Ayaho had seen this bizarre sight before. It was Yahiro Narusawa’s—the Lazarus’s—power. “No…way…” “Tsk… Now I’m not sure even I killed anyone.” Josh emptied his magazine, and still the attackers would not stop. Ayaho could only watch in silence and shiver at the horrific scene. 3 “That’s a slope… It feels like it goes all the way to the bottom of the earth.” Iroha sighed in wonder as she lit her way with a light stick. They were going down a long slope that took them deeper into the Ploutonion. “I should’ve brought my stuff for long-time recording. Imagine the views I would get on a video of me trekking the inside of the Ploutonion!” “Always looking for a way to improve her content. Truly an icon for all streamers.” “That’s my Waon.” The two CFA soldiers praised Iroha’s random thought. Yahiro, Giuli, and Nuemaru sighed as they followed behind the cheery princess and her subjects. “By the way, should Nuemaru stay this big?” Yahiro asked out of the blue. Nuemaru had been staying alive by keeping the size of a medium-sized dog ever since he bore a nearly lethal wound. He wasn’t supposed to be able to keep his original giant size for long stretches of time. While Yahiro worried, Iroha calmly patted Nuemaru’s snout. “Yup, he’s fine. Maybe it’s due to the dense miasma here.” “Miasma…eh?” Yahiro grimaced as he stared at the black mist drifting all over the cave. It had no smell, nor did it affect the skin, but just touching it filled one with intense discomfort. The same miasma that flowed within the Moujuu’s bodies filled the Ploutonion. “Supposedly, the miasma is basically like the air from another world,” Giuli said nonchalantly, as though talking about tonight’s dinner, while walking beside Yahiro. “Air…from another world?” “Yup. To begin with, the Ploutonion are like corridors connecting this world to that one. Not strange that they would be full of miasma.” “Should we be breathing this stuff?” “I mean, that other world is still Earth, so it shouldn’t be a problem. I’ve never heard of it containing unknown pathogens, either. In any case, we’d turn into Moujuu before getting sick.” “A Moujuu…!” Yahiro tensed as Giuli said something so terrifying with a calm smile. “Oh, you’re worried about me?” Giuli drew her face near to his, an impish look on it. “No need to worry about Moujuufication, at least for now.” “How come you’re so sure?” “Because of the serum. Or I guess it isn’t quite that.” “…Serum?” “Yup. The antivenom serum made from people with immunity to Moujuufication.” “Where in the world do you find someone immune to Moujuufication…?” Yahiro asked in confusion before looking at the back of the girl in front of him; she turned back with a raised eyebrow, feeling his gaze. “…Iroha’s blood?!” “Huh? My blood? Now that you mention it, you did take a sample the other day…” Iroha looked at Giuli with shock. Not even she expected her blood to be used like that. “The blood didn’t have the dragon factor excited, so I’m not turning into a wyrm, either. Don’t worry. We’re still in the human experimentation stage, but thank goodness it works.” “Human experimentation… Giuli…” Yahiro shook his head astounded at her shameless admission. Even if it ended up working, Giuli’s experiment could have turned her into a wyrm. Although it was very like her to do such a dangerous experiment on herself. “I guess those two don’t turn into Moujuu because of the Relicts’ effects?” Yahiro asked, staring at Giuli. “Yup. Being Relict Deservers, they already have the dragon factor in their bodies. I imagine it works as an antibody against Moujuufication.” “So the power of the superior monster, the dragon, is keeping the effects of the miasma away,” Yahiro said while staring at his own right hand. Yahiro was the same in that he had the dragon factor in his body. He found it awfully ironic how he needed the power of the dragon to stand against the disastrous Ploutonion it created. “But even if the antibodies are working, I don’t know how long they’ll last. I hope we can get back to the surface before the miasma becomes denser,” Giuli calmly analyzed the situation. “Yeah.” Yahiro nodded. The miasma getting denser also meant the inside of the Ploutonion was drawing closer to the other world. Who knew what effects it could have on the human body beyond Moujuufication? “Waon, stop! There’s something there!” Lieutenant Zhu called out all of a sudden. Yahiro noticed then, too. There was a faint silhouette ahead in the darkness. Beyond the long slope