them held the power that equated Delbone's, or close enough to Delbone's.

(Or do you have the confidence in this situation to finish what that person wants to do but hasn't finished?)

Elsmau fell silent. Even Felli didn't have that confidence.

But they had no other choice. They must increase the accuracy of the Queen's strike. What Elsmau was concerned with was the person that Felli said was to open the hole.

(That's what you're looking for. Why not trust that a little bit?)

(True. I can only trust now.)

(Anyway, the flakes on the outside have already conveyed the message because of the rampage earlier on. This means we can still see the situation outside even if the hole is to close up again.)

(That's only if the opponent's weak spot hasn't changed.)

(Uh, either way we're racing against time.)

They had finished confirming their strategy. Elsmau had been working as an informant for the Mercenary Gang alone, and Felli had few chances to work with other Psychokinesists. Both of them lacked experience in teamwork and so they were unable to cover up the tension they felt.

"Hey."

The sudden voice made Felli's shoulders shake. The short shout contained pressure that one couldn't ignore.

That voice belonged to Lintence.

(What is it?)

"Let that girl speak."

He heartlessly chased out Elsmau. Felli calmed down a little before answering him.

(I'm here.)

"Ask that guy just how long does he plan to keep playing for."

(............)

Felli couldn't answer. Perhaps this man already knew she wasn't a citizen of Grendan. That must be it. So she must speak with "the guy" that Lintence mentioned.

She felt that to be the biggest difficulty in this battle.

◇

The situation continued to change. The feeling of collapse was obvious in the air. Chaos exploded in a split second in the river of live-bullets beneath his feet, and this made the collapse in the air turn more severe.

"Father!" Layfon called. He knew he had to fight in front of his father's mental preparation, but he felt that they shouldn't keep fighting in this situation.

"Not only Leerin is in this city! But also Toby and the other siblings!"

"I've already said so. If you want to do something, then open the path ahead with your katana!"

But father's words didn't change.

Layfon felt that he must do something now. He couldn't let this situation go on anymore.

(Fonfon.)

He saw the butterfly-shaped flake as he jumped in the gaps between live-bullets.

"Felli?"

He was shocked to hear this familiar voice, but he immediately caught the flake and stuffed it in his pocket.

"Felli, what is it? This flake is....?"

(Delbone-sama is dead.)

"Eh?"

The shock from the words caused an opening in his fight.

Derek would never let this opening go. He closed the distance between the two in a split second. Two weapons clashed again. Layfon's head could have been flying in the air had his time of shock lasted longer. He shivered at Derek's murderous intent.

(Let me tell you the current situation.)

But Felli kept speaking in this situation, as if she didn't care. She never gave him the chance to protest. He could only listen in silence, and Derek was also forced to listen to her report.

Delbone's death. This last line of defense had collapsed. The enemies had infiltrated the city and were heading for the palace. Felli's voice was faint but it contained unusual energy.

(And what are you two doing in this situation? Layfon, is your purpose to fight this old man here? And you. Just what are you doing when your own city is in this situation?)

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

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

The strength pressing down on the two katana showed no signs of weakening, but both fighters couldn't suppress the bitterness showing on their faces.

(I can tell from the conversation between you two that you're the head of the orphanage that Layfon was raised in.)

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

(But can you totally not consider your son's feelings just because you want to realize your daughter's wish?)

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

Derek kept silent as Layfon maintained his pose, keeping up the pressure on the blade and waiting for his reply or Felli's next question.

(...... I understand.)

Layfon didn't expect her to retreat like that. He was still putting pressure on the blade and Derek's strength remained strong on the katana. Layfon wouldn't reduce the pressure due to his own sense of shock.

(Then please hurry and make your decision. Otherwise everything would be too late. Not only might everyone in Grendan die, but Zuellni might also be destroyed.)

The live-bullets the two stood on were hit by Kei and became pieces as Felli spoke. This naturally ended the dilemma of the fight and Layfon leapt away.

"Felli?"

He could tell she was trying to persuade Derek, but why did she suddenly back off? It would have been great had she been able to persuade him.

(Fonfon.)

But she had seen through him.

(That's not possible.)

She curtly refused him.

"Eh?"

(I already knew it isn't possible. I only talked to him to confirm it.)

"Eh? Eh?"

Felli didn't seem to plan to unravel his confusion.

