RYUU KUSARI NO ORI -KOKORO NO UCHI NO 'KOKORO'-

Chapter 8 Part 47

Translator : PolterGlast

A swarm of black and silver bullets devoured the blood elements that gushed forth.

When Vitora caught sight of the rapier that sprang into the open space, Irisdina swung it without hesitation with her blade strengthened by magic power.

"Tch!"

Vitora parried the cleave with the blade she created with blood element, but Irisdina's rapier instantly devoured and sliced through it. A single wound was carved into the vampire princess's chest.

"Too shallow, huh!"

"You!"

Vitora, impatient due to being pushed into a close distance, drew out her elements without any hesitation.

Then, she slammed it into Irisdina at point-blank range and jumped back from the spot with all her might.

Her impatience was something she had never shown before.

The unfulfilled desire to be satisfied, and the unpredictability of Irisdina's power that unilaterally canceled out her power. It reminded Vitora of the death that might come again and brought her impatience for the first time in her life.

"How unpleasant! What's with this discomfort!?"

Vitora raised her right hand high and produced a huge crimson sphere of light.

The crimson sphere quickly became huge, as if it were a manifestation of her frustration. The crimson sphere quickly grew so large that it swallowed up the cleared grounds of the Francilt mansion.

"Hmph!" f𝘳ℯℯ𝙬𝒆𝚋𝓷oν𝑒Ɩ.c𝑜m

However, a black silvery spear shot out from the rising dust and smoke pierced the crimson ball of light and dispersed it.

What was released was an Intermediate Magic, [Throwing Spear of the Abyss].

However, the fact that a Spirit Magic was erased by a mere single shot of Intermediate Magic, made Vitora's face even more impatient.

"I see. The power and the deployment speed of my magic are both much higher than they have ever been before. I feel a little complicated when I think that this is due to the influence of your blood."

"You..."

"Oya~, is it okay to be too focused only on me?"

The next moment, a strong chill ran down Vitora's spine.

The moment she reflexively leaped from the spot, both of her legs were cut off by the five-colored blades that flew like a flash of light.

"Guh!?"

With her face contorted due to the searing pain, she turned her gaze toward where the slash had come from and saw Nozomu sprinting toward her with his blade at the ready.

He had retrieved his katana while bypassing the barrage of bullets coming from Irisdina.

"~! Don't come any closer!"

"I won't let you!"

Vitora quickly deployed multiple [Thin Garments of the Ice Demon] and tried to release them. However, the barrier deployed by Irisdina protected Nozomu and intercepted the blood-colored battle formation that was coming at him.

Compared to Vitora's magic, the barrier seemed too unreliable. However, [Thin Garments of the Ice Demon] was unable to break through that paper-wall-like barrier.

A few seconds of confrontation. In the meantime, Nozomu, who sheathed his blade, unleashed an overt strike.

"Hmph!"

A single attack burst forth, flying simultaneously with the drawing of the blade. The [One Billion Severance] broke through the battle formation along with the magic barrier and struck Vitora's body.

Vitora's eyes widened in surprise as she was cut in half from the shoulder to the side.

"Gah!? What the hell, that technique shouldn't have been this powerful!"

"Yeah, a mere [One Billion Severance] wasn't enough, so I mimicked Iris's technique and layered ten shots on top of each other."

It only took a few seconds, though.

Originally, Nozomu was able to unleash a superb technique such as [Phantom] in about half a second. In a few seconds, it was not impossible for him to stack multiple [Phantom]s on top of each other.

Until now, he did not have even a few seconds due to Vitora's onslaught, but now that Irisdina had joined the fight, he was able to create enough "build up" for his attacks.

"Fuh!"

While Vitora was holding her cut body, Nozomu was closing the gap between them and swung his fist filled with elements.

After finishing her regeneration, she reflexively raised her hand to catch Nozomu's fist.

"Ugh..."

A rivalry between the vampire princess and the Dragon King's elements. Nozomu was convinced of something when he saw the spectacle of scattering elements and purple lightning in front of him.

