PART 1
When Kouryuu's massive body and the Earth elemental energy from the fiveelemental compatibility clashed, the resulting shockwave thundered as it
destroyed the Tokyo Tower. The main observation deck took the full brunt of
the attack—no trace of it remained, as if it had been razed by a flameless
explosion.
"——"
But from the dust clouds of the debris jumped out a young man wrapped in a
blinding silver light:ToujouBasara. Even after taking such an attack head on,
there wasn't a single scratch on him. This wasn't due to just his own abilities,
however. Basara, once again, felt grateful to everyone who lent him their
strength.
Basara was now clad in a full-body armor that shared the color of his sword,
Brynhildr—he looked somewhat similar to Shiba, who had absorbed
Reginleif. Basara was now the strongest and most complete he had ever been
at present. Back in the Demon Realm, the appearance he had when he fought
Leohart was that of himself utilizing his demonic powers. When he fought
Celis at the Village, the power he wielded was that of Belphegor's that lay
dormant within Brynhildr, but was unlocked thanks to the contract with
Hasegawa; a combination between the powers of demons and gods that both
run through his veins.
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In the first fight with Shiba, Basara controlled his demonic and divine powers
through the use of Banishing Shift, but even then, he didn't stand a chance
against Shiba. His current form was the result of pushing the Master-Servant
contract he has with Mio and the others, to its very limits.
However, there was a clear difference that separated Basara from Shiba;
while Shiba had completely transformed his appearance, Basara
wasstillBasara with just the armor on. That difference was the very
representation of their different beliefs; while Shiba disposed of his identity
as a "human" and chose to becomesomethingpowerful enough to overthrow
demons and gods alike, Basara chose to face this battle as who he was.
As the user of Banishing Shift, Basara knew that he could not afford to lose
control of his powers. He made a promise to never hurt his loved ones. And
so that's why he used the bloodlines of the four races, the power of the Five
Elements and the five contracts, to gain full control of his own powers. In his
current state, Basara was powerful enough to go toe-to-toe with Shiba.
Basara willed himself to stop mid-air. With the power of the dragon, he was
able to move freely in the air. Looking down from above, he assessed his
current situation. His eyes darted towards the direction of Tokyo Tower,
searching for his trusted ally, Takigawa.
When Kouryuu charged towards Takiagwa before, who was in his demon
form, he raised his right arm to create a protective sphere around him. If this
was any other enemy, his protective shield would have held against any
oncoming attack, but this was Kouryuu, the dragon with the combined
powers of the Four Gods. Kouryuu shattered the demonic sphere and collided
into the ground. However, the ground remained undamaged even while a
humongous mushroom cloud-like dust cloud rose to the heights of what used
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to be the Tokyo Tower. But underneath that dust cloud, there was no body to
be found.
"You don't have to act so surprised."
Basara slowly turned towards the voice behind him to see Shiba floating
casually, without a worry on his face.
"Kouryuu is in the center, wielding the power of the Earth. He's not as stupid
as to destroy the very power source that grants him strength."
A cold grin replaced his aloof expression once he saw Basara's new attire.
"Oh? Is that the power you gained while you ran from me with your tail
between your legs? Do you think it will be enough to beat me? Hmm…"
"Let's see if it will work out for you this time."
And with that, Shiba disappeared from his sight, and the next moment,
Basara felt a crunching blow to his left rib cage.
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PART 2
A cloud of dust enveloped the entire area. Kouryuu felt its body crush the
young man it was targeting. The Demonic Sphere he unleashed was not of
the Five Elements that it was used to, so the dragon did take some damage to
penetrate the barrier, but nothing serious. With its affinity for Earth, its health
was slowly regenerating because of its surroundings.
But there were some concerning things that itched at its mind. First, the
amount of energy being sent from the Four Gods have trickled down to
miniscule levels. Perhaps the enemies were restraining the Four Gods.
Synchronizing with Shiba has also stunted the speed at which Kouryuu could
materialize all its power.
However, it was still a matter of time before Kouryuu could materialize its
power. And it had also just defeated one of the enemies. With its job
complete, Kouryuu prepared to fly towards Shiba to lend a hand against his
fight, but was hit by a crushing blow from in front.
Stifling its surprise, Kouryuu realized that the attack just now was of the
same element that young man used before for his barrier. Glancing up
towards the inn built in the park southwest of Tokyo Tower, Kouryuu was
greeted with the sight of the enemy it was sure it just defeated. Looking
down, Kouryuu realized that the "body" it had crushed from his attack before
was a "doll". With realization that it had been had, Kouryuu looked back up
to the young man, only to find itself surrounded by hundreds of clones of the
man.
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However, even when surrounded, Kouryuu was not fazed at all. Abilities
related to clones and substitutions usually created weaker versions of the
spellcaster. That is, they stood no chance against the mighty dragon. Further
to that, all the clones were standing on the ground, which was the dragon's
element. They were asking for a mass-execution.
Summoning its power, Kouryuu willed the ground to swallow up the clones.
But it didn't.
Instead, it was Kouryuu that was being swallowed up by the ground.
Looking below, Kouryuu saw that the ground at its feet was not of its usual
brown hue, but pitch black.
"You know, you must have been distracted by Solomon's Barrier, but other
affinities are also able to manipulate the sky and earth, you know?"
The young man continued.
"My shadow clones are made from concentrated demonic energy. If I wanted
to, I can make them act as "triggers" to some large-scale magic attacks. And
my Darkness Element isn't your standard element. So a being of Earth
Element like yourself won't be able to handle the darkness.
"I'm sure you can just swallow up this central area if you want to, and even
my magic won't be able to counter that. But you don't. And that's because
you're prioritizing in getting your full strength back."
"If you were to launch an area-wide attack, you'd deplete your current Earth
Element energy and the rate of materialization for your power will decrease.
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And that's why you've been preserving your power by just launching direct
attacks by charging into us."
Kouryuu suddenly became more wary of the young man that was opposing it;
though it did not think that he would be powerful enough to fell it, it had
underestimated how much of a threat he was.
The dragon unleashed its Earth Element energy all at once, the golden
shockwave destroying the hundreds of darkness clones that surrounded it. But
just as his clones were being destroyed, Kouryuu saw the young man extend
his arm toward it, beckoned it with his finger.
Come and get me.
And Kouryuu responded in kind—not caring that it would be compromising
the manifestation process, it lunged toward the young man that was its
enemy, its large body surging with the power of the Earth element.
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PART 3
Having closed the distance between himself and Basara in an instant, Shiba
had successfully attacked his adversary—with a punch from his right arm
radiating a massive amount of Ki.
It was an attack was similar to the one that Shiba had dealt to Basara, an
attack that prevented the latter from fighting any further during the first time
they fought each other.
And yet—
The destructive power of his previous attack was a far cry from what was
being unleashed from his current attack; his power had grown to an entirely
different level, with the combination of Reginlief's corruption being
unleashed, the compatibility acquired from the Four Gods, and Kouryuu
manifesting simultaneously in addition to that.
That said, Basara would not have been able to escape certain death if he were
in the same state as he was when they first sparred.
"…Whoah!?"
However, Shiba was suddenly forced to move after testing his capabilities—
and he didn't stop there.
"——"
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Using the Ki surrounding him, he thrusted the surrounding space with his
palms and feet, the resulting reaction enabling him to move and dodge in
three-dimensions and without limit.
Shiba was spinning his body hectically to avoid an array of slashes that came
at him faster than even his own eyes could follow.
Nevertheless, Shiba did not feel alarmed.
One's presence can always be detected in the wake of any conscious attack,
and this extended to other signs such as vigor or bloodlust when hostile intent
is also present, and even feints come with some form of consciousness. That
said, Shiba's ability to both manipulate Ki and detect surrounding Ki meant
that he could dodge his opponent's attacks without difficulty.
And he could do more than just dodge his opponent's attacks if he had a
grasp of their consciousness.
"—There you are."
Swiveling around, Shiba unleashed a backhand chop with his right hand, the
resulting attack making a massive, shrill sound.
His punch had been blocked.
But how? There was no defensive utility that should work against Shiba's
attacks, now enhanced with massive amounts of Ki. Such Ki would seep
through any weapon it came into contact with and its wielder, and his Ki was
even able to penetrate through Basara's Universal Rejection.
"…Heh." Shiba smiled profoundly at the unexpected, foreign occurrence.
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It was a first for him—to have the Ki from his punches being unable to run
through an opponent. His only consolation was the fact that he managed to
fly backwards the moment the space was attacked.
"I see…so you're capable of defending against my Ki now," Shiba said,
composing himself as he settled down after making distance from his
opponent. He was then met with a resolute declaration by Basara, wielding
Brynhildr as he stood right in front of him.
"I've already told you this. I've resolved myself to beat you, and I've
prepared myself for it."
Shiba stared at Basara fixatedly. "It seems you're finally able to put
theabstract conceptnature of that Universal Rejection of yours to use against
me."
Basara's Universal Rejection was an ability that enabled Basara to deflect
any attack regardless of its nature, but it was of no threat to Shiba; Shiba's
ability to manipulate Ki was not only a physical manifestation, but it
possessed another side to it—a conceptual activation that applied on
abstracts.
What had decided the outcome of their first battle was the clash between
thephysicalityof something that repelled everything and theabstract conceptof
something that could go through anything—but Basara had actually managed
to defend against Shiba's Ki this time.
It meant that Basara's Universal Rejection had activated
itsconceptualmechanic of being able repel all things—and Shiba deduced the
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reason why it had occurred from the complex aura of Ki Basara was now
releasing.
"Humph. The blood of a Demon and a God—of your two mothers—as well
as the blood of Jin-san, a member of the Hero Clan who drank deep the blood
of the evil dragon Fafnir and gained its powers…it seems the powers of your
inheritance of four different bloodlines are coming to life. And the individual
balance between each bloodline is impressively even."
