View source for Ultimate Antihero:Volume 4 Chapter 4

===Part 3===

Vel who was the avatar of <Liber Legis> that was the grimoire of Homura repelled back Gabriel with black barrier, before she sighed.

“I want you to hold out with your own strength while I’m making my preparation. ……I really made a stupid promise.”

“You, really come here……!”

Vel slightly frowned toward Sumika who was expressing her joy fully in her face.

Actually she didn’t plan to come.

That was natural.

Human made Vel’s master, Homura to be isolated.

They made Homura to shoulder a lot of sadness, loss, making use of his good will without shame.

Vel hated human.

She loathed human who made Homura sad.

――Especially, the female who spouted out a joke of standing equal with Homura that she couldn’t even do.

She was thinking so.

However……the girl before her that was drenched in blood, showed how she made reality the thoughtless words that Vel thought as a joke.

Although their spirit status had fell, she showed how she defeated an <Archangel>.

And then Sumika showed.




――I’m thinking. It’s fine if I just reach Homura-sans side.




That day, the promise she exchanged with Homura wasn’t merely a joke or pipe dream.

Then,

“But although it is a stupid promise, a promise is a promise. Although I’m a Great Old One, but because I’m a god I protect my promise.”

Let’s make sure of it.

The promise of this girl with Homura. The conclusion of it.

She wasn’t even told to by anyone to do this. She wasn’t even won over by Sumika’s pledge.

This was solely because of her own will.

After all――




――Fine then. Just try it if you can.




Because that was the first time she saw Homura that happy since the time he was in <Book Burning Squad>.

“Hoshikawa Sumika. I’ll recognize you as my master.”

Instantly, Vel’s body emitted light and transformed into scattered pieces of paper.

The pieces of paper danced in the wind, then while whirling around Sumika who lost her arms,

“……-!”

A sheet, then one more sheet, were absorbed into Sumika’s body.

(a――)

Each time Sumika felt a sensation of being filled with magic power that wasn’t her inside her body.

Before long, that change also began to appear in the girl’s external appearance.

Her golden hair that was tinged with light transformed silver.

Her white eyeball became jet black that absorbed light, her blue pupil changed color into golden inside that jet black color like a moon that was shining in the night sky.

Sumika’s cut off arms were also finished regenerating with the process of that change.

Her fallen arms floated up as if time was being rewound, fastened themselves at the cut flesh, , then the pieces of paper of <Liber Legis> clung at the cut line as if to cover over it and healed that wound.

She returned to her previous condition without any change at all.

“This, is……”

{<Half God Transformation>. Your and my bodies are fused temporarily. The magic power and the magic power vein too are using mine and yours at the same time, so a wound of that level can be healed immediately.}

“Amazing……! Is this the secret of Homura-san’s strength?”

Looking at the powerful magic power of god that was surging out from inside her body, Sumika asked Vel who was directly speaking into her brain.

Vel displayed a blunt irritation at that question.

{Great fail. Master doesn’t need something like my power. If we do something like fusion then I will be the one dragging Master down and make him weaker instead. But this is just right for someone who is weak like you from the start as a training wheel.}

Her slightly sulky voice was surely because she was thinking that Sumika was making fun of Homura.

His strength until the end was his own true strength.

Vel gave that cynical reminder to Sumika.

“A, ahaha, thank you for your consideration……”

Even while making a wry smile to that cynic of Vel, Sumika thought.

Although Vel was the avatar of that Great Old One, just as she thought this girl was thinking of Homura dearly.

Yes. Just like her.

Then, ――they should be able to work together well.

With that conviction in her heart, Sumika once again aimed her gun muzzle at the enemy before her eyes.

In contrast,

“<The Crawling Chaos>. You, shouldn’t you not giving any assistance to human?’

Repelled by the <Elder Sign>, Gabriel who was falling back a little showed a definite disgust on his face that was without eyes and mouth toward Vel’s intervention.

To this, Vel replied with words, not through Sumika’s mouth but by vibrating the air with magic power.

