Editing Magika No Kenshi To Shoukan Maou:Volume 9 Chapter 2

==Chapter 2 – Sky of End==

===Part 1===

The Magic Division’s student council room was the strategy meeting room of Kazuki and co.

On this day there was a new face that was added as their comrade.

“This is our special advisor, Liz Liza-sensei.”

When Kazuki introduced Liz Liza-sensei, everyone's applause *pachi pachi* that seemed to be forced, Liz Liza-sensei went “How about you trashes stop, that looks stupid” a little embarrassed.

“I have gone several times to the depth of Fuji’s sea of trees before the wall was built. There are various things I can give advice for.”

“But there will be no more interference from Yamato right?”

Mio tilted her head saying so. “If that’s so won’t this be just a simple journey of Kazuki taking the Sacred Treasure and going home? Easy, easy.”

‘Certainly’, Kazuki too thought so. From here on ahead both Loki and Ilyailiya too couldn’t stand in their way.

They would be shown the way by the seal and just needed to head to the promised place―he had such a sense of security.


His sense of danger was slacking, but Kazuki immediately tensed himself.

“Just because there will be no interference doesn’t mean that there is no danger. Where we will be going from now on is the deepest part of Japan’s largest Haunted Ground. It should be even more dangerous than even Level 1 and 2 until now.”

The inner part of Fuji’s sea of trees couldn’t be liberated by the Knight Order before, and then, to cope, they built the wall surrounding the area several times to hold back the expansion. Surrounded by walls, the Grand Haunted Ground was divided into three levels.

Thanks to the wall, the Haunted Ground’s expansion was slowed down, but in exchange the magic power was confined to the inner direction and beyond the wall became unimaginably thick with magic power.

The other side of the last wall―the Level 3 area should have became a type of Haunted Ground that had never before been seen in Japan.

“It’s just like he said. It’s not an exaggeration to say that, until now, you guys probably still haven’t even tasted half of the danger of the Grand Haunted Ground just from your experience in Level 1 and 2.”

Liz Liza-sensei talked with her usual strict tone like when she was teaching in class.

“If you ask me why, that’s because Level 1 and 2 are a forest, but ahead in Level 3 the area will become the Fuji Mountain. In short a place that was originally dangerous already is transformed into an even worse Haunted Ground. …From here on out what is necessary is not just simple battle strength, it’s better to head there with a few number of people that excel in adapting to the environment.”

“Adapting to the environment… is it?” Mio asked back with a dubious face.

“…What is waiting for us from now on is a snowy mountain climbing in a Haunted Ground.”

 

“Actually I also have a hobby of mountain climbing. Because Britain is a great country for mountain climbing.”

For some reason Liz Liza-sensei started to explain in a lively tone of voice.

Fuji Mountain―as Japan’s highest summit, it was a mountain that was said as Japan’s symbol.

Even now that it had become a Haunted Ground, that white peak seen from afar didn’t change at all since the ancient times.

But there was no more climber there to visit the place as a tourist attraction like in the past, the true state of the place right now was uncertain.

“Originally the snow should be gone when the season entered the summer, I hear that it was an easy to climb mountain.”

Liz Liza-sensei said. If that was true then there should be no danger now that it had already been June.

“But Fuji Mountain that had been turned into a Haunted Ground is isolated by blizzard all year round and it was transformed into a mountain with intense cold. I think the harshness of that environment can even rival Everest or McKinley now. That’s my opinion.”

Everest―Even Kazuki and the others whose awareness of the world in general had faded knew about that name.

The mountain with the highest summit in the world. In a certain meaning it was a name that was like [a myth that existed in reality].

“Even if sensei said it’s like climbing a mountain in winter… we are strong against cold you know.”

Mio interjected into the lecture with a face that didn’t understand what Liz Liza-sensei wanted to say.

Magicians could manipulate heat using Pyrokinesis. Heat or cold wouldn’t become any problem for them.

In addition they also had defensive magic power, so even if they fell from the cliff or got hit by falling rocks, there would be no problem.

To put something like environment adaptation as a source of argument itself was strange.

“No, you see, the blizzard and the coldness of Mountain Fuji that had turned into a Haunted Ground resounded not in your flesh, but in your mind. It’s the same as a mind attack magic. The problem is not your defensive magic power, but your strength to maintain your [wall of heart].”

Resistance against mind attack magic―although Kazuki was better at it compared to the past, it was still a field that he was poor at.

“When the Haunted Ground’s coldness and chill resounds in your mind, you will be convinced that the feeling is real and its influence will come out for real in your body. Regardless of how you preserve your temperature using Pyrokinesis, you will still get hypothermia. Even though you are supposed to have produced oxygen with magic power already, an acute mountain sickness’ symptoms will still appear in you. There will be many agonies that you have forgotten since becoming a magician that will appear on parade. Even the knights in my generation had some people who died from challenging the Fuji Mountain that had been turned into a Haunted Ground.”

Death―for the people of this generation who could protect their body with defensive magic power, it was an extremely heavy concept.

“Won’t it be fine if we fly in the sky while chanting magic?”

Koyuki raised her hand and calmly stated her opinion. If it was Kazuki or Mio then it was possible for them.

“At that time too there was a contractor of Phoenix that tested that, but it was no good.” Liz Liza-sensei shook her head.

“When you get separated from the ground, a fierce wind will blow right overhead and beat you down to the ground. It’s as if the Haunted Ground is saying that a cunning act is prohibited. The Haunted Ground is forcing you to climb the mountain on foot. Even though that place is a world of magic, but it’s really obsessive with due form.”

Diva, Demon Beast, and Haunted Ground reproduced the form of Mythology and legend. The harsh challenge of climbing the snowy mountain that once existed in Fuji’s sea of trees―that legend enforced the people that stepped their foot in it to follow it.

“You guys have become magicians that are far more excellent than the magicians of my era. But the Grand Haunted Ground too has continued its expansion, the magic power in its center part has also been condensed even more than before. You guys had better prepare your heart beforehand as if you are seriously challenging to climb a snowy mountain without any magic power. And then there will be Demon Beasts too attacking us there.”

“A blizzard where mind resistance is necessary… then it’s better for the members of the Magic Division to be the one to go there then.”

“I guess so. In the first place it’s not an environment where you can honestly do a close-quarter combat.”

“Then there will be no turn for this one is it…” Kohaku dropped her shoulders regretfully.

“Even if you tell me to go to that kind of harsh place, there is no way I want to go there.”

Torazou-san laughed carefreely, but Kanae besides him stood up noisily from her chair.

“Please wait, Nii-sama! Please let me go together with you there!!”

“No way. You too don’t have much training in resistance against mind attacks right?”

“But!”, Kanae tenaciously dogged Kazuki.

“I cannot give special treatment to only Kanae. It’s dangerous. I don’t plan to listen to your selfishness.”

Kazuki decisively omitted Kanae from the group, not as family, but as the Chief Student Council President.

“So that we can immediately react even if any victim appears, I think it will be better to make a team composed of Magika Stigmas with high positivity levels. The Sword Division members are also out of the question because of that requirement too.”

Liz Liza-sensei added her comment to Kazuki.

“Therefore…” Kazuki made an orderly list of names on the whiteboard.

Hayashizaki Kazuki. Amasaki Mio. Hiakari Koyuki. Lotte. Otonashi Kaguya. Hoshikaze Hikaru. Tsukahara Kazuha.

With this, the girls whose positivity level toward Kazuki were above 100 became the team members.

“Fufufu, Tsukahara-san usually always talks abusively to Kazuki, but you actually really love Kazuki don’t you? I wonder how much the number actually is?”

Hikaru-senpai teased Kazuha-senpai who was sitting just beside her.

“It, it’s not really like a love. I, I just like him a little…”

Kazuha-senpai’s face was beet red and she looked down completely.

“Ahaha, Tsukahara-san is so cute~!” Hikaru-senpai poked her from the side.

“Ge, geez! Stop it~” Kazuha-senpai shook off Hikaru-senpai’s hand but,

“I’m not gonna stop~” Hikaru-senpai hugged her. Kazuha-senpai then,

“Geez… Hoshikaze-san you dummy…” She became completely docile with a beet red face.

What’s with the two of them?

“Also as someone who is experienced about the mountain, I will give you all my guidance.”

Liz Liza-sensei said that with a face that looked a little excited.

“…I’m, being left out?”

Shinobu-senpai was pouting with her eyebrows knitted while saying that.

“Eerr, it’s decided from the sequential order of the positivity level after all.”

When Kazuki weakly said that, Shinobu-senpai stood up from her seat, *tetete* she approached Kazuki’s side with little run and crouched down. After that she talked to Kazuki with upturned eyes like an abandoned dog.

“I. …Really like Kazuki.”

“I, I know that, but, err…”

When Kazuki didn’t know how he should answer, Mio who sat beside him said “I’m the one that loves Kazu-nii the most here~!” while standing up and puffing out her chest. Shinobu-senpai frowned in dissatisfaction.

[[image:Magika No Kenshi To Shoukan Maou Vol.09 065.jpg|thumb]]

Beside her a female wolf Diva―Marchosias’ avatar was floating. It was said that Marchosias could take the form of a human and also a wolf, but her true nature was more of a wolf.{Gau. O King, To leave out my contractor like this, unforgivable. Gau.}

Shinobu-senpai mimicked her Diva’s behavior and barked “Gau gau” while pulling *gui gui* at Kazuki’s arm.

“That way of acting as a spoiled doggy is still just second rate desu!”

While Kazuki was troubled, Lotte who was watching the development suddenly stood up from her seat.

After that Lotte rushed over to Kazuki’s side trottingly and hugged Kazuki’s neck. And then,

“Kazuki-oniisan, wan wan-!” She licked at Kazuki’s cheek *pero pero*.

“…I see.” Shinobu-senpai’s eyes sparkled.

And then “Gau gau” she hugged Kazuki’s neck from the other side and went *pero pero* at Kazuki’s other cheek.

“Wan wan!” “Gau gau.” Both of their soft tongues were teasing Kazuki’s cheeks. The warm saliva of girls besmeared his face all over. Kazuki’s feelings became a little strange.

“Both of you, we are still in the middle of a serious meeting here!”

After Kazuki kept being treated like that for a while, he finally pushed back the two of them off him.

Lotte said “Okay desu” and obediently returned to her seat.

“Shinobu, give up already and come back here.”

After Miyabi-senpai signaled Shinobu-senpai with her hand, Shinobu-senpai too went “Gau…” dejectedly before retuning to her own seat while crawling on all fours on the floor.

‘…No, senpai doesn’t need to become a wolf that much.’

“Well then, tomorrow let’s carry out the operation with these members! We are going to take the last Sacred Treasure!”

Kazuki declared with his face still wet with saliva.

It was only Kanae who still couldn’t accept it and she faced Kazuki with a dissatisfied look.

“You all don’t need a lot of climbing tools if you make a practical use of magic. But let’s prepare extra just for the food supply. Just in case, perhaps we will need to {{furigana|bivouac|camp in the open}} there.”

Liz Liza-sensei added that at the end of the meeting.

 

===Part 2===
With this, this was the third time they went on an expedition from the Knight Academy to the Grand Haunted Ground.

It took one hour from Tokyo to Gotenba Station at the bottom of the Mt. Fuji using the magic light train, from there they changed their transportation into the military use car that the Knight Order had prepared for them and they traversed through the empty town that had become an evacuation area.

Like that they arrived at the first wall that was the entrance into the Haunted Ground.

After following the procedure at the gate that was guarded by the Knight Order to not let anyone enter, they went inside.

For the time being their numbers until here were not few, a lot of volunteering students were also coming along.

The Level 1 area that was the most outer part of the Grand Haunted Ground had already been mostly liberated from the exploration that they had done twice until now in this place. Because of that, what greeted them right after they passed the wall was the calm forest at the foot of Mt. Fuji.

Signs and facilities that were built at the time where this place was still a bustling sightseeing course were left behind as if the time had been stopped.

Aiming for the second wall that was standing towering far away, they earnestly walked the path that was filled rampantly with green conifer trees.

“Walking through this area blessed by mother nature… I cannot suppress this uncomfortable feeling inside…”

In the crowd of students slightly behind, Kamimura-san in goth-loli clothing that was mismatched with the scenery was walking forward somehow even with an unsteady gait.

“You’re not tired, Kamimura-san?”

Kazuki drew back until the behind and felt anxious about the girl’s condition.

“The sky is so dazzling… Right now I’m fine, but surely I will get tired in time…”

Kamimura-san answered him with a way of talking like a prophet.

“Should I carry you on my back to preserve your stamina?”

“Eh, tha… that’s, it’s okay. Kazuki is the one that has to preserve your stamina no matter what.”

He was completely rejected. But there was no skull mark that came flying at him so he guessed she was just acting reserved. Kazuki cut in at the front of Kamimura-san, then with a ‘hyoi’ he lifted up her small body.

Kamimura-san went “Au! Awawa-!”, then she encircled her arms around Kazuki’s neck while she was about to blow her fuse.

“Let’s be like this until the second wall.”

“…Even though I’m being tactful here… Uu―. Normally when someone is about to do something like this they will get cold feet and become scared and so they won’t be able to do it, that’s what I thought. You are completely like the cool guy in a gal-game, this pushy attitude that cannot be hated… Something like this is unfair. So vexing. …But you will get wet-!!”

“What, wet you say? Not really, Kamimura-san’s weight is like paper, you are so light that I won’t sweat much.”

“Mumumu-!? Her weight is, light you say!?”

Kaguya-senpai who was walking at the side suddenly turned at their direction with a great vigor for some reason.

“Kaguya-senpai, Kamimura-san’s lightness isn’t in not in this dimension that you can get from something like a diet, so don’t mind it.”

Right now it was Kamimura-san’s existence that had already half-disappeared, not her fat.

“Why is Kaguya-senpai that sensitive about this weight talk?”

“No, no no not really. I don’t really care about something like my weight or anything!? Wow, it feels really good to walk among nature like this! La la laa― fu―n fun♪”

Kaguya-senpai’s eyes kept darting everywhere while skipping with a weird humming and whistling.

Everyone were all cute girls but… perhaps the hard work that the girls were doing behind the scene for their appeal was something that a male just couldn’t get a measure of.

“Even someone like me, have some aspects that a person that lovely is jealous of, that’s…”

On the other hand Kamimura-san was moved in a weird way.

“You are too light like this. I have to feed you a lot and make you gain weight.”

When Kazuki shook Kamimura-san up and down, she gave off a weird voice “au au au―”.

A gentle slope came into their view next, soft pastel blue manifested themselves from between the vivid green thickets.

“Kamimura-san, look, hydrangeas are growing en masse.”

“Oo…” Even Kamimura-san spontaneously raised a deeply moved voice. Everyone around them were also suddenly making a fuss about the sight.

“See, going outside once in a while is also good, right?”

Kazuki once again shook Kamimura-san on his back up and down while talking.

“…Kazuki, your way of talking, it looks like a father that took his daughter outside.”

Kamimura-san’s reply sounded like she was a little troubled of how to cope with the situation.

The reserved hue of the hydrangeas calmed down the hearts of the people watching it. If it was now, he had the feeling that he could step inside Kamimura-san’s heart for even just a little.

“Kamimura-san, you really work hard, that you even went with us into this place, you also properly attended the academy but, you’re not forcing yourself right?”

Kazuki slowed down his walk and then he asked while his gaze was following along the hydrangeas at the roadside.

It was a natural way of living, but for this girl who had been a shut-in for a long period of time such a way of living was supposed to be difficult for her.

“I’m not forcing myself. After all, I understand, that all this time you and Lotte-shishou are always being considerate of me. …Because I understand that I’m being paid attention to… I thought that in this kind of time, I have to become useful properly, by fighting.”

“You really are doing your best. Thank you.”

Why in the world would a good child like this become a complete shut-in?

Kamimura-san was scared to get along with other people. He had no doubt that she was too sensitive against other people’s attitude at herself, whether it was kindness or ill will. There was no problem in her personality, it was just that she was too sensitive.

‘In order to grant courage to such a girl, what should I do that would be good? …Let’s constantly fill her surroundings with the kindness of the people from around us.’ That was what Kazuki thought.

“Thank you, Kamimura-san.”

Kamimura-san noticed Kazuki and the others’ consideration for herself and so she tried her best to return the favor. Kazuki was happy of that and gave his thanks to her.

“…I think that the hydrangeas are certainly beautiful. I recognize it.”

As if searching for a way of how to express her own feelings, Kamimura-san talked slowly to Kazuki.

“Because you pulled my hand and led me outside from the Ise Imperial Shrine, maybe, surely, even I can become someone that tries to think of the things outside of my room as fun… I think.”

Kamimura-san was facing forward, just a little.

…The quiet promenade that was like a hiking route continued, and finally they arrived at the second wall.

Kazuki put Kamimura-san down from his back. In exchange of thanks for Kazuki’s assistance that let her legs rest were still mostly at ease, Kamimura-san wordlessly hopped up and down lightly.

They passed the second wall too and entered Level 2.

The area from here on mostly hadn’t been liberated yet. But the route to continue to the third wall had been opened by Kazuki’s reckless battle before this.

The elite squad led by Kazuki headed to the third wall while the other students spread out in order to advance the capturing of the Level 2 area. That was the arrangement that they had decided on.

“Leave this area to these ones!” “Leave it to us!” “I’ll work today.” “Gau.” “Fufufu.”

Kohaku, Karin, Kamimura-san, and the Ryuutaki-sisters saw off Kazuki and co. who were going forward.

The path that Kazuki and co. followed was gradually sloping drastically, they even had to follow some animal trails on the way.

Even so there was no Demon Beast coming out on this route that had been liberated once.They finally arrived at the third wall with the ease of advancing through a dungeon that had finished being captured completely.

There was a concrete wall that was built fourteen years ago before it was abandoned in front of them.

A plain door like a staff entrance door behind a building was installed in the lower part of the wall.

Both the wall and the door had gotten so old that it looked like it would turn into dust if it got hit with all their strength.

But a powerful barrier was set up on this wall that could even reject a King.

“Please wait! Nii-sama… as I thought, I too will go!”

Kanae chased them from the path behind. Kazuki turned around in surprise and shouted.

“I told you no already!”

He had to tell her sternly. He understood well of how Kanae’s obstinacy was.

“I can’t take you because your resistance against mind magic is weak. If something happened to Kanae, I cannot search for you like I can with everyone else. Saying it bluntly, you will just slow us down.”

“However… I have the feeling that there will be something important that is going to happen to Nii-sama after this… I have the feeling that I have to see that with my own eyes!!”

―Some kind of important thing. Leme had repeatedly said the word destiny before. Ahead of this path, there was a turning point waiting for him that would shake his future.

When he thought of that once more, Kazuki felt hesitation and his reply was caught inside his throat.

A turning point that would change his own life. To say that he was going to take Mio and Kaguya-senpai and everybody else there, but telling Kanae that he couldn’t take her was… as if he was inviting everyone to his wedding reception except for Kanae…

It could be seen as an act that threw away the existence of Kanae from his own life ahead of now.

Kanae’s feeling that wanted to witness with her own eyes the turning point of Kazuki’s life was something natural.

On the other hand, he too… he also felt that he wanted Kanae to be there at the turning point of his life.

His relation with Kanae was that deep. Even more than everybody else in this place…

―’I also want Kanae at my side.’ That kind of feeling gushed out inside him like a light shining over the darkness in his heart.

However, it was dangerous…

{…Kazuki.}

Inside Kazuki’s head who couldn’t say anything, a voice of someone was echoing. It was not Leme.

“This voice is…” It seemed that a similar voice also rang out inside Kanae’s head, she turned her head around looking for the voice’s owner.

The third wall that was right beside them emitted a faint magic power light.

That light linked Kazuki and Kanae’s consciousness and sent in a voice into them.

“The path ahead might be severe, but… take that person with you too.}

The seal that possessed its own consciousness told so to Kazuki.

{Undoubtedly, there are also things that have to be conveyed to that person too, that’s why…}

That time…*zuzuzu*, a heavy sound was reverberating.

The door of the wall that was emitting light opened by itself in invitation to Kazuki and Kanae.

“…I understand. Kanae, come together with me and ascertain what lies ahead of me with your own eyes.”

Kazuki resigned himself. He said that while shivering from the existence of someone that would once more change his life.“Certainly ahead of this path, it looks like there is something really important that is waiting.”

 

Kazuki and co. passed through the wall―there was a boundary line of the world there.

The other side of the opened door was pure white.

Silver grains were dancing in the air along with the wind. When they stepped inside with a step, their feet were buried right into the snow until their shin. All the trees in the surrounding had withered, turning into frost covered trees that were colored silver.

This level was a snow mountain in winter… he had been told that, but even so, the world line between the front of the wall and behind the wall was just too different.

It just told him even more clearly how incomparable the thickness of the magic power that distorted the world was in here.

“Well then everyone, let’s go.”

Kazuki stood in the lead and passed through the door, his companions followed after him.

Their feet was buried under the snow, silver wind hit the body right from the front, Kazuki’s teeth were clattering in no time at all. He entered strength into his shoulders and tensed the muscles in his whole body.

