Jave preferred to consume humans alive. They loved toying with their food, which wasn’t as much fun for the one being eaten. That last Cavalleria they’d saved had been just about to kill himself. Come to think of it, she’d been planning to ask Hanabi to do the honors. She looked at Hanabi, who was slicing away the Jave while running toward them with a horrible expression.
But it was too late. The monster was moving faster now, trying to eat her before Hanabi got there. At least this way it won’t toy with me, Rin thought. Or maybe Hanabi would go for the mercy kill.
Sorry. And thank you, Hanabi.
Stay close to Kyuu-kun.
Rin closed her eyes and waited, but the moment never came. Huh? she thought as she opened her eyes.
A goddess stood before Rin. A goddess with a hole in her guts, spilling blood on the tentacle growing out of her stomach.
Hanabi had blocked the blow meant to kill Rin with her own body. As Rin howled, Hanabi’s blood spattered on Rin’s cheeks. Drops of that blood mingled with tears as they rolled off Rin’s face.
Hanabi turned, slashing once with her Blade. It cut away the Jave’s tentacle that had pierced her. The Witch Bubble tried sealing the wound, and, as it did, Rin spoke, her voice shaking. “What are you doing, Hanabi?!”
“Why are you giving up, Rin?”
“You… You could survive on your own if you had to! What are you thinking?”
“I’m going to save you,” Hanabi said, coughing up blood. “I’m not abandoning anyone, even if you tell me to. If you don’t want that, then don’t die!”
“You’re an idiot…”
“You’re one to talk.”
Hanabi deployed six Servant Blades. She shielded the immobilized pair behind her, raising her own Blades high as if promising she wouldn’t let a single Jave pass. No more flying or ranged attacks, just close quarters combat on the ground, all Fencing. Her master was the rightful heir to Shichisei Kenbu, Okegawa Kuon.
He will come.
Her Blades were backed up by magic and faith. They would protect her precious friends.
Fuji had a frame optimized for Control. Forcing his fraying mind into action, he managed to activate a small portion of his DM. The one part he’d manifested was a highly-sensitive receptor with more processing power than a high-end AI Device. He channeled the information on enemy positions, pathed them out, and linked those predictions to Hanabi.
This gave Suzuka Hanabi artificially enhanced 360-degree vision. Theoretically, it removed all her blind spots, enhanced her fencer’s eye—giving her swords a veritable bird’s-eye view—and completed her protective barrier. This went far beyond having eyes in the back of her head: Hanabi could see everything. If something tried attacking Fuji behind her, she could block it with her Servant Blades.
Hanabi and her six Servant Blades formed a circle around the tapped-out, wounded, immobile pair. The Jave had no concept of fear, but the sight of seven gleaming Blades stopped their assault.
The Cavalleria who’d been saved by the Hero, admired the Hero, and was now becoming a hero in her own right, said softly, “Come at me.”
It was like there were seven of Hanabi.
The Servant Blades moved like they were held by invisible fencers, cutting down any and all Jave that came after Fuji and Rin. Never the brightest of creatures, the Jave went after not the Blades, but their unseen wielders. These attacks only met empty air and led to the Jave’s defeats.
Hanabi’s consciousness was split in seven, operating both the Blade in her hands and the six Servant Blades simultaneously. This took astonishing amounts of magic and concentration and wasn’t sustainable for very long. Still coughing up blood, covered in the blood of the slain, buffeted by the ceaseless attacks, sustaining wound after wound, Hanabi still refused to falter.
Suzuka Hanabi—the Hero—stood her ground.
In Rin’s eyes, it looked like Hanabi was converting the light of her very life energy into strength and fighting with it. The longer she drew this out, the longer she protected them, the closer Suzuka Hanabi’s death came. Yet Rin knew Hanabi would never turn and run. She would never abandon them.
Slice, thrust, cut, swing forward, backslash, strong hit, parry and strike, trip, quick draw, stab, side strike, rain slash, right, left, overhead blow, reverse…
Each blow was precise, every cut good enough to end this. The Fencing that Okegawa Kuon had taught Hanabi was saving their lives even as it drained away her own.
Rin screamed like she’d gone mad. “Kyuu-kun! Kyuu-kun, Kyuu-kun! Kyuu-kun!” With no magic of her own left, Rin watched helplessly as the light of Hanabi’s life force threatened to burst like a firework against the night sky. Unable to tear her eyes away, she continued shrieking. “Kyuu-kun! Hurry, please! Hanabi… Hanabi’s going to die! Kyuu-kun!”
Next to her, Fuji was clutching his side, staring up at the blue sky above. His bleeding refused to stop. “Okegawa-kun…” he whispered. “How much longer…?”
Then, the skies above changed—
For the worse.
As the number of Jave slowly whittled away, the Gate behind them opened.
Schaaaaaa…
The Jave scattered like newborn spiders, completely clearing the path between them and the dimensional passage. It was as if the monsters were rolling out the red carpet.
A horrible chill ran through Hanabi. Her instincts screamed at her to withdraw. She had to mobilize every ounce of courage she had left just to stay put.
The Gate was 300 meters across. A massive Jave appeared from beyond the dimensional barrier, one almost as large as the Gate itself. It was disk-shaped, like the surface Jave, but, instead of dark purple, it was a shade of red that reminded Hanabi of internal organs. She’d never seen this type before; it was a total unknown with mouths all over it. The mouths yawned open, spewing countless flying Jave.
Staring at it, stunned, Hanabi realized this was the Queen.
She didn’t know this same Queen had fought Suzuka Hachishiki, and that he’d been unable to finish her off for good.
Have you ever been surrounded by dozens of enemies? Have you ever been stared down by hundreds out for your blood? Can you even imagine how horrifying that is if they aren’t even human?
But Kuon-kun is coming.
By nature, Hanabi was more easily frightened than most, and she had maintained her sanity while surrounded by countless monsters by chanting those words like a spell.
But her chant faded away in the face of this Queen and the flood of monsters she spewed.
“Ah…”
Kuon wasn’t coming. She’d tried waiting for him, but he still wasn’t here.
He wasn’t going to make it.
Light faded from the barrier of Blades, and the Servants fell to the ground. Hanabi’s knees crumpled. Her heart had folded. “Kuon-kun…” she whispered.
Skreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
An insane shriek came from the Jave around her, so loud she forgot to cover her ears. The air shook so fast that all other sound died away. Her body was wracked by it, shaken to the core. Hanabi’s mind and heart were paralyzed with fear, leaving her unable to move a finger. She could feel a warm liquid leaking out from her nether regions. She felt no shame.