kscans

Chapter 705 - Reconciliation

A brilliant red flame flickered at the edge of my vision, and a pitiful scream reached my ears.

Just as I trusted, just as I expected, it seemed my Onee-sama was taking care of things over there. Feeling the heatwave reaching me and raising the temperature of the stage with each passing moment—

““—Uoooraaaaaaahhh!!!””

Over here, our own voltage was rising without end.

The original owner and the usurper. Now that both of us wielded black flames, the restriction of ‘touch and you’re out’ had been lifted, leaving only a head-on brawl.

Facing off were countless threads and two fists.

Blades of thread tore through the air, and fists of fury ripped them apart. Clashing black flames melted into each other, painting a picture like a black rose in the void before bursting apart. While our voices were unfortunately those of young girls, we shouted them loudly, filled with a power and spirit that overcame that fact.

Without retreating, without flinching, we each swung with all our hearts.

“Whoa, close—?!”

And then, a momentary opening. After dodging the executioner’s threads that shot out like guillotines from all directions, my footing suddenly became unstable. I glanced down to see what was happening… and my eyes widened.

The floor was floating. More accurately,

“Heh, welcome…!”

“Are you serious…?!”

A thin sheet of woven threads, laid densely across the stage floor—no, you have to be kidding me, senpai. While we were fighting so intensely, when in the world did you set up a trap like this…!

“Hah, `[Rocket]`—”

“T O O S L O W!”

And so, my escape was both in time and not in time. I avoided having my legs taken by the trap as it twisted and contracted like a blooming flower in reverse, but…

“Alright, gotcha…!”

This was different from when I had brazenly grabbed a handful of severed thread remnants right after activating [Hellgread Ignis]. I had just been touched by a thread connected to the fingertips of its master, the [Thread-Weaver]—in other words, what that meant was…

“Oh, this is bad.”

…that I was now bound by an unbreakable shackle, just like the shadow of the bracelet on my right arm. The proof was the ‘mark’ wrapped around the ankle of my right leg, the one that had stepped on the thread disguised as the floor.

The enhancement effect of the special title ‘Thread-Weaver,’ one of the powers of `[Ember Kitty]`, is `[Enmusubi]`—the prey tied by this ominously glowing, dark red thread…

“Alright… you can’t run anymore. You’d better prepare yourself.”

“…Nacchan-senpai, you’ve had a scary look on your face for a while now.”

“Death penalty.”

“That’s for real, isn’t it…?!”

…is drawn to her black-flame-wielding weapon.

In other words, from this point on, not only will my avatar be unable to evade, but it will be pulled in by her threads, making any normal action impossible.

This was the reason I had been so cautious about directly touching her threads since our last encounter in the Four Pillar War, and the reason why the [Thread-Weaver] is widely feared not just by mages, but by warriors as well.

Touch it, and it’s over. That wasn’t an exaggeration, but a fact.

“…………”

I hadn’t let my guard down, but man, this person really is a bad matchup for me. While making a ruckus, the core of her mind was cool as a cucumber. She had layers upon layers of strategy, and her overt attacks never let up. I could see why she was so highly regarded.

A ‘genius’… I see. She truly is a master combatant on par with my own faction’s invincible samurai. Someone I, who am often chided for being ‘sloppy,’ should learn from. A true senior—

“…………I get it now, you know.”

“Huh?”

Even if I countered her dark flames, if she could be neutralized that easily, she wouldn’t be a ‘ranker.’ Having created this situation as if to say ‘so what,’ the [Thread-Weaver] who had brilliantly cornered me smiled. Annoyed, discontented, yet if I wasn’t mistaken,

“Even with this, you can still do something about it, can’t you? —As expected of the Princess’s Prince.”

…there was a hint of enjoyment there.

“The fact that I’m not mad is what’s truly maddening. Because I can’t help but understand why you got so strong, how you got here.”

