CHAPTER 2
THE QUARTERFINALS I
Fuyuka Umenokouji, sitting across from her master, Xinglou Fan, at the moon-viewing platform on the highest floor of Jie Long Seventh Institute’s Hall of the Yellow Dragon, drained her cup.
Despite appearances, they weren’t sharing wine. According to Xinglou, it was an elixir known as yaojintang, a sparkling golden liquid, mellow and with a subtle sweetness.
“How unusual, the master inviting her student to a drink,” Fuyuka drawled.
But while Xinglou may indeed have been teaching her, strictly speaking, Fuyuka wasn’t one of her disciples. She was more of a guest receiving special instruction in seisenjutsu and had no intention of abandoning the techniques cultivated by the Umenokouji.
Those secret techniques had been lost for close to a millennium. Fuyuka, becoming head of the family at an incredibly young age, had managed to revive some of them, but there was still much knowledge left to be regained. Hoping to compensate for those missing skills, she had asked Xinglou to train her. And while Xinglou had never witnessed any of those lost techniques directly, she was in all likelihood the only person alive who had had any meaningful interaction with the Umenokouji clan before they vanished with the passing of time. There could be no better teacher.
Perhaps because of that history, or maybe for some other reason, Xinglou had maintained no more familiar a relationship with her than she did her formal disciples. She answered Fuyuka’s questions about seisenjutsu politely and gave her other pieces of advice from time to time, but she always maintained a certain distance between them both.
The only exception being today, now that they were on the cusp of reviving one of those lost techniques.
“Oh-ho… There’s something I have to confirm,” Xinglou said, her eyes narrowing slightly as she gazed up at the haze-shrouded moon.
“Oh my, again?”
“Your wish. Should you emerge victorious in the Lindvolus, what would you wish of the foundations?”
“Ah… I don’t believe I ever mentioned it, did I?”
Compared to the other schools, Jie Long had a particularly high participation rate in the Festa, thanks to its ethos prompting its students to test and push their abilities in combat.
Of course, there were those who entered the tournament with a specific goal in mind, a wish they wanted fulfilled—but on the whole, such students were probably in the minority. For that reason, wishes weren’t a major topic of conversation in these halls.
“Well, certainly you must have a faint idea, Master?” Fuyuka demurred.
Xinglou, however, merely stared back at her without responding.
Left with no choice but to elaborate, Fuyuka let out a deep sigh. “My wish…in a manner of speaking, is immortality.”
“Ha! I thought so.” Xinglou’s tone seemed somehow disappointed. She gulped down her drink.
She didn’t seem to think very much of it.
Of course, immortality was something not even the foundations could bestow. At best, all they could probably offer would be a state of cryogenic hibernation. Even with meteoric engineering, human science was only capable of extending one’s life span by so much.
Still, one could hardly say her dream was an impossibility.
After all, the person sitting across from her stood as a testament to that.
“Perhaps I’ll start by requesting entry to Huangshan, or Mount Emei, or maybe Mount Tai? I can look for the answer myself then.”
The Five Sacred Mountains were now under the control of Jie Long and not easily accessed. Not even the foundations seemed to have realized that what made those places so special were the huge urm-manadite deposits that lay dormant beneath them. But that was hardly surprising.
“Ah… So even in this age, there are those who wish to transcend the physical realm.”
“I had the misfortune of being born to a family that values only the ancient,” Fuyuka said, hiding a puckered smile behind her sleeve.
“For you, I can’t say it will be impossible. But it is a rather boring wish. If you ask me, those sages are no more than empty husks.”
“Aren’t they similar to you, though, Master?”
“Don’t be daft. My technique is nothing more than the transmigration of the soul.” Xinglou glared back at her angrily. “And here I had hoped to stimulate your inner mind.”
“Oh dear, is that what we were here for?”
If that was the goal, this training certainly had been a waste of time.
Fuyuka had longed to become a sage far before she’d met Xinglou—or rather, to become an existence that endured through the ages by harnessing the power of demons.
Since ancient times, the Umenokouji lineage, inhabiting a sacred region home to dormant fragments of urm-manadite, had inherited special abilities allowing them to create and control shikigami. Those entities were best described as a kind of pseudo-life, created by weaving mana together. As such, being based on the same underlying principle as traditional spells or charms—including seisenjutsu—they existed only temporarily, but at the same time, they were immune from death. If they lost their shape, their revival was possible so long as the technique could be properly carried out.
