Chapter 8

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.

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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――

{The goddess dance. Nothingness, and death, and emperor. And then to eternity.}

Aldea sang something like a song.

'――Ha?'

Kizuna was reflexively taken aback.

Himekawa and Aine were also the same like him.

Only Aldea was staring at Aine with eyes shining in anticipation.

What was that spell just now?

Or else, was that a poem or something?

By any chance, did Aine understand its meaning?

However Aine was scowling her face with all her heart.

――What's the meaning of that?

Her expression was telling so.

Aine stepped forward and stomped.

"I don't understand what you are running your mouth about, but calmly let us take you away. That's right...we will prepare a party for your sake. A brawling party though."

Aldea's shoulders dropped in disappointment.

"My, what a lovely invitation. But, I'll refrain myself for now."

She smiled elegantly while heaving an exaggerated sigh.

"Aa― aa, how unfortunate. For some reason, I suddenly lost my motivation."

Aldea gracefully raised her hand and snapped her slender and willowy fingers audibly.

Thereupon, as if affected by that sound, the Entrance at her back swayed noticeably.

"What...the?"

Something, was coming?

Was that woman, ordering something to come out from the Entrance?

Something was coming out, a body.

Inside the landscape that was like a water surface, something was gradually becoming clear.

An object that seemed to be glowing was approaching from the other side of the Entrance.

As if emerging to the surface, that thing came out.

A gigantic sphere of light with diameter around ten meters.

A spiraling pattern was continuing to move on the surface like a whirl, it vaguely resembled Jupiter.

That sphere was floating in the air, it was slowly coming here.

"That child will become your opponent. The Core can be taken even after death after all, so rest assured and die, okay?"

She said that child...was that a living thing?

Even while he was wracking his brain about the thing's true form, the mysterious sphere was rapidly approaching near.

"Tha...that's..."

Himekawa's eyes were opened wide in shock.

"Himekawa, you understand what that thing is?"

"...Dra…"

Himekawa's body was shaking, her teeth were clattering audibly.

The sphere stopped still.

They were confronting the sphere with distance of a hundred meters between the two sides.

"Dragon..."

What?

A crack entered the sphere.

Intense light was gushing out from the crack.

"Just what in the world is inside――"

The sphere burst.

"――UOWAAAA-!"