Editing Sorcery Hacker:Volume4 Phase02 (section)

===Part 9===

They knew a lot more now.

Ayato stepped out through the front door and stretched while filling his lungs with fresh air.

He was taking a quick break.

Discussion was important, but taking time to organize the thoughts racing through his head was also necessary.

Getting a fresh start and changing his viewpoint helped shake loose any preconceptions or assumptions he might have.

Henrietta was raring to go after learning about a plot to assassinate the king, but acting rashly wasn’t going to help. It was best to look at this advance warning as giving them a chance to stop it.

(I can pursue her.)

Ayato quietly focused on that.

As a Sorcery Hacker, he could feel it was true.

(She isn’t vanishing into thin air this time. No matter how far ahead she is, I really feel like I’m catching up to her this time.)

Or so he thought.

“Hee hee. Hi, Ayato. My one and only master☆”

“!?”

He only sensed her presence after the fact.

It was like an overwhelmingly thick wall of sweet corruption.

Like a poison that killed with pleasure.

In one move, she tore down everything he had been building up to. It happened so easily.

His body took immediate action.

He sharply drew the linkage plug sword from his hip and spun around. At the same time, his footwork sent a kick toward his opponent’s leg.

This was the deadly technique of the Hexajinx.

All his muscles and bones cried out in protest.

But it still wasn’t enough.

First, the kick meant to stop her movements found only air. He felt a soft hand on the wrist holding the linkage plug and another on his side and then he found himself spinning unnaturally around.

He had been twisted around backwards.

Forcefully.

Still twisting his wrist upwards, Queen Astaroth Revolver leaned over his back and breathed a hot breath into his ear.

The devil nestled her face against the nape of his neck and whispered sweetly.

“You know a Sorcery Hacker shouldn’t even consider battling a powerful foe head on. That doesn’t even deserve to be called a plan.”

“Queen…”

“You can yell if you want. And then I will kill each those girls in turn as they come running. There are three of them now, right? Oh, but you’re also sheltering the 9th Prince’s maid as a guest, aren’t you? Or do you doubt my ability to carry out that threat?”

For once, Ayato’s rage was plain to see.

But he was a Sorcery Hacker who had sworn not to act only on emotion.

Queen Astaroth Revolver had likely seen right through the conflict within him.

Because she was his former partner.

“Why are you here?”

“Can’t we have some fun before getting down to business? We haven’t been alone together in so long.”

This was why she terrified him.

Logical thinking was not enough to follow her actions.

“If you can do all this on your own, why do you even need a contract with a human?”

“Oh? You of all people have to ask? I thought we understood each other on a most intimate level.”

Did she simply want to see someone brought to ruin?

Or was there some goal she couldn’t reach on her own?

Were there places she could more easily infiltrate with royal power?

“I don’t believe you can’t see the answer.”

The words slipping into his ears were relaxed, yet they were accompanied by a stabbing pain.

“We know each other too well for that. It might take you longer to arrive at the truth, but you know everything there is to know about me. Hee hee. So I will give you a chance to answer. Question: why do I work alongside humans?”

Her tone made it clear that something unpleasant would happen if he answered carelessly.

Would she twist his arm right off?

Or would she blast the hideout with a barrage of immense firepower?

But.

Why didn’t she just do it right away? Why would that hedonistic devil hesitate?

“Wait…”

“Yes?”

“Does it ''wear you down each time you use it''? Despite how calm and collected you look as you overpower the world?”

A dull crunch burst from within him.

From his shoulder bone.

“!!!!”

“''Correct.''”

Ayato clenched his teeth and scrambled away from the devil woman now that she had released him.

This was the result of getting it right.

Which was exactly like the Queen Astaroth Revolver he knew.

The devil held a hand elegantly over her mouth as she laughed.

“My, my. Don’t look all bent out of shape over a little thing like a single destroyed joint. It makes me want to lick up each and every bead of sweat☆ You have a recovery magic user on your party, don’t you?”

