Ryuu Kusari no Ori -Kokoro no Uchi no “Kokoro”-

Irisdina and the others all widen their eyes at Lisa's appearance.
Her red hair fluttered in the wind.
There was not the slightest hint of death in her complexion.

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“U-, umm …
are you okay?”

“Y- yeah.
You saved me …”

 

Irisdina curtly returned a word of gratitude to Lisa.

A subtle air flowed between the two of them.
To Lisa, the dark-haired beauty in front of her was the one who put a lot of weight on her mind, and the girl who seemed closest to Nozomu at the moment.

As for Irisdina, even though she had decided to put her jealousy aside for now, she still felt guilty for saying so many harsh words to Lisa because of her own inexperience.

Since both of them had many things on their minds, when they came face to face like this, their mouths didn't seem to move well.　

However, they were not in a situation where they could afford to worry about such things right now.

 

“” Oooooooo ! “”

 

Along with Nozomu's scream, a torrent of Qi exploded.

He was interrupted by the sudden attack, but his gaze, tinged with anger, was still directed at Mikael that Shīna held.

 

“This is bad!”

 

As if to cut through the gap, Nozomu dashed toward Shīna while Irisdina and the others were distracted by Lisa who had intruded into the scene.

Mars, Mimuru, and Feo quickly tried to move forward.

But the next moment, countless arrows of light fell from the sky, blocking Nozomu's path.

*Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*

The arrows of light billowed up a cloud of dust and smoke while making ear-piercing explosion sounds.

In a few seconds, hundreds, no, thousands of light bullets fell indiscriminately on the place between Nozomu and Irisdina and the others.

 

“Waaaah~!”

“Hieeee~!”

 

The three members of the group, including Mars, who had jumped forward in a hurry, were jostled by the raging shockwave.

They were lifted into the air, swirled, and were thrown at the feet of Irisdina and the others.

 

“Good grief, you ladies and gentlemen are being too reckless…”

 

Emerging from behind a bush was Zonne, who was treating Lisa.

Behind him were Tom and Somia.

 

“You're the reckless one! Are you going to kill me, old man!?”

“It's burnt! My tail is burned! I've been hurt by such a trash old man!”

“Trash, you say …
Isn't that a little harsh~?”

 

Mars and Mimuru, who were blown away, complained verbally to Zonne.

 

“Is everyone all right?”

“Ane-sama, are you okay !? I'll heal your wounds right away!”

“Even Somia …”

 

Somia rushed to her sister and applied recovery magic to her, though poorly.

In fact, Irisdina and Mars had their bodies smashed into grounds many times when they were blown away by Nozomu's [Cannon], and they had wounds everywhere.
The pale light shining from Somia's palm enveloped their entire bodies, sealing their wounds.

Somia was also gradually improving her magic skills, perhaps because she had recently been influenced by Nozomu and had become quite devoted to her training.

 

“Feo-kun, wake up, hurry! We have to repair Irisdina-san's broken magic spell!”

“Fue~ ptooey~! Ueee …
my mouth feels gritty …
It tastes as bad as some food made by a certain wildcat…”

“Hmph, rude! Tom always eats my food and it always tastes good~! Aren't you alright even though you eat rocks all the time? Rather, it gives you strength, doesn't it?”

“This damn female cat …”

“Fe-, Feo-kun, I'll make sure to scold Mimuru later…
Mimuru, if you say any more strange things…
I'll punish you later.”

“P-, punishment !? I-, I wonder what Tom will do to me…
Maybe, that or maybe something like that…
No~!”

 

What did Mimuru imagine when she heard the word “punishment”? The way she wriggled and writhed strangely looked painful.

Feo, who had been frowning earlier, somehow looked uncomfortable and averted his gaze.

 

“Oh, it's Feo, the victim, the one I'm going to punish, am I right, Feo?”

“Eh? Me?”

“Haah~! You! How dare you interrupt me and Tom!

 

Because of the sudden interruption, Mimuru twisted Feo's collar and lifted his body while having anger like Asura on her face.

Her hair stood on end and her tail, which she said had been injured earlier, also stood out.

 

“I-, Did I do something wrong?”

“Funya~! Nyanya~! Fusha~!”

“Use human language, please…”

 

It seemed that there was already no reason in her head.
Not only no reason but no human language either.

She was babbling something in cat language, meowing, while swinging the lifted Feo around with her sharp fangs bared.

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“The other day, there was a soda turmoil at the Ushitotei.
And also there was…”

“That was my bad.
I am sorry.
I beg you, please calm this raging cat down.”

