Volume 14, Chapter 4: To Block the Road Ahead

There would be no chance of Leerin appearing in battle. Alsheyra would ensure this. Even Leerin herself didn't know what she could do in the battle.

Her right eye wasn't normal, and that was all she knew.

To the eyes of the audience who observed the battle, Leerin's position was that of a VIP. Originally, the city's flag was placed on the top of the tall tower located in the middle of Grendan, the palace that was the highest point of the city. Leerin and Alsheyra were together, surrounded by the building built without any sense of aesthetics as the storm blew in through the windows without hesitation. The destructive wind. Just its remnants were enough to send Leerin's body flying.

Alsheyra had come over here after greeting the Heaven's Blades. Leerin and Saya had followed her.

This wasn't a safe place. Perhaps there wasn't a place considered safe in this city. The intensity of the battle taking place on the other side of the window was one that Leerin had never seen before. The Nano Celluloid Interface monster M Durindana covered the entire city. The Heaven's Blade successors were countering it with unbelievable power. An impossible battle was now on stage.

But what next?

Even if the monster's resilience wasn't limitless, the current situation wasn't advantageous for Grendan. Heaven's Blade successors and normal Military Artists were just normal humans. Their physical strength was limited. Though the trump card, Alsheyra, was here, according to Delbone, the Queen's power could only be used once. Not that she would use up all of her power, but that the city itself couldn't sustain the recoil of her attack.

A world that couldn't give people freedom. Even if one wanted to live ordinarily, the space of his movement was confined to the limits of the city. He still had to live constantly with the fear of being taken away by filth monsters. He would be limited by other things even if he had the strength to break through that fear.

What was something that Leerin could do?

What could this right eye do?

The eye that should have been born with Alsheyra had grown in Leerin. What meaning did this impossible event hold in this situation? Did it mean Leerin herself could do nothing? Or that Leerin's eye and Alsheyra's power must be separated? If these two things couldn't stay separated, they would not be able to overcome this crisis.

Leerin felt she was more useful if she thought of it this way.

It was very painful for her to be so useless. It already took her huge determination to stand here. It would be too heartless if she still couldn't do anything at this stage.

So she asked a question.

She asked a question of herself.

What could she do? If she could do something, what would the effect be?

So Leerin took down the blindfold and let the eyeball, carved with a cross made of thorns, expose itself in the air. This was hers but at the same time it wasn't. The pupil of the moon was here to protect Saya who created this world. Airen became the moon to seal off the enemies. This was his pupil.

This pupil existed to protect Saya. It must be here to do something and so Leerin took down the blindfold.

(Set their gravestones.)

"Eh?"

(Adorn everything disturbing my sleep with the thorns of the graveyard.)

It wasn't a voice that Leerin heard for it suddenly appeared in her mind in the form of written words, resounding in her head as if she were reading it out herself. She felt that ahead of the words was a road of blood. It continued to grind against itself till pain came. At the end of that road, something was waiting for her.

This was the road she was to take, but it wasn't enough.

All Leerin understood was the intention of her right eye, the purpose of its existence. She had seen some of its power in the depth of the Inner Court. She had seen it even before she arrived there, while she was in Zuellni. When she saw numerous eyeballs, or you could say, tombs. That must be it.

But was this all? Was that all she could do?

There wasn't anything else. Could she, as an average person, do nothing in this situation?

She concentrated more in order to find an answer.

What then surfaced in her mind were twelve dots of light.

◇

Questions kept piling up. And they then brought out another question. That was "Why?"

Unanswered questions kept accumulating. Weight that didn't exist in reality kept accumulating as if to press down on Layfon till it overloaded him.

"Why?" he asked and was ignored.

A cut path responded to his question. Vivid Kei cut apart the dimness. The intense Sakkei attempted to cut through Layfon. Layfon received the attack by the Katana that held the same shape. The weight pressing down on his hands made him understand his opponent wasn't joking with him.

At the same time....

"Why?"

His foster father was strong. Though he was retired, his skill was the same as and maybe had already surpassed Haia's. But the amount of his Kei was probably below Haia's. The difference between pure power of Kei would be more obvious in a fight than the difference in technique. This gap of power would become a difference in strength when the two fought, using their own skills.

Layfon had always thought that Derek's Kei was of a lower level than Haia. Why did he think of it? Because the Derek standing before him now was not the same.

