Ryuu Kusari no Ori -Kokoro no Uchi no 'Kokoro'-

Volume 4 Chapter 5.3

Acceleration to Collapse Part 3

Translator : PolterGlast

[I can't let you do that~~]

"You're......!?"

"Ken's contracted spirit, huh......?"

Camilla's eyes widen upon hearing the voice of the lesser water spirit called Mefi. Nozomu stood back to back with Camilla and scanned his surroundings.

(I can't see her. Is she thoroughly concealing her appearance?)

When she possessed the Cracked-Crown Giant Centipede and fought Nozomu, she received a severe blow from him, so it seemed that she was only sending out her voice from afar.

[A-aa~. Is this how it's going to be after all? I knew it would end up like this. I wonder if Lisa will be sad to hear that she was betrayed by even her own family?]

"You sure know how to talk ......!"

While Camilla spat out Mefi's provoking line, Nozomu kept searching for the presence of the lesser spirit that might be hiding in the depths of the darkness. The other party was one of the spirits who could manipulate supernatural powers. Nozomu has learned firsthand how troublesome these powers can be.

However, he could not detect the slightest sign of the spirit. When he looked closely, he could see that a thin mist of source element enveloped his surroundings, and the bustle of the city, which should have been audible in the distance, was gone.

Perhaps it is the spirit's technique of concealing its presence and separating itself from its surroundings.

The silence was accompanied by a growing tension. The cold evening breeze ruffled the branches and leaves of the trees, and the shadows that had been stretching out were already beginning to assimilate with the darkness. Suddenly, multiple small shadows leaped out from the bushes in front of them.

"~, Camilla, get down!"

While forcing Camilla beside him to get down, Nozomu reflexively parried the object that flew toward him with his sheathed katana.

It was a throwing dagger painted black. Immediately after, figures wearing black cloaks jumped out.

There were three of them. They drew black-painted daggers from their pockets and attacked Nozomu and Camilla at once.

Three black figures run toward Nozomu. They aimed at his right thigh, right neck, and left flank. Perhaps already enchanted with reinforcement magic, they came at him like a gust of wind.

Coupled with the black-painted blades, it was a blow that would be impossible for an ordinary person to even see.

"Fuh~!"

Nozomu slashed all of those blows away with a single, sudden slash. In a split second, the blade, which had been carefully polished, drew a smooth curve, and the blade, strengthened by magic power, cut through oncoming blades as if slicing through dry branches.

Following this, Nozomu lowered his stance and sent his Qi into both hands to compress them. He simultaneously thrust his arms out and then released them.

[Qi-jutsu?Shock Cannon]

A powerful shockwave was released, blowing away all three Starlights at once. The three assailants immediately reacted and stood up, but the hoods of two of the three were pulled off, exposing the faces of rough-looking men.

"Are these guys Starlights? But why did they attack us? Since that spirit is around, I'm sure that Ken bastard is up to something....... Camilla, are you okay on your side?"

"Yeah, I'm fine ....... ~, Nozomu, stand back!"

The still hooded starlight held up its right hand and produced a fireball in its palm.

Immediately after, the magic, which had instantly grown huge to the height of a person, was unleashed on Nozomu and Camilla.

"Guu......!"

Camilla, too, is talented enough to belong to the first class. Her quickly spun chanting deployed a magic barrier to block the fireball. However, Camilla let out a cry of anguish at the unexpected power, and the magic barrier dissipated in the form of being counterbalanced by the fireball. Clearly, this was not the power of magic released in a few verses of chanting. If classified by rank, this hooded figure definitely belongs to the A rank. And probably the other two are equally as powerful.

Even for members of an organization that governs secrecy, they were unusually powerful.

(Considerable skill, but what's with those vacant eyes......)

However, what made Nozomu and Camilla's hearts grow cold was the empty eyes peering out from behind their hoods.

The Starlights they faced showed no human-like emotions, such as murderous intent, fighting spirit, fear, or nervousness.

It was as if they had forgotten their hearts somewhere or were in a state of total apathy from the very beginning. In a sense, this is the perfect image of someone who lurks in the shadows, but it is just too lifeless.

"I see, are you erasing their consciousness and turning them into pawns to be used at your disposal? What a truly despicable spirit......!"

[A~~ that's awful~~. But whatever. I don't give a damn what happens to people I don't know. In the first place, you are even worse. You tried to kill your ex-girlfriend out of selfish anger.]

A mocking voice echoed through the wooded area. It seemed that this spirit really likes to get on people's nerves.

