Editing The Unexplored Summon Blood Sign:Volume3 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 7===

A metallic sound burst out.

It came from Shiroyama Kyousuke and Biondetta.

They had both pulled out an Incense Grenade and slammed the bottom of it against the café billiards table.

It was like slamming down an empty glass after downing a strong drink.

The savior and the avenger glared at each other across the rectangular table.

“''I will save Isabelle and her friend.''”

“Oh? You aren’t giving in even after I brought up the Queen? How rare.”

“''I don’t care if I’m contradicting myself. I can think that through later. None of that has anything to do with Isabelle who is asking for help right this instant.''”

“Hee hee. You are obsessed with battle, aren’t you? The two of us are so very similar.”

She could say whatever she wanted.

She could mock and deride him however she wished.

With his eyes displaying renewed faith in himself, Kyousuke reached for the pin of the Incense Grenade he pressed against the table.

Horned Biondetta responded in kind.

“Even so…”

The savior rabbit made a definite declaration.

“Yes…”

The vengeance cat spoke in the exact same tone of voice.

“''I will never stop helping people.''”

“''I will never stop helping people.''”

They pulled the pins.

They kicked their chairs back as they stood up and simultaneously pulled out their Blood-Signs. After precisely five seconds, both Incense Grenades detonated. A twenty meter Artificial Sacred Ground was constructed and the two vessel girls were forcibly called over from the distant building rooftop.

“Let’s do this, Biondetta!!”

“I have decided on a super-sized reward for myself! So I will fight that girl!!”

The battle had begun before the girls even landed.

It was an extreme close-range fight. The opening ritual was the breaking of the three-dimensional Rose made of Petals, but they interfered with even that.

“Bang☆”

Biondetta acted first. With an explosive sound, she fired a sniper rifle round at close range.

She had yet to unfold her Blood-Sign, so she pulled the trigger in that state.

Kyousuke forcibly kept it away with his Repliglass Blood-Sign and rotated the Blood-Sign to let the force escape. He swung the long rod around for a powerful blow, but Biondetta used her folded gun barrel to hold it back and forcibly grabbed the heated joint of hers. She ignored the disconcerting sizzling sound as she unfolded the Blood-Sign. A second and third exchange followed.

They slipped through the slightest opening to launch White Thorns.

One from each of them struck the Rose simultaneously and the 216 Petals scattered across the Artificial Sacred Ground.

As the Petals were hit into the Spots, the two vessels changed form.

Murasame Kuina became the Original Green (k). Sound Range: Middle. Cost: 1.

Isabelle became the Original Yellow (s). Sound Range: High. Cost: 1.

They were both three meter slime Materials, but then something strange happened.

Kyousuke and Biondetta climbed directly onto the billiards table and directly clashed before the Materials could.

The attempt was obstructed by their protective circles, but those monsters of the 900s did not care.

“''Cheshire Cat''!!”

“Shut up, ''you damn rabbit''!!”

They glared at each other.

It was almost like infighting in boxing, except they fought with their 180cm Blood-Signs.

Not even the Blood-Signs could break through the enemy’s protective circle, but anything else was fair game. When one Blood-Sign left its protective circle, the other would strike it. They deflected, diverted, and pushed. They worked to throw off their opponent’s aim, obstruct the growth of their Material, and gain the advantage themselves.

They seemed to be using spear or staff techniques, but it went beyond that.

The essence of a battle between summoners was building up their Materials and having them clash violently.

They would find slight gaps in the direct battle or work the interference into their plans and thus use the diverted path of their Blood-Sign to launch their White Thorns accurately around the Artificial Sacred Ground. A cushion of three or four ricochets was standard. Sometimes, they needed a complex set of six or seven ricochets to accurately hit the necessary Petal into a Spot.

This was a battle between those at the 900 level.

This was the realm of the monster children born from the results of the Fifteen Siblings Project.

It was a clash between savior and avenger.

