Editing The Unexplored Summon Blood Sign:Volume2 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 6===

In the artificial gravity control strategy, one repeatedly destroyed the Artificial Sacred Ground’s “footing” and frequently moved between the walls and the ceiling.

Assassin Summoner Hayato was using that strategy as a means of obstructing his opponent’s growth rather than building up his own Material.

Figuring out the trick did not give his opponent a solution.

First, using the Blood-Sign and White Thorns to build up a Material was as mentally taxing as sniping. When the artificial gravity’s direction was constantly changing and the summoner was being swung around every which way, there was no way they could focus.

Second, all of the Petals moved to new locations each time the Artificial Sacred Ground changed. Hitting moving Petals into the Spots was far more difficult than with stopped Petals.

Plus, the Artificial Sacred Ground’s footing was always established relative to the summoner who had started the battle.

Even if Kyousuke destroyed their footing, the next Artificial Sacred Ground would still be established relative to the surface Hayato stood on, so he could not copy his enemy’s technique.

That meant Hayato always knew whether the next footing would be on the floor, the wall, or the ceiling.

The summoner and Petals moved in relation to him, so he could begin his calculations before making his move.

Hayato could prepare and focus while Kyousuke had to react after being swung around and that recovery time created a slight lag. As that accumulated, it affected his skill with the Blood-Sign. The gap in Material development speed grew to dangerous levels.

But even in this situation, Kyousuke kept fighting back against the assassin.

He continually switched to the sound range that allowed him to make up for the growing gap in cost.

But even that would not last forever.

Once the cost gap grew to 10, the difference in sound range could be overpowered with brute strength.

(The current cost gap is averaging to about 5. I’m always out ahead and he can’t turn this around now.)

Sometimes on the office’s round columns, sometimes on the windows, sometimes on the underside of a giant bridge between buildings, and sometimes on the side of high rise buildings, Hayato moved from footing to footing while swinging around the Alice (with) Rabbit pair. The lines of red Petals chased after them like a group of tail lights.

Each move left the area wrapped in serious damage, but he did not care about that.

The assassins did not sneak through the shadows to do their work.

When a crime occurred, people grew angry. Wars created even longer and more powerful chains of hatred. But could people feel anger when faced with a natural disaster that utterly surpassed human understanding?

The answer was no.

When the destruction was on too great a scale, people were robbed of the normal emotions. By using beings of another world to kill, they had already entered that realm. So once Hayato and Benikomichi Fuuki used the summoning ceremony, there was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and no way of dodging the issue. As if showing off that otherworldly majesty, they would wield its fury until their objective was complete.

So any who stood before them would be crushed by those jaws.

Even if it was Freedom Award 903, Alice (with) Rabbit.

''Except…

“…What?”

Hayato expressed some slight confusion as he used Benikomichi Fuuki’s power to break horizontally through three high rise building’s worth of windows and land on the side of the rail to a roller coaster that was going unused due to the rainy weather.

He had yet to defeat Shiroyama Kyousuke’s Material.

He had yet to pass a cost gap of 10.

In fact…

(How is he catching up…!?)

Kyousuke had the Wind-Consuming and Obstacle-Crushing Horse (va – ei – lvz – km – ei – ox – cec – uy).

Cost: 18. Sound Range: High.

As its name suggested, it was a rampaging horse as large as a train car. Its method of attack was simple: it simply charged straight ahead and leveled anything in its path.

Hayato had the Pitiable Doll Covered in Spikes of Hatred (jok – bf – ei – md – a – xov – wuz – r – mel – oq).

Cost: 22. Sound Range: Middle.

It was a life-sized doll fully bound by chains and with countless metal spikes stabbing into it. The monster used the power of blood to fire out the spikes so it could take as many people as possible along with it to the grave.

(Why is the cost gap shrinking?)

Kyousuke had the Man-Eating Stuffed Animal Swollen with Innocent Darkness (mul – o – iu – ou – dhc – weq – ei – lvz – a – icg).

Cost: 23. Sound Range: Low.

A giant shredded stuffed animal had reddish darkness rather than cotton bursting from the ripped cloth. Instead of biting or tearing, it swallowed its target into its belly and contaminated them.

Hayato had the Scorching Killer Smile in a Vortex of Purple Electricity (kub – miq – a – sx – wzb – mu – ou – vew – l – a – zfc).

