Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon

Volume 3, Chapter 07: The Gusting Individuals of the Neutral Zone

That was a vague thing

That went through the air

Point Allocation (Approaching)

●

Masazumi, who had come out from inside the tea-house together with Naito, saw Futayo.

Futayo took a low landing stance after completing a backwards somersault on top of the road kicking up dust. However, after having landed on the ground several meters to their rear, she paid no attention to them and was instead looking in a slightly upraised direction.

In the busy street, people were currently raising voices of surprise in front of where her eyes　hurried to.

…That is natural.

Masazumi thought. That was a neutral zone, a location where acts of aggression were prohibited. However Futayo had already drawn Tonbokiri and at the end of where her eyes were looking…

“An enemy?”

...was there.

On the rooftop of the aligned buildings that formed the street there was a single pair, composed of a man and woman, on the top of a three-story restaurant.

The distance was approximately thirty meters. What was there were figures clad with Qing-Takeda school uniforms.

Out of the group of two one was a woman with white hair and skin, while in contrast the other was a dark-skinned man.

Both wore their school uniforms sloppily. The woman let her hair be blown by the wind while the man lowered his body like a monkey, but both of them were looking towards Futayo.

Facing Masazumi’s gaze, the man smiled and said, surprised:

“Who would have said you'd be able to defend from our first attack.”

The woman also spoke smiling:

“It was nothing more than a simple first attack.”

“As expected of Musashi’s Vice-Chancellor, trying to say something like that.”

“Why is it that you pass off to me the task of praising the enemy. It was a surprise attack and its force was no different from a normal attack, it was not anything special. For both you and me that attack was the same as always. That’s why—”

“Yeah.”

The man who remained crouched at the edge of the roof tilted his body. With a movement that could be described as more like dropping rather than falling he still remained looking at Futayo.

“The same as always.”

The next moment Masazumi saw wind in front of her eyes. The one who had coiled up the cloud of dust like a fluttering sheet was…

“I’m sorry for the tardy introduction. I am — Unneeded #1. She is #2.”

The next thing she knew was that the enemy suddenly appeared in front of her eyes. It was the man who just now should have been falling from the distant roof.

…Huh!?

The distance from the roof to here was approximately thirty meters. Since the man was looking at Futayo she had been caught off guard.

A single strike came from the man who had named himself. Masazumi did not move when the single strike from the thick blade was released from behind his waist.

“……e!”

●

The sound resonating in Masazumi's ears was a metallic clang.

What her eyes saw was the colors of gold and black.

Furthermore, a voice reached her.

“That was dangerous.”

“That was close.”

In the space between herself and the enemy there was a fully open set of six wings and black hair.

They were Naito and Futayo.

●

Naito felt a sense of amazement inside herself at her situation being located between Futayo and Masazumi.

……Wow—.

There was no time to bring out Schwarz Fr?ulein. That’s why she had used her broom’s refreshed deployment defense spells as a shield and attempted to receive the enemy attack using that. However, faster than that Futayo had…

……Gone and cut it in front of her.

Before Naito could think of the meaning of the words "Vice Chancellor" the wind occurred　once again in front of her eyes.

The stirred up cloud of dust ascended above the road and in an instant the enemy was about twenty meters on the far side. They moved to the rooftop of one of the houses along the street. Then the two, the white woman and the dark man, landed with light steps on the rooftop.

It was Naito's impression that they were calm.

Meanwhile, in front of her eyes Futayo adjusted the readied Tonbokiri back to her side.

“Naito, please take Masazumi and distance yourself from here.”

Futayo spoke without turning around.

“The job of an escort is to distance the subject from any danger. —I will take charge of this area. You take Masazumi and distance yourselves from here.”

Will you be alright? She tried to say that, but stopped. Futayo held a higher official position than her, so worrying about her would achieve nothing. What she should be saying was…

“Make sure that you don’t overdo it okay? You seem a bit irritated.”

“Do I look like that?”

“Judge. —After all, your horns are already raised to the first level. Did something happen?”

Judge, Futayo nodded. She pulled out a small brochure from her skirt.

“I thought about eating a lot at the recently rumored cream puff store here in IZUMO.”

“Ah, the store that followed the way of tea, the ‘Way of Cream.’ I do think they should do something about their name though.”

