Winter Fall (I)

by Shūsuke Amagi

Claribel who was near him didn't know who to ask.

  But, she actually already knew the answer. Her words slowly became hoarse and became a smile and in the end disappeared.

  At this time, Haia's eyes watched the scars produced by the interference of the beam of light.

  Seeing the scars to the city's surface, he saw at a glance the severity of the wounds that would have been produced to the city if that beam of light had shot out without being interfered with.

  "......Half of the city would probably have been disintegrated and have disappeared."

  Haia expressed agreement with Claribel's feelings.

  Moreover, that half wouldn't only include the palace that they were, but would include the shelter holding the citizens.

  Loud noise and great vibrations came from afar.

  One of the legs of the city had cracked. It had been hit by several of the scattered beams of light.

  Only a part of it had produced this kind of outcome, and if the beam of light had shot out completely, the outcome that Haia and the others feared would definitely have become reality.

  "Let's deal with that thing before it restores itself completely!"

  Haia's shout passed through the Psychokinesis flakes, transmitting to all of the other Heaven's Blade successors.

  The red light that had destroyed the head flew into the sky, disappearing among it. There was not time now to concern themselves with his dead end. Thinking of the regenerative ability of the giant, a short pause right now could only be a waste of time.

  Haia who had shouted out once again released a Kei technique.

  External-type Kei Variant, Modified Spirit Sealing Thrust.

  A thrust that unleashed the power of his whole body condensed into a spear of Kei at the tip of his blade.

  Haia's thrust broke through the giant's skin, piercing its flesh. At the same time he ended his thrust, Haia quickly left his position, and then once again continued his thrusting attack.

  He had left that place before the spheres that chased him released their beams of light, and then took measures against the attacks from another location using his spear of Kei.

  As he watched an unfortunate omen appearing on the giant's head, Haia repeated this kind of attack. If a dangerous action appeared, then someone nearby would stop it from happening, that was the plan that they had spoken about earlier.

  It was a plan of operation that had already considered who would die.

  Like Haia who silently but rapidly continued attacking with his spear of Kei, the other Heaven's Blade successors also repeated similar actions.

  Evading the dancing beams of light released by the pursuing group of spheres wasn't so difficult.

  However, if it were a giant sphere and beam of light like the one that had emerged from the head just now...... If it could regenerate that and do it again......

  Kanaris saw it.

  The giant's head was still regenerating, even now.

  However, it had originally been a thing formed from the thorns, but this didn't prove that the appearance of the thorns was its original form.

  Even if it chose to take the form of a human, it didn't mean that its internal functions had become the same as humans.

  Something like not dying even after having its head destroyed was normal even for an ordinary filth monster, and it was silly to face the giant while expecting that.

  Because humans couldn't shoot beams of light out of their heads.

  So, no one felt surprised at the thing that happened in front of them, rather, they quickly chose the next action.

  On the right hand that Ruimei destroyed.

  Countless spheres were trying to gather on the broken end of that arm.

  "Ugh!"

  The giant as trying to create something just like what had been on its head just now. Just from thinking of that destructive power, they felt that this couldn't be ignored.

  "............"

  Kanaris abandoned what she had been doing up to now, using a new Kei technique towards the giant sphere that was in the process of forming.

  External-type Kei Variant - Ritual Dance, Kiyomi’s Jealousy

  The two rapiers that twirled through the air didn't make any sound.

  Sound appeared in a different place.

  Near the giant sphere that was continuously taking shape.

  Slashes from soundwaves crossed.

  Sparks from soundwaves exploded.

  Flame from soundwaves scattered heat and chewed at the sphere.

  Formless flame scorched the sphere, impeding it from taking shape.

  It was probably because it was rather weak in the process of forming, so its speed of formation was slowed down, but it hadn't been melted. Kanaris used that interval to close in on the sphere in a moment.

  External-type Kei Variant, Ritual Dance of the Oracle.

  The surface of the sphere that had been scorched by the heat from Kiyomi's Jealousy was assaulted by rapid slashes.

  The sound of cuts only came after this.

  The sphere was carved into four, and the vibrations contained in the sound continued to engulf the interior of the sphere.

  The firing of the beam of light was stopped.

  Kanaris thought this.

  She didn't relax her guard.

  There were other spheres in the interior of the giant sphere that had already made their preparations to fire, and this wasn't a situation that could be dealt with simply by staying on guard.

  Deadly light was slowly expanding before Kanaris' eyes.

  "Ah......"

  The moment that she muttered this, attacks that flew from two directions destroyed the sphere, letting the light that was about to be shot out scatter in all directions.

  "Whew."

  The hot wind from the explosion was engulfed and absorbed by the heat from the light. Kanaris used defensive Kei to block the piercing heat while she backed off from the blast.

  "Yeah, that was really dangerous just now."

  "Annoying bastard."

  The moment she landed, the voices of two people came to her ears.

  Savaris and Barmelin.

  "Sorry."

