Editing Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 2 Chapter 4 (section)

===Part 3===


There was a quiet sound in the dim empty space.

It was Hayase Takashi's footsteps on the linoleum covered floor.

After he warded off Mio and Maria's continuous attacks, he chased after them, they were avoiding further combat; going into the large shopping mall in front of the station.

Although no other people were inside the barrier, the mall had various floors and endless space, since it consisted of three buildings connected through passageways. The perfect location to hide and buy time.

---However, that only applied if Takashi was without his "Byakko". Byakko had the duty to protect the west, so when there were hostile enemies in its entrusted region, it could vaguely sense their whereabouts.

"…That way, huh."

Following "Byakko's" reaction, Takashi set foot onto the fourth floor of building B. It was a fashion floor that dealt with women's clothes. The floor had its power turned off with only the emergency lights on.

''…Did they break the breaker in the fuse box?''

The barrier reproduced the state of affairs, not just the material.

Even so, by destroying the breaker, it was possible to create a state of affair corresponding to that.

The ambushing side was at an advantage, since they could be mistaken as a merchandise's shadow in the darkness. But Takashi slowly proceeded to the center of the floor.

"I know you're here--- Come out."

He declared so in a calm tone to these two, but there was no response, as they were thinking that they hid well. So Takashi ''started moving west''--- towards the end of the floor.

At that moment,

"------"

The surrounding atmosphere became a bit tense. Basara must have told them how dangerous it was when Takashi with "Byakko" got on their west side.

Suddenly--- a mannequin came flying at Takashi with a buzz. He cut it in half with "Byakko" in one swing.

Then,

"---Over there, huh."

At the same time he muttered, he kicked the floor.

When he dashed into the direction the mannequin had come from, a couple more mannequins came flying.

Takashi went on dodging them within a hair's breadth by making sidesteps, whereupon he spotted a small silhouette in the dim passage ahead--- It was Maria.

Takashi accelerated at once, closed the distance between him and her and was about to be in reach for his "Byakko".

But right before,

"What---?"

He frowned with a light surprise. Maria, who he had thought would run for it again, showed a movement against his expectation.

She laughed.

"---Here I go."

Saying so, Maria kicked the ground and leaped forward--- towards Takashi. Bending her small body, she launched a flying kick by rotating her waist horizontal.

"------"

Takashi immediately went into defense. Maria wasn't the only opponent.

If he carelessly dodged and took his distance, it was quite likely that Mio would shoot him with her magic there.

Therefore he blocked Maria's kick with "Byakko's" shaft.

"Guh---… Wha!?"

Unable to stop the blow that exceeded his expectation by far, Takashi flew sideways through the air.

While he went flying through the display of a nearby fashion shop for little girls, Takashi nonetheless adjusted his posture in midair and landed gliding on the ground.

There,

"Now, here comes more!"

She closed the distance between them at once with a jolly voice.

Entering even further into "Byakko's" reach--- she unleashed continuous punches and kicks at close range.

By a sudden turn, Takashi was forced to evade. In fact it was dangerous to take her on carelessly, since these powerful attacks were coming merciless after Takashi one after another.

''…What's going on?''

He had checked upon the succubus' power one week ago.

Sure, she wasn't an opponent to lower your guard against, but she definitely should have been at a level where he could defeat her by himself.

Of course he didn't expect her to sit by idly the last week. She must have trained together with Basara.

''…Still,''

Her current power had gone up remarkably compared to one week ago. No, not just her power. All of her physical abilities had leapt up. As if she was seeing through his surprise,

"Too bad for you. Thanks to Basara-san and Mio-sama, I brimmed in various ways."

She said so and increased the force in her attacks even more. Moreover, while fighting at close range, she was always positioning herself so that he won't have his back to the west. However,

"Like I would let you… do as you please forever!"

Not missing the opening between Maria's continuous attacks, Takashi went on the counterattack.

He couldn't activate "Byakko's" power, but he cornered Maria by combining thrusts and slashes--- straight and curved attacks.

And then he finally landed an upward cut from below.

But--- The resistance Takashi felt was not from cutting her apart.

"…What?"

Hayase Takashi looked. Maria had stopped "Byakko's" blade with her crossed thin arms.

---Sure, a power type had high physical abilities. The giant devil from the other day that did not even need to dodge Basara and Maria's attacks was the perfect example. But it was unexpected that a small girl like her could block his attack, even if she was a succubus.

''…Seems I have to reconsider.''

Takashi had deemed Maria strength to be B-class, but now recognized it as A-class. And then,

"---Howl, "Byakko"."

Right away, a whirlwind appeared around "Byakko" and sent Maria flying back, diagonally upwards, into the air.

"Ahhhhhhhhh---!?"

Maria's small body crashed into the ceiling in no time. Breaking through the ceiling like that, she was sent flying to the next floor together with a shock wave, where soon another crash sounded.

Most likely, Maria was even blown through the next ceiling.

"You were unlucky…"

Takashi said while looking at the fragments falling down from the broken ceiling.

---To release "Byakko's" full power he certainly needed to be on the enemy's west side.

However, that didn't mean that "he couldn't attack at all when he wasn't on the west side".

Although not at full power, he could release "Byakko's" power for a local attack on the spot.

Just like the attack that pierced and froze the giant devil the other day or the whirlwind against Maria just now.

That said--- Maria's current strength wasn't to be scoffed at. It was unlikely she was defeated by that. Takashi shortly pondered whether he should go after Maria to finish her or get rid of Mio at once.

"------"

He turned around to the presence that suddenly popped up behind him--- in the west. There stood a single girl.

Emitting an surging crimson urge different from the black aura of the previous devil lord and the blue one from the moderate faction, Naruse Mio had already expanded a magic circle in front of her.

"Speed is the pride of a speed type, right? … Then how about this?"

At the same time she said that, a large quantity of water appeared.

It turned into a stream that swallowed up the whole floor and Takashi was dragged into its stream at once.