Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume16 Chapter1 (section)

===Part 7===

It was midsummer but these people were dressed in plain-looking long coats of gray. Faint glimpses of their equipment underneath showed thicker armor than what Sleif was wearing. It looked quite heavy and solid&mdash;Indeed, hence&mdash;

When they jumped over the wall surrounding this house all at once and landed at the same time, no wonder dust and dirt flew into the air as though there was an explosion.

"..."

Most likely in consideration of ease of movement, their heads were not covered up in any way. Ethnicity, age and gender all varied among these six people. There were men and women, young and old, Caucasians and blacks.

Needless to say, what they all shared was&mdash;

Burning in their eyes, hatred and hostility for Wathes.

"Fear-in-Cube, demon sword Muramasa, Nagasone Kotetsu Nyuudou Okisato&mdash;wretched blades knowing of nothing except human harm."

"Ningyouhara Kuroe, «Gimestorante's Love»&mdash;Harmful evidence of natural order's disruption."

"Yachi Honatsu, Yachi Haruaki... Sinners who affirmed and accepted these Wathes."

"You are all top enemies of the Frontline Gathering Knights Dominion! Prepare to die now!"

"First commando unit of the 90th Knight Squad&mdash;All members, draw your swords!"

Under the command of the Caucasian man who appeared to be their leader, the knights took out their weapons from beneath their long coats at the same time. All of them were using swords but unlike their equipment, these swords all differed in appearance. Claymores, one-handed swords, curved blades that were so twisted in shape that they did not resemble swords, as well as short swords resembling fruit knives. Among them&mdash;there were probably cursed tools. Especially during the instant of drawing their blades, someone glared at their weapon in contempt, others had twitching faces while enduring the urge to vomit, still others pierced their palm to let their sword suck blood, it was all too certain.

Just as Haruaki's body froze, two gusts of wind blew past him, left and right.

"Kotetsu, assist me!"

"Yes!"

Literally with vigor like unsheathing swords, Konoha and Kotetsu rushed into the garden from the veranda, engaging the charging knights in combat&mdash;With knife hand and tiger claw stances, their blades clashed with the knights' swords with metallic noise.

The enemies did not falter in courage. Shouting vigorously, they kept advancing, swinging their wielded swords. They were definitely no small fry, judging from their movements. None of them showed any openings. Their fighting style did not follow any fixed formation, giving off an impression that they were advancing independently towards a common goal. Naturally&mdash;This was the only goal of destroying cursed tools.

Most likely, they were not ordinary pawns. Each of them was a proud and powerful knight. Like Peavey Barowoi. Like Neto the Avenger. Like Lilyhowell Kilmister.

"Kuh... Ha, quite amazing! My blood is beginning to boil!'

"Boiling is fine but do not get careless! Also, they are...!"

Despite Konoha and Kotetsu's efforts to go all out from the start, they were still unable to thwart the enemy's zeal so easily. Konoha frowned and could not help but groan.

"So strong...! Naturally, their swordsmanship is strong, but it feels that overall, their bodily strength as well&mdash;"

Probably recalling something, Konoha closed her mouth in a sudden realization. At the same time, Haruaki also realized.

What Pakuaki mentioned. A holy war effect. A power augmentation effect.

Indeed, this town ''had started'' to "Knight Dominionize." The process still had yet to finish, that was all.

"Knights Dominionization" probably brought more than bodily changes that could be seen clearly with the naked eye. Invisible mental strength and willpower, as well as physiological values inside the body that were impossible to measure in the first place, all sorts of factors had been strengthened&mdash;That was the feeling Haruaki got. Thinking calmly, he concluded that the extraordinary feat of jumping over the wall while wearing heavy armor was probably thanks to the holy war effect's benefits as well.

Also&mdash;There was also disparity in numbers.

Konoha was handling three while Kotetsu faced another three as well, but at this moment, one knight broke off from each of the fights and approached the veranda. Probably due to some kind of cursed power, they were shimmering like mirages in front of Konoha and Kotetsu, allowing their wavering bodies to pass through the blockade. It was impossible to defend no matter how hard they concentrated.

Konoha bit her lip and tried to turn around, but the two remaining knights prevented her from doing as she wanted. Kotetsu was in a similar situation. Things were starting to get chaotic.

"Haru, stand back!"

"«Black River»... Is not here! Damn it, how absolutely ridiculous!"

Kirika groaned. Putting her full effort in controlling her hair, Kuroe prevented the two knights from advancing.