{That is something that a different [I] said. I don’t remember saying anything like that. After all [We] are by no means moving under a single unifying thought without exception.}

“……Well fine. In any case I have no intention of letting an existence associated with the Great Old One to remain in the kingdom of god. Right now in this place, you will perish together with this failure of <Evil God User> by this Gabriel’s hand.”

After saying that as if spitting out, Gabriel’s body deeply sunk, he raised his wings high.

It wasn’t the stance that looked unmoving in a glance until now.

Although the enemy was just a single body amongst the million avatars, it was still an existence of <The Outer GODS> with spirit status higher than even <Archangel>.

Gabriel too had no intention of fighting like a cuddling with playful children like what he had done this far.

Against the hostility of this <Archangel>,

{What a coincidence. ――I too, don’t have any intention of letting all of you who killed Master to live.}

Bring it on. Inside Sumika’s mind, Vel’s beautiful look that was like a doll,

{Prepare yourself. You won’t have an easy death.}

As if drawing a red of blood color made from boiling down every kind of sadistic emotions, Vel made an extremely gruesome scornful laugh that made one felt repulsive.

“HAA-!”

Right after that, Gabriel kicked the ground in the form that bought Vel’s provocation and swung his arm blade at Sumika.

Even following that movement was beyond the power of human body’s spec, a six slash from left and right in different dimension.

But, Sumika stepped to left and right through this six brutal blades and dodged safely.

(I can see it……! The movement of Gabriel that I couldn’t see at all just now!)

Sumika’s flesh that had gone through <Half God Transformation> was also wasn’t something human anymore.

Therefore she could follow the offense and defense in this dimension.

{Sumika is above even me if it’s about battle experience. I will entrust the body’s leadership to you, so fight just like what you have done until now. I will devote myself to support.}

“I understand!”

Sumika had made her move faster than even her answer.

So that the surface wouldn’t get swallowed by their battle’s destruction, she activated her <Air Raid> and soared to the sky.

At the same time the revolvers she held in her hands rubbed together like striking a flint, the magazines slide away.

After that,

“<Quick Draw>!”

By using the Hero Skill that possessed the divine protection of instantaneous hit, three <Hi Hi’iro no Kane> each in the left and right returned the favor of the six slashes.

Not a single shot among them missed and impacted Gabriel’s body. The bullets carved gunshot wound,

“Nuh, NUaAAA!?”

At the same time Gabriel leaked out pained cry that he had never done until now.

“This is……!”

When he looked, it was as if acid was exposed to the gunshot wound, The gray silver body of Gabriel changed color to black and was being dissolved muddily.

Giving a glance at that phenomenon, Sumika who possessed abundant knowledge in regard of the abyss understood.

“Poison of Gla’aki……!”

{Correct. The poison of Gla’aki dirtied the soul. It’s immediately effective against angel with high spirit status.}

Yes. Vel enchanted the poison of Gla’aki inside the <Hi Hi’iro no Kane> bullet that Sumika fired.

The poison of the divinity called Gla’aki degraded the living into an undead without any will, it was an evil deadly poison that blasphemed life.

It would cause strong reaction against the virtuous soul of <Archangel> just by a touch on the skin.

But,

“Don’t think that Gabriel will fall to something of this level……!”

Gabriel held down the intense pain scorching his body with willpower.

And then radiance surged out from his face that was like a sphere,

“<Megiddo Flame>-!”

<Megiddo Flame> focused until it became white aurora was unleashed at Sumika who was running to the sky.

That radiance couldn’t be compared in thickness against the one Raphael had.

If she was swallowed by that, she wouldn’t stay whole even with her <Half God> state.

Therefore Sumika immediately attempted to evade with <Air Raid>, but――

{It’s fine to not escape.}

“-!?”

Instantly, Vel who stole the leadership of the body from Sumika held back her movement.

As the result, Sumika didn’t move into dodging maneuver and received the scorching heat of the aurora that fully filled her field of vision.

Great flower of light and flame bloomed at the sky in the same time with the impact.

The white aurora together with the gushing out wind blast filled the whole area of Tokyo life sphere with radiance where the people couldn’t even recognize color.

