c1 (2/2)
”There there Look, it is already starting—”
Soon, the two gradually faded into the distance Listening to their voices—
Kahter's
”—Confir the next move”
He lowered his voice as thoughto himself
”Once the Princess Maiden of Flains the ceremony, Muir's hts are in turo steal the sealed spirits that were meant to be used in the ritual—”
Restia s to Kamito's cheek
”!?”
”It's tio—”
”There's still plenty of time before the mission”
”What are you talking about? It's not every day you get a festival, you know?”
Restia extended her hand towards Ka in his chair
”Come on, hurry up, will you?”
””
”Cover story is siblings, right?”
Lowering his head, Kamito held that hand
”Only because of the mission”
Part 6[edit]
While holding hands with Restia, Ka the noisy streets
While the sun was setting, a large crowd began to gather in the plaza
”The ritual is about to start”
”Yes Once the sun sets fully, the bell will ring in the city Then a massive portable shrine will come out”
”Riding it will be the Princess Maiden of Flaht?”
Looking up at the countless spirits flying in the night sky as balls of light, Kamito whispered
Suddenly, Restia halted, causing Kamito almost to trip and fall
”What's wrong, darkness spirit?”
Restia was looking at a silver hair ornament displayed at an open-air stall
”That's quite a pretty hair ornament May I have a look?”
”Wow, you've got good eyes, miss This is a silver ornament crafted in the Theocracy”
The stall's owner ether
”Let me see”
Restia unwrapped her stole with a flutter of her long and gorgeous hair the color of the night
Seeing her otherworldly beauty, the stall owner gasped
”The mission above all Don't act conspicuously, darkness spirit”
”Don't worry Hood?”
Putting on the hair ornahtly shy It was a side to her that Ka a certain type of unknown feeling rae in Kamito's heart
”Who knows”
Seeing Kamito look away, she smiled mischievously
”Kamito, will you buy it for me?”
”You can buy it yourself, right?”
”I didn't bring any money”
”If it's you—”
You can easily use ht? Before Kamito could finish his retort, he found his lips—
Pressed shut by a swift index finger
”Seriously, it's tier brother buys it for the sister”
Restia spoke softly in a sulking voice
”Is that really hoorks?”
Even as the Instructional School's strongest fighter, Ka about this kind of common sense in the outside world He wondered if the stall owner et suspicious if he were to refuse stubbornly at this time
”Fine, I'll take this one”
Kamito paid the stall oith a silver coin
”Thank you, Kamito—”
Accepting the hair ornament, Restia smiled and knelt down in front of Kamito
”Okay, could you help me put it on?”
”Soht?”
”Like I said, this is what a younger brother ought to do”
””
Kamito sed his words and reluctantly pinned the hair ornament
”H”
”Don't do anything redundant, darkness spirit—”
Kalared at her Just then
A loud bell sounded throughout the city streets
Part 7[edit]
The sun had coht had fallen
Lights froht sky while noisy festive music resounded everywhere This was supposed to be a scene conveying the solemnity of the Great Festival of Spirits to everyone, but Kahtest
”—Spirit knights as bodyguards, four of them huh”
So was to take place, Ka's rooftop
Lying in a prone position, he observed the h the main street The palanquin's four corners had ic apparatus within them
These were the four militarized spirits that were about to be unveiled to the public
On the stage, a princessfor the ritual
The biggest ceremony in the Great Festival of the Spirits was the ritual dance performance offered by the princess maiden
Pulling up his mask, Kamito leaned out from the roof
”Let's do it, darkness spirit—”
”Fufu, affirmative”
Scattering jet-black feathers, Restia landed on the roof
In the next instant, her figure vanished, turning into a dagger
The jet-black blade looked as though it was forged from endless darkness itself
Naer of Black Death, this was not an eleto her will This was a branch of shapeshi+fting spirit ic only accessible to a fraction of top-ranked spirits
Kaer that was stabbed into an innocent family's roof
The dagger was unexpectedly light and extre
Carrying the Princess Maiden of Flame, the portable shrine arrived in front of the plaza
The e crowd held their breath Just at that instant
A blinding flash of light exploded on the plaza
Part 8[edit]
Suddenly ripping through space, a massive berserk spirit appeared in the middle of the plaza
A giant beast of steel, all covered in sharp blades, commonly called the Beast of Gévaudan, it was a militarized spirit that had been deployed by the Ordesia Empire in older eras
The spirit's sudden intrusion caused a wave of screams as the crowd entered a state of panic
The steel beast'sbuildings built fros Spirits flying in the sky flashed violently
Having lost its rationality to Muir Alenstarl's Jester's Vise, the spirit was currently in state of ra to keep engaging in destruction at the plaza
The spirit knights guarding the portable shrine instantly appeared Releasing their eleed at the berserk militarized spirit
(Now is the chance—)
At the same time, Kamito took a leap in the darkness
He swiftlythe portable shrine under the cover of darkness
(Muir's militarized spirit can buy thirty seconds of time, I have to finish the job before that—”
Silently descending to the ground, he used his e at the portable shrine
Due to the dust cloud, his vieas alrasped the targets' locations
Of the mini-shrines set up at the north, east, south, west corners of the portable shrine, two of the's spirits were sealed All he needed to do was take the Denore the other two
Under the cover of darkness and the noisy coiant portable shrine and ran to the north mini-shrine closest to him—
”Take that!”
