PART 1
Only an hour remained before Kouryuu would finally manifest fully and
emerge in its completed form.
And at the summit of the Tokyo Tower was none other than Shiba Kyouichi,
overseeing the process beside it.
It was then that a dazzling light pierced the sky within the enclosed space; it
shone with the splendour akin to that of an enormous shooting star.
"So it's finally arrived." Shiba muttered, smiling as he gazed at the sky,
understanding what the appearance of the light meant. And the moment the
light rose above the Tokyo Tower, it split into five fragments.
Their trajectories divided the space of the barrier into five equal sections;
following that, each of the divided fragments began to take on a different
color of their own.
Red, white, blue, yellow and black — the colors of the Five Elements.
However, the trajectories of the lines that had split from the meteor and
divided the space they now traveled in had formed a different shape over
Shiba's existing elemental space.
It did not appear to establish itself in the middle; instead, it equally divided
itself into five with Tokyo Tower as its center.
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And the moment the scattered fragments of the shooting star crashed into the
ground, light of five individual colors and sped across the earth and sped
toward their respective diagonal locations.
And the moment that Shiba — who now stood at the highest point of Tokyo
Tower — caught sight of the massive pentagram,
"The Solomon's seal, huh…as expected, that's the game they're playing."
Shiba uttered, deducing the purpose of the meteor that had approached them
— it was the plan that Basara's group had devised.
"Basara's band of five girls will respectively assume each element — there's
Naruse Mio, her demon follower, Maria, her maid, Zest, in addition to the
sisters from the Hero Clan, Yuki and Kurumi. I suppose that's the gist of it?"
It was Balflear, floating next to Shiba, who spoke next.
Solomon's Seal.
It was something utilized by famous onmyoji* (exorcists) back in the Heian
Era of Japan — Seimeikikyo, as they called it —and a different variation of
the utilization of the five elements as a foundation that did not share the same
emphasis on the bearing and direction like what Shiba had in his arsenal.
It was something that utilized the yinyang philosophy of the five elements,
emphasizing on their compatibility and incompatibility in order to maximize
their power.
In contrast to Shiba's repertoire of the Four Gods and Georgius, Basara's
group instead had Mio's group of five girls, each representing one of the Five
Elements, being Wood, Fire, Water, Metal and Earth.
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"Their goal is to construct a new, enormous space made from Solomon's
Seal, I see…Afureia's space is meant to hide them from us, whereas this new
barrier intends to alleviate the risk to the normal space outside when we
release our own barrier and possibly let the Four Gods run out of control, is
it?"
It wasn't a bad plan; it was perhaps better to say that it was their only plan.
Such was why the plan Basara and the others had decided to take was one
that Shiba had already accounted for.
It was to be expected; Basara and the others had no mere intention of simply
stopping Shiba's goals.
They needed to protect the world from Shiba, who intended to bring the Hero
Clan to ruin.
Failure to protect Tokyo and its vicinity would be no different from them
being utterly defeated.
…Basara had yet to reveal any sign of his presence for that very reason.
Being unable to guarantee the safety of the exterior vicinity, Basara had
surely deduced that facing Shiba head on would be too grave of a risk; there
was no doubt that Basara himself had stayed behind in the special space
Afureia had made.
It was likely that Basara would only reveal himself again after Mio and the
others would complete the construction of the Solomon's Seal; nevertheless,
there was a flaw in the strategy Basara's group had devised.
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"Intending to overlap an existing and established iteration of the Five
Elements with another…such a reckless act of imitation without a
considerable amount of strength would be impossible."
As Balflear pointed that out, Shiba replied:
"Well, it's not like the circumstances at hand would allow the convenience of
Basara and the others to devise a more effective solution…considering the
scope of our power and the fiveelemental barrier we have, anyway."
And knowing that—
"I can see him at this very moment, still in Afureia's imaginary dimensional
space making preparations to increase their chances of victory, however little,
even now…"
Shiba could feel everything, even from the range of his isolated vicinity.
The aura released by Mio and the others, now scattered across the land, had
elevated by leaps and bounds since their battle against the Four Gods.
Surely the scale of their development could not be described as them simply
being changed people; no, it was growth on a completely different level.
He could only imagine what Basara's group of girls had done to obtain such
newfound power.
—As well as what Basara had been willing to give up on, how far he was
willing to sacrifice for them.
And while he did find the efforts of Basara and his group to be commendable
—
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"However…I, too, have risen to a new level of power." Shiba smiled as he
gazed at Kouryuu above him, nearly completing its manifestation; it was then
that Kouryuu would transform and assume its second and final form as the
divine dragon.
Moreover, Kouryuu was not the only thing that had grown stronger.
Shiba, now synchronized with Kouryuu, had now accumulated almost an
infinite amount of Ki by virtue of the compatibility five elements within him;
his increase in power far exceeded that of Mio's group even if the latter had
successfully defeated the Four Gods, that now manifested themselves in their
sacred treasure forms.
"You're not the only ones who've managed to buy their own time and get
some newfound strength for yourselves." Shiba muttered, as he oversaw the
ground beneath him. His mind wandered to the thought of the Holy King of
the Vatican, who had foolishly thought that he had Shiba in his control.
"If you can't keep that in mind…pray you don't walk down the same path
that old fool Albareos did."