It was said that in the days before the Invertia, when mana was still scarce, it had taken days of preparation and one’s own lifeblood to summon a shikigami. In the modern age, which was overflowing with mana, such lengths were no longer necessary. Nonetheless, a shikigami’s strength stemmed not only from the mana that it was forged from but also from the person who weaved several of them together. It took considerable time to forge a new, complex technique, so she had used the ancient method, summoning the Meidouki to defeat Noelle Messmer.
Fuyuka possessed a remarkable talent even among past heads of the Umenokouji, and she had grown up spending more time with the shikigami passed down through the generations than with her fellow humans. Only a small number of the creatures possessed high-level intelligence, but many, like the Meidouki, were long-lived. Their values and personalities all differed, but she got along well with them all. Because of that, some in the clan had taken to claiming she was possessed by the demons and had lost her sense of free will.
But if she could live for as long as they could—
“How about tomorrow’s match? Do you feel you can win?” Xinglou asked, her expression lightening.
“…I would like to ask you the same question.”
Her match tomorrow in the quarterfinals was against the Murakumo, Ayato Amagiri.
She had no intention of losing, but he would be a formidable opponent. On top of his physical abilities, he seemed to have almost completely mastered wielding the Ser Veresta. She had learned the technique that Xiaohui had employed to counter it in the Gryps, but she wondered whether that would be enough.
“I’ll do my best to make it a pleasurable watch for you, Master.”
“Ha! I see—I see. I look forward to it. You, your shikigami, and…the secret techniques of the Umenokouji.” Xinglou let out a quiet laugh as she lifted her cup to her mouth.
“And here we are! The sixth round of the Lindvolus, the quarterfinals, is getting underway! We’re proud to bring you all the thrills and spills live from the Sirius Dome! Zaharoula, what should we look out for this round?”
“Right, well—firstly, I think we’re all edging to see the second match at the Canopus Dome between Orphelia Landlufen and Sylvia Lyyneheym. Think of it as a rematch, or maybe a revenge match, between the diva and our reigning champion. And the third match, over at the Procyon Dome, between Saya Sasamiya’s next-gen Luxes and the new autonomous puppet Lenaty will surely be a spectacle. I’m definitely looking forward to that one… But if you ask me, it’ll be this first match, between Ayato Amagiri and Fuyuka Umenokouji, that will be the most interesting.”
No sooner did the commentator Zaharoula finish responding to the announcer Mico’s question than a loud cheer resounded throughout the venue, enough to make the air itself tremble in anticipation.
Ayato, down on the stage, could feel that excitement palpably, but his mind was elsewhere.
It was hard to get a real grasp of his situation.
His first priority was to save Haruka’s life, and to do that, he had to win this tournament. There was nothing wrong with focusing on winning.
On the other hand, he was relying on his friends to track down Lamina Mortis and close in on the Golden Bough Alliance. He had used his free day yesterday running around Asterisk with Saya and Sylvia, but they hadn’t been able to find any helpful clues. Fortunately, Haruka and Helga seemed to be making some progress. He was beginning to feel a sense of urgency, but he had no choice other than to trust them.
He was also worried about Saya’s and Sylvia’s matches. Both were facing unprecedented opponents—Sylvia especially, given that she was up against the two-time champion of the tournament. It was only natural to be concerned. They hadn’t spoken directly today, as their matches were in different venues, but they had sent each other messages of encouragement from their respective prep rooms. He hoped she would make it through safely.
Assuming he won his own match today, his next opponent would be his irreplaceable partner Julis, who had proceeded to the next round by default after her sixth-round opponent had been forced to drop out. That meant in order to save his own sister, he would be forced to shatter any chance Julis had of fulfilling her wish. That was an outcome he wanted to avoid at any cost.
Fuyuka let out an audible chuckle. “You look distracted, no?”
Ayato glanced up to see her staring at him with a placid grin. She was wearing a short-sleeved traditional jacket over the usual Jie Long uniform and grasped her enchanted folding fan in her hand.
“N-not really…,” Ayato hastily responded, before correcting himself. “No, you’re right. I guess I did let my mind wander a little. Sorry about that,” he apologized, bowing his head.