“……However when I went there a previous customer had bought out all the stock. While I was experiencing a bout of anger I suddenly was under attack.” ‘’

Oh? The woman on top of the roof, Unneeded #2, tilted her head. She pulled a paper bag from under her arm and from the inside took out a large amount of cream puffs.

“You mean these? I got full of myself and ended up buying about twenty of them.”

Naito saw Futayo’s horn shaped hair clip rise up to the second level. While thinking that this was not good she also thought that it would be fine since this would not mean any harm to her. Consequently, she said:

“—I’ll leave it to you.”

“……Judge!”

That was when Futayo leaped forward.

There was a single shadow passing above her head. The one who was leaping by twisting his body and adjusting his stance at a high position was…

“—Bara-yan!?”

It was Neshinbara.

●

Neshinbara was in the middle of combat.

The circumstances that led to the battle were simple.

……While he was walking the street reading the book that he had bought someone had suddenly gone to punch him.

He had thought that it was a dangerous incident; however, that the power was strong enough to easily destroy a bench which was located at the side of the road was troublesome. The opponents were a group of two, and one of them was at that precise moment saying…

“—Come on!!”

With a sharp enthusiastic shout they leaped and pursued after him who was in the air.

It was a woman. She was wearing a plumed female Far Eastern school uniform with the belly exposed, like a dancing girl.

She leaped into a high position. When Neshinbara saw that he noticed it was not a spell but martial arts.

“Unneeded #7, ……on my way!”

Smiling eyes donned in heavy makeup stared his way and she waved the weapon she was carrying.

……An iron-ribbed war fan!

A massive iron-ribbed war fan with fur attached, where every spoke could be used as a blade. The woman gripped the side handle at the base to make it easier to swing around.

“……Okay, come on!!”

She deployed the folding fan like a blossoming flower and the blades were sequentially thrust forward.

“How persistent…!!”

<>

His trajectory in the air dropped down by one step.

The blade passed over his head and because she feared a counterattack the woman spun her body around above the circular expanding blade.

But Neshinbara did nothing against the enemy above his head because…

……It was necessary to gain an understanding of the current situation……!

On the street that he was passing over, beneath his eyes there was Futayo who was also fighting with a group of two. He assumed them to be enemies so Naito and Masazumi were moving to take cover in a nearby tea-house. Furthermore on top of the opposite rooftop where he and the #7 woman were leaping to was…

“The second person from those who suddenly punched me earlier…!”

“I am the Unneeded #3……!”

That one, who was wearing a Far East uniform remodeled into the appearance of a monk, was a middle-aged demonic long-lived.

He had a large physique, one with a height over four meters that rivaled that of the giants. However his body was only slightly bending to the opposing rooftop of the house he was using as a platform.

“Now…!”

The demonic monk #3 took a high leap which passed over the street at the same time he thrust out his right arm.

But there was a distance of about ten meters between them. While #3 had a large physique and a giant leap it still was a distance that his fist could not reach.

However #3 twisted his reddish brown arm and let out a shout.

“Sermon Cannon!!”

The characters and tattoos that were engraved in his great arm changed positions and design with the rotation of the arm. In an instant, a Homa [1] ritual rank type crest appeared as if to surround the arm. On the palm ether letters forming “Scold” appeared.

…Seriously!?

Neshinbara understood. The woman, #7, who had extended her fan above in the sky had not positioned herself above the fan shield as a forecast of his attack…

It was in order to not receive the aftershock from this monk’s attack.

The cannon was fired.

“Scold…!!”

●

Due to the cannon blast the air was split across tens of meters by the occurrence of an explosion that could be described as bright.

In response to the expanding atmospheric wave the woman #7 asked:

“Did you get him!?”

Standing on top of the iron-ribbed war fan she went as if stepping forward and completed an upside-down 180o flip. However…

<>

Her target was about to fall on his backside onto the second story thatched roof.

<>

<>

<>

“Wow, how unfair! That’s cheating, you aspiring author. You fell on your backside you know!?”

The prey yelled back towards the words of #7, who had closed her folding fan and landed two roofs to the side.

“Please, won’t you say that my hands are fast? In the first place, why did you suddenly start attacking me?”

