Kaze no Stigma:Volume1 Chapter6

Chapter Six- Decisive Battle

1

Shaaaaaaaaaaaa…….. (sound of rustling leaves, need help with that once more…)

The forest began rustling with unease, those are the sounds made by the living organisms that running away with all their might upon realizing the immense youki, even the bugs that has no way of sensing the danger were unable to withstand such an abnormal presence and disappeared without a trace.

There seems to be something falling from above, and it was the corpses of the animals that came in contact with the youki and were unable to escape in time, resulting in instant death, though there were no external wounds, they are no longer able to move anymore.

Following that, all sounds ceased, all the youki within Ryuya was released, just its mere existence was spreading death around the world.

Facing Ryuya who stood them silently, Ayano took up her Enraiha, but she was only raising up her Enraiha, unable to step even a single step out towards him. The youki that can almost freeze ones back, made her unable to move, no matter what she do, she cannot stop her knees from trembling.

Afraid, just completely afraid, an immense fear consumed Ayano’s soul. It was very difficult to just make herself stand there without running away, it was impossible for her to take a step forward.

At the age of twelve, no, to inherit the Enraiha when she is still young may have been a mistake. Ayano has never fought with an enemy on a higher level than herself, for someone who always defeats her enemies with sheer might, it is impossible to learn to control her actions in battle or the guts to overcome fear. [to learn to control her actions in battle, but actual text has more of a unable to learn how to move in or out in times of combat?: 將不可能學會戰鬥時的應對進退 Not sure how to translate it properly]

After suffering the blow of her first defeat, Ayano has not been able to find the guts to go up against Ryuya.

“What are you doing? Go on!”

Kazuma said to the trembling Ayano.

“Don’t worry! I am with you.”

”Who can not worry!”

Ayano rebutted angrily. How can this man dare to say “Don’t worry” so simply?

“There is no reason to run now is there? So I will not run away this time, you can trust me.”

Who can trust someone who said “he would run if there was a reason”. Ayano stared back, Kazuma showed a caring smile like a trickster.

“This…… This is the last time. If you dare to betray me this time, I will kill you first!”

“No problem, I can swear to God.”

“……God of which side?”

Ayano shows a suspicious look without concealing it, Kazuma continues showing a smile that cannot be trusted and replies..

”Who knows? Whichever God doesn’t matter! I am a non-believer after all.”

Ayano can no longer feel angry at this point of time. She uses a voice of total despair to murmur..

”……That is enough, I leave the support to you.”

”Leave it to me.”

Ignoring Kazuma’s respectful salute, Ayano dashes out. Due to the meaningless chat earlier, her fears and tenseness were greatly reduced, though she still have not------ or perhaps will never------ realize it.

Ayano continues to run. Just as the target is just a few steps away------ Ryuya jumps up.

“……Huh?”

Looking at Ryuya who flew past above her, Ayano gives a sound of shock.

“Idiot! Don’t get avoided so easily!”

”You…… Even if you say this……”

Completely ignoring Ayano, Ryuya aimed straight for Kazuma, and as he descends at a rapid speed, he releases wind blades. Kazuma creates a strong up flow of air to cancel the black winds.

But this is but just a bait, the true attack uses a strength beyond human limits, a slice executed by claws. Raised high above his head, the originally hidden right claw suddenly stretched out.

The attack that the enemy executed could easily rip a human body as though it was cutting tofu (bean curd). Kazuma moves forward at an angle and dodged it. At the same time he places his hand lightly on the back of the enemy’s right arm, and changes its path slightly.

Because the direction of his attack was changed, Ryuya loses his balance and falls to the ground, Kazuma takes the opportunity and uses his knee to strike at the side of the enemy’s abdomen------ his liver. The full bounce of his body, together with a strong explosion of “ki” gathered at one point, Ryuya’s body was arced like a bow, and throwing him into the air. Following closely the flying body, just before it touches the ground, Kazuma uses his elbow to strike the enemy’s chin. Ryuya’s head moves backwards, so much that he can almost see his own back.

If it was a normal human, no, even if it was a wrestler, he would have died instantly under such an attack, but to the demonized Ryuya, it did not do much damage. Ryuya uses the force that made him fly into the air, and raises his right knee, aimed straight for Kazuma’s jaws.

Even though the attack was aimed at a blind spot, to Kazuma who is synchronized with the wind spirits, there is no such thing. He steps forward slanted to the left and avoids the knee strike, grabbing the front of Ryuya’s shirt, at the same time sweeping his left leg horizontally.

Perfectly performing the arts of judo, [actual text: 柔道的大內割動作完美地呈現, not sure how to translate大內割] Ryuya’s body was flipped over. With Ryuya's head about to fall flat on the ground, Kazuma strikes downwards with his palm, not to attack, but to press downwards. He consistently bends down to press the enemy’s head straight into the ground, a comfortable reaction went through his shoulder.

However, Kazuma did not feel Ryuya’s skull cracking. Instinctively, Kazuma realized that he has not given his enemy a fatal blow and uses his heel to forcefully step at Ryuya’s head, who was lying on the ground, facing the sky. This attack was blocked by an arm, the crossed arms blocked the heels of Kazuma.

”Chut!” [actual text 嘖.]

Kazuma uses his other leg to kick away the arm that is about to grab his leg, and jumps backwards to put distance between them.

(To not even faint after such a fierce attack, does attacking the brain has no effect on him? Just to what extent is he demonized?……)

Kazuma grumbles unhappily. As if he was beating up a steel statue, he felt as though he had accomplished nothing. Ryuya quickly stands up directly from his lying down position. This action is way beyond what a human can do, just like a zombie in the movies.

Ryuya released countless wind blades once he got up, and then at a speed even faster than the wind blades, strikes at Kazuma. The wind blades and his claws reached Kazuma at the same time.

“Guahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

At the same time as the shout, Kazuma forcefully stretches out towards the right arm that was swung. The wind forms a whirlpool spinning rapidly, as if that hand squeezed them out. The rapid flow of air becomes a shockwave, destroying the wind blades, and Ryuya was blown back like a puppet.

It seems that he was unable to take this blow, as Ryuya adjusts his posture in the air, he maintains a certain altitude, then begins to slowly retreat.

“Don’t think about escaping!”

Kazuma knocks the air above Ryuya downwards. The shadow that was originally gliding away slowly, as if swatted by something, suddenly dives at a sharp angle, with a speed way beyond a free falling object, and drops down. Ryuya was barely able to land on his two feet, but his whole body was unable to move, stuck to the ground due to the great air pressure.

