Ryuu Kusari no Ori -Kokoro no Uchi no 'Kokoro'-

Volume 4 Chapter 6.3

Into the Depths of the Pit Part 3

Translator : PolterGlast

Leaving the demonic beasts approaching from behind to their companions, Nozomu, Irisdina, and Feo continued to push forward through the intricate network of waterways beneath Arcazam.

He was not worried about being caught off guard. But Nozomu frowned at the strange feeling that welled up in his chest.

Something is wrong. As if in tune with his uneasiness, Irisdina, running next to him, opened her mouth.

"Say, Nozomu. Don't you think something is not right?"

"......About what?"

"Ken Nortice's recent behavior. He had been behaving almost perfectly for several years before and since he framed you. And yet......."

Irisdina nodded silently as she replied.

"Yeah. I hate to say this, but he could have handled it better."

In fact, when Nozomu confronted him, Ken said that his rumors had been established as fact.

Basically, people rarely change the impression of someone once made. Unless something extraordinary happens, a person's impression becomes fixed and consistent.

Nozomu's isolation at the school was due to two factors: his low competence and the bad reputation of being a cheater. And only one of them could be completely overturned. As long as the other remains, third parties will always have doubts.

In other words, Ken should not normally be in a state of urgency just yet.

And yet, he made his move. In a way that was so unusual and discomfiting, an attempted murder.

The impatience that his superiority was about to collapse, the jealousy that had been building up over the years, and the fact that he had not been accepted by Lisa. Maybe it's the result of all of these things piling up......

"......In any case, we don't have the answer right now. Let's prioritize catching Ken first."

"I concur. And since they are kidnapping Lisa-kun, ...... there would be a possibility that she could be taken as a hostage."

After shaking off the uncomfortable feeling that stuck in their heads, they hurried onward.

Then they arrived at a huge cylindrical space.

It was a reservoir designed to prevent the sewage flowing from various parts of the city from overflowing.

On all sides were channels through which water flowed from the various districts of the city, and the entire floor was covered with blocks with several small holes drilled in them. The sound of water streaming down came from underneath the blocks.

There were two shadows in the center of the reservoir. They were Ken and Lisa, the ones Nozomu has been pursuing.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!? Why did you take Lisa out and let that monster get close to her!?"

[It can't be helped, can it~? We had to stall for time to escape from this city~~]

Ken and Mefi were arguing. Apparently, taking Lisa to hunt down Nozomu had angered Ken. It was also confirmed that they were trying to flee outside the city with Lisa. Considering that they were using Caskell, their destination would be the Empire.

As Nozomu and the others entered the reservoir, Ken noticed the presence of his pursuers.

"You guys......."

"Ken. Let Lisa go."

"Shut up!"

Without giving it a second thought, Ken fired his magic at the three pursuers. [Intermediate Magic ・ Icicle Dance]. A magic that launches multiple ice spears to skewer one's opponents. More than ten icicles attacked Nozomu and the others.

"Fu~!"

"Whoa!"

"Nozomu, sideways!"

Reflexively, the three jumped back. However, as Nozomu escaped from the icicle's trajectory, another shadow attacked him from the side. Two hooded shadows. In the darkness of the dimly lit reservoir, a silver flash of murderous intent flashes through the air.

"Manipulated Starlights-...... No, intruders from outside the city, huh!?"

The ones who launched the surprise attack were the same people who had attacked Nozomu and Camilla in the central park. They were from outside the city and had disguised their identities as Starlights. Nozomu quickly pulled out the [Mumei] from his waist and deflected the oncoming slashes.

The impact caused the two sides' distance to widen slightly. The intruders rushed to close the gap again as soon as they land.

"Now, now, intruders should get out of the way."

At that moment, Feo intervened. The magic thunderbolt blasted one of the shadows, followed by the staff that blocked the other's attack.

"Leave these guys to me. You two take care of that idiot."

"I'm counting on you!"

After relying on Feo to take care of the two manipulated intruders, Nozomu and Irisdina rushed toward Ken and the others.

Ken, with a look of frustration on his face, drew his long sword, and Lisa, with a blank expression on her face, drew her dual sabers.

Nozomu's katana and Ken's long sword clashed, scattering sparks.

Next to them, Irisdina and Lisa were clashing their weapons in the same way.

"Ken, let Lisa go!"

"I won't let her go. Lisa is mine!"

"She belongs to herself! Nobody else's!"

Ken no longer talked about protecting Lisa, but revealed his own selfish desires. Seeing him like this, Nozomu looked at him with a face that bore a hint of pity.

