Barozza spat out a
joke, but he raised his eyebrows because Jibin didn't seem to answer at all.
In the meantime, Jibin
approached Barozza step by step and walked past him without saying a word.
As he walked by,
Barozza could see that Jibin's neck, peeking through the gap in his armor,
seemed to be drained of blood.
"Wait, are you
sure you're okay?"
Some kind of bad
premonition was rapidly building up inside Barozza.
A feeling that cannot
be described in words. Cold air crawled up his spine, and Barozza hurriedly
grabbed Jibin's shoulder.
“…………”
"Jibin ...?"
However, Jibin didn't
even look at him. As it is, he advanced his legs as if to shake off Barozza's
hand.
Beyond Jibin's line of
sight was Ken, who was standing before the military police officers and facing
Jihad.
"I'm going to
take you to the investigation headquarters, and you're going to tell them about
your ability, the [Reflective Water Surface of the Heart Mask], and everything
you've done with it. In the meantime, all of your rights at the school will be
revoked. You will be held in custody until we can figure out what happened and
decide what to do with you."
"Lisa, Lisa
..."
He didn't seem to
answer Jihad's call and just kept muttering Lisa's name like a broken clock.
His eyes did not have
the light of madness that they used to have but were only filled with
resignation and emptiness.
"... Take me to
him."
"Haa! ...... Hmm?
Jibin, what's wrong with you?"
The military police
officers who were detaining Ken noticed Jibin approaching.
"You are
...~!?"
The moment Jihad
turned around and recognized the approaching Jibin, who was facing his head down,
his stern appearance was tinged with shock.
Jibin, who had been
looking down, looked up and his eyes widened. His eyes had turned a
frighteningly dark color.
At the same time, a
strange feeling of death swept through the area.
"Everyone be
careful! That's ......!"
Shīna, who correctly
identified the abnormality of Jibin, shouted, but before the military police
officers could get into position, Jibin leaped at the officers who were
detaining Ken.
"Wha~ !?"
"Gagyaaaaa!"
An inhuman scream came
out of Jibin's mouth. The military police officers who were detaining Ken could
not move freely because both of their arms were blocked and they were holding a
human being.
But there was a shadow
that intervened between them. It was Jihad, clad in full body armor made of
mithril.
Jihad leaped in front
of Jibin, who jumped at him, and swung his log-like arms.
"Fuh~!"
"Gagyaau!"
Jihad's fist dug in
deep and blew Jibin's body away.
Jibin slumped and
fell. But even as he slammed into the ground, he kicked the ground with all
four of his limbs and leaped at Jihad with beast-like agility.
The Jaw Drop was still
carried on Jihad's back while Jibin loomed before him.
Looking at Jibin's
corpse-like pale appearance, Jihad's experience as a veteran was ringing a loud
alarm bell.
As his instincts told
him, Jihad drew out his giant sword and swung it out without hesitation.
The blow that could
kill even the giants was aimed right at Jibin's body.
A super-heavy weapon
that was not suitable for close-quarters combat. The skills he had mastered
made it possible to handle it.
It was an
instantaneous slash wielded at an unbelievable speed. The blow that accurately
hit Jibin's body cut his body in half down from the shoulder, and at the same
time, pieces of the shattered stone floor flew up along with a roaring sound.
It was clearly a
lethal blow. But the upper half of Jibin's body, which had been flying through
the air along with the debris, suddenly leaped as if it were jumping through
the air.
"Wha~!?"
It jumped over Jihad's
head, then leaped on the military police officers who had been holding Ken and
pulled them off with incredible strength.
"Uwaa!"
"Giya~!"
The military police
officers were being blown away like dust in the wind. It had lost the lower
half of its body, but it was still so powerful that it was hard to believe it
had only one arm. It was clearly not something a human being can do.
In front of the
military police officers who were shocked by the unbelievable scene, Jibin
pushed the captured Ken down to the ground by force.
"W-what is
this!"
"Gagigigigi
..."
Jibin, who had gotten
on top of Ken, held Ken's neck with his remaining left arm. Ken struggled, but
Jibin's arm around his neck didn't falter.
"Release me!
Release me! Gugah~!"
As Ken tried to resist
further, Jibin's fingers tightened around his throat, and Ken's eyes widened as
he struggled to the suffocation accompanied by extreme pain.
In the next moment,
Ken's eyes saw an unbelievable sight.
Blood spurted from
Jibin's chest along with a cracking sound, and it revealed itself.