It had been a really long time since he felt the sensation of the cold.

Just like the story that he heard, it was still cold even though he produced heat in his body using Pyrokinesis. He deeply felt the cold.

“Hold your mind strongly! If not, you will get hypothermia just like your mind imagined!”

Liz Liza-sensei raised her voice. The coldness of this Haunted Ground reverberated in their minds.

“What an outrageous Haunted Ground…”

Kaguya-senpai knitted her eyebrows. Even so when he looked back to ascertain the countenance of the members, he could still feel some composure from everyone of the Witch’s Mansion.

“…Kanae, are you okay?” Kazuki was concerned with Kanae’s condition.

“I’m fine.” Kanae bit her lips and answered while glaring at the path ahead.

Her stout-heartedness that wouldn’t let any complaint escape her mouth made Kazuki feel even more anxious instead.

“This place should be at the height of around two thousand meters above the sea. As expected even the snow mountain of a Haunted Ground, too, will become even colder the higher it is, ahaha.”

Hikaru-senpai made a desperate laugh.

“The height too is like that, but thanks to the trees that are still growing around here the wind is weak. When we pass through the forest border and there is nothing in the surroundings, the blizzard will hit us fully at that time.”

Liz Liza-sensei added in a fact that he didn’t even want to imagine.

What was a little strange was how everyone was exposing their bare skin because of their Magic Dress even though they were in the middle of a snowy mountain. Though Kazuki was also just in his normal uniform. This clothing had no meaning at all for physical cold protection.

“O Divine Protection of mermaid, please block the step of the hated enemy and hasten the step of the chosen person… O ice blade, run! Moves in the Field!”

Koyuki cast an environmental control magic before they advanced through the snow for real.

Usually this magic froze the ground and formed ice blades on the allies’ feet. The allies could move around freely like ice skating while the enemy would be unable to move about… this magic had been used a lot in that way.

But this time the magic didn’t grant any effect on the ground and formed ice claws on the allies’ feet. Furthermore it also created ice picks in the shape of a ‘T’.

“It really created a fitting atmosphere huh.” Hikaru-senpai swung around her pick’s like a kid.

An ice pick is a tool used to stab the blade into a snow surface of rock wall in order to keep the holder’s balance when they fell off from the slope or their balance was broken.

“And then if we stab this claw into the snow surface, we can then walk forward and not slip.”

Mio said that while immediately moving through the path of new snow with the ice claws on her feet.

“Even if we don’t use something like this, there is also a method of walking while using friction control magic.”

The expert in general magic, Kazuha-senpai, was once more saying an amazing thing so nonchalantly.

“That’s also fine but Hiakari has already troubled herself to make this, so just use this to suppress the consumption of excess magic power. After all even just standing around like this will have your magic power consumed to endure the blizzard.”

Liz Liza-sensei said so and then she urged them on.

“Oi, Hayashizaki siblings and Tsukahara, what are we going to do if you guys don’t walk in the lead.”

Kazuki, Kanae, and Kazuha-senpai moved forward in panic with crunching sounds to catch up with Mio who went ahead.

“Wait, Mio!”

They had to stab the picks into the snow surface each time they took a step forward and stepped firmly with the ice claws while climbing in long stride so as to not slip. Just advancing forward like this in a snowy mountain was surprisingly hard.

Their feet that were buried in the snow too was so cold with a chill that seeped right inside until their bone.

Kazuki finally overtook Mio and stood in front of the whole party.

Suddenly the snow field ahead vibrated *gogogo*.

…That’s right, of course this kind of thing would naturally happen. At the other side of the sloping path―inside the white screen of the blizzard, a faint figure of an <ice giant> so big they needed to look up appeared.

They had to fight Demon Beasts in this Haunted Ground.

“That Demon Beast… be careful! It’s going to throw ice lumps from afar!”

Liz Liza-sensei yelled. The ice giant broke his own body with his fist. And then it raised high the ice lump that was a part of its own body, he faced Kazuki and co. and threw it.

The enemy was located on the higher ground. The ice lump was approaching them by borrowing the force of gravity.

Kazuki jumped to the side and evaded the ice lump.

But the instant he evaded a step to the side, *BAKIBAKIBAKI!* there was a strange sensation under his feet.

There was no ground at the place his foot was going to step on. That spot was where shrubbery was growing on the slope and looked like the ground just from the snow that was piling up on top of it. There was no footing at the place where he was going to step, Kazuki almost rolled down from the slope.

He supported his body with the pick in panic and raised a yell.

“Like, like this we are not going to be able to move our body well!?”

The ground looked like a brand new snow surface at a glance, but they couldn’t know what was going on under the snow with just one look.

The giant didn’t miss the opening and threw another ice lump at them. With this timing, he couldn’t dodge.

“Flapped the wings and scatter sparks. Trail behind the spiral wind, become the bullet that gouge life! Flap and shoot! Barrett!!”A flame bullet collided into the ice lump just in the nick of time. Ice grains and steam exploded in front of Kazuki’s eyes.

“Geez Kazu-nii, be careful there!”

With Mio as the beginning, the other companions shot out their attack magic all at once.

“My wicked thought is filled with curse, I beseech thy agony… I have no shame of my ominous thinking! Feel Pain!”

“O the will of god of the whirling sky! Converge in my hand, please grant me the authority of judgment! O radiance of royalty divine gift, become the drawn bow of splendor! Lightning Line!”

“Howl! The civilization grant destruction to human! The roar of wisdom scorch, break thy body, bury that dignity under the rubble!! Mitrailleuse!”

Kaguya-senpai’s bullet of agony. Hikaru-senpai’s lightning arrow. Lotte’s gatling bullets.

The giant staggered from the raining down magic. Its movement that was trying to throw ice lumps was stopped.

“Barrett!”

Kazuki too ran through the snow field while chanting attack magic. When Kazuki pushed his way through the snow and advanced in the front, it also made it easier for everyone that was following after him to advance.

Ahead on the pure white path of the blizzard, Kazuki sensed even more moving presences.

“Everyone, there’s not just one!”

At the same time with Kazuki yelling to inform his party, three more giants showed their majestic appearances from the depth of the blizzard and the three raised up ice lumps all at once.

“O hour hand, please blunt down the gait of the fools and show contempt for their worth… {{furigana|Chrono Stutter|Stupefaction Time Lost}}!!”

Liz Liza-sensei chanted a magic that he had never seen before.

Three avatar of clock floated in front of the three ice giants, those three clocks had its hour hand moved really slowly while melting into the giants.

Thereupon in the blink of an eye, the giants’ movement became sluggish.

A magic that slowed a great number of enemies all at once―perhaps Liz Liza-sensei had assumed from the start that the enemy might be more than one.

The thrown ice lumps from the giants whose movements were slowed flew flimsily and fell in the middle without reaching Kazuki’s location. The fallen ice raised *DON!* a large sound and a curtain of snow was raised on the snow field.

“O craftsman’s forging that scatter the flower of night performance, fill the woven sky with sword’s tip! The role of the sword is for the sake of victory… under my command, become thunderstorm and pour down! Tenkuu Battou Renge Hou!”

Kazuha-senpai too was chanting a magic that was suited for a great number of enemies.

It was an attack magic that created a large number of Sacred Treasures and launched them like missiles<ref>Gilgamesh's ability in fate/stay night anyone?</ref>.

“Burn brightly!”

When Kazuha-senpai commanded, the Sacred Treasures that were floating in the air were all covered with flames.

Kazuha-senpai’s contracted Diva, Futsunushi no Kami had his power increased from combining with Take Mikadzuchi. It seems that now senpai was able to freely control the element that the Sacred Treasures possessed.

The flame Sacred Treasures pierced into the ice giants one after another.

…But, the giants were not falling down.

“Barrett!” “Lightning Line!”

Low level magic were flying without pause. But the giants planted themselves on the snow field and stood dauntingly.

“…They are tougher than we think. Perhaps it will be better to take it slow and chant a high level magic.” Hikaru-senpai murmured.

“Or else, with close quarter combat.”Kanae who was pushing through the snow together with Kazuki murmured subduedly. It was a heavy tone of voice as if she was being cornered in some respect. …Kanae was waiting for her chance.

But the distance between her and the opponent was far with snow blocking the path.

“O shapeless and mute shadow, become the fish that swim inside the darkness that is teeming with obstructive thoughts! The origin of nightmare, vicissitudes materialism, respond to the fear and hope and sink your teeth…! Deep Specter!”

Kaguya-senpai had already concluded to aim for a high level magic and put it into practice.

A soul was residing inside the shadow of the ice giants. The black shadow that was like a spot of stain inside this white world swelled up in one go and turned into a monster with size that was not inferior with the ice giant.

The shadow monster opened its big mouth where fangs were lining up inside like a shark’s mouth, then it sunk its teeth into the ice giant.

But the ice giant didn’t even pay any heed of how their shoulder was bitten by a monster and continued to throw ice lump at Kazuki and co.’s direction. Their movements were sluggish due to Liz Liza-sensei’s magic, yet they were still throwing ice lumps even though it didn’t reach. Several of the ice lumps were falling just right in the middle.

“Their toughness is amazing, but… those Demon Beasts, are they doing something?”

Mio raised an amazed voice. The ice giants kept continuing to throw ice lumps that didn’t even reach them with sluggish movement like broken robots. Over and over they kept throwing, raising a curtain of snow on the snow field.

―A crack sharply entered the snow field. With a look of realization Liz Liza-sensei yelled.

“…Those guys’ aim to cause an avalanche! Someone use wind or flame magic!!”

Right at that instant, the snow field in front of their eyes split into two of up and down.

For Kazuki who was fighting while looking up to the slope, it looked like the world itself was cleaved down.

The lower half of the snow field in their path was all slipping down at Kazuki and co.’s direction. The snow in the shape of a plate broke down like smoke and built up, in the blink of an eye it became a wave of snow with an height of ten-odd meters.

The snow volume that could swallow all of them whole, surged, nearing them while roaring with a vibration like an earthquake.

The one who could immediately react was Kazuki and Kazuha-senpai. Both of them chanted the same magic.

“O wind of bellows, awaken the scorching heat of steel on my forging! Take into hand the hammer that had tempered hundred and strike away the impurity of the soul! Ameno Hidzukuri no Kazadzuchi!”

Kazuha-senpai finished her chanting an instant faster. When she raised her palm at the approaching avalanche, a wind of flame explosion whirled out from there. Like a katana blacksmith that awakens flames with the wind of bellows―this was a double element magic of flame and wind of Futsunushi no Kami who was the god of blacksmith. Its might had increased even more after obtaining the power of Take Mikadzuchi.

Wind explosion was blown into the approaching avalanche and evaporated it.

“Ameno Hidzukuri no Kazadzuchi!”

For the following avalanche that Kazuha-senpai couldn’t blow away completely, it was Kazuki’s turn to blow them away after casting the same magic with a time difference.

Even so, there was still more…*DODODODODO!* Tremors of the snow was approaching. The avalanche was continuing.

There were still magicians of wind and flame among them.

“O stream of atmosphere, converge in this body, become the storm that reject the hated person! The eye of the typhoon is exactly my throne! Storm Fort!”

“Burn to ash all that you touch… o scorching heat of rejection that has no place to depend! Self Burning!”

Hikaru-senpai and Mio invoked wind and flame defensive magic at the same time. Vortex of wind hid his companions from the surrounding and then flame mixed into the vortex of wind.

A storm of flames repelled away the avalanche that had its force greatly reduced from Kazuki and Kazuha-senpai’s magic and all of it was terminated.Because all of the snow that covered the snow field had moved down with the avalanche, the ground in the space between them until the ice giants was laid bare.

The snow was cleared exposing the original scraggy rock surface under it, like a path that guided them to the enemies.

Kanae quickly started to dash without hesitation―she had belief that her comrades would repel the avalanche.

Kazuki noticed that Kanae had changed from her two sword style of kodachi into using a single pure black katana. It was <Michikage> that formed a pair with Kazuki’s <Doufuu>. Kanae’s beloved sword in the past that she used when she was a child.

“Nii-sama, Amasaki Mio! Give me the protection of fire!!”

Kanae yelled while closing her distance with the ice giants in one go.

“Burn to ash everything touched… the scorching heat of rejection without any place to depend! Self Burning!”

Kazuki immediately guessed what Kanae wanted and chanted the magic that enveloped Kanae’s whole body with flame.

Mio too attached the same magic to Kanae a moment later.

Kanae used the flame that clad her whole body not for defense, but for attack, she used Psychokinesis to concentrate the flame onto her katana. And then she kicked the rock surface and flew high until the neck of the giants.

“Pierce the vital spot against a tough enemy!!”

When Kanae leaped at the giants whose movements were dulled, Kanae stabbed the flaming blade into its neck.

The ice giant writhed in agony like a living thing. …No, the giant looked like a lump of ice, but as a Demon Beast it possessed the disposition as a living thing.

There was no mistake that Kanae’s blade had severed the electric signal circuit that governed the giant’s body activity.

“…Die!” It was a really tough giant but it was smashed up into many small ice grains under one attack.

After Kanae ripped up the neck of one giant, she kicked its body before it could break and jumped onto the next giant and tore up the neck of the giants one after another.

It was a murder technique where the match was decided already once she got close, that it even made Kazuki go ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ in admiration.

“Kanae! Be careful where you are going to land!!”

Kazuki noticed and shouted. Kanae who had finished dealing with the giants landed on the snow field.

But regardless of Kazuki’s warning, it seemed that under that snow there was no foothold, *zubo-* Kanae’s lower body was buried into the snow and she raised a scream of “Nya nya nya!?”

“Don’t get too carried away. …It’s better not to get too close to the snow.”

With an amazed voice, Kazuki pulled out the MVP Kanae from the snow.

The coldness of this snow inflicted harm to the mind. That was exactly why that avalanche was dangerous. It would be nothing if it was just a normal snow, but it’d be bad if they got buried under this snow.

If everyone of the Magic Division that was lacking in Enchant Aura got buried under a few tons of snow, surely they wouldn’t be able to move at all. And then they would rapidly get cornered into a dangerous situation from the coldness of the snow.

Kanae whose body was half inside the snow was shivering and her face turned blue.

“So, something like this… is not a big deal…”

“Don’t act tough. …We should warm you a little like this.”

Kazuki tightly hugged the shivering Kanae.

“Ni, Nii-sama!? Nii-sama―!! It’s a super ultra warmth!! Right now Kanae is like a cat that is inside a kotatsu―!” <ref>Kotatsu is a table over an electric heater (originally a charcoal brazier in a floor well) with a hanging quilt that retains heat</ref>

“…But this is a cold that happened mentally so maybe doing this is irrelevant?”

“That, there’s no such thing! If it’s a problem of mind then right now Kanae’s heart is going puff-puff hotly!!” “…You look like your head is going to explode, let’s end it with this much.”

When Kazuki separated both his hands, Kanae was unsteady on her legs with a boiling face.

…If Kanae got buried under the avalanche―it was only Kanae and Liz Liza-sensei among the current member that he couldn’t search their whereabouts with the power of bond. When he thought so his body hair shuddered.

“Rotate to the rear Kanae. I’ll be the one that pushes through the snow.”

Kanae looked down in frustration but she followed what he said and moved to the rear.

“No, I’ll be the one at the head. I’m the one better suited for it right?”

In replacement of Kanae, Kazuha-senpai approached near him and said that.

…Certainly because she was a swordsman she had the proper strength to push through the snow with Enchant Aura, her resistance against mind magic was also better than Kazuki, and she could also deal against the assault of Demon Beast as a front liner.

Even if Kazuha-senpai fell she could stop her momentum using friction control, and even if she was buried under the snow she could blow it away using [Ameno Hidzukuri no Kazatsuchi].

There was the flexibility that could do everything even if something happened to Kazuha-senpai.

“Let’s do it with the two of us taking turn.”

“Yosh, tag.”

Kazuha-senpai laughed “he he he” and presented her palm, Kazuki high fived her with a clear sound of *pachin*.

“When it’s the time to alternate, let’s warm each other by hugging like just now.”

“Do, don’t make a needless banter-! Idiot-!” Kazuha-senpai hit Kazuki’s head.

 

Kazuki and co. formed a single line and resumed climbing the mountain.

…At first the fallen snow only reached until their shin, but the snow became higher when they climbed even more ahead.

The snow passed their knee… then when the height reached around their waist, it became difficult even just to move ahead.

Kazuha-senpai who stood in the lead swept away the snow in front of her with the ice picks, and then she pushed further into the snow surface that had been torn down lower with her knee, finally when the height of the snow became something that her feet could lift over she could take a step forward.

Kazuha-senpai raised a scream “Thi, this is harsh!” while her beauty was ruined from being forced to walk bow-legged.

Thanks to her pushing aside the snow in the front, the second in line could advance with a fair ease.

As expected this was an absurd task if they didn’t alternately take turns.

“Standing in the lead and pushing through the snow is called Russell<ref>snowplow</ref>. It’s one of the hardest task in climbing a snow mountain.” Liz Liza-sensei said that from the back.

“In proportion of the two that are working hard in the front, we the rear guard will work hard if there are Demon Beasts coming out!”

Kaguya-senpai went ‘Ei ei ouu―” while raising her hand. Right at that moment an ice giant appeared at the front where it was going to slide down at them, while from the sky a pure white giant bird that was covered with thick fur was flying.

The Demon Beasts appeared as if answering the request, so Hikaru-senpai yelled “Kaguya you idiot!”

“I’m not the one who is bad here!” While yelling, Kaguya-senpai began to chant.

The ice giant threw ice lumps and the giant bird breathed out a cold breath.

“Barrett!”

“O rejection of absolute zero, become the armor of isolation that protect our body! Freeze Barrier!”

Mio shot down the ice lump with [Barrett] and Koyuki protected the comrades from the cold breath with the barrier of chill.

Suddenly Kazuki looked behind. Interposed between Kazuki and Kazuha-senpai who was in charge of Russell and everyone of the Witch’s Mansion that performed magic battle―Kanae was looking down in frustration because she could not move even when there was no avalanche.

 

An absurd time was necessary just to advance ahead a little.

More than anything, the exhaustion of Kazuki and Kazuha-senpai was bigger than everyone who was doing battle.They rotated the turn every one hour, he and Kazuha-senpai hugged each other each time they were taking turns. Kazuha-senpai was cute with her face bright red. Perhaps if there was no reward like this then even Kazuki would have his heart broken.

Liz Liza-sensei had warned them before about the possibility of needing to bivouac, but as expected this was not a Haunted Ground that could be cleared in a day trip.

When he was became engrossed in the Russell duty and the battle, before he realized the surrounding had become dark from being evening.

The pure white world was transforming into orchid color. Like this they would soon meet with night.

“So this is what appeared in the end…”

Kazuki who had alternated with Kazuha-senpai of being Russell in the front unintentionally groaned.

…What appeared before their eyes was a rock wall without end in sight. The upper part was obstructed by the blizzard that formed white mist, they couldn’t determine how high this wall would continue.

If they didn’t claw their way up this wall, they would be unable to advance forward. This was like a bad joke.

“It’s better to stop one night here for the moment.” Liz Liza-sensei said.

“Come to think of it, sensei said that a tent is unnecessary so we didn’t bring any, but without blocking the blizzard we are only going to get exhausted one-sidedly even if we rest.”

“No need to worry about that. There is so much snow piling up in the surrounding. …We are making a snow hut here.”

Snow hut. …It was a proposal that made him strangely excited.

 

They immediately moved to work. Everyone piled up snow, pressed and condensed it, plundered the heat with Pyrokinesis, and froze and hardened the snow.

“Making it too big will only make you anxious if it’s going to break down from its own weight, so let’s make two snow huts.”

Although they could make the hut strong and solid with magic, they guessed that making it with a diameter of around four or five meters was the sensible limit. Thereupon Mio murmured while pushing and hardening the snow.

“…For the groups, how will we split the members?”

Everyone’s hands stopped.

Everyone raised their face all at once and looked at Kazuki’s direction. Leaving out Kanae and Liz Liza-sensei, there were only girls who understood that everyone in this place had more than 100 point in positivity level towards Kazuki.

“Kazuki. If I’m not mistaken your ability will unleash a special power when there is someone whose positivity level towards you became 150, right?”

When Kazuki was stumped to give out an answer towards the difficult question, Liz Liza-sensei gave an advice.

“Think about what will it do for you in the decisive battle if you raised someone’s positivity level. Make your answer from the side of profit.”

When it became something like that…

 

A single snow hut with high transparency that had been half transformed into ice was completed first.

“Enter the snow hut first and prepare the meal Kazu-nii. During that time everyone will complete one more of the snow hut.”

While talking Mio and Koyuki released their Magic Dress temporarily and their appearance turned into their uniform with a large rucksack on their back. They took out some plastic container and pot and a solid fuel from there. It was an underhanded trick that made use of a Magic Dress’ material conversion phenomenon.

Leme emerged out from his side and frowned her eyebrows while saying “Do this moderately okay, it’s just for this time only.”

“Even Leme also wants to eat a delicious meal right?”

Mio acted the same to Leme like when she was still kid-sized and poked her nose lightly. Though when the two of them stood side-by-side, Leme was already the bigger one between the two of them.

