Editing The Unexplored Summon Blood Sign:Volume6 Chapter4 (section)

===Part 2===

As evening turned to night, C Block’s Chinatown was filled with metal containers of various sizes. All of them were modules full of dozens or hundreds of fireworks. The hydraulic cylinders attached to a rotating base would adjust the angle and electric fuses would synch multiple containers to fire tens of thousands of fireworks per minute into the night sky. The modules were reminiscent of military rocket and missile systems.

The people living there were focused more on the exciting fireworks festival after the ban on light was lifted than they were on the calm Tanabata Astronomical Observation Fair. They preferred bright lights and loud noises, so while the rest of Toy Dream 35 was enjoying the event, this area was full of a strangely heated excitement much like the preparations for a cultural festival.

A man walked through that atmosphere with an icy aura of absolute zero.

Elvast Toydream. That legend had a tall beauty walking by his side and he was best described as “rusty”. While Claude Magentarain had been full of life even with an arm and eye missing, this man’s whole body was dull and lifeless. The long hair he had forgotten to comb was graying in places and the rest of it had lost its shine. His stubbly face and muscular body were decaying from alcohol and cigarettes and old scars were visible all over him. He wore a chic jacket that would have cost as much as a luxury car, but would anyone buy it for its original price now? It had countless blade cuts and bullet holes and dark red stains stood out in places.

But most noticeable of all were his eyes.

They contained the unique light of a killer, but there was more than that there. No matter how many cruel and dehumanizing acts someone carried out, even if they took part in a war and committed mass slaughters, they could not reach this level. Those icy eyes made one think he had to have killed a god or a demon to develop them.

There were multiple sides to the human species, but he seemed to be made exclusively from the predator side. He destroyed and did nothing else. Just as a fool who tried to harness the power of a black hole or the Big Bang would destroy themselves along with many others, no one could control this man.

He had not risen to the top of Government because everyone had wanted him there. No one had been able to stop him. It was because no one had been able to drag him down from his throne that he had been able to use the name of justice. He had enough power to singlehandedly clash with the rest of humankind.

So he did not call ahead for an appointment or even knock before entering.

Elvast silently stopped in front of a used tool shop and kicked down the door.

“!?”

The modified China dress beauty inside was initially shocked by the barbaric action, but when she saw the offender’s face, she felt something squeezing her heart. She half got up from the counter and then froze in a pose that actually put a greater burden on all of her body’s muscles. Even the diaphragm in charge of her breathing stopped.

“Ah…kah…”

The predator did not care in the slightest.

Her eyes widened past their limit, a clear liquid pooled at the corners of her eyes, and her alluring lips trembled unnaturally without uttering a peep.

But the stubbly man ignored it all as he spoke to her.

“It has been too long.”

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

She screamed as if breaking free of her bonds.

Lu Niang Lan placed a hand on the counter, leaped over it, and then sent her foot toward the side of the man’s head. No, she did more than that. While almost entirely upside down, she reached for the chest of her modified China dress and pulled out every hidden weapon she could. She threw several fork-shaped ''Fei Cha'' up toward his jaw, threw a ''Wan Ren Di'' (a dried mud container full of explosives) to the floor to create a smokescreen, and performed a side flip to right her body while using the centrifugal force to swing a ''Fei Zhao'' (claws attached to the end of a rope) toward the side of the man’s head. It was all a single flowing motion. This was truly the full ability of the Perfect Dragon who could slay summoners without relying on a Material.

“That was sudden.”

But.

Even so.

“But surely there was more you could have done. You should know you don’t get a chance to prepare before every battle.”

“…!!!???”

He spoke calmly. Blocking her opponent’s view with the smokescreen seemed to have actually made the monster’s silhouette appear larger. Lu Niang Lan took a few steps back while throwing several ''Liu Ye Fei Dao'' throwing knives and also swinging around a ''Liu Xing Chui'', fist-sized stones attached to either end of a long rope. It did not matter if her opponent was in a smokescreen, if he was an Award 1000 monster, or if he was a ghost returned from the depths of hell. She did not let him guard with his arms, she wrapped the thick rope around his neck, and she tugged him toward her.

The modified China dress beauty used enough force to snap a tree trunk as thick around as her own waist.

But…

“Wha-…!?”

The one who was tugged forward was Lu Niang Lan herself.

The man had not moved a step the entire time. With more surprise than despair on her face, the Perfect Dragon watched her own smokescreen gradually clear.

It was not just that his neck had not snapped.

He had not shed a single drop of blood. Even if most of them had been to deter him from action, just how many hidden weapons had she sent his way? Each and every one of them had contained enough force to slay the average summoner or vessel before they could move a finger. Even if they had desperately guarded themselves with a bulletproof shield, the attacks had delivered enough weight to snap their arms. And yet the monster named Elvast had no apparent weapons and had not taken any sort of defensive stance. His hands were casually stuck in his pockets, several ropes were wrapped around his neck, and his face only contained a look of pity.