Inside that radiance,

“KAAAaAAA-!!!!”

Gabriel moved.

The blade of his left arm changed shape into something like a thin knight lance.

He saw it.

The instant Sumika was swallowed by the flash, Vel who possessed Sumika deployed the black barrier that blocked his slash before.

The enemy was still alive inside this light.

Together with that conviction, Gabriel thrust his arm that had changed into a knight lance and soared the sky.

The heart was gouged inside the radiance.

“Kuah!”

At the same time with the scream, a feedback returned, the sensation of flesh being pierce wetly.

Before long the light was gone and the scenery returned to before,

“Leader-!”

“Missy-!?”

Even in the eyes of Sumika’s comrades who looked up at the two rising to the sky, the scene of Gabriel’s spear piercing through Sumika’s chest was reflected.

And then the scene of Sumika who was pierced became muddy iridescent color and spilling down from the spear like a melting mud was also reflected.

“Teke   lili! Teke   lili!”

“This is, ……<Shogoth>!”

Gabriel clicked his tongue at the mocking voice.

Looking at the sky that lost its light, there were more than thirty Sumika floating around him.

They were <Shogoth> that was transformed as disturbance.

{Do you know which is the real one?}

{You insolent-!}

Vel’s question that was filled with a lot of sarcasm was responded by Gabriel with cutting tone like a blade.

“I just need to pierce them all!”

And then against the similar clones deploying in the sky.

Gabriel was skewering one after another the clones with spear handling that was like flash.

In the blink of eye their heart and head were gouged, the <Shogoths> became mud and fell to the ground.

In the first place they were just clones made of underling species, there was no way they could make any considerable opposition.

“With this, it’s the end!”

Finally the last one, ――so to speak the real Sumika’s forehead was also pierced by the grey sliver spear.

At the same time,

{The answer is, ――all miss.}

“――!?”

The last one was also became muddy iridescent mud and crumbled down.

And then,




Open from the outer space     o the person judging the boundary of phenomenon




Gabriel heard that spell from behind him.

When he turned around in panic, Sumika whose shoulder had a hole gouged there with blood trickling was entering the shooting posture for <Grim Bullet>.

Yes. After the girl got pierced at the very first turn, she transformed into <Shogoth> and took Gabriel’s back.

Gabriel also noticed that trick now, but the time was already too――




“Come from the interstice of dark and heaven! <The Person who Tear Away the Wall>――Daoloth!!”




Gabriel’s chest was pierced by the strength of Great Old One that exiled Raphael to beyond space-time.

“Nu, o, ooOoOO, o, o, o   oOO!?!?”

Wrung and wrung, like a thick rubber string forcefully being twisted before raising an unpleasant sound, the hole opened on his chest was sucking Gabriel’s body like a vortex.

Gabriel couldn’t give a satisfactory opposition just like where Raphael was having this done to him, he was being swallowed into the other side of the veil,

“   tsu,      o――――”

Finally his figure vanished from in front of Sumika.

Nowhere in this universe, the empty space where no space, no time, no concept, nothing existed at all.

Gabriel was dragged into the territory of Daoloth.

That was, what supposed to happen.

But,




――Do you know the meaning of the name Gabriel? ――




“Ka, -……!?”

Right after such question shook the atmosphere, Sumika felt the sensation of her stomach pierced by sharp impact.




When she looked, gray silver spear was piercing her navel as if to excavate it.

Sumika drew back in panic to pull the spear out and opened her eyes wide in shock.

Because the spear was extending out from a black hole that was trying to swallow and isolate everything.

Before long, not only the spear, but an arm sword also thrust out from that hole.

And then those two things wrenched open the cramped hole with brute force while,

“It means god is my strength……-!”

The hole was torn off to left and right.

The grey silver angel Gabriel possessed peerless physical strength entrusted to him along with that name from god, he returned back from the territory of Daoloth by sheer strength.

Sumika who didn’t think that <Grim Bullet> could possibly be defeated lost all her thought power for an instant.

Gabriel didn’t miss that agitation of Sumika.

Flapping his wings with feathers that were like blade, he thrust his spear at Sumika once again.

