Editing The Unexplored Summon Blood Sign:Volume8 Chapter4 (section)

===Part 9===

The win condition was surviving for a set period of time.

To reiterate yet again, none of the Unexplored-classes they could summon could directly defeat the Colorless Little Girl.

The wheelchair woman used her unsteady finger to fire a purple beam in a horizontal sweep toward the Colorless Little Girl’s skinny neck.

<That. Nii-sama. In the way.>

“Oooooaaaahhhh!!”

The purple beam was deflected upwards and away from the Colorless Little Girl.

No, it was broken.

The Lady of Purple Lightening’s withered branch of a right arm was broken, that is.

The bones from her wrist to elbow were snapped at a right angle. The vessel’s scream rang in Kyousuke’s head.

<Nnnnheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!>

<…>

Something like a shotgun had fired from the countless weapons surrounding the Colorless Little Girl like a long skirt. That was all it took to incapacitate an Unexplored-class.

But they were lucky the one attack had not “annihilated” her.

Was this the result of so perfectly tuning her for use against the White Queen?

The tip of Kyousuke’s Blood-Sign launched a White Thorn at about the same time as the Colorless Little Girl tossed a bookmark back over her shoulder.

One of the 12 books floating behind that juvenile Unexplored-class devoured the bookmark like a carnivorous beast. As if following the law of equivalent exchange, something shot out from the gaps between the pages.

It was the end of the world.

A swarm of black, glistening cockroaches with a hopelessly powerful resistance were released as a single mass like floodwaters. That ultimate pest consumed all, infected all with disease, and left all living things with nowhere to live. They rushed toward the Lady of Purple Lightning.

Once inundated by them, the wild dance of small mandibles would work at your entire body like a thick file and tear away every last strip of flesh.

(That single-shot attack style is the high Sound Range, so we need a low Sound Range Material!!)

Just before the collision, Kyousuke rearranged the letters to achieve a new Unexplored-class. It was a gracefully beautiful woman wearing a red kimono and swimsuit. She had two horns on her forehead and her long hair was endlessly stretched out in a group of gears reminiscent of the world’s fate. It was said she would determine the fate of all she gazed upon if she opened her coolly shut eyes.

Unexplored-class. One of the Three. Cost: 20. Sound Range: Low.

The “Red-Eyed” Lady who Sees Through all Sin and Calamity (fa – ao – ab – ei – fj – cib – b – du – a – eif).

“Sorry!!”

<Isn’t it a little late for that…?>

A voice that was clearly not Olivia’s responded with an independent thought and statement. What Ellie Slide had made was not so much an Incense Grenade as a small-scale Box.

As the insects approached like a black flood, the Red Lady merely swung her large sleeve out like she was dancing. That was enough for the roach swarm’s perfect angle to shift. It was like redirecting a tank shell with angled armor. And she did not stop there. At some point, she had opened the eyelids that functioned as a seal. That was a sinister ill omen. The Red Lady accurately viewed something and thrust her hand out toward the roach swarm once more.

With a wet popping sound, a portion of that world destruction was annihilated. Countless wings, legs, and bodily fluids thick with glittering exoskeletons scattered everywhere.

Of course, the Red Lady was not unscathed herself. After touching that ultimate source of infection, her kimono sleeve melted away and her fingertips grew purple and dissolved until the white bone was visible. The fact that she could not feel the pain was proof of how powerful the infection was.

<Uehhhh!? G-gross…!!>

<Innocent vessel, please remain silent. And Shiroyama Kyousuke, it does not seem I alone can carry you through this.>

“I’m aware…of that!!”

The greatest merit of the Summoning Ceremony was that the god providing their protection could be swapped out instantly.

Kyousuke accurately acquired more Petals while watching the Colorless Little Girl toss several more bookmarks behind her.

Unexplored-class. One of the Three. Cost: 18. Sound Range: Middle.

The Wicked “Green” Woman who Fills the World with Empty Treasure (lu – o – np – e – qo – ei – r – k – a – rum – pl).

<Ee hee hee. You sure about this?>

Short wavy hair glittered like an emerald. She had the upper body of a young girl and the lower body of a great sinister serpent. Rusted swords and scepters that symbolized the patriarchy formed a giant who was down on all fours. A different peak sat atop that giant.

<This vessel has that same virginal scent as that loathsome red goody-goody, but what I do is lay evil eggs. She might just experience something unexpected.>

That disrespectful mouth came to a stop.

Two ends of the world arrived at once. Two of the books behind the Colorless Little Girl devoured the bookmarks and released brightly-colored torrents on either side of her. One was a spatial distortion cannon created by giving directionality to an artificial black hole and firing it in a straight line. The other was God Hazard One, in which the entrails of slaughtered gods lost sight of their original purpose and attacked humanity.