Haruaki looked at the steel cube that had rolled to the veranda. Making noises, the cube shook its surface, looking like she was closing her eyes, covering her ears, shuddering with knees drawn up to her chest.

"Anyway...!"

Even if Fear was currently like this, the knights were probably not going to let her go. Haruaki used his body to push Fear back into the living room. They must get farther away&mdash;

"Haru!"

"Woah!?"

Hearing Kuroe's acute scream, Haruaki turned his head, only to see a certain object closing in before his eyes. He fell backwards on his bottom. The instant he ducked down, a knight's extended sword swept over his head like a whip. Making an earsplitting impact, this strike sliced off a large piece of the veranda pillar. The whole house seemed to make a creaking sound.

Kuroe's hardened hair caught up to that knight and stopped the second attack in the nick of time. Kirika threw hot tea to pin down the other guy's movements.

Haruaki bit his lip and switched to using his back to push Fear. He looked up at the damaged house. The pillar with a large chunk sliced off. What Konoha had gazed upon with a gentle gaze just earlier, one of this home's precious memories&mdash;Had been destroyed.

Ah, but that was only because he had not noticed until now. This type of destruction had started all over the place a while ago.

On the veranda, Kuroe's hair and the knights' swords kept clashing and bouncing repeatedly. As a result, the warm floorboards were damaged, cut open, trampled by the shoes they were wearing.

From her vantage point in the garden, Konoha narrowed her eyes as though unable to bear the sight. The great tree ahead, filled with memories, had its branches violently chopped off, the remains scattered all over the ground. It was probably the aftermath from clashes between the knights' swords and Konoha's knifehand or simply because they had used the branches as footholds and shields.

Kotetsu was sent flying high, smashing into the second floor window of the accessory dwelling. This was Konoha's room in the past. Shattering all over the place, the glass gave off an earsplitting sound. However, Kotetsu immediately looked out from the window with a frown. Slicing up the dangling and distorted window frame as though it was a nuisance, he jumped outside the house again. To intercept him, a knight threw a rock from below. After Kotetsu deflected it with a tiger claw, this time, the adjacent window was smashed into smithereens. Kuroe sighed in resignation.

That was not all. The ground in the garden was getting dug up together with the grass. The laundry rack was slanted, tragically broken. The boundary wall was heavily scarred. The accessory dwelling's wall showed radial cracks. The sound of roof tiles breaking could even be heard overhead accompanied by a clattering as they fell.

This house, this land, this place itself&mdash;Was getting damaged.

On an unprecedented scale, with unprecedented tragedy.

It did not feel real at all. Because up until this morning&mdash;It had been the usual home.

Simply the Yachi home, the one where Haruaki had always lived and where he thought he would always continue to live.

"Haruaki-kun! You, take this and get out of my way!"

Konoha forcibly changed her movement's vector. In exchange, the knight's attack severed the tips of her shortened hair by a few centimeters. Tiny cuts also surfaced on her face. Immediately, she passed through the gaps between Kuroe's hair and returned to their side.

"Huff... Haruaki-kun, are you okay?"

"I should be the one asking if you're okay, Konoha?"

"Yes, I am fine enough. These people are showing speed and strength more powerful than what their appearances suggest, it's terrifying. Is that the so-called energy coming from within? Thanks to that, they are truly tough to handle... By the way, that tree! I can't believe they made such a mess of that tree, so full of memories! I'm so angry, I absolutely forbid them from further damaging this home&mdash;"

"...Tsk!"

Just at this moment, Kotetsu happened to be blown away by the leader he was fighting, flying towards house. Judging by his speed, unless a solution was found, let alone the living room, Kotetsu was probably going to smash all the way into the kitchen. Consequently, Kotetsu deliberately kicked at the storm shutter on the veranda without holding back at all to absorb the impact. After getting kicked, the shutter's wooden fragments even flew into the living room, leaving marks on the sliding door and the tatami floor, stabbing into the cupboard, causing the television to fall off its stand and turn into a silent heap of scrap metal.

The landing impact sent Kotetsu through the floorboards of the veranda. Using a tiger claw, he grabbed a pillar on the side tightly. Only then did he finally seem to realize something. Suddenly frozen in motion. Konoha cast her stiff voice at his back:

"Unforgivable though it may be... Ultimately, it does depend on the situation after all. Right now... Forget about it first."

"...Umm, truth be told, if you could forget what you just declared... I will... be very grateful too."

Kotetsu groaned, apparently breaking out in cold sweat. He looked like he did not have the spare energy to look behind him.