was the boundless underground cave. They could not see the end with the weak glow of the light sticks, but the roof of the cave was almost a hundred feet tall—its depth had to be multiple times that. The silhouette in the limestone-like cave turned into two, then three, then so many they covered nearly the whole area. All Moujuu. The sight made even the Lazarus shudder. “A giant…Moujuu herd?” “That’s so many. Doesn’t look like they’re here to welcome us, either.” Giuli horsed around even now. While the group stood still in shock, even more Moujuu appeared, steadily growing in number. How Yahiro and the others wished to run away that same moment, but if they didn’t cross this underground cave, they had no hope of escaping the Ploutonion. While Yahiro, Giuli, and the soldiers hesitated, Iroha walked up to the Moujuu. Yahiro shivered at the sight. “Iroha!” “Don’t worry. They bear no animosity,” Iroha said softly as she turned around. Yahiro and the two CFA soldiers were at a loss for words seeing the almost divine aura that surrounded her. “Really…?” “Probably. I think they’re just scared. They don’t want us to move ahead.” “They don’t?” “No. They’re scared. There’s something scary ahead,” she said before walking deeper into the cave. Yahiro gulped down the fear surging in the pit of his stomach before following her. “Maybe the barrier on the surface wasn’t sealing the Ploutonion itself, but that scary thing inside it,” Giuli theorized. The pieces of the puzzle came together inside Yahiro’s head. “Oh… That’s why they attacked the Nagoya Station Fortress… Because they needed the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi to restore the barrier…!” “Dunno about that, but it makes things simpler if so. Try telling them we’ll take care of whatever’s over there so they let us through,” Giuli told Iroha. “Gotcha.” Iroha gave her a thumbs-up. “You sure we should make such a deal without even knowing what that something is?” Yahiro said, looking at Giuli with stupefaction. She smiled tightly and said, “Either way, we gotta get through here or we’re not getting out.” “Right.” Yahiro put a hand on his sword’s hilt. It didn’t matter whether they had to face hundreds of Moujuu or something even scarier. They had to break through to get back alive, even if it meant massacring everything along the way. “All right. They understand.” Iroha turned around with an innocent smile, unaware of Yahiro’s grim determination. The sea of Moujuu parted ways before her eyes. “W-Waon… You’re amazing!” “Magnificent! I’ll follow you to the end of the world, Waon!” “Y-yeah? Good to hear I live up to expectations.” Iroha simply brushed aside the shower of praise the two CFA soldiers gave her while they kowtowed. She was already getting used to handling them. Yahiro ignored their antics as he moved farther into the underground cave. The Moujuu’s gazes pierced him from every direction, but thanks to Iroha assuring they weren’t hostile, he quickly adjusted. What worried him was the strong miasma blowing from beyond the darkness. It was clearly denser than before. So thick it felt sticky. “Were the Moujuu blocking all the miasma up to now?!” Yahiro broke out in a coughing fit, the unpleasant feeling making him nauseous. He turned and saw Zhu and Feng in the same situation. “Agh…!” Giuli staggered, pale in the face. It was the first time he saw her weakened. Even with the antivenom serum, she wasn’t going to stand this dense miasma for long. “Iroha, can you purify this?” Yahiro asked as a last sliver of hope. “I dunno, but let me try!” Iroha nodded with a serious expression. A blinding glow emerged among the darkness of the miasma. A small flame lit up in Iroha’s hands as she held them together before her chest. The flame was smaller than a candle’s at first, but it grew in the blink of an eye and whirled around, surrounding them. Avaritia’s power: flames of purification. The fiery whirl burned away the miasma surrounding them, scorching even the ground and spreading farther. Iroha’s Regalia burned the power of the dragon. Her flames could even vanquish the Ploutonion itself. The Ploutonion quaked violently in agony at the touch of the purifying flames. The earthquake made Yahiro and the rest lose their balance. “This…doesn’t look good…,” Giuli said with a strained smile. Miasma stronger than what Iroha burned away gushed from a big rupture in the ground, creating a solid shadow. A jet-black shadow that soon covered the entire vast cave. “Y-Yahiro…!” “No way…,” Yahiro grumbled as he stood before Iroha, who was covered in flames, and looked up at it. The shadow, squirming like a living creature, was shaped like a giant monster. The ground shook ferociously as the monster roared. An ancient, eight-headed dragon. 