Editing Leviathan:Volume 5 Chapter 5 (section)

===Part 5===

In fact, Hal had known since putting on Solomon's ring.

&mdash;Yeah, it's just as I suspected.

Everything had gone excessively smoothly, following the script written by the great sorcerer of antiquity. This ideal process had started from the discovery of the grimoire.

It looked like King Solomon sincerely sought a talented person to be his successor.

Everything was for the sake of entrusting the ''ring'' representing his authority and his rune to the talented person who would appear one day&mdash;then steal everything from him, body, mind, runes and all.

Was Solomon's true motive simply to "resurrect himself in the present world"?

"If possible, please surprise me with a different result... Owww."

"Haruga-kun, are you alright!?"

A sudden headache attacked Hal, bringing him to his knees.

He did not have any spare strength to respond to Orihime who had rushed to his side. His head was hurting as though it was about to split open&mdash;no, become pulverized.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Clutching his head, Hal rolled around and screamed.

He was unable to maintain a sitting posture, much less stand. Sometimes sprawling, sometimes facing up, he kept rolling, enduring the intense pain in his head.

"A-A Ruruk Soun magic circle...?"

The "◎" symbol appearing on the asphalt where Hal was rolling&mdash;It was the seal representing the Rune of the Ring. At the same time, there were twenty-four runes of Ruruk Soun surrounding the symbol to form a circle.

The arrangement signified "as Solomon's successor, you are the sacrifice."

What a terrifying curse. Of course, the mastermind that had devised this trap was Solomon's Ring currently on Hal's right index finger.

In an attempt to slice off Hal's mind completely from his body, the ring was currently attacking his mind.

If Hal were to lose, his body and runes would be stolen by Solomon's ring&mdash;

"Thinking back... there were definitely many things that were off... Back when I discovered the runes of the Bow and the Twin Katana, they were dormant... Only the ring's rune had descended from the sky in an awakened state..."

Hal was getting slightly accustomed to the headache, which allowed him to spout comments despite his unwell condition.

Gazing at Hal's right hand, Orihime shouted.

"Hold on, I will remove the ring for you now!"

"N-Not yet... Although the ring is causing me a lot of grief, I'm sure it's still useful. At least during this battle against Hannibal, let me wear&mdash;"

Hal gently rejected the kind girl's suggestion.

His head continued to hurt intensely, preventing him from getting up. However, Hal was finally able to stop rolling and he laid himself out face up with arms and legs outspread.

He turned his face to look at the battle in the sky over the Hudson River.

It happened to be the moment when Akuro-Ou was unleashing a hail of bullets in full burst mode while Rushalka made her rapid descent.

Without the ring's benefits, the operation decided during his brief call with Asya just now would have failed.

Orihime looked at Hal worriedly and immediately sat down next to him.

She went out of her way to sit in seiza posture, kneeling uncomfortably on hard asphalt, so that she could rest Hal's head on her lap. Tormented by unbearable pain, Hal's only consolation was Orihime's considerate actions.

While Hal was watching the battle in such a state, Rushalka finally fired the sun-shooting divine bow.

With that, the salamander army was wiped out at last. Even Hannibal disappeared. However, Rushalka then had to make an emergency retreat from the dragonslaying spear's attack. The red dragon king made a comeback from the water&mdash;

"Huh..? Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Hal screamed. This time, not only his head was hurting but also his right palm too.

This pain felt as though the skin of his right palm was being ripped off. On closer examination, he saw particles of red light leaking out of his right palm before rising slowly in the air.

The leaking particles were quite numerous. The red light gathered together into a gigantic mass almost the same size as a dragon.

In the next instant, the scene before his eyes filled Hal with disbelief.

"The Crimson Queen!?"

The red light leaking from his palm had turned into the Crimson Queen, what one could call his avatar.

Without even giving Hal a single glance, the queen casually looked around the vicinity of Manhattan Bridge.

"It's not your turn to debut... Hurry and come back!"

Hal's headache weakened slightly. Lying on the ground, he forced out a shout.

However, the Crimson Queen did not respond. Only then did Hal notice that the rune visible on his red avatar's palm was not the Rune of the Bow but the Rune of the Ring!

"The queen has been stolen..."

"Ehhhhh!?"

