“The security cameras are set up in concentration around the front entrance. So if we are going to get closer it has to be from the outer wall side or the roof.”
Karin said so and circled the [Elecfort], wasting no time to get closer.
The fence that she said might be installed with vibration sensor was fixed in place with Psychokinesis which Karin agilely climbed. Kazuki and others followed after her.
“…It seems there is nothing here.”
Karin cautiously looked around the slight distance from the fence until the fort before killing the sound of her footsteps and crept closer silently. And then when she finally reached the outer wall of the fort, she touched the wall with her palm all over.
“For them to concentrate the security cameras at the front mean that they don’t assume that the wall can be broken. If this wall is made from material in the class of adamantite then…”
“They are so confident that they don’t make such an assumption you mean. By any chance, are you at an impasse right now?”
The adamantite at Japan had an extreme thickness and hardness, because it was a material that was hard to handle, surely it was impossible to transport such material in the amount that could create this kind of fort in absolute secrecy.
But America possessed alchemy technology even more advanced than Japan, what if they had developed a metal material that was lighter yet harder than adamantite for the sake of this Elecfort Project…?
“…No, this material is also metal made from alchemy, but it’s far inferior compared to adamantite.”
Karin lightly gripped her fist and tapped the wall *kon kon*.
“It’s hard but it has no elasticity. Because the cyborg soldiers of this country use HF blade, I guess they naturally made that hypothesis. It will repel back slash, but it’s weak against impact. In short… America doesn’t know about Chinese kenpo’s mystery.”
“So you can do it, Karin-sensei!?”
Karin pushed her ear on the wall. Most likely she was searching for any presence on the wall’s other side. Kazuki gulped his saliva. After that Karin tapped her palm on the wall one more time.
“You can read the arrangement of the metal’s Prima Materia… because of the <crystal grain boundary>, there are partial gaps and disarray even in the metal’s particle arrangement. That is the [metal’s vital point] that’s weak against impact. Japan’s adamantite is amazing because in that respect all the particles are uniform.”
Karin was saying difficult things…
“By sensing the crystal grain boundary with my palm like this, I can discover the vital point. And then on that point… reverberate the impact! That’s the Shintoukei for objects!!”
While Karin put her palm on the wall, she stepped on the ground and drove the whole joint of her body to amplify that energy where she transmitted it into her palm. Her body’s rotation brought about energy.
Cracks ran all over the metal wall. All the sounds were terminated by Karin’s general magic. Karin did the same thing once more. The cracks became far deeper―from there the wall crumbled down without any sound.
On the thick wall, there was a hole opened in the size that a person could slip through.
Kazuki, Kazuha-senpai, and Lotte gave a small applause.
“Karin-sensei’s great accomplishment really makes us tremble in excitement here.”
Karin-sensei peeked into the inside of the hole and groaned.
“Hayashizaki and Lotte need to get on my and Kazuha’s back. …It seems like this fort is not a place where humans that cannot see infrared rays can properly walk around.”
Kazuha-senpai also peeked into the inside and raised her voice “Uwaa…”
Was it? Was it that bad?
“The corridor has infrared lasers put all over. If someone passed through there and obstructed the infrared rays, they are out immediately. But now that they have gone this far, there is also the worry that vibration sensors are also installed in the floor. The magic skill to terminate vibration while walking is also necessary.”
Kazuki obediently climbed onto Kazuha-senpai’s back while Lotte climbed onto Karin’s back.
It was quite a novel feeling to be carried on the back of a girl with shorter height than him like this.
…Perhaps he also needed to train in this kind of field too.
“Are you perhaps thinking that you need to train more? This kind of thing is just a division of role, the right person in the right place.”
Kazuha-senpai leaned her head behind and *gon* headbutted Kazuki’s forehead lightly.
“Kazuha, make sure you follow my instructions in using magic and moving.”
Karin instructed such in which Kazuha-senpai obediently nodded. Both of them slipped past the hole and infiltrated inside.
The place where they entered was suddenly the corridor. When he observed the situation of the surrounding, there was some kind of wide space in the middle of the building, it seemed that around that space was this corridor surrounding it in full circle.
In short, rather than calling this a corridor, it was more like a passageway.
The surface of the wall and the ceiling was pure white, but there were also small holes on it.
It was made to seem like a pattern of design, but after listening to the talk from before, he guessed that there must be infrared rays coming out from these countless holes.
As if crossing over the infrared rays here and there, Karin and Kazuha-senpai were walking forward while evading, stepping over, going under, hopping over something unseen.
So this was what they meant by only humans that could see infrared rays could freely walk here.
…Most likely the goggles that the cyborg soldier wore was installed with a function to see infrared rays.
In the middle of the corridor’s wall, there was a door that he guessed would lead them to the wide space in the middle. There was nothing like a window where they could peek at the situation inside anywhere. Karin pressed her ear on the door.
“There are a lot of people inside doing something. Perhaps it’s the slaves forced to work of something for the whole night.”
…So was this the factory where the Elecbrain(Soul Battery) was manufactured, therefore they brought the purchased slaves here?
He wanted to see behind the door very much but… it was impossible for now.
The length of the corridor was around a hundred and few dozens meter. When they walked until the end of it, there was a staircase.
They could go up and down through the stairs.
“Where should we go?” Karin looked for instruction from Kazuki.
“Assuming that slaves are made to work inside that big space from before… perhaps the space for the slaves’ living and the warehouse are in the underground, and the upper level is where Red Metallica and the other staff are located don’t you think?”
“Then if our aim is for the transmission device and important data, we should go to the second floor then.”
They continued climbing the stairs for quite longer than needed to reach the second floor if this was a stair of a normal building. It was likely that the floor together with the ceiling was high.
“The security system here uses a lot of infrared rays. After all it is unseen by eye. It’s also simple to disregard the sensor that detects sound and vibration using Psychokinesis.”
Karin talked while climbing the stairs.
“There are two kinds of sensor that use infrared rays. The [active sensor] like the infrared rays that are laid everywhere in the corridor just now. It shined infrared rays from a projector that get received back by a receptor. When an intruder entered between the two device and obstruct the infrared rays, it will sound out the alarm.”
“So those projector and receptor are hidden inside the holes of this wall inconspicuously then.”
Kazuki made an appropriate response while obediently being carried away on Kazuha-senpai’s back.
“The other kind is a [passive sensor]. It detects the faint infrared rays that human body’s emitted to discover the intruder. This kind of sensor doesn’t emit their own infrared rays so we won’t be able to discover them no matter what if such a sensor is being hidden. That’s why actually since a while ago for our peace of mind, I vanished the all the infrared rays of everyone using magic. Doing that is pretty hard.”
Karin took a glance at Kazuha-senpai.
“I think I can also do that.”
“Please.” Both of them had a short talk and nodded at each other.
When they reached the end of the stairs, it was the highest floor already regardless of how big this fort was.
It was the reason why they felt the stair was so long. Surely that space in the middle of this building was really just that huge.
When they came out on the second floor and looked around, there were a lot of rooms on this floor. Sounds could be heard from each room. There was still not much time that had passed since Red Metallica and his comrades came back to this fort.
“Seems like infrared rays are not put up on this floor. Perhaps this means that the security system has the strong implication of not letting the slaves escape.”
Karin said so. “But this doesn’t mean that there is no passive sensor or any other kind of security here.”
They ignored the room that had people inside it. They guessed that perhaps those rooms were the normal rooms of the staff here.
Deeper inside, there was a space that was separated from them with glass.
There was a door in the glass wall, it seemed there was nothing like a lock on it.
On the other side of the glass, there was a space that continued for few meters where there was nothing in it, and then passing through there was a door. Looking from here, that door also had no keyhole.
Both door didn’t have any gap with the walls―the door gave off the impression of an airtight space.
Karin made a complicated face.
“Hayashizaki Kazuki, in the first place what do you think is their reason to construct this kind of security system?”
The Elecbrain Project that his country purposefully developed…
“Tha, that’s… for security right?”
“Naturally there is also that, but then why, this door is not attached with electronic key that is impossible for Psychokinesis to lock-pick? If they use a lock that needs body identification, infiltration should become absolutely impossible.”
It was true what she said. Before this in the research facility under the academy, the reason Naiarlatoteph didn’t use body identification lock there was because he had the plan to exchange his host body, if there was no such special circumstance, there was no reason at all to not use body recognition lock.
Then, the meaning of this security system was…
“That is because they prioritize the capture of the infiltrator?”
“…That’s their purpose. If there is a door locked with body recognition standing in their way, the infiltrator would honestly give up. Completely giving up. But for this facility to not do that and instead lay out sensors everywhere, all of that was for the sake of challenging the infiltrator with moderate difficulty.”
The perfect security system would completely accomplish [crime prevention]. It would make the perpetrator completely abandon their effort. Such thing was no good for this place. The system of this fort was not based on such a wholesome idea of crime prevention.
“By any chance the securities we met until now are all lax?”
“In the end we don’t know whether there are really any vibration sensor or passive sensor, but at the very least there is no such state of the art security that has been researched and developed in absolute secrecy so far. All the securities are only on the level within my knowledge that I can deal with. If it’s the case that the scope of America cyborg soldiers are all equipped with infrared rays sight as the default, then perhaps any person from the North American Knight Order can arrive until this far. In other words…”
“You are saying that this is a system for the sake of luring out the betrayer from the inside.”
The absolutely secret research development project was dangled in front of all their colleagues as if daring them to come look.
In the first place if it was the Indian, they wouldn’t do anything like rescuing the slaves and destroyed the whole building altogether right from the start.
“Human that is potentially harboring doubt towards slavery like Ginny will secretly seek and pursue the hidden truth and in the end reach this fort. Here they will capture and deal with the dangerous character that go against American Justice. So this fort has that kind of concept.”
“And then all the securities until now are just the preliminary test, the other side of this glass holds the main event.”
Everything until now was to lure the infiltrator and slacken their vigilance with the moderate difficulty, and then the sure thing trap was saved until the final…
“Here is the same until now, there are several lasers of infrared rays coming out from the side wall.”
Kazuha-senpai said while looking at the other side of the glass.
“There are so many laser that there is no gap to avoid them and go through. But, if we produce infrared laser with general magic to send to the receptor while passing through, it looks like we will able to pass through normally. Next is… is there some kind of sensor in the ceiling?”
“There is, but perhaps those are passive sensors. But if that is really a passive sensor then that means they purposefully let us discover that even though they can hide it. If this is a normal situation then we can interpret their intention is to make the infiltrator give up, but the case with this facility is absolutely different. In other words that passive sensor is a decoy to attract our eyes from the real sensor.”
“Then there are vibration sensors?” Kazuki asked.
“Perhaps there is also that, but that kind of thing cannot possibly be the real trap. …Tsukahara Kazuha, switch the frequency of your eyesight reinforcement, look at the electromagnetic wave.”
Kazuha-senpai raised her voice “Ah-!”
“This is a plan to deceive us to overlook the electromagnetic wave on a different frequency by attracting our eyes with the infrared rays.”
Jab, straight, straightforward punches followed by a flying hook that came next. This is a leading arrangement.
“Is that sensor that use electromagnetic wave? If we already see it through then there will be no more problems right?”
Kazuki directed a gaze of respect at Karin, but Karin shook her head. Kazuha-senpai too fell quiet.
“From the left side of the wall, a large number of projector are transmitting electromagnetic waves in preposterous directions. These electromagnetic waves are reflected without any gap throughout the room while the electromagnetic wave receptors in the right wall are receiving them. Most likely those receptor devices are detecting the angle of incidence of the incoming electromagnetic waves. If you step inside this room even for just a centimeter, the angle of the flying electromagnetic waves inside the room will all change and the alarm device will function. If this is just simple infrared rays then there is the way like what Kazuha said before where we can reproduce the laser using magic while going forward. But to reproduce these electromagnetic waves that are irregularly reflected this complicated, it’s impossible. You have to calculate in real time the angle of the colliding electromagnetic waves on you while moving forward, then you have to reproduce the electromagnetic wave accurately as if the lasers are going straight through you, that’s absolutely impossible. They are not using a technology that is really that special here. But this is… it’s absolutely impossible to be broken through by the present era human race that specializes in the power of magic, it’s a perfect security system.”
“…Kazuki, right now we are doing something extremely important aren’t we?”
After a long silence, Kazuha-senpai murmured in a faint voice towards Kazuki that was on her back.
“Depending on our action, the fate of many children who got sold as slaves will change. Not only the children, the fate of this country too, even the fate of Japan will change. We are… Kazuki is, shouldering such a thing as the King aren’t you?”
Kazuha-senpai talked in order to ascertain it once more.
Certainly it was just as she said, Kazuki was aware of that fact the most in his decisive battle with Ikousai. If he lost that battle, it was the same as Japan losing against Yamato completely, it was a duel that occurred only once in a lifetime.
But it didn’t mean that he was suffering from such heavy pressure even more than usual.
Rather than calling it heavy pressure… he was thinking it irreplaceable, that he could protect those things important for him with his own power, that he could save them.
With the power he had obtained in his hand, he was also feeling a suitable conceit in proportion with that.
“I, before I boarded the ship, that time I caught the reporter that aimed for Kazuki’s article, I was really furious. When I thought that even though they didn’t know with what kind of feeling Kazuki became the King on Mt. Fuji… But I too didn’t understand at all the gravity of everything. I never even imagined that my careless action could invite the war between Japan and China. Shouko-san said that causing such situation from ignorance is a sin, but the truth is I think what she said was right.”
“Is senpai still concerned about the matter of that time?”
‘That’s not it’, Kazuha-senpai shook her head as if saying that.
“Before we even realized it, we are not fighting for something like saving our close friend, or fighting to protect the academy, suddenly, we are right now fighting in a place that has a completely different scale, isn’t that right?”
As if to fill herself with fighting spirit, Kazuha-senpai slapped her cheeks with both her hands hard.
“I want to challenge this obstacle. I want you to believe and leave this to me. If there really is a special talent in me then… it will only have meaning if I can succeed right here, right now, that’s what I think.”
“Wait-, that’s impossible you know!” Karin interjected.
“The electromagnetic wave must not get shifted for even a hundredth of a second even once! There is no way a human can do such an exact calculation like a computer!”
