Arifureta Chapter 144 (1/2)

Cootten Memory

“FLY AWAYYYYYYY!!”

{GUUUUUH!!}

In a huge space where an ice pillar was located, shi+a’s resounding battle yell was followed by a thunderous roar produced fro those sounds, a shi+a with black rabbit ears, a black tail, and black hair crashed into the center ice pillar with a grand impact

The iht, the black shi+a, shi+a’s false i on the floor while lifting her face There was a bitter s on her face

{Ahaha, you aren’t moved at all, eh? Indeed, it should be a darkness that you are harboring but……}

“That is that How ot driven out, how a lot of thelossed over, no uilt I aiveness, it doesn’t change that I as that I have to shoulder fortio”

{… What is called the darkness of the heart, is so that will sink people into the bottom of the swamp even with all that you know}

The part of darkness nesting inside your heart wasn’t so that someone could be liberated froe shi+a could only laugh seeing how shi+a went coative words she had whispered since the start of the battle

“You areof reat labyrinth is included in you If that’s not the case, then from the start you should have understood already that the current me won’t be shaken by words of that level”

shi+a tapped her Doryukken on her shoulder while sending a powerful gaze at her false is In those eyes, just as the person herself said, there was not a single waver For the current shi+a, the average ive her an itch

Certainly, it was because of her that her family was driven out from the Sea of Trees, and due to that, she lost a nuhtotten, an eternal wound of the heart But she wouldn’t stopbecause of that torment anymore

The reason was si, they chose the path that they walked by themselves And because at her side, there was her beloved lover and friend

Her faentle through thick and thin had sent her off Hajime, as entrusted with shi+a by Haulia, had accepted shi+a fro sister, sometimes as her best friend, always allowed shi+a to nestle close to her

For herself as that blessed to ‘fall’ at her own convenience, was soivable especially to shi+a herself above all She had been completely helped All this time she had been protected It was i her own feeling For the current shi+a, she felt like she wouldn’t lose no matter what kind of enemy she faced

{Indeed, no ets weaker I see, this trial to ‘overcoo}

“That’s how it is My ih!”

{Fufuh, fine The last attack, do it to your heart’s content!}

The white and black shi+a stepped with a force that pulverized the ground, at the saed while their partner the war ha sound and the i Attacks that were respectively unleashed fro once surpassed the sound barrier and broke through the white membrane

Tar ha a thunderous roar and is A crater with shi+a and the false ih an explosion happened

And then, the one that was bloas… the black shi+a

The black Doryuken that left her hand was spinning in the air Black shi+a was bloay in a parabolic arc before she flickered and vanished without waiting to hit the floor She was s At last, when her head was vanishi+ng her lips slightly loosened

At the ground zero, shi+a as still in her posture of swinging Doryuken went “Fuu~”, she slowly breathed out and relaxed her body Nearby, karan, koron the sound of cartridge falling on the ground resounded

“Everyone that went ahead, will they think proudly of the current me, I wonder…”

While leaking a wry s at the ceiling, shi+a shouldered back her Doryuken Ahead of shi+a’s gaze, a new passage appeared

“Surely for Hajime-san and the others, this trial won’t be a proble about shi+zuku-san and her friends”

While stepping into the new passage in a rush, shi+a thought about shi+zuku and her friends whose conditions were considerably beaten up due to the labyrinth, which put a worried expression on her face

Actually, she never would have iined that shi+zuku would overcome the trial and raise her maiden power

shi+a’s rabbit ears were twitching while she was trotting through the passage when she finally reached a dead end ahead For a moment, shi+a considered whether she ht a fa her to reflexively made a joyful face

Keeping her trot, she raised Doryuken in order to destroy the ice wall A passage was created for her There was no way the passage ahead was a dead end An entrance would be auto she could easily iine, but… her mental tendency was to think “Let’s destroy the obstacle anyway!” Just who influenced her to think like this would be anyone’s guess

“RYAAAAAhuaa-to-to!”

