Editing The Unexplored Summon Blood Sign:Volume1 Chapter4 (section)

===Part 6===

In truth, what was there that they could still do?

“Ah☆”

The Queen had destroyed the small kingdom made just for her. She spun around and around at the center so that her loose white clothing and long twintails fluttered around her.

The cloth on her back instantly changed form and burst out like giant wings or a bed of spikes.

A total of 256 spikes wholly tore apart the opposite walls.

One of the black dragon’s wings was torn off and the rest was cruelly pinned down.

One of them flew toward Kyousuke. It easily penetrated the protective circle, so the boy himself used all his strength to swing his upper body out of the way.

A single line of blood appeared on his right cheek.

Kyousuke did not overestimate his ability by thinking he had dodged it. If a Divine-class Material had been unable to dodge or defend against the attack, a mere human never could have.

The White Queen was clearly toying with him.

“Oh, dear. What seems to be the matter, brother?”

The white light that seemed to have been burned into the air by the attack was proof that it had damaged the world itself.

“If you were going the futile resistance route, you could have jumped a little further than that. Why, it almost looks like you were using the protective circle to protect your enemy lying on the floor there.”

Kyousuke clicked his tongue.

Azalea and her elderly butler were still crawling around behind him. If he had not slightly diverted the white spike’s trajectory by intentionally letting it pierce the protective circle, one of them would have died.

“Did they speak the cursed words of ‘help me’?”

“This isn’t about that. I decide what happens to the enemies I defeat. These days, Alice (with) Rabbit doesn’t just apply to allies. Times have changed, Queen.”

“But it’s too bad.”

The twintailed Queen giggled as if to reward him for a perfect answer.

“That means you can no longer move from that spot, brother.”

<Kh, what is this…?>

Higan’s thoughts cut in.

<It won’t make any attacks… Is it…afraid? There’s no attack command to base it on, so no matter what I do, my commands won’t lead to an actual attack!?>
Vessels did not have complete control of their Material.

When and how to attack was left up to the Material’s own desires and the vessel only forced it all to work out by determining “who” to attack.

That meant the vessel could not continue fighting if the Material itself lost the will to attack. The pitch-black dragon’s crimson eyes were filled with the frightened light of a helpless prey.

This too ignored the usual way of things. A Material was normally a cruel creature that destroyed anything and everything it set eyes on.

“Didn’t I tell you, brother?”

The metal wings vanished and elegant fabric covered the White Queen’s back once more.

This time, she gave a quick wave of a hand.

Most of the clothing on her right half formed a giant fist and slammed into the black dragon from the side.

“I stand at the peak of all Materials. Opposing me is simply out of the question. Everything in ''the other'' world serves me. If you would just become mine, I would be willing to give you half of them, though☆”

It sounded like a full-speed bullet train crashing into a truck stopped on the tracks. The Queen’s clothing transformed further. Metal balls, metal rods, hatchets, and other pure white weapons rushed out to torment the giant black dragon from countless angles. All the while, the world itself was carved away into whiteness.

“Kh!!”

Kyousuke used his Blood-Sign to launch a White Thorn. It hit various Petals into the Spots and the Material changed form. A dance of crimson light and a broken song swept over that small world.

He had already reached the Divine-class. That meant these were the gods of mythology. He searched for something with even the slightest will to oppose the White Queen.

“Didn’t…”

——A pure white spear pierced through a great man with golden eyes who summoned lightning with a vajra.

“…I tell you…”

——Three red-eyed sisters known as goddesses of revenge were crushed one after another by a massive maw.

“…it’s useless☆?”

——A violent dance of white arrows rained down on a golden-eyed god of death known as the smoky mirror.

The incredible destruction was entirely one-sided, the very structure of the world crumbled, a portion of the scene filled with the color white, and the palace that Guard of Honor had decorated with treasures old and new from around the world finally collapsed. Decorations and works of art that had untold historical value were cruelly crushed. This was the greatest way for that master of violence to enjoy them. The White Queen looked like a lovely girl, but a portion of her true nature could be seen here.

Higan’s screams echoed directly in Kyousuke’s head.

He just barely managed switched her to a new Material right before she was annihilated, but they all refused to fight the Queen. They stepped down from the stage before doing so.

“The Divine and Unexplored-classes are entirely different categories. This is like racing a normal luxury car against a custom drag racer that can reach half the speed of sound using the rocket engine forcefully strapped to it. Ah☆ I made an effort to learn about this world so I could speak with you, brother. I think that’s worth at least one head pat.”

