Volume 22, Chapter 4: Each Others' Battles

Down below, endlessly advancing underground....

Karian's steps continued moving downwards on the stairs. The sound of him stepping on the metal staircase echoed in the empty space underground.

He didn't know when the lights that illuminated the surroundings had disappeared. Now the only light source was the white ball of light ahead of him that was guiding his advance.

"Young Master...."

She should be unable to see that light source. What goal was she moving forwards for? It didn't seem like the surroundings were that dark.

Or perhaps the scene surrounding them was one that only Karian could see.

Were the guardians of the other side peering over at them? That kind of doubt couldn't help but appear.

But, Karian was completely confident that this cluster of light before him belonged to an Electronic Fairy.

He was being led.

To where?

"Young Master, are you alright?"

"It's alright, just trust me for now."

"I trust you, but...."

Karian didn't feel the confusion of Stania behind him at all. Right now he was focused fully on what was before him, and he could no longer feel other emotions. Karian only walked downwards without stopping.

Did the unnatural stairs heading down before him truly belong to this city? It made one think that it was unreliable and dangerous.

Other than the ball of light guiding him, he couldn't see anything.

Since he couldn't see downwards, he feared that if he raised his head he wouldn't be able to see the place where he first entered this place.

"Young Master...."

Stania's voice was full of anxiety. If there were a battle, then she wouldn't be very suited for the situation.

Even so, Karian still stepped on the stairs going down.

Going down without stopping.

Not long after Stania's hand seemed to have grabbed on to the clothes on Karian's back....

"Uh."

The light disappeared.

Just as he thought this, the next light appeared.

The light spread out as if they were looking into the night sky.

This wasn't the only change.

The underground space that had oppressed the two up till now and given them a kind of enclosed feeling suddenly disappeared. It gave a kind of feeling like being released, and the presence of the metal frame that had originally surrounded them also disappeared.

The light spreading out above their heads swept away the darkness, and Stania behind him seemed to have also seen this.

"This is...."

Stania muttered.

"Can you see it too?"

"Yes.... but, what's going on?"

Hearing Stania's reply, Karian could firmly believe that the thing he saw was not a hallucination, and his heart relaxed slightly.

But, he couldn't find a clue that could correctly reply to her question.

Though he didn't have any reason to worry either.

Because after this he would be able to understand.

"Well, next...."

Karian once again looked at the surroundings.

There was no one else in this space filled with illuminated night other than Karian and Stania.

"We don't know what will happen next, I guess?"

The target of Karian's question was the light that had guided them. Even if it had disappeared without a trace, things couldn't have just ended like that.

After letting Karian and Stania see the scene in front of them, things wouldn't end like this.

Changes happened quickly.

The light once again flashed before their eyes.

"Ugh-"

Strong light made the two unable to help but use their hands to block their eyes, and through the flow of the air, Karian felt Stania stand in front of him. Stania had moved like this to guard him.

But, this blinding light didn't continue for too long. Though the light hadn't completely disappeared, it was no longer blinding to the degree where they couldn't open their eyes.

"....Who is it!?"

Stania's stern voice showed that changes had happened.

After opening his eyes, Karian saw it.

It was light.

Though it wasn't enough to force him to shut his eyes, it was still a bit blinding.

It wasn't the white light that had guided Karian, but rather blue light.

The origin of this light had taken shape and stood there.

It was a person.

No, though its external appearance was very close, it wasn't a human.

"An Electronic Fairy...."

"Eh!?"

Karian muttered, and Stania made a surprised sound when she heard it.

It wasn't Zuellni there. What had appeared in the blue light was a translucent female body. Light cloth-like objects floated by the woman's side. Two protrusions extended out of her naturally curling hair, making her extremely noticeable. They were animal ears. Things that seemed like animal skins were wrapped around the waist of this being that looked like a woman, but it was actually one of her many tails.

So beautiful, and so dignified. The woman's gaze had a strength that pushed Karian back.

"Who are you?"

Karian asked carefully.

"I'm the mother of your hometown, children."

"........Saintberg."

Hearing Karian's words, the woman's expression softened slightly.