“How cheeky, to treat Leme like a kid when Leme had turned into this adult appearance already―!”

“So what―, Leme is Leme right―”

Both of them screwed around with each other by hitting the other *pechi pechi* repeatedly. …Looks like Mio still had some composure in her.

“Even if you called it preparation, I only need to warm the stew. It doesn’t really need to be me…” “I’m telling you to rest obediently here, so that Kazuki won’t get tired by doing something trivial like making a snow hut. We don’t know what is going to happen ahead of us you know!”

“Right right, just like she said!”

Hikaru-senpai butted in from the side and launched a hip attack at him with a boing.

The butt that was covered with a Magic Dress in T-back style blew away Kazuki inside the snow hut.

…If he was forced until this point then there was nothing he could do except to let himself get spoiled by their words.

Inside the snow hut, Kazuki spread out a sheet with high insulation rate and settled down his body on top of it. He set the solid fuel and lit up a fire. It was an alchemic fuel that boasted fire power of an average gas stove.

When he was staring at the burning flame, Kazuki’s feeling finally settled down.

…If he had to talk truthfully, he was nearing his limit.

Repeatedly becoming the Russell, the coldness of the snow stiffened his whole body that now he couldn’t even shiver.

The heart was also made of flesh―with a dysfunction occurring in the heart, the blood flow in the whole body was stagnating.

Due to the blood not circulating, the oxygen wouldn’t reach the brain. If he let his guard down, his thought would grow dim and turn pure white.

He planned to consume enough water, but even with his sweat not flowing out he felt a maddening dehydration in his body.

He had to warm his body. Kazuki instinctively thought so.

Now that he had escaped from the blizzard into the snow hut, surely his body would immediately recover if the fire of the solid fuel hit his body. Kazuki rubbed his coldly stiffening hands and fingers on top of the flame.

He had already upped his resistance toward mind magic but he was still immature in it.

Kanae too was feeling frustrated but… just because someone was a swordsman it didn’t mean that it was fine to only train in swordsmanship without caring for anything else. Even if comrades would help each other, there were many fields of expertise that had to be improved.

Waiting until after his blood flow recovered its vigor, Kazuki finally put the pot on top of the solid fuel.

The content of the pot was stew. The cold stew didn’t emit any aroma at all. Regardless Kazuki spontaneously gulped his saliva.

Rather than calling him starving, what he felt was closer to a breakdown. This was the first time his own cooking looked this delicious to himself. Since he was born, this was the first time his mind was ravaged by the taboo desire to snitch a food secretly like this.

But if he didn’t eat the food together with all his companions that were even now still building the snow hut outside…

Kazuki was gazing blankly at nothing while waiting for the pot to become warm.

The voices of everyone that were continuing their task outside felt awfully far. Perhaps his head was still lacking in oxygen. Feeling the warmth of the burning fuel, he dimly felt like he was in the middle of a dream.

Suddenly, he felt a presence right beside him. It was as if a ghost was standing right besides his pillow when he was sleeping.

After slowly turning his head―a slightly dazzling silhouette of a woman that was formed from magic power was peeking at the pot’s content from behind Kazuki.

It was as if a teacher was ascertaining a student’s cooking skill in the middle of a home economics class.

―It was the master of the seal. The First Knight. The wavelength of that light that dimly shone was the same with the light that appeared in his battle with Ilyailiya.

The light gave off a pondering voice.

{…Why are you, giving your all that much for your surroundings?}

Without tearing off her eyes from the pot, the woman’s voice sounded anxious in some respect.

‘What in the world is she feeling anxious for?’, before answering her, Kazuki first felt such doubt inside him.

“I am just doing it because I want everyone to be happy.”

Kazuki honestly talked about his own feelings.

“It looks like I am being quite misunderstood but, I’m doing this not because I am an orphan and so my self-esteem became really low that it makes me flatter my surroundings, it’s because I love everyone.”

When Kazuki said that, the woman became much more dejected and looked down.

{That stew is} The woman changed the topic. {…the flavor of your home?}

“I am an adopted child so, this is the flavor of the Hayashizaki’s… the family I was given to to be raised.”

Kazuki answered.“With Hayashizaki’s flavor as the base, I improved it in various ways so that I can make Kanae and father happy…”

The woman’s silhouette looked sad from something of what he said, she felt even more sorrowful in dejection.

“…Is something wrong?”

{I, can’t even teach my cooking to my own child. The flavor characteristics of just that family that every household has, I couldn’t impart it to him…}

Not only the pot, but the inside of the plastic containers were also loaded by Kazuki’s handmade cooking.

While her gaze kept wandering unable to calm down, the woman, rather than to be called a hero, she was more like an ordinary female, talked in sorrow.

Kazuki pondered about the woman’s life. There was no doubt that this woman staked her life for the sake of the seal.

To fight as a knight without looking back at her family… due to that this country was saved.

If so, then this person, should think of that proudly with her chest held high.

Kazuki tried to say such comforting words, and hesitated.

The child of this woman, could he understand that? Even though she had saved the country where she was born, and yet she left her own child in sorrow, as a mother could she really take pride of such a thing from the bottom of her heart?

For an existence of a mother to put in scale the world and her own child―it was not something that could be encouraged so simply.

“…Are you regretting it?”

{…Yes.}

The woman said as if spewing out the stagnation at the bottom of her heart.

An affirmation that a hero by no means should ever do.

Kazuki imagined what he would do if it was himself. ‘If, it was me in the position of this person. Or, if I was in the position of this person’s child…

When he thought that, a numb sensation ran through his brain.

This person, was someone. The master of the seal. The First Knight. The hero that saved this country.

The previous generation’s contractor of Lemegeton.

Not only that. ‘This person, who is she to me…’

This time Kazuki turned back his whole body behind.

He faced the silhouette of light of the woman right from the front.

Both her face and her body build were uncertain. Her voice too felt somewhat chaotic as if a wave was shaking it.

“…You are…”

{The pot, will be cooked soon. It looks really delicious… I too, want to try to eat it, but…}

As if running away from Kazuki’s gaze, the woman’s silhouette pointed out at the pot.

Even so when Kazuki continued to stare at her, the woman's silhouette dimmed and began to vanish.

{In the center of this Haunted Ground―at the peak of the Fuji, I’m waiting for you. I’m sending my avatar here like this, because I’m too impatient to wait…}

“Wait…!”

Raising his voice unintentionally, Kazuki reached out his hand as if trying to catch an empty air.

But, the woman’s figure disappeared and escaped from his hand smoothly. Silence returned to the surroundings. Were his companions really continuing their work outside the snow hut even now? Or perhaps it was just the inside of this snow hut that was completely transferred somewhere to a different world.

‘…I too have something that I have to convey.’

Suddenly, such feeling was gushing out from inside Kazuki’s chest.

He had to convey it to the woman that was waiting for him ahead.

That ‘I didn’t become unhappy or anything you know’.

That ‘I’m not resenting or blaming anyone’.

===Part 3===
When everyone finished their meal, the members were split up into two snow huts. To prepare against Demon Beast’s attack, there would be lookout posted alternately, they would pass a night in this place.

“Ahaha, hooray! I’m in Kazuki’s side!” Hikaru-senpai raised a joyful voice and she threw herself down before rolling around everywhere *goron goron* the moment she entered the snow hut.

“…Don’t go wild and destroy the snow hut okay?”

Kaguya-senpai warned her with a troubled face.

“The ones at this side… are you saying that we are the ones with a half-baked positivity level?”

Kazuha-senpai was the last one that entered the snow hut while being fidgety, unable to calm down.

Kazuki, Kaguya-senpai, Hikaru-senpai, Kazuha-senpai. This snow hut was for these four people.

“No, in the first place the members that entered this Grand Haunted Ground all have high positivity levels. Among these members, Mio, Koyuki, and Lotte had all passed over 150.”

Otonashi Kaguya―142   Hoshikaze Hikaru―130   Tsukahara Kazuha―128

The three of them had passed 100, but they were still short of 150. From Kazuki’s experience, when someone had their positivity level passed 100, from thereon raising their positivity level became not as easy as before.

Surely it would be difficult to raise their positivity until 150 in this one night. But if he became able to use these three’s high level magic, it would be very reassuring in his preparation for the decisive battle.

He didn’t mean to raise everyone’s positivity level in order to become strong, but…

“Hmmm… it feels like after the classmates, now it’s the seniors’ turns.”

Hikaru-senpai noticed the common point of the members here and murmured. Now when she said that, unexpectedly the situation really had turned out like that. Although he had never intended at all to leave the seniors for later just because they were older, things just developed like this.

In order to dodge the issue, Kazuki followed after Hikaru-senpai and rolled on top of the sheet.

The sheet insulated the chill from entering and only transmitted the softness of the new snow.

“Ahaha-, Kazuki baa―m!”

Hikaru-senpai delightfully rolled and rolled and rammed her body at him.

Hikaru-senpai that came rolling at him with quite a power behind her was blocked and then embraced by Kazuki.

Hikaru-senpai became docile and rubbed her body against Kazuki in his embrace.

Gently, Kaguya-senpai too quietly lied down behind Kazuki.

“Fufufu… we are expected to pass a night in this cramped place with the objective to raise our positivity level. It feels quite lewd.” Her expression was filled with seductiveness while she whispered into Kazuki’s ears.

Both of them were in the appearance of their Magic Dress that had been simplified into really light clothing. Hikaru-senpai that was hugged by Kazuki was in the appearance of leotard-style complemented with tight high leg, while Kaguya-senpai who clung at his back was in the appearance of only having her breast from her neck and between her legs slightly hidden.

Being glued tightly to such two people, sandwiched between them, had already made him in an inflammatory state of emotion.

“Gulp.”

With an expression that gulped her saliva, Kazuha-senpai was snugly sitting in seiza at the corner of the snow hut.

“Kazuki… I’m sleepy…”

With a tone of voice that seemed like acting, Hikaru-senpai closed both her eyes with a snap.

“Senpai is going to sleep already? That’s right isn’t it… we have to wake up early tomorrow.”

“Of course that’s not it! There is a stereotype pattern in this kind of time right!?”

Kazuki went ‘hah’ with realization and from then he grew ashamed of his own slow wittedness.

“Senpai, you are going to die if you sleep here!” He lightly slapped Hikaru-senpai’s cheek.

Hikaru-senpai went “Uhyaa―” and received the slaps happily while laughing.

“Kazuki… I grew cold.”

“Ee―rr, what should I do this time…”

“Let’s warm each other by hugging together naked-!!”

With a fierce momentum Hikaru-senpai put her hand on Kazuki’s upper uniform.

Kazuki raised a scream “Uwaa-“ and resisted that act, like a pure maiden.

But both his arms was firmly restrained from behind.

“Otouto-kun, isn’t it no good to sleep with your uniform I wonder?”

Kaguya-senpai sealed Kazuki’s movement and whispered in his ear while pressing her breasts at him with ‘boing boing’.

Certainly it was just like she said, however!

“E, even you two senpai are not naked aren’t you!?”

After he said that carelessly, he thought of what he was going to do if both of them undressed from even their Magic Dress here.

“Ahaha☆ Well then I’ll pardon Kazuki and leave your shorts behind!”

Hikaru-senpai that was once extolled like a prince proclaimed that with a smiling face.

Hikaru-senpai’s hand unfastened all the buttons at his upper wear and Kaguya-senpai behind him took it off. It was a joint action that had been polished. Next they put their hands on the shirt’s buttons.

It was fine already if he could preserve his short… Kazuki completely thought like that.

In a flash his white shirt and trouser were pulled off.

‘If it keeps like this then it will become something awesome’… Kazuki thought with only a single shorts on him.

“Wawawa-!” Kazuha-senpai who was sitting in seiza covered her face with both her hands in extreme shyness.

But she was properly watching from the gaps between her fingers. This person was that kind of person.

“Ooo―, a boy’s chest!”

Admiring something that she didn’t have herself, Hikaru-senpai hugged at Kazuki’s chest.

Kaguya-senpai who had a muscle fetish was trying to draw Kazuki’s body at her direction while saying “My pectoral muscle~”. “I find the treasure~” “This is the treasure of this snow hut~” The two of them joked while rubbing their cheeks against Kazuki’s chest. Getting stripped into his underwear and getting treated like a treasure by older ladies like this…

Kaguya-senpai kissed lightly at Kazuki’s neck muscle and pressed her lips stimulatingly. He shuddered. The small tongue that that came out from her lips gently licked from his neck until his chest glidingly.

Hikaru-senpai too “I see” nodded and then she did the same act. Everywhere on Kazuki’s naked upper body, the two’s lips and tongues were crawling around bewitchingly.

He felt his body, that had completely chilled from the blizzard, grow hot as if his blood flow was running wild inside.

He never knew that it felt this good to have his body licked.

This is bad. Although there were two people that became his partner here, be that as it may, it would be bad if he got driven into the receiving party.

To have his side as the attacking side instead was… on the contrary a situation where he could keep hold of his reasoning more.

Kazuki stopped the face of Kaguya-senpai who was moving on top of his chest with a manner of hand picking out something.

They exchanged gazes. The eyes of Kaguya-senpai were… just as he thought, they had become violet in color.

First he had to calm down this person, if he didn’t crush them one by one, this night would become something too awesome.

“Kaguya-senpai, rather than playing with my chest, you want to have your body touched instead, right?”

Saying that he aimed for the substitution of offense and defense, he traced Kaguya-senpai’s nape of the neck with his finger. Copying the act of senpai just before this, this time it was Kazuki that kissed Kaguya-senpai’s body and softly licked.

He licked through Kaguya-senpai’s stomach, her back, her sides, while keeping her weak in suspense where he was going to lick. He licked sleekly all over, making Kaguya-senpai’s spine quiver in shivers.

“…Yes. My breast, I want you to touch them.”The desire of Kaguya-senpai that had become completely sensitive from Asmoudeus’ influence, had been received. She responded to Kazuki’s words without resistance before encircling both her hands on his back and averting her back.

With a jiggle, that earth-shattering breasts were pushed out at him.

His feeling became as if a main dish had been suddenly presented at him, Kazuki lifted up that heavy fruit profoundly. Lifting it up, his palm enveloped half of it from below and then he massaged.

“Ann-, ann-“ Each time he massaged, Kaguya-senpai let out a stimulated cute voice for him.

Kazuha-senpai took a glance at Kaguya-senpai and her gaze displayed a sign of being embarrassed.

“Kaguya-senpai when she uses Asmodeus’ power, she will be unable to contain herself all night. That’s why…”

Kazuki nonchalantly inserted a follow up about this situation. ‘That’s why, it can’t be helped.’

“Is, is that so, so it cannot be stopped in any way…”

Kazuha-senpai leaned her body forward even while still covering her face with both her hands.

“It’s true, a sensation reinforcement magic is running on Otonashi-san’s skin. It made her completely sensitive.”

Kazuha-senpai’s magic intuition saw through Kaguya-senpai’s condition.

The breast covering vanished from Kaguya-senpai’s Magic Dress. The pink pointed end had swelled up sharply as if saying that it wanted to be touched.

“Waa…” Kazuha-senpai leaned her body forward.

Kaguya-senpai was already impatient. Victory went to the one who made the first move, Kazuki aimed for that and suddenly sucked at the pointed ends. He slide his tongue from the side, played with it in circles and pecked on the peak.

“Fuaaaaaaan!♡” Kaguya-senpai raised a shout of joy while small heart marks scattered from her. How much she felt good could be understood from the minute changes in her positivity level.

“Ahaha, Kazuki, you look like a baby. …Me too!” Hikaru-senpai sucked at Kaguya-senpai’s right breast competitively.

“Hikaru!? Do, don’t…nnnn-!!♡”

Kaguya-senpai’s sensitive body reacted fiercely even against the stimulation from the same sex.

Rather than calling the stimulation had doubled physically, it seemed the abnormal situation of being stimulated by the same sex made Kaguya-senpai completely aroused.

“Waa… a, amazing…” Kazuha-senpai’s posture was now standing on her legs.

Even further Kazuki used his empty hand to stroke Kaguya-senpai‘s thighs. Kazuki took the lower body, while Hikaru-senpai attacked the back and the nape of the neck in the upper body.

The body of Kaguya-senpai who had completely become sensitive several times over was filled with a vortex of pleasure from the two.

“Do, don’t, if you do that to me… even though I’m being watched…ANN-♡“

Kaguya-senpai rapidly turned heated. Like a heat that lost its place to go and ran amok, Kaguya-senpai wriggled her voluptuous thighs back and forth and she rubbed her nether region at Kazuki.

“This place, does senpai want it to be touched?” He asked with a slightly tormenting tone.

“It, it’s embarrassing…” Kaguya-senpai murmured with a look of dimming reasoning.

“It can’t be helped because it’s Asmodeus’ fault, senpai.”

Kazuki said so and removed the binding of Kaguya-senpai’s reasoning.

He remembered Koyuki’s disheveled state when he stimulated that spot of hers while she was in delirium in the movie theater. The passion of a girl was saved up in this spot. Kaguya-senpai too was also like that… she was more sensitive in this spot than anywhere else.

He pressed his finger on the nether region part of Kaguya-senpai’s Magic Dress―the Magic Dress vanished as if melting the instant his finger touched, his finger directly went into Kaguya-senpai.

Even while surprised, Kazuki caressed that sensitive spot as gently as he could.

“Otouto-kun…Otouto-kun-!♡ More!! ♡”

Even though Kazuki was touching gently, it was Kaguya-senpai who shook her waist in order to make Kazuki’s finger pressed on that spot.

In the case that it actually hurt her, such thing should also be able to be understood from the change of positivity level.

That was why, Kazuki moved his finger relentlessly and resolutely. What way that would make Kaguya-senpai feel even better… while looking for such a way from the change of the positivity level… he strengthened his movement in one go.

Her small bead that would make a girl feel even better was generally similar with Koyuki.

The protuberance on the outside’s upper part, the dripping wet inside, he massaged both with his finger tips.

Kaguya-senpai raised a voice that was nearly a scream. “Aaa! AAA―!” With such a raised voice, before long Kaguya-senpai’s face looked like it was going to cry “Fuaaa―!”, and then it changed into a distorted expression that tried to endure “Hyii!”. But she didn’t dislike what he did. She was opening both her legs slovenly with liquids flooding out soppily from her lower body. An amazing amount of heart marks were flying at him.

He whispered “Kaguya, you are really cute” with wholehearted expression at her ear, and then he kissed her white cheek.

“Otouto-kun… Kazuki-kun! HYAAAAAANN-!!♡”

At the end of Kaguya’s sensitivity that had been raised several times over, she reached the highest peak. She was pierced with a sensation unimaginable for a man like Kazuki before her body went limp in a half-fainted state.

Kazuki felt shy at this late hour looking at Kaguya’s naked body that was drenched with sweat and he averted his eyes. He couldn’t look at her in the eyes.

“Kazuki-! Me too…!”

Without even any time to take a breather, Hikaru-senpai hugged at Kazuki.

Chuu* She sucked strongly at Kazuki’s lips. This was something he couldn’t do with Kaguya-senpai, a kiss on the lips.

“The pleasant feeling of a girl, teach it to me too♪ I also want to become like Kaguya there…”It seemed that Hikaru-senpai was honestly yearning for a pleasure like what Kaguya-senpai experienced.

Perhaps he was making her learn something dangerous here. Thanks to being treated like a prince until now, this person didn’t have such vulgar thoughts about this kind of thing.

He embraced her body that was even more slender than Kaguya-senpai and caressed her back and her spine.

But as if saying that what he did was too slow, Hikaru-senpai

“Kazuki, my breast♪ Touch my breast♪” She coaxed him.

When he obediently did what she asked, immediately this time she urged him on “Suck my nipple♪”

“Fuaaaaaa-! Kazuki is sucking at my breast♡”

She said it to herself as if making a self-hypnosis to heighten her feelings rapidly. She was in high spirits with all her strength. Hikaru-senpai shook her butt and coaxed him “Ne, my butthole, touch it♪”.

“Eh, the hole of the butt, senpai says?”

“Because, in the manga that I read everyone was doing that you know?”

Before this Hikaru-senpai often read with pleasure boys love manga and mistakenly thought of it as the friendship between men.

Perhaps it was only a natural curiosity for her too to want to obtain the pleasure that was drawn in the manga for herself.

A magician could use Psychokinesis to float any filth thoroughly and remove it, so that place was not a dirty place. Kazuki also didn’t have much reluctance for such a thing―he pressed his finger at the leotard that dug into the bottom part.

“Haaa…♡”

Hikaru-senpai’s expression became joyous as if she had obtained the sensation that she had yearned from since she was just a child.

He shifted the digging clothes to the side and exposed the covered part. He poked weakly with his finger as if knocking. His finger tips caressed the narrow spot and drew circle as if observing the situation.

Hikaru-senpai’s expression was melting with bewitching feeling of expectation. Kazuki then determinedly buried his finger into the inside of that place.

“Aa-, it echoed until the inside of my stomach-“

He moved in and out his finger like a moving piston, Hikaru-senpai’s dignified face that was called a prince was melting in ecstasy.