Against Ryuya who is motionless, Kazuma quickly closed in onto him.

The wind that was blowing downwards forcefully does not seem to lay a finger upon Kazuma. Kazuma instead seems as though he was sucked into it, and runs quickly inside the raging winds without hindrance.

“How…… powerful, that guy is actually so powerful……”

Ayano was totally taken in by the fight before her eyes, completely mesmerized by the sight of Kazuma fighting. She was unable to even land a hit upon Ryuya, yet Kazuma can fight against him on even ground, or even be stronger than Ryuya. Skillfully avoiding the might force of the opponent, retaliating from time to time, and accumulating the damage done slowly, made her realize what it means to be called “an experienced fighter”.

Forgetting to participate in the fight, Ayano stood as if hypnotized, her eyes following Kazuma.

“------------------------------!”

Just as Kazuma closes in until just a few steps away, Ryuya who was trapped in the ground gives a silent roar, black wind begins to rampage, and breaks the binds that restrained him earlier.

With the force from straightening his knees, he stretches his claws out towards the incoming Kazuma, aiming straight for Kazuma’s throat, who was running directly at him, executing an insane attack of retaliation.

Kazuma did not stop, but instead as he makes his last step, he bends down as much as possible. Using the far ends of his conscious to that the pitch black claws have passed before him, he places his palm against Ryuya’s abdomen----his diaphragm.

Kazuma’s legs were stepped into the ground with force, which went past his knees straight to his waist, and from the waist to his shoulders, like a spiral and continued to become stronger as it continued to be transmitted. From his shoulder to the front portion of his arm, after all the kinetic energy in his body has gathered, it was released through his palm to the front. At the same time, an immense “ki” that is so dense it can spread throughout his body was released from his palm, feeling as though it can pierce through the enemy.

“Hah!”

Accompanying the short shout, a great force that can even blow an African elephant into pieces, right at Ryuya’s diaphragm------ the core of a human’s central nerve system------ exploded. Ryuya’s body was bounced away as though it was blown off, and was imbedded into a stone wall.

The “ki” of a person revolves around the whole body beginning from the diaphragm. Therefore, this place is the most fatal of all fatal areas for a Jutsushi. Once the flow of “ki” is disrupted, no matter how powerful the Jutsushi may be, he will be unable to cast any Jutsu for some time. That is right, if it was a human------ that should have been the case.

Huuuuu!! [actual text 咻咻!! Sound of wind?]

“Muah!”

Ryuya does not look injured in any way, releasing wind blades quickly. Kazuma dodged in the nick of time, and hurriedly pulls the distance away.

“Damn! Bastard! That didn’t work! That guy really whole-heartedly doesn’t want to be human anymore!”

“…… whole-heartedly…… What kind of description is that……”

Hearing Ayano’s sub-conscious rebut, Kazuma shouts out loud..

“Don’t just stand there and watch the show! You are the striker, so why don’t you grab your big torch and go beat him upfront!”

“Big……”

(Big torch------?)

To use such a rude way to call the treasure of the Kannagi clan------

“You, I want to have a talk with you about this later!”

Ignoring Ayano’s furious look, Kazuma waves his hand to hush her..

“Don’t talk so much, go on, “Little kitten”. “

Even though her eyes gave off a stronger killing intent, Ayano steps forward in response. Perhaps reflecting upon her anger, Enraiha shone with a glaring glow unlike any before.

(Sister, you can do it……) [Actual text is more of gambate]

Ren prays whole-heartedly for the victory of the two.

He can only pray now, since he does not possess enough “power” to participate in this battle.

Feeling his helplessness deeply, Ren painfully murmurs..

”If only I have more power……”

”No no, your bit of power is just right.”

”!?”

Ren turns back in shock, and stares towards his back where there had been no one there since just now.

“To break the seal placed upon our “God”, that bit of power is enough.”

The voice sounded like it came from the opposite direction as just now. Ren turns his head once more, and called out in a rising tone..

“It…… it is you, Hyoue! Come out now!”

Shaaaaa, the sound of bushes being moved aside shook the air, this time from the left hand side. At the palm which Ren raised, fire began to erupt in a rapid flow.

In a short moment, the withered plants caught fire and burned furiously, but there was no sign of Hyoue there. Ren looked around, the coarse voice of Hyoue sounded in Ren’s ears..

“Your strength is not bad, just that you are still a kid. Your technique is too poor!”

”Shut……Shut up------------!”

Flames emerged from Ren’s body. In order to not allow the enemy to move to his back, he began to search for Hyoue as his body is surrounded by flames, but------

(I can’t find his presence!)

He has completely no idea where Hyoue is. Originally, En-Jutsushis are a bit overpowered in their combat abilities. Even though their attacking strength is the best, their searching abilities are almost the weakest, much worse than Fu-Jutsushis.

As an En-Jutsushi, Ren is not mature enough, and was unable to see through the Jutsu that the experienced Fu-Jutsushi Hyoue used to conceal himself at all.

“Still too immature. A flame of that level is unable to extinguish the hatred within me.”

Hyoue once again whispered by his ear. Though the direction from which he heard was just behind him, but he could not sense his presence at all.

“Behind? Whe……Where!”

He turned back several times, but he always failed to see Hyoue. No matter how swift he may be, the voice from his back never stopped.

“Over here!”

”Over here!”

”Over here!”

.------Over here------Over here------Over here------Over here------

This line continues to repeat itself like an echo. Bringing along uneasiness from being unable to see his enemy, and the uprising fear and nervousness, Ren’s tight mental state was stretched to the limit upon him fighting actual battle.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

Driven by fear, he desires power. Desiring the power to eliminate the enemy. Desiring the power that can destroy “Everything”, that can make him feel afraid------

In response to Ren’s scream, fire spirits revealed themselves. The flame spirits that are being released indefinitely, obeying their own purpose of survival and rampages, burning everything into ashes.

Everything the flames touched was burnt, the forest becaming a sea of flames, the mighty flames became a few pillars of fire that went all the way into the sky, shaking the grounds.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

Ren who created panic after losing control, just like his name, attempts to create a Hell on Earth. [Ren attempts to create a 煉獄 on Earth, and Ren’s name is 煉] He goes beyond the limits of his power, and continues to summon a massive amount of spirits. The trees became ashes under the extreme heat, and the scorched land began to melt.

“Ahhhhhh……ah?”

But just at this moment, a cold gush of wind blew past Ren’s body.

Maybe that gush of wind brought some effects, Ren’s madness calmed down in an instant. The youth looked dumbfoundedly at the direction the wind came from.

