This chapter was brought to you by the collaboration between PolterGlast and Saekano Translations.
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Volume 1 Chapter 6.3
An Unforgettable Birthday Part 3
Translator : PolterGlast
Mars found himself
intervening between Rugato and Tima, knocking away the magic bullets that were
about to land on her with his Qi-infused fists.
"Mars......-kun?"
Tima muttered his name
with a dumbfounded expression on her face. She was so surprised to see Mars
come to help her.
Hearing her voice
behind his back, Mars asked himself why he had protected her.
When they first met,
he did not like Tima's attitude of being timid and avoiding others' gazes.
The fact that she had
no courage to talk back to the man who had been rude to her, even though she
had achieved A rank, irritated Mars just as much as Nozomu had in the past.
However, her current
expression as she struggled to protect Somia showed her strong desire to
"not give up".
Seeing her determined
expression, Mars couldn't help but step forward to intervene between Tima and
Rugato, swinging his fist toward the magic bullets that were closing in on her.
"What are you fooling
around for? Just focus on your magic. I'll take care of that old man's
magic."
Mars did not turn his
head toward her but kept glaring at Rugato, while slowly readying his fist.
The Qi in his clenched
fist gradually intensified as it swirled around.
The wind produced by
the Qi gradually transformed into a visible mass of wind, which enveloped both
of Mars' arms.
[Qi-jutsu・Wind Mass Palm]
A Qi-jutsu in which
compressed wind is wrapped around one's fist to increase the power of the
strike.
"...... Un,
please!"
Receiving Tima's
determined voice at his back, which seemed to betray her usual meekness, Mars,
unbeknownst to himself, loosened his mouth.
"Nozomu, come and
get our weapon."
"Eh?"
Nozomu and Mars left
their weapons with the maids when they entered the mansion.
"I know where
it's kept, but what about the key? ......."
"Nozomu-kun,
here!"
Irisdina tossed a
master key of the Francilt mansion to Nozomu.
Both Nozomu and Mars
currently have no weapons at their disposal. And their opponent is a monster
who can easily deploy multiple magic spells simultaneously. It is obvious that
Irisdina and Tima alone are not enough to deal with this monster.
"Alright. Please
hang on for a little longer!"
Mars heaved a deep
exhale as he watched Nozomu run out of the great hall.
His skin tingled from
excitement and nervousness before the pressure exuded from Rugato's body.
"No matter how
you look at it, this old man's definitely higher in rank than we are."
"Yeah, he's
definitely S-rank, the same rank as Jihad-sensei."
S rank. That is the
rank of this powerful man, one of only a few dozen on the Arkmel Continent. It
was said that a single individual was capable of taking on hundreds of people.
Mars' emotions grew
excited in the face of such a ridiculously powerful opponent.
"...... So, what
are we gonna do?"
"That familiar is
summoned by the parchment that Rugato has. That means ......"
"We need to do
something about the contract that the powerful old man is carrying so
carefully, huh?"
Irisdina gave a small
nod in response to Mars' words.
"How about we
kill that Grim Reaper?"
"If the main
cause of the summons is the existence of the contract, then it is unlikely that
the contract will be broken that way. Besides, I doubt the old man would give
us enough time to do so."
Rugato is an
extraordinary being who can manipulate ten different kinds of magic at the same
time. Considering the way he deploys his magic, it is not hard to imagine that
he can manipulate as many magics as the number of fingers on each hand.
A long-distance attack
with magic or Qi-jutsu at the current level of Mars or Irisdina would be
ineffective.
The only way for them
to achieve victory would be to get up close and make it into a close-quarter
battle.
"But isn't it
difficult to even get close?"
"Yeah, the
difficulty is far too great."
The only magic Rugato
used so far was beginner-level magic that only fired magic bullets, and
long-distance manipulation magic utilizing a fresh-blood-colored sword that he
created.
He might need to use
more than one finger when using higher-level magic, but even so, the difference
between them would still be far too great.