4 “This was the scary thing sealed by the barrier?! What’s a dragon doing here?!” Yahiro yelled, glaring at the pitch-black dragon approaching him. The underground cave shook. The pressure of the surging miasma alone was enough to suffocate them. The air around Yahiro and the others was sticky, restricting their movement as though they were at the bottom of the ocean. If it wasn’t for Iroha’s flame barrier, Giuli and the soldiers would already be dead. “…Blaze!” Yahiro activated his Regalia. The unsheathed uchigatana enveloped itself in flames as he struck the miasma the dragon breathed down on them. A single, sharp flash flew toward the dragon’s neck. He felt the hit. Yahiro’s attack landed, but his opponent was far too big. The ancient dragon did not even feel a tickle. Then it countered by breathing fire—a black fireball that could crush Iroha’s flames. Yahiro unleashed his Regalia once again to parry the fireball upfront. The two dragon powers clashed, brewing up a storm that shook the entire cave. “This power… It’s a real dragon?!” Yahiro fell to one knee, short of breath. The continuous use of the Regalia sapped his stamina. He had no idea why one had appeared inside the Ploutonion, but there was no doubt that the monster before his eyes had the same power of a dragon. It was just as imposing as Vanagloria, materialized. “No…!” Iroha screamed behind him, so weakly, like a frightened child; a scream like he had never heard. “No, stay away…! Don’t make me remember!” “Iroha, what’s wrong?!” Yahiro sheathed his sword and ran up to her. Iroha cried, her hair in disarray, and clung to him. “Yahiro… This can’t be… I know this dragon…” “What?” “That dragon is me… It’s us…!” “Us? What in the world are you—?” Yahiro held her close in confusion and, in the next moment, they felt themselves floating. Shoot. Yahiro gritted his teeth. We fell into a fissure? Yet the fall they feared did not come. Instead, Yahiro saw a bright, clear blue sky. The strong rays of the summer sun reflected off the glass of a skyscraper. Cars waiting for a light to turn green gathered on the street ahead. The noise of the engines. The smell of exhaust. The light changed and the cars advanced. Yahiro stood on the stylish tiles of a plaza, watching it all. He could hear the buzz of the people going about their business. Innumerable pedestrians. Congested streets. A myriad of bright billboards. It was so foreign—and so nostalgic. It was the sight of the city before the J-nocide. Yahiro was in the middle of a big terminal station plaza. Nagoya Station. It was unlike the one he knew, and yet, the sign nearby indicated it was indeed Nagoya Station. “Iroha…?” She escaped Yahiro’s arms. He reached for her hand reflexively. She looked up at him with a big smile. Shivers ran down his spine. The girl before him was not Iroha. It was a different person wearing her face. “Who…are you?” he asked, still holding her hand. “I wonder.” The girl played dumb. Her outfit was a cute, girly dress that Iroha would never wear. Then she gripped his hand and ran. She weaved her way through the crowds, swiftly entering the immaculate station. “Where are we?” Yahiro asked. A big LED screen inside the building showed the news. A channel he didn’t know. An announcer he didn’t recognize. The name of the current era: Reiwa. A name he had never heard. “Japan. A different Japan from the one you know,” the girl answered with Iroha’s voice. “So we’re in…a parallel world?” “I’m surprised you know that term.” She smiled, eyebrows raised. “But not exactly. This place has already ended.” “What does that mean?” “What I just said. This world already reached its end. Look.” She snapped her fingers. The view before his eyes morphed. The world was tainted crimson with flames, the skyscrapers turned to dust. The land tore apart, swallowing countless cars. The people running about in the chaos turned into black silhouettes in the fire. A storm brewed, drowning their screams. The end of the world—there was no other way to describe it. “You did this?” Left behind in the middle of the collapsing world, Yahiro glared at the girl. “Me? No way.” She shook her head. “This is the world I was brought up in. Why would I wish for