Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume14 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 3===

Gripping the hatchet hard, Fear watched as Nirushaaki raised her hand lightly.

"A rare specimen of live prey, nourishment for one along the path to become a dragon. In that case, I shall devour her myself. Consider it a show of etiquette towards food."

"&mdash;Well then..."

"I shall be her opponent."

Using her raised hand to search through her suit jacket, Nirushaaki took out a certain object from around her back, handing it over to Kotetsu who was waiting on hand next to her. Lilyhowell was apparently biding her time for the chance to strike. Her shoulder shook once at this time but she did not move recklessly. Shifting her feet bit by bit, she slowly closed in.

During this time, ''Nirushaaki had apparently decided to remove her clothing''.

Taking off the heavily wrinkled suit jacket, she casually tossed it onto a nearby chair. Not satisfied with that, she unfastened her skirt and readily allowed the skirt to slide all the way down to her feet. Due to the white shirt she wore as a teacher, still on her upper body, her underwear was not visible, but still&mdash;Too shameless, Fear thought. If possible, she really wanted to redirect Haruaki's gaze while she was leaning against his shoulder, but given the unpredictable situation, it would be too dangerous. Fear could only endure.

Nirushaaki then took off her shoes. Reaching her hand to her hip area underneath the shirt, she removed her black stockings all at once, separating them from her legs. Bare feet. How incomprehensible. Was she trying to seduce them? Clearly the only possible target present whom this could work on was the shameless brat alone.

Then she began to unbutton the shirt remaining on her upper body, going from up to down. First button, second button, third button. After unfastening all the buttons, she casually threw the shirt away without hesitation&mdash;Fear originally thought it would be necessary, but in hindsight, there was no need for her to poke out Haruaki's eyes.

Because Nirushaaki was wearing another shirt underneath.

Rather than a western garment with fine needlework, it felt more like a simple tribal outfit. Predominantly white but old and dirty, the shirt looked like it was bursting at the seams in many places. Fear could hear Kuroe whispering blankly nearby:

"What's that? It looks like something that American Indians would wear..."

Many tassels dangled from the shirt's lower fringe which barely reached the thighs in length. Hence, the shirt just barely covered her underwear&mdash;But just as Fear was thinking that...

"What? A-Absolutely ridiculous...!"

Kirika groaned. Fear felt the same way. Because Nirushaaki did not stop undressing. Reaching both hands under the hem and using the same motion with which she had removed her stockings earlier&mdash;She took off her underwear.

"Not ridiculous at all, because the effects of this one true Ghost Shirt, «Wounded Knee Massacre», are maximized when it has the most contact with bare skin."

Nirushaaki explained politely while tossing her black underwear casually on top of her removed clothing. Finally, she took off her swirly glasses and placed it on the table.

"Nirushaaki-sama, here you go."

In place of the glasses, she retrieved and put on the object she had handed over to Kotetsu for safekeeping just now.

A mask.

It was a mask similar to a shaman's, possessing dual qualities of primitive vivid colors and modest simplicity... For some reason, the mask consisted of more than one face. Apart from the mask covering her face, two similar masks were visible, one on top of each of her ears. The three masks were strung together using something similar to a circlet which she then wore on her head.

"Well then, preparations are complete. What are your plans?"

"Speaking of which, never have I observed thy battle from the sidelines, master. Allow me to be enlightened."

"Then let this humble Kotetsu to serve you, master."

"Yes&mdash;Muramasa, you shall confirm by your very own eyes whether I am the wielder worthy of owning you."

Nirushaaki spoke in amusement while Konoha answered with narrowed eyes. What a great big idiot&mdash;Fear thought. Damn Cow Tits, why haven't you remembered yet? Your owner, the most suitable owner is&mdash;

But Fear's thoughts were interrupted by Kotetsu's sudden disappearance. After blinking, Fear immediately found an unsheathed Japanese sword held in Nirushaaki's right hand. Compared to Cow Tits' true form, it was slightly larger. Furthermore, perhaps due to psychological reasons, the sword somehow seemed more unrefined in appearance. Although slightly inferior to Cow Tits in elegance, conversely, Fear could sense how powerful the sword was.

"Kotetsu huh? The cursed Japanese sword. If you obstruct me, I shall have no choice but to shatter you!"

Lilyhowell had been inching her way to close the distance, but as soon as she saw the weapon in Nirushaaki's hand, she drew out another sword, the one kept in the largest scabbard, carried vertically on her back. This was the greatsword Fear had seen before, the one with the complicated, wavy blade&mdash;the «Wathe Breaker».

