(This isn't the only thing that has fallen from the moon, and more accurately this is more of something like a leftover.)

"What did you say....?"

(The people you know who can reach the end are about to land here. Those are the enemies you should truly fight.)

Nina didn't know what Schneibel was saying.

"I don't know what's going to happen either. You're right."

Who knew what this battlefield would become. Everyone's fates would be concentrated on this battlefield, and in the end one of the sides would be left.

For the ending that this world should have, Nina fought now.

"You said before that you didn't know, so why do you understand now!?"

(Because the moon has shattered.)

Schneibel was very calm towards Nina's intense questioning.

(I can see myself the things being released from the moon. That is the result of a battle.)

"What?"

The result of a battle.

That phrase made Nina have an extremely nasty premonition for a moment, and a chill went up her spine.

(Your strength should be exerted again when those things fall. Right now please think only of becoming more familiar with that strength, and control yourself to keep from wasting too much energy.)

"But, considering that!"

(You need not worry, the things being released from the moon aren't only evil things.)

Facing the anxious Nina, Schneibel said this to pacify her.

(That thing should be said to be the final trump card of the people of Grendan.)

Trump card?

Wasn't that Leerin?

Falling from the moon?

(You understand.)

After those words, Schneibel's presence gradually faded.

"Damn!"

The conversation stopped.

But, her charge still continued.

Her consciousness returned before her, and her slightly blurred vision once again became clear.

She had already gotten close to the monster, and grasping iron whips in her hands, Kei elevated and ready to explode outwards, she could no longer stop.

The charge was the same. Other than swing the iron whips at the target, there was no longer anything she could do to stop the charge right now, and she couldn't even stop her feet.

It was this kind of a foolish strike.

She had to try to control something that she could only release, that was Schneibel's meaning.

Her heart felt that it was a bit difficult to give up on the Kei bursting forth and flooding into the sky.

The sensation she felt from her iron whips hitting the target was also a half-satisfactory feeling.

The explosions appeared continuously like before.

But, their might was greatly inferior to the ones before.

(There's minor damage to the aboveground portion. Can you control it?)

Felli was only making a dull status report.

But this made Nina feel as if she were being sarcastic, and she tightened her lips.

Unexpectedly, she wasn't supposed to waste too much energy....

"Really!"

But even so, she had to fight.

Other Heavens' Blade successors also began moving.

Nina coordinated with them, and once again readied her iron whips.

On the moon, underground.... Really, what was happening?

Nina's consciousness was as if attracted by two gravitational fields, paying attention above her head and below her feet.

◇

A red streak flew out horizontally.

It went through Leerin's gaze.

She knew what this was.

It was blood.

The spraying blood quickly turned into a mist because of the vibrations of the battle. It became a residue that brought a metallic aroma to the nose.

In a place a bit distant from Leerin, Alsheyra stopped moving.

Only her back could be seen from here, but Leerin could still understand that the flesh near her right shoulder had been cut and dyed red.

Leerin had been continuously watching the entirety of the battle.

The Queen had been wounded because she hadn't been able to completely avoid L?vateinn's strike.

But, this wasn't only because she hadn't been able to completely avoid it.

It was because the Queen had been trying to surpass L?vateinn's speed of fighting.

In other words, it wasn't because she hadn't evaded, but because she couldn't evade. That was the true reason.

"....This is troublesome."

She didn't moan from the pain at all. Rather, Alsheyra used the light attitude she always had to speak.

"Uh."

Layfon's voice came from above, and his external Kei descended from the sky.

L?vateinn who had originally been trying to take advantage of the opportunity and draw closer to the Queen once again retreated and pulled back the distance, and Lintence who had predicted this movement used the steel threads to attack.

But, nothing had any result.

Never mind the external Kei that Layfon had compressed and released, even Lintence's steel threads that had predicted the opponent's next step and released an attack were avoided.

Her methods of evasion before had always been momentarily separating and recombining the area where she was going to be attacked, letting the attack seem to pass through her body. But now she no longer needed to use these methods.