That name belonged to the city that Karian had been born in.

"Why? Is this....?"

After raising his doubts, Karian thought of the special information network between Electronic Fairies he had once heard of that had been called En.

But, even so, it wasn't a reason for the Electronic Fairy Saintberg to have appeared here.

"No.... then, is this inside En space?"

"What truly keen thinking. That's how it is, my child."

Saintberg who confirmed his thinking had already turned her back to them.

"Right now we will begin an important meeting. As a result of a proposal by myself and several others, we have decided to let you attend this meeting."

"Meeting? ....So?"

"Then.... the situation might be as you have thought."

In the depths ahead of the vaguely-speaking Saintberg, several new lights appeared. These were all Electronic Fairies with unusual humanoid shapes.

The light of the emerging Electronic Fairies slowly gathered in this space, forming a circle.

"As long as you are here, regardless of where you are you can hear every sound and see every thing. Just watch from the side for now."

After saying this, Saintberg also entered the circle of Electronic Fairies.

Karian and Stania had been left behind, only able to silently watch Saintberg move far away.

Their mixed emotions still hadn't calmed down.

Moreover, there was still an incredulous mood.

"Young Master.... this isn't a dream?"

"Yes, it's definitely not."

Responding to Stania's question, Karian once again rectified his mood, looking around again.

The light that had gathered in this vast space.... the number of Electronic Fairies wasn't very great.

It wasn't very great.... More correctly, it was much less than the number Karian had thought.

Though it hadn't been a year since he had left Zuellni, he had already been to quite a few cities through the roaming buses.

Considering the number of cities he had been to, the number of Electronic Fairies gathered here counted as small.

If the Electronic Fairies gathered here, their goals were the same as what Karian was thinking.... That was a prerequisite.

But with that hypothesis.... that expectation, he could confirm that he was correct.

The Electronic Fairies here were Electronic Fairies of cities that Karian had been to when he was spreading information and images of the crisis.

"Then everyone, is it about time to begin?"

Saintberg said this.

The responses of the other Electronic Fairies weren't sounds. But, Karian somewhat understood what was represented by the blinking lights.

"What we want to discuss is obviously the battle that began not too long ago in Grendan."

Hearing Saintberg's words, Karian's entire body couldn't help but shake. It took his entire strength to simply nod at Stania's light call of 'Young Master!' from behind.

"Oh.... so it's already begun."

That kind of nightmarish battle had begun in Grendan again.

They could also win this time.

But perhaps they would be defeated.

The fighting power that they had gathered in order to not be defeated, what would happen if it lost?

Because he had those kinds of thoughts, Karian couldn't stop traveling.

The results of this journey would now be revealed. Karian was already so tense that he forgot to exhale the air that he gulped down.

"What does the information coming from Grendan say?"

Other Electronic Fairies asked, and Saintberg shook her head.

"The situation isn't that simple."

Saintbert spoke.

"The conditions change continuously. Grendan's pure-blood holders are currently beginning to fight, and also, the mother's secret plan has also completed the transition to the next-generation successor, and is currently preparing to depart for Grendan."

Grendan's pure-blood holders.... That should mean the Heaven's Blade successors.

Then, what did the 'mother's secret plan' mean?

That was information that Karian didn't know, and moreover he couldn't even speculate.

But, the situation that Karian had always been bringing up had already happened, and the strength that had been prepared for it had truly begun moving.

Then, what about the preparations that Karian had made?

He looked at Saintberg, and the Electronic Fairies' talk still continued.

"There's no reason to discuss the trends of the battle. It is already too late to decide according to the developments of the situation like we have done up to now. Right now the decision we should make is to act or not to act."

"But...."

"This is only a precaution, and it's still quite a late precaution. An action like taking precautions after waiting for an illness to be confirmed is something that would be spurned by an insurance company. But it's a peculiar situation this time, because the policyholders began insuring after creating the insurance company themselves."

"That's quite the metaphor."

The one who said this was an old Electronic Fairy that looked like a tree. Things like tree branches grew out everywhere from his body, and green leaves would float down lightly seemingly at any time.

