novelThe Men Who Stood Up From Defeat (2)
| ← Ch.120 | Ch.122 → |
From his shadow, Acqua pulled out an extremely large mace and easily swung it as if it was a tennis racket to confirm the condition. He then said,
"I'm afraid you forgot, so let me repeat this again. I'm one of the Saints, "
"..."
"And I have the power as a member of God's Right Seat."
"..."
"If, after confirming all this, you people still feel that you have to risk your lives to protect that person, I'll wait for you. The possibilities that humans have, this dream-like thing, I'll look forward to it for a bit. I'll take on all your special moves that you exert with full force."
Acqua had changed.
It was not that he had changed externally like he getting Angelic wings on his back or a halo above his head. However, at this moment, one could feel that his aura had changed.
"And after that, I'll win."
Acqua took half a step forward.
This wasn't for movement, but to help him grip the metal mace better. This meant that he had recognized Tatemiya and company as enemies, and would use all his strength to crush their realizations and resolve; a silent proclamation.
"This thing called winning, it's not decided by good and evil, but winning and losing, and I'll prove that to you. What I'm hoping for is for you to at least force me to use a 'trump card'. If you can't even do this, I won't even call you weaklings, but fools—"
But Acqua wasn't able to finish his words.
CLANG!!
Her patience at her limits, Itsuwa completely ignored the fact that the two were still talking, and immediately carried out a blow meant to kill Acqua.
Itsuwa wordlessly used the Friuli Spear of hers to charge at Acqua at blinding speed, and with the spell 'Icy Night Wind' cast on the tip of the spear—it exploded. BAM!! Flashes appeared everywhere, and it was not just Acqua alone getting hit, the neighboring asphalt roads were mercilessly ripped up and crumbled.
They were supposed to be comrades, but Tatemiya was shocked by this sudden attack as he turned his head around.
"It-Itsuwa... san?"
Showing a painful expression, Tatemiya said softly, but Itsuwa didn't look back at all. One could see from her shoulders that she was extremely nervous.
Seeing the dust flying about in the air, Itsuwa readied her spear and slackened her chin.
The mace, being used like a grey window handle, pulled open to scatter the dust, and the unhurt Acqua appeared inside.
"Shouldn't you listen to other people's words till the end?"
"... If you have something to say, say it later."
Forget about being afraid, Itsuwa actually said this as she took a step forward bravely.
"AFTER I BEAT YOU TO A PULP OVER AND OVER AGAIN!! IF YOUR JAW ISN'T ALL BROKEN, I'LL LET YOU TALK ALL YOU WANT!!"
Itsuwa's plain expression seemed to have some abnormal force gathered on her forehead. The huge shout felt like it could break even her cheeks. Hearing this, the Amakusa members could only hug their heads painfully and exchange looks with each other.
"(... AHHH!! THAT ITSUWA, HAS SHE COMPLETELY LOST IT!!?)"
"(... BECAUSE SUPREME PONTIFF-SAMA, YOU SAID SOMETHING ABOUT 'PROVE THAT YOU'RE THE BEST GIRL' IN THE HOSPITAL. WOULDN'T THAT CAUSE ITSUWA TO GO ALL OUT!!?)"
"(... You're really an idiot. Even if it's God, a girl in love will still charge on. )"
In contrast to the males who were making a commotion, the females were so calm it makes others feel intrigued.
Ignoring this, Itsuwa continued to glare angrily at Acqua.
From who knew when, the focal point of the Amakusa had changed.
"Humph, you have guts, but can you back up your words with action? Let me enjoy this a bit."
"Don't worry, even if we're reduced to a slice of meat, we'll LET YOU REGRET ALL YOU DID AFTER BEATING YOU TO MEAT PULP!!"
"EH EH!! DO WE HAVE TO GO TO THIS EXTENT!?" Ignoring the cries behind, Itsuwa again took a step forward.
The two of them were within attacking range, and ignoring Tatemiya Saiji, who was standing there blankly, a huge battle began.
Part 6
On the metal bridge in the middle of the night, explosions could be heard.
As a Saint, Acqua had tremendous power as compared to Itsuwa, an ordinary human, so there was a definite advantage in speed. Acqua moved at a speed that was like vanishing to a human's naked eye and attacked Itsuwa head on. He let the muscles in his body expand instantly, and the large mace slammed down towards Itsuwa like a guillotine.
In terms of movement, Itsuwa was slower by half a step, and finally managed to move her spear.
Stabbing the spear into Acqua's attacking trajectory, Itsuwa tried to block his attack. However, nothing could block this one hit from Acqua.
However.
"Ugh!!"
With the sounds of rocks colliding with each other, Itsuwa's spear received Acqua's mace.
Normally, Itsuwa's body would be crushed together with the Friuli Spear and blown away.
"This spear... ?"
"Hehe, I made about 1, 500 layers of resin on it."
The two people's weapons let out some squeaking sounds as they continued to bite into each other. Itsuwa smiled and said,
"The symbol behind this are the age rings of a tree, and the spell hidden within is the 'reproductivity that plants possess'—until the spell reaches the end of the world, as time passes on, the hardness will continue to increase. I'll let you see how much endurance it can gain after every second."
"Take this power of the 'scattered grass', " Itsuwa declared.
"But there are other spells used as well..."
"... Things from ancient times, in all sorts of civilizations, why are things like clothes created? I suppose that I don't have to tell you the significance behind this spell, right?"
Looking closely, one could see that a patch of clothing on Itsuwa's abdomen was torn unnaturally, revealing the white skin underneath. It seemed like the damage done to Itsuwa had been transferred there.
