Editing Hyouketsu Kyoukai no Eden:Volume 4 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 7===

“……Where……is this?”

Pressing down on her dizzy head, Ymy shakily got to her feet.

She had fallen onto a field she had never seen before……looking around, she could see water fountains and a benches, and numerous slides were erected over sand hills.

“A nature park?”

Tall trees had been planted that encircled the park and were probably a replacement for a barricade. Even deeper than that, about a hundred metres ahead of where she stood were a line of large structures.

If it was a park within the city, then there were numerous ones around {{furigana|Tenketsu Palace|Sophia}}. ……There were, but she had never seen this one. And what she was curious about was,

“……The sky is kind of scary.”

Looking up at the sky, she unconsciously grimaced. The clouds were large and black, with the sky a blood-like red. It was like the end of this world ─── the sky carried that kind of atmosphere.

……Where is this?

She had been talking with the woman called Tsali and then the world a thousand years ago……she had said she would show her the world before Hyouketsu Kyoukai had been erected. When she came to, she had fallen here.

A dream? A hallucination? No, that wasn’t it. The solidity of the ground, the smell of the air, the feel of the clouds. It was unthinkable for them to be a hallucination. It was unmistakably the real world. But no matter what power was used, this kind of───

“……No.”

Thinking about that would come later. She had to search for a way to return from here for now.

.

“''Emergency notice, emergency notice.''“

.

At the same time she put out one foot, a warning suddenly came.

“Wh-what?……What’s happening?”

.

“''Yuugenshu battalion approaching from the northern skies.''

''Those living in the Living Sector, please evacuate to the shelters.''“

.

……Yuugenshu, it can’t be!

.

An instinctual commotion pressured her chest. Reflexively, Ymy looked up at the sky.

The bright red sky and the sparse black clouds. One portion of those clouds was being torn to pieces unnaturally……it was strange. In these windless conditions, there was no way a cloud would move like that.

.

“''I repeat, a Yuugenshu battalion is approaching.''

''Those living in the Living Sector, please evacuate to the shelters.''“

.

The change was sudden. The second she thought the torn black clouds had ceased moving ────── it fell in a straight line to the ground.

As I thought!

That was not a cloud mist, and that thing which was shrouded in a dark purple mist was.

“……A Yuugenshu!?”

The attacker from the skies fell to the park’s field.

Juu……uu……uuuuuu……

The corruption of mateki. The ground where the Yuugenshu landed boiled and decayed.

“……That time’s commander!”

Biting her lips together and waving her vestments, she glared at the Yuugenshu that had descended.

A pair of wings and four massive limbs as well as the lizard head which protruded out of the dark purple mist.

She recalled that appearance that resembled a dragon’s. There was no way she could forget. It was the Yuugenshu commander of the great invasion.

.

■ ■, …… ■, ■ ■ ■, ■ …… ■ …… ■ ■ ■, ■, ■ …… ■

Oe/ Dia = U hiz gazzinis sis wei sighn. Quo zess wiz xes kyele.

.

Out from the Yuugenshu’s mouth came a curse-like sound.

Dark purple light swirled like a vortex and gathered towards the Yuugenshu, then suddenly expanded several hundred metres.

[Unto me, all the wishes that of which I am able......]

[ele So Phi-a-s Arma-Riris]

Lifting her spirit, she offered a prayer of baptism that resisted mateki. Following the release chant, scarlet particles wrapped around her───

A chill.

“! Ky, aa!”

Being pushed back by the surge of mateki, she was blown backwards. Blown back around ten metres, she slammed hard into the large trees lining the park.

She’d lost in a simple comparison of strength between shinryoku and mateki? That……shouldn’t be……until now, that had never happened once.

“……Ka……aa……?”

She couldn’t breathe because of the intense pain on her back.

───This is bad……the next mate……ki……I need to……focus my consciousness.

Calm Mind. <ref>[T/N: 心鎮 is literally "heart/mind" and "weight". However, the second kanji is also part of 鎮まる which something goes quiet. It comes together to be like "settling of the heart/mind".]</ref>

She forcefully separated her mind from the harsh pain of her body and focused only on the shinryoku spell.

It was a posture with both knees and both hands on the ground. In addition, her face was raised. Her vision was blurry but she still forced them open and glared at the Yuugenshu.

……I……can’t, lose.

……I am……a Priestess, ……so there’s no way I can lose.

