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

===Part 4===

“Un.”

A clear voice filled the air.

The White Thorns launched from the Blood-Sign collided precisely three times with the walls, floor, decorations, edges of the Artificial Sacred Ground, and the low, middle, high, and lowest sound Petals to draw a variety of different squares and accurately return to her.

“Deux.”

It was not quite a dance.

Nor was it like a circus act.

The many White Thorns were released one after another to draw different squares and different loops in a process that accurately built up her Material at great speed. Azalea viewed it like a Gatling gun.

The structure was simple, so there was no fear of error.

The amount was great, so it could break through any obstacle.

“Trois.”

There was a deafening deluge of noise. The bright red dance of light and chaotic deluge of noise were the song of a mad god that desired war and bloodshed. Azalea’s Material normally would have been easily crushed by the difference in cost level, but it caught the giant claws rushing at it. It stopped them. It endured them. And all the while, it was being built up further. It grew stronger and greater and would soon catch up.

Azalea had the Crimson Calamity of Countless Bestial Heads (nic – a – zx – a – c – ei – tf – b – qux – wzb – a – hatl).

Countless red eyes glowed from a hideous ball-like Material made from dozens of dragon and beast heads, each over a meter tall. Each mouth produced a shockwave-like roar that evenly crushed all foreign objects in its territory.

Shiroyama Kyousuke had the SSC for Puppet #2000 (yi – a – ns – ou – wh – ia – iu – seb – e – hig – o – sd – c – li – dr – oq).

The giant empty armor was controlled by invisible threads attached across its body and two red lights escaped from gaps in the armor like eyes. The twenty meter monster was inorganic, yet it gave off a bestial odor and tore its prey’s internal organs to shreds using sharp claw- and fang-like protrusions. It was simple yet effective, so “as long as it could get close”, it could tear open an aircraft carrier’s flight deck like a can.

But.

There was little meaning in describing the details of their Materials.

Before it even reached its perfect form, Azalea’s Material changed form. It never obtained a stable body, so it almost looked like a melting amorphous stew.

(Normal people might be able to frighten their opponent by taking slow shots and letting them see the result.)

This was Azalea Magentarain, who had once been known as Golden Luxury.

(But my Gatling gun readily destroys the concept of numbers. Cheap, plentiful, and certain. In the face of an “army” that washes away the “individual”, the skills and strategies of a single summoner are meaningless.)

She was certain of her victory. The elegant young lady licked her lips as she manipulated her Blood-Sign.

The cost difference had vanished.

The puny savings and tiny handicap were no help when it came to stopping Azalea.

From here on, it was her turn to drive out Shiroyama Kyousuke.

But something odd happened.

With a pleasant sound, a White Thorn flew in the wrong direction.

“Wha-…?”

All of the Thorns should have been moving in square paths to accurately return to her. They would never vanish while her stock naturally replenished itself. That should have allowed her ferocity to grow as time passed.

But a slight fray caused it all to fall apart.

The flying White Thorns were sent off course. The amount returning to her shrank. The speed of her Material’s growth dropped and the advantage of the Gatling gun-like quantity collapsed.

(What happened…?)

She was baffled, but her mind worked furiously to analyze the situation. She reached calculation speeds rivalling a ballistic prediction program and concluded that the mistake had not come from her.

But the fact remained that her Gatling gun system had failed.

Which meant…

“What did you do? What did you do to me!?”

Azalea shouted in anger but also attempted to bring back the accurate movements of her Blood-Sign. Sometimes she successfully completed the White Thorn loop and other times it flew off in the wrong direction. Overall, “something” was tripping her up, but she could not figure out what that was. The situation simply continued.

Meanwhile, Shiroyama Kyousuke adjusted his grip on his Blood-Sign and responded calmly.

“It’s true that infinite loop technique will sweep you away if you face it head-on. If I took aim at each individual White Thorn, well, I’d probably never fill the cost gap.”

Yes.

That was how it was supposed to work.

What made no sense was Kyousuke’s unconcerned expression. He should have been sweating bullets with a look of despair as he saw his Material chewed to pieces by the overwhelming cost gap. That was how the equation was set up. Just as one plus one was two, no other result should have been possible!

“But that accurate square loop is a simple structure. You bounce the White Thorn off of the wall, floor, ceiling, decorations, furnishings, Petals, White Thorns, or edges of the Artificial Sacred Ground three times to continually draw that rectangle. ''That’s really all it is.''”