it to end like this?” “Then who…?” “Isn’t it obvious? The dragon slayer. Your cohort,” she said coldly. Yahiro felt his body freeze. “The Lazaruses…destroyed the world…?” “You look like you don’t believe it.” “Obviously.” “That’s okay. Just remember: the world can break far more easily than you think.” The girl with Iroha’s face stared at him, her eyes emotionless, almost artificial. “Do you even know how many places exist in this universe that allow for the survival of intelligent life-forms?” “You’re on an eco-tirade or something?” “No, that’s not what I meant. I’m asking whether it really was a coincidence that humanity was able to build civilization on Earth.” She shook her head softly. The collapsing scenery vanished. Instead, a pure-white darkness sprawled infinitely around. “Who are you?” Yahiro asked. “You know the answer, don’t you?” “A dragon medium.” “Yes. From a perished world.” She shook her head sadly. Her upturned glance was bewitching, yet, for some reason, Yahiro felt nothing at the sight of it. “Where’s Iroha?” “She’s been here the whole time. Hearing your voice.” She shrugged. “Then why are you using her body?” “She’s in shock after remembering who she was. I’m borrowing her body in the meantime.” “Is that so?” “You’re not asking who she is?” “Do I need to know?” “Don’t you want to know?” “No.” Yahiro shook his head without a moment’s hesitation. “I’ll hear her out if she wants to tell me, but honestly, it doesn’t matter to me.” “Wow… Even if Iroha Mamana isn’t human?” “I’m not, either. I’m this monster they call the Lazarus.” “But she was the one who made you a Lazarus.” “I asked her to. She’s just forgotten it.” “You wouldn’t care even if her whole personality was…just a conglomeration of dragon factors?” the girl with Iroha’s face asked with a trembling voice. Her eyes shimmered, like she was about to cry. Yahiro brusquely pulled her close and hugged her with both arms. “I don’t care. You’re still you. Come back here, Iroha.” “Yahiro…” Iroha whispered in his ear, so weakly he could barely hear her. “Yahiro… I…I remembered everything…” “Yeah. Just leave the talk for later, okay? First, we gotta do something about this.” Yahiro still held her as he sighed and looked around. The white darkness was already gone, replaced by the vast underground cave. Right before them was the ancient black dragon with eight heads. It glared at them, its posture unchanged from right after spitting the black fireball. Apparently, time here had been frozen while he met that mysterious girl. “Hee-hee.” Iroha giggled. “You really don’t care what I am.” “Nope. I promised you I’d be with you until the end.” “You remembered.” Iroha smiled in bliss and wiped away the tears on the corners of her eyes. She was wearing her usual Galerie uniform. Yahiro was a bit disappointed about that—she would look great in that mysterious girl’s dress now. “So what’s with this guy?” Yahiro asked, glaring at the dragon. “It’s the carcass of a dragon. A remnant of the dragon factor that destroyed the world in the past. A phantom of an ancient dragon.” Iroha stared at the black dragon. “I see… Right, so the Ploutonion itself is an ancient ruin.” Yahiro sighed deeply. Now he understood why that dragon was so filled with rage. This was the rage of the dragon whose world was destroyed. Only its wrath and grief at the loss of its world remained in this Ploutonion. “Let’s take it down, Iroha.” Yahiro unsheathed his katana again. “But…” Iroha hesitated. She could see herself in the ancient dragon. How was she any different from this immaterial remnant of dragon factor? Yahiro pulled her delicate body toward him. The Lazarus’s dragon factor resonated with the dragon medium. “We gotta save Ayaho, right?” Yahiro whispered into Iroha’s ear. Iroha’s eyes grew wide. She hugged him back with a strong smile on her face. “Yeah!” 5 Yahiro pointed his blade at the ancient dragon, still holding Iroha close. The dragon’s giant silhouette was more visible than when it first appeared, perhaps due to the fire all over the cave. Its eight heads, each moving independently like different creatures, were imposing, but the torso and four limbs supporting them was more overwhelming. It was slow, but its sheer size made up for it. Its sixteen eyes also left it with no blind spots. The entire underground cave shook with every step it took, and its long tail gave them no place to run. The moment they ended up with their backs to the wall would be their end. Yahiro’s only