Fuyuka was right. And if it was so obvious that she could see it, then he wasn’t showing her the respect that she deserved as his opponent.
“Pah! What on earth are you doing? You’re even stranger than I thought!” Despite her words, there was a distinct elegance to her guffaw, like the sound of small bells ringing. “It’s better for me if you’re that way. There’s nothing better than an easy match.”
“Oh, er…”
He couldn’t fault her logic there.
“But I think I understand what my master and Hufeng and Alema see in you. Yes, indeed…” She raised her right hand, her shoulders shaking in amusement. “You might not think my way of fighting to be particularly aboveboard…but good luck, Murakumo.”
“…You too.” As he shook her hand, the audience erupted into a great roar.
“What a warm handshake between our two contestants! Yep, this is one of the great joys of the Festa! And…ah, looks like we’re about to get underway!”
As Mico’s voice sounded around them, Ayato and Fuyuka returned to their respective starting positions.
He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and locking his thoughts and doubts away.
“Lindvolus Quarterfinals, Match 1—begin!”
The automated voice blared out, but neither he nor his opponent made any sudden moves.
“…Oh? This is a surprise. And here I was thinking you would come flying toward me.”
“I’m sure you were. Which is why I didn’t.”
Ayato, of course, had done his research on Fuyuka’s fighting style.
Her specialty was summoning and controlling creatures forged from mana, in a similar manner to that of Gustave Malraux, whom he had fought in Lieseltania. That being the case, what he needed to do was bring the fight to the summoner herself. Gustave’s defense had been to keep himself at a distance removed from the battle, but that wasn’t possible here. The best strategy would be to finish things quickly and decisively before she had a chance to summon a shikigami.
However, thanks to having reviewed several recordings of her training matches at Jie Long that Shadowstar had managed to get their hands on, he knew she was also an adept martial artist. The recordings were short, but his guess was that she employed a technique that turned her foe’s strength against them—likely an old form of aikido or jujitsu. Her movements, based on a defensive posture, reminded him somehow of his own Amagiri Shinmei style. And their handshake all but confirmed it. Those were indisputably well-trained hands.
That being the case, he couldn’t afford to be careless. She was no doubt expecting him to rush into an attack, meaning that she was probably ready to counter. Of course, with his current strength, he might be able to reach her first, or even avoid her counter altogether, and yet…
With this leg…
The wound on his right leg from his match against Rodolfo Zoppo wasn’t very deep, fortunately, but his condition was still far from his best. It had an undeniable effect on his movements, and if it delayed him by even a second, that could be all the time this opponent required.
He couldn’t afford to take the risk.
“How lucky of me. I suppose I’ll go first, then.” Fuyuka chuckled, leaping to the far end of the stage.
“Jí jí rú l? lìng, chì!”
She thrust her hand forward with two fingers outstretched, and a reddish-black light suddenly emanated from her. Quickly, a three-eyed shikigami, a horned creature clad in ancient armor, appeared before her. It was like a demon from an old fable—dark red of skin, wielding a gigantic chained ax—and must have been at least eight feet tall.
“Oh-ho, a sharp foe. This should be interesting.” The creature grinned, flashing its fangs.
A formidable aura emanated from the monster.
Ayato knew what it was capable of from how it had defeated Noelle Messmer, but the sense of danger he felt seeing it firsthand was something else.
On top of that, Fuyuka waved her fingers through the air, unleashing countless bat-like apparitions, which promptly clung to Gigoku’s ax.
“This should do it. Now then, Gigoku, I’ll leave the rest to you.”
“Very well,” it answered before taking a thundering step toward Ayato.
“Name yourself, young warrior!”
“…Ayato Amagiri.”
“Then heed this, Ayato Amagiri! I am Gigoku! Scion of the West! Guardian demon of the Umenokouji!”
That bellowing voice echoed across the stage as the creature’s tree trunk–like legs hit the ground.
The monster closed the gap between them in a split second, forcing Ayato to use the Ser Veresta to parry its downswing.
“Guh…!”
“Ngh…!”
Ayato’s bones creaked under the pressure, the blow even more powerful than he had anticipated. He pushed the ax vertically in order to free their interlocked weapons and quickly launched into a long sweep with his blade. Gigoku, however, leaped backward through the air with a nimbleness that belied its appearance.
