Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume17 Chapter5 (section)

===Part 8===

Before giving her answer, she paused for roughly a breath's worth of time.

However, her tone of voice was calm and natural.

"Yeah, leave it to me. I'm only here more for defense than offense. I have to complete this mission at least."

Well said, that goes without saying&mdash;Haruaki felt relieved. The current Fear would no longer lose to fighting instincts and charge mindlessly at the enemy. She was giving thought to what was within her ability instead of trying to act tough.

"Rather, Class Rep and Kuroe should be more careful. I remember they&mdash;"

Cautiously, Kirika stared at Satsuko and Fourteen, nodding lightly.

"I know. Fourteen will be launching items for her to accumulate speed and release that giant slash attack... Their tactic is like self-sufficient power generation, it's very tough to handle."

"Yeah. But in games, skills that are powerful in theory tend to have major flaws."

"Kuroe-san is correct. That tactic of theirs cannot be an exception."

"Just stop her from throwing things before they manage to store up the speed! I shall take care of that house!"

As Kotetsu dashed towards Fourteen, Konoha said "Then I will&mdash;" and closed in on Satsuko a moment later. Fourteen retreated backwards and dodged the attack Kotetsu launched to prevent her from throwing items. Her broom destroyed by Kotetsu, Fourteen nonchalantly summoned a new weapon, then shot two bricks at Satsuko while swinging a laundry pole downwards.

However, Satsuko was currently facing off against Konoha who was attacking with barehanded chops executed in taijiquan style. Although Satsuko used «Karma Speed» to block, the weapons became entangled together as though sparring without accumulating speed. As though saying "it doesn't matter who it hits," Fourteen shot bricks at both Satsuko and Konoha, but&mdash;

"Chupacabra Bandage!"

"Mode: «Cushioning Munemori»!"

Kirika's bandage and Kuroe's hair blocked the bricks. Kuroe wanted to take the opportunity to ensnare Satsuko in her hair, but Satsuko used «Karma Speed» in its original function as a sword and sliced the hair before jumping away. Konoha seized the chance to close in.

"Wow~ So that's how it goes~ As expected of Konoha-san and the others, you immediately came up with countermeasures~ Then we'll switch tactics too."

"...What did you say?"

Instantly, Satsuko and Fourteen doubled their speed at the same time. Moving swiftly, they traded positions in a bewildering display. Kotetsu and Konoha hastily chased after them.

"«Polter»&mdash;«Geist»! «Geist»!"

Fourteen made a motion as though pushing a pair of doors to summon two laundry poles to launch. Neither Kirika nor Kuroe could stop the laundry poles from flying away&mdash;because instead of aiming at Satsuko or Konoha, Fourteen had shot them towards the school building beside them. The laundry poles were respectively embedded in the walls of the school building on their left and right.

Satsuko instantly changed course for a laundry pole while waving «Karma Speed» in her hand.

Next&mdash;using them like last time at the pool when they used laundry poles as footholds to move across water, Fourteen and Satsuko simultaneously stepped on a laundry pole on opposite sides respectively and jumped up high.

Their bodies overlapped for an instant in midair&mdash;

But only Satsuko disappeared.

"...!?"

Kotetsu frowned. Summoning two brooms while in the air, Fourteen swung them at him while traveling along her landing trajectory. Kotetsu crossed his arms above his head to block the attack but in the next second, Konoha shouted urgently:

"Kotetsu! Watch out, there is one more person inside!"

While Konoha was shouting and Fourteen's wielded weapons were locked in a struggle against Kotetsu, Satsuko suddenly appeared from under Fourteen's cape. This was below Kotetsu's belly, closer to him than even Fourteen. In a crouching pose, Satsuko swung «Karma Speed» in a flash.

"Guh&mdash;!"

Frowning, Kotetsu flew backwards to retreat. The flank of his clothing was torn and a conspicuous red color seeped out.

"H-Hey!"

"Don't sound so lame! It is but a scratch..."

Kotetsu answered Haruaki while keeping his view forward vigilantly. Before him, Satsuko was already straightening her knees to stand up.

"Oh my~ Looks like victory can't be decided in one hit after all."