Orihime exclaimed in surprise after hearing Hal's whisper.

It was probably while Hal was using techniques of assured annihilation in succession, which depleted his reserves of magical power, that he presented an opening to be taken advantage of.

The Crimson Queen's majestic form hovered in the air over Manhattan Bridge.

Despite being a size smaller than the dragon king Hannibal, the red dragon lacked neither power nor elegance. A weapon took form in her right hand.

Rather than the dragonslaying bow, it was a golden ring with a diameter of seven meters or so.

This was the manifestation of the Rune of the Ring as a magic wand. Currently, Solomon's ring held control over the queen.

"Hahahaha! Let us fight again after so long, queen!"

Hannibal roared with delight and flew towards Manhattan Bridge.

His intent was to pierce the Crimson Queen with the tip of the dragonslaying spear. Hal did not know if it was because Solomon's ring wanted to avoid a direct confrontation, but the queen flew up rapidly.

The red queen of dragons instantly rose in altitude with Hannibal in close pursuit.

With Hannibal as the opponent, how much of a fight could Solomon's ring put up? At this rate, Hal might end up losing his trump card, the queen, for nothing...

Hal wanted to get up but could not muster the strength.

Perhaps because Solomon's ring had focused its attention on the Crimson Queen, his headache was much better now. However, Hal still felt exhaustion in his entire body, preventing him from even lifting a single finger.

"Haruga-kun, I'll definitely pull out the ring this time!"

Seeing that the situation was dire, Orihime grabbed Hal's right hand forcefully.

But just as she was about to pull off the ring&mdash;She was taken aback in surprise. As expected of a magic item, the ring refused to budge at all.

"No good after all... Well, I did suspect from the start whether this would happen..."

"A-Although I am very worried about that too, Haruga-kun, when on earth did your arm ''turn into this''!?"

Hal simply went "huh?" and cocked his head when confronted by Orihime's urgent question.

Unable to comprehend, he then looked at his right arm.

Solomon's ring was still worn on his index finger. Luster entered his view&mdash;his entire arm looked as though it had been coated with a layer of glass. It happened to be nighttime and the surface of his arm was reflecting starlight.

Orihime gently stroked Hal from his right palm to his upper arm.

The texture felt very like metal, cold and hard, but the joints could still bend and move freely. Hal himself had checked many times previously.

"...What a pain. This usually doesn't happen unless I'm focusing too much. I never expected this to happen to my body while I'm contending with the ring."

Back when he first obtained the Crimson Queen, this change had been limited to his hand, from his fingers to his wrist.

After acquiring the Twin Katana recently, it had extended to his elbow. Right now, the hardening phenomenon had expanded to his right shoulder. This was presumably an effect of obtaining the Ring.

"Cold and hard like this, it resembles a dragon's body."

"......"

"Could this be what the man in black was talking about last time!? He said you might turn into a dragon one day, Haruga-kun...!"

"Maybe."

The mysterious Sophocles had said this in front of Hal and Orihime once.

'In the past, the type of non-dragon creatures known as "hybrid" dragons—In truth, they were unexpectedly commonplace. Of course, pure dragons were very numerous too.'

But to think a human could transform into or become reborn as a dragon...

Hal did not want to look morbid, so he simply lay on the ground and shrugged. Meanwhile, Orihime seemed quite worked up.

Then her eyes glistened with tears and large teardrops fell.

"Idiot! Why didn't you confide in me!?"

"This kind of thing... would only cause the confidant to agonize and I'd be causing you trouble."

"Certainly not! We are friends and comrades and I&mdash;love you, Haruga-kun. Whatever it takes, I wish to be of help to you!"

"...Huh? W-What do you mean?"

"I... love you, Haruga-kun. Not the kind between friends, but the love for a man. I love you deeply."

Hal's reflexive question instantly elicited Orihime's confession. Furthermore, it was a confession where there was absolutely no room for misinterpretation.

Orihime gazed fervently at Hal. All the faint suspicions he had had so far were instantly verified this moment.

Hal was overcome with urgency. He had to hurry up and give Orihime a response.

''Ever since a long time ago, I've felt for you''&mdash;Just as Hal was about to start...

Orihime's lips suddenly drew near and kissed him lightly on the lips.

"Juujouji!?"

