Vol 5 Chapter 6 (1/2)

Chapter 6 - Each Decisive Battle

『”ーNo 7, report on the situation”』 The voice, which contained irritation, got straight to the business

The man, ーGold Eye, the No 7 of the Black Cat Instituteー briefly responded “There is no problem”

『”Then, it’s fine”』

“What about your side?”

『”They appear to be obedient It doesn’t look like they’ve contacted the Hunter Guards and there seems to be no movesters, there is that vixen at Seidoukan I don’t think that she will stay quiet like this”』

A spacedid not open from the portable terminal, which was for the exclusive use of the Black Cat Institute It was possible to send an ie, but this was basically voice only communication And above all, the other party to whom this portable terminal was connected to was only one person ー Le Wolfe Black Institutes's student council president

『”Actually, I’ve also heard that around the area, there was a guy as snooping around, looking for the kid Well, as you know, the Rotlichtentertainment district isn’t under my direct control, so I don’t know the authenticity of the rumor”』

“…”

Generally, it was thought that everything in the redevelopement of Le Wolfe Black Institute, but the internal conditions were a little different This was because there are a substantially large nued the Rotlichtentertainment district and their upper echelon (top brass) consisted of dropout students from each academy and other criminals from outside of Asterisk

Of course, since even araduates occupied was quite high, and many active students also had their names entered as constituenthistorically, it was also a fact that Le Wolfe’s influence was strong

However, they, and the current student council president, ーDirk Eberweinー were on very bad terms Therefore the relations, between the Rotlichtentertainment district and Le Wolfe, were completely broken now Since the students of the anti-Dirk faction within the acadeht be said that a parts of the Mafia were close to antagonistic towards Dirk

And; Dirk had tolerated it

The man did not know the reason and he did not intend to know it, either That was because it was not his duty

The man had only to perfectly complete the mission, just as he was ordered

He could ask for information necessary to carry out his duty, but it was ultiment

That’s why also, this time, the et in the way?”

『”We’ve a hostage on our side Use that advantage Even so, if they don’t withdraw… I don’t mind if you use her and then throw her away”』

Theon a corner of the room

As she was asleep, there was no

『”If I leave that boy as is, he will definitely become an obstacle in the future I must have him understand, even if just a little, that I’m serious”』

“Understood” The man answered indifferently

The man’s heart was not shaken no matter how cruel the order was

In the first place, such a thing did not exist

“…”

『”What’s wrong?”』 As if guessing that the ated, the voice quizzically asked

“It looks like soet in the way”

As the man said that, he cut the co

- ψ -

“…Is it really here?”

Saya looked up at the building in front of her and doubtfully inquired

“Well, after checking it, the most suspicious place is here As such, I think it’s very likely to be this place” Though Eishi+ro shrugged his shoulders as if playing dumb, his eyes were serious

“B-But, Yabuki-senpai really knows a lot of people I was surprised”

“Gee, it's not that many”

However when he was praised by Kirin, he floated an erin as he did not seem to be dissatisfied

“…In other words, it means that Yabuki usually plays around in this area”

“Ugh…! That’s, uaze

That said, certainly his popularity[1] was the real deal

No matter how much Ayato had narrowed the location down, it still was not as if they already knew the exact location of Flora It was the first time that both Saya and Kirin has come to the Rotlichtentertainment district, but many shops were closed in daytime There were only small casinos, that were open for 24 hours, which croith people Due to that, there was also not that much pedestrian traffic so Saya and Kirin had hard ti stories about this and that from familiar shops easily

“So, specifically, what kind of suspicious place is this?”

“Uh huh, the building here was a fairly well-known casino, but it seeo”

After hearing his reply, she once again returned her gaze to the building It was a sizeable five-storey building Although it faced the main street, it was built in a sohboring buildings and its surroundings were somber

Although there was no light now, the outer walls, which were decorated with lights that usually shone brightly in the town during the dazzling night, were comparatively new even to the point where one would not think that a re was necessary

“They say that, recently, guests seees, and exterior aside, the interior fully messy”

“He~e… It’s scary, eh”

“Here, the replace unusual There are also some specialists[2] But, it seems that the construction has been halted for these several days”

“…It was halted?”

