Editing The Unexplored Summon Blood Sign:Volume2 Chapter4 (section)

===Part 5===

Benikomichi Fuuki felt a strange emotion rising from within her heart.

She had transformed into the Feasting Flower (l v z – j). All Materials were filled with violent and belligerent thoughts, but this was something else.

Yasuzumi Hayato, her partner and summoner, stood on the hallway wall as he fought Shiroyama Kyousuke.

As Fuuki received his support in her man-eating flower form, she clashed with Kyousuke’s Material, a giant single-horned fish.

To be blunt, things were not going well.

They had supposedly inputted the optimal values and made the optimal calculations, but they had not received the optimal answer.

Hayato’s side had set all of this up, but for some reason Kyousuke’s side always seemed to have the upper hand.

It felt like handing their spare ammunition to the enemy and being shot by those very bullets.

However…

<Heh heh.>

The emotion rising from within the transformed girl was joy.

She gave no thought to the fact that her thoughts might be reaching her partner.

<Oh, this is bad. This is really, really bad. My bad habits are coming back… How many years has it been since I wanted to have some fun on a job?>

As Yasuzumi Hayato stood vertically in the hallway, he gave her a quick confused glance.

Yes, she was rejoicing as they were being cornered.

She was delighting in the existence of someone who could push them to the limit like this.

It felt like remembering the distant past.

It was like finding the same atmosphere as when she had joined hands with a veteran assassin and lived a life of constantly being pushed to the limit.

<nowiki><I keep talking about surpassing him and abandoning him, but all I’m really doing is chasing after Telomere’s End’s shadow. I still yearn for those days. A memento is no more valuable than a memento. Ahh, is that what it all meant?></nowiki>

She had taken on the unnecessary risk of side effects to hide that she was a vessel and thus avoid unnecessary battles with other summoners, but there had been no real reason to become student council president. She could have lived the life of an inconspicuous and obedient student.

Had she done so regardless because she had wanted to try walking a path besides that of the dead summoner’s teachings?

She had lived up to everyone’s expectations, stood before everyone, and aimed for something beyond them all.

But it had not been enough.

No matter how much she succeeded as a human, that summoner’s shadow never vanished. The traces of that man had become a part of the girl named Benikomichi Fuuki.

To the point that she was willing to use his “memento” of a son to immerse herself in those memories.

Kyousuke had said there was no saving her.

He must have seen through it all in that quick exchange.

And Yasuzumi Hayato had likely seen it too.

<So what?>

As the man-eating flower’s fangs clashed with the giant fish’s horn, Benikomichi Fuuki mocked it all.

<Even if he knows the truth, I’ve taught him to continue favoring me regardless. Oh, I get it now. Finding it boring when everything goes just the way you want is the ultimate form of selfishness.>

The vessel’s feelings were not directed toward the summoner.

To her, there was only one person superior to her.

In fact, she felt fonder of the formidable foe who had reminded her of those days.

<Every word coming from Hayato’s mouth is my own and every word coming from my mouth is that man’s. Hayato knows that, but he still does as I say. Not as a puppet or a clown, but as an assassin who outputs violence according to the requested job. But it’s too bad, Hayato. I wasn’t looking for a teacher’s pet that develops according to schedule. I was betting on the possibility of you destroying the framework of pre-established harmony.>

Yasuzumi Hayato was considered a failure after scoring a perfect 100, so there was no reward for him here. And Benikomichi Fuuki was an extraordinarily cruel girl for forcing that onto him so readily.

Blood and knowledge.

Genes and techniques.

The assassin summoner boy was trapped between both of those, but he had created a place for himself in the slight gap between and he called out a girl’s name from the bottom of his gut. He awaited instructions like a machine.

“Fuuki-sa-…!!”

But the poor boy was cut off. He seemed to realize something that frightened him. His mouth…no, his entire body came to a stop.

The summoner looked to his feet.

He stood on the school’s outer wall, so the entire surface was made of glass. There was no need to have the Material break it. If he stomped his foot, he could break it himself. And that transparent footing led to a never-ending expanse. There was nothing horizontal of here. If this broke, he would seriously continue falling for hundreds of meters…no, perhaps even for kilometers.

His life would not be in danger as long as the protective circle lasted, but since he could not predict what high-rise building would become his next footing, that would not improve his situation. Doing that would mean throwing out all his calculations and gambling with his life and future. No plan could be more foolish.

And yet…

<No, Hayato! Don’t stop! That isn’t what Telomere’s End would do! Step onto the ceiling or floor. You can recover from-…>

Benikomichi Fuuki shouted at him as if pushing a doll forward.

