Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume8 Chapter5 (section)

===Part 7===

''The instant she rushed forward, Houjyou Zenon realized her mistake''.

Too early. She should have taken action at a more decisive moment. Absolute proof that assured Kokoro would be defeated had not appeared yet. She should have waited.

But she could not wait anymore.

Of course.

''Even though she had deceived them for her own goals, to her, they were still precious friends''&mdash;

Acting for the sake of protecting them, Zenon whispered softly: "Will they be angry?"

Springing into action at the same time, Ganon replied in her usual tone of voice: "Who knows~?"



In that instant, Haruaki watched as Kokoro twisted her body and swung her wreckage sword in the opposite direction. After deflecting quite a number of throwing knives, she frowned in surprise. 

While blocking the throwing knives, she evaded the hand that was reaching towards the scabbard at her waist and struck back with a sword swing. The opponent swiftly drew a dagger from a thigh holster and in an incomprehensibly feeble manner, proceeded to block and parry Kokoro's bold sword unsteadily&mdash;Nevertheless, she was unable to dodge Kokoro's forward kick. Striking her in the chest, the impact of the flying kick sent the person flying backwards.

"W-What is going... on...?"

What actually happened? The throwing knives had come from Zenon while the one rushing forward to attack Kokoro was Ganon. Those unsteady movements were quite familiar... Was she the home intruder the previous night? Then the one who threw the knives to help her escape was Zenon? In other words, those two really were the home intruders last night. But why, right now&mdash;Why did they rush out at this point in time as though to help Fear?

In fact, while Zenon and Ganon were attacking Kokoro, Fear had desperately mobilized her trembling legs and retreated. At least, she succeeded in escaping from the sword's attack range.

Kokoro stared quizzically at the sisters while voicing the same doubts as Haruaki.

"What's going on? Going as far as to obstruct me... Say, was there another purpose in that action just now? You were trying to steal this ceremonial sword. Why did you do that?"

"That is because&mdash;From the very start, it was our target all along. Kokoro Pentangeli."

"Crap, I failed... However, it can't be helped. In that case, we can only try our best... Even though it's so tiring."

Zenon and Ganon rushed towards Kokoro again. Zenon thew knives while Ganon brandished her gentle swordsmanship. But ultimately, a difference in inborn strength proved decisive. As Ganon was sent flying again and caught by Zenon, the two of them rolled along the ground a certain distance.

"...I knew it already, but she really is tough to handle."

"So tiring~ I really want to relax, rest and eat Pocky right now~"

Kirika and Kuroe showed worry in their eyes as they watched, but they could not disengage from their battle with the corpses. Feeling their gazes, Haruaki asked:

"Zenon-san, Ganon-san... What is actually going on?"

"Our goal was stealing the ceremonial sword in her possession. Simply that. For this end, we lied. Although I don't think you will forgive us, please allow us to apologize to all of you... We are truly sorry."

"Our plan was pretending to be her allies to make her lower her guard, so that we can steal the sword at the best opportunity&mdash;But I guess we misjudged the best opportunity. Sigh, can't be helped. If precious students got injured, the school physician's work will get busy and that would be so tiring..."

The two of them spoke calmly while watching Kokoro warily. They did not sound like they were lying. Despite their serious demeanor, the impression they gave off was completely different from before. There was no feeling that they were forcing themselves to remain expressionless. Before Haruaki's eyes were simply their original serious looks as usual in the superintendent's office, as usual in the infirmary.

"Why? Why do you want the sword? Which ones were lies actually? Are the tattoos real? You are indeed members of the Draconians, right? There are so many other things I want to ask you two&mdash;"

The Japanese sword in Haruaki's hand shook, asking in a slightly stiff voice. Konoha probably still could not trust them completely.

"We are truly sorry. We do not intend to hide anything from you anymore and would like to explain everything... But very unfortunately, there is no time for that right now. Once everything ends, please allow us to explain to you all? As for the consequences of deceiving you&mdash;We will gladly accept everything afterwards."

"Konoha... I think what Zenon-san and Ganon-san are saying is the truth. After all, they did save Fear. Naturally, I also have many questions for them but now is not the time."

"...Hoo~ Seriously, it can't be helped."

So the result was that the Houjyou sisters were not their enemy. Haruaki did not know why they were compelled to deceive his side, but he was slightly relieved to know that they were still themselves. However&mdash;

"How troubling... Are you done with the talking?"

