Translator: Reflet

  「Haah……Haah……」


  「She seems quite out of control」


  Hera whispered, speaking a bit like it wasn’t her problem.

  Taiyou agreed with that completely.

  The girl in front of them, while staggering, somehow got up readying her dagger in her drooping hands. While letting out white heavy breathing from her mouth, she painfully made it move up and down.

  To them, that appearance was the very definition of a「rampage」.

  「It is like that one thing where you go mad under the moon at night」


  (Although the enemy is the new moon…) thought Taiyou, swallowing his words.

  There wasn’t anyone here who liked wordplay, and more importantly this was just not the time for that.

  「First off……let’s stop her」


  「Yeah-」


  Taiyou and Aoba nodded at each other, and the next instant, the girl came flying at them.

  It was a bound from kicking off the ground, with a force unimaginable from a young, one hundred thirty centimeter body.

  「Uwaaaaaah!」


  There were three rounds of flashes.

  This was a slash with a flash superior to the one a moment ago. It increased the blood and soul (power) that the dagger had sucked from him.

  「Too slow」


  However, Taiyou was exuding composure.

  Shifting his head into battle mode, still embracing Aoba, he dodged the blade that made groaning “hyun hyun” sounds.

  The girl’s attack had certainly increased its speed and agileness, but was not as fast as Taiyou who had discarded perplexion and hesitation.

  Taiyou had enough leisure to firmly see everything and dodge the flying successive slashes.

  「Uwaaaaaah!」


  Along with a conspicuous cry, she plunged forward to attack, rising against him.

  As it was a large swing, the weak spots were also large. Taiyou dodged it with an L-shaped stance, dropping a karate chop on her wrist.

  He tried to drop it on her dagger, but that did not happen.

  「Gah――Aaaaah!」


  The girl twisted her face at the pain. While screaming, she came swinging with her dagger, shaking him off.

  He leaped back, dodging it.

  （……Damn it）


  The girl twisted her face at the pain. While enduring the pain in his chest of seeing her like that, he dodged an attack once more, slamming down a karate chop.

  A strengthened chop……but with very much decreased power than usual.

  She did not counterattack. The struck girl cowered on the spot.

  Her braids dangled on the floor, and cold sweat emerged on her redly thumping nape.

  Gripping the dagger tightly and not letting go, her wrist swelled up and dangled languidly.

  「Natsuno-kun, the knife!」


  「I know!」


  If he could at least take away the dagger――Taiyou and Aoba’s perception was not mistaken.

  The life-sucking dagger was the very thing that was maddening her and making her a current threat.

  Which was why he tried to steal it, tried to take it away.

  ――But

  「Wha――」


  The light drew near. When Taiyou had tried to confiscate the dagger, the girl had swung the dagger sweeping sideways at him.

  Reacting immediately, he leaped far back.

  「――」


  Afterward, the girl’s scream echoed.

  A hoarse――voice that wasn’t even a voice.

  That was because the scream that was enough to perturb Taiyou’s chest had spurred on the swelling wrist, forcing her to swing the dagger.

  「That’s awful……」


  「――ngh!」


  Aoba groaned, and Taiyou grinded his teeth.

  「Taiyou-chan, you must hurry and take the knife from her」


  「I know, but tearing it from her while she’s clenching it that tightly is……」


  「Her hand’s becoming white――if she does it too hard then her fingers seem like they might break」


  「If it’s going to be like this――」


  (First comes Tsubaki), he thought, turning in her direction.

  「What are you grumbling about!Protect me!」


  Scolded at by Tsubaki, as if it were part of a mechanism, the girl that had been moaning immediately faced Taiyou, lunging for him.

  With the force of putting herself on the line, she swung the dagger at Taiyou.

  He dodged, leaping back further.

  「Damn it!」


  Taiyou cursed.

  「Taiyou-chan Taiyou-chan, I have a good idea」


  「Good idea?」


  「Yes indeed!」


  Hera said, flying over and whispering into his ears.

  「……Interesting」


  Taiyou’s eyes glinted. Hera’s「good idea」seemed idiotic at first, but he thought it to be extremely effective.

  At least to Taiyou as of now.

  Looking at the girl, he reaffirmed the situation.

  It was a quite possible-to-implement plan.

  Returning his gaze from the girl to Aoba, he spoke apologetically.

  「Sorry, Aoba」


  「It’s fine, don’t worry about it」


  Aoba said, smiling sweetly.

  He started to feel supported.

  「Alright……」


  He regained his composure and faced the girl.