As Ayato waited for the creature to land on the ground, it adjusted its grip on its ax and swung the chain with its left hand, hoping to trip him up. Ayato moved out of its range by half a step and brought down the Ser Veresta.
Each time they crossed weapons, red flames licked from Gigoku’s ax. That was no doubt one of Fuyuka’s enchantments. The weapon looked to be protected by charms to defend against the Ser Veresta, just as Xiaohui’s had been in their match during the Gryps.
As he increased the speed of his attack, Gigoku increased its own to equal him, quickly overtaking him and launching into a counter. Ayato, too, moved into a higher gear to compensate. Neither one of them retreating, their weapons crashing against each other (although strictly speaking he had yet to reach through those charms), he concentrated on driving his blade to its target.
“Wh-what an impressive defense! All I can make out is the flash of their weapons!”
“That Gigoku certainly is something, going head-to-head with Ayato Amagiri’s swordsmanship… If it were a student, it would be in the highest rankings.”
Finally, their attacks were enough to throw both of them off-balance, and they each retreated to their respective sides of the stage.
“Phew… That was rough,” Ayato murmured unawares as he wiped the sweat from his brow.
Gigoku’s close-combat ability probably surpassed Xiaohui’s back in the Gryps. Xiaohui had grown much stronger since then, and while Ayato had yet to face him again himself, he suspected that Gigoku’s prowess was in no way inferior.
“Impressive, Ayato Amagiri,” the creature called out, readying its ax once more.
Fuyuka began to apply more charms to the ax. She was no doubt replenishing the myriad enchantments that the Ser Veresta had burned through. This could pose a problem.
Ayato, however, hadn’t let the past year go to waste.
He concentrated his prana on the Ser Veresta, letting it flow into the Orga Lux. That was the cost of wielding it at its full potential. And in response, the blade began to tremble in his hands.
“Aughhhhh!”
With a roar, Ayato leaped toward the summoned creature, bringing his blade up from below.
“Ngh…?!”
Unlike their previous exchange, Ayato cut straight through his opponent’s weapon this time. The charms protecting it burst into flame, dying out in less than a heartbeat.
Gigoku leaned backward in an attempt to evade the strike, but the armor protecting its chest split clean in two, the lower half vanishing into thin air before it could hit the ground. Its ax had already completely vanished. By the looks of it, a shikigami’s weapons and armor simply evaporated when destroyed.
The creature’s three eyes opened wide in surprise, but Ayato didn’t pause his assault.
Gigoku leaped backward, away from the follow-through strike, but its defensive posture was in tatters. Ayato lunged forward with all his strength, when all of a sudden, he was struck by a series of powerful lightning-like blasts.
“Dear me, that was a little too close.”
When he turned around, he saw that Fuyuka was clutching a handful of spell charms, like an open folding fan, staring back at him with a cool smile.
Naturally, this match wasn’t a one-on-one against Gigoku. Fuyuka might not have been about to insert herself into the middle of this face-off, but she could still support her shikigami from a distance. Indeed, there were countless support patterns available in seisenjutsu. He couldn’t afford to let down his guard.
Nonetheless, Ayato raised the Ser Veresta in front of him—carefully, without hurrying.
Gigoku was strong. But even with Fuyuka’s support, it wasn’t unbeatable.
Not against Ayato’s sword techniques and the Ser Veresta.
His Orga Lux could burn through anything and was impossible to guard against. If he drew on its true power, he should be able to easily cut through anything that Fuyuka’s spells could throw his way. It was difficult to maintain this state for too long, as it would rapidly deplete his prana, but he should, he thought, be able to hold out at least for this match.
“That Runesword of yours…is a truly frightening weapon.”
“I did take countermeasures against it, but I suppose they weren’t enough.”
Both Gigoku and Fuyuka were impressed, but neither seemed particularly perturbed. They were probably still guarding another strategy. Nor did Ayato think he could bring the match to a close just yet.
“Well, now… This might be overdoing it, but I suppose we’ll see if I can’t overwhelm you.”
No sooner did Fuyuka finish speaking than countless spell charms poured forth from the sleeves of her coat. He thought the same thing every time he faced one of Jie Long’s daoshi, but he couldn’t help but wonder where she kept that seemingly inexhaustible stock of charms.