"Even so, we will
win. Mars-kun, I will leave Tima in your care."
"I know."
Upon hearing
Irisdina's self-inspiring declaration, Mars also nodded in agreement.
There was no doubt
that their opponent was one of the highest-ranked people on this continent.
Even so, they had no intention of losing.
After nodding to each
other, Mars and Irisdina glared at Rugato.
Rugato, while facing
the challenge from both of them, held out his hands like an orchestra conductor
with a graceful gesture.
A silent provocation.
It was as if he was saying, "Come at me".
In response, Mars and
Irisdina assumed their stance and ran across the ground.
◆
Nozomu, who had
retrieved the weapons from the storage room, was running down the corridor to
get back to Irisdina and the others.
(Rugato-san is
probably of the same caliber as Shisho ......)
While moving his legs
with all his might, Nozomu calmly surmised the power of Rugato, who had
attacked them.
The old gentleman's
expression did not change even when he was confronted by Irisdina, Mars, and
the others, reminding Nozomu of his master.
Magic and Katana.
Although the two's directions differed, Rugato, like Shino, exuded a
distinctive atmosphere that a powerful individual would give off.
And at the same time,
this atmosphere made Nozomu certain of something.
(Irisdina-san and the
others would not be able to win against him ......)
It was a certainty
that he could feel only because he had been by the side of someone so powerful
and had fought with his life on the line.
Moreover, they also have
to stop the familiar that Rugato summoned.
(I have to hurry. But
can we win? Without me using "that" ......)
The first thing that
came to Nozomu's mind in order to win against Rugato was to release his
[Ability Suppression].
However, the fear that
had been nestled in Nozomu's heart made him hesitate.
Fear of the unleashed
power, fear of being looked at with terrified eyes, fear of being rejected as a
monster. These were the thoughts that came to Nozomu's mind.
Because he had always
been rejected by those around him, Nozomu's thoughts tended to lean in a
negative direction.
His heart sank upon
imagining such a future, and his body trembled with fear of falling into
loneliness again.
"~, Damn it!
He couldn't help but
shout at his own weak heart for trying to escape so easily. He felt disgusted
at himself for hesitating. His desire to escape and his frustration at the
possibility of losing his friends.
Caught in a dilemma,
Nozomu could only speed up his pace, as if to hide his anguish.
◆
Mars continuously
repelled the oncoming storm of magic bullets with his fists. Rugato showered
Tima with magic bullets without mercy, but Mars, intervening between them,
acted as a shield and kept blocking Rugato's magic.
"Ugh!
Haaaaaaaa!"
However, no matter how
well he strengthened himself with Qi, it was not an easy feat to repel the
magic bullets with his bare hands.
And even though the
magic bullets were beginner-level magic, they were still the magic cast by
someone of S-ranked ability.
Rugato's magic
penetrated Mars' Qi-jutsu applied to his fist and tore his hand's skin to
shreds.
His fist was already
covered in blood, and in some parts, white bones were visible.
Even so, he still kept
swinging his fist. Each time he did, blood splattered on the floor, making the
white marble floor bloom with blood.
"Haaaaaaaa!"
Irisdina was just as
badly outmatched.
Although not as
visibly wounded as Mars, she was utterly unable to get close at all.
The fresh
blood-colored sword that had been re-generated was hovering in the air,
blocking her charge.
Even when she
unleashed magic with [Immediate Deployment], Rugato responded instantly,
quickly drawing magic formations with his multiple fingers. He deployed his
magic as fast as she did, or even faster, and canceled her magic out.
"Haa, haa, haa
......"
"Kuh~......
Mars-kun. Are you ...... alright?"
"Haa, haa ......
shut up, focus on maintaining your magic instead of worrying about me."
Tima called out to
Mars out of concern, but she was also quite pale and looked as if she might
collapse at any moment.
(This is impossible,
huh? It takes a lot of magic power and concentration to maintain such a high
level of magic.)