"Muramasa-sama, that is&mdash;"

"Instantaneously entering Fourteen's body whose true nature is a ''house'', then coming out again? Totally just a petty parlor trick."

"Ehhh~ Really~? As long as it's used well, Satsuko thinks it's unexpectedly effective~"

"«Geist»! «Geist»!"

Satsuko cocked her head slightly while Fourteen shot laundry poles and iron rods at the school building on the side again. Moreover, it was not just one or two. The school building was turned into an array of skewers. Satsuko and Fourteen jumped again, landing on the footholds created by Fourteen, then started jumping between footholds as though performing in an athletic event. In addition to stepping on the poles and columns, Satsuko even grabbed the laundry poles with her hands to swing her body like in gymnastics horizontal bar events. While moving, Fourteen continued to shoot out new laundry poles to increase the number of footholds.

"It'd be bad if you got bored, so Satsuko and Fourt will be turning in a grand performance~! Satsuko will work hard to prevent you from calling this a parlor trick!"

"This looks more and more like a circus act. We don't have money to pay for unspectacular shows...!"

Tensing up, Haruaki's group looked up at the two figures jumping back and forth overhead like pinballs.

Fourteen fired two bricks at them. Konoha and the others dodged swiftly but at the same time, Fourteen also launched three bricks at Satsuko in midair, which were then immediately absorbed by «Karma Speed». After repeating similar movements multiple times, Satsuko and Fourteen overlapped in the air again. Fourteen flipped her cape again and Satsuko vanished.

After leaping from foothold to foothold many times, Fourteen jumped upon Haruaki's group again as earlier. Konoha blocked her attack and watched out for Satsuko who was assumed to be hiding under the cape&mdash;

"How about this? Slicing wind at point blank range...!"

Realizing suddenly, Haruaki cried out frantically:

"No, Konoha, right above!"

The last foothold that Fourteen had visited&mdash;Satsuko was standing on there. Just before Fourteen mounted her descending attack, she must have left Satsuko there. Satsuko was already ecstatic with her face flushed red. Then she swung the rapier down hard.

"This is&mdash;karma!"

The giant mass of slicing pressure descended like a waterfall, flying at them vertically.

Naturally, Fourteen already expected this attack. After merely a slight delay after Fourteen, Konoha also jumped from her original spot, but the situation was very risky. Also, Haruaki and the others could not stay uninvolved either.

"Haruaki, get away quick!"

Fear pushed Haruaki. Naturally, he did not resist and started running as hard as he could. There was no guarantee that the next slash would not reach their location. Even the wake of that attack posed a threat. Just as Haruaki and Fear hastily pulled back to create distance&mdash;

The vertical slash brushed past Konoha's body, striking her former location directly. The massive ensuing crash made Haruaki's eardrums hurt. Violent air pressure swept his hair. Not only that, but it even caused him to stumble and fall flat on the ground. Certain fragments flew in all directions, striking him in the body. Ouch. Speaking of pain, the left hand he had extended reflexively against the ground for support was feeling sharp pain from the amputated spot.

Then opening his eyes, Haruaki saw the asphalt ground which had tragically cracked open. Probably injured by flying stones, Fear had small bloody scratches on her face. Wiping the blood away with the back of her hand, Fear directed her gaze forward. The four of them nearer to the impact had suffered far more than Haruaki and Fear. Kirika and Kuroe were tangled together and blown far away, but seemed uninjured. Kotetsu was kneeling on the ground with a twisted look on his face. Among them, the one with the most serious injuries was&mdash;

"Guh...!"

"Konoha!"

"I... am fine...!"

Although it looked like she had dodged by a hair's breadth, Konoha had a large gash on her shoulder just from a minor glancing blow. The patch of bright red on her was even larger in area than Kotetsu's. Konoha glanced coldly at her wound then exhaled, suppressing a certain emotion into the depths of her core. Calmly, she tore off her dangling sleeve to facilitate movement. Judging from her motions, the wound was not as bad as it looked... But Haruaki had almost never seen such a large wound on Konoha's body before. And clearly, it was not even a direct blow.