"In the end, neither you nor I could support Lisa. We both gave up our right to do so."

"No, I-......!"

Their gazes clashed. While Ken's eyes were shaken with frustration, Nozomu's eyes were calm and brimming with the light of unwavering will.

One who realized his own escapism, accepted it, and tried to become stronger. Meanwhile, on the other side, someone who kept turning away from his own mistakes. The difference in the way they faced their own mistakes. The [difference in mentality] was clearly visible.

"That's why, I'm going to end this......!"

Intimidated by Nozomu's fighting spirit, Ken was involuntarily flinched. At that moment, Nozomu, while his katana was still interlocked with Ken's long sword, pulled one of his legs back and spun his body around in a half-turn. With Nozomu's body drifting to the side, Ken's body naturally slumped forward due to the loss of support, exposing a fatal opening.

"Fu~!"

A follow-up slash was unleashed. In an instant, the Qi-blade severed Ken's long sword in two.

Ken gritted his teeth as his weapon was shattered. Then, Mefi's scream was heard.

[Uwa!]

"Mefi!?"

When Ken turned his attention to his partner, he saw that Mefi was blown away by Irisdina's magic.

[This b*tch......!]

Irisdina's magic bullets and high-speed slashes were one-sidedly driving Mefi into a corner.

Mefi was also manipulating Lisa's body to overcome the onslaught, but her movements were somewhat sluggish, and it was hard to believe that she was even able to manipulate such an amazing existence as one of the [Six Bad Omens].

"I see now. It seems that you and Lisa are incompatible. Her movements are too sloppy."

Mefi had been assimilating and manipulating Lisa's body, but her compatibility was far from optimal.

Lisa's forte was the flame attribute. On the other hand, Mefi was a water-based spirit. Not only their original affinity was incompatible, but combined with the fact that she was forcibly suppressing Lisa's memories and will, she did not seem to be able to exert her full power as a spirit.

[Come on...... do what I tell you!]

"Hmm, you are resisting too, huh, Lisa-kun......?"

Irisdina then ruthlessly pursued Mefi further.

[Oi, you! Are you ok with this girl getting hurt!?]

"I'm sure she would turn a blond eye to a few injuries rather than be manipulated by an evil spirit like you. Besides, I am not Nozomu. That kind of threat is meaningless!"

Using her ability [Instant Deployment], Irisdina activated magic one after another.

Then, she cast the [Restraining Magic・Chain of Darkness]. The black chains wrapped around Lisa's body, which was controlled by Mefi, and sealed her movements.

[You......!]

In desperation, she gathered up the water source element to smash it into the chains, but its power was drastically reduced due to its incompatibility with Lisa. They were quickly shot down by Irisdina's magic bullets.

In the midst of shooting down Mefi's spirit magic, Irisdina raised her rapier, the Silver-Wing of Twilight. The blade of the rapier, which was imbued with magic power, was continuously infused with strengthening magic.

[Magic Sword・Lunar Eclipse]. This is Irisdina's strongest magic sword.

Furthermore, while intercepting Mefi's attack, additional magic bullets were generated.

"This is over......"

With this declaration, she stepped forward and simultaneously moved the magic bullets she had generated. While intertwining the magic bullets around her raised magic sword, [Magic Sword・Lunar Eclipse], she executed an ultra-high-speed thrust.

[Wha......!]

[Magic Sword Technique・Sunspot Comet]. As Irisdina literally dashed forward in a straight line like a comet, Mefi somehow managed to release the restraints on Lisa's arms and raised her twin blades.

The next instant, the twin blades were shattered like candy, followed by a burst of intense flashes. Struck at close range by the [Sunspot Comet]'s magic power, Lisa's body was blown away like a feather. She slammed into the inner wall of the reservoir and collapsed to the ground powerlessly.

"Oopsie! Nozomu, we're done here, too!"

At this point, the situation changed further. Feo eliminated the two intruders from outside the city. The men, who had been struck by the staff clad in magic lightning, fell to the ground without any strength.

"Damn it....... Mefi, reassimilate with me!"

The light blue spirit separated from Lisa's body and merged with Ken's body. At the same time, an enormous amount of source elements erupted, and a light blue armor appeared.

"No, not yet! If I kill you here, Lisa will cast her gaze on me......!"

"That won't happen. You've crossed a line you shouldn't cross. If you can't even look at what you've done, nothing will change."

[Wait, Ken, calm down! This is going to be a repeat of what happened before......!]

"Shut up!"

