Chương 86: Interlude3: Warriors of the Outer Ring (Part 3)

I charged straight at the monster in front of me and swung once. The sword cut upward from the lower right exactly as intended, cleanly bisecting the first monster in front of me! With the returning stroke, I took another step forward and cut down the one on the left. Move. Faster. Faster! My body was dead after the two-stage slash, unable to maintain zanshin. The monsters were still there. Increase my speed! Move! The enemy's beams wouldn't wait for me!

"Yuji, right!" At Suguru's shout, I jumped backward. A fireball passed right in front of me, engulfing the monster in flames and burning it to nothing. That made three! But there were still more.

"My image is a hibachi. The target is the monster. It burns until it becomes ash. Become predominantly white ash... how unfortunate." What I heard was a line from a tanka poem. Three monsters glowed red-hot and turned to ash. That was the one-armed man's magic. Suguru probably wasn't using that kind of image for his magic. The battered man was still forcing himself to fight alongside us, squeezing every last bit of strength from his body. Then, as the vanguard, I had to move forward! It was fine.

A tailwind was blowing. The last one. If we could just hold this one off, we could get him to the rear.

"You monsters! You're not getting past me!" The pig-faced monster swung something. The trajectory— A slash? I instinctively pulled my sword back and prepared to receive it, but something struck me, and a sharp pain shot through my left shoulder and right thigh.

"Don't move! Medicine!" Thanks to Suguru pouring medicine over me from behind, the pain subsided somewhat, but it didn't seem like the wounds had actually closed. I glanced at my thigh. The flesh that had been sliced wide open was slowly trying to close.

"Do you know what that is!?"

"... Probably wire. Extremely thin, razor-sharp wire. Several people were killed by it." Wire... Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Extremely thin, hard-to-see, razor-sharp wire. Its shape was irregular. When I tried to receive it, I couldn't block it, and I had been cut. What should I do? Cut the wire? No. It would get tangled. Deflect it? I couldn't even see the wire. I didn't know if I could match its trajectory. Block it? I had already been cut doing that.

The result was right there. Then what could I do? What was it that I was supposed to do? What was my—"The wire will burn. Partner, make some wind. Burn the wire!"

"If there's wind, I can work with that, too. You finish it. We'll provide the weapons. We'll make you a path." The partner behind me— my tailwind— was reassuring. And the man helping us was a veteran. Then there was no reason we should lose! Think! The wire burns. The wire is shapeless. But wind could gather it! Create a tornado— No. That would be too big. If I knew I couldn't create it with a sword, then what could I create it with? I dodged the monster's slash by predicting its trajectory and jumping backward.

But I couldn't evade everything, and the number of wounds increased. The other two supported me, but they couldn't deliver the decisive blow.

"Wind blows." She had said that. There was no doubt. I had a tailwind behind me. If that was true, then I could do this.

"You two, I need you to help me! Set the fire across the whole area, including that thing!"

"What!? Are you trying to get yourself killed!?"

"You have a plan?"

"I do!" The one-armed man made his decision immediately, and my partner also produced fire after thinking it through. The flames burned fiercely. They were certainly hot. Just standing there was enough to burn my skin. But without this situation, I still couldn't form a firm enough image. The stance I took was the side stance. It was fine. I had won the Inter-High with this. I could create wind. I had blown First's hat away. Then I should be able to do this. It was obvious.

"Whirlwind!" As I swung upward, the wind I released turned into an updraft from the flames and began to spiral. The monster swung something, but the wind caught it and carried it away before it could reach us. Then this was the moment! With the opening the three of us had created, I could finish it! I cut upward and raised my sword overhead. I stepped in and brought it down. The overhead stance reached the head faster than any other. The countless head strikes I had practiced.

It was only natural that this one would hit.

"I've got you!" The slash traveled straight down the centerline, turning the monster into a crystal and bringing the battle to an end. I won. There were no monsters in sight. Only now did my heart begin pounding like crazy. The sensation of being alive. My lungs desperately wanted oxygen, forcing me to breathe heavily with my shoulders.

"Suguru, you okay? You're covered in wounds."

"Yeah. Hurts like hell, but I'm fine—ow!" I could move, but it hurt! Burns and cuts. My bones weren't broken, but the wounds were deep. Still, my arms and legs were attached. My fingers were still there. I drank one potion and poured another over my head, which made things somewhat better.

"I know it's strange coming from me, but you're seriously injured, too..."

"Hey! Brother, don't die! Suguru, this guy's in bad shape!" The strong guy collapsed! He had already been battered when he came to fight with us. He must have pushed himself way too hard. Shit. I didn't want this man to die!

"Are you an idiot!? You're in bad shape too! I'll handle things from here. I'll carry him. You... can you run?"

"... Yeah. We can complain later. I'm counting on you, partner."

"Leave it to me, partner." I dragged my aching body forward and ran. It was only five hundred meters at most. But for a body in this condition, even that distance was brutal.

"You two okay!? Holy shit, you're beat to hell! Get over here! Hey! Tachibana-san! We've got seriously wounded people!"

"Where!?... Miyafuji-kun!? Are you two all right, too?" Somehow, we made it back. Waiting for us was the worn-out old man from earlier, along with Tachibana-san, who had run over. Apparently, the one-armed man's name was Miyafuji-san. Tachibana-san took the battered man away, while I drank another potion and decided to stay there. When the announcement came that the final monsters would be appearing, the smoke near the Gate grew thicker.

She was probably fighting an even more vicious enemy there than the ones we had fought. Suguru and the old man both told me to go to the hospital. But I wanted to stay until the very end. It hurt like hell, but I didn't want to leave.

"You really are a strange kid. If it were me, I'd get to the hospital as fast as I could."

"Yeah. I just want to see how it ends."

"What a stubborn kid... You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah." The three of us—Suguru, the old man, and I—sat there and watched Akihabara. In the end, we couldn't tell what was happening. There was nothing but smoke and sound. Before long, the sounds stopped. Then we heard helicopters in the distant sky.

"Oh yeah, kid. You still want one? I said I'd give you another if you survived."

"I'll take it."

"Then let me light it for you." I put the cigarette between my lips, and Suguru lit it for me. The unfamiliar cigarette made me cough again. The ash falling from the fucking awful cigarette looked melancholy, like the people who had fallen across the battlefield.