Learning the rules of the occult and treating the Summoning Ceremony like a game…''was just plain silly''. This was the ultimate form of the ceremony in which they used everything the world had to offer in order to bring down the enemy before their eyes.



Kyousuke had the Feasting Flower (l v z – j). Sound Range: High. Cost: 4.

Biondetta had the Dancing Hammer (k k – h d i). Sound Range: High. Cost: 5.



Kyousuke had the Blood-Seeking Spear (b i h – e i – d p – t q). Sound Range: Low. Cost: 9.

Biondetta had the Scorpion’s Tail in the Sandstorm (h u – c e – k k – d i – a – x). Sound Range: Low. Cost: 10.



Kyousuke had the Glittering Steel Mantis Reaper 05 (v i – o u – q u c – s n – a – r o l – e i – y w – f v – l i). Sound Range: Middle. Cost: 21.

Biondetta had the Bubbling Gears that Bring Aging and Reap Lifespans (n j – o u – h a – j v – a – l m – e i –t z – k r – n o – x i – g). Sound Range: Middle. Cost: 22.



[[Image:BloodSign_v03_231.jpg|thumb]]
One was a five meter mantis seemingly made of silver armor. That ultimate predator sliced through everything with its scythes that glittered like laser blades, bit into it all, brought it to its mouth, and chewed it apart.

The other was a collection of countless gears of varying size, making it one of the most inorganic Materials. That bizarre sadist sent the grinding sound of its interlocking gears slipping into the target’s ears, which caused them to rapidly age like some kind of curse.

Kyousuke had made the first move, but Biondetta had followed after and always matched his sound range. Plus, her cost was always one above his. As he was acting first, Kyousuke’s Material was naturally more worn down and cost was everything in the same sound range, so it was like being forced into a race where your rival’s car was always blocking the way ahead.

But that just meant he had to put a stop to that.

During their high-speed exchange of White Thorns, Kyousuke used every method he had to interfere with her: grabbing at her Blood-Sign with his, throwing a smoke or stun grenade disguised as an Incense Grenade, using his Blood-Sign to grab at the coffee or tea cups on the tables and throw them at her, etc.

But none of it got through.

She kicked away the smoke grenade, she placed a metal tray over the stun grenade and stomped on it, she dodged the drink containers so they would not even hit her protective circle.

And in response, Biondetta spread her legs to shoulder width.

Kyousuke naturally grew cautious of what was hidden up that short skirt.

(Is it an interference style of grenade!?)

“Your gaze.”

Hearing that, he realized the action had been a feint.

“Tch!!”

He quickly looked up just in time to hear Biondetta clack her back teeth unnaturally. The sharp light of a magnesium reaction escaped the demon’s mouth and stabbed into his eyes.

“Isn’t being two steps ahead the standard for us?”

In that slight pause and safe period she had created, Biondetta’s Blood-Sign rapidly launched a White Thorn. It was not a strength-focused power shot. She just barely grazed the far right edge of the glowing white sphere for an intense spin shot. The White Thorn drew a sharp curve like a boomerang and accurately struck a certain Petal.

“My formation is already complete.”

It was a small pile of three or four Petals.

And when they scattered, they reached other piles.

And on and on and on.

“My mirror-image copying strategy is only a smokescreen to hide my true intent.”

More and more Petals were hit like falling dominoes, the chain reaction grew, and they were all flooded into the Spots. With each one, Biondetta’s Material grew with frightening speed. Instead of a great number at once, it was a great number in a row. She built up the cost in no time as if running up a flight of stairs.

“And that true intent is to lay landmines which trigger a chain reaction!! Once the avalanche has begun, you have no way to stop it!!”

It was like a clean sweep.

The next thing he knew, she had exceeded a level that could be described with cost difference and sound range.

As Biondetta shook her tail decoration, a tall dark figure spoken of in Egyptian mythology stood next to her. That evil god was the symbol of injustice who ruled over dryness and darkness. He had killed Osiris, ruler of the underworld, and temporarily taken his throne.