Doryuken ung in order to set because the ice wall vanished automatically when shi+a was near This caused her to hit eal force and flew into the new space just like that

“A, ahaha, I guess this is hoorks if you think about it So, it opened up … I wasn’t seen by Yue-san, was I?”

shi+a’s cheeks reddened fro around in wonder whether her failure was seen by Yue or not Yes, the presence that shi+a sensed was Yue’s Her tension rose up from happiness that she could be reunited with Yue quickly

In the end, indeed there was a Yue ahead of her gaze The sae space there was a gigantic cylinder ice pillar, Yue was standing quietly beside it Her back was facing shi+a, so shi+a didn’t knohat expression Yue was

There was no presence other than Yue at the surrounding, shi+a could see two other passages other than the one she cauessed that Yue had already defeated her other self

shi+a s to call out to her But, there, shi+a suddenly noticed how strangely ragged Yue’s state was

Of course, Yue had ‘Autoeneration’, so she couldn’t receive an external physical wound But her clothes were not included as the target of that ability so there was a need to use regeneration ic but… her clothes, here and there they were torn, burned, or frozen

That was to say that Yue received the attack of her false iain…

shi+a widened her eyes slightly Even if it was Yue whose way of fighting was pressuring the opponent with evenattacked herself, based on the nature of this trial shi+a thought Yue would be able to clear it unharmed

Furthere, Yue didn’t advance ahead Far from that, she didn’t even repair her clothes and stood while thinking deeply of sohtest twitch, it was possible that she hadn’t even notice shi+a’s entrance

Toward Yue as drifting off in an athtly hesitated She took a deep breath and raised a determined voice

“Yue-san!”

“… shi+a?”

Toward that bright voice that reverberated in the roo back over her shoulder And then, looking at the figure of the s shi+a there her eyes looked down

“shi+a… the rooms are connected?”

“Yes That’s how it looks like I cleared the trial, passed the newly created passage and arrived here Yue-san, you have cleared yours too, haven’t you?”

“… Nn No… problem”

shi+a only confir the terrible state of Yue’s clothes Perhaps finally noticing her own state due to that, Yue used regenerationa little embarrassedly at the unharmed shi+a In an instant, her clothes were repaired

shi+a felt lost inside her heart Should she ask her whether so happened or not?

Yue was obviously shaken froree that she excessively got hit, to the degree that she even forgot to fix her state, to the degree that she didn’t notice shi+a’s approach

Just what in the world was said to her? Yue’s appearance was unthinkable to come from how she normally was That was how severe the words were that the false ie had told Yue For that reason, what kind of words should shi+a say to the shaken Yue, or should she snuggle close to Yue until Yue had put herself in order shi+a was hesitating between the two choices

(Just what in the world… Yue-san didn’t seem particularly affected in the labyrinth I didn’t think Yue-san could be shaken by being confronted regarding the relationshi+p between Hajiuess, the darkness of Yue-san’s heart, it ht be the betrayal three hundred years before… hmm, even that feels like it’s already too old for the present…)

Exactly because Yue was i like that

“… shi+a, I’m fine Rather than that, let’s advance forward”

“Yue-san… you are right Let’s quickly reunite with Hajime-san and others!”

“… Nn I want to quickly meet Hajime”

“Fufu, that’s right!”

Yue guessed what shi+a was thinking and e

Yue was obviously not ‘okay’ Despite this, shi+a couldn’t skillfully say any words for Yue’s sake It made her down to the point that her rabbit ears flopped down and looked withered But she put herself together thinking ‘e e soreed with Yue

Like that, the two of thee side by side

“Everyone, I wonder if they are able to safely overcome the trial? I think the difficulty level is lower than the forest of tree labyrinth but… the conde here is unique, isn’t it?”

“… Nn, indeed Perhaps it’s impossible for someone like the hero (lol)”

“Isn’t that right? Because this trial is so like his natural enemy…”

Along the way, the two of the talk Yue was nonchalantly handing down a sharp evaluation of Kouki, but in general what she was saying wasn’tCertainly, for Kouki who loved to have a convenient interpretation, this trial that was pushi+ng various things at them was considerably unfit for him

Although even though they were raising Kouki in the topic, inside their hearts worry for the hero was nonexistent It was ue, and in any case, it was also shi+a’s encouragee herself inside her own heart Anyway, co like this was shi+a’s consideration for distracting the mood

Perhaps Yue also noticed shi+a’s intention, since she responded to the talk with the an air of humor However, as expected, after afar away soh they were looking at a far distance

In the back of Yue’s ht just noere flowing once more

―Who was the real betrayer?

―You still, don’t remember?

―About your parents?

―What are you, did you forget?

―You are just trying not to think of it?

―You are running away?

―You are really thinking that you can be at his side forever?

