Chapter 4 ~ Leon Bladebright and the Murder Demon
1Two days has pa.s.sed since the battle at warehouse town.
However, Susanoo Mighty Sword to Rule Both Sky and Land at the end.
Even though we managed to avoid frontal hit, the aftermath of that light gouges out even the surface of earth is truly frightening. The three of us returned to the South Dormitory completely tattered. Pg. 207
Maria, who was in standby at the dorm, nearly fainted from shock after looking at our injury. She later help did some treatments for hours.
Among us, it was Ruirui who suffered the most damage.
Although she managed to avoid direct hit, when Ama no Murak.u.mo destroyed Ruirui Palace of the Dead, Fólkvangr, it was bad.
The [Regalia] is an interpretation of the G.o.d divinity.
Serving as a condition for the G.o.d to be [Control], the [Regalia] is rooted deeply within the G.o.d.
When it physical formed is destroyed, it sent an invisible feedback towards Ruirui. The burden was so great that she was unable to get up from bed until yesterday.
Today, when she has finally recovered, that girl said,
"……this is not good. Since my [Regalia] was destroyed, my divinity is temporarily affected. I need several days more for it to restore."
and we were informed with that.
Only weak magics equivalent to C to B rank left can be used.
It"s enough if our enemy happens to be human, but in a battle of G.o.ds it can act nothing more than a deterrent.
Right now, this girl battle power is nearly zero.
For that reason, I"m currently hiding her in my room. I am absent from cla.s.s, nursing and protecting her during her recovery.
"……Raika?"
"Hm? You"ve woken up?"
Putting back my firearms on the desk, my gaze responded to Ruirui calls.
She raised her body while still having drowsy eyes.
"What is the time now?"
"Already pa.s.sed afternoon. How is your condition?"
"Nn~……well, I think I can go to cla.s.s tomorrow."
"Is that so."
I nodded.
"Want me to get you something to drink?"
"……pfft."
When I asked her, for some reason Ruirui busted into chuckles.
"Before, you tried to drive me out without offering me a single drink. Now, even without me saying anything, you already offered me a drink."
"……I don"t mind if you don"t need anything."
"Milk tea, please."
"Understood."
Personally, I find that weakening the tea taste is nonsense, but since she is a sick patient, I did her milk tea as her desired.Pg. 210
She took the cup and sipped it on the bed.
"Mm. Delicious."
Ruirui smiled.
"Someday, when Raika finally belongs to me, I will appoint you as the tea ceremony attendant."
"I decline your offer."
"Eh~ this is a G.o.ddess personal request, you know?"
"It is meaningless, so I refused."
I made a displeased face and make a frown.
"Raika is the first guy ever to ignore my wish in my lifetime."
"Really."
I feel no pang in my heart.
"Nevertheless, you continuedly nurse me into health. Raika is unexpectedly feminist [1] in heart."
"……. the person I"m trying to guard is, in the end it was Shishigane Ruirui. Not Freyja."
"You sure?"
"Yes."
I confirmed it flatly.
"Is that so?"
Ruirui tilt her head slightly.
She holds her milk tea at her mouth.
Not trying to extend this meaningless argument any longer, I shut my mouth and stopped talking.
The silence continues for a while.
『——hey—hey—, you guys are finally out of cla.s.sroom at last. This female fox is finally weakened. This is your once in a lifetime chance. 』
You never get tired.
Barol continue talking like his usual routine. I"m starting to get tired with it.
But the evil G.o.d inside me is far from giving up.
『——Raika, you are a bore. You know that fox, while she is under control of the Evil Eye, she is unable to move anyway she wanted to. 』
……brunhilde, huh.
When he talked about it, I finally remember about the last night.
The previous night after we left, four of us remains and fortified in this room.
During that time, with an intention to aggravate Brünnhilde, I questioned her things regarding the day before.
Why don"t you try to cooperate with me?
Are trying to uphold your chivalry spirit?
Like so.
Honestly, if brunhilde is trying to act like a c.r.a.ppy warrior, that will be a waste of breath, is what I thought.
However……
"I don"t want to stray from my knight belief……after all, I, I am your……"
So, last night Brünnhilde strangely was trying to beat around the bush, which makes me unable to get her points.
