Editing The Unexplored Summon Blood Sign:Volume3 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 3===

It could be a school, a hospital, a prison, a sports gym, a prep school, a hotel, a cruise ship, a military base, a police station, a fire station, a company, a space station, a largescale farm, or anything else.

It just had to have more than a certain number of people being managed as a group as well as a “framework” that hid them from the outside world to a certain extent.

Murasame Kuina, the girl served by Waitress Demon Biondetta, was after the Anthills, but they had not been informed about every single one. So their plan was to attack the one they knew about and gather information on any unknown Anthills from there. If that was not enough, they would control people with Girl’s Backdoor and contact someone who knew the answer.

It was like a computer virus.

By repeatedly destroying and infecting, they would start at a single point and spread throughout the system.

Thus, they started by bringing down the Anthill in D Block that they knew about.

It took the form of a live music club.

When they were still walking along the giant bridge outside the highly soundproofed building, the girl with semi-long brown hair was already whispering to the demon next to her.

“Biondetta.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

They must have used an “under construction” sign or information on their website because the crowed vanished from the bridge. Then someone slowly stepped out from the building in question.

It was an unattractive middle-aged man in a ratty old suit and a slender girl in a dress with an extremely girly design.

The man asked a question while pulling a similarly faded hat deep over his eyes.

“I assume you two are Freedom Award 920, Liar Cat. We heard you caused some trouble down at A Block’s airport.”

Instead of answering, the brown-haired girl looked to the demon next to her.

“Explain.”

“Yes, ma’am. I believe this is Government Award 809, Scorpion 11.”

“Then should it be an easy victory?”

“Why of course. However, this summoner has something of a legendary jinx. He is constantly taking on opponents he should not be able to defeat and yet he always survives until the end.”

“It doesn’t matter. Biondetta, win this for me.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The man in the ratty old suit let out a gentle sigh.

“I can’t believe this.”

With those words, several solid sounds surrounded the brown-haired girl and the waitress demon. There were ten in all. The sources of the sounds came from all directions, including up and down. Instead of just standing on the giant bridge, they also clung to the building walls and the bottom of the bridge passing by overhead.

These were Government Repliglass soldiers.

By wearing external armor made from silicon stem cells, these next generation soldiers took the form of other animals and plants while enhancing or interpreting their traits and abilities.

Specifically, these were Snails. They wore giant round backpacks and their legs were enveloped by a sticky material that allowed them to cling to walls and ceilings. The backpacks contained high-pressure water sprayers that took in powder from the building materials (such as concrete or steel) worn down by the leg units and produced enough destructive power to instantly slice through twenty centimeters of steel from a distance of fifteen hundred meters.

This many of them this close would be fatal.

The targets could not escape on foot and would be sliced in two along with the wall if they hid behind cover.

“Sorry, but this is how Government does things.”

“Exactly the disgusting methods I would expect from an Anthill.”

“We get that a lot. But this is the optimal answer,” said Scorpion 11 without a hint of emotion in his voice. “We don’t bother looking worthless wannabe villains in the eye. The protective circle protects the summoner and the Material protects the vessel during battle, but without setting up an Artificial Sacred Ground, you’re nothing but flesh and blood. Even if you pull out an Incense Grenade now, we can kill you twenty times over before you pull the pin. That keeps me from earning many Awards, so it is a bit of a problem.”

“…”

“I don’t really care either way, but the higher ups want to hear what you have to say. But since I don’t care, that gets a pretty low priority from me. Will you surrender, or will you die? It’s your choice.”

The waitress demon jokingly raised her hands a little and laughed cruelly.

“What’s so funny?”

“Oh, nothing much.” Biondetta moved her lips while relaxing her shoulders. “It’s just that our nemesis has already overlooked three things he can’t afford to overlook and that is hopelessly funny.”

Scorpion 11 narrowed his eyes a little.

The surrounding Snails produced quiet creaking noises from the nozzles of the high pressure water sprayers that could slice through steel panels like butter.

The demon ignored it all as she spoke.

“First, you gave a warning before firing. Then again, that’s probably a unique Government trait since you like to call yourselves the world police and you probably wanted to take us alive and do a background investigation to put your minds at ease.”

There was no tension in her voice.

It was like the hand of a clock slowly turning.