"'To protect a person's body'... this is the most important significance. But then again, it's just a spell to weaken the damage; it isn't one omnipotent spell that can negate all sorts of damage."
During the last battle, Acqua hadn't seen such a thing, and right now, they were using these spells without holding back. In other words, the Amakusa members were able to create such efficient spells on the fly.
But what shocked Acqua wasn't this.
(She matched up well against my speed... ?)
Acqua was a Saint, his speed should have been overwhelming, and not something that a human could follow. Normally, Itsuwa should be unable to even flick a finger before she got crushed.
But in reality, this wasn't the case.
Though she was slower by half a step, Itsuwa had still managed to catch up to him in the end. Though she hadn't had time to turn defense into attack, she had still managed to defend herself well.
(Why?) Being puzzled, Acqua quickly figured out the catch behind this.
This group of approximately 50 Amakusa members had a certain rule when moving. Instead of just having a different formation to make battling a lot more effective, there was a unique rule behind this. If Itsuwa was the focal point, the focal point would be moved somewhere else. If anyone wanted to pursue the center, the center would be scattered into the crowd and disappear, and just when they prepared to ignore the center, Itsuwa would again be the focal point. It felt like in the group, this thing called the 'focal point' had continued to change.
Gathering at the right time, and scattering at the right time. Like sand in an hourglass, each movement had a huge significance.
(A spell that increases visual activity and mobility, huh?)
"Such a little trick..."
This action felt like they were familiar with fighting against Saints, and Acqua frowned uncomfortably. There were only about 20 people with this rare power of being a Saint, thus there were very few people who would actually seen a Saint in their entire lives.
(Speaking of which, there's a Saint like me who exists among the Amakusa-style Remix of Church. )
Because of this, they had probably gotten used to matching up against the speed, arm strength, and reactions. And also, they had the brains of those that had experienced it first-hand, and thus they had managed to come up with this spell to match up against Acqua's movements.
Acqua brought the mace behind his body, holding it properly again and saw Itsuwa's expression.
"—However, you're still too slow."
"Hm!?"
Acqua again closed in.
Before the gust struck, the mace had already struck Itsuwa. Itsuwa tried her hardest to block the hit, and her clothes automatically ripped to avoid the magic impact. However, the next attack was coming. Itsuwa wanted to swing her spear to knock the strike away, but the last hit had taken a lot out of Itsuwa just at this moment, as Itsuwa was knocked backwards. Faster than even the initial strike, Acqua's second hit was barely knocked off course by the old Isahaya, and at this moment, the lady Tsushima grabbed Itsuwa by the neck and pulled her out.
The third strike that Acqua sent out directly hit where Itsuwa had previously stood, crushing the asphalt without any mercy.
The entire metal bridge shook unstably.
Even though they managed to avoid the direct hit, the large amount of debris hit Isahaya's entire body, blowing him away.
Acqua wanted to continue pursuing Itsuwa, but at this moment, he noticed something shiny mixed into the grey dust.
It was like an infrared laser to allow people to see through smoke.
This thin light came from,
Metal wires.
And it was not just one or two.
Carefully discerning this, one could notice that with Itsuwa at center, the 50 Amakusa members all had some extremely thin wires on their fingers. Each person was controlling 7 of these, and in total, this deadly spider web of 350 wires attacked Acqua.
"Humph."
Acqua didn't even dodge it.
The extremely fine maze of wires ripping through the air instantaneously bound his entire body, and, with the extreme force exerted throughout the wires, was trying to rip and crush his entire body.
Instead of killing him, it couldn't even stop him from moving forward for even a single second.
Such a tremendous display of power, this was God's Right Seat Acqua of the Back.
[—You killed. ]
This little voice echoed within Acqua's ears.
[—You killed me. ]
"(I see, so this is the real purpose, huh... !?)"
That moment Acqua gritted his teeth, something like red mist ripped on the wires. This red mist immediately expanded like it was immersed with this painting called the darkness, and soon, it engulfed Acqua's entire body.
"... The hidden spell within this is 'A Punishment of a Killer'."
Standing on the damaged bridge, Itsuwa muttered, and the red mist suddenly exploded from within.
The Amakusa magic caused a huge expansion of this mist, and after creating an inescapable prison, it exploded within the mist. With this technique, no matter how fast the person was, they couldn't escape.
"This is a spell that allows each wire to have symbolic features of being a person's lifeline, and then punish the person that destroyed these wires. This is an ancient thing, a spell that any religions has, no matter the culture... in other words, no matter what kind of defensive spell it belongs, it can't block this 'Curses of the Fallen'."
The red mist box that surrounded Acqua expanded twice or thrice, like a continuous bomb explosion in water. Each explosion triggered another chain of explosions. Each of the explosions continued to chain up, and from who knew when, the exterior of the red mist box had become distorted as a bunch of grapes.
It was impossible to do this with just a person's strength; this was something that the Amakusa used—the ultimate definition of being 'one entire unit'.
But Itsuwa and company didn't look relaxed.
BAM!!
The sure-kill technique exploded from within, and expanded out.
This was an explosion that was larger than what the Amakusa had prepared. It was a shockwave stronger than the explosion the Amakusa used to kill. This shockwave easily ripped through the red prison.
The dust and steam mixed together, making the entire place look like a grey screen.
What came from the other side of the screen was a man's rough voice.
"Then let me tell you my attributes."
On the other side of the screen, a gigantic man shadow was swaying about.
There was something like a core supporting this vertical shadow.
"My attribute is the Power of God, who has the distinction of informing the Child's birth. I can use the spells related to the Divine Mother to a certain extent—in other words, I can use the secret ritual of worship the Divine Mother."
