Editing City Series:Volume4a Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 3===

'''11:10 PM

Kasumi Ryuuichi was 1st Special Duty Officer of Nagoya’s Chancellor’s Officers and his primary duty was to relay intelligence.

But at the moment, he had abandoned that duty to instead face an opponent on a bridge passing through the mountains.

The moonlight seemed to drip down on top of Kasumi as he faced an opponent who wore a white blouson, jeans, and a shirt around their waist for defense.

Kasumi focused on the somewhat androgynous face of this opponent who held a long hexagonal rod.

…''A girl?

He nodded and looked around the area.

He saw the moonlit mountains and river. This was the Kagamihara Mountain Range located between Nagoya and Gifu.

He had been trying to carry his intelligence to the Kansai region while avoiding the intense fighting on New Route 155 which would have taken him from Inuyama Station to the Nagoya region.

…''The West Japan Chancellors are holding a meeting about Ixolde in Kansai.

He had intended to escape and use a direct line of communication in Gifu, but the enemy had caught up.

Speed was his main selling point as 1st Special Duty Officer, but someone had caught up from behind.

“…”

He pulled a memo pad from the attaché case he held under one arm and placed it in his pocket. That memo pad was special made in the Mountain and carried by any 1st Special Duty Officer. It contained the information left behind by the previous holders of that position.

…''I can’t let it fall into enemy hands.

The attaché case would only be a burden during a fight, so he threw it down on the road.

He took a deep breath, pulled headphones from his pocket, and switched the MD on.

He raised the volume to an Octave of 160,000 and sent his main weapons from his sleeve and into his hands. They were dart knives.

He held one, two, three, and then four between the fingers of both hands.

—''Kasumi – Hear Tech – Auto-Take – Listen – Hit.

He heard a freight train.

“…”

It was probably transporting lime or something.

But he did not panic.

Only one track crossed this bridge.

That straight-line layout was ideal for a knife-thrower like him.

He prepared to throw and waited for his opponent to make their move.

He gently tensed his body with his hips lowered.

Before throwing, he would gather strength in his entire body rather than just his arms, so he needed to release that tension like a spring.

His hands sank into the opposite pockets and his eyes focused on his opponent.

That opponent gave him a disinterested look with the hexagonal rod sill in her right hand.

Then her lips moved to form a question.

“Out of respect to a fellow warrior, I will ask your name.”

“…And if I don’t tell you?”

“You will be a loser who I don’t even bother remembering. That’s all.”

“And If I win? What then?”

“Don’t worry. You’ll lose.”

With that cheerful answer, she gave a jerk of her chin to demand he answer.

Kasumi smiled bitterly as he complied.

“Nagoya 1st Special Duty Officer Kasumi Ryuuichi. My Dance Combat is the Secret Five Families Style.”

She nodded and responded in kind.

“Tokyo Vice Chancellor Aoi Hijiri. My Dance Combat is the Shinkage Style.”

Kasumi frowned at the region she mentioned.

“Tokyo!? Are you invading Kantou!?”

“Does it matter? For this fight anyway? More importantly…”

“More importantly?”

“I have two questions. To start with…have you ever been to Osaka?”

“?”

“I’ve heard there are cherry trees that bloom even in winter there. I’m searching for them.”

“Someone from Tokyo is interested in Osaka’s cherry blossoms?”

“If you don’t know, that’s fine.” She took a breath. “My other question is about Osaka’s Chancellor who uses the Modified Purple Electricity Style which includes the Kage Style. …How strong is he?”

“Haven’t you heard he defeated an ogre that appeared in Osaka two years ago?”

“An ogre, hm?”

Her response was terribly calm.

To make sure Kasumi did not have a chance to attack, she remained in her combat stance as she sighed.

…''Cherry trees that bloom in winter and Osaka’s Chancellor? There’s something more to this Vice Chancellor of Zenon City Tokyo.

Kasumi’s thoughts were cut off by the sound of the freight train.

It had grown a lot louder, it came from behind him, and it was surprisingly close by.

“I need to get this intelligence through no matter what.”

With that, the back of his tensed body swelled out.

He stopped breathing and everything else stopped too.

Then, it all suddenly exploded.

“Seaaaahhh!”

His left hand shot up.

It moved too quickly for the average person to see.

—''Kasumi – Draw Tech –Take – Rapid Throw – Hit!

Four silver lines raced through the air.

He was aiming below the enemy’s collarbone, below her chest, at her hip, and at her thigh. The locations drew a vertical line down her right half.

Aoi Hijiri responded with a vertical swing of the hexagonal rod in her right hand.

As the metal rod covered her vitals, four knives stabbed into it up to the hilt.

The four nearly identical sounds seemed to pierce straight through Kasumi and brought a chill to his skin.

Aoi started forward after catching the knives, but that was when Kasumi’s right arm shot upwards.

“It’s still my phase!”

As he pulled his right hand from his left pocket, it was wrapped in ether light.

He was adding in his Rhythm.

—''Kasumi – Draw Tech – Take – Rapid Throw – Hit!

The knives were wrapped in ether light this time.

They were aimed at Aoi’s left side, making it a mirror image of the previous attack.

Her right hand had stopped after the previous movement and she could not yet move again thanks to the impact and weight of the knives remaining in the hexagonal rod.

“…”

Instead, she moved her left hand.

To Kasumi, it looked like she turned diagonally and held her left arm at her waist.

He smiled a little.

…''Don’t think you can dodge my attack by turning to the side.

With that thought, he recited his Words.

He jumped straight to the climax.

''Beyond the farthest reaches of time

''Beyond the most distant lands

''Where power becomes a harmony of destruction

—''Kasumi – Explosion High/Mind Tech – Multiple-Take – Remote Control – Hit!

The ether wrapped around the back of the four knives became explosions.

A quartet of bursting sounds followed

The path of the four silver lines changed like ricocheting bullets.

But their angle was not all that changed. Their speed also increased considerably.

They had been given the kinetic energy of both the throw and the explosions.

Aoi’s expression changed.

She could not follow the changed path of the knives with her eyes.

One flew toward her throat, two toward her right chest, and one toward her solar plexus.

Even if both her arms were metal prosthetics, she could not fully cover that complex intersection of attacks.

…''There’s nothing she can do!

But her left arm demonstrated its opposition to that thought.

That arm was much slower than the flying knives, but a portion of it still brushed against the four knives as it made a flowing forward motion.

That settled it all.

The four knives fell to the ground.