“…”

The sneering false i words that hinted at the tragedy three hundred years ago

Three hundred years ago… Yue was the inheritor of the throne of the vampire clan’s country It was a small country, but it was a country so powerful that it was extolled as the country of a small fierce God

The reason for that was the characteristic of the race of the vathened their body, thened their life There was no other race with such a power The act of sucking blood itself also hts of awe

The one born of the direct royal lineage of such a country was Yue She stood out with beauty and overflowing iven expectations since she was a baby She had the natural talent to absorb all the ht to her Unfortunately, she didn’t have talent in martial arts alone, but Yue’s existence was so clearly above the rest that such a thing could be decided to be unnecessary

And then what guaranteed her status was the cheating ability she e of twelve The direct ure the ic ‘Autoeneration’――those were terrific abilities just like those froe of the Gods

At that time, there was so many countries in number that couldn’t be co, but Yue as dispatched on the battlefield as ready fire power for her country a down the enemy literally like a fierce God

As the result, Yue’s fame and awe increased, and at seventeen she ascended to the throne

At twelve, she was s intent and hatred of the battlefield, and just five years later she becairl, surely she would be crushed by the pressure and herand wise to be crushed from that

There was also the help of her trusted vassals and her uncle as the pri and offered her all for the country’s sake he protected her country throughout the war She believed that she would keep protecting them just like that

Until that day when herwith his subordinates came to kill her

After two years passed since Yue succeeded the throne, she noticed that a strange distance was created between her and her uncle No, honestly speaking her uncle began to avoid Yue And his subordinates were also the same

Yue at that time was very perplexed at the sudden distance with her uncle, who in a certain er than both her parents While worrying whether she had made a mistake that displeased her uncle, several times she tried to create a chance for the two of them to talk

However, ultimately the chance for the two of them to speak frankly with each other didn’t coap had been created in their relationshi+p and a few more years passed

Furthered into si Yue were floithout pause Her great service in the battlefield for the sake of protecting her country was ironically spurring those rumors

The people who she trusted theIn exchange, her uncle’s political poas increasing and people gathered around hiree

And then, that final day arrived The day of destiny

At the ti an envoy fro with his subordinates in full equiphtered without question her These close aides that were fro blade, killing intent, were also directed at Yue

While Yue was dumbfounded, her body was hit with lethal attacks eneration’ instantly recovered her wounds, but even so Yue was at the height of confusion, no, Yue was denying the reality and didn’t even try to counter attack Then she noticed she had been sealed with her body unable to move, and in the middle of transport to be imprisoned in that abyss

Looking at it objectively, what happened could only be seen as her uncle ai a coup d’état Actually, Yue herself submitted to reality and ca her three hundred year imprisonment

But, but…

(… Why didn’t un… that man, kill me?)

That was right That strangeness Yue only realized nohile being sneered by her own false ie

That day of destiny Yue didn’t resist the betrayal of her uncle All this time, Yue was convinced that her uncle helplessly sealed her because he couldn’t kill her due to the ‘Autoeneration’ The absolute darkness of three hundred years, and then the overwhelht ofany other possibility

But, ‘Autoic power If her enerate It was possible to kill her if she was continuously attacked until her ic power ran out In actuality, Yue didn’t resist because of the extreic poas considerably decreased because she regenerated too much

Her uncle should have killed Yue

(… He was strong He was at a level above the rest both as a politician and also as a fighter For such a man to fail to kill me at that place… was impossible)

In the back of Yue’s o was resurrected vaguely The truth that was pushed at the deepest recess of herback little by little in a clearer ie

(… That man didn’t kill me, but he had to seal me … Why is that?)

Yue iht and traveled down ic voice resounded in the back of her entle, yet painted with sadness and frustration, and also guilt to the utmost

(―, I’m sorr― Other than this, there is no other wa― Someday, surely, ―a person you can lean on will appear If it’s that person, surely they will protect you fro like thi― But, don’t for― ―e, I love―)

Blond hair exactly the sa out wrinkles carved from hardshi+ps For Yue as hazy due to the effect of the seal and the ic power, she couldn’t listen to everything But, one thing that she re the cheek of Yue that was sticking out from the cube that sealed her

Yue quietly brought her hand to her cheek Somehow she felt like she could feel the warmth of that time That was a warmth different from Hajime If she had to say, it was like what a parent would direct toward their daughter…