“Haaa, somehow my butt, feels really hot…”

Rather than calling the sensation she felt intense, it seems that what she felt was more like a heat that slowly surged inside.

“Aaaaa… something is coming… this is the sensation of a girl…?”

Even if she called it as a girl’s sensation, he had the feeling that it was not actually something decent. While playing the behind with his right hand, Kazuki reached out his left hand to Hikaru-senpai’s front.

“Aaaa, from the front and behind… Kazuki is entering my front and behind… you are resounding inside me-!”

Strength filled the spine of Hikaru-senpai that looked like she had slowly reached prostrate orgasm.

“Kazuki, my girl place, more!♡”

So that Kazuki could touch the front and behind at the same time easier, Hikaru-senpai held both her own legs under her arms and floated her waist. Her vulgar places were all exposed, making Kazuki reflexively avert his eyes.

“Kazuki, look at my girl places properly here!”

Hikaru-senpai said that in dissatisfaction. Kazuki continued his stimulation in place of a reply.

“It comes! …Something good is coming…!!”

Kazuki stopped sucking her breast and sucked at the shivering girlish lips of Hikaru-senpai.

“Nnn… nnnnnnn-!!♡”

Hikaru-senpai’s body was fiercely trembling while heart marks flew at him, her body stopped moving with an ecstatic expression. There was no vestige of a prince left anywhere in her. Kazuki gently stroked the girl Hikaru-senpai on her head.

“Kazuki… me, me too…”

Kazuha-senpai who was leaning her body forward on her knees approached him while still on her knees.

Even though this was Kazuha-senpai who was supposed to be the owner of the most upright personality among the members here, she had been thoroughly changed by the two girls before her.

“I, I too want to feel good just like this…”

Kazuki too stood on his knees and faced Kazuha-senpai.

“Then senpai too should vanish your Magic Dress.”

He said that planning to tease her meanly, but Kazuha-senpai even while looking down in shame made her Magic Dress disappear like a mist. The naked body of Kazuha-senpai that he last witnessed in the Gate of the Celestial Rock Cave was now bared in front of his eyes.

Kazuki reflexively let his gaze crawl through her white skin.

“Kazuha-senpai, you are really beautiful.”

“Do, don’t stare at me that intently, quickly, that…”

“How does senpai want it?”

“I, I want you to touch me…”

Kazuki embraced her close with his left hand at her waist. Kazuha-senpai who let herself get pulled clung at Kazuki’s chest. When he impatiently caressed her skin, her white skin was rapidly dyed red.

That skin of hers dimly emitted magic power light.

“Kazuha-senpai, are you using some kind of magic?”

Like a kid whose misdeed was discovered, Kazuha-senpai twitched.

“O, Otonashi-san became until like this, so…”

This was―a sensation strengthening magic. This magic was a complete copy of Asmodeus’ influence that was mimicked using general magic.

When Kazuki pinched the tips of her breast strongly in a surprise attack, Kazuha-senpai’s body trembled exaggeratedly. Her body became almost as sensitive as Kaguya-senpai, and also even more from how she had been made to wait until the last turn where her passion had been piling up.

“Kazuki, make me become just like those two…”

“Like those two, like what senpai?”

“…Li, lick my nipple, suck it…”

Kazuha-senpai became more excited while saying such thing herself, her breath became rough.

Kazuki did just as she said. He pinched with his left hand, sucked with his mouth at the right side, and his right hand reached out toward her lower body and caressed her butt and thigh.

After stroking the inside of her thigh for a while, Kazuha-senpai began to fidget her body.

“Kazukiii…”

“How does senpai want it, I won’t understand if senpai doesn’t say it out.”

“Wh, Why are you talking that meanly only to me since a while ago―!”

“I know that Kazuha-senpai’s reaction when getting bullied is the cutest.”

“So you have a really warped fetish like that―!”

Although no matter how he imagined it, it was Kazuha-senpai’s own words and action that made other people want to do such things to her.

“…Kazu-kun! My, my important place too, I want you to make it feel good!!”

“Well then senpai, please open your legs yourself.”

Kazuha-senpai who was in the posture of standing on her knees turned her butt at Kazuki before she opened both her legs so that it would be easier for Kazuki’s right hand to touch. A hot liquid ran along the thigh and wet Kazuki’s hand.

Kazuki moved his hand in the way that purposefully made a watery sound intensely sounded and inflamed Kazuha-senpai’s shyness.

“Actually, I can understand what kind of way that makes senpai feel good from the minute changes of the positivity level.”

“Wha, what’s with that, if that’s true then don’t bully me like that. Uu… your way of touching that raises a sound like that…”

“That’s why senpai, it’s fine for you to let out your voice honestly and feel good.”

Kazuha-senpai’s expression brightened with a feeling of expectation at Kazuki’s declaration.

Kazuki searched for a spot where Kazuha-senpai really felt it―and immediately discovered it.“-! The place just now!”

When he concentrated at that spot, the piling up passion inside her flamed up all at once.

“FUAAAAAAAAA-!♡ Kazu-kun! ♡ It feels good, so good!!♡”

Kazuha-senpai’s body and heart became honest and clung at Kazuki, a line of saliva trailed down along with a wild breathing in her sweetly melting expression. Kazuki felt it wasteful seeing that and licked the trail with his tongue.

“Kazu-kun, kiss me too!”

Maintaining that movement Kazuki indulged deeply at Kazuha-senpai’s lips.

“NNN-!♡”

Kazuha-senpai too trembled in shivers and then she sunk down to the floor like a puppet whose strings were cut.

“Kazu-kun you idiott~”

He stroked the head of Kazuha-senpai whose face was messed up with shame.

Immediately after that, “Kazuki-kun-!” “Kazuki!” Kaguya-senpai and Hikaru-senpai embraced him from behind as if saying that they had recovered. Their bodies were still feeling hot, the two of them rubbed their bodies and fawned at him. His whole body was enveloped in the softness of girls.

Kazuki thought of the three girls as cute from the bottom of his heart.

At the same time he felt that he had to endure his own body’s demand with a self-restraint of steel.

Until the end Kazuki would only admire the three girls’ lovely reactions.

He absolutely must not do something more than that.

===Part 4===
Kanae couldn’t help herself from becoming concerned towards the other snow hut even while standing guard.

When the day became night, the blizzard became even more terrible. Perhaps this kind of thing was not really a big deal for the bunch of the Magic Division, but for Kanae this was a fierce blizzard even though she was just standing guard like this.

‘What kind of ordinary day that Nii-sama always spent with everyone of the Witch’s Mansion I wonder…’ Kanae was staring fixedly at the snow hut. Usually she could move such thought away from her mind thanks to the distance between the Witch’s Mansion and the Sword Division’s dormitory, but tonight, that was impossible and she became really concerned.

‘Even Nii-sama is not a blockhead that doesn’t have any desire.’ When she tempted Nii-sama, even while saying unkind things from his mouth, Kanae had noticed that inside, his heart was beating really fast.

If Nii-sama was surrounded by that many girls and being loved… surely they would even do something a little perverted many times already. Though of course, Nii-sama was a person that absolutely wouldn’t pass the line that must not be passed.

Kanae felt the loneliness of having only herself left alone.

Nii-sama felt a debt of gratitude toward the Hayashizaki house and obstinately tried to maintain the distance of a brother and a sister in regards to Kanae.

And then he shouldered the destiny where he had to create bonds with women that possessed Stigmata.

Thinking about Nii-sama’s sincerity and the weight of the destiny he shouldered, I thought that I must not feel something like jealousy. However…

If she at least had a Stigmata, she wondered whether she too would obtain the qualification to be loved by Nii-sama as a woman…

{Have thou felt like it to make a contract with I…?}

At the feet of Kanae who was standing still inside the blizzard, an avatar of a small black cat was approaching.

“…It’s only a weakness that welled up because of the cold wind.”

Kanae looked down at the black cat with a glare.

[[image:Magika No Kenshi To Shoukan Maou Vol.09 090.jpg|thumb]]

The avatar of the black cat snuggled close to Kanae’s foot with a brisk step―and entered into the body of Kanae who had grown cold from the blizzard. The sensation gradually changed into a mysterious heat.

“…You, you were shadowing me since the afternoon weren’t you? You were the one that was frequently sending heat into me like this.”

{The most that I can do for a human that is not contracted with me is only something to this degree.}

“Stop a behavior like this that pushes for a favor from me. My answer will not change for eternity.”

{…I understand well thy temperament. Thou are a proud human with purity inside. Completely like the blade of the katana that thou wield.}

“That’s right, I am a single katana.”

{I… don’t mean to push any favor to you. It’s purely just my wish to aid thou. I just want to take away thy suffering. I don’t know anything else that I can do to help.}

Despite how he was a terribly obstinate Diva that didn’t have even a single contractor until now, that voice of his was mysteriously gentle.

“Besides why don’t I have an Enigma? Pushing Enigma to the contractor one-sidedly that is enforced by the law is you guys’ original way of doing things right?”

{…Bestowing Enigma to thee is going against the rule of Enigma. Enigma was a simple mark for the sake of reserving early a possessor of excellent talent. And then Solomon 72 Pillar, certainly, we made the humans create the law that forcefully raised the people who received an Enigma into a Magika Stigma without fail.  That is to make the excellent human think that they have the obligation. If the humans with excellent talent don’t become Magika Stigma then this country will not be able to maintain itself… there is also that kind of circumstances. …However there is no talent inside thee as a Magika Stigma.}

Kanae harbored a good impression towards Beleth’s honest manner of speaking.

{Falling in love at first sight based on a completely personal interest towards someone who has no talent, moreover bestowing the Enigma only after confirming it, such an act that makes someone lose the freedom of their life doesn’t stand to any reason. That’s why there is nothing I can do except to negotiate with thee whether thou will do me a favor and receive the Stigma.}

“I see, you mean that I have the right to refuse. Then, I refuse. …Even though you give me the consideration until that much, but can you really be this persistent just because of the problem of your own preference?”

{If it keeps like this thou… shall inevitably be left behind from the path where Hayashizaki Kazuki is going to advance, and so I thought that it can’t be kept like this. Thou should become the conquer target of Hayashizaki Kazuki, that’s what I thought.}

“…Is that so. But your thinking is mistaken. That is something that I absolutely mustn’t do.”

{Why?}

It was not bad to be frank about her true feelings towards this resident of another world that didn’t have any ties of obligation.

“Since I was a child, I continued to live thinking only about becoming the strongest swordsman as the successor of the Hayashizaki-style. I am a single katana since I was born. But I am not blessed with a physique of a swordsman. The truth is, I was always insecure whether I was really worthy as the successor. At that kind of time, father brought Nii-sama home from the orphanage after seeing his talent. At that time I thought [It doesn’t matter anymore].”

{…That’s so unlike thee.}

“Actually, I am not even that strong as a human. But mysteriously, the moment I gave up to be the successor… doing sword practice together with Nii-sama became fun. And then Nii-sama also taught me the joy of life outside of the sword art. Nii-sama was the person that made me human.”

{But currently, thou is trying to become a single katana once again. Rejecting to make a contract with me.}

“That’s because an enigma appeared on Nii-sama’s hand. Nii-sama shouldered the destiny where he could not become the successor of the Hayashizaki-style, that position rolled back to me once again. All this time I didn’t want to recognize that. It was great to be together with Nii-sama. I wanted Nii-sama to be the strongest swordsman. I was… scared to return back into being a single katana again. It was scary to face my own powerlessness.”

Kanae spewed out her true feelings that she had never leaked out to anyone before.

“I won’t recognize Nii-sama’s departure to the Magic Division! …The true feelings of me, who had continued to say such things all along is what I just told you. I didn’t want to become the successor. It was scary. I was going to continue to drag Nii-sama’s feet behind like that. Does this kind of me… have the qualifications to think of wanting to be loved by Nii-sama?”

Kanae once again directed her gaze at the snow hut where her big brother was in.

Nii-sama was shouldering an enormous destiny, he was being affectionate to other girls.

‘I, who am always holding Nii-sama back, don’t have the qualifications to enter into that…’

“Nii-sama is going to stand on his own feet, independent from the Hayashizaki house. He is going to step into an even grander destiny. Then, I too have to face my own destiny. I have to become the strongest swordsman and see off Nii-sama’s becoming independent. As the eldest daughter of the Hayashizaki house. You understand now, Beleth. By receiving a Stigmata from you and becoming Nii-sama’s conquer target, Nii-sama will worry about the genealogy of the Hayshizaki-style coming to an end, he will notice my weak heart that escaped from my destiny, he will only harbor despair and pity towards me. A human that cannot face her own destiny has no qualifications at all to be loved by anyone!”

She would continue the Hayashizaki-style as the strongest swordsman, with that Nii-sama would be able to leave the nest of the Hayashizaki house with relief, to step out onto an even more rigorous destiny.

At such a time, she would be able to face Nii-sama once more.

The blizzard suddenly stopped. Kanae looked up to the night sky. Wind that was several times stronger than at the surface blew and washed away the clouds in the blink of an eye, the weather of the mountain changed suddenly in an instant.

At that moment, the cloud flowed away and the blizzard vanished like a miracle, opening the starry night all over the sky. It was as if she was seeing the night sky for the first time. The sky looked close as if her hand could reach out to it, countless millions of stars were shining.

“I will become a single katana.”

The radiance of the stars had not a single murkiness in it, like the clearness of a katana.

She, too, wanted to be like that, Kanae thought.

{Thou art sublimely beautiful right now. Thy heart is undoubtedly like a polished blade.}

 
===Part 5===

Late at night―the executive room at the highest floor of Oosaka’s government office building.

Inside, a strange soliloquy was resounding.

“7-6 knight, checkmate. …Aa―, it’s impossible already! As I thought shogi is just impossible, impossible! Amberjack! Greater Amberjack!” <ref>I don’t really understand this part. I think it’s something like a word play here. At first the person here was talking impossible impossible, which in Japanese is ‘muri, muri’. And then he continued with ‘buri’, which is amberjack fish in Japanese, and continued again with ‘kanpachi’ which means greater amberjack, but the word also sound similar with ‘kanpai’ which is a word that the Japanese people say when they toast their glass. Mind you, I could be totally wrong</ref>

It was a girl’s voice ―the voice of Kaya.

The tone of voice was Kaya’s, but a way of talking that was different than Kaya was alternately mixing in it.

“…That’s why I told you already, the random factor in shogi is zero, it was reckless of you. But playing against someone that omitted his eight pieces of rook, bishop, lance, knight, and silver general, ‘as expected maybe I can win here―’ anybody will think like that ain’t it! If you are gonna play then let’s play a game that has some random factor in it yeah, this kind of logic game just ain’t suited for you y’know? Don’t talk to me like I’m an idiot, c’mon―!”

The girl’s arm toppled over the shogi board that was on top of the marble table. The shogi pieces that were depicting a disastrous war situation were scattered everywhere with clattering sounds.

“Even me don’t like a game with zero random factor in it. <ref>The me just now is referring to man</ref> Why? ‘Cause there ain’t any chaos in it. A game without any uncertain factor in it is just too boring, this is just the Cosmos Side’s game.”

―This was a soliloquy that was not a soliloquy.

The two minds that occupied a single body were alternately talking.

Using just a single mouth that Kaya had, the one who was talking with Kaya was Loki.

Both of them could also exchange words only inside their head, but they much preferred to actually let out their voices when talking. Especially for a Diva, just moving their flesh body was a really pleasant thing.

After talking too much they now wanted to drink. Kaya reached out her hand to the pet bottle on top of the table and drank it all in one go. What she drank was a carbonated drink from the former era named [Root beer] that she recently got addicted to.

Loki who shared Kaya’s senses suddenly raised a scream.

“It stinks! That drink is just too stinky!! Drink something more natural, you! Don’t wanna! This chemical flavor is just unbearable y’know. Eei, shit!”

In order to remove the bad taste, Loki gulped down the whole bottle of the sweet potato shochu <ref>Japanese liquor</ref> named [Invitation to Hell] that had been put beforehand on top of the table. It was a sake that he bought because he was pleased with the name. A scream suddenly resounded all of a sudden.

“GYAA―! My throat is burning! Hahaha, serves you right, get sterilized you idiot tongue!”

Kaya’s body was in agony while laughing.

“C’mon, just drink a lighter sake. No way, the balance between the punch of the alcohol strength and the taste is important in what is called as alcohol, the nasty sake with alcohol below 20% is not alcohol at all. Geez―, Loki you idiot! Being an alcoholic even though you are sharing a body with a girl is just the worst! The idiot one is your sense of taste here! What are you gonna do if you even get me addicted with this root beer addiction of yours!! Ah, just as I thought? Looks like you also started to get to like it eh!? …Yeah. It’s vexing but yeah. Yeeeiii, my root beer comrade♪”

They got along well with each other.

Loki was thinking ―he left alone the consciousness of this girl on a whim, but she made things fairly interesting here and there.

Sharing a life with another person like this was filled with many really new discoveries.

Both of them had an open personality that knew no shame, so they were not bothered at all even with a life of zero privacy like this.

For Kaya, even in the case when she was sleeping and during that time both of their flesh body got strangely mixed up, so when she woke up she found her own body grew out the penis of Loki’s giant’s body, she could still laugh explosively while holding her stomach. She was the owner of a personality that could do such a thing.

Loki too was so Loki that he was not flustered, even when he was sharing a body with a girl. In the first place he was the ultimate borderless god whose forte was sex change, on the contrary he even had an incomprehensible heroic saga where he transformed into a mare where he was then brought into a reverse rape as the Sasoi’uke by a giant’s powerful male horse. At that time he got pregnant and the foal that was born from that later on became Odin’s beloved horse, the famous <Sleipnir>. With rape being the case.

Both of them were completely a match made in heaven.

While the two of them were getting roused up from their matching mood in one body, there was a knocking sound *kon kon* from the door.

“It’s fine to just enter anytime without knocking. This great me doesn’t have any moment where I’m gonna get ashamed of being seen.”

Loki who didn’t have any shame lightly permitted the visitor who came this late at night to enter the room.

The door was opened and the one who entered was a group of three of male and female.

All of them were wearing the hooded robe that was the proof of being an illegal magician.

“Oh, it’s you guys.” Loki’s voice brightened and he welcomed them.

The three respectively were the illegal magicians that were possessed by Midgardsormr, Fenrir, and Hel.

These three Divas were Loki’s real children.

However they were quite unworthy of their father because they couldn’t really succeed in taking over their human’s flesh body.

‘Despite being my kids why are their performances this bad huh?’ Loki thought inside his heart in marvel.

In front of his children, Loki transformed Kaya’s body into his own body. His body contour distorted flabbily like an amoeba and without even emitting any magic power light the body smoothly morphed into Loki’s appearance.

“Nyoro nyoro.”

“Midgardsormr, you too has become considerably like a snake huh. Quickly shed off your skin already.”

“Aoo―n, ao―n.”

“Fenrir, you too have turned like a dog this far huh. Can you pee while raising one of your legs now?”

Towards the illegal magicians whose bodies had began to be deeply influenced by the Divas possessing them, Loki ignored the original personalities of the bodies and called them with the name of his own child. After stroking the heads of the two, he turned towards his youngest daughter Hel.

“…”

“Ou, Hel. You too have your complexion worsened like a death god… hm? Hel, you…?”

“Papa. I, have reached it already see.”

At that time, the body that was clad in a dark robe emitted a powerful light.

“Ooooh-!?” Loki raised a joyful voice. Inside the light, the silhouette of the illegal magician changed its shape like a jelly. In the blink of an eye it drew out the small―petite silhouette of a girl.

“Hel, you finally did it! As expected from my daughter!!”

Loki tried to hug the girl’s silhouette by jumping into the light.

The girl’s silhouette sleekly dodged the jump.

“Papa… I’m, not a child anymore you see. Stop trying to hug me already.”

The shining light settled down―Hel had clearly materialized her body.

With a bluish-white skin, her appearance was of a very young girl. Her body was clad in pure black gothic clothes that matched Kaya’s taste, her right eye was covered with an eyepatch.

Her noble look and blue hair that were inherited from Loki emitted a ghastliness that was not from a person of this world.

Hel―because she was Loki’s biological child she was still young, but in Norse Mythology she was the Queen of the World of the Dead that accomplished an important role. Loki greeted her materialization with a radiant smile.

“Hahaha, you shy kid. Papa is very lonely just by myself y’know. Comrades that papa can trust right from the heart are only you three after all.”

Loki forcefully hugged Hel while sinking his waist on the black-leather sofa.

Hel averted her face to the side and replied with a coldness of hell.

“Even without us, papa doesn’t really mind and is always having fun right? Papa is saying things like comrade, even though papa actually doesn’t need anything like that in your heart.”

“Why are saying such a cold thing to your papa that you have met after a long time? If you don’t act more honest and be sweet to papa, papa is gonna get lonely here…”

“Nyoro nyoro” “Aoo―n”

[[image:Magika No Kenshi To Shoukan Maou Vol.09 096.jpg|thumb]]

When Loki hung his head down dejectedly, the two people possessed by Midgardsormr and Fenrir consoled him.

In the past it was also like this but, these two were stupidly kind to Loki.