Moreover—
"There's also the Solomon's Seal made by Mio-chan and the others and the
resultant compatibility from them. …Even so, all that alone shouldn't be
enough for you to be able to defend against my Ki."
Shiba's proficiency in wielding Ki had drastically escalated ever since their
first battle; the fact that Basara was able to defend against Shiba's attacks
meant that Basara had managed to attain a power that was even stronger than
Shiba's during his disappearance.
And there was only one possible explanation for that.
"But of course, Basara, so you've…"
A cold smile surfaced on his face once more as he made the realization.
"You've finally crossed the line and made the Master-Servant Vow with
Mio-chan and the others in order to defeat me. That's what it is, isn't it?"
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PART 4
Basara remained silent as Shiba deduced what he'd done accurately—Shiba's
ability to detect and analyze Ki meant that there was no hiding it.
…It's only natural that you'd know.
Basara's current power stemmed from the activation of the high balanced
composition of his four bloodlines, as well as the five-elemental
compatibility that came from the Master-Servant Vows he'd made with Mio
and the others.
Being able to control the full extent of his newly acquired power was an
extremely difficult task, especially if said power came from an external
source rather than from an internal change.
An additive power boost alone might have been inadequate to attain a power
that was enough to defeat Shiba, however, so Basara had elected to combine
all of his powers multiplicatively. This caused his power to increase so
drastically that it became a futile effort to attempt to control it; and so he
could only ask Mio and the others to erect a barrier from the Solomon's Seal
beforehand.
Despite all that…Basara knew that taking such a turn was no mistake.
And although he could trace Shiba's current power level to the five-elemental
compatibility of the Four Gods as well as the simultaneous manifestation of
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the Kouryuu in addition to several other unknown factors…he never would
have thought that Shiba would be capable of releasing Reginlief's corrosion.
Had Basara not elevated his Universal Rejection to attain its conceptual
application in preparation for Shiba's gradually increasing strength, that
attack would have decided the battle there and then.
However, it also meant that the conceptual activation of his Universal
Rejection only applied against Shiba's Ki; if the conceptual activation applied
toward all things, Basara would reject the very air he needed to breathe as
well as repel even the very space surrounding him, leaving him with nothing
around him.
Basara had intentionally limited the conceptual application of his Universal
Rejection to only work against Shiba's Ki to avoid that from happening.
Of course, he could also control it in a way that it could also repel attacks of a
normal nature—but it was best not to do so.
The correct conceptual adjustments meant that Basara would be able to
withstand Shiba's attacks; at the same time, a mistake in conceptual
deduction of the particular abstract matter would be fatal.
There was also the fact that Shiba had likely not unleashed his full power
when Basara had blocked his initial attack.
Shiba hid his true intentions to the very end during their first battle—surely
he would have a trump card up his sleeve this time.
"…Still, I must admit that I'm really surprised that you've come this far."
Shiba said, his anomalous self laughing lightly. "While I've made a barrier
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with the Four Gods and gained power via their five-elemental compatibility,
you decided to use your girls who love you so much to achieve your own
five-elemental compatibility and asked them to make a barrier from the
Solomon' Seal. What you're doing is quite similar to what I've done, no
doubt, but the fundamentals behind our actions are night and day."
After all—
"I'm using the Four Gods—the sacred treasures—but Mio-chan and the
others areliving beings.Come on, I don't think you need me to tell you how
cruel that is. It's hypocritical too, you yapping all the time about fighting to
protect those you can't give up on, yet going as far as using your precious
girls as tools to boost yourself in order to beat me."
Shiba's words were met with another silence from Basara, and Shiba laughed
again.
"Oh, and that's not all, right? You've advanced your Master-Servant
Contracts into Master-Servant Vows—meaning you can't ever undo them
once you've made them. You're now binding those whom you love to you
for eternity—and I do recall that you've also vaporized the corpses of your
own kin of the Village into nothingness when your Banishing Shift went out
of control. Though I suppose the fact that you want to defeat me and protect
what you love makes it a just cause."
Of course, that was not the case.
"You really are too far gone if you've decided on something that'll only bring
you irreversible tragedy after all those years and after all those dreadful
battles you've struggled against."
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He was criticising them for crossing the line.
"…"
After spending a long time in silence listening to what Shiba had said…
Toujou Basara then finally opened his mouth to speak.
"I won't deny everything I've done—the fact that I was responsible for a
horrible tragedy when my power went out of control and when I condemned
the corpses of my companions to nothingness."
Even so—
"I've never seen the girls as tools—not in the past, not now, and not ever.
Even now, they're extremely important to me, and they'll only continue to
become even more irreplaceable in the future…and I'm sure they feel the
same way too. All we've done was to make an eternal vow to ensure that no
one can take away any of us from one another."
And if—
"You think that I see Mio and the others as tools, that's just because you
yourself consider the Four Gods as nothing as tools to you, isn't it?"
"…"
It was Shiba's turn to be silent, his eyes narrowing as Basara continued
speaking.
"But much like how Byakko recognizes Takashi, the Four Gods aren't
nothing more than tools—they're entities that fight alongside their wielders."
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And much like how Sakuya approved of Yuki—and how Brynhildr approved
of Basara.
"You only treat Reginleif and Kouryuu as tools to realize your own
ambitions. Someone like you has no right to say anything about the
relationship—the bonds—that we share among us."
Youwilllisten to me, and you will listen well.
"Wealone will decide whether our bonds will end up in tragedy. At the very
least, I don't approve of what you're doing and how you're threatening to
take their smiles and lives away—andthat'sone thing I won't allow to happen
either."
"I can imagine you won't…so what are you going to do about it?" He said
mockingly, and two
colon-shaped dark substances the size of his fists melded together behind him
to form a sphere, which then split into a total of nine others.
Shiba's aura was also growing stronger by the minute—he was about to show
him his true strength.
That's right,Basara's thoughts changed again.We're not the only ones who
are fighting with everythingon the line.
Shiba, too, had a past that cannot be erased—he had his burdens.
But Basara had things he could not afford to lose too.
Such thoughts pounded at his chest as he held Brynhildr at the ready.
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"Shiba Kyouichi, I will defeat you—and with everything on the line!"
AndToujouBasara moved to make do on his word.
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PART 5
A massive magic circle was cast in the outdoor stage of the Shakujii Park in
the northwest; swarms of the Legion, a countless horde of evil spirits, were
being constantly summoned from it, yet also being cut down from a series of
sword strikes that were as strong as they were keen.
The battle had since gone on for thirty minutes; the number of Legion that
Leohart had brought down with his magic sword, Loki, was now in the
thousands, but the horde remained unceasing as they kept appearing in hordes
regardless of how many he cut down.
Leohart had two objectives in this battle—the first was to subdue Balflear
and arrest him, while the second was to protect Maria, who was forming the
barrier made from the Solomon's Seal.
And an important factor of said battle was distance; Leohart had maintained a
constant, appropriate distance from Maria as he battled on, knowing that he
would drag her into the battle if he were too close, but caring to also not stray
too far to avoid the event of being unable to defend her in time.
"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
An overwhelming blade of air sliced through the surrounding Legion, and
Leohart ran the edge of his magic sword across the ground, raising his sword
upward in a sweeping motion that threatened to shake the earth beneath him.
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The resulting shockwave riled up sand and debris as it blew away the hordes
of Legion that had just emerged from the massive magic circle.
"…Cut down as many as you want. It's useless."
It was Balflear, who had disappeared the moment the battle had started. His
voice could be heard everywhere, and the conjuring of another magic circle
that summoned even more hordes of the Legion revealed his location.
I see.
Having attempted to destroy the magic circles summoning the Legion several
times to verify the reality of the situation, Leohart could no longer deny that
what Balflear said was true.
The Legion would not be stopped off his current methods.
"The Legion are an infinite horde of evil spirits…there's no stopping them."
Balflear laughed even more coldly at their fruitless endeavour.
"…Is that really the case?" Leohart said, doubting Balflear's words.
Although the Legion seemed to spawn endlessly no matter how much he cut
down, Leohart felt that there was some deception involved.
Having immediately inquired about Balflear and the Legion from Maria who
had sparred against Balflear before his arrival, Leohart suspected that one of
the two statements—the Legion being a god of infinite power, and the fact
that Balflear had managed to form a perfect contract with said Legion—was
false, or that they were both false.
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It was impossible for both statements to be true—they were supposed to be
mutually exclusive.
And then there was the fact that their demonic powers were restricted from
their full potential within the five-elemental compatibility barrier made from
the four sacred treasures—the Demon God Legion included. At the same
time, Shiba could not have acquired such supreme power simply from being
born of the Hero Clan, the power needed to wield the sacred treasures and
erect the aforementioned barrier.
Leohart then spoke to the empty space before him, knowing that Balflear
could still hear him somewhere.
"If what you say is true, rather than idling around and trying to fight off sheer
numbers like what you're doing now, you could simply decide the outcome
of the battle by combining your seemingly infinite horde of Legion into a
single, special entity."
And that wasn't all—
"I know everything. I've heard it all from Lars, knowing that he has more
history with you than I do, and he's told me of the real reason you've decided
to help that Shiba person—as well as what you truly desire. Still, if the power
of the Legion is as infinite as you say—you yourself should be unmatched by
now, and you wouldn't have proceeded with this plan to provide Shiba with
the absolute power he needed. And yet you have, planning this operation with
Shiba Kyouichi in the shadows, and now you're just playing hide and seek
while facing us through a war of attrition."