Cost: 24. Sound Range: High.

A neon bluish-purple light appeared directly in space itself and formed a giant smile over ten meters across. Anyone who touched it or even carelessly approached would be fried.

It was gradual, but the gap between their Materials’ costs was closing. Plus, Kyousuke was always maintaining the sound range that gave him an advantage over Hayato.

At this rate, Hayato would be the one having trouble.

In fact…

(Will he catch up? No, could he even pass me? But I’m the one creating our footing, so he should be playing catch up.)

Even now, the world seemed to be spinning around and around as their footing moved to new walls, floors, and ceilings. Each time they moved to a building, bridge, attraction rail, or pillar, all of the preconditions crumbled away.

Before even thinking about landing, it should have been difficult to make any sense of one’s shaken vision. And yet…

“It’s simple.”

Kyousuke raised his Blood-Sign and spoke as if he had read Hayato’s mind.

And he landed on the new footing almost more nimbly than Hayato, the supposed master of this place.

“It’s just like the long jump or the high jump. The athletes don’t start preparing for their landing only after making their jump. They determine how to position their body before the jump and even before the approach run. They only start moving after deciding on their target.”

“You don’t mean…”

“Your breathing, the movement of your eyes, the tension in your muscles, the adjustments to your balance… All the information I needed ''was right there in your body.'' All I had to do was read that and I knew when and where the next footing would be.”

In a world turned 90 degrees on its side, Kyousuke and Hayato landed on streetlight and a traffic light poles.

“And the calculations for the moving Petals are simple too. …I just have to think of it from a starting point of 45 degrees. If I hit a moving Petal at a right angle with a White Thorn moving at the exact same speed, the Petal will continue at a diagonal angle of 45 degrees. That’s an easier calculation than determining the position of the sun with the hands of your watch.”

That was nonsense.

It was nothing more than a theoretical value. If he did not perfectly hit the center of the Petal or if either one had even a slight spin to it, the Petal would veer off course.

But Kyousuke had actually done it.

He had the power needed to do so.

But Hayato could not accept it.

(That just means he’s intercepting my behavior patterns to predict our footing and the movement of the Petals. Even if he could catch up like that, he couldn’t pass me.)

“No, wait.”

The assassin boy looked down at his own feet.

He finally grasped something as he stared at the traffic light pole that had become something like a log bridge.

(Is this like shogi or chess? I get to choose our next footing, but my choices aren’t unlimited. I have to create the Artificial Sacred Ground relative to ''where I next place my feet'', so I can’t use any location I can’t reach on the first step.)

Which meant…

(The summoner’s location, the cost and sound range of the Materials, and the terrain conditions… If you could accurately analyze all that, you could create a tree diagram of the possible courses we could take. Then this wouldn’t be the same as a highly random game of rock paper scissors. So…did he…see through all of that?)

“Is something the matter?”

Hayato heard a voice.

He heard the voice of a summoner who had likely predicted their next footing before the assassin boy himself had.

“Did you figure something out this late in the game?”

“Ha…ha ha.”

Hayato laughed.

At that point, he had already lost most of his advantage.

Kyousuke had the Shark King that Swims through the Ocean of the Void in a Vortex of Purple Electricity (kub – miq – sx – lu – a – hf – ei – tok – enl – a – vjz).

Cost: 25. Sound Range: Middle.

A man-eating shark the size of a semi truck swam freely through the air. Each time its razor-sharp teeth bit down, bluish-white sparks flew and the target was thoroughly shredded with extreme temperatures exceeding those of an arc welder.

Hayato had the Sharp Shockwave Wings that Blow Away All that Oppose Them (du – vo – a – cuw – bf – ei – zix – nal – me – a – qi – a – fd).

Cost: 26. Sound Range: Low.

A giant bizarre bird had eight wings arranged in a circle like propellers. When it flapped those wings, shockwaves scattered through the entire surrounding area and the shockwaves focused in on a single point to crush the enemy like light gathered by a concave mirror.

The cost gap was almost entirely gone.

Hayato had the disadvantage as far as the sound range was concerned.

Given the situation, he would soon be caught up and surpassed on the cost front as well. It was just like a cup filled so full the surface tension was at its limit. Once the collapse began, there was no going back. It would all be over.

More than nine minutes had already passed.

