kscans

Chapter 76 - Interlude: Beneath the Shattered Blade

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"—What happened! Kyo-chan-kun! Erina-kun!"

"This is bad, paisen! Kyo-chan got blown away!"

"Wha…"

Reporting to Aira through her earring, Erina scanned her surroundings.

First, the Demon. The monster that had taken out their strongest asset in a single blow was still floating in place, not making any move to follow up.

The remaining Lesser Demons were gathering around it one after another.

Dropping the greatscythes they held, the demons approached their master empty-handed. Then, the true Demon suddenly snatched one up.

It gripped its neck and brought the goat’s head to its mouth. The gesture was almost like a kiss on the forehead. But there was no affection in it.

In that instant,

—sluuuurp.

Its life was siphoned away.

It was feeding. The Demon picked up its kin one by one, pressed its mouth against them, and sucked out their ‘insides.’

Their skin split open, revealing some black substance within. The empty husks fluttered to the ground like leather bags.

It was a comical, yet incomprehensible and eerie sight. After a quick glance, Erina judged that a second blast wouldn’t be coming immediately and leaned out the window.

She checked the condition of the school building. It seemed that parts of the mana cannon that Kyouta had failed to block had hit in various places. The walls and ceilings were crumbling here and there, as if hit by buckshot.

After a brief survey, Erina touched her earring again.

"I think Kyo-chan is probably alive, but maybe he can’t move? He might be unconscious. Also, the Demon? or whatever is slurping up the other monsters!"

"…Replenishing its energy. One of its traits is the ability to absorb mana from other monsters."

The reason the Demon was considered more dangerous than its peer, the ‘Refcourse,’ was its firepower.

In terms of pure stats, the two were evenly matched, but the Demon could source the cost for its powerful magic from elsewhere.

Though Aira and the others were unaware, it had engaged a preceding Self-Defense Force unit. As they skillfully used the houses for cover to whittle down the Lesser Demons, it had blown them away, buildings and all.

Immediately after, it had identified Yagawa Kyouta as a threat that needed to be dealt with and fired a maximum-output mana cannon at him.

It was unclear if the Demon understood what a ‘school building’ was, but it had instantly grasped that Kyouta was trying to protect that location and had aimed its attack on a course that would hit the building behind him if he dodged.

In other words, the Demon was currently out of fuel. It was hovering in mid-air to reboot and cool down.

Erina deduced all of this in an instant, but as things stood, she had no effective means of attacking the Demon.

The [Daisharinmaru] was out of range, as were her throwing spikes. Retrieving and using the weapons of the SDF rescue team was not a realistic option amidst that fire.

Byakuren and the others also had no way to snipe the flying Demon. Having reached that conclusion, Erina drew her ninja sword with a smile.

Then, she turned her gaze to the school gate.

"Paisen. These Lesser Demons… do they still move after being eaten by the Demon?"

"Yes. They become weakened remnants, but they still possess the strength and toughness of a soldier."

"I thought so. They’re moving, and they’re coming this way."

Where Erina was looking, the ‘husks’ of the Lesser Demons were walking towards the school building.

Their intelligence and mana had been sucked out, and the flabby leather bags were walking with grotesque movements. Even so, their claws could easily tear a human’s throat, and they were sturdy enough that a normal person’s punch wouldn’t kill them easily.

Deciding she couldn’t let them into the school building, Erina leaped down from the window, landing on the ground like a cat.

Byakuren, having also exited through a window, landed next to her with a heavy thud as she took a defiant stance at the entrance. With Kyouta out of commission, she had brought the Golem, knowing she would have to be the vanguard.

"Alright, Byak-chan and I will buy some time!"

"…No, Erina-kun. Retreat."

With a strained voice, Aira slowly tried to reason with Erina.

"The Demon won’t be feeding for long. You need to retrieve Kyo-chan-kun and teleport away from there."

"But if I do that, Shī-chan and the others will die."

"Then take your friends and run. As long as it’s attacking the people in the school, it won’t chase after you. Even with their parents, you should be able to manage a few people."

"I can’t. It’s not just Shī-chan and the others; I have to save everyone in my class, too."

As she replied, Erina began to topple the shoe lockers at the entrance with all her might. She gestured for Byakuren to do the same, starting to build a makeshift barricade.

"Even if we try to escape from the back gate, if we’re trying to get nearly thirty people out, the Demon will probably come after us, don’t you think?"

"They are strangers. Leave them."

"They’re not strangers. Ichiko-chan and the others are my friends."