“This is also magic. This is perhaps not something that can be done by calculating the reflection angle or something. If you do it by feeling, I think this is unexpectedly something possible.”
Karin made a face as if such idea was really stupid, but Kazuki got down from Kazuha-senpai’s back.
In exchange he placed Lotte onto Kazuha-senpai’s back.
After all Lotte would be necessary to manipulate the computer that would be there ahead of this security.
“It’s fine even if senpai fails. After all even if America turns to become our enemy, we can turn the table on the guys that come chasing us with everyone’s power and escape back to Japan.”
“But if I succeed praise me properly okay.”
When Kazuki encouraged her, Kazuha-senpai laughed with an easy tone.
“I’m… contracted with Futsunushi no Kami that is not one of the Solomon 72 Pillar, so even if my positivity level gets higher I won’t be able to become a Chouki Magician, so perhaps there is no meaning at all in something like my positivity level.”
“So senpai is worried about such a thing.”
“There is no way I’m not worried right? It feels like everyone of the Witch’s Mansion is special while I’m not. But even me, that… I want to become a favored princess. I want to become useful, a human that is special for Kazuki…”
“I love Kazuha-senpai just so you know.”
“I too, love Kazu-kun. …Yosh, then I’m going!”
A large heart mark flew to him.
Tsukahara Kazuha―150. For this number to have no meaning or anything was absolute bullshit.
Kazuha-senpai opened the door of the glass wall.
“Don’t forget about the infrared sensor and the vibration sensor! You got to do all of them simultaneously!”
Karin called her in panic. After that she whispered in small voice to Kazuki’s ear.
“…What you said just now, just resolve yourself to really have the situation turn out like that. Something like this is an impossible game you know.”
“It’s going to be okay, perhaps.”
Kazuha-senpai entered inside. Her footsteps were light where he couldn’t feel any desperation in it.
The electromagnetic waves that were flying about were all absorbed into Kazuha-senpai’s body without even allowing any reflection.
At exactly the same time, Kazuha-senpai emitted electromagnetic waves at exactly the same vectors of the disappeared waves from the opposite side of her body. According to her talk, she was not making any calculation to counterfeit those but with feeling.
What was terrifying was that she was doing that not only for her body, but also for the electromagnetic waves that collided into Lotte’s body.
Inside that space, the existence of Kazuha-senpai who was carrying Lotte became transparent.
“She reached the center…!” Karin raised her voice in disbelief.
Kazuha-senpai was advancing forward. Each time she moved, the electromagnetic waves that collided on her body presented a completely different state. It was an inexhaustible irregular reflection that changed in real time for every moment. Surely a super computer would be necessary to [grasp] all of those by calculation. Kazuha-senpai [grasp] the situation only by feeling and continued to produce fabricated waves according to that.
“That’s not a human technique…” Karin moaned.
For Karin who could see electromagnetic waves unlike Kazuki, surely she understood just how terribly unrealistic, how devilish the prodigious scene that was currently enfolding in front of her eyes.
“That person is a prodigy of Japan that can be boasted to the world.”
Like a slug, Kazuha-senpai slowly, however without stopping for even an instant, as if she was being aware of her whole body―finally reached until half of the distance. Only half left.
At that time they could hear sound from the corridor. The door of the room somewhere was opening.
And then footsteps―it was not heading here but to the direction of the stair.
They hadn’t been noticed yet.
He stroked his chest while releasing a sigh of relief. …However he noticed an instant later.
If someone went to the first floor, they would discover the crumbling wall.
Their infiltration would be exposed.
But he couldn’t hurry this. They mustn’t hurry. They were not in a situation where they had the allowance to hurry.
Kazuha-senpai was… unshaken and continued to act precisely.
She was advancing with a step that had no agitation in it.
How much time extension they had until the person that went downstairs noticed the hole and found them in this spot? During this irritating time, Kazuha-senpai who moved forward slowly as if she was in a different dimension, finally reached the door in the wall of the other side.
She pulled off something amazing.
Kazuha-senpai slowly opened the door without any fluster until the end and entered inside.
Kazuki prayed that their goal was inside that room. He wished that there was no more trial waiting ahead from there.
“The security is cut off!” Lotte’s voice came from the other side.
“The electromagnetic waves and infrared rays behind the glass disappeared!” Karin too raised a surprised voice.
In other words, behind that door was the computer that controlled this whole [Elecfort], and Lotte had seized control of that. Kazuki and Karin leaped inside as if flying.
It was a pure white room. There was a single computer that was comparatively large inside the room alone by itself and there was nothing else, but even so the computer was by no means special.
The room was actually a space that enabled a person to really concentrate on their work.
“As expected there is an underground cable that is connecting transmissions of data to North America’s home country. That cable cannot access any other terminal other than this terminal. It’s just that they arranged it so that all the data is sent to their home country at a fixed interval, leaving no data behind on this computer at all desu.”
“Nothing? We cannot try to read the data in their home country or download it with this computer?”
“This computer is performing data transmission, but it doesn’t have any recognized authority to accept data. I can use this computer skillfully using Prometheus’s power, but something that this computer cannot do, Prometheus also cannot do it desu.”
“In other words you are saying that we still don’t understand anything.”
However they had rescinded the security, they had already accomplished their role just by cutting off all the transmission to the outside.
Next was… they could only investigate using a manual method to look for something analog.(A person or thing comparable to another)
They had to do that while paying attention to not let any single human escape from within this fort.
“There is no betrayer here but you guys that have come instead. Guests from Japan.”
He felt a presence behind them. Kazuki turned back.
It was Japanese language. He had heard that all the leadership of the North American Knight Order were learning Japanese.
Leaning on the opened door, while wearing goggles and a crimson mantel that covered his face and body, a man was standing at the door of this pure white room.
“―Red Metallica.”
They had made it. They had managed to sever the transmission just before they met face to face like this.
Standing this close to this man, he was a tall man with a height that might even reach 2 meters.
“You are not surprised at all? In other words you guys have turned to become our enemy? …But then why do you act sneakily sniff around our America?”
Red was talking with a tone that was full of leisure.
“If you are standing on the Indian’s side, you should not need to act like this.”
“We are not standing on either side. We are coming here to rescue the people that were made to be slaves.”
“Coming to rescue the slaves, you say? KUHAHA!”
Hearing Kazuki’s words, Red curled up his tall body like a cat and laughed hard in a harmful way.
“KUHAHAHAHA!”
“Lotte, destroy that computer!”
Feeling the strange eeriness, Kazuki said that to Lotte.
They couldn’t feel safe just by cutting the line of the computer setting. It would be bad if the computer terminal was controlled remotely.
Lotte leaped from the desk instantly, she chanted [Mitrailleuse] and turned the computer together with the desk into Swiss cheese.
“What are you planning to do?” Stopping his laugh completely, Red tilted his head.
“We did it to stop you from calling for help from anyone.”
“No, the help is coming you know. See, they are here already.”
Countless footsteps were resounding.
Some group was heading here. The well-regulated footsteps made them imagine an army.
Red shifted his body as if to open the entrance to the room.
From the door that was left open, what entered into the room in groups were―children with countenance(a person’s face or facial expression) that had lost its vitality. The focus of their eyes were all unfixed, their mouths were half-opened with their drool almost hung down from there.
Surrounded. The blank space of the pure white room was overflowed by the children that entered one after another. Kazuki and the others gradually stepped back, striding over the remains of the computer and when they noticed they had been cornered to the wall,
“You guys are coming to rescue the slaves? That’s wrong, you guys are coming to be killed by the slaves.”
Mary had told him before that this man was using Summoning Magic to make an efficient practical use of the slaves.
Magic power was swelling up from Red―the sign of Summoning Magic.
“O death, announce the birth here. Embraced in the chest of the eternal father…! Dead Rising(Black of Encroachment)!”
The children melted muddily―no, it was only his hallucination that they looked melting, the [color] of the children were melting muddily, blackening their appearance.
Something like a melting color was muddily mixing into the children, changing into an aura of black magic color.
The moment that sight entered into his eyes, a hunch flashed in Kazuki’s mind.
This was the same with those black human shadows that were like zombie on that slave ship! That magic phenomenon that didn’t fit with the explanation of the Indian Mythology was something caused by this man!
But… was this the power of the American Justice’s Diva!?
The magic power aura strengthened the four limbs of the children, where they immediately, yet slowly started approaching Kazuki.
“Illuminate the for seas and all countries, <Yata no Kagami>! Fuukyou Kaikon―Youka Issen!”
Kazuki released the seal of Yata no Kagami that had been miniaturized into a bracelet shape and unleashed its power.
The pure light of the sun was supposed to erase away the black magic power that was making the children strange.
Now that they were in a cramped place where the children were crowding close, he would finish this in one go… no, it wasn’t working!
Red laughed.
“This is different with when you were aboard that ship, this me is right in front of you now! Light of that degree won’t clear my commandment!”
The children didn’t even pay any attention to the light and were gradually approaching!
The children were not moving to attack.
They were just making Kazuki and co. lose their space to move their bodies―the children were approaching to completely destroy the distance.
“Kuhaha! I saw it you know! If I do this you guys cannot do anything right?”
Red raised one of his arms from the sleeve of his mantel and put an eagle grip on the head of the child beside him.
He raised that child to Kazuki’s direction turning the child into a human shield. While holding them in check, Red was drawing near while kicking away the packing close together children in his path.
The hands of the children that were surrounding Kazuki gripped tightly on his uniform and trouser’s cuff. Kazuki was unable to meet the attack or even move his body.
The next moment, Red’s mantel opened with a flap from the front and eight streaks of light flashed at the same time.
What appeared from under the mantel was an atypical body.
The body of the cyborg soldiers were silver, but Red’s body that appeared was jet black.
There was a total of eight arms of steel that spouted out smoke. Red threw away the child he used as a shield and at the same time from inside that hand a crimson HF blade lengthened out *gichin!*, the blade was directed at Kazuki and raised overhead.
“KUHAHAHAHAHA!!”
“Kazuki, this way!!” Karin yelled.
At the wall, Karin was putting her hand behind her and pushed her palm on the wall, “Break!” she yelled with fighting spirit. Her whole body twisted like a screw and the wall was destroyed in one breath―the Shintoukei for objects.
The instant Red’s blade swung down, Kazuki shook off the children and threw his body into the path of escape created by Karin, the hole in the wall behind her back.
“…They are here too!”
At the corridor too, the space was completely packed with the blackened children. Just how many child slaves were collected in this building?
Eight lines of rifts were running on the wall behind Kazuki and co..Kazuki and co. forcefully parted through the swarm of children and took some distance. The next moment, the wall was all coming apart and broke down. The rubble of the wall buried the children before Red leaped out from there stepping on top of the rubble while swinging around his eight arms.
“KUHAHAHAHAHA, there is nowhere to escape for all of you! Whether in this fort… in this whole America, or in the place of those Indians, you won’t get away!!”
Those HF blades took apart the wall!?
Wasn’t the wall of this building completely resistant against slash attacks!?
When Kazuki directed his awareness to Red trying to attack him, Red grabbed the head of the child around him and raised the child at Kazuki’s direction. …Shit!
“Barrett!!”
Kazuki shot aiming only at Red. In this situation he couldn’t use large scale attack magic that could also swallow the children.
Red quickly reacted. The inside of his goggle flickered with red light and instantly saw through the trajectory of the attack magic that had a speed rivaling that of a rifle bullet, making him easily evade it. The next moment Red kicked, on the surrounding children, on the wall, on the ceiling, he leaped through the space completely like an insect.
“Kuhaha, my body is all in the middle of a practical test of the latest special make equipment! This is what they called being one with a machine!”
“Tangle Calamity(Entangling Wretched Attack)!!”
Using the eight arms, eight streaks of slash were raining down on Kazuki.
With Ame no Murakumo, Kazuki parried two slashes among them at the same time. The rest was…
“Seusenhofer!”
His body was wrapped in jet black armor at the same time that blocked the attacks. *GARIGARIGARI!* His whole body was shaken in vibration as if he was cut using a chainsaw that took its sweet time.
Originally, sharp things like a chainsaw would get backlash from meeting something hard like armor. Yet with this attack, the [Seusenhofer] was all smashed up.
Red shouted out some kind of technique name, but it was not any Summoning Magic. Kazuki was trembling.
What happened just now was a power assisted body by the reinforcement exoskeleton and the crimson HF blades combined that produced mere slashes.
For example Kazuki’s reaction speed from his mind’s eye, Kanae’s high speed movement, destructive power like that of Karin’s Shintoukei―something equal to superhuman feats of the martial artists around Kazuki that became possible through training, this man could accomplish them through the mechanization on his whole body.
Furthermore among the remaining six arms, one was holding a child as a shield substitute.
Red whose certain kill attack was defended, landed on the ground while crushing the children beneath him that filled the corridor. At the same time with him raising the children that he grabbed in the head as a shield, he even further invoked his Summoning Magic.
“We are under the blessing of the Baron(Baron Samedi)… o cursed life, burst into flames! The Evil Red(Demon Flame of Black Death)!!”
Black magic power erupted from the surrounding blackened children. The black magic power transformed into a black flame.
The corridor was wrapped in a sea of black flame…
{Aa… aaaa…} {Hot!} {No! Aaaaaaa-!!}
Besides Kazuki and co., no, even more than Kazuki and co., the black flame burned the children that became the origin of that black flame. All of the burned children raised screams that was squeezed out from their throat. The scream of the children whose number might even have reached the hundreds was exactly a screaming hell that was the picture of Avici(TN: The eighth and most painful of the eight hells in Buddhism).
It was the same like when they were on the slave ship. The thing that perhaps should be called as the will―possibly the souls of these children, even though those things had been robbed, yet their sense of pain was still remaining!
This was… was this something that a Diva under the American Justice would do!?
The black flame also attacked Kazuki and co..
It couldn’t be helped…!
“O stream of atmosphere, converge on this body, become the storm that reject the hated person! The eye of the typhoon is exactly my throne! Storm Fort!”
Kazuki brought forth a typhoon at their own surroundings, blowing away the children that were spouting out black flames while he adjusted the force. Several of the children were crashing onto the wall where they leaked out voices of agony.
But the wind distanced the black flame from the children.
The black flame moved to the fort and began to burn.
