Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume16 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 6===

Satsuko was dressed in a sailor-style school uniform as usual with pouch at her waist. Fourteen was wrapped in a cape, wearing tall boots.

Haruaki stared at the two of them warily and entered a combat stance. There was no choice. Considering the organization they belonged to, this was only natural&mdash;Then he looked around. Were they here? Had they come?

But Satsuko waved her hands hastily.

"Oh no~ Satsuko has nothing to do with the Commander's target~ Satsuko didn't come here to help the Commander, so please don't worry. By the way, Kuroe-san isn't here! Awwww, but you guys won't believe what someone like Satsuko says, right? Satsuko understands..."

"There's no way we can trust you completely. Aren't you two really intimate?"

"That's completely separate~ Rather, although this isn't something that someone like Satsuko can say, Satsuko is very against the idea of using brute force to make a girl yours! The only girls who can be taken by force are the lowest trash, girls with no strength, no willpower and no value, like Satsuko!"

Satsuko pouted slightly, saying incomprehensible things that one could not tell if it counted as self-abuse. But purely judging from her face, she did not seem to be lying.

Haruaki felt slightly relieved. Just as he was about to release his tightly clenched fist...

However, he had forgotten.

Although they had only fought once at the pool and never again&mdash;It did not mean that these two had changed their ways.

As a member of the Draconians, their lifestyle of doing anything at all costs to become strong, that could not possibly change.

"So... Why are you two doing here?"

"Eh? Oh my, Konoha-san... Do you really need to ask? Although someone weak like Satsuko might only be a nuisance, Satsuko has finally obtained a weapon of choice, so sorry, please fight Satsuko in a match!"

Satsuko smiled happily.

Then she drew out a sword from the scabbard hanging at her waist, opposite her pouch. It was a very slender sword with a familiar appearance. Konoha's gaze suddenly showed turbulence.

"I remember it... «Karma Speed»! Why is it in your hands!?"

"Satsuko made a deal with Sleif-san, in exchange for that ''spear''. Because that spear seemed very weak as a weapon~"

These words were impossible to ignore. Standing on the side, Kirika instantly flew into a rage and roared: 

"You were the one who hid it!? Truly, this is... absolutely ridiculous! It's all because you gave that spear to the Knights Dominion! Have you any idea how serious the situation is...!?"

"Satsuko don't know~ Because Satsuko is very weak, in order to get strong, there's no extra energy to think about unnecessary things. Sorry for Satsuko being so willful~"

"There's no need to apologize, Satsuko. These people should already this is who were are. Bluntly stated, those who forgot are at fault."

Fourteen stood confidently next to Satsuko, her face covered by a veil, a cape on her back, her chest bound in strips of fabric resembling ''sarashi''. Blue ghostlights were already flying around in irregular orbits.

"«Coonsberry's Haunted House of Death on Fourteenth Avenue»&mdash;Do we need to fight you again? Truth be told, it is a waste of energy. Have you forgotten how you were floored when sparring against Muramasa-sama and myself?"

"Now... Things have changed. This is not about ''me'', this is ''us'' now, Nagasone Kotetsu!"

"Oh? Then allow me to confirm!"

Kotetsu bared his fangs and grinned maliciously, charging forward. Ghostlights blinking and flashing, Fourteen swiftly grabbed the broom that appeared from the bright light. It was a fortified object taken out from her body, the cursed house.

The broom clashed violently with the tiger claw, producing a crisp noise that did not sound like impacts between wood and the human body.

Konoha glanced at Haruaki over her shoulder, sighed then took a step forward.

"&mdash;Seeing as it is a match, it means that you have no interest in Haruaki-kun and the others, is that correct? That goes the same for the square paperweight over there. No helping it, I shall answer your challenge."

"Sigh~ It's quite a shame that it's not possible to fight Fear-san, but it'd be a waste to consume all the pleasure in one go~ Anyway, no problem! By the way, this tag team match up really is the same as when we sparred at Nirushaaki-senpai's place before. It would be utter humiliation if you end up getting killed by weak little Satsuko who lost so badly back then, so sorry, please try your best this time&mdash;!"

"Sigh... Regrettably, I believe the trick is to not try too hard."

While saying that, Konoha slowly advanced without attacking at high speed&mdash;

Indeed, the sword's secret had already been revealed. Konoha was probably trying to emulate Pendragon's fighting style from last time. Although she could not reach the same level as him, Konoha should be able to perform similar martial arts. Perhaps a simple throw would suffice, because Konoha was capable of cutting while in a hold. In any case, all she needed to do was avoid executing attacks whose speed would get absorbed.

Konoha closed in slowly. Satsuko backed away while frowning, trying hard to keep a certain distance.

