episode_0107

000

Beneath the blackly burning sky, a desperate battle to stop Humbaba continued within the deployed barrier.

Thanks to Beatrix’s assistance, Kuon also had some leeway, and when her powerful divine magic cleared away Humbaba’s mud,

Coleon swung his sword, and in the moment he reached out his arm through the gap that had been created to grab Rail.

An eerie `death energy` spread from Enkidu’s shattered armor.

[You fool…! Soul Eater Metal is a metal forged by absorbing a large number of souls…! Destroying it will release the vengeful spirits within…!]

“This is getting out of hand…!”

Dozens, hundreds of coalesced souls were released, and the shockwave forced Coleon to step back.

Then, the souls, like white mist, passed through Humbaba’s mud and used their incorporeal bodies to escape outside the barrier.

They used Humbaba’s mud as flesh and transformed into an undead army walking about.

Their forms were like grotesque humans burned or melted by acid, manifesting the very souls of wraiths who had been trapped within Enkidu for thousands of years, unable to go anywhere and merely exposed to the malice of the ancients.

Screams echoed outside the barrier due to the sudden appearance of the enemy.

“If they’re undead, it’s the clergy’s turn! Everyone! Don’t spare your divine power!”

As the head of the theology department shouted, who was assisting the spellcasters, the divine magic of the clergy around him was unleashed.

Unfortunately, however, these undead were different from ordinary undead.

“H, black magic field!? Are these undead generating it!?”

The souls that had clung to Enkidu, forged in hell, for a long time were naturally emitting black magic under the influence of hell’s demons, reducing the power of divine magic.

“Ugh…! We must protect the barrier casters even if we have to throw ourselves!”

As the head of the theology department shouted with quick judgment, the clergy stood their ground, though their legs were trembling.

At the moment the advancing army of death was about to swing its grotesque bodies at the clergy standing in front of the barrier casters.

Someone flew in from the side, smashing the undead on the spot with a kick of powerful force.

The orbs embedded in the gauntlets on both hands were harmonized with yin and yang magic power.

Coleon’s eyes widened as he saw the owner of the kick.

“Demis!”

Demis, the vice-head of the theology department.

“It’s been a while. Instructor. I came to help.”

Behind Demis, theology students, likewise in combat stances, stood blocking the undead, wielding their weapons at them.

“Have you… regained your memories?”

“Yes, thanks to my sister.”

Demis’s sister – that is, the original head of the theology department and one of the few people who hadn’t lost their memories.

Since that day, she had been wandering around outside doing something; could it be that-

“She mixed bodies with all the theology students once, transferring the factor to all of us.”

“Y, you’re still the academy’s top-class bitch…!”

In other words, the culprit behind the recent attacks was Riomes.

The theology students had been waiting for the right time after receiving the factor-.

“Instructor! We helped you, so you have to do it for us when this is over!”

“We’ll serve you with our sisters’ breasts this time for sure!”

“Pairoo! Roozri! Please concentrate!”

The students, though fighting in a disorderly manner, were reliably eliminating the undead by using techniques to control life force and magic power.

Coleon felt even a modicum of respect for Riomes, exclaimed in admiration, and then raised the corner of his mouth, turning back to Humbaba.

The monster’s face was full of annoyance and disgust, looking at the humans who were hindering him as if they were loathsome.

“The problem with the undead is solved…! All that’s left is to repeat this until the souls you’ve stored run out, and then pull out Rail inside!”

[I won’t let you!!]

At the same time as Coleon’s shout, Humbaba rushed in, as if to prevent the core from being taken away, and once again mud covered the opened area.

“It’s useless!”

But the wound had already been left behind; even without Kuon’s divine magic, if Iona poured in the divine power she contained, the mud would not be able to maintain its shape and would scatter.

Once again, a huge gash was carved into Enkidu’s torso this time as well.

`Crack-!!`

As the blade passed over the steel, sparks flew, and the wraiths that had been piled up there were released once more.

The scattered mud changed into a form like thorns in the air, transforming into spears to pierce Coleon’s body and surging forward.

“”Flame Burst!!””

When Coleon and Lyla’s voices overlapped.

A powerful explosion of flames erupted around Coleon’s body, offsetting the shockwave of the soul release and allowing Coleon to move forward without retreating like before.

Before he knew it, Lyla had come close to Coleon’s body, overlapping her arms with his and emitting the magic power of the flames, evaporating all the mud rushing at Coleon in the air and protecting Coleon.

“Now! Quickly take out that mummy!”

“Yeah!”

Coleon quickly swung his swords.

