Part 7[edit]
---[Underwood], South-eastern Plains.
Beads of perspiration reflected light off Kuro Usagi’s forehead as she ran around the battlefield.
Having lost her [Vajra Replica], she only had two equipment-typed Gifts remaining that are of [Mahabharata Papers].
And the use of these Gifts carried a huge amount of risk.
The other time was only because Asuka-san was around to help …… but it would be too dangerous to allow this girl to get close to Asuka-san!
For the black-haired girl was still chasing Kuro Usagi from behind.
That girl---Rin’s agility could be said to match up with Kuro Usagi or Izayoi. But since Izayoi was in the midst of an aerial battle, the only other person who could delay this enemy would be Kuro Usagi.
She who continued to throw daggers that maintained sufficient speed to hit Kuro Usagi never seemed to change the distance between them as she continued to shadow at that ‘not too far and not too near’ distance.
And there’s still that light just now……It should be safe to presume that [The Death Eye of Balor] has been released! Although the main body hasn’t been summoned, but it must surely be one of the trump cards of the enemy! No matter what, Kuro Usagi must summon her holy spear and pull away from this girl…!
“As the Titans who have been defeated by Black Death were revived one after another, Kuro Usagi really wanted to rush to aid the others in the battlefield but this girl just couldn’t stop pestering her……
“Your concentration seems to be wavering, Usagi-san! ♪” And as Rin spoke, she threw a number of daggers at her.[7]
Kuro Usagi had already lost count on the number of times this ‘attack and defend’ kind of game had gone for---Suddenly, all the daggers were cut down by the sharp edge of a certain Serpent belly sword.
“Wa……!”
“NO WAY!”
*Klunk Chink!* The sound of metal sliding back into position after knocking the daggers on the floor hovered in the air. And a masked Knight---Faceless had gotten between them.
Turning her head , she said to Kuro Usagi:
“---I’ve come to take over the battle on this side. Please go to stop [The Death Eye of Balor].”
“……Thanks for the timely intervention! Kuro Usagi will be leaving it to you!”
Yeah right, there’s still her around. Kuro Usagi started to dash towards the battlefield while thanking the skies for such a timely help.
Wanting to chase Kuro Usagi who had dashed off like a fleeing rabbit, Rin found herself blocked by Faceless.
Rin frowned as she stared at Faceless.
“You seem to be one of the favored ones of [Queen Halloween] right? Could it be that you’ve gotten the orders to defeat us?”
“No. That’s not my goal this time. I’ve purely come for the sake of friendship.”
Rin blinked her eyes in disbelief, seeming to doubt the things that she heard.
“Friend…Friendship? The favored ones of [Queen Halloween] needing friendship?”
“Yes. I’ve been invited over here as a guest of [Will-O'-Wisp] and it’s because of such friendship that I’ve entered this battlefield.”
In other words, it was purely coincidence that she met the Demon Lord. Hearing her monotonous voice that gave such an honest answer, it caused Rin to feel a little sorry for her and not know how to respond to that.
Faceless maintained her serious attitude while keeping her favorite Serpent belly sword.
“And if I wanted to defeat you, it wouldn’t be possible with my current equipment. So I hope that you will stop before we both get seriously hurt.”
“……eh? You know what I’m doing?”
Faceless gave a slight inclination of her head---
“Although I’m not clear on what the technique is based on, but……according to my conjecture, what you are manipulating is the [Distance] between objects right.” Faceless stated it plainly.
And this time, Rin was finally surprised.
Her child-like eyes grew as round as saucers and she fumbled with the daggers in her hands that almost fell to the ground.
“Um…that…How did you know that? Was it that obvious? What kind of mistake did I do?”
“No. Nothing that obvious. Just that I noticed the trajectory of the dagger, immediately falling to the ground after passing Kuro Usagi narrowly and it just didn’t seem right to me…… Since the speed and the distance of the throw didn’t seem to match up, your technique should either be the manipulation of time or distance.”
Faceless continued to state in her monotonous voice.
But even if she knew of the type of Gift, there was no counter for it. Attacks towards Rin wouldn’t be [Unable to deal a fatal blow] or [Unable to pierce] but [Unable to reach].
From a perspective of looking at it, this could be said to be a Gift more troublesome than being unable to die. There were killers in Little Garden that were natural counters for those that couldn’t die and there were also weapons that could pierce through miracles. But if all these were to be unable to reach the opponent, all that would have been pointless.
“For the Titan tribes who had set up their encampment far away to appear in this region, could also be explained by such a power and to defend against the lightning of [Vajra Replica] and [Indra’s Spear Vajra] as well. All of those can be blocked if I were to factor it in as a huge [Wall of distance] between you guys.”
“……”
“According to my knowledge, this would really be one of the unique Gifts that have no equal. But if this is the result of the combination of the ideologies of [Maxwell’s demons] and [Laplace Demons], such a thing wouldn’t be inconceivable.”
“……Hm, that can be said as the correct answer, Masked talkative Onee-san.”
Rin shrugged her shoulders while smiling sarcastically.
Faceless tilted her head while raising a brow.[8]
“So what do you want to do now? Still want to fight?”
“……No. Although you do seem interesting, but I guess I will just retreat here today. After all, I did delay the time and it sure is too early to make an enemy out of [Queen Halloween].”
“Wise choice. No matter what you may do, this game is soon coming to an end already.”
“Eh?” Rin tilted her head quizzically.
Looking up towards the Sun that was obscured by the thick thunderclouds, Faceless said:
“Shiroyasha had returned the Divinity to the Buddhist faction just now.”
“……You’re lying!”
“It’s true. I guess she just didn’t want to repeat her stupidity of three years ago once more. With things the way it is, the Demon Lord that you guys sent to that area will soon be similar to a lone candle standing in the wind and this little commotion here will soon come to a close with her arrival as well.”
Faceless announced in a calm and steady voice.
Rin had a bitter expression as she looked up to the skies before disappearing from the battlefield without a trace.
Looking steadily at the battlefield thrown into confusion once more due to the resurrected Titans, Faceless gave a long sigh before muttering softly: “I guess it’s time for me to go too. I will leave the rest to you, Jack.”
Following that, Faceless left the battlefield like the dispersal of mist. The spot where the two had originally stood at was now trampled over by the Titan tribes and all traces of them had also disappeared like a wisp of smoke in the wind.