"In terms of significance, it's a similar thing to insurance. But, there's Grendan and our mother. There's already these two preparations, and they're all extremely strong. Since it's called insurance, then at the least we should prepare side by side with them, no matter what. But, can we do that?"

"Nn?"

"We probably can't."

The other Electronic Fairies' thoughts were the same as the words of the old-looking Electronic Fairy.

"Then what should we do next?"

It wasn't Saintberg who said this, but a new voice.

It sounded like the voice of a girl even younger than Saintberg, and words that seemed as if they were managing the old man resounded in the vast space.

"If both preparations are defeated, will we be destroyed without having done anything?"

A warm voice entered Karian's ears, but there was a strong force contained inside that warmth.

Karian cast his gaze downwards, and then once again looked into the group of lights.

After looking carefully, a shape surrounded by the lights was clearly revealed.

A young girl.

A young girl that Karian had seen before.

"Zuellni."

She was there, and had begun speaking to the other Electronic Fairies.

"Though it's correct to assign things to those who can complete them. However, are we currently in a position where we can do other things only after completing the mission given to us?"

"Is there anything we can do?"

The old man asked. He seemed to be the representative of the opposing faction.

"Isn't it only because he trusts that there are still things he can do that he continues to travel and that we gathered here?"

"Hmm."

Touching his beard, the old man turned his gaze to Karian.

Though he had the external appearance of an old man, his gaze was filled with youthful heat. The age relationship between his external appearance and his mind should be different from humans, and Karian must have been bound by human common sense, getting an incorrect feeling.

While he was puzzled by that incorrect feeling, Karian was unknowingly surrounded by the Electronic Fairies' light.

"When...."

Stania behind him made a surprised sound.

Had they been the ones moving? Or had the other parties moved? Regardless of which, it had occurred at a speed that the Military Artist Stania hadn't noticed.

"Then please ask him to explain."

The old man spoke.

Gazes focused on Karian.

A sudden weight oppressed Karian's body. He who had made speeches countless times to audiences before as the Student Council president of Zuellni was now enduring a completely different kind of tension from before.

What really was this weight?

"It's the weight of lives."

At the same time as Karian put his hand on his chest, a voice sounded.

Zuellni was by his side.

The light that covered her body also covered Karian.

A warm feeling spread out from the center of his body, letting Karian feel that the weight pressing down on him gradually lightened.

"It's because of your hard work that we have this meeting today."

Zuellni said warmly.

"....Things wouldn't have become like this either if it weren't for you telling me the situation that one day."

Karian replied, and after listening, Zuellni showed an innocent smile befitting of her external appearance of a young girl.

That day, after that nightmarish day when Zuellni and Grendan came in contact, Karian had come in contact with various things. In a laboratory, he witnessed a girl awakening from a deep sleep that had continued until then, and had learned everything that was happening to the world in the Academy City's Mechanical Department from Zuellni.

Why would Zuellni tell him this?

After hearing Zuellni's words, Karian had asked her.

"I haven't only told this to you."

She had replied like that.

Though it was very short, in the history of the Academy City, she had already told this to several students.

But as expected, they didn't know what to do unless the crisis was appearing right by them, and it seemed that there was no one who could come up with tactics to confront it.

"If it were a Military Artist, then maybe it would be enough if they decided to fight."

At that time, she had said this.

"But, is it enough for a normal person who is not a Military Artist to just not know anything?"

Her pure doubt, like a child's, was given to Karian.

The right to decide had been given to Karian.

Zuellni had probably told these things to those who could do something.

But, she only conveyed it, nothing more.

It was prohibited for the Electronic Fairies to tell people of the world's crisis that had always been a hidden secret.

Zuellni usually couldn't speak because of this.

"Why would you do this?"

Karian who knew these things asked Zuellni.

There were already sufficient preparations to face the world's crisis, and it should be that there wasn't anything else they could do, and moreover he didn't have that power.

It wouldn't be strange for the people preparing for the fate of this world to have already considered everything.

But then, why would Zuellni tell Karian about this?

Could it be that she only wanted to spread anxiety?