Ken, not even heeding Mefi's advice, ramped up his power even more.

"Iris, please take care of Lisa."

"......Got it."

In the face of the gushing magic power and elemental force, Nozomu left the unconscious Lisa in Irisdina's hands and faced Ken once again, slowly sheathing the katana he had drawn and slouching down. He boosted his Qi and let it spread to his treasured katana and his whole body. Heat rose from the core of his body. But his heart remained calm as he kept his eyes fixed on himself and his opponent.

His eyes were tinged with pity.

(How long are you going to make a fool out of me......!?)

"Oooooooo!"

This made Ken even more infuriated. Without any hesitation at all, he drew out Mefi's power, and furthermore, he formed a huge magic circle in front of him, absorbing all the surrounding magic power as much as he could. The overflowing source elements and magic power began to shake the entire reservoir.

This magic, which not only absorbed the surrounding magic power, but also the source elements, was definitely classified as ritual magic. But its scale was far superior.

"This is......."

With the entire field of vision already tinted in blue, the dense source elements began to swirl and bare their fangs indiscriminately at everything in their vicinity. Cracks were also beginning to form in the inner walls of the reservoir.

Nozomu turned his attention to the invisible chains wrapped around his body.

If he were to use Tiamat's power, he might be able to cut through the magic that Ken was likely to unleash. Just as he thought of that, Nozomu frowned at the debris falling from above his head.

(No, I can't. If a large amount of source elements and that dragon's power were to collide in such a closed space, Iris and the others would be-......)

Numerous cracks had already appeared in the ceiling, and pieces of shattered bricks were falling down. No matter how skilled Nozomu might be at controlling it, if two extremely powerful powers were to collide, all of them would surely be buried alive.

When he looked at Ken again, he had a smirk on his face as though he had just done his part. He understood the situation and brought Nozomu and the others here.

(What do we do? What do we do now......?)

At that moment, he suddenly felt someone was whispering in his ear.

His gaze spontaneously turned downward and caught sight of what his right hand was now holding.

[Mumei]

A memento of his master. Nozomu inherited it along with her techniques, and it is said to change its abilities like a kaleidoscope depending on the wielder. The wavy pattern that changed into chains seemed to be speaking to him.

His mind flashed back to the previous battle against the Cracked-Crown Giant Centipede.

"Feo, Iris, can you connect me and this guy through the link?"

"Haa!? That's impossible! We don't even have the appropriate talismans for such magic!"

Contract magic. It is a magic that creates a connection through magic power, and the most famous one is spirit magic like the one used by Shina.

The problem is compatibility. Contract magic is one of the magic systems that is very dependent on the target of the contract and the aptitude of the user.

Irisdina also had a look of bitterness on her face.

".......Let's try it."

"Haa!? How!?"

"If it is impossible, let's make it possible. It's easy, Feo-kun. Just make an altar by scattering talismans in all directions. And Let me handle the chanting."

Without further ado, Irisdina walked behind Nozomu, who was facing Ken, and knelt down with her rapier propped up on the floor. Feo, who believed in Nozomu and immediately took action without question or hesitation, took out talismans, poured magic power into them, and threw them.

A hexagram was drawn with Nozomu and Irisdina at the center. This is a magic circle based on the six basic elements. It is almost the same as the formation used in the practice of ritual magic at the school.

"I, of the Francilt bloodline, beseech you. Fire and water, flesh and iron, blood and blade, may these opposites be joined together and truly be each other's ally......"

With Irisdina's prayer, the magic circle was activated. Magic power hovered in the air and poured into Nozomu and [Mumei] as she chanted.

"Ah......"

"Lisa, have you come to?"

In the midst of all this, Lisa, who had been lying on the ground, woke up.

Not really understanding the situation she was in, she was stunned for a while, but when she saw Nozomu's face as he spoke to her, her face twitched.

"I-, I-, I was-......."

The expression on her face was a mixture of regret and guilt. Nozomu's face, filled with anger directed at her in the Spasim forest, and the truth she had come to know, were flooding into her mind.

He was innocent, but she resented him, believing that he was the one who had unilaterally betrayed her.

"It's okay."

"Eh?"

Perhaps she was expecting to be met with curses, anger, or resentment directed at her.

But what Nozomu directed at Lisa was a calm and composed voice. Reflecting in his eyes is the same compassionate, sincere light that has not changed since their childhood.

"When this is over, let's talk. This time, we'll do it right......."

"This is bad! A makeshift altar and a temporary medium are not enough!"