An Artificial Sacred Ground created by an Incense Grenade lasted around ten minutes on average. There were only a few dozen seconds left, but even that felt like an eternity. Each and every second seemed to stretch out infinitely with a sense of death and defeat.

But…

“''Did you think this was all I had?''”

“If you’ve got another trick up your sleeve, I’d hurry it up. You don’t have much time left.”

“That’s exactly what I’ll do.”

With those words, the Material that Benikomichi Fuuki had fused with dropped down and violently broke the traffic light pole Hayato stood on.

The footing was lost, so the Artificial Sacred Ground sought its next surface.

That was the same as before, but something was different.

“…?”

Kyousuke’s eyebrows moved a little.

At first, he may not have been able to predict what Hayato was doing.

That was hardly surprising.

A moment later, the Material took a U-turn and struck Hayato’s airborne body from below.

The summoner was contained inside the protective circle, so he was not crushed.

Hayato shot upwards like a ball hit by a metal bat. As he did, he placed his feet on one of the streetlights that were evenly spaced along a vertical line.

He was about five hundred meters away.

However…

(Since the Material hit me, I was moving far faster than a human’s falling speed. So what happens now that I created a new Artificial Sacred Ground?)

The answer was readily apparent.

(You’ll be ''forcibly accelerated'' when the wall of the new Artificial Sacred Ground slams into you. This goes far beyond a trampoline. You’ll be thrown like you stepped onto a catapult.)

This was his secret technique.

It was his vertical launching tactic.

After a short delay, Kyousuke caught up to Hayato

And the many Petals came with him.

Kyousuke had not just fallen upwards. He had been thrown nearly to the top of the new Artificial Sacred Ground like he had been stuffed into a cannon and fired.

Unlike Hayato, Kyousuke had no footing.

That was a simple but crucial difference.

Even if he was a summoner who controlled Materials from another world and wielded their paranormal power, it was still based in the physical actions of using the Blood-Sign. The ability to plant one’s feet on the ground and use their body’s full strength made all the difference. Using all the muscles in the body and rotating the hips to throw a ball was far more powerful and accurate than only using the strength of the hands. This was the same.

Hayato raised his Blood-Sign as if targeting Kyousuke up in the air. He thrust the tip forward.

There was still a risk of Kyousuke catching up or surpassing him, but that was only a possibility. As things were, Hayato still had the upper hand. So he would end the current trend. He would nip that possibility in the bud before Kyousuke actually caught up.

His opponent would be unable to build up his Material properly while tossed up to the top of the Artificial Sacred Ground and while the footing changed yet again.

The damage would build up during that time.

Hayato’s Material could completely crush Kyousuke’s in its jaws.

“Let’s end this, Freedom. This is an assassin’s job.”

But then a change came over Shiroyama Kyousuke after being blasted up into the sky. He quickly twisted around and rotated like a gymnast. It was not at all the same as pathetically flailing his limbs around. He must have been helping his own body’s spin because there was a clear “axis” to it.

Even now, he maintained his stability.

For an instant, his gaze pierced Hayato.

“It…can’t be…”

[[Image:BloodSign_v02_161.jpg|thumb]]

Tension ran through the assassin boy’s body as he stood on the streetlight pole.

Sweat covered the palm holding his Blood-Sign.

(He’s still fighting even now? He plans to accurately launch his White Thorns!?)

Deafening sounds crossed paths like nearby lightning strikes.

They were Kyousuke and Hayato. They both used their Blood-Signs to powerfully launch a White Thorn.

Would Kyousuke catch up or would Hayato pull out ahead?

That question went unanswered.

The Artificial Sacred Ground suddenly vanished.

Ten minutes had passed. The time was up.

Their bizarrely shaped Materials returned to being lovely girls. At the same time, gravity returned to the proper direction.

Hayato and Benikomichi Fuuki slid down and landed on a giant bridge.

But Kyousuke and his vessel had moved out past the bridge, so they fell down between the high-rise buildings. They would likely slip past the countless crisscrossing bridges and reach the ocean at the very bottom.

Benikomichi Fuuki spoke as she placed her hands on the railing and peered down into the dark ocean far below.

“So we failed to finish him off.”

“Should we pursue them, mistress?”

“No, we’ve used up the advantage of a surprise attack. If we’re going to kill him, we need to plan everything out from scratch. We aren’t looking for a fair fight. An assassin searches for a surefire way to kill their target.”