Vol 10 Chapter 2 (1/2)

BOOM!!

An explosion was heard in the underground passage, shaking the entire space

”Generate squall”

Ariella Lu created air by transauntlet of a fictional ar away all the dark smoke around her

When the view turned clear, what appeared before her eyes was a partition with a large hole in it How many partitions had she destroyed already? Since she had not bothered to take note, trying to count by memory noould be a pain

She passed through the re her silently There was no need to give them orders They—the special forces team Sleipnir—were equivalent to Ariella's limbs

While Ariella looked at these expressionless followers, a h the communicator on her ear

'—Ah, looks like things are going smoothly'

”Who are you?”

Ariella asked while continuing to advance Mild laughter was heard from the other side

'Didn't you hear from Captain Shelley? I am the commander of the unit you have now joined'

Hearing the naanization, Ariella sighed

”I see—So you're that Major Loki Jotunheim?”

'Indeed At the sa the deal you made with her Even if she betrays the pro you do must be rewarded'

”Why thank you very much”

After Ariella responded to this speech of feigned sincerity, Loki said wryly:

”Looks like I'm distrusted”

”That's besides the point—;I simply don't care about that kind of stuff at all Of course, I hope your side will hold up your end of the bargain, but I too have reasons for why I must kill the principal”

'Now that's what I call reliable Since you have chosen to oppose ”Gray” on your own accord, we are coh you distrust me, I still wish you victory sincerely from the bottom of my heart'

The voice changed subtly He as speaking in a sincere tone

However, Ariella froith displeasure

”So is this how you curried Mononobe-kun's favor?”

'Curried favor? I don't think I understand you'

”Really? Did I say anything wrong? Isn't it currying favor when a weakling tries to exploit the strong by resorting to desperate little tricks?”

'Hmph'

Loki chuckled in response to Ariella's overt disdain

”You're probably very good atto your wishes However, I can tell I can tell just from your voice—You are very weak”

'I am very weak—Am I? Really? So that's what you think'

Loki spoke in delight Whether this was feigned casualness or sarcas observaton—Ariella did not know

But fro did notonly

”You're definitely so to be ? Know so”

Declaring that to Loki unilaterally, Ariella tossed the co to his reply

She had put it on tentatively in the beginning because the cohly disgusted the instant it occurred to her that she was currently linked to that h airwaves

—Still, a too immature here?

Since the other side had guaranteed the coht to exploit hihts

Why didn't I do that? Ariella iht

—That man had exploited Mononobe-kun As soon as it crossed her mind, she found it unbearable

Perhaps this sort of emotion was quite sian to smile wryly

In her current state, there was no way she could fight when facing him

Although she had asked hiive up Using the power of Hraesvelgr, the dragon she loathed to the extrehts to her

Hence, he was surely waiting ahead of her

Ariella stopped and extended her hand behind her Next, a member of Sleipnir approached Ariella silently and handed a red capsule to her

Inside the capsule was blood She had checked in the beginning by biting it open with her teeth before sing it

Ariella did not knohose blood it was

However, her mind had become shrouded in white mist after she sed the capsule She could sense her thoughts turning sluggish And possibly because of that, her senses gained unprecedented clarity Unarticulated murderous intent stirred her from within

A ”certain so deep in the abyss of her consciousness, which she had suppressed by shaping her fictional ar to hold a weapon, rithing restlessly

Sing another capsule would probably stop her cos

With that, she would beco her, whose nature had been transformed into a system for combat—No, for murder

Although it was a bit unscrupulous to rely on this kind of thing, she decided it was so in her steps

By this point, shewithin her power It would be unacceptable Hence—

Ariella placed the capsule in her mouth and sed In that instant, Ren's face flashed across her mind

If Ren aiting ahead, Ariellaher sense of self Ariella was very afraid of this More afraid of this than anything

