Editing Unlimited Fafnir:Volume 6 Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 5===

While gradually pushing back Yggdrasil's interference range, we began to move.

Driving off the congested highway, we moved westward along ordinary roads.

During this time, flares kept the night sky brightly illuminated while sounds of explosions shook the air intermittently.

So far, there were no accidents caused by destroyed remains falling down.

After an hour, Shinomiya-sensei ordered Mitsuki and Firill to return, then Ariella and Ren took their place to attack. Attacking the branches continually seemed to consume a lot of stamina. Leaning against their seats, Mitsuki and Firill quickly fell asleep.

If possible, I wanted NIFL's military to help out but faced against Yggdrasil's interference against machinery, even firing a missile was impossible.

Unable to take part in attacking, they seemed to be focusing their power on providing us with information and securing our route. Thanks to NIFL's vehicles performing skillful traffic management, we were able to move smoothly so far.

But nothing could be done about areas that had been devoured by the interference zone, or the city center with heavy traffic. Our van could only avoid those places and take slight detours to advance.

After another hour, the next day rolled in.

Returning, Ariella and Ren were thoroughly exhausted as one would expect.

"Tia-san, our turn to go."

"—Yeah."

Next to mobilize were Lisa and Tia.

Feeling bad that I was unable to take part in the shifts, I watched them depart.

Ariella and Ren also fell asleep quickly. I heard their breathing sounds with the rocking of the van.

'Neun.'

Yggdrasil's voice was gradually getting louder. The numb feeling in my left arm was also getting more frequent.

I felt poignantly that we were definitely approaching it.

Even though its influence increased the more we approached, I could not turn back. If I did not go, it would be impossible to defeat Yggdrasil. Sooner or later, my body would be taken anyway. Since what needed to be done remained the same, I would only cause unnecessary worry and alarm if I told Lisa and the others about the current situation.

The feeling of the principal's dominance over my left arm was gradually vanishing. Hence, I could judge the rate of invasion by the degree my senses recovered.

If in any event the final limit approached, I will end my own life before my entire body could be taken. I did not want to almost take another's life like last time.

Having committed my resolve, I kept my consciousness tense while keeping up my pretense of sleeping.

When the next hour-long shift was approaching again, the van stopped on the roadside.

"The road we originally planned to use seems to be congested. I will search for a new route. Standby here for now."

Shinomiya-sensei looked back from the front passenger seat and explained the situation to us.

At this moment, Lisa and Tia happened to return.

"Good work."

I greeted them, only to see surprise on Lisa's face. She probably expected everyone to be asleep. Tia went "Yeah... So tired" and smiled without energy.

"Mitsuki-san, Firill-san, rise and shine. It's your shift now."

Lisa shook Mitsuki and Firill's shoulders to wake them from their slumber.

"Yes... Understood."

"So sleepy..."

The two girls rubbed their sleepy eyes and got off the vehicle. Putting on their communicators, they flew into the sky.

Lisa and Tia sat down and prepared to rest.

But after a while, Lisa still kept her eyes open.

I was not planning to watch them that much but met Lisa's gaze at this moment.

"You—Don't tell me you have remained awake the whole time?"

Lisa leaned over and asked me quietly.

"No... I only just woke up."

I did not want her to worry so I denied it, but Lisa replied in exasperation:

"You're lying."

"H-How do you know I'm lying?"

"Of course I can see through my boyfriend's lies at a glance."

Lisa smiled mischievously then her expression turned serious.

"—Let us talk outside. Shinomiya-sensei, may we leave the van?"

"We are scheduled to remain here on standby for a while, so it's fine if you return before we move again, but don't stray too far."

Shinomiya-sensei answered without looking back from the front passenger seat.

Hence, Lisa and I got off the van and looked up at the night sky where the battle was taking place.

The flares were very bright. The moon and stars could not be seen. Explosions were annihilating Yggdrasil's branches. Warm wind brushed against our cheeks.

The area consisted of rural roads without pedestrians. No cars passed by either. Selecting open roads had apparently brought us quite far from urban areas. A giant mountain silhouette resembling Mount Fuji could be seen in the distance, but Yggdrasil's appearance was still indiscernible.

From the roof of the research lab, Yggdrasil could be seen on the other side of Mount Fuji—west of it. Shinomiya-sensei was most likely taking a detour around Mount Fuji on the north side in an attempt to approach Yggdrasil.

"There is a bench over there."

"A bus stop. Let's sit there."

A bus stop happened to be nearby so we sat down side by side.

"The operation is going smoothly for the time being. Yggdrasil is simply extending branches without doing anything else. Although this is admittedly advantageous to us, to be honest... The situation is very bizarre."

Looking at the bright explosions out in the night sky, Lisa spoke with unease.

