Using the feedback from his perception-expanding state of shiki to guide him, Ayato noticed the circle of Valiants was thinnest in the vicinity of the passage the three of them had just used to enter the room… It might be possible to break through and then defeat the puppets one by one in the narrow passage.
That, however, could end up taking too much time.
Right now, their highest priority had to be reaching Lamina Mortis as quickly as possible.
“…Ayato, Saya,” Kirin whispered as she dodged attacks from multiple Valiants. “I’ll use the Fudaraku. Leap out of the way when I draw my blade.”
“…”
Ayato and Saya exchanged silent nods.
With that, Kirin took a step forward and returned the Hiinamaru to its scabbard, drawing in its place a second blade from her right hip—the katana-shaped Orga Lux known as Fudaraku.
The Fudaraku’s uniqueness lay in its ability to store energy—the more energy it accumulated, the sharper and more powerful the weapon became.
As Kirin sheathed her blade, five Valiants saw their opportunity and attempted to close in on her, hammers raised.
“…Here I come.”
Ayato and Saya leaped back as those words escaped Kirin’s lips—and at that moment, a silver circle of light flashed around her in all directions.
As Kirin began to unsheathe the Fudaraku, its silver glow overflowed. The brilliant burst of light emanated out from her, freezing the Valiants as though time itself had ground to a halt.
“That’s…”
As Ayato and Saya landed back on the ground, the bodies of the surrounding Valiants gradually collapsed—then exploded.
That single burst of light had split them clean in two.
All one hundred of them.
“Wow…,” Saya murmured, incredulous as the explosions rang out around them.
The Fudaraku’s blade was composed of metal, not light, and while it gave off an incredible reflective sheen, it was wholly shaped like a Japanese katana. Nonetheless, its terrifying latent power was no doubt capable of overwhelming even the Ser Veresta. With the energy Kirin had stored inside it over all this time, there could be no withstanding its full force.
“I see… So that’s the Fudaraku. Phenomenal.” A frigid voice came across the flames left from the explosions. “You’re dangerous. D’s assessment was correct. I’ll have to eliminate you here, no matter what it takes.”
“…You sound pretty relaxed, given the situation,” Saya interjected, stepping forward and aiming the Helnekraum at her target.
“Relaxed…? I don’t think so. I’m always doing my best. How else could I hope to atone…? Ah, yes, I see. I suppose I was being deceptive before. I wasn’t truly facing my sins. Let me atone for that, too, here and now.” Percival’s vacant eyes widened as she lifted her right hand high into the air.
Then, responding to her, the Amalthean Goat floating in the upper-right part of the hall began to change form. The Orga Lux, shaped like a chalice tilted on its side, started to stretch long and thin, encircling the thorns decorating its bottom half.
“It can’t be…!”
Saya was the first to react—squeezing the trigger of the Helnekraum and firing at the all-but-defenseless Percival.
Her aim was perfect. With a tremendous roar, a fresh explosion erupted, the blast clearing away the wreckage of the fallen Valiants still burning throughout the hall.
And yet—
Percival was no longer there, reappearing instead in one of the broken passageways two levels above.
In her hands, she was grasping a spear, distorted like a thorn stretched beyond recognition.
When did she…? How did she manage to dodge Saya’s attack just now…?
“Ngh… So it is the Holy Lance,” Saya murmured, her disappointment clear as she glanced up at Percival.
“The Holy Lance?” Kirin repeated, coming up next to her.
“There were rumors, that the Holy Grail—the Amalthean Goat—has a secret second form,” Saya continued without letting Percival out of her sights. “I thought they were bogus. But there it is. The Holy Lance. The IEFs have to publish their data on their urm-manadite stocks, so just about anyone can get a rough idea of their capabilities. One researcher looking over the data came up with a hypothesis—that it might be possible to reverse the Amalthean Goat’s abilities if its user’s compatibility rate passed a certain level. But it was just a rumor. The Holy Lance has never actually been used in battle, and I didn’t take it seriously, either…”
They had deployed extensive countermeasures against the Amalthean Goat during the Gryps, but neither Claudia nor Saya had mentioned anything like this back then. In other words, those rumors must not have seemed very credible at the time.