At first glance, it looked like a random slash, but for Coleon, who could completely reproduce Talcheck’s swordsmanship thanks to Iona’s ability.

Each and every sword strike was a deadly blow, like the result of his master’s decades of training.

Repeatedly, 22 times.

Each time, Enkidu’s body cracked, and the souls were released.

Lyla, who was attached to Coleon’s body like a guardian spirit, continued to detonate flames, offsetting the shockwave.

If she had not been separated from her physical body, it would have been impossible to control the magic power enough to exclude only Coleon from this flame.

The pure, fiery flames shone dazzlingly beautifully, overlapping with Coleon’s hand.

With a whoosh-! sound, flames ran up the red sword that Coleon was holding.

The red, rusty sword, which had been heated up in an instant, used the blood it had contained until it turned red as fuel to turn Lyla’s flames blue.

That blue flame was the signal, the completely connected wills of the two people tore open the passage of magic power at the soul level.

Coleon and Lyla’s vision overlapped. The target was the thickest part of Enkidu’s armor, which had been weakened by the successive attacks.

“Coleon! Match the timing!”

At Lyla’s voice, Coleon’s breathing stopped for a moment, and in the sensation of time slowing down, he captured the moment when the flame magic power extending from Lyla reached Enkidu.

Snap…!

Overlapping with the sound of something being crushed, the red sword with the blue flames was swung.

At the next moment, when the magic power and the physical impact collided simultaneously without an inch of error.

With a distortion as if space was twisted, blue flames and red flames exploded simultaneously, swirling.

The thickly remaining armor of Enkidu was completely smashed by it.

Coleon and Lyla were both stunned by the aftermath of the tremendous power, and for a moment they did not grasp the fact that they had done it.

When Rail completely revealed himself before their eyes, they instinctively reached out to him, tearing off the wires wrapped around his body and trying to pull him, who was missing one arm, out of Enkidu.

“Ah~ Ah~ I helped you this far. I guess I chose the wrong target to invest in.”

The next moment, the red-haired demon, Ishtar, swung a spear in the air and fell toward Coleon.

Sticking her tongue out slightly, licking her lips, her eyes were staring straight at her prey, Coleon’s heart, and she was falling vertically.

It was such a sudden appearance that Coleon was half-hanging in Enkidu’s torso and could not avoid the attack.

Coleon also raised his head in a flash, but the spear had already reached his nose.

But.

“Get lost…! Do you think I’ll be fooled twice…!?”

The flames that arose from Coleon’s body blazed up greatly, swallowing the falling demon as it was.

“W, what!? Aah…!”

The demon screamed as if she had not expected Lyla’s counterattack at all, and disappeared into magic power.

It seemed that this, too, was an illusion.

She must have been watching this fight from somewhere, aiming for an opening.

Coleon stared at Lyla for a moment, his eyes wide.

“Is this the time to say it…?”

At Coleon’s words, Lyla blinked her eyes two or three times.

“H, huh? What- Ugh… I’ll definitely protect your back, so hurry up and do what you have to do.”

Lyla said that to Coleon, who was talking nonsense, and put her back against Coleon’s back.

Even though it was clearly a body made of flame, it wasn’t hot at all; rather, a warm pulse was directly transmitted.

Coleon reached out his hand and completely released the wires that were holding Rail, and then pulled his body.

[GRYYYYWAAAAAAA!]

Humbaba let out a scream close to a shriek; as the connection with the human who was the core was severed, the shape of the mud that made up his body was rapidly collapsing.

[Damn it! Damn it!!! Your world is fake! It’s a deception! It’s a false world built on our sacrifices! Why are you fake humans!!]

“Look at yourself. What part of you is human?”

Coleon lifted Rail on his shoulder and moved away from Humbaba, saying that to the enemy who had already been twisted and lost his humanity.

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand their desire to restore their world.

But he couldn’t just stand by and watch them sacrifice their world.

As this ancient being had told him, Coleon still had things to do.

[It’s not over like this…! I’ll take at least you, who ruined everything…!]

Humbaba gathered all the remaining mud, took the shape of a giant head, and tried to swallow Coleon as it was.

Coleon quickly stepped back and swung his sword to cut it down with Lyla’s flames.

What moved first before that, however, was the hand of Rail, who was dried up in an almost mummified state.

The two had thought he was unconscious, but when he suddenly moved, both Lyla and Coleon panicked.

Then, at the next moment, something attached to Humbaba’s mud was sucked into his hand in an instant.

“Coleon! That guy, in his hand!”

“Soul Capture…! He still had it…!”

