High School Hack and Slash Chapter 136 Part 2
―― the peripheral world 『BIBLIOTHECA』, the glazed myth 『＊＊＊＊』――
――『Poem of Champion Reaching the Realm of God』, 『North Wind Gate』 domain ――
「I don’t understand what you’re talking about~!」
「Like I’m telling you, please be on guard. This place is already, inside enemy territory (raid)!」
On the South Wind Gate stage a short distance away, a kigurumi-clad girl with her hands flailing about was tilting her neck.
Shizuka was holding her forehead as she was attracting attention, but she believed what she had said should have gotten through to the other Black Honey members she had come acquainted with.
Four stages had emerged on the arena battlefield.
On each of the『North Wind Gate (Boreas)』, 『South Wind Gate (Notus)』, 『East Wind Gate (Eurus)』, and『West Wind Gate (Zephyrus)』 stages, the chosen members of the clubs that had won through the first day of the main tournament were present.
They were those boasting the greatest prowess amongst the regular department, whose clubs had been set to be ranked『B』 or higher.
Some looked disinterested, while some others watched over them with a grin on their faces as a sideshow to kill time.
No one gave an ear to what was said by the Adept Orders, a puny club of unknown name.
It was even drowned out by the academy song that was being played in the arena in a barefaced manner.
「What’s going to happen, you ask? I don’t know such a thing, either. But at any rate, it seems to be bad. Just be sure to get your resolution and preparation in order… Huh, you get it so you want me to get you an autograph? I don’t mind, but whose autograph is it?」
Otoha was calling out to an acquaintance of the same gender who was similarly on the North Wind Gate stage.
Thanks to her mysterious cheap promise, she was crowded by other female players as well.
「Hey. You woman over there exposing an idiotic face. I’m talking about you.」
「Huh? By any chance, are you talking about me? The heck are you? Rather, drop dead.」
「Kuhahaha. Just nice. I don’t hate a girl with strong fighting spirit.」
Mai scoffed as she glared back at the boy who called out to her.
Regardless of whether it was an upperclassman or their next opponent, she had no intention of being afraid of them.
The large sword carried on his back, the long sword strapped at his waist, and the rugged gauntlets were all high-ranking magic items from the dungeon.
「Where are the boy members from your side? Even though I was looking forward to it here. They’re not the kind of guys who would get cold feet and run away, are they?」
「I’d like to know that myself. Rather, sorry to say, but you see, we no longer have time to deal with you guys.」
Mai, shrugging her shoulders, single-handedly dismissed the boy.
Even without Seiichi around, she had made up her mind to fight for him.
「Err, Code : Touma-kun Causing Trouble, there… The expected intensity of the trouble is『Unconquerable (Ultimate)』 class. As for the countermeasure method, let’s go with no holds barred (vale tudo).」
Mikan touched herself all over the place as if she were giving a baseball block sign.
It was an emergency communication through『Guild』 linkage, one of the basic skills of『Craftsman』.
Seemingly to have succeeded in deciphering the code, she could see a group of people in the audience seats beginning to get flustered in panic.
And then, a female student walked up to Saki, who was standing there quietly with her eyes closed.
「It’s been a while, hasn’t it? … I’ve been waiting for this day all this time.」
「…..」
「I’m going to take the liberty to pay you back for that one time. I’m not going to make lame excuses such as that I let my guard down, but today, I’m going to go for the kill with all of my might from the beginning… Huh, say? Hey, are you listening to me?」
A katana at her waist, the armor she wore was Japanese style.
Sporting a style identical to that of Saki, she was a holder of a class of the『Samurai』 branching, which was a higher derivative of the Fighter class.
One of the inhuman figures who had reached the fourth step, where they would earn a seat among the regular members of the current『A』 ranked club『Tenjou Tenge (World’s Mine)』.
Such her was also the one who faced Saki in the final match of the『class-based test of skill competition』 held during the school festival.
「Don’t tell me, you’re not giving up on us from the start, are you? It’s true that this time it’s a team fight. And there is no way that there is a force other than you that can stand against Tenjou Tenge (us).」
「…..」
「But rest assured. I won’t let anyone else lay a hand on our fight. Let us cut each other to our heart’s content.」
The proposal was an act of pure goodwill.
It was something delightful for the two, akin to asking the lover whom she shared mutual love with out on a date.
