Volume 22, Chapter 5: Choice of Worlds

Before the red light reached Grendan.

Her great-grandfather's corpse had disappeared from the ground.

Probably because he had transcended life for a long time, her great-grandfather's corpse disappeared into the wind like sand.

It was a way of disappearing that made one feel that he had never lived on this world.

But an unexpected question emerged in Nina's mind as she watched all of this blankly.

"....How should I explain this to father?"

Her great-grandfather had died. His corpse wasn't even there, so what could she use as proof to explain to her father?

Nina who pondered this noticed the two Dites that had dropped there.

They were her great-grandfather's things.

These were the only things she could bring back.

But, just this would probably be enough. In the first place, it was impossible to use roaming buses to transport a corpse. In that case, burying the corpse there and bringing his possessions back was the proper treatment.

The process when one died outside the city was always like this.

He wouldn't be able to sleep on the ground of his hometown.

"Ugh...."

An obvious thing made Nina feel a headache, and her body naturally trembled.

Feelings of regret and helplessness spilled forth, but she couldn't control it.

"Ugh, uhh...."

She moaned.

Her great-grandfather, Gildred Antalk.

Extremely long-lived.

Starting from when Nina was born, he had always, always.... From very long ago he had always had the determination to face the world's crisis, preparing for this, and always waiting.

That was her great-grandfather.

Always protecting Nina, always protecting the Antalk family, always protecting the Senou City.

That kind of person had now died here.

Before the world's crisis that he had always waited for, he had fallen.

He had lost to L?vateinn.

After entrusting everything to Nina, he had departed.

"S, someone like me...."

The tears that fell on the dry earth were absorbed, shriveled, and disappeared.

When Nina noticed, she had already been covered by a warm light.

On her right side was an Electronic Fairy with an appearance that looked like an arrogant youngster.

Behind her was an Electronic Fairy with an appearance that seemed only a few years different from Nina.

On her left side was an Electronic Fairy with an appearance that looked like a very calm beauty.

And in front of her was....

"You are...."

Nina raised her head.

In front of her was an Electronic Fairy with the appearance of a young girl who sat on a giant flower.

The name of the young girl on the flower was Armadune.

The youngster on her right was Dischale.

The adolescent behind her was Tentorium.

The beauty on her right was Falysodam.

They were all Electronic Fairies who had fought shoulder-to-shoulder with her late great-grandfather.

As well as the Electronic Fairies that Nina would succeed.

Different from the Haikizoku Melnisc inside Nina's body, these four were Electronic Fairies who had decided from the start that their existence would be converted completely to be fighting strength of Military Artists.

"....Is it alright even if it's me?"

Nina's cheeks were wet with tears, as she gazed at Armadune while asking. This was because Nina felt that she should be something like a captain to these four Electronic Fairies.

"I'm a very pitiful person, not someone great like great-grandfather."

Someone who, upon encountering a setback, would hope for someone to stand up and pull her up, a weak person who couldn't even stand up again on her own.

She had been like that as well when she had been in Schneibel.

She would lose at the important time.

She had originally believed that she would change if she trained outside of the city, but her hard work in Zuellni hadn't produced any admirable fruit.

Even so, her great-grandfather had died after entrusting everything to Nina.

It was impossible for her to have confidence.

"....I only always thought that there were some things that had to be done."

After she had learned of Vati Len's true form, she had worked hard to become strong. She also thought that her hard work had succeeded, and at the least, she had become stronger as a Military Artist.

Then, what about her mind?

Had her mind become strong?

Did she have the necessary strength of mind to succeed her great-grandfather's will?

Had she become someone who could be a companion of these four Electronic Fairies?

Did Nina have a strong enough heart to devote her everything to fight against the world's crisis?

She didn't have that kind of confidence.

"I always wanted to become strong. But.... I have no confidence."

"....Then become stronger."

A voice suddenly came from in front of her.

It was Armadune's voice.

"Become strong and succeed everything, right here and right now."

