Editing Unlimited Fafnir:Volume 9 Chapter 4 (section)

===Part 4===

"..."

I ran as fast as I could inside the cavern where the water vapor made for poor visibility.

My destination was the passage on the other end that Ariella was in charge of guarding.

Ren had gone over there to speak with her alone and checked the other side already, but there were no signs of her.

Tia, Vritra and the panicking Ren had gone back to the cottage together. I asked them to pass a message to Jeanne to take over my post, so our defenses should not weaken as a result.

What I had heard from Tia and Vritra, the matter of the ninth calamity, was still bouncing around in my head but I had to think about it later.

—Where on earth did Ariella go?

To avoid running past her inadvertently, I looked around and checked back and forth.

Although visibility was poor due to the water vapor, with only one path, missing her was unlikely.

Since Ren was safe, NIFL's intrusion was not possible so Ariella must have left her spot on her own volition.

Perhaps I should have talked to Ariella earlier.

Regrets and a foreboding sense that it was too late now were occupying my heart.

However, I stopped in surprise just as the door to the passage came into view.

Amidst the foggy water vapor, a figure appeared. I cautiously approached. It was a girl with her hair tied in a ponytail with  a green ribbon—Ariella.

Noticing me as well, she looked in my direction.

I instantly felt a sense of relief, but immediately realized it was too soon to lower my guard.

Ren could not have lied. To be that shaken, she must have called Ariella's name many times. Had Ariella been in the cavern, she could not possibly miss Ren's voice.

"What's wrong, Mononobe-kun? Aren't you in charge of guarding the other door?"

I stopped at a distance of three meters. Ariella tilted her head and asked.

Ariella looked like she did not know that Ren had visited. In other words, she had been somewhere beyond earshot of Ren's voice when Ren had come over.

"What about you, Ariella, where did you go?"

I stared into Ariella's eyes and asked in return. However, she frowned with a lost expression.

"Where did I go? I've been here the whole time."

"—You're lying. Ren came over just and she didn't see you."

It was heartrending to expose a friend's lie, but I told her firmly.

Hearing that, Ariella widened her eyes slightly and made a wry smile.

"Really...? So Ren hasn't slept yet."

Seeing that she did not try to find an excuse, I felt bitterness fill up my heart.

"You went up?"

Considering Ren's and my movement times, she only had enough time to return from above—Midgard's lowest level. Thinking that, I confirmed with Ariella.

"Yes, I had something to do."

"Something to do huh—"

I could only think of one reason why she would go up to Midgard's lowest level and return immediately. It was what we had discussed before.

"To go somewhere with reception, were you contacting someone?"

"......"

Ariella smiled wryly but did not answer.

Although I had her pegged as an upfront person, right now, that smiling face was fake. I clenched my fist. My left hand's dragon mark was hot and painful.

"I actually don't know what you're thinking or doing, Ariella. But... if you have any troubles, I want to help you. If you're in pain, I want to support you. So, right now, could you hold my hand first?"

Saying that, I extended my left hand.

"So... you want me to become your mate, Mononobe-kun?"

"That's right. Let's talk about the rest later. I will do everything I can for your happiness, Ariella. Trust me."

I looked straight at Ariella while I spoke, prompting a flush of red on her face.

"It's almost like... a proposal."

Ariella scratched her cheek shyly and avoided eye contact. However, her wry smile did not disappear. Instead, sadness was mixed into it.

"I trust you, but as soon as I think about what I have to do next, I can't hold your hand. No... I never had the right to stay with everyone in the first place."

Staring at my outstretched hand, Ariella shook her head.

"Right...?"

"I have no right. You don't know anything about me, Mononobe-kun. If you did, you'd surely hate me."

"—Nothing of that sort. I will prove it. So tell me."

While putting down my hand, I stared at her and asserted.

"Is... that so? It's already the end, so I guess I should say it first."

However, she seemed to be refusing something. Getting a bad feeling from her use of "the end," but to avoid getting in her way, I did not ask about it.

"I think I mentioned staying in a dragon-hating organization before, right?"

