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

===Part 4===

Just as Biondetta swiftly left the scene with Sekurtiti, a 20 meter Artificial Sacred Ground surrounded the back alley and the half-destroyed shop. Enemy and ally faced each other with the three-dimensional red Rose floating between them.

Government Award 1000, Thousand Eater.

Elvast Toydream and the nameless beauty.

The supreme man lightly stepped on his own shadow and something shot up vertically. It was a reddish-brown mass of rust. But when he casually caught it and tossed it against the wall, the rust peeled away from the surface. This revealed a glittering gold Blood-Sign that gave off a bright light.

As far as pure skill as a summoner went, he was probably history’s strongest. A single hit to the mostly random Rose and he could accurately knock the exact sequence of letters into the Spots needed to summon the White Queen and declare checkmate with his very first move. If he could do that with 100% accuracy, no summoner could hope to challenge him. It was like working to gather a decent hand while your opponent was always dealt a royal flush. No amount of effort or even cheating could defeat someone who possessed such incredible luck.

But.

Just as two White Thorns shattered the Rose, something happened.

Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say something ''did not'' happen.

The legend had made his first shot, but the White Queen was not summoned. Petals fell into the Spots like normal and the two vessels transformed into the Original Series slimes like normal.

Because she had seen that hopeless legend from closer than anyone, Lu Niang Lan voiced her surprise directly in Kyousuke’s brain.

(What…?)

“Oh?”

Elvast himself sounded amused.

He sounded like someone who had cast their fishing rod without expecting anything but then felt a small fish biting.

“There are two ways of getting past your first-move win. The first is to hit and break the Rose before you can, but I’m sure you have some simple countermeasures for that one.”

Kyousuke was not speaking up just because he liked to explain.

By revealing and crushing his opponent’s methods, he could reduce the man’s charisma at least a little. Shiroyama Kyousuke was familiar with this man’s legend. And he had lost to the man once already. If he did not do this, his legs would give out. The boy would utterly fail to reach the battered image of the strongest he wanted to be.

“And your first-move win looks like it leaves a lot to chance, but that isn’t accurate. The Rose is formed by a three-dimensional arrangement of the 6 x 6 x 6 = 216 Petals. The arrangement of those letters and the location of the Spots seem random, so calculating out where to send your White Thorn might seem pointless, but that isn’t true. …The letter arrangement and Spot locations are based on the terrain. So if you accurately search out all the terrain conditions in advance, you can calculate out those seemingly random factors. And that leads to a nightmarish attack that summons the Queen in a single move!”

Of course, knowing how it worked was not enough to actually pull it off. Even Kyousuke had merely been able to guess that it might be possible to calculate that out, but he had not actually reached the level of making those calculations. No, they were no longer calculations. This man had reached Award 1000, so it was a miracle only possible for him. It was a complex combination of natural intuition and vast experience, like a fortuneteller outdoing a weather satellite’s forecasts just by reading the wind and looking at the shapes of the clouds.

But interfering with that method was much easier.

Everything he had needed had already existed across C Block’s Chinatown.

“That meant we only had to distort and destroy the entire terrain to throw off the timing of your attack. For example, setting off hundreds of thousands of fireworks and starting a fire that entirely changes the terrain!”

(Y-you mean you broke that monster’s unbeatable method?)

“You thought you had perfectly calculated the Rose’s internal arrangement and the Spots’ locations, but we altered them at the last second so your surefire attack won’t work!!”

“I appreciate the vigorous effort,” said the legend as he shook his jacket covered in blade cuts and bullet holes, and raised his Blood Sign which shined with the golden color of a king. “But all you did was seal away my trick homerun. I still have plenty of options left: hitting a double to center left field, stealing bases, a sacrifice fly, or a drag bunt to name a few.”

Yes, it was not that the Thousand Eater could ''only'' do that.

He had simply chosen the simplest and easiest option from his great arsenal of strategies. And that had been so unbeatable that it had shaped his legend.

It should have been obvious, but Elvast could do more than just that.

And whatever he did, it would be with the greatest, fastest, best, toughest, and strongest accuracy.

(…!!)

“Don’t be ashamed of your fear, Lu-san. Use it to reach for victory!!”

Several White Thorns ricocheted around the half-collapsed shop. A detonated container spun through the air, crashed through one of the shop’s few remaining walls, and tumbled across the center of the Artificial Sacred Ground, but it changed nothing. Amid all the fierce explosions, flashes of light, and shockwaves, even Kyousuke had difficulty keeping up with the battle. No, he was clearly overheating. He normally could not draw out this much speed and accuracy. He was so desperate to keep up with and snap at the heels of this living legend that his internal skill was dragged out like a car surpassing its limits using the slipstream created by the car in front of it.