"Why?"

What meaning did this question hold? Why must they fight? Why had Derek's amount of Kei increased?

Katana clashed against Katana. Layfon should have won overwhelmingly through the increasing density of his muscles because of internal Kei. Plus this was in turn boosted by the amount of Kei in his body. But he couldn't do it now. Not that Derek's sudden assault on him had swayed him psychologically, but that his sudden increase in strength was unbelievable.

Layfon received Derek's strike as he pondered. This took only a split second. The weight of the strike made his knee touch the ground, confirming his suspicion.

"Father......"

"........"

Layfon called out but Derek didn't reply.

"Why? I just want to see Leerin........"

"I already said you can't."

"Eh?"

Derek kicked at him.

It wasn't a surprise attack but Layfon didn't move. Derek had put his entire center of gravity into this kick. The two weapons lost their delicate balance as the sole of his foot was about to touch Layfon's abdomen. Layfon leapt back. The Kei surrounding Derek's foot destroyed their surroundings, kicking up a screen of smoke. Derek readied his pose and closed in on him again.

"Why?"

"Because this is Leerin's wish."

He stabbed the earth with his Katana.

Psyharden technique - Moving Ground.

The attack broke apart the earth as it headed for Layfon. Derek's figure was already gone by the time Layfon blocked the attack with external Kei.

Internal Kei variation - Fleeting Shadows.

Behind him. This was an illusion Derek created. The presence of people surrounding him.

But the real body was........ above him.

Derek was already close to him when he raised his Katana to point upward. Blade weaved against blade as sparks of Kei dispersed. Layfon's Kei that ran up along the blade cancelled out Derek's. They widened their distance using the rebound of the attack. And then they should counterattack. That should have been what it was like.

"Why!?" Layfon called.

Why was Derek, his foster father, blocking his way? Why was he rejecting his wish to see Leerin? This question weighed more than the increasing amount of Kei.

When Layfon had already reconciled with Toby. He should have already reconciled with Derek too. The Katana in his hand was his proof.

So why?

"You're wrong," Derek said curtly.

"Uh!"

Derek was already before him and chopping down with his weapon. Layfon backed off as he received one attack after another. The attack repeated itself many times. The cut paths weaved themselves together, striking at him no matter where he went as if to push him back to Zuellni.

"My anger for you had already disappeared."

historical

A strike that came diagonally from above.

"I no longer regret what you did."

Next he turned his blade to cut upward.

"But if this is what my daughter wished for."

The cut path changed to horizontal. Layfon blocked it with the handle of his Katana.

"Then the duty to prevent you from seeing her should lie with her father."

"Why."

Layfon was speechless at his reason. But....

Psyharden technique - Shepherd's Crook.

"Um!"

Feeling the murderous intent nearing his neck, he quickly crouched. The scythe of the death god swept over his head. The external Kei at the tip of the Katana turned into a sharp scythe and cut through the position that was previously Layfon's neck.

No matter how he looked at it, Derek's murderous intent was real.

The attack following the crouching Layfon came straight after. He backed off immediately. The Katana that stabbed into the earth shattered the ground.

"If you don't intend to fight, then go away."

Derek's cold words cut into his chest. Layfon's face screwed up in tension at this invisible attack that he was unable to defend against.

"This is such a place. The person named Layfon Alseif is no longer registered in Grendan even though you're my son. He's already dead along with the title Wolfstein."

"How could it......"

He failed to say much. He couldn't utter anything else because he had too much he wanted to say. So much that he didn't know where to begin. But........ his anger increased at the end of his words.

"....Why can't I see Leerin, Father?"

"Don't make me repeat myself. This is what she wishes for."

"Why does she think this way?"

"She made this choice herself, or do you think I'm lying? Perhaps I'd lie to you about Her Majesty, but I wouldn't lie to you about my daughter's words."

"I never doubted you!"

Layfon had already forgotten himself. Kei continued to pour out of his body, hammering the air with its huge noise and chasing away the noise of the surrounding fights. The light enveloping Layfon twisted.

"Why doesn't anyone tell me the reason!"

This was why he was angry. Derek didn't say anything. He only said Leerin had said "to return". He did it to for his daughter's will. The two of them had not told him the real reason behind their words.

Even though they were a family. That they were father and son.

Why. Why didn't they tell him anything?