“…”

If the White Queen’s mischievous-sounding comment was correct, he at least needed to push their Material up to the Unexplored-class.

“So I’ll give you a chance, brother.”

The White Queen clapped her hands in front of her chest and gave him a beaming smile.

“Hurry up and raise your Material up to the Unexplored-class. With your skill, that shouldn’t be difficult, should it? …If I don’t get in your way, that is☆”

The White Queen walked slowly closer like she was strolling around an art museum and enjoying the exhibits. But hers was truly the royal road. No one could stop her advance.

Kyousuke clenched his teeth, but he had no choice but to go along with her suggestion. In fact, the summoning ceremony battles were all about changing from one Material to the next, so the White Queen was the odd one for never changing and ignoring the sound range and cost.

“Goddammit!!”

Solid sounds rang out again and again as Kyousuke built up the Material containing Higan. The mad dance of red light and the broken song were so quick and accurate that they could only be perceived after the fact. She became a giant bird that produced all the world’s winds and she became a hero who had fished up an island in the southern sea. Each one was a power great enough to influence the outcome of a war, but Kyousuke continued using his Blood-Sign as even those gods were only midway points.

That soon crossed a certain line.

With a brilliant light, the design of the Material greatly changed.

It became a short-haired girl in a wheelchair who wore purple cloth that only covered the bare minimum. But perhaps due to how very skinny she was, she looked more sickly than alluring. Her head lolled weakly and her limbs dangled limply, but her right hand alone rose up to express her will.

She was one of the Unexplored-class.

She was the Lady of “Purple Lightning” that Separates Good from Evil (iu – ao – eu – ei – kub – miq – a – ci – pl).

<Yeah, this should work.>

Higan honestly thought that. Even with her green-glowing eyes lowered and covered by her bangs, the Lady of Purple Lightning extended her one slender hand that wriggled like a living creature as she pointed the index finger at the White Queen. A purple light glowed at the tip of that finger. She was not afraid. She knew her opponent was the White Queen, but she still demonstrated the will to fight.

<nowiki><I can fight like this. I can stand on the same field. At the very least, um, it hasn’t given up before the fight even begins!!></nowiki>

Higan remembered this Unexplored-class slicing apart a giant metal bridge and artificial waterway at the end of that battle at the harbor, so fear of it had permeated her bones.

And Kyousuke had once said that it did not matter if you were a rookie or an expert, everyone had the same chance at any strategy and any Material.

So for the first time, she decided to fight back.

A moment later, a deafening sound of destruction burst from the Lady of Purple Lightning’s body.

<Wha-…?>

Meinokawa Higan was appropriately dumbfounded.

It had happened just after the White Queen’s skirt had fluttered.

As soon as she thought the entire large piece of cloth had transformed, there had been countless thick chains with anchor-like three-pronged hooks at the ends. The Queen had spun around, creating a steel tornado for several dozen meters around her. The world itself was wiped away and that massive white light also pursued her target.

A hook lodged itself in the Lady of Purple Lightning’s left shoulder and tore all the way into her chest. For better or for worse, the rapidly rotating hook launched the Lady of Purple Lightning’s body so she rolled along the floor rather than having her heart torn out. The heart had to be where the Silhouette storing Higan’s mind was.

<Ah, gahuh!? Agbah!! Cough…!!???>

One attack.

All of this was just one attack.

“If you build your Material up past the Divine-class and to the Unexplored-class, it is true you can oppose me to an extent.”

The White Queen laughed as she returned her skirt to normal.

She was completely unchanged.

“But so what if you can oppose me? Even if you have the #2 or #3 of the Unexplored-class or even one of the Three that support Government, Illegal, and Freedom, they are no match for me at the top. #1 is known as #1 because there is no one else there. Do you understand now?”

“Goddammit…”

“Of course, that’s assuming a one-on-one structure.”

The White Queen smiled as she placed her index finger on her jaw and slightly lifted her gaze as if recalling something.

“I am in an imperfect state at the moment, so you might have a chance if you make a saturation attack using several dozen Unexplored-classes. Yes, just like when your theory succeeded but your equipment lacked the strength to hold onto my reins and you could not send me back to the other world. If only you had about 10% of the fighting force sent to that largely unknown war where so many summoners and vessels died to clean your mess.”

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“Goddammiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!!”

Kyousuke finally cast everything aside and shouted at the top of his lungs.

This was not the veteran summoner or Alice (with) Rabbit. It was the remaining child within him that could not stand how hopelessly unreasonable this was.