"What about you? You are just a coward and a pain in the ass just like your contractor, and what's more, you've got a big mouth on your head. Even when you possessed an extraordinarily powerful being like the [The Six Bad Omens], you run away after receiving just one blow."

[......Damn you!]

On the contrary, Nozomu provoked her back, and Mefi again sent forth the three Starlights that she manipulated.

Nozomu glanced at Camilla and, with his whole body on full alert, intercepted the approaching Starlights.

The Starlights controlled by Mefi, perhaps wary of being cut in half at close range, switched their tactics to attacking from afar.

While irregularly firing fireballs and magic bullets, the Starlights blended into the shadows and threw their throwing daggers from the blind spots as if weaving through the gaps between one's awareness.

"Fuh~, ~!"

[H-How.......]

Nozomu accurately repelled them.

"Even if those daggers blend with the flames, if I strengthen my hearing with Qi, I will be able to distinguish the whistling sound of the wind behind the blasts."

Against an opponent of a certain level of strength, using a weapon that generates sound might put one at a disadvantage.

The direction, volume, and quality of the sound can be read to determine the trajectory of the weapon. If one can determine the trajectory from those factors, it is possible to handle it. However, there are very few people who can do this.

It is a level of skill that one would have to be immersed in the martial arts for more than a few decades to finally catch a glimpse of it.

[Kuh......!]

"Fuh~!"

Mefi's agitation transmitted to the puppets, slowing their movements for a moment. Using this opportunity, Nozomu closed the gap to one of the Starlights at once and struck him with [Mumei]'s ridge.

"Gah!?"

*Crack*!

With a sound of bones cracking, one of the Starlights collapsed to the ground. Two people remaining.

[Wha!?]

"~!"

Unable to cope with the sudden transition from offense to defense, another Starlight was knocked down by Nozomu.

The Starlights themselves might be capable as puppets, but it would be meaningless if their puppeteers could not exhibit their powers.

Only one left. The last Starlight is the one who fired powerful fireballs earlier.

Perhaps affected by Mefi's manipulation, the inorganic twin eyes peeking out from the shade of the hood showed a mixture of strong agitation and anger.

The Starlight took out two curved swords from its cloak and held them up. Like the throwing knives, the twin black swords seemed to assimilate with the darkness.

At the same time, magic power erupted from the Starlight's body and enveloped it. Magic of physical reinforcement. It is a very advanced and powerful magic.

The reinforcement magic extended to his weapon as well, and the dense magic power enveloped the black swords.

The Starlight stepped forward. Its speed exceeded even that of Irisdina.

[~!]

The twin blades were unleashed at a ferocious pace. The sword strikes were filled with dense magic power, and they swept over Nozomu like a whirlpool of flame.

"Hmph, ~!"

Nozomu intercepted the storm of twin swords with a single sword called [Mumei].

[Mikagura-style?Willow Blade].

This is a Mikagura-style technique that simultaneously defends and attacks with a single sword.

Nozomu's superior swordsmanship deflected the opponent's first sword strike and forced the second sword strike into a defensive stance.

After one, two, three, ten, and twenty strikes, Nozomu was still able to deflect all of his opponent's slashes without being pushed back at all.

His swordsmanship, which even Shino Mikagura described as equal, offset the overwhelming difference in speed and physical strength between him and his opponent.

And as time went on, the situation began to tilt in one direction.

[Kuh......]

"Looks like you're a the end of your rope."

When the exchange of blows exceeded thirty, the Starlight's twin swords began to screech. Shaved pieces of iron danced about, and countless wounds had already been carved into the blade. Nozomu's Qi-blade, [Phantom?Coat], had cut through the Starlight's dense magic, gradually accumulating damage to the twin blades. Finally, at the thirty-fifth round, the limit arrived.

"Fuh!"

A single sharp flash of Nozomu's katana sliced both of the Starlight's twin blades in half. He then struck the Starlight in the stomach, leaving it completely defenseless, and blew it away.

"Nozomu, Mefi's there. On that tree!"

[~!]

Camilla's voice was heard. She pointed to a tree, which, upon closer inspection, was tinged with the slight glow of the source element. She had been searching for traces of Mefi's power that filled the surroundings, holding her breath the entire time Nozomu had been fighting.

[Camilla, you!]

"~!"

Nozomu fired a Qi-blade at the tree to which Camilla pointed.

Just before the Qi-blade landed on the tree, a small, light blue spirit leaped out of the tree trunk.

It seemed to be in quite a panic, perhaps remembering that it had been beaten to a pulp by Nozomu when it possessed the Cracked-Crown Giant Centipede.