After Konoha and Kotetsu returned to the veranda, Haruaki's team regrouped. Kuroe wiped sweat off her brow with a "phew~" and allowed her hair to rest whereas Kirika gazed at her bare arm in chagrin.

Konoha and Kotetsu prepared for battle with tense nerves. The knights ahead exchanged glances while adjusting their positions, confirming one another's condition. They did not spend too much time on catching their breath&mdash;Besides, none of them were panting in the first place. Was this part of the effects of "Knights Dominionization"?

Neither hesitation nor retreat was going to happen. As though silently sharing this determination, they began to approach once again.

"The second round is about to start..."

"Individually, they are definitely inferior in strength to that woman from before&mdash;Lilyhowell Kilmister&mdash;but..."

"Hmph, I don't know if we should count our blessings that these guys are not Knight Squad Leader level... Who knows what things would be like if that woman were to become even stronger than before. That said, it's an absolutely ridiculous thought."

"&mdash;She is a traitor who abandoned her mission, driven by personal emotions. Even if she were standing here, still alive, she won't be receiving any blessing from the Dominion."

"Who would have thought you guys to be so small-minded."

Konoha retorted after listening to the Caucasian team leader while slowly retreating together with Kotetsu on the frontline&mdash;They were no longer in the veranda. Instead, they had been forced completely back into the living room.

"All of them are experts despite not reaching a Knight Squad Leader's level. Also, there is the problem of them being all here in a group... Our earlier actions were too reckless. Haruaki-kun, I shall change back into a sword first. Use me to defend yourself."

"Indeed. If Konoha-kun and the others are fighting on the frontline, it's very hard to protect Yachi. Kuroe-kun can only do so much on her own. I've already lost my means of attack... Also&mdash;"

Kirika cast an apologetic gaze in Haruaki's direction. More precisely, it was to what was behind them, the steel cube still trembling as though in a convulsion.

Was she trembling due to terror? Or indecisiveness? Or a quandary? Or fear? So long as she remained silent, no one could know for certain&mdash;But, for some reason...

Haruaki felt that he could at least be sure that her appearance was linked to the emotion of wanting to cry.

Indeed, tears. The image of her crying her heart out like a child suddenly surfaced in his mind like a wave of dizziness.

Mouth wide open, rubbing the corners of her eyes, tears falling nonstop, her crying appearance surfaced in his mind&mdash;

No, perhaps he really heard it. Perhaps he really saw it.

While a sense of pain and emptiness occupied his left hand, he seemed to hear vaguely from the depths of a dream&mdash;

"Haruaki-kun, are you listening!?"

"Uh, yeah, what's up?"

Haruaki suddenly came back to his senses and blinked. Konoha glanced at the cube behind his heels.

"Seriously... There's no time to be concerned with that piece of furniture. Listen carefully, Haruaki-kun, since the enemies are numerous, we can only retreat while fighting. Please do not strain yourself no matter what."

While speaking, she held Haruaki's hand.

"...Muramasa-sama."

At this moment, Kotetsu called out while facing forward. He sounded a bit nervous.

"This will end immediately. Although attacks will burden you somewhat, please endure."

Konoha jumped into the air while responding to Kotetsu. Haruaki felt the Japanese sword's weight in his hand.

"By this point, we have no choice but to use this house as home field advantage. In an emergency, retreat to the corridor to engage in one on one..."

"&mdash;Muramasa-sama!"

Hearing Kotetsu shout with greater emphasis, Konoha suddenly stopped talking. Then slowly, the blade rose, covered by the black scabbard... The sword's tip turned to the garden, turning to the veranda from where enemies were approaching.


''There were definitely enemies in the garden, but none of the knights were in sight''.


"Hmm... Numbers? Doesn't seem that many to me. See, now I'm the only one left, right? Well, I suppose there are three if you really want to count three."

Instantly, a number of crashes could be heard coming from over the roof. The acute sounds of roof tiles breaking and the screams of wooden boards cracking. A large amount of dust came pouring down through the gaps between the boards at the top.

Following a clattering sound of sliding, everyone's gaze was drawn from the ceiling to the veranda.

Like a ball that was hanging on the edge of the roof, a knight fell from the eaves with a thud.

Naturally, the one responsible for this scene was&mdash;

"Puhoo~! What's with this guy? That movement was super amusing! Make him do it one more time!"

"Thrown away pathetically like a piece of rag, how sympathetic/ludicrous to the point that one has no choice but to rub the tips of one's breasts... Rest in peace."

The Commander of the Draconians.

Maximilian Pendragon, accompanied by his two loyal cursed tools.