Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 2 Chapter 4

Fixing your Eyes on the irrevocable Past

Part 1

The very moment the battle started.

Takashi saw Basara come rushing at him while materializing Brynhildr.

The sudden takeoff and acceleration from a speed type.

---However, Takashi remained calm. Same for Kurumi and Yuki who were next to him.

Making a quick move as soon as the battle started was nothing uncommon. It was a tactic close to an ambush, conducted by the party that was inferior in strength.

Thus, Takashi chose to make a move himself too.

The same acceleration of a speed type closed the distance between them in an instant.

“HAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” “OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

“Byakko” and Brynhildr--- Their attacks clashed. But the resistance was different from what he had expected.

…So that’s how he’s gonna play.

Takashi understood Basara’s plan, who was right in front of him, at once and approved it in his heart.

They both had launched a downward attack. But Basara had done so to ward off his attack, not as an attack itself. Now he tried to get into his reach.

“Heh…”

But Takashi jumped to the side by kicking the ground and swung “Byakko” edgewise while turning in midair.

An attack outside of Brynhildr’s reach that worked because “Byakko” was a spear. But only the hollow sound of cutting through air followed.

Takashi had hit only empty air.

“---What?”

Without decreasing his speed, Basara had slipped past Takashi, heading towards Kurumi and Yuki.

---It was a three vs. three. An important point was who took on whom.

After taking Shiba the overseer out of the game, Takashi - Yuki and Kurumi had currently the upper hand without a doubt.

After all, the Elders had given permitted him to take “Byakko” with him to eliminate Mio.

Knowing Basara’s personality, he had thought for sure that he would be facing him, but

“If that’s the case---”

Takashi returned his gaze from Basara’s back to the front.

“---Correct.” “That’s right.”

He saw the little succubus girl and Naruse Mio make a move against him ten metre away at the same time.

The succubus girl--- Maria punched her right fist into the ground, whereupon a destructive wave came at Takashi, who was running over the asphalt. Moreover,

“Take this too!”

Countless fireballs filled the air and they were released at Takashi all at once--- Right afterwards.

Shock waves and explosions engulfed him.

While hearing continuous shock waves and explosions behind his back, Basara rushed forward.

There were two girls in the field of his vision. Yuki and Kurumi.

Kurumi was already chanting, but Yuki hadn’t even materialized her spirit sword “Sakuya”.

She must have still been hesitant to fight him.

Therefore, Basara fixated his gaze on the opponent he had decided on before the battle.

“Here I go---Yuki!”

Basara raised Brynhildr against Yuki, who still had no will to fight.

“---Like I would let you!”

But a strong gust sent Basara flying before he could launch his attack.

“Kuh…”

The gusts interlinked and became a storm, raising Basara up into the air at once.

He was forcefully blown up so high that he could see the beautiful night scenery of Tokyo.

An altitude of a few hundred meters.

Basara inadvertently gulped, since he would die instantly when he fell from such a height, and suddenly heard a cold voice.

“---I never expected you to go after my sister from all of us.”

Basara reflexively looked up over his shoulder, where Kurumi already had finished setting up a magic circle, as she most likely rode an even faster wind up there.

“How much more do you intend to hurt her until you’re satisfied…?!”

At the same time she shouted that, a torrent of fierce gusts was set loose at point-blank range.

He launched a counter with Brynhildr immediately, but Kurumi’s wind eluded his attack like it possessed a will of it’s own and directly hit him just like that.

“---AAWWWWWW!”

With no ground under his feet, he couldn’t maintain his posture.

Taken in by the strong wind, Basara started to fall to his death.

…Damn, if I could at least break it up…!

He could try out a <Banishing Shift> that would only repelled the wind that was restricting him, instead of erasing it, but

“…Damn!”

He had his hands full just holding onto Brynhildr so it wouldn't be blown away, since its broad frame picked up a lot of wind pressure.

Even if he managed to swing an attack, activating <Banishing Shift> was totally out of the question.

While he fell like that, the ground gained on him.

…Fine!

