Vol 2 Chapter 5 (2/2)
”Yes But to ic this dense, it should be i period, even if it's Haunted About ten minutes I would say”
While frowning, Sougetsu threay the popcorn that was covered with sand At the saround, screams sounded from the audience
”?!”
Hayato looked towards the source of screa close by
But looking closer, he was not floating
His abdomen was pierced, and he was raised up
What pierced the abdoans,
Was the newceremony of the tournament
”——Who's piloting that”
《”I-I don't know! After the ceremony ended, no one has touched it yet!”》
”it can't be”
Hayato was horrified He had a faint premonition The worst-case scenario
No way, Dragoon, a weapon from Inquisition's side——
《”——Confiroon! It's unmanned! The system has been taken over!”》
Just as he was told through the intercooon flexed its body
——VUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
A roar that didn't look like it originated frolowed red, so like blood vessels ran all over In fact, even the cracking ar blood vessels
Its appearance was no longer that of a rotesque It clearly looked like it was interfered with by ic
The nuht wing
”This is weird the new ht orichalcuical interference from the outside should be impossible unless you break the armour”
””
”Out of all possibilities, the devices inside of it were interfered with at the stage of asseinal orichalcu, it's probably the latter”
”Chairive me permission to use Relic Eater”
”I don't oing on inside noe have to leave the sorcerer to Kusanagi-kun”
Good grief, Sougetsu shook his head and sighed
After obtaining peroon
His face was hidden behind his long bangs; his face couldn't be seen
Hayato said to earphone mic
”All forces withdraw at once”
《”B-but then——”》
”Withdraw I'll take them on alone”
Hayato cut off the communication instantly after, he lifted his revolver in his hand He removed the cylinder latch and put bullets in one after another
After he finished loading the bullets, he rolled the palorously The revolver's cylinder rotated loudly
Hayato raised the ars, his eyes displayed the oon with these eyes, and announced
A sign of conflict
Hayato's hand shook in response to recoil of the cylinder
”It's tiula the Tyrant Release the hammer”
click
Following Hayato's instruction, Relic Eater 『Caligula』's hammer made a noise That was the sound that caun he held The sound of so down
Part 5
Immediately after the collapse of the control tower
Takeru raised his body in a cloud of dust, and confirhed
”Are you alright, Mari?!”
”coughcough, I'm fine”
Takeru helped Mari stand up and checked if there are any injuries on her
He was relieved because she looked safe for the ti, he reconfirmed what the situation status was
The sorcerer's surprise attack, suspension of the contest, collapse of the tower, separation from Ouka
The worry about his comrades, the death of Kyouya and Yoshi+mizu
He pressed his interco with his comrades
”no good It's broken”
Takeru said after checking the intercom
Mari checked her own intercom as well, and shook her head
Takeru clenched his fist in frustration
shi+t I' Mari
Trying to evacuate Mari to a safe place, Takeru grabbed her hand
”it looks like running away is impossible A barrier was erected”
Being told that, he looked up to the sky, a dense black wall blocked out ht and covered the entire colosseum
No wonder if it was so dim in here
He thought that, when,
”There's nowhere you can run to——Mari-san”
A voice sounded from the cloud of dust Takeru clenched his teeth, and looked towards the source of the voice There——was Kusanagi Takeru's enemy
”Please look, lookie here I'm full of holes Don't you think it's horrible since I took soup?”
”you bastard!”
”Getting priest's clothing is quite hard you know I'll have to spend another day sewing it Or maybe Mari-san will sew it for ly hoood at it? Oh, while you're at it, can you sew the gaps in my heart, can you make my heart beat faster?”
Haunted looked at Mari ignoring Takeru, he advanced towards Mari and stretched his arm to her
Takeru had Mari crouch, and faced Haunted
”Keep down like that I'll deal with this guy”
While not knohat to do, Mari dropped down a few steps away
Seeing that, Haunted stopped walking
”I've been wondering for a while Mari-san, who is this young man?”