“Second, an Artificial Sacred Ground can only be set up if we can see our target with the naked eye when the Incense Grenade detonates. If you were going to stand in front of a summoner, you should have at least used a smoke or stun grenade.”

Or perhaps this was another act.

It was all to let Murasame Kuina, the client who had bound a contract with that demon, comfortably achieve her goal.

“Third, you let your pride get the better of you when you don’t even know what kind of Incense Grenade I use. You don’t know the size, the shape, the chemicals used, how I use it, or anything at all.”

The waitress demon spread her legs wider than her shoulders.

With a metallic thunk, a sphere one size smaller than a baseball fell from her miniskirt and onto the bridge.

Scorpion 11 reacted by pulling his hat even deeper over his eyes.

And he spoke.

“Too bad.”

That settled everything.

Incense Grenades came in a variety of types, but most detonated at an average of three to five seconds after pulling the pin. And without setting up an Artificial Sacred Ground, the summoner and vessel were helpless. If the Snails released their high-pressure water attacks from a total of twenty different directions, their bodies would be torn to pieces before the detonation.

So this would end it.

On their signal, the Snails did not hesitate to release the great power built up in the tanks on their backs. With the assistance of pressurized air, the thin, thin layer of concrete and steel carved away by the foot units was turned to a powder, mixed with the water, and given the effect of a file using ultra high speeds. The end result was much like multiple simultaneous laser-like sniper shots.

But just beforehand…

“Nee hee☆”

The demon laughed.

A quiet clicking sound came from Biondetta’s mouth as if she had ignited an electric lighter there. Did anyone there realize that was the sound of her biting the switch for which ''she had swapped out one of her back teeth?''

At the same time, the demon and the client girl were tugged backwards as if by an invisible elastic cord. Due to the extreme accuracy of the high pressure water attacks from twenty directions, the two of them completely escaped by vanishing from those coordinates so suddenly.

To set up an Artificial Sacred Ground, the Incense Grenade had to detonate while the target was in view.

When the Artificial Sacred Ground opened, the summoner and vessel were automatically moved to its center.

But it was not necessary for the summoner to be holding the Incense Grenade when it detonated. It was just as effective from a distance.

Meaning…

(Before approaching, they must have set up an Incense Grenade with a wireless detonator instead of a timed one. Then they showed themselves and dropped a decoy right in front of us. ''As long as she could see us with the naked eye,'' nothing else mattered. By manipulating our aim, she can begin the Summoning Ceremony battle in a more advantageous position.)

As he thought to himself, Scorpion 11 pulled out an old match and scraped it against the bridge’s railing. What looked like a sharp spear of fire followed the movement of his arm and then he held a Blood-Sign made of ultra-hard black charcoal that resembled diamond.

“Ayaka, get ready.”

“Understood.”

Their opponent was clinging to the wall of a building more than thirty meters away.

The waitress demon undid the belt and connected the two pieces of her Blood-Sign.

Since Artificial Sacred Grounds were twenty meter cubes on average, it might seem that they were out of range, but that was not the case. Even if the Material itself could not leave the Artificial Sacred Ground, projectiles could do damage outside of there. In other words, Scorpion 11 could leave them be and let the Snails deal with it.

Or so he thought.

But then he heard an ear-splitting gunshot.

Biondetta’s tail decoration had been swaying as she raised her Blood-Sign. But she was not holding it like a summoner would. She pressed the bottom against her shoulder, placed her gaze along the side of the long rod to aim, and prepared her finger to flick a clasp that stuck out somewhat. It looked a lot like someone aiming a sniper rifle.

“Nee hee☆”

Scorpion 11 saw a smile.

The waitress demon was targeting his vessel Ayaka instead of him. Did she think she could crush the girl’s human body before the Material could be summoned inside it?

But…

“…”

The rifle bullet did not pierce the young girl’s face.

An extended high-pitched vibration shook the air. Scorpion 11 had held his Blood-Sign in front of the girl’s eyes to slightly divert the bullet’s path.

Before a few severed hairs could fall from the girl’s head, both summoners began to move.

The Liar Cat waitress demon attached a cork-like part to the tip of her Blood-Sign and the unattractive Scorpion 11 man pulled a cylindrical Incense Grenade from his suit pocket, pulled the pin, and threw it toward the summoner and vessel attached to the wall.