"Hey, you're not channeling my elements into the dragons vein right now, are you?"

"~ !?"

Vitora's eyes shook as she heard Nozomu's words.

Despite having immense power, Vitora was still a newly formed spirit. Naturally, it would be difficult to say that she was able to use her power to its fullest extent.

(Above all, for some reason, I began to have trouble using my powers after being hit by that silver-haired girl's magic power. That girl, not only my elements but even my abilities ...)

"Uooooo!"

"Guuuuu!?"

Nozomu, who saw through Vitora's agitation, drew out his power even further.

The sudden increase in pressure blew Vitora away, creating a large gap. Seeing this, Nozomu lowered his hips and sheathed his blade once again.

Once again, a chill ran down her spine. Vitora reflexively turned her gaze to the sky.

The blood elements that reacted to Vitora's thoughts turned into icicles and attacked Nozomu from a blind spot.

"Nozomu, above!"

"~ !"

Nozomu, reacting to Irisdina's cry, jumped back from the spot. Immediately after, countless icicles pierced the ground.

"Tch, I don't care what happens now!"

A Dragon Slayer with his immense power of "destruction" and a girl who could seal both her power and abilities.

Vitora, deciding that a half-hearted attack would be pointless, began to transform her entire being into an attack.

(What is necessary is to prevent those two from working together. To minimize the time they are close to each other. Considering that my power will be nullified by that girl, instead of using a super wide-area technique to disable her, it would be best to break through with a single point of power and speed so fast that it cannot be perceived)

Considering the fact that several of [Thin Garments of the Ice Demon] were nullified, a technique with a wide area of effect would have been less effective.

It was obvious that Irisdina's ability would significantly reduce its power.

"Haaaa..."

The elements that danced in the air, the elements that were sucked in through the dragons veins, and the elements that formed her body and soul, all gathered to a single point and converged repeatedly.

Vitora's humanoid body disintegrated and soon became a single ice spear dyed in the color of blood.

She no longer has a fleshly body. As a spirit, she could change her form at will.

The ice spear was too huge for a human to hold.

It was about the length of six people.

The huge spearhead and its thorn-covered hilt were beautifully shaped and specialized only in piercing power. The tip of the spear was pointed at Irisdina.

"~ !"

A sudden acceleration from zero.

Irisdina reflexively erected a barrier.

Vitora overcame the disadvantage of compatibility with her own techniques and pushed forward toward the heart of her natural enemy.

"Iris!"

Nozomu jumped in from the side and pushed her down.

The ice spear, which just barely missed, pierced the [City Isolation Barrier] in the blink of an eye, and flew into the night sky. The ice spear quickly turned its tip and charged at Nozomu and Irisdina again.

"Damn!"

"Kyaa~!"

Lifting Irisdina's body, Nozomu leaped from the spot. Immediately afterward, Vitora hit the ground, causing a local earthquake, rolling up the ground with the impact.

The ice spear, which had changed direction again on the ground, began charging toward Nozomu and Irisdina for the third time.

"~ !"

While still holding Irisdina in his arms, Nozomu ducked under the ice spear that was plunging toward him, scraping the ground.

Vitora, which had flown into the air, disappeared up into the sky again. Perhaps it would charge at them again, accelerating up from the sky.

Sure enough, the accelerated Vitora charged from the side as if creeping on the ground.

Reflexively, Nozomu attempted to swing his katana, which he held in one hand, but the speed of his opponent was so great that he had no time to raise his katana.

"Nozomu, put me down."

"Guh! Iris, sorry!"

He put down Irisdina, who was embracing him, and swung the blade with both hands, but it was still repelled unilaterally.

"Take this…"

Irisdina shot a magic bullet at Vitora as she flew away, but it didn't hit her.

In the first place, there was too much difference in their speeds. It was so fast that even the magic bullet, which had almost no weight, was left behind.

"Damn, this is not good. Its speed is getting faster and faster."