(There isn't much time left. The longer time you use, the heavier burden it'll be for the captain. Please don't forget this.)

"Just what's going on?"

She was once again talking about something he didn't understand. But.... To make the captain's burden heavier? He didn't understand, but he knew from the current situation that he couldn't keep wasting time like this. He was only clear about this part.

(Next is a message from Lintence. "Just how long does he plan to keep playing for". That was what he said.)

"Ha!"

Lintence's words gave him a bigger impact. It was impossible for him not to notice this fight. So did he understand everything?

(Get it? You're allowed the time for the next strike. Don't lose any more time than that...... and, the opponent seems to be preparing to end this in the next move.)

Layfon understood this. Derek was also leaping between live-bullets and keeping a distance from him, maintaining the same altitude as him. And he clearly sensed the huge whirl-like Kei concentrating around Derek. Perhaps Layfon already knew what he was planning.

Both sides wanted to win in the next move. They didn't have to think about their next move. They just needed to decide everything by clashing with all their might.

But.

But......

(Fonfon.)

Psychokinesis was reading Layfon's expression. Felli's voice spread out like a drop of ink falling into clear water.

(That person wants to see.)

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

(He wants to see a son in you.)

Derek's Kei showed he was prepared. Layfon could feel the flow of that Kei in this battlefield was the existence of perfection. It was an art made for the elegant and intense final stroke of the pen.

(He wants to see how much you've grown and what your level of determination is.)

Derek's Kei painted the surrounding sky like wings grown with feathers. It was gathered to the Heaven's Blade in his hand, caused by the Kei vein that ran through his body and into the weapon. This was originally a very normal act for Military Artists, but it looked so very bright from Derek's strong determination. It was beautiful enough to shock one's heart.

(Your determination, the real you, that's what that person wants to see....)

Felli continued.

Layfon couldn't move his gaze away from Derek. He raised his own Kei as he listened.

Derek moved.

Psyharden technique - Water Mirror.

(Are you going to just show that person your dishonest side....?)

Derek appeared before his eyes.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!"

Howling.

(I hate this you.)

Kei technique was released.

At the same time.

Psyharden technique - Flame Cut.

The techniques of the two clashed.

◇

Equipment geared for outside city use wrapped around her entire body as she stood.

Nina was on the outside, on the outside of Zuellni, on the outside of Grendan, and landed on top of the monster. She had planned to do this even without Felli's contact. This was reckless but she knew she had nothing else to do but this.

(I hope Captain can attack the monster from the outside.)

Nina was thankful for Felli's timely request, but she hadn't explained the strategy. It seemed the contact was limited. The flake had lost its strength after her contact and once more fell useless in Nina's hand. It seemed Felli wouldn't have a chance to talk to the Student President and Vance. And so Nina had prepared everything herself, sneaked into the equipment room and got ready for outside city fight. Nina accomplished this easier as all other Military Artists had to be on the ready for anything.

But she didn't want people to think she had lost it, resulting in Vance making a mistake for grasping hold of the wrong information and the Military Artists attacking the monster much earlier than needed. This wasn't what Nina wanted to see. That monster was concentrating on attacking Grendan and hadn't done anything to Zuellni, but it wouldn't ignore it long once it was attacked from this side.

So Nina had told what she planned to Sharnid and asked him to convey that message to Vance.

She didn't relay the message herself because she didn't want Vance to stop her. So she had only told Sharnid the necessary information and had then come here.

She knew what she was about to do was without a strategy.

All Heaven's Blade successors were fighting, but the situation was still in a dilemma. The addition of Nina probably wouldn't make any changes. But nothing would be solved if nothing was done.

(Please attack the monster with all of your strength, but please don't be reckless. If you were dead and Zuellni was damaged, either way, we will feel sad and regret.)

Felli had explained it clearly. She had been like that from the beginning, but her words were even colder than before. Perhaps she felt she really had to explain that point clearer.

Not one inch of space on the monster's stomach that was revealed in the flow of the air was smooth. The tips of Nina's shoes just barely fit into the monster's body as she stood. She held the iron whips. The weapon that only belonged to her, given to her by Zuellni. Perhaps there weren't any other weapons better suited to her than this pair of iron whips.

She would never let humiliation come to the iron whips in battle.

"Melnisc!"

(I will become your sharp sword, the intense flame to annihilate the enemy.)