—However, Mononobe-kun would protect Ren properly

E a wish contrary to her own objective—Ariella surrendered herself to the surging murderous intent

Part 2

”Ariella-chan is about to arrive”

Looking at the partition that blocked the passage, Iris said nervously

”That's right—our opponent seeh their specific identities can't be confirmed due to destruction of security cameras It should be Ariella”

I explained what I had heard froaze across the surroundings

This was an underground passage near the surface It was relatively ith higher ceilings due to being used as a transportation passage for e weapons could also pass through, it was unlikely that the unmanned weaponry and NIFL soldiers could arrive faster than Ariella

Currently, NIFL was stuck with infighting The foot soldiers were being blocked and attacked by people under Charlotte's control while the un hacked one after another by Tia and used to obstruct other unmanned weapons

Due to comparable numbers on both sides, it was currently a stalemate However, there was no one in those NIFL units who could oppose the Ds, who each individually wielded firepower on the level of large weapons As a result, the first to arrive ought to be Ariella

”Mm”

Beside htly

She looked quite nervous but there was no uncertainty in her eyes Ren's face conveyed the deter at the partition

”It'll be fine for sure! Tia is here!”

Tia encouraged us

Even capable of hacking dark round defense situation her due to Tia's withdrawal, but Lisa and Firill had stayed behind to maintain barriers with their full effort

”—Mm”

Ren's expression relaxed slightly as she nodded lightly in gratitude

”If Ariella-san is bringing many NIFL soldiers What shall we do?”

Mitsuki had already summoned her fictional ar from her demeanor, her body teetic

”An increase of nu from their invasion speed, a small team is more than likely Well, it's possible for un them, but that should pose no threat”

Listening to me, Kili nodded calmly

”That's right, Tia can hack them Rather, it would only serve to increase our nu once we envelop them in wind It makes no difference no matter how many of them come”

Although Kili's reply was confident as usual, there was sohtly different

””

She frowned in surprise when I stared at her in amazement

”What's wrong?”

”Nothing, I' instead of killing them”

Nor ”just incinerate the to stop her

”I'uments are a pain”

Kili averted eye contact with some displeasure then Iris suddenly looked at us

”Mononobe, don't speak like that! Kili-chan is being considerate for us, so we should thank her!”

”Oh right That's true Thank you, Kili”

Scolded by Iris, I thanked Kili

”Huh? H—By the way, Iris-chan, don'tme off balance”

Kili wavered in a rare ain control, she took a deep breath forcefully

The ones present here were me, Ren, Iris, Mitsuki, Kili and Tia, the six of us Lisa and Firill on the ground to bolster defenses Jeanne, shi+on and Vritra were staying in Charlotte's room

”Putting all that aside—How do you lot intend to stop Ariella Lu? We should discuss the battle plan properly now, right?”

Hearing Kili's question, I looked at Mitsuki, who then nodded lightly

She seeh I had already pondered the issue, I asked Tia a question first before sharing hts

”—Tia, hoide a range can you interfere with dark matter?”

”Around ten meters, but for short periods, Tia can expand the interference range by generating electricity”

After listening to Tia's answer, I crossed my arms and said:

”Ten meters—even if it could be extended, this distance isn't very reassuring Before we find out enemy numbers and how they're equipped, you should stay in the back on standby Once the partition is destroyed, I'll go over first to draw attention and engage Ariella”

”Yes!”

Tia nodded and accepted my instructions However, Ren looked up worriedly from beside me

”Onii-chan”

”Don't worry I won't get taken out so easily This battle's purpose is to save Ariella Also If the promise still holds, all I need to do is touch Ariella once”

To ease Ren, I stroked her head gently while I answered

If I were to touch Ariella, she would ”transfor her into my mate if I wanted to stop her

”Then Mononobe, what aboutfor Ariella-chan!”

Listening to our dialogue, Iris asked, fully motivated

”Iris, you'll stay on standby next to Tia and use explosions to pin down approaching enemies No need to hit them directly Just use the wind fro close”

”Yes, I got it!”

