Chapter 2 (2/2)

The iantic sword that had appeared in the ht Tobio had clearly witnessed the moment of its appearance In that way, just before the monster was about to drop it, the puppy’s body eone a transforiant blade, which pierced the body of the winged monster and scattered it

The huge blade fell on the roof in front of the apartment

……Tobio took a breath In the ular sword stuck in the roof of an apart

Tobio’s mind remembered from that

—— It’s wasted on that hated dog, Tobio Someday, that child have chosen you without fail……no, it appears she may have already chosen you even if it isn’t obvious

Ahh, Baa-chan This is what that’s called, isn’t it? But, that is——

——a “dog”?

Tobio pressed a hand against his vigorously pulsating chest The reason it was like that, was it fear Or was it, perhaps, that he never expected himself to attain such power——

“……Yours is a”

Froled voice

He was surprised to see the appearance of Minagawa Natsuht on the roof of the apartment She had declared on the street outside the fa to visit

“Are you okay? I was a little slow”

She looked at him while worried Tobio sat on the spot, his mind inattentive, and replied, “Somehow”

When the light faded, as he checked to ed monster’s master, he sed the words “I wish you’d come a bit sooner”

The haas now perched on the sofa overlooking the roo now calmly ended

“I was also surprised Having co, I was going to cos over with you, but you were under attack when I got here By three of theh for your second battle”

Natsu under attack by three people, and froirl’s perspective the only word to describe it is “tough”

Natsu, “How cute!” She was currently holding the puppy When it turned into a blade, the black puppy ended up stuck on the roof of the apartment, so Natsu to the roof, the puppy resuinal appearance

——Blades appear from of its body!

But, despite Tobio’s worrying Natsu its tail like a nor fawned on by Natsume

That puupy’s shtered thoseblades from its whole body, it had demonstrated such an incredible power

“Well, let’s get out of here”

Natsume made such a proposal

“To think I had hoped to reo pack soe, but only the basic necessities Our opponent knows about your house Besides, even if you defeated them once, after one hour, no perhaps after thirty ain?”

Tobio agreed that the danger was only passed temporarily

“……With a commotion such as this, I wonder if someone reported it”

Tobio suddenly spoke aloud such a thought

Right, the as broken, and the bathroom had been destroyed up to the door With such disruptive sounds, it would not be surprising if the nearby residents started an uproar However, Minagawa Natsume shook her head

“……They finish preparations before an attack, so such a commotion does not occur Everyone would have remained deeply asleep”

……He could not understand the significance of what she had so calmly mentioned It was beyond Tobio’s ability to comprehend However, this couldn’t be said to be a joke, since it felt like this sense of abnormality was just the current state of affairs

Natsume turns with a smile and says

“Since I know of a good place to hide froo there”

“A place to hide?”

“Yup, it’s where I live now It’s a place one can safely spend ti the Utsuses you need to know, you should quickly get ready to go!”

Pushi+ng on Tobio’s back, Natsued him on

“Is there truly such a good place? I mean, if we clean up here——“

“Dah! Because it’s good, go get your luggage ready!! It’s not safe here! If you try and co you there by your underpants”

As oneNatsu, Tobio halted his questions and decided to return to his rooe

Tobio and Natsuht

Tobio was carrying two large bags, one on his shoulder and the other in his hand These large bags, which back at the house had been filled with only thecarried as he followed Natsuht

“At any rate, it’s safer to leave populated areas”

As Tobio carried the heavy luggage, he did his best to keep up with Natsue after hi

Suddenly Natsued draaze in Tobio’s direction Her eyes, though, were focused on as behind Tobio

As Tobio look looked back, he saw the black puppy that had been following hi its attention at the darkness just shy of the laly

As it stared at the dark road with narrowed eyes, a gradually approaching figure appeared

“No way……”

Tobio uttered anxiously while sing

“Eeh, visitors”

Utsusemi——

A boy approached underneath the la that he lacked a spirit With a creeping sound by its side, a snake monster appeared suddenly from around the corner

Tobio and Natsuaze They needed to deterht

But before they could do so, suddenly a flame-like pheno fiercely on the dark road, its body writhing, its controller backed off to avoid being turned into charcoal——

While Tobio was at a loss of words at this occurrence, Natsuh of relief

With the serpent’s death, the acco classic square With that pheno been verified, the sound of steady footsteps was heard

Appearing out of the darkness, a strange looking blonde girl stepped into the light Also, the reason she was strange looking, she was dressed in a cloak and a pointed hat Though she looked foreign, she was dressed as though it was a witch cosplay He found hily fascinated by her ners, could she possibly be……about the sae as him

The girl dressed as a witch, fixing her blue eyes upon Tobio and Natsume, spoke

“You were slow, Natsuht with you to meet me?”