The paper slips soared high into the air, spreading over the stage in all directions.
In the blink of an eye, those charms transformed by the dozens into swords, daggers, axes, and spears. There must have been hundreds of them. As Ayato dodged the torrent of weapons that came plummeting toward the stage, his surroundings morphed into a forest of chaotic armaments.
“Wh-what’s this?! Contestant Umenokouji’s charms have turned into weapons!”
“I suppose if your current weapon is useless against the Ser Veresta, the idea is just to throw it away and try new ones en masse. It’s rather showy and not an easy strategy to defend against, and yet…”
Ayato had to agree.
The Ser Veresta’s real worth was that it was impossible to defend against. The fact that it destroyed any weapons it came into contact with was merely a side effect.
He quickly realized that Gigoku had picked up a long spear, carefully calculating the distance between them, while Fuyuka, at the back of the stage, had put her fingers together in another complex pattern.
Damn it…! That’s—
“Jí jí rú l? lìng, chì!”
At that moment, a pale-blue light erupted around her, from which a new demonic figure began to emerge.
The shikigami took the form of a long-haired woman, perhaps a fraction shorter in height than Gigoku. Her skin was blue in color, she possessed four arms, and the single horn in the center of her forehead was longer and thinner than that of her counterpart. She had sharp eyes and a well-formed countenance that one could only call beautiful. Her toned physique was garbed in only narrow clothes that covered her chest and waist. In her four arms, she grasped a gigantic bow engraved in a complex, intricate pattern.
“Do forgive me, Giken. I don’t suppose you could lend Gigoku a hand?”
“As you command,” the demon replied solemnly before briefly exchanging glances with Gigoku and turning toward Ayato. “I am Giken, scion of the West, guardian demon of the Umenokouji. I commend myself to your acquaintance.”
Her serene voice sent a shiver coursing down Ayato’s spine.
“This…doesn’t look good.”
Giken emanated as menacing an aura as Gigoku. To be honest, Ayato hadn’t been anticipating a second shikigami of the same level.
“Don’t tell me you have more of them just waiting to be called on?”
“I wonder…?” Fuyuka answered with a soft chuckle. “I really shouldn’t say, but unfortunately, the truth is this is it. I’m already at my limit summoning these two simultaneously.”
Her smile never wavered, but she did seem to be under a little pressure, her brow beginning to glisten with sweat. Her prana didn’t seem to be particularly depleted, so summoning or employing the shikigami must have been taking some other toll on her.
“That said, Gigoku and Giken are the most powerful shikigami ever created over the Umenokoujis’ thousand-year history. Shikigami are immortal, you know, so they have an endless appetite.”
Taking that as a signal, Gigoku broke into a run.
As he prepared to respond, Ayato realized something was wrong.
His body had become unusually hot, his limbs strangely heavy. He swayed on his feet, his head cloudy, as if struck by a sudden fever.
This… This is…!
“Giken’s curses are much more powerful than seisenjutsu. You should watch yourself.”
Having dodged Gigoku’s repeated spear thrusts by a hairsbreadth, Ayato glanced toward Giken to find the air around her all but humming with an abundance of mana. Two of her four arms were entwined to make a complex symbol, with energy building up around her.
“What a wonderful world this is, where tools, ceremonies, and incantations are no longer required,” she said with a cruel, sagacious smirk.
There could be no mistaking it—Giken’s curse was what was holding him down.
Even so, why is this having such a strong effect on me…?!
No matter how strong one’s abilities in mental or physical interference, the effects of such skills were curtailed when used on targets possessing a high amount of prana and so were less effective against Genestella. Back in the Gryps, Team Hellion’s Medulone, with a unique petrification ability, had been ineffective against an opponent with greater prana. The only exceptions to that rule were Orga Luxes like the Lyre-Poros, which meant that Giken’s curses must have been of a similar magnitude. Even with Fuyuka’s Umenokouji family perfecting these techniques over a millennium, this was still exceptional.
“Guh…!”
Stumbling, Ayato countered with the Ser Veresta, burning straight through Gigoku’s spear. His opponent fell back in an attempt to retreat, casting aside its broken weapon and pulling a large sword from the ground, but that brief moment was enough.