Kazuma was looking attentively at Ren. Basked in those clear eyes, Ren returns to normal completely this time.

(He is looking at me------!)

Ren looks at him with infinite trust.

“Brot------“

(Brother!)

But, right at the short instant that Kazuma’s eyes met with Ren’s, he shifted his eyes away. And then focused at the battle with Ryuya without looking back again.

Ren feels very disappointed, but finally remembers what he should do. He stabilizes his breathing, and prepares to take on the enemy’s assault.

“You seem to have been abandoned by your brother.”

Hyoue’s voice rings by his ear. He knows clearly that the enemy is not at his back, it was just a distraction from his Jutsu, to use the wind to bring his voice to Ren’s ears. This is a basic technique everyone in the Fuga clan knows, such a simple fact, and yet he never noticed, Ren was ashamed at how immature he is.

“But that cannot be blamed, those two cannot win against Ryuya even if they work together, there is no way he can take the time to protect someone as useless as you.”

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Hearing the eerie laughter by his ear, Ren was unaffected. He calmly detects the presence, and at the same time denies the nonsense that Hyoue was babbling.

“You are wrong.”

”What is wrong?”

He replies calmly. Hyoue has never doubted the situation that is beneficial to him, he may be thinking that he is not fighting, but hunting! Ren grasped at this weak spot.

“Brother, he did not abandon me, it is because he believes in me, believes that I am more than enough to deal with someone like you.”

“What daring words. For a little punk like you who cannot even find out where I am, how are you going to defeat me?”

Indeed, in terms of detecting capabilities, En-Jutsushis are way weaker than Fu-Jutsushis. Unlike flames, air is everywhere, one of the conditions for a human to survive, the one that occupies the most space is still air. The difference in the space occupied, directly affects the amount of information obtained.

(But, if it is now------)

The flames that Ren released when he lost himself, burnt the trees in the area, and continue to burn fiercely. The density of fire spirits has increased to a state that goes beyond logical reasoning. If it is in a situation like this, he is not any worse than a Fu-Jutsushi. Ren closed his eyes, and opened his ears to listen to the spirits’ voice.

“What’s wrong? You want to beat someone like me, yet you seem to be taking quite a bit of time?”

Sounds of mockery came from everywhere. A wind blade passed by his cheek, and flew straight ahead. Ren lets go of everything completely, and synchronizes himself with the spirits.

His five senses disappear, and slowly switches to the senses of the spirits. Not relying on light, not relying on sound, but instead relying on the “theurgy” that a human cannot sense to see the world. Faced with the abnormality that a normal human may go mad against, Ren adapted to it very easily.

(------Found you!)

Actually, it should be said as he cannot be found. In the area which he tried to search, only one spot refused the fire spirits, Hyoue must be at this spot. Ren deeply believes in this.

“Over there!”

Ren raised his palm, and released a fire bomb. The divine power to purify sliced through the empty space.

.------ Just the empty space.

“You fool, where were you aiming……”

Seeing the flame that went in the wrong direction, Hyoue who was concealed in a kekkai of wind showed a mocking expression.

But that expression stopped instantly. He saw the flames around him branch out, and rain down as a rain of fire, aimed at him------

“Wha……What------------!?”

Hyoue was so shocked his eyes almost popped out, the rain of fire came from all directions all at the same moment.

Nowhere to run, this was not a situation that can be solved with a simple trick, to defend himself, he must use power to wipe the flames aside. But, Hyoue does not possess such power, as, looking at sheer strength alone, Ren is sure to win.

“Wahhhhhhhhhhhhh!?”

As the kekkai was pierced through by the rain of fire like a piece of paper, Hyoue gave off a pitiful scream.

“I succ……succeeded……?”

Sensing the kekkai’s disappearance, Ren says quietly, staring into space.

The trick he used was extremely simple, he had no need to initiate the attack himself, as the flames were there burning all along.

Ren purposely released a flame at an empty area, thus making Hyoue let his guard down, and then controlling the flames that were burning around Hyoue to attack.

If Hyoue was fighting seriously, he might have been able to see through the trick! This is all because of his arrogant attitude to see Ren as prey, causing him to have to suffer such a dreadful blow.

“You……you are really something……Kid……”

”------!?”

A black object rolled out just in front of Ren. From the looks of it, one can still manage to see that it was a human, but no matter how you look at it, it is a corpse that was completely burnt. But the corpse was still moving somehow, and every time it moved, a piece of meat that had already been turned into ashes drops out, growing into a pitch black skin that does not seem human.

“Hoho…… Watch closely…… This is also the power I obtained after signing a contract with the youma, a power beyond human capabilities. Now you get it, kid? Your flames don’t work against me. Hohoho…… Hahahahaha!!”

“You foolish thing.”

As if another person was speaking, Ren said coldly, and broke Hyoue’s laughter.

“My flames are useless? What is a piece of charcoal saying like a human being? Since you yourself gave up on being human, then there is nothing to be said. Because the Kannagi flames are purifying flames------ a power bestowed to destroy non-human monsters like you!!”

A golden light, chased away the dense youki. The rampaging flames seems as though they were taken in by the purifying light, the fire weakens, and eventually disappears slowly. The originally out of control fire spirits, upon being kept in control once more, make the golden light shine even more brightly.

The flames that once expanded explosively, begins to shrink, yet, the temperature rises up. Condensed into a high density semi-materialized flame, giving off a sticky glow, it revolves around Ren.

“I declare as the main family of the Kannagi! Hyoue Kazamaki, the many lives that you took away, shall now be repaid by your own!!”

Surrounded by a blurry shine, Ren declares loudly. Faced with the tiny body that unleashes immense pressure, Hyoue curls his body up.

This is the descendant of a respected and powerful bloodline. At the top of En-Jutsushis, the rightful son of the Kannagi clan.

A great power that was formed though a thousand years of training, is about to awaken------

2

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

A strike with all her might, Ayano swings the Enraiha downwards.

Dang![sound of metal colliding]

Ryuya’s claws make a clear sound as they reflect the blade.

(Even Enraiha cannot cut through this, what are these claws made of?)

Ayano wipes the question that popped out in her mind away. Now, there is no time to think about this question, I must find some way to get past the claws------

Ayano increases the rate of her strikes, she includes a massive amount of fake shots in her attacks to try to find a loophole in Ryuya’s defense, however, his defense was impenetrable.

“What is that idiot doing……”

Kazuma spits out that sentence in anxiousness.