“Kuhahahaha! Don’t hurt these pitiful children-!!”
Red raised a high pitched laughing voice like in a horror movie, he kicked away the blown away children and then he further kicked the wall, kicked the ceiling, and leaped at Kazuki with a three dimensional motion.
“Tangle Calamity!!”
But Kazuki saw through everything with that speed―he moved to the track that would let him slipping through the eight streaks of slashes and launched a thrust using Ame no Murakumo right from the front.
The tip of the sword that reached out straight hit the target.
Red’s goggle flickered in red. “NUOOO_!?” He raised his voice while taking a sudden break that stepped hard on the head of the surrounding children. He was ignoring the law of inertia with his tough mechanical legs and loins.
Red stopped suddenly. Opening―an opening for the sake of counterattack didn’t exist.
Kazuki didn’t choose to pursue with any more attacks and yelled at Karin.
“Destroy the wall to the outside!! We are escaping!!”
Karin had already moved to do that even before Kazuki had said that.
“Shintoukei-!”
Slipping through the blank space created from blowing away the children, Karin further destroyed the wall. Kazuki also followed that track and leaped down to the outside.
“Kazuki-!?” His companions that had surely noticed the commotion raised their voices, Kazuki rushed to their position and regrouped with them.
Mio, Koyuki, Kaguya-senpai, Hikaru-senpai, Kanae, Kohaku, the Ryuutaki sisters, Kamimura-san, Liz Liza-sensei, Akane-senpai, Kanon-senpai, Arhtur, Shouko, Silirat. Also Ginny.
―He let out a sigh of relief after regrouping with everyone.
His feeling felt like he had escaped from the stage that was like a nightmare horror movie.
But, it didn’t mean that it was all over.
“Kuhahahahahahaha! I should have told you already, I won’t let you get away!!”
From the hole where Kazuki and co. escaped, the master of that high pitched laughing voice also jumped down.
“Red Metallica!!” Ginny raised a yell that sounded like a scream.
“Virginia Dance! Why are you here!? What are you planning to do!?”
At the same time with Red’s landing right below the fort that was burning in black flame, Red invoked his magic.
“Now, let’s begin the black festival party! O my black children, distort those bodies and dance madly like beasts! Orgy Party(Ghost’s Lantern Festival Dance)!!” (Editor: Interesting name, that one…)
Countless black beasts jumped out from the building. With a speed like a falling meteor, they surrounded Kazuki and co. in order to block their escape path.
No, they were not black beasts. When he looked around―it was the children transformed into beasts that stood on all fours. That speed they showed was from the reinforcement of the black magic power, their body construction was strengthened magically and they became even faster than Red himself. But every time their body moved following Red’s manipulation, their bones creaked, snapping sounds *buchi buchi* sounded out from their muscles, the children’s mouths opened wide, as if their jaws were going to come off, and painful breaths together with saliva were vomited out from their mouths without pause. Tears were spilling out like a river from their eyes.
All the children that should be called children that numbered in hundreds inside that fort turned into a swarm of beasts and surrounded Kazuki and co..
As expected Red was carrying a single child from that swarm and continued to use the child as a shield.
“Wha, what is this…” Kaguya-senpai raised a shuddering voice.
Red said that they had no place to escape, but they didn’t plan to run. They came to rescue the slaves after all.
But the more this man piled up his magic, these children would…
Were these children still in the state that could be saved? What should he do to save these children?
“Is this magic, also a part of the American Justice’s embodiment…?”
There was no reason to be angry at Ginny, but Kazuki spat that sentence out at her.
There was a madness like Naiarlatoteph in front of his eyes.
“Red’s Diva is… I heard that it’s the power of <Zombie Movies> I think…”
When Ginny answered hesitantly like that, Red exploded in laughter from the amusement that came from the bottom of his heart.
“KUHAHAHAHA! Diva of zombie movies!? Although it’s said that you Americans really like your zombie movies, but are you really going to believe such bullshit, Virginia Dance!? That being the case, you, you really don’t understand what is this thing called zombie huh!? The one that identified with me is…”
At the side of Red, an avatar of a skeleton wearing a black bowler hat and tailcoat emerged out.
“The Diva of the Chaos Side from Voodoo Mythology, this <Baron Samedi>-sama!!”
…Voodoo Mythology!
Was that so, just because he was a Magika Stigma that belonged to the North American Knight Order, didn’t mean that he had the Diva of American Justice. After all American Justice didn’t force the people to hold faith in them.
With such conditions, it was possible for them to coexist with the Chaos Side. With a Diva of the Chaos Side residing in that body meant that it would bring about destruction to the host’s personality though…
“So it’s the Mythology that came into existence from the African slaves that were taken away to Haiti, at the center of America.”
Liz Liza-sensei whispered. “Hou, so there is a walking dictionary here.” Red showed his admiration.
“What do you think the America government in the old era did in order to suppress the slaves that united under the Voodoo Mythology? They were using happy-go-lucky thoughts that was just like Americans. They downplayed the image of Voodoo Mythology by making it a theme in Hollywood movies. The terrifying Voodoo Mythology that controls zombies with suspicious sorcery! After that, the Americans recovered their conscience and abolished the slavery, but zombies had already become entrenched as lovable characters. However, do you know? What is called a zombie in the first place is… the depiction of the slave’s figure that will work following whatever they are told to do you know. The Americans just cannot stop toying with slaves no matter what era it is…”
American Justice once again demanded slaves for the sake of prosperity…
For that they called back the Diva of the slaving mythology(Voodoo)…
Red raised a laugh that sounded broken somewhere.
“What irony that is, how wretched it is huh! Is there any other Mythology with a way to disgrace more humorously than this in this world? Aah, then I who have red skin will dye them completely with the power of Samedi! I’m going to color this America with the jet black color of slaves! Just look, these figures of American children crawling like animals!! KUAHAHAHA!”
Red looked down on the children who were crawling on all fours while in agony before laughing at a high pitch.
The avatar of Baron Samedi was staring at such a Red with emotionless eye sockets.
“Aa… aaa… Red…! Red!!”
Stella who was being hugged by Kaguya-senpai began to tremble from the scorning laugh of Red.
Red’s laugh stopped all of a sudden and he directed his gaze behind the goggle at Stella.
“…Why is that girl there? Why are you traveling together with these Japanese?”
“Battery!” Stella yelled in frenzy as if losing herself. “My… my battery!”
“Battery? You mean your elecbrain(soul battery)?”
As if putting aside the baffling matter, a vulgar smile was once again spreading on Red’s mouth.
“Aah, I have it. I’m always carrying the elecbrain produced from the slaves I’m pleased with next to my skin until it’s all used up. No, the other cyborg soldiers only equipped reinforcement exoskeletons on their body, but for me my flesh is completely mechanized, the elecbrain of you guys is equivalent to my life.”
“Give it back-! My battery, give it back!!”
“Kuhaha, if you beg me that much I’ll return it, okay. Here.”
Red fiddled around *gacha gacha* with the forehead area of the goggle that covered the majority of his face, from there he took out a single small battery. He threw it at Stella’s direction.
The battery that rolled on the ground made Stella shake herself off from Kaguya-senpai’s arms and fell over to pick it up.
“Aa… aaaa…” When she picked the battery in her hand, a pure black light flashed along with her voice.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-!!”
Stella emitted black light while screaming―she froze up just like that.
Kazuki rushed to Stella in panic and embraced her shoulder.
With her eyes kept opened, there was no reaction coming from Stella as if she had frozen.
“What did you do!? …What is this elecbrain!?”
“What is called elecbrain is a battery stuffed with that black magic power emitted from these slave zombies you know. Magic power is human’s mental power, their very soul itself. The slave zombies that are dyed black with my will consume the black magic power to fight following my wish, they will consume the black magic power to labor.”
Consuming magic power to fight, consuming magic power to work.
But if that was all, there shouldn’t be any difference at all with a normal human using blue magic power.
“The black magic power breaks down the individual’s ego and turns it into pure energy. That’s why it can mix into a machine. Normal humans cannot even try to pour their blue magic power into the battery. If you ask why, that’s because that human has the natural self-awareness that [I’m not a battery]. But the slave zombies that follow my command, they can mix their own emotionless black magic power into the battery. Doing that they produce an elecbrain. The elecbrain emits energy that while being electricity is also magic power at the same time, moving the machine.”
Energy that is magic power while also being electricity! So that was why the cyborg soldiers could overlap the energy of their machines. Their own magic power amplifies that very power!
“Just the problem is that the black magic power that has been expended like this cannot be replenished a second time. The missing part of the soul that was discharged out while having themselves defined as [I’m a battery] won’t recover naturally anymore as [themselves]. That’s why these slaves are just throwaway items.”
The blue magic power of normal human twisted the rule of the world with one’s own will, they had such self-assertion. In contrast with that, the black magic power was… an energy that came from truly burning the holder’s own self.
Kazuki gripped tightly the empty battery that he had thrust into his pocket all this time. This was just like the unpleasant premonition he had when he picked up this thing…!
“I, I…” Stella whose shoulder was held by Kazuki, murmured while holding her battery as if she had recovered her awareness. “This is my battery… this is, my…!”
“That’s the reason that child shouted at me to return back her soul. But how strange… why is that child not dyed black…? Why I cannot control her… has she escaped from the shackles, and restored back to being white…?”
“Maama, paapa… I re… member…”
Stella was murmuring. With a shuddering feeling, Kazuki embraced her shoulders and filled his hand with strength.
“Has the blank part of the soul gotten filled… recovering back the memory…!?”
“I… was born in that settlement. No one put any expectations towards me when I was born… Right after I was born, it had been decided already that I would be sold as a slave…”
Floods of tears spilled out from Stella’s eyes and she began to speak her original tale.
“Stella was the first name I had ever received. We, the children that had been decided to be sold, were called as [It(that)] by everyone in the settlement. Everyone that is here, was like that.” (TN: The ‘It’ is said in English)
Along with a trembling voice, Stella looked around to the children who where surrounding them in a beast-like posture.
Surely it was not the whole group, but the majority of these children… were in the same position as Stella, there must be childhood friends among these children. What a terrifying reunion.
“What a foolish group, those bunches in that settlement huh.”
Red interjected with ridiculing words.
“Even though they are Americans, they put their faith in the Indian Mythology, but if they are exposed to the temptation of prohibited items, they would easily fall into deprivation. They were polluted from alcohol, drugs, and calories by my hands, becoming an Indian settlement that deserved scorn.”
Even more than scorn, that tone Red was speaking with was marked with rage and disdain.
“This too is a humorous irony. Even though we, the humans that inherits the blood of the red skins… have become far estranged of just what in the hell the meaning of being an Indian is. We were driven away to incomprehensible land, had our tribe name grouped together with unknown bunches that we had never even heard about, even when it became the 21st century we were domesticated by the control laws… in exchange of our traditional food we were supplied and drowned in greasy foods and alcohol. We barely preserved our economic independence inside America by the casino management. It was attached with the defects of control laws that lured those from the nuclear power generation. Where can you see any [Indian]’s in that appearance…? The time when the age of magic visited and the Indian Mythology appeared, the Indians had already vanished. In their place the Americans began to put their faith in the Indian Mythology. But those Americans that pretended to be Indian are unable to forget the taste of civilization, they submitted under my temptation and presented their children as slaves. That settlement doesn’t put their aged people under culling. Kuhaha… this country doesn’t deserve to be visited by this age or magic or whatever.”
Red Metallica that was supposed to be a pure Indian didn’t choose to put his faith toward the Great Spirit at this late hour. Together with a Diva of the Chaos Side, he chose to disperse and swallow America with the black slave zombies and the doctrine of money worshiping.
And then Stella that was a Caucasian child that was born under the Indian Mythology as a sacrifice.
“We that were called as [It] were made to work at the same time with the sprout of our magic power. We poured our own magic power that had changed color to black into the battery that was transported to us on conveyor belts. The whole day… if one or even two years had passed, we would realize that our substance had diminished, it was that kind of work…”
“Kuhaha… Among these Americans, I especially love it to make these white children become slaves. Looking at the children of those white people who cosplay as Indians, losing themselves, wondering what the hell they are, just like me before, it can’t be helped just how much fun that is.”
“I was still not as empty as the others but, one day, I was loaded onto a ship.”
“We always choose the left-over slaves to be the one that gets exported, but there was this order from those respectable nobles of the pious Mythology country you see. It couldn’t be helped so I sent them my favorite. Right, that girl over there was my favorite.”
Red did as he pleased explaining Stella’s past in parallel with Stella’s speech.
“We were piled up inside the cramped ship like things.”(Items)
“Even though they wanted slaves so bad that they even went against their belief towards their Mythology, they gave orders to not use motorboat and instead transport the slaves using a smelly old sailing ship. What a troublesome customer they are, don’t you think? The majority of those bunches, the believers of the Divas of the Cosmos Side are just acting devout when it’s convenient. But well, I can control the zombified slaves remotely so it’s not really even that hard. I set sail the ship with only the slaves on it.”
“In that ship I…” Stella’s voice sank even deeper and heavier.
“It was just too wasteful handing over my favorite like that, so I got affectionate for just a little.”
Red Metallica controlled the slaves and furthermore he could share their senses.
That was why he knew Kazuki had the personality that couldn’t lay his hands on the slaves and he fought while using the slaves as shield.
…Being affectionate, using the slaves he shared his senses with…
“But the bother entered in the good place.” Red continued detestably.
“That Crazy Horse discovered the ship right after it set sail and seized it. Because we who got sold as slaves are the people from a different settlement, they came to help us, that was what we thought. They would bring us home, give us a name, and raise us as normal children, we thought.”
Stella said. But “No way that could happen.” Red laughed sarcastically.
“The brave warriors that wore Indian costumes came to us whose defensive magic power didn’t work well because of our thinning ego and stabbed us with sharp spears. They told us to accept our death while piercing our body many times over with spears. That black magic power spilled out from the wounds opening like a flame and our body moved by itself, and it became a fight. Even though it was hurtful and painful, the body moved by itself…”
“That was my remote control magic. But if all their black magic power got used up then even I would become unable to control them, I don’t really know what happened after that. I thought that they likely drove away those Indian bunches, but… something happened, that you can be here now?”
That slave ship turned into a <Haunted Ground>.