While repeating the assault, the speed of the ice spear gradually increased.

Vitora's tactic has the same concept as Nozomu's technique. It was a single point penetration by concentrated power.

It might be because she gathered and solidified all of her power that had been flowing out of her. The strength of the ice spear had become strong enough to repel even Nozomu's attack.

On top of that, Vitora would attack aggressively beyond the range of human eyes to see.

For Nozomu and Irisdina, who excelled in close- to medium-range combat, this was a difficult situation.

"Ugh!"

"Kya~..."

Vitora, who repeatedly accelerated more and more, finally accelerated until it was enveloped in a shockwave.

The ice spear, which flew at such a speed that it could not even be seen, pierced, crushed, and blew away everything in its direction of travel.

Nozomu and Irisdina kept moving around to avoid direct hits, but they were gradually exhausted by the rain of debris that was being scattered around them.

At this rate, they would be left with nothing to fight back with.

Nozomu, judging this to be the case, leaped to Irisdina's side as if cutting through the gap between the assaults.

He began to talk to her, with his back turned to hers.

"Iris, I'll manage to stop Vitora's assault, so please, I need you to take her down with the biggest blow you can muster."

Nozomu sheathed the blade he had drawn.

Irisdina, who had guessed what he was going to do just from that, raised her voice in surprise.

"Wait a minute, even you can't catch something flying at such speed!"

"But magic can't catch an object flying at such speed, can it? And besides, the spear itself seems to be getting thinner and longer..."

In fact, Vitora's speed was already too fast for Irisdina's naked eye to perceive.

There was no magic in her arsenal that could restrain an object flying at such a speed.

Furthermore, the spear's thickness, which had been the size of an arm, had been compressed to the size of a fingertip, and the surface area seen from the front had also been significantly reduced.

A super-dense spear, coming at them from so far away that they could not see it.

Up until now, the spear had only failed to hit the target because the target was moving around, and it seemed impossible for Irisdina to stop and intercept it with her rapier from the front.

"Certainly, my magic can't reach it ... Wait, are you actually able to see the spear flying at that speed?"

"Only vaguely visible, somehow..."

"As usual, you are beyond normal..."

Nozomu seemed to be able to somehow see the spear, which in Irisdina's eyes was only a blink of light. Irisdina sighed at him.

The two stood back to back, and a relaxed atmosphere flowed between them, which was out of place on the tense battlefield.

"But I'm glad. I'm glad that I'm entrusted with your back."

"What are you saying, at a time like this..."

"Because I've always been protected by you. So it's a breath of fresh air."

At the mention of that word, his heart skipped a beat.

Certainly, Nozomu had rarely fought alongside Irisdina.

A heat gradually spread from his back. Naturally, his feelings grew stronger and his field of vision widened.

"Are you two all right?"

"This voice..."

"Shina-kun?"

At that moment, Shina's voice came wafting into their ears like a gentle breeze.

If one looked closely, one could see a green spirit hovering around Nozomu's ear, emitting a pale light.

Thanks to Vitora's having retrieved all of her erosive elements, apparently the spirits she had contracted with were now able to come to this place.

"From here on, I'll ask the spirits to watch the Vampire Princess's movements. They will tell me the timing and direction of the attack."

"... Alright. I'm counting on you."

"Yes, leave it to me."

Immediately after that, a flash similar to a meteor shot out through the night sky.

"It's here. Sixty degrees to the left, 80 degrees from the ground, coming from above us!"

"Kuh!"

"Hmph!"

The crimson ice spear, trailing a tail of light, charged from above their heads again. The moment Nozomu and Irisdina jumped away from the spot, the spear pierced the ground with a thunderous roar.

The ice spear reversed on the ground and went back into the sky.

And again, it repeated the assault.

"Next, it will come from right behind Nozomu. It will fly right through the ground!"

"~ !"

With Shina's support, Nozomu and Irisdina were able to have some leeway compared to before, but it was still not enough to turn the situation around.