Her expression was the same as before, yet different. The blunt, clumsy, and dishonest kitten-like senior looked at my face with a resentful expression.

“—Are you having fun?”

“Eh…? —Well, yeah. It’s the best.”

She snorted at my answer, which I gave without a hint of doubt or hesitation.

“Trying to look cool was a mistake from the very beginning.”

Her atmosphere hadn’t changed; like a kitten trying its best to act tough,

“—Here I come, junior. Your senior will play with you.”

…she smiled confidently and manipulated her threads (claws).

…Honestly, I have no idea what she’s talking about. But right now, what’s needed isn’t to search for the meaning of her words, but to grasp their spirit.

—One minute remaining until the end of the match. A good time to move towards the finale.

Threads danced, black flames leaped. The intertwined brilliance of white and black began to form something huge. It wasn’t a complex shape, just a perfect sphere designed for pure mass and destructive power.

“`[Orihoshi]`.”

A small full moon that burned with darkness, looked up at by a kitten. From this star, which even replicated gravity with its binding flames, there was no escape, no matter how I struggled.

So, in response to her words,

“…See? I knew we could get along.”

…I’ll joyfully accept her incredibly fun invitation to play.

In my left hand, which now wielded the magic-devouring black flame, I manifested a jade blade. Thanks to the effect of [Hellgread Ignis], my avatar and its power activation medium, [Sakura Hanaori], have gained resistance, but anything else… in other words, my other armaments, are outside the scope of its magic reception.

That is to say, if I hold a weapon in this state, it will naturally burn away. The reason I’ve been fighting the [Thread-Weaver] with my bare hands since transforming, and why I’ve already sneakily moved my rabbit dagger, scabbard and all, into my inventory, is for that very reason.

As expected, the moment I took hold of it, the black flame began to devour [Samidorizuki]—but that’s no problem. I just have to unleash my technique before the sword burns out.

This supreme blade, forged by my master, the [Sword Saint]. A sword that will never break, never chip, born only from the wish to remain by her disciple’s side. This jade blade…

“‘Prototype Sword’—”

…has never once failed to meet my expectations.

I take an iai stance, holding the scabbard.

One, two, and three. I link the power stored in my body, scabbard, and blade, weaving them into a sword. A single strike that is still highly incomplete… no, a single strike for which completion is not even guaranteed.

Now, I unleash it upon the falling star.

“—`[Hibachi]`.”

◇◆◇◆◇

My vision went white, and the sound disappeared. Or so it felt, such was the overwhelming—though different, a flash that was familiar to a ranker of the Southern Faction erupted, and the star vanished.

I didn’t see him release the sword, nor could I follow the trajectory of the blade. All I saw was the jade being sheathed once more in a split second… and even that fleeting image disappeared in an instant.

In Natsume’s dazed vision, all that remained was the smiling face of her junior before her. And then, with a startlingly anticlimactic, light thud, a single red blade was buried in her chest.

Defying and riding the gravity, he had met her ultimate with his own, using the momentum to close the distance. His face was—to her complete and utter frustration—stained with a smile of pure, unadulterated innocence.

“…, …………Haaah.”

As a ridiculously massive tower of red flame erected itself in the distance, the bell signaling the end of the match rang out… At this point, she couldn’t even muster a complaint.

“…You’re truly absurd, my junior. I wish you’d give it a rest.”

“Well, I think my senior is pretty absurd too, you know?”

His cheeky yet friendly smile, given in response to her own weary smile and voice… If she were to be a magnanimous senior and make a concession of a hundred, a thousand, a billion steps to look at it, then…

“I’ll definitely show you my senpai dignity one day, so you’d better be ready.”

“Eek, that’s scary…”

…perhaps indulging this foolishly innocent and pure ‘cute junior,’ who only ever wanted to have ‘fun,’ wouldn’t be so bad after all.

The kitten, having sheathed its crown and cut its threads, finally smiled as if a weight had been lifted.