The power of chaos that lost control, was it able to influence the Haunted Ground?
“Those people pierced me time and time again, telling me to die and become one with the <Great Spirit>. That death will become the power of the <Great Spirit>.”
Crazy Horse told them that the Indians didn’t fear death. In contrast with America Justice that had their prosperity as the source of their power, was death the source of the Indian Mythology’s power…!
This country was ruled by either wealth or death.
“I didn’t want that. …I was thinking just what is the meaning of my birth. Being treated like a thing since I was born, sold as a slave, getting violated, and at the end of all that, I will get swallowed by something incomprehensible like the Great Spirit and become something [that is not even anyone]… it was repulsive from the bottom of my heart! I wanted to shout that I am me just for once! I wanted to be called my name by someone!!”
Just before they found the slave ship, Lotte said something about an uncomfortable feeling. That someone was calling.
{I felt some kind of wavelength of a mysterious emotion, however… was someone thinking of something desu?}
The slave ship was guided by some kind of will and headed straight at them that time.
“When I noticed… Papa and Mama were hugging me and gave me a name. The things since then, was completely like a dream…”
“Stella…” Kaguya-senpai called with a trembling voice that was filled with anxiety.
Stella’s body was shining with the light of magic power.
“In my time as a slave, I had heard that Las Vegas is an amazing city, it was a dream to play there… It was a dream… Papa, Mama, I remember everything now.”
Stella’s body that was a real substance changed into magic power and it was vanishing.
In the first place the girl was not a real substance.
“I have already died, since a long time ago.”
“Stella! Stella!!” Kaguya-senpai hugged Stella like a real mother.
“Stella…!” Kazuki too called Stella’s name with a squeezed out voice.
“If I get reincarnated as the real child of everyone, how happy that will be… But, I can welcome the end as myself. …Thank you for giving me a name, and calling me with it, Papa, Mama. All of the Nee-ne too…”
And then everything of Stella became light and with a thud there was only the clothes borrowed from Lotte remaining, vanishing from the arms of Kaguya-senpai.
That was not a black magic power but a blue magic power light, the original color of the soul of a free human.
Silently, tears in large drops flooded out from Kaguya-senpai’s opened eyes.
“I see, so that’s how it is!”
Red raised a bright voice.
“Her last scream that she wanted to become a human and not a slave overcame the magic of my Baron Samedi that has its root in slave culture… that was a dream and fantasy born temporarily as a happy child! Is such a thing even possible… in this country that is only filled with unsightly irony, isn’t this the sole beautiful irony that existed! This little white girl rejected the dark side of this country’s history by her lonesome! That humans are not something that should easily get controlled like this! That it’s a sin for someone to treat others like livestock!”
Red, as if he had discovered his own fixation inside Stella, raised a joyous voice as if he had the chord of his heart touched.
Kazuki glared at Red. Everything inside his head was ruled by mixed fury.
He was harboring fury towards this man in front of him.
But it was not only Red Metallica, this country, and even further toward the fate that was larger than life itself, the disconsolate feeling of wanting to swing his fist at all those kept coming and going.
…What was the root of all these evils? Even this Red, was nothing more than a broken human since a long time ago.
“Everyone is glaring at me with really sharp eyes but, what are you all going to do against my slave zombies, I wonder if you happen to have the answer in hand?”
Red was pleased to say that sarcastically while thrusting forward a child as a shield.
“Kuhaha! There is nowhere for you guys to run… just die in this America unable to do anything! The Evil Red!”
Due to that magic, for the second time, the children that were surrounding Kazuki and co. spouted out black flames. The children raised screams and while burning black, they assaulted Kazuki and co. as if to shrink the circle.
“…Oi, are you planning to keep holding back!” Shouko shouted angrily.
“That guy is fightin’ like this after seeing through you bastard’s weakness ain’t he! …I’m really gonna slaughter these brats wholesale y’know! Ain’t no way I’m letting that guy keep laughing nastily like that!”
That decision was not mistaken. He was unable to reject that thinking.
But… was he really going to completely forsake all these hundreds of children that easily?
“Wait!”
Even while her tears kept flowing out, Kaguya-senpai yelled decisively with a voice that was not so loud.
Shouko was glaring, but Kazuki turned his back to her and looked back.
“This is nothing naïve at all. Compared to this kind of hopeless world, Otouto-kun’s way is absolutely not mistaken at all. Don’t waver, keep floundering until the very end, whether there really is no more way anymore or not.”
…Some kind of way.
Looking from among the many options he had―Kazuki looked back at Kaguya-senpai.
Their companions were forming a circle around both Kazuki and Kaguya-senpai, protecting them from the rushing children clad in black flame leaping with the posture and speed of beasts.
“We are the gathering of people that love Otouto-kun, that’s why we will endure and wait until the last moment. …Your greediness to protect those important to you, don’t give up on them.”
Each King had their own respective style as a King.
―’For me, it’s just like what Kaguya-senpai says.’
And then Kazuki kissed Kaguya-senpai.
‘That’ which had been saved importantly until now, was where he discovered a way. Surely Kaguya-senpai also talked to him with the same feeling, she embraced Kazuki back without hesitation.
The bond of Kaguya-senpai’s positivity level that had become something unshakable already, flowed through the contact between lips, turning into a circuit that further reinforced temporarily. From there the vast power of a Diva all flowed into him.
“ “Thy name is Asmodeus! Thy strength become the desire almighty! O jet black contract, in accordance with my command, show that power!!” “
When Kazuki and Kaguya-senpai separated their lips, they connected their hands and overlapped the chant’s consciousness.
“Until now I couldn’t control this magic alone. I couldn’t do anything with this magic except driving the opponent to death. However the true power of this magic is not only that. This power is Hell’s judgment that rules over life and death. …It should also be possible to grant not punishment, but mercy to humans that are not worthy of death.”
Saying that, she began the chanting once more.
The children that rampaged around with beast-like motion clad in black flames attacked with momentum that was completely like a storm. The agonized scream of the children that were forced to move like beasts deafened their ears. Even while his companions bore damage on their magic power from their lacking defense, they kept persisting in non-aggressive defense to protect Kazuki and Kaguya-senpai’s chanting.
“…Is your wish mercy, Kaguya?”
At the side of Kazuki and Kaguya-senpai―a witch that symbolized desire materialized.
“My desire is the compassion of hell. Salvation for those children.”
“Very well―let’s bring about the light of compassion from hell to this [correct desire].”
“Reject this reality, Asmodeus!!” Kaguya-senpai yelled.
The witch clad in ominous violet magic power was hiding a dual nature that could do that.
“ “ “Seventh Inferno(Seventh Hell Materialization)!!” “ “
Kazuki, Kaguya-senpai, and Asmodeus piled up that power and the purple gate of hell gradually rose from the ground of the wasteland. That gate opened heavily. That gate which was once overflowing with miasma so thick it would choke the hated enemy―right now, it was overflowing with shining light towards the children who were in hell despite their innocence.
The movement of the children stopped. Their companions also looked back in relief. In the blink of an eye the overflowing light purified the evil black magic power binding the children that even Yata no Kagami couldn’t so easily exorcise. When the light passed, the black magic power was absorbed into the gate and the light breathed into the children.
The flame of black death was erased due to that breath. The scream of the children came to an end.
The children that the light breathed into recovered their color and collapsed like puppets with its strings severed. Their expression was soft and they also had breathing and pulse.
“Kukuku… my cute Kaguya. This time it’s the correct way of using power… its a good desire!”
In a good mood, Asmodeus gave them a strange parting words and vanished from this world.
“There is a Diva that surpassed Baron Samedi… in the power to rule over life and death, that’s…”
Red stopped laughing madly with his lips trembling.
Losing the slave children, Red looked around his surrounding in fear.
His state was completely like a lost child that had no place to go to.
“Red Metallica.” Kazuki called that name and approached with one step.
While taking a step back, yet Red’s mouth that could be seen from the goggle was warped in a smile.
“Kuhahah… but, but still, not yet. Are you thinking that I was just staying quiet while looking?”
Red was chanting a spell. Magic power of a high level magic was whirling and manifested that power.
“…O dictator of the boundary line(Baron Samedi)! Lure the sheep to the final reached place! Give me the pretense of that power, please let me line up there too… Messiah of Dead(Eternal Intersection)!!” (TN: The raw really use the word dead, not death)
From the sky―from the sky of the wasteland that was fully littered with stars―countless lights so big they drowned out those stars were soaring, they rained down like meteors on Red. The inexhaustible raining light all became aura of magic power and reinforced Red’s everything.
“I’m summoning the magic power of the slaves that I still possess in this America to this place see!”
A terrific reinforcement magic that was in a top category even among all the magic Kazuki had seen until now―it was even on the same level as Ikousai and Susanoo’s [Bougyaku Bujin(Tyranny God of Military Arts)]―made its appearance visibly obvious in Red.
“Moreover, this body of mine is… the latest ‘one of machine’! It’s moving using the souls of my favorite slaves! Its fuel consumption is bad, but in the dawn of the time when souls of the slaves had been piled up a lot more and this body mass is produced… the likes of other Magic Advanced Countries…! This me, is clad in this much reinforcement power!!”
Red’s jet black body that boasted overwhelming mobility even when it was without magic power was covered in solid black magic power that was forming a layer. His figure completely became like the incarnation of negative power―he fiercely kicked the ground of the wasteland.
“In the first place I don’t need to rely on the likes of slaves! I’ll slaughter you all just with me alone!!”
Kazuki sheathed Ame no Murakumo into the sheath on his waist.
He already didn’t want to use any special power to fight against this guy.
If it was with just this one body, in this country it was considered as fair.
“Tangle Calamity!!”
That attack was the ominous black flash itself.
But for Kazuki it was a technique he had seen before. Using Foresight, he was able to dodge with paper thin difference. Kazuki’s front bang shook from the black wind.
Red whose first attack was dodged stepped in powerfully with both legs and put a sudden break on his phenomenal acceleration that raised clouds of dust. Suppressing the opening from hitting empty air into zero, Red took a stance that was ready for Kazuki’s counterattack.
Kazuki pushed out his right shoulder to the front. He showed a motion that was going to hit with his right fist. Red’s goggle flickered red, it [automatically detected] that [preparatory movement] mechanically and derived a [response], fiercely driving that machine body half-automatically.
Reflex speed of electrical signal(impulse) ―but that was not something obtained from training.
There was no Red’s own will in that movement. It was not an experienced decision.
Kazuki stopped the right arm that pretended it was going to hit―a simple feint.
Red’s body was already leaping to the wrong direction in evasion intend. Red himself that left all the reaction to the machine surely didn’t understand what had happened.
A twist in the waist was created from the movement of the right shoulder and the starting movement of Kazuki’s left fist had already finished.
With another kind of speed that was different with speed difference created from physical ability, Kazuki’s left fist snapped up Red’s face.
Red swung around his eight arms that were attached with blades in a struggle.
Certainly they were fast, sharp―but all the attacks were scattered all over without coordination. The simple attacks that only relied on speed and strength were meaningless against a warrior of Kazuki’s level.
If Red just had the idea to make the computer learn battle patterns from many mock battles with Mary, surely it wouldn’t become like this.
He was an enemy Kazuki didn’t feel any respect for.
Kazuki concentrated on Red’s mechanical part and hit his fists thoroughly there.
The magic power scattered sparks and got shaved off, before long the machine itself also scattered sparks and got shorted out.
He hit with his fists while thinking that he had to liberate the batteries from this man. Red took out a battery in the middle of his conversation with Stella from the ejection port around his forehead. When he hit his fist there and warped the goggle, muddy liquid that carried black energy inside was spilling out from the damaged part, it changed into black smoke and vanished.
“Error… Error…” From Red’s mouth, electronic voice that was not Red’s own sound leaked out.
Red’s body did an unnatural way of jumping like an insect whose antenna was cut and collapsed down, unable to preserve its vertical posture. His eight arms and two legs wriggled around in rampage and before long they came to a stop.
Red collapsed down as the defeated. His broken goggle came off and his bare face became exposed.
“Im, impossible… there is no losing factor in me anywhere…”
Both his eyes couldn’t even blink and were wide open. His bare face was exposed ―when his face was exposed to the air of the wasteland, for some reason it was aging old in the blink of an eye. The gloss of the fat loss from the surface of his face, drying up completely like the ground of this land, wrinkles were deeply cracking his face.
The energy of the soul that was supplying this man from the machine was disappearing.
“But… there is no place to escape for you all…”
Even so Red Metallica was laughing.
“Using the transmission system inside my body… your brutality is being reported to the King. Whether it’s in the place of those Indians, or in American Justice… there is no place for you all… You plan to craftily maneuver around the situation, but now you will have all America turned into your enemy where you all will be pulverized…”
“If it’s about the transmission signal that came from your head, all of it had been blocked right from the start though.”
Kazuha-senpai cut into Red’s talk. “You were saying something?”
“Ah…? Eh…?”
At that time, for the first time Red’s bare face was dyed with the color of pure despair.
Kazuki was looking down on Red while feeling pity. “This is your loss.”
Loss… Repeating the word with his cracked lips, strength was disappearing from Red’s eyes.
At that time Kazuki finally understood that all of Red’s life activities were dependent on the machine. He planned to just destroy the machine, but doing that was the same as cutting off Red’s life.
But he had no regret or guilt at all. However, just a little, for some reason he felt a little bit of pity.
“Place… our place, to belong… Indian’s… place to go home… ……Ame, rica……”
Along with the unclear meaning of his last words, Red’s everything came to a stop as if he had spent all his soul. The thing lying down on the ground was not a corpse, but a wreckage that couldn’t even return into the dust of the wasteland.
What was it that this guy was laughing so happily for about this kind of thing?
This man’s mistaken firm conviction really was something empty.
The avatar of his contracted Diva, Baron Samedi was standing still beside the wreckage. With the eye sockets of his expressionless skeleton, he was watching over Red Metallica.
When he looked back, Kaguya-senpai was picking up the clothes that Stella left behind on the ground, she was hugging it tightly. Kazuki too thought longingly of the warmth that was surely still remaining in those clothes.
Even looking up to the sky with his feelings that had no outlet, he still hadn’t the faintest idea when the sky that covered America would become dawn.