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PART 2
Basara and the others had planned to construct their magical barrier from
Solomon's Seal by instilling their respective elements into the earth and
letting them take root.
Amidst such an occurrence, a certain young woman, now representative of
the Metal element, descended upon the Edo River in the East.
It was none other than Nonaka Yuki, the spirit sword Sakuya in her hand.
"...…"
Yuki's first course of action was to scan the surrounding area for any
adversaries.
Much like the instance where she had defeated the manifested Seiryuu, there
seemed to be no sign of any enemy by the riverbank.
Yuki could not propel the magical power of the Wood Element immediately,
however; it was necessary for her to do something else beforehand.
In order to dispel Shiba's fiveelemental barrier, they needed to suppress the
Sacred treasures that were the source of the power that maintained it; Yuki,
assuming the Metal Element, had thus arrived to suppress the spirit sword
Seiryuu, possessing the Wood element, situated in the east.
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It wouldn't be enough for them to simply overlap their barrier with the one
Shiba had constructed. By virtue of the Master-Servant Vow, the group had
increased their power in such an incomparable way that they never thought
possible; although Yuki had only narrowly defeated Seiryuu in its manifested
state in their previous skirmish, it was now possible for Yuki to be able to
overwhelm it in her current state.
However, even with the newfound power Yuki and the others had attained,
there was no denying that Shiba's continuous possession of the fiveelemental
compatibility only meant that his power would continue to grow; if they did
not suppress it, the barrier made from the Solomon's Seal would collapse
should Shiba allow the Four Gods to run wild.
Yuki had immediately discovered Seiryuu in its sacred beast form the first
time she had arrived here in this eastern district and subsequently battled
against it.
As such, Yuki now moved toward the west, currently in search of the
member of the Four Gods she was to defeat—Seiryuu—away from the Edo
River that gave the weapon a positional advantage.
During the strategic discussion that took place before the group had left
Hasegawa's enclosed space, they learned that Kurumi and Zest had come
face to face with two sacred treasures—the sacred sword, Suzaku and the
sacred baton, Genbu respectively—and had fought the manifested sacred
beasts before they could pinpoint the weapons' actual location. Only the
location of Byakko, which Basara had been forced to surrender to Balflear,
was known; it was situated in one of the baseball fields of Kinuta Park,
replacing the copy of Byakko that Shiba and Balflear had initially used,
Georgius.
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And according to Basara…
The exit leading to the western district was connected to Kinuta park where
the copy of Byakko once stood.
Considering the necessity of the balance between the five elements, the other
members of the Four Gods scattered across their respective districts should be
situated nearby the space of that exit.
That means…
Seiryuu was nearby Yuki herself.
The eastern district, however, was giving off the signs of energy stemming
from the Wood Element of Seiryuu; moreover, it appeared as if Shiba and his
group had tinkered with things somewhat…or perhaps it wasn't just the
fiveelemental barrier that he'd constructed that was feeding the power for
Kouryuu to manifest, but the Four Gods and Shiba himself, as well that
resulted in Yuki being unable to pinpoint the actual location of Seiryuu.
She wasn't helpless in this case, though.
"Sakuya…guide me." Calling her spirit sword, she implored it to find the
location of Seiryuu; Sakuya should be capable of detecting the waves of
Seiryuu, both weapons being of the Wood element.
" ———"
A moment passed before Sakuya directed Yuki to the southwest—a patch of
greenland at the junction between the Edo River and the old Edo River.
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The place was known as Shinozaki Town, situated near the Shinozaki flood
gate.
" ———"
As Yuki turned toward the direction Sakuya had given her, she could see
something familiar atop one of the trunks of the many trees that made the
forest situated at the cusp of the triangular scope of greenland;
it was the blue spirit sword, as she narrowed her eyes upon catching sight of
it.
From the angle where Yuki was at, it was located at the opposite bank of the
Old Edo River; a river that had a minimum of a hundred-meter long width
even at its narrowest portions.
One would usually need to take a western detour towards the flood gate,
whereas the brave could best the river by swimming across it.
Yuki could now run along the water's surface in her current state, though.
" ———!"
Yuki slashed Sakuya vertically downward, toward the river's surface.
As the blade glinted at the motion, it only cut through thin air; however, with
the slashing motion came a stream with sakura petals that formed a path
along the surface of the Old Edo River.
Yuki could now tread along the path of sakura petals across the Old Edo
River.
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And at that moment—
" ———"
There was a shrill neighing, before a sudden tornado that whipped up a storm
of leaves horizontally lashed at her.
"——…!"
Yuki quickly leapt backwards to dodge the assault, thereupon which the
blizzard of leaves continued on toward where Yuki once stood, blowing away
the path of sakura petals that would lead her to Seiryuu.
Landing upon the riverbank, she quickly turned to the direction of which the
swirling storm of leaves had come from.
"......"
To which she could see a silent, blue-colored beast now stood in her way
upstream, floating upon the water.
It was far smaller than the manifested Seiryuu in size, only comparable to that
of a well bred horse.
The aura it released wasn't quite as comparable as Seiryuu's, however; the
pressure it released could be said to be even higher than that of Kouryuu's
when it had fired its elemental attack at them when Yuki had come to the
central district to aid Basara in his battle against Shiba.