Coleon quickly tried to cut off Rail’s hand, but the timing was off. Rail rather dug into the mud, avoiding Coleon’s attack, and then staggered to his feet a little further away.

He coughed and spat out mud mixed with the blood he had absorbed from his mouth; he was already beyond human.

His dried-up body had returned to some extent, and mud swelled up and burst from various parts of his body.

“Kuh… Euh…”

Rail groaned, glared at Coleon with wide eyes.

Standing on the remains of the mud that were slowly disappearing below – Humbaba’s remains – his eyes looking at Coleon.

Three pupils were floating in one eye.

It was difficult to even grasp whether he was maintaining his sanity with the mud’s encroachment up to his face.

“Give up, Rail. Just because you absorbed that guy’s soul, what can you do?”

Coleon spoke to Rail with a cold face, holding his sword.

Everyone else around him was the same.

“Haha… The true power of the Black Covenant is not magic power, but… the knowledge he possesses. Coleon.”

That voice was Rail himself, but it was impossible to be sure whether it was his ego or not.

As Rail said that, he picked up the remains of Humbaba that were scattered on the ground and disappearing, and stretched his hand toward the sky.

Then, something burst from his hand and scattered in all directions of the academy.

Coleon swung his sword instantly, cutting off Rail’s remaining arm as well, but what flowed from that wound was no longer human blood, but mud like a monster.

“What did you do?!”

When Coleon grabbed Rail by the scruff of the neck, Rail gave a bitter smile.

“Who knows…? What could it be…. Haha…. Try being in the position of being unilaterally attacked, Swordmaster…!”

The next moment, Rail’s body exploded explosively. A deadly blow to pierce Coleon’s body without leaving any trace, making all the mud of his body like thorns.

He quickly tried to protect his body by covering it with magic power, but even so, it was too close.

At the next moment, when Coleon’s muscles tensed in anticipation of the approaching pain.

“Crystal Veil.”

Dozens of crystal swords falling from the sky. And it separated Coleon and Rail, becoming a wall to protect Coleon’s body from the thorns.

Rail tried to roll his body backward in the pain of having his body severed, but again a group of blue holy swords surrounded him, surrounding him like a prison.

“Sorry, Coleon. It took too long.”

Coleon and Rail stopped moving at the voice coming from behind.

A dignified yet sad voice, a voice with both gentleness and coolness was the voice of her, which he had not heard for a long time.

There stood a woman wearing a uniform as the head of the swordsmanship department, holding a blue glass sword at her waist.

“Aruru…”

When Coleon called her name, Aruru closed her eyes sadly for a moment, and then looked at Rail with eyes completely focused on the enemy.

“Rail Gliofond. You are an enemy of the world who has committed an act that can never be forgiven as a human being of the kingdom – no, of this world.”

“… …”

“Therefore, I will cut you down here and purify your sins.”

When Aruru said that far, Rail regenerated his arm from the severed arm with mud, and waved both arms with blades instead of hands to tear Coleon away.

“Everyone, don’t touch it… It seems that the power of Arondight is essential to completely eliminate that mud. And… let me finish it.”

Everyone was silent at Aruru’s words.

In fact, everyone here was feeling anger at Rail.

It was also true that they could never forgive Rail for any reason.

But there was no one who didn’t know that Aruru was standing in front of him with a heavier heart than anyone else.

“Aruru… Even you can’t stop me.”

“You’ve become more arrogant than I remember! Rail. It’s just you left now.”

But Rail cackled without taking away the smile on his lips and the hatred in his eyes.

At the next moment, everyone’s faces could not help but harden at the story of the academy students rushing up in a hurry.

“W, we report! A large number of automata have appeared and are attacking the students!”

“Some of the artifacts inside Vitos’s warehouse have started to go berserk!”

“Rail…!!”

Aruru’s face crumpled and she rushed at Rail, swinging Arondight in her hand.

“If you don’t accept my world, then I, like my teacher, don’t need this false world…! Hahaha! Break! Shatter!”

Rail laughed madly, receiving Aruru’s sword with both arms.

Coleon looked at such Rail and spoke to the group.

“First of all, it’s important to stop the automata and the rampaging artifacts. Let’s leave it to Aruru here.”

“W, wait a minute, Coleon! The interdimensional rift where the monster fell hasn’t closed yet… Yikes…”

Sasha looked up at the other side of the rift with her engraved eyes activated, and spoke with a pale face.

“Something is trying to cross over…! Something like a giant snake…!”