When it detonated, the Scorpion 11 pair was also freed from gravity, flew through the air, and attached to the building wall. They had intruded on their opponent’s Artificial Sacred Ground.

Just like during a Chain state, anyone could enter an Artificial Sacred Ground with no enemy inside.

They were more than ten meters apart.

They glared at each other as the three-dimensional Rose appeared between them.

Scorpion 11 held his hat low over his eyes while speaking in a low tone.

“''I’ll kill you.''”

“''That was my intention from the beginning.''”

They both hit White Thorns straight forward. The Rose shattered into Petals of low, middle, high, and lowest sound ranges and ricocheted all over the Artificial Sacred Ground. A few of them were knocked into the dark fist-sized holes known as Spots.

Liar Cat had the Original Yellow(s). Sound Range: High. Cost: 1.

Scorpion 11 had the Original Red(b). Sound Range: Low. Cost: 1.

Both Materials were three meter masses of slime.

(I have the advantage in the three-way deadlock. That means she’ll try to change sound ra-…)

Scorpion 11 quickly got to thinking, but his mind soon went blank.

The waitress demon specialized in spin shots that sharply struck her White Thorns on the edges instead of the center. They flew along even sharper curves than a curveball in baseball. They moved almost like a boomerang as they slipped past any Petals in the way and accurately knocked just the desired Petals into the Spots.

That was enough of a threat on its own, but it was not the most frightening thing about Biondetta.



Scorpion 11: Original Red (b). Sound Range: Low. Cost: 1.

Liar Cat: Demonic Corpse (wm). Sound Range: Low. Cost: 2.




Scorpion 11: Devouring Wings (lvz – fd). Sound Range: Middle. Cost: 5.

Liar Cat: Bound Armor (re – ia – dr). Sound Range: Middle. Cost 6.



Scorpion 11: Predatory Fire (lvz – wzb). Sound Range: High. Cost: 6.

Liar Cat: Celestial Blade (tix – a – wuh). Sound Range: High. Cost: 7.



(This woman!!)

One side had a flying monster that looked like an enraged skull contained within a giant flame.

The other side had a giant double-edged Western sword that sliced through the air as it flew around on its own.

But as each Material changed to another too fast to visually keep up, the unattractive Scorpion 11 man clenched his teeth.

He knew what his opponent was trying to do.

A mocking smile appeared on the waitress demon’s lips as she swung around her Blood-Sign that doubled as a sniper rifle.

“Oh, dear. Is something the matter?”

“You’re intentionally matching my sound range. And you’re always staying one cost above me!”

“Yes. There’s no need to even think about that three-way stalemate if I just follow your lead. If the sound ranges are the same, the one with the higher cost will naturally win. Plus, the Material summoned first is worn down quicker.”

The corners of Biondetta’s lips rose like melted cheese.

“In other words, ''whoever goes second has the advantage using the Blood-Sign Summoning Ceremony''.”

“…”

Her method of fighting utterly abandoned all thought and effort.

Her heretical method simply looked at her opponent’s Material, matched the sound range, and easily tore victory from their grasp.

But…

“Did you really think you could defeat me like that?”

A White Thorn audibly collided with a Petal.

Scorpion 11 specialized in forceful power shots.

“The Blood-Sign method is more than playing your hands and seeing whose is better. It’s a fight for the Petals scattered around the sacred ground. In theory, you might be able to corner me by constantly matching my sound range, but it won’t work that well in practice. The Petals aren’t arranged in a perfect mirror image, so you’ll eventually run out of resources if you keep mimicking me!!”

He simply had to preemptively take away the Petals she would need.

He simply had to eliminate them.

That way she would lack the Petals needed to mimic him.

And if he continued to build up his Material while she ran back and forth in pursuit of the Petals, he could increase his cost enough to defeat Liar Cat without much trouble.

“The Blood-Sign method isn’t that simple.”

Scorpion 11 belatedly realized the blood was rushing to his head.

He may have had a fair bit of pride in his Government job even though he had viewed it as a mere bureaucratic position.

“You lost because you didn’t understand that.”

But…

He heard a giggle.

The laughter had come from the waitress demon named Biondetta.

And she spoke.

“''Did you think this was all I had?''”

Only five seconds later, a great noise rang out and Scorpion 11 was defeated.