Tima's magic is a
highly advanced magic that simultaneously uses all four attributes at the same
time. It requires an enormous amount of magic and mental power to both activate
and maintain the magic.
Moreover, her body had
already been subjected to several rounds of Rugato's magic bullets. Tima
herself was by no means resilient, and the wounds she suffered hurt her, slowly
but surely eroding her concentration.
The three of them were
desperately trying to hold their ground, but the constant barrage of magic
began to push them over the edge, and they finally reached their limit.
Just as Mars was
unable to handle the oncoming magic bullets and his stance collapsed, a
follow-up magic bullet struck him.
"Gaaahhh!"
With a cry, Mars' body
was flung away and slammed against the wall.
"This is the end,
huh?"
"~!"
With Mars gone and no
one left to block Rugato's magic, multiple magic bullets were fired toward
Tima.
"Kyaaa!"
There was no way for
her to dodge it, and the magic bullets hit her directly. She fell to the floor
in a collapsed state.
At the same time, the
[The Four Circles of Sealing Formation] that restrained the familiar was
broken, and the Grim Reaper was once again freed.
"Tima!
Mars-kun!"
Irisdina screamed, but
neither of them could move. All they could do was groan.
"Kuh!"
Irisdina tried to
reach Somia to stop the Grim Reaper, but she was stopped in her tracks by a
magic bullet that passed in front of her at high speed.
Rugato, who had
stopped her sprint, released a magic bullet with his free left hand and started
a further pursuit while controlling the blood swords with his right hand.
Irisdina was completely stuck by the intense attacks, which were incomparably
more intense than the previous one.
The familiar of death
stopped right in front of Somia and raised its scythe. There was no one who
could stop this familiar of death any longer, and Somia's death was certain.
"Somia!"
"N-, no
......"
The older sister
desperately called out her sister's name, while the younger sister was engulfed
in the fear of death.
The fate of these
sisters had already been decided ...... at least, it was supposed to be that
way.
"~ !"
A flash of Qi flashed
through the air.
The scythe that the
Grim Reaper was about to swing down was thrown into the air. Seemed like, both
of its hands had been slashed off, and it flew along with the scythe.
"...... Eh."
The thoughts of
everyone present stopped, and for a moment, time seemed to stagnate, and that
sense of stagnation took over the place. A shadow was sprinting in the midst of
that very time.
With a snap, the drawn
blade was sheathed back into its scabbard.
The shadow quickly
charged toward the Grim Reaper, drew the katana at his waist, and with a
flashing motion of his blade, struck a fatal blow.
[Qi-jutsu・Phantom]
The slash, sharpened
to the utmost limit, bisected the Grim Reaper's body and shattered the bracelet
that served as its core.
The shattered bracelet
danced freely through the air near the Grim Reaper, who dissipated like a mist.
"Nozomu ......
-san?"
Somia muttered
Nozomu's name as if to make sure.
The girl was amazed by
his broad back, different from that of her older sister.
Nozomu did not respond
to Somia's question, instead confronting Rugato.
(Shisho. What should I
do?)
Without an answer to
his own anguish.
◆
Somiriana could only
feel frustrated in front of her loved ones who were getting hurt in front of
her eyes.
Tima and Mars, who
were covered in wounds tried to help her.
Her older sister was still
able to fight, but her beautiful body was covered in numerous scars.
Ignoring her older
sister, an incarnation of death descended upon her in an attempt to reap
Somia's soul.
Somia's body trembled
as death approached her, and her throat could not even scream.
She was afraid.
The fear clung to her
body along with the chains of the Grim Reaper that bound her body, depriving
her of the freedom of her entire body with an icy coldness.
The Grim Reaper swung
down its scythe.
Somia closed her eyes
tightly as if to escape the pain that would come with her death. It was as if
she was running away from reality. It was all she could do.
But no matter how long
it took, the pain never came.
When she opened her
eyes, she saw not the Grim Reaper, but a man's back.
His back was by no
means huge.
But to her at that
moment, his back seemed bigger and more dependable than anything else.
◆