The fear of loss, still lingers in Ayano’s heart, she forgot her own fighting method, adding those tricks to her attack is meaningless, she must focus on a lethal strike instead------

Just at this moment, Enraiha found its way into Ryuya’s shoulder, and the entire right arm that was cut off was blown away.

(Great opportunity!)

Ayano strikes at the empty right area, she puts all her strength into this strike, and because of that, she failed to notice, like a creature moving in the air, the right arm that has lurked behind her back.

“Behind you!”

Kazuma’s voice and the strike from the right arm came at almost the same time. Like a lance, the right arm graced by Ayano, who jumped up quickly.

“That was close……”

It is still too early to relax now, Ryuya suddenly appear before Ayano who is still in mid-air, the claws on his remaining right arm are giving off a deadly light.

Dang!

Even though Ayano managed to block that attack somehow, her legs are not on the ground, so she was unable to hold her position. She was knocked away like a cannonball, and without any way to defend herself, she violently hit a big tree nearby.

“Argh…… Ah……”

Perhaps feeling that it was too easy for him, Ryuya did not pursue his prey, but instead reattaches his right arm. The wriggling muscle tissues and nerves extended from the horizontal cross section, and the same things that stretched out from the other end entangled together. After several seconds, even the wound disappears, his right arm is completely fused back.

But Ryuya still shows no sign of attacking, he lifts his head up to stare at the sky, and raises both his arms, as if he wants to hold the whole sky with his hands.

“------------!“

The instant he realizes the reason he made such a movement, Kazuma sprints out as fast as he can. Grabbing the head of Ayano, who was just about to get up, and violently smashes it onto the floor.

“Wah!”

Even though Ayano made a strange cry,there was no time to pay attention to it. He lays as low as he can, and at the area where he reduced the surface area, he set up a kekkai of even greater density.

“That was so sudden, what are you doing!”

Ayano presses on her glowing red nose as she shouts. Kazuma just shouts back at a volume twice of hers..

“You idiot! For what reason did you think that you had to engage in melee combat! If the enemy has the time to unleash his powerful attacks, then all the efforts before that would be meaningless!!”

Under the resolution that leaves no room for questioning, Ayano is at a loss for words.

“……Huh……? Powerful attack……”

Turning her head like Kazuma instructed, seeing that scene, Ayano is totally stunned this time. A spectacular pillar of wind that connects heaven and earth, a great sound tumbles as it spins, that is------ that is------

“……That is…… what……?”

“That is not what, as you can see------ It is a tornado! Four------ No, five…… by the way, what is the unit for tornadoes?”

The question that Kazuma asks randomly did not go into Ayano’s ears.

She looks at the tornado as if mesmerized. That is the roar of nature that hurls giant boulders and uproots giant trees------ that is all she can think about it.

“……Im……possible……”

”Ahhh? What did you say?”

”------ It is impossible to win!”

Ayano turns her head to shout. The competitive eyes carries tears, as if prostrated, she tumbles to her feet beside Kazuma.

“It is impossible to win! Our enemy is that kind of monster, what do you expect me to do! There is no way to win!!”

Ayano’s eyes shows despair beyond fear, those eyes were just like the eyes of that person in the past, Kazuma thought to himself.

.------ Did I not sought for power because I hate seeing those eyes?

(Tsui-Ling------)

The weak girl that I was unable to protect in the past. No matter how tough it was, no matter how painful it was, the girl who still wanted to live on no matter what.

“I was not born into the world to be devoured by a devil.”

Those eyes shone with the light of hope, and the one to erase that light was me.

Because he was weak, because he had no power.

But, it is different now. He was defeated back then, and had to watch as the girl whom he sworn to protect had her soul devoured, but it is different now compared to then.

Be it for self-fulfillment, or to atone for the past. Now, he just wants to help this girl who is trembling before him.

The girl’s eyes are filled with tears. At the moment before the tears drop, Kazuma pokes at Ayano’s forehead with his finger.

Ayano leans back slightly, and looks at him with wet eyes, yet Kazuma shows a smile..

“Our jobs were made clear since the start right? All you need to do is take that blade and slash Ryuya, I shall take care of his wind.”

“Take care…… Take care of tornadoes!?”

Ayano’s finger points at the tornado as she shrieks, Kazuma just shrugs his shoulder.

“About that…… There has got to be some way. So, you just take care of him, can you do that?”

After hesitating for a moment, Ayano nods her head hard.

“Very good, let the match continue then!”

Kazuma carries Ayano who sat on him, and stands up just like that. Seeing such unbelievable strength from his waist and legs, Ayano opens her eyes wide. But, what is even more shocking is what happens later.

“……Wa……Ah……”

A path was opened before Ayano. A path, surrounded by kekkai that suppresses the tornado, was created, straight to where Ryuya is.

“------Go!”

After receiving a push from that voice, Ayano instinctively dashes out.

“Okay, even though I said that just now…… But how should I go about doing it?”

After forcefully holding the tornado back, Kazuma grumbles to himself. Since he has boasted about it in front of someone else, he must think of a way to take care of these five tornadoes……

“If only Ayano is of some use, then the enemy may not have any effort to spare while fighting her to maintain the tornadoes…… But an originally weak fellow, now so scared she can hardly walk, cannot be of any use……”

The simplest method is to create the same tornadoes to cancel them out------

(……Spare me!)

Just thinking about this, a tired smile surfaced. Is there an easier way------

“Wait a minute, a tornado is actually the upward flow of air right…… in that case…… Good, let’s do this.” Kazuma lets the air that is going upwards go even higher up, and brings the air at lower positions into the stratosphere.

The air brought up by the upflow is cooled, and forms water particles, and becomes tiny ice drops that combine to become hailstones. The hailstones cool the surrounding air, and make the air heavy, and drop down at a high speed. The great downward airflow is what we call a “downburst”.

Its temporary top speed is comparable to a tornado, and Kazuma speeds it up further, a piece of air pulled down from an extremely high altitude easily goes beyond the speed of sound.

The hypersonic speed wind blades slice the tornado open, and the shockwaves that comes with it completely destroys what is left of the tornadoes. Without any resistance, the raging winds erased the tornadoes easily, and release all the extra energy in it towards where Ryuya is.

“Gwahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

Amidst the sound of destruction, comes a sharp scream that has no femininity at all.

(Gwah? Ohhh……)

Kazuma claps his hands once he realized what happened.

“Sorry, I forgot to avoid you.”

”You idiot------!! Go to hell------!!”

Ayano livelily shouts about, for some reason she was not hurt. Maybe the wind spirits avoided her automatically?

Even though Ayano is still making a fuss, but seeing the scene that appears slowly as the dust disperses, she quiets down.

