Strike the Blood - Volume 22 - Chapter 5.5

5

“—This Fang is the Light that rends our Darkness. Its Breath is the Flame that repels Evil! Thy Name is the Fire-Eating Serpent. Born of the Soul of a Saint, thou art the Immutable Blade!“

Using the incantation to heighten her demonic energy to its utmost, Shizuri fired it out along the blade of her crimson long sword. She split the humanoid demon beast over ten meters tall from shoulder to hip, driving it to one knee.

Despite this, the humanoid demon beast remained active. It approached Shizuri, crawling using its left arm alone. Shizuri yelped fervently at the scene straight out of a horror film.

“Er, even that attack did not defeat it?!”

The tentacles on the humanoid demon beast’s back lunged straight at Shizuri. She instantly raised her long sword, but her movement lacked speed. Thanks to a series of large-scale demonic energy releases, her fatigue was at its peak.

The moment she tried to counterattack against the initial tentacles, unpleasant sounds came from all over Shizuri’s joints. Then—the beam unleashed from behind Shizuri blew away the head of the humanoid demon beast. This time, the monster fell completely silent.

“This makes the third, Lady Paladin!”

Lydianne, poking up her head from the back of the robot tank, shouted in a buoyant tone. Her tank’s large-caliber laser was what had rescued Shizuri from peril.

“…I feel like I should harbor pangs of regret, but that is fine.”

Shizuri felt conflicted as she wobbled to her feet.

Nearly three hours had passed since MAR’s remaining forces began their invasion of Itogami Island. They’d just managed to keep those forces from invading city limits, but the Island Guard’s defense line kept on being forced back. The humanoid demon beasts MAR had sent into combat were the cause, of course.

Compared to the Unknown Nine-Fours that had previously appeared, their propagation and regenerative abilities were greatly diminished. Regardless, the shocking endurance and attack strength they possessed remained unchanged. These were more intelligent, working together with the advance of infantry units, which if anything made them even more dangerous weapons.

The total number of humanoid demon beasts exceeded fourteen. Sixteen of them had landed on the coast of Island East alone. Shizuri and company taking down three or even four felt like a drop in the bucket.

That they’d been able to hold the line even so was due to Sayaka’s valiant efforts.

“Most Brilliant Flaming Horse, Illustrious Kirin, He Who Governs Heavenly Thunder, pierce these evil spirits with thy wrath…!”

Raising her silver recurve bow, Sayaka launched a ritual spell artillery attack.

Bathed in a direct strike from a vast curse, four humanoid demon beasts crumbled away. Additionally, the thick miasma unleashed dulled the movements of the remaining demon beasts. She was fully living up to the reputation of Shamanic War Dancers, experts in curses and assassination.

Yet Sayaka was clearly approaching the limits of her endurance, too. She breathed raggedly as she leaned against the wall of the building behind her. Her sweaty forelocks clung to her forehead, and the right hand with which she drew her bow oozed with vivid blood.

“You all right, Kirasaka?”

Yuuma posed this worried question to Sayaka. For her part, Yuuma’s face looked pale. She’d been teleporting beyond her limits to provide aid to Island Guard casualties.

“I’m just out of cursed arrows, but I can still do close combat.”

Sayaka transformed Lustrous Scale into a sword as she spoke those words. It was clear to anyone’s eyes that her fingertips no longer had the strength with which to grip her sword, however.

“You should get some rest, Sayaka Kirasaka. I shall take over from here.”

“Nah, I felt like I heard a sound I shouldn’t be hearing from your right arm during that last attack.”

Shizuri put on a strong front, but Yuuma looked at her and calmly pointed this out. Shizuri, however, huffed, smiling as she puffed out her chest.

“As a Blood Servant of Kojou Akatsuki, this is nothing but a trifle to me!”

After saying this, clearly for her own benefit more than theirs, Shizuri gasped and stiffened, coming back to her senses. Her cheeks reddened before the other girls’ eyes.

Shizuri vigorously shook her head, looking desperate to deny the real feelings she’d subconsciously let slip.

“—T-that was in error! I take that back! I meant to say, as a pomp…as a Paladin of Gisella…!”

“Well, either way’s fine, really.”

Yuuma gave her a strained smile and lowered her shoulders.

The very next moment, the entirety of Itogami Island shuddered from demonic energy so powerful as to burn one’s skin.

It was a malicious aura on par with that of a Beast Vassal of the Fourth Primogenitor, a malevolent surge so great that Shizuri and Sayaka went on guard out of raw fear.

“What in the world is that ridiculous demonic energy…?!”

“Did Ms. Minamiya call out Rheingold…? Guess she’s having a pretty hard time on her end, too.”