While Lisa's eyes widened in shock at Nozomu's unexpected words, Feo's impatient voice was heard.

It seems that the current condition is still insufficient to establish the contract magic.

(What is needed is a medium to create a strong connection. If so, then......)

While Feo and Irisdina looked desperate, Nozomu turned his treasured katana's tip toward himself. Then, while letting out a wry smile at himself for trying to rely on the most old-fashioned method in this most technologically advanced city on the Arkmel Continent, he forcefully thrust the [Mumei] into his own stomach.

"Wha!?"

"What are you doing, Nozomu!?"

"Ugh!"

Nozomu winced at the pain in his stomach, but a smile appeared on his face.

It was not the first time he had been stabbed.

He had experienced it in his training with his master. He knew where he could stab without any aftereffects. In fact, he had avoided vital organs such as internal organs.

Nozomu pushed the blade further in closer to the hilt as if seeking a connection with [Mumei]. Blood began to ooze from his belly, turning the blade redder and redder.

Blood is a medium that has been used in various rituals since ancient times. Moreover, Nozomu, the wielder of the blade, stabbed [Mumei] into his own body of his own volition. There is no greater ritual act than this to connect two parties who are forming a contract.

Once the blade was sufficiently stained with blood, Nozomu pulled it out with all his might.

Blood gushed out of the wound, but Nozomu did not bat an eye and instead held the [Mumei] up.

The magic circle that was prepared for the contract became brighter, and in sync with it, the chain-like patterns engraved on the [Mumei] became bewitchingly luminous.

The powerful medium of the wielder's blood reinforced the links of the two sides, completely dyeing the ancient demon sword into a form befitting Nozomu.

"No way, he really did it!"

"Nozomu, he's coming!"

"Begone!"

The source of the water element, compressed to the utmost limit, was fired at Nozomu.

A torrent of black water, seemingly washing away everything in its path, closed in to crush the bodies, minds, and even souls of its opponents.

(He doesn't even recognize Lisa anymore, huh?......)

Even though Lisa, whom he had insisted on protecting, was right in front of him, Ken still unleashed his extreme power.

Seeing this, Nozomu's pity deepened even more, and while gritting his teeth, he readied his [Mumei] to slash away the murky torrent of hatred and malice that was closing in on him.

"~......"

Nozomu lowered his waist and lifted his treasured katana in a thrusting stance. He exerted extreme concentration. He even ignored the intense pain in his gut, and conveyed his thoughts to his treasured blade.

Please lend me your strength to protect these precious people behind me.

As if responding to his wish, the [Mumei]'s blade shone even more brightly. The blood that was clinging to the blade was instantly erased, and the chain-like pattern engraved on the blade dissolved, becoming a ring of shining white chains that wrapped around it.

"Fu~!"

Nozomu swung his blade in a circular motion. It was the same movement as the technique known as the [Mikagura-style・Fan-Sailed Lotus]. It is a defensive technique that uses a film of Qi generated in the trajectory of the blade to block the opponent's attack.

Along the trajectory of the technique, rings of chains were scattered in a circular formation accompanied by light, creating a thin film of light.

Compared to the oncoming raging murky stream of the source element, it seemed rather unreliable and insignificant. However, the film of light created by the chain rings received Ken's spirit magic head-on and did not budge an inch.

"I-Impossible......."

No, it did not just receive them. The chainrings began to unilaterally absorb the vast amount of source elements that were crashing into them. The chainrings, each of which was only the size of a thumb, swallowed the source element streams that were thousands or tens of thousands of times greater than their volume.

It was an extraordinary sight, like a huge flood being sucked into a single bucket.

The chainrings, which were small compared to the scale of spirit magic, absorbed all the magic that came into contact with them and immediately went back to [Mumei]'s blade, dyeing it blue.

It was undoubtedly the power of the spirit magic that Ken had just unleashed. Nozomu's sharp gaze was directed at Ken, who was stunned.

He then swung his blade, which had been infused with spirit magic, with all his might.

Immediately afterward, as if in reverse, the source stream of water elements was fired back at Ken.

The muddy stream knocked Ken flying and plunged directly into one of the underground waterways. The outer circumference of the waterway was instantly gouged out, and the surrounding ground was excavated. It expanded the width of the canal to more than twice its original width before finally receding after a few hundred meters.

"Gah, ugh!?"

Ken, who got blown away, crashed into the ground several times, and finally stopped when he was blasted away about 30 meters. Immediately after that, *shatter!*, a shattering sound echoed behind Nozomu's ears. The link he had just established with [Mumei] was broken.

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