After those words the demonic monk who had descended next to #7 yelled. He pointed to his target and said:

“It is necessary to beat your immoral spirit back to normal!”

“What do you mean immoral?”

“Then, what is that book that you are holding in your hand—!?”

●

This? Neshinbara raised the book he had bought from the bookstore and was still holding.

“It’s only an ordinary , right? It’s a modern arrangement of the Tale of the Heike - Awakening version. There’s a bit of ‘the wildness of my right arm, it is truly terrifying’ and “Melt, drain them my Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi” however the contents are exceedingly normal, okay?”

“Normal? Is it normal for a light to have its characters have names with “Dark”, “Kill”, ”King” or “Rome” in them, you fool!! And what is up with walking on the street reading something with special attack names such as “Prison”, “Temple” or “Impact” while saying ‘Ah, there’s no nipple ticket this time’!? In the first place what is up with talking about nipple tickets, something which is nothing more than an urban legend, with such a self-satisfied expression!”

Four Eyes: “……What? You’re still reading those type of　embarrassing stories? It couldn’t be that you are writing them as well, right?”

“B-Be quiet, don’t interfere. Well, you see—”

Neshinbara pointed in the demonic monk's direction. While thinking that it was a pain, he explained:

“—I’m sorry that I really like things such as ‘Ogre Slayer’ and the ‘Three Sacred Treasures’! However, in any case you probably read things like ‘A composed famous work about the exclusive thoughts of teenagers’ or ‘Why is it that I can’t reach an equal understanding of others, I wonder’ and then say shameless things like ‘We’re sensitive existences that damage each other’ right!? You’ve created those sorts of poems, haven’t you!?”

“Huh!? Is there anything wrong with that—?”

“T-there’s an embarrassing old guy who became really serious here!!”

"There is nothing wrong with that!" yelled the demonic monk into the sky, clenching his fist.

“In Man'yō poetry, the maiden stricken with love goes near the mansion of someone outside of her reach with a tear-stained face! How pitiful and fleeting! What can you say about that in one word!?”

“No matter how you think about it, that’s a stalker.”

As soon as he said that, the Sermon Cannon attack was launched.

“Wah!”

He hurriedly avoided it, but the approaching ether ordnance was not just one shot. Apart from the right arm cannon, the left arm of the demonic monk was twisted as if it was being pulled and there, entwining it, a large rosary type ether crest assembled. That was…

“……A rosary type ether charger!?

“You not understanding it is because you are a slow commander who lacks imagination…”

A series of scold shots came at an overwhelming density.

Falling back or going left or right wouldn’t make it. If it was possible…

<>

He leaped straight up, and a great leap was added to it; enough to send someone flying. With that movement Neshinbara danced his body into the air, however…

“—The imagination of an aspiring author is only this?”

#7 came from an even greater height than him.

……Damn!

She had used the cannon blast as a distraction. Also, she had kicked off of the back of the demonic monk and from his shadow leapt overhead, where she was already preparing to use her iron-ribbed war fan.

“I’ll take the first credit…”

●

Futayo was conducting a battle with the enemy pair.

At her rear, Naito had already retreated inside the teashop together with Masazumi. That was a decision made due to the fact that immediately fleeing away was dangerous since the enemy’s movements were clearly not those of a coincidental battle; and they had also the fear of snipers being positioned.

If anything was to happen they could always take off from the rear entrance. However, everything…

“Depends on my actions!”

The enemy was currently flying throughout the town.

They were not jumping. They were riding the wind, in the street, on rooftops and then freely moving through the sky.

It was the wind.

When she thought that they were going to charge, they then instantly circled around to the rear of the teashop and completed several turns like that. There was no stagnation in their comings and goings, but they occasionally showed a shaking like bend the same as the wind.

That movement was not only horizontal, it was also from above and from below as if to gouge it on the opposite side.

That’s why Futayo ran lengthwise and crosswise through the town.

The repairs to the half-broken Tonbokiri from her battle with Gin during the Armada Battle were still not complete. The expansion and contraction went to the third stage, so when it was fully expanded the length was halved.

However, tight turns were effective. In particular, repetitive short jumps through the usage of the expansion structure were possible.

“…!”