Their Materials rose from Regulation-class to Divine-class in no time at all.

And their monsters did not stay there as they were seamlessly built up further.

Asp.

Divine-class. Sound Range: Low. Cost: 3.

That extremely venomous snake put its prey to sleep with its gaze and then finished them off with its unavoidable venomous fangs. That precision-guided assassin could be controlled by a curse and sent after the desired target.

Remora.

Divine-class. Sound Range: Middle. Cost: 6.

That monstrous fish would latch onto the bottom of a ship and stop it from moving, no matter how large the ship was. Then that marine grim reaper would bewitch the crew into leaping into the ocean.

Achlis.

Divine-class. Sound Range: Low. Cost: 6.

That quadrupedal holy beast gained divine speed in exchange for never being able to get back up if it fell down even once in the arctic land in which it lived.

Phenix.

Divine-class. Sound Range: Middle. Cost: 6.

That spirit bird was reborn in fire about every 500 years and gained eternal life through its continual rebirth. Legends of that transcender of life were said to be passed down from Egypt but there were no such legends there and its origins were wrapped in mystery.

Pyrallis.

Divine-class. Sound Range: Low. Cost: 8.

That ruler of a volcano crater welling with red-hot boiling copper was a minute insect yet had a dragon’s head, four legs, and beautiful wings.

Bonnacon.

Divine-class. Sound Range: Middle. Cost: 8.

That quadrupedal beast caused chemical burns with a wide spray of its own filth. A single attack could cause damage to an entire theatre.

Caladrius.

Divine-class. Sound Range: High. Cost: 9.

That white holy bird could absorb the illness from someone’s body. That master of purification had the power to swallow evil and would not allow anything else to follow it.

Amphisbaena.

Divine-class. Sound Range: Middle. Cost: 11.

That venomous snake had a head at each end to more efficiently spread the powerful venom brewed in its body. That user of evil intoxication was powerful enough to hold a position opposite that of the god of alcohol.

(H-he’s fast!?)

“…”

Kyousuke’s vessel’s thoughts exploded in his mind. They had easily moved beyond a level that would normally require defeating several summoners and using a Chain to reach.

Their Materials were built up again and again at dizzying speed and a lot of them were monsters described in Pliny’s Natural History. It was hard to simply define the strength of the gods, but in the Blood-Sign method where the letters determined everything, these monsters’ power could be efficiently drawn out and they could fight on equal or greater footing than the gods of other mythologies.

Elvast Toydream spoke with an almost carefree air as he acted like the leading car inviting the challenger to a realm of abnormal speed down the hellish twists of turns of a mountain road at night.

“What do you think of this world?”

(…)

Kyousuke felt Lu Niang Lan’s heart leaping like it was his own. But he did not have time to respond to the question. His thoughts were already past their limit and his hands were moving with no time for his surface thoughts to keep up. He could just barely come up with a list of candidates for his next Material, but he was mostly running on instinct and had no real “track”. He felt like he was driving a racecar at 300 kph through a thick forest. As everything flew toward him at great speed, the slightest mistake would mean a head-on collision that split the car down the center.

(The spear-wielding head of the Norse gods who tore out an eye and hanged himself… Sound Range: Low. Cost: 4. The wild head of the Greek gods who cut open his father’s stomach to rescue his many brothers… Sound Range: High. Cost: 4. No good. They have too few letters, so they’re not well suited to the Blood Sign method! I need to build up more letters to draw out more power. …Oh, I know. Aztec mythology. That great feathered serpent that wraps around a great evil to endlessly create and destroy new worlds! Sound Range: Low. Cost: 12!!)

Kyousuke’s thoughts raced so quickly his mind nearly burnt out as he came up with his next move, but even through all that, Elvast had the resources to spare for a conversation.

“Worship the White Queen. Oppose the White Queen. …And to do that, you must master the Summoning ceremony where the White Queen stands at the peak. In the end, everyone is the same. We say so many impressive-sounding things, but we never actually intend to escape the White Queen’s bonds. In fact, we seem to be actively trapping ourselves in that spider web.”

(Is that something for a legend to say? How can you say that when you can summon her with your first move and achieve the easiest and greatest victory!?)

Kyousuke accepted his vessel’s rage. He was too focused to speak, but Elvast must have read the emotion in his eyes because the man smiled thinly.

“That’s right.”