Ayato gripped the Ser Veresta in his right hand, pouring his prana into it.
“Now!”
As he moved his blade, a wave of red heat burst forth, and his body became suddenly light again.
Just as Haruka had used the Orga Lux to burn through the manipulated memories the Varda-Vaos had placed in her mind, so too did Ayato cut through Giken’s curse.
And yet—
“U-ugh…!”
Seemingly no sooner was he free than his body became heavy once more, his thoughts sluggish.
“Did you just break through my curse? This world truly is full of mystery. I guess I’ll have to use it again.” Giken pulled back the string of her bow as she spoke, a black arrow appearing notched in place. By the looks of it, the weapon automatically generated those ominous projectiles.
“Cut!”
Gigoku took advantage of that opening to strike head-on with a sword.
Ayato slashed diagonally to deflect it but was forced to sustain Giken’s arrow, which came flying at a blistering, haphazard trajectory. He twisted to evade Gigoku’s next attack, but Fuyuka, as if having anticipated his timing, exploded another charm right before his eyes.
“Augh!”
He focused his prana to defend against the attack, but was nonetheless thrown backward, tumbling across the ground. The spell was similar to that which he had faced from the Li twins during the Phoenix—but much, much more powerful.
On top of that, Gigoku wasn’t about to relent. The shikigami closed the gap that had opened between them, forcing Ayato to hurriedly restore his defensive posture with the Ser Veresta. He didn’t even have time to catch his breath.
With Gigoku attacking from the front, Giken from the rear, and Fuyuka acting as support, the three worked with formidable coordination.
This one opponent could no doubt have very well taken on even the best teams from the Gryps.
Due to Giken’s curse, Ayato’s physical performance and judgment were greatly impaired.
If only he could use the Ser Veresta to free himself for a brief moment, he would be able to overcome this critical situation.
“This is intense…!” he muttered under his breath as he wiped the sweat from his brow.
“Ha-ha-ha! Looks like even the fabled Ayato Amagiri is having a hard time of it!”
Xinglou, in Jie Long’s special viewing lounge, clapped her hands together in delight. She wasn’t as worked up as she had been during the fifth round, but the ferocity of this sixth-round match was in no way inferior. Hufeng was on tenterhooks, worrying that things could go wrong at any moment.
“Yeah, but don’t you think Fuyuka’s shikigami are kind of against the rules? Especially for the Lindvolus,” asked Cecily with a wry grin, standing across from Xinglou.
“If it’s within the scope of the rules and a fighter can’t cope with it, that’s simply a sign of no more than their own immaturity,” Xinglou replied coolly.
“I never would have imagined there could be two shikigami as powerful as that,” Hufeng murmured.
As far as he could see, if they were students, both shikigami would have been ranked as Page Ones. As much as he hated to admit it, if he were to face Gigoku head-to-head, he doubted that even he would emerge victorious.
“Well, those two are special. From what I gather, only a handful of people have ever been able to control both of them at the same time. Considering that alone, Fuyuka’s talent is astounding.”
“Yeah, but how exactly does Giken’s curse actually work?” Cecily remarked with frustration, biting her nails. “It isn’t a human skill; that’s for sure.”
As a daoshi, that mystery seemed to be particularly troubling to her.
“Giken’s techniques and abilities are all woven into its very essence. It isn’t like Stregas or Dantes, who can interact with mana using their prana as an intermediary—that curse is mana itself. No doubt it needed the support of tools or particular geographies back when it was first created due to the small quantity of mana in the environment. Now, though, in this modern age overflowing with mana, it can take its fill. But on the other hand, it doesn’t seem to be quite as physically imposing as Gigoku.”
“Meaning…,” Hufeng murmured, “at this rate, Fuyuka’s going to win, right?”
“I wonder? She’s up against the Murakumo, after all. Something tells me it isn’t over yet,” Cecily answered with a dark grin.
“Indeed, I wouldn’t expect her to face down Ayato Amagiri so easily… But then, it’s difficult to imagine Fuyuka losing, either. And, of course…” Xinglou trailed off there, her eyes narrowing as her shoulders quivered in delight. “Of course, she’s still holding on to her best card.”
“Just look at that utter onslaught! Contestant Umenokouji’s twin shikigami are working in perfect coordination! Can Contestant Amagiri keep up?!”