"Am I that unreliable? Am I that impotent?"

That was true. He was unreliable and impotent. Just what had he done so far? He participated in underground matches. The Heaven's Blade was taken away from him and in the end, he was exiled from Grendan. He hadn't even lived the life he wanted when he was in Zuellni. He continued to live as a Military Artist.

He was only living by following the flow.

He didn't have a clear goal. All he wanted was to solve the problems before him. That was how he had been living.

"But we're a family. If there's something I can do, something, I......"

He couldn't make a complete sentence.

Because his face was also very sad as Kei continued to flow out of his body through anger.

"What would you do if that family rejects you?"

"Eh!"

Layfon looked at him with a serious expression as he heard this new question.

"What would you do if this family says it doesn't want to have any ties with you anymore?"

Derek's words had proven everything that Lucia had said. No. What Lucia speculated had become reality the moment Derek came out to stop him. Leerin herself had made up her mind about something and she was trying to stay some distance from him. Lucia said Layfon shouldn't go see her. Leerin wouldn't change her mind once she made her decision. He also understood how stubborn she could be.

But Leerin's stubbornness and Layfon being unable to meet her weren't related at all.

They didn't want to have ties with him?

Why?

Because Grendan hated him?

"It doesn't matter," he said. "I've already decided to meet Leerin. I've been lost, troubled, but now I've decided. I want to meet her, hear her reasons and then decide what to do next. I've already made up my mind!"

It wasn't a problem to him if Leerin didn't want him close because the people of Grendan hated him. If he cared about how other people looked at him, he wouldn't have participated in the underground matches. He would still have been living honestly in Grendan, enjoying the privileges given to a Heaven's Blade successor. The current Layfon was here because he failed to do that.

"If there's something I can do, it doesn't matter even if a problem in Grendan is to arise from it," Layfon called out, conveying all of his intention to Derek.

Derek's expression remained serious and unchanged.

"...... As I thought, you really are my son," he murmured without any changes in his expression.

He lifted the tip of his blade and pointed it at Layfon. It wasn't words this time. The tip of his katana was pointing at him and Kei released from his body.

"Then defeat me and let me see your will."

Katana and katana fought once again. The father and master said so to Layfon.

◇

Nothing had happened till now.

"The problem is, what do we do next?"

Nina's shock at the scenery before her only lasted a few seconds before she was called back by Sharnid's unhappy voice. She nodded at him.

They really hadn't had any problems till now. The two of them had come to the outer edge after parting with Lucia and Felli at the shelter. They walked past some Military Artists on the way here but they didn't seem to notice them.

They didn't have any more energy left to spend on Nina and Sharnid.

The scenery before them confirmed Nina's thoughts.

The outer edge that was wider than Zuellni's had turned into a tragic battlefield. One of the performers in this battle was the monster that covered the entire city. It didn't invade the city itself, or maybe it couldn't do it. Numerous creatures shot out from its skin like rain. They attempted to destroy this city.

Only one person stood on the other spot on the stage.

A group of Military Artists waited further back in the outer edge in case some creatures slipped through. But only one person was enough to handle the rainstorm of live-bullets.

Yes, just by looking at him with your naked eyes, the word "handle" was most suitable for what he was doing.

The man named Lintence Savoleid Harden.

One of his hands rested by his side, not doing anything. And even more unbelievable was that his other hand was near his mouth, holding a cigarette between his fingers.

Even so, what was happening before Nina was still hard to believe.

The rainstorm of living bullets passed through the air shield continuously to attack Grendan. To put it another way, it was as if Grendan was the enemy of the entire world. Or that a gargantuan hand was trying to grind down the entire Grendan.

He still looked calm with plenty of room to spare in this situation.

But the Kei exuding from his body was enough to make Nina feel numb. Lintence's Kei seemed to be released from the dimension itself.

It was very weak, but one could still see the light of his Kei if one looked carefully.

So weak........ such weak light. But perhaps Nina's lack of power could only show her this much light. This light might be more intense and rich for Layfon who could steal moves just by watching the flow of Kei. Still, even such weak light was dense. The master who taught Layfon the Steel Thread technique. The light of Kei that Nina saw now. One could say she was looking at Lintence's steel threads.

The entirety of this space, the area of the outer edge that Lintence was responsible for, Nina couldn't even take in the entire area through her eyes. The light of Kei ran in this wide space. There wasn't any gap on the net-like wall weaved by the steel threads.