weapon against it was his katana, and yet, curiously, he felt invincible. He couldn’t lose now that he knew the dragon was only a phantom waiting to perish. “Waon, are you okay?!” “Waon!” The two CFA soldiers ran up to Iroha with worry. They were armed with big handguns like Xia’s, the Relict Deservers’ standard equipment. They had been keeping the dragon at bay while Yahiro and Iroha were unconscious. “Iroha looks different now. Did something happen?” Giuli looked at her with curiosity. “Sorry to make you wait, Giuli, but I’m fine now. We’ll take care of this guy.” Iroha smiled at her. “Uh-huh.” Giuli’s eyes narrowed with amusement, despite Iroha not answering her question. Then Giuli jumped away one way, and Yahiro and Iroha the other. A metallic crystal blade split the ground where they’d been standing with a shrill noise. “This power…! It’s the same as Vanagloria’s!” Yahiro groaned as he slashed at the crystal blade that managed to graze him. The ancient dragon’s attack did not stop there, however. Shock-wave bullets flew one after the other toward Yahiro and Iroha. At the same time, a pure-white stream rained down on them and froze the ground it touched. “Now it’s Ira’s! And Acedia’s! It can use all the dragons’ powers?!” Yahiro shouted bitterly. Each of the eight ancient dragon’s heads spat a different power. One or two they could handle, but not all of them at once. “Still, don’t worry,” Iroha whispered into his ear. “That’s just a phantom. A remnant of its rage and hatred for the dragon slayer. No dragon medium wish, no Lazarus vow—our Regalia can’t lose!” “Right!” Yahiro’s dragon aura blew up within him in reaction to Iroha’s will. The flaming Goreclad covered his right arm and he slashed apart the freezing stream raining down. “Waon!” “Let us help, too!” The two CFA soldiers exclaimed as they fired their guns. Their Relicts’ element was lightning. Blueish-white flashes tore apart the underground darkness as they stabbed the dragon’s heads one after the other. Then they noticed the Moujuu inside the Ploutonion were fighting against the ancient dragon, too. No idea if they were already its enemies, or if they were trying to help Iroha, but either way, the support was welcome. “Electric shock coming!” Giuli warned. One of the dragon’s heads in Yahiro and Iroha’s blind spot was about to fire a dark lightning. Shoot. Yahiro pursed his lips. There was nowhere to hide to block the strike. He had no time to think whether it was possible, but only his Regalia could protect Iroha, Giuli, and the soldiers. His other Regalia, not the purifying flames. “Chibiki-no-Iwa!” Yahiro launched his dragon aura, picturing Auguste Nathan’s repellent barrier. This was not Avaritia’s power, but Superbia’s. And the earth dragon’s medium was not present. “Guh…” Yahiro moaned in pain. The ancient dragon’s lightning struck the repellent barrier, slowly breaking the invisible shield down. The Regalia was too weak with only Yahiro there to activate it. He felt the black lightning would cross it with ease. Then he felt someone touch his back. A strange warm sensation filled his whole body. Then Yahiro’s Regalia became a giant repellent shield that crushed the black lightning and the dragon’s head with it. “Yahiro… That was…” Iroha looked at him with surprise. “I know.” Yahiro nodded. The repellent barrier Regalia was not Iroha’s power. It was Sui’s. But this was not the time to talk about it. “Burn to ash… Blaze!” Yahiro used the other Regalia again. Iroha’s—Avaritia’s flames of purification. Yahiro’s slash became a fiery torrent as it sliced four of the dragon’s eight heads. One of the remaining four was already crushed under Superbia’s repellent barrier. Three remained. Yet… “The dragon’s heads…!” “They’re coming back!” Zhu and Feng screamed in despair. Both of them were clearly worn out from the continuous use of their artificial Relict Regalia. Still, no panic showed in Yahiro’s or Iroha’s eyes. “Iroha, lend me your power!” “I’ve got this! Let’s go, Yahiro!” Yahiro nodded with a savage grin as he felt his whole body’s cells warm up. A massive amount of dragon aura flowed from Iroha’s skin, surrounding the both of them in a whirl of scorching flames. The flames soon turned into a giant illusion—an image of a dragon glowing white-hot. “Flame…dragon…!” Giuli muttered, with equal parts shock and fear, and a little bit of excitement. “Burn it all down, Avaritia!” Yahiro unleashed his Regalia and the flame dragon spat out a scorching