“If it reverses its abilities, does that mean its attacks will change…?”
The Amalthean Goat’s ability was known as soul removal. It had no physical attack power, but to make up for that, it rendered any who touched its light instantly unconscious. So the reverse of that would have to be—
“Pierce, O Light of Judgment!”
“…!”
Percival lashed out with the Holy Lance, shooting a laser-like beam of light right at Ayato and the others.
The three of them quickly dodged, but the light carved straight into the ground, tearing through the floor.
“Right. So that’s its technique reversed.”
Its radiance now seemed to be composed of heightened physical-attack power.
That, however, was something that they could deal with. In fact, it was almost a relief that its most dangerous elements had been reduced to just a weapon.
Until the very next moment, at least.
“Ayato, watch out!”
“What…?!”
Percival rushed forward all at once, aiming straight for Ayato as he dodged her previous attack. Given her extraordinary speed, she almost skewered him straight through the abdomen.
It was a lightning-fast thrust—followed by another, and another, all in rapid succession.
“Too fast…!”
But the speed wasn’t all—each blow was also unusually heavy, and though he caught them all with the Ser Veresta, the repeated shocks were unmistakably wearing down his defensive posture.
It wasn’t raw strength, either—yes, the Holy Lance did have significant power output, but something about it was simply wrong.
How is it managing to push the Ser Veresta to the brink…?!
“Burst, O Light of Judgment!”
“Ugh…!”
He had thought he avoided the blow but was knocked to the ground as the golden light momentarily swelled and threw him back.
It was strong.
And it posed a serious threat.
It wasn’t quite at the level of Julis’s Queen of the Night, but there was no doubt that it was in the same class as Gigoku’s shikigami syncretism.
Indeed, this Percival was completely different to the one whom he had fought during the Gryps.
“Scour, O Light of Judgment!”
With those words, the Holy Lance unleashed a myriad of fine, bullet-like projectiles.
“Amagiri Shinmei Sword Style—Three-Legged Crow!”
Ayato deflected that barrage with the Ser Veresta, but Percival proceeded to hold the Holy Lance high in the air as it continued to unleash its light.
Uh-oh…! I won’t be able to avoid that one…!
“Ayato!” Saya’s bitter cry rang out as Percival’s next strike bore down on his throat—
“Hah!”
In the nick of time, Kirin intervened with her Fudaraku, parrying the Holy Lance.
“Ayato! Saya! Please, you need to go…!” she cried, her voice coming with difficulty as she engaged Percival in fierce battle.
“We can’t leave you! It will take all three of us to beat her…!” Saya protested.
“But our goal isn’t to beat her!” Kirin called back. “You two have a more important foe! Leave this to me!”
“…”
Ayato was about to object, but his words caught in his throat at the sight of her determination.
She was right, of course.
They had come here to defeat Lamina Mortis, to put an end to his rampage.
Naturally, they would have a better chance of beating Percival if the three of them fought together. However, they would be unlikely to emerge unscathed, and the longer they took, the closer this whole operation would come to failure. After all, even with the three of them, it would be difficult to defeat her as she was now in any reasonable amount of time.
“I’ll be fine…! Besides, I won before, didn’t I?” Kirin said, glancing at Ayato with a mischievous smile.
She was referring to their semifinal match during the Gryps when she had fought against Xiaohui Wu.
Ayato and Kirin, while engaging him together, had been unable to deal any serious blows. Kirin, however, underwent an explosive burst of growth and finally snatched victory.
“…All right.”
Given the situation, he had no choice now but to trust her, as he had back then.
“Let’s go, Saya!”
“B-but… Nnnnnngh…! Fine! You can do it, Kirin!” Saya still seemed unconvinced, her jaw clenched in worry. But in the end, she followed after Ayato.
“I can’t let you pass.” With those words, Percival repelled Kirin and directed the Holy Lance against Ayato and Saya.
Its golden light grew brighter still, but just before she could release it, a sideways strike threw her hard against the wall.
“…!”
Kirin, armed with the Fudaraku, called out after her: “Didn’t you hear me? I’m your opponent.”