She predicted the chokepoint of the steel thread attack and avoided it.

What was going on?

The conclusion was very clear.

"Could it be that in such a short time she already surpassed us?"

Though this was Alsheyra talking to herself, it was the truth.

L?vateinn was becoming stronger.

"That kind of thing...."

Layfon murmured after he landed.

In such a short time, L?vateinn's fighting power had increased.

In the current situation they could only think.

"....Though we have no idea how she did it."

Lintence also spoke.

"But it's certain that a price was paid for it. Her movements are different from before."

"Yes. It feels that she's avoiding all of our attacks. She's already stopped using that method of letting the attack pass through her."

"Has she given up on her regenerative ability and raised her movement ability?"

"It might be that."

"In that case, we just need to hit her to possibly get rid of her."

"Yes, but that's only after we hit her."

"Hm."

Layfon and Lintence talked as they moved at high speed, and then once again rushed at L?vateinn.

The two of them had already accumulated a degree of fatigue, but hadn't gotten anything that could be called an injury. They dodged the attacks of L?vateinn who was far faster than them as they carried out their counterattacks.

But even so, the Queen who was even stronger than the two of them seemed as if her movements were a bit hindered.

Why would there be this big of a difference?

Was it because of the difference in battle experience?

Leerin had heard that because Alsheyra was too strong, she had almost never gotten the opportunity to enter the battlefield. In that case, her battle experience was certainly far from the Heaven's Blades successors who constantly fought, that was for sure.

But, what about Leerin?

If battle experience had such an effect on the battlefield, what about Leerin?

If Leerin also entered the battlefield, would she fight even worse than Layfon and Lintence?

"That kind of thing...."

She hoped she could say it wouldn't happen.

Actually, thoughts of how to move in battle had already become images and surfaced in Leerin's mind. While watching Alsheyra and the others fight, she could think of how she should act in that kind of situation.

But, was that enough?

Perhaps the things Leerin thought of were only theory after all?

If things truly became like that, then why had Leerin stayed here?

For what reason had she come here?

No, Leerin was very clear.

She was very clear that Layfon and Lintence couldn't win against L?vateinn.

If this kind of battle continued they wouldn't win.

Given the reality that they couldn't come up with a killing strike, L?vateinn would in the end surpass these two in technique.

In other words, the two would die.

In order to guard against this, the Queen was here, and Leerin was also here.

She was only here in order to fight with L?vateinn.

But, hadn't the Queen been the first one of the two to fall into trouble?

The strength contained in the Queen's body was particularly similar to the strength in Leerin's body, and that meant that the Queen was the person other than Leerin who was most suited to fight against L?vateinn.

But, the Queen had been the first of the three to be entangled by the shadow of death.

Didn't that overturn everything that Leerin had thought about reality?

Leerin couldn't win either?

Didn't that mean that the fate resting on Leerin's shoulders would in the end lead to her defeat.

"That kind of thing!"

Unconsciously, something similar to rage spilled forth.

No, she could fight.

Crushing her heart's weakness, letting the pain she felt become alertness, she returned to her confidence.

"I can do it!"

She told the others loudly.

No, that was the truth.

To ask why....

She could clearly see L?vateinn's movements.

She was confident that she could stop L?vateinn's attacks.

She trusted that she could be faster than L?vateinn in terms of speed.

If I go fight, I can win.

That was the only thing she could trust.

That was the only thing that was a fact in this world full of things she didn't know.

That was the truth for her who stood in this world filled with anxiety.

"This is something that no one other than I can do."

Even if Layfon had come, even if he fought, this wouldn't change.

So, in this kind of place and time....

"Leerin!"

At the same time as Leerin tried to step forward.

What stopped her was a word from Alsheyra.

"Your promise."

Alsheyra looked at the surprised Leerin, wearing a smile.

"Your Majesty...."

It was a gentle rebuke with a smile.

"You haven't forgotten, right?"

After saying this, the Queen moved.

The bleeding had already been stopped.