Natsu, “I’irl She was fluent in japanese Apparently she was acquainted with Minagawa Natsu with the combustion pheno one after another, Tobio’s comprehension couldn’t keep up with it all

Natsus from his hands

“Let’s go They will attack this deserted area Since we can’t go to any populated areas, we have to leave this area quickly”

In response to Natsume’s serious tone, Tobio nodded, and they hastened away

Part 4

“Come, enter enter”

Late at night, Tobio had finally arrived the safe place Natsuedly a hideout in the forest, what he’d iined was a place separated from urban areas, turned out to actually be place about tenstation The appearance was also that of a very co, but……

While Tobio was still feeling a touch of uncertainty about whether they would really be safe from attack in a place like this, he was invited into a particular apartment Chairs, a TV, a DVD player, just a modest room of shelves

Pointing a finger at the blond girl, Natsuain

“This girl is Lavinia As one of the residents who live in this hideout, she is our ally for the ti”

The blonde girl——Lavinia bowed simple and said, “Please take care of me”

After she finished this light greeting, with a rustling sound, Natsu the shelves that furnished the room

“Well then, so——first of all, you seek confirmation”

Natsu spoken thus, then removed a specific DVD and inserted it into the player

“Is that what you’ve been looking for since we arrived?”

Tobio inquired of Natsume

“……It’s for the purpose of reaffir the circumstances of yourself and Natsume”

The ansas surprisingly given by the blonde girl Lavinia

Tobio began intently watching the video ira a certain shi+p’she didn’t know For the last two reatest upheaval of his life

The Heavenly of Aloha incident——

The luxury liner that he and Natsu with their classh the video had no sound, Natsume also showed a complicated look Not just Tobio, she should also have been suffering these twoa mental wound from the loss of her classmates

The video changed What the screen noed, it was somewhere in a city environment In the video, siroup of young men and women were shown

Tobio continued to watch with furrowed eyebrows

“Is that……Yada……? Kojima……?”

Tobio was at a loss for words Groups of young people were shown successively There werepeople were shown successively without pause It was not fifty or a hundred

The video was showing people that Tobio, until a o, had believed their whereabouts to be unknown However, the ti a period in June just half a o——

The two-hundred thirty-three Ryoukuu high school sopho In reality, the chances of survival was practically nonexistent But, on the video in front of him, everyone whose whereabouts was unknoas alive and active

……While he didn’t understand why they were leadingthem, they……all of them were still alive

Then, not only the classmates, but Sae as well——

Tobio realized that froli little by little But, that brittle feeling vanished with the next video

One of the male classmates was shown on the screen There was a monster like a crocodile at his side Frouidly extended ……No, it was a tentacle

Other class a variety of different , spider, snake, and lizard he had just e insects such as moths and mantises There were ominous monsters who size was impossible to determine, and also those with distorted appearances They were ames

They were stretching their tentacle-like tongues, seizing a live pig While the video had no sound, the appearance alone was tragic, as thefroe of the monsters’ mouths

Tobio clutched at histhat entered his throat, as he squinted at the video

Natsume, who had seen the video once before, was also unable to look directly at the scene

After that, Natsuan to y of the monsters and how to deal with them

Although his head felt strange, Tobio somehow kept his sanity, and with a meek expression proceeded to fill his head with the information

This is what Tobio understood——

These creatures, they were h physical capabilities For a petty attack, it would not be possible to cut the flesh beneath the skin

For defeat, the nucleus or the head must be destroyed It seems the nucleus is in the position which for a human would be called the heart Their weaknesses were fundas However, they were much sturdier than ordinary creatures

She kept describing them as “monsters” as she spoke

“This video, photographically docu the truth of these peculiar roots, has been kept hidden by people like us By no h school sopho in the maritienuine monsters Paired with their monster, they apparently are named——Utsusemi”

Natsume said so indifferently

Lavinia continued

“By Utsuseanization existing in this country, people with artificial supernatural abilities——they would be categorized as so like Inou Tsukai (Special ability users) They are being anization”