While tilting his head and s, Haunted asked her
”Can it be that he's your boyfriend? Aha, no, there's no way that's true because Mari-san always thinks about me So there's no way that's it That's how it is it's impossible isn't it say that's not true because I love you If I no longer love you I'll cry and have to kill you even though I don't want to kill you”
”Shut up, you stalker asshole”
Takeru interrupted the tsunaers at Haunted
Haunted's sed, but for the first time, he looked at Takeru
”I'ht”
Haunted loudly scratched his head and faced Takeru
He changed the direction he alking in, and he tiptoed towards Takeru
”Interfering with mine and Mari's reunion, who do you think you are?”
With a striking smile, he tilted his neck
And,
”Don't get too cocky, I'll kill you——you shi+tty brat”
He smiled with half-closed eyes, and said that to Takeru as if he was dealing with garbage
Takeru was unfazed But he returned those words back
”That's my line——you rotten sorcerer”
Spitting that out with hatred, Takeru took a stance with a hand held out in front of him
——Reraved in him
Froe of soul that flowed in his head
E
A sign su one's partner
Desiring with supreme ardor——”Summis desiderantes affectibus——”
His right hand held out in the front, swung to the side to cut through
——the Hammer of Witches”——Malleus Maleficarum!”
At that ical circle appeared under Takeru's feet
The ic shi+ned and emitted azure particles The particles covered Takeru's body and hardened like ore, shaping the armour
And finally, after a reht flashed, Takeru held a sword in his hand A Relic Eater, Mistilteinn
The one Takeru has contracted——a sword that cuts through all ic
《”Syste rate 『Witch Hunter』 co, host”》
In his head Lapis' voice echoed
Takeru turned into an azure-coloured knight, and made a combat-ready pose
”Lapis Do you have any information on the enemy?”
《”A member of enemy forces, Fantasy CultValhalla Necromancer Haunted Ancient Attribute HolderAncient Wizard, classified as an S-Class danger Please take note of these”》
S-Class danger in other words, the priest in front of him was equal to witches and sorcerers from before the war
”can we do it?”
Of course, Takeru would do it even if it was impossible
《”The chances of winning nor high density barrier Fighting a battle while et does not have ic available——the chance to win is equal to 100”》
Hearing that, Takeru glared at Haunted
Haunted blinked repeatedly and sweat could be seen on his cheek
”You are you by any chance the person who took down the Hero?”
”so what if I am”
”No, umm, I didn't think you would be a Relic Eater contractor u bad and slaughter you, you know? Well, I did but, that was because I didn't know you were a Relic Eater holder”
””
”L-look, Mari-san was ue before, I came to either help her or kill her because I was told to by the people above me umm, that's”
”What are you talking about”
”umm c-could you please overlook it this time?”
Said Haunted while ely subservient smile
Takeru's face convulsed with anger
Overlook? Did he say overlook?
Telling him to overlook all of that?
Everything in front of him turned red, his murderous intent skyrocketed
”sorrybut I'm not that——nice of a person to do so”
With a hoarse voice, like a beast, Takeru told Haunted
——The next moment, Takeru burst
Without a sliver of mercy Without a sliver of compassion Without a sliver of reason
He released all he had, and tried to cut Haunted
He triggered the Magic-Sweeping SwordSoumatou, and the entire world slowed down
He had only one goal To have that puny sorcerer puke his guts out
The face of the guy he saw Looked like so
With all his body and soul had, Takeru tried to cut Haunted with his sword from the above
”——?!”
Suddenly, Takeru felt chills on his spine
Haunted's expression froed expression
That face, even though he had activated Soumatou
——Suddenly, it laughed
”——Pierce him, Dáinsleif”
In that split second, a voice sounded
At a speed Takeru couldn't capture, soh his chest
”—keru————Takeru! Wake up! Takeru!”