"M-My apologies. I was thinking I might lose to Luna-san if I didn't offer anything more than a confession..." said Orihime shyly.

Hal felt his brain was about to boil.

His thoughts and feelings were extremely confused.

His entire body was feeling exceptional joy. This was also the happiest moment of Hal's life. The desire to cherish Orihime's feelings was almost going to explode. However, he was currently in an urgent crisis. There was the pressing problem of Hannibal to be resolved. Now was not the time to be doing this sort of thing.
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Staring at the flustered Hal, Orihime brought her lips close again.

This was the second kiss. Longer than the first one, their lips overlapped with a push from Orihime. It probably lasted over twenty seconds.

She even went as far as to extend her inexperienced tongue timidly.

Using her tongue, Orihime searched for Hal's and slowly entangled their tongues together.

Only after kissing for quite a while did they finally separate their lips and gaze upon each other passionately. They were so close together that their foreheads were almost touching and they could feel each other's breath clearly.

"J-Juujouji..."

"I don't want to lose... I don't want to lose to Luna-san or anyone else... This is my first time feeling this way. Haruga-kun, will you forgive me for what I did...?"

"S-Sure."

"Will you agree to tell me anything and everything from now on? I wish to become part of your strength, Haruga-kun. I wish to do many things for you, Haruga-kun."

"S-Sure."

"Am I allowed... to love you, Haruga-kun? Or is romance within the team forbidden?"

"O-Of course, you're allowed, Juujouji!"

"Thank you!"

Orihime pounced on Hal, who was lying on the ground, and hugged him tightly.

Hal's entire body could feel her wondrous curves and body warmth, making him very flustered. However, times like these required composure. He must recall the sage time he had implemented in the Izu shore last time.

Meanwhile, Orihime gasped and her face went bright red.

"S-S-S-S-Sorry. I got swept up in the moment because of the slight confusion from seeing your body's unusual change... and did that. B-But please know that my feelings are absolutely not a lie, okay?"

"I-I-I-I-I know. Of course I know!"

"I honestly love you so much, Haruga-kun... I love you."

Crap. It was impossible to calm his mind. Orihime was too adorable.

However, he had other things to worry about at the moment. Indeed, he needed to rack his brain to find a solution to the great crisis of the Crimson Queen being hijacked.

&mdash;Ironically, the solution to this problem lay in Solomon's ring.

According to legend, possession of this ring allowed the user to bend angels and demons to their will and listen to the voices of animals and plants. This was how Hal had listened to the hearts of leviathans earlier.

This function still remained in effect. Even if he wanted to interrupt this function, Hal had no way of taking off the ring.

At that moment, Hal sensed it. Over on the side, watching her master and partner engaging in displays of affection, the nine-tailed fox-wolf wanted to convey a message.

"Akuro-Ou... Do you have a way to take the queen back?"

Orihime also sensed her partner's thoughts.

Earlier, the gigantic white beast had unleashed a barrage upon the Army of Fire. Her cool gaze was staring downwards at Hal and Orihime on the road surface when it suddenly shifted somewhere else&mdash;Akuro-Ou was looking at where Hal's magic gun had fallen.

Hal had accidentally tossed the gun away when rolling on the ground after putting on the ring. Orihime tilted her head and said, "Just use this handgun?"

Akuro-Ou transmitted the image of a "blade" from her mind.

The vanquishing of evil to uphold justice. This was a mystic technique of the glorious Twin Katana. Realizing the implied meaning, Hal said, "Juujouji, that's the move we used at the Dragon Palace Court last time...! It might be a bit inappropriate to call this a stroke of good luck, but with Hannibal helping out by occupying Solomon right now, it should work!"

"!"

Hugging Hal all this time, Orihime could not help but gasp in response. She immediately rose up to retrieve the magic gun and committed her resolve.

"Speaking of which, Haruga-kun, it feels like you are on the same level as Solomon. In a frontal showdown, there is definitely a chance of victory... Haruga-kun! Akuro-Ou and I will make an attempt, so please lend your power to us, Haruga-kun!"

Saying that, Orihime immediately helped Hal get up then embraced him tightly. Not only that, but Orihime's voluptuous bust was pressed against Hal's chest, a sensation that Hal had experienced a number of times now. In addition to being soft and elastic, it rivaled the size of small melons.