  "I'd be very worried if we let you die."

  "......Why?"

  "Especially of being made into Her Majesty's plaything."

  "That's true, dogshit."

  "You two......"

  Seeing the two of them who reached a consensus, Kanaris rubbed her temple.

  "Kanaris, that eye......"

  Because of Kanaris' movement just now, Barmelin noticed it.

  "Nn, it was injured by the heat just now. It shouldn't be recoverable in the current battle."

  Normally, being unable to see wouldn't be a huge problem, but in the current situation it was very troublesome. Because of the slight lag made by the loss of vision, Kanaris could get killed.

  "From now on I will begin changing to a support, and the major offensive will be assigned to Savaris. Barmelin will still be in charge of drawing the enemy's attention."

  Hearing the replies of the two of them, Kanaris thought about changing her mode to a support role, waving her swords. The slashes of sound that she unleashed cut apart the spheres on the giant's exterior one by one. At the same time, Barmelin's cannon strikes continuously assaulted the giant, stopping the head and arm that that Ruimei had destroyed from regenerating.

  In the interval of the flying bullets and explosive sound, Savaris, Troyatte, Claribel, and Haia all carried out preparations for battle.

  Behind them, Elsmau also spread her Psychokinesis flakes for the battle plan.

  "How pathetic."

  She could ignore the pain of her eye.

  But, the sense of humiliation of being unable to be of any use in this kind of time tormented her heart more than the pain.

  The slashes of sound that Kanaris released didn't have any blind spots in this space.

  The spheres moving about the giant's exterior were endlessly slashed apart, causing counterattack
s to be aimed at her. She avoided the beams of light relying on her ears and feeling of touch to replace her blind eye. It was certainly possible for Kanaris who had originally made sound into a weapon to move relying only on her hearing.

  Even so, for her to continue rapidly evading the giant's beams of light, this distance was already the limit.

  Also, this giant had a regenerative ability above the norm that not only Heaven's Blade successors but also normal Military Artists would think a headache.

  Receiving this violent attack, the giant's body shrank in volume, even though it was slowly recovering its original appearance.

  "......How pathetic."

  She felt remorse at her uselessness, only being able to support from behind in this kind of tense moment. Kanaris used her working eye to gaze at the giant, waiting for the battle plan to enter its final stage.

  Haia used the Kei spear of the Modified Spirit Sealing Thrust to attack the giant while desperately searching for that opportunity.

  "It's not that simple......"

  The situation wasn't as simple as they had thought.

  Their goal had been to make simultaneous large-scale destruction on the exterior.

  Mere normal destruction wouldn't have any significance in front of that extraordinary regenerative ability. Even the wounds created by vibrations had the same outcome.

  And the necessary Kei strength to destroy something with such great mass in one try wasn't so simple even for Heaven's Blade successors. Even more so in the current situation where they couldn't give it time to regenerate.

  Moreover, they didn't have a long time to let them prepare those kinds of big techniques.

  Even if they could unleash great Kei techniques, in this kind of situation where Heaven's Blade successors would die so easily, it wasn't very fitting for one person to decide victory or defeat.

  So, they decentralized the burden from a single individual.

  They had originally been carrying out preparations all for this plan.

  Ruimei had fallen while they prepared, and Kanaris had suffered wounds. They couldn't guarantee the success of their finished preparations either.

  Considering having to ruin this giant body in an instant, even the amount of Kei that they had currently gathered felt insufficient to him.

  But he had to tell them when to start.

  (Haia......)

  "I understand~"

  Haia responded impatiently to Elsmau. The limit of the time that they had set at the start of their planning was quickly drawing near.

  (Please direct your anger towards the target.)

  "Ha, has your condition returned to before?"

  (............)

  Feeling that the Psychokinesist had nothing to say, Haia could only show a wry smile.

  However, the feeling from before that he felt from the Psychokinesis flake gave him a push from behind.

  He could only step up. Time was pressing, and actually, he would fear that the preparations were insignificant regardless of how long they prepared.

  Since he didn't know what would guarantee success, then he should bet on this.

  "Let's go~"

  Even this kind of short notice made the atmosphere on Elsmau's side become tense.

  Elsmau wasn't the only one implementing the battle plan, the breathing other Psychokinesists also had to be consistent.

  (Leave the coordination to us on this side.)

  "I know!"

  After responding, Haia faced the giant.

  The actions of the other Heaven's Blade successors also changed. Claribel and Kanaris who had switched to a support role after being injured, Haia, Savaris, Troyatte, and Barmelin all moved.

  But, the giant could see through the Heaven's Blade successors' intents.

  A sound like an earthquake rang out from the giant's body.

  "What is that?"

  The spheres that had originally been pursuing Haia stopped moving, and then disappeared.

  In contrast, the giant's entire exterior flashed glossily like a mirror.

  (The giant's surface is hardening.)

  In order to defend against the coming attack, the giant had responded to its opponents and changed.

  "But it's too late to start now!"