“Hmph. I hate papa so much.”

“Is that so? If so then, well, it’s fine already. However, why did you suddenly become able to steal the body in one go?”

Loki raised his face in a snap and asked.

“…Putting me aside like that… Hmph, it’s Ikousai. When I went along with that girl’s training I grasped the trick.”

Ikousai lately made these three to accompany her training. It was the special training for the sake of perfectly controlling the power of Susanoo that resided inside her. So that was it, by observing the state of Ikousai, who was controlling the power of her Diva, she grasped the trick to steal a human’s body using the reverse operation of that process.

“Oi, Midgardsomr and Fenrir. You guys also went along with Ikousai’s training right? Why is there no progress with you guys. This ain’t the time to go ‘nyoro nyoro’ or ‘aoo―n’ y’know.”

“It’s impossible for these two, they are idiots after all. I’m the smartest here after all.”

With a proud huff Hel turned up her nose haughtily, “…I’m the best, I’m taking after papa the closest” she added so with a small voice.

“Right. However this is a joyous occasion. Should we have red rice for the meal tomorrow? Papa is going to fill this room with humans until bursting and make them make a lot of red rice yeah.” <ref>Red rice or sekihan, made from beans and mochi for auspicious occasions</ref>

“Re, red rice or whatever isn’t tasty, so it’s not like I’m happy or anything with that. Well, if you are going to congratulate me then it’s fine even if you do as you please…”

“Well, that’s just a joke though. I too don’t like red rice, it’s troublesome.”

“…!!” Hel stood up from on top of Loki’s knees and hit Loki’s shoulder repeatedly.

Even while those hits got repelled by a blue defensive magic power, Loki got flustered while saying “What, what’s with you!”

“…Papa is no different whether now or in the past. Papa is only joking around or saying insincere words. Even though I’m now able to materialize after a long time, why is papa not facing me with more of your real feelings…”

Hel murmured in complaint with a small voice.

“Nn? What are you grumbling there?”

“Nothing at all!”

Hel raised an angry voice that sounded like a flame of hell. Loki went “Sca, scary…” and shrank back from his biological daughter.

{Heh heh… Loki, so when you are in front of your kids you are like this.}

Kaya who was watching over the situation laughed sardonically inside Loki’s head.

“Anyway, I’ll go after that guy called Hayashizaki Kazuki. Just leave the rest to me.”

Hel crossed her arms and suddenly began to talk.

“Hah? Leave it to you? Papa is not blessed with capable people, so papa never got to test whether leaving something to another person is gonna go well or not.”

“I have grasped the situation even while just possessing this body. Hayashizaki Kazuki is going to the deepest parts of Fuji’s sea of trees to take the last one of the Three Sacred Treasures. …Ame no Murakumo. That thing is probably, the thing that made us thoroughly miserable 14 years ago right? That kind of thing, must not be handed over to the enemy.”

“Even if you say that, that place is sealed by that woman’s power. We cannot enter there.”

“It’s possible. If it’s me. That seal is something that was put up by that woman… a dead person.”

Hel puffed up her chest as if wanting to say “It’s fine for you to praise me.”

“Is that so, if you have recovered your power… now you can make full use of your power as the god of death.”

“Dead person is my attribute. I can look up the soul of dead people that I know from Astrum and form a connection to them. The soul of the dead that is maintaining the seal in that Haunted Ground… when that woman shows her appearance in front of Hayashizaki Kazuki, I’ll do that and I’ll eat that woman’s soul. And then I’m going to materialize my figure in that place.”

So to speak, a warp that was using the desecration of a dead person.

By reducing her own flesh into a mass of enormous magic power, she was going to connect to the soul of a dead person that was in a different place through the mental world. The soul of a dead person was the remains of magic power that kept clinging at Astrum―so to speak the remaining dregs of a mind.

By consuming the soul of that dead person, she would reveal her appearance by moving into the soul of the dead person that was in that place.

Warp magic―it was a feat that not many Divas could do even if they had materialized.

“He will see the one that he is talking with right in front of his eyes suddenly change into me. I’m going to launch a surprise attack right there when he is shocked. He is going to be helpless. And then I’m going to massacre the lot and bring back the Sacred Treasure. How’s that, papa? It’s perfect right? It’s fine even if you praise me. Though it’s not like I’m happy or anything getting praised by Papa.”

‘That strategy is gonna make Hayashizaki Kazuki go into rage huh’ , Loki thought.

‘That strategy is going to make Kazuki-oniichan go mad with rage huh’, Kaya also thought,

When [a person that knew Hayashizaki Kazuki] imagined that strategy’s progression, for some reason rather than success there was only a dangerous premonition welling up inside their heart. That was how much Loki and Kaya were being in awe of his force of will.

“…Just stop it, that’s dangerous.”

“Eh? Why?”

“Because the one who can warp like that, is just you right? Hayashizaki Kazuki that snapped, is just scary. If that guy fight without thinking of the consequences, he could even fight against the other Kings.”

“There is no way for me who has already materialized to lose against something like a human at all!”

“You say that but, even papa has the experience of almost losing against that guy y’know. See, this in papa’s chest, it’s the scar from that time.”

When Loki exposed the chest behind his shirt and showed his scar, Hel’s face went beet red and covered her face with both hands.

“I, idiot! Don’t take it off out of nowhere like that! Papa really doesn’t have any delicacy! You perverted father! Since a long time ago you always loitered around naked after rising from the bath, that kind of papa is just the worst!”

Loki fixed back his shirt while being dejected.

“Why are you this shy of a person despite being my daughter… daughters at that age are really troublesome eh. I get along much better with Kaya.”

Hel’s expression went stiff in a snap from that nonchalant comment and she became even more obstinate.

“Besides papa’s win and loss cannot become any consideration at all! Anyway that time papa was just careless right!? If we just leave that guy alone and get careless, it will immediately become a pinch for us.”

“There was also that but… Papa you see, is just worried for you.”

“That’s a lie!” Hel refuted that with a menacing look like the earthquake of hell.

“Papa isn’t worried or anything at all for me! Papa is just making light of me all along! Telling me that I cannot do anything right, papa is always, always looking down on me!!”

“I ain’t looking down on you at all here. No, strictly speaking I’m looking down on you though. Everyone except papa are all idiots after all, so it’s not like papa is specially thinking of you as an idiot y’see.”

{Ahaha, you’re the worst―} Kaya was laughing hard.

“Papa is not worrying about me, papa is just thinking of that guy Hayashizaki Kazuki as more important than me! Even though all this time papa has already had so many chances to kill that guy already!”

His biological daughter’s discerning eye made Loki shocked instead. Kaya too {Ooo-} reflexively ooh-ed in admiration.

“Just why does papa let that guy live until now!? That kind of man, can be nothing else but an hindrance to our plan!”

“That guy is also one of the pawns that I can use. …Among the Magic Advanced Countries, Japan is the only country that can form an alliance with another country. With Japan becoming a force that cannot be ignored, the balance between the countries that struggle for supremacy coulda be broken. I don’t want to face those Magic Advanced Countries honestly from the front.”

“That’s just an excuse! Our original plan was to make this country, Japan as the base of us, the Divas of the Chaos Side, as the abode of demons where we can hijack the humans of this country that had no divine protection of the advanced countries! That’s the original expectation of us of the Loki’s Einherjar!”

“It doesn’t really matter where we gotta do that, anywhere is fine. …The first plan had become hard because the <Zero Knight> really whooped our asses. That couldn’t be helped.”

Kaya was shocked hearing Loki’s way of speaking. This was the first time this Diva had the sense of defeat mixed into his actions.

To steal this country and turn it into their own base, couldn’t be done except in that era.

Right now, the Magic Advanced Countries had already gathered too much strength. They already couldn’t do anything that stood out.

That was why, rather than gathering strength, they had to plan that prioritized shaving off their surrounding’s strength. …Loki was thinking like that.

“…Papa right now, just wanted Hayashizaki Kazuki to inherit the will of the Zero Knight, and then try to fight it once more.”

“You are thinking too much.”

Hel shook her head vigorously and turned on her heel.

“I don’t know anybody like papa anymore! I’m going to kill that guy!!”

Just like that she rushed out of the door with a force that almost smashed apart the door and left the room. Having been left behind, the two humans that were possessed by Fenrir and Midgardsormr were lost “Nyoro” “Ao―n”.

“…Aaa, she went and left. Why is she like… wonder if she didn’t hear what I told her. Ain’t her plan just a suicide attack when she ain’t preparing any escape route like this?”

Loki sank his waist into the sofa and gulped his sweet potato shochu.

“Why is she that stupid despite being my kid I wonder. <ref>That’s not surprising when the father of your kid is just dumb animal right? Edit(Omega): Actually, Fenrir, Midgardsomr and Hel were fathered by Loki, while the mother was a Frost giant… Sleipnir was the only child of his he mothered</ref> When I was having children, the ones that come out were suddenly a snake, a dog, and a corpse, well, like that there ain’t no way these bunches are going to turn out decent though, but even so I thought that the girl was still better cos’ she had human shape. What a stupid daughter.”

{…Loki, why did you even make something like children?}

Kaya asked while enduring the numbing sensation of the alcohol.

“I wanted them in the past see. I thought that for comrades that I can have faith in, one that absolutely won’t betray me, ain’t it fine if I just make them myself.” Loki leaked out a voice that was unexpectedly crestfallen and lonely.

“…After all whether it was those gods of Asgard, or those giants, in the end, none of them can be trusted.”

Loki’s birth origin was the giant race. The Norse Mythology was a legend about the enfolding conflict between the gods of Asgard and the giant race. Kaya vividly imagined Loki’s position in the middle of such conflict.

Loki joined the group of Asgard’s gods, exchanged the cup of sworn brother with Odin, and his relation with Thor became something that was called as bosom friend.

But in the end he betrayed the gods of Asgard and a fierce battle was enfolding.

In the end, his words that no one could be trusted was heavy.

“But I noticed in the middle that such thinking was too naïve. It’s not about fearing treachery, what’s important is to corner the surrounding bunches into a situation where they have no way to betray you. I’m not looking for something like other people that you can trust. Other people are to be used. They are pawns. That way of thinking really worked well.”

{But that girl, Hel, you cannot handle her as pawn well eh.}

Kaya pointed out with a sharpness that stabbed right at the heart of the matter. Loki gulped his shochu.

“That girl, I cannot move her well. What is that girl looking for, what kind of bait that girl will take, I really don’t understand at all.”

{I think that what that girl is looking for is really easy to understand though.}

“Is that so? …It’s incomprehensible for me.”

Surely he was just pretending to not understand, Kaya thought.

Surely Hel had seen through something like a fake love completely. That was why she was constantly angry.

But a love that was right from the heart couldn’t be called as bait anymore.

Loki who had decided to treat everything as a pawn was unable to give something like love right from his heart to other people. That was why, even for Loki the trickster, that attempted to manipulate everything, Hel was the only one in the world that he couldn’t use.

Perhaps all the words that Hel threw at him were all truth. Loki had lost the argument against his daughter.

“Really… the matter just cannot go my way.”

Kaya noticed. How that murmur sounded a little happy.

{…It doesn’t go your way, that’s why you’re looking forward to it aren’t you? An uncertain factor. Basically it’s that kind of thing isn’t it?}

Loki loved something uncertain. Surely Loki―loved Hel as an uncertain factor.

“It’s just like what you are thinking.” Loki laughed.

Hel couldn’t understand a love in such shape. That child from now on too would hunger for love, wander, and continue to act in an astounding way. Loki continued to watch that while drinking his sake.

Kaya also thought that it was pleasant. She couldn’t explain why she was having fun with such an unpleasant hobby but, without doubt, such things brought joy to Kaya and Loki.

She and Kazuki-oniichan were also the same. When saying “I want love”, Kazuki-oniichan would surely face the other party directly. But for her, she already didn’t want such a straightforward feeling. That was why she rejected that, did crazy things―and just earnestly wanting to trouble Onii-chan.

That kind of reliable Onii-chan was manipulated around with her every single action. That was great.

Inside her head was becoming full with contradiction and bankrupt personality. It was pleasant for such tragedy to be her aesthetics.

Kaya felt her [bond of chaos] with Loki that could understand that become even more irreplaceable.

“…By the way, what kind of person was that Zero Knight?”

Kaya was interested with Loki’s past. She felt that his past that she was completely ignorant of, was like a large river that stretched out between her bonds with Loki.

“I had several chances to meet her face to face and talked to her. That woman was someone that said things like [I fight in order to protect everyone!] with sparkling eyes.”

“Ugee―. That’s the honor student type that I’m bad with.”

“Hearing that I… more like my host was thinking like this. This guy is strong. So let’s massacre all her important people and plunder the will to fight, the will to live from this woman. I’m going to make that sparkling eyes get polluted.”

“O, ooo… what an awesome idea.”

“My host and my comrades ran around from the Zero Knight and massacred the Zero Knight’s family, friend, acquaintance, we cleaned all of them up. So that she won’t even have any feelings of revenge, we did it thoroughly. There was only this one strange pipsqueak foreigner that called the Zero Knight [Nee-sama] that we failed to kill because she was quite strong, but, other than that one pipsqueak, we killed them all.”

There was no more reason for the Zero Knight to fight―the circumstance became something like that.

There was no more will to protect or anything that she could feel. It wouldn’t even be strange if she commited suicide because of the despair.

“And then, what did the Zero Knight do?”

“For a while her whereabouts was concealed. During that time my host and comrades went wild as much as we wanted. But… that woman came back.”

“Ooo-…! She came back for revenge?”

“No, she didn’t have the desire for revenge. That woman said [Someone like you has to be defeated without fail] with a steady gaze. She was not talking pretty things with sparkling eyes… she talked justice with piercingly threatening eyes.”

“…That woman, was scary wasn’t she?”

“Yeah, even my host was trembling. My consciousness that time was vague but, maybe I too was shaking in my boots. We ran away until the depth of a left alone Haunted Ground that was surrounded by a wall but we got pursued, and then she entered a one-on-one fight at the summit of Mt. Fuji. There, they simultaneously killed each other.”

“Then that means you guys didn’t lose then.”

“Well, it felt like a loss. Our plan also got toppled over. Right before the Zero Knight’s death, so that the special Sacred Treasure that she used could be handed over to the hands of a worthy human, she burned her remaining life and put up a seal.”

“Loki is thinking that you want for that Sacred Treasure to be handed over to Kazuki-oniichan aren’t you?”

There was reverence towards the Zero Knight inside Loki’s chest.

“Hayashizaki Kazuki is… a worthy guy to inherit the conviction of the Zero Knight. In the deepest part of the Grand Haunted Ground, that kind of thing is waiting for that guy.”

===Part 6===

The next morning, Kazuki and the others crept out from the snow huts along with the dawn and lined up in front of the tremendous rock wall while looking up at it. When they tried to take a detour, they soon hit a deep valley in their way. No matter what they had to challenge this wall in order to climb to their destination.

What was in front of them was not a slope anymore, but a wall that stood upright like a folding screen. The angle began from around 50°, and then the angle gradually became closer to being vertical. The rock surface was exposed due to the wind but here and there were snows piling up inside rock cavities, making the wall look like a pattern of brown and white speckles. The wall continued until very high without the end in sight.

It was as if they were witnessing the god of earth.

“When I climbed this mountain in the past, there was no wall like this that looked like the Grandes Jorasses though.”

Liz Liza-sensei said that while breathing out white vapor. “Haunted Grounds will change even its terrain with the thickness of its magic power. With days and months that passed, the Haunted Ground will evolve into something outrageous.”

“This, how will we climb this?”

“There is no other way than to cling onto the wall with both legs and arms like a lizard and climb. Let’s have Koyuki create one more ice axe for each of us.”

Ice axe―a hammer in a T-shape model. It was a mountain climbing assistance tool in a shape like a bar with its tip turned into a sharp blade. With ice axes in both hands, they had to drive in the blade in position as high as they could one hand at a time.

Crampons―similarly with the ice claws Koyuki made for them on both of their legs, they had to kick in the claws on their toes in position as high as they could one foot at a time. They nailed the ice axes at their hands and the crampons on their feet alternately into the rock surface. They crawled up little by little. There was no other way to go up other than to steadily do that.

They supported their body by alternately stabbing the blade and claw into the rock surface deeply. So that they would be fine even if their balance broke and fell, they stretched out a rope between them so that all members were supporting each other.

They wouldn’t die even if they fell, but… they would need to climb back steadily from the start again.

“There will be falling rock, Demon Beasts will also come attacking.”

The one in the head that would support the comrades that were following after him in critical times must be excellent in stamina.

“Should the one that becomes the lead be me or Kazuha-senpai?”

“Shall I do it?”

“There is no doubt that Kazuha-senpai who can manipulate general magic flexibly is competent for this role, but what is really demanded in this role is being calm, cool, and collected to quickly deal with the problem that can happen.”

If just that one point was excluded, Kazuha-senpai would be even more suitable than Kazuki for this. But just that one aspect made him thoroughly uneasy about letting Kazuha-senpai do this.

Kazuha-senpai focused her eyes and considered Kazuki’s words. And then she immediately averted her eyes uneasily.

But she also couldn’t retract her previous offer and so her mouth kept closing and opening wordlessly.

“Also with a girl in her Magic Dress right above me will only make me unable to concentrate from all the lewdness, so as I thought it’s better if I’m the one in the lead.”

Kazuki threw out a life line to Kazuha-senpai which made Kazuha-senpai’s expression relieved before she pushed Kazuki’s shoulder while saying “Yo, you pervert! As I thought you are the one that will be in the lead!”

With Kazuki being in the lead decided, all of them were joined with each other using rope in turns.

At last Kazuki half-crawled the steep slope and began to climb. The ice axe and the crampons which had its hardness increased due to Koyuki’s power over cold easily pierced the wall when Kazuki strengthened his physical ability and nailed it on the wall. Relying on that Kazuki advanced above step by step.

“Like this… steadily…”

Looking at Kazuki’s figure that was clinging on the wall, Mio let out her impressions.

When Kazuki had climbed around three meters, that Mio also clung to the wall. She only had the power of a girl that wasn’t used to using Enchant Aura habitually, but her ice axes and crampons easily drove into the wall.

“Kazu-nii-, pull me up if I’m going to fall okay♪”

Mio looked up at him while saying that.

Kazuki looked down right below him and replied “Naturally.”

“Ehehe~, how reliable♪ I wonder if I should try to fall purposefully.”

“You are going to fall at me then.”

Koyuki who was following right under Mio replied with a cold voice.

“I’m going to thrust this ice axe into the bottom of the falling Amasaki-san.”

“FUEEEEEEEEE-!?”

Mio spontaneously raised a scream but she had defensive magic power so she wouldn’t actually get stabbed if that happened. It was just a frivolous talk. The relation between these two had also improved really well.

 

With only pain accumulating inside him, the monotone act where he couldn’t see when it would end was continuing.

The scenery of white mist above him didn’t change at all no matter how far he was steadily climbing up. The wind that was whirling in rumbles in the air was filled with snow and turned into blizzard that crashed into the rock surface and got blown below. Kazuki and co who were clinging into the rock wall and were trying to climb up―especially Kazuki who was climbing in the lead had his face struck fiercely by all the falling snow.

However he had to keep his face lifted up by all means, after all they didn’t know when the Demon Beasts would come attacking from the sky. The really violent blizzard reduced the visibility to zero with just his naked eyes, but he continued to focus single-mindedly on reinforcing his eye sight with magic power and saw through the other side of the blizzard.

And then it came―a swarm of giant bird that was covered in pure white fur where they were flapping their large wings to draw near and to peck at Kazuki and co. with their sharp beaks.

His companions shot them to death with a rapid-fire of attack magic.

When Kazuki tried to chant his magic, his companions scolded him to preserve his strength.

―His body that should have been warmed already inside the snow hut was once again beginning to creak. During his war of attrition against the rock wall where he didn’t know when it would end, the cold was gnawing into his body unstoppably.

What was exposed into the fierceness of the blizzard right at the foremost was not just his face but also both his hands. The tips farthest from the heart that were his fingers were the first to have ischemia occurring at it from the hypothermia.

Kazuki was witnessing his fingertips slowly changing color into brown.

Even so as long as the wall was continuing vertically, he kept raising high both his hands alternately above his head, he must not stop driving his ice axe into the wall’s surface by any means.

How far he had climbed, he wondered. He had no sense of distance and sense of time.

The surrounding was isolated by the blizzard. The senses of his whole body also went numb and began to vanish. He was feeling as if he was floating in a world of pure white.

Kazuki’s heart was suddenly assaulted by anxiety.

Were his comrades still there at the end of the rope that was tied onto his waist, following after him?

If the rope didn’t get pulled then that meant that there was no one that fell down. In the first place Kazuki was able to sense the current location of his companions.

Yet regardless… it couldn’t be helped that he felt uneasy from how he was unable to detect the existence of everyone inside this world of pure white.

“Everyone, are you still there!”

Kazuki called out to right under him.

“I’m fine!” “I’m still here!” Replies were coming from numerous mouths, Kazuki was relieved from the bottom of his heart.