The Material ignored the summoner and started on its next attack.

But before it could…

“Librarian-chan.”

A voice even colder than the assassin’s reached their ears.

The Devouring Wings. Cost: 5. Sound Range: Middle. The monster that reacted to Kyousuke’s words was not so much a bird as it was a giant stingray and it had rows of human teeth.

It happened in an instant.

“''Do it.''”

The monster did not hesitate to break the glass earth below their feet.

Fuuki and Hayato were both overcome by the falling sensation that felt like a weight in the stomach. Dumbfounded, they looked to the enemy summoner. Had he made a desperate gamble because he had no chance of winning? That (from Hayato’s perspective) optimistic idea came to mind, but he would soon realize he was wrong.

There was no surprise on Kyousuke’s face.

<nowiki><I knew it… He already knows the battlefield perfectly, even the locations of the buildings a thousand meters from here. This is just like being brought back to that golden age, Shiroyama Boy!!></nowiki>

This was the territory of the true Telomere’s End.

Yasuzumi Hayato was nothing but his memento, so he could never reach this point.

“Oh, ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

The summoner could no longer speak.

But he did have a direct mental link to the vessel he fought alongside.

<Tch. Prepare to land, Hayato!!>

Benikomichi Fuuki realized what the assassin intended to do, so she collided with Hayato from the side as a burning metal ball of a Material. That bent his fall by a right angle, so he flew like an artillery shell and stabbed into the outer wall of the gym built next to the school.

He had avoided the thousand meter fall and set the gym’s outer wall as their new footing.

Shiroyama Kyousuke followed, as if being dragged over by the wall of the newly created Artificial Sacred Ground. So did the group of red Petals. Kyousuke landed on the gym wall with the force of a meteor.

No.

With a great roar, the protective circle around him mercilessly broke through the wall.

Hayato and everyone else were thrown horizontally into the dark gym. They landed on the opposite wall and the Petals rained down like a red meteor shower.

As a burning metal ball, Fuuki clicked her tongue at Hayato’s wide-eyed look.

<An assassin must remain composed at all times!! Even if this place is destroyed, even if you’re sent flying horizontally through the night sky again, even if you have no idea where your next footing will be, and even if you slip between the buildings and fly outside the city altogether, an assassin needs to keep a fearless smile on his face!!>

But Hayato had good reason to be concerned.

The Artificial Sacred Ground only lasted for ten minutes, so he would not be thrown beyond the solar system. But it was obvious what would happen to a flesh-and-blood human if the effects wore off during a horizontal fall.

Fuuki knew that, but she still worked to motivate him.

<Don’t stop, Hayato! Remember the rules of the family. This is just like a crack in a dam. If an assassin hesitates, it will all fall apart from there!!>

And Shiroyama Kyousuke did not hesitate.

“Librarian-chan.”

“Dammit!!!!!!”

When he heard that, Yasuzumi Hayato ran full speed along the gym wall. He ran toward the floor. At the same time, he instructed Benikomichi Fuuki to drop down from “above” to destroy their footing.

<So you choose survival over killing. But I guess there’s no helping that!!>

The burning metal ball crashed down and achieved the desired destruction.

Hayato had arrived at the right angle connection between wall and floor and he stepped onto the floor the instant the footing crumbled.

He had finally escaped the hopeless threat of being thrown out into empty air, so he breathed a small sigh of relief.

But…

“Now, then.”

<That’s right.>

Kyousuke lightly spun his Blood-Sign around.

His previous method would no longer work, but Alice (with) Rabbit did not look concerned.

“This is a large floor with no walls or ceilings in reach. …You can no longer use that artificial gravity tactic you love so much.”

“…!?”

“And if you can’t use your interference tactics, this comes down to pure skill as a summoner. You are no longer much of a threat. If all we’re doing is hitting our White Thorns, I have the upper hand. Or am I wrong?"

<The more passive measures we took, the less freedom we had. He was riling us up to create this situation from the beginning.>

“Ha…ha ha.”

Yasuzumi Hayato raised his Blood-Sign and looked around the dark gym.

There were large holes on both side walls and the ceiling was too far away. The polished wooden floor was the only surface. There really was nothing he could do. There was nothing left with which to create his next footing.

''However…

<It’s not over yet. Tell him, Hayato.>

“Hah. Have you forgotten, Alice (with) Rabbit?”

“…”

“This isn’t a normal school. It’s a midair float supported by dozens of pillars! And that means!! There’s plenty of free space down below!!”