But that was not the case, because—
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"There has to be a limit—be it with the Legion or you yourself. And the
infinite power of your Legion is no more under said limit. I would assume
that there's something of a core situated somewhere else—the very source
that results in this horde that's seemingly endless no matter how many beings
are cut down, when in reality it's simply reusing a finite source to produce
new hordes of Legion as the previous hordes are destroyed. Am I wrong?"
"…"
Leohart was answered with a silence that was not still; the view before him
was cleared; the magic circle dissipated, and the swarming hordes of Legion
were also nowhere to be found.
"Has he…retreated?" Maria asked as she continued to supply her Wood
element needed to sustain the barrier made from the Solomon's Seal.
"…No. I think he wants to settle this once and for all."
It was a silence that suggested that Balflear was about to demonstrate
Leohart's assumption—a silence that heralded the forthcoming of a stronger
Legion.
"…Let me ask you something, Maria."
"What is it? I've told you everything I know about him and the Legion…"
"I'm not asking you about Balflear. I want to know about this Shiba person—
his history, and the extent of his abilities," Leohart said, "There's a reason as
to why Balflear's decided to work together with that man, with said man
seemingly treating Balflear as his only ally as well."
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There had to be some connection between the two.
"Make your explanation brief—and concise."
"Shiba Kyouichi's background and abilities? Let's see…"
Maria then proceeded to explain to Leohart what she knew of their enemy: of
how he was a forbidden existence made from the Vatican, a clone of the war
god, Toujou Jin; and how he was extremely skilled at controlling Ki—
perhaps enough to call him the very unmatched master of the art.
She spoke of how his body was full of Kegare that could swallow anything…
he's also absorbed Reginlief, a member of the Ten Gods, through another
forbidden experiment.
The information Leohart received along with his existing knowledge of the
Legion's properties as well as the fact that Balflear revealing that he had
spent a longer history with Shiba seemed to be the answers the Demon Lord
needed to confirm his suspicions.
"So that's how it is…" Leohart muttered.
"What exactly have you understood?" A soft voice suddenly said.
Leohart silently turned behind him to see Balflear, now around twenty metres
away from him, with the Legion beside him—it now looked drastically
different.
"———"
Its flesh was now hard and firm—its physique was now undeniably strong at
first glance—instead of theslimy,unstable texture that it had previously
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assumed; the sheer pressure that came from its mere, hulking presence was
reminiscent of the intimidating form of the Demon God Chaos that they had
witnessed in the past.
This form of the Legion was undoubtedly Balflear's trump card.
"I'm not interested in fighting a war of attrition at all. All the Kouryuu needs
to manifest itself is to remain in this five-elemental compatibility barrier, with
Kyouichi-dono's power only continuing to grow all the while. I'm simply
buying time. Well," Balflear said. "I'd stop here and be silent now, but
youaresomeone I used to serve. I would much rather have preferred it if
you'd simply stayed in the Demon Realm happily living out the rest of your
limited days with your precious older sister…it'd be a bit of a shame to come
all the way here just to die without any good reason to."
Balflear touched the Legion in its ultimate form. "This is the true form of the
Legion…I'll say this now—you have no chance of defeating it."
"Is that so—I suppose we'll see about that," Leohart said, readying Loki at
Balflear's declaration.
"…Though is this truly alright?" He then tossed a question at him, "Is it truly
alright for you to show yourself like this, Balflear?"
"...…"
His question erased any trace of emotion Balflear had on his face.
"From what I know, your abilities come from a contract made with the highranking Demon Wraith—abilities that allow you to hide in gaps in between
dimensions. Near the end of the last great war, you were assigned to my unit
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as my aide, and were responsible for many secret operations. But even so,"
Leohart said, "I felt that something was off after discovering that you've
made a contract with the Legion as well as your relationship with this man
called Shiba. Shiba Kyouichi was not involved in the previous battle
whatsoever, and he had not left the human world during that time as well; this
means the two of you must have come into contact in the human world."
Even then—
"And while Shiba Kyouichi was being imprisoned for the past twenty years,
why did you return to the Demon Realm to participate in the last great
war…? I think I've found my answer after hearing Maria's explanation of his
history. And with it I've also found out why you've decided to lend your
strength to him."
He then sighed.
"Balflear…you were imprisoned in the Vatican for a time after that last great
battle, weren't you?"
What a troublesome fellow,Balflear thought. Leohart must now have at
leastsomegrasp of his history and his secrets.
Then again, Leohart was always someone who was extremely knowledgeable
and intelligent—he never needed a subordinate like Balflear.
He was straightforward and did not particularly enjoy pulling the strings or
working beyond the scenes like Balflear and Lars did, but he was no fool.
As Balflear pondered on the nuisance before him—
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"Contracts that provide one with power carry a risk that's directly
proportionate to the power being supplied. Normally, it would be utterly
impossible to accomplish what you've done and contract with the Legion as a
single entity, no matter how many miracles one could think of. The way I see
it, you're an experimental product made from a test to see if one could
contract with a Demon God after being abducted by the Vatican—much like
the man you call Shiba being an experimental clone of Jin Toujou. And I
doubt you're the only one," Leohart said. "Though the number of casualties
during the last great war are unknown, I presume that half of those presumed
dead were spared as not only prisoners, but also test subjects—all for the sake
of producing ridiculous breakthroughs. And you, Balflear, are but the
successful subject that had contracted with the Legion."
And perhaps—
"It was your Legion that was the final piece of the puzzle in making Shiba
Kyouichi the vessel for the Kegare left over from the experiments that no one
from the Hero Clan was capable of handling—and via containing the
inexhaustible supply of Legion into his body, isn't it? That's why you've
decided to work together with him—it's because his desire for revenge
against the Vatican aligns with that of your own."
"That is correct…that's the gist of it. You're wrong about one detail,
though." Balflear said. He then unfastened the chest plate of his battle attire
and undid the active, optic magic seal on it.
"The prisoners of the Vatican were not forced to make contracts with the
Legion. I—we—were simply forced to become its hosts."
He exposed the center of his chest—the heart of the Demon God Legion.
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"The worst part of all this is that the Vatican had discovered a way to
eliminate their problem of having insufficient test subjects."
Leohart's eyes widened slightly at Balflear's statement. "Could it be—"
"Yes—cloning. I am, like Kyouichi-dono, a living product of an experiment.
More specifically, I am a chimeric experimental being made from cells with
high compatibility rates extracted from the demons who were imprisoned
there. I don't remember the demon I was cloned from or what number I was
when I
was first produced—perhaps one of many million others like me. And it was
through countless experiments that the impossible finally happened: a
successful product born from the deepest depths of despair—I, 13thEdition
BLFLA model: Soul Composition Batch, Experiment Numberfi○○○48!"
When the vessel housing an immeasurable amount of Kegare as a result of
continuous absorption of the Legion was first transported to the Village in
Japan, he'd introduced himself as "Shiba", derived from the remaining
numbers from Balflear's experimental code. (4= Shi, 8=Ba).
"I never would have thought…something like that happened…" Maria
whispered, dumbfounded by Balflear's explanation—and there was a barely
detectable laugh from him.
"That only caused the time I'd spent with Kyouichi in the experimental
facility to last even longer."
"And that's why the two of you decided to work together. To exact revenge
against the Vatican—revenge against the Hero Clan, is it not?" Leohart
asked.
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"Of course…and back when Kyouichi-dono first absorbed Reginlief, I left
the facility amidst the commotion while he intentionally stayed behind. We
swore there and then—to reunite once more when the right time came for us
to enact the glorious drama of destroying everything."
You understand it now, don't you?
"I sided with Kyouichi-dono not because I've spent more time with him—but
we've suffered within an abyss, a hell with more madness and cruelty than
any battlefield."
Leohart was even more assured of the truth after listening to Balflear.
"…As I thought, then. You returned to the Demon Realm—"
"Exactly—to make a contact with Wraith." Balflear replied immediately. "I
refused to die until the time was right—I had to find a place where neither
blade nor magic would be able to harm me."
Wraith possessed the ability to traverse through the dimensions and remain in
their space at will; he was a demon of an even higher echelon that even highranking members of the Demon Realm could not make contracts with.
However, Balflear had made the impossible possible given that he was a host
of the Legion—and his preparations were complete the moment he had
acquired Wraith's powers.
"I've already tested the full extents of Wraith's stealth abilities when I was
operating in the last war; had others known that my abilities now surpassed
that of my commander, I would have attracted a lot of unnecessary
attention…and if I had disappeared out of the blue before Kyouichi-dono's
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preparations were complete, I would have invited a lot of focus and
investigation."
That said—
"You gave me the solution I needed when you requested me as your adjutant.
You put me into a position where I didn't need to worry about anything—a
safe haven, if you will—and most importantly, with it you provided me with
power, rank, and freedom. I've aided you in achieving the dream you've been
carrying for so long to return the favour."
"I suppose we can agree on that—those old men are hardly any different from
the Vatican, after all."
"Yes. Even the Demon Realm is not spared from the hell that I've been
through. Though perhaps such taboos and the despair that comes with them
isn't as rare as it seems to be."
And yet—
"Even so, I can't let go of it all…not the sinners involved, nor the hate that
corrodes my own dignity." Balflear said, his voice growing heavier by the
minute.
"I suppose I understand what you've been through and the emotions behind it
now, but…" Leohart said, "Why didn't you think of using me if you wanted
to exact vengeance against the Hero Clan? It's obvious that there would be
many who would oppose the operation you've planned with Shiba, and given
how I still needed the support of the Demon Realm even after succeeding
Wilbert as the new Demon Lord, you could have easily coerced me into
launching an attack on the Vatican, the headquarters of the Hero Clan."
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Balflear said. "Well, I also agreed with your decision to dispose of the
Cardinal Sins to a certain extent."
"Don't you know full well why I never considered that option?" Balflear
asked, laughing callously.