The Haikizoku answered her call.

(No matter when and where, this has already become an unchangeable truth.)

Nina let Kei run through her body as she listened to Melnisc's answer. She locked her target on one of the ten heads on the stomach.

Combined Internal and External Kei variant - Raijin.

The catastrophic head that was lifted high watched Nina, but by then her world was already smothered in the smoke of high speed as she rushed for it.

The feeling of hitting the monster came to her hand as the monster's wailing pierced the sky. The crack caused by her attack should be smaller than the time when she first opened a hole in the monster's body. The monster's pain should also be less because Nina had used less power in this attack. Of course, the problem might not be on her attack. Perhaps the monster's head was harder than its body.

All the heads glared at her angrily because an important part of the body was hit. The other nine heads turned around to watch her. Nina felt pressure on her entire body.

Would the monster open its fangs to attack?

No.

"Um!"

Feeling a sense of distasteful prediction, Nina jumped and left her spot.

Lightning assaulted the space beneath her feet in the next moment. All the heads howled at the sky. At the same time, another lightning strike fell from the dark clouds. It didn't fall on Nina but the huge pillar of lightning hit the monster's body and began spreading out.

"Is the cloud also part of this guy!"

Numbness ran through her body even though she had dodged the attack. She gritted her teeth at the sensation, landed and prepared her next strike.

Raijin.

The monster's body was regenerating, but Nina's attack overcame its regeneration speed and made the wound wider. It didn't look that big of a wound. If one were to compare it to a wound on Nina, it'd be the equivalent of a small wound made by the tip of a foot.

But she was certain it hurt.

It wasn't a fatal wound though. Either way, this level of a wound was nothing to a monster with unbelievable regenerative power.

"Damn."

She jumped to avoid another lightning strike.

"This is endless."

Was it not working to simply attack the monster's head? Nina pondered again.

Perhaps Felli wanted her to confuse the enemy. The monster had turned all of its attention to her. Perhaps this was what Felli had wanted.

A huge body mass.

A great regenerative power.

Even Heaven's Blade successors could only defend in front of this thing. Nina herself was also experiencing this point with her body.

Then she must find a way to kill this monster. This monster's weak point...... If this existed on this monster's body then she had to find it. This was what she had to do now.

The monster would counter-attack with lightning when one of its heads was hit. This really was a powerful counter-attack. She would die if she got hit, but it was very simple to read its attack. The counter-attack wasn't always aimed at her. Sometimes it didn't even land close to her. The lightning would spread across the monster's whole body. The attack wasn't anything to it.

"Next."

Nina changed her target and ran up the monster's long neck. She almost got thrown off the neck a number of times before she reached its head, but she finally made it to her destination. She swung the iron whips down at the eye that was larger than her own body. As expected, the scale in this place wasn't as hard. Nina released her Kei, using all of her strength. No matter how many heads the monster had, this attack would give it quite some damage as long as it was a living thing.

But the end result was unexpected. The monster's reaction was very intense. Nina was thrown off the head because of it. But when she adjusted her pose in the air, the monster was already regenerating.

Not here.

Was it not the head then?

"Ok, next."

Nina's aim wasn't to defeat the monster. If she had insisted on defeating it, the battle would never end.

She landed, dodged the lightning strike and ran for the next head.

Someone saw it happen.

"She's doing something interesting."

The person who had retreated to Zuellni earlier than anyone else, Dixerio, was happily watching Nina's every movement.

"Ara, do you want to help her?" Nelphilia looked at him with a surprised expression. "You were wanting to defeat her yourself not so long ago."

"Weren't you the one who made me abandon that idea?"

"Is that so?" she was joking, passing off his complaint with a smile.

Fascinated attraction still lived in Nelphilia's eyes even though they were mere slits when she was smiling. Dixerio moved his gaze away and watched the monster and Nina's battle again.

"Seems to be chasing away a bee. The size is about right."

"Ala, the poison from the bee is incredible though."

"Exactly."

Dixerio held the huge metal whip on his shoulder.

"Are you really going? Aren't you thinking of heading there yourself?"

"It's not like my style to wait for the timing to come. Besides, I'm already here."

"Then go. I'll head there alone even if you are defeated."