As Saya frowned, Eishi+ro chuckled

“There was apparently soe of it The particular Mafia group, which was the owner of this, also see for the renovations, in various ways, so I think that the next specialist will be decided before long”

“…But, till then, it’ll be a building in a state of vacancy”

“Well, so like that”

Saya and Kirin simultaneously looked at each other, and silently nodded

“All right, well then, won’t you check inside?”

“B-But, how…?”

What Saya and company had searched, up until noere o as far as to enter on their own ー to be exact, the abandoned buildings were targeted by the Hunter Guards, as they wanted theardless of whether it was under renovation, it was a casino so it probably had some sort of security system

“Hey, hey, it was decided that I’d leave this to you I’ll go check out the surroundings”

Contrary to their expectations Eishi+ro took out his portable terate side

And after he operated the optics keyboard with experienced hands, the door opened with a tepid sound

“Hey, it’s opened” Eishi+ro spoke casually

“…”

With blank expressions, both Saya and Kirin glared at him

“It looks like when the insides were daed at that sa, simple version Since it’s ais under renovation, they probably thought that it was enough with that; so we're lucky”

“No, even if that’s the case…”

“…No ood”

In response to the suspicious gazes, Eishi+ro hurriedly looked for excuses

“N-No, so deal, I say! The tool is so I’ve also tried several times…”

“…”

Though there was doubt reate it now After all, it was nearing noon, if they did not do it quickly, the finals would begin

“C-Come on, come on, more importantly, we should hurry!”

While saying that to escape questioning, Eishi+ro entered to the building, and Saya and Kirin had no choice but go along with it

“Uwah…”

The inside was in a ht

As the casino’s equipment had already beento the second floor was empty and lonely, the walls and pillars, noithout their luxurious adornings, beca the floor above For so was deliberately left intact, the shadows of pillars, which stretched on the bare floor, looked eerily creepy

There were , but since one would not think that construction was necessary, it was probably soe' In that case, they could also agree that renovation was necessary

“For the ti, it looked like there’s no one here”

Kirin, while being cautious, looked around at the surroundings

“Het, when I take a look at this building, it appears to be a six-layer structure of one floor baseround”

Certainly there was a large set of stairs in the inner part of the hall, and they led to the second floor The back looked like the downhill stairs There was also an elevator on the side, but as expected they could not use it in this situation

“…Above or below?”

“Herous to split; it’d be better to act together”

“If possible, I would also like to do so I’ after all”

At Kirin’s words, Eishi+ro strongly agreed by saying “yes, yes”

“…If you’re a man, you should say that we leave it to you instead” Saya said with scornful eyes

Eishi+ro answered without being tiht place Besides, I’ my best for once, you know?”

“Doing your best?”

“I can’t help you, but then I should just call someone useful Well, I don’t know if he’ll come, since I can only requestー wait… What’s that!?”

shi+fting their attention to Eishi+ro’s voice, so forth in the shadow of a pillar

“Is that… a person?”

While unsheathing the carp mouth[3] of Senbakiri, Kirin quizzically muttered

“…Mana is gathering around there It’s probably a setting type ability”

In other words, it would be a trap or defense device

As Kirin said, it seemed to have a human shape, but the “shape” was only just close (in shape) The whole body was pitch-black, as if a shadoas cut out and had no ruggedness whatsoever, and the distinction of which was the front and the back could not be grasped Both hands were pointed out like a sharp horn, and even if it was unpleasant, one could guess what kind of purpose it had If compelled to say, was it certain it was a “person’s shadow”?

“At the very least, there’s no doubt that we're right on the ht?”

Eishi+ro who said that had already withdrawn to a position near the wall It looked like he really intended to leave it all to Saya and Kirin

The shadohich had been doing nothing but standing stock still, suddenly attacked Kirin

But, Kirin, without panicking, sleith one stroke of her sword The shadohich received Senbakiri’s blow vanished like mist just as if it were sand blown by the wind

Although its movements were not that fast, the attack was siile (brittle) Frankly, it was not at the level of being Saya’s or Kirin’s opponent

“What, it isn’t that big a deal Even I can e just this much…”

The expression of Eishi+ro as cos stiffened in middle of sentence

This was because shadows arose once again from the shadows of the pillars And this time, it was not just one or two

“This… I wonder how many there are?”