The kindred spirit she had finally found.
She was convinced that she was the one with whom she could share the blissful moment between life and death, a moment that would render them white as a sheet.
And then, that was by no means incorrect.
If it were any other time, she would have accepted it with great delight.
If only it was not now, at this moment.
As she was caught in insecurity, wondering if by any chance she had forgotten about her for real, or if she was sleeping while standing, she gasped.
As Saki’s closed eye lids were opened, she was overawed by the serenity of the eyes that were turned toward her.
It was neither killing intent nor madness.
An endlessly deep, intense will was dwelling in those clear, lake-like eyes.
「… Fufufu. I guess so. You are the same as me. Yes, it’s fine as long as those who understand you understand. There’s no need to bother with the worldly folks, let’s just enjoy our fight.」
「I was, of the same opinion, too.」
Saki muttered quietly.
「I, who have become a foreign object that goes against reasons, should just do is what I have to do, I thought.」
The world did not tolerate absurdity.
A compelling force that corrected the unnatural, something that must never be possible, had been put into effect.
That was the defensive instinct of the world itself.
It denied changes, and tried to keep things as it should be.
It was a corrective force that worked on events, memories, and everything else.
「But, that was a mistake.」
No matter how much of it had spilled over and fallen, no matter how few drops remained on the tips of her desperately outstretched fingers.
The remnants of the wish were within that hand of hers.
Therefore, she was not alone.
「I, will become a blade, for everyone to wield.」
「Wait a minute. What have you been saying for a while now…?!」
*Ka-clink* As Saki unlocked the scabbard mouth of her koshigatana, she, too, braced herself and put her hand on the hilt of her own katana.
She never expected that she would be so free-spirited that she would initiate a sword fight right there, but if she challenged her to a fight, she was ready to respond in kind.
「It’s coming.」
「!!!」
It poured down from the sky like a squall.
It was neither rainwater nor blazing sunshine, but a surge of pressure that was threatening to drag them down to the bottom of the earth.
The shape of the stage, which had begun to vibrate, collapsed and began to get knitted anew.
―― Please tell us of the glory of that man, O Muse. The one who overcame myriads of trials and tribulations, that man…. ――
A terribly grating whisper was delivered to all the students in the arena.
「W, what the…?」
「!, oioi.」
As the stages of『North Wind Gate (Boreas)』, 『South Wind Gate (Notus)』, 『East Wind Gate (Eurus)』, and『West Wind Gate (Zephyrus)』 fused together, the entire field turned into a single stage.
The duel committee members who had been dispatched to manage the tournament from the underground side arena were in a state of panic.
Since early this morning, they had already been denied access to most of the arena’s functions.
The abnormal situation had also been reported to the academy, but no instructions had been issued at all, effectively handing off the problem into their hands.
Once the stage was done raising an earth tremor as it got put together, the cloud of dust began to clear up.
Most of the players on the stage staggered and fell, and only a handful of them were able to stand on their own feet.
「Cough… W, what in the world happened?」
One of them, she, a holder of the『Taishogun (Great General)』 class from Tenjou Tenge, looked around the stage.
The one standing imposingly next to her was her arch-rival, a girl with her shiny white tachi unsheathed.
The one that girl was facing was not herself.
The『Heavenly Sky Gate (Anemoi)』 stage.
In the center of that stage, something huge had appeared, piercing the heavens.
「Ah… A, aah….」
The mere fact that it was huge gave off an instinctive sense of intimidation and awe.
The billowing white smoke that cloaked the area was swirling around the condensed mass.
Gigantic body over three meters tall.
Muscles that looked as if they had been roughly carved out of a block of iron and twisted together.
Even if the intimidating pressure emanating from the tanned, scorching physique alone were to cause the breathing and heart of low-ranked people to stop, there was nothing strange in it.
The overwhelming air of violence was『despair』 in and of itself.
A champion wearing a skull as a helmet, clad in a lion’s pelt, and holding a huge club in his hand had manifested.
「Gah, a, aa… aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!」
―― Program 『The Poem of Champion Reaching the Realm of God (Hercules Quest)』――
―― Advent『The Glory of the Goddess (Hercules)』 ――
RELEASE RATE
High School Hack and Slash
Speed up schedule by 10 hours
Current schedule: Every 70 hours
Tftc