She prepared a spell to defend against the next mateki───

But the [next] didn’t come no matter how long she waited.

“Eh?”

Paying no attention to her, the Yuugenshu spread its wings and flew off. ……Why did it leave even though I’m still fine? The Yuugenshu should have known that much as well.

───Tosaa. <ref>[T/N: It's a light impact on the ground.]</ref>

From directly to her side came a light sound of something falling to the ground. Another Yuugenshu? She spun towards the injured body. Over there was not the comrades of the strange beast.

“……A kid?”

The one who had fallen face up on the field was a single person……a boy of about ten years old. The fiber of his clothes was tattered and his skin that went in and out of view was being corrupted by an ominous dark purple speck.

───It wasn’t mateki aimed at me.

She had been surprised leading to her realizing it too late: the Yuugenshu had been aiming at this kid from the start. That’s why, having accomplished its goal, it had flown away.

……At any rate, I should purify him.

Changing the target of the spell that had been aimed at the Yuugenshu, she chanted a spell that would bless the target she was in contact with.

.

O seven colors of the interweaving dream

Yu/ ubinis ole = C kis tih Ies.

.

“……You’ll be fine.”

Holding the fallen boy, she embraced him.

.

The slumbering spring’s rest is at an end, wishing, the augite that awakens with the path.

mios huda yum xeph fel hypne shel sephat, xephnis wision.

.

Now in this place, the accumulated songs of praise, the quivering pulsations, arrive at the heavenly sound.

mehnes nelar, Ee toga-s-sia vea clar = C nelves zahl tis kyel Sophit.

.

“I will……heal you.”

The touching skin, the body heat she could feel and her own.

The scarlet light that was blessing her was passed through her arms to the boy.

.

The pouring drops, lovingly fill and run towards the fated time.

kei yum lisy r-blow-s-miel xins clue Is-Ye-fio missin.

.

O wishes, become the path of thousands of hopes.

Ris sia sophia, shel evoia steras tis lef ilis.

.

The dark purple light that was eating away at the boy. The scarlet light that was purifying that curse.

The two lights swirled together like a vortex.

.

───For the time the world is filled with prayers, I sing.

Yu/ Se = C clar fears valen r-miel noi I.

.

And then the scarlet light───

'''The scarlet light was reflected by the dark purple light and unilaterally destroyed.'''

.

“…………Eh?”

Not understanding what had happened, she seriously doubted her eyes.

“……No way……you’re kidding, right?……”

My baptism spell had no effect? There’s no way it was rejected like with Sheltis. The shinryoku was certainly penetrating the mateki’s barrier. But for it to be deflected……

She had seen a phenomenon like this many times.

Those who just became an apprentice Priestess had been repelled just like this when they tried to purify mateki.

The reason was just that their specs were too low. Even if a film were taken in high quality, if the television was of low quality, the picture quality would become low quality ─── even if the amount of shinryoku was sufficient, there was no meaning if the spell could not match up with it.

……I made the same mistake as an apprentice Priestess?

It was the same just before. Her defense spell had lost to the mateki. And if she considered the phenomenon with the baptism spell just now, one idea came to mind. It was an idea simpler than anything.

.

The Yuugenshu’s mateki is surpassing my shinryoku as a Priestess?

.

Her defense spells were of no help and her baptism spells were being treated completely like a child.

……That, that kind of thing.

……Until now……even though I’ve done my best in training……while shedding tears…………

While holding the child that had lost consciousness, she lost her strength and fell to her knees.

The penetration of the mateki eating away at the boy wasn’t stopping. His body turning completely dark purple was proof that his body’s cells were in necrosis from the mateki infection. Even so, all she could do was watch.

This is, this is──────

.

“''When you have seen the world as it was before Hyouketsu Kyoukai was erected, what will be your impressions?''“

.

This was the world a thousand years ago.

Before Hyouketsu Kyoukai was erected, it was a matter of course that Yuugenshu as fearsome as this were running rampant.

“………………I don’t like this.”

Biting her lips together enough to spurt blood, she wiped away the tears in her eyes.

……I don’t like it.

She definitely did not want to give up.

Because the world was like this, someone was necessary. Because the world was like this, Priestesses were necessary. If the Priestesses gave up, everything would end. ……That’s why I won’t give up.

She gathered power once again in the hand holding the boy.

She was about to start the baptism chant again but Ymy’s mouth froze in an open position.