"Tch…! They just see you as an unleashed beast! They’re just afraid of you! They’re not your friends!"

"But from my point of view, they’re still my friends."

Aira clutched her head as Erina made her nonchalant declaration. She couldn’t think of any way to persuade her cousin with logic once she got like this.

She had already sent out a rescue request to her grandmother and half-sister, but one was in a dungeon for fieldwork, and the other was at the prefectural office for a ‘promotion exam.’ They were both undoubtedly rushing over, but it would take nearly an hour for them to arrive.

The timing was just too poor. Aira had no forces on hand that could go and help Erina and the others.

"Please, Erina-kun… I’m begging you. Run away…!"

"Sorry, paisen."

Erina readied her ninja sword, and Byakuren began to spin the iron ball in its left hand.

Before the two of them, a horde of husks had passed through the main gate and was now heading for the entrance.

"BOU… BOOO…"

"GY… GGG…"

Their inarticulate moans were like something out of a B-movie zombie film.

Erina almost chuckled at the thought as she lightly tapped the ground with the tip of her toe, checking her condition.

"Besides, you see, paisen,"

The girl who called herself a ninja said in her usual tone.

"I think it’s still too early to give up, you know?"

＊　　　　＊　　　　　＊

"Hah… hah…!"

A girl ran desperately, wearing her jersey over her gym uniform.

If this were all, one might think it was a P.E. class. But she was running down a school hallway, and next to her was a dwarven girl carrying a warhammer.

"Are you sure this is the right way?"

"Yes. Yagawa-san should have fallen into a classroom around here…!"

Busujima Aika and Ooyama Shizuku.

Two Awakened Persons who had been going around closing the fire doors, trying to prevent monsters from entering the school building.

Some other teachers and parents who were safe had also run off to close the fire doors, but they had decided that defending this position was no longer feasible. They were likely now explaining to the students and parents crammed into windowless classrooms that they needed to evacuate the school.

But the girls, along with Shizuku’s and ‘his’ parents who had come to watch, had chosen to remain in the school building.

They couldn’t abandon Yagawa Kyouta.

His parents, out of love. The girls, out of friendship and a sense of obligation. Shizuku’s parents, deciding to stay if their child would not flee.

Of course, everyone except Kyouta’s parents had also made the calculation that ‘this might be the better chance for survival.’ Currently, the parents were rebuilding barricades in a relatively safe classroom so the children would have a place to retreat to.

"This is it!"

Busujima reached the front of the classroom and placed her hand on the door. But a hand from the side stopped hers.

"Wait. Something’s inside."

"Tch…!"

At her friend’s whispered warning, Busujima swallowed a hard lump in her throat.

It would be fine if Kyouta had woken up. But what if there was a Lesser Demon inside?

At their level, they still stood no chance against a ‘C-Rank monster.’ Of course, there were talented Awakened who could fight monsters of that realm even at single-digit levels, but those were the exceptions to the rule.

Busujima and Ooyama would be killed in seconds.

The two girls exchanged a look, then, with hammer and knife in hand, they slowly opened the door. They kept one foot back, ready to flee with all their might if an enemy was there.

And what they saw was.

"…P-People…?"

"Who are you…?"

Unfamiliar students were looking at the door with fearful expressions. Behind them was a mountain of rubble that took up most of the classroom.

Busujima didn’t recognize their faces. They weren’t from her class, and probably not Kyouta’s classmates either.

Well, there was one person in a sailor uniform, so maybe just that one had some connection to the boy buried alive.

But most of them were complete strangers.

And for some reason, they were all holding pieces of rubble in their hands.

"I don’t know who you are, but help us. There’s a guy named Yagawa under here…! He’s the Awakened who was fighting that monster!"

"Um, uh, why are you all here…?"

To Busujima’s confused question, the male student who had spoken replied with irritation.

"To survive, obviously! We’re going to save him, and then he’s going to save us!"

Busujima was momentarily taken aback by the words, delivered with a desperate expression.

"I don’t want to die… I don’t want to die…!"

"Please fight… I’m begging you…!"

"Your talent isn’t meant to be wasted in a place like this!"

Each of them was desperately moving rubble. To save someone they didn’t even know well who was underneath.

It was by no means out of goodwill. But it wasn’t out of malice either.

They were acting based on their own thoughts and desires. Realizing this, Ooyama pushed Busujima’s back to get her into the classroom and joined in clearing the rubble.

"Move. I’ll take care of the big pieces."