At this moment came Kokoro's voice, still as bored as ever. Stabbing the wreckage sword into the ground by her feet, she drew the ceremonial sword again.

"Jeez, wonders never cease. I don't think your dragon Wounds are fake and neither did you fail any of the Draconian's secret code phrases... Wanting to steal the «Necromancy» sword is possible, but I would never imagine in my wildest dreams that two ordinary members would think they could defeat a «High Single» such as me, no matter how much you desired it... Too suspicious. But no matter, let's not sweat the small stuff. As much as I'm puzzled, since you tried to obstruct me, I'll simply have to kill you all. Sorry, because of all these inane things, I'm in a very bad mood now!"

With that, Kokoro swung the ceremonial sword towards the scrap metal by her side as though venting her anger. Many times, many dozens of times. As though in defiance of gravity, a shower of mechanical parts flew upwards. Just as the sound of the destructive rain ended&mdash;numerous wreckage swords appeared around her like tombstones embedded in the ground. As many as a few dozen of these Frankensteins had been created by combining dead machinery.

"Defeating weak enemies one by one is too troublesome... Let's just make this target practice!"

Clang! Kokoro reached out and grabbed the impromptu wreckage swords one after another. Violently, mustering all her strength, yet aiming accurately at her target, she threw them. The swords flew and approached with lightning speed.

"Haruaki-kun!"

Konoha instantly reacted and struck down the swords. More accurately, the scabbard was used to parry and make them deviate slightly from their course. Simply deflecting the attacks were making Haruaki's arms numb. What astounding arm strength.

Next, Kokoro picked up other wreckage swords by her feet and casually threw them. Zenon dodged with great alarm on her face. Ganon simply bit her lip and evaded using her gentle yet unerring movements while deflecting the swords' trajectories like Konoha did. Kokoro continued to throw swords continually.

"Ugh... With this... There's no way to get near her...!"

"Not good, my hand is starting to hurt... I can't carry this on for long."

"Yes, hoping for her to run out of ammunition would be foolish indeed. This location really presents her with a great advantage... This is bad!"

Without warning, Kokoro threw a wreckage sword in a completely different direction. Her target was currently displaying a shocked expression at the sight of Zenon and Ganon's entry into the fray&mdash;meanwhile, she had exhausted her energy and stamina to resist bloodlust&mdash;Fear, sitting helplessly on the ground currently.

She had proudly adhered to her resolution to avoid getting devoured by her past again. However, this was definitely no easy task. Fear's eyes showed the intent to stand up but she could not enter the battle in her current state&mdash;The Rubik's cube remained in its original form as it rolled by her feet. All she needed to block Kokoro's incoming sword was pick up the cube and transform it into a torture tool, but was Fear able to do that in her current condition?

Fear looked up and reached for the Rubik's cube. However, before it could transform into a tool of torture and execution, the deadly wreckage sword with its irregularly shaped blade had already arrived right before her eyes&mdash;

Then&mdash;

''It collided in midair with a steel pipe that had flown from the opposite direction''.



Flying parallel to the ground, the sword seemed frozen in time for an instant. But in the next second, it spun and flew straight up. This meant that the pipe had struck the wreckage sword's very tip in a violent collision with equal speed and power.

Currently in a desperate struggle to pin down the corpses, Kirika and Kuroe whispered in surprise.

"...What happened?"

"Oh dear, what should I say... Today is really full of surprises."

Haruaki agreed. What on earth was going on? Today was truly abnormal. All these unprecedented events, with Zenon and Ganon's matter most prominent of all.

Ahhh, but on further thought, this was perhaps only natural.

"I didn't intend to show myself originally... But that would ultimately be too selfish of me. After all, I am responsible. Responsible without a shred of doubt. Since I cannot stand aside and do nothing&mdash;Consider this the arrival of right timing."

Zenon and Ganon had acted for a certain purpose.

Their loyalties remained the same as usual, yet they were acting due to some unknown secret motive.

Their usual selves, in that case&mdash;Haruaki was certain that they were not the only two privy to their goal. Naturally, one more person should be in the know. Obviously, that would be&mdash;

"Everyone, I am truly sorry... My willfulness has caused trouble to you all. Once this is over, I will explain everything. So first of all, let me end everything here&mdash;And shut the dragon's «Jaws» firmly."

The man who had thrown the steel pipe&mdash;

The man, whose face was hidden behind a gas mask, had never spoken in such a serious tone of voice before.