Futayo ran up the wall, ran swiftly around the roof, stepped on the eaves and jumped to higher roofs and to those on the far side of the street. The speed, which could be said to be perpetual motion, was thanks to using Tonbokiri as a balance stabilizer allowing her to perpendicularly climb up walls and run horizontally.

That was what she wanted.

Following the gusting enemy, both sides were taking a roundabout path through the air. However the #1 man who attacked with a short sword and the #2 woman were both aiming for her rear. That movement was…

……Not the actions of a swordsman!

Samurai type strike-forcers versed in the arts of swordsmanship were in the habit of dealing with their enemies in head-on. Swordsmanship in itself had crossing swords with the enemy from the front as a given.

However these opponents were different. Taking the initiative and aiming for the back was…

……A technique used for assassination.

In that case, these opponents were…

“Ninja!?”

●

Futayo realized that there was no reply to her question.

All she had was the fact that she was running on the top of a three-story building chasing the enemy, and that the #2 woman turned her way and for a moment formed a smile.

That smile was completely fixated on her face…

……They are coming……!

When Futayo thought that, the smile of #2 was completed.

“Go!”

The woman’s hand struck the back of #1.

When she heard the thick noise which was more like flesh than clothing, the figure of #1 had vanished.

She understood that he was riding on the wind. It was something that had previously happened several times. However this time was different. Up until now the two of them had been moving together; however…

……A pincer attack from the front and rear!?

As if to confirm that she was correct, a presence appeared from her rear.

The rear was dangerous; #1 was attempting to circle around it. However…

“How about this?”

#2 grasped a large number of knives from the bag that she was holding under her arm.

At the same time the presence of #1 was moving at her back.

The knives were thrown. They were not thrown to pierce the opponent, as they were scattered and thrown on a trajectory to stop her movements. Even if she went to repel them, as the knives were not aimed for her it was hard to read their trajectory.

As a judgment against the enemy in her front and rear and the group of knives…

“………e!”

Futayo took a turn from her pursuit. She leaped to the left at a right angle.

It was an action to slip away from the knives and to escape from the pincer. However…

……They are continuing to follow!?

With his footsteps circling around to her rear, #1 rotated his body once and appended his trajectory. That was almost as if he was aiming for a back-to-back situation.

It was a position where she could not attack; however, without any unnecessary movements #1 went to stab her left flank with the short dagger he carried doing a backhand grip in his right hand.

She could not move left. Consequently, in an instant decision Futayo tucked Tonbokiri by her right flank and from the center instantly made it expand to the front and rear at the same time.

“Go!!”

“Understood—”

Both forward and backward. The butt-end went towards #1 at the left rear. The tip was shot towards #2 at the front right.

It was released.

In response, a movement from the left rear came first. As #1 was very close, he abandoned his short sword and then made his lightened body spin to open up some distance.

Accompanying those movements, which also raised loud footsteps, was a voice containing a smile.

“That was dangerous…!!”

However Futayo had a strange feeling towards #1, who had accurately taken a distance against the lengthened butt-end.

…What that just now!?

Futayo had an unusual feeling regarding the enemy.

No, this unusual feeling was not just from this instant but something she had felt from #1 for the past few moments. There was something different from him whom she had faced up till now and the current him.

However before she could recognize what that was, at the front right…

“…Ugh,”

The tip of Tonbokiri pierced through the chest of #2.

The action required to throw the knives had created an opportunity.

As if to gouge through the right of her chest the point of Tonbokiri made a direct hit.

It ran her through.

At the same time the voice of #1 that contained a hint of surprise reached her.

“#2……!!”

She had certainly killed Number Two.

●

“You bitch…!”

Futayo heard the voice of #1 from her back.

In her hand she had a slightly hard but nevertheless light reaction coming from #2.

Then at the same moment that #2 who had received the spear tip to her chest fell forward, the voice of #1 resonated as if to erase all noise. The sound of footsteps stepping on the roof echoed loudly from the rear.

“Damm you…”

He’s coming, Futayo thought. #2 was dead. That’s why #1 was next.

To achieve that she either had to turn around, retract the butt-side and intercept him or start an evasive movement. However…

……What is this?

Futayo felt a doubt about the strange feeling towards #1 from before.

Something was odd. That thought changed into confirmation with every action that #1 took. There was a slight but also clear difference between him from the moment of contact up to now and the current him.