Only the words continued on,
"The Divine Mother's Worship's special attribute is—'to weaken the punishment'."
Only the voice of God's Right Seat, Acqua of the Back continued on.
Occupying this entire world.
"The believers get saved, and also, punishing those who don't obey suitably, that's another attribute of the Power of God. With this special attribute of weakening this through the worship of the Divine Mother, it's like helping a woman escape from a monastery, helping her take attendance, and continuing to cheat the watching eyes until the woman comes back."
Silently, the figure moved.
Ripping through this window that was formed by dust and steam, the human figure moved forward.
"Unlike the Son of God who was born as the Son of Man, God and the Holy Son, the Divine Mother was an ordinary child, but at the same time, she and God have a bond that can't be separated, it's this rare existence. Using this logic, the Divine Mother has this attribute of 'being a middle person that's able to surpass anyone's mercy and transfer the suffering of those severely punished to God'."
The voice echoed throughout the air.
High and mighty, not even trying to hide.
"—Then now, I'll tell you the conclusion. My attribute is the 'Divine Mother's Mercy' that negates any punishment. Even if they're strict and just final judgement, they can be overturned. It even directs whether a person is going to Heaven or to Hell. No matter what kind of guilt one has, the punishment will be nullified. To me who has this attribute, your attacks are meaningless. I don't even need to move a finger to ignore this sin of 'killing'. And for me, able to even to negate 'God's Sin', do you think you can use this ordinary spell to beat me?"
Explosions could be heard.
The grey screen surrounding Acqua was immediately blown away.
"Humph, you should have listened to me till the end."
Acqua placed the huge mace on his shoulder, looking extremely bored as he sighed.
There wasn't anyone else around. The 50 Amakusa fighters had carefully used a diversion spell that let people detect a false 'human presence' even while they escaping.
He was standing on the bridge, alone, but he revealed the kind of smile that a hunter would have when he was hunting his prey.
"Well, let's just say you just increased my fun in hunting you down."
Part 7
With Tatemiya Saiji leading, the Amakusa members moved to a small plaza 300m away from the metal bridge. When they had cast 'a Punishment of a Killer', the moment they saw the spell break, they had immediately used this high-speed escape spell to run away.
But it was just a temporary effect.
Acqua had such tremendous strength that it was easy for him for him to detect a human presence or magic flow. Also, in this sealed underground space, the number of places they could hide was limited—also, there was an absolute reason why the Amakusa couldn't run away.
"He managed to break through it in the end. What do we do, substitute Supreme Pontiff?"
Ushibuka kept the metal wires that were now cut into something like fluff as he waited for Tatemiya to give the next instruction.
"... It would have been great if we could beat him using that just now. Seems like things aren't that easy."
Tatemiya wielded the large wavy sword in his hand as he looked at the surroundings.
Though the Amakusa had shown that they could match up to Acqua's mobility, it did not come cheaply, for if a group of about 50 people could continue to match up against a Saint's movement speed, the Amakusa were worth even more than a Saint.
"There's a limit to how much we can fool him."
Itsuwa exhaled heavily to adjust her breathing as she said this.
Actually, the key behind that body strengthening spell was touching people on the back. The spell hidden within this was the 'recovery spell inserted from behind'. They continued to change formations as they fought, the moment they moved and crossed each other, their comrades would pat each other on the back, recovering their body functions and immediately getting stronger. It was not a spell that a lone person could do; it was a group-exclusive movement spell that worked 'for their comrades'. Also, the effects would be even better with the fengshui effect of a 'pulse' like a 'sleeping corner' or 'rest point'.
With their comrades helping, the effect of the increased mobility was enhanced, allowing them to be able to match a Saint's speed. However, the enemy had broken through this formation, causing the strengthening rhythm between their comrades to be broken and them being unable to catch up. A break in one place would affect the entire chain, finally causing the entire group to be slow.
With this, there was no way they could beat Acqua of the Back.
A Saint was such a monster.
"Seems like we can only use the 'origin'. According to how the Son of God was executed, we'll start our counterattack with Itsuwa at center. Don't feel regretful, make your resolve and head on."
Tatemiya looked around, and especially at Itsuwa, waiting for a response from everyone.
At this moment, Itsuwa held the Friuli Spear tightly with both hands as she nodded her head.
At this moment.
A strong chilly atmosphere touched everyone's skin, a gigantic presence ripping through the night and quickly approaching. There was no need to guess who this presence belonged to, there was no one else but Acqua.
For the Amakusa, their 'favorite' battle plan still remained.
But even then, as that was their 'favorite', it was not something that could be activated so easily.
"Well, let's get our positions ready first!!"
Tatemiya shouted, and the entire group of Amakusa members moved out like waves.
However, they were not moving front, back, left, right, but 'down'. They placed their hands on the floor filled with small tiles, and after that, there appeared a 1 square meter area wide helicopter-entrance like thing. What was waiting on the other side of the entrance was an underground space made of reinforced concrete.
The place was filled with staircases and handlebars that were covered with moisture, and large, thick pipes intercrossing with each other. As if she was being held down by a large and loud machine, Itsuwa slipped between the gaps below. Only at this moment did she realize that this was a hydroelectric turbine power plant.
This was another level below the level full of underground streets, the depth was about 10m, and the space was only appropriate to carry out all sorts of daily necessary activities.
Tatemiya, Itsuwa and the rest slipped through this small space as they set up wires and trap spells all over the place. Though they didn't feel that they could beat Acqua, they just hoped to delay him for a while.
The real aim of the Amakusa was down below.