His chest became warm. Everyone’s voices became a second breath for him and turned into strength inside his body.

“Hey! Let’s take a roll-call periodically okay!!”

Kaguya-senpai proposed that perhaps from feeling the same uneasiness as Kazuki.

“Then when I call out [Everyone!], everyone will give their reply in order!”

“Understood!” Mio who was right under Kazuki replied. “But what should we reply with?”

“Anything is fine, within appropriateness! Let’s try it now… everyone!”

“Nyaa―!” Mio immediately replied after she was told that anything was fine.

“Puu.” Koyuki continued.

“Wan wan-!” Lotte energetically said.

“Pan pan!” Kaguya-senpai who recently began as a panda character raised a panda’s barking voice(?).

“Eh!? I don’t have any material for that kind of impression though!?” Kazuha-senpai raised a troubled voice.

“NII-SAMAAAAAAAAAAAA!” Kanae shouted.

“PENIS!” Hikaru-senpai yelled out something incomprehensible.

“What the hell are you saying!?” Liz Liza-sensei who was at the end of the line scolded with a baffled voice.

Spontaneously Kazuki was experiencing the building up of laughter inside of him. That laugh was again changed into energy and he thought that he could still do his best.

While climbing Kazuki periodically took a roll-call.

“Nyaa―!”

“Puu.”

“Wan wan-!”

“Pan pan!”

“I don’t have that kind of special voice desu! I’m a normal human desu!” <ref>This is Kazuha speaking</ref>

“NII-SAMAAAAAAAAAAAA! NII-SAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”

“PENIS!”

“I told you not to say anything obscene already!?”

 

The end of the path came too quick―what appeared at the other side of the blizzard was not a rock surface but the clear sky.

What got fixed at the edge of the rock surface was not an ice axe but fingers, Kazuki lifted up his body.

===Part 7===

The edge of the mountains―Kazuki and co formed a single line and advanced following the ridgeline. The scenery made them think that the ridge line would continue on forever, but finally they met the end of the line. A circle was drawn in the end of the ridge line like a crown, waiting for Kazuki and co. The summit of Fuji Mountain, the crater on the very top.

At one of the edge that formed the circle, there was a light that was obviously of a different nature.

They immediately understood the true identity of the light when they got near. A single sword that pierced the edge of the crater was emitting a glaring light of sharpness that the blizzard couldn’t hide.

That sword that was waiting for them at the highest summit of Japan, looked exactly like the proof of the King just from its appearance.

When they forced their exhausted bodies and got nearer, they discovered that a human shadow was standing beside the sword.

Her long black hair was swaying due to the blizzard.

It was the female that held a mysterious and dear impression for him―the master of the seal.

The woman was already dead. But as the result of changing her very own life into the power of the seal, the woman’s mental body was haunting this ground together with the seal.

The woman and the sword were waiting for Kazuki. Kazuki and others that were forming a line at the edge of the crater dragged along their exhausted body to walk. The woman was watching that directly and quietly without even hurrying them along.

With Kazuki in the lead, they advanced forward while receiving that gaze and the blizzard right from the front.

When they arrived until a distance of just a few meters, the woman of the seal suddenly pulled out the sword that was pierced on the mountain summit and heroically thrust it to the heaven.

A figure of a hero of the ancient era was right in front of their eyes.

The woman kicked the edge of the crater―and sharply stepped into Kazuki’s direction.

The heroically raised sword was directed at Kazuki and swung down powerfully.

Even while being shocked, Kazuki ran his sword out from its sheath with a natural movement. With a flash from the drawn sword he warded off the opponent’s swung down sword and parried its strength diagonally below. After the opponent’s posture broke down, he flipped up his blade in a sharp angle and swung up his blade as the second slash.

The most basic of the Hayashizaki-style, two stage preparation of sword drawing art.

But Kazuki stopped his second slash right before it cut.

The woman whose posture was broken by Kazuki had also stopped her movement while still in the low posture from swinging down her sword.

“You really have become strong.”

The woman said with a mellow voice like a silk.

“You too…”

Kazuki felt a cold, uncomfortable feeling from the echo of the word [you] that came out from his mouth.

But he didn’t understand what would be fine to call her with other than that word.

“I understand that you are also strong from that single slash just now.”

The woman’s step-in was sharp and the force of the swung down blade was truly powerful. The force was similar with a single blow from Beatrix―truly in reverse from her willowy appearance.

Kazuki’s sword was something that was backed with the sword art that had been handed down in generations and steady training.

On the other hand, the woman’s sword was―a <wild technique> that was honed by necessity in the middle of real battles that were approaching her.

Surely, this person was originally not a knight or anything like that.

The truth was that she just recklessly continued to fight, and became strong until this much.

Thinking of such hardship, Kazuki’s chest was blocked.

“You are…”

Kazuki sheathed his katana. And then he gripped the hand of the woman that was still in the swinging down posture. It was a thin and delicate hand that was really like a female. It transmitted warmth through Kazuki’s fingers that were covered with frostbite.

The woman was not just a mere mental body, but a materialized body.

She must be using up the magic power of the seal that had finished its task and temporarily created a physical body of flesh.

“You are… my mother aren’t you?”

In no way the shaking of Kazuki’s words originated from the cold.

The woman released the sword from her hand and made Kazuki take a hold of it.

“I didn’t know about the true identity of this sword for a long time. The name of this sword is… <Ame no Murakumo>. Symbolizing the King’s authority, a sword of great destiny,”

The woman’s silky voice was slightly dyed in sadness.

“…This is a sword that forces a person to fight. This sword was waiting for you in this place.”

The woman drew back reservedly from the distance where their breath seemed to be able to touch each other.

“Long time no see huh, Hibiki.”

When Leme materialized beside Kazuki, the woman replied like she was meeting an old acquaintance.

“Leme too, long time no see. Though I never really had the chance to feel you this clearly before.”

The woman’s shoulders were slightly downcast while she began to talk to Leme.

“There is one thing that I want to ask, but… this fate, how much of it was really destiny?”

“What do you mean?”

“…This child is, my child after all, is that why you chose him?”

It was a question that really went into the heart of the matter. But Leme didn’t show any agitation and shook her neck.

“Certainly he caught my attention because he was your child, but Leme is also not such a cheap kind of person that would choose him just because of that. This guy happened to have the qualities that is worthy for Leme’s choice. Sword skill, exceptional ambition and mental strength, and above all his aspect that treasured his bonds… The Hayashizaki house raised up that kind of guy by their own accord.”

“Aah, now that you mentioned it… isn’t your ability more convenient when it’s used by a male child I wonder?”

“Of course that’s also one of the factors. The concept this time is a lovey-dovey harem king. Well, though you too could also use the magic of the same sex Liz Liza Westwood well enough before.”

When Leme said that jokingly, Kaa-san narrowed her eyes for the first time with her mouth bursting open in smile. <ref>Kaa-san = mother</ref>

“Fufufu-, Liza and I were lovey-dovey after all.”

“Wha, what are you saying, Hibiki-neesama!!”

Liz Liza-sensei’s face went beet red and advanced forward out from the group of everyone.

“Be, besides you, you made a boyfriend but you kept it quiet from me… furthermore you even had a child without me knowing!”

“Because if I told that to Liza who loved me, I thought that it would make you jealous♪”

The woman―no, Mother unexpectedly stuck out her tongue playfully.

“I’m not jealous or anything, I just wanted you to talk with me properly!” <ref>Here Liz Liza’s way of talking turns into a polite way of talking when she talks with Hibiki, unlike her usual severe tone when talking with her students.</ref>

However Liz Liza-sensei’s eyes were both wet with tears and her body was trembling in shivers while she talked in reproach, it looked completely fitting with her child-like appearance.

“You didn’t tell me anything! You also entrusted your child that was just born to the orphanage! …Even though it would be fine even if you relied on me! You didn’t say anything and left to fight, and then you didn’t return back…!”

Mother smiled wryly in sadness.

“I’m sorry, Liza. At that time all the people around me were targeted, so I didn’t tell any of that to anyone. I also didn’t tell anything to the people at the orphanage and left him in front of the gate… without doing anything else.”

Mother was stealing a glance at Kazuki worriedly with her voice dulling.

Not saying anything and then in front of the orphanage’s gate… she abandoned him without doing anything else.

That was what she said.

“You were not doing nothing.” Kazuki interrupted between the two.

“At the spot where I was left behind, I had been told that there was a memo accompanying me where the name [Kazuki] was written.”

Mother looked at Kazuki with a look of realization and immediately looked down awkwardly.

“…Yes. I conveyed just that. I was thinking that I wanted to raise a boy that is really close to what is important for him, and possessed the strength to protect that important thing to the end like a large tree…”

“It might be thanks to that naming, that this guy was growing up into an ideal harem king.”

Leme interjected. “That’s also a form of education you know. Just as I thought this might really be a destiny.”

Name―perhaps unconsciously he wanted to become a human that was suitable for the name [Kazuki(一樹)]. He felt that he had the awareness more than average person that his name was really important. <ref>The meaning of 一樹 is a single tree</ref>

“But things like naming… just something like that cannot be called as an education or raising him up. Just as I thought, I have never done anything that is like a mother…”

“Kaa-san!” Kazuki interrupted her from a sad and gloomy tone.

To call the young woman in front of his eyes that he was still unfamiliar with as mother from his mouth needed courage.

The important name of [Kazuki] encouraged the courage inside his chest, Kazuki spouted out the thing that he felt had to be said no matter what.

“I, don’t resent Kaa-san at all! Because I’m not unhappy or unfortunate! I am happy all this time!”

Kazuki lowered his head and thanked her.

“For giving birth to me… thank you very much. For continuing to fight, for this country, for protecting the future where we lived, thank you very much.”

“…You really have grown up strong, aren’t you? And then the one that raised  you up this happy…”

Mother averted her eyes away from the bowing Kazuki as if to escape.

After that she was facing to the direction of his companions.

“Kanae-san.”

“Ye, yes! Okaa-sama <ref>A really respectful way of calling mother</ref>!!” Kanae straightened her back and answered with a nervous voice.

Mother then lowered her head deeply.

“Thank you very much. For raising this child into a person this kind and strong. Your family was the one that did what I couldn’t, pouring the greatest love and growth for him…”

“That’s preposterous! I’m exactly the one… who received the best Nii-sama that I can ask for!”

Kanae too lowered her head. Kazuki too, Mother too, Kanae too were lowering their heads.

Mother then laughed “Fufu-“ amusedly.

“How weird… despite how I’m supposed to be the worst mother. Everyone happily lowered their head like this… I wonder if this is what they called a fortune.”

She was not the worst or anything. The situation just couldn’t be helped. Mother had to fight no matter what the cost at that time.

The current Kazuki understood well about such a position.

Mother loved someone. But that time was different with now, at that time it was not known that a strong emotion would become a trigger of magic power and distorted the reality completely. Magic power influenced the act of mixing the strongest feelings of man and woman, and completely hindered any contraception, such thing was unknown at that time.

If he himself didn’t know about such thing beforehand, then even he would surely have done the same act already.

Mother loved someone and conceived a child. That was why she went away from the battle.

But during the time Mother was leaving the battlefield… the situation rapidly worsened.

Moreover the people around Mother were targeted.

That was why… she had no other choice than to not tell anyone about her child and abandoned him.

 

And then without even informing her best friend that was Liz Liza-sensei, she went ahead to the battle alone without doing anything else.

That kind of mother, who in the world could condemn her?

―’Why in the world was it only Kaa-san who had to shoulder such an  heavy burden?’

‘Tou-san<ref>Tou-san = father</ref> is’… Kazuki was going to ask, and hesitated. 

[All of my important people were targeted]. Those words had already implicated the heavy and painful fact.

“…This is not destiny or anything like that.”

Once again Mother murmured to herself.

“Kanae-san, to let me reunite with this child, thank you…”

Mother lowered her head to Kanae once again.

After that with a timid manner she faced Kazuki once more.

“While protecting the seal in this place, I have regretted the fact that I abandoned you and headed to the fight all this time. Why do I have to fight, I always thought that it was unreasonable. Now, you are chosen by Leme and this sword, inside me there is also the sad feeling that you are shouldering the same fate like me. I wanted to raise my boy normally, unrelated from all this fighting… But… I also had the dream of you being chosen and you coming to this place. I wanted to have a glance of the grown up you. After all, I’m just something like a bounded ghost that cannot leave this place.”

That’s just like a doting parent though, saying that Mother smiled self-derisively.

“You know, the moment when I gave birth to you, I had the feeling that a special, strong child had just been born. That was why I was hoping, that surely you will be chosen and then you will come here. For such a thing to happen, the possibility must be so low like expecting a miracle to happen, but… Kanae-san, everyone that is here, you all had raised Kazuki to be this strong. You let us to meet fortuitously like this once more. …To come until this far here, I’m really thankful to all of you.”

Again Mother lowered her head, to Kazuki, to Kanae, to everyone else, one by one she lowered her head at them.

She was just earnestly lowering her thin back with a sorrowful face, and continued to lower her head.

He wanted to say something. But his feeling couldn’t be turned into any word. He was not unhappy. He didn’t resent anything. He was thankful. All his feeling that he wanted to convey beforehand, he had easily finished conveying them all.

He had the feeling that there was something more that he should say.

However that feeling couldn’t come out beautifully as words from his mouth.

Mother too was wordlessly and timidly staring at Kazuki as if holding herself back.

Amidst the pure white blizzard, they were staring at each other as if the time had stopped.

Suddenly―something changed.

The warm atmosphere was―sharply changed into cold.

The magic blizzard around them was not becoming stronger. Mother suddenly realized something with a ‘hah’ and her gaze became grim, then she thrust away Kazuki beside her strongly.

“Kaa-san…!?” Spontaneously and unintentionally, Kazuki leaked out a voice like an abandoned child.

No, wrong, this situation…

“Get away! Everyone, get away from me!!”

Mother yelled with a sharp voice as if a hero’s sense of responsibility was awakened inside her.

The sky at the other side of the blizzard was roaring thunderingly from the blowing wind. The wind moved pitch black clouds to their direction and completely covered the sky. The surroundings suddenly turned dark.

From the dark clouds, a dreadful voice was reverberating.

{O people that continue to stop at the boundary of life and death, know the karma of your deep sin.}

Kazuki and the others looked at the sky altogether.

{My name is Hel. Thou is already a dead person. …In accordance with that fate, offer that everything to me!!}

Pitch black lightning flashed from the dark cloud―piercing the back of Mother.

{{{furigana|Helheim Drive|Death God Encroachment}}}!!”

It was something that happened in an instant where no one could do anything. He was not even allowed to Foresight what kind of magic phenomenon would be caused by the dreadful and strange magic power.

The black lightning melted into Mother like an evil spirit. Mother went “Guh-!” and her body writhed in pain, blue magic power light was emitted from her whole body.

Kazuki knew this light. He had seen it before.

This emitted light was completely the same like that time when Loki encroached into Kaya.

It was the light of the existence itself being usurped by a Diva.

The emitted blue magic power and the encroaching pure black magic power mixed with each other, depicting a marble pattern. Little by little the pure black surface was increasing, it was trying to erase the existence of Mother.

It was as if he was seeing the process of a food that became spoiled in fast forward.

‘…This is a lie right?’

Kazuki stood stock still in a daze. He couldn’t possibly think that the happening in front of his eyes was reality.

Whether it was the miracle that he could reunite with Mother like this.

And even how such a miracle was currently disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Whichever it was… was unbelievable.

He couldn’t think that everything in this moment was all reality.

Kaa-san is disappearing. He couldn’t believe it.

‘This is a lie right… The thing that I still haven’t conveyed yet…”

However he didn’t understand what kind of words he should use…

They were just exchanging awkward gazes while holding back just now…

Not yet… not like this…

Who was it, the one with this black magic power.

Why would they do something like this!?

His body couldn’t move from the numbness. His situational judgment, didn’t work at all.

This was his first experience, having his body and his heart freezing completely like this in a time where he should fight.

Even his lips were freezing. ‘This is a lie right? Stop’, he thought that, but he couldn’t even raise a voice to yell.

“STOPPPPPPPPPPP!!”

―Someone was yelling as Kazuki’s proxy.

A gust of black shadow was jumping forward in front of his eyes.

It was the back of Kanae with her ponytail trailing behind like a cat’s tail.

“Don’t you dare to disturb this person and Nii-sama!! Only that, I will absolutely not forgive!!”

Kanae drew the black katana―Michikage, and swung down at the black magic power that was eating away at Mother. That slash―spontaneously he was inappropriately fascinated by the beautiful trajectory that slash drew. It was as if he was seeing a black rainbow.

Kanae’s spine, skeletal structure, all of her body was working together without even a little bit of wasteful movement. There was no deviation at all, it was a movement that looked perfect for Kanae’s flesh body. The quintessence movement.

The black rainbow that was unleashed from such a movement, tore apart the magic power that was encroaching into Mother in the timing right before it was going to swell up even larger.

It was a truly perfect timing, as if an expert martial artist had read the breathing of the opponent and took the sail out of the opponent’s move.

A perfect movement, and a perfect timing―it was exactly a divine work.

“Hayashizaki-style Dream Sword the Second, Shin’iki…!”

For some reason it was Kaguya-senpai who yelled that technique’s name while her body was trembling.

It was Kanae’s technique that even Kazuki didn’t know about. That instant, something miraculous happened. The instant the black blade was swung down―the magic phenomenon that completely covered Mother were all breaking down.

{That’s impossible! What just happened!?}

That Diva―Hel’s panicked voice was resounding. The black magic power was blown away from Mother’s back, where it formed the figure of a girl that fell on her butt. She was not an avatar but a materialized body, it was a Diva with the appearance of a very young girl.

In contrast with the materialized Hel, Mother powerlessly fell on her knees at that spot. It was not only power leaving her whole body, the magic power that constructed her body was also thinning down, faintly like an illusion, her figure was changing into a half-transparent light.

The powerful Diva that had already accomplished materializing was trying to steal the flesh body of Mother that materialized from the power of the seal. But that magic phenomenon was broken by Kanae.

However in that case―Mother’s little remaining magic power was completely stolen. Possibly her magic power had already been running out in the first place.

Kazuki caught the body of Mother, that was thinning out, in his arms in panic.

“You bastard… against my role for the sake of papa… how dare you…!!”

The Diva that fell on her butt―Hel was glaring at their way with a gaze filled with hatred. Her long blue hair that reminded him of Loki was bristling up from the blizzard right behind her.

This girl was going to steal Kaa-san… she was trying to make her a hostage.

Guessing that―violent emotion was surging inside Kazuki’s head. This girl…!!

Hel yelled. She turned at Mother.

“…Zero Knight! I won’t recognize you! Your role, your objective, I won’t let you accomplish them all! I won’t let you misunderstand, thinking that you won against papa!!”

At the same time a fierce magic power whirled out from that body. She was trying to cast some kind of powerful attack magic. The tip of that magic power was heading at Mother’s back.

Kazuki’s rage instantly changed into terror and trepidation.

If an attack was directed at Mother right now…!

It was a fear that he had never experienced before. His body and thought froze instantly.

“Lose and die again! O lamentation of the dead, carry away that soul from my hand… {{furigana|Nifl Driva|Hell Wind}}!!”

When Hel thrust out her bluish-white palm, from there was blowing a devilish wind as if the blizzard of the Haunted Ground that had been hurling at them thoroughly until now was compressed several hundred times in it.

“Kaa-san, dangerous!”

Kazuki immediately embraced Mother close to his body and covered her with his back.

Yet in front of them a black shadow was standing in the way.

“…Don’t you bother these two!!”

―It was Kanae. Kazuki covered his mother, and Kanae covered those two. The three of them were blown away altogether and fell from the ridgeline. In such dangerous situation Kazuki used his sword―<Ame no Murakumo> to pierce the ground and held out along with his mother that he held in his left hand.

“Kaa-san…!”

Inside Kazuki’s hugging left arm, like water that was spilling out from a cracked jar, the magic power that was composing mother’s existence was vanishing. She was vanishing!

Mother leaked out a weak voice. “…Just now, it looks like my last remaining magic power was used up. But I had already accomplished my role, so…”

Accomplished her role? Already?

Wait. Please wait! There is still….

“Don’t be a hindrance! Follow after Kanae!!” Liz Liza-sensei called out to the others and rushed at Hel’s direction.

“The final time between Kazuki and Hibiki-neesama… I absolutely won’t let you bother them!”

Don’t say that this is the last time…

Mio, Kaguya-senpai… all of his companions, they all cut in between them and Hel to protect him and mother, they were shining with the light of spell chanting simultaneously.

“You plan to stand in my way! You bunch of humans!”

Hel yelled. “Against a materialized Diva, it’s futile no matter how many humans gather here, futile! Are you looking down on me!? I’ll massacre you all and get one over papa!”

What incomprehensible thing was she yelling, this girl…

His head didn’t work watching the situation in front of his eyes. Rather than that kind of thing, mother was…

Even faster than his companions magic, Hel’s magic was invoked.

“…O Grand Haunted Ground of ancient times… please offer the souls that are rotting away in this land as the dress that is armoring my body… Helheim Drive!”