"—That's right."

I confirmed.

After "Yellow" Hraesvelgr devoured the souls of her deceased family, Ariella had joined an organization hostile to Ds and dragons to seek refuge. However, when she became a D herself, the organization had sold her to Ren's father—Miyazawa Kenya—for conducting research on Ds.

"Probably because its activities were very similar to NIFL's, the organization had many ties to NIFL as well. As a result, the organization kept in contact with NIFL and it came as no surprise when NIFL absorbed it to serve as a regional branch."

Ariella calmly talked about her organization, but when she mentioned NIFL, I felt an even more repulsive sense of foreboding.

"Apparently my organization worked under NIFL and a former cadre heard about what had happened to me and contacted me while I was being transported to Midgard. I was really surprised at the time. So frightened that I dared not breathe."

Ariella smiled wryly while making light of her experiences. But realizing everything she said was the truth, I focused with bated breath.

"Do you understand now, Mononobe-kun? Starting then, I've stayed in contact with NIFL the whole time. I gave out Midgard's inside information many times—In other words, I'm what you'd call a spy."

Ariella spoke in self-deprecation but I could not accept it so easily.

"That's very... weird. Why would you cooperate with a cadre from the organization that sold you?"

I brought up a question bu Ariella's expression turned icy cold.

"—There are reasons, many of them. Then there are also reasons too... why I must kill the principal—'Gray.'"

"What..."

Shocked, I involuntarily took a step forward, but Ariella moved her right arm to stop me.

"Aegis."

What manifested to cover her arm was a fictional armament in the shape of a gauntlet. Ariella pointed it at me and asked calmly:

"Mononobe-kun, the fact that my fictional armament takes the form of defensive gear... Do you know why?"

Although I wanted to question her on why she must kill Charlotte, in order to calm myself, I answered her question first.

"Isn't it to protect everyone—to protect Ren...?"

I thought that because Ariella always volunteered first to take on defensive missions. However, she shook her head as though saying "you regard me too highly."

"The reason is simpler than that. I don't hold weapons, no matter what their form. If I held a weapon—I'd start viewing human lives as trash."

Ariella told me mournfully then slowly unfastened the ribbon on her hair. The untied hair fell down to her shoulders.

"Ariella, what on earth are you going to..."

Unsure what meaning was behind her actions, I asked.

However, she did not answer. After gazing at the ribbon in her hand for a while, she slowly uncurled her fingers. The green ribbon floated down lightly.

Before the ribbon reached the ground, Ariella spoke.

"—Go."

Wind was released from her fictional armament, blowing the falling ribbon towards me.

After I reflexively reached out and caught the ribbon, Ariella smiled faintly.

"That ribbon was Ren's first gift to me. Although it's such an important treasure... I think it's inappropriate if I keep it while heading off to commit murder next."

"...Are you really going to kill Charl—to kill the principal?"

Holding the ribbon, I asked. She nodded without hesitation.

"Yes. Although she's immortal, I have a feeling I can kill her. Once I hold a weapon... I'll know how to kill her."

Ariella generated a black mass of dark matter in front of her, transmuting it into a silver knife.

The instant she caught it in the air, the aura exuded from her entire body changed.

An intense chill rushed up from my feet, causing cold sweat to break out of my forehead.

Warned by instinct, I took a leap back to pull away. Unlike the times when I confronted Hreidmar, this felt almost as though death itself had taken physical form before me.

Holding the knife in her hand, Ariella sneered at my response.

"The first time I took part in the organization's training, I noticed my talent... So dangerous that I almost killed the instructor... Afraid of that side of mine... I only learned combat skills that did not require weapons."

Her voice and expression were sharp beyond compare. Although I had maintained sufficient distance, I still felt as though I had a knife to my throat.

However, why? I did not feel any sense of dissonance to see her like that. It was probably because she was too similar. Not to Hreidmar... but to me—My "Fafnir."

"Then drop the knife, take this ribbon and return with me to Ren's side."