He had thought he would have a chance when she had her guard down. He had thought he could stab her in the side if he could slip away from her playful attempt to suppress his actions.

But this was all he had managed.

She had given him that chance just to provide all the more despair by taking it away. It had all progressed according to her plan and he had not moved even a millimeter outside of it. And the resulting suffering had been placed on Meinokawa Higan. Kyousuke was the underlying reason why her life was at risk.

“Now, brother.”

The White Queen smiled.

The strong did not change and were not shaken. She was the most extreme example of that.

“Now, now, brother! What shall we do now? Is it time to entertain me by begging for your life? Using a hostage to make you my servant might be nice. …Oh, but I know what to do. I love you more than anyone else in the world, so wouldn’t it be a lovely symbol of our love to enjoy your tearful face as I wreak havoc around you? Eh heh. Eh heh heh heh heh heh.”

Shiroyama Kyousuke gasped for breath while desperately working his mind.

——Was there really nothing he could do?

There was not. The Regulation and Divine-classes could not even fight. And while the Unexplored-class could choose to oppose the White Queen, the difference in strength was simply overwhelming. Not even the #2, the #3, or the Three that protected the three major powers could defeat the White Queen who reigned at the top.

He could not make a saturation attack with several dozen Unexplored-class. A summoner could switch between Materials, but they could not summon multiple at the same time.

——Could he just give up?

He could not. But what realistic action could he take? No matter which of the three sound ranges his Material belonged to, he could never defeat the White Queen. She existed outside the rules of the summoning ceremony, so he could not defeat her as a summoner fighting according to those rules.

——Then what had he resolved himself to do before coming here?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

After thinking that far, Shiroyama Kyousuke smiled a little.

''He realized he had yet to use everything available to him. No, he realized something in his heart was still holding him back.

He needed to remember what he had told Meinokawa Higan when she had been cornered at the school.

Don’t reject the fear.

Accept the fear and smile at the fact that a method like that even exists.

“Oh, what a lovely expression… Of course, any expression of yours is perfect. By the way, what are you thinking to put such a photo-worthy look on your face?”

“Oh, I just remembered a bit of a promise is all.”

Kyousuke used both hands to lightly spin his Blood-Sign around.

“The thing is, Queen, I made a promise. It isn’t about money and I didn’t sign a strange contract on parchment, but it was still a promise.”

The White Queen continued smiling as she tilted her head a little.

Alice (with) Rabbit stood there, but that name meant something different from when she had given it to him.

“I promised to save a strange set of twins named Meinokawa Renge and Meinokawa Higan. I promised to do whatever it took to accomplish that. Yes – ha ha – what could be more basic? I can’t believe I didn’t realize this until the very end. I was fighting yet I’d forgotten the promise I made, so I must have gotten careless. So it’s time I remembered Alice (with) Rabbit.”

“You dare speak not one but ''two'' girl’s names in front of me, brother? That is worthy of quite a few deaths. Yes, perhaps I should kill you about ten times for it…”

“''Weren’t you listening?''” said Shiroyama Kyousuke as he raised his Blood-Sign in both hands. “''I said I would do whatever it takes, didn’t I? I announced I would use whatever dirty trick necessary to save the Meinokawa Sisters. That means I’ll even place my allies in danger to utterly defeat you.''”

“Oh, dear. Oh, dear, oh, dear, oh, dear.”

An ominous shadow fell over the White Queen’s smile.

This was not a woman catching her beloved boyfriend in the act of cheating. This was not that sort of appropriate anger. This was the look of someone who had yet again caught their beloved dog tearing up the sofa and cushions while they were out and were now pondering whether they should beat it to death with a bat and stuff it in a garbage bag.

“Are you so angry that some boyish power blossomed inside you? Or are you the type whose latent talent (ha ha) comes to the surface when your life is in danger? I don’t care if your hair turns gold or you become a savior in full-body tights, but what can you actually do?”

“You’ll see.”

“Then you might not make it in time.”

The cloth on the White Queen’s arms turned to particles of light. They became primitive and giant scissors that resembled a stag beetle and would crush its target from either side.

This was a method of providing the greatest suffering without killing the target too easily.

“After all, brother, I’ve lost just a bit of my patience.”

As soon as Shiroyama Kyousuke made a pointless strike with his Blood-Sign, great cruelty rushed back at him.

It was said a mother cat would sometimes get so worked up protecting her kitten from an external threat that she herself would kill that very kitten.