“It’s a snake that devours the world! If it arrives in this world, it will devour everything to the point where it can’t be regenerated!”

“Lyla! How can we close the dimensional rift!?”

When Coleon quickly thought of a countermeasure and spoke, Lyla looked at the other side for a moment and spoke with a dark face.

“No, even if we close it here, they’ll open it on the other side. Something is approaching really fast….”

“T, then do we have to fight another monster like before?”

At Kuon’s words, both Coleon and Lyla closed their mouths for a moment.

Eventually, Coleon shook his head and looked at the interdimensional rift.

What came to Coleon’s mind was the dream he had last night where Kuon appeared.

“No, there is a way.”

“Coleon- you…”

Lyla looked at Coleon, as if she had the same idea as Coleon.

“Someone has to go into the interdimensional rift and block the snake from opening the entrance.”

Coleon said that and let go of Iona, who he was holding in his hand.

Iona suddenly returned to human form and grabbed Coleon’s wrist.

“Wait a minute, Coleon!? You’re not going to do it, are you? No matter how you look at it, it’s too dangerous!”

“That’s right, Coleon…! We can face it all together here…!”

Kuon and Iona desperately persuaded him, and Sasha ran to him without saying anything and grabbed his waist.

“The reason why that snake is trying to cross over is probably because the coordinates were generated when Humbaba appeared. Just like the fight with Albein brought about the Severance Tree. So, bringing such beings into this world is itself an act that brings about another danger.”

“B, but even so, it’s too much for senior to go alone-”

“I can’t drag you guys into such a stupid thing. You guys have to stay in this world so that I can come back following your marks. Lyla, I’m entrusting everyone to you.”

Everyone’s mouths were shut, they couldn’t accept Coleon’s words, and their will to follow him was keenly felt.

“Wise. That’s the best judgment.”

But only Lyla looked at such Coleon and made a cold judgment.

For all these people to go into a place like an interdimensional rift, where they might not be able to return, was an impossible thing to do if one thought about it rationally.

Therefore, it was the most reasonable judgment for the strongest person among them to sacrifice himself.

“Lyla…! You still haven’t regained your memories…!”

“It’s not that…. Even if I had regained my memories, it would have been the same. I think I know roughly what this guy is thinking.”

Lyla interrupted Kuon’s words and glared at Coleon.

“Be sure to come back. If you don’t come back, I’ll burn you.”

Her eyes, as she pressed Coleon’s chest with her index finger, seemed as if she would really burn Coleon with just that look.

“…Okay. I’ll be right back.”

Then, the magic power of the flames from the end of Lyla’s index finger wrapped around Coleon’s body and covered it like a membrane.

“This will block the magic power contamination to some extent. It won’t last very long, though.”

“…When I go inside, close the dimensional rift with Iona.”

Lyla nodded at Coleon’s request.

Rail, who was fighting Aruru, saw such Coleon and ridiculed the act.

“It’s meaningless…! Going into the interdimensional rift without equipment like Enkidu… You’ll die a dog’s death without being able to hold out for even a few minutes…!”

The next moment, an explosion occurred in Rail’s body, blowing him away. After rolling on the floor several times, mud flowed out of the exploded area and the guy screamed.

Lyla, with a ghostly face, stretched out her finger and blew up one part of Rail’s body as it was.

“…Lyla.”

“Why.”

Coleon quietly called out to such Lyla and placed his hand on top of Lyla’s head, which still had the form of pure flames.

“Thank you… I’m glad you’re here. I’ve said this before.”

“I don’t know. Such a thing. I wish that guy would fall quickly so I could regain my memories.”

“I love you.”

Leaving those words behind, Coleon entered the interdimensional rift through flight magic.

“…What, that. If you say that and leave, what’s the point?”

Lyla clenched her fist tightly and stretched out her hand to grab Iona’s hand.

The avatar magic was released, and Lyla, who had regained her physical body, swung Iona towards the interdimensional rift where Coleon had disappeared.

A huge slash of divine magic exploded in the dimensional rift as it was, and the hole in the sky was filled and disappeared as it was.

There was no trace left of the dimensional rift where Coleon had disappeared.

“Lyla…”

Kuon spoke, looking at Lyla who had lowered her head with tears in her eyes.

If she could, she wanted to follow him too, she didn’t want to send him alone.

But Coleon asked her to entrust everyone to him.

What would the person he knew have done if he had heard that?

Lyla flew into the sky above the academy with flight magic. And she looked down at the bottom where flames were soaring everywhere and spoke.

“Let’s clean up everything here until Coleon comes back!”

The tears evaporated and disappeared.