Nozomu's Qi-blade sliced a tuft of Mefi's hair, but it was not enough to make a decisive blow. Mefi managed to avoid it by a hair's breadth, and then turned her back and started to flee at once.

"I won't let you escape!"

Camilla's magic was activated against the fleeing Mefi. A magic barrier surrounded the little water spirit, blocking its movement.

[You ...... are in my way!]

However, it was not enough to stop the spirit, which is an apex being. The magic that restrained her was quickly shattered by the source element that erupted from Mefi's body along with a high-pitched cursing voice.

She was only stopped for a few seconds. But in those few seconds, Nozomu had made his way around Mefi's escape route. As the lesser water spirit's eyes widened, he infused his Qi into the blade once again.

The freshly cut lesser spirit's hair fizzled out without healing. Even a spirit could not move if it kept losing the source element that made up its body. And just when Nozomu was about to unleash a slash.......

[……Just kidding~!]

"~!"

A presence of someone rushing toward him appeared. It was the shadow of the dual-wielding swordsman whom Nozomu had just blown away.

Just as Nozomu was about to reflexively launch his [Mumei], the face of the shadow hidden by the hood was revealed, and Nozomu's eyes widened involuntarily.

(L-Lisa!?)

Crimson hair fluttered in the darkness. The dual-wielding shadow was, to his surprise, Lisa. Nozomu's katana, which he was about to swing forth, stopped as if frozen in place. Meanwhile, with an inorganic expression on her face, Lisa concentrated her magic power in the palm of her hand and cast a powerful blast of flame toward the stunned Nozomu.

"Gaaahh!"

Nozomu, who was hit by the explosion at close range, was blown far away and slammed to the ground.

"Nozomu......kyaa!"

After blowing Nozomu away, Lisa lunged straight at Camilla, knocking the wand she was holding out of her hands and twisting her hands to restrain her.

[Phew, that was close~~. Thank goodness the insurance is still in effect~~. Ken might complain that I brought her here without permission, but whatever!]

While referring to Lisa as insurance and a thing, Mefi huffed and heaved a sigh of relief.

[Then again, you really are an idiot~~. You should have just cut her down once and for all. Now then, if I delay more than this, people will notice, so let's just get it over with!]

"Agh!"

"Camilla!?"

With Camilla's muffled voice, a black sword blade with a soaked red tip emerged from her abdomen.

The blood dripping from the curved blade that pierced her abdomen swirled through the air and converged on a single spot.

The congregated blood formed a sphere that could be held in both hands. It glowed with a pale, eerie light and had an outward appearance that was fitting to be called a blood jewel.

When the blood jewel was completed, the blade that had pierced Camilla's abdomen was pulled out, and her body fell to the ground with a thud.

[Hmm~, the purity is still low after all~. But now I have one of the two things I need.]

Mefi looked at the jewel made of blood, her face contorted into a smile, and pressed the blood jewel against her body.

The jewel sunk into the lesser spirit's body and melted into it. The next moment, an enormous amount of source element erupted from Mefi's body. Perhaps she had absorbed Camilla's magic power through her blood.

Mefi looked down at Camilla, whom she had just stabbed with satisfaction.

Camilla was still lying on the ground. Blood of the same thick color as that of the jewel was spreading under her.

Lisa looked dazedly over at such a scene. Her unfocused eyes widened and the light of will rapidly returned.

"H-Huh? ...... Camilla?"

A stunned voice leaked out of Lisa's mouth, as if she couldn't comprehend the scene in front of her. Her gaze repeatedly went back and forth between the fallen Camilla and the curved blade that had pierced her, and her stunned expression gradually froze.

I can't believe it, I don't want to believe it. Such emotions were apparent in her expression. However, no matter how much she denied it, the feeling of sticky blood and the smell of rusty iron ruthlessly confronted Lisa with the truth.

"Nozomu, what have I done ......?"

[Now, I've done it~~. You regained your consciousness once again. I knew it, this bloodline is so hard to handle with force~~]

"You are-, I saw you with Ken......."

Lisa's eyes finally caught sight of Mefi floating next to her.

[Hello~~, our silly princess. You should have just stayed asleep, but you woke up~~.]

"What-...... What the heck did you do!?"

[What are you saying? You should have known already~~. You've seen it so many times after all.]

The next moment, the memories that had been altered in Lisa's mind burst forth.

The letter from Nozomu, the unnatural behavior of her childhood friend and best friend. And the confrontation in the Spasim forest.

That's not all. Even the conversations between Camilla, Ken, and Mefi when her mind had been sealed up flashed back to her.

Memories that were etched in her ears even though her mind was ignoring them. These undeniable truths confronted her.