As long as Acqua went down from the third level to the fourth level that was full of traps, they would have enough time to prepare the 'favorite' spell of theirs.
""Since you have prepared such a nice thing for me to see, I should give something back in response.""
Without knowing when, the deep voice of the man echoed throughout the dark underground space.
The voice seemed to have echoed a few times, so they couldn't tell where it came from.
""As one with the attribute of Power of God, you should know what I can do.""
"!?"
They didn't even have time to respond.
Suddenly, a huge pipe inside this large space of cement broke from within. Greater than 1m in diameter, 5cm thick, the super tube got ripped apart like paper, and debris as large as guitar picks scattered in all directions, causing orange sparks to fly all over the place. The high-velocity metal pieces that flew over collided with the cement, knocking about everywhere.
""Water is something that can change easily; you can even use it to make a bomb if you use it well.""
CLANG!! The pipes everywhere started to explode one after another.
As if they were forced open by water and steam, the large amount of metal pieces ended up being a rain of shotgun rounds. Itsuwa barely managed to react in time as she blocked a piece of metal that was aimed at her face with her spear, but she tripped down due to the impact.
Though she was extremely mindful about the destructive power, there was something that she was even more mindful of.
Before the water pipe had broke, she seemed to have seen some shiny word.
The shiny word that had appeared seemed to be 'Laguz'.
This word that was like a marking was,
"What... a water rune?"
Extremely ordinary. As it was too ordinary, it could be considered a very symbolic form of magic.
""This reaction... seems like you learnt something about God's Right Seat when I sent Terra's corpse over, right?""
According to the Anglican Church report, as the members of God's Right Seat had bodies that were more akin to angels, they had the ability to use unique spells, but could not use the ordinary spells that a normal magician could use. This should have been the case...
""But is this really something shocking? Truly, God's Right Seat can't use spells that ordinary humans use, but I do have the spell of the Divine Mother's Worship, which releases me from these limitations, bonds, and constraints.""
Having the two powers of being a Saint and a member of God's Right Seat at the same time,
He had completely mastered human and Angelic spells.
""Don't you put me, Acqua of the Back, on the same level as the other members of God's Right Seat!""
(Ku... !!)
After that, another few pipes broke, and the water turbines that were used to generate electricity exploded as they attacked there. The huge turbine swung about like a rotating blade, and on seeing it slowly coming closer, Itsuwa leapt past the metal handle and jumped down. She used her spear to break through the door on the ground that was like a duct, and quickly got outside. It was the bottom of the third level, near the ceiling of the fourth level.
In this space that was about 20 meters from the surface, the thin metal passages and stairs around were all intercrossed. Such a scene was like a dance stage, and below Itsuwa, it was the street of the fourth level—not really. What was actually below her was the huge planetarium screen. The camera image of the surface that formed an artificial sky covered the entire screen, and the cloth used for the screen was supported by thin pillars and wires hanging in mid-air.
But Itsuwa had no time to notice these strange scenes.
"... !! Where's Acqua!!"
"Over here."
Just as Itsuwa felt that she heard Acqua's voice, the giant wind pressure whipped up. Itsuwa instinctively moved her spear once she saw where this wind pressure was coming from and prepared to take the heavy hit from the enemy—just as Itsuwa thought of this, her body got blown away about 15m, together with the spear that she was using as defense.
She could hear the sound of metal being ripped behind her.
Itsuwa finally managed to endure the huge damage on her entire body and prepared to make her next move, but there was no place for her to place her footing. Without any ideas, Itsuwa could only let her body land on the giant screen.
However, what was unexpected was that the screen didn't rip, but supported Itsuwa's weight. It seemed like the screen was specially done to stop anything that fell from ceiling, and had this special job of being a guardian.
Not mindful about being unable to stand properly, Itsuwa wielded her spear properly and looked in front.
Acqua of the Back.
He was holding onto a huge mace that was of a different league from Itsuwa's spear, and he jumped off the railing and landed on the screen.
"Then, the trial will end here."
Readying the mace that he was carrying on his shoulder, Acqua calmly said.
"Since both sides are holding weapons, there's no reason not to attack each other."
"... That seems to be the case."
Itsuwa seemed to respond as she pointed the Cross-shaped spear tip at Acqua, saying with a heavy tone.
"But I'm not your only enemy."
After that, the helicopter holes on part of the ceiling opened up one by one. The Amakusa members all appeared here, and all of them were injured. There were blood stains on their clothes, but none of them landed yet.
50 people in all, 100 eyeballs were capturing Acqua's figure.
In contrast, the monster didn't even feel fear.
"No problem."
Calmly.
He didn't even take a single step, just letting his center of gravity descend.
"Bring it on."
The moment he said this, all the Amakusa members charged down at Acqua of the Back.
Part 8
From the front, Itsuwa charged at Acqua directly.
Before Acqua, who was standing on the screen that was meant to show a sky, could respond to Itsuwa's movements, some sword-wielding Amakusa youths started to attack him from the left, back and above.
About 20 blades were aimed at Acqua's body, and even if Acqua avoided these, there were 30 more blades left.
For a normal human, this was something that he couldn't handle.
But Acqua did it.
The huge mace ripped the air, and being in mid-air, Ushibuka and Kouyagi were blown away. The deliberately invoked shockwaves that rippled out struck others, and ignoring the Amakusa members who had their formation all messed up, Acqua turned around and slammed his mace straight down from behind.
This entire chain of events was just like an explosion.
With Acqua at the center, the formation of the Amakusa was blown away, all the members were sent flying back in all directions.
"!!"
Wanting to add on with another attack, Itsuwa suddenly realized something and stopped her feet.