Reading the flow of the wind, Basara used all of his strength to slow down his body.

“---Right there!”

He vertically kicked the wind that swept over him. He aimed for the point where the knotty interlinked gusts converged from time to time---

By kicking that temporary lump of air, it served as a foothold in midair.

Basara narrowly escaped from the wind torrent and landed on top of a building by twisting his body in the air.

At the same time, he immediately turned around and launched a horizontal swing, which scattered the wind blades that came after him.

And then,

“---------”

Kurumi rode on the wind down to the rooftop, apart from where Basara was standing.

Nonaka Kurumi looked at Basara, who poised and faced her with a calm expression. Therefore,

“…Hmp. So you were actually after me.”

Having seen through his plan, she mumbled so.

Indeed. He had shown signs of going after Yuki in the beginning to create this one-on-one situation.

He anticipated that she would flare up when he went after Yuki by intentionally calling her name, and even the actions she would take to stop him.

“You sure are looking down on me…”

Kurumi was well aware that Yuki would be no use in this battle, because she still hadn’t found the resolution to fight him.

With Shiba out of the picture as well, it was only Takashi and Kurumi fighting.

That said, she didn’t think Mio and Maria by themselves would be able to win against Takashi with his “Byakko”.

…In short,

Basara assumed he could defeat Kurumi by himself. He must know as well that Kurumi’s abilities were restricted in the present situation.

Without a doubt, he intended to defeat her as fast as possible, then head over to Mio and Maria to defeat Takashi together.

Surely even now, Basara considered Kurumi as the same as five years ago--- the little sister that always followed around behind him and her older sister Yuki.

In that case, “I’ll make you realize your mistake--- while you drown in the regret of having lost to me!”

Saying so, Kurumi emitted a green aura and released her magic power.

Part 2

“Oh, I knew it. He went after her… Well, not like there was any other way.”

Driven out of the barrier, Shiba Kyouichi had checked the situation inside from a rooftop of a distant building.

He showed a faint smirk as the battle unfolded just like he predicted.

He speculated beforehand that Takashi would shut him out of the barrier, since Takashi was driven by various emotions in this battle.

Therefore, Shiba wasn’t bewildered. He couldn’t look through the barrier, but his own ability allowed him to feel the happenings (events) inside the barrier.

---In a variety of his scenarios, Basara would choose Kurumi as his opponent.

Back when Basara was still in the <Village>, the lively Kurumi had been like a little sister to Basara, like the docile Yuki.

If he was forced to fight her now, he must be thinking of making her unable to fight by making her pass out or something by himself without involving Mio and Maria.

And if he was fighting Kurumi, he could also draw Yuki’s attention to him.

Even if she was passive in the fight against Basara’s team, she couldn’t ignore a fight between her beloved childhood friend and her little sister.

In fact, Shiba felt how Yuki was trying to rush toward Basara and Kurumi.

…Still,

This development was ideal for Basara’s team, but not the very best one.

Even if it was a two-on-one, Takashi’s “Byakko” was a special spirit lance that the <Village> allowed him to take out in order to defeat the daughter of the previous Devil Lord.

Their tactic puts a huge burden on Mio and Maria, who had to fight against Takashi.

That said, Basara and the girls must know that as well. After launching continuous attacks, Mio and Maria were now taking their distance from Takashi to avoid fighting.

That behavior made it obvious that they wanted to buy time until Basara arrives and Takashi noticed that as well.

“Well, not that I can’t relate to it…”

Basara's team wasn't after a simple victory of this battle.

The <Village> had assigned Naruse Mio as a Termination Target and she was targeted by a hostile faction of the Devils.

Even if the only way to protect her meant fighting, Basara should know better than anyone how big the risk was to seriously turn the Hero Tribe against them under these circumstances.

Furthermore, his opponents were his close childhood friends. He must have wanted to avoid harming them as much as possible, but

“Being kind at a time like this is all fine, but you never learn your lesson, huh Basara.”

Saying so, Shiba Kyouichi laughed coldly.