“…Who knows?”

The shadohich gushed forth from here and there in the shadoere about 50 in nuhly Moreover, they were still increasing

“Kuh…!”

The shadows attacked Saya and company one after another

As Saya activated her hand gun type Lux in an instant, she defeated five shadows al quick shots

“T-This is an ability of autonomy type! No matter how you put it, it’s impossible to control all of these simultaneously!”

Fro around the hall while trying to escape, Saya recalled a story she heard from Ayato

A person with ability called Cyrus who once fought against Ayato seemed to have the power to control more than one hundred puppets, but in actuality it was about ten puppets that he could control simultaneously

However, such uniformity could not be observed at all in those shadows’ movements

“Autonomous type ability means that the most they can do, is to only execute a simple order! The cri like ‘eliminate the intruder’!”

“…I see In that case, there is no real need to keep fighting them”

Both Saya and Kirin still had dae from the semifinal Especially Kirin, who had not yet recovered fro, as for Saya, she had yet to fully recover her Prana Even though their opponents were small fries, their stamina would not last if they were to take on all those shadows

“…Kirin I’m sorry, but I will rely on you for a little while”

“Roger!”

They were physically and mentally harmonized Kirin who immediately understood Saya’s intention took one step forward and changed her stance in order to protect Saya

After Saya put away the hand guns, she activated a huge Lux with a large gun barrel

Most of the ar the semifinal that e was still relatively shallow (light)

“Lux Type 39 Laser Canon Wolfdora ー sweep”

When Saya squeezed the trigger, a torrent of light gushed out A large a before her eyes turned dark for an instant, but she shook her head slightly and endured

The pillar of lightsound, when silence returned once again to the hall, nobody aside fro

“Phew…”

“Saya-san, are you all right…?”

“…No problem”

Although she pretended to be all right as she muttered that to the anxious Kirin, she had not recovered as ht After the semifinal, since she had run about since yesterday to until noith alht be kind of bad

Aside frouns, Saya’s heavy armaments were all of the Lobos transition system, as such one shot from one of her heavy armaments consumed as much Prana as meteor arts

(At this rate, I can only shoot about two or three times Huh…)

Although, in truth, she wanted to beat the criht be better to avoid battle as much as possible in this state If the criood Of course, depending on the situation, it could not be helped if they had to fight, butー

“Hey, hey, you two! It looks like it’s still early to relax!”

Eishi+ro suddenly raised his face with a sharp voice

“Eh, again…!?”

Shadows in likeness of people began to arise again from the pillars’ shadows

The number was the same as earlierー no maybe even more than that

“Th-There is no end to this…!”

Slight impatience could also be felt in Kirin’s voice

Now that it cah, but there were a swarh they would have no problem if they were in perfect condition, for the current Saya and Kirin, there was a slight uneasiness reh

Even so, it wasa war of attrition

“…Kirin, it’s a little unreasonable, but ill break through”

“Yes… we have no choice”

It looked like Kirin was thinking the sa They nodded at each other

Just before the shadows surged like an avalanche and were about to attack the two girls

“Tch! Geez, what are you guys doing!”

A violent shock ran froether

“Oooh, you finally arrive, huh! I aiting for you!”

In contrast with the duirls, only Eishi+ro went out tohis hands

“…Lester MacPhail … Why are you here?”

Right It was indeed Seidoukan Academy rank 9, Lester MacPhail who appeared with a sullen face

“I was forcibly called by that bastard Yabuki! Otherwise, ould I expressly come to such a place?”

He shouted with the huge Halberd[4] type Lux in his hand

“Oh dear! ”Forcibly” is saying too h”

“Negotiating while grasping hold of someone’s weakness is what a bastard like you calls a request? Shouldn’t you rather say blackmail?”