"Youfought against the Cardinal Sins not only out of justice. …The main
reason why you did all that was simply to ensure your beloved older sister
would be able to live her life in the Demon Realm without leash orworry.I
know full well of that through how you've actively tried to avoid conflict
with the Hero Clan, instead seeking to unify the Demon Realm into an era of
peace, and even now you're proceeding with an alliance negotiation with the
Moderate Faction—even if you've allowed us to attack Naruse Mio, the
daughter of Wilbert, the previous Demon Lord."
But the truth is rarely so simple.
"Yet even with the recommendation of both the Warring Faction and the
Conservative Faction, your ideals are, at the end of the day, are still much
like Wilbert's from when he used to reign from the Moderate Faction—to
realize your own ambitions and to ensure the prosperity of those closest to
you. That's no different from what the Cardinal Sins have done. …No, that's
not the case, now, is it? For a king meant to serve and sacrifice for his people
to instead sacrifice his own people for those personal to him—all while
wielding the very fact that it's all for those you love as a convenient excuse—
you're simply far worse."
But such things could simply not be tolerated,Balflear said.
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"An eye for an eye—pain must be repaid equally, and suffering must be
shared with those who condemn others to it. The hate I hold is just and
cannot be eliminated—how could it be, knowing that it would satisfy a mere
insignificant minority if it were possible! Be it the entire Hero Clan or the
Ten Gods who were responsible behind the scenes—they cannot be exempt
from knowing the extents of how we've both suffered."
Balflear's words were the culmination of the long-held resentment that he'd
carried with him for almost twenty years.
And Leohart's was a simple reply.
"…I won't let you do as you please."
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PART 6
Despite finally understanding the strong, yearning feelings his former
adjutant had carried with him for so long, Leohart firmly rejected them.
"I won't fault you and your hatred of the Heroes and the Gods for your past
experiences…and I can understand how your actions are all fuelled by a need
for vengeance toward them. However," Leohart said.
"There are many in the Demon Realm who live in the moment, hoping for
tomorrow—I imagine the people in this world are like that too. And all you
and Shiba Kyouichi will be doing is restarting the war that involved both the
human world and the Demon Realm by breaking the ceasefire pact between
the two worlds. A full-scale war between the human world and the Demon
Realm—possibly involving even the Divine Realm—will only result in a
terribly irrevocable calamity for all sides."
And—
"This battle will only bring about new pain and fan the flames to an unending
cycle of hate. You two intend to unleash your hate to the world, not knowing
that you'd be merely be creating many others like yourselves. Now that the
long, sorrowful period of strife in the Demon Realm is finally coming to an
end, I will not allow yet another pit of suffering to befall my people as the
Demon Lord!"
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Balflear sent a sharp glare at Leohart at his proclamation—he said nothing in
rebuttal, for he was fully aware of coming consequences of his actions.
And Leohart continued speaking.
"A king's duty is not only to reply to those who have made his subjects suffer
in kind—a king must carry both the joy and sorrow of his people to lead them
toward a brighter future. This is the sacred duty of a lord, and a mandatory
responsibility that has nothing to do with one's personal feelings. My older
sister and I know this all too well."
Make no mistake.
"My intentions for defeating the Cardinal Sins and supporting a relationship
between the Current Demon Lord Faction and the Moderate Faction are not
simply to provide a place where my older sister can belong—and that hasn't
changed even now. The resultant pact between the two factions will form an
unopposable power in the Demon Realm…one that will adequately keep
other forces in check and limit the amount of blood that needs to be spilled. I
believe this would bring prosperity to all in the Demon Realm, present and
future."
There was no hesitation in Leohart's words.
"The path I tread upon is lined by the smiles of my people and my comrades
awaiting me. And my older sister and I will attain true happiness when I
finish walking down this path. That is the future that I want—the future we
want!"
But—
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"And what are you two doing! What lies ahead in your single-minded
endeavour to fulfil your desire for vengeance and involving the innocent in it
other than satisfying yourselves? You're now preparing to sacrifice countless
lives in order to realize your ambitions—what makes you any different from
the Cardinal Sins and the Vatican now? …Tell me, Balflear!"
"…Don't get full of yourself!" Balflear's voice now completely frigid,
having heard enough of Leohart's earnest cries.
"Our pain, our suffering…our long-festered hatred…they belong to us and us
alone! We alone can carry them and not anyone else…!"
With strong emphasis on the final words of his statement, the Legion, now in
its final form beside Balflear, began to move—a catastrophic aura began
surging from the entirety of its titanic body, maelstroms of a bluish purple
rattling the surrounding air.
Leohart prepared himself, wielding Loki at the ready.
"If you needed the help of Toujou Basara and Mio Naruse to narrowly defeat
Chaos, I don't think you can do anything to beat an evil spirit like the
Legion." Balflear laughed.
"…I wonder about that." Leohart said, a faint smile on his face.
"Why do you think you're the only one who's been concealing his true
power?"
He then unleashed the power his magic sword as his grip tightened on its hilt.
"Devour them—Loki!"
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Leohart appeared before Balflear and the Legion in an instant, his blade
drawn in a horizontal sweeping stance.
Loki was now freed from its usual restrained state, and Leohart's current
enemy was its prey—with it came the incredible speed of its slicing attack.
Loki was known by many names, each of which possessed their own
individual abilities—and Leohart was now unleashing all of them to their
fullest extent, granting him the power he needed to fell what stood in his
path.
Having closed the distance between him and his enemy and disrupted their
awareness with Master of Mischief, Loki augmented its attack with Finality,
threatening to bring about an immediate demise.
Leohart aimed such an unavoidable, fatal attack at the large body of the
Legion; and the next moment, the Legion's titanic body seemed to explode
and disperse—
"————?"
Leohart was suddenly surprised; his sword didn't seem to cut through
anything, and he soon realized why.
The Legion had not been sliced open—it had split up on its own into
fragments. These fragments recombined into six large eyeballs, the scattered
objects circling a hemispherical circumference above Leohart and the space
around him with their individual, nonuniform paces and with immense speed.
"What a shame."Balflear said, having long since vanished.
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The Legion's eyes then simultaneously shot thread-thin, red-hot rays directly
toward Leohart that burned the very space they passed through—it was an
advanced phenomenon exclusive to one with calibre of a Demon God,
something that was much more different from mere magic.
—It was an exchange between their two trump cards, a clash between offense
and defense.
Having successfully avoided Leohart's threatening attack by causing the final
form of Legion to split up, Balflear knew that he was going to achieve a
narrow victory as he concealed himself in a dimensional gap.
Leohart had been right when he had correctly deduced that there was a limit
to the Legion; although the Legion's properties were truly unlimited, the
same could not be said for Balflear's own powers as its host, and so he could
neither increase the number of the Legion's bodies ad infinitum nor increase
its strength.
Even so, his current strength would still be more than enough to send Leohart
to his grave, and Balflear had successfully outwitted his opponent in this
exchange.
Leohart was to die here—the real battle was what would come after.
…A certain womanwon't let this slide without a fight.
Liala, the Massacre Demonness, would definitely come after the life of
anyone responsible for the death of her beloved younger brother; even so,
Shiba had already grown to a level of unmatched power, and Balflear could
simply hide from her between dimensions.
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And even then—
Balflear wouldn't care whatsoever even if he were to die by Liala's hand
anyway, and it wasn't because he would willingly die for atonement.
The death of Balflear—and even Shiba's death—would not cease her hatred
that came from the demise of Leohart, whom she loved above all else. She
would continue hunting, eventually discovering the operation that had taken
place twenty years ago, and eliminate anyone found to be involved. Her
search would extend not only to the Hero Clan; even the Divine Realm would
not be spared from her wrath if she were to find out that the cloning operation
was secretly founded by theTenGods—down to the last living thing.
He thought of the irony of the situation—of how the death of Leohart, who
swore to stop him from causing even more tragedy and hate, would only
bring forth a trail of blood in the wake of his own older sister Liala.
"A pity," As he bade his last goodbye to Leohart, the Legion's six eyes
continued firing their disintegration rays at the same time. The red lasers
pierced through Leohart's body and drove themselves deeper into the ground
below, causing an overheating explosion as it reduced the Demon Lord to
naught but cinders.
—Or so he thought.
"———"
It was surprise—not victory—that befell him next. The lasers aimed at
Leohart were suddenly deflected to the ground, and Balflear could not see
Leohart or discern why his attack had failed due to the resulting explosion
and smoke from the scorching attack.
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He couldn't possibly have escaped such a heated explosion even if it had
been redirected, but—
"…"
Balflear swallowed hard—he was feeling more and more nervous. If Leohart
managed to somehow deflect such a powerful phenomenon from the Legion,
it would also be easy for him to resist the explosion and come out unscathed.
"…There you are."
Balflear flinched as he turned around at the sudden voice—Leohart had
unknowingly entered the dimensional space exclusive to only Balflear
through the powers he'd received from the contract with Wraith.
He was now wearing black armor; Loki remained in his right hand.
And there was a dimensional gap behind him.
No doubt the full extent of Loki's powers had enabled him to cut through the
dimensions and allow Leohart to enter Balflear's personal realm. And it was
likely that Loki's power now surpassed Wraith's in terms of manipulating
dimensions that enabled Leohart to pinpoint Balflear's exact location amidst
a space with an almost infinite phase contrast.
"————!"
Balflear immediately cast a magic circle in front of him; the Legion followed
by lunging toward Leohart, its six eyes recombining.
If splitting up into six entities would not work against him, surely the Legion
would be able to defeat him in its ultimate form. And he would not be
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directly attacking him—he would allow the Legion to explode, unleashing all
the corrupting power within to destroy his enemy.
That should do it,he thought—but he was once again denied his moment of
victory.