"Maybe it's luring us over."

"The closer we approach, the greater the risk its main body would be destroyed. Yet it is still willing to face that risk...? You must have some basis for that idea, right?"

Lisa stared at me from extremely up close, demanding a certain answer.

"......Yeah, I'm probably the one it wants to lure. Starting a while ago, I've been hearing Yggdrasil's voice. Its interference affecting me is increasing, so to avoid giving it an opening to seize, I decided against sleeping."

I gave up resisting and confessed my condition honestly.

"What, why did you hide something so important!? In that case, wouldn't it be very risky to continue approaching Yggdrasil? We should at least have you retreat for now, right?"

"Maybe... But Lisa, the problem still can't be resolved even if Yggdrasil's main body is destroyed by you and the other girls' power, right? If Director Miyazawa is correct, it would only cause the core to transfer somewhere else. If things drag on longer, it will probably go beyond the point of no return."

I looked at my left arm's cast and replied.

"In other words, unless Yggdrasil is neutralized here, you will soon be taken over by it..."

"Probably. If I get the principal to help, total control might be avoided but in that case, my whole body will surely end up in a state like my left arm right now."

I pointed at my left arm that was currently deprived of feeling.

"That is truly a horrifying thought. I understand, then I shan't ask you to retreat, but... At this rate, even if Yggdrasil's branches could be eliminated, the interference from the main body still remains. Since jamming does not work, we will have to attack from afar... Will that be a problem?"

Lisa looked at me uneasily. She was worrying about my previous claim that Noah was unsuitable for sniping.

"I don't dare say there's no problem, but even so, I've no choice but to try."

I smiled wryly.

"...Indeed, then please succeed."

Lisa smiled and nodded as well.

"Yeah, I'll succeed."

I tried my best to answer assertively then turned my gaze to the sky.

Yggdrasil's branches were steadily removed. The way things were going, we should be able to approach within the distance before the branches started spreading—roughly fifteen kilometers away from it, but...

"But if Yggdrasil hopes to lure us over, it will very likely make another move before we attack the main body."

"In other words, we cannot even enter the showdown stage unless we counter its next move. Although Yggdrasil's plans are unknown yet, I will foil its ploy."

Lisa puffed out her magnificent chest and declared. Seeing her bosom wobbling, I scratched my face, embarrassed in various ways.

"Then I'm counting on you. It's about time we return."

"Very well."

Thus, we made our way to the van, but just as we were about to get on, I noticed the door was slightly ajar.

Huh... I thought I had closed it properly.

I checked the interior to see if anyone had gone out but the girls were all sleeping.

"Is something the matter?"

"Oh, no, nothing."

I shook my head at Lisa's question and entered the van.

The time had already passed 1am.

Dawn was still quite far away—



It was 4am when the situation changed.

Mitsuki and Firill were making their third sortie as Team 1 when...

"What—This is...!?"

Hearing Shinomiya-sensei's voice from the front passenger seat, I looked up.

Intending to rest, Lisa and Tia also widened their eyes.

'The branches' growth rate has suddenly sped up! We cannot keep up!'

'They are coming from the side in addition to the front!'

Through the communicator, I heard Mitsuki and Firill's voices.

"Continue the attack. Lower your altitude as a precaution. I will send reinforcements."

Shinomiya-sensei swiftly issued orders then looked back at us.

"Everyone wake up! Emergency situation. Yggdrasil has suddenly started to extend branches fiercely to expand its interference range. Team 2 and Team 3 go assist."

Hearing Shinomiya-sensei's voice, Ariella, Ren and Iris woke up. Apart from the driver, all of us got out after the van made an emergency stop.

The illumination from flares created through transmutation showed shadows of branches approaching with astounding speed.

Holding her laptop, Shinomiya-sensei looked at the screen and continued speaking:

"The electromagnetic wave anomaly zone is also expanding from the left and right sides, intending to surround us. Team 2, handle the right side. Team 3 will take care of the left."

"Affirmative!"

Hearing Shinomiya-sensei's orders, Lisa, Tia and Ariella enveloped themselves in wind and flew into the sky.

"Mm...... Mjolnir."

Rubbing her sleepy eyes, Ren summoned her hammer shaped fictional armament and followed the other girls.

Shinomiya-sensei turned her gaze to me and Iris who were left.

"You will standby until the situation becomes clear. If our advance becomes impeded, we may need to use your powers to open a path."

"...Got it."

I nodded. With a solemn expression, Iris voiced her opinion to Shinomiya-sensei.

"I think we should attack Yggdrasil's main body directly instead of running away! If it's my Catastrophe, surely the branches can be erased from the root."