The two forms of ruin approached from either side like a giant pair of scissors cutting through the world.

<Deflect.>

But after a series of dull sounds, the Wicked Green Woman pierced her own snake body with several swords and scepters. The wounds bubbled up and then giant soap bubbles separated off from them.

They were like snowdomes with immoral scenes contained inside.

When they contacted the approaching disasters like balloon bombs, they burst and scattered “never-before-seen forms of immorality”. It could be a strange bomb, a sweet chemical formula, or a gang that no one could capture. When the concepts of ruin and immorality collided, the deadly trajectories were slightly diverted and the end of the world swept past above Kyousuke and the others’ heads.

<N-nwohhhhh… Ngwehhhhh… Th-there’s something stirring in the middle of my body…>

<Ah ha ha!! I guess a mammal wouldn’t be able to accurately interpret the feeling of laying eggs. Not even the most experienced woman ever feels that, so count yourself lucky you get to enjoy it while still a virgin☆>

The Colorless Little Girl’s long skirt squirmed. That collection of weapons had blown away the Lady of Purple Lightning with a single shotgun blast. Seeing that, Kyousuke chose his next hand with the Petals he had earned with his White Thorns.

Unexplored-class. One of the Three. Cost: 16. Sound Range: High.

The Spirit of Fluttering “Yellow” Gills that Rules the Heavens (s – a – so – voz – tix – ei – yw – za).

A yellow-haired girl sat on a crescent moon bed while wearing pajamas that resembled an oriental Taoist outfit. But the bed she rested in had the most bizarre shape, as if every last kind of living creature had been molded like clay and stuffed into it.

<…Don’t wake me up. What a pain. You have to know how much I hate anything that disturbs my slumber…>

“Unfortunately, I’m not about to go easy on anyone who survived in the depths of the Queen’s Miniature Garden. Everyone who fought honorably there is dead. The only survivors – myself included – are those who offered up some kind of sacrifice.”

(Since I’ve been focused on strengthening our defense with the rock-paper-scissors Sound Range for each attack, the Cost keeps dropping! Damn, is the Colorless Little Girl guiding me…!?)

The direct line of fire did not matter.

Each of the projectiles fired from the many weapons that composed the Colorless Little Girl’s long skirt bent away at impossible angles. Or was it the people watching it who failed to perceive it properly? She was a psychological warfare specialist who fought by dragging her opponent into a dream.

Something grew from the normal ground.

It was the Colorless Little Girl herself. But not just one of her. There were two, five, ten…no, even more. The Yellow Gills gave herself more pawns as carelessly as weeds that grew up on their own.

<…>

The White Queen’s killer was surrounded by her own face.

But she did not let it bother her.

Her entire long skirt spread out like an umbrella and the weapons began firing in all directions. With deafening noises and blinding flashes, giant holes blossomed in the scenery that was modeled after reality. And with no concern for the many Colorless Little Girls between her and the border of the world. Once that holey world reached its limit, it shattered like glass.

The Yellow Gills looked annoyed that her opponent had used physical destruction in a mental world.

<Tch. You don’t have to wake me up with all that noise. So showing you some doppelgangers doesn’t trigger a malfunction in your raison d’etre? Mass-producing White Queens or Shiroyama Kyousukes might have been a better decoy.>

“What happened to Olivia?”

<She wasn’t ready to sync with me, so she’s too busy fighting the sleepiness to talk. Silly, isn’t it? Reality is no more than a material used to build dreams.>

The Yellow Gills smiled thinly, but a dark-red and sticky liquid flowed from the corner of her mouth.

Without creating confusion in that mental world, she could not dodge the Colorless Little Girl’s attacks.

<…Cough. She has the strength to do this even with the Sound Range working against her. And unlike those weapons, she herself doesn’t belong to a Sound Range. This Unexplored-class you made is pretty good.>

“Sorry.”

<Your life is just one regret after another, isn’t it? I said reality is a material to build dreams, but it still needs some upkeep. Going to sleep next to that thing wouldn’t be much fun at all.>

He swung his Blood-Sign and switched to yet another Unexplored-class.

It felt like someone was using a black hole to infinitely stretch out each minute and each second. Feeling that much pressure made Kyousuke wonder how the White Queen had felt while facing the Colorless Little Girl.

He had a feeling that White had smiled at the very, very end.

She had been happy to see how thoroughly he had studied her.

“Three minutes left! I am measuring the time with multiple types of clock, so it must be accurate! Sir!!”

“…”

Kyousuke calmed his breathing when he heard Biondetta who was also inside the Artificial Sacred Ground.

''Three minutes.

''That was more than he had thought.

<…Onii-cha-…>

“Just a bit more, Olivia!! Don’t let the Yellow Gills’ sleepiness stick with you!!”