The view of the mountain changed. In the originally green forest, the trees are blown down, the surface is dug up forming a piece of empty land. This is all due to Ryuya’s tornado, and Kazuma’s downburst.

(These guys are real monster……)

Ayano looks at Kazuma with respect. But from that flippant look, she can see no sign of his magnificent power.

“Hey, this is a good opportunity! Ayano.”

Kazuma hushes, no, tells her.

Even for Ryuya, he suffers a lot of damage from this hit. Even though his limbs are still connected to his body, but everywhere on him, deep cuts can be seen, and black mist excretes out of him in replacement of blood.

(When I cut him earlier, there was no such thing coming out……)

The difference in power between Kazuma and her is clear, Ayano feels very unhappy about it. But now is not the time to be bothered by such a thing, she takes up Enraiha once more, and stands before Ryuya.

(Still alive------ What a monster.)

Just as Ayano face off with Ryuya, Kazuma’s expression becomes more serious.

Kazuma can feel that they are being forced to a dead end.

Even by combining their powers, they were unable to deliver a fatal strike to Ryuya. Even though they seem to have the advantage now, there is no way they can win in the long run.

There has never been a human that can beat youma with their physical energy. This is because youma possesses a mind far greater than its body, and can overcome the limitations of the body through sheer will.

(There is no choice, should I use my ultimate skill? Even though I really do not want the Kannagi to know of it……)

They will hear about it from Ren sooner or later anyway! No matter what, life is irreplaceable.

But there is a problem, leaving the breaking of the seal aside, to gather enough power to truly destroy Ryuya requires a lot of time to prepare. During this period of time, Ayano is completely defenseless, and what would happen under such circumstances is already seen.

(So, what to do then------)

He thinks deeply for a moment------

(So be it, this is a test too.)

Kazuma pushes Ayano down to the bottom of a cliff without hesitation.

“Ayano! I am going to unleash my ultimate skill! Buy me some time!!”

“Don’t shout it out! Idiot------!!”

Ayano shouts in a painful voice. She was seriously crying out to Kazuma.

As Kazuma expected, Ryuya(Devil) retaliates instantly. In the blink of an eye, the defending and offensive party changes, wind blades strike towards Ayano.

“Kazuma you big idiot------! After I die, I will definitely come back to find you as a vengeful spirit! No matter how many times you change your home, I will burn it down, and make sure the estate agencies avoid doing business with you!”

Trying her best to dodging the claws, Ayano says in a tone that seems like she is about to cry.

But very sadly, Kazuma is in a state of high level concentration now, and cannot hear Ayano’s emotional complaints at all.

He keeps his conscious slowly, and opens the “door” within his body. Inside the “door” is an azure sky as far as the eye can see.

This place is a space that exists within “that person”------ No, every corner of this space is filled with “that person”. This space is the person himself.

By opening the “door”, Kazuma and “that person” combine, forming a single entity. Kazuma is restructured, becoming a human, and the ruler of spirits at the same time, commanding all wind as a high level Jutsushi.

His consciousness expands without limit. As far as his mind can go------ About a hundred kilometers in radius------all existing wind spirits became Kazuma’s receptors, continuously transmitting information out endlessly.

These data that a human’s weak and fragile mind is unable to handle completely, Kazuma controls them with his will, he picks out the necessary data, while at the same time sensing the whole situation in a radius of a hundred kilometers, this is the point of view of God, a power beyond human knowledge.

(Ren…… Very good, still alive.)

The power of sensing after expansion can clearly see the battle between Ren and Hyoue more than a kilometer away. Of course, this includes Ayano’s battle status------

Without Kazuma to cover for her, Ayano is forced to a one-sided defense. She does not even think about retaliating, just paying attention to her surroundings to dodge the incoming claws and wind blades.

(……Still not ready yet, Kazuma?)

She looks at Kazuma from time to time, but Kazuma who is concentrating does not notice this at all------ or that is how it looks like. Despite how unwilling she is to admit it, but this is making her feel very uneasy.

She is so scared, but Kazuma does not say some nonsense to loosen her up, he does not poke her forehead and smile at her. For the first time, Ayano realizes how many times she has been saved by that flippant smile of his.

“Ahhh!”

A pitch black wind, forms a metal hammer and smashes towards Ayano. The small body is violently hit and flies out, landing on her back, and following that she even rolled three rounds on the floor, coming to a stop only after hitting a stone wall that jerks up from the ground with a great impact.

(Oh no! I can’t hold on……!)

Ayano looks at Kazuma with the thought of seeking help in mind. At this moment she is sure that she saw------ Kazuma has a smirk on his face, showing an expression with a cold smile.

Ryuya aims at Ayano who is not moving, and releases more wind blades. But even so, Ayano still stares at Kazuma.

Ever since that moment I saw him again yesterday, I really hate that guy.

He is even more unforgivable than Hyoue or Ryuya, I do not even want to admit his existence.

Just because he is stronger than me------ Not only that.

Because of his arrogant attitude------ No, that is just the surface, a fake external side of him.

The real him, completely ignores my presence, does not care about me, and that is more unforgivable than anything else.

So I begin to resist, I keep quarreling with him, so that he would acknowledge my presence.

But------ He gave up on me.

“You will finish him off” becomes “Buy me some time”, “I will do everything, I no long have any expectations for you.”------ That is what he said.

He is watching everything even now, mocking at how pathetic I look.

“A kitten is just a kitten” ------ It seems as though she can hear this belittling speech.

“------ Don’t look down on me!!”

An angry roar shakes the air around, a furious flame consumes the wind blades.

Ayano uses her swaying body to stand up, her eyes look at Ryuya, but her mind continues to think of Kazuma.

She cannot acknowledge, nor accept, that as the Enraiha wielder, she is so useless.

She knows very clearly how to topple this fact completely, for a man like Kazuma, there is no point in saying anything more to him.

.------ Only by proving herself with might.

“ “Buy me some time”? Don’t joke around. I will finish him off myself, you can just stand there until you die standing!”

Ayano takes up her Enraiha, and begins to gather “ki”. The golden flame that bursts out, begin to carry a red glow------ the crimson flame, continues to gather upon Enraiha.

With the agitated scream, Ayano sprints out, moving at an exceptional speed that does not even leave an image behind. She appears before Ryuya abruptly, as if she teleported, and swings down with all her might.

There were no faking tricks, just a simple straightforward slice. So it was extremely difficult to dodge it. Ryuya crosses his arms above his head to block the slice. No, wanted to block it.

