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Last Embryo Volume 2 Chapter 5 Part 7

Translator: DarkHeartedAlchemist

『Sun Thousand’s』 top deck has been turned into a chaotic battlefield where giant iron bolts fired rapidly by the members of the 『Six Scars』 continued to clash with Byakko’s claws and Asterios’s battle axe, who continued to knock them down without fail. It was a tough fight where both sides continued to go back and forth without gaining nor losing advantage, and they knew that they couldn’t allow themselves to make even a single mistake as it would inevitably spell their doom. But since 『Six Scars』 had the numbers advantage, Asterios had to think of a way to destroy at least some of the ballistas which were now firing at them if he wanted to put their enemies at a disadvantage and gain a little breathing space for them. Meanwhile, the Spirit Train’s staff was still making preparations to detach the last wagon from the rest in order to increase their speed even if by just a little.

「Those of you who finished reloading the ballistas, raise the flag!」

「Fire all of the spare bolts we have!」

「Just a little bit more before we reach the Ley Line! Where going to make it for sure!」

The beastmen raised spirited shouts to motivate themselves even further, but they were facing an enemy who was so nimble and cunning that they were able to continue evading their attacks so far. If they managed to get inside the train, they will surely manage to tear it apart without breaking a sweat. If that happens, it’s going to be the end of them, so they absolutely cannot allow it.

Suzuka wiped the mixture of raindrops and sweat from her forehead as she continued to think what they should do now.

(This isn’t working for us at all. I thought that under such an intense barrage they were going to stop for at least a moment, but they’re not doing this at all, and when they do, it is always just outside of our range!)

She crossed her hands on her chest with a troubled expression. She didn’t tell Ayato about it, but the truth was that she had a secret move she could use thanks to her Gift. If she were to use it, she would surely be able to turn the tide of the battle in their favor. But the thing is, the enemy is probably already well aware of her effective range, so she can no longer use the simple plan of leaping towards them and coming back.

(So we have reached a dealdolck, huh? I was hoping to keep it for use in the future, but oh well, I guess it cannot be helped anymore! Alright, there we go!)

Abandoning the idea of coming up with any new tactics in favor of continuing the current one, she launched herself forward. Being able to keep up her positive attitude even though the things were not always going the way she wanted them to go has always been one of her best traits. Because even if she would mess up here, it can always become an opening for the others.

The fact that Asterios was having a distinctly hard time fighting multiple opponents at once due to the bad manueverability of his battle axe due to its size also worked in her favor. If only he had a trident or a longsword instead of it, he would have cut through all of them a long time ago.

Byakko bared his hangs in irritation and dug its claws into the air.

「They are doing as they please simply because they have us pinned in place. Bull Monster, you know we have an alternative way of winning here, right? All you would have to do is to kill all of the participants.」

「I know, but that is out of the question. If I do that, everything will remain a mystery.」

And Asterios had to meet with this Saigo Homura at any cost. If he achieved victory without discovering why that man was supposed to be his salvation, it would have been an unsatisfying victory, much the same as having bones stuck in your throat after a delicious meal, and he wasn’t having any of that. While readying his battle axe, he looked at the bolts flying in the sky, wandering if there was really no way for them to dispose of all of them in one go.

「The only saving grace here is that the enemy has exposed its hand to us. It’s obvious now that someone among their ranks has a Teleportation or Transfer Gift, meaning that they can freely transport the bolts fired by the ballistas, but their range should be only around 120 meters at best. However, if we stop in place for even a second while being inside of that range, then our heads will surely fly off our shoulders.」

Since he understood that much, he also realized that they didn’t have enough people with them to execute a proper strategy. If only they had one more strong person with them, then raiding this Spirit train would have been a piece of cake.

「White Tiger, what about that companion of yours? Are they still going to make us wait?!」

「Yes, they have kept us waiting indeed. But do not worry, because it would seem that they have just arrived!」

As he bared his fangs in satisfaction, the stormy winds suddenly changed heir course.