Nonaka Yuki deepened her expression, knowing what exactly that creature
before her was.
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"A blue Qilin…if I remember correctly, that's—"
It was called Shoko.
Apart from Kouryuu, there was another divine beast that governed the central
district of the Five Elements—the leader of the Four Gods, Qilin.
Much like Kouryuu that represented the Earth Element and was assigned to
protect the central vicinity, Qilin possessed four other individual existences
representing the four other elements apart from Earth;
Fire, Water, Metal, and Wood.
Of the Fire Element, the crimson being Enku.
Of the Water Element, the black being Kakutan.
Of the Metal Element, the white being Sakumei.
And last but not least—
The blue being, representing Wood, and the first that caught Yuki's gaze—
Shoko.
…But why?
Kouryuu and Qilin were supposed to be one being, leading the Four Gods.
It was unnatural for even Qilin to surface even whilst the manifestation of the
Kouryuu continued to progress.
Could it be that Kouryuu, now strengthening itself to its limit in the central
district, currently also possessed the secondary ability to summon Qilin and
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its four other elemental counterparts?
…It was the best and worst explanation she could think of.
Shiba had chosen the central district to materialize Kouryuu because Qilin
were naturally docile and disliked fighting; that said, however, it would be
wrong to assume that the Qilin were weak.
It was quite the opposite, actually; it wouldn't share the same role of being
the leader of the Four Gods with Kouryuu otherwise.
It was a sacred beast that had been assigned to protect Shiba and Kouryuu—
and now Seiryuu.
And if Shoko had come here…
Yuki was sure that the other forms of Qilin had also appeared were the others
were at, as well; in addition, their already formidable power would only
increase given that their elements were similar to that of the Four Gods, also
members of the Five Elements, as they scattered across each individual
district.
Now Qilin were to face off against the group of girls, who had performed the
MasterServant vow with Basara and possessed the advantage of the
incompatibility between their elements.
"......"
Yuki silently compared her own strength with that of Shoko.
Their strength seemed to be even—if slightly disadvantaged on Yuki's end.
Even then—
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"Not that I mind. It's not like I expected this whole process to run smoothly
from the start, anyway."
With Yuki's dauntless declaration, she wielded her spirit sword Sakuya
firmly in hand, stepping forward.
The Qilin were tranquil beasts that did not enjoy disputes.
It was likely that she would not be attacked so long as she kept her distance.
On the other hand, however, Qilin would not move as well.
It would not move as she moved like Seiryuu did in her previous battle,
deterring her from changing their battleground.
That said, Shoko would only continue to increase the power of its Wood
Element through the synergy of using the water from the Edo River.
There was no time to hesitate.
There was not a moment's time to waste before Kouryuu would fully develop
into its true form.
And thus—
"Don't stand in the way. Neither ours, nor Basara's!"
With a scream, Nonaka Yuki strode forward as she unsheathed Sakuya,
approaching the enemy that stood in her way—Shoko.
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PART 3
As Yuki had presumed, the other Qilin had appeared before the other girls.
Mio was pit against the white being Sakumei in the west; Kurumi against the
red being Enku in the south;
and then there was the black being Kakutan, pit against Zest in the north.
The Qilin had arrived to disrupt their attempt in constructing Solomon's Seal.
However, one of the girls had been spared from the sudden appearance of the
Qilin.
It was Maria, representative of the Wood element, who had gone to the
northeast, between the north representing Water and the east representing
Metal, to play her part in constructing Solomon's Seal.
Shiba's fivefold barrier utilized bearings as a foundation for its construction.
As such, Shiba could not summon Qilin representing the Earth element to
attack them, as it was bound to the central district.
As such, this area was different from the others in that there was no member
of the Four Gods they needed to incapacitate before constructing their barrier
— it was supposed to be the less burdensome district to take over.
However—
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"...…!"
Naruse Maria was pit against a situation as bad if not worse than that of the
other girls in their respective districts.
The spot where she descended upon with intent to pour her magical power
into its surface was situated northwest of Tokyo, where a generous patch of
green and blue spread across its vicinity—the metropolitan Shakujii park.
The space Maria was now in, empty of traces of either the Qilin or the Four
Gods, was about to become a vicious battlefield; if one were to wonder why,
it was because the high ranking Demon that Maria had already fought in the
same park once in the past had appeared again.
"The fiveelemental compatibility of Solomon's Seal is achieved with the
Wood Element as its center, eh?"
Balflear's voice came from all directions—it was hard for her to pinpoint his
exact location, and even then, it wasn't simply because he'd used his
invisibility magic.
She was now surrounded by an innumerable amount of enemies—the
Demonic Legion, high ranking Demons that were contracted to Balflear, and
of which Balflear had summoned during their previous battle in Shakujii
park.
The individual strength of each Legion wasn't particularly threatening during
their first skirmish, and Maria had been capable of handling them as a result.
However, the Legion before her now possessed significantly enhanced speed,
strength and other basic combat abilities, and were even capable of working
together if need be.
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This excluded the fact that Balflear had assumed the important of role of
sending Georgius—then the copy of Byakko—to Shiba back then.
Could it be that he had been holding back during their first battle? Maria
thought.