Once again several black lightning were falling to Hel’s body from the dark cloud. That black magic power was whirling on Hel’s body while creating Prima Materia, its substance changed―transforming into something like a Magic Dress.

It was a strange dress. As if several Magic Dresses were mixed up messily… there was no uniformity among every single part. However every single design of the parts had the shape that they had the feeling of seeing before somewhere.

The parts looked like the Magic Dresses that the students of the Magic Division wore on their bodies.

“STOP!”

Liz Liza-sensei yelled after noticing the true form of that power.

“Stop it, don’t you dirty those guys’ souls!! You trash!!”

One part of the Magic Dress that Hel wore―the red wings were emitting orange light like a fire shadow.

Unbelievably, Phoenix’s avatar emerged out beside Hel.

“The dead is my power, mine to use as I please! …Respond to my accusation and burn to ash! Israel Judgment!!”

It was a vortex of magic power he had seen before. It was a magic that even Kazuki and others had seen before, but it was activated with a lot more abbreviated chanting.

“I told you…! Don’t you dare become a hindrance for Nii-sama-!!”

Right before that magic was invoked, the shadow of a black cat leaped once again with a force that was like flying.

With a perfect step-in and timing―once again, it was that miraculous technique.

The wavelength of Hel’s magic power that swelled up right before the magic was invoked vanished like a lie with a *PACHIN!* sound.

“What’s going on, this technique!? …Eei!!”

Hel opened her eyes wide with rage and shock but―she immediately directed a different magic at Kanae.

“Freeze and be silent… Glacier Wind!!”

A part of Hel’s Magic Dress―the floating crystal on her back was emitting a deep blue light, Vepar’s avatar emerged out.

…She was making the soul of the Magika Stigmas that once died in this Fuji’s sea of trees to posses her own body and enslaved them. That death god was activating the magic of the contract through the souls of the dead.

This time even Kanae didn’t have the composure to unleash that technique. The cold magic that Koyuki was also specializing at assaulted Kanae without giving her time to dodge.

At exactly the same time, Hel also invoked her own magic.

“You that is already dead come to this side too! Nifl Driva!!”

Hel raised her palm and then she overlapped the blowing blizzard with the [Glacier Wind] from just now.

The chill of the mermaid and the blizzard of the world of the dead mixed with each other, amplifying each other.

“Uguu-!!” Kanae raised a scream and got blown away helplessly.

Besides her defensive magic power that got smashed, she was also writhing around from the chill that was violating her mind.

The black breastplate of Hel’s Magic Dress shone. This time an avatar of a black bird, Halphas’ avatar was emerging. She was chanting magic one after another with a speed that was hard to believe.

“Suffer and die! O god of war of the spirit world, under thy Divine Protection, I’ll sacrifice the wailing of that bitter enemy… Inferno!!”

Hel created two gigantic pure black pillar of flame in both her hands, she then met both her palms and combined them into one and created a bow and arrow of black flame. It was Halphas’s level 7 magic that Yumeno-san once used to finish off her other self.

It was a rapid-fire of magic just like the Quad-core Magika that was the result of Nyarlathotep’s research. No, her magic invocation was even faster than that.

The giant mass of black flame was fired at Kanae who was writhing in agony.

“O principle of time, listen to the calling voice of my sage! To the other side of the long stagnation, exile away that calamity… Leap Stasis!”

Liz Liza-sensei’s chanting―an avatar of clock emerged out in order to protect Kanae.

When he thought that the hand of that clock was fiercely rotating, the black flame that was flying near vanished.

“You trash Diva! I blew away your magic to the space-time!!”

Liz Liza-sensei’s Original One―it was once cast with her own body's aging as the target, an evasion magic that postponed the <change> in exchange of vast magic power, especially with that short chanting.

This time Hel was not surprised.

“Hmph, there is no way the likes of human can consecutively use that kind of convenient magic!”

The red wings, the crystal, the black breastplate, all of them shone simultaneously. Hel’s own magic power that caused the blizzard of the world of the dead was also included.

“Hayashizaki Kanae! Do that technique more! Block them all!!”

“That technique is not something you can do successfully that many times! Damn-!”

Liz Liza-sensei and Kanae shouted angrily at each other.

Finally at that time, the magic that the others’ were chanting were all invoked simultaneously.

“O water surface that sway from my singing voice, manipulate the small wave skillfully, gather, and become a giant tsunami! Come from the beyond and wash away to the distant place… Tidal Wave!”

Koyuki invoked Vepar’s magic of tsunami. It ignored the space and a tsunami that was created behind Hel using magic power came surging.

“Nifl Driva!!”

Hel immediately turned back to the tsunami and fired a blizzard.

The violent blizzard froze the tsunami all over and destroyed the power of that phenomenon making it disappear.

“O the calling voice of the ruler of flame, set free the rage of the bottom of the earth! Open the gate of my rampart here… tower in heaven and earth, isolate the impurity! Fire Wall!!”

“O shapeless and mute shadow, become the fish that swim in the darkness that is pregnant with obstructive thought! The origin of nightmare, the vicissitudes of materialism, respond to both hope and fear and bite…! Deep Specter!”

Mio and Kaguya-senpai’s magic was invoked at the same time. A wall of flame was going to rise from the bottom of Hel’s feet. Pitch black shadow was crawling up from inside the shadow.

Hel detected the danger and tried to run away from that spot.

“This hand reached out to the height of Babel, right now this hand grasped the falling thunder of god! In accordance with my life, o lightning, whirl following my will! Collider Field!!”

But Lotte equipped a gauntlet on her left hand and locked Hel inside a barrier of electromagnetism. Hel’s body was paralyzed by the electricity and she was rooted to that spot.

Furthermore there was several small lights that were floating around Hel.

“The fate of all creation is inside the great celestial sphere… o binding of constellation, stop the revolution of the sky! Horoscope Stasis!”

Line of light was running between countless stars, that [constellation] tied up the paralyzed Hel.

“…This kind of irritating act!?”

The body of the yelling Hel was swallowed by a wall of flame. Even further her head was chewed apart by the giant monster that jumped out from the shadows.

From inside the wall of flame, from inside the mouth of the black monster, a dark blue defensive magic power was shining and scattered.

“O {{furigana|august lightning|Mikadzuchi}} that rain down due to god’s rage! The spilt blood of Kagutsuchi dripped down to the hilt and gather, become a flash of blade! The large drum of lightning sound of lightning speed, {{furigana|Mikafutsu no Mitama|Mikafutsu Soul}}!!”

Kazuha-senpai created a golden blade―with that heavily curving katana that hid a destructive power like lightning, she slashed at Hel with all her strength.

Hel that couldn’t move her body was blown away along with a thunderous roar.

Consecutive attack―but Hel immediately stood back up.

“Hikaru! Mio-chan! Koyuki-chan!” Kaguya-senpai yelled at her comrades of the Witch’s Mansion.

“This girl cannot be defeated with average magic! We are going to use Chorus Magic!!”

The four people began to match their magic power wavelength.

In order to protect them, Kanae and Kazuha-senpai and Lotte stood as the vanguards and prepared their weapons.

“…You bunch of humans… hand over the Zero Knight and the Sacred Treasure…!!”

Along with a voice that made the listener shudder, Hel tore off the binding of constellation with brute force and ripped apart the biting big jaw of the shadow monster with both her hands, at the same time she then once again shone with several magic power lights.

 

―Kazuki was largely unaware of the battle that was currently happening.

The sounds of the fighting felt like it was far away as if a thin membrane was filtering all of it.

That was how much Kazuki was concentrating on what was inside his embrace, his mother that even now was disappearing.

“Kazuki.”

His mother was, for the first time, calling Kazuki with the name that she named him with.

But just from such a little matter, it made Kazuki’s sight damp with tears.

“Kazuki… the Ame no Murakumo…”

He didn’t need that kind of thing.

Rather than such thing, right now, the person that was going to disappear inside his arms was someone that was far more important. His mother’s body temperature, body weight, were vanishing away in no time at all, he knew that.

“I don’t need that kind of thing, Kaa-san… Kaa-san, I, I’m living perfectly happy.”

Kazuki repeated the thing that he had already said like a spell. Even though what he wanted to say was not this kind of thing. For some reason, the feeling that was rampaging inside his chest couldn’t be turned into words.

Even though if he kept wasting time like this, she was going to vanish completely.

“I see. I’m glad.”

His mother smiled hearing that―she raised her thin white arm and stroked Kazuki’s head.

Even though it was weak like the branch of a tree that swayed from the wind, it was a gentle hand movement.

It was a completely unknown sensation for him.

He had the feeling that sparks scattered inside his head, inside his eyes that were wet with tears.

From inside the head of Kazuki who was searching for words, all words and reason disappeared, a pure white emotion completely covered everything.

He noticed. There was nothing that he still wanted to convey.

What he was looking for, was not that kind of thing.

He was only merely, overflowing with emotion.

When he noticed that emotion ―Kazuki hugged tightly the thin and weakened body of his mother, then he buried his face into her chest.

“Kaa-san… I don’t want you to go.”

―What was rampaging inside his head uncontrollably was easily coming out from his mouth.

He felt something that he had never noticed was armoring him until now, disappear completely.

Once it had come out, it was pouring out of him together with tears and scream.

“No! I don’t want this!! No!!”

It was not something exaggerated like something he wanted to convey or anything.

‘I―just want to be spoiled by Kaa-san.’

Their relation was not something exaggerated like the previous King and the King that succeeded after her.

‘I am my mother’s child!’

‘No! I don’t want this!’ Kazuki cried like a child.

“…Fufu-“

His mother returned his hug weakly and let escape a faint chuckle.

“You should not say something selfish.”

After saying that, she stroked his head once again.

‘―Kaa-san, I, have never said anything selfish through my life until now.’

No matter what happened even if it was unreasonable, he had never done anything like giving up.

Even without anyone rewarding him, he overcame all kinds of hardship with his hard work.

He had never seriously yelled words like ‘don’t wanna’ or anything like that.

He almost never cried at all.

Despite so, could what he did right now be called as selfishness.

What’s with that… that kind of thing…

“No way! I don’t want something like this! I don’t want…!!”

She was disappearing! Merely, just during this short instant, his mother was!

‘Don’t say what I’m doing is selfish!! By all rights, isn’t what I’m doing only natural!!’

“No! I have been patient for all these fifteen years!! There was no one at all that patted my head saying that I have done my best! I didn’t even realize that such a thing is strange! I realize now! That all this time I wanted my head to get patted by Kaa-san!! It’s strange you know! This kind of thing… I don’t want…!!”

‘I shouldn’t be defeated by this kind of thing’, Kazuki thought.

This is irrational. For the first time since he was born, Kazuki was overpowered by this monster called irrationality.

He pressed his face that was messily stained with tears onto his mother’s chest, he cried and shouted as if to spew out everything from the bottom of his throat out of his heart. It was as if he was completely changed into an existence that was just crying and shouting.

The tears and screams that had been piling up without him even noticing during these fifteen years were all overflowing without pause.

“Kazuki…”

His mother put a faint strength into her weak arm that was like a dry wood, and hugged him back.

Gently, sweetly, warmly, because of that his tears were overflowing out even harder.

“Thank you. For giving me a chance to spoil you in the end. With this I finally…”

His mother too, during this fifteen years she was enduring until now in this land.

When he understood that, the weight of this monster called irrationality became doubled.

“With this we could finally do something like a true mother and child…”

Vanished.

On the other side of his sight that was stained messily with tears, the chest of the mother that he was hugging, was turning into countless particles of light before disappearing.

Her lingering voice entered his ears before disappearing.

The warmth seeped into his chest and disappeared.

From within Kazuki’s embrace, a dried up sound was spilling out and fell onto the ground. It was a white skeleton.

“Aa, aaaa…”

She was a person that had already died fourteen years ago.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-!”

Refusing the truth, Kazuki cried and shouted.

“NO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

The countless light particles that were scattering were floating lightly in the air before entering into Kazuki’s chest.

{We are going to be together from now on you know. After all, we could even meet like this.}

Certainly that was a miracle.

{If we can just meet, humans can be changed forever in an instant. That kind of magic had already been used by humans since the time long ago.}

The small particle of magic power became the final voice and it was absorbed into his chest.

Certainly, he would never forget everything that happened here forever.

{Thank you for growing up happily, Kazuki.}

{Thank you.}

{I just keep saying thank you but, I’m really happy.}

{…Thank you.}

Suddenly a scene was opening up inside of Kazuki’s head.

Those were the scene that was shown by the small magic power that was absorbed into Kazuki’s chest. At the same time with the magic power making his mother’s feeling into voice and conveying that to him, his mother’s past memory was recalled inside Kazuki.

Kazuki’s oldest memory―this scene was the continuation of that.

The orphanage at night. Avoiding the eyes of the people, his mother abandoned Kazuki in front of the gate.

His mother turned her back at the crying Kazuki and even while looking back many times she kept walking through the night street with an unsteady gait.

Even her tears were drying up. This was her last determination.

She couldn’t consult anyone. She couldn’t even let anybody see her current figure.

If she didn’t head to the battle alone, the victims would only increase.

She had to fight no matter what. Without anybody seeing her off, without anybody even cheering her on, with her everything snatched away entirely, she even abandoned the child that she obtained at the very end from the person that she loved.

―She had to fight.

While walking alone unsteadily, the light of the town that she passed through cursed her. When she thought about how there was as many happy families as there were the light shining, it couldn’t be helped that she felt accursed. Negative emotions like rage and sorrow were raging crazy inside her chest.

Why was she the only one who couldn’t get her hands on such an ordinary thing.

No. I don’t want to fight. This is unreasonable.

Even so, other than her… there was no human that could fight that enemy.

When she was faced with such ultimate truth―it made her realized that this thing called self-sacrifice was by no means a deceit.

She was made to realize that she loved this unreasonable world.

Even with all her important people killed and torn away from her, still…

She had to fight.

Together with that determination―the world of memory was cut off.

Kazuki returned to reality.

―Inside the blizzard, Kazuki was hugging the white skeleton. While hugging the white skeleton so that it wouldn’t be blown away by the wind, Kazuki heard the sound of his comrades fighting. Those sounds were finally reaching his ears.

He understood just from the sounds that it was a difficult enemy. He understood that if it kept like this his comrades would fall into danger.

“No…”

Kazuki was still continuing to cry while hugging the skeleton.

But, he had to fight. No matter how unreasonable it was.

Fight, there was something he had to protect at all cost.

Until now, everything of this world had been kind to him.

He had already made a lot of people that he loved and that were important to him.

There was also the irrationality but, there was even miracles.

Such an obvious world, was obviously lovely.

He was not some special existence.

He was going to stand up after crying just for thirty more seconds, Kazuki decided.

“I… don’t resent anything Kaa-san. I’m not unhappy. That’s why…”

Kazuki grasped a handful of snow, using Pyrokinesis to plunder the heat he made the snow even colder and pressed it together. He made a small snow hut to store the skeleton there so that it wouldn’t be blown away by the wind.

“…I’m going to fight, Kaa-san.”

Holding Ame no Murakumo in hand, he stood up.

 

Kazuki rushed to the decisive battle at the crater.

He finally recovered the clearness of his head in order to fight.

Kaguya-senpai, Hikaru-senpai, Mio, and Koyuki were entering the preparation for Chorus Magic. But that cooperation wouldn’t tolerate even a slight disturbance in it, it became even more difficult than normal inside this fierce blizzard.

The blue haired death god named Hel was displaying an absurd power.

Kanae and Kazuha-senpai and an armed Lotte challenged Hel determinedly, each time they dealt a single attack on the opponent, they received a fierce magic counter and got blown away. That divine work of Kanae also often failed, even if it worked it did nothing more than blocking a single gunport (opening) of Hel.

―There were three. There were three souls of Magika Stigmas that Hel made to possess her body and turned into parts of her dress. And then with her own magic there was a total of four rapid firing magic that was continuously invoked.

Even in the case where it was high level magic that was used, that casting speed of hers was dreadfully fast.

All three of the vanguards were equipped with the armor of [Seusenhofer] that Lotte chanted, yet the armors were already in destroyed shapes.

Their strategy was in the process of failure. The limit of the three vanguards for buying time was going to come first before the Chorus Magic could even finish.

―During such thing, Kanae who failed to make her divine work succeed was hit right from the front with a high level magic. Kanae’s small body was blown away like a scrapped rag.

“You, die while feeling a special agony!”

Hel’s black breastplate shone and made the avatar of Halphas emerge.

“Inferno!”

The jet black flame that possessed both physical destruction and mind destruction attacked Kanae at an inescapable timing.

“Leap Stasis!!”

Liz Liza-sensei just barely [postponed] that single arrow.

Combined with the previous one she had activated this magic twice in total, the magic postponed the magic that was heading to Kanae. But surely when this magic was cancelled later on Kanae would taste a hellish agony. Though that was only if they could safely go home.

Liz Liza-sensei’s magic power too was also wholly carried away to beyond the space-time as the compensation of the postponing. That magic power wouldn’t return back until after the magic was cancelled.

Hel also saw through that and directed the brunt of the attack magic at Liz Liza-sensei.

“You don’t have any magic power left anymore right! …Sink a hundred ships, o threat of the sea that is lurking in the deep sea…show that whole face!”

Vepar’s avatar floated on Hel’s back. The power of Solomon 72 Pillar was forcefully dragged out from their contract with the dead people. There was no one among his comrades that was in a state that could immediately react to that.

―He had to protect them.

Kazuki ran, passing through his comrades at the rear that were preparing for Chorus Magic and cut in front of Liz Liza-sensei with Ame no Murakumo in hand.

“Hayashizaki! …What about Hibiki-neesama!?”

For an instant, Kazuki’s chest was blocked up from Liz Liza-sensei’s words.

“…Stab your fang! Ice Breaker!!”

Several vortex of magic power were created in front of Kazuki’s eyes, giant icebergs were sticking out from there surging at him. Kazuki held up Ame no Murakumo.

How did his mother handle this sword ―he could faintly sense that <Battou Kaikon>.

“Mow down the whole creation, <Ame no Murakumo>! Battou Kaikon―Kusanagi no Tsurugi!!”

The power that Yamato no Takeru used in legend that time he was falling into the trap of the fire plan―inside this royal sword there was the power to bring an end to natural phenomenon.

His magic power was absorbed into the blade where it emitted a golden light.

When Kazuki swept Ame no Murakumo to the side, as if an unseen blade was flying, all the surging icebergs were bisected into two.

“That power… was Zero Knight’s…!”

Hel leaked out a shocked voice.

It seemed that she had fought his mother before.

Kazuki grasped the sword naturally and he felt power filling his hand.

“The power of Solomon King and, the power of Japanese Mythology’s King that Zero Knight used…? But even if you are a King twice, you are still just an inexperienced King aren’t you!? If that’s so then even I alone will suffice!”

“Everyone! The Chorus Magic will be complete with just a little more! Until that time, I will buy time! Those whose exhaustion is severe are to draw back!”

Inexperienced King. Certainly, he might be so.

However the bonds had been already tied. ‘That is my power. I don’t know where this Diva came from but, I’ll make you regret making light of me as inexperienced’, Kazuki thought.

“Intending to win against me… I’ll make you regret that.”

Hel too spouted out words that were in the same mood as Kazuki.

In another words this Diva also still had a trump card. She was going to use that now.

Hel removed the eye patch that covered her right eye and from there a deep red light burst out.

The Magic Dress on Hel’s whole body disintegrated and reduced into a pure magic power light.

“O dead people that are tired of waiting for glory, you are together with me! Become my brethren!!”

Even more countless lightning ran from the dark cloud and went towards Hel. Enormous souls of the dead were gathering inside Hel’s small body. Hel’s body floated in the sky like a dark saint.

“Together right now, celebrate the beginning of Ragnarok loudly!”

The pitch black magic power that completely covered Hel’s body―called out to an endless number of dead people and brought to fruition a single magic.

“Now, let’s begin the legend! {{furigana|Naglfar|Announcing Ship of God and Evil’s Mortal Combat}}!!”

The assembly of the black magic power swelled out enormously. It was huge―as if covering the sky.

Yes, it was physically large.

What appeared from the materialization of that magic power was not in the scale of Magic Dress. Hel was buried in the core of that enormous mass, he was already unable to confirm by sight her shadow or shape.

The thing that was floating in the blizzard sky was―an outrageously gigantic jet black ship.

Naglfar―even Kazuki knew that name. It was the ship that brought about the huge turning point in the world of Norse Mythology. Until the promised day, Hel who was the king of the dead gathered the nails of the dead that were filled with grudge and magic power from all over the world in order to make a gigantic ship. And then in the advent of <{{furigana|the day of twilight of the gods|Ragnarok}}>, a great amount of evil giants would ride Naglfar and advanced to the world of the gods.

It was the huge symbol of nightmare of the end of the world.

That was Hel’s trump card.

There was no sail on the ship that was floating in front of Kazuki’s eyes, it was covered with thick board, rather than calling it a ship from the Middle Ages, it was more like a <battleship>.

Its black thick armor had an uneven surface with disorderly scaly appearance. When he looked more in detail the ship was exactly like in the myth―it was formed from the pitch black nails of the dead.