Iris answered energetically Next, I issued instructions to the others successively

”Mitsuki, you'll be in charge of guarding Tia and Iris If things go south forAriella into interference range But depending on the situation, you ht need to keep a barrier deployed—”

”Understood Leave Tia-san and Iris-san to me”

Mitsuki accepted my orders with a tense expression

”Kili, you'll head to the front witheveryone apart from Ariella to you Just as you said earlier, just neutralize the anyone”

”Sure, I'll try”

Was she displeased about what I brought up earlier? Kili nodded with a mixed expression Finally, I looked at Ren

”Ren, you'll be in charge of theKili andout to Ariella”

”Mm!”

Ren released my shi+rt and left me With a determined expression, she nodded

—Znnnnnnnn

At thisfrom the front

”See Keep away froht, everyone”

Giving these orders, I backed away together with everyone

As the vanguard, Kili and I stopped a couple e of support as the htly farther back The trio of Tia, Iris and Mitsuki backed away the farthest with their fictional ar was precisely the lie

The low ruain

It sounded nearer than before One by one, the partitions were being destroyed

”Finally a chance to fight alongside you Although our first shared endeavor was supposed to have been coht Oh well, this is more like our style”

Kili tossed her long black hair and smiled with satisfaction

But as soon I thought back to the previous night's nocturnal visit, blood rushed directly to my face

”—Quitweird comments before a battle Also Give me a break on that kind of stuff”

While whispering quietly, I glanced secretly at Iris and Mitsuki to see if they had heard

”No I said we're continuing next time, didn't I? Also, you've heard about Neun froht?”

After refusing to comply, Kili asked solemnly

Indeed, I had heard about authorities, counterdragons and calamities from Tia and Vritra Kili probably knew some of it from Vritra too

”That's right—But Vritra insists I'm not Neun”

Neun was the newest counterdragon born fro of the ninth calae if I had beco the calamity already That hat Vritra said Furthermore, since the ninth calamity was apparently the ”true form” of the seventh cala to counter it were quite low to begin with

”Mother is too pessimistic Oh well, it can't be helped since she witnessed the world's destruction once But we're not obliged to listen to her Stop thinking too much and just make babies happily with me”

”M-Making babies, you”

My face instantly turned boiling hot as a result of Kili's direct proposal

”Oh my, what's the problem? If we have babies, it'll increase the nu the ninth calamity Isn't this necessary for the sake of all life on the planet?”

”Uh”

My , but a that moment, a third impact was heard

”L-Let's talk about this so the nearest partition has been destroyed Kili, can you deploy barriers to prepare against the partition exploding?”

I changed the subject forcibly Kili sighed lightly and nodded

”—Then we'll continue the discussion in your bedroom”

S her hand

Wind brushed against h invisible, tiny particles of dark s This was her prided skill of ”Muspelhei dark matter within an area, she was able to perfor motions for opponents to notice

”Construction of dual barriers of heat and wind coh this can block the explosion's wake, re into enemy ranks You'll be burned to death if you touch the heat barrier”

”Yeah, I got it”

I nodded and focused h the thick and heavy wall blocked the oosebumps

Sharp ainst one's throat, was approaching step by step

Kili also see as I did The smile vanished from her face

”Since it seeive you a warning Don't count on enic transmutation too much”

Kili said in a stiff voice When I looked at her questioningly, she

”Although enic trans I can restore perfectly When applied to other people, the most I can do is 'overwrite' the wound”

”Like deleting an injury?”

”When repairing ans—will usually result in rejection I don't have any way of recreating someone else's body correctly”

Kili answered then glanced at Iris and the girls behind her

”That's why youhappens You can't go for mutual destruction yourself either”

Listening to her warning, I smiled subtly

”What are you laughing at?”