  He had already decided. So now he had to unleash his confidence and push himself forwards.

  Even if his hair was on end from an unknown premonition inside him, he still had to ignore those things and sprint towards the result.

  The speed with which he rushed at the giant hadn't decreased, and instead he continuously increased his Kei, raising his speed.

  Other than the part of his vision that he was focusing on, everything else slowly disappeared in this condition of instantaneous speed, and Haia's blade flew towards the giant's hardening skin, being swung with the pressure produced by this speed.

  Combined Internal and External Kei variant - Yaksha's Charge.

  Haia set out from the giant's fingers, passed the arm, chest, abdomen, heading straight for the shoulder. The hardening skin of the giant wasn't enough to block Haia's slash. An intense Kei light flooded from the cut path that appeared after his dash.

  This reflected the preparation and condensation of the techniques that Haia and the other Heaven's Blade successors had done up to now.

  At the same time as Haia moved, the shocks and vibrations from Kei techniques came from various parts of the giant's body. The other Heaven's Blade successors had released their techniques, breaking apart the hardened outer skin of the giant.

  Moreover, this wasn't it.

  "Evade!"

  Haia made a sharp yell.

  Not a single person was late to respond to that sound, and in a moment the presences of people around the giant had moved far back.

  The next moment.

  The giant's entire body was covered by blue light.

  This was the light of Psychokinesis.

  A spherical film covered the entire giant, great lightning flashing inside of it.

  Fine, hair-raising vibrations and sounds ran through the surroundings, and other than the blindingly strong flashing light, the other responses weren't intense.

  However, the degree of magnificence and destructive force weren't proportionally related.

  Large-scale Psychokinesis lightning went on inside, and in that kind of sealed situation the hurricane of energy that was produced formed tremendous pressure and heat.

  It wasn't only Elsmau who had created this Psychokinesis lightning, but rather, the Psychokinesists of the information organization she had formed and Felli's Psychokinesis were also used here.

  The destructive energy created by the Psychokinesis of almost all of Grendan's Psychokinesists was gathered together here.

  Even with this, the cracked, hardened skin of the giant still blocked the heat and pressure, or perhaps it stopped the process of crumbling.

  At this time, the Kei that had been prepared up till now produced an effect.

  The Kei that the Heaven's Blade successors had prepared exploded all at once, making the giant crumble from the inside.

  The simultaneous destruction from the inside made the giant's posture collapse in a moment.

  Passing through the blue film, Haia and the others gazed at the crumbling giant. It didn't have anything like bones, but instead some crumbling thing like sand, which dissolved.

  They had done what they could, and what remained was only to wait......

  (There's a problem.)

  "......As expected, things weren't carried out smoothly."

  Haia could only smile wryly at himself who had originally expected Elsmau to report something like this to him, then listened to the details of the report.

  (Several high-energy responses have appeared inside the crumbling giant.)

  "Are they the things just now?"

  The beam of light shot out from the sphere instantly appeared in Haia's mind.

  (The nature of energy is too different. This is...... Psychokinesis
? Could it be?)

  "What's going on?"

  (There's a high probability that the giant was preparing a counterattack.)

  "Huh?"

  (Using the energy from our side......)

  "No, I understand that...... But in this kind of situation?"

  (I originally felt that thing wasn't living, only thinking of attacking. If that is possible, then it would be able to counterattack regardless of the situation.)

  "Though you say this...... Come to think of it, that thing unexpectedly hid that kind of ability until now."

  (......Maybe that's the method that defeated Cauntia-san and Reverse-san.)

  "......Maybe."

  Haia who had just become a Heaven's Blade successor still didn't really know the other Heaven's Blade successors.

  But he still remembered being looked after by Reverse before.

  "This really is no fun. Then can we control it?"

  (If it were energy of a similar nature, the effects could be made a bit weaker, but it would probably be very difficult.)

  "Tch."

  In that case, then they could only completely destroy the opponent before it completed counterattacking, or think of a way to defend against its counter.

  (The opponent's collapse has slowed down the process of counterattacking. Even if it could do it, it would only be once. However, considering the energy currently inside it, I fear that destroying what is currently holding it in would run the risk of creating a shockwave covering the entire city.)

  "......Even if we want to stop it, we can't run inside it right now, huh."

  The hurricane of destruction that the Heaven's Blade successors had created was inside. Even if the creators entered, they would be killed the same way.

  "Then, will it be of any use to make another seal outside?"

  (How?)

  "Facing the sphere, the Heaven's Blade successors will coordinate their breathing to release external Kei."

  (It'll be quickly destroyed that way.)

  "Really~ Perhaps that can end things completely."

  If it were destroyed by the Psychokinesis, it wouldn't be as good as destroying the inside and outside simultaneously.

  "The leaking energy of the explosion will be blasted into the sky. This way the blow received by the city will be reduced to the minimum."

  (Though you can say that......)

  Elsmau wasn't only worried about whether everyone could consistently adjust their breathing.