…… In the present situation there wasn’t really anything to say

……Tobio thought it was a ridiculous story

Supernatural power to control anization so classa or fictional movie If he hadn’t actually experienced it, he absolutely wouldn’t have believed it He would have judged it to be some human’s crazy delusion

But——there was no choice but to believe it In was true they were pursued and attacked by a rew a blade from its forehead

Looking at the puppy snuggled up beside hiree that these were crazy reckless statements

Natsume continued

“The Utsusemi, the operators that control the monsters——their bodies are only able to function as a set And those bodies, our classmates who participated in the trip, there are 233 of them”

To Tobio as at a loss for words, Natsume asserted thus

“And, they returned to japan for the sake of killing the surviving students——me and you”

“This is no joke!”

Tobio’s feords of reproach

It was natural of course It’s because he was being targeted by classmates who’s become monsters

It really is not a joke However, what came to mind was the monsters that had attacked earlier——the Utsuseenuine The evidence was that they’d certainly come to kill him personally

Natsume spoke

“There’s no doubt ill continue to be targeted in the future They have been directed to target us who survived by not participating in the trip The organization that’sthem from behind, it’s because of this that we, by any means necessary, we desire it”

“Just aus?”

The question Tobio wanted answeredhiht it over, that was all Tobio could co beside him

Also turning to her hawk, Natsume spoke

“It see My Griffon, that puppy of Ikuse-kun’s, things that are si them”

“——Sacred treasures They are called Sacred Gears So to speak, they are unusual powers called that However, these are natural——you were born with this power It’s also not such a rare thing Many of those whose names have been recorded in history as well ly possessed such power However, in order for its distinct form to be realized, it is a necessary condition that one possess a certain amount of ability”

Lavinia spoke indifferently She seeement from elsewhere

“To say it in even more complete detail, the creatures you and Natsume were born with are classified as “Independent Avatar Type” Sacred Gears And, the Utsusemi are artificial imitations of “Independent Avatar Type” Sacred Gears”

………Unintelligible words being heard one after the other, Tobio’s brain was on the verge of a blowout

……Sacred treasure? Sacred……Gear……? That’s what his own puppy and Minagawa Natsu the students that were attacking them……those were fake copies of them?

Natsuard

“The organization that uses the Utsuse like us by any means Our abilities which could not be taken at the destination are absolutely necessary to them To that end, they exerted influence over that trip to h school Their whereabouts becoe in circu our class they could entice us into being careless And now, those that are being manipulated, that last one tried to attack us by himself——that seems to be the case

“What do youlike” that you’ve been saying for a while? Who taught Minagawa-san these things?”

Tobio asked this of Natsu from the player With the DVD in one hand she says

“I was taught froave me this That supposed ‘Governor General’ of theirs When I received this video footage, which I just showed Ikuse-kun, I also received an explanation”

For Natsuitation Even Natsu prepared for successive attacks by the Utsusemi

“Additionally, I received three ‘eggs’ from that ‘Governor General’ One was for me, and now another is Ikuse-kun’s I aiven such odd jobs, I wonder Ugh”

“What kind of difficult person is he? This supposed ‘Governor General’”

Natsume also shakes her head at Tobio’s question

“Hmm, not even I know It appears that Lavinia and the other residents living here are aware of hi the ‘Governor General’s’ true identity, it’s being kept a secret But, I was told Ikuse-kun and I would be able to sort of ’”

“……That’s right, I’ve been wondering What exactly was that ‘egg’?”

Natsume followed up a beat later,

“It’s a Sacred Gear ’ It’s should be so outlike an ability triggering device The ‘Governer General’ does that sort of research I mean, wasn’t your puppy also born fros and birds would be born from within!”

——She answered merrily

At Natsu its tail nearby

……No, this puppy was not hatched froed fronificance……

However, the ‘egg’ was e that was manifested

Natsu the head of Griffon as perched on the back of a chair

“My Griffon——this hawk has helped me many times Besides, that ‘Governer General’ said, ‘It’s the only thing that can support us They will dispose of any danger that befalls us It’s the fate of those who have a Sacred Gear’”

……Really, it’s an unreasonable story

Tobio’s bewildered heart was filled with anger that had no place to go

What this awa Natsuanization in this country, desiring their powers, attacked a luxury liner in the middle of the school trip However, since they were not on board the shi+p, it was their classe intended for them, while the sailors ere unrelated to them lost their lives ……Because of them, no, was it indeed because of theht into this world?