”H about Iris and the others”

”What I'm not—”

Seeing Kili in a fluster, I smiled and thanked her

”Thank you, Kili But don't do anything reckless either, Kili Even if you can heal wounds, it's over if you die directly”

”I know that But it's true that I don't die easily If I cover you—”

Kili replied slightly displeased, but stopped mid-sentence

With bated breath, she was staring at a black sphere that had appeared ahead

It was dark enerate

However, I had not su from the look on her face, Kili had not summoned it either

Then was this summoned by Iris or the others behind us, or was it—

I could not help but feelon end The partition was intact The invading party was still on the other side

However, they had Ariella on their side If she had noticed our presence on the opposite side of the partition and generated dark uided by intuition—

Also, this dark e

”Kili!”

”Don't!!”

I reached out to protect Kili but my hand was redirected and my entire body was shoved away

Just as I was pushed to the ground, the dark ht

—BOOM!!

Flames spread from the explosion Kili ed by them

At the sae noise was produced at the partition Was it because Kili's barriers had vanished? The flames and the partition's remains rushed over unimpeded There was no time even to stand up

Fictional arfried

I suun of a fictional ar the muzzle at the flames and debris However, I heard Ren's voice just before I performed transmutation

”Onii-chan!!”

The air she generated for over my head

The stor a scattering of black smoke

Several shi+ silhouettes appeared on the other side of the sed

”Ren, take Kili and back away!”

I had no time to check on Kili's condition after she ed by the explosion I could only pray for her survival and leave things to Ren while charging into the thick smoke

This attack was probably Ariella's I closed in Unless I kept Ariella occupied, there would be no way to buy time for Kili to retreat to the back

I cleared athered as much information from the five senses as possible

shi+ silhouettes aunpowder, drifting in the air The ainst my skin

The nuht of theases In that case, all of them were human

Despite the poor visibility, it was not difficult to get a grasp on the numbers and positions of my opponents

As long as I seized initiative, I could handle this nule-handedly

Anti-personnel weapon—AT Nergal

Using transun in ht presences, I fired consecutively

Ariellaseven should be neutralized

Just as I was thinking that, I heard the sound of deflected electricity There were also several overlapping instances of high-pitched

This sound—I had heard it before During round earlier, the saal's bullet

And right now, this sound was coht directions simultaneously

”—”

Instinctively sensing danger, I i Silver knives stabbed my former location

A total of eight In other words, every single one of Nergal's targets had deflected the bullet and counterattacked

Although my plan was to find out which one of them was Ariella, it did not work All I could confirht were extraordinary opponents

To be able to deflect bullets in such poor visibility conditions, their skills and instincts were beyond common sense

It was not possible to reach such a real humans

I called it ”Fafnir” I had sensed so similar in Ariella and Hreidht of Sleipnir flashed throughsuch a level

—In that case, perhaps all seven of them apart from Ariella were Hreidmars?

I recalled the soldiers clad in silver armor but was struck by a sense of dissonance Back when I was detecting enemy presences earlier, I had not heard theFurtheral's electroshock attack, eschewing the need to defend

In any case, no a onthe vieas not working, it was acting as a disadvantage to my own side instead Under such conditions, neither Mitsuki nor Ren would be able to provide cover fire

”Air Bullet!”

Ai the fictional armament in my left hand at my feet, I released a relatively mildly compressed bullet of air

A ind began to bloith me as the center

With that, I was able to defend against follow-up knife attacks while ensuring visibility, killing two birds with one stone If it succeeded in throwing al

”!?”

Just as I predicted, Ariella was a those people With a somewhat hollow expression, she stared intently at me

However, the rest of them were not Hreidmars The possibility I had ruled out just now—the special forces unit I used tosoldiers of Sleipnir were on the other side

Although they were still the people I kneell, the entire teaed Their faces were as blank as Ariella's with only intense desire to kill residing in their eyes

”Onee-chan!!”