《”Ho——st——Host Please wake up”》
He opened his eyes And noticed his consciousness was lucid, not knohat happened, he just opened his eyes
Instead, a tremendous amount of blood spilled from his mouth
”Iwhathappened”
《”We have received a strike fro I should have considered this possibility”》
”wh-at was Ihitwith”
《”To express it briefly, it was just a 'thrust', however”》
Hearing Lapis' words, Takeru looked up a little In the front In his line of sight
And there was a ht itself
That shape was as if
”It's the first tih I've had expectations Isn't this a let down”
——As if it was Takeru in 『Witch Hunter』 form, but the face was definitely, Haunted's
”Sorcerers being bad in close coames Nacht, it's been a while since you were in 『Hero』 form, how do you feel?”
《”There's no probleic power, confirmation is a pain in the ass so let's say all's okay Condition is good, extremely”》
He heard a voice in his head, an innocent, laconic and alien voice
It was somehow similar to Lapis Takeru hypothesized as he was stunned
”it can't be, that guy as wella Relic Eater”
《”No, that's a lost-type Magical Heritage The name's 『Dáinsleif 』 the shape is different, but it's the possession of northern Europe's hero, it was called the Sword of Ruin”》
Hearing that information from Lapis, Takeru was horrified
A sword? To a sword? He lost against another sword?
”!!”
Feeling a tremendous sense of loss, Takeru tried to stand up
《”You shouldn't stand yet Your right lung is daed”》
”Can't you fix it”
《”One of the intrinsic characteristics of Dáinsleif is inflicting wounds that cannot be healed Although healing is i there is a problem, that would be”》
”it would take time”
《”yes Once again, I apologize, it was caused by my poor performance”》
”Haa what are you talking about, I was the one who got hit by it!”
Adain
”You can't, Takeru! You'll die!”
Mari ca to hi up She was crying
”Don'tmake such a face”
”But your body is”
”I promised that I'll protect you”
Mari looked at the injured Takeru, she
Seeing himself become so miserable, Takeru bit his lower lip
As soon as he clenched his fist, he vomited blood
His consciousness faded aith just one hit, it ended without hi
Even as his heart and mind tried to carry on, his body was honest
While Takeru adical Heritage sain
”Mari-san Let's go back You're witch, you can't stay in a place like this”
””
”This is the huether with us, who are witches as well”
Haunted reached out to Mari tenderly
Mari while her body was tre Takeru to protect him
”With soether with you! I' like you!”
She shook off his hand, refusing Haunted
Haunted blinked three ti Mari's words
”You don't know ot about it! Mari-san forgot everything because of ic!”
《”How careless”》
”Careless indeed, truly careless Please wait, I'll release you froht away”
With a wry sht hand
And, as if he was calling a waiter, he clicked with his fingers clank In Mari's head, like so like a switch was turned on
Right away, all the negative e her to tre, vanished from Mari
And, a violent wave ofMari's consciousness
Part 5
——Magic is not for hurting people, it's so that makes people happy That was, the pride Mari had once
Nikaido Mari, was froe on the border
The boundary line was the modern slum Because of the Witch Hunt War Invisible Disaster'sAkashi+c Hazard's influence, the world has become inhabitable because a field called Sanctuary appeared
Ruins were spread near the Sanctuary and no norly live in them
However, because of the increased confusion and war refugees, the gap between the rich and poor was pretty wide There was no place for poor to live in, and they were forced to live in the ruins near the Sanctuary
Even now, after 150 years, it was the place where the darkness gathered
The facility Mari was raised in, although it was located by the border, it was a location for humans
The facility's chairh she was a considerably powerful witch He knew Mari was a witch, and yet accepted her All children were younger than Mari, even though they were cheeky, they loved Mari dearly
However, the facilities were poor
In order to help everyone, Mari usedh dangerous s
When the director learned of that,
She didn't approve of this, and whispered into Mari's ear with a sad face
『”Doing bad things will come back to you in the end What's iic, don't use it for evil, use it for good things”』
『””』