At this moment, Acqua's body was gliding as if he was skating on ice.
As if he was aiming for the hole left in Itsuwa's defense, Acqua raised his mace and aimed at her from a diagonally high position, before swinging it down as if he was trying to crush her skull.
This was a lightning bolt formed by iron.
But this hit missed Itsuwa.
Acqua felt that he missed his attack, and Itsuwa, who was supposed to be within striking distance, vanished. Looking closely, he found that the light-colored sweater that Itsuwa had been wearing was hanging on the tip of the mace. Acqua turned his eyes to the front, and slightly farther away, Itsuwa was standing there. It was unknown what sort of spell she had used; she was still wearing her clothes, and only her sweater was abandoned.
Acqua easily swung the mace and tossed the cloth on it over.
"So you used this as a scapegoat, huh?"
"But I'm unlucky, there's not many things to use as a scapegoat."
Itsuwa readied her spear as she said silently.
"Please don't make me do something too embarrassing."
Before both of them could finish, they clashed again.
Acqua's mace looked like it could cut through the floor easily.
But in contrast to before, Itsuwa and her spear were enhanced, and all these efforts were meant for her to be able to match up against a Saint's movements. One hit, two hits, three hits, though she was slower than Acqua by half a step, Itsuwa managed to deflect all his attacks at least.
"Nice movements."
Acqua raised the mace in his hand quickly as he honestly praised his enemy.
"But even though you're doing well, your movements are slowly getting slower."
"Ke... !!"
The difference between the two was slowly widening, and once this difference widened to a certain extent, Itsuwa would definitely be unable to block Acqua's attacks and would be reduced to a pile of meat.
In order to support Itsuwa, Tsushima, Isahaya and many other Amakusa members attacked Acqua from all angles, but got blocked by the protective wall formed when Acqua swung his mace at a terrifying speed. Fighting against Itsuwa and yet still managing to easily hold the surrounding Amakusa members down, once he seized any chances, the rune word would shine and appear, and the high-pressure compressed water would be reflected over.
While they were continuing on with their ferocious attacks, Tatemiya and Itsuwa exchanged glances.
"(... Is 'that' thing ready yet!?)"
"(... No time left, do it... !!)"
"IT... !!"
In order to readjust their current situation, Tatemiya tried to call Itsuwa, but at this moment, Acqua came attacking with another strike. Though Tatemiya managed to instinctively block the strike with his large wavy sword, the impact caused Tatemiya to bounce on the huge screen twice or thrice.
"Next."
Seeing Itsuwa's breathlessness, Acqua raised his mace.
"How much longer can you last? Let me enjoy it."
With these words, Acqua's muscles instantly expanded.
It was impossible to get away from his striking distance.
The giant mace clashed with Itsuwa's spear. Though she managed to avoid a direct hit, this was already Itsuwa's limit. Every time the two weapons collided, like some missing gear parts, Itsuwa's speed would drop at an obvious rate.
There was no room for any counterattack.
There was no way to completely block the shockwaves caused by Acqua's hits, as the shockwaves hit the screen that they were standing on. Maybe the screen was reinforced with some special bulletproof fiber, but it still got ripped easily like stockings.
This hell that continued to sap strength was like a marathon.
But in this marathon, the runner's back was against a large blender that could grind humans into meat sauce.
She would die if she stopped.
Even so, forcing her body to continue running would only cause her death once she reached her limits.
The blade and the blunt weapon continued to clash against each other.
"Humph... !!"
Acqua inhaled, wanting to grip the mace even harder and exert even more strength, but at this moment, Itsuwa took action.
She was not heading forward, but rather, it seemed like she was directly running away from Acqua's frontal attacks, instantly moving backwards.
Dodging it by a few centimeters, it was almost negligible.
If it was someone with Saint-like mobility, like Acqua, this distance could be nullified in an instant. However, to Itsuwa, it was something that determined her life and death. After forcing herself to jump back, she lost her balance, and looked like she could fall anytime.
Itsuwa had no way to carry on with the next action.
Whether it was dodging, or blocking.
"Humph."
Acqua again adjusted his breathing, preparing to deal the final blow by stabbing the mace forward.
The air was ripped, and Acqua's speed was like a supersonic jet.
GAKUN!!
But his movement seemed to be restricted by something, as he suddenly stopped.
"Wha..."
Acqua looked at his legs in surprise.
His high movement speed was maintained by a certain type of spell, there was a thin layer of water between his soles and the floor, and like how a skater skates in an ice skating rink, the same principle was used to allow his body to glide.
But this spell had been destroyed without him knowing.
Itsuwa of the Amakusa definitely didn't have the strength to reverse Acqua's spell and destroy it. Up till now, she hadn't done anything like a ritual.
However,
At that moment Acqua he noticed that there was something shiny mixed in it, and it came from the soles of Acqua's feet. There were inexplicable waves that were obstructing Acqua's spell.
Itsuwa wasn't able to take Acqua's attacks directly, and the remaining shockwaves formed had caused the screen that they were standing on the rip. And the look of this ripped screen formed some sort of a position. What was amazing was that this position affected Acqua's movement spell as well.
This wasn't coincidental.
The Amakusa-style Remix of Church wouldn't use any special spells or spiritual items when they used magic. They would use all sorts of daily items, reclaim the magical element hidden within them, arrange and develop all sorts of spells.
And most important,
Even if it was for an instant, Acqua definitely revealed a gap.
Seeing Acqua like this, Itsuwa, who was standing in front of him, revealed a slight smile.
Without mercy, Itsuwa raised her spear at Acqua and charged forward.
After waiting for so long, this moment had finally come, a hit that was like lightning.
