The Crisis World XX

Chap. 137: Solilokui Murasaki Oita

They're evolving.

That's what I can assure you after fighting with them. I don't know why I'm upset because they're so developed when I don't see them.

That was the reason I recruited them first. Herlin-chan whose parents are both gone, while Iraya-kun is looking for strength to protect her mother. And they all kept growing after that.

Damnit. My busyness taking care of that stupid Kuni no Hashira left me not having much time to pay attention to them.

After returning home from school, Iraya-kun and Herlin-chan took a short break at the Cafe and after that they went to practice. On the back hill, huh? I should've checked them a lot while training there.

Regret after regret continued to be drawn in my head when thinking about the two of them. They are the members that I love the most— does not mean that others I do not pay attention to.

But as the youngest duo in the organization makes them interesting to note its development. Their talent was still very raw, but the potential emitted was so dazzling that it made me unable to help but squint my eyes when I saw it.

Let's just say it, Herlin-chan. He joined when he was still Junior High in 2nd grade. Then after that he entered The One Tournament for the first time because I told him about it and he was interested in following it.

Then after that what? He qualified for the last eight despite being the youngest participant in that year's tournament. Although in the end he lost due to his own negligence and Herlin-chan was very sorry about it. He was tricked into tricks he had never faced before. Unique Skills. At that time he did not understand anything about it and was destroyed by it.

But after his defeat he continued to train, train, and train. Defeating the monsters in the back hill which was originally a dangerous area and can now be entered by even small children. All thanks to Herlin-chan.

Then another secret I have is his The Unseen, which has followed him for as long as I can remember. Even when he was very small when I visited him at Yuuki-san orphanage, the monster had followed him.

At first I did not understand what made the monster keep following him, but after the explanation from the expert person about him, only then did I understand. The Unseen it— Banshee is a legacy. The inheritance given to Herlin-chan to continue to guard her.

I met directly with them— with Herlin-chan's parents, while in the orphanage. At midnight, those in shabby and scarred condition stood exhausted in front of the orphanage while holding the 3-month-old baby that they had directly given to Yuuki-san.

Then the last message Herlin-chan's father gave me was something very simple, 'Please take care of her for us'. Then they left, without a trace and disappeared as if they had never been there.

Then Iraya-kun. Heh .... My encounter with him was the funniest of all the people I've ever met. Herlin-chan brought it to me and asked me to check if there was anything strange with her or not.

And what I found was more than strange. That was amazing. There are rumors that Astaroth's test subjects managed to escape from the lab, but I can't believe it. After seeing this child, my eyes opened.

I almost laughed when I found out that the missing subject was inside Iraya-kun's body. Isn't that too good to be coincidental? It was a miracle— no, a miracle even.

So I tried to recruit him into Black Rain no matter how. Although he initially refused, but I was sure that he would definitely return. And my estimate is correct. He had accidentally entered into an impossible hell to get out of there.

Then in the end, she joined us and was trained by Herlin-chan. Basically, he is just an ordinary High School boy who has advantages in his physique. Why would I know? He could hold a creature as powerful as Subject C inside his body and not die from it.

But it was still not enough to make him survive on this side of the world. He had even just activated his aura when joining us, so he was completely raw.

And all that has been over for almost a year.

Now I'm fighting them both instead of using my real body. Is correct. I was actually dead against Astaroth back then, but somehow I was able to live again and moreover my body was different.

But I realized that Astaroth was also dead, that means they all managed to defeat him without me? It made me smile endlessly and a sense of pride bloomed in my chest.

It was me who selfishly handed over my responsibility to them to defeat Astaroth who was far from their abilities back then. But they can win! I don't care how, but they won! Killing someone who endangers this country, they are already on par with other Japanese legends.

Anyone print posters and display their faces on every street corner in the country! They just saved the country from outside invaders! But unfortunately it won't happen. Because there are no witnesses— except maybe other Black Rain members, so they will not be recognized as easily as that.