The girl on the flower whose face had slight traces of baby fat looked at Nina with an extremely firm expression.

"We hope that you can have a strong heart of iron like Gildred."

"A heart of iron....?"

Her great-grandfather had also said similar things.

"We will prepare strength for you. What you need is the iron heart that can focus this strength."

The meaning was to combine strength and willpower together.

"In order to wield the full strength, techniques and a robust heart are necessary. We hope that you can also possess these."

Armadune repeated similar words.

Her gaze didn't move from Nina one bit.

Only watching the teary-eyed Nina with a firm expression.

Looking around her, the other Electronic Fairies also showed similar expressions.

Yes.

Nina wasn't the only one feeling grief for her great-grandfather's death.

The Electronic Fairies were also extremely grieved.

Thinking carefully, they had been with her great-grandfather much longer than Nina, and their relationship with her great-grandfather should have been much more intimate.

Then their sadness wasn't something that Nina's could match up to.

But even so, the Electronic Fairies still endured their tears.

Thinking of this, Nina felt that her heart was shaken. The eyes of the Electronic Fairies staring at her made her feel as if Gildred were there looking at her.

Let him see it again, the kind of courage you had when you opposed your great-grandfather the last time you met.

She felt as if she had been told this.

"....I'm truly too pathetic."

Nina was the only one not moving forward.

"Right now isn't the time to do those things. Battle has already begun, the battlefield that my great-grandfather was always waiting for."

And now, her great-grandfather was dead.

"I'm the only one still here. And I have already sworn to witness everything that was happening right now, and do everything that I could."

After coming to Zuellni, she had been pulled into various things. Then, she had experienced that battle in Grendan, learned of the crisis that the world was going to face, and had made the determination to step in.

Nina stood up.

She stood here, looking at the Electronic Fairies.

"I don't have confidence in whether or not I can correctly succeed great-grandfather's legacy."

Nina continued speaking, facing the Electronic Fairies and accepting their gazes from the front.

She wove her fundamental thoughts into her words.

"But, I also wished to witness the meaning of this battlefield. I also wished from the bottom of my heart that I would be able to be related with this battlefield."

She didn't have the confidence that she would be able to complete what she had been entrusted. Because right now she didn't even know whether or not she would be able to fulfill her own desires.

But, because of this....

"I don't want to turn back on myself. And there are things that I want to protect. So...."

So....

Before the words she spoke afterwards, Nina took in a big breath. As if bearing a heavy fate not long after she had been born.

Beginning from the moment when Nina finished saying everything, she would no longer be able to escape, she understood this.

In other words, right now when she hadn't yet said everything, she still had the opportunity to take it all back.

(Idiot.)

She had thought of something extremely stupid.

Even if she thought this, even if she knew that this was an extremely shameful thought, that option wasn't so simple to neglect.

The battlefield that was being fought now was directly connected to the fate of the entire world. The enemy wanted the world's life, and if they lost, everyone would die.

There was no longer anywhere to escape to.

If she wanted to continue living there was only battle.

If she wanted to continue living.

In other words, right here, there was another thing she could choose.

That was choosing death.

The choice of not fighting and simply dying directly.

If she thought of the endless terror she would confront in battle, thinking of the emotional burden she had borne several times in the jaws between life and death, thinking about the terror of it all, perhaps dying in an instant would be more relaxing.

That kind of thought appeared in Nina's heart.

No, that thought had actually always been there.

She had been born into this world as a Military Artist who had to fight, and then had been brought up, had been educated, and in that process, those kinds of thoughts had slowly been born.

She had always cast aside that cowardly thought, and had never truly faced it.

If she died then she wouldn't need to fight.

She wouldn't have to brandish her weapons and fight.

She would be liberated.

Things would become relaxed.

Ahh....

Though it was a thought that she had always cast aside, that kind of thought was greatly enticing.

(I'm truly a coward.)

She thought this again.

Not to say that the sense of justice in her heart had washed away everything, but rather, if the thing in her heart that she believed was a sense of justice was slightly weaker, then she wouldn't possibly be standing here in this moment, and she also understood this.

