Volume 4 Chapter 5.3
Acceleration to Collapse Part 3
Translator : PolterGlast
[I can't let you do
that~~]
"You're......!?"
"Ken's contracted
spirit, huh......?"
Camilla's eyes widen
upon hearing the voice of the lesser water spirit called Mefi. Nozomu stood
back to back with Camilla and scanned his surroundings.
(I can't see her. Is
she thoroughly concealing her appearance?)
When she possessed the
Cracked-Crown Giant Centipede and fought Nozomu, she received a severe blow
from him, so it seemed that she was only sending out her voice from afar.
[A-aa~. Is this how
it's going to be after all? I knew it would end up like this. I wonder if Lisa
will be sad to hear that she was betrayed by even her own family?]
"You sure know
how to talk ......!"
While Camilla spat out
Mefi's provoking line, Nozomu kept searching for the presence of the lesser
spirit that might be hiding in the depths of the darkness. The other party was
one of the spirits who could manipulate supernatural powers. Nozomu has learned
firsthand how troublesome these powers can be.
However, he could not
detect the slightest sign of the spirit. When he looked closely, he could see
that a thin mist of source element enveloped his surroundings, and the bustle
of the city, which should have been audible in the distance, was gone.
Perhaps it is the
spirit's technique of concealing its presence and separating itself from its
surroundings.
The silence was
accompanied by a growing tension. The cold evening breeze ruffled the branches
and leaves of the trees, and the shadows that had been stretching out were
already beginning to assimilate with the darkness. Suddenly, multiple small
shadows leaped out from the bushes in front of them.
"~, Camilla, get
down!"
While forcing Camilla
beside him to get down, Nozomu reflexively parried the object that flew toward
him with his sheathed katana.
It was a throwing
dagger painted black. Immediately after, figures wearing black cloaks jumped
out.
There were three of
them. They drew black-painted daggers from their pockets and attacked Nozomu
and Camilla at once.
Three black figures
run toward Nozomu. They aimed at his right thigh, right neck, and left flank.
Perhaps already enchanted with reinforcement magic, they came at him like a
gust of wind.
Coupled with the
black-painted blades, it was a blow that would be impossible for an ordinary
person to even see.
"Fuh~!"
Nozomu slashed all of
those blows away with a single, sudden slash. In a split second, the blade,
which had been carefully polished, drew a smooth curve, and the blade,
strengthened by magic power, cut through oncoming blades as if slicing through
dry branches.
Following this, Nozomu
lowered his stance and sent his Qi into both hands to compress them. He simultaneously
thrust his arms out and then released them.
[Qi-jutsu・Shock Cannon]
A powerful shockwave
was released, blowing away all three Starlights at once. The three assailants
immediately reacted and stood up, but the hoods of two of the three were pulled
off, exposing the faces of rough-looking men.
"Are these guys
Starlights? But why did they attack us? Since that spirit is around, I'm sure
that Ken bastard is up to something....... Camilla, are you okay on your
side?"
"Yeah, I'm fine
....... ~, Nozomu, stand back!"
The still hooded
starlight held up its right hand and produced a fireball in its palm.
Immediately after, the
magic, which had instantly grown huge to the height of a person, was unleashed
on Nozomu and Camilla.
"Guu......!"
Camilla, too, is
talented enough to belong to the first class. Her quickly spun chanting
deployed a magic barrier to block the fireball. However, Camilla let out a cry
of anguish at the unexpected power, and the magic barrier dissipated in the
form of being counterbalanced by the fireball. Clearly, this was not the power
of magic released in a few verses of chanting. If classified by rank, this
hooded figure definitely belongs to the A rank. And probably the other two are
equally as powerful.
Even for members of an
organization that governs secrecy, they were unusually powerful.
(Considerable skill,
but what's with those vacant eyes......)
However, what made
Nozomu and Camilla's hearts grow cold was the empty eyes peering out from
behind their hoods.
The Starlights they
faced showed no human-like emotions, such as murderous intent, fighting spirit,
fear, or nervousness.
It was as if they had
forgotten their hearts somewhere or were in a state of total apathy from the
very beginning. In a sense, this is the perfect image of someone who lurks in
the shadows, but it is just too lifeless.
"I see, are you
erasing their consciousness and turning them into pawns to be used at your
disposal? What a truly despicable spirit......!"
[A~~ that's awful~~.
But whatever. I don't give a damn what happens to people I don't know. In the
first place, you are even worse. You tried to kill your ex-girlfriend out of
selfish anger.]
A mocking voice echoed
through the wooded area. It seemed that this spirit really likes to get on
people's nerves.
"What about you?
You are just a coward and a pain in the ass just like your contractor, and
what's more, you've got a big mouth on your head. Even when you possessed an
extraordinarily powerful being like the [The Six Bad Omens], you run away after
receiving just one blow."