Ehem ...! Let's forget the story of how happy I am to find them. Returning to my current condition, I was fighting with them using the bodies of others. It's only natural that they don't realize it, but it seems like my aura has changed a little, huh? My aura mixed with the body of this child and they could not recognize it.

It was Astaroth's nephew who made me this way and he was now watching me from a safe place along with his servant. I don't know exactly where they are, but I can sense their whereabouts.

God fucking. Realizing that I can't move my body freely and be controlled by someone makes me want to kill myself— but it still can't be done.

Hah .., okay. We're back in the fight for a while. For a while I used the aura I formed into a thread thread that came out from the tip of my finger.

How do I do it, you ask? Its simple. My Invisible Hands technique is actually a flexible aura that I can change to any shape as I see fit. And because the hand is the most efficient form of doing anything, so I chose that shape.

Herlin-chan tried to hit me with ruins that were almost three times as big as my body. Luckily I was able to avoid him, he did not know that his opponent was Oita-san whom he admired so much.

Now I lean behind the rubble and think about what I should do next. The speed of Iraya-kun did surprise me, but I was still able to follow. Then the matter of Herlin-chan wearing a sword, it doesn't seem like a big deal.

I grinned. I've devised a plan for this attack to surprise them. I have my own plans for this fight anyway, I won't forget about it.

I turned my body around and threads of aura came back out from all my fingers. The aura thread then extended and quickly surrounded the debris, after which it cut it roughly so that it shattered into pieces.

I walked past the rubble I just destroyed. The flying dust slowly disappeared making my vision clearly able to look at the shocked faces of the two of them.

The grin on my face has not disappeared. While I formed 'X' both my hands in front of my chest and the thread of aura that had lengthened back shortened but still danced freely on each of my fingers.

"Well, can we start again?"

"So that's not enough, is it?"

"I don't think it's going to be that easy."

They realized. It can't be that easy to defeat me, so try harder! Make me try hard and acknowledge your strength!

"It looks like this is the first time you guys have fought together, huh? You still have a lot of flaws!"

"Herlin, are you ready?"

"Yes." Yeah."

They didn't listen to me. Moreover, it seemed that there was already something they were preparing for. Yeah, I'll follow whatever their plan is, anyway. Although my strength is not one hundred percent, but I will not lose easily with you guys!

He closed his eyes. Then an electric spark again appeared at Iraya-kun's feet, it seemed like he was going to start moving fast again. Unfortunately it's useless, as long as I can figure out where your aura is, then your attack will have nothing to do.

Eh?

He didn't attack me?

It had been quite a long time for an electric spark to appear at Iraya-kun's feet and had even spread to his thigh. A moment! Something's wrong with this! This was different from the previous one, what was he going to do?!

"I'm ready, Herlin," he said.

Zwuush...

He's streaking. Faster than before. It was as if lightning had just struck at me. My eyes can't keep up with his movements, what the hell?! I just found out he can move so fast. Is his body okay? It doesn't burn, does it?! Is Subject C in it protecting it? Right, I think that's the answer. But what if not?!

As I was daydreaming and thinking, suddenly my instinct told me to look back. A shadow covered the moonlight behind me and made me look up and evasive reflexes.

He slashed me back. The technique is different from the one possessed by Iraya-kun, more so to the ancient Japanese times? I don't know, maybe so. But his experience cannot lie. Even though he was a genius, there were some movements that clearly looked still rough and raw.

I retaliated, tried to attack his neck and face, and managed to slash his ears and cheeks. But it did not relax his attack, he seemed to be indifferent to the wounds on his body.

"You're going to kill yourself with a raw attack like that, you know!"

"really?"

The answer was cold as his usual nature. And after that, my body stiffly unable to move, Herlin-chan returned to using her power on me. But it's too easy to neutralize.

"Ughh ...!"

Although I managed to rid myself of the Mind Power effect, but he used that minute to attack me and succeeded. The diagonal slash marks were created quite large from the chest to the upper part of my heart. He's really great. But ....

"Enough."

"??!!"

His eyes widened when my kick hit him right in the mouth of his heart and made him grimace and bounce far away until he hit the wall.

"You guys are getting serious, it seems like I can't keep messing around either."