Leohart was wielding Loki at his waist; the blue-purple aura being absorbed
by the blade of the sword.
The next moment, Leohart unleashed a shockwave in a slashing motion,
slicing away the Legion in one fell swoop; the resulting attack also clashed
with the magic circle Balflear used to summon the Demon God, causing a
massive explosion.
"Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
Balflear was directly struck with the attack at point-blank range, causing him
to be knocked out of the dimensional space into the surrounding space; he
collided with the earth of the Shakujii Park below him, grinding the
surrounding surface as he fell into a rolling crash. He then fell into one of the
western ponds of the park, the booming noise causing the pond water to erupt
from its reservoir; however, the water also
cushioned the resulting impact, and he was left on the shore of one of the
floating islands surrounding the pond.
"Ah…gah…"
Balflear barely managed to stay conscious despite having taken tremendous
damage.
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Balflear had utilized a magic circle meant to summon the Legon; although
Balflear lacked the ability to fully utilize the Legion's powers, the
summoning circle required to bring forth the Demon God was nonetheless
capable of withstanding its limitless power, and so he had repurposed the
magic circle to protect himself from the full brunt of Loki's attack.
Crawling out of the pond with the last of his strength, Balflear saw Leohart
arriving before him as he raised himself onto the floating island, now soaking
wet.
"...…"
Balflear continued staring at Leohart, now fully clad in black armor that
resembled his own sword, in disbelief.
Loki's power was indeed a far cry from the power of Toujou Basara's
Brynhildr—but much like how Balflear was unable to fully make use of the
Legion's infinite powers, Leohart was also supposed to be incapable of
unlocking the full extent of Loki's power. A forcible attempt at doing so
would overwhelm his body and his heart—that was why he had used Loki in
a limited state when he fought against Toujou Basara and Chaos.
Even for someone like Leohart, it should have been impossible to make use
of the full extent of Loki's power—unless there was some blessing or
contract involved…
"Are you telling me that…" Balflear muttered. An impossible answer
suddenly became possible in his mind.
"You've made a Master-Servant Contract with Liala-dono?"
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"…I don't want to lose anymore." Leohart said, affirming Balflear's
assumption as the latter remained in shock.
Leohart thought of the time where he had to fight against Toujou Basara
during the conflict against the Moderate Faction; he had undeniably lost their
battle to him, even if said battle had been interfered while it was still
proceeding.
There was also the fact that Chaos could not have been defeated without the
aid of Basara and the others—it had reminded him of the reality that he
lacked the strength to go against the Moderate Faction and the Cardinal Sins
—as well as the fact that Basara possessed the strength he did not.
The Cardinal Sins were now no more, and the proceedings of peace with the
Moderate Faction were currently underway—with its success possibly
bringing about a true, everlasting peace for the Demon Realm.
Even so, however, Leohart knew he lacked the strength to protect that peace
—such was why he could only do what he could and perform a MasterServant contract with Liala.
His contract was different from Basara's contracts, though—he was
theservantin the contract, whilst Liala was his master.
Liala had accepted the idea for the Master-Servant Contract positively,
knowing that it was a means to deepen their already close bond and grow
even more inseparable; however, she had initially disapproved of the
suggestion that she was to be Leohart's master in the contract.
It was the only request from Liala that Leohart had ever insisted against; he
would satisfy any of Liala's desires with the exception of this one. Regardless
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of the means they would use to form their contract, Leohart did not want any
risk of Liala getting afflicted with the curse, and more importantly, he simply
had a wish he couldn't back down on.
It was his dream.
Leohart had never wanted to be the sovereign of his world—he had only
assumed the throne as a means to gain power to obtain power to protect Liala,
knowing full well that he only acquired the position on recommendation by
the Sins as a puppet ruler.
All this time, he only ever wanted one thing—to become a knight meant to
serve and protect his beloved older sister.
Liala had finally accepted his intentions after hearing of the dream he had—
and it was only with that contract that Leohart managed to arrive here with a
newly acquired power.
Looking below him as he wielded the power of Loki, his magic sword—his
Demon God—he saw Balflear spread-eagled and unconscious on the ground,
as if he had lost all of his will to resist after accepting that he had been
completely defeated.
"Much like Toujou Basara, I, too, have things that I can't give up on. I will
spare none that will cross my lines, no matter who they may be," Leohart
said, and the Demon Lord then quietly announced his purpose for coming
here.
"Balflear, I arrest you for the crime of the highest level of treason."
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PART 7
Shiba and Basara continued sparring in mid-air of Tokyo, the atmospheric
vibrations from their intense battle threatening to destroy the surrounding
atmosphere itself as the two beings of ultimate power continued fighting.
Their skills were limited in some way for this battle; Basara had to limit the
conceptual application of his Universal Rejection to only work against
Shiba's Ki, whereas Shiba was now incapable of penetrating through Basara
with his primary ability. The sky became the stage for which the two sparred
with their weapons; Basara with his sword, Byrnhildr, and Shiba with the
corroding magic gauntlet Reginlief, now clad on this body as both armor and
weapon.
With the dragon's blood he'd inherited from Jin, he flew in between the gaps
of the skyscrapers of the city at high speeds; encircling the white structures,
he made a high-speed turn and lunged toward Shiba, who was also moving
through the air by virtue of his Ki.
"Wooooooooooooooooooah!"
He unleashed Byrnhildr as the two clashed, his attack a curved slash that
threatened to run through Shiba's left shoulder and toward the right side of
his torso; his combined speed, pushed it to its absolute limit, along with the
strength he now possessed meant that he would be able to cut through
anything.
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And yet—
"…Tsk, tsk, tsk. You never learn, do you?" Shiba smiled as he took the
attack head on. His collar simply absorbed the full extent of the attack,
causing only a loud, clanging sound of metal.
Basara's blade did not cut through Shiba, let alone cause any damage.
While Shiba had primarily used his Ki for offense in their previous battles,
Shiba was now using his Ki defensively now that Basara's Universal
Rejection was able to resist the penetration of his Ki. He was now utilizing an
ultimate defense called the Ki Barrier, where his entire body was enveloped
in a flow of Ki; it turned Basara's slashing attack into a mere blow and
completely nullified the force that came with it.
"I guess it's my turn now."
As Basara distanced himself from Shiba with the recoiling force from his
attack and straightened his position in mid-air, Shiba launched a fist
resembling a tiger's claw upward.
"————!"
Basara managed to avoid Shiba's attack that was aiming for the left side of
his—he fought against the recoil that had knocked Byrnhildr toward him
through sheer strength, and he then used Shiba's left shoulder as support to
evade Shiba's punch with a handstand.
He then prepared to swing Brynhildr down on Shiba as he turned around to
get behind Shiba as he loomed over him. It was then that he saw Shiba's
attack causing a thunderous explosion in the building in front of him—about
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three or four buildings had completely disappeared as if the claw of a giant
beast had run through them.
Basara gulped as he witnessed the extent of the attack's
destructivepower.Although Shiba had reduced a building that Basara cut
down to dust with his Ki, his Ki had now grown to be so powerful that it left
no trace of anything it touched—enough to destroy or disintegrate anything
completely. And although Basara was clad in Byrnhildr's armor much like
Shiba was now clad in his own, he doubted if he had the defences to stomach
an attack of that magnitude given that he was unable to use something like
Shiba's Ki Barrier.
—Having activated the conceptual activation of his Universal Rejection, he
was currently only capable of resisting the penetration of Shiba's Ki that was
fatal to anything it made contact with.
And although Shiba utilized Ki in both his normal attacks and his penetration
attacks, the properties between the two types of attacks varied greatly—
though Shiba's normal attacks were no less threatening in terms of their
power.
Ki would be instilled into a target not only just from the point of impact, but
it could be fired toward a target that was far away as well—with Shiba's most
recent attack being a dangerously apt demonstration. That said, Basara had to
be careful to avoid almost every attack Shiba threw at him since the
beginning of the battle.
Basara wasn't worried despite all that, however.
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If he could not avoid Shiba's attacks, he would simply ensure Shiba would
not be able to dodge his own attacks—he would do what needs to be done.
"Mmm…as I thought, your speed is actually a little problematic."
When Shiba turned around next, Basara was no longer within sight—his
speed had been increased twofold, far surpassing Shiba's. He readied himself
in a slanting position above Shiba's blind spot—behind his right side—and
launched an attack that could not be avoided or defended against—Extinction
Sword.
Although the trajectory of destructive power of the attack when it was used in
their previous battle had been redirected through a flow of Ki, the previous
iteration of the attack was a normal manifestation of the move—it had been a
physical activation.
This time, he would be utilizing the conceptual activation of the move, much
like he had applied to his Universal Rejection.
With Shiba as the intended target, Shiba would not be able to defend against
his attack with his Ki Barrier; attacking from his blind spot also meant that he
would have no chance of dodging the attack as well.
This one hit would decide the battle there and then.
But—
"————!?"
Basara hurriedly flew upward as if he were deflected in order to dodge
something, even after unleashing such a powerful attack; his Extinction
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Sword was cut down by a vertical, curved slash that came from below, redblack blade marks cutting through the space below his feet and soundlessly
slice through the three skyscrapers line behind him.
"…"
Basara could not catch his breath; the Extinction Sword split into two equal
parts as if to evade Shiba as the fragments continued to travel further behind
their intended target, causing destruction in Asakusa Town in their wake. The
buildings behind him were also beginning to crumble.
"I don't think I've properly explained this to you…but my battle style of
manipulating Ki is based on a concept called Ars Deicidium—one that
prepares me against even the highest-ranking gods and demons. And much
like your Banishing Shift granting you a set of primordial abilities for your
use, my concept also happens to come with some secret techniques of its own
as well." Shiba laughed as he eliminated the Annihilation Slash with a
spinning kick towards the right behind him.