……This is odd!

She did not know what it was, but there was definitely something. It was dangerous to start a fight with #1 without knowing what that was. That’s why Futayo reached one conclusion…

“—I’ll face you at another time.”

Without turning around to #1, who was at her rear, she leaped forward.

She ran away.

●

As if to pierce through and blow away #2, Futayo took a large leap to the front right.

In an instant, she had opened up a distance with #1.

While she stepped on the creaking roof, footsteps clearly rang out as well.

……This is—

Futayo realized the source of the strange feeling. However at that exact same time, something moved.

It was #2.

She who had been pierced by the tip of the spear and stopped moving, suddenly said this:

“I’ve been exposed.”

She was not dead. The body of #2 jumped up together with those words.

She was alive.

The movements of her body, however, did not stop there.

……What!?

That was not a human.

From the area pierced by Tonbokiri, the woman changed the shape of her entire body as if it was swirling water, distorting herself.

“Oh!”

Looking like something similar to a half destroyed bag or spreading smoke, and finally like a spider trying a to catch its prey, she changed her shape. However, there still remained the indefinite form of a person.

“…Here I go…!”

The entire body of #2, with movements that almost seemed like a massive hand expanding and shrinking, attacked her.

What was the reason for these movements? Futayo furrowed her brow and reached a conclusion.

“A monster!”

●

Futayo saw it. From beyond #2, who had changed into a wind monster and was trying to encircle her, there was something that Tonbokiri's tip was thrusting.

What the tip of the white edge was thrusting was a single knife.

It was the same as one of those which previously had been thrown her way. She now understood the meaning for it being at #2's back.

……It was in order to provide a fake sense of reaction!

This woman was some kind of monster related to the wind. She had no weight and blades had no effect. However, the basis of her power was to lift and transport things, so it was likely that she was primarily the assistant of #1.

Futayo finally understood. The cause of the strange feeling that she had about #1 was the occurrence of footsteps. The footsteps, not present at all since he first emerged, suddenly appeared when the two of them had separated to the front and rear. However in order to disguise the fact that the woman who was made of the wind had no footsteps #1 had purposely created loud footsteps while moving.

Spreading out the knives was to create a false reaction and #1 yelling out at the time the woman was stabbed by the tip of the spear was also in order to disguise that there was no piercing sound.

Creating the delusion that #2 was dead and then, when she turned around to face #1, #2 would quietly attack from behind.

It was that kind of process.

However, since Futayo hesitated she was not caught. If you are hesitating then move forward…

……Yes, that is something that my father taught me……!

Futayo thought about the past.

Often, when Kazuno had approached her father with a scolding presence he had quickly retreated backwards.

That was because “I have no doubt! Since I have no doubt it is fine to fall back!”, but then a serious-faced Kazuno simply increased her speed so there was really not much meaning there.

Even so, Futayo considered how to deal with the enemy.

The enemy was a wind-like being, so it had no vital points. Since stabbing with a blade did not work then the effect of Tonbokiri’s slicing ability probably also would be weak.

However, her moving forward was a blunder. It was a mistake.

……What have I done!

At this rate, if she moved forward and was enveloped by the wind it was likely that she would be blown away. With the instantaneous speed of the enemy’s technique and its momentum she could expect to be slammed into the ground or somewhere else.

She wanted to avoid that.

“In that case.”

Futayo moved her left hand around her back and waved it.

What she grasped with her fingers was the short dagger that #1 had just now released to lighten his body. With her fingers Futayo grasped the blade of the dagger that seemed as if it had fallen onto the roof, and while slightly shaving away her skin threw it at #2.

#2, the opponent that the heavy armor-piercing dagger was flying at, was wind.

Blades have no effect on the wind. But there was a place where it made sense to attack.

“The face!!”

●

In front of Futayo’s vision the appearance of #2 was constantly changing as if dissolving.

However she could see the modeling of the face. In that case…

……Whether it is a monster or something else, if she has a face then her sensory organs should be concentrated there!

It was the same as for the black algae and spirits. That’s why if she aimed at the face, even if it did not stab, the shadow of the blade would take away the opponent's vision. Sure enough, against Futayo’s thrown dagger…

“…!?”