“What’s the matter? Are you still not done?”

She had no words.

The depths of her mind grew red hot and no words were forthcoming. Or so she wanted to believe. But she was actually overcome by a hopeless chill. And it was her heart that froze, not her mind.

“You could have acquired the title of strongest by doing nothing. By staying with me. But you instead chose to return to the wild by stabbing me in the back in the moment I achieved Award 1000. I thought you had acquired a wonderful power that not even I could duplicate…but it seems I was wrong.”

“Ah. Ahh.”

“Just to be clear, this visit is not fueled by vengeance. I was honestly impressed with you. Back then at that moment, it did not actually matter much that I had my back to you. The mere fact that you could maintain a desire to attack me, Elvast Toydream, after I had reached Award 1000, long enough to carry out said attack was truly admirable. After all, a normal person ends up like ''this'' the moment they are exposed to a hint of my power.”

Elvast reached out to the side.

But not toward Lu Niang Lan. If he had, she would already have gone insane.

He instead grabbed the head of his beautiful vessel. She was a tall and sensual woman in her early twenties. She had long wavy blonde hair and white skin. What she wore had likely been a full-body riding suit at some point, but it was barely recognizable now. After being exposed to countless thorough and intense burdens, more of it was torn than not. She might as well have been wearing leather belts over an otherwise naked body.

Lu Niang Lan recalled the life she had once lived.

She had lived in an animal cage and viewed the outside world through dark, lifeless eyes.

In all likelihood, the only difference between Lu Niang Lan and this unknown vessel was whether they had rebelled against or accepted those circumstances. It was hard to believe, but that woman’s eyes did not contain fear or ecstasy. They contained an almost naïve longing that would have looked more at home in a much younger girl. It was like she was proud of this opportunity to be a part, however small, of a heroic legend.

And that legend let go of her.

Reluctant to let the man’s fingertips go, the vessel…no, the sacrifice’s eyes pursued them, but she did not speak a single word of complaint. She had been completely corrupted.

Elvast gave her a horribly disinterested look.

“So I simply wished to see how far you had honed your strength ever since breaking your bonds to a legend and gaining your freedom.”

Lu Niang Lan’s slender fingertips trembled. Her entire body quavered. Her skilled hands, lithe body, and sharp thoughts were all part of her deadly skill, but she gave up on all of them. The core of her being begged her not to: don’t break your fangs and don’t hand over your claws. If she lost those, she would fall. The hunter would become the hunted and she would be unilaterally feasted upon, squeezed dry, and have every last drop of marrow extracted from her bones. She would fall so completely that she could never escape again.

“If you insist, I will give you one last chance.”

That legend was entirely unilateral.

He was not the type to have any concern for others. He made a proclamation as the tyrant who had created history while assuming the world would change for him.

“I will give you a chance to redo it all from the beginning. I am not ordering you to become my vessel. Feel despair once more and stab me. That is the compassion I am showing you.”

It was over.

This was checkmate.

She felt dizzy. A pressure from the past began to crush her mind. She had to repeat that one-in-a-million if not one-in-a-billion miracle? She could not. It was simply not possible. Did he have any idea how many people, things, money, information, and luck had been on her side at the time? If all of that had failed to break down the wall known as Elvast Toydream, there was no hope. She could only imagine living the life of a self-righting doll where she attacked but was knocked away and got up but was kicked back down.

As her vision grew dark due to lack of oxygen, her utter despair may have made her hallucinate.

She suddenly saw someone else walk in through the broken door.

“Oh, dear. I’m not about to take issue with someone else’s methods, but aren’t you putting too much pressure on her all at once? Go too far and people will lock the door to their heart and shut out the reality in front of their eyes. If you want them to maintain their ability to feel pain while you provide the greatest agony, you have to be more careful than that.”

She saw flowing silver twintails, a wedding dress elegantly cut down to size, and some silver armor added in places. It was the strongest of the strongest.

The White Queen.

“H-how?” The modified China dress beauty moved her pale lips to force out he words. “Kyousuke-chan and the others said they hadn’t located the Founder’s Gallery yet, so the Natural History’s missing entries shouldn’t have been found yet…”

The two did not respond.

The strongest human casually spoke to the strongest oddity.

“You? You aren’t obligated to assist me this far.”

“No, I’m not. But I feel like thanking you for giving me 24 hours with my beloved brother. This body and power supported by the Natural History’s missing entries are fragile, but the feeling in the fingertips is not bad at all. Please accept this reward. I am willing to show some flexibility concerning what it is you want.”

Lu Niang Lan’s head wobbled.

This time. This time it was truly over. The monster named Elvast Toydream was bad enough, but he had the White Queen on his side as well. She had her full power, she was not trapped in the Artificial Sacred Ground, and she was not restricted to 10 minutes. It was like playing a game of shogi with only a king and having every other piece targeting you. What good was any attempt she might make?

“Hm.”