All that was left was the residue that lingered in Leerin's nose.

The promise.

The scent of blood and that phrase made Leerin's boiling thoughts calm back down.

That promise was one she had made with the Queen when they went underground together.

"There's something I want to ask of you."

Alsheyra had spoken with her ordinary leisurely tone.

"What?"

What would it be?

At this kind of time, what would the Queen speak to her about?

"If we fight, will you let me go first?"

"Eh?"

"Leerin can watch from the side."

"W, What's going on?"

"Nn~"

Seeing Leerin who had become panicked because of her unexpected words, Alsheyra scratched the back of her neck while playing with her hair and continuing to speak.

"How should I say it, although it's a bit rude to Leerin...."

"Nn...."

"From the start, I thought of doing it alone."

"Eh?"

"Because I never would have thought that Leerin would become like this. Ah, though I didn't know that things would have become like this during my lifetime."

"........"

"Either way though, I also thought of that."

"Yes."

"What I would do if that kind of thing happened while I was alive."

"....Nn."

"At that time, I thought of doing it alone. It wasn't important whether the Heaven's Blades were gathered or not, and even if they were gathered they might not be as strong as I."

"............Nn."

"I was always, always awaiting the time that I had been thinking of, to go fight alone."

"........Nn."

"So, suddenly having to fight as two, telling me to battle cooperatively with someone, I completely never had that kind of thought in my mind at all, and never believed that things could be completed smoothly."

"........"

"So.... can you let me fight alone first? If alone isn't enough then I'll ask for your help."

"........Will you really ask?"

"Of course, I don't want to die either~"

After saying this, Alsheyra smiled.

She had always smiled.

"If that still isn't enough, then I'll think of a way to grab her, and then you can finish off the both of us."

"I don't want that."

She hated those words.

"I don't like it either."

Alsheyra still smiled.

But, that definitely wasn't a smile from her heart.

Her eyes definitely didn't smile.

If things truly developed into that kind of situation, Alsheyra would do it.

Though she had always seemed like a troublesome person, she would only truly do it because she was like that.

Because if she weren't leisurely, her heart wouldn't be able to endure it.

So, she took a carefree attitude to everything.

Everything.

Even her own life and fate.

Making one feel that she felt everything was meaningless and would throw everything out in order to carry out the burden of Alsheyra's bloodline.

Maybe she could only do this to obtain freedom.

Because she had met Leerin who was in a similar position, she now understood this.

So, Leerin actually thought of refusing.

"Alright? Promise me~"

Saying this, Alsheyra raised her pinky and extended it.

She wanted to use a little kid's method of promising.

Though she couldn't say that she hated it.

It seemed like she had always wanted to do this, as if she had dedicated her entirety since she had been born as Alsheyra Almonise, and so Leerin replied.

Truthfully, she wanted to ask to fight together with her.

But she couldn't say it.

The unmoving Leerin thought this.

The battle still continued.

Alsheyra clashed with L?vateinn from the front, and Layfon and Lintence guarded her from the sides.

Circumstances had become like this very naturally.

But, Alsheyra wasn’t in control of that situation, and more accurately it should be said that Layfon and Lintence had brought it about.

Though the chaotic energy spread all over the battlefield was mostly all released by the Queen and L?vateinn, the ones who tried to control the flow of battle were indeed Layfon and Lintence....

It looked like that from a distance.

Was that okay?

Hadn't Alsheyra said that she wanted to fight alone?

What did that promise mean now?

"Because, Layfon and the others don't know about that promise...."

Yes, Layfon and Lintence couldn't have known about that promise. Because that promise was a promise between Alsheyra and Leerin, Layfon and others definitely wouldn't know.

But, was this okay?

Leerin stood there, and if only Leerin complied with the promise, would Alsheyra be satisfied?

Would she be able to keep the promise between them?

"Um...."

That kind of thing.... wasn't possible.

Then what should she do? Destroy the promise with Alsheyra? Would she enter the battle?

"If I enter...."

She understood.

Leerin knew what she could do.