"J-Juujouji, even without injecting my magical power, Akuro-Ou should be able to do it in her current state..."

"Y-Yes, it might be possible, but I am not too confident in myself, which is why I'd like to follow what we did last time... No?" asked Orihime with a blush.

Just now, Asya and Rushalka had used the sun-shooting divine bow without Double Casting. However, this did not guarantee that Orihime could do the same.

Hal relented. At the same time, he felt unprecedentedly nervous.

He was so close to Orihime that their noses were about to touch and he could look clearly into her watery eyes and passionate countenance. This moment was stimulating his heart rate in a completely different manner from any previous moment.

"O-Of course you can. Yeah."

"Thank you. I will definitely... do my best. Th-Then please proceed, like last time, alright?"

This was also the first time Orihime urged Hal like this. How adorable.

Hal cried out "Juujouji!" without thinking and embraced her tightly, thus squeezing out magical power from his heart, sending it into Orihime's heart.

"Mm... Haruga-kun, I love you so much..."

Professing her love for him, the girl moaned in ecstasy, gently receiving the incoming torrent of magical power.

Orihime gently stroked Hal's back with her right hand.

Her left hand gripped the magic gun. Suddenly, the manifestation of the Rune of the Twin Katana appeared under the gun&mdash;A bayonet with a fifteen-centimeter blade.

Akuro-Ou's nine tails changed too. The rightmost tail manifested a large sword while the leftmost tail manifested a smaller sword.

The tips of the tails were curled like how human hands made fists. The fox-wolf leviathan was wielding the pair of large and small blades with dexterity.

Raising the two swords overhead, Akuro-Ou formed a cross with the blades.

Thus, preparations were complete. Orihime continued to support Hal's body with her right arm while raising the magic gun in her left, pointing it at Solomon's ring.

She was aiming at Hal's dangling right hand, the golden ring worn on his index finger&mdash;

Nineteen runes of Ruruk Soun appeared over Akuro-Ou's head, signifying "I summon the twin blades of exorcism, to deliver seraphic punishment to nefarious evil dragons."

Severing a dragonslaying rune's magical power, neutralizing it.

Such was the effect of the Holy Cross of the Twin Katana, a technique of assured annihilation. Not only did it erase magical power but it was also an exorcism technique that inflicted damage to the owner of that magical power.

The two swords raised over Akuro-Ou's head were beginning to give off a golden glow.

However, the light blinked, disappearing and reappearing.

The process was not going smoothly. Simply possessing a great quantity of magical power was not enough to use this technique. Last time, Luna Francois had said that "Holy and evil, right and wrong, yin and yang, demonic and divine... Entrust opposing elements to the twin blades so as to produce an attack embodying the rivalry of complementary opposites. Since this magic requires such complexity in execution..."

The atrocious act of wielding a sacred and blessed divine blade for slaughter.

This paradoxical ultimate technique required the coexistence of mutually incompatible elements. To be honest, this would be a challenge for either Luna or Asya to perform on their own.

Despite obtaining magical power from Hal, it was too difficult for Orihime after all.

Even so, she still tried to do her best.

"Wait, Haruga-kun. I will definitely save you...!"

Holding the magic gun in her left, supporting Hal with her right, Orihime cried out loudly. She was committing her entire body, mind and soul, desperately trying to control the magical power.

The twin swords over their heads kept blinking.

However, the golden radiance gradually weakened. Orihime's attempt was going to end in failure, her desperate efforts rendered futile. But just before that happened&mdash;

"Y-You are very close, Orihime-san. Let me help out too..."

"Asya-san!?"

The next thing they knew, Asya had arrived by their side.

Hal's childhood friend looked haggard with Hazumi supporting her shoulder. However, she still strained her injured body to reach out, placing her hand on the magic gun held in the junior witch's hand.

Orihime and Asya. Holding the magic gun together, the two of them controlled the technique of assured annihilation in unison.

At last, the twin swords in cross formation released a dazzling golden glow. This blinding light, like the sun's, shone upon Hal and his companions.

Using the tip of the bayonet's blade, Orihime and Asya stabbed Solomon's ring.

Separated from from Hal's finger, the ring fell and rolled on the asphalt road.

This was the moment of success for the exorcism technique executed by the twin blades and the two witches.