A blind snake covered
in black scales. Its appearance was reminiscent of deep-sea creatures.
A hint of death
sprinkled from its small body, and countless blood-red eyes opened from the
scales that covered its body.
And the countless eyes
looked at Ken, who was being laid underneath. Its eyes were like a predator's
before a long-awaited dinner.
"Hih~!
Aaaaaa!"
The snake's eyes
squinted as if it was grinning. Ken let out a scream as if he sensed the intent
glowing behind those eyes.
"W-what is that
!!"
"I-I don't know,
but something's not right!"
"Kuh~! It is
still alive! Stop it at all costs!"
Mars and the others,
who had heard the stories but had never seen Abyss Grief directly, shouted in
agitation.
Faced with the fact
that the Abyss Grief was still alive, Jihad rushed forward with his giant sword
raised, rushed by the sense of danger that welled up in his heart. The military
police officers that surrounded him were a second behind, but before they could
reach him, the Abyss Grief had thrust its jaws into Ken's chest.
"Gi~!
Gyaaaaaaa!"
A scream echoed
through the air.
A scream that made
them want to cover their ears. However, the blind snake seemed to find it
comfortable and made a merry sound as it slithered into Ken's body.
At the same time,
black veins began to spread from the spot where the Abyss Grieff had burrowed.
Ken's body convulsed.
They could easily imagine that whatever was happening, would be irreversible if
they leave it any longer.
"Kuh~! Forgive
me!"
Jihad decided that
there was no more time, and he swung the Jaw Drop in an attempt to kill the
Abyss Grief.
It was a blow without
any restraint. The blade of the giant sword was covered with a dense Qi, and a
direct hit would return everything to ashes.
But before Jihad's
blow could reach the Abyss Grief. Jibin's upper body moved.
"Gagyaau~uu!"
While dropping blood
and guts on the ground, he grabbed Ken by the collar and threw him with his
unbelievable arm strength.
Ken's body flew in a
parabola and fell to the ground beyond the encirclement of the military police
officers. It was, oddly enough, very close to Nozomu and Lisa.
"Kuh~!"
Jihad's jaw drop
couldn't catch Ken's body, but instead slashed Jibin's upper body to pieces.
Meanwhile, Ken's body
fell to the ground, and after a few seconds of convulsions, he eventually
stopped moving altogether.
"... Ke,
Ken?"
As if in response to
Lisa's worried voice, Ken jolted up.
But his expression was
hidden by his bangs, and it couldn't be seen. However, an inexplicable sense of
urgency and pressure enveloped the area.
As if rushed by this
sense of urgency, the others reached for their respective weapons. Nozomu, too,
found himself grabbing the hilt of his katana.
Ken looked up. His
dark eyes pierced through Nozomu and the others.
In the next moment,
Irisdina and the others moved.
The jet black magic
bullets, pale light-tinged arrows, and blue lightning that formed in an instant
rushed towards Ken. Irisdina's immediate deployment, Feo's attack magic, and
the arrow that Shīna fired.
But then, with a
banging sound, a crack appeared on the stone floor, and Ken disappeared from
the place.
Nozomu and the others
saw Ken's figure flying through the air. The skin peeking out from underneath
his clothes, which had been torn by a flood of magic bullets and arrows, was
torn in several places, and countless red eyes appeared as blood gushed from
the wounds.
"Damn it! What
the hell are you!"
Along with a shout of
anger, a sound of an explosion echoed, and Mars approached Ken who was in the
air. It was a leap that utilized the recoil of Qi-technique [Dust Hammer] and
the strengthening of the body by Qi.
When Mars swung the
greatsword with the momentum of his straight-line lunge towards Ken, Ken raised
his left arm.
Normally, there was no
way that a human being's weak arm could block a blow from a greatsword with
such momentum. If the slash was made by raising the physical ability through
the Qi technique, it would even be possible to cut off the torso as well as the
arm.
However, the feeling
that came back to Mars' hand was not a pleasant one, like chopping wood, but a
sensation as if he had driven a rusty axe into the ground.
"Wha~!?"
The feeling that his
arm felt caused Mars to let out a startled voice.
Swinging a greatsword
with such force that it slammed into Ken's arm but failed to cut it off,
completely stopping Mars' movement.
Moreover, a black
blood-like liquid leaked out from the wound where the greatsword had embedded
itself, and it clung to the skin like sap. It made Mars hard to move properly
in the air especially when he couldn't stand on his feet.