"Let's start with one of the many abilities included…Fifth Rank—NineHeaded Kusanagi!"
Basara was taken back as Shiba revealed his first technique; before Basara
even realized it, he was already surrounded by nine blackmagatama (yinyang beads)around him—dispersed from Shiba's back.
"Gah…!"
Basara steeled himself to face the attack directly, a sight which caused
Shiba's smile to deepen.
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"Eighth Rank—Tamemikazuchi!"
The blackmagatamasimultaneously suddenly shot out black and red electric
streams as Shiba revealed his second technique, constricting Basara and
preventing him from moving freely.
"Gaaah…damn…these…"
"I'm surprised you can still speak even after you've taken this attack…are
you telling me you still have the strength to escape?" Shiba said, watching
Basara's frantic struggle against the electrifying chains with great interest.
"Heads up, though—the real Tamemikazuchi startsnow." Shiba said, raising
his right hand.
"Here, let me give you a taste…of what becoming lightning feels like."
With a snap of his fingers, a dreadfully violent explosion preceded the
lightning bolt that was Toujou Basara as it crashed onto the ground.
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PART 8
The earth beneath him was incapable of handling the sheer strength of
Tamemikazuchi, and the electric chains binding him meant that he could not
even go against the forceful movement.
"Eeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
Having been driven through the asphalt and several underground floors, he
ended up on a platform of an underground train station. And having taken
several direct, consecutive blows to his back from the attack, the shock from
the impacts caused oxygen to escape from Basara's lungs and pour out of his
mouth.
"Kkk…gah…haaah!"
Although Brynhildr's armor meant he sustained no serious injury to his
internal organs, he remained shackled by the Tamemikazuchi's electric
chains.
"———!"
Basara then willed the Universal Rejection to apply to the Tamemikazuchi,
knocking away the strong current of electricity binding him.
"…What is this place…?"
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His gaze darted toward the signboard on the nearby wall—it was the
Kamiyacho Station of the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line. He then realized that he
was now northwest of the city
"What's this? …You've managed to escape Tamemikazuchi?" Shiba said,
landing on the platform after following Basara down through the tunnel he'd
inadvertently made from the severe, drilling impacts.
Basara frantically attempted to make distance.
"How about this, then?"
The ninemagatamabehind Shiba then dispersed into groups of three, sealing
both ends of the platform as well as the massive hole that Basara had dropped
out of, creating a massive, triangular prison of electricity.
"…!" Basara grunted at the predicament he was in.
Shiba then activated a stance that was different from the one he used to cast
Tamemikazuchi, crossing his arms as he thrusted his palms toward Basara—
"Tenth Rank—Kurikara!"
A red-black stream of Ki energy surged forth from Shiba's palms—the
massive amount of Ki took shape and assumed the form of a four-headed
dragon.
Burning the half-sealed space of the platform, the dragon's attention was now
fully fixated on Basara.
"———!"
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Basara decided to run from the attack rather than face it head on this time—
he wanted to avoid being shackled by the Tamemikazuchi again if he were to
attempt to counter Kurikara with Banishing Shift. Moreover, the hellfire of
the Kurikara would incinerate the surrounding oxygen in the are almost
immediately, turning the underground station into a hellish oven—at the
same time, however, changing the rejected target of his Universal Rejection
to the Kurikara's heat would leave him vulnerable to the Penetration property
of Shiba's Ki.
He began to run behind him.
"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
Unleashing Banishing Shift towards the magatama that were covering the
direction of the Kita-Senju station, he deflected the electric current that was
blasting a hole in the electric barrier, before he jumped onto the underground
railway tracks and made a speedy sprint toward the north. The four-headed
fire dragon filled the underground tunnel completely as it chased after him.
…If this is the Hibiya line, then—
As Basara formed a map of his surroundings in his mind as he passed by the
Kasumigaseki station, the flames lined the space of the tunnel as they
continued chasing after him in the subterranean space, spreading across the
intersection that linked the Maruonouchi line and the Chiyoda line.
However, the wrath of the flaming dragon remained relentless as it continued
chasing after Basara.
As he reached a point of the Hibiya line railway tracks that curved right—
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"…Here!"
Basara suddenly directed Extinction Sword in a curved slash upward as he
ran, forming a pathway that would lead to the surface. He then leapt upwards
in a slanting motion towards his right in a forward-bent posture through the
tunnel he'd created. The flames of the Kurikara followed him in a grand
eruption toward the tunnel they chased after him as it surged upward—Basara
thus escaped the extremely thick flamethrower that would have resulted in a
fiery fate.
Basara found himself arriving at a particular place.
Wary of the power of the Earth element that came with Shiba's manifestation
of Kouryuu, Basara had consistently avoided fighting Shiba on the earth's
surface. And although he wanted to continue using the power of the dragon's
flight that he had yet to be fully accustomed to, he reconsidered the risk of
being trapped by the Tamemikazuchi again.
Nevertheless, in an area where there were many obstacles and hiding spots
present, Shiba's reliance on Ki to detect his enemies' position and
movements would put him at a significant disadvantage.
Basara had chosen a place where he would have the least risks continuing the
battle—the public square in front of the Imperial Palace. He wanted to fight
Shiba out in the open, where his line of sight was wide and left as little
opening as possible.
"I don't know what to say…why exactly did you comehereof all places?"
The voice came with a bitter laugh. Basara turned upward to see Shiba
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floating in air, situated approximately ten meters directly above the
Sakuradamon.
"Well, I suppose in some ways, this is quite a suitable place for us to settle
things, isn't it?"
Shiba slowly descended to meet Basara's level as the latter stood on the
public square; maintaining a twenty-meter distance away from him, the aura
of his Ki suddenly rose drastically.
"…!"
"What's wrong, Basara…are you implying that you don't know what this
place is?" Shiba smiled faintly at Basara's disturbed expression as he
continued to radiate a suffocating pressure.
"This palace was once the ancient Edo city…the central point of interaction
of the Four Gods. This is where their combined compatibility is at its
maximum, while it's geographical location also happens to be helpful in
strengthening the central area. Note how the metropolitan rapid loop line
circles around the city itself—along with three other loop lines with it—a
total of four rings matching the number of the Four Gods. And that's not all
—note the ring roads that all lead toward the center, too. It's not just the Edo
Period—even at this very moment, the circular geography of Tokyo itself is
supplying the power of the five-elemental compatibility towards the central
area."
"…"
Basara only remained silent at Shiba's elaboration—he knew full well what
the geographical surroundings of the Imperial Palace were like.
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Even so, Basara had chosen this location as the stage for their final battle—it
was a not a suicidal decision, but a decision that was made out of the pure
desire of achieving victory.
"———"
And so he wordlessly readied himself to unleash the Banishing Shift.
"Well, I suppose I can't say I don't understand the reason behind you
wanting to risk everything on that technique of yours…you've relied on it so
much to get out of so many dangerous situations, after all." Shiba said.
Still—
"Do you think such a reactive and improbable technique is better than my Ars
Deicidium given that you can only use it as a counterattack? Must I also
remind you that said technique only applies to only a single form of matter,
and even then it won't necessarily guarantee its elimination?"
"…I don't intend to prove that my abilities are better than yours," Basara
declared. "I simply have no need to!"
Basara roared as he fired the Banishing Shift before Shiba unleashed an
attack of his own—he had not done so because he had broken his limits, and
he was utilizing the conceptual activation of the ability, much like he'd done
with his Universal Rejection.
He had unleashed the attack towards the massive amounts of Ki that
surrounded the Imperial Palace.
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As Shiba had previously mentioned, Ki existed in all things, and the Imperial
Palace was now the point of which all of the Ki in Tokyo would gather.
Basara had used Banishing Shift against this abundant stream of Ki.
The surrounding Ki was almost unlimited—it would simply regroup from all
directions even if the current surrounding Ki were to be eliminated for just a
moment. But if Basara were to eliminate said surrounding Ki, he would be
able to temporarily turn the Imperial Palace into an empty zone devoid of Ki.
It would eliminate the Ki that Shiba would use for both offense and defense
in an instant—and Basara wasn't about to waste such a fragile opportunity.
"—————!"
Using Universal Rejection behind him, he closed the distance between him
and his opponent in an instant, unleashing Byrnhildr in the opposite direction.
Shiba raised his arms, assuming a stance that implied he wanted to catch the
flying blade with his bare hands.
Basara paid him no mind; without the power of his Ki, he would be unable to
block his attack—and surely it would be over then.
"——————"
However, Shiba put his palms together in front of his chest as Basara stood
his ground with his own conviction—there was a clapping noise, and as his
hands parted, his chest and abdomen parted like a gaping mouth—revealing a
space that was darker than any abyss within.
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A black substance seeped out of what seemed to be a dimensional gap,
absorbing Byrnhildr as it nullified its attacks; Basara was then promptly
sucked into the void.
"How disappointing…come into my body, Basara, and much like Reginlief,
you will become my newest source of power." Shiba laughed.
"…And I've known that it's exactly what you've wanted." Basara replied
with a smile of his own.
Basara was wary of the possibility that Shiba would attempt to absorb him
the moment he'd heard that Shiba had absorbed Reginlief; he had remained
vigilant against him ever since. That said, Basara shifted his normal attacks to
the Banishing Shift as he continued attacking—he was casting Banishing
Shift; Geminus, a continuation of his first attack that was used to scatter away
the surrounding Ki.
Having prepared this technique for this exact situation, Basara managed to
repel the darkness—it didn't matter that he didn't manage to fully
exterminate it yet.
Basara was already preparing another slashing attack before Shiba could
make his next move—but things did not go as intended.
"…It's no use, Basara." Shiba smiled.