I see It was like Eishi+ro to do such a thing

That said, it did not change the fact that they were saved The shadows charged forth anew, and most of them had turned towards the new intruder They did not let this chance slip

“…MacPhail, we leave the rest to you” Saya said quickly, and took off shamelessly

“S-Sorry! Please!” Kirin, as honestly sorry, politely bowed

After that, they cut into the swarm of shadows

“Huh!? H-Hey, wait a minute!”

Though Lester’s perplexed voice flew from behind, there was no time to wait

As Saya once again activated the two hand gun type Lux, she asked so to Kirin beside her while opening a path “And, Kirin… above or belohich is it?”

“Which do you think it is, Saya-san?” Siht and left, Kirin returned the question

“…Below”

There was no reason It was intuition

“Me, too” While chuckling, Kirin answered with that

Back on the other side

“Well then, MacPhail Do your best” Eishi+ro, while leaving those words, ran off somewhere

Also, Saya and Kirin disappeared on the other side of the shadows…

Re in the hall were only Lester and the countless shadows

The beginning of how it caht When he wondered why he was suddenly contacted by Eishi+ro, he was allowed to help out with no chance to refuse[5]

It no longer mattered where Eishi+ro had learned his secret

Though briefly, he was also told about the situation; even Lester could not stand a coho tried to achieve their goals by kidnapping a small child

The pent-up anger, fro eliminated in the third round of the Phoenix, had also piled up

“…Even so…”

The shadows attacked Lester, as looking doards, and muttered to himself

As Lester sent the of his halberd, he shouted in a loud voice to display his foul mood

“Why am I the only one made to play such a role?”

- ψ -

As Ayato checked the ti on the sofa of the waiting room with her eyes closed “It’s already time, Julis”

“…I see” As Julis briefly answered, she stood up, stretching herself out greatly

“Good grief, in the end, there was no call from Saya and the others”

“…”

Since they did not know the situation over there, they could not contact them

And the fact that they themselves were not yet contacted, it meant that it was probably that sort of situation

“Fufufu, don’t o”

However with a calm look, Julis floated a wry s room

Howto the stage like this with her? At very least, he felt like it had been a very long time that had passed here since the first tih it was only teeks ago

Julis suddenly muttered,

“ーHey, Ayato It’s a good thing to have reliable comrades”

“Eh?”

Ayato stopped walking at the unexpected words

Julis likewise stopped and continued as if speaking to herself

“You know, Ayato Flora and everyone inThat’s why I swore that I will do anything for theht But, when I think about it noas just shutting myself off fro you as p-partner”

“Julis…”

“I can still make more important comrades like everyone in my country Like Saya and Kirin”

While looking straight at Ayato’s eyes, Julis smiled as she felt embarrassed

“Now, I can honestly believe in theht”

“I see… Yes Then well…”

Ayato and Julis who began to walk again stood side-by-side in front of the stage

Julis who took a s her fists, and went through the gate

『”Now, player Airi Ayato and player Julis-Alexia van Riessfeld of Seidoukan Acadeate! It’s finally the lastfor a period of teeks! It’s the final!”』

『”Gee, I can’t wait”』

A boisterous dance of dazzling lights

While advancing within it, Julis muttered;

“It’s really strange Even though we’re in a situation such as this, ーnoant to win thisto win this match)”

“Yes, me too”

After he replied with that, Julis joyfully nodded

“Ok, then, both you and I shall try to be as greedy as possible Let’s obtain everything we desire”

“Without losing anything”

Ayato and Julis stared at the two autonomous type puppets before them

One of the other duo, the owner of a large build that was as if it was piercing the heavens, heartily laughed

“Fuhahahahahaha! We can finally face each other, A for this time!”

“Haa…”

“Master has been always talking about you, I aive me the exciteave me!”

While straightly tracing the sword cut carved froe build

“Unfortunately, I can’t guarantee it…”

Although slightly nervous at that high tension, Ayato answered with a serious expression

“But, this match ー I in it Absolutely”

“Fufufu! Those words are enough!”

As Ardi stared at Ayato’s eyes, he happily nodded for some reason

“And we only hope that, like those girls, you are hu you our respect And…”

“ーIt’s before the match, and yet you already talk too much, you blockhead! Listen, in the first place, since you have a body with bad Mana consumption (fuel-inefficient body), at least respect yourself If possible, if you could never again open your mouth, it will help me very much”

Ri beside Ardi put a damper on him in a cold tone

“Mh”

“Do you not understand when I say to stop your impudent talk?”

