All Yomibito could clearly remember were the flames. They burned so bright and high…
Was I lost in a fire? Incinerated for what I did? Perhaps the moment of some cremation has just burned itself onto my retinas.
Who am I? I know not who I was. Not even my own name. Am I from Yomi, after all? One who has passed, risen from the world of the dead?
Yomibito’s memories were so fragmented that they held no meaning.
Nevertheless—appearances may change, but some things do not.
Yomibito continued to stare at the Takao sisters. They had strange masks upon their faces, but from their builds and the tone of their voices, Yomibito knew that the two of them were young girls.
Identification provisionally confirmed—Hijiri Takao.
Identification provisionally confirmed—Itsuki Takao.
Takao sisters—Vicius’s plan—eliminate.
Yet—many errors in Vicius’s intel.
Orders—worthy of my trust?
Missing—sun in this labyrinth.
Yet—so bright.
Shining suns stand before me—such dazzling sisters.
Takao Hijiri
I WAS LUCKY to find Itsuki in here—but I never expected she might be facing down a disciple when I found her. It does not look as if she has sustained serious damage. From the intel we were provided, that disciple must be Yomibito.
The disciple stood between Hijiri and Itsuki, as if caught in a pincer movement.
“Aneki!”
Two floating pillars appeared on Hijiri’s left and right.
With his hands still gripping the handle of his sword, Yomibito drew his index finger and thumb together.
“Itsuki—follow my lead, support me!”
Given the distance between them, Hijiri had to raise her voice a little to reach her sister. She charged herself up similarly to Itsuki’s Unlock One ability, using Thunder Wind to escape a direct hit from the pillars. Hijiri had also used Wind, which she had activated ahead of time, to create an area of hardened air around her. The extra resistance from the hardened air had slowed the pillars just a little, allowing her to safely escape being crushed.
Yomibito stopped moving entirely.
“Are you like, thinking about what to do next?”
The disciple didn’t answer Itsuki’s question—and with no conversation, Hijiri’s lie-detecting abilities would be of no use.
Lokiella’s intel was that we might not even be able to hold a real conversation with him. It appears it might be difficult for us to talk our way into a resolution to this fight. The issue is…how do we make a breakthrough that will lead us to victory?
As she considered him, Hijiri was creating blades of wind to surround Yomibito. The sharp blades scraped at the surface of the disciple’s armor.
This is as powerful as I can make my wind blades, and that’s all the damage they can do. He’s not trying to evade them or even defend himself. He must think such attacks pose no threat to him.
The wild swipes of Hijiri’s wind blades ceased.
…Crack, crack…
The surface of Yomibito’s armor began to heal.
He believes the attacks are no threat to him because he has regenerative powers. That armor also appears to be a part of him, somehow. It might be better to think of it as a kind of outer shell. Itsuki likely attacked him at some point too, but those wounds have now healed…
Hijiri understood how hard the disciple’s armor was. It didn’t seem like some parts of it were harder or stronger than other parts.
The attack patterns I am currently aware of are the crushing attack with those pillars and the two long katanas in his hands…
“Itsuki.”
“Yep!”
The two of them quickly discarded their Fly Swordsman masks. The masks blocked their vision a little, and now that they had used their skills, they were aware that their identities would be known regardless.
“Itsuki, can you create an opening for one of my decisive strikes?”
“I’ll give it a go!”
Itsuki understood and accepted.
Others might not have grasped my meaning, but Itsuki does. We don’t need to say much to communicate. Itsuki often tells me she doesn’t understand the things I say, but she is by no means stupid. She is quicker than the average person and an excellent student. It is just that metaphors, roundabout references, and figures of speech can be difficult for her. She can understand literary references, though, and those from popular manga.
It’s just—Itsuki could grow so much if she could understand more complexity. She may even surpass me.
Hijiri often used figures of speech when talking to Itsuki, encouraging her to grow to understand them. She also got into the habit of using them in other situations.
I don’t suppose what I’m doing is all that different from what Kirihara Takuto did. Perhaps that is why I was so quick to see through him.
Hijiri kept her distance from Yomibito, circling him as she thought about how to handle him. She decided to try another skill, using a different element. She conveyed to Itsuki through eye contact that she should wait and see, and Itsuki began circling Yomibito as well, keeping him in check. Hijiri tried attacking him with a different element attached to her Wind skill. She had thought that heat or cold might affect the inside of the disciple’s armor—but it didn’t work.
It seems that armor nullifies everything I throw at it. No… It appears as if his armor has no openings, but real armor always has weak spots where blades can penetrate. Even estern-style suits of armor have places at the moving joints where a sword could slide in. This looks like a full set of heavy plate, but it’s not real armor. It’s connected to him—part of him. There will be no openings to strike at the real him under there. All paths in are blocked off…except his eyes.
Hijiri continued to attack with various elements, mixing in strikes with her wind blades to reconfirm her suspicions. Gradually, the uneasy feeling that her first strike had given her turned into a firm conviction.
My blades of wind can’t get through those openings. That must mean they aren’t really openings at all.
Yomibito was only guarding the area around his eyes.
But with only one narrow place to strike, it’s going to be very difficult to hit him. We might have no choice. Nothing more effective than strikes of pure destructive power… Brute force.
It was exactly as Lokiella had predicted.
She said that destroying what’s on the inside was the key. She judged that that was how we could defeat him. As a divine, I suppose Lokiella is familiar with disciples, so operating under the assumption that she is correct seems prudent…