It wasn't a line, but a surface.

There were several surfaces overlapping each other in the outer edge. The live-bullets crashed into the surface and were cut into powder as of a moth flying towards fire.

"...... To think he can sustain this scenery. If it were me, I'd have vomited."

Nina nodded in agreement to Sharnid's comment. She wiped away the cold sweat on the neck as she realized that she might have thought too highly of her power after obtaining the Haikizoku. If Layfon was here, she could ask him how to use the maximum level of Kei most efficiently in this formation that Lintence that weaved, but even though the efficiency was high...... so if not one drop of Kei was wasted, it was shocking enough that the Kei was running through every single steel thread, and there were so many thousands of threads here. This wasn't just because of Lintence's huge power but also his ability of control, freely controlling so many unruly steel threads. Both of those abilities were being shown, indescribably, in front of Nina.

"So what should we do? Zuellni is on the other side judging by the direction, but...." Sharnid stopped speaking.

Nina had seen it when she left the palace and escaped. Their direction was correct. Felli couldn't establish contact with Zuellni because of this monster's interference. In this case, they had to escape this monster's embrace to ensure the Academy was safe.

"Zuellni......"

Nina had made this promise after she came to the Academy. She had promised to protect the Electronic Fairy. Nina felt ashamed for forgetting this promise.

"Even though we find a way to get past this monster, we still have to go through this steel wall first. And that looks very difficult."

"Either way, we must get past this point."

"That's why I want to know a way."

Sharnid suddenly felt very tired. Sure, his words were worth taking note of. No. He had accurately grasped hold of the current situation.

The usual Nina wouldn't be able to do anything about the two difficulties before her; whether it was the steel threads or the monster. But right now, Nina had the Haikizoku's power. There might be a way to get past this point. No, this was the biggest power she could use for her current self. She had to rely on her only weapon to break through this stalemate. As for its effect, she could only wait and see.

In this period of wait and see involved a lot of hope. She didn't know whether her strength was enough to make a hole in the monster's body. She wouldn't know the result if she didn't try. Because no one knew how thick this monster's body was.

But she must give it a try.

"...... Then, what're you planning?" Sharnid sighed as he looked at her with a "giving up" expression.

"Like this."

The two of them were standing on the edge of the outer edge area. She called out to Lintence straight after she answered his question.

"I want to go to Zuellni!"

Her voice was loud. There was no doubt that Lintence had heard her. No, he should have already noticed them for someone of his caliber. And Delbone should have already caught their presence even if Lintence hadn't noticed them.

But he didn't turn his head to look at them. Only a thin thread of smoke wafted from his body.

"I have to make a hole in this monster's body and go to Zuellni!" she called again.

"Hey......"

Sharnid didn't even have time to feel helpless. All he felt was confusion and fear. The most straightforward method was to tell the other side what they wanted. Since they couldn't go through the wall with their power, they had to persuade Lintence. Of course, this was more rational than coercing him through force.

The problem was Lintence was a Heaven's Blade successor. He was the one who made Nina unconscious so he could take her away. Perhaps he might recapture her along with Sharnid. But she didn't feel he would do that and that was why she did what she did.

If this wasn't the case, Lintence would have obtained her location from Delbone and recaptured her before she met Layfon.

But he didn't do it. So, it didn't matter.

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

Lintence turned his face to her, taking down the cigarette.

She could only see the corner of his mouth.

But she saw it. The corner of his mouth was moving.

"Go if you can do it."

She felt that was what he said.

"Hey hey........"

And a hole opened up in the wall of steel threads before them.

"Really? We only said we'll try."

Helplessness and shock mixed in with Sharnid's words.

A hole opened up in one of the steel thread layers, but it closed after Nina and Sharnid passed through it. A hole then opened in the next layer. The defense of the steel threads was lowered as long as a hole was opened. There was risk involved and that was why Lintence was using this way to open a path for them.

At last, they came to the last layer.

Lintence would open a new hole for them if they were to take a step closer.

Numerous live-bullets crashed into the steel threads before them and were cut into pieces. Corpses fell next to their feet.

"What will you do next?"

Nina felt the steel threads were asking her.

She restored her Dite and readied her pose.

Raijin.

This was the only move for it.