"As long as I get rid of you, your plan is ruined!" Balflear let out a derisive
laugh, and then—
" ———" " ———" " ———" " ———" " ———"
The Legion charged at her in numbers.
"Sure, you may be right—say that only after you've bested me, though!"
Maria repeated the same maneuver she used before to blast away the
numerous Legion channeling magic power in her fists, she punched the
ground, producing radial shock waves to knock them aside.
Solomon's Seal could only be constructed after all five elements had been
instilled into the earth; Maria simultaneously prepared for that process as she
attacked the swarm of Legion.
If she were to continue to attack in such a manner though, it would be
problematic in that the Legion would simply attack from above if Maria were
to sink the ground beneath her with her repetitive attacks. The park's ground
had fewer and fewer space through the littered holes she had made both
above and below, and it would be difficult for her to dodge them.
As such, Maria never stood in one spot, continuously moving as she
continued to smash the earth; such consecutive crushing force left the park's
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ground filled with massive craters, as if its surface was decimated by a
meteor shower.
Maria bore no grudge against Shakujii Park; she didn't exactly enjoy her act
of destroying the recreational location, but the entirety of Tokyo was under
grave danger at present. The park would return to its previous undamaged
state after the barrier would be dispelled, after all.
And so Maria continued her onslaught of attacks against the Legion, all the
while driving the magical energy needed for the construction of Solomon's
Seal into the ground; she appeared to be successful thus far.
…However, she could not show even the slightest opening.
There was still so much that was unknown about the demonic Legion; there
was also the fact defeating the Legion alone would not allow her to set the
Wood Element in this northwestern district freely—she needed to defeat
Balflear, who was in control of the Legion himself.
And so in the Kinuta Park, Maria remained preoccupied with the unrelenting
and unceasing horde of the Legion, being unable to fight against Balflear
directly.
Her opponent was a high ranking Demon with the power to make contracts
with other demonic beings on his own; he was undoubtedly her most difficult
opponent yet. That said, more than her simultaneous tasks of instilling her
elemental power and fending off the Legion, her attention was instead
focused on detecting any sign of Balflear, undoubtedly waiting in the wings
for a moment to strike Maria.
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The Legion was a doubleedged sword, however; as much as it provided cover
for Balflear by covering the surrounding view and making it difficult for
Maria to detect him, Balflear also knew that the massive size of the Legion
also meant that they were walls surrounding Maria herself, making it difficult
for him to go on the offensive as well.
Additionally, the shock waves that Maria repetitively sent out toward her
surroundings meant that it would be even more difficult for Balflear to get
close.
And although her shock waves, powerful enough to fend off the Legion,
meant that the amount of energy she instilled into the earth was lesser than
usual due to how the process were more distributed—
Maria had already used her fists to drive the power of the Earth Element into
the ground almost hundredfold; quantity could compensate for quality, and if
she kept this up, it would only take a few minutes to instill the elemental
energy needed on her end to construct Solomon's Seal.
Balflear would definitely act before that would happen. And should it
happen…
She would unlock the seal on her powers with the Magic Key if the
circumstances deemed it necessary.
And at that point, a single punch was all that was necessary for her to supply
the necessary energy needed for the Solomon's Seal.
The key to this battle was opportunity.
".........…"
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It was at the most crucial point—and as Maria nervously continued to bring
punch after punch toward the ground, the energy within it nearing its required
capacity—
".........!?"
A sudden occurrence caused Maria to draw a breath; a magic circle had
suddenly appeared in the ground before she could continue punching it.
…Damn it!
It was likely that this was no ordinary magic circle; she wouldn't take the bait
by punching it. But she couldn't stop, either—the Legion wasn't going to
stop any time soon.
At the same time, Maria couldn't stay in the air, as well; exposing herself
without cover in the air against Balflear would likely result in her being dead
meat given the latter's access to invisibility.
She also didn't have enough time to unleash her trump card—releasing the
seal with the Magic Key.
If that's the case…!
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
With a resolute shriek, Maria unleashed her fists, now imbued with the
crimson mark of gravitational magic.
During her exchange of the MasterServant Vow with Basara, she had come to
the realization of the identity of her birth father.
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The power she was releasing right now belonged to him—to Wilbert.
She restricted such unleashed power to only half of its full value, however;
unleashing such power fully would result in faintness and dizziness, but 50%
of that power was more than enough for the task at hand.
Even if the magic circle before her was a reactive trap, it was possible for her
to suppress with a gravitational force of a perpendicular direction.
Maria swung her right fist, clad in the surge of crimson energy, toward the
magic circle—and as the blast of the gravitational wave shattered the magic
circle before her,
"—Welcome."
The next moment, however, Maria could hear Balflear's voice call out close
to her.
And he was in the air.
"————!?"
The crimson gravitational wave that Maria had cast had begun to spread
across the earth at that moment.
"That magic circle I cast was made from Reis' power—another member of
the Legion I contracted with."
Balflear was now standing beside Maria, who was now shocked over the
sudden occurrence, in midair.
"And these two magic circles are connected to another dimension."
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Balflear had finished his preparations for his attack formation at that moment.
He opened his right hand toward Maria as dark aura swirled around it; in his
palm was massive, tenlayered magic circle.
"Good reflexes—not good enough, though."
"!…Damn it!"