A minor disturbance occurred in the movements of #2. It was just for a moment, but Futayo did not overlook it. She lowered her body, ran swiftly and swung her body to the side.

To avoid attack of the wind, she passed through the side.

However #1 pursued her from the rear. The footsteps were softer than before, almost as if they were fading away.

The pursuing footsteps from the rear grabbed hold of a knife from the space of #2. It was the hidden knife that #2 had used to create the artificial reaction when she was pierced by the tip of the spear.

That was the moment when Futayo heard the sound of #1 taking it in his hand. Futayo took action.

“……!”

Futayo judged that there was an opportunity.

At the moment when the knife was grabbed the top half of his body became exposed. That’s why when Futayo had spun half her body around she extended Tonbokiri.

“Go!”

She drove the tip of Tonbokiri into #1 who was at the time between her and #2. That was what should have happened, but what Futayo first saw in her gaze when she half-turned around was the afternoon sky and the thatched roof.

Neither #1 nor #2 were there.

The only thing she had at her back was something that sounded like footsteps when falling. That was…

……Shoes!?

The thing she had heard as footsteps was the sound of shoes being taken off and dropped.

The enemy was not at her rear.

By the use of a body replacement technique they had disguised their location. Furthermore, #1 together with #2 was concealing his footsteps with the wind and moving somewhere.

……That was a wonderful swift change of pace!

Then, what was going to come was…

“—The rear!”

With the movement of her arm and without any confirmation, she swung and drove the tip of the spear to her back. The response was…

“……Got it!!”

Piercing through someone and going through bone, there was also the limpness of flesh reactionary stiffening. Futayo, who rotated her body as if following the handle, turned around and examined the tip.

She was mistaken. The object the that tip was piercing was not #1.

“A tree branch!?”

The thin tree branch was bonded with a talisman and the spear was piercing through the center of that.

This time, it was a real body replacement technique.

……This is ninja technique!!

When she thought that, the wind came from behind.

Tonbokiri was still extended with its tip stabbed into a talisman which contained the same weight of a person.

She had no method to attack. That is why Futayo…

“—“

She took action.

Futayo let go of Tonbokiri and fell backwards into the wind which was approaching from the rear.

●

“!?”

Both #1 and #2 were taken aback by Futayo’s abrupt movement.

After all the target had itself jumped towards them at the moment of the attack.

#1, who had lost his timing, gained a deep smile on his cheeks.

……Now you’ve done it!

Pursuing and attacking from behind was the basis of being a ninja, so they were taken aback with the actions of the enemy who had fallen backwards towards them. He could not deny that he had the thought that their opponent was a samurai.

Damn, while he was smiling towards his chest…

“………e”

The black hair waved, it lightly danced.

Futayo’s back went as if to touch his chest.

At the moment when she thought they were going to make contact as if they were embracing, #2, who was enveloping her, suddenly moved. She blew her away to the side.

“Noo—”

●

Futayo realized that the two at her rear had split to the left and right. It was after the words of #2, that she did not understand the meaning of.

Immediately following that, Futayo raised her right leg. She placed her leg on the grip of the Tonbokiri which was released into the air.

“Bind, Tonbokiri!”

The branch at the tip split into two and scattered through the air. Then pulling her knee to her chest Tonbokiri flew horizontally with good momentum.

“…!”

Towards her who was stepping backwards, #1 was trying to pass by her side. He stopped his body to pass under Tonbokiri while #2 joined with the wind and went over Tonbokiri.

She saw the enemy.

At that time she could feel the enemy forward at the right and left. She could also determine their position above and below.

There was a chance of winning.

However Futayo saw the strong gaze that #1 and #2 had displayed to her when they had passed by.

They still had some sort of plan left. It was that kind of gaze.

At that time, Futayo had an involuntary reaction.

At the edge of her mouth the looseness of an arc was born.

……This is amazing.

●

Futayo thought that even no mattering how one looked at this, in her inexperience she was just dodging and struggling desperately; but the enemy conveyed with their gaze that it was still going to continue.

How admirable.

She had gained knowledge about ninjas from Kazuno and conducted anti-shuriken training and things like that, but this was the first time she had dealt with them at this level in an actual battle. The earlier body replacement technique was something she had only seen in the anime “Underpopulated Ninja Tottori” and she thought that the real technique was amazing.