  That instant, the girl threw herself at him as if launching a preemptive strike.

  All of a sudden, she had brandished the sword that she had transferred to a reverse grip, releasing it.

  Approaching right in front of him一a line of light――それを慎重に見極めて、攻撃をかわす。


  He vice-gripped her hand, from above the hand holding the dagger.

  「Uu、uuu!」


  The girl wriggled as she moaned. But the difference in power between both of them was distinct, and she couldn’t shake her captured hand free from Taiyou.

  「Taiyou-chan!」


  「I know」


  Answering to Hera’s voice, he swapped their bodies quickly while gripping the girl, embracing her under his right arm……the opposite side of Aoba.

  Still gribbing her arm, this time he was able to nimbly swing the dagger with his own will.

  It was a movement reminiscent of a “helping hands” comedy performance. He felt resisting power coming from the girl’s arm, but before Taiyou’s power it was a power that may as well be nonexistent.

  「Alright, if we proceed like this」


  Turning Tsubaki’s direction, he swiftly went to her.

  「Wh-What exactly is that」


  Tsubaki was astonished.

  「As expected of you, Taiyou-chan. That is nice power」


  「Uu、uーーーー」


  The girl floundered.

  Taiyou secretively smoothed down his chest at that. She was struggling, but as long as he was gripping her, the great pain from earlier was nowhere to be found.

  Even like this he could probably defeat Tsubaki, and after defeating her, he would try and think of the next procedure with the girl bound.

  Thinking that, he went to Tsubaki.

  「D-Don’t come over here……」


  Despite her heavy makeup, Tsubaki’s face become clearly pale.

  「I won’t hold back against you」


  Proclaiming ruthlessly to said woman, she suffered a punch to the abdomen.

  Scattering around filthy spit, Tsubaki fainted, then collapsing on the ground.

  「Tsubaki-sama!」


  Almost simultaneously, he heard a voice from the entrance.

  It was a man’s voice, and when he looked, he saw three of the men he remembered from earlier hastening closer.

  For a moment, he was preoccupied.

  「Uuu!」


  The rioting girl slipped out of Taiyou’s arms when his guard dropped.

  （She’s going to come!）


  He reflexively covered Aoba, immediately preparing himself.

  However, despite having slipped out of her restraints, she did not come his way.

  She went not to Taiyou, but leaped upon the men who had rushed over.

  「Oh crap!」


  By the time they had understood and yelled out, everything had ended.

  The girl cut down the nearly-defenseless men one by one with her dagger.

  Splashes of blood danced, and the men fell.

  「Uwaaaaaaaaah!」


  Yet another scream, and yet another red light.

  The red light and throbbing expanded to the point of exploding.

  And finally, so did the consciousness of the increasingly-weakened girl.

  The swaying eyes that looked his way were no longer focused. She had gotten to where it was hazy.

  The smell of death. That was what he began to feel from her.

  Would the human life that she had sucked surpass the girl’s body’s capacity, or would the expanded power eat the girl herself?

  He wasn’t sure, but it was obvious from looking that if he left her be, she would head straight to destruction.

  「Natsuno-kun!」


  「I know!」


  Along with a yell, he flew out at her.

  He was no longer in the situation where he could hold back, so even by force, the wound would end up effectively being shallow if he were to knock her out.

  Thinking that, he had firmly clenched his fists, hardening his resolve, but…


  「Ah, you must run!」


  At a turn of events, the girl had not come his way, but had instead rushed out from the door that the men had entered from.

  「I wonder what’s come over her」


  「――It can’t be!」


  Panicking, Taiyou likewise rushed out of the room chasing after the girl.

  The distance that had opened but for a moment’s perplexion did not diminish even when he chased after her with all his might.

  The girl had already acquired speed on Taiyou’s level.

  Chasing after her, Taiyou had a bad premonition.

  No, it was close to confirmation by this point.

  The reason why the girl had not come to him, but had rushed outside.

  At length, he began to see it.

  The path he had gone through; the breadcrumb guidepost.

  The men who had been knocked out by Taiyou were successively waking up.

  They were now prey. They were nothing more than prey for the life-sucking magic sword.

  The girl increased her speed further, proceeding to leap at the men.

  The number of men had surpassed ten in an instant.

  The result was a tragedy of blood and wind.

  What was there was the worst possible outcome.

  He dashed――he could not catch up.

  「Kuh――」


  「Natsuno-kun!」


  Aoba screamed in his arms.

  Their eyes met.

  「Use――」