[......Damn you!]
On the contrary,
Nozomu provoked her back, and Mefi again sent forth the three Starlights that
she manipulated.
Nozomu glanced at
Camilla and, with his whole body on full alert, intercepted the approaching
Starlights.
The Starlights
controlled by Mefi, perhaps wary of being cut in half at close range, switched
their tactics to attacking from afar.
While irregularly
firing fireballs and magic bullets, the Starlights blended into the shadows and
threw their throwing daggers from the blind spots as if weaving through the
gaps between one's awareness.
"Fuh~, ~!"
[H-How.......]
Nozomu accurately
repelled them.
"Even if those
daggers blend with the flames, if I strengthen my hearing with Qi, I will be
able to distinguish the whistling sound of the wind behind the blasts."
Against an opponent of
a certain level of strength, using a weapon that generates sound might put one
at a disadvantage.
The direction, volume,
and quality of the sound can be read to determine the trajectory of the weapon.
If one can determine the trajectory from those factors, it is possible to
handle it. However, there are very few people who can do this.
It is a level of skill
that one would have to be immersed in the martial arts for more than a few
decades to finally catch a glimpse of it.
[Kuh......!]
"Fuh~!"
Mefi's agitation
transmitted to the puppets, slowing their movements for a moment. Using this
opportunity, Nozomu closed the gap to one of the Starlights at once and struck
him with [Mumei]'s ridge.
"Gah!?"
*Crack*!
With a sound of bones
cracking, one of the Starlights collapsed to the ground. Two people remaining.
[Wha!?]
"~!"
Unable to cope with
the sudden transition from offense to defense, another Starlight was knocked
down by Nozomu.
The Starlights
themselves might be capable as puppets, but it would be meaningless if their
puppeteers could not exhibit their powers.
Only one left. The
last Starlight is the one who fired powerful fireballs earlier.
Perhaps affected by
Mefi's manipulation, the inorganic twin eyes peeking out from the shade of the
hood showed a mixture of strong agitation and anger.
The Starlight took out
two curved swords from its cloak and held them up. Like the throwing knives,
the twin black swords seemed to assimilate with the darkness.
At the same time,
magic power erupted from the Starlight's body and enveloped it. Magic of
physical reinforcement. It is a very advanced and powerful magic.
The reinforcement
magic extended to his weapon as well, and the dense magic power enveloped the
black swords.
The Starlight stepped
forward. Its speed exceeded even that of Irisdina.
[~!]
The twin blades were
unleashed at a ferocious pace. The sword strikes were filled with dense magic
power, and they swept over Nozomu like a whirlpool of flame.
"Hmph, ~!"
Nozomu intercepted the
storm of twin swords with a single sword called [Mumei].
[Mikagura-style・Willow Blade].
This is a
Mikagura-style technique that simultaneously defends and attacks with a single
sword.
Nozomu's superior
swordsmanship deflected the opponent's first sword strike and forced the second
sword strike into a defensive stance.
After one, two, three,
ten, and twenty strikes, Nozomu was still able to deflect all of his opponent's
slashes without being pushed back at all.
His swordsmanship,
which even Shino Mikagura described as equal, offset the overwhelming
difference in speed and physical strength between him and his opponent.
And as time went on,
the situation began to tilt in one direction.
[Kuh......]
"Looks like
you're a the end of your rope."
When the exchange of
blows exceeded thirty, the Starlight's twin swords began to screech. Shaved
pieces of iron danced about, and countless wounds had already been carved into
the blade. Nozomu's Qi-blade, [Phantom・Coat], had cut through the Starlight's dense magic, gradually
accumulating damage to the twin blades. Finally, at the thirty-fifth round, the
limit arrived.
"Fuh!"
A single sharp flash
of Nozomu's katana sliced both of the Starlight's twin blades in half. He then
struck the Starlight in the stomach, leaving it completely defenseless, and
blew it away.
"Nozomu, Mefi's
there. On that tree!"
[~!]
Camilla's voice was
heard. She pointed to a tree, which, upon closer inspection, was tinged with
the slight glow of the source element. She had been searching for traces of
Mefi's power that filled the surroundings, holding her breath the entire time
Nozomu had been fighting.
[Camilla, you!]
"~!"
Nozomu fired a
Qi-blade at the tree to which Camilla pointed.
Just before the
Qi-blade landed on the tree, a small, light blue spirit leaped out of the tree
trunk.
It seemed to be in
quite a panic, perhaps remembering that it had been beaten to a pulp by Nozomu
when it possessed the Cracked-Crown Giant Centipede.
Nozomu's Qi-blade
sliced a tuft of Mefi's hair, but it was not enough to make a decisive blow.