Releasing crimson flames------ Enraiha carrying the divine flame does not allow any resistance, and cuts ten claws at one go, following which cutting off Ryuya’s left arm exposed due to its high speed turning.

She slices towards the defenseless left side------ but at this moment, the sliced off left arm floats in mid-air, and strikes towards Ayano from the rear.

Ayano, without turning her head, holds the Enraiha in a backhand position and stabs to her rear. The Enraiha mercilessly pierce through the arm that is flying in the air.

“Begone!!”

Burning from the interior, the left arm is burnt in an instant. Ayano did not stop, and continues to chase after Ryuya, who moves backwards slowly, she uses an extremely fast speed to close in onto Ryuya.

The crimson blade shone with brilliance, and the blade that sliced in from the right shoulder came out from between the legs, and the blade flips and continues to slice into the body.

But, even though his whole body is chopped into four pieces, Ryuya is still not destroyed yet. He uses listless eyes to look at Ayano.

Ayano jumps backwards, but not to run.

.------ Everything shall end in a moment!

“Namo, Sanmanduo, Warila Lan, Han” [Ayano’s chant? Not exactly sure.]

She chants the Acalanatha sutra in the air. The chant itself possesses no power or meaning, it is just some keywords to remind oneself[remind her of a state of mind? Not sure]. This allows complicated Jutsu activation sequences, to be remembered together with mantras, becoming a reflex action, because she lets her body remember it, and by chanting the mantra is equivalent to activating the procedures for the Jutsu.

At the same time she lands, Ayano stabs Enraiha into the ground, and begins to activate the Jutsu.

“Ultimate exorcism flare wave!!” [unsure how to translate this properly]

The floor sketches out a circular light with Ryuya at the centre, forming a hemispherical kekkai. Following which the fire spirits that was emitted from Enraiha darts through beneath the ground, and releases all their heat from the inside of the kekkai!

The soil under Ryuya’s feet vaporizes in an instant, the spherical kekkai’s full view is seen, the kekkai efficiently reflects the heat energy, and gathers the energy at the centre.

This is Ayano’s strongest exorcising spell, locking the youma in a kekkai and not allowing them to leave until they are burnt to ashes.

“Hmm hmm! How is that!”

Ayano shows a prideful smile, and turns her head in Kazuma’s direction------ just before that, she stops and stares at Ryuya who is trapped within the kekkai.

In the scorching plasma, Ryuya became a piece of meat that shows no sign of his previous appearance, he should have no power to resist anymore------ but what is this youki?

Gurgle……Gurgle……Gurgle……[sound of something boiling? Not sure]

Right before Ayano, who is standing there watching, the surface of the meat seems to be boiling and bubbles begin to appear, on top of the bubbles another bubble appears, the eerie meat piece does not care about the several tens of thousands of degrees of high heat, and is multiplying at a rapid rate.

When the piece of meat multiplied to the required number, the shape changes slowly, and meat sticks stretches out from four areas, and a small sphere is placed at the top, the monster is complete.

The monster perhaps intends to imitate a human form like before! With hands and legs, and the head and body parts can be recognized.

But, that is all. Like an ugly design a small child used to make with meat color clay, it is a duplicate of a human’s evil, it is a humiliation that is unforgivable to all mankind.

That monster uses an action that is like opening a door, and places its hands on the kekkai. That monster has no hands, only a stick, and from the action, it does not have any joints either, if a human arm is changed to a snake, that is probably how it would look like!

“……This is not…… possible……?”

That monster dispels the kekkai easily, and steps out. An ugly feeling that cannot be looked at directly makes Ayano move back in reflex, and upon being tripped by a protruding part at her feet, she loses her balance.

“Wah!”

To fall down here means certain death------ The premonition of death approaching, made Goosebumps appear on Ayano’s skin.

But------ the texture sticking on her back is not the cold hard floor. Something warm grabs hold of the tense body due to nervousness.

A broad hand caresses Ayano’s head, as if whispering by her ear, a low and calm voice makes her ear feel itchy.

“That is enough, you did very well.”

From the gentle yet firm grip that is hugging her arm, Ayano feels an indescribable relaxation, her tense body relaxes bit by bit, leaving everything to that wide chest behind her.

“You did very well.”

The sentence repeats itself over and over again in her mind, such a boring speech, made her happier than anything else in the world.

To be recognized by him, made her feel proud.

The man behind her uses such a comfortable voice that makes one shiver in his back continues to say..

“Very well done, for a kitten.”

Pak!

Ayano uses all her strength to wipe Kazuma’s hand off. How is it possible that just an instant ago she actually thought that this kind of guy’s chest can be comforting, Ayano feels ashamed at herself from the bottom of her heart.

“You…… Huh……?”

Ayano feels a slight disturbance in the surrounding view, she looks around for a bit and understood instantly.

.------ The air is shining with a light blue glow.

The blue airflow, though its flow is slow, but within it lies a massive amount of energy. The black winds commanded by Ryuya repels against the azure glow, and shrinks around its master.

“This…… Could it be…… “Purification”!?”

The secret power to destroy evil that is only bestowed on the Kannagi family, and, this magnitude------

“To use purifying winds to surround the whole mountain? Such a massive amount of spirits, how did……”

Ayano turns her head to ask, and becomes dumbfounded once more. Maybe he knows very well why she seems shocked, Kazuma shows a playful smile and enjoys Ayano’s stunned expression.

“That…… What is that…… Your eyes?”

“These? They were imprinted on by the lord of wind spirits.”

Kazuma flashes with blue eyes, and says a shocking fact out easily.

“Spi……rit……Lord……?”

A fact that is beyond imagination made her mind stop, Ayano dumbly repeats it.

“………… No way--------------------!?”

Bright like the azure sky, eyes that cannot be clearer, that is the proof of the contract with the lord of wind spirits. To rule all the air on this planet, only a man that is bestowed everything, can be imprinted with this stigma.

In the legends, there has only been a few people with such a stigma, the Solomon king that governs the seventy two demon lords, Moses who led the Hebrew and made a contract with Jehovah.

After that would be the first chief of the Kannagi, who was bestowed the Enraiha.

“Contractor”------ Someone who made a contract with a supernatural existence------ They call them “Contractors”.

But, to be confirmed in history, there is only one man who has been proven to exist. “The first” contractor------ he is how the people praise him to be in modern legends.

“Come one! It is about time to go to sleep, Ryuya!!”

The azure wind begin to twirl like a whirlpool with Ryuya at the centre. The whirlpool or air is created by Kazuma mobilizing all the wind spirits in the area that he control, and the huge area covered by it can be seen even from a satellite.