A massive fist lunged at her from the side, obscuring her view—Maria
vigorously flapped her wings in an attempt to dodge the attack, but there was
nowhere to run.
She could only take it head on—
"Howl, Loki."
Before the impact could occur, however, a black shock wave came from
above following a familiar, composed murmur, devouring the gigantic horde
of Legion that were approaching Maria in one strike; the intense pressure of
the flow of magic from the attack spared no trace of the Legion that Balflear
had summoned.
And as Maria turned to the direction where the shock wave had come from—
"But you're—"
"…But why are you here?"
Her voice came out roughly the same time Balflear's question did—and the
two combatants gazed at the sky, where a lone young man stood.
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It was the current young Demon Lord, wielding his dark magic sword in his
hand—Leohart.
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PART 4
"What's the matter…is it such a surprise that we would come to this place
personally?" The current Demon Lord, Leohart, addressed Maria and
Balflear, both of whom had yet to fully digest the situation.
He addressed himself with "we"; it meant that he was not the only one that
had come here.
And as if to affirm his words, someone else showed himself, his entrance one
that appeared as if he destroyed the empty space next to Leohart.
It was the current representative of both the current Demon Lord faction and
the Moderate Faction, a certain young man who had been entrusted with
monitoring the growth of Toujou Basara.
It was Lars—but he currently did not assume his demonic form, instead
taking the form of a certain human being known as Takigawa Yahiro.
"Man, this space really is something else, isn't it…and it's in the human
world too, so it wouldn't have been exactly easy for even Demons like us to
enter at will in the first place."
However—
"Nevertheless, we stand before you now. So take a guess why the impossible
has become the possible, won't you?" Lars said.
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"I see…Sheiladono, is it?" Balflear immediately came to the conclusion that
it was the work of a certain person, mentioning her name.
"My mother did…?" Maria asked, still confused.
"That's right." Lars nodded. "There are other ways to travel between the
Demon Realm and the human world apart from the dimensional boundaries.
Your mother had secretly put an insurance on you."
Leohart then explained what said insurance was.
"Sheiladono, once esteemed as the most powerful succubus in the Demon
Realm, used her power to construct a dimensional tunnel. For the sake of the
inevitable, Sheiladono had created a link that was directly connected to her
upon you—her daughter."
"Because of the higher dimensional isolation of this space compared to the
human world and the Demon Realm, though, the link connected to you
severed and the coordinates of our exit ended up being slightly off." Lars
said, "In the end, though, we've managed to get in and in the nick of time,
too, so all's well that ends well, I guess."
"Could it be that…my mom anticipated this would happen after the final
battle between the current Demon Lord faction and the Moderate Faction?"
"No. Your mother had placed the insurance on you before you had come over
to Rendval Castle to battle the current Demon Lord Faction, so that she could
head to you at any time." Leohart explained to Maria, who remained in
disbelief, "However… your mother had many opportunities to eliminate the
link. And with the Cardinal Sins no more, few if not no one in the Demon
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Realm have the capability to match Toujou Basara and his group who had
bested us, much less go against them."
And yet—
"On the contrary, if your group were to be in danger once again, your
enemies which threatened such danger would be those of which we need to
prepare for with all that we have, as well. Sheiladono had preserved the link
in preparation for that. It was a wise decision. They don't compare her with
Wilbert, famed as the strongest of the Demon Lords, without reason."
"And yet you've interfered with our affairs despite asking the Hero Clan to
deem Basara and his group sanctuary…you've made quite the thoughtless
choice in that regard, haven't you?" Balflear, who had remained silent
throughout their explanation, suddenly spoke up. "Don't you think that
making such a rash decision during such a crucial period where the two
factions just started working together would risk the future you and
Lialasama fought so much for?"
"Tell me about it. You'd think he'd actually listen to me for once in this
case." Lars' gaze turned to Leohart, a wry smile on his face as he said so.
"It's true that there's a risk like that, yes," Leohart did not deny the
possibility than Balflear had suggested. "However, Balflear…no matter how
you look at it, you're still my subordinate—someone supposed to be under
my command. If I were to turn a blind eye as master to your involvement as
my subordinate in all this, it'd become a good excuse for the rebel forces to
attack us nonetheless. I decided to settle this discreetly before the news would
spread."
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"So you've come to settle the matter yourself?"
"A master is responsible for the failures of his underlings. I've left the
Demon Realm in the care of the Eight Generals." And even then—
"My sister, too, wishes for me to work together with Ramusasdono to
maintain the alliance between the two factions."
"Lialasama did…?" Balflear raised a brow.
"And you'd think he'd actually listen to me for once in this case." His tone
riddled with resignation, Lars repeated his former statement down to each
exact word. He then turned to Maria and prompted her: "That said, Leohart's
going to keep that guy busy. Rather than dumbfoundedly standing around
here, you might as well hurry up and do something about that barrier."
"…I understand. I'll leave him to the both of you, then." Deciding that she
would trust them, she descended to the earth's surface and began to channel
the power of the Earth element necessary to construct Solomon's Seal.
"Let's see…I guess I'll just sit back and watch, then." Lars crossed his arms
behind his head, satisfied that he had finished his work.
"Lars. Do something about that." Leohart pointed at the scene he was looking
at.
