Winter Fall (I)

by Shūsuke Amagi

  (The problem is, does everyone still have the strength for that?)

  Yes.

  In this kind of short period of fighting, Haia had already gotten quite weary. The other Heaven's Blade successors should be in pretty much the same situation. Not only did they need to maintain consistent breathing, they still needed to adjust their might to be consistent, and did they currently have the strength to focus like that?

  (But there isn't any other way.)

  Kanaris' voice came from the other side of the flake.

  (Yes, if that's all we can do then there's only to try it and see. Also, the girls I love are still in this city.)

  (Do it whenever. Let's gamble on the last remaining method.)

  Troyatte's words were continued by Savaris.

  "The problem is, how should we control it from underneath~"

  Dealing with the part in front of them was very simple, but the giant's lower half was buried underground. Psychokinesis could infiltrate gaps that people couldn't enter, but Military Artists couldn't do this.

  (If it were me, it might be possible.)

  Kanaris spoke.

  (I'll take care of the underground.)

  "Then, we're counting on you~"

  Though he was rather concerned about her wound, they didn't have that much time. Haia simply trusted in her words, and then rapidly divided up the work, moving to his own position.

  The giant's collapse still continued.

  (The energy of several places is currently increasing, we can't control it completely.)

  "It's coming, hurry up!"

  Haia who had arrived at his position stopped his footsteps, shouting out, and then began letting his Kei flow. He felt pain all over his body, and symptoms of his Kei vein being fatigued had already appeared. How were the other Heaven's Blade successors?

  "I don't have time to worry about others now~"

  (We're starting. Three, two, one......)

  Haia's voice overlapped with Elsmau's.

  The rising heat of Kei in the surroundings mixed with the Kei flowing in his own body......

  (Zero!)

  Release.

  As if coordinating with their side, several beams of light shot out from the body of the already-formless giant.

  The light that had gathered inside the Psychokinesis lightning scorched the giant's own body as it shot outwards. Though the Psychokinesis barrier blocked some of the light, it only counted as an insignificant effort. Though the time it took was only as much time as a ripple took to spread, that much time was sufficient for the external Kei of the Heaven's Blade successors to form a new wall.

  This wall wasn't meant to maintain. It was a last-ditch move prepared to redirect the blast.

  The giant that was on its last breath received the pressure of the external Kei coming to its position and was smashed.

  However......

  "What!"

  Haia's cheek felt hot.

  It was a beam of light that had broken through the wall of Psychokinesis. Many beams of light had their directions distorted because of the external Kei, shooting out into space, but only one of them kept to the ground and closed in on the Heaven's Blades.

  Though Haia wasn't very far from it, the sharp heatwave still irritated his cheek.

  The sound of crumbling and explosions continued endlessly behind his back. The scorching air, this blazing scene, even if he hadn't seen it before, this scene painted a distinctive image in his mind.

  Then......

  "Kanaris!"

  Barmelin's scream tore through the air.

  The direction of the light beam had been towards Kanaris.

  However, they didn't have time to confirm her death.

  (It's not enough!)

  After hearing Elsmau's sharp voice, Haia looked at the center of the destruction. But because of all of the dust, he couldn't clearly see the inside.

  "We haven't gotten rid of it?"

  (......The firing of the light means seems to have been faster than our attack. The formation underneath is not complete either.)

  "Tch."

  Why had it happened in that kind of place! Though Haia thought this in his heart, he didn't want to blame the deceased about anything, nor did he have the energy.

  Moreover, his remaining strength wasn't much.

  His two legs that wanted to pursue and finish it off trembled. The recovery of his body could no longer keep up with the rushing Kei. Though internal Kei was being used, he didn't have time to let them wait for himself to completely recover.

  (The remains are still regenerating continuously, it seems to want to move underground.)

  "This thing is trying to merge with the original body."

  Layfon and Lintence should be there.

  ......Of course, that was only if they were still alive.

  "Unexpectedly, we weren't able to help those kinds of people finish what should be finished, how maddening~"

  He wanted to move, but his feet still shook. Even if he still wanted to move, the pain would wrack his body. His muscle fibers had been torn from overuse. This intense battle had completely toppled the balance between internal Kei recovery and injury. Because of that, things had become as they were.

  But, even so, he couldn't just stand here like this.

  "I can be healed as long as I'm still alive!"

  Haia said this to himself, and then when he tried to continue advancing...

  (I also think so.)

  At the same time he heard that voice from the Psychokinesis flake, his chest was hit.

  This move succeeded because of his weak body. Because of the shocks to his consciousness from the Kei, he couldn't move for a time because his breathing had stopped.

  The voice had come from Savaris.

  (Letting those guys think that we're totally useless, how irritating.)

  He felt the sensation of something jumping into the smoke of Kei.

  "Da......"

  Haia who had lost the chance to chase after him could only stare into the smoke as his body almost collapsed.

  "......Mn."