3

Pussh! [sound of wind cutting, not sure the exact sound]

The wind blades made by the demonized Hyoue cuts into Ren’s two arms deeply.

“Wahhhhhh------!”

Up against the wind blades that strikes continuously, Ren can only roll his body to dodge, with not even the slightest chance to get up.

Hyoue is laughing as he looks at this action. The scene of a Jutsushi of the main family having to dodge everywhere from him cannot get any weirder.

(Just watch, Genma! Jugo! The next ones will be you two! The humiliations that we suffered, you shall pay back ten thousand times more!)

An uncontrollable laughter can be heard. Hyoue looks at Ren who finally managed to get up with a look of superiority and shouts out comfortably..

“Now you know the difference between our powers? You can just surrender quietly, if you are too heavily wounded, it might hinder the dispelling of the seal.”

Hohoho……

Ren throws a golden flame in the direction of the laughter, within which hides a strike with the power to make Hyoue perish, but if it doesn’t hit, it is pointless.

“Wah!”

During the period of the attack, a shockwave hit directly at Ren’s head, he suffers from head concussion, and for a few seconds his conscious is blurred.

Ren is completely defenseless in this period of time, it must be very easy to kill him now! But even though there have been several chances like this, but Hyoue never killed him, as Hyoue does not want Ren’s corpse, and he is leisure enough to enjoy this time.

Hyoue who gave up the body of a human, now possesses great power, incomparable to the past.

Of course, Ren still possesses more power than him, but the difference in skill and experience is too great, Ren is being toyed with, and is unable to even use half of his power.

“It is about time you give up? Knowing that you cannot win?”

Hyoue as if torturing him, avoids all the fatal spots, and is undergoing persuasion, losing count of the number of times he tried to persuade Ren, but Ren does not feel afraid.

“I refuse! I promised my brother, I will never give up, I will live on no matter what! I will never obey you, never be used by you, or let you kill anyone else!”

Despite having his whole body cut by wind blades, and with blood all over his body, Ren’s eyes did not lose its shine. That prideful, and majestic look, even Hyoue who has an absolute advantage can’t help but feel wary of it.

“Hmph…… In that case, let me see how stubborn you can be!”

As he threw down this sentence, and is about to unleash more wind blades------

“Woah!?”

Hyoue gives off a weird cry, he stretches out both his arms to hug his body. Below his arms there seems to be something wriggling, Hyoue places more force in his arms, intending to suppress that thing, but the eerie wriggling instead spreads onto his arms.

Hyoue’s body begin to rampage beyond his own will, his muscles contract vigorously, rise up and down, and eventually burst.

This is what happened the instant Hyoue is surrounded by the purifying winds. A great power cuts off all the powers that Hyoue unleashes outside.

Losing the protection of Ryuya, the demonic powers in Hyoue begin to get out of control, Ren did not give up on this opportunity and runs towards him.

“Ki……Kid…… Wahhhhh!”

As Hyoue tries to release more wind, the berserk condition of his body gets worse. In order to suppress his uncontrollable body, he must use all his powers.

Ren did not slow down, but instead moves at full speed to knock into Hyoue, he uses his arms to go behind Hyoue’s knee and forcefully pull it towards himself.

A fantastic tackle is completed, the two of them becomes entangled and falls down onto the floor. Ren hugs Hyoue tightly, and then tells him softly..

“I won’t miss at this distance.”

“You……You fool! Let me go------“

Forgetting the danger of losing control, Hyoue releases wind blades.

But Ren’s actions were even quicker, he continues to hug the weird jumping body, and shouts as if he wants to lose his voice..

”Burn------!!”

A bright golden pillar of fire rises all the way to the sky, the old man who fell within the darkness, before this purifying flame, his body and tainted soul are completely destroyed.

“----------------------------------------------!!”

Even his dying scream is swallowed by the flame.

The black wind goes beyond Ryuya’s control, because of the blue rapid flow, the berserk spirits get separated from their master’s side, and is absorbed within.

“……Even Ryuya’s wind…… is eaten away……?”

Ayano whispers in shock. To use the term “terrifying power”, is not enough to describe the impact, even though there has been a lot of things beyond logic today, this is the most ridiculous of all.

The winds that return the berserk spirits back to normal, and absorb them to increase its power surrounds Ryuya.

Even so, Ryuya is still not eliminated, he squirts out dark and polluted youki to defend against the purifying winds. Even so he cannot completely negate the force, the surface of his body begins to boil and bubble, his body being shredded, though the rate of the shredding is extremely slow.

(This is almost like the final battle of monsters.)

Having this offending thought in mind, Ayano runs out. She is resisting against these two parties despite her being way below their standards, but she is not helpless, she has the power to disrupt the balance between the two parties, and she knows very well her duty.

.------You will finish him off, can you do it------

“I shall show you------!”

Ryuya jumps backwards with a big motion, intending to escape the fast pace------ not to dodge, his movements is obviously much slower.

Ayano chases after him to strike, Ryuya changes the tip of his arms to become blades in response, the solid blades give off a pale glow. [meat color glow is the actual text… meat color?]

“This kind of thing!”

Ayano swings Enraiha down without a care, she knows that this is clearly the last chance, Kazuma has no spare effort, and if it is blocked again------ they are sure to lose.

A crimson glow draws an arc, it is not stopped for even an instant.

The sliced meat blade melts into the azure air, the Enraiha cuts in from the top of the head, and stops at the chest area. She takes a gamble and does not cut Ryuya into two, but instead injects fire spirits from the cut------and ignites.

Ryuya’s body bounced off, the pieces of meat blown off by the flames gets carried away by the wind, and gets swallowed by the azure light in the end, even traces of its existence gets wiped off.

That is Ryuya------ No, the end of the youma whose name is not even known, that startled the Kannagi clan.

The azure winds spread out slowly, the power of purifying weakens as it spreads in all directions, maybe to continue restoring this youki polluted world!

Watching the wind spirits leave, Ayano gets indulged into the scene.

“Darn, just a few pennies for such hard work, I shall never take on any jobs from the Kannagi again.”

But, a line that doesn’t seem to see the mood spoils everything, she turns back angrily, just to see Kazuma lying on the floor with his limbs all spread out.

Ayano walks next to him, but he did not move at all, it appears he is really drained.

(No matter how strong he is, he is only human.)

After all, he almost single-handedly defeated Ryuya, just one or two rude lines, let’s just forgive him! Ayano generously thinks, and thanks him..

“Great work.”

Kazuma does not reply, but just use his nose to make a “hmph”.