The wind that was blowing from the east in an attempt to stop the Spirit Train from advancing now started blowing from the west. Asterios was surprised by that sudden change, but then he noticed that there was no change to the clouds which made 『The Bull of Heaven』. But nevertheless, just that one thng caused a dramatic change on the battlefield. He also noticed that another person besides them has appeared here.

He saw no one when he tried looking around, but that was because they were above them, high in the sky. But they didn’t simply appeared there. That person spread their arms as far as they could, and when they did, they gathered all of the wind and rain from the entire area, in a spherical shape above their heads.

「Byakko, is that the partner you spoke of? What the hell are they doing?」

Having a bad feeling about this, Asterios knitted his eyebrows. Byakko squinted his eyes so that he could see more clearly, and then immediately raised a distressed voice.

「This is bad! That foolish girl, is she planning to destroy the whole fortress in one go?!」

「What?! H-Hey, wait, what about us?!」

「If I knew she cares about such things as her comrades then my stomach would always be at ease, you know?!」

Was that girl in the sky that much of a pain in the ass to give even a Divine Beast a stomachache? She must have been if his shouts seemed to be filled with worries and anxiety, and yet, even though she must have heard them perfectly, the girl didn’t stop what she was doing. At all. She accumulated enough rain and riverwater to drown the entire area twice over, and gathered so much wind that the space around her began to get distorted, and she just continued to laugh with her own fangs bared as if she was to release all of that catastrophic mass at any moment now.

「Uwaaah!!! We won’t stop her now even if we tried! We need to get away from here right this instant if we don’t want to get caught in it as well!」

Asterios wanted to shout at him to wait, but his pleas were carried away with the wind that surrounded them, leaving him greatly perplexed. His objective was to meet the man called Saigo Homura, not to destroy the Spirit Train of which he was presumably on board. Whoever that girl was, she had to be stopped at all costs, but the only one who could do that was him and his 『Pseudo Divinity: Celestial Beast Thunder』. If he released that attack then that girl would most likely end up getting swallowed as well, but in this situation there was no other option for him to resort to. The problem was how Byakko would end up reacting to that. He still hadn’t shown what he is truly capable of, so there was always a possibility that even with his Divine Arms Asterios would end up being at a severe disadvantage.

(But there’s no other way! Do I really have no other choice?!)

Since they have forced his hand like that, he had no choice but to kill both the girl and Byakko with the lightning that dwelled in his battle axe, but did he really have that much energy to spare to make an enemy out of a Divine Beast, even though he was hiding his true power all this time?

Planning to part ways with Byakko, he planted his feet firmly on his back.

But then it happened. A single flash of brilliant light shot from the Spirit Train’s deck as if it wanted to pierce the skies. A magnificently dazzling arrow that looked like it could easily pierce even an opponent standing a thousand miles away from it made its way through the smallest of gaps in the water and winds gathered above the girl’s head, and sent it flying in the next instant before she was able to do anything to protect herself.

「WHA….?!」

Asterios was literally speechless. That was an attack strong enough to be called a Finishing Move, or maybe even something above and beyond that. In Little garden, there was many techniques allowing th travel through great distances at impossible speeds, but to take the enemy’s head with just a single shot and from such a distance and through the storm created by a Celestial Beast and the protection of all that wind and water, such a marksmanship skill could be called nothing less but divine.

He didn’t know if he should be praising the mysterious archer or fear them as a threat, but nevertheless, Asterios directed his sight towards the train’s deck while trying to control his raising excitement.

A single warrior was standing at 『Sun Thousand’s』 top deck. It was a girl with swaying golden hair that didn’t lose any of their radiant shine even in the middle of this terrible storm, and she was glaring at them with her eyes filled with unrestrained anger.

Casting her mask of Kudou Ayato off and revealing her warrior self to them, 『The Queen’s Knight』, Faceless, bravely challenged the Bull Monster and the Divine Beast.