“The security cameras are set up in concentration around the front entrance. So if we are going to get closer it has to be from the outer wall side or the roof.”
Karin said so and circled the [Elecfort], wasting no time to get closer.
The fence that she said might be installed with vibration sensor was fixed in place with Psychokinesis which Karin agilely climbed. Kazuki and others followed after her.
“…It seems there is nothing here.”
Karin cautiously looked around the slight distance from the fence until the fort before killing the sound of her footsteps and crept closer silently. And then when she finally reached the outer wall of the fort, she touched the wall with her palm all over.
“For them to concentrate the security cameras at the front mean that they don’t assume that the wall can be broken. If this wall is made from material in the class of adamantite then…”
“They are so confident that they don’t make such an assumption you mean. By any chance, are you at an impasse right now?”
The adamantite at Japan had an extreme thickness and hardness, because it was a material that was hard to handle, surely it was impossible to transport such material in the amount that could create this kind of fort in absolute secrecy.
But America possessed alchemy technology even more advanced than Japan, what if they had developed a metal material that was lighter yet harder than adamantite for the sake of this Elecfort Project…?
“…No, this material is also metal made from alchemy, but it’s far inferior compared to adamantite.”
Karin lightly gripped her fist and tapped the wall *kon kon*.
“It’s hard but it has no elasticity. Because the cyborg soldiers of this country use HF blade, I guess they naturally made that hypothesis. It will repel back slash, but it’s weak against impact. In short… America doesn’t know about Chinese kenpo’s mystery.”
“So you can do it, Karin-sensei!?”
Karin pushed her ear on the wall. Most likely she was searching for any presence on the wall’s other side. Kazuki gulped his saliva. After that Karin tapped her palm on the wall one more time.
“You can read the arrangement of the metal’s Prima Materia… because of the <crystal grain boundary>, there are partial gaps and disarray even in the metal’s particle arrangement. That is the [metal’s vital point] that’s weak against impact. Japan’s adamantite is amazing because in that respect all the particles are uniform.”
Karin was saying difficult things…
“By sensing the crystal grain boundary with my palm like this, I can discover the vital point. And then on that point… reverberate the impact! That’s the Shintoukei for objects!!”
While Karin put her palm on the wall, she stepped on the ground and drove the whole joint of her body to amplify that energy where she transmitted it into her palm. Her body’s rotation brought about energy.
Cracks ran all over the metal wall. All the sounds were terminated by Karin’s general magic. Karin did the same thing once more. The cracks became far deeper―from there the wall crumbled down without any sound.
On the thick wall, there was a hole opened in the size that a person could slip through.
Kazuki, Kazuha-senpai, and Lotte gave a small applause.
“Karin-sensei’s great accomplishment really makes us tremble in excitement here.”
Karin-sensei peeked into the inside of the hole and groaned.
“Hayashizaki and Lotte need to get on my and Kazuha’s back. …It seems like this fort is not a place where humans that cannot see infrared rays can properly walk around.”
Kazuha-senpai also peeked into the inside and raised her voice “Uwaa…”
Was it? Was it that bad?
“The corridor has infrared lasers put all over. If someone passed through there and obstructed the infrared rays, they are out immediately. But now that they have gone this far, there is also the worry that vibration sensors are also installed in the floor. The magic skill to terminate vibration while walking is also necessary.”
Kazuki obediently climbed onto Kazuha-senpai’s back while Lotte climbed onto Karin’s back.
It was quite a novel feeling to be carried on the back of a girl with shorter height than him like this.
…Perhaps he also needed to train in this kind of field too.
“Are you perhaps thinking that you need to train more? This kind of thing is just a division of role, the right person in the right place.”
Kazuha-senpai leaned her head behind and *gon* headbutted Kazuki’s forehead lightly.
“Kazuha, make sure you follow my instructions in using magic and moving.”
Karin instructed such in which Kazuha-senpai obediently nodded. Both of them slipped past the hole and infiltrated inside.
The place where they entered was suddenly the corridor. When he observed the situation of the surrounding, there was some kind of wide space in the middle of the building, it seemed that around that space was this corridor surrounding it in full circle.
In short, rather than calling this a corridor, it was more like a passageway.
The surface of the wall and the ceiling was pure white, but there were also small holes on it.
It was made to seem like a pattern of design, but after listening to the talk from before, he guessed that there must be infrared rays coming out from these countless holes.
As if crossing over the infrared rays here and there, Karin and Kazuha-senpai were walking forward while evading, stepping over, going under, hopping over something unseen.
So this was what they meant by only humans that could see infrared rays could freely walk here.
…Most likely the goggles that the cyborg soldier wore was installed with a function to see infrared rays.
In the middle of the corridor’s wall, there was a door that he guessed would lead them to the wide space in the middle. There was nothing like a window where they could peek at the situation inside anywhere. Karin pressed her ear on the door.
“There are a lot of people inside doing something. Perhaps it’s the slaves forced to work of something for the whole night.”
…So was this the factory where the Elecbrain(Soul Battery) was manufactured, therefore they brought the purchased slaves here?
He wanted to see behind the door very much but… it was impossible for now.
The length of the corridor was around a hundred and few dozens meter. When they walked until the end of it, there was a staircase.
They could go up and down through the stairs.
“Where should we go?” Karin looked for instruction from Kazuki.
“Assuming that slaves are made to work inside that big space from before… perhaps the space for the slaves’ living and the warehouse are in the underground, and the upper level is where Red Metallica and the other staff are located don’t you think?”
“Then if our aim is for the transmission device and important data, we should go to the second floor then.”
They continued climbing the stairs for quite longer than needed to reach the second floor if this was a stair of a normal building. It was likely that the floor together with the ceiling was high.
“The security system here uses a lot of infrared rays. After all it is unseen by eye. It’s also simple to disregard the sensor that detects sound and vibration using Psychokinesis.”
Karin talked while climbing the stairs.
“There are two kinds of sensor that use infrared rays. The [active sensor] like the infrared rays that are laid everywhere in the corridor just now. It shined infrared rays from a projector that get received back by a receptor. When an intruder entered between the two device and obstruct the infrared rays, it will sound out the alarm.”
“So those projector and receptor are hidden inside the holes of this wall inconspicuously then.”
Kazuki made an appropriate response while obediently being carried away on Kazuha-senpai’s back.
“The other kind is a [passive sensor]. It detects the faint infrared rays that human body’s emitted to discover the intruder. This kind of sensor doesn’t emit their own infrared rays so we won’t be able to discover them no matter what if such a sensor is being hidden. That’s why actually since a while ago for our peace of mind, I vanished the all the infrared rays of everyone using magic. Doing that is pretty hard.”
Karin took a glance at Kazuha-senpai.
“I think I can also do that.”
“Please.” Both of them had a short talk and nodded at each other.
When they reached the end of the stairs, it was the highest floor already regardless of how big this fort was.
It was the reason why they felt the stair was so long. Surely that space in the middle of this building was really just that huge.
When they came out on the second floor and looked around, there were a lot of rooms on this floor. Sounds could be heard from each room. There was still not much time that had passed since Red Metallica and his comrades came back to this fort.
“Seems like infrared rays are not put up on this floor. Perhaps this means that the security system has the strong implication of not letting the slaves escape.”
Karin said so. “But this doesn’t mean that there is no passive sensor or any other kind of security here.”
They ignored the room that had people inside it. They guessed that perhaps those rooms were the normal rooms of the staff here.
Deeper inside, there was a space that was separated from them with glass.
There was a door in the glass wall, it seemed there was nothing like a lock on it.
On the other side of the glass, there was a space that continued for few meters where there was nothing in it, and then passing through there was a door. Looking from here, that door also had no keyhole.
Both door didn’t have any gap with the walls―the door gave off the impression of an airtight space.
Karin made a complicated face.
“Hayashizaki Kazuki, in the first place what do you think is their reason to construct this kind of security system?”
The Elecbrain Project that his country purposefully developed…
“Tha, that’s… for security right?”
“Naturally there is also that, but then why, this door is not attached with electronic key that is impossible for Psychokinesis to lock-pick? If they use a lock that needs body identification, infiltration should become absolutely impossible.”
It was true what she said. Before this in the research facility under the academy, the reason Naiarlatoteph didn’t use body identification lock there was because he had the plan to exchange his host body, if there was no such special circumstance, there was no reason at all to not use body recognition lock.
Then, the meaning of this security system was…
“That is because they prioritize the capture of the infiltrator?”
“…That’s their purpose. If there is a door locked with body recognition standing in their way, the infiltrator would honestly give up. Completely giving up. But for this facility to not do that and instead lay out sensors everywhere, all of that was for the sake of challenging the infiltrator with moderate difficulty.”
The perfect security system would completely accomplish [crime prevention]. It would make the perpetrator completely abandon their effort. Such thing was no good for this place. The system of this fort was not based on such a wholesome idea of crime prevention.
“By any chance the securities we met until now are all lax?”
“In the end we don’t know whether there are really any vibration sensor or passive sensor, but at the very least there is no such state of the art security that has been researched and developed in absolute secrecy so far. All the securities are only on the level within my knowledge that I can deal with. If it’s the case that the scope of America cyborg soldiers are all equipped with infrared rays sight as the default, then perhaps any person from the North American Knight Order can arrive until this far. In other words…”
“You are saying that this is a system for the sake of luring out the betrayer from the inside.”
The absolutely secret research development project was dangled in front of all their colleagues as if daring them to come look.
In the first place if it was the Indian, they wouldn’t do anything like rescuing the slaves and destroyed the whole building altogether right from the start.
“Human that is potentially harboring doubt towards slavery like Ginny will secretly seek and pursue the hidden truth and in the end reach this fort. Here they will capture and deal with the dangerous character that go against American Justice. So this fort has that kind of concept.”
“And then all the securities until now are just the preliminary test, the other side of this glass holds the main event.”
Everything until now was to lure the infiltrator and slacken their vigilance with the moderate difficulty, and then the sure thing trap was saved until the final…
“Here is the same until now, there are several lasers of infrared rays coming out from the side wall.”
Kazuha-senpai said while looking at the other side of the glass.
“There are so many laser that there is no gap to avoid them and go through. But, if we produce infrared laser with general magic to send to the receptor while passing through, it looks like we will able to pass through normally. Next is… is there some kind of sensor in the ceiling?”
“There is, but perhaps those are passive sensors. But if that is really a passive sensor then that means they purposefully let us discover that even though they can hide it. If this is a normal situation then we can interpret their intention is to make the infiltrator give up, but the case with this facility is absolutely different. In other words that passive sensor is a decoy to attract our eyes from the real sensor.”
“Then there are vibration sensors?” Kazuki asked.
“Perhaps there is also that, but that kind of thing cannot possibly be the real trap. …Tsukahara Kazuha, switch the frequency of your eyesight reinforcement, look at the electromagnetic wave.”
Kazuha-senpai raised her voice “Ah-!”
“This is a plan to deceive us to overlook the electromagnetic wave on a different frequency by attracting our eyes with the infrared rays.”
Jab, straight, straightforward punches followed by a flying hook that came next. This is a leading arrangement.
“Is that sensor that use electromagnetic wave? If we already see it through then there will be no more problems right?”
Kazuki directed a gaze of respect at Karin, but Karin shook her head. Kazuha-senpai too fell quiet.
“From the left side of the wall, a large number of projector are transmitting electromagnetic waves in preposterous directions. These electromagnetic waves are reflected without any gap throughout the room while the electromagnetic wave receptors in the right wall are receiving them. Most likely those receptor devices are detecting the angle of incidence of the incoming electromagnetic waves. If you step inside this room even for just a centimeter, the angle of the flying electromagnetic waves inside the room will all change and the alarm device will function. If this is just simple infrared rays then there is the way like what Kazuha said before where we can reproduce the laser using magic while going forward. But to reproduce these electromagnetic waves that are irregularly reflected this complicated, it’s impossible. You have to calculate in real time the angle of the colliding electromagnetic waves on you while moving forward, then you have to reproduce the electromagnetic wave accurately as if the lasers are going straight through you, that’s absolutely impossible. They are not using a technology that is really that special here. But this is… it’s absolutely impossible to be broken through by the present era human race that specializes in the power of magic, it’s a perfect security system.”
“…Kazuki, right now we are doing something extremely important aren’t we?”
After a long silence, Kazuha-senpai murmured in a faint voice towards Kazuki that was on her back.
“Depending on our action, the fate of many children who got sold as slaves will change. Not only the children, the fate of this country too, even the fate of Japan will change. We are… Kazuki is, shouldering such a thing as the King aren’t you?”
Kazuha-senpai talked in order to ascertain it once more.
Certainly it was just as she said, Kazuki was aware of that fact the most in his decisive battle with Ikousai. If he lost that battle, it was the same as Japan losing against Yamato completely, it was a duel that occurred only once in a lifetime.
But it didn’t mean that he was suffering from such heavy pressure even more than usual.
Rather than calling it heavy pressure… he was thinking it irreplaceable, that he could protect those things important for him with his own power, that he could save them.
With the power he had obtained in his hand, he was also feeling a suitable conceit in proportion with that.
“I, before I boarded the ship, that time I caught the reporter that aimed for Kazuki’s article, I was really furious. When I thought that even though they didn’t know with what kind of feeling Kazuki became the King on Mt. Fuji… But I too didn’t understand at all the gravity of everything. I never even imagined that my careless action could invite the war between Japan and China. Shouko-san said that causing such situation from ignorance is a sin, but the truth is I think what she said was right.”
“Is senpai still concerned about the matter of that time?”
‘That’s not it’, Kazuha-senpai shook her head as if saying that.
“Before we even realized it, we are not fighting for something like saving our close friend, or fighting to protect the academy, suddenly, we are right now fighting in a place that has a completely different scale, isn’t that right?”
As if to fill herself with fighting spirit, Kazuha-senpai slapped her cheeks with both her hands hard.
“I want to challenge this obstacle. I want you to believe and leave this to me. If there really is a special talent in me then… it will only have meaning if I can succeed right here, right now, that’s what I think.”
“Wait-, that’s impossible you know!” Karin interjected.
“The electromagnetic wave must not get shifted for even a hundredth of a second even once! There is no way a human can do such an exact calculation like a computer!”