“If you’re too greedy, you’ll lose everything again. Just like five years ago---”

Part 3

There was a quiet sound in the dim empty space.

It was Hayase Takashi's footsteps on the linoleum covered floor.

After he warded off Mio and Maria's continuous attacks, he chased after them, they were avoiding further combat; going into the large shopping mall in front of the station.

Although no other people were inside the barrier, the mall had various floors and endless space, since it consisted of three buildings connected through passageways. The perfect location to hide and buy time.

---However, that only applied if Takashi was without his "Byakko". Byakko had the duty to protect the west, so when there were hostile enemies in its entrusted region, it could vaguely sense their whereabouts.

"…That way, huh."

Following "Byakko's" reaction, Takashi set foot onto the fourth floor of building B. It was a fashion floor that dealt with woman clothes. The floor had its power turned off with only the emergency lights on.

…Did they break the breaker in the fuse box?

The barrier reproduced the state of affairs, not just the material.

Even so, by destroying the breaker, it was possible to create a state of affair corresponding to that.

The ambushing side was at an advantage, since they could be mistaken as a merchandise's shadow in the darkness. But Takashi slowly proceeded to the center of the floor.

"I know you're here--- Come out."

He declared so in a calm tone to these two, but there was no response, as they were thinking that they hid well. So Takashi started moving west--- towards the end of the floor.

At that moment,

"------"

The surrounding atmosphere became a bit tense. Basara must have told them how dangerous it was when Takashi with "Byakko" got on their west side.

Suddenly--- a mannequin came flying at Takashi with a buzz. He cut it in half with "Byakko" in one swing.

Then,

"---Over there, huh."

At the same time he muttered, he kicked the floor.

When he dashed into the direction the mannequin had come from, a couple more mannequins came flying.

Takashi went on dodging them within a hair's breadth by making sidesteps, whereupon he spotted a small silhouette in the dim passage ahead--- It was Maria.

Takashi accelerated at once, closed the distance between him and her and was about to be in reach for his "Byakko".

But right before,

"What---?"

He frowned with a light surprise. Maria, who he had thought would run for it again, showed a movement against his expectation.

She laughed.

"---Here I go."

Saying so, Maria kicked the ground and leaped forward--- towards Takashi. Bending her small body, she launched a flying kick by rotating her waist horizontal.

"------"

Takashi immediately went into defense. Maria wasn't the only opponent.

If he carelessly dodged and took his distance, it was quite likely that Mio would shoot him with her magic there.

Therefore he blocked Maria's kick with "Byakko's" shaft.

"Guh---… Wha!?"

Unable to stop the blow that exceeded his expectation by far, Takashi flew sideways through the air.

While he went flying through the display of a nearby fashion shop for little girls, Takashi nonetheless adjusted his posture in midair and landed gliding on the ground.

There,

"Now, here comes more!"

She closed the distance between them at once with a jolly voice.

Entering even further into "Byakko's" reach--- she unleashed continuous punches and kicks at close range.

By a sudden turn, Takashi was forced to evade. In fact it was dangerous to take her on carelessly, since these powerful attacks were coming merciless after Takashi one after another.

…What's going on?

He had checked upon the succubus' power one week ago.

Sure, she wasn't an opponent to lower your guard against, but she definitely should have been at a level where he could defeat her by himself.

Of course he didn't expect her to sit by idly the last week. She must have trained together with Basara.

…Still,

Her current power had remarkable gone up compared to one week ago. No, not just her power. All of her physical abilities had leapt up. As if she was seeing through his surprise,

"Too bad for you. Thanks to Basara-san and Mio-sama, I brimmed in various ways."

she said so and increased the force in her attacks even more. Moreover, while fighting at close range, she was always positioning herself so that he won't have his back to the west. However,

"Like I would let you… do as you please forever!"

Not missing the opening between Maria's continuous attacks, Takashi went on the counterattack.

He couldn't activate "Byakko's" power, but he cornered Maria by combining thrusts and slashes--- straight and curved attacks.

And then he finally landed an upward cut from below.