It was like the finger tips of humans that went into necrosis from the cold, a bloody jet black color that was mixed with purplish red color.

The grotesque battleship of darkness was lording over Kazuki and the others.

‘…I’m going to defeat her, and I’ll begin.’

“This is not a power on the level of gathering the souls of three Magika Stigmas from this mountain like before! Know the seriousness of the death god!!”

At the same time with her proclamation of war, there were several vortexes of magic power that floated up in the frontage of Naglfar. It was told in the myth that magic power was residing inside the nails of the dead. That magic power was floating in the frontage of Naglfar. The magic power was whirling while converging―*DON!* such sound rang out and a magic bullet was fired. *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* Several sparks of black magic power were scattered.

It was undoubtedly a ship’s bombardment.

“Battou Kaikon―Kusanagi no Tsurugi!”

Kazuki tore apart that first volley with one swept of Ame no Murakumo and extinguished them. But with a *JIIN* the heaviness of the bombardment numbed the hand that was holding the sword. He didn’t feel such thing at all when he cut apart the [Ice Buster] from before, the heaviness of the bombardment felt like it was several tens of times of that.

*DON!* *DON!* *DON!* ―the magic bullet was fired rapidly even now without pause. Kazuki took a stance of slashing with Ame no Murakumo.

…He was unable to invoke [Kusanagi no Tsurugi] with the same speed of the enemy’s rapid-fire.

Kazuki had such a hunch too.

“Tenkuu Battou Rengehou!”

He had already chanted a magic that could deal with a large amount of magic power attack.

Countless Sacred Treasures were created behind him, then all of it was fired one after another.

The magic bullets and Futsunushi no Kami’s Sacred Treasures collided, the blizzard sky shined.

It couldn’t block them all―the magic bullets that couldn’t be neutralized were heading at Kazuki and his comrades behind him before raining down.

“Zekorbeni!”

While trembling from the intensity of the bombardment, Kazuki used his trump card.

Right now there was nothing he could do except using this power for the sake of defense.

“I will protect everyone! …Mode・Phoenix!!”

Enormous flame spewed out from Zekorbeni on Kazuki’s chest, creating an armor in firelight color. That orange light connected Kazuki’s mind with Phoenix directly.

“O the calling voice of the ruler of flame, liberate the rage of the bottom of the earth! Open the gate of my rampart here… tower in heaven and earth, isolate the impurity! Fire Wall!!”

With a loud voice the defensive magic of the flame wall was invoked. Zekorbeni could amplify the might of the magic the more magic power was poured into it. Kazuki poured several times the amount of magic power that was originally needed for this level 2 magic in one into Zekorbeni.

A thick wall of flame was built up all at once.

The flame wall swallowed the magic bullets that couldn’t be neutralized.

Even so the remaining small magic bullets that looked like dregs of the original were still raining down on Kazuki behind the wall like a shower. Even the comrades behind Kazuki were―.

“Kyaa-!” Mio’s scream was raised.

Even just this much might become a hindrance for the chanting of the Chorus Magic.

The flame wall lost its power and vanished. But Naglfar was still floating in the sky while creating vortexes of magic power even more. The bombardment would continue without pause…!!

The attack was simple, but it was an excessively thick curtain of attack.

“Damn-!” Kanae raised a voice that was irritated with herself who couldn’t do anything.

…A swordsman couldn’t do anything in this situation.

“Kanae, you move back with Liz Liza-sensei whose magic power is used up! Battou Kaikon―Kusanagi no Tsurugi!!”

Kazuki yelled while once again bisecting the raining down magic bullets all at once in a single slash.

He slashed Ame no Murakumo directly horizontal. There Kazuki’s movement that was controlling the sword stopped. The magic bullet unceasingly flew at him in that gap.

This gap had to be filled.

Ame no Murakumo was still hiding more power but―a Sacred Treasure was not something that could be mastered where the user could use all of its powers right from the start. Training was needed.

He couldn’t hold back the bombardment just with the power of Ame no Murakumo. His power as the King of Solomon was also necessary.

“Fire Wall!!”

Kazuki poured a lot more magic power into Zekorbeni and unfolded a thicker wall of flame. At the same time he chanted [Tenkuu Battou Rengehou]. He was working at full capacity.

“Lotte!” Kazuki shouted.

“Yes desu! …Hit and run attack right desu!!”

Lotte understood Kazuki’s intention even without being ordered.

“O guardian of human race, the wisdom for the sake of opposing the will of the tyrannical god right here… Custom Liberion!”

Lotte equipped armors that were lined up with countless small type thruster units on both her legs and arms, she immediately ignited them―flying to the blizzard sky. She circled to right beside the battleship of darkness that was flying in the sky and scattered bullets from the large type gatling that was attached on the armor.

“You’re a nuisance, you fly!”

Naglfar also directed several vortexes of magic power at Lotte and fired rapidly magic bullets from there.

Lotte who was clad in [Custom Liberion] that excelled in mobility flew around Naglfar and ran away from that line of fire. No, she has also gotten hit with several shots that she couldn’t evade. Each time she got hit, smoke rose from the armor. Yet Lotte continued her hit and run with preparedness for death.

But with a lot of the [gunport] directed at Lotte, the attack to Kazuki and everyone behind him that were chanting Chorus Magic was lessened. There was also a limit on how many gunport Naglfar could take out each time.

“Tenkuu Battou Rengehou!!”

Kazuki intercepted the lessened attack with countless Sacred Treasures.

“Tenkuu Battou Rengehou!!” Kazuha-senpai too imitated Kazuki and invoked the same magic.

This time it was Naglfar that couldn’t neutralize the countless Sacred Treasures and the gatling bullets, the armor of the battleship of darkness was beginning to be impacted by the projectiles.

They displayed a situation of a fierce bombardment exchange.

“Many of you combining your power… it’s annoying! Even though I’m just alone! Even though papa too won’t lend his hand to me… everyone, everyone is ganging up and making fun of me!!”

A voice of an irritable child escaped from the inside of the eerie Naglfar.

…No, was she a child? Papa… did she mean Loki?

Putting that aside, she was held back enough.

Even with a materialized Diva as the opponent, if he united his will with his comrades in this number then they could hold her back.

They have arrived at the place where they could stand against a god with the power of a human.

And then, if there was the power of bonds, and this sword that he inherited from his mother… they could defeat her.

For that sake, a momentary opening was necessary. Naglfar’s bombardment would stop, Kazuki believe that that moment would come before long and persisted in defense.

“ “ “ “{{furigana|We know thy true name|Shem ha Meforash}}!!” “ “ “

That time was approaching.

Finally the Chorus Magic of everyone from the Witch’s Mansion entered the climax. Mio, Koyuki, Kaguya-senpai, Hikaru-senpai, the four of them created enormous pillars of magic power that felt like it could reach the heavens.

Those magic power pillars emitted wavelengths that were accurate to the inch while mixing with each other.

“ “ “ “Thy true name is Baal… though that be so, all of evil was born in the Middle Ages! Calculating faith, and sham loyalty stained the sublime Baal! Born from falsehood the army of demons multiply in multiply and thy stand at the summit!” “ “ “

Behind the four people the golden great king that carried the power of the stars, Baal was floating and materialized.

But under the identity of Baal there was one other face that hid a more mighty power. Baal’s greatest magic was―obtained in posterior due to curses, now all of it was liberated.

The contractor, Hikaru-senpai, commanded.

“The great god of Ugalit Mythology Baal… answer my command, liberate all of that curses!! …Thy stained name is… {{furigana|Beelzebub|King of Flies}}!!”

“Very well… watch it thoroughly!!”

Together with a voice that was filled with rage―Baal’s golden figure was breaking down and decayed like mud.

He was stained jet black exactly the same like the accursed Naglfar in front of their eyes!

And then the thing that was Baal became {{furigana|a swarm of countless giant flies|Beelzebub}}.

Like a dark cloud that was flowing, the giant swarm of the flies passed overhead Kazuki and the others and surged to Naglfar.

Due to Christianity in the Middle Ages, Baal who was a god of a different teaching was repainted as a devil and received the curses of the people. That curse was―one of the seven deadly sins [gluttony].

Beelzebub was maximizing that nature.

The swarm of flies was bathed in countless magic bullets. But the flies ate at that. While eating away the bullet curtain one after another, the flies finally clung to the black armor of Naglfar. And then, even that armor that was made from the nails of the dead began to be eaten.

“Thi, this…!!”

Hel raised an impatient voice and created vortexes of magic power, she fired magic bullets at the side of the giant flies that were eating greedily. Several of the flies vanished from the hit at their side. But the flies too were eating greedily at the armor into shreds with momentum that was not inferior to that.

It was a fierce devouring at each other between the {{furigana|death god|Hel}} and {{furigana|the king of demon|Beelzebub}}.

Of course Beelzebub’s summoned body couldn’t stay in this world for long.

But―right now was the time to go out in offensive. The bombardment had stopped, Naglfar’s armor became littered with moth-eaten damage, the path for the sake of bathing Hel with a blow was opened widely.

“Everyone!”

Kazuki gave out a signal to his comrades. After that he immediately poured magic power into Zekorbeni.

“…O undying bird that soar from dusk to dawn, please grant that wings of hope on my back! The destruction for the sake of rebirth right here…! Blazing Wings!”

The swarm of flies moved aside and conceded a path to Kazuki that spread out wings of flame and flew away.

And then―the greatest magic that he could use from Mio’s positivity level of 155, level 8.

The trump card that he hadn’t used until now because of the intensity of his fatigue was now used.

“O undying bird that repeated life and death! Liberate the flame of one’s last moment, become the sun of the surface… {{furigana|Imitation Flare|Sun of the End}}!!”

The avatar of the firebird was liberated and headed to Naglfar from Kazuki.

The avatar of the firebird exploded like a bomb.

Phoenix that symbolized the sun liberated all of his own flame that was in the juncture of life and death and burned the target to ashes. That phenomenon was reenacted in this place.

The energy liberation that rivaled the solar flare(sun surface explosion) also sacrificed the flies that were late to escape while swallowing Naglfar.

The giant fire ball that even swallowed Naglfar whole floated in the air like a sun and continued to blaze. Inside it, they could see that the armor that was eaten away by the flies was melting in the blink of an eye.

“{{furigana|Mode・Merfolk|(Mermaid Armament)}}!”

Kazuki instantly switched Zekorbeni―from Mio’s Phoenix, he went to Koyuki’s Vepar. He was enveloped in blue raiment that looked just like the shape of the sea itself. Koyuki’s positivity level had also reached 150 from that date. The greatest fire power of this bond, the level 8 was instantly invoked.

“Time turn drawing circle, the history repeated following the inevatibility, awaken the forgotten era right here… leave behind everything inside the dream, toward the era of glacier! {{furigana|Ice Age|Absolute Ice World}}!!”

The instant the fire ball liberated all of its energy and vanished, this time it was Vepar’s avatar that emerged―the surrounding of Kazuki and Naglfar was instantly freezing.

A pure cold that surpassed even the blizzard of the Haunted Ground and the blizzard of the world of death―a world of ice.

Naglfar, and Hel that rode inside it were freezing, their movement was stopped.

“Mode・Veritas!”

Kazuki switched Zekorbeni even further―from Koyuki’s Vepar to Lotte’s Prometheus. His body was wrapped with a silver suits with a texture that was hard to consider as something of this world.

Lotte’s positivity level was also surpassing 150. He poured his magic power into the greatest fire power of that, to level 8.

“Turning thy back to the god, pour the wisdom of human history to the dream of destruction… hear the roar of human’s independence! {{furigana|Gustav Dora|Betrayal’s Romance Cannon}}!!”

A gigantic ordnance towered erectly from Kazuki’s chest to the front direction. It was a gigantic gun battery with length of few dozen meters and the thickness diameter close to one meter. A recoil propulsion system in order to withstand the firing of that gun battery was created on his back. In front of Naglfar, Kazuki also turned into a large weapon and determined his aim.

The unrealistic cannon that possessed the power of magic―fired.

A high explosive projectile that was almost as large as a human’s stature with the weight of a few ton was fired rapidly along with a thunderous roar that pierced your ears.

Masses of destruction landed one after another on Naglfar’s armor that was subjected under rapid freezing right after a super high temperature and exploded grandly. The nails of the dead were peeled off and fell apart.

When Kazuki finished firing all the explosive bullets and made the ordnance vanished―it was at the same time where Naglfar was finally destroyed from the attacks that came one after another.

“For, for a human, moreover a male to fire magic this powerful in rapid succession, how can your magic not run out..?”

Hel opened her eyes wide inside Naglfar that was barely floating in the air with its barely remaining fragment of magic power.

“No… that magic power inside you… that is Zero Knight’s…!”

Hel still survived! Kazuki flapped his wings of flame while taking a stance with Ame no Murakumo.

It was at that time that following the signal of commencing attack from Kazuki just now, his comrades invoked the magic that they were chanting all at once.

“Tearing the skin and blooming the flower of blood, the scream that echoed eternally… fell the betrayer and awaken the hell right here! Cocytus!”

Behind Kazuki who was slashing at Hel, a piercing cold of hell was overtaking him.

At that time the Ame no Murakumo in Kazuki’s grasp reverberated *JIIN* as if saying something to him.

…He could hear, the voice of the Sacred Treasure!

In this kind of time, this Sacred Treasure must be… used in this kind of way!

“Carry the mystery in your blade crest <Ame no Murakumo>! Battou Kaikon―Tsumugari no Tachi!!”

Kazuki immediately made a half turn on the spot and ran his blade not at Hel but at the cold of [Cocytus]. While Ame no Murakumo was enveloped in cold, it shone as if in echo.

Like Kusanagi no Tsurugi that tore apart magical phenomenon and dispersed them―it was not, the magic phenomenon was absorbed into that shining blade. The golden blade was frozen into deep blue and all the cold was compressed in it.

The essence of [slash] was to compress the energy within the narrowly linear range.

Katana could [cut] things by compressing the movement energy into the sharp blade.

Ame no Murakumo could even compress the magic energy into the blade’s narrow range.

That was this Battou Kaikon―[Tsumugari no Tachi].

Kazuki used his movement of cutting Kaguya-senpai’s [Cocytus] just like that to rotate in full circle and cut at Hel with the blade that carried cold.

“UOOOOOOOOOO!”

With Ame no Murakumo that was carrying the power of [Cocytus], Kazuki pursued the blown away Hel and dealt her one more blow even further. Hel was thrown onto the rock surface of Mt. Fuji.

“O lightning god, disturb the law of heaven following my will, liberate the undulation of destruction that is hidden in the atmosphere! {{furigana|Arc Flash Hazard|Super Lightning Arc Discharge}}!!”

Hikaru-senpai also cast Baal’s level 7 magic. The power of the Haunted Ground’s atmosphere was compressed into the two poles of positive and negative energy and raised a vortex around Hel, that equilibrium broke and caused a pure white great explosion. That was not something that was caused by nature, but by plasma.

Instantly, Kazuki cut at that plasma with Ame no Murakumo.

“Battou Kaikon―Tsumugari no Tachi!!” <ref>I don’t understand the meaning of Tsumu, maybe it’s just a name. But ‘gari’ means mow down while ‘tachi’ means long sword</ref>

He swung that blade at Hel that was crashed into a rock wall. The compressed electric heat destroyed Hel’s defensive magic power with each blow.

It didn’t stop at one attack. Second, third, fourth…he repeatedly hacked her to pieces. The recoil of the defensive magic power gouged a crater at the surface of Mt. Fuji like an explosion, with each blow Hel was buried even deeper.

“O bird of paradise whose body is carrying the light of heaven, respond to my accusation and burn to ash the sin on the surface! Israel Judgment!!”

“Battou Kaikon―Tsumugari no Tachi!!”

Mio had already guessed everything and directly fired Phoenix’s heat ray not at Hel but at Kazuki’s blade. That power was settled smoothly and the blade of sun’s heat slashed apart even further at Hel.

“Ga, ganging up on me like this while borrowing the power of a great number of people! You, you coward! Not fair! Even though papa is not helping me…!! Give me back Naglfar!!”

“O singing voice of mermaid, manifest the freezing thought. Sadness into ice flower, loneliness into light snowfall, cover the world with freezing blankness… White Album!”

“Battou Kaikon―Tsumugari no Tachi!!”

Koyuki also invoked her magic and Kazuki’a Ame no Murakumo accepted it. Hel was buried until a depth where she couldn’t even move her body anymore while Kazuki earnestly stabbed his sword.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I’m, vanishing! If you keep doing that… I’ll vanish!!”

It was evident that her defensive magic power was almost extinguished.

When Kazuki thought whether he was going to stab his blade just like this until the end, for an instant, he hesitated.

He could win. But, would he kill her?

{It’s not like the Diva will die you know? When she used up her strength then she will only fall asleep for a long, long time.}

Leme told him through the telepathic communication.

―Her appearance was a little girl but, this opponent was a terrifying Diva. For the sake of protecting his comrades he couldn’t afford to go easy on her.

If he gave her an instant of opening here―the next moment it would be Kazuki who fall into a pinch. He had already used up his magic power to the limit. He had already spent everything to bring the situation into this direction.

He would finish her off until the end! Kazuki resolved.

But suddenly―Kazuki felt a magic power expanding in circle shape around Hel. It was not a magic power that came from Hel. It was an unknown magic power from someone that was isolated from them with a distant space.

It was hard to predict what was going on.

This was not an attack magic. If he created [Futsu no Mitama] he thought that perhaps he could destroy the magic phenomenon, but he wouldn’t make it in time if he chanted only after he noticed this.

The circle shaped magic power that expanded with the buried Hel as the center instantly materialized into a huge ring.

Ring―the thing that was like a string that was connecting through several magatama.

This was an enlarged Yasakani no Magatama!

Its inside instantly became pitch black and connected into another dimension, a different space. The exhausted Hel was absorbed into the black dimension while the girl herself was making a confused face saying “What’s this!?”

“Ikousai!?”

Reflexively Kazuki almost threw his body into the other dimension, but recalling his own exhaustion he stumbled his step. If enemies were waiting at the destination of the other dimension, his current self would be unable to do anything.

There was no reply to answer Kazuki’s calling voice, after the ring swallowed Hel inside the other dimension, the ring of Yasakani no Magatama shrank in the blink of an eye and vanished.

===Part 8===

Aisu Ikousai with her body wrapped in her trademark Japanese clothes was standing still inside her own sword dojo that was prepared in Oosaka. Some composure came out in her expression ―her special training was bearing fruit.

At the space before her eyes the enlarged Yasakani no Magatama was floating along with magic power. It was connected with the deep black dimension in its inside and with a plop it dropped off Hel who was in a worn-out state of body and mind.

“You really got beaten up mercilessly huh. …If you got worn out until this bad then you won’t be able to come out at the frontline for a while until your divinity is restored.”

Hel was limply sinking on the cool floor of natural wood inside the sword dojo where it seemed she couldn’t even hear Ikousai’s voice.

Yasakani no Magatama smoothly became smaller and wrapped on Ikousai’s wrist naturally.

“Wh, why…?” Finally a voice escaped Hel.

“Yasakani no Magatama is a Sacred Treasure that can only display its effect within my perception sphere.”

Ikousai had already tested the Sacred Treasure many times, she was already able to completely grasp its effect.

“Something like exerting the power of this Sacred Treasure at the far away Fuji’s sea of trees originally should be something impossible. But… the Three Sacred Treasures resonated with each other, like a power that called to each other. Most likely it was the moment when Hayashizaki obtained Ame no Murakumo in his hand, that Yasakani no Magatama and Yata no Kagami reacted. Yata no Kagami projected your figure fighting that guy holding Ame no Murakumo. If it’s visible, then that place is a range where my imagination can reach… it’s inside my magic perception range. That was why I could save you using the power of Yasakani no Magatama.”

Yasakani no Magatama―it twisted the space between its string.

“Hel is my master that taught me the way to handle a Diva’s power. I heard the story from Loki… I was thinking whether there was any way for me to go help you. It was something miraculous, but I’m glad I made it.”

Ikousai had a really arrogant personality, but toward someone that gave her something―toward the existence that she called as mentor, she was someone that paid her respect from the bottom of her heart. Hel too was not an exception.

“Uu… uu, ueeee…”

“Hel?”

“UEEEE~N, IKOUSAI~!!”

When Ikousai just thought that she was seeing tears gathering inside Hel’s round eyes, Hel suddenly clung at Ikousai’s chest while crying loudly like a child.

“Uwaa, don’t you press your soppy face to my clothes.”

“Ueee~! Why~! Why is everyone making fun of me~! Why is papa not praising me~! Give me back my Naglfar~! Even though I worked really hard to gather a lot of dead people’s souls, why did it get broken like that~!! I hate everyone~!!”

Feeling troubled of how to deal with Hel that was crying like a child, Ikousai just kept patting her blue haired head for the time being.

“Ueee~! I hate everyone except Ikousai~!!”

Hel bawled even harder, like a child that was scolded for the first time.
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==Translator's Notes and References== 
<references/>
Gilgamesh -- persistence.  It's a king's quest to find  immortality for his dead commoner friend.  He loses it on the way back.
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