I raised the ribbon and said to Ariella. Precisely because it was so similar, I could understand what kind of change had happened to Ariella now. Instinct warned me it was a step that must never be taken. However, she quietly shook her head.

"I actually do want to see Ren one last time... But by now, I can't go back. I'm meeting up with NIFL's forces next, to take Gray's head."

"—Don't go!"

Anti-personnel weapon—AT Nergal.

I generated dark matter and instantly transmuted it into an anti-personnel projectile-based electroshock gun. Using this Nergal, I would be able to neutralize Ariella without killing her. It was past the point of stopping her with words, but I had to convey these thoughts to her.

"I now know what you've hidden till now, Ariella. But even so, I can't hate you and I've no intention of going back on what I said in the beginning. For my sake and Ren's, as well as your own... I will stop you no matter what you're planning to do!"

I pointed the gun's muzzle at her and declared.

"Mononobe-kun, you are so nice. But... Do you really get it? During the Leviathan battle, that NIFL team that infiltrated Midgard—Can you still forgive me even if I was the one who brought them in?"

"That's right, I forgive you. But you'll have to apologize to Iris afterwards."

I instantly answered without any wavering.

My heart was not wavering the slightest. Suppose what Ariella said was true, I believe there must be reasons too. Even if she had reasons for killing Charlotte, Ariella actually did not want to commit murder.

I was convinced not because of presumption or arrogance, but because I had been watching her all along.

"Haha—Looks like I underestimated you again."

Widening her eyes at my answer, Ariella smiled and touched her lower abdomen with her hand, the location of her dragon mark.

"At the Principality of Erlia, starting from the time when I watched you fight Hraesvelgr... I couldn't help but become obsessed with you. When we returned to Japan and I saw how you did everything you could for Ren's sake, I wanted to support you. By the time I realized, I couldn't tear my gaze away from you anymore."

After gently touching her lower abdomen, Ariella readied her knife in a carefree manner.

"My dragon mark probably changed color because of these feelings. Somewhere in my heart, I hoped you'd choose me."

"In that case... You don't need to overthink things. I will hold you tightly in these arms and never let you go."

Holding Nergal, I declared but Ariella grinned.

"Sure—Mononobe-kun. I will obey you—if you can touch me and make me yours. However... Definitely, you won't be able to stop me."

With these words, Ariella kicked the ground. Instead of retreating, she was closing in.

The risk of touching me should increase by approaching me, but she still chose to fight with a knife.

"!"

I pulled Nergal's trigger in response to her charging in.

The acute gunshot echoed inside the cavern while electrical sparks flashed on the ground.

—She had dodged.

Although I could see her jumping to the side just before the bullet could strike, by the time I continued to look for her, she had already vanished.

I felt a chilling aura of death.

Relying on my senses, I shot Nergal to the side.

There was a flash of electricity in the white water vapor and a sharp metallic noise. She had most likely used the knife to defend. However, Nergal's electrical shock should conduct through a metallic blade.

Just as I shifted my gaze towards the location of the impact, there were no signs of Ariella collapsing. In other words...

—She had blocked by throwing the knife huh?

Such unbelievable skills were making me focus with bated breath. At this moment, acute killing intent approached me from behind.

"Guh!?"

What appeared before me when I turned my head back was an incoming silver blade. As though tracing a line of killing intent, the blade was blocked by me using Nergal.

But Ariella emerged from the water vapor, facing me directly. In her hand was a new knife created from dark matter.

I fired Nergal to intercept her but Ariella swung the knife. The instant before the bullet struck, she released her hand.

A flash of electricity jumped in the air. Ariella continued to close in while swinging her arm. More than ten masses of dark matter were summoned in her surroundings, turning into knives at the same time.

"Generate a storm."

While raising her right arm, equipped with her fictional armament, Ariella spoke sharply.

The blades attacked, accompanied by a storm.

Confronted with this massive threat, I summoned the will to fight and kill.

Following the wind, I jumped back, only using Nergal to strike down knives that were about to hit me.

Normally, it would be impossible to predict the knives' trajectories, but I captured them through my skin's senses. Mixed inside me, "Fafnir" was driving my body.