“I would say he’s in a bad situation, but he’s holding out remarkably well. He’s suffering blows but sustaining only minimal damage… I’d expect no less of the Murakumo.”
“Wh-what’s this?! Contestant Umenokouji has fused all her shikigami together! Is this allowed? It is, right? Right?”
“…Well, there’s no rule against it, I suppose. Beats me, though.”
“Phew… Now this is the Umenokoujis’ shikigami. If you think you can defeat it, by all means, do go ahead and try.” Judging by her pale complexion, Fuyuka was obviously tiring, but still she broke into a mirth-filled laugh.
Ayato rushed to recover the Ser Veresta, but before he could reach it, Gigoku had already moved in front of him. The shikigami was no longer carrying any weapons, its four arms bunched into fists.
How can something that big move so fast…?!
Ayato reacted instinctively, crossing his arms in a defensive posture.
“Gyarghhhhhhhhhh!”
He was thrown across the stage, taking on the full brunt of those giant treelike limbs. Fuyuka, meanwhile, unleashed a spell to destroy the various weapons that littered the arena.
“Gurghhhhhhhhhh!”
Even focusing his prana to withstand the attack, Ayato could still feel his bones creaking, his flesh being crushed.
He immediately stood up, trying to regain his fighting stance, but Gigoku was already falling head-on toward him.
Ayato leaped backward before he could be pummeled into the ground, cast aside his broken katana, and pulled out a nearby spear.
“Grrrrrrrrrr…!”
Gigoku glared down at Ayato with its three eyes, letting out a menacing growl.
Outwardly, the shikigami seemed to have lost its faculties of reason and intelligence, but Ayato quickly realized that wasn’t the case. It was the same as before…or perhaps even more astute. On top of that, its strength and speed now completely exceeded his own.
At least if I had the Ser Veresta…
He glanced around, but Gigoku wasn’t about to let him retrieve it so easily. The Orga Lux was far behind the towering spirit.
“Aughhhhhhhhhh!”
Gigoku let out a wailing howl, charging toward him.
Dodging all four limbs was an impossible trial, and while he managed to evade the first three, the fourth sent him flying backward from a massive backhand strike.
Ayato let himself go limp as he hit the ground. He bounced back up, quickly rising to his feet. Shaking his ringing head, he charged Gigoku. Against an opponent like this, he doubted that he would last long without using his Wazaogi technique, but buying a little time would do him no good unless he had a plan of attack.
“Amagiri Shinmei Style, Spear Technique—Ninth-Cloud Hornet!”
He launched three sharp spear strikes with all his might, but far from damaging even one of Gigoku’s huge arms, the spear itself shattered in his hands.
“Oh no—”
He had given his foe an opening.
And Gigoku hadn’t failed to overlook it, kicking him high into the air.
As he came tumbling toward the ground, he tried to brace himself with his arms, but—
“Gah…!”
It wasn’t a controlled landing.
The impact was enough to carve a crater into the ground. Blood seeping from his wounds, Ayato desperately fought not to lose consciousness. Somehow, he managed to lift his upper half, but his whole body was screaming in agony, and he could hardly move.
“Auuuuuuuuughh!”
Gigoku’s huge frame entered his blurry field of vision.
The shikigami raised its fists, meaning to literally crush him.
This…this is pretty bad, huh…?
But then—
Something brushed against his dimming awareness.
A sure intention, something that couldn’t be expressed in words. It was a sensation that he had experienced before. First in the Phoenix, when fighting Irene…and the Gravisheath.
And most recently, while training with Haruka.
Right. He understood now. It was the will of the Ser Veresta.
But there was something unusual this time.
Now, he wasn’t holding the Orga Lux. But even so, his connection with it was stronger than it had ever been before.
The Ser Veresta was angry.
He couldn’t understand why. Perhaps he had disappointed it.
But then, the Ser Veresta had always felt that way toward him. Dissatisfied, displeased, frustrated, angry—ever since he first met it, it had been filled with those emotions.
Only then did he realize it. The Orga Lux had been trying to tell him something.
Right. So that was it.
And as he was now—
“Gyaaarrrrrrrrrrrrgh!”
“Come on,” Ayato murmured, as Gigoku’s arm swung down.
He raised his own hand.