I couldn"t feel her usual defiance and her att.i.tudes were strangely meek.
She doesn"t want to go against her knight value, yet?
After all, I am your……what was that?
Influenced by her feminine and weak voices, I stopped pursuing her for the answer.
"Come to think about it, how did you explain this to that Kushinada Himeko senpai?"
Suddenly remembered, Ruirui opened her mouth and asked.
I stopped reminiscing and focused on the matter on hand.
"I relayed a message to her by asking Maria. Since one of us physical condition has deteriorated, we couldn"t help further in searching for your sister for a while, like that."
"Humph~. Well, it"s a truth that walking around in this body now would be a pain."
Ruirui cut to the point.
"The problem currently is not that, right?"
"……Susanoo, huh."
Regarding the matter of Susanoo infesting Kushinada Nadeko, honestly, I haven"t found a solution for it yet.
『——aah. He is a simpleton, strong and straightforward. A tough one to capture for sure. 』
Right then, Bálor partic.i.p.ate in our discussion.
Still, I"m the only one who can hear his voice.
『——that technique destroyed most of the buildings on this island. By it"s power alone, it"s the strongest even among the other Regalia. 』
『——if I"m not mistaken, did he said Ama no Murak.u.mo? You seem to be familiar with it Raika. What king of sword it is? You seem to be from same origin like him. 』
Stop speaking like that.
In a sense, since that guy is a G.o.d from j.a.panese Mythology, it can be said that he is a G.o.d from my hometown. However, it"s nauseating for me to be a.s.sociated with any G.o.d.
In any case.
"I"ll also tell Ruirui about him. About Susanoo, everything that I know, including his Ama no Murak.u.mo no Tsurugi."
——Ama no Murak.u.mo no Tsurugi. Also known as Kusanagi no Tsurugi.
Together with Yasakani no Magatama and Yata no Kagami, three of them make up for complete Imperial Regalia of j.a.pan.
Zeus Lightning Bolt in Greek Mythology.
Lugh G.o.d Spear in Celtic Mythology.
Thor"s hammer in Norse Mythology.
These are the most powerful instruments in the world of legends.
"The Ame no Murak.u.mo no Tsurugi is a military symbol for j.a.panese Mythology. It power is like what we already know."
"Holy……does that thing has any weakness at all?"
Ruirui asked while making a dumbfounded expression.
"Nothing as far I"m aware of."
"EEEHH???"
"In the legend, Susanoo who discovered Ame no Murak.u.mo no Tsurugi said, there is no way this mysterious sword can be his. Later on, it was revealed that the sword was bestowed to him by Amaterasu Ogami of Takamagahara."
"In other words, the Ame no Murak.u.mo no Tsurugi is not under Susanoo complete possession somehow?"
"Perhaps you can say he have usage restrictions."
Once in a time is probably his limit.
That night, if the Mighty Sword to Rule Both Sky and Land was launched towards our direction, we are most probably dead by now.
On the other hand, never crossed in my mind that he wouldn"t do it.
Well, based on Susanoo personality, he is more capable of doing it, just that he would find it boring.
『——so? Eventually, are you going to take on that guy? 』
Bálor asked.
There is a way.
I answered.
『——huh? 』
There is no need to charge upfront needlessly. The true strength of Evil Eye lies on its versatile combat mode. By manipulating them, it"s possible to defeat even that Susanoo.
『——as expected of my own Regalia. 』
Balor laugh proudly.
『——if so, why are you struggling against him? 』pg. 216
Capturing his Regalia is required in order for me to put him under my control. Because of that, our situation has changed.
For Kushinada senpai"s sake, we must take back Kushinada Himeko safely.
For that purpose, putting Susanoo under our control is necessary.
To dominate him, first I need to capture his Regalia, then proceed to make him acknowledge me as someone above him.
Even though the the Mighty Sword to Rule Both Sky and Land had a limited use, it"s one blow is totally out of proportions.
To capture that——in other words, I need something of Zeus Lightning Bolt level.
Bálor Evil Eye is versatile, but it lacks destructive power.