The legend exposed the contents of black box that could not be seen on the surface.

“I am trapped by the White Queen more than anyone. And I could not forgive my soul for being so fragile.”

(………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..Eh?)

The vessel’s confusion nearly filled Kyousuke’s thoughts as well.

But even now, time was moving even faster. Almost like a form of superhuman acrobatics.

(That monster…that tyrant…recognized his own imperfection?)

Several White Thorns whizzed around every which way far too quickly for Kyousuke’s surface thoughts to follow as Elvast and Kyousuke’s Materials left even the Divine-class behind. They were now in the Unexplored-class. These were those who lurked beyond the gods.

Kyousuke summoned an Unexplored-class with a Sound Range of High and a Cost of 14.

The “Gold” Harlot who Serves the Killer Boxes (hs – a – te – ei – yw – az – a – hq).

A gold woman wore a skimpy, jewel-covered dress so gaudy it actually looked cheap. A pile of countless treasure chests and coin bags moved all on its own at her feet. They were all largescale traps that trembled with wicked hunger and contained digestive organs lined with teeth. The Unexplored-class with flowing hair of pure gold leaped toward her prey while those traps followed her.

But Elvast was not concerned. He had an Unexplored-class with a Sound Range of Middle and a Cost of 19: The Lady of “Purple Lightning” that Separates Good from Evil (iu – ao – eu – ei – kub – miq – a – ci – pl). A short-haired girl wearing only the bare minimum of purple cloth sat in a wheelchair. She slowly moved her finger and fought back with beams of light.

“Yes, yes. That is why I had such high hopes for Niang Lan. No, why I envied her.”

(???)

“Just as I achieved Award 1000 and was shifting to the other side, she stabbed me. It was perfect! She is a true and undeniable ‘human’!! After all, that means she threw out her worship of the Materials and chose to remain in the human world! No matter how powerful I grew or how much of a legend I saw myself as, I was never able to throw out the Summoning Ceremony, but she turned her back on it and announced she was starting down her own path!!”

Lu Niang Lan’s thoughts could no longer be converted into words.

It was not just that she could not believe the reality before her eyes. She had spent a lifetime building up so much hatred and the foundation below it all was threatening to crumble away. Or perhaps she was ashamed that she had called him a tyrant without ever realizing his true intentions.

That was how transparent Elvast had been.

It was almost as if the surface of that lake had been colored by the crass humans surrounding him.

“Is that why you’re still fixated on Lu-san?”

Words finally left Kyousuke’s mouth.

Kyousuke understood why that long-haired stubbly man would seek Lu Niang Lan as the only person he had ever accepted, but would he really adore her to this extent?

He worked his thoughts while moving even more than before. This may have been the moment when the boy’s skill, drawn out by contact with the legend, began to leave Elvast’s expectations.

“Yes.”

“And now you’re ordering her to redo everything because she didn’t develop in the way you wanted?”

“Yes!!”

He smiled.

The demonic beast named Elvast still had it in him to smile.

“Where else can you find such talent? Even if you searched through all 7 billion people on Earth one by one, where else could you find someone who can pull herself away from the draw of the White Queen!? I continued down the one path but never reached that level. I hated the White Queen more than anyone, but I was never able to throw out the easy and simple power of the White Queen!! So she must hone herself once more. I knew this sword was too great for someone like me, so I cast it into the outside world, hoping it would be honed even further, but now I find it covered in rust in a cheap pawn shop! How can I overlook that treatment? How can I abandon humankind’s last hope!!!???”

(————)

There were no words from the vessel.

The king’s proclamation was probably accurate.

Lu Niang Lan had loathed, hated, and (most of all) feared that man, but Elvast respected her from the bottom of his heart and had – for that very reason – not shown her any special consideration. He had given her a daily life that would have shattered every last pillar supporting a normal person’s personality in order to raise her up to what he considered the ideal form for a woman.

It was true that Kyousuke had not shaken free the bonds of the Summoning Ceremony.

No matter how much he hated the White Queen, he still held his Blood-Sign in the end. Even though he knew a great evil reigned at the peak and it was all done in the palm of her hand.

The one truly worthy of fighting back against the White Queen may have been this beautiful woman who had shaken off the Summoning Ceremony’s temptation and lived by her own two hands. It was not Shiroyama Kyousuke or Elvast Toydream; it was Lu Niang Lan. And by inviting her back into this world as a vessel, Kyousuke had rusted her soul.

Lu Niang Lan had fled.

She had fled from Elvast Toydream’s hopes and expectation and everything they entailed.