Vitora, too, seemed to be gradually getting used to the situation, and the accuracy of her assaults was gradually increasing.

Then, as she repeated several assaults and breakaways, she flew high into the sky with even more momentum than before. She began to accelerate more than ever, spiraling.

"She's accelerating while circling above us. Just how much more speed does she intend to increase? ... Even the spirit of the wind can't keep up with it anymore."

The ice spear kept accelerating, circling in a circular motion.

Vitora eventually flew out of the detection range of the spirits in Shina's hands.

"~, it's out of detection!"

"Damn, what do we do now?"

"I'll extend the detection range until the very limit. But that's going to reduce the accuracy..."

"No problem. I'm getting used to it. As long as I know the direction and timing, I'll take care of the rest."

"... Okay. Don't die on me."

"Muu, you two are getting somewhat closer."

"Well, you're physically closer to him though. More importantly, it's coming."

Nozomu and Irisdina, the two of them stood back to back once again, readying their weapons and silently sharpening their respective blades.

The black and silver magic power was continuously enhanced, and the five-colored elements were layered on top of each other on the [Mumei] blade.

On the other hand, Irisdina also enveloped her rapier with black and silver magic power, and applied dozens of reinforcement magic in the blink of an eye.

One second, two seconds ... The scent of fresh air wafted through the air, and only the sound of the wind rustling in the breeze echoed in their ears.

A moment of silence. Despite the situation where a lethal assault would be approaching in a few moments, their hearts were naturally calm and serene.

"~, here it comes! Three o'clock to the right of Irisdina-san! In about three seconds!"

"~ !"

Instantly, Nozomu moved. In a moment, he poured all his remaining concentration into this moment.

The world in his field of vision stagnated and lost its color.

One second. In the gray world, a red dot, approaching at super speed, was clearly visible in Nozomu's vision.

"Fuuh~!"

Two seconds. While turning to the side of Irisdina, he stepped forward with his right foot and strengthened it in accordance with the interlocking muscles.

Three seconds. Drawing the [Mumei] blade. While perfectly synchronizing the movements of his muscles with the strengthening, he pulled out the blade with which he had been overlapping [Phantom] in one stroke.

[Phantom Flash]

Nozomu, awakened as a Dragon Slayer, delivered his most powerful blow, colliding with Vitora's ice spear, which was approaching at supersonic speed.

"~ !?"

"Guuu~!"

Nozomu's entire body felt a shock that could have shattered every bone in his body.

At the same time, the ground rolled up by the shockwave.

The red spearhead and the five-colored extremely sharpened blade competed with each other. A startled expression leaked out from the ice spear.

She probably did not expect to be confronted head-on. Or was she unconsciously trying not to consider it?

Either way, that agitation would bring this battle to a conclusion.

"It's over..."

Irisdina, jumping over Nozomu, raised her rapier.

[Magic Sword - Lunar Eclipse]

The magic sword which is her trump card, layered with enhancement magic.

The blade, which was bound with layers of black and silver magic power, swung down and broke the extremely thin hilt of the red ice spear into four pieces.

"Gah!?"

"Fuuh~!"

A groaning cry of anguish. With resistance gone, the freed [Phantom Flash] severed the Ice Spear vertically.

The severed ice spear disintegrated and the vampire princess appeared.

Her appearance was no longer that of a spirit.

Her crimson skin has returned to that of white, and her body, which should have been made up of elements, has returned to a body of flesh.

"My loss, huh..."

"Did you undo your spiritization?"

"Yeah, it's because of the power of that Francilt's girl, ... Irisdina. I can't even move my fingertips anymore."

The woman who had fallen on her back, Vitora, appeared unable to move a single finger.

Although there was not a single physical wound, her magic power was abnormally weakened. It was as if she were a sick person who had been bedridden for many years.

"Now go ahead and kill me. Then it will be settled."

Vitora glanced at Nozomu and Irisdina, who looked downward at her, and smiled with satisfaction, and then told them to kill her.