He knew that was asking too much of her, but that was all he could do at the moment.

Vessels had their fight just like summoners had theirs.

Simply using the Three was not enough. He helped her endure the Colorless Little Girl’s fierce attacks by summoning more and more Unexplored-classes: the Ashen Shrine Maiden, the Liquefying Rainbow, the Gray Mollusk, etc.

Unexplored-class. Cost: 18. Sound Range: Middle.

The Dry-Grass-Colored Dancer who Returns Twice the Roaring Flames (zb – ei – sd – wp – e – be – xu – a – kk – pl).

At the moment, Olivia resided within a girl who had a slender silhouette and latte-colored hair. The only things she wore were a makeshift skirt and chest covering made of dry grass and a dry flower necklace that decorated her chest. The dry grass scattered around her as she danced, but it was all fuel to be ignited. She never released any fire of her own. Her alluring dance drew her opponent’s attack, she just barely danced out of the way, and the fire user was hit with a thorough counterattack.

However…

<Gah!?>

“Olivia!!”

Even Kyousuke cried out without thinking when he saw a short spear pierce her near the heart where the Silhouette was.

This Unexplored-class specialized in counterattacks and he had hoped that would buy some time, but it had not worked at all. The dry flower necklace decorating the Dry-Grass-Colored Dancer’s flat chest was shredded and scattered by the sharp blade.

Kyousuke immediately began collecting more red Petals to summon another Material, but then he clicked his tongue. He had been gathering the Petals in such an unbalanced way that he was running somewhat short.

He needed a full set of vowels to spell an Unexplored-class’s name, so he would have to resupply with a new Rose.

That meant a time loss of a few seconds.

But the Dry-Grass-Colored Dancer could not move and the Colorless Little Girl pressed her slender hand against her. An eerie light slowly flashed within that hand like a clione. With a straining sound, that light twisted around and transformed into a strange arrowhead.

He would not make it in time.

Olivia would be killed.

“…!!”

As time stretched out infinitely, Kyousuke realized there was an option available that he had been subconsciously avoiding.

Unexplored-class. Cost: 21. Sound Range: None.

The “White” Queen who Wields the Sword of Unsullied Truth (iu – nu – fb – a – wuh – ei –kx – eu – pl – vjz).

Of course he had not used her.

Of course he had not relied on her.

But the Colorless Little Girl was a Material created for the express purpose of killing the White Queen. He did not have to entrust himself to her. He only had to use her and throw her out. Bringing the White Queen here would be the greatest bait for the Colorless Little Girl. And even if she had failed to defeat the Colorless Little Girl, the White Queen had lasted a fairly long time.

Why had he not done that?

Had he chosen to sacrifice everything to preserve his own puny pride?

An ignorant person in some corner of the world had to have thought it:

“If only someone with overwhelming power would take away this vague anxiety.”

The powerful people who knew the origins of the Silver Resource War had to have thought it:

“If only the Unexplored-class known as the strongest of the strongest was by my side.”

Even the knights constructing the line of defense meant to protect Kingdom F’s people and land had to have hoped for it:

“If only we could fight alongside the White Queen!!”

Just give up.

Your personal preference does not matter.

Simply search for the optimal solution and you will find it.

What do you need to resist the Colorless Little Girl?

It might not be enough to defeat her. But if you summon the target she was designed to destroy, she is sure to strike there first. That will create a distortion in that pure strongest and it might lead to a large enough opening to find a way out of this. So compromise. It’s fine as long as you’re just using her as bait. Anyone in the world would tell you it’s the right answer.

And.

And.

And.

“…”

Shiroyama Kyousuke clenched his teeth hard enough he thought they would break.

He made his decision.

The boy moved in between the Colorless Little Girl and the Dry-Grass-Colored Dancer controlled by Olivia.

The clione-like orange light…

…mercilessly smashed Kyousuke’s protective circle.

<Onii-chan!?>

Kyousuke bent backwards and realized he now had nothing to protect him. Two Materials clashed inside the Artificial Sacred Ground, but his one defense had been pierced, shattered, torn away, and ''broken''.

A single hit would be fatal.

Even a stray shot from Olivia would mean instant death.

And yet he was smiling.

He had heard Olivia’s voice and that meant he had successfully diverted the attack. The obstacle in the way had kept the Colorless Little Girl’s attack from hitting the Dry-Grass-Colored Dancer controlled by the vessel. There was a precedent for this. Boy A’s vessel had intentionally sacrificed one of her wings to protect her summoner.

No matter how risky it was, buying a few seconds gave him another chance.

The White Thorns ricocheted around and knocked the Petals into the Spots until a new Rose appeared in the center of the Artificial Sacred Ground. Now he could summon any Unexplored-class he wanted.

So what should he summon?

