The [Dragon’s Remnant Shadow] seemed to pelt its relentless attacks like an intense rain as they shot towards Gryphon from all directions. This time, the number and intensity of the attacks were much different from the previous ones. In this sort of situation, even Izayoi was starting to doubt his ability to block all the attacks that would mean the difference between life and death for them both. And it was in that kind of situation that the Gryphon continued to press on towards the Citadel with only the goal in mind.
“WUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHH!”[1]
It was now just a hundred meters away from the Citadel. And in terms of a Gryphon’s speed, that would be translated into a distance that would be covered within a blink of an eye. Even so, each and every attack and block with the Trident seemed to feel much longer and Izayoi did not have time to talk as he solely focused on his task---Smacking away the attacks that seemed to grow into a torrent of black long and sharp raindrops.
The barrage of fierce attacks continued to fire from the front but Gry did not pause in his steps.
The both of them galloped to the point where they could almost touch the drop off cliff face that marked the edge of the Citadel--- Suddenly, Gry’s wings were bitten off by the shadow.
“Gaargh…..!”
“GRY!”
The dark shadow spears had morphed into sharp fangs bit and chewed at Gry’s wings.
Instantly, a spray of blood dyed his lion back a bright shade of red and a sharp burning pain seemed to pierce to the roots of the wings. Although suffering such a shameful wound---the loss of the Eagle wings that symbolized the Gryphon’s pride, Gry continued to press on in the air.
Gripping the wind with his front talons, he propelled Izayoi and himself forward with a kick of his hind legs.
Falling into a tumble, they crash landed into the Outer wall of the Citadel where Izayoi immediately got up to carry Gry on his back while smashing through the tightly closed door with his foot to take cover inside the walls.
“You idiot……Didn’t I say it from the start? What’s most important is to have our body intact!”
“…Don’t… Don’t mind it… The hope that are carried by my…my wings are incomparable to that of your hands and legs. I think it should be clear who here is more likely to be able to save [Underwood].”
For [Underwood], just a pair of wings would be a good sacrifice---Gry who had beads of cold sweat beading his body continued to smile as he said those words.
Izayoi clicked his tongue in irritation as he took off his school jacket to tourniquet Gry’s wing. Having been torn at its sleeves and now torn up some more to create a makeshift bandage, it would seem that there won’t be a possibility of him wearing it ever again.
“Oh darn. That’s the only set of clothing that I have you know? How are you going to pay for that eh?” Izayoi continued to click his tongue in displeasure.
“Well, that’s really unfortunate……”
Gry breathed heavily as he forced a wry smile.
Izayoi who had finished with the bandaging looked from a crevice in the ruins to scout the situation outside and managed to catch sight of Leticia’s shadow framed in the skies.
“……she’s searching for us.”
“Is that so?......Well, I will hide while you search out Yō and the others---”
“No. There’s a change of plans…… It’s all the fault of some idiot that gave me a reason to defeat her.”
“What?” Gry asked in disbelief.
Izayoi ignored the question as he left the ruins with eyes filled with rage.
With a leap, Izayoi stood on the Outer wall of the Citadel and looked down upon the Citadel.
……is this what they term as [Glories of ancient battles becoming just another pipedream]?[2]But talking about a Citadel of the skies, shouldn’t it be a wondrous piece of ancient architecture? What’s with this bleak look that doesn’t seem to be worth a penny to look at?
Izayoi gave a dissatisfied sniff. Though he might rarely meet out such harsh judgement with his opinions, it was something that couldn’t be helped for he was thoroughly not in the mood then and had never felt worse in his life.
In the lifespan of his seventeen years, Izayoi was sure that there wasn’t anyone in his memory whom he had owed his life to and he sure didn’t owe it to Canaria either.
Never did he expect to be indebted to someone so quickly after arriving in Little Garden and one that was this big too. In a sense, it sure felt like a waste.
And so Izayoi raised the Trident, battered and badly weathered down by the many blocks that he managed to knock away with ---
“I swear that I will collect the debt with interest….. YOU FAKE COPY OF LETICIA---!”
The challenge was declared with the throw that travelled faster than the Third cosmic velocity towards the Leticia Shadow.