Nelphilia took back her smile. The more she spent her time here, the weaker she became. The place that Saya told Leerin was a place that could realize all dreams. It was on the other side of this world, the place where the moon adorned the sky. It was hard to clearly see the hole in the sky because of the thick cloud cover. No, the hole was closed, that was why both Dixerio and her were still here.

"I'll leave you here and go if the hole opens up."

"Never mind. I think I'll head there on my own."

A mask appeared in Dixerio's hand. The mask of the Haikizoku, Velzenheim, had turned from blue to red after taking away the power of the fire god from Shante. It had greedily absorbed the power of the Wolf Faces and the existence of the fire god that was superior to them. Velzenheim now had the color that matched the title "The flame of the hungry wolf."

Dixerio put on the mask.

Power ran through him in a flash. The whirlwind created by the two negative powers of curse and revenge filled his body and spilled out of him.

Becoming a hideous flame.

Feeling the negative emotion writhing up his neck, Dixerio leapt. The pollutants could not invade his body as the intense flame was absorbing the pollutants and turning them into its own source of fuel. The flame became bigger once Dixerio left Zuellni's air shield.

"........ It can burn this well in air so thin, then it must burn even brighter on the other side," Nelphilia smiled with a finger on her lips as she watched him. "Ignasis. Perhaps you'll be burnt to ashes by the flame you created."

She lifted her head. On the other side of her gaze was the moon that was blocked by the heavy cloud cover. A smile that one would find tragic appeared on her face as she pondered the appearance of the moon.

Nina found out that something had happened. It happened after she attacked the third head. Her moves failed to defeat the monster, but she knew the monster was in pain from her blows. The more effective her attack was the closer she hit to the head. Of course, the eye was one of the attack points. It was easy to destroy the eye, but the regenerative speed of the eye was also faster than anywhere else. She doubted whether this eye held the same function as a human's eye. Compared to this, the monster felt more pain from a blow that caused internal injuries. It seemed this monster's weak point was in a deeper area inside its body where Nina's attack couldn't reach. And so the monster hated injuries to its insides more than to its surface.

Then...... It happened while Nina was pondering.

A ball of gigantic flame appeared in the sky.

The flame that suddenly appeared from Zuellni gave one of the monster's heads a powerful assault. The monster's skin was peeled away. The scales bounced back. Even Nina could hear the noise from the attack from far away. The noise that sounded like lightning pierced the monster's head. The head fell back and toppled listlessly on the monster's abdomen.

"What was that?"

Nina's surprised voice filled her own helmet. If what she was feeling was the remnants of Kei, then this Kei was too savage. Its quality felt different from the wild Kei of the Heaven's Blade successors. Both types of Kei seemed similar but they were different.

The flame continued to expand as if it was to swallow its surroundings. Nina could only describe it as horror.

And this was especially true when she saw the wave riding the flame, or the person that was rampaging inside the flame. Nina shivered.

Dixerio.

But was this really him? She didn't feel that this was the Dixerio Maskane that she knew. He was more like the carefree Sharnid when she first met him. She found out he loved talking to himself when she met him the second time a few days ago.

And now.

The man wielding a huge metal whip, bringing with him the constantly changing flame stood before her, and she found it hard to link him with the Dixerio she knew. The Heaven's Blade successors turned around the definition of a normal Military Artist, but Dixerio was turning around the knowledge of what constituted a living being.

What was this ball of flame?

Nina didn't know. The City Police knew of Shante's special body. Some Alchemists knew too, but Nina had no idea.

No one in Zuellni knew that Shante was the fire god and that her body was made to be a weapon by the Wolf Faces. Zuellni herself was filled with secrets. No one knew that Zuellni was involved with the fate of this world.

The other being before her had taken Nina's attention. She stood spaced out, rooted on the spot.

The remnants of lightning attacked her. The lightning running across the monster's body captured her feet and she was thrown back to fall onto the monster's round abdomen. Nina continued to slide down as there was no handhold for her.

"Uh!"

She pierced the monster's body with her iron whips and used that point to jump up and stood again. The lightning shock coursing through her body had cleared her head.

"......How could I be looked after like that!"

Whatever kind of person Dixerio was, it was clear that he was helping her interfere with the monster. Then what she had to do now was the same as before. It wasn't possible to want everything as she wanted. If she wanted to continue to investigate the mystery of this world, then she would have to leave Zuellni once more.

"Right now, what I have to do is what I can do."