Her true self was a weak and cowardly person, a pitiful being.

So before she was caught by her terror she had to run with her full strength, and shake it off.

After becoming conscious of the fact that simply dying would let everything become relaxed, she was even more tempted to escape from her terror.

She had made it to today in an unconscious state.

(If it's like this, then this time I can escape.)

The sweet temptation of that option which had come into her heart continuously drew closer to Nina who had become conscious of it.

But it was a sweetness mixed in with rancidity.

She couldn't choose that option; she couldn't make that kind of decision.

(I know.)

She was very clear that she needed a motive to be able to escape.

(I don't want to be thought of as a useless thing.)

By who? By everyone.

By the people she respected, by the people she was hostile to, by the people who were hostile to her, neighbors, friends, acquaintances, people who knew Nina though Nina didn't know them.... She didn't want to let these people think that Nina Antalk was an incredibly useless person.

Then, for the person who had pulled her useless self back up.

For the person who had become her goal.

Because of this, since she had silently fought until now, if she betrayed her words today, then she would be even more burdened with the stigma of one who had run away.

In order to avoid all of this, she at least had to leave behind proof that she had fought.

The option of running away hadn't been in Nina from the beginning.

(So, it's alright.)

She could receive that determination.

She could proceed to the battlefield.

Forget tough like iron, perhaps she only had an extremely weak determination.

But, she was determined that she would definitely not run away.

A determination to fight.

Therefore....

Though it felt very long, all of these thoughts happened in the span of her deep breath.

"So...."

The conclusion came.

The final moment of her choice ended.

"Please lend your strength to me."

She recounted the conclusion that her thinking had guided her to, telling it to the Electronic Fairies.

"We obey, new master."

Nina didn't know whether this was the best answer to them.

But, the battle had already started.

Moreover, there was only Nina in front of them.

The Electronic Fairies had no other choice, and since they had decided to fight, then they could only choose Nina who was before them.

Perhaps they were the most sorrowful ones.

(Because they have no choice other than me who is like this.)

But because of this, she couldn't betray their expectations.

She could only fight.

Strength swelled up in Nina's body.

◇

Nina didn't encounter any problems controlling the strength.

Perhaps this was because she had accepted it from the start.

The other thing different from her great-grandfather was that the light of Kei that overflowed from Nina's body was red.

Why would this be?

It was probably because she was different from her great-grandfather, and the Haikizoku was still inside Nina's body.

"Melnisc, are you alright?"

(There's nothing wrong, master. You're the one who should take care not to become controlled by this power.)

"Understood. Armadune."

After replying to Melnisc, Nina looked forward.

"We need to give up on this city, we no longer have time to move to Grendan."

(Understood. We have already connected to Grendan's En, and we can depart at any time.)

The link she had desired was also already perfectly complete.

Of course, there were other unexpected byproducts.

Nina felt that the sensation she had of Melnisc now was stronger than before she had merged.

One other thing.

Nina felt that the existence of the nameless Electronic Fairy that had merged with Nina before Melnisc was even clearer.

Her young self had originally planned to rescue, but instead had been rescued by that tiny being. The young Electronic Fairy had become a part of Nina's Kei vein.

Right now Nina could feel its presence.

She could feel that child still living inside her.

Nina felt both surprise and joy at this, and this also made her think of her old wounds.

(It's impossible for me to run.)

One of her first experiences that had built her current self was there.

She was there, watching Nina.

Nina couldn't betray that young Electronic Fairy that had allowed herself to continue living.

(Let's go together.)

At the same time she said that, a faint twinge came from her Kei vein.

She felt that this was the reply of that young Electronic Fairy.

"Alright!"

Nina focused her consciousness, and something like a giant, dark hold appeared before her.

This was the entrance to the space that had been named En by the Electronic Fairies.

Nina jumped in.

There were countless lines of light passing back and forth in the darkness. The current Nina could understand that those lines of light were the pieces of information that the Electronic Fairies traded back and forth.