……Zuu……zuzuu……zunn……n……

A rumble shook the ground and a gigantic [something] roared.

“!”

A slight pain could be felt on her skin as the ground swayed. It wasn’t because of the shaking, it was because of the overwhelming pressure given off by that which was closing in. Even though she still couldn’t see it.

It’s there and ─── it’s coming!

The moment she felt that, that appeared from the space between the structures in the park.

.

Reaching even the buildings that were about ten floors tall, it was an unheard-of enormous Yuugenshu.

.

Her eyes met with its crimson eyes that were as large as people.

“……Ah……h……”

Her body wouldn’t move. The moment their eyes met, she had been went stiff like she’d been paralyzed.

───I can’t win.

───I can’t……no, humanity cannot win against this monster.

Time did not move until her body, her heart, and her instincts told her such. Even the Yuugenshu just before had a size and pressure that was out of the question. More than anything, the shine of that mateki that covered it was like a solar eclipse that blotted out the sun. It was enough to cover the sky.

……I’m sorry.

……It looks like……I won’t be able to help you.

Holding onto the boy whom the mateki was eating away at, she couldn’t do anything but look up at the Yuugenshu.

.

■ ■, …… ■, ■ ■ ■, ■ …… ■ …… ■ ■ ■■■, ■, ■ …… ■

Oe/ Dia = U hiz gazzinis sis wei sighn. Quo zess wiz xes kyele.

.

The roar of the Yuugenshu. That mateki shook the sky and released a brilliant and mysterious shine.

The ring of light enveloped Ymy and the boy in the park───

……I’m sorry.

Holding the boy tightly, she shut her eyes. No, the instant she was about to close them, somebody flew out in front of her.

.

Come now, let us offer up all the promised children.

Elma sia Risis ele Selahphenoria

.

The girl whose mysteriously colored hair was flapping in the wind chanted.

Like silk thread of seven colors, the ruffling hair changed its beautiful color.

Crystal colored ─── with a transparent silvery white like ice as its base, the parts touched by light shone with a mix of pearl and gold.

Azure light.

The brilliant and gentle shinryoku light activated before the mateki arrived.

A barrier type shinryoku spell?

The mateki’s shine that shrouded the world was rejected by the light barrier. That instant.

.

───Dchidchi……dchii!……───

.

Blue-white sparks that made one think of a lightning flash surged from the barrier’s border.

“Elbert Resonance!?”

……It’s the same as with Sheltis and I.

Even forgetting the situation, her eyes were drawn in by the shining sparks before her eyes.

Elbert Resonance, a miracle phenomenon that only occurred when sufficiently strong mateki and shinryoku collided. That’s happening between that unheard-of Yuugenshu and that girl?

The mateki and barrier were mutually annihilated.

The Yuugenshu that understood its attack had been blocked was visibly disturbed. In that momentary instant, the girl once again spun shinryoku release chants.

.

[Unto me, the only wish of which I am capable......]

[Yu/ ris-ia Sophie, Arma-Selah]

.

It was an azure light barrier that continued out to the horizon.

The light ring bound the Yuugenshu’s movements and next a spear of light that shone golden pierced it, fastening it to the ground. Lastly, the azure barrier shifted from that color to scarlet ─── it changed to the color of baptism which was most effective of the Yuugenshu.

“……Amazing.”

She couldn’t say anything other than that.

Azure was the color of barriers. Golden brilliance indicated an advent spell, and last was a large-scale blast of baptism.

A combination spell of three different types of systems. With that much of a range, that powerfully. And it was activated with only one phrase of a release chant.

“That child appears to be contaminated by mateki. Shall I purify him?”

Letting her transparent crystal hair flow, the girl turned back towards her.

She was wearing a modest and plain shirt and skirt. Her shoulders and body were slim to the point that they looked like they’d break, and her height was roughly the same as Syun-rei. She wasn’t even in her later tens. As best, she was thirteen or fourteen.

“Ah……ah……umm”

There were two reasons she was mumbling. Her unfulfilled promise with her baptism having no effect. Also ─── her gaze was stolen by the girl’s gem-like cuteness.

Her moist eyes which were tinged with sorrow were a vivid lapis lazuli color.

Her skin was a transparent white like white porcelain, smooth and slim without a single blemish. Her looks were lovely and ephemeral, her figure enough to allow one to see a fairy.

……Just who is this girl?

“The spell, I’ll do it.”

