Chapter 7
"...Then, that, Vatlantis Empire you said...just what's with that? I never heard of it."
"It's a great empire, ruling over half of the world you know? How unfortunate for you to not know of it."
"There is no way something like that exists! Just where the heck can that large empire exist!"
Aldea cheerfully smiled and pointed behind her with an elegant gesture.
The scenery behind her was like a scenery that floated on a water surface, it was shaking gently.
――An Entrance.
The point of contact that connected the world of this side with another universe. It was a puzzling wall with rectangle shape. The size was varied, the big one had height of several hundred meters. The length could even reach several kilometers. It had no thickness, it was transparent, so its existence was hard to notice. However when it was looked carefully, the scenery on the other side of the Entrance was swaying like looking through a distorted mirror or water. Right now, such thing was certainly existing behind Aldea.
"It's on the other side you know. Isn't that obvious. Geez, please don't make fun of me."
She sent the two a lovely, reproaching gaze.
This woman, was she saying that she was an AU person?
Kizuna didn't know which was which anymore.
Was this a joke,
Was this the truth,
Was she sane,
Was she mistaken,
'――Nee-chan.
If it was Nee-chan, what would she do in this kind of time?'
"Are you questions over already?"
"Wha...n, no! Just wait. I cannot believe what you are saying, no rather than that, I cannot understand!"
"My my, that's unfortunate. Then, I wonder if I can ask already? What is the name of your magic armor?"
"――Sh, shut up! I won't say!"
'Shit-! I don't want to be asked that, even by a self-proclaimed AU person!'
"My, how unfriendlyy...well, it's only something without signature anyway though."
With a dubious gaze, Himekawa faced Aldea.
"Do you have proof about your claim as an AU person? Just what in the world are you doing here? What is your objective?"
"Yes, yes, about that. To start with my first objective is…"
Aldea's eyes shone bewitchingly.
"to take out the core from inside your body."
――She came!?
"Himekawa, be careful!"
Kizuna put up his guard.
Himekawa withdrew her Sword and pointed its tip at Aldea.
"Fufu-♪"
All of a sudden the parts surrounding Aldea detached from her.
'Wha-!?'
This woman, she purged(released) her Heart Hybrid Gear!?
Normally when Heart Hybrid Gear was purged, it went back into light particles. But, Zeel's parts that detached from Aldea didn't vanish and stayed in the air, forming a line in front of Aldea. The detached parts had the shape like a long and slender shield of reverse pentagon. Round part was installed on top of it, it was like the circular shield of ancient Rome was combined with the reverse pentagon shield of middle age knights. There were six in total, all were lining up protecting Aldea.
"You intend to shield yourself? Something like that――"
Light ran through the Blades floating at Himekawa's back. They raised a low rumbling and flew out in a glide.
"These Blades will pierce them!"
Like a shot arrow, the Blades flew heading to Aldea.
And then, they impacted the shields lined up before Aldea.
But――,
"Eh!?"
The Blades bounced back. It was not something simple like it was merely deflected by the shield.
The instant they hit the shields, the Blades distorted. They warped flexibly like rubber, in the next instant they flew away as if being pulled to a different direction. The control was completely lost and the Blades stabbed the ground and the mountain of rubble while rotating.
"Wha..."
Himekawa's expression tensed from being taken aback by surprise.
"My my, I wonder if the famously rumored Neros is unexpectedly not a big deal?"
Aldea smiled and reached her hand to one of the shields.
The shield shined radiantly and transformed into the shape of a spear.
p099
Aldea held that spear in her hand and smiled happily.
Something shuddering ran through Kizuna's back.
"Himekawa, run away-!!"
Igniting their thrusters, Kizuna and Himekawa fell back behind in one breath.
Pursuing after them, Aldea kicked the ground.
She was charging at them with her spear prepared.
Kizuna and Himekawa slipped through the steel frames that were like a forest. They flew glidingly in super low altitude and circled behind the tilting big building.