"That would be great if it were possible, but this location is roughly thirty kilometers away from Yggdrasil, too far away to snipe the main body. The Catastrophe used by Basilisk had a maximum range of ten kilometers. Even if you could do the same, you won't be able to hit Yggdrasil from here."

Shinomiya-sensei calmly rejected Iris' proposal.

"No way... In that case, let's focus our attacks ahead of us to break through all at once—"

"I am reviewing that plan too... But the branches are growing abnormally fast. Even if we focus firepower ahead of us, we might end up surrounded by branches from the flanks before we get near to Yggdrasil."

Shinomiya-sensei stared at the computer screen while answering.

—Growing abnormally fast?

Hearing those words, I frowned.

"Right... Come to think of it, that's very strange. The Yggdrasil we fought at Midgard did not have this power of supernatural growth."

Speaking of which, the fact that Yggdrasil suddenly appeared in Japan was quite unusual to begin with. Yggdrasil's initial main body to appear took twenty years to grow up to 500 meters, yet this Yggdrasil was 5000 meters tall from the start.

The Yggdrasil showing up at Midgard could expand in size by stealing dark matter from the Ds, turning it into its physical body. It was definitely not growing by its own power.

"The current Yggdrasil... might have some kind of massive energy source."

I looked up at the sky and muttered. With the other girls deployed on the offensive, there were many more explosive flashes of light in the sky.

"Massive energy source?"

Iris looked at me with puzzled eyes.

"—I don't know what it is either. It's just that this situation can't be explained otherwise."

Since I did not know the answer, my reply became vague.

Hearing our conversation, Shinomiya-sensei immediately spoke up:

"Your deduction is intriguing. But if that's the case, one solution is for us to hold out until that energy source is depleted..."

Shinomiya-sensei murmured but after looking at the screen, she showed alarm on her face.

"Hmm—The electromagnetic wave anomaly zone has not stopped expanding. At this rate, communications will be obstructed and hinder monitoring of the interference range. All units return at once! Make a landing and focus on eliminating branches within visual range!"

Shinomiya-sensei anxiously issued orders.

Soon after, the girls descended from the sky with their fictional armaments.

Without given even a chance to catch their breaths, they started to attack the branches approaching from the sky.

"Slash, flare blade!"

Lisa swung her fictional armament, the spear Gungnir, and swept all the branches in front at once with a bright laser.

"Third Arrow—Lunar Eater!"

Mitsuki fired an arrow, pulverizing the branches on the right.

"Flare Burst Octet!"

Firill unleashed eight flaming projectiles, incinerating branches approaching from the left.

"Take this!"

Tia, Ariella and Ren continued to attack. Since the consecutive explosions served as illumination, everyone could focus on offense.

Everyone's attacks were very powerful. Every strike would eliminate a large number of Yggdrasil's branches but very quickly, new branches would arrive, blotting the sky.

"It's endless..."

Tia unleashed explosive flames at the sky and moaned in resignation.

"Although we are holding out, we won't be able to move at this rate."

"Mm."

Ariella showed an expression of hardship. Ren nodded in agreement.

"—I hope you will sustain the current situation a while longer. If the branches' growth rate show no signs of subsiding in fifteen minutes, we will retreat and regroup."

After some consideration, Shinomiya-sensei made the above decision.

She had decided on a fifteen minute waiting period before retreating possibly in consideration of the energy source I mentioned. Even if Yggdrasil was using some sort of power to grow, there should be a limit.

With bated breaths, Iris and I watched our friends in battle. Once the decision to withdraw was made, my anti-dragon armaments and Iris' Catastrophe would be used to cut open the path for retreat.

But if possible, I wanted to press the advance to settle things.

'Neun—Authority—Must have... Self-preservation... Antibody, counter, desired—'

I could already hear Yggdrasil's voice clearly in my mind.

For some reason, it pursued me, and quite desperately too—

It was almost like... It was afraid of something.

"Mononobe, are you okay?"

Iris asked me worriedly.

"...To be honest, not really. We're clearly outside Yggdrasil's interference range, but I keep hearing its voice. If we get in range of its interference, my consciousness might get invaded all at once."

I analyzed my condition and replied to Iris.

"Then we must find a way to get rid of those branches."

"Basically. Once we know what Yggdrasil is using as an energy source, we'll know how to counter..."

I looked up at Yggdrasil's branches that showed no signs of slowing down and prayed for them to have a limit.

But the branches showed no slowing in growth and regeneration. Fifteen minutes were about to end.

At this moment, a red beam of scorching heat swept across the sky from the east.

The air temperature increased all at once. As far as the eye could see, all branches were incinerated to ash.

"What!?"

Lisa exclaimed in surprise and everyone looked at the eastern sky.

A dot of light was approaching. Instantly, the dot became bigger and I noticed it was a girl enveloped in flames.