A straight line attack that ripped the air, Acqua did a dodging motion for the first time.
"Ugh!!"
Acqua didn't dodge to the front, back, left or right, instead choosing to jump.
It was alright even if it was on the unstable screen, as Acqua was able to jump about 5m after just one jump. He was now standing on one of the pillar that was hanging the screen.
"—TATEMIYA-SAN, EVERYONE!!"
Even so, Itsuwa didn't change her position.
She lowered her body, ready to use the Friuli Cross-tip spear and pointed it at Acqua.
"NOW'S THE TIME TO USE OUR 'FAVORITE'!!"
Itsuwa shouted with her entire body full of strength. The Amakusa members around responded to that call; some were near Itsuwa, some were slightly farther away, but the formation they had now clearly emphasized that Itsuwa was the center this time.
Balancing on the thin pillar, Acqua was looking for a suitable place to land, but at this moment, what he could sense below his eyes was all the willpower and magical power that was gathered on Itsuwa's body.
This was some sort of foreboding, the first wave of something big that was going to happen.
"(So it's coming... !)"
Before Acqua could say this, Itsuwa took action.
A huge explosion could be heard.
The moment Acqua realized that this was the sound of a human stepping on the screen, Itsuwa was ripping the night sky apart like some sort of a rocket or spacecraft. Due to this huge power, some pillars that were hanging off the giant screen were bent. In Itsuwa's hands that were coming near was a small piece of cloth that was like a wet handkerchief. She used this to hold the handle.
"A tube spear!?"
As the friction between the spear and the palms was reduced, the piercing speed and power of the spear had increased many times.
But Itsuwa's aim was different.
"TAKE THIS!!"
She used all her strength to send this strike.
If she didn't do anything to protect her palms, her palms would most likely vanish first while the magic was transferred.
"—SAINT DESTROYER!!"
The spear in Itsuwa's hands exploded.
It was not a metaphor, nor was it a comparison, but rather, Itsuwa's spear really became lightning. This sharp strike that flew in a straight line hit Acqua right in the abdomen, and without mercy, the bluish white purple electricity passed through his body, spurting out from behind, ripping the darkness of the night apart. This huge friction caused the cloth that had been used to hold the spear to let out black smoke.
With this explosion, a lightning Cross appeared from Acqua's back, and new explosions continued to occur everywhere.
"... !"
Acqua wanted to say that some valuable and hidden spell was activated.
The spell that Itsuwa—no, all the Amakusa-style Remix of Church members let out, the 'Saint Destroyer'.
As a Saint's body was similar to the Son of God, based on the Idol Theory, Saints were able to have similar abilities to the Son of God.
On the other hand, it was possible to seal this power that they called the Stigma that a Saint had; by destroying what made these Saints similar to the Son of God, in terms of specific body features through human means.
A Saint who lost this balance didn't just lose the power so easily. They couldn't even control their power, and may end up going rampant.
In the past,
The Amakusa-style Remix of Church had lost a Saint.
As she was a gentle Saint, she was afraid that her tremendous power would hurt people around her, and chose to leave her home. In order to allow her to endure that tremendous power, the Amakusa members made a vow.
One day, they wanted to be able to bear this tremendous power with her.
The next time, they had to reach her back, grab her hand and tell her it was alright. They had to be that strong.
And what they worked so hard on was the 'Saint Destroyer'.
In order to let her, a Saint, stand beside them, they had to correctly understand what kind of existence she was. Then, they had to climb past that wall, and then they must step up to whatever she felt may be a 'threat'. Based on this theory, the 'Saint Destroyer' was born.
A real one.
A successful spell that the Amakusa-style Remix of Church had managed to create.
A special spell that existed to beat a Saint.
(As the magic went rampant inside his body, the time it takes to solidify is about 30 seconds. )
In theory, this was a spell that only worked on Saints and had no offensive effect on other ordinary magicians. Because of this special attribute, there couldn't possibly be a Saint that would specially come over to be lab mouse. Thus in a certain sense, it was a decisive moment right now.
But the feeling that Itsuwa got from her hands was that they succeeded.
She used her (?) to estimate this effective time.
(Using this time that we have left, let's cause the 'just an ordinary person' Acqua be completely powerless!!)
However,
"Not a bad spell."
This time, Itsuwa's expression was frozen.
The Friuli spear that had been converted into lightning had changed back into its original shape from who knew when. Itsuwa hadn't given any commands, so this meant that an external force had forced the spell to be reversed and negated.
Acqua's left hand was on his hip.
He was not pressing against any wound, but at the place where his skin nearly got touched, he managed to use his hand to grab the tip of Itsuwa's spear.
Most likely, before Itsuwa's spear turned into lightning, Acqua forcefully grabbed the tip of the Friuli spear; and the reason why those special sparks had appeared was likely because he had done something to it before it fired, causing the effect to leak out slightly from the tip of the spear.
"If I were just a Saint, I would most likely have been finished off."
Acqua's lips curled in a distorted manner.
This wasn't a mocking smile, but rather a delighted smile that showed that he had met a strong enemy.
"But that's too bad."
His left hand grabbing onto the spear, Acqua slowly moved his right hand.
A 5m+ mace that was completely made of iron.
"—BUT JUST AS I'M A SAINT, I'M A MEMBER OF GOD'S RIGHT SEAT!!"
The explosion occurred within the plaza where no one was.
Itsuwa didn't even have time to use her clothes as a scapegoat.
The moment Itsuwa noticed that her body made all these noises, her breathing had stopped. This vertical hit that came from above caused her to fall through the bulletproof fiber screen that was ripped apart, falling about 20m down.
"KYYAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
As she fell, she could see several layers of defensive barrier spells opened, and they likely belonged to the Amakusa members. Itsuwa herself was also using one, trying her best to slow her falling speed. However, these spells were all broken through, and Itsuwa's body landed hard on the asphalt floor.
The grey dust danced about in the air.
Battered pretty badly, Itsuwa was buried in the asphalt, and the only part of her body she could move was her head. She looked up at the sky, and saw that on the screen, with a sound of waves hitting a rock, a large amount of water spurted out from the crack within the rock. The several tons of water formed a giant hand or a dragon's jaw. In front of this overwhelming strength, the Amakusa members scattered, and one could hear many cries of agony.
Among them, a shadow gently descended down like a feather.
"How boring. You gathered so many people, and this is the best plan you can come up with?"
It was Acqua of the Back.
He stood beside Itsuwa, who was basically completely defeated, and said silently.
"As for the conditions I was willing to give, you still have a few options."
Many streams of water continued to flow down the planetarium video screen, and there were mechanical warning sounds. But Acqua was unfazed, he would just beat all the enemies in front of him. He casually said to Itsuwa,
"I'll let you decide, do you want to hand that boy's right hand over? Or do you want to be the patterns on the ground here?"
"..."
Itsuwa didn't reply.
But she made her response. She grabbed a piece of debris of the asphalt road and forced her battered body. This bloodied Itsuwa still wanted to stand up.
"If so, looks like I have no choice."
Acqua said silently as he raised his gigantic mace.
"Since you wished for death, I'll let you disappear in all this commotion."
The front tip of the mace was pointed at Itsuwa's head.
DONG!! Such an explosion could be heard.
A waterfall came from the other side of the ripped screen, devastating the water on the fourth level in response to Acqua's call and becoming 20m long. It was just like something that just grew out of the floor; a huge hammer that looked like a cable car joint changed into a beast that prone on the floor, looking for its prey.
Itsuwa didn't close her eyes.
Thus, she was able to sense it till the end.
She sensed that Acqua's hand had stopped.
Suddenly, the entire place was filled with killing aura of an unknown nature.
The source of this killing intent wasn't Acqua, nor was it the Amakusa members around them like Tatemiya and Ushibuka, and it couldn't possibly be the thoroughly injured Itsuwa. The distance and direction were unknown, but there really was killing intent.
Acqua stopped his hand and noticed that his target was moving from one place to another. This something that had forced someone like Acqua to divert his attention was closing in.
"... I see."
Acqua of the Back muttered softly, and then revealed a smile.
Itsuwa had seen this expression from close range before, it was an expression that he would only reveal when he faced a strong opponent. But this time, he wasn't looking at Itsuwa, but rather a look that was a lot deeper than the previous one by many times was engraved on his face.
The block of water moving along the fourth level was dissolved, and the water that lost its magical form became a tsunami that attacked the banks on both sides.
Acqua released the strength from his shoulder and carried the huge mace on his shoulder.
And only once, did he look at Itsuwa's face and said.
"Apparently you got a life back. Thank your master."
BAM!! This explosion echoed throughout.
The moment Itsuwa thought of this, Acqua of the Back had already disappeared. As he was too fast, the naked eye couldn't catch up.
Itsuwa blankly slumped on where she was, just looking at the front where there was no one.
She had survived.
The iron, asphalt, anything, everything around had gotten crushed like an explosion in the air. The surroundings was just a pile of wasteland, with a large amount of water washing them away. In this pitiful situation, Itsuwa wasn't happy even though she had survived. In this situation, she couldn't tell whether they had been completely defeated. Acqua's words continued to echo in her mind.
"... Thank... your, master... ?"
Itsuwa turned her head and looked around.
Though she turned to where Acqua had been standing, there was nothing there. Like Acqua, who had vanished, what was over there was just an endless black night.
Part 9
About 200m away from where Itsuwa had landed.
On the riverside, there was a little observation post. With the 'dispel bystander' spell, there was no one there except for 2 Saints standing on the icy facilities.
One of them was Acqua of the Back.
And the other was...
"Seems like you took care of my 'comrades' quite a bit."
A slim and tall body, snowy white skin, black hair that extended to her waist even after she tied it. Her clothing was a T-shirt, with a rough material jacket that had the right sleeve ripped up. And the left side of her jeans was ripped off below, revealing her entire thigh.
However, despite such a unique get-up, there was something that was even more eye-catching than them.
The sword that was attached to her belt.
The 2m long katana, the 'Seven Heavens Seven Swords'.
"Speaking of which, there was a Saint in the East that goes by killing everyone with just one strike."
A Saint that belonged to any country or association wasn't allowed to anyhow go anywhere. Even though this Saint was taking some risks, she still chose to stand in front of Acqua.
He gripped his mace.
The meaning behind this was basically that he didn't need to bully the weak and could enjoy all the pleasures of battle.
"I heard that the Amakusa Saint seems to hate fighting. So do you have any intentions of fighting against me?"
"That's right."
She said,
"I have that kind of personality, but it seems like I'm a lot more immature that I thought I would be."
Kanzaki Kaori said,
"But seeing them get beaten one by one, that won't do. That won't do at all. I bear that kind of a magic name. 'Wrath' is one of the original seven sins; at least I was supposedly taught that way."
The Saint that was called Priestess-sama felt like she was blowing all the darkness of the night and the rubble away.
She was just standing there.
"Stop worrying about someone. I won't let their efforts go to waste, that's just enough."
For that innocent boy that got violently abused without any reason.