  His strength was almost out, and Claribel was the only one in a condition as bad as his. Though Barmelin and Troyatte didn't move, they looked into the smoke with an appearance as if they could act at any time.

  "It's not over...... ah~"

  Haia said this, continuing to stare into the smoke-wrapped interior.

  ◇

  Though the smoke blocked his vision, it wasn't such a big problem.

  The heat of the destruction ran unchecked even now, scorching his skin. A moment of relaxation could make his flesh crumble, and let his bones melt into ash. Savaris stopped his breathing.

  The necessary Kei had already been refined.

  Using his intuition, he modified his senses that had been thrown into chaos as an effect of the heat, walking towards his target.

  He released Kei.

  External-type Kei, Karen Kei variant - Luckens Secret Skill, Roar Kei.

  His tightly closed mouth was opened. The vibrations released completely blew away the surrounding heat, and the smoke was also carried off as well. Savaris bared his teeth towards the revealed target.

  "Haha, this really is......"

  Savaris' heart was filled with pleasure and he showed a smile.

  The final technique where he released all of his body's condensed Kei. This was Kei that had given up on protecting his own body.

  A final technique that gave up on his life.

  "Letting the end take the form of words, making words into a blade. Hahahaha, that's the correct method of using Roar Kei. Hahahaha."

  The Military Artists from his family that he had always defied would never have thought that he would exemplify Luckens the best right now. How ironic, or perhaps it should be said that it was only according to their original differences.

  No.

  It wasn't.

  It wasn't like that. Even if he lost his arms, lost his legs, and lost his methods of fig
hting, he would still want to fight, and he made that kind of determination into sound to become a blade. The current Savaris had obtained the very best incarnation of the essence of Roar Kei.

  Aah, what should he say.

  Immersing himself in battle even in the moment of his death, wasn't it that kind of Kei technique?

  It was.

  It had always been like that.

  The Luckens founder had also been a Heaven's Blade successor, a long time ago.

  He had been a person helplessly mad about battle.

  Savaris wasn't a heretic, but rather was the true descendant.

  "In any case, this kind of joyful feeling is the truest!"

  His mind was filled with laughter, burned without even a chance to feel pain.

  He no longer had the feeling to confirm the result that the vibrations produced in the end.

  "Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!"

  Laughter filled the vibrations, and then it brought destruction.

  Up to the final bit of Kei.

  Up to the final dregs of his soul.

  Putting all of his strength into his laughter, putting his so-called love for battle into it, Savaris quietly accepted his consciousness gradually being dyed red.

  Chapter 3 - Youngster 1

  The heat he felt from his head definitely wasn't a mistake.

  But, to Layfon, there was no time right now to think about this.

  "Hu, hah......"

  He didn't have time to talk about his feelings.

  It felt like a miracle that he could even draw forth time to regulate his breathing.

  If defense could be ignored in battles aboveground and one could completely focus on unleashing attacks, then the battle currently occurring here was a quiet, delicate crystallization of skill.

  "Hah......"

  In Layfon's hands was grasped the original blade form of the Shim Adamantium Dite, and connected to the haft was the Sapphire Dite; the steel threads formed from it were quietly hidden around the light blue horizon.

  They had separated, in order to play their necessary role on this battlefield.

  Right now, the true nature of the blue darkness that filled Layfon's surroundings was a cocoon that Layfon and Lintence's steel threads had made. Because of the effects of various Kei light, it shone in a blue color.

  The size of the cocoon was about as large as the seventeenth platoon's training room in the Military Arts facility.

  If only training were considered, it was sufficient for seven people to use at once, but if one wanted to fight seriously, it was possible that it would feel rather small. It was that kind of space.

  Near the center of the cocoon was Lævateinn.

  She no longer stood still, but moved back and forth and left and right, leaping and turning.

  There would occasionally be slight movements in the surrounding air, and though the fine sounds brought killing intent, they were all leisurely avoided by Lævateinn.

  The true nature of the sounds was Lintence's steel threads. Though Layfon who regulated his breathing also released steel threads to battle, up through now he had been thought of as a burden and had been warned.

  The blades of steel threads were freely moving, uncountable blades that could attack mercilessly from various angles, and Layfon avoided the attacks with movements impossible for a human.

  Like the steel threads, Layfon's slashes were also completely and cleverly avoided by Lævateinn.

  Her hands grasped a rapier, and though it looked as if she wanted to counterattack, she had stopped her attacks before it.

  Lintence's steel threads had made her stop her action.

  But, Lintence's intervention was only this much. Right now was a time when he should regulate his breathing, to keep from being too much of a burden to him.

  Layfon moved after this, a strike aimed at her throat being blocked by the rapier, sparks lighting up a side of the cocoon in a moment.

  The slash that had been deflected once again changed its path aiming at various parts of Lævateinn, but every one was blocked, and every strong counterattack that assaulted Layfon was meant to end his life.

  Layfon avoided these counterattacks either by blocking them or by dodging, and then once again attacked. This would once again be blocked, and then countered.