<That’s right. That’s how an assassin acts!!>

With those words, the burning metal ball that Benikomichi Fuuki had become dropped down from above.

It was a lot like a lightning strike.

The world split. It went beyond the waxed wooden floor breaking. The foundation of the building and the entire artificial surface of the midair float split, broke, scattered, and crumbled.

Below them was a drop of twenty to thirty meters, several large bridges, and the many thick pillars that supported the midair float. The Rainy Screen that projected images onto the falling raindrops was mainly meant to be viewed from indoors, so there were not many people outside, especially on these bridges with their view of the night sky blocked by the midair float. There was no sign of anyone on those bridges.

They could use any of those and land on any of them.

They had recovered.

Hayato could continue at his own pace now. He would make a complete comeback. It would all be over when he landed on his next footing.

But what happened next betrayed his expectations.

“Librarian-chan.”

[[Image:BloodSign_v02_301.jpg|thumb]]

It happened as soon as Shiroyama Kyousuke said that.

The Spear that Pursues Fresh Blood (bih – ei – dp – tq). Cost: 9. Sound Range: Low. A flying spear over five meters long moved in the span of a breath.

With a deafening noise, the Material stabbed through the bridge Hayato was trying to land on. The bridge broke in two and Hayato nearly lost his balance in midair after preparing his legs like springs. And Kyousuke’s Material did not stop there. It smashed through bridge after bridge.

With all of his possible footholds gone, Hayato was sucked into the deep darkness beyond.

<Oh, no!! Don’t tell me…!!>

“The…ocean!?”

The sound of the splitting water stabbed into Yasuzumi Hayato’s ears.

The ocean surface was not recognized as the Artificial Sacred Ground’s next footing.

Without the Artificial Sacred Ground, the Petals were not dragged to him and there was nothing around him.

The assassin was simply shocked at first, but then he realized where the next footing would be. If he continued to sink…

<It will be the ocean bottom located who knows how many dozens of meters down below!?>

Fuuki could see the two summoners sinking.

The protective circles kept them safe from all external and internal forms of death during the ceremony, so none of the seawater made it inside those circles.

However, that also meant their arms and legs could not reach the water. That in turn meant they could not swim and thus they could only continue to sink. Also, the protective circle apparently did not function like a float despite the air inside them.

They could reach the water with their long Blood-Signs, but it would be difficult to lift a human’s weight to the surface like that.

And on top of that, Shiroyama Kyousuke mercilessly dropped down on Yasuzumi Hayato while they were both contained within protective circles. This did no damage, but Kyousuke’s weight could not be ignored.

Both their weights together invited them to the cold and dark ocean depths.

<Hayato…!!>

When Fuuki prepared to help, Kyousuke’s Material glared at her.

She had the inferior cost.

Not only would she be held back, but she could easily be defeated.

“Do you…do you have any idea what you’ve done, Alice (with) Rabbit!?”

“Yes, I believe the ocean here is about thirty meters deep. That won’t be a problem while the protective circles are active, but after the ten minute time limit, the water pressure will rush in at us. …Things might be different if you slowly dove down like a normal diver, but even thirty meters is enough to knock you out from shock if it arrives as suddenly as throwing a switch.”

And if Hayato passed out in the water, it was obvious what fate awaited him.

He would lose the right to struggle and would drown without putting up a fight.

“But…then…the same thing will happen to you!!”

“…”

“Or…do you have a way out? No, there isn’t one. You don’t have an oxygen tank on you. And even if you did, that wouldn’t help with the water pressure squeezing at your blood vessels and organs. Then…!?”

“You tossed me around a lot with that artificial gravity.”

Kyousuke showed no sign of fear as he sunk toward the ocean bottom like he had been thrown off the pier at night with a concrete block in his arms.

“That was probably around 4 or 4.5 Gs. A roller coaster can recreate that, so the protective circle won’t cut it off. But if you combine that with a special way of breathing, you can adjust the oxygen level in your blood without visiting a specialized hyperbaric chamber.”

“………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………”

“Unlike you, I’ve already prepared for a high pressure environment. …Do I really need to tell you anything more?”

“O-oh, owaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?”

Yasuzumi Hayato swung his Blood-Sign like crazy to hit his White Thorns, but his hands came to a stop. But this was not just because he was not used to fighting underwater.

When he destroyed his footing and set up a new Artificial Sacred Ground, the Spots would appear based on that new Artificial Sacred Ground.

That meant the Spots would not appear until that new Artificial Sacred Ground had been set. Nor would the remaining Petals slide this way. In other words, he could not interfere with his Material even with the White Thorns he had.