{Sumika-!}

“――!”

Vel’s voice somehow made Sumika returned to her senses and she continued to evade Gabriel’s thrusts left and right while,

Firing her <Quick Draw> in a counterattack,

All bullets impacted the head of Gabriel who became defenseless from moving to offense.

On top of that the magic bullets that were tinged with divine poison of Gla’aki blown away Gabriel’s head.

However――

(He’s not stopping-!)

Even with his head lost, Gabriel still charged straight at Sumika and his arm sword flashed horizontally to bisect her.

{<Radiant Trapezohedron>}

But the swung blade was repelled with scattered sparks.

It was because Vel deployed a barrier that was like a black diamond around Sumika.

“Yo, you saved me……!”

{Not even that. A slash can be stopped but, a spear with its power concentrate in one point is――}

Unblockable.

The moment Vel informed her with voice that was oozing frustration, Gabriel traced the worst scenario.

“It’s the end with this. O detestable god……-!”

Even with his head lost, Gabriel announced that with his usual tone and stabbed his spear.

The gray silver spear easily pierced the <Radiant Trapezohedron> and ran at Sumika’s heart.

There was no time to evade anumore.

――That was why, Sumika resolved herself and closed her eyelids.

“――――!?”

Instantly, Gabriel’s thrust lost its mark and stabbed empty air.

That was natural.

Because Sumika was separated from Gabriel for a hundred meter.

She moved within an instant.

No.

The girl [vanished] and [appeared].

She disassembled her own existence into imaginary unit for once and then she reconstructed her own existence at the designated coordinate using quantum teleport.

{The grand sorcery that combined dimension element and time element fifth rank――<Teleport>. I never thought that a human other than Master that can use that exist. I should say, as expected. If you are not a magician that can at least use that, then there is no worth for me in doing this.}

The sorcery of Homura that she witnessed only once at the battle with Jambure.

Vel sent a praise at the genius sense of Sumika who showed how she reproduced that only by watching.

Although the way she said that was a little dishonest, Vel who was joined with Sumika communicated her praise whose talent filled her heart with admiration.

To that Sumika was,

“Thank you……. But I cannot do that for the second time……”

She returned a wry smile while bleeding from the corner of her eye.

Fifth rank sorcery that was the pinnacle of sorcery for mankind, furthermore combining two sorceries of that fifth rank, was originally a grand sorcery that couldn’t be used by anyone other than an <Ultimate One> like Homura, yet Sumika used it without any rehearsal at all. Although her body was going through <Half God Transformation>, the reparation exacted from her was great, just using that sorcery once burdened Sumika so much that it felt like a part of her brain had melted.

And then――

“You don’t know when to give up. Resign yourself already. With the power of Great Old One that isn’t even completely summoned, this Gabriel won’t be defeated-!”

Gabriel who grew new head in the blink of eye mercilessly gave chase at Sumika who was in the brink of being worn out.

In comparison Sumika didn’t have any more card she could play.

Although Gla’aki’s poison inflicted intense pain temporarily, it wouldn’t affect Gabriel’s life.

Even her trump card the <Grim Bullet> didn’t work, on top of that she didn’t know what she should do.

But even so,

“……”

Sumika readied her gun.

Exactly as Gabriel said, certainly this might be nothing more than vain struggle.

However,

She knew of the miracle that visited at any time those who continued to struggle unsightly, not giving up in the middle of despair.

And then――, it was exactly at the next moment that it happened.




ia   ia   hasutaa

hasutaa   kufuayaku……burugutomu




“ “-…………!?” “

Voice. Several tens of million roaring chorus from the bottom of earth shook the sky, reaching the ear of Sumika and Gabriel.

Because both of them knew the meaning of those words of underworld, the both stopped all their movement altogether and directed their gaze at the direction of the voice, ――underneath Tokyo life sphere below them.

And then,

(Thi, this is……-!)

Sumika noticed.

Tokyo life sphere below.

Nine defensive wall extending to the sky making the shape of the letter ‘V’.

Vel murmured in relieve toward that sight.

{Just in time.}

She said.