『”You see, Magic is not there to hurt people It's there to make people happy”』
From that moment onward, Mari was proud of these words
She earned a decent ah still poor The happy days continued for a while However, happy ti
In a certain incident, Mari lost everything
Because she carried out cri her identity, one of the clients she once helped, set fire to the facility
It was already too late by the time Mari reached the facility, it was in a sea of flames
——It's my fault
Mari blamed herself
——It's my fault
Mari continued to blame herself
As the burning facilities was reflected in her pupils, when her desire to live, when she was about to lose everything
The one who appeared was Fantasy Cult'sValhalla's Haunted
『”The children from this facility, are under Fantasy Cult'sValhalla's protection If you want us to release them, help us”』
It was a kind of blackmail Haunted said the children were safe, he proved it to her by letting her hear their voices, and if she wanted to meet them, she had to join Fantasy CultValhalla
There was no choice, Mari couldn't refuse
For the children's sake, Mari did everything other than killing She hurt so er remember
Because she always averted her eyes as she did that
However, the reality that she couldn't avert her eyes from, eventually came
That was a few days after she was instructed to obtain remains of Excalibur by Fantasy CultValhalla,
The day Hero attacked the city rapped in screams and despair
『”It shouldn't be like this!”』
No matter what excuse she used, the look in eyes of people that were dying was unforgiving
『”I need to help them because of me, so many people!”』
Adults, old people, children, even babies They all got indiscriminately killed
She picked up a baby fro, she was still able to save it That's what she hoped for, but it was soon turned into despair
The eyes of the baby that was hugged to its er a colour of a living being's, blood vessels ran all over its body
『”———Mama”』
The baby beca demon And yet it called its mother, that shattered Mari's heart
Part 6
”It's my fault”
Muttering after recovering her memory, Mari stood up
”How is it? Did you remember?”
Haunted asked anxiously
Mari didn't answer Her memories returned, and she stared into empty space
And, with her eyes unfocused, she knelt in place
And she raised both of her hands to her face, she could feel the weight of what she has done crushi+ng her
”I' don't you! Coht?”
”uuuaaa”
”You helped to su corpses, you stood on the sidelines You are responsible for the ether with me”
”aAAaa”
”It's all right, I'onna blame you, you know? Because you wanted to save the children from the facility, and that's why you cooperated with me”
”I what have I done”
”Mari-san, you were desperate weren't you To save your i hard At the expense of other people, you wanted to help those i to do”
Haunted gently praised Mari
He had a benevolent expression, like a real priest
”But, that's why Mari-san is the sahed the people unrelated to you and those important to you, and you choose the ones that were important You deserted the unrelated people, but as I collected corpses Mari-san was preparing to run away from me”
The man with a charitable expression, hollowed out Mari's heart
”Isn't that right? See? We're the same”
Mari had a s, Mari continued to repeat ”I' to everyone
As she grew up, the facility's chairic
Believe in me and wait, children
And she did that at the expense of innocent people
When she cooperated with them, she was realistic about it
She decided on her own Even if it's evil, she convinced herself
But after losing her ed
Because she went blank once, the truth was too heavy; unbearable She was a villain, there was no other possibility Her circumstances were not that of a victim
There were hostages so she had no choice She never thought so Victi
”Mari-san really is gentle toyour heart break down is a lot of fun, and equally painful So in order to get rid of these painful eether with me?”
Mari's face that was distorted by despair turned to Haunted
Haunted spread his ar Mari in
”Although it would be against orders from above, let's meet the children froer, there will be a battle Also, that boy, if you were to come with me, I won't have to kill him Everyone will be saved”
””
”If you coain”
With a sain
”You don't want——for anyone else to die because of you, right?”