Kizuna deployed Life Saver while turning back. Himekawa readied her Sword and was alert of the opposite side.
――Where would she come from?
"Himekawa. If that woman comes, I'll block her attack with the Life Saver. At that opening――"
The wall of the building concealing them warped.
"...-!?"
As if forming a vortex, a huge hole was opened in the building's wall. The wall was by no means crushed, the concrete was by no means smashed. It was not a realistic spectacle, it was like an image that was digitally processed. The edge of the hole distorted, it was like the hole was forcibly widened that it was visibly rippling.
And then Aldea holding her spear was walking gracefully inside that large hole.
It was an impossible sight.
That phenomenon that Kizuna's common sense couldn't understand made him unable to move his body.
"Hi...Hida-kun. This is?"
Himekawa was also the same like him.
"Ufufu. It's no good. After all nothing exists that can obstruct my path."
Aldea spoke so happily, then she waved the spear in her hand horizontally. The spear touched the wall of the tunnel.
At that instant, the building was destroyed.
"Wha-! Whaatt!?"
It was as though the building was blown away directly horizontal, the building was collapsing at Kizuna and Himekawa's direction.
"UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Kizuna activated his Life Saver amidst the raining down rubble and escaped. However, Kizuna and Himekawa's bodies were sent flying, they tumbled around on the ground.
"Kuh...Himekawa! Are you okay!?"
He faced the densely enshrouding dusts and yelled.
"Ye, yes. I'm alri――"
Aldea with spear in hand flew out from inside the cloud of dust.
Himekawa immediately deployed her Life Saver.
――Eh!?
The moment the tip of the spear touched the Life Saver, the Life Saver's light shield distorted.
From the gap of the Life Sphere's distortion, the spear touched the palm of Himekawa.
The hand jumped.
As if it was pulled by an unseen power.
"Thi, this is!?"
Aldea's pulled her arm and pushed out her spear once more.
This time the spear touched Himekawa's stomach.
An impact that she had never experienced until now pierced Himekawa's body.
It was as if the inside of her stomach broke through to her back, a strange sensation. And then, with that point as the center the whole body was pulled. As if the direction of gravity was changed, Himekawa was blown away horizontally.
"Guh, HAAaAAA-!"
Himekawa's body was rotating strangely while plunging into a mountain of rubble.
'――Wha, what was that, just now.
A spear attack?
The spear itself almost had no offensive power at all.
However, this is?'
"Himekawa, are you safe!?"
Kizuna's figure was visible at the other side of the cloud of dust.
"Ye, yes! But, please be careful. Life Sphere doesn't work against that spear!"
"What did you say!?"
When Kizuna stood up with tottering legs, he glared at Aldea who appeared from inside the dust smoke.
Aldea smiled cheerfully and thrust her spear on the ground. And then, she moved her spear to the side like that, drawing a line below her.
'――What is she planning to do?'
The rubble under Aldea's feet swelled up.
"Wha..."
The ground shook.
'――Earthquake? No...this is.'
He got a bad feeling.
The rubble under Aldea's legs undulated. Its height was gradually increasing while advancing here.
"That looks bad...Himekawa!"
Himekawa was collapsed several tens of meters from him.
"Hida...kun."
He rushed to the location of Himekawa that was still unable to stand up, then he dragged her body along and ran away.
"We are escaping Himekawa!"
"Bu...but"
Himekawa's eyes were opened wide in shock.
When Kizuna looked back, a gigantic wall made tremors in the land while approaching them.
That was a tsunami made from rubble.
Concrete and steel frame, fragments of building and car wreckage, all those became one mass approaching at them.
That sight was like the whole city was vertically towering over them.
Deploying Life Saver would make them completely swallowed.
The gigantic tsunami of rubble covered the above of their heads, the night sky was being encroached by the darkness of the rubble.
'――Damn it all, we cannot escape!'