In that gap, Ken
pulled himself closer to Mars and used Mars' body as a springboard to leap
again.
Beyond that, Lisa was
standing there, stunned, unable to keep up with the sudden situation that had
occurred in front of her.
The moment he saw her,
Ken's tense expression turned even more frightening.
A suspicious light
dwelled behind his black-painted eyes, and the crimson eyes that grew all over
his body caught Lisa's figure at once.
"Hih~!"
It was hard to tell
whether Ken's smiling mouth showed fear or joy. All Nozomu and the others could
tell was that something fatal to him had completely broken.
"Lisa, get back!
"A~……"
Nozomu pushed Lisa
away, who was standing still, and Nozomu drew his katana. The katana blade was
already shining with a sharpened blade of Qi.
"I won't let
you~"
"Settle
down!"
Meanwhile, Anri and
Inda were taking action to obstruct Ken's path.
Ken leaped again, but
a glowing whip and chains entwined around his body. It was Anri's Qi technique
and Inda's restraining magic.
The skills and
techniques of those two who were outstanding in the school had succeeded in
restraining Ken's body in the air.
"Gagyaaa!"
The scream that came
out of Ken's mouth was the same as that of Abyss Grief. It was an unpleasant,
oppressive, and fear-inducing scream that was unlike any other creature in the
world.
When Nozomu heard the
scream, he frowned painfully.
However, Nozomu did
not hesitate to swing his blade. The extremely compressed air blade that flew
at high speed hit Ken's torso, which had turned into an Abyss Grieff, and cut
his body in two.
However, the next
moment, a black, sludge-like liquid gushed out of Ken's body.
"Wha~!"
As if a sack of water
had burst, the liquid spewed out, scattering a foul-smelling miasma, slipped
past Anri's whip and Inda's restraining magic, and fell at once toward Nozomu.
"T-this is bad
..."
The sludge spread its
body towards Nozomu, it was impossible for him to avoid it.
The black curtain was
slowly approaching in front of him. Nozomu couldn't imagine what would happen
if he were swallowed by it, but his superior survival instincts were ringing
alarm bells like never before.
A chill ran down his
spine, instantly freezing him to the bone. His heart was beating like it was
about to burst, rushing every muscle in his body to move.
But it was too late.
He was exposed to a critical situation and immediately put his hands on the
invisible chains that bound him, the chains of Ability Suppression.
"Don't!!"
However, before he
could break the chain, a cry could be heard from behind him.
Immediately after,
Nozomu felt his arm being pulled with ferocious force.
Then he was floating
in the air and felt the wind caressing on his cheeks.
It was then that
Nozomu's eyes caught sight of a black curtain moving away from him with a
red-haired girl with tears welling up in her eyes.
"Li, Lisa
..."
Silence, as if all
sound had disappeared. In the midst of this, the gazes of Nozomu and Lisa met.
In spite of her pale
face and thin, weak hands, her body-filled magic power could easily throw off
Nozomu's body out from where the black curtain had descended.
Lisa's eyes were
swaying in tears as she stared at Nozomu with her shocked expression, but her
gaze was different from before, and she was staring straight at Nozomu.
"I'm
sorr-……"
Their gaze crossed for
a moment, and her words were about to come out.
However, the silence
was broken before Nozomu could hear the end of her voice.
In an instant, Lisa's
figure moved away. As the shock of being slammed into the ground hit Nozomu,
the rotting liquid that poured down like a landslide swallowed up her figure.
The sludge that had
swallowed Lisa pulsed once then swelled into a dome and began to glow a dark
gray color as the miasma rose up. It was like a cocoon.
"Lisaaaa !!"
Nozomu screamed after
forcibly raising his swaying body and tried to plunge into the jet-black cocoon
without thinking twice.
He raised his Qi,
squeezing every last drop of Qi out of his body, and reached down to tear off
the chains that bind him.
"Wait a minute,
brat."
However, just as
Nozomu's hand on the invisible chain was about to put all his strength into it,
a voice from above interrupted him.
Then, a shadow landed
in front of Nozomu's eyes. Nozomu's eyes widened at the sight of the figure.
"What are you
doing here, old man..."
"Good grief, this
is going to be a bit of a hassle for me…”
An old man with
wrinkled cheeks and pure white hair. He was an old man with a cane that could be
found anywhere.
He appeared before
Nozomu's eyes as if he had just forgotten his house key.