The darkness that should have been eliminated by Banishing Shift simply
regrouped and devoured Basara before his attack could even reach Shiba.
There was no escape.
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"But how…!"
"You have Afureia with you…of course I'd considered the fact that you'd
taken precautions against the risk of being absorbed into me."
Shiba gave Basara an umpteenth, cold smile as the latter went still with
shock.
"The Kegare within my body can swallow all forms of darkness—even
Reginlief, hailed as one of the TenGods, was unable to escape from it.
Perhaps one would have a chance if they were to completely eliminate my
corruption, but simply dispersing it will do absolutely nothing."
That meant—
"YourBanishing Shift needs to discern the physical origins of its target and
cut off said origin before it can eliminate anything, yes? I'm afraid trying to
detect the origin of such an abstract matter, is more or less impossible,
however."
After all—
"Stare into the blackest and deepest depths of the abyss all you want—all you
can see remains nothing but darkness."
Shiba Kyouichi had now swallowed everything of Toujou Basara— his body
and his consciousness.
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PART 9
"—Basara!?"
As Mio continued to sustain the Fire element of the Solomon's Seal in the
west, she suddenly called out to Basara as she was assailed by an
inauspicious feeling, turning toward the north.
For a short moment, she could no longer sense Basara, who was supposed to
be fighting Shiba in the middle vicinity. She couldn't have mistaken it—their
newly made Vows had only made their ability to sense the location and
presence one another much stronger.
Her mind suddenly thought for the worst.
…It couldn't be.
The bond that kept them together—the Master-Servant Contract—would
disappear if Basara were truly dead. But it still remained.
As she frantically tried to detect any traces of his presence, she finally found
the faintest sign of his being.
Something had evidently happened to him—and it was undoubtedly Shiba's
doing.
Mio had previous received some information via Yuki's mother, Kaoru, back
when they were in the Village of the Hero Clan; Hasegawa had also told
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them of the fate of Reginlief, one of the Ten Gods, when they were in her
imaginary dimensional space. Given those elaborations and the fact that they
could not sense Basara's presence, even for only a brief moment, it was very
likely that he had been absorbed by Shiba.
…Basara…!
They had taken any lengths they could for the sake of defeating Shiba—they
even went as far to advance their Master-Servant Contracts to Master-Servant
Vows.
Yet Shiba Kyouichi was an unpredictable enemy, one who had mercilessly
shattered the bonds Mio and the others shared with Basara, bonds that bet
their body and soul to the same man they all loved.
Basara had always been the one to rescue them from danger up until now—
but Shiba had placed him into another dangerous situation again.
Mio couldn't resist the welling urge in her heart to rush toward her beloved
older brother.
"…!"
But she couldn't go—Mio and the others had to sustain the barrier made from
the Solomon's Seal, and they were thus unable to leave the locations that they
were responsible. Mio's face twisted in dissatisfaction as her sense of
responsibility got the better of her.
…If this keeps up, then…!
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It was very possible that Basara would lose to Shiba again, much like he had
during the first battle.
Basara had only escaped death due to Hasegawa's intervention, and she
would undoubtedly come for him again if he were to be put in a dire situation
again. However, her precious success was largely due to her appearance
being largely unexpected by Shiba, and so it was now uncertain that she
could rescue Basara again now that Shiba was wary of her presence.
Moreover, Hasegawa's powers were limited despite the fact that she could
activate them for Basara's sake—and their opponent was wielding the soul of
Reginlief, a member of the Ten Gods much like she was.
And even then—
Even if they were to rescue Basara, the simultaneous manifestation of the
Kouryuu meant that Shiba's power would only continue to increase, whereas
they had already exhausted their final option in their Master-Servant Vows.
If they were to fail even now, they would truly have no chance of victory.
What was she supposed to do? As she single-mindedly ruminated on her
ever-growing doubt and unease—
"…Naruse Mio,go." A curt voice gave Mio a push on her back.
It was Takashi—having forcibly regained the Byakko from Shiba's control
during his scuffle with the sacred weapon, Takashi's injuries were
substantial, but he was already beginning to recover gradually.
"But…if I were to leave here…and head toward Basara…"
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"The barrier of the Solomon's Seal has already been activated. If all it
requires now is for it to be maintained, I can take over from here." Seeing
Mio's hesitation, Takashi quickly replied to put her at ease.
After all—
"I am recognized by the Byakko—a being of theWindElement among the
four Classical Elements.Windhas the power to rile up and strengthen Fire.
And wind is of theWoodElement among the Five Elements, which has a high
compatibility with Fire."
"…Do you remember the time when we first battled?"
"Huh?" Mio could not understand why Takashi was bringing up that past
event.
"In the end, the Byakko ended up losing control because I acted
immaturely…and it was Basara who drove me to that point. But it was you,
that succubus servant of yours and Yuki that gave him the time he needed to
do so," Takashi said, staring at Mio. "You were supposed to be no match for
me back then. But do you think the efforts you took during your struggle
against us was nothing but a waste?"
"————"
Mio widened her eyes at his statement—it was what she needed to finally
make up her mind.
"…Are you sure this will be okay?"
"I've already told you this—don't underestimate the Hero Clan."
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As Takashi gave his answer, Mio immediately activated her flight magic and
hurried toward the central area, where Basara and Shiba were supposed to be
battling, her speed leaving even the wind in a cloud of dust.
Mio wasn't going to the Imperial Palace, however—there was something she
had to make sure of first. She had rushed toward the south of the Imperial
Palace instead, where Takigawa was battling Kouryuu.
Takashi had mentioned his arrival previously, and Mio had also kept an eye
on the situation there when she was maintaining her side of the barrier of the
Solomon's Seal in the south, given that the ensuing battle had raged on quite
viciously.
Mio had not arrived here first because she was more worried about Takigawa,
though—she had come here purely out of a need to help Basara.
Confirming Mio's arrival, Takigawa temporarily distanced himself from
Kouryuu and landed on the top of a skyscraper. Understanding the
circumstances, Mio followed him onto the same building and immediately
cut to the chase.
"I have an unreasonable request, but…is it impossible for you to defeat
Kouryuu right now?"
"And just when I was wondering what exactly you had arrived here for, you
spout this nonsense out of your mouth…I'm kinda having a hard time here,
so can you not make it sound like it's supposed to be easy?" Takigawa said,
looking completely disgusted. "That dragon manifested because of that Shiba
guy, and I assume that this massive beast will disappear once Basachi finally
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settles things with him. I'm supposed to be simply buying time until that
happens, but…" He paused, sighing for a moment.
"Well, look at you—are you saying that something horrible's happened to
Basachi?" He continued in a low voice, knowing full well that Mio had the
ability to sense if anything had happened to Basara.
"…I don't know. I just really hope you'll be able to hurry with it."
Mio knew that she was making a very unreasonable request; Shiba's
immense power now stemmed from the simultaneous manifestation of the
Kouryuu.
At the same time, however, it also meant that Shiba's strength would be
reduced drastically if the Kouryuu were to be defeated.
If they were to rescue Basara and defeat Shiba, this was a crucial task to
perform; and although Mio seemed to be entrusting Takigawa to do this all
by himself, she had done so for two main reasons.
Firstly, Mio had to hurry and rush toward where Basara was; given the
danger he was now in at Shiba's hands, Mio had to stop him at any cost, even
if her own powers were no match for his.
And there was the second reason—Mio was responsible for the Fire Element.
Fire had compatibility with Earth; The Kouryuu could simply absorb Mio's
attacks and grow stronger through them, and strengthen Shiba along with it—
they had to prevent that from happening.
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And even if Mio could use her gravity magic, it was possible that she may
unconsciously augment her attacks with the Fire Element. And even then, her
gravity magic wouldn't be particularly effective against Kouryuu, and
carelessly driving their opponent of the Earth Element toward the ground
would only induce the risk of a far stronger counterattack.
…But this is just so frustrating!
The truth was that it was best for Mio to not to get involved if they wanted a
chance at defeating Kouryuu—and Takigawa knew it full well, too.
"Ugh, what a drag…well, it's not like Ican'tdo it, but it will take some time."
He said, gazing at Kouryuu from afar.
It was the sacred beast's innate instinct to primarily guard the central area.
"It's only observing things right now because I'm not showing it any
hostility. The moment I decide to lay a finger on it, I imagine it'll come
flying straight at me."
"I suppose it really is a difficult task…"
It was likely that Takigawa was planning to accumulate his magic in order to
launch an attack that would be powerful enough to defeat to Kouryuu—it was
understandable that he needed the time to prepare for it.
And if time was what Takigawa needed, Mio could get it for him.
Even if it meant it would strengthen the Kouryuu in the process—
If I don't hurry, Basara will…!
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So long as their Master-Servant Vows were still intact, Basara remained alive
and he could be saved—but they didn't have much time. The possibility of
Basara being fully absorbed by Shiba was the throbbing fear that completely
filled her heart.
She couldn't waste any more time here—she couldn't lower her chances of
saving Basara even further, or she would have to witness Basara's demise
with her own eyes.
"I understand…make preparations, then, Takigawa. I'll buy you the time you
need."
Mio activated her flight magic and went forth—toward Kouryuu. As she
closed in on her target, Kouryuu also prepared itself to react to her.
"—————"
Using the immense energy of the Earth Element, its ascension from the
ground caused the earth beneath it to rumble and quake; the dragon then
opened its gaping mouth as light began to charge within it as it pooled from
all directions.
Mio could not attack it, however—she could only show it her hostility and
occupy its attention, fully adopting an avoidant or defensive stance whenever
necessary.
It was alright with her; for so long as she could help Basara—
"I'll do what I need to do to get its attention…come at me!"