"You! Are you an Awakened too? Are you strong? Can’t you beat them?"

"No. I’m no match for those monsters."

"I-I see… Anyway, let’s wake him up. I hope he’s alive…"

"…Ah, I-I’ll help too!"

Busujima, who had frozen in the moment, also joined in and began clearing the rubble.

With two Awakened joining the effort, the work speed increased, but due to the impact of Kyouta’s crash and the remnants of the mana cannon, this part of the school building had sustained the most damage.

It was so collapsed that it would be difficult to dig him out without heavy machinery.

"Damn it, is it hopeless…!"

"No way…!"

Amidst the despairing students, Ooyama suddenly slammed her hammer into a particularly large piece of rubble.

"H-Hey! If you’re that rough, the guy underneath will…"

"There’s no other way. He’s just unconscious anyway, so I’ll wake him up with the noise and impact."

"Shizuku-san…?"

Busujima raised a questioning eyebrow at her friend’s confident declaration.

It was true they had witnessed Kyouta’s abnormal nature during their level grinding, but they hadn’t seen enough of his power to believe he would be fine after being blown away so spectacularly.

Without looking at her confused friend, Ooyama answered as she continued to swing her hammer.

"…I observed the golem he made closely when I was attaching the armor. A golem is influenced by its creator’s mana capacity. That thing called Byakuren has abnormal performance."

"So you’re saying that means he’s a strong Awakened?"

"That’s right. …Hmph!"

A powerful blow sent cracks running through the rubble.

"So, it’s about time you woke up, you idiot!"

Ooyama currently possessed physical strength that could rival a gold medalist in weightlifting.

But even so, she was still within the human range. A block of reinforced concrete wouldn’t break so easily.

She didn’t know how much of the sound and vibrations were reaching the person below, but she raised her hammer again.

"Let’s call out to him too. He might wake up."

"I-I don’t really get it, but okay. Hey! Yagawa-kun! Answer me!"

A male student who looked like a third-year cupped his hands around his mouth like a megaphone and shouted at the pile of rubble.

"Please! Wake up!"

"Help us! Please! You can still fight, right!?"

"Show us your maid outfit again!!"

"Yagawa-san! …Please wake up!!"

Their voices, and Ooyama’s hammer.

Even under this barrage, there was still no reply from beneath the rubble.

Instead, a deafening roar began to echo from outside.

"W-What was that!?"

"Don’t tell me the monsters are inside the school building…"

"…No. I think my friend is fighting outside."

Busujima called out to the rubble, a cold sweat breaking out on her brow.

"Yagawa-san! …Kyouta!!"

Her face turned red as she shouted with all her might.

"The person who calls you that, Erina-san, she’s fighting outside!!"

Informed of his partner’s plight, the one with whom he had stood back-to-back, through the desperate voice of a young girl.

To this, Yagawa Kyouta—showed no particular reaction.

Perhaps if he were the kind of hot-blooded hero you see in a shonen magazine, he would have woken up at this call. He might have even gotten a dramatic power-up through love or friendship.

However, inside, he was just an ordinary boy. Even with his unique powers and having survived life-or-death situations, his core nature hadn’t changed.

He valued his own life over friendship and would become self-destructive when faced with a difficult choice. He feared strong enemies and flinched at pain.

Therefore.

—Crick.

His instincts sensed danger from the ‘sounds of battle that reached him.’

It was as if he were asleep and an earthquake hit, causing him to jump awake—with that kind of naturalness. He opened his eyes.

The pile of rubble that had been blocking the sound had been thinned by the students’ hands, vibrated by Ooyama’s hammer, and pierced by the loud voice of an acquaintance named Busujima. The combination of these factors allowed the sounds from outside to jolt him awake.

The rubble that had taken several people to move was lifted from the inside. Busujima and the others hastily scrambled out of the classroom, and immediately after, the mountain of concrete exploded.

The rubble was thrown to either side of the room. In the billowing cloud of dust, a tattered maid outfit was visible for just a moment.

Immediately after, a strong wind gusted through. The dust was blown away through the large holes in the walls and ceiling.

A dull, steel-colored sallet helmet and breastplate. Rugged gauntlets were fitted on his hands, and a black loincloth and sword belt were wrapped around his waist.

He drew a simple-looking hand-and-a-half sword. A glint in the boy’s eyes shone with a brilliance that rivaled its blade.

Seeing him, Busujima muttered with a wry smile.

"You’re late, you know."

The highest fighting force on the human side of this battlefield had awakened.