"Whether you like it or not, as long as there's a possibility, it's better to tell this to those who will worry about the world. Because this is the city filled with possibilities."

Zuellni had said this with a naive expression.

The Academy City.

A city filled with possibilities.

Yes, perhaps there were indeed innumerable possibilities gathered there.

But because of that, because she was the Electronic Fairy of the Academy City, Zuellni had thought of acting like that.

"You're really a foolish person."

Karian had said this, but he himself had made his determination.

He had determined to embark on his journey.

He decided to go to many cities, to tell of the crisis of the world to many people.

Even if Karian couldn't think of any strategy on his own, perhaps there were people who could. Perhaps they had some special means.

Even if their strength wasn't reliable as individuals, if they gathered together, perhaps they could do it.

So, when Karian graduated, he embarked on a journey.

Because of this, Karian was here now.

Being surrounded by Electronic Fairies, in order to tilt the balance of their decision, Karian took a deep breath.

Then, he spoke.

In order to make all of them act, he wove his words.

◇

Had L?vateinn been exhausted slightly.... it truly couldn't be told from her external appearance.

Layfon felt the heat of the Dite grasped in his hand while he panted for breath..

Leerin was behind him, and Lintence by his side, with the Queen slightly in front of them.

Together, they faced the enemy, Vati Len.

No, she was no longer the Vati that Layfon knew. She had become slightly taller than before, and the impression from her clothing had changed.

She was L?vateinn. An enemy of this world since the world had been born.

A battle machine that served someone who had been imprisoned in the moon.

Nano-Celluloid Interface 1 L?vateinn.

That was her.

"........"

He no longer had anything to say to her, and Layfon only watched L?vateinn in silence.

As expected, she didn't have any appearance of weariness.

She only seemed to have a sliver of sorrow, looking expressionlessly at Leerin, and the black-clothed girl next to her.

L?vateinn's target should be the life of that girl called Saya.

Though Layfon was still dubious whether that was truth or lies in this kind of situation, this world would be destroyed because of that girl's death.

This world had been created by that black-clothed girl.

The world had already been split originally, and the world had crumbled because of fighting after being split. In order to protect the people who had fallen into the gap between worlds called the Zero Territory, Saya had acted as a container that was created, which was the current world.

Harpe had said this when they were on the road to Grendan.

The concepts in his words were too huge, making it hard to believe.

But regardless of whether Layfon believed or not, the situation had continued unfolding according to that information. Countless people and Electronic Fairies had prepared to protect the world, and enemies like L?vateinn had appeared.

The Heaven's Blade successors were gathered for that goal, the Queen had become the strongest existence because of this, and the peculiar power inside Leerin definitely also existed for this.

Then, L?vateinn had appeared here to eliminate Saya.

It had nothing to do with Layfon's feelings. They wouldn't stop the situation regardless of what unfolded, and now, this kind of situation had already come to be.

If he didn't do anything, then the situation would unknowingly develop into something that Layfon was unable to match.

Layfon was here because he felt that wouldn't do.

Whether he believed or not, that was the most meaningless question to Layfon.

There was a being here who could overturn all of his doubts.

There was a reason here that was able to make Layfon act.

Right now he only needed to respond to this reality.

"........Alright."

Layfon nodded his head after speaking softly.

He didn't hate this kind of method of switching moods.

Actually, it should be said that he relied on switching moods to live to the present.

The person before him could be the neighbor or a classmate of his, but right now it was no longer that way.

Since right now she was threatening Leerin who was both his family and his childhood friend, as well as the enemy who endangered the people of his hometown.

He had to deal with the cold reality that she had to be gotten rid of.

historical

Letting his opponent live while at the same time allowing himself to remain intact.... Layfon's power was insufficient to pursue that kind of ending.

"Next~ up...."

Alsheyra standing before him pointed a finger. Though Layfon couldn't see from behind her back, her voice was sufficient for him to understand clearly that she was extremely pleased.

"No one will come anymore, right? Then.... It's about time to make a scene."

"........"

L?vateinn didn't make any response.