But--- The resistance Takashi felt was not from cutting her apart.

"…What?"

Hayase Takashi looked. Maria had stopped "Byakko's" blade with her crossed thin arms.

---Sure, a power type had high physical abilities. The giant devil from the other day that did not even need to dodge Basara and Maria's attacks was the perfect example. But it was unexpected that a small girl like her could block his attack, even if she was a succubus.

…Seems I have to reconsider.

Takashi had deemed Maria strength to be B-class, but now recognized it as A-class. And then,

"---Howl, "Byakko"."

Right away, a whirlwind appeared around "Byakko" and sent Maria flying back, diagonally upwards, into the air.

"Ahhhhhhhhh---!?"

Maria's small body crashed into the ceiling in no time. Breaking through the ceiling like that, she was sent flying to the next floor together with a shock wave, where soon another crash sounded.

Most likely, Maria was even blown through the next ceiling.

"You were unlucky…"

Takashi said while looking at the fragments falling down from the broken ceiling.

---To release "Byakko's" full power he certainly needed to be on the enemy's west side.

However, that didn't mean that "he couldn't attack at all when he wasn't on the west side".

Although not at full power, he could release "Byakko's" power for a local attack on the spot.

Just like the attack that pierced and froze the giant devil the other day or the whirlwind against Maria just now.

That said--- Maria's current strength wasn't to be scoffed at. It was unlikely she was defeated by that. Takashi shortly pondered whether he should go after Maria to finish her or get rid of Mio at once.

"------"

He turned around to the presence that suddenly popped up behind him--- in the west. There stood a single girl.

Emitting an surging crimson urge different from the black aura of the previous devil lord and the blue one from the moderate faction, Naruse Mio had already expanded a magic circle in front of her.

"Speed is the pride of a speed type, right? … Then how about this?"

At the same time she said that, a large quantity of water appeared.

It turned into a stream that swallowed up the whole floor and Takashi was dragged into its stream at once.

Part 4

Basara found himself moving at high speed in a genuine fight against Kurumi.

Kurumi was a magic type, capable of long-range attacks, whereas Basara was a speed type.

First he needed to get close to her with his speed or he wouldn't stand a chance. Kurumi freely flew through the air by controlling the wind while Basara jumped from rooftop to rooftop of the different sized building.

With the speed of a speed type and the strength of his legs that produced that speed, Basara took off from the edge of the rooftop and jumped.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

He shouted along with a flash of Brynhildr, but

"---You don't know when to give up."

Kurumi evaded it easily. The surrounding wind lifted Kurumi's body up.

...Damn.

He had tried to land hits on her for a while now, but she would dodged them all like this. Nonaka Kurumi was the same magic type as Mio. Her magic-orientated battle style was same too.

However, Mio was a High Wizard that chanted her magic directly with her own magic power, in contrast to Kurumi, who was an Element Master who borrowed the spirits' power to activate magic.

Therefore she could chant magic by employing or contracting a spirit through a channel without consuming her own magical power.

A troublesome opponent---

However, Basara saw a way to prevail this time specially because of that fighting style. Because "Byakko", which had it's power as a mythological guardian beast sealed, was nearby.

Therefore he figured that Kurumi could only utilize the wind attribute of "Byakko" in this fight, since opening channels to other spirits would interfere with "Byakko's" power.

Furthermore, the barrier was set up from Takashi's "Byakko" and Mio's magic.

As an ally of Takashi, Kurumi likely could only cast wind magic inside the barrier. And as a matter of fact, Kurumi had only used wind magic so far and her materialized spirit gauntlet had still wind as the main element too.

Thus it should also be difficult for her to attack towards the west, since "Byakko" would interfere.

---However, Kurumi's wind showed no signs of such a handicap.

To begin with, wind was polymorphous. No matter how often Basara got on her west side, the wind attack him by simply going round. He somehow tried to retaliate while narrowly dodging these attacks, but

"Kuh...!"

as he evaded an attack, he ended up landing on the wall of a high building in his way and he started running up the wall vertically at once. One attack after another hit into the white wall always one step behind him.