She could fight like a Military Artist.

She could fight better than a Military Artist.

Even being better was enough.

Because existing inside Leerin's body was the factor of the man Airen who was known as the original Military Artist.

A being known as an abnormality in the world of L?vateinn and the others.

A being that could fight on even terms with L?vateinn.

No, a being that could defeat her.

"If it's me!"

Leerin shouted.

She shouted, and this time she truly wanted to advance.

Her hand was filled with Kei, and the Kei was incredibly compressed to about the size of her pinky, and then let out.

Its trajectory was straight.

It passed by Alsheyra's side, heading for L?vateinn's body.

Seeing through the extraordinarily high-speed battle, reading the opponent's next actions, and then releasing a Kei bullet with these foundations.

Leerin believed that it would hit, in line with her thinking.

But, that was wrong.

"Ugh!"

L?vateinn's figure wavered like a mirage, and disappeared.

An afterimage?

"Oh no...."

She had been too focused and overlooked her movement.

"Where is she...."

Above.

The question and answer appeared at almost the same moment.

But because of that 'almost', there was still a gap.

That short gap would become a deadly gap in an extraordinarily high speed battle.

When she had adjusted her line of sight, L?vateinn's almost expressionless face was already too close.

It seemed like an incarnation of death.

What about Alsheyra? Because the shockwaves from the Kei bullet Leerin released had affected her posture, her movement had been impeded.

What about Lintence? Though there were steel threads there, because L?vateinn had created vibrations when she moved, his speed of engagement had been slowed.

What about Layfon? He was in a relatively far location. Though it was only relatively far.

"....Ah."

L?vateinn's expression was already in front of her.

But, things hadn't ended.

There were still things she could do.

Leerin's right eye.

Her eyepatch naturally fell off. Exposing her pupil to the chaotic air underground gave it a slightly numb feeling.

But, it was enough.

There were still things she could do.

She moved.

Leerin could feel the pressure in her right eye.

In the next moment, changes were produced in her vision.

In order to protect the girl that had always been sleeping, her vision became thorns thrusting towards the aggressor.

The poison on the thorns would make one fall into an eternal slumber.

Luring one into the world of dreams.

Letting one be assimilated into the world of Airen.

It meant sending something back to the moon.

Those thoughts that her thinking couldn't even catch up to flashed through her mind, but they produced effects.

Countless small spheres appeared.

They looked like glass balls.

But, they were harder than glass, and clearer than glass.

Like eyes.

No, they were eyes.

Imprinted with a ring of thorns, Leerin's right eye.

In other words, these were Airen's eyes.

Countless eyes appeared, and then fell.

No, they were repelled.

"What...."

Her confidence in victory also dissipated at the same time.

Receiving the poison of her vision, L?vateinn should have become tiny particles. Though she who possessed limitless regenerative ability could block it, the current L?vateinn couldn't use all her strength to do that.

Things should have been that way.

As if she had rushed through the spheres that were sent scattering around, L?vateinn appeared.

"Why!?"

Leerin shouted.

But, there was no reply.

Time slowed as if it were cut into small pieces as L?vateinn drew closer.

The expressionless her seemed like a messenger of death telling them of their demise.

Her thinking was overcome by doubt and became murmurs. There was a sound of metal being cut.

New thinking was brought out by that extraordinary sound.

The deathly scenery had been completely wiped clean by a slash filled with thick Kei.

Leerin was very clear what this was.

A portion of L?vateinn's figure had disappeared.

The penetrating light cut through the place where L?vateinn had been earlier, piercing into the earth, and then cutting into it, opening up a hole. She feared that this would pierce all the way through the outer ground of the city and then explode.

The light of an explosion came from the hole, and then abruptly disappeared. Several regenerated metal beams had blocked this place from the outside world.

Then, Leerin's vision was shaken once again and turned to a distant place.

The figures of Alsheyra and L?vateinn who had begun fighting again at some unknown time moved farther and farther away.

Steel threads moved as if wanting to create a wall between L?vateinn and Leerin.

