We ran and ran some more.
We were searching for the place where space had been torn open.
Of course, since we didn’t have time to waste, Itsuka-kun was carrying Mana, the Fire Keeper was carrying me.
"Aaaah!!! Mana!!! Slow down a little!!!"
"No way! How are you even more scared than Sachi?"
"Aaaagh!"
Itsuka-kun was screaming from the speed, but that was probably because he was flying through the air.
The other spirits basically had flight abilities, and Mana was moving through the air with a CR-Unit.
As for me, I didn’t have anything like that, so I was carrying the Fire Keeper in what you might call a princess carry, leaping from rooftop to rooftop.
Wasn’t I the only one actually running here?
Just as that thought crossed my mind, Murasame’s voice came through.
[...Stop. From there, I think you can take the route to the Mother Room.]
At her words, everyone stopped and looked ahead.
In front of us was a place that looked as if space had been torn apart, with noise clinging thickly around the edges except for the center.
"You mean that place that looks like space got ripped open?"
[...Yeah. From there on, there’s no proper path.]
"I should be able to guide us. I can feel Marina’s presence nearby."
[...That’s a relief. She’s probably noticed our movement too. Be careful.]
At Murasame’s warning, I took one deep breath and spoke.
"All right. Let’s go."
The other spirits went in first. After them came Mana and Itsuka-kun, and finally I jumped in while holding the Fire Keeper and entered the torn space.
The inside of the torn space was a very strange sight.
It felt like everything was open and closed at the same time.
The surroundings were wrapped in some blue light, yet I was floating in midair.
I definitely felt like I was standing on solid ground, but if I messed up, it seemed like I’d end up somewhere bizarre.
"...This way."
Maria started running ahead to lead us.
Tap tap tap
We followed her for a few minutes.
By the time we had no idea how far we’d run, we finally stopped for a moment.
"Your sense of direction and distance are different from what you’d normally feel. Don’t get fixated on what you can see. Keep moving forward. She’s definitely close."
The moment Maria said that, Tohka raised [Sandalphon].
"Everyone, she’s coming!"
As if Tohka’s absurdly good intuition had kicked in, Marina really did appear ahead of us.
"...Oh? You still don’t know when to quit, Higakieta Hai. Persistent men are hated by women... wasn’t that how it went?"
At Marina’s words, I rested the iron pipe on my shoulder and said,
"Hard to say that when I’m so loved."
"Uu! Womanizer!"
"Who are you calling a womanizer?"
I shot a glance at Yoshinon, who was spouting nonsense from behind me, then turned my eyes back to Marina.
"I’ll ask you one thing. Was there someone who wanted this kind of crap?"
If Marina was a virus, then there had to be a developer behind her.
And if that bastard developer had infiltrated [Fraxinus], then that meant Marina had to be here.
In other words, there was someone who wanted this.
"Hehe. That’s right. I know someone who would destroy this world and still insist on their own ideals. So this is just a necessary sacrifice to me."
Seeing Marina say that with a smile, I tightened my grip on the iron pipe.
"So you’re going to erase everyone in Tengu City down there? Bullshit. Who taught you not to do crap like this?"
I couldn’t believe it.
That she would try to kill everyone in Tengu City for a reason like that.
By now, Tengu City had become another home to me.
I was going to stop Marina with everything I had.
"Your hypocrisy is no longer needed by me, Higakieta Hai. I wish you had just fallen into despair and waited to be erased."
"Unfortunately, if I fall into despair, that means the day the world ends. Unless some other 'burning ash' comes along, there isn’t anyone who can stop me."
What I said was the truth.
One of the traits of the undead, and one of its flaws, was hollowing.
That condition came from one’s mental strength running dry, and one easy way to do that was despair.
And once you became a hollow, you lost all reason and just craved souls while attacking the humans around you.
Not only that, you didn’t even die, so if I, who had maxed out every stat, fell into despair...
I didn’t even want to think about it.
The disgusting thought made my brow furrow.
As I stared at Marina and wiped those nasty thoughts from my head, Tohka shouted from behind me.
"Don’t make me laugh, you artificial spirit or whatever! We’re not ending here! Come on! I’ll settle this!"
At Tohka’s declaration, Marina shrugged.
Man, she was really relaxed, huh?