Mari was stunned with a despairing expression Against this man, Takeru couldn't win If this went on a witch like herself will kill all members of Small Fry Platoon
This man, will do it by all means even if Mari refuses That's what he was ordered to do by Fantasy CultValhalla
This le, he considered cries of humanity a reason to celebrate, and would kill you with delirious joy
Mari stood up staggering, and walked giving up on everything
She began to walk towards her original despair
In the end, with her back to Takeru, she said
With tears flowing, and a sad smile
”I wasn't one after all a person you thought I am”
She didn't ask for help, and continued
”I'm sorry, Takeru I have betrayed your expectations I'm really sorry”
These were the best parting words Mari could think of
Part 7
Takeru who lost consciousness was res from the past
That was, before he was taught Double-Edged style by his master
It hen Takeru still only kneordsmanshi+p made to kill humans
A time where he still had his family
——Takeru, you choose
That's what his father told him
Without knowing anything, without being taught anything, with just a body carved and sharpened for the sword
He lived Adjusting the anger inside hier within him
To put it all into his sword, and break the enemy's head with it
Enraged, and yet calm
It was his father's teaching It was the thing he learned from his father
To kill, or to protect, it's your choice
That's only up to you They were the last words his father left him
Takeru didn't know What his father's words meant He didn't know, there were enemies in front of him So he just had to kill them
He just had to swing his sword, and drop it down on their necks
Ever since he was born, that's what he was taught
——Onii-chan
And yet,
Takeru couldn't choose either He just stood at the sidelines
The world in front of him was in flames, Takeru wailed
His important person was taken away in front of him, and Takeru was in daze
What should he choose, what's right and what is wrong
If you ret it
While questioning hi down
Whatever he chose he would definitely regret it
Even so
Not choosing at all, was the greatest sin That's what Takeru thought as he lied bathed in ht
Continuing to apologize to people who died
A hui Takeru, headed towards an end
Part 8
As he drea
Mari walked towards her despair
So that she doesn't have to sacrifice anyone; she walked the path she chose
However, that was a mistake, that's not a choice He yelled in his mind, his own past and Mari's overlapped What happened to Mari, and what happened to himself All of it overlapped, and blended
wrong
Takeru while faintly conscious, er to sides
Mari and I are different
He put force in the finger he rasped the sword
she's different from someone like me, who couldn't choose
Through the hole in his lung, air wheezed as it leaked, treh him
In order to stand up, Takeru breathed even though it hurt hi, and he hit his leg
With anger overflowing his chest, Takeru stood up while he continued bleeding
”As if I'd let you go!!”
He stabbed his sword into ground, he had to stand at any cost
His body was battered He had wounds all over his body, but his eyes weren't dead
Bright red eyes which displayed righteous anger, he didn't lose his will to fight
”Mari, there is so I need to tell you”
As he spat those words, Mari stopped walking
”this factht be painful for you”
””
”however, unless you know the truth”
He stabbed his sword further, and hehis body
”the children from the facility you wanted to save”
He clenched his teeth, and told her truth The truth Mari didn't know even after her memory came back
”The children you wanted to see are!”
He raised his face painfully
Rather than bodily pain, it was the pain in his heart
And told her
”They're no longer in this world!”
”?”
Mari was stunned, and looked back at Takeru
”What do you mean?”
”Ootori has checked things on you The facility on the border, it's in the investigation records of Inquisition Indeed, there was an incident It has been recorded in it”
””
”But as discovered at the crime scene, is different from what you remember”
Mari's face was growing more and more animated as she started to understand
Looking at her face was hard, but he absolutely had to say it
”What was discovered there was a body of a woman who seemed like a witch andfive children the bodies were burned”
Mari was speechless
In a loss of words, she shook her head
”I-it's a lie because, I've heard their voices Heard the to me I've really heard them!”
”It's the truth Ootori wouldn't lie about so like this”
”I don't believe it! Because I spoke with the children about the things only they knew, they even called s!”
”Mari”
”No, no, no, no! I don't believe it! Such a thing I can't believe in so like that!”
Mari tried to deny the truth she was told by Takeru
Even so, Takeru's words hard-heartedly pierced through her For the sake of saving Mari he overlooked her pain
”If you don't believe it why don't you ask this person”
Takeru reached Mari using the sword like a cane, and passed by her side
”Come on——spill it out! Sorcerer!”
Haunted shook his head and sighed
”When