The Ser Veresta slashed through the air, burning Gigoku’s arm to ash as it landed in Ayato’s outstretched palm.
“Wh-whaaaaaaaaaat?! Just when it looks like Contestant Amagiri is done for, the Ser Veresta has moved all by itself and sliced off an arm from Contestant Umenokouji’s ultimate shikigami!”
“Phew… Thanks, Ser Veresta,” Ayato said with gratitude as he stumbled to his feet and brought the Orga Lux in front of him.
It wasn’t all that surprising. On the day of his compatibility test, when he first met the Ser Veresta, the weapon had raged uncontrollably, moving all by itself. What it had done just now wasn’t much different.
And he now felt he could wield the Ser Veresta with greater mastery than ever before.
“Gaaaarrrrrghhhh!”
Meanwhile, Gigoku picked up its fallen arm, reattaching it as it had done a short time ago. According to legend, demons were supposedly able to reattach their heads even if they were cut off. It was certainly impressive.
That said, Ayato didn’t need to behead the creature. All he needed to do was win the match.
“…All right, let’s do this.”
As if in response, the Ser Veresta began to shake more strongly.
The Orga Lux flew through the air toward the shikigami, Ayato following directly behind.
“Gyarghhhhhhhhhh!”
Just as he had trusted, the weapon attacked the shikigami independently, moving freely by itself.
I see… This must be what it’s like using a Rect Lux…
It was a strange sensation given that he had always fought as a swordsman, but luckily, he had long trained with one of Asterisk’s most proficient Rect Lux users. He understood just how useful and effective a remote weapon like this could be when properly utilized.
Gigoku was clearly struggling to resist the thing. At its current size, the Ser Veresta was as small as a scrawny twig. But if the shikigami were to try to knock it down, it would only end up wounding itself.
Nonetheless, Gigoku continued to dodge the sword’s attacks. Gigoku fell back, lashing out at the hilt of the weapon. Its defense, covering all directions around it, was a testament to the chimera’s impressive physical specs.
Even so, it had failed to take account of Ayato himself.
And by that moment, he had already slid beneath the shikigami, ready to strike.
“Amagiri Shinmei Style Grappling Technique—Stance Breaker!”
Focusing all his strength, he delivered an almighty openhanded strike to that pillar-like ankle. Against this opponent, he doubted it would cause any damage. His Stance Breaker technique was simply meant to disrupt its target’s fighting posture and was one of the most fundamental of the Amagiri Shinmei style grappling techniques. But with the Ser Veresta striking from above and the shikigami’s balance lost from below—
“Gwarghhhhhhhhhhh!”
No matter how huge you were, a move like that was bound to knock you off your feet.
And then—
“Amagiri Shinmei Style, Hidden Technique—Crescent Carnage!”
Without even needing to grasp the Ser Veresta in his hands, Ayato unleashed the technique.
The Orga Lux soared through the air at incredible speed, slashing across all four of the shikigami’s arms before coming down again from above.
“Gaughhhhhhhhhhh!”
Gigoku fell flat on its back with a tremendous thud, sending dust rising up from the floor of the stage.
Ayato leaped onto its chest, grasping the Ser Veresta as it flew back to his hand, and thrust it deep into the shikigami.
“Gwaaaaaaurghh!”
Gigoku’s three eyes blazed as they fixed Ayato with a deathly stare, but there was nothing more the shikigami could do.
“Well, I think that just about settles it… Don’t you?” Ayato said, glancing toward Fuyuka.
Fuyuka continued to watch him, her narrowed eyes and cool smile unchanging, until her expression finally relaxed, and she flashed him a bitter smile. “…Yes. I’m all out. I surrender.” She let out a deep sigh, elegantly raising her hands into the air.
“Fuyuka Umenokouji—forfeit.”
“End of battle! Winner: Ayato Amagiri!”
As the automated voice rang out, with the cheers of the crowd washing down on him, Ayato brought the Ser Veresta around with a flourish and gently stroked its core.
“Thanks, Ser Veresta.”
Without the Orga Lux, he never would have been able to emerge victorious here.
The Ser Veresta, however, made no response. Although, knowing it as well as he did, that was to be expected.
“…Same old, same old, huh?” he said, struck by a complex mixture of joy and sorrow.
Now, his next opponent would be her.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login