What about Layfon?

He was there.

"........Eh?"

For some reason, he was running with his arms around Leerin.

He was carrying Leerin.

The scene became farther and farther, and Alsheyra's figure became smaller and smaller, and the originally petite Saya seemed even tinier.

Was she being sent somewhere away from the battlefield?

"No!'

Back to herself, Leerin shouted loudly.

"No! Let me go back!'

"Not right now!"

Layfon replied.

"Calm down! You're just forcing yourself!"

"But!"

It could indeed be that, and she could indeed have broken the promise with Alsheyra. Her sudden attack might indeed have failed.

Her right eye's power might also have been avoided by L?vateinn.

"But, this is something only I can do!"

"Maybe that's true!"

Layfon's shout drowned out Leerin's.

"But you're only forcing yourself!"

"Eh?"

"Though I don't know what you're thinking, the enemy has already completely seen through your actions."

Layfon's feet stopped, and the two of them were already in a place quite far from the battlefield.

"She only moved after she knew about your attack."

"How could that...."

Leerin wanted to deny Layfon's words.

But, she had truly almost been killed.

Leerin's external Kei bullet had been avoided, and her right eye's poison had been resisted.

"That kind of thing...."

Then what should she do?

The fact that her attacks were of no use threw Leerin into disarray.

She didn't know what to do.

"But, but.... we can defeat her with this."

She had thought so.

"I have some related memories that naturally flowed into my brain about fighting with her like that. Though it didn't determine a winner, we'll definitely be able to defeat her that way, I only attacked with that confidence."

Those were memories belonging to Airen.

Memories belonging to him that had entered her mind through her right eye.

Though it was only a fragmented memory, he had also fought that way.

"....Though there's still a bit that's unclear."

Hearing Leerin's words, Layfon's face sank. He was looking for the words he should say. But he seemed unable to find the suitable words to comfort Leerin, and became anxious like ants on a hot plate.

But he still took a step forward.

This was because of that hand that had slapped him on the shoulder.

That sensation made him calm down slightly.

"Leerin, that, that person in the past? If he also fought like that.."

"Nn."

"Remember how he had to deal with her in the end."

"Nn...."

Leerin couldn't say anything.

It was indeed as Layfon said, but Leerin's determined confidence was unrelated.

"But...."

"But the opponent also avoids and defends, so maybe if we hit her there will definitely be results."

"....Layfon?"

"Her Majesty also seems to be being stubborn for some reason."

"Stubborn.... But-"

"Leerin?"

"But! We're fighting! We're only who we are for this day.... Her Majesty and I!"

"........"

"Compared to me, Her Majesty has always thought that way since long ago! Resolving everything by only relying on herself, always thinking of facing everything alone!"

She had been born and raised in order to combat the crisis facing the world, always having that expected of her....

But she wasn't complete.

Leerin had inherited Airen's right eye.

"We were originally born into this world to finish everything, so let us finish everything!"

Who had she screamed out for, was it a scream expressing Alsheyra's feelings in her place? Was it Leerin's own thoughts? Even if she continued to think she understood less and less.

"Leerin...."

Layfon was confused.

Leerin exhaled, moving her gaze away from his body.

"....As expected, it would have been better if Layfon hadn't come."

She didn't want Layfon to see her like this.

"Because it's too embarrassing."

Being pressed hard by the enemy, losing her strength, and always saying strange things.

"What's embarrassing, it's fine."

After Leerin deliberately looked away from Layfon, he said this.

"Layfon?"

"As long as you're safe, even if it's embarrassing, anything's alright."

Layfon continued speaking.

"Actually I'm the one who's embarrassed. I was always confused, troubled, and nothing went smoothly.. After I was defeated here, I originally thought of starting over in Zuellni, but that didn't go smoothly either...."

"That's not...."

"But, even so I can't give up. There should be things even I can do. There will also be things I want to do."

"Layfon."

"There are things that even I can protect!"

"Layfon!"

"There's no reason anywhere that I cannot protect my -->>

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