It was the sight of the golden dragon coiled around the scarlet Tokyo Tower.
"Hey, hey, don't take your jokes too far. I'm not about to go and bite off
more than I can chew." Lars said.
"—Remember: your report spoke of another worrisome enemy."
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Leohart was aware of the existence of the man they called Shiba Kyouichi.
However, Basara's chances of victory against him up until now were rather
slim according to Lars' report.
Of course, it was not a fact that was exclusively decided by their combat
strength; Basara had always managed to pull through many deadly battles
against many foes far stronger than him, Leohart himself included. However,
even if Basara had bested many others in battle, the fact remained that Lars
himself had estimated that Basara's chances against this particular opponent
were quite low—and Leohart never once doubted Lars' judgment, knowing
that he was second to none in determining the gravity of a given situation,
and thus could not be mistaken in what he had proposed in his report.
"It would be too difficult for Toujou Basara to fight against someone like that
while having to keep that thing busy. Go and give him a hand."
"Easier said than done. I am not going to entertain that decasized dragon all
on my own. Where's your concern about my issues, huh?"
"…I ask this important favor of you. You should know that my older sister's
busy with continuing negotiations with the Moderate Faction right about
now."
Leohart told him of a single truth. And then—
"Hmm? Ahh, yeah, that's actually a pain in the ass, no doubt about that…"
Lars understood what Leohart was getting at, "But if both Toujou Basara and
Naruse Mio become goners for whatever reason, our alliance with the
Moderate Faction is toast, isn't it? All your sister's hard work is going to go
to waste there."
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"And if my sister were to discover that such a scenario had occurred as a
result of your negligence…" There was a pause, before Leohart spoke again.
"I wonder what she would think."
'Wha…!…Damn it, no fair. What kind of threat is that?"
Understanding what Leohart's words entailed, Lars spewed out some
derogatory language at him before disappearing. He wasn't running away—
he had simply gone to carry out what he was supposed to do.
And now it was Leohart's turn to carry out his duties.
"I don't intend to waste too much time. Let's settle this." Leohart said,
brandishing Loki.
"Do you think you can turn the tables simply by adding two more people into
this fight?" Balflear laughed scornfully.
"Think before you speak. Didn't you hear me earlier?" A smile appeared on
Leohart's face as he addressed his former subordinate.
"I've already explained myself—I can entrust my absence in the Demon
Realm to the Eight Generals."
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PART 5
Lars wasn't the only one that the current Demon Lord Leohart that brought
along with him—he'd also invited his eight trusted Demon Generals to join
him.
They had all arrived from the Demon Realm fight alongside Toujou Basara
and his group as allies.
Leohart and Balflear were now face to face with each other.
One of the aforementioned allies had now appeared in the south, where
Nonaka Kurumi was now caught in an aerial skirmish.
The blade of the spirit sword Suzaku had driven itself through the Kawasaki
thermal power station.
The Tokyo bay within the space of the barrier had been washed up dry due to
the power of Suzaku and Enku.
And despite knowing that, Kurumi had nevertheless endured despite her
disadvantage against the superheated crimson Qilin that stood above Suzaku
—Enku—with the open sky of the Tokyo bay as their battlefield.
"…! But why are you…!?" Kurumi exclaimed in surprise, presently caught in
a grave battle where she lacked the ability to attack due to her inability to
utilize her water controlling abilities. Someone had suddenly forced their way
into the battle —a demon that appeared as imposing as a rock.
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It was one of the high ranking Demons Basara had sparred against in the
Demon Realm — the colossal Demon that had appeared during the siege of
the Moderate Faction headquarters, Wildart Castle, alongside the Heroic
Spirits.
"You misunderstand, young maiden of the Hero Clan — I come here not as
your enemy." The gigantic high ranking Demon — Gald — muttered in a
low voice, his gaze fixated on Enku.
" ———"
The crimson Qilin immediately deduced Gald as an enemy — and reflexively
unleashed a massive, flaming sphere at him. The spherical clump of flames,
akin to that of a small sun, then took the form of a phoenix before lunging at
Gald, burning the surrounding air in its wake.
"Impressive…even without proper summoning, it is still capable of forming
such powerful beasts out of the flames."
"Wait, what are you — …!"
She wanted to prompt the Demon to run when he merely stood there
appraising the enemy even as the flaming avian was inches away from
crashing into them — but then she remembered something.
She remembered the power that Gald had utilized while attacking Wildart
Castle.
And she witnessed it before her very eyes once again; Gald calmly raised his
right hand as the flaming phoenix crashed into his palm—and the ensuing
impact did not cause an explosion, but an absorption.
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The phoenix that Enku had spewed out had been absorbed into Gald's body.
" ———?"
The sudden situation appeared to have troubled Enku.
Gald's body suddenly doubled in size at that moment—and with it a pair of
massive wings and a tail sprouted from his body, his strong arms pulsating as
if magma ran through their veins.
"A pity…you may fashion yourself a sacred beast, and yet as powerful as you
are…" Gald's body roared with devilish flames as he said so, "Attacks of the
Fire element will not scathe me."
And then —
"Hear me, young maiden of the Hero Clan…I am briefly informed of the
circumstances as per Lars'
report."
"Lars'…"
"…How can I trust you?"