In a moment, Kei sprang up as if covering the skin on his face, and sparks scattered in front of Layfon. Something must have come in contact with that defensive Kei.

A similar scene appeared in front of Lintence.

Leerin behind him was also the same.

The disappearing light told Layfon that he couldn't take his gaze away from what was ahead of him. Layfon only silently accepted the changes that occurred, and gathered his mind to watch the Queen's next action.

A hurricane of Kei formed with the Queen as its center, and this situation was just from her increasing her Kei. Layfon endured the hurricane in order to keep from being blown away.

"Let's go."

Layfon heard a muttering sound inconsistent with the Queen's normal style.

In a moment, the Queen's slender body had disappeared.

Layfon barely caught the afterimage that her black hair left behind. But, his eyes didn't catch her movements until after the Queen once again appeared in front of L?vateinn.

Facing the suddenly-appearing Alsheyra, L?vateinn still reacted calmly.

Evading the fist that was struck out, and blocking the simultaneous kick.

As expected, it was impossible to use his eyes to catch the process of these stances being formed. It seemed as if their movements stopped for a moment, being played frame-by-frame.

Though she had blocked the kick, it didn't mean that the attack's momentum had been completely stopped. L?vateinn was kicked flying all the way to the wall.

Though L?vateinn had been smashed into the wall, her figure quickly appeared again.

"........"

But she didn't counterattack.

L?vateinn who emerged from the hole in the wall turned her neck as if examining her body.

Her appearance seemed very surprised.

"Haha."

As expected, the voice that Alsheyra let out was filled with a joyful air, but Layfon didn't have the leisure to feel pleasure in this situation.

That disparity shouldn't only be a gap of strength, because such a thing could also be seen in Savaris.

To her, this battlefield was a rare one that wouldn't end with a single strike of hers.

"Let me have some fun again."

At the same time as she spoke, the Queen's body had already disappeared.

The Queen who moved in front of L?vateinn opened her offensive with a fist. The weapon in L?vateinn's hand was smashed after a single blow, and this forced her to choose to endure the Queen's assault.

Bouncing shockwaves were everywhere underground. Moreover the entire underground space was shaking, and the noises as the metal creaked under pressure gave a very inauspicious premonition.

"....Is it alright? The city."

"You also saw things above, how could it be alright."

With a sentence, Lintence overturned the thing that Layfon had been worrying about.

"....It's fine as long as the shelters don't have trouble?"

"We should think that way."

As long as the city's residents inside the shelters were alright, that meant the city's death wasn't important. It was currently that much of a severe situation.

But, from his face it could be seen that he had other things that he worried about. No, Layfon wasn't clear on whether Lintence was worried about something or not. They were currently in a battle, but Lintence's slightly grim face made Layfon unable to help but think of that kind of thing.

In the worst situation the shelter might not even be left. He feared that Lintence also had that kind of thought.

This battlefield had that degree of intensity.

A battle to make Lintence, the strongest Heaven's Blade successor, make that kind of troubled decision.

But....

"We really can't go back on guarding the shelters."

Layfon said.

"My family is still in there."

His brothers were inside. Since he hadn't seen him fighting, then his adoptive father was definitely also inside.

Just like protecting Leerin, protecting them was very important to Layfon.

"....Protecting the city's residents is the obligation of Military Artists."

Lintence used a low-spirited voice to respond.

"Yes."

Hearing his master's words, Layfon nodded his head. His consciousness returned to the battle. This extraordinarily high-speed battle made it so that just following them with his eyes was tiring for Layfon.

But, if he wasn't suited for the battle in front of him at this moment, then right now he didn't have any use here.

Raising his Kei, flowing as much Kei as he could into his body. Until his mind cried out, he endlessly quickened his movement ability, in order to be able to chase the Queen's battle.

He saw it.

Layfon saw Alsheyra and L?vateinn tapping off the walls that surrounding the underground space as they engaged each other in an endless midair battle.

It wasn't short afterimages, but rather he clearly saw their movements.

"....But whether I can do that or not is something else."

To be able to follow their movements with his eyes and to be able to pursue them were-->>

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