Editing Mushi Uta:Volume 4th Episode 16 (section)

===Part 4===

It wasn't that she was conceited.

She realized it by seeing Kakkou's expression when he'd talked about Harukiyo.

From the start she couldn't compare to him.

But although she was just a tool maker, it was certain that the hammer-wielding Munechika was the strongest or second strongest of the West Central Branch.

Even if she couldn't compare to him, if she'd fought seriously for an instant—

She realized her own shallowness thinking this.

"Hah…! Hah…!"

The electric scooter skidded on the ground, raising sparks. Its control program allowed it to preserve its balance, barely evading falling over.

"Uh—"

The moment she raised her face, a ball of fire pursued her nose.

Swallowed by the explosive flame, her body was launched back. If she hadn't been protected by fire-resistant gear her head would've probably been annihilated.

Not only had she received damage, but she could see the edge of the road behind her. If she fell into the unconstructed areas she'd become smashed against the distant ground.

"Ngh…!"

Spinning her airborne body like a cat, Munechika barely reached the edge of the road. Turning the throttle in her right hand, the scooter landed on the ground belatedly.

A tiger beetle made of flames with fangs of different sizes assaulted her from above. Jumping ahead with her scooter, she drove it full throttle.

A large hole was created in the asphalt behind the rapidly accelerating Munechika. The heat emitted by the tiger beetle melted the ground, causing the surface of the surrounding asphalt to boil.

Taking advantage of this opening now that the tiger beetle separated from the host, Munechika drove her scooter.

The flame devil, Harukiyo, smiled calmly. Even since the battle started he hadn't even removed his hands from his pockets.

She chose this level ground to make use of the scooter's mobility. Yet already half of the concrete was melted by flames, and the scooter's tires could go no longer.

"…!"

When she reached about a distance of several meters away from Harukiyo, her vision was dyed in crimson.

Several dozen flame pillars stabbed from the ground to the heavens. One of them hit Munechika directly, its impact striking the highway's noise barrier.

If she hadn't been wearing the most durable jumpsuit—

If she hadn't possessed the best kind of scooter—

Munechika would have been burnt to ashes long ago.

"Haha, you're much more persistent than expected."

Harukiyo, standing in the eye of the fire storm, laughed amiably. At some point the battlefield became a scorching hell and Munechika's vision was filled with rising pillars.

''This won't be enough—''

While standing in front the noise barrier, Munechika wiped her sweat. But even without her wiping it, it was instantly evaporated by the heat around.

''Not yet… I have to bring out stronger flames…''

It was obvious the flame-controlling boy still wasn't serious.

Even so, Munechika could already feel the energy in her hands.

Although she hadn't been dealt a fatal wound, she was full of serious burns underneath her jumpsuit. Her stamina was also approaching its limits. She probably wouldn't be able to move for much longer.

At this rate, it'd all end without her being even able to come close.

It wasn't good. Munechika had to obtain the best energy.

In order to get Harukiyo to get serious she had to get a single attack in—

"But it's not enough to challenge me. Try again in your next life."

The boy smiling like a devil unleashed the beetle.

"…!"

This was her last chance.

If she allowed that flame Mushi to safely return to its host, Munechika would probably be erased from this world by fire.

Strike the host before the Mushi returned—

As long as she couldn't do that, Munechika would never survive.

"Fuh…!"

Along with a sharp breath, she threw several drivers from her pouch.

Their sharp edges were pointed at Harukiyo.

However—

"What the heck? You don't feel like using your Mushi yet?"

The beetle cutting through the sky toward Munechika raised an ear-puncturing howl.

Blown by the hot wind, the drivers were melted soundlessly.

Boiling the ground, wrecking the sound barrier, the flame storm stabbed through the road.

Munechika was blown away. She'd stopped the beetle for a second, so a route to Harukiyo opened.

Even if Munechika wanted to use her Mushi she couldn't. It had an ability but couldn't protect itself. If she'd materialized it, it would've been erased by the heat.

"…!"

The moment she jumped into the heat wave, she smelled the unpleasant scent of burning flesh. She already felt no pain.

Yet Munechika believed in her gear.

Starting with the jumpsuit, the scooter she grabbed with her left hand and the hammer in her right hand, these were all creations pounded with her dream and life. They weren't so weak as not to protect their owner from flames that weren't serious.

"—Ooh."

Riding over the heat wave, Harukiyo widened his eyes in admiration.

The beetle corrected its trajectory, falling straight down at Munechika from overhead.

She wasn't going to make it in time—

At this rate she'd be swallowed by the flame Mushi before hitting Harukiyo.

The moment she inferred this, Munechika threw away her pride as a tool maker.

"…Sorry."

She leapt off the scooter.

"I swear I'll revive you."

At the same time a scarab landed on the tip of her hand hammer. The moment before landing on ground, she struck the scooter's motor with her hammer.

A powerful motor sound resounded. Momentarily rebuilding the electric wiring, she made it go berserk.

Losing its driver, the scooter charged toward Harukiyo like a bullet.

Using it for something other than its intended purpose, and even throwing it away—was the thing a tool maker like Munechika hated the most.

Yet she had to use something abnormal to land a hit on this abnormal enemy.

Entrusting herself to this once-in-a-lifetime action, she threw her body to the ground. Munechika rolled on the ground while preserving her momentum.

The scooter suddenly decelerated and Munechika herself decelerated. The beetle miscalculated its attack and stabbed into the asphalt between the two.

"Nice!"

Harukiyo smiled.

For some reason he turned his back to the scooter pursuing him.