"A-Ah. No, no......."

The black curved sword slipped from Lisa's hand and fell to the ground with a clanging sound.

Her entire body was filled with fear, and her head was boiling with agitation.

All the hate, hatred, and abuse she had been slamming into Nozomu ricocheted back and wreaked havoc on her heart.

"No, this is not true, I, I-......!"

Lisa held onto her head and trembled. Mefi approached her with a cruel smile on her face.

"No, no! Don't come!"

She shouted as she backed away from the approaching lesser spirit, but there was no way this spirit would accept such a plea.

Rather, Mefi's cruel smile grew uglier and she turned her blue palm to Lisa and turned into a mass of light, then assimilated with Lisa and sealed her spirit once again.

[Phew, that was dangerous. I brought her here without telling Ken, so if I let her go here, things will get really messy. Well, she did have a rather intriguing expression on her face, though. Well then, let's wrap things up!]

"~, You......!"

[Oopsie, don't you dare use that power. I am assimilated with this girl. Do you want to hurt this princess?]

Nozomu raised his voice and tried to pounce on her, but Mefi, who had assimilated Lisa, took the initiative to suppress him with her words. Like the Cracked-Crown Giant Centipede, Lisa is simply being manipulated by Mefi. Nozomu had no choice but to stop, his momentum slowed down.

[Well, I'm off then. Ah, right, don't chase after me. You probably can't anyway!]

Amidst his anguish, Mefi manipulated Lisa's body, picked up the curved sword that had fallen at her feet, and snapped her fingers. The next moment, Mefi's source element, which had covered the surrounding wooded area, dissipated.

The distant hustle and bustle of the city returned. Mixed amongst it, a grating metallic clatter could be heard.

"Oi, over here! There's someone here!"

"Move ahead! We'll be right behind you!"

"W-What happened!?"

[See you later, you annoyingly disgusting toy!]

Multiple human cries could be heard mixed in amongst the multiple metallic clattering noises.

As Nozomu was puzzled, Mefi sneered and boosted her power. The source element of water erupted from Lisa's body, which Mefi assimilated with, enveloping her body like a mist.

"~, Wait......!"

Nozomu ran toward Mefi and Lisa, who was trying to escape, shouting and reaching out his hand.

But Nozomu's hand caught empty air, and the mist of the source element dissipated. There was not even a trace of their shadows.

They had completely escaped.

"Damn it!"

Nozomu cursed in frustration, but he quickly regained his composure and rushed to Camilla.

"Camilla, hang in there!"

"Ugh....... I see. I've been played for a fool. From the beginning, they used me as bait......"

Nozomu held the wound with both hands, but the blood did not stop flowing, and the ground, where the blood was spreading, turned even redder. The stabbing wound from behind penetrated through the torso and was obviously a life-threatening wound.

Nozomu hurriedly poured a potion from his waist pouch over it, but the wound was too deep and the bleeding would not stop. He had to get her to a place where she could be treated quickly.

"Go after Lisa, now. Save her....... Quick, before it's too late......"

"What are you talking about!? You're seriously injured, you know!?"

"Those guys, must have known all this from the beginning. If this continues, Lisa's heart will be broken by those two, and they will abuse her as they please. Please, before it's too late......"

While pleading, Camilla pulled out a blood-soaked piece of paper from her pocket. On it was written [Residential District Main Canal 3rd Tunnel].

"This is......."

"Ken's hideout...... hurry......"

Camilla then lost consciousness.

Just as Nozomu was about to put the paper in his pocket and proceed with the treatment, several guards jumped out from the shadows of the wooded area with their rattling armor.

They were carrying spears and rods in their hands and long swords at their waists. They had obviously been dispatched in response to a report of some kind.

"T-This is......."

The guards' eyes caught sight of Nozomu and the fallen Camilla.

Soon after, they surrounded Nozomu and shoved their weapons at him.

"He's the murderer, get him!"

"Freeze! Drop your weapon!"

"H-Hold on a-......"

Before Nozomu had time to explain himself, the guards pinned him down, pulled him away from Camilla, and detained him.

"Ugh, it wasn't me! No, more importantly, please treat her!"

"Silence!"

One of the guards looking down at the restrained Nozomu slammed the butt of his spear into the side of his head.

A strong shock struck him in the head. The guards rushed to Camilla, who fell to the ground unconscious.

"This is bad...... Oi, bring me some medicines!"

"You sure did a terrible deed."

Camilla was carried away while being given first aid by the guards.

Under hostility from the guards, the restrained Nozomu was deprived of his weapons and taken away by force.

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