Was it his fault that Sasaki……his class manipulated……?

……Then again, on the flip side, could they even still be considered alive……?

Sae——are you alive?

“……There’s just one thing, I’d like to ask, everyone……are our fellow classmates still alive?”

He could not consent To this non-anticipatable, unilateral theft of his class in order to commad the monsters It was——their fault

Sae was snatched away by those unknown people, her existence has been transformed to accompany a monster……

Natsu broadly

“Yeah, they’re alive Indeed, even h now an Utsusemi, is most definitely alive

“——!!!”

Hearing those words, Tobio became extremely excited in his heart

……They’re alive ……Sae was also alive……!! No matter what condition she was in……Sae was not dead!! She was alive

Welling up fro of trey

Until soo, do to a series of unreasonable incidents, fear ofhis spirit, but noas able to understand that he couldn’t not believe if he was going to gather his strength

——For Sae and his class controlled, was there really no way to reverse the process?

Natsu at Tobio’s face, which was alight with passion

“So, we’ve only talked about change ……Will you not team up with me?”

S Natsume made that proposal

“You’re teaether ill defeat the organization behind the Utsuseainst some 200 or more people? There’s not even ten of us students who survived the trip by not participating It’s a simple calculation, that’s a quota of more than 20 for each individual If we act poorly, it’s unknown if therekatakana for certain words instead of normal japanese This could be for e emotional I left the words in question bolded just in case)

“’If we act poorly’, what?”

“Isn’t it unknosurvivors?”

Abruptly, Natsu almost expressionless

“Norht a classmate Because I’m close with that child, because I think I’m fond of that child Whatever happens, I’ll hesitate when they appear before me”

He could sense the grief from Natsume’s tone

“There was this person with glasses as attacking us two, h school, I’ve been together with that friend forever She, when I defeated that friend, there was suffering because I didn’t show any hesitation…… Again and again I cried out to stop but, that child was just filled to the brim with murderous impulse Afterwards I was informed by the ‘Governor General’ about the series of circu was born inside me——that child is alive If they’re alive, then I can save thehts have reached the same conclusion”

Natsume declared her decision to resolve herself to occasionally fight those classmates

Tobio observed Natsua countenance of resilience and seriousness Strength was trans from her pupils

It’s a courtesy The greatest proposal from her Given the current situation, two people feltthe ood approach to have achieved a small component of victory

Suddenly, he directs his gaze towards the black puppy sitting before his eyes Able to grow a blade on its head, and even transfore blade-like object It was clearly a kind of monster But—— Unlike the monster that attacked him, he couldn’t feel any hostility or entle radiance

……To consider her to be an ally To believe that a ray of hope can be obtained even in these strange circumstance

Even if that’s just a substitute that has overcoe the current circu to it

“——I’ll save them, everyone will be”

And then, Sae will——

Tobio’s declaration was strong Resolution and determination were born in his mind, his objective was decided

For exa, he would not hesitate to defeat them He believed that to be the only way to save them—— That would probably happen on the road ahead, the existence that had warped their destiny Of those people, he was going to save everyone At that ti that has been stolen will be returned

“Yeah!”

Natsuenuinely surprised look Perhaps, it was due to the unexpected reply

Readily approaching, she drew near to visibly confirm Tobio’s face

“Thank you! Really really!”

She repeatedly shook his hand up and doith a strong handshake

“A,aah…… If you hadn’t cos I couldn’t cope with behind me”

Si Tobio’s words, her whole face broke into a suts pose

“Alright, let’s go collect our fourth comrade!”

“Fourth?”

With a puzzled thought, Tobio asked in response Natsuirl

“Right, Lavinia is also an ally And all those support personnel froh the residents of this apart all have special circumstances, it’s not that everyone’s a bad person Afterwards I’ll also introduce you to another ally of this child He’s a cheeky brat though And then, there’s one person left, the young ’ onto He’s also froh School survivors”

Expressionlessly, Lavinia raised her hand

“My best regards For the tiirl”

……Ma, e of the combustion phenoh his mind

In spite of Tobio having no choice but to incline his head, the delightful Natsume declared:

“Then, our next action is settled!”

“Next action?”

“Eeh,have to join up with the youngto this hideout te outside for soh, since the classe for us to be considered survivors”

To the gruain

“This young man, who is it?”

“It’s Sa as a headquarters”

Samejima Kouki——Tobio was startled to hear that name

It wasn’t a nah School, he was known as one of the delinquents——