It was Kurumi's gale magic. As Basara escaped upwards, the attacks gradually closed in on him.

"----?"

Basara had his attention to his back, when "something" invisible approached from the top that winded up the surrounding air.

Basara kicked off the building at once and jumped towards the wall of the building across the street. Right afterwards, the "something" he dodged crashed into the ground.

After he heard that roaring sound while in midair, Basara pierced Brynhildr edgewise into the wall of the building he had jumped to, spun his body upwards with his right hand on the handle and landed on the broad blade of the sword.

"Just now, that was..."

When he looked down at the ground, he saw a wide crater that had a three metre radius under the rising cloud of dust.

She probably shot compressed air or something like that.

"...You're good at running away as ever."

When he suddenly looked up, there floated Kurumi--- ten metre away at the same height as him.

---So Basara moved at once.

He jumped towards her, using Brynhildr as a stepping stone. Since he had abandoned his weapon,

"What the... A desperate suicide attack?"

Kurumi wearily held out her hand towards him and unleashed a wind magic. At the same time, Brynhildr vanished behind Basara--- and re-materialized in his hand.

Kurumi's expression became frightened upon the unexpected feint.

Basara cancelled out her gale magic with Brynhildr's blade right in front of her and drew near her in the same movement.

"OHHHHHHHHHHHH"

He launched a horizontal slash. However, it was repelled by something invisible right before hitting Kurumi's stomach.

It was a magical barrier that she had immediately erected to defend.

Still, if it was the same barrier from five years ago, he should be able to cut through it. That he was warded off proved how much stronger Kurumi had gotten.

And then Basara got a taste of Kurumi's newly gained strength.

He hung motionless in the air in the moment his attack was repelled and suddenly felt the atmosphere accumulating around Kurumi---

In the next moment,

"---GAAAAAAAAAAAH!?"

Basara was blown away from a violent torrent of turbulent air. He crashed into the wall of the building behind him, broke through it back first and kept flying even though he got caught in various chairs and desk of the office inside.

After he repeatedly crashed through walls with an impact, he clashed into a huge steel locker. The content poured out with a noise on that impact.

"Gah..... Guh.... Ah....!"

Basara had sunk into the demolished locker with a crucifixion posture. He spit out blood along with all the oxygen in his lungs. Unable to breath from the impact on his whole body, his vision blurred from the intense pain.

"---That's what you get for looking down on me and treating me like a kid."

Kurumi slowly walked down the path of her shock wave--- all the way to where Basara had been blown to.

Then she stopped not far away from him.

"You... have only attacked me with the back of your sword so far. Even at a time like this, you think you can make the <village> reconsider their decision on Naruse Mio if you show off a strength that defeats us without hurting us?"

In reply to these acrimonious words,

"...Is that, bad...?"

Basara said groaning, then slowly stood up by holding onto the edge of the locker.

"My dad and I decided to protect Mio and Maria... To protect the girl that has to fear for her life just because she's the previous Devil Lord's daughter and inherited his power. But"

For that goal, Jin had told him to fight after drawing a line. The school nurse Hasegawa also advised him to just protect the line he would never back off from.

However,

"But can I only pick one precious thing...? I don't want to fight you--- my childhood friends and former comrades. Maybe there's a way to end this without fighting. Even if the chance for that is small, is it such bad thing to gamble on that chance?"

He knew that his wish was utopistic. Still, Toujou Basara didn't want to back down.

Amongst the ones he definitely wanted to protect--- behind that drawn line were Mio and Maria.

However, Toujou Basara had drawn a final protective line too, which included those he never wanted to lose.

Amongst them were not just Mio and Maria, but Yuki, Kurumi and Takashi as well.

No matter how rationally he thought about it, he didn't want to back down from that one line. However,

"Not really. Do whatever you want. Just keep crying for your Utopia until the end while getting beaten to a pulp. In the end, you'll regret your naivety to death anyway."

Kurumi started to focus the wind around her right hand, held out towards him. And then,

"Because when you wake up again--- Naruse Mio won't be in this world anymore."