“This is also magic. This is perhaps not something that can be done by calculating the reflection angle or something. If you do it by feeling, I think this is unexpectedly something possible.”
Karin made a face as if such idea was really stupid, but Kazuki got down from Kazuha-senpai’s back.
In exchange he placed Lotte onto Kazuha-senpai’s back.
After all Lotte would be necessary to manipulate the computer that would be there ahead of this security.
“It’s fine even if senpai fails. After all even if America turns to become our enemy, we can turn the table on the guys that come chasing us with everyone’s power and escape back to Japan.”
“But if I succeed praise me properly okay.”
When Kazuki encouraged her, Kazuha-senpai laughed with an easy tone.
“I’m… contracted with Futsunushi no Kami that is not one of the Solomon 72 Pillar, so even if my positivity level gets higher I won’t be able to become a Chouki Magician, so perhaps there is no meaning at all in something like my positivity level.”
“So senpai is worried about such a thing.”
“There is no way I’m not worried right? It feels like everyone of the Witch’s Mansion is special while I’m not. But even me, that… I want to become a favored princess. I want to become useful, a human that is special for Kazuki…”
“I love Kazuha-senpai just so you know.”
“I too, love Kazu-kun. …Yosh, then I’m going!”
A large heart mark flew to him.
Tsukahara Kazuha―150. For this number to have no meaning or anything was absolute bullshit.
Kazuha-senpai opened the door of the glass wall.
“Don’t forget about the infrared sensor and the vibration sensor! You got to do all of them simultaneously!”
Karin called her in panic. After that she whispered in small voice to Kazuki’s ear.
“…What you said just now, just resolve yourself to really have the situation turn out like that. Something like this is an impossible game you know.”
“It’s going to be okay, perhaps.”
Kazuha-senpai entered inside. Her footsteps were light where he couldn’t feel any desperation in it.
The electromagnetic waves that were flying about were all absorbed into Kazuha-senpai’s body without even allowing any reflection.
At exactly the same time, Kazuha-senpai emitted electromagnetic waves at exactly the same vectors of the disappeared waves from the opposite side of her body. According to her talk, she was not making any calculation to counterfeit those but with feeling.
What was terrifying was that she was doing that not only for her body, but also for the electromagnetic waves that collided into Lotte’s body.
Inside that space, the existence of Kazuha-senpai who was carrying Lotte became transparent.
“She reached the center…!” Karin raised her voice in disbelief.
Kazuha-senpai was advancing forward. Each time she moved, the electromagnetic waves that collided on her body presented a completely different state. It was an inexhaustible irregular reflection that changed in real time for every moment. Surely a super computer would be necessary to [grasp] all of those by calculation. Kazuha-senpai [grasp] the situation only by feeling and continued to produce fabricated waves according to that.
“That’s not a human technique…” Karin moaned.
For Karin who could see electromagnetic waves unlike Kazuki, surely she understood just how terribly unrealistic, how devilish the prodigious scene that was currently enfolding in front of her eyes.
“That person is a prodigy of Japan that can be boasted to the world.”
Like a slug, Kazuha-senpai slowly, however without stopping for even an instant, as if she was being aware of her whole body―finally reached until half of the distance. Only half left.
At that time they could hear sound from the corridor. The door of the room somewhere was opening.
And then footsteps―it was not heading here but to the direction of the stair.
They hadn’t been noticed yet.
He stroked his chest while releasing a sigh of relief. …However he noticed an instant later.
If someone went to the first floor, they would discover the crumbling wall.
Their infiltration would be exposed.
But he couldn’t hurry this. They mustn’t hurry. They were not in a situation where they had the allowance to hurry.
Kazuha-senpai was… unshaken and continued to act precisely.
She was advancing with a step that had no agitation in it.
How much time extension they had until the person that went downstairs noticed the hole and found them in this spot? During this irritating time, Kazuha-senpai who moved forward slowly as if she was in a different dimension, finally reached the door in the wall of the other side.
She pulled off something amazing.
Kazuha-senpai slowly opened the door without any fluster until the end and entered inside.
Kazuki prayed that their goal was inside that room. He wished that there was no more trial waiting ahead from there.
“The security is cut off!” Lotte’s voice came from the other side.
“The electromagnetic waves and infrared rays behind the glass disappeared!” Karin too raised a surprised voice.
In other words, behind that door was the computer that controlled this whole [Elecfort], and Lotte had seized control of that. Kazuki and Karin leaped inside as if flying.
It was a pure white room. There was a single computer that was comparatively large inside the room alone by itself and there was nothing else, but even so the computer was by no means special.
The room was actually a space that enabled a person to really concentrate on their work.
“As expected there is an underground cable that is connecting transmissions of data to North America’s home country. That cable cannot access any other terminal other than this terminal. It’s just that they arranged it so that all the data is sent to their home country at a fixed interval, leaving no data behind on this computer at all desu.”
“Nothing? We cannot try to read the data in their home country or download it with this computer?”
“This computer is performing data transmission, but it doesn’t have any recognized authority to accept data. I can use this computer skillfully using Prometheus’s power, but something that this computer cannot do, Prometheus also cannot do it desu.”
“In other words you are saying that we still don’t understand anything.”
However they had rescinded the security, they had already accomplished their role just by cutting off all the transmission to the outside.
Next was… they could only investigate using a manual method to look for something analog.(A person or thing comparable to another)
They had to do that while paying attention to not let any single human escape from within this fort.
“There is no betrayer here but you guys that have come instead. Guests from Japan.”
He felt a presence behind them. Kazuki turned back.
It was Japanese language. He had heard that all the leadership of the North American Knight Order were learning Japanese.
Leaning on the opened door, while wearing goggles and a crimson mantel that covered his face and body, a man was standing at the door of this pure white room.
“―Red Metallica.”
They had made it. They had managed to sever the transmission just before they met face to face like this.
Standing this close to this man, he was a tall man with a height that might even reach 2 meters.
“You are not surprised at all? In other words you guys have turned to become our enemy? …But then why do you act sneakily sniff around our America?”
Red was talking with a tone that was full of leisure.
“If you are standing on the Indian’s side, you should not need to act like this.”
“We are not standing on either side. We are coming here to rescue the people that were made to be slaves.”
“Coming to rescue the slaves, you say? KUHAHA!”
Hearing Kazuki’s words, Red curled up his tall body like a cat and laughed hard in a harmful way.
“KUHAHAHAHA!”
“Lotte, destroy that computer!”
Feeling the strange eeriness, Kazuki said that to Lotte.
They couldn’t feel safe just by cutting the line of the computer setting. It would be bad if the computer terminal was controlled remotely.
Lotte leaped from the desk instantly, she chanted [Mitrailleuse] and turned the computer together with the desk into Swiss cheese.
“What are you planning to do?” Stopping his laugh completely, Red tilted his head.
“We did it to stop you from calling for help from anyone.”
“No, the help is coming you know. See, they are here already.”
Countless footsteps were resounding.
Some group was heading here. The well-regulated footsteps made them imagine an army.
Red shifted his body as if to open the entrance to the room.
From the door that was left open, what entered into the room in groups were―children with countenance(a person’s face or facial expression) that had lost its vitality. The focus of their eyes were all unfixed, their mouths were half-opened with their drool almost hung down from there.
Surrounded. The blank space of the pure white room was overflowed by the children that entered one after another. Kazuki and the others gradually stepped back, striding over the remains of the computer and when they noticed they had been cornered to the wall,
“You guys are coming to rescue the slaves? That’s wrong, you guys are coming to be killed by the slaves.”
Mary had told him before that this man was using Summoning Magic to make an efficient practical use of the slaves.
Magic power was swelling up from Red―the sign of Summoning Magic.
“O death, announce the birth here. Embraced in the chest of the eternal father…! Dead Rising(Black of Encroachment)!”
The children melted muddily―no, it was only his hallucination that they looked melting, the [color] of the children were melting muddily, blackening their appearance.
Something like a melting color was muddily mixing into the children, changing into an aura of black magic color.
The moment that sight entered into his eyes, a hunch flashed in Kazuki’s mind.
This was the same with those black human shadows that were like zombie on that slave ship! That magic phenomenon that didn’t fit with the explanation of the Indian Mythology was something caused by this man!
But… was this the power of the American Justice’s Diva!?
The magic power aura strengthened the four limbs of the children, where they immediately, yet slowly started approaching Kazuki.
“Illuminate the for seas and all countries, <Yata no Kagami>! Fuukyou Kaikon―Youka Issen!”
Kazuki released the seal of Yata no Kagami that had been miniaturized into a bracelet shape and unleashed its power.
The pure light of the sun was supposed to erase away the black magic power that was making the children strange.
Now that they were in a cramped place where the children were crowding close, he would finish this in one go… no, it wasn’t working!
Red laughed.
“This is different with when you were aboard that ship, this me is right in front of you now! Light of that degree won’t clear my commandment!”
The children didn’t even pay any attention to the light and were gradually approaching!
The children were not moving to attack.
They were just making Kazuki and co. lose their space to move their bodies―the children were approaching to completely destroy the distance.
“Kuhaha! I saw it you know! If I do this you guys cannot do anything right?”
Red raised one of his arms from the sleeve of his mantel and put an eagle grip on the head of the child beside him.
He raised that child to Kazuki’s direction turning the child into a human shield. While holding them in check, Red was drawing near while kicking away the packing close together children in his path.
The hands of the children that were surrounding Kazuki gripped tightly on his uniform and trouser’s cuff. Kazuki was unable to meet the attack or even move his body.
The next moment, Red’s mantel opened with a flap from the front and eight streaks of light flashed at the same time.
What appeared from under the mantel was an atypical body.
The body of the cyborg soldiers were silver, but Red’s body that appeared was jet black.
There was a total of eight arms of steel that spouted out smoke. Red threw away the child he used as a shield and at the same time from inside that hand a crimson HF blade lengthened out *gichin!*, the blade was directed at Kazuki and raised overhead.
“KUHAHAHAHAHA!!”
“Kazuki, this way!!” Karin yelled.
At the wall, Karin was putting her hand behind her and pushed her palm on the wall, “Break!” she yelled with fighting spirit. Her whole body twisted like a screw and the wall was destroyed in one breath―the Shintoukei for objects.
The instant Red’s blade swung down, Kazuki shook off the children and threw his body into the path of escape created by Karin, the hole in the wall behind her back.
“…They are here too!”
At the corridor too, the space was completely packed with the blackened children. Just how many child slaves were collected in this building?
Eight lines of rifts were running on the wall behind Kazuki and co..Kazuki and co. forcefully parted through the swarm of children and took some distance. The next moment, the wall was all coming apart and broke down. The rubble of the wall buried the children before Red leaped out from there stepping on top of the rubble while swinging around his eight arms.
“KUHAHAHAHAHA, there is nowhere to escape for all of you! Whether in this fort… in this whole America, or in the place of those Indians, you won’t get away!!”
Those HF blades took apart the wall!?
Wasn’t the wall of this building completely resistant against slash attacks!?
When Kazuki directed his awareness to Red trying to attack him, Red grabbed the head of the child around him and raised the child at Kazuki’s direction. …Shit!
“Barrett!!”
Kazuki shot aiming only at Red. In this situation he couldn’t use large scale attack magic that could also swallow the children.
Red quickly reacted. The inside of his goggle flickered with red light and instantly saw through the trajectory of the attack magic that had a speed rivaling that of a rifle bullet, making him easily evade it. The next moment Red kicked, on the surrounding children, on the wall, on the ceiling, he leaped through the space completely like an insect.
“Kuhaha, my body is all in the middle of a practical test of the latest special make equipment! This is what they called being one with a machine!”
“Tangle Calamity(Entangling Wretched Attack)!!”
Using the eight arms, eight streaks of slash were raining down on Kazuki.
With Ame no Murakumo, Kazuki parried two slashes among them at the same time. The rest was…
“Seusenhofer!”
His body was wrapped in jet black armor at the same time that blocked the attacks. *GARIGARIGARI!* His whole body was shaken in vibration as if he was cut using a chainsaw that took its sweet time.
Originally, sharp things like a chainsaw would get backlash from meeting something hard like armor. Yet with this attack, the [Seusenhofer] was all smashed up.
Red shouted out some kind of technique name, but it was not any Summoning Magic. Kazuki was trembling.
What happened just now was a power assisted body by the reinforcement exoskeleton and the crimson HF blades combined that produced mere slashes.
For example Kazuki’s reaction speed from his mind’s eye, Kanae’s high speed movement, destructive power like that of Karin’s Shintoukei―something equal to superhuman feats of the martial artists around Kazuki that became possible through training, this man could accomplish them through the mechanization on his whole body.
Furthermore among the remaining six arms, one was holding a child as a shield substitute.
Red whose certain kill attack was defended, landed on the ground while crushing the children beneath him that filled the corridor. At the same time with him raising the children that he grabbed in the head as a shield, he even further invoked his Summoning Magic.
“We are under the blessing of the Baron(Baron Samedi)… o cursed life, burst into flames! The Evil Red(Demon Flame of Black Death)!!”
Black magic power erupted from the surrounding blackened children. The black magic power transformed into a black flame.
The corridor was wrapped in a sea of black flame…
{Aa… aaaa…} {Hot!} {No! Aaaaaaa-!!}
Besides Kazuki and co., no, even more than Kazuki and co., the black flame burned the children that became the origin of that black flame. All of the burned children raised screams that was squeezed out from their throat. The scream of the children whose number might even have reached the hundreds was exactly a screaming hell that was the picture of Avici(TN: The eighth and most painful of the eight hells in Buddhism).
It was the same like when they were on the slave ship. The thing that perhaps should be called as the will―possibly the souls of these children, even though those things had been robbed, yet their sense of pain was still remaining!
This was… was this something that a Diva under the American Justice would do!?
The black flame also attacked Kazuki and co..
It couldn’t be helped…!
“O stream of atmosphere, converge on this body, become the storm that reject the hated person! The eye of the typhoon is exactly my throne! Storm Fort!”
Kazuki brought forth a typhoon at their own surroundings, blowing away the children that were spouting out black flames while he adjusted the force. Several of the children were crashing onto the wall where they leaked out voices of agony.
But the wind distanced the black flame from the children.
The black flame moved to the fort and began to burn.