While I was striking down the storm of blades, Ariella closed in even more.

During an instant that felt as though time had lengthened, our eyes met and she smiled.

Within arm's reach. She had no knife in her hand. A perfect chance.

However, instinct warned me of danger.

This was no opening—

Obeying instinct, I took half a step back and pointed Nergal's muzzle at her.

But in that instant, I saw it.

The first knife I had deflected in the air had returned to Ariella's hand, spinning as though there was an attractive force.

A flash of silver—

Before I could pull the trigger, the barrel had already been sliced. Had I not stepped back, the attack would have struck me in a vital.

However, the crisis was not over. Ariella pressed on and charged.

I threw the two halves of Nergal at Ariella to buy time then picked up a knife that had fallen on the ground.

But at that moment, Ariella had already launched her next attack.

Despite my unstable footing, I twisted my body and swung the knife to counterattack approaching death.

A sharp impact rang out while Ariella and I became locked in a struggle, resisting each other's knife.

We were holding the knives in our right hands. I reached out with my empty left hand to touch Ariella, but—

"I knew it. You're very strong, Mononobe-kun."

Ariella suddenly stopped pushing and used my opposing force to jump backwards.

My left hand missed while Ariella reconstructed Aegis in the air. To guard against offensive applications of transmutation, I generated dark matter in my empty left hand.

Fictional armament—Siegfried.

What manifested was a fictional armament in the shape of a gun. I aimed the muzzle at Ariella but she was a step faster in transmutation.

"A serious fight with you at last. This is seriously awesome."

Instead of targeting me, Ariella aimed flames overhead. A giant explosion shook the entire cavern. Seeing the roof of the cavern collapse, I hastily generated antigravitational matter.

"Antigravity."

The white light expanded, temporarily pushing away the falling giant rocks. But this move was very limited in area. Due to consuming all dark matter in the fictional armament in one go, Siegfried disappeared from my hand.

Outside the white light, the collapse continued. Amidst clouds of smoke and dust, Ariella's figure vanished.

"Well then, Mononobe-kun, I'll be leaving now... Don't chase after me, okay? The next time we meet, I'm certain I'll no longer be myself. Even if you don't kill me, I'll probably kill you—"

I heard her voice through the thunderous noise of falling rocks.

"Wait, Ariella!"

I called out. I wanted to rush over to her but the repulsive field was weakening and a large number of rocks came falling, blocking my path. By this point, catching up to her was impossible.

If I used an explosion or a repulsive field to push the rubble away by force, the cavern's roof might collapse further.

—Screw this.

However, a tide of anger was seething in my heart.

"Screw this!!"

Intense emotions erupted through my mouth.

Even if I could not touch her with these hands right now, I must not let her go just like that. I could not accept what she said.

I summoned Siegfried again and aimed it at the debris blocking my way.

This was only instinct. If the physical obstructions could not be cleared and my voice could not reach her... ''All I had to do was use a power unfettered by physical laws''!

"Ether Bullet!!"

What I unleashed was the power inherited from "Yellow" Hraesvelgr. Golden particles for materializing one's spirit—the soul.

Applied to living beings in high enough density, it could even seal their movements... But my generating capacity was nowhere near enough on my own.

Hence, the purpose of this was not to stop Ariella in her tracks.

Unfettered by physical laws, these particles could pass through sand and soil—Possibly reaching her. My voice might actually reach her.

There was no concrete evidence, just an ambiguous possibility. However, I yelled as hard as I could, entrusting my message to that sliver of hope.

"Even if you change, you will always be Ariella! I will never give up on you!!"

My voice echoed inside the cavern, causing ripples in the golden particles filling the surroundings.

"——!"

Then it came back. Ariella's thoughts. The feelings she could not voice.

It was no illusion. Her emotions had definitely reached my heart.

Dancing like snowflakes, the golden particles gradually thinned out and disappeared.

—Yes, I know.

Watching the debris and the wall of rock, I tightly clenched my left hand with its glowing dragon mark, responding to her thoughts in my mind.

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