  In this kind of repeated high-speed trading of blows, the weariness to the mind would be stronger than the fatigue of the body.

  And when the weariness of the mind made his breathing become irregular, that would directly affect his physical limits.

  "Damn!"

  Layfon noticed that his focus was in disarray, quickly retreating from the swordfight that seemed to want to suck him in.

  Lævateinn didn't pursue. Because she already felt the steel threads full of killing intent that had taken shape between the two of them in an instant.

  Afterwards, Layfon once again watched Lævateinn's inhuman dodging movements while he regulated his breathing.

  How many times had this process repeated already?

  Layfon didn't even want to think about it.

  He knew that the opponent had strong regenerative ability and destructive power.

  But Layfon hadn't thought that she could use weapons to battle like he did. That had been unexpected.

  And because she wasn't human, she could make movements that Layfon and Lintence couldn't, and though the joint-ignoring movements were mostly to avoid Lintence's steel threads, she would also move like this through Layfon's sword dance.

  Even if he understood that she had the appearance of a human but made inhuman movements, his reactions would become slow. Though it was only a split second of delay, that delay was a threat to Layfon's life, and he understood this, feeling annoyed at himself who couldn't respond well.

  Though he had toughed it out until now, it meant that a slight mistake would end his life.

  "As expected, burning her down completely in a moment is a better method."

  Saying this, Layfon once again rushed at Lævateinn.

  Speaking of which, the original use for the construction of this 'cocoon' was to remove places that the enemy could escape to, and then use Kei to heat up the entire thing.

  But, they hadn't done this.

  Because they didn't believe that they could completely incinerate her.

  Even with the two of them together, they couldn't burn this girl whose form was even smaller than his, Layfon's instincts said.

  It wasn't Layfon's judgment alone.

  Lintence had also felt this.

  So, the use of the cocoon hadn't been to burn her, but to prevent the fine substance that composed her body from scattering out and closing in. They had carried out close combat in order to slightly weaken her a bit.

  Also, the purpose of this cocoon wasn't only to limit the opponent's actions, but also to stop her from using external regeneration.

  Mass wasn't limitless. Restoring something that had been lost to how it had been before definitely required spending something. There was definitely some substance supporting this strong regenerative ability from behind. And Lintence had noticed that this substance was spread around the surrounding buildings as the buildings crumbled in the battle recently.

  If they stopped the supplements from the outside, then she would have to use things inside her body when she regenerated.

  This way, even if it couldn't be seen from the outside, it was a fact that she was continuously depleting herself.

  But......

  "Ugh......"

  Being blocked, being countered, and then doing the same to her. Even if the process was different, the reality hadn't changed.

  Lævateinn hadn't taken a single injury.

  All that was being depleted was Layfon and Lintence's strength.

  "......What do we do?"

  No longer knowing how many times he had retreated, Layfon asked. The expression of Lintence behind him was several times more vicious than normal.

  He has originally thought th
is, but after Layfon glanced at him he noticed that this wasn't the case.

  His eyes were slightly slanted, and his mouth was slightly pointed upwards. Though Layfon's gaze didn't completely move from Lævateinn's body, still......

  Looking at Lintence's expression for a moment, he was smiling?

  "......Though this kind of method isn't too bad, we're wasting too much time."

  The steel threads brought sound to Layfon's ears, who was once again carrying out close combat with Lævateinn.

  "Remove your steel threads from the cocoon."

  Lintence said.

  Layfon used the moment when he retreated to take out his steel threads from the cocoon, and in order not to obstruct Lintence, he returned his Sapphire Dite to its unrestored state.

  "Grab any opportunity yourself."

  The words that Lintence said showed that he was thinking that if one person could resolve this alone then that person should do so. Layfon changed his internal Kei to external Kei, and then surveyed the situation.

  Lintence's movements were very fast.

  The ground beneath his feet began to sway, and the cocoon changed.

  The place where Layfon and Lintence were moved apart from the place where Lævateinn was.

  "I won't let you go!"

  Layfon released external Kei towards Lævateinn who was preparing to escape from the gap that had appeared.

  But even if there was a gap, she couldn't escape like that. Lintence's Kei filled this place, forming a wall.

  After Lævateinn was blocked by Lintence's Kei, she was sent flying by Layfon's external Kei. She returned to the cocoon that had begun shrinking.

  Like a bag being closed shut, the cocoon surrounding Lævateinn became smaller and smaller.

  External-type Kei variant, Sougenkyouku Houraku.

  Lintence's Kei continuously exploded inside the cocoon. The cocoon that surrounded Lævateinn with the same shape as her body swelled up because of the high pressure produced from the continuous blasts.

  Before the heat inside, anything would be incinerated no matter what it was...... that should have been how things went.

  But, Layfon and Lintence hadn't quickly carried out this move. Even if the cocoon had already completed its form.

  They had also said before, that they didn't believe it would succeed.