Dispelling the flames used for propulsion, the black-haired girl landed lightly. Kili Surtr Muspelheim. However, John, who was supposed to be working with her, was not in sight.

"Kili, why did you come?"

I asked and Kili replied in exasperation:

"I'm here to complain because you're ignoring my warning and acting recklessly. At this rate, you'll be overwhelmed. Hurry and retreat. A battle of attrition against the current Yggdrasil is futile."

"Futile... Why are you so sure?"

Unable to agree, I asked her in return.

With a gaze of pity, Kili looked at the western sky in Yggdrasil's direction.

Despite feeling concerned about Kili, Mitsuki and Lisa continued to attack the relentlessly approaching branches.

"I told you already, Hekatonkheir was created by Vritra—Mother—Do you still remember?"

"Y-Yeah."

I still nodded even though I felt troubled by Kili's sudden question.

"Due to forsaking me, Mother lost her relay with Hekatonkheir. What follows is only my speculation. Forced into a corner, Mother created a new Hekatonkheir in an attempt to eliminate her natural predator, Yggdrasil."

"You're talking about Hekatonkheir attacking Yggdrasil in a suicide bombing?"

I recalled the shocking news during the preparations for the school festival.

"Yes, but that operation ended in failure. Then I think Yggdrasil probably deduced Mother's hiding place based on the location where Hekatonkheir appeared."

"The location where Hekatonkheir appeared, don't tell me—"

I remembered that the resurrected Hekatonkheir had appeared in Japan. Although the detailed location escaped me, according to what Kili just said...

"Indeed, it is nearby."

Kili confirmed my imagination.

Hearing our conversation, Shinomiya-sensei said in surprise:

"So what you mean is: 'Black' Vritra... has been hiding in Aokigahara all along?"

"Most likely so. Although I knew Mother was in Japan, she did not tell me the precise location. In any case, it shouldn't be a ''hiding method'' as ordinary as lurking underground."

Kili nodded in confirmation while adding to her explanation. Indeed, if it was that kind of hiding method, let alone Yggdrasil, even humans would discover Vritra quickly.

"Mother is the dragon possessing the original power to generate dark matter whereas Yggdrasil has the ability to interfere with dark matter—Need I say more? Why Yggdrasil appeared here in such a gigantic state... Why a battle of attrition is useless—You should understand the reason now."

Kili looked at me as though testing me and asked.

Just as she said, I already guessed the answer.

"The energy source being used by Yggdrasil is... Vritra's dark matter, right?"

Just as it had stolen dark matter from Ds to grow at Midgard, the current Yggdrasil was also using Vritra's dark matter to enlarge itself.

"Correct. Yggdrasil has probably made Mother into its seedbed by now."

Kili confirmed my guess calmly.

"I see..."

Like last time, there was evidence proving the truth of Kili's words.

But the fifteen-minute time limit set by Shinomiya-sensei was about to pass and the branches were still growing with astounding speed. We were already out of options.

"Let's retreat, everyone."

I prepared myself and called to everyone.

"NO!!"

However, a voice of objection instantly ripped through the night's quiet atmosphere.

Tia stopped attacking and looked at me with eyes filled with determination.

"Yggdrasil must be defeated now! Tia will protect Yuu!"

"Protect me?"

"......"

Tia stared at me silently. Seeing her like that, I suddenly recalled—

"Don't tell me you overheard my conversation with Lisa—"

I remembered how I returned from the discussion with Lisa outside the van to find the door slightly ajar. Most likely, Tia had hid in the car's shadows to listen on our conversation.

Tia nodded in admission with tears overflowing from the corners of her eyes.

Scattered around the van, continuing to attack the branches, the rest of the girls looked at Tia, wanting to know what happened.

Crap—

It was too late for me to stop her.

"At this rate, Yuu's body will be taken over by Yggdrasil, right!?"

Tia's voice trembled, yelling out what I had kept a secret from everyone.

"—!?"

The ones who gasped after hearing those words were Mitsuki, Firill and Ariella. They paused in attacking.

Already privy to the secret, Iris, Lisa and Ren looked at me with worried eyes.

Shinomiya-sensei, who was not supposed to know, showed no signs of wavering. Perhaps the principal might have said something to her.

Despite showing surprise, Kili immediately switched to an expression of comprehension.

"Really? So you're being targeted by Yggdrasil too. No wonder... Fufu, now it's certain. As expected, I didn't make the wrong choice."

Seeing Kili smile happily for some reason, I felt a chill down my spine.

But that fear was swept away by the words I heard next.

"Nii-san... What is going on?"

The instant Mitsuki's voice shook my eardrums, my mind went blank.

I turned my head back in trepidation, only to see Mitsuki staring at me with a quivering gaze.
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