"Settle this? Do you mean you’re all going to disappear here?"
At Marina’s easygoing tone, this time Kaguya spoke up.
"Heh heh... Foolish. You think you can take on all of us alone?"
"Warning. Kaguya, that’s a guaranteed defeat line. I can only say your sense is lacking."
Well, she had just planted a flag, so that was a bit of a problem.
"Y-you idiot...! Th-that’s just how it looks if you think about it normally!"
"Denial. Situations like this usually lead to trouble."
At their back-and-forth, Marina laughed.
"Ufufu, ahahaha! You’re pretty quick on the uptake, [Berserk]! I know everything about you too!"
Just as Kaguya had said, we outnumbered Marina.
Even with the numbers stacked against her, Marina still kept her composure.
And I could see why.
"Spirits, angels... the things reproduced by spiritual power in this world become powerful weapons. But there’s no way I wouldn’t have prepared a countermeasure for that, right?"
One Marina appeared to her left.
Another Marina appeared to her right.
Then ten, then a hundred Marinas surrounded us.
"How is it? How is it? Pretty good, right? Of course, I can fight in this world without doing something like this. But playing with all of you is kind of a hassle."
"My, my. That’s quite the provocation."
"Is that like Kurumi’s ability?"
At Itsuka-kun’s question, the young lady shook her head.
"It’s a little different from ours. Ours are me from another time. But this is..."
[...An entirely identical copy.]
As if continuing the young lady’s explanation, Murasame’s voice came through.
[Of course, unlike Kurumi’s clones, their power won’t reach the original, but this number is... ]
"That’s right, there’s no limit. I can make as many copies of myself as I want. Can you really win~?"
Watching her multiply like that, I couldn’t help thinking she looked like a damn bacterium.
What kind of self-replication was this?
What, was she some kind of Noah Sullivan or something?
While I was thinking that, Tohka quietly asked Maria,
"...Maria."
"Yes? What is it, Tohka?"
"Is the original of the artificial spirit among them?"
"...No, I don’t think so. Everything here is a copy."
"What~? Then it’s an easy win."
It was a line that didn’t fit the situation at all, with the enemy taking the numerical advantage too.
Marina, who clearly understood that, made a face like she couldn’t make sense of it and looked at Miku, the owner of those words.
"You’re awfully reckless, [Diva]."
"Well~ think about it~ If you can really make copies without limit, then there’d be no need for the original to hide, right~? And if she’s hiding anyway, doesn’t that mean she thinks there’s a chance we can beat her~?"
Miku had a point.
If she could make copies endlessly, there’d be no need to hide.
If she mixed in among the copies, she’d be hard to find.
But the fact that she was hiding anyway meant she must have judged that there was a real chance of losing.
Or maybe...
"Yes, that’s exactly right. Well, maybe from the start I was just planning to buy time."
Maybe she was just stalling for time, just as the young lady said.
The commander apparently thought Miku’s reasoning made sense too, because she smiled and said,
"That’s how it is. Too bad for you, Marina!"
At that, Marina’s ever-calm expression finally crumpled.
"Hmph... Is that so!"
"Getting worked up is proof enough, isn’t it? All right, everyone, get ready."
At the commander’s words, everyone prepared for battle.
Itsuka-kun and the Fire Keeper were surrounded by Mana and Tohka, while the commander spun [Kamiel] once and slammed it into the ground.
There was also Yoshino, nodding back at Yoshinon with their eyes locked, and Kaguya and Yuzuru standing back to back.
Miku cleared her throat, and Rinne and Mayuri also made faces that said they were ready.
And I split another iron pipe I’d found on the way over in half.
Clang!
I kicked it with my knee and the pipe snapped cleanly in two.
In my right hand I held the long pipe, and in my left the short one.
This would be a makeshift [Farron Greatsword].
The same weapon I’d relied on when clearing out the Deep Accursed, who boasted overwhelming numbers just like Marina did now.
I was recreating it with iron pipes.
After preparing my weapons, I thrust the long pipe forward and rested the short pipe across the arm I’d extended.
"What’s with that stance?"
"This? It’s a ritual some knights from a certain organization used to do."
Now then, the battle begins.
Comments (0)
Please log in to leave a comment. Login or Register