There was nothing he could do.

Benikomichi Fuuki was still trying to grasp, crush, and kill Kyousuke’s Material. The giant spear was fighting the burning metal ball, but Kyousuke’s had the upper hand in pure cost and in the sound range. Plus, Fuuki never had a chance without him constantly moving from footing to footing to throw off their opponent’s pace.

No help was coming.

He could not float back up to the surface.

The chain of death was attached to Yasuzumi Hayato’s feet and it dragged him down to the watery depths thirty meters below.

Then the new Artificial Sacred Ground appeared and the artificial gravity chained him here.

As if to prove his life was bound here, the petals rained down from above and the new Spots opened wide.

With that, Yasuzumi Hayato’s chances of victory were extinguished.

If he lost, his protective circle would vanish, the water pressure would crush him, and he would lose consciousness. Even if he won, how far could he reach in just ninety seconds? At A Block’s international airport, he had used the Divine-class Leviathan to drag a submarine high overhead, but that was because he had had room to send the Material below the target.

Plus, the protective circle would repel the summoner (meaning the Material could only contact him for an instant), so the Material could not interfere with the summoner’s body for very long. To put it simply, it was very difficult for the Material to grab the summoner in a giant hand, place him on its back, and carry him around. It differed on a case-by-case basis, but the summoner tended to slip away like an eel or wet bar of soap.

In the end, Hayato could not use that method unless he could swim up under his own power to create some space below him. Unlike with the school building, he would need to build up his Material quite a bit to smash ten meters of the hard bedrock, but it was unlikely he could reach that point after focusing so much on interference tactics.

<Hayato.>

But then the assassin’s heart leaped in his chest.

The directionless voice that reached his head or chest breathed new life into him.

<Hayato, that isn’t a problem. We remain assassins until the world without death is complete. When weighing survival against killing, you must be the sort of person who chooses the latter.>

“…”

Strength returned to his hands as he held the Blood-Sign.

Fuuki could tell even from a distance.

But first…

<So hurry up and build up our Material. For Telomere’s End’s victory!!>

Something broke.

Did Fuuki really understand what had caused it?

On the ocean bottom far below, Hayato let go of his Blood-Sign and blankly stared upward.

They were only a few dozen seconds away from the time limit.

But that would be enough time for Kyousuke’s Material to wear down and kill the burning metal ball Fuuki had become.

She felt fear.

But even greater was the joy of battle that filled the student council president’s mind.

Was it the lack of this that kept Hayato from reaching that golden age? Was it the presence of this that kept Fuuki from forgetting that golden age?

Yes, she could not forget it.

<Ahh, ahh. I’ve lost this one.>

Fuuki smiled at that fact, as a ferocious form charged toward her.

What was the true desire swirling deep inside her heart?

<This proves it! Telomere’s End truly was the greatest summoner!! No matter who tries to surpass him and no matter who tries to get rid of him, no one can drag that unique summoner down from his throne!!>

But even if Fuuki had betrayed Hayato, she could not have simply stabbed him in the back.

She had needed to put everything into the planning and execution yet have it foiled by some other summoner. That had been the only way to ''establish an official ranking that included Telomere’s End.

That had been the only way to prove his superiority.

<An ally needed to be defeated and an enemy had to defeat him. Honestly, you were the most useful summoner I could have hoped for.>

Her thoughts were only linked to Yasuzumi Hayato, so they would not reach Shiroyama Kyousuke.

But she did not care.

Benikomichi Fuuki shouted her thoughts as the innocently cruel girl who was Telomere’s End’s vessel.

<So I’m thankful, Alice (with) Rabbit. In a way, you saved me by being such a formidable foe!!>

She had not cared about the memento.

The world without death had not mattered.

There was just one thing that girl had wanted: placing that man’s deeds in an eternal hall of fame and protecting that ultimate record to ensure no one could trample on it.

She had simply wanted to prove that Telomere’s End’s methods had been correct and that any other methods would only bring pain.

Even if it was his relative or son, she could not allow anyone to disturb that sanctuary.

Even if it was meant to challenge him.

<Ha ha.>

She had achieved her goal.

The vessel named Benikomichi Fuuki thought of the summoner she had once stood beside.

She pictured the face of that man who had been too distant to call it love but too close to call it respect.

<Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!>

The time limit became entirely moot.

The giant spear pierced through the burning metal ball. And with the Material’s defeat, the protective circle on the ocean bottom burst.

Benikomichi Fuuki and Yasuzumi Hayato.

That moment determined their defeat.