Looking over at Ymy who was holding tight the boy, the girl said that in a moderate tone.

“The necrosis has started so he may act up. Hold down that child like that.”

“Y-yes!”

The girl kneeled down on the field and sung the same release chant.

[Unto me, the only wish of which I am capable......]

[Yu/ ris-ia Sophie, Arma-Selah]

This is her release chant?

Is it a coincidence?……it feels like it greatly resembles my release chant. And this voice, it feels like I’ve heard it somewhere. And not just once or twice, it feels like I’ve been hearing it all the time as of late.

“It seems fine already.”

“Eh, al-already?”

She looked back at the boy. The venomous dark purple speck had disappeared and his skin had returned to its original color. There was a slight spot with necrosis but he would be saved with a surgical procedure.

“You are a kind person, aren’t you.”

Having that said all of a sudden, Ymy blinked in surprise.

“Eh?”

“This child didn’t act up at all to the end. He’s calmed down a lot. I think your feelings have definitely been transmitted.”

“……Ah, i-is……that so. I was focusing so hard……”

But she was happy. She had almost become depressed by herself who couldn’t do anything and she felt that that would be mitigated by a single phrase.

“U-um……what’s your name?”

Please let me hear your name. She was about to say that but realizing the presence behind the girl, she felt a chill throughout her whole body. ───This pressure.

The Yuugenshu with the unheard-of gigantic body lifted its body that had been broken down and stood once again. It had become a more brutal wounded beast. The dark purple shine overflowed from its entire body.

“Be-behind you! It’s not over”

“───No.”

Perceiving the beast with a sidelong glance, the girl told her this quietly.

“It’s already over.”

.

A light from the heavens cleaved the Yuugenshu into two clean halves.

.

A sound like glass shattering. The Yuugenshu’s massive body fragmented into light particles and proceeded to annihilation like the dispersal of the leftover shinryoku.

……What happened?

This girl had done nothing. It shouldn’t be that the Yuugenshu had suicided. If so.

.

“''Shasa, are you okay?''” <ref>[T/N: Yes, even the kanji match up.]</ref>

.

A silver-haired girl wearing a light-emitting mechanical outfit.

She seemed to be slightly taller than Ymy with about the same age. Her dignified voice and expressionless face that couldn’t be read were strangely suited to each other. That kind of girl was standing there.

“Of course. Rather than that, how about that side? Is the evacuation of civilians complete?”

Shasa ─── the girl with crystal hair smiled.

“''Comparing the digital map with the residents’ register, 98% evacuation was confirmed. The remaining civilians have been left up to the guidance members. We’ll now be moving from raids to full annihilation.''“

The silver-haired girl held up her right hand. Unbefitting of a girl in her teens, she was holding a massive great sword that far surpassed her in height.

……Don’t tell me the one who cleaved the Yuugenshu in half just now was this girl?

……Furthermore, with that great sword?

“''Is a battle status report necessary?''“
[[image:Eden04_205.jpg|thumb]]

Shasa nodded and the silver-haired girl continued onto the second part.

“''That mid-size Yuugenshu just now was the last one in the city. However, we’re picking up readings of 1700 Yuugenshu in the northern airspace. About this, I have judged that I alone am enough to clean them up. The expected time for annihilation is 17,200 seconds later at 4:30 PM.''“

“You do that and I’ll purify the parts of the city that are corrupted.”

“''Yes. However, due to the distortion in the airspace, large types are expected to appear in eight hours. From the response, there will be two. They are expected to both possess the {{furigana|melody|code}} [Black Song].''“

“……Two of them is troublesome. Will we be splitting them between us two?”

Shasa’s expression increased in severity.

This was the girl that had dealt with a Yuugenshu of that calibre carelessly.

“''Yes. It’s redundant, but a Yuugenshu in possession of the “Black Song” will render barrier type, advent type, territory type and worship type shinryoku completely ineffective. Please counter it with only baptism type spells.''“

“I know. We can’t lose……let’s show those invaders what it looks like when humans get serious. ───And speaking of which.”

Shasa casually tilted her head with an adorable face.

“How about Yuto? What happened with her?”

“''She is engaged in battle with the pack of invaders at the western airspace. There are also those possessing the “Black Song” over there but she said to help the fourteen year old child rather than her.''“

Shasa turned her face away with a pout that was a youthful action befitting of her age.

“……Unfortunately, I have no idea who that could be about.”