"Oh~ Satsuko supposes that's true~ The cat's out of the bag... Awwww."

"Rubbish, did you really think you could win with a hand-me-down?"

Konoha said with a cold expression. But in contrast, Satsuko replied with a courteous smile:

"Yes. ''Because Sleif-san was alone, but we are not''... Fourt!"

"Understood!"

Fourteen pulled back greatly from her fight against Kotetsu. Brooms could not withstand consecutive tiger-clawed strikes and she had already pulled out new brooms and pieces of timber repeatedly, resisting Kotetsu through a strategy of quantity over quality. As a result, when she retreated far back, Haruaki was expecting her to pull out some kind of new weapon for close quarters combat from the magic circle traced out by ghostlights&mdash;But that did not happen.

"«Polter»... «Geist»!"

Out appeared from the air were bricks, ammunition for long range combat instead.

Without hesitation, Fourteen shot the bricks at maximum speed&mdash;

''Towards Satsuko''.

"What!?"

"«Geist»! «Geist»! «Geist»!"

Fourteen did not stop, going further to shoot bricks, dishes and small pieces of wood in quick succession.

Using «Karma Speed», Satsuko blocked all the objects flying at her like bullets. The projectiles made contact unnaturally as though sucked by the blade, then fell to her feet with a clatter.

"Huff... Nnnnggga, ahah... F-Feels so good... Ah, hyah!"

Flushed red in the face, Satsuko suddenly made a lewd face and her body shuddered intensely.

Everyone present understood what they were doing.

"No way&mdash;you did that on purpose to absorb the ''speed''...!"

With drool of pleasure dripping from the corner of her mouth, Satsuko held «Karma Speed» at waist level.

"Huff... Suits us very... well, right? Satsuko has little strength... But with this, whether defense or offense... neither relies on strength. With just Fourt's help... A super finishing move can be instantly executed like this. But this is only because... there is deep trust and silent understanding between Satsuko and Fourt, the most precious partner in the world&mdash;This is also the only thing this weak little Satsuko is proud of. So... it suits us very well..."

Then accompanied by the keywords they had heard a long time ago, Satsuko swung the rapier downwards&mdash;

"...This is... karma!"

A giant slash was released and given physical form. The asphalt on the ground was ripped up.

Konoha hastily evaded, but suddenly, a dark shadow covered her face. She stared in surprise, only to see Fourteen attacking with two pieces of fortified timber from above while hiding behind the giant slash released by Satsuko. However, Kotetsu chased Fourteen, jumped and rushed over to get between them in the nick of time, deflecting one piece of timber, but could not evade the second piece which struck him in the shoulder. Wincing, Kotetsu rolled over to the side some distance away&mdash;

While Konoha and Kotetsu were regaining balance, the slash produced by «Karma Speed» flew past them and violently struck the metal bars of the school gates that happened to be behind them, causing a loud noise like an explosion.

"Kotetsu! Thank goodness you were there, are you okay?"

"Yes, this is nothing&mdash;Although the shoulder has dislocated."

With an audible snap, Kotetsu forced the dislocated joint back into the socket. It was quite a painful sight, but not a critical wound... Probably.

"I should count our blessings that it didn't hit us directly..."

"Yes, but it's also thanks to the attack that we learned something totally distasteful as a result, even though it's useful to us."

Kirika was looking at the iron bars that had taken on the super destructive slash head on.

Completely unharmed after all. Not a single bar was cut, nor were any of them distorted. With a sense of eternity like a painting, sealing the school gates tightly. Impossible to break even with that kind of attack... How secure was the power prevent others from invading this school?

"Satsuko mentioned just now about weak little Satsuko and Fourt's greatest advantage... Satsuko think it's the weak coordination between us. The better we coordinate, the greater our battle power... Call it converting coordination itself into battle power. This is an awesome weapon~"

They were already helpless against the overwhelming firepower of that sword back when Sleif was using it. But because there was time between each attack, they could still manage to find time to discuss countermeasures.

But the case was different with Satsuko and Fourteen. The two of them were able to absorb speed in a self-sufficient manner.

If given such a powerful weapon along with the ability to fire in succession&mdash;

How horrifying a threat would that be...?

Haruaki gulped. Right now, the Satsuko and Fourteen standing before them were definitely different from that time at the pool. Indeed&mdash;They were even stronger than back then.

Next&mdash;

Insurmountable obstacles appeared one after another.

"Oh my~ An audience has arrived."

Satsuko remarked with her head tilted.

Naturally, Haruaki saw as well. As much as he did not want to see.


&mdash;Behind the school gates' iron bars.

A petite maiden knight was standing there, wearing a visor-like helmet.