And the shadow that suddenly detected the imminent attack spun at the last minute and narrowly missed becoming a pinned specimen on the Trident.
However, chunks of the Outer Wall were sent closely after the first attack by Izayoi’s kicks.
And these were chunks that were much tougher than dealing with bullets for each and every brick like rubble were closing in at that high speed and individually packing a devastating blow with every impact. To which Leticia quickly expanded the cloak around her to form a shadow screen which she hid behind after making the judgement that such an attack was unavoidable. The sound of the explosions as they hit their mark echoed loudly but Leticia herself seemed to be unhurt.
That did not mean anything to Izayoi who was glad to have stolen her sight albeit momentarily. Clenching his right fist, he lunged towards Leticia.
Leticia continued to use the Shadow cloak to protect herself while materialising hundreds of shadow spears around it, some of which pointed towards Izayoi’s direction. It was clear that she believed herself to be safe as long as she attacked all that was around her.
Even so, Izayoi leaped straight for the porcupine-looking defence that would have been a flawless attack if launched at the same time.
There was no fear in his eyes for the word ‘retreat’ had never been in his mind from the start. Not caring about the black spears that came flying towards him like a heavy downpour, Izayoi continued to press on in that selfless style, which was unlike his usual self as blood flowed from his cuts, to land a strike that shattered the shadow cloak.
Gry who happened to see it from the crevice was so surprised that he gave a low growl:
“That……How can it be……?!”
Witnessing Izayoi’s chain of attacks, Gry finally understood that the words declared by the boy weren’t just a stubborn steak that didn’t want to admit defeat. The words that came from his mouth ‘As long as we can successfully land on the Citadel, we can solve the problem’ was what he had just shown. For Leticia had already been successfully suppressed by him.
Grabbing Leticia by the front of her clothes to draw her out of the protection of the broken shadow cloak, Izayoi flung her into the nearest sector of the Outer Walls. The battered Leticia twitched a little after slamming into the structures before all motion ceased from her.
Izayoi caught up and straddled the figure to pin it down while staring at it with such a ferocious gleam in his eyes that Leticia couldn’t help but widen her eyes while being stumped for words---
“Caught ya……! Times up, bye now Leticia’s fake!”
Followed by a barrage of fists.
Seeming like a person out for revenge against the previous attacks he suffered, Izayoi swung his fist down repeatedly, not even allowing the tips of her hair to escape his punches. The intense concentration followed with his focused punches would have made one worry about the stability of the Citadel in fear of it collapsing under the stress he gave to it.
Displaying the vengeful spirit of returning a received punch a hundred fold to the person, he smashed the body of Leticia with a violent and cruel flurry of attacks that would have likened him to the demonic spirit Rakshasa.
---And just a minute past the start of the battle, the shadow that had the appearance of Leticia was no more to be seen.
Standing up in the huge crater that he had created, Izayoi patted the dust off his clothes---
“……Although it might have possessed Divinity, it will only be at that sort of level if it isn’t the main body.”
“---!”
Gry was so shocked that he couldn’t close his beak. If it weren’t for his back that was throbbing with pain, he would have been utterly stupefied by the sight.
And when Izayoi returned to the ruins, Gry asked awkwardly: “……Could I have done something unnecessary?”
“Hm?”
“No, to tell the truth …I just saw what you did out there and I sure didn’t expect for you to be able to pin down the opponent that easily……”
Oh, you were referring about that… Izayoi frowned a little as he placed a hand on his hip.
“Nope. The words that I’ve said are not lies. If I were to try land on my own, it would have been a high chance for me to be knocked away to somewhere below. In fact, it might also be likely for me to lose my limbs in the process. So… Um well…how should I say it…Yeah to be honest, you were a great help. Thank you Gry.”
Izayoi rubbed at the speck of dried blood on his forehead as he thanked Gry politely.
“This is a debt that I swear to repay you. But here, let’s put more pressure on that and stop the bleeding for you shall we, before we go off to find Kasukabe and the others.”
“I got it……Ouch---”
*Lan~tern ♪* came the sound from the entrance of the ruins to which Izayoi and Gry turned to look in surprise.
What stood there in mid-air was a puppet holding a lantern hiding behind a pillar peeking at them.