In other words, this was from the Divine-class.

Kyousuke was still stuck in the Regulation-class, so there was simply no way for him to defeat this.

“Farewell, savior. Farewell, my despicable mirror-image.”

Biondetta lightly spun her Blood-Sign around like a baton as she smiled thinly. She rested the long rod on her shoulder and spoke.

“When you next wake, this will all be over. So rest easy and enjoy the taste of defeat.”

The waitress demon snapped her other hand’s fingers.

A moment later, the darkness rushed in.

The dark figure’s silhouette crumbled into a deadly mist that dried up everything it touched. And that flew toward Kyousuke’s Material…toward Isabelle.

No Regulation-class Material of any sound range could defeat a Divine-class.

Thus, she should have been destroyed in a single blow.

And she would have been if not for the high-pitched sound as Kyousuke himself cut in between them inside his protective circle.

That circle would remain as long as his Material was not destroyed and he would not experience the mindlessness of defeat.

The protective circle defended against all external and internal factors that would obstruct the summoner….or rather, the ceremony itself.

Biondetta spun around the Blood-Sign that had been resting on her shoulder.

“Stalling for time earns you nothing.”

“True, this doesn’t solve the fundamental problem. And this cheap trick won’t work again. My kinetic vision can’t keep up with a Divine-class’s movements. And more importantly, all Materials are filled with combative instincts, so it’ll probably charge at me itself.”

Yes.

If this strategy was effective, the theory of these battles would be very different. The summoners would stand out front to receive all the attacks while the Material bombarded their enemy from safety.

But that was not how things worked.

The Material moved out front and the summoner stayed back. There was a good reason for that.

And yet…

“But it took you an awful long time to set everything up, didn’t it? The Artificial Sacred Ground lasts for an average of ten minutes. So how much time has passed? Eight minutes? Nine? The White Thorns are recharged every ten seconds, so it shouldn’t be that hard to keep track of the time.”

“You don’t mean…?”

“I just have to escape.”

He thrust his Blood-Sign forward this time.

“Besides, this isn’t our real fight. So thanks for showing off that special strategy that I’m sure you’ve put a lot of effort into developing. I think I’ll put that data to good use when it comes to our evacuation operation.”

“You…''you damn rabbiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit''!!”

Kyousuke did not respond to Biondetta’s rage.

He spoke to his partner instead.

“Isabelle, destroy our footing!!”

<——————>

“Isabelle, don’t get too hung up on this one chance!!”

<Gashiiiin (deadpan). I want three scoops of maple cream ice cream as a super-sized compromise.>

The ground split and swallowed up everything.

Kyousuke, Biondetta, and the two Materials all fell straight down. They fell several dozen meters within the forest of dozens…no, of more than a hundred pillars that supported the large park. They fell straight toward the ocean below.

“Ma’am!! You can do it now! Focus your aim on-…”

As soon as Biondetta shouted to her vessel, the protective circle wavered around her. Then it vanished and the powerful wind struck her unprotected body from below.

(The ten minutes are up!?)

The monsters created from the girls returned to their original forms.

(But that’s fine. Wherever we land, I just have to use an Incense Grenade…no, my sniper rifle…!!)

Biondetta’s mind was boiling, but then she noticed Kyousuke smiling thinly her way as they both fell at the same speed.

His lips moved.

His voice did not have time to reach her, but she could tell what he was saying.

“Your protective circle is gone.”

“…?”

“So you need to be careful. There’s nothing left to protect ''you''.”

“Wha-…!? Oh, no!?”

She did not have time to shout.

One of the countless pillars had something like a metal tower or framework sticking out horizontally. As soon as she spotted that maintenance crane shaft with its attached pulley, a dreadfully dull sound burst out.

Kyousuke did not bother checking what happened to Biondetta after she vanished from view. He extended his arms and legs to control his midair position and approached Isabelle who was also falling.

He held her in his arms and aimed for the ocean surface.

They produced a mighty splash.