The next instant, the boy used a roundhouse kick to blow the metallic vehicle away. —All with superhuman reaction speed and power that were unrelated to his Mushi.

She'd miscalculated the power of Harukiyo himself. He hadn't even gotten his hands out of his pockets.

The surprise attack ended in a failure.

However—

"I'll get your flames."

Passing through the wall of fire created by the beetle, Munechika swung her hammer on Harukiyo.

Still preserving her inertia, Munechika pursued Harukiyo with all her might.

The scarab on top of the swinging hammer shimmered.

"Come at me."

For the first time, the devilishly-smiling Harukiyo took his hands out of his pockets.

Munechika's hammer and Harukiyo's fist connected.

"…Guhh!"

The boy's fist dug deep into her stomach.

Meanwhile, Munechika's hammer—grazed Harukiyo's nose, but ended up not hitting anything.

The beetle melted the asphalt and came flying out of the ground to return toward Harukiyo's back.

"Haaha!"

Harukiyo's calm laughter shook for a second.

"…!"

His footing vanished, causing him to wear an expression of surprise for the first time.

It wasn't just around Harukiyo.

All over the highway the asphalt was being destroyed to pieces.

At the center of the collapse was Munechika. —The hand hammer with the scarab was stabbed into the ground.

Munechika and Harukiyo were both swallowed by the collapsing ground.

"You've aimed for this from the start?!"

Harukiyo's smile changed. Along with surging killer intent, he swung his arm.

The burning beetle howled.

While swallowed by the collapse along with the boy, Munechika removed a cube from her hair.

"Let's keep the jokes only for this stupid ability. Who even likes breaking stuff anyway?"

The highway had much bigger mass than buildings or small machinery. To destroy asphalt that was several meters thick, one needed it to become somewhat lightened—for instance, by tearing holes into it with fire. 

Meaning it was her only chance. She had no proof she could survive this.

"It was fun for a mere tool maker."

Harukiyo thrust his flaming right hand at Munechika.

She widened her eyes.

The flames she wanted were finally in front of her.

Flicking the cube with her fingers, she flung it toward the flames assaulting her.

"UOOOOOHHH!!!"

Swinging her hammer, she struck the Gemsteel engulfed by flames.

Her dream.

Her power.

Her pride.

And—the image of heat she'd received from Ichinokuro Arisu.

A flood of emotions was embedded into that single impact.

The Gemsteel was housing a radiance incomparable to before.

"—"

The shining cube overlapped with the smiling devil falling to the ground.

Munechika returned the victorious smile toward the boy.

She was swallowed by the beetle made of flames.

''Clang.''

''Clang.''

The sound of pounding metal could be heard.

The sound of forging steel could be heard.

Opening her eyelids, the construction site she was supposed to see from afar was silent again.

The sound that roused Munechika wasn't supposed to be there.

It was sound etched into her from before she was born, the melody played by those entrusting their fates to steel.

"Whoa, you really came back to life. From now on I'll call ya zombie-chan."

The voice she heard the instant after retrieving her consciousness was truly unpleasant.

Several figures wearing white coats peered into Munechika's face as she lay on the ruins. Among them the one she heard the most was Kasuou.

Munechika barely roused her body from the ruins of the asphalt of the highway. Even while she lost her consciousness she never let go of her hammer and a wounded scarab was on top of it.

She felt dizzy and pressed on her head.

"Don't move yet… I've healed your wounds, but you don't have enough blood…"

One of the white coats—a girl who she was pretty sure was called Nene—spoke in a soft voice.

She shook her head and looked around.

There was supposed to be a bridge but it turned to a wasteland. It would take time to restore the place destroyed by Harukiyo and Munechika's battle using Nene's ability.

The sun had already sunk, and the surroundings were dark.

Harukiyo couldn't be seen anywhere.

She didn't think that was enough for that devil. Perhaps he thought Munechika had died and fled, or just let her be since she'd been in no fighting condition.

"It's great how you stayed alive like that, zombie-chan. When we found you, you were burnt to a crisp, so I thought you were dead for sure. Since you're Japanese then surely you didn't pass through heaven's gates but gone through the Sanzu River, right?"

She hadn't seen the Sanzu River, but she did hear an unlikely sound.

Ignoring the excited Kasuou, Munechika stood up.

"Ah… I told you not to…"

Shaking off Nene, she looked around the mountain of rubble.

Munechika's eyes found a pale luster.

Approaching with a staggering gait, she stuck her hand inside the ruins.

What she found was a cube shining in silver.

Gemsteel.

Or more precisely, it was what used to be Gemsteel.

Munechika knew at a glance that what she grabbed was much sturdier than before.

Also—it was warm.

It hadn't absorbed and dispersed Munechika's body warmth. The metal she wanted was in her grasp.

She and the scarab remained alive because they'd converted most of Harukiyo's flames to energy, using their ability to alter the Gemsteel's making.

It contained Munechika's life in the truest sense.

And it would probably contain much more life within it from now on.

"Well, so that's it."

She flicked it—the best metal she had finally obtained—upwards and caught it again.

Digging out her scooter buried under the rubble, she started walking with it on her back.

The other white coats watched Munechika, who had nearly died just now, in shock.

"In order to process it… I need to calculate its ratio with the rod… but before that there's Kakkou's gun…"

Muttering to herself, she went down the mountain of rubble.

West Central Branch member Sakura.

A member of the clan of swordsmiths.

The daughter of a metalworker.

And—a mere tool maker who finished one job.

The silver cube inside the hand of Yoshihara Munechika, the girl who would stay obsessed with metal until the end of the world, kept glowing.