flash. The flash enveloped the ancient black dragon’s giant body, bleaching the underground cave white. The dragon continued to resist, regenerating, but the heat of the flames would not allow it. Its gigantic form crumbled to ashes as the purifying flames burned it away. Then, among the noise of the raging hot wind and the explosions, Yahiro heard the voice of a girl, bright and liberated. “Thank you.” “I see… So it was you…,” Yahiro muttered. The repellent barrier that blocked the dragon’s lightning had not been created solely from his power. Nor Iroha’s, nor Sui’s. There had been one other dragon medium there. The girl with Iroha’s face he’d met in the white darkness. It was her who helped him. The ancient black dragon itself. “Wow… You really defeated a dragon… No wonder Waon chose you.” “That was incredible, Mr. Yahiro. Now I can leave her in your hands without worry.” Lieutenant Zhu praised him somewhat haughtily, while Lieutenant Feng crossed his arms and nodded in satisfaction behind him. “Who the hell do you think you are?” Yahiro sighed with exhaustion as he sheathed his sword. The air inside the underground cave changed after the dragon vanished. The black haze of miasma cleared up, and they could now see farther into the cave. Light leaked from one of the multiple paths sloping up. The way to the surface. “You okay, Iroha?” Yahiro asked as he released her from his arms. He was worried about Iroha feeling guilt or grief over the death of the dragon she empathized with. Iroha’s response, though, was a surprising one. She silently jumped at him and hugged him hard. “Iroha…?” “Thank you, Yahiro. I feel much better now, in a lot of ways.” “…Same goes for me. You saved me, too,” Yahiro said while looking away bashfully. Iroha saved him when the guilt of killing Moujuu was about to crush him. The guilt didn’t disappear, but he was ready to accept it now. To bear his sin as a Lazarus. “Hee-hee, I’ll clean your ears again sometime.” “That’s not what I meant…” Yahiro furrowed his brow at Iroha’s off-the-mark reply. “Wait, Waon cleaned your ears?!” “What?! She’s never even done a video like that!” Zhu and Feng heard her comment and got all worked up. “You shouldn’t have said that.” Yahiro glared at her under the pressure of the guys’ envious gazes. “I was practicing because I’d never done it!” Iroha averted her gaze. Giuli tapped their shoulders and pointed at the ceiling. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but don’t you think we’re in trouble?” “…Huh?” Yahiro’s and Iroha’s expressions froze as they noticed the pebbles falling. They could hear a faint quaking. The bedrock weakened and began to fracture. The Ploutonion was about to collapse now that its source of dragon aura was gone. “Looks like the inside of the Ploutonion was an unstable border with the other world. We won’t be able to get back to our world at this rate. We’ll be buried alive first.” “Stop explaining and start running!” “Nuemaru! Where’s the exit?!” Yahiro picked up Giuli while Iroha called out to the white Moujuu. Nuemaru looked puzzled in reaction to Iroha’s impossible ask. Not even he could sniff out the exit in this situation. Then a Moujuu resembling a komainu appeared before their eyes. The Grade IV they met on the surface. “You…followed us…?!” The lion-headed Moujuu growled shortly in response to Iroha’s question and crouched down. Yahiro and Giuli nodded and climbed onto its back. “Th-the Moujuu…” “They’re going to save us…!” One Moujuu grabbed Zhu by the collar with its mouth, and another did the same for Feng. Iroha, naturally, rode Nuemaru. “The wall…!” The giant bedrock fell down on them just before they could run for the exit. Yahiro unsheathed his katana and slashed the rock with his Regalia. Then the Moujuu safely carried them out of the collapsing underground cave. 6 Josh glared bitterly at the retracted slide of his pistol—it was out of ammunition. In front of him were the assailants from Melora Electronics. They still moved around the Yáo Guāng Xīng’s dining room even after getting torn to shreds by the metallic crystal blades. “You’ve got to be kidding me… Blowing their heads off doesn’t kill them?” Cold sweat ran down Josh’s temples. The children trembled behind his back, pale with horror. Among them was Vanagloria’s Relict Deserver, Ayaho. The blades that skewered the attackers were her Regalia, but she had no experience in combat—it wouldn’t be fair to expect her to fight further. Still, could he kill