Irisdina slowly thrust the [Lunar Eclipse] into Vitora's chest, but she quickly released the magic and sheathed her rapier.

"You are not going to kill me?'

"The original reason you came to this city was to establish diplomatic relations with the Francilt family, and by extension, the Kingdom of Forsina. At this point, I would like you to fulfill that duty."

The establishment of diplomatic relations between the Francilt and Waziart families, and by extension, between Forsina and Dizzard Empire.

Irisdina was pressing Vitora for her commitment to this.

"Oh. Besides, you've destroyed this city to this extent. I have to make sure that you fulfill your responsibility for that. I'll make you pay for the damage you've done."

On top of that, she won't forget to demand compensation for the things she broke. It seemed that she was going to take as much as she could get, including compensation.

"...Very well. It's the privilege of the victor. I will accept all your conditions. And then, Nozomu Bountis. What do you want from me?"

Vitora, who had accepted all of Irisdina's conditions, turned her gaze to Nozomu as she continued.

There was a smoldering heat in her eyes, as if she expected something from him.

"Me? I don't really..."

"Nozomu, that's not good. This victory undoubtedly is thanks to you. Besides, you were the most inconvenienced in terms of your position. You should be compensated accordingly."

Although she was slightly suspicious of the color of Vitora's eyes, Irisdina waited for Nozomu to accept the compensation.

Although Irisdina liked his naivete, she wanted Nozomu to receive his compensation properly on this particular occasion.

More than anything else, Vitora had put her own greed first and forced Nozomu to do something he didn't want to do. Irisdina thought that Vitora should pay for her actions.

"Even if you tell me that now... Then, in that case, I want you to be one of my backers. Lend me your strength when you think I need it."

At first glance, this seemed like a simple request. But for Nozomu, this was the best and most convenient request. Because it could be taken as a form of compensation that is not limited to a certain extent.

Nevertheless, for Nozomu, it would give him a good reputation and an excuse to those who had suffered in various ways as a result of this incident.

Besides, Nozomu has been exposed as a full-fledged Dragon Slayer because of this one incident.

He was aware of the need to take in all kinds of power in order to protect himself and the people around him.

Vitora, on the other hand, was somewhat surprised to hear Nozomu's request.

"...Are you serious? Getting the backing of us vampires?"

"It would already be public knowledge that I'm a Dragon Slayer... And besides, Iris and the others will continue to be involved with you, right? Then it's not a bad thing for me to continue to have some influence over you guys. Am I right?"

"Nevertheless, you could have demanded something a little different..."

"I have the least political power of all of you. I have my limits."

Nozomu smiled an unbecoming smile that was meant to be as implied as possible.

Vitora pondered his words for a while, but then gave a small nod.

"Very well. Except for what Irisdina Francilt asked for, I will support your back with everything I have..."

"Hmm? No, I don't really need everything, I simply need a little help when I need it..."

"What are you saying? You need political power, too, don't you? In that case, you should show them that much. If you use me, no fool will be so quick to touch you. Am I right?"

However, she easily retorted with words that were heavier than expected, and Nozomu's thin plating was easily peeled off.

Next to him, Irisdina was looking downward at Vitora, who had collapsed with a cold look in her eyes. Her gaze was filled with some kind of suspicion.

The battle was over, but the atmosphere was strangely warm, and the [City Isolation Barrier] were disappearing.

Then Shina, who had been supporting them with her spirits, Mars and the others, and Rugato, who had seen the battle come to an end, came running up from behind.

"Nozomu-kun, Irisdina-san, are you all right!?"

"Ane-sama, are you all right?"

"These guys, you sure making me nervous!"

Shina rushed to Nozomu, and Somia rushed to Irisdina.

Then, Mars opened his arms and held all four of them together in a tight embrace.

Victor, Mena, and Lisa were also watching them from a little further back.

"Master, are you all right?"

On the other hand, Rugato came over to the fallen Vitora.