“Kuhahahaha! Don’t hurt these pitiful children-!!”
Red raised a high pitched laughing voice like in a horror movie, he kicked away the blown away children and then he further kicked the wall, kicked the ceiling, and leaped at Kazuki with a three dimensional motion.
“Tangle Calamity!!”
But Kazuki saw through everything with that speed―he moved to the track that would let him slipping through the eight streaks of slashes and launched a thrust using Ame no Murakumo right from the front.
The tip of the sword that reached out straight hit the target.
Red’s goggle flickered in red. “NUOOO_!?” He raised his voice while taking a sudden break that stepped hard on the head of the surrounding children. He was ignoring the law of inertia with his tough mechanical legs and loins.
Red stopped suddenly. Opening―an opening for the sake of counterattack didn’t exist.
Kazuki didn’t choose to pursue with any more attacks and yelled at Karin.
“Destroy the wall to the outside!! We are escaping!!”
Karin had already moved to do that even before Kazuki had said that.
“Shintoukei-!”
Slipping through the blank space created from blowing away the children, Karin further destroyed the wall. Kazuki also followed that track and leaped down to the outside.
“Kazuki-!?” His companions that had surely noticed the commotion raised their voices, Kazuki rushed to their position and regrouped with them.
Mio, Koyuki, Kaguya-senpai, Hikaru-senpai, Kanae, Kohaku, the Ryuutaki sisters, Kamimura-san, Liz Liza-sensei, Akane-senpai, Kanon-senpai, Arhtur, Shouko, Silirat. Also Ginny.
―He let out a sigh of relief after regrouping with everyone.
His feeling felt like he had escaped from the stage that was like a nightmare horror movie.
But, it didn’t mean that it was all over.
“Kuhahahahahahaha! I should have told you already, I won’t let you get away!!”
From the hole where Kazuki and co. escaped, the master of that high pitched laughing voice also jumped down.
“Red Metallica!!” Ginny raised a yell that sounded like a scream.
“Virginia Dance! Why are you here!? What are you planning to do!?”
At the same time with Red’s landing right below the fort that was burning in black flame, Red invoked his magic.
“Now, let’s begin the black festival party! O my black children, distort those bodies and dance madly like beasts! Orgy Party(Ghost’s Lantern Festival Dance)!!” (Editor: Interesting name, that one…)
Countless black beasts jumped out from the building. With a speed like a falling meteor, they surrounded Kazuki and co. in order to block their escape path.
No, they were not black beasts. When he looked around―it was the children transformed into beasts that stood on all fours. That speed they showed was from the reinforcement of the black magic power, their body construction was strengthened magically and they became even faster than Red himself. But every time their body moved following Red’s manipulation, their bones creaked, snapping sounds *buchi buchi* sounded out from their muscles, the children’s mouths opened wide, as if their jaws were going to come off, and painful breaths together with saliva were vomited out from their mouths without pause. Tears were spilling out like a river from their eyes.
All the children that should be called children that numbered in hundreds inside that fort turned into a swarm of beasts and surrounded Kazuki and co..
As expected Red was carrying a single child from that swarm and continued to use the child as a shield.
“Wha, what is this…” Kaguya-senpai raised a shuddering voice.
Red said that they had no place to escape, but they didn’t plan to run. They came to rescue the slaves after all.
But the more this man piled up his magic, these children would…
Were these children still in the state that could be saved? What should he do to save these children?
“Is this magic, also a part of the American Justice’s embodiment…?”
There was no reason to be angry at Ginny, but Kazuki spat that sentence out at her.
There was a madness like Naiarlatoteph in front of his eyes.
“Red’s Diva is… I heard that it’s the power of <Zombie Movies> I think…”
When Ginny answered hesitantly like that, Red exploded in laughter from the amusement that came from the bottom of his heart.
“KUHAHAHAHA! Diva of zombie movies!? Although it’s said that you Americans really like your zombie movies, but are you really going to believe such bullshit, Virginia Dance!? That being the case, you, you really don’t understand what is this thing called zombie huh!? The one that identified with me is…”
At the side of Red, an avatar of a skeleton wearing a black bowler hat and tailcoat emerged out.
“The Diva of the Chaos Side from Voodoo Mythology, this <Baron Samedi>-sama!!”
…Voodoo Mythology!
Was that so, just because he was a Magika Stigma that belonged to the North American Knight Order, didn’t mean that he had the Diva of American Justice. After all American Justice didn’t force the people to hold faith in them.
With such conditions, it was possible for them to coexist with the Chaos Side. With a Diva of the Chaos Side residing in that body meant that it would bring about destruction to the host’s personality though…
“So it’s the Mythology that came into existence from the African slaves that were taken away to Haiti, at the center of America.”
Liz Liza-sensei whispered. “Hou, so there is a walking dictionary here.” Red showed his admiration.
“What do you think the America government in the old era did in order to suppress the slaves that united under the Voodoo Mythology? They were using happy-go-lucky thoughts that was just like Americans. They downplayed the image of Voodoo Mythology by making it a theme in Hollywood movies. The terrifying Voodoo Mythology that controls zombies with suspicious sorcery! After that, the Americans recovered their conscience and abolished the slavery, but zombies had already become entrenched as lovable characters. However, do you know? What is called a zombie in the first place is… the depiction of the slave’s figure that will work following whatever they are told to do you know. The Americans just cannot stop toying with slaves no matter what era it is…”
American Justice once again demanded slaves for the sake of prosperity…
For that they called back the Diva of the slaving mythology(Voodoo)…
Red raised a laugh that sounded broken somewhere.
“What irony that is, how wretched it is huh! Is there any other Mythology with a way to disgrace more humorously than this in this world? Aah, then I who have red skin will dye them completely with the power of Samedi! I’m going to color this America with the jet black color of slaves! Just look, these figures of American children crawling like animals!! KUAHAHAHA!”
Red looked down on the children who were crawling on all fours while in agony before laughing at a high pitch.
The avatar of Baron Samedi was staring at such a Red with emotionless eye sockets.
“Aa… aaa… Red…! Red!!”
Stella who was being hugged by Kaguya-senpai began to tremble from the scorning laugh of Red.
Red’s laugh stopped all of a sudden and he directed his gaze behind the goggle at Stella.
“…Why is that girl there? Why are you traveling together with these Japanese?”
“Battery!” Stella yelled in frenzy as if losing herself. “My… my battery!”
“Battery? You mean your elecbrain(soul battery)?”
As if putting aside the baffling matter, a vulgar smile was once again spreading on Red’s mouth.
“Aah, I have it. I’m always carrying the elecbrain produced from the slaves I’m pleased with next to my skin until it’s all used up. No, the other cyborg soldiers only equipped reinforcement exoskeletons on their body, but for me my flesh is completely mechanized, the elecbrain of you guys is equivalent to my life.”
“Give it back-! My battery, give it back!!”
“Kuhaha, if you beg me that much I’ll return it, okay. Here.”
Red fiddled around *gacha gacha* with the forehead area of the goggle that covered the majority of his face, from there he took out a single small battery. He threw it at Stella’s direction.
The battery that rolled on the ground made Stella shake herself off from Kaguya-senpai’s arms and fell over to pick it up.
“Aa… aaaa…” When she picked the battery in her hand, a pure black light flashed along with her voice.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-!!”
Stella emitted black light while screaming―she froze up just like that.
Kazuki rushed to Stella in panic and embraced her shoulder.
With her eyes kept opened, there was no reaction coming from Stella as if she had frozen.
“What did you do!? …What is this elecbrain!?”
“What is called elecbrain is a battery stuffed with that black magic power emitted from these slave zombies you know. Magic power is human’s mental power, their very soul itself. The slave zombies that are dyed black with my will consume the black magic power to fight following my wish, they will consume the black magic power to labor.”
Consuming magic power to fight, consuming magic power to work.
But if that was all, there shouldn’t be any difference at all with a normal human using blue magic power.
“The black magic power breaks down the individual’s ego and turns it into pure energy. That’s why it can mix into a machine. Normal humans cannot even try to pour their blue magic power into the battery. If you ask why, that’s because that human has the natural self-awareness that [I’m not a battery]. But the slave zombies that follow my command, they can mix their own emotionless black magic power into the battery. Doing that they produce an elecbrain. The elecbrain emits energy that while being electricity is also magic power at the same time, moving the machine.”
Energy that is magic power while also being electricity! So that was why the cyborg soldiers could overlap the energy of their machines. Their own magic power amplifies that very power!
“Just the problem is that the black magic power that has been expended like this cannot be replenished a second time. The missing part of the soul that was discharged out while having themselves defined as [I’m a battery] won’t recover naturally anymore as [themselves]. That’s why these slaves are just throwaway items.”
The blue magic power of normal human twisted the rule of the world with one’s own will, they had such self-assertion. In contrast with that, the black magic power was… an energy that came from truly burning the holder’s own self.
Kazuki gripped tightly the empty battery that he had thrust into his pocket all this time. This was just like the unpleasant premonition he had when he picked up this thing…!
“I, I…” Stella whose shoulder was held by Kazuki, murmured while holding her battery as if she had recovered her awareness. “This is my battery… this is, my…!”
“That’s the reason that child shouted at me to return back her soul. But how strange… why is that child not dyed black…? Why I cannot control her… has she escaped from the shackles, and restored back to being white…?”
“Maama, paapa… I re… member…”
Stella was murmuring. With a shuddering feeling, Kazuki embraced her shoulders and filled his hand with strength.
“Has the blank part of the soul gotten filled… recovering back the memory…!?”
“I… was born in that settlement. No one put any expectations towards me when I was born… Right after I was born, it had been decided already that I would be sold as a slave…”
Floods of tears spilled out from Stella’s eyes and she began to speak her original tale.
“Stella was the first name I had ever received. We, the children that had been decided to be sold, were called as [It(that)] by everyone in the settlement. Everyone that is here, was like that.” (TN: The ‘It’ is said in English)
Along with a trembling voice, Stella looked around to the children who where surrounding them in a beast-like posture.
Surely it was not the whole group, but the majority of these children… were in the same position as Stella, there must be childhood friends among these children. What a terrifying reunion.
“What a foolish group, those bunches in that settlement huh.”
Red interjected with ridiculing words.
“Even though they are Americans, they put their faith in the Indian Mythology, but if they are exposed to the temptation of prohibited items, they would easily fall into deprivation. They were polluted from alcohol, drugs, and calories by my hands, becoming an Indian settlement that deserved scorn.”
Even more than scorn, that tone Red was speaking with was marked with rage and disdain.
“This too is a humorous irony. Even though we, the humans that inherits the blood of the red skins… have become far estranged of just what in the hell the meaning of being an Indian is. We were driven away to incomprehensible land, had our tribe name grouped together with unknown bunches that we had never even heard about, even when it became the 21st century we were domesticated by the control laws… in exchange of our traditional food we were supplied and drowned in greasy foods and alcohol. We barely preserved our economic independence inside America by the casino management. It was attached with the defects of control laws that lured those from the nuclear power generation. Where can you see any [Indian]’s in that appearance…? The time when the age of magic visited and the Indian Mythology appeared, the Indians had already vanished. In their place the Americans began to put their faith in the Indian Mythology. But those Americans that pretended to be Indian are unable to forget the taste of civilization, they submitted under my temptation and presented their children as slaves. That settlement doesn’t put their aged people under culling. Kuhaha… this country doesn’t deserve to be visited by this age or magic or whatever.”
Red Metallica that was supposed to be a pure Indian didn’t choose to put his faith toward the Great Spirit at this late hour. Together with a Diva of the Chaos Side, he chose to disperse and swallow America with the black slave zombies and the doctrine of money worshiping.
And then Stella that was a Caucasian child that was born under the Indian Mythology as a sacrifice.
“We that were called as [It] were made to work at the same time with the sprout of our magic power. We poured our own magic power that had changed color to black into the battery that was transported to us on conveyor belts. The whole day… if one or even two years had passed, we would realize that our substance had diminished, it was that kind of work…”
“Kuhaha… Among these Americans, I especially love it to make these white children become slaves. Looking at the children of those white people who cosplay as Indians, losing themselves, wondering what the hell they are, just like me before, it can’t be helped just how much fun that is.”
“I was still not as empty as the others but, one day, I was loaded onto a ship.”
“We always choose the left-over slaves to be the one that gets exported, but there was this order from those respectable nobles of the pious Mythology country you see. It couldn’t be helped so I sent them my favorite. Right, that girl over there was my favorite.”
Red did as he pleased explaining Stella’s past in parallel with Stella’s speech.
“We were piled up inside the cramped ship like things.”(Items)
“Even though they wanted slaves so bad that they even went against their belief towards their Mythology, they gave orders to not use motorboat and instead transport the slaves using a smelly old sailing ship. What a troublesome customer they are, don’t you think? The majority of those bunches, the believers of the Divas of the Cosmos Side are just acting devout when it’s convenient. But well, I can control the zombified slaves remotely so it’s not really even that hard. I set sail the ship with only the slaves on it.”
“In that ship I…” Stella’s voice sank even deeper and heavier.
“It was just too wasteful handing over my favorite like that, so I got affectionate for just a little.”
Red Metallica controlled the slaves and furthermore he could share their senses.
That was why he knew Kazuki had the personality that couldn’t lay his hands on the slaves and he fought while using the slaves as shield.
…Being affectionate, using the slaves he shared his senses with…
“But the bother entered in the good place.” Red continued detestably.
“That Crazy Horse discovered the ship right after it set sail and seized it. Because we who got sold as slaves are the people from a different settlement, they came to help us, that was what we thought. They would bring us home, give us a name, and raise us as normal children, we thought.”
Stella said. But “No way that could happen.” Red laughed sarcastically.
“The brave warriors that wore Indian costumes came to us whose defensive magic power didn’t work well because of our thinning ego and stabbed us with sharp spears. They told us to accept our death while piercing our body many times over with spears. That black magic power spilled out from the wounds opening like a flame and our body moved by itself, and it became a fight. Even though it was hurtful and painful, the body moved by itself…”
“That was my remote control magic. But if all their black magic power got used up then even I would become unable to control them, I don’t really know what happened after that. I thought that they likely drove away those Indian bunches, but… something happened, that you can be here now?”
That slave ship turned into a <Haunted Ground>.