And to gain her freedom and avoid fighting the White Queen, she had stabbed her own king in the back.

Kyousuke understood all that.

And yet he still said it.

“To hell with that.”

He did not have time to say much.

He was still only barely hanging on, so even an unwanted twitch of a finger could lead to death.

But he simply had to say this.

“All you’re talking about is ''your idea of'' the ideal Lu Niang Lan. That doesn’t mean Lu-san has to go along with any of it.”

He shifted his thoughts up to their limit.

He was amazed that he still had a higher gear to shift up to.

“So what if she’s ‘worthy’. How does that help her conquer the fear?”

No, Kyousuke may not have been opposing the tyrant before his eyes.

He may have been opposing the other person he was linked to.

He may have been opposing the woman who felt absolutely cornered and was hanging her head.

He may have been opposing her to get her to raise her head once more.

“So what if only she can do it? That’s no excuse for forcing her through more suffering than other people!! Everyone would be afraid of facing the White Queen head on!! You couldn’t do it yourself and you fled to this gentle peace, so you have no right to corner Lu-san. If you don’t have the courage to stand by her side to fight with her…no, to tell her it’s dangerous and have her stand behind you to protect her, you have no right to say anything about her!!!!!!”

She did not have to become a hero. She did not need to bear the hope of humankind. No one would honor her if she recklessly challenged the White Queen as some kind of human representative.

No matter what anyone said, Lu Niang Lan should have been the kind of normal girl you could find anywhere!!

(Kyousuke…-hyan…)

An especially large container of fireworks exploded nearby.

The store no longer had any walls standing and the area had become nothing but an empty lot. All the while, Kyousuke accurately threaded his White Thorns through the gaps in the container pieces that blew around like scraps of paper in a storm.

(I want to stop him. I want to overcome this peak and reclaim my life!! So Kyousuke-chan, please!!)

“Yes, let’s end his selfishness here!!”

They had already reached the Unexplored-class.

Their Materials all possessed extraordinary power that surpassed the gods of legend. No matter what they chose, it would have enough violent power to end any normal battle.

And Shiroyama Kyousuke’s selection was perfect.

Unexplored-class. Sound Range: Low. Cost: 20.

The “Red-Eyed” Lady who Sees Through all Sin and Calamity (fa – ao – ab – ei – fj – cib – b – du – a – eif).

She was one of the Three who stood near the peak of the Unexplored-class. Her power was devastating even among the monsters of the Unexplored-class. She was the guardian of Government and she wore a partially removed kimono and a one piece swimsuit. She had long hair and she had two horns on her forehead. Her hair was caught in countless giant gears behind her that connected the hair to all destiny like a loom. The words that left her mouth were already definite truth and, if she were to open her coolly closed eyes, it was said she would fix the future in place.

''I’ve won,'' thought Kyousuke.

He had prevented the White Queen’s immediate appearance, worked his way up to the Unexplored-class the old-fashioned way, and successfully reached the Red Lady who was one of the strongest once that greatest evil was removed from the equation. Elvast may have been a living legend, but he could not turn things around now. No matter what Unexplored-class he summoned, Kyousuke could crush him with brute force. There was nothing higher than this. Or so he thought.

But he was forgetting something.

He had indeed prevented her immediate appearance. He had made sure Elvast had to fight the old-fashioned way. But that did not make it impossible for the White Queen to appear.

(…)

The first to catch the “scent” was Lu Niang Lan who had stood by that man’s side for so long.

(What is this? This is the usual “scent”.)

After all…

“Ahh, ahh. This is why I hate myself…”

Kyousuke heard a lamenting voice.

Standing next to Elvast Toydream was one of the Unexplored-class who all had feminine forms.

[[Image:BloodSign_v06_366.png|thumb]]

“No matter what, I always end up relying on the White Queen in the end.”

He had to do it the old-fashioned way.

His greatest cheat had been sealed away and he had needed to start from scratch.

And yet Elvast Toydream had arrived there.

This was not just one of the Three. He had summoned 100 Regulation-classes, 50 Divine-classes, and then arrived at the peak of even the Unexplored-class.

“Ah.”

(Thank you.)

Unexplored-class. Sound Range: None. Cost: 21.

The “White” Queen who Wields the Sword of Unsullied Truth (iu – nu – fb – a – wuh – ei –kx – eu – pl – vjz).

(Kyousuke-chan, you did nothing wrong. Yes, you were just up against too fearsome an opponent.)

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?”

That was the end of it.

The slender index finger held to her lips swept sideways and the world was bisected.