Holding the golden longsword «Calamitous Sword of Sigarsholm» in her left and the «Wathe Breaker» in her right, Lilyhowell sped up all at once.

In that instant, Fear wondered.

She mulled over how this woman had killed someone, how her demeanor made her almost like a different person, and how she belonged to the Knights Dominion, a hostile organization. Although there were many things she wanted to say&mdash;

"No choice but... to join the fray...!"

No longer leaning against Haruaki's shoulder, she gripped the torture instrument in her hand tightly. Much of her stamina had recovered already. The wounds caused by Cow Tits were also much less painful than earlier.

"H-Hey, Fear!"

"This is a good chance, shameless brat. Cow Tits is currently observing whereas Lilyhowell's target seems to be Nirushaaki. In other words, now is the only chance for defeating Nirushaaki, the culprit responsible for everything, without Cow Tits' interference...!"

"Oh? Excellent. No matter how numerous, I welcome as many opponents in the game as possible."

Sharply noticing the situation over on Fear's side, Nirushaaki made her stance clear. Fear grinned.

"Ha, she says so too. Taking us so lightly... Of course I must join the battle!"

"You might have a point. Then I'll cover you."

"Me too. But Ficchi, don't force yourself too much!"

"Yeah!"

Fear did not wait for Haruaki's response. There was no need either.

Then Fear caught up with Lilyhowell and charged at Nirushaaki.

Wielding Kotetsu in her right, she stood still to wait for the enemies' attacks&mdash;Simply standing still? American Indian outfit. Jungle shaman's mask. Japanese sword as a weapon. No matter how you described it, simply standing still would be an understatement, the sight was totally dissonant.

"En garde! Nirshaaki!"

"Such full vigor!"

Lilyhowell and Nirushaaki finally engaged in frontal battle. Kotetsu and the «Calamitous Sword of Sigarsholm» collided with each other. The ensuing impact caused Nirushaaki's American Indian shirt to flutter. Due to the fact that she was barefooted and wearing nothing except for that garment, not even underwear, there was a sense of wardrobe insecurity disproportionate to the area of clothing.

Making flexible use of the advantages of dual wielding, Lilyhowell immediately made a thrust with the «Wathe Breaker». Unknown whether it was Nirushaaki's own skills or Kotetsu was manipulating her body, she spun her body while swinging her sword, swiftly blocking Lilyhowell's attack.

Fear charged into attack range as well. While shifting positions so that Lilyhowell was not blocking her way, Fear yelled:

"Mechanism No.5 impaling type, upright form: «A Skewer Loved by Vlad Tepes»&mdash;Curse Calling!"

Then she launched the execution stake. As though expecting Fear to enter the fray at this time, Nirushaaki dodged the stake with motions that could not be more fluent. Not so naive as to think the match would be decided in a single move, Fear swiftly pulled the stake back.

"Mechanism No.19 gouging type, spiral form: «Human-Perforator»!"

Holding the spiral drill, Fear charged the enemy from an angle different from Lilyhowell, clashing with Kotetsu's heavy and massive blade, but was parried. Suddenly losing the sensation of a resisting weapon, Fear looked up to see Nirushaaki engaging Lilyhowell a second time. Fear could sense that Nirushaaki's skill in movement was extraordinary. Simply the ability to engage two opponents in battle was already a testament to her astonishing capability. However&mdash;

"«Tragic Black River»!"

"Mode: «Penetrator Yoshimasa»!"

She was not handling just two opponents. Although Fear could not possibly share flawless and tacit coordination with Lilyhowell, she had already fought alongside Kirika and Kuroe many times by now. Furthermore, these were long distance attacks that annoyed the enemy without hindering her. Although Kotetsu's traits as a sword might hold the advantage against the belt and hair, merely diverting Nirushaaki's attention already changed the situation greatly. Simply stated, the enemy was forced to deal with four autonomous wills from four people. No matter how strong or skilled, she could not possibly last long.

(In the end, your arrogance and carelessness will be your downfall...!)

This could work. Probably soon. As long as this persists, this woman definitely could be defeated&mdash;

Believing this firmly, Fear poured her full effort into attacking Nirushaaki.

However&mdash;After defeating her... Suppose they succeeded in defeating this woman&mdash;

What was going to happen next...?

This question surfaced in Fear's mind but she decided not to ponder the answer for now.