✦ ✦ ✦
He succeeded in blocking the attack but felt the electricity penetrate his armor nonetheless. It was a feeling quite unlike anything else he had experienced during his many battles.
I feel strange… Unwell? Nauseated… Am I sick? How long has it been since I last felt this way? No blow I have ever taken has made me feel like this.
With nowhere to run inside his outer shell, Yomibito began to feel worse and worse.
I cannot take more of these attacks… No, it is not that I cannot—I do not want to.
Yomibito finally began to feel true hatred for Itsuki… But still, he did not let his guard down against Hijiri.
She still has her Gungnir skill. To disregard her strength would be the height of stupidity.
“Aneki! I don’t get why, but my MP isn’t going down! So let’s do this now! I’m going to beat him! I’m gonna beat this guy!”
Yomibito had to make a choice.
I cannot go on the attack now. I never imagined Itsuki might have such talent for battle within her. It is my opinion that this strength does not come solely from her skill. It is as if the warrior within her has been fully awakened, blooming out of season. In terms of raw power alone, she now far outstrips Hijiri.
To think my strikes would find so little purchase… She is a different person from who she was just moments ago.
But even so—Yomibito refused to leave himself vulnerable to Hijiri. The way in which Itsuki and Hijiri had worked together to attack him played over and over in his head.
They will use Gungnir to try to deal a finishing blow. Or Hijiri will use Gungnir to expose my core, and Itsuki will finish this with her Count Zero ability. All this means is that I cannot go on the attack—but can maintain the status quo by switching to a defensive stance. Wait—is that exactly what they want me to do? Are they trying to buy time? Are they waiting for something? Another use of Gungnir, I would assume. I am not gullible enough to believe the cooldown time she stated. She may use it at any time… And yet—
—Crackle crackle—
Itsuki’s furious attacks continued, cloaked in lightning and exploding as she fought. The power, speed, and emotion behind her attacks—everything about them was extraordinary. She looked so fierce, as if she were burning her own life to fuel her attacks. There was something wondrous about her in this moment.
These sisters… For the sake of their other half, they are willing to risk their lives.
Itsuki continued to ramp up her fierce and relentless finishing move.
Boom!
Finally, the time came.
Itsuki ducked in through Yomibito’s slashing strikes and leaped in close. Even without calling the two final thunder tigers or a single blow from the beginning thunder bird…
She’s going to destroy the armor around my abdomen and expose my core.
No.
Fearing for his life, Yomibito’s survival instincts kicked into a higher gear. But his eyes continued to follow Hijiri.
No…no! Itsuki is capable of destroying my core with her own two hands!
In that moment, Yomibito recognized his own foolishness.
I have been too cautious of Hijiri.
I should have focused all of my energy on Itsuki. Will I make it in time? No. I will not.
Ah, they are so bright…
At that moment—improbable as it might seem—Yomibito began to evolve once more. Faced with the great existential threat that Itsuki Takao posed, he began to change.
The process began… Or was attempted, at least.
Squelch.
“…? …”
Something was at his outer shell, just to the rear of his abdomen, near his back.
Something is touching my core. Is this—a hand?
Suddenly Yomibito’s mind shifted, his instincts cried out.
Danger! But why? What are you doing there? How are you…
…Touching my core?!
What of my armor? When was it broken? My instincts did not activate because I focused too much on Itsuki? But I should have seen it happen. I was watching.
How did this happen—when was the moment? It cannot b—
“Gung—”