This was all that Nina wanted for now.

She gripped the iron whips and ran off again.

◇

The surroundings of the palace had become a battlefield.

The sound of fighting and the footsteps of the monsters could be heard from the tallest tower in Grendan. Leerin's body kept shivering. She placed her hand on her chest and looked down out the window. Alsheyra and Saya were like statues, frozen on the spot. The queen's eyes were tightly closed but the girl of moonlight had her eyes wide opened.

Alsheyra was concentrating on the decisive timing that could arrive at any moment. As for Saya, Leerin didn't know what she was doing. Perhaps she was protecting Grendan.

With the monster that was covering the entire city, Durindana, perhaps Saya's power explained why this huge mass had yet to crush the city itself. It must be Saya's power to appoint an area that prevented anyone from entering. But Durindana was very strong. Even Saya could only prevent the huge body from entering. She could not stop the numerous live-bullets from invading the city.

The sound of chaotic but orderly footsteps was closing in on the palace, and the sound of the footsteps had slowed down somewhere. The Military Artists in the city were good at fighting, but they still couldn't completely stop the monsters from moving forward. They could only delay them.

Ahah....

Leerin hugged her body, sighing. She understood a little now. The atmosphere of despair was invading her bit by bit. The instinctive desire to live was stirring in her heart, about to explode at any moment.

The meaning behind the number of twelve Heaven's Blade successors. The function of the right eye. The existence of the Queen.

Everything was linked, but Leerin didn't know the answer that lay behind that linkage. She could probably guess the answer, but there was nothing but the feeling of sadness.

The rib. Heaven's Blades were the rib of Airen. The Airen that was the moon and guardian of this world. The Airen that Saya loved. A part of the strong bones that made up a man's shell, the sharp and dangerous bone that revealed danger to humanity.

The Queen, the power Airen possessed. Dispersed across the world because of Rigzario. The Queen was the final form of that power, gathered once more.

And this was the right eye that Airen desired. This power was born from his will so to protect this world, to allow the princess to sleep eternally, the magical eye that could weave the wall of thorns. Airen's flesh that excluded his will. His everything was here. Then everything was gathered here because of the owner's will.

It was natural to gather here to protect Saya.

The Queen's birth on this earth, the gathering of the Heaven's Blade successors, Leerin standing here at this moment, everything was because of Airen's will.

But....

She shook her head and chased away the thought surfacing in her mind. There was no fate here. He was only caught in this play. The stirrings left from her thoughts pained her. She boldly looked out the window of the tower and chased away those stirrings.

She looked at the sky through the window. She couldn't see that figure when Barmelin was in a rampage. But next time and the next time. Perhaps she could see that figure. That figure may appear before her after the monster's abdomen was pierced and the clouds were chased away.

She understood everything already.

And that was the time when she was to exercise her power.

The skeletons were closing in on the palace and in comparison, Grendan's Military Artists bravely fought on. They possessed above average fighting strength as individuals, but they could also fight together as a group. Tens of Military Artists released external Kei at the same time. They timed their moves so that the storm created by the Kei turned upward to create chaos in the enemies, destroying them. Still, this level of damage was very tiny for the whole of the skeletal enemies.

"No matter what, don't let them enter the palace!"

The commanding Military Artist howled at the skeletal soldiers climbing up the palace's wall and the rooftops of normal residential houses and heading straight for the palace.

But the skeletons did not stop moving. They ignored the wounds the Military Artists inflicted upon them and kept moving forward. Meanwhile, more live-bullets had landed as they slipped through the Heaven's Blades and so the skeleton's reinforcements were increasing constantly, and the number of reinforcements far surpassed the number being destroyed. All Military Artists spread out in Grendan had come to the palace after judging that the skeletons' aim was not the city's underground shelters.

But they still couldn't block them off.

Worry filled everyone.

And his voice rang out crisp and loud amidst them.

"...... Really, to leave this scene for me at such a playful time. My job isn't to wipe your ass. Really."

The sigh came from the front entrance of the palace. His long hair was bounded. His arms were filled with muscles because of his training. Silver plates shone.

The man's fist moved in an instant and hit the sky.

External Kei variant - Full power. Stab.

The released Kei bullet pierced through the skeletal group and ran in a straight line, forcefully splitting the enemies into two rows. The Military Artists cheered at the figur-->>

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