For the group of comrades that had stood up to help that boy and yet were trampled by this overwhelming power.
She looked like she was about to break the hilt of the sword as she gripped it.
The eyes of the two Saints collided.
With this signal...
Among the less than 20 monsters in the world, the battle between these two monsters in the world began here.
Between the lines 2
The Knights of Orleans.
France's largest magical society and the name of the association that brought this boy despair.
This 'association' was originally a volunteer association attracted by Saint Joan's deeds, and unlike the combat strength that everyone recognized, this group supported Saint Joan from the shadows. Also, at first, they had not been some enhanced special magic 'group', they had just been people who wanted to save France, regardless of their identity, their status, and (rare at that time) there were nobility and peasants. All sorts of people standing side-by-side, laughing together, it should be that kind of an 'association'.
But in year 1431, 30th of May, something major happened that altered their course.
Joan of Arc, who had been captured by the English, was burned under the sin of being a heretic.
From that day on, the Knights of Orleans became another abnormal 'association' that existed to 'avenge Joan'. The revenge on the English that killed Joan was to be expected, and also other French soldiers, nobility, those that hadn't saved her, those French citizens that hadn't done anything to bring Joan's body back, the association treated them as their targets for revenge (strictly speaking, they intended it but did not manage to do it, it was not like they were an 'organisation' that would consider whether it was appropriate), and the number of people targeted for 'revenge' increased.
Even if it was the largest magic association in France, if it wanted to declare war on these people, the chances of them winning was still slim. However, they themselves didn't know that.
The Knights of Orleans had a hope.
Saint Joan wasn't naturally born with any special ability. When she was 13, she heard a 'special voice', and after which, her powers started to bloom.
The Orleans' Knights were always looking for this 'Oracle of Joan'.
Unlike Joan, who wanted to protect people, these Knights did this only in the name of revenge.
To those who only whispered and prayed for a miracle, God wouldn't lend them a hand, so why didn't the members of the organization notice that? Of course, the Knights of Orleans became an 'association that looked for mysteries', making them even more involved in magic.
A few hundred years had passed, and the members of the Knights of Orleans had switched for several generations. They wanted to create someone that had Joan's powers, and the 'experiment that could possibly succeed' was still continuing.
A boy and a girl were involved in this experiment.
The girl designated as the essence of the 'Oracle of Joan' could be said to be forcefully taken away. The boy wanted to resist, and he thought of all sorts of ways, using his entire strength to fight on—and failed.
Right now, the boy had lost the girl beside him.
The dying boy last heard the words of the girl: "I trust you".
But the boy didn't even have any strength left to stand up.
For if he had that strength, he would have used it a long time ago.
The boy lay alone silently on the dirty ground.
"So are you going to continue lying down here and give up on everything?"
He heard a voice.
A strong man who called himself a mercenary.
Seemed like he had come all the way to France to stop the Knights of Orleans. Over here, he met a boy and a girl, and he had done a diversionary attack in order to allow the girl to escape... but the boy in the center of the battle was too weak, causing the girl to be taken away in the end.
"I don't know what to do as well."
The boy lay on the ground, muttering to himself.
If he stretched his hand out, he would be able to reach the sword encased in the scabbard. It was a French fencing sword that was modified for military use, one that the boy could easily use due to its lightness. And at the moment, the boy's thoroughly wounded arm felt like it was afraid of touching hot water, all cowardly and not wanting to touch the sword scabbard.
"I'm not some special guy, not some person that can guarantee that everything will be fine as long as I'm around!! I can't win; the enemy's the largest magic association in France! You're asking me to fight against people like that!!?"
"So are you going to abandon her?"
"..."
"Because you couldn't, you stood up, right? Now how long are you going to lie down there?"
"..."
The boy didn't respond. He couldn't respond.
He moved the beaten and battered body that was covered in mud and wounds, and finally managed to lift his upper body, but this was already his limit. In addition to his physical strength, his mental strength was quite exhausted.
The mercenary didn't mind.
"There's no time for you to be stuck in this worthless despair."
No matter how many times the boy tried, the mercenary didn't have any intentions of helping him, instead reaching his hand out to the sword that was kept in the scabbard.
"The enemy's strong. If they carried their plan out for their goals, you and I know that girl's future. Then, don't you just need to think of only one thing?"
At this moment, the mercenary deliberately paused.
"Even in that situation of despair, she still said 'I trust you'. Right?"
The time in the boy's body froze.
Only the words of the mercenary continued.
"So what are you planning to do? Are you going to stand up and protect that foolish girl's dream? Or are you going to give her more despair by teaching that foolish girl what reality is?"
The mercenary grabbed the scabbard and brought the hilt in front of the boy's nose just as he was lying down on the ground for who knew how long.
"Decide, which one will you choose?"
There was no need to worry.
There was no need to ponder at all.
The problems in front were a lot, and all the possible risks were as many as the stars, but these were unimportant. Only the people who took action had the right to worry and ponder about this.
The boy stood up.
Ignoring the immense trauma, he grabbed the hilt of the sword that the mercenary held over, removed the lock on the weapon and pulled it out.
"—Nice choice."
The mercenary smiled.
The boy's expression changed. He stood beside the mercenary, the same position, and walked into the dark exit together with his comrade—while continuing to look at the 'secret base' with the enemies he must beat and the girl he must save.
"Let's go."
The boy said silently.
"The time to be afraid is over."
The enemy was the largest magic association in France, the Knights of Orleans.
The largest professional fighting association in France continued to act in revenge, and the counterattack of their opponents began.
Notes
1. ↑ Asian expression for "to motivate/encourage"
| ← Ch. 120 | Ch. 122 → |