It was a simple and basic structure, but that did not mean it was stale.

It was the same idea as a trustworthy weapon having been simplified to the point that it would not malfunction.

But at the same time…

“If the structure is simple, it’s also easy to mess with. You send out a ton of White Thorns and open up the cost gap with overwhelming speed, but as long as I can escape the panic that brings, it isn’t that difficult to think up a way to bring an end to your undefeated legend.”

“And I’m asking what exactly that is!!”

“You still haven’t figured it out? There was likely a hint in the chaos that Guard of Honor caused before we even met.”

Azalea strongly reminded herself that she could not let her thoughts go blank.

She began to suspect that her opponent’s words were no more than a form of psychological warfare meant to keep her from thinking.

But…

“April 14, 10:30 PM. Block R’s harbor region was overrun with the Divine-class Materials you set loose: Fafnir and Yamata-no-Orochi… At several dozen meters tall and twice the height of a gantry crane, their ferocity must have looked like hell on earth. But that brings a certain question to mind.”

“…”

“They were too big. The Artificial Sacred Ground is initially a cube with twenty meter sides, but you’d have a hard time fitting Fafnir or Yamata-no-Orochi in there. At the very least, they wouldn’t be able to fight. ''So how were those Divine-classes being used so effectively?''”

“You…can’t mean…”

“''The Artificial Sacred Ground can grow under certain conditions.'' It’s probably based on the size of the largest Material inside it. And you use all the obstacles inside to set up your loops. In that case, obstructing you couldn’t be easier. I just have to change the size of my Material again and again, which changes the size of the Artificial Sacred Ground each time. …Those “moving walls” are all it takes to overturn your accurate calculations.”

That was all it took.

“I’ve managed to gather a bit of information on a celebrity like you. Government Award 930, Golden Luxury. You specialize in high-speed battles in complex areas such as cities or inside buildings. Is that why you’d never really thought about it? Because you generally use the building walls and ceiling rather than the edges of the Artificial Sacred Ground?”

But an excellent weapons developer like Azalea knew first hand not to underestimate simple things and simple structures. She would come up with a countermeasure for his countermeasure. If she did not pour her all into thinking up a way to crush “that”, she would simply be cornered.

She adjusted her grip on her Blood-Sign and used the solid sensation on her fingertips to restructure her mental combat manual. She recovered her fighting spirit from the confusion.

“Tch!! Then I just have to take back the right to determine the Artificial Sacred Ground’s size for myself. If I always summon a bigger and larger Material, I can maintain control!!”

“Perhaps. But surely an expert like you knows how risky it is to continually choose Materials based on their appearance rather than their sound or cost. Head that route too easily and I’ll bite back immediately. I’m already prepared to do just that.”

“…!! Then I only have to complete my loops without using the edges of the Artificial Sacred Ground!!”

“Perhaps. But reducing your freedom will trip up your high-speed tactics. If it isn’t too fast for me to react, there are all sorts of things I can do.”

“———————!!!!!!”

His spoken provocations were proven in actual battle.

They both sent out their White Thorns, but Azalea’s lacked their former brilliance. Kyousuke’s did not provide an overwhelming threat, but she could tell he was gradually nipping at her heels. Her position reminded her of the fallen royalty, whose blood flowed in her veins, when they had been dragged down by the people in a revolution.

That was a mistake.

A moment later, Kyousuke’s speed surpassed hers with a deafening noise.

“Ah…?”

Even if it had declined, her square loop Gatling system was still active. She believed her inferior position was due to his cheap tricks, not a notable difference in pure skill.

She tried to believe it. She wanted to believe it.

However…

“Who said I only had one countermeasure?”

With those words, Kyousuke once more launched a White Thorn. Solid collisions sounded again and again. If Azalea’s was a Gatling gun, Kyousuke’s was a shotgun. Each time, he produced a wince-inducing deluge of noise like someone slamming their hands down on a piano keyboard.

“Your system accurately draws out a square so the White Thorns always return to your hand, but that means you can’t move a bunch of White Thorns at once. Since you need three points for your square, I guess it’s three at the most. But the loop is so fast that it ends up looking like you’re hitting the Petals into the Spots all at once.”

Yes.

This was Shiroyama Kyousuke’s second countermeasure against Azalea.

“Then don’t I just have to go the opposite route? If I hit five or ten Petals into the Spots with each White Thorn, I can fill the gap.”