He was somewhat nervous as he held his Master up, but when he saw that she was safe and sound, he smiled with relief.

"Pardon me."

Rugato drew a formation and used his magic to conjure up an umbrella of darkness. The sun was beginning to rise in the eastern sky.

Sunlight is poison to vampires. Normally Vitora would feel nothing with her inexhaustible magic power, but at this moment, she is completely weakened.

"A~, my apologies, Rugato, for taking care of me."

"No, it is my duty to serve you ... I see you have grown up."

The butler, who has served Vitora for many years, must have his own thoughts about his Master.

He muttered these quiet but thoughtful words so that only she could hear them.

Vitora smiled somewhat shyly at the words of her only attendant.

"Are you satisfied?"

"... No, not yet. I've got something I really want now."

Confirming where his Master's gaze was directed, Rugato contemplated silently.

His smile was different from the earlier smile, a sighing, somewhat meaningful smile.

"I see..."

"Well, I'm going to bear with it for now. I can't move my body and I've got things to do."

A Dragon Slayer clad in chains. Staring at the chained swordsman, Vitora turned her gaze, which earlier had contained a slight passion, to the northern sky.

"Ai, everyone!"

In the meantime, Tima and Jihad brought a large number of soldiers with them.

Tima hugged the silver-haired Irisdina and was glad she was safe.

Jihad took one glance at them and then surrounded Vitora with all his soldiers.

"Vitora-dono, I will have you detained. You know the reason, don't you?"

"You think you're the victor here? I was defeated by that Dragon Slayer and that girl, not you."

The soldiers were pressured by Vitora, who grinned belligerently at them.

Even though she was completely exhausted, the soldiers were dealing with a monster that had almost destroyed Arcazam. Even if she was full of wounds, she was still a formidable presence to them.

In fact, even Jihad had a bit of sweat on his forehead.

"Why don't you stop right there?"

"Oi, have you forgotten your promise to me?"

In the midst of all this, words that could be described as a warning resounded.

The two who called out to her were Nozomu and Irisdina.

"I get it. I was just making fun of him a little bit. For now, we'll just be obedient and let them take us captive."

Silently, Vitora closed her eyes and fell asleep.

With his magic umbrella, Rugato held his Master in his arms and bowed to Nozomu and Irisdina.

And then, Jihad and the others took them away.

Nozomu and Irisdina watched Vitola and Rugato leave. The tension that had been building up in their hearts calmed down as if the tide had subsided.

The white chains hovering over Nozomu's body disappeared, and Irisdina's silver hair gradually returned to its original color of lustrous black.

"Iris, your hair..."

"I guess it's because my magic power's back. What do you think?"

Irisdina scooped up her hair, which had returned to its original color, as if to offer it to him, and gently showed it to him.

"It's beautiful. Silver hair was beautiful too, but black suits Iris the best after all."

In response to the words that came out of his mouth so honestly, Irisdina blushed and smiled.

A wide smile without a single shadow on her face. As if caught by her smile, Nozomu's heart naturally became lighter, and a smile appeared on his mouth.

Her whitened hair had become a lump in Nozomu's heart.

He had gone out of control out of anger and turned his blade on his friends. A symbol of his guilt and his own immaturity. It melted and dissolved like ice, along with the knot in his chest.

_{𝑓r𝘦𝘦𝘄eb𝒏𝙤vel.c𝙤𝙢}

Looking up at the eastern sky, the morning sun was fully visible.

"Finally, it's over..."

"Yeah, although you and I still have a lot left to do."

Nozomu, who has practically made it public that he is a Dragon Slayer. He has to explain and prove himself to many people, including about the blood covenant ritual between him and Shina.

Then there is Irisdina, who has become something other than a human being. She, too, has her life completely overturned.

She will probably be hit by another big storm many times in the future.

But for now, the two of them looked at each other in the light of the rising sun and smiled with relief at the dawn of a long night.

"Oh right, Nozomu, if you have some free time, will you go out with me?"

"Eh?"

"I have something I need to tell you."