“''Is there a need to answer?''“

“I don’t need it. ───Then let’s meet up eight hours later; I’ll designate the location shortly. I’m counting on you, [Machine God Mikuva]-san.”

Shasa smiled teasingly.

On the other end, the silver-haired girl whose expression could not be read shifted her scarlet eyes and,

“''I believe I have introduced myself as Ilis before?''“

……Ilis? She said Ilis.

……Also, just now……Machine God Mikuva……what exactly does that……

“Well then, we’ll be going now.”

“Eh? U-umm.”

Being glanced at by Shasa, Ymy hurriedly fixed her posture.

“I’m sorry, I still have things to do. The Yuugenshu in the city have been wiped out by Ilis, so it’s safe. It is safe to return to your house so”

“Wa-wait! Umm, you all are──────”

She reached out towards the two who were leaving.
[[image:Eden04_208.jpg|thumb]]

She reached out.

.

There, Ymy’s consciousness paused once again.

“……Uu.”

A cool feeling against her cheek. When Ymy came to, she was lying face down on the floor.

“This is……the Cathedral?”

She absent-mindedly rubbed her closed eyes. The brass-colored ritual implements, azure sky ceiling, the chill that wrapped the entire room. Without a doubt, it was the Cathedral she was very familiar with.

…………What was that……just now?

…………A dream?……

No, her memories were too vivid for a dream and there was this sense of fatigue. It felt like she had just traveled the boundary between a dream and the present.

“That’s right, that person───”

The woman whose background was unknown and went by the name of Tsali. The person responsible for showing her this thing that she distinguish as a dream or reality. It was best to ask her. However.

“……She’s not here?”

Ymy sprung up and looked around but there was no trace of her.

It was like a mirage or heat haze. In that case, maybe everything including her existence was a dream? She took a deep breath with her hand on her chest.

At that moment, she looked at her own vestments by chance and her breath stopped.

“───! This is……”

A part of the flank of the vestments was slightly torn.

When did it tear? Yesterday? No, the maintenance was left to a seamstress specialized in vestments. She wouldn’t have ignored damage this large and Ymy herself would have noticed if she tore a hole this large.

In that case, it was torn today and furthermore───

.

“''Being pushed back by the surge of mateki, she was blown backwards. Blown back around ten metres, she slammed hard into the large trees lining the park.''“

.

“No way……that can’t”

She stared down at her feet while shocked stiff. There was mud clinging to the tips. If this was also something that stuck on when she collapsed during the battle with the Yuugenshu, then it made sense.

“It wasn’t a dream……?”

Ymy fell to her knees and placed her hand on the ground in blank amazement.

It was all real. That world and what she saw?

“……That was the world a thousand years ago.”

The world without Hyouketsu Kyoukai. A world threatened by Yuugenshu that held a power which couldn’t be imagined in present times. It was harsher, more ruthless, laden with despair ────── but those two.

The girls named Shasa and Ilis had fought.

.

“''Let’s show those invaders what it looks like when humans get serious.''“

.

Even in that harsh of a world, they were still fighting with all they had.

“…………”

Filled with fervent passion and serenity, they were both heated and cool.

……That was probably all true.

She didn’t know who the woman called Tsali was nor her true purpose for showing her the scene just now.

But what she had seen in that world ─── the two girls, Shasa and Ilis, fighting Yuugenshu to save someone, had not been a lie. She felt that.

“…………”

She breathed in the frozen air and exhaled.

“I am…………an idiot.”

At the base of her heart, she still had naive views about how fearsome Yuugenshu were.

She had thought that they were safe so long as the priestesses prayed to maintain Hyouketsu Kyoukai. But that was wrong: at the Garden of {{furigana|Corrupted Song|Eden}} that lay beneath the barrier, Yuugenshu that were beyond the imagination of the current world lurked. There was no doubt that they were biding time until the day the barrier was destroyed.

Protecting the world from those monsters was the duty of the Priestesses.

……I am still lacking that power.

……I have to become strong. In mind and body, and in shinryoku.

If she didn’t, she couldn’t help Sheltis either. As long as she couldn’t purify the mateki, she couldn’t help him who had fallen to the Garden of {{furigana|Corrupted Song|Eden}}.

“……Sheltis,”

Her voice echoed. While listening to her voice that resounded within the cool silence───

“It feels……like I’ve understood something.”

Ymy drew her two hands near her gently pulsing chest and closed her eyes slowly.

<noinclude>