The demon blade stabbed into the mini-shrine's door
The door was easily broken, revealing the ic apparatus kept inside The enshrined object was ancient single-edged blade Sealed inside was the De's spirit
'—Indeed Sealed here is the de spirit, Siren'
Restia's voice sounded in his mind
Forcibly cutting the barrier open, Ka the heavy sword on his back, he iet—But just at that moment
”! You there, what are you doing here!”
An invisible slash swept lightly across Ka back reflexively, he pulled away and faced off against the enemy
(A spirit knight huh)
Standing before his eyes was a fe an elemental waffe in the form of a full moon blade
Evidently only three of the knights had gone to suppress Muir's uard this place
”To think it's a child!?”
The knight could not believe her eyes for a —
But very soon, she noticed the sword on Ka intent
”W-Watch this—”
Yelling, she swung the full moon blade horizontally
The blade produced a gust of slicing wind flying towards hi the roof of the portable shrine
”!”
Kamito used his demon blade to deflect the wind blade then hid desperately in the darkness
Thethe sealed spirits There was nothing to gain fro
(Muir's spirit will last for fifteen more seconds—)
”Don't think you can escape by ju!”
Enveloped in fierce wind, the knight chased after him She soon circled around in front of Kamito
(Gah, this sword is so heavy!)
The sword sealing the De's spirit was no small burden for Kamito's relatively small frame Under such conditions, the assassination sword techniques of his specialty were unusable
”Give up!”
Faced with the swinging full er
”G-Gah!”
A clash of blades However, Kath Coht's weapon which was the elemental waffe of a contracted spirit, Kato her oill There was an overwhel difference between the two
'—You're hopeless, Kamito I'll lend you a hand'
At thiserupted from the jet-black blade—!
”Wha, ah, ahhhhhhhhhhh!”
Struck by black lightning, the knight screamed and backed away
Seizing this opening, Kaed forward—
”Hah!”
He stabbed the demon blade into the armor
”Guh, ah!”
The sound of arht fell in the darkness
”Huff, huff, huff—”
'Kamito, you didn't take a life, did you?'
Restia's voice was uncharacteristically anxious
”I' that stupid—”
While whispering, Kamito ran to the south side of the portable shrine
As the De's successor, Kamito was the only person in the Instructional School forbidden fro a trained assassin This was because the oldthe De the one he treasured 's awakening
However, the treasured person who truly had value in being killed—For Kamito whose norine the day when he would find so like that—
'Good After all, the one you must kill is—'
”Hold on, there's someone in front of the shrine!?”
Restia's whisper was overwhelmed by Kamito's voice
A—
That girl was unshaken by the surrounding chaos, standing quietly in the darkness
She had cri unyielding deterlared at Kamito
”—I know not who you are, but I shall not let you have this spirit!”
With a flutter of her cereirl spoke solemnly
(C-Could this be the Princess Maiden of Flame!?)
Karoaned
Her presence was completely unexpected The instant Muir Alenstarl's militarized spirit appeared, she should have been evacuated by the bodyguard knights
(Did she stay back, intending to guard the sealed spirits?)
”Rubia-saerous, please come back!”
Under the portable shrine, the guards wailed
”No, guarding this place is my duty as a princess maiden Please stand down”
Saying that, the Princess Maiden of Flame opened the door to the mini-shrine behind her
She took out the enshrined sounding staff and silently prepared a stance
The staff with the Deeht
'Kamito, watch out!'