What Material would shake the Colorless Little Girl and change the state of the battle?

The normal Unexplored-classes were not enough and the Three had not worked.

No matter how much he tried to reject it, a certain color flashed in the back of his mind.

White.

The frightening Queen symbolized by that color.

But.

However.

“I won’t…”

The thick presence of death approached to within a hair’s breadth away. The pressure might have crushed a normal person’s heart, but Kyousuke definitely said it.

He spoke directly to the Colorless Girl.

“I won’t rely on the White Queen.”

<Nii-sama?>

“I’m sorry, Colorless Little Girl.”

Hearing that, she silently tilted her head with her palm still held out toward him.

The broken little girl may not have known what he was saying to her. She may not have been able to comprehend the unreasonable situation she found herself in.

''Yes.

''She had done nothing wrong.

She had been made at someone else’s convenience, she had killed at someone else’s convenience, and she had broken at no one’s convenience.

It did not mater how much of a threat she was, how much incredible power she had, how much she distorted the world around her, and how much chaos she brought to people.

All of those were Shiroyama Kyousuke’s issues.

They could not be used to criticize the Colorless Little Girl who wandered the world without an objective.

“…I don’t care how difficult it will be or how crazy it is to try.”

He had no protective circle.

And that was why he approached death just like death was approaching him.

He gently touched the Colorless Little Girl’s cheek with his empty hand.

<Protect Nii-sama. Nii-sama…>

“I will save you. I swear it. Listen. Remember this one thing: I will never abandon you. You haven’t done anything wrong and you’re only lost, so I will grab your hand and return everything to normal. I swear it!!”

She looked puzzled.

She mechanically stared at his face using the emotionless eyes half hidden behind her bangs and then she slowly opened her lips.

<nowiki><I…></nowiki>

“…”

<nowiki><I don’t want that.></nowiki>

Her rusted throat moved.

She spoke a series of words other than “Nii-sama” in a way that others could understand.

<If those words would make you suffer. If those words would bind you. And if you could not escape those words.>

Thinking back, the Colorless Little Girl’s actions had always had the same motivation: protect Shiroyama Kyousuke.

But her targeting was broken, so she may have shot him in the back as she did so.

So that monster had only one answer to the boy.

<nowiki><I</nowiki> will not ask you to ''help me''. If it would only make you suffer, then I won’t ask to be saved.>

Kyousuke breathed a heavy sigh.

He had not even considered this possibility. It was the worst of the worst case scenarios.

This girl was strong.

On a different level than Kyousuke or the White Queen.

For Alice (with) Rabbit, this was a more tragic ending than having his own heart ripped out.

Someone needed saving, but they refused to say the words “help me”.

It was the worst ending Shiroyama Kyousuke knew of.

He had worked so hard to make sure this would not happen. He had sometimes used straightforward methods and sometimes used more deceitful methods to gain the authorization of the Alices standing by his side even if it meant half forcing the words out of them. Biondetta had said it was him who wanted to save the girls and not the girls who wanted saving. She had speculated that was his form of insanity. She had been exactly right. The truth of the matter was Shiroyama Kyousuke was weak. ''He could not bear to see someone else’s tragedy through to the end.'' When reading a picture book of The Little Match Girl or A Dog of Flanders, he could not flip to the end of the story and he would close the book partway through. And despite not seeing the end for himself, he would act like he knew what he was talking about when he said the tragic end was wrong and he could handle it better himself.

So.

So.

So.

He could not just step back when someone said he was not needed. He could not be satisfied when someone said they would descend into hell for his sake. Shiroyama Kyousuke was afraid. He did not help people because he was strong. He could not accept the alternative because he was weak. The tragic picture book was about to the turn the page to the climax and he could not bear to watch. His heart would not last unless he found some way of slamming the book shut before reaching the end.

He had found what she wanted.

And she had not given him authorization.

''But what did that matter?'' The extremely selfish and childish part of him was throwing a tantrum. That was supposed to only be a rite of passage to maintain his self-consciousness. Binding himself with his own rules and losing sight of why they existed was the height of folly. Of course, the mature and rational part of him understood. Forcing unwanted salvation on someone would be wrong. It was the same as a ''jidaigeki'' samurai storming into the governor’s mansion and slaughtering everyone he saw there. He would only be spreading around the kind of damage no one had asked for. The process had been necessary. It was a safety never meant to be removed. Given what his actions had caused when he tried to save the Queen in the Queen’s Miniature Garden, it was clearly an ironclad rule he could never forget even for a moment.

But.

Was there no cure for being a fool?

“…Then.”

He finally forced it out.

The part of the strongest boy that was not the strongest spat out the words.

“Then I’ll do it myself. I don’t care if it violates my rules or causes my soul to rot away. I will save you!!!!!!”