If she was able to nullify all of the opponents' attacks then would it be okay to say that she was at the same level as these people?

……No.

The enemy’s attacks were something that had been created through years of training; she was just taking advantage of that.

She understood very well that between creating and using, the latter was overwhelmingly easy. In that case, even if she were to win against these opponents she would she not be equal to them.

…That’s why it was interesting.

Futayo took Tonbokiri in her hand and after lowering and compressing her body she leaped backwards.

She did it into the sky which spanned above the street. As expected the two enemies once again overlapped their bodies and pursued her.

“—!”

A metallic sound loudly rang out.

●

At the same time the sound of ringing metal echoed, there was something that Neshinbara realized first. It was the softness of the hand lightly pressing his chest.

Following that, what he saw was a slightly dark-skinned, dark-haired head with horns; and at the waist and shoulder were carried…

……A demonic woman with four swords!?

The female demonic warrior leaped towards #7 while keeping her eyes closed.

Her clothing was a white Far Eastern school uniform entwined with some decorative fabric.

The blades drawn in an intersecting trajectory were the two katana at her waist.

In an instant she drew what could be called a long sword. It was a katana in which the blade length alone was a meter and a half.

Almost at the same time, the two katana that were raised overheard as if they were being extended, intercepted the iron-ribbed war fan of #7 which was falling from the sky.

Sparks scattered.

“……Damn!”

Through the expanding movements of the demonic woman's intersecting two swords the iron-ribbed war fan was blown away. #7 clicked her tongue in the sky.

“How troublesome—”

Those words did not continue. That was because in the air the demon woman, who had reached the peak of her leap, launched a second attack.

…Eh?

Neshinbara who had been blown away by her observed her movements while landing on a faraway rooftop.

However, he was unable to comprehend.

That was because at first the woman released her hands from the upraised swords that were raised up as if intersecting, then drew the two katana at her shoulders, and then drove the previous two katana into the empty shoulder sheaths.

“You think you can get away, scum!”

While keeping her eyes closed the downward swing of the two katana easily shattered the fan-swords which were expanded into the sky as a shield.

“Ugh!”

The two katana swung straight down cut off the left and right of the shield that was deployed as an arc. On the far side #7, who was in the trajectory of the katana, raised her eyebrows and kicked the wreckage of the iron-ribbed fan towards the demonic woman.

It would hit. But right before that the woman released her hands from her two katana. Almost as if spilling from her palms, the katana revolved and fell in the empty sheaths at her waist and at that time the two katana from her shoulder were already being swung down.

The attack, which entered a downward arc, cut apart the kicked iron-ribbed fan and sent it towards the demon monk below.

“Well then. —Finally one down.”

……This was unreasonable!

Neshinbara opened his mouth and looked at the woman who had launched off the consecutive attacks, wondering why it was that all the women who appeared in front of him were a bunch of Spartans.

However, while she was still forming a silver arc using a katana and directing that power directly towards the enemy…

“—Wait!!”

Something arrived together with a voice transmitted from an audio device.

It was a God of War.

●

The thing that suddenly appeared on the street at Neshinbara's back arrived with a large amount of wind and the sound of metal parts colliding.

There, standing in the center of the earth tremor and roar which accompanied the dust cloud was a single blue god of war.

It was a female model with a flying unit. The head had armor modeled after the face of a dog and at the tip of the single sword which was trusted out with the right arm…

“If the enemy of my enemy is my friend, —both of you would be my opponent, then?”

The white clothed demonic woman remained standing in a stance with all four of her blades sheathed.

However, the god of war, while still creating a haze from the flight unit, stopped its movements.

Neshinbara knew this god of war. No…

……That demonic woman as well. As well as those people who had attacked them.

The thought in his mind was that it couldn’t be, but with so many gathered he was sure of it.

……These guys are—.

Before he could finish thinking a sign frame opened at the side of his head. The thing that Michizane hurriedly indicated was…

Silver Wolf: “It is an emergency! Please check the sky surrounding IZUMO!”

The short words that were likely created hurriedly had immediate follow-up words. They were…

Silver Wolf: “The fleets of various countries are gathering as if to encircle IZUMO!”

Notes

1. ↑ Buddhist rite of burning cedar with consecrated fire before an idol to ask for blessings.