Though the lines of light that passed by made one feel a bit unsafe, right now there was no time to confirm their origin.

Not long after, Nina was sent to the sky of Grendan.

At the same time she flew out of the En, she was baptized by smoke. But the smoke was absorbed into the Kei waves that she had already released, and diffused.

On the other side of the smoke, a city blazing with a sea of fire spread underneath her.

"It's somehow become like this...."

Nina descended while looking at the horrifying city, speechless. The destructive shockwaves the battle produced had the palace as their center, destroying the buildings in its surroundings in almost concentric circles. Fingers of flame extended out, and the fire in the moving city was intensifying.

As if trying to destroy those concentric circles, there were many deep trenches in the city. The ground portion had been turned upside down, and some had disappeared.

Several of the city's legs had broken and fractured.

The scene before her eyes couldn't help but make one think whether this city had already died.

But, it still hadn't died.

There were still people fighting.

There was another place spewing out more smoke than the place she was descending towards.

There was a monster extending out of that place with a terrifying twisted shape.

"What is that thing?'

(Because of the moon's crumbling, things that were originally on that side seem to have come here.)

Armadune said this.

"Moon?"

Nina mumbled, falling towards the ground.

As she fell, she raised her head to look at the sky. In the center of her raised gaze, as if chasing her as she fell, was the crumbling moon.

Pieces of giant mass scattered in space.

(Captain.)

At the same time as the scenery made her widen her eyes, the Psychokinesis flake that drew close to her transmitted a voice that Nina was familiar with.

"Felli!? Why are you here?"

(I wanted to ask you that question, and though what I really want to ask about is your current condition, what's more important is the situation. Do you need an explanation?)

"Please."

Though Nina was very surprised that Felli was here, she had still slightly expected this.

That meant, Layfon should also be here.

Though she definitely hadn't told them the truth, they had still declared that they would definitely follow behind. And as such, he had indeed left Zuellni.

So, though she didn't know the process behind it, Nina felt that it wasn't a particularly strange thing even if he were here.

As for why, it was because Grendan was his hometown.

(Then....)

Felli began explaining.

L?vateinn had suddenly begun attacking Grendan, and the Heaven's Blades successors had gone on the offensive, and then part of L?vateinn had invaded the underground, Layfon and Lintence had pursued. She told all of these things to Nina.

"....Layfon is underground, huh."

(Yes, and because the underground is currently in a peculiar state where Psychokinesis cannot reach, I cannot gather information, so as to how things are....)

"I know."

Layfon was there.

Fighting underground.

This made Nina slightly ease up a bit.

Though L?vateinn had taken all of Zuellni hostage back then, if she could have, Nina had wanted to keep all of this a secret.

That kind of apologetic mood towards them, along with the fact that this had even made them arrive in Grendan before her, those feelings combined together to make Nina's heart unable to calm down for a while.

But, right now wasn't the time to get bent out of shape over those kinds of things.

Before her was an abnormal being.

"In the end, I won't be able to go underground if I don't get rid of these things first."

If she let these kinds of things go, then who knew what would happen to the people hiding in the shelters. Even if she met up with the people underground it would be of no use.

(The Heaven's Blade successors are already extremely fatigued.)

"Understood. Then I'll think of something."

(Eh?)

Nina ignored Felli's doubt, reaching both hands to her weapon belt.

On it were attached four Dites.

Two were the ones she had obtained from Zuellni.

Two were her great-grandfather's.

Nina's hands reached for the Dites she had obtained from Zuellni, restoring them.

In the familiar sensation, an unfamiliar Kei pressure rushed out.

"Come, first true battle."

After saying this, Nina flew towards the twisted monster.

Because of internal Kei and the explosive results of her strengthened legs treading on the ground, Nina was sent to a world of instantaneous speed.

"Ugh!"

A higher-than-expected pressure pushed on Nina's entire body, making her clench her teeth.