"So long as the pact between the Demon Lord Faction and the Moderate
Faction holds, we have no reason to be your adversaries." Gald replied to
Kurumi, who now stood behind him as he temporarily relieved himself from
squaring off against Enku.
"However, my sister and I are…"
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Takigawa's secret letter had not included the terms of the Demon Realm
aiding members who had been deemed sanctuary; moreover, their act of
aiding them now would be unfavourable for Gald and the current Demon
Lord Faction.
Even so —
"No matter. I am aware of how you and your sister have since left the Hero
Clan through Lars' report as well. That is why Leohart and Ramusasdono
have decided to deem you and the others sanctuary just as they have done
Toujou Basara and Naruse Mio. The Village and the Vatican of your home
clan have already been notified the moment you entered this space."
"But how…and so swiftly too…" Kurumi raised her voice in surprise,
evidently taken aback. "Don't tell me they've already prepared for this from
the very beginning…?"
When exactly had everything been arranged for Kurumi and Yuki to be
placed under sanctuary and for them to be aided?
"My apologies, but that it something that does not concern me…we have
simply arrived to provide our support against the man called Shiba and to
stop Balflear, who once served in our military."
" 'We'?" And the moment Kurumi asked out of the suspicion of how Gald
had always implied that he had not come alone , a conspicuous, massive
roaring sound resounded from afar.
"That's…"
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Knowing that the sounds of battle across the other regions could be heard
since a moment ago, Kurumi, kept aloft in the sky of the Tokyo bay through
flying magic, turned toward and surveyed the Tokyo Tower that was situated
in the center.
That was when she could see it—before they'd even realized it, giants of a
height comparable to the height of towering skyscrapers had appeared in the
northern area.
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PART 6
What Kurumi saw next wasn't the massive Legion that Balflear had
summoned.
Elsewhere, Zest, responsible for the Earth Element, was now fighting against
the black Qilin, Kakutan, in the northern district; however, she was not
fighting with the golems she would summon from her magic.
Although her golems were no slouch themselves in terms of speed, Kakutan
was far faster than Genbu, and so her golems would not be able to land a
solid hit.
As such, Zest could only manage to attack with her Earth magic, and
Kakutan, perhaps realizing her intentions, manipulated the flow of water from
the Shakujii water that flowed into the southern region of the JCSDF Camp
Jyujou grounds, the moisture in the air, and the water from the water pipes
underground.
It surrounded itself with powerful walls of water, protecting itself from Zest's
attacks of the Earth element while attempting to slowly whittle her down with
its own.
At the same time, Zest's Earth magic possessed incompatibility against
Kakutan's Water Element, allowing her to block Kakutan's attacks. Even if
water could weaken the earth, it could not completely destroy it; as such, Zest
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utilized every single ounce of soil she could use from the ground and the
surrounding buildings that made up the JGSDF Camp Jyujou.
Both sides possessed equally formidable defenses, but Zest herself lacked an
effective means of attack, leaving the battle in a stalemate.
—However, the longer the battle progressed, the closer Kouryuu would reach
its full manifestation;
something that would increase Shiba's power significantly and reduce their
chances of victory along with it.
The sacred baton, Genbu, the source of the Water Element that flowed in the
vicinity, was now stuck atop the highest point of the metal communications
tower; Zest needed to suppress Genbu's power and subsequently cast magic
of the Earth Magic onto the earth's surface.
And as Zest prepared herself to attack Kakutan with such conviction—
A massive magic circle suddenly expanded in the heliport testing grounds of
the JGSDF Camp Jyujou.
Following that, a hulking giant towering far above the communications tower
appeared in the middle of the magic circle.
"That's…" Zest muttered as she descended atop the roof of the auditorium,
gazing toward the giant that she had seen somewhere before. She had directly
faced such a giant herself during the battle of Wildart Castle—it was Mio's
opponent during the battle between Rendval and the Current Demon Lord
Faction.
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It was a Heroic Spirit—however, the one that now appeared in the JGSDF
Camp Jyujou looked different from the one she had seen before.
Runes of an ancient language surrounded its massive body, letting off a
magical shine.
"It's chanting magic? No, wait, that's…"
"Ah, thank goodness…it seems you're alright."
As Zest tried to guess what the Heroic Spirit was activating, a certain young
man who stood on the Heroic Spirit's shoulder let out a relieved sigh and
addressed Zest as he noticed her.
She was familiar with this rather adorable looking young man; he was one of
the few people who had fought alongside Leohart with Heroic Spirits during
the battle between the two factions in the Demon Realm—Luka.
After the battle that had taken place in Rendval, rumor had it that he did not
opt to join Leohart's newly established demon council, instead choosing to
take the path of a researcher in the academy.
"What brings you here?"
"An order made from the decision between the alliance between the Current
Demon Lord Faction and the Moderate Faction." Lars replied to Zest, looking
somewhat bitter. "Our aim is to capture Balflear, who's gotten himself
involved in all this. The alliance has deemed you sanctuary, and we were
ordered to intervene to protect you from harm."
After all—
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"If anything were to happen to the sanctuary of the two main powers of the
Demon Realm, I'm afraid the conflict that would ensue would not concern
the Hero Clan alone…it would also destroy the peace between the Current
Demon Lord Faction and the Moderate Faction that cost so much to establish.