Ren cried out from the back

”Ariella-chan!”

”Ariella-san!”

”Tia doesn't want to fight you, Ariella!”

Iris, Mitsuki and Tia also called out, but Ariella's expression did not change at all Rather than ignoring them, it see strangely

I did not knohat had happened to Ariella but right now, I had to subdue her according to the battle plan

”Ariella!”

To draw her attention, I called her naering wind's momentum, I closed in on her in one breath

Ariella turned her arm Held in her hand was a silver knife

I recalled how she had sliced al in half with her knife in the previous battle Ariella's knife should be made of mithril There was no way to overcome it with brute force

”Red Bullet!”

Hence, I used the re all of it into a blade of air

The highly coh the air with a red trail

Ariella swung her knife at my head without hesitation

Clang!!

A heavy impact was heard in the clash between metal and compressed air

Her attack was quite fierce but easy to handle Poas the only thing required to break through compressed air A metal's hardness and sharpness made no difference

One more step and I could reach out to touch Ariella Sleipnir's soldiers were some distance away Noas a perfect chance

The dragon ht spread out

However, the moment just as I was about to take this final step, I felt a chill I was currently on the boundary of life and death Heeding instinct, I turned and retreated

A sharp sound zoo had brushed across the tip of s, I realized so apart from knives

I looked at the direction of the attack's source, only to see a youngsix also raised their ar pitch-black spheres

”What—”

This unbelievable scene asp I jumped backwards

Next, invisible slashes flew past before round was cut open deeply while wind struckmen's hands

—Thethe transmutation of dark matter? How could that be possible!?

Every member of Sleipnir was ender like Jeanne, but were actually Ds?

The seven young soldiers attackeda silver knife identical to Ariella's

I fired Nergal to restrain and slon the few of theht side At the same time, I shot the left side with consecutive bullets of air blades, the sa

That —

According to what I knew about hi close quarters coht at e

It was almost like a different person Or rather, this was too similar to Ariella earlier

The second and third people attacked in succession—Otr and Regin—I dodged in the nick of theh, their movements were the same as Ariella's

Although close quarters coinal traits could not have changed coin in skill Their characteristics were very obvious But right now, their movements were abnormally similar

Using Nergal, I had pinned down the reurd, Lancelot, Kunato and Nataku As though synchronized with Ariella, they all raised their hands

Seeing the generated dark ined what I saw earlier For soenerate dark matter

In that case, it was like fighting against eight Ariellas

It was i anyone when the nuht

—However, that was assu I was alone

My dragon an to heat up

Why was that? I kneithout looking behind that ”she” was going to aid me

”Laevateinn!”

Ariella and the youngand juht swept across the passage

Seizing the chance, I distanced roup

”Yuu!”

Next, Kili stood bywas charred, she did not look injured

”Are you okay?”

”Yes—before getting attacked, I used Muspelheim to detonate an explosion The two explosions cancelled each other out”

Kili sroup

”You're reckless as ever Did you get injured?”

Considering the barriers had disappeared, I knew she must have lost consciousness for a moment at least

”I healed using biogenic transmutation In any case, there's no probleotten super annoying if all of theainst Tia too”

Kili roup, which had stopped attacking, and commented seriously

While talking, we slowly continued to distance ourselves froroup Currently, we had already retreated to within Tia's interference range

If possible, I would like to lure Ariella and the others into Tia's interference range, but it could be difficult depending on the situation

”No It's iuys Having lived as roommates, I can assert with certainty There must be some kind of reason for this”

”—Yes, I agree, because I would be troubled if there existed others sharing your special exception There is no value except in scarcity”

Kili shrugged

Instead of coe As expected, none of them stepped into the interference zone

Tia was using electricity to interfere Although invisible to the eye, Ariella and her group could probably detect Tia's deployed electronetic domain with their sharp senses

””

Ariella silently raised her hand towards us Next, the young men did the same in unison