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Nanana’s Buried Treasure Volume 8 Chapter 4.5

「Stand up!」

And then I hit him with another heavy swing. The pitch black humanoid took all of the attack, his neck twisted in an odd direction. He collapsed to the floor, his body spasming for a while. He soon stopped moving, turned into a black mist, and disappeared.

My heart was pounding in the confusion of the sudden emergency situation. Why did that humanoid suddenly attack me? Was he trying to stop me from getting the <<sword of Nanana>>? No, that guy from before was also being attacked, right?

It was at that moment that I saw an explosion of light behind me. Immediately afterwards, I heard the strange screams of the humanoid. It seems that Ikusaba-san was also being attacked.

「Are you just attacking people at random? Dammit, what’s really going on here?!?」

My head is getting confused with all the problems that keep coming up. There’s no reason to stick around here though, I have to head to the great hall before Ikusaba-san catches up with me. I climbed the first staircase I saw and just ran.

The Nanaejima General Security suddenly intervened, and the pitch black humanoids started attacking indiscriminately. Before I knew it, things were becoming more and more confusing. But in any case, what I need to do now is to run away from Ikusaba-san and wait for Tetsu-kun to catch up. The most reliable way to meet up with him would be to be near the Great Hall. I’ll hide somewhere…

「!」

Sensing a presence from behind, I quickly jumped to the side. An arrow of light passed by the spot where I had been moments ago. I turned around to see Ikusba-san at the bottom of the stairs, holding the <<bow of light>>.

「He’s already caught up with me!」

I thrust my hand into my pocket and threw away the remaining smoke bomb in one motion. It was meant to be a blinding attack, but an arrow of light went flying through the smoke. It didn’t even stop him. I clicked my tongue and ran into the corridor.

「This place!」

It was a familiar hallway. It was the same hallway I had passed through when traveling during the second stage. I was happy for a moment, but my expression quickly turned serious.

The hallway here is wide, so the visibility is good, making me a very easy target for Ikusaba-san who was chasing after me. So should I barricade myself in a nearby room? No, if the exit is blocked, I’ll be cornered and finished. So I have no choice but to keep going.

With that decision, he ran off. If he wanted to barricade himself inside, his only option was the large hall just before the waiting room where M was. There were still things there from the second stage, so there was no shortage of cover. He could buy some time, and think of a counterattack.

「!」

Sensing a presence, I jump to the side. Sure enough, an arrow of light comes flying towards me.

「Dammit!」

I run past it in a zigzag pattern and finally come into view of the entrance to the grand hall.

The door is wide open, I need to run inside! That’s what I was thinking, but just then a pitch black humanoid came out from behind the wall. He turned his blank face towards me, let out a strange ‘kishaaa!’ noise, and charged towards me.

「Out of the way!」

As he runs, he swings the <<sword of Nanana>> he was carrying on his back and hits the humanoid’s jaw from below. He glances at the humanoid and sees him thrown back from the hit to the face as he tumbles into the great hall. He closes the door immediately.

「Whew, now I just need to buy some times until Tetsu-kun arrives…」

Just as I was trying to think of a way to kill time, my thoughts came to a halt. It’s because the inside of the large hall had become a completely unbelievable sight. No matter where I looked, there were humanoids everywhere. There were probably about fifty or sixty of them. But the real concern was the people surrounded by those humanoids.

The first thing that caught my eye were two older women wearing short shrine maiden robes. They held naginata in their hands and were slicing down the attacking humanoids. Of course, I’d never seen these two before. The problem was that both of them seemed to be humanoid animals. They had ears and tails, like animals… maybe foxes or dogs?

Actually, the shrine maiden outfit is so sexy, it’s like a miniskirt. Being protected by these two is the blonde yankee (TN: Japanese style of punk, kind of) Taisei Amagi. Taisei also seems to have procured a weapon from somewhere, and is beating the humanoids to death with a metal bat.

There was also another person wielding a sword. It was the gentleman thief Neidhart D. Polnareff. With his superb swordplay, he was efficiently taking down the humanoids.

The four of them were in fierce fights in the atrium on the second floor of the great hall. The humanoids swarming there were falling one by one and dispersing into black mist, but the onslaught of the endless humanoids continued unabated. It was an unbelievable scene.

However, in the midst of all this, I found myself staring at one particular thing and unable to move.

In the atrium on the second floor, I noticed a person wearing a cloak standing behind the humanoids, bringing them out one after another. I noticed who this person was, in this place that was not the designated location, and staring right in my direction.

「….Why? Why is M is here?」

At that moment, there was an explosion and the door behind us was blown open. The one who did it was, of course, Hiiyo Ikusaba, who had followed me. Ikusba-san’s eyes widened when he saw M there, just like me.

**********************************

Standing in the atrium on the second floor of the great hall, M (or actually <<god>> in control of Saki Yoshino’s body) looks down at Juugo Yama who has just entered the great hall. She stares at the sword in his hand. It is the <<sword of Nanana>>, the prize for winning this <<game>>.

He then understands that Tetsunoshin Tsujimi has failed. This means that just like the previous <<game>>, this one has also ended in failure. This has caused a significant imbalance between the Nanana collection in circulation and the Nanana collection that he owns. However, <<god>> is not pessimistic. She simply calmly analyzes the situation before her and decides what action to take next.

So let me start by saying, 「The one bearing the <<sword of Nanana>> has appeared before me, and the winner has been decided.」

「Wh.. wait a minute…」

「The winner of this game is Yama Juugo.」

The declaration has been made. For some reason, Juugo Yama, who has won, seems shaken for some reason. Of course that’s no concern of mine. In any case, it’s not wise to stay here any longer. There are people who are targeting me. Also, I’m worried about the strange things happening outside. Therefore, it will be necessary to withdraw quickly.

So, to start with, cough cough cough.

She was choking on the blood welling up from Yun. He spat it out. She clutched her right chest, where there was an intense pain.

「Yun-chan?」

Everyone present stopped moving for a moment. M was suddenly vomiting blood. A large amount of it began to flow from the right side of her chest. The blood soaked into her clothes and dripped onto the floor. She wasn’t attacked though.

Simply put, <<god>> has terminated his contract with Saki Yoshino.

Slowly, wounds began to appear on Saki Yoshino’s body, which had been intact until then. No, things that had never existed were simply beginning to appear slowly. I still have a little time before I’m completely back to normal. This body should last me long enough to complete its final role.

‘Hmmm, what a waste. Negakana is surprisingly stupid.’

Suddenly, <<god>> remembered Ryuugajou Nanana’s words, along with the words that followed.

However, <<god>> does not change her decision. Therefore, she first concentrated his consciousness and summoned as many pitch black humanoids as she could from the <<stardust army command cloak>> she was wearing.

Then she turns her back to Taisei, his shikigami, Haruto, and the others who are fighting the rampaging humanoids, and starts walking.

5

「…Hey, where are you going, M? Yun-chan! What’s that?」

In the atrium on the second floor, M suddenly began bleeding and dragged herself out the nearest door. I lose sight of her and remain stunned. Unlike what was originally planned, for some reason M was in the main hall, which made him an unexpected winner… No, he became a winner that should never have happened. There was no joy. All I felt was despair.

I wasn’t the only one who reacted to M‘s retreat.

「Taisei!」

「I know! Let’s go after her, Naata and Onku!」