None of us want that to happen."
"…So that's how it is." Zest muttered in agreement.
—It was likely that Luka had only told her of the official statement.
Balflear, now a traitor of the Demon Realm for treason due to his affiliation
with Shiba, was now a target that the Current Demon Lord Faction needed to
cut all ties with by all means; however, the faction seemed to have
intentionally maintained his affiliation with them as a reason to come here
and provide Basara and the others their aid.
Even so, she'd probably misunderstand it even more if she asked any further
details; besides, there another important question she needed to ask.
"How did you enter this space?"
"Through the dimensional tunnel Sheiladono made. I think the tunnel was
supposed to connect her to her daughter, Mariachan, but due to hindrances
between this space and the space outside, their connection was severed soon
after we entered this space…so we didn't exactly end up landing at the right
spot."
"…I see."
She presumed that the direct connection between Maria and Sheila had been
broken when they were hiding in Hasegawa's imaginary dimensional space;
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it was such an elaborate construct that even Shiba, who easily detect the ki of
others, could not manage to find them. It was thus no surprise that the the
barrier she made had severed their connection, no matter how perfect the
dimensional tunnel Shera constructed could be. And as Zest continued to
ponder on the situation,
"At any rate, leave that sacred beast to me and this little baby here. Do what
you must!"
"No…I couldn't possibly leave something like that to the both of you…"
Although she was grateful for their assistance, it was still too dangerous for
Luka and a Heroic Spirit to face Kakutan by themselves; it would be for the
best if they took down Kakutan first before beginning to erect their barrier.
Even if it would take a considerable amount of time, it was a far better
scenario than Zest attempting to best Kakutan alone.
The high ranking Heroic Spirit that Luka used during his battle against Mio
was far more agile than the golems Zest used to summon back then. Of
course, there was also the fact that Zest's golems right now were possibly
stronger than the Heroic Spirit Luka had used back then, having made her
MasterServant with Basara.
However, she also did not know how far Luka himself had come since he'd
returned to the academy and continued his research on Heroic Spirits.
It was very likely that this particular Heroic Spirit could keep up with the
speed of Kakutan; and as such a thought crossed Zest's mind,
…Wait a minute.
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Zest suddenly realized that Kakutan had stopped attacking.
It hadn't disappeared—the black Qilin was still floating directly above the
spacious recreational vicinity.
It appeared to have deemed the Heroic Spirit its main enemy now. But it was
no longer moving, and due to—
"It seems that that sacred beast has noticed it as well." Luka explained, his
gaze fixated on Kakutan.
"After being defeated by Naruse Mio…I dedicated myself to researching and
upgrading Heroic Spirits in the hopes of one day being able to serve
Leohartsama once more on the front lines. It was then that I found
information about something relating to an ancient barrier once used by
Chaos with the capability to nullify all forms of magic, recorded in ancient
language in the academy archives."
Of course—
"Only Chaos was capable of using such a powerful barrier, a barrier that's
impossible for us to replicate in its exact form. But if we were to understand
the concept of it and apply it, it's not impossible to produce something with
similar results. It's our job as researchers to recreate ancient relics like this
into more modern versions, after all." Luka said, a confident smile on his
face. "This Heroic Spirit is using an anti-magic nullifying barrier. Given that
that sacred beast had manifested from the Water Element, it'll be
immediately destroyed if it so much as makes contact with the barrier."
Such was why Kakutan had not moved despite recognizing Luka's Heroic
Spirit as an enemy; it knew that it would be destroyed if it were to approach
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the Heroic Spirit recklessly.
Meanwhile, Kakutan could only utilize the Water Element of the Five
Elements as ranged attacks; against such a barrier that blocked all attacks of a
magical nature, none of Kakutan's attacks would prove to be a threat.
But such a powerful barrier definitely possessed its limits.
"This anti-magic nullifying barrier of yours…how long can it last?"
"…Good question. If I am to be honest, I'd say around thirty minutes."
And having heard Luka's answer—
So it's capable of holding off a sacred beast of that level at best, huh…
If it could maintain such a barrier for a longer duration, it wouldn't need to
come to this northern district, and it was an option to ask it to aid Basara
against Kouryuu in the central district instead.
…No.
If Luka's Heroic Spirit were to get close, Shiba would immediately react and
attempt to destroy it, deeming it the primary threat to Kouryuu's
manifestation.
And there was the fact that Luka's Heroic Spirit was only capable of
nullifying magical attacks; it would not be able to withstand Shiba's attacks
made of pure Ki, unrestricted by the attributes of the Five Elements.
And having said that…
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It would be best for them to hurry and complete the Solomon's Seal while
Shiba was occupied in the central district; but if Kakutan had decided to
appear here, that would mean that the other Qilin had appeared in the other
regions as well.
"You mentioned 'we' earlier…who else from the Demon Realm decided to
get involved in this?"
"There's Leohartsama, Gald, and Lars."
"So there's four of you…"
Even if the three others had reached the other districts the same time Luka
had, one girl among the five would still be short of assistance.
"Then go somewhere else. Find the others who might need more help—"
"Don't worry about that." Luka held a confident smile and said so before
Zest could finish. "We only used Sheiladono's dimensional tunnel after
leaving the Demon Realm."