At the same time she declared so, her wind was unleashed upon Basara.

What Kurumi released was a mass of air compressed to the limit.

It had a diameter of 1 metre. Hit by that in the stomach, Basara was robbed of his consciousness this time for sure.

---Or so it was supposed to be.

But,

"Eh---...”

Kurumi muttered dumbfounded. Because the magic she released vanished right in front of her eyes.

And without a trace.

...Don't tell me.

On a look, Basara in front of her ended his swing of Brynhildr.

<Banishing Shift>--- In the moment she remembered the name of the skill he could no longer use, he had already drawn near her.

Kurumi tried to erect a barrier against the incoming attack, but she couldn't.

...No way...?

It didn't just erase the wind magic, but also the channel to the spirit?

By the time she realized that, Brynhildr was already before her.

"----!”

It was too late for a backward jump.

Kurumi realized that fact not from the pain of the horizontal slash, but from being sent flying through the air.

In her path was a broad window front. Quite the useless object to stop Kurumi's momentum.

With a shrill clinking, Kurumi's body was blown outside the building.

Since her channel to the spirit was severed, she couldn't use magic.

Her inevitable fall began. Her body wouldn't move, maybe due to the impact of the attack, and she could do nothing but look up to the night sky as she was falling backwards. She fell from the fourth floor. Falling onto her legs would be one thing, but crashing into the ground with this posture was hopeless---It was over.

...Sis...

Kurumi suddenly thought of her older sister. They had always been together.

She knew of Yuki's feelings, but Kurumi herself couldn't forgive Basara for putting Yuki through so much sorrow--- and trampling all over her feelings, as she had desperately gotten stronger in the past five years.

Would Yuki be sad over her death? And--- would she take vengeance for her?

...But,

Kurumi suddenly closed her eyes. She didn't want Yuki to fight against Basara after all.

After all, Yuki had gotten stronger for Basara's sake. She worked so hard for that.

So Kurumi wanted to spare her at least a fight to the death against---

"---Eh?”

As she was suddenly tightly embraced, Kurumi opened her eyes in a flash. The person in question

"Y- You...” "Stay still!” "----!”

told her so in a harsh tone and Kurumi reflexively stopped trying to move.

Still holding her in his arms, Basara turned his body vertically--- and landed on the ground.

"-----"

Basara was injured too. Moreover, he was holding Kurumi.

The impact from the landing wouldn't kill him, but his legs should have received quite the shock.

However, Kurumi felt nothing of such a vibration.

Because right before the landing, she was embraced stronger than that by him. And then,

"...Seems we're safe somehow..."

Basara made a sigh of relief while still carrying her in his arms. Kurumi was enveloped by his voice that had became lower in the past five years and his grown body that overshadowed her while she was held.

...Ah.

In response to the tight embrace, Kurumi said with a powerless voice in his arms.

"...L- Let me go." "Mh? O- Oh... sorry."

Then, Basara finally let go off her, but he hastily averted his eyes from her.

When Kurumi lowered her gaze on herself puzzled, she saw that her clothes were greatly torn on her right side, exposing her bare skin.

It reached from under the swelling of her breast up to near the tip of it.

"N- No...----!?"

The moment she hastily tried to cover her breasts, a fierce pain ran through her whole body and suffocated her. Kurumi got onto her knees from that and Basara gently held her around the waist to support her, while saying.

"Are you okay? Wait, I did that to you... Sorry."

"...Idiot... Worrying about your enemy, that's exactly what I meant by looking down---!?"

The instant she tried to raise her voice, a reverberating pain befell her. She most likely broke a rib or two.

After all, she was hit by Basara--- by the thick sword Brynhildr, even if it was just the back of the sword. She was lucky that she didn't suffer more from it. It could be that Basara weakened Brynhildr's momentum at the last moment.

...Besides.

If Basara hadn't saved her, she would have crashed into the ground head first and died.

With slightly tearful eyes from the pain in her side, Kurumi looked up at Basara.