the Relict Deservers with just a few reserved handgun bullets? Josh changed the pistol’s magazine unconsciously, the movements all engraved into his body, while gritting his teeth in desperation. “The Deservers have received the dragon factor from their Relicts. Basically, they are a discount version of the Lazarus. Do not think you can kill them easily,” a calm, low voice said right beside him. The next moment, an invisible shock wave crushed the attackers’ bodies against the floor. All their bones were broken and they stopped moving as the damage exceeded their regeneration’s limits. “So they’re like Fafnir soldiers. A bit harder to process their deaths since they’re still rational.” Josh sighed in relief as he turned to look at Auguste Nathan, who had appeared beside him before Josh realized. Who knew what went through his mind, but this Black envoy from the Heavenly Imperial House had decided to help out Josh and the Galerie. “Still, something’s off,” Nathan muttered as he looked down at the crushed assailants. Josh raised an eyebrow. “What is?” “Their Regalia were too weak.” “What?” Josh stared at Nathan’s profile in disbelief, but soon he brushed his hair back and gave it some thought. “…Now that you mention it, maybe. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be holding our own against them like this.” “Precisely.” Nathan stared at the fight still ongoing at the platform. Galerie Berith had fewer numbers and no way to counter the Regalia, yet they were putting up a good fight. Although they’d allowed the enemy to get inside the armored train, the victory was still contested. “There are too many Relict Deservers to begin with… It’s highly likely their Relict Regalia are not originals.” “Not originals? You mean they’re replicas?” Josh asked in befuddlement. “Yes. And bad ones, at that.” “…That explains it. So this huge-ass fortress is a Relict factory.” Josh snorted, glancing at the center of the fortress. The amount of defenses and stationed forces were overkill. Not to mention the giant power plant. It all made sense upon realizing it was for the sake of mass-produced artificial Relicts. “That explains why they are so obsessed with Vanagloria’s Relict,” Nathan said while looking at Ayaho, who was sitting on the floor. “Because they can make better replicas with a better original? Rubbish.” Josh shook his head. Then a hoarse voice full of negative emotion sounded in the blood-soaked car. “That’s…why?” “…Ayaho?” Josh looked at her in shock. Ayaho looked back at him with eyes devoid of emotion. “That selfish reason is why they’re attacking us…?” “Wait, Ayaho… Melora hasn’t given up on taking you—” “They won’t get away with this… Not after daring to harm Rinka and Ren for that…!” Ayaho raised her voice as she gripped the short sword Giuli had given her. She glared daggers at the assailants still fighting on the platform. “Ayaho, don’t!” Josh tried to stop her, but he was paralyzed under the overwhelming dragon aura she exuded. The Regalia might attack him if he approached her carelessly. “They’ll pay! They’ll pay! They’ll pay! They’ll pay! I will make you pay!” Ayaho jumped down to the platform through the blown wall of the train without hesitation. The attackers paused their fight when they noticed her eerie presence. Ayaho pointed her right hand, the scarlet mark glowing on it, at them. She gathered as much dragon aura as she could before unleashing her Regalia. But the moment before she could, a cheerful voice stopped her. “Stop right there!” “…Huh?!” Ayaho was taken aback by the unexpected visit. Among the incessant barrage of bullets all over the platform was one short woman wearing clothes more befitting of a university student. Ayaho recognized her face. “Nina… Why…?” she muttered in astonishment. Nina Himekawa reached amicably out to her. The next moment, Ayaho’s vision went hazy. She collapsed unconscious on the floor before realizing what happened. Gas created by Luxuria’s power had sucked the oxygen from the air around her. “Nina Himekawa… Luxuria’s medium?” Nathan called her name as he disembarked. Nina, holding Ayaho in one arm, made a V-sign with her open left hand and smiled amiably at him. “That’s meee! Long time no see, ladies and gentlemen of Galerie Berith. And Auguste.” “Why are you in the Chinese Federation’s base?” Nathan asked, expression unchanging despite Nina’s friendliness. Nina minded it not and replied indifferently: “Heh, that’s a funny question, little Auguste. Why are