Ayano sits down beside Kazuma.

“Hey, Kazuma?”

She does not expect him to reply, Kazuma shows no response, but Ayano still continues to say..

“If it is you, you can win alone, can’t you?”

“I believe it would be difficult to!”

This time, Kazuma finally gives a response, he uses the eyes that regained its black luster to look at Ayano.

“To make a contract with a spirit lord does not mean that I am capable of everything, even if I have unlimited power, there is only a limit to the amount I can control, and that can never exceed the amount a human can handle.”

”Is that so------? Maybe that is the case! Besides, like the amount of time you need to get ready just now, you would have been attacked within that period?”

“------ Yup, that is right.”

Despite him sounding calm, that instant that he shifted his eyes cannot escape Ayano’s notice.

“Kazuma?”

”What?”

This reply is flawless. But------ It is too late.

Ayano sits right onto Kazuma, and reaches her hands to gain a grip on his neck, as if she is about to strangle him anytime.

Kazuma seems to show no resistance, his hand and legs still spread wide, lying on the floor.

“To push a man down, what a flirt you are. The clan chief is going to cry if he sees this?”

.------ Even though that mouth of his is still the same as always.

“Don’t joke around, now answer me. When were you ready?”

With Ayano’s hands gaining strength by the minute, Kazuma replies without a care..

“About the time when you were hit and flew off?”

“Then why didn’t you use your tricks immediately!?”

Ayano’s hands reactively uses all the strength in her body. Even so, Kazuma still talks like nothing is happening..

“You are wrong to blame me, I was doing it for your own good.”

”Which part of it was good!?”

She is on the brink of explosion, if he does not have a logical explanation, she intends to stab him with Enraiha.

“From the looks of it, if it ends with you not being able to even land a hit, you will be a loser for the rest of your life.”

“Argh……”

This line hit right on, Ayano is unable to say a word at that instant. Indeed------ if she only keeps dodging at that period of time, and leave everything to Kazuma, she may never have the courage to fight ever again. For someone who is unable to overcome her fears, for a Jutsushi who can only fight enemies weaker than her, no matter how strong she is, she cannot be trusted.

“I saw that you seem to finally manage to gather up your courage, so I decided to watch from the side for a bit. Your performance was not bad until half way, if he did not escape at the end, you would most probably have won!”

“Huh? That is to say, that skill worked?”

”Nope------ That was completely useless.”

Kazuma says in a very straightforward manner..

“Because you have Enraiha in your hand, so there is completely no need to do such tricks, or use some lousy techniques. If cutting to four pieces doesn’t kill him, then just cut him until he is annihilated.”

“…… Sorry for being that lousy.”

”That is not what you should be sorry for.”

Kazuma ruthlessly continues to mock her..

“You need to practice more on your swordsmanship, currently there is no point in you having the Enraiha.”

”I know……”

”But, that last strike was brilliant. It skillfully uses the characteristic of Enraiha which is both a sword and a spiritual artifact.”

Hearing the sudden praise, Ayano blushes. She is very happy, she knows clearly the flaws in the personality of this man, realizing that she is being played in his hand makes her feel averse, but the throbbing in her chest cannot be stopped.

“You…… You talk like you are so great. Just what do you know about Enraiha?”

She tries to speak some harsh words to cover her shyness, but it obviously has no effect. Kazuma shows a smile that seems to see through it all, and looks at Ayano.

“Ah ah, and one more thing, it is best not to sit on a man dressed like that.”

“……Huh?”

“Even if you are a little girl that has no chest or femininity, other people may misunderstand!”

After Ayano subconsciously lowers her head to see the way she is now------ She is stunned instantly. Unable to withstand the vigorous battle, her uniform has nowhere that is still intact, all turned to shreds. Even her underwear is torn, almost losing its ability to hide her body.

Seeing Kazuma’s eyes that “seems to see through it all”, Ayano’s face is so red that even her ears are bright red.

“Id……Idiot------------!!”

A scream echoes in the inhabited wilderness.

“------Brother!”

Recognizing that the ones approaching him are Kazuma and Ayano, Ren gives a cry of joy and runs off. But his injured and weak body does not allow him to do so.

“Wah……”

A gust of wind gently lifts Ren whose legs crossed each other and is about to fall. The floating body is then transported into Kazuma’s chest.

Kazuma hugs Ren lightly, and caresses his head. Ren hugs his brother tightly without the intention of letting go.

“You did very well, Ren, you have done a great job.”

”Thank you, brother……?”

Their talk stops suddenly, Ren stretches his hand out to Kazuma’s cheek, there is a very clear red handprint on it.

Faced with a silent question, Kazuma smiles and replies..

“Ah ah, just now, after defeating Ryuya, I met an even more vicious enemy. I almost died there.”

After saying that, he looks in the direction of Ayano for a second. Ayano who is covered by Kazuma’s jacket turns around in anger, ignoring him.

“Huh…… This……”

Ren understands some things, but he has the feeling that if he says it out, his life might be in danger. He desperately searches for anoter topic.

“Ryu……Ryuya has also been defeated? So then everything is finally over!”

He tries his best to show an innocent smile, Ren feels sad at the way he is.

“Yup------ Let us head back! Ayano, is our vehicle still okay?”

“It is burnt.”

Against Ayano who gave an instant reply, Kazuma looks at her “very coldly”.

“It……It wasn’t me! It was blown away by Ryuya’s wind, and when it smashes into the ground it caught on fire.”

Ayano tries to explain, but even so, Kazuma’s eyes are as cold as ever.

Lifting his head to look into the clear moon, Kazuma say only to Ren..

“------Nevermind, taking a stroll in the mountains while looking at the moon is not bad once in a while.”

”If we are not stranded.”

Hearing Kazuma’s words that seem to be avoiding reality, Ayano calmly rebuts.

“Ah ah? Did you say something just now? The root of all evils.”

“What! You were the one who left me, causing all these to happen!”

“…… Both of you, stop arguing.”

Ren uses a tired voice to try to pacify them, but the two of them seems like they did not hear him, and continues to scold each other very energetically.

Looking up at the moon that is like a silver basin, Ren begins to think about the cruelty of life.

Ryuya and Hyoue are both eliminated, the Fuga clan’s ambitions smashed into pieces. Everything was perfectly settled, why must a happy ending still be so far away?

The tongue fight is still continuing, he no longer has any strength to go between them, Ren lies in his brother’s chest, and accepts the intrusion of the sleep demon.

He takes the funny speech between his beloved brother and sister as a lullaby and enjoys it.