Kizuna and Himekawa were enveloped in the darkness and the sound of destruction raised by the rubble.
That darkness was pierced by a single golden light.
That light gouged out the darkness, from there the face of the starry sky and moon came out.
The next moment, dazzling lights and explosions spread, then shockwaves struck their face.
"Wha, what the!?"
The golden light evaporated the rubble, blowing away the tsunami.
This was――a golden large caliber particle cannon.
Differential Frame!
"Yurishia!"
He could see golden light hovering in the sky bathed in moonlight. Golden light was leaking out from the Differential Frame on her back.
"I thought it was strange that you two didn't come no matter how long we waited! What is all this commotion!?"
And then one more light, a blue light rushed through the night sky and landed besides Kizuna.
Lightly brushing the shining silver hair with her hand, she gazed at Aldea with her red eyes.
"I want to ask in detail about this situation and who that person is, but...well, it's all the same if we just capture that person and make her confess."
Aine's boastful talk felt reassuring for some reason right now.
"My my, further two more are coming. This saves me the hassle of searching...my?"
Aldea stopped her movement. For some reason, she was staring fixedly at Aine.
"White magic armor...you, you are the child firing that absurdly destructive large cannon aren't you?"
Aldea's eyes shined.
"As expected, it's a magic armor I have never seen before. Silver hair...red eyes."
'――Aldea's state is strange.'
She was oddly excited looking at Aine.
"Hey, what is your name?"
"I don't have any name to introduce to someone like you, but I'll teach you specially. It's Chidorigafuchi."
Aldea touched her finger on her cheek, making a thinking gesture.
"I wonder where is your birthplace?"
"....It's Tokyo in Japan. The place you all stole."
"Hmm―m."
Aldea hummed. And then――"...Then, that, Vatlantis Empire you said...just what's with that? I never heard of it."
"It's a great empire, ruling over half of the world you know? How unfortunate for you to not know of it."
"There is no way something like that exists! Just where the heck can that large empire exist!"
Aldea cheerfully smiled and pointed behind her with an elegant gesture.
The scenery behind her was like a scenery that floated on a water surface, it was shaking gently.
――An Entrance.
The point of contact that connected the world of this side with another universe. It was a puzzling wall with rectangle shape. The size was varied, the big one had height of several hundred meters. The length could even reach several kilometers. It had no thickness, it was transparent, so its existence was hard to notice. However when it was looked carefully, the scenery on the other side of the Entrance was swaying like looking through a distorted mirror or water. Right now, such thing was certainly existing behind Aldea.
"It's on the other side you know. Isn't that obvious. Geez, please don't make fun of me."
She sent the two a lovely, reproaching gaze.
This woman, was she saying that she was an AU person?
Kizuna didn't know which was which anymore.
Was this a joke,
Was this the truth,
Was she sane,
Was she mistaken,
'――Nee-chan.
If it was Nee-chan, what would she do in this kind of time?'
"Are you questions over already?"
"Wha...n, no! Just wait. I cannot believe what you are saying, no rather than that, I cannot understand!"
"My my, that's unfortunate. Then, I wonder if I can ask already? What is the name of your magic armor?"
"――Sh, shut up! I won't say!"
'Shit-! I don't want to be asked that, even by a self-proclaimed AU person!'
"My, how unfriendlyy...well, it's only something without signature anyway though."
With a dubious gaze, Himekawa faced Aldea.
"Do you have proof about your claim as an AU person? Just what in the world are you doing here? What is your objective?"
"Yes, yes, about that. To start with my first objective is…"
Aldea's eyes shone bewitchingly.
"to take out the core from inside your body."
――She came!?
"Himekawa, be careful!"
Kizuna put up his guard.
Himekawa withdrew her Sword and pointed its tip at Aldea.
"Fufu-♪"
All of a sudden the parts surrounding Aldea detached from her.
'Wha-!?'
This woman, she purged(released) her Heart Hybrid Gear!?