Basara's eyes, as he looked at her worried and crouched down, were the same as the time as when they were together in the past.

...I see.

Even if everything had changed after five years, Kurumi was still like a younger sister to Toujou Basara.

But rather than treating her as a kid, he was treasuring her as a family member--- And that feeling was

...The same for me...

Even if she could never forgive. Even if the <Village's> order was absolute.

Nonaka Kurumi realized what kind of existence Toujo Basara was to her.

---It wasn't just Yuki, who stayed by Basara's side and kept looking at him from a small age on.

Because Kurumi herself stayed with these two and kept watching Basara's back and side-profile, too.

As she closed her lips and looked up at him wordlessly,

"You seem fine, seeing as you can glare at me like that..."

Basara slowly stood up.

"...Sorry, if possible, I would like to stay with you until you can move again, but---"

Saying so, Basara turned his gaze towards the station. When she followed it,

"Sis..."

Yuki was slowly coming over from the other side of the street.

Kurumi thought for sure that she had been worried about their fight.

And that she came over here, ignoring Naruse Mio, for that reason. However,

...Sis?

Yuki raised her slightly lowered head and looked at her. She wore a peacefully expression that made it hard to guess her emotional state.

Even so, Kurumi recognized an emotion in that expression and was astonished.

When she hastily looked up at Basara next to her,

".......Yuki."

He must have already noticed it too. Basara mumbled, but didn't materialize Brynhildr despite of it. As to show that he didn't want to fight her by all means.

"............."

But Yuki came to a halt and wordlessly called out her spirit sword "Sakuya"--- In the next moment, she launched a reverse and slantwise slash from afar.

Seeing that, Basara immediately bent his knees a bit.

Defense for a speed type was basically evasion. And his movement was a preparation for that. However,

"No.... Basara, block it!"

Kurumi shouted at once. But it was too late.

"---?"

An attack hit Basara from downright. The moment it hit, there was a dull sound of a blow instead of a slash. It hit his chin, rattled his brain and made him tumble towards the ground. Kurumi hastily caught his body, ignoring the pain that ran through her body by doing so.

"....Sis, why...?"

Wasn't she against fighting him? In reply to her question,

"....I can't think of any other solution."

When Yuki crouched down in front of her eyes, she pulled out a bottle from her pocket, opened its lid and held it in front of Basara's face, who had passed out.

This sweet fragrance was an aroma that was passed down within the Tribe to put the target into a deep slumber.

Vulnerable as he was from having passed out, Basara breathed it in.

"Now he won't wake up for half a day..."

Yuki softly touched Basara's cheek and showed a gentle expression for only a moment. And then,

"Kurumi... Take care of Basara."

"What are you going to do...? Don't tell me---"

Yuki didn't answer. She stood up wordless and went away like that.

Towards the station--- Towards the other battlefield.

Part 5

What Maria saw first after coming to her senses was Mio's face as she looked worried at her.

"......Mio-sama?"

Maria noticed that Mio was helping her to sit up.

"Oh right… The attack from that man got me."

She remembered how she was hit by the shock-wave from "Byakko" at point-blank range in the middle of the battle.

When she looked around, she saw a similar scenery from the floor she was on before.

She was probably one floor higher up, on the fifth floor. And it seemed that she hadn't been out cold for that long.

"Where's that man…?"

"I somehow managed to land a hit on him… Thanks to you."

"Can you stand?" being asked that, Maria headed for the nearby 2m wide hole in the ground together with Mio.

Looking down from there, she saw that the fourth floor, which had been their battlefield, was flooded. The lower floors most likely looked the same.

---This had been Maria's and Mio's tactic. Maria bought time with close range combat, while Mio concentrated to use the water in the water pipes and tanks throughout the building for her offensive magic.

She launched all of it when there happened to be a distance between Maria and Takashi.

"That should've gotten us a bit of---"

Midway in her sentence, Mio staggered and then got down on one knee.

"Mio-sama, cancel the magic. Any more than this will be…!"