But numerous live-bullets would attack like a rainstorm the moment the steel threads opened. It would be a furious strike, giving her not even a moment to concentrate her Kei. They would become food if they made one wrong move. Their bodies would easily become mincemeat. A small amount of defensive Kei was meaningless in this situation.

But there was no other way.

"I won't let the captain be the only one who looks cool."

"Sharnid?"

"I can't defeat every one of them but I'll shoot down all of those that seem like they will hit you. But I can't keep that up for long. We've to finish this as quickly as possible."

Layfon would have understood what he meant but not Nina. Felli's flake was behind her. She must have wanted to explain something as the flake moved close to Nina.

"I see. Then please take care of it," Nina nodded before Felli had a chance to explain.

(You don't even know anything but you agreed so easily.)

"What're you saying?"

Perhaps Felli found her words surprising, but Nina didn't like it that they doubted her words.

"I trust all members in the 17th platoon. Sharnid must have a way since he said to leave it to him. Then all I need do is wait for the result."

She had developed a relationship of trust with them through the platoon matches. This wasn't just Sharnid but Layfon and Felli, and the ones who weren't here, Dalshena and Naruki. She trusted them. She trusted that they wouldn't lie to her and do something that they didn't have confidence in.

(........)

The flake wordlessly left Nina and moved to stay behind her. It seemed to be expressing Felli's helpless sigh, but Nina didn't notice it. She was only watching the space before her.

"You have to immediately catch up with me after I release my move. If it's the same as a filth monster, it should also have the ability to regenerate."

"Roger."

She prepared her move as he replied.

She had been putting some of her mind to the presence of Kei since Layfon taught it to her. An amount of Kei flowed continuously in the Kei vein and that had enabled it to receive training just like her own muscles. It was able to reach the level that she hoped for.

And right now, her goal was set even higher as if she was challenging her physical limit. The stirring of her Kei vein increased in speed. It must be able to raise itself higher. She believed her level wasn't just this much. She continued to increase the flow of Kei, pushing its density to the limit.

And then....

Melnisc.

She called in her heart.

(I obey.)

The golden goat, the Haikizoku that lived inside Nina, the Electronic Fairy that had turned insane because of anger, calmly replied. A power from a different place poured into the Kei vein. The power that was originally used to move a city, to sustain the lives of an entire city, now turned into Kei and forcibly flowed into Nina's body. And this Kei flowed to the outside of her body through her breath, exuding blue light.

An enormous amount of Kei.

"Um......"

She tolerated the heavy pressure of this sudden increase of Kei. She didn't notice this when she fought the giants, but an amount of Kei that surpassed hers was continuously pouring into her. This was a forceful act to help her exceed her limits and so pain spread throughout her entire body.

Perhaps Melnisc was more serious this time, giving everything it had to inject his Kei into Nina's body. Nina didn't know, but this monster, Nano Celluloid Interface M Durindana, was the source of all filth monsters.

The source of the Haikizoku's hatred.

Still, she tolerated the pain to chase after power, constantly increasing the Kei inside her. She kept raising it because she didn't know how thick this monster's body was.

Lintence was probably watching them. The timing was perfect. A hole appeared immediately in the steel thread wall. A safe path suddenly appeared before the live-bullets that had been self-exploding without ceasing. The live-bullets could only keep flying straight as they fell, but this hole was too big. Big enough for Nina and of course, big enough for the live-bullets. They closed in on her at high speed.

But she didn't move. One's reaction was to reflexively release her move while facing such an overwhelming presence.

But she didn't do it.

She had already said that she'd leave it to him.

A Kei bullet brushed past Nina. The shot felt weak because the original quality of the weapon, a gun, and the setting of it didn't make the density of Kei that high. But this shot of Kei bullet hit a location a bit further beyond the creature and created an unexpected result. The shell of the creature spidered into cracks and destroyed itself. The changes happened too fast. The Kei bullet had changed the creature's trajectory, making it head for the wall of Steel Threads.

Nina didn't turn around while Felli watched Sharnid through her flake.

The light of Kei surrounded his right eye.

Internal Kei variation - Ocular Sight.

This move referred to the dot being used on the gun so to target things better. This was one of the basic internal Kei variants a sniper must learn first. It was very hard to snipe without using this move to strengthen one's eye vision.

And Ocular Sight had streng-->>

next page