The power of chaos that lost control, was it able to influence the Haunted Ground?
“Those people pierced me time and time again, telling me to die and become one with the <Great Spirit>. That death will become the power of the <Great Spirit>.”
Crazy Horse told them that the Indians didn’t fear death. In contrast with America Justice that had their prosperity as the source of their power, was death the source of the Indian Mythology’s power…!
This country was ruled by either wealth or death.
“I didn’t want that. …I was thinking just what is the meaning of my birth. Being treated like a thing since I was born, sold as a slave, getting violated, and at the end of all that, I will get swallowed by something incomprehensible like the Great Spirit and become something [that is not even anyone]… it was repulsive from the bottom of my heart! I wanted to shout that I am me just for once! I wanted to be called my name by someone!!”
Just before they found the slave ship, Lotte said something about an uncomfortable feeling. That someone was calling.
{I felt some kind of wavelength of a mysterious emotion, however… was someone thinking of something desu?}
The slave ship was guided by some kind of will and headed straight at them that time.
“When I noticed… Papa and Mama were hugging me and gave me a name. The things since then, was completely like a dream…”
“Stella…” Kaguya-senpai called with a trembling voice that was filled with anxiety.
Stella’s body was shining with the light of magic power.
“In my time as a slave, I had heard that Las Vegas is an amazing city, it was a dream to play there… It was a dream… Papa, Mama, I remember everything now.”
Stella’s body that was a real substance changed into magic power and it was vanishing.
In the first place the girl was not a real substance.
“I have already died, since a long time ago.”
“Stella! Stella!!” Kaguya-senpai hugged Stella like a real mother.
“Stella…!” Kazuki too called Stella’s name with a squeezed out voice.
“If I get reincarnated as the real child of everyone, how happy that will be… But, I can welcome the end as myself. …Thank you for giving me a name, and calling me with it, Papa, Mama. All of the Nee-ne too…”
And then everything of Stella became light and with a thud there was only the clothes borrowed from Lotte remaining, vanishing from the arms of Kaguya-senpai.
That was not a black magic power but a blue magic power light, the original color of the soul of a free human.
Silently, tears in large drops flooded out from Kaguya-senpai’s opened eyes.
“I see, so that’s how it is!”
Red raised a bright voice.
“Her last scream that she wanted to become a human and not a slave overcame the magic of my Baron Samedi that has its root in slave culture… that was a dream and fantasy born temporarily as a happy child! Is such a thing even possible… in this country that is only filled with unsightly irony, isn’t this the sole beautiful irony that existed! This little white girl rejected the dark side of this country’s history by her lonesome! That humans are not something that should easily get controlled like this! That it’s a sin for someone to treat others like livestock!”
Red, as if he had discovered his own fixation inside Stella, raised a joyous voice as if he had the chord of his heart touched.
Kazuki glared at Red. Everything inside his head was ruled by mixed fury.
He was harboring fury towards this man in front of him.
But it was not only Red Metallica, this country, and even further toward the fate that was larger than life itself, the disconsolate feeling of wanting to swing his fist at all those kept coming and going.
…What was the root of all these evils? Even this Red, was nothing more than a broken human since a long time ago.
“Everyone is glaring at me with really sharp eyes but, what are you all going to do against my slave zombies, I wonder if you happen to have the answer in hand?”
Red was pleased to say that sarcastically while thrusting forward a child as a shield.
“Kuhaha! There is nowhere for you guys to run… just die in this America unable to do anything! The Evil Red!”
Due to that magic, for the second time, the children that were surrounding Kazuki and co. spouted out black flames. The children raised screams and while burning black, they assaulted Kazuki and co. as if to shrink the circle.
“…Oi, are you planning to keep holding back!” Shouko shouted angrily.
“That guy is fightin’ like this after seeing through you bastard’s weakness ain’t he! …I’m really gonna slaughter these brats wholesale y’know! Ain’t no way I’m letting that guy keep laughing nastily like that!”
That decision was not mistaken. He was unable to reject that thinking.
But… was he really going to completely forsake all these hundreds of children that easily?
“Wait!”
Even while her tears kept flowing out, Kaguya-senpai yelled decisively with a voice that was not so loud.
Shouko was glaring, but Kazuki turned his back to her and looked back.
“This is nothing naïve at all. Compared to this kind of hopeless world, Otouto-kun’s way is absolutely not mistaken at all. Don’t waver, keep floundering until the very end, whether there really is no more way anymore or not.”
…Some kind of way.
Looking from among the many options he had―Kazuki looked back at Kaguya-senpai.
Their companions were forming a circle around both Kazuki and Kaguya-senpai, protecting them from the rushing children clad in black flame leaping with the posture and speed of beasts.
“We are the gathering of people that love Otouto-kun, that’s why we will endure and wait until the last moment. …Your greediness to protect those important to you, don’t give up on them.”
Each King had their own respective style as a King.
―’For me, it’s just like what Kaguya-senpai says.’
And then Kazuki kissed Kaguya-senpai.
‘That’ which had been saved importantly until now, was where he discovered a way. Surely Kaguya-senpai also talked to him with the same feeling, she embraced Kazuki back without hesitation.
The bond of Kaguya-senpai’s positivity level that had become something unshakable already, flowed through the contact between lips, turning into a circuit that further reinforced temporarily. From there the vast power of a Diva all flowed into him.
“ “Thy name is Asmodeus! Thy strength become the desire almighty! O jet black contract, in accordance with my command, show that power!!” “
When Kazuki and Kaguya-senpai separated their lips, they connected their hands and overlapped the chant’s consciousness.
“Until now I couldn’t control this magic alone. I couldn’t do anything with this magic except driving the opponent to death. However the true power of this magic is not only that. This power is Hell’s judgment that rules over life and death. …It should also be possible to grant not punishment, but mercy to humans that are not worthy of death.”
Saying that, she began the chanting once more.
The children that rampaged around with beast-like motion clad in black flames attacked with momentum that was completely like a storm. The agonized scream of the children that were forced to move like beasts deafened their ears. Even while his companions bore damage on their magic power from their lacking defense, they kept persisting in non-aggressive defense to protect Kazuki and Kaguya-senpai’s chanting.
“…Is your wish mercy, Kaguya?”
At the side of Kazuki and Kaguya-senpai―a witch that symbolized desire materialized.
“My desire is the compassion of hell. Salvation for those children.”
“Very well―let’s bring about the light of compassion from hell to this [correct desire].”
“Reject this reality, Asmodeus!!” Kaguya-senpai yelled.
The witch clad in ominous violet magic power was hiding a dual nature that could do that.
“ “ “Seventh Inferno(Seventh Hell Materialization)!!” “ “
Kazuki, Kaguya-senpai, and Asmodeus piled up that power and the purple gate of hell gradually rose from the ground of the wasteland. That gate opened heavily. That gate which was once overflowing with miasma so thick it would choke the hated enemy―right now, it was overflowing with shining light towards the children who were in hell despite their innocence.
The movement of the children stopped. Their companions also looked back in relief. In the blink of an eye the overflowing light purified the evil black magic power binding the children that even Yata no Kagami couldn’t so easily exorcise. When the light passed, the black magic power was absorbed into the gate and the light breathed into the children.
The flame of black death was erased due to that breath. The scream of the children came to an end.
The children that the light breathed into recovered their color and collapsed like puppets with its strings severed. Their expression was soft and they also had breathing and pulse.
“Kukuku… my cute Kaguya. This time it’s the correct way of using power… its a good desire!”
In a good mood, Asmodeus gave them a strange parting words and vanished from this world.
“There is a Diva that surpassed Baron Samedi… in the power to rule over life and death, that’s…”
Red stopped laughing madly with his lips trembling.
Losing the slave children, Red looked around his surrounding in fear.
His state was completely like a lost child that had no place to go to.
“Red Metallica.” Kazuki called that name and approached with one step.
While taking a step back, yet Red’s mouth that could be seen from the goggle was warped in a smile.
“Kuhahah… but, but still, not yet. Are you thinking that I was just staying quiet while looking?”
Red was chanting a spell. Magic power of a high level magic was whirling and manifested that power.
“…O dictator of the boundary line(Baron Samedi)! Lure the sheep to the final reached place! Give me the pretense of that power, please let me line up there too… Messiah of Dead(Eternal Intersection)!!” (TN: The raw really use the word dead, not death)
From the sky―from the sky of the wasteland that was fully littered with stars―countless lights so big they drowned out those stars were soaring, they rained down like meteors on Red. The inexhaustible raining light all became aura of magic power and reinforced Red’s everything.
“I’m summoning the magic power of the slaves that I still possess in this America to this place see!”
A terrific reinforcement magic that was in a top category even among all the magic Kazuki had seen until now―it was even on the same level as Ikousai and Susanoo’s [Bougyaku Bujin(Tyranny God of Military Arts)]―made its appearance visibly obvious in Red.
“Moreover, this body of mine is… the latest ‘one of machine’! It’s moving using the souls of my favorite slaves! Its fuel consumption is bad, but in the dawn of the time when souls of the slaves had been piled up a lot more and this body mass is produced… the likes of other Magic Advanced Countries…! This me, is clad in this much reinforcement power!!”
Red’s jet black body that boasted overwhelming mobility even when it was without magic power was covered in solid black magic power that was forming a layer. His figure completely became like the incarnation of negative power―he fiercely kicked the ground of the wasteland.
“In the first place I don’t need to rely on the likes of slaves! I’ll slaughter you all just with me alone!!”
Kazuki sheathed Ame no Murakumo into the sheath on his waist.
He already didn’t want to use any special power to fight against this guy.
If it was with just this one body, in this country it was considered as fair.
“Tangle Calamity!!”
That attack was the ominous black flash itself.
But for Kazuki it was a technique he had seen before. Using Foresight, he was able to dodge with paper thin difference. Kazuki’s front bang shook from the black wind.
Red whose first attack was dodged stepped in powerfully with both legs and put a sudden break on his phenomenal acceleration that raised clouds of dust. Suppressing the opening from hitting empty air into zero, Red took a stance that was ready for Kazuki’s counterattack.
Kazuki pushed out his right shoulder to the front. He showed a motion that was going to hit with his right fist. Red’s goggle flickered red, it [automatically detected] that [preparatory movement] mechanically and derived a [response], fiercely driving that machine body half-automatically.
Reflex speed of electrical signal(impulse) ―but that was not something obtained from training.
There was no Red’s own will in that movement. It was not an experienced decision.
Kazuki stopped the right arm that pretended it was going to hit―a simple feint.
Red’s body was already leaping to the wrong direction in evasion intend. Red himself that left all the reaction to the machine surely didn’t understand what had happened.
A twist in the waist was created from the movement of the right shoulder and the starting movement of Kazuki’s left fist had already finished.
With another kind of speed that was different with speed difference created from physical ability, Kazuki’s left fist snapped up Red’s face.
Red swung around his eight arms that were attached with blades in a struggle.
Certainly they were fast, sharp―but all the attacks were scattered all over without coordination. The simple attacks that only relied on speed and strength were meaningless against a warrior of Kazuki’s level.
If Red just had the idea to make the computer learn battle patterns from many mock battles with Mary, surely it wouldn’t become like this.
He was an enemy Kazuki didn’t feel any respect for.
Kazuki concentrated on Red’s mechanical part and hit his fists thoroughly there.
The magic power scattered sparks and got shaved off, before long the machine itself also scattered sparks and got shorted out.
He hit with his fists while thinking that he had to liberate the batteries from this man. Red took out a battery in the middle of his conversation with Stella from the ejection port around his forehead. When he hit his fist there and warped the goggle, muddy liquid that carried black energy inside was spilling out from the damaged part, it changed into black smoke and vanished.
“Error… Error…” From Red’s mouth, electronic voice that was not Red’s own sound leaked out.
Red’s body did an unnatural way of jumping like an insect whose antenna was cut and collapsed down, unable to preserve its vertical posture. His eight arms and two legs wriggled around in rampage and before long they came to a stop.
Red collapsed down as the defeated. His broken goggle came off and his bare face became exposed.
“Im, impossible… there is no losing factor in me anywhere…”
Both his eyes couldn’t even blink and were wide open. His bare face was exposed ―when his face was exposed to the air of the wasteland, for some reason it was aging old in the blink of an eye. The gloss of the fat loss from the surface of his face, drying up completely like the ground of this land, wrinkles were deeply cracking his face.
The energy of the soul that was supplying this man from the machine was disappearing.
“But… there is no place to escape for you all…”
Even so Red Metallica was laughing.
“Using the transmission system inside my body… your brutality is being reported to the King. Whether it’s in the place of those Indians, or in American Justice… there is no place for you all… You plan to craftily maneuver around the situation, but now you will have all America turned into your enemy where you all will be pulverized…”
“If it’s about the transmission signal that came from your head, all of it had been blocked right from the start though.”
Kazuha-senpai cut into Red’s talk. “You were saying something?”
“Ah…? Eh…?”
At that time, for the first time Red’s bare face was dyed with the color of pure despair.
Kazuki was looking down on Red while feeling pity. “This is your loss.”
Loss… Repeating the word with his cracked lips, strength was disappearing from Red’s eyes.
At that time Kazuki finally understood that all of Red’s life activities were dependent on the machine. He planned to just destroy the machine, but doing that was the same as cutting off Red’s life.
But he had no regret or guilt at all. However, just a little, for some reason he felt a little bit of pity.
“Place… our place, to belong… Indian’s… place to go home… ……Ame, rica……”
Along with the unclear meaning of his last words, Red’s everything came to a stop as if he had spent all his soul. The thing lying down on the ground was not a corpse, but a wreckage that couldn’t even return into the dust of the wasteland.
What was it that this guy was laughing so happily for about this kind of thing?
This man’s mistaken firm conviction really was something empty.
The avatar of his contracted Diva, Baron Samedi was standing still beside the wreckage. With the eye sockets of his expressionless skeleton, he was watching over Red Metallica.
When he looked back, Kaguya-senpai was picking up the clothes that Stella left behind on the ground, she was hugging it tightly. Kazuki too thought longingly of the warmth that was surely still remaining in those clothes.
Even looking up to the sky with his feelings that had no outlet, he still hadn’t the faintest idea when the sky that covered America would become dawn.