“Yes, and thanks for the excuse to place myself in Miss Teleria’s care later on.”

“Hm, you’re no fun. I see you know how my taunting works.” She complained but showed no sign of losing her cool. “Wearing me down isn’t the whole story, but it is one of the main reasons I get help. I am, after all, a sorcery gun designed as a weapon. It’s a lot more convenient for me to sign deadly contracts as I travel from hand to hand.”

The deadly contract was actually meaningless.

She didn’t absorb the victim’s soul to retain her youth or anything like that.

…She probably just didn’t want to spend too long stuck with someone she didn’t get along with. So she used strict terms that ensured her partner would violate the contract and be killed in a very short time period. That way she could exist as a tool while also freely traveling the world without being bound to a single person.

Nevertheless, she yearned for Ayato, likely the only person to ever survive.

She sought the boy who had once been the strongest Forward.

Just like she had approached him here when he was supposedly pursuing her.

That contradictory and impulsive nature was just like her. If she had instead been advancing a master plan based solely on logic, he could have easily stopped it all by blocking the path of just one of the many lined up dominoes.

“Also, you are correct.”

“?”

“''About 9th Prince Roberat usurping the throne by assassinating the king.'' Well done☆ To reward my cute Ayato for working out that answer, I thought I would give you the prize of ‘certainty’. See, doesn’t that make this easier? Isn’t that great, my widdle baby Ayato?♪”

The bewitching blonde made a silent clapping gesture. Just like a mother praising her baby for standing up for the first time.”

The mastermind gained nothing from revealing her plan like this.

She was only doing it for the fun of it.

Ayato pushed past the pain and moved his linkage plug sword from his broken arm to the unharmed left one.

“Is this a game to you?”

“Of course it is. All of this has always been one big game for the two of us.”

She really meant it.

Then she chuckled and exploded with delight.

“The one and only thing capable of influencing me in this world is love. So I must academically analyze my love of you so I can finally gain full control over it. Only then can I unify all things in the world through knowledge.”

It all sounded like a joke.

But for the Queen, that probably was the world’s final mystery.

“The two of us are the only things that exist. All else is no more than an illusion. Ayato, I will allow you your ''infidelities''. Because love burns all the hotter the more obstacles stand in its way. So let your eyes wander! Go into heat like a dog and build up a ridiculous harem with that solemn look on your face!! The more samples I have to learn about love, the better. Isn’t that right, Ayato?”

“Queen!!”

“Now for the right leg.”

The dull crunching sound burst from his ankle this time.

He flipped over, rolled along the filthy ground, and found he couldn’t get back up on his feet. It had taken all his efforts to avoid stabbing himself in the gut with his own sword.

For that blonde devil, even dealing with Ayato of all people was like child’s play.

After robbing the Sorcery Hacker of his mobility with a single strike from her heel, the Queen gave him a troubled smile.

“Look, with all that screaming, the others in that ramshackle hut are starting to notice. Hmph, that means I have to leave for tonight. It wouldn’t be any fun if they triggered a penalty and I had to wipe out your harem already. So out of respect for you, I will avoid the mass murder route just this once. But do make sure to make it up to me later. Hee hee. Don’t worry about the price. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy. Oh, my heart is already throbbing at the thought of you wracking your brains to find something that will delight me☆”

“…Damn you…”

“You have no choice but to accept me.”

Queen Astaroth Revolver didn’t hesitate to turn around.

She left her back entirely defenseless in front of the enemy trying to take her life.

“Whatever the result of my love analysis, you can never escape me, much less defeat me. Hee hee. But you won’t accept that until you give it your all and still fail, will you? That is why I am willing to accept your detours and your humiliating defeats. So go challenge that mountain and fail. And once you give up, come accept your fate as my toy. Hee hee hee!!”



He was helpless.

This made it all too clear that he wasn’t the one who had created the legend he had once embodied.