Seeing a huge gun type Lux appearing in Rimsi’s hand, Ardi finally shut his mouth

“…I already knew it, but they are really unusual puppets Eh” While observing their exchanges, Julis muttered, somewhat amazed

“Hahaha… But, only a little, I think that I’lad that our opponents in the finals are them”

“Hou, Why?”

“Because we can confront them without hesitation”

For exath, Irene or the twins of World Dragon ht also have reached the finals, but it would not probably have been like this with them

“Well, you’re right on the point wherein they are worthy opponents”

Julis activated Aspera Spina while saying so

As Ayato also activated a blade type Lux, the live reporter and the coreatly rustled

『”Oooh, as expected it looks like player Airi won’t use Ser-Versta in this final, either!”』

『”If you nor it, re Luxes… especially that Ser-Versta is an iteht be some trouble”』

『”According to so process was applied (requested), but… oops, while ere speaking, the start time approached! Come on, everyone, whether you like it or not, now this is the last match of the Phoenix! Which pair will stand at the top?”』

While ignoring the voice of the excited live reporter, they focused

The match start was exactly at noon

Still three, two, oneー

“Phoenix Final, Battle start!” The school badges on their chest's announced the last signal

At the saht towards Ardi

ーWith Julis

“Hohou~u!”

『”Miri-Riessfeld pair where they will beat player Ardi first with the two of them?”』

『”It’s standard strategy to aim at either one of the opponents, but for player Riessfeld, who should be in the back, going forward is a little unusual”』

Right When fighting against those two, thewas that fusion state which overwhelmed Saya and Kirin

In that case, they should simply defeat either one of them before that

Considering only from the aspect of defensive power, it was probably better to aiht unit If she were to escape into the air, there would be no way to have a two-on-one fight

“Let’s go, Julis!”

“Yes!”

Ayato i and set up his sword

Without grudge

“Aon Style Sword Inter=”” sword=””>”

Nine consecutive attacks which combined five thrusts and four kinds of slashes

It was a technique of the highest difficulty even a the Intermediate Techniques, but all of that was prevented before the defensive barrier which Ardi instantly deployed

“Fuhahahaha! Unfortunately, I already have the data of that technique!”

Ardi proudly declared so

“…Looks like it”

“Hmm?”

Even so, to Ayato who showed a composed smile, Ardi leaked a voice as he was puzzled for an instant

Certainly, he had also happened to use this technique once when he fought against Cyrus’ puppets Since they were puppets which Ernesta otten the data at that time

They took that into account

“Bloo-flower!”

Immediately after, an intense heat rose behind Ayato

Ardi’s defensive barrier was, so to speak, soe in which it was able to defend was limited

Even so, the speed hich it could be instantly deployed and the area of the deploy 360° established it as an absolute defense

But, when it came to simultaneous attacks from many directions, it would be difficult to defend with just the defensive barrier

“Nuuuuuuuuuuuuh!”

Ardi shook off the fla froh they were activated in a ht disturbance in Julis’ control

“A Skill ー <tater=”” dragons=””>”

At that chance, Ayato stepped forward further and let out the next technique

The aie on the chest

ーHowever

“To ignore me like that, you are quite cheeky”

Just before that, a swelling torrent of light attacked Ayato and Julis from the side

It was the built-in weapon which Ried into ー Ruinsharif

“…No way, there is no ould ignore you”

However, before it hit directly, Ayato led Julis by the hand and dodged it, barely

“We’re properly cautious”

“Wha…!”

Rimsi opened her eyes wide, atypically, in surprise

She was probably thinking it was a perfect ti

Actually, if it was the usual Ayato, he would have not been able to dodge it

But, the current Ayato’s perception expanded to the utrasp the infore with a bird’s eye view

It was a technique called Field (state) of “Cognition” in Aon Style

This technique originally displayed it's reatest) effect when in a situation of one-on-ht, so it was not very useful in a situation of one-on-one fight It was only tiring