……amongst all Evil Eye abilities, there is something called White Beam of Destruction. Then again, thinking that it can go head to head against the Mighty Sword to Rule Both Sky and Land itself is a cruel thought.
It"s not realistic to beat him toe to toe in fight at the first place.
We need some realistic method to go against him……
"If we defeat his Regalia and procced to dominate him, in that case we must be able to measure on site destruction that will be brought upon hisMighty Sword to Rule Both Sky and Land……no, that might be too impractical."
"Right~~"
『——destroying a divine sword of that cla.s.s will be very hard. 』
Both Ruirui and Bálor is in agreement with me.
"A technique to capture the Mighty Sword to Rule Both Sky and Land, right now we don"t have one."
"Eeh, then what should we do?"
"No problem. At least, we achieve our objectives that night."
Some prices have been paid, but at the very least we managed to draw out Susanoo real strength and obtained information about his Regalia as originally intended.
"There is a saying, [If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.]."
"What was that?"
"Words of wisdom from one of the greatest militarist who shaped the human history."
When you have no choice but to fight the enemy, first you need to collect information.
If we are bounded to lose before starting the fight, knowing that we can"t win in advance is a big different.
If we already know that we can"t win as it is, we can explore other techniques to bring victory.
If we don"t have a trump card, we can just create it.
If we are in shortage, then we can resort to trickery.
Bring out any means to seize the victory,
That is how a human fight.
"Susanoo strength and personality are as clear as day. Now we only need to find the missing piece to overthrow him."
"Oh, is that so."
Understanding what I meant, she continues.
"In short, Raika will find other G.o.d who is capable of sealing Susanoo Regalia, dominates them and bring them to our side?"
"Correct."
All G.o.d from the seven mythologies are competing in this Representative War.
Naturally, all of them must possess Regalia with special ability unique to themselves.
Amongst them, there must be one which has good compatibility with the Mighty Sword to Rule Both Sky and Land. There is a good possibility that one might have the ability to detain Susanoo himself.
"Still, it is necessary to dominate them first."
"Huh? That is a given."
Suddenly, Ruirui is pointing out an obvious thing.
But, she is looking at this way as if it"s a trivial matter.
"But Raika want to save his little sister. He has not a slightest intention to win this Representative Myth War. Isn"t this for Kushinada senpai?"
My eyes sharpen for a little.
"……I don"t remember telling you anything about my little sister though?"
"I heard about it from Brünnhilde. The reason you came to this island is to search for your missing sister from the past, isn"t it?"
Ruirui laughed.
"Is Susanoo really necessary in your quest of finding your little sister? Increasing your fighting forces is nice, but the risk is too large. Regardless of dominating, there are still other means, don"t you think so?"
I keep silent.
Ruirui she, still smiling.
"You truly are a feminist, Raika. That side of yours are truly cute."
She moved away from the bed and placed her mouth at my ear,
"When you"re showing this much naivety, a woman will scratch you in your sleep."
So, she purred.
Rather, she said that she will scratch me during my sleep.
Without saying a word, I put my hand in my pocket,
"You said you are going to scratch me in my sleep, but how do you plan to do such things?"
I took out a small red jewel, then stuck it to Ruirui.
"Oh my……"
"At first glance, it might look like an ordinary piece of jewellery. However, it has received a magic treatment. Simply said, it is wiretap with magic."
To be precise, it is an efficient method to observe my physical condition and behaviours inside this room.
"This thing was put here by you."
"My, my, I was exposed."
"Last time, when you came to my room, you give me a reason, saying that you came to play……did you think I believed that words?"
"Hmm~ I took out my clothes to distract you though……"
Ruirui cough while saying too bad.
She took a glance at my face, then buries her head on the pillow while sneakily looking.
"And here I thought I could peep on Raika everyday life."
"Are you stupid."
"I especially want to know who is the one in Raika mind while he is comforting himself."
"……. Die."
"ah~, perhaps, you would like to know what my favourite "side dish" is?"
"Shut up already."
I got up and leave the bed.
It can"t be helped since I"m nursing her into recovery, but it"s not good to be always together.
I resumed back my reading, then wonders about the time Maria and Sharo senpai return after their lesson has ended.