The building wasn't perfectly airtight, so she had to maintain her magic to prevent the water from leaking out of the building.

Needless to say, it consumed a lot of magical power to control such a large mass of water.

"But… we've to buy time until Basara comes…"

Mio said so with a painful expression--- At that time.

A large whirlpool started to form in the water that filled up the fourth floor.

"This is…"

Maria widened her eyes in surprise. Immediately afterwards a fierce vibration emerged that repelled the atmosphere on the fourth floor.

That shock-wave, spreading sideways, blew off the walls and windows on the floor.

She might have been able to keep the water inside if it had been small cracks, but not like this. The enormous amount of water spilled out of the building.

"----"

Maria and Mio had their breath taken away.

Hayase Takashi stood composed on the still flooded fourth floor while the water drained away.

The reason his body, let alone his clothes, weren't wet was because he had erected a wind barrier around him with "Byakko's" power.

And releasing that onto his surroundings must have caused that shock-wave just now.

"I see… This building is standing in the west of the center of the barrier. That being the case, you considered yourself to be in the west and could use the guardian beast's power for protection."

"…Seems your head isn't just a decoration."

Takashi replied indifferently to Maria's strained words.

…This certainly has become grave.

Maria realized at once that they were inferior.

"Let us go, Mio-sama… We are getting away from here. We will hide somewhere and buy some---"

"---Useless. No matter where you hide, 'Byakko' will find you, my enemies."

"Besides," said Takashi.

"It seems you desperately tried to avoid that I stand westward from you, but--- you're too naïve."

"What do you mean…?"

Mio asked doubtful.

"In China, the Four Gods, including Byakko, are made-up from star constellations, but in Heian-kyou they merely originated from Feng Shui based geographical features--- from the land. And… it certainly is true that Byakko, as the guardian of the west, has to watch out the most for invasions from the east."

Saying so, Takashi aimed "Byakko" at them.

It's blade suddenly started to emit a light. That light gradually converted (converged) at the spear's tip and before long, the atmosphere started to rumble.

"However, as you know, opposite of Byakko's west, the Azure Dragon is safeguarding the east. The flying Dragon rules over the water and obviously can make it rain. It protected the capital from droughts with that power. Wouldn't it be natural then that Byakko also protected the capital with a power contrasting it? With a power against floods and such--- A power that blows away rain clouds."

"You mean…"

She mumbled dumbfounded.

"You were careless. This guy cannot only utilize it's power against an eastern enemy--- but also against the sky."

They had no time to flee. Nor to raise a voice. And then,

"Sick'em---'Byakko'"

The moment Hayase Takashi declared, a flash burst open that mowed down everything.

The howl from "Byakko" pierced through the heavens.

A fierce shock-wave emerged. And then--- after the long, long roaring sound and the vibration calmed down,Takashi's snow-white vision finally cleared up.

"Byakko" had released it's full power.

It was a fierce wind surge that mowed down everything, blowing away all of the building from the fifth floor upwards.

Takashi, standing alone on the rubble filled fourth floor, slowly brought down "Byakko". It was over. Now their mission was accomplished. Just when he thought that,

"-----"

"Byakko" suddenly glittered from detecting an enemy.

Takashi doubtfully started to move into the direction of that presence.

And right in front of a smashed window--- He looked down from the very edge of the building's floor.

There he saw two girls running into the west with their backs to him. As they felt Takashi's look, Naruse Mio and the Succubus shortly looked back in their escape.

He didn't know how, but they somehow managed to evade "Byakko's" attack.

---However, Takashi was not shaken.

The speed type he was, he would catch up to them in no time.

Unlike in the restricted space of the building, he could utilize his speed to the max out doors and fight to his heart's content.

So Takashi jumped outside. After he landed on the ground without a noise after jumping off from the fourth floor, he started to go after Mio and Maria with his fastest dash.

In response to the distance between them closing in a flash,

"Damn…!"

Mio released blaze magic as a diversion in her desperation, but Takashi cut all of them down with "Byakko" and was about to close the remaining distance all at once.

Translator Notes and References

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