Many laundry poles and iron rods were embedded in the school building's walls to their left and right, as well as the side wall of the connecting corridor, forming footholds.

Standing on them, Satsuko and Fourteen were looking down at Haruaki's group.

"Oh my... They actually dodged that attack? Amazing as expected! Satsuko is overjoyed!"

Satsuko spoke confidently. Pushing themselves up, Kirika and Konoha grumbled with a frown:

"Tsk! What joy? This firepower is absolutely ridiculous...!"

"Their current tactic is to reduce the speed accumulation period as much as possible then unleash the attack freely from various angles, thus making full use of terrain..."

"Yes, indeed! Although very weak, Satsuko and Fourt's advantage is cooperation and tacit understanding after all! By increasing or removing footholds, Satsuko can appear or disappear to make use of three dimensional tactics~"

"Satsuko has excellent speed to begin with, but as a result, her weakness is also a lack of attack power. Weaponry is one of the reasons. But after obtaining «Karma Speed», this problem is solved... Don't mistakenly think we're still the same as before."

"Yeah~ It's all thanks to «Karma Speed». So lucky to have it, it fits Satsuko so well! Since this method works, Satsuko will try to challenge you, please play with us a while longer!"

Then like a pack of predators surrounding herbivores, slowly depriving their prey of stamina, intimidating them to crush their will to resist.

Also making use of the school building's protrusions and drainpipes, the pair began to jump back and forth over the heads of Haruaki's group. Ghostlights flashing, Fourteen launched items that were sometimes absorbed by Satsuko's rapier as sources of speed, sometimes used to create new footholds, or sent to attack Haruaki's group directly on other occasions. Satsuko would also disappear suddenly then emerge under Fourteen's cape. Satsuko sometimes followed Fourteen's direct attacks to appear at extremely close range. Other times, she used feints to counter their predictions, only to appear in the distance. It took a lot of effort to keep track of the pair's positions.

"Damn it...!"

Agitated, Konoha jumped up and stood on a laundry pole just like them. Then leaping towards Fourteen, just as she was about to execute a flying kick, an instant before that&mdash;having entered Fourteen's cape, Satsuko jumped out and landed lightly on the ground. She was already panting with eyes moistened and glazed over.

"Karma!"

"!"

Konoha must have instantly severed her foothold. Then falling down together with the severed pole, she barely evaded the slash Satsuko had unleashed upwards from below. Vicious light flashed across her glasses as she groaned:

"Up and down, how busy you are...!"

"Oh, just so you don't get the wrong idea, Satsuko will make this clear. We don't really want to run all over the place~ Aerial combat is just one mode of attack. Depending on the situation, we also fight on the ground."

Haruaki gritted his teeth. To him, simply tracking Satsuko and Fourteen's movements with his gaze was hard enough already.

Apart from Fourteen's own combat power as ''a cursed house''...

There were footholds all around that they could increase or decrease as they saw fit, in other words, a three dimensional space&mdash;Rather, seeing as Satsuko could also enter Fourteen's body to obfuscate timings and positions, it counted as four dimensions&mdash;combined with the tacit understanding born from their relationship of absolute trust, allowing them to rule over this four dimensional space.

In addition, there was «Karma Speed»'s one-hit kill power from its super destructive slash attack&mdash;

All this combined to serve as Satsuko and Fourteen's current&mdash;

Strength.

...Was it possible to win?

Could they prevail against a pair like this?

Haruaki felt as though his heart was being constricted tightly, causing a vague sense of unease to surge in his body.

He also thought of something.

Time.

There was no leisure to take out his cellphone to check the time, but the deadline was less than an hour away. They should not get themselves pinned down in this kind of place. They must move advance as quickly as possible, advancing towards the sports ground&mdash;

However, whether or not Satsuko understood their feelings, she cackled and said:

"Anyway, we're going to move as possible, so enjoy yourselves! As playmates, Satsuko will give it 100% so please go all-out if you please, Satsuko will be very happy&mdash;although weak little Satsuko is still very weak, so if you get disappointed, sorry about that!"

Haruaki broke out in cold sweat.

You liar&mdash;He thought.