 

The fox-tailed youth obediently raised a white flag to Tom, who began to talk about Feo's misdeeds while counting by folding his fingers.

 

“Well then, enough with the rambling, Feo, I need you to repair Irisdina's technique.
Mimuru, please ……
stay quiet for a bit.”

“Nya~nya~?”

 

Tom suddenly patted Mimuru's head, and Mimuru tossed Feo out of the way and began rubbing herself against Tom's hand.

Feo, who had been thrown to the ground, let out a groan.
Mimuru, however, was not bothered and just kept rubbing her body against her lover's hand.

 

On the other hand, Zonne walked past Irisdina with a slow gait and glared at the tip of a cloud of dust that had been billowing up.

The smoke gradually cleared, revealing Nozomu, whose eyes were stained with anger.

 

“Old man …”

“Ask that cat-stroking boy for the details.
I'll take care of him for the time being.
I can't show much strength at the moment, but I'll still manage to hold the boy down.”

 

Zonne stepped forward.
Nozomu and Zonne were facing each other.

Nozomu's gaze, which had been directed at Mikael that Shīna was holding until now, turned to Zonne.

 

“” Oooooooooo! “”

 

Nozomu and Tiamat, two overlappings, vindictive shouts were directed at Zonne.

For the first time since Mikael appeared in front of Nozomu and Tiamat, they clearly changed the direction of their hatred.
This fact once again highlighted the fact that this old man also had a deep connection with Tiamat.

 

“” Sol Alaaa —–! “”

“I miss being called by that name.
That's right.
I am one of your enemies.
Keep pointing your blade against me in anger.”

 

An enormous amount of elements blew out from Zonne's body, swirling to form a mandala-like multiple formations.
At the same time, Nozomu activated his [Instantaneous Movement] and tried to close the gap with a single step.

In the blink of an eye, arrows of light formed in the air.
Far more light arrows were formed than those of Azel, and they were shot at Nozomu all at once.

Moreover, not just once.
In the next instant, light arrows were formed, again and again, shot twice or thrice toward Nozomu.

The swarm of light arrows, which covered his field of vision, attacked again and again.
It was like a tsunami.

 

“”~ !? “”

 

Nozomu immediately leaped as fast as he could and dodged the first wave, but a swarm of light arrows rushed in like a wild wave, closing in on him in the blink of an eye.

Realizing that he could no longer evade them properly, Nozomu quickly drew his katana and formed a film of Qi in front of himself.
He then lightly jumped and placed both of his feet on the film of Qi, and leaped as the light arrows landed.
He moved out of the range of the arrows at once.

Furthermore, he concentrated his Qi on his left hand and slammed it into the ground as soon as he landed.

 

“Hmm!”

 

Qi technique [Light of Extinction]

 

The Qi technique that Nozomu had just tried to unleash on Irisdina and the others attacked Zonne from under his feet.

But Zonne quickly waved his hand, and in an instant, multiple barriers were formed at his feet.

A torrent of Qi and a wall of elements collided.
The Qi pushed out by the barriers obliterated the soil under the old man's feet and one by one the barriers that could not withstand it returned to the dust of light.

At the same time as the last barrier was shattered, the torrent of Qi that had been erupting from the ground subsided.

The ground in the area had already been gouged out for more than ten meters and turned into a crater.

The area was covered with a cloud of dust and sand, once again hiding the two's figures.

Was it Nozomu who had created such a crater with only the aftermath of his Qi technique, or was it the old man who had completely blocked such Qi technique?

But either way, there was no way Nozomu would have missed this opportunity.

 

“~ !”

 

Breaking through the cloud of dust, Nozomu closed the distance at once from the right side of Zonne.

His opponent is stronger than Azel.
If Zonne were to take control of the pace, Nozomu would be swallowed up in the blink of an eye.
However, if he charged from the front, he would only be blocked again.
That was the reason for his current actions.

However, of course, Zonne knew what Nozomu was going to do.

 

“Even without the help of the spirit, I can see through that level of attack.”

 

As Zonne swung his arm, a magic circle formed around Nozomu, and chains of light rushed toward him from all directions.

These chains were a kind of restraining magic.
However, unlike the dragon-sealing barrier, they did not have any special effect on Tiamat.

Even so, being stopped for a moment was fatal to Nozomu.
Especially against an opponent who was capable of deploying large-scale, wide-area attacks.

Nozomu, while avoiding the chains of light coming at him from all directions with his [Instantaneous Movement -Curve Dance-], stepped forward to close the gap between him and Zonne.

However, the chains of light were persistent like snakes, gradually closing in on Nozomu from behind.

Furthermore, suddenly, something in front of Nozomu's eyes exploded, and multiple spears of light projected out.