That was easier said than done.

Once or twice could be written off as a fluke, but it would be incredibly difficult to constantly and reliably knock multiple Petals into the Spots. To be blunt, it involved a lot of luck on top of simple skill. It was only possible if the Petals were conveniently clumped together, so it was not something that could have a steady supply. Including that kind of uncertain element in a weapons system should have led to a malfunction.

(No.)

After thinking that far, a shudder ran down Azalea Magentarain’s spine.

(All of the Petals in Toy Dream 35 right now are being influenced by Her Majesty to some extent. But…it can’t be… Is he pushing past even that influence and ignoring the main arrangement of Petals to use the seemingly coincidental scattered arrangement…?)

She felt like a great number of eyeballs were staring at her.

Those red spheres were scattered around the Artificial Sacred Ground. Those many Petals had looked like weapons and opportunities worthy of entrusting her life to, but now they seemed to surround her and look down on her.

Conversely, a king stood in the center of it all. He took the form of a boy and spoke to Azalea.

“This plan was also meant to handle you at your full strength. But now you’re a far cry from that, so it seems obvious to me how this will turn out if we continue.”

“Don’t be ridiculous… It…it isn’t possible for me as Uniquely Selfless to lose to something like this! My Gatling gun will tear through any obstacle. Even you have been driven to the precipice of death!!”

“I was judging you.”

It was a quiet voice, but it was enough to make Azalea gasp.

“Was your high-speed loop tactic just one of many options or was it all you could do? I waited until the last second, but I’m glad to see that was all you had,” said Kyousuke. “For us, the key to all this was whether you would use the trump card we’d already seen and knew about.”

Those were not words one spoke to a nightmarish threat.

But Azalea’s noble blood refused to say what they were spoken to.

“Who ever said you stood at the top of the world?”

But she could hear him. His voice slipped into her ears.

As Azalea’s shoulders trembled and she faced her nemesis head on, Kyousuke simply spoke.

“For us, another summoner like you is nothing more than one point along the way.”

Solid sounds followed.

A White Thorn collided with Petals, the Petals were swallowed by the Spots, and his Material changed form again and again.

Above Azalea’s head, a fifteen meter pitch black dragon clashed violently with a ten meter giant wielding a magic sword.

The monsters had already surpassed the Regulation-class and reached the Divine-class.

Crimson eyes glowed from both giant Materials as they repeatedly clashed above the Summoners’ heads.

But…

(I’m breathing heavily.)

Azalea Magentarain was failing to control herself.

Her mental combat manual was falling apart.

The cause was obvious. Anyone could tell which of them was being pushed back.

(I can’t keep my fingertips from shaking. What…what is this feeling…!?)

Someone had told her to be happy.

She had not understood the value of that at the time, but after pursuing that target of her admiration, she had finally realized just how difficult that was to say in this world.

So she had pursued happiness.

She had swept aside the other potential heirs who shared her blood, she had crushed underfoot all the bugs that swarmed in from outside hoping to gain something for themselves, and she had obtained the power of the highest rank in the world of the summoning ceremony.

[[Image:BloodSign_v01_360.jpg|thumb]]

Even so, one thing had always eluded her.

So…

“I wished for the greatest achievement.”

She spoke under her breath as she recalled the past.

This shaking went by the name of “fear”. She recalled the days so deeply dyed in its colors and she recalled the crude and violent man who had so unreasonably and overwhelmingly saved her from it.

“''To reach something that achieves balance when placed on the scales with what I once lost,'' I can’t fall back now!!!!”

“…”

Shiroyama Kyousuke narrowed his eyes a little at that.

Meanwhile, he accurately moved his Blood-Sign and used the gigantic Divine-class black dragon to definitively corner Azalea and her Material.

That boy likely had no idea what she meant.

Her fragmentary words would not allow him to picture the detailed scene in her mind.

But…

“Yes. I don’t know what happened to you.”

He spoke of a hypothetical.

“But if the order of things had been a little different, you might have been the one I was working to save.”

Those words destroyed the perfectly composed young lady’s expression.

The name Alice (with) Rabbit told her he had the skill to make that kind of idealistic hypothetical a reality.

Azalea Magentarain shouted something as she thrust her Blood-Sign forward with all her might, but Shiroyama Kyousuke did not show a single opening or any mercy.

They were divided between enemy and ally.

One of those sides used a great dragon’s maw to grasp definite victory.