you helping the Galerie? Could it be that you’ve betrayed Ganzheit?” “…Where is Hisaki Minato?” he asked, looking around. The young man under the marsh dragon’s blessing. That Lazarus was like a loyal dog—he wouldn’t leave Nina’s side for no reason. His absence was enough to put Nathan on guard. “Hisaki’s picking up the princess!” Nina replied with a gentle smile. Nathan’s expression turned stern. “Are you after Sui Narusawa?” “Well, we can’t let you keep her after dropping your job as Ganzheit’s agent, can weee?” “You think I will let you take her?” “Back at you. You think you can stop uuus?” Nina narrowed her eyes and tilted her head, all warmth gone from her voice. “You underestimate us!” “…!” Nathan reacted quickly to the fierce hostility striking him from the side. He braced himself and jumped away. Fresh blood spurted from his right arm. From his blind spot, the edge of the long sword slashed the air and dug deeply into his upper arm. It reached his bone. “You?! Where did you pop out from?!” Josh roared as he pointed his gun at Hisaki. Hisaki appeared on the platform out of the blue. Behind Nathan was the heavily armored Yáo Guāng Xīng, leaving no space for someone to cross from. Unless he literally crossed the wall of the train car itself, he could not have appeared from that spot. “Luxuria’s power…matter permeation…,” Nathan muttered, holding down his wounded arm. Luxuria’s Regalia could freely liquefy matter. Hisaki applied the power to morph the Yáo Guāng Xīng’s wall into a state between solid and liquid to cross through it. Not even the strongest prison could keep him in or out. The armored train’s container might as well be a public plaza to him. As proof, he carried a white-haired girl in his left arm, sleeping like a puppet with its strings cut. Superbia’s medium—Sui Narusawa. Nina and Hisaki aided Melora in the attack in order to take the Galerie’s captive back. “I suggest you surrender sooner rather than laterrr. Now that you have no hostages, the CFA won’t hold back anymooore.” Nina waved at Josh with a big grin on her face. Vanagloria’s Relict Deserver was taken from them, and their other Deserver, Nathan, was wounded. Galerie Berith had no way to oppose Nina and Hisaki now. Josh gritted his teeth, and then he heard a shrill follow-up cackle. “You heard her. Don’t make this any harder than it needs to be, Galerie Berith.” “Jiguan Xia…?!” Josh exclaimed in confusion as he saw the CFA soldier nonchalantly walk up to them. He was told Jiguan Xia had accompanied Giuli and the rest to the Moujuu colony. “You… Where’s my princess and Yahiro and everyone else?” Josh glared daggers at the man. “Princess? Oh, Giulietta Berith?” Xia curved his lips provokingly. “That woman’s at the bottom of the Ploutonion, along with Yahiro Narusawa and Iroha Mamana. Probably getting devoured by Moujuu as we speak.” “The Ploutonion…?! You pushed them into the pit?!” All blood left Josh’s face. The Ploutonion was a mysterious giant pit said to be connected to another world. No one had ever heard of a human coming back alive from it. Not even a Lazarus like Yahiro could climb back from the bottom of the deep hole, much less Giuli. “You should’ve handed us the Relict from the beginning, and then you might’ve had a more peaceful death,” Xia said pitiyingly, ridiculing him. “You piece of shit…!” Josh aimed his gun at Xia. Xia aimed his own gun back. The giant Relict Deserver handgun. Josh had no hope of beating that, and still, he couldn’t stop himself from pulling the trigger. But a moment before Josh’s pistol could fire, a rumble shook the Nagoya Station Fortress. A shock like an earthquake. The armored train swayed and the fortress’s walls creaked. Then explosions went off intermittently in the distance. Facilities all over the fortress went up in flames. “What?! What is going on…?!” Upset showed on Xia’s face for the first time. Hisaki narrowed his eyes, alert to his surroundings, while Nina’s widened in surprise. Not even they were expecting that. “Moujuu…?!” Josh groaned, staring at the buildings up in flames inside the fortress. A giant Moujuu, Grade IV, showed itself, breaking through the crumbling walls. Behind them were a few—no, over two dozen more. The Moujuu became more and more numerous as they attacked every building in the fortress indiscriminately. The once-thought-invincible fortress of the Chinese Federal Army slowly fell to the abnormality of Moujuu emerging from within its walls.
Chapter 57
31 min read