Although similar to Azel, who also used multiple magic formations, Zonne manipulated several different types of magic at the same time.
Furthermore, each type of magic was no less powerful than the other.

He was obviously an even better magic caster than Azel.

 

A spear protruding from the ground blocked Nozomu's path.

Nozomu's escape route was blocked by light spears in front of him and light chains behind him.
Zonne also formed huge multiple formations in front of him.
After sending in the elements with all his might, he unleashed a huge beam of light more than his own height as a finishing blow.

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The rays of light gouged the ground and blew away fallen trees as they approached Nozomu.

It was a blow that could never be blocked.
There was no escape route, and it was impossible for a normal person, who could not use barrier magic, to block it.
Yes, if that person is not Nozomu.

 

“” Haaaaaa! “”

 

Five-colored elements erupted from Nozomu's entire body.
The five-colored elements flowed into Nozomu's weapon in a swirling vortex, dyeing the blade into chaotic color.

Nozomu then sheathed the chaos-tinted blade and quickly drew it as if to slash his enemy.

A single slash, dyed in five different colors, flew through the air and slashed the ray of light in half.
The ray of light that got cut in half obliterated the chains that were coming from behind Nozomu.

The spears of light that were blocking Nozomu's front and the chains of light that were approaching from behind had already been blown away by Zonne's ray of light.

Nozomu, who had closed the gap in the blink of an eye, swung his katana down toward Zonne's head.

 

“Mm~!”

 

Zonne raised both of his hands, and the elements overflowing from his body gathered and formed a single staff of light.

Nozomu, the blade, and Zonne's staff of light collided.

Immediately after, along with a roaring sound, shockwaves were released in all directions.

 

“”~!? “”

“Guuuu”

 

Zonne was facing Nozomu's slash, which had gained momentum, head-on.
Nozomu's eyes, tinged with anger, were mixed with obvious agitation.

Zonne spun his staff of light as he lowered his posture, channeling Nozomu's power behind him, and threw Nozomu's body into the air,

Furthermore, Zonne points the tip of the staff at Nozomu, who was thrown into the air.

Nozomu reflexively twisted his body and swung his katana.
Immediately after, a light bullet was released from the tip of Zonne's staff.

Nozomu's katana sliced through the projectile and scattered it.

 

“Tch~.
I guess it didn't work.”

 

Upon landing, Nozomu did not step forward again, but remained poised and on guard, while glaring at Zonne.

Zonne, on the other hand, spun his staff of light around with a proud smile on his face.

 

“Are you surprised? I've lived for tens of thousands of years.
Shouldn't it be natural for me to have mastered a human skill or two?”

 

The technique that Zonne just used was definitely not that of a four-legged beast, nor that of a spirit, but that of a human.

Moreover, his technique was superb.
How many people on this continent were able to repel, handle, and counterattack Nozomu's slashes who had released his Ability Suppression?

 

Nozomu's current opponent is a living history that has been watching this continent since long before the beginning of time.
This level of skill may be no problem for him.

 

“” Guuuu …
“”

“Now then, shall we continue?”

 

Zonne pointed the tip of his staff downwards.
It looked like they would continue to fight in close quarters.

The distance between the two was less than 10 meters.
Nozomu would be able to step forward faster than Zonne could deploy his technique.

While smiling at Nozomu, Zonne suppressed the impatience that welled up inside him.

 

(I can no longer use the dragon-sealing barrier that severely depletes the earth's veins.
In such a situation, returning to my original form against this little boy will only make the situation worse…
In the first place, I won't have enough time to return, and I don't have the strength to do so …)

 

Zonne now had many other disadvantages that made it difficult for him to return to his original dragon form.

The first was that the dragon-sealing barrier could no longer be used.

After being used by Azel, the technique previously created by Zonne collapsed.
Furthermore, it would be difficult to use this technique again, as the dragon-sealing barrier would drain the earth's veins significantly.
This was another weakness of the dragon-sealing barrier's fragility to outside interference.

In the first place, there was no way that a barrier that could contain Tiamat would be without any drawbacks.

The second was that he, at the moment, could not take the form of a dragon.
This was due to the fact that he had given up part of his own soul to contain Azel, which had drained him of much of his strength.

 

While the dragon race was powerful, they were bound by their physical bodies.
On the other hand, in human form, their human body was bound to be limited in its maximum output.

And, compared to other spirits, rebuilding their bodies also required a great deal of power, making them a somewhat fuel-inefficient race.

Even if he could return to his dragon form, Nozomu, who had seen Azel's transformation, would not let him.