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As Mio braced herself for the Kouryuu's breath attack, something unexpected
occurred; there was a thunderous noise as the side of the dragon's head took a
heavy blow. The impact caused Kouryuu's head to shake to the side, the
golden time charging its breath in its mouth vanishing in the process.
Mio then saw the arriving assailant—a familiar face, someone who was
smaller than everyone else in her household, but also someone who had
physical strength that far surpassed theirs.
"Mio-sama! Are you alright?"
"…Maria!"
As Mio called out Maria's name in surprise, the succubus kicked off using
the Kouryuu's massive head and spread her wings to fly toward her.
"I knew you'd come here, Mio-sama! I felt Basara-san's presence disappear
for a moment too…oh, and Leohart-san actually came by to help us out, so
he's now taking my place with his magic sword to sustain the barrier."
"I see…I've also left my role to Hayase, and I'm trying to buy time for
Takigawa to defeat Kouryuu now."
"————"
Kouryuu suddenly roared as the buildings nearby Mio and Maria were
influenced by the power of its Earth Element, disintegrating into sand as they
surged upward to reach them.
Before they could decide whether they would block or dodge, however, the
pillars of sand suddenly halted their assault.
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Someone was standing on top of a nearby building, her hands on the surface
as she disrupted Kouryuu's Earth element attacks with her own earth magic.
"Zest!" Mio cried.
"Sorry I'm late…Luka and my magic golems are substituting me in
maintaining the barrier." Zest said as she reported her circumstances.
Her arrival was followed by another familiar girl who had arrived here by
riding the winds—Kurumi had also arrived.
"You guys got really lucky…the guy that came by to help me out just said
'Sorry, I can't maintain the barrier because I'm of the Fire Element', so I had
to bury the elemental orb of Water there to replace me." Kurumi said, smiling
fearlessly despite a moment of resignation. "But since Water isn't that
effective against Earth in the Five Elements, so it should be fine…right?"
As she finished, Kurumi riled up the winds with her magic, and Kouryuu was
suddenly assaulted by a series of unseeable attacks—they were bullets made
of compressed air. Unlike Mio who used her own magic to fight, Mio instead
lent the power of her spirits to do battle, and so she wouldn't be applying her
Water element when she was utilizing her Wind Magic.
Maria's Wood Element was strong against Kouryuu's Earth Element.
Zest's Earth Element was equal against the same element.
And Kurumi's own magic, which was of the Wood Element, was strong
against Kouryuu's Earth element as well.
The three were far more suited than Mio to fight against Kouryuu.
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"Leave the Kouryuu to us. Hurry up and go save Basara-san!" Maria said,
preparing for battle.
"But…Maria…!" Mio exclaimed.
"I'm sorry to say this, but your abilities won't be effective against this
particular enemy of ours right now…but if Basara-san has really been
absorbed into that Shiba person's body…" Maria said, turning around. "I
think you already know this, but…you might be the only one capable of
rescuing Basara-san now."
Mio understood what Maria was trying to imply. Only Mio could do what the
others could not now—she alone among them could rescue Basara.
"…I understand. I'll leave things here to you."
Nodding in approval, she then made haste to go where she needed to be and
to carry out what she alone could do and needed to do.
She had to save Basara.
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PART 10
Mio gasped at the scene below her as she flew toward the Imperial Palace.
Tokyo—the central capital of Japan—was being razed in hellfire.
The southern end of the Chiyoda district had been engulfed in a sea of
flames; various important areas of the capital, ranging from various
governmental offices, the National Public Safety Commission and the symbol
of power separation encompassing the Cabinet Office, the National Diet and
the Judicial Office, were also not spared from the reddish traces of fire.
The only respite was that such destruction was unfolding in the illusory
barrier that Shiba had constructed from the Four Gods.
Even so, if Shiba were to dispel this space without the barrier of the
Solomon's Seal that Mio and the others had created, the reversed
arrangement of the Four Gods would cause them to go out of control and turn
the scene Mio was witnessing into a reality—if not a scene that extended to
nearly the entirety of Tokyo and of a far more drastic scale.
"———!"
As Mio pondered on the dangerous possibility as she flew over the Hibiya
Park, her cautiousness suddenly began to skyrocket.
She had met the gaze of her enemy, who was now standing in front of the
public square of the Imperial Palace. He was flashing an eerie smile at her,
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and his deformed body was radiating a dazzling glow of three colors, red,
black and gold—perhaps the result of the mix between his absorption of
Reginlief and the simultaneous manifestation of Kouryuu. The aura he was
exuding was of an intensity that Mio had never felt before, sharing the
golden, seemingly sacred quality of Kouryuu, yet also extremely dangerous,
as if unbelievably dark was underneath him.
And as she had presumed, Basara—who was supposed to be fighting him—
was not anywhere within sight.
"…!"
Resolving herself, Mio landed on the public square right in front of Shiba.
"My, my—you're late." Shiba said, calmly welcoming her arrival. "It seems
Balflear's been captured, and although things seemed to be taking a turn for
the worse for us…I think the victor is clear now."
After all—
"Your beloved Basara has already been absorbed by the Kegare within me."
"…That's not true." Mio said, steeling herself with a stern expression on her
face. "If Basara had been truly absorbed by the Kegare in you and become
what that god called Reginlief became—completely dissolving and melding
with you—our Master-Servant Vows would be undone by now. The fact that
it hasn't happened yet proves that Basara is still alive."
"Well, you know, I've never exactly said that I'vekilledhim, after all—I've
simply said that the victor is clear."
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After all—
"A single sentence from me and you suddenly lose all will to fight—'resist
any longer and I'll kill Basara,', right?"
Shiba's words were an undeniable truth—but Mio would not relent.
"…I don't think so."
She couldn't surrender here—she couldn't afford to lose.
All their hard work up until now would then be for nothing, and they would
be losing their futures as well.
Mio wouldn't allow that to happen.
"If Basara's really with you right now, maybe we really do have our hands
tied. And maybe we won't be able to fight on even if Basara tells us to forget
about him and press on," Mio said, only partially admitting to what Shiba had
said. "But that's only if you'vereallyabsorbed Basara."
She gave off a false, composed smile as she attempted to maintain her bold
front toward the enemy in front of her.
"If you've really absorbed Basara, give me proof that you have!"
"Aha…so that's the game you want to play." Shiba said as he smiled, pleased
by their exchange. "I think you can sense that he's inside my body through
your Master-Servant Vow…or am I mistaken?"
"I do sense Basara nearby, yes. Unfortunately, I can't say I can tell if he's
truly inside your body or not."
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She was bluffing—she could indeed sense Basara's presence inside Shiba's
body, but admitting it would mark the end of everything.
Mio could not say anything that suggested she believed that Shiba was now
holding Basara hostage—especially when Shiba had no real evidence.
She held onto the fact that the maker of theirVowwas still alive, knowing that
their connection was still present even if he was really inside Shiba's body
rightnow,and knowing that Shiba also did not attempt to prove her wrong
otherwise.
"Then why else would you have come here, Mio-chan? What other reason
would warrant you coming here when you're supposed to be maintaining the
barrier made from the Solomon's Seal, knowing full well it's Basara's
business to fight me here, and knowing full well that Basara had entrusted
you with such an important duty?"
Shiba was closing in step by step.
"Shouldn't it be obvious? Hayase happened to drop by to help us out, so he
simply offered to take my place and allow me to come over," Mio said,
laughing fearlessly. "So now I'm here to smash those stupid ambitions of
yours. Did you see me as an obedient little woman who just waits for Basara
to come back while leaving him to do all the dirty work for us?"
"I see…so you really have thought this through. I give you my kudos."
Shiba smiled as if he were impressed byMio'sdecision to arrive—before he
suddenly disappeared in an instant.
"———!"
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Shiba was already right in front of her before Mio could prepare to defend
herself.
"Let me take you to him then—and perhaps I'll melt you down first before
Basara's turn comes."
Bringing his palms together and separating them, Shiba's chest split open to
reveal the abyss underneath, the darkness springing forth to pull his target
into him.
"———!"
Mio immediately reacted by unleashing her gravity magic, having finished
the incantation long before she'd arrived and was now free to use it at will.
There was an extremely loud noise that came from the red waves of gravity
magic causing the dimensional attack to twist, halting the abyss's assault on
her. The impact gave Mio the opportunity to fly backwards, creating
significant distance from Shiba.
"Huh…good reflexes. To think you would've escaped the absorption of the
abyss within me…" Shiba said, smiling calmly.
"…Don't look down on me. I didn't come here without making sure I'd be
prepared for you."
Even so—
But to think I'd already charged all this power for so long…Mio cursed
herself inwardly.
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She had spent the gravity magic she'd accumulated to defend herself—she
would need quite a significant amount of time before she could unleash
another attack of a similar magnitude, never mind the fact that Shiba's
powers were far stronger than she'd anticipated.
I shouldn't have done that.
She wouldn't be able to save Basara if she wouldn't be able to conjure up an
even stronger wave of magic—and Shiba wasn't about to give her the
opportunity to do so.
"Even if you have made the Vow with Basara, I don't think you can take this
attack one more time, now, can you?"
Shiba suddenly disappeared from sight again.
"———!"
Mio immediately formed a spherical barrier around her—
Huh?
But the barrier was reduced to dust the next moment—a single backhand
blow from his left hand as Shiba lunged at her from the side was all it took to
break it.
As Mio went still with shock knowing her currently endangered situation,
Shiba's right fist was already closing in on her—she could not avoid the
incoming attack.
However, Mio next heard the sound of clashing, bladed steel instead of the
sound of a dull blow—a certain someone had arrived to defend her, her back
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facing her before her very eyes.
The person who had defended Mio from Shiba's attack was a familiar face—
someone who had come here just as she had out of worry for Basara.
It was none other Nonaka Yuki.