Elvast slowly breathed out as he looked at Lu Niang Lan’s face.

Immediately afterwards, his arm pierced the White Queen’s chest.

Time stopped.

Lu Niang Lan was supposed to be his enemy, but even she could not understand what had just happened.

''The'' White Queen was dead.

And in a single blow from a flesh-and-blood arm that had not even summoned a Material.

“Oh, dear.”

The Queen did not seem to be in any pain, but she did look somewhat surprised.

She tilted her head before being caught in a belated wave of destruction. Her smooth and seductive form lost all of its lifelike texture. Like a possessing spirit had left her, she became a mere doll with ball joints. When Elvast lightly swung the arm still piercing its hard chest, all of the joints fell apart and the pieces scattered across the floor. Stamp-sized pieces of paper spilled from the wound. They seemed to be old parchment or something similar. An oddly pleasant sound much like that of someone bowling a strike rang in Lu Niang Lan’s ears.

“Do not let this bind you, Niang Lan.”

“…”

“No matter how much this might copy the appearance, it holds less than 1% of her total power. It is inferior even to the Blood-Sign method. What value is there in a miracle that can be pierced by a human hand?”

That was nonsense.

Even if it was only the tip of her fingernail or a single hair, the Queen was still the Queen.

The Unexplored-class lurked beyond even the gods of legend and she was the peak of the peak there.

And a human had infiltrated that divine territory and killed her?

He did not brag about it. This was not the end result of a great struggle toward his life’s greatest accomplishment. He had done it casually, like it was nothing. That was the peak of Government, Elvast Toydream.

“You…”

“Hm?”

“But the Queen…”

“Are you asking how I did it? Or why I did it?” Elvast sounded exasperated. “How is simple. You seem to think that the knowledge sleeping in the Founder’s Gallery can be of some use, but that is no more than the result of my bloodline’s obsession with collecting. How can you be sure I did not use Toy Dream’s money and power for a similar ‘hobby’ of my own? Stop trembling over some missing pages. That was the product of a mere hobby. But that is not where my skills lie, so it was not all that well made. Use the original gallery and you could probably create something a little better.”

This was not Guard of Honor whose worship of the Queen would have filled the world with Materials.

This was not Telomere’s End whose deathless world would have destroyed the order of society.

This was not Liar Cat who would burn down everything for a single revenge.

“Why?”

“?”

“Why now…?”

“Who knows. I certainly don’t. I looked to the stars and was reminded of your face. If I had to give an answer, this is the best I can do.”

There had been no master plan here.

“''Perhaps it was because this is Tanabata, when dreams come true.'' Isn’t that enough for this? Isn’t that enough of an impetus for the world to move?”

There was no connection to Azalea and The Saint of Bridesmaid or to Claude Magentarain’s interference. He had not been taking advantage of the chaos. His mere presence in this world was a crisis for all of humanity.

If the world could continue behaving logically as if nothing had happened, it would only be a fluke.

Just as the Queen had bent history to her will, a single step by that powerful man could alter the world of man.

“Then…”

“You want to know the reason why? You really have to ask? You, who have observed the man named Elvast Toydream more closely than anyone?”

“…”

“I wish to break these bonds. These bonds of my legend, of being the strongest. But a doll of that level isn’t enough. That was far too convenient for me, so it failed to function as my natural enemy. The most it could be was a sparring opponent or a tsumeshogi program. It is true I wanted to take a peek at the original gallery to check the Natural History’s missing entries. I wanted to improve the accuracy of my doll. I wanted a more worthy practice opponent.”

Lu Niang Lan searched through her past.

And she came up emptyhanded. She found no information that helped her understand what was in his heart or how to escape this situation.

“But enough about me.”

“Kh.”

She was out of ammo for buying time.

All hope was lost. She tried to move back on trembling legs. This was clearly not the act of Illegal’s hidden blade who could make the Summoning Ceremony industry tremble in fear. She lost control and a tremor spread across her entire body, her thighs naturally turned inward despite how illogical and inefficient that was, and her eyes widened with the fear of prey about to be eaten.

Unsurprisingly, she did not make it even a single step.

Her heel caught on something and she fell pathetically onto her butt. She had tripped over what had once been the regal White Queen. It was one of the pieces scattered across the floor. As soon as she realized she was the same, Lu Niang Lan lost even the power to push herself up from the floor. The doll’s fate would be her own.

This man had control of her every action and even held her life in his hands.

But this was not a strict guillotine execution. He was acting on a whim, but his absoluteness would not be swayed. This had to be the feeling of a hostage with a gun held to their forehead.

And the trigger that was his tongue moved to fire the bullets that were his words.

“Come with me, Niang Lan.”

Once they were fired, silence was not an option.

Yes or no? If she made the wrong choice, she too would be scattered across the floor.

“Let us take that fattened body and rusted soul and hone them anew.”

There was no escape.

As Lu Niang Lan trembled and looked up at the man, she chose…