 

“I have no problem with the upper limit of power I can use with this body, but it will be a challenge to hold this little boy down with it…”

 

Fortunately, Nozomu was also considerably worn out from the continuous battle.

He seemed to be able to fight thanks to the supply of power from Tiamat, but his physical body was considerably exhausted, and it was starting to show in his movements.

In fact, the speed at which he just stepped into the fight was not as fast as when he had previously confronted the Undead Dragon.

 

The fact that Nozomu's physical limit was near meant it was easier to fight him, but it also meant Tiamat's resurrection was drawing near.

Even as Nozomu and Zonne stood facing each other, blood was flowing non-stop from Nozomu's body, as if to show this fact.

 

“Still, if it was his former self, his body would have already collapsed.
He had adapted to Tiamat's power at an unbelievably fast pace…”

“” Ooooooooooooo “”

“Tch~! It's impossible to make him retreat because he's been swallowed up by his anger after all !”

 

Nozomu sheathed the katana he had drawn and, with a yell, charged toward Zonne.

In less than half a second, he moved over a distance of 10 meters and reached Zonne within the range of his katana.

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He opened the mouth of the sheath and drew his katana.

The [Phantom] released with the light of chaos collided with the staff of light raised by Zonne.
The elements that formed the staff were scraped away, and white phosphorescent lights were scattered.

Nozomu then swiftly fired a return blow.

The [Phantom -Recurrence-] was fired from the opposite side.
The target was Zonne's staff of light.
It was struck precisely at the same exact point as the place where he had struck his [Phantom] earlier.

A flash of light burst from Zonne's staff, and at the same time, a sharp, unpleasant sound could be heard coming from the staff.

 

“Kuh~, my staff !? As I thought, her power and my (spirit) power are incompatible!”

 

Although their power was of the same origin, that was, it came from the spirits, the direction of Zonne and Tiamat's power was the opposite.

The essence of Tiamat's power is “destruction and chaos” because it incorporates the power of different directions in a disorderly manner.

On the other hand, Zonne's power is the power of “white” originating from light.
It is the symbol of order.

Because they contradict each other, the power of white could seal Tiamat, and conversely, the power of chaos could paint Zonne's power.

However, if it were any other dragons, Tiamat might take their powers into her own hands.
In that sense, “incompatible” was way much better.

 

Zonne quickly gathered the elements and repaired the damaged staff of light.

However, there was no way that Nozomu would have missed this opportunity.

He quickly went on the offensive, unleashing a barrage of blows in an attempt to push through.

Moreover, all of them were aimed at the same point.
Clearly, he had seen through Zonne's agitation and was acting accordingly.

Furthermore, if Zonne's attention were to be focused too much on the staff, Nozomu could quickly switch his target and aimed at Zonne's body.

 

“Wha~ !?”

 

Zonne jumped backward and avoided Nozomu's attack, which tried to cleave his leg.

Furthermore, this time, Nozomu tried to slash Zonne along with his staff by splitting it in two vertically.
Of course, he was also aiming for the staff Zonne raised.

 

“Nnn ….
Despite your anger, you are still too “clever” when it comes to fighting!”

 

Zonne shot a single light bullet from the side of Nozomu's head, distracted him, and then stepped forward to swing the staff of light.

Despite Nozomu's intimidation, the old man himself was overwhelming enough to be able to stand firm and fight with Nozomu head-on.

In response to the staff being swung, Nozomu also retaliated by overturning the katana he was holding in his hand.
The sound of the clash between katana and staff of light echoed through the gray forest over and over again.

 

 

 

===================================

 

 

 

 

“Wow …”

 

Mars and the others watched the battle between Nozomu and Zonne with stunned expressions.

They had seen a glimpse of Zonne's ability during Ken's incident, but when confronted with it in such a visible manner, they were frankly speechless.

Tom stepped forward in front of the stunned Mars and the others.

 

“Everyone, listen up.
If we succeed, we may be able to restore Nozomu-kun to his former self.”

“Is that true?”

“Yeah.
But it's nothing crazy or tactical.
I'm just talking about sending extremely high-powered magic into his left chest and stopping his beating heart once…”

“Bfft~ !?”

 

Tom's suggestion was quite simple and at the same time absurd.
His suggestion made Mars burst out.

Certainly, if the heart stopped beating and the blood stopped circulating, people would lose consciousness.
If this were to happen, the synchronization between Nozomu and Tiamat would inevitably be cut off.

Considering the impact on subsequent resuscitation measures, it was understandable that they limited the means of attack to pure magic, which had little effect on the body.

However, it was also a method that could kill Nozomu if they made a mistake.