Her vision was distorted, and she quickly strengthened her nerves to correct her vision, and other areas were also tuned by use of strengthening Kei and balanced out with internal Kei.

Nina readied the iron whips towards the monster towering in front of her.

Whether the creature hadn't noticed her or whether it was focusing on regenerating its body, it seemed not to have any response.

Of course this could also be carelessness. It believed that its regenerative ability was completely insurmountable before the tiny humans' destructive power.

But, Nina had appeared here to do exactly this.

"Break!"

She shouted.

Release.

Combined Internal and External Kei variant, Raijin.

A blow with almost no hesitation.

This was a strike carrying all of her beliefs.

This was a blow from a human that wouldn't permit the opponent to escape.

This contained all of the strength she had inherited, a blow of Nina who had chosen to advance.

The red light covering Nina drew a red line on the earth, pointing towards the monster.

Exploding.

Smashing.

Bursting.

Flame and roars connected endlessly, and the explosions that occurred on the monster's exterior and the vibrations shooting out and penetrating into the monster's interior endlessly repeated.

Destructive shockwaves also affected the earth.

"Uwah!"

The explosions that were produced under her feet blew Nina into the sky.

If she hadn't spread out Kongoukei at the same time, she probably would have suffered severe injuries from the Kei technique she had used.

"....Dangerous."

(Are you alright?)

"I'm alright!"

(It seemed like you just self-destructed, are you truly alright?)

"I, I'm fine! I'm just not too used to it!"

(Then it's okay.)

Felli's voice from the other side of the Psychokinesis flake was very cold. Nina's cheeks even became hot from trying to deceive her.

(If only the city's surface portion is harmed, it can still endure, because the city of Grendan is constructed particularly solidly. Please think more clearly when you use your strength.)

Felli ignored Nina's mixed feelings, continuing to talk.

She seemed not to feel any particular surprise at the changes to Nina's body.

"Felli...."

(....As long as you don't destroy the city, go ahead and fight. We can only follow you.)

The latter half that seemed as if it had deliberately been included made Nina's chest feel a bit tight.

Though the situation had been rather extraordinary, she had still kept a secret from Felli and the others.

The seventeenth platoon members should have borne the burden together, but Nina hadn't said a word to them.

Right now Felli's words were stinging her for that.

But, she didn't feel pained.

A warm sensation came from the wounds from the stings.

"Sorry."

(You and Layfon, what helpless people.)

"....Eh?"

(At this kind of time, you shouldn't apologize, but rather give thanks.)

"....Ah, that's true, thank you."

(Then, continue destroying the enemy. The battle still continues.)

"I know. Then, I'm going."

After receiving the destruction of such a giant explosion, the twisted monster seemed as if it hadn't weakened.

"It's truly extraordinary.... but, I won't let you destroy anything more."

This city's miserable condition was all because L?vateinn was here doing something.

It wasn't very clear whether the monster in front of her was the same as L?vateinn or not, but at the least they were companions.

Then, it was an ordinary thought if she believed that they could do the same things.

"Let me destroy you!"

She roared, and Nina once again flew towards the monster.

She readied her iron whips in order to release Raijin.

She blindly, honestly, and straightforwardly ran towards her target in a line, not even looking to the side. She knew that this was the only thing she could do, so she charged.

It was complete faith in the one she had obtained these teachings from.

This was Raijin.

This was a fool's strike.

If she turned her head, terrors might be waiting there, but to Nina who knew all of this, this choice was a choice better than all of the others.

A charge and then destruction.

This was the embodiment of Nina's iron will.

But....

(Nina, Nina....)

Nina who was advancing rapidly heard someone calling.

In this kind of situation it couldn't be Felli talking, Psychokinesis power couldn't do this.

Then who was it?

No, she actually didn't need to think at all.

"Schneibel."

(Yes, Nina, wait a bit.)

It was communication through En.

Communication that didn't use sound to convey information could realize a conversation even during the current high-speed movement.

(If you use your full strength here we will be very troubled. Please hold back some of your power.)

"That's too relaxed...."

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