Yuuma’s musings sobered Sayaka’s and Shizuri’s faces.

Natsuki Minamiya was one of the rare witches who did not employ her Guardian, for her own Guardian was so ridiculously powerful that its mere appearance warped space and time around it, something with ill effects for Itogami Island.

Put another way, she was being pushed back into a position so dangerous that using Rheingold was her only option.

“—Everyone still alive?”

Whirrr, whined the spherical tires of a robot tank other than Lydianne’s as it appeared. This was the older Hizamaru model left with the Gigafloat Management Corporation. From the hatch on its back, Asagi poked her face out with a smartphone in hand. It was an ominous greeting, but Shizuri and company were beat-up pretty badly, making the greeting oddly apt.

“Lady Empress…what is the situation on thine end?”

Lydianne inquired, her tone sounding a bit worked up with nostalgia at seeing her beloved machine.

“The civilian evacuation’s complete. The front line’s pulling back to right in front of Canal Number Four. During that time, you girls on foot had best recover a bit of physical energy while Tanker charges up and reloads—”

“Unfortunately, I can allow you to do no such thing.”

Upon abruptly hearing that amused voice, Asagi and the others gasped and turned about.

In the middle of the intersection they’d secured as their line of retreat stood a woman wearing a gaudy outfit and holding a short stick. The countless lollipop sticks she’d scattered along the roadside were changing into sorcerous infantry covered in white exoskeletons.

“Ladli Ren…!”

“Since combat will become quite prolonged at this rate, it’s time for a surprise attack to the back. My dear Spartoi, kill them, would you? It’s time for some payback—!”

Ladli clapped her hands as she sent the Spartoi after them.

Filled with impatience at the humanoid demon beasts’ slow progress, Ladli had come to eliminate Shizuri and the other obstacles personally. For her, the commander, to take the field of battle personally was less a display of recklessness and more a display of confidence in her own abilities.

“Khhh…at a time like this…!”

“Quite the stubborn bunch!”

Sayaka and Shizuri raised their swords and engaged the Spartoi in combat.

If you set aside their off-the-charts defensive strength and high magic resistance, the Spartoi didn’t have all that much in the way of combat capabilities, but Shizuri and company had already used up most of their physical energy, and there were simply too many of them. Sayaka and Shizuri each found themselves surrounded and forced into a one-sided defensive battle.

Lydianne and Asagi fired antipersonnel machine gun barrages, but they weren’t much good against Spartoi with their resilient exoskeletons. Yuuma tried directly attacking Ladli herself, but she was baffled by her opponent’s lack of openings, which got her pinned down instead. Ladli, who’d lived far longer than her appearance would suggest, had fighting experience in another league compared to Yuuma and the rest.

“Oh my, you are better than I thought, but aren’t you forgetting something rather important?”

Ladli slowly licked her lips, openly teasing Sayaka and the others as they desperately continued to resist. There, opposite her, was an enormous humanoid demon beast that had closed the distance at some point during the fight.

Countless tentacles imbued with untold strength swung down toward Sayaka and the others as one.

“Tanker!”

“Understood! Releasing full salvo!”

Asagi and Lydianne fired every weapon they had, using missiles, lasers, machine guns large and small, and even antipersonnel rubber bullets to offset the humanoid demon beast’s attacks.

The demon beast didn’t stop attacking, though. Its whiplike tentacles split the ground, and the vibration waves flung about turned into explosive impacts that assailed Asagi and company.

Unable to withstand such blows in the flesh, Sayaka and other girls cried out as they were sent flying. Asagi and Lydianne’s tanks were smashed into buildings. Both robot tanks had been rendered inoperable. Even Shizuri of the resilient ogre race had been knocked completely unconscious with no sign of revival.

“Hmm…it would seem the Priestess of Cain’s blessing goes no further.”

Ladli muttered this while gazing at the blood flowing from Asagi’s forehead.

Even the life of the Priestess of Cain, protected by the will of Cain the Sinful God, was now no more than a candle in the wind. Gaining a sadistic sense of satisfaction from this fact, Ladli swung her right hand upward.

She didn’t need to command her Spartoi for this. She would unleash an invisible blade and end Asagi Aiba’s life with ease. Yet a moment before swinging down her hand, Ladli noticed that something was slightly…off.

“…This is?”

Faint, yet malevolent demonic energy was springing forth from near the fallen girls. It pulsated like a beating heart. To her, it looked like something was being drawn from them.

The sources of the anomaly were the girls’ left hands, or specifically, the small rings worn on their ring fingers.

These were giving off a crimson glow that spread over the bare skin of the girls wearing the rings. They were greedily, mercilessly devouring the girls’ living blood.