Irisdina and the others had an expression like biting a bitter worm over this fact.

 

“The old man said that in order to break the syncretism between Nozomu-kun and Tiamat, it would be necessary to give him a shock”

“So you're saying we have to go that far to bring him back?…”

“Yes.
If  Shīna's contract magic can't reach him then there's no other choice but to do it.
Being aware of all the risks…”

 

Irisdina clutched her hand at the obvious fact.

Nozomu had managed to keep his ego in check despite the danger of walking on thin ice.
She knew the danger of losing that equilibrium.
Or maybe she just thought she understood.

In front of them, there was Nozomu's figure, who continued to wield his katana, though his entire body was bleeding.

 

“…
Okay, let's do it.”

“Ai, are you serious?”

“That's all we can do.
Besides, we're running out of time right now.”

 

Irisdina replied to Tima's words and gripped the hilt of her rapier.

Irisdina had a point.
It had already been quite some time since Nozomu had released his power.
There was not a moment to lose.

 

“So how do we put the magic into Nozomu's left chest?”

“Mars, you support the front line, and we will cover you from the back.
Basically, the way we did it was the same as before.”

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At that moment, Lisa, who had been listening to the conversation, spoke up.

 

“I'll do it too.
Let me help you.”

“Are you sure? At worst, you will be killed by Nozomu, you know?”

“I have to make things right.
I honestly don't know what I can do, but I can't just stand by and watch this happen!”

 

While clenching her fist so tightly that it felt as if it might shatter the bones in her hand, Lisa revealed her feelings.

 

“Nozomu helped me.
He saved me all the time.
So, if I run away here, I won't be able to stand up again! I'll be throwing away Nozomu's feelings down the drain again! So, please, please ……”

 

With tears in her eyes, Lisa bowed her head and pleaded.

Perhaps, she thought that she didn't even deserve to be there because she kept hurting him.

But still, she didn't want to run away.
She wanted to help him in any way she could.

 

“Tom-kun …”

“I know.
I was considering her too.
Shīna, get me a bow with a broken string, ready to use.”

“Alright.”

“Feo-kun, please repair the broken magic technique.”

“Yes, yes.
Roger that…”

 

Tom and Irisdina gave instructions in quick succession, and everyone else began to move quickly.

Shīna cut a tuft of her own hair with a knife to replace the broken string, tied it together, and hooked it to the top of the bow.

Hair, despite its appearance, was strong and conducted magic power well.

Moreover, even though it was so small that it didn't even come close to a magic stone, a single hair also had the property of accumulating magic power, and women who worked with magic often had long hair in consideration of the time and effort required to maintain it.

On the other hand, Tima, for example, who had too much magic power to control, had her hair only down to her shoulders.

 

Feo took out four talismans from his pocket, piled them on top of each other, and engraved a magic formula on them.

While everyone was moving, Lisa and Irisdina were looking straight at each other.

Irisdina let out an involuntary sigh because she saw a light shimmering like rubies in Lisa's eyes.

She had a strong will to move forward, despite her regrets, repentance, and doubts.
It was because she was strangely similar to the person she had been thinking of.

 

“Lisa-kun, since you don't have a weapon, please cover Feo and the others.
They're defenseless when they're controlling the technique.”

“I understand, thank you …”

“You don't need to thank me.
I want him back just as much as you want him back.
And also…”

” ? “

“No, it's nothing.
Now…”

 

Lisa tilted her head, her red hair fluttering in the wind.

Just a few days ago, she looked like a tower on the sand, ready to collapse at any moment, but now she was looking firmly ahead.

Was it her own inner strength or his influence that had allowed her to change in such a short amount of time?

 

(I envy her.)

 

Irisdina swallowed the words that had been rising to her throat.

She decided to put aside her jealousy and worries about where his feelings were being directed to the side for now.

Gently, she put her left hand on her chest.

She remembered the words she told Nozomu in that forest.

 

(I want to be by your side.
I want you to be by my side.)

 

There was no lie in her feelings.
She was aware of her feelings, and would once again confirm those feelings.

She didn't want to be swept away by the negative feelings that nestle in her heart.

 

“Alright~! Irisdina-san, the preparations are complete!”

“Let's go!”

“Yes!”

 

Black and Crimson.
Two magic powers were raging.

Along with Tom's shout, the two, side by side, ran toward the raging storm.

 

 

 

==========================

 

Author's Note

 

Sol Ala

 

Zonne's true name.
Its true meaning is Wings of the Sun.

As the name implies, it means something that supports the sun and something that leads to the sun's destination, and for a long time, he leads the White Dragon Clan.