From behind the dust of the rubble, Iraya-kun appeared beside me and prepared to slash at me vertically. Even though he was fast, the sound of electric sparks in his body made me realize his whereabouts and know where he was coming from.

I let it attack, but I spread both my hands and a thread of aura widened in front of my chest. His slash was received by the aura thread and was restrained there. I realized that the blade is made of aura, so Iraya-kun has been able to retain the aura for quite a long time, huh? Real nice.

"What-what?!"

He tried to pull back the blade of his sword, but it was as if it was stuck there.

"Still less."

I pulled out a thread of aura and automatically Iraya-kun who was holding the sword was carried down, then without pause I kicked his face with a knee and went straight in there. Making her nose nosebleed profas— looks like it's broken.

"Akhh ...!"

His blade slowly disappeared into a green particle that flew into the air and then disappeared, leaving behind a hilt that had never escaped from his grasp since. I think he has passed the first lesson of being a swordsman— never let go of your grasp of the sword.

But still, a knee kick to the nose certainly weakens him as well as his grasp. I then immediately kicked her stomach and Iraya-kun was bouncing far back— still trying to get up.

Hoo~ good fighting spirit. At least that's what I should be thumbs up for. His face was a mess but I could still see a glare of wrath and anger painted there. Comeing! Don't lose focus!

Anger is necessary, but don't let it blind you. Herlin-chan was still stuck in the crater of the wall due to the impact of the attack I gave her, while Iraya-kun was also getting exhausted. I folded my arms around my chest and shouted at them.

"Are you sure you can win against me with your only ability?! That means you guys are nothing more than naive brats!"

"D-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-damn it."

Iraya-kun is still fine as he can still curse at me. Herlin-chan .... He didn't move— nor did blood pour from his temple.

Indeed he was someone who had a body that was lacking in physical combat, it was the inevitable weakness of a Mind Power. So I was still confused by his decision to learn to sword.

Oh yeah, I remember. For the sake of saving the kidnapped Iraya-kun back then, huh? Then the moment he met me, I slightly felt the aura of Subject C within his body.

Is it because of that? That means Subject C managed to get out of Iraya-kun's body in time and then temporarily transferred to Herlin-chan's body. But isn't that dangerous? I mean, humans and spirits can't just unite in one body.

They need a match. Even Heiwa Pharmacy requires many human trials to find a human that matches Subject C. And two little kids in my place with super dupers just happened to have a match for Subject C.

It's not a miracle anymore. That's his name arrangement. I shook my head refusing to believe it. No, it's not possible. Something like that only happens in teen fantasy light novels or something like that.

But if let's just say it's true, what does that have to do with Herlin-chan studying swordsmanship? No, was it from the beginning that they were related?

"?!!"

My eyes are shocked. Suddenly I knew the answer. The answer was so easy even that I wanted to curse myself for not realizing it.

There was no such thing as a miracle that made the two children in my place suddenly match up with Subject C. Because of that incompatibility that made Herlin-chan learn to sword.

Aye!

Because he could not use his aura!

It was like finding a jackpot when I found the answer. He tried to cover up his shortcomings with sword science, because Mind Power-type Exception without his ability was only equivalent to an ordinary human.

But still it was a desperate act. If she has Subject C inside her body, it means Herlin-chan is fighting without using aura.

Against an Assassin without aura? It defies the death of his name. Realizing that made me accidentally smile bitterly. You're a kid, damn it. The act of wasting lives is so unsuitable for you.

You asked me for help in person. And I rejected it subtly because fighting Astaroth and his subordinate Assassins was blatantly suicide. And then you do that kind of thing without telling me.

For Iraya-kun, huh? Who he is to you until you go that far. A classmate? Fellow organization? The family? Or maybe a couple of lovers? Marry you two there!

Thinking about it for too long made my head even more dizzy. I don't know the exact reason why Herlin-chan did that, but I'm glad it went well. Then I looked outside, at the shattered window and made the full moon clear.

"The meaning of youth~" That's all that comes out of my mouth after a long thought about it.

Seriate