”! No way, she's planning to release that militarized spirit!?”
The princess maiden was clearly not an elementalist trained in combat However, her divine power reserves would surpass an ordinary spirit knight's
Suppose that was true, then controlling a large lehandedly was not impossible—
(Then I have to hurry before the militarized spirit is released—)
Holding the demon blade, Kamito rushed forward all at once
However, a ic circle appeared at the princessflames
Appearing out of the ic circle was a two-headed hound all covered in flaic beforehand as a precaution
”—Time to hunt, Lava Hound!”
The fla hound pounced at Kamito's throat
Kaue and switched the derip—
Then he drew out another er from his chest
”assassination technique—Dual Snakes!”
Two slashes flew through the darkness, chopping the two-headed hound into halves
However, just before vanishi+ng, the lava hound turned into s
(Stalling for time eh—)
Kamito brushed the flames aside with the demon blade and rushed forward
At this time, the Princess Maiden of Flame's incantation of release was about to finish
”One of the De flames of crimson, show thyself at this time and place—”
'—Kamito, this is bad Let's retreat'
Restia's acute voice swept across his mind
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!
The roar of a beast cahts had defeated Muir's militarized spirit or the spirit had been broken by the Jester's Vise, self-destructing
(But the 's)
'You have already stolen one successfully That should be enough—'
Indeed, once the three spirit knights who had gone to the plaza returned, there was no hope of winning Obsessing over the second spirit would also endanger Muir as hiding nearby
(Gah, is the opportunity lost?)
Just as Kamito decided to retreat and was about to turn around to leave
(My foot!?)
By the ti underfoot
This was bindsomeone
(—I can't believe she can use spiritincantation!?)
Karoaned in surprise It was alh-level spirit h to rival the most elite of the continent's princess maidens, the Queens—
Hastily, Ka the ic
—However, it was too late The Princess Maiden of Fla staff towards the sky
”Thou shalt display the ht of berserk violence—the hell flame spirit named Ifrit”
The instant she chanted the words of releasing
The sounding staff in her hand erupted with intense light
Appearing forth was a scarlet archderation
”O fool, repent your sins and turn into charcoal—”
Saying that, the Princess Maiden of Fla staff doards
The archde breath at Kamito
”!?”
Spreading radially, the fla breath was too wide to escape
Just a moment before Kamito was about to be devoured by the flames—
'—Don't worry, Kamito I shall protect you'
Restia's calm voice sounded
The Stinger disappeared from Kamito's hand—
Then appearing before his eyes was the darkness spirit girl, spreading her tings of jet black
”Darkness spirit!? You—”
Restia lightly extended her hand at the crimson blaze
With a flutter of gorgeous black hair, beautiful feathers of jet black scattered and incinerated
”H's spirit, ah However—”
Restia blocked the overwhel flames released by Ifrit
Exuding dark miasma from her entire body, she blew the flames away
”Huff, huff, huff”
”Unbelievable, a huh-ranked spirit!?”
The princess maiden exclaimed in surprise
”Darkness spirit!”
”Hurry and go, Kamito—”
”Ahhh—”
Carrying her emaciated form in his arms, Kamito vanished into the darkness
Part 9[edit]
—After that, Kamito and his team escaped the imperial capital amidst the chaos
Despite the heavy security at the entrances, through the escape route prepared by Lily beforehand, they were able to successfullyfor the Alphas Theocracy
”—Mission failed huh”
The first experience h
He tightly gripped the sword containing the sealed De's spirit
”You 's spirits In terms of results, that's not bad at all”
Holding onto Kaed and whispered
”But carrying me in your arms to escape was such a poor decision I'd simply return to Astral Zero if destroyed, so you should have escaped on your own back then—”
In contrast to her attitude, she seeood mood
”Once you disappear, co back isn't so simple, is it? I need a weapon”
Kamito answered with a scowl
”Well, whatever you say—”
Restia chuckled—Suddenly she placed her hand on the front of her hair
”Too bad the ornaht for me was melted by that spirit's flames”
”That kind of thing can just be bought again”
”Huh?”
”Nothing”
Giving the horse a lash with the whip, Kamito increased their speed
”Darkness spirit—”
”What is it, Kamito?”
”I will be the one to kill you Before that happens, don't die by anyone else's hand”
”Very well I'll look forward to it”