Mefi managed to avoid it by a hair's breadth, and then turned her back and
started to flee at once.
"I won't let you
escape!"
Camilla's magic was
activated against the fleeing Mefi. A magic barrier surrounded the little water
spirit, blocking its movement.
[You ...... are in my
way!]
However, it was not
enough to stop the spirit, which is an apex being. The magic that restrained
her was quickly shattered by the source element that erupted from Mefi's body
along with a high-pitched cursing voice.
She was only stopped
for a few seconds. But in those few seconds, Nozomu had made his way around
Mefi's escape route. As the lesser water spirit's eyes widened, he infused his
Qi into the blade once again.
The freshly cut lesser
spirit's hair fizzled out without healing. Even a spirit could not move if it
kept losing the source element that made up its body. And just when Nozomu was
about to unleash a slash.......
[……Just kidding~!]
"~!"
A presence of someone
rushing toward him appeared. It was the shadow of the dual-wielding swordsman
whom Nozomu had just blown away.
Just as Nozomu was
about to reflexively launch his [Mumei], the face of the shadow hidden by the
hood was revealed, and Nozomu's eyes widened involuntarily.
(L-Lisa!?)
Crimson hair fluttered
in the darkness. The dual-wielding shadow was, to his surprise, Lisa. Nozomu's
katana, which he was about to swing forth, stopped as if frozen in place.
Meanwhile, with an inorganic expression on her face, Lisa concentrated her
magic power in the palm of her hand and cast a powerful blast of flame toward
the stunned Nozomu.
"Gaaahh!"
Nozomu, who was hit by
the explosion at close range, was blown far away and slammed to the ground.
"Nozomu......kyaa!"
After blowing Nozomu
away, Lisa lunged straight at Camilla, knocking the wand she was holding out of
her hands and twisting her hands to restrain her.
[Phew, that was
close~~. Thank goodness the insurance is still in effect~~. Ken might complain
that I brought her here without permission, but whatever!]
While referring to
Lisa as insurance and a thing, Mefi huffed and heaved a sigh of relief.
[Then again, you
really are an idiot~~. You should have just cut her down once and for all. Now
then, if I delay more than this, people will notice, so let's just get it over
with!]
"Agh!"
"Camilla!?"
With Camilla's muffled
voice, a black sword blade with a soaked red tip emerged from her abdomen.
The blood dripping
from the curved blade that pierced her abdomen swirled through the air and
converged on a single spot.
The congregated blood
formed a sphere that could be held in both hands. It glowed with a pale, eerie
light and had an outward appearance that was fitting to be called a blood
jewel.
When the blood jewel was
completed, the blade that had pierced Camilla's abdomen was pulled out, and her
body fell to the ground with a thud.
[Hmm~, the purity is
still low after all~. But now I have one of the two things I need.]
Mefi looked at the
jewel made of blood, her face contorted into a smile, and pressed the blood
jewel against her body.
The jewel sunk into
the lesser spirit's body and melted into it. The next moment, an enormous
amount of source element erupted from Mefi's body. Perhaps she had absorbed
Camilla's magic power through her blood.
Mefi looked down at
Camilla, whom she had just stabbed with satisfaction.
Camilla was still
lying on the ground. Blood of the same thick color as that of the jewel was
spreading under her.
Lisa looked dazedly
over at such a scene. Her unfocused eyes widened and the light of will rapidly
returned.
"H-Huh? ......
Camilla?"
A stunned voice leaked
out of Lisa's mouth, as if she couldn't comprehend the scene in front of her.
Her gaze repeatedly went back and forth between the fallen Camilla and the
curved blade that had pierced her, and her stunned expression gradually froze.
I can't believe it, I
don't want to believe it. Such emotions were apparent in her expression.
However, no matter how much she denied it, the feeling of sticky blood and the
smell of rusty iron ruthlessly confronted Lisa with the truth.
"Nozomu, what
have I done ......?"
[Now, I've done it~~. You
regained your consciousness once again. I knew it, this bloodline is so hard to
handle with force~~]
"You are-, I saw
you with Ken......."
Lisa's eyes finally
caught sight of Mefi floating next to her.
[Hello~~, our silly
princess. You should have just stayed asleep, but you woke up~~.]
"What-...... What
the heck did you do!?"
[What are you saying?
You should have known already~~. You've seen it so many times after all.]
The next moment, the
memories that had been altered in Lisa's mind burst forth.
The letter from
Nozomu, the unnatural behavior of her childhood friend and best friend. And the
confrontation in the Spasim forest.
That's not all. Even
the conversations between Camilla, Ken, and Mefi when her mind had been sealed
up flashed back to her.
Memories that were
etched in her ears even though her mind was ignoring them. These undeniable
truths confronted her.
"A-Ah. No,
no......."
The black curved sword
slipped from Lisa's hand and fell to the ground with a clanging sound.
Her entire body was
filled with fear, and her head was boiling with agitation.
All the hate, hatred,
and abuse she had been slamming into Nozomu ricocheted back and wreaked havoc
on her heart.
"No, this is not
true, I, I-......!"
Lisa held onto her
head and trembled. Mefi approached her with a cruel smile on her face.
"No, no! Don't
come!"
She shouted as she
backed away from the approaching lesser spirit, but there was no way this
spirit would accept such a plea.
Rather, Mefi's cruel
smile grew uglier and she turned her blue palm to Lisa and turned into a mass
of light, then assimilated with Lisa and sealed her spirit once again.
[Phew, that was
dangerous. I brought her here without telling Ken, so if I let her go here,
things will get really messy. Well, she did have a rather intriguing expression
on her face, though. Well then, let's wrap things up!]
"~,
You......!"
[Oopsie, don't you
dare use that power. I am assimilated with this girl. Do you want to hurt this
princess?]
Nozomu raised his
voice and tried to pounce on her, but Mefi, who had assimilated Lisa, took the
initiative to suppress him with her words. Like the Cracked-Crown Giant
Centipede, Lisa is simply being manipulated by Mefi. Nozomu had no choice but
to stop, his momentum slowed down.
[Well, I'm off then.
Ah, right, don't chase after me. You probably can't anyway!]
Amidst his anguish,
Mefi manipulated Lisa's body, picked up the curved sword that had fallen at her
feet, and snapped her fingers. The next moment, Mefi's source element, which
had covered the surrounding wooded area, dissipated.
The distant hustle and
bustle of the city returned. Mixed amongst it, a grating metallic clatter could
be heard.
"Oi, over here!
There's someone here!"
"Move ahead!
We'll be right behind you!"
"W-What
happened!?"
[See you later, you
annoyingly disgusting toy!]
Multiple human cries
could be heard mixed in amongst the multiple metallic clattering noises.
As Nozomu was puzzled,
Mefi sneered and boosted her power. The source element of water erupted from
Lisa's body, which Mefi assimilated with, enveloping her body like a mist.
"~,
Wait......!"
Nozomu ran toward Mefi
and Lisa, who was trying to escape, shouting and reaching out his hand.
But Nozomu's hand
caught empty air, and the mist of the source element dissipated. There was not
even a trace of their shadows.
They had completely
escaped.
"Damn it!"
Nozomu cursed in
frustration, but he quickly regained his composure and rushed to Camilla.
"Camilla, hang in
there!"
"Ugh....... I
see. I've been played for a fool. From the beginning, they used me as
bait......"
Nozomu held the wound
with both hands, but the blood did not stop flowing, and the ground, where the
blood was spreading, turned even redder. The stabbing wound from behind
penetrated through the torso and was obviously a life-threatening wound.
Nozomu hurriedly
poured a potion from his waist pouch over it, but the wound was too deep and
the bleeding would not stop. He had to get her to a place where she could be
treated quickly.
"Go after Lisa,
now. Save her....... Quick, before it's too late......"
"What are you
talking about!? You're seriously injured, you know!?"
"Those guys, must
have known all this from the beginning. If this continues, Lisa's heart will be
broken by those two, and they will abuse her as they please. Please, before
it's too late......"
While pleading,
Camilla pulled out a blood-soaked piece of paper from her pocket. On it was
written [Residential District Main Canal 3rd Tunnel].
"This
is......."
"Ken's
hideout...... hurry......"
Camilla then lost
consciousness.
Just as Nozomu was
about to put the paper in his pocket and proceed with the treatment, several
guards jumped out from the shadows of the wooded area with their rattling
armor.
They were carrying
spears and rods in their hands and long swords at their waists. They had obviously
been dispatched in response to a report of some kind.
"T-This
is......."
The guards' eyes
caught sight of Nozomu and the fallen Camilla.
Soon after, they
surrounded Nozomu and shoved their weapons at him.
"He's the
murderer, get him!"
"Freeze! Drop
your weapon!"
"H-Hold on
a-......"
Before Nozomu had time
to explain himself, the guards pinned him down, pulled him away from Camilla,
and detained him.
"Ugh, it wasn't
me! No, more importantly, please treat her!"
"Silence!"
One of the guards looking
down at the restrained Nozomu slammed the butt of his spear into the side of
his head.
A strong shock struck
him in the head. The guards rushed to Camilla, who fell to the ground
unconscious.
"This is
bad...... Oi, bring me some medicines!"
"You sure did a
terrible